Once, long ago, there was a group of adventurers. They were on a planet of sand, fighting against the raiders in the desert to aid the townsfolk of the Shah and his settlements along the shores of the wide ocean. But in their attempt to sail across the ocean, they took a job and boarded the WRONG SHIP. Instead of sailing an ocean of water, they sailed an ocean... OF STARS!!! They met lots of interesting people (kobolds, vanara, halflings, and many, many others), visited interesting places on several planets as well as in an asteroid belt (Silgis, Tayrik, Vyapor), and took a commission to wipe out some piratical scro and their allies. On the way to accomplish this, they battled other ships in the stars, met a strange undead being named Linus, and found one of their party members' relations... AND CAPTURED AN ISLAND FORTRESS!!! Which is where we left them. They were in the process of repairing the fortress, rebuilding the shattered, goblin-held village on the shore, and were trying to recruit allies to settle in their new lands. But while they were doing that, other things were in motion. Submerged beneath the waves lies a stone path, usable only at low tide, that connects several of the islands together (with a few gaps). The party has only explored this path out about three islands or so, but during their reconstruction efforts Linus explained a little of the history of that path, and that it goes all the way to the mainland. Thus, in order to secure their island, they may have to either secure other islands, or figure out a way to secure the path where it reaches their island. Out in the ocean, somewhere in the deeps, lies a creature of immense size and power. Half shark, half squid, all monster, it can be seen occasionally beneath the water, but never seems to surface, guarding a sea bottom littered with the wrecks of ships it has claimed... and possibly the treasures they carried... Within their new fortress, there are a pair of doors. To their knowledge, only one of their party can open the doors, and he has categorically refused to do so, for fear of what lies beyond. Others have tried to sway him, to no avail. He stands fast on his choice not to open those doors. Decisions will have to be made regarding these things. What will the players do about the submerged pathway? Will the players attempt to deal with the underwater menace? These two things must be discussed at some point. One of the choices, however, has been taken from the party. In the middle of the night, one of your hired guardsmen is patrolling the halls of the fortress and has to do a double-take at a sight that chills him to the core. Within the hour, the party is awake and gathered in the repaired (but not refurnished) great hall of the fortress to discuss the implications. THE DOORS ARE OPEN!!! Given what you have been told, you are curious as to how this could happen. From what you understood, only Izema would be able to open the doors, and he has not done so, but open they are. A quick inquiry reveals that Linus remains on his own island, tending to his library and his alchemy. But beyond the doorway is not the armory you expected to find, nor it is a vault. Instead there is a staircase, spiraling down into the depths. Wisps of foul-smelling mist wafts up the stairs, and a feeling of evil and dread emanates from those depths...
well the last few days had been a welcome calm after the storm of activity. Izema was over looking the construction of the shrine helping where mussel was needed but skill was not. it was coming together quite nicely.
Once again this new dusk’s light heralded naught but another night of restlessness and contemplation. The light of a hundred flickering candles would soon come to be joined in their dance with darkness by a silver light. One which leaked through the observatory’s vast windows to bathe the room. The moon was high, and yet so too was Ohmens anticipation for there was something in the air. He and Wisdom could feel it. Something in the shadows as though they were not shadows at all, waxing and waning, Shifting and dancing much like the candles they so sought to extinguish. Wisdom could be heard occasionally peering into the gloom as Ohmen attempted to once again reign in his imagination and focus on the task at hand - that of labourously pouring over yet another volume of dusty parchment, this book being a drop amongst the sea of what must have been hundreds lining the shelves. However, his attempts were to no avail, for he, much like his feathered familiar, could sense what could only be described as an overpowering dread. It was like it were a scent, this thought, this feeling seemingly seeped its way throughout the building's interior, worming its way through its twisting corridors and numerous halls as if seeking to feast on the fear of those minds who now similarly struggled to settle. Unable to sleep, yet unable to muster the courage or energy to continue Ohmens unease only grew as seconds turned to minutes and minutes to hours - all the while he remained in this state of half-sleep, being forced to suffer in some purgatory between the waking world and kingdom of sleep. And yet, the gates to the kingdom of sleep were closed. And closed they would remain, as though even they feared to allow this seeping dread to enter. It was then, and only then, was Ohmen’s delirious state was interrupted by repeated shouts coming from the rooms below. These shouts were not of anger nor panic, and yet, through the way in which they echoed maddeningly between the half-rotten wood and crumbling walls of the observatory's staircase they whispered of something far more dreadful, inspiring the shadows to darken and all manor of terrible thought to awaken from forth the deepest depths of Ohmens mind, gnawing at its very foundations as though some terrible secret or truth was nigh to be revealed to the world. Scrambling up from his position Ohmen snatched his staff before dashing down the steps of the spire, walking forth into the corridors to be greeted by the vision of this groggy, mess of a group that was the party now summoned to investigate this new passage - one which was the very source of the dread which had plagued them for these last few nights. Instructing the others to gather their wits and weapons about them Ohmen mutters a handful of words - “Lyz zmyry ky duqmz. Hiud zmy wfl vorv iddas uzw tmudv za kiluwm idd zmiz uw wmivas vorv virclyww. “ (Infernal - Let there be light! Hail the sun and allow its child to banish all that is shadow and darkness!) *Omen casts *light* https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/l/light Within an instant the wizard's staff cracked into a blaze of color, sending the shadows screaming back to the cracks in the walls they were born from, stinging and blinding the eyes of those newly awakened around him as it did so - In response to which Wisdom peered around with squinted eyes, murmuring "I suppose that's one way to get them awake and ready." in a mocking tone as the bird struggled to keep his grip on Ohmens shoulder despite the seriousness of the situation.
