Session 29-31

General Summary

11th through 17th of Wealsun, year 595
With Irina carrying Anixibis off toward the city wall, the rest of the party faces off with a somewhat confused town guard and militia. A few, including the "turncoat" Erilanne, run down a side street in an attempt to keep sight of the fleeing pair, but the rest attack the party as, after all, they do seem to be resisting. Edefror, seemingly regretfully, sends a couple of arrows at her betraying counterpart, and ultimately, the party is able to deescalate the situation and actually convince the militia to let them go if they don't return.
The party meet up with Irina and Anixibis outside the gates and after regrouping, find their way back inside the city and follow a hunch to the city docks. Indeed, Sariel is there with her boat, Gwaurlimb (elvish for “mudskipper”) and what was originally thought to be an elderly vagabond, Todd, Sariel's shiphand. Happy to see Irina alright (especially after what she had heard about the Guard), and understanding what is at stake, Sariel gladly agrees to sail the party across the Sleeping Sea to where the beam of light of the 5th Lock seems to be going to.
Several hours away from the coast, in the morning light, they spot two specs coming up from behind, growing larger. Before long, it's clearly two ships, one larger with greater sails than Sariel's boat, and one smaller, sleeker ship staying to the outside. As the larger ship comes near, it becomes obvious that they are attacking, and they begin firing ballista bolts and magic at the party. Anixibis asks to help, but is told to stay safe down below. Edefror sends a couple arrows at the attackers, but then suffers a critical failure and must run below for a new string. Meanwhile, the fight rages, and it looks as though the party may be getting the upper hand, when Edie is seen on the enemy's ship bounding over to the schooner with the attacker's main magic user. The faster ship zips away, leaving their larger vessel to the party.
Smelling and seeing smoke coming up from below Sariel's ship, the party rushes down to find the cargo hold aflame, and a body burned beyond recognition along with a single odd coin that looks identical to the one Edie gave Irina to use in her card game against Errutt. They manage to extinguish the fire, and, it so happens, discover they have the means for Malex to raise Anixibis from death. When she returns, she can only remember Edefror coming down the stairs, and nothing more. And sadly, her frail condition has been made much worse.
A few hours later, as the sky seems to darken far too early and otherworldly clouds are rolling in, Sariel navigates the ship slowly up a canal at the edge of the rocky island the beam of light comes from (or ends at). When they can go no farther, they discover a cave entrance into the depths of the island. They all enter, and soon begin to experience a certain persistent disorientation as they stumble through an unnaturally wide underground expanse, around stalactites and stalagmites and columns. As they watch, the water dripping from the stone seems to change in speed, faster and slower. And in some places, the drops appear to be drops of stone itself leaving stalagmites longer and columns wider in their wake. And around their knees, a thick mist roils and wafts, seemingly trying with intent to waft up to each character's noses. Something urges them to breathe it in, but they refuse. And on and on, and on, the cavern goes, until time is completely meaningless.
Finally, unable to withstand the call any longer, Irina allows herself to breathe in the mist, and very quickly, she discovers the end of the cavern as it opens up into the outside, and what appears to be the edge of a crater. However, strangely, the rest of the party does not see this, and continue to walk through the unending cavern, to lose Irina, and in Irina's view, she losing them.
One by one, however, the rest of the party can't help but breathe the mist in, or, after seeing their companions disappear after they do, voluntarily do so. And soon they are all gathered at the upper edge of a crater with the far end broken off to form a cliff over the ocean, where a ritual is being performed at the base of the pulsing column of light. In the sky, several obelisks float and circle the alter, on which stood the high mage that stabbed Irina in her vision, an arch druid, Ede, an undead lord over minions, and . . . performing a songspell, Valenthe! An oddly much older, especially for a Drow, and very haggard Valenthe.
Each member of party notices one other thing, aside from Irina for some reason, everyone else has developed some acute form of madness since breathing the mist and being able to arrive at this place. Well, they themselves do not necessarily recognize it as madness, but their various affects hamper each one's ability in the ensuing combat.
Irina, however, suddenly hear her Patron, as it happens, is a monstrously huge and horrific creature struggling in the air among the obelisks, tearing at the fabric of space the ritual is weakening. It speaks in her mind:

