03 - The Severence

General Summary

The party continues their ascent up the multicolored bridge - the winds are blustery around them, whipping about, but most of them hold fast to their footing. They arrive upon a floating isle where the road ends.

"As you crest upon the center isle, you see an elaborate altar, larger than the ones you've seen down below. In the center of the altar is a large, crystalline jewel, entirely transparent. Through its hardened surface you can see there are four staves encased within, each about three feet long, emanating a pale light. Each of these staves is positioned directly in front of a stone archway, four of which surround the gemstone on all sides. Each archway has a crystal shard embedded into its capstone similar to those collected from the guardians - one red, one blue, one yellow, one green. All about the altar are humble trees and foliage, whose seeds have somehow arrived at this lofty point."

The party take their cues, and as they step towards the central gemstone their emblems illuminate, activating a tethered magic from the crystallized staves to the archway capstones. A portal opens at each of these gateways, swirling with a blinding light. Mender, Gem'ini, Dhumkk'd and Kalani take their positions before each gate and step in.

AQUAI

Gem arrives within an endless expanse of ocean, her body translucent like water. She is met with the dragon-like form of Kiwa herself, Daughter of the Seas. Gem finds herself caught off-guard; she asks of the whereabouts of her brother, to which Kiwa traces the patterns of a constellation in the waters with her shimmering scales. Gem fails to recognize the constellation, but collects the scales otherwise. The magic of the Aquai emblem courses through her as she returns to the archway portal.

IGNI

Dhumkk'd finds himself in a vast expanse of molten rock, surrounded by erupting volcanoes under a brilliant sky. A phoenix of massive wingspan lands before him, known to be Ruoumoko, Son of the Embers. Dhumkk'd takes a bit of time to recognize the phoenix and talks himself out of challenging it to a fight. After a headpat is promptly refused, Ruoumoko offers a single feather illuminated by harmless embers. The primordial ignites Dhumkk'd's hands and feet as an example of the power that could be wielded. With a final display of blazing might, Dhumkk'd is satisfied and exits through the portal.

AURI

After stepping through the portal, Kalani opens his eyes to an endless sky illuminated by a sunless light. He plummets downwards, unable to halt his descent, until a gentle wind slows his fall and rights him. Appearing before Kalani is a shimmering serpent, impossibly long, coiling about in a verdant spiral. Kalani bows before Ranginui, Mother of the Skies, and asks how he may save a certain someone; she responds by molding the clouds into a visage of Kalani himself, pointing upwards, surrounded by people rallied to the cause. He then asks her wish for the world, and Ranginui creates a landscape of clouds akin to the Skyward Sanctums, where all are allowed to traverse freely without walls. A whispered word in Auran assures Kalani of his journey, and an old, nostalgic melody resonates through the air. Kalani sheds a few tears before returning to the portal, his emblem shimmering an emerald glow.

"You are doing enough. Continue." Ranginui, Mother of the Skies

TERRA

Menders finds himself entirely surrounded by gravel and stone. At first, the weight is impossibly heavy, restricting him. A moment of clarity reveals that he is instead impossibly connected to the world, its soil, and all who live upon it. Emerging from the darkness of the stonework is the mighty Patuanu, Father of the Earth. Mender thanks the imposing primordial for the blessing; the warforged finds himself able to mold the stone around him at will, shifting and reshaping at the motion of his hands. A cavernous clearing expands around Mender; he asks the primordial a final question, to which the answer is traced upon the cavern walls.

"When will they release Half-Life 3?"
Mender

"Even the gods do not know."
Patuanu, Father of the Earth

As Patuanu departs and Mender crosses a bridge to return to the portal, his newly gained tremorsense notices a mysterious entity approaching from above, sifting through the cracks of the stonework. He raises his shield, with a stone surface forming to bolster it, and molds a staircase to approach the strange presence. The creature emerges, an amorphous shadow with many arms, rushing towards the gateway. Mender lowers his shield and hurries through the portal, but not before an umbral claw latches onto his shoulder.

---

Mender is the last to return to the floating isle, and just behind him arrives the shadowy being, scorched heavily by the brilliant light. It steps onto the isle, its attention clearly trained upon the four staves encased in the center. Mender moves to prevent his advance, but is quickly dropped by four ashen arms slamming down upon him, shattering through his obsidian-reinforced defenses. The party move to leave the isle, but a blow against the crystal threatens the integrity of the multi-colored bridge. Noticing their attempted departure, the shadowy figure takes on what he hopes to be a more palatable form; a younger-looking man with silver hair, tattoos upon his frame, and two dark horns just above his ears.