Bang looked around, he knew he couldn't swim well and also had an ambitious project Waddling up toIzema and the others he stated "I think im going to stay behind. I found a strange material that is highly combustible, and I want to spend some time working with it. Who knows maybe i can use it to get to the moon". Behind Bang, the party could already see a strange cylindrical object, several bulky cannisters, and a strange drawing board depicting a bizarre scene of flight. "However Im not going to leave you on your own, so here is some help from a buddy of mine". Throwing some hunks of meat in the water, they soon would be sucked down, and from the water emerged a large lizard. "This is Urk, he might be of use to you" bang finished before returning to his bizarre project
Shiro slept, but as always his dreams were troubled. Flashes of fire, of chanting cultists. Blood dripping from his face, both his own and that of other sacrifices. The scene of debauchery as madly spinning and half-mad robed figures, mixed with a repeated, chilling mantra rising from a low rumble to a shrill shrieking as his body is wracked in pain. Knives carving symbols into his flesh and a presence forcing itself into his mind. The alarm call waking Shiro was almost a blessing as he returns to the present in sweat covered sheets, the nightmare taking its usual toll. Shaking his head to clear the last of the sleep, he dresses and joins the rest in the hall. Shading his eyes from the sudden bloom of light from Ohmen, Shiro calls out to the party, "Hold on my brothers, we need to have a plan here. Izema? Surely now you are willing to speak of why you would not open these doors before? And do you have any idea what they hold? How should we prepare?"
As Ohmen's light drives back the darkness, the details of the chamber beyond the doorways is revealed. From the doorway (room 6) leading into the chamber beyond, two obvious things are visible. First is the door opposite (leading from room 7 into room 4) which is still closed, the other is a short stretch of hallway leading to the top of a flight of stairs leading into darkness below. It runs down and forwards for about twenty feet before abruptly turning to the left and out of sight. Wisps of mist rise up from the darkness to swirl about your feet, an eerie chill flows into the room, banishing the heat from the seaside sun. Something feels off about that darkness. Ohmen recognizes it a little, feeling something dark and wrong about those depths. Shiro, on the other hand, recognizes that feeling. There is something daemonic down there. How far down, he does not know, nor how many enemies abound out of sight. Izema can feel those emanations as well, and recognizes the emanations as being from the Abyss...
"it was never a secret. we have a very powerful undead dread knight living just over the hill who has expressed a desire to get in. having no way to reseal the door i thought it prudent to leave it closed lest we invite calamity"
it's one of several reasons i'm making a temple here. if i can consecrate it the undead can no longer approach and we can safely open the door.
Breathing in the cold air Ohmen need not be told that something wicked was at hand. Calling for the groups silence Ohmen gives a nod to Izema before holdinging high his staff, allowing its radiance to burn out the darkness and reveal the corridor beyond before slamming it against the now icy stone - “Tmy yhy ao idd wyy'w haf - iw va xe. Quwyjadylty vorv piduty pivy clasl. “ (Infernal - The eye of all see's you - as do I . Malevolence and malice made known. ) *Ohmen casts *Detect fiendish Presence* https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/d/detect-fiendish-presence
For a moment, nothing happens, but as the spell takes effect an overwhelming sense of dread fills the mage. It is at the extreme range of your spell, but you're pretty sure there is something fiendish down those stairs. It is distant and weak, but it is there. As a side note, before doing anything else, everyone should level up their characters to level 7 to represent time spent training, studying, and working on repairing the fortress.
