WttSS session 58: 'Nasralleh and Yochanan'

Session report - Whispers to the Star Singer campaign

Written by Doctor Weather

General Summary

Nasralleh and Yochanan

Throughout the session Nasralleh used his captive Seekers to bring Yochanan forth and have a discussion. Nasralleh used a holo-projector to appear in the valley. Nasralleh showed that he knew Yochanan's predicament and successfully concluded a deal with the spirit that would remove the Portal Builder tech suppression in the valley.

• The PCs asked the kharatuk AI at the monitoring station to record the Seeker ritual
• The Seekers called upon all the Icons, not just those prominent in the valley
• Such blatant use of in-control mystic powers from the Seekers made the Legionaries quite afraid
• Nasralleh showed he had a history with Yochanan from before the valley and called on it as evidence that the scientist could help the spirit
• He claimed that no-one else could help Yochanan regain his real form, even though the science existed in the valley
• Nasralleh asked Yochanan to destroy the controls that limited the Foundation scientists and Legion soldiers
• Yochanan did little more than scream in frustration but at the end did head towards the waterfall

JUMP TO CONTENTS

Caves behind the waterfall

The PCs decided that the answers to all their problems, including stopping the Legion were to be found behind the waterfall and went back in. Using the map obtained by Zarzur they identified and choose to head to the second large chamber: Operational control.

• Whilst planning and on the way in Murad felt emotions in the back of his mind that Khalil pointed out were likely originating from the Portal Builder machinery, as emotions are how they communicate; he was offered two feelings - safety and excitement - but decided not to interact with any potential system just yet
• The PCs moved through the cave system using ropes to travel up the open space of the chamber, heading out onto the first bridge, roping up to a second and again up to a third, at the end of which lay the arch to the operational chamber
• They used no lights and stayed quiet, in the main attracting no attention
• They observed the decoration in the chambers:
• Statues of large creatures with dog-like heads and potentially 4 arms, though Yochanan's damage to the area meant they'd need to get closer to see for certain - they played it safe
• Flowing Portal Builder script along the sides of the bridges and over the arches at the end of the bridges, whose appearance was protected from growing mosses and insects by a perfect alignment of the construction materials to control the flowing of the waterfalls and their sprays within the chamber

JUMP TO CONTENTS

Another world

An advanced scouting expedition allowed Kerman to find a magic mirror in the smaller side chamber at the end of the middle bridge. He grabbed it in an attempt to bring it back to Khalil for examination but triggered its systems and halfway travelled spiritually into another world that experimentation revealed was somehow connected to the valley outside. After a trippy experience he used one of the Portal Builder scripts of the Traveller to return to the real world.

• The mirror was a shining surface floating in the air, perfectly two-dimensionally and not visible from one direction
• On grabbing it, he felt something happen to his consciousness and so smashed the mirror, leaving it on pieces on the floor
• Murad was able to sense someone "falling asleep" in the chamber
• Until freed, he constantly perceived two worlds overlapping each other, the blue-silver twilight caverns and a green cloud-forest like the one in the valley
• With the mirror smashed his spirit transport was interrupted and he was left spiritually between worlds, neither in one nor the other with his brain trying to reconcile both
• Despite the chaos of a multi-layered stone bridge cavern barely matching up to a single layered forest whose floor kept having to adjust to match the height of whatever bridge Kerman moved to, his brain held up remarkably well and he never once lost control of his mind
• A sphere came over to investigate Kerman but Zarzur interacted with it
• She used emotions to talk and projected sorrow to which it responded null, as if to say, "you what", but when she then tried contentment it seemed happy to move onto fixing the mirror instead of Kerman
• Upon reaching a Traveller sign, Kerman used his talent to ask the Traveller which world he should choose and the Traveller indicated he should come back to the cavern - the place Kerman could hit threats to get rid of them - and the Traveller showed Kerman's spirit a passage back

JUMP TO CONTENTS

35th day of the Deckhand
Campaign: Contract: Whispers to the Star Singer
Characters: PC group: Whispers to the Star Singer
Timeline: Campaign timeline: Whispers to the Star Singer

Campaign

Whispers to the Star Singer (concluded)

Protagonists

Report Date

30 Nov 2022

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Contents

• General Summary
• Nasralleh and Yochanan
• Caves behind the waterfall
• Another world