Chapter 10, Session 11: Chiefs, Doors, Disparity

General Summary

Ez went to suggest his tree teleportation plan to Thordak but he had collapsed from the side effects of Giants Blood. After a little pep talk, the group make the plan to deal with the rest of the clan: Ez will cast Tree Teleport to send them to Wakefield over the next few days. Ez, Olympia and Mimsi will round up and organise the prisoners and clan (and find the heads of the ex-leaders to show proof to Xan Prayerkeep). Fen, Anastasia and Kodo will check out the castle. Olympia tells Fen off for dying before we part ways. As Team A gather the heads, Olympia gathers attention so she can lead the explanations to the people, as Ez backs her up by explaining how the evacuation will work, sending a Skywrite into the sky to get people to gather in the same location. The trio then offer medical aid, mending aid and answers - a very productive trio!
One of the prisoners asks where Thordak is - his name is Gromm the Smith and he wants to serve the royals - everyone thinks he’s an asshole. Olympia tricks him into thinking Fen is Thordak and he walks off in the wrong direction. Mimsi goes to speak with the prisoners, learning they were imprisoned because they seemed to resist the charm effects, or were able to break free of it. The Clan shaman tried to prophesise Vola and Vraxxan would fail/die by blood they spilt - it didn’t go well. She then convinced the torturer to free 2 orcs, one being Thordak. He was then also imprisoned as well as a bard and another young lad. The Shaman received actual prophesies but she’s now too weak to speak or write them.
Meanwhile, Team B checks out the castle which is ransacked. Fen starts detecting magic as Anastasia searches. They find something under V&V’s bed, as well as a magical letter and a stack of unopened letters. Fen moves the book before checking the letters. The magic letter was sent magically, written in cursive: An ally on the inside offering advice on how to get into the city, specifying killing the Pollai wives but sparing the kids. Anastasia and Thordak suspect Xan Prayerkeep (Helena suspects Alistair). Anastasia realises the other letters have been opened and resealed: 3 from Queen Frey for an alliance against the elected crown. 2 from Xan Prayerkeep for a meeting regarding future interactions between the city and the clan. Letters from Timble Dimd requesting access to research, particularly to losing fighting orcs as he wishes to take the corpses back to Kingsbay to experiment on. Anastasia tries to compare the X.P letters to the magic one - they seem similar, but Fen recognises despite looking almost identical, the magic letter is a good forgery.
They discuss potential culprits before checking out the rubble under the bed - a hatch. Anastasia summons Blacky to sniff, something smells weird. Fen sends a firebolt down the hatch and kills a prisoner. Fen feysteps and Anastasia misty steps to heal the guy before he dies as Kodo chills on the bed. The victim is a halfling. As Anastasia revives him, they learn he’s a book keeper - Vola made a pact with his boss and he was sent to monitor it. Vola was trying to become a Shattered, and the book keeper handled the transaction, and he reassured Team B that she was definitely dead - she treated him badly so he wasn’t upset. The halfling is surprised to learn that Drahz is now a patron, as his job is to know all possible patrons. He leaves and Team B goes to look at the books down there, instead finding 5 arched doorways leading to different planes: A Hells portal, an Abyss portal, a Celestial portal, a murky dark portal and a deep electric blue portal. Kodo and the wanderer very badly want to go through one. Fen tries to be the voice of reason and dissuade them, but can’t stop Kodo as he closes his eyes, spins, and reaches for a door. Black tentacles pull him through the murky black one. Fen sends a message to Ez on what happened - Ez relays this to the rest of Team A and they hurry to the castle (After Mimsi receives the blessing/boon of Pelor from the Shaman!)
