Blue Alley - Aftermath
Quinn
Day 6
With a deep breath, we gathered up our packs and made way to
the gold side of Blue Alley. Who knew what creatures, traps and conundrums were
awaiting but we’d soon enough find out. The passageway took a turn to the right
leading to a downwards staircase. A door along the way was locked and we were
without a key, making our choice an easy one. We headed down the stairs into an
interesting room.
The room contained what looked like a grassy pasture in a
rectangular room. There were two alcoves here, each with a bull head complete
with horns. A message flashed before us, offering to have us “Take the bull by
the horns.” Yasuo knelt down and discovered the grass was merely an illusion. I
guess the denizens here do need to come here for relaxation from time to time.
My wits remained about me, trusting nothing here.
Davian wandered over and took the message to task and indeed
did jump up and grab one bull head by the horns. I gasped and rapidly glanced
around. Nothing changed. Thia then had the idea to grab the other one by the
horns. This seemed to do the trick as the “sky” thundered and a minotaur
appeared in the center of the room. Upset by our presence, it lowered its head
and charged straight at me. I was able to dart out of the beast’s path at the
last moment. Thia released her grip on the horns and all went back to the
initial peaceful condition. Yasuo asked Thia to regrip the horns. Defeating the
minotaur seemed the only way to move forward.
Thia jumped back up and grabbed the horns once again. The
same thunder and the same minotaur appeared. Yasuo and I struck blows against
the beast while ducking and weaving its charges. Thia and Davian shot spells at
it while maintaining their grips. This strategy paid off and the minotaur was
lain low. Yasuo directed Thia and Davian to maintain their grips while I
examined the fallen minotaur. It had a small silver key about its neck. I took
it and thought about the room we passed.
We exited the pasture room and retraced our steps down the
hallway to the locked door. The door unlocked easily, revealing a room
containing a single chest. In addition, the walls were painted with various
chests containing treasure. The words “this tool with” were also scribed on the
wall. We took down the phrase in addition to the others we have run across.
There must be a reason for these random phrases of gibberish.
We all entered the room, examining all the paintings on the
walls. Then we set our focus on the actual chest. Yasuo and I decided to pick
up the chest and turn it over to see if there was another way into it. We heard
some items inside clanking around. Seemed promising. No opening was on the
bottom so we set it back on its base.
Then the room went black.
I felt a warm, damp, heavy blanket drop over me. Then came
the pain. A scream wanted to come out at the shock of whatever this was on me
but my face was covered tightly. My spells were unavailable to me with this
form restricting my arms. Fumbling around, my hands found the dagger on my
belt. I got it out and began to furiously cut. After a painful eternity, I got
a hole cut and began to see light again. Finally the creature’s life ended and
I sluffed the now dead body off me with a shudder. I sat dazed for a few
minutes while my companions examined the contents of the chest. Once that was
completed, I stood up and numbly walked out.
The path continued past the pasture room, turning right. A
long hallway was presented before us. A few glances about the party shared the
apprehension to yet another seemingly innocent hallway in Blue Alley. We went
down the hall and spied an alcove off to the side. We ducked in and found a
staircase leading up. This particular set of stairs even had carpeting. While
normally pleasant, something was amiss.
I tied a rope around my waist and handed the end to my
compatriots before ascending. It was the third step that caught my feet fast to
the carpet. A voice sounded from the top of the stairs.
“Laughter is the best medicine,” the voice announced.
A silly joke from my youth immediately popped into my head.
“What is the sound of one hand clapping?” I asked. Then I
slapped my limp fingers against my palm in a ludicrous motion. It was enough to
get a laugh and free my feet. Thia, Davian and Yasuo followed up the stairs,
thinking of some amusing jokes and stories for the voice. Thia and Davian got a
few jokes out and joined me at the top. Yasuo had a bit more of a challenge
coming up with something amusing. Eventually, he told a good enough joke to
free himself.
After the comedy, we took a few more twists and turns to
discover a room with a dias in the center of it. A blue diamond sat atop the
dias with a sword floating mid-air above it, point down towards the precious
stone. A message appeared as with the previous rooms. The message stated “Power
pulses within me. Only living warmth can move me.”
Looks like any attempt to take the diamond will need to
directly involve one of us. That sword will be a problem. We all took a look
around the room. I noted three secret doors. Hopefully they will provide some
assistance here. The first room was completely smooth. Nary a sound escaped the
room. Yasuo stepped inside. The door began to slowly shut and then in a sudden
motion, slammed tight. I retrieved my crowbar and started to go to work. Davian
and Thia provided some help and with Yasuo pushing from his side, we all
managed to pry open the door. Yasuo charged out and the door gave up its will
to close.
