Season 12, Episode 2: "The Centurion's Riddle" Report

General Summary

Regulus invoked the power of Authorize, and the floors of Vulreach shifted towards the control chamber. All sides turned their gaze skyward, as Cornelius slipped through into the floors below, and the walls began to crumble...

Take It From the Top

The battle continued, each side of the conflict taking pot shots at each other as the ceiling grew closer, and those in hiding revealed themselves at last. Masamune began targeting the Endless on Crow's command, distracting Che and Mist from their typical support roles and defending against retaliations with his divine stamina.
Valentina and Sara No-Name joined Higri and Regulus as proxy Dark Walkers, Theophane ghosted along the stairs above, and Isra began to stumble as visions of Cornelius wracked her mind's eye. Four crumbling staircases were all that remained as the elevator reached its peak, MaMa practically dragging Isra upwards as the four sides split. With every step the visions became stronger, spreading to the rest of the Dream Team as they climbed higher (see Memory's Quest), until time stood still...
And Memory became a god.

The End of All Things

The party ascended into the End of All Things, the mighty control room of the tower of Vulreach, where Crow and their Anticipations prepared for their final conflict, and the last survivors of the Infinity Petal rose to meet them. As Crow mocked their lack of a proper seven, Che swore her allegiance to the Dream Team, followed by a slender, white-haired young man on the stairs behind her.
Bast declared himself the seventh chosen, now empowered by Love and Memory. The System imparted its final quest: to defeat Crow and their Anticipations, become an Admin of Vulreach, and escape End Day once and for all. Then a moment of tense silence, as each party weighed this shake up in support, and drew arms regardless.
Like all great combats, it was over in an eternity and in a flash, with so many rises and falls that it would be impossible to recount them in detail. In this endeavor, we can only strive to do our best.
Masamune dominated the battlefield as Crow's bonded chosen, cutting down several of the minor players before they could even begin to fight back, healing as quickly as he was damaged by the Dream Team's attacks. Given the complicated resistances and immunities of everyone on the field, finding the right match up became crucial to winning the pocket duels taking place all over the chamber.
Isra focused on the divine due to her possession of the Shards of Mortal Anguish, Lockette wore down enemies vulnerable to large hits, Flay brought Brightsever to those with Wither in their veins, and MaMa acted as the party's shield — taking heavy blows from both Masamune and David Bastion and delivering them back in turn.
Besides their traitorous enemy, the Owls began to stand out as serious thorns due to their mystical immunities, picking off foes like Delikul and Siren who were powerless against them. For this knowledge of the Entwined Infinities became critical, with Che narrowly sneaking out a victory against the Dreamer with her esoteric knowledge, but not without revealing her identity as a time-stretched version of one Abelina Tremont.
Theophane targeted Mist, calling for revenge after his betrayal, but was held at bay by his Daughter-Wives, the mighty elemental daughters of Calamity.
Shadows began to move in the mist beneath Vulreach, as Caesura and Helen's battled with Ising continued in a place between, now joined by the Triad Unremembered. Seeking to disrupt the fight going on above him, Ising grew increasingly frustrated as he was stopped at every turn, his reinforcements matched by a clever summon from the party, using the Blessing of the Ritualist to have Bogwart Yitbitter join Caesura's side.
It was near this moment that Isra began to succumb to the pull of the Shards, and the lantern at her side glowed with a queer light. Invoking his manufactured title as the Shard of Knowledge, the spirit of Albus Rickette put right the imbalance of the Shards' design, and unlocked Ragarot's broken face — revealing him to be a similarly time-stretched version of Chamas, and breaking him free of Crow's hold.
Unfortunately, this did not stop the Beast of Armageddon from retaliating with his own knowledge, and in a burst of power Masamune began to cut down Ragarot and all that stood in his way. Lockette burned a hole where the proxies had once stood, leaving only a crippled Valentina and Sara No-Name behind, with the former begrudgingly admitting defeat and transferring her title as System Admin to Lockette with her last breath. Before Sara could intervene, Bast invoked the name of Azkhrumdar and hurled it into her spirit, shattering her apart and Severing her essence from his mind. The elemental daughters left as their mother was defeated, wishing Mist a complex farewell.
Despite their best efforts, even the serpentine twins couldn't hold out against Ising for long, as Caesura and Helen reverted to strange eggs, and Bogwart fled from the Infinity Petal for good. Realizing events had progressed too far for Ising to still interfere, the Skinless and his servants retreated with the eggs, hoping to find a Petal once the dust settled.
Crow began to grow desperate, shoving their pieces further towards the center, as Lockette accumulated Admin titles and sought to alter the functions of End Day. As she entered the very center of the End a battle erupted around her, with MaMa playing a critical defense role against the Black Owl. Masamune truly hit the stride of his cruelty, beheading Isra and kicking her head into the mists beneath the End, with Mist falling not soon after — his defensive resources spent after nearly a dozen rounds of tanking the worse hits Crow and their Anticipations could deliver.
Che delivered Isra's body to the center, and Bast went to war with Crow for Mist's soul. Lockette took control of Vulreach, slowly turning the Tower to her whim, trusting that her friends would handle Crow before the doors opened, which would allow their corruption to escape otherwise. MaMa cut into the Black Owl, but he felt no pain. Masamune sliced Flay from hip to shoulder. Mist and Bast screamed as Vacuus filled their minds. MaMa wracked her brain, and the legend of the Centurion's Riddle, and the prophecy of the Owls...
The Black Owl laughed.
MaMa Howled.
The nameless Anticipation disintegrated, and Crow's attention lapsed, allowing Lockette to secure Mist's soul with her Tinker Tools, and for Flay to strike a critical blow against Masamune — only to be cut down in turn. The doors to escape the Petal opened, and Lockette slumped at the controls. The last of the Dream Team turned to the walking war god, and brought Masamune low at last.
Bast screamed for the party to leave, the whole of this reality now crumbling down around them, the raging spirit of Crow now included within Bast's fleeting influence. Lockette and MaMa grabbed what they could, and leapt into the darkness. Che's Alignment threads bound the way behind them.
All became nothing.
The Infinity Petal came to an End (see He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not)...

