Session 23: Gismoses Sorrow Report

General Summary

Time jumps, Thordunn is caught, battle in the old world, the first encounters with spectres, the growth of the Forest of mt. mandra. Gismose and his sorrow, Kesrom the helper, Cremoni unborn   This eventfull day began at the bottommost floor in the Tower of blinking lights. The Party did not know what expected them, but they prepared as well they could. Thordunn decided to activate the mechanism Soren had identified the day prior and when he did time froze still for him, caught in a paralyzing charm.    For the remainder of the Group though an illusion started forming, the walls of the tower melted away as did Thordunn revaling a large plain, with battle all around them. the Sky was a deep blood red, and there seemed to be no sun just a dim red light covering the world. Around them two massive armies clashed, on the one side Humanoids of every sort, Elves, Orcs, Men dwarves and others opposing what seemed to be an army of animated armors and weaponry led by numerous floating shrouded figures wearing Red armor, and facemasks resembling skulls. Without any time The party was thrust into the first assault at this section from the local officer, along with a half dozen other soldiers. While they suspected this was all an illusion, none of their attempts could dispell it, and once arrows and magic started to hit them, alongside with the threatening blade of the officer they new they needed to fight. MukYuks speed caught the Red Mask wearing conjurer off guard, having to teleport away braking up their formation, though their archers and animated arms did brutal work of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd waves of soldiers, though they noted that when these fell, no shades appeared, put away as being a result of the illusion at work. Nothing could stop the party though, Soren turned into a stoneskin bear, Killian dimension doored behind enemy lines and made copius use of his shattering drum, While MukYuk Darted through the field wipping with flame and water.    The conjurer tried to end itself and MukYuk by summoning a massive fireball down on them from the heavens, as they had seen happening other places along the front, but Muk dodged the explosion so thoroughdly that only the mask of the conjurer remained, its troops on this section of the front rapidly disintegrating. "Get the Mask to the Altar" commanded the officer as all semblance of order broke when the troops and wagons full of civilians rushed out to get to the site of the Altar. Together with Killian, Muk used the mask at the altar and a massive blue light shon forth and opened a large hundred of meters wide archway in the sky to the ground, behind it the sun and the sibling, clearly the everbright landscape of Korres.    Once again the world dissolved around the group. Thordunn still nowhere to be found, they were now in what seemed to be a giant campsite with hundreds of tents around them, the ground completely blasted and barren.  The magic of the Illusion had gotten to Killian and Soren making them believe they belonged here and they went to get some bread which was horribly stale, MukYuk followed them waiting for them to shake off this illusion when they first heard some noises coming from the sight of the lazarett, then the alarmbells being shouted, this caused them to investigate and they walked right into a major panic, before their eyes they saw someone get trampled to death, and from their body rose a shade, black in anger and lashing out to another panicking civilian. This was threatening to get out of controll, and no one seemed to know what these were. While Soren and MukYuk kept this chain reaction from going off Killian moved towards the crowd to the Lazarett, where there was total mayhem. Someone had succombed to their wounds and died, their shade ragged from pain had killed another and now there was only chaos, none of the soldiers fighting off the shades had any rimestone or rime oil, and so their blades did nothing while the shades of the dead tore through them, and then eachother, as Soldiers died fighting, with their shades carrying on in their stead while they could.    Killian realized there was nothing he could do, this was a massacre of design, and no one seemed to know what they were dealing with except the party. He returned to Muk and Soren still tearing apart shades and ushered them out of the camp, where people were running in all directions away from the massacre ocurring in the camp. While the camp was burning from tents that had fallen into cookingfires, Soren noticed there were no plants around, and he saw the characteristic craterwalls to all directions, similar to what he had experienced in the blacklake.    