Moving onto the next secret door revealed what looked like a
study. Of particular note was a table with some magical properties. There was a
bowl and a box sitting on the table. Within the bowl were several berries that
looked quite tasty. The nature of magic we could not ascertain and took what we
thought was a cautious approach. We opened the box at a distance, using Thia’s
magical hand. A dull ball was contained within. Seeing no evident threat but
still being cautious, we took the box.
Then all hell broke loose.
Once clear of the table, the ball began to glow brightly. It
flew off in short, quick bursts emitting shocking bursts all over. We scrambled
to get the situation under control. It rained lightning down on us which was
answered with spells. I tried to lure it back over the table when Davian ended
it with a series of magic missiles. In the kerfuffle, the bowl with berries was
knocked over. The true nature of the berries showed them to be rotten.
We then moved on to the third room. Being extra cautious now
knowing full well these rooms mean to do harm, we stepped with the utmost care into
the room. It contained a crossbow on a stand with a beautiful silver bolt.
Expecting a trap, we exited the room without disturbing anything. Thia then
used her magical hand to take the bolt. The trap was set off, releasing toxic
gas into the room. Thia quickly recovered the bolt and we then slammed the
door. Glad we learned our lesson before getting burned by this room.
All that is now left is to deal with the diamond and the
sword. Yasuo steeled himself. He climbed atop the dias and grabbed the sword by
the hilt. Remembering the message that only a hand of flesh could grasp the
diamond, Thia took it. Once her hand touched the gem, the sword leapt to life.
I jumped up to assist holding back the sword. Yasuo surged his strength and
planted the sword into the dias. Thia ran off with the diamond down the hall.
Yasuo yelled for us to all run. I heeded his word as did Davian we both took
off after Thia. After heading down the stairs, we stopped to listen for any
trouble.
After what felt like an eternity, Yasuo walked down the
stairs, joining us. He stated the sword gave up the fight when we were far
enough away. That worked in our favor. Only one more hallway remained.
We headed down the hallway expecting more traps and trouble.
Nothing happened as we explored down the hall. The hall ended in a barred
window. Examining it showed it to be the same window in the room with the smoke
creatures. We recalled the initial clue in the entry to the Blue Alley that
there was a secret room close to the barred window.
Instantly we looked closely at the walls and did come up
with a hidden door. It opened into a small winery. The shelves contained
nothing of any interest, long having turned to dust and vinegar long ago.
Nothing, save one black box. Being recently burned on the box back in the
study, we took the box. Fortunately nothing happened, even when we opened the
box. Within was a blue gem. We closed the box up and returned to the statue on
the other side of the alley.
We took a moment to gather up what we knew about the alley.
There were the phrases all throughout the alley that we recorded into our
notes. We came up with what seemed to make sense as a descent riddle for the
Keilier statue. I spoke the riddle only to be answered by a sad shake of the
statue’s head. We came back together to see what went wrong when I realized we
might have it backwards. I reversed the phrases and spoke them aloud.
Keilier, with a look of deep relief, stepped down from the
pedestal. He looked relieved but incredibly tired. Keilier explains that he had
been trapped as a statue for a great number of years. No one until now has been
able to provide an answer to the riddle. He further tells us his history before
crumbling to dust. Feeling a sense of a good deed done, we set off for the
barred gate.
The diamond we secured from the dias earlier provided access
to the gate. It opened easily upon our entrance to the room. Blue Alley then
disappeared from around us, depositing us in an alley. Time traveled much more
quickly in Blue Alley for only ten minutes had passed in Waterdeep. We set off
to see Mirt with the statue of the unicorn.
Day 6 – Evening at
the Opera
We set off back to the opera to return the statue to Mirt.
It was then Thia began hearing pleas coming from the unicorn. She bent down and
spoke in a language that was unfamiliar to me. Thia informed us that the statue
was an actual unicorn who had been transformed into statue form. I’m beginning
to wonder who is trapping all these beings into statues. The unicorn told Thia
that she was frozen by a wizard and that Mirt was going to use her to attempt
to regain his deceased wife. This was an unforeseen wrinkle.
An ethical quandary was now presented to us. Return the
statue to Mirt and allow the imprisonment of the unicorn to continue until
death where Mirt’s wife may be returned to him or release the unicorn to Mirt’s
displeasure, removing any opportunity at seeing his wife alive. Taking a life
for a shot at bringing back one who was already deceased seemed wrong in my
eyes. Facing death is the natural end of life and to end another life to
possibly bring back another was not right. The rest landed on that conclusion
as well.
