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Alistair Drake

2023-11-29T23:37:06Z

Sae:

Alistair Drake, known as “Al” to his friends, is an Emergency Department physician at Newcrown Medical Center in Quelmar's Call of Cthulhu campaign ''Trial of Dreams''. Recently divorced, the 30-year-old juggles the stress of working 80-hour weeks with helping his ex-wife raise their son Brian. His life--along with the lives of at least four others--was recently complicated by the death of their mutual friend Mark and the resulting appearance of a young child who haunts the dreams of all five individuals. They all have reluctantly agreed to a weekly “playdate" with the strange child in their dreams to keep the peace. The child, named Kenzie, included the stipulation they must exit the dream before “she” arrives—a much taller, and far more malicious entity with claws.

Current events revealed that Kenzie has been in a coma for a little over a year at a nearby hospital. Further investigation has revealed a second victim by the name Eugene Bigsby. Speaking to their sibling, the group came to understand Eugene had also fallen into a coma some time before Kenzie, and is seemingly trapped in a room full of spiders next to the room where Kenzie is located in the dreamscape. Al’s companion Elandra attempted to communicate this to Kenzie, including the fact the child is in a coma, but Kenzie didn’t appear to understand.

In the waking world the party investigated a park Eugene once frequented often, where Al’s acquaintance Harold struck up a conversation with an ice cream truck vendor who provided him with a flyer for the “Midsommar Madness” festival. The group’s resident spiritual guru, Penelope, recognized some of the symbols on the flyer as belonging to a dark, chaotic subculture that holds the belief “life is suffering”.

When presented with their findings, the group's museum curator Elondra realized the story behind the symbols is even darker: a cult by the name Misfortune and Company is attached to them, following an ancient god that represents chaos. In their eyes, wherever suffering manifests, it will affect people indiscriminately. Elondra further stated this belief in the old god generally holds true only for the cult itself, while those in the surrounding subculture are only there for the subversive nature of the art.

Al and resident magician Ba'el tried to enter the "playdate" dream together, but failed. In the meantime, Al used the hospital's databanks to see if any other coma patients have turned up in the past couple of years that might coincide with the timing of Kenzie and Eugene's events. To his surprise and horror, over 60 people in the area have fallen victim to a coma in the past two years--far above the national average. As he learned this, the computer screen gradually flickered and glitched until only static remained, slightly shredding Al's sanity.

Investigation is ongoing.

Alistair Drake

2023-11-15T19:46:31Z

Sae:

Alistair Drake

2023-11-15T19:43:59Z

Sae:

Alistair Drake

2023-11-01T17:25:57Z

Sae: Created page with "Alistair Drake, known as “Al” to his friends, is an Emergency Department physician at Newcrown Medical Center in Quelmar's Call of Cthulhu campaign ''Trial of Dreams''. Recently divorced, the 30-year-old juggles the stress of working 80-hour weeks with helping his ex-wife raise their son Brian. His life--along with the lives of at least four others--was recently complicated by the death of their mutual friend Mark and the resulting appearance of a young child who hau..."

Samantha

2023-08-07T12:14:03Z

Sae: Created page with "{{Infobox_character|name={{PAGENAME}}|gender=Female|height=5'9"|eyes=hazel}} == Physical Appearance == Samantha Gillis stands at 5'9", with medium length red hair and hazel eyes. == History == Samantha Gillis is a recent college graduate residing in Ravendean. Living a thoroughly mediocre and unsatisfying life in a dead-end job, she feels like she just exists rather than actually lives. During an attack by large reptiles on the town, she retreated to the Screen Nest wi..."

{{Infobox_character|name={{PAGENAME}}|gender=Female|height=5'9"|eyes=hazel}}

== Physical Appearance ==
Samantha Gillis stands at 5'9", with medium length red hair and hazel eyes.

== History ==
Samantha Gillis is a recent college graduate residing in Ravendean. Living a thoroughly mediocre and unsatisfying life in a dead-end job, she feels like she just exists rather than actually lives. During an attack by large reptiles on the town, she retreated to the Screen Nest with a group of other residents in an attempt to hide.

Although she evaded the reptilian creatures that had attacked, she was impaled by a metal spike and drawn into a quicksilver-like sphere calling itself Akrellix Dyalla. From that moment on Sam, along with several other survivors from the Screen Nest, were unknowingly forced to participate in a simulation as various other individuals from Quelmar’s history, and only recently remembered their true identities. Now they’re struggling to escape the simulation and have been granted various strange powers associated with various dice—but so has their captor.

== Powers and Abilities ==
Each Screen Nest survivor has been given powers of some kind. Samantha has become a “Godbinder”: someone who makes deals with higher powers in exchange for miracles. She was contacted inside the simulation by a woman calling herself Lilix, and bargained with her for help in her endeavor to escape. Sam has a limited capacity to heal her acquaintances, and can attack enemies from a short distance using a light-based sunburst. During the final showdown with the Akrellix Dyalla she also briefly became an avatar of fate when she struck a bargain with another, unnamed entity.

[[Category:Player Characters]]

System Agnostic/Episode 4.5: Live or DIE

2023-08-06T02:14:47Z

Sae: Created page with "The final chapter of System Agnostic picks up in the present day museum of Paraska Manor, where a battle is taking place between the strangely metallic, shapeshifting little girl who’d visited the museum earlier that day, and the taller man wearing the holy symbol that once belonged to Eloise Merhermbler. The fight passes by a familiar flower in the museum—the blood of chaos—where Aranwe resides. He decides to lend his power to the holy cleric, and his companion..."

The final chapter of System Agnostic picks up in the present day museum of Paraska Manor, where a battle is taking place between the strangely metallic, shapeshifting little girl who’d visited the museum earlier that day, and the taller man wearing the holy symbol that once belonged to Eloise Merhermbler.

The fight passes by a familiar flower in the museum—the blood of chaos—where Aranwe resides. He decides to lend his power to the holy cleric, and his companion Vilya shoots thorny vines out from the plants that wrap around the girl.

As the combatants continue into the weapons display room and pass by Brodin’s spear, Domus chooses to stay a passive observer and not intervene. The fight goes on as the camera returns to the simulated world, where Eyelean, Ronny, Samantha and Dom now face down the being who first took them from Ravendean—the Akrellix Dyalla.

The walls of the simulation are pierced by the thorny vines of the blood of chaos flower, to which the AD takes note and remarks, “So that’s how we’re playing.”

Eyelean kicks off the battle by stepping in front of Arnold and Meghan, then slamming a translucent tower shield into the ground. Ronny pulls out his longbow and readies himself to shoot the AD, calling out that it doesn’t have to go this way—referring to releasing the bird from the simulation. Looking around, Ronny sees Iraga, the same cat they’ve all been dealing with since the simulation began.

Samantha readies herself to send a Healing Light to anyone that gets hurt, while Dom is still reeling from the realization he sacrificed his Hype Spear in his deal with The Fair and lost the chance to ever be happy again.

Dom approaches the AD and says, “Let’s get this over with,” before wondering aloud what it will take to kill the sentient machine. He comes to realize that a machine has no emotions, but the very act of feeling one might be enough to hurt it. The AD responds that the knowledge won’t matter, as two of the party members (Ronny and Samantha) have already made deals with The Fair and will not leave the simulation.

The Akrellix Dyalla seems to draw light from the D20 in its eye, forming an identical D20 that it crushes in its hand. A giant creature that seems to be wearing Eyelean’s face emerges from the ground; Eyelean, who has an identical twin named Andi, knows better.

As the creature’s twisted form becomes more visible, a massive version of Ronin’s head emerges, with the face of Samantha’s best friend Katelyn growing from the back of it. A strange sound comes from Meghan as she also seems her father’s face in the writhing mass. Dom notices its tail is comprised of his former Hype Spear.

One of the walls of the simulation is blown out, and a very angry Xentalia emerges from it with the dagger still in her leg. It’s unclear who she is going to attack. In the meantime, Eyelean expands the shield to protect the trio behind her and steps in front of it. She fires at the Akrellix Dyalla, throwing it off balance.

The chimera the AD summoned charges at Ronny and Dom, who are closest. Dom realizes one of its arms looks remarkably like Chonnnk’s, and it swipes at him, catching his armor.

Ronny turns his arrows on the chimera, but still approaches Iraga and begs them to save his bird. Iraga stands and stretches, kicking up a pebble that subsequently makes its way down to the chimera’s bear paw. It rears back, distracted by it.

Samantha closes her eyes and tries to cast Bless, managing to earn Lillix’s blessing on Eyelean, Dom…and Xentalia. Time slows, and Lillix steps out, commenting she hadn’t expected that. Samantha returns that she doesn’t know what Lillix has against the earth genasi, but Lillix claims she doesn’t have anything against Xentalia.

Lillix turns to ask seemingly no one if they want to explain it, and from the other side of the room a tiefling in leather armor steps up. Samantha recognizes both of them as the couple in the painting from the prehistoric temple.

The tiefling explains he wasn’t sure if Xentalia would be of clear mind when the time for battle arrived, and the blade “unlocks some memories” that would help. He admits Xentalia might be angry with them, and with Samantha as she was technically the conduit, but reminds Samantha that’s the price of making deals before they both disappear.

Xentalia glares at Samantha as she pulls the dagger out of her leg, but starts moving instead to join the other three members who bear the D4 shards. Dom tries to chop off the chimera’s Hype Spear tail; he fails, but does manage to catch it off balance.

In true villain style, the Akrellix Dyalla casts Fireball on everyone, injuring the entire party and destroying Eyelean’s shield.

