The Cradle of Souls - Chapter 4: Sealed Within
From Saratta
- It was for security that we chose to place a geas on all those with access into the Vault of the Forgotten. It would prevent others from learning the secrets of the Kalostr. Of course, in hindsight it is incredibly frustrating when you can not speak of it to others when you know it would help fix things. Even as I scribe this the words drift away from my pen so that they can not be written.
- A small group of people came to see me, asking about a device and the Vault. They were the same ones who clued me in that the Ritual has failed. I long to tell them the answers they are seeking, but I can not. Powerful magic keeps my tongue at bay. The best I could do was tell them where to go. Look up high and heed what the Mirror of Lost Souls has said. It tends to lie, but now it speaks truth. I pray to the gods they find it and free us from this hell.
- - From a parchment taken from the office of Torren Chavez, Professor of Runic Alchemistry
- As it had been indicated, beneath the sign of the ever verdant lay a small gold plate. On one side it bore a sigil mark, and upon the other another inscription. The inscription was the key to releasing the geas that held Torren Chavez from telling them what they needed to know. They immediately took it to him, and spoke the words. Their work was far from finished however. Chavez mentioned that they would first have to undergo a series of trials before being granted access. Each time the Vault was entered, the trial would be different, so he could only give them a basic idea about what to prepare for. The test included trials of Knowledge, Wisdom, and Skill. In addition, he gave them the true name of the wraith guarding the vault. Armed with this information they set out to be free of Persyfn once and for all.
- Prior to reaching the wraith and the Vault the group paused to rest (Day 14), which was fortunate for Ulias had ordered that the Mirror of Lost Souls be taken out of its hall. Brawl took the opportunity to ensure that the mirror could spread no more lies, and shattered the device much to the dismay of those around him. Desipe his blatant disregard for archeological treasures, Brawl got away unscathed when Altherton defended his actions from a furious Ulias. To prevent further conflicts the group pressed on to the room with the wraith, speaking its true name to prevent it from harming them.
- Once they had passed the wraith Krueler discovered that the sigil stone also unsealed the door. It closed automatically after they passed beyond it leaving the wraith to cackle with delight that they would be trapped within the vault until they joined it amongst the dead. Unable to open the door from the inside, the group pressed on, reaching another vault door. Large opal statues with glimmering blue gemstones flanked both sides of the large gears door. Krueler touched one of the stones and was assaulted by the screams of souls trapped within. He surmised that the statues were golems.
- An inscription above the door answer correctly would awaken the golems to open the door. If answered wrong they would slay the intruders.
- A symbol placed upon a page,
- to stave away prying eyes.
- After debating their answer, the group settled upon a seal, the kind made in wax to seal a letter. The golems awoke and opened the first of the vault doors, revealing a long cylindrical chamber that appeared to be made of glass. On the other side of the glass was stone that looked as though it had once been molten and cooled. The group entered the chamber, and the golems sealed them within beginning the trials.
- The room began at a cool 50 degrees (Fahrenheit), its temperature increasing a degree for every minute that passed. When a wrong answer was given the temperature increased a degree as well. Runes began appearing that read each of the tests, glowing only once before displaying the next trial until all were revealed.
- The Trial of Wisdom:
- Blood stolen from the vein.
- A knife shoved through armor.
- Boiled to make liquid; sweet.
- What is my name?
- Trial of Knowledge:
- Last of the Elements to be born by the Nature Lord.
- Trial of Skill:
- Rune of Age, Rune of Death switched with Life, Bonded by Path
- The heat built up quickly, taking the room from a comfortable level to sweating. The air slowly began to grow stale, making it harder for them to think. Glorving and Kaden sat down with a runic lesson book and determined that they needed to inscribe a rune of Fate upon a plate on the next vault door. It would take them much of the time they were down there to complete.
- Meanwhile the others worked to figure out the other trials. After many failed attempts they finally struck the answer to the trial of wisdom – Sap. The last of the elements born proved to be far more difficult. Their focus was on the elements themselves, but it soon dawned on them that it was not physical elements they needed to name, but a goddess, Zamikeye – last of the elemental gods to be born to Kantoram.
- The path was now clear. They entered the vault, the first footsteps to echo within those halls after several thousand years. The first chamber that they entered contained many runic devices of old whose design focused on using personal lifeforce to activate. The group scavenged through the items before pressing onward into the nearby chambers.
- Down a long hallway, passed a potion room lay the Vault of the Forgotten and the Xirsz Phasygn. Krueler recalled being warned no to take anything other than the device and began warning the others not to touch anything. Brawl had other plans though, and picked up the Xirsz Phasygn which activated, absorbing the soul of Mathayu leaving the group shocked and afraid of its power. Krueler took the device then, for safe keeping and attempted to leave.
- He believed that since the Xirsz Phasygn was the 'key' it would let them out of the vault. When he approached the door however, nothing occurred. They remained trapped. He decided to investigate the library chamber in the hopes of finding more information that might help (ignoring the documentation contained in the Vault of the Forgotten because he had been warned to only take one thing).