The unicorn spoke to Thia again, stating that Mirt would
need to cry and those tears would need to touch the statue to break the spell.
With that knowledge, we set off towards the opera.
Mirt was surprised to see us again. He looked at us with
unbelieving eyes. Those same eyes widened when we produced the statue. We
confronted him with what he had discovered about the nature of the statue. A
bit of shame came over his face and he admitted that he was desperate to see
his lost wife again. Life wasn’t the same without her.
He began thinking of her and what it was he was about to do.
The shame and sadness overcame him and he wept. We placed the statue under
Mirt. A tear dripped down off his cheek and hit the statue. All at once, the
unicorn began moving on her own. She jumped down from the base and looked
around. She seemed confused and spoke to Thia. Apparently she was taller before
the statue process.
Mirt’s shame and sadness began to fade as anger came up into
his eyes. He bid us to leave him at once, which we did along with the unicorn.
Thia became quite attached and even discovered the unicorn’s name is Primara.
Primara, being quite thankful for her freedom vowed to stay with our party for
a year.
I only hope Mirt can find some peace himself.
Thia Liadon
Having explored the the silver side of Blue Alley, we returned
to the large mural at the T intersection. It had changed! Now it depicted us
dying in new and exciting ways...It showed Davian being smashed in the face
with a giant hoof. Quinn was stuck to stairs and being ripped away from it,
sort of like a spider stuck in honey. I was cut in half from head to waist by a
giant sword that no one was wielding. On that cheerful note, we continued west
following the gold arrow.
Bull Room
Down some stairs was a locked door. Once we unlocked and entered
it, the words, “Take the bull by the horns” appeared and vanished. We were in a
pasture, or at least what looked like a pasture. If you touched the ground, you
could tell it was an illusion. There were two round silos off of two walls.
They each contained a statue of a bull’s head with runes. Taking the advice of
the vanishing words, Quinn went over to one of the statues and grabbed the horns.
Nothing happened. I went over to the other statue. When I grabbed the horns, a
minotaur appeared in the pasture! It had an ivory key around its neck, which
must belong to the ivory door we passed on the way to this room. We let go of
the horns to attack the minotaur, but it vanished. We deduced that the minotaur
only remains while two people are grasping at least one of the horns. Davian
took Quinn’s spot, and we summoned the minotaur again. It wasn’t too much
trouble to defeat, and Davian’s face wasn’t smashed by the minotaur’s hoof like
the mural had shown! We took the ivory key before letting go of the statues,
then departed for the ivory door.
Ivory Room
The ivory key did, indeed, unlock the heavy ivory door. On the
wall in large bold print, read: “THIS TOOL WITH.” The walls of the room were
decorated with images of treasure chests with sharp teeth. At the southern wall
was a wooden chest. Quinn turned the chest over and we heard items inside
crashing around. He opened the chest. At that, the ceiling peeled away. It was
a sticky monster that looked like the stone ceiling. It landed on Quinn like a
giant blanket. We all fought the thing, trying to free Quinn. Davian touched it
for one of his attacks, but then his hands were stuck! Yasuo also struck the
monster and became stuck to it, as well! I maintained my distance, hurling
spells at the thing. We eventually defeated it, with Quinn tearing through the
monster. The wooden chest contained 24 gold, 267 silver, a small bronze bell,
and a silver key wrapped in a velvet cloth. The silver key probably belonged to
that silver door we already opened down the silver hall. The bell was
interesting. Nothing seemed to happen at first when we rang it. Later we heard
it ring. It has a delayed ring, how fun!
Sticky Stairs
Continuing on our way, we came to a flight of stairs with a
rich, colorful carpet. We were wary, but had to continue. Quinn went first.
After a few steps, his feet stuck and a magic mouth appeared, saying something
like, “make me laugh, laughter is the best medicine.” Quinn told a great joke
and was freed from the sticky carpet. He made it to the top and we tried to
follow using a combination of climbing a rope held between Quinn and Yasuo, and
telling jokes terribly. We eventually all made it, but it was a close one.
Fighting? No problem. Jokes? Not our strong suit. We could have avoided the
sticky carpet entirely. The carpet ran along the center of the stairs, so we
could have stepped on either edge of the stairs to avoid it. We would do so on
our way back.
Longsword Room
After following a staircase and corridors, we came to the room
where the mural had depicted my death. On a raised dais sat a blue gem with a
longsword suspended above it. Along the east wall read, “Power pulses within me
and only living warmth can move me.” We spotted three other doors, so we
decided to check them, first, before disturbing the deadly sword. We would need
that gem, though. Inside the gem looked like the iron bars we found in one of
the rooms down the silver hallway. That was probably our only way out, so we
would need to get the gem somehow.
