The Shadow Maze (part 2)

Bella sat on the floor, her back against the cold wall of the subterranean maze, as Sawyer pushed the curtain aside and stepped through. She was sick and tired of being ignored, of being taken for granted. She knew she’d figured out the clues from O-Sayumi’s inro, but would they listen to her? No. She’d warned them that this was the wrong way to go, that they needed to backtrack and pass through the green jade gate they’d avoided earlier. But she was just a guttersnipe, what did she know? She wasn’t some all-holy cleric, or pimply learned wizard who could read and everything. The fact that she’d been finding and disarming traps almost since she could walk was worth shit to them. Well fine. They could just go on without her, and see just how well that worked out for them. Without her doing their dirty work for them, they’d all have been dead long ago. She was sure they were walking blindly into danger now – let’s see how long it would be before they were begging for her help again. She’d just sit here and let them beg, and listen to them scream as they died.

As Bella pouted, Sawyer moved cautiously forward. He’d listened to the debate about which way to go with mounting frustration, and he was glad to be on the move again. In the shadowy gloom ahead, he could see that the hallway opened into a small room. It appeared to be empty, with no visible exits, and he exhaled with relief. As he started to turn to tell the others it was all clear, an unholy shriek echoed through the silence. A misty figure materialized out of the far wall of the room, and came flying at him with incredible speed. Its outstretched claws passed right through his plate armor and tore at the flesh over his heart.

Bella was jerked out of her sulk by the harsh cry. As she saw the immaterial entity clawing at Sawyer, she found herself in a horrifying flashback to the dark Uqtaal Necropolis. It was a Spectre, the same undead horror as those who had killed Koya. She found herself frozen in place, paralyzed by fear and grief, reliving the last moments and dying screams of the woman who had been like the mother she’d never known. The others scrambled into action around her, but all she could do was to push herself dumbly to her feet, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Sandoval instantly cast Blink on himself and dashed past Sawyer and the spectre grappling him, trusting on his Ghost Mirror Armor to protect him from the thing’s incorporeal grasp. With Sandoval distracting it from behind, Sawyer had no trouble attacking with Suishen, but the ancestral blade passed through the spectre’s form like slicing water, and did minimal damage with each cut. Marie and Shinjiro moved forward, and Zhustin advanced to peer cautiously around the corner, but the bard and the fighter had the thing bottled up, and it looked like they had things under control.

That all changed in an instant. As Bella struggled to shake off the overwhelming memories of Koya’s death, a shadow even darker than the others in this shadow maze separated itself from the wall behind her and wrapped its fingers around her throat. Its touch was like a cold mist, and didn’t harm her flesh, but she felt her strength being sucked away from her. Another appeared behind Zhustin, but the wary wizard ducked under its grasp. Marie was not so lucky; a shadow seeped out of the wall behind her, and she staggered as it robbed her of half her strength.

These were Greater Shadows, and they’d also been battling one of these as Koya had died. Bella felt herself consumed with battle rage, and she let out a blood-curdling scream. Ignoring the Shadow behind her, she tumbled past Sawyer, drawing her Nine-Fold Spirit Sword and activating one of its rings to turn on its Undead Bane ability. All of her fury was focused on the Spectre, the embodiment of Koya’s loss. Swinging the sword with both hands, she slashed upwards as she came out of her roll, and it split the Spectre in two, sending a spray of ectoplasm splashing across the ceiling as it died.

Nicki had been at the very back of the line, around a couple of corners from where Sawyer had passed through the curtain. He couldn’t see what was happening at the front, but he’d seen the Shadow materialize behind Zhustin. Knowing that most of his spells would have limited effect on incorporeal beings, he opted for the tried-and-true Magic Missiles, and blasted it in the back.

Marie was in trouble. She was so weak she could barely stand. Worse, she’d used all of her Channel Divinity opportunities healing the party after their previous battles that night. Now she had none left to use against the undead attackers. Thinking fast, she did the next best thing, and cast a Mass Cure Light Wounds – on the Shadows! The positive energy that would have healed a living creature had the opposite effect on the undead, and the Shadows shrank away a little bit in silent pain.

Shinjiro knew that his normal unarmed attacks would have no effect on the incorporeal shadows, so he called upon his ki once again to empower his blows with extra energy. He did a Spring Attack on the Shadow following Zhustin, dashing in to punch, then back out of its reach. Zhustin made a wild swing with his staff, and at first Shinjiro thought the lad was acting out of pure panic – a simple staff would pass right through the Shadow. But the staff connected with a flash of electrical sparks, and Shinjiro remembered that this was a magical Spell Storing Staff. But the Shadow kept coming, and this time Zhustin couldn’t dodge its ghostly touch. The staff suddenly seemed very heavy in his hands.

Sandoval saw the Shadows materializing in the hallway among his friends, but he heard a soft moan from behind him. Turning, he saw yet another Shadow advancing from the back of the room. He turned and began singing, standing his ground to prevent the Shadow from getting to the others. His armor turned aside its attack, as he slashed it with his echoblade. Sawyer was flailing at the Shadows around him with Suishen, but it was not doing damage fast enough, and the Shadows crowded around him, draining more and more strength with each icy touch.

