The elevator groaned as it bore them downward, deeper than any honest cellar had business going. With each passing moment the air grew thicker, damp and rich as the breath of fertile earth long sealed from the sun. When the doors shuddered open at last, the scent that met them was rot tangled with growth, and it moved.

They stepped into a chamber that felt less built than grown. Vines crept across the stone walls in a slow, almost imperceptible crawl, their flowers pulsing faintly as though drawing breath. Water dripped in broken rhythm from some unseen cistern, answered by the soft shifting of leaves and tendrils. The place was not silent, and its soundscape suggested a thing listening as keenly as it was growing.

Bartholemeow drifted ahead unseen, drawn by curiosity to a peculiar arrangement of mirrors. Smaller glasses stood in a circle about a larger, ornate centerpiece, each joined to its neighbor by thin silver chain that glimmered with a subtle charge. None of the smaller mirrors reflected the present. They flickered instead through fragments of the evening above, each image resolving only long enough to show a single figure gazing into their own reflection, and in each stolen glimpse, a deeper thing was laid bare.

Hat was the first to lay hand upon the central mirror. It answered with no light and no image, only a pressure, intangible yet heavy, as though it waited upon some question not yet asked. When they tried to command it, to force from it a useful truth, it refused outright. The magic here was not so easily deceived.

Then, unbidden, it showed them a thing far more intimate.

Hat’s reflection rose to the surface, not as he appeared but as he felt: the ache of not belonging, the hollow place where a tribe, a people, ought to have been. The company did not merely see it. They understood it, pressed directly into the mind, an insight not earned but given.

The mirrors were no tools of observation. They were instruments of exposure, and the knowledge settled uneasily among the company. Valuable, perhaps, but dangerous in ways that ran far deeper than coin.

Elsewhere in the chamber, Barnaby uncovered magic of another sort. Upon the wall hung a portrait of Destiny and her staff, and into each figure had been woven a lock of true hair. Enchantment clung to every strand, subtle but undeniable. Binding magic. Older and more personal than any common spell.

Nearby, a chest gave up its contents without protest: silvery vials of liquid that shimmered like quicksilver, and a carefully wrapped manuscript bearing a thesis upon a thing called “liquid confidence.” Strange fare, and clearly worth the hiding.

Yet it was the far door, rotting and half-collapsed at the chamber’s edge, that claimed their attention last.

Beyond it, something sang. Not with a voice, but with a grotesque imitation of one. A lullaby, soft and uneven, shaped from a sound that had no right to carry melody. It grated against the senses like flesh dragged across rough stone, and still it held a tune.

Bartholemeow answered by instinct, weaving a fragile harmony into the creature’s disjointed song. The work was clumsy at first. The melody slipped and faltered, refusing to settle into anything the ear could predict. But slowly, note by note, he found its rhythm, and when the door opened the truth showed itself plainly enough.

Darkness, not as absence, but as a thing thick and present in the room.

They cast light into it, and the answer came swift and violent. A shriek tore from within, and the dark lashed out to destroy the intrusion, swallowing the brightness whole as though offended by the very notion of it.

So they changed their tack. No flame. No brilliance. Only sound.

One by one they stepped within, guided by instinct and music rather than sight. The floor yielded beneath their feet, soft and uneven. The walls, if walls they could be called, shifted at their touch, recoiling at first, then hesitating. It was no room at all, but a creature, and Barnaby, having moved deeper than the rest, felt it more keenly than any of them: the subtle change in its motion, the way it ceased withdrawing and began to linger, testing, pressing close in curiosity and trying to understand.

As the lullaby grew steadier, joined now by softer voices in accompaniment, the creature answered in kind. Its grotesque tones softened and lost their edge. The shrillness faded into something almost gentle, almost childlike. It was listening, and more than that, learning.

Then, as though satisfied, it parted. The mass of flesh shifted and opened, revealing a passage beyond: a chamber lit with soft and welcoming light, a space hidden all the while behind what had seemed an impassable wall. No key had been needed, and no force, only understanding.

Behind them the creature settled once more into stillness, its lullaby quieter now, almost content. Ahead waited the promise of their quarry, and the company set themselves to it.

Session Notes

  • The session opens with a recap of the party’s previous accomplishments inside Destiny’s manor:

    • The party’s plan to overstay their welcome in the interdimensional hole on the ceiling of the elevator succeeded.
    • They dealt with the challenges posed by a single locked door, ultimately breaking into it and then repairing it so that it appeared more or less normal afterward.
    • They ransacked the executive office of Destiny, President and CEO of Destiny Lifestyle and Wellness Products.
    • Among the things they found in the office were several interesting objects, including books and a passage-gem ring that allows someone to leave Destiny’s office directly.

