[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”.
