Session #13: Reminiscent Recordings & Revolutionary Revelations...

General Summary

To start our investigations into the mystery that is Cyric, we first made a stop back at the Civic Festhall to see if we could speak with Rhys, mine and Clarity’s Factol in the Society of Sensation. Unfortunately, Annali informed us she was out on classified business with an undetermined return date - not ideal considering my tight deadline. Annali led us to a quiet place in the Sensorium where I could privately share about my death experience. We also discovered some interesting things about my current state physically, mainly that my blood has the consistency of gelatinous goo now and keeps getting sucked back into my body. Kinda freaky. Wounds (and Søren’s punches) definitely still hurt though.
Annali did not have much information on Cyric specifically, but she did advise us to seek out either the Seldarine in Arborea or the Shadar-Kai in Shadowfell, as they may know more.
She also elaborated a bit more on why the Sensates and Dustmen have beef: apparently, a Factol of times past named Corilla Mavizl wanted to record their death experience so badly, they had the Sensates kidnap their body and resurrect them to do so. The Cyphers intervened before the conflict could blow out of proportion, helping the groups come to a compromise: the Sensate Factol would be allowed to record their death experience, after which they would die again and return their body to the Dustmen. Wild! I better not let them know about my particular circumstance… Before letting us go, Annali also advised connecting with the Free League and the Athar, as both may also have some information. She was super helpful - I hope our Factol is as nice as she is! We’ll have to return and see if we can learn more from her (if there’s time…).
We decided to check in with the Athar next and see if they could start on some research, since Caelen is a member. While he went to put in his request, the rest of us stopped in to get Søren’s armor repaired by Tavrat Chol. Søren let slip who we fought in the sewers, and Tavrat Chol was not very pleased to hear that: perhaps Khargaaz or his people were allies of the Doomguard? Regardless, the blacksmith was professional as always.
We also did some window shopping at Aalek’s and learned he could make us some earrings if we brought in some interesting materials. If we used Radiant Gold, it might provide some healing benefits, while a material like Transcendental Bronze could store some spells - neato! Meanwhile, Caelen was busy negotiating what would be possible to research regarding Cyric and potential alternative to me dying if I didn’t take the deal. The Lost seemed eager to help him find a way for me not to make a pact with a Power, but it was definitely costly - I’m going to have to find a way to pay Caelen back all that gold...
With more places to investigate, we decided to split up. Søren and Clarity risked traveling through the Lady’s Ward to visit a tattoo parlor in the Market Ward, which in hindsight was just as dangerous as we feared. Thankfully, they were able to convince the Harmonium guards to let them through, and they made it to the shop, owned by a Dabus which are those grey, lanky creatures we see around Sigil (they apparently serve the Lady of Pain). I would love to go visit someday myself - I bet they’re as fun to converse with as Aalek!
At the same time, Caelen and I went the long way round in search of our old Free League acquaintance, Trazes. We stopped in at an establishment called the Red Lion Inn that seemed popular with Centaurs, Satyrs, Minotaurs - oh my! Known as a “Home to Cutters,” Jadyx the barkeep let us know where we might find Trazes. I can’t wait to go back there and drink when Doc is feeling well (is there a bug going around - why does everyone keep vomiting all the time?). Apparently, Trazes owns a Loan Shop manned by Modrons. It was a very tricky to converse with them at first, even considering mine and Caelen’s excellent conversational skills, but once Trazes was done having a laugh, he agreed to pass on some information in exchange for payment for his time.
According to Trazes, the Shadar-Kai currently follow the Raven Queen and don’t follow Cyric “anymore,” though he’s heard of a subset that may be trying to revitalize that worship. He didn’t know a lot the Power themself, but Trazes did say their title was the Prince of Lies, and “when they tell the truth, it is often only in service of something else.” Needless to say, not a great first impression of this being… We left Trazes’ Loan Shop with one final piece of advice: since elves originated in Toril, it’s likely they would also have information on Cyric. It seems several quests are pointing us back to the Inner Planes. The question remained though: how would we even get there? Bloom travel is incredibly unpredictable and portals not only limited, but heavily controlled. Also, a part of me is incredibly nervous returning to the Inner Planes, where both Doc and I are wanted...but needs must.
We ended our time in Sigil visiting the New Market Satyrs, who don’t give away anything, even information, for free. I eyed a piece of studded leather, but unfortunately, I was running low on funds. Little did I know, Clarity purchased the armor for me before we left! I wanted to pay her back, but she refused, so I put the money in our group fund. That was a great idea of hers, suggesting we start one.
We returned to the sewers (not something I was eager to do) and found the archways with portals, as Laril had directed. Clarity was able to charm an Ooze that popped out of the acid, thanks to that handy Token of Mire, and we all tried to figure out together which portal would get us to Curst. After a bit of investigating, and Søren’s quick thinking regarding covering the key as none of us read the language written on it, we stepped through the correct portal only to find ourselves surrounded!
Apparently, the Revolutionary League had been expecting us. The Grimnebulin (their leader, and I’m assuming Factol equivalent) asked to see what bloomed from the rose, and we showed her Nexus, but made it very clear it would be their choice whether they would like to work for the Revolutionary League or stay with us. Appeased that we would fight for our friend, we appeared to pass the Grimnebulin’s “test”, who revealed that the Revolutionary League had already made a deal with the Assembly.
I think Søren was rather shocked by this revelation. It appears that the Assembly has some secrets it keeps from its operatives, if indeed they were even aware of the Revolutionary League’s intent to test who’d they’d allied with. We tried to learn more about this mysterious Faction, but the Grimnebulin was unwilling to divulge much, which is understandable. Their group is known for espionage, after all, if the way we got to their hideout was any proof. Clarity tried to ask what language they were all speaking, but the leader wouldn’t even budge on that - it seems we still haven’t completely earned that level of trust yet.
What the Grimnebulin would discuss was their ethos: destroying what is there and building what is better (kind of sounds like the Doomguard). Many of their members are Venthyr, escapees from Carcerei (the plane that imprisons Powers) whose bodies were fused with various metals and objects as punishment. They told us that “your cell members are the only ones you can trust.” Knowing this, it’s clear why they gave us the mission they did. In order to prove the Assembly’s commitment further, we need to track down three people in order to reunite the cell after a mission went awry in the Inner Planes - Revendreth, a Shadar-Kai lost on Shadowfell; Gelara, a Halfling that went missing on Toril; and Zorraa, an Earth Genasi that went missing with Gelara on the Material Plane. We are to give them the closed mouth sending stones, and once we’ve given them to all three of the operatives, the Revolutionary League will arrive in Mechanus within the month.
Thankfully, they had a portal directly to Shadowfell, making our next step clear: back to the Inner Planes we go!

Report Date

04 Feb 2022