"My name? It's been a while since I've been called anything...I suppose, before falling from the realms of Celestia, they called me Callisto."
Callisto

"Can you spell that?"
Gem'ini

He asks the party where he has arrived, and smiles once hearing of the Material Plane. The being is questioned and confirms he was once called Callisto, and that the last moment he had been to the Plane Material was before the Reshapening.
Another slam onto the crystal exposes one of the staves within. As Kalani attempts to step onto the bridge, Callisto rips the emerald staff from the crystal and points it at Kalani. A shimmering arrow fires from the staff and pierces Kalani's back, striking at his heart. An emerald tether forms between Kalani and the staff as the energy of Ranginui is quickly drained away.
Desperate, Gem fires a number of guided bolts towards the verdant staff, striking it twice. Although her third bolt misses, a much larger beams sears from the skies behind her, slamming into the staff. The party turns to see a mysterious woman, painted in starlight and adorned with dragon-like wings traced in constellations.

"Please, destroy the staves! You just have to trust me."
- Druid

And so, combat ensues - Callisto, leering at the newest interloper, focuses his attacks towards her while the party struggles to strike the staves. Callisto sears her with necrotic energy, tearing through her abdomen and shoulder. Kalani and Gem fire from afar, landing stray hits onto the staves, while Dhumkk'd swings at close range.
Callisto, realizing the staves are taking heavy blows, points the four to the sky. With a roar, arcane energy pulses through the staves and fires into the clouds, releasing a massive volley of shimmering arrows rocketing into the sky. Four of these arrows quickly descend, trained upon the four Hopefuls - recognizing the threat, the druid woman summons a flock of starlit hawks to intercept the falling arrows, disintegrating at their impact.

"Can you tell me your name?"
Gem'ini

"I can't, unfortunately."
Druid

Mender does his best to wrestle one of the staves away - after a few failed attempts he finally pulls the half-shattered Igni staff away from one of the Ashen Arms. With all the staves heavily damaged and unusable, Callisto strikes the crystal once more. The floating isle shakes and stutters before plummeting downwards, losing the magic that once kept it aloft. The druid creates a portal within a nearby tree, telling the party to flee through it. As the party steps through, they watch as Callisto strikes the druid with his ashen arms, sundering her. With a weak smile her body fully turns to ash; a faint, shimmering light slips from her body and gets pulled into Gem's crystalline pendant.

"This is only the start of it all..."

The portal pulls the party in, spitting them out upon the isle's sandy shores. The pirate crew of the Moonflower immediately recognizes them; Captain Snapdragon orders the crew to pull them onboard. The vessel leaves the Isle of Veils behind, as all who are aboard watch countless shimmering arrows fly across the vast skies, raining upon the continent of Ziklaros.
The party takes a moment to catch their breath. The emblems traced upon their palms glows ever so faintly, a pale remnant of a Paragon's blessing. Kalani is reunited with the elderly Marlowe, who offers the young bard the compass globe that led their vessel to the isle. Before it singularly pointed to the Isle of Veils, but when looked upon, four faint motes of light pointing in different directions swirl within. Captain Snapdragon says they are headed to the Shallows to recuperate, where hopefully another vessel will take the party where they need to head next.

Rewards Granted

• Shimmering Scales x8 (Gem'ini)
• Phoenix Feather (Dhumkk'd)
• Shattered Staff of Igni (Mender)
• Compass Globe (Kalani)

Missions/Quests Completed

• Ascend to the mountain's peak (Completed)
• Petition the Primordial Four and gain the power of the Paragons (Completed)

Character(s) interacted with

Recurring Characters: Captain Snapdragon, Marlowe
New Characters: Kiwa, Ruoumoko, Ranginui, Patuanu, Callisto, Unnamed Druid

Report Date

15 Nov 2020

Primary Location

Isle of Veils

Aquai, Daughter of the Seas.

Igni, Son of the Embers.

Ranginui, Mother of the Skies.

Patuanu, Father of the Earth.

Callisto, in umbral form.

Callisto in his kinfolk visage.

The nameless druid, wielding the light of stars.