“This is the creed of the Illuminated - to rule what we can;
to control what we can't rule; and to destroy what we can't control.”
Green Marvent, Sectol of the Illuminated
Third Lower Day of Mortis, 126 HR
With each breath, Krystall sensed that they were in Undersigil: the air was thicker, clammy and carried an unmistakable smell of damp earth and mold. After learning, thanks to Zamakis' gift, that the trail of the shadow thieves led to the undercity, they had not hesitated for long. A few hours of sleep and various errands later, they had met again in Krixxi's workshop the next afternoon to bring the goblin woman and the awakened rooster Figaro up to date. Then Krystall herself, Rakalla, Síkhara and Haer'Dalis had visited the Gatehouse. As a paladin of Milani, Krystall knew how to wield her rapier, and the blood hunter's fighting skills were beyond doubt. In addition to her gaze and blade, the medusa had many useful elixirs at her disposal, and the tiefling could use his short swords as effectively as his bardic magic.
Nevertheless, they had agreed that two additional strong arms would be reassuring for this type of undertaking. Fortunately, it didn't take much to convince the minotaur Blackhoof to accompany them. At a warning glance from his colleague Derioch, he insisted on helping to serve out the soup first. But after that, he joined the small group without further ado when Krystall quietly explained that they were looking for a trail to the shadow thieves. Since they didn't really know where to start their search, they had descended into the sewers at a point in the Chaos District where Krystall knew there was a half-buried entrance to the undercity. Fortunately, the sewage was flowing low that day, so the rickety wooden walkways were not flooded and they were able to reach the stairs leading down without getting their feet wet. The stone steps were wet and partially crumbled, so they had to be careful not to slip. Light was a rare luxury down here, usually only available in the form of luminescent mushrooms that grew in damp niches. Since she was the only one in the group who did not have darkvision, Krystall murmured a quiet prayer to Milani. As the goddess of uprisings and revolutions, the Everbloom granted her followers the ability to see in the dark, knowing full well that they often had to act under cover of the night.
When they all stood in the tunnel that led from the sewers to the undercity, Blackhoof's broad figure filled the entire corridor, his horns almost touching the ceiling. Just as during their search for the Keeper and the Proclaimer, his calm, unshakeable presence was reassuring. As good-natured and gentle as the minotaur was in his dealings with smaller, weaker beings, when someone threatened him or his friends, the full unbridled fighting power came to the fore that all members of his race possessed. They ventured a little way into the tunnel, and the only sounds were the dripping of water finding its way through the porous walls and the soft crunching of small stones under their feet. After about a hundred steps, the path forked, and Rakalla stopped.
“So ...” The medusa looked around, a little helpless. “How do we find an ancient temple we don't know in this ... cave system?”
“According to Zamakis, the dead man spoke of tears of darkness,” Síkhara said. “Perhaps it is some kind of shadow energy or materials that emit it.”
Haer'Dalis peered ahead. “I can try to sense such arcane energies. The devices from the lab have a very specific signature that resonates with the Plane of Shadow. I'm sure I would recognize this kind of magic - but only if I'm close enough.”
“Then let's go on and hope we find a lead,” said Krystall. “Let us know as soon as you sense something.”
The bard nodded, and so they ventured further into the depths of Undersigil, a maze of natural caves mixed with roughly hewn tunnels and forgotten ruins and vaults. The passage was relatively wide at first, its floor consisting of damp, trodden in earth. Irregular rock walls rose up on the left and right, with small niches and caves branching off here and there. Sometimes they heard the rustling of small creatures fleeing from them, sometimes just the sound of dripping water, which they could also feel on the back of their necks from time to time. Blackhoof had insisted on going ahead to shield the others from possible dangers. His broad hooves made a soft crunching sound on the ground, leaving indentations in the damp clay. Every now and then, his nostrils quivered slightly, as if he were sniffing for something - which was probably the case. Minotaurs had a very keen sense of smell. Síkhara walked behind Blackhoof, her flaming red hair glowing faintly in the shadows of the tunnel. The small sparks that occasionally flew from it were all the more visible here in the darkness. Krystall followed her, her hand alertly on the hilt of her rapier, while Haer'Dalis, unusually quiet, listened to the soft ambient sounds of Undersigil, apparently concentrating on detecting possible traces of shadow magic. Rakalla brought up the rear, holding a small glass vial in one hand and a crystal in the other, which, according to the medusa, glowed green when it came into contact with arcane magic.
After a while, the organic shape of the cave passages gave way to a regularity that indicated deliberate workmanship. The walls became smoother, showing the first signs of worked stone. Then suddenly the tunnel opened into a huge cavern, so large that they could not see the opposite end. What they saw was both breathtaking and nightmarish: the remains of an ancient city. Not just a few walls, but a whole collection of buildings made of dark, almost black stone. Ruined towers stretching upwards, broken arches leading to nowhere and dusty squares where life might once have thrived. The architecture was strange, with sharp angles and geometric patterns that Krystall had never seen in the above-ground Sigil. It was as if a long-forgotten civilization had once built its metropolis down here, only to be swallowed up and forgotten.
