Excerpt from Desmond's Journal: Planarverse of Madness
12 Palesun, 252
Well.
I think I should really try and start coming to terms with the fact that there is the possibility of something utterly bonkers happening at any time and any place, without any warning. At least that makes me glad I don't have a heavy suit of armour or enough weapons to outfit a small army to carry around everywhere I go. Idriell isn't running out of surprises anytime soon.
Not even two days had passed since my last outing, so I was still recovering from some of the wounds I sustained at the fighting pit. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling famished, so I decided to go downstairs and get something to eat and perhaps take a walk around town. But it seems someone had other plans, for when I opened the door of the room, instead of a corridor, all I saw was a dark, endless void. I've been told that strange things happened around here, but I definitely wasn't prepared for this. I tried to see if there were any other ways to exit the room, but every opening only had the void. Realizing there's nothing really I could do and, my curiosity getting the better of me, I walked into the void.
I was plunged into darkness. I could feel something solid under me to walk on, but I couldn't see anything. It was like I was surrounded by everything and nothing at the same time. Eventually, I began to see something: a person. Only when I approached closer did I realize I was looking at myself. I was surrounded by mirrors now, countless reflections staring at each other… And then, one of them moved! It looked at me and I heard a voice ask who I am and what my title is. Not really sure what was happening, I told it my name. Then it started to walk away. Following it, I found myself entering a chamber through a mirror. At the same time I saw other adventurers enter from other mirrors in the chamber. There were some familiar faces, to my relief, and there were others who I was seeing for the first time.
There was Serj, who was one of the first few people I met after coming here. He helped me out getting settled in and let me bunk in with a couple reptiles in his room. Turns out he's quite the Hunter. There was Spoon, the Goblin that I met at the Hearth. I don't know why but I have a small suspicion she's not the biggest fan of... people, definitely capable of blowing up a house though. Wouldn't want to be on her bad side. There was Asteria. I remember seeing her at the tavern but didn't get a chance to talk at that time. Seems to be a powerful spellcaster. Something about her seemed... strangely familiar, although I can't really put a finger on it. There was Harold, who looked like he was a former noble of some land who decided to help out the folk of Vareholm. Gave me a magic sword. And there was Guth-tu-Nakash and his warhorse, Tucker. I couldn't really figure out what his skill set exactly was. He both casted spells, and I saw him hit like a boulder.
After introductions were made, we were confronted by a strange being that referred to itself as Lajma the Uncountable. I had a weird sensation whenever I tried looking at them, as if I could see them, but at the same time, couldn't really focus on any specific part of them. They announced that we were chosen to participate in the Infinity Games. I did not know anything about what was going on, but it seemed some of the others had knowledge of this, so I just
played along. Also Serj called himself Zarach O'lama, Reigning Champion of the Infinity Games. I wonder what's up with that. I'll have to ask him. Anyway, afterwards we were asked for a team name and we landed on “Back By Popular Demand". We were then told that the games will have several rounds, and we could win up to 3 points per round. After agreeing to participate, everything around us turned blank once again and slowly dematerialised into a different area as though the whole world moved around us.
We found ourselves in a dark cave with flowing water. In front of us was a small pillar with a strange orb floating above it. Not wanting to mess with it, we proceeded to look around the area and eventually found out that the water might have strange magical properties. So some of us collected it in containers. Guth cast a spell that enabled us to walk on water. He and Spoon were looking around on the other side of the river when they got attacked by something. As we absorbed it and prepared for the confrontation, numerous creatures were pouring out of the darkness and started to push us back. The party spread out, trying to counter them on multiple fronts. Our assailants looked like some sort of goblinoid creatures but... mutated by magic? I'm beginning to think mutation is a rather common thing to see in Idriell. Guth, Spoon and Asteria were on the other bank while Serj was providing ranged support. Harold was initially on the other side but retreated back to help me deal with multiple creatures surrounding us and not get overwhelmed... I don’t really recall what happened from there clearly. It was like my body was acting before I could even think, and many events were taking place at the same time. It was almost like I was witnessing everything from outside myself. There must've been a spellcaster,
because Asteria kept having her spells disrupted, but Guth charged in on Tucker, who was leaving a blazing trail, and engaged the spellcaster. Spoon was behind us as some of the enemies made it past us and I saw her literally explode... engulfing Harold, Serj, and herself in flames. I felt the heat almost singe my hair. After that, all that remained were a pile of corpses. After that, we proceeded forward and found a room with a coffin bound in chains. Opening it, we met a Vampire who claimed he has been locked here for 7 years and thanked us for freeing him before vanishing into mist. After that we decided to take a small breather to recover. Some of us tried to drink a bit of that water. I remember it tasting really unpleasant and then…
We got the orb from the pillar and it spoke to us, asking if we were prepared to guess. We were uncertain as to what it wanted us to guess. But we eventually figured out it was showing us maps of several places when we spoke the name of said place... I really wish I was able to spend more time with that orb in a calmer situation... all the places I could chart that are
physically not possible to venture into. It could be a breakthrough. But alas, we had pressing matters at hand. We realized that we were supposed to guess our current location, and after a bit, guessed that we were in the Plane of Chaos. I... I can't even begin to wrap my hard around the fact that I was actually in a different plane of existence... Reading about them, I just
thought they were old legends, but here we are. After confirming our guess, darkness surrounded us and we found ourselves in a new environment.
We were in a Tavern, seemingly back in our world. It took us a bit of examining but we were eventually able to figure out that we were in a place between Waterdeep and the High Forest and the orb transported us to a different place. This time we were standing on a stone ridge, surrounded by forest. There was a sign on one side with some of the letters faded. The others were able to figure out that we were near a place called New Haven, which was close to Vareholm. The orb transported us again after relating our guess to it. This time, we were in a land that looked like it was straight out of the old stories told to you about hell... dark structures, amber skies, the feeling like the air was on fire. It turned out to be rather accurate as it turns
out we were in the Plane of Fire, in the City of Brass. After that we were transported again and this time we were in a random street of some sort of a port town. Everything seemed normal but there was something strange about the place and it's people. It oddly seemed familiar but I can't
remember from where. We eventually figured out we were in some place called Innsmouth. After relaying our guess, the orb transported us again and we found ourselves in the strange void facing Lajma the uncountable again. He told us we scored 13 out of 15 points and thus, have won the Infinity Games. He then waved his hand and a bunch of gold and other things
appeared in front of us. Before we could ask him anything else, darkness surrounded us once again and we opened our eyes to the morning sky of Vareholm. We were standing in the middle of the town square. After a second of just taking it all in, we parted ways and I made my way back to the Hearth carrying more gold than I had ever held before.
It has only been a few days since I've been in Idriell but I have already seen stranger things than I've seen in my entire life till now. I am both excited and extremely terrified as to what might be awaiting me next. But I've come this far and decided to stay, I don't think there is going to be any going back now. The least I could do is try to prepare myself a bit better to face what this land
might throw at me. The others mentioned this Lajma could be someone called Scam Likely? Gotta see if I can find anything on that…
D.L.
Session: Teleponder 1
DM: Ratzah
Date: 5/13/22
