Sarenith 27, 4712
With all of the Proteans eliminated and the repairs to their reactor allowing the Inevitables to communicate with their plane and bring in reinforcements, the side of Law has triumphed, and the Coopers are ready to explore the rest of the level with no enemy force blocking their progress.
Leaving from the Spire, they enter a room made of two circles. On the floor of the first circle is a large red rune. On the floor of the second circle is a large green rune. Both runes are unknown. Darelle comprehends languages but is unable to understand what is written. The runes appear to be conceptual rather than language-based. Daryle throws a copper piece, and it falls squarely on the red rune. Nothing happens. Omok pushes the sisters aside and he enters the room. Once again, nothing happens. The rest of the Coopers enter the room as well.
After observing the situation for a few minutes, Roscoe touches the red rune with his gloved hand. Nothing happens, and he does not feel any magic. He removes his glove, and touches the rune again. Suddenly he transforms into a half-orc. Touching the green rune, he suddenly loses his gender. He touches it again, and now he has both genders. Touching the red rune again, he transforms into a dwarf. Roscoe decides he likes being a dwarf. He elects to be called Kazmauk Riverbottom. Roscoe Cooper is now officially dead.
Gerald goes through the same process and eventually settles on a female gnome. She selects the name Olifrit Vowaldie, which, according to Darelle and her understanding of languages, roughly translates to Masturbation Bruises in gnomish. None of the other Coopers are interested in touching the runes, so the party moves on.
Thorne enters the next room and sees his back wherever he looks. Thorne pushes Kazmauk in one of the mists and he comes out backwards on the other side. Kazmauk falls on Omok and both of them end up on the ground. Thorne walks backwards through one of the mist mirrors, and ends up on top of them. After getting up, Thorne collects some of the mist in a jar.
Pursuing their exploration, they come across a room with a vortex in the ceiling. Islands of rock float in a large cavern of lava. The vortex is clearly opened to the plane of chaos, and with the reactivation of the reactor the vortex pulses brightly. It's only a question of time before someone walks through that vortex.
Daryle returns to the reactor and attempts to shut it down to prevent any more proteans from entering this plane, but the three kolyarut guarding it refuse. She shoots an arrow at the reactor, hoping to disable it. The arrow does some damage and creates a few sparks, but the robot arm the Coopers moved into the room immediately begins to fix the damage the ranger did. Worse, the three kolyarut sound the alarm and begin chasing her. She sprints back to the Spire, and, using her transport token, she removes herself from this level. The Coopers claim Daryle acted alone, so the inevitables do not attack them. They look at them suspiciously, however.
Looking for the key that would open the floor doors, Thorne returns to the staircase and searches the bodies of the Proteans they had move there so they would be out of recall range, but he does not find the key. He returns to the maelstrom room. The floor has already begun to solidify due to the reactor shutting down once again.
Olifrit asks Darelle for a brass key in her pouch of spell components so she can cast a spell, but she finds herself unable to hang on to it and gives up in frustration. Omok decides to use the orb of command and asks: Where is the exact location of the key that opens the door that I am currently looking at right now? The orb reveals the answer. The key is located in the Proteans' treasure, in a secret room next to the vortex. Darelle and Thorne return to the room, and they can see that the floor is once again liquifying. The robot has repaired the reactor. They find the secret room and discover the key among many other random possessions accumulated by the proteans over the eons. They return to the Spire.
As stealthily as he can, Thorne uses the key in the floor door, and he manages to release the latch. The doors swing inward, revealing a pit that drops hundreds of feet below. There is a small series of ledges that can be used to climb down, but it will be an ordeal. The inevitables in the room are incensed, however, and they begin attacking. The Coopers decide to leave the room by heading down.
Since she had not been followed by the rest of her family, Daryle chooses to come back using her transport token. Unfortunately she lands in a space where the door has dropped open. She falls down the pit and Darelle catches her using her last blue pegasus. While attempting the climb down, Omok misses a step and drops, but quick thinking allows him to cast air walk, thus saving his life. The Coopers begin the descent to the last level of the Emerald Spire, with no more healing potions and with a female gnomish spellcaster who's unable, for the most part, to cast spells due to her huge hands. What could possibly go wrong?
