Maxim shoots a look to the others and draws his pistol;
"Could be Lil' Miss... Smacks of Splintershield. If his mind is rotten we put him down just the same..."
He waits to see what Marigold's spell reveals...
The hairs on Kikinnin's forearms raise, when they set eyes on Alek, a moment of deja vu as Maxim points out the last sought soul sitting on a throne. "This doesn't sit well. JJ, don't approach him, just yet. See what else he has to say."
Kikinnin gives Alek his Look.
" It's going to happen soon " Alek points behind " That mirror shows events in the future. But I am not intelligent enough to interpret them. Please, help me. You just have to look into the mirror "
Alek is holding a strange dagger in his right hand. This dagger is like a piece of glass.
JJ starts to approach Alex, a worried look on his face. As Kikinnin speaks he stops himself.
"Uncle Alex... do you remember me?" he asks, trying to keep his eyes from staring at the glass dagger.
His eyes do however stray to the diagram on the floor.
"There's s-some sort of m-magic coming from him," Marigold whispers, eyes focused on the possibly-deranged Alek. "M-maybe I can figure out the aura..."
Maxim primes his pistol as the dialogue continues.
His expression remains hard and words wary;
"Don't none o' ye even think of peeking a gaze at yon mirror... Not til we know what in the Nine Hells is goin' on... Surabar Ah'm meanin' you in particular..."
The dwur stows his powder horn and cocks the pistol's hammer;
"Tell him to drop the dagger Surabar... Nice an' gentle... Tell him we ain't fer askin' twice."
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He'd been so good. Trying so hard. But as Maxim mentions the mirror he can't help but glance up once to check out the mirror. Just once wouldn't hurt would it?
Quickly as he can JJ redirects his gaze back to Alex, and the diagram at his feet. "What does that represent Uncle?" he asks, trying to get the mighty paladin to focus.
Maxim scowls as JJ parley's with the enchanted paladin, hisses to the young swordsman;
"God's darn it JJ! The Dagger... he needs to drop the blade."
Kikinnin focuses on Alek, and the piece of glass, but he doesn't interrupt JJ's first try at parlay. I don't like this. There's something here we're not seeing, and it will show itself when our backs are turned...
"The map is the map to the mirror. You will need the compass that holds the sequence " Alek is surprised by the question and seems to answer out of rage "I don't mind to drop the glass if you help me with the mirror "
"Sure Uncle Alex. Tell me about the compass and the glass?"
The lad thinks for a moment. "Do you still have that plate, the one with all the words in Giantish? That led us this far..."
Juraan averts his gaze from the strange mirror.
But otherwise tries to perceive as much as he can in the room:
Good for 70 minutes, and cast just before he dropped the last of the three hags.
If it has run out, Juraan will cast another.
Maxim eyes the found warrior with a furrowed brow at the man's frustrated outburst;
What's got him so squirrelly? Ain't buyin' what he's sellin'... Leastways not yet...
:
"You ain't in the position to be callin' shots Tercival. We've learned the hard way to question everythin' an' everyone that comes our way. Status and goodstandin' takin' into account you'll comply with the request or get disarmed... Then you can peaceably chinwag with your nephew o'er this mirror and such."
The gun-mage keeps wearing a hard expression and taps his pistol hilt impatiently...
One...
As Marigold divines the nature of the aura covering Alek, a look of surprise and confusion briefly flickers across her face. Then suspicion.
"Illusion...he's c-covered in an illusion aura," Marigold hisses. "D-don't know what s-sort b-but it's there, p-plain as day!"
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As soon as Marigold raises her voice, Alek becomes despised and throws his dagger to the ground.
As if they had been waiting this signal, a group of four humanoids of skin as polished as a smooth mirror emerge from the mirror holding two glass blades each.
As part of this surprise the creatures advance behind the throne and Alek casts a spell and 8 images of himself appear.
Alek's appearance is a magical disguise and behind it you can see a humanoid like the others, perhaps a stronger one.
Some scholars maintain that the common belief that mir-
rors simply reflect light is wrong—in truth, they allow the
viewer to gaze into a reality that exists alongside the one
they know. That reality is known as the Plane of Mirrors.
The rulers of the Plane of Mirrors are the creatures known
as nerras. Enigmatic and contrary by nature, nerras lurk the
eternal hallways of the Plane of Mirrors, observing activities
on the Material Plane by looking through any of the count-
less mirrors that serve as conduits between the two planes.
All nerras look like normal humanoids, but they have
skin with a perfectly mirrorlike smooth surface.
