IN THE SHADOW OF THE SPIRE

SESSION 17C: SHILUKAR’S NEW FRIENDS

March 9th, 2008
The 7th Day of Kadal in the 790th Year of the Seyrunian Dynasty

Shilukar stumbled back several steps, fumbling at his belt. As Tor advanced upon him, he whipped out a wand and waved it in his direction.

Tor’s mind was suddenly flooded with a sense of contentment and ease… and an absolute certainty that Shilukar was one of his closest and dearest friends.

Shilukar gave Tor a smile that was something closer to a leer, “There’s no need for us to fight, is there?”

Tor shook his head.

Agnarr, meanwhile, was making mincemeat out of the spider-things. The doorway had become spattered with gore and, in fact, the surviving creatures had turned and fled back into their cells – better to continue their vile imprisonment than to face that whirling flurry of death.

Ranthir, however, could see that something was wrong with Tor. “Agnarr! We need you!”

Agnarr turned and raced down the side corridor. Shilukar was fumbling his key into the lock of another door as the barbarian approached. Tor turned to face his friend, “Agnarr! No! He doesn’t mean any harm! He’s my friend!”

Agnarr wasn’t to be dissuaded, but even as he pushed past Tor, Shilukar waved his wand again… and Agnarr was charmed.

“Shilukar! My friend! I’m glad we found you! We need a cure that you carry!”

Shilukar grimaced as he turned the key in the lock. “What cure?”

Agnarr frowned. “But Lord Zavere told us you had it!”

Shilukar opened his mouth to respond, but was distracted as Elestra, Ranthir, and Dominic arrived. Ranthir’s hand lashed out, delivering a powerful enchantment that befogged Shilukar’s mind. The elf stumbled back, grasping his head. Instinctively he lashed out with the wand, attempting to charm Ranthir.

The attempt failed, but Ranthir – recognizing the enchantment – put a stupid smile on his face. “Shilukar? Why are we fighting?”

The bluff worked. But Ranthir’s entire distraction had not only befuddled Shilukar, but served its larger purpose: Elestra had slipped between Shilukar and the door.

“Amplifico Offundo!”

This time Dominic cast the spell upon himself, growing to twice his normal size as the divine might of Itor filled his limbs. He drew out his mace and tried to hold it out in a threatening manner.

Tee, meanwhile, had been trying to get the door leading to the spider-thing cells locked – she didn’t want them pouring out and surprising them from the rear while they were dealing with Shilukar. The lock, however, was proving troublesomely complicated. And the cries from Ranthir, Dominic, and the others convinced her that she was more urgently needed in the fray.

Glancing down the side corridor she saw the direction Shilukar was trying to flee and decided to circle around and cut him off. Something was odd about the distances, but she couldn’t be troubled with it just then: She ran back out into the central hall.

What Tee couldn’t see was that Dominic was already in the process of cutting Shilukar off. Moments after she ran past the side corridor, Shilukar retreated back down the same corridor. Dominic was able to take one swing at him as he ran, but Agnarr got in the way and stopped the blow from landing solidly. “Dominic?! What are you doing!”

Ranthir, continuing with his bluff, ran after Shilukar. “Shilukar! Wait! Don’t split the party! I hate it when we split the party!”

Tee had slammed the door leading back to the central hall shut behind her. The few seconds that it took for Shilukar to open the door allowed Ranthir to catch up to him… and deliver another mind befuddling enchantment, deepening the effect he had cast before.

Shilukar, now on the point of almost utter idiocy and reduced to a blind panic, fled from him.

Meanwhile, Tee had arrived at the door Shilukar had been trying to escape through before. Yanking it open she was confronted with a scene of complete chaos: Elestra, Tor, and Agnarr were arguing furiously. Dominic, having released his spell, was shrinking back down to a normal size even as he shoved past her.

At that moment, Shilukar reached the intersection directly behind Tee and directly in front of Dominic.

Ranthir, who was chasing Shilukar down the hall, summoned forth a minor illusion bearing the appearance of an enlarged and enraged Agnarr blocking the central hall and threatening Shilukar.

The illusion might not have fooled Shilukar if he had been in his right mind, but at this point he was far from it due to the debilitating spells Ranthir had cast upon him. The elf waved his wand in the direction of the illusion (which, of course, had no effect) and banked sharply to the right – flying away from Dominic and Tee.

