Chapter 10 - The Treasure of Ages

As the Champions of Maclir continued their quest into the vaults, they unlocked the door with the Skeleton Key, leading to a staircase. Vuggul attempted to stop the party by scaring them off with the illusion of the demon, but that did not work. He then sent a small group of Intellect Devourers to try and kill them. Tursi ended up having her intelligence drop to the point of being stunned, but Ithacus and Brynn defeated the creatures and restored Tursi.
The Champions headed down into the actual vault, finding Vuggul and the Elder Brain trying to extract the crystal. The party engaged the Elder Brain and the Mind Flayers in order to stop their plot. Though at first bombarded with constant grappling and mind manipulation, the party fought on, killing Vuggul, then another Mind Flayer Arcanist, and then killing the Elder Brain to end the reign of terror the Mind Flayers had been causing.
Afterwords, a matter came upon the gods: what to do with Captain Dana. Though Maclir wanted to keep her soul in Davy Jones' Locker, Morganine stepped in and told Maclir that the soul of Dana and Bartalome was rightfully hers. Finally, Calypso jumped in and claimed that Dana should remain alive due to her promise to stop the Mind Flayers. The party ultimately decided to side with Morganine, feeling they needed to free Alexandroth. Thus, Dana's soul passed before them and Alexandroth was freed from his contract.
Now with the Capricorn II at his helm, Alexandroth became the captain and led the party to Allotar, the capitol of Carallinia. There, Tursi bought herself a guitar, Brynn gifted Drig the Wizard some gold, and Ithacus managed to meet a chronicler named Jethro, who was curious in their story. He recorded their tale, and decided to come along with them on further missions.

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So, my friends, that was the tale of the Treasure of Ages! A tale of strange alien creatures, the matter of souls, and riches beyond anyone's imagination. So I ask you: where will you be where the next Treasures of Talamh are discovered?

THE END

Relations

Protagonists

Brynn Inkheart

Brynn showed that heart and persistence is ultimately the thing that helps one win in the end of the story. She managed to slay all the enemies in the final battle to help her friends. She asserted her value for life in the decision on Dana's soul, though it did not sway everyone.

Tursi

Tursi was curious and ferocious, wanting to continue exploring and using her magical abilities even in the middle of battle. She decided to save her friend Alexandroth, and proceeded to beg him to be his first mate.

Ithacus

Ithacus would not take anyone's bull the entirety of the chapter. He would sing "It's a Small World After All" in his head to annoy the Mind Flayers and annoy them more with his musical talent while they battled, to demoralize them. He back sassed the Elder Brain. He also back sassed Maclir, telling him off for even saying Morganine was a lesser god and argued she had just as much worth as the rest of them.

Adversaries

Vuggul

Vuggul showed his blind loyalty to the Elder Brain by playing cruel mental tricks on the Champions of Maclir in hopes of getting enough time to dig their crystal from the vault. He even gave up his mental individuality for the Elder Brain as the master used his mind to extend his influence in others and hurt them. He would be killed by Brynn Inkheart in the Vault of Ages.

The Elder Brain

The Elder Brain was a emotionless, cold and calculating creature that wanted to power it's legions with a ginormous magical crystal. It would not take people's emotional arguments and ignored Ithacus' taunting as it tried to murder them for feeding. It would be killed once it's minions were defeated, leading it to realize it was weak on it's own and ultimately die because of this.

