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Having been an outcast for as long as I can remember, I had to learn to stick to myself, finding entertainment in individual activities. Eventually, I developed an interest in deities and other creatures many consider otherworldly. This interest was more than just history and worship, however. My desire was to study them, learn how they functioned; their societies, if they had any; their power, and, possibly, ways to harness it. Of course, experimenting on such creatures would be dangerous – and besides, why would they agree to it, anyway? But there was no harm in speculation and research, so that was what I set out to do.
After months of public library visits, failed conjurations and fruitless attempts to get in contact with more renowned scientists, realization started to set in. There was no way for my research to be successful without proper funding, and having put most of my earnings towards the goal, I was low. Looking for another job unrelated to science would mean zero time to work on anything else, but I’d be able to get food on the table.
One day, while contemplating where to go, I received a letter with a strange seal on it – a butterfly with 6 connected dots on its wings. I initially thought of it as a mistake on the mailman’s side, but upon further inspection, I was indeed the right recipient.
The letter mentioned my studies and… a job offer. Researcher at a company called the Butterfly Tourism Board. Looking back at it, it’s obvious that something weird was going on (why would a tourism board need a scientist, anyway?), but at the time, I was desperate. Desperate to the point of traveling to a faraway city without knowing what I was signing up for.
I was thinking that… they would fund my own research, maybe. Or, at the very least, give me something to work on in the meantime. Some sense of purpose. And, in a way, I was right.
I was greeted with open arms and warm welcomes and immediately given a place on one of the research teams. The building was… cryptic, to say the least. Some rooms were inaccessible through normal means; others contained arcane machines I’d never seen before. Of course, I wasn’t allowed to enter those rooms at first, having only caught glimpses of what was in them, but they sparked my curiosity regardless.
As it turned out, the Butterfly Tourism Board had 3 projects happening at the same time. I was appointed to the most recent one. Obsidian, they called it. They explained the purpose of it was “to study a plane far beyond our comprehension”, which, of course, only got me intrigued.
My first task was to establish a connection with that plane using the results of the other two projects: a raw piece of quartz and a strip of copper. Both had otherworldly auras to them: the copper was radiating calming heat, and, strangely enough, I could feel static on my fingertips from getting near the quartz crystal. Connecting them was the hard part. I didn’t have any instructions, and I’d never heard of an extraplanar gateway created using those two elements. In a way, I would be an innovator if I succeeded. So I sat there, tirelessly researching different portals and experimenting on the components I was given, until it dawned on me - copper’s high electrical conductivity could somehow be combined with the strange static emanating from the quartz. For the lack of a better alternative, a simple lightning spell could work to connect the two.
After binding the two components with magical electricity, a ball of bright blue light appeared above, which then produced a mineral chunk of what looked like obsidian and vanished. The obsidian had a calming yet chilling aura. It was also strangely heavy, but I never noticed that until later. I was ecstatic. I had finally succeeded in opening a portal to another plane, one we might not even have known of, and it had even brought something from that place into our world.
That piece of obsidian was one of a kind, and it had to be handled with care and precision. The team and I had decided to put it away in a glass container and keep it in the same storage cabinet as the quartz and copper. Interestingly enough, putting the elements next to each other seemed to amplify the auras they were producing. We thought it was safe. Probably.
After studying the obsidian for a few days, our team learned that it was significantly less brittle than the obsidian from our native plane. Using magic detection on it showed a strong presence of necrotic energy and something else that we couldn’t quite decode. Our next assignment was to create a potion that would give us insight into the foreign realm we had tapped into, and after learning about the obsidian’s strange properties, we set out to do that. Using the stone itself would mean potentially losing a precious resource, so we were operating off newfound knowledge and speculation. Mostly the latter.
After trial, error, and more research, we finally gathered the necessary components: a necromancy spellbook, an encyclopedia of magic history, and a diary of a person gone mad from being trapped on another plane, all from a library that had long burned down. I questioned how that diary was discovered in the first place and why the library had it accessible, but no one else seemed to wonder, so I stayed silent and we began the experiment.