“Pathetic creature. Do you not know from where your gifts come?? Are you so ungrateful?? Join the ritual to tear the Veil, bring your masters into your world, and be rewarded greatly, beyond your meager comprehension. Or continue in your folly, and have all gifts revoked. Either join us now and forever, eschewing these mortals, and fulfill the promise made in your name. Or, reject the promise, and be returned to the state in which you came to us in. Empty, nothing. Choose now!!”

Irina chooses emphatically and in no uncertain terms, to reject the Old Ones. At which point they abandon her, taking with them their arcane gifts, and leaving her with a series of memory flashes that drop her to the ground each time she experiences them. Fragments of memory from her childhood, long lost in the amnesia she suffered since arriving on the shore of Portville. Memory that shows her her mother, and her mother murdered, a home build of marble, and her actual father... Asmodeus himself.
In the process of the battle to get to the alter and stop the ritual, Irina is then faced with another voice, a familiar but not exactly friendly one, that offers her a pact with him. She accepts, and finds that Moloch is now her Patron. But true to his word, he bestows his own arcane gifts upon her.
Meanwhile, the party rushes forth, through cultists and undead servants, to reach the alter as it comes to a climax. Shockingly, the tiefling sacrifice they see bound to the alter, is Anixibis' dark-hearted brother, Errutt. Anixibis does not know this, however, as her madness is in the form of being deaf and blind, and is lead to the alter by Malex. Her fearful condition, and the unknown, the inability to understand what and where and when anything is happening, sends her into a near panic and a desire to back out from being the sacrifice, however, the party urges her on using calming magic.
Finally, urgent fighting sees the party prevail and stop the ritual before it completes. However, the Locks remain open, so the sealing ritual must be performed. And as Walrick performs the spellsong (as amended by Moloch), and Irina "gently" ushers Anixibis to her fate, a concussive blast explodes from the light beam spreading out in all directions as it disintegrates. Likewise, the arcane magic elevating the cyclopian obelisks ends, causing them to crash and crumble and threaten to crush the party. They grab Valenthe, who seems nearly catatonic and mumbling about promises to go home, and the bodies of notable cult leaders, and run to the cavern.
With the power of the 5th Lock gone, the mysterious cavern no longer seems mysterious and they quickly make it through to Sariel's ship, which they find grounded from the concussion wave. Fortunately, with effort, rope and poles, the party rights it, and they are soon back in the sea heading for the coast. Sariel suggests returning to Portville as the safest option, though Errutt exclaims the instant they make land he's hightailing it to Crescent, "And I better never see a one of you murderers again." An odd sentiment coming from him, since his reaction to the sacrifice of Anixibis' was more surprise and confusion than grief or sadness. Irina agrees to teleport Errutt into Crescent in Sariel is willing to sail near its port first, which after sailing for many hours, they do.
During the voyage back, the party examines what they recovered from the cultists. Of immediate interest is Edefror's Bracers of the Archer, or rather, what was under them. On her left forearm they discover a patch of flesh that has been cut out and allowed to heal over naturally instead of by any magical assistance. A patch that looks suspiciously similar to the patch of flesh bearing a Guard tattoo that was lashed to the forearm of the first Tiefling victim the party found.
They search the high mage and arch druid and find some rather powerful items, and of particular interest, a packet of papers and a book in a satchel under the wizard's black robe:

• a worn bound book with the Guard symbol on the cover with the following written on the first page:

• “On the ryte origyn and charge of the Ordyr of the Garde as handed from the Goode & Mercyful Istus...”

