Contents
Part 3: Starry Refuge
Once through the portal, the fullness of Kyrilla's refuge becomes apparent—as well as a terrible price she has paid in her cursed form.
12. Deepest Night
This extradimensional space is a peculiar variation on a magnificent mansion, conjured into existence by Kyrilla and her linked keystone. Despite appearing to be outdoors, the space is actually an enclosed dome with a grassy floor. The ceiling of the dome is an image of stars—the night sky of another world, without any city or moon to disrupt the light of the stars. The "mansion" consists of a single, cozy cottage in a wide meadow. The air smells like wheat in autumn but is utterly still.
It is all an easy illusion to see through, no ability check required. Any creature that walks to the outer edge of the refuge can touch the sky—that is, the dome encasing the extradimensional space—and finds it smooth and solid. The stars twinkle and the clouds drift about, but they are merely imagery. This place was never real and represents only a fantasy that Kyrilla shared with Kathikon for a time. Alas, about 30 feet from the cottage door, a statue of Kathikon kneels amid the grass, petrified by Kyrilla's gaze.
13. A Cozy Cottage
Here Kyrilla and Kathikon pretended they were whiling away eternity in some tranquil plane of existence, taking turns seeing for each other, or existing solely by touch. Everything they truly valued was here.
Treasure
A ring inset with a black diamond sits under a wooden bowl on the mantlepiece. Once, the ring was meant as a reminder of their duties here, but Kyrilla came to resent it even before it would become dangerous for her to look at it—lest she catch sight of her own reflection. It is a ring of protection.
Additionally, a simple silver tuning fork hangs from the ceiling from the same cord as another surviving chime (like the one in area 10).