Echoes of Time Sessions 41 - 50

General Summary

Session 41 After having another day to kick around the Paradise, the party was assigned their new quarters: Eladan in his own private apartment (which he wasted no time in asking for customizations), and the rest in the Honor Guard Barracks. Meanwhile, the group subtly went about trying to finds a mean to escape. Allston and Venatrix searched the repository beneath Logira's Temple for clues on how to leave the Plane of Fire. While they were unable to find a viable exit besides back through whence they came, they did find an Enduring Spellbook that contained a myriad of spells, including the 9th level spell meteor swarm. Evan also had a nice chat with the team of Beltaines they defeated in the arena, who seemed to harbor at least a little bit of resentment against them. It was also later learned that these Beltaine were also members of the Honor Guard; confusing, as at least some of the other guards made it seem that Beltaine weren't allowed in the guard.
While the others looked for escape routes, Eladan attempted to convince Logira to let them go to explore the Vault Shepherd had bid them find. Despite some convincing arguments on Eladan's part, Logira ultimately refused (most likely also affected by Eladan trying to sit on Logira's throne before he arrived), but left the door open for reconsideration if they came back with a better plan. Later, Eladan tried to bed a fellow Beltaine named Nefari. However, when he took her back to De'lan's quarters, it turned out that the two of them were already involved, and promptly left the group to their own devices while they did the deed, much to the chagrin of Eladan.
The next day though, making Nefari's acquaintance proved to be useful after all, as she turned out to be a wizard and a scholar. With her help, the party once again searched the Repository for more information on the Vault. Together, they found old maps and writings on the area where the Vault was: It appeared as though what is now the Kateran Wastes was once habitable, as several Antecean settlements were once there. The Vault itself, called Deus Vault, was used to store items of a particularly dangerous variety. The group learned that the actual "vaults" were deep underground, and that a few powerful items were stored there just before the Antecean's demise: the sphere of dragonkind coveted by Shepherd, a moonblade, and an iron flask.
Bringing the maps and history before Logira, the fire god ultimately agreed to send the party to the Vault to collect the weapons in his name and return them to the Paradise. He would teleport the group to the location of a settlement not far from the Vault, as Logira recognized it as a place that once contained a shrine to him. He would give them three days to find the Vault and search it, and then he would retrieve them. Agreeing to the terms, the party set off immediately, stepping through the fiery Gate summoned by Logira and stepping back into the cold deserts of the Kateran Wastes. As soon as they did so however, those that still bore the mark of Shepherd felt their brands flare with an intense burning. Clearly, Shepherd knows they are back…
XP earned: 2,000 each
Session 42 The party quickly made their way to the Vault after resting for the night in the Kateran Wastes. They were fortunate, and encountered no complications in reaching the ruined dome of the Vault peeking out from beneath the sweeping dunes of sand that buried the facility proper. As they repelled down into the dim building, they encountered voices belonging to a group of tiefling wildlings also exploring the ruins. Eladan and Evan encountered one of their mages investigating an office of sorts and were able to convince him and his reinforcements that they meant no harm, albeit after a rather tense stand-off.
Together, the party and the tieflings investigated the archives for rune-keys that could open the sealed door that lead to the Atrium. They were ultimately successful in this, as well as locating a tumbler vault containing more unique keys that they were not immediately able to crack open. In the main Atrium, the group found the main door to the vaults below, currently being excavated by two more wyrmlings and wildling mages. While this was clearly the way to the vaults, Eladan decided he needed to explore the barracks on the far side of the Atrium, waking a group of deactivated Helmed Horrors in the process. In the midst of the ensuing battle, the wildlings took the opportunity to delve ahead into the vaults and leave the party behind. After taking some time to check the rest of the barracks and finding only some minor magical items scattered amongst the remains of what appeared to be a very one-sided battle, the party circled back to the Vault entrance.