Wally's bardic skills tell him the pages and writing to be more than 500 years old (the Bridge of the Great Cleft, for comparison, was built about 300 years ago).
This book appears to tell the story of how a great and terrible evil and the source of all madness, that came from the place beyond the black of the sky, threatened the world.
A great sacrifice was made by many archons of good and evil, light and dark, nature and celestial, created a system of arcane locks that bound the Old Ones from entering this world.
The responsibility of protecting these locks was given to the elves, but after a war among them waged for years, the goddess Istus took the responsibility from them and gave it to an order of humans. As part of this responsibility:


“As it is wyth the bloode of the Infernal and the Fey wych bound the Locks, it is wyth the bloode of their offborne that the Locks will be open. For thys it is charged the Garde to elyminate all threat of thys by elyminating all bloode of the offborne.”


The book appears to include the names and histories of the first members of the Guard and their efforts to locate and kill tiefling.
It also makes mention of skirmishes with the fey (though it doesn’t indicate why), and setting up the first “Gardhome” on the ruins of the fallen human “city of stumps and roses” -- evidently an ancient victim to the original attack of the Old Ones.
• An ancient scroll that is clearly held together by nothing more than a preservation spell, is written in some arcane language that only Wally and Irina can read, and describes in detail the ritual of opening the Glochrim.
• A map that appears to be the Westlands, with Xs on areas that coincide with each of the 4 permanent Locks
• A contract of services with High Priest Kuuccen of the Order of Tiamat out of Drakis Dimir for henchmen, and guidance and access to the Dragonmouth Temple
• Various notes regarding Hasturton, secret tunnels into Thenloduhr, and a Qemuel of Anchorton with an X through the name

