Session 92: The Chosen of Celestia

General Summary

25th-26th Unndilar 836PD   25th Unndilar   As the Kraken’s screams fade, the Unbroken drown in the surrounding silence, shocked by the loss of Quill.   Simeon peers over the edge, Raphael asks if he can bring Quill back as he’s done with the others? Simeon is blank with acceptance that he can’t help Quill, he can only heal with a body. Raphael spirals in denial, he can fly down, they can climb down and get his body. There must be something they can do?!   A solemnly wise Sabali cuts Raphael away from the futile fantasy “Quill chose to cut those ropes. He knew what he was doing, and what he was doing was saving us. He died a hero’s death, worthy of his tribe. To beg, to bargain, to deny this cheapens his sacrifice”.   The Winter Knight agrees to move onward, but is still stuck with finding a way to save Quill. The others share their ways of thanks and remembrance, Orlando runs Quill’s last words and requests in his mind as he drops his only ration of his mama’s pecan pie down the chasm. A final offering and goodbye.   The party continue on throughout the myriad of tunnels, Orlando’s amulet guiding the path forward throughout the day. They set up camp for the evening, but before they rest, Raph’s sword along with Orlando’s and Simeon’s amulets start to glow. Sensing something is trying to contact them they all sleep, and soon enough they wake in a shared dream of a Great Hall.   The Unbroken are all in the same dream, but they are not alone. Enessa, Ceridwen, Arin are welcomed faces to see, along with some new faces; a towering but friendly firbolg druid Pluto Portobello. A couple comprising a half elven male rogue named Quinn Nightingale and human female monk called Dia, they are known as Songbird Investigations.   The assembled people are naturally suspicious, Raph recognises the dream magic similar to what he’s used before when contacted spy in Ravagers. Simeon uses true seeing to investigate the Hall and he’s soon blinded by celestial light, but his eyes are soothed as a young blue skinned woman appears in front of him. Simeon bows in reverence as he recognises his lady, Sehanine, the Moonweaver. Soon she is joined by Melora the Wild Mother, who welcomes her follower Pluto, and Mab the Queen of Air and Darkness who surprises Raphael with her appearance. The Knight welcomes his ‘mother’, but the cold fey insist she be referred to as his Queen. Although a wry smile creaks across her face when Raphael jokes that must make him a Prince!   Before the group gets too acquainted with their patrons, the great dwarven figure of Moradin the All-Hammer beckons them through a door. They are led into a room with a grand roundtable, several chairs aligned with platinum badges that depict the respective Prime Deity symbols. The other deities are already sat, the dream members join seats next to their respective patrons:  

• Raph with Mab and the Raven Queen;
• Simeon and a sheepish Raven with the Moonweaver;
• Pluto with Melora;
• Orlando with Moradin;
• Zeni next to the hulking humanoid of muscle Kord the Storm Lord;
• Sabali wonders along and finds a chair next to Avandra the Changebringer, also joining next to Mab’s twin Titania the Queen of the Summer Court;
• Enessa takes the seat next to Corellon the Arch-Heart but moves it back enough to swing her feet onto the table and lean back nonchalantly.
• Arin next to Ioun the Knowing Mentor;
• Quinn and Dia sit with Raei the Everlight and Erathis the Law Bearer respectively.
• A human Paladin, Michael sits next to Pelor the Dawn Father and Ceridwen sits with Platinum Dragon, Bahamut, who chairs the table.

