Journal of Arcadius

Choices

Having passed the Mirror of Opposition and attained the lower level, we soon found that the gate was not particularly nearby. Thanks to Dogwater's extraordinary powers of location, we found it soon enough. Once there, we realized we did not have the magic requisite to destroy it.

Ragnarr, Pelor protect him, told us he would call upon the power of our Lord directly to try to destroy this gate, and if possible, all of them. This, we knew, would be a dangerous course of action - one that could potentially leave him stranded on the Aboleth's plane.

However Ragnarr is a brave and true servant of Lord Pelor. He bid us go through the portal back to our plane. This we did. We waited for a time, then were called back by Ragnarr. To destroy all the gates would exact a price that Lord Pelor, merciful, would not inflict on his servant. However, the one gate was acceptable. This Ragnarr prayed for, and the miracle was granted. We watched as the gate was destroyed.

From there, we decided to have Dogwater guide us to the place where Crunch was imprisoned.

We faced and fought, yet again, the Wizard. She hid herself behind various magic barriers, which we overcame one by one. At last, she hid herself behind prismatic barriers while turning etherial. Keniroh, whose colorful robes protected him from such things, was eager to follow, but he had been repeatedly bested by this Wizard, and after quick discussion we agreed that I should don the robes and pursue her instead.

I did so, passed the barrier, and then into a prismatic sphere, through the earth, and finally back again, all the while she kept turning from material to etherial and back again. I called upon the power of Lord Pelor to smite her, and dealt blows such that I think she would have perished save for some protective magics upon her.

In the end, she escaped, though we thereby had achieved our goal of liberating Crunch. We also found Ix, who hissed furiously at us, along with a Gnome who claims to have come to the plane accidentally via playing with magic she didn't truly understand. From anyone but a Gnome, I would find this improbable.

Now, on to the next gate, and the dangers with it!