Freyrik's vision
You stare at the massive painting – its elegant silver and gold frame etched with faintly glowing arcane symbols. In the center of the portrait, a padded high-backed chair sits empty. Next to the chair is a polished table with a decorative lamp. A plush rug, heavy curtains, and shelves with hundreds of books complete the scene.
The painting (four feet high and eight feet tall) was far too much trouble to get here – but now you begin to suspect its role. The magic slowly reaches out to you. The chair looks comfortable – inviting even – unlike the hot, sticky, bug-filled jungle around you.
The raging battle doesn't help, either. It calls to you. Abandon the painting, it pleads. Join the fray! Even though your enemy can shrug off your blasts with impunity, doing something would be better than this.
The chair does look comfortable, though. And you are starting to feel the effects of its magic.
You reach out to touch the surface of the painting. “Pah'fack,” you say aloud, the word bouncing from mouth to painting to ear and back. Its sound resonates, creating a spike that burrows deep into your mind – tearing at your soul.
In a flash, you find yourself seated in the chair – the room around you made real, though the brush strokes of the paint can still be seen.
Mounted on one wall of the study hangs a large painting (four feet high and eight feet tall). It shows a jungle scene – its occupants shifting and moving as if being furiously painted and repainted by an unseen hand. Four men who look exactly like you stand in the jungle staring back at you through the window. Beyond them, a massive snake demon battles the rest of your team. Between the battle and the painting stands Kevin Arcana, his back turned to you.
The snake demon spits a ball of fire-acid on Ash – his plate armor melts and crumbles to pieces, along with one arm and most of a leg. What was once a stalwart defender of good crumbles to a pile of stew. Yosi bellows at the demon and runs, but a snapping jaw cuts him in two before he even finishes his charge.
The snake's eyes flare red with fire and you see one of the twins (Heilli?) explode. His brother collapses in momentary pain, but before you can see his fate, Kevin Arcana turns toward you.
“What have you done?! The painting was not meant for you!”
A ball of fire-acid spit from the snake's mouth streaks across the battlefield toward you. It splashes against the far side of your painting, obscuring all sight. In the distance, you hear Allie scream. Closer, Kevin Arcana says something in an arcane tongue. You try to recognize the words, but the world around you melts before you hear the finish to his spell.
A sharp pain spears your mind as the study sizzles around you. A smell of acid and burning paint carries the pain to your nostrils. The pain in your mind expands until your vision goes black.
This death, you realize too late, will be your last.