Session 47

We are in the church, there are shrines for many Gods and the group gets their first chance to breathe after everything that has happened. There are signs directing to some of the more common shrines and what floor they are on. There are a lot of floors to this church which is like a huge cylindar. Thydrom discovers Frey is on the fourth floor. Raui finds the shrine to Talos on the bottom 3rd floor. Wi Po is looking for the kitchen and discovers two of them, one for the priests and congregations on the first floor and another on the bottom 5th floor but is called the bottom kitchen. He goes to investigate them both starting with the first floor.
As Wi Po enters he sees someone in a big extravigant chef's hat and a big robe hanging off the hat. They see Wi Po and is confused by the new face because they were told there weren't going to be anyone let in from the outside. He goes back to stirring a bowl of vegetables. Wi Po states that he's there to whip up a feast for everyone and offers to help. The chef is confused by the prospect of a feast and Wi Po explains that everyone feels better with a full tummy. The chef asks to join the feast and Wi Po says "Of course!". The chef is then concerned that Wi Po is planning on using meat in the feast as the chef is not a fan of meat. Wi Po agrees to make only vegetables. The chef then asks if Wi Po has ever had a fruit salad soup and Wi Po asks if they can put honey in it. The chef's name is Kion and they both start making a big feast for everyone. Wi Po investigates his ingredients and discovers that Kion cooks with whatever they forage. The kitchen is one of the more peaceful areas around.
Thydrom makes his way to his chapel and there are no priests there, Raui also isn't able to find anyone at the Talos shrine either but both areas are open for worship. Thydrom kneels down in front of the altar to try to communicate with his god, Frey. He speaks to his god "Frey, god of fertility, lover of the body. I am very lost on this quest. I do not know whether I should stay the course until my death or what lies ahead. You are all knowing, and I need your guidance. It has been a long time and I've tried to upheld your teachings best I could but I need your guidance now for I know not what to do." Thydrom feels something whell up inside him, something is pulling at him, a warmth. He feels Frey's presence and hears the words within him "where do you think you've gone wrong? What do you truly seek?". Thydrom responds "I truly seek to bring my husband back, the love of my life. But now there is an even greater risk to all of that. I need to restore the resurrection spell to this realm. This is your domain. I need your guidance to help me fix this. But there is another threat even greater than that, of Astral. I have no information to go on other than he is evil. How do I fight him, combat this evil that wants to destroy everything we hold dear?" Thydrom feels the warmth again, like sun shining on him and he feels the words "Astral and bringing back the resurection go hand in hand. You are on the right path andyou may not be seeing the fruits of your labor but you have planted the seeds. As you know I am the god of harvest and as you should know, there comes a time before the harvest you don't see the fruits of your labor until it is time to harvest. When that day comes there will be plenty for you. Stay true to your path, true to your heart, cause you are going where you are supposed to be going." Thydrom thanks his lord and then asks one more question. "I was promised to protect someone named Q, an aasimar of sorts. I know they are alive but not where they are." Frey grants that wisdom and says that Q is where the Goliaths once were, in the kingdom where the party has been before. She is there and alive but Frey was unable to say for how long. Thydrom thanks his god and the warmth disipates. He saunters out of the chapel.
Raui is at the shrine to Talos and she makes an attempt to commune with Talos. She has a hatered for this god and she doesn't kneel but she does close her eyes and puts her hand on the altar. "Hey you little shit, been a while since you imbued me with your power. Been a while since you killed my parents. You're fucked when I'm done with all this." She feels this earthquake tremble underneath her and a candle light crashes down next to her. She chuckles a little knowing she likely pissed off that god. Then she goes off in search of books related to the Talos religion and the storm lords. Raui takes one of the books and starts walking back up.
