The party stood and stared at the warning hanging across the large doors leading in to Magrathea, the weight of what was written sinking in. Edward was the first to speak.
“I fucking told you so!” he droned with as much emotion as his construct form would allow.
“Shut up.” Paz said, so lost in thought as she walked to the doors that she didn’t even seem to know she had said it.
Reith decided to take a look around and used his Spectral Shroud to pass though the door and in to the facility. Inside he found a hallway made of smooth white stone, not unlike the ones they had found in the towers back in Arcspire. It was dark, although Reith could see familiar crystal clusters that would probably act as lights if activated. The hallway lead forward to an intersection leading left and right, with the hallways in both directions curving gently toward what he presumed was the middle of the facility. Reith returned to the gate room as his shrouds powers waned, telling the party of what he saw.
With no idea what dangers waited deeper in the complex, they decided to open the doors.
A light cool breeze flowed out to meet them when the doors were opened, it carried no scent but also no dust. As the doors opened fully the clear crystals clusters began to glow with a bright white light. The smooth white stone of the hallway shone with a dull gleam as they looked down to where the hallway split left and right. They approached the intersection and looked at the two possible paths, the curve of the halls breaking their line of sight before they could see anything. Inspecting the area, they found a switch and a panel that held four devices, simple stone shapes with a clear crystal cluster embedded in the face. They held no power that the party could discern but also seemed to hold no threat so the party took them. As they inspected the devices, Reith looked around the group.
“Uh, where is Auf?” He asked.
Everyone looked at each other and realized they had’t seen her since they left the portal room.
“I’m sure she’ll turn up” Paz said. “She always seems to show up at the worst times and we seem to be experts at making those”
They continued deeper in to the complex, following the curved hallway to another intersection. They figured there would probably be something interesting at the center of this maze and proceeded further inward. This new hallway was smaller than the outer rings had been, narrower with lower ceilings. Once they were in the next ring they began to find crystal panels in the center of the hallway, giving a view in to a dark red mist that seemed to press against the panels, trying to break through. It filled the party with a sense of dread, although they could seen nothing through the mist. They pressed on, moving two rings deeper. Again they found the hallway became smaller as they moved in to what appeared to be the center ring. The ceiling was just a meter or so above them now, with crystal panels in the middle as well. Above them they could see dark water with the occasional points of light moving out in the inky depths. The weight of the ocean above them felt oppressive, leaving them feeling trapped between the unseen horrors below and certain death above.
The inner ring brought them to an entrance to the inner chamber, a stone arch with two metal doors that appeared to slide in to the frame. There were no handles or panels that appeared to control the door, just four carvings above it. The wall above had a carving of a small fire, what appeared to be rain, a lightning bolt, and a snow flake. In the middle of these four carvings was a larger carving of a tree with these symbols among it’s branches. After some deliberation, the party tried some different magic that seemed to correspond with the elements shown. The different carving glowed with each matching spell and the matching symbols on the tree lit as well. Once all four were activated the doors slid open, revealing the chamber inside. Entering, they found a large circular room with a domed ceiling, made of a dark metal and thick crystal panels. The smooth white floor contained four features, three raised “viewing ports” that came up about shoulder height, capped in the same smooth dark metal, with crystal windows showing things in the mist below. In the center of the room was a metal cylinder that ran from the floor to the ceiling, smooth and featureless, it was made from the same material as the caps to the ports. Looking into the ports the party found windows in to what appeared to be different parts of the plane their world was slowly sinking in to. In one they could see a bloody, ravaged battlefield, covered in the corpses of thousands of different horrors. Indescribable creatures tore at one another, pouring forth from trenches in a giant triangular shape.
Another showed a cold, featureless desert, marked only by the shifting dunes.
The last showed a dark planet, adrift in a blood red mist. No other light could be seen.
They then turned their attention to the cylinder, looking for a seam or opening. It’s smooth surface offered no way in and showed no damage no matter what they tried in breaking it open. Feeling that there was no way in from where they were, the party headed back out in to the rings. Following the path that brought them in, they tried heading along the next ring rather than taking the intersection out, leading them to another junction. The intersection had heavy doors blocking the path further around the ring, leaving only the way further out open. The party attempted to pry the doors open to see what was held within, only to have the blood red mist begin pouring from the seam and the sounds of creatures within begin attacking the door.
They resealed the door.
The party worked their way out past the ring they entered in to via the portal, bringing them to a large outer ring, this had high ceilings and tracks that had carts to pull around materials. In what would be the top of the ring if you were observing it from above, they found unlocked doors similar to the ones sealing the inner chamber. Inside they found what appeared to be the main control room of the facility.
“You guys go on in, what’s the worst that could happen this time?” Edward said.
Early Frost Warning 