The Corridor of Deception
Kargi set up camp just past the third fungal pool and made a hearty mushroom stew. While the group rested, Nancy and Slothrop investigated the terraced fungus. The Guardian of the First Sveldinstone had told them of one mushroom that the svirfneblin used to take for hallucinatory benefit. An iridescent blue mushroom grew out of it, and it stank. They found a couple and consumed.
They saw their friends in myriad colors and could almost hear the blues and reds singing to them. Slothrop added to the chorus with his Dancing Lights spell. The world felt suddenly very large and themselves so very small—but not in a scary or insignificant way. At once they understood that they were but one drop in a vast, limitless, ocean—yet what was any ocean but a multitude of drops?
The two travelers journeyed together in this way for a number of hours, and when the rest of the group woke up from their rest they found Slothrop dipping a sharpened stick into some dark indigo ink, and poking a mushroom tattoo onto Nancy’s thigh. Safad thought of his late mother in Calimshan and knew she would disapprove – he asked Nancy what her own mother would think. Nancy rolled her eyes. Ironica thought it was cool. Dala’gse was fascinated. Zireael was dry shaving his neck stubble with his magical long sword.
The group departed camp and headed for what the Guardian had indicated was the direction of the Corridor of Deception. They passed a few hallways leading towards the direction they had come to assume was the domain of Kas the Allseeing. They kept going and after a short distance noticed another corridor with a strange breeze gusting from it. It seemed to narrow as they looked down it and they saw that it very soon ended in a chasm. Except that “chasm” was flickering. Clearly some illusion that had lost its power over the millennium/a. Beyond the illusory chasm the corridor continued and Dala’gse and Zireael walked hand in hand over the illusory surface.
As they stepped past, they heard a click from the walls. With a split-second reaction, Zireael grabbed Dala’gse and hit the deck, barely escaping a series of metal-rimmed hemi-discs that emerged from the wall at regular intervals, at 2 feet, 4 feet, 6 feet, etc. Safad took note.
Soon the group arrived at where the corridor ended, in a massive drop-off falling away into nothing. Except, this too they quickly identified as some kind of atrophied illusion. To be safe, they tossed rocks down the corridor and were satisfied to hear them clatter. Safad sent Rook through the plane of the “chasm,” where he triggered the hemidisc trap and turned into a pulpy burst of feathers. Rook was not pleased to be used as fodder once again.
They group moved on, pausing for Safad to re-summon Rook with an elaborate sand-painting ritual. Soon they came to place where the corridor ended with a sudden drop off. By this point the party was wise to the trickery of the svirfneblin. They tossed stones, heard the clatter, and Slothrop convinced Kargi to simply crawl under where the hemidisc trap would come out of the wall. He obliged with a sliding flourish, triggering the trap and coming to no harm.
The group continued in this way, as the illusory chasms grew more and more convincing, and the party continuing to check for safety and cautiously probing. Even an illusory gnome-Drider rushing at them did not throw them off in their march down the corridor. Finally, at the seventh “chasm” no one was able to perceive an illusion, the thrown stone made no clatter, and Rook, who flew out over the “chasm” reported back that it was a big drop into the abyss.
Zireael took a step forward into the nothingness.
And he fell.
Turns out this one was a real chasm.
Zireael groped for the side of his pack where he kept his rope and pitons, managed to grab a piton from its pouch and lashed out with it frantically at the smooth stone of the wall. The sharp metal scraped into the stone, slowing his descent by a fraction of a second.
That was all Dala’gse needed to catch up to him. The dwarf dove off the chasm, bulleting straight at his companion, and managed to hit the target, grasping Zireael in a tight bear hug. Zireael noticed the corded muscles of Dala’gse forearms wrapping around his torso, could feel the fey-dwarf’s heavy breathing on his neck, and could smell his salty musk. A few stray strands of Dala’gse’s auburn hair caressed Zireael’s face as the dwarf pressed tightly into him.
They fell in this way, entwined together, into the nothingness of the chasm’s gloom.
Ironica and Slothrop continued to climb down the rope.
They saw their friends in myriad colors and could almost hear the blues and reds singing to them. Slothrop added to the chorus with his Dancing Lights spell. The world felt suddenly very large and themselves so very small—but not in a scary or insignificant way. At once they understood that they were but one drop in a vast, limitless, ocean—yet what was any ocean but a multitude of drops?
The two travelers journeyed together in this way for a number of hours, and when the rest of the group woke up from their rest they found Slothrop dipping a sharpened stick into some dark indigo ink, and poking a mushroom tattoo onto Nancy’s thigh. Safad thought of his late mother in Calimshan and knew she would disapprove – he asked Nancy what her own mother would think. Nancy rolled her eyes. Ironica thought it was cool. Dala’gse was fascinated. Zireael was dry shaving his neck stubble with his magical long sword.
The group departed camp and headed for what the Guardian had indicated was the direction of the Corridor of Deception. They passed a few hallways leading towards the direction they had come to assume was the domain of Kas the Allseeing. They kept going and after a short distance noticed another corridor with a strange breeze gusting from it. It seemed to narrow as they looked down it and they saw that it very soon ended in a chasm. Except that “chasm” was flickering. Clearly some illusion that had lost its power over the millennium/a. Beyond the illusory chasm the corridor continued and Dala’gse and Zireael walked hand in hand over the illusory surface.
As they stepped past, they heard a click from the walls. With a split-second reaction, Zireael grabbed Dala’gse and hit the deck, barely escaping a series of metal-rimmed hemi-discs that emerged from the wall at regular intervals, at 2 feet, 4 feet, 6 feet, etc. Safad took note.
