Saraph'musa's head slowly rises as it turns 180-degrees to face you. "Six of us went down into that pit. Only one crawled out. I am Saraph'musa, the last. I have seen what the Zendikari call gods."
Just as slowly as it rose does it fall once again into a stupor as Lomilith shakes his head. "Don't listen to her. I don't remember going down with any more than us three and...." He pauses for a moment, nodding. "Yeah. Endoro thinks there might've been more of us. But Endoro thinks a lot of strange things."
Kayn nods to the ghost, pondering its meaning. "Before we open one of these doors, do you want to look inside?" He asks.
He heads over to the western-most door and taps on it. There's no telling what is on the other side... only the speckormerelf would know. Sear lets out a small screech from above. Kayn had almost forgotten his familiar was roosted above the door. He smiles at him and says Goodbye in Kor sign. The bat dematerializes and returns home.
Lomilith lets out a laugh. "Help? You would doom us to a fate worse than death by trying to keep us locked up in here, yet ask for our help?"
"Dumb dirt-sniffer!" Endoro shouts with a sneer.
"While not dumb by most standards," Lomilith corrects Endoro, "you'll get no further help from us unless a promise is made that there will be no attempts to keep us locked in this convocation of insanity."
"I'm only being honest with you," Kayn says. "If you saw yourself... you look more like an Emcayi than who you once were. Only one of you are able to wake at a time to speak, your limbs are tangled in a mess of aberrative goo, and there's no telling what influence these aliens have had on you. Your refusal to help condemns you more than it does convinces us you're still... you." He shakes his head, sad to see the speckormerelf in such a state. "It is your choice whether you help or not, but the latter paints a bad picture for us."
Veythe looked up from the lute and listened to the conversation between Kayn and the speckormerelf-thing. She wanted to snort at his comment--he wasn't far off really; they looked rather...frightening in the weird melded way that they'd become--but she held back. She didn't want to ruin whatever he was attempting with the creature. For a moment Veythe peered into the room, her eyes scanned over Vasha and then moved to Vesra outside of the room--and then over toward Ato and Rezivah and she sighed.
"Kayn," Veythe called out. She didn't want to interrupt is conversation but she felt that maybe she should point this out anyway. "Maybe we should look for both keys? Just in case. It'd save us time and...time is important now." Veythe glanced to Vasha. "I'd prefer to be efficient."
Vasha continued to dig around a little, but the longer she took, the more disappointed she got. Finally, she gave up and dragged herself out of the pit. "Nothing else down there," she said, quietly. Sitting on the floor, she looked herself over. She was filthy, absolutely covered in filth. Miserable and tired, she said, a little louder, "Let's just try the key and get the hell out of this place."
Undecided, the speckormerelf floats around back and forth for a good minute as if pacing, debating amongst themselves on what to do. Kayn's words seemed to resonate within them to some extent, as the speckormerelf slowly moved towards the western door. Pausing, Saraph'musa cried out. The debate was not a kind one amongst themselves, as their heads take turns angrily expressing verbless communication. Endoro sneers, whispering while his voice gradually grows louder, "Won't help. Selfish. Won't help. Rude! Stab us in the back, they will either way!"
Lomilith counters, "You're ill, Endoro. Don't give in to their utterings."
"... You're?" Saraph'musa bites back at Lomilith with emphasis.
"Yes, he is ill. As are you, Sara. I am the guardian. The Iron Will." Lomilith responds as if attempting to reassure himself.
Lomilith shakes his head, bringing the elf arms up to his face. "No.. You are.. I am..." he pauses, breathing heavily. "I... We... No. No!"
"NOOO!!!" Lomilith shouts out one last time as the three heads all snap to attention in unison. Their heads arch up to the ceiling, shouting, "WE... ARE... CORRUPTION!!!" Their voices reverberate with each other, echoing across the empty walls of the hedron.
"P.... please," they cry out again with one voice, all of their hands extended towards Kayn, "Help us. Cure us."
