The Latter Story of the Unbreakables (So Far)
Hope Marqôd's Backstory
The Tiefling was dry under her cloak and robe. They were enchanted so that it would not get wet, and neither would its wearer. That meant rainy nights became long, pleasant respites from the day to day glances from the villagers. In the grey light no one could see her red Tiefling skin, and no one in this cold would bother trying to glance into her cowl to see the thousand blue scars across her face. Sweetest relief of all was that men rarely went out into the rain.
Hope Mârqod, that was the Tiefling's name, had just left the woods surrounding her village and was trotting back to her home in the heavy rain. She was currently cutting across the wide dirt path that lay adjacent to the village. The sound was like a cascade of tens of thousands of beads all smashing the ground. Lightning flashed in the sky behind her, and a moment later, thunder rumbled. It was pleasant to be in the rain. Fresh and cleansing. Hope Mârqod wondered if she should, momentarily, tip the hood back and let the rain splash on her face. But she had places to be in the morning, and had to go to bed as quickly as possible. No time, no time.
It seemed that lightning flashed again, but the light came from her left. Hope Mârqod stopped in the middle of the road. She turned her head towards the unwavering yellow light. What was a man doing out at this time and weather?
The light came closer and became larger. Out of the veil of rain and rising mists appeared a single lantern, held by an outstretched arm, owned by a tall giant of a man. His face was indistinguishable from the darkness, but Hope Mârqod could see with her Tiefling eyes that he was dressed in a slim, black jacket. Underneath the jacket was a pale vest, and rung around his neck was a bow tie. White gloves held long, skinny hands and fingers. His trousers were ragged and torn, though, and he was barefoot. But his feet were also hidden in the shadows.
Hope Mârqod waited for awhile, wanting to see this strange figure entirely. She shivered in the cold. For such long legs, this man took his time.
The lantern creaked horribly as it drew nearer. The man was shuffling slowly. Were his eyes looking at me? I can't even see them, but that's odd, as I can see all other things in the dark. I should leave. The weather is getting colder.
At last, the man was looking down at Hope Mârqod. He stood nearly two feet above her. He snorted like a horse. Heavy mist came from his mouth and nose. The lantern was quivering. The face was entirely shrouded in shadow.
He peered at Hope Mârqod and showed his mouth to her. He bared his ugly, yellow teeth, and then spoke. His voice was ancient. Like iron on grinding stones.
"Art...thou...Baal?" He barely opened his mouth to speak.
"H-Hello." Hope Mârqod said. "I'm sorry I looked like such a peeper, but you are such a strange looking fellow, and there are so few intere-"
"Hush..." the man whispered. It was as if a clasp locked her lips. "Thou...hast her sign. But...why dost thou not...have thy powers? Ah...show me thy hand!"
Hope Mârqod tried to turn away, and she nearly left, but then the man grabbed her arm. "Thou hast vigour. But...show me thy hand!" He shoved his lantern into her face, and blinded Hope Mârqod. She collapsed onto the ground in pain, and felt the man gripping and feeling each finger.
"Here, I found it...but I cannot pry it off." The grip hurt. The man loomed over Hope Mârqod. Her hood was thrown off, revealing her solid silver eyes, streaked with rust.
"I...cannot...free Lady...Baal Mârqod." The man mumbled. He voice shook. He seemed to tremor in the pale light of his lantern. But then, suddenly, he calmed. "Ah...but thou art healthy. You...have good...horns...healthy...smooth shape. Lady...Baal is strong. The ring...cannot...hold her forever."
The man stood up, and released the cowering Hope Mârqod. "Enjoy...this village. Enjoy...the other villages. The Giants are coming. Your...powers will be...revealed. Yes...and you will enjoy them...immensely."
The man left, his lantern shaking in his hand, quivering, almost laughing to Hope Mârqod's Tiefling eyes.
The rain stopped. The moon shone above. And now it was only three of them. The Tiefling with her shadow.
Plot points/Scenes
The Beginning of the Adventure
Went to the Feywilds and met a petulant ArchFey. Afterwards, Pamatur and Aristides got killed in Anterloch and a new set of adventurers arrived: Durlan and Aristide’s new form. Led by Durlan’s quest for a treasure hidden by his father, they travelled to the city of Leftum in the nation of Frankonia. They met Bembin and discovered that their treasure lay in the cemetery. They travelled there at once and freed a bunch of civilians who were being unlawfully tortured by the corrupt mayor of the city for being dissenting voices.
Durlan found a magical flute that, when played shined a laser towards his destination. After leading all the prisoners to safety and successfully sneaking out of the cemetery, the pair was informed of a rebellion that was stewing in the city. The civilians then left the pair to go on their own paths.
The pair then encountered Kane, who had forgotten his past existence and called himself Friggen Awesome. Kane was nicknamed Stu by Durlan. They then found a girlfriend for Durlan, a shy girl called Esmeralda enamoured by his exoticness. She was an artificer and had already built a sizeable mech. They dated.
Durlan followed the laser and tugged the party into his own adventure. While leaving the city of Leftum, they encountered Ina, a doughy cleric who followed a mysterious god called Sir Lightning.
They travelled to a hidden crypt, were robbed by a group of con-artists, and the crypt challenged Durlan with psychic messages to beat its challenges. They slaughtered a few undead monstrosities, and were chased by a massive horde of skeletons down a stairwell. There they ended up at a puzzle, which they circumvented by breaking open the ceiling. Lastly, they fought three mummies. The party was almost overwhelmed and Ina nearly died, but then Durlan’s flute grew red hot. When he thrust the flute into the mummies’ bodies, their forms were immediately destroyed. This power grew successively weaker, but it was enough to recover and accomplish their goal.
Durlan found a magical scarab that could grow large enough to let him fly. It could also shine with bright light when commanded to.
Back at Leftum, the party dicked around for a while. Kane went to the circus and met a few exotic animals, such as a lion that ate only vegetables, and a polite hippo from Juraedon. The party as a group also encountered the con-artists. They tried to attempt a non-lethal battle, but Aristides, in his knightly form, came up and struck one of the members down. This meant he became a mage, but the party distrusted him and estranged him.
The other con members were imprisoned. This was also when Aristides acted on the letter sent by the rebellion he had received earlier. He travelled to the sewers and, after stating a password, came upon the rebellion hideout. He met Faustiker, the leader of the rebellion and his prior killer. He was commanded to, on the 16th of December, bomb the mayor’s castle during a noble’s ball party. Aristides then left the sewers.
The party then went to the Explorer’s Guild because of some posters. They found a dwarf master and talked with him. They christened themselves the Unbreakables as their team name, and were told to go to dungeon in Northern Frankonia, which is a region once under the ancient nation of Belchara. They were told to kill a black dragon wyrmling that had hidden itself there.
The party travelled with a squire named Ford and travelled through the mountains to a hilly area near the town of Palise. The dungeon was the largest that they had encountered. They caused the alarms of the goblin caverns to go off, and they were forced to use all their powers to kill the goblins and hobgoblins, but accidently killed Ford as well. They then found the secret resting area, and then fought the ogre and goblins and hobgoblins hiding there. They rested for a long while, and continued through the fortress itself, which was infested with undead.
