Session XXVIII: Pandora's Door

The ensuing fight against the undead creature was over quickly. Jacqualine used Turn Undead which gave the party time to move in and set up a chained attack. However, once the creature fell, something resembling a jellyfish emerged from the body. It immediately floated to the second body and possessed it, and successfully attacked Del'Gado. Still, its existence ended shortly after, with the party again forcing out the creature from the possessed body and now killing its true form. Tropam recognised the creature as a dybbuk, who are malevolent spirits driven to possess corpses. It seemed that the dybbuk had passed the time by using various instruments as improvised pieces to play chess. This included folded papers, a few mugs, and bullets unfed from the researchers' firearms. Tropam investigated the papers, which was a field report written by MRT Magellan's lead researcher, Dr. Carlos Rodriguez. Jacqualine inspected the bodies, finding identification cards that belonged to Dr. Rodriguez and Dr. Gallacher. Thereafter the party left the room to follow the navigational arrows left behind by the Black Sky Corporation.   The party spent four days trying to navigate beyond one of the taped arrows, which had abruptly stopped in the middle of the hallway. Jacqualine continued to commune with her goddess and even successfully called for an intervention. But instead of this manifesting in an easy way out, she received a bottle containing a clear liquor of hard alcohol. The party then went back to the lobby and followed the other line of arrows.   On the way, they came to a junction where the arrow lines split. This was alluded to in Dr. Rodriguez's report, and the adventurers decided to follow the direction the arrows were pointing towards in the hope it led them to their departure point. They passed a vent with a "Do not enter" sign and had a long-winded discussion on whether or not someone should enter it, otherwise known as committing an act of venting. Caerlin even tried to convince his psyche serpent Moxi to enter, but to no avail.   Whilst resting, Baldur had a long, self-reflective think and had now come to a decision regarding Golden Shade Akkon's ultimatum. He would dedicate himself to end Vyriavaxus and effectively forsake his position as a Hellknight. In return, Baldur would receive the Regalia upon contact with the Demon Lord of Shadows, and should he live through the encounter, be granted the right to use personally use them. After he made this oath, the sigil on his armour changed to that of Clan Ironfist, a closed fist on a blue background.   The following day, the group passed a sign that marked "Checkpoint Tangent," the area MRT Magellan were tasked with exploring. Just a bit ahead they could see a break in architecture, with a metallic gate appearing at the end of a corridor. Beyond it, concrete overtook yellowed walls. After walking through it, a sign could be seen to the left, which spoke of restricted access. Baldur, as acting translator, also pondered about Cardiac, as someone clearly needed to set his pace according to the sign. The party then ventured into the new complex, known as Site 7, which was noticeably sleeker and brighter than the rest of this place, though just as empty. Entering a locker room, Baldur, Del'Gado, and Jacqualine had a competition to see who could force a lock open the quickest. Only Del'Gado succeeded, perhaps by pretending to lock a window, and he found it to be empty.   Farther in, the party located what would be a cafeteria, which in turn was located near the offices. Baldur immediately went for the kitchen, but the door presumably leading to it had a pitch black view as seen from its small window, with a dim ceiling lamp faintly visible through it. Realising that this looked an awful lot like the "outside" as seen from the hotel rooms, he abandoned his quest to raid the pantry. Afterwards, the party investigated the offices. All were devoid of life and personal effects, except for Dr. Darling's office, which contained his body. Another member of MRT Magellan, he had taken his own life, and when Jacqualine used Speak with Dead to interrogate him, he indicated that it was out of hopelessness: Site 7 had become another part of the labyrinth. Baldur appropriated the Doctor's pistol and Jacqualine communed once more. Caerlin also encouraged Jacqualine to drink, which she did, becoming drunk in the process. Baldur spared her from a hangover by casting Lesser Restoration on her the following morning.   Leaving the husk of Site 7 behind them, the party returned to the yellowed hallways. Acting navigator Tropam led the party through the unending passages and eventually happened upon a large room containing a central hexagon-shaped device emplaced on the floor. It was connected to several other bulky, heavy objects with switches and buttons. Caerlin, who was familiar with teleportation circles, thought this device bore a passing resemblance to them. Del'Gado picked up a dark-green container and inspected it; the only notable discovery was a symbol on the inside of the cork, a star with a hammer and sickle inside it. Jacqualine inspected the metallic hexagon and tried to determine if Force Reality, the spell granted to her through the Amulet of Crowns, could manipulate it. As she began making her observations, Tropam stepped in and guaranteed her success with his portent's portfolio. The metallic hexagon could indeed be amended with the spell, and Jacqualine cast it: the thing began emitting a noise and a large, round portal formed. Though the other side was initially black, it soon disappeared after light turned on, showing what appeared to be a test chamber of some description. Caerlin was the first to cross over, and the full party eventually joined him. They had now left the nightmarish maze of unending hallways for something completely different.   Baldur forced open the chamber's metal door and the party began to get their bearings. After Caerlin made a poorly-received cat joke to Del'Gado, the party sent a message to Izdubar at the behest of Baldur. He answered and confirmed that he could get them back, though he would need a few days to prepare. Following this, the party left to explore.   They found their way to the facility's central area, which contained a local map. The party had appeared in Subatomic Particle Transfiguration Research and made their way to the Central Research Sector. This place was called "ENRI," and also housed a Dimensional Research Sector, an Occult Research Administration, a Telekinetic Acceleration Department, and a military garrison quarters. Dimensional Research had been completely sealed off, and lorries with opened boxes were all around Central Research. Informational pamphlets told the party that the devices in the boxes were called ZRIs, Z-Resonance Inhibitors, which all facility personnel were ordered to equip. Further, the pamphlets spoke about the enactment of a "Protocol Galikarnase." The entry to the Dimensional Research Sector was marked with a foreboding sign stating  