The coalescence of voices sent shivers up Vasha's spine, reminding her of the vision she'd had. She knew something needed to be done, and quickly. The ghost was becoming agitated, and she knew, in her heart, things would end badly if the three merged as one, mentally. "Lomilith, please, listen to me." She held her hands out in front of her, empty palms up, and slowly approached. "Calm yourself, find that place within yourself where you can be at peace. Center yourself. Push out the world, the words of others, and listen to your inner self." Vasha took another slow step closer. "This place has had an effect on all of us. Don't let it, or anyone else, affect your mind."
Kayn nods as Vasha focuses on Lomilith. When she is done he says, "I am a spawnbinder... I know the methods the corruption uses to sink in to your minds. I can save you all, and I will." He approaches the speckormerelf with his hand out. "Every mind has cracks, every mind has a weakness. You need to fill those cracks with yourself and drive out the corruption. Let me help... let me..." His voice goes low and he stares at the ghost intently, "Let me drive the corruption from your minds."
The ritual will take hours, but he can do it. Spawnbinding the ghost would be impossible. Spawnbinding any one of the three would be difficult. But spawnbinding the corruption that took over a millennium to take hold of them might just be possible. If it were like a fungus, a parasite, or a bacteria, he could do it.
Rezivah's mind has been elsewhere throughout Vasha's and the gnarlid's digging. They had found something or other amidst the ashes. It was a key. To a door behind them. Their voices were boggy, and muffled. Her voice, Rezivah's, in her own head, was sharp, crystalline. They do not care for you. They wish to lose you.. and when the moment arises, they will expect you to offer yourself. Don't! Why should I?What have they offered me? Their disdain and contempt? The truths they withhold and the lies they tell?
A dull wailing grew behind Rezivah. It stirred her from her frantic thoughts. It was the combined howl of the three congealed entities. Rezivah instinctively crouched her body and flexed her claws, baring her teeth, but Vasha and Kayn kept talking to it, assuring it. Assuring it? What for? It wants a cure?! It can't be cured! It's beyond help.
"You... you can do that?" The speckormerelf asks cautiously. "You... can cure us?" Visibly calmed, its body floats to the ground.
"Now." The voices states as the hands reach for Kayn's. "Let's do it now. We're ready for the cure. For salvation." The ghost's hands slowly brush through Kayn's hand, causing him to cry out as his poor form slowly whithers away as another of the ghost's latent features manifests itself [24 necrotic damage]. As soon as it sees Kayn's figure whither away, the moisture dissipating from his skin as it becomes taut and his eyes quickly becoming sunken, it pulls away hopelessly.
Two voices echo from their mouths in unison. One cries out, "Oh no! I'm so sorry, I didn't realize that wou..." The other voice gives out an orgasmic sigh with a slight chuckle, "Oh my word, that... was... delightful." It's impossible to distinguish which entity is saying what at this point.
Kayn felt his very soul being wrenched from his body. The gnarlid slumps immediately as if in a catatonic state and Kayn jerks away from the ghost's touch. Composing himself, he feels everything begin to come back. He blinks slightly and the gnarlid stands. He feels weaker, as though if he'd remained in the ghosts grasp for even one more second he'd have died. The thought was odd... would his soul have merged with theirs upon death?
"I'm not strong enough," he says, holding his hand even though his whole body aches. "Not yet..." He's been honest with the ghost, and he continues with his honesty.
He stumbles back away from the ghost. Around him, he can hear and see through the gnarlid as the group begins to prepare for combat. It's the same shifting, same sounds he's heard before every near-death encounter prior. They were going to kill the ghost... or die trying. His Gnarlid bulks up in size and moves closer to the ghost, growling with its hackles raised.
(Kayn - Move 20' away) (Gnarlid - Adrenaline Surge, Moves into melee with Speckormerelf)
It harmed Kayn! Rezivah knew it! The ghost had been hiding its true nature thus far, and just now attempted to drain the goblin's life from his body. Rezivah's hands sparked with white energy as she bared her fangs in a low growl.
