Session Eighty Two: A Crown of Gems

General Summary

Intruders

  The purple crystal is deposited in its matching door, and we move on deeper into the cavern. With the door shut behind us we begin to hear hissing noises up ahead, so we proceed stealthily. We find another group of tiny winged cobras around the corner. Ed asks Serpentor what they’re hissing about, and he responds they’re ‘protecting’ something. He also indicates these serpents aren’t supposed to be here.   Malak speaks up to the serpents, telling them they’re not supposed to be there, to which Tristan wonders if it’s really necessary to agitate them. Although Malak denies he did any such thing, agitated they certainly are, and combat ensues.   As we move into the room proper during the fight, the indigo crystal is spotted on one of the walls. While several little snakes close in on Malak, Vence ‘Slow’s several of them. This allows Tristan to move towards the crystal with little trouble. As he does so, he notices the indigo color in the eyes of these cobras and the two larger fire snakes. He tells the others about this just before making a grab at the crystal. A moment later his own eyes have taken on the same Indigo hue, and he starts to rage upon hearing that the ‘intruders’ are ‘trying to take Mailak’. As Tristan turns to Malak, the latter can see the discoloration in the former’s eyes.  

Indigo VS Yellow

  One of the cobras bonds with Tristan, while several others try to burn Malak and Vence. Edward takes out the yellow crystal and darts forward, also making a grab at the indigo crystal. Although he resists its domination, he can’t quite get it out of the wall yet. The yellow crystal draws the attention of a number of the serpents, and some actually snap out of the domination, instead becoming hypnotised by the crystal Edward is holding. Malak apologetically banishes Tristan, so he can’t hurt his friends.   As some of the non-hypnotised serpents try to attack Edward, Vence creates a Major Image of Mailak to distract them. A bunch of the cobras go towards Mailak. The cobra that had bonded to Tristan however, goes to attack Malak for banishing him. Meanwhile Tristan, safely tucked away in a harmless demiplane, loses the dominating influence of the crystal.   Edward tries to remove the indigo crystal from the wall again, and this time succeeds. Instantly all the serpents go back to normal and stand down. With the fight over, Malak returns Tristan to this plane and explains what’s been happening. Tristan in turn relays that the crystal seemed to indicate Mailak is here somewhere. As it turns out, in conversation with his new snake-buddy, Mailak’s body appears to be interred in this cavern.  

A brief respite

  Serpentor notices Edward is looking rather rough, and gives of himself to heal him. This leaves Serpentor looking decidedly less glowy and healthy, so Edward slathers some ointment on the snake. Vence also heals himself from his burns, while Tristan decides to name the serpent that bonded with him ‘Anastasia”.   Vence has the illusory ‘Mailak’ ask the serpents what’s been changed since she went away. They respond in celestial, which luckily Malak can translate for the rest of us. There’s some gossip and talk of how their curiosity had led them to this technically forbidden part of the cavern. They also tell that Samir comes to check on the caverns sometimes, but it’s been a while.  

Mailak’s Pyre

  Edward places the indigo crystal into the last door, and we move on to the final part of the cavern. The sound of fire in the distance hints at what we expect to find there: a great big wall of Silver Flame. Within the pyre are platforms one can hop across to a central platform, where Mailak’s body lies, eternally preserved. After a brief conversation it is decided that Tristan and Edward will wait, while Vence and Malak go through the flame.   Mailak lies there in her paladin armor, holding the multicolored crystal. Above her head is a semicircle like a halo, with seven indentations for the crystals we collected. Malak inserts the crystals in rainbow order, which leads to Mailak (are you confused yet?) releasing the larger multicolored one. She sighs out a ‘thank you’. As soon as Malak picks it up, the Silver Flames around them go out. Mailak seems ‘deader’ after this.   When the two return, Edward notices the slight change in their irises. Tristan notices the purple crystal is still stuck in the halo and muses that there was something he still wanted to talkt to Cersei about. However upon realising he can’t see Lucy anymore since the Flame went out, this gives him at least some idea towards the answers he is seeking. Asking Anastasia, she confirms she was able to also see a ghost girl with them, but only until the Flame went out.   Upon wondering aloud what they should do about these bonds with celestial serpents, Anastasia tells Tristan that since they ‘trauma bonded’ at a rather awkward moment, perhaps it would be better to go their separate ways. Tristan agrees, and the bond is ended. Edward on the other hand offers Serpentor to come along to Flamekeep. He makes the snake promise to stop trying to sacrifice himself though.  

Okay, time to slee– Ah dang it!

  With that, we make out way out of the cavern. Tristan suggests camping in the little entry cave, since it’s well-sheltered and it’s getting late. This is agreed upon, Malak will just send a message to Moonshine to let him know we’re coming in the morning. The response being a weakened ‘I’m sorry, I failed…’ we re-evaluate our options for a microsecond, before Fly-ing off towards where we left him.