They descended the massive, spiraling staircase into a yawning cavern, where vault after vault was carved into the rockface, spiraling down towards an eerie, orange glow hundreds of feet below. Not too far in, the party came across the remains of some of the wildlings, seemingly killed by some sort of creature. Eladan found this out for himself when he decided to swoop down towards the bottom of the cavern and was set upon by a large cloaker. Likewise, He and Allston were similarly attacked by an Umber Hulk bursting forth from the cave walls. Despite the harassments by these creatures, and more signs of the tieflings demise, the party was able to unlock a few of the vaults and acquire a good deal of loot including several thousand gold pieces, a wind fan, a broom of flying, several wizard/cleric spell scrolls, including magnificent mansion, anti-magic field, and gate, a robe of eyes, and lastly, a cloak of displacement. However, when Allston went to retrieve the cloak, two of the many taxidermized trophies within that particular vault came to life and made a beeline for Allston…
XP earned: 2,500 each
Session 43 Easily dispatching the taxidermized golems as well as the mimics of another vault, the party was able to retrieve a few more goodies from the vaults, including the aforementioned cloak of displacement and vials containing oil of etherealness, oil of slipperiness, a philter of love, several healing potions as well as nefariously disguised potions of poison, and a few sacks containing dust of disappearance, dust of dryness, and dust of sneezing and choking. With prizes in hand, the party opted to rest in one of the vaults and take on the main fortress in the morning. However, as they rested, hook horrors found them and forced their way into the vault. The party was able to repel them and decided to risk sealing the vault door. This proved successful, and the party was able to fully rest.
With that, they set out to investigate the main vault; the fortress-like structure surrounded by a moat of lava. While they did not have the seven keys required to activate the drawbridge mechanism, the door itself was ajar, and Eladan was able to blast it open from the air. Once inside, they found themselves in large chamber with piles upon piles of gold. Along the back end of the room were display stands holding a myriad of items, including an iron flask, a moonblade, a belt of frost giant strength, a small lockbox containing a talisman of pure good, and the orb of dragonkind itself.
Also in the room was the wildling mage Lokiel and another wildling skirmisher. Lokiel bade the party turn around before it was too late. He had made a deal with the creature that inhabited the vault and that he would help deter any invaders. Upon inquiring who this beast was, the creature announced itself, hiding somewhere in the shadows, unseen. It mused about how tasty the party would be and how long it had been since it had eaten so well. The party expressed that they had only come for one thing, which amused the creature. It offered an exchange: if the party brought him the heads of the blue dragon Droqdoqo and his two grown children, he would allow them to take the orb. The party balked at the notion, and the creature grew bored and attacked, revealing itself to be an absolutely massive behir; far larger than any average specimen.
The battle was intense. The behir sprung from stealth on Venatrix first, dealing near-debilitating blows. Meanwhile, Lokiel was able to slow both Eladan and Evan while the skirmisher continuously hampered their flanks. Ultimately, the wildlings were defeated, but the behir seemed to be absorbing the party's hits with little difficulty. During the battle, Mr. Buttons ended up getting swallowed, Venatrix got knocked down, and Evan and Allston were badly bloodied. Even Eladan took a few good licks despite keeping his distance in the air. The tide turned when Mr. Buttons, in the belly of the beast itself, opened up his small chest of Sand, dosing the Behir from the inside. At the same time, Venatrix, having been revived by Evan, took the iron flask from its display and opened it, bringing forth the horned devil that had been trapped inside. The devil inflicted heavy wounds on the behir before it was ultimately destroyed by the serpent. However at this point, the behir was badly wounded and it sought to flee with Mr. Buttons still inside. Evan, not willing to see his good friend meet such an end, let out all the stops: summoning the power of his oathbow, he killed the beast before it could make its way fully down its passage into the Underdark.
With the beast defeated, the party claimed their prizes. Along with what was immediately obvious, they also found a candle of invocation dedicated to the Antecean goddess Luma, a sword of life stealing, and an arrow of dragonslaying. They then took some time to attune with these items; Evan specifically attempted to attune with the moonblade, which clearly bore some manner of sentience. He was unable to attune with the blade, but he did receive visions of how to do so: namely, taking it to either a sacred elven temple or throne room and conducting a special ritual. Afterwards, the party attempted to break into a few more vaults, specifically by having Venatrix phase through the doors. She was able to find a deconstructed ship for her troubles, as well as a portable hole, which the party promptly filled with gold. With their treasure hunting needs at least temporarily slaked, the party returned to the main vault to rest and await their retrieval by Logira. Little do they know that their reason for being here in the first place has grown impatient and is already moving to intercept them…
XP earned: 5,750 each
Session 44 While the party was attempting to rest and wait for their pick up by Logira, they were confronted by Shepherd himself, along with an entourage consisting of his dragon, two deathlock masterminds, and four wight juggernauts. There were some terse deliberations as to whether they should hand over the orb of dragonkind that Shepherd sought, even considering fleeing into the yawning pit that lead to the Underdark. Eventually though, they decided it was in their best interest to hand over the orb.
