Session 56-65: The Savary Family Conspiracy

General Summary

Session 56-59: The Savary Family Contract

Session 56-57: Winter's Crest & Family Heir

On the eve of Winter's Crest, after all the celebrations have been completed and the guests have gone home from Lumière Éternelle's manor, the party receives a visit from their sponsor, Mirabella Valois, who informs them of a new development that they may wish to investigate, especially Quico. She provides them with a letter from the lost heir of the Savary Family, Amiet Savary. The contents of the letter indicate an interest in making the acquaintance of the estranged heir of the two families as well as condemning the two families for their sins against his family. As such, he asks the party to meet with him within the Council District to discuss business: that of bringing the two families to justice due to their burying his family and uplifting their own on the backs of the Savary Family's patented work.

I, the heir of the Savary Family, humbly request a meeting with your party, and especially with the one who calls themselves Quico Condorcet-Mersenne, that I may show to you all the true nature of the families you had decided to aid: a pair of duplicitous, greedy families whose claim to fame is predicated on the efforts of my own family, who would sooner resort to blackmail and threats to maintain their status than conduct business in a honest manner, whether towards each other or to any they collectively deem a threat.
— Amiet Savary, in his letter to the party.

To verify this claim, the party calls upon Norren, their contact from the Nouvelle Cultural Museum, to get a brief timeline of what happened to the Savary Family in the older times as well as their contentious history with the Condorcets and Mersennes. Fueled by his speculation, the party then makes a visit to the Mersenne household to meet with Mandel Mersenne to try and get more information about the Savaries, but his paranoid nature puts the party on the ropes, under pressure to try and not disclose their communication with the family. They are ultimately forced to burn the letter that Amiet sent to them in a misdirection ploy to hide their association with the family rival.

The Council District Gardens.

Moving to the Council District, the party meets the lost heir himself, Amiet Savary, and his loyal retainer, Canis "Favoured" Krexil. There, the heir presents himself as a meek, polite young man who earnestly desires revenge against the Condorcet and Mersenne families for what they subjected his family to. Krexil lays out the details of his plan: the party will serve as his information gatherers, finding definitive proof that the two families did not only plagiarize from the Savary pocket watch design, but also that they profited from their family to becoming the aristocrats that they are today. However, the party questions his methods, as he proposes that the party infiltrate the Mersenne Museum of Scientific Curiosities to find such proof. As such, they reject his offer as of the present, but are open to resuming negotiations should he find a better way.

Amiet Savary and his loyal retainer, Canis "Favoured" Krexil.

Amiet, however, is less than pleased with the party's answer. He directs anger towards Quico, claining that his parents, Coda Condorcet and Quirrel Mersenne, would have accepted his contract immediately. As he leaves in anger, Krexil following after him, he leaves a redacted coroner's report of Quico's parents, putting into doubt Quico's knowledge of their known deaths via cancer. He's left to process this information as the party seeks out one final source of information: Lew Delacour, whose ancestor, Sten Delacour, kept a journal of his time within the Marseillian army, where it's noted that an unknown conflict led to the Savary family withdrawing their soldiers from the war effort and disappearing from the public eye. Lew also recommends that the party visit the Grand Library Archival Wing, which stores notable family records and may help in their investigation into the three families. However, he warns them that they must prepare themselves for an expedition, as the same wing had been quarantined by Templars due to "otherworldly invaders" recently, having yet to be cleansed.

Session 58-59: Library Dues & Portrait of Ruin

The Grand Library of the College District.

The party moves to the Grand Library within the same day, where they find the public space's daily happenings relatively uninterrupted, in spite of the presence of a Knight-Commander and various Chantry priests and Templars quarantining the Archival Wing. When the party approaches the Knight-Commander, they offer their services in cleansing the wing, and the Templar lets them through after they find a rare book for him within the Grand Library. He tasks them with a request as they enter: they must find any survivors of the previous expedition and let them out, as well as identification of the fallen. They also will barricade the wing until they completely cleanse the wing of invaders. As they enter the first floor of the Archival Wing, they find the bookshelves and display fixtures completely toppled over and destroyed, with the bodies of the previous templars scattered throughout. Before they could make their way through the entire room, various Magic Books and Gargoyles within the room come alive, and invisible Spined Devils become visible to the party, and they're forced to face off against the possessed constructs and invading demons in the confined spaces of the wing.

Invading denizens of the Archival Wing.

After cleansing the first floor of demons and possessed constructs, the party moves to secure the floor fully.

The party breaks into the back rest area of the Archival Wing, where they find the sole survivor of the doomed expedition, a young Templar named Juno. In exchange for the party's aid in getting her out, she gives them an everfull inkwell¹, which she secured from the library premises.
The party found two chests within the floor: one containing useful scrolls, the other secretly a Mimic, which snatches up Eris before it is vanquished. Covered in mimic goo, Eris reads out the Abyssal Note found within the mimic, discovering that it appears to be a sick machination created by an unknown demonic inventor.

Juno, the young sole survivor of the failed Templar expedition.

Moving to the second floor of the wing, the party finds several exhibits of historical artifacts either shattered or dislodged from their proper positions, as well as the remnants of the majority of the expedition. As they attempt to proceed to the third floor, they find themselves blocked in their path by a mischevious blue demon, who goes by the name of Tantarian.

