Session 3: The Historical Tower

General Summary

Oceropa

After passing through Strontos' gate, the gang arrive on a wide, flat craggy plain. It’s hot, the ground is dry, deserted and cracked and the sky is growing grey. They take stock of themselves and discover that Clip's appearance has changed. She is wearing a long, scholarly robe - clearly some kind of uniform. They find themselves unable to cast spells. As the party explore their surroundings, they encounter a large, flying bird/lizard hybrid. It attacks the party. Sebastian uses his staff to summon thunderclap. This causes a storm to rapidly gather overhead. The creature scrambles, moving away from the monstrous storm’s eye. A colossal lightning strike hits the ground, shaking it. In its wake stands a tower. It’s impossible to see the top of it, but there must be a light shining up there, because the dull yellow glow can be seen through the black clouds that are starting to thin. The Tower is huge with several off shoots and smaller towers and hundreds of buttresses. It looks as if each extension has been added on as needed which gives the tower a haphazard appearance. In spite of this, it looks sturdy, robust - it has clearly survived a great many ordeals. This is The Historical Tower

The Historical Tower

In the Tower itself, Clip is addressed as a member of staff. They gang look for more information and discover that The Historical Tower is a wandering, learning institute, home to a great many scholars and artisans. The gang enroll as students in the Tower and are put into an Introductory Lecture. At the lecture, the party are treated to a run-down of the History of the Historical Tower by a human named Nathaniel Idestrum Beresforde bos Gilighan. Though this lecture they find out that Oceropa has suffered an apocalyptic event known as The Cataclysm. This is why the landscape outside the Tower, known simply as The Outlands is so hostile. The Tower itself is very magical and moves all over the world. People still living in The Outlands race to get to the Tower - some choosing to live safetly within it's walls, other giving their children to the Tower scholars to raise. The gang are troubled by this information and suspect something larger and more sinister is at hand. In their lecture the party meet a non-binary Firblog named Balvenne Britheen bos Craglith and a young goblin girl named Aynwn Crisct bos Drinnoch. Balvenne tells them that in order to become students at The Historical Tower, the gang have to undergo The Artisan Assessment wherein they had to demonstrate aptitude in an artistic field. This will assign them an Artisanal Rank Clip was able to demonstrate the artistic merit of mathematics, Emilius demonstrated his cooking skills, Ruby played piano and Sebastian, after some deliberation, pole danced.* They all learn that their artistic skill is what allows them to cast magic. After passing the Assessment, the party were allowed to explore the Tower and were assigned dorm rooms. Rienne Ascfurth Elling Amastacia bos Riversworth (23rd Pivitol Researcher Major) . When they attempt to explain their situation to the gang, Rienne takes them very seriously - he is pleased that his hypothesis surrounding interplanar travel is not only plausible but possible. He admits that his power is limited but informs them of the reason why the Tower moves all the time - it is being chased by something called The Maw. Rienne also tells them of The Artisan Exhibition, an exhibition of all the ranks of artisan's skills and talents, which is currently ongoing. The party begin to suspect that the Tower is somehow using the students. To keep up appearances, the gang settle into their dorm rooms. Emilius rooms with Balvenne, who is a musician with their sights set on becoming a storyteller. Emilius takes the time to go to the Library Magnae, the Tower's massive in-house library. The librarian there is Ignatius Thivior Nought. Emilius learns a number of peculiar things about the librarian - supposedly he's been here longer than anyone else and seems to have a particular connection with the Tower.

The Artisan Exhibition

The following day, the gang decide to pay a visit to The Artisan Exhibition. At the event, they encounter another version of Felicè Bass. Her work at the exhibition is composed of four paintings:

On the first, a woman walks ahead of a man who is her mirror. The know everything important. They understand what the other doesn’t. When he calls for her, she screams, and the path turns to dust. On the second, a great flaming beast consumes everything it touches, attempting to fill the holes it gauges out of itself. It wants to give. It wants to take. It wants to be whole. It howls in anguish as it burns. On the third, a child walks with the warmest light. It cannot not make the light. It cannot move the light. The darkness is behind it. It can only march forward. On the fourth, there is nothing. A man looks where there is nothing. He searches and searches. There should be answers. He walks. There is nothing. Only the end of all things.

They also encounter the most renowned of the artisans, and son of the Tower's Headmaster a storyteller named Fuvillas Myliesdene bos Mountside who gives a performance that outlines the events of the The Vampire Wars. When the party challenge him, the nervous Fuvillas is very evasive, especially with regard to his inspiration. With some light interrogation, Fuvillas reveals that he was told the story of the Vampire Wars by a woman named Embradt. Suspecting Embradt's involvement in the Tower's machinations, the gang decide to locate her. Fuvillas informs them that she is likely upstairs with his father. As they are on their way out of the exhibition, Sebastian and Clip encounter a faun named Cadmium who tells them that he knows Emilius and asks them if Emilius still has a locket in his possession. Before Sebastian and Clip can find Emilius and have him speak to Cadmium, however, Cadmium vanishes. Emilius is later upset and confused by the news of this encounter with Cadmium. He explains that Cadmium - called Silvanius by Emilius, is a childhood friend, who vanished some few years before Emilius went to Chrysanthum University. Emilus hoped to find a way to locate Silvanius but was never successful.

The Upper Floors

As they proceed through the Tower, they encounter the mechanisms that allow the Tower to move around Oceropa. They quickly realise that by all accounts, the Tower seems to be alive and vaguely aware of the actions that occur within its walls. When they use their artistic skills to cast magic, they notice that the mechanisms respond to them. Recalling the significance of the artisans to the Tower, the party realise that the Tower requires the work of the artisans to keep it alive and moving.