As Lydia attacks the Marid, she wails, collapsing back into the water and her body vanishes.
Sercha steps up to Agrasug, swinging her blade, who roars at the death of his wife, winding himself up into a rage. His skin glows as if alight as he slams into Lydia.
46
Alainn lets out a strange, high-pitched shriek that makes the efreeti reel.
Sercha grits her teeth as the heat of her opponent almost burns her skin.
Lydia switches focus to the efreeti, scoring a possibly fatal blow!
Between Alainn's high-pitched shrieking, and Sercha and Lydia's prowess, the efreeti falls, joining its wife in the beyond, its body vanishing. It was a little bizarre that the ogres did not investigate the noise, but it is good fortune that they did not.
Looking through their remains floating in the water, you find 2 platinum wedding bands [ooc]worth 750gp each[ooc].
There are two exits in this room; a doorway leading to a corridor with a spiral staircase at the end as well as a spiral staircase in the room itself.
Lydia takes a minute to heal herself and Sercha before gesturing to the stairs in this room. ”Shall we?”
A single tap of Lydia's wand and Alainn is much happier. "Ready!" The gathlain declares, pocketing the wedding rings with nefarious plans in mind...
Enormous bunk beds line the wall of this room, stinking of sweat and visibly swarming with parasites. At the room’s far end, a raised frame contains a miniature bed swathed in silks.
Nobody is in the room right now, but taking a little time to search, you find two potions of cure serious wounds, four potions of energy resistance (electricity), and a necklace of fireballs (type II) in the side table next to the miniature bed.
There is no other way out so you head back down the stairs and find the other set of stairs from the flooded room finding yourself in another, but very different, bedroom.
This opulent bedchamber shows signs of eons of water damage and the scorching of slow-burning flames.
A warped and charred stairway leads further upwards in this tower which you take cautiously.
Iron bars divide this new chamber. To one side, elaborate tables, tools, and biology diagrams imply torture. To the other, unidentifiable stains mark a row of dingy cells.
Laying asleep in the cell behind the iron bars, you see a frail man breathing lightly. He looks half-starved.
"Hello? Excuse me? Are you a prisoner here?" Alainn asks. "Because if you are then we're here to rescue you. If not and you're a minion of Zassiron being punished then I'm afraid you have to serve out your sentence while we deal with your boss."
The gathlain declares, pocketing the wedding rings with nefarious plans in mind...
"We can still rescue him," Sercha says in an aside to the fey.
"Sir Meloigne? Is that you? If so, we are here to rescue you," Lydia proclaims.
Alainn notices Sercha's eyes following the rings and smiles. As Lydia speaks to the man in the cell the gathlain sidles over to the fetchling.
"Just give me the nod and they'll be right there for you to ask the big question."
Sercha's face colors and she gives Álainn a glare that could temper steel.
The frail man awakes with a start and sits upright assessing his situation.
"You're here to rescue me? Yes, yes I am Meloigne de Garracy, I have been imprisoned here for so long. Please, please get me out of here. I can give you anything in the world that you want if you get me home. I'm from a wealthy Taldan family you see. Wait, did you get rid of my evil captors?"
He absolutely does not have the money to give you anything you desire to rescue him, his family are either on the outs, or fictitious.
”No reward is necessary. Your captors still live, but we will deal with them before we leave this place. Perhaps it would be safest if you remain here for now. I promise we will return for you.”
At Lydia's declaration that no reward is needed, Sercha gives her a poke in the side and a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, we'll be back for you," she says. "And some nice, new clothes wouldn't be completely dismissed."
Lydia relents. ”Okay, a small reward would be appreciated.”
"R-r-r-remain here? In this place? What if they come back? If you think it is the best idea, then I suppose I could do that?" He stutters and looks very concerned.
"Time to keep being sneaky?" Alainn asks. "If I put mini spells on can you both run fast?"
"That could work, or I could use my magic to make us invisible this time. Either way, we should go east first."
"That'll be the same as this side." Alainn points out. "Zassiron will be to the north. Why not go there?"
"We should eliminate any potential allies so they cannot reinforce him when we confront him."
Alainn pouts. "You're ruining the drama Lydia. How are we supposed to slay the villain against overwhelming odds if you get rid of the overwhelming odds first?"
The gathlain goes along with the plan, affronted sense of story regardless.
Passing through the courtyard is easy, as the ogres and the Captain are busy practising their drills, all focused on their own practice.
You head in through the East door and find yourself in a circular room at the bottom of a tower.
Candles, scrolls, and bizarre statuettes fill the nooks lining the walls here, all facing toward an alabaster and jade altar near the room’s centre. A stone stairway runs along the room’s outer wall, spiralling upward.
”This looks like a shrine built by somebody who doesn’t actually understand religion.”
She recovers the scroll from its hidden cove and holds onto it before gesturing to the stairs up.
Alainn nods and heads upwards.
Ebony and red leather wash this apartment’s furnishings in darkness. A body swathed in red and black lies slumped over the altar dominating the room’s centre. Many apparent holy texts line the walls, all filled with gibberish and childish scribbling
With nothing else to find or discover here, you head back downstairs and through the other staircase from this room finding yourself in a large kitchen.
These massive kitchens could service a castle twice this size.
Breads and pies heap the nearby counters, but the overwhelming
earthy smell suggests anything but food.
As you arrive the kitchen appears to have been tossed around and a familiar voice calls out from one of the shadows:
"I'm just finding something for the next meal."
You think that you recognise the distinctive voice as Biyo's, the cook you first bumped into when you arrived in this realm.
