The Adventures of the Big HELP, Session 35

General Summary

• While Bigwig, Larka, Petrichor were sneaking into the Rainbow Coronet Villa, Hest and Helena went to watch a play depicting the life of Saint Kynthas. They ran into Marinia who was excited to see Hest. Marinia apologized for the last time they met, worried that her warning to Hest about the side effects of Wild Magic might have scarred her. Hest assured Marinia that she was fine.
• Watching the play, they learned the history of Kynthas and the Skyflame. St Kynthas was a sea elf priestess of Cerisa who lived in a city floating off the coast of Udarich named Melivane. She served the Ocean Goddess faithfully alongside her family until the Skyflame came. It crashed from beyond the sky and wreaked havoc on the city. Kynthas lost her family when the city sank but managed to get many to safety.
• With the help of Gorthag, Cerisa was able to quell and imprison the Skyflame. Kynthas was one of the clerics who monitored the imprisoned Skyflame. She saw signs of it breaking free and managed to hold it back as long as she could. The Skyflame broke free regardless but was split in two, a maelstrom of flame with a humanoid figure in the center. Cerisa granted her the power of water to help fight the Skyflame. Following the scene of the Skyflame splitting into two beings, Marinia remarked that the humanoid aspect's costume has been used in this play since the festival began several thousand years ago. Something about it looked familiar to Hest, but she couldn't put her finger on why.
• Kynthas led several fights against the Skyflame across Udarich, both the man and the maelstrom. In the final battle, Kynthas took on the form of a water titan and extinguished the maelstrom in Lake Verdauga. The man fled deep below the mountains. Kynthas chased him and dealt what she thought was mortal wounds many times, but the man wouldn’t die. She used the last of her power to seal him in the deepest pit before dying herself. After the play ended, Marinia made a snide comment to Hest about how much of the play was the true history and how much had been made up. Hest didn't understand what she meant at first and Marinia explained her contempt for authority. She believed that Abbess Cinder, King Hespiro, Archbishop Darvus all twisted history to fit their agendas, just like how they depict Wild Magic and its wielders as blasphemers.
• While the play was going on, the others fought through the elementals guarding Mother Wonder's library and claimed scrolls they thought might have relevant information. Larka had hoped to browse after defeatign the guardians, but they proved too strong and would regenerate after being defeated. All three fought close battles against the guardians and Larka had to haul an unconscious Bigwig and Petrichor back through the portal. Highlights of the fight include Larka using her Boon of the Earth God to leap massive distances across the library, Petrichor using the Wand of Magic Dispelling to temporarily confuse the guardians, and Bigwig beating up several guardians until she was eventually eaten by the Nature Elemental.
• Hest turned to look at Helena, who was starting to shiver and saw cold energy gathering around her. She realized that the cold magic was descending on all of the theatergoers but was affecting Helena most of all. Fire genasi like Abbess Cinder were also getting the brunt of the effect. Hest followed the cold emanations to their source and found Zirabelle there. A barrier of frost energy kept Zirabelle locked in place as cried out apologies and begged for help. White wings of frost spread from behind her. Hest tried to break through with a Firebolt but it didn't work. Marinia suggested they needed a chaotic magic that the barrier couldn't adapt to, leading Hest use her Wild Magic.
• While Hest and Marinia tried to break Zirabelle free, Zirabelle talked about how she had tried to use this power but lost control, saying she proved time and time again that she was a failure. Hest tried to calm her down while she and Marinia used their magic. Hest imbued her Chromatic Orbs with Wild Magic. Luckily, the first surge dissipated, its effect seemingly benign. The second Chromatic Orb broke through the barrier and ended the spell, though the surge left Hest with several open wounds. She went over to check on Zirabelle, though not before hearing someone move in the nearby bushes.
• Hest investigated their observer and found Quinita. The halfling looked shocked, then put two and two together and realized Hest's Wild Magic explained many unexplained events in the monastery. She ran to the monastry inhabitants the truth about Hest. Hest tried to give chase but was too slow. She ran back to check on Zirabelle and Marinia. When Hest explained Quinita was going to rat them out, Marinia wanted Hest to either run away or silence Quinita. Hest decided she'd rather try to clear her name. Marinia laughed at the idea and fled, telling Hest to meet up in the Ingvar Wildlands if she survived.
• After returning to the villa, Larka received an update from Hest about what she had been going through. Larka said screw it at that point and decided they should steal the cool treasures they'd seen while sneaking into the villa since they were probably going to get in trouble anyway. Petrichor and Bigwig were apprehensive due to their injuries. They snuck down to the treasure room and Larka successfully managed to disarm the trap around Mother Wonder's Diadem of Intellect. The party heard voices and footsteps before Larka could grab any other relics. Abbess Cinder was being brought back to the villa to rest. Larka and the others escaped through a window, obscuring any signs of their presence on the way out.
• Hest met back up with Larka, Bigwig, and Petrichor. They rushed to help Hest explain herself before Quinita could damage her reputation. By the time they arrived, Quinita had already spoken to the leader of the Hall of Oceans. Petrichor and Larka could tell that Hest wasn't going to have the chance to explain herself anytime soon and, with Zirabelle in tow, fled the monastery.