As Shiro stands with the others in the hall, he watches the wizard cast the spell. Before anything else could happen, time slowed... A low hissing filled his ears. Turning around, the familiar features of Azaphor stood not a pace behind him. Her eyes fixed on the staircase, her face fixed into snarl, the otherwise self-confident daemon looked... afraid? Shiro suddenly realized that she had positioned herself whereby HE was in a position in front of her, as if he would shield her from the contents of the beckoning darkness. Shiro chuckled, "So not one of your friends down there, is it?" "Fool", she hissed, "in reality you know nothing of my kind. Nothing of the allegiances and pacts, grudges and hatreds." Her faced softened slightly, "Shiro, I know now what is down in the depths but I can perceive enough that should you venture forth you will be in mortal danger." Her clawed hand rose and ran down the side of his face. "I am not ready to lose you yet, my host. Think twice before entering." With a small jolt, Azaphor vanished and time returned to normal. Shiro looked up to see a look of chagrin pass over the face of Ohmen and realized Azaphor's words to be true. Shiro cleared his throat. "Izema? Would it not be better to reclose the door? We... Well, Azaphor senses great danger down there and surely it was sealed to keep whatever is there DOWN there?" He watches his friends face closely while he answers.
Izema sighs " that friend is beyond me." he walks over to his pack never far from the old campaigner and pulls out a pair of gloves. hard leather each knuckle is caped with a viscous serrated spike, not steel as would be standard but alternating between a bright silver metal and a dull gray. "this is not how i would have approached this. i would have preferred to have one more accustomed to dealing with the infernal or the divine, or at the very least have the blessing of my patron behind us." he pulls the gloves on fastening straps to brace it down his arms he goes threw the first steps of his dance. these are old friends and it has been many years since he last pulled them out, they must learn each others steps. "i don't know who by or how this door was breached but my soul will not tolerate the old enemy here. gather what you need who ever will join me and lets welcome our new guests."
Shuddering Ohmen could feel as a numb chill seeped its way into his mind - whatever awaited them beyond the light of his staff was malevolence made manifest in form and flesh. Glancing around the wizard takes a step to side, holding up a hand before Izema upon which Wisdom was now perched as he spoke to the rest of the group, his eyes locking with shiro’s as he does so “Whatever lies within the veil of darkness beyond these stone steps will fight all the harder if it has a taste of our fear. Courage shall be our sword and bravery our shield. We have come faced much in our travels, and I am sure whatever lurks below will not withstand the fury of fire and steel we shall deliver unto it. Arm up, Im following Izema. But first, Wisdom..” On that last word the bird spreads out its four wings - “Fear casts a vast shadow upon man. Its color - black as death. For it is he who forges the chains by which all men are bound.” - Wisdom murmurs in all of his thousand whispered voices. And as the words echo off the worn stone walls to return in all manner of language and tongue the bird takes flight only to seemingly fade into the air, its wings turning first to light and then to shadow. *Ohmen Sends Wisdom down the passage, Wisdom casts invisibility on himself*
Drew was there, silent as ever, listening to the conversation. He readies his weapons and gives Izema a slight nod, "its just a demon, how hard could it be?" Drew waits until Wisdom returns.
Shiro nods. "It was a question that was fair to the asking. I thank you for your honesty." His eyes go distant for a second. "My entire life I was taught constant alertness and willingness to throw the darkness into the light. They name me the Dawnflame and though the sun has set upon this identity, the value still shine as brightly as ever." He draws his sword and eyes himself in the reflection. "It shall not find me wanting."
As the raven goes invisible, Azaphor's voice speaks softly in the back of his mind. "The raven does know that many of my kind can see through those abilities, yes?"
Wisdom wings his way down the stairs. They go forwards for about twenty feet, take an abrupt left turn, drop another twenty feet, turn left again, and so on and so on. They keep dropping further and further into the darkness, and Wisdom finds himself unusually nervous about being down there. The sense of dread builds slowly though, not quickly like he's expecting. One hundred feet, two hundred feet down he goes. About two hundred and fifty feet down the stairs abruptly stop. Slipping into the shadows just inside the stairwell, Wisdom peeks out into the chamber beyond, his avian eyes taking in the sight before him. The room is not horribly large, an octagon perhaps twenty feet across, of dressed and carefully fitted stone. Judging by the pillars in the eight corners of the room, the raven suspects this may have originally been part of some kind of diarduin (dwarf) settlement or outpost. Beside the one Raven is peeking out of, there are four other passages leading out of this chamber. He can vaguely sense something evil from two of the four passages, but without getting closer he cannot be sure. Wisdom gets a vague feeling that something miiiiiiiight be in the chamber that he cannot see. He does not know if whatever it is can see him.