The book demon with a mischievous streak, Tantarian.

Tantarian subjects the party to four riddles, in an attempt to "activate their critical thinking skills" in preparation for the leader of the demons that made its lair within the top floor.

On the white king's far east, the pawn bounds twice and falls into darkness. Any item on shelf H4 of the first floor satisfied this riddle; the shelf itself was displaced due to being used as a barricade.
Betwixt the statues, there lies treasure. In the first floor area, any item within the fallen bookshelves between the real statues satisfied this riddle. The ones between the gargoyles did not.
I travel far and wide, and yet I always know where I am. The globe of Atlas was not the answer and was implied to have been used by the previous expedition. The party found a buried chest within the second floor that contained the compass needed to satisfy this riddle.
In the peaceful giant's gentle gaze, I seek the last resort. Rubble found within the second floor was identified to have been a giant statue before it was destroyed. Looking wihtin its point of view, they found an old axe that satisfied this riddle.

After completing this riddle, the Tantarian removed itself from the premises of the Archival Wing, leaving one last warning for the party before they ascended. At the third floor, they discover the remains of the leader of the failed expedition, finding spell scrolls in one hand, and a last message in her other hand, giving a hint as to the nature of the demon leader that they guarded with their body. Around this entrance hall, they also find exhibits created by Relm Arrowny, child prodigy and talented artist, with their colored portraits dotting the gallery within. As they enter the main gallery itself, they find a gigantic painting as the centerpiece, with the image of a Goddess and a Demon depicted as two halves of one being named Chadarnook. As they occupied the floor, the Chadarnook painting came alive, stepping out of the painting and displaying their incredible power...

The Chadarnook painting, coming to life.

As the battle begun, the demon subsumed itself into the goddess' being, becoming invulnerable to any of the party's attacks. They manifested their power over the paintings within the room, creating angelic and demonic reinforcements from the orange paintings. Their elemental power also flowed out of the other paintings, creating waves of fire with the red paintings, freezing the floor with the ice paintings, and healing itself with mending magics with the green painting as they emerged from them. Periodically throughout the fight, it would also alternate between its invulnerable, but affliction-weak Goddess form, and the vulnerable, but resistant Demon form.

The Demon and Goddess manifestations of Chadarnook.

The party was forced to contend with the overwhelming power of the Chadarnook as well as the relentless angelic and demonic reinforcements from the paintings, manifesting as the reptilian and goat-headed uraeus and ramadeen, respectively, as well as hellish hounds. Their withering attacks and powerful magics brought the party to their knees, bringing Harrison to near-death multiple times. It is through the healing and support given by Felix and Quico, as well as the leadership and bravery displayed by Eris and K'aamni that the party is able to triumph against the demons, cleansing the gallery of demonic invaders. At this floor, they discover two side-rooms, as well as a hidden room behind the Chadarnook painting:

Within the left storage room, the party found a genuine article Condorcet Harp², which Quico took for himself.
Within the right storage room, the party located a record of the Savary Family History, which included the location of the original patent filed by the Condorcets and Mersennes, which was almost completely identical but only barely legally distinct to the patent that Amiet shared with the party, confirming that they indeed, at the very least, meddled with the Savary pocket watch design.
The hidden room behind the painting contained a bedroom and art room, which was heavily implied to have belonged to Quico's father, Quirrel Mersenne, due to the inheritance³ found within the room as well as the brushes used being similar to Quico's own. Here, they also found the unredacted coroner's report, which imparted an important detail in Quico's parents deaths: they were poisoned, resulting in a wasting disease until it ended in their eventual death. This coroner's report had been written by Anthony Xavier, and was hidden from the families by the Condorcet and Mersenne family heads.

With these new revelations discovered in this Archival Wing, the party returns to their manor to process the implications of each factoid they've collected...

Session 60-62: Meddling by Theoden Cade

Session 60: Seeking Answers

When the party returns to the manor, they arrive to multiple people requesting their attention:

The spider egg that K'aamni brought home has hatched, and the baby Egh skitters all around K'aamni, now making the manor its permanent home. It is significantly larger than normal baby spiders.
Gala Condorcet arrives to meet with Quico and the party, having heard from Alberto Mersenne that his father had undergone a paranoid episode after the party's visit. While she has no stake in the investigation, she expressed a desire to help the party, offering a chance for them to interrogate her mom, Camilla Condorcet, during one of her practice sessions for the Condorcet end-of-year play.
Bellec noticed the party return from the Grand Library and asked if they had anything notable taken from the premises. The party gave him the everfull inkwell, and in exchange for the item, he was asked to infiltrate the Mersenne Museum to see if Amiet's information was accurate.
Krexil came by the next morning, with an offering of a Savary family heirloom, noted to be "one of the last valuable things left the family has". She offered it on behalf of Amiet, who she noted has become desperate and just realized that the party was his best shot left at achieving real justice. The party agrees to meet with him one more time.

With those manor happenings concluded, the party embarked on two days of investigations.

