The Elder Things cast Stoneskin on Agna and Ciprian to support their battle with the Mutate. They also made sure the party understood that letting the Mutate escape from the Laboratory would be devastating for Bohlvarai and the heroes both.
"What else do we need to know about the Laboratory?" Ciprian asked.
"The whole complex is protected by a Permanent Wall of Force. Additionally here are three small pentagonal stone chips cut from a pinkish translucent stone. We are not precisely sure what they’re used for, but we know they somehow are required for a locking mechanism to the vault that holds the Star Stela."
Ciprian took the chips and found each had a rune engraved on it. One had the number 2, another the
number 4 and the last the number 8. He pocketed them as the group left to fly to the Laboratory.
The larger building was topped with a dome roof with a needle-like spike at the center. An iridescent hemisphere of energy surrounded it and expanded to the southwest wall of the smaller building. There were no obvious entrances or windows save for a 5-foot-wide, completely enclosed corridor with a peaked roof that penetrated the barrier and connected to the smaller building.
The smaller building was almost identical save that it had an elongated pentagonal door on the north side. The engravings on this building were rounded and worn smooth from time and the elements.
The engravings on the outside of the buildings were difficult to make out, but Gavril eventually made out a pattern of creatures with starfish-shaped heads pouring fluids into a large vat. Ciprian found a similar engraving of a disembodied mouth depicted floating in the vat, and the starfish-headed creatures were flailing their tentacles. The door was locked and appeared to require a strange five-sided key or rod. Gavril noted near the door that a more recent set of sigils had been gouged over the existing marks, but these were filled in with ice and snow. Ciprian cleared the snow and read “The death we created is now our ruin, and it waits.”
"Can I try those chips in this lock?" Gavril asked.
Ciprian pulled the out and Gavril tried them on the lock with no success. He peered into the lock, pulled out his tools and set to picking it. It took some time but he was eventually able to open the lock with a familiar click. He then opened the door and peered into the interior. Stone panels engraved with small sigils and runes that blinked with a rainbow of colors filled three corners of the five-sided room. The outline of a five-sided door with no lock or handles was seen on the southwest wall. The walls and floor were constructed of a smooth green-and-black marble and the air was cold and stale, but warmer that it was outside.
Erevel and Ciprian followed Gavril inside where Ciprian cast light on the floor. Gavril and Ciprian searched for magic but found nothing except the southwest wall where they knew the Wall of Force ended. The etched sigils in the corners were on a slanted stone that were raised to waist height. The sigils were just symbols and made no sense to Ciprian as he tried to read them.
Gavril studied the door to the southwest but it was completely devoid of any markings. He began searching the room and found another pinkish chip engraved with a rune. Ciprian stated that this one was the number 7. There was no place found that the chips could be used so Gavril studied the door for traps and he found that it was indeed trapped.
"I am going to try and disable this trap now," Gavril stated as Ciprian fled the room. Only Erevel remained inside with Gavril as he began fiddling with the door.
"There I have removed this fire trap." Gavril said "and now there is a strange mechanism visible. It looks like it could be manipulated with tentacles, which I do not have."
Gavril then used his tools to open the lock and the door sagged away into the passageway. Outside Erich noted that the shimmering dome had gone away. Gavril pushed the door open and stepped through. The interior of the passage was again pentagonal, peaking at the top of the roof. It extended beyond sight with regular architecture. The party decided to try and close the door but they all exited into the smaller chamber first, then Erevel pulled the door shut. Seconds later the dome appeared once again and the door appeared to lock. Worried, Gavril again checked the trap and found it also reset.
As he again began to disable the trap, Ciprian fled the chamber once again. This time Gavril had less trouble disabling the trap and picking the lock. Agna brought some rubble in to block the door open and the whole party now headed down the passageway. Soon the hallway entered a larger chamber, the large dome. This large pentagonal chamber had a curved dome-like ceiling that reached forty-five feet above the floor at its highest point. Twenty feet from the bottom, where the party entered a ten-foot wide ledge ran along all five walls. There was no railing along the ledge, nor was there a ramp or staircase that extended to the lower floor. The marble walls and floor were damp and cold and there was a faint musty smell in the air, like wet animals and chemicals.
Gavril and Ciprian flew down to the lower floor and saw two ramps that descended sharply down corridors to the east and west while a level hallway ran to the south. Erevel joined them on the lower floor looking around. The whole party flew down to the floor and they decided to take the west corridor. Flying down the steep angle Gavril came upon another chamber below ground.
Armania immediately flew back up to the higher level of the previous chamber and began to cast a spell. Erevel advanced on the creature and attacked. While this was happening another similar creature came flying up the eastern corridor into the main chamber. At the same time Erevel saw an ooze come flying to the edge of the chamber from the northeast. Ursina cast Greater Invisibility as Gavril retreated to the higher level. Agna moved to attack the second Elder Thing as Erevel was hit by three bombs thrown by the Elder Thing. She appeared confused for a moment but broke out of it quickly Ciprian identified the Elder Things as such but they had Alchemist capabilities and were undead JuJu Zombies. Ciprian then began a performance against the creatures and Erich began his Inspire Courage.
Two Bralani headed for the lower chamber to help out Erevel and Ursina. They found the monsters very difficult to damage. The third Bralani continued to try to attack the second JuJu Zombie. Armania cast Disintegrate on the same Elder-Thing and watched its body complete turn into a trace of fine dust around its objects on the floor. The Mutate began a Maddening Cacophony of sounds and words sane life was not meant to hear, though only the Bralani fell victim to the confusion it caused.
This development led to everyone moving to the Dormancy Chamber where the battle focused on the Mutate, a modified Shoggoth when identified by Ciprian. Armania tried magic missiles on the Mutate but they kept running against its Spell Resistance. Erevel was getting weaker by the second but Ursina and the Bralani provided healing for her. Gavril dropped the other JuJu Zombie to the floor but not before some additional bombs were thrown and splashed on the party. Agna found any of the creatures difficult to hit from range and Erich Zahn cast Heroic Finale to allow Armania another action which she used to cast Starfall. He later began a second performance of Inspire Greatness for Erevel, Ursina and himself. A second Maddening Cacophony affected the last of the Bralani and Agna. While confused each took wisdom damage also.
Ciprian had Dance of a Thousand Cuts running and with Erevel's improved condition, Gavril's attacks, along with a very successful second Starfall the party eventually killed the Mutate. The battle was long and difficult but the party survived. They then began to heal all who took damage.
Just as the party began searching for magic, the JuJu Zombie began to reach for his bombs but Gavril and Ursina reacted quickly to dispatch it once again. The group then found two magic cloaks, 2 Ioun Stones (scarlet and blue spheres) and two potions. One Zombie held three additional pinkish chips, numbered 3,5, and 10. The other held two chips numbered 1 and 9. Gavril noted that the group now had nine chips but were missing one with the number 6. Ciprian was investigating the glass cylinders and noted another chip in one which he retrieved with a mage hand. It held the number 6.
"I am almost out of spells, I suggest we don't try to find any other monsters at this point," Armania suggested.
"But we should at least reconnoiter the other two or three paths we have seen here," Ciprian replied. "We could get any idea of what we face before we Getaway back to the campsite."
DM's Notes: The party earned 53,333 XP for the evening.
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