The mortals have been invited to the Halls of Mount Celestia as they are the Chosen Champions of the Gods, they have all been working in their separate but unified missions to prevent the release of Tharizdun the Chained Oblivion. Pluto has been hunting a Hag, Izkelthia, Songbird Investigations have been trailing a being known as Latara; whilst the Unbroken have been foiling the Lock-Breaker. But their efforts are slipping, an essence of Tharizdun has been awakened and escaped out of the Abyss and into the material plane last night. Its essence has already unleashed thousands of Entropy Demons and Nightmares, which have heavily plagued the Fey Wild.   Mab confirms that several thousand warriors of Winter and Summer Court have been lost, Enessa shares that she’s been helping the Wild Hunt to hunt down the remaining demons. Moradin warns the Unbroken that these demons are also trying to enter the World Anvil and destroy Moradin’s Shackle. The group ask about the safety of the other shackles, considering that Pelor’s has been broken while the Raven Queen’s and Ioun’s were weakened.   Bahamut’s is still safe in Vasselheim, Corellon doesn’t know where their shackle is in the Feywild. Both Fey Courts hold halves of a map to the shackle, Mab promises to share her map freely when the group reach the Fey Wild which provokes her twin Titania, to also offer her half freely as well.   Kord is hesitant, he reveals that his shackle is in Marquet but it’s location has recently been stolen from one of his champions. Kord requests Zeni as his new Chosen due to her being a storm born, and for her to help find and protect the shackle. Sabali volunteers to join her, Songbird Investigations and the Dawn Father’s Paladin also join as well. The Unbroken will continue to the World Anvil, Melora asks Pluto as her champion to join them to balance the loss of Zeni and Sabali. Ceri, Arin and Enessa will stay where they respectively are in Vasselheim, Wildemount and Fey Wild.   Before the ‘Chosen’ return back to their waking realms, Bahamut offers them time to speak with their patrons and each other.   Simeon is honoured to be at his Lady’s side, he laments the loss of Quill and the limits of his abilities to resolve it. The Moonweaver is proud of her chosen, and promises Simeon will grow with her gifts when he is ready for them. A coy Raven plucks up courage to speak with the Goddess, despite having fallen out of practice worshipping her for 100 years. But he will serve her now, and asks what he can do to follow a path of redemption since his exclusion by Syngorn. She is pleased to see Raven, and is unpleased by those that wronged Raven in Syngorn, he would find better company in Lyrengorn an elvish city that’s more devoted to her than Syngorn’s focus on the Arch-Heart.   Pluto looks up to the Wild Mother with wonderous eyes, he breaks off a flower to gift her and she tucks it into her wild hair. She checks if he will be ok with travelling the Underdark, and he assures her that peace will find a way.   Orlando and Moradin awkwardly survey one another, Moradin was expecting a dwarf for a Chosen and Orlando was expecting a gnome for a God. Orlando’s faith is still new, Moradin understands the trauma that he’s been through in Kraghammer, but he hopes that what was broken can be fixed. The God of Creation looks upon Orlando’s craft and compliments his work. He hopes Orlando can forge something new and better for their faith. Moradin warns Orlando that when they enter through the planar entrance to the World Anvil, it will weaken the barriers enough to let in the entropy demons that have been assailing the surrounding plane. The Guardians of the Anvil could assist, as the demons feed off life, but even Ioun the Goddess of Knowledge doesn’t know much more about these creatures as they’re from the sale alien realm as Tharizdun.   Raphael also has similar awkward encounter with his ‘Queen’, he passes on Karkematth’s regards and Mab ponders how she’ll kill him one day. Raph knows this isn’t the time and the place to discuss his origins and Mab’s involvements, but she earnestly looks forward to talking it through with him one day. Raph speaks with his ‘grandmother’ the Raven Queen, she confirms that Quill has safely passed through her realm into the afterlife, but does not answer Raph’s question on whether Quill wants to come back. It’s not for Raphael to decide.   The Unbroken group together one last time, Raphael shares the confirmation of Quill’s passing with the group. As Sabali and Zeni prepare for their bon voyage, Zeni tops up Simeon’s ring and Sabali gifts his Luck Rapier and Cloak as one final aid to his friends.   26th Unndilar   With the God’s well wishes, the Chosen awake in their respective locations the next morning well rested. The Unbroken wake to find Zeni and Sabali gone, and Pluto in their place, illuminated by the soft glow of the tiny fiery butterflies that coat him.   The renewed group set off on their mission from Gods, Orlando follows the path the amulet steers him on, they should reach the Anvil site soon. They stealth through the dark tunnels and the increasingly squelchy mud, Simeon’s boot gets stuck in the mud and his armour clangs against a rock when trying to pull himself out. Failing, Simeon takes a couple of mins to cast his daily ritual when at sea to walk upon the water and unsolid ground, and he rises up out of the mud.   They soon reach a cavern, but as they enter their minds are ambushed by the psychic blast of a Mind Flayer. The group’s mentality holds for all but Pluto. Three more of these laying in wait aubergine aberrations emerge from the dark to surround the party!   A psychic assault is unleashed upon the group, with one of the Mind Flyers trying and failing to dominate Orlando who replies with the psychic and physical sting of his gun ‘Thoughts’. Raphael hexes the third one that has grappled Raven in its tentacled maw. As its beaked mouth starts to gnash towards Raven’s face, the tricky elf slips his new Rapier gifted by Sabali and slices clean through the tentacled head of the Mind Flayer.   Simeon calls on the divine of his Lady to bathe the party in the purity of Moonlight, and he chugs a boiling blue potion of heroism to increase his resolve to maintain this protection. Pluto struggles with the unnatural alien psionics, and a fifth Mind Flayer enters from the back of the cavern, wielding the arcane ready to bolt lightning at the firbolg. But Simeon’s emboldened reactions spring the counterspelling magics of his spell ring to deny the Mind Flayer Arcanist and save Pluto.   However, in the darkness behind Simeon the fourth Mind Flayer blasts his psychic screeches into the Cleric’s head, the psionic magic finds just the right nerves in his brain to break his concentration on his aura spell and leave him stunned. But as the mental assassin moves towards his divine prey, someone far deadlier in the dark unleashes a fatal volley of arrows to down the Mind Flayer. That’s so Raven!   Raph calls on the cold eldritch magic of his Queen to smite down the flayer that had grappled Pluto in it’s tentacled maw. The arcanist tries to unleash confusing mental magic but the Winter Knight counters the spell with but a swipe of his crystal tipped rod.   The potion pulsing through Simeon gives him the resolve to break out of his psychic stupor, Orlando peppers the squid people with lead and magic. But what other tricks do the surviving Mind Flayers have to left play…?