We had to first extract the magical essence of the books, and a colleague of mine volunteered to be the one to do it. As it turned out, he was quite good at that sort of magic, having studied at a wizard academy before joining the tourism board. Before us were three powders in three different vials—once ink on paper and now material components for a potion. All we had left was to mix them into our base in the right proportions, and then we'd be able to peek into a whole other world.
When the potion was ready, it emanated the same blue glow as the portal I had previously opened. Our research was correct. Before celebrating, we had to complete the experiment, which meant using the potion as intended. Nobody was excited to potentially lose their mind like the man whose diary we had just used, so I volunteered. If anything did happen, I'd go mad for the greater good.
The team from another one of the board's projects decided to give me a ring of mind protection just in case something would try to get inside my head (I suppose that might've happened to one of theirs before). I wasn't completely departing to another plane, which meant our magic would still work. Someone from my team suggested I hold the piece of obsidian in my hands to establish a deeper connection. The cold radiating from it was painful even through the gloves.
I was left alone in the dark with the potion's glow barely illuminating my surroundings. We had prepared a potion neutralizer beforehand for when the experiment would need to be stopped, and so I was ready to go.
I put a couple drops of the luminous blue liquid on a glass panel, smeared it with a mixing stick, and immediately grabbed the obsidian — and, to my surprise, the entire room started changing around me. The darkness intensified, thickening into a deep fog. My hands weren't the only part of my body that was cold anymore — I was freezing.
I instinctively tightened my grip on the stone and looked down at it. It appeared dark, like a tiny black hole, but its aura was stronger than ever before, glowing pale blue and, perhaps, guiding me through the unfeeling nothingness. That wasn't the strangest part of it, however. The skin on my hands was glowing as well, and I could see right through it despite wearing gloves. It was so terrifying and yet so strangely mesmerizing that I couldn't stop staring at it, watching my phalanx bones as I held the obsidian like a compass.
Eventually, I had to focus on the task at hand, so I started inspecting my surroundings. Although the silhouettes were barely discernible, I could still see mountains of black rock before me. The floor seemed to be made of it too, but upon briefly touching it, the texture was the same as the room I had started in. This was an illusion — a projection of a foreign realm onto ours.
It felt unnerving. The air was thick, nearly unbreathable, and I was convinced that I was being watched. The glow of the obsidian was the only thing that could penetrate the darkness, and so I held it outward, hoping it would help me see a little more of this place. What I saw, however, only terrified me further: shadowy figures approached me, slowly but surely. As it seemed, the black rock was not only a compass for me, but a beacon for them, too. But they shouldn’t have been able to see me or sense my presence in any way — I wasn’t on their plane. It was just an illusion, as I had proven minutes before. I tried to move away from the shadows, but I was frozen in place. I didn’t know what would happen to me if they reached me. Would it have any effect at all? What did they want from me? Was it just the presence of a foreigner that attracted them, or was it the obsidian after all?
As the shadows came dangerously close, my senses quickly returned to me. I took the neutralizer out of my bag, fumbled for the glass panel, and poured the liquid right where the potion was. The illusion was dispelled, and the room quickly returned to normal. I could see in the darkness that was surrounding me, and upon checking my hands, they were back to normal. The same happened to the piece of obsidian — its aura was of the same intensity as before the experiment. Despite that, I still could barely feel my fingers from the cold.
The rest of the team rushed into the room minutes later to see if I was still alive. And I was — of course I was —but I didn’t feel the same as before having ventured into that terrifying void. As my companions asked questions, all I could do was stare at the stone in my hands and ponder what just happened. There was no way of telling what would have transpired had I not ended the experiment abruptly.
It wasn’t just about the shadows, either - I could feel another presence. Something had been watching me back then. Something grand and, no doubt, terrifying. What felt strange was that it never attacked me, or even announced itself. Whatever that thing was, it meant no harm. That raised more questions, though - what were its intentions? Why would it observe me? But it was getting late, and without having said a word, I got up, handed the obsidian to one of my colleagues and headed to my room, hoping to get some well-deserved rest.
