Session 37

Beyond That Door

The party sat together at the dining table, where they proceeded to form a plan of action. In about a day or two, they would break into the Academy Vault. But before that, they would need to do recon and prepare.
The rest of the evening was spent doing individual activities. Cerrule checked back on the garden, Cynic relaxed in the bath, Aragir returned to researching the Vestiges and Delbellis started brewing her potions in her room together with her mentor Kira.

That night, Aragir’s trance showed him a memory of his early days in the Academy. His mentor, Alduin, walked with him in the courtyard, and explained how he would soon be appointed a retainer for further research, and that he would be meeting one of the Academy’s headmasters, Garr Hylthe. The Vault was mentioned, and Aragir asked why it was inaccessible. Alduin warned him then, and explained that the Vault was inside a pocket dimension, an artificial space adjacent to the realm’s dimension, built out of several connected pockets of space. It was created this way to hold things that ought to remain safe. He urged Aragir to stay away from it, lest he’d get lost.

The following morning, the Four Feathers headed out for their first day of preparation. While crossing the streets of Brassdorf, they encountered a stand that sold newspapers. To the surprise of most of them, their name was pressed boldly on the front page;

“I am Cynic. I just saved the world and we are looking for butlers, maids, anything really. Be honoured to serve us.”

While some in the crew were visibly flustered, Delbellis was clearly amused and made sure to save a copy for the group before they walked on.
When questioned why Cynic would put their name out like this, he let slip that he was once part of a pirate crew called ‘The Rattlers’ and admitted that he was trying to acquire more fame and renown.

When the group arrived at the Wizard’s Guild, to get back to Vaeri’s promise, Delbellis could not help but enter the alchemy room again, and spoke with the man who happened to be working in there. At first the man was distrustful, but with Cynic and Cerrule’s help he was convinced of her knowledge, and even got excited about having her as a guest lecturer. Though she would need to sign some forms first.
Before she could do that, however, Vaeri was ready to speak with them, and they were swiftly taken to her office.
Though again displeased with Elashor’s presence, Cynic soon moved on and handed Vaeri a basket of strawberries that he had picked up along the way. This seemed to leave a positive impression on her.
As they got to business, Vaeri explained what she knew about the Vault, and the limits to what she could, and would, do for them.
While she did not know the exact inner workings of the Vault, she explained that the real challenge was to find a way back out of it. The entrance was located at the back of the library, and looked like a simple, inconspicuous door lacking a handle or keyhole with the message “No Entry” on it. As far as she knew, it was not actively monitored or guarded. She had heard rumours that its interior was constantly changing. To get out, it was recommended that they left a trail of sorts, and that they would have to turn back through the same rooms they had entered.
She then explained that she would assign a trusted mage that would teleport them in and out of the Academy. She would also arrange a meeting with Garr on the day of their mission, and attempt to keep him busy while they entered the Vault.
As the meeting reached its end, Cynic tried to interest her in some leisure time soon to which she explained that she would be taking some time off to partake in the Midsommar festival in about four days.

After this, the group continued to the teleportation room to take their first step of preparation; Using Aragir’s meeting with Garr as a cover, the group would be investigating the Academy in search of any information that could help them get into the Vault and navigate it safely.
While Aragir was visiting Garr in his office, Cerrule had hidden herself inside his coat as a spider, so that she could crawl out unseen. Aragir took half of Delbellis’ potion of contendness to calm his nerves, and offered Garr the other half. Trusting the other mage just enough in this moment, he eventually took the offer.
He seemed somewhat dismissive when Aragir asked him about retrieving his research, though he agreed to letting him retrieve it himself. In order to do that, however, he would need to change ranks. As an inspector he would be granted different privileges, though he would no longer be officially associated with the Academy and his records would be wiped clean. Aragir then suggested they go for a walk through the premises to further discuss the details of what this new rank would entail. Garr seemed reluctant at first, though Aragir insisted.

When the two left the office, Cerrule quickly skimmed through the headmaster’s desk. In it she found a Scroll of Awakening, a note of departure from Kaimos, and a document about a certain archivist named Darius, who was the last overseer of the Vault. He was later transferred to Diremound, where he worked at the “Books of Intrigue” until present.

At the courtyard, it was clear that Garr was withholding something when asked about Alduin, and would not even acknowledge that he had been reported to be found. Aragir attempted to read his mind, though the headmaster had easily detected it. He became somewhat suspicious, and ended the conversation soon after. Left to himself, Aragir then took this time to acquire three Academy uniforms from the Academy’s tailor nearby.

In the meantime, Delbellis and Cynic had disguised themselves somewhat and taken to the library to inspect the entrance of the Vault and find more information on it.
The entrance truly was as plain as it was described to be, though the two assumed it could still be secured in some magical manner. When they failed to figure out exactly what was the matter with it, they came up with a new idea; Another student was to become their guinea pig.
As Cynic found a student that was isolated, he dared the young man to go in, which the student accepted. He went in seemingly without a problem, though when he returned he appeared frightened and disoriented despite only having been inside for what seemed to be mere seconds. The confused student was found by one of the archivists, and was promptly taken to the infirmary.

On their way, Cerrule, who had taken the form of a spider again, managed to hop onto one of their shoes and go along with them. Once there, she could see how the present nurse, whom she recognised as Ester, cast a calming spell on the student and cleared his memory. Delbellis, who had followed the student, saw it from a distance, though the archivists were reluctant to let her near. Ester then recognised the aarakocra as one of the Four Feathers, and handed her four hall passes in case they needed to be around the Academy still.

