14 - 7/2

With a short rest and some health restored, the group prepared to return to the rest of the keep and continue clearing it out. The group consulted with Mithris who had a mysterious ability to detect planar portals and she noticed there were none, the portal to the abyss had closed. She also said that she had noticed the one to the feywild, but that one closed before the group arrived. Ushat vowed to help the party with her magically conjured sword and shaman powers and after a short rest was ready for action.   The party returned to the keep, and began exploring the lower level. Here they found the mysterious fish in its astral hallway, a strange oddity that required the exertion of thought to move rather than acting on gravity. Nearby was a Blink Dog that Hilda showed an unwanted love towards, hiding in an area overrun with strange otherworldly plants. Some were useful however, as the group stumbled upon a rare berry that could be used to empower Goodberry to do more healing   The next room had a strange clicking clack coming from it, and after attempting some negotiation decided to just rush whatever strange fey creature was in the next room. Here Valerie ran into the murderous redcap, who gave her a nasty round-house to the temple. With its trick used up, it proceeded to flail away at Valeries impenetrable armor while the group struck it down, dropping its magical Scythe and Hat.   Continuing on, the group found a library and the kings instrument room. Shane found a magical Lewt, and Theta found a variety of interesting books. One was titled “The Comprehensive Guide to Recognizing Mimics” which … proceeded to come to life and try and eat Theta. Shane rushed to the next room and with a single shot managed to stick it to the wall   The upper level contained a demon that seemed annoyed and confused as to its current state, and it had a small army of ghouls at its disposal. While it might have proven a hard fight, Theta blinded it and it had almost no chance of striking the one enemy it knew of. Within a short time the group struck it down and had secured the upper levels of the keep. Here Valerie found a loose stone in the masters bedroom, with a key and a crown that she decided to wear   The last section of the keep showed more signs of strange, extraplanar anomalies. A bizarre creature called an Ethereal Filcher tried to steal Valeries crown, but the group smacked it and it disappeared. The next room was smooth rather than the typical rough rock, and another contained   Finally Theta and the group identified the source of the keeps oddities, a magical book embedded in a tree that was channeling the magical nexus and energy flowing through the area. With Shanes help, the two carefully removed the magical book and hopefully stopping the random planar portals that it had been opening.   With a bit of downtime available, the group attuned to their new magical items. The string on the lewt could be used to make a magical weapon, or a magical instrument for the bardic types. And the book was a powerful artifact known as a Book of Infinite Spells, giving Theta access to unreliable but possibly powerful magic.