"Silasni is out procuring a means of curing insanity. I talked to her for a bit after you retired, and it seems that purple blob does more than sap strength. It's responsible for the madness of Luonim and Hasari."
Iris nodded thoughtfully. "A vexing trap - though easy to bypass once you understand it." she mused. After considering things for another moment, she gave a brief nod and clapped her hands. "Well, unless she'd strongly prefer to join us, let's get going. The sooner this is all resolved, the better off I think everyone will be."
"I'm not sure how long she'll be gone, although she'll probably come after us when she returns."
Making your way back through the complex, you return to the obelisk where the Caulborn wait. <"Have you completed your preparations?">
<"We have."> Iris answered promptly. Her energy reserves were full now, and she was feeling better than ever before - there was no time like the present, especially for a goddess whose very nature motivated her to go do things. Most deities with Travel as a domain were like that, really - a day or two of resting was fine, especially when she was still focused on a particular issue, but any longer than that and she started getting jittery. The dawn... wasn't the kind of thing that sat still. If it did, something big was going on.
<"Very well. By touching the monolith, you will be transported to the Black Forest and will arrive near the Black Keep. When you are ready to return, touch the matching monolith in the other realm. We will hold the portal open as long as necessary, but we must warn you that the return trip will be painful and debilitating. Also, travel through the menheirs has an ... interesting side effect on those composed of living flesh. Be on the lookout for ravenous worms as soon as you arrive on the other side.">
While the Caulbourn is speaking, its two companions place their hands on the pillar and begin to croon disconcertingly until the stone glows blue. <"It is ready now.">
Iris grimaced slightly. Worms, was it? "Chimi, if you need to run once we're on the other side, do so." she told the other girl. "I'll take care of the worms." With that, she touched the monolith, curious to see what this journey would truly be like.
Chimi nods, and the two of you touch the pillar together. There's a flash, and the world has changed. While the nearby presence of a black stone menhir similar in shape (although more weathered and leaning to one side) to the one touched in the previous room provides a sense of familiarity - everything else about this place is different from the dungeon rooms. This world appears like nothing so much as a roughly spherical bubble of stone measuring miles across. Above, the vault of the ceiling glows softly, casting the whole realm into an eerie kind of twilight. The lower hemisphere is an enormous bowl-shaped basin, its sides wooded with green fir trees and gnarled, naked snags. Thick fog blankets the realm, and the entire place seems leeched of color, tending toward grays and blacks. Closer at hand looms a strange structure. This towering black keep rises up into the air, each new wing resting upon nothingness and creating a strange, stepped structure of towers and domed roofs that carries within its facade an almost palpable sense of menace.
You and Chimi both dash as far away from the pillar as possible. A few seconds later, it begins to glow with a sickly yellow light before a mass of grubs writhes and wriggles out of the stone.
You realize that this is a swarm of Rot Grubs: repulsive vermin that burrow inside their victims to eat them from the inside out.
It's only a short distance to the Black Keep from your current position. The structure looms ominously in front of you, and you can see the front doors are 10ft-tall and made of thick slabs of black iron.
Opening the doors, you find yourself in an enormous rectangular hall with a 30ft-high ceiling. Taking up the entirety of the long northern and southern walls are identical bas-relief sculptures of a headless knight riding a horse whose eyes and nostrils trail gouts of flame. In alcoves at each of the room's four corners stand imposing suits of black armor. Both the northern and southern walls hold doors, and the room's eastern end is taken up by a sweeping marble staircase leading up to an open landing a story above.
"Pardon me. Is anyone home?" Iris called as she stepped into the hall, just inside the entrance. It was a building, after all, and not hers - who knew what still might be here? If they decided to assault her, they'd lose any protections... but until then, she intended to show some courtesy.
With a loud *boom*, the doors slam shut behind you and Chimi, and a thick green mist begins to pour out from the two easternmost suits of armor - blocking the eastern stairs. At the same time, a hideous bat-winged head atop the torso of a middle-aged woman flops out of the northwestern alcove to move to the center of the hall below the landing. Her long, black tube of a tongue writhes as she addresses you in accented Common.
"You have entered the Master's realm, children, and nothing passes here without his notice. We know why you're here, too - oh, yes. But fear not - all will be forgiven in time. Now come give mother a kiss."
You recognize the mist as a Hungry Fog - a form of ooze that is infused with negative energy. Despite this affinity, it is not undead.
Iris set the end of her staff down against the ground - and brilliant light erupted out of the floor to fill the chamber.
"Do not treat me like a child." Iris said calmly. "I would prefer to enter your home as a guest, but if I feel you are threatening me, I will not hesitate to strike you down. Now fetch your Master so we can discuss this visit like civilized people." She wasn't making a request - rather, she was simply telling them what to do, and there was quite a bit more light she had in store should it prove necessary for smiting them.
