As you move out of the doorway, the door closes and seals shut behind you.
Two strange serpentine creatures with the lower body of snakes, humanoid torsos, and bird-like heads and claws circle the bridge overhead. "Look, look! That magic, they must be servants of chaos." one says.
"No, no. Too much structure, servants of order. Let's kill them." the other replies.
"Look at the twists, the turns, definitely chaos." the other says back.
"Let's just ask them then!" the second replies as it flies towards Saint Gudule. "Quick, do you serve chaos or order?"
|
Looking at the creatures like a little boy choosing candy for his first time, Saint Gudule doesn't understand quickly that he is to answer.
"Why, law of course! It runs through my veins!" he says.
After changing appearance completely to look like them, he eventually turns back into his true form, a form his companions have never seen.
Gudule's face has one pale and pointy elven ear, while what appears like toes sprout from one his cheek. A deep scar runs on his green and scaled forehead while his chin bears a pink horn twisted on itself like a pig's tail. His left hand has red skin while his right hand bears a literal open cat-like eye.
"Naaaah! Just kidding! My name is Saint Gudule and I'm family!" he shouts, his arms open wide.
"Ok, ok, you are chaos." the creature says before going back to its twin.
"Maybe, maybe, he can fix our portal?" the other replies before heading down to Saint Gudule.
"See that raw chaos magic up there? Can you fix it? Those LAWBRINGERS are jamming our portal and we cannot have any fun." the creature says, trying to get the inevitables to hear it through the door.
This cavern has lost most of its floor and ceiling to endless pink sky, and a multicolored whirlpool floats in the air at the chamber’s center, pulsing with light. To the west, a bleached, serpentine skull several feet in diameter sits in an alcove above a narrow ledge; two red tulips are growing up through its vacant eyeholes. Tiny glass bottles full of liquid and stacks of small stones ring the skull.
This whirling mass of color is the proteans’ portal to the Maelstrom, but the portal is currently nonfunctional due to the inevitables’ jamming magic. Similarly, the huge protean skull with the tulips is actually the focus for the proteans’ own magic preventing the inevitables’ planar travel. The skull radiates a strong aura of conjuration magic. Should the skull be destroyed (hardness 5, hp 30), the inevitables’ transporter and planeshifting abilities would be functional once more.
"Fix it, fix it, unleash the chaos!" the proteans say in unison.
The two proteans look at each other in response to Trutzburg's question, "No, no, bring more chaos to the portal!"
"Intentional? We just thought it looked cool there!" one of the proteans replies to Saint Gudule.
|
|
Nodding at the protean's request, and looking at his companions to mâle sure they are ok with it, Saint Gudule closes his eyes, focusing on the portal. His appearance begins to shift again between various humanoid forms at a great speed, sometimes mixing races. The ganzi extends his arms towards the portal, trying to alter the very fabric of reality.
The moment Saint Gudule targets the portal with his magic, a rainbow of light flashes and leaves everyone momentarily blinded. As vision returns, everyone is covered in sprouting leaves, proteans included. They laugh when they look at each other and only laugh harder as more of their kind come flooding in through the portal, equally covered in leaves.
As more proteans enter the spire, they begin wildly casting magic at random throughout the chamber as they progress towards the lair of the inevitables. Some teleport via dimension door into random places of the floor, some randomly shrink loose items and rocks lying about, while others still create bizarre creations via major creation.
The proteans begin their final battle against the inevitables, either side completely ignoring your presence. You could join in the war on either side, even different sides from each other, but its clear that the proteans will eventually triumph with their portal open and the inevitables portal being jammed.
You head to the northeast and open the doors to a less chaotic chamber.
This chamber is large and oddly shaped, with numerous alcoves and protrusions. Instead of stone, many of its walls appear to be curtains of shifting green mist that whirl and twist but always maintain a flat, vertical plane. Through the mist, another room is dimly visible.
Three protean creatures are enjoying themselves here, but immediately attack you when you enter due to their boredom.
Description: Tentacles tipped with snapping jaws emerge from this serpentine creature’s back, complementing the vicious maw in its reptilian face.
Initiative Order, Bold May Go!
