Session 31: Gutpunch and Zero Chill
General Summary
The Coast Guard talked to their superiors about their conversation with Baroness Altunka Iverfort. Captain Caydense expressed doubt about using Chelor Dun; specifically, the process is (in theory) a series of rituals that probably take some time. It isn't as simple as finding the prison and opening it, and he was doubtful that anyone who was not Chelu-kaan could do it. Captain Sultana suggested destroying Ylmyo-Aldon's connections to the Material Plane could work, but those connections are more than just the pact-bearing power couple (i. e. the Iverforts). Some speculation about the three books, their bearers, and their purpose was spun.
Ultimately it was decided that more investigation was necessary before any solid plans were laid. In this case, that meant it was time to do GUTpunch.
The CG started their trip in the Arts District, the glass shop. Despite being the most recently constructed part of town, the buildings looked dilapated and aged, as though the masonry itself was rotting; but Emelia also noticed there were fungal growths keeping everything stable even as it decayed. She also spied several Grey Caps -- "somniophytes" like Spug who stuck to the shadows, watching but not willing to approach the group.
Everyone (excluding SNTR-1) took the Gutpunch. As suspected, it allowed them to see into an overlay of the Domain of Decay. However, it was difficult to focus on one plane or the other, and Leaf was unable to do so. With various members of the party focusing on different realms, they got a good idea of the situation. Where the kiln was in the Material Plane, there was an organic-looking archway seemingly containing a portal to the Elemental Chaos (see World Axis Cosmology), presumably where Glis had come from. It was found that some objects in the Domain could be manipulated with concentration, and if the individual was focused on the Domain, even barriers on the Material Plane could be moved through.
They went to The Lodge next. Traveling through the streets, it seemed that much of the town wasn't directly correlated to location in the Domain, and they were uninterrupted. However, The Lodge was overlaid with the gates of Agarica. Afterenabling gracing the dispirited hostess and her paramour (i. e. Henrietta Logsdon and Sulphier)
with some extremely delicious Waterdavian wine from SNTR-1's Alchemy Jug (to a reward of a Master Key), they entered "Agarica", intending to find the Gith woman. Emelia felt spiritually pulled to a specific room. Opening it lead to the door they were looking for.
Leshui invited them in. Strangely, she was able to see SNTR-1 more clearly than anyone else, depsite his not being on Gutpunch. SNTR-1 required a combination of Calloway's Detect Thoughts and Emelia's Minor Image to "see" and "hear" the conversation. Leshui told them she had been a friend(?) of the Conduit, Dominhall, though she never knew him by that name or in a physical form & had assumed he died. She had a sketchbook full of drawings of architecture in the style of Dominhall, that she says he showed her. Included was a doorway that actually exists in the Baron's home.
She insisted that they need to return to the Domain so she can show them something the Conduit made, something stable. She knows that the Conduit had something to do with a machine that created portals to other planes, only some of which were stable enough to remain open. She was much more "with it" than other Agaricans the CG encountered, likely due to her Gith resilience to psychic influences, but she still wasn't completely clear on the history and politics of other planes (e. g. doesn't know much about the Githyanki vs Githzerei conflict). She is the only Gith she's ever seen in Agarica, other than Khalog.
The session ended with the party trying to figure out if there was a way to get her something that could allow her into the Material Plane, or if they would just have to meet up with her later.
Ultimately it was decided that more investigation was necessary before any solid plans were laid. In this case, that meant it was time to do GUTpunch.
The CG started their trip in the Arts District, the glass shop. Despite being the most recently constructed part of town, the buildings looked dilapated and aged, as though the masonry itself was rotting; but Emelia also noticed there were fungal growths keeping everything stable even as it decayed. She also spied several Grey Caps -- "somniophytes" like Spug who stuck to the shadows, watching but not willing to approach the group.
Everyone (excluding SNTR-1) took the Gutpunch. As suspected, it allowed them to see into an overlay of the Domain of Decay. However, it was difficult to focus on one plane or the other, and Leaf was unable to do so. With various members of the party focusing on different realms, they got a good idea of the situation. Where the kiln was in the Material Plane, there was an organic-looking archway seemingly containing a portal to the Elemental Chaos (see World Axis Cosmology), presumably where Glis had come from. It was found that some objects in the Domain could be manipulated with concentration, and if the individual was focused on the Domain, even barriers on the Material Plane could be moved through.
They went to The Lodge next. Traveling through the streets, it seemed that much of the town wasn't directly correlated to location in the Domain, and they were uninterrupted. However, The Lodge was overlaid with the gates of Agarica. After
Leshui invited them in. Strangely, she was able to see SNTR-1 more clearly than anyone else, depsite his not being on Gutpunch. SNTR-1 required a combination of Calloway's Detect Thoughts and Emelia's Minor Image to "see" and "hear" the conversation. Leshui told them she had been a friend(?) of the Conduit, Dominhall, though she never knew him by that name or in a physical form & had assumed he died. She had a sketchbook full of drawings of architecture in the style of Dominhall, that she says he showed her. Included was a doorway that actually exists in the Baron's home.
She insisted that they need to return to the Domain so she can show them something the Conduit made, something stable. She knows that the Conduit had something to do with a machine that created portals to other planes, only some of which were stable enough to remain open. She was much more "with it" than other Agaricans the CG encountered, likely due to her Gith resilience to psychic influences, but she still wasn't completely clear on the history and politics of other planes (e. g. doesn't know much about the Githyanki vs Githzerei conflict). She is the only Gith she's ever seen in Agarica, other than Khalog.
The session ended with the party trying to figure out if there was a way to get her something that could allow her into the Material Plane, or if they would just have to meet up with her later.
TLDR:
Gutpunch adventure time! There's a portal to the Elemental Chaos! You can see Agarica from the Lodge! You feel spiritually pulled towards locations of narrative importance! All this and more can be yours if you ingest a totally safe drug distilled from the spores of an eldritch mushroom god!Also -- met Leshui.
Bookkeeping:
In-Game Date: 12/1
Report Date
12 Feb 2024
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