Mirror and Maze

The Thursday game, recapping 10/1/20 – After clearing this level of the tomb, we head back to the central chamber. Below us , a loud mechanical sound rumbles from a dark pit in the middle of this room. Around the shaft, four pedestals stand to the north, east, south, west. On each is a statue of a four-armed gargoyle facing away from the pit. Each pedestal has a vertical slot in it at shoulder height. A metal plate under each gargoyle is, starting from north and going clockwise, copper, silver, gold, and platinum. Is it a coincidence that these colors correspond to the types of currency? On same level with the gargoyles, a hall leads directly east.

A hall to the west ends in a stone door guarded by two bronze serpent heads. On the door is written:

In this hall is also a way north.

Exploring further, we head down a south hall which intersects a hall running east to west. To the west is a dark room that appears to have something moving within it. The Monk casts darkvision on himself; the Warklock has darkvision, but casts invisibility on himself. Entering the room, they find an ornate mirror on the wall. As the Monk catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror, the invisible Warlock sees the Monk suddenly sucked into the mirror. The Warlock inspects the mirror and finds the words, “Khomara Blackfire” carved into the frame. As he says “Khomara,” the mirror dims. Saying “Blackfire” seems to do nothing. Repeating “Khomara” cause the mirror to brighten. The Warlock begins the spell identify item as a ritual and finds that this is a “Mirror of Life Trapping.” “Khomara” activates the mirror. Blackfire followed by a number will release someone (or something) trapped in one of twelve cells. By sheer luck, we release the Monk from cell ten. The Monk recounts that he was in a two-foot by two-foot box glass cell surrounded by bright light and could see other cells around him, but not what was in them. We consider what trapped creatures we might have had to fight if we had guessed the wrong cell.

The hall east from the mirror room ends in a stone slab on which is painted a gaunt male human, hand raised with palm extended, his face a mask of stars.

The Paladin peeks up the passage north from the hall containing the stone door guarded by serpent heads. At the bottom of some stairs, he sees a chest. As the Warlock mage hands the lid open, a boulder rolls out to obliterate the chest. We descend the stairs to find a large pit in the floor of a room in which four columns surround an opaque sarcophagus. The sarcophagus magically cycles through color changes. Murals of minotaurs appear on the walls around the room. Stairs on either side of the sarcophagus lead upward to an elevated balcony where a giant, ever-changing maze is carved into the wall.

One by one we jump over the pit into the room. The Paladin scrambles up the stairs to investigate the maze, touches it and disappears. All the murals open releasing ten minotaur skeletons into the room. The Cleric casts spirit guardians, the Druid summons her bears and the Monk uses his javelin to slice through three at a time. The Monk casts darkness over the skeletons. More than one stumbles their way into the pit. Then the Cleric turns undead and we easily pick them off one by one as they run away in fear.

Meanwhile, the Paladin is running around the maze looking for a way out. He runs into a very much alive minotaur, defeats it, and loots its axe. Finding a blue crystal key on the floor, he is transported back to the room and is confronted with the scene of his compatriots surrounded by minotaur bones.

When the sarcophagus turns blue, the Paladin uses the key, and the lid opens. Within, we find a Charm of the Crystal Heart and a Robe of Scintillating Colors. At this point we take a short rest. But as the Warlock dons the robe, the spirit of the flail snail Unkh says, “I can help you!”

OOC: There are only two tombs of the nine gods we have yet to discover:  Shagambi, the kamadan who “teaches us to fight evil with honor” and Nangnang. Nangnang is the grung who stole Shagambi’s holy spear. Shagambi is forever chasing Nangnang, her mortal enemy, across the sky.