Season 7, Episode 8: "LIVE! With Roger Glipglorp!" Report

General Summary

After their gauntlet of challenges on the Rambling Road, the Dream Team tinkered with their spoils and began preparing for their upcoming conflict in the Shadari system. Of note, their live interview with Roger Glipglorp was the talk of the Pact Worlds, where Roger proved that neither the Dream Team, Valentina Terris, Nawa Jin, or Hamat were Reptoids, countering claims by Alexander Marcus on state media. Valentina then publicly announced a series of cease and desist orders, calling on Marcus to repeal the warrants, and to restore the people's faith in the system's heroes.
With the serious matters out of the way, Roger traded banter with the crew, diving into their love life and Mist's prolific use of the Blessing of the Hunter. When the lights faded, the team offered Roger an exclusive seat on the Aga Jain, giving him full media access to their activities on Great Shadar, to which the jiggly reporter nervously agreed.
Then, as is their custom, the crew split up into smaller groups, tackling side jobs all over the stars:

• Lockette and Nib made a state-sanctioned trip to Noma, where Lockette quickly began to unfurl techno-magical mysteries that baffled the local scientists, leading to a full-on Protocite revolution, with her as the acting mayor. She discovered a LEAF node in one of the central buildings, along with the preserved corpse of a First One, and a tiny, crab-like information bot by the name of SOL-653 (who would later become Citizen SOL-654, and Vice Mayor of Noma). Nib then showed Lockette around a massive hangar on the far side of the city, which contained what was very likely a prototype of the SS Iron Drake, and a portal to the abandoned research facility of Adrammelech. There she discovered many secrets about the researcher and his fate, as well as a storage facility containing a Tier-10 Dragonglass preserved in ice, a tuning crystal to the portals, and the original location of the Sun Key.
• Lockette, Tesin, and a blood wisp containing a piece of Chamas's intellect visited Hamat in the Plane of Fire, where they checked in on their old friend the Malikah. In return for Chamas using his blood magic to save her from her corruption at the hands of Szuriel, Hamat got them access to Dmyr, who had been imprisoned in the City of Brass. Using Tesin's psychic abilities, they were able to recover the second crystal focus capable of moving Far Portal when in range of the Crucible, and a bug-out bag with 10,000 credits.
• Mist, Flay, Chamas made their way to the Midnight Isles, traveling down the River Styx with Langdon's aid. On the island of Vazglar, they encountered countless remains of a godly battle, and a mine abandoned for thousands of years. At the bottom, they were able to locate crystals similar to those used to create Unari Dama, and with Flay's White Flame, they were able to bind the intelligence in Unari's Spectacles back into a corporeal form. However, during the process Flay glimpsed a piece of Unari's true nature — a wild beast made of blue and black flames — frighteningly similar in appearance to the beast that killed her parents. Once interrogated, he revealed that he sometimes lost control of himself... And apologized profusely for the death of Flay's parents, and an entirely forgotten fourth village in the Ikal Expanse. Shocked, Flay decided he would answer for his crimes after the war, and the group returned to Night in silence.

The following days passed in relative hurry, as forces of alarming size began to rally around the Forge and Far Portal, prepared to make a massive, tactical leap across the stars. Then came the day of the battle, and the civilized nations of the galaxy held their breath. After a rousing speech from Cromwell, Isra prepared to lead her flock to war, and prepared to skip her home world directly into the conflict. As the Skip began, all seemed to go according to plan—
Isra found herself crashing into the ash and sand of Great Shadar, completely devoid of allies, their ships and forces now scattered across the stars. A terrible scream from the Shield of Denial echoed down from the top of the Howling Mountain, and from its shadow came Alexander Marcus and Jestyr. As the mad god approached, his mortal servant was but a step behind... But something had changed about Marcus, if only for a moment. Although no sound came from his lips, he whispered to Isra, and the mystical power of the Haze corrupted her vision.
The Shepherd saw three paths before her — each offering power — and one road behind, a door of independence, and likely death. Yog-Sothoth offered a black key, and a promise of pasture for her people. But she would leave this world behind for good, never to return. Asmodeus offered up a ruby crook, a tool for Shepherds who lead their flock to war. Then last, the little bird of freedom, the spirit of Wynrey offered up power, raw like a scream, collected from both her victory and torment.
Isra wasted no time taking upon the latter, filling her with light, force, and purpose. Straining against the Shield of Light, she invoked a ritual not cast since before the Gap, and summoned all of the Fold Gates — including their nexus, the Forge — to the borders of Great Shadar. All across the galaxy, Isra's allies were saved from their plights, pulled into a central conflict by her very will, repelling the Jester and his servants with a mighty blast of light.
The war for the Shadari Confederacy was about to end.

Rewards Granted

Tarot Deck

• No changes.

Loot

• The party gained the second crystal focus required to move Far Portal when in range of Crucible, and a bag with 10,000 credits in it.
• Lockette gained a Tier-10 Dragonglass and a crystal capable of tuning the smaller portal network across Mataras (this excludes Far Portal).
• Unari lost Flay's respect.
• SOL-654 gained a friend.

Created Content

New and updated articles for:

• House of Secrets
• House of Gears
• House of Coin
• The Mask Maker
• House of Servants
• House of Shadows
• SSID Spell-Construct: Metamorphisis

Notes

I am completing this session report almost two months after the game it is based on, because I didn't wanna. My players have since realized that they all take really bad notes.
During this session, I actually screamed as the Shield of Denial, probably the loudest I've screamed in years, and the effect was mighty and glorious.

Campaign

The Centurion's Riddle

Protagonists

Flame in the Night

Tesin Movahesh

Thunder in the Mist

Lockette Endrinmaster 12 2.0

Isra

Report Date

11 May 2022

Primary Location

Absalom Station

Secondary Location

Mataras