Sapphire:Sessions:20150131

As Trace studies the runes, the wand begins to glow with mage light. He recognizes some of the runes as being of the same school as the ones that are tattooed on his body. Other runes are Venettian, Old Dwarven, and Elven.

The group rides into Old Town. While Rory's map is mostly correct, there have been some changes since it was drawn up. The area near the gate is less inhabited. Trace takes a reading and determines the building where the portal is located; it's a three-story building, the third floor of which has collapsed and fallen in upon the second. Trace can tell how deep the portal is below the building, and that it's not embedded in solid rock. There are thirty or forty people around the building, but ten 'loungers' have moved out of sight. The thief that Molly had sent to follow the group waves and departs rather than follow the group into the area. Those following us from Asseraah are not wearing priestly robes.

Trace pushes open the warped door. Rory lights a lantern. Tracks in the dust indicate that five or six transients camped inside the building within the past day or so. In the pantry, Rory finds a narrow stairway and leads the way down. The steps are carved from stone. 40' down is a landing, a rotted wood doorframe to the left, a closed door to the right. Chalker peers through the closed door; it leads to a storage room, and Chalker sees nothing moving except a rat. Trace's reading indicates that the group should proceed to the left. He clears some objects out of the way, realizing that they had been placed there to cover up the fact that someone had been there recently.

The corridor slopes downward. There are torch brackets mounted on the walls. Trace takes another reading; the portal is now behind and below the group, so he backtracks. Chalker finds a hidden doorway and slides it open. Trace says that someone has been through the doorway within the past few days. The corridor beyond curves slightly, then turns into a steep 45-degree ramp wide enough for three people to walk abreast. It ends in a large foyer with several exits. At this point, Chalker no longer hears anyone following the group. Trace indicates a closed door and says that the gate is beyond it. The lock on the door looks fairly new. Without opening the door Chalker looks through it; on a pole hangs a skeleton, its arms held out to its sides with wires. Behind the skeleton is a dark curtain. Chalker remarks, "Someone was expecting somebody like you, Trace."

If the door were swung inward it would contact the pole and trigger some kind of spell, so Chalker uses his power over metal to pull the pins out of the hinges, and Trace slides the door to one side. The curtain, which hangs by metal rings from a rod, has a Watchdog spell on it. Trace holds up a sprig of the magic-eating plant and casts Grow; the vine grows up the pole and over the curtain rod, cancelling a powerful spell and its trigger. Giving thanks to Agar, Trace uses his staff to push the curtain aside.

Beyond is a very large room resembling a lecture hall. It extends 80 feet in front of the group and 40 feet on either side. The Venettian gate stands in the room, with stones wedged around its base to keep it upright. A pentagram is drawn on the floor, each corner marked by a stone obelisk. The runes of the pentagram seem to writhe and creep, making Chalker's skin crawl and his stomach churn. The floor is stained with blood. In one corner of the room are a half-dozen bunks, two of which are occupied. Other objects in the room include a weapons rack, some cabinets, and a steamer trunk with a glowing padlock. This pentagram was active within the past two days, with blood sacrifice and demonic presence (though there is no demonic presence at the moment). The people sleeping on the bunks are mages who have been touched by demons. Trace senses lines of force leading through the gate.

Chalker moves stealthily toward the bunks, as Trace begins growing the magic vine around the pentagram. With the flat of his sword, Chalker strikes one of the mages in the head. As the other mage stirs, Chalker smashes that one in the chest with rib-breaking force. The vines grow rapidly at first, but once they grow within two feet of an obelisk, they turn brown and die. Chalker beheads the two mages.

Trace moves behind the gate and attempts to pull power through it (like he did with the gate back at the manor). It is much more difficult to do, and the power is tainted, not of this world. Etchings on the floor between the obelisks and the gate glow with ultraviolet patterns that should not be stared at. Trace casts a Dig spell to tear up the floor and break the etched lines; the earth seems to resist him. Shawna raises her left hand and sends a beam of light to Trace. There is a sudden snap, and Rory and Chalker see smoke rise between the gate and the obelisks. Trace and Shawna see the lines brighten, trying to push back. Beads of sweat break out on Trace's brow as he focuses. Shimmer... snap.