  • As the party prepares to leave the office and step into the hallway, the DM calls for a modified luck check for the group:

    • On an 11 or higher, the “status quo remains.”
    • On a 6 to 10, something may happen that gives the party a moment to react.
    • On a 1 to 5, they may not have time to react.
    • Hat rolls and, after inspiration is granted to Thalmiir and Waer’dara for their earlier drunken misery, the roll is rerolled into a much better result.

  • A high Perception result from the previous session is carried over:

    • The party still hears footsteps in the distance.
    • The footsteps, which had previously been somewhere to the south, are now receding.
    • Bartholomeow, who is invisible and scouting ahead, confirms that the coast appears clear.

  • Bartholomeow scouts the hallway outside the office:

    • The hallway is described as long and utilitarian.
    • At the end of the hall on the right is a closed door.
    • To the right is a wider hall ending at a set of double doors that appear to be another elevator.
    • Bartholomeow reports back that the elevator doors look like the doors they are looking for.

  • Thalmiir takes charge of moving the group forward and explicitly tells the party not to kill anyone unless absolutely necessary:

    • He frames the party as intruders causing trouble rather than people entitled to start a fight.
    • He says that if they find someone doing something truly heinous, then violence can be reconsidered.
    • The others jokingly acknowledge his leadership.

  • The group reviews the current mission and their motivations:

    • Barnaby’s primary job is to recover the magical orchid stolen from the sprites.

    • The party also acknowledges that they are interested in taking anything valuable they find during the mission.

    • Sterling encouraged them to pursue the opportunity and to make the most of it, while preserving his legal distance from anything illegal they might choose to do.

    • The group discusses their finances and their payments to Sterling:

      • They confirm another payment is due in 10 days.
      • The muffin business previously covered its own expenses and generated profit.
      • It is unclear in the moment whether those profits were formally applied toward Sterling’s payments.
      • The bookkeeping for the business and the payments is unresolved and tabled for later.

  • Hat checks the tracking pin that had previously been planted on Destiny:

    • The pin indicates that Destiny is somewhere downstairs, likely on the first floor.
    • The location is not precise, but the information is consistent with her being below the party’s current position on the second floor.
    • Hat notes that if he becomes distracted by something exciting, he may stop paying close attention to the pin.

  • The party begins creeping down the hallway toward the elevator:

    • A group Stealth check is made.
    • The party is not especially subtle, particularly because Bhakris is large, armored, and noisy.
    • Even so, the carpeted stone hallway helps absorb some of the sound.
    • No one causes a major blunder, and they make it to the elevator area.

  • The party uses the passage-gem ring to activate the second elevator:

    • Thalmiir inserts the ring into the brass panel’s indentation.
    • The elevator doors open with a ding.
    • This elevator is smaller and less grand than the one they previously used to reach the second floor, but it operates on similar magical technology.
    • There is a brass panel and an opal panel for selecting the direction of travel.
    • The group packs themselves tightly inside.

  • Before descending, the party briefly debates whether to explore for valuables first or go directly for the orchid:

    • Thalmiir argues for poking around for “shinies.”
    • Waer’dara points out that if they trigger an alarm before finding the orchid, they may be forced to flee empty-handed.
    • The party notes that they do not actually know the exact location of the orchid, only that they strongly suspect it is somewhere in the secret underground area they are entering.
    • As they hold the elevator open while debating, it begins making an impatient beeping noise.
    • Thalmiir chooses to send it down.

  • The descent is long and noticeably different from their earlier elevator ride:

    • The ride is rougher and possibly slower.
    • As the elevator descends, the air becomes more humid.
    • The scent shifts to a slightly dank, musty, decomposing smell—more like rich soil or compost than anything toxic or slaughterhouse-like.

  • The elevator opens into a damp stone basement chamber:

    • The room is somewhat irregular in shape and not particularly large.

    • The walls on the right side are covered in creeping vines and unusual flowering plants.

    • The chamber has the faint smell of rot and healthy soil.

    • The vegetation moves subtly on its own; some flowers bloom and withdraw, and some plants resemble Venus flytraps.

    • Water can be heard dripping somewhere in the room.

