61.0 - Epilogue as a Prologue
Holg wants to kill the Servitor while everyone is busy, but Korinth is there, watching. Korinth will offer to take the Servitor and make him die a thousand deaths. What would Holg want in exchange? Book of Life (change name??) (A book that has a rather simple dark leather cover and bronze clasp. Within it's rough, mismatched pages is research into blood and time magic, and how to combine them to extend life and cure ailments of all variety. This is all written in Script, and while much text is hand written in black or red ink, there's also many pages and segments where the black writing is incredibly neat and tidy. There are several pages with blood splatters and droplets, with some that don't ever dry. It will take at least a year to decode the book.)
Plot points/Scenes
Recap
Omdanne has been felled, and her essence merged with Bevarelse, coalescing into a new form—Ataxia, solar dragon and embodiment of this world. And they are in your debt as this quest has reached its end.The Plan
Current Day Water Cycle Day 25, night Who are you? "I am energy, life, chaos; I am this world; I am Ataxia. And I am in your debt. If there is something within my power to do for you, I will see it done." The group stands before Ataxia, sans Korinth and the Servitor. It will take a hot minute for Zlae to notice, as he's kinda in reverence mode to Ataxia. Answers for nearly everything. the dreams: Ataxia does not know who sent them, as they also felt there were in a constant dream. Perhaps there is something else that was using Ataxia's memories to send these visions? Tablets: Representative "faucets" to the Amalgamation. Now that they have been properly repaired and Ataxia whole, magic should start to work normally. Before, the tablets were whole but Ataxia split, so managing magic between 8 different entities is not easy. Then, when the dragons were killed, the tablets were "broken", so excess magic built up with no where to go and no one to use it up—except people. Now, excess magic should be able to flow back into the Amalgamation while Ataxia can help regulate that flow and possibly provide a "clean" way for mortals to use elemental magic. Amalgamation: An unstable yoke. A place between worlds. And possibly the very source of magic; a place where I was created. Greasy magic: Magic in a naked state. Think of it like literal lard—or even better—flour. It's usable in a raw form, but not tasty (and probaly not all that safe for consumption). And there are certain beings who can their skills to turn flour into many different forms; break, cake, roux, and so on. When Ataxia uses elemental magic, it turns back into these base component, seeking its way back to the Amalgamatio. Perpetua: Another like myself. They oversee their magic and I oversee mine. It's not likely we'll ever be in contact again, as the Amalgamation safely keeps us apart. Time and blood magic: Domains of Perpetua. I know little to nothing about it. What happened at the begnning of things: I can only just picture Perpetua, drifting away from me, magic swirling around us. And then, the land beneath me, broken and scattered. The creatures upon it were scared. I used my power to fix it. But it wasn't right, so I tried many times. Nothing worked. My urge to change and sculpt was at odds with the angry mortals of the world. Despite my intrisic nature, there's something within me that wanted all this chaos to lessen; to not be as destructive. To strike a balance between change and stability. Why did you split into Omdanne and Bevarelse: I thought perhaps to achieve the goal of balance that there was some aspect of myself—maybe the very source of that feeling—that could solve the problem. So, I tore myself into the two opposing sides. From there, things are a haze, a dream. I do recall the events of the past, if I think on it enough. Will people still go insane using magic No; elemental magic will be slowly introduced as Ataxia learns how to lend the magic out safely (something learned from letting the hearts be used). In the meantime, magic can still be pulled from the Amalgamation, though it's slower and does still cause naseua. What about people who are already Taxed or insane: "I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for them. Their statuses will not advance any further at least." Holg though, might still have a chance at solving this, especially if he takes the Book of Life from Korinth. Hearty Snowflake: Is currently with Desna and Miki, at the Sanctuary in the Issen Mountains. His daughter is safely with him. Desna Shesh and her brother Miki: Currently at the Santuary. Miki had lead a successful rescue operation with the help of Hearty to rescue Desna from Asriya's custody in the The Varlsaeum. After a bit, Desna will be invited to join the Parity council and represent the Outcasts. Areon Thornfoot: Continues to roam the land when his representative duties for the Parity council allow him to. Rish, Yasmah, Ivory, and Arvid Stjerne: Continue sailing Blue Brand around the world—excluding Lyston—collecting and selling relics, avoiding as much trouble as possible. Eventually, Flynrich's corpse in discovered in the ramshackle Grit docks, and Rish's crew sails off without a tear shed. Viran: Still leading the Grewl Bandits, he's used experimentation techniques learned from his mother to utilize the waters of Vand Temple to treat