The First Expedition: The Alchemist's Vault

At first, the massive beast is wary of Subeen, snorting aggressively as she approaches. For a tense moment, it seems the rhino might charge and gore the barbarian. But Subeen heroically remains calm and unflinching, her courage winning over the big, chubby "unicorn." As the rhino grows comfortable with her presence, she shows her acceptance with a big, wet, sloppy lick across Subeen's face.

With your provisions and mount secured, you head back out into the wastelands to claim the treasures of the dungeon beneath the black tower.

As you make your way back toward the black tower, the Aurora slowly awakens in the sky, filling the land with warmth and iridescent color.

Now that you have a 3,000 lbs rhinoceros, your choices of moving through the ruins of the world city are more limited. You deem it unwise to cross over the same causeway as you traversed yesterday, as its foundations are crumbling and there are large cracks in the bridge's deck.

Instead, you descend into the rotting corpse of the World City's decaying, twisting streets, where the bones of the abandoned city lean precariously overhead. The aurora barely reaches the ground here, casting everything in shades of grey. Shadows pool unnaturally along the cobblestone path, deeper and darker than they should be, as if the darkness itself is alive.



Your rhino snorts nervously, its large frame crowding the alleyway, its hooves scraping against the uneven stones. Its ears swivel, and its eyes dart wildly, reflecting the faint light like mirrors. The air grows colder with each step forward, and a suffocating silence blankets the scene, broken only by the faint clinking of the party’s gear and the heavy breathing of the beast.

Suddenly, a whisper cuts through the stillness. At first, it’s indistinct, like the rustling of fabric or a distant breeze, but then it grows clearer, more insidious:

"...Give us... your warmth..."

Four figures emerge from the shadows—not stepping forward but materializing as if the darkness itself has congealed into humanoid shapes. Their forms are translucent and tattered, their edges dissolving into the air like smoke. Their faces are blank voids, but where eyes should be, faint pinpricks of sickly green light pulse dimly.

The air grows icy, each breath from the party forming visible puffs that quickly dissipate. The shadows move unnaturally, gliding rather than walking, their forms flickering as though struggling to maintain cohesion. They don’t speak in words so much as impressions, their thoughts and desires clawing at the minds of the living like an insistent echo:

"...Give us one life, the rest may go free ..."

The rhinoceros bellows, stomping a massive hoof and lowering its head in instinctive defiance. The shadows await your response, their hunger palpable, and the light around them dimming further.

The shades recoiled, stunned by Elodie’s words—or was it Elara’s magic? In their ethereal state between the worlds, could they sense her crackling aura, or the traces of light magic still clinging to her quarterstaff? Whatever the reason, the wraithlike figures faltered, their black forms wavering before slipping back into the ruins. These tortured remnants, clinging desperately to the physical world, were not ready to face their oblivion.

The rest of the journey through the wasteland of ruins is quiet and uneventful, and the expedition now approaches the black tower. The entrance door, blasted askew, still gapes. The blackness within beckons with promises of riches and dangers, in equal measure.

Upon re-entering the base of the black tower, you see that things have changed since yesterday.

First, you notice the room is now empty. The fungoid corpses, along with Ulasht's massive rotting heap have disappeared, with just bits and pieces of hacked plant material and splatters of acid staining the ground where they once lay. The fungoid implements have also been taken.

Likewise, the remains guardian constructs which you battled are no longer here. You notice scrapes and scratches along the ground that may indicate the wrecked construct was dragged down the stairs, south. What became of the inert one is less clear. The door to the south, which was bared, is no longer.

The door bar has not been replaced. In fact, it is now missing, and doors swing freely open.

Alas, the rhino will not fit through the main entrance.