Day 3: A "Stunning" Morning

If there was ever a morning that needed to start with a tall glass of milk, it was this one. I awoke to the sounds of Wraith and Medea arguing about the loot division from last night, and despite my spitting headache such noises were a welcome reprieve from my nightmarish coma-like state. I swear by the Gods that I feel like I was trapped in that limbo for two weeks or more rather than a few hours. I awoke with memories and thoughts that were not my own, I knew of spells and magicks both forgotten and forbidden. Despite my splitting headache, I had two goals this morning: deciphering the glowing green text over by the archway and investigating the sealed gate in opposite corner of the room.
 
Ignoring the arguing and Janott's cooking, I grabbed a handful of ash and staggered over to the glowing letters. I tossed the ash into the air making a cloud and casted the ritual "Comprehend Languages", sat on the floor and stared at the letters for the next few minutes until they began to make sense to me. Slowly the letters reshaped themselves in my mind's eye into common tongue, and they read: "To those whom enter. Grave danger. To those whom come Death". I once the I fully translated them called over my shoulder to the others, telling them the meaning... though since we cleared the room and this dungeon of sorts of cultists the message is a tad moot at this point.
 
Following this, still mostly ignoring the others and trying to fight the headache, I made my way to the sealed gate. After a brief but thorough examination, I let the raw and painful energy and knowledge flow from my mind to my palm. It lessened my headache as I invoked an Eldirtch Blast forth, and burst forceful power thrusted itself from my hand with double the strength of any of the spells I casted yesterday. It utterly destroyed the gate and repulsed it's crumpled remains into the cell. Wraith and Medea ceased their bickering and conversations and approached the cell as well. They too investigated, Medea threw a few spells at it while Wraith threw an apple. What we could concur was that the room was filled with a magical darkness obscuring the chest hidden in the back of the room. We feared the darkness may consume or hurt us if we entered it, or the chest could be a mimic, or perhaps some other trapped was hidden... we were not about to risk it.
 
Towards the end of our investigation of the cell, Janott called out to us complaining that none of us were eating the breakfast she made for us using the non-humanoid ingredients we found down here. It smelled and tasted lovely, and the last remains of my headache finally faded away. However our breakfast was cut short by the sounds of a disturbance above us, we company of possibly the violent kind. Medea and I hid over one side of the room by the glowing lettered archway while Wraith hid on the other side of the room closer to the cell. Janott remained out in the open in front of her giant pot of breakfast stew/soup, though not before tossing some of the most definitely poisonous mushrooms in there first.
 
Descending from the stairs flanked by his entourage of guards, was what appeared to be the Emperor himself. Initially I believed this to be an illusion or trick of some sort, for why would the infamous and nigh immortal Emperor Arthund of the Krelyrian Empire be down in this musty mushroom infested hole in the ground? This place, along with our issues with the Wendigo, the cannibals, and the Rosa Sanguinem were beneath such a man's notice or care? In fact half the stuff the Imperium Academia gets a way with is due to his patronage of coin and his desire to collect knowledge for himself and to destroy everything else... so why would he be here? All my doubts were erased however the moment I laid my eyes on his onyx-hued and ominous sword: Ingervanal, The Stream of Anguish. That alone confirmed that it was indeed the Emperor, and that we indeed were royally screwed.
 
He addressed Janott, threatening her and demanding where the rest of us were. She tried bluffing and selling it that she just was making breakfast and no one wanted to eat it, and tried convincing the Emperor to have some. The Emperor seemed seconds away from smiting her just to silence her crocodile (Tortle?) tears and her admittedly rather whiny voice, that I stepped out and attempted to introduce myself in hopes of saving her from being made into Tortle Soup. No sooner than I introduced myself, he spoke he single word and I fell over petrified and paralyzed... he had Power Word Stunned me. I knew from my time at the IA that this was an 8th Level spell, and that we were more screwed than I thought. Between his magic sword and his mastery high tiered magicks that there was no way we could survive a direct confrontation with him. I rolled my eyes over to Medea, hoping I could such a message with my eyes to her. Fortunately, such a message was felt by everyone in the party as Janott casted Mist in order to make her escape and grabbing me. Wraith attempted to goad and antagonize the Emperor as we tried to make our way to the green glowing archway. The Emperor Dispelled the Mist and was getting ready to really attack.
 
Divine intervention or something akin to it befell us, as none other than Empress Sachiel teleported her way into this dungeon from out of nowhere! He attacked her, with a seemingly mortal wound as she saved us by teleporting us up and out of the dungeon to God's know where!