    • The visible major features include:

      • A collection of freestanding mirrors arranged around a larger central ornate mirror, all connected by silver chains.
      • Another, different mirror across from the elevator with some kind of smeared substance and a glyph on it.
      • A large oil painting on the left wall above alchemical-looking equipment.
      • A wooden chest nestled among plants near the elevator.
      • A door or former doorway blocked by a rotting wooden covering.

  • Bartholomeow goes to investigate the mirror array first:

    • As he leaves the elevator area, he notices the wooden chest among the plants.
    • He continues to the mirrors instead of changing priorities.
    • The mirrors are visibly magical; magical energy pulses along the silver chains.
    • The peripheral mirrors do not reflect what is physically in front of them.
    • Instead, they cycle through unstable images of views from upstairs in the building.
    • These images appear to be snapshots rather than live views.
    • In each image that snaps into focus, at least one person is clearly looking into a mirror elsewhere in the building.
    • Bartholomeow, having paid close attention to the partygoers upstairs, recognizes that these are scenes from earlier in the evening rather than the current moment.
    • He concludes that this setup resembles a magical security-camera system, but one tied to moments when people looked at mirrors upstairs.

  • Bartholomeow attempts to understand the mirror magic:

    • He rolls Arcana.
    • He determines that this is not illusion magic despite its appearance.
    • He calls the others’ attention to the mirrors.

  • Hat also examines the mirrors:

    • He sees the same cycling scenes of people from upstairs.
    • He does not recognize specific partygoers as readily as Bartholomeow.
    • An Arcana check reveals that this is divination magic.
    • The central ornate mirror does not reflect those who approach it; instead it shows only cloudy, roiling nothingness.
    • Hat determines that the central mirror is the key part of the apparatus.

  • Hat touches the central mirror:

    • He receives the impression that the mirror is waiting for input or asking for something, though the exact question is unclear.
    • The others joke that it wants a login and password.

  • Bartholomeow tries to use Destiny’s recorded voice to interact with the mirror:

    • He has the voice-capture device speak in Destiny’s voice and say, “Show me the important thing!”
    • The mirror’s mist briefly begins to coalesce into something, but then disperses again.
    • The party infers that a more specific command may be needed.

  • When the name “Destiny” is spoken aloud, the mirror reacts:

    • An image of Destiny herself appears, looking at herself in the mirror.
    • This suggests the mirror responds to names and can produce magically meaningful images connected to those names.

  • The party experiments further with the central mirror:

    • They try asking it to show Saffron Moonflower.
    • Because Saffron was not at the party, nothing meaningful manifests.
    • This suggests the mirror’s divinatory function may be tied to people who interacted with the mirrors upstairs or who are otherwise part of this system.

  • Hat says his own name to the mirror:

    • The mirror shows Hat.

    • The image is accompanied by a magical intuition rather than ordinary observation.

    • Everyone present understands, through the magic, a painful truth about Hat:

      • He wants to fit in with his people.
      • He feels the pain of not belonging and of not truly being part of a tribe.
      • His hope of finding “his people” is deeply important to him and visibly written across his being.

    • For Hat, this repeats the unpleasant emotional experience he already had earlier when interacting with mirrors in the manor.

    • For the rest of the party, this is their first direct exposure to the mirror’s ability to reveal private emotional truths.

    • Bartholomeow immediately identifies the device as a kind of blackmail machine and jokes that Hat can now be blackmailed about his feelings.

    • The party responds kindly to Hat, telling him he fits in with them and praising his hat.

  • The party discusses what to do about the mirror apparatus:

    • Hat suggests blowing the mirrors up.
    • Bartholomeow agrees that whatever they do, they should do it after securing the orchid, because damaging the mirrors will definitely be noticed.
    • The group also briefly considers whether the mirrors might themselves be valuable enough to steal.
    • Barnaby points out that small, portable valuables would be much more practical than hauling away large magical mirrors.
    • Bartholomeow counters that blackmail information about wealthy or powerful people might itself be highly valuable.

  • The party tests the mirror with the name of a law officer Bhakris knows:

    • When Bhakris provides the deputy sheriff’s name, the mirror responds.
    • The resulting magical intuition reveals intense guilt over misdeeds committed under the color of law.
    • This confirms that the mirror can reveal compromising emotional truths about named individuals connected to its system.

  • Hat checks the tracking pin on Destiny again:

    • He discovers that Destiny is moving away from the party’s position.
    • His best estimate is that she is going upstairs from wherever she had been on the first floor.
    • Since the party had broken and repaired a door to get where they are, the fact that Destiny is moving upward increases concern that she may be approaching the path they used.
    • Thalmiir concludes they do not have unlimited time to investigate.

