Session 52: A Dance of Blood, Steel, and Slobber Report

General Summary

Roy announced he had discovered the means to "punish this unruly construct for its impudence". Cigfran initially argued for a differen plan, but in the end could not suggest anything better. The group further discussed several options to potentially enable Cigfran to, using divine blessings, destroy the foe with a single strike in conjunction with Roy 's transformation. Roy used the powerful artifact, this book of inifinite spells, to transform into a Hundun, a powerful celestial of creation. The Hundun began to dance about the room, spending a minute to engage in a dance of creation that left a slab of pure dovestone embedded in the floor with glyphs etched in a circle upon the stone, and a single large iron key resting in the center. Roisin Marshfield picked up the key, which, strangely, did not fit the door nearby. Leaving the mystery of the key for later, the group snuck into the large ritual chamber, invoked their powerful blessings, and Cigfran launched an attack which blasted the massive steel construct to dust. A surge of energy filled the room, however, and everyone within suffered a drain to their life force. The Hundun teleported into the room, using a fey magic that Roy often used, and flew up to hover above the construct, then attacked with four flying fists. The Hundun struck once, but also nearly struck itself. Roisin Marshfield, who had waited outside the room, now rushed in and ordered the Hundun to attack, and Cigfran reacted by firing a bolt from his crossbow; sadly both attacks missed. SixOfEighteen conjured a sphere of darkness to engulf the Construct and the Hundun, knowing the Hundun would not be affected. The construct then attacked the Hundun, striking twice with powerful swings of its massive sword. Boris conjured a sphere of silence to overlay the sphere of darkness, further supressing anything magical the construct might do. The Hundun once again attacked with four fists, fell off balance with its chaotic swings, and struck once. The Construct reacted to the temporary imbalance with a swing that was barely deflected by a magical shield, then the Construct attempted a sword sweep that also missed. SixOfEighteen began wading through the deep water toward the combat, Roisin Marshfield again ordered Cigfran to attack, but he missed, and Boris threw his hammer but also missed. The Construct missed another sword sweep, then attacked twice and struck once. Boris threw his warhammer with the Might of Borelius and missed, then followed up and struck a modest blow. Cigfran again fired his crossbow, but missed. The Hundun again attacked four times, and hit once. Roisin Marshfield ordered Cigfran to attack, and that worthy finally connected with a slight impact. Boris reacted by throwing his hammer, but missed, and again the Construct missed the Hundun with a sword sweep. SixOfEighteen continued to trudge forward underwater, and the Construct swung twice more at the Hundun but both attacks were deflected. Boris threw his hammer, and missed, and the Construct missed with another sword sweep. Cigfran fired, but missed, and the Construct finally connected with a sword sweep. The Hundun attacked four more times, and this time hit with three. Roisin Marshfield ordered Cigfran to attack, and the crossbow bolt connected as Boris reacted by throwing his hammer which also connected. The Construct missed with a sword sweep as SixOfEighteen clambered up onto the platform and began swinging his sword, surging with strength to press the attack and connecting twice. The Construct flashed, but SixOfEighteen resisted, and then attacked the Hundun twice, missing thanks to a magical shield deflecting the blows. Boris then threw his hammer with the Might of Borelius, connecting, but missed the followup. The Construct missed with another sword sweep, as Cigfran quietly fired his crossbow but missed. The Hundun swung another four times, taking advantage of the flanking position opposite SixOfEighteen, but only struck once. The hit, however, delivered critical damage as the Hundun found a weak point in the corroded armor, punched through to grasp a glowing blue crystal which it wrenched free and removed, then consumed. The Construct fell to nothing but rust, and the Hundun began dancing on the pile of rust as SixOfEighteen dropped the darkness and Boris, seeing the foe defeated, dropped the silence. The Hundun reached into nothingness and pulled forth the powerful artifact which had entrapped Jeeves as a sudden disturbance in reality seemed to freeze the universe for an indeterminate period. As reality began to reassert itself the Hundun paused, and flew over to pick up Boris and bring him back. The two beings, a wizard transformed to Celestial, and a priest of Justice, began the ritual to bind the artifact. As the book was placed upon Mithril stand, the book began to growl. Over the course of ten minutes, the book struggled to escape its magical bonds as the two casters wove ever tighter bonds. Finally, as the book roared and screamed in wordless anger, the magical bonds took hold, forced the book open to a page with Jeeves ' face upon the page, and tore the book into shredded fragments. Jeeves reformed beside the stand, as the fragments rose high into the air, swirled and reformed into the book, then disappeared; banished to some distant realm in another reality.

Jeeves , after many days of waiting, saw the face of a middle aged handsome man appear in the sky, and the face began screaming and roaring in anger. The face said, in words, "I won't let them take you!". Jeeves then felt his form torn into millions of tiny pieces, transported to another place, and reassembled. Jeeves , screaming in pain and horror from the experience, fell to the ground. Roy and Boris both collapsed in exhaustion, but Boris managed to comfort Jeeves that he had been freed from whatever it was he experienced. The party discussed various thoughts about what to do next, and whether they could leave and return in the future. Eventually realizing that many members of the party were exhausted, Roy conjured a watcher ward, and the party rested overnight.

Awakening in the morning, the group was met with the terrible stench of dead and rotting fish as they discovered the incredible mass of Quippers in the water around them had all died overnight. Gathering themselves and heading down the short causeway, The group opened the door there and were faced with the thick stone wall Roy had conjured a few days earlier. Boris prayed for divine support, and molded the stone out of the way, enabling the party to pass through without difficulty. At Roisin Marshfield's request, Boris then returned the wall to a solid barrier, sealing again the vast chamber beyond. SixOfEighteen led the group North around the main ritual chamber until they reached another room with a door at the end. Cigfran examined the lock, and after disarming the trap he found there, opened the door. Another door beyond was also trapped, but the trap was obvious and easily removed; the lock was much more complex, but Cigfran opened it nonetheless. As Cigfran stepped through the door, he faded from view and was gone. SixOfEighteen followed through the door, but did not disappear. Boris mentioned that this was like what happened when Roy disappeared several days earlier, and most of the group settled down to wait for an hour. Roy used a ritual to detect any magic in the area, but did not find anything of particular interest except for a tiny jade tower hidden behind the door. When Cigfran did not reappear after an hour, Roy began to consider what might have happened, and came to the conclusion that this was very likely a powerful magic called "Imprisonment". Roy informed the party that the tiny jade tower represented a prison demiplane, and under the correct conditions Cigfran would be freed. Roisin Marshfield accepted to carry the Jade Tower for the time being. Roy also informed the group that some visible set of actions would have to happen to release their friend.