The party met with Amiet once more, who looked to be much more cooperative and more willing to assent to the party's demands just to make the partnership work. The party asks him why he's so hellbent on getting revenge, and he explains his reasoning: his parents waged a war against both families until it resulted in their deaths, neglecting him all the while. When Quico's parents found time to take care of him in his studies, he grew attached to them, and hearing of their deaths and seeing the redacted coroner's report has led him to believe that Mandel and Camilla killed them both. He would not stop until every single member of both families answer for their murder and the suffering they've inflicted upon his family. The party agrees to his terms, telling him that they'll work for him so long as he stays on the path of righteousness.
At the Bordeaux Theater, the party manages to ambush Camilla Condorcet into an interview, but she proves resistant to giving any concrete information on the Savaries. She does, however, promise that if the party meets her after the play on the 29th of Viridis, she would provide them dirt that could end the Mersennes, seemingly throwing them under the bus for the conflict that the party is investigating.
The party travels to Anthony Xavier's clinic, where he reveals that as the mortician of Quico's parents, he was coerced by the family heads to keep their deaths a secret. He has, however, maintained an independent investigation on Coda and Quirrel, and tells the party that they died due to a manufactured version of "gated lung", and that he kept a lung tissue sample to ascertain how it infected the two. Before he could show it properly, however, time stopped for all but Harrison, and the Interplanar Traveler appeared, stealing the lung sample and directly telling Harrison that they've watched him nearly die at the Archival Wing. They've lost a lead with Quico's parents, but their direct intervention has created a new angle to the conflict: Cade might be meddling in the family conflict.

So the modification does work. Good. Your lot is closing in on the truth. I can't let you have that, Harrison. If you want to have any hope of stopping me and my plans, they you have to do better than almost dying an inglorious end at the hands of angels and demons.
— The Interplanar Traveler, to Harrison

With these new developments occuring, the party decides to visit Amiet once more, to share some new information that they've found as well as try and see if he has any that he can give them.

Session 61-62: The Grand Play & Exit, Stage Left

The party meets with Amiet once more, sharing important information with him:

The Savary Family History record, which he fervently claims as biased, as the motivating incident that drove a wedge between the Savaries and the Condorcet-Mersenne Alliance "never happened".
The unredacted coroner's report and what happened at the clinic. Amiet looked rather grim upon seeing the information displayed, affirmed in his belief that the two families had something to do with their murders.

At the mention of what occurred at the clinic, he revealed that Theoden Cade had an offer in place for him: Cade would provide him the support he needed to launch a campaign against both families, all told through his business associate, a shrewd businesswoman named Eika. He rejected the offer, as he wished to deal with the party first and distrusted Cade. With that meeting, the party returned to the manor. At the manor, they found Alberto Mersenne, who spoke to the party and confide with them his worries about his father's growing paranoia. He states that it had been appearing here and there after the Carolinian Ball, and the party's meeting with him had only worsened it. He does note, however, that he is on the party's side, as he was the one who found a sign that they were making their presence known and sent it to Quico, and he is interested in seeing this thing through to the end. Before he leaves, he tells the party that the cornerstone laying ceremony for the shared land would occur throughout the 29th of Viridis, and invites the party to join in. The next day, the party receives urgent missives from both Gala and Alberto. Alberto speaks of Condorcet construction sites popping up around the shared land in clear violation of the contract both families signed. Gala speaks of Mersennes stalking her whenever she enters and leaves the theater. With both events requiring urgent attention, the party decides to aid Gala first, worrying for her safety.

The Bordeaux Theater, the site of the Condorcet play C'est L'amour.

At the theater, Gala briefs them on what's happened: the Mersennes have purchased seats for the play, and she believes that they stalked her to get close to the play rather than get at her. As such, she implores them to investigate the Mersennes and the backstage:

Quico, Felix, and Harrison tail the Mersennes to the outside. They gather a clue that something sinister is afoot, as they spot the Mersenne dealing with a stranger, and when confronted, they appear slow to recognize Quico, despite him being a rather infamous cousin of theirs. This puts into doubt their identity as "Mersennes".
Eris, K'aamni, Stephanie, and Tandi investigate the backstage, wherein they discover folded banners and fliers being loaded into prop cannons, suggesting that their aim is to sabotage the play and make the Condorcets look bad.

With those discoveries in mind, the party lies in wait in their spectator box, ready for the moment these "Mersennes" move to intervene. When the play starts and they make their move, the party is already there with them, moving quickly to interecept them at the stage, creating a big scene and halting the play for a moment. The conductor, at first confused as to the disorder onstage, decides to roll with it, being tired of orchestrating the same songs, and leads the pit crew to play a battle theme for the new impromptu scene on stage. The battle begins on the big stage!

"Mersennes" come to ruin the stage play.

