Dear Diary…sending the loud party to do the quiet job

Crazy morning.

First, we followed the wide strand past a three-footed pillar with veins of blue, then past a little winged demon at a desk of papers with another little monster handing him things (had to drag Ez away from chit-chat with him. The demon started asking about where we were from – out of “curiosity,” he said – and how many soldiers it could field, and Ez got all nerdy about military theory).

We passed an egg sack hanging onto one side of the web, and I think something was alive in there, but it didn’t notice us.

Then, finally, we found a pedestal made of plain grey stone, with the six stones on its engraved face all the same milky white. I suppose it’s the pedestal we want, though we haven’t gotten it to do anything. I suppose the whole point was that it “didn’t work.”

Mikael and Ezekiel have both tried pushing the different gems – even pushing all of them at once – but nothing has happened. Lydia is helping them go through different combinations, now. I think that’s about 720 different possibilities, but Lydia says it could be over 18,000. I really hope not.

**

I have been useful, even if no one thinks so. We decided to explore some more, I think, and see if we had perhaps missed the correct pillar. When we passed by the egg sack again, it gave a “clink,” like metal ringing, which is a strange noise even for extra-planar demon spiders. I mentioned it to Raven, and then he heard it, too…and then Ezekiel crawled right into the bundle of webbing like it was nothing.

After a moment, he came out with a young lady wearing the symbol of Pelor over damaged plate armor. She introduced herself as Mirnisha DonDragon, a knight of Neil Dra, and gave her story while Ezekiel healed her.

An “anomaly” appeared in the sky over Neil Dra – she wasn’t sure how long ago – and she went with a wizard and a team of other paladins to investigate. It sounds suspiciously like what happened to Istivin…especially given later information. She says when they touched the anomaly – that looked like a black bubble – it teleported them here: to the Abyss. It didn’t go so well…

However, in wandering around she’s found most of the pillars that are attached to portals: Gorna, Istivin, Loftwick, Neil Dra – most of the great capitals, in fact. Most of the portals seem high in the air, which could be why we haven’t heard more about them before…but it’s also true we’ve been out of conmunication for some time. Perhaps His Serenity Herozen tried to contact Ezekiel because of this?

Anyway, we asked about a pillar that “didn’t work” – and Dame DonDragon confirmed that the pillar where we were, with the white stones, is the only one without color.

So we returned there, and, since she’s been here longer I guess, Dame DonDragon thought to walk backward into the pillar with her eyes closed – which made her disappear.

Aliana followed her almost immediately, and Ezekiel was right after her. The rest of us kind of looked at each other, and sorted ourselves out until one by one, we stepped backward and found ourselves in a new place.

I’m not sure where the light comes from, but we can see. It’s a sort-of cylindrical room with grey walls, and a massive pile of coins at the center (next to two dead demons). Tressarian said he felt much better here, and so we checked around for magic – the pile of coins showed up nothing, but we found six spots along the walls that smelled of magic…in fact, right where Ezekiel’s cleric senses detected traps.

It seems there are six invisible chests placed around the walls of the room. Right now Raven and Ezekiel are trying to disarm the traps and unlock the chests, which is troublesome when they’re invisible…but that gives us all a chance to breathe, since this dimension is much more suited to our tastes.

So far Raven has found gems, potions, some magical gear…standard stuff. Now that we are in a new place, I can write that Ez really wants to find an amulet that belongs to the Spider Queen. They say that such an amulet can force the owner to obey one command. That sounds like a dangerous thing to own, but I suppose people like her are always gambling on obscure angles.

Aliana filled in Dame DonDragon with the basics of our mission, and despite all she’s been through, she’s still eager to kill demons. I suppose that willpower is what kept her alive for however long it’s been (oh, and Tressarian says she’s not a doppelganger).

It would be nice if I live long enough to see if the plan works. Unless it doesn’t, in which case, I suppose it doesn’t matter.


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