Vale of Mysteries: A Wizard Exhale Quest

[Kandarin]

At the newly built Magos Tower in Stygia

Having built a base of operations, the Wizards now pondered what to do next, considering several possibilities: the power in the area, the pieces of the Throne, the demons themselves. Isabel had an inkling of a plan from the notes, but struggled to express it - even to herself.

- You emote, " flips open her copies of the Book of the Dead and starts poring through her notes." (2025-06-28 03:46:07).
- You say, "There can be no power except through sacrifice." (2025-06-28 03:46:32).
- You say, "That is one of the truths of magic. When something is given, something is taken. The demons start with that, and finish with that. My sovereign understands it from another perspective. But you aspire to more." (2025-06-28 03:47:57).
- You say, "Before you came here, before we wrote over them, I studied the runes on the walls here. One of the stories they told spoke of a Corruptor who gained the power to spend the entirety of a locus of magical power to summon something. Crude but innovative, for them." (2025-06-28 03:49:37).
- You say, "I can't help but notice that this sits atop such a locus. If we could empower it enough - spend it all at once - perhaps that too could power something greater." (2025-06-28 03:50:23).
- Jorus walks through the halls of the freshly converted towers, enjoying the new aesthetics much more than previously (2025-06-28 14:28:31).
- Jorus said, "Ah, Isabel. Frigidaris. Good to see you both again. Seems like I wasn't the only one returning to a more....how to put it? Subtle existence down here." (2025-06-28 14:30:46).
- Jorus said, "During our acquisition of this tower and it's...renovation let's say....I came across this" (2025-06-28 14:31:56).
- Jorus puts his hand into a pocket of his robe and pulls out a rather large and intricately decorated armrest. It seems far too large to have fit there so easily (2025-06-28 14:33:49).
- Jorus holds out the armrest for closer inspection. It is quite clearly decorated with demonic runes, dark and evil pictographs, and caked in places with what looks to be dried blood (2025-06-28 14:38:13).
- Jorus said, "I've examined it quite closely. It still seems to me as if there is some latent magic still embedded in it" (2025-06-28 14:43:08).
- Jorus said, "And if I'm not mistaken, I sense a sort of attraction eminating from it" (2025-06-28 14:44:08).
- Jorus said, "By chance have either of you found something similar?" (2025-06-28 14:45:48).
- Frigidaris said, "Hello again! I can't say that I have, but then again I just got here. I came to help converting this place, but it looks like you have it under control." (2025-06-28 15:28:20).
- Frigidaris said, "Meanwhile, I've been searching for a way to magically transcribe the information within Katerina's copy of the Book of the Dead, since it's far too lengthy to transcribe by normal means. Seeing how you have this show under control, maybe I'll make my way back to Purgatorio and keep digging for artifacts with her." (2025-06-28 15:37:38).

At this point the fact that the Wizards had just rung the dinner bell to the entire plane started becoming evident - and unbeknownst to them, brought the solution to their challenges knocking on their door in the form of Eldritch, Prince of Penumbra.

- You say, "That seems wise. I'd be very interested in that missing information." (2025-06-28 18:45:12).
- You emote, " peers through a doorway at the sleeping...dragon?...and quietly closes the door to that room." (2025-06-28 18:46:11).
- You say, "I, too, found one of these pieces in my bag. Which is curious, as I didn't put it there and I didn't see anyone else touch it." (2025-06-28 18:48:24).
- You give your Seat of the Stygian Throne to Lady Morgana. (2025-06-28 18:48:30).
- You emote, " passes what looks like a metal seat padded with demon skin to Lady Morgana, the only other Wizard present who she can see." (2025-06-28 18:48:57).
- You say, "They look like organs of the same body. Pieces of the same item. Split apart." (2025-06-28 18:49:45).
- You say, "Perhaps they should be brought together." (2025-06-28 18:49:54).
- Frigidaris packs his bags and checks a map. (2025-06-28 18:56:10).
- Frigidaris said, "Well, I'm off to the Ancient Lighthouse again while you work on this. Call me if you discover something." (2025-06-28 18:57:41).
- Lady Morgana disappeared from view. (2025-06-28 18:59:01).

- Eldritch said, "Hmm, this is my land, and yet you meddle" (2025-06-29 13:04:59).
- Eldritch attacked you with an Agony Curse attack. She was successful and you are now suffering from the Agony Curse! You will take additional damage from the unholy pains wracking your body each time you are hurt while under the effects of this curse! This attack was laced with virulent, burning poison! (2025-06-29 13:05:33).
- Eldritch said, "Explain your purpose here, wizard. This tower is unusual, I have not seen it here before" (2025-06-29 13:06:02).
- Eldritch looks at the IB in the corner. "You, I have seen. You are not necessary. (2025-06-29 13:06:23).
- Eldritch attacked Charizard with a Corrosive Horns, killing him! (2025-06-29 13:07:12).
- Eldritch said, "I will hide here while you explain yourself. You could not have done this alone, but perhaps a sacrifice could be pledged and I could be convinced to overlook this transgression. If not, I'm sure I could stir the forces of chaos up to defend the place." (2025-06-29 13:08:07).
- Eldritch said, "Choose wisely." (2025-06-29 13:08:13).
- Iona said, "Oh dear" (2025-06-29 13:18:58).
- Lady Morgana gave you a(n) Blood Ice. (2025-06-29 13:32:42).
- Lady Morgana said, "Well since you were kind enough to provide the corpse" (2025-06-29 13:40:23).
- Lady Morgana wipes the blood off her hands and pledges (2025-06-29 13:40:43).
- Jorus said, "This is Council business Eldritch. I can assure you we have no intention of expanding further into your territory." (2025-06-29 13:43:01).
- Jorus said, "And I hope that The Coven's friendly relationship with you and yours can remain as such" (2025-06-29 13:43:30).

- The form of Zecrain seemed to warp and flicker for a moment before appearing to melt into the shadows. (2025-06-29 14:09:08).
- Zecrain attacked you with a Blood Claws and hit for 10 points of unholy damage. They focus their malice on choking your life away. You feel their dark magic tightening around your lungs, choking you for an additional 1 points of death damage! (2025-06-29 14:09:21).
- Zecrain said, "oh, im interrupting, i will leave" (2025-06-29 14:09:41).
- Lady Morgana healed you for 15 points of damage. (2025-06-29 14:19:02).
- You feel that the poison afflicting you has been cured. (2025-06-29 14:19:02).
- Lady Morgana said, "oh dear" (2025-06-29 14:19:46).
- Lady Morgana rummages in her satchel for something to patch up Isabel (2025-06-29 14:20:16).
- Jorus whispered to you, saying "I have the four pieces we've found. Lady Morgana tried reassembling them and found no means to do so, so she has passed them to me." (2025-06-29 14:29:35).
- Eldritch said, "The pledge is sufficient. See that you do not expand." (2025-06-29 14:57:56).

Other demons, however, could not be appeased with treatises or pledges. Isabel retained a vague sense that the solution was right there - which in turn turned out to be correct - but the attacks continued.

- Iona does a curtsy to Eldritch and promises that the Covens presence will be brief and non-disruptive (2025-06-29 18:25:54).
- Narco-Monkey attacked you with a Dark Heart attack, attempting to steal magic points from you. He was successful and has stolen 10 points from you! This attack was laced with virulent, burning poison! (2025-06-29 19:24:36).
- Wrackwyrm, belonging to Narco-Monkey attacked you and hit for 10 points of unholy damage. This was enough to kill you! (2025-06-29 19:26:01).

- You step inside The Sundered Tower. (2025-06-30 03:10:58).
- You cast the spell, and feel the shadows warp and bend around you. You are now hidden. (2025-06-30 03:11:02).
- You have sent 1 credits to Jorus along with the message: Isabel's voice flickers through the voidnet. "Have returned - still a way to deal - tower is a decoy." (2025-06-30 03:12:53).
- You have sent 1 credits to Jorus along with the message: Her voice has the same off tone that you are used to, until recently. (2025-06-30 03:13:10).
- You have sent 1 credits to Jorus along with the message: "Must rest, can clear our enemies given time. Throne will seat itself, in time." (2025-06-30 03:13:42).
- Trisimodo, a Necrophage, belonging to Liemannen attacked you and hit for 13 points of slashing damage. This was enough to kill you! (2025-06-30 11:33:32).

- You step inside Heart's Blood. (2025-06-30 14:10:29).
- You search and find nothing. (2025-06-30 14:10:43).
- You say, "Quite the bloodbath. Are you still here? Because I think I see a way to deal." (2025-06-30 14:11:04).
- You say, "The fog remains, always. But the seat will sit." (2025-06-30 14:11:22).
- You feel invigorated. You regain an extra Action Point. (2025-06-30 14:30:06).
- The Fabulous Mr. Fancy Frog said, "jolly good day, init?" (2025-06-30 14:30:32).
- The Fabulous Mr. Fancy Frog said, "/ne pips aloud to himselfm" (2025-06-30 14:30:51).
- The Fabulous Mr. Fancy Frog said, "pip pip pip!" (2025-06-30 14:31:05).

Only after a second slumber in the Void did a flash of inspiration appear as to what might be done.

- You say, "I believe I see now how to assemble the chair." (2025-06-30 16:11:04).
- Jorus said, "Ah, excellent. I've been pondering over it myself, but recent demonic activity has increased and I find myself running from place to place with little time to ponder between" (2025-06-30 16:31:31).
- Jorus gave you a(n) Potion of Healing. (2025-06-30 16:31:49).
- Jorus said, "Wake me when you're ready to talk. I'll be hidden in the shadows nearby" (2025-06-30 16:32:54).

[Kandarin]

In Purgatorio - a lesson in Balance

Hasheen places - even one as glaringly obvious as the Lighthouse citadel, out of place amidst humbler ruins - often have a subtler magic about them than the flashy efforts of self-made mages or the clever workings of Marquai's pupils. They follow their own logic, but can appear to just be old, dusty and crumbling - in the state they collapsed into, instead of with any intent. An elder Hasheen knows that those things are not necessarily contradictions - but that didn't make the challenge of navigating the lighthouse any more frustrating.