Afterwards, the party exchanged words with the lich, and gained a little more insight into his motivations and goals: he too knew of Cataclysm, the enigmatic force of chaos that Logira spoke of, and believed that by controlling the population and enforcing order, the being's powers would diminish to nothing. Before he left, as agreed Shepherd removed all but one of his marks on the party, Eladan being the one to (in a surprisingly noble move) volunteer to be the one to keep it. With his prize in hand, Shepherd and his entourage teleported away.
A day later, the party was retrieved via Gate by Logira, who wasted no time in appropriating whatever loot the party had found, much to the party's chagrin. Allston in particular was extremely reluctant to part with his stuff, and felt the wrath of the fire god for his troubles. Despite this, he was still able to keep a few things concealed in his bag of holding. After the tense meeting, Logira left them to go about their business, brushing off concerns that the Lich knew about their location on the plane of fire.
Going about their day in the Paradise, Eladan, De'lan, Nefari, and Evan went to drink at his new apartment, which was currently being worked on by a pair of dwarven brothers. Mr. Buttons, Allston, and Venatrix returned to their barracks where Mr. Buttons promptly picked a fight with the other Beltaine monk Amadieus. They engaged in an epic battle of martial arts, with Mr. Buttons narrowly securing a victory. The rest of the night went on more or less without incident, with the rest of the party joining Eladan at his apartment.
Until the morning, when the whole town was woken by a blaring horn: a call for a town meeting. There, Sabriel announced that someone had been murdered, and that someone in town was responsible. Naturally, no one stepped up. As the crowds dispersed, Sabriel called the party to him, wanting to question them first. Despite his suspicions, he could tell none of them were lying about not killing the dwarf, Delg (one of the servants working on Eladan's apartment). The dwarf fortunately was able to be resurrected by one of the angels, but he did not see his attacker. Investigating the crime seen revealed some very faint footprints that either belonged to a small human or an elf while the bloodstains suggested a precision strike. The party volunteered to patrol the streets after dark. However, they only encountered one lone Beltaine breaking the newly instated curfew to transport a keg of mead back to his place. Otherwise, there was no sign of a murderer afoot.
The next day, they opted to get back to focusing on escape from the Paradise. De'lan had managed to get over 60 signatures on their petition to loosen travel regulations, and on the down-low, nearly a dozen ready to make a break for it if the need arose. Then the idea came to search the temple repository for the loot the party had recovered from the Vault, knowing that a scroll of Gate was among the recovered items. After pulling some ridiculous antics involving sneaking past the repository guards while they argued incessantly with Eladan (who even went to Sabriel, who informed him in no uncertain terms that Logira had specifically forbade him from entering the repository because he did not "trust an overdramatic child crying over the toys he had taken away") and then conspiring with said guards to trick the angel inside the repository into coming out while Ven and Allston looted their stuff back. This worked, but a lot of nonsense went down in the temple square: thunderous booms, fake heat strokes, and a sudden downpour of rain, namely. This will surely cause investigation by the angels and Sabriel and surely a reprisal should they trace the antics back to the party…
XP earned: 1,000 each
Session 45 As the party gathered in De'lan's apartment with a handful of other Beltaine and prepared to use the scroll of gate to flee the Paradise, they were interrupted by a knock at the door. It was Sabriel, who had come to collect the party to bring them before Logira to answer for what had transpired earlier that day. They resisted, and a fight ensued where Sabriel ripped the scroll out of Eladan's hands before he could cast it.
