We begin in early afternoon. Back at the
Church of the Broken Wing,
Zerrof is crafting Platinum rings while
Penguin begins performing a ritual on one of the corpses from yesterday's conflict.
Pestle and
Vun Roade return slightly after, with the spoils from their shopping.
Thulmir was late to the session, so does not arrive yet. Both
Adoven Woodsoul and
Tornac are absent.
Adoven Woodsoul is giving a report at
The Window and
Tornac had a mental breakdown and was taken to a local Sanatorium.
Thulmir reports that he was shouting about eyeballs, spears, and tentacles.
Zerrof gives one of the platinum rings he crafted to
Vun Roade, to be used for the spell "Warding Bond". Afterwards, he talks about the pending war with
Penguin, He pledges to help dispel
The four curses of the Kenku, but he intends to it in the name of
Mazu, not for
Penguin himself. He says that he still believes
Mazu would be a better leader for his people.
Penguin accepts this assistance, but warns he will not "tame" himself in any way. While this uneasy alliance is being forged,
Pestle and
Vun Roade can be seen in the background going into the pyramid and exiting again shortly after, looking incredibly sick to their stomachs.
Thulmir also arrives during this conversation, bearing news about
Tornac's insanity. His explanation is cut short, however, when
Pestle decides to ask
Dave which gods would stand with the
The shaved duck in the coming conflict. This goes incredibly poorly however, and he has a seizure. The party passes a skill challenge with flying colors and manages to bring
Pestle back to his senses, but he is constantly shaking and twitching. Until further notice,
/*For 70 hours*/
, he suffers:
- disadvantage on attack rolls
- disadvantage on strength/dex ability checks
- disadvantage on strength/dex saving throws
Pestle did not learn anything useful. He was only plagued by visions of eyeballs and tentacles. The party has more pressing issues to attend to, however, and elects to go visit
Mama Bear in her home. This task is also interrupted, when
Penguin finishes his ritual and summons
Ophelia back to
Sigil. She was on "the waiting list" for quite a long time, and seems to be very excited to return to
Sigil.
Penguin immediately introduces her to
Thulmir, and she quickly embraces him in a very long, intrusive hug. She also sniffs
Thulmir deeply in the process.
The party questions her behavior, but she responds only by saying that
Thulmir "smells interesting". She proceeds to ask a bunch of questions. Where did he come from? Where did his soul come from? How old is he? To this last one,
Thul responds he is about three years old. Most of the party is in disbelief, but
Zerrof remarks that age is a relative thing.
Ophelia, intrigued by this, also gives
Zerrof the sniffing routine and concludes he is around 800-850 years old. She then puts her attention back on
Thulmir and says his soul is at least 100 years old, "smells like elf", and was probably stolen. This raises a lot of questions, but instead of helping to answer them
Ophelia just gives a friendly wave and wanders off, seemingly very satisfied with herself.
After all of this,
Penguin takes the party to the temple of
Istus. The building is small on the outside, like a crypt, but contains a well-lit stairwell that goes to a large underground cathedral. There is a priestess up on the raised podium weaving on a loom, but the party ignores her for the time being. Instead, their attention is drawn to a series of tapestries scattered about the room. There are various tapestries scattered among the walls. See individual character articles for descriptions of the imagery, but a brief summary of who they found depictions of and their associated titles follows, presented in the order they were found:
A great deal of time is spent discussing these tapestries and the implications thereof. They learn about the nature of
Fate and Free Will, and that the persons depicted along the walls are those who have been given the title
Hand of Fate, meaning they are the ones whose decisions can control the fate of the world. They are also informed that the images associated with each individual shows their "defining moments".
Almost every image here was a revelation in its own right, but a few highlights are:
- Both Zerrof and Mazu share the same tapestry, depicting the moment Zerrof was petrified. It bears two titles, "The Target" and "The Vessel". Zerrof is concerned by this, because he is not certain which is which.
- Vun Roade's tapestry shows the moment he returned to his village and discovered its destruction. His title is "The Survivor"
- Adoven Woodsoul apparently only recently became a hand, because the party watched as the priestess completes his tapestry and hangs it on the wall with the title "The Scholar". It depicts Penguin sneaking up on him from behind.
Far more alarming than any of these, however, is a single tapestry showing Lucan, Griffon, and Tornac with titles of "The Avenger", "The observer", and "The Godslayer", respectively. This image is a bit of a paradox, because both
Penguin and the priestess of the temple insist that these tapestries only show things that happened in the past. However, It clearly shows
Tornac wielding the same spear that was given to him earlier that same day in
session 16: You Must Gather Your Party Before Venturing Forth.
Penguin also says that that image had not changed since he saw it a couple of weeks prior, meaning the tapestry predated the party even discovering that the spear existed. His companions in the image are also unsettling. The tapestry depicts Lucan Pavalur covered in scars that are not actually on his person, and it shows
Griffon wielding a sword with an eyeball in it that appears to be
Dave.
The party, in search of answers, decides to go the sanatorium
Tornac is being held at to retrieve the spear. Much negotiation is held before they even enter the building, wherein they get
Penguin to swear on his sword to
Pestle that he will do his best to identify the weapon and then return it afterwards. When they arrive,
Penguin quickly fast-talks his way past perception and obtains the spear. They first take it to
The Window to be investigated by their head researcher,
Jane.
Jane is in the library, and has made an enormous mess of the place doing research. She appears to have gotten absolutely no sleep the night before, but agrees to investigate the spear. She can not tell what it does, but she shows them an ancient tome that describes the
Dukes of Air using a very similar spear "to end
The Shattering". She hypothesizes that the spear is godcrafted, and has been used to slay at least one god during
The Shattering, and then hidden away with the hopes it would never be found again. She also says she cannot determine which god made it, because none of the symbolism matches anything that she can see documented anywhere. She did not even have suggestions on who else to ask.
The party decides to go ask those depicted in the tapestry about the spear, but
Tornac is still out of commission and
Penguin informs them that
Griffon has been locked away in
Dis, having gone mad and spewing constant nonsense about eyeballs and tentacles. The only sane person that leaves to ask is Lucan Pavalur, so
Thulmir leads them to
The Cobalt Sanctuary to seek his guidance. Lucan seems to be completely clueless, so they persuade him to return with them to the temple of
Istus to see the tapestry for himself. He becomes very confused and, seemingly without thinking, puts a hand on the spear. This immediately causes a serious reaction. Lucan Pavalur doubles over in pain, screaming and clutching his head, and then falls unconscious. He is still breathing.
