Session 27: I'll Mark it on Your Map

General Summary

The fake Rashall lies motionless on the ground. "You did it! Thank you..." Leecher proclaims. Yash looks at himself, seeing parts of his body whisps away like sand in the wind, then form back. Lysander, badly injured, looks at him in amazement. "H-how are you even alive?". On the ground where Yash stood, the purified golden ooze slowly crawls towards Seraphina's unconcious body. Yash and Lysander look at Usze's dead body, and talk about how they didn't really know him for too long, but they still pay their respects. Lysander removes his cloak and puts it on. Yash looks at him in a disagreeing manner, but aside from making a comment, does not intervene. Then, Yash and Lysander are surrounded by darkness.
They both hear Leecher's voice. "Why are you here?" he asks. Yash replies saying it is his duty to save Thrast. Lysander needs a moment to think, but then answers he came in order to have an adventure with his friends. In front of them what seems like a door opens, light creeping in. Yash takes Leecher in his hands, and lowers the blade into the core. As soon as contact is made, it releases a powerful spark. The two are thrown back, the core disappearing and the doors closing. Next thing they knew, they were back in the room with David the pillar man. Seraphina and Vic are back to their senses, however both the bodies of Usze and Raine lie still.
After some congratulations, David explains he can still do something for them, that being bringing Usze back temporarely. It seems the pens Usze picked up from the mutated ink men (see campaign nr.24) are anything but; they work as anchors, keeping links between worlds. This made it so that he was unable to pass on, as his soul is still trapped in this realm. Yash asks for more clarification, but Vic assures him. David activates the pens, and before them a swirl of dark turns into a shadowy figure, which then turns into the Lizard. Aside from blue eyes and a massive wound in his chest, it resembles him to a T. After an awkward reunion where they hand him back the items they took off his body, the group are informed by David that The Brain is trying to contact them. Yash says to ignore it, and asks David if he can teleport the party to the Guardian's location. David says he can't find him though. Then he asks for Morra'Callovin or Rashall instead, to which they are then teleported.
After a first meeting between Vic and Rashall, Mortem takes the group to a back room and explains they have been gone for two days. In those two days, Killos has managed to round up an impressive amount of troops, however they themselves have not been sitting still and have also gained aid from all sorts of factions. Unfortunately Telarus' army also has a presence on the planet, and is fighting both Killos and our allies. Mortem explains the plan is to teleport Atrox away once he is summoned, though he unfortunately needs an item that can work as an Anchor between realms. "Do you mean this?" Usze says as he pulls out the two pens. Mortem says yes, and tells the group they simply need to be close to Atrox for them to take effect.
He points to the map, revealing the plan. The army will be split into groups, he and Rashall will secure the surrounding area and focus on keeping enemies from entering the stronghold that Killos is summoning in. It is the party's job to infiltrate said stronghold and either stop Killos from finishing the ritual, or in case they are too late, stop Atrox from fully being revived by using the pen anchors to teleport him away to another realm or location. Yash asks Mortem where the Guardian is, and Mortem informs us he was unable to keep himself under control due to not having an earpiece like the rest that keeps Thrast's anxiety from harming them. They will have to do the mission without him. In addition, it turns out Darren, the one who was at the meeting with Saan (see campaign nr.21) and had sided with the Nahiki, had betrayed the allies and is on Killos' side.
Yash grabs hold of Leecher's hilt, but feels no presence within it. Mortem looks at Yash curiously, and Yash confirms his suspicions. Yash'ailaran is now immortal, much like Mortem. Mortem congratulates him, and tells him he will teach him how to control himself after they defeat Killos. He then tells the group they can rest for a night, but one night only. The group is led to a sleeping quarter, however there is merely a single bed and a sofa. Yash being immortal, chooses to rest standing up. Seraphina goes meditating, Vic is technically a cyborg so doesn't need a bed and Usze is undead technically, therefore he does not sleep either. Lysander gladly plumps himself down on the bed and snoozes shortly after.
