Season 6, Episode 9: "The City of Pleated Light" Report
General Summary
With all but Mist freed from their galactic plights and prisons, the Dream Team reconvened on Ezorod, and shared all the madness that had consumed their lives in the last three months. Chamas introduced the survivors of the Project 9 lab, and Shalema arrived with the Aga Jain, crewed by Horchata and her old mining team -- as well as Fish and his family, Rel, and Ricardo.
While Nib, Taeress, and Ilvarti helped them get settled, the group was surprised to see Langdon arrive at their door, his rusty joints and swordless belt a plain indicator of his fall from grace. He claimed to be on a redemption quest, and was actively searching for all signs of Mist, hoping to save him from whatever plight he was in. He said he could feel the Ysoki somewhere in the universe, but that his energy was getting weaker at an alarming rate, and ushered them towards a solution.
They decided to catch a break in the Aga Jain, but were alarmed to learn that TRAVIS could not return crew control to them without an order from the Captain -- the only one remaining with the power to disband the interim crew. However, Shalema refused to transfer control, citing an agreement between Ololot and TRAVIS, to which the AI was mysteriously dimissive. However, when Lockette went to give the AI Bay a diagnostic check, she did retrieve Lod Coster's old tablet, which the ship seemed to have been hiding from the standing crew... Fearful of being overheard in a ship they didn't have admin rights to, they decided to reconvene at the Access Beacon, taking their snacks with them.
The conversation continued with Melody, who filled them in on her thoughts about the Mask Maker, which she claimed to be an artifact from the Other Side. Seeking a second opinion, the Dream Team summoned up Nicholas Carter, who appeared as a younger, cockier version of himself. He confirmed the dangerous nature of the mask, saying it was the "face" of the Maskmaker, and was smuggled to Tyrnog before the Twilight War. He cautioned them not to leave it anywhere, and so it was carefully tucked into Tesin's bag.
The topic then changed to entering the City of Pleated Light, which both Nic and Langdon recommended for getting to the Void. However, doing so would require a Silent Drive, which even Melody believed to be a myth. Unfortunately, the deads ends seemed to lead to a talk with Vaughn Blackblood, which Isra had pointedly skipped out on ever since his arrival on Safarae.
While they attempted to circumvent that conversation with some queries on the Forge and via LEAF, the best they could accomplish were ancient First Ones schematics, which would take even Lockette and Melody a month to build. So the Dream Team dragged their feet into the Spire...
They found it changed, with Vaughn walking about with ease, taking care of his garden. He was delighted to see Isra, and proud to see that she had crossed the Infinite Line, as the trigger allowed him to cash out on an old deal. At the bidding of Grandsmith, he pulled Dedlam's Bones from storage, and dumped them into Isra's arms. He played coy about their purpose, but seemed perhaps too eager to be rid of them.
On the matter of the Silent Drive, Vaughn gladly displayed his ownership, claiming to have created several of the drives in a past dealing, with just the one remaining. While many possible deals were offered, the group settled on the wardenship of Gregar Taxus, which Vaughn wanted to fill the empty space in his "staff" after Skiv's departure. However, Isra demanded that Taxus pay for his crimes, and added that the Hierophant would get to judge his ultimate fate, with Vaughn allowed to come and speak his case.
The Oni agreed -- despite the deal seeming a risky bet -- and Blessing was invoked, summoning all witnesses, evidence, and relevant parties to the Azure Tribunal. There, the Hierophant was glad to see their case, with Valentina Terris arriving to support the prosecution. However, Gregar was entirely unwilling to defend himself, accepting no counsel and offering no argument to his sentencing. When Vaughn stated his wish for Gregar to serve him as just punishment, the Hierophant refused...
Then Vaughn lifted an item hidden about his person -- a beating, bloody Heart of Armageddon -- stunning all in attendance save Isra and Flay. Vaughn jumped towards the Hierophant, ripping one of twelve keys to the doors of Heaven from his neck, and then moved to take Gregar with him. He was stopped by Flay, who left a deep cut in his arm, and then Isra dove in, invoking the Disciple, hoping to Skip Vaughn away while leaving the key behind. Although she was able to stop the Oni from commiting any further harm, Vaughn was able to take the key with him, leaving the courtroom in complete disarray, with Valentina no longer in attendance.
After getting explanations from the crew, the Hierophant dispatched all of his Angels to find Vaughn, and sentenced Gregar to become a holy hunting dog, turning him into an Outsider with avian features. Before sending the Dream Team back to the Material Plane, he implored the group to share any information of Vaughn, should they see him again, and in his weariness, let slip that more than half of the keys were now missing, but didn't explain when or why they'd disappeared.
Bewildered, but back on the Forge, Isra found Vaughn was still good to his word, and a Silent Drive appeared beside her. With Mist's signal still weakening, the group rushed back to the Aga Jain, installing the Silent Drive, and then pulled Shalema from dinner with Carrot (who seemed please to get to meet his in-laws), forced to take the interim captain on their adventure. In a twisting shift, they vanished once again from the Material Plane, and fell into the Silence Between Thoughts and Breaths.
They found the City of Pleated Light in ruin, haunted by shambling figures, with a woman's aching wails echoing all across the tree. With little time to investigate, they instead headed down, through the Garden of Silence and past a door with holes for the Ruby Keys, and into the Void.
At the end, with no voices to speak with or words to converse, they found Thunder in the Mist. Lying dead in the black of the Nothing, his body devoid of a soul. While the crew struggled to communicate a strategy, Chamas seemed to fall into a panic -- broken as he spotted something over Lockette's shoulder...
Four figures, rising out of the dark.
Mist's eyes opened, and the Dark Walkers brought their weapons to bear.
Rewards Granted
Tarot Deck
- Isra used the Blessing of the Hierophant and the Disciple.
Created Content
New and updated articles for:
Notes
I know I'm doing Vaughn right when we're spend half the session doing everything the players can think of to avoid going to Vaughn.
Fish now runs and lives out of Ezorod's workshop, and Rel is opening a hotel.
Shalema probably has a mother-in-law suite in Night, but Carrot is too afraid to tell anyone.
Flame in the Night
Tesin Movahesh
Thunder in the Mist
Lockette Endrinmaster 12 2.0
Isra
Report Date
08 Jan 2022
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Secondary Location
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