Thordak meanwhile bonds with his father’s blade, hearing his dad’s voice praising him and naming the blade the Redeemer. Thordak steps outside and is met by Grom the Smith! Anastasia dives after Kodo as Team A reaches the castle - Fen calls to Thordak to get him to join too. Thordak takes a moment to call Temptation and warn her about the arrival of the orcs. One by one the entire party go after Kodo, and all make INTELLIGENCE saving throws. Only Kodo and Thordak fail. Kodo finds himself in the inky darkness, swimming. The Wanderer is scared as they realise they’re in the End. Kodo states they should make it work for/with them, before feeling a perfect calm/meditation settle over him as the Wanderer is stretched, unravelled, and torn from Kodo. Kodo goes insane.
Ez finds himself in the empty darkness and is both received and welcomed into the End. He’s offered 5 questions, but only uses 4: Is Kodo dead? Yes; Can I save him? Maybe; Is the End the reason Ez is still alive? Unsure; Will it help Ez find Kodo? No; Ez uses his last question to state it’s nice to meet the End - response: irrelevant. Anastasia feels very unwelcome as she has no soul, but can ask questions: Can the End be defeated: hopefully (cannot recall other questions - sorry!) Anastasia only uses 4 questions. Mimsi is welcomed and feels at peace as she asks questions: What does it think of its siblings: narcissistic; How to find friends: irrelevant; How to beat Dashilla: irrelevant; How to get out: guaranteed; Said how not if: Irrelevant; Is Kodo savable: certainly; Can we get out alive: certainly. Olympia is welcomed, confirming she does have a soul! Though it’s not a peaceful welcome. Do you need help from us: always; CAn you help us with saving the world: proactive; Are you seeking out one of us specifically: no; Am I going to find out who I really am: Depends; Depends on what: resilience. Fen enters and the Chaos ‘dies’. Where are my friends: dead; Send us back: certainly; How can we help you: euthanise. THordak also fails and goes insane as the Hunt also dies.
Kodo wakes first, feeling the Wanderer slapping him gently. Kodo instinctively clutches at it, still insane, stating he thought he’d lost him. Anastasia steps through the door, trying to speak to Kodo but realising he can’t understand. An orc enters the room as they’d been sent to see what was happening after seeing the firebolts Fen sent off earlier to get Team A and Thordak’s attention. Ez appears and goes to yell at Kodo initially, but pauses on seeing something was wrong. Instead, he states Anastasia and Kodo are selfish as the group waits for the others. Olympia, Mimsi and Fen return safely as does the Chaos who was aware of what happened while the Wanderer wasn’t. Chaos calls Ez boring but he doesn’t give a shit. THordak appears also insane. Anastasia tries healing and it cures Thordak and Kodo of their insanity. Kodo acts all blase about what happened, and Ez instead of shouting more, stormed off (after being healed by the orc who was a paladin). The orc helps Thordak up the ladder and is assigned by Thordak to learn about potions.
As we each leave the castle, we realise we lost 4 hours and it’s now night. As Fen, Thordak and Kodo rest and reestablish connections with their entities, they realise the split was a warning from the End (an attempt to be helpful) - they CAN be killed. Kodo and the Wanderer chat, both admitting to being afraid. The Wanderer confesses it was going to give a piece of itself to Kodo, like Fen and the Chaos, but for the first time, it wants to travel with company. Kodo calls the Wanderer a good friend, but it disagrees. Kodo confesses he isn’t either. The Wanderer realises he was a bad sibling but says it isn’t enough, though he made the right choice in picking Kodo.
Olympia rests as Mimsi heads back to the temple and finds comfort. Fen sleeps in V&V’s bed. Anastasia looks for the book keeper and learns from him the blue door was Vola’s ideal paradise built by her. The Book Keeper never went through but she keeps her ideal family there as Vraxxan never allowed her to have one. The Book Keeper offers to make Anastasia a warlock but she declines and they part ways.
As Ez sleeps he feels a weight on his branch - The Wanderer has arrived for a chat. They admit they feel a bit bad and confess they considered Ez before choosing Kodo. The Wanderer states it never would have worked with Ez as he’s not afraid enough (confusing Ez a little). They explain they went through the portal to find out what was on the other side - an act of fear, and Ez should reconsider his view on Persicorum. Ez apologises though the Wanderer didn’t want one and they leave.
Mimsi dreams of the door and officially becomes the key of the Stringed. We level!

Report Date

22 May 2024