The undead were beaten, and the party found the tunnel, which led to the sewers. They slipped down and encountered slimes along the way. They also found a few kobolds, some of which they killed and some of which they kept alive. They then fought the black dragon wyrmling, but were nearly downed by its acid breath. Eventually, they were able kill it, and Kane was able to kill the dragon by catching it by its throat with a trident. They looted the dragon, and went on their way back to Palise to rest.
They then went back to Leftum. They accepted their reward from the Explorer’s Guild, and Ina went to Ford’s mother to apologize for his early demise and to give him all her money in her sorrow. The party then decided to look around Leftum city. They then rested for about a week. Durlan and Magus gambled, Ina was making shoes. Ina was still recuperating after the week, so they decided to find Durlan’s druid without her.
The party came upon a druid called Vavarshen who was sitting on a young dragon’s skeleton. The druid explained how this young gold dragon was corrupted by the influence of Gevurah’s power, and how a horde of dragons all wishing to burn the world in Gevurah’s name was stopped by an intrepid band of adventurers led by Felmourne. The group experienced a journey to the past and took the place of the crusaders and killed the young gold dragon called Deleri. The young gold dragon nearly killed them when an Action Existential caused it to become a Dracolich. The party was saved by the timely arrival of Felmourne and an Ancient Gold dragon (Vavarshen). Felmourne handed an amulet to Durlan for being the only one to survive, and the dream ended.
That amulet could shine with the light of the moon and was able to allow greater control over Action Existentials.
The party then found out Sir Lightning was an Espiri from Vavarshen and occasioned an appearance on bridges sometimes. They also learned Sir Lightning was a prankster that would give and take away powers.
The party then left the ‘druid’ and entered Blastshire. There, Kane received a red mirror shard that returned some of his memories and his name back to him. He also became much smarter. The party then retired at the inn, but not before Durlan accepted the powers of the Action Existential. It wrapped itself around his index finger and became a tattooed ring of power.
Kane and Magus then went hunting and found that Ford had gone on to become a revenant, desiring to kill Ina. They beat him, and his soul went to inhabit another body. The pair then went and chatted for a bit. Magus tried to hit on Pam, the innkeeper, but failed. The pair then decided to steal the slip of paper that held the Action Existential, because they feared the power Durlan had.
They failed, because it had already tattooed itself on Durlan, and only he could take it off. The prime power of the Action Existential comes from its power of the judging individual, after all.
They then left Blastshire and headed back to Leftum. After a few days of waiting, the rebellion began with Magus’s intervention. The two knights Foran and Tevil were also there with a vanguard. The rebellion was eventually beaten back by the resurgent guards and the lawful knights, and Foran with an Action Existential killed the rebellion leader.
The party also met Ford’s hidden form, and he, in the guise of a noble, was able to lure them to a private area and killed Ina. The party beat Ford, and was able to bring Ina to a church in time for a resurrection spell. Afterwards they fled Leftum and headed for Frankonia, but not after searching for signs of Esmeralda.
At Frankonia they shopped around and discovered a queer wizard shop. They also acquired a new quest at the explorer’s guild to go kill a young dragon in the mountain of Khundrikar.
At Khundrikar Magus was killed trying to slay the young black dragon, but the party managed to finish it off with an Action Existential from Durlan.
Eventually the party returned to Frankonia and met Talion, who told them he was Magus’s new form. The party accepted him and eventually went to the wizard shop. A different wizard, one who used the Deck of Many Things as a form of payment, attended the wizard shop. While Kane was able to gain new items out of the exchange, Durlan’s soul was sucked away from its body, and Durlan effectively died. This was also when Brave found her idol, Kane, and began to follow him around.
After this Kane and Talion got into a spat over how to deal with Durlan’s body, and split apart. Eventually they reconciled when Talion saw an advert for the Unbreakables strewn around town, and he came over to join once again. At the Explorer’s Guild is when Team Unbreakable first learned of the repertoire of Team Star, who sold merchandise.
The party then received a mission to go to the Vulga region, and rescue some people who were related to a guard they talked to earlier. The party accepted the request, but decided to do some other activities first.
The party then went south to search for Esmeralda and to talk to the vampire who lived in the Cursed Sepulchre. They visited Leftum and found Durlan’s will, which bequeathed a large amount of gold to the party and gave the apothecary to the old man. The party then went and searched for Esmeralda’s farm. They found the farm, and discovered a ranger named Omar who was staying by as well. After the party had a brief sparring practise with Omar Esmeralda joined them as she wanted to help find Durlan’s soul.
The party then went to the vampire and asked a few questions. They received answers both true and false, but they were satisfied and headed up to Frankonia. At Frankonia the party decided to wait for the Emperor’s brother to eventually arrive.
Finding Kauotoc (Halfway Through Adventure)
The party finished the battle against the Naharaim, and decided to go onto the forward captainship of the Juraedon Army. On that ship the party sets up a feast for the officers on board by using a magnificent mansion spell. After a chat with Richard and Lux, where he apologized on her behalf for slightly messing up the battle the party had against the Nahararim earlier, the party relaxes on the ship for a little bit and then decides to specify a meeting date with Felmourne.
Talking with Felmourne, the party tries to think up of a way to find and beat Kauotoc. Felmourne tells them that a small shock team is required, and that army sized groups will just send Kauotoc into extreme hiding, meaning that he may reappear at any time to attack the Empire at its weakest. A shock team will prey on Kauotoc's hubris and will act subtly and secretly so that he doesn't get spooked and runs.
Felmourne tells the party everything he knows about Kauotoc, and, just before leaving the magical mansion he conjured to talk privately, he tells the party that he saw the niphredil flower in Kauotoc's den while he was there. This revelation makes Kane realize that the Dragonborn Thindir they had encountered in Greenbuck Half was actually Kauotoc. Kane remembered the same flowers placed at a shrine devoted to some woman were near that Dragonborn's home. Realising this, Kane asked Magus Medivh to scry on one of the Dragonborn's children, called Naerie. They see Kauotoc reading to the child, and he sees the scrying orb and mouths that they found him out and that they ought to meet with him.
Knowing this, the party invites Felmourne to join them to face Kauotoc and talk with the dragon. He accepts, and they decide to teleport from the city of Volk a month later so that they are not ambushed by the Devil Lords while traveling through Throne.
The party decided to accept Team Star's request to help them face some Frost Giants plaguing the northern lands of Uulsan Torall while they waited for the month to end. They went and fought the Frost Giants and Team Star's leader, Richard Richard, was downed, but the entourage of dwarf-like giants and the Frost Giantess were killed. They forced the male Frost Giant to submit after it had sustained many arrow wounds and its legs were heavily bleeding from the axe cuts Kane gave to it. Now they will interrogate the Frost Giant to see why it has strayed so far away from its native lands.