"Give me five more minutes..." Lysander muzzles the next morning, as Vic forcefully pulls the blankets from him. Usze attempts to clean his wound, but the blood seems to come back immediatly. Yash walks over and offers to stitch it shut, but Usze refuses saying "I can always freeze it over if needed". Shortly after Rashall walks in and takes the party to the room they were in the day before, where Mortem awaits them. Rashall asks what happened at the well, and Yash explains how he had to kill a fake version of Rashall. The demi-god is impressed. Mortem then informs the group they could go to Killos right now, or they can fix a few side objectives in order to increase their chances at victory. There are a few prisoners that need saving, a "ghost sighting" in the deathmarch stretch preventing troops from crossing it, a site where Qulvo are attempting to corrupt an old fountain and regain control over the portals of Thrast. As the party is arguing about what to tackle first, a knock is heard on the door.
It swings open and in come a pair of familiar faces; the pit fiend met in the shard dimension (see campaign nr.19) and Palanthus clad in her new red armour and wielding her rifle. After a short reunion the now reinforced party agree to their first side mission, the prison break. A few allied soldiers are being held in an old prison. It is the groups job to see if they're still alive, and if so, get them out unscathed. They depart stealthily as to attract as little attention as possible. Despite travelling with a massive demon, they manage to stay under the radar quite nicely.
After passing some carnage the group arrives at the prison. Yash uses his new powers to turn into black smoke and enter the prison to see what awaits them. 4 guards, then a big robot and two sorcerers who were guarding the prisoners. The robot had the cell keys melded to its arms. Strangely, it looks as if the place is ready to be evacuated at any time. Yash returned to the group to relay the information, and they attempted to devise a plan that would involve them not fighting (or more importantly, not taking too much damage). Eventually though after many arguments, the pit fiend and Seraphina decide for the group that the best course of action is usually the simplest; they will smash open the front door and just maul any in the way. They head towards the front door, and the pit fiend smashed open the wall.
Inside the guards are... Dead? Confused, Seraphina checks their pulse to confirm. Their bodies seemed to have died, well, just then. Perhaps a heart attack? The pit fiend and Seraphina break open the next door and our heroes engage with the robot and the two sorcerers. After somewhat of a struggle, Palanthus shoots the robot through its head. Before the group can celebrate though, the messenger of the Qulvo (see campaign nr.25) appears at the end of the room. "I'm not done with you yet!" it says as the four dead guards in the room behind transform into sludge monsters. The party takes them out with little effort though, and after Lysander removes the keys from the robot's arms, they free the prisoners.
After a short rendezvous with Mortem, they send the prisoners to the camp to rest up. Next, they move towards the deathmarch stretch, for there has been a ghost sighting there and it's keeping troops from crossing it. Once there, Yash does a ritual to detect any magic, and although he senses some necromancy, there does not seem to be any person casting it nearby. When they walk forward, they see something in the corner of their eyes. It however seems to stay there, no matter which direction they look at. Usze looks down and it seems closer, he then spits on the floor. Seraphina then looks into a mirror she had and sees a woman standing behind her, pale skin and hollowed out eye sockets. She looks away from the mirror and looks back. It's closer, then disappears.
Seraphina places a dot on her forehead so that her allies can she the mood she is in, in case the ghost does anything to her. Yash goes out to inspect the surrounding area and finds a few items behind some rocks. A teddy bear, a clean sword and a piece of cloth with a fey mark upon it. He immediatly burns the cloth, after which Seraphina can hear a woman's scream inside her head. He then returns to the group with the teddy bear in one hand and the sword in the other. Yash comes up with the idea to do a séance, and the rest follow his lead. In the middle of a pentagram that Lysander had drawn earlier, they hold hands and perform it. Yash and Seraphina hear the words "pain", "death" and "daughter". Seraphina takes the sword and attempts to break it, but to no avail. The pit fiend takes it to show how it's done, yet for some reason it is unbreakable. Frustrated, he throws the sword away only for Yash to have to go an retrieve it.
########################## EDITOR'S NOTE: Yash: "Why did you have to throw it away like that?" Pit Fiend: "...ANGRY..." Yash: "What?" Pit Fiend: "ANGRY." ##########################