Silent Room
One of the doors opened into a polished room. Yasuo entered, and
the door shut behind him. We called to him and pounded on the door. We managed
to get the door open and pull Yasuo out. He said that the room was completely
silent. He couldn’t hear us, himself, or any sounds at all. That would drive
most people mad. Thankfully he didn’t spend long in there, and Yasuo enjoys
silence.
Fireside Room
This room was warm and inviting. A fire crackled merrily in the
hearth, with comfy couches and chairs basking in its warmth. But there was also
a small box and some berries sitting in the center of a circle of runes. We
couldn’t read the runes, but knew there was some magic in play. Davian
carefully used Mage Hand to put the berries into the box. The box contained a
fuzzy black ball. When Davian brought the box out of the circle, the black ball
exploded from the box. The berries, which had been bright and fresh inside the
rune circle, were rotting now. The fuzzy black ball went zipping around the
room and into the main room. It electrocuted us multiple times before we
defeated it. Tricky will-o’-wisp.
Crossbow Room
One of the doors contained a crossbow and a silver bolt. “CAN
DO” was written in large font on the wall. The crossbow was aimed at the
doorway. Expecting a trap, we all stood outside of the room, away from the
entrance. I peered around the corner and used Mage Hand to grab the silver
crossbow bolt. When I did, the room filled with a cloud of acid. I quickly
brought out the bolt and we slammed the door shut.
Longsword Room
Having explored the other three rooms, it was time to deal with
the longsword. Remembering the mural, we assumed that the longsword would
attack anyone who takes the gem. Yasuo and Quinn climbed the dais and grasped
the sword. Davian quickly grabbed the blue gem. The sword came to life and
tried to stab downward, but thankfully Yasuo and Quinn were ready and fought
it. It swung upward, and they struggled to control it. I ran with the gem to
the door and down the hallway. Davian shouted at me the words on the wall, that
“only living warmth can move me.” So I set the gem down, hoping that would stop
the sword. It didn’t. But Yasuo was able to jam the sword into the stone dais.
I looked down just in time to see a boggle open a portal right under the gem
and reach for it. I snatched the gem back. Glaring at me, the boggle closed up
the portal. Darn cleaning crew. I ran further down the hall with the gem. The
further I got, the more the sword settled down. We all left the room in one
piece.
Wine Room
We found a secret room containing racks of wine bottles. We
found five fancy bottles of wine and two potions of healing. Along the wall
read, “STRENGTH CANNOT” in dark bold letters. There was a short, two-foot-high,
gold-plated door on the northwest wall. It had a slot that looked like it would
fit that gold coin Yasuo found in the circular room, the last room we searched
in the silver hallway. Sure enough, it fit. The door, which was actually a
safe, opened. Inside was a small black wooden box with a red velvet cushion.
Resting on the cushion was a crystal eye with a bright blue iris.
Wizard Statue Room
Having explored everything in both the gold and silver hallways,
we headed back to the wizard statue in the silver hallway. We had recorded the
bolded words that were in some of the rooms, and tried arranging them into a
riddle for the the statue of Keilier. We were close on the first attempt, but
Quinn came up with the correct riddle on the second attempt. The riddle freed
Keilier! Keilier told us his story--how his master delved deep into the demi
plane and how he tried to stop him, but was imprisoned here in the Blue Alley.
Keilier gave us a small box containing an oaken staff mounted with a blue
crystal. The box is magic, bigger on the inside than the outside. Keiler said
he would always be with us as we use the staff. Then the statue of Keilier
crumbled away. The blue lights went out and the hall became pitch black. We
made our way to the iron gate room and exited using the gem we retrieved from
the greatsword.
When we exited the gate, we emerged a little way down from where
we had entered the Blue Alley. Renaer was standing there, tending to the
carriage horse. He was surprised to see us, saying that only five minutes had
passed! The magical Blue Alley was gone. Now it was just a regular street.
Remembering my disturbed sleep and that someone urgently needed
help, I started to investigate the items we acquired from Blue Alley, assuming
that one of them might be the source. When I touched the unicorn statue, it
spoke to me! This is the same voice I had heard before. The voice explained
that her name was Primara and she was a real unicorn, not a statue. One day a
mage had trapped her. She was brought to a house and had remained trapped there
as a statue until she was taken to Blue Alley. I asked if she had tried talking
to the people in the house or if she knew who had done this to her, but she did
not know who had done this and hadn’t been able to talk to anyone else except
for me. She only speaks to female elven dignitaries, an oddly specific
limitation. This must be why no one else could hear her. I asked if there was a
way to free her, and she said that only the tears of her captor would set her
free. Primara vowed to serve me for a year if I would free her. Even without
this vow, of course I would try to free her. I felt so angry that someone would
dare to imprison a unicorn. The injustice!
