The Silver Sphinx

 

"Ah, the infinite wonders of the Abyss. 

If there's anything you don't like, you'll find it here.”

tanar'ri saying

 

 

Third Lady’s Day of Mortis, 126 HR

They stood in a narrow tunnel in the catacombs of Broken Reach. The air was thick and carried the musty smell of ancient decay mixed with a pungent aroma that burned unpleasantly in their throats. Although it was not cold, but rather humid and warm down here, Yelmalis shivered slightly. On the one hand, he was relieved to have escaped the omnipresent chaos and malice of the fortress above. But a warning instinct told him that something even worse might await them down here. The walls, glistening with moisture, seemed to pulsate faintly in the light of the magical orb hovering above Dilae's palm. It seemed as if the stone itself was alive and breathing, while the soft glow cast long, dancing shadows that made the tunnel appear endless in both directions. Garush led the way, her muscular body tense and ready for any threat. Sekhemkare's forked tongue occasionally darted out, testing the air for signs of danger, while Tarik's eyes were half closed in concentration. Using his psionic abilities, his mind searched for nearby beings.

Yelmalis stood slightly apart from the others, his back against the damp, warm wall. Disgust and frustration governed his thoughts at the moment. How, by Akadi's silver winds, had he ended up here? Well, of course, it had been one of Tarik's dreams that had triggered all this – as so often. Yelmalis couldn't blame the tiefling; he hadn't chosen this gift any more than he had chosen his own. But still, the Signer's dream images were usually the reason for such missions. In this case, to recover a legendary katana called Hope from the catacombs beneath Broken Reach. They had gone into the Abyss incognito, Dilae and Yelmalis disguised as planar merchants in search of magical artifacts, with Garush as their bodyguard. Tarik pretended to be a fortune teller and Sekhemkare a poisoner and alchemist. After several unsuccessful attempts, they had actually found someone at the market of Broken Reach who could give them a line on one of the entrances to the catacombs.

In the early hours of the morning, when the fortress was at its quietest, they had started their risky operation. Yelmalis had cast a spell to detect magical auras and identified a heavily guarded area in the part of the fortress mentioned by the informant. After Tarik had used his psionic abilities to distract the nearby guards, they had entered, Dilae hidden in the shadows, Yelmalis, Sekhemkare and Tarik invisible, Garush disguised as a guard. She had “procured” the armor and weapons the day before while the others had been eating, and no one had asked any questions. With his yuan-ti senses, Sekhemkare had noticed a faint draft coming from behind a tapestry in a remote corridor. Upon closer inspection, they had discovered a hidden door sealed with both a magical and a mechanical lock. While Yelmalis had disabled the magical lock with a counter spell, Sekhemkare had picked the physical lock. But just as they had been about to open the door, Garush had signaled that a patrol was approaching. Dilae had been able to distract the guards by using her gift to create the illusion of a drunken demon stumbling down the adjacent corridor. With the guards' attention diverted, they had seized the opportunity to quickly open the door and descend the narrow, sloping staircase behind it. At the bottom, Yelmalis had sensed an arcane barrier, recognized it as an alarm spell and carefully neutralized it without triggering the alarm. Then they had finally ventured into the dark, oppressive atmosphere of the catacombs.

As Yelmalis did not possess darkvision, Dilae had conjured a glowing, moonlike orb to illuminate their path, but the gloom of the tunnel still overwhelmed the air genasi, too stark a contrast to the open sky he loved. Every breath felt laborious, the stale air a poor substitute for the fresh breeze he longed for. His fingers traced the intricate patterns on his spellbook, seeking comfort in the familiar. He remembered the academic debates, the theoretical discussions in a lecture about the Lower Planes. Theory and practice were indeed two different worlds ... For a moment, Yelmalis allowed himself to think of the airy towers of his native city, Skyhome, feeling the wind blow through his hair as he levitated down to one of the squares. The contrast to their current surroundings was almost painful. But he saw Garush signaling them to move on, and pulled himself together. He might feel out of place in every way, but he was here now. His gift could be immensely important in this situation and environment, so he had to stay focused. With a deep sigh, he pushed himself away from the wall. 