The fight was intense, but ultimately Sabriel was overwhelmed. However, he was still able to summon back up, and as the angels Karlel and Inias flew swiftly to their location, Eladan attempted to use the scroll again. Unfortunately, the spell proved too complex and the scroll turned to ash in his hands. With a sigh of contempt, Allston pulled out the Candle of Invocation he had retrieved from the Vault and used its power to consume the candle in its entirety to conjure a gate leading to Garth's Hollow; the small village outside of Fendelen. While the angels attempted to thwart the party from passing through, ultimately, they were successful, bring De'lan and Nefari through with them.
Safe in the village, the party was able to get some rest, though it was short lived. They discovered that Fendelen had recently been sacked; overrun by an army of the undead, as the locals referred to it. In fact, Garth's Hollow was in the process of evacuation. To make matters worse, it appeared that the murderer from the Paradise numbered among those who fled with the party, as another dead body appeared in the morning, again with his throat slit from ear to ear. Despite this, the party was able to slip out of town and start making their way to Crucible. The trip began largely uneventful, but Venatrix soon noticed that a small, glowing orb was appearing just over the shoulder of various party members every evening. Allston was able to deduce that this may in fact be a sensor generated by a scrying spell, and aside from dispelling it, there was nothing they could do about it.
Towards the end of their fourth day of travel, the party encountered a ruined manor atop a hill no more than a mile from the road, as well as an abandoned camp just off the road. The camp appeared to belong to a treasure seeker who had gone to the manor but failed to return. Curious, the party investigated the manor, where they found a whole host of "statues" in the yard. Some of these statues revealed themselves to be Stone Cursed, malevolent constructs set to defend whatever lurked deeper in the manor. Despite this, Allston was able to revive one of the inert statues, revealing it to be an explorer from nearly 400 years ago. Needless to say, the man was quite shocked to discover this. Any other helpful information this man may have had was sadly cut short in the form of his murder some time during the night.
The party awoke to find the man with his throat cut the same as the others. This time, the blame was pointed squarely at Venatrix, who allowed Mr. Buttons to search her and her belongings. In her pack, Buttons found her undying bouquet of roses as well as the dark dagger that was concealed within. Allston, using identify, did not find it to be magical, but it did possess a deeply disturbing aura. Upon closer inspection, he found faint inscriptions in abyssal, which Eladan, using comprehend languages, translated to read "loumara". The word rang a bell for Mr. Buttons, who recalled a letter mentioning loumara demons in a letter found in Palios Pseftis' office beneath the Lunar Forum.
However, not having much to do with this information where they were, the party opted to continue their investigation of the manor, where they fought more Stone Cursed in the yard, where Mr. Buttons was nearly turned to stone himself. After clearing the yard, Allston flew into the crumbling manor just to do some quick reconnaissance, where he was met by a pair of glowing eyes in the dark that quickly vanished after Allston resisted their petrifying effect…
XP earned: 4,000 each
Session 46 The party quickly explored the rest of the ruined manor, finding that the majority of the statues within the old estate were simply statues (or at least weren't actively coming to life). However, they did find more Stone Cursed protecting a hidden trap door in a side room. This trapdoor lead into the cellar; the lair of the medusa herself.
Ignoring the medusa's insistence that they leave, the party engaged her in battle, though she proved difficult to pin down. The same could not be said for the plethora of Stone Cursed down there with her, which were mowed down with relative ease. While it was clear that the medusa would be unable to win this fight, she was able to petrify Evan before sneaking away, leaving her alchemy lab and treasure horde free to plunder (they recovered a number of valuable art pieces as well as some minor magic items). She attempted to ambush them again as they left, but fled when they resisted her petrifying stare.
Back on the road, the party ran into a group of refugees traveling to Crucible from Ambershire, which had been invaded by the undead no more than a week ago. They also referenced living generals of sorts marshalling the undead. One of them matched the description of the party's old foe, Mul Curunir. The party opted to travel with these refugees and made camp with them for the night. The party was sure to keep a careful eye on Venatrix; Allston kept the dagger in his bag of holding and commanded his homunculus to alert him should anyone try to mess with it. Sure enough, during the night Venatrix tried to take back the dagger. When the little machine sounded the alarm, she regained consciousness and control over herself. This happened the following night as well, but thanks to the party's efforts, no one was hurt.