I told my companions about Primara and her situation. Maybe Mirt
knew about it, maybe he didn’t. According to Primara, she hadn’t been able to
speak with him like she had with me. So he might think she was just a beautiful
unicorn statue. Of course, he had hired us to retrieve Primara from the Blue
Alley, so maybe he knew something since it was that important to him. Either
way, we decided to return to Mirt with the statue.
Renaer brought us back to the theater and escorted us to Mirt’s
private booth. Mirt was as surprised as Renaer had been to see us after such a
short while. He was delighted to see that we had brought the unicorn statue.
But then I told him about Primara. Mirt’s face turned from glad to guilty. He
confessed that he already knew she was a real unicorn and that he had
instructed a mage to do this terrible thing. How revolting! My respect for Mirt
plummeted and it was all I could do to restrain myself from lashing out at him.
That, of course, would not help the situation. Mirt went on about how his wife
had died, and how he heard that unicorn blood might be used in some necromantic
ritual to bring her back to life. I asked Primara if this was true--if unicorn
blood could raise the dead--but she didn’t know. Mirt refused to set Primara
free. Despicable man. Thankfully, Quinn counseled Mirt through his distress,
getting him to talk more and to even shed a tear. I quickly used Mage Hand to
wipe the tear and touch it to Primara, the unicorn statue. The statue
immediately started to change and became Primara, the real unicorn! She was
only about the size of a medium-sized dog and seemed surprised by this. At
least she was free! Primara thanked me and promised to serve me for a year.
Quinn praised Mirt for making the right choice to set Primara free...Mirt did
not look pleased and did not want to see us again. Renaer returned us to
Trollskull Manor for a well-deserved rest.
Davian, the Blue Mage
Okay, I now officially hate the color blue. When I close my
eyes, that’s what I’m going to see for quite a while. That dreadful
place, with the blue glow and traps...father, your wisdom would have been
helpful.
“Are you referring to my prison for all of those years? And
what’s wrong with blue?”
Davian flinched a bit at those words,
taken aback by a voice in his head.
“What…who are you?”
“Quite sad, I would think that someone able to wield magic would
have an intellect of at least a commoner. I’m stuck for all of those
years, and this is the mental giant that releases me? Who is that other
spell caster in your group? Why couldn’t I be merged with her? She
couldn’t be any worse than you.”
“Thia? Why are…” Davian’s brow furrowed, a small headache
forming. “Okay, wait, who.are.you?”
“<sigh> I see context is beyond you as well.
I…AM…KEILIER” the voice said in a loud, methodical way, as if speaking to a
misbehaving child. “I AM THE WIZARD YOU somehow FREED IN THE BLUE PLACE.
There, are simple words easier for you to understand?”
Davian’s frustration started to grow “Wait, grr, just wait.
Alright, I understand who you are, but why are you in my head. And I am
an adult, you don’t have to speak down to me”.
“Don’t I?” Kelier retorted “I’m not completely certain. As
to why I’m here, I believe you did this to yourself, and to me, when you bonded
with the staff. Apparently my old master had one further torture to
inflict upon me, being forever imprisoned in your simple little mind. He
may be cruel, but I can appreciate his cleverness.”
 |
| Davian, the Blue Mage |
“So, you’re stuck here, for how long? I can’t get rid of
you?” Davian asked, dreading the answer
“If I didn’t want to be rid of you, and if I actually had
emotions, I’d be hurt by that.” Said Keilier ”I theorize that I’ll remain
until you stop using the staff. But that’s not going to happen, is
it? I feel the way you react to the staff, and I’m not surprised.
The staff has great power, for someone of your puny abilities. If the
staff could sprout legs, it would best you in a duel. So no, you’re not
going to stop using the staff, even if it means being free of me.”
“Fine” responded Davian, as though through gritted teeth “I’m
stuck with you, but you have to help keep me alive until I can find a way to
get rid of you.”
“I’m glad you understand your limitations. Oh, and enjoy
your new look, I know you love the color blue.” After Keilier finished
speaking, Davian could feel his presence slip away.
Puzzled by the last statement, Davian got up and looked in the
mirror. His black hair had been changed to blue. The growing
headache suddenly roared to a crescendo.
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