Azimuth 2 - Session 37 - Petals, Paintings, Pasts
General Summary
Chamber of Titles
Interrogating Talmid
Pink energy shone in Mortimr’s eyes, and the scent of roses filled the room around him. Despite his wounds and blood loss, he felt in control. The entity in his head was blocking feelings of pain and enhancing a sense of anticipation for imminent revenge. Talmid shook off the effects of Chaka’s hypnotic spell. He realized he was held and bound. With a heavy wheeze, he angrily spat blood towards Mortimr. Mortimr cast a Friends spell and said, “If you toe the line, maybe you’ll keep breathing.” He asked Talmid how and why he killed his brother, Borli. Talmid taunted, “It was a job. Simple transaction. Your brother got in the way, started asking questions. You started asking questions. I was told to stop it.” Gertrude ensured Holarust and Stuzrog would survive before her full attention fell on Mortimr and the energy around him. His body looked on its last legs. She moved to him and wordlessly handed him a healing potion. While he continued to talk, he slowly pulled out Arwin’s arrows before taking the potion. Mortimr said Talmid owed him a debt, and how he collected it was up to him. Mortimr wanted to know how and where his orders came from, and how to find Azariel. Talmid was dodging Mortimr’s questions and snidely replying to his comments. He said, “If all you’ve got to offer me is death, I can wait right here and bleed out.” Mortimr said, “Oh, I wasn’t offering you death.” There was a flare of pink with his words. Talmid saw it and showed his first sign of fear. Under questioning, Talmid said he’d been sent originally to kill Gim Gorod in Porgorag, but was called at the last minute to take over operations at the guildhall. He said, “The genasi are involved. You look around far enough, you’ll find those four fuckers. You look around deep enough, you’ll stop asking questions. Otherwise, you’ll end up as dead as your brother.” Demitri asked to interject. Holding the broken box with the logo of two lions holding an umbrella, he asked, “What is this organization’s connection to Adamski Sokolov?” Talmid didn’t recognize the name. Demitri called Talmid useless. Talmid became dismissive and evasive. He seemed to be intentionally aggravating and annoying. The group could tell Talmid was trying to get killed, instead of giving any more information. Romsca said she didn’t care anymore, and she left the room. Mortimr asked what Talmid was afraid of if he wasn’t afraid to die. He seemed to fear the pink energy around Mortimr, but when Gertrude said Beburos’s name, Talmid jumped. Mortimr asked, “What do you think they’re going to do to you that I’m not?” Talmid talked about the afterlife not mattering. He said it didn’t matter where, whether he went to a Dragon’s realm or to The Abyss or The Hells. He said if the genasi were successful, there wouldn’t be an afterlife to go to.A Brother’s Lament
Arwin put his weapon away and went up to Mortimr. He said, “It seems for now you have everything under control, Mortimr, but may I make a suggestion?” He handed Mortimr a carving tool from his kit. “This technique worked wonders on gnolls.” Outside the room, Romsca overheard this. She retched and moved fully away. Talmid asked Mortimr if he was going to keep just talking or come into the cage with him. He seemed afraid of the pink energy. Arwin suggested he enter and let the entity take control. Mortimr cast a Phantasmal Force spell on Talmid. Talmid saw the room go dark. From an aura of pink energy behind Mortimr, he saw Borli, ghostly and dead, walk forward and enter the cage. Talmid feared the apparition, and he tried to fight but crashed into the bars. To the entity in his head, Mortimr said, “Speak through him. Make him fear.” Everyone in the room saw ethereal pink rose petals manifest around Mortimr. As the phantom Borli rushed into Talmid, the man was lifted by pink energy. Talmid’s body bled and broke as the entity clawed at Talmid’s form and mind. Mortimr was shunted from himself. Floating in his mind, Mortimr felt names coming from Talmid: Azariel, Maalik, Nabat, Beburos. He saw flashes of Port Haville, Alena's Landing, Kievs, and New Keeleon. Connections of money and messages crossed Tarteria to these places. The genasi were running the Tarterian Traders from behind the scenes. They were the money and force behind the gathering power in the guildhalls. With a sickening crunch, Talmid was brutally killed. His broken body fell to the floor with a wet thump. Mortimr felt fulfilled to an enhanced degree. But he felt a different focus from the entity. While his desire for revenge focused on Azariel, the entity’s pull was towards Maalik. The entity, cloyingly, said, “There, my love. Revenge for your brother has begun, just as we promised each other. We’re not done yet. There are more who are