Session 17: The Safe Space
General Summary
The Black Eye of Sycaath approaches Usze and warns him of the Blue Eye, with whom the lizard has now made a pact with. how he is not what he may seem. He then follows it up by saying he doesn't care or anything, but that he hates secrets, a mentality he shares with Usze. Ruuch chats with his son about oddities he has seen on his travels, in particular the giant black Raven-like creature splitting the sky. The entire party except for Arulo go over to Usze's room to hear the story of what happened the day before from the green eye himself. Ruuch asks Usze what to do with Arulo, who is currently tied up above deck. The lizard says he doesn't care what they do with him, just make sure he suffers.
Ruuch and Seraphina go up to speak to Arulo about why he did it, and what his punishment will be. Arulo asks them one final request, to let him live one more day to enjoy a final day of sailing the sea. Ruuch says tough luck and Seraphina comes with the idea to make him walk the plank. She unties him from the pole and tries to carry him, but he manages to shuffle out of her arms. She then attempts to tie up his legs but fails once more. Arulo point out he really just wants to walk, and is being surprisingly calm. Ruuch uses magic to charm Arulo and make him follow him to the plank.
During this, the eye has explained Arulo's actions to his crewmates. Jenny and Dunno take the news badly, and are in tears. Jenny looks to Usze for confirmation, and he smiles, then goes on to talk about how he will get revenge on him by murdering his sister, however the Green Eye comments, reminding him not to make such rash decisions. Back above deck Arulo tries with all his might to caress the helm of his ship, however he is denied time and time again, to the point where Ruuch blasts both his kneecaps with eldritch blasts. Arulo then asks to speak to his crew, and despite Faces telling him he can relay a message, Arulo stays headstrong.
His crew comes above deck and they are not happy at all. Arulo complements his crew one final time, and tells Jenny to take charge once he is gone. He motions Dunno to come closer and they hug, with Dunno still a complete river of tears. He then asks where Jay went, the smaller man that was with Jenny way back when they were introduced in Sycaath. He seems to have vanished, but it is paid no more attention. Arulo gets on the plank, and at this point Usze has slowly made his way upstairs. Their eyes meet for a good second, and Arulo apologizes to him. Usze seemingly doesn't react. Arulo closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and jumps off into the cursed sea, but not before seeing his younger sister's face beneath the waves. A minor illusion, made by Usze. Arulo has jumped, but a splash is not heard. Instead, he is teleported away along with Jenny and Faces, but not Dunno.
Saved by Rashall.
Ruuch goes below deck and inquires the eye if he knows anything about it. He says he is aware that it is the demi-god's doing, but that he was not aware of it beforehand. He then tells Ruuch that Rashall has reached the point of no return, and that the next time they meet he will not spare his nephew. Ruuch agrees. The evening falls, and Seraphina and Usze talk above deck. Usze relays that he can no longer really trust people anymore, which includes Seraphina, but he asks her not to betray him or his friends. Seraphina goes off, and Usze realises he can no longer summon Gibby. Saddened, he instead summons a small Wyrm (tiny dragon). It rests with him.
Ruuch uses sending on Arulo: Ruuch: "Good evening. Nice trick, very inspired. You've bought yourself a few months, be seeing you shortly" Rashall: "I'll be seeing you sooner" Arulo: "I guess we will, see you soon boo"
The next day, the eye spots land. Talking to the eye, the group learns that the island does indeed have a name, but it has slipped his mind. The island is inhabited by incorporeal elementals who are timid. They are not aggressive. To the eye's knowledge, they are the only fauna there. The group seeks a well of power underground that, with a pulse of magic, will activate a portal to the realm where the shard resides. The crew of the boat split up into two tiny boats and row their way to the island. Seraphina speeds up and is seemingly winning the race, until the eye chuckles and uses his robot arms to speed by.
Once on the island, Ruuch sends out his bird to check the surrounding area. It immediately spots a young man sitting on the ground leaning against a tree trunk. The party approaches and see that the man has long, unkept hair and is a little under 6 ft tall. He wears something resembling a lab coat, but clearly of sturdier material, and is writing in a journal. The eye interacts with the man, and the group learns the man is named Lysander Miles. From him, they are told the island is named Antilla. The eye tries to get more info out of Lysander, but he seems unwilling to share. Ruuch uses his magic to sense sources of magic, and finds many on Lysander, including his whole being. This juts Ruuch's memory and he recognises the young man.
After asking for consent, Ruuch tells that Lysander is the son of Alister Miles, famous for being the greatest mind in these lands. He owned both laboratories and has made many steps forward when it comes to combining magic and science. Ruuch tells us that Lysander is his pseudo-son, a type of homunculus. Ruuch and his son are both star-struck for a good while, but Lysander is still reclusive. However, he perks up when the party tells him they are here for the well of power, and that they plan to head inland. He asks to join them as he himself has yet to explore it.
