Session XXIX: Hostile Presence

The hovering, hazy soldier that appeared in the hallway was dispatched with ease by the party. It had opened fire with its rifle, which did not shoot bullets but instead with red, crackling beams; and when it died, the figure dissipated in a brief, red-purple mist. The party went farther in and investigated what seemed like the entry into the facility proper. It was another checkpoint of sorts, but was larger than the first. Tropam was asked to read through documents at the checkpoint (for indeed, this part of the facility contrasted with the rest, containing signs of struggle throughout, such as improvised barricades, destroyed windows, overturned furniture, and scattered papers). Tropam found a log that had listed all in- and outgoing personnel. The last name on the list was a colonel Vladimir Vasnetsov, of the "KGB," and the notary had hastily typed that he was accompanied by several dozen uniformed men, including soldiers from the ENRI garrison and others wearing black uniforms and red berets. Telling the party about this, Jacqualine made an attempt to append their names to the log, though the unfamiliar lettering made it a challenge. Meanwhile, Del'Gado located an armoury and requisitioned some weapons for the party. They then continued forwards.   A rudimentary map greeted them at the first junction, which the party noted, and they decided to head for the Sector General Administration with the reasoning that more detailed maps and relevant information could be found there. They had to pass through the Research Blocks to get to it. Just before taking the stairs up, a decently-sized group of corrupted staff, soldiers, and a scientist materialised around them. Some floated, like the one they first encountered, but most were firmly located on the ground. The hostile figures attacked immediately. The scientist demonstrated some unusual abilities, such as being able to telekinetically tear off large blocks of concrete to create cover for the shooters (and of course also launching them towards the party). Whilst the party skilfully managed to repel the unknown lifeforms, Del'Gado found himself in immense peril after a grunt managed to physically restrain him, which led to another corrupted soldier tearing off and destroying his ZRI device. Del'Gado experienced a harrowing break from reality, which partly felt like a hostile presence invading his very being and partly like being overcome by a rhythmic pattern of vibrations. The others saw him being suspended in the air, much like what had happened to innumerable staff members in Dimensional Research, and Jacqualine moved quickly to again equip him with a spare ZRI. He survived, and told the party that the experience was most unpleasant.   After the battle, the party found a reasonably-sized research office to take a short rest in. Whilst recovering, they were attacked by a group of four corrupted soldiers matching the description of Col. Vasnetsov's men in black. Two of them took up positions outside the party's rest spot, intending to throw an explosive device into the room, but Del'Gado interceded by rushing up to one of them and knocking the grenade to the floor. He then closed the door and moved backwards, resulting in an explosion that only harmed the two soldiers. Tropam summoned a wall of force around them, funneling the attackers into a single spot. The ambushers were defeated, but the party could now more or less assume that the presence in Dimensional Research was all-encompassing and extremely tilted at the adventurers' expedition.   Arriving at the General Administration, Tropam discovered three areas that sounded interesting: the office of Klavdiya Flyorov, the Head of Dimensional Research; the main office of Ivan Kolnikov, RI-MVD commandant; and the spaces afforded to the Internal Oversight Commission. The party first searched the office of Klavdiya and found it suspiciously proper. Del'Gado took one of her medals, a red star bearing the profile of a man, as well as the professor's handgun. Tropam found some old architectural plans for the facility.   Next, the party investigated the RI-MVD commandant's area. An overcoat, blue cap, and ZRI device had been left on a coat hanger just inside. A leather briefcase adjacent to an overturned chair was left in front of the commandant's desk; the desk itself was strewn with files and papers. The party found an updated schematic of the facility, which showed that a large area of Dimensional Research encompassed something called the Octaphasic Triangulation Laboratory. There were also written instructions signed by Col. Vasnetsov there, which ordered commandant Kolnikov to surrender his force to the KGB and to give them lists containing the names and positions of all staff members of Dimensional Research, logs of all completed and current research projects, as well as arrest orders issued to the two people that Col. Vasnetsov knew about: Klavdiya Flyorov and Leonid Kirensky, the Head and Deputy Head of the department. Another document they found revealed that an inside source had told the colonel that senior scientists of this department were involved in a strange occult organisation, the O.T.O., which had triggered a full investigation. However, repeated obstructions and stonewalling campaigns resulted in the colonel requesting command of a special forces unit and to be granted "jurisdictional impunity" in relation to his investigation. The offices of the Internal Oversight Commission contained signs of this. For example, the colonel had filed over 600 written requests to be granted access to Dimensional Research over the course of three years, but the Commission ensured that these were rendered useless due to administrative waste, being misplaced by staff, or most commonly, had the forms "updated" on the same day as he had filed them. Outdated forms were to be automatically rejected according to the regulations in place.   Shortly after the party started to leave the General Administration, a corrupted force of the colonel's red berets materialised around them. A senior officer was present, though it was not possible to determine if it was the colonel himself. Regardless, the party fought them off. As Del'Gado sustained immense damage, Tropam polymorphed him into a giant ape in order to keep him on his feet, and the now-simian Del'Gado climbed up to the second floor and attacked two marksmen. Hitting harder than a dwarven hangover, he slammed them into the wooden wall and caused them to dissipate in haze. Once the attack was repelled, the party began moving to the Octaphasic Triangulation Laboratory, which required them to move through an access point within Department "SCh."   