[written by Phil, player of Gan ad-Din, who wrote this account of an expedition some time back--alas, I missed posting it at the time! And its mystery is already unraveled, as Bart has already returned, hale (and since disappeared again, to his own purposes!). But regardless, it is worth 100 xp per level to Gan as of it being posted here]
The Chronicles of Gan
Bearer of All Things!
Chapter 4 – From Death to Life, In More Ways Than One
Bartholomew Pettibone has vanished. After a recent expedition, during which we secured a formidable and covert base of operations within the sea caves, Bartholomew and I were able to guide Bob back to it's original subterranean berth. Not long after that, he made mention of requiring specific supplies from Cothon-Gadeed, packed his haversack, and made his solitary way toward the city. However, it has now been several days since he departed, and there have been no indications of his well-being or knowledge of his whereabouts. I fear he may be lost. And I promise – I have NOT eaten him!
To take my mind off of Bartholomew's potential demise, I gathered with several of our acquaintances in an effort to assist them in what was expected to be a quick adventure. Najm had heard that a fellow named Doran, from the Facility, had been asking about him, and he was determined to return to meet with D, and to discuss options for bringing D across the Bani-Dawr threshhold. Several others of our companions were also keen on returning to that mind-bending arena, as we had recently seen the bodies of two of our former affiliates who had been killed there in the past (K'Zin Friend and Zero-Zed) apparently being “stored” in strange, glass-faced sarcophagi. A plan was made to retrieve their bodies, and to hopefully restore them to health and vigor.
It was early in the day, with the red sun glaring it's ruddy light upon the land, that we made contact with the Bani-Dawr, and they agreed to provide us passage to the Facility. Our company was large, and stacked with those trained in the arts of physical combat: myself, Najm the Fisherman (with his first mate, Mei), Hey-Jo of the Ink Stained Hands, Lord Althis (with three of his stalwart men-at-arms), our good friend Durham, and his most excellent renyu associate, Pako. After imbibing the juice provided by the Bani-Dawr, we were each transported (one by one) to the Facility – which Bartholomew has adamantly declared is naught more than a fever-dream brought on by some drug-induced sleep.
We arrived in the black of night, with a sky studded with dead, stationary stars, and I was inclined to believe Bart's assessment. We were inside a walled fortress, and seemingly alone. Enough light was present for us to note that we were in a gatehouse, and that the walls encircled a few buildings and a well. Several staff weapons (of the kind found here) lined the walls of the gatehouse, as well as a large green crystal (similar to what we had noted Doran wearing during our last visit), and a rather odd-looking wand. The wand was twisted in an “S”-shape, reminiscent of a snake, and it felt right to hold it as if it were a small hand-crossbow. Durham armed himself with one of the staff weapons, and Najm took the other. I packed away the snake-shaped wand, and Lord Althis pocketed the green crystal. Ah yes, there was also a wicked-looking blade – in appearance a very serrated short sword – in a partial harness/sheath. The metal looked remarkable durable, and Durham pronounced it as excellent workmanship. Hey-Jo armed themselves with that blade.
Stairs led up to the the top of the crenelated wall, where we found two odd watch-stations – on either side of the gate towers. Between those two stations was a plinth housing what appeared to be two touchstones. Far off in the distance we observed the twinkling of moving lights, and using Durham's far-sight tube, we were able to just discern a force of about 20 troops moving in formation toward the keep. We expected them to arrive in short order. Based on our previous excursions to this Facility, we expected that this force would be hostile.
The two stations were like thrones of a sort, but unlike any normal throne I have ever seen. Lord Althis sat in one (having a large magic-mirror situated in front of it), and it immediately became active, the mirror lighting up. The screen clearly showed Althis the distant hills and surroundings, and a cross-hairs that he was able to somehow move around the screen with his mind. Jutting out forward of that throne a thick pipe stuck straight out, over the wall. Althis noted several touchstones on the screen and pushed at one. The effect was startling – a ball of brilliant energy raced from the end of the pipe, out into the distant night, and exploded in a fantastical light-show, not far from the formation of troops heading toward our location. This, of course caused them to spread out and begin a more cautious approach to our position.
Hey-Jo sat on the other throne, which I find difficult to describe. The body was a cocoon-like mass of large spider webs, the head housed a large, flat, bluish crystal, and the arms ended in a strange black material that was soft enough to sink your fingers into (yet when released returned to their resting state). As Hey-Jo dropped onto the throne, the webbing closed around them, the crystal lit up, and Hey-Jo exclaimed that they could hear voices in their head! Not trusting the throne, Hey-Jo hastily exited its cushioned grip.
