Lost Lore 22: The Wagner Abbey Plot
The end of a chapter in the school's history.
General Summary
Shortly after Janka left to head back to the Ebon Orchestra, Charity Sparrow and I observed Ospher headed to his room in the dormitories and as she told me she was going to go to bed too, I pulled her aside and explained that I thought the time for idly waiting for these possessions to cause more mischief was over. I contact Bianca with the Eye of Basul and down the hall we convened to discuss what we should do next about Ospher missing time.
What's causing Ospher to go out and murder, is definitely unrelated to his possession by Olivia. She's not aware of it, according to her and Ospher, and we've also uncovered Digby's 'last resort' from the notes in Stamford's shop. So I think Ospher is somehow being possessed by Digby?
Well for one, we just know that he went through the portal somewhere, so it may be hard to possess someone if maybe you're alive, but for two, are we sure that it's not just Olivia and she's lying about it? She's pretty invested in having a body and being alive.
Well how do we find out definitively who or what it is? Do you have an idea? I guess I have an idea.
Sure, I'd love to hear yours first.
Well, I dunno, the last time I had an idea everyone got really worked up about it.
That's because 'we' acted on the idea without discussing it.
Maybe if we all went over to the other side we could observe it? That's where this possessing force is.
So he's sleeping right now, maybe we can throw a little bell on his neck and follow him around once he gets up?
Tell me more. We have the Eye of Basul so we can remotely watch him, but that's pretty much staying up all night.
I'm not really past the bell on the neck phase with that one.
I have ideas as to what to do once we're following "him" but as far as sitting here waiting outside his door, and physically restraining him and determining what happens after that, I'm at a loss.
I don't think we can become ghosts in a very short order, barring the usual methods. Adjenna gestures towards cutting her wristsAfter lengthy discussion, Charity cast Alarm on Ospher's room while I held the door open surreptitiously. After some clarifying questions about the slated moon trip and making sure she would start preparing equipment to explore safely, Bianca went to tinker in the lab with some lenses and a device that could let us look into the realm of the dead. We resolved to get some sleep and be ready to tail Ospher if it happened tonight.
I don't think we can guarantee becoming ghosts even if we were to do that.
I hope this works out for Ospher, I'm really worried about him.Ospher said when he went to bed that night, he woke up to a rushing wind and sensation of cold in the deadlands version of his own room, standing over a shadowy shape of his own bed. His spirit was colorless and translucent, like Olivia and the spectres and Banshee he saw were colored, and deduced that he had been pushed aside from his own body. His body got up and went to the doorway of his and started doing something, and then went to a loose tile on the floor of his room where Ospher could clearly observe a VERY strong light emanating from an object that he then seemed to, against all understanding, ingest and then vanish from perception. Ospher couldn't locate Olivia in this tableau of madness, and continued to observe the figure making arcane manipulations, though definitely not a spell, and for a very prolonged period of time. Charity woke me up around 3 in the morning, telling me that the Alarm spell had gone off, so we immediately scryed upon him to learn what we could of his whereabouts, and saw him very casually walking down the stairs and hallways to the main hall of the Orphanarium. I then contacted Bianca to eventually meet us there since we didn't know if he was actually possessed at the time, and then contacted Janka as well to let her know what was happening, and she said she would be on her way. Charity and I sneaked after Ospher, evidently unnoticed by him as he whistled some old ghal peloran showtune and continued casually into the Main Hall. We agreed to just follow him until we knew exactly what was going on, since that song was significantly younger than Olivia's time and we didn't think that narrowed it down by much. Ospher explained that he could make us out watching his body in the hallway, and attempted to reach out and contact us, after great exertion, I thought I could hear his voice for a second and felt a very unnatural chill. We could start to make out his body making gestures in the air then, as if he was interacting with an existing spell and as he got closer to the main hallway, his hands began to trail with magical energy, leaving faint after images as I pieced it together that he was definitely interacting with the Orphanarium wards. We knew from the manual that Rabinger's spirit told us about that this was the focal point for where someone could control the wards, and began to smell an ozone-sort of smell with these begin changed. Charity and I attempted to commit to memory the changes he was making to reverse these sooner than later. though Ospher told us later that he recognized these changes being made to draw something from within the confines of the building to his body's location.
