Castle Amber: A D&D Adventure

A voice speaks in Kalar's head.
How did she learn of the beholder's plans? We will have to make our move against Kalar soon. If the dwarf is on board we should move now.

"Who said that? I was never told of a secret plan! Who's talking in my head!" yelled Wren the dwarf.
Azedarac was speaking with the tall man in a corner. He seemed to be preparing something.
Dan had vanished.

Lynda lets go of Kalar and stands upright.

"Oh dear." Lynda says. She looks to Wren. "You hear it too, don't you? Then it's...it's trying to turn us against each other, isn't it?!"

"False prophet!" Lynda thinks harshly. "Now you're not even being subtle anymore!"

Harvey pats his Ring of Mind Shielding, comforted that he knew this would happen. "Let's keep it together, heroes. If we were so duplicitous as to plot against each other, would we really do it so openly?"

Of course, he knows better than to think anyone's going to listen. Harvey backs to a corner and waits for the shit to start hitting the fan.

The beholder roared! It opened it's large middle eye for the first time since it's first appearance to reveal a solid white eye.
"What has happened to me?!" asked the beholder.
Azedarac stepped forward. "I have prevented a possible disaster, that is all. You will be fine in a day or two, for now you should be unable to disenchant us."
A green blast shot out towards Azedarac. The ray struck the tall man instead and seemed to have no effect. The tall man had put on an amulet, making him currently immune to the beholder's attacks. The beholder shot again to no effect before settling down.

Kalar heard a voice that sounded very much like Dan in his head,
"Why would Jeremiah start with the beholder? It would have likely helped us against Kalar. Now it may choose his side."

"Right, everyone calm down."

Kalar puts as much authority into his voice as he can, relying on his time in the military to pitch the right tone into his voice to make it clear that it is not a request, but an order. He then manifests his sword and places the point to the ground while keeping both hands on the pommel.

"Azderac, explain what is happening. I believe we are all hearing voices, and whatever is causing it is attempting to have us tear each other apart. So before that happens, everyone settle down and explain yourselves."


Kalar Diplomacy: +14

Also, did Kalar's zone of revelation cause anything to reveal itself?

---

Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

Using Editor version wip 20170527 gfx_sdl+fb music_sdl

"There's clearly an omnipresence trying to convince us of lies." Lynda says. "And it may be able to imitate and change itself at will. What we need right now is to put trust in each other, who are present right now. If we don't, well..."

"We'll meet oblivion before even reaching the avatar of the seventh hell."

Harvey stays in his corner lookin' around the room. Anything suspicious? Anything standing out? One of these guys gonna have the guts to do something silly? God, this is too much fun

Lynda's voice continued in Kalar's head.
"Oh my gosh, did he hear me just now? Can he read my thoughts?! He's become a monster. We may need him against this powerful challenge we are about to face. We'll kill him later.
Kalar's attempt to reveal hidden creatures in the room failed. Dan wasn't even revealed, which Kalar assumed meant Dan had left the room.

"Our enemy may be doing it," responded Azedarac, after Kalar's questioning. "As I said before, it loves to lie. The stone giant was over come by it's meddling, we should be careful the same doesn't happen to any of us. Which is one of the main reasons I blinded the beholder. They aren't the sanest of creatures.

The beholder floated towards a corner of the room looking sad and defeated. No one seemed to pay it much attention though, as the door they had all come to understand held the Avatar of the Lord of The Seventh Level of Hell, began to slowly open.

Inside everyone's head,
"Lie? Me? Never."

Two small Kythons pushed open the doors revealing the room. The ground and walls were all covered in polished marble. An ornate carpet ran to a coffin topped pedestal, surrounded by candle stands and coal basins. A swirling dark green portal covered most of the ceiling. A swarm of locus swirled in the middle of the back wall of the room.

The small Kythons, met a pair of deadly rays from the beholder and were almost completely destroyed. Their remains may have been overlooked in a dirtier room, but stained the polished floor here.

"Well... there it is." Harvey sighs, a little disappointed there wasn't a big fight. Kinda wanted an excuse to kill Azedarc. "So. How do we kill this coffin so we go home?"

"Ardan, we need your help. Scout the room, if you would be so kind, we need to know what we're up against."

---

Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

Using Editor version wip 20170527 gfx_sdl+fb music_sdl

"This is it, I guess." Lynda says. "The secret is in there...inside that coffin...all the way across that big, pristine, and downright ominous room."

Lynda sighs, then musters confidence.

"If this truly is the end of our journey..."

She takes out the Amber crown jewels and puts all of them on. All seven of them.

"I'm going to end it in style."

Ardan stirs and materializes.

"Hoo boy." Ardan says, looking at the room. "This certainly takes me back. Like the good old days, huh? Remember when I got blinded and you sent me in to that hallway? Good times..."

Ardan holds his bent up candelabra in front of him, and walks in towards the coffin.

The room was empty, aside form the coffin, carpet, coal basins, and candles. The swarm hung 20ft in the air in the middle of the room, like some sort of chandelier. It gave off a quiet hum as the many insects making up it's form buzzed around. The portal on the ceiling stretched across the room, leaving only small parts of the marble ceiling visible in the corners.
The lid to the coffin was missing.

The beholder stopped. I had hardly entered the room at all before it turned around and faced the party with an angry look on it's monstrous face. It did nothing but float in the doorway.

Harvey takes a close peek at the coal basins. Fire is a good friend against insects and maybe there's something special about them.

"Oh, damn... what was I going to do with that wish..." Rob mumbles to himself, wishing he had been paying attention to everything eveyone had been saying rather than just staring with dumb curiosity at the drama that was unfolding with the beholder.

"How did he zap those kythons so accurately if he is blinded?" Rob asks nobody in particular.