They also find another coin in the satchel, similar to the one found on Sariel's ship and lost in the card game to Errutt. But this one is still impregnated with a powerful enchantment. Wally takes it and concentrates on it, discovering a key word of "Summon" activates it. Which he says, and instantly a very surprised black-scaled Dragonborn in the vestments of a high priest appears on the deck before them! When the name Kuuccen is mentioned, his shock is redoubled and demands to know how they know him. But when the party starts to ask the questions, Kuuccen instead steps away and teleports or planesteps away and is not seen again.
When they neared the coast, they saw an unusual sight, as there were a great amount of ocean debris covering the coastline, and trees up to dozens of feet away from the beach were felled. Sariel, Toby, and Irina recognized this rare event as a tsunami, evidently from the concussion wave that emanated from the island when the ritual completed. As they approached the Guardmouth, the ancient stone bridge of unknown origin that has stood since as long memory serves, they could see some cracks and crumbling that was not there before. The debris and damage continued up the river but eventually diminished to very little by the time they reached Portville late at night. A couple of the wharfs and docks showed some cracks in the beams, and two boats appeared to have been swamped, with their masts sticking out of the water, but otherwise, the town appears unharmed. And quiet.
The party virtually stumbles from exhaustion up the main road from the docks to the largest inn and tavern in town, the First Home to find it busier than any of them have ever seen. Coming from it were laughs and song and loud talking, a sense of joy that hadn't been heard in a very long time. As they moved through the crowd in wonder, seeing both strange and familiar faces, as people began noticing them, the revelry slowed and stop around them in a wave as people stared. Expecting some kind of confrontation, the party steeled themselves, but then a voice cried out, "Three cheers for the heroes!" and the crowd erupted in appreciation. The revelry started back up anew, and the party was greeted with backpats and hand shakes and more than a few drink-slurred Thank Yous.
Confused and uncertain, someone from the party asks what's going on, how do people know? And a familiar voice speaks up, "Perhaps I can answer that for you," and an older worn Varius steps up. He appears to be favoring one side as if recovering from stroke, and aged a couple decades, but very glad to see the party. He beckons them back to a small table by the wall with him.
Varius explains that he did indeed die in his attempt to seal off the Hasturton portal. His dwarven companion Eberk's attempted to engineer a closure but that also failed, and a group of highest order mages from the Arcanist Guild rushed down. Among them, Varius' mentor Archmagus Uhudrisse who was able to raise Varius from the dead and restore his body, though, with some side-effects. Their attempt to demolish the portal with a concentrated meteor storm could not stop them, so finally, they turned the ground the entire town stood on to molten rock and hardened slag. That seemed to stop the monstrosities for a while... until just a few days ago, when the pillar of light appeared across the sea, they began to break through even that and all hope seemed lost.
The mages came down to Portville instead of returning to Settleton (due to the siege) and attempted to scry the location of the beam of light, but something seemed to block their power. Until a day ago when they caught sight of a boat with people Varius recalled, reaching an island. For some reason, they were able to focus on and follow the party, losing them for a time in the island, and then again able to connect as they interrupted what appeared to be a ritual. The mages watched the events that transpired and recognized the import of what had happened. And when the gate, or seal (Varius is unsure exactly of the details of what's going on) was closed, they knew something had changed, and scryed the Hasturton and dwarven city portals to find they appear to have also sealed. They shared the news with the populace and have sent word along the coast.
"Oh, siege at Settleton?" Varius explains that about a week or so ago, an army of chromatic-scaled Dragonborn entered Settleton and facing no martial opposition, have essentially taken over the city. Rumor making it down to Portville is, they claimed they were invited by city Counselor Malikus -- but Counselor Malikus has not been heard from in a couple weeks or so at least. He left town for Thenloduhr on a mission to discuss trade and protection, but hasn't been heard from since. (This brings to the party's mind the letter they found in the post satchel of the foundered riverboat near the Vortex. see Session 20)
Meanwhile, Wally and Toby hear some bard performing a ballad of the events of the party, and not butchering the details. So with Toby's encouragement, Wally takes his place, and with a combination of his increased skill, self-confidence, and the most welcoming audience he could ever have, Wally performs the tale of his party's adventures such that they will be remembered by all in attendance the rest of their lives!
Valenthe remains with the party all this time, but she is deeply upset by the noise and chaos. Since being discovered on the island, she has said little except something about a promise to be returned home (to the Drow in V'lelddrinsir). Varius, seeing her discomfort, does something to calm her, telling the party this is only temporary, and in a couple of days he may be able to come up with a way to settle her mind more long-term.
At one point, Irina and Malex look around for any Guard members in the crowd, and in fact, do end up seeing three Guardsmen sitting together talking, occasionally making glances over at them. They approach the trio who seem uncomfortable and unsure of how to address the Tiefling and Dragonborn, but very quickly agree that with the now understood events of the closing of the portals, the standing order from Captain Shava seems moot, and they agree to put that "nasty business" behind them.
Eventually, the party reaches their absolute limit, not having any rest, being in a state of urgency for several days, and make their leave. Irina returns with a welcoming Sariel to her ship to retire. The rest follow Toby back to where he used to live before departing on this quest, the inn of The Last Breath. It too is filled, but with more locals and regulars that The First Home. At catching sight of Toby, the proprietress Divone immediately looks stern and chides him, "Do ye have any idea how much work ye 'ave missed as ye've gone galavantin' across the Westlands? Ye left me in quite the lurch ye 'ave!" But when Toby runs to her, her facade cracks and she beams in the biggest smile and takes him in her huge hug!
Divone welcomes the party, recognizing Wally and Malex, and will not take "no" for an answer when she offers up her room to them for the night, promising to have Toby's old room back in order and lodgings for Malex and Wally the next day. Gratefully, they retire and the party has their first real sleep in a very long time.
The next day, Irina returns to her cottage and discovers to her exasperation a bit of damage due to both weather and mischief. But encounters someone around back! Surprisingly, it's Merles, one of the Guard from the previous night, with a toolbox, there to make repairs. He apologizes to Irina for the way she'd been treated and would like to make it up by helping around the cottage. She agrees, and over the next few days find Merles enlists the help of a couple other Guard to restore her property.
Wally spends the next few days coming to terms with his experiences, processing, and using his art to help in that end. He continues to perform at the First Home to great appreciation, and in fact, begins to feel much like what Halavar Lorritris at the Dryad's Hammer in Crescent must feel like. But he finds that he prefers to spend his alone-time at the Last Breath where he's less a celebrity there, but still quite welcome for his more "workman" fare.
Toby also spends time reconnecting with his old life, with the urchins he used to help, and trying to figure out what all he's learned and experienced can be used to new goals he has determined for his life. While Malex asks around the Guard for when Captain Shava is supposed to return, and learns she should be coming back from Crescent within the next couple of days.
After a few days or rest, processing, settling, on their 4th night back home, each of the party receives a dream, and in the morning, they come together in the mostly empty main room of the Last Breath to discuss their dreams over Divone's hearty breakfast:
Toby:

