Session 11: Deep Dark Down Report

General Summary

Getting the time to look around the group finds themselves in a simple room. Some bookshelves in the back, a large round table in the middle of the room, a chest standing on top of it and with eight chairs surrounding it.   Still a little disoriented the group starts looking around. Among the first things they notice ... Eli’s Almiraj, Alter’s Tressym and the box with the dagger they were to deliver are gone.   Taking a look around the room, the upset Eli looking for Fluff, Gnimble investigating the walls after Eli grumbled about them, the group finds paintings on the walls next to the locked door hopefully leading out. Taking everything into account, the group eventually came to the conclusion that they were required to put all their weapons into the chest on the table. Doing so, the chest snapped shut and the door unlocked, opening itself for the group.   The hallway behind that door led them into an octagonal room, one door on each of the walls, and a raised pedestal standing in the middle. Reading the inscription on the plaque that the group found on that pedestal, they were faced with a challenge. They were to choose three rooms and their order and tackle their challenges.   Six of the doors had plaques above their door frames, apparently warning the group of what lies behind them. And after reading that one of them promised the „Gnome Man‘s Land“, Gnimble went off without waiting another second, entering the room. The door snapped shut behind him, leaving the rest of the party to decide how to tackle the remaining rooms. In the end, they split up as well, tackling one room each to raise their chances.   As such Gnimble tackled a room filled with balloons an later marbles. Eli ended up having to find the good potion among five potions, and drink it. Alter was challenged by a Minotaur riddle, involving keys. And lastly Tranquil was to play a game of chess.   As Gnimble and Alter, and then Eli passed their challenges though, Tranquil didn’t get much of a chance to actually play. Instead, the group continued as one, leaving the challenge room behind.   They eventually found themselves in a room with an even harder challenge. A small room, the walls lined with all types of weapons, two doors at the end of it, one marked with „X“, one marked with „O“, and writing over it telling them that the O door would let them leave this place, though they’d have to leave their pets and weapons behind. The other door would eventually lead them to these, but only two of them can pass through this door.   Not wanting to loose Fluff and after previous experiences, Eli immediately went to warn Gnimble of running through the X door. Seeing this threatening, giant barbarian, about three times his size ... though had the opposite effect on Gnimble. A mad mess started, of Gnimble rushing to that door, Alter arming herself and following Gnimble, and an angry Eli wailing at the now locked door.   Tranquil, who had been watching from the side, kept a clear mind though, suggesting to Eli to take the other door ... only to then break through the wall between the two hallways. Having found his way back on track, Eli started rushing down that hallway after Gnimble.   Meanwhile, Gnimble and Alter reached a surprisingly nice room, an elderly lady welcoming them and offering them some tea and cake, which the two gladly accepted ... once Gnimble made sure to push some pieces of furniture in front of the door to block Eli from rushing through it.   And Eli did eventually reach the door, banging and hitting against it, only to get scolded by the elderly woman. She eventually let him and Tranquil enter, after Eli calmed down a little and offered all of them tea and cake. After some polite conversation, the group was invited to take a look at her painting collection.   The paintings were kept in a bottomless room, walls lined all over with paintings - and massive, moving staircases leading to different levels of the room. The party quickly noticed that all of the paintings, at least all that they saw, looked fairly realistic. People, animals, landmarks, weapons, all sorts of different things drawn. All in different situations.   They were brought to a painting showing an Almiraj, dressed up as a king, a Tressym flying in the air near it. Seeing this a dark feeling surfaced in Eli and the others. Eli and Tranquil were led to some more paintings, while Gnimble had caught up to the others and stayed with Alter still in front of the bunny painting.   Seeing their interest in the paintings, the elderly lady offered them one painting each, to decorate their own homes. Eli quickly chose the image of most likely his bunny. After a clap of hands, the painting was put in a box and appeared in Eli’s hands. Following this, Alter asked for a bit of rest, the four being led back to the main room by the elderly lady.   There they were offered a room with some beds to stay in and rest. Though instead Alter started interrogating the woman, asking her over and over again if she knew where their pets and weapons were. Getting more and more irritated every time she had to repeat this, the elderly woman told them that she didn’t know anything about where their things were. As the group didn’t want to accept this, the woman clapped her hands, a door appearing, and asking them to leave now.   Though the group still didn’t accept this. Seeing this as extremely rude, and still being asked the same things over and over again, the woman clapped her hands again, the rugs on the ground starting to move and ushering the players out. Gnimble, Eli and Tranquil started moving out, though Alter stayed for a moment longer, telling the woman to understand that non of this was their choice. All the at that point quite angry elderly woman could tell Alter was to maybe rethink her life choices, and with that finally Alter joined the rest of the group.   The door slammed shut behind them and disappeared. And as that happened, the box in Eli’s arms with the painting of his bunny and Alter’s Tressym started getting heavier, before the two creatures appeared from it, the Tressym seemingly quite annoyed with the box, while the dressed up Almiraj just happily started tugging on Eli’s beard.   Seeing this, Eli and Alter decided to head back to free all those other paintings, and while the others stood by and watched, Eli started mauling away on the wall where once was a door. After getting to a point where he should’ve gotten through the wall, Eli finally realised there was no going back and instead the group finally continued down the hallway.   At the end of which ... their weapons awaited them. Briefly discussing if this was a trap, the group eventually started grabbing their things again, whenever one of them started doing so .... nothing at all happened.   Having gotten everything back that they lost, the group walked through the massive doors, that seemed to mark the exit ... only to wake up at their campsite again. The campsite that they had left that morning, when they ended up in that strange village. Everything seemed to be in place and to the rest of the world, it seemed like nothing more than a dream.   After discussing their future possibilities and coming to the conclusion that they will not return to that house of madness any time soon, the group packed their camp together, before heading off back towards home.