The bat woman hisses. "Insolence! Do not presume to speak that way to me! The Master has no desire to 'discuss' your visit. You will not be permitted to have it. Good night." With her last words, you feel a sudden urge to lie down and take a nap...
... although such a compulsion is easily resisted.
Your beam solidly strikes the creature, burning her flesh. It screams in anger and rushes toward you with bared claws. Slashing quickly at you, it then retreats into the fog.
Chimi, meanwhile, fires a similar (but weaker) beam of light at the Hungry Fog, inflicting a minor burn.
"Thank you, Chimi."
The gas creature appeared to be thin, but... not incorporeal. That was interesting. Uncommon, too, but it also meant that it was more vulnerable to her strikes. Perhaps more relevantly, she doubted she could continue to strike the bat woman through the Hungry Fog, and promptly switched her focus to a rapid barrage of blow augmented by just a bit of magic, targeting the Fog to try and disperse it before she focused on the bat woman.
for
for
for
Chimi fires another light ray as you batter away at the Fog. Despite its gaseous state, the magic in your staff is still able to affect it. Unthinkingly, it strikes back at you as the bat-woman flies out from inside its cloud and attempts to shred your face.
Iris spun her staff around as the bat woman came back around, using the flow of her combat routine as an extra defense (only possible after a full-on assault) and switching her attention to the bat woman. Without so much as a moment's pause, she moved straight into another routine, stepping five feet to the side and lashing out at what were hopefully some weak points in the creature's defenses.
The first two attacks didn't feel like much, but the last one was a very satisfying thud.
for
for
Your third blow severely damages the bat-woman, and she looks momentarily shaken. She's quick to recover, however, and unleashes a rapid flurry of attacks.
One of her claws penetrates your defenses and holds you fast. Pulling you close, the undead begins to sap your vitality. "Join us!"
Iris wasn't even going to dignify that with a response. Instead, she let go of her weapon with one hand, and used the other to stab deep into the bat woman's body with her staff, leaning into the blow with all the force she could muster.
for
Your strike connects solidly with the creature, but it still has some fight left in it. Instead of clawing at you, the bat-woman instead moves to restrain your arms while continuing to drain your vitality.
On a positive note, Chimi's latest attack has almost completely dispersed the Hungry Fog.
"Chimi, I could use some help." Iris said, thrashing against the pin.
"Oh, my!" Seeing your predicament, Chimi raises her hand, and a wave of channeled power surges from her
The bat-woman easily shrugs off the worst of its effects, but its flesh does sear where the burst struck it.
In a fit of rage, the creature focuses a wrathful gaze upon your companion. "Flee!" Chimi looks panicked for a split second, but then one of the floating wisps materializes over her head and emits a pulse, driving the fear away. <"Your dark sorcery will not affect me, creature of the night!">
Iris thrashed again-
-her struggles starting to grow a little more desperate. Her expression was serene, but inside, her emotions were turbulent. As a Goddess of travel, the idea of being pinned down and prevented from moving... it wasn't simply uncomfortable, but antithetical to the very core of her existence, and her desire to simply smite this abomination was rapidly getting stronger.
The creature's grip on you is strong, and you remain unable to break free.
Turning from the Samsaran, the bat-woman smiles wickedly and slowly carves a scratch parallel to the one it dealt you earlier. "Don't worry; it'll be over soon."
That's when you feel a portion of your power being drained and transferred to Chimi, whose wisps are not emitting a powerful radiance. <"Begone from this place, foul creature. Your presence will trouble us no more."> A ray of pure positive energy flies from her palm and strikes the undead squarely in the head...
... which explodes upon impact, covering you with gore. With the creature dead, you're easily able to dispatch the Hungry Fog with a pair of quick strikes. Chimi seems to have no memory of the events of the last 30 seconds.
For just a moment, Iris' grip on her weapon tightened. Part of her had wanted to smite that bat creature herself... but it was dead, done, and gone. She exhaled slowly, centering her emotions. She could get angry easily, but she also forgave and moved on quickly as well, and she muttered under her breath as she flicked her hand and magically began to wipe all the goo off.
"Very well-done, Chimi." Iris said after explaining what had happened - and she followed it up with a few taps from her wands.
"Are you all right with continuing forward? If you feel it's becoming too dangerous for you, you can stay as far back as you'd like. I can even escort you back to the library if need be."
Chimi shakes her head. "Thank you, but I'd like to come with you. If nothing else, I can be a distraction if you get in trouble."
"Just don't be so much of a distraction you get yourself hurt. Self-sacrifice can be a virtue, but you're allowed to care about yourself, too, and there's no need to hurt yourself on my account." With that, she headed to the southern door, checking it over before nudging it open.
This tower is a single enormous, hollow stone cylinder. A spiral staircase winds up against the southern wall, but what lofty vantage the stairs may have led to is no longer discernible, as the tower's top appears to have been broken off 60ft up, leaving the whole place open to the sky. The tower's upper rim is mostly jagged and broken stone, though a jumbled mass of lumber spans and partially covers one side of the opening. The paved stone floor is covered with several inches of stinking muck.
