Session 28 - "Mysteries of the Sanctum" Report

Jundar 27, 1246

In the Tower Between Worlds, the Fate-Steppers continue to explore. In fact, as we come into the story, Thais Argyri stands at the edge of a well that once held a gelatinous cube captive (before Foenix Stolnent set it ablaze). She catches a glimmer of something at the bottom of the well, and directs the party's attention to it.

Foenix offers to be the one to examine it, and so he uses a rope (lowered by Thais) to investigate it. He lands at the bottom of the well to see a small, light brown belt-purse in a small depression in the ground, keeping it safe from the gelatinous cube's acidic form.

Picking it up and dumping the contents into his hand, he finds five gold pieces and one tarnished metal earring. The earring is a simple loop and is missing the clasp used to tighten it to the ear. On the inside of the loop, he can barely make out two initials: B and W.

Having satisfied his curiosity, Foenix has himself pulled out of the well so they can continue to explore.

Micaiah Louvre, Jacob Sterling, and Olena have already moved to the next room: a circular chamber with pitch-black walls that seem to absorb all light in the space, providing only a faint impression of a pedestal in the center. Small pinpricks of lights form abstract constellations and gleam like jewels along the domed ceiling and sloping walls, winking in brilliant hues that do little to illumine the darkness.

Micaiah walks into the planetarium, only able to make out the form of a pedestal in the middle of the room by the lack of stars where it sits. As he approaches, arcane glyphs flash to life and glow scarlet around the edge of the stone plinth to reveal an inscription. The inscription reads as follows:

“The fey count numbers and words like stars:
Eight stands above, blazing eternal like a ruby,
While Three lights the way for you only.”

She walks around the pedestal, noticing that the same phrases as the glowing letters have also been carved into the pedestal behind the glyphs and traced in crimson paint.

The top of the round pedestal has six rotatable dials set into the stone, each colored to match the glimmering stars overhead and carved with the numbers 0 through 30 written around their edges. A triangular marker at the outside and center point toward each other, indicating the number “0” on each of the dials as it sits. Micaiah puts her hand on the dial, and with very little effort is able to make the dials turn under her palm - though nothing happens as she does so.

Turning back towards the center of the room, she begins to count the multicolored stars, eventually coming back with a count of three diamond stars, eight emerald stars, 12 amethyst stars, 16 sapphire stars, 24 ruby stars, and 30 topaz stars.

The rest of the party has by now caught up with them and they gather into the space, considering the riddle in front of them. The mention of the fey turns them onto the possibility that the riddle is mostly nonsense, and that the fey value numerology as a communication method.

After some false starts, Jacob manages to decode a phrase using the third and eighth word in each line: “Count Stars Above Ruby Lights Only,” and spins the red dial to 24.

The mechanisms locks into place, and a lever reveals itself, which Thais readily pulls. A pie slice of the domed room rolls back to reveal a small room with armor, weapons, and a chest inside.

Foenix holds anyone back from going inside while he checks for traps, and easily notices a glyph on the underside of the chest (critical success).

Using his mage hand, Foenix detaches the piece of wood with the glyph and ushers everyone inside.

The small closet has only a few items inside: a whip that seems to be made out of vines; a small sling with a sun inscribed on the leather; a set of armor with dyed purple elements and a matching cloak; a set of splint armor, made to fit a human child (but could be comfortably worn by a gnome or halfling and a realistically-painted wooden sword.

Inside the chest, which Foenix unlocks easily, is a spell scroll along with two pairs of matching potion bottles. All of this is deposited in the bag of holding for later identification as the party moves along, back tracking to the T that would either lead them back to the shaft they scaled to reach this floor, or onwards into uncharted territory.

Foenix takes point, leading the party to where the hallway turns right and then having them wait and continuing forward by himself quietly.

He reaches a set of double wooden doors that his expert eye immediately clocks are locked. Listening closely, he can hear a sound on the other side of the door: humanoid footsteps.

Worried that this may be their target, Foenix takes out the glyph he'd stolen from the trapped chest and sets it on the ground in front of the doors as his own makeshift trap, should the person beyond the doors emerge.

Then he returns to the group, informing them of the footsteps. A brief debate about waiting to see what is beyond the doors until after they've rested is had, and then most decide it's best to continue on.

Foenix unlocks the doors and Thais kicks them open, rushing in to the surprise and shock of the dwarf locked in the room.

After picking himself up, the dwarf introduces himself as Nigel, and says that he was picked up and dropped in here like they were - but has been here longer. He expresses some very odd turns of phrase, eventually leading to the party discovering that he is not, in fact, a dwarf, and not from the Material Plane either (Nigel states he's from Limbo).