- Frigidaris said, "Okay, I'm back. Sorry, I had to go check on my fellows' little project. Did you find what we were looking for?" (2025-06-28 19:00:07).
- You emote, " looks up from an Arcane Book she is poring over when you walk in. "Ah, hello."" (2025-06-29 02:23:53).
- You say, "They say that even a failed experiment means you discovered a method that doesn't work." (2025-06-29 02:24:13).
- You say, "And what I learned is there definitely isn't a way up to that lantern at the top of the lighthouse." (2025-06-29 02:25:01).
- You say, "The magics here do their best to scramble one's sense of...not direction so much as memory. You're supposed to wander through, forget your way several times, get lost, and wind up back where you started, certain that you spent more time there than you did. It's an old, familiar trick." (2025-06-29 02:26:50).
- You say, "But I'm a *Hasheen*, so I know how those magics work. And more importantly, I've been to this citadel before. The real, larger one. And the route up to the lantern chamber just isn't there." (2025-06-29 02:29:06).
- You say, "But it *exists*. And that means there's a way." (2025-06-29 02:29:27).
- You say, "You said you were going to have a look around this place, the plane. Tell me, did anything...else...stand out as a locus of Hasheen magic? Anything that left a mark strong enough for you to pick up?" (2025-06-29 02:31:42).
- Frigidaris checks a map. (2025-06-29 07:39:48).
- Frigidaris said, "There were two locations that caught my eye. The first is a crater outside this building, oozing with deathly energy. The other is in 19,13, a small chunk of grassland southwest of here." (2025-06-29 07:44:44).
- Frigidaris said, "Most of the grass was dead, but there was also a patch of living green grass. And in the middle of the living grass, a small circle of beautiful white flowers. Plus, the whole area was shining with a wholesome light." (2025-06-29 07:50:11).
- Frigidaris said, "The question is, can you use either of those to somehow get to the top of the lighthouse? Because unless you have a hot air balloon hidden somewhere, I can't see how." (2025-06-29 07:52:51).

The visitors did not, in fact, have a hot air balloon. Had they physically climbed the lighthouse or flown to its apex, which they did not, they would have found that every possible contrivance stood in the way of getting into the lantern. Nevertheless, Katerina went for a flight - for the latter site, a wholesome light with white flowers, sounded familiar.

- You say, "I do not, in fact, have a hot air balloon." (2025-06-30 02:59:55).
- You say, "Nor would I trust myself to steer it if I did." (2025-06-30 03:00:11).
- You emote, " whispers something loudly in Hasheen, and you feel spirits emerge from the void in great numbers. They swirl, invisibly, around her and she floats into the air." (2025-06-30 03:02:13).
- You emote, " steadies herself a little before appearing to fly naturally. You've seen Liches do this plenty of times before." (2025-06-30 03:03:11).
- You say, "Ah. I've got no wings, so this is how I go about flying. I'm going to investigate both sites." (2025-06-30 03:03:44).
- You emote, " swoops out the great stone doors of the entryway." (2025-06-30 03:03:58).
- You step outside of Ancient Lighthouse. (2025-06-30 03:03:59).

As it happened, Katerina herself had had something to do with the Fountain of Life on a remote rock of faded grasses in Purgatorio. It had been built as a regular Death Font by another Hasheen, a prolific font-builder. Katerina had undertaken a pilgrimage years ago, a part of her long, friendly-yet-adversarial dance with her patron, her bid to make Hashaa see the goodness and beauty of the universe, to pull her toward the light. Katerina's efforts in this direction were humble and slow, and she expected the dance to continue for eons, but this fountain was evidence that it was possible - that there was a Good side of Hashaa to cultivate.

And it was as she remembered - a gently bubbling fountain glowing with a wholesome light, planted with white flowers - the first hint that Hashaa is capable of gratitude and of recognizing that some things are, in fact, made to last. The flowers had once bloomed in Laurentia, in a place called the Altrean Mountains, and now bloomed only here in all the universe. It was not a hot air balloon, it was not a blasting weapon that could unlock a door in the citadel. But it was a thread that could be pulled.

- You step inside Ancient Lighthouse. (2025-06-30 03:31:08).
- You say, "Witness the mercy of Hashaa, and rejoice." (2025-06-30 03:31:19).
- You emote, " floats back into view, some hours later. She lands on her feet, readjusts to walking, and lets the sprites back out of her bags. The whisper of the spirits vanishes." (2025-06-30 03:31:56).
- You say, "...is something someone wrote out there." (2025-06-30 03:32:06).
- You say, "You are right. Both locations are powerful sites of Hasheen magic. But they could not be more different." (2025-06-30 03:33:25).
- You say, "Tell me, seal-keeper, do you follow an Elder Power yourself?" (2025-06-30 03:35:00).
- You say, "...regardless of if you do, you have dealt with their machinations enough to be where you are." (2025-06-30 03:36:21).
- You say, "They have identity, personality - but are not all unified in purpose and traits." (2025-06-30 03:36:38).
- You say, "Baraas is cooperation, but also machinery." (2025-06-30 03:36:49).
- You say, "Tlacolotl is hatred, and violence, and the relentless, pyramidal flow of power. As we may all, unfortunately, find out soon enough." (2025-06-30 03:37:40).
- You say, "Hashaa is death, and entropy. The notion that you can't get something for nothing. Decay. And yet also mercy, and peace." (2025-06-30 03:38:31).
- You heal Frigidaris for 10 points of damage. You gain 10 experience points. They are now fully healed. (2025-06-30 03:39:59).
- You say, "It is those last traits that I focus on. It is those traits that that pool on the island are devoted to." (2025-06-30 03:40:22).
- You say, "And it is the more negative traits - the wounding, decay, loss and grief - that power the pool outside our door." (2025-06-30 03:44:04).
- You say, "One of those sites is stronger than the other, and closer. If we could strengthen the better of those fonts, and weaken the worse, perhaps the magical ecosystem here would be friendlier to our goal." (2025-06-30 03:45:08).

The contrast to the Fountain could be found right outside the Citadel's door - the Mouldering Pillar, a Font of rot and decay. That two such opposites existed so close to each other was a testimony to the fact that both reflected aspects of the same Power. This too was a thread.

- Frigidaris said, "An interesting theory. How weakened do you think the worse one should be? I wouldn't want to break anything irreversibly." (2025-06-30 06:39:55).
- You say, "The Breath is winding down. At this point, I wouldn't worry about chronically breaking *anything*." (2025-06-30 15:02:34).
- You say, "Besides, this citadel is a reflection. The real thing is still out there." (2025-06-30 15:02:52).
- You say, "And in any case, we'd be adding at least as much Hasheen magic as we take away. Just on a different wavelength." (2025-06-30 15:03:15).
- Frigidaris said, "Yes, that's true. In any case, the negative font outside is now empty and the positive over yonder is at 85 maximum depth. You think that's enough merciful energy for what you intend to do?" (2025-06-30 16:05:07).
- You say, "I will expend my own stores. Hopefully that should boost the Fountain of Life a bit more." (2025-06-30 17:05:12).

Katerina lifted off once again, bourne by spirits, to continue what Frigidaris had started. She drained the Pillar dry and offered every Potion she had to the Fountain.

- You say, "The Pillar had ninety-one units of potential in it, and the Fountain eighty-five." (2025-06-30 17:07:57).
- You say, "That count now stands at ninety and ninety-five." (2025-06-30 17:08:12).
- You say, "The changes this might work are remarkable small and subtle. A wall standing instead of falling, or the right wall fallen instead of standing. A clear path instead of a befuddling one." (2025-06-30 17:13:29).
- You emote, " whispers something in Hasheen to the sprites and they once again amble off. She picks up a lantern and walks into the labyrinthine halls once more. "It is worth searching again."" (2025-06-30 17:14:07).
- You say, "Let me know if you find anything...amiss." (2025-06-30 17:14:28).

And somewhere in the lighthouse Citadel, something shifted, however small or subtle, to open a path that had before been closed. A staircase down into an as-yet unseen catacomb of the Purgatorio Underground made itself evident.

- Frigidaris whispered to you, saying "Psst, over here! There's a stairway down, looks like your plan worked." (2025-06-30 17:51:13).
- You climb down the stairs into a deep, suffocating darkness filled with the dust of old bones. (2025-06-30 18:23:49).

[Kandarin]

In Stygia - A Heist in plain not-daylight

The epiphany Isabel had realized was that Eldritch, rather than an obstacle, was the key to the whole affair. They hoped to walk off with an Overlordship with which to fool Tlacolotl. That meant revealing a whole lot of fundamental demonic magic that normally lies deeply hidden, that it may be manipulated. This, in turn, meant running toward a potent wielder of that magic, rather than away from them.

The Wizards had, by now, been driven from their tower by a well-armed coalition of toad demons and others. Scurrying from hiding place to hiding place, Isabel and Jorus at least had hidden in the Nest - a tumbledown, festering Stone Hut to the tower's south.

- You emote, " downs the potion with a grateful expression, to the extent that she has any expression at all." (2025-06-30 16:57:25).
- You say, "The thing we're looking for - the lordship - isn't actually here." (2025-06-30 16:58:46).
- You say, "And if it was, I doubt we can take an Overlord." (2025-06-30 16:59:52).
- You say, "If we work with him - make a show of giving him the chair - it should power up those magicks enough that we can actually get at them. Like convincing a very proud and rich magnate to show off his wealth when you're after something normally kept in a vault." (2025-06-30 17:01:45).
- You say, "Some elements of Stygian magic that don't normally show their face have churned up in our hands. If we plug them into the rest, we can get at the rest." (2025-06-30 17:02:39).
- You say, "We have a bargaining chip in the form of the tower. He has an incentive to want to look strong again." (2025-06-30 17:16:54).

- Trisimodo, a Necrophage, belonging to Liemannen attacked Atharv Griffith, killing them! (2025-06-30 22:02:22).
- The shadows here seem to distort and bend at eerie angles as a chill and eerily soft breeze passes through the area. (2025-06-30 22:09:03).
- You say, "Ah. The Chaos lich. We meet again." (2025-06-30 22:29:30).
- You say, "The Council is conducting experimentation, that should not bother you." (2025-06-30 22:29:44).
- Liemannen said, "Sigh, I lost yet another Necro" (2025-06-30 22:33:45).
- Liemannen said, "All due to my carelessness. How many gone, all lost" (2025-06-30 22:34:12).
- (3 times) Liemannen summoned a Ghoul. (2025-06-30 22:35:26).
- Liemannen summoned a Necrophage. (2025-06-30 22:35:35).
- Jorus said, "There seems to be a problem with a certain type of amphibians next door. I dealt with the one that was there, but they're turning up more often of late" (2025-06-30 22:36:03).
- Jorus nods in greeting to the lich (2025-06-30 22:36:34).
- Jorus pets the friendly cat (2025-06-30 22:36:49).
- Liemannen said, "CCC has their own research and studies, but I am not allowed to take part. I can cast spells too, but my shoes are not pointy, liches need not apply" (2025-06-30 22:36:55).
- Liemannen said, "It is an unjust world" (2025-06-30 22:37:05).
- Liemannen said, "But life is unjust, death and unlife even more so" (2025-06-30 22:37:28).
- Liemannen said, "Toads are bothersome around, most of them" (2025-06-30 22:38:08).
- The shadows here seem to distort and bend at eerie angles as a chill and eerily soft breeze passes through the area. (2025-06-30 22:39:04).
- Jorus attacked Jovanni Bravo with a Pallid Bolt spell, killing him! (2025-06-30 22:39:44).
- Jorus said, "Well said" (2025-06-30 22:40:32).
- Jorus said, "Another corpse for your collection should you wish" (2025-06-30 22:40:49).
- Jorus said, "I've sent a missive to Eldritch. He sends back that he shall seek to join us here at his convenience" (2025-06-30 22:46:37).
- Liemannen said, "Thank you Jorus" (2025-06-30 23:27:41).
- Liemannen summoned a Skeleton. (2025-06-30 23:28:07).
- You say, "Ah, good. If I calculate right, the location should not matter. Until it does." (2025-06-30 23:29:43).