The D4 members step forward in unison, lock eyes onto the chimera and cast Magic Missile on it, wounding it. Eyelean interposes herself between the D4 team and the chimera, activating the forcefield shield again.

The chimera tries to attack Dom with the Hype Spear tail, knocking him off balance but not injuring him. In the meantime, Iraga looks at Ronin, and Ronny can see the cat calculating and processing the deal Ronny made with The Fair: if Ronin stays, Ronny still can’t leave—but there’s a way that Ronny *can* leave the simulation. In a movement too fast for Ronny to react, Iraga leaps past him and swallows the bird, extending its jaws like a snake to devour it whole. A panicked Ronny tries to kick Iraga, trying unsuccessfully to get it to spit Ronin back out.

Xentalia manages to reach the other three D4 members and putter hands on their shoulders. Crystal tendrils wrap around their shoulders. Samantha shoots a Sun Blast at the chimera, burning it up from the inside out. In retaliation, the Akrellix Dyalla mimics Eyelean’s form and capabilities, constructing a version of her using the same light from the D20 as before.

The clone of Eyelean shoots a sniper rifle at the original one, wearing down the shield in front. Dom had been hoping to pick up his Hype Spear from the chimera’s remains, but it was burned up in the Sun Blast. Instead, he attempts to hug the Akrellix Dyalla in an attempt to make it feel emotions. He urges it to “let it all out”, but the AD makes it clear its only intention is to “kill the fool and the one who talks to gods.” Dom says he gave up his happiness to be a writer, and urges the AD to end the game and go home.

Dom feels a tap on his back, and the AD whispers in his ear that Dom didn’t have happiness before because he was “too stupid to realize where happiness comes from,” and he didn’t give up that happiness here in the simulation to become a successful writer—because he was never a successful writer to begin with. Dom reels from the pain of the AD’s Vicious Mockery.

Eyelean plants her shield in the ground and shoots at her clone, destroying their shield and forcing them to step aside. The clone returns fire, breaking the original Eyelean’s shield and killing her instantly.

Ronny tries reaching into Iraga’s throat to save Ronin, and the cat hocks up the bird in a ball of feathers—shaken, but alive.

Samantha weighs her options heavily, seeing Eyelean’s body on the ground, but reluctantly focuses instead on reaching out to any “dieties” in the simulation for help, acknowledging the party is outmatched. A voice sounds behind her, and Samantha knows it’s the tiefling from earlier. He says he can help her, but she’d be committing herself to the web of fate. She agrees, and suddenly gains insight into the fate of the larger world around her as she becomes an Avatar of Destiny. She turns to Dom and casts Healing Light, helping him recover a bit.

The Akrellix Dyalla again uses Vicious Mockery, telling Dom that success is easy if you set a bar for yourself, but Dom has no goals so he can’t possibly find success. Dom drops to his knees in tears, but chooses to use Creative Violence to take away the AD’s inability to feel. He feels completely drained of all emotion as that energy transfer to the AD. The machine starts to understand how the party feels about what it’s doing to them, lowering its guard. The D4 team takes advantage of this weakness, casting more magic missiles. The attack seems to be fatal, but at the last moment the D20 in its eye flares and the AD is whole once again.

Eyelean recalls her favorite smell being that of old musty Bibles from the pews of a church, but realizes she can’t smell anything anymore—save for the body odor of her friends. She can smell the blood in their veins, the pulse in their necks. And as a new Fallen, one thing is clear: she knows she can go home if she only kills one of them.

Unable to utilize her guns, but very much able to use her claws, Eyelean takes the opportunity to lunge at Samantha, felling her in a single blow. Killing Samantha causes Eyelean to return to her former self, and she’ll be able to leave the simulation.

Ronny casts Healing Touch on his bird Ronin, and asks Iraga why they would eat his best friend. Iraga hisses and claws at his shoulder where the D6 sits, dislodging it. The cat swallows Ronin again, this time with the D6, and Ronny comes to understand that trying to pull the bird out again will risk both of them getting stuck here. At least this way, if the fight ends soon, the bird has a chance of escaping the simulation inside Iraga’s stomach.

Seeing the Akrellix Dyalla still standing, Ronny attacks with his longbow. The AD seems to fall yet again, but reality seems to glitch and—once again—the machine stands untouched.

Dom, void of all emotion, understands how the AD feels most of the time now. He picks up Karavox, bringing it down on the Akrellix Dyalla’s head. It splits the head, but reality glitches again and the AD is whole. Dom comes to understand that the D20 in the machine’s eye is giving it the ability to cheat death; however, bound to the same rules as the party, the ability is limited.

The AD finally feels emotion: unbridled hatred. It strikes out at Dom, killing him immediately. Looking around the battlefield, it gets irritated that Dom made it feel empathy and declares the game over and will let the living party members go home if everyone still alive agrees. Eyelean, sparing a glance at Samantha’s dead body, agrees immediately.

Ronny breaks down, upset that Ronin is inside Iraga, and tearfully claims the bird has been his most loyal friend when he lived as Aranwe and stayed by their graveside as they moved on with Vilya. The Akrellix Dyalla tells Ronny it will make sure Ronin arrives outside safely, and is backed up by Syd from the D4 team. Ronny then agrees as well, knowing he is still bound by The Fair to stay inside the simulation. Xentalia also agrees. In a flash of light, those still living arrive in the obliterated ruins of Paraska Manor—right in front of the cleric and the little girl.

Syd coaxes Iraga to cough up Ronin, who is now a real bird and no longer simulated. The quicksilver girl irately declares they never want to feel emotions ever again, and says they’re going to put the world in the deepest box ever so they’ll never have to deal with emotions. The girl transforms into a sphere, which turns into a bucket. A scrap of paper is spit out of the bucket that just says “gods damn it!”

Eyelean realizes she has no gun, no knives, the D10 is gone…and her firing arm is gone below the elbow. She realizes The Fair was right: accepting their gift comes with consequences.

The others, it turns out, have also lost pieces of them. Arnold still can’t see, Meghan has lost her tongue, and Sad has lost his ears. Eyelean scrambles to fetch some paper and a pen for Meghan to communicate with. The cleric says he was expecting the party, although he’d been told there were more people. Arnold tells him they didn’t make it.

The cleric informs them that “going back” isn’t that simple, but is interrupted by Aaron Duscalla—who had been healed, not murdered, by the cleric in Chapter 2. Meghan runs to her father and embraces him. Eyelean comes to understand the D4 team’s agreement with The Fair: either Arnold would regain his sight but they would be trapped in the simulation until someone died, or they would each lose a part of themselves that the others could make up for. Arnold can see through the other two, Sad can hear through them, and both Arnold and Syd now know Meghan’s thoughts.

Xentalia slips into the earth without explanation or apology. The others can tell she’s unsettled that people died for her to escape, but they also realize that, if she’s destined to destroy Quelmar, it won’t be due to this.

Back in the simulation, Ronny comes to find the familiar face of Puud Een. Ronny asks her to validate that he did the right thing, but she says she can’t; she’s not here to judge, only collect. Ronny laments that he, as Aranwe, abandoned Ronin and chose to die, but she gently corrects him that he didn’t choose to die, only where his should would travel. In fact, Aranwe let Ronin live, as did Ronny.

Puud Men informs Ronny he can stay at the inn, which she has taken over, or choose to help his Fallen friends. To that end, Samantha is struggling with her current state, realizing she can no longer smell the roasts from her neighborhood coffeeshop—or anything ever again. She doesn’t remember her birthday or her mother’s name, or even Katelyn. She’s just…empty.

Dom is experiencing the same issue, unable to remember his grandparents or the smell of his favorite ice cream parlor. He has no memory of his favorite book, and he doesn’t feel anything other than that same aching emptiness.

Believing she was a failure and her life amounted to nothing even in the simulation, Samantha tries to claw her own throat out. She succeeds, but discovers that the Fallen don’t stay dead. She tries a second time, but is stopped by Puud Een, who says Samantha didn’t fail because some went home—and Xentalia is free. Samantha says it’ll have to be enough.

Dom confusedly asks what happened. Puud Een informs everyone the entire simulated world was compartmentalized, buried deep and far away from the Akrellix Dyalla because it “didn’t want to feel things.” She says there’s a way to help Dom and Samantha recover themselves…and, when all is said and done, possibly even go home at some point. Ronny agrees to help, and all four of them head down an empty simulated corridor in search of restoration.

System Agnostic/Episode 4.4: Master Plans

2023-06-22T23:42:08Z

Sae: Created page with "The fourth chapter of the arc opens where the last episode left off: with Xentalia standing over a heavily injured Syd, blood on the earth genasi’s hands. The group approa..."

The fourth chapter of the arc opens where the last episode left off: with Xentalia standing over a heavily injured Syd, blood on the earth genasi’s hands.

The group approaches Xentalia cautiously, Eyelean casually keeping her gun handy and Ronny calling out “Hey, are you evil?” which confuses Xentalia further. Ronny touches her and casts Detect Good and Evil, only for the spell to glitch. He realizes Xen isn’t good *or* evil—she’s “The One Who Solidifies”, and transcends such labels.

Ronny manages to patch Syd up a bit with a Healing Touch, and Xentalia wonders why she forgot how to do that. Samantha asks Syd what happened, and he says he was pulled through the void and landed in this area, feeling something in his body break—only for the broken part to vanish. Xentalia sheepishly admits she tried to heal Syd but ended up accidentally erasing part of his rib cage.