You think he's a ghost again?As the threads of coalesced magical light were drawn to his manipulations, I heard screams and groans from dormitory wing, and then I felt a strong sort of tugging pain from my body, though Charity was absolutely doubled over from it. I used a version of divine invocation against Ospher then to read his surface thoughts, which he didn't resist, gleaning "This is happening earlier than I planned, things are complicated, have to make do with what I have, can't hold onto what I have, need to find Charity." I then issued the Suggestion that he should "Stop this and trust and be honest with Adjenna, she's here to help you." He put down his hands and ceased manipulating the wards further, and turned towards me, though the ancient wards were still pulling power and filtering it into him. I approached, leaving Charity concealed further down the hallway and started to speak to not-Ospher:
Yeah, I think so, I think he's possessed again.
Well just cause he's a ghost, doesn't mean he's possessed right?
Yeah, this stuff is very confusing.
Hey what's going on over here? How can I help?
Things are... unfolding. Ahead of schedule, that's for sure.
What kind of schedule are we talking about, you can trust me of course.
I know who you are, you were supposed to be The Host.
Where's Charity?
Back in the hallway?
I still need her.
How was I supposed to be the Host, what do you mean?
First it was her, then it was going to be you, but we're going to have to fall back on Charity.
For what?
To hold the power!
What power are we discussing here?
'Ospher' gestures towards his stomach, where a light is glowing brightly through his layers of flesh of organs It's my stone, my Tesseract that he made for me
Who's that?
The gemcutter! I'm not unaware of what you've been up to, where you've gone, what you've looked into. There's nothing you can do to undo this!
It's all coming together, this is always what was intended to happen.
Digby, I asked you ages ago to level with me. Level with me.
They've all been gathered, they're still a little bit ripe, but it all unfolding perfectly.
Ok so now you take all their souls for your Tesseract? What does that do?
Souls? Souls?! I don't care about that, all I care about is their magical potential. I will have a battery that I don't need to peddle in manacite for anymore! I will have limitless magical potential, and once I get this inside of the host, I'll have a walking spell artillery piece. Unfortunately, the one hiccup is that I now need a body as well.
The plan wasn't for you to help, the plan was for you to supply. squinting You seem unaffected though.Charity, down the hall, attempted to cast a spell, but couldn't ultimately make anything that I could see happen. She was barely holding herself up from the ground at that point, and I then attempted to cast Dispel Magic, and from the adulterated wards of the school, I was overwhelmed with mental static to the point where I could not form the prayer properly. I then noticed that the piece of manacite I had on me was suffering some degradation, likely from the wards and I attempted another casting of the spell, and again couldn't surmount the static of the wards. As a spirit, Ospher could see silver lines trailing off from the Tesseract in his stomach off to the dormitories and knew it was connected to the student's life force. He then attempted to attack his body and saw his body react to the assault and then based on the partial success of that, he decided to attempt to re-possess himself. As he drew in closer, he saw in the light of the Tesseract that Olivia was there, in a haze, seemingly entranced to direct his body's movements. Above her was a faint silhouette of the oatmeal soaked old man himself, Digby, with his beady eyes and a malevolent grin. She seemed to mimic each movement of his and moved her mouth in time with his as well.
Digby, you've based a lot of assumptions atop a lot of assumptions, your scaffolding here is coming apart.
I don't think you you understand, I've already gotten everything that I wanted. I'VE WON. Ospher's body gestures to the wards floating above us They're mine! I've identified and collected a roster of students, brought them all here, the icing on the cake was two powerful teachers drawn in as well, but you're all mine now. I finally have what I want! Who would have known that the stiched together soul would have chosen Ospher instead of Charity, like it was supposed to?
It's not enough that she has to stay stuck in the Abbey? Let her go Digby.
Not enough? I made her, I scraped whatever might have been Olivia off the walls of this place, the barely there spectre of what once was her and stiched it back together the best that I could.
That doesn't give you ownership over her, she's a soul still.
She's a rag, and I sewed up the holes to make what you see before you. It was MEANT for Charity, I didn't know someone had a weaker will than her, but it turned out to be you.
From a legal standpoint, if we're going to argue semantics, the fact that you offered them a place to learn, is exactly why we're teachers... whatever! The point is this Ospher casts Dispel Magic on Olivia, cutting the strings controlling OliviaWhile Ospher spoke to Digby , his body was talking to no one I could see, until, akin to a marionette that is dropped, he collapsed, but with the energy from the wards still flowing into him. Noticing Charity still doubled over, I went to bolster her spirit against the Ward drain with Lesser Restoration and she snapped out of managing the pain. I explained what I could glean about what had happened, and together we started turning the wards back around.
