The Cradle of Souls - Chapter 13: Prison Bound

You will not keep me here forever fools. I shall escape, and when I do I will rain down destruction on your miserable race. I will undo your families. I will warp your essence. I will make you abominations, and with every step you take agony and suffering will wrack you hides. You cant do this to me. I am favored by the gods!

- Iszgara the Hag, moments before her internment in the Planer Prison of Hanoff

They fell through space, pulled down from the well of water into a magical space, and deposited in yet another pool, this one part of a fountain. A continuous steam of water poured down from the ceiling, its origin 10 feet above the top of the well. Pomaz looked at the flow of water, wondering if they could get out that way as well but Krueler quickly dispelled that though by discovering that the magical barrier was stronger on this side than it was on the other.

The bodies of Altherton and Ulias struck the water too, the madness that occurred moments before had dragged them along for the ride. The bodies floated in the water, until Ulias suddenly stood with a gasp. (Altherton remained dead, as his soul was trapped within the Xirisz Phasygn)

“What in the nine!” he belowed, blinking and sputtering water.

“You died.” several people in the group told him.

“I know that!” Ulias growled before letting his angry confusion defuse. “How am I alive again?”

“The water I think” Krueler said, using his magical detection to examine the water in the fountain. It glowed with a white power, pure in essence. “This is the water the Druids spoke of... the Water of Evwayalla.”

He was quite right, for those who had taken gulps of the water by accident were already starting to feel better, despite the fatigue caused by the Xirisz Phasygn. The effect of the artifact already appeared to be waning, replaced by a euphoric high brought on by the cleansing.

Further inspection of the area revealed that they were on top of a large pedestal. Water flowed down the sides of the fountain, running down the pedestal fueling plantlife that sprouted in every direction. Large vines clung to the ceiling and the edges of the pedestal, while a stone stairway led down to a verdant garden at the base of it. Shortly after Kaden and Leyan fell through the barrier, the group descended the stairs seeking answers for where they were.

The place became stranger the more they explored. A massive garden on the grounds below, a strange door looking out at mountains that seemed to move around on its own, never staying in one place for longer than 5 minutes, cages with strange beasts (one that looked like a chimera, but had different parts). Each of the rooms seemed to be very magical, ready to shift at a moments notice. As they explored, they came upon a chamber with a red orb floating at its center. The orb spoke to them, calling itself Aberaz.

Aberaz said it had been trapped there for a long time, and it sought revenge against the creature that kept it there. Anya Star approached the orb, touching it for a moment. The orb began to change its shape, transforming into a copy of the young woman, taking a threatening stance to the group. They managed to talk down the creature so that it would reveal more about the place they were trapped in.

Aberaz explained they were in the confines of a Planar Prison, a place designed to trap powerful monsters. The makes had crafted and hidden a key that the prisoner could not find, but interlopers could. The key would serve as a one way ticket out, but could only be used once. While Aberaz wanted to be free, it would rather turn its anger outward to find the monster that had trapped it here. Bolstered by the information they were given, the group followed Aberaz into the garden where it screamed for the monster Iszgara to show herself and fight.

And show herself Iszgara did, stepping out of a pillar; Her naked body may have been beautiful at one time, but now was a mess of scales and small thorns. Her hair hung in knots and her eyes were a frigid pale blue and her teeth rows of razor fangs. A pair of tattered angels wings hung limply from her back and a damaged needle was clutched in one of her hands.

“Aberaz.” she rasped, clearing her throat slightly. Her speech began to transform, becoming soothing and lustful. “I have been waiting for this moment. Be undone.”

Iszgara jabbed the needle forward, striking the creature in the chest where it promptly vanished.

“You are the interlopers” Iszgara said to the group. “Now that you have had a demonstration of my power, I trust you will not try anything.” She scowled, scanning the human faces in the group before muttering “they look like them, but of them they are not...”

“You will do something for me so that I might get us all out of this prision” The hag motioned to the garden and its surroundings. “This place was made for me, so I cannot find what I seek, but I am the only way out as well. Unless you wish to grow old and die as my entertainment, you will do as I ask. Find for me the pieces of my needle. With it complete I can undo the barrier that traps us here.”

