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Gunder enters into a dimly lit house with narrow hallways with opulent design. Drawing Gunder's attention is a painting of a head with three faces. It has 4 eyes, with the center face sharing an eye with of the other two. The right side of the head has a woman smiling, the center is painted of a man yelling, while the left sided face is that of a child crying. While is daytime, the sunshine avoids fully illuminating the rooms.
"Uag'ma is your true name. Undertable is but a shell of your true self and potential. Mortals like to conceal truths of the universe. Like how you call what you are looking for the 'Dark Tapestry.' A quaint name. Others have called it the Far Realm. Ancient Osirians called it Dominions of the Black. I prefer the Cosmic Sea. No matter how it is named, one cannot be simply told of the wonders of the darkness between the stars. It is home to many powerful and unspeakable beings, beings so unfathomable that their very existence is a perversion of reality itself. There are doors that need to be opened that will take you where you need to go."
Moltan Vargidan bids Gunder to walk down a hallway and then opens a door that has descending stairs. Through the corner of his eye, Gunder catches the glimpse of somebody moving from room to room with long whisper hair like Madam Vargidan.
Gunder creates a Cloak of Darkness, half to impress Madam Vargidan, half to protect himself - just in case she and her cultists plan to sacrifice him to their alien gods tonight. Then he looks her in the eyes and says:
"Then teach me ... show me, if you can't simply tell me. Something from the darkness between the stars has been reaching out for me. It whispers to me - but I don't understand what it is, or what it is trying to tell me. I wanted to learn more, but nobody seems to know anything about the void, or those who know are unwilling to share their knowledge."
Or, when they are willing to tell they turn out to be murderous cultists, he adds in his mind.
"If you have a door that will give me answers, I will gladly open it and step through. Just show me the way."
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Moltan his impressed by his abilities and nods approval. She bids Gunder to walk down the stairs first while lighting a candle to follow.
As they walk one behind the other, she whispers, "Answers will come in time. We have survived for centuries, Uag'ma. The Void represents the very edge of creation, the place that exists at the borders of conception.
What lies beyond it is physically inconceivable and cannot be brought into existence. The Void is here where the The Great Old Ones wait. They are patient, potent and can wait eons for the stars to align before they act. You, I, us are the chosen hosts, guided by dreams and visions that go beyond rational explanation. I will help you understand their meaning."
As the two reach the bottom of the stairs, the edge of the light only shows shelves of books of all different sizes and categories. In the center is a caldron with a glowing pool of green slime.
"As the Voices continue to call, you must listen and obey. Those who fail to hearken to the call of the Great Old Ones will be fodder or tools to be enslaved or manipulated the time of initiation arrives. And that time is soon. The seals are beginning to weaken, the believers are drawing together. We are Many."
"This is just the beginning for you, Uag'ma. You must quest for knowledge—of lost eldritch magic, of the Dark Tapestry and of the powerful seals that imprison the Elder Gods. The dreams will become real and you understand the voices. Look upon the dead who waits dreaming and believe . . ."
Moltan Vargidan bids Gunder to look into the glowing slime. There a horrible image appears. A monster with an anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head with eyes closed, whose face is a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings. The image draws in closer, compounding the grotesqueness of the creature. Whispers begin to emanate, wet, gurgling whispers. Gunder wants to pull away, break free from what he is seeing, what he is hearing. But the vision continues to magnify towards its head and slimy feelers, up into its bulbous face and finally to its closed eyes. The voices become louder and Gunder can make out the repeated phrase:
mglw'nafh fhthagn-ngah cf'ayak 'vulgtmm vugtlag'n
The voices continue to repeat this phrase, louder and louder in Gunder's mind. Finally they eye of the monstrous entity snaps open and Gunder understands.
Yet living, It sleeps, we send our prayers to thee. Yet living, It sleeps, we send our prayers to thee.
Gunder wakes up in the Seven Silvers. Garuneh is by his side. A look of relief comes over Garuneh when he notices his friend finally awakes. Gunder asks why Garuneh is by his bed side. Garuneh chuckles when he says everybody was worried about the halfing after he didn't wake up the night after their return to Kassen. At first everybody thought it was exhaustion, then they worried he may have been infected with the zombie plague. But Gunder just kept sleeping, peaceful at times and sometimes he thrashed in fear. All in all, Gunder has been asleep for the past 3 days.
"Huh, I was asleep all this time? I had the most curious dream. It felt perfectly real, too."
Before leaving Kassen, Gunder asks a few locals whether anyone knows a woman named Moltan Vargidan. He also checks out the place where he remembers her house to be - just to see if it is still there. He doesn't want to meet her again, but he is curious to learn whether she really exists.
He also double checks his inventory to make sure he really bought the mornigstar, torches, and rations. (And if it turns out he only bought them in his dream, he will buy them for real now, before leaving town.)
"Gunder. You're back with us. What did you dream about?" Garuneh smiles with a touch of concern at his halfling friend, checking his vitals with a practiced hand.
Glad you are back with us Gunder. I was afraid that you had it worse than I did with that nasty disease.
After the group reads the note, Liz eats it so nobody else can learn of their mission.
Gunder tells the others how the strange lady had shown up at the paty and had given him the shield. He also tells them how he went to her house to meet her again and then he woke up. He leaves out all details about secrets of the dark tapestry though.
Did you happen to eat or drink anythign there? I belive I heard of some sort of knockout drug..