At last, the ruler of Penumbra strode into the room, her infernal glamour standing in sharp contrast to the wreckage around her. Jorus had promised a meeting of some import - but the Eldritch one was not to be toyed with.

- Eldritch said, "You have summoned me" (2025-06-30 23:36:48).
- Eldritch said, "More of you will need to submit to my whims, if you wish to have an accord" (2025-06-30 23:37:02).
- Eldritch said, "Jack, this is chaos lands. Behave and i will tolerate you, for the purposes of this pantomime only" (2025-06-30 23:37:26).
- Jorus said, "Ah, Lord Eldritch. Thank you for responding to my message" (2025-06-30 23:37:33).
- Eldritch said, "I will not tolerate the spare meat" (2025-06-30 23:37:48).
- Eldritch said, ""You will need to truly call me lord, if you wish me to assemble this so called throne. My throne is anywhere I will it, the forces of chaos are mine to command" (2025-06-30 23:38:31).
- Eldritch said, "Well, mostly. They are... quite chaotic" (2025-06-30 23:38:38).
- Jorus said, "In our experiments in your domain, which you have so graciously allowed, we have uncovered relics of a throne. Perhaps one of your predecessors sat there. Perhaps one far older" (2025-06-30 23:38:46).
- Annabella Barrett has exploded in a violent flash of hatred and hellfire, spraying heat and gore everywhere. You take 3 points of fire damage. 8 characters and/or pets were affected by this attack. (2025-06-30 23:39:23).
- Annabella Barrett was looking terribly sick and has keeled over, clutching her chest, dead from defiler poison! (2025-06-30 23:39:24).
- Eldritch said, "Annabella, you are embarassing yourself by fighting" (2025-06-30 23:39:27).
- Eldritch said, "Do you have the pieces to hand, Jorus? I cannot hide in the open like this." (2025-06-30 23:40:00).
- Jorus said, "Quite right. You have asserted your mastery of this domain. None on the Council wish to deny that fact. Nor do we seek to usurp your authority" (2025-06-30 23:40:05).
- Eldritch said, "Oh, I don't care about that. My power is purely mechanical, I asset dominance and that dominance makes me strong" (2025-06-30 23:40:30).
- Jorus said, "I do. Here they are, Your Lordship." (2025-06-30 23:40:42).
- Eldritch said, "Submit to me as your oppressor, and I will assemble your throne, if it is possible" (2025-06-30 23:40:48).
- Eldritch said, "Pass them over, let me consider them" (2025-06-30 23:41:02).
- Jorus makes a great display of drawing the large, ornate pieces of the shattered throne out of a pocket much too small to hold even a single one, let alone them all at once (2025-06-30 23:41:39).
- Eldritch flexes her wings, bored (2025-06-30 23:41:59).
- Jorus levitates them through the air to hover in front of Eldritch, his to grasp as he wishes (2025-06-30 23:42:15).
- You emote, " watches the spectacle with great interest." (2025-06-30 23:42:32).
- Eldritch said, "Hmm, I will see if the four pieces are enough" (2025-06-30 23:42:54).
- Eldritch said, "But you have to fulfill your end of the deal. Pledge to me" (2025-06-30 23:43:03).

Jorus did, indeed, hand over the pieces of the Stygian Throne. And no sooner did they touch Eldritch's hands than they began to knit themselves together - great Stygian magic assembling at the touch of a great Stygian ruler. But just as the broken throne assembled, the safety of the situation began to deteriorate.

- You emote, " watches as the pieces enter the grip of a true ruler of Stygia - a feat she never managed in her infiltration. Metal fuses to metal and snake-like tendrils coil from the disconnected pieces." (2025-06-30 23:43:53).
- Jorus has a look flash across his face, there and gone in a flash (2025-06-30 23:44:15).

Isabel watched in rapt attention, stepping quietly closer and closer to the magical phenomenon as it happened. Before their eyes, the surroundings changed and the ramshackle hut began to expand. Its walls spread, its floor evened, and its material became the dark, flat stone of the single chamber of a great Black Prison.

- You emote, " steps back. A dais forms amidst the tattered, ruined flooring and the walls reshape themselves around the observers." (2025-06-30 23:45:14).
- Eldritch said, "Hmm. This smells like deception." (2025-06-30 23:46:01).
- Eldritch said, "It would be smart for you to pledge fealty at this stage" (2025-06-30 23:46:46).
- Jorus said, "If you would be stop a moment and listen" (2025-06-30 23:47:05).
- Jorus anger courses underneath his tight restraint (2025-06-30 23:47:19).

Isabel ascended the steps as they formed, as the Throne knit itself to place at its apex. The dark, cavernous room echoed with feuding voices. The prize was in sight - if only a distraction could be had to allow her to do the necessary work. Jorus - at the cost of his life - provided the needed distraction.

- You emote, " watches as the steps rise, one, two, three, above the oily pit from before, now made of a dark and featureless stone." (2025-06-30 23:47:34).
- Jorus said, "Attack me again and you'll rue the day you first took breath" (2025-06-30 23:47:41).
- Eldritch said, "Sorry, but you do not threaten a ruler of hell" (2025-06-30 23:48:01).
- Eldritch attacked Jorus with a Corrosive Horns, killing him! (2025-06-30 23:48:10).
- Eldritch said, "His manners caused him some real issues, there." (2025-06-30 23:48:26).
- You emote, " walks up to the stone and inspects it. "Quite a tribute to your rule, is it not?"" (2025-06-30 23:48:37).
- You emote, " watches as the throne fuses itself to the dais." (2025-06-30 23:49:05).

Isabel worked quickly. She had minutes - no, seconds - to lay down a set of runes she'd only seen in old notes. In the guise of curiosity - and trying not to be distracted by the lethal violence going on around her - she laid down the roots of a new Hidden Pathway - to a destination only guessed, a destination whose only guiding link was the great magicks of Overlordship that were briefly on display. And when Eldritch dramatically wrenched the Throne away, the Overlord unintentionally removed the last obstacle. Isabel hadn't had a plan for how she was going to remove that thing.

- You emote, " has a catlike flash of understanding. "I see now."" (2025-06-30 23:50:13).
- Eldritch said, "Sorry, the giant throne you created is now... my puppt?" (2025-06-30 23:50:15).
- You say, "So it appears." (2025-06-30 23:51:44).
- Eldritch said, "Jorus will presumably recover from his wounds" (2025-06-30 23:52:15).
- Eldritch said, "I am certain you wizards are playing an angle, but I have not yet seen the angle" (2025-06-30 23:52:32).
- You say, "Its power is now yours, for the time that it lingers." (2025-06-30 23:52:55).

A new Hidden Pathway is not a small feat of magic, nor one that a Councilor could easily lay down. Isabel had not been entirely sure it would work at all, though the Weave of Magic was in their favor. And it had come at a price - for next door, the new Magos Tower the Wizards had worked so hard to build was gone, returned to an Ebony Tower and radiating Evil as strongly as ever. A band of foundational Stygian magic had been stretched just long enough for the Councilors to touch the prize they sought - and it had snapped back.

Mindful of Jorus' death, Isabel took some time on necessary flattery to draw their host's attention away. And when all attention was drawn away from her, she stepped into the new portal and disappeared.

- You emote, " sees the angle. She darts a look to Morgana to see if she sees it too. Alas, the Wizard is gone." (2025-06-30 23:54:53).
- You say, "Whatever power was in the chair has improved this place...and" (2025-06-30 23:55:49).
- Eldritch said, "Murder a wizard and they all vanish into the woodwork" (2025-06-30 23:55:56).
- Eldritch said, "The Lady doesn't have to wrory while she keeps a civil tongue in her head" (2025-06-30 23:56:11).
- You say, "...and I think you'll find that it has restored your tower, too. Quite a potent bit of magic, there." (2025-06-30 23:56:15).
- Eldritch said, "Where is my tower?" (2025-06-30 23:56:31).
- You emote, " sees the angle at last, but like the corpse she inhabits, she keeps a perfectly straight face." (2025-06-30 23:56:39).
- You say, "Why, your tower next door. The one we converted for our experiment. A fine success, I'd say." (2025-06-30 23:57:03).
- Eldritch said, "Excellent. My realm is restored. Please vacate Penumbra at your earliest convenience" (2025-06-30 23:57:47).
- You say, "The Council is always curious about areas of magic we have not yet touched." (2025-06-30 23:57:57).
- Eldritch said, "You have my respect, so I will allow you to leave of your own volition" (2025-06-30 23:58:05).
- You have sent 1 credits to Jorus along with the message: Isabel's voice echoes. "Excellent. It is unfortunate that you had to be the distraction, but a part well played!" (2025-06-30 23:59:12).
- You have sent 1 credits to Jorus along with the message: The experiment has succeeded beyond my hopes. And our host knows nothing. (2025-06-30 23:59:34).
- You emote, " nods sagely and fades into the shadows." (2025-06-30 23:59:56).
- You cast the spell, and feel the shadows warp and bend around you. You are now hidden. (2025-07-01 00:00:10).

- You emote, " slips out of the shadows and disappears. Curiously enough, you didn't see her go out the door." (2025-07-01 13:18:47).
- You stand in the center of the ring of runes and find yourself elsewhere. (2025-07-01 13:18:49).

[Lychwood]

Nirvanyos--distractable as ever--attempts to catch up to the goings-on. Ultimately, he finds out that the mystery has come to the last place he's likely to be found: his home.