Yash pulls out a container of holy water and pours some over the sword, after which it loses its shine and turns into a very old, rusted sword. Then, the ghost lady appears in their midst. Her eyes seem fixated on the teddy bear in Yash's hands. Her own neck seems to have been cut open with a sharp weapon. Usze takes the bear from Yash and inspects it, seeing that it has a hole in its stomach, but not the neck. Looking up the ghost is now looking in his direction. The group returns their attention on the teddy bear, as it is the ghost's main focus. Yash pulls out a needs and attempts to stitch the hole on the bear's stomach, but as he gets closer with the needle the ghosts stares daggers at him. The bear is passed over to Lysander, who uses mending to fix the bear. Unfortunately, the ghost has no reaction.
Running low on time and missing an integral part of the story, Yash decides to simply kill the ghost, and he takes the rusted blade and stabs her with it. She leans onto him, feeling cold to the touch, and then disappears. The party snaps the sword in two, which is now far easier considering its condition, and then burn the bear. A faint weeping is heard in the distance. Seems they couldn't save this one...
The group heads back to start their third mission; to regain control over a portion of the portals spread across the area. They were taken over by Telarus' troops, but luckily the allies were able to catch one of Telarus' men. The prime astromancer, Inkinaro. He is being kept in one of the cells nearby. He should know how to get to the portals and the way to enter them, but is remaining quiet.
########################## EDITOR'S NOTE: Lysander: "Lead the way." Yash: "I don't know where he is. Pit fiend, lead the way." Pit Fiend: "I don't fucking know? Seraphina, lead the way." Seraphina: *Proceeds to walk in a random direction that somehow ends up being the right way.* ##########################
After meeting with the prison guard, he takes our heroes to the cell holding the astromancer, who turns out to be a tall, proud standing man. He hands over the key to Yash and with that entrusts the interrogation to the party. After a failed attempt at intimidation from Seraphina and Usze, Lysander comes in and comes to an agreement with Inkinaro; He will share the information of the portal's locations and how to enter, and he will learn what our heroes know about the Qulvo, along with Lysander's promise he will try to get him out. "The ones you're looking for are sealed away securely in dimensional pockets, I can help get you there. We have certain sites, a few we have lost. When you put your hand on the stone arch, lower your middle finger and once it touches your palm, place your hand against it. It will take you inside."
The party members leave the cell, but Yash quickly closes and locks it behind him. Lysander protests, demanding him to be freed. Yash says no, and by asking him, he has fulfilled his promise to the astromancer. Unfortunately Lysander isn't that hard to sway, and tries all kinds of stuff to get the astromancer freed. Yash orders the prison guard to be twice as careful, and for the rest of the trip he keeps an eye on the young researcher. After receiving a few health potions, the party moves out towards the location the astromancer pointed out on their map.
On the way there, the group find themselves in the midst of a battle involving Telarus' soldiers, Qulvo, crystal monsters and even the guard from the maze way back when (see campaign nr.12) shooting at the Qulvo. Realising this happens to be the fountain they needed to purify as well, they decide to assist the guard. Noticing the messenger of the Qulvo empowering the monster at the heart of the fountain, Usze and Palanthus focus their attacks upon it. Meanwhile Seraphina, Yash, Vic and Lysander fight off the crystal monsters, other sludges and Telarus soldiers. The messenger retreats after a while and, after killing all the remaining sludge, our heroes move on, running away from the Telarus soldiers. However, Yash does manage to steal one of the flame swords of one of the soldiers, though it didn't go without issue.
Successfully losing the Telarus soldiers, they reach their destination. Usze walks in and attempts the gesture with his robot hand, but there is no reaction. He then tries with his real hand and, surprisingly, it opens. The group passes through and stand eye to eye with two Telarus soldiers. One on guard, the other powering something next to the gate. The guard is on edge, but then recognises Usze and VIc. It is Vitamancer Oslo, one of the three knights they met when travelling to Kalanthus (see campaign nr.6). They reveal they can't simply leave, as the device the other knight is using keeps the portal in check so that no strange monsters can pass through it (At which point the Guardian's head is seen poking out for a second). Yash informs them Inkinaro had betrayed them. Then after some arguing they come to an agreement. The knights are outnumbered and will hand over the portal, however they will not be imprisoned and can continue holding the portal shut until the Allies arrive. Inkinaro will also be freed. Our heroes turn back, having successfully completed all side objectives in preparation for facing Killos.

Report Date

09 Jan 2022

Primary Location

Thrast

Related Characters

• Inkinaro
• Lysander Miles
• Morra'Callovin
• Rashall
• Seraphina Dusan
• Usze'Taham
• Yash'ailaran