Five Tower Keep Session 28: 03/14/2019 Half Dragon Minotaurs, The ‘Closer’, and The Mirror Window

We begin this week’s session with a new bout of investigations (for the returning player Tony and a brief recap for the rest of us) of the silver coated tower that stood in the center of the triangle the three gardens of stone location created. Our characters surmise that, considering where this tower is located including its risen elevation from the swamp lands, it was likely an old Horcton guard tower.

Nearby on the outskirts of the clearing our characters find a sink hole, damp, full of a strange odor and alive with a warding magical aura. Our character take great pains before entering the sink hole including sending down large vermin to trip any traps and to test defenses.

Eventually our characters descend into the sinkhole- as a precaution Stoutwood has Sonayo leave a single drop of vermin repellent every 15 feet as a scent trail to find our way out of the maze should the need arise.

Before long, about twenty minutes, as we traverse the maze of tunnels we are attacked by a winged half black dragon Minotaur who quickly receded into the mists it attacked from. It seemed folly to chase a Minotaur into the mists of a maze so we quicken our pace along the irregular tunnels.

Eventually we come to an area of the tunnels that is free of the mists, a place more common with dung beetles and spiders; a harmonious ecosystem. At this area Stoutwood ends the scent trail and Melderon puts up a magical rope trick as a fall back in case our characters are split up marking it with an offset burned 'X' on the floor. 

We explore the tunnels and find a wardrobe sized mirror under flickering dancing lights. As a precaution Melderon covers the magic mirror with a blanket until our characters can investigate. However when Mesha moves the blanket to look into the mirror she does not see a reflection; instead it is like looking through a window where there is dim light and beyond a landscape similar to our own.

First Stoutwood tries to bid the mirror to open the path in his native tongue to no effect. Tony says enter friend in draconic and gets taken upstairs; his character however looks as if he stepped into the mirror. Before any of us could try more half-dragon Minotaurs attack as our characters are briefly separated.

Battle commences, Alaric returns from the mirror, and after less than a minute the battle was over and our characters victorious. 

On the minotaurs they each have a ‘giant’s’ bag (tools, sling and stones) as well as a great axe. They each have assorted silver pieces and gemstones (amethysts, diamonds, and emeralds); enough totaling 1,000 gp for each character and 500 gp for the hirelings. We harvest their (ivory, dragon) horns, and collect 9 CSW potions.

And we gain our 8^th character level, the hirelings gain their 6^th character level. We begin next game session immediately after leveling up.