"May we have a tour of the lower level?" asked Fanara. I would like to examine the library and any history or information you have on Dragonkin and the Drakelands."
"Why yes, and I can take you to the mess hall and on a tour of the underground medical offices. Also the lower level of the Bastions," Bescaylie replied.
"Great, when can we get started?"
"Immediately, just let me inform the guard."
After discussion the party decided to follow Bescaylie's directions to Spurhorn.
"Perhaps she will help us enter the fortress?" Santrel wondered.
"She will need to know when we are ready," Casia added.
"We could try to fly in using the ointments," Santrel considered.
"The ointments are usable for a lengthy time, they are of overland flight," Fanara said.
The magic items that the party had found were identified and then the party took a rest. There was never a night phase in the garden, the sky was light all the time. There was no sun either just light from the sky. There was another hour of rain during the rest.
The party did a thorough search of the gazebo. The floor was minutely examined as were the walls and ceiling. The filigree was not of any interest, other than decoration. The table holding the cauldron was unremarkable as was the cauldron. Casia mentioned trying to drop another non magical item in the cauldron to see if anything happened but the party dissuaded her of this approach.
"There are three other buildings, lets search them all once again," Milos suggested.
After Zilvazaraat departed the party did some healing and restorations to recover from the battle with the Moon-Beast and Denizen of Leng.
"Now what shall we do? This building did not seem to give us any hints or new areas to explore." Casia said wonderingly.
"There are several other areas outside," Fanara suggested.
"Wasn't there another area with buildings?" Milos asked.
"Yes the owl indicated that there were small buildings to the east." Amadeo recalled.
"We should check the Moonflowers for treasure before we leave." said Fanara.
Jorgen headed for the doors and finding them unlocked peered inside. He found a hallway extending to the west with doors on the north and south about 30-40 feet in. The rest of the party began to enter and flanked the doors.
Fanara flung open the north door revealing a chamber filled with dusty piles of old furniture, mounds of moldering herbs, bales of cloth, barrels of fertilizer, clay pots, and trays of dried seeds. A large stone fireplace occupied the northwest corner. In the room stood a figure in tattered red robes who looked up from searching the room at the door opening.
The humanoid figure said something in a language no one understood.
"Hello, who are you," Fanara replied in Common.
"I have healing available," Milos offered.
Fanara and Casia were busy picking up the pieces of their armor but said they needed healing, maybe more than the others!
After healing Santrel set about mending the armor and buckler of Fanara and Casia's armor. It appeared as good as new, or at least how it had appeared before. Then the two heroes took time to put the armor back on before the party headed anywhere.
At last they started up the stairway, winding around and around the hollow cylinder. Milos took off first as he would more than likely soon fall behind.
"Which way should we go?" Jorgen asked impatiently.
"We could see what is beyond the hallway to the east. Maybe it leads to something interesting." Santrel said.
"I say we try the one to the north," Fanara countered.
"Stop the fighting you two," Casia suggested. "Lets take the door to the north."
Jorgen approached and found no traps but the door was locked. He tried the three keys that he had collected but none of them worked in this lock. He then pulled out his tools and began to attack the lock to open it. It took several attempts but he was ultimately successful. Opening the door he found another tunnel with stairs headed up.
"Do we need to become older to face the Eon Pit?" Santrel wondered.
"Aging is not all it is assumed to be," Fanara answered. "Just look at Milos, he can hardly see or walk well these days."
"But I can keep all of you in good health, that is worth more than my reduced sight. I can see other things than just with my eyes!" Milos retorted.
Fanara attempted to determine meaning from the warnings and was not happy to find that the phrase was part of a "croning ritual" performed by older witches to celebrate the symbolic and spiritual transformation from motherhood into their elderly years.
"Do we really want to get that old?" Casia asked.
"Lets try the south doorway first," Fanara suggested.
Jorgen moved to the double doors and tried the keys that he had. The same key that worked on the other two doors in this chamber opened these doors also. The doors opened into another passageway that led south, southwest to another arch that clearly resembled the other teleportation arches the party had used before.
"We should try the other doors before going through this arch," Casia suggested.
Again Jorgen tried the keys on the locked doors and found the same key opened these doors also. This doorway led to another passageway that headed west and then quickly climbed to the south.
"Everyone stay back there is a trap here," Jorgen exclaimed.
Jorgen began to explore the room as the giants did not react immediately. He moved west and east but did not see any other secret doors or hidden items. The smashed statue was made of wood and resembled a stooped and ancient beldame, now broken into many pieces across the floor.
Amadeo began to edge into the chamber while the others basically waited in the tunnel for some action.
The giants then yelled "Intruders" in Giant which Santrel related for the group. At this the giants began to slowly move forward to attack.
"We should head to the west here. We don't want to leave any enemies behind us!" Jorgen suggested.
"Then you should lead us in that direction." Casia ordered.
Jorgen headed up the passage which looked like the rest of the passages in this area with springtime scenes on the walls.
