Sister Mara, Serai, Shurrin, Aliya, and their new ally Zophas found themselves in a weird place—transported via the Signet of Shallamoth Kindred to a strange chamber called the Tourbillion. With them were the mercenaries hired by the Iron Mage to protect the Signet: a pair of githyanki, a swordfighter named Vlad, and a bard named Urieth, as well as six Ptolus guards and an Imperial official also caught within the magical effect. Taking charge, the group used some spells and deduction to determine that the Tourbillion was a magical transport nexus that one could activate using two magical lamps casting shadows upon a pattern on the floor. So Mara, Serai, Shurrin, Aliya, Zophas, Vlad, and Urieth set off out of the chamber to find the lamps.
The strange structure they explored was obviously very old: some sort of ancient citadel whose inhabitants seemed long gone. In their wanderings they found a magical door and room that they could see only in the reflection of a mirror. They also discovered that Aliya had a special talent for using mirrors to do so. There were more strange mirrorrelated magical effects here, but Aliya’s newfound natural talent helped them navigate far enough to find someone who had been long trapped here: the archeologist who discovered the Signet in the first place. He explained that it belonged to one of the greatest of the evil Galchutt—Shallamoth Kindred—and that it was a transporter to that entity’s palace. He also warned that there were demons about.
And there were. A few harrowing battles later, the group discovered the place was still inhabited by an entity called Thoggidrum. Thoggidrum was a “Vested” of the Galchutt—one of their most powerful servants—that devoted itself to destruction and decay. It had been split into four separate beings, all of whom hated the rest. Each aspect took on an even more specific devotion: dust, ash, slime, and rot. The characters used one aspect to betray the others to learn the location of the lamps needed to activate the Tourbillion. In doing so they battled belkers, bodaks, rasts, and slimy demons wielding chaositech (Thoggidrum had dealings with a demon of technology called Baalhazor). Finally, with both lamps in hand, the group returned to the Tourbillion. On the way there, they came upon the archeologist they had rescued—except that he claimed to have never seen them before. Back at the Tourbillion, they found another version of the same archeologist—the one that they had rescued. During that confusing encounter, they discovered that a plasm had replaced the archeologist and that doppelgangers had killed and replaced the two githyanki who had wandered off.
Once everyone’s identity was sorted out and the shapechangers were defeated, the characters prepared their escape. Using the lamps to activate the magical transporter, the group returned to Ptolus. They learned that, after the Signet had sent them off, the Iron Mage had shown up at the Docks to take it away. Nevertheless, they earned their money for finding out what was in the box.
Next Time: We’ll return to the city and check in on the Company of the Black Lantern.