  • The party turns to the wooden chest:

    • Hat performs a thieves’ tools check to inspect it.
    • The result is very good.
    • The chest is neither trapped nor locked.
    • Hat theatrically pretends he had to pick the lock anyway.

  • Inside the chest the party finds:

    • Several pieces of parchment rolled into a cylinder and tied with a black velvet ribbon.
    • Three small vials of silvery liquid that resembles mercury.
    • Barnaby and the others immediately note that the vials appear magical.

  • The party also reviews their carrying capacity and storage situation:

    • Thalmiir’s “bag” is clarified not to be an ordinary bag of holding.
    • It effectively functions like a deposit bag that teleports stored contents into an inaccessible vault, rather than allowing easy retrieval.
    • Barnaby confirms that Hat did make a true bag of holding, and that is what the party has been using to bring things into the manor.
    • The party begins putting recovered items into the bag of holding for later review.

  • Thalmiir rummages through the alchemical side of the room looking for valuables:

    • He finds mostly practical alchemical supplies—mortars, pestles, jars, jugs, and other equipment.
    • These items have the sort of mundane value expected of an operating apothecary, but nothing stands out as especially valuable treasure.

  • While examining that side of the room, the party gets a closer look at the large oil painting:

    • The painting depicts Destiny standing in the middle with her entire staff arranged around her in the lobby of the building.
    • There are six staff members in the portrait.
    • Four golden-masked guards loom behind them.
    • Affixed to each figure in the painting is a lock of hair.
    • The hairs seem to correspond to the people depicted.

  • The party reacts strongly to the painting:

    • They immediately suspect foul or controlling magic.
    • Hat calls it “foul magic” similar in spirit to the mirrors.
    • The group speculates that the hair might represent a means of power over the staff, likening it to voodoo-like sympathetic magic.
    • They discuss the possibility of burning the painting or the hair to create chaos upstairs and cover their escape, but again defer action until after the orchid is found.

  • Barnaby casts Detect Magic to survey the room:

    • The mirror contraption on the right wall is confirmed as divination magic.
    • The separate mirror on the north side of the room is associated with abjuration magic.
    • Each of the hairs attached to the painting carries enchantment magic.
    • The rolled-up documents from the chest are also associated with enchantment magic.
    • The three silvery vials are magical as well.
    • Barnaby clarifies whether the magic on the documents is generic enchantment or evidence of an actual enchantment spell; the DM notes that he is being somewhat loose with Detect Magic, but that there is definitely enchantment associated with the papers.

  • Hat briefly prepares to ignite the hair painting:

    • He has Mage Hand holding a lit candle and also has a tinderbox.
    • Thalmiir physically blows out the candle and tells him to wait.
    • The group agrees that if they are going to sabotage the room, they should do so when they are ready to leave.

  • Barnaby examines the hairs more closely:

    • He confirms that the hairs appear to come from different people rather than all from one source.
    • The differences in color and length support that conclusion.
    • He makes an Arcana check to determine what would happen if the hair were removed or destroyed.
    • His result is not especially strong, but combined with Hat’s follow-up check, the party recalls fae bargains that require something intimate like a lock of hair to bind a person.
    • They conclude that burning or damaging the hair would likely interfere with the spell somehow, though they do not know exactly how.
    • Barnaby suggests the painting may function as Destiny’s organizational system for remembering whose bargaining token belongs to whom.

  • The party then investigates the separate, abjuration-linked mirror:

    • Thalmiir is interested because if it protects Destiny, removing or breaking it could help them.

    • The mirror is silver-edged rather than gold-edged.

    • A glyph has been smeared onto it in a thick, viscous substance.

    • Waer’dara recognizes the glyph:

      • She saw it only minutes earlier on the cover of Destiny’s herbarium.

    • The mirror is set on a small table.

    • There is a bottle on the tabletop.

    • Underneath the table are shelves holding jars filled with flower petals.

  • Looking more closely at the setup around the abjuration mirror:

    • Thalmiir notices that the smeared substance contains flower petals.
    • The jars under the table are labeled with names of flowers.
    • Barnaby asks what kinds of flowers they are.
    • The party hears examples such as wild snapdragon, southern valerian, common waxflower, and others.
    • Waer’dara connects this back to the herbarium, which included correspondences between flowers and magical beings.
    • The party realizes the jars reproduce the same flower-to-creature correspondences from the herbarium.
    • Among the jars is one labeled “Lazaree orchid.”
    • By consulting the herbarium and matching the petals, they determine that the goo smeared on the mirror incorporates Lazaree orchid petals.

