Session XI - Dues
5th of Tororima, 560 AL
The party lands on the valley floor and enters a tense standoff with the werewolf. With its unholy magics, it has returned to life after falling over a thousand feet. Sinews of vine and thorn stitch its body back together.
The werewolf tries to bribe the party into giving it "wolf-flesh", gesturing at their direwolf companions. They decline, but the creature then unhinges its jaw and swallows Donovan's entire body whole, holding it hostage against them.
Gradually, the party is able to talk the werewolf down and they see it begin to show signs of humanity. It struggles to speak as they appeal to the tiefling within the wolfen form. It roars, telling them that it made an oath to consume wolf-flesh. That the entity that freed it from its standing stone prison made it make that oath. As it speaks, thorny vines begin to constrict the werewolf's flesh and serrate into its limbs. It yelps in pain. The party continues to try to break through to the tiefling within.
The desperate plea miraculously works. The tiefling tears free of his wolfen form, ripping out of the fur as if shedding a bloody skin. He collapses to the valley floor.
The party helps the tiefling to his feet and learns that he is named Alcathar. He traveled with Evernir for a day to Lausang before they were both kidnapped. Alcathar tells them that moments of bloodshed or stress have triggered his transformation before, but it does not happen often when he sleeps. He loses his memory of every instance in which he transformed. The werewolf form also did not seem to have the memories that Alcathar did; they are entirely separate entities. Helping the tiefling in his recovery, the party heals and questions him. He seems bewildered but otherwise calm and agreeable. Meanwhile, the party searches the valley floor for the bodies of the Zivil defectors. They find Donovan's mangled body, Gale's mostly intact corpse, and a host of magical items and weapons.
Astra recovers Donovan's weapon from a nearby pond: a massive, unwieldy amalgamation of different items welded to a scattershot mortar.
Strattora finds a metal staff fashioned into entwining lightning bolts. When she puts a hand on it, her vision fades, and Gale's memories spring forth into view. His hand is reaching out to grasp an animated corpse; a desiccated body that sits atop a mountain of corpses, all reaching out towards Gale's pale hand. Beneath the mountain of bodies stretches an endless sea. Gale's hand clasps onto the corpse's and the vision fades. A new memory flashes before Strattora: the moment when Gale blasted Cornelius with lightning seen from his perspective, confirming that the hand was his own.
When the looting finishes, the party helps Alcathar with the trek upwards out of the valley. The cable car is no longer operational, having been obliterated by Strattora. As they near the top of the valley, they spot Evernir speaking with the Lausang town guards. She has apparently convinced them that the cable car's destruction was an accident due to overcrowding of the cabin. The party goes along with her ruse. The guards seem to believe the story but head down into the valley to investigate further regardless. The party, alongside Evernir and Alcathar, bid farewell to the direwolves and head into the village of Lausang once more.
Exhausted, Astra and Cornelius head to the tavern for a midday rest. Melinoe carouses through the village as they do so, asking the locals if they've heard of the stone that she is searching for. She encounters a large Nornod man named Halstein who hails from Nornodheim in the Plane of Stone. Halstein tells her that the witches of Nornodheim, shunned as they are, would know of such things. He goes into detail about his homeland: a city nestled in the mountains of Gladdar, a large region lit by an artificial sun. Everywhere else in the plane is endlessly dark, but the sun that the dragon-god Thrakr created illuminates the entire countryside, giving it a proper day and night. He tells her of their customs: they are honor-bound, judgmental of scholars, and traditionalist. Many Nornod warriors are massive lumbering folk, he explains. Halstein finishes by telling Melinoe that the Choral entryway in the Valley of Denouement leads to several different branching paths. One of these paths reaches the Plane of Stone, which is how he arrived in the village. He tells her to ask for him if she ever visits, and she realizes that she never got his last name. She hopes that simply asking for "Halstein" will be enough.
With Cornelius and Astra fully rested, the party accompanies Evernir to visit the chieftain. She is hoping to learn more about the Lost Gods and the party is hoping to exonerate themselves for having destroyed the village's cable car. They anxiously plan their cover-up story to sway the chieftain to their side. Many ideas are tossed around: it was an accident, not their fault, or simply a malfunction. As they scheme, they reach the chieftain's treetop house above the canopy. A rope bridge and spiral staircase lead to a small wooden door of fine make, but too short for a normal humanoid. They knock on the door.
The door opens magically and a voice invites them further inside. Within, a cozy and cluttered dwelling looks out at a massive view of the Valley of Denouement. The furnishings are fine without being ostentatious. The chieftain greets them, introducing himself as Grogli. Grogli is a four-foot-tall grung wearing a wizard robe and pointed hat. He is stout and holds an implacable gummy smile.
Chieftain Grogli fetches tea and snacks for the party as they look around his lofted house. They sit down and he serves them their refreshments.
When they sit down to speak, Grogli immediately tells the party that he knows where they are from and what they have done. He also does not hold it against them, which stuns the party. The chieftain tells them that he has watched them for quite a while, pointing them to a telescope next to a large window in the living room. Flint peers into the contraption and realizes that it is a magical item that is trained on the site of their cable car battle. Grogli must have seen the entire thing unfold. As they process that information, they let Evernir ask her questions about the Lost Gods.
