Our adventuring party moves stealthily upstairs, unsure of where they are or who to trust. Out the basement door, a long hallway with smooth polished floors has doors on either side leading to small rooms, broom closets, and a large dining room. Master Wǎnzhéng invites them in to a class in session. The students, of many races, sit in a circle on the floor while the Master gets acquainted with Arabal, Titanius, and Mashito.
He demonstrates the powerful magic inherent in some of the party’s treasures: calling on spells to unite Gilead’s flaming sword, Titanius’s golden mirror bowl (holding water), Mashito’s (damp but usable) feather, and a tree grown from the stamping of the wooden staff. A human-sized portal opens in the trunk, allowing entry towards the purple glow from the inner depths of the tree.
Master Wǎnzhéng explains that this monastery is devoted to the study, gathering and maintenance of such portals which lead to other worlds. The basement contains their living archive of connections in the form of a labyrinthine dungeon, which sometimes needs cleaning up or the removal of dangerous elements that may come through from other dimensions. The monks and students, under his guidance, can offer protection and sanctuary if aided in their pursuit of knowledge.
The party step into the tree trunk and are transported instantly to a well-maintained laboratory with steel and glass equipment. It seems much more advanced than anything they’ve seen “back home.” The room exits in a door to a long hallway with windows overlooking the countryside and trees – it is night and there is a moon.
One end of the hallway has a fine library. Next to the lab, in the middle, is a room that contains astronomy tools and a skylight. The other end has red curtains over the doorway, through which classical music and a hum of conversation can be heard.
A festive event is in progress in this large ballroom under chandeliers. Humans and other races dance on the main floor. Waiters scurry around the tables, taking or delivering plates of food.
Something goes wrong, starting in the corner where the band stops playing abruptly. People scream and run, crockery is dropped, there are sounds of growling and clothes shredding.
Our party rushes in and is faced with monstrous wolves. During the ensuing fight, Arabal grabs the purple gemstone that their leader was using in some kind of ritual that brought magical lightning into the ballroom. Some wolves are slain, the rest jump through the glass windows to the fields outside.
The magical fields of light bring our party back to the monastery, where they become embroiled in a battle between the monks and the Order of Eustathius, warriors who ride flying horses, wearing an ankh symbol. Some of the monastery’s walls are smashed by a catapult, which also snares Titanius. A thief named Thestil joins our adventurers, inspecting the premises a bit and cutting off a man’s finger under torture. Arabal, Titanius, Mashito, and Thestil go through a portal to return to the land outside the village of Blackstone.
Meanwhile, Gunther makes his way to the monastery, where he accepts the hospitality of Master Wǎnzhéng and his students.