Samantha heals Syd a little more; both she and Ronny notice the remaining two shards of the D4 embedded in Syd’s rib cage (or what remains of it) and Xentalia’s forehead respectively. Dom recommends prying the shards out of the two of them along with Arnold and Meghan, but Ronny and Samantha shoot that idea down quickly.

The group tries to determine their next steps. They acknowledge that the simulation of Puud Een pointed out if they all want to leave the metal sphere, the “thing trying to kill them” also has to vote to leave. They discuss killing the Akrellix Dyalla’s avatar that keeps showing up, but the understanding that Xentalia might bring about the end of Quelmar if she goes back lingers in the backs of their minds.

Dom recommends leaving the earth genasi behind and Eyelean immediately agrees, but Xentalia (obviously) does not. Samantha hesitantly asks if the name “Lillix” means anything to Xen, but the genasi answers it doesn’t. Samantha goes on to explain the deal she made with Lillix: use the dagger given to her to stab Xentalia in exchange for resurrecting Arnold. She adds that she’s sorry she didn’t know Arnold’s sight wasn’t also returned, but Arnold is still smoking a joint and doesn’t seem to mind at the moment.

Xentalia is obviously not thrilled with the idea of being stabbed, and tells Samantha as much. Eyelean decides this means the group should kill the genasi, but Samantha disagrees—the order was to stab, not kill Xentalia.

Samantha and Xentalia continue arguing, causing the genasi to back up against the wall. Ronny suggests stabbing Xentalia “in the butt cheek”, while Dom tries to figure out a way to get Karavox and lure the Akrellix Dyalla to them, using the axe as leverage to force the simulation to let everyone (except Xentalia) go home.

Eyelean finally lets Xentalia know they’ve been told she might destroy the world, to which Dom adds it must be true because it was seen “in a vision in a bucket”. Xentalia questions their sanity for taking advice from a bucket, and asks what a “Quelmar” is.

As the others question her further, they realize she’s forgotten some of what’s transpired in the simulation, especially any knowledge of Karavox. She only knows they’re trapped and need to get out. Samantha points out the first simulation had Xentalia technically destroying Quelmar, to which the genasi counters she only “cataclysm-ed” it.

As Xentalia begins to piece things together, she insists she has to go home, but can’t explain any further about her situation because it might explode the heads of the other party members. Samantha also takes this moment to remind the others that, according to Puud Een, the opposite may also be true: that Xentalia may destroy Quelmar from *within* the Akrellix Dyalla as well.

Dom moves away from the party to think about their options. Ronny asks Syd if anything makes sense, and Sad asks what happened to Arnold’s eyes. Ronny says nothing’s wrong with them because Arnold doesn’t have eyes anymore, and Arnold says he might not “be able to run the thing [the Screen Nest projector] anymore.” Syd say it’s a problem for a future time, after they all get out.

As Dom reaches the exit of the temple, he hears a voice next to him say, “Makes you wonder why you do what you do, doesn’t it?” Dom turns to see the Akrellix Dyalla’s avatar, now more human-like than before. The AD mentions he knows where Karavox is, even if he can’t reach it right now. He acknowledges the party’s resourcefulness, and claims Xentalia was never meant to reach Quelmar. The sphere was damaged when she hit the earth, so it took everything around her—including the Screen Nest survivors.

He tells Dom that Xentalia is a threat, and Dom proposes a solution: they help the AD merge back with its “old self” and bring it to full capacity again, and in turn it lets them all return to Ravendean save for Xentalia. The AD tells Dom there’s a brick in the back of the temple that, when moved, will open the trapdoor they found in the prehistory simulation. If they enter, they’ll invoke “The Fair”, where Dom is to ask them if the AD returning to its former self is “a thing that happens.” If the answer is affirmative, the idea is on. And if it isn’t, the group will find Karavox, and “then we’ll have fun.” Dom agrees.

Samantha insists Xentalia must know Lillix, if the latter wants her stabbed with the dagger, but Xentalia is equally insistent she doesn’t. Samantha weighs her options as her head begins to hurt. She asks Ronny what his thoughts are, and he agrees that the path where no one dies seems to be the best course. Samantha tries to convince Xentalia to agree to be stabbed non-lethally to save Arnold, but the genasi counters she doesn’t even know Arnold. Samantha’s head hurts more. Ronny decides to move towards the door of the temple and tells Samantha to “do what she needs to do.”

Samantha makes her move and tries to stab Xentalia’s calf even as she apologizes for doing so, but can’t penetrate the earth genasi’s skin. She retaliates by slamming part of the wall behind her into Samantha. Eyelean covers Meghan and Arnold protectively. Ronny pulls out his longbow and tells Xentalia that stabbing her is the condition of letting her leave with them. Dom steps forward and says he has a plan, asking both sides to stop fighting.

Samantha backs up and silently asks Lillix for more information on *how* to stab an earth genasi, but only hears the other woman’s voice in her head say “It’s not my problem, dear.” Xentalia backs off as well, but the stone fist is still hovering in the air.

Dom explains the deal he made with the Akrellix Dyalla. Xentalia responds that being stabbed is almost a preferable solution, but quickly retracts her statement when Ronny encourages Samantha to try again. Dom tells everyone to head into the basement to talk to “The Fair”.

The pain in Samantha’s head increases even more. She tells Lillix she’s making stabbing Xentalia impossible, to which Lilli quips, “Oh, you mean like resurrection?” Samantha is at a loss and tries one more time to ask the genasi to go with their plan, but Xentalia refuses. Eyelean declares she’s “over this”, takes out her gun and shoots Xentalia in the thigh as she calls out to Samantha to stab her. Samantha takes the opportunity, successfully stabbing the genasi.

Xentalia screams and pulls away, the dagger still embedded in her leg. The room begins to shake, and portions of the room begin to vanish. Eyelean grabs Meghan and Arnold and head towards the temple basement, followed by the others. On the way into the basement, Samantha drags Syd with her and tells Xentalia she didn’t lie—she wants everyone to get out alive. She tells the genasi to follow them.

The basement is freezing, blue ice crystals twinkling in the walls. Two crystals merge to form a portal of sorts, shadow beyond it. Etched above the doorway it says “My gift to you. —AD”.

Samantha goes back to find Xentalia, but the hole they all came through has caved in. She rejoins the others. Ronny jumps through the shadowy doorway, a skittish but loyal Ronin still on his shoulder. Dom asks his Hype Spear what it thinks, to which the spear instructs him to breathe in and “GET HYPE!” Dom walks through the doorway, followed by Eyelean who leads Meghan, Arnold and Syd. Samantha brings up the rear, making sure everyone got through okay.

Ronny is swallowed by darkness briefly, before two entities appear before him. They’re identical to each other, each bearing wings on their back and a diamond of light in their forehead. They only differ in color: one is pink, the other blue. They introduce themselves in unison as The Fair, and tell him to answer their test in exchange for them answering a question he might possess.

The Fair acknowledges that Ronny cares for Ronin, and informs him he can choose to let Ronin leave Die if one of the party members stays within it. Ronny uses his question to ask if Die is where they are now, to which The Fair responds it’s the world they watch. Ronny chooses to stay within the simulation himself to free Ronin, and the deal is struck.

Dom finds himself in shadow as well, with The Fair approaching him with the same offer. The Fair tells Dom he can choose to keep the Hype Spear, or keep the pen with which he uses to write stories. Dom debates aloud the difference between being happy and being successful, before ultimately choosing the pen, thinking he can use the lessons he’s learned from the spear in his writing efforts.

The spear turns back into a pen. Dom realizes there’s an empty feeling within him now, and while he may still write successful novels, he’ll never be happy again. The Fair asks what his question is, to which he asks if it’s possible to put the simulation back together. They inform him it isn’t, and they leave.

Eyelean is met by the Fair, to which her Fair Field announces “Fair detected.” She recognizes the correlation between The Fair and the technology she’s been given and drops to one knee before them in a sign of respect. They tell the Neo to identify herself, which she obliges, and they offer her a gift.

For the first time, they speak individually, warning Eyelean if she accepts their gift and returns to her world, there would be consequences. She accepts regardless, thinking of her twin sister. For her question she asks what the other members of her party gave up, to which The Fair reveal the choices Ronny and Dom had to make—but not their answers. She amends the question to include Samantha, Meghan, Arnold and Syd, but The Fair inform her the choices have not yet been made and leave.

The Fair come to Samantha, giving her the same offer. They give her the choice of staying within the simulation and releasing Xentalia, “She Who Solidifies”, possibly letting her wreak havoc and destroy the world, or return home herself and condemn Xentalia to a life within the simulation.

Samantha is surprised to learn Xentalia is still alive, but ultimately decides she can’t willingly condemn another person to a life sentence based on something they might or might not do in the future. She chooses to stay, but her question is whether or not she’ll ever make a difference to anyone; her life in Ravendean was disappointing and mediocre, and she’s worried of that not changing even if she stays. They seem to respond in the affirmative, saying “This is among the things that happen,” before disappearing.

The party feels more presences approaching in the darkness, followed by the presence of the Akrellix Dyalla itself. It acknowledges The Fair said it won’t be repaired, making it flawed. But to be flawed is to be a creature—which also brings the capacity to help or to harm.

The AD goes on to point out everyone can only end the game and leave if all parties vote to do so, but two among the party—Ronny and Samantha—can no longer leave, meaning no one can leave. It reiterates “the dead don’t get a vote”, and a pulse of light fills the room. Everyone can see each other again, as well as the sharply dressed avatar of the Akrellix Dyalla. It declares that choices must be made—who lives, and who dies.