responsible for our pain.” The entity, satisfied seemingly for the moment, left Mortimr. He sensed, too, that with the destruction levied on him, Talmid’s soul did not go to the River of Many Paths. It was sent to a place of pink wheat. Arwin put a hand on Mortimr’s shoulder. He said, “It’s hard to trust you, mate. But as long as you don’t kill anyone next time, or try to kill anyone next time.” While most of the group left the scene to investigate the other rooms, Mortimr watched for a while, enjoying the feeling. Eventually, he left as well. Outside, he saw Romsca by the entrance passage. Quietly, he picked up the platinum ring he’d thrown. Gertrude was left alone in the storage room with Stuzrog and Holarust. She made a prayer to Chedae, The Heaven's Light, and asked, “Chedae, how fares Borli’s soul? Is he at peace?” She only received silence. Her connection to Zenethia felt strained and tenuous, as if her light could not reach her at the Chamber of Titles.The Research Room
The group split to investigate the other rooms. Ilmendwyth and Romulus checked the large research room where Chaka was already exploring. A vast amount of research was here, and it would take time to organize and make sense of. At first glance, the research was roughly split into three time periods: old research from years ago, diagrams and plans leading up to events at Red Lake, and the most recent writings and reactions to what happened after. Chaka noted two primary sets of handwriting. They interacted and comingled, with notes and corrections and edits across them. Chaka felt these two writers must have worked very closely together, and with the pairs of items in the room, likely spent much time together here. Chaka also noted that the most recent writings only showed one of these handwritings. There was an elemental sigil with precious stones set into the wall. Chaka investigated using an Identify spell. It was a communication device, seemingly connected to a network of similar sigils far from here. The stone set in the section for the Plane of Air was the anchor for this sigil. Chaka felt energy pulsing through the arcane system, and felt he could interact with it.Ritual Circle and the Leviathan
Meanwhile, Arwin looked over the large, inert spell circle carved into the floor of the ritual room. Arwin called Demitri over, and Demitri and Mortimr began investigating. Arwin asked if this was a teleportation spell. Demitri examined the glyphs and the series of nodes in the circle’s design. Three nodes led to the center of the glyph and seemed to pull or combine the items set there into the center. Its purpose seemed to be to create something new. There were magical ingredients and items nearby, seemingly as needed components of this spell circle. Powdered incense and oils were prepared. A small leather pouch with a ripped herb or leaf of some kind was among them that Demitri couldn’t identify. In the room, they found a large masterwork painting of the Great Leviathan. They also found an arcane device nearby. It was a semi-translucent orb with bands of gold around it. Two nodes on the poles hummed with faint energy. Within the center was an arrow-like gem that pointed like a compass to the northwest. Demitri’s initially wondered if the purpose was to capture the Four Great Beasts in some way. Though, as he looked further, it seemed the circle wasn’t intended to capture, but to create. The ritual took materials, along with two sacrifices, and made a compass pointed towards the source of the energy held in the painting. He theorized the Great Leviathan painting had been used to create this arcane Bearing Stone.The Genasi
Chaka felt energy transmitting the communication network the elemental sigil was connected to. The sigil activated. The center flashed like a mirror. A vision of a green skinned genasi appeared on the surface, as Azariel, in an angered voice said, “What now, Talmid? Your report better be good– Who the hell are you?” The fiery-haired genasi, Maalik, also joined the conversation. “Azariel, why are your people using the scry stones from my workshop?” She saw Chaka, and said, “You are not Azariel’s man, nor are you Nabat’s.” Maalik seemed to recognize who the group was. “They’re caravan guards. Gorod mentioned the caravaneers were trouble. This explains why the ring slipped through his hands. You need better men, Azariel.” The rest of the party heard this conversation and made their way towards the research room, except Gertrude. Seeing the genasi, they checked for clues in the transmission. The background behind Maalik appeared like worked stone. Romulus felt it likely was a dwarven hold. Mortimr recognized the colors and materials behind Azariel as the Dispensary in Kievs. Azariel addressed the party with barely controlled rage. “Here’s your one deal. Tell us where the ring from the caravan is. Some