When they entered the secret entrance Agatha had revealed to them, they found themselves in a great underground cathedral limned with precious stones and metals: all the glory of the earth. Niay, who could read the ancient letters inscribed upon the walls, learned that this place was called the Sepia Palace
The palace was ornamented with a great many statues of figures both strange and beautiful, all carved out of stone with eyes of jewels and clothes of gold. However, as the echo of Clara’s heels touched the walls around them, the statues came to life and took up arms against them!
There was quite a variety in the kind of statues that confronted them. Sword-wielding Obsidian Valkyries strode to the attack; floating Pumice Nymphs struck with crushing stone flora and powerful spells. By far the most dangerous enemy was the Clay Sorceress, a silent figure who crafted Gold Vipers and Glass Bats from the walls of the palace even as they fought her! It took all of the group’s wits to make it through this complicated area alive: Seles aimed his arrows straight for any Clay Sorceress in the area while Clara struck down Obsidian Valkyries with her Magical Rod. Pyre grappled with the Valkyries, keeping them safely away from Clara, and Niay used his whip to nail down the agile Pumice Nymphs.
It proved to be a long, hard trek, but in the end they made it down into an enormous chamber that glowed with the light of a searing lake of virgin magma that surrounded it on all sides. The chamber overlooked the rest of the palace, which plunged straight into the magma and continued down for an unfathomable distance; they had only explored a tiny sliver of their location.
In the middle of this glowing chamber was an altar of black ebony…or, as Pyre realized, a coffin. As they neared it, the chamber shuddered as though in an earthquake, and a truly enormous statue of a goddess wreathed in gold became sentient…and violent!
No comments:
Post a Comment