DA.1.4 Fade to Black

Session Preface

As you stir in the rented rooms of the Elfsong Tavern, the morning sun washes the room in a golden glow, diffused by the morning fog. Your thoughts coalesce and wander in a half-dream haze, recounting your journies. Somehow, it has only been four months since the fall of Sundabar, you realize.
Since then, you reclaimed the ruined city, thwarted thieves and laid to rest the meddling undead in Silverymoon, won reknown in a tournament of combat in Everlund, brokered peace in the wilds of the High Forest, brought an assassin to justice in Neverwinter, and saved a duchess and her city from the ruinous machinations of demonic threats in Daggerford. You then aided in delivering Elturel to hell, where even now it fights for its very survival.
With each step, you have also discovered long buried secrets, revelations smoothed over or lost in the passing of time. You find yourself at the confluence of the ancient past and present moment, where the stories of heroes of old intertwine with your own. You stand on the precipice of destiny, where your decisions and deeds in the days to come may well decide the fate of many.

Session Summary

Baldur's Gate

Pax shares the truth of his lineage with Aethuriel over breakfast, explaining his nature as a Bhaalspawn. They discuss how to reconcile this new information in light of his unique powers to interpret hemocraft sigils, but find no simple answers in their conversation. They spend the rest of the meal in contemplation, with Pax forced to consider himself in a new light at the intersection of these powers and forces that are far more significant than he ever thought his life might entail.
Together, they return to The Sanctum, pressing through rain-soaked crowds of refugees and the overflowing crowds of the Shrine of the Suffering. Jhaille greets them coldly, expecting Pax has finally decided to return Ezra's medallion. Pax rejects this notion, but instead shares with her what he learned as well as his experiences with Ehmar's journal. Fascinated by the potenial, Jhaille immediately falls back into her past role of experimenting on Pax to better understand his hemocraft capabilities. He begrudgingly agrees to translate some of the sigils so she can document the process and compare to her notes from when he was a child.
In a vision drawn from some of the oldest, most detailed sigils in the journal, Pax experiences the very founding of the Order of Profane Souls — the moment King Imbrar, later known as Ehmar, accepted a bargain from Zariel to fight back a demonic incursion in his land of Impiltur. In these visions, Imbrar's blade, Dornnaver, or Demonbane, glowed in infernal sigils, the physical manifestation of the contract binding the Order to their Archdevil Zariel. (DA.Lore Ehmar's Sigils)
Coming out of the vision, Pax realizes this same blade was displayed as a relic in the Righteous Hand where he grew up. He heard legends of the founder of the orphanage, Imiara, who had been a brave, noble warrior who fought to protect both Baldur's Gate and Elturel. Pax recalls a busy day from his youth in which the sword was transferred to Elturel as part of some sort of commemorationin the holy city and that was the last time he saw the sword.
As he recovers from the harrowing toll the experience exacts from him, Jhaille presses for questions, recording his responses. She determines something about Ehmar's sigils are, as Pax described, more potent, vivid, and intense than his previous interactions with other sigils. When her questions become too demanding and she chastises Pax for his weakness, Aethuriel nearly brings the conversation to a violent end. When Jhaille demands once more Ezra's medallion, Aethuriel carves a gash into her office door before he and Pax depart.
Leaving the Sanctum, the companions find their business concluded in Baldur's Gate. As they depart through the Basilik Gate, pushing through the crowds of refugees crammed against the wall in the Outer City, Pax comes to peace with the city where he grew up, content in possibly never seeing it again. Aethuriel is weighed down by the burdens of those around him, but realizes the scale is so vast that there is not enough he can do to help them and that he must focus his efforts on saving Elturel and his friends who are in danger.
On the road to Candlekeep, the companions push through exhaustion to travel at night, shortening the trip from five days to three. On their one night of rest, they are joined at the campfire by Dolrik, the ritesmaster of the Order of Profane Souls. Having returned from conducting the rites with blistered hands and dirt under his fingernails, he reports that none of the four initiates survived the process. Despite decades spent training initiates, he and Jhaille have never figured out the pattern or process behind whether someone will survive or not. Pax shares the news of Elturel and recent events in Baldur's Gate with him, inviting Dolrik to join them in hell. The dwarf readily declines the invitation, but spends the evening sharing stories and reminiscing with them, lightening the journey.