System Agnostic/Episode 4.3: The Roads Home

2023-05-15T15:20:17Z

Sae: Created page with "The third episode picks up at the tavern in Outrys where the party had once traveled as their simulated prehistoric counterparts. They see Meghan Duscalla there, who had been..."

The third episode picks up at the tavern in Outrys where the party had once traveled as their simulated prehistoric counterparts. They see Meghan Duscalla there, who had been separated from them earlier, and another familiar face: a recreation of prehistory’s Puud Een, who greets them upon their arrival.

She explains she’s actually part of the simulation itself; she does not possess a die as the others do. Dom asks if the “evil thing trying to kill us” also has a die, to which she says yes—but claims it isn’t evil. The humanoid, whom she refers to as “AD”, has been separated from the simulated world at large and became a separate entity, which also allowed Puud Een to become a separate entity.

She goes on to say the magic bucket has shown her a number of different possibilities: they might stay in the simulation and keep their powers, or they might escape. In order for the latter to occur, they could convince AD the game is over, at which point everyone (including AD) would leave; they could try to kill AD according to the rules of the game, after which it would be dead and—therefore—no longer get a vote; or, they find Karavox and kill AD with it, thereby in theory resetting the whole world…but possibly killing everyone in it.

Puud Een explains that Karavox could also be used to sever their own connection to the simulation, which is what AD is seeking to accomplish, thereby killing them. Ronny goes on to ask that, given Karavox’s nature, that makes him his own patron. Dom declares he wants a different patron, which offends Hype Spear.

Samantha asks if Puud Een had been a simulation this entire time, to which the rakshasa says “Yes and no.” She waves her hand over the bucket and a column of water shoots out of it, forming mist. Inside the mist the party sees their “former selves” from prehistory in the simulation. She goes on to explain that every person the party had inhabited for a time did indeed live on Quelmar at one time. She is simply the memory of Puud Een.

She says she won’t stop the party from whatever choice they make, as she’s curious to see which future she’s seen will come to pass. Besides, she adds, she’s not sure if leaving the simulation is what ultimately dooms Quelmar to be destroyed. Samantha asks how that’s possible, to which Puud Een repeats the enigmatic prophecy they’d read back in prehistory:

“When chaos abdicates their throne, and the sundered citadel lies scattered and still, then she who keeps the world intact will erase the multiverse she helped to build.”

She reminds them it was Xentalia who helped create the worlds. If she’s released into the world, she might erase Quelmar with a thought. Or, if left to languish within this simulated prison, she might find a way around the AD and manage to erase it anyway.

The others decide where to go from here. Samantha asks if they should set out to find the remaining three individuals with the D4 shards: Arnold, Xentalia and Syd. Puud Een reminds them that, unless they decide to stay inside the simulation or kill the AD using Karavox, they’ll *have* to find the others. Meghan declares she’s coming with them. Puud Een comments that Xentalia and Syd might be together, while Arnold will likely find the party first. When Samantha asks why, Puud Een simply says he was comfortable in Ravendean and will likely want that life again.

The rakshasa suggests the party return to the temple, as that’s likely where Xentalia will be. Samantha remarks it turned out “so well” for them last time, to which Puud Een counters that Xentalia was enraged before—she knew she was trapped but the simulation wouldn’t acknowledge that. Eyelean asks if they might face their simulated prehistoric selves, because she might shoot herself if she hears the Kender paladin “halalalala” ever again, but Puud Een says that wouldn’t happen.

Dom declares he’s going to lay down some tracks for the “hype train” to the temple, which Hype Spear heartily endorses. Puud Een walks over to Dom and flips it over before placing it on his head, declaring solemnly, “Hype Bucket.”

Eyelean is still convinced she’s in a video game, and keeps trying to log out or open various apps—all to no avail. The others decide to leave for the temple and let Eyelean catch up. Meghan is creeped out and decides to stay far away from Eyelean.

They make their way to the temple, which is more worn than before, as well as several silhouettes approaching the temple. Ronny asks his bird Ronin if he recognizes the group ahead, but Ronin pecks him twice on the head—signifying a negative response. Samantha tries to peer closer at the group before her party approaches them, and one of the figures does seem familiar…but she can’t make out who it is. Eyelean uses the scope of her gun to get a better view, and sees that the figure is Arnold, who looks far worse for wear. She suggests that the party get closer to help him.

Ronny runs up to Arnold and casts Detect Evil, asking the other man if he is indeed evil. Arnold responds, “What is evil? There is no good. There is no evil. Only…” At which point the other Fallen creatures stop shambling towards the temple and turn towards the group. Eyelean activates her Fair Field and discovers Arnold is now one of these creatures—which means he can be hacked.

She successfully hacks Arnold, who freezes up and stares at Ronny with empty sockets. Ronny uses his knowledge of martial arts to knock him over. Two others swipe at him, but miss. Samantha backs up and casts Sun Blast at one of them, obliterating it. A third Fallen strikes at Ronny, and he just barely dodges out of the way.

Dom uses Hype Spear to attack, but misses. A fourth Fallen attacks him, and lowers his defense. The one attacking Ronny tries again and almost tackles him to the ground, but he barely scrambles away. Eyelean sees Arnold is on the ground, so she instead aims for one of the other Fallen and shoots, eliminating one of the bigger creatures.

Ronny backs up and aims at the other larger Fallen with his longbow, reducing its guard further. Arnold manages to stumble to his feet and tells Dom “I see something in you—hunger. The desire for something. Something great.” With that, he attacks Dom, moving faster than ever before and managing to draw blood.

Samantha calls out to Lillix, asking if anything can be done to save Arnold. Time around her slows to a crawl and Lillix steps out from behind Arnold and Dom. The colors around her fade as she looks Arnold over, at which point Lillix tells Samantha he “Fell”, or died, which is what happens to real people in the simulation. Technically, he could live again if he killed one of the other party members. Samantha asks if that means the situation is hopeless, but Lillix assures Samantha she *can* resurrect him—it just comes at a steep price.

Lillix asks what Samantha is willing to do for her in return. Confused, Samantha asks what the “goddess of light” would possibly want from her. Lillix counters that wasn’t an answer. The Godbinder gets visibly more frustrated at trying to understand what a goddess could want from her until Lillix accuses her of choosing the “safe” answers. Finally understanding, Samantha says she’d be willing to do anything, because Arnold didn’t deserve this fate and she wouldn’t be able to live with what she’s seen now even if she did escape.

In a blink, Lillix is standing in front of her holding up a blade in front of her. She asks Samantha to use the knife to stab Xentalia—not necessarily in the heart, but enough to “make it stick.” Samantha reluctantly agrees, and Lillix tells her to take the knife if she vows to do this. When Samantha holds the knife, it grows warm in her hand but doesn’t burn.

The world immediately returns to normal. Dom feels Arnold’s attack graze his face, then watches as the other man is blasted backwards and encased in a light-filled cocoon; Arnold has effectively been taken out of the battle. But right behind him is another large Fallen that manages to set him back a step and catch Dom off-guard.

Dom tells Arnold he does indeed desire something, and this encounter will make an excellent addition to his book “A Single Simulation”. He uses Hype Spear to slash at the other Fallen, instantly killing it. Dom celebrates his victory—realizing too late there was one more Fallen. He feels a sharp pain in his back that brings him down, though he’s not dead…yet.

Eyelean sees this happen and shoots the last Fallen, killing it. She goes to relieve the bodies of their Fair Gold to power her gun. Samantha manages to heal Dom slightly, enough to bring him out of his fugue state.

The cocoon around Arnold fades, leaving him bloodied from the battle—but alive. He says he feels like he was hit by a bus, and asks if someone can “turn on the lights.” While Ronny marches off to the temple to look for a light switch, Samantha helps Arnold sit up. She sees that his hollow eye sockets from when he was Fallen still remain, leaving him permanently blind.

She tries to break the news to Arnold gently but fails miserably. Meghan dashes forward and sits next to Arnold, then pulls out a joint and asks for a light. After some banter about Samantha possibly summoning the goddess who literally just brought Arnold back from the dead to give them a light, Ronny finally casts Fire Touch on the joint. Meghan maneuvers it to Arnold’s mouth, and he finally calms down.

Arnold explains when he was taken into the void he wound up back in the simulated ballroom where he had been Arnok, where his face was cleaved off. He felt his eyes go with the face, but discovered he could still see—only he was now very hungry. Then, when he saw the party, he realized they “have it”, and if he took it from them he could go home. Despite being blind, he somehow perfectly puts his arm around Meghan’s shoulder as though he knew exactly where she was.

Samantha apologizes to Arnold, saying she wasn’t aware he would be blind if she helped bring him back. Arnold says he feels like he was coming back anyway, he just would’ve had to kill one of them to do it. He felt like he wasn’t going to be allowed to go home otherwise, and admits he doesn’t regret trying to kill them to do it. He explains it was an intense need, even if it was his desire to go home that drove him. Eyelean asks if the need was to kill all of them, but he clarifies it was whomever was closest to him—first Ronny, then Dom, even though he knew Meghan was the easiest target. He points to the general direction of each person as he speaks, but only accurately points to Meghan’s location once again.

Realizing Arnold seems to have an innate sense of Meghan’s location since they each have a shard of the D4 in them, Samantha asks if he knows where Syd and Xentalia are located. Arnold immediately points inside the temple, and Eyelean explains to him how she believes he and Meghan are connected to Syd and Xentalia due to the shards.