EXISTENTIAL DANGER
UNKNOWN LIFEFORM(S) HAVE OCCUPIED SECTOR
AREA SEALED
DO NOT TAMPER WITH EXTERNAL VACUUM LOCK MECHANISM

  Once all this was said and done, Baldur decided to settle down in Central Research and wait for Izdubar. The rest of the party began exploring the other areas, starting with the Occult Research Administration. There they notably found a lecture hall containing a blackboard filled with strange notations and drawings. Amongst other things, the board had philosophical "proofs" and "refutations" regarding the existence of a god and spirits, some poor impressions of mythological creatures, and a discussion on magic, which was related to something called Rasputin. Also, Caerlin picked up some unidentified substances from around Occult Research, which may or may not be drugs.   Returning to Central Research, Tropam used Arcane Eye to peer behind the sealed door to Dimensional Research. A wide throughway eventually led to a checkpoint, where around 20 broken ZRI devices lay about. Most seemed to have been forcefully torn off. Beyond the checkpoint, Tropam's Arcane Eye could see a red fog, or haze, or mist. Traversing even farther into Dimensional Research proper, the Eye could see innumerable people in lab coats and uniforms suspended in mid-air, whilst Tropam could feel latent internal vibrations. It reached the point where he decided to put on a ZRI, after which it stopped instantly.   Jacqualine again started to commune. Coincidentally, as she started asking questions, the power went out. Her deity again engaged in playful and sardonic responses to questions that were apparently much too unspecified.   Later, the adventurers, minus Baldur, headed for the Telekinetic Acceleration Department. They found remains of devices that were seemingly designed to emulate magic or grant some other ability to its wearers. It seemed that none were working. A discussion ensued how these people could even build a place like this without magic, and if horses could be a solution to the logistical issues. Afterward, they headed for the garrison. It was divided into three sections and also contained an armoury with left-behind weapons. Jacqualine picked one of the rifles up and spent some time inspecting it, and even firing it in a suitable location. It was a loud, but educational, affair. When they left the garrison the adventurers managed to locate what would have been the ways out. Both had been collapsed from above.   Returning to Baldur in Central Research, the other party members, chiefly Del'Gado, began expressing an interest in the sealed area. Tropam had told them what he saw through the Arcane Eye, and knew that there were people in there, seemingly trapped in limbo. Baldur asked the party if they knew what killed the cat. This devolved into a much wider conversation, which eventually came to the question: should you open the Existential Danger Door? Baldur says "no," rest of the party say "why not?" The dwarven noble may have been too intense when explaining his standpoint to Tropam, for the Harper initiate turned him into a mouse. And just before Caerlin cast Sleep on the polymorphed Baldur, Jacqualine used Dispel to bring him back to his usual self. This did not go over well, and Baldur demanded an apology. It was certainly one of the apologies of all time.   Although Baldur strongly disagreed about wandering into Dimensional Research, he could not convince the party otherwise. And before he let them leave, he demanded Caerlin hand over the invitation to the Palace of Remembrance. After some convincing, he gave it to him. The party all equipped ZRIs, and brought some spares, and Del'Gado opened the first door. They then closed the secure door behind them and began opening the second one, and were soon embarked on the long throughway that Tropam had seen. Stopping at the checkpoint, they found a packet of cigarettes and two more bottles of clear alcohol. The party looked across to the entry into Dimensional Research, and noticed a red haze creeping closer: it soon formed into a human dressed in heavy protective gear armed with a rifle. The figure began hovering towards the party, displaying erratic movement patterns. Behind its mask was the face of a human whose skin partly glowed red.