Chalker searches the bodies. The runes tattooed upon them make his own skin crawl. Rory looks outside the room and sees a carpet of roaches scurrying toward the door and hears the squeal of hundreds of rats approaching. With a crack, the smoke intensifies, and the stench of brimstone begins to fill the air.

Shawna crosses into the center of the pentagram. The heavy resistance, pain, and the feeling of boils erupting from her skin elicit a yelp. She turns to face the gate. A demon three feet tall materializes behind her, then another, until there are five in all. Trace tries to draw more (clean) power; it increases from a trickle to a stream.

Chalker rushes in, swinging wildly. Ichor splashes on him and he feels sick. Waves of mana dance around Trace. Shawna concentrates on a line of the pentagram, which blazes with greenish-pink essential fire. Trace casts Teleport Other on one of the demons; the spell is resisted, and the demon is angered. Rory takes one of his special oil arrows and smashes it on the skeleton; as the oil runs down the skeleton, Rory fires the arrow into #4 demon's torso; ichor flows, and Rory takes reflected damage. Demon #1's claws elongate and slash at Chalker; the claws nick Chalker's sword when he parries. #2, #3, and #5 stare at the floor at Shawna's feet. #4 turns, a purplish glob forming in its left hand; it flings the glob at Rory, who ducks behind the skeleton. Stinking air swirls around Shawna, dust motes appearing from her head to her feet. Rory hears hordes of roaches getting closer.

Shawna states, "You'll get no help there." She attempts to invoke Ven but nothing happens. Rory lights the oil and sets the skeleton ablaze. The glob that #4 throws at Rory hits the skeleton instead, intensifying the fire. Trace digs a hole six feet deep beneath obelisk #3, which falls down two feet into the hole; the demon struggles to retain its perch atop it. #1 thrusts its claws at Chalker, who parries and nicks a claw. Chalker then swings at #1's neck; the demon parries but yelps in pain. #2 and #5 stare at the floor.

Rory jumps up, grabs the skeleton pole, and wedges the flaming skeleton in the door. Trace casts at #2 at such an angle that the obelisk falls outward; #2 demon makes a three-point landing on the floor, facing away from the pentagram. #3 and #5 stare at the floor. #1 swings and Chalker parries. Chalker then runs over and tackles #5's feet. Chalker feels his own muscles twist, and he lands outside the pentagram on the floor with the demon beneath him. Growling "Begone!" Shawna leaps toward #4, swinging her sword; the demon falls off its obelisk, ichor flowing freely. #4 attempts to claw Shawna but misses. The first wave of roaches skitter into the fire.

Chalker's sword cuts deeply into #5's neck. Rory runs to Shawna's other side. Shawna runs #4 through, and the demon collapses in a puddle of goo. #1 and #3 stare at the floor, but then Trace twists #3's obelisk 180 degrees and #3 falls on the floor. #5's body heats up so intensely that Chalker's outer garments catch fire.

Shawna runs across the pentagram toward #2. #1 stares at the floor. Chalker rolls off of #5 (snuffing the fire on his clothes) as the demon's body goes up in flames. Chalker chops at #5, nearly decapitating it; Chalker takes a few points of damage and #5 turns to goo. #3 swipes at Trace, who Blinks two yards straight back. Rory rushes at obelisk #3, shoving it hard with his shoulder; the obelisk tilts and cracks as demon #3 rolls out of the way.

Shawna strikes #2; it loses its connection to the nether plane. Its ichor coats her sword arm, and something tries to take over her mind; this fails, the ichor falls off of her, and she utters a nasty laugh. Chalker takes a wild swing at #1; the demon tries to throw itself on his sword, but Chalker turns his blade and #1 seems displeased. #3 leaps at Trace, misjudging and landing off to Trace's right. Trace runs around to the front of the gate. Obelisks #1 and #2 begin to glow; #3 glows and smokes; #4 and #5 grow brighter.

Chalker hits #1, which turns into a glob. Trace casts Recover Strength. Shawna heads for #3, the only demon still up. Rory shoves #3 obelisk the rest of the way over, riding it down. #3 demon bursts into a flaming mass of goo. Rory scrambles away as #3 obelisk glows brighter. Trace, sensing the power levels in the room cycling up, shouts "We're going to blow up! We have to leave!"

Chalker rushes past Rory, grabbing his arm and helping him out. Trace strides toward Shawna, grabs her and teleports them both away as Shawna casts a shielding spell. Trace hurriedly pulls the door back into place. There is a series of explosions, and the door is blown outward across the corridor, crushing hordes of confused roaches.