“I have heard rumors of such a place,” whispered Haer'Dalis. “The Weeping Stone Catacombs. Many, many millennia ago, Sigil is said to have looked different, to have been home to a completely different civilization. But they disappeared, and their buildings with them. Over the ages, they sank underground, and today's Sigil stands on their ruins.”
Krystall nodded in agreement. She had heard such stories too. It was well known that some inhabitants of the Cage lived in the tunnels beneath the city: a few kobold tribes, some thugs, various groups of undead … But even deeper down, it was said, lay secrets of a different kind. They might have just stumbled upon one of those places. The leader of the Razor Angels looked around in awe. Some of the buildings were so intact that it felt as if their builders could step out of the shadows at any moment. But the only inhabitants Krystall saw were strange, pale creatures that looked like spindly insects, with smooth chitinous shells and six thin limbs. They scurried silently through the narrow alleys, seemingly either unaware of the group or ignoring them, their movements jerky and their appearance ghostly. They cautiously ventured further, past the ancient buildings of dark stone. In some places, large, naturally grown crystals broke through the ground, glowing from within and emitting a faint violet or turquoise light. They created bizarre shadow patterns that further intensified the eerie atmosphere of the surroundings.
Suddenly, Síkhara stopped and pointed to one of the walls. “Look,” she said quietly. “Some things haven't changed in all this time.”
When the others followed her gaze, they discovered a relief on the building they were passing: the stern mask of an expressionless face surrounded by a wreath of razor-sharp blades. It was clearly an image of the Lady of Pain. Blackhoof immediately took a step back from the wall, while Rakalla nodded seriously.
“So our Bladed Queen was already the ruler of the city back then,” the medusa noted in a hushed voice. “May Her shadow never cut us.” She drew a semicircle above her heart with the index finger of her right hand - an ancient gesture used by the inhabitants of Sigil to protect themselves and ward off evil.
The others followed suit and then respectfully moved away from the ancient depiction of the Lady. Even in above-ground Sigil, the face of Her Dread Majesty was often seen, the dabus adorning many gables and facades with it. But to find such an ancient image here in the undercity, proof that the Lady of Pain had already ruled the Cage back then, instilled even more respect into the group and sent a slight shiver down their spines. Only when they had moved a good distance away from the relief did they dare to breathe again.
Rakalla pointed to the crystal she was holding, which was now glowing slightly. “There are arcane signatures here,” she explained. “Can you feel it too, Haer'Dalis?”
The tiefling nodded. With a bard's sense of magic, he could perceive these energies without any aid. “Yes, they're everywhere here. Remnants of ancient enchantments, I suppose. But they don't feel like the shadow magic of the cages.“
”Let's keep searching,“ Síkhara said. ”If this really is the Weeping Stone Catacombs, then there could be a connection to the tears of darkness.”
Krystall nodded. She had the same thought and hoped it would prove to be true. They proceeded cautiously, and the glow of the crystals that sprang up around them bathed the ancient ruins in a ghostly light. In a larger, open area that might once have been a market or meeting place, they discovered a round basin. It had probably served as a fountain in the past, but now it was filled with nothing but dust and rubble.
Then suddenly Haer'Dalis stopped and turned his head towards a seemingly empty spot near one of the walls. “There,” he whispered. “I sense something that seems vaguely familiar.”
He led the others closer to one of the ruined houses. Where there might once have been a window or a door, the air not only appeared darker, but also seemed to carry a strange heaviness, as if the shadows were thicker here. However, on closer inspection, Krystall could spot something unusual: from several cracks in the old stones trickled a kind of black, glittering dust, almost invisible unless one examined the wall closely.
“As if the stones here were crying,” she whispered. “A place where darkness has shed tears.”
The others agreed, and so they took a closer look at the immediate vicinity.
Finally, Rakalla stopped next to a column that rose directly in front of a crumbling wall and disappeared upwards into the darkness. “Something is different here,” the medusa said, her voice just a whisper, while her snakes hissed softly.
The others stepped closer, but couldn’t spot anything. There was only a bare wall, over which the dim light of the crystals cast strange shadows.
“I can't see anything unusual,” Krystall stated.
“It's a little cooler than the rest of the area,” Rakalla explained. “You will hardly notice, but my snakes can feel it.”
As she pointed to the spot she thought she had discovered, Blackhoof moved closer to the niche behind the column and reached out his arm to feel something in the darkness ... only to find that his hand passed right through the wall. Krystall held her breath. An illusion spell? And indeed, when the minotaur took a step forward, he was standing half inside the seemingly solid wall.