- Nirvanyos the Arcane wanders into the tower after many long months' absence, his stout boots thumping on bare stone. The wizard hums a forgotten folk tune, its rhythm and meter strange--but not unpleasant. What *is* unpleasant, however, is the high pitched sound of his obsidian staff striking against the floor. He looks around and nods, doffing his cap to Prof. Saccharine. (2025-07-04 12:20:54).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane says "Ay. Long time no see. Good t' know this place is as musty and confusin' as ever." The wizard chuckles, pausing to wave his staff. A brief burst of power summons a small army of animated brick-a-brack to his service. Cauldrons, brooms, silverware; even a small ottoman bounds out on stubby wooden legs. They set to work tidying the place...or attempting to. Their efforts only seem to move the mess around, rather than clearing it away. The wizard shrugs and hangs his travelers' cloak upon a coat rack which has politely spidered up alongside him. Having achieved its purpose, the rack bows slightly and retreats to a corner of the room. "Hrm. 'Rine, was that staircase always here? It....kinda reeks o' Hashaa."" (2025-07-04 12:31:42).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane smiles, the expression somewhat akin to an up-turned grimace. Without giving his colleague time to reply, he hares off down the steps to see what lies below. (2025-07-04 12:35:41).
- You climb down the stairs into a deep, suffocating darkness filled with the dust of old bones. (2025-07-04 12:38:43).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane says "Heya, Kat. Fridgy. I was plannin' to head off to Elysium to find ya, only to hear from an associate that you'd shown up on my doorstep." He winks, blue eye sparkling with amusement from beneath a bristling brow. "So...this renovation your work? It er... well. It suits the place, certainly."" (2025-07-04 12:43:12).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane lights his pipe with a snap of his fingers, the embers glowing dully in the gloom. "Had a couple other councilors interested in meetin' up. I'll let 'em know I found ya." The wizard closes his eyes for a moment as two small bursts of magical power emanate out into the dusty air. (2025-07-04 12:46:13).
- You have sent credits to Gandledore along with the message: Right. Found Kat. Head to the Mages Council tower in Purgatorio and make for the basement. (2025-07-04 12:48:23).
- You have sent credits to Atrele Kasha along with the message: Ay. S'me. Found Kat, if you're still interested in our little mystery. Head to the Mages Council tower in Purgatorio and make for the basement. No cover charge; tea service at ten and three. (2025-07-04 12:51:23).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane says "Done." (2025-07-04 12:52:31).

[Kandarin]

Catacombs - in the Purgatorio Underground

The plane of Purgatorio, notable for the diversity of its floating island locales, also had a notable history of hidden things within those islands. Northcamp retained its old drainage sewers, familiar from the days of St. Germaine's breath. The grand wreck of Hyperborea still had one line of its once-great subway network, which still - through some persistent Transcended magicks - functioned whenever a visitor wished it to do so. Forlorn Hope contained a glittering shaft full of more gold than most people could imagine, though neither Katerina nor anyone else had ever or would ever see it. So when the staircase finally ended a few hundred meters below the Mages Council stronghold, she was not entirely surprised to find an ancient network of catacombs, dark as the deepest fathoms and packed claustrophobically tight with bones and old things. It was likely that she and Frigidaris were the first living beings to come here in a very long time.

Fortunately, the tunnel widened in one place - a modestly sized room that was seemingly a tomb of some important being, whose black stone sarcophagus stood at its center. It was there that Katerina reunited with Frigidaris, who had come in first.

- You emote, " feels her way along the walls. Sprites aside, the light in the tunnel is so dim that she is falling back on old instincts." (2025-06-30 18:24:45).
- You say, "That...was a labyrinth. And not because of some befuddling magic either. There's no rhyme or reason to that tunnel." (2025-06-30 18:25:08).
- You say, "Nevertheless - good find!" (2025-06-30 18:25:20).
- You say, "If I had to guess, I'd say we're probably under that crumbling old library next to the tower." (2025-06-30 18:25:37).
- You emote, " clears some bones off a section of floor, sits down and massages her legs. "QUITE a way under it. I guess this is what's at the bottom of it." (2025-06-30 18:26:41).
- You search and find a Skull. (2025-06-30 18:26:44).
- You emote, " stays put for a bit. The sprites seem interested in the coffin, and flutter around it for a while before bopping around the burial niches." (2025-06-30 18:27:24).
- Frigidaris said, "Oh yes, that trek was awful. We can dig around tomorrow, but I'm gonna settle down for the night." (2025-06-30 20:15:32).
- Frigidaris sets down his bags, takes off his wizard hat and unfurls a bedroll made of furs. (2025-06-30 20:19:34).
- Frigidaris said, "*yawn* 'Night!" (2025-06-30 20:20:24).
- Frigidaris said, "I went ahead to scout and found something of note in the north tunnel. It slopes downward, before ending in a pool of black water." (2025-07-01 08:04:49).
- Frigidaris said, "I'm going to drink a potion of water-breathing and see if there's an underwater passage." (2025-07-01 08:04:52).
- Frigidaris said, "Yes there is, but swimming through was very unnerving. The water induces an unnatural lassitude, and I swear it felt like there was something in the water with me." (2025-07-01 08:08:51).
- Frigidaris said, "The tunnel continues a short while before ending in a featureless onyx door. I'm going to look around this crypt for something to open it." (2025-07-01 08:09:37).
- Frigidaris said, "By the way, would you happen to have more potions of water-breathing? I'm afraid I spent the last one crossing the tunnel." (2025-07-01 08:55:59).
- Frigidaris said, "East of here is another underwater tunnel, so we'd need more potions to explore that way too. I have a handful of ingredients if you need them for brewing." (2025-07-01 08:57:55).

They were briefly joined by visitors, who then had to depart for other business.

- Tianyi, an Aethersprite, healed Jorus for 8 hit points. You have gained 8 Experience Points. (2025-07-01 13:26:32).
- (2 times) Jorus gave you a(n) Potion of Water-Breathing. (2025-07-01 13:26:59).
- Jorus said, "I got your message about bringing some supplies and your discovery of this place" (2025-07-01 13:27:44).
- Frigidaris said, "The eastern path leads nowhere, the underwater portion ends abruptly." (2025-07-01 13:36:35).
- Frigidaris said, "I wonder if Cracked Threshold will be enough to let Jorus and I slip through the onyx door... We could also try cracking open the coffin here somehow." (2025-07-01 13:39:20).

Katerina took some time to investigate the door to the north. The only way to get there was through a section of the already-narrow tunnel that sloped down and was flooded by what was clearly the same unwholesome, deathly water as was found in abundance in the sea harbor above. Even with a Water Breathing potion to ensure that drowning was impossible during her swim through the cold dark, the water still had an awful, dread-inducing chill about it, some physical and some not - and a sense that some presence was there in the water, urging one to stop pushing through and sink to the bottom and be still. Katerina wondered how many people had done so only for it to be their voice urging the next traveler to their doom. For all her delvings into death magic, this was a secret she was content to leave alone.

In any case, the door offered no clues.

- An immense lethargy overtakes your limbs as you slowly swim through the cold, heavy water. You feel a great sense of apathy, as if the easiest thing to do would be to give up and sink. You take 7 points of death damage! (2025-07-01 20:34:56).
- Aldebaran, an Aethersprite, belonging to Katerina Hasheen, healed you. You gain 10 hit points. (2025-07-01 20:35:02).
- Mu Cephei, an Aethersprite, belonging to Katerina Hasheen, healed you. You gain 4 hit points. (2025-07-01 20:35:02).
- You say, "I've investigated the door. I am glad for my friends here." (2025-07-01 20:35:25).
- You say, "It's shear - no markings, no keyhole, no runes visible or invisible. Just a crack. All I can sense of the magical environment is that whatever is after that door narrows considerably." (2025-07-01 20:36:53).
- Frigidaris cocks his head, as if listening to a distant conversation. (2025-07-01 22:13:07).
- Frigidaris said, "It appears my fellows have found a secret pathway in the Stygian realm. My apologies for the sudden departure, but I'm curious by nature and I'm compelled to go check it out." (2025-07-01 22:14:07).
- Frigidaris said, "I'll be back soon, promise." (2025-07-01 22:14:18).
- You say, "Ah, you've returned. What did you find?" (2025-07-02 14:38:33).
- Frigidaris said, "My fellows managed to unveil a tunnel below Chorazin, the only Stygian neighborhood unclaimed by demonic forces. Apparently, they tricked a pompous Overlord to make a pathway possible." (2025-07-02 15:02:03).
- Frigidaris said, "The tunnel leads to an obsidian chamber, lined with magical torches and which I assume is where the next step will occur." (2025-07-02 15:03:49).
- You say, "Well played. Overlords like to conceal their magic. To the extent that they understand it, of course." (2025-07-02 17:04:14).
- You say, "This, at least, seems more obvious. We blow that door down, or bypass it. It's a physical obstacle, not a cosmic mystery...I think." (2025-07-03 00:54:49).

At the moment, they didn’t see an obvious way to do either of those things - blow the door down, or bypass it. But what they did have the power to do was make the room a lot better-lit.

- You make your supplications to the Elder Powers to grant you the ability to bless others and they respond, vouchsafing to you a Blessing - Greater Offensive that you may grant to others. (2025-07-03 01:09:11).
- With a soft, melodious chime, an Aethersprite appears to assist Frigidaris! (2025-07-03 01:09:16).
- You bless Frigidaris with Spiritual Guide. You gain 5 experience points. (2025-07-03 01:09:16).
- You say, "Let us get some more light on the matter." (2025-07-03 01:09:29).
- You emote, " whispers something further in Hasheen, in a chant you think you've heard before in another language entirely." (2025-07-03 01:10:10).
- You emote, " lays a hand on your shoulder and a flickering Aethersprite appears. Unlike Katerina's own flickering sprites, this one appears bright and lively, shimmering like the sun in this deep darkness." (2025-07-03 01:11:03).
- You emote, " looks around. The room is much more brightly lit now, though the figures of both humans in it cast huge, terrible shadows. You see that the coffin is crisscrossed with small, runic writings, flat to the surface and invisible to the touch, in a material almost as dark as the stone. The pattern resembles a spiral, ending over where an occupant's heart would be." (2025-07-03 01:13:12).
- You say, "If you devote your energies to regeneration, you should be able to keep this one for a while." (2025-07-03 01:13:39).
- Frigidaris spends some time playing with his new friend. (2025-07-03 01:42:12).
- Frigidaris said, "Kaixo, argitxo! Lagun onak izango gara, ziur nago." (2025-07-03 01:44:57).
- Frigidaris studies the coffin closely. (2025-07-03 01:46:08).
- Frigidaris said, "Hmm... The runic pattern is interesting, but I don't see a way to open this. Besides, I'm not sure what would happen if we disturbed the engravings." (2025-07-03 01:48:21).
- Frigidaris said, "Let's hope the door is crossable now." (2025-07-03 01:48:50).
- Frigidaris said, "Nope, no luck. Damn! It seemed like a good lead too" (2025-07-03 01:50:50).

[Kandarin]

Somewhere under the shattered Stygian realm of Chorazin

Most of the Wizards had scattered when Eldritch struck down Jorus, but one remained - Lady Morgana. Her keen observations spotted Isabel's disappearance, and when she put the clues together the rest of the Coven was soon through the portal.

The tunnel that the portal terminated in was - not unlike the catacombs in Ash Harbor - probably unvisited by anyone in many a breath, centuries or millenia of actively experienced time. The tunnels were old and cracked, cut through foul and bleeding rock and soil, but punctuated by faint light and tree roots from the Crusaders' invasion above. This tunnel too had dead ends, most notably through the searing rivers to Uffern to the north. And it too had a reprieve from claustrophobia in - in this case - a far larger room.