- Within the library they discovered a device exuding positive energy that kept the books within preserved from decay. Entering the field caused their skin to begin to itch, and they were again warned by Krueler to stay out of the field lest they be overwhelmed by positive energy. At the far end of the room was a steel cell designed for destroying texts where they found several forbidden books that had not yet been destroyed. These tomes contained written works of the Ephyrn pantheon (Ephryn believe this kind of thing to be an aberration as the myth is sacred and can only be passed down by word of mouth).
- Another of the works was the Zhan yi Metru, an ancient elven text written in song containing the locations of 8 elven generals who were slain and their souls were chained by human rune wizards using the Last Rune (a rune that requires 5 people to sacrifice themselves to contain a 'soulless' being). They removed many of the texts, intent on taking them with the group as they departed. Only then did Krueler raise his concern again that they could only take one thing from the Vault. Without any clues about how to proceed, Krueler drew out one of the shards from the Mirror of Losts Souls. Knowing that a blood infusion would re-empower the shard Krueler sought volunteers. Brawl quickly offered his arm and Krueler stabbed him with the shard to give it energy.
- Rather than power the Mirror, Krueler was visited by a visage of Corwin Degalle, who tried to convince him that he should remove everything in the Vault of the Forgotten least they be lost forever. Krueler ignored the advice, choosing to go with his gut instead of the dark spirit.
- Degalle then attempted to tempt Brawl into taking of the forbidden objects and succeeded. Brawl imbibed a potion that increased his strength greatly enabling him to open a sealed sub-chamber with the Vault where spirits in various states of being were tethered for testing the Xirsz Phasygn. Many of them were innocent, still trying to get free of their bindings. Others were beginning or had already transformed into wraiths. When this information was brought to Krueler he panicked and took the Xirsz Phasygn to the room and began to absorb the souls that had already turned evil. He believed that they had to use the device. With each spirit he absorbed he could feel his youth and vitality returning. At one point Krueler goaded a partially turn spirit into fully transforming so that he could absorb it as well.
- Showing considerable restraint, he willed himself not to take innocent souls, and sought to slay the wraith guarding the Vault. As he headed toward it, he began passing through walls and doorways without quite noticing it. He quickly succeeded in overtaking the wraith and made contact with the rest of the expedition. Ulias ordered that the artifacts be gathered up and removed. Krueler cautioned that such an act would be unwise. Not only did they not know what the artifacts might do, the golem guardians remained present and active.
- Krueler and Anya-Star then ventured up to speak with Torren Chavez in order to learn how to use the 'key' to leave the realm. Chavez told them they would have to use the Xirsz Phasygn's energy to disrupt the spirits in the High Tower (the cities central building) who had first begun the ritual. Armed with this knowledge, they headed down to organize the group and assist.
- Krueler took this moment, while the expedition began packing thing up, to read the texts pertaining to the Xirsz Phsygn. He learned that the device absorbs souls and transfers their power into the wielder and those in close proximity. The transferred power can be used to heal ailments, and appears to act much like a fountain of youth, granting addition powers the longer exposure occurs. It comes at a price though. After a week and a half of not being influenced by the device, the body begins to deteriorate, phasing between the prime material and ethereal planes. Other symptoms include nausea, high fever, and chills. Seizures and internal hemorrhaging were also observed in test subjects, but worst of all was a high rate of death.
- Shaken by the details, Krueler placed the Xirsz Phasygn back into its glass case. Not long after Ulias Brend entered the Vault chambers and took up the Xirsz Phasygn and used it to absorb several lingering spirits. As he gained power, he began speaking as Corwin Degalle. Realizing that Ulias was possessed, Altherton thrust his rapier through the leaders shoulder to break the connection.
- Infuriated, Degalle used some of the power granted by the device to bend the rapier blade upward so that it was trapped in Ulias's shoulder and hurled a ball of eldritch energy at Altherton, striking him with full force before finally relinquishing control. Ulias lost consciousness shortly thereafter from shock.
- Krueler quickly took command of the situation, directing those present to place the leaders within the Positive Energy field for a short time to repair the damage to their bodies. Altherton regained consciousness for a short time, allowing Krueler to fill him in about disrupting the ritual. Altherton suggested that the artifacts and anything worth saving be placed inside the steel vault before the deed was done (due to its structural stability, confirmed by Glorving). Once preparations for their departure from the plane were complete, they headed for the High Tower.
- Using the Xirsz Phasygn they quickly disrupted the ritual keeping the plane in place, though not before the god of Undeath sought to tempt them into using the device for more than disrupting things. Beset by wraiths and a bone monstrosity with 6 human arms that it used as legs, and three fox skulls (dubbed a Tri-Fox) the group prevailed, not once using the Xirsz Phasygn to bring about victory. Brashq allowed them to leave without further harassment, causing the city to drop out of the ethereal plane and topple back into the Prime Material.