Finally, the group arrived at Crucible, seeing its outer gates for the first time, ironically. It became clear as they approached however, that their new friends would not be allowed in. A shanty town of refugees had sprung up around the gates and soldiers were turning away anyone without proof of residency. Fortunately for the party, they had certification and were able to pass through without issue. Inside, they encountered none other than Rolf, who had received Ven's letter announcing their arrival.
Rolf escorted them back to the Night Song's headquarters, where they had much to discuss. On the way, they stopped at the Lunar Forum's temporary shop set up outside the now closed Forum campus where they purchased a few items with their ludicrously vast horde of wealth. It was then that Mr. Buttons decided to split and head to the aviary to send a letter to family in Azure while Evan went and commissioned a fancy scabbard for the Moonblade.
At the Night's Song compound, the remaining party met with the Overseer as well as Ezekiel, a shadowy drow warrior. After catching up for a moment, the Overseer promoted Venatrix to level 5 clearance (the same as Rolf) and informed her of the guild's conflicts with a group called the Immortals. Beyond that, she asked them to pursue leads to gather allies and magical weapons in the Lunar Forum, the Aeturnum Elves, or in uniting Crucible and the Dragon's Fangs.
Lastly, Venatrix confided in Rolf that she was indeed struggling to control her "passengers" and that she was fairly certain she had murdered people. Rolf seemed troubled, but advised her not to worry and that it would be taken care of. Bartimaeus echoed the same sentiment when she spoke with him, though he seemed far more amused than anxious. With that, the party reconvened at the Noble Lion Tavern where Allston and Evan engaged in some light burgling, Eladan flirted with elven women, and Mr. Buttons and Venatrix spoke of finding a way to get in touch with Dorian Havik…
XP earned: 2,250 each
Session 47 After going there separate ways for some errands and general carousing, the party reconvened at Shadehaven Manor. Just before they could get settled in for the night however, there was a knock at the door. A small tiefling girl named Journey stood at the threshold claiming to have a message for the party from Echoless and Ximon (as well as a second one specifically from Ximon for Venatrix alone). The party let her in goodheartedly, and she revealed that Echoless and Ximon needed them to meet at the Lunar Forum citadel, as they had it on good authority that a weapon that would be instrumental in defeating Shepherd was interned beneath the castle.
Privately to Venatrix, Journey inquired on behalf of Ximon whether she knew anything of an underground war between the Night's Song and the Immortals. Ironically, she had just learned that her guild had ambushed at least one of the Immortals underground facilities. Despite the serious nature of Journey's messages, the party seemed more than happy to take her under their wing. But before too much fun could be had, another knock was heard at the door. This time it was Bartimaeus.
He had come to collect Venatrix, who he claimed the Overseer urgently needed to speak to. He also made it clear that the rest of the party likely wouldn't be seeing her for a while. This set off some alarms for the party, specifically Mr. Buttons, but eventually Venatrix left with the vampire without a fuss, though Evan and Mr. Buttons did opt to follow them from a distance while Journey took the form of Poe the raven in an attempt to blend in.
While they could do nothing to prevent Venatrix from entering the Night's Song compound with Bartimaeus, they were able to scope out some of the manor's defenses. Any and all entrances were sealed to physical entry and their were runes and wards preventing teleportation in or out. Meanwhile, Eladan decided none of this was of any particular interest to him and went to the Library of Cere to learn more about magic.
During this time, the Overseer came to visit Venatrix in her new lodgings/cell; also magically warded against teleportation and interplanar travel. It was here she revealed a startling secret: it was the Night's Song who had planted the demons in Venatrix's head in the first place. They were using her as nothing more than an incubator to increase the strength of a potent loumara demon. Now that Venatrix was unable to prevent the demon from taking direct control of her at night, the Night's Song had decided to keep her on lock down; only sending her out for missions under supervision. This was to be her life now up until her physical form became useless and she would find a new host for the demon.
Back with the main party, they had decided to rest up and do what they can to spring Ven in the morning. Returning to the compound and again looking for any crack in their defenses, they decided to throw stealth completely to the wind when Falkra, who came to speak with Journey at the front gate (she decided to see what would happen and simply knocked) insulted the tiefling. Journey promptly used dimension door to bypass the gate and in so-doing triggered the dozens of gargoyles guarding the walls to converge on her. A full-scale battle broke out and Falkra only barely made it inside, along with Journey, who used knock to suppress the magical locks. While Journey was inevitably knocked out, she did take out a good deal of animated armors and gargoyles by detonating a fireball directly on top of her.