But Dominic and Tee were already running after him. Shilukar waved his wand again, and this time Tee succumbed. But that didn’t stop her from running after him: “Shilukar! Are you all right? Is everything okay?”

The chase passed through a chamber where several gray goblins hung from the walls, their bodies encased in translucent cocoons. Tee gasped. “Oh! Do these belong to you?”

Ranthir arrived at the intersection. Seeing that Tee had succumbed to Shilukar’s wand, he transformed his illusion and used it to make it appear as if Shilukar had suddenly turned and attacked Tee. The attempt would probably not have been effective if Shilukar hadn’t been invisible (albeit covered in chalk), but the confusion of the scene was enough to convince Tee that her “good friend” had attacked her… and thus break the enchantment that had been placed upon her.

“You bastard!” Tee cried, firing her dragon pistol.

Ranthir rapidly moved his illusion in the opposite direction, using it to fake an attack upon Elestra. This faux assault had the desired effect of snapping Agnarr and Tor out of their enchantments.

Tee and Dominic, meanwhile, were trying to slow Shilukar’s escape… but with little success. The magical defenses he had raised before succumbing to idiocy repeatedly thwarted their efforts.

Ranthir, too late, realized that he had made a terrible mistake: He had thought Shilukar had been driven towards a dead end, but Shilukar was, instead, heading towards a door.

Agnarr, with a great burst of speed, was almost able to reach the elf… but he was too late. Shilukar yanked open the door, revealing one of the many sewer tunnels beneath Ptolus.

Flying off at full speed, Shilukar moved faster than any of them could follow.

EXPLORING THE COMPLEX

Shilukar had slipped through their fingers, but in the confusion at the sewer door he had been forced to leave his key in the lock. After confirming that he was gone, Tee quickly shut the door and locked it… keeping the key for herself.

This proved beneficial, as it turned out the key unlocked all of the doors within the complex.

It didn’t take them long to realize that Ranthir’s mistake had been entirely understandable: The geography of this place was decidedly abnormal. Corridors that should have met up with each other did not. Approaching the central hall from one direction would result in a different set of mutual intersections than if one approached it from the hall itself.

This effect appeared to be limited to the sections of the complex engulfed in the pulpy flesh, although it also had some effect where these corridors met with the plainer corridors of stone.

It took some time, but they were eventually satisfied that they had explored all of Shilukar’s lair.

The rooms of flesh remained deeply disturbing: In addition to the room of cocoons (which they carefully left undisturbed), they found at least two other rooms where it appeared that the cocoons had “hatched”. They also found another room in which a kind of fleshy “nest” had been grown. The hollow center of this fleshy mound appeared large enough for the brute Agnarr had slain to insert itself into oozing blood.

In the room that Ranthir had webbed was a shallow pool of blood. This pool was formed by a ridge of flesh that grew up out of the floor. (Agnarr took the time to hack away one side of this pool, allowing the blood to spill out and the pool to empty.)

Beyond this room, through a set of double doors marked with the bas relief of claws that they had seen before, was a chamber more than sixty feet wide and almost as long. The pulpy flesh was thicker here and seemed to pulse and quiver with greater frequency. The chamber was entirely empty, however, except for a squat statue of obsidian that rested on the floor near the far side of the chamber.

While the others waited, Tee crossed the room towards the statue. Drawing closer to it she could see that it depicted a demonic beast with slavering fangs; folded, bat-like wings; serrated horns; and long, vicious claws. Its eyes were empty hollows.

More disturbingly, however, Tee also realized that the pinkish flesh seemed to be growing into the idol. And the longer she looked, the more convinced she became that it was not so much growing into it as growing out of it.

And then the whispering began: A little song of madness that seemed to dance across her mind. She felt a bestial rage rising within her which she could barely choke down…

… she fled from the room and slammed the door shut behind her.

In the halls of plain stone they found a twisted warren of passages, which had most likely been used by Shilukar to circle around them during his attempted escape. But the only other chamber of note was Shilukar’s lavishly furnished bedchamber: Appointed in lavender, white, and black silks, the room contained a massive four-poster bed, a desk, a chair, a round table, two more chairs, a bathtub, a divan, and two wardrobes.

While the others searched through these rooms, Tor remained by the sewer door – alert for the possibility that Shilukar might return with new allies. Agnarr, for his part, soon lost interest and headed back to the spider-thing cells to put the creatures out of their misery.

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