  • The party infers the function of the abjuration mirror:

    • They understand that the Lazaree orchid is associated with sprites.
    • They conclude that Destiny has used the orchid petals as part of a ward to keep sprite-like beings out of her home.
    • This explains why their sprite allies could not enter.
    • Thalmiir suggests wiping the mirror clean.
    • Barnaby again advises caution, pointing out that tampering with it may be detectable and that they still have not found the stolen orchid.
    • The group acknowledges that they are building a long list of things to sabotage later but have not yet completed the main mission.

  • Barnaby opens and examines the papers from the chest:

    • The black velvet ribbon itself is not magical.
    • The document is clearly recognizable to Barnaby as a thesis.
    • The cover page reads: Liquid Confidence, Its Development and Applications.
    • It is described as “a thesis prepared for Strixhaven University, Silverquill College” by Nathaniel Mirville.
    • Barnaby, being a Strixhaven alumnus, does not recognize the author.
    • He confirms that he would not be expected to know every student who ever prepared a thesis there.
    • The party infers that the three magical silvery vials may relate to the thesis and puts both the thesis and the vials into the bag of holding for later study.

  • The party finally turns to the rotting door:

    • As they approach it, they hear a peculiar sound on the other side.

    • The sound is a soft humming of a lullaby.

    • However, it does not sound like a normal voice:

      • It is described as though a side of beef were being rubbed against coarse sandpaper, causing some membrane to vibrate musically.
      • The effect is deeply unnatural and unpleasant, though clearly intentional rather than random.

    • Barnaby makes a Perception check using smell and succeeds very well.

    • He detects a combination of meat and moss, along with rotting vegetation and some rotting-meat odor on the far side of the door.

  • Bartholomeow immediately responds to the lullaby musically:

    • He asks whether he can create a harmony or flamenco-style accompaniment for the melody on his lute.
    • The DM describes the melody as halting and erratic, making accompaniment difficult.
    • Bartholomeow rolls Performance and manages reasonably well.
    • He finds that if he could hear the sound more clearly from inside, he could probably adapt better.

  • The party opens the rotting door:

    • The door is functional enough to swing open, though it feels unstable.
    • Behind it is impenetrable darkness.
    • Even characters with darkvision see absolutely nothing within it.
    • The darkness is therefore clearly not ordinary darkness.
    • This is unsettling to the whole group, especially those accustomed to relying on darkvision.

  • With the door open, Bartholomeow plays more effectively:

    • He continues trying to accompany the strange lullaby.
    • Once he locks into it, he tells Thalmiir that he has found a surprisingly good beat with whatever is in the “dark closet.”

  • Hat tests the darkness with a candle held by Mage Hand:

    • As soon as the candle crosses the threshold, the lullaby stops.
    • A horrible shriek erupts from within.
    • Something amorphous with appendages strikes the candle out of the air and destroys it.
    • The party infers that light is provoking the creature or the space.
    • The candle is lost.

  • Once the room settles slightly, Bartholomeow tries switching from accompaniment to a lullaby of his own:

    • The horrific sound becomes angry for a while after the candle incident, then gradually calms again.
    • The party continues experimenting with sound as a means of interacting with it.

  • Hat checks Destiny’s tracking pin again during this tense moment:

    • He reports that Destiny is still upstairs.
    • She may be back in her office at this point.
    • She is no longer moving.
    • This information is shared with the party and adds urgency to the situation.

  • Barnaby uses a more durable light source to probe the darkness:

    • He casts Light on a ball bearing and rolls it into the room.
    • As soon as the glowing ball bearing crosses the threshold, the shrieking resumes.
    • The ball bearing survives longer than the candle and is battered violently around the dark room, giving the party fleeting glimpses.
    • The light source ultimately flies back out and strikes Barnaby in the forehead for no damage.
    • From these glimpses, the party learns that the thing inside has many appendages and can attack with considerable force.

  • Hat tests whether it hates light specifically or intrusions in general:

    • He rolls a normal, unlit ball bearing into the room.
    • This time there is no violent reaction.
    • The ball bearing simply disappears into the darkness with only a faint sound.
    • The party concludes that the light itself is a major trigger.