The "Mersennes" are now revealed to be a mercenary/performer troupe known as Tantalus Troupe, hired to sabotage the play. The party engages them and their multitude of spellcasting ways, putting on characters and personas to ensure that panic and chaos do not spread amongst the crowd as well as protecting Gala from them. As they engage with these mercenaries, they notice that Camilla rose up to try to put this chaos to rest, but then suddenly yelled out. They look back to see her chasing after someone; this, combined with the Tantalus Troupe leader's taunting words, make them realize that the sabotage was not their true aim. Their true goal was to steal the information that Camilla promised them. With that revelation, they leave the play, only managing to knock one of the Troupe out before immediately moving to give chase. When they catch up to Camilla outside the theater, they spot the Interplanar Traveler making their exit with a big tome of family secrets secured on their horse's saddle. The party immediately gives chase, utilizing carriages and moving atop buildings and moving trains to catch up to them. They crash through under-construction setpieces, cafes, splitting to tackle the Traveler and the horse, who separated at an intersection. The ones who chased after the horse successfully calmed it down and secured the tome, but Harrison and the others chasing after the Traveler only managed to slow them down enough for Harrison to get close to them as they cast a spell to escape. Harrison shouts after them, aware that they're about to escape from their grasp one more time and that he's not about to let them go free, when the next words from the Traveler shock him to his very core.

Someday, you'll have to let me go.
— The Interplanar Traveler, before leaving

As the party catches up to Harrison, Camilla and Gala arrive soon after, explaining that the tome they secured was her aid to them in an attempt to help her bury the Mersennes, allowing them to keep the big book of Condorcet secrets. However, arriving soon after is Mandel and Alberto, with Mandel absolutely furious at Camilla and her family for having broken their contract at the shared land, despite her not having ordered her family to do so. As it looks like they're about to lay into each other, Amiet and Krexil show up, Krexil firing a message arrow to the party to meet with them, before firing a smoke arrow to separate the two families. The party leaves, with Gala and Alberto following after them...

Session 63-65: The Truth Revealed

Session 63-64: Surface Tension & Familial Regret

The party, with Gala and Alberto, manage to catch their breath and meet up with Amiet and Krexil nearby. They realize, however, that Harrison is nowhere to be found, and K'aamni and Stephanie move to see where he's gone on their own...

They follow his trail all the way to his home, where he hides somewhat poorly that his encounter with the Traveler affected him, but they're unable to extract a confession as to what he feels about the incident. They decide to meet up with the party at the manor later on.

Amiet was about to give the party news on what occurred at the shared land, when he noticed the presence of Gala and Alberto with the party. He seems disgusted at their presence, reminding the party of his vow to prosecute all the Condorcets and Mersennes, a statement that draws Eris' anger, reminding him of their ability to break off the contract at any moment. This causes him to stand down, but not happily, and he explains what happened at the shared land.

The Condorcet-Mersenne shared land in wintertime.

He and Krexil snuck into the shared land to meet with Eika and formally reject Cade's deal, when he suddenly found the cornerstone ceremony taking place. It seemed to him that Mandel and Camilla were getting along, as they were sharing a drink and having a laugh, enjoying the shared success that came with this deal. When Camilla moved to leave, however, they observed that she met with Eika away from the proceedings, where Eika tried to rope her into the same deal that he was offered, such that the Mersennes would be destroyed. While she considered it briefly, she rejected it after consideration, telling Eika that she still has dignity and won't fight Mersenne with such a deal. Mandel only sees the backend of this interaction, noticing Camilla speaking with Cade's associate, causing his paranoia to flare up once more. Back in the present, Amiet declares the recent argument between both families to be the chance he's been fighting for this entire time; both families are vulnerable, and now is the time to take them to court with the evidence they've gathered and make them pay for their sins. He takes his leave for the party to prepare, but Krexil stays behind, telling them that she's worried for her lord's safety, asking to meet with them the next morning to discuss matters. At the manor, they meet with Bellec, who has returned with two key pieces of information that would not only serve as a damning piece of evidence against the Condorcets and Mersennes, but would also show a new perspective on why Mandel decided to hide the cause of death on Quico's parents.

The copy of the Condorcet-Mersenne Blueprint is an almost exact replication of the Savary pocketwatch design, proving that the two families stole their design and profited off it, causing the family to leave the Marseillian camp due to being unable to provide for their families.
A set of correspondences between Mandel and Quico's parents was found alongside the Blueprint. The correspondences show that Mandel cared deeply for both his estranged son and the person he decided to marry, giving lessons to Coda and sending letters to Quirrel that went unanswered. His final, unsent letter to them showed that he believed he was responsible for their deaths, as his enemies poisoned them instead of him.

While the correspondences seem to be manufactured at first, Felix's careful observation of the state of the correspondences prove that they were not made to be seen and have actually been sent and received at the dates of the letters. They decide to sit on this information for now, to both meet with Krexil and hear her out, as well as deciding that Amiet can no longer be trusted to do the right thing with this information, given his hostile reaction to Alberto and Gala, two people who have nothing to do with his family's plight. The next morning, Krexil arrives at the manor to discuss her lord, telling the party that his desperation for vengeance had led to him losing sight of the reason why he went on this crusade in the first place: for the sake of Quico's parents deaths and for the sake of justice. To combat this, she wants to ally herself with the party to find a way to get Amiet to stand down. She also explains that she believes that Theoden Cade has something to do with all this, as it all seems set up for him to be the ultimate victor in the end. As they come to an agreement to try and stop Amiet before anything drastic happens, Alberto and Gala interrupt their meeting to tell them that a mob is approaching the manor gates, led by none other than Mandel himself.

