Session XIV - Attjandi
9th of Tororima, 560 AL
In a flash of energy, the rest of the party emerges through the portal to Attjandi. The structure around them seems to be an under-used warehouse in the lower district of the city. Outside, the gentle thrum of waterfalls fills the streets with strangely muffled noise. Cornelius slowly leads the party out of the warehouse, taking care to blender in with their surroundings.
The party gathers themselves and ventures out into the streets. They make their way carefully through the winding alleys as the cityscape unfolds before them. Attjandi is a large city situated in the middle of a river waterfall, damming up the falls with sandstone bridges and massive towers. Fjord-like valley cliffs loom above even the tallest towers. Beneath the uppermost plateau, some kind of transparent dam holds a myriad of windows of water: the floor of the river above. Something enormous moves in shadow there, peering down at the city shadowed by it before swimming away.
The party begins to question the locals. They wear strange ornamented garb with conical hats, and many of them are water genasi or elves. The party learns of the constructs in the city: workhorses for the artificers that have caused some trouble and danger in recent times.
Heading down the hill from the warehouse portal, the party finds the Rolling Moon Inn, where they find Grogli's contact. A middle-aged innkeeper orc with ruddy brown skin greets them: Tarog'Thul. The orc converses with them and they inquire about the goings-on in Attjandi. He tells them of the Gamanari and the Cult of Sunlight. The Gamanari are a nationalistic group with rumored ties to the necromancers of Shakun, which lies under Svarn, the Tree of Death. The Cult of Sunlight is a diplomatic, peaceful faction that regularly entreats with other planes and enjoys wide support in the city.
As the rest of the party speaks to the innkeeper, Melinoe sneaks away toward a group hidden away in the tavern's corner. Three cloaked individuals, all air genasi, sit together conversing in hushed tones. Melinoe hears them speak about missing companions: three others in their group who are either dead or taken. They are searching for them throughout the city. Melinoe eventually leaves the corner to return to the party, filling them in on her findings.
Astra attempts to sneak up on the group after hearing Melinoe's information. Unfortunately, a loose floorboard gives way and they are immediately noticed by the group of genasi strangers. The largest of the genasi stands up and follows Astra up the tavern stairwell, reaching for his weapon.
Flint immediately springs into action, teleporting up the staircase to help Astra as a fight begins to break out. The genasi wields a large great sword concealed behind his back. He unsheaths the weapon and approaches the pair upstairs.
Strattora enters the fray. She immediately stuns the other two genasi with a hold person spell before they can intervene. Outnumbered and outmaneuvered, the tall genasi tells the party that they do not wish to fight them if they are not forced to. The tense exchange slowly reaches a moment of truce. Both parties back off, walk down the stairs and sit together at a tavern table. The other two strangers that Strattora paralyzed are freed and give her looks of acknowledgment.
Beginning to parley with the genasi strangers, the party learns of their names and motivations. Argus is a tall, broad Myelos genasi who seems to be the leader of the band of three with his wife Demesia, a wiry Tyton air genasi with voluminous cloudy hair. Their companion is a Myelos genasi mage named Rothus. Three of their companions were lost and they are trying to find them. They were last seen in the crystal ward, but the troupe cannot scout it further without arousing suspicion. Demesia asks the party to help them search for their allies. When asked who they are, the genasi call themselves the "Braids of Light" -- freedom fighters who were once from Zivilon. Strangely, when Strattora tells her name to them, Argus seems to have a look of recognition flash across his face. At the same time, Strattora remembers something from long ago: a hand on her shoulder, the smell of fire, and the creaking of metal gates. The party tentatively agrees to help the Braids. They make their way to the crystal ward, traversing the entire length of Attjandi to do so. The warehouse portal is located in the "Bubbles" of the city: a collection of dense circular rings that hold thousands of buildings. They take two different Melonkon rides to climb the falls. The goldfish-like creatures are ten feet long and manned by a small driver that encases the rider in a glass bubble. The fish then submerges into the water and climbs the walls of water like a salmon. After some time, the vistas of the Crystal Ward reach the party. They see a panorama below them: the massive cityscape and a golden slope of sunflowers atop the cliffside above it. A tower of white and marbled turquoise lies at the center of the Crystal Ward: the Sojourn Tower, where the Brineroot Clinic should be. The party ventures to Armsmite Arms, another business with a contact of Grogli's. There, a Nornod named Kveldr greets them, selling them a few Dial shards in his weapons shop. Cornelius touches a refined shard and fades into another vision. The rest of the party supports him to prevent him from falling over. Cornelius inhabits the body of a young man, possibly human. An old witch channels a ritual in a circle before him. They are in an ancient village of thatch and stone. The locals lay the witch no mind, passing her to walk through the fields. The witch calls out to Cornelius, asking him to help her with the ritual chant. He doesn't know the words, as the vision has become lucid. She calls him "Gol". She seems to be his master. Cornelius attempts to follow along, but after missing one word of the chant, the witch snaps at him and the ritual fades. His vision goes dark as her chastising silences. He wakes up in his own body once more. Back at the shop, Cornelius decides to pay Kveldr to refine the Dial shards to experience more visions or enchant his equipment. Melinoe then heads to the Brineroot Clinic to receive assistance with implanting her magical eye. She is ushered in by kindly staff, given paperwork, and eventually led in by a kindly Doctor: Saga Brineroot, an astral elf with a burn scar on the right side of his face. Melinoe consents to being put to sleep for the surgery. Thirty minutes later, Melinoe emerges from the surgery fully intact and healthy. Unfortunately, as she heads down to the bubbles with Flint, he realizes that she is not what she seems. Melinoe has been replaced by a doppelganger.