You begin to dream of falling obelisks, running to avoid them, and running into crowds of people... too many people, you hide, but then you find you’re invisible... and then your friends appear, and Malex, and they’re calling to you, but they can’t see you. You’re afraid that no one will ever be able to see you... but then, as everyone else fades away, you hear a voice, deep and resonant, it says, “I see you, little one. I see that you have become more than you have ever expected you could be. I see the valor in your heart, the justice it seeks for the innocent and the helpless. I see you try to be the voice for them. It belies your skills as someone who hides in shadow and silence.” From out of the darkness you see shapes flutter and fly, and after a moment you make them out as birds. Seven birds, flying in circular patters, and you know they’re circling something that’s not there. Then one of the birds breaks away and the rest fade into the darkness. The one that remains, flies around you, but while the creature appears to be a tiny sparrow, you FEEL a creature of enormous size pushing the air around you. And indeed, you watch as the bird transforms into the shape of a great wyrm, and finally an ancient gold dragon lands gracefully before you, even as it shakes the ground. In that sonorous voice, it says, “You follow one who serves my liege. And as you have followed him, you have learned much about the valor and bravery and justice that my liege demands of his followers. And I see in your heart you desire to also serve my liege. But you have much chaos and conflict in your heart yet, and your feet seek shadows more often than the bright light of justice and order.” The dragon peers at you closely, and says, “I am Kurya, the Eye of Bahamut. And I see you, Tobias, squire of Malex. And I would see you become a true servant of my liege. But you must prove you are ready to follow that path. If you so wish it, I will grant you the gifts of the paladin, and you may begin your journey, and you will be watched. To retain the gifts, you must no longer follow the path of shadow. Do you so swear, Tobias, squire of Malex servant of Bahamut the Just?” If YES, then Kurya says, “Until you have proven yourself worthy of Bahamut’s grace, Tobias squire of Malex, then I, Kurya the Eye of Bahamut, will be your patron. Go forth in service of justice and the light of truth.” You awake to the sun beaming through the curtains of your room, and you find something on your chest... you are wearing a chain with a pendant. It is a dragon’s eye fashioned of platinum, and the pupil is a gold dragon.

Malex:

You fall quickly and soundly to sleep. Your dreams begin with your travelling among the hills of your homeland, the wrinkled, sun-soaked land of high plains desert that stretches for leagues between mountain range to mountain range. You watch as birds soar through the sky... and watch as they become many, and then the skill is filled with them. But they’re not birds, they are dragon. And your initial breathlessness of awe is quickly turned to fear and uncertainty as you watch the sky full of dragon roil and clash. And soon blood and scales rain down all around you and you run for cover but can find none. You are soaked in the blood of dragon, and you begin choking on it. Finally, you see the Dragonmouth, the entrance to the great temple. But it is neither gold nor black, it is without color. A shifting melange of gray and impossible nothingness. But it is the only cover you have, and you step in away from the rain of gore. And inside you expect the Dragonheart chamber of the temple, but there is nothing. Emptiness. And then... movement. A figure. A human woman steps out of the darkness, long, straight black hair... no, not human. She has horns, shimmering bronze skin, all-black eyes, and legs that bend in the wrong directions ending in hooves. She holds up a large heart in each hand, one that shimmers with a platinum sheen, and the other, shimmering with a chromatic iridescence. She drops both hearts to the ground like so much garbage. And in a voice that’s both musical and cruel, says, “Why choose when both are equally dead?” and laughs... ...and you wake with a heaviness in your own heart.