Snow isn't really doing much Ra is sitting the kitchen meditating while Wi Po brings him samples of what is being cooked. Every time he does that Ra never opens his eyes but uses his trunk to grab something. Pippy meanwhile is looking at the directory trying to find a hint of Baoth and where his shrine would be. She can see something referencing the 7th floor. It says library for the 7th floor but in a special script she can read that it also says Baoth. Pippy tries to sneak up there but since there is very few people in this church Snow notices that Pippy walks off on her own to go upstairs. Thydrom sees Pippy heading upstairs and asks where she is going and she plays it off that she is heading to the library and Thydrom decides to come along. She isn't pleased with this and stomps up the stairs. Meanwhile Raui asks where PIppy is and folks direct her to upstairs.
She gets upstairs and sees a bunch of books all over, and a priest who is sitting by a book reading. It is the same color patterns as the people in robes she saw in the frostfall mountains. He is one of Baoths longest worshipers and was told that she would be coming and to be treated with respect. He was reading about a few gods. He explains that he is a priest for Baoth. Pippy starts to ask questions and then flags Thydrom over to join them after the priest explains to stop hiding and to worship out in the open. The priest then says to wait cause another of our friends is about to join us. Raui appears shortly after and Pippy explains she's talking to the priest of the god that talks in her head. Raui is confused but joins and listens. Eventually Raui gets curious about the god talking into Pippy's head and the priest asks Pippy for the book and gives it to Raui to read if they want to hear the god for themselves. Raui bring curious takes the book and opens it and it pricks her finger and Baoth speaks to Raui inside her mind "is this the voice you are looking for?" Raui is stunned that the god is speaking and Baoth explains that they believe in testing their subjects and that the relationship is a give and take. Baoth then explains everything they've explained to Pippy before. Baoth says that there will come a time that they will speak to Raui and they will be given a choice on whether or not they want to join but until then they will be listening. Then they give the book back to the priest and the priest mentions that it feels heavier than usual and hands it back to Pippy. She then explains that they aquired a few extra pages. The priest asks for them and she goes to give all three but Baoth stops her from giving the last page so she plays it off as the last page is her personal notes. The priest doesn't take notice and then Thydrom asks about the favors that need to be paid for information and the priest gives testimony about the various tasks they've had to complete and then mentions briefly some of the killing that also has to be done when there is a really high price to pay. Pippy chimes in about how she was able to complete a favor by finding the priest. He then asks Pippy if she has any other testimonies but she says nope. They see through her lies and then she starts to explain all the killings she's done and how she has 2 more to complete. The priest states that Pippy must have high favor with Baoth as he doesn't give those missions to everyone. He then says he has to go to sleep and the three start to decend the stairs.
As they decend the stairs they start to smell the feast that Wi Po cooked. Ra is sitting, still meditating and has about 15 plates stacked up around him taht are empty. Wi Po and the chef are still cooking. There is a giant table with everything set up for a big feast. Wi Po notices us and instructs us all to have a seat and introduces us to the chef. The chef is sweating and Wi Po wipes his brow. The chef is stunned by how much soup and food that was made. Snow goes to sit down and calls out to Ra and says that its time to eat. Ra isn't responding, he's passed out from all the food. Snow then scolds Wi Po for over feeding him and then goes to sit down. Pippy goes to sit down and asks Raui if she wanted to talk while they ate or afterwards. Everyone else sits down and then the chef starts to dish out the bowls of soup along with Wi Po. Snow asks why there are bananas in the mashed potatoes and why it isn't bad. Wi Po takes spoonful of the potatoes and shoves them in their mouth. Raui tries the potatoes and then says "I thought the honey thing was weird but this is actually good" and Wi Po puts more honey on the potatoes. Raui devours this. Thydrom is disgusted by the sweetness of the food. Wi Po explains that Kion doesn't really eat meat. Kion explains that he eats meat but that it's made out of beats instead then starts to lecture everyone about eating what is served and Pippy bashfully shoves whatever is in front of her into her mouth. Raui asks Kion inside their mind about the beat "beef" and he shoves a plate at her. Snow asks what the plan is, where we are sleeping and what the overall plan is. Raui and Thydrom then mention that after this they are going to hunt down the fake Soj and Pippy immedietly says she is joining. Snow then says he is wanting to help with that too because he's curious if he is what happened with the last party he's in.