That night I couldn’t sleep.
No matter how hard I tried to rest my mind, it would eventually wander back to the mountains of black rock, the approaching shadows, the translucence of my own skin. The darkness, usually so calming, made me feel uneasy. I couldn’t help but stare at the farthest corner of my room, trying to discern any possible silhouette that might have been hiding in it. What seemed to bring me some semblance of calm was thinking about the glow of the obsidian - the only somewhat familiar thing in that strange place. So I did what I shouldn't have, but it was also my last resort.
I snuck into the storage room, took the stone out of its container, and held it in my hands once again. The cold was strangely calming, bringing me back to my senses, and the pale blue aura was lulling me to sleep. I couldn’t take it out of the storage room - no one would have understood - so I planned to stay there until I was calm enough to go back to my own room. I didn’t even feel myself drifting away.
The next morning, after having left the storage room without having raised suspicion, I was handed a letter at our staff meeting. Apparently, the heads of the board had heard of my work the other day, and they admired my dedication to the research.
I was promoted to lead scientist of the Obsidian project.
Everyone around me was congratulating me and joking about me bossing them around; meanwhile I couldn’t say a word. I wished I could have been happy, but all that filled me was the same dread I had experienced the day before. But I couldn’t have left there and then - the project was almost at its end, and besides, I had a trusty team by my side. I couldn’t just leave them behind. And so I sighed, smiled, and celebrated with the rest.
The letter also included further instructions - they asked us to continue repeating the first two experiments. The higher-ups mentioned that new equipment would be coming to help us research further, but in the meantime, we had to continue doing what we already knew. I was also supposed to start giving tours to inspectors as well as the fresh recruits; he letter contained the list of rooms I was supposed to show and the experiments I would have to perform. I was given a plan of visitors for the upcoming month, so I had plenty of time to prepare. Easy enough, I thought. And, for the most part, it wasn't difficult - I just had to show people around the research facility, perform an experiment or two, and in the case of newcomers, see their own capabilities.
Working on the project was a little trickier, however. We'd have complications in our experiments quite often. At one point, we determined that conjuring obsidian was exhausting the energy of the other two elements, so we had to temporarily stop until the other teams were able to work on the issue.
The projection potion was also finite. However, the duration was long enough for me to explore the plane for hours. I would always venture there alone, usually by choice. I didn't want to risk anyone else, and, admittedly, I wanted the credit; I was the head researcher, after all. The plane was still unnerving, perhaps each subsequent time more than the previous one: cold and deathly still, with nothing but mountains of black rock and those strange shadows for miles on end. However, with time, I had grown desensitized to its effects, which made exploring it easier. I no longer paid any attention to my translucent hands or the figures following me around. I had a task at hand, and I was determined to complete it.
Still, my nights were sleepless. Whenever I did fall asleep, my dreams were always in the same dark place, with the same shadows following my every move. Looking down at my hands, they were glowing bright blue and strange markings would always appear on them.
Something always called out to me in those dreams. I never knew what it was, nor could I recognize the voice. Moreover, after waking up, I could never decipher the words. It seemed like one of the languages I'd previously researched, but never fully learned - the language of aberrations. I couldn't be sure. I did try to investigate it by asking colleagues and reading books of questionable legality, but that didn't yield much result. Eventually, I just decided to drop it. However cryptic they may have been, my dreams were only my dreams. Nothing more.
After a while, we received new equipment - better magic detectors attuned to other planes, aura amplifiers, and a bunch of new material components we needed for further experiments. My team and I finally proceeded with our research.
The new detectors confirmed our suspicions - the plane that the obsidian came from was related to the Negative Energy plane. The obsidian was similar to voidstone in origin, though not nearly as destructive. However, we couldn’t pinpoint any existing plane it could have come from. Our initial hypothesis was the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Ash, which was also fueled by using copper to conjure the stone. But if that were the case, the detectors would have told us right away. Perhaps, it was a demiplane of some sort, adjacent to the Negative Energy plane but not touching it directly? We couldn’t tell back then. We were, once again, stuck.
