Before him stretched a Metal Corridor cast entirely from steel, its gray panels and rivets gleaming with an aged, cold sheen in the dim light.
The corridor joined the ceiling, and countless branching passages crisscrossed at the edge of his vision, forming an extraordinarily intricate maze.
Recessed Runes Pedestals lined the walls every few steps. Most had gone dark, though a few still retained a faint afterglow, casting weak blue patches across the iron surfaces.
At the maze entrance, Renato unfurled a yellowed Magic Scroll and recited the activation incantation word by word.
Pale blue-green magic rose from the paper, enveloping his body like mist and seeping into every inch of muscle beneath the gaps in his Plate Armor.
Cat's Grace took hold, filling his entire body with magic. Renato rolled his shoulders, feeling as nimble as though he had shed his heavy Plate Armor.
He then drank a bottle of Oil of Speed. Moments later, a faint, tingling energy spread through his extremities. With that, his preparations were complete.
Renato put away the empty bottle and glanced at the female Dragonborn still working beside him.
Klauthsura crouched before a collection of psionic instruments, her slit pupils fixed on the flowing blue patterns across their surfaces. Her slender fingers swept continuously over the touch controls as she tried to finish the psionic terrain scan and data modeling as quickly as possible.
The Mind Flayer had yet to finish examining this floor's structure. It would probably take a little longer.
Renato turned his gaze away, took a Runestone shimmering with a dark red, ruby-like luster from deep inside his pocket, and lightly weighed it in his palm. Then he ran his fingers over the fine Infernal Script engraved on its surface.
Morlock Scorching Heart, a Baron of the Nine Hells, was