While the student was being taken away, Cynic had dared more students to enter the Vault. Their equally confused emergence alerted the archivists, and they quickly turned to warn Garr. Luckily, the man was still under the influence of the potion Aragir had shared with him, and saw no reason to be alarmed.

When the group reconvened, they all shared their findings and returned to their home in Brassdorf to make the rest of the preparations.
In the evening Aragir contacted Kaimos through Sending to ask him about the Vault, though his response was roughly the same as Vaeri’s; Don’t get lost, leave trails and don’t stray from your traveled path.
It would take another day to get the necessary potions, learn and prepare needed spells and buy the materials they needed to navigate through the Vault, but then the day of the mission arrived.

Aragir had used an enlarge spell on the handy haversack to allow Cerrule and Delbellis to get inside it, after which he and Cynic entered the Academy. When they got closer, they made themselves invisible and entered the Vault with relative ease.
The first room appeared like a dusty attic at first, though at a second glance it held tables that were filled with artifacts. Something felt off, however. There was a strange magic in the air, and Aragir and Cynic were too distracted to inspect the tables.
After attaching a string in the first room that they would be using as a lead for the way back, they cautiously entered the next room, which was a strange ethereal space filled with even stranger mechanical clocks as opposed to the wider known sun-dials. While its hands were eerily ticking in tandem, the two decided that it was not safe yet to let their friends out of the bag and quickly proceeded to the next room.
The third room appeared surprisingly normal, and Aragir finally let Delbellis and Cerrule out. Cerrule did not trust the area, and used Detect Magic on it. She quickly found out that this room, as well as every other, was completely immersed in some type of transmutation magic that allowed the rooms to shift in the way they did.
Taking their chances, the group took some time to search through the archives.

Delbellis found some information about the World Eater. It spoke of a skin burning disease that radiated from the source. Energy bursts were observed going into space, and native animals in Istros Borealis were found to have been altered to an abnormal degree. She was audibly disinterested in findings of necromancy and the undead, and went on to find several schematics of inventions.
Cerrule did take interest in what Delbellis found before, and found that there were several factions around the world known to practise necromancy. In the Southern Kingdoms, there was Kifo. In Oblimora there were the Skullmasters. In Avalon there were the Masks of Masra. Esuna strangely seemed to have no evidence of necromantic activity, as the realm refused to entertain the thought and did not deem it necessary to investigate.
There were also some reports from the Crimson Dawn about the Skullmasters in Oblimora.
Other than this, she also found three spell scrolls, which she memorized with help of Delbellis’ Keen Mind potion.
Aragir found information about some of the Vestiges, and how the Academy used to conduct experiments with them in the past. However, after several of the research subjects died in the process it was deemed too dangerous to continue and the Vestiges would be kept in the Vault. There were also other Vestiges known to be hidden elsewhere. Avalon and Elkenveil were reported to have Vestiges hidden somewhere.
Cynic coincidentally found information about an ancient Aasimar family called Eligor, who ruled over the kingdom of Zenicrest. The kingdom was destroyed by Ozma the Mad, however, and the family was tragically split apart. Other than this, their fates were unknown.
Knowing that their time was limited, they deduced they had gotten most of what this room had to offer and went onward to the next.

As their surroundings took form, they found themselves in a room with a red carpet laid out in front of them. On the walls were eight vessels, four on each side, that each contained a Saffron Stone. Plaques underneath these vessels stated the names of those who were captured inside; Vess Elira, Theodore Vain, Dukat. Members of the Five Wise.
One of them was cracked, however, and inside the vessel they could see the bust of a man they knew all too well; Weylin Miriel. Strangely, he appeared to be still alive, but unconscious.
With the memories of their battle still fresh in the minds of the Four Feathers, they decided not to tamper with it and quickly move on.

The fifth room was filled with a strange light unlike the oil lamps or magical lights they knew. Its walls and furniture was almost completely made of a type of metal. In the middle was a large cylindrical container made almost entirely of expertly crafted glass, and there were what looked like glass windows or plates alongside the walls. On closer inspection, peculiar strings that looked like a shiny leather or some other foreign material were connected to it, and there were strange little cubes sticking out from the furniture on the side.
When Aragir inspected the cylinder and the little cubes, he found that there was a strage text written on them, though he could not discern what language it was. With help of a Comprehend Languages spell, however, he could see that the cubes each had a single letter written on them. The text on the cylinder said “Containment” though none of the Four Feathers truly understood what it could mean.
He eventually pressed on one of the cubes, which sank into the surface until he released it again. As a result, the glass panels lighted up, and more text could be seen.

Wireframe - Status OK
Depth 1000-5000M “Health OK”

It seemed that whatever kind of magic this was, it was monitoring something.
Lastly, the group noticed another cube, larger than the others, that was emitting a strange red light. On it, Aragir could see that it read “STOP / EXIT”. Assuming that it could be pressed like the other cube, he decided to give it a go, hoping it would open the next door.
And it did, though the group's relief was short-lived. A strange sound was heard from the depths of wherever they were, and the door soon got stuck. Rumbling was heard getting closer and closer, until a large mechanical monstrosity broke out from the glass cylinder, followed by three smaller ones.

“CONTAINMENT LOCKED”, it suddenly read in bold letters on all panels.

It seemed like they were not going to get out without a fight…

April 22nd, 2023

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