 

 

As they ventured further, the corridors remained narrow and winding, often seemed to be carved directly into the rock. The warm walls were damp and slippery, occasionally pulsing with faint reddish veins disturbingly reminiscent of blood vessels. Their footsteps echoed audibly, despite their attempts to move quietly. They were doubly cautious, because not only was it unclear what guards or other creatures awaited them, but they also knew from one of Tarik’s dreams that the others were here too. The other group of Chosen, that was, some of whom they already knew. Yelmalis had conducted Jana’s defense after she had defaced the Io shrine in the Temple District. And he had been present, involuntarily, when Factol Sarin had tried to prevent an assassination attempt on Archbishop Juliana Spesinfracta in Excelsior. In the end, he himself had prevented it, allowing the factol of the Harmonium to pledge his own fate in order to change a fixed point in time. However noble the goal and result of this act, Yelmalis still did not know whether it had been a wise decision. But how could he have contradicted Sarin, how could he have told the paladin that he would not comply with his wish and will? Downright impossible, and fortunately his own factol, Hashkar, had agreed with him. Anyway, he had met Naghûl, Lereia and Kiyoshi on this occasion. Dilae seemed to know Naghûl and Sgillin “from earlier times,” as she had put it, but she had not wanted to explain further. Garush, on the other hand, knew all the members of the other group - Jana, Lereia, Kiyoshi, Naghûl, Sgillin and Morânia – either from the unfortunate incident when Mallin had arrested the other Chosen to force Sarin to talk or from the equally unfortunate conversation in the House of Visions. They had actually had quite a few encounters. When they had been looking for Eliath, they had known nothing about each other, and during the search for the Keeper and the Proclaimer, it had apparently been intended that each of the groups would find the two on their own. This included the ominous third group, about whom they did not yet know much and with whom they had had no contact so far. But now they knew about each other, had gotten to know each other, had learned that they were all part of the same Prophecy - and yet they had traveled to Broken Reach separately and were now exploring these gloomy catacombs independently of each other in search of the same sword. Somehow it didn't feel right, but Yelmalis didn't know what he could do about it at the moment.

So he followed Garush deeper into the tunnels, alert, tense, his senses irritated by the acrid air, the heat and the almost tangible evil that permeated this place. Grotesque carvings lined the walls of this passageway, depicting scenes of torture and demonic rituals. Some seemed to writhe and move when viewed out of the corner of the eye, but remained still when looked at directly. At irregular intervals, niches were carved into the walls, containing mummified corpses or piles of bones, some clearly not humanoid. The floor was uneven and in some places felt strangely warm underfoot, as if there was a large source of heat far below. Occasionally they passed side passages that led into pitch-black darkness. A faint, incomprehensible whisper seemed to come from these openings, but it fell silent when someone tried to listen closely. Instead, they heard the echo of something large moving through the corridors in the distance, accompanied by the grinding of chains. Yelmalis noticed that his arcane senses were clouded, as if the stone around them was imbued with a magic-dampening property. When he quietly told Tarik, the tiefling nodded seriously and explained that he himself felt a constant psychic pressure, as if countless malicious thoughts were crashing against the edges of his consciousness. At one point, they came to a fork where the path split into three. Above each passageway was a demonic face carved into the stone, each with a different expression: fear, anger and ecstasy. Garush paused and looked at the three paths with a mixture of unease and grim determination. Then she turned to the others, her yellow eyes almost glowing in the dim light.

“Which way should we go?” she asked in a hushed voice. “Is there magic at work here? If so, have a look at it, I don't know anything about that.”

Sekhemkare stepped forward and examined the faces more closely. His tongue darted out as if he were tasting the air. “The path of ecstasy smells of ... seduction. It could be a trap.”

“I sense a dark energy coming from that path.” Dilae nodded in agreement. “We should be careful.”

Tarik closed his eyes and concentrated. After a moment, he opened them again. “The path of fear seems to have less psychic activity. Perhaps it is the safest.”

Yelmalis, on the other hand, looked at the path of anger. “Places of power are often protected by elements of aggression. So this path could lead to important areas.“

Sekhemkare was about to reply when a distant noise suddenly caught their attention. It sounded like a muffled scream, followed by the clanging of metal.

