Session 13

The man in the purple robe called himself the Master and declared that he was in charge of the place. Then he demanded from the heroes an explanation why they broke into his abode and interrupted the guards. Moreover, he demanded compensation for moral damage, which amounted to a large sum of mysteries. The Nameless One, deciding that continuing violence would do no good, paid the sum demanded. Having calmed down somewhat, the Master invited the uninvited guests into his study and offered them tea. Aden refused, sensing a trick, but the others decided not to anger the master of the house and accepted the treat.

When the adventurers explained that they had come for a page torn from a book about the Tower of Flowers, the Master rummaged through his papers and handed them a leaf, saying that this was the page they were looking for. This seemed suspicious to the heroes: it could not be that the Master would give away the original so easily. But to all their doubts and questions he answered only with an insistent suggestion that they leave his house.

When the heroes rose from their chairs, they suddenly felt weak, barely able to stay on their feet. Only Aden, who had not drunk tea, remained in good health. He tried to extract more information from the Master while the others struggled to crawl toward the exit. Erdal decided to exit spectacularly: he used magic to teleport into the courtyard of the building. The others got there the usual way. Erdal, using his paladin skills, was able to rid his comrades of their ailment. Deciding that the Master should be finished, he offered to return, and Nameless supported him. Before the others could even object, they were already back in the lobby of the building, having entered through a window.

At this point the Master, tired of talking to Aden, cast a paralyzing spell on him and dragged him away from the house. Everyone met up in the hall where the battle was once again fought. Tired of the intrusive guests, the Master pulled out a vial of dark liquid, and a thick darkness enveloped the entire hall. When the fog cleared, the heroes found that they were no longer in the headquarters of the Dragon Cult – they had been transported to the forest outside the city, to a round stone pedestal inscribed with mysterious runes.

Before they could recover, a girl ran up to them, screaming that they couldn’t sleep. She was in a state of shock, and Nameless, realizing that she had gone psychotic, calmed her down with a blow of his fist. A man in peasant clothes came out next, who introduced himself as the girl’s brother and asked to bring her home. The adventurers asked to see the brother and sister off, hoping to learn more about where they had ended up. The man, who identified himself as Brakk, said that his sister, Eleanor, suffers from insanity and often escapes into the forest from the village. The village he led the heroes to was called Ruchek and was located on the bank of a river where a dam was being built at the time. Brakk also said that the legendary Tower appears on the exact stone pedestal the heroes found themselves on, but no one in the village knows when or how it appears. After thanking the heroes for their help in finding his sister, however, Brakk was unwilling to let them stay at his house for the night. The adventurers decided not to impose and returned to the stone pedestal.

Studying the runes yielded no results, and the heroes decided to camp nearby. Aden got bored and decided to play with the mysterious cards that Danae had. He first offered to draw a card to Nameless, who again pulled out the Puzzle card, which caused his mind to become even more clouded. Confused, he pulled another card and pulled out the “Balance” card, causing his worldview to change and greed to fill his soul. Giving in to this feeling, he pulled a third card, this time falling out with the image of the Castle. At the same second, a carrier pigeon appeared with a letter stating that Nameless had become the owner of the entire castle. However, in order to take possession, the castle had to be cleansed of the many monsters that inhabited it.

Seeing that nothing terrible was happening, Aden decided to draw his card, and it was Dungeon. His soul immediately left his body and was imprisoned in another dimension, leaving only a lifeless shell on earth. Realizing how dangerous the situation had become, Erdal decided to take a risk and try to remedy the situation by pulling one card….