The Mersenne family and their allies, come to protest against Lumière Éternelle.

Mandel's bodyguards, the gunslinger and the calculator.

Mandel has come to lead his family and his allies against the party, flanked by his bodyguards as well. They demand that the party be brought to justice, espousing the personal belief that the Savaries were responsible for the death of Quico's parents, and their allying themselves with their ilk the night before proves their guilt in his eyes. Before the party could effectively answer his demands for justice to be brought upon them, another riot show up behind them, one led by Camilla.

The Condorcet family and their allies, moving against the Mersennes.

Camilla's bodyguards, the bard and the rogue.

Camilla leads a counterprotest against Mandel, demanding that he stop leading with his emotions and think logically, a clear role reversal from their usual dynamic. She tells him that the Savaries have nothing to do with Quirrel and Coda's murder, giving a hint herself that she helped with Quirrel's talent for painting. The two families turn their attention to each other, clearly about to start a large-scale riot against each other. Suddenly, the sound of a dagger slicing into flesh and a shot ringing out paralyzes the crowd and the party, and they see that one bodyguard from both Camilla and Mandel has betrayed their fellow protectors, killing one of their own and creating mass panic on the field and turning the front of the manor into a battlefield. Left with no other choice, the party moves to stop the riot before it turns into a massacre. Now aware that there are spies in the field that are working for someone else, the party moves to suppress the crowd and weed out the traitors with the help of the manor's guardian. Mandel, being close to the manor, moves in at the behest of Quico, still distrusting of him but having no other choice. Still, however, his bodyguards move to attack any and all threats against Mandel, as his mandate for their protection is that everything besides him is a threat unless otherwise identified as friendly. On the other end, Camilla is hiding with her bodyguards, on the defensive and helping weed out traitors with the party. In total, they find eight spies in the field, four hidden amongst the family members and allies, and four disguised as bodyguards, including a moment where the bodyguards helping Mandel through the gates briefly took over the front gate. With the quick movement of the party and the efforts of Gala, Alberto, and the manor and guardian suppressing the riot, they manage to round up the majority of the spies, ending the event in as little casualties as possible. In the manor, it seems as if the two family heads are about to confront each other over the mess that happened out front, when both Gala and Alberto step up to shut their parents up, telling them that they have no right to argue over what happened, giving Quico the floor to speak. While he could've gone with a justifiably angry tirade against Camilla and Mandel, he surprised everyone by going for a more reconcilliatory approach instead. He reminded the two of their love for his parents, showing the correspondence and the letters. In turn, they reminisce of the time they spent together with Coda and Quirrel: Mandel teaching Coda about the sciences, and Camilla being the one who set up Quirrel with the room in the Archival Wing, helping foster his talent for the arts.

Quico's parents.

As they both reminisced on their past, they both come to a quiet realization. Camilla speaks first, telling Mandel that she couldn't remember how the whole family conflict even started. Mandel replied in a similar manner, telling her that he doesn't even recalling them doing anything to each other that would be worthy of such family hatred. While they confess that they still aren't friends yet and it'll take a lot of effort to work things out, they promise that for the sake of their children and Quico, they'll put their differences aside and earnestly try to improve their relationship together. With that, Quico has put to an end the generational hatred the Condorcets and Mersennes had for each other. However, the fight is not over. Aranvir arrives with news that Amiet Savary has riled up a crowd against the two families in the Council District, and they're about ready to march to court and prosecute Camilla and Mandel in a trial of public opinion. Resolved to save him from himself, the party, Camilla, Mandel, and Krexil set off to stop him.

Session 65: Revelations

The party, with Camilla and Mandel in tow, travels to the Council District, just in time to see a crowd gathered around Amiet, who stands atop a statue base giving a speech to the people, riling them up in an effort to lead a mob towards the Legislative-Judicial Grand Court against the two families. The party arrives just in time to see Krexil struggling to reach him, unable to pass through the crowd gathered around him, as well as M.V. observing the whole situation from on high.

Stephanie and Felix sneak through the crowd to rendezvous with M.V., who gives them information on what has happened with the mob so far as well as information she's received from her sources and Ylladi. She gives the both of them advice on many different ways to deal with the mob, as well as valuable information that would prove useful later on.

The rest of the party draw Amiet's attention, where he views the presence of Camilla and Mandel alongside them as a betrayal against him; they're just as quick to remind him that he acted out of line and not along the lines of their agreement together, sparking a big debate between both parties.

He calls the Condorcets and Mersennes a bunch of opportunists and liars, willing to throw hate against each other and let the fallout harm everyone around them. Both heads, bolstered by the party's support, agree with this, with the promise that they plan on making up for their past sins.
He presents his case to the crowd, getting them riled up over the Condorcets and Mersennes getting rich over his family's stolen legacy. The party is unable to directly counter this point, as he is within his right to demand reparations for this act.
He claims that he's helping the mob find justice for their grievances against the two families, allowing them to yell at the two heads for their mistakes and callous actions. The party counters him by asking what he did to help these families find justice before he found his own.

