@mrz84
(Please put ACT MEDIAS RES replies in a separate post from your regular response next time. Though it was clear what you meant in this context, if a later gap goes unfilled for several updates I will get confused by your format)
Zataka, you attempt to rally the others trapped in your endeavor, but each seems distracted in their own thoughts. You wonder if they had conversations with the wizard as you did and you ponder what they might have discussed. MALICHOR peeks out the cabin door into the hall of mirrors, tossing a paperweight from the desk into the opening. Indeed it appears to be reality, at least as much as reality can be defined in your current predicament.
You pause to recall your conversation with the hedge wizard.
~~~~~
Conversation with Telivar
"Ah. This is something I only recently came to realize from my tussle with the thing, and something to which you can relate. You know how our rules are restricting your abilities in this reality? Well, our rules are actually breaking the rules. This dimension isn't SUPPOSED to have magic, so wizards achieve magical effect by snatching physical laws from other reality. Unfortunately, each time we do so we're pulling our existence closer to overlap with that other reality. It's a dragon dimension and the DRAGONS are entities that have ripped their way through the membrane between our worlds. The only way to fix that hole and undo the damage they've inflicted is to kill them."
You ask if there is anything Telivar knows that might help with combating the dragon.
"If I did, don't you think I would have tried it?!"
He shakes his head.
"I'm sorry, this whole situation has me terrified. I can't really say what a dragon would be vulnerable to; I've never been able to examine a Dragoon's artifacts to see HOW they harm the beast. All I can say is this; just as you are subject to our reality's laws while you are here, so are they. Perhaps there is weakness there."
He places his hands over his eyes.
"I can't get the image out of my head. He's coming to get me, I know it. He's going to turn me into one of those things. Maybe if you could-"
As Telivar starts to respond to your last question the both of you hear a ROAR. Looking up, you see the ceiling of the study RIPPED OPEN as a gigantic DRAGON tears it off of the ship. Above you is not the room you were in before, but a terrible tempest of wind and electricity. Telivar shouts, flailing his arms wildly in the air briefly before disappearing without a trace. The dragon disappears with him but the twisted sky does not.
~~~~~
You steel your nerves and raise your sword, bravely preparing to step into the HALL OF MIRRORS. The LIZARD stops you.
He says, forcefully:
"Very well. We will work together to escape this place. And ONLY to escape this place. I am JERIAS."
The RANGER also introduces himself as REVEN and agrees to assist as he knows the layout of this hall in particular.
Jerias enters the hall first, staring at the mirrors in a concerned and inquisitive manner. He moves quickly, frequently dropping to all fours and sniffing the air. This thing used to be a man? It's hard to picture. After a short distance you lose sight of him; it appears he has turned a corner. Concerned, you enter the hall to track him.
Infinite refraction dizzies your senses. You can't tell if the hall is straight or not. Still, you press on. You feel an unnerving sense of dread sweeping over you. Then, without warning, one of your reflections steps OUT of the mirror and swings his massive sword in an arc at you.
What do you do?
=====
@TheDarkOne
Sancireph, you open the door to the AVIARY fully expecting them to lead to somewhere they shouldn't, and indeed you are correct. They instead open up to the ORCHARD you passed through earlier, but something is very wrong. The SKY is on FIRE and the trees are all fully-bloomed WRAITHWOOD, with the various dendritic limbs sporting HUMAN FINGERS. Toma turns away and loses the contents of his stomach.
"I've never seen a fully grown one before... that's... that's horrible."
He pauses.
"Wait, you were talking about Wraithwood trees and now the orchard is full of them. ...I think I know where we are."
He shakes his head, as if he himself cannot believe what he is about to say.
"Master TELIVAR has been going on about this place for weeks: the INTERSPACE. It's like a fold between dimensions. I thought he was just rambling; I thought it was just a complication of the DRAGON CORRUPTION. This place is real?"
He looks at the trees again.
"Your thoughts created this ORCHARD. We're in a fold of reality that is perilously close to our collective subconscious and if we're not careful our WORST NIGHTMARES will come to life before our very eyes. What do we do?"
The young wizard apprentice seems quite distressed by the situation and you can't honestly say you're pleased about it. Still, there doesn't appear to be any imminent danger in the WRAITHWOOD ORCHARD and you've noticed that this reality seems to respect DOORS even if it doesn't respect the spatial connections between them.
What will you do?
=====
@SUCCESSOR
Reven, you briefly review your conversation with TELIVAR before his disappearance.
~~~~~
Conversation with Telivar
"That's a MAGIC ARTIFACT that I made. Part of a set, actually. It lets me pass small things back and forth to my subcontractors. I have a business proposition for you: throughout the world there are other magical artifacts just like this, made by other magisters or lost in forgotten ruins. If you come across such a magical structure in your travels, take a scraping and send it through the bag to me. I'm collecting data on the fabric of magic around the world and these samples are crucial. I'll make it worth your while; if gold isn't your thing I can at least pay you in RARE SPIRITS."
You take the bag and place it into your cloak pocket. Strange, you seem to be acclimating to the strange sensation in the air. It's rather like being drunk, actually.
You display your cloak, dagger, and darts to Telivar and explain that you have a collection of magic items, but not ones you would part with.
