Session 75

The party continues to journey through Votuum's Spiral in search of Concludion and Kitano.
== Summary ==
After having flown into the mists surrounding the colosseum, Teer discovered himself back in the library, Ephemera and Sors arriving soon after. Content that their search of the colosseum was complete, they decided to check out the model of the shack and telescope in the library before moving back into the gallery. Upon opening the door to the miniature building, they found themselves inside the building it was a model of. Everything was covered in dust, plants were in the window, and various knickknacks on a table near the door. Teer inspected the plants, while Sors searched unsuccessfully for a secret passage in the room. They also inspected to objects on the table, finding a clean but plain handkerchief, smooth circles of brass, and an unfinished soapstone carving of a ship. Content that the objects were not going to transport them to other places, they decided to check out the telescope at the top of the hill outside. 
As they ascended the stairs in the hill, darkness fell, the bottom of the hill being in daylight, while the top of the hill was nighttime. At the top of the hill was a telescope some thirty feet tall, a stool beside it, and a table with a closed book beside that. The lens of the telescope was discovered to be broken, and what little of the night sky they could see was different from the one they knew. Unable to repair the lens and finding nothing else of interest, the party used the book to return once more to the library. They attempted to repair the miniature telescope in the library, hoping that perhaps it would repair the full scale one, but found that there was no lens at all to be repaired. Kiono mentioned that she had found a book describing unknown constellations that perhaps might be spotted through the telescope, but unable to use it, they decided to continue on
They returned to the painting gallery and went through the painting of an excavation site. An abandoned mine, there were signs of people having been there, including equipment and footprints, but it was impossible to tell whether Concludion and Kitano had been there. They journeyed deeper in, finding along the way some samples of white stones with blue striations, which were incredibly flakey to the touch. Further in they discovered what appeared to be the main operations. The room overlooked a large hole, presumably where the mining took place. There were more samples of the rock, shards of a broken glass-like substance, a furnace with a ring of arcane sigils on it, and a notebook that appeared to be a log of the site's activities. Kiono discovered that the forge appeared to refine and imbue in one step the substance that was put inside it. Teer, looking through the notebook, discovered that it was a substance called arcanite, and that they created lenses for the telescope from it. They were single use lenses, however, and the mine had dried up. The workers had abandoned this location in favor of a second site. 
Ephemera, continuing to inspect the floor, discovered signs of a scuffle. There was blood, blue-green in color, but very old and dried. In that moment, a giant spider descended from the ceiling, surprising the party. Kiono used to turn Sors into a T-rex, who then promptly destroyed the spider. In a moment of silliness, she attempted to eat the giant spider, but nearly choked on a treasure chest that had been webbed to the spider's abdomen. Teer attempted to open the chest, but upon doing so, many spider legs reached out and dragged him into the chest. In a moment of panic, Ephemera instructed Sors to smash the chest with her tail. Upon doing so, the chest was destroyed and Teer popped back into existence. He had been in a small box-like area, dark and big enough for only a couple of people. He was covered in many small spiders, which they immediately removed from him. 
The party continued further into the mines. They discovered a room that seemed to be part storage and part research. Kiono, curious about a microscope in the room, looked into it and found a microscopic research facility with a central crystal cylinder surrounded by arcane devices. She then found herself in that room. Teer, having not been transported with her and Ephemera, took the microscope to Sors, who was still Polymorphed, and had her go through as well. After checking the final room in the caverns, finding only another mining pit, went through himself. 
The research facility appeared to the primary lab of the Spiral. The central column in the room glowed, similar to the arcane core in Rama va Arel, but was not of sky elf make. Filling the large room were arcane apparatuses, an empty specimen cage, and a number of books logging the activities of the center. These books explained that many different things were being studied here. Votuum, referred to as the "master," apparently met with a number of entities, including one called "the Hunter" who was very useful in finding research subjects for them. There were also notes of a construct called a Beholdervice, and that they were using increasingly more powerful beholderkin in their work. The last entry referenced a recent lucky find, but did not elaborate. There were also notes of pirates off the docks, and that the workers were trying to figure out how and where they were coming from. Also being researched were ways to make the telescope lenses last more than one use. One book noted that Votuum had become more secretive toward the end, frustrating the lab employees. 
As Kiono informed the others of her findings in the books, a robotic, spider-like beholderkin descended the central power column and attacked them. The party was ultimately able to defeat the creature, but on death, it exploded, causing them significant damage. They decided it was time to take a short rest, after which they opted to take a closer look at the specimen cage. Another transportation vehicle, the party found themselves in a dark jail cell. There was one wall of bars, through which they could see that the room sloped somewhat, and was covered in deep water. Ephemera, unbothered by the bars, attempted to locate a key or anything of use, but ultimately was unable to find anything but bones. She inspected one of the rooms connected to this room, and found a large creature. It had numerous wounds which had been sewn shut, but from which emerged a number of tentacles. There was a sack over its head, but through a tear in it could be seen a large, bulbous yellow eye. Ephemera retreated to the cell as the creature walked through the room, then, together with Sors, pried open the cell door. They attempted to flee the jailor, but were quickly discovered by it. He captured Ephemera, putting her back into the jail cell, and subsequently jammed Teer into the bars. They were ultimately able to defeat the creature, but only barely. There was some discussion about whether Sors should continue to use the Ring of Blinking, as it had been used during the combat and resulted in ten angel statues being summoned.
== NPCs ==
=== Mentioned ===
* Concludion 
* Kitano
* Votuum
== Items ==
* 17 Hello Kitty Band-Aids (Sors, retroactive)