With the Bird having made its descent down into the festering darkness the feeling of malevolence and wickedness at work only grew. Whatever was down there, was of a hatred far beyond the mortal world. Having not seen, but sensed the presence of some greater threat the bird silently halts at the entranceway to the chamber, perching in the silence for a handful of seconds to peer into the shifting darkness before returning in a burst of speed. Gaining as much distance as he can, the four-winged raven speaks out in a cold, yet slightly whimsical and mocking voice - the language its words are spoken in twisting them into sharp sounding echoes which writhe around the room behind him. ”“̷̛͉̝̬̾͛͛F̶̳̼͎̂̄͒̓ơ̷̙̱̞͛̋o̶̢̩̰̯̐̉l̸̪͙̻̏ǐ̶̘̼̻̽̾ş̵̗͐h̷͓͇͂̇̕͠ͅ ̶̖̥͚͂̉̑̚͘o̴͚͎̯͖͊͜n̸̨̙̔̀͆ȅ̶̡̪̥̰̬s̴̡̭̜̬̒̂.̷͎̦̥̾ ̴̟͆M̵͎̗̀̈͊͠o̵̟̘͊̀̋r̵̘͗e̸̲͚͉̝̻̓̄̕̚͠ ̸̟̐̽̃͜͝t̵̺̠͇͔͕̀͋̏͝h̵͓̃̔͂̽a̴̛̗͖̾̂n̸͕͈̎̚ ̶͉̉͠d̸̨̢͓͖̀̕é̴̲͖͚͙̩͂̂ą̷̻̗̬̭̏͐ẗ̸̗̘́h̴̛͎̳͍̝̑̈́̈́͂ ̵̤͝ā̴̬̅w̶̥͖̖̳̭̋̂͠a̵̢͕̪͈͔̾̋̒͑ị̵͑͐̓̽̕t̸̞̯̀s̵̙̋̓͛ ̵̢̓̑͑́y̶̟͕̟̰͕̌͆ó̶̧̭̮̦̉̚ű̶̝͕͉̂͂ŕ̴̼̝̟͚̰ ̴̼̗̬̏͋̅͌w̵̡̉̆͒̕ȓ̴̩̤̝̮͌̽̚͜͠e̸͉̖͔̳̿̅̂̔̕ͅt̵̨͖͙̜͔̒̈́̀́̚c̵͓̬̩͌̅̈́́̆ḫ̵̂̑̚ẹ̸̝̠̰̞͐͝d̴͕͉̺͕̻̿̄͋̀ ̵̧̛̘s̴̨̢͙̟͇̆̇̍̃̀o̴̗̺̾͘u̵̟͂̂͝l̸͖̭̄̈͝š̶̫͠.̵͔̼̬̱̋̄̔ͅ ̸̼͈̼̀̕͜͝Ỵ̶̧̫̿̐́̒͜͜o̵̥̫̙̖̩̊ụ̴̧͛r̷͔͑̚͠ ̷͙̑̂̎͝t̴̫͍͊̀ą̸͓̂̆̑̓͐ḯ̴̘̖̺̥͖n̵̡͙̯̺͊̈̿͒̕ť̸̳͎̞̌ȩ̷͓́̈́̇̔͠d̶̤͕̥̳̈ ̷̧̛͚͚͎͊̏̎f̶̙͇̗̮̬̂̍ļ̴̛͙͖͊̅͗ę̶̨̳̼̱̽̐̎͊̚s̸͕̮̖̞̔h̸̡̰͈̿̎͆͋ ̴̰̭̼̀s̸̡̪̊̇͆̉͝h̶̥̩͚͕̩́̂͑a̶̤̾l̷͔̈́̚͘l̵͍͈̮̈́́̌̌͂ ̷͓̗̥̿̅͋͝͝b̵̲̃́̋̀͗è̷̡͕͙͂̀̎̚ ̵̱̯̋u̶͐̓̅͜ņ̸̲̣̘͈͑͊͐̎̀m̶̡̺̳̼̟̑̈́̚a̴͍̜͈͒̓͘d̸̗̽̀̏ḙ̷͌͌̄͂̀.̸̧͙̋͑”̴̛̹̞̥́͜͜ ̵̭̉ " - (Abyssal - Foolish ones. More than death awaits your wretched souls. Your tainted flesh shall be unmade.” )
Drakk rushes up to the group gasping for air. "Sorry I'm late! Was doing a bit of stargazing out at the walls, just got the news! I take it that we can't reseal this door so we must press forward, and I take it from your grim face Izema that it isn't gonna be easy. Anyways let me see what I can do to help, please give me a few moments to try something". Drakk draws forth his staff and start to utter strange words. His eyes begin to swirl like constellations as a soft blue glow emanates from his staff. Drakk says "lêc sê ûtan−cumen râd ûser. Pron ðe ic âcwylman dôð frymð?" (Let me see the outcome of our quest. Can we slay the creature below?) (Casting Lesser Foretelling) (the spell takes 10 minutes to cast). After Drakk finishes channeling the spell he pauses for a moment before saying..............
(DM reply: Drakk, something goes wrong with your spell. You do not know what, but you don't get an answer.)