Ceremorphosis

The power from the tortured dwarves had been channelled upwards through the centre of the ceiling, so it was no surprise that the stairs up to the next level were set at the outer edge; one at each quadrant.

Splitting up, the three heroes started up one each, at the head of a group of Githyanki warriors. Kazoth joined the group following Sack, who put his invisibility ring back on as he climbed.

Reaching the top, the group discovered another single-chamber floor, almost filled with a huge pool similar to the brain pools below - but much bigger. Enclosed by a raised wall 4' high, this pool contained, not an Elder Brain, but about thirty smaller individual brains, bobbing gently in the viscous fluid. In the centre was a misshapen, fused mass, clearly an accretion of around twenty more such brains. There had plainly been more in the pool before the power flow from below was interrupted, as there were shreds of neural matter drifting here and there, and the pale blue fluid was tainted with blood around them. Sprawled atop the rim of the pool, which formed a circular platform about 3' wide, were about a hundred dead Mind Flayers, clearly killed by the psychic backlash from the events below.

Amongst all this death and ruin, the only living creatures were gathered near the stairwell Surya and his force were emerging from. Twenty Githmorein warriors were gathered around a single Mind Flayer, the latter armoured in faintly glowing plate armour and carrying a sword. Behind this group was a second Flayer, this one wearing the shimmering robes more common among its' kind. Close behind him was a purplish curtain of energy, very similar to the Gate in Nisur.

As the invaders spilled out into the chamber, an urgent mindvoice sounded in their heads. It seemed to be coming from the non-martial flayer, and was conciliatory in nature. It suggested that they had achieved what they had come for, by destroying 'this' (clearly indicating the large brain pool). Maybe it was a play for time; maybe it was genuine; maybe it was a trick. The hate of Githyanki for Mind Flayers was bottomless; Hildraft was still hot for revenge; and Sack and Surya weren't about to stop and go home now.

With a bound, the Tellaran was across from the stairwell and into combat with the Githmorein warriors blocking his access to the last two Mind Flayers. His swords flashed and sang as he cut three of them down like ninepins, bringing him face to face with the armoured Ithilid, who brought his blade to the ready, unafraid, as they converged.

Sack used the last Teleport his Helm was capable of that day, and flicked himself across the chamber, to appear at the rear of the group of foes. The robed Mind Flayer had just begun to turn towards the portal behind him when the half-orc piled into him from the back. The Blade of the Sun and Bloodfang flickered invisibly, and the hapless Ithilid crashed into the wall before sliding down it in a trail of black blood.

The Githyanki warriors behind Surya and Sack, the majority of whom couldn't reach their Githmorein foes in the narrow corridor, began to spring up onto the rim of the pool, wielding bows to rain arrows down on the close-packed mass of Githmorein. These in turn began to try and fight their way up onto the rim, and more casualties occurred.

On the far side, nearly half a mile away, Hildraft was quite aware that he couldn't reach the melee in time to make a difference, and turned his attention to the pool of brains. His first conclusion was that the inhabitants were the brains of Mind Flayers, and it seemed obvious that to disrupt whatever they were doing was a priority. He chuckled slightly, and cast a Stone Shape. Reaching to the limit of his magic's range, he sculpted a rough conduit from the bottom of the pool out through the tower wall to the outside.

With a viscous sucking noise, the contents began to drain away, pluming out into the strange space between the fragments of Heppetah, much to the consternation of the dragon-riding Githyanki orbiting the monolith. The draining took some minutes, at the end of which the large mass and some of the smaller brains were left stranded on the pool bottom. Closer examination allowed Hildraft to revise his opinion. They were not Flayer brains. They were dwarvish brains. The true horror of what had been perpetrated here dawned on him. With merciful fury he unleashed a Firestorm, scouring the drained pool with purifying flames.

Engaged with the armoured Flayer at last, Surya traded blows with it, wounding it but taking several heavy strikes in return. Behind him, one of the Githmorein he'd slain rose shuddering to its' feet under the remorseless power of the Sword of the Dead Legions, and began to attack its' former comrades. Unused to the undead, the godless Githmorein were badly shaken by this uncanny phenomenon. Surya forged forward as they quailled, and the warrior Flayer was cut down.

The morale of the Githmorein warriors crumbled at this, and they broke ranks to flee. But the hatred of the Githyanki for these of their kin who'd willingly re-embraced the Ithilid yoke was unquenchable. All were slain.

Hildraft reached Surya by Stone Shaping a bridge over the scorched pool, and worked a Healing Circle to anneal his wounds and those of their allies. This done, they ascended the stairs again, to the next level of the monolith.

This they discovered to be shaped and dimly illuminated to resemble a system of caves, dotted with small pools containing the same nutrient fluid as the brain pools and swarming with tiny mauve tadpole-like creatures. Sack paused to unpack a tiny vial of fluid and dump it into one pool, topping it off with his own waste fluids; the tadpole-creatures began to die almost instantly.

Along the walls, humanoid forms lay or slumped huddled on the floor. Some moaned and writhed, others were still; some were human, elf or Gith; some were Ithilid; and some were an obscene half-way between.

Alerted by screams of terror, Hildraft and Surya pressed forwards through the caves and came on a dreadful scene. Held helpless by two Githmorein warriors, a young woman - an elf, they noticed - was being forced to kneel as a Mind Flayer approached her, carrying one of the tadpole-creatures in a pair of pincers. The vile, slimy little shape wriggled and squirmed, almost in eagerness.

This was the ulltimate horror of the unspeakable Mind Flayer life cycle.

Ceremorphosis.

Once implanted through ear, nostril or eye, the tadpole would eat its' way into the hapless victim's brain over several days, consuming nervous tissue and gaining mass at a nearly equal rate. When the process was completed, the victim's brain would be completely replaced by the tadpole's bloated tissue, neurologically melded onto the remains of the lower brainstem and assuming complete control of the body's nervous system. The victim would then be dead, but with their body living on with a parasite - rapidly emerging into sentience - serving as its' brain. A further process of transformation would change the body tissue's structure into that of Ithilid flesh, and a new Mind Flayer would be born.

Not this time however. Surya and Hildraft sprang forward, slaying the unprepared Ithilid with a single blow from behind. Freed, the wretched prisoner was numbed with shock but deeply grateful; Hildraft directed her to the Portal he had left open. The Githyanki spread out across the Ceremorphosis chambers, destroying the pools and mercifully ending the suffering of the victims of this dreadful process.

When all was done, the heroes led the way up the next - and final - flight of stairs, emerging into a much smaller chamber. The only contents of this were two of the same Portal stones as had been found on the small fragment Surya had first arrived on when he stepped through the Gate from Nisur. Between these, the intruders could just see the remnnants of fading energies as a Gate finished closing.

Sack put his shoulder to one, and heaved, sending it crashing to the floor, where it split into several pieces. A few minutes' work was quite sufficient to reduce the rest to gravel, blocking the Ithilids' easy access to Hepptah. Kazoth reported that the airborne Gith outside the Monolith were seeing the surviving Flayers and Githmorein on the other fragments fleeing by Portals, and declared the strike a success. Pursuing them to wherever they'd come from was not part of his mandate; he was prepared to return and report to his Queen as things stood.

Hildraft decided at this point that he did not want to return to the Astral Plane with the strike force. A shared enemy was enough to justify alliance with evil creatures so far. He elected to return to Nisur instead, and stepped through his own Gate, closing it behind him as he did so.