Soon the group arrived at where the corridor ended, in a massive drop-off falling away into nothing. Except, this too they quickly identified as some kind of atrophied illusion. To be safe, they tossed rocks down the corridor and were satisfied to hear them clatter. Safad sent Rook through the plane of the “chasm,” where he triggered the hemidisc trap and turned into a pulpy burst of feathers. Rook was not pleased to be used as fodder once again.
They group moved on, pausing for Safad to re-summon Rook with an elaborate sand-painting ritual. Soon they came to place where the corridor ended with a sudden drop off. By this point the party was wise to the trickery of the svirfneblin. They tossed stones, heard the clatter, and Slothrop convinced Kargi to simply crawl under where the hemidisc trap would come out of the wall. He obliged with a sliding flourish, triggering the trap and coming to no harm.
The group continued in this way, as the illusory chasms grew more and more convincing, and the party continuing to check for safety and cautiously probing. Even an illusory gnome-Drider rushing at them did not throw them off in their march down the corridor. Finally, at the seventh “chasm” no one was able to perceive an illusion, the thrown stone made no clatter, and Rook, who flew out over the “chasm” reported back that it was a big drop into the abyss.
Zireael took a step forward into the nothingness.
And he fell.
Turns out this one was a real chasm.
Zireael groped for the side of his pack where he kept his rope and pitons, managed to grab a piton from its pouch and lashed out with it frantically at the smooth stone of the wall. The sharp metal scraped into the stone, slowing his descent by a fraction of a second.
That was all Dala’gse needed to catch up to him. The dwarf dove off the chasm, bulleting straight at his companion, and managed to hit the target, grasping Zireael in a tight bear hug. Zireael noticed the corded muscles of Dala’gse forearms wrapping around his torso, could feel the fey-dwarf’s heavy breathing on his neck, and could smell his salty musk. A few stray strands of Dala’gse’s auburn hair caressed Zireael’s face as the dwarf pressed tightly into him.
They fell in this way, entwined together, into the nothingness of the chasm’s gloom.
While they fell the rest of the group acted quickly, with everyone tossing their ropes to Safad who secured them with the rope of binding, and dropped it over the edge. Nancy, the goblins, Rya, and Po anchored the rope while Safad, Ironica, and Slothrop prepared to descend.
Meanwhile, Dala'gse ripped off a patch from his paisley headband of feather falling and the duo immediately slowed to 10 feet per second. Ironica slid down the rope, getting a burn on her hands but pressing through the pain. Slothrop climbed at a more reasonable pace.
Dala'gse and Zireael had fallen nearly 250 feet when they spied a small alcove. In another split second they saw the ground--covered in a strange black pudding--fast approaching. Using Dala'gse as a platform, Zireael manuevered quickly to get his feet planted on the dwarf. As they neared the alcove, he pushed off, only needing to gain a few feet...and he succeeded, grasping the edge and hanging on. Dala'gse fell softly into the black pudding, which rose to greet him with an acidic pummel. Dala'gse was quick on his feet though, and sprinted to the wall where he began climbing the rope his companions had dangled. He made it 15 feet or so and Zireael helped pull him the remaining ten into the alcove. The pudding followed in pursuit. Zireael explored the alcove, discovered a stone dais, and took the simple ring from atop it.
Ironca and Slothop continued their descent, while Safad grasped the rope and started down. He thought it wise to play with his newfound ring and attempted to sink into the wall and come back out, which worked, but when he went to grab the rope again and continue his descent, he lost his footing and his sfos-fuddled reflexes were not up to the task of catching his fall. Rook grumbled a low note of concern in his head.
Slothrop greeted Safad during the freefall with a strange Drow tradition called a "cheese-curl", and managed to pull it off, delicately slipping in and out while his companion fell.
Zireael fired off two arrows at the approaching pudding as Dala'gse got his bearings and prepared to jump out to intercept the falling Safad.
Safad continued to fall, and as Zireael and Dala'gse saw him approach they were shocked to see him peacefully composed as he plummeted toward the ground. Just when it looked too late, Safad muttered an incantation under his breath, moving his hands just so. He disappeared into a misty billow of smoke, only to reappear inside the alcove, next to the Dala'gse, safe and sound. Zireael fired off another couple arrows at the pudding, which was shredded up and began its retreat.
Ironica and Slothrop continued to climb down the rope.
Safad sent Rook to peck at the chest. He complied grumpily, and it was not a mimic. Safad opened the chest and found a gold bar, and a pouch full of rubies.
Dala'gse was so shocked at the sight of Safad appearing from nowhere that he fell off the edge of the alcove, but managed to bludgeon the pudding as he fell. Zireael put another arrow in it, destroying the creature. Dala'gse found a funny hat, flat-brimmed and felt, inside the thing's remnants. Ironica had caught up with the group, tried on the hat, and immediately transformed into a bar-maid. She tossed it to Dala'gse who made himself look like the gnome-spider thing they saw earlier. He climbed up the wall and into the alcove, where Zireael wasted no time in slashing him across the chest. He fell back to the ground, dislodging the hat from his head. Zireael felt kinda bad.
The rest of the group explored the empty pit, and then climbed up the rope.
When everyone was at the top, Safad forced a confrontation with Slothrop. Pinning him to the wall, casting Detect Thoughts, and interrogating him over why he has been such a bully. He read playfulness, boredom, and a slight malice in his surface thoughts. Before the interrogation could turn darker, Zireael silenced the area with a spell. The goblins were confused and suggested everyone carry on.
Rya and Po looked at each other and said maybe it was time to head back to statue square. Maybe they'd pushed it far enough. Their hackles were raised with Kas surely aware of their presence, and maybe it was time to leave Myth Sveldin while they were ahead. Maybe it was time to head back to Lakeville. The group agreed, deciding they didn't need a rest or recovery.
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