”That came from the path of fear,“ whispered Garush. ”Maybe the others are there.“

Dilae nodded seriously. ”If they're in danger, we have to help them.”

“But what if it's a trap?” Sekhemkare objected. “We could jeopardize our mission.”

“Sometimes you have to take risks to do the right thing,” Tarik replied firmly, and Yelmalis nodded in agreement.

Garush hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “You're right. Let's have a look, but be careful!”

The amazon took the lead again as they entered the path of fear. The tunnel grew narrower and the air cooler for the first time. Runes appeared on the walls, pulsing with an eerie blue light. They moved forward slowly, all their senses sharpened ... then they heard the sounds again, louder and clearer this time. It was definitely the noise of battle.

Garush drew her weapon. “Looks like we've found company. Are you ready?”

The others nodded grimly, and with a deep breath, Garush gave the signal to advance. As the group left the corridor of fear, a larger, irregularly shaped room opened up before them. The bluish light of the runes gave way to a gloomy, reddish glow emanating from scattered torches on the walls. Torches that someone must have lit ... The floor was littered with the remains of a recent battle. Several dead manes lay around, their bloated bodies studded with arrows and marked by deep cuts. Dark, thick blood still seeped from their wounds. In one corner of the room, they spotted the slimy remains of what must once have been amorphous ooze creatures. The substance was still sizzling and bubbling slightly, dissolving slowly. Near the opposite wall lay the carcasses of several dog-sized spiders. Their long, hairy legs were twisted unnaturally, and their bodies showed stab wounds and burns that indicated the use of magic.

 

 

Garush knelt down next to one of the manes and examined the wounds. “The fight can't have been more than a quarter ago,” she muttered. “The blood hasn't clotted yet.”

Two more corridors led away from the central room, and Garush chose the one on the right. Yelmalis couldn't tell whether it was a warrior's instinct that guided her or her gift, which was very reliable in alerting her to nearby threats. But he had learned to trust the amazon in such matters. And indeed, no sooner had they entered the corridor than they heard a noise ahead of them - the crunch of stone splinters under boots. Garush signaled to them to prepare for a possible fight and then turned the corner with her axe raised. There stood a half-elf in dark robes with long black hair, that was shaved on the sides. His face was covered with several small cuts, probably from the giant spiders outside. He had raised his bow and arrow, but lowered them when he saw Garush. It had to be Sgillin, the only one from the other group besides Morânia whom Yelmalis had not yet met.

Garush also lowered her weapon. “My, my,” she said in a growly voice.

“Yes, oh my.” The half-elf also seemed to recognize the amazon and took a few steps back to knock on the door on his rear. The rest of his group was probably behind it.

“Great,” hissed Sekhemkare.

Someone inside the room also knocked on the door. “Garush,” Sgillin said louder than necessary, no doubt to warn the others. “What an … unexpected ... pleasure.”

The half-orc bared her tusks. “You always meet twice, huh?”

“Yes, unfortunately,” the half-elf replied. He had lowered his bow but not yet removed the arrow from the string.

At that moment, the door behind Sgillin opened and out looked a tiefling whom Yelmalis knew. “Well, I would have preferred to meet in a cozy tavern, drinking a beer,” Naghûl stated.

Dilae made a somewhat apologetic gesture toward the Sensate, which Yelmalis couldn't quite place. “Stupid ... situation,” she said.

“You can say that again,” Sekhemkare hissed, while Garush watched the other group warily.

“But why?” Jana's face appeared next to Naghûl's and she pushed past him to step into the hallway. “I'd rather call it a fortunate coincidence. Aren't we all here for the same thing?”

“That's exactly what I fear,” the amazon growled.

Yelmalis felt it was time to intervene diplomatically. “Um, Garush ...” He stepped beside the half-orc. “Maybe we could ...”

She raised her left arm and stopped him, somewhat roughly, from stepping too far forward. “We could do what?”

He was already familiar with this behavior of hers, a rough but well-meaning way of trying to protect him, somewhere between safeguarding and patronizing. “Don't go wild again,” he said soothingly.

“Shut up, wizard,” the amazon cut him off.

Naghûl raised his eyebrows. “What's the problem?”