Wally:

You fall asleep with music running through your mind, applause still ringing in your ears. You dream of yourself strolling through the lush green forests and hills of the Westlands, not sure where you’re coming from or going to, but you’re following music on the air and that’s all that matters. But as you stroll along, the sky above you, through the tops of the pines, grows dark and heavy with storm clouds. The music turns dark and heavy as well. A fork appears in the path and you decide to take it and for a moment both the sky and music lighten, but invariable darkens yet again. And just underneath the music, another sound. A roaring sound. And you walk on, it gets louder until it begins to overtake the music. You turn around and walk back the other way but the path does not go back to where you came from, it’s still continuing forward towards the roar. You switch directions again and again the path changes to remain the way towards the roar: a sound that fills your mind and becomes all you can hear. An oppressive and crushing sound. You can feel it rumble your chest and clinch your spine. You pass through a break in the trees and there you are, at the edge of the Vortex. The hypnotic sight of it is so awesome and impossible it threatens to churn your own sanity like so much water. You can’t understand how it both pulls in all the water and at the very same time expels it in the same space, both consuming and creating the massive river which runs in both directions simultaneously. Something is floating, swirling, in the eddies and whirlpools the Vortex casts off along its edge. A person, cloaked, face down, spinning and turning. It’s Valenthe’s cloak, wide and rippling in the currents like it’s alive, struggling to remain afloat even while the person wearing it no longer moves. The body comes up to your feet and stops, bobbing. The sound of the Vortex becomes a physical force, pushing into you. You bend down to the body, as if expecting to discover a secret. The head lifts and it’s not Valenthe’s face, but Maggie Marigold’s — the only person from your village known to encounter the Vortex and come back. But she entirely didn’t come back, did she? She looks into your eyes with her own swollen and sightless orbs, her voice cuts through the all-sound of the Vortex like a knife. She says, “You believed a lie. It’s not over.”

Irina:

You fall into a fitful sleep, flashes of the memories that came to you earlier, of your mother, of sacrifice and love, blood, ceremonies, and, your father. As you drift to sleep you doubt it can all be true, but as thoughts become dreams, you know it is, somehow. You’re not just a “child of the infernal,” you are a daughter of Asmodeus himself. You dream though of the house you saw yourself in, where your mother died protecting you from a man who hated your existence. A house of stone and marble. A house that exists... you had a home. You have a place you came from. You dream of running through fields that turn to forest. You dream of staring at stars and talking with... someone... who wasn’t there. You dream of being a child and talking to someone whose voice only you could hear... but, you can’t hear the voice now. It seems stricken from your memory. Then... a presence in your mind... there’s someone there, in the distance... you try to reach out, to contact, to know who comes to you in your dreams... but they seem locked away from you. Except, to send you an idea. A thought... You wake with a start and a belief that the Mind Flayer N’gathlodd is the key to your past somehow.

Rewards Granted

• Cultist high wizard:
• Staff of the Magi
• Wand of Enemy Detection
• Spellbook (obviously a spellbook, but the inscribing is some unintelligible arcane script -- (1st level: detect magic, identify, mage armor, magic missile, charm person; 2nd level: detect thoughts, mirror image, misty step, suggestion; 3rd level: counterspell, fly, lightning bolt, hypnotic pattern; 4th level: banishment, fire shield, stoneskin; 5th level: cone of cold, scrying, wall of force; 6th level: arcane gate, globe of invulnerability, instant summons; 7th level: plane shift, teleport; 8th level: dominate monster, mind blank; 9th level: time stop, weird)

• Cultist warlock:
• Ring of Mind Shielding
• Dagger of Warning

• Edefror:
• Longbow +2
• Bracers of Archery
• Ring of Suggestion Binding (wearer targets an object and casts the effects of Suggestion on that object, which as long as the ring remains worn and the object is within 30’ of an intended individual, that person will be under the effect of the Suggestion. A new wearer of the ring can feel the energy of the previous casting and can identify the last object it was bound to.)

Report Date

04 Jun 2020