Nerra occasionally cross the border between the planes to
kidnap individuals on the Material Plane. It has been theo-
rized that they are planning an invasion of the Material Plane.
Sometimes nerras wander the Planes, gathering infor-
mation and infiltrating a variety of organizations. They
monitor the activity of a wide range of people. These are
usually, but not always, individuals in positions of power.
After a while, they try to capture the individual and bring
him or her onto the Plane of Mirrors.
Nerra have a special spell resistance able to bounce back spells.
"!!!"
Marigold has absolutely no idea what these strange crystalline creatures are but she's certain that they're bad news. She quickly ducks and weaves through her companions and darts into the room, grabbing JJ by the arm.
"ಅದನ್ನು ಮೀರಿಸಬೇಡಿ, ಸರಿ? ನಿಮ್ಮ ಚಿಕ್ಕಪ್ಪ ಎಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಾರೆಂದು ಅವರು ತಿಳಿದಿರಬೇಕು! ನಾವು ಒಂದನ್ನು ಪ್ರಶ್ನಿಸಬೇಕಾಗಿದೆ!" she advises as she grants her big brother a shield powered by her faith in the dawn.
"Don't overdo it, okay? They must've know where your uncle is! We need to question one!"
__________
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As the strange creatures appear, Maxim spits;
"Hell's Teeth! Another god's be damned trap!"
Pistol raised Maxim moves to stand near Marigold , then aims his firearm and calls forth the last of his offensive magicks ;
"Brandende Handen!"
As he utters the words a spiralling cone of flame flies from the barrel
:
When Marigold touches JJ an aura of divine force sorrunds him granting its protection.
As Maxim completes his spell, Alek dodges the flames in the throne, totally evading the fire, while the other creature is not affected but instead her mirrored skin bounces back the flames to the spellslinger.
Ryan raises his symbol and brings a bless on the party.
Alek draws a long glass shard sword seemingly from nowhere and slices back at Maxim "No more traspassers!"
He cuts in the dwarf's chest and starts bleeding.
Three of the creatures move ahead and one after the other open their hands and release a shower of mirror shards over the group!
The last one moves next to Maxim and attacks!
But his magics deflect the sword.
"You are not Alex!" he shouts in astonishment, bringing the new staff to bear.
I'm guessing the damage is all blunt and magical, not sure about others types. If they are AC > 21 then only two images go. If AC 21, then three go. If AC 20 or less then four images are destroyed.
Blow after blow rain down on his fake uncle, but each seems to only remove one mirror image, and none hurt the real villain.
"Watch out, they are Nerra from the plane of mirrors. They have a special spell resistance and are able to bounce back spells. " he calls out, just a fraction too late.
The little halfling yelps and ducks as a barrage of shards pelts her and the rest of her friends; luckily she'd ducked just in time and the cuts and scrapes she receives aren't as bad as they could've been. Falling back on a now-familiar standby, she conjures her ghostly whip to harry one of the crystalline creatures.
Gasping at the sudden spray of shards that nearly bled him out, Juraan
runs around the corner and quickly downs the curing potion he recently got:
:
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AC = 27
HP = 65/84
Weapon Equipped = +2 Dwarven Greataxe
Condition(s) = Shield Other, -1 Str, PfE, Bless
Kikinnin has no clue what these mirror creatures are capable of, so begins a cruel education as the shinies begin showering them in glass, and reflecting Maxim's spell back at him. He does his best to shield himself around his face, but the shards nick and bleed him in various places, for their fine dusting.
"Shouldn't have expected any ease, I suppose. Alek is elsewhere, then?"
Kikinnin steps into the collective collage, and tries his Axe against the lessers first.
Also Juraan, your pot. stops the bleeding.
Maxim reels as first he is roasted by his own rebounding spell, then cut to ribbons by mirrored shards and "Uncle Aleks" blade. He stumbles away from the pain cursing as he recovers another item;
"God's be darned! Am hatin' these shiny basterds more an' more!"
The gun-mage pulls out a potion and downs it
:
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as shards of mirror rain down on everyone, Ryan raises his shield to block the cutting rain.
The shield prevents most of his damage, yet some shards sneak through, opening up gashes along his arms and legs where the breastplate failed to cover, however anyone watching noticed additional cuts appear along his neck and chest where they were well covered.
remaining somewhat covered from the creatures Ryan imbibes the potions so recently found.
The group attempts with different luck to dodge the sharp mirror shards. Maxim, Juraan and Ryan step back to down a portion in order to recover and stop the bleeding.