The space that greeted Isabel and the other Wizards resembled, in some way, the magical site that had appeared in the Penumbra Nest - a room of well-dressed, smooth obsidian, lined with torches, with a three-tiered stone dais at the center. Unlike in Penumbra, the Stygian magic of this place was clearly in deep disorder. Some of the torches shone with an eerie, infernal flame, and others bathed the area in a pure and holy bluish light. And there was no throne here.

- Lady Morgana said, "Oh my goodness" (2025-07-01 20:37:27).
- Lady Morgana peers around curiously (2025-07-01 20:37:36).
- Lady Morgana said, "Fancy meeting you here Jorus" (2025-07-01 20:38:08).
- Lady Morgana grins (2025-07-01 20:38:18).
- Jorus said, "Well, I didn't expect to be coming back to Stygia quite this quickly. Frigidaris required some aid briefly after Eldritch's betrayal" (2025-07-01 20:39:07).
- Jorus said, "I do appreciate you sending word" (2025-07-01 20:39:26).
- Iona said, "OMG" (2025-07-01 20:46:44).
- (2 times) Iona gave you a(n) Potion of Extended Invisibility. (2025-07-01 20:46:59).
- Jorus looks around for Iona's disembodied voice, smiles and waves towards his best guess at where she is (2025-07-01 20:47:24).
- Jorus said, "Well, water-breathing potions can let you step inside the River Styx, but I can't see a path forward. Even protected by a potion of Fire Affinity" (2025-07-01 21:17:27).
- You say, "Ah, hello. Welcome back." (2025-07-01 22:28:06).
- (2 times) You use your surgeon skills to tend to Frigidaris and heal them for 15 points of damage. You gain 15 experience points. (2025-07-01 22:28:08).
- You use your surgeon skills to tend to Frigidaris and heal them for 3 points of damage. You gain 3 experience points. They are now fully healed. (2025-07-01 22:28:10).
- You say, "I may be no angel, but I can still help keep us together." (2025-07-01 22:28:21).
- You say, "Since we're all Wizards and that's one of *our* portals, we can go about openly now." (2025-07-01 22:29:12).
- You say, "I never got the chance to thank you for your timely distraction." (2025-07-01 22:29:15).
- You say, "The truth is, I wasn't quite sure that was going to work. I had to work fast and improvise on the fly. But it exposed enough of the magic of the lordship of this place to let us at the roots." (2025-07-01 22:30:04).
- Jorus said, "I won't claim credit that it was intentional. Only that Eldritch let's her emotions and visions of grandeur blind her to the truth" (2025-07-01 22:47:09).
- Jorus said, "And one day she will rue her betrayal of The Covens friendship" (2025-07-01 22:48:33).

Some exploration further down the tunnel was attempted - of course - but with little in the way of results. Jorus instead chose to stay put and take notes - on the walls and every available surface.

- Iona walks out of the fire river having seriously underestimated her stamina (2025-07-01 23:35:00).
- The Ironhulk of Magog has been slain! (2025-07-01 23:38:19).
- Iona takes note that her petticoat train is still smouldering and the ember have begun to climb their way upwards. With a quick flick of the wrist they extinguish as if overcome by an otherworldly chill (2025-07-01 23:38:35).
- (2 times) Iona slowly moves around the enclosed orchard in deep contemplation as the walls around her bristle with newly formed icicles that seem to follow her as she glides across the floor. (2025-07-01 23:41:04).
- Iona said, "We could craft a crude obsidian boat to sail these magma flows?" (2025-07-01 23:42:50).
- Jorus walks slowly through the tunnel and then back, studying the surroundings closely (2025-07-02 14:12:30).
- Jorus moves off and seems very interested in the dais nearby (2025-07-02 14:16:55).
- You say, "It looks rather like the one we came in with, does it not?" (2025-07-02 14:38:09).
- Jorus said, "Indeed, it seems very similar" (2025-07-02 15:00:18).
- Jorus continues placing and modifying arcane glyphs slowly around the room. Taking time between each one to return to the dais and inspect it carefully. (2025-07-02 15:32:11).
- Jorus said, "I wasn't able to view the magics you did due to Eldritch's tantrum, but Lady Morgana relayed some minor details" (2025-07-02 15:33:51).
- Jorus said, "These...." (2025-07-02 15:34:20).
- Jorus gestures to the runes along the walls (2025-07-02 15:34:41).
- Jorus said, "Give me a faint sense, a tiny resonance, of those deeper connections I believe you witnessed" (2025-07-02 15:35:44).
- You emote, " studies the runes. "You're thinking along similar lines."" (2025-07-02 17:04:43).
- You say, "This is a layer of the plane that isn't normally visible. We dredged it to the surface over in Penumbra. While someone was logged in, so to speak, I used the open line to tap into another part of the network." (2025-07-02 17:05:57).
- You emote, " is apparently entirely unaware of how the terminology she just used has been used in other worlds." (2025-07-02 17:06:15).
- You say, "We are looking at the foundational seat of an Overlord's power. A nexus, if you will, of all the points in the land." (2025-07-02 17:19:55).
- Jorus said, "The dais almost acts like the heart. A central node for magical energy to flow through, spreading out and splitting thousands of times to defuse throughout the region" (2025-07-02 18:21:49).
- Jorus said, "Just for the sake of eliminating possibilities, I have explored the lava to the north. The new set to the Weave does not seem to provide any additional avenues for exploration in that direction" (2025-07-03 00:23:03).
- Jorus nods (2025-07-03 01:11:45).
- Jorus said, "My knowledge of this part of Stygia is limited. I usually spent more time in Hades Tol and Penumbra" (2025-07-03 01:12:29).
- You say, "For what it matters, I believe we should be able to get *out* of here no matter what the Weave is. Just not in." (2025-07-03 21:03:46).
- Jorus said, "The portal does seem useable, but therein lies the problem. Iona used it and is now unable to return" (2025-07-03 23:48:12).
- The Council of Keys has opened a secret network of portals throughout the Nexus, their workings known only to Archmages! (2025-07-04 00:00:02).
- Perrick said, "Having fun without me?" (2025-07-04 00:08:08).

[Kandarin]

Back at the Catacombs under Ash Harbor

Unbeknownst to Katerina, the Council of Keys had recently directed the Weave of Magic to enact the Cracked Threshold, a recently researched great spell that allowed Archmages to bypass doors and obstacles with an ease normally only wielded by great masters of rival, non-Wizardly styles of magic. There had been some hope that this would allow Frigidaris to bypass what appeared to be a door. But it was not to be so - in many senses of the phrase.

- You emote, " is not a Wizard, and seems blissfully unaware of the recent change in Council policy." (2025-07-03 00:57:47).
- You emote, " sets up an alchemist's set and tinkers with various things she finds in the niches, helped by Eguzki's light." (2025-07-03 21:08:20).
- You emote, " does some experimentation, and a sweet-smelling vapour poofs out of the set." (2025-07-03 21:08:46).
- (3 times) You give your Potion of Water-Breathing to Frigidaris. (2025-07-03 21:08:56).
- You say, "Since we may need to cross both through and back from the water, some potions are in order." (2025-07-03 21:09:14).
- Frigidaris said, "One of the Council's more recent discoveries was a new shape of the Weave, allowing Archmages to bypass physical and magical barriers. I had assumed it would be enough to cross the Onyx Door, but I was mistaken." (2025-07-03 22:34:17).
- Frigidaris said, "But like you said, a failed experiment means you discovered a method that doesn't work." (2025-07-03 22:35:22).
- Frigidaris said, "The potions are very welcome, let me know if you need more components. Digging around these catacombs has earned me an eclectic collection of stuff." (2025-07-03 22:38:21).
- You say, "That, too, teaches us something." (2025-07-03 23:20:58).
- You say, "It looks like a door. It's placed like a door. But you folks are wielding some truly impressive magic, the sort that ought to let you slip past any door at all." (2025-07-03 23:21:54).
- You say, "What if that means that it isn't a door?" (2025-07-03 23:22:11).

Not long after this question, Frigidaris unearthed the first hint that this was, in fact, the case. And the visitors got some new (and returning) company.

- Frigidaris spends a long time tracing the patterns engraved in the coffin, muttering to himself. (2025-07-04 07:52:43).
- Frigidaris said, "Ha! Looks like there was more to the coffin after all" (2025-07-04 07:53:56).
- Frigidaris said, "There's a subtle mechanism here, which opens a small chamber in the coffin. It's lined with the same type of onyx as the Door." (2025-07-04 07:56:55).
- Frigidaris said, "Do you think we should try putting objects inside and see what sticks? A skull or a chunk of onyx probably won't do anything, but just in case it does." (2025-07-04 07:58:18).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane said, "Heya, Kat. Fridgy. I was plannin' to head off to Elysium to find ya, only to hear from an associate that you'd shown up on my doorstep." He winks, blue eye sparkling with amusement from beneath a bristling brow. "So...this renovation your work? It er... well. It suits the place, certainly."" (2025-07-04 12:43:12).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane lights his pipe with a snap of his fingers, the embers glowing dully in the gloom. "Had a couple other councilors interested in meetin' up. I'll let 'em know I found ya." The wizard closes his eyes for a moment as two small bursts of magical power emanate out into the dusty air. (2025-07-04 12:46:13).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane said, ""Done."" (2025-07-04 12:52:31).
- You say, "Ah, welcome back. We found our way down here and are trying to make sense of it. There's a stone...something...here and a stone...something down that flooded hallway, and we're trying to figure out how they relate." (2025-07-04 13:06:35).
- You say, "I suspect you weren't expecting to find me in your own basement." (2025-07-04 13:12:19).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane scratches his chin, managing to muss up his bushy beard somewhat in the process. "Hrm. Well, maybe I can help. Rocks are one o' my specialties, after all." The archmage shuffles over to the mysterious edifice and makes a slow circuit around it, pausing occasionally to chuff upon his signature pipe. His progress is marked by a lazy curl of rising blue smoke. His thinking is -loud-, punctuated by 'Erms' and 'Harrumphs'. As he completes his tour, he raises up his obsidian staff of office and strikes it with the bowl of his pipe, causing a shivering-pure discordant note to ring out, as though it were a tuning fork. He presses the end against the stone. "HRM! S'hollow." Having pronounced as much, he hikes up his robes to have a look at the other rock. (2025-07-04 13:17:31).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane returns, muttering. "Curiouser and curiouser. Looks like onyx. Not resonatin' much with the staff, but... seems to be blockin' a passage. Should be some way to open it, I figure, but.." He shrugs. "Will need to noodle on it." (2025-07-04 13:21:11).
- Frigidaris said, "Nirvanyos! It's good to see you again. Hopefully you can help us out, seeing how the bowels of the Earth are your specialty." (2025-07-04 13:40:54).
- Frigidaris said, "I'm not sure if you knew, but these catacombs aren't the main stage of Isabel's plan. I'm here with Katerina in search of a way to magically transcribe Hasheen knowledge and take it to Isabel, but the project itself is happening in Stygia." (2025-07-04 13:43:04).
- Frigidaris said, "The archmages there managed to unveil an ancient tunnel underneath the only neighborhood outside the demons' grasp, accessible through a runic pathway in 20,9." (2025-07-04 13:44:57).
- Frigidaris said, "So, who else will be joining us here? The more the merrier, if you ask me." (2025-07-04 13:45:35).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane said, "I'd managed to interest Gandledore and Atrele in our schemin', so hopefully they get the message and pop along soon." Nirvanyos lifts his hat, taking a moment to scratch at his scraggly pate. "...Hm. Stygia, eh? Suppose that's unavoidable, considering the shift in the Balance. I'd told Isabel I'd link up with Kat here, so here I am--for now. Late, but fashionably."" (2025-07-04 13:55:42).