"Biyo? You came back?" Alainn asks, immediately suspicious.
"Of course - to cook dinner for the castle." The same voice replies, still coming from the shadow.
"Come and help me out for a second."
Alainn shakes its head at Sercha and Lydia. "Actually, I'm afraid I'm injured. There was a fight with some ogres outside. I could really use your help..."
When that illicits no response Alainn covers the rear of the room in glitterdust!
The outline of a shadowy creature with bat wings and vicious claws glitters among the recess at the back of the kitchen.
It also outlines a table holding a manner of things as well as a couple of sparkling gemstones, highlighted in glitter.
There are two lifeless winged bodies stashed in the far corner of the kitchen.
"Biyo? You look so different!" Alainn quips as the Heroes begin to move with greater speed!
Lydia casts a spell, conjuring a glowing golden star knife to attack the demon. She holds her blade at the ready, waiting for the fiend to come to her.
The gems begin to glow and Sercha and Lydia both feel something attempting to clutch at their minds.
The demon itself begins casting and attempts to lift both Lydia and Alainn off their feet throwing them against the wall.
Lydia resists the magic thrown at her. The spiritual starknife continues to attack as she rushes to attack the demon with her blade!
"Get off!" The gathlain demands, annoyed. It retaliates with appropriate care and attention before getting as far from Lydia and Sercha as possible. "Boom incoming!"
Alainn cannot concentrate clearly as they cast their fireball and the demon ignores the fiery explosion that engulfs it.
Lydia dashes forward to attack barely making contact as Sercha turns to Alainn and advances on her, her eyes transforming into deep pitch black voids.
All of a sudden, everything stops.
"I do not accept this ending!" The voice is powerful and yet faint - a whisper of a once-mighty being. "This realm still answers to me. Begone!"
The demons crumple like puppets with their strings cut, collapsing onto the floor and fading into wisps of smoke. The darkness clears from Sercha's eyes and she has a moment to appreciate the fearful look on Alainn's green face before wondering exactly why she chose now to threaten the little menace...
"Huh." Alainn says, completely devoid of its usual sang-froid. "Was that Sonnorae? Guess she wasn't too happy about being cut up and eaten..."
The gathlain shrugs and looks around.
"So? Sneaky back through the courtyard and find Zassiron? We should probably drink all the potions now."
”Good idea.” Lydia drinks the potions and refreshes shield of faith on herself and Sercha for good measure. ”Let’s do this.”
She leads the way through the double doors.
Alainn makes sure Lydia is invisible before she strides out of the doors...
In the courtyard, the ogres seem to be brawling this time; clumsily practising their close up fighting under the close guidance and criticism of their tiny captain.
Opening the double doors a crack to slide through, Lydia and Sercha reappear moments later as Alainn's spell wears off.
Hanging silks and overstuffed pillows liven up this warm, white chamber. Pipes lead into and out of the side walls, while an immense, shallow steaming bath fills the centre of the lounge.
There are two scantily clad young women in the bath, chatting and giggling with each other.
They turn to Lydia and Sercha as they appear and their manner changes instantly doing their best impression as damsels in distress.
"Oh, help us. Zassiron has kept us prisoner here for so long keeping us chained up in this bath as his playthings."
-5
Lydia gives the women a stern look. "Right. Pull the other one. Stay out of our way and you will not be harmed. Interfere, and we will deal with you harshly."
Alainn, still invisible, ignores the 'damsels' and flies straight towards the spiral stairs.
The young lady speaking loses her composure for a split second, her face falling but regains it readily.
"Please, our Champions, come to the bath and help free us from these chains. Why would we lie to you?"
"No," Lydia replies firmly. She brandishes her blade and stalks towards the women. "I did warn you."
The ladies' gaze slides up and down Sercha and Lydia with a sneer, assessing their threat.
"Fine. Let's go to the Playhouse. We can have more fun there." One of the concubines say bitterly as they both disappear with a sharp crack.
--------
Meanwhile, Alain cautiously flies up the right-hand staircase, invisible.
The wraparound stairways give way to an immense library and observatory. Shelves stuffed to bursting with tomes, scrolls, and loose scraps of paper line every surface, while bottles and obscure tools crowd tabletops. Towering stacks of books reach to the ceiling like parchment columns. In the centre of the library, aimed into a tattered and torn silk tapestry, sits an immense golden telescope.
There are tool domed ceilings and dominating the centre of the room is a large dragon with scales the colour of the desert sky. He seems to be pouring over a book on the large table, having not noticed Alainn's presence.
Alainn retreats down the staircase.
"Zassiron is in there." It reports. "If you've got any more preparations make them quickly. The potions won't last much longer!"
Lydia casts weapon of awe on her blade. She looks at Sercha, then nods resolutley. "In Desna's name, let's finish this!"
The three Heroes climb the grand stone staircase side by side with purpose, turning the corner that opens up into the Grand Library.
In the middle of the room sits a huge, blue dragon, looking more realistic than any storykin you have seen, but still not quite complete. His skin is a nightmarish patchwork of blue-hued scales and hide taking on some quality of different creatures in every patch.
Zassiron, the Patchwork Lord, is scanning a scroll laid out on the table as you cross the threshold of the library.
He raises his head and speaks with a booming voice. "Never did I think that you inconsequential fools would make it to me, the Patchwork Lord of the Harrowed Realm. You have caused much fear and destruction in your wake, let us see what you are made of. Despite the Storyteller's interference, you will not take my realm from me!"