Digby somehow managed to use Olivia as a way to get into Ospher, and he was Olivia all along.As Olivia was released from Digby's control, Ospher could feel that wards being down and heard the undead outside of the bounds closing in with the defenses down. He argued with Digby briefly and then Digby attempted to overwhelm him with a Negative Energy Flood which Ospher was canny enough to Dispel. He was then able to reach Olivia who was dazed and wounded by Digby's cruel words about her being nothing more than some creation of his, but Ospher was able to bolster her enough to fight back against their mutual tormentor. Ospher's Dragon Breath emitted from his mouth like a Banshee's wail, electrocuting the withering old phantasm. As he took damage, it appeared that he was growing more and more monstrous, like it was burning away any vestiges of his humanity, and showing through his true form. Olivia did the same thing, Dragon's Breath immolating the old liar further.
He's what?!
He's using the wards of the school to funnel all the power of the spell casters in the school in order to fuel a thing in Ospher's stomach right now. We need to turn those back around and put them back to their original state.
Uhhh ok?
I got your back, you can do this.
What are you doing?!
I'm not gonna let you do this.
I can get you back to your body or I can leave you here forever. You can be on the right side of this Ospher. You're the one that showed the most potential anyway.
Right side? You stole my body and killed someone!
Ohh, he was just a gemcutter, you understand.
I kinda don't, why did you have to kill him? You could have just taken the stone.
I didn't kill him to TAKE the stone, I comissioned him to make it, so he's the only one that would have known how to UNMAKE it or even what I asked him to make.
So you were always going to kill him, is what I'm hearing.
Well, yes. Digby grins
You're not a good person Digby.
I never claimed to be! What I am, is someone who can change this world Ospher. I can fix it, it just so happens to come at the cost of about eighty children. And Charity.
Your own Granddaughter, how could you?
Easily! I needed someone who was weak willed to host this stone, we need to get it into her before it burns up our body. That sort of power could incinerate us after a time.
We're still going to create a College of Magic. Probably more of a kingdom of magic, if you will. But it will be me, we will have wizards, we will have schools, we will have supplicants. And you can be part of that, if you want to be on the right side.
Am I even Olivia? I heard what he said.While Charity was working on the wards back over by the admin doors where I helped her up, I went to get back over by Ospher's body, having seen the bright object in his stomach, I knew I needed get him to regurgitate the object. But as I approached, I saw some black inky tentacles arise to attack me while I attempted to induce vomiting. The mindless thing was emerging from his back, so I didn't bother with trying to move him, and putting my hands on his limp body, I could tell that his stomach was very warm, as if he had a localized fever. One of the wards Charity was working overflowed into Ospher's body, allowing his body to summon monstrous twisted version of Olivia attacking me, akin to Spirit Guardians, attempting to attack my spirit. In the other realm, Ospher and Olivia both cast an empowered Magic Missile at Digby, decaying his perceived humanity further and the sloughed flesh continued to reveal a human shaped grotesque. Digby unleashed an Arms of Hadar, battering Ospher and Olivia's spirit forms, as he gritted his monstrous teeth and taunted him.
You are exactly what you believe yourself to be. I'm going to need your help here, otherwise we're both done for.
What can I do? I don't know if I can do anything, he made me.
You needed to come from something, you remember somethings about your former life. You studied magic here, Rabinger confirmed that.
A word of advice for potential future supplicants: maybe give them the choice before you steal their body and then go on a murder rampage.Charity was making good progress with the wards, stopping the in-rush of power into Ospher and nearly getting the flow reversed. I lit a Candle of Invocation and successfully got Ospher to regurgitate the Tesseract, scalding his esophagus and mouth and tongue and as it ejected, it was covered in blood that was boiling in the puddle on the ground. I then attempted to help Charity mend the rest of the ward's geometries, removing the static I was perceiving in my mind and the burden was visibly off of Charity as well. I scrambled away from the whipping tentacles, which soon began to lose momentum and dissipate into inky puddles. Casting Identify on the blazing hot Tesseract I soon knew that the object would take power in and amplify it back out as it was released and that it was to the brim with the children's ability to cast magic. We could release it with some work and I explained what this device was for, as best that I knew from Digby's plans, really wounding Charity's sense of self worth,
Noted!
I thought he was at least taking me along because I was talented in magic. I know he treated me terribly, but I didn't think I was being brought as a sacrifice.The two of us used the device to set the souls back free to the kids, causing light to leave the Onyx sphere, cooling it significantly. In the shadowlands, Digby's psychic idealized form was crumbling as his plan fell to ruin. He was screaming and lashing about at Ospher and Olivia, but his frustration was unfocused and Ospher and Livie's Magic Missiles damaged him further, and Ospher realized Digby had ignored Ospher's body, so he darted for his body with Olivia in tow. He suddenly sat up, and gasped in pain as he felt the terrible burns suffered through his digestive tract. Charity and I were able to get the last of the souls out of the Onyx device as it grew cold and dead and Charity started to cast Magic Circle around Ospher, and then we heard a faint voice growing louder all around us.
