Story/Arcs/Special/Simul's Shenanigans/1

Premise

 * The players enter the Mirror Plane for the first time, travel between a few different layers of it, and upon solving a puzzle return to Brelle who leads them to Simul's office.

An Eerie Night

 * ♫ Tzaar City IV ♫
 * The players awake to a low rumble. The home Rift is dim and all colors are muted and cast with a slight dark-purple shift.
 * Because Sara is absent, Charlotte's character will be unresponsive and cast in the same manner as the environment.
 * Apparently Dilly was absent as well due to multiple circumstances, so Leona had a similar thing.
 * As they explore the familiar areas, something is off: it is eerily quiet, save for a faint, but oddly patterned wind.

Drip, Drip

 * Farther in, the players can make out a faint splashing sound, getting louder and more defined.
 * A second spatter can eventually be heard.
 * The splash turns out to be an impossibly large drop of dark-purple liquid, which drips from the ceiling of the Commons and lands on the southeast corner of the ground floor; it phases through the floor, but splashing can be heard below.
 * (below the ground floor): the drop lands into and merges with a portion of the floor, which ripples as though it were liquid.
 * Strength save, DC 15: be pulled into the drop (if not by the portal, merely knocks prone to the ground floor).

Mirror, Mirror

 * The transported player lands in a reflection of the previous plane, but the other side seems translucent; they can see any players which have not yet crossed - ♫ Tzaar City V ♫
 * The previous dripping sound is faint and echoed, and the floor ripples each time the large drop on the other side impacts.
 * Players encounter Rules Master Rae'ei (or is it?), who plays along with their predicament.
 * DC 20 insight check: something's off about her.
 * She is cast in a similar shade to the environment.
 * Knows not of the other side, but says that she hears another drop similar to how the players describe.
 * The players cannot hear it, but she leads the way.
 * The players do see large drop as before, now in the back of the Forum. Rae'ei does not seem to know what to do with it.

Wait... Where?

 * The players appear in a reflection of the Forum, similar to before
 * Rae'ei entered, but did not appear with the rest of the players.
 * No sounds can be heard, save for those the players make.
 * When they exit, the home Rift seems to be arranged differently (rooms and hallways are not where they should be) - ♫ Tzaar City II ♫

Find Rae'ei

 * The players explore the jumbled Rift until they find Rae'ei at the Training Grounds or find Brelle, reading a book, in the Common Room.
 * Rae'ei: wondered where they went, chose to stay put
 * "We should find Brelle, she knows more about the Rift's folding."
 * Brelle (this time it is Brelle): surprised to see them here
 * Upon player questioning: not many residents are invited to the Mirror Plane (a parallel plane of the home Rift).
 * If the players found Rae'ei: dispels Rae'ei
 * Sends them a puzzle: "Fetch the black flame where the trees lie in wait."
 * "Why?" Simul's orders.

Brelle's Puzzle

 * Open Grounds, hint:
 * ♫ Taverly Enchantment ♫
 * Appearance:
 * The Memorial Tree
 * Getting the hint:
 * Just uh, touch the tree, I guess. Illusory script floats between the player and their hand.
 * The text (to the Training Grounds): "Find the tree with caustic scars."
 * Training Grounds, hint:
 * Appearance:
 * Singed and gnarled, as if the wood somehow began to melt.
 * Getting the hint:
 * Just uh, get next to the tree. Illusory script appears on its base.
 * The text (to the Open Grounds): "Find the tree that remembers the price."
 * True answer, hint:
 * "Find the trees that speak of liquid magic."
 * Study (true answer)
 * On the shelf: a bottle, containing a flame of pure shadow.
 * On contact, it vanishes.
 * Fight: summons a Shadow Manticore - ♫ Tzaar Supremacy I ♫
 * Divides players, mirror of the entity appears on the other plane - ♫ Tzaar Supremacy III ♫
 * After, the manticore bows, everyone phases back to the library on the jumbled plane, and the other plane and the twin are no longer visible.
 * The manticore reaches into its fur, pulls out the flame, and places it on the floor where it hovers on its own.
 * The players come back to Brelle with a small, independent flaming shadow, which a player holds in their hands.

A Riddle Solved

 * Brelle leads them to Simul's office.
 * Meet Simul - ♫ A New Menace ♫
 * "Why us?" You seemed like an interesting bunch, and it appears my impression was correct.
 * "What is this place?" It's a section of my domain - technically on paper, an extension of my office, but on a different group of dimensional folds from those you've walked so far.
 * "Dimensional folds?" It's how the Rift is organized; you experienced the effect when you were first brought here, and make use of it each time you enter or leave your section of the Quarters.
 * "Why are we here?" A little test, of sorts - to see if you're as interesting as you look.
 * "What now?" On occasion, I'll invite you back for more of this; more riddles, puzzles, scuffles with my conjurations.
 * If the players are worried about combat:
 * "Oh, don't worry about that. The Mirror Plane as I call it behaves similar to astral projection; if you fall here, on my layers, you'll return safely to your place on the main Rift."
 * "What if we don't want to?" Aww, that would be no fun, but I wouldn't force you; if you're not interested in my little tests, then forcing you is no good for either of us.
 * If the players ask about the Memorial Tree:
 * "_____The routine dungeons require maintenance; the energies there are usually predictable the environments have been streamlined, so that they are manageable. When a group of residents is sent to a routine dungeon, they are very well expected to make it out the other side; if they are not, we notice and the denizens which oversee that dungeon know where to look. 
 * ______However, once in a while, the raw magic which suffuses the rift manifests chaotically into new areas, sometimes combining domains which violently empower each other. Since they created themselves, we don't know what's inside, and getting people out isn't so quick and easy. We can only hope they're in condition to be brought back and, if necessary, revived."


 * Players leave Simul's office, but appear on the normal plane of the home Rift - ♫ Beyond ♫