#15 - Dark Mirrors

Cypher, stunned by the experience preserved in the final messenger's tale, eventually related it to the others. Cyzicus actually recognized the name of the human mentioned in Claviger's last memory: Wolaf, a range from the Eldeen Reaches and a member of his order, and the very man that Cyzicus was sent to find. But there was no way to determine from the device just how old the experience was. In short, the warforged named Claviger was dead, and he had been in the company of Wolaf, and somehow the final messenger fell into the hands of the gargoyles of this mountain. Wolaf's fate remained unknown, but this was confirmation that he had been here.

Laying Dursha's body amidst the other skeletal remains in the gargoyle's bone pits, the PCs then headed back down the spiral stairway, with apparently nowhere else to go. Part of the way down, the spectral hobgoblin appeared again and requested that Cypher follow him, citing something about him being expected. He was presumably under the delusion that Cypher was someone of importance—perhaps the Emperor of ancient Dhakaan itself—and certainly not a warforged. Of course, the Empire of Dhakaan fell thousands of years before warforged had been created. If the ghost didn't know he was a ghost, that might make sense.

So they headed down the rough-hewn steps, spiraling further down into the mountain below the inner sanctum of Paluur Draal's palace.  But it was on those stairs that the ghost suddenly turned and attacked Cypher, attempting to either wrest the Emperor's Key talisman away from him...or else to throw him down into the abyss. The PCs fought back on the narrow stairs, and had some close calls. Cyzicus even risked a fall by climbing beneath the battle on the stairs in hopes of fighting from the opposite side. At one point, the hobgoblin's body changed, manifesting what might have been the means of his mortal death: with a scream, his body tore apart as if from massive claws, spilling out spectral organs and gore. It was an alarming effect, but ultimately harmless. Spells proved partially successful, though a lot of physical attacks and missiles passed harmlessly through the spirit's body. Eventually, they'd dealt enough harm to it and the ghost vanished altogether. Destroyed or merely dispersed?

After the fight, they continued on down the stair that wound down the chasm and found that it reached a "bottom" of sorts. The pit itself continued down into darkness without a stair to chase it. What used to be an open passage was now buried rubble, but there was also a door nearby, and the PCs pushed past it to find a curious new chamber.

A line of arcane sigils were carved into the floor—not characters of any language but symbols that, combined, might have some magical effect. Meanwhile, the room itself was hexagonal in shape, and against four of the walls were tall, smooth blocks of obsidian. They were polished so clear they looked like dark mirrors.

And it was when the first of the PCs caught his own reflection in one that a creature took shape as his reflection...then ambled out of the image, murmuring and gibbering, and attacked!

They were squat, bulbous, with hideous, rubbery, bruise-colored skin, long skinny arms, and wicked claws. As the fight was joined, more of them appeared—each time one of the PCs crossed into the direct line of sight of one of the mirrors, they came forth. Their claws were cruel, and their breath foul, but eventually they were all slain. Wherever the creatures fell, they melted down into disgusting puddles of slime.