Episode 6: Dreams of Eventuality

General Summary

All good things must come to an end, and that includes a well needed vacation for our heroes. On the the 27th night of Dravago, the realm as a whole experienced a nightmare that shook the citizens to their very core.
Buulta, the hub nation that connects all of Paradenia, and the City of Dreams in ruins. Yet, while our heroes dreams varied in terms of the horror, one theme remained the same.
The End has come.

Iliren's Dream

• Sleeping in an ocean of black water, surrounded by family and friends and thousands of others, also sinking into the dark depths in comfort. Standing on top of the water surface is a man with solemn purple eyes, staring down at her.
  
  
• A man in lean armor unlike anything she's ever seen standing on the ruins of a skyscraper overlooking a city in flames. 
  
  
"The time for battle has come, The End has reached these lands as well." The man growls as he prepares to enter the fray.


• A man with a bowl-cut hairstyle and dark baggy eyes is walking through the city streets gleefully, skipping really. As the camera zooms out it is not a happy city, but people running pass him in the opposite direction. Screams and terrors fill the night sky.
  
  Black spires of malleable flesh pierce from the ground and creatures... aberration pours out unlike anything she's ever seen before. Not killing people but torturing them and leaving them to suffer before dying. The man continuing skipping as he makes his way towards the tallest skyscraper in the city.
  

• A Park dedicate to the Lycanthrope, with a large teleportation circle destroyed. People lie on the ground trembling as if having a seizure before their bodies corrupt and begins to transform into were-creatures. But... distorted, and rabid. They begin attacking anyone in sight in a frenzy.
  
  
There are Beastkin with firearms, shooting humans with tranquil darts. Every person shot, doesn't dies.. but transforms into a distorted were-creatures-like monstrosity. Yet beyond the park, standing tall above the trees is a rampaging beast unlike anything ever seen. A beast of true horror and destruction with weapon in hand, ramming into the defenders of the falling city.

Masami's Dream

• Masami sees her teacher, Miwa of the Three Rings, walking to the Aasimar Circle regarding the chaos in the land.

"So, the Aasimar will keep their circle while the rest of the realm is brought to oblivion?" she challenges.
A handsome Aasimar man sits on a throne, unamused. "It would. Come what may, the Aasimar Circle will survive. We Must."
"Do what you must then." Miwa will growl, grabbing her pendant required by all Aasimar, she rips it off herneclace and throws it to the ground disgust. "But we Scions of the Sovereign Host will fight. Until the heavens fall, until the gods die, until my last breath!"


• Burning buildings fall from the sky like meteorites, impending the world's doom. Fiends of various sizes fly, dominating the grounds. Out of the cracks in the sky, is a downpour of undead by the thousands. And Leading the onslaught is a massive fiend with large blade and whip.

• There is an Aasimar, sitting on the throne of the Nicholai family, watching the city of Buulta burn to ruins. He looks... unamused, if even bored or maybe disappointed? His elbow propped on the throne armrest, he rested his head on his hand. Upper Buulta falls, descending like meteors to smite the land of mortals. 

The air was thick of smoke and ash as the sea of fire washes over the city. Yet, despite all the chaos below and the countless deaths, the Aasimar remained unamused. Until he heard footsteps. Interest piqued, he looks to the staircase. As a figure slowly approaches, weapon in hand, ready to reclaim their throne.

Silas's Dream

• Hears throughout the dream a distorted melody that invokes fear into his very being. Unsettling fear that nothing will be okay. That there's no point... in anything. His home city, Buulta, is in ruins, red skies cries tears of flames. Building toppling over and monsters of various sizes fill the city streets and skies.


• Realizing this to be a dream, Silas manages to remove himself from the enforced vision and meets the man who's giving everyone this dream; Van Varius Von Valandris, V. Varius calls Silas his friend and his enemy. Silas demands why Varius is doing this, who simply replies "Well I just simply want to destroy the world."

Silas polymorphs Varius into a donkey, who laughs loudly as Silas forces himself out of the dream.

Dai's Dream

• Sees Padraig and a deep scion talking to one another in a dangerously humid jungle. "You took your time" says Padraig

"It is as we feared," the deep scion replies. "The End truly is here."