The group agreed, not wanting to test the Hags patience, and set out to try and uncover something that might just be impossible to put back together. They resigned themselves to seek out the key as well, hoping they might just have luck on their side just this once.

Travel into the planes is not for the ill-prepared. Assistance and council with experienced magi should be conducted prior to planar travel. Be warned: while the allure of knowledge from beyond our realm is enticing, there is a very real chance of error that can occur in transition between realms. Follow the procedures for planar travel to the letter, and ensure that all wards are carefully crafted. Have another check your work to check for errors. If the traveler makes a mistake, the consequences can be dire. There is a real possibility the traveler could end up on the wrong plane, or worse, a sub-plane designed to imprison.

- excerpt from Precautions of a Traveler, by Marissa Pelotti

The goddess Marisse must have been watching over the group, for a successful escape would some sooner than they knew. They entered the southern wing of the prison and discovered a pressure elevator that descended into a small room. A single door with an engraving upon it served as a warning. Krueler's delusions were beginning to crop up again, granting him insight into the meaning of the engraving. It showed a creature pushing the door open and entering into a place it knew well. There, a terrible death awaited it.

Curiosity got the better of the group, and they pushed open the door. Anya Star was the first to enter, the door unveiling a beach side with ships waiting to take her away. She was drawn in by the allure of her own vessel and the promise of seafaring once more. Glorving and Krueler tried to stop her, each grabbing hold of her and the door.

The magic of the room was unable to take on multiple people at once, causing the 'reality' to fracture and transform revealing the desires of Glorving and Krueler as well. Pieces of cave began to appear, along with dwarves, talking about magical theory. Soon, they too were drawn in by the magic. Pomaz knew something needed to be done. He tried to use a magical amulet he wore to pull objects from the 'reality' to him, hoping to attract their attention. Instead he began pulling pieces of a door to him, and soon had the fragments of a shattered door. The door was reconstructed by Leyan using druidic magic and it soon became apparent that it was far from a regular door.

The put the door over the enchanted one and opened it. It revealed a new passage rather than the alternate reality room. Now the only problem they had was Glorving, Krueler, and Anya Star were trapped without a way out. After several attempts to reach them, they were finally successful and freed their friends from the 'reality' space before it could kill them. Pomaz quickly used the magical door to open the passage he had found and they continued down it.

At the end of the hall lay a strange amulet upon a pedestal. 4 keys had been etched onto its surface, facing the cardinal directions. Pomaz believed this to be the key. Knowing it would be folly to turn over the key to the Iszgara, Pomaz and Krueler hatched a plan to get them all out. Up until now, bags of holding had been functioning inside the prison which meant that travel out of the prison was possible if objects were placed into the bag. In theory, Krueler could polymorph those members of the group who could not shape shift into tiny creatures. Everyone would get into the bag, and Pomaz would don the amulet and get them out.

As they put the plan into motion, Iszgara caught wind of their escape attempt and came through the walls to get them. Pomaz saw her coming, synched up the bag of holding and threw on the amulet, hoping that it would get him out before she could kill him. He watched the Hag draw nearer, arching her needle behind her. She swung, he closed his eyes. When he opened them he was not dead, but suspended in Astral space along with the rest of the group. The bag of holding had caused the magic in the 'key' to follow the path of least resistance (through the bag of holdings planar rift and into the astral storage space).

Another was there with them, an Astral traveler from an outer plane. It appeared to be humanoid, with three elongated fingers on its hands, an extended neck, and a small, broad head sporting a single eye and a thin mouth. The creature spoke telepathically to them, telling them it had felt their astral presence before the arrived. It sought the one called Krueler, and could transport them to their home plane if it had Krueler's assistance. There was no reluctance on Arden Krueler's part, who quickly jumped at the opportunity and agreed to assist the creature, knowing he would be traveling with it for some time afterward.

The magic was in place, and their final teleportation set in motion. They were transported safely to Qu'an Re Sool.

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