Backdrops

Encounters

The Fight for the Treasure of Ages

Brynn, Tursi, and Ithacus descended into the vault as they found the Elder Brain and other Mind Flayers mining at the crystal at it's top. Ithacus decided to notch his bow and fire at the Elder Brain. This initiated a duel, where they would fight over the hordes of treasure. Vuggul went to protect his Elder Brain by sending a Mind Blast toward the party, leaving many of them to get suddenly stunned from his telepathic power.
At first, the Elder Brain and Vuggul started to use Mind Links to constantly damage the party, but Tursi managed to remove the hold of the Elder Brain and used her powers of her Vine Whip in order to attack it from afar. Meanwhile, Brynn initiated her combat with Vuggul, trying to get past him in order to attempt to kill the Elder Brain. Yet the Elder Brain cast Mass Suggestion to stop her from doing so. "You will NOT hurt our Elder Brain!" Vuggul said.
As such, Brynn was physically and mentally unable to hurt the brain, yet she exploited the Ulitharid's poor choice of words and attacked him instead. Brynn got restrained by the creature's tentacles, and was nearly flayed until Vuggul broke his nails trying to break into Brynn's skull, hurting them against her horns. Brynn used this opportunity to stab him, killing the devoted mind flayer and evening the odds.
Ithacus was unfortunately incapacitated most of the battle, until Vuggul was defeated. Tursi healed Ithacus before he died, leaving him back in the fight. Once he broke free of the Mind Flayers' hold, he pursued one of the Mind Flayer Arcanists and began to attack him with his short swords. Brynn ended up killing the Mind Flayer to help Ithacus, which led the party to confronting the Elder Brain alone.
The Brain attempted to phase shift to change it's location and sent another blast towards the party, but many of them resisted it's pulse. After some tentacle attacks, the remaining party shot their arrows, vine whipped the monster, and Brynn used her dagger to sneak attack on the brain. She stabbed one of the important parts of the brain's delicate structure, leaving it to die before them. The party had won!
The Champions were free to take some of the gold, many of them stacking gold bars, platinum pieces, and diamonds for themselves. Needless to say, many of them became phenomenally rich.

The Matter of Souls

After the party got to drink from the Fountain of Youth, they were confronted by Maclir, who congratulated them on giving him Dana's soul. However, this appeared to anger Morganine, who told the god that the soul of Dana and Bartalome was rightfully her own. Calypso also appeared, arguing that Dana should not be taken but keep on fighting any remaining Mind Flayers. As such, the party was left to chose what would happen.
Alexandroth sided with Morganine, of course, and reminded the party that he could be free from her contract once the two were given to her. Ithacus immediately sided with Alexandroth, as he felt his freedom was worth it and that contracts should not be broken. However, Brynn argued that Dana also had a deal with Calypso and needed to fulfill her end of the deal so remaining Mind Flayers could be dealt with. In the end, Tursi swayed the vote in Alexandroth's favor. The souls of Dana and Bartalome were given to Morganine, and Alexandroth was freed from his pact, while keeping his powers.

The Fates of the Champions

Alexandroth Hapsburg

Alexandroth Hapsburg by MrCrackerpants

Alexandroth became disappointed that Brynn decided to not continue further adventures with him as she decided to establish her orphanage. However, he would continue to donate to her orphanage under an anonymous account. What he did end up doing was continue some other private exploits with Ithacus and Tursi. He would kick Jethro the Chronicler out of the adventures, getting annoyed by his presence.
Alexandroth ended up piloting The Capricorn II as he became more isolated to himself. The revenge he had fulfilled... did not satisfy him. He had larger aspirations. Now, free from Morganine, Alexandroth used his wealth to start hiring former mercenaries and mages who were openly against the laws of New Wallingwish into his own private military fleet. Eventually, his actions began to drive away Tursi and Ithacus who left on their own to keep exploring the realm of Talamh.
In 2E 60, on the verge of the year, Alexandroth took a dark path and traveled to the island of Slaver's Rock, a haven for orcs and goblins. He would enslave the orcs and goblins to grow his military. Then, in 2E 61, Alexandroth launched an invasion on several New Wallingwish cities, commanding his navy and army to take on the Brookings Strait. He began taking control of some of the smaller cities and villages in that region, such as Mebrook. The New Wallingwish government would proceed to try and fight him back, and the battles continue to this day.