That did, however, give us important information. Since we couldn’t use a Gate or Plane Shift spell to visit the plane due to its unknown coordinates, we had to create a portal from scratch by ourselves. Of course, it would be difficult and require additional time and resources, but it was our only shot at exploring the realm firsthand. Would it be dangerous? Obviously, yes, more than anything we'd done before. But we had to move forward with the research, and it wouldn’t have been possible without going there directly. We just couldn’t gather sufficient information from projections and obsidian samples; not anymore.
We didn’t know the exact materials needed for creating a makeshift portal, so we had to make approximations based on the fact it was close to the Negative Energy plane. We knew in order to open a portal to a demiplane, we’d have to experiment in another demiplane. Thankfully, one of the older and more powerful researchers from the Quartz project had a portal for those exact purposes, and they were kind enough to lend it to us. Apparently, it’s already been used for both other projects in the past, so clearly this was a working model.
After having looked into the Negative Energy plane, the Plane of Ash, and various portals created prior to their full discoveries, we had a list of approximate material components. First, some form of negative energy - something specific that we could determine only through trial and error. We also needed a component directly native to that plane - the obsidian fit perfectly. Then, a tuning fork - or, well, the closest thing we had to it. We couldn’t get anything attuned to a plane we knew so little of, so we just used the closest thing we could find. A copper tuning fork obtained from another project would have to do. Lastly, we needed voidstone dust - something that would kill any living creature in a matter of heartbeats. We did receive it among the new ingredients, somehow (I wonder now how far the Board's hands had to reach to get it), but it had to be handled with extreme care and precision. Thankfully, we had the tools for that too - special gloves, respirators, and various means of manipulating items from a distance.
I insisted on experimenting alone. I didn’t want to put any of my fellow researchers into danger, and if I did make it back, I would have been a legend. I would have been able to tell the world about this company, the research, the fact that there’s a whole other plane of existence that no one had ever heard of before!
But I was getting ahead of myself. First, I had to make it there and then make it out alive; or, at the very least, leave notes of my travels there in case somebody were to find my lifeless body (or whatever else would be left of it) later on. Being stuck in that room, alone, without doors or windows, was already disturbing on its own. I had to stay and research there for days, only leaving for the night. Sometimes others would check on me while I was still there, but I would always dismiss their concerns in favor of getting to the goal as quickly as possible. I was determined.
However, the more I worked on the portal, the more intense my nightmares got. The whispers got louder, the cold got more intense, and with it, the overwhelming terror. Despite that, my nightmares were also what led me to discovering the last element of the portal - concentrated fear. We had obtained that too, sourced from fainting goats.
And, just like that, the portal was ready to be created. I combined all the ingredients in a special vial, and tried to connect the copper rod with the piece of obsidian, once again using magical lightning. It only worked for a short period of time, but that was enough for me. The rod was supposed to be connected to the plane the obsidian came from. Now all I had to do was put it in the potion and wait.
Eventually, something started coming out of the vial. Black tendrils with a familiar blue glow spread outward from the container, writhing.
I tried to back away from them, but they latched onto my arm, trying to pull me into the container. I wanted to fight, but I was frozen in place. And so I stood there in a room with no doors or windows as the result of my experiments planned to consume me. No way to cry for help. No way to pass on my research.
I closed my eyes, prepared to meet my fate. And then it all stopped.
I opened my eyes to a familiar place. Although I could barely see anything around me, I still felt the bone-chilling cold. I took a look at my hands and as I suspected, they were glowing, and my bones were visible through the skin.
All signs were pointing to one thing. The experiment was a success.
I wanted to be joyful, excited about it, but I only felt fear. Somehow, being there made me extremely aware of my own mortality, so much more than usual. I was just a human, one of many, with a short life and nothing to leave behind. Insignificant.
Despite those feelings, I shakily stepped forward. The floor was solid, made of the same dark obsidian as everything else around me seemed to be. As I walked slowly through the realm, my fear only grew more intense. Everything in this place was unnerving. I couldn't even dare to turn around me to see if there were shadows following me this time.