Map Slide
Regnum
Proteans
Saint Gudule
Barm
Baied
Trutzburg
Freodwen
Far more bestial than their kin, naunets are the lowest caste of the true proteans, the shock troops of their race and roving marauders in the cause of chaos. Primarily found in the shifting borderlands between Limbo and other planes, naunets are driven half-insane by the stability and stasis of such areas, and frequently rampage through the edges of other planes, tearing up the very fabric of reality itself and returning vast swaths of land to the beautiful, formless potentiality of their home.
Two of Regnum's bullets fly into one of the Proteans continuously shifting bodies.
The injured protean steps forward and flails at Trutzburg with its tentacles, maw, and tail!
, , ,
But the myriad of attacks bounce off of Trutzburg's shield.
The other two do something a bit strange, they step towards the opposite wall and reach their attacks into the mist. Suddenly, their attacks shoot out from your wall as though the two were connected!
The first one attacks Saint Gudule (blue)
, , ,
The second one attacks Barm
, , ,
One of the proteans' tails hits and grabs Saint Gudule through the wall!
Initiative Order, Bold May Go!
Map Slide
Regnum Round 2
Proteans, red -50hp, blue grabbing Saint Gudule
Round 1
Saint Gudule, -8hp, grabbed
Barm
Baied
Trutzburg
Freodwen
Barm swings his sword at one of the proteans at the same moment that it moves a vital organ into the path of the sword. Barm's slice instantly removes the vital organ, causing the protean to collapse and die.
Trutzburg easily fells the protean attacking him, leaving only a single protean remaining that is no threat to you by itself.
Combat Over
You move south to the next room.
This room is shaped like two towering cylinders fused together, with the southeastern wall partially caved in. Etched into the floor in the center of each cylinder is a glowing rune. The northern rune glows green and the southern rune glows red.
They are indeed magical and those with magical sense can easily tell they are infused with chaotic transmutation magic.
Baied discerns that these runes are very similar to a reincarnate spell, but lack the primal/natural essence of druidic magic.
Avoiding the (very fun) runes you open the doors to the southwest.
This huge chamber was once square, yet the northern half has bubbled and run as if melted. Above, the ceiling arches up in a dome braced by grand arms of stone carved to resemble the ribs of some great beast. From the dome’s zenith, the perfect green glass column of the Emerald Spire spears downward. Where the Spire meets the floor, it is clasped by two wide, horizontal brass doors set flush with the stone. The Spire pierces these doors along their seam, where the bronze conforms perfectly to its smooth cylinder. Runes and hieroglyphics—some crude, some incredibly intricate—cover the doors
Beneath the Spire doors in this area lies the top of a large, irregular chimney formed by centuries of planar fluctuations. The Spire descends through this open space in a straight, unyielding column. The shaft is almost 1,400 feet deep and ranges in width from 30 feet to hundreds of feet. Littering the shaft’s walls are ledges and irregular slopes, which in some places come into contact with the Spire and in other places stretch away into darkness. Unlike the dungeon levels developed by Nhur Athemon, there is no convenient elevator slab or flight of stairs to negotiate this final descent. Explorers must fly, fall, or clamber (Climb DC 15) down through a long and arduous journey.
At the bottom of the natural chimney, the shaft narrows to 30 feet in width, then widens out into the large cavern in area P1 of Level 16. The Spire passes through this natural fissure in the ceiling of the cavern before taking root on the cavern floor in area P1.
Floor 16: The Emerald Root
Unsettling green radiance shines from the immense, five-branched crystal near the center of this cavern. The crystal’s arms penetrate the stone walls of the cave to the north, east, and west; to the south, they form a natural bridge over a small chasm to a pinnacle of rock. At the heart of these branching arms, the Emerald Spire extends upward through a hole in the vaulted ceiling.
A black stone door carved with an eye-shaped rune sits in the wall to the southwest. To the northeast, the cave wall is interrupted by the surface of what appears to be an enormous stone sphere.
Two horrifying alien creatures patrol here and attack you immediately upon seeing you.
Initiative Order, Bold May Go!
Map Slide
Trutzburg
Freodwen
Regnum
Enemies
Barm
Baied
Saint Gudule