depression and anxiety for people. Now, the group guards and operates the temple as a clinic and rehabilitation center. Malik: David's character from the Dream Adventures. Sent away from his post for aiding the group in getting into Representative Paelias Bantius Rufus of Klarhavon's courtyard (getting Glitter back). Currently aiding the Dream Research project in Sun's Reach. Corvis: Ryan's charcter. Also at the Dream Research project in Sun's Reach after hearing all the weird stuff from the group. Registrar Adrona Boldstar/Snow Dew: Is happy where she is, and leverages the fact she's worked with the group that saved the world, often hinting she knows secrets about them in order to gain an edge on her adversaries. Dolgos Ebarath: Becomes a local legend to Sun's Reach, as the crazy old triton who says weird shit to people trying to work and then disappearing. Typically, the "weird shit" is often eventually enlightening to people, but no one's ever been able to track him down. the vrar: The Vrar still remains a secretive group, though Junaer Jeighmoor steps up to represent the Keepers, taking advice from Holg and Sil'Ferrous as to how the Keepers should operate their knowledge database and distribution moving forward. The remaining members eventually track down and work with Zlae to delve into the Amalgamation to find Asriya. Ixen Ixen is in coma, can be cured by blood magic; hint is a crack on his right palm, reminiscent of cut he and Kilith had done. Ixen immune to fire damage, but vulnerable to cold. Has Hearty's greatsword. Ixen follows Kilith, doing his best not to alarm people, which often means not entering towns or being ridiculously disguised—which Kilith assures him is definitely not noticable. Valki: Valki remains by her sister's side and nothing can separate them again. Every year she sends Sil'Ferrous a new interesting knife as way to make up for stabbing him that one time. Zlae: Zlae leads the Himmelafs back to their desert nomad roots, working with ATaxia when possible to get wind magic back first, so his people can return to the skies they've only known. His people now a mystery to him, he crafts a vessel, and with Ataxia's boon, he traverses the rifts with the Vrar, seaching for his brother, still occaisionally returning to Havon—though empty handed. Zaru Reminder that he's missing his left hand. Korinth abducts him into the Amalgamation, where his fate is unknown. Asriya: Asriya has been kidnapped by Korinth, taken into the Amalgamation. Her fate is unknown, though Korinth hints that she's not dead, and he has no desire to see her die. Paritet and the other guilds: Restructure to a council, though the process is a little slow and painful for some. The bones of such a system were mostly in place with the representatives of towns, continents, and guilds. However, instead of the guilds having control of most things, with the Servitor having the final say in any matter, now there are more representatives elected by the respective groups of people. The "headquarters" rotates between capital cities on the 15th of every cycle. The Himmelafs: Will return to wandering the desert, looking into a way to recreate an airship, which they one day do as magic starts returning to mortals. They make many more, spreading across the skies but always returning home to Havon. And eventually Zlae discovers a way to open rifts, taking his ship into the Amalgamation to search for his brother. Rumor has it that sometimes a ship has been spotting disappearing in the sky. The Monks: Will become disciples and agents of Ataxia and their will. They will still operate out of Klipafand, though will now travel more widely and be represented in the world. They actively try and recruit more to Ataxia's cause, which involves helping to keep the world safe from outsiders and the occaisonal stray rift. Sil'Ferrous: You occaisionally still see "ghosts" of past events, particularly around the ocean. You find that there are members of the Keepers who have copies of your flyer claiming all the lies of the Servitor; they are interested in documenting your findings; would you like to help write said book? Sil Ferrous does as much of ALL the things as he can.He's got ADD and a mountain of research to do. He only needs 4 hours of "sleep" so he can go basically non-stop. Priority: 1. Understand "new magic" and how it might help cure pepole already affected by the sickness. Work with holg on his ideas. 2.Preserver if there's time. 3. Book. They would be like "hey we're keeperes" and he'd be like "oh yeah....shit your boss is mia, brb" Kallista: You—and Valki whether you want her to or not—venture into the Amalgamation, to Korinth's domain. Korinth gives you advice on how to find your father's domain, wishing you the best of luck on tracking down Graz'zt. You get close, you're sure of it, until a shockwave tears through the Amalgamation, throwing everything askew and incredibly more volitile. Atani: Your insanity is never cured. You continue to serve the monks and ultimately Ataxia, though it's no secret you have a more direct connection with them than even Areon, which, given your state of mind, is a contention point for most. So that and your objections to water and air travel means you never really visit Klipafand. Your duties take you around the world, leaving you with time to check in on the dream research and its interesting