Brynn Inkheart

Brynn Inkheart by MrCrackerpants

Brynn would find herself retiring in the city of Allotar, using her fortune to open up a sprawling orphanage in the city in order to keep children off the streets from becoming criminals, like she once was. Though she met opposition and racism in her efforts, she still persisted and her efforts lived on. In 2E 58, Brynn would reach out to her brother Alet with a sum to pay off his debts and give up a life of crime. He would move to Allotar and assist his sister with her orphanage, though she never trusted him with the money.
Brynn would be contacted by Alexandroth in 2E 61, who had hoped to make her his head spymaster. Alexandroth had grand visions for her. She refused and was insulted by his gesture. Alexandroth would proceed to send her the head of a dead Goblin King to shock her. To this day, she still runs the orphanage, content with the new life she has chosen to live for the rest of her very, VERY long life.

Bogun

Bogun by MrCrackerpants

Bogun took his money and went on a spending spree, buying some of the most extravagant hats and clothes in the Wallingwish Islands as well as opening his own pawn store to sell his guns and other junk he collected. He was very successful, leading his brand of guns called the "Bogun" to become standard sport and military use from his mechanical improvements. Alexandroth would contact him in interest of these firearms, to which Bogun supplied. He remained ignorant of Alexandroth's purposes for these weapons.
In Allotar you can still visit him, and he will tell you some of his adventures for this specific quest. Offer him a hat too, that may sway him to give you a nice discount!

Ithacus

Ithacus by MrCrackerpants

Ithacus went on a few private adventures with Alexandroth and Tursi, though he was more interested in the amount of stories Jethro would write on him. Alexandroth grew annoyed of Jethro and ended up booting him from his ship, leaving Ithacus to grow distant of Alexandroth. He left the Capricorn in search of making more of his own stories. Needless to say, with Brigid's Blessed Bow in his hand, he became a legend of his own in the lands of New Wallingwish for his pursuits in hunting powerful monstrosities along with his dog. The collection Odyssey of Ithacus was a best seller in New Wallingwish for many readers and boosted the popularity of this elf.
As of 2A 61, Jethro the Chronicler lost contact with him, as Ithacus became interested in more Underdark exploration. His current whereabouts are unknown, though some speculate he has been searching for more dangerous monstrosities to destroy under there.

Tursi

Tursi by MrCrackerpants

Tursi grew a bond with Alexandroth, becoming his First Mate on the Capricorn II. She went on different adventures with the fellow Half Elf. Needless to say, Alexandroth looked upon her as an apprentice to become a more powerful mage. Tursi became a poster child for the repeal of magic bans on New Wallingwish due to her young yet heroic ambition.
Tursi herself continued on exploring, finding some of the fey-filled forests in Gaelitia and becoming fascinated with the fauna there. She grew into a more powerful druid. Alexandroth reached out to her again in 2A 61, asking her to help him with his rebellion, but she was too focused on her exploring to help him. To this day, she has become fascinated with Mountain's Shadow.

Elana and Dovahkiin

Elana by MrCrackerpants

Elana proceeded to return to the city of Boadella before the Treasure of Ages was found, feeling it would be better to return there after witnessing the pirate capitol. There, she started a mission for the Church of the All-Divine under the care of Cardia to root out any further necromancy cults and provide relief. This mission would be named the Hospitaler of Boadella. She has been hailed as a hero of the church for her slaying of Lord Gontro, and was officially sainted on July 27th of 2E 60.

Dovahkiin by MrCrackerpants

Dovahkiin began to walk an uncertain path after his indecisive nature at Boadella was uncovered. A priest of Bahamut came and warned him for his inaction. As such, he straightened up, but grew to find his Oath of Devotion very hard to actually follow. He came to Elana to assist him in his struggles of faith, and became a knight in Boadella to keep the people there protected. Though him and Elana never got sips from the Fountain of Youth, the two found themselves not needing it, gaining happiness and fulfillment in their religious duties.

Plot type

Session

Elder Brain by Wizards of the Coast