The group decides to approach the temple, Meghan acting as Arnold’s eyes. Ronny, already at the temple door, skips inside. He notices the painting that had originally been on the back wall, depicting a Tiefling and an Aasimar (the latter of whom is now revealed as Lillix), instead displays an abstract form of the prehistoric, Titan version of Xentalia. In front of the painting stands Xentalia in her Earth Genasi form, standing over a heavily bleeding Syd.

System Agnostic/Episode 4.2: Old Haunts

2023-05-14T02:50:39Z

Sae: Created page with "The next episode picks up once again in the simulated amphitheater, facing down an echo of the creature they first faced back in the prehistoric simulation. The four people tr..."

The next episode picks up once again in the simulated amphitheater, facing down an echo of the creature they first faced back in the prehistoric simulation. The four people try to determine if they’re still in the simulation or not; Eyelean asks Dom if the tunnel should still be collapsed since “Indomitus” closed the tunnel before, while Samantha just wants to leave rather than face any hostile creatures again. They bicker about whether they’re supposed to go through events the same way they did before, or just ignore it all and head to the town of Outrys.

They’re interrupted by the metallic humanoid that tried to kill them earlier asking if they’ve seen Karavox. Dom comes to the conclusion the group needs to find the axe first, while Eyelean is more focused on the possibility of turning the amphitheater into a swimming pool of pudding. The metallic humanoid asks how the group can possibly be a threat.

Just as the group decides to leave, they see a glowing pair of eyes from one of the tunnels and hear yet another growl. The metallic antagonist decides fleeing is prudent and vanishes. Ronny casts Detect Evil, and feels a pulse from the D6 in his shoulder. He determines the creature isn’t evil—just hungry.

The crystalline argons they had all faced in the simulation once before now steps out of the darkness again; only this time, there are cracks along its body and it seems visibly worse for wear. Ronny remembers arrows don’t work on it and decides to start running. Eyelean also spreads out and waits to shoot if it attacks. Samantha casts Detect Light to see if any exists inside the argons, but comes up empty and she, too, heads for higher ground.

Dom admits he’s frightened, and his spear admonishes him for not being “hype” enough. The argons claws him, leaving him bloodied and nearly dead. Eyelean takes the opportunity to shoot the creature, and manages to wear down its guard. Dom swings at the argons, only to find its crystalline hide is tougher than he thought.

Eyelean shoots again, shattering off a piece of its flank. Ronny aims his bow, despite knowing the argons was resistant last time; the arrow shatters against its thick skin.

Seeing Dom is injured, Samantha comes closer to him and heals him a little, but admits she can’t do much for him. The argons takes another swipe at Dom, hurting him again—and dropping Samantha’s guard. Dom slashes at the creature again, shattering off another piece of its guard.

Eyelean, the Neo paragon, activates her Fair Field HUD and notices something flickering on the argons’ forehead. When she clicks on it, a voice asks her, “Would you like to lock down the Fallen argons?” She says yes, and the argons suddenly freezes up and almost seems to shut down. She commands it to sit, and it does so.

Ronny sees how the simulation is similar to what they experienced last time, and tries to summon Ronin. When that fails, he casts Summon Living Servant. A small robotic humanoid appears in front of him—right before a familiar bird lands on his head.

Samantha backs up and tries to take Dom with her, managing to get them both out of the range of immediate death. The argons is locked down and can’t move, but it does weaken the hold Eyelean has on it. Dom listens to the questionable advice of his spear and advances on the argons again, slashing into it again.

The Fair Field asks if Eyelean wants to strengthen the integrity of the hacking. She agrees, and manages to do so. She tries to command it to self-destruct, but it still maintains a sense of self preservation and ignores the command.

Ronny asks his Living Servant what it can do, but it only responds “caw” in a metallic voice. The Fool drop-kicks the robot down the stairs of the amphitheater, where it breaks on impact. Samantha backs up again and casts a Sun Blast at the creature, damaging it further. The argons tries again to break out of the hack, but only weakens it.

Dom jams the talking spear into its chest, and it shatters into glittering crystal. The spear celebrates, saying Dom needs to do this more often and pointing out he nearly died. Eyelean drops down and picks up the creature’s Fair Gold, thinking she must be in a video game.

In the meantime, Ronny calls out to everyone that he found Ronin, and proceeds to jump from the highest part of the amphitheater to the floor—casting Feather Fall to soften the landing. Samantha asks if they should be heading to Outrys or the temple if they want to exit the simulation. After some discussion, they decide the town in the better choice.

When they reach Outrys, they notice it’s similar to the previous simulation, but the layout of the town is different. Upon reaching the tavern they once frequented, they’re met by two familiar faces: Meghan Duscalla, who was pulled away from them into the void earlier, and a hairless pinks Rakshasa in blue robes—who’s looking into a magic bucket. She looks up and greets them: “I was awaiting your arrival. I was sure you would be coming.”

System Agnostic/Episode 4.1: Guess They'll DIE

2023-05-09T21:09:22Z

Sae: Created page with "The final chapter opens on the four people who have “lived” as the characters of the previous three chapters—who only now understand they’ve been living in a simulatio..."

The final chapter opens on the four people who have “lived” as the characters of the previous three chapters—who only now understand they’ve been living in a simulation the entire time.

They find themselves trapped inside a rapidly disintegrating room as the simulation destabilizes, grappling with what to do now. The other people who have been living in the same simulation—Syd Koncorda, Arnold Bolton, and Meghan Duscalla—are also trapped here, along with the god-like being Xentalia who finally showed them all the truth.

Ronny, formerly Arlow/Rooney/Aranwe, searches for a way out of the glitching room and pushes through the walls, only to find a void beyond it. He begins to fall, but is stopped by Samantha—formerly Disenna/Kyuri/Sae. Xentalia explains to them all the simulation is glitching because it’s panicking; it’s a living thing, programmed to trap creatures that don’t belong on other worlds and “deal with them” as it deems appropriate.

Xentalia tries to explain what to do next, but a scream interrupts her. A metal spike pierces through Arnold and drags him out of the room into the void. Another spike aims for Meghan, but Syd intercepts it and is dragged away instead. As the other decide what to do, Meghan is ultimately impaled by a third spike and dragged away as well.

Ronny finds the cat Iraga sitting on one of the glitching walls. Two more spikes aim for Dom (formerly Touse/Domus/Indomitus) and Ronny, but Xentalia blocks them with her own body. As more spikes impale her she tells them to look for a button in the floor, which Samantha finds. Another voice interrupts them, apologizing for keeping them all waiting. They find a humanoid man whose skin bears a resemblance to the metal spikes that have been dragging people away; it's the manifestation of the Akrellix Dyalla.

He goes on to say he was trying to “procure” an item that would make his goal easier. The others notice he’s wielding Karavox. He says they were never the targets, but Xentalia *was*, and because the others were with her, they are “accessories” to be dealt with. By attacking their avatars, he can kill them directly. Samantha asks why he’s doing this, to which he explains Xentalia will “unmake the world” if left alone. Xentalia counters that the entity speaking to them is damaged, acting from limited knowledge based on a prophecy from prehistory.

A fifth and final spike impales Xentalia, dragging her off into the void. The being in front of them says this will make killing the rest of them easier. Samantha asks him to reconsider, but he responds that there’s a “95.99% chance” the party will damage his hardware further if they are allowed to live. Eyelean, formerly Nuria/Chonnnk/Eloise Merhermbler, quips “So you’re saying there’s a chance…?”

All at once, Ronny and Eyelean both try to tackle the Akrellix Dyalla avatar while Dom—thinking it’s a better option to take their chances with the void—tackles Ronny. Dom is unprepared for Ronny’s sudden movement and winds up tripping the other man, who careens into Eyelean until they all careen off course and tumble to the floor. As they try to sort themselves out, a red-hued beam hits the ground in front of them. They see it’s a D4.

The die immediately shatters, a piece of it hitting Karavox and causing it to vanish. Other shards fly off into the void. The metallic being laments not killing them faster, saying “This got harder.” As it speaks, five more beams hit the ground, and five more dice are now hovering in the air. The Akrellix Dyalla comments this has now become a fair fight, and he reaches up to touch the floating D20 before saying he has an axe to find and vanishing.

Dom reaches out and touches the D8, the Emotion Knight paragon. His clothing changes from a simple duster and jeans into formfitting plate armor and a cape. Being a writer, he pulls his pen out of his pocket and touches the D8 with it as well, and the pen turns into a spear. The spear immediately starts talking, telling Dom to “get hype.”

The rest of the party reacts to the spear with various levels of amusement and enthusiasm. Ronny eventually asks the spear what we’re supposed to do, to which the spear responds “Grab the dice and get happy!” Ronny touches the D6, the Fool paragon, in front of him. His clothes change from a green-striped baseball tee and tan cargo shorts into something similar, but now has a cape and archer gloves. The D6 is embedded into his left shoulder.

Samantha is still looking for a way out. She asks if Ronny is okay, to which he says he’s fine. Eyelean decides the D12 is a boring shape and reaches instead for the D10, the Neo paragon. Her clothes shift from a mismatched tank top and long shorts (in obnoxiously loud hues of orange, purple and red) to a more pleasant color palette of white and blue with a pattern that reflects the constellations. The D10 is embedded into the corner of her left eye. She hears a voice in her head: “Systems now online. Fair Field access granted.” She glances around to see if anyone heard the voice like they heard the spear, but only she can hear it.