Eventually, I started hearing whispers. Unintelligible, strange sounds were coming from all around me, which only made the experience more disturbing. I took a turn and immediately heard something cracking underneath my foot. I looked down and saw what looked like a humanoid skull.
I glanced around me. This place was littered with bones of various creatures and sizes, all emanating a faint blue glow. The whispers got louder to the point of being overwhelming, and then stopped.
A single voice beckoned me to turn around.
When I did, I saw something… well, "strange" is a very light word to describe it. I don't know if there's a way to describe it at all. It was a being beyond mortal comprehension assuming a form possible for us to perceive, and even then it was nigh impossible to grasp. It was a giant disfigured humanoid skeleton with tendrils and eyes in places they should not have been in. Some, if not most, of its bones were misplaced, too. The only truly recognizable thing was its skull, despite having unnatural, inhuman growths coming out of it, twisting.
It spoke to me. The creature called itself "the Traveller", though, as it explained to me, it was often called Death by mortals such as I. The Traveller asked me how I had found this place. When I said I was a scientist, it mentioned that I wasn't the first one to find this place through experimentation. Few had stumbled upon its demiplane before, but they were either too afraid to talk about it, or they had died of varying causes before they could say anything. The Traveller was fond of those who attempted to research it. It said it had never willingly killed a living being, but those who had asked for its power often couldn't handle it. It did note, however, that I seemed to have more resolve than those before me.
And so, the Traveller offered me a deal.
It said it would be able to help me with my research. Any of my scientific pursuits would be aided by a knowledgeable eldritch being, including the one I was working on at that moment. I would even be granted my own ability to use magic, no tools or items required. The only thing it wanted in exchange was to study me in return. If I were to refuse, I would have been transported back to the Material plane, unharmed, but still altered by the Traveller's influence.
Somewhere in my soul, I knew that if I took the deal, my days would be numbered. But even if I died prematurely because of this, the world would have far more knowledge than it had ever had before; and I would be its bearer.
I nodded and asked what was required of me to complete the deal. The Traveller explained that, as long as I would stay true to my research, the pact would stay intact.
Then everything faded to black.
I woke up on the floor of the lab, surrounded by my research team. Some of them were shocked, some intrigued, some were simply happy I made it back in one piece. Someone helped me get up, and that was when I caught a glimpse of my hands. They were pale blue, with the same spiral markings as I had seen before in my dreams. I was more curious than surprised - the Traveller had mentioned something about me being transformed, after all.
I waded through the crowd, locked myself in the bathroom and went up to a mirror, and truly I became something else. Strange horn-like growths sprouted out the back of my head, wrapping around it, which were not unlike the growths on the Traveller's skull. The skin markings spread farther than just my hands: there was a butterfly in a circle on the side of my neck, similar to the tourism board's sigil. I’d heard about similar phenomena before - people being changed under the influence of magic and becoming more fae-like in nature.
When I left the bathroom, I was immediately surrounded by others again. They were all asking the same thing - what had happened on the demiplane. I nearly hesitated to answer, probably because I was still a little baffled myself, but then I remembered the words of the Traveller.
I told my coworkers everything. I showed them my notes, even tried to sketch how the Traveller had appeared to me. They all applauded my bravery and dedication, but truth be told, I was still deeply confused and scared on the inside. It’s not everyday that you make a pact with a previously undiscovered eldritch entity and get transformed into a whole different “you”, even for the sake of research. This was life-changing, and not necessarily in a positive way.
Since then my life has become calmer. The nightmares didn’t exactly dissipate, but I grew used to them. However, I felt like I couldn’t stay at the facility for much longer. I had to explore and look for more information about the Traveller and everything connected to it. My research had to continue elsewhere.
So, after explaining that to my superiors and getting their permission, I packed the essentials and ventured forth. As I am writing this, I am headed to Waterdeep. A rich city is bound to have other scientists and magicians specializing in the same things as me. Perhaps they’ll be able to help.