As you open the door, you see the scaled heads of a pair of Night Wyverns look down at you from the timbers above.
<"Greetings."> Iris said in Draconic, hoping to treat with the beasts instead of simply wading in and killing them. To the best of her knowledge, the creatures were not innately evil - and as such, she wanted to avoid a fight if she could.
<"Trespasser. Food. Hungry. Intruder. Kill.">
These clearly aren't the most intelligent specimens. But they're definitely about to act.
Iris slammed her staff onto the ground, calling up another dome of light.
(Look, she was the Goddess of the Dawn. Creating light where she went places was literally the literal and metaphorical purpose of her existence - and Night Wyverns, like many nocturnal creatures, were not overly fond of bright light.)
Perhaps more importantly, hunters were fundamentally creatures that tried to stack every advantage, and rarely pressed things if their food was ready to fight back. The danger was rarely worth a meal, after all, especially when easier food was available.
<"I am no prey, wyverns. I have no wish to harm you, but if you strike out at me, I will smite you from the skies.">
Both wyverns hissed but stayed out of the radius of your light. They continue to watch you intently, though, as if waiting for you to slip up.
Iris was careful to avoid showing any sign of fear - predators were good at noticing that, too. It wasn't hard - she often forgot the limitations of her current fleshy form, and to put it simply, deities tended to have enormous amounts of self-confidence to begin with. It came with the territory. Keeping an eye on the beasts and her weapon at the ready, Iris carefully moved forward, gesturing for Chimi to join her in heading across the room and through the eastern door.
This room is lined with bookshelves that stretch all the way to the ceiling, broken only by several doors and tall glass windows to the West. In the center of the room, leaned up against an immaculate armchair, are a woman's clothed legs, her body apparently severed at the waist and its entrails scooped out.
As you enter, you hear a creature emit a disgusted-sounding "ugh!" followed by a squeaky, "GO AWAY!" Then you're hit with a wave of terrifying thoughts.
Ah... the other half of that woman's body, was it? "I don't think so." Iris said grimly, fighting against the artificial feelings welling up within her. She carefully looked around the room, trying to spot the speaker so she could... decide how to deal with this situation.
Aside from the body, you don't see any other creatures in the room. You also didn't hear any incantations or other spellcasting noises, so you're not exactly sure where the effect came from. It definitely wasn't a trap, though.
Seeing nothing within the room meant nothing - it simply meant she hadn't found whatever was there. It was with caution, then, that she slowly approached the split body, trying to see if that provoked a reaction from anywhere else in the room. She remained on-guard the whole time, ready for sudden attacks.
You see the door at the opposite end of the room suddenly open - apparently of its own volition.
Hmm... invisibility, was it? "Should you care to surrender, I am always willing to listen." Iris said - and a moment later, she skewered the body, just to make sure the undead creature was definitely dead and not simply going to reanimate somehow from this half. "At the very least, I believe you will find me far more merciful than this place's master."
"I can smell the revolting stench of Goodness rolling off the two of you. It's disgusting, and based on your handling of the foyer guards, I'm going to need to bring some help if I want to have fun with you. Amuse yourself with the drivel in here, and I'll be back in a bit."
"As you please." Iris answered mildly, seeing no reason to give the creature the satisfaction of getting upset at it. "Chimi, remain on your guard, if you would." she added, with a glance back to check on the girl before she opened the northern door. That one, if memory served, ought to be leading into the main hallway area...
The northern door opens to reveal a wide marble landing leading to a majestic set of marble stairs ascending to the east. At the top of the staircase is a wide set of bronze double doors. Three other smaller, more normal-looking wooden doors stand at intervals around the walls. As you watch, the northeast door opens - apparently of its own volition.
After a few moments of consideration, Iris made her way North-Northwest, to the door just down from the stairs. She saw no reason to run blindly after whoever was running around invisibly - that was a great way to waltz directly into a trap, and she wanted to get a better sense for the layout of this place.
This stable could accommodate several horses, although none appear to be in residence at the moment. The room smells dusty and unused, and the straw strewn about is old and brittle. Beneath the sprinkling of straw, the paved floor is charred with what appear to be hoofprints burned into the stone.
A tall, thin, and obviously deceased woman stands in the center of the stable, looking confused. She wears a wide-brimmed hat, boots, and two strange-looking metal wands holstered low on her hips. As you enter, she's muttering to herself, "Buckeye, where in tarnation did you run off to?" Hearing your approach, she looks up, startled, and an eerie blue light comes into her eyes. Drawing her wands, she shouts, "A rustler!"
"I'm not here to steal your steeds." Iris said, quickly stepping out of the direct line of fire for the wands. Indeed, she rarely rode in the first place, though she knew how - as a goddess of travel, she liked to go places on her own. "Are you having a problem with one of your mounts, ma'am?"