Raui then speaks up asking what happened to the Orc and the party starts to explain what happened in Pakadia with the false hydra. The group brings up Gunta and Thydrom decides to cast sending to his father to check on him. He gets a response back, "no bugbear has been here and there is no Gunta. Is everything alright?". Thydrom then pulls out his sending crystal for Gypsum and hears "did you just talk to your dad? he's asking me about you." Thydrom explains that he needs to find the bugbear and Gunta and asks for them to go find them and help them if in trouble or report back if they are dead." Gypsum then explains that Yatish stopped by the other day to talk to Cynder. Thydrom is concerned with the timing and asks if she had a half elf named Raui. Thydrom explains that they were fireballed by someone pretending to be Yatish. Thydrom asks Gypsum to keep him updated. Snow is sitting next to Thydrom confused on why he's been ignoring him.
Snow brings the conversation back to tomorrow's goals. We decide to head to the golaith ruins tomorrow. Then we say its time to head to sleep. Snow then finds a corner to curl up in and passes out as does Xxerik. Pippy goes to a corner to set up her bed roll and pulls out Lehroth's helmet and sets it down. Raui comes over and snatches the helmet up and Pippy immiedetly kicks her in the shin and demands it be handed back. Raui lets her know that she knows Lehroth and then demands to see the necklace. This confuses Pippy and she asks how she knows about it and then pulls it out and shows it to Raui. Raui then hands the helmet back and Pippy clutches it to her. She then fills Raui in on what happened to Lehroth and to his body and his items and his sword. Raui then says she will help find a way to bring him back and the both agree that fake Soj will get his punishment.
Wi Po meanwhile has made his way back to the college with some food for Hapicord. he runs into Eira first and she takes him inside the college. As they get closer to Hapicords room Wi Po starts calling out for him but Eira cautions him to be quiet. They enter the room and they see Hapicord on his bed with his hands behind his head and he looks distraught. A magical set of stairs that has never been there before is also in Hapicords room. Wi Po says that he has food for him and Hapicord scolds him for being there because there is danger in the college and asks again why he is there. Wi Po explains he brought a friend and Hapicord asks if he takes the dinner if Wi Po will leave and go back to safety. Wi Po tries to get him to come with but Hapicord says no. Wi Po is confused but Hapicord explains he is bound to the school and that he cannot leave and that it is not safe for Wi Po to be here. Hapicord explains that the next time he sees Wi Po it'll be safe to come back. Wi Po explains to send him a spell if he needs anything like food or his friends. Hapicord then says, "speaking of friends..." and calls out his black cat and asks Wi Po to take care of him until he sees him next. The cat is shaking and looking at Hapicord the whole time. Hapicord comes over and holds his face to the cat and hums to it to calm it down. Wi Po arranges his dreads into a nest for the cat and the cat curls up and heads back to the church.
