It’s Grape Flavored!

We are standing on the Infinite Staircase and the Robotic Creature there with us. The stairs goes on endlessly up and down, the several doors present on different landings in each direction. Brylwynn tries asking the robot for help as to which direction to go, but it states it is only here to make sure we obey the rules. We walk down the stairs to the first door. 

As we approach the first door, the robot’s single eye turns purple. We hear a feminine voice that we’ve heard several times before. The voice tells us that Haephaestus has broken free as the one last shadow shard wasn’t enough to hold him back. The voice threatens us with notice of the shadow dragon. 

The robot comes to and asks us what happened and RC and Baptiste share with it that Beshaba has broken the truce of neutrality and it is going to tell The Lady of Pain. “Whatever you want to find, it is going to fight back.” Do not enter the door unless you know it is the right one. 

We get close to the door and it appears runeless. The door swings open automatically and inside we see the same thing.

We see a frozen tundra spread out before us. We see a young Pearl speaking to her mother. She is wandering the north with her mother as her mother is teaching her. Pearl sees herself talking with Fey and the tense and emotional moment when they were conversing with Fey becoming a Cleric of Auril. It harkens back to a happier time for Pearl. Peal becomes glassied eyes and almost becomes hypnotized and starts to take a step forward. We all lunge forward and hold Pearl back as Brylwynn shuts the door. Glitt uses cleansing touch on her and it is enough to break the effects of the memory. The door then drips down and fades form existence.

We keep going down to the next door. The door swings open and we all see a vision of Brylwynn. She is playing her lute as her mother, father, and brother are in the background. Her future husband is there, trying to blend in amongst the bar. She is able to resist the temptation to be pulled into the door and the beyond. The door then slams shut and melts away.

We go down to the next door. Glittr sees a memory of him with his father as he is teaching him to sew. His mother walks in wearing her armour and they all seem happy as they talk and trade skills. Off in the corner, he sees red, orange, and yellow lights that will one day represent Lliira. Pearl uses Dispel Magic. 

On the next landing, Caulkin sees a happy memory with his father and mother playing with him, as his grandmother sits in a rocking chair off in the corner. He knows the happiness from his grandmother will only last a short while, but for now he is happy. He is able to resist the temptation.

In the next landing, RC sees himself as a younger Kobold in his home swamp. It was so long ago, he still has both eyes. He stands there teaching Snapjaw how to use a bow and arrow. He has the joy of showing his grandson the skills that he will one day use to free himself and his family. RC sees this memory, having once gone back to the Mere of Deadmen where he comes from, and he knows how this story ends. He is able to shake free the memory and the door melts away. 

On the 6th landing, Baptiste sees the door swing open. In the underground city of Mirabar, Baptiste is showing a group of students how to maintain proper sword technique. In this scene, he is finding a memory of happiness. Then the memory whirls away and he seems Graz’zt sitting on a throne. He is sitting there on a throne and sees a hole in his stomach, dead.

The whole group sees Graz’zt on the throne and we think ‘at least, we found the door to the abyss’ but suddenly Baptiste realizes this is an illusion.

We hear a cackling as one of the doors above us, reappears. The door swings open and we see Graz’zt step out. “I will wipe you from existence, here and now!” 

In addition to what Graz’zt said, we see him yielding an Obsidian Sword. 

He casts darkness on the battlefield as the creatures run down the stairs towards us. 

In the middle of the battle, he teleports back to the door at the top of the battlefield and leaves. He states that he will see us in the abyss. 

The Robot appears and returns and announces that the  Lady of Pain says that “our cause is now her cause” and she will fight alongside us