The Frost Giant
The party captured the Frost Giant called Jindir, who told them that he will give them a price to pay for his freedom as ransom. Kane, while pondering what price he should extract, then cast Commune with Nature as a random thing. He realized that there was a fiend following the party, and when the giant was told of this he was afraid, as Jindir thought that the fiend following the party was the intimidating elf-lord who had commanded him to raid the lands of Uulsan Torall. Through various deeds, the party put the giant in a safe space and determined that it was not the elf-lord that was following them, but another character. The party tried to see who the fiend was with a true-seeing spell, but because of the obvious nature of spell-casting, the fiend quickly disappeared from their True Seeing eyes before they were able to see it, although they did see that it was a disfigured male. The fiend is probably more aware of which spells can see him, now, and the party will have a difficult time finding him again.
The giant was reassured that the fiend wasn't the elf, and the giant's bravery returned. He told them of how the elf-lord had a dangerous charisma about him, and how he was chosen among all his village to raid and pillage. Raiding and pillaging are normal for a Frost Giant, but to do so so far away as he was is rare. The party, gleaming nothing more than this other than suspicions, decide to let him go free. The Frost Giant insists on a ransom to equal his worth, so he shows him his cave of loot. The Frost Giant leaves, and the party finds a great deal of treasure in the cave, some of them used, some of them not.
Felmourne, Easter, and Kauotoc
This was an easy session. The party returned to Volk, but Brave made sure to tell the party that she wished to return home to celebrate Dawnsday, or Easter, as it is known elsewhere. Magus and Kane both agreed to bring her home to help her homesickness. When Richard, Lux, and the Unbreakables returned to Volk, they received a monetary reward (including the weapons they looted, though they didn't tell the Explorer's Guild of their specific loot found par for the course). The party then went to bar crawl and enjoy the 'spirits' of Volk. After drinking a little bit, and a bit of conversation with Brave, the party goes to the Good Knight's Rest Inn to find Felmourne. After a bit of fiddling, angering the management, grapple-hooking, and realising the door was unlocked all along, the party went into Felmourne's room and found the Emperor's brother dead over his desk, knife in his heart.
The party panicked for a moment, planning to teleport away with the corpse to find out what was going on, but Magus, as he was parking his horse, bumped into Felmourne, living, going back to his room. After a bit of clarification (the dead body was just a mannequin used for practical pranks and for deflecting intruders), Felmourne told the party that he was ready to go, and they should take his boat to Kauotoc. The party told Felmourne that they had to bring Brave home so that she could celebrate Dawnsday with her family. Felmourne, understanding, told them to come to him immediately when they finish, and to teleport onto his boat when done. The party visited the boat so Magus Medivh Arestades could get familiar with the boat, and they took a nail so that they could teleport more easily.
The party teleported to Palise, Braves town, and, while in Throne Room, Magus sensed the presence of one of Gamayun's minions following them from a distance. Otherwise unharassed, the party is warmly welcomed to the town of Palise as faraway adventurers, and they are forced to regale their stories of heroism by the interested townspeople. The town of Palise is doing remarkably well, considering Frankonia was a warzone, but as a small mining and herding town, it has remained far from the conflict.
At Brave's mother's house, they enjoy a wonderful lamb dinner, but then Kane realizes that the Devil spirit that was following him around followed him to this house, and would see the chumminess they had with this village. Not wanting to put people in danger, Kane flies into a furious rage and runs away (all the while communicating his intentions with his telepathic helm). The mother catches on and chases Magus out with a broom, while Brave stays inside.
Kane and Magus discuss alternatives they should pursue to keep the people they like safe. Kane sticks his head in the bag of holding and messages Exius, Magus Medivh's friend, and asks for help in warding off devils. Exius tells Kane he can help, but Kane must visit his abode. The party does so, and they receive a table sized rune capable of warding off Devils of CR 12 or lower, though too many devils will still be able to break the sealing ward. The party also obtains a pair of sending stones from Exius. Kane feeling ashamed for taking too much help without giving anything to Exius, asked the celestial if he needed any help. Exius thought for a moment, not wanting to give too hard of a task to Kane, he tells the party that there is a cult in the north of Juraedon Proper that is causing trouble to a town called Acrine, and he would be happier if the cult were wiped out. The party accepts the quest as payment for the services given by Exius, and they go on their way.
The party gives a sending stone to Brave's mother, whose name is Nurasyl, and also put the warding rune in her house. They tell her to tell them if a Devil ever comes because their presence endangered her. Brave's mom understands, and she bids Magus and Kane good health as they go into the forest to temporarily live there in peace.
During the celebration the party joins the village and experiences seven days of solemness, fun, religion, food, and drink. Finished, the party, with Brave happily considering herself a true party member, the party teleports to Felmourne's galley, which is docked at the foot of many hills upon which a monastery is built. The session ends with Kane and Magus learning Brave's real name: Aliya -- though she still prefers to be called Brave, as it was the name she took upon becoming an adventurer.
Meeting Kauotoc
The party travels with Felmourne on the boat The Foam Spear along the coast of Juraedon Proper. They see the many sights of the nation and enjoy the cool breeze of spring and the oceanfront as they sail. The party visits a few monasteries on their journeys. Kane does an acting bit with an abbot, pretending to be possessed and thereafter exorcised. Felmourne visited the monasteries for religious reasons, the specifics unknown to the party. The crew saw a pirate ship, and they also sailed through a storm which proved inconsequential due to the sorcerous powers of Qelskan, a blue Dragonborn.
The party have a nice night-time conversation with Qelskan. They talk about his homeland and his admiration for Magus's great power. They talk about hopes and dreams. They then go to sleep. The party also had a dinner talk with Felmourne, talking of what they should ask Kauotoc when they meet him.
The journey was interesting but not incredibly exciting or important in the grand scale of things. Eventually, the party lands at the major city of Archine. The city had an auction going on, so, after some shenanigans with a rat, the party heads towards the palace-castle on the hill and attend the magical item auction. The party realizes their funds are not enough to buy the most expensive of the magic items, so they settle for a pair of winged boots, costing most of their funds, and they give Brave the boots.
Afterwards, the party heads back to the boat. They traveled for a total of a month and a week before they reached Greenbuck Half. The party has a grand time in the home of the halflings. Everything is happy, spring is here, and things are warm. The party reaches Tom's house, first, and they ask him about Kauotoc's house and the enchantment on the woods that he put there. Learning what they can, the party head off towards Kauotoc's house. They quickly discover that the woods around the mansion are enchanted, and force any invaders to be confused and return to their beginning place. Thinking for a moment, the party then sees a shimmering figure between the trees. It is a beautiful Elven woman, though her beauty is different from the enchantresses that the party has encountered throughout their journey. Her beauty is a natural thing. It is itself, and it is good. The party follows her, instinctively knowing that she could be trusted, and they end up at Kauotoc's house. Kauotoc is sweeping the front porch.
The party has lunch with Kauotoc, and they discover many things about him. They learn of his past. How he, for a brief moment, may have felt love. And from this sprouted his desire to create a new kind of chromatic dragon. To break the evil nature that chromatic dragons alone held, and to raise the species up to a new level of being. This is why he funded and managed the Fire Brands, so that they may steal dragon eggs for Kauotoc to train and teach in the ways of goodness. Though Kauotoc may not feel the good inclinations anymore, and though he has accepted that he is damned, Kauotoc's understanding of good and evil, and his knowledge of the ancient philosophies, make him sure that he, above all other beings, is capable of teaching what is right from wrong.