"Liar!" Rezivah yelled. Sweeping her right hand across her, four bolts of energy were produced in a wide arc, whistling through the air and striking the ghost with deadly precision. With a broad stroke of her left hand, another four bolts streaked through the air and relentlessly tracked their target and struck its ethereal body.
(Action, Magic Missile lv 2. Bonus ACtion, 2 sorcery pts expended to Quicken and cast another Magic Missile lv 2. Total 32 force damage.)
The ghost screamed in pain and rage as the bolts of force pounded into it, one after the other. Screeching at Rezivah, it fled through the southeast door in the room, disappearing from sight.
Vasha watched in horror as events unfolded before her eyes. Once the ghost disappeared, she grabbed the cube from Kayn, and without a word, tried to stick it into the door. After nothing happened, she pulled it out and tried a couple more times, before remembering a key detail. She scowled at the cube, then closed her eyes, and poured every bit of magic she had into it. Opening her eyes once again, she saw the cube was now glowing. She quickly shoved the cube back into the door, and was pleased when the door opened, revealing a long hallway. The hallway looked pretty untouched, no signs of the chalky substance at all. Vasha glanced at the murals that adorned the walls, but cared nothing for them. She wanted to leave.
Kayn's color is paled and his long arms are wrapped around his skinny body. "Be careful... take it slow," he says. "We do not need to rush."
He looks over to the cube, fastened into the door and still glowing. "But the mana in the cube might not last long. We should try to take it with us.," he adds.
Veythe ground her teeth, ready to attack at the ghost herself but before she got the chance it vanished. Her gaze drifted to Rezivah--perhaps the vampire wasn't that bad, although Veythe would still keep an eye on her--and then she moved toward Kayn without any further word. She reached out and grabbed his hand, the one that the ghost touched, and took it in one of her own. Her other hand unlatched Rest. She held her trusty panflute up to her lips and blew--sharp staccato beats that reminded her of Kayn's chitin. Once she was certain she'd done the best she could Veythe pulled back.
"I hope that helps," she said and hooked Rest back into place. She picked up the lute that Vasha gave her and latched it next to Rhthym once more.
Ato jerked awake as the Speckormerelf started screaming, having dozed off while waiting. He scrambles to his feet, spear in hand, to the chaos of Kayhn's injury, Rezivah's attack and the flight of the ghost. As things settle back down and he makes sense of what's happened, he moves to the now-open corridor, entering cautiously and checking for traps as he goes. He examines the murals as well, curious what they depict.
"Kayn, please be more careful," Vesra frowned, casting cure wounds to help heal the necrotic damage. As she cast the spell, once again, the wild magic of the hedron surged around her and into her. The druid gasped, a tidal wave of mana pouring over her.
As Vasha pours her mana into the cube it flares to life as the etched runes along its six faces glow softly with white light. Placing it into the indentation in the center of the door, the cube clicks into place, like two magnets drawn to each other. The door swings to the right, revealing a long and dark hallway. What she does immediately notice in the near vicinity is the absence of the white, chalky decay the emcayi spread about in their wake. The hallway is pristine, though dark. On either side, carved murals line the walls, possibly detailing a story.
Intrigued, Ato moves to step into the corridor before Kayn interjects, telling him about the perils of hedrons and the numerous traps that can exist. Armed with that knowledge, Ato activated the driftglobe and proceeds down the hallway, checking for traps. The group members wait cautiously until he's made it to the end of the hallway, his figure and surroundings illuminated by the driftglobe, and gives them the okay-sign to enter.
As they begin to do so, Vesra' form begins to swirl and shift, as raw mana churns with and without her, basking her in iridescent colors and light. Her entire form begins to glow brightly, casting away all shadows and brightly illuminated everything by her. Just seconds later, electricity arches across her–now enlarged–figure, and in a brilliant display of power, channels the electricity into three bolts of lightning, which impact the ground near her with bright flashes of light. Kayn and Vasha watch with awe and worry at the display, while Rezivah and Veythe move down the corridor, observing the murals with Ato.