At this point, the compound was on full alert, and guards rushed from their barracks to the foyer. Meanwhile, Rolf came to Venatrix. He regretted his role in what had happened to her, and while he by no means expected forgiveness, he still felt compelled to free her, telling her to seek out Aefaren Thrangur, a wizard who used to assist with difficult exorcisms before disappearing several years ago. When asked why he didn't tell her this sooner, all Rolf could say was "fuck".
Back upstairs, things took a turn for the worse for the party when Bartimaeus arrived on the scene, curious as to why he had just been told to kill all his fun little friends (he didn't actually seem all that upset about it). It was clear very early on that the vampire was more than a match for the party, firing off paralyzing spells, lightning bolts, hypnotizing party members and healing his wounds with their very lifeblood. Fortunately, Venatrix was able to make it upstairs and recover her equipment while Allston revived Journey. Together, they all made a break for the exit and teleported away.
Back at Shadehaven, the party quickly realized they weren't safe there, and when Journey called to be picked up and returned to the Mystic Isle, the party asked if they could come to. On the other side of the gate was Lonelei, who saw no reason to disallow this. And so the party stepped through the gate and found themselves in the reflecting pool cave of the Mystic Isle in the company of not only the ancient elf, but their long-lost companions Echoless and Ximon…
XP earned: 4,500 each
Session 48 The group, finally reunited after all this time, took some time to catch up within Lonelei's monastery, learning about what happened to Echoless and Ximon, as well as about Lonelei and the island. Afterwards, they laid out a plan to counter Shepherd. The party will go to the Lunar Forum and seek out the Rod of Neutralization interred beneath it while Ferdinand, an eccentric bard/warlock who assisted both Echoless and Ximon in their journeys to the Mystic Isle, would search out allies back in Horizon to stand against Shepherd's army.
With the plan solidified, Lonelei used a gate to send the party to the Forum's citadel. Inside, they found the majority of the wizards within busy with a organization-wide meeting. They did, however, run into a couple strange individuals that Ximon immediately recognized as mystics of the Immortal order. They had been staying with the Forum for some time keeping an eye out for Ximon, as they wanted to ask him if he knew what had become of their order, the attacks on them, and what happened to his old mentor's body. While Ximon had nothing concrete to give them, they left with the cryptic demand that if he cared about their order, he would find what happened to Grigor Smit's body.
After speaking with some wizard students, one of whom turned Mr. Buttons into an actual cat for a moment, the Forum adjourned and the party encountered Palios Pseftis. After speaking with him, as well as some other wizards, it became clear that Aefaren Thrangur would be difficult to find to perform an exorcism on Venatrix. They did have one option more available, however: Palios himself. While the party was more than reluctant to trust him, they decided it was worth a shot after Palios was clear with what he wanted in exchange: the demon(s) inside Ven's head. So with that, Palios asked them to meet him in one of the summoning chambers that night. From there, they will perform the ritual…
XP earned: 500 each
Session 49 After exploring the Forum Citadel for a bit and bartering with the Enchanters, the party met with Palios to begin the exorcism. Assisting Palios in the ritual was Filip Klein, who was brought along in an attempt to ease the group's suspicions (though they mused as to whether it was really him or a doppelganger again). Regardless, Palios explained what the ritual would entail, including sending the party into Venatrix's subconscious to combat the demon physically, and they began.
Once inside the astral projection of Ven's subconscious mind, the party found themselves in a hazy recreation of Crucible, occupied by ghostly memories and mental guardians who ultimately allowed the party to proceed. Making their way into the tunnels beneath the city, the group encountered extensions of the demon in the form of shades that attacked their minds. Pushing on, they encountered a familiar yet tantalizing face: Garav Arashamad. Or at least a memory of him, as he put it. "Garav" convinced the party that he was actually here to help, and he could open the way to deeper into Ven's psyche. The party ultimately decided to trust him and proceeded to the next level, only learning later that he was in fact an anchor of the demon.