- Frigidaris said, "Well, you know what they say about wizards and being late..." (2025-07-04 14:56:46).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane said, "...That they can teleport and don't have much o' an excuse?" (2025-07-04 17:04:46).
- Frigidaris said, "That they are never late, but arrive precisely when they mean to." (2025-07-04 17:06:20).
- Frigidaris said, "But I like your version better." (2025-07-04 17:06:28).

- Atrele Kasha said, "Well, hello there. <3" (2025-07-05 00:43:23).
- Atrele Kasha suddenly appeared out of thin air. (2025-07-05 00:49:07).
- You emote, " raises an eyebrow at the new arrivals. The cat person is less of a surprise than one would think. She's seen whole breaths where everyone was one of those." (2025-07-05 05:39:42).
- You say, "Welcome, welcome. It turns out this was under your feet the whole time. Probably not much of a surprise, given what was in front of you up there already." (2025-07-05 05:40:22).
- You say, "We're hoping that there's something down here that's as useful as whatever we can't get to up there probably is." (2025-07-05 05:42:22).
- Atrele Kasha said, "I presume I don't need to tell you about the empty chamber in the casket, yeah?" (2025-07-05 07:24:18).
- Atrele Kasha said, "That said, I actually have no genuine idea what is going on." (2025-07-05 07:26:57).
- Frigidaris said, "To summarize, there's a plan underway to use the energy released by the change of Breath in order to restore fluidity to the Weave of Magic and shape a small chunk of world-matter according to our desires." (2025-07-05 08:15:31).
- Frigidaris said, "The problem is that the one overseeing the creation of the next Valhalla is Tlacolotl, so we have to do it under his nose. To do that, some archmages are shaping the flow of magic underneath Chorazin, the only neighborhood uncontested by demons. The portal there is inside 20,9." (2025-07-05 08:15:42).
- Frigidaris said, "Meanwhile, we're here in search of an artifact that lets us transcribe the information within Katerina's Book of the Dead by magical means, so we can use it to supplement the Stygian efforts. So far we've found flooded tunnels north and east, crossable with waterbreathing potions, an onyx door past the north tunnel, and the coffin in this room." (2025-07-05 08:16:22).
- Frigidaris said, "The details are a little fuzzy, but that's the general shape of things." (2025-07-05 08:16:35).
- Frigidaris said, "Oh, and my condolences about the loss of your Seal." (2025-07-05 08:17:49).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane said, "Yeh, that was an...unfortunate incident." The wizard's words are a little distracted; he is making another circuit around the coffin in the center of the room, working his way anti-clockwise. Occasionally he taps the coffin with the butt of his staff. As he reaches one of the narrow ends, he stops and places a hand on the damp stone and hums tunelessly under his breath. He repeats the sequence at the opposite end, and nods. "Y'know, it's not *just* hollow. I think I can actually feel an erh...a small channel of sorts. Open vein in the rock. It's runnin' all the way back to that onyx door." (2025-07-05 12:33:53).
- Demandred has earned the Aims to Please badge! (2025-07-05 12:37:44).
- Atrele Kasha said, "Eh, no worries. It's a bit of ambition that got stuck after someone suggested it. I'm really not upset about losing it. Irritated at getting ambushed twice, but. Anyways...." (2025-07-05 14:35:45).
- You emote, " runs her hands over the coffin in imitation of what Frigidaris did. "Curious. I see what you mean about a compartment."" (2025-07-05 19:49:35).
- You search and find nothing. (2025-07-05 19:49:39).
- Guided by the subtle patterns on the stone, you find a subtle mechanism on the coffin, which opens a small, empty chamber inside - lined with the same black onyx as the door. (2025-07-05 19:49:39).
- You say, "A fraction of the size of the whole block, though." (2025-07-05 19:50:02).
- You say, "Like a trunk on a car. Or a battery slot." (2025-07-05 19:50:32).

Nirvanyos’ discovery was significant. The coffin and the door didn’t seem connected at first glance, and here was a significant bit of evidence that they were, despite the distance, the flood, and the general clutteredness of the space.

- You say, "A good find, Nirvanyos." (2025-07-06 00:30:05).
- You emote, " eyes a spot under where Nirvanyos is tapping his staff. She kneels down and digs her fingers into the flagstone underneath. She's pretty sure she cracked a fingernail doing it, but the stone comes up, revealing a tiny passage to the channel underneath." (2025-07-06 00:31:48).
- You emote, " whispers something in Hasheen, and Aldebaran darts into the hole and pings off into the distance down the shaft." (2025-07-06 00:32:15).
- Atrele Kasha said, "Y'all seriously had this in your basement." (2025-07-06 00:34:28).
- Atrele Kasha said, "Man, the RRF basement is just a bunch of legal documents" (2025-07-06 00:34:42).
- You say, "Ash Harbor is built on layers and layers of old Hasheen magic. And it itself is but a reflection of a site in the Deadlands of Nifleheim. I understand that that would be rather a lot for the RRF to build." (2025-07-06 00:41:08).
- You say, "But that's more legal documents than I see here. And the Raggeds certainly don't have any." (2025-07-06 00:43:34).
- Atrele Kasha said, "Not being built on a super futuristic courthouse might be the problem" (2025-07-06 00:45:29).
- Atrele Kasha said, "Well, exact opposite of a problem" (2025-07-06 00:45:42).
- Atrele Kasha said, "I need void walker training, as I need to do some catching up. Unfortunately, this breath is not the time for me to be playing with the Evil Powers." (2025-07-06 02:05:23).
- You emote, " cups a hand into the hole and replaces the stone. Aldebaran emerges, held in her hand and chittering in very quiet Hasheen." (2025-07-06 03:11:50).
- You say, "The shaft is onyx too." (2025-07-06 03:12:11).
- You say, "Ah. You'll excuse the medias res; the truth is, I don't quite know the plan either. I'm an Advocate, not a Wizard." (2025-07-06 03:12:48).
- You emote, " settles the sprite into a resting spot in her bags. You notice that unlike a normal Aethersprite - such as the one following Fridigaris - Katerina's sprite gives off a pale and eerie light, and not a lot of it. You also notice that there isn't really anything about Katerina that suggests this person is an angel at all." (2025-07-06 03:14:36).
- You say, "My sister Isabel is the one with the plan. What I'm helping with - what we're doing - is trying to find a sufficient point of significance to Hashaa for me to transmit a whole lot of data to let her finish the plan. The problem is we don't know *what* data is important, so it's got to be all of it, which means quite a potent bit of magic." (2025-07-06 03:16:45).
- You say, "We theorize that something of the sort must be behind that door to the north. If it is a door, which it seems increasingly likely not to be." (2025-07-06 03:17:17).
- You retrieve your Bone Trinket from the Ossuary Vessel. (2025-07-06 03:17:31).
- You emote, " fidgets around in the coffin's slot, examining a bone trinket within. "A curious burial. Or did you put all this here?"" (2025-07-06 03:18:30).

Given the endlessly decaying, hungering nature of Hasheen magic - and given how long it had been since anyone with a pulse had been down here, the party gradually came to conceive of the mechanism as an old engine needing to be fired up - if indeed such an analogy worked.