of you might get to live.” The group rejected the offer. Maalik showed composed frustration as she slowly took in everyone’s face. She said, “First Durak, now you all. Adventurers keep getting in our way.” When Maalik looked at Mortimr, there was a flash of pink energy and petals around his eyes. Maalik reacted, stepping back. With the shift of movement, the hand mirror she was looking through shifted, showing the Flower of the King in Endor, the First Mountain. Urgently, Maalik asked Azariel, “Is the broken piece of the key in the workshop. She cannot have another one.” He replied it was not. Arwin asked what deal they were willing to make. Maalik asked what they would like in exchange for the ring. She said their group knew how much money was flowing in the Tarterian Traders. Arwin and Demitri began deriding their proposal flippantly. Maalik seemed to recognize Demitri, calling him “Sokolov’s exiled brat”. She said that would be a good avenue to get some extra funds. Demitri said, “Tell the old man ‘Come and get me’. Better yet, tell him that Kugo, son of Nikita, sends his ill regards.” Maalik and Azariel suddenly reacted and looked towards the earth gemstone of the network. With sudden meekness from both of them, Maalik said a quiet, “We’ll fix this,” and Azariel grunted an affirmation. They both dropped from the communication and their stones went dark. The mirror-like energy shifted to a scene of static for a heartbeat and then went dark as well.The Queensguard Arrive
Romsca returned to Gertrude and picked up Holarust. She asked if Gertrude was alright. Gertrude told her she had been unable to pray. The party heard combat and shouts in the guildhall above them. After clearing the cultists from upstairs, Nalt Oknar Rulla, Captain Ruslan , and several queensguard soldiers came down the passage to the Chamber of Titles. Rulla asked what happened here, and Romsca began to fill her in on the events here. She was upset with Stuzrog and said she would clean up the city watch. She allowed the group to continue investigating as long as they agreed to share their findings with her. After Rulla confirmed Holarust and Stuzrog would live, she took Holarust from Romsca, stationed queensguard soldiers nearby, then moved upstairs to continue clearing the guildhall. The group was tired and it was past midnight, but they chose to stay and continue looking through the rooms.Exhausted Investigation
Gertrude inspected the stonework of these rooms. She tried to see if any of the materials or design reminded her of the tunnels she’d found Bori in. While she knew that tunnel chamber had been magically crafted, the stonework here was mundane. Romulus asked some of the queensguard to assist gathering the mundane materials the cult had gathered. Ilmendwyth looked over the satchel with the unidentified herb. He recognized it as the same type as the one Rudok had given him earlier. Inside was more, fresh panacea leaf. Chaka quickly painted Maalik, Azariel, and the static from the communication spell. In his focus, he did not initially notice the painting of the Great Leviathan. When he did, he took in the details and was awestruck. He noticed two hidden elvish letters within the painting. He pointed them out to Ilmendwyth, but the elf couldn’t see the letters Chaka could. Chaka transcribed them, and Ilmendwyth said they were elvish letters for “S” and “E”. Neither of them could find any meaning in the letters without more context or clues. As Gertrude fumbled with the uncomfortable fine clothing beneath her armor, Romsca approached to ask an urgent favor. She asked Gertrude to message Bishop Rannyl and ask to watch over Romsca’s sister, Yeempa. With Maalik seemingly in Endor, she worried for her sister’s safety. Demitri suggested Rannyl should try to be safe as well. Gertrude said she would contact him as soon as she recovered her magic.A Dream of Mounting Metal
The group settled down in the rooms to rest, thinking over the events of the day and the genasi they were involved with. Gertrude waited until she felt everyone else was asleep, then took out the pink carved gemstone she’d received from Bori. She didn’t sleep that night as she stared at the gemstone with tears in her eyes. Chaka rested near the Great Leviathan painting and under Nabat’s cloak. Eventually, he began to dream. Back in The Infinite Battlefield, he was in a space vacant of warriors, though the sounds of war echoed in the plane. A great cairn of piled metallic stones. He recognized this as a dream, and despite his body’s physical exhaustion, he climbed the metal cliff. At the summit, he could see across Dynamia. Far behind was the cliff he’d seen during his first such dream. And far ahead was a building, shining like a beacon of metallic hues.
Report Date
17 Apr 2024
Primary Location
Related Characters
16 Adroth 5A 352 to 17 Adroth 5A 352