On the next level, the party found themselves in the basement of Eventide Keep; a castle used by the Night's Song as a reserve and training grounds. There they found a reflection of Rolf, who, like Garav, promised to help them proceed deeper into the subconscious mire and defeat the demon. The party agreed, and he led them into the dungeons of the keep where a reflection of the vampire Bartimaeus was chained: the demon's anchor, according to Rolf. However, in an inspired moment, the party decided to test the iron flask on the vampire, theorizing that if he was indeed part of the demon, the flask would consume him. It did not, and the party realized that they had been duped. Rolf revealed himself to be the anchor and summoned additional shades to him, but the party struck him down. With that, the party proceeded to the next level.
The last level of Ven's psyche presented itself as a misty forest at dusk and a quiet village seemingly in the midst of a celebration. However, this was the village of Ven's childhood, and as the group approached, it became clear that what the memories were recreating was actually a funeral. In the graveyard, they encountered a hooded old woman holding a bouquet of flowers identical to those that Venatrix kept on her. She didn't speak a word, but bade them to follow her up a nature trail surrounded by shadow. They indeed followed and eventually came across an elven cottage deeper in the woods: Venatrix's old home. Inside it was barren and in a state of disrepair. The sound of muffled crying could be heard coming from a back room across from the master bedroom where Ven's parents still lay.
In Venatrix's old room, the party encountered Venatrix herself, albeit as a young girl. The child tried to convince the party to kill the old woman, claiming it was her that cursed her with the demon. The party attempted to use the flask on both, but it reacted to neither, though ultimately, they were able to deduce the girl was the demon when her words compelled Venatrix to attack the old woman. The girl transformed into a sickly, goblin-like creature and summoned Ven's dead parents as wraiths, but was ultimately stuck down, opening the path to empty cerebellum beyond, and undoubtedly the true form of the demon as well…
XP earned: 2,800 each
Session 50 The party encountered Amalgam in the deepest part of Venatrix's subconscious, finding a wounded Venatrix desperately attempting to keep a monstrous, centipede-like creature chained to a rock. However, the party found something off about the situation, and when one of Mr. Button's arrows struck the monster, Venatrix herself felt the blow. Upon realizing that the Venatrix copy was the demon, a full-scale battle broke out.
While the demon was a heavy hitter, and it was able to siphon some of the party's willpower through its shades, Mr. Buttons was able to stun the creature and allow everyone to wail on it for a round. When it came to, it realized it needed to shake up its strategy. It hid itself away in the mists and offered a deal: if the party left it be, it would return the favor and simply be a silent passenger in Ven's head. Ultimately, the party voted that it would be safer to trust Amalgam for the time-being than it would be to trust Palios with unfettered access to such a powerful demon. Naturally, Palios was disappointed when they came back empty handed, but did not begrudge them for it and simply left them to their own devices, though with the caveat that they would need to leave the next day.
With the castle at their reign, the party split; Venatrix, Evan, Buttons, and Ximon going to discuss their next move while Eladan and Echoless went to do some research in the library. Eladan found a lead on a Staff of Fire in Aeturnum and Echoless found a tome on demonic hierarchy, though it mentioned nothing about Loumara demons.
After reconvening in the morning (anyone who took wisdom damage still suffering from the effects), the party set out to find the gauntlet below the Soul Forge. Issuing the command phrase (after a few of the dumber PCs decided to poke to enchanter clearly radiating wild magic), the Forge revealed a teleportation circle that lead to the Gauntlet.
First up was the Transmutation room, where countless objects were scattered across the floor and three sockets stood in a monolith on the far side. After some trial and error, the party quickly learned that each object was a polymorphed creature (most notably, a T-Rex erupted from a drinking horn and caused quite a bit of chaos). After even more trial and error and confused bickering, they finally found the correct items to break; revealing modrones that slotted themselves into the sockets, revealing the next room: The Abjuration Room, where an anti-magic field covered the center of the room and two stone golems attempted to crush the party. After some finagling and shoving, one of the golems was deactivated with the field while the other was destroyed. With two trials down, the party progressed to the alteration room…
XP earned: 5,000 each

Report Date

13 Dec 2022