Session XX - What Remains
12th-13th of Tororima, 560 AL
Recovering from the shock of Kirasum's death, the party gazes out across the skies of Zivilon. The storm still roils around the city, ever-churning.
Strattora looks out upon the windy reaches of the Northrock, the black storm-wall filling her view. She laments the passing of her mother; she was always invincible.
Collecting themselves, the party eventually decides to report to the High Throne to tell them of what transpired. They trek down the Derin Woods to the city proper, where a large number of travelers and refugees from other planes are gathering. They find the Ram's Horn tavern full, a line of these extraplanar visitors trailing out the door.
At the High Throne, the officer Nathan Tremline takes their statements on the invasion incident. Shocked at their claims, Officer Tremline asks them to submit to a zone of truth spell to verify their story. They agree and recount the entire ordeal. The officer informs them that he will bring them before the Lords of the High Thrones themselves to speak.
The party accompanies Officer Tremline up various staircases to an arcane lift flanked by strange Nornod guardsmen deep within the High Throne complex. The lift bears them hundreds of feet upwards to a broad senatorial chamber where two of the Lords are convening. A mediator sits in the middle of the amphitheater, which looks out upon the city from high above. More of the Nornod guardsmen flank the chamber, as do two massive storm giant warriors; two of the last Attrachti giants in existence.
Maelia Strong and Kundaros Micon are the only Lords in attendance. Lady Strong expresses a virulently classist opinion on the Shearwinds; that it should simply fall into the clouds. She also seeks another invasion, proclaiming the strength of Zivilon's newly conscripted extraplanar forces. Lord Micon, in his annoyance, votes 'nay' on the proposal.
The party interrupts the proceedings to tell their tale about the Sonapailes invasion. As they take the floor, both of the Lords are visibly startled by the news of Kirasum's death. They begin to conspire about their next steps.
During the proceedings, Dargon Hightide emerges through a portal ripped into the senatorial chamber walls. The guards immediately start towards them but are waved off by Lord Hightide, who is accompanied by two more individuals hobbling through the portal.
The tiefling warrior "Dreadbane" steps through the portal carrying the body of the firbolg "Whisper". He bleeds profusely, walking out of the amphitheater with the corpse.
Dargon sits down to catch his breath as he explains their situation to the party. His group was infiltrating the factory to try to find blueprints or floor plans that would reveal its inner workings. They found a treasury with disintegration traps and a heavy guard presence. Whisper fell in the battle, but they were able to recover blueprints for the factory's crux machine. He withdraws a scroll from his satchel and shows the diagrams to the party, which also include various developmental sketches and research. Flint confirms that they have destroyed the machine in question. With the destruction of the machine and the blueprints to its creation, the Sonapailes should be well and truly disabled for the time being.
Dargon turns to the other Lords, cursing them aloud and verifying the party's story. The party is christened as the "Forgotten Founders".
Without regard for their reaction, Dargon then leads the party out of the chamber. The party converses with Dargon and he offers them a night's rest at his estate. He also tells them that he will arrange a suitable reward for their efforts in the plane of moss, at least a sum of gold and some land for themselves. They agree and he plane shifts them to another world.
The party arrives in an excessively opulent manor that looks out upon a cobbled city street with a starry night sky hanging above. Dargon explains that they have arrived in Gardenholm within the plane of stone, and that there is a one-way portal in the atrium to return to Zivilon.
As soon as Dargon leaves, Astra immediately begins sleuthing around the manor. They discover Dargon's father's will -- Lord Merreth Hightide of Gardenholm -- in the manor study. They also delve into a hidden crypt in the cellar, finding a tomb, shrines to the goddess Nerei, and a locked door guarded by a chimera and flesh golem. Various body-sized compartments line the walls to a locked door deep within the crypt. Astra fails to pick the lock, alerting the chimera somehow. It charges towards them as they flee into the shadows. They run back through the crypt and past Dargon Hightide himself to escape.
Meanwhile, Melinoe exits the manor and winds her way through the city streets of Gardenholm towards the sea. She walks for the better part of the hour before arriving at the rocky shores of a great, still water: the Sea of Glass. She tries to commune with her deity there but has little success. The dark sky above twinkles with starlight, but the West Moon is absent.
Cornelius searches for Astra for some time before finding them in the hallway. They play cards in one of the servant's rooms until Dargon knocks on the door. He holds reagents for a divination spell; he has discovered Astra's intrusions. Dargon confronts them to ask why they were down in the crypt. Upon being asked about the Chimera and the corpse room, he deflects and simply tells them not to venture down there again.
After a terse back and forth, Dargon tells them that he does not wish to kick them out, for they did a great deed in destroying the Crux generator. He is sorry for the loss of Kirasum. He asks Astra to make a pact to not go down into the crypt again and casts geas on them to disallow the action entirely. Astra grasps his hand and the spell takes hold.
They separate and head to bed for the night in the Hightide estate.
Strattora looks out upon the windy reaches of the Northrock, the black storm-wall filling her view. She laments the passing of her mother; she was always invincible.
"Kira was the only one, and now she's gone." StrattoraStrattora fought for all she has, while others have had it given to them. Now, with her mother's death, she has nothing. Melinoe commiserates with her, resenting the fates that their gods have dealt them.
"It's a damn useless thing to be a servant of the Lost Gods when you need to find someone."MelinoeKorrek eventually tells them that he will leave to get a drink, also expressing sorrow at the passing of Kirasum. He worriedly tells the party that the genie should not have been able to grant his own wish. That it is the purview of the greatest wizards or even the divine. He also tells them that his master resides in the Moonlit Sanctum in Gardenholm, but that they should choose wisely whether to seek her out. She could provide them the service that they need, implying that she wields powerful resurrection magics. He tells them that to tamper with a soul is a grave deed that should not be done lightly. To be destroyed by a Crux is to have your soul absorbed by it. No common magic would bring Kirasum back.
Collecting themselves, the party eventually decides to report to the High Throne to tell them of what transpired. They trek down the Derin Woods to the city proper, where a large number of travelers and refugees from other planes are gathering. They find the Ram's Horn tavern full, a line of these extraplanar visitors trailing out the door.
During the proceedings, Dargon Hightide emerges through a portal ripped into the senatorial chamber walls. The guards immediately start towards them but are waved off by Lord Hightide, who is accompanied by two more individuals hobbling through the portal.
As soon as Dargon leaves, Astra immediately begins sleuthing around the manor. They discover Dargon's father's will -- Lord Merreth Hightide of Gardenholm -- in the manor study. They also delve into a hidden crypt in the cellar, finding a tomb, shrines to the goddess Nerei, and a locked door guarded by a chimera and flesh golem. Various body-sized compartments line the walls to a locked door deep within the crypt. Astra fails to pick the lock, alerting the chimera somehow. It charges towards them as they flee into the shadows. They run back through the crypt and past Dargon Hightide himself to escape.
