The Nine Glowing Globes

Now, let’s see…where were we?

Ah, yes. The human headed, lion beast with the twenty foot wingspan. We know now it was a Sphinx, but at the time we assumed it meant to harm us. As we readied our weapons for a fight, we realized it had no immediate intentions of attacking us. Instead it greeted us. “Greetings” the beast said, stretching as if waking up from a long sleep. Glancing up at the trap on the ceiling, the sphinx said “as you can see, you will not be getting past the traps, or me, unless I allow it. You must answer one riddle – answer correctly, and I will allow you to choose one of the three paths behind me. Answer incorrectly, and I will be forced to eat you.” It was then we noticed that the beast’s eyes were glowing yellow, hinting at some sort of mind control. But at the time we had no other choice than answer her riddle. With all of the disinterest of a creature expecting failure, the sphinx purred her riddle.

“My creator wants me not, and much in dread will I be bought. My cold embrace is fiercely fought, and most who need me know it not.”

We thought about it for many minutes. None of the answers we came up with made much sense, and we didn’t relish the thought of fighting this large creature, especially with the trap on the ceiling. But, like a voice from the heavens, we came up with an answer we thought was correct. “A Coffin” I replied. She stared at us for a moment, relishing the suspense. “You are correct. Choose one path before you, and good luck.” We were relieved, and we chose the path that made the most sense, the one directly in front of us. As we peered down the other two hallways, we noticed even more traps, all placed on the ceiling. But she was true to her word, and we were able to pass unmolested.

Two Shadows in the room of globes.

We trudged on for what seemed like days, through partially flooded, moldy hallways, until at last we came up an intersection. One path led north, the other up a long flight of stairs. Eager to get out of the much, we headed up and found ourselves at a single door. It was not locked, and not trapped as far as we could tell, but it was warped from moisture and took some effort to open. Past the door was a small room, with no other exits. Nine glowing globes hung from the ceiling, though three of them had been shattered into tiny shards on the ground. Kai and I entered cautiously, and noticed a figure at the back of the room. The figure was a dragonborn; dead, but only recently so. The globes piqued my curiosity, so I warned Kai to be ready and fired my crossbow at one near the center of the room. It shattered easily, and a small potion vial burst as it hit the ground. Amidst the debris, we also found a key; as soon as Kai touched it, the door behind us slammed shut, locking with some sort of arcane force field and cutting us off from the rest of the group out in the hallway. We tried the key on the door, but it did not work. We assumed correctly that each globe would hold a key, we just had to find the right one. I shot at another globe and once again a key fell, this time alongside a slender wand adorned with a shield engraving. I picked up wand as Kai tried the key, but still no luck. Tiring of this game, I used the wand and blasted three globes open at once; two contained only a key, but the third burst open in a splash of gray slime that splattered against the back wall and quickly coalesced into a creature. The slime lunged at us, covering us with its mucus, but it didn’t take long for the two of us to defeat it. And luckily for us, one of the keys opened the door back out to the hallway. But I wasn’t done looting – more globes remained. Wotan joined us in the room, but Terik and Ayas refused to enter. As we broke more globes, we found more keys, which was good considering the door locked itself every time I broke a globe. But there were also more enemies. Two wicked shadows dislodged themselves from one globe, dominating Kai and Wotan, who attacked me with more success than I expected. From another globe, a vicious wind elemental spun out, tossing us about the room. But we vanquished them all. Unfortunately we found little treasure to justify our efforts – a few gold pieces, some gems, lots of useless keys, and a Wand of Shield (which I quickly pocketed). As we emerged from the room, bloody and tired, Terik looked at us disapprovingly. “We waste time and strength; let’s not do that again, shall we?”