Meanwhile at the college, Zandro is still at the college snooping around in Bimp Knoton's room. The room looks like your typical college students room that has been staying up late for a college test. He then says "I call thee". a hole opens up and a figure walks through "you called upon me?". He explains that he was just doing as he was asked per the agreement and explains that the real Soj is here and that we ran into him at the castle. The mysterious figure asks if that is where Soj is staying now. Zandro explains that and that he's with Bethrynna and Skywatcher and that it's the real Soj cause he looks al ittle malnourished. The mysterious entity then says that makes sense because the fake Soj is over there, and points in a direction. He then asks if the rest of the party was still here and Zandro explains that they are at the church currently and that they attacked Bimp Knoton earlier. The entity asks if we are heading towards the goliath area and explains that Grandia used to belong to the goliaths before they were drawn out of here. He then asks what the reason was that Zandro called for him and asks what he needs. Zandro says "you know Pippy's god Baoth? They want us to kill Bimp Knoton because she's the one that is attempting to raise all the dead here." he then explains that she wasn't that powerful the last time they were here and is asking if he should help kill her or not. The entity says that he could kill her or he could listen to her reasonings on why she wants to bring them back. Since Zandro told him where Soj is, he explains that Bimp Knoton is a student but there is a reason she wants the goliaths to come back. She appears to be a gnome but that is only half of what she is, the other half is goliath. This is why she was able to withstand the attacks from earlier. The entity asks if there is anything else Zandro would like and says that killing her or saving her is up to Zandro. Zandro then says that Raui came back and that they have a warforged arm now. Zandro is curious about how she got that arm and the entity says they are curious about that too. The entity then asks if he can do something, whispers in his ears, and asks if he can do that for him. Zandro agrees. He then says he feels like he's about to betray the party and is concerned, the entity then asks if he's been ordered to do anything to harm them and the answer is no so to the entity there has been no betryal. It asks for one last favor "when you see my servant running around here, leave him be." Its the one that is currently residing in Hapicords upper area (the Rakasha, the demon that looks like a tiger, Pipe Daddy). He asks for one last favor of Zandro "With Snow, check to see if he is witholding any valuable information from you all and to check his pockets." and then it walks back through the portal and the portal disappears. Zandro starts to go through the desk and sees a map of the ruins including the coffins with the symbols of them. He also takes the research notes on the alchemical substance she's been working on. He then casts detect magic but doesn't find anything out of the norm for a magical school. Zandro then leaves her room to try to explore to find a way into the room under the college. As he explores he discovers an area that looks like a brick wall but upon closer look it's a false wall that moves and there is a staircase behind it.
We wake up at the church and Wi Po starts making breakfast. Snow wakes up and asks what we are doing again. Thydrom explains we have to go save Q and that if we find her may find Bimp Knoton and take her out. Raui shocks Snow to wake him up more since he's super sleepy still. We eat our breakfast and start to wake up. Thydrom mentions going to save Q and Pippy offers to come with. Raui then asks Thydrom about Lehroth's sword and asks for it and Thydrom is hesitant and grills Raui on the history of the sword. Thydrom then says that Lehroth hated him. Thydrom decides to let the sword decide where to be kept and what to be done with. he pulls Azrel out of the bag and asks her but he gets no response. Thydrom and Raui are confused by this as they both remember it being sassier. Raui then asks for the sword since she has no weapon. Thydrom then asks about the arm and who cut it off. Raui explains they don't really know and then asks for the sword again. Then Thydrom asks Pippy what her choice is and she tells Raui that she'll allow her to carry the sword but if she does anything to lose it that Pippy will kill her in her sleep and turn her into an undead husk that will be under her control as punishment.
Meanwhile Zandro is at the college investigating the staircase. There is a long hallway with blue flame torches lit. He comes upon a giant opening and realizes it's the hole that was created. He then sees a flight of stairs going down and it looks like there may be water at the bottom and a blue illuminating light. He sees across is another tunnel and pathway that leads away from the college. There are torches over there as well that are just normal fire. He follows the regular flaming torches, stealthly walking the path.
Snow is impatient and standing at the door ready to go. Raui is taunting him with the thought of fireballs. We exit the church and make our way to the gate. As we walk we get to the part where we burned Lehroth's body and we see a NightTwist Hollow walking in the woods with Keyleth's animals walking towards it. Lehroth's essence has turned into it despite burning his body. Wi Po gets within 30 feet of the tree to cast speak to plants. Pippy is standing behind the group distraught saying "not again, not again, not again". Xxerik, Ra, Snow, and Raui are all drawn to the tree and start walking towards it against their will. Pippy explains that the way to break this spell is to do massive damage to the tree and Wi Po immeditely casts a spell on it and he hits it. As we get closer there is a white handmark on the tree.