• After running for an hour to the southeast, Petrichor found an abandoned hovel they could rest in. The Big HELP took the time to read over the scrolls they had found. Larka opened one of her's first and saw the text was disappearing into a pink light before her eyes. She realized that the texts weren't meant to be taken from Mother Wonder's library and were slowly fading back there from the page. She, Petrichor, and Bigwig hurried to write down all they could.
• "...says she cannot feel my power. It is unexpected, a connection between all living things of this world, unable to be felt by those born beyond. Mount Todamente continues to call to me in my...leave a sliver of my memory to guide...."
• "...Moonvale Grove. She tasked me with hiding the gemstone from Frieda's broken staff there, to protect our friend's home now that she no longer can. It rests in the foothills of my goal and I will spend..."
• "...the Corrupter launched a final attack. Lord Scrios told me how he came up with the plan to counter her. All six stood against...They would watch for her, raining chaos down if she should ever return."
• "Rigaren ...The vargar lord led his people into the plague-desolated...found the source of the curse and burned it out. His people saw that the land was safe and named their new city Rigaren's Glory, the heart of the Ingvar Wildlands."
• "Lady Cerisa sunk the Imperiatrix's Silverwarden...strange magical devices. I've seen several wash up on our northern shores, now a coast of ice and snow. Lord Gorthag ordered the retrieval of all such...will wash up for years..."
• "Lord Scrios saw he was burning beyond even his control and saw he had been deceived...realized there was no other choice and looked to the sky...Vaylore begged him not to go, to stay with him...sacrificed himself to burn eternal in the sky."
• "Tharztak took the relics of the gods to be collected in...Some of the warriors and apostles refused to part with their gifts...I took no notice. The gemstone had already begun to fade now that the gods have left or hidden themselves...all of their relics shall become...shades of themselves."
• "Lady Cerisa and I had partaken in perhaps a little too much...let slip the truth about the St Kynthas mortal foe the...a creature from beyond the world, beyond the universe called an ancient Red Dragon had fallen time and space...did not want them in this world when they rebuilt it for they were too cunning. Arazid proved their fears."
• The HELP looked over their texts. Larka suggested Mother Wonder must have had psionic powers just like herself and left for Mount Todamente on some journey related to the them. She and Petrichor pieced together that she must have held on to the missing piece of Petrichor's staff and taken it to Moonvale Grove, in the foothills of Mount Todamente. They suggested that the null zone of energy Larka had seen in her visions might be the location of Moonvale Grove. The group decided the grove and the mountain would be their next goal.
• Hest checked in on Zirabelle during this time. She learned that Zirabelle had lived in the Arctic Gnashers territory, guarding the castle they knew as Arazid's Altar. Zirabelle explained that ancient magical technology, likely from Gadorr, washed up on the coasts on occassion. One of the Gnashers' arcane engineers was experimenting a recent find that had torn apart its previous test subjects. Feeling insecure and needing to prove herself, Zirabelle offered herself for the next trial. She survived but initially found the experiment had no effect.
• After some time, the Cult of Arazid rose up and moved to take the eastern portion of the Arctic Gnasher territory, hoping to reclaim Arazid's Altar for the Fireblood. Zirabelle began to exhibit ice powers and the arcane engineer determined that the mysterious device must have been designed to counteract the magic of the cultists. He began work to convert the device into a weapon and asked Zirabelle to hold the castle until he could finish, telling her only to act defensively. Overconfident from her power and begging to prove herself, Zirabelle went on the offensive instead. She came face to face with the Fireblood and was easily defeated, leading to the cult overwhelming her, the loss of the device, and Zirabelle being banished from Arctic Gnasher territory.
• Zirabelle wandered alone until she came to the Six Tenet Monastery, seeking sanctuary but refusing to explain who she was. Several nights before the festival, Zirabelle felt the power fade almost completely. That changed the night before when the power came surging back. Zirabelle told Hest that a woman soon came to her and told her to embrace the power, she could control it with practice. This gave Zirabelle the idea to use the power to subdue the monastery, then call out to her former tribespeople to come and claim it. Zirabelle's failure left her even more dejected. Larka tried to help lift her spirits by saying she felt the same way before, a savage who couldn't fulfill others' expectations of her.
• Only after all of this did Bigwig realize Helena was still at the monastery. She worried over Helena and started thinking of a way to go back and get her. Larka took some time to attune to the Diadem of Intellect, then reached out to commune with Hespiro. She told Hespiro that Mount Todamente seemed to be a wellspring of psionic energy, leaving out the null area at its base. Larka was sure this would be some kind of lead on way to keep using magic without harming the world. Hespiro seemed surprised by its existence. In turn, he updated her on his current plans. Baron Feaulup of the Ingvar Wildlands had extended a request for diplomacy. Hespiro had decided to try Larka's suggestion and embrace diplomacy once more, offering to extend it to the Catfolk Freehold if things worked out well in the Wildlands.
• Larka also delivered the news that they had cut of the head of the Cult of Arazid and that they would no longer be a threat. Hespiro was impressed and offered her group a reward for doing so.

Previous Session            Next Session

42 Days after the Crash of the Raziel

Report Date

29 Dec 2024