Althis showed Durham how he had “fired” the electric turret, and then returned downstairs in order to take stock of the inner keep. Upon his return he reported that the only thing of particular note was that the well was dry, and that a pile of what seemed to be small squid-like items lay on the bottom. In fact, he had been able to fetch one from the well and had returned with it for us to all examine.
Durham quickly figured out how to use the turreted throne more efficiently, and began tracking one of the creatures leading the oncoming force – waiting for them to come into range. Najm decided he might attempt to sit on the webbed throne, and his outcome was quite more spectacular than Hey-Jo's. His mind somehow melded into the crystal of the throne, and each of the squids from within the well (including the one Althis had retrieved) flew up into the air and began swirling around Najm's throne. Some spirit housed within the throne explained to Najm how to operate the flying squids, and how he could use them as an offensive weapon.
Hey-Jo tested and figured out how the touchstones on the central plinth functioned – one button briefly electrified the outer wall, while the other provided a large protective shield barrier that enclosed the entire walled keep. However, they were only briefly available after being activated, and seemed to require a good amount of time to “recharge”.
As the force came close on, we each opened fire. Arrows, quarrels, arcane magic, balls of electricity, and flying squids pelted all about the group of twenty. For our opponent's part, most were armed with functional staff weapons, and lighter balls of energy rained down upon us! The battle was truly on! In the end, one of Lord Althis' men had been seriously wounded, some of us had taken some damage, and the entire opposing force had been vanquished, save one – who ran away in a cowardly fashion.
One particular action of note occurred as our final enemy entered into melee combat with us, on top of the wall. This creature had seemed a “leader” of the others, was deathly white of skin, inhumanly fast and agile, and unbearably strong. At one point we had him pinned down, thanks to Lord Althis' arcane webs, and were able to persuade some information from him. But he escaped, scaled the wall, and was upon us in a flash. A short hand-to-hand combat ensued. As Hey-Jo swung their new serrate-edged short sword at the beast, I could swear I saw something flash. It may have only been the reflection of a staff weapon discharge upon the metal blade, but as the sword completed its arc, the head of the white-skinned horror fell cleanly away from its body.
With our way clear and unhindered, we made our way out of the fortress to stand below what can only be described as a hole in the sky, with vines growing out of it. A rope was sent up and secured (thanks to Najm and his flying squids), and we all made our way up and into the heavens. For some reason, Najm had seen fit to remove what seemed to be a large energy-crystal that powered the webbed throne, and he carried this with him.
When first entered, the heavens first appear as a cavernous, but enclosed shell of a massive arena. Tall, metallic, and regularly formed beams stretch and radiate out in several rows, connecting the floor and the very high ceiling. And at a close distance is what appears to be a wall with a few opaque windows (not clear enough to see through), and a single door. We used the magical touchstones located on the wall next to the door to open the portal, and enter the halls of what must be the gods!
The walls of the hall before us were smooth and metallic, and all was rather dark. I lit a lantern and bore it high for all to see. And on the floor, just within our lantern-light – laying face down – was Doran. Apparently he was dead, cold, and lifeless. He was wearing the same strange grey and black garb that we had located in this place previously, and it looked as if he had been trying to exit, but had not made his escape. We investigated his body, and found no sign of external damage – perhaps he had been poisoned. We decided to move him off to the side for now, and noted that Doran weighed considerably more than a person his size should – by a serious lot! Knowing how he had previously been able to attach and reattach portions of his anatomy, we surmised that perhaps Doran was not human, but was some lesser god, or perhaps a golem.
We found several rooms with odd items that made little sense to me, but seemed to excite the arcanists in our group. I showed Durham how to use the batteries from our staff weapons to power the translocation room, and we were able to make our way to the next level up, where I was certain the bodies of K'zin-Friend and Zero-Zed were being “warehoused”. Indeed we found our friends' bodies in their sarcophagi, within another massively cavernous room. This room housed hundreds upon hundreds of these sarcophagi, stretching into the dark distance, and was deathly cold – bone-chilling! In a separate room nearby we located mostly tables with articulated arms above them, and a large, strange tub-like sarcophagi.
I noted that in one of the rooms nearby, where a low humming was coming from, could be dangerous to us. It was in that room where Bartholomew had touched one of several half-domed structures, which then rendered him unable to cross back over the Bani-Dawr bridge, unable to return to Cothon-Gadeed. Several of us also concluded that some power must embody this place, and that for some reason it must be low or shut off. This was made obvious by the fact that several magic mirrors (similar to what Bob uses for communication) had been seen in several locations, but none were active. Althis made a discovery, pertaining to the large sarcophagus, and that sent us all back to the lower level, and into a room where he was certain a power source should be found.
