Episode 67: The Power of a Soul

General Summary

Previously...

After arriving in Darkfalls and meeting with the high priestess of the celestial temple, the Wayfinders found themselves in a vision viewing the world of the Raza only to find themselves trapped within it-- the enemy aware of who they are. After barely managing to get back safely, Tetran was able to get one key piece of information-- the name of who they're up again... The Bringer of Endless Agony and Death.

Follow the Lodestones

Realizing that they must hasten their journey to the Altar of the First, the party gathered supplies and conducted research before setting off. On the way out, they were greeted by a man named Pylas who happened to hear of them as the newest arrivals to the Temple-- however, he seemed to be looking for someone amongst them... a metal man. While the Wayfinders did not further provide information on that front, he did tell them to be careful and to follow the path of the lodestones if they wished to reach the Temple.

Whispers on the Wind

Within the group's first day of travel, they spotted what looked to be a lodestone with statues around it-- humanoid, non-descript statues. Approaching it, each member began to hear whispers: one telling them to run, another warning them, some telling a story-- all of them silenced by a dark command. Nyx, with his blindsight, realized that Killian was fending off something invisible and telepathed the alarm.
A battle broke out as the party realized that they were being harried by something malevolent and as Nyx tried identifying the direction of where the creature was-- many assumed that the source was the statues, especially when one animated and began attacking. With a quick Dispel, Reylan managed to end the effect attacking. However, she hadn't dealt with the true threat.

The Near Undying

As both cleric and warlock investigated using spells and Detect Magic, they discovered that there was a strong source of necromancy by the lodestone and that under each statue or right before its base, was a chained coffin buried beneath the sands, the chains being magical in nature and seemingly attached to a certain point. As they investigated further, the party discovered a body within the sand-- a corpse well-preserved by magic and in his hand, he held tightly onto five chains, a light glow around each.
Reylan, believing that the chains were entrapping the souls of those buried, convinced the others to break them. However, as each broke, the being awoke and with just the last chain weakened, he howled into the air knocking out more than half of the party as he reached for the chain. Snapping awake by divine fortune, Reylan-- fully believing the source of this undead's creature lay with the trapped souls-- severed the final chain only to hear the voices of the released then protest, warning the group to bind the undead. Realizing her grave error, the cleric revived Killian while Vasya used the hypodermic arrow gifted by Ghestin to bring Tetran back up. As each member began to take their shot at the creature, Valentine took a breath, lined up a shot while the undead was focused on the harrying pseudodragon and fired, shattering the skull and scattering the being into dust.
After destroying the phylactery Killian had found, the party went about freeing the chained corpses and properly burying the unfortunate adventuring group with burial rites. They were witness to the souls gathering one last time as a party before moving on, some to the heavens and others to unfinished business. Gathering what they could from the equipment left behind, the Wayfinders continued on.

Storms of Time

While the group came across some interesting things along their travels, like a small watering hole oasis for all types of beasts and a legion of undead seemingly controlled by (revealed later) a good necromancer, it was nothing compared to the experience of crossing what they simply called a time storm. While the first time they encountered it was by mere chance resulting a lost day of memory but essentially a day barely experienced, the second time resulted in fragments of a battle being barely remembered and important details being nearly lost.
After trying to recall what they had seen, the group resolved to be more wary of mirages and distortions of vision on the horizon.

A Day From the Altar

With but one day left of travel, the Wayfinders happened to come across what looked to be a small jungle oasis seemingly nestled against stone structures that jutted from the sands. While Nyx scouted ahead finding a village in service and offering gifts to a blue dragon and its wyrmlings, outside Valentine had a vision of a jungle, of a halfling calling out to him, and a large bite wound of a beast in his side. While the others waited on word from Nyx, they heard Valentine ask in confusion: "Who the hell are you?"
However, before anything could be asked, things shifted and it seemed the confusion gone. After a flurry of questions and deliberation, the group decided to leave Valentine's vision until after and to steer far from blue dragon's oasis as possible, not ready for a fight if it were to descend on them. Setting their sights on the Altar, they pushed forward only left to wonder what exactly happened to Valentine and whether or not the visions of the priestess were of things to come.

Report Date

22 May 2021

Loot

The Missing Time

After recalling the memories of the lost time, the Wayfinders remembered bits and pieces of meeting with one of the shifting tribes of the Wastes seeking help to hunt down an abberation that had been killing members of their hunting parties. While they had been injured and recalled losing people in the fight against the creature, they had defeated it in the end and took its head. After being guided along their path, the group had woke up the following day with jumbled memories and trying to recall the time.

Trivia

⦿ Two sixteens in a row meant two time storms back to back resulting in a whole "episode" being skipped (The Hunt for the Aberration).
⦿ The blue dragon nearly vanquished by the Blight Company makes an appearance as the leader of what seems to be a cult in an oasis of the Wastes.