Session 40: Red Threads

General Summary

Clocks

Recap

Vinum 28 & 29, 3033: Year of Darkness

The Omens headed south to the empire's capital Helorix to investigate some leads and potentially lift the curse the Emerald Throne had put on them. Unfortunately, that proved more difficult than expected. When they spoke to Jav'ir Devrin, he informed them that unfortunately, there are many types of curses that fall into two main categories: lesser, and greater. Lesser curses, like lycanthropy, can be lifted easily, with cures as simple as a remove curse spell. Greater curses, however, are harder to break, and often require a specific set of circumstances be met, returning a sword to a certain grave, bathing in the sap of a specific tree, etc. These curses often have the means to lift them built into their wording, and their curse is no different. Unfortunately, "until the Devil Themself dies" is a steep price to pay.

There is little Jav'ir could do to help them in the moment, but he himself would like to come examine the obelisk containing the Emerald Throne.

Fey Shenanigans

After speaking with the high priest, Andy and the two Emissaries ran into a third Emissary: Lythea, Emissary of the Summer Court. She has been long established in Helorix, a friend of Leonidas Crane, the current Sovereign that is ruling until the next emperor is decided. She is also a bit of a classist, and referred to Andy as the other Emissaries' assistant when she asked if the group would like to join her in the Embassy. Andy, debating whether or not they should exact revenge on the Summer Emissary, decided against it, leaving to invent blueberry coffee and catch up with the others.

The Fey Emissaries went to the Embassy to get a little bit of day drinking under their belts. Lythea, though she presents a hardened exterior, is a bit of a gossip once she has a few drinks and takes a few hits of the hookah. The three indulged in drinks befitting of their season; Windcrest Spritz for Orianna, Summer Shandy for Lythea, and Blackice Wine for Amara.

After a few drinks, the three saw Elias Valkyrix enter, followed shortly after by Vyria Dreux, who appeared to be meeting about something in the upper mezzanine. Lythea shared that she, if she had a vote in the Kingsmoot, would vote for Aiotar, the Autumn Emissary, for their Fey ties. While they would sever their ties to the Courts, Emperor Aurelius himself was once a Summer eladrin, so why not a Fall eladrin?

When night came and the bar began to quiet for the evening, the trio also rearranged the wings two to clockwise. Fey shenanigans, what are you gonna do?

███ ████

Augustana and Lorelai, joined by Andy, made their way to the Library of Helorix, a well-stocked and renowned archive of records and research that the Aurelian Empire had gathered in the course of its various conquests and annexations over the years. In order to get in, they had to provide a Writ of Admittance, which Augustana and Lorelai fabricated easily. In the library, they cajoled a cabal of scribes to help them look for resources on the New Dawn organization, and while they were able to stir up some connections between the New Dawn and Seven Pillars, that was mostly done through the symbol of seven circles surrounded by nine circles stamped onto a book.

A book that was cursed; the legacy of the New Dawn is evidently laden with a curse that prevents any from learning about it. A curse that marks it as forbidden knowledge, and seems to have similar effects to the one that turned Ember Carthelian into a nothic. Perhaps there is a connection between the two? Though the book itself couldn't be read, they did find a note in the back that said to seek the Great Library for answers. The scribe they were working with, Felin, said that the Great Library is a mythological place, said to contain anything that had ever been written down. The only issue is it moves, and very few people have ever actually been there. He suggested they track down the Learned of Illemnor in Leholonh or the Vizier of Alnaaji in the Black Sands Desert to see if they can offer guidance on finding it; they were the last two people rumored to have visited the Library.

The group then went to the Nightmarket to ask around there and see if they could stir up any leads on a new organization making waves in the empire. They did hear rumors of a grand upheaval in Arcanus; almost every agent, listener, or mole the Black Suns had in the city flipped to the New Dawn almost overnight. They returned to Madam Althea, who was happy to see them again, and offered some insight... at a price.

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

Madam Althea promised the group a juicy morsel of information if they carried out a task for her. A simple task, all they would need to do is deliver a pot to Elias. The pot, more aptly described as a cauldron, is an enormous, cast iron cooking pot covered in designs of bare-branched trees, falling leaves, and broomsticks. There is the design of what looks to be a shouting satyr's head on one side. The group said they would bring it to him, and instead brought it back to their hotel room in the Embassy.

Lorelai got in the pot, at which point she began to sink into it while Amara and Orianna stirred her around and chanted in unison:

Eight cats perch atop eight dead attending

Eight lizards flee from eight cats scavenging

Eight toads climbing meet eight dead and falling

Eight snakes sneak under eight bats screaming

Eight eyes open, always dreaming

All on the cauldron that is ever seeming

However, this was soon to be revealed as an illusion, and Lorelai was actually just spinning in a circle reciting this poem to herself while in the cauldron.

The following day, the group went to Elias, who was said to be in the throne room, and found him speaking Sylvan to the air in a room strangely well lit by the light of the spring sun. Or, if you are Andy, you saw Elias speaking to a creature on the Ethereal Plane, shrouded by a dark blue veil.

Notes