It explains why he never would give you anything, he wanted you always seeking supplication from him.
Making me a slave? I HATE HIM! I'M GLAD HE'S DEAD!
I'm not done with you yet!I then used a Divine Channeling to Turn Undead against the mad bodiless wizard, driving him back away from Ospher, as he became more solid and inky, like the tentacles from earlier, and he couldn't approach due to being a poorly coalesced undead. I turned his own spear on him, feeling an odd innate change in the weapon, as he continued to retreat. Charity's Ice Knife broke him to shreds so we used the Soul Cage to imprison his spirit, preventing further intrusions into Tairos from his incomplete machinations. Shortly after, students started pouring out from the dorms, complaining of nightmares and illness, while Charity's reserves ran out, as she slid down the wall, not holding it together anymore and quietly weeping. I recognized the need to misdirect the students and explained that a ghost was able to get through damaged wards, but things are now under control. Largely, they accepted the explanation and while Love recognized it being an incomplete truth, we got them to head back to their rooms for the night.
I'm sorry Charity, it turns out your grandfather was awful. I don't normally say stuff like this, but it's good that he's gone.Janka arrived shortly afterwards, and with her help, we brought Olivia forth and I was able to imbue her with my own life force with Life Transference and while she still wasn't in possession of all of her memories, she could finally think clearly, free of Digby's interference. We discussed what she is, what her options were, and ultimately, she was brave enough to walk onwards, past Tairos and its sadness to see what was beyond. I ushered her on with guidance of Sandor's rituals of passing and she slowly began to fade away from sight.
I just never thought that's what I was for, I thought I was lucky, and putting up with something because I was lucky because it was worth it.
What a school, I wish I went here to learn magic.
I'm sorry, I didn't know, I didn't know what I was.
You are what you are, Olivia.
Am I though? He put me together to be a trap.
I said it before, he couldn't make you from nothing.
What do I do now?
I don't know, I'm not an expert on ghosts.
Me either.
I am inclined to believe that Janka here could make a determination of your resonance and see if there are discordant parts, and determine how much of you is you, if that's a question you want answered. But at this point, I think we've all done the most that we can for you, and it's up to you to decide if you want to remain here, free of other influence, or move on to whatever awaits Sandor's loyal followers.
I told you from day one, as much as I'd like to, it's impossible for one body to continue hosting two souls in one body forever.
Well I'm probably not supposed to be here, whatever I am right? I don't know whats on the other side,if there's anything on the other side...
There is.
Is that what I'm supposed to then?
It's not a requirement, but it's your choice.
I should go to that then. I should go where I'm supposed to go.
In a way, even though it's not what he meant to happen, we were lucky he saved you from whatever exsistence there was haunting the abbey would have afforded you.
You weren't able to go before he interfered, that's true.
Now you have a choice.
Well, I chose to find out what else is there. That's my choice.
I can see something, there is... something...We then turned our focus to the Soul Trap containing Digby and realized that the worst torture we could inflict on him would be using his knowledge to benefit the children to live their lives in whatever indulgence they wanted. Bianca came running in with a weapon at this point and we explained what had happened and ultimately we were glad she was ok too.
I never once for a second thought that he ever wanted to run a legitimate school.I spoke to Dalyn in a free moment and he said he'd be happy to work with us for a while until the Ring of Regeneration finished its painful work of reknitting what the Becklinburgers took from him, before trying to find another caravan to work with or get back down to the peasant lands. He gave some advice on properly securing the building, in a couple of stages no less, that would lock all the windows from the inside after doing some light masonry and woodworking here and there, as befit a situation to protect dormitory rooms and other access locations from the inside and so he got a lot of cheap locks that I would be able to later reforge into Masterwork Locks with a ritual borrowed from Ssambrae's holy book, Artisan's Blessing. We agreed to plumb the depths of Digby's soul for his spell knowledge, the locations of his caches in town, the abbey wards potential and his forbidden knowledge of magics from the books we couldn't find. The menace of Digby's last acts is gone. Charity's self-worth is much worse for the experience, but we're all safe and we've gained the ability to wield his powers against his purposes. Mayhaps we can benefit from some normalcy and finally locate a couple of teachers along the way next.