With blind luck, and my heavy status (literally), the source of power was indeed located. And as the ladies of luck must have been not just smiling – but dancing! – among us, it appeared that the power crystal Najm was carrying fit neatly into a slot, and when inserted, energy burst throughout the entire construct. Suddenly magic mirrors everywhere came to life, the halls became lighted from panels set regularly along the ceiling, and the hum coming from upstairs became stronger.
Back in the upper level, after further talk and inspection of the sarcophagi, a disembodied spirit began speaking to us, in a very mechanical, yet non-hostile way. If I were pressed, I would say that it is the spirit of some female arcanist who had perhaps died while protecting this Facility. She informed us that she was “Facility 47”. And asked who was speaking to her. We answered, each in turn, and as we did she noted that we had each been “registered”. After some time getting used to her voice, and her many odd vocal inflections, we realized that we could query her about the surroundings and items found within, much like Bob was able to impart knowledge on to us. Much was learned in a short time!
While we were having discussions with F47, an odd buzzing, as of thousands of bees, could be heard moving down the hall outside our location. I knew that sound, and related to my friends that we encountered the approaching “being” previously, and had been informed to RUN!!! However, this time, we were trapped. As the beast, or swarm of beasts, entered our room, we made ready to fight as best we could. However, the thing did not seem interested in us. While it moved along every surface of the room we inhabited, it never touched any of our party. And interestingly, every surface it moved along or across became clean and appreciably tidier. We were informed by F47 that the beast would not cleanse those organic entities which are “registered”.
We learned much from F47 in short order; however, as time began to run short on our traveling potions, we made a few monumental decisions. The sarcophagi holding K'zin Friend and Zero-Zed were akin to stasis chambers. F47 informed us that they had been installed to those “pods” at the instant of death. We learned how the pods were opened, how to extract the bodies without harm, and we quickly administered elixers of sakkra blood to each of them. Only twelve or so of the remaining pods, out of the hundreds housed in this cavern, appeared to be operational, and containing bodies. Lord Althis and Hey-Jo looked among them all and found a more distinguished gentleman wearing more elite garb. They extracted him from his pod, and also gave him an elixer of sakkra blood. Each of our former comrades, as well as the distinguished fellow, sputtered to life, and looked upon us with bewilderment in their eyes. I suspect it may take quite some time for them to come to grips with being dead, and then brought back to life. I have a difficult time believing it myself.
With our fellows rescued, a few of us returned to Daron and carried his heavy body into the room housing the single large, ornate sarcophagus. We laid him upon one of the tables, and Lord Althis removed his clothing – ostensibly to keep as his own – and we discovered that Doran's skin was smooth, without any showing of manhood, body hair, toenails, or nipples. Indeed, Doran must be some form of golem! We left his body there, upon the table.
We gathered everyone together, and after a cursory search of the lower rooms, prepared to leave. We decided to remove the power crystal that Najm had installed, and which must be keeping F47 viable. Our reasoning was to not leave F47 under power, for others to abuse. There was debate among the group as to the wisdom of this, but F47 refused to take part, offering no judgment or advice. In the end, removal was decided on. Najm and I were able to release the pocket where the crystal had been, but found that it had been drained of all color. It was removed, and the pocket closed, and the Facility remained completely functional. Apparently the power of the crystal had been drawn into F47, and for some amount of time, she will be able to roam the realm of the living – yet constrained to this warren of rooms in a dead sky. With time running short, we returned to the Bani-Dawr, and were able to relate some of this information to them, before begging leave. They were thankful that we had returned one of their retainers (the distinguished fellow), and we needed to make haste to deliver our friends K'zin Friend and Zero-Zed, to rest and recuperation.
While on this excursion, a strange thing occurred. I note it as strange, even among all of the oddities I have previously described, because it was particular to me, I believe. While we had been in an intense discussion about how to operate some of the items within the Facility, thoughts began “clearing” in my head, as if thick, dark cobwebs were falling away into nothing. Behind them lay information about what I can only describe as a previous lifetime. What I can only believe are memories of a bygone life seemed to trickle into the nooks and crannies of my thoughts. They did not seem hostile, and they only appeared to show to me a younger life – my younger life – which I had not contemplated for a very long time … or never? As there seemed no malice associated with this effect, I allowed it to continue to unravel. In fact, as these thoughts swirled and danced inside, spilling memories from my unconscious to my conscious mind, I realized that before showing up on the docks of Gadeed, disheveled and bereft of belongings, I had a blank life. I mean there was nothing before – I never thought of “before”, and it just didn't matter. I was – I am – happy and content in the arms of my dearest Istrid. As far as I, or anyone else knew, I just sprang to life as an “old water bearer”, right on the spot, and nothing of me existed “before”. But memories were flooding in, and I was becoming aware of where I originally hailed from, the history of my exalted “family”, what my previous profession had been, and the reason why these memories had been “erased”.
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