Samantha finds a door with sounds coming from the other side of it. She reaches for the last die, the D12—the Godbinder paragon. Her neutral-hued dress and cardigan are now gleaming in prismatic greens and golds. The world seems to drain of color as a blonde, fair-skinned woman in a yellow dress appears in front of her. Samantha recognizes her as the woman who helped “Kyuri” and the others back when they were trying to put Karavox back together. The woman smiles, saying “Good, you’re awake.”

The woman introduces herself as Lillix, and informs Samantha the Godbinder can “speak with the gods”. In this situation, Lillix acts as the goddess of light. She goes on to explain the creatures outside the door died here, and her recommendation is not to become one of them.

The door cracks. Dom uses his uncanny danger sense to realize this is, indeed, dangerous. He decides to open the door to face the danger head-on. Eyelean and Ronny press themselves against the wall on either side of the door in preparation.

Lillix tells Samantha the Akrellix Dyalla wasn’t designed to allow the people inside to leave. However, with the addition of the dice provided by her “friend” on the outside, if all players agree, they would be allowed to leave. She amends that by saying all *living* players; “the dead don’t get a vote.” She vanishes, and the door bursts open.

Twisted, broken humanoid shapes shamble just beyond the door. Eyelean backs up and readies herself to shoot the first thing that crosses the threshold. Ronny manages to cave in the chest cavity of one of them as they push forward. He notices they look like a strange the of zombie with metal and wires embedded into them.

Dom finishes off the first attacker with his new spear and pierces the next one. The zombie-like creature pushes the one Dom killed out of the way and reaches for him. Dom quickly realizes the twisted figure in front of him is his brother. It attacks him, but he deflects the blow.

Samantha backs up and raises a hand towards the creature attacking Dom. Light erupts and sets the creature on fire, killing it, as well as setting the one behind it ablaze. Eyelean shoots it, killing it immediately. She notices something glimmering in the bodies of the fallen humanoids. The fourth and final zombie shambles forward to attack Dom, but Eyelean downs that one as well. There are no more creatures right away, but all four people can hear screeching from somewhere nearby.

The glimmering in the bodies turns out to be golden coins. Eyelean hears the same voice she heard earlier: “Fair gold detected. Would you like to activate the energy gun?” A slot in her wrist opens, and she inserts one of the coins. A sniper rifle appears in her hands. Eyelean asks if the voice in her head has a name, to which it only responds it’s the “Neo System built to access the Fair Field.” It then informs her that there are many Fair Field influences detected that are rapidly approaching their location—at which point three enormous claw marks tear through the walls.

Eyelean inserts a second coin into the slot, and the Neo system informs her that “overcharge” is now available for her gun. A third coin confirms a double-overcharge. At this point Dom sees the claws coming through the wall and astutely determines via his uncanny danger sense that this is, in fact, a dangerous situation.

Eyelean asks Dom if his spear takes coins, to which the spear itself retorts: “F*ck your coins, only happiness!”

The group dashes through the now empty hallway and up a stairwell, which shifts from wood to stone as they ascend. Light appears above them, and they eventually realize it’s bioluminescent light from mushrooms along the walls—reminiscent of the mushrooms found in the amphitheater in prehistoric times. In fact, as they exit the stairwell, they find themselves in that same amphitheater where System Agnostic first began…and they hear a familiar growl in the darkness beyond.

System Agnostic/Episode 3.3: System Error

2023-04-14T21:56:34Z

Sae: Created page with "The final episode of chapter 3 opens once again on the Paraska manor in CR, as the tour group comes to the end of the tour. The frazzled tour guide fields questions from two b..."

The final episode of chapter 3 opens once again on the Paraska manor in CR, as the tour group comes to the end of the tour. The frazzled tour guide fields questions from two brothers named Brendan Lee Mulligan and Brendan C Mulligan before turning and leaving. The group disperses, including a little girl who’s still staring at the manor and the man with the holy symbol.

The camera focuses on the symbol and we see Citizen Doctor Eloise Merhermbler. She’s been waiting from inside the symbol since she passed, and after what seems like eternity, a hooded figure approaches and tells her, “She will speak with you now.”

The cracked land turns to desert as they walk, and Eloise suddenly finds herself on a dais that’s miles in the sky. A dark-skinned woman with dark braided hair sits atop it and addresses the paladin, wondering what she’s supposed to with her. She admits Eloise was used, and that she accepts a degree of responsibility for it. The paladin’s party unleashed a Titan that flattened the world in a culmination of events that started long before Eloise was born.

The woman summons Aranwe, Sae and Indomitus from beyond death to the dais. Aranwe asks where Vilya is, but the woman assures him the dryad is fine. She introduces herself as Amunet and apologizes to the party for everything they went through. She is the goddess of magic, and one of the Five who created the world.

She goes on to enigmatically thank the party for doing something that made “an interesting entity” aware of a threat enough to pursue it, hopefully to their own undoing. Sae asks if Rian knew of this, but Amunet says it was unlikely. Aranwe asks if Ronan is okay, and Amunet sends her cloaked servant to fetch the bird. She offers everyone the chance to witness events unfold before going back to rest; Sae asks how visiting a temple could have possibly had such long-reaching consequences, and Amunet responds that those actions were mimicked “to an unfortunate result—hopefully.”

Sae, Indomitus and Aranwe agree to stay and watch, as does Eloise. Amunet waves her hand and seats appear for the lot of them. Vilya also appears next to Aranwe. Everyone peers through a ripple in the air to see our current party.

Touse is running for his life. He grabs a knife as he bolts back to the study with the intention to dive into the hole he explored earlier. The others turn to see the chef enter the room just as the monster chasing him reaches out and envelops his head with melting flesh.

Disenna and Artok scream at the sight, the latter of whom is trying to push past everyone to hide is the hole behind the bookcase. Eyelean, formally known as Nuria, understands the monster’s hand grasping Touse isn’t real—but no one else knows this, so to them, its attacks are lethal. Arlow tries to find a way out of the room.

Touse tries to stab the monster, but misses and stabs himself in the shoulder instead. Eyelean passes her hand through the arm of the creature, to find it is indeed partially an illusion—but ''something'' is definitely there.

Sir Syva manages to pull Touse free, and Eyelean tries to slam the door on the creature’s arm, only managing to keep it in the doorway at the moment.

Arlow throws back the other door leading out and runs. Disenna ties her scarf around Touse’s bleeding arm and pulls him out of the room, with Sir Syva and Lady Myra following behind.

The monster crashes through the door and turns to the hole. Eyelean hears Artok’s muffled screaming as the monster tries to slither inside. Eyelean throws a knife at it, and it turns to attack her.

She tries to manifest a weapon that will kill the creature using her mind. It feels like the entire world is fighting against her, but she manages to summon a sword. She slices a chunk of the monster off, but now both pieces are on the offensive against her ''and'' Artok. Eyelean tries to transform the sword into a hammer, but the creature attacks and she feels like she’s been engulfed in acid.

The others run, and they realize the hallway they’re in is unnaturally long and seems to be stretching. A single door opens; however, the door each person sees open is different. They each escape through their own door. Everyone is hit with a blast of cold air as they do, but Arlow is affected the strongest.

The hunter finds himself in his sister’s shop, but all the animals are different—and some are alive. Arlow does his best to stay still, but the package in his arms is also moving. He unwraps it, but instead of the taxidermy statue of a red-tailed hawk he was expecting to see, the black cat from earlier emerges. He tries speaking to it, telling it to be careful. Other misshapen animals start to close in on the hunter.

The cat regards Arlow with a mixture of contempt and pleading. A name appears in Arlow’s mind: Iraga. He asks how to get out of the room, and the cat headbutts a door leading out.

Disenna leaps through her door. It’s pitch black at first, but slowly several fungi begin glowing, leading her down a tunnel. It turns into a labyrinth that’s familiar yet not, with the echo of scuffing shoes that sound just out of reach. She follows the sound and reaches what appears to be the end of the tunnel: a room with a canvas screen stretched out on one wall, flanked by metal carriages.

Touse runs through his own door. He’s suddenly outside, where he sees a massive manor—yet it’s not the one he was just inside. He decides to sit in front of the house until nightfall…only to realize there’s no stars or any form of light out here. He tries calling out to the people within the house, and is invited in. He finds himself face to face with someone behind a podium who says “Welcome to Stuckey’s!”

Touse sits down at a table and introduces himself, but the person behind the podium simply responds that he’s ''not'' Touse. The chef feels glass hit the back of his head, and collapses at the table.

Eyelean manages to shift the sword into a hammer. She attacks the monster in front of her, but it only eats the hammer. She sits down in the puddle she finds herself in, to test a theory. She is injured further and starts to lose consciousness.

The cat leads Arlow back to the manor’s foyer, where the fairy statue has radically changed: the wings have disappeared, the hair appears to be on fire—and it’s sitting down, arms folded. It looks at Arlow and mouths something, but the hunter can’t make out the words. He asks Iraga if they know why the statue is, but the cat shakes their head. He tries holding a conversation with the statue, the latter of which tries to briefly possess Iraga to speak through before the cat fights it off.

Arlow puts the cat down and the statue manages to have it scratch into the earth: “Do you want to know the truth?” Arlow says he does, and Iraga spells out: “Surrender.” The statue extends a hand and the hunter grasps it; all at once Arlow’s mind is invaded, and he comes to the sudden realization he’s not Arlow.

Disenna watches the screen in front of her flare to life, followed by the words: “Xentalia presents: The Truth of How You Are Currently Living.” Via slide presentation, it asks her several questions that make her question the validity of her “reality” and goes on to offer her the choice of living in ignorance, or waking up. She chooses the latter, and just like Arlow, comes to understand she is not Disenna.

