I sit cross-legged on a cushion in the seal room keeping a constant eye on the probe team. the team of ten Blue’s sit linked in a circle, the combined brainpower that they bring to bear allowing them to control and modify the probe while recording the information down onto sheets of paper held by one of the group. Some of the information copied down on the paper is different angles of the view outside of the seal, other parts look like a bizarre parodies of circuit diagrams.

A little bit of tweaking has allowed for a greater field of vision of the room that the sealing foci is located in. Of course, there is my former teacup sitting on a pedestal a clean wood floor extending out in all directions. The room is large but not huge with low ceilings and no windows making it seem smaller than it actually was. The entire room is heavily warded with designs and mandalas. The original probe had not been able to make out the wardings, they were thin with little contrast between themselves and the surfaces they were on. It was clear that these wards had not been made to impress observers, just for effective longterm containment.

At this point I have not yet ordered the probe to be extended further out of the seal, every layer of wards that we breach will have to be a slow drip. If a mistake is made and an alarm tripped than all of this will have been a waste of resources as our captors reinforce our cage before it can properly fail. Most of the effort thus far had been focused on concealing the probe from observers, it was too much to hope that my cup had been abandoned and forgotten in some sub-basement after everyone patted themselves on the back at a party with a huge “mission accomplished” banner hung up.

The forces that be know I am in here and they know I want out. Figuring out how we are being observed will be key. This is not the kind of secure room you just stick your head into every now and again, it could damage or weaken the defensive magic and be counterproductive. No there was certainly some sort of long term scrying going on, and most likely a few non-corporeal beings sealed into the wardings themselves giving them both a warning system and making the defensives themselves semi-sentient.

In other words, this was going to take a very long time to get out. I do not have unlimited time. I stand up and walk out of the seal room turning left down the corridor outside and then right onto a spiraling set of stairs down into the depths of my structure. I finally after descending nine levels I reach the tenth level and my destination. There are three levels below this but they are all used for material storage. After a few more turns I come to the room I am looking for, the Voidport.

The Voidport is a large room though not nearly as cavernous as the seal room. On the wall opposite from the entrance is a round hole that opens up onto darkness, actually, it opens onto nothingness but finite minds were not equipped for infinity so darkness acts as a stand-in. The entire room is tiled in an aquamarine marble adding an interesting underwater feeling to the room. With the lights set against one wall and the Void on the other, it causes one to feel that they are in the ocean looking down into the abyss.

Sitting in the center of the room sits a two-foot-tall cube that seems to be made of crystal, white light shimmering in its center. Two silver Blues sit, still as statues, beneath the hole their eyes closed. Except for emergencies, these Blues will never move from where they sit. I walk in and sit down on the smooth stone behind the cube. I lay my hand on the floor next to me where a small white spot is inlaid into the stone. I send a small burst of power into the white stone. The world itself seems to buzz as arcane power floods the room buttressing and reinforcing reality itself. Everything suddenly feels more real, every action more profound.

I watch as the artificial darkness of the hole ripples and then parts, a tendril darts into the room out of the hole. The power of the room ripples and the tendril condenses until an indistinct but generally humanoid form with a thin black thread connecting it to the hole. The humanoid is no more detailed than a silhouette. Its faceless face surveys the room its attention being palpable as the power of the room is strained. Eventually, its attention settles upon me

Once again the deal is met, once again you grant me an adequate tribute.

The cube of crystal in front of me wavers like a mirage for a second before disappearing entirely.

Once again I offer you the chance of eternity. Why stay trapped like a rat here when I could show you the very bones of existence?

“a most generous offer as always but I will continue to maintain my individuality” I answer just as I always have.

The thread attached to the figure pulls tight and the figure disappears into the nothing. I wait for a few more seconds before reaching back down to the white patch on the floor. The power filling the room dissipates. I let out a long sigh before straitening back up and standing. I turn and walk back out of the room. Once again another offering has been successfully made.