[coronatiger]

19th of Rama, year 412 (continued)

We discussed what to do if spirits suddenly appeared. Wolfram would transform into a bear which would allow him to attack the spirits. I should go directly for the wraith and try to materialize it. Grogg should follow me and squish everything that materialized around me. Xipil had my vial of anti-spirit venom, and could use it to hurt the spirits without them materializing first.

Xipil went inside the oasis illusion again, but Wolfram pulled him out with the rope Xipil had tied around his waist. Xipil said there was another person by the oasis. Wolfram believed it to be part of the illusion. He had an idea, though. He had Xipil tie a rock to the end of the rope, and then he threw it into the illusion area to see if it struck something other than the ground. I heard the rock hitting the ground, but the sound distorted, so it seemed to come from another direction. Not that I paid very much attention to the experiment. With the spirit-seeing ring affixed in front of my eye, I was the only one who could spot them if the spirits decided to attack, so I was on self-imposed guard duty.

I saw one or two in the distance, moving away. I didn’t mention them lest my reckless companions go haring off after them. Instead, I asked Wolfram to set up his totem pole and try to summon spirits. It was eerily quiet while he drew the required symbols on the ground. The only sounds were the thumps of the rock hitting the ground when Xipil resumed the experiment.

After a couple of minutes of drawing, Wolfram stood up and said that he thought there might be a hidden entrance from one of the tower pits. I’d had the same idea myself. Wolfram mumbled a regret that he didn’t know much about counter-magic.

Grogg began walking towards the oasis illusion, and Xipil told him to stop. Grogg didn’t listen, so Xipil gave me one end of the rope and asked me to pull him out if he raised his arms. He followed Grogg with the other end of the rope around his waist. Wolfram soon became impatient and pulled him back out. Fortunately, Grogg followed. Wolfram asked Grogg why he suddenly decided to take off. Grogg claimed that Lunari told him there was a magical treasure in there, and pointed down below the center of the illusionary area. Xipil whispered that he was afraid that the buried demon was affecting Grogg’s mind. Wolfram insisted that Grogg warn us the next time, but Grogg said that he didn’t want to disturb Wolfram while he was busy. It was clear that Grogg didn’t consider Xipil or me worthy of his consideration. I’ve tried being friendly towards him, I’ve tried being patient, but if he doesn’t start responding soon, I’m going to give up on him.

Wolfram completed his preparations and warned us that he was going to attempt a powerful summoning. Once the ritual was finished, he told us to be ready, and transformed into a giant bear. I drew my knives. Grogg hefted his maul.

After a few minutes, Grogg shouted “Hello!” and said that someone was calling for help. I hadn’t heard anything. When nothing happened, Grogg hit the ground impatiently with his club. Wolfram transformed back to his human shape and said that the wraith had to have made some kind of barrier to keep the other spirits from approaching us. He detected evil magic nearby.

We stepped over to the tower to examine it more closely. Xipil kneeled and poked his head and the starlight coin through the illusion. Wolfram asked if Xipil could hear him, to which Xipil replied that he heard him just fine. To us on the outside, Xipil’s voice sounded hollow and distant. When Xipil pulled out, he said that he wanted to lower a rock on the rope and feel around with that. Grogg and Wolfram didn’t see why we couldn’t just have Grogg lower Xipil into the hidden hole, but I agreed with Xipil that we should take a careful approach.

The experiment with the rock didn’t tell us much, except that what was lowered into the hole wasn’t crushed by some giant trap. That was something, at least. I suggested to Xipil that he make a harness so he’d have his hands free when Grogg lowered him; he needed one hand to hold the coin and one to feel around.

Xipil informed us that there was an iron-bound wooden door down there, which he hadn’t seen from the top. He didn’t want to open it when he was alone, so he just looked around some more, then Grogg pulled him up. I decided to put my head inside the illusion. The tower disappeared, and in the starlight from above, I could make out that there were lots of metal objects covering the floor. I could only see the glint of reflections, and it was difficult to identify exactly what was down there. No matter, had it been important, Xipil would have mentioned it, and I would get to see more closely soon enough.

We discussed for a few minutes how to get everyone down. Xipil’s rope wasn’t sturdy enough to hold Grogg’s weight, but it was long enough to lay it triple. We used Wolfram’s pick as anchor, tied the rope to it, and then I climbed down. Wolfram and Grogg followed, then Xipil untied the rope from the anchor and free-climbed after us.