Sanctuary of the Silent Terminus
The Strange Death of Oliver Chastain
General Summary
It is March 3rd, 1000 PCE. The Party breached the “Mjolnir” entrance to the Voidseal pyramid and made contact with a captive held within the pyramid’s meditation chambers. Poisonous air seeping outward from the Voidseal’s corrupted halls inspired tormented dreams and suicidal thoughts. Shaken by this experience, William finally took his vengeance and killed Oliver Chastain.
The PCs then freed an ancient psionic monk named Makarios from a sensory deprivation tank. Makarios led the Party to the prison icon of a Void empyrean called Decadron, and, using the blood of the newly slain Oliver as a sacrifice, he guided the Party in a ritual to release Decadron so that he might be slain.
The PCs then freed an ancient psionic monk named Makarios from a sensory deprivation tank. Makarios led the Party to the prison icon of a Void empyrean called Decadron, and, using the blood of the newly slain Oliver as a sacrifice, he guided the Party in a ritual to release Decadron so that he might be slain.
The Jewelled Scarab
As the Party searched the vestibule of the Voidseal’s meditation chambers (Society of the Invisible Terminus). Math and/or Jayne examined the scarab inscribed on the stone block “door.” Noticing the scarab’s jeweled eyes, the PCs became momentarily mesmerized and heard a voice calling from within the meditation halls and asking for help.
The vestibule’s walls and floor were scrawled with a single Old Ornish word, meaning “priest-king.” Uttering the word “Bishop” had no effect, but when Tobias said “Ahriman” the block lifted to allow passage. However, as the block rose up into the ceiling, a putrid green and violet gas billowed forth from the meditation chambers, instantly causing Jayne, Rob, and William to fall asleep.
The vestibule’s walls and floor were scrawled with a single Old Ornish word, meaning “priest-king.” Uttering the word “Bishop” had no effect, but when Tobias said “Ahriman” the block lifted to allow passage. However, as the block rose up into the ceiling, a putrid green and violet gas billowed forth from the meditation chambers, instantly causing Jayne, Rob, and William to fall asleep.
Dreaming Death
The sleeping adventurers experienced horrible dreams recollecting their worst fears and memories. Ten minutes later, Jayne and William were the first to stir. Jayne shrugged off the ordeal, but William experienced a psychotic break and started trying to stab himself. The Party attempted to restrain him and Math even got in the way of William’s knife to take a wound meant for William’s own throat.
When William came to his senses, Oliver Chastain quipped that William should save his blade for Oliver instead. The aftermath of madness brought a clarity that William had been wanting. Perhaps provoked by Oliver’s taunting, perhaps driven by the nightmare visions brought on by the Dreaming Death, Oliver proceeded to draw upon his psychic fire for the last time, striking Oliver down and then finishing him off for good measure. At this point, his mysterious patron abandoned him and the flames of the firewalker faded from his flesh.
William explained to the Party that he had been granted his powers by a supernatural being, who had instructed him not to kill Oliver Chastain. According to this unnamed patron, Oliver had a purpose to play before William could be permitted to take his revenge.
When William came to his senses, Oliver Chastain quipped that William should save his blade for Oliver instead. The aftermath of madness brought a clarity that William had been wanting. Perhaps provoked by Oliver’s taunting, perhaps driven by the nightmare visions brought on by the Dreaming Death, Oliver proceeded to draw upon his psychic fire for the last time, striking Oliver down and then finishing him off for good measure. At this point, his mysterious patron abandoned him and the flames of the firewalker faded from his flesh.
William explained to the Party that he had been granted his powers by a supernatural being, who had instructed him not to kill Oliver Chastain. According to this unnamed patron, Oliver had a purpose to play before William could be permitted to take his revenge.
Meeting Makarios
As the dust cleared over the now smoldering corpse of Oliver Chastain, the Party advanced into the Voidseal’s meditation chamber and found its wall paintings and ornaments defaced with vulgar obscenities. The Party searched a dirty capsule, and, after disabling a mechanical trap, opened it to release its human occupant. He was male, middle aged, and wearing white clothing in the style of a monk or mystic. His head was clean shaven and around him revolved three glowing memory crystals, which he referred to as “remembered friends.” He confirmed that the voice calling for help at the vestibule door was his own.
He claimed to be a supplicant of an order of psionic monks called the Society of the Invisible Terminus, an order of telepathic divines founded by Ahriman the Bishop and dedicated to making psychic contact with a lunar being known as Ego. Answering questions posed to him by the Party, Makarios explained that the Society had contacted the descendents of the successful Mjolnir Mission, the Terminus Colony, and, through the colonists, discovered the presence of Ego on the far side of the lunar surface in a place called the Sea of Oblivion. He related the story of how the colonists, fearful of the Ego entity’s vast psionic power, sought to capture it and, in the process, destroyed it.
The subsequent psychic backlash caused by this act instantiated as a terrible mental scream that drove the Society’s meditants mad. They began defacing the meditation chambers and attempted to release the Void energies sealed in the black pyramid. According to Makarios, those who remained loyal to Bishop prevented the Society from spreading havoc by sealing them within the meditation chamber. Listening to this, some PCs started to notice that the dates provided by Makarios regarding these events didn’t make sense.