You (Two || Too) Survive

...but this was not the end of the Dream Team.
Lockette and MaMa woke to a bright light, as a freshly-painted Aga Jain came dipping into view, taking them and the bodies around them on board. A middle-aged Captain Chamas greeted them, along with Abelina and many of the old crew of the starship, now sworn into allegiance with the Petal Consortium. They explained how they had chosen not to return to the next Iteration with Chess, assuming that the Dream Team would succeed, and had been waiting for them to emerge from End Day ever since.
Using the Consortium's advanced technologies, TRAVIS was able to manufacture fresh bodies for Isra and Mist, and return the rest of the party back to life. However, with her data banks destroyed they found Isra void of her memory, and Cornelius was nowhere to be seen. After realizing she was carrying Azkhrumdar, Lockette briefly imparted the item to Isra for inspection, and the artifact immediately bound to her person, restoring her memories completely, with an intelligence that suggested Memory lived on within the ax.
Then came a subtle silence, as the Forge appeared on the horizon, drifting through spacetime towards Norn. Knowing it was her only chance to catch the vessel, Isra said her goodbyes to the Dream Team, burdened by the knowledge that they may never see one another again. The rest came to similar conclusions, realizing their own goals did not align with their friends' wishes...
The Dream Team disbanded, but departed as friends.
Isra left right away. The others stayed on the Aga Jain for a time, gathering resources and information before heading out on their own. Mist and MaMa went to find a new purpose (see Mr. and Ms. M). Flay went on a quest to reclaim her divinity (see Cat's Cradle), and Lockette left to keep her promise, to find her people at Masson (see The Endrinmaster). Like shooting stars, each going their own way, never to see each other again...
Until the Moon Goddess split the World Tree.
End of the Centurion's Riddle

Rewards Granted

Tarot Deck

• Everything was given.

Loot

• All was lost.

Created Content

New and updated articles for:

• End Day
• Musings on Numerology in the Infinities
• Vulreach
• Mr. and Ms. M
• Cat's Cradle
• The Endrinmaster
• Memory's Quest
• He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

Notes

This was the culmination of a story I'd been telling and collaborating on since 2011, split across 11 years-long campaigns and multiple GMs — a high fantasy drama with mystical godheads, reality-breaking magic, and a timeline best described as a pair of "entwined infinities". I have two email inboxes dedicated solely to this purpose, which share thousands of back-and-forth messages with my fellow players, and dozens of wikis and Trello boards containing lore from games past (which I may one day consolidate into a single source...).
Not all of the stories I told were my best work, but I am fond of all of them. I started playing TTRPGs to escape the world that surrounded my late teens, and through them I have found some of the best people I have ever known. Even when the story I was telling wasn't my best, they were great because of the people playing in them. If you have ever had a hand in these stories, thank you. And to my fellow Storytellers:
Glory to the All-Father, and to the legend of the Carter. Seek the Star Scribe for knowledge, and the Sculptor for creativity. Follow the Shepherd to family, and let the Dreamer guide you home. Give Names to the Nameless.
Beware the words of the Liar God.

Campaign

The Centurion's Riddle

Protagonists

Flame in the Night

Tesin Movahesh

Thunder in the Mist

Lockette Endrinmaster 12 2.0

Isra

Report Date

15 Aug 2023

Primary Location

Vulreach