He let out a soft snort. “Someone has been tampering with this place,” he said, his deep voice echoing slightly even though he was trying to speak quietly.
The moment she doubted what the illusion was trying to make her believe, the mirage dissolved before Krystall's eyes. There was indeed the entrance to another tunnel, and at the edges of the passageway she could see traces of tools, but they did not appear to be particularly old – fresher scratches that stood out against the surroundings’ ancient dilapidation.
The others apparently saw it too, and Síkhara smiled contentedly. “A secret passage, and someone went to some trouble to hide it. Haer'Dalis, can you sense anything?”
The bard stepped a little closer to the passageway, concentrated, and then nodded. “Yes, behind it I sense the same arcane signature as on the shadow catching devices.”
Krystall felt the cold, ominous pull of the place beyond the tunnel. But her determination was unbroken. The shadow thieves had to be stopped, especially since the actual string pullers were the Illuminated, who had already been responsible for the Hive Strangler Murders. She would follow this path wherever it led. This time, Haer'Dalis went ahead to check for traps. When he gave a sign that is was safe, the others followed him into a narrower tunnel that led them downwards. Blackhoof just barely fit through. Soon the air became noticeably colder and the ground more uneven, littered with countless sharp-edged stones. The walls were cracked, and they could see the shimmering sand they had already discovered outside, reminiscent of tears running down the rock face. Finally, they reached a smaller chamber. In the middle stood a jagged rock formation resembling a naturally grown column. It reached almost to the ceiling, and at its base grew a kind of moss that glowed in a deep purple light, covering the surrounding rocks with a cold, unnatural gleam.
Haer'Dalis stepped closer and held his fingers over the moss cushions, exploring. “The arcane signature is strongest here. This is definitely a place where the veils between Sigil and the Plane of Shadow are thinner. Perhaps a kind of access point.”
Krystall grimaced as she now felt the unpleasant cold on an almost psychic level - an oppressive tugging at her soul that reminded her of the emptiness the shadowless had described. “There's also a concentration of negative energy here,” she explained. “But not random or chaotic, rather shaped, intentional ...”
A soft sound made them all pause - a whispering hiss that seemed to come from one of the dark crevices at the end of the chamber.
Blackhoof drew his axe from his belt. “We are not alone,” he snorted.
“Stay close together!” Síkhara reached for her scimitar.
As Krystall drew her rapier, something crept out of the crevice. No, it was more like a kind of oozing ... a creature that seemed to grow out of the shadows, like a cloud of smoke taking on vaguely humanoid features - a kind of shadow whose eyes burned like glowing coals in the darkness. The creature let out a soft, hissing sound, like a breath of frozen air.
“A shadow guardian,” Síkhara growled, her turquoise-green eyes seemed to glow. “We fought a creature like this in the lab.”
The shade shot towards the blood hunter, striking at her with claws of pure darkness. Blackhoof charged forward with a deep roar, swinging his heavy axe in a mighty arc. But the weapon passed through the creature like through smoke, causing no damage. Haer'Dalis reacted immediately, intoning a short melody. Instantly, Blackhoof's axe was surrounded by an aura of blue light. Krystall sensed the evil emanating from the creature. She raised her rapier and called upon her goddess Milani – a holy glow surrounded the blade. With a courageous thrust, she attacked the shadow guardian, and the creature flinched as if it had been struck by pure light.
“Very good,” Síkhara shouted. “Only blessed and magical weapons can harm these beasts. And they don't like light either!”
As if to emphasize her words, the fire genasi now shot a ray of flames from the fingers of her free hand. The light seemed to blind the shadow, for it recoiled a little and appeared disoriented for a moment.
“Keep it at bay,” Rakalla called from behind. “I'll light a flash grenade, but that will take a moment!”
Blackhoof didn't need to be told twice. He struck at the shadow once more, but this time his axe was imbued with Haer'Dalis’ magic. And indeed, part of the shade’s formless substance swirled up and dissipated like smoke in the air. Krystall also struck again with her rapier, and the blade left a trail of pale energy behind it. The shadow screamed in pain when it was hit. Síkhara took advantage of Blackhoof and Krystall's attacks to draw the edge of her scimitar across the inside of her right forearm. A blink of an eye later, her blade was engulfed in flames by her blood magic. Haer'Dalis, on the other hand, struck up a short melody again. This sent a kind of sound wave towards the shadow, which whizzed past Blackhoof and Krystall with precision, hitting the shade and fraying part of its dark substance.
“Close your eyes!” Rakalla shouted. “It's going to get bright!” Almost simultaneously, she hurled a small object towards the shadow guardian.