Candlekeep

Presenting their copy of Apocolypto as a gift to Candlekeep, Pax and Aethuriel are welcomed into the expansive cobblestone courtyard and led to the Hearth, the tavern where they can seek out more information. They learn from the friendly barkeep that their contact, Sylvira Savikas, is a Great Reader, one of the preeminent scholars and leaders of the Avowed, the monks who dedicate themselves to Candlekeep. He sends them through a bureacractic process of writing a letter to her that can then be delivered through the Oghma temple leader, Kei Tigersteel, and that if accepted and approved, they'll receive a writ of permission from Sylvira that provides for them an Adjutant who can act as their guide and aide within the Great Towers of Candlekeep. Exasperated by the further delays after days of travel, they navigate the necessary paperwork and are eventually led through the towers of Candlekeep by their brass dragonborn accompaniment.
The companions are introduced to Sylvira and her quasit familiar, Jezebel. Sylvira confirms that she received their letter and is eager to help them on their way to Avernus, but there are two hindrances. First, she does not have a metal attuned specifically to Avernus, a necessary spell component. As the companions look to each other in confusion, Jezebel leaps onto Pax's shoulder, screeching and yanking at the chain holding his medallion. He shoos the creature away and presents Ezra's medallion, asking if it will work. Sylvira studies it and confirms that it is properly attuned and of sufficiently pure material, but warns that the medallion will be consumed in the casting. The second hindrance is the time and arcane energy needed to prepare the spell requiring that Sylvira rest, meaning they will not be able to leave until first light the next morning. She encourages the companions to seek out any information they think might be helpful to make the most of their short visit to Candlekeep before departing.
Making their way to the Pillars of Pedagogy, Pax and Aethuriel begin discussing the various texts they'll need to request and how to split up the topics. This conversation is interupted when the familiar voice of the Shieldmaster speaks telepathically to Aethuriel, ordering him to give report in her chamber of study. Aethuriels bounds up the stairs and as he approaches, the door magically unlocks and opens before him. Within, the Shieldmaster and he speak telepathically through the silence-enchanted chamber.
Aethuriel gives account in full detail of all of his adventures, accomplishments, and failures since the fall of Sundabar. When he finishes his story, the Shieldmaster simply asks, "Do you know why you were set on this path? Do you know what you must do?" Aethuriel admits that he does not, that he feels distant from Helm's sight, and that he doesn't see the way forward through his rage and anger except for descending to hell and trying to right his wrongs. The Shieldmaster asks, then, a question Aethuriel has answered many times, "What does it mean to be a knight?"

"It means trying and failing. Causing harm in the pursuit of preventing harm. Letting go of what you known in the past to be true, and being open to what life and the gods teach you. It means being steadfast in action and in faith. Serving Helm, watching over all. From the youngest child to the most flagrant sinner to the most holy knight. It means resting in the place between uncertainty and resilience."

The Shieldmaster nods, accepting his answer. She then enlightens Aethuriel to not only where his path leads, but how it ties into greater events across the Sword Coast.

"You must be the one to rebuild the knights. descend into hell, save those you can, and bring what is left back. The Knights are at their best when they represent the entire Triad. We had become a confederacy of three religions - the Helmites who were content to watch and record, but rarely intercede. The Tyrans, who saw justice as the means and ends, not an ideal to pursue. And the Tormites, who saw courage as only the bravery to throw one’s self into danger, not to weigh the deeper meaning. You, however, have studied all three. And your life has led you through trials in which you have had to carry and balance the three. That is what the knights must become once again. But first you must save what is left of them."

As Aethuriel kneels at the desk as a makeshift altar, Shieldmaster both warns and encourages Aethuriel that she has no insight as to how the mission in Elturel and Avernus will play out, as opposed to how she had forseen that Sundabar's fall was a necessary defeat to lead to more important victories.

"Helm sees all and reveals much, but he does not determine nor detail how the interwoven threads of the multitude of lives intertwine. There is another, however, who offers such insights into the world and the underlying reality. He is currently in the growing beacon of Durindale, far north of here. He showed me the coming tragedy on Sundabar, but also that it was a necessity. We are but one thread. Our defeat, along with that of the Avraathian forces, led to the purification of Avraathe and the rising of a hero who will be crucial in the coming war. Your own efforts, hunting murderers and thieves in Silverymoon and Neverwinter topples dominos across the multiverse. Elturel’s disappearance was, admittedly, premature, but may play a great role in the cosmic events to come."

With his mission and a newfound sense of purpose, Aethuriel rises, standing tall, and returns to Pax without explanation. The two spend much of the evening hours in study, enjoying the research as part of their formative years in their respective orders.
Finally, the next morning, Sylvira leads the companions to the stables where they mount a trio of griffons and ride through the rushing winds over Candlekeep to a floating tower maintained by the otter-polymporhed archmage Traxigor. He welcomes his guests and helps prepare the ritual space. When the spell is nearly complete, Sylvira extends a hand to Pax. He draws forth Ezra's medallion, watching it hang from the chain for a moment.

"I couldn't have done this without you, Ezra"

As Sylvira completes the ritual, the medallion begins to spin violently, the ruby eyes of the oni shining brighter and brighter before shattering. The magical force fractures the medallion into chunks of gold, ruby, and chain, all of which swirl around Pax, Aethuriel, and Sylvira. "Hold on-" is all they hear Sylvira say as the spell takes hold and shifts them from the Material Plane to Avernus as the world fades to black.
A hot, stinging air assaults your senses. The city street in which you stand is lined with buildings that are crumbling, if not already collapsed. The ground shudders beneath your feet. In the red, smoky sky, a 400-foot-diameter sphere of darkness discharges strokes of bluish-white lightning that strike the city at irregular intervals. Perched atop a distant bluff, overlooking the rest of the city, is a crumbled fortress. Around the corner of a still-standing structure runs a woman with two toddlers, one on each arm. In her wake amble three infernal monsters with glaives and snakelike beards. The fiends are laughing darkly and turn your direction.

Session Overview

Date Played:
March 16, 2024
Party:

• Aethuriel
• Pax

Time Passed:
Uktar 7, AM 1493 - Ultar 11, AM 1493
NPCs:

• Jhaille
• Dolrik
• Orros Gobblebonk
• Lorekeeper Kei Tigersteel
• Nax Olossis
• Sylvira Savikas
• Shieldmaster