“Um, internal group ... differences,” Tarik explained quickly. “Sorry.”

Sgillin shot the others a meaningful look. “They're even more harmonious than we are.”

“Please,” Jana said, raising her hands in a conciliatory gesture. “There's no reason to argue. We're all acting in ... well, we're not getting in each other's way.”

Sekhemkare let out an annoyed hiss while Sgillin shook his head. “Well, technically ... we are .” He pointed up the narrow corridor where they were standing opposite each other.

“Say something, Garush,” Tarik urged, obviously nervous about the tense situation.

“Some people think before they speak,” the amazon growled.

Tarik raised his hands defensively, but Jana nodded in earnest. “Yes. And some people sit down before they have a conversation.” She pointed behind her. “There's a fireplace and some chairs in there. We've been fighting, we're exhausted and wounded, and we're in no condition to fight you.”

It was only then that Yelmalis noticed the long cut on Naghûl's left arm, probably from the claws of a mane. There were also several tears in Sgillin's robe; the spiders had apparently not only bitten his face but also his right leg.

Garush seemed to think for a moment, then she pushed her axe back into its holder. “All right, it can't be worse than out here. Looks good, by the way. Was that you?”

The Sensate nodded. “I still need to practice my sword technique a little, but that was us, yes.”

“Hmm, not bad.” The amazon grunted appreciatively. “So you want to talk?”

“Yes, please,” Jana said hastily, although Sgillin gave her a rather doubtful look.

“Primarily, we want to pass and politely ask you to make way for us,” Naghûl replied. “But I guess I can forget that, right?”

“What's the point of that?” Sekhemkare now turned to Garush. “They're wounded and exhausted. We have the advantage.”

Tarik shot the yuan-ti a disapproving sideways glance. “As far as I'm concerned, I'm not so keen on busting heads. I'd rather talk.”

“I agree,” Yelmalis quickly supported him.

Sgillin's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Sekhemkare. “I'll still shoot a few arrows at you before you even swing your stick.”

“Go ahead,” the yuan-ti hissed. “You can try.”

“Is this a vote now?” Garush growled irritably. “Enough. Let's talk.”

“Yes,” Jana pleaded urgently. “Let's stop this childish behavior and talk.”

Dilae breathed a visible sigh of relief and Garush nodded towards the door. “Well?”

“Yes,” Naghûl replied with a sigh. “Let's go in.”

They entered an almost square room with a small fireplace in the middle, surrounded by a few roughly hewn stone seats. On one side stood a few simple wooden chairs, a rickety table and two cots. Torches on the walls provided a flickering light, and in one corner stood an old, weathered altar whose surface was covered with faded Abyssal symbols. Yelmalis noticed that Jana was limping slightly; she seemed to have a bruise on her right ankle, possibly from a fall during the fight. A little further back in the room stood Kiyoshi. He was holding his right side, breathing shallowly, which indicated bruised or broken ribs. The white tigress next to him must have been the transformed Lereia. She licked her forepaws cautiously. They looked sore, probably burned by the acidic ooze they had found outside.

“So, let's get to the point,” said Naghûl as everyone had entered the room and Sgillin had closed the door. “Let's stop this charade. What are you doing down here?”

“Well, we want to find the sword,” Garush replied bluntly.

“Great, so do we,” the Sensate countered. “And now? Are you going to jump at our throats?”

Garush grinned, slightly baring her tusks. “If I wanted to do that, it would have already happened.”

“I can confirm that,” said Tarik with a weak smile.

“Hm.” Yelmalis eyed Garush from the side and then looked at the impatient and agitated-looking Naghûl. “Seems like every group has people with a bit of a hot temper.”

“Not everyone has to be as uptight as you, Yel,” the amazon snorted, but then added: “No offense.”

“I know,” the air genasi replied calmly. He had grown somewhat accustomed to Garush's gruff manner.

Meanwhile, Jana shot the Sensate an irritated glance. “Maybe you should just be quiet for a moment, Naghûl.” Then she turned back to Garush. “The bearer of the sword is predestined. Only one of us can wield it, am I right?”

“Exactly,” the amazon confirmed. “We are all searching for the sword, but only one can wield it.”

