Adventure 33: Aria
The party gathers in the courtyard and begin to try to decide whether or not to return to Bane. As they are discussing, the gnome who had gone with them to document the Dead Lands passes out. Wynter looks down at him and sees his book, open. In it he sees sketches of the Dead Lands, the dragon the group encountered, and something shadowy shooting at the Gnome. He also sees a sketch of the gnome’s arm which appears to have something on it. He looks down and sees that indeed there is something wrong with the gnome. A stinger protrudes from his arm, and blacks veins begin to shoot through the gnome’s body. Within seconds he begins to convulse. Not one to wait for the worst, Veblen lops off the gnome’s head, and hundreds of spiders pour out of his neck and rip through his stomach. The party backs off and Fathan blasts the spiders with a ball of fire. As they incinerate the group notes one who almost got away, and see that there is some sort of purple crystal where the spiders head should be. They also hear an electrical sound. Fathan squashes the spider and takes the crystal. The party fears that now the things they encountered in the Dead Lands now know where they are.
Luthien turns and realizes that in the blink of an eye the scene has changed and that he and his comrades now stand in a small room rather than a courtyard. The rest of the party looks about in confusion at the quick change of locale and begin to take in their surroundings. There are four archways that each lead down a hall. The group takes one which leads down and around to a door. On the door is writing which Fathan reads as “spoon.” The group enters a room filled with spoons of all varieties. There is another door across from the first, and the party opens it to discover a 10’ portal straight down. Across from the door is another door, and there are doors across the pit on the right and left (4 total). Below is what looks to be a tiled floor. It is around this time that Fathan realizes that his magic is no longer functioning.
Veblen offers to fly down, which he does (130’ down) and enters into a large room, in which there is a pool. A great swirling vortex of wind fills the portal down after Veblen lands. A woman is swimming in the pool, and standing by Veblen when he lands is what looks like Fathan, except not quite complete. The woman in the pool eventually comes over and asks Veblen who he is. She seems somewhat surprised that he is here, though she did expect that Fathan would be here. She offers Veblen a deal; anything his heart desires in exchange for plunging a nasty looking dagger into the young mage. Veblen refuses and is plunged into darkness.
In the meantime the rest of the group explores the other three halls and find three more rooms. Ones holds knives, another forks, and the last napkins. Wynter takes one of each and drops it down the pit. The wind spits them back out and Fathan praises his luck as the napkin (not the fork, knife, or spoon) hits him squarely in the face. The wind does stop suddenly, and the party heads down, for the most part carried by Luthien. Fathan, forgetting that his magic has not been working, casts feather fall, and then falls 130 feet down. His luck holds and he is not killed, but he has come close, and barely manages to crawl up against a wall. The others gather around him. Wynter tries to aid him but only aggravates his wounds.
Mirrored walls suddenly surround each individual, and the woman approaches each, offering their hearts desire in exchange for plunging the dagger she holds into Fathan. Luthien agrees to do it in exchange for Fathan’s (or Wraith’s) spell book. Fathan, who is in no condition to fight back, is an easy mark, and Luthien runs him through. The mirrored walls fall and the others see what has transpired. Both Miranda and Fuzzy are in shock, and Wynter and Veblen also have trouble believing their eyes. They move to aid Fathan, but again only further aggravate his wounds. In minutes the mage is dead, and the group finds themselves back in the courtyard.
Luthien takes the book he was promised and looks for the Fathan’s magic lamp as well, but does not find it. This does not surprise him as the woman who made the deal with him was Aria, the genie of the lamp, and he suspects that the party just came from within her home/prison.
The party tries to revive the mage but fails. Veblen attacks Luthien who flies away to the wall of the castle.
Then Priss arrives. She looks at what has happened, and walks over to Fathan. To everyone’s surprise she bites him, and the mage revives. Priss explains that she has made him a Vampyre. She then explains that she has much for the group to do if they are willing. After much talk the party mends to a certain degree, and prepare to head into the realm of the Fey.
