You cannot help but feel that you have been walking down this corridor for too long. So far, it has been completely straight, with no intersecting hallways, and no changes in elevation except for a small set of three steps near the entrance. Now, it is not so strange for places within mental realms to violate the usual laws governing reality, so you are not surprised to find that the already impressive structure is even larger on the inside. Your concerns instead stem from the fact that you have been walking at least half an hour without seeing anything of interest. Mental realms are often terrifying and sometimes amusing. You have not known them to be particularly boring.
Rather than continue walking endlessly, you decide to stop and inspect the glowing sigils that decorate the walls and light your path. They look vaguely familiar. In the past, you have seen others use symbols like these when casting various spells. With your innate ability to sense the aether around you, there was never any real need for you to learn such indirect methods of manipulating the world around you. Though these resemble what you have seen before, they do not seem to have the same magical properties. Feeling the aether that flows through them, you note that they are only enchanted to glow.
The sections of wall between them, on the other hand…
Earlier on, you noticed that some of the bricks have a different aetheric pattern. They are always the ones forming unmarked portions of the corridor walls. At the time, you did not think much of it. Whatever magic had been woven into those carefully cut slabs of green stone seems to be incomplete. Now, you are beginning to think that you are meant to complete the enchantment in some way. Presumably, the sigils around you are supposed to be a guide.
Focusing on one of the sigils in particular, you distinctly remember having seen it etched onto a page of a dusty old tome on your own homeworld. Just as you are a stranger here, the owner of the book was a stranger on Abbe. That gives you some idea of what magic he may have been using. Well, at least you hope it does. For all you know, the book you are remembering was some sort of guide to using magic in the kitchen. Best not to dwell on all the possibilities, though. This is the only hint you have, so you will try to make the most of it.
As a traveler, you know that he used a number of teleportation spells. You feel a tiny bit of hope at the thought. If the ziggurat has been waiting to receive such magic, perhaps the dampening of your own efforts to ride the aetherial currents are a result of whatever threads were woven together to create this puzzle. It may be nothing more than wishful thinking, but you hope that solving this may allow you to move freely through this realm. Reaching out, you attempt to focus on the way the aether moves through the wall, forming complex patterns and…
Ah. That’s right. The gap in the pattern.
You are not so fortunate after all. An attempt to weave a teleportation spell into the gap in this section of wall would likely teleport you to the next empty section, which has an identical pattern of aether. As its own gap would not be filled, you would simply be teleported into the wall itself—if you could pull off the teleportation at all, that is. It is a rather gruesome fate, and you would prefer to avoid it if at all possible. Filling all of the gaps simultaneously is out of the question as well. The passage is simply too long.
Since the teleportation idea proved to be a dead end, you consider alternatives. A translation spell could not reveal the meaning of the symbols but could potentially fill the gap in the magic. A scrying spell could do it as well, though you somehow doubt it will let you see deeper into the structure, considering the limitations already placed on your abilities. Perhaps a spell of flight would work. You can imagine the wall segment sliding upwards to reveal the path forward, so this seems somehow appropriate. Yes, that might work.
Again, you focus on the threads, carefully weaving some of the realm’s spare aether into a light, airy spell, which you cast upon the wall. It seems to be going well. Your own magic is weaving itself into that of the ziggurat with ease. As the final pieces come together, you sense a shift in the flow, and… and…
…you feel yourself being tossed into the air by the uncontrollable magic of your own spell. You bump your head on the ceiling and barely manage to catch yourself as you fall, narrowly avoiding cracking your skull open on the hard floor. There is no doubt in your mind that this will leave bruises. At the very least, you can rule out offensive spells and any others that may cause severe injuries if reflected back at you.
You decide that the next attempt needs to be with something relatively harmless, lest your own magic bring about your end. Thinking back to the other traveler, an idea immediately comes to mind. In his time on Abbe, you witnessed him using a simple glamor spell to keep his true appearance a secret from the local humans. Even if it is turned against you, it only changes the outward appearance, so you should still be able to continue using your powers to sense the world around you and to navigate this accursed ziggurat.
At first, your latest effort seems to fail. You weave the spell into the gap, you sense a shift in the aether, then you feel the magic backfire. Before your eyes, your soft skin turns into a hard exoskeleton. Red specks decorate its blue-black exterior. As it covers your fingers, they seem to become thinner and more rigid, each now ending in a rather sharp point. The walls around you appear so much taller as you lose about a third of your original height. At the same time, your body becomes wider and more muscular. From your forehead, a small pair of useless black antennae jut out, completing your transformation into some insectoid creature.
Just as you are about to let out your frustrations with your new form, you feel the aether shift once again. The section of wall begins to open, splitting into two halves, each of which slides to one side and disappears into the neighboring bits of wall. The sight leaves you slightly disappointed. On the other side, there are no glowing sigils to light your way, but this is the only way forward. You attempt to dispel the glamor, only to find it an impossible task. It seems you are stuck this way for now.