“Then we're not in each other's way,” the sorceress concluded. “We might as well continue together.”

Dilae nodded. “Yes, why not?”

“So you were too late?” Kiyoshi suddenly interrupted the conversation. “To find the sword? We will already have found it, right?”

Yelmalis glanced questioningly at the Harmonium soldier. “Um, excuse me?”

“We're all disguised or transformed,” the young man explained. “So there's little chance you could have recognized us that easily, unless you know more. You, Yelmalis-san, seem strained, and we know about your gift. That leads me to conclude that you are not in your own time.”

Sgillin glanced at Kiyoshi in astonishment, and Yelmalis had to smile. “That's not a bad guess. However, in this case, it's not accurate.” He decided it wasn't necessary to clarify that he couldn't travel through time together with four other people. Traveling through time with Sarin had pushed him to the absolute limit of his power.

The young soldier nodded briefly. “Well, then please forgive me for jumping to conclusions. It seemed obvious.”

“It stood to reason, indeed,” Yelmalis admitted. “But of course we know more. Just as you do, I assume.” As the situation relaxed, he felt the butterflies that had been fluttering excitedly around him before flying more calmly now.

Jana nodded. “We all have our secrets, and we want to keep them. But it's not safe here, and I would appreciate some additional support.”

“And what does that mean?” Lereia spoke for the first time. She was apparently able to speak in her tiger form, a fact that had been unknown to Yelmalis until now. “We continue together and then everyone can try to hold the sword?”

“For my part, I have no quarrel with you,” Jana assured Garush. “And I like Lereia's suggestion.”

“Besides, we don't have many options,” said the tigress. “Either we fight each other or - and I would prefer this - we continue together. Whoever can wield the sword is the bearer. That settles it, doesn't it?”

“Then I'm in favor of continuing together,” Tarik interjected. “If I may make a comment.”

“I agree,” Garush replied gruffly but resolutely.

“Me too!” Dilae added quickly.

Yelmalis nodded. “So do I.”

“I don't,” hissed Sekhemkare, and the air genasi closed his eyes briefly. He suppressed the strong urge to cast a silence spell on the yuan-ti.

“You don't have to come with us,” Naghûl replied irritably to Sekhemkare's remark. “But I see it the same way: we'd better go together instead of fighting each other.”

Tarik sighed. “Come on, Sek ...”

A forked tongue darted out between the yuan-ti's scaly lips. “As you wish,” he said, annoyed. “No one listens to me here anyway. Would have been wise last time, but ...”

“Last time was a completely different matter,” Yelmalis replied with a sigh.

“So we shall continue together?” Dilae asked quickly, trying to divert attention from the emerging discussion.

“Yes, it seems so.” Lereia nodded and then looked at Garush. “How much have you explored already?”

The amazon laughed briefly. “Not much. We've only been down here for about an hour and then we saw the battlefield out there.”

“Don't worry.” Naghûl grinned. “We'll take care of you.”

Garush bared her tusks in amusement. “Funny, shorty.”

Naghûl laughed a little, and Yelmalis also had to smile. It was much better to deal with the other group this way than to fight. It was fortunate that they had found common ground, especially since they were in the middle of the Abyss.

“To cut a long story short,” said Lereia. “We still have two locked doors here, but so far no stairs or anything like that. We've already searched all the other rooms.”

“And did you find anything?” asked Dilae.

“The nastiest spiders I've ever seen,” Naghûl replied. “And I've seen a few.”

“And unpleasant oozes.” Lereia demonstratively raised a front paw that was clearly still injured by the acid.

The Sensate now leaned his staff against the wall. “Here's a suggestion: Since we've done the first part of the dirty work, and we're going to continue together, you take over guard duty for a short rest.”

Garush nodded. “That's only fair.”

“Wonderful.” Naghûl sat down on one of the chairs. The exhaustion he had previously concealed quite well was evident now. “After that, we'll wipe up the rest of the 'ri filth here and climb down.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Dilae replied.

 

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played February 19, 2013

Although according to DnD 5e all genasi types now apparently have darkvision, in my campaign only fire and earth genasi possess darkvision. Therefore, as an air genasi, Yelmalis does not have darkvision.