Sigil: The City of Doors

Having moved past the Gates of the Mortuary, Akh immediately sensed something was wrong. The obelisk with all the names of the dead, it was... shimmering!

She rushed there only to find that the Death-of-Names wasn't at his post, and all the inscriptions on the obsidian were shifting at chaotic frequencies, making utter gibberish of the names. The corruption was progressing as the inscriptions were slithering ever further away from their original position. Akh had to act fast.

She placed her forehead against the monument. The chaos hit her hard, making her eyes roll whites, just as her luminous glyphs bore into the structure. She chanted in Illumian, wordlessly, conjuring ever new symbols to forestall the chaos.

For a long moment it looked like she was failing, as her body softened and began to slip down the column, like a peel. But then the monument began to glow with pale light Akh's glyphs were bestowing on it and the pace of garbling slowed down, then drew to a standstill, and finally, ever so reluctantly gave in and reversed toward restoring legibility. It still took forever to undo the damage, and Akh was eventually helped by other Dustmen, including Death-of-Names who had been srunned by Xaositects and dropped in some alley for being in their way.

Exhausted, Akh knelt by the monument and just remained still until her battered sigils wouldn't return to normal circulation. She looked up to ensure if the collective memory of the dead had been indeed restored. When she found some familiar names in their expected places, she was relieved.

LM3. Chaos Amuck. Arcana. Glyphic Resonance. DC25: 2d20k1+11 26

[4 Renown, I guess also 200 gp]

LM3 Hive Roll.: 1d100 25

[Thread is open.]

As the chaos was slowly receding, a woman in a green coat suddenly appeared between two tombs, as cut out from thin air. She looked around, adjusted her monocle, looked some more.

"Well, I would appear I have failed to notice one teleportation trap", declared Dare, to no one in particular.

~~~

D3LM - Hive roll: 1d100 80

"It's fortunate you're still in Sigil. Chaos seems to have been on the randomising spree." Akh remarked on approach, having shaken off her earlier quasi-fatigue.

"Miss Hoon. Not the circumstances I would have expected for our next encounter, but they'll do. And yes, I guess my mistake was offset by a stroke of luck.

I deduce you also had to deal with some unpleasant surprises? What was it for you? More illusions and traps?"

"Some vicious form of illusory script, perverting the memorial." She gestured behind her. "It's been averted."

"Great. The sooner these inconveniences are dealt with, the better.

But really, to target at the same time every district of the torus... Chaos can apparently tolerate a bit of organization and coordination if it serves their greater goal of... sowing as much mischief as possible? Really? I'm not sure these people have more than a superficial, childish vision of the concept of chaos."

The flow of Dare's speech was more jerky than usual, suggesting a light form of exhaustion.

"Unless they have become subjected to some will that shares their goals but not their methods and is capable of unleashing mayhem on a grander scale." Akh's own fatigue registered in gentle swaying of her skinny form more than in her voice. "Something similar might have already occurred with the Slaadi in Limbo. They have mobilised en masse even though they almost never do."

"While I can try to understand the logic of an entity who wanna be an agent of chaos but whose brain still nonetheless operates upon rational principles, I draw the line at guessing anything about Slaadi. As far as I know, their every action are decided by a roll of dice, and what's weird for them could simply be snake eyes."

"And yet an ephemeral golden figure was seen with a large multi-coloured group of them at the Spawning Stone, just next to one who might have been a slaad lord. I have found no precedents in recorded history of slaadi of different colours coming together to the Stone."

"Oh. Chaos is a river of lava. It cannot be stopped. Its flow constantly changes as stone melts and cools down. But it can be steered to a degree by digging trenches. Though that's quite dangerous and unreliable.

If someone is playing with that kind of fire, we better order a few extra jars of ointment for flame induced wounds, as we're very likely to all get burn."