Quick Summary
The team plans their escape and makes preparations. Solstice lowers the wall of force, Ellsee reunites Laetus with the portion of his psyche bargained from the crystal mind, and Chicory identifies some new items. With the help of a new incantation, Gunnar’s gets a long rest, but also becomes linked to the crystal mind. Escaping the lair, the team finds themselves face-to-face with an immediate threat.
Session Recap
Session opened with Ellsee panicking as they told the team that the Four-in-One knew they were in the lair, and insisted that they leave immediately. Chicory calmed them down and reminded them that it was still twenty hours until their bracelets regained planeshift; Ellsee proposed somehow exiting the lair to the Astral and waiting there. The team considered their options, and decided to sleep and rest to regain their magic, and then use the gemstones they had acquired to move through the mantle portal.
Chicory examined the control panel for a way to bring down the wall of force, but only found an “all systems off” switch. Solstice had the idea to drink the bottled voidpoison, which made the control panel respond to her as if she was the Four-in-One, and she was able to draw on psychic echoes to deactivate the wall, but at the cost of cursing herself again and taking psychic damage.
The team returned to the area of Solstice’s private sanctum, and Solstice investigated the gemstone keys, finding that they were identical in size and shape, and without markings. Chicory sensed a distinct draconic essence on the red and purple gems. Arye proposed “beating some information” out of the berbalang, but Ellsee suggested they not go looking for a fight; the team sensed that Arye was feeling insecure and like she had something to prove, making her more aggressive than usual.
Before resting, Chicory cast identify on the Survival Mantle and Illithid Funerary Jar, and Sun-and-Stars went to examine the mantle. They tested gem configurations, finding the one that would take them elsewhere, and determined that there were other gem keys to direct the portal to other places. Ellsee cast augury and drew Death, and indicates that the current gem configuration would take them elsewhere, but that it would be dangerous. Solstice said that anywhere was better than the lair, and Ellsee agreed, saying that she just didn’t want to die at the Four-in-One’s hand.
Ellsee cast the specialised steward incantation to summon a healer construct, then asked Solstice and Chicory’s opinion on putting back the portion of Laetus’ mind that they were carrying, and she decided to try. After making a physical connection with Hollow Laetus, Ellsee spoke the words she had been holding back, before letting go and channelling Laetus’ mind back into him. The amount of information passed between them was a strain but it was a success; this new Laetus had retrograde amnesia about his personal experiences, but he could speak and had access to all his general knowledge.
The team explained the situation, and this amnesiac Laetus couldn’t apologise for his past actions, but he did say thank you for the rescue. After warning Laetus to watch out for the Berbalang, which Chicory was able to identify and tell everyone about, the team and then settled down for a long rest with watch shifts. Solstice caught sight of the Berbalang creeping around, but nothing else seemed to happen.
On waking, the whole team realised that they were now psionically connected to the crystal mind. Arye in particular was beginning to succumb to the lair’s paranoia-inducement and was uncharacteristically snappish. With more than ten hours left until they could planeshift, the team decided to go ahead and try the mantle portal. They encountered an acid bubble trap, presumedly left by the Berbalang, but didn’t encounter him directly.
After discussing if they should leave the gemstones or try to remove them, Solstice summoned one of her “marbles”, which would not be influenceable by the crystal mind in the way that a summoned fae spirit would be. Solstice instructed it to remove the gemstone keys and throw them into the void after they passed through the portal, and the team moved on from the lair.
The team found themselves in an area that was less like a demiplane and more like fragments of some ancient structure, floating in the Astral Sea. The portal remained open behind them due to the altered flow of time in the Astral, but for how long the team wasn’t sure. They proceeded cautiously, but didn’t get very far before a creature spoke to them, first to Solstice in draconic, and then to the entire team in synchronous telepathy and elvish.
The creature revealed itself to be an illithidragon and expressed amusement at encountering a princess and a knight, and asked which of the team it should eat first. With Ellsee’s help, Solstice attempted to persuade the illithidragon to go through the portal from which they had come and to eat the Four-in-One instead. At the mention of the Four-in-One it quailed slightly, but it was intrigued by Solstice’s charisma and purported wealth of interesting experiences.
Session ended with the illithidragon becoming more agreeable to Solstice, though not in the way that she had hoped, and saying: “Well, sad news little lovelies. That’s a one-way trip; there’s no going back. But you are charming, aren’t you? I think I’ll save you. You and I, we might wile away some hours here... Talk... You can tell me of the experiences you’ve had, and I will eat the others first.”