Session 86: Decent into the depths Report

General Summary

The party awoke in their conjured protective dome feeling well rested, and looked about as the magic ended. Seeing a sign nearby, with nothing more than an arrow pointing down, the party looked about and noticed a scrap of paper on the ground nearby. Roy picked this up and read.

So good to see you all. It's a wonder how you managed to get here, but no matter. I have ensured you will not interfere with my latest trip below. The Master sent me here many times to attempt to find the form. I died repeatedly, of course, but the magic of Clone enabled me to recover, albeit without memory of how I failed, and without any of my equipment. I should not be terribly long, and this time, when I find the form (I will succeed this time), I will use it to replace The Master and rule this realm. Not to worry my little princess. I will come for you once I have accomplished my mission, and you will remain by my side as I rule with an iron fist. I may even permit you to bear the imperial heir.

In Victory,
ZCorthrin

The group quickly discovered that they were trapped in some sort of magical cage, something Jeeves recognized as a Force cage, a powerful and complex magic that prevented any form of escape, generally. Boris decided to attempt to use his cape of the Mountebank to escape, bringing Jeeves with him. With assistance from Roisin, Roy, and a divine boon, Boris succeeded and the two disappeared in a cloud of sulferous smoke before reappearing a short distance outside the cage. Roy then used his temporal skills to compress a similar magic into a small grey bead, which he handed to Roisin. This allowed Roisin to release the magic and apply her indomitable force of personality and will to breaking through the barrier, a challenge at which she succeeded. The party regrouped there, atop the rocky spire, and took a short rest to regroup and regather themselves. Proceeding down into the dark pit below, Boris led the way following the counter-clockwise stairs. Proceeding downward for a few hours, little of note occurred, aside from a few relatively minor or benign surges of uncontrolled magic. The group eventually found themselves at a doorway, which Roy recklessly opened. They discovered a small room with a book on a desk. Roy took the book, finding it to be a journal of sorts, with ZCorthrin writing therein his actions to a point on each journey, effectively preserving at least some memory of each trip and what succeeded or failed. Choosing to keep this book, the group continued downward, avoiding regular eruptions of flame rising from far below that seemed to scorch the stone of the clockwise stair, and encountering a few more chaotic surges of magic, although still far fewer than normal, and what few there were, were more often beneficial than harmful. The group again encountered a door, which Roy again opened, and therein found only a scrap of paper in a familiar hand.

Very uncouth, taking my journal. I spared you all this morning, as you slept unawares, and merely imprisoned you, but it appears you escaped, how I cannot imagine. I will not be so merciful next time. I will endeavor not to kill you, princess, but rest assured I still have a lock of your hair preserved, and will be able to have you returned to me should I find the destruction of your delicious form unavoidable. Come ahead, then, we shall see who is more capable of meeting the challenge of the pits.

The party continued downward, and two hours later suddenly found themselves sinking into the stone wall, ending completely within the stone, merged into it, and unable to act. They remained thus entombed, aware but incapacitated, for four days before they emerged from the stone just as they had sunk into it. Rested, for there was little else they could do during that time, they continued downward, concerned they might have lost to the cunning, and evil, wizard ZCorthrin. Finally reaching the bottom of the stairs, the group cautiously proceeded down a corridor; finding a section of cavern with hundreds of small holes along a 60 foot section with an array of nigh invisible threads strung across the center like a spider's web. Jeeves recognized this as a trap, and Roy managed to disarm it by the simple expedient of using magic to sever all the threads, somewhat laboriously as the magical hand he used kept getting destroyed. The group waited while many thousands of small needle-like darts fired repeatedly into the corridor until the floor was covered an inch deep. Eventually the storm of needles subsided, and Roy was able to magically brush clear a narrow safe path in the center. Jeeves crawled along the ceiling (thanks to his magical slippers) as he was already too large for the passageway, and needed to avoid the litter of needles on the floor. Jeeves nearly suffered injury as his curiosity about these needles, and any poison they likely carried, nearly resulted in being injured by several. The group managed to avoid disaster, however, and moved on. A few turns and blind corners later, the group emerged onto a ledge high up the wall of a fantastic chamber, with a path leading down the wall to their right. The chamber was filled with a dim green glow given off by tens of thousands of crystals that appeared to be gently glowing forest-green blocks of petrified wood. Here, at last, was the Greenwood, the chamber they had heard about filled with the rare greenwood crystal. Far below, near the bottom of the path, they could see a statue of a figure standing silently on the path. Boris, trusting in his faith, stepped boldly forward off the ledge, and the party saw him appear (for they were still invisible and inaudible for the remainder of this day) only to plummet to his death impaled violently on a sharp greenwood spire an hundred feet below. Jeeves cried out in the magical link granted by their earrings, and Boris asked what the problem was. Quickly discerning that this must be illusion, the rest of the party followed Boris' lead, each of them seeing their three companions fall to their doom, until all four appeared to be impaled on the rocks far below. Proceeding across the unseen bridge with great care, the group regathered on the far wall, upon another ledge that could not be seen until one stepped upon it, and noticed a steep stair, through a well concealed opening in the rock, leading downward.