theories. Holg: The mark of Ånd never fades from you. definitely going to try to figure out what I can about the book, and possibly try to work with the Keepers to make all of the knowledge we gained about the dragons available to everyone. Relax the Keeper's rules of knowledge sharing. I would mention the book discreetly to Sil'Ferrous, not telling him exactly what it is or how I got it (not because I don't want him to know but because I don't want him to tell everyone lmao), but I'd let him know I have it and intend to try to figure it out. Efforts to contact the Preserver are mostly a bust. Sometimes she is able to reply, but with nothing concrete enough for you to help. Contacting Korinth about this matter never gets a reply. However, newly appointed reprsentative Junaer catches wind of your attempts (maybe through Sil'Ferrous) and informs you he has a plan in the works. Kilith: The mark of Ild never fades from your scales. You remain a dragonborn, one of a kind. Kilith doesn't return home. He probably spends some time with Silferrous (and Holg if they work together) and then one day he just... leaves. Ixen might be awoken before or after he leaves; Kilith is determined to revive him. Kilith wants to see if the world did, in fact, change for the better. He goes and visits everyone everywhere, all the people he met and tries to help the adjustment to the new world. Ixen is free to come along or do his own thing; Kilith thinks of Ixen as his brother. I don't think Kilith would ever stop travelling. Kilith might return home later in life, but he wouldn't stay, and he wouldn't reveal his identity. Only that his name is Kilith and he's here to help. And if anyone said they knew a lizardfolk by that name, he'd say he knew one too.What happens next
?? The cycles will continue, no sense in undoing something that's been useful progress from the primordial chaos Ataxia initially split to solve. There will be no more elemental magic for mortals—at least, not easily for a while as Ataxia will need to figure out how to allow the magic to be used. The party gets questions answered, favors fulfilled or set up, and ties up any remaining tasks, such as Ixen and government. It's a peaceful couple of years with some stability coming to the world of Ataxia. Mortals are slowly gaining the ability to use elemental magic again, and this time without going insane. Atani you peek in from time to time on how the dream research is going, always *delighted* to see your dream buddy Malik. Their investigation is slow, as not everyone dreams every night. But their findings lead them to theories that it's never just one person who "ventures into a dream" and no one controls when they get them, so there must be some other force dealing out the dreams. The dreams also never seem to have a real-world impact, maybe their purpose is to provide information to us? But why? They don't know. And as you carry out Ataxia's tasks, calming people about Ataxia's appearance, quelling stray rifts that haven't seemed to let up in appearnce—only in things lacking to come through, you can't help but notice that Ataxia grows more nervous with each passing day, which you chuckle at. Kilith travels, Ixen at his side, helping everyone everywhere all the time (or as often as they can manage). Not everyone is keen on a strange dragon-like creature and a set of moving/talking script stones trying to help them, but there are many who approach them when no one else listens. These people have had strange occurances, odd dreams and visions, some have had their family members vanish without warning or trace. And alas, the best conclusion is anyone can come to is that the missing people are no longer on this world. Holg works to make sure the knowledge of the Keepers is more accessible, helping to establish more libraries around the world. He also works with Sil'Ferrous (and any others) discovers a way to alleviate some of the Tax damage, though he has yet to figure out how to completely reverse it. And lately, the rate at which Holg has been able to treat the Taxed has been increasing. Sil'Ferrous comes to think that some of the ghosts of the past he sometimes see aren't always of past events. In fact, the flashes of architecture and the clothing people wear... it's the same style as when everyone crossed through the portal under the well. Kallista traverses through the Amalgamation and all its perils. Once or twice she spots a familiar face with some others sailing through the Amalgamation on a ship. But besides them and the occaisonal fiend/demon/celestial/etc trying to harrass her, she is alone together with her sister Valki. And combined they are formiddable, making the best headway any mortals have in the Amalgamation. Until the Amalgamation is sundered (even further if you can imagine it) by a shockwave of every magic conceivable. These strange events continue to increase. And then one day, the sun is eclipsed by the moon, becoming little more than a burning ring around the moon. Looking for an answer for this lingering omen, the Parity Council reaches out to Ataxia. But Ataxia doesn't answer.Relations
Allies
Valki: https://5e.tools/bestiary.html#assassin_mm plus fire resistance and can cast thaumaturgy cantrip, hellish rebuke at 2nd-level 1 per long rest, darkness 1 per long rest. Charisma is spellcasting ability.
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