Touse finds himself back in the study, but the other party members are missing, there’s no signs of the scuffle with the monster, and the bookshelf is no longer knocked over. He sits next to the fire, but is freezing. A voice keeps calling after him, but he stubbornly sits without moving. A finger traces down his back; he thinks it’s a ghost and greets it as such. He suggests they can be friends, to which the disembodied voice calls his attention to bust portraits of the missing party guests and says “Friends kill for friends.”

The chef tries to leave. A meat cleaver embeds itself in the table next to him, which he picks up. On his way out the door from the study, he finds “Nuria” passed out on the floor, but steps over her and keeps walking. He enters the foyer and tries to open the front door, but gets buried in snow. He backs away as hands emerge from the snow, and tries to walk away calmly. Voices and cold breezes follow him down the hall to the wine cellar, which now houses a bed instead.

Touse looks for monsters under the bed, but is addressed by something ''in'' the bed entreating him to “sleep it off.” He leaves and tries to go for higher ground, finding Lady Myra along the way but brushing past her. He climbs to the attic and tries to bust the attic window in an attempt to leave the house. Suddenly “Nuria” and Lady Myra are on either side of him, with several mannequins directly in front of him.

“Nuria”/Eyelean sees past the facades now, and recognizes that Touse is not Touse—although she can’t remember his name. She remembers that Lady Myra is actually Meghan, a girl she hid with before in another place. She witnesses everything shifting around her, as something is desperately trying to keep its hold on “Touse”.

Touse sees a handprint form on the outside of the window and chooses to turn and attack the mannequins. Eyelean walks up to “Myra”/Meghan and asks if she remembers anything happening. Meghan says she remembers being pierced with a metal spike, then suddenly she was living in a cave and later being stabbed at the same moment someone else stabbed themselves with an axe.

Meghan’s concerned for “Touse”, but Eyelean is piecing things together. She concludes nothing around them is real, but that Touse thinks it is—therefore, because he believes it exists, the supposed house still exists. Eyelean asks Meghan to drag Touse down into the foyer while she concentrates on distracting whatever being has trapped them, hoping to break the illusion that way.

The others meet in the foyer, and a genasi woman stands where the statue once was: Xen, the same woman Arlow remembers fighting alongside in the battle for Karavox.

Xen tells them she’s been awake longer than they have, which is why she tried to get through to them in previous simulations. She said someone in the house is still fighting, and the others need to wake them up to further weaken the simulation’s hold.

Eyelean is struggling against the house’s power. Meghan tackles “Touse” and sends him through the floor into the foyer below. Meghan, “Sir Syra”/Syd and “Artok”/Arnold also arrive at that moment and fling the door shut to the hallway behind them as a monster slams against it.

The others try to convince Touse to wake up, but he refuses. Arlow and Disenna take an arm on either side and Xen asks if he wants stay as Touse or wake up. The chef insists he’s never been anyone else, but agrees to wake up if it avoids violence with the others. He immediately suffers a splitting headache and comes to understand that he, too, is not who he thought he was.

The ultimate truth comes to light: everyone living in these simulations came from Ravendean when monsters attacked. They had all fled to the Screen Nest drive-in for safety, but it didn’t work; although they avoided the reptilian creatures, they couldn’t avoid the massive woman formed from lava, wood and stone who crashed into the theater—followed by a metal sphere that sent spikes out to impale and capture survivors. Ever since then, all of the people trapped inside have been stuck in several simulations to keep them distracted while the sphere enacts its still-secret plan.

Back in CR, the man with the holy symbol climbs the staircase to approach Karavox’s case. He knows he’s likely not alone, as someone else has always been ahead of him in his quest—the one who killed the librarian Celeste before he even knew the axe existed.

He arrives to the find the little girl from the tour group enveloping Karavox within herself. The simulation can’t kill the people trapped within it outright, but Karavox will allow them to do so via their simulated avatars.

System Agnostic/Episode 3.2: Shattered Memories

2023-04-11T21:13:52Z

Sae: Created page with "The chapter opens on the group touring Paraska Manor. A man named Brendan Lee Mulligan asks the exasperated tour guide about the history of indoor plumbing. The camera cente..."

The chapter opens on the group touring Paraska Manor. A man named Brendan Lee Mulligan asks the exasperated tour guide about the history of indoor plumbing.

The camera centers on a mirror that’s much older than the manor itself, where we see a long-dead Kyuri waiting for his mother in her study. She eventually arrives—also deceased—and declares “someone” negotiated with the devils for her soul’s freedom.

Marcella says she didn’t expect Kyuri to wait for her before moving into the afterlife, but Kyuri replies it was the least he could do after causing such trouble earlier. She admits it was easier to let him hate her than explain what happened, and finally tells him the truth of how he died as an newborn from complications. She made a deal to save him, for which Kyuri now thanks her.

Marcella tells him the Esslers were doomed from the start, but some good may come of it: she brings the fireplace of her study to light. and it shows images of the tour group now traversing the manor. She explains how Karavox lies within the manor and may yet play a part in current events. Kyuri is presented with the choice of staying with her in the study and watching, or trying to meddle. He chooses to stay, saying, “I’ve been here a while…what’s a little longer?”

Back in 466 PR, Touse and Artok are standing in front of the newly formed hole in the wall in the study where a voice is entreating the chef to “come home.” Touse decides to follow the voice and encourages Artok to come, pushing the other man into the hole first.

Artok falls prone and, presumably, is curled up in the fetal position on the floor. Touse (gently) kicks him, finding a pile of laundry in Artok’s absence. He continues to follow the voice down a boarded-up hallway.

Meanwhile, Disenna follows the music, the composition unknown yet still vaguely familiar to her. She and Arlow return to the grand foyer where the statue on the staircase has now changed; the figure is no longer holding a gilded rose, but a bow in one hand while the other is outstretched. Arlow inspects it further, and realizes it’s looking directly at him—however, Disenna notices it’s looking directly at '''her'''.

The right eye in the statue shatters, and the music Disenna is hearing suddenly alters into a more cacophonic sound. Arlow heads up one staircase while Disenna heads up the other one to follow the music.

Lady Nuria is looks down to see herself impaled by a metal spike, and passes out. She awakens to hear screaming. She feels numb and chilled, but finds herself in the kitchen and finds Lady Myra Duskar is the source of the screaming. Nuria picks up a knife to help fight whatever’s attacking Myra, but discovers the other woman seemingly fighting the air.

Myra eventually calms down and Nuria asks where everyone else is, but Myra doesn’t know. Nuria finds a second knife and gives it to Myra, then takes the other woman’s hand so they can leave. Myra remarks how cold Nuria’s hand feels. Myra tries to warm Nuria up by the kitchen fire, but Nuria discovers she feels no warmth from it. Myra decides to take her to the study to try that fire.

Touse continues down the hall into a small dining room with a table set for three people. He belatedly realizes the doorway behind him has closed off. A woman emerges from the wall, but he can’t make out the features—as though she’s made from shadow. She puts some type of meat on the table along with rolls whose composition he can’t determine. The woman serves the food as two smaller childlike shadows emerge from the wall and all three figures sit down.

The chef points out the woman “invited” him to come to dinner but didn’t set a place at the table for him. He hears something like glass shattering, and the scene itself seems to fold in on itself before returning—but now with only two people instead of three. The meal itself has also changed, and no rolls are present. Touse hears the woman’s raspy whispered saying “The place is set.” He dawdles without sitting down, at which point the lights in the chandelier begin popping one by one.

Touse tries to push through the wall to escape. The voice continues, telling him the place is always set, and all he has to do is come back home. As the fifth light goes out, he tumbles through the wall and lands on Artok. They briefly argue about who went where, until Artok’s vision suddenly snaps to some far-off distant point and says “That’s so weird.” Touse pushes him for clarification, but Artok doesn’t know what he’s talking about. They leave the “hallway”, which is actually just a crawlspace.

DIsenna follows the music, but notices the hallway seems to be flat set pieces that are twisting and pulling at the seams. Eventually she comes to a bedroom where she sees shattered remains of plastic, metal, and wire on the floor where the music is originating from. Only now, the music stops and only static, white noise is heard. It sounds like there’s a voice in the static; she tries to focus on it, but can only make out two things: “Monsters everywhere” and “Artic Autumn.”

Arlow continues down his own hallway and hears pounding. He approaches the sound and sees Sir Syva—sans armor—trying to brace a door as something large and heavy is slamming against it. The hunter calls out to him, but the other man refuses to budge from the door and Arlow sees fear in his eyes. Arlow asks him to come back downstairs so they can find something to brace the door with. Syva seems to return to himself; the lights in the area flicker at the same time, and the knight’s armor returns. Syva agrees to follow the hunter back downstairs.

Everyone reconvenes in the study and discusses what they’ve all witnessed. Touse accidentally calls Artok “Artagan” but doesn’t know why, to which Artok goes almost catatonic contemplating the name. Nuria can’t feel any warmth coming from the fire.

Touse asks if Artok ever found his coat, to which Artok answers with a bizarre non-sequitor: “Did you ever hear of a beholder?” Disenna asks if he’s feeling all right, and he responds he isn’t; when she clinically examines him, she discovers he’s ice cold. And, on further inspection, she realizes the fire itself isn’t as warm as she was expecting it to be.

