Session 24: The Throne of the Mad King

General Summary

Quest	fin	What's up with that?	fin
Kill INcandus Carthelian		Pathfinders' Legacy
Chart the Stars		Planeswalkers' Folly
Find the Morningstar		Chess Pieces
Escape the King in Yellow		Arcane wards in the Carthelian Crypt
Find Praxis
Rewrite your fate

Recap

F233 TH3 K1N6: Year of Madness

The Omens met the King of Madness in his throne, styled in his image. Khorvis, bound by his oath, itched to cast the elder creature into the proper pit, but the party persuaded him to wait while they prodded answers from the creature. Indeed, they had already begun to come to some conclusions.   Monitoring Khorvis' compass, the party marked that it pointed to the King in Yellow. Khorvis seemed unwilling to accept this, holding the compass with such strength as to crack its glassy cover. The Omens deduced that his dedication to his oath and quest to find Praxis was what had enabled him to keep his sanity so long in the Pathways. Now, having gone so far in his quest just to fail is not a reality that he is willing to accept.   At the mention of Praxis, the King in Yellow had this to say:

P̸̘̈́̓ṛ̴̳͆̑ä̶̠̜x̴̫̬̐i̶̧̛͎s̷̲͔͗?̸̨̘̃͘ ̷̝̀͆Ï̵̟͉ ̷̯̺̏̈ẅ̵̨̳́à̸͚̯s̵̻͝ ̸͈̞̈́P̶̝̉r̸̙͐͘a̴̢͇͠x̵̡̥̍į̴̩̀̆ŝ̶̛̲ͅ ̶̮̣͝͝o̷͈̘͗n̴̤͑c̶͙̐̃e̶͖̎.̷̳́̄   ̷͕͖͝T̸̡͍̎h̷̞̤̑e̷̝͓͛y̵̝̍͝ ̵̗͊ć̵̰̕ą̴̯̾̚m̴̪̈͋ȩ̶̜̍ ̵͙̊͘t̷͎͔̄̿o̸̘̓ ̷̳̋m̵̡̨̈́͆e̷͔͛̓ ̷̂̆ͅǎ̴̲̔t̵͎̥͗ ̵̱̊͝o̵̺̒u̸̱͛̈́ř̶̝̬͝ ̷̡̍͜t̵͕̋h̴̥̅r̸̗̍͘o̴͛͜n̸̳̘̐̕e̷͖͕͛͊.̷͕͓̿̒   ̵̮͌́I̵͔͔̊̏n̸̻̱̽̑ ̷̘̀͒͜t̵͉̞͘h̶̖͆͊͜e̶͓͒͠ ̴̨̼̄̑T̸͕̼̊h̵̯͝r̴̢̭̾ọ̵̡̆n̵̫̹͐ẻ̸̘̆ ̶̝̿̓r̴̛͕̮̅o̴̧̲͌͝o̸̫̜͠m̴̖͒ͅ ̶̝̂̃ẘ̴͈͚í̷͇̣t̶̨͇́͒h̵͓̏̒ ̴͉̗͊̃ẖ̴̦͐̈ì̶͚͊s̵̢̠̅ ̸͉̃f̵̳͗͝r̷̻͙͆į̵̭͘e̸͎̽n̵̹͛̚d̵̡͛.̷̗̈̚   ̶̺͌H̸̪͊͝ḛ̴̽ ̸̱̌͊k̷͍͕͐͝i̵̢͂̃l̸̡̠͗̏l̴̡̔͘ẽ̴̳̱͋d̴̳͆̔ ̶̫͝ư̷̹͍͝ṣ̴̢̈́͝;̷̫̔̉ͅ ̵͕̯́P̵̪͔̓̽r̸̫̎a̵͇͇̅ẍ̷̝́͝i̴̺̱͆̚ş̵̭́ ̶̳͌ĭ̵̞ṡ̴͚̀͜ ̴͓̐n̷̜͚̾̆õ̶͔ ̵̨̛̌m̵͉̕ơ̷̙̽r̶̛̜̍e̷̖̍.̷̐̅ͅͅ   ̸̛͉P̶͇̏r̴̡̔ä̴̢̺́x̵̻̦͆̀i̵̮͚͒͝s̶̻͙̽?̸̤̝̂̉ ̸̺͑̈Ȋ̴̢ ̴̩̥̈̾w̸͍̓â̵̰̳̇š̵͕̿ ̶̢̯͊̌P̶͚̗͌̓r̶̨͠͝å̷̭x̴̛̣i̸͕̓̅s̸̞̓ ̴̧̫̉ó̵͓͈n̸̨̎̑c̸͉͒̾e̶̪̓.̶̛̬̄.̸̡͖̇.̵͎̀́

— This phrase continued to repeat softly in the background throughout the rest of the conversation and ensuing combat

The King in Yellow, invading their minds, demanded to be freed from the magic that fused him into his obsidian prison. Sensing that they never would, he launched his attack.   While the Omens and their companions fought valiantly, checking doors for a way out and utilizing potions dropped by fallen cultists, they were overwhelmed by the growing madness of the King.  

Hello from the Other Side

As the last heart of the Omens stilled in its final beat, the group awoke in a rolling landscape of gray sand dunes and clouded, stormy skies they did not break with rain. They brushed sand off of themselves as a nine-foot tall figure manifested in front of them. Short, spiky flowing hair floated out behind Them, apparently unbeholden by the natural laws of gravity, extending from a blindfold that covered Their eyes, leaving only a spectral third eye that stood unblinking on Their forehead.   The Gray Lady; Aspect of the Tribunal, Sentinel of the Gates, and patron god of adventurers, conjured a chair from the sands to sit like a cool person to confront the group spoke:

So. What went wrong?

Missions/Quests Completed

Escape the King in Yellow In some senses, the Omens did escape the King in Yellow, though marking it as a win yet would be premature.

Find Praxis Perhaps he is somehow a concious part of the King in Yellow, or the King itself. Or perhaps he somehow perished in the throneroom. Either way, this quest far from its concrete conclusion.

Notes