Eyes of the Lich Queen IC

[Sallera]

A wash of colour greets you as the door falls inward with a puff of dust, refracted firelight and moonlight filtering through the stained-glass ceiling of what appears to an exhibit hall to rival most museums. The terrace you emerge onto is lined with archaic suits of armour from various ages and places, seven silent sentinels topped with an array of war helms, masks, and feathered headdresses. Some thirty feet ahead, a shallow staircase descends to a central display area featuring glass and mahogany cases containing a barely-organized array of trinkets and relics. An elegant funeral mask sits next to a savage dagger-axe and a humble adze, shards of giant pottery are seated by an ancient scorpion bracelet; many more adorn the area, most of which would require reading of the attached brass plaques for anyone other than a dedicated scholar to place in history.

To the east hangs what some would call a masterful centerpiece, and others, an abomination of good taste. Suspended from steel cables, an alchemically preserved giant squid the size of a sailing cog gazes upward at a mural of brilliant coautls locked in combat with rakshasas and their fiendish allies. And as your gaze is drawn upward, your eyes meet those of a familiar dark-haired spellcaster, perched atop the squid next to one of its mooring cables.

"So, you followed after all. I would grant you the mercy of an opportunity to surrender, but I am sure you have already refused the same from Arielon." A touch of bitterness enters her voice, and she raises a hand in challenge as three armed, armoured and quite dead humans step out from among the displays. "If that is the way it is to be, then I will regain the standing you have cost me in the traditional manner. Come! Let us finish this before Ethras returns with my book."

Spoiler

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Init:
Xaxhan
Enemies
Daiya
Grimmgang
Shard

The upper platforms are ~10ft above the lower; Dura, atop the squid, is ~25ft above the lower platform, or 15 above the higher. Stars are the suits of armour; the black dotted lines are railings, ~3ft high.