JJ steps next to the fake Alek and launches a whirl attack with Alakast that destroys 4 of the images.
Marigold's spell pierces the mirror creature resistance and thanks to Ryan's blessing her first whip attack lashes through, its force breaking the mirror skin.
Kikinin steps forward and with a couple of powerful swings destroys the mirror creature into small shards!
Fake Alek swings back with his sword at JJ but the young man easily dodges the weak cut.
The one who has not done it before, opens his hand and springs another torrent of shards.
The other two step around Kikinin and attack trying to flank him.
The dwarven armor deflects most of the attacks, but Kikinin is cut twice in his face and starts bleeding, although Ryan partially absorbs the pain.
Marigold ducks the worst of another mirror barrage and directs her whip to keep on striking at Green as she conjures magical protections for herself and the others!
__________
As the battle rages, a partially mended Maxim levels his pistol and imbues it with an essence of his arcane power
He then grimaces as squeezes the pistol's trigger - firing a shot at the nearest mirror creature
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The gun-mage then reloads one of the barrels with an alchemical cartridge
AC = 27
HP = 70/84
Weapon Equipped = +2 Dwarven Greataxe
Condition(s) = Shield Other, -1 Str, PfE, Bless
The shard shower finds its way to open up several spots on the black beard. Kikinnin feels the wet along his cheek, and mentally measures how much lower the cut could have been, as he avoids his jugular getting nicked.
This triggers his instinctive ask for healing, as he cares little for continual bleeding.
He takes a cautious step backwards, recognizing that the creatures are intelligent enough to strategize their positioning with each other. He targets his adjacent, Blue. Recent brow blood gets in his eyes, and he finds himself squinting too much to connect properly.
JJ continues to avoid the worst of the shards, but the toll of wounds starts to tell. As has happened in the past, blue celestial light starts to leak from his wounds, healing the worst of them as it drips onto the floor.
His staff continues to batter at his not-real uncle.
Once again, while the blows look good, all the youth manages to do is hit images. Still, he admires his handiwork after a few seconds seeing all the illusions now gone.
Feeling slightly better, Juraan moves back beside Ryan and casts a spell: « זויער קויל » . .
⋯ and plants the acid sphere on the fake Alex
"Strike true scion of Surabar" Ryan calls out to JJ lending aid to the young man as he uses his new weapon.
Inspiring Word 2/7 used
Calling out to Maxim "Maxim, what do you think? Try to destroy the mirror? Would that help to release Sir Tercival?"
Ryan ducks away from the worst part of the shards, although he still suffers the pain from Kikinin.
Marigold whips and Maxim's gun destroy the green nerra!
Kinnin slashes once at the mirror creature leaving it badly injured.
JJ steps next to the fake Alek and launches a whirl attack with Alakast that destroys 4 of the images.
It is though enough agile to fully avoid Juraan's sphere.
Ryan inspires JJ with his words.
The creatures set flanks on JJ.
Fake Alek swings back with his sword at JJ but the young man easily dodges the weak cut.
The other flanker also fails on JJ who dodges to the other side.
And the last nerra finds Kikinnin armor too tough.
With the images gone, JJ turns on his not-real-uncle. Stepping sideways he flanks with Maxium.
"Why do you taunt me? Why are you here?" he screams at the creature as the staff of his forefathers rains down blows upon it.
extra +2s are from flank and inspire
"Why are you mirror creatures even here?"
As much as Marigold would like to move to Ryan's aid, she doesn't want to risk opening herself up to a barrage of attacks - nor does she want to leave Maxim in the corner without backup. While she mentally guides her whip to strike at the fake-Alek, she draws her mace and prepares to start breaking things.
__________
AC = 27
HP = 74/84
Weapon Equipped = +2 Dwarven Greataxe
Condition(s) = Shield Other, -1 Str, PfE, Bless
Kikinnin keeps wheedling down the glass menagerie, turning his arm against Yellow as soon as Blue falls. It doesn't occur to him to try and talk with the strange, reflecting creatures. They seem unwilling to discuss the current dynamic.
JJ attacks overwhelm the nerra varoot and with his last push the mirror-like is broken to pieces. You notice JJ shows a not human strength in this attack.
With fake Alek destroyed, Marigold directs her force whip at yellow, and scratches its polished mirror surface.
Kikinnin's axe breaks alike through the mirrored creature, leaving the last nerra alone and surrounded.
Kikinnin watches as another nerra shatters. He looks to the others, suddenly concerned. "They can't reassemble themselves, can they? How small do we have to smash the pieces to be sure?"