The pale, fleshy creature drops its false form and shanks Flint with its daggers. Enraged, Flint roars at the creature and bashes it with his Warhammer. He runs down the alley towards the Rolling Moon Inn. The doppelganger catches him, but in a bloody melee, Flint destroys it with his divine blows. He collects Melinoe's stolen garb and sprints through the city to the nearest Melonkon taxi. Flint gathers the party and tells them of Melinoe's fate. The party rushes back to the clinic and charges through the back rooms as the assistant attempts to stop them. They knock her out. Within the clinic, a well-appointed study hides a hidden passageway behind an exaggerated portrait of the doctor. An altar room is hidden behind a magically locked door dispelled by Cornelius. In the altar room, three invisible imps harry the party with fire from traps in the walls. When they kill the imps, a chain devil emerges through the face of the altar's statue. It depicts Kizarmak, the god of early death. Melinoe awakes in a hidden arcane cloister filled with bookshelves and alchemical equipment. The doctor sits near her, and he screams at him to free her. He tells her calmly that she will be "improved". A black portal of miasmic energy swirls near him. A pale figure can be seen peering at her through the energy. Melinoe immediately launches herself at the study's door. Miraculously, the door bursts open and Melinoe escapes to the altar room. She arrives at the same time as the party. After another bloody battle, the party is able to defeat the chain devil. They are left bloody and battered, but Melinoe is returned to them. They give back her holy symbol and her traveling gear just in time for the Doctor to arrive in the altar chamber. The Doctor carries a small wand as a magical focus. He tells the party that they can all be "improved". The two sides immediately clash as he fires a powerful fireball spell into the party's midst. Already injured, the party is devastated by multiple damaging spells from the Doctor. Almost every member of the party is driven nearly to death as they slowly whittle down the wizard's defenses. Astra repeatedly fires salvos from Donovan's mortar into the Doctor's flesh, which appears the be the same kind of sinewy red plant fibers as the creatures that the party faced weeks ago. In one final coup de grace, the Doctor prepares another fireball spell and tells the party that he will kill them all if any one of them moves an inch. He wants to improve them. To make them better. He cannot do that if they are all dead. Strattora moves. With thunderous energy, she blasts the Doctor off of his feet and into the altar statue, shattering it in the process. The Doctor's fireball is loosed onto the party, an inferno bringing them to their knees. Astra remains standing. Swooping low, Astra lowers their mortar and takes one final shot at the Doctor. The mage is blasted apart by the mortar strike. His body collapses onto the temple floor. Astra desperately resuscitates the rest of the party, all of them narrowly escaping death. As they rise to their feet, they explore the rest of the chambers. The Doctor's strange dungeon contains tools for surgery, books and lockboxes in his study, and a prison in the furthest hallways. In the prison, the party sees a multitude of different figures behind bars. They break through the cells before realizing that all of the prisoners have completely featureless faces, as though they have been taken from them.