Krystall closed her eyes, but even through her narrowed eyelids, she could still perceive a bright flash that bathed the small room in flickering light. The shadow let out an ear-splitting scream, and when Krystall opened her eyes again, she saw its body frazzling. It had clearly lost substance. It was visibly weakened - but not yet defeated. Claws of pure darkness now struck at Blackhoof, ripping his right shoulder and causing the minotaur to cry out in pain. Then he brought his axe down on the shadow once more, this time with much more anger, even rage. Síkhara was at his side, and as her brightly burning scimitar cut through the shade, it left behind a glowing arc and a shower of sparks sprayed up. Another part of the creature was consumed.
Krystall and Haer'Dalis seized the opportunity to strike from the other side almost simultaneously. The bard's short swords were apparently magical even without enchantment, causing a soft hiss as they struck the shadow. Krystall's blessed blade made the shade scream in pain once more. Then it flickered ... It tried to regenerate, but their combined attacks had taken too much of a toll on it. With a final, hoarse hiss, it disintegrated into a cloud of smoke that dissolved into the air, leaving behind nothing but a pungent smell of ash and a noticeable chill. Krystall breathed a sigh of relief. The fight had been short but intense.
“This one was stronger than the one in the lab,” Síkhara noted. Her scimitar was still engulfed in flames, which she probably didn’t want to extinguish until she was sure they weren’t going to be attacked again.
“That's right,” said Rakalla, who was now approaching from the tunnel entrance. “In the laboratory, there were only three of us, and one of my flash grenades was enough to take it out after you weakened it.”
“That suggests it was guarding something important here,” Krystall assumed. “We should be very careful.”
Then she stepped over to Blackhoof and said a quiet prayer to Milani to heal the wound on his shoulder. The minotaur snorted gratefully. Meanwhile, Haer'Dalis moved closer to the jagged rock formation at the base of which grew the purple glowing moss. It radiated a noticeable coldness and pulsed faintly in the darkness of the small chamber.
“The arcane signature is extremely strong here,” the tiefling explained. “The moss seems to be some kind of ... bio-magical seal.” He placed his hand on the rock formation and closed his eyes. “The energy is channeled here.”
Krystall watched as the bard moved his hand over the glowing moss. He hummed a soft melody that seemed to merge with the glowing plants. A soft hum filled the chamber, and the moss began to glow brighter. The rock formation itself seemed to pulsate, as if a heart were beating inside of it. Then, with a deep, rumbling sound that made the ground shake, a gap appeared in the opposite wall, at first just a narrow crack, but quickly widening into a broad passage. It was not the opening of a door, but rather the retreat of a massive segment of rock that slowly withdrew into the surrounding wall.
Behind it was a cave so spacious that its ceiling disappeared into the darkness. It was larger than anything they had seen so far in the cave system beneath Sigil, its walls streaked with crystal veins that gave off an eerie, pale blue light. And in the middle of this gigantic cavern stood a large building that seemed to grow out of the cave itself, formed from the same dark rock as the buried ruins they had wandered through. Its architecture was also characterized by sharp edges and geometric patterns, and spiral towers twisted into the darkness like giant, petrified thorns. There were no windows, only narrow slits that looked like menacing eyes. Black flames danced on many of the protrusions on the facade, giving off no light, but rather deepening the darkness around them. They flickered eerily, like ghosts of flames, like their shadows ... A soft, almost inaudible whisper seemed to emanate from the depths of the temple. Krystall felt a cold emptiness in the cave - negative energy, concentrated and condensed, a palpable presence of corruption.
“This is it,” whispered Síkhara. “The entrance to the Shadow Temple.”
Blackhoof snorted softly through his nostrils. “Creepy, folks! I'm not a paladin like Krystall, but even I can feel the evil lurking there.”
Haer'Dalis nodded seriously. “This place has a connection to the Plane of Shadow. We should be very careful if we want to go in there.”
Krystall agreed with the tiefling and the minotaur. The atmosphere in this cave was oppressive, a feeling of impending doom hung in the air. A quick glance at Rakalla and Síkhara showed her that they were thinking the same. They were all experienced and had already mastered several adventures, but this place radiated a danger that might exceed anything they had seen so far.
“We shouldn't try to enter this place,” Krystall said. “Not without better preparation. Whatever is in there is too important and too threatening to rush it.”
Síkhara nodded. “I agree. We now know where the temple is. But the Illuminated are dangerous. The five of us can't take on an entire sect in their headquarters.”
“Then let's go back,” said Rakalla. “That half-elf from the Harmonium ... Amariel? ... needs to know what we found. Let the Hardheads take care of capturing these shadow thieves.”
Blackhoof snorted in agreement and Haer'Dalis withdrew his hand from the purple glowing moss. “A wise decision. There are gates that should not be passed recklessly.”
When he stopped concentrating on the opening spell, the stone wall creaked back into its original place. Krystall took one last look at the now invisible passageway before they left the chamber. They now had a real chance to stop the shadow thieves. But they would need reinforcements.
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