The Age of Worms / The Zenith Trajectory pt. 3/ Fos the 19th, 3593 CE / 5-2-21

General Summary

Not By Choice sets out for the first of two dinner invitations delivered to them earlier that day by the mysterious Celeste. Tonight's engagement is at the Coy Nixie with Eligos, a sage of Kedesh who had previously worked with Lulu and Rikit and, several months ago, had sent them to Cauldron after it was discovered there was a death contract on their heads (and Lulu had infected Kedesh with the plague). When the party reaches the Coy Nixie, they find the door to a private room guarded by Eligos's wood golem butler, Pollard, and within, Eligos and a ratfolk whom they have never seen before. Eligos welcomes them in and quickly engages Lulu in questions about her and her companions' activities while they've been in Cauldron. As Lulu relays the adventures from the past few months to Eligos, there is a ruckus outside the door. Moth, the party's companion from the fight with the umber hulk earlier that day, has followed them to the restaurant and is now insisting she is one of the party. Eligos graciously welcomes her in, and then apologizes for his lack of manners, insisting on introductions all round. When it comes time for the ratfolk to introduce himself, he is revealed to be a traveler from the continent of Taresh, named Uriah Skran who came to Kedesh seeking knowledge, and became intrigued with Lulu's plague. After meeting him, Eligos decided it would be helpful to introduce him to Lulu. Eligos then gets down to the purpose of the meeting, first showing the party the preserved worm which Lulu brought to him from Ludon those many months ago. For those who had not previously encountered these creatures, he reminds the party of their ability to create mindless zombies. Uriah even recalls hearing a similar legend from his own homeland. Eligos tells them that the worms are the creation of a being from ancient times named Caius, a master necromancer, who used the monsters to create his own special form of undead, the so-called Spawn of Caius. Though Caius appears to have vanished in the mists of history, cults have continued his legacy into the modern day, but to Eligos's knowledge, there had been no sighting of the worms until the party encountered them during various adventures this past year. Caius's writings are recorded in a series of prophecies known as the Apostolic Scrolls. Lulu is very unhappy to hear this news, recalling that the Apostolic Scrolls were purchased by Loris Raknian, master of the Free City Arena and the man who wants her dead. Eligos warns that the scrolls contain a formula for creating an undead creation engine called an ulgurstasta, and that the upcoming Champion's Games will be the perfect place for Loris to find the number of sacrifices necessary to power the ritual necessary to create it. He suggests that Not By Choice enroll as gladiators in order to gain access to Loris Raknian's compound and search for the Apostolic Scrolls or other evidence of his misdeeds. They have a little under a month until the start of the games to decide their course of action. After Eligos departs, the party notices that Moth has also slipped away at some point. As they are leaving, Milton overhears some diners commenting that Maavu Arlintal, the owner of the warehouses destroyed in the umber-hulk attack, has left town. Milton loudly exclaims about the trader's supposed cowardice, and it attracts the attention of the proprietor, Zachary Aslaxin I. After explaining Marrow's absence to the amorous restaurateur, the party heads out, now with Uriah in tow, walking and talking their way back to the Butter Bath.

Character(s) interacted with

Lulu Victry, Nari Ashida, Milton Butters, Harrov, Uriah Skran, Kade, Eligos the Sage, Zachary Aslaxin I, Pollard, Jozu, Sarous, Chester, staff and patrons at the Coy Nixie

Report Date

03 May 2021

Primary Location

Cauldron