With their foes number's dwindle, Maxim steps sideways and draws a bead on the lone mirror man left standing.
As he aims the gunmage imbues the weapon with more of his arcane power before pulling the trigger
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He then moves across the room toward the mirror shouting a response to his fellow dwarf;
"Ain't got a clue bror... Stop 'em, then smash 'em? Like Taskerhill says reckon we smash that mirror... Got me a special bullet for that thing! Adamantine..."
"I don't think they reform.." says JJ.
"At least not that I read about. That doesn't mean they never do, but I've not heard about them."
Blood continuing to stream from various cuts upon him, Ryan smiles, as he sees JJ and Kikinnin destroying the shard men one by one. Taking a moment to restore some of his own health.
Spell completed, the cleric takes a seeming step forward yet appears right next to maxim in the area before the mirror.
Maxim bursts yet another piece of the creature's mirrored skin leaving it in bad shape.
Ryan heals up a bit, trying to hold himself up, then hops through the room, appearing in front of the mirror.
Juraan's sphere hits this time the target and the last nerra melts under the powerful acid.
At their death the mirror longshards explode in a mist of mirror dust.
The ceiling in this room forms a four-sided dome. The apex of the dome is thirty feet off the ground. An odd, ten-foot-wide pentagonal mirror hangs on the west wall, from where it casts a dark reflection of the room. This reflection is distorted in an unsettling way, and dotted with shimmering, star-like pinpoints of white light. A single chair of white stone with triple armrests sits in the middle of the room, facing the mirror. A colorful hexagonal diagram is engraved in the floor surrounding the mirror.
The strange mirror room remains empty and silent once more.
With the mirror creatures destroyed, Juraan dismisses his acid sphere and enters the room and does a quick DIY healing on himself:
"Well, those things, whatever they were, were kind of nasty."
He then sets about inspecting the room for any interesting features.
Trying not to gaze at the strange mirror, to be on the safe side:
I should have two. One with three charges left and the other with 21.
Maxim loads his pistol with the adamantine bullet, then tips the nod in the direction of the mirror (but like Juraan avoids looking directly at it);
"By my reckonin' that mirror's likely a source o' power or some-such fer the things we just put down. We shut it off, then we shut 'em off..."
"Maybe..." agrees JJ.
"We have to find Alex... I we are all obviously pretty tired and beat up...but uncle Alex likely is too.." he enthuses as he examines the diagram on the floor.
"It looks like a rainbow that rotates on forever... red..orange..yellow..green..blue...purple"
It is clear for anyone with magical knowledge that this is an artifact of ancient power.
From what JJ knows about the nerra he is able to guess it somehow allowed its builders to travel to other places through the Plane of Mirrors. What places it might connect and how to make it work, it is not possible to tell as there seems to be no clue in the room.
Also, observing the room you link it to one of the pictures in the Hegemonic Plate, where some kind of device appears. The group was not able to understand the plate main image and did not invest the time and magic to fully research it's meaning or decipher the runes in its front. You only translated the recent Giant scraps in the back.
Detect magic only shows a powerful transmutation aura in the mirror.
When you look intently into the Starry Mirror you see
five pentagonal windows floating under its dark Sill
face. Four of them show nothing but dull willte light.
The fifth shows an indistinct image of Alek Tercival
sitting next to a large metal door in a stone wall, his
expression filled with despair.
"I d-don't think we sh-should break it j-just yet," Marigold cautions as she stares at the mirror with a mixture of fascination and trepidation. "Wh-who knows how m-much power would be unleashed in this little r-room if we did? It m-might bring the whole p-place down!"
As she starts to turn away to see to her companions' wounds, something within the mirror catches her eye and she stops, peering into it intently. Then, her face pales and she gasps with surprise and horror.
"L-look! In the m-mirror! It's JJ's uncle!"
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Ryan recites the words granted him by Abadar what seems so long ago.
"Late on the path of justice, trapped between glass and stone, he weeps where many can see him, but he can see only himself"
Shaking his head Ryan looks at the mirror and Alek stuck behind it.
"Perhaps he learned what troubles were coming to Cauldron - 'Late on the path of Justice', and while following the plate became - 'trapped here between the mirror and the wall/stone, We can see Sir Alek but behind the glass he can only see himself."
Studying the mirror a bit longer, Ryan shakes his head and sighes "Yet as Marigold says it's an artifact, to destroy it could destroy us all, ......surely he couldn't just be locked in a cell behind the mirror could he."
Ryan pulls against the sides of the mirror.