The the world melted away again revealing a massive singular mountain in the distance with no real vegetation beyond short grass to speak off, This time it was Killian and MukYuk who fell under the illusions sway, believing they were some of the nomads taking part of a burial ceremony, while Soren observed silently. A massive figure, seemingly made of woven vines and plants, interlaced with shining gemstones was being carried on a litter towards a pyre, Kesrom- Killian and MukYuk new- the last Mandran, the one who had guided them into the wilds where he thrived and roamed the continent, his burial was of great sadness to them. Kesroms face if one could call it was a branching animal snarl frozen in wood with a mane of gnarly wood. The Chief was exclaiming that while the last Mandran had died, it was up to them to become the new mandrans and continue their way of life, putting a torch to the pyre the body instantly evaporated and all around them trees started growing at a remarkable speed riding away towards the mountain. Soren took a young sapling by the throat, asking it if it was real. The youngster just replied "I think so". Then this Illusion too dissolved.   This time the party finds itself back in what looks to be the tower but an entirely different room. Large walls to all four sides with huge glass panels some slowly blinking from time to time. A large spiral staircase rises from the center, and to one side they see Thordunn frozen in place. Soren goes to rescue his friend, but is immediatly rebuffed by an invisible barrier, which also resists his shilleleagh. Seeing no way of freeing their companion at the moment, the party decides to ascend the staircase, and problem not as easy as one might think, as it is clearly sized for someone three times their size. It is utterly exhausting work, but they finally arrive at the next floor. This time it is quite dark and gloomy, and MukYuk, the first to make it up there, almost though it was filled with mandrans. There were pale white coral statues of beings that seemed to combine animals of the sea and humanoid features, in numerous different pozes though mainly ones that looked sad. One pedestal remained empty and when MukYuk climbed upon it he felt the familiar searing pain of a Mandran device that wanted an input. Killian, never one to leave a statue unmolested, touched on of the sad looking ones, and was immediatly filled with an intense sadness. he touched a statue in a pose of Triumph, but this only excacerbated the feeling. MukYuk suggested that Killian should climb onto the pedestal, and when he did it rose several meters into the air before slowly sinking again.  After some experimentation leaving Killian near catatonically depressed they surmised that more sadness would allow them to rise to the next floor, and touching all of the statues they did so the pedestal slowly rising, and giving them a brief shock when the cieling did not open or make a hole, but Sorens staff showed they could pass through what seemed to be an illusion in the roof and they emerged in the next room. Killian was still weeping about Kesrom the Mandran who had is essence founded the people he spent so many years with.    The room the pedestal brough this saddened bunch of adventurers too had large open windows with a beautifull of the bay. In the center of the room was what seemed like an unfinished version of the statues below, with elements not yet carved out of the coral. But beyond that, on a large lounge sofa sat a slumped figure with what appeared to be a rectangular granit head with slowly blinking lights, arms of flowing water with black onyx hands at the end, legs of pink coral and a more geometric, than biological seeming torso of marble.     This was Gismose.    Mandrans of course are highly unsettling to speak with, as they have no mouths and their voices appear directly in the heads of people, and with the ability to force themselves into ones thoughts in general. He asked what they were doing here, and more importantly. *what* they wanted. The party was not sure how to adress this being that excuded extreme sadness and brought up the piece of the Ocean heart. "The Topaz" Gismose asked "why do you want to steal it from me?" It turned out Gismose had spent milennia trying the create a new Mandran named Cremina, but that all attempts had failed. He was also extremely disdainfull against the "younger races" as he called them, blaming them for his peoples near extinction and the death of Kesrom whom he had called friend.  He had created the illusions as part of his towers defenses, insights into why the younger races should know their place in this world, as interlopers that did not belong- according to him. The party tried to convince him that he should try something new to create cremina, as he was so thoroughly saddened that all his statues kept the imprint of the memory, when Killian touched him, Killian fell into a catatonic stupor of meaninglessness and saddness. this, alongside the parties knowledge of the Ocean heart and more importantly Ribhus- another surviving Mandran- had him intrigued, and when they brought up, that no Mandran had ever been created by one alone, he took up their request and said he would travel to Ribhus with the Topaz, whom he showed them had a prominent place on the roof over yet another statue of Cremina.  Not wanting to be an ungratious host, he gave the group some fortifying tonics as presents, and was shocked to hear that the Lizardfolk of the Coral reef had started worshipping him as a god again.  After One last present of a coral key which would easen their next approach he dismissed the party as a watery hand grabbed them, Thordunn and dumped them into the sea.