After this conversation, Kauotoc asks to hire the Unbreakables to help him in his quest. The party accepts, but not before Kane asks Kauotoc if he was aware of a spirit that was following Kane. Kauotoc replied that he did notice. This conversation then led to the recognition that the spirit was that of Abayin, also called Absoloman, or possibly a servant of that spirit. Kauotoc, now intrigued, asks if any other Archdevils had an interest in the party. Magus told Kauotoc that he'd seen Gamayun's minions following the party. Given this knowledge, Kauotoc decided the party's first mission was to enter Gamayun's domain and find out, firstly, anything about Melkear and his going-ons, secondly, to find out if Gamayun had any knowledge of Kauotoc's doings. Kauotoc expressed that it didn't matter too much if the party told Gamayun of Kauotoc's work while questioning, but it'd be safer to keep things on the down low.
Questions asked, answers given, the party leaves, but not before Felmourne has a private session with Kauotoc. Then everyone leaves the house, says their farewells to Kauotoc and his daughter Naeriel. Outside the house, Kane guesses that Felmourne is still dealing with the Action Existentials. Felmourne replies in the positive, though he says nothing more. Kane is surprised at the nonchalant attitude Felmourne had towards Kauotoc, especially considering the worry Felmourne held earlier. Felmourne simply said there wasn't much to worry about, at least until Naeriel came of age. With that said, the party goes through the woods and go back to the port town in Greenbuck Half. There the session ended.
Traveling to Acrine
The party travels from Greenbuck Half to the town of Acrine. They decided that they wanted to head to the City of Lille, the capital of Seinis, first. So, the party goes along the highway. They don't teleport as they don't want to visit Gamayun, yet. The party encounters many people along the road merely passing by, doing their own business. The highway is quite busy this time of year, especially in the first leg of their journey. The party spoke to and had breakfast with an old man and his granddaughter. The party also visited the Manor of de Cloche, which is Luxanova's family's residency. There, they get in due to Magus's noble status. They have a cup of various, mixed citrus juices as they talk with the heiress of the house, Laurentin de Cloche. They tell her about the situation with her sister and her missing brother, and then the party says their farewells and leave the manor.
At this point, the highway is less populated as they travel through a more hilly country. Due to the frightful nature of the party (despite Kane putting on makeup and a cloak to hide his appearance) bandits avoid them and the journey is smooth. In spring, the fruit trees are in bloom, and the olive garths are growing in great abundance. The countryside is green and a sweet aroma is in the air as the party travels throughout the southern region of Seinis along the highway.
The party then sees a sign for the Honourable Arena. At Kane's request, the party turns towards that place but not before asking for directions from the locals, who, unfortunately, are not very good at speaking the Common Language. But they reach the Arena without much issue. As they arrived on a Thursday, it is a free-for-all sign up with varying sorts of duels for varying sorts of rewards given. The party is led around by a sleazy man who brings them into the central coliseum for the fee of 5 silver pieces each (half a week's wages). Afterward, the party enjoys an entertaining fight. Kane later goes down towards the front counter and tries to sign up as an old man. The man at the counter refuses until Kane challenges him to an arm wrestling competition. Kane stated that if he beat the counterman, he would be allowed to fight. Kane, being about as strong as a hill giant easily beats the man, and gets to fight a lower tier thug. The counterman stated that the entry fee was 5 silver pieces -- a heavy price.
Kane's fight goes very well. He doesn't get touched even once. He maneuvers and dodges his way out of many attacks, and subdues the man with a chair thrown down at him from the crowd. Despite him looking like an old man (well, a muscle-bound old man like out of an anime) and providing a fun event, the crowd disliked Kane due to his lack of charisma and poor speech skills and for beating a man that everyone else had bet on. Kane leaves the arena and collects his reward of one gold piece.
The party then travels towards the city of Lille. The party finally arrived at the Great Plains, a vast, fertile, and flat land that spans for hundreds of miles. They travel through this grain countryside (though the wheat hasn't yet sprung), and go without much turmoil. They cross the major rivers and crossways with their flying carpet so they don't have to pay a toll.
Finally, they reach the city of Lille. The party enjoys a drink at the Tiefling's Bonnet. They each order a Hellfire -- an extraordinarily spicy drink not for the faint of heart. As Brave and Kane are Tieflings, they glug down this drink no problem. Magus, at first, takes the drink like a man, but Kane, all imp-like, knock's Magus's head and makes the wizard snort a gulp. Magus reels back, spluttering and muttering, crying and rubbing his eyes further exacerbating the pain.
The party leaves the inn after leaving a hefty tip. Magus recovers and everyone heads to find a bounty board by Pam's Place. At the board there is a long list of bounties placed by people from all around. Some bounties are pranks and others are serious. The serious ones were identified by their Explorer's Guild moniker or the local guard station moniker. The party takes the paper tabs of a Behir and a Rakashasa. They go to the Explorer's Guild and take the quest and then head to the sewers to first find the Behir. They follow Mac and Cheese's nose and travel through many miles of underground sewer tunnels for a few hours. The party didn't particularly plan a way to find their way back, nor did they map or use a string like Theseus.
Anyways, they came across a dead old man, and Magus used his familiar to spot the Rakashasa hiding behind a corner. The party used an earth elemental to surprise talk to the Rakashasa, but were in turn surprised as it turned out that Rakashasa was an illusion, and the old man was the actual Rakashasa. Initiative began, and, after an attempted dominate person a few arrows into the devil, the Rakashasa made to flee before Kane apprehended him and tried to make him surrender. The Rakashasa surrendered, but moments afterward, when Kane's guard was slightly down, the Rakashasa cast a spell and disappeared, being immune to counterspell.
The party, disappointed and defeated, began to delve deeper into the sewers, but, finding nothing, began to head their way 'back'. The party then stumbled onto the Behir, and the session ended.
Traveling to Acrine Pt. 2
The party kills the Behir and harvest it for parts. The party then cuts off its head and begin to find their way out of the sewers. Because they had forgotten to map the entrance, the party wandered for a day and a half, encountering various and strange locales along the way. They finally exit through a cave and return to the city of Lille where they turn in their Behir head for a handsome reward. Kane buys a map for the miles of tunnels beneath Lille from the Dwarf.
The party then decides to remove Magus's curse, and head to a cathedral where a priest cures him and chats a bit with the group. The party then decide to leave the city of Lille, but stop at a store called Nick's and Nack's Antique Store as Kane's mirror sensing necklace was jiggling when they passed by. They enter the store and talk with Nack the Gnome. He has the mirror on a pedestal, protected by glass, and was willing to trade it for a very-rare magical item. The party wasn't willing to trade, so they were hired by the Gnome to look for rumors of the Lost Crown Nauglamir which the Gnome believed to be somewhere in the One-mansion, which lays under the Western Mountains. This would be the beginning of the party paying off the Gnome for the mirror.
The party leaves Lille and sleep in their mansion for the night before setting out.