The murals are quite large, extending from the base of the wall to the top 10 feet up, signifying that it must've taken a long time to carve them out. The work is so exquisite and flawless that you reckon only a lithomancer would be capable of such a feat.
As the lightning dissipates, a strange creature hops down from the roof of the hallway. Four, thin hedrons, like legs, allow it to scuttle around, as another two hedrons form what might be arms: they're conjoined at the top by a faintly-glowing hedron of green light. The core of the hedron creature consists of another hedron. It looks inquisitively up at Vesra before making a range of soft noises. They remind Veythe of notes she might play on one of her instruments. As if in response to the creature's presence, butterflies and flower petals begin to shower down and float all around her, their forms slowly fading over time as new ones take their place.
It's hard to reckon what exactly the murals display. Is there a timeline associated with them? Is the story told while moving left to right? And which side might the story begin with? What the group can see is that there seem to be three main figures: two humanoids (one of them is easily recognized as a female kor), and a dragon... though unlike any dragon the group has heard tales of. It is tall and slender, unlike the beasts found along the northern reaches of Akoum, and faint wavy lines surround its figure, perhaps to symbolize something. Images of hedrons dot the murals everywhere of differing shapes and sizes, with the kor woman interacting with them in some fashion. Along the southern end of the hallway, it appears that three different figures, represented by a mess of squiggled lines and enwrapped by several rings of hedrons, are all nestled within a large triangle which covers the entire image.
The observations are interrupted by the sound of stone grating on stone, as the group looks back to see the glowing cube in Kayn's hand and a grin on his face. The door quickly closes behind him.
Saraph'musa's head slowly rises as it turns 180-degrees to face you. "Six of us went down into that pit. Only one crawled out. I am Saraph'musa, the last. I have seen what the Zendikari call gods."
Just as slowly as it rose does it fall once again into a stupor as Lomilith shakes his head. "Don't listen to her. I don't remember going down with any more than us three and...." He pauses for a moment, nodding. "Yeah. Endoro thinks there might've been more of us. But Endoro thinks a lot of strange things."
Kayn nods to the ghost, pondering its meaning. "Before we open one of these doors, do you want to look inside?" He asks.
He heads over to the western-most door and taps on it. There's no telling what is on the other side... only the speckormerelf would know. Sear lets out a small screech from above. Kayn had almost forgotten his familiar was roosted above the door. He smiles at him and says Goodbye in Kor sign. The bat dematerializes and returns home.
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Lomilith lets out a laugh. "Help? You would doom us to a fate worse than death by trying to keep us locked up in here, yet ask for our help?"
"Dumb dirt-sniffer!" Endoro shouts with a sneer.
"While not dumb by most standards," Lomilith corrects Endoro, "you'll get no further help from us unless a promise is made that there will be no attempts to keep us locked in this convocation of insanity."
"I'm only being honest with you," Kayn says. "If you saw yourself... you look more like an Emcayi than who you once were. Only one of you are able to wake at a time to speak, your limbs are tangled in a mess of aberrative goo, and there's no telling what influence these aliens have had on you. Your refusal to help condemns you more than it does convinces us you're still... you." He shakes his head, sad to see the speckormerelf in such a state. "It is your choice whether you help or not, but the latter paints a bad picture for us."
(Persuasion 19)
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Veythe looked up from the lute and listened to the conversation between Kayn and the speckormerelf-thing. She wanted to snort at his comment--he wasn't far off really; they looked rather...frightening in the weird melded way that they'd become--but she held back. She didn't want to ruin whatever he was attempting with the creature. For a moment Veythe peered into the room, her eyes scanned over Vasha and then moved to Vesra outside of the room--and then over toward Ato and Rezivah and she sighed.
"Kayn," Veythe called out. She didn't want to interrupt is conversation but she felt that maybe she should point this out anyway. "Maybe we should look for both keys? Just in case. It'd save us time and...time is important now." Veythe glanced to Vasha. "I'd prefer to be efficient."
