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[Arcalian]

They reached the end of the long hallway and found a tall statue of a lord on a throne. But the statue was old, and weathered, cracked and disfigured. The face was unrecognizable.

Adrian stared at it. Everything else here had led him to believe that this was a relatively recent construction. No more than a year or two old, say. But this....this was old. Ancient, almost. How long had Irenicus been here? And what had he been doing before he had set up his little chamber of horrors?

The thought occurred to him that perhaps this particular article was here before Irenicus, but he dismissed it almost immediately. Irenicus had clearly expanded upon the original caverns, and this room was not part of them.

They found some more magical items in figure's lap, most notably rings of protection. Moving on, they found a long corridor, lit not by torches but by glowing golden stones. Obviously this was some new, important sector of the laboratory/torture dungeon complex.

They found the bodies of more thieves and Duregar, and finally heard the sounds of battle up ahead yet again. This time, in a oddly-shaped room, a thief was fighting a lovely woman with a long golden mane of hair. She appeared to be Elven, regal in posture and bearing. She was naked, but there was nothing sexual about her; her eyes were full of vengeance and fury, and she was decimating the thief with powerful spells.


As they watched, the thief was cut down. She turned to them, eyes blazing. "Damn you Jon! I am not her! I AM NOT HER!!"

Adrian finally got to put his crossbow back into use, and he and Yoshimo took her down.

Imoen looked around the room. There were glass tubes, not unlike the jar Reilev had been in, but much larger. In each one, an identical woman floated in the fluid, apparently sleeping.

"Copies?" Imoen said, bewildered.

"Clones." Edwin's face was grim. "Even in Thay, where magic rules supreme and Necromancers know no fear--if they wear Red--such experiments are outlawed."

"Hard to tell who's who with cloes running around," said Emirikol, with a wide eyed seriousness that reminded Adrian of Xzar.

"That room...it must be for the woman these....clones...are based on. His lost love, one supposes," Adrian mused.

Tree shivered, and went to comfort Imoen, who was, understandably, having a hard time coping with the strain. They all were. Even Emirikol had become sombre and introspective. Adrian finally told Emirikol to destroy the room. Understanding, the mage nodded and, after they party had filed out, destroyed the tubes with another of his fearsome fireballs.

Next was an empty room, carefully sealed off with some strange stuff that none of them recognized.

"Not even in my studies before I became what I am had I come across a substance such as this," said Emirikol, prodding the clear, flexible bulge around a sealed magical doorway. "It must come from another Plane entirely."

Frennendan was shaking. Adrian frowned. "You know what this is?"

"Not the substance," the doppleganger wheezed. "But I think....I think he eventually meant to put me in there. It bears the signs of a place designed to imprison one of my kind."

Adrian raised both eyebrows, and turned to look back at the "bubble" room. Both mages looked as well, and the party was silent for a time.

It came to them as one that their time was precious, and they moved on again.

-----

Still in bat form, the vampiress shot past Irenicus, who was dealing with yet another group of intruders. She pondered telling him about the prisoners escape, but decided against it. She would tell her Mistress, though. Bhodi would be most intrigued.

[Laufey]

They reached the end of the long hallway and found a tall statue of a lord on a throne. But the statue was old, and weathered, cracked and disfigured. The face was unrecognizable.

Adrian stared at it. Everything else here had led him to believe that this was a relatively recent construction. No more than a year or two old, say. But this....this was old. Ancient, almost. How long had Irenicus been here? And what had he been doing before he had set up his little chamber of horrors?

I bet he was designing his Leather Outfit.

They found the bodies of more thieves and Duregar, and finally heard the sounds of battle up ahead yet again. This time, in a oddly-shaped room, a thief was fighting a lovely woman with a long golden mane of hair. She appeared to be Elven, regal in posture and bearing. She was naked, but there was nothing sexual about her; her eyes were full of vengeance and fury, and she was decimating the thief with powerful spells.

I feel sorry for that poor clone...far more so than about Ellesime.

"Clones." Edwin's face was grim. "Even in Thay, where magic rules supreme and Necromancers know no fear--if they wear Red--such experiments are outlawed."

"Hard to tell who's who with cloes running around," said Emirikol, with a wide eyed seriousness that reminded Adrian of Xzar.

Oh yes...

Still in bat form, the vampiress shot past Irenicus, who was dealing with yet another group of intruders. She pondered telling him about the prisoners escape, but decided against it. She would tell her Mistress, though. Bhodi would be most intrigued.

Ah...I bet she will.

[Weyoun]

"Copies?" Imoen said, bewildered.

"Clones." Edwin's face was grim. "Even in Thay, where magic rules supreme and Necromancers know no fear--if they wear Red--such experiments are outlawed."

And considering the Thayvians created 'the Chosen', that's saying a lot.

"Not even in my studies before I became what I am had I come across a substance such as this," said Emirikol, prodding the clear, flexible bulge around a sealed magical doorway. "It must come from another Plane entirely."

Frennendan was shaking. Adrian frowned. "You know what this is?"

"Not the substance," the doppleganger wheezed. "But I think....I think he eventually meant to put me in there. It bears the signs of a place designed to imprison one of my kind."

Not a pleasant outlook, I shouldn't wonder.

Still in bat form, the vampiress shot past Irenicus, who was dealing with yet another group of intruders. She pondered telling him about the prisoners escape, but decided against it. She would tell her Mistress, though. Bhodi would be most intrigued.

Already he's being watched, it seems.

Great stuff,
---Weyoun