At this point, Krexil had been helped out by the two who spoke to M.V., and her words of calling out to Amiet's true, caring self, as well as the party's calling out of his selfishness in finding justice, cause him to break down, wondering when he'll stop suffering from the ripples of his family's conflict with the Condorcets and Mersennes. Now vulnerable, Quico reaches out, telling him that together, they can break free from the past, and that he'll find the justice and reparations he has with the two families, not at the cost of them. With those words, Amiet had been pacified, and the mob calmed down... But, it's not over, as Theoden Cade shows up to intervene, citing the law and the disruption that Amiet has caused as grounds to arrest him, the gendarmerie he led to the riot site agreeing with him. The party and the two family heads speculate that something terrible may happen to Amiet if he is arrested, but their methods of defense prove to be fleeting and lacking of basis to stand against Cade's reciting of the law. A gendarme almost separates Quico from Amiet and makes an arrest, when suddenly, Stephanie shouts out from the crowd, casting the spotlight on Theoden Cade.

The true manipulator behind the scenes.

Bolstered by M.V.'s information, she calls Theoden's motives into question, which Tandi picks up on, taking the opportunity to rag on her estranged father for how his agents have tried to sabotage two separate events: the play and the riot at the manor. The gendarme sergeant turns on Theoden on this, listening intently as the party lays out proof that his spies and agents have made confessions that Cade masterminded those disruptive, almost disastrous events, were it not for the intervention of Lumière Éternelle. As a result of their cunning, Cade applauds them for turning things around, and as he's arrested, he speaks specifically towards Mandel and Camilla.

Perhaps you two should secure your assets before you both leave them unattended.
— Theoden Cade, to the two family heads

Mandel realizes the meaning behind his words, and tells the party that they must move to the shared land now, as one party has been missing from this final gathering of players: the Interplanar Traveler. They remain behind to help Amiet find his feet, while the party travels to the shared land immediately. At the shared land, they find that the ground which was once the site of a cornerstone ceremony has been dug up by a construction crew, with the Traveler overseeing the operation. From their vantage point, they remain aware of the party's arrival, telling them that they knew Cade would send them there, and that they must have questions for the final unresolved conflicts of this entire investigation. Quico takes this moment to ask how his parents died, and the Traveler, unbeholden and freely cooperating with Cade, reveals all. Cade, in an attempt to weaken both families, spied on both families and found their fondness of Quico's parents a ripe opportunity, and so planted a seed, a poison, that would act as the relationships between both families worsened. Once the two died, he was surprised to see them unite and hide their deaths instead, forcing him to resort to other means. Then came the Carolinian Ball, where Cade and the Traveler met and made their move, until the party stopped their scheme. Then came the final manipulations: subtly influencing Amiet to start seeking his revenge, and now the party has put an end to that as well. However, the Traveler is uninterested in all those events. They came here to test the party themselves: a chance to see if the party is strong enough to discover what lies beneath the land and all the implications that come with it. With that, the image of the Traveler disappears before their very eyes, and the fight begins with a shot ringing all throughout the land, a rifle bullet placed into Harrison's vitals to disable him from the start of the fight. The battle begun, and the party was forced to find answers to the Traveler's blinding speed and wide swings of their magical blades, zipping from cover to cover to land sword blows upon them. In addition, their seeming resistance to the party's attacks against them manifested in the form of wounds being sealed up with an unknown temporal energy that permeated throughout their entire being. It seemed as if the party wouldn't be able to truly defeat the Traveler... Then, Felix felt a voice at the back of his head. One that he'd been hearing since many months ago. The voice of Ananke, the deity of Vis Occan, who called for the Traveler's death. Felix was unable to resist their pull, their commanding voice, and soon the party could see that Felix's appearance had changed for but a brief moment, taking in deadly features upon himself and surging with power and killing intent, focused on erasing the Traveler from this plane of existence. In response to this newfound power, the Traveler centered themselves on the battlefield, drawing upon the life energy that constituted their enduring fortitude to create a big, temporal nova that blasted away at the shared land, surrounding the entire party... The party was able to resist the effects of the blast, but they found that the land had changed before them. On one half, a jungle filled with trees and grass, a vision of the past of the land. On the other, a city street, replete with lamps and a built stone building, the future of this land. The party, in this changed land, found themselves suffering from advanced time, a combination of time ravaging the natural balance of their bodies and the alien atmosphere left most of them weak and wounded. But Felix and Harrison resisted this blast. Felix unleashed several spiked bolts of magic against the Traveler, mortally wounding them, and in a last ditch effort, time froze all around the land, save for the three who bore the means to resist the manipulation of time. Harrison, wounded from his shot vitals and limping towards the escaping Traveler, moved to intercept Felix, who moved with the intent to kill the Traveler. He was only able to walk thanks to the influence of the Time Pocket that he held with him. The three of them met at the apex of the dig site, Harrison holding Felix down, when the Traveler looked upon the fruits of the dig site's labor...

The secrets of the land, revealed...

A gigantic elemental portal, flowing with pure, raw fire, ice, lightning, and wind energy, surging throughout the cavernous tunnels that spread in various directions: some throughout Verdane, and some throughout Providence. The Traveler explains that this network of portals and pure elemental energy exists throughout the land, and some powerful actors already know the existence of it. With that ominous warning, the Traveler turns to face Harrison.