Current:
Secrets of the Greenwold - DM | Recruiting Thread | Campaign Thread
Historic:
Dawning - A Homebrew Campaign - DMTomb of Annihilation - DM
Dragon Heist of Waterdeep - DM
Hoard of the Dragon Queen - DM | Recruiting Thread | Campaign Thread
Vasha continued to dig around a little, but the longer she took, the more disappointed she got. Finally, she gave up and dragged herself out of the pit. "Nothing else down there," she said, quietly. Sitting on the floor, she looked herself over. She was filthy, absolutely covered in filth. Miserable and tired, she said, a little louder, "Let's just try the key and get the hell out of this place."
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
Undecided, the speckormerelf floats around back and forth for a good minute as if pacing, debating amongst themselves on what to do. Kayn's words seemed to resonate within them to some extent, as the speckormerelf slowly moved towards the western door. Pausing, Saraph'musa cried out. The debate was not a kind one amongst themselves, as their heads take turns angrily expressing verbless communication. Endoro sneers, whispering while his voice gradually grows louder, "Won't help. Selfish. Won't help. Rude! Stab us in the back, they will either way!"
Lomilith counters, "You're ill, Endoro. Don't give in to their utterings."
"... You're?" Saraph'musa bites back at Lomilith with emphasis.
"Yes, he is ill. As are you, Sara. I am the guardian. The Iron Will." Lomilith responds as if attempting to reassure himself.
"No, Lomilith..." Endoro responds gravely, "We are..."
Lomilith shakes his head, bringing the elf arms up to his face. "No.. You are.. I am..." he pauses, breathing heavily. "I... We... No. No!"
"NOOO!!!" Lomilith shouts out one last time as the three heads all snap to attention in unison. Their heads arch up to the ceiling, shouting, "WE... ARE... CORRUPTION!!!" Their voices reverberate with each other, echoing across the empty walls of the hedron.
"P.... please," they cry out again with one voice, all of their hands extended towards Kayn, "Help us. Cure us."
The coalescence of voices sent shivers up Vasha's spine, reminding her of the vision she'd had. She knew something needed to be done, and quickly. The ghost was becoming agitated, and she knew, in her heart, things would end badly if the three merged as one, mentally. "Lomilith, please, listen to me." She held her hands out in front of her, empty palms up, and slowly approached. "Calm yourself, find that place within yourself where you can be at peace. Center yourself. Push out the world, the words of others, and listen to your inner self." Vasha took another slow step closer. "This place has had an effect on all of us. Don't let it, or anyone else, affect your mind."
(Persuasion 8)
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
Kayn nods as Vasha focuses on Lomilith. When she is done he says, "I am a spawnbinder... I know the methods the corruption uses to sink in to your minds. I can save you all, and I will." He approaches the speckormerelf with his hand out. "Every mind has cracks, every mind has a weakness. You need to fill those cracks with yourself and drive out the corruption. Let me help... let me..." His voice goes low and he stares at the ghost intently, "Let me drive the corruption from your minds."
The ritual will take hours, but he can do it. Spawnbinding the ghost would be impossible. Spawnbinding any one of the three would be difficult. But spawnbinding the corruption that took over a millennium to take hold of them might just be possible. If it were like a fungus, a parasite, or a bacteria, he could do it.
(Persuasion at disadvantage - 25)
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Rezivah's mind has been elsewhere throughout Vasha's and the gnarlid's digging. They had found something or other amidst the ashes. It was a key. To a door behind them. Their voices were boggy, and muffled. Her voice, Rezivah's, in her own head, was sharp, crystalline. They do not care for you. They wish to lose you.. and when the moment arises, they will expect you to offer yourself. Don't! Why should I?What have they offered me? Their disdain and contempt? The truths they withhold and the lies they tell?
A dull wailing grew behind Rezivah. It stirred her from her frantic thoughts. It was the combined howl of the three congealed entities. Rezivah instinctively crouched her body and flexed her claws, baring her teeth, but Vasha and Kayn kept talking to it, assuring it. Assuring it? What for? It wants a cure?! It can't be cured! It's beyond help.
