Session 24

General Summary

24th Day of Julista

The group found themselves back on the western docks of Pruessmount with another contract completed. They had successfully retrieved the object requested by Balthazar's old compatriot Estee Dubois . Her two personal goons that had accompanied the party asked them to meet her at a designated spot later in the night. In the meantime the party took in the sights and sounds of the city wide party celebrating the holiday of Ruminativity . Balthazar later found Estee and handed off the object. In exchange she handed him a nice new jacket. After some back-and-forth pleasantries, the two parted, with Estee insisting they would "meet again". The party headed back to their apartment for rest.

25th Day of Julista

The next day they woke to find the Princess Monika II of Pruessmount's steward Embry Reusswald sitting in their living room. He thanked the party for how they handled the situation in Rutzburg involving the Aasimar siblings. He also asked them for their discretion in taking on another job, this time for the The Academy of Arcanium . Three members including the Vice Chancellor had went to the Kelso's Stop to investigate strange phenomena in the area, but had not been heard from. The only details Embry had was that it had something to do with terrible night terrors plaguing the townsfolk. The party agreed and soon headed out.
In Kelso the party immediately began looking for clues. The first stop was the Inn & Pub where they learned a few key details. The town had been suffering from horrific night terrors, where they awoke with cuts and scrapes on their bodies. The Arcanium representatives had tracked the source to somewhere in the woods, which were engulfed by a strange, and head purple mist and fog. The bartender suggested they head to the local infirmary to chat with injured people that had been found near the forest. There they met the attending physician, who revealed one of the Arcanium members was there. They found the man had gouged out his own eyes, and seemingly sliced off his own ears. He was in a catatonic state that was briefly broken by incomprehensible gibberish. All signs pointed to heading into the forest, and to their chagrin, the party did.
The path through the forest was heavily obscured by the fog, and they were constantly plagued by visual and audio oddities. As they trekked deeper, the fog seemed to reach into their minds, attempting to penetrate their psyche. Steel will and tempered minds would have to prevail. Deeper in the party stumbled on one of the other Arcanium members Katherine Noblecress fighting against aberrations along the path. The party lept into action and helped vanquish the creatures. After brief introductions, Katherine let the party know the source was deeper in, and asked if they would help her end the threat and find the 3rd member, Rhogar. She warned them the power of the fog would grow more dense and powerful, but this did not deter our heroes.
Along the way; at various points all the members became lost in daze; fallen victim to the psychic power of the fog. Their minds penetrated, their memories manipulated and re-experienced, creating traumatic mind terrors. It took coarse convincing or physical attacks to break the episodes. Eventually the party caught a glimpse of Rhogar, but he was able to flee further into the forest. At this moment the party was ambushed by strange creatures using power psychic magic. A tough battle ensued, and the party was able to fell the monsters. With the help of the The Compass of Certainty ; the party delved deeper into the forest towards the source.
In a clearing they stumbled upon a ruin housing stairs leading deep underground. The group surmised the source of the terror was residing inside, and prepared for the worst before descending towards the unknown. In the dome structure they found their target, and strange humanoid aberration; female in nature wearing a dress that covered the floor. The beast attempted a quick end to the fight with powerful magic, however a timely counterspell by Katherine negated the threat. This however backfired, and she was incapacitated by the Zamora. The party lept into action. Dangers lurked on the dress itself making frontal assaults precarious; therefore the party used ranged bombardments to damage the monster. A timely fireball by both Balthazar and then the recovered Katherine turned the tide, and the group toppled the beast, sending it back to whatever horrendous outerplane it originated from. The group rushed forward in search of Rhogar, finding him in the adjoining room. He apologized to Katherine, stating "he was coming, and he had to do what he could" before stepping into a portal which closed behind him. Utterly dejected, Katherine dropped to her knees. She divulged to the party the Arcanium knew about the strange portals opening all over Terrania and that they were related to the Alessian Artifacts popping up. An object Rhogar was carrying closed the portals, but it was now seemingly lost. She offered to send the party back to Pruessmont using a portal.
As the party briefly traveled in the outplanes, both Balthazar and Sandro felt otherworldly entities hunger for them. However, they Quickly found themselves back in Pruessmount.

Report Date

10 Jun 2024