This is confirmed when he politely asks if anyone in the party would please carry his eggs for him. The Fate-Steppers are, quite understandably, weirded out by this and unanimously say no. To which Nigel expresses disappointment and says that there really aren't very many options left, as he needs to propagate his species.

Foenix interrupts this with a sneak attack that glances off Nigel's skin, and as the party readies themselves for a fight, Nigel's form bubbles and melts into that of a grey slaad - a frog-like entity from Limbo.

The party makes quick work of him, surrounding Nigel and slinging spells and swinging weapons that he could not avoid. At one point, Nigel attempted to use invisibility to slip away and regroup, but Micaiah's counterspell kept him pinned down just long enough for Olena's longtooth to bite into his throat and rip it out. The slaad died where he stood.

As Olena shifts back into human form, her teeth glow with a neon red - and her skin as well.

Thais is quick to act, using her lay on hands to cure Olena of the chaos phage that would have turned her into another slaad.

The party decides that this is enough for one day, and descend back onto the first level to rest and recouperate. It gives Foenix a chance to identify all the loot that they've found and for all of them to sleep.

Overtime, Foenix is able to identify the following items (which are given to each party member accordingly):

• a staff of power (Jacob)
• a deathly diadem (Olena)
• the defunct lightning amulet (Foenix)
• a javelin of lightning (Olena)
• an iron rose (Micaiah)
• a vine whip (Thais)
• two potions of healing (Micaiah and Foenix)
• two greater potions of healing (Thais and Olena)
• a light sling (Foenix)
• fey-touched armor (Micaiah)
• spell scrolls of branding smite and revivify (Thais)

Then the party divides out the other items in their possession, with Jacob taking a greater potion of healing and Thais taking a potion of heroism that were both found in Cirvai's workshop.

Foenix takes the potion of poison resistance that they made in Cirvai's workshop for himself.

Finally, Thais asks to borrow the diadem from Olena for the evening, which the barbarian agrees to.

Once Thais is finished attuning to it, allowing her to speak to Dharma (who has been helping out best he can without being able to communicate well with the party), she begins to ask him about himself and the tower and its owner.

After getting over his relief at being able to be understood, Dharma explains as best he can.

He was born in the country of Morvol, in the northern continent of Immithar, and is a paladin to the sleeping deity Belbrokk, a chaotic good deity of freedom, wind and fire. The god is portrayed as a large owl (sometimes wreathed, cloaked, or made of flames). It is said that Belbrokk stole the sun from the creator god, Numenreth, in order to give the freedom of day to the people of Immithar. Perhaps that is why he has been locked away in endless sleep, with only his dreams to influence the realms.

Dharma also explains that he is a freedom fighter for those enslaved by the ruler of Morvol, Ultaor.

As for the person that trapped him in the tower, Dharma says his name is Malum Artis, a human. Though an odd human, as Dharma says that he does not seem to experience reality in the same way that everyone else does. He mentions Malum's helpers, though the party has not seen any such servants. Dharma supposes that the tower is so big that it is totally possible that Malum has simply abandoned or forgotten this floor.

Malum, Dharma explains, is an experimenter of some variety. Arcane spells and magic items, which he tests on those who are within the tower. Unfortunately, that's about all he knows.

After this conversation, Thais returns the diadem to Olena, and the fire is doused down to coals while Foenix and Micaiah take the first watch.

Foenix takes the opportunity to ask Micaiah about something: earlier in the evening, as Micaiah was changing into his new armor, Foenix noticed scar marks across the tiefling's back. Micaiah, embarrassed that he forgot to disguise himself before undressing, admits that sometimes the fun and games of scarification are enacted upon the servants in Brillantan households if there is not enough time to fetch one of the wretched rats of Havre-Ordure.

Micaiah even compliments Foenix's own scars of the bird in flight across his back, saying that "(he looks) like a children's sketchbook."

They talk a bit about Felisis and whether they can believe the Lord of Luck, with the conclusion being that he can simply lie if he wanted to. Take credit for any moment of good fortune even if he had nothing to do with it, so they must either choose to take it on face value or discard his claims as they wilt.

In a moment of levity, the two also discuss which one of the Fate-Steppers is the most well adjusted, with the two of them coming to the conclusion it is most likely Olena (though she herself would probably be bemused by the idea if they ever told her).

But, finally, as the night wanes on, the two bed down for a long deserved rest, and as Micaiah does so, she feels her hand begin to burn, right where the mark of Incenderre, Keeper of Secrets lies....