They cross a few rivers, encounter some druggie small-folk, and, after crossing the border into Juraedon Proper, come across a witch trial.
Magus jump into witch trial. Save Meran from the hanging. Gang talks to priest to save woman, he is OK with taking her away to the capital by the illustrious master wizard. Magus makes feast to serve everyone. Kane tells someone to collect dirt for him to check after casting a nature spell. Magus casts detect magic on everyone who goes through the portal and detects a super powerful aura from a small blond child called -----. Magus talks with the family, using the priest as a translator, and he tells them that their child is a prodigy and capable of being the Archmage’s apprentice. Kane goes off with the Maren to pack up her belongings to leave, but then is stopped as he decides to commune with a cow to see what is happening. The cow goes Moo at first, as the first cow was retarded. Kane goes to another cow and asks it for help. It is a very friendly cow that speaks quite eloquently for a cow. The cow tells Kane about the black hound that wrought destruction to the region. It then goes moo but tells Kane of a wise spider who can help him.
Kane talks to the spider who was sitting on the cow’s head. The spider speaks in strange riddles and confusing speech. It mentions a black hound as well that anticipates Kane and his crew and follows the future paths of Kane. It appeared 6 months ago, about the time they pulled out the Spear of Eichdall. The spider speaks of the steps of the heavy reverberating far. Kane and his crew causes the destruction. The hound does too, but the hound has the face of Kane. How does the spider know Kane’s name? Because the name looks much like the face, and the hound has the face of Kane. The spider knows he will die tomorrow at 4 am. He is glad and also sad to see the crew of three out of four. He wishes to see the whole package. Spider tells Kane to act carefully and well, just as he always does. Kane goes off with Maren and Brave and collect the precious belongings of Maren. Maren collects a bunch of paper that Kane peeks at and sees to be mathematical notes, though vaguely arcana.
The party reunites at the portal to the mansion. Kane gets a slab of peat from the boy he told to initially collect dirt. No magic was found in the surrounding areas. The party has a nice feast within the mansion. Kane, Magus, Brave, and Maren eat separately so that the party can talk with her. The party convinces her to show her documents to Magus, and Magus recognises the symbols with the similarity of the obsidian documents. They convince her that the documents are not the deeds from her brother, and Magus realises he needs a week to make sure of the connection. The party takes the papers and holds them. They learn from Maren of Benjamin, a strange man who doesn’t sweat or get affected by temperature. Kane goes to the brother’s grave, digs it up, and burns the body. Session Ends.
Finally at Acrine
The party finishes up business with the people of Acrine. They leave the spider with the cow, Bessy, so that it may die a peaceful death where it wants to die. Magus tells the parents that he can Teleport them and the child to a safe place in the realm of Coelum, and that he will return at times to teach the child about magic. You do not age in Coelum, or at least, you do not age quickly in comparison to the mundane world. The parents, not having anything left in their village and wanting to stay with their child, tell the priest their goodbyes and to explain to the villagers where they went, and go with Magus into Coelum where they are dropped off at Exius's place. Maren travels with the party.
On the journey there are some heart to heart moments with Maren. The party wants to know where she's from, where she intends to go, and whether she has any dreams regarding the capital of Juraedon. Maren is quite open, and her apprehension with the party doesn't show openly. The party travels through highlands, and follow dirt roads forged by many years of others' walking. It is a quiet and beautiful place. There are many shepherds and a few travellers. The party would wave back to the former in greeting, and converse with the travellers they met, often sharing a meal together.
Eventually, the party reaches a bend in the road as it twists around a hillside, and they hear music. Kane, disliking the implication and possibility, plugs his ears with earplugs and blocks his ears. The music is soft with a theme that repeats on occasion, and the melody has a slender form to it that evokes the sound of birds, though no bird could make this music. The music comes from a harp. It forms unformed thoughts in the mind of its listeners. The party rounds the bend and, unsurprisingly, the music is played by a handsome Elf. The Elf is beautiful, with golden curled hair and wide, grey eyes. The Elf is playing by the roadside, overlooking a long, shallow and sloping hill that ends at a wide lake coloured an azure blue despite the grey and cloudy sky. The lake is surrounded by hemlock, willow, and pine.
The party comes up to the Elf, who tells them that it is common courtesy to offer a copper piece to a traveling minstrel who would play by the roadside. Kane, when Brave signals this, goes up and gives five silver pieces. The Elf is thankful and offers, at that point, to give the party another song. This time to foretell their Dooms, or, in other words, fate. After a bit of discussion, the party accepts the Elf's offer and begin listening in turn.
The song is played to the individual so that no one else could hear the music played. Below is listed the listener and the prosaic song that was sung for them.
Beware, beware! Your friend is in danger. The husband searches for his beloved. She is hidden with the darkly Fey. Beware the leaf-folk. She is to be used for a black ritual at spring equinox time. Make haste, she may yet be saved.
Here is a comfort: hold out, let not fear or accident overcome you. A choice between peace and war lays ahead of you. You can still turn back! But when you cross the sea your path is set, and only a hard life lays ahead. On that road, you must end a secret gestation begun too early. And even if you save that nation of people, you will be known throughout the lands, and songs will be made in your honour, and your life will always be one of tiresome conflict, as enemies will hanker to be your foe and win for themselves great glory.
Brave wished to keep her Doom private. Maren told the party that the Elf told her that she could have a good life in the capital, or she could stick with the party and help them in some capacity in regards to her brother. Maren was quite happy that she would have a good life in the capital and decided to stay there.
The party then leaves, but not before asking the Elf for his name. They learned it was Fionn, which means golden-haired. He hailed from the island which was once called Inisfail, but is now called Tete. The party did not ask, so they did not know he was of the Vanwi, the Elven people who never betrayed the gods. The Vanwi are also called the Shii -- the Fae-folk -- and that they knew many things hidden from mundane eyes.
The party leaves the Elf and there is a bit of an incident where Brave was hurt by Kane making fun of her name and calling her Coward. This is easily patched up with some communication.
The party travels on quiet roads until they reach Acrine during a light shower of rain. Kane, not knowing that this town is Acrine, and seeing that the villagers are afraid of him, uses thaumaturgy to blow open all the doors, effectively setting the town against him. Realising this, the party sets up a skit between Magus and Kane to show that Kane is actually a demon controlled by Magus. The party succeeds and are shown to an inn where a cleric from the church is waiting at.
The party goes into the inn and talk with the cleric. Her name is Aredhal, though they can call her Aren. She came here to rid the town of the charismatic fraud that is leading the town's young men astray. Kane lies and says that they are here to find a powerful item with the cult. The two groups agree to work together.
After the talk, Magus and Aren talk. Magus wanted to ask her out on a date, Aren is quite insistent on knowing more about Kane. There is a back and forth between the two, due to lack of trust. Magus gets frustrated and acts crazy and the two part ways. At dinner time, the party invites Aren to eat with them in Magus's mansion. They have a good meal together.
Aren pulls Magus aside and tells him the whole truth on the matter with Kane. Her name is Anora. She was Kane's lover in the past and an enchantment, from where she knows not exactly, was set on Kane because of her feelings about his violent actions. She can break the enchantment, but is unsure if she should as she doesn't know how Kane is today. Magus is happy that she told him the truth. She can stick with the party for a while.