When asked about the location of the Forbidden City, Makarios explained that knowledge of the location had been wiped from his mind (just as had been done to the militant Edrolim Brotherhood, another psionic order founded by Bishop). He said that only the Watchers were entrusted with the secret.
Knowing Bishop to be near (“within the waters of Tabazan,” see Puzzle of the Watchers), Tobias asked Makarios if the Terminus sanctuary could be used to make contact with Bishop. Makarios confirmed that it could be done, but first the Void empyrean corrupting the meditation chamber would have to be expelled and defeated. The Party agreed to participate in a blood ritual using the fresh corpse of Oliver Chastain as an offering to release the empyrean Decadron from his prison icon, a glittering statue of a turquoise scarab.
He claimed to be a supplicant of an order of psionic monks called the Society of the Invisible Terminus, an order of telepathic divines founded by Ahriman the Bishop and dedicated to making psychic contact with a lunar being known as Ego. Answering questions posed to him by the Party, Makarios explained that the Society had contacted the descendents of the successful Mjolnir Mission, the Terminus Colony, and, through the colonists, discovered the presence of Ego on the far side of the lunar surface in a place called the Sea of Oblivion. He related the story of how the colonists, fearful of the Ego entity’s vast psionic power, sought to capture it and, in the process, destroyed it.
The subsequent psychic backlash caused by this act instantiated as a terrible mental scream that drove the Society’s meditants mad. They began defacing the meditation chambers and attempted to release the Void energies sealed in the black pyramid. According to Makarios, those who remained loyal to Bishop prevented the Society from spreading havoc by sealing them within the meditation chamber. Listening to this, some PCs started to notice that the dates provided by Makarios regarding these events didn’t make sense.
When asked about the location of the Forbidden City, Makarios explained that knowledge of the location had been wiped from his mind (just as had been done to the militant Edrolim Brotherhood, another psionic order founded by Bishop). He said that only the Watchers were entrusted with the secret.
Knowing Bishop to be near (“within the waters of Tabazan,” see Puzzle of the Watchers), Tobias asked Makarios if the Terminus sanctuary could be used to make contact with Bishop. Makarios confirmed that it could be done, but first the Void empyrean corrupting the meditation chamber would have to be expelled and defeated. The Party agreed to participate in a blood ritual using the fresh corpse of Oliver Chastain as an offering to release the empyrean Decadron from his prison icon, a glittering statue of a turquoise scarab.
Echoes of the Archon
The Party attempted to follow Makarios into Decadron’s prison chamber, but were distracted by an alcove shrine. Before anyone could properly inspect the shrine, Math reached out to touch a small statue set upon it. This triggered a chronal displacement that caused most of the Party to fall into a closed chronal loop.
Those unaffected by the trap searched the shrine. Unlike the rest of the Terminus sanctuary, which had been thoroughly defiled, the shrine showed signs that it had been restored, as though someone had purposefully repaired its relics, including its statue and banner (the statue depicting Valoran in combat against the slug demon Lex Tetrax, the banner bearing the flame-emblazoned shield of the Edrolim Brotherhood). Rob also discovered a hidden psionic mark, which he read using his psionic focus:
Realizing that this mark must have been left by Golan Trevize, the Party told Tobias that they had encountered a time-displaced projection of the notorious archon earlier in their expedition. Incredulous to hear that Trevize’s influence was at work even here, he took Adelle (actually Delora Delarmi, fellow archon and disciple of Trevize) aside and asked her to intercede. With the rest of the Party distracted, she successfully used her own significant psionic power to negate Trevize’s psionic trap long enough to free their companions from its effects.
Those unaffected by the trap searched the shrine. Unlike the rest of the Terminus sanctuary, which had been thoroughly defiled, the shrine showed signs that it had been restored, as though someone had purposefully repaired its relics, including its statue and banner (the statue depicting Valoran in combat against the slug demon Lex Tetrax, the banner bearing the flame-emblazoned shield of the Edrolim Brotherhood). Rob also discovered a hidden psionic mark, which he read using his psionic focus:
I was not strong enough to defeat the demon held here. Someday I will return and purge this place. Until then, I shall continue my quest for the Phoenix Flame.
Realizing that this mark must have been left by Golan Trevize, the Party told Tobias that they had encountered a time-displaced projection of the notorious archon earlier in their expedition. Incredulous to hear that Trevize’s influence was at work even here, he took Adelle (actually Delora Delarmi, fellow archon and disciple of Trevize) aside and asked her to intercede. With the rest of the Party distracted, she successfully used her own significant psionic power to negate Trevize’s psionic trap long enough to free their companions from its effects.
Releasing Decadron
The Party advanced to rejoin Makarios in Decadron’ s prison chamber. Chastain’s body was placed in a sensory deprivation pod, and Makarios climbed into another (flanking the imposing carved turquoise megalith at the focal point of a raised dais). As the ritual concluded, the empyrean being corporealized within the statue, animating the cold stone with a hauntingly beautiful aura that almost immediately deformed into misshapen chaos. The Party stood in horror as a deadly and vicious bouquet of insectile claws sprouted from the abhorrent, three-legged, multi-eyed beast now transforming before their eyes.
Report Date
21 Jan 2023
The Jewelled Scarab
Dreaming Death
Meeting Makarios
Echoes of the Archon
Releasing Decadron
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