Nicki fired off another round of Magic Missiles at the Shadow harrying Zhustin, and it disappeared in a puff of ectoplasm. Bella, still screaming in fury, sliced into one of those attacking Sawyer, and it, too, disappeared. Marie unleashed another deadly Mass Cure Light Wounds on those remaining, and Shinjiro finished one off with another Ki Strike. That just left the one attacking Sandoval. Sawyer charged it, stabbing through its shadowy heart. Zhustin and Nicki hammered it with simultaneous volleys of Magic Missiles, and it exploded into wisps of shadow.

The group stood panting in the darkness. They could not survive many more encounters like this. Marie was so weak she could barely walk, but she drug herself over to Bella. Putting both hands on her shoulders, she waited until the rogue met her gaze. “You were right. It was a mistake to come this way. We should have listened to you. I’m sorry.” Perhaps it was the pent-up grief over Koya’s death, or maybe it was just the simple act of validation, but Bella suddenly burst into tears and threw her arms around Marie, who held her until the sobbing faded.

Everyone now agreed that they should take Bella’s route through the green gate, but they were far too badly hurt to press on without some rest and healing. They carefully backtracked to the sake cellar, where they rummaged through packs for every Potion of Restoration they could find. Marie had a scroll of Greater Restoration that she used to bring Sawyer back to full strength, while the others made do as best they could. They set watches and laid out bedrolls to get some rest and restore spells.

After several hours rest (and another round of Lesser Restorations) they finally felt strong enough to resume their exploration of the Shadow Maze. They passed back through the silk curtain (the first of O-Sayumi’s clues had been a silkworm cocoon) and made their way to the green jade gate. Bella hesitated before the stone circle; she’d been wary of these odd round gates in the hallways from first sight, but O-Sayumi’s second clue had been interlocking blue and yellow stone rings. She’d convinced the others that since blue and yellow combined to form green, that this was the safe path forward. She just hoped she was right. Taking a deep breath, she stepped through the stone gate and strode forward, hoping no one would notice she was trembling. As she maneuvered several more twists and turns of the maze without ambush, she began to breathe easier.

The maze’s corridors continued to branch off, and the party continued using the right-hand rule to navigate. After a long eastward trek where they’d ignored several leftward forks, Bella reached an end of the passage where the only option was to turn left. She made the turn, and found herself facing another of the full-length mirrors. She instantly leaped back, but not before a volley of Magic Missiles erupted from her image in the mirror, zapping her badly. She limped back to Marie for some healing before continuing on.

They backtracked, and began exploring the hallways they’d bypassed earlier. The first led them to another intersection. To the right, the hall continued for a short way, then turned again. Ahead, another beaded curtain blocked the path. Bella advanced on the curtain, and before she even reached it she detected the unmistakable aroma of camphor. She smiled and waved back at the party following her. “It’s this way!” she said confidently, remembering the string of camphorwood beads that had been O-Sayumi’s final clue.

But they were still not out of the maze. Another set of twists brought Bella face-to-face with another mirror, and another set of stinging Magic Missiles. As Marie healed her again, Bella rummaged through her pack. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner,” she muttered, pulling out a seldom-used hand mirror. From that point, she would pause at every corner and use the mirror to peer around it, to see if it was safe. The tactic proved wise within a couple of turns, when she used the mirror to look around a corner and found one of the dreaded full-length mirrors reflected back at her.

After a few more twists and turns, Bella found herself ready to peer around yet another corner. However, she noticed that the corridor around her had a slightly blurry aspect, as if a shadowy duplicate had been overlaid over the original hallway. She’d seen this before, in the hall leading from the sake cellar into the Shadow Maze – could this mean they were nearing the end? Bella held out her hand mirror and looked around the corner.

Ahead, the passage opened into a large room. The room was illuminated by a lantern and furnished with carpets, tapestries, and cushions. In the far corner was a life-sized statue of an eight-armed female humanoid, holding an odd musical instrument and several sets of finger cymbals. But most startling, in the center of the room knelt two women, facing one another, immobile as the statue. One was mature and elegant, wearing a rich, multi-layered kimono that spread on the floor around her, as her long white hair spread over her shoulders. The other was much younger, equally graceful in her pose and very beautiful, dressed like a geisha.

“I think I found her!” Bella hissed to the group following her, then advanced stealthily to the doorway to the room. As she moved down the hall, she found herself blinking in light that, while dim by normal standards, seemed suddenly much brighter. Colors returned to the world, and she realized that they were no longer on the Shadow Plane. She scanned the floor ahead and the rest of the room carefully for any sign of traps, and was aware of Sandoval at her side, quietly muttering a Detect Magic. “Faint magic on the women, nothing else,” the bard whispered, as Bella heard the soft rattle and clank of Sawyer’s armor behind them. She didn’t see any sign of traps, but there was an odd area of shadow behind the two women. The lantern lighting the room hung from a chain directly above their heads, and the shadow was not cast by them, or by anything else Bella could see. It was just as if something was absorbing the light in that area.