- Atrele Kasha said, "I may have thrown a bunch of things into it, myself." (2025-07-06 04:51:53).
- Atrele Kasha said, "I know that the bone trinket was there before I came in" (2025-07-06 04:52:06).
- Atrele Kasha said, "The alchemy components are all me though." (2025-07-06 04:52:26).
- Atrele Kasha said, "I may have to run ... oh good, I can do alchemy here." (2025-07-06 04:54:21).
- Atrele Kasha said, "Alright! I have some fresh water breathing, I also dumped the recipe so this is all I have for a while. Dunno if y'all need it, but *I* do. I may love water, but I still can't breathe in it." (2025-07-06 04:57:19).
- Atrele Kasha said, "I'mma peek around a bit" (2025-07-06 04:58:03).
- Atrele Kasha said, "Should really get a revenant or a lich to look down that. it's itchy in there. Also, I'm soaked and not in the fun way" (2025-07-06 04:59:30).
- Ware the Hare has earned the Extinction Event badge! (2025-07-06 05:10:12).
- Sir Thanks A Lot has earned the Remodeler badge! (2025-07-06 07:44:25).
- Frigidaris said, "The coffin slot was empty when I discovered it, everything inside was placed by us." (2025-07-06 08:39:10).
- Violet Ultra has earned the Extinction Event badge! (2025-07-06 09:53:52).
- Klapaucius has earned the Herd Thinner badge! (2025-07-06 10:20:31).
- Rei Hino has earned the Aims to Please badge! (2025-07-06 14:59:55).
- Count of Monte Fisto has maxxed out! (2025-07-06 15:07:21).
- Atrele Kasha said, "Sigh, I never keep an eye on myself when I work" (2025-07-06 15:35:45).
- Gandledore picks up a small bone– like object a spectral raven has dropped before him. His brow creases as he examines the object. (2025-07-06 16:09:15).
- Gandledore said, "Friends, it seems I am needed elsewhere. I will return here as I am able. I wish you all great success on this most important of endeavors. Our very survival seems at stake here." (2025-07-06 16:10:21).
- Gandledore said, "Farewell!" (2025-07-06 16:10:28).
- Gandledore shuffles off to the staircase to the west. Perhaps to return, perhaps not. (2025-07-06 16:11:00).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane said, "If you're to keep an eye on anythin' at all, one would recommend 'yourself' be high on the list." The rugged wizard leans one hip against the coffin, casually smoking his pipe. Smoke puffs up in several sedate, mushroom-shaped plumes. "So, we have access to the channel. And there's a slot we can stash things in. Perhaps...something we place might influence the onyx barrier?" (2025-07-06 20:32:54).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane pulls a candy bar out of some hidden pocket in his sleeve and squints at it, glancing between the chocolate and the onyx storage compartment. Perhaps...? (2025-07-06 20:35:49).
- You say, "It seems inert. Worth a try." (2025-07-06 21:29:30).
- You say, "Hmm. There's no fonts down here, right? And probably no way to get them down here. We're probably a few...hundred meters from the surface, judging by how I felt after those stairs." (2025-07-06 21:30:16).
- You say, ""But Kat, why didn't you get those wraiths you get to carry you when you fly to carry you up the stairs?" All excellent questions in hindsight." (2025-07-06 21:31:00).
- You say, "If I were trying to power something magical, I'd hook it to a font. If I was trying to power something mundane, I'd hook it to a power grid, and probably electrocute myself in the process." (2025-07-06 21:32:16).
- You say, "Neither is an option down here. But this-" (2025-07-06 21:32:37).
- You emote, " points to the slab - "and its mystery occupant are connected to that - the door-thing down the way."" (2025-07-06 21:33:11).
- You say, "Like a battery slot. Or a gas tank." (2025-07-06 21:33:43).
- You say, "It's probably not mundane, and so how would we gas up a magical thing?" (2025-07-06 21:34:40).
- Frigidaris said, "What it we try pouring potions of magic recovery in the slot? Y'know, like filling your car's gas tank." (2025-07-06 21:56:46).
- Pimp Sink has gathered all of the scattered fragments of the lost Lore of Haldon and unlocked their mysteries! (2025-07-06 22:03:07).
- Frigidaris said, "If it's more like a battery slot, we could place spellgems or soul ice inside. That last one's gonna be hard to acquire, though." (2025-07-06 22:03:19).
- Frigidaris said, "Nirvanyos said there was a vein running between the coffin and the door. Thus, it's more likely that the source of energy is meant to be liquid, if that is indeed the channel's purpose." (2025-07-06 22:11:56).
- Atrele Kasha said, "Ya sure about that Frigidaris <3" (2025-07-06 23:24:42).
- Atrele Kasha picks a piece of paper out of her pack, writes something on it, and then unslings her rifle and aims it at Frigidaris. (2025-07-06 23:25:43).
- Atrele Kasha then realizes she does not have her rifle. How embarassing. She settles for the good old fashioned touchy-feely combo (2025-07-06 23:26:46).
- Atrele Kasha slaps Frigidaris on the chest, spreading a patch of vicious looking ice over him. Ice that swiftly turns red and congeals into the priestess' hand. She promptly presents the pair of gems to the councilor. (2025-07-06 23:29:04).
- Atrele Kasha said, "Here you go. I don't have a Blood Ice contract, and I've been trying to get my morality improved, so you know, you're welcome~" (2025-07-06 23:29:26).
- Atrele Kasha said, "Hilariously, that's a Pirate contract, from Ny Har Rut Hotep." (2025-07-06 23:32:39).
- Atrele Kasha said, "Oh, and thank you, Katerina~" (2025-07-06 23:36:13).
- You say, "That...is a very pirate thing to do..." (2025-07-07 00:00:04).
- You say, "If it *were* a font, any potion will do. So I'm going to try that. Fortunately, it has enough capacity that we could try a few different things at once." (2025-07-07 00:08:42).
- You emote, " scoops up some potions from the surrounding area, taking care to spare the Water Breathing potions, and puts them in the slot." (2025-07-07 00:09:19).
- You place your Potion of Acid Affinity into the Ossuary Vessel. (2025-07-07 00:09:27).
- You place your Potion of Electricity Affinity into the Ossuary Vessel. (2025-07-07 00:09:33).
- You place your Potion of Fire Affinity into the Ossuary Vessel. (2025-07-07 00:09:38).
- You place your Potion of Lesser Invulnerability into the Ossuary Vessel. (2025-07-07 00:09:43).

[Kandarin]

Beneath Chorazin

Like in Purgatorio, the Wizards in the depths beneath Stygia considered several possible theories of what to do with the dais until one of them was proven spectacularly, terrifyingly right. Isabel noted that a few of those theories were right at home in Stygia.

- You say, "You've returned. We are trying to figure out how to steal a heart." (2025-07-04 02:13:37).
- You say, "...I worded that wrong." (2025-07-04 02:13:43).
- You say, "How to get the magical nexus of Stygian power in *there* out." (2025-07-04 02:14:11).
- You say, "The fire within it burns low - the angels have quite thoroughly captured this place." (2025-07-04 02:28:53).
- Iona pops back in having got herself into quite the predicament! (2025-07-04 06:49:42).
- Iona suddenly appeared out of thin air. (2025-07-04 06:50:25).
- Perrick said, "I see it as we have a couple of options. One is that we wrest control of this place from the angels to the demons. We cannot get a demon into this sacred place, but we could - theoretically - kick the shit out of each other to spill enough blood to make it evil here. It seems messy." (2025-07-04 10:18:41).
- Perrick said, "Alternatively, if you were an incredibly powerful cold magic user, you know that eventually even a cold enough fire can burn hot" (2025-07-04 10:19:06).
- Perrick freezes the air around their hands for effect. "There are several ways to skin a cat, as they say." (2025-07-04 10:19:40).
- You say, "I always found that analogy worrisome." (2025-07-04 13:03:24).
- You say, "I mastered the blade, not the flame, unfortunately." (2025-07-04 13:03:53).
- You say, "But. Countless activities of ours could erode the angels' control." (2025-07-04 13:04:08).
- You say, "I have some capacity for healing, and that is wearing down things. My brother must find it maddening." (2025-07-04 13:04:55).
- You emote, " clarifies. "I have a brother in the invasion force."" (2025-07-04 13:05:12).
- Perrick said, "Magic is worrisome. Logic doesn't work, it's just about willpower and opportunity." (2025-07-04 13:46:47).

Wizarding: Offering a safer alternative to being a Corruptor for strong-willed, dangerous mages since a whole lot of Breaths ago.

- Jorus said, "I'd have to disagree with you there. Willpower and opportunity can be shortcuts to magical power, but deep understanding and rigorous logic with a curious mind will net you far more in the end" (2025-07-04 14:55:23).
- Eguzki, an Aethersprite, belonging to Frigidaris, healed you. You gain 3 hit points. (2025-07-04 15:02:51).
- Frigidaris inspects the sigils. (2025-07-04 15:03:23).
- Frigidaris said, "Everything going according to plan? I'm glad to see everything is going smoothly." (2025-07-04 15:03:51).
- Jorus said, "Smoothly isn't quite the word I would choose to describe the situation. Slowly perhaps. We have yet to determine how to fully access the nexus of power yet" (2025-07-04 15:05:10).
- Jorus seems somewhat distracted and not putting his full focus on what he's saying (2025-07-04 16:14:38).
- Jorus said, "What if we could imitate the magical connection the throne initiated in Penumbra?" (2025-07-04 16:33:47).
- Jorus said, "Perhaps sufficiently cloaking our motives would allow access" (2025-07-04 16:34:44).
- Jorus said, "Especially now that you three (he says gesturing to Isabel, Morgana, and Iona) witnessed firsthand how they interact" (2025-07-04 16:36:02).
- You say, "Like hooking something of our own up where the throne was?" (2025-07-04 20:17:41).
- You say, "I like how you think. It had four legs, and there's four of us." (2025-07-04 20:17:57).
- Jorus said, "Yes. If we could create a facsimile of the throne we observed in Penumbra keyed to the nexus of energy here in Chorazin, but made to respond to us instead of a demonic overlord...." (2025-07-04 21:39:33).
- Jorus said, "Even in it's depleted state, the energy coursing through here should prove sufficient for our goals. And if upon closer inspection it isn't....perhaps we can ascertain other ways to boost the networks magics before triggering them" (2025-07-04 21:42:43).
- Jorus said, "I've been thinking upon that aspect as well" (2025-07-04 22:01:36).
- Jorus said, "Isabel, you've noted that, as you put it, "the fires within it burn low."" (2025-07-04 22:02:56).
- Jorus said, "But this is a web of energy. A series of pseudo lay lines as it were." (2025-07-04 22:03:27).
- Jorus said, "The web still exists, but is not functionally empowered enough" (2025-07-04 22:04:17).
- Jorus said, "There is an analogue in the body. The circulatory system. Texts tell of injecting other fluids into the blood that the body doesn't react to in order to add mass and volume to that system and enabling it to function properly" (2025-07-04 22:05:38).
- Jorus said, "Perhaps if we can align our magics and inject them in a similar manner to this system, we might accomplish a similar result" (2025-07-04 22:08:43).
- Jorus said, "And enable this network to function like it was designed" (2025-07-04 22:12:49).
- Jorus said, "Even if the magics we inject aren't able to be utilized by the network itself, hopefully it will allow the magic already contained within to be utilized" (2025-07-04 22:17:37).

Isabel decided to act on this latest theory. However it was Perrick's theory that would ultimately be proven correct.

- You say, "If we can see it, we can take it." (2025-07-05 02:07:20).
- You say, "It's a solid theory. We should give it a try." (2025-07-05 02:08:02).
- You say, "And I can't help but notice that one of us has arrayed a vast number of possible targets for our magic besides each other." (2025-07-05 02:09:00).
- You say, "To wit." (2025-07-05 02:09:04).
- You emote, " pulls a gun out of thin air, says a single word in Hasheen, and a tangible *sharpness* in the air takes form in the seconds it takes her to draw a bead on a potion across the room and fire." (2025-07-05 02:10:13).
- You take aim at the target with your Conjured Shotgun and hit! The target has been destroyed! You gain 8 experience points! (2025-07-05 02:10:52).
- You emote, " ejects a shell casing, and the potion vanishes in a bladed flash of slashing magic." (2025-07-05 02:13:02).
- You take aim at the target with your Conjured Shotgun and hit! The target has been destroyed! You gain 8 experience points! Your weapon is out of ammunition. You toss aside your empty shotgun and pull a new one from the ether. (2025-07-05 02:13:09).
- You emote, " snaps her focus onto another potion with similar results. The gun empty, she tosses it aside with a clatter." (2025-07-05 02:13:41).
- You emote, " steps back. Most people would take a breath at this point. She looks and you notice that a couple of the red and blue torches on the walls now flicker gold from some new force." (2025-07-05 02:15:40).
- You emote, " arranges a few more potions. "We've got only two Seal holders here, but that should be enough to get our ingredients into the system."" (2025-07-05 02:16:54).
- You say, "That's what it looks like for me. Let's see what it looks like for you three." (2025-07-05 02:17:14).
- You say, "Four, now that you've all returned." (2025-07-05 02:18:32).

Rather than the rest of the team throwing flashy expressions of their own schools of magic into the air, the situation was disturbed soon after by another, larger change unrelated to whatever Isabel had been trying to do. Whether through the Wizards' own actions or the counterattacks of demons which still resisted the Crusader invasion, someone reduced the Good infusion in the land above to the point where it ceased to be an angelic orchard and reverted itself - violently - to its original state as a pockmarked hellscape of Firepits, swarming with demons.