The party heads towards the cultist cave, which is guarded by two black-robed teens. The party accosts them and knock them out by using Kane's large physique to frighten them.
The party heads into the cave. They duck into a side tunnel so that Kane could cast commune with nature. As he does so, there is a surge of power inside of him, and Kane sees a black hound sitting on its haunches, staring at him with round human eyes. The commune with nature finishes instantly. Kane senses one fiendish presence, one celestial, and one extraplanar effect. The effect is in front of him, from where the hound was sitting. There are no exits except for the hole the party just came through.
The party heads towards the central round chamber. As they approach they hear chanting. As they come closer the torch lights lighting the room suddenly go out, sending the party into darkness. The chanting stops and is replaced by screams and gurgles. The party sees the cult leader, frightened, explode and out of his remains rises a monstrous four legged creature. Magus traps the creature in a sphere of magic before it can fully form. At the back of the hall they see a pillar of flame, and from that fire steps out a tall and smoldering pit fiend, which soon disappears into the darkness.
The party enters into combat. Magus strides forward into the thick of it, telling Kane to back off. Kane backs off but Brave keeps fighting. Anora casts Protection from Good and Evil on Magus to protect him, but she is extremely cautious with getting injured and doesn't do much else in the fight beside casting spiritual weapon.
The Pit Fiend is cocky and delays attacking the party and unoptimally attacks the crew, letting Brave survive. The Pit Fiend is powerful and deadly, but Kane delays much of the damage it can do by deftly dodging, and then eventually, by getting hit by the Pit Fiend's attacks. The Pit Fiend, realising too late that the party is much stronger than it looks, attacks and kills Magus. As Magus falls to the ground, he sends the monstrous creatures to go and tear his body. Despite the shielding against fiends, there are too many monsters and Magus's corpse is broken. The Pit Fiend looks as if he would win the fight, but, at that moment, the wizard's body disappears in a flash of brilliant light, and standing where his corpse once was is the silver dragonborn Drakk'thar.
The tide quickly turns and the Pit Fiend is speared by Kane. It dies and turns to stone. It foretells that the party will meet it again, but next time, it will not be so kind to them.
The party ends the fight. Kane tries to investigate the cavern but quickly realises that this place has little to no magical significance, though it is old, and might once have had such power. Anora has a special interest in the transformation of Magus. And there the session ends.
Kane's Retirement
Anora asks the party to let her resurrect the teenagers, but that she must also be left alone. The party lets her alone, but Drakk'thar uses his familiar to spy on her. He sees her transform into a tall and beautiful elvish woman who releases a blinding light, disturbing the familiar's senses and sending Drakk'thar reeling. Anora leaves the cave after an hour, and with her are the teenagers and the cult leader. Anora faints, but Drakk'thar uses Greater Restoration to revitalize her.
The party takes everyone back to the village. They meet an old man, who takes the village boys back to their homes after Anora translates and explains the situation. The cult leader is kept enchanted in the meanwhile and is docile and follows the party around. The party meets up with Maren and return back to their individual rooms. Anora told Kane during his fake sleeping that she would like to meet him privately in his room at night. Kane, being frightened that she was a female temptress/succubus, didn't intend to meet her. At night, when Anora came to Kane's room, Kane snuck out the window with barely a noise and went to Anora's bedroom. In the bedroom, Kane looked through her stuff and took a notebook in her bag. As Anora was returning back to her bedroom, Kane snuck back out but left the room untidy. He then went to the roof of the inn and decided to try to read the notebook, which he discovered was written in some sort of cipher or glyphs. Kane, unhappy, returned to his room where he found Anora looking through his stuff. Kane confronts her and tells her he was chasing a Rakshasa who had stolen her stuff. Anora tells him that the stolen book was of poetry. His deception was successful.
Anora and Kane have a heart to heart. Kane tries to telepathically call for help from Brave or Drakk'thar. Brave is too busy sleeping, Drakk'thar doesn't need to sleep so he rushes over and sees what's going on. Drakk'thar affirms that Anora means no harm, and he goes downstairs to drink whiskey. Anora, now alone with Kane, explains everything to him. She reveals his past and her past to Kane. She tells him that she is inhabited by the two twin hero spirits of her people. She is to found the unfounded consciousness of her race, due to her unique birth circumstances. She is also bound to Kane due to marrying him and consummating. She will never wed again unless she desires to commit a great misdeed. Anora will follow Kane in death. She also releases Kane's enchantment. Kane falls asleep immediately afterward.
Kane wakes up and remembers everything. He tells Anora to undisguise herself. Anora hands Kane his old teddy bear. Kane grabs breakfast from downstairs (but not before handing the poem book he stole to the innkeeper, telling him to 'find it' and hand it to Anora). Kane confesses his adventures to Anora. Anora advises Kane to just not do anything. The Devils need him to do something; they are more cunning than him. Kane ought to avoid their doings. Doing nothing will be most troublesome to the Devils, as they can no longer move Kane around. Kane heeds this counsel and decides to retire with Anora. The party then heads out. They decide to travel the Premier Church of Magic.
The journey is peaceful for the most part. The party doesn't have a wizard anymore, so they are traveling on foot, now. They sleep in caves or under trees at night. They set up camp and eat unrefined meals either caught by the hunt or from arcane conjuration. In one instance, the party comes across a diviner's tent. The party head in, but Anora quickly leaves due to feeling sick. The old woman there offers to summon a dark being to answer their inquiries. The party, curious, accepts. Aliguid suddenly appears and the old woman, frightened, runs out of the tent. Kane dashes out and catches her. Aliguid sends Brave to collect Kane, as he wants Kane to do something.
Aliguid wants Kane to go to the Island of Tete and revive his master. Aliguid is very upfront about this. He tells Kane that Kane's troubles will all end so long as this is done. Aliguid references to the previous deals made, and that he never broke his promises. Aliguid promises Kane anything he could desire, so long as he does this important task. His master will be restored and will go into Throne to deal with Devils only, nothing more or less. Kane leaves for a moment and converses with Anora, who is wracked with pain because of the conflicting voices of the hero-spirits. She tells Kane to not accept the deal. The Devils are smarter than mortals. All things can be twisted in their favour. Kane goes back and reject the deal, much to the rage of Aliguid. Aliguid controls himself, but threatens the party, especially Kane. Aliguid disappears, but not before telling Drakk'thar that the clipped wings of his friends will be delivered to him. At least he ought to visit Tete, and see the things going on there.
The party leaves the tent, the old woman is frightened, and they see Fionn caring for Anora. Fionn congratulates Kane, saying that he had come here to warn him off of Tete, but it seemed that the counsel of his wife was more timely. Fionn greets the rest of the party happily. He tells Drakk'thar his folk will help him out if he ever decides to visit his homeland. He says his goodbyes and disappears.
The party continues their journey. Drakk'thar reaches the month-long cooldown and transforms back into Magus. He had to leave to talk to the Oxfine Mercenary Group. Kane says his goodbyes and hands a bunch of stuff to Drakk'thar. The session ends.
