Into the Gray

Session Summary

We continue taking damage from the toxic air on a daily basis, the masks help but do not prevent all damage. I collect a sample of the multiplanar tentacle. At the bottom level of the building we break into a high security door. Inside are four cylinders and one is shaking and making a loud, rythmic pounding sound comes from inside. Arachne finds a secret door with buttons in it. Star breaks into a panel outside the cylinder. Wash rick-rolls whatever is inside. Star then uses Minor Illusion to communicate whether we can help whatever is inside. We eventually get a window open and can see a blue winged creature inside. Wash uses his teleporting watch to bring him outside. His name is Hestor and it appears that New Dawn was using him and his three friends, who are in the other cylinders, to generate energy.

Log

Still in the New Dawn Warehouse

CON saving throws for the previous night. Only Twinkletoes and myself roll well.

Arachne, Elzara, and Star take 4 damage. Wash takes 5 damage. 

We take a short rest to heal up before venturing down into the lower level. 

I collect a bit of a tentacle and store it in my pack. Arachne warns me it has some wild vibes from the Detect Magic spell.

We make our way down to the bottom level.

There is one final stairwell. At the bottom of the stairwell is a door that looks fairly different from the others. It seems higher security and harder to get into. It stands before us, like doors do.

I try to listen to what's on the other side, but I hear nothing.

Arachne casts Guidance on Star as he tries lockpicking. He tries and rolls 14+2. Thankfully, this seems to be enough to lock open with his experience opening doors here… just barely.

It opens into a massive room with four cylindrical objects that go from floor to ceiling.

The first thing we notice as we open the door is a repeated banging sound. It’s loud and we can see one of them shaking. It’s the one on the upper left. In the back is a shut door. Next to it is a little circular recessed area, an indentation in the wall.

I run over to the shaking cylinder. 

The cylinders seem to be different than the teleportation room. The main thing we remembered from before is the windowed area. There was no constant pounding from inside any of them.

On the south side of all of them is a little walkway up where you can get to a panel. There are no windows or doors. 

The banging is not very rhythmic. 

Star looks at the panel on the bottom left to see how easy it is to open.

Arachne is giving the thing a wide berth and goes to the other door to investigate the area. 

Star manages to unpick the panel and realizes it needs to be held open in the unlocked position to maintain access. When he’s close to it he can tell it was almost humming. When he turned the key it stopped. 

Arachne tests the door to see whether it’s unlocked. As she touches it, she realizes there is something weird about it. The handle literally doesn’t turn at all. She looks into the recessed area. She casts Guidance on herself. She investigates 18+1. 

As she observes the recess, she sees that it appears to be directly connected to the door. The size of the recessed spherical area is exactly the size of the orbs at the beginning of our journey. Arachne puts her ear up against the door and knock. She does not hear anything.

Note, the banging from the cylinder does not sound like metal on metal. 

Star starts messing with the panel. There is just one button. He’s not sure what would happen if he presses it. He notices there is a section that leads up to the main structure. When he lets go of the lock, the humming starts back up. He hears the humming on the other panels, but it’s loud near the banging to tell. 

I try to determine which side the banging is coming from. It seems like it’s stronger on one side than the other. I go up to the wall where it seems loudest and bang back in a rhythm. I make decent noise but it seems like it is still drowned out by the pounding. 

I ask someone stronger to come bang on it for me instead.

Arachne starts pulling out her orb to shove it into the hole in the wall. She can see for a brief moment there is a light and the orb even shines a bit. Even over the pounding, she can hear a click. It sounds like it came from the door. She takes the orb out to see if the door locks up. If she doesn’t hear a click, she’ll glance around the door and goes to try and open it. 

She does open up the door!

Behind the door is a small room, a small metal box almost, and Arachne cannot see anything immediately. On the left is almost a little panel with a couple of buttons. 

She turns around and amplifies her voice to say “Yo there’s buttons in here,” and goes inside after laying her mace on the ground to attempt to hold open the door.

Wash’s bird goes over to hop on Arachne’s shoulder as she goes in. 

There are just two buttons. One on top, the other below. The one on top is already pushed in. 