The adventurers made it to this department without further incident. The department itself had been completely ruined by violent combat, but they could infer that several low-quality photographs were the objects of inquiry here. There were four, and were mostly non-descript. One of them visually stood out: a view of the full-moon from a fancy balcony, with a figure seated in a chair. The party decided to take a long rest before pressing ahead, and Tropam made the clever decision to use the spell Tiny Hut to conceal their location from whatever intelligence had overrun Dimensional Research. During the rest, Jacqualine focused on the outside and could sense a presence, like the air itself, that seemed to actively be searching.   Continuing towards the Octaphasic Triangulation Laboratory, Jacqualine decided to commune with her deity. She asked if (1) there were more dangers here, (2) if they could survive, and (3) if she could make it to the huge tracts of land she had bargained from Keymoira at the Witchmarket. She received answers: (1) there were two others, in a manner of speaking, (2) if they were cautious and prudent, yes, and (3) possibly, but not likely. The party then entered an area that terminated in massive steel ports: the outer checkpoint of the Octaphasic Triangulation Laboratory.   There were several dead facility soldiers scattered here, still wearing ZRIs. Jacqualine used Speak with Dead on two of them. She was told that Dimensional Research went into lockdown and that these soldiers had orders to bar all entry into the laboratory until the all-clear came. KGB men in red berets had arrived at some point and demanded the perimeter guards to let them in. They were refused and did not hesitate a second before opening fire. She also learned some contextual information, such as the fact that the soldiers had been brought in from all across the country and thus did not know where they were, and that the lead scientist and overseer in the Octaphasic Laboratory was professor Leonid Kirensky, the Deputy Head of Dimensional Research. Once Jacqualine had asked away, the party prepared to pass through the metal ports, which bore the designation "LDAM-1." Once they got closer, the party saw red sand on the ground, seemingly having come from within the laboratory itself. Del'Gado went in first, and he witnessed that beyond the steel ports, there was no longer much of a laboratory to speak of. Instead, a sweeping red desert beneath an ominous red-black sky had overtaken it. A circle of five black monoliths could be seen in the far distance. The remnants of a concrete observation building hinted at the original layout of the laboratory. On close inspection, the grains of sand vibrated, and Tropam did some light digging to see if a source of this could be found. However, it seemed more likely that the vibrations came from, or were rather resonating from, the individual grains themselves. The party began crossing the reality-warping red desert and made it to the observation building.   This building turned out still contain two things: a control tower and the office of professor Kirensky. The party started by heading into the professor's office: spent bullet casings decorated the entry of his office, and the corpse of the professor lay face down behind his desk. Jacqualine used the tried and true Speak with Dead on him, but something was quite different this time. The body stood up, its eyes emanating with golden light, and immediately recognised Jacqualine as a descendant of the Feywild. Caerlin recognised the jolly tune as the voice of the Lantern King, whom he secured an audience with after his 'dance with fate' at the Witchmarket. A long conversation followed. The Lantern King made it clear that the party treaded on "sacred ground," the site of one of his pranks. He ignored Del'Gado's queries about his role and what had actually happened here, but said that the greatest pranks are the ones people invite unto themselves. A digression with Caerlin followed, who tried to persuade the Lantern King to get involved in his one-sided romance. Notwithstanding the enormous peril associated with inviting an archfey into one's life, more so an infamous trickster, who just made clear that he considered the violent, localised merger between two planes of existence and the resulting loss of life to be little more than a diversionary trifle made in good fun, Caerlin eventually got the Lantern King to agree that a prank between him and Jacqualine would be very funny. Funnier still, the Lantern King said, would be to let Caerlin wallow in his own imagination for the rest of his time. Then he turned Caerlin into a bouquet. Comedy achieved.   The Lantern King explained that he would not stop the party from exploring the site of his prank. After all, he was going to let this be for a couple of thousand years before reversing the damage. He then spoke to Tropam, and phased into his hands an amulet that belonged to professor Kirensky. Tropam was impressed by the Lantern King's magic, and expressed a desire to become the youngest wizard to ever cast the Wish spell. The Lantern King responded by asking his age, and once he received an answer, replied that Tropam would face fierce competition. In fact, he asked the displaced Harper initiate if he wished to know who the current record-holder was. "Yes," affirmed the harengon, and the Lantern King reciprocated: "Of course you would." Then the essence of the archfey left professor Kirensky's body, and it fell to the floor.   The party, now accompanied by a bouquetified Caerlin, proceeded to search the office and the control tower. They recovered enciphered, manic writings belonging to the professor. Tropam divined his way to break the cipher and discovered that the haphazard writings were in Druidic, and they strongly suggested that the professor himself was the unnamed contact who informed Col. Vasnetsov about the happenings in Dimensional Research. Further, the amulet, which indicated the professor's grade in the O.T.O, was cursed (identified by Tropam) though the nature of the curse was somewhat nebulous. In the control tower, the party found records which stated that the LDAM-1, the main device utilised in the experiments undertaken in the Octaphasic Triangulation Laboratory, was a highly modified Long Distance Apparatus from Subatomic Particle Transfiguration Research. This was the device the party found in the endless corridor mazes and which had allowed them, after Jacqualine used the Amulet of Crowns, to leave said mazes.