################## EDITOR'S NOTE: Lysander: "I haven't gone inland yet, I have been distracted." Usze: "For a month...?" *Lysander looks at his alchemy set* Lysander: "...yes" ##################
The party, now one young researcher richer, proceed to the point of interest. In the open spot, the eye kicks down into the ground, revealing a space beneath. He himself is too large to fit, and commands Lysander, Raine, Ruuch, Seraphina, Usze and a few crew members to delve down into the dark. As they delve further down the narrow corridor, the light behind them vanishes. Lysander just presses on. Seraphina asks if she needs to hold anyone again, and grabs hold of Usze's tail. Jem (Ruuch's son) embeds a piece of cloth with light, impressing his father! After walking for some time, they reach an open room with thrones where human remains are seated. In the middle is a man, his knees embedded in the spikes under him, singing a song in tears. In front of him, the well of power.
"When the nights drop low, ands the stars no longer glow, run fast now, run home now. When the screams run dry, too pained to even cry, he comes now, hide fast now. For now the raven seek, to his servant he leaves the weak, too late now, too late, now."
Ruuch and Seraphina approach to speak to the man, but he simply replies with "It's too late, he is already here". The room goes black, and when light returns the crewmembers are gone. The man is cut in half, and at the end of the room the scarecrow stands. "BrOtHerS... SiStERs... RuN..." Ruuch goes up to touch it, and out of the straw come shadowy arms and a toothed face, flying towards his direction. Usze turns to run, but sees the exits have disappeared. With that, a shadow version of Arulo jumps out of the scarecrow and strikes. A battle ensues, with shadow versions of everyone except for Lysander bursting out of the straw figure.
Seraphina goes in to punch the scarecrow and hurts herself in the process, Ruuch and shadow Ruuch have a counter-spell-off, shadow Raine constantly banishes Raine, and shadow Usze and Usze both fire eldritch blasts at each other, missing every single shot. Lysander is quickly taken out by a fireball from shadow Ruuch. In a twist of events, the scarecrow actually goes in to stabilise Lysander, therefore showing he does not mean harm, nor is he in control of the shadows. Usze becomes a demi-wyrm and tries to protect Lysander, but is taken out by shadow Seraphina.
After lots of fighting, the scarecrow manages to pull in all shadows at once, and with a final dispel curse, is "cured". The group is transported back to reality and the exit is visible again. Raine comes over to help Lysander back up. The scarecrow says "The raven will be back for me..." signalling he won't be safe for long. The scarecrow turns to Ruuch and asks how his son is. At that point every other member of the crew enters the room, and sees the party beaten up. The scarecrow looks at Jem in appreciation, something that concerns Ruuch. Usze attempts to explain what happened to them, but Jem has trouble understanding all of it. Ruuch takes off the face of the scarecrow and sees a deep dark pit of whirling shadows. He closes it again.
Ruuch sees the shadow version of himself sitting near the well of power. When asked who will activate the pulse, shadow Ruuch motions his hand and activates it. Again, nobody can see him but Ruuch. The group now heads back, but as they leave the room the party can see their shadow selves wave at them. Usze also sees shadow Arulo. They come back to the eye and have a short rest before they enter the portal. After an hour they head to the location, a ring of stones. The eye activates it, and him, Lysander, Raine, Ruuch, Seraphina and Usze go through one at a time.
The party awakens in a metal room, and are greeted by a voice. It is the voice of the great Alister Miles, however it refers to itself as an AI, an artificial intelligence. It mentions that the party is late. Lysander says "hi dad" to the AI, which confuses it for a second. A door opens and the group proceed to enter a large space with a sign showing "SAFE ZONE". In the room are many familiar figures, including some sludge creatures, Saan, the armoured guards (See campaign nr.6), the mindflayers (see campaign nr.7) and other old enemies/allies.
The group is approached by a figure resembling the Egyptian god Horus, having a bird-like head. He is covered from shoulder to toe in black and purple armour, holding a large scythe. The green eye greets him, and tells the party that this man is Akhenaten, the current guardian of Presco. Next up a man in futuristic armour, followed by a Morgaar, also armoured. The man takes off his helmet and reveals himself to be Alister himself, and greets his son. We then realise that he is the same old man the party met on their first trip to Sycaath, and used the fake name Dexter along with a fake face in order to hide his identity (See campaign nr.11).
Alister pulls the party aside, opens a wall, and guides them towards a secluded room. He then starts to explain that they are currently in a competition for the shard, and that there are many trials awaiting them. He himself made this realm with the power of a shard and the help of a benefactor, the identity of which he can't share just yet. Currently they are in the safe zone, where if anyone dares to attack anything, they are disintegrated immediately. The first trial is known as the "No-man's lands", a free-for-all zone where all groups will square off to see who will end up on top. Alister mentions he will assist his son in passing through that, and by extension the entire party. The second trial can only have five individuals enter at a time, which means it will be up to Raine, Ruuch, Lysander, Usze and Seraphina to get that job done.
The rest will be explained in the next session...
Report Date
08 Jan 2022
Primary Location
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