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Vindler manages to get a slash in at the dragon's belly as it leaps over him to get to the technomancer. As the dragon bites Istovir, there is a sickening crunch. Istovir looks down and is relieved to see that it was his armor and not his bones that were crushed under the dragon's fangs.
Vindler moves in behind the dragon and drives his blade deep into the dragon's flank. The beast is badly injured but chooses to ignore the dwarf, instead focusing on the elf. As the dragon comes in for another bite, Istorvir charges up is spell cache and jabs it at the dragon. He gets a lucky strike, driving the device into the monster's ruby red eye. A powerful arc of electricity flies from the device and courses through the dragon's body. The beast convulses and then falls to the ground.
As Kavanu's nightmare form dies, its body dissolves into wisps of sickly black smoke. As its body disappears, the chamber fills with hollow sounding laughter. "THIS FORM IS A MERE SHADOW OF MY REAL POWER. I WILL SEE YOU ALL AGAIN, SOON. IN YOUR DREAMS..."
With Kavanu defeated the chamber is silent once more. The altar is resting in the middle of this room, glowing softly purple in the still mausoleum.
After spending a moment panting in exhaustion, Vindler slowly replies to Pangea's question, "That. Was. Incredible! What a fight! And what a finishing blow! I'm impressed, Professor. Well done! Now, what to do with this tablet? Do you suppose we should put it on the altar now that Kavanu's gone?"
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On the surface of the altar is a rectangular, tablet sized depression. This is the only surface area on the altar that is perfectly smooth and not adorned with the strange purple runes.
Besides this altar and the force field protected staircase, there is little of apparent value or interest in this chamber. Besides the dimly glowing purple runes carved into the wall, the sandstone walls and ceiling of the mausoleum have little ornamentation.
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Saryn bravely places the tablet onto the alter. There is a slight crackling sound that can be heard from the central chamber as the force field powers down.
The spiral staircase leads into a dark chamber. It is clear that no one, or no thing has been down here in hundreds of years. Shelves and pigeon holes have been carved into the sandstone walls and inside these shelves are an assortment of strangely shaped and colored bottles. Istorvir and Vindler both recognize a few of the bottles as containing rare psychoactive drugs that would drive any humanoid mad but when carefully consumed by a Liavaran Dreamer may enhance its ability to see prophecy. Some of the substances are unidentifiable; meaning that they may be reagent that haven't been seen for centuries and have been long forgotten since the Gap.
With a somewhat disappointed look, Vindler looks around at the various bottles of reagents and concoctions. "Well well well, looks like our Dreamer friend will be quite pleased with this find. Let's hope they're willing to share their prophecies with us again after we went to all this trouble for them."
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After a long rest, the group packs up the bottles carefully and prepares for the long, arduous trip back through the moon and to the Loreseeker. Among the bottles are a number of strange relics of dubious origin and purpose. Rather than leave them behind and have to go back, the Starfinders also take as many of these relics as they can.
The trip back to the ship is not as difficult as the trip to the mausoleum was, but it is by no means an easy journey. Everyone is relieved when they are able to break the environmental seals on their gear and bask in the relative comforts of the Loreseeker's life support systems.
VC Arvin is thrilled to hear about the success of your group in finding the mausoleum and defeating the nightmare dragon's dream form. "Hmmm...a nightmare dragon is a dangerous form indeed. I wonder if it was operating alone or as part of some larger, even more shadowy organization. Something tells me that this won't be the Starfinder's last interaction with Kavanu, though."
VC Arvin doesn't know what most of the relics and reagents your group found do any more than you do; but he does recognize that they seem important. "I'm sure the Whisperer of Dreams will be excited when he sees what you've brought back. We're hoping that among the dreams he is having there will be some insight regarding the Scoured Stars incident. Would you like to meet the Whisperer of Dreams? It is only appropriate that you should be able to present these treasures to the Dreamer itself!"
"Yes, it'd be good to meet the being who has guided us across the Pact Worlds! I hope his dreams do tell us more of the Scoured Stars. It was such a tragic loss for the Society, and I for one would be glad to know whether those who are lost there still remain among the living, or if they have gone to Pharasma's eternal rest."
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The Whisperer of Dreams lives in the Communion Vaults, deep within the Lorespire Complex. The Liavaran dreamer lives in a chamber filled with gas that is toxic to everyone except for Pangea-Alpha, so rebreathers are provided to the Starfinders.
The Whisperer of Dreams floats languidly in the chamber like a jellyfish in water, its tendrils drifting slowly as it quietly probes your minds. The creature speaks to each of you telepathically, its voice so comfortingly soothing that you feel like you may fall asleep.
THANK YOU FOR NOT ALLOWING THESE ITEMS TO FALL INTO THE HANDS OF MY ENEMY, KAVANU. HE WOULD MOST LIKELY HAVE DESTROYED THESE TREASURES OUT OF SPITE. I WILL NOT KEEP YOU LONG, AS I KNOW THE EFFECT OF MY VOICE ON THE UNINITIATED. PLEASE KNOW HOW GRATEFUL I AM. I WISH YOU ALL GOOD FORTUNE AND PEACEFUL DREAMS.
Even this very short conversation has a strange effect on your minds and you leave the chamber feeling incredibly relaxed but drowsy, as if under the effect of a strong narcotic. Over the next few weeks, your dreams are particularly vivid and incredible, but eventually fade. Something tells you that VC Arvin meant for this experience of encountering the Whisperer of Dreams to serve as an additional reward for your exemplary service to the Starfinder Society.
Vindler dreams of the eventual heat-death of the universe.
He has never slept more soundly in his life.