A few feet into the passage Jorgen noted tiny pieces of quartz that formed an inlay of a crescent moon in the floor of this passage, surrounded by a ring of runes. A few feet beyond the inlay a small round table stood in the middle of the tunnel. A wooden bowl filled with fresh wildflowers sat in the center of the table.
"I'm blind!" Jorgen bellowed.
"So am I," echoed Milos.
This was followed by a similar pronouncement from Amadeo and Santrel.
"So all the boys are blind," Fanara noted with a snigger.
A stone call followed and the whole party was hit by a deluge of small stones falling from above. The floor was littered with stones making movement difficult.
After a rest period Fanara wondered if they should head up to the door out of the Maiden. Santrel said that even if Marislova had made it out she would be long gone after the party had rested for eight hours. Fanara was red headed today after her seance, a welcome change from the cadaverous sight from before.
Now the question became where to head next, the supposed hags or the room with sunlight spilling from the entry. Given that they must go through the hag area it probably behooved them to check of the hag area first.
As they approached the chamber from the north Fanara tried to view the area over the hanging curtains. The area inside seemed to be divided into at least three chambers. Fanara could not get a good view into any of them, but there was some magic in the areas.
"There doesn't appear to be any way forward from here," Jorgen said after looking around at the walls.
"Where should we go next?" Santrel queried.
"The Temple room had three exits we haven't explored yet. Maybe one of those?" Fanara responded.
"Let's head back to the Temple and we can decide there." Casia suggested.
The party made its way back up the stairs and into the Temple, where no changes had taken place yet. Deciding on the easiest path they headed to the open passageway rather than the two doors.
The battle opened with the two figures gazing at Santrel and Fanara. The sight of the disfigured ghostly creatures caused both physical and Charisma damage to the elves. Then the battle was joined by the rest of the party.
Milos cast Bless as Amadeo and Casia began their attacks. Santrel thought that Magic Missiles would be the best as it would completely damage the ghosts. All were of course hindered by not looking directly at the horrible enemies.
This led to many misses as the party flailed around trying to hit the creatures without really looking at them. Amadeo even disregarded this plan and took damage from the gaze.
"This tunnel quickly goes down into the mesa, at quite a steep slope. There are stairs though," Jorgen informed the group.
"No where else to go?" Amadeo asked.
"I do not see any other openings or hallways," Jorgen reported.
The long and twisting flight of stone stairs were carved into a cramped passage of cold black basalt. At around 300 feet below the doorway the walls began to be covered with carvings.
With no other choice the party decided to head to the northeast. Casia was encouraged to leave the hut even though she was still concerned about returning.
The small clearing was surrounded by tall trees and soon the party found themselves within the confines of many of those trees. As they moved further in the woods became more dense, comprised of tall trees with long needle-like leaves clustered into spiral arrangements. High above, their branches locked together, blotting out the sunlight. Below the canopy, the tree branches were thin, losing their foliage from lack of sunlight, and jutted out from the vast maze of peeling trunks like skeletal arms. A blanket of fallen needles covered the ground. Locked in the gloom and cold, the forest floor seemed nearly barren, except for patches of lichen and moss that cling to the rocky soil and the lower trunks of the towering trees.
The Animate Dream attacked with many fear type spells, Amadeo and Casia tried to run away from the creature but were blocked and began to cower.
Fanara had a vision of a terrible monster but her will was enough to overcome the phantasmal killer. Jorgen was staying out of the battle as he was still processing his previous death.
That left a large sized Fanara, Santrel and Milos to fight the monster.
The party was inside or just outside a now dimly lit room. An albino Raven was talking to them and they had just identified the symbology of the carvings on the doors. Casia continued her conversation with the Raven.
"We are in search of Baba Yaga. The rider in black armor tasked us with finding Baba Yaga and returning her to Irrisen," Casia said beseechingly.
"I wondered who you were and why you were here," the Raven responded.
"Can you help us with our goal?" Casia asked.
The hut lowered the entry to the porch down to ground level, inviting the party to climb onto the porch. Everyone moved on the porch with Fanara heading for the door. Others looking in the windows saw a cozy room, with a cauldron bubbling away in the center. The room seemed larger than the dimensions of the hut that they could walk around on the porch. No additional doors or windows were seen.
Fanara pushed gently on the door and it opened easily, revealing the comfortable looking room. Bundles of dried herbs hung from the rafters, and along the walls were numerous shelves held a bewildering variety of glass jars, bottles, and vials containing all manner of strange magical components and alchemical ingredients. A massive cauldron sat in the middle of the room. No fire burned under the pot, but the liquid within it bubbled and churned, and white fumes rose and lapped over the brim. A large stove, writing desk, bookcase, and fireplace complete the room, along with a number of crates, barrels, and sacks. A short flight of steps led up to a set of double doors in the north wall, and a small ladder climbed to a trap door in the ceiling in the northeast corner. A latticed ceiling was above the cauldron showing a second level that was not visible from outside.