Harrison, you never were one to give up, aren't you?
— The Traveler, backing away from Harrison.

The Traveler backs away, arms raised to their sides, fully intending on falling down into the cavern. With one motion, they raise a hand to their face and rip off their mask.

Til' next time, my love… may you be the one to grant me my final wish…
— Dorothy Schwarz' parting words to her beloved.

Harrison's lost wife, Dorothy Schwarz, revealed her fractured self to him, falling down into the portal. Time resumes, and the portal's energy is lost, calming the raging torrents below.

Rewards Granted

Everfull Inkwell. This self-replenishing inkwell was given to the party by Juno as thanks for saving her. This would later be given to Bellec in exchange for a favor by the party, that surfaced useful information to the party's investigation.
Condorcet Harp. A family relic belonging to the musically-inclined Condorcet family. One of a scarce few produced, this was found within the Archival Wing within one of its storerooms and was taken by Quico.
Inheritance. A 1000 gold chest found within a secret room in the Archival Wing, imparted by Quico's late father, Quirrel Mersenne.

Missions/Quests Completed

The Cleansing of the Archival Wing: The Grand Library located within the College District had one of its wings quarantined due to an otherworldly invasion, sequestered off by Templars. The party secured access by doing a personal favor for the Knight-Commander, before they entered to search for survivors and gather information for their investigation into the Savary Family. Inside, they found several demons, devils, and constructs tearing up the place, having massacred the previous expedition save for one young Templar named Juno. As they cleansed the wing, an inquisitive demon named the Tantarian imposed a series of riddles upon the party before they could pass, then warning them of the leader that stayed at the top floor. Finally, at the third floor, they came across a haunted painting created by young visionary Relm Arrowny. This painting, titled Chadarnook, had both an angelic and demonic side, and the party was forced to contend with both forms. When the painting was slain, the Archival Wing was officially cleansed and free from demonic influence. Intervention in the Condorcet Play: A message by Gala Condorcet tipped the party off about a group of suspicious Mersennes following her in the days leading up to the play. At the Bordeaux Theater, the party conducted an independent investigation, wherein they discovered signs that these Mersennes were not Mersennes in the first place, and that they had materials in place set up to sabotage the Condorcet play. Waiting in the rafters, the party intervened as soon as they saw the "Mersennes" making their move, exposing them as a hired troupe and discovering that this sabotage was a distraction for their true purpose: creating a distraction for the Interplanar Traveler to steal important information from Camilla Condorcet. Later, they chased after the Traveler, managing to secure the stolen info and catching up to them before they could escape, learning a vital hint about their identity. The Riot at the Lantern of Hope: At the Lantern of Hope, Krexil met with the party to speak about Amiet Savary's growing desperation, formulating a plan to get him to stand down. Before they could disperse, a riot of Mersennes was led by Mandel Mersenne, protesting their association with who they believe to be the killers of Quico's parents. Camilla Condorcet soon followed after, leading a counterprotest against them. As the two families clashed, spies embedded within their ranks soon revealed themselves, and the riots descended into chaos as the party worked overtime to subdue these spies and avoid innocent casualties. Several bodyguards and seemingly innocent family members were revealed to be spies, and the party managed to minimize casualties. The Three-Family Conflict and Quico's Parents: The central conflict of the arc. The party, thanks to the words of Quico, managed to create a new beginning and working relationship between the Condorcet and Mersenne families, calling upon their love for their estranged children and his parents Coda Condorcet and Quirrel Mersenne. While they admitted that it would take effort, they promised that for the sake of their children, they would earnestly try to work together. Then, when Amiet Savary was at the verge of bringing an angry mob to the courts to convict the two family heads for their crimes against his family, the party's unified efforts ensured that Amiet would get justice for his family's ruin and that they were not his enemy, making him tearfully stand down. Finally, Theoden Cade was revealed to be the mastermind behind the whole conflict, as explained by the Interplanar Traveler, who drove a wedge and tried to manipulate each family against each other, only to end up arrested himself. As part of his plan, Cade arranged for the assassination of Quico's Parents, revealing that their death by cancer was nothing but a front by the two family heads to protect their families from the threat of assassination.

Character(s) interacted with

Session 56

Mirabella Valois: The sponsor of Lumière Éternelle. First brought them the contract and letter drafted up by Amiet Savary, letting them decide on their own if the contract was worth pursuing.

Session 57

Norren: The curator of the Nouvelle Cultural Museum. The party invited them to the manor to get an account of the Savary family's history, as well as their history with the Condorcets and Mersennes.
Mandel Mersenne: The family head of the Mersennes. Initially asked about the Savaries by the party, his suspicions and paranoia started taking over him, until he learned that the party had colluded with the Savary family, resulting in him leading a riot towards their manor that would end in a shootout. Later, him and Camilla would make up, realizing that their hatred for each other stemmed from generations of family teachings, promising to do their best to cooperate with each other.
Amiet Savary: The lost Savary Family heir. He had sent a letter to the party to tug at their heartstrings, offering proof that the Condorcets and Mersennes had profited off his family's misfortune, resulting in his family becoming forgotten. When they rejected his first offer, he had been infuriated, revealing that he knew Quico's parents, and that they were his caretakers when he was young. Later, he had approached meekly, asking for their help once more and becoming more willing to negotiate with the party on the terms of the contract. While he cooperated with the party and received updates on their information, he eventually began smelling blood in the water when the two families had moments of weakness, hatching a plot to lead a riot against them all the way to the Grand Courts. The party ended up moving against him, and through an intense series of arguments and negotiations, eventually making him realize the desperation and error of his ways. His resulting breakdown would then be exploited by Theoden Cade, before the party moved to his defense, ensuring that the Three Families would not be harmed as a result of his scheming.

