Through Ultan's Door (Suns Apart - Campaign 2 - Session 2)
PCs:
Cassian Carmine - Master of the Loom (Weaver 1st degree); wielder of Sleep, Alleyways, and Moonlight
Iziki'el - Journeyman Weaver; wielder of Blood and Infinity
Naniz - Journeyman Goetic; Blue scholar
Xeni - Shaper (Maker 1st degree); School of Matter, expert in smoke
A few days after the events of last session, our party of vislae acquaintances rendezvoused to seek out the printmaker Ultan and this strange door of his. If it really led to the Blue, let alone the hidden city of Zyan, this could be a major point of interest for many factions in the city since easy travel to the Blue (and nearly every other Sun) had all but dried up since the Second War.
With Arthelo potentially in danger, the party had to move quick, so they prepared themselves under the assumption Ultan's door led somewhere dangerous and they would need expedition equipment. Naniz visited the Goetic archives to do some preliminary research on the Blue, looking especially to review the limited available writings related to Zyan. The rest of the party stocked up on lamps and torches, and then they all headed together to Ultan's shop just off the Square of Eidolons in the Celestial Bazaar. Ultan looked up from his work as the jingle of a bell announced customers, and quickly ushered them behind the counter and into the workshop upon hearing they were there for the door. He introduced his nephew Samir, a burly young man who had come to stay with Ultan to provide him with a modicum of protection while they sorted the door situation out. Ultan gestured with ink stained hands to the space under the stairs.
The door did indeed seem out of place, decorated with swirling patterns expertly picked out in gold leaf, and it was at least painted a vivid cerulean blue. Naniz closely studied the frame and the almost imperceptible glow which emanated from beyond the door. He was quite certain about the energy signatures. This door lead to the Blue. Trusting his Goetic expertise in portals and not wishing to haggle, the party each paid Ultan's 10c fee and prepared to enter. Samir unlocked the bulky lock Ultan had installed on the strange door, and swung it open to reveal a space that certainly could not have existed within the geometry of the print shop. It was a stone room with a floor of faded tile, chipped and buckled under the weight of years and feet alike. A strong smell of offal and a hint of something animal wafted from within.
"Well, in you go! Knock and state your names if you want to come back this way, but I'll be charging the fee again for each entry so don't go thinking you can use my shop as some sort of staging ground. Good luck!"
The vislae entered the space marked one on Queequeg's map and the door thunked shut behind them. To their left was an arched exit down a short flight of stairs into a larger space with a dried up stone fountain and a floor covered in filthy straw. To their right was a heavy wooden door covered in scratches to about five feet in height. It was unlocked, but upon trying the handle they heard a quiet piping of flutes from the other side as well as scuffling as if a few figures were moving around. The door wouldn't open more than a crack, apparently blocked by something heavy. As they consulted the map and decided what to do, the vislae detected figures approaching from the fountain room.
A pale old man with white hair in a dirty bun, mouth cracked, black, and withered. He wore a tattered vest hanging with various fetishes and charms, and bore a staff with a ruined child's doll at the end. Two youths flanked him a step or two behind, bearing wicker baskets of mushrooms and berries as well as the same pale skin, withered mouths, and malnourished look. Each had a small pan flute hanging around their neck with twine. The party hailed the figures in Indigo but they spoke no words in return, apparently voiceless. To their surprise, the old man replied in secret vislae language of Invisible (all but confirming their suspicions he possessed some arcane skill), signing the words in Invisible's gesture form.
The man's name turned out to be Shaltromo, a warlock of the Pickled Prince, an aspect of Golumex, the pariah Archon of failed purposes and ruined dreams. He introduced the other two figures as his apprentices, Ersatz and Quixot. They were Guildless, stripped of their masks and voices before being cast out from the city above. Naniz knew this was the Zyanese punishment for shameful crimes... or political mistakes. The vislae began to trade knowledge for knowledge with Shaltromo (their preternaturally accurate dungeon map for his local knowledge and context). According to him, they were in the ruins of the Inquisitor's Theater, the former base of power of the Zyanese Inquisitor's Guild, just off the great sewer river which dominated the catacombs (known as "the city between"). He informed them another vislae came through not long ago and went to the Theater of Punishments, a shrine to the west which was overrun with white swine (horrible, giggling pig things with childlike hands), the primary threat in the ruins. Shaltromo and his apprentices departed into their makeshift outpost through the scratched door, the Guildless within moving aside a heavy armoire to unblock the door and admit them.
Armed with new knowledge of possible dangers ahead, the vislae prepared to push deeper into the dungeon-like space. The Weavers sensed white swine stalking them but drawing back not long after, possibly for reinforcements. Expecting trouble, Naniz drew out his portable summoning circle and attempted to call forth a Pale spirit. Fortune was not with him and he (just barely!) overextended himself, drawing forth the spirit unbound. Thankfully for the party, the spirit was not the voracious and murderous sort, but rather the somber ghost of some sort of ronin, obsessed with blades. He levitated in the corner of the room, sharpening his spectral katana and muttering dead poetry. Cassian and Xeni presented him with their bladed weapons which he sharpened without question, honing them with a Pale edge they knew would make them more effective until they next took a life.
The party began to explore the domed room with the dried up fountain, and was partly through looting the hanging bodies of some dead inquisitors when a reinforced group of white swine attacked from the west. Cassian wove Alleyways to create a silencing effect around himself, hoping to lure the swine into one of the concealed bear traps the party had spotted under the straw. It proved unnecessary as Iziki’el and Xeni fired off an encounter ending salvo. Iziki’el’s revolver downed a swine, and Xeni’s firebolt spear slew another, causing the flaming corpse to ignite the straw covered floor of the room. The swine made a morale check and failed, retreating the way they came under the sudden onslaught and conflagration. The vislae each quickly moved to the safety of the room's balcony or otherwise back up the stone steps to room one, opting to let the fire burn out. Once it had, they took a few moments to explore the three ruined bedrooms leading off the balcony level, and looted some treasures from among the overturned desks, smashed mirrors, and shredded bed sheets (fine masks and a wooden cask containing a spell imbued charm). They also carefully gathered up the swine corpses, trading them to Shaltromo for more dungeon information. Apparently there was a strange silvery melon tree to the west which could imbue knowledge.
As the vislae conversed with the Guildless leader, the Weavers once again detected they were being watched, this time by too dark shadows at the edge of their vision which seemed to move of their own accord. The party decided this was their cue to end the current excursion and head back through Ultan's door for the time being. If the vislae Shaltromo told them about really was Arthelo, he was likely dead and they would need better preparations if they intended to safely recover his body from the lair of the white swine. Before heading back, they discussed Ultan's door with Shaltromo and asked whether Satyrine might be a better home for the Guildless. He was skeptical that the door led to Indigo, and wary of the vislae in general, but decided to send an apprentice (Ersatz) back with them to evaluate whether Satyrine might be a suitable home for his people.
Back in Satyrine, Iziki'el visited the Pale Embassy, hoping to confirm whether Arthelo was indeed dead.
"You do not have the authorization to access the file of citizens still in immigration processing" the skeletal factotum informed him.
As they feared then, Arthelo was dead. Still, that would not stop our intrepid vislae from venturing once again... beyond Ultan's door!
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