"You... you can do that?" The speckormerelf asks cautiously. "You... can cure us?" Visibly calmed, its body floats to the ground.
"Now." The voices states as the hands reach for Kayn's. "Let's do it now. We're ready for the cure. For salvation." The ghost's hands slowly brush through Kayn's hand, causing him to cry out as his poor form slowly whithers away as another of the ghost's latent features manifests itself [24 necrotic damage]. As soon as it sees Kayn's figure whither away, the moisture dissipating from his skin as it becomes taut and his eyes quickly becoming sunken, it pulls away hopelessly.
Two voices echo from their mouths in unison. One cries out, "Oh no! I'm so sorry, I didn't realize that wou..." The other voice gives out an orgasmic sigh with a slight chuckle, "Oh my word, that... was... delightful." It's impossible to distinguish which entity is saying what at this point.
Kayn felt his very soul being wrenched from his body. The gnarlid slumps immediately as if in a catatonic state and Kayn jerks away from the ghost's touch. Composing himself, he feels everything begin to come back. He blinks slightly and the gnarlid stands. He feels weaker, as though if he'd remained in the ghosts grasp for even one more second he'd have died. The thought was odd... would his soul have merged with theirs upon death?
"I'm not strong enough," he says, holding his hand even though his whole body aches. "Not yet..." He's been honest with the ghost, and he continues with his honesty.
He stumbles back away from the ghost. Around him, he can hear and see through the gnarlid as the group begins to prepare for combat. It's the same shifting, same sounds he's heard before every near-death encounter prior. They were going to kill the ghost... or die trying. His Gnarlid bulks up in size and moves closer to the ghost, growling with its hackles raised.
(Kayn - Move 20' away)
(Gnarlid - Adrenaline Surge, Moves into melee with Speckormerelf)
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It harmed Kayn! Rezivah knew it! The ghost had been hiding its true nature thus far, and just now attempted to drain the goblin's life from his body. Rezivah's hands sparked with white energy as she bared her fangs in a low growl.
"Liar!" Rezivah yelled. Sweeping her right hand across her, four bolts of energy were produced in a wide arc, whistling through the air and striking the ghost with deadly precision. With a broad stroke of her left hand, another four bolts streaked through the air and relentlessly tracked their target and struck its ethereal body.
(Action, Magic Missile lv 2. Bonus ACtion, 2 sorcery pts expended to Quicken and cast another Magic Missile lv 2. Total 32 force damage.)
The ghost screamed in pain and rage as the bolts of force pounded into it, one after the other. Screeching at Rezivah, it fled through the southeast door in the room, disappearing from sight.
Vasha watched in horror as events unfolded before her eyes. Once the ghost disappeared, she grabbed the cube from Kayn, and without a word, tried to stick it into the door. After nothing happened, she pulled it out and tried a couple more times, before remembering a key detail. She scowled at the cube, then closed her eyes, and poured every bit of magic she had into it. Opening her eyes once again, she saw the cube was now glowing. She quickly shoved the cube back into the door, and was pleased when the door opened, revealing a long hallway. The hallway looked pretty untouched, no signs of the chalky substance at all. Vasha glanced at the murals that adorned the walls, but cared nothing for them. She wanted to leave.
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
Kayn's color is paled and his long arms are wrapped around his skinny body. "Be careful... take it slow," he says. "We do not need to rush."
He looks over to the cube, fastened into the door and still glowing. "But the mana in the cube might not last long. We should try to take it with us.," he adds.
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Veythe ground her teeth, ready to attack at the ghost herself but before she got the chance it vanished. Her gaze drifted to Rezivah--perhaps the vampire wasn't that bad, although Veythe would still keep an eye on her--and then she moved toward Kayn without any further word. She reached out and grabbed his hand, the one that the ghost touched, and took it in one of her own. Her other hand unlatched Rest. She held her trusty panflute up to her lips and blew--sharp staccato beats that reminded her of Kayn's chitin. Once she was certain she'd done the best she could Veythe pulled back.