Suddenly an ear-splitting roar issued from the shadowy area, blasting Sandoval, Bella, and Sawyer, and threatening to deafen them. The cloud of darkness began to take form, and suddenly a huge figure crouched behind the motionless women. It had the body of a tiger, but it’s head was that of a fanged monkey, while its lashing tail was a scaly viper. Bella remembered the tale that the kappa had told them in the swamp, of how O-Sayumi’s mother had been killed by a beast such as this, a Nue.

Bella pulled her Terra Cotta Warrior Talisman out of her pocket and hurled it into the room, and the servant warrior appeared beside the beast, swinging clumsily at it. She started to follow it into the room, but heard Zhustin calling from behind. “Stay close! I’m going to cast Haste!” All her instincts were to run and kill, but reluctantly she stood her ground – for now. Sawyer and Shinjiro were also champing at the bit to engage, but waited for Zhustin to finish muttering his incantation. Marie didn’t care. She called for a Spiritual Weapon to attack the Nue’s flank while the others fiddled. Nicki, deciding that caution was the better part of valor, cast Greater Invisibility on himself while Sandoval drew his bow and fired an arrow over the kneeling women’s heads into the creature.

Zhustin finally completed his spell, and Sawyer and Shinjiro shot into the room like they’d been fired from a bow. Both were wary of the Nue’s large size, however, and feared it could rake them as they approached. Shijiro pulled up short, while Sawyer charged just far enough to allow him to Lunge at the creature.

The Nue surprised them, and leaped over the women it had been guarding and pounced on the doorway. Its monkey fangs sank into Sandoval’s shoulder, while one of its claws raked his belly. Sandoval could feel it trying to suck away his life force, and barely managed to resist. The other claw slashed Bella, while its viper tail narrowly missed Sawyer’s throat. Marie Teleported behind the thing, waving at it with her mace to provide a distraction while Bella stabbed at it from the front. Nicki unleashed a Scorching Ray that singed its fur, but seemed to enrage it more than injure it. Suddenly a sickly green ray shot out from the back of the hallway. As it made contact with the Nue it suddenly Disintegrated! As everyone stood coughing in the cloud of fine dust that was all that was left of the Nue, they heard Zhustin’s voice from behind them. “Amateurs.”

With the guardian dead, the party began to examine the room and the two women. They were frozen in place, eyes half closed and skin cold to the touch. After several minutes of analysis, Zhustin reached a conclusion. “I think their souls have been removed from their bodies,” he said solemnly. “It wasn’t me!” Nicki quickly interjected, and Zhustin rolled his eyes. “I’m guessing it was a Magic Jar, or something similar,” he continued. "Somebody has used Gentle Repose to preserve the bodies, so he must have some plan for them. If we can find the receptacle that holds O-Sayumi’s soul, we might be able to return it to her body.”

They were sure that the younger woman was the missing geisha, O-Sayumi, but who was the older one? “Could it be her mother?” Marie asked, but Sandoval reminded her that the kappa told them O-Sayumi’s mother had been killed by the nue when O-Sayumi was an infant. Besides, there was no hint of family resemblance between the two women. “Maybe O-Sayumi was supposed to be a replacement for her,” Nicki speculated, and Marie looked at him with disgust, wondering where he came up with these ideas.

There was a door in the southeast corner of the room, and Bella was examining it carefully. After declaring it safe, she pushed it open. The room inside appeared to be a study. There was a small writing desk with a tall chair, a small cabinet, and a pair of bookshelves loaded with scrolls. The floor was covered with tatami mats, and a long, dark wooden case lay on the floor beside the desk, tied up with silk ribbons.

Everyone crowded into the room to search. Most of the scrolls on the shelves appeared to be Yugureda’s archives, accounts of 20 years of his business, as well as a few maps of Minkai and the waters of Enganoka province. In the cabinet were bunches of aromatic herbs, jars of honey, vases of sea salt, ink blocks, quills, and other trivial items. However a few of the scrolls proved to be magical, and there were a handful of magical potions in the cabinet as well. Something inside the wooden case was also glowing magical, and Marie knelt to open it. Inside was a beautiful samisen, and she recalled that O-Sayumi’s friend had told them the geisha owned a magical samisen. Sandoval knelt beside her, and began examining the instrument lovingly.

Bella was looking at the room with suspicious eyes. Her senses were tingling, but she couldn’t put her finger on what was off about the scene before her. She’d looked under the tatami mats, and found nothing but stone floor. The desk and cabinet held no secret compartments or false bottoms. The shelves were crowded with scrolls and papers – except for one space that was curiously empty. Looking closely, she spotted a well-concealed plate in the back. Pressing it, she heard a soft click and felt the entire bookshelf shift slightly. She realized she could now slide the bookshelf aside – there was a secret door!

The PCs earned 15,543 XP for the night, putting them at 312,805 XP, with 315,000 required for Level 13. You’ll certainly reach that by the end of next session, so start working on your next set of level-ups. We’ll be at Joette & Rich’s next Sunday.