June 8th, 2024
Bellum, Artis 4th, 1194 (Continued)
We head to the original barrow and investigate the sarcophagus room. Sigmund removes the spell on the door and we enter. Nothing detects are evil, but there are three magic auras; the two purple lights and the sarcophagus, the strongest is overwhelming. The broken statue in here has the eagle symbolism from the previous users.
After applying some mythic energy to the sarcophagus, Graynor is eventually able to push it open. Inside is a really thick, non-poisonous mist and it seems as if it’s much deeper than it looks. Ralzer tethers himself using the rope and enters with the fly spell. He definitely went through a portal and the area on the other side is full of the mist and difficult to breath. It’s about an 8 to 10 foot drop to the floor and he can’t see too much else, so he returns.
We formulate a plan to explore this area and Ralzer goes back with a spell that allows him to breathe in that environment. There is no ceiling within 80ft of the entrance and the ground is a mix of gravel and sand. There are no noticeable sounds or anything else of note within 80ft of the entrance. The lunar amulet does not function here either.
Graynor channels mythic energy back into the sarcophagus to properly seal it and we head back to the mechanical portal dais.
The three auras are back and we find new tracks that suggest it was skum that cast them; they came from three different directions. There is a raven in a nearby tree that looks as if it is watching us. Ralzer shoots it and it flies away.
The spells in place now are of a weaker potency than before (faint instead of moderate). We decide to just trigger the traps and enter the portal; nothing happens and we enter without issue.
While investigating a small cave that was sealed with a couple castings of wall of stone, it looks like something else already physically bored through it. At the end is a dead human male. He has a journal and his name may be Halzar.
The journal details how he and his wife, Arianne, created something called a Timegate that would allow travel to other points in time. Upon its activation, a horde of creatures that he calls “timewights” burst through, killing his wife. He collapsed his mountain fortress as he escaped to contain the horde and hide his research. He then fled. The mountain fortress’s collapse could be the Red Mountain from the prophecy.
Sigmund casts speak with dead on him and asks the following questions.
- Where did you want to go with the Timegate? Just testing.
- Who, besides your wife, knew of your Timegate? The Temple of Expeditions (Kel’Quey).
- What made you believe you breached a prison with the Timegate? A hunch.
- How did you die? Monsters killed me.
- What did you have on you when you died? Did not answer.
We continue to search the area and find a shimmering effect that sort of looks like the portals that react to us. While moving there, three ethereal looking flying creatures attack it. They shoot lots of fire. We continue down the path to a stone door. Behind the door is an enormous laboratory in poor condition. It looks to have something to do with astrology and has lots of strange green fluid in tubes and vats; we take samples.
We find books about imprisoned gods and lots of symbols and runes, but they do not look like the Architects. There are many magic auras here, necromancy and abjuration, but they are all of faint strength. There is a large desk that has a hidden compartment that contains the Oracle’s Insight set. After searching the desk, we feel an unveiling effect.
We then investigate the central decagram and arcane tentacles emerge and attack us. One is a tentacle of isolation that has an aura of sluggishness and another is a tentacle of decay, which has an aura that rots flesh. These are the names that Investigator Vale attributes to them, based on the sensations imposed by their respective auras. In The Darkened Stars, following the events from The Stranded Prisoner, Vale encounters these foes while pursuing Artorious Balen. Vale has begun to unravel the machinations of Balen’s plot to erode the sanity of an entire city by subjecting the citizenry to “madness, from the darkened stars”. The tentacles emerge as a surprising side effect of Artorious unleashing the Darkened Star curse.