Evernir asks Grogli if he knows of any traces of the Lost Gods. The grung tells her that they are shrouded in mystery and there are but a few rumors. The Grey Wolf is a monstrous vestige that lives in a cave beneath the Valley of Denouement. The West Moon hangs eternally in the sky but is shrouded in mystery. The North Wind is said to originate in Saltant at a statue of an ancient prince, but that claim doesn't seem to hold much water. It's simply an old, worn piece of rock. Strangely, though, the wind does seem to abate there. Evernir thanks him for the information.
The chieftain then turns to the party and asks why they have been sent by Zivilon to the Plane of Moss. They are honest with him: they were sent the prepare the lands leading to Elgroth for invasion. Zivilon wants to take the city of Attjandi to remove their enemy's elemental supply chain. He responds that their mission does not make much sense. The lands east of the Valley of Denouement are not heavily defended or fortified. If thousands of Zivil soldiers were to march there to reach Attjandi, they would not have any trouble. He believes that whoever sent them on the mission must have had another motive for doing so. The party remembers that Nasos Valumin, their Zivil contact who gave them the mission, told them that Kirasum advocated for them. They mention this to the chieftain. As the party mentions Kirasum's name, the grung's eyes light up. He hobbles to a back closet and removes something from a shelf there. Bringing it back to the lounge, he shows the party a painting. It depicts himself as a much younger grung alongside a young Myelos air genasi girl and her mother. Behind them looms a muscular toad barely fitting in the frame. Grogli tells the party that the girl is Kirasum Acari herself. Her mother is Mirabella and the toad creature is a hezrou named Mammula. The four of them spent time together in his younger days searching for a particular stone. Melinoe perks up as he continues his story. Grogli explains that Kirasum and her mother were exiled from their noble position in Zivilon. Mirabella had hoped for a means to return them to prominence for her daughter to grow up with the noble privileges that she had lost. They searched for an item called the "Rubicon", or the "Fatestone": the same item that Melinoe was tasked with finding. Supposedly, it can rewrite the fate that one is foretold by the Norns, who live in a cave on the riverbank east of the Valley of Denouement. The Rubicon was said to be near them in the forest of Thrahin. It was never clear what form the stone was supposed to take, but that a power to grant wishes would flow into the one that wielded it. They were not alone in their search. In those days, it was an object of popular fascination. Despite traveling to numerous planes, Grogli's party never found the stone. He eventually lost contact with Mirabella and her daughter, only rarely speaking with her on a Kaath Mirror. Several conflicts of nations came between them and they stopped speaking. Strattora tells him that Kirasum has become a well-respected archmage of exalted status in Zivilon, which shocks Grogli. Somehow, Mirabella's wish came true regardless.
Chieftain Grogli explains that he eventually grew to a position of wealth and power in Lausang. When asked how, he offers to show the party what brought him such riches. He ventures into a hidden trapdoor compartment, dispelling illusory magics to reveal a magically locked lockbox. Inside, he withdraws a golden shard of glass with brightly glowing runic engravings. It seems to light the whole room abuzz with magic. The chieftain tells the party that it is a remnant of the broken Dial of Materium, which was shattered over five hundred years ago when an empress tried to pull the Lumin Path down to her plane. It worked. The Lumin Path shattered the Dial protecting Materium, sending countless shards of itself into the Purgoran Shield towards the inner planes of Corporeus. They are concentrated in areas of wealth and power such as Attjandi, which is situated on the largest shardfield in Corporeus. The dial shards have given the city vast magical prowess in the arts of enchanting and soulbinding. The shards themselves are extremely valuable, selling for massive sums. Grogli made a fortune from the shards.
Cornelius touches the dial shard's glassy exterior. As he does so, the shard grows white-hot in his palm. The party sees his body immediately go limp and hit the floor. Cornelius sees a vision pulsing in his mind. The same clock dial as before, the hand at the 12 position. He sees another image: a hawk flying down to the Nasht Kara in Thrahin. A group of a hundred mages are encircling something there. The hawk dips low to see the scene. A golden orb hovers above the ground in the center of the mage's circle. They are chanting; suffusing the orb with some kind of power. Cornelius sees his vision fade into blackness before awaking on the floor of the Chieftain's house.
As the party fusses over Cornelius, the chieftain tells them that he has experienced that kind of effect when touching the shard. It simply grows a bit warm.
A realization seems to dawn on Chieftain Grogli. He tells the party that they seem to be entwined with something beyond him. If they are interested, the Norns to the east of the village could tell them their fates. The chieftain could lend them a few grot-bats to fly over safely. He adds that the fates foretold there may not be to their liking, and a grim fortune could weigh them down further. The party thanks him for his hospitality and bids him farewell for now, exiting his treetop abode and heading to the village's tavern.