Wash uses Minor Illusion to cast Rick Astley inside the tube singing loudly. We are not able to hear the music from outside the cylinder. #iconic

When it first starts, the pounding stops for a moment. Then it starts again but with even greater frequency. 

Star casts Minor Illusion as well and says “Bang once for yes, two for no, once if you understand me.”

There is once again a brief pause. There is then one pound. 

“Are you in need of help?”

Somehow the single pound back is exasperated. 

“Do you know anything about the buttons?”

No.

Wash cannot use his Beast features to read its emotions.

I keep asking if he knows where he is, but Star won’t ask. We begin arguing. 

Now there are rhythmic bangs. 

“Can we ask them if they have an orb that keeps them alive?” Arachne asks. Star won’t ask this either.

Star tries to go up and unlock the cylinder. 

“Bang once if it’s dangerous to open the door.” The banging stops suddenly, bangs twice, and then goes back to rhythmic. 

I walk up the pathway to the wall while Star holds the keyhole and Arachne presses the button.

Somehow even though we couldn’t see any seams, two pieces of metal split apart and we can see a pane of glass, except we know it can’t be glass. Through the “glass” we can see a bunch of dangling tubes and a massive creature with huge wings, blue skin, and wearing a simple robe. There are indentations where it looks like the tubes were once connected. 

It looks down at us and rests its hand on the faux-glass. This is probably some kind of magical barrier. It opens its mouth to try to talk, but we still can’t hear it. It immediately starts tapping up against the magical glass wall. 

When the glass area opens there’s a panel and another slew of buttons. 

One is labeled “Kill Switch” and we can’t decide if this is the right button. Star asks the creature if we should press it. 

He looks pensive. No direct response but taps on the glass again. 

Wash slaps his watch and tries to teleport into the tube. He is successful!

Wash immediately puts his watch on the creature and tells him to activate the watch. It hits the button. It disappears and reappears out with us. Wash also teleports out. There was definitely some strange stuff. 

We all run over and greet it. 

As it pops out, he says in a raspy voice “Thank you,” it dangles Wash’s watch back towards him. 

“You’re welcome.”

Star offers him some rations. 

 “Are you hurt?” asks Arachne.

“I, uh, am not sure that you’re magic would be able to help me, little one. May I know the names of those who have helped me here today.” 

Elzira is standing and scared. “You can call me Star.”

“I’m Pharèl,” I shove my hand out for a handshake. He puts down a massive finger towards my tiny little hand.

“I’m Wash, my bird here is Wash, and I’m also part of a cosmic being called Wash.”

“I haven’t heard of that.”

“It’s new.”

We ask his name.

“I am Hestor.” 

Elzira asks how old he is. He deflects.

Wash asks to be also cleaned up. 

We learn he’s not from this Plane. 

“Were they using you to make these?” He looks at Arachne and the orb. “I know not.” He reaches out for it and Star pushes her hand away so he can’t touch it.

“How did you wind up in there?” Star asks.

“I’m sorry, that was presumptuous of me. The humans, I do not know, there was a group that had something that drained my powers and I remember they were sticking things into me and it was painful. I believe that was when I was here. I was ambushed by an unknown power. 

I do not think I’m much help without my powers but I believe these three chambers also carry other planetars that must also be freed.”

He only awoke recently after something went wrong. After the tubes were hooked up he fell into a deep slumber. He’s only been awake for half a day in our time. We expect this has to do with the disruptions we made to the energy sources.

Wash starts teleporting inside of cylinders. He finds creatures. He starts trying to feel for wings. He finds them. He takes off his wrist thing and puts it on the creature. He pops it back out with himself. The creature disappears.

We see another creature appear outside the cylinder. It looks similar. It is not conscious. Hestor runs over to it. He rolls the new one on her back. He looks like he’s wiping the fluid off.

Arachne tries to communicate with her deity to learn about them. 

The Prestidigitation gang starts cleaning up the second creature. 

Elzira realizes he can help with Misty Step and takes the watch to follow Wash’s lead. 

We release all four interplanar creatures. The other three are unconscious. 

7:30am 13th of Threet (should this not be 15th of Twott??)