Ignacio begins by asking
Nihilo about his
Title: ÆϢͶ. He is informed that his title is actually three names combined to reference a single entity:
- Æ: Ash
- Ϣ: Shei
- Ͷ: Digamma
These three combined form "Asheidigamma", an ancient name in a dead language that
Nihilo believes refers to a terrasque living inside his
triangle. These "inhibitors", as
Nihilo calls them, doubled as both prisons and slave collars; one entity is trapped within the gem, and then it is attached to another person. This slave would then be highly obedient; the gem absorbs all of their strong emotions in order to power itself, and then the now-obedient slave is "gifted" with immortality in order to keep them working for their master. Such technology was rare even back in
The Age of Sacrifice during which
Nihilo knew they were in use, due to being highly illegal.
Nihilo is confused, however, because he thinks the gem should have lost power Ignacio found it. Ignacio theorizes that this has something to do with the room in which he found it, because the gem was on a plinth surrounded by magical runes.
Nihilo also discusses
The World of Forms, explaining that he intends that he and the other
Einherjar are attempted to identify the current age. After they know which
Form is in control at the moment they can decide whether or not to take action against it.
Nihilo sounded like he was working under the assumption that he and his compatriots would have to destroy the current
Avatar.
Following this, there is a large conversation regarding
Femtid, and whether or not to keep her on the ship.
Femtid herself is both hesitant to remain and unsure of where she would go. Ultimately she decides to defer to the group, saying that she would either be lost on the airship or lost somewhere else.
Thaiva Phenol initially wants
Femtid to use, but the rest of the party expresses concern for her well being if they simply leave her to her own devices.
Thaiva Phenol eventually caves on this point, and it is decided that she will remain on board
Barry the Airship, at least for the time being.
Natsu and
Thaiva Phenol also have a quiet conversation with
Nihilo who agrees to rid the crew of
Button.
Femtid is still nervous, but also grateful. The party then proceeds to
Polaris, pausing only very briefly when
Natsu has a vision regarding
Nihilo and has a private conversation with him regarding it. They arrive very late the night before a full moon, so they spend the night in the airship instead to avoid the
Moon Plague chaos happening in the city. In the morning they immediately stop by the shop, stock up on some healing potions, and leave again.
Thaiva Phenol gives
Nihilo a letter to deliver to
Caerbor Klaedris, and then he departs for
Moonbrook.
The party then proceeds to
Duncat, the dwarven fortress that
Dreamonskii charged them with clearing out. In the entrance they see the aftermath of some kind of battle; the halls are covered in blood, and there are corpses of a saber-toothed tiger and a mindflayer. The tiger appears to have been slain by the mind flayer. Both
Hobbs and
Natsu physically inspect the tiger, because it is very out of place for this area, but ultimately learn little. During their investigation, the party is ambushed by Mezzoloths and combat ensues. Once the fight is over the group continues into the next room, which contains a dead phase spider and some simple abandoned trading stalls. There is a locked door, but
Natsu fails spectacularly in her attempts to pick it.
Memento Vitae offers to bash it down, but the party is concerned about noise so they opt to take the other exist to the room instead.
Up the stairs, they find that the stairway leading up to the rest of the fortress is blocked off by a petrified yugoloth holding a magical staff. The party debates solutions but ultimately leaves this puzzle for later as well.
Natsu follows a trial of blood to a door and attempts to sneakily look inside, where she finds a hot spring and
Lenora bathing inside. This causes several petrification saves, as
Natsu and
Memento Vitae both see
Lenora and
Lenora herself sees
Memento Vitae, but the saving throws are all very high.
Natsu ducks into the room and has a brief-but-frantic conversation with the bathing medusa.
Lenora claims to have come here with three others:
She says the others are in an abandoned tavern nearby, and the party quickly confirms this by leaving to investigate said tavern while
Lenora finishes her bath. They find
Amadeus inside, visibly wounded but drinking at the bar. There is a dead drider splayed across a nearby table, and a toad sitting on the bar. The toad turns out to be
Caerbor Klaedris, who had transformed due to extreme stress. They do not see
Memento Ipsum, but
Amadeus says she is in one of the cabins sleeping off her battle wounds, having nearly been slain by the mind flayer. The saber-toothed tiger in the entrance was also among their group, which means both
Natsu and
Hobbs have potentially exposed themselves to moon plague. Rolls are made for this behind the scenes, but the results are not yet revealed to the players.
Kiri is not present, because she was working with
Haru and
Penoris back in
Moonbrook on an experimental
Moon Plague cure.
The party from
Moonbrook is here attempting to secure
Duncat for themselves;
Moonbrook no longer has enough room to safely house the massive influx of
Moon Plague patients, and they were hoping to use
Duncat as extra housing. They were not expecting to encounter forces from
Gehenna, though. They were only expecting to have to clear out some wild animals. The party debates how to handle this new conflict of interest for some time, and the session ends there.