The party helps the tiefling to his feet and learns that he is named Alcathar. He traveled with Evernir for a day to Lausang before they were both kidnapped. Alcathar tells them that moments of bloodshed or stress have triggered his transformation before, but it does not happen often when he sleeps. He loses his memory of every instance in which he transformed. The werewolf form also did not seem to have the memories that Alcathar did; they are entirely separate entities. Helping the tiefling in his recovery, the party heals and questions him. He seems bewildered but otherwise calm and agreeable. Meanwhile, the party searches the valley floor for the bodies of the Zivil defectors. They find Donovan's mangled body, Gale's mostly intact corpse, and a host of magical items and weapons.
Exhausted, Astra and Cornelius head to the tavern for a midday rest. Melinoe carouses through the village as they do so, asking the locals if they've heard of the stone that she is searching for. She encounters a large Nornod man named Halstein who hails from Nornodheim in the Plane of Stone. Halstein tells her that the witches of Nornodheim, shunned as they are, would know of such things. He goes into detail about his homeland: a city nestled in the mountains of Gladdar, a large region lit by an artificial sun. Everywhere else in the plane is endlessly dark, but the sun that the dragon-god Thrakr created illuminates the entire countryside, giving it a proper day and night. He tells her of their customs: they are honor-bound, judgmental of scholars, and traditionalist. Many Nornod warriors are massive lumbering folk, he explains. Halstein finishes by telling Melinoe that the Choral entryway in the Valley of Denouement leads to several different branching paths. One of these paths reaches the Plane of Stone, which is how he arrived in the village. He tells her to ask for him if she ever visits, and she realizes that she never got his last name. She hopes that simply asking for "Halstein" will be enough.
With Cornelius and Astra fully rested, the party accompanies Evernir to visit the chieftain. She is hoping to learn more about the Lost Gods and the party is hoping to exonerate themselves for having destroyed the village's cable car. They anxiously plan their cover-up story to sway the chieftain to their side. Many ideas are tossed around: it was an accident, not their fault, or simply a malfunction. As they scheme, they reach the chieftain's treetop house above the canopy. A rope bridge and spiral staircase lead to a small wooden door of fine make, but too short for a normal humanoid. They knock on the door.
The chieftain then turns to the party and asks why they have been sent by Zivilon to the Plane of Moss. They are honest with him: they were sent the prepare the lands leading to Elgroth for invasion. Zivilon wants to take the city of Attjandi to remove their enemy's elemental supply chain. He responds that their mission does not make much sense. The lands east of the Valley of Denouement are not heavily defended or fortified. If thousands of Zivil soldiers were to march there to reach Attjandi, they would not have any trouble. He believes that whoever sent them on the mission must have had another motive for doing so. The party remembers that Nasos Valumin, their Zivil contact who gave them the mission, told them that Kirasum advocated for them. They mention this to the chieftain. As the party mentions Kirasum's name, the grung's eyes light up. He hobbles to a back closet and removes something from a shelf there. Bringing it back to the lounge, he shows the party a painting. It depicts himself as a much younger grung alongside a young Myelos air genasi girl and her mother. Behind them looms a muscular toad barely fitting in the frame. Grogli tells the party that the girl is Kirasum Acari herself. Her mother is Mirabella and the toad creature is a hezrou named Mammula. The four of them spent time together in his younger days searching for a particular stone. Melinoe perks up as he continues his story. Grogli explains that Kirasum and her mother were exiled from their noble position in Zivilon. Mirabella had hoped for a means to return them to prominence for her daughter to grow up with the noble privileges that she had lost. They searched for an item called the "Rubicon", or the "Fatestone": the same item that Melinoe was tasked with finding. Supposedly, it can rewrite the fate that one is foretold by the Norns, who live in a cave on the riverbank east of the Valley of Denouement. The Rubicon was said to be near them in the forest of Thrahin. It was never clear what form the stone was supposed to take, but that a power to grant wishes would flow into the one that wielded it. They were not alone in their search. In those days, it was an object of popular fascination. Despite traveling to numerous planes, Grogli's party never found the stone. He eventually lost contact with Mirabella and her daughter, only rarely speaking with her on a Kaath Mirror. Several conflicts of nations came between them and they stopped speaking. Strattora tells him that Kirasum has become a well-respected archmage of exalted status in Zivilon, which shocks Grogli. Somehow, Mirabella's wish came true regardless.
Chieftain Grogli explains that he eventually grew to a position of wealth and power in Lausang. When asked how, he offers to show the party what brought him such riches. He ventures into a hidden trapdoor compartment, dispelling illusory magics to reveal a magically locked lockbox. Inside, he withdraws a golden shard of glass with brightly glowing runic engravings. It seems to light the whole room abuzz with magic. The chieftain tells the party that it is a remnant of the broken Dial of Materium, which was shattered over five hundred years ago when an empress tried to pull the Lumin Path down to her plane. It worked. The Lumin Path shattered the Dial protecting Materium, sending countless shards of itself into the Purgoran Shield towards the inner planes of Corporeus. They are concentrated in areas of wealth and power such as Attjandi, which is situated on the largest shardfield in Corporeus. The dial shards have given the city vast magical prowess in the arts of enchanting and soulbinding. The shards themselves are extremely valuable, selling for massive sums. Grogli made a fortune from the shards.
