When Owynka and Maul finish destroying the spherical construct, Carric pops back into existence as the machine sparks and falls to the ground. Carric isn't sure where he was (some sort of weightless gray realm), but he was conscious for the 15 seconds that he was there. Meanwhile, Roondar reports that the pedestal he's been fiddling with is beginning to show signs of life.
The small rectangles on the four corners of the pedestal’s surface light up with geometric patterns of different colors. On each of these rectangles is a series of small squares, each with a letter of the alphabet. Moments later, the large rectangular panel on the western wall lights up, with a flickering picture of the medusa’s head, only without snakes for hair. Instead, she has the auburn locks of a normal humanoid woman. Next to her picture is some text:
DESIGNATION: Thelxiepeia, sixth daughter of Pas
TRANSGRESSION: sedition
SENTENCE: banishment from the dominion of the sun and subjugation to the gorgonian transformation, after which, confinement to the sepulchre on the plains of Nessus, beneath the mountains of Typhon. The traitor’s principal consorts, Garjana, Stheno, and Euryale, likewise shall be subjugated to the lamian transformation and banished to the antechamber of the sepulchre. So has Pas spoken, so shall it be.
Roondar uses one of the pedestal's keyboards to type in
WHAT IS THE PLAN OF PAS
But he gets only an error message on the screen. He then tries
PRAISE TO PAS
But this returns a different error. So Roondar steps away from the pedestal for a few minutes to inspect the construct, and is able to salvage some materials that he transforms into relics for the party's use [see Discord]. He then notices a new message on the western wall's panel:
CENTRAL INTERNMENT DATABASE
After a few more minutes of discussion, Carric tells Roondar to input Carric's name. After a few moments a portrait of Carric and the following information appears on the panel:
DESIGNATION: Carric of the Crescent Sun
DESCENDANT OF: Adran and Adriie of House Eversun
TRANSGRESSION: heresy
SENTENCE: ritualized asphyxiation and disposal in the cavern of apostates in the Forbidden Wastes. So has Echidna spoken, so shall it be.
Roondar then inputs the rest of the party's names, one by one. Each time, a portrait of the person and the following information appears:
DESIGNATION: Roondar of the Crescent Sun
DESCENDANT OF: Alvyn and Breena of the clan Nackle
TRANSGRESSION: heresy
SENTENCE: ritualized asphyxiation and disposal in the cavern of apostates in the Forbidden Wastes. So has Echidna spoken, so shall it be.
DESIGNATION: Owynka of the Crescent Sun
DESCENDANT OF: Khagra of the Bonesplitter clan and Skeif of the barbarian tribe of the Forests of Wyr
TRANSGRESSION: heresy
SENTENCE: ritualized asphyxiation and disposal in the cavern of apostates in the Forbidden Wastes. So has Echidna spoken, so shall it be.
DESIGNATION: Nalla of the Crescent Sun
DESCENDANT OF: Vimak and Gae-Al of the Skywatcher clan
TRANSGRESSION: heresy
SENTENCE: ritualized asphyxiation and disposal in the cavern of apostates in the Forbidden Wastes. So has Echidna spoken, so shall it be.
Roondar then tries inputting the names of the gods. Most return error messages, except for Pas:
DESIGNATION: Pas, née Typhon
TRANSGRESSION: program data corruption
SENTENCE: deletion
When the party decides that they have learned all they can from the pedestal, they proceed to the stone stairway revealed by the collapse of the room's north wall. On the far wall of the stairway they discover a phrase scrawled in white chalk: still is the way to the light of day.
They descend the long stairway, at the bottom of which is a small room cluttered with the remains of ancient furniture, indicating that this was some sort of bunkroom. On the room's southern wall is a damaged tile mural that seems to depict a tunnel system spanning underneath the Typhon Mountains, with eight nodes and an eastern terminus. (If a similar western terminus exists, the tiles that depict it have crashed to the floor ages ago.) Based on the coloration of the mural, the party supposes that they are in the easternmost node.
Outside the bunkroom is a circular room containing a glass rod in its center, which extends from floor to ceiling. Inside the rod is a small white chalcedony gem that pulsates, bathing the room, and the party, in a bright white light. Roondar attempts to determine what the gem might be doing, and decides that it is powering some sort of protective effect. It seems to eminate a feeling of calm and orderliness.
To the south, the party finds a hexagonal room with an arcane circle inlaid in silver in the center of the room, and a dead body in the corner. The body is of a young man who wears the insignia of the Order of the Crescent Sun, and is clutching chunks of silver in his hand. Roondar realizes that the man must have been removing the silver from the circle in the floor, because there is a significant segment of the circle that's missing.
North of the hexagonal room is a large, rough tunnel that runs east and west as far as they can see. Its sides and ceiling are coarse and crumbling, with piles of rubble lying on the floor, but the floor itself is clean of any dust or dirt. Keeping the mural's diagram in mind, the party decides that they should travel east down the tunnel, in the hopes of reaching the eastern terminus.
They walk for about 45 minutes until they find a doorway in the northern wall that's been jammed open by some rubble that has fallen from the ceiling. In the circular room beyond they find another rod containing a white chalcedony gem illuminating the area and providing the same sense of protection and well-being that they sensed in the other rod room.
To the north is another set of doors, which Maul opens using the lever. Beyond is another east/west tunnel, through which a howling wind roars, sweeping back Maul's hair and causing her clothing to flap wildly. She closes these doors with the lever, and the party decides to stick to the southern tunnel, wagering that "still is the way to the light of day."
To be continued...
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