"I hope that helps," she said and hooked Rest back into place. She picked up the lute that Vasha gave her and latched it next to Rhthym once more.
(cure wounds 2nd level 10hp)
Current:
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Historic:
Dawning - A Homebrew Campaign - DMTomb of Annihilation - DM
Dragon Heist of Waterdeep - DM
Hoard of the Dragon Queen - DM | Recruiting Thread | Campaign Thread
Ato jerked awake as the Speckormerelf started screaming, having dozed off while waiting. He scrambles to his feet, spear in hand, to the chaos of Kayhn's injury, Rezivah's attack and the flight of the ghost. As things settle back down and he makes sense of what's happened, he moves to the now-open corridor, entering cautiously and checking for traps as he goes. He examines the murals as well, curious what they depict.
"Kayn, please be more careful," Vesra frowned, casting cure wounds to help heal the necrotic damage. As she cast the spell, once again, the wild magic of the hedron surged around her and into her. The druid gasped, a tidal wave of mana pouring over her.
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
As Vasha pours her mana into the cube it flares to life as the etched runes along its six faces glow softly with white light. Placing it into the indentation in the center of the door, the cube clicks into place, like two magnets drawn to each other. The door swings to the right, revealing a long and dark hallway. What she does immediately notice in the near vicinity is the absence of the white, chalky decay the emcayi spread about in their wake. The hallway is pristine, though dark. On either side, carved murals line the walls, possibly detailing a story.
Intrigued, Ato moves to step into the corridor before Kayn interjects, telling him about the perils of hedrons and the numerous traps that can exist. Armed with that knowledge, Ato activated the driftglobe and proceeds down the hallway, checking for traps. The group members wait cautiously until he's made it to the end of the hallway, his figure and surroundings illuminated by the driftglobe, and gives them the okay-sign to enter.
As they begin to do so, Vesra' form begins to swirl and shift, as raw mana churns with and without her, basking her in iridescent colors and light. Her entire form begins to glow brightly, casting away all shadows and brightly illuminated everything by her. Just seconds later, electricity arches across her–now enlarged–figure, and in a brilliant display of power, channels the electricity into three bolts of lightning, which impact the ground near her with bright flashes of light. Kayn and Vasha watch with awe and worry at the display, while Rezivah and Veythe move down the corridor, observing the murals with Ato.
The murals are quite large, extending from the base of the wall to the top 10 feet up, signifying that it must've taken a long time to carve them out. The work is so exquisite and flawless that you reckon only a lithomancer would be capable of such a feat.
As the lightning dissipates, a strange creature hops down from the roof of the hallway. Four, thin hedrons, like legs, allow it to scuttle around, as another two hedrons form what might be arms: they're conjoined at the top by a faintly-glowing hedron of green light. The core of the hedron creature consists of another hedron. It looks inquisitively up at Vesra before making a range of soft noises. They remind Veythe of notes she might play on one of her instruments. As if in response to the creature's presence, butterflies and flower petals begin to shower down and float all around her, their forms slowly fading over time as new ones take their place.
It's hard to reckon what exactly the murals display. Is there a timeline associated with them? Is the story told while moving left to right? And which side might the story begin with? What the group can see is that there seem to be three main figures: two humanoids (one of them is easily recognized as a female kor), and a dragon... though unlike any dragon the group has heard tales of. It is tall and slender, unlike the beasts found along the northern reaches of Akoum, and faint wavy lines surround its figure, perhaps to symbolize something. Images of hedrons dot the murals everywhere of differing shapes and sizes, with the kor woman interacting with them in some fashion. Along the southern end of the hallway, it appears that three different figures, represented by a mess of squiggled lines and enwrapped by several rings of hedrons, are all nestled within a large triangle which covers the entire image.
The observations are interrupted by the sound of stone grating on stone, as the group looks back to see the glowing cube in Kayn's hand and a grin on his face. The door quickly closes behind him.