Our heroes pressed on through the dark, eerie corridors, finding themselves in a familiar octagonal room. A glowing altar with a massive hand or claw mark caught their attention, small objects were piled on top of it. As they ventured closer, the seemingly harmless objects sprang to life—tiny hands attacking ferociously. One of them perished as Asterion’s angelic blood spilled onto it, while flickerwisps emerged from the glowing mark.
After triumphing over the hostile hands and flickerwisps, the heroes discerned that placing the Roseguard items on the altar would dispel the ghostly barrier to the south. Undeterred, they continued their exploration and encountered a perplexing stairway, always leading back to the entrance they had just come in despite continuously going up. Sensing a magical interference, they keenly observed their surroundings and unveiled a hidden door behind an illusion.
Upon entering, brief illusions of Belcora greeted them in each room, culminating in an assault by a potent wisp-like creature. The room darkened as the creature attacked, testing our heroes’ ability to both see and combat it. Banding together, they eventually dispelled its magic and emerged victorious, albeit weary and battered. Our heroes found a few corpses in some webs, but when they took the bodies down they quickly disintegrated.
The heroes retreated to town to rest and upgrade their gear before returning to the Vaults. With Carman by their side, they descended to the altar once more, only to be confronted by the returning flickerwisps. They swiftly destroyed the creatures and placed all the items on the altar. As the light to the south vanished, they stood poised to descend the newly accessible stairwell, ready for the challenges that lay ahead.