Episode 53: When Death Dies

General Summary

Quest	fin	What's up with that
Attend dinner in Ignix on Greenbloom the 25th		Veritas Immortalis
Gather the Divine Raiments	5 of 9
Empower the Raiments	2 of 9

Clocks

Event	Segments
Days until the Banquet	7
Pharos' Goblin lessons (days)	17 of 63
Pharos' Armor (days)	10 of 14
Valan's smithing proficiency (days)	66 of 70

Recap

Greenbloom 18, 3033: Year of Darkness

As Charles brought the Judge above the clouds, the two had a moment. Time seemed to freeze around them, both moving with incredible speed as the lightning crystalized in air.

They had a conversation, the Judge asking if Charles truly believed in what they were doing, that they had to kill the gods. It wasn't too late to stop. He could just let go of the sword, and no harm would be done. Nature would continue to regulate itself, and the Judge would continue to shepherd the dead into the next life.

But Charles persisted. He stuck to his conviction that there comes a point where you must trust what you are doing is right. And he pulled his sword from the Judge's chest, killing Them.

A concussive blast rocked the Harmonic Sphere, clearing away the clouds above the three towers. The towers themselves crumbled, collapsing into the void beyond the precipice of Manto.

In the place where infinite twilight kisses the eternal sunrise, Charles spoke again with the essence of the Judge. She looked tired. Mortal. And she admitted that it felt good to shrug off this burden after carrying it for so long.

Beneath the purple nebulas that stretch lazily across the sky like a massive celestial form twisting above, the Judge whispered "Veritas Immortalis" before her essence passed into the Relic of Law.

The Fist and the Fireball

In the sands of Manto, the rest of the Flamebringers fell from the sky, driven down by the concussive blast. Pharos, in dragon form, snatched an unconscious Valan from the sky, along with his family blade, and carried him and Jules to safety. Tyra flew down behind.

Below, the souls began to step out of line, for the first time in... well, ever. A few continued to be plucked from their line by their patrons and some remained in Manto, but many simply walked away and vanished.

Standing out against the grayscale was a touch of warm light emanating from what appeared to be an inn, starkly transposed against the desert landscape. Wherever the warm light touched, color seeped back into, a chromatic shift radiating from it.

Entering the Fist and the Fireball, they met a bartender named Viktor, who was actually a rakshasa, and a ghost named Lif. And of course Ledge was there, waiting with the Deck. Charles was also waiting at the bar next to Ledge, the Relic drifting next to him.

After a brief chat with Ledge, he informed them that there was someone else who needed to see them; the Gray Lady. She assured them that, fear not, they don't need to kill Her. Her powers are not of Ethos, and not part of the war they are fighting. Tyra looked Her over with their Divine Sight and found that indeed, She wasn't the same as the other gods. It was as if She was made of swirling gray sands, in the same way Ledge was made of gold clouds. No Damnation Memori.

So, lucky for the Flamebringers, they don't need to kill Her, and can keep a god in their back pocket for emergencies. And the Reaper is Bruce. He's Her friend she lets Ledge borrow to use in the Deck every now and then on special occasions. Charles took a moment to shiver, remembering the single spot of darkness on the horizon in

She says it was like being asleep for a long time. When She woke up, She was in Manto. Anything before that is like trying to remember a dream that is slipping through Her hands And Ledge loves to yap until he has to answer any questions that matter; he won't answer Her either. Though he did say that Faerûn is the past. That much Tyra was able to squeeze out of him

The Flamebringers shared a drink around the Tavern, and left, exiting the Fist and the Fireball's door to enter where they had defeated the yuan-ti anathema. They drew from the deck, Valan drawing the Knight, Tyra drawing the Bridge, and Steven drawing the Beast and Temple cards; Steven was transformed into a sugar glider, but was able to use his divine intervention from the Temple card to attune to the Call. So he is a sugar glider with magic.

Leaving to check in with the False Tribunal, Tyra paused. Something was on the wind. Something that was interested in them. The tall grass clung to their shins, the trees leaned in overhead. Walking up the steps of the ziggurat, a patch of moss they brushed their hand over spread quickly, growing over their fingers.

"What are you?" Tyra asked.

On the wind, a voice, soft at first, containing multitudes, spoke to them.

"We are mycelia. We are root and vine, petal and bee. We are the beasts of grass, leaf, and bark. We are... new."

Amoris 23, 3032

We're undertaking the Trials of the Six. Time to finally find out what that worm Reharis has been up to all these years.
— From the Journal of Callisto