Something very old and malicious in the land stirred to brief, foggy awareness as this one single area of the defeated realm of Chorazin slipped from the angels' grasp. It sensed a shrewd and clever enemy in the Wizards drawing close - too close - to its heart. And while it was slowed and weakened by the determination of its Crusader foes, it spent what energy it had in a swift, decisive motion and ejected the intruders to the surface. The Wizards suddenly found themselves under Stygia's pitch-black skies, exposed to its heat and cold...and residents.

Demons swarmed in from every direction, skittering over the rocks and clambering out of pits. Jorus leapt into action, cutting down the approaching waves with deadly aim. Shaken and surprised, Isabel's mind scrambled for a solution until she, too, settled on overwhelming firepower.

- Jorus attacked Imp with a Pallid Bolt spell, killing it! (2025-07-06 00:13:19).
- Jorus attacked Imp with a Pallid Bolt spell, killing it! (2025-07-06 00:17:01).
- Jorus attacked Imp with a Pallid Bolt spell, killing it! (2025-07-06 00:17:02).
- You say, "Well, that was...unexpected." (2025-07-06 00:20:18).
- You say, "Everyone hold onto someone." (2025-07-06 00:20:40).
- Jorus grabs ahold of Morgana and Iona (2025-07-06 00:21:44).
- You emote, " looks around at the surface. Imps and greater demons roam the land, and they have minutes at most before being swarmed." (2025-07-06 00:21:45).
- You emote, " holds out both hands." (2025-07-06 00:21:50).
- You emote, " blasts the ground beneath them with a crackling arc of death energy. It begins cracking and popping, forming fractures and erosions that would take years normally." (2025-07-06 00:22:35).
- Jorus watches Perrick, Iona, Morgana and Isabel link hands in a way that works (2025-07-06 00:22:39).
- You say, "I'm pretty sure it helps that you're right here with that fingerbone." (2025-07-06 00:22:50).
- You emote, " watches as the ground gives way beneath them, tumbling the group back into the abyss!" (2025-07-06 00:23:09).
- Jorus directs the death energies at his disposal to assist Isabel (2025-07-06 00:24:25).
- You emote, " would cough if she wasn't a walking corpse." (2025-07-06 00:25:30).
- You emote, " looks around at the chamber. "I didn't think that would happen. Some kind of security system. And we're back here." (2025-07-06 00:25:56).
- You say, "...and it looks like "here" isn't quite the same as it was." (2025-07-06 00:26:12).
- Jorus said, "Why does the phrase "that was a rollercoaster" keep playing in my mind?" (2025-07-06 00:26:27).
- You use your surgeon skills to tend to Iona and heal them for 15 points of damage. You gain 15 experience points. (2025-07-06 00:26:46).
- You use your surgeon skills to tend to Jorus and heal them for 15 points of damage. You gain 15 experience points. (2025-07-06 00:26:49).
- You use your surgeon skills to tend to Lady Morgana and heal them for 15 points of damage. You gain 15 experience points. (2025-07-06 00:26:52).
- You use your surgeon skills to tend to Perrick and heal them for 15 points of damage. You gain 15 experience points. (2025-07-06 00:27:35).
- You say, "Fortunately I know a *few* things about healing magic. Mostly to keep this body in the same shape it died in." (2025-07-06 00:27:24).
- Lady Morgana healed you for 15 points of damage. (2025-07-06 00:27:27).
- You emote, " lends a hand." (2025-07-06 00:27:32).
- Jorus said, "Ah, you have my thanks. Although I could've patched myself up. I have a store of potions and also find it convenient to know magical ways to heal oneself" (2025-07-06 00:28:34).
- Jorus gave you a(n) Potion of Healing. (2025-07-06 00:28:53).
- Jorus hands a potion to Isabel in gratitude (2025-07-06 00:29:12).
- Jorus nods in agreement with Isabel (2025-07-06 00:31:01).
- Jorus said, "Perhaps our endeavors to awaken this nexus have bourn fruit" (2025-07-06 00:31:42).

Indeed, as they found themselves returned to the chamber - dusty and cluttered from the rock-fall that had brought them back - something had changed. The torches on the walls now uniformly burned with eerie, crackling hellfire. And in the midst of the dais stood not a throne, but a great gout of flame.

- You say, "Your heart theory, I mean. I hope your actual heart doesn't look like that thing." (2025-07-06 00:34:24).
- Jorus said, "I must have been as well. But such things happen in the search for knowledge." (2025-07-06 00:35:23).
- Jorus starts at the jet emanating from the dais (2025-07-06 00:36:22).
- You say, "Why do I get the sense that if the angels *hadn't* overrun almost all of this place, that this whole room would be on fire right now?" (2025-07-06 00:37:51).
- You say, "If that's what a low ebb looks like...but a low ebb it is. We just need a way to grab it and get away with it." (2025-07-06 00:39:02).
- Jorus appears lost in thought (2025-07-06 00:44:26).
- Jorus peers at the flame and feels an odd kinship with it and yet somehow simultaneously at odds with it (2025-07-06 00:48:22).
- Jorus said, "The darkness within....it almost calls to me" (2025-07-06 00:49:00).
- Jorus comes back to himself with a jolt (2025-07-06 00:51:46).
- Jorus said, "I'm not sure if it's my imagination, hubris, or reality, but I sense a....kinship there" (2025-07-06 00:52:26).
- Jorus says gesturing towards the two toned flame (2025-07-06 00:52:46).
- Jorus said, "But simultaneously opposed. Light and Dark....twined" (2025-07-06 00:53:22).
- Jorus said, "I wonder......" (2025-07-06 00:53:38).
- You say, "Not surprising. We are not demons. But there is something in common between the sort of person who seizes a Council Seal and the sort of person who seizes an Overlordship." (2025-07-06 01:01:50).
- You give your Greater Rod of Doom to Jorus. (2025-07-06 01:02:12).
- You give your Power Gem to Jorus. (2025-07-06 01:02:19).
- You emote, " passes Jorus a wand of fused bone. "I've kept this for a while. Perhaps it may bolster your death magic, and with it your clarity."" (2025-07-06 01:02:59).
- Gandledore said, "Greetings, brethren. Your word reached my ears, and I have come. How can I assist your efforts?" (2025-07-06 16:14:28).
- You say, "The heart of this neighborhood we seek is revealed. The flame now burns openly here on the dais. All we must do is capture it and escape. You hold the Seal of the Unconquered Sun - perhaps you have a sense of what could capture a mighty flame such as this." (2025-07-06 21:36:10).

[Karlito]

RATS IN THE CELLAR! THINK YE CAN WREST WHAT WAS WON BY SWORD AND PLOW? THOU SHALL FINDETH NO WATCHMAN TO OPEN THE TOWER GATE, FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS IS AN EVERLASTING FOUNDATION. MAY THINE SCRABBLING TEETH BREAK UPON THE STONE.

[Lychwood]

While the Kat is away, the wizards shall play.

- Katerina Hasheen puts a hand to the side of her head. "Excuse me. I will return shortly, but a lot of my friends are dead. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to do a supply run as well. But I think you're making great progress." (2025-07-07 20:17:34).
- Katerina Hasheen peers at the blood ice in the chamber. It, too, seems to be fusing just fine with the mechanism. Whatever that means. (2025-07-07 20:18:05).
- Katerina Hasheen sent you 1 credits with this message: Katerina's voice echoes through the void - "The operation was a success. Return will take some effort." (2025-07-07 20:24:38).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane mutters: "Lotta my friends are dead, too--just part of gettin' old." (2025-07-07 22:21:33).
- You have sent 1 credits to Katerina Hasheen along with the message: I'll keep the scalawags in line 'til then, I suppose. (2025-07-07 22:22:00).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane said, "Since Kat's gone, any of ya want to get drunk? I may not be a necromancer, but I can summon some spirits of my own." (2025-07-08 03:19:29).
- Atrele Kasha said, "'d love to, honestly, although I've been uh... keeping myself busy." (2025-07-08 04:13:24).
- Atrele Kasha flops on the dusty ground. She's just not going to move for a little while. (2025-07-08 04:13:42).
[...]
- Atrele Kasha said, "Okay, now that I'm not about to die..." (2025-07-08 09:24:59).
- Atrele Kasha snaps her fingers. Another bad MR recipe. She'll get it right eventually. (2025-07-08 11:47:00).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane said, "Hrh. I used to know my way around a surgeon's kit, but... Looks like those particular brain cells didn't survive." He shrugs, pulling a leather flask from some hidden spot within his robes and uncorking it with a practiced flick of the thumb. He takes a slug of something positively foul-smelling. "Don't fight over it, now. First come first serve."" (2025-07-08 15:25:13).
- Atrele Kasha said, "I'm fine, I have my own." (2025-07-08 16:32:27).
- Frigidaris said, "Alright, I'll bite. What's in the flask?" (2025-07-08 17:02:49).
- Frigidaris said, "And is it good enough to risk a sip?" (2025-07-08 17:03:32).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane said, "Homemade spirits. Works equally well as an inebriant and a varnish-stripping agent. Kicks like a mule and tastes like despair." (2025-07-08 17:22:41).
- Frigidaris said, "Eh, why not? I'll have a glass." (2025-07-08 17:39:11).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane looks around for a glass and has no luck finding one. Frowning slightly, he snags an errant skull and uses a quick prestidigitation to whisk away the dust and grime, leaving it sparkling clean. He pours a little hellish taster into the cranial vault and passes it over to Frigidaris. (2025-07-08 20:20:02).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane said, "Simple as!" (2025-07-08 20:20:19).
- a scrawny little goat has earned the Binge Drinker badge! (2025-07-08 20:49:02).
- Frigidaris lifts the skull. "Cheers!" (2025-07-08 20:56:37).
- Frigidaris takes a sip and nods, then faints and falls to the ground. The Aethersprite following him hums worriedly as it circles around his head. (2025-07-08 21:03:17).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane snorts. "Yeah.. that's... that's a common reaction. I shouldn't... awh, hell. I shouldn't laugh." He waves his staff and squats down to support Frigidaris's head. It is not long before an animated throw pillow comes scampering down the steps from the stronghold above. It settles in below the unconscious wizard's head and fades back into the gentle waters of non-sentience. (2025-07-08 21:07:21).
[...]
- Katerina Hasheen steps back into the chamber, narrowing her eyes a little at the renewed light in this deep darkness. (2025-07-09 00:28:33).
- Katerina Hasheen said, "I'm back. We had a lot of casualties that I had to guide out of the void." (2025-07-09 00:30:11).
- Katerina Hasheen sets down a bag with a batch of death potions. "I even managed a supply run." (2025-07-09 00:31:16).
- Katerina Hasheen gingerly sets one potion after another into the slot and feels them fuse. She steps back and is pleased to see that the runes crisscrossing the coffin are ever so slightly illuminated, the barest of light in the darkness but perceptible still. (2025-07-09 01:37:43).
- Nirvanyos the Arcane appears to be fanning his hat near a passed-out Frigidaris's face. "Welcome back Kat. Nothin' happened--we behaved." (2025-07-09 01:47:41).