Beginning to parley with the genasi strangers, the party learns of their names and motivations. Argus is a tall, broad Myelos genasi who seems to be the leader of the band of three with his wife Demesia, a wiry Tyton air genasi with voluminous cloudy hair. Their companion is a Myelos genasi mage named Rothus. Three of their companions were lost and they are trying to find them. They were last seen in the crystal ward, but the troupe cannot scout it further without arousing suspicion. Demesia asks the party to help them search for their allies. When asked who they are, the genasi call themselves the "Braids of Light" -- freedom fighters who were once from Zivilon. Strangely, when Strattora tells her name to them, Argus seems to have a look of recognition flash across his face. At the same time, Strattora remembers something from long ago: a hand on her shoulder, the smell of fire, and the creaking of metal gates. The party tentatively agrees to help the Braids. They make their way to the crystal ward, traversing the entire length of Attjandi to do so. The warehouse portal is located in the "Bubbles" of the city: a collection of dense circular rings that hold thousands of buildings. They take two different Melonkon rides to climb the falls. The goldfish-like creatures are ten feet long and manned by a small driver that encases the rider in a glass bubble. The fish then submerges into the water and climbs the walls of water like a salmon. After some time, the vistas of the Crystal Ward reach the party. They see a panorama below them: the massive cityscape and a golden slope of sunflowers atop the cliffside above it. A tower of white and marbled turquoise lies at the center of the Crystal Ward: the Sojourn Tower, where the Brineroot Clinic should be. The party ventures to Armsmite Arms, another business with a contact of Grogli's. There, a Nornod named Kveldr greets them, selling them a few Dial shards in his weapons shop. Cornelius touches a refined shard and fades into another vision. The rest of the party supports him to prevent him from falling over. Cornelius inhabits the body of a young man, possibly human. An old witch channels a ritual in a circle before him. They are in an ancient village of thatch and stone. The locals lay the witch no mind, passing her to walk through the fields. The witch calls out to Cornelius, asking him to help her with the ritual chant. He doesn't know the words, as the vision has become lucid. She calls him "Gol". She seems to be his master. Cornelius attempts to follow along, but after missing one word of the chant, the witch snaps at him and the ritual fades. His vision goes dark as her chastising silences. He wakes up in his own body once more. Back at the shop, Cornelius decides to pay Kveldr to refine the Dial shards to experience more visions or enchant his equipment. Melinoe then heads to the Brineroot Clinic to receive assistance with implanting her magical eye. She is ushered in by kindly staff, given paperwork, and eventually led in by a kindly Doctor: Saga Brineroot, an astral elf with a burn scar on the right side of his face. Melinoe consents to being put to sleep for the surgery. Thirty minutes later, Melinoe emerges from the surgery fully intact and healthy. Unfortunately, as she heads down to the bubbles with Flint, he realizes that she is not what she seems. Melinoe has been replaced by a doppelganger.
The pale, fleshy creature drops its false form and shanks Flint with its daggers. Enraged, Flint roars at the creature and bashes it with his Warhammer. He runs down the alley towards the Rolling Moon Inn. The doppelganger catches him, but in a bloody melee, Flint destroys it with his divine blows. He collects Melinoe's stolen garb and sprints through the city to the nearest Melonkon taxi. Flint gathers the party and tells them of Melinoe's fate. The party rushes back to the clinic and charges through the back rooms as the assistant attempts to stop them. They knock her out. Within the clinic, a well-appointed study hides a hidden passageway behind an exaggerated portrait of the doctor. An altar room is hidden behind a magically locked door dispelled by Cornelius. In the altar room, three invisible imps harry the party with fire from traps in the walls. When they kill the imps, a chain devil emerges through the face of the altar's statue. It depicts Kizarmak, the god of early death. Melinoe awakes in a hidden arcane cloister filled with bookshelves and alchemical equipment. The doctor sits near her, and he screams at him to free her. He tells her calmly that she will be "improved". A black portal of miasmic energy swirls near him. A pale figure can be seen peering at her through the energy. Melinoe immediately launches herself at the study's door. Miraculously, the door bursts open and Melinoe escapes to the altar room. She arrives at the same time as the party. After another bloody battle, the party is able to defeat the chain devil. They are left bloody and battered, but Melinoe is returned to them. They give back her holy symbol and her traveling gear just in time for the Doctor to arrive in the altar chamber. The Doctor carries a small wand as a magical focus. He tells the party that they can all be "improved". The two sides immediately clash as he fires a powerful fireball spell into the party's midst. Already injured, the party is devastated by multiple damaging spells from the Doctor. Almost every member of the party is driven nearly to death as they slowly whittle down the wizard's defenses. Astra repeatedly fires salvos from Donovan's mortar into the Doctor's flesh, which appears the be the same kind of sinewy red plant fibers as the creatures that the party faced weeks ago. In one final coup de grace, the Doctor prepares another fireball spell and tells the party that he will kill them all if any one of them moves an inch. He wants to improve them. To make them better. He cannot do that if they are all dead. Strattora moves. With thunderous energy, she blasts the Doctor off of his feet and into the altar statue, shattering it in the process. The Doctor's fireball is loosed onto the party, an inferno bringing them to their knees. Astra remains standing. Swooping low, Astra lowers their mortar and takes one final shot at the Doctor. The mage is blasted apart by the mortar strike. His body collapses onto the temple floor. Astra desperately resuscitates the rest of the party, all of them narrowly escaping death. As they rise to their feet, they explore the rest of the chambers. The Doctor's strange dungeon contains tools for surgery, books and lockboxes in his study, and a prison in the furthest hallways. In the prison, the party sees a multitude of different figures behind bars. They break through the cells before realizing that all of the prisoners have completely featureless faces, as though they have been taken from them.