"Oh, I don't actually need the items themselves. I only want to examine the trace magical energies that circle them. No more than a surface scraping would be required."
He seems worried about your direct contact with a dragon.
"How is it you are able to interact with one of those beasts without corruption? Unless... perhaps it isn't the same species as the ones that have been plaguing me. It could even be native to our reality, or one with which we have a less hostile exchange."
Telivar isn't making a lot of sense; he seems distracted by something else.
"Benign dragons... if only I could... well, anyway, what was you other question?"
You ask if the bag he gave you could be used for communication.
As Telivar starts to respond to your last question the both of you hear a ROAR. Looking up, you see the ceiling of the study RIPPED OPEN as a gigantic DRAGON tears it off of the ship. Above you is not the room you were in before, but a terrible tempest of wind and electricity. Telivar shouts, flailing his arms wildly in the air briefly before disappearing without a trace. The dragon disappears with him but the twisted sky does not.
~~~~~
Without an answer you decide it would be best to try it anyway. What harm could it do? Grabbing a scrap of paper you write a simple message: "Where are you" and slip it through the bag.
While awaiting a reply you note that the MAGICIAN is staring through the cabin door to the HALL OF MIRRORS, which you recognize from your earlier experience in the mansion. Odd, it is illuminated now, with little flames at the base of each mirror. The LIZARD briefly mutters that he will help, and enters the hall first to explore (This frustrates you because you already know the way through). He quickly disappears in the maze of reflections. The PALADIN passes through the door next, great sword drawn, and after a few paces he is assaulted by his own reflection. THAT'S definitely new. You peek through the doorway; the hall appears to have the same floor plan it did before. Judging on your position you estimate you're looking at it from the AVIARY entrance, the one you used last time. Could the same trick work as before, with reflections assaulting their likeness?
What do you do?
=====
@Xyvol
Malichor, you note that the only afflicted pages are those that ALREADY HAD MAGIC upon them when you entered this place. The rest of your paper appears to be unharmed. Following what TOMA explained you craft a dragon talisman to protect you from their touch and indeed it scares the little lizard off of your remaining shuriken. Turning your attention to the HALL OF MIRRORS you set out to prove that the place is real. Recalling your conversation with Telivar...
~~~~~
Further Discussion with Telivar
"See, they've decided they want to absorb our reality and they have the power to do it. That's why more and more dragons have been appearing in the wilds; they're coming through to drag us back with them."
You ask about Toma's Thesis, believing that he was describing overlapping different disciplines to make more powerful magic.
"No, something like that is much more conventional and would be welcomed by the Magister community. Toma's research was controversial; he was trying to show that the trappings of magic were unnecessary and that magic itself is a SINGULAR FORCE that has been disguised as many."
You ask if Toma's research is what weakened the bounds between reality.
"No, if anything Toma has uncovered an ancient truth that was buried. This damage has been a result of magic since the first Magisters manipulated the ether around them; it is as old as the dragons that plague our lands. We've ALL been tearing holes in reality without even realizing our error."
You ask about Darkspace's role in these tears.
"Darkspace seems to be more prominent than other fields of magical ritual because of its relation to space, but in truth it is simply a ritual placed onto the underlying concept. In actuality I used a PHANTOM spell to bring us here, as I have been trained in the traditional style and that was the method that seemed most practical to reach this place. But I could have achieved the same result with any ritual or more importantly with NONE AT ALL. The effect is the same; I steal physics from another dimension and apply it to ours. This is the crime all wizards have been committing since the invention of magic."
You ask about the dragons pulling back, and if they have found their way into reality.
"We commit magic by stealing physics. Isn't it reasonable to assume entities in other dimensions do as well? Clearly our world has something they want. My guess would be-"
As Telivar starts to respond to your last question the both of you hear a ROAR. Looking up, you see the ceiling of the study RIPPED OPEN as a gigantic DRAGON tears it off of the ship. Above you is not the room you were in before, but a terrible tempest of wind and electricity. Telivar shouts, flailing his arms wildly in the air briefly before disappearing without a trace. The dragon disappears with him but the twisted sky does not.
~~~~~
You toss a paperweight from the desk into the HALL OF MIRRORS. It lands as expected; at least this place is not an illusion. That LIZARD introduces himself to the PALADIN as JERIAS and says he will help until you escape and no further. He enters the hall and disappears around a corner. ZATAKA follows, sword drawn. After a few steps, you see that he is behaving as if he is under attack, but there is NOTHING THERE.
What do you do?
=====
@bigjoe
Jerias, you are annoyed that the PALADIN is proposing an alliance, but you begrudgingly accept for the purpose of ESCAPING THIS PLACE. You make it absolutely clear that you will only work with them until YOU ARE SAFE. You look into the hall of mirrors. You SHATTERED all of these mirrors, yet here they sit undamaged. You leap into the hall in a sprint, looking for anything peculiar about the place. Turning a corner you find and throw open a door. Beyond is the LIBRARY you found that apprentice in earlier. It's ON FIRE. Turning back you hear the PALADIN struggling, as if he is locked in combat with something. You can't see him from here, though, because the reflections are all of you. Blinking, you notice that one of them is SMILING AT YOU.
What do you do?