After several moments, Chalker and Shawna go back into the room. The obelisks are gone. The gate, scorched, lies on the floor facing up. The pentagram and the floor are burned clean. All the furnishings that were in the room have been blasted into kindling, and the bodies incinerated. However, the steamer trunk is still intact.

Chalker examines the gate; there is no goo in the slots, and there are scorch marks on the frame. The connection Trace had made through the gate is now inert. Shawna invokes prayers to the First Chosen to cleanse the place. Trace lets the cleansing flow over him as well. Rory takes a lantern and checks the hallway.

Chalker peers with difficulty into the locked trunk and sees human thigh and finger bones laced together with diamond wire and beads. There is also an ivory box that he can't see into. Chalker works on the lock; it clicks, and Chalker steps back as it glows and burns away. He raises the lid using his telekinesis. He gets a horrifying vision of how the bodies were flayed to extract the bones.

Shawna returns to herself. The gods have revealed the name of Del Dagon, a mage who dwells in Sapphire and belongs to the Mage Guild. He is not the only one involved, but he is the one ultimately responsible. He has been preparing for several years... and he has sensed that something has happened.

Trace lights the wand and tries to figure out how the gate was transported down here. He observes that there are spots on the wall where an earth mage had made the rock flow. The ramp is easily wide enough. The gate may have been moved from another room down here.

Chalker borrows Trace's staff to lift the wired bones up and lay them out. The bones are of many different types of humanoids, perhaps representing all the races of Erethel. Trace examines the bones and declares that they are "magical -- but wrong," 'wrong' in the way the room had felt before Shawna cleansed it.

Chalker calls out, "Trace! At the bottom of the chest, there's a little box with scary runes in it!" Trace: "Sounds like a good place for it." The box seems to have been carved from a single large bone. Chalker ventures to pick it up, and it feels cold to the touch. He hands it to Trace, who takes it with his gloved hand. "What do you want me to do?" "They're runes; isn't that your thing?" The runes, etched with blood, are horrific in appearance.

Shawna says that demons are constantly trying to enter the realm of the First Chosen; their activity always increases at the end of an Age. The bone chains concentrate power to give the user control over the mortal races. Evidently Del Dagon was attempting to summon a demon prince, a being at least as powerful as one of the Second Chosen. She warns the others that Del Dagon knows of their actions, then invokes a prayer to Dar as she incinerates the bone net and the runes.

Shawna would like to permanently close the gate as well, but she realizes it would take her many days. She asks Rory to figure out the gate address; he plugs in crystals that would lead to the "guest suite," but nothing happens; he says "The gate might be temporarily inert because of the blast." Venettian runes carved over the gate translate as "Main Doorway to the Arms Wing." Shawna sticks some green goo into the upper right crystal slot to lock it.

The four return to the building's front door. Someone is pounding on it -- one of the three who had been tailing them, dressed in workman's clothes -- and Rory pounds back. The man steps back and by lip-reading Chakler sees him say, "If I try to make contact, I'll be skinned alive." The man leaves.

After a few moments, Trace opens the door and the group emerges into the street. According to the sun's angle, it is late afternoon. Five kids are playing with Striker, who trots over to Rory. As the kids run away, Rory calls after them, "Do any of you know Jim?" One kid pauses and responds, "Never heard of him." Nor has he heard of Jimmy or the Green Lantern Tavern. The kid comments, "You look too fancy to be from around here." Chalker: "We're taking over." Kid: "The gang won't like it." Rory, tossing the kid a few coppers, asks, "Are you sure you don't know the gang's name?" Kid: "The Razors." Chalker: "Well, we're The Unknowns." Kid: "What's in that bag?" Chalker: "Other kids." Kid, pointing: "Well, I saw three people run off that way." Rory rewards him with more coppers. Kid: "I'm Dag." He runs off, flipping the bird at the group.

Shawna calls to one of the Winged Ones who patrol the city. She orders the arrest of Del Dagon on charges of practicing demonology and attempting to summon a demon prince to Erethel. The Winged One exclaims, "By the winds of Yasseph!" "That's the idea," Shawna replies dryly.

Shawna heads for the Temple of Yasseph while Rory and Chalker go to the Temple of Santash.

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