Magus Adventures
Leaving Kane with heartfelt goodbyes, Brave and Magus teleport into Throne so that they may begin their journies through the Island of Tete. Once in Throne, Magus noticed that the Devils therein were agitated. They were not agitated towards Magus and Brave, rather there was a fervorous atmosphere. The Devils were excited for their 'Dark Father', the Abayin: Magus knew him as Melkear. Magus leads Brave through the alleyways as to avoid the agitated Devils, but is presently stopped by a minion of Gamayun, a dark, floating sphere with a single staring eye. The black sphere asks Magus if he would like to visit his master and Magus accepts. The sphere leads them through the streets of Throne until they come upon the high walls outlining one of the rings of Throne. The walls are so tall that the group can hardly see the top, and the walls are so long that, though Magus knows they are curved, they appear straight in his direct vision.
The group teleports and they appear in a blasted wasteland. They cannot see Throne's walls anymore. They walk to Gamayun's palace, a construct of pure white stone. They enter the palace. Magus follows the minion through winding corridors and elaborate hallways. The palace is entirely silent but for a ringing in the ears. At last they come upon Gamayun's chambers. The Archdevil is waiting for them. Magus humbles himself before the Archdevil, and the two begin to speak to each other.
Gamayun has an interest in Magus, and would offer Magus great powers, artifacts, and knowledge if he would accept to become the Archdevil's champion. Magus would not have to give up his soul, but he would have to surrender his celestial heritage, and if he disobeyed Gamayun on a direct order would surrender his sense of personality to the Archdevil. Magus asked the Archdevil what it would do if he rejected its offer. Gamayun replied that it would kill Magus. Magus recognises that Gamayun so far has not emanated an aura of darkness or compulsion on him. But the threat is powerful, and Kauotoc's charm is perhaps not the most noteworthy thing to put your trust into, as Kauotoc himself was subordinate to the Archdevil's. Magus attempts to plane shift, but finds that the spell was negated by some effect or person. Magus, considering his options, hands Brave the key out of Throne secretly, and goes up towards Gamayun, seemingly to accept the deal. But at the last moment, he breaks his staff of power over his knee, causing an eruption of power to explode outwards, and luckily teleporting him to some strange and foreign land. With Magus gone, Gamayun gives no heed to Brave and she successfully escapes.
Magus is in a Far Eastern country, and he sees many strange looking Elves around him. He attempts communication, but the Elf he talks to mistakes the Draconic tongue for the High Speech of his country, and sends for the local nobililty. Magus talks to the nobleman, who is quite snooty and rude, and, after a bout of failed communication, they nobleman tells Magus that he will take Magus to the local ministry to see what they will do with him. The nobleman almost thwacks Magus with a birch stick to hurry him up, but Magus promptly disintegrates the nobleman. The villagers flee. Magus creates a heavy rainstorm and hides in a house and waits for an hour. The region is flooding, as it is not a region used to heavy rains, and Magus successfully Plane Shifts to Exius's house.
At Exius's house Magus goes to the Omni-teleportation Pad and teleports to Tete. Between a choice of forest or castle, Magus chooses castle. He surprises the guards there but settles the issue with a few flashes of his noble papers. He goes wandering about the castle, asking passerbyers about two missing persons. They have not hurt of these people, and Magus fails to find news. Magus contacts Brave with his sending stone. Brave is all alone outside of Gamayun's palace. Magus knows time works strangely in Throne. They talk, Magus tells Brave that he cannot help her, as it is too dangerous to come to Throne and help her at the moment. Magus contacts Exius, but Exius cannot help her either. Magus keeps the call on for a bit, but later closes the call as he approaches a village.
Magus sees a festival going on. A Fall festival. Magus asks around about his missing friends, but no one has heard of them. Magus approaches a Halfling bard who is putting on a puppet show for some kids there. Magus asks the bard some questions. The bard tells Magus that he is traveling to the town of Strawberryfield. Magus says goodbye to the bard, and gets some leads on questioning the local feyfolk. Magus heads towards the woods. He meets a funny gnome person who is very short and also very unhelpful. Magus resigns himself and goes to Strawberryfield, which the gnome mentioned in passing. Throughout all this is various communications with Brave, who is sporadically either walking for decades on end or for only five minutes or so. She is not happy with Magus for leaving her alone in Throne.
Magus goes to sleep on his journey to Strawberryfield. Brave appears in the morning, unhappy, cold, and her left side is covered in a purplish grim wriggling with eyes. She has new gear. She tells Magus that she will help him, in the meanwhile, though she refuses to tell why. The purple grime is keeping her ruined body together, like a walking hospital bed. It is also keeping her mentally stable. She doesn't tell Magus what it is. She clearly despises the wizard. She rejects any attempts to heal her by Magus. They travel together, a bit awkwardly.
At Strawberryfield Magus sees a lot of Imperial soldiers here. The Kingdom of Tete is not Imperial territory, so this is strange. Magus goes to a quartermaster and asks what is going on. The quartermaster seems to think that Magus is part of an adventuring group. Magus requests to see Felmourne and Simon, and is allowed to do so. Magus talk with the two and learns that a large cavern has appeared here. Felmourne and Simon have been mole-whacking appearances of Melkear's minions, but every since the Unbreakable's Vulga trip, the appearances have taken a more weighty and sinister tone. Apparently, in the cavern beneath them, Aliguid is being summoned. Great sacrifices are needed to summon a powerful Devil. There are three lieutenants of Melkear. Magus realizes that his two missing friends + him make an opposing trio of celestials. Magus contacts Exius for assistance, who tell Magus that he ought to search the West side of the island. He is currently on the East side. Magus needs to find darkly fey for his friend though, and he trusts Exius, and so he wishes Felmourne good luck but takes his leave. Felmourne lets Magus take Teddy, a powerful bard with low self-esteen. Teddy is not suitable for a sojourn against Devils, who are notoriously manipulative. So Felmourne lets Magus take Teddy to assist his adventures.
Simon teleports Magus using a new kind of teleportation that goes through Coelum (astral plane) rather than Throne. Magus lets Brave stay at his house, and asks Exius to pick up Brave to diagnose and help her. Brave accepts, this time. Magus leaves Coelum.
The new duo now appear in a glade with a hill in the centre. Teddy summons a pegasus, who tells the pair to wait here until nightfall. It's a near full moon tonight. The fey will be out. They wait. Night falls. The pair follow the soft sound of music until they see, while peering from the bushes, a dancing ring of shining Elven folk, dancing around a tree on which is seated Fionn. Magus messages Fionn, who tells him to wait until morning.
The pair moves back, and Magus searches for other Feyfolk. He finds some fairies and pixies and sprites, but they are decidely unhelpful and too unfocused to give him the information he needs. Magus sees the same Gnome from before. The gnome gives more unhelpful advice that merely confuses Magus. They wait until daybreak and go to Fionn. Fionn tells them of the Shii Elves, also called the Seelie or Twilight Elves. Fionn himself is of the Vanwi, and so his clan is separate from the Shii. Anyways, he directs the pair towards Faery, and the pair follow Fionn until they happen upon a great forest. The forest ground has many hundreds of clear pools of water. Fionn tells the pair that each pool leads to a different realm. The pair are directed to the realm of the Shii. They jump in, and Fionn says goodbye.