  • Thalmiir decides to enter the darkness:

    • He charges in without bringing a light source, since the party has learned that light provokes the thing.
    • Inside, he cannot see anything at all.
    • The floor is squishy rather than stone.
    • He keeps bumping into soft, fleshy masses that recoil from his touch.
    • Each contact produces a grunt or interruption in the lullaby.
    • The creature or environment seems unhappy about him being there, but does not attack him as violently as it attacked the light sources.
    • Bartholomeow’s continuing lullaby is explicitly said to be helping calm the situation.

  • Thalmiir attempts to investigate the inside of the dark chamber:

    • He rolls Investigation at disadvantage because of the absolute darkness.
    • His result is poor.
    • Even so, he learns that the chamber is not as large as it first felt.
    • It is longer than it is wide.
    • Eventually he reaches an end where the squishy surface stops recoiling and becomes more or less fixed and solid.
    • Pressing at the periphery makes the entity grumpy.
    • He concludes there may be more in there, but he does not find any obvious object or orchid.

  • Bhakris, not to be outdone in bravery, also enters the darkness:

    • He likewise avoids bringing light.
    • He experiences the same general environment as Thalmiir: living, fleshy masses all around him.
    • He does, however, find the previously thrown ball bearing.
    • As the music from Hat and Bartholomeow continues, the room becomes noticeably calmer.
    • The recoiling becomes less violent and eventually stops.
    • Barnaby, using his passive insight while inside the chamber, gets the impression that the entity may have tried to nuzzle him.

  • The party realizes a crucial fact about the chamber:

    • Whatever is in there is not a separate monster occupying a room.
    • The creature itself is the room.
    • Barnaby asks how large it seems and understands that he is effectively standing inside the creature’s body or grown mass.
    • This leads the party to doubt that the stolen orchid is simply sitting inside the darkness alongside it.

  • Barnaby makes a very high Arcana/Nature-related roll to identify the phenomenon:

    • He recalls reading about such a creature in the Witherbloom library stacks at Strixhaven.
    • He remembers a process by which such a creature can be attracted to grow into a room or hallway and serve as a biological lock or guard.
    • The source he read was critical of this as a security measure because it relies entirely on intruders not knowing how to deal with it.
    • The correct way to get through is not violence, force, or a key.
    • One simply needs to calm it, befriend it, and make it feel safe.
    • The lullaby and soothing behavior are already moving in the correct direction.
    • Barnaby concludes that if everyone comes inside, remains calm, avoids light, and makes soothing sounds, the creature should open.

  • Barnaby communicates the solution to the party:

    • He tells them to keep the music going.
    • He calls everyone inside.
    • He emphasizes that there must be no light.
    • He uses “lo-fi” as a joking shorthand for the mood they need.

  • The party cooperates to soothe the living lock:

    • Bartholomeow transitions from lullaby into smoother, gentler music.
    • Thalmiir asks softly whether Bartholomeow knows “The Stone Remembers,” a mournful dwarven tune about faded glories and the past.
    • Bartholomeow does know it; it is a standard tune in dwarven areas.
    • He begins to play it, and Thalmiir softly sings along.
    • The party assembles in the darkness, making nonthreatening sounds and staying calm.

  • The biological lock opens:

    • The mass of flesh shifts around the party.
    • The horrible sound changes into something soothed—cooing, sighing, and peaceful.
    • The living mass parts.
    • This reveals a lighted room at the far end of the hallway beyond the darkness.
    • The party appears to have solved the living lock and to be on the verge of finding their objective.
    • The session ends at this moment, with the treasure room—or at least the next chamber—finally revealed.

  • At the end of the session, the party’s immediate unresolved state is:

    • They have not yet secured the orchid, but they now seem to have reached the final chamber where it may be found.

    • They have identified multiple magical features in Destiny’s basement:

      • A divinatory mirror system that reveals private emotional truths and records mirror interactions from upstairs.
      • An enchantment-linked hair painting likely tied to bargains or control over Destiny’s staff.
      • An abjuration mirror warded with Lazaree orchid petals to repel sprite-like beings.
      • Three magical silvery vials and an enchanted thesis titled Liquid Confidence, Its Development and Applications by Nathaniel Mirville of Silverquill College, Strixhaven University.

    • They have repeatedly discussed sabotaging the mirrors, the painting, and the ward after obtaining the orchid, but have not yet acted on any of those plans.

    • They have also confirmed that Destiny is upstairs and no longer moving, increasing pressure on the party to finish quickly.