• See's a flamboyantly dressed man with a bowl-cut hairstyle and dark baggy eyes watching a holographic world map of the realm of Stellarium, embarked with flames across the world. He smiles content with his actions nearing completion before turning around to see holograms. He is in some sort of conference with nine other individuals, but only six were present.

There was a man with a cowboy hat with a scar around the neck. A woman with a dragon's tail and wings on a throne of melded treasure. A stag Beastkin in a tailored suit, with two large antlers, but one if chipped. A large grizzled Tiefling man with little to no expression. A mage woman lying on a couch littered with scrolls. And a red-bearded Hobgoblin general in military clothing.
They all look towards the man as he approaches gleefully. "The stage is set! We have but our heroes and king to play their part~"

• Sees a sole Nicholai with blue hair, walking towards King's Tower, at the epicenter of the chaos. Looking up at the sky to see ghastly insight flies through the burning skies, celebrating the chaos. Undead? Aberration? Fiend? A creature type that is as new as it is ancient. The sole Nicholai approaches the tower with his allies.

An Uncanny Meeting

Upon starting their day, the party was called upon by their group patrons who kickstarted Serenity's Vanguard; The Collegium, Cartalonia Company, and the STEPP Military. Meeting in a conference room, they met the representatives of the group patrons. Alice Pendragon- representing the Cartalonia Company- and Marco Giubertti- leader of the STEPP military.
While they discussed the dreams, it was revealed that everyone in Paradenia had the same dream of Buulta's destruction. And coincidentally enough, STEPP had captured a man the day before who claimed Buulta would be destroyed in the immediate future. Bringing in the said man for questioning, it surprises the party that the man is actually an simulacrum of Van Varius Von Valandras, V.
The party questioned the simulacrum in a Zone of Truth regarding its intentions and it's creator and learn the following:

• The Simulacrum goes by Simulacrum #8 and wants to join Serenity's Vanguard.
• Simulacrum #8 wants to stop it's creator from bringing an end to existence, and deems Serenity's Vanguard capable of such a feat.
• Van Varius Von Valandras, V- or Varius- is a Cleric/Bard that is capable of casting spells at the 10th level.
• Varius created nine simulacrums in total to help achieve his goals. Simulcrums #7-9 are good in nature and want to prevent The End from happening.
• Simulacrum #8 is unaware of how Varius is going to bring about The End, but can provide theories and insight on how Varius thinks.
• Varius and all of his Simulacrums are capable of casting the Wish spell.
• Despite being powerful, Varius is considerably weakened. For him, a short rest is 8 hours and a long rest is 7 days.

The group finds it difficult to trust Simulacrum #8, be it's intentions true or not and brings valid points. Who is to say that Varius intended for this Simulacrum to be here specifically to bring them to Buulta? What if by doing what it believes to be good, is actually following orders by Varius? These questions began to make Simulacrum #8 question the nature of it's reality and if it can even trust itself.
But not wanting to take the chance for an oncoming attack, the party began preparations. Masami left to warn the Clergy of the oncoming threat, Silas contacted his parents to prepare to teleport them out of Buulta, and Dai went to the Grand Bazaar for any provisions they could use if worse came to be.
However, as Silas left to meet his parents at the teleportation circle in the Eihe-ji temple, he and others were greeted with a small explosion as they teleported in, knocking his parents unconscious. With the quick use of healing potions, he managed to heal them as Eirene tended to their wounds. They didn't see anything wrong when they arrived for the teleportation, which led him to believe the attack had just begun.
The Vanguards were alerted to a sudden attack in Buulta and rush to teleport in before their dreams becomes reality.

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What awaits them in Buulta?
Will they arrive too late?
And can they stop Varius from bringing about The End?
Find out next time in the next episode of Vanguards of Serenity!

Report Date

10 May 2022

Episode Run time:
Approx. 4 hours
Characters Met:
Marco Giuberti (Human Man)
Alicia Pendragon Pendragon (Half-Elf Woman)
Simulacrum #8 (Simulacrum)
Eirene Rosie-Iwasaki (Satyr Woman)
Dileah Oreling (Elf Woman)
Patrick Oreling (Human Man)