In the realm of the Shii, the duo follow a shimmering Elf woman. They only see her backside. They crisscross through ever twilit woods, the half-faded moon hanging in the air, until they happen upon a cave, entrance facing the west. The Elf woman dissapears. They enter the cave. It is a small and simple cave. At the end of it is a block of marble. Encased in the marble is Aria, Magus's friend.
The session ends.
Finding Erin
The party stands over the alabaster bound body of Aria. Teddy is thoroughly unhelpful without Magus's input, and so he lounges around. Magus thinks over various ways to free the body. First, he uses a mage eye to scout the surrounding twilit forest and to see what's around. The forest is the same as ever, with alien trees and strange, glowing flowers. There are animals, but they are quick to avoid the invisible magic eye. Magus ponders for a few moments while Teddy sips on tea with his pegasus. Magus, at last, tries to break the alabaster, considering it is a soft mineral. He makes good headway, but Teddy doesn't help. After a few hours, Magus is finished and Aria's body is able to be pulled out of the alabaster. She is still unconscious, and, as Magus is quite tired, he casts the Magnificent Mansion Spell and the party retires for the night. After a night's rest, Magus wakes up and finds that Aria is awake. It seems that her unconsciousness was related somewhat to the Elven Twilit Realm, and because the mansion was in another dimension, she woke up. Unfortunately, she does not remember much besides being sent to the Island of Tete on a mission from Exius. She was gone for two years and felt like none had passed.
Aria is quite worried about Erin. Magus tries to inquire further, but as her memory was gone, he doesn't have much else to go on. So they decide to chill and chat for a bit. They head out to the dining hall where Teddy is already gorging himself. There, Aria introduces herself. Magus also tells Aria about the troubles he has had with Brave, though he doesn't mention Brave's name. Aria is unable to really comfort him. Magus then gets a call from Exius. Exius tells Magus that Brave went on a rampage in Magus's house and either stole or destroyed his stuff. Magus is upset. The party chats for a little while afterward and Magus decides they need to talk to Exius for greater direction on what to do. And besides, Aria ought to return home after so long. So the party planar teleports out and return to Coelum -- the Astral Plane. They go to Exius's house and there Aria is dropped off. Exius tells Magus how there were some Devilish conflicts a few years ago he just wanted Aria to scout, but nothing too drastic.
Magus decides to visit his house to check the damages. He finds his house in ruins, and the whole place is either burnt or torn down. There are arrows everywhere, and small flames still flicker in dark corners. Magus wanders about, checking the damages. Everything is ruined or stolen, just as Exius said. Magus checks on his bodies. Only the rogue is there, but it was destroyed. The dragonborn seemed to have been stolen away. Magus is missing Inisfail's stuff. All the magic items were taken away. The helm of encouragement is still there, though.
Magus is again, upset, and goes back to Exius's house to use the teleportation pad and teleport back to Tete. He returns to the palace, Teddy in tow, and they travel to the town of Strawberryshire. Once they arrive at the town, Magus realizes that the town, while the same size, has a much smaller population of soldiers. Magus picks on a random soldier and asks him what's going on. The soldier recognizes that Magus is a powerful wizard, and tells Magus that they are packing up to meet up with the Archmage Simon and Felmourne, although the Three-fold Paladin Order is here to take command of the remaining Host. Magus wants to talk to Simon and Felmourne. The soldier directs Magus to Tamubren, the leader of the Three-fold Order. Magus heads over to the tent and talks to Tamubren. Magus belittles Tamubren somewhat and asks the paladin whether he is aware of a greater battle going on between the two realms of Coelum and Throne. Tamubren, knowing quite well that Coelum and Throne are always at war with each other, is bemused but is respectful to the celestial, a kind of being which Tamubren does not hold in terribly high esteem. He is quick to go to business, and decides to direct Magus to the Archmage Simon and Felmourne. He shows Magus the maps to the camp that they are currently at, in case Magus wishes to travel there himself. But as Simon was coming the next day to teleport everyone to the camp, Magus decided to simply wait a day.
Magus resides in the Mansion with Teddy still following him. While Magus sleeps, a biological-like portal opens in his room. Magus immediately awakens and tries to prepare himself for a hard defense against Brave. Brave appears decked in Inisfail's gear. She has the dragonborn's body in tow and drops it on Magus's bed as a token of peace, and to encourage Magus to listen to her. Magus listens. Brave tells Magus that she was betrayed by Exius, and that Exius tried to kill her with an assassin. She killed the assassin, and subsumed it into her arm, giving her information on what was going on. As Magus's house blew up, Brave took the items within as either recompense for Magus's abandonment of her, and as a way to give the items to Magus as a peace offering, as Brave suspected that Exius would, in some way, tell Magus that she wasn't trustworthy.
Magus is speechless. Brave continues. She tells Magus that she truly despises him and hates him, but she hates the Devils much more, and, as Magus was probably the best person to team up with to kill the Devils - as the Empire would probably want to 'examine' her rather than work with her - she came to him to team up, one last time. Magus accepts her request. They agree on going to save Erin, who is currently in a layer of a cave about to be sacrificed to cultists. Brave believes she knows where he is. Brave picks her own room and goes to bed.
They wake up and head to the dining hall, where Teddy is already gorging himself. Brave says hello. There is an awkward breakfast with Brave making passive-aggressive comments against Magus. They finish, and they use Brave's teleportation arm to enter into a cavern. There is an overwhelming sense of 'evil' going down the cave.
The party goes forwards, and Magus hears the sounds of demonic beasts up ahead. Brave looks at Magus for the cue on what to do. Magus asks Brave to decide for him. Brave says stealth is good, and that the party can sneak by climbing on the ceiling top. Magus says that only Brave can do that. They decide to sneak past the beasts on the ground. They all roll quite well for stealth.
Either way, the party sneaks past the horrifyingly ugly Howlers, and manage to reach a rotten wooden door. Teddy goes to open it but is immediately set upon by an Alkilith -- a sort of mossy devil. A battle commences. Teddy casts silence. Magus is very unhappy with it, as he is a wizard. Teddy can only use crossbow bolts. The creature dies silently. The party then convenes and discusses what to do with the next room, which they had observed to have many monsters within. They decide to charge in, lead the monsters through the hallway, and blow them all up.
Brave charges in, kills four monsters in one go, and runs back. The rest of the party holds their stuff until the monsters appear. The pustulent and diseased humanoids are the monsters they are fighting. These monsters run at them, but Brave makes quick work of them, with a bit of help from Teddy and Magus. They go into the room and look around. Those monsters were feasting on the carcasses of various cultists. Those cultists were too torn up to see anything about them. The room only had to slowly dimming fireplaces. The party gleams nothing else, although Teddy insists on finding something more within the rocks. Teddy also opens a door with a stick, hoping its not trapped.
Teddy is immediately attacked. Either way, Brave kills the monster in seconds, although she had to expend a sharpshooter tick.
There the session ends.
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