Canis "Favoured" Krexil: Amiet Savary's loyal retainer. She served as his bodyguard and adviser at once, setting the terms of each of the party's various meetings with her lord. Later, she eventually began worrying for Amiet's health and emotional state, privately meeting with the party to relay her fears as well as her suspicions that Theoden Cade was privately manipulating the Three Families' Conflict behind the scenes. She would later be an integral part of the plan to get Amiet Savary to stand down from his riot.

Coda Condorcet and Quirrel Mersenne (mentioned): The parents of Quico Condorcet-Mersenne and the estranged children of Camilla and Mandel. Their deaths were believed to be caused by cancer, but a coroner's report delivered by Anthony Xavier revealed that they were actually killed, later revealed to be arranged by Theoden Cade. Later on, the party discovered that Camilla and Mandel really did love them, helping foster their talents, which would later be the key piece of information used to unite both families.

Lew Delacour: The descendant of a great mage and current protector of Provence. He helped provide a hint that information on the families could be found within the Archival Wing of the Grand Library, but also warned them that it had been quarantined due to an invasion by otherworldly beings.

Session 58

Juno: A young templar who had gotten in over her head, found within the invaded Archival Wing. The party rescued her from the demons, and in exchange for their rescue, she gave them an everfull inkwell.

Tantarian: A playful, inquisitive demon met by the party, blocking the path to the third floor. It subjected the party to its riddles, forcing the party to find items within the first and second floors that would serve as answers to its riddles. After solving its riddles, it imparted advice for the party to prepare themselves for the leader of the demon invasion residing within the third floor.

Session 60

Gala Condorcet: Daughter of Camilla Condorcet and the main actress in the Condorcet play, C'est L'amour. She tipped the party off on a moment where they could interrogate Camilla, worried about the family conflict. Later, her message about "Mersennes" following her led to the party's intervention at the stage play. Then, she and Alberto helped Quico convince the two families to make peace.
Bellec: Infiltrator of the Brotherhood and former assistant of Stephanie's father. In exchange for an artifact from the Archival Wing, he helped steal proof of the Savary family's invention being plagiarized by the two families, as well as proof that the two family heads cared for their estranged children.
Camilla Condorcet: The family head of the Condorcets. The party interrogated her at the stage play practice, and while she proved resistant to interrogation, she did promise information that could help implicate the Mersennes. Later, she briefly considered a deal with Theoden Cade to get rid of the Mersennes for good, but rejected it to maintain her integrity. Finally, her and Mandel would make up, realizing that their hatred for each other stemmed from generations of family teachings, promising to do their best to cooperate with each other.
Anthony Xavier: Harrison's best friend and experienced doctor. He was the one to write the coroner's report for Quico's parents, including keeping a sample of their lung tissue to study. As he was about to reveal his intent to aid the party, the Interplanar Traveler appeared and stole the sample from his hands.
Interplanar Traveler: Harrison's nemesis and business partner of Theoden Cade. First appeared within Anthony's clinic and seen by Harrison thanks to his Time Pocket, where they revealed their constant surveillance of Harrison, as well as their very presence indicating a more sinister background to the Savary family case. Later, they stole information from Camilla, but they were thwarted by the party, dropping a hint about what their identity was before leaving. Finally, they appeared at the Condorcet-Mersenne shared land, engaging the party in a fight to test them if they could handle the revelation of what lay beneath the land of Providence. At their apparent defeat, they revealed their face, revealing herself to be Dorothy Schwarz, Harrison's believed-deceased wife.

Session 61

Alberto Mersenne: The son of Mandel Mersenne. He visited the party to talk about his father's growing paranoia. Later, he sent an urgent missive to the party talking about "Condorcets" violating the terms of the contract by building around the shared land, which was later revealed by Amiet and Krexil to be agents inserted by Theoden. Then, he and Gala helped Quico convince the two families to make peace.

Session 64

Aranvir. Mirabella's right-hand man. Informed the party of Amiet stirring up a crowd within the Council District against the Condorcets and Mersennes.

Session 65

Theoden Cade: Tandi's estranged father and the mastermind behind the events of the conflict between the Three Families. He was the one behind the murder of Quico's parents, and his offer to help Amiet with his revenge, while rejected, emboldened him to continue on his vengeful crusade. Later tried to have Amiet arrested after his riling up a crowd of angry folk, before his own crimes came back to bite him, resulting in his arrest.
Ananke: The mysterious deity lingering behind Felix's powers. Their powers unlocked something powerful within Felix, demanding the death of the Traveler through him.

To see all the Battle Maps used in this arc, see the following link: https://imgur.com/a/DWYTaia

Report Date

12 Aug 2023