frp

Vincent,

You stand in what seems like a relatively small room - perhaps 10 meters in diameter. The walls are uneven and have a “wet” appearance that shifts color constantly. Your eyes are drawn to them wherever you look - and you find yourself having difficulty seeing anything else.

A voice in your head grates like fingernails on a chalkboard. “Shadow? Is that you?”

Make a Will Save vs. DC 20 every round. If you fail, you see nothing else in this room. Once you succeed, though, you break your gaze away from the goofy walls and see the rest of the room (and no longer need to roll). You may attempt to move, but you are effectively blind.

Now that you've learned to ignore the confusing walls, you see only four things:

1. A creature sits in a large, ornate throne.

2. On the floor in front of him/it sits a huge boulder.

3. Behind him/it, through a large open window, you see a distant landscape that looks plush and green.

4. There is no teleport circle at your feet.

Additional details: You quickly realize that the creature, his throne, the rock, and the window are all details your mind has created to match something that your brain cannot process. Every time you look at one of these objects, it appears different in some subtle way. The rock is the least constant - shifting rapidly in size, color, and texture while you look at it. However, there is one feature that remains constant in size, shape, and location: A small indentation no more than a couple inches across.

The same grating voice enters your mind. “Shadow? Why are you hidden from me?”

You now realize that the shadow leaking from your frog has increased dramatically and is beginning to fill the room from floor to ceiling. However, it does not appear to be emanating only from the frog. It is as if everything in the room - walls, floor, and air - is turning to shadow. You are not sure, though, whether this is just a side-effect of the confusion effect.

He/it begins casting a spell. What do you do?

He/it finishes the spell and begins looking around the room. The grating voice in your mind says, “I can smell you, Shadow. Why do you conceal yourself so? End this charade or I will cast you from my domain!”

He/it begins casting another spell. What do you do?

The rock confounds the confusion effect around you - which makes it a chore to get closer. Still, you push through the webs in your mind and focus on the one constant: the small indentation. Soon, you are standing before it. The shadow leakage from your frog is a torrent now. If it continues, the rock in front of you will be hidden from sight. Even now, the throne and the creature in it are behind a veil of shadow.

You reach forward with the frog and place it on the rock - an easier task than you expected, considering the twisting reality around you. It seems to have an almost magnetic attraction to the indentation.

There is a flash of blinding light, followed by a brief “flash” of equally deep darkness. Then all the color in the room turns to gray and the grating voice begins screaming words that have no meaning.

The misty shadow substance around you thins quickly. You realize after a few seconds that it is being sucked into the rock. In a few more seconds, the room is clear. The rock, the throne, and the creature in it remain - but the walls no longer have the “wet” look or the confusion effect.

The creature is still screaming in your mind - and, for the first time, you realize he/it is screaming in your ears, as well. His gaze fixes on you and for a second, you think it is all over. But then, the glow from his eyes fades to a dull gray and his chaotic form stops shifting and slumps forward, falling out of the throne. Instead of hitting the floor, though, it vanishes into a lingering cloud of shadow.

The throne and the rock, already a dull gray, crumble before you. They, too, fall into shadow. The room is suddenly quiet and empty.

The window is the only fixture that remains. Through it, the lush, green lands are still visible. You notice movement and step closer to see.

You seem to be a half mile above the ground - though it is not the same ground as you left. There is no sign of the lake. Below you, a wave of shadow is speeding outward from the tower, engulfing the land. In the shock wave just in front of the moving shadow front, the green lands are turning gray.

A new voice appears in your head. “You have served me well, Vincent. You have brought my weapon to Limbo and made this realm mine. For this service, I grant you a painless death - no matter which choice you make.”

Then, you hear and feel a rumble. The stone walls seem more porous than they were a moment before and you see debris start to fall past the window.

You feel the floor shudder and begin to sink. There is no way out except an open window a half mile above the ground.

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