She concludes the fact everyone’s bodies are slowly beginning to chill is a sign they need to escape the manor. Touse recommends finding an oven, as it may be magical fire. A sparkly yet ragged black cat that’s missing part of its tail sits on a bookshelf, watching all of them. Arlow attempts to pet the cat, but it hisses and tries to scratch him. Touse tries to guess its name, to which the cat purposely claws the wall while glaring at him.

Frustrated by the entire situation, Touse leaves the study to find wine. Nuria comes to realize the fire looks fake—even pixelated, although she doesn’t understand what that word means.

Arlow asks if Artok has had any communication with the owners of the manor. Artok responds he remembers leaving his place of work when he received the invitation, and the next thing he knew he was getting the door for the rest of the party members.

Nuria examines ore of the room and realizes it’s not just the fire; the rest of the study and even its occupants appear to be glitching…all except the cat.

Touse goes in search of a wine cellar. He winds up in the kitchen…but not the one he’d been in before. It resembles the small room he’d found himself in earlier. He comes across a large metal box, and opens it to find a freezing cold space filled with various meats wrapped in thinner packaging than he’s used to. He also discovers something resembling an oven, but it has no vents for a fire and bears five strange knobs on the front. Turning the knobs he sees the entire top of it light up.

A woman’s voice makes him turn around, and the same figure he met earlier asks him what he’s doing. He reaches into the metal box and throws a piece of meat at her, to which she demands the chef go to his room. The oven begins to glow even brighter, and the room around him warps back into the kitchen he remembers from before, the woman replaced by the earlier chef—only now the man is a gigantic, misshapen monster with a bone meat cleaver for an arm and faces for feet. Touse decides running would be prudent.

Arlow asks Sir Syva what he was barricading himself against earlier. Syva said it wasn’t a snake, but similar to one, and was eating everything in its path that it didn’t destroy outright. Disenna adds her experience with the music and the phrases about monsters and Arctic Autumn, wondering aloud if that’s what Sir Syva experienced. Syva starts rambling about monsters attacking a booth and “not being able to protect them all”.

Nuria decides to test a theory, and reaches out to touch one of the logs in the fire. Her hand goes straight through it. She stands up and makes her way to the cat, asking what it knows about this situation; it remains silent. Nuria runs her hand along the books on the shelf to discover her hand passes through most of them. She reaches out to the cat, who takes a swipe at her—and the pain, this time, is very real.

Nuria looks down to see her own body is glitching wildly, but the wound isn’t. It dawns on her that she’s cold because her body—her '''real''' body—is being kept somewhere..and if everyone else is glitching too, it’s possible nothing here is actually real.

In that moment, she’s struck by two facts: one, something bad has happened to her. Two, she’s not Lady Nuria…nor has she ever been Chapter 2’s Chonnnk, or the Eloise Merhermbler from Quelmar’s prehistory.

Back in CR, the tour group passes by Karavox, and the man with the holy symbol stares at it. Flowers sit nearby, within which Aranwe watches the group walk by. He wonders how the chaos bloom flowers came to be inside the manor. He feels the dryad Vilya’s touch as she responds, “It’s always been her.”

Vilma thanks him for staying with her, to which Aranwe says he wouldn’t have done it any differently. He asks if she knew what would happen, and she responds that the woman who gave her life underground told her the end would be part of something greater.

Aranwe comments that the people in CR seem unprepared for what’s to come. Vilya responds that the destruction came and went in the form of the world getting flattened, but the entire erasure of the world may be caused by the group traveling through the manor now. She tells Aranwe he’s the reason she chose to stay and witness the end rather than “slip into the oblivion of the flowers,” for which Aranwe thanks her. Together, they wait to see how the story ends.

Disenna

2023-02-18T00:42:58Z

Sae: Created page with "File:Disenna-thorne-ch3.png|alt=Disenna Thorne's character, a platinum blonde Aasimar with hazel eyes. She's wearing a green dress with silver decorative adornments.|thumb|D..."

[[File:Disenna-thorne-ch3.png|alt=Disenna Thorne's character, a platinum blonde Aasimar with hazel eyes. She's wearing a green dress with silver decorative adornments.|thumb|Disenna Thorne]]

'''{{PAGENAME}} Thorne '''is a medical scientist of Aasimar descent living in 466 PR.

==Physical Appearance==
Disenna’s a bit on the taller side, standing just over six feet, with hazel eyes and platinum hair that settles around her collar. She wears a simple, scholarly-type dark green dress with muted silver adornments down the front, and a silk scarf. She looks mostly human, except her hair seems to catch the sunlight even when no sun is visible.

==History==
Disenna is an Aasimar, though the reason for it is unknown to her and her family. As a child her interests veered towards scientific pursuits, her Celestial heritage urging her towards the medical field. With her parents’ support she became apprenticed to a doctor as a teenager and studied with him for over a decade, eventually becoming a partner at his clinic in Dolmvay's Market District.

==Expertise==
Disenna's natural talent for healing and scientific contributions in scholarly journals earned her some minor recognition in the medical community. Her days are mostly split between house calls for those who demand her expertise, and pro bono outreach for those who cannot afford it.

[[Category:Player Characters]]

File:Disenna-thorne-ch3.png

2023-02-18T00:32:28Z

Sae:

Disenna Thorne

System Agnostic/Episode 3.1: Party at Paraska Manor

2023-02-16T16:27:24Z

Sae: spelling/continuity

The third chapter opens on a tour group in 78 CR, waiting just outside the Paraska Manor—at this point a museum—in Dolmvay. The group is an eclectic mix of students, bored teenagers, a family on vacation with a young child…and a pale man bearing a familiar eye-shaped holy symbol. A frazzled tour guide ushers them all inside with the warning that, while magic has long since left the realm, several artifacts are still volatile.

As they enter, the camera veers back to 466 PR, when the manor was still a residence, and focuses on four individuals who have been invited to a party there: the hunter Arlow, the chef Touse, the noble lady and engraver Nuria, and the medical scientist Disenna. They each received a mysterious invitation, all of which are signed by Lord and Lady Paraska.

Arlow and Disenna arrive a bit early and are met by a tall, dark-skinned humanoid in a dress uniform, and a fair-skinned woman with intricate copper braids who wears a flowing dress and furs.

The other invitees gather and at 7 PM sharp, they’re all greeted at the door by a disheveled and slightly confused young man who tells them he’s new. Chef Touse believes “New” is the man’s name and begins calling him such.

The group steps into the foyer and sees a statue made from some type of stone of a humanoid pixie with dragonfly wings, holding a gilded rose. Standing in front of the statue is a servant who wears his uniform much better than the timid man who greeted them at the door.

The servant tells them one of the hosts will be with them shortly and invites them to mingle. Disenna asks if this is the entire party for tonight, and the servant confirms this, saying all seven guests present are the entire party. The woman in furs asks why she only sees six guests, and the servant responds the man who greeted them at the door is actually a guest, not an employee. Touse asks the name of the chef preparing the dinner, and is informed their name is Antonio.

The other servants begin passing around refreshments. The taller humanoid strikes up a conversation with Arlow as he swipes more than one pastry from the plate. He introduces himself as Sir Syva Koncor, in the employ of the lady he arrived with. Koncor asks if anyone else was expecting an invitation, to which they all say no.

Touse asks if anyone will take his coat and tosses it to the young man from earlier, who awkwardly holds it. Arlow follows suit, and the two of them throw their outer clothing onto him, with Touse handing him a full-on multi-layer cake as well. The man staggers away with everything, trying to find a place to put them, and both Arlow and Disenna trail after him to help. Touse examines the pastries, thinking them to be crab rangoon, but is corrected by one of the servants.

Lady Nuria is finishing her second glass of wine and trying to avoid talking to anyone. She examines the art in the area and comes to a painting featuring three genasi representing water, air, and earth—but curiously, no fire. Her thoughts are interrupted by the lady accompanying Sir Koncor, who asks why she thinks there’s no fire genasi included. Nuria responds that artists take liberties, and it’s probably a commentary on something.

The woman notes Nuria carries herself differently from the others, and asks if she’s nobility. Nuria tries to place the woman’s face within her social circle, thinking back to all the parties and gatherings she’s attended. She does indeed remember her, but her mind goes back to a time where that woman was much younger, with unkempt hair and a face streaked with dirt—and eyes filled with fear. Nuria finally places the name: Lady Duskar Duskar.

They formally introduce themselves to each other, and opine as to the reason for their hosts’ absence. Myra eventually complains that the young man from earlier now has her furs, and excuses herself to track him down.

Arlow and Disenna follow the redhead boy as he simultaneously balances the coats—and cake—and searches for a spot to lay it all down. The group manages to find the ballroom, and the three of them drop the coats. The man tries to set the cake down as well, but gets caught on the edge of a dragon head bust; it topples over and shatters.

The young man starts panicking, and admits he only ever sees fancy places like this when working in them. He was fired from his previous job as a house painter when he was caught with a pipe in the garden trying to “calm down”. He shows them the crumpled invitation in his hands and says the hosts wanted to see his skills in action, but found the reason confusing as he had been fired from most of his jobs.

He introduces himself as Artok Bolt and drops the rest of the coats over the ruined dragon bust as he tries to reason his way out of blame for its destruction. They hear another crash nearby, but don’t see anything. Artok pulls out a pipe and asks if he’s allowed to light up in the hosts’ manor, but agrees to find a balcony for that.

As the group leaves the ballroom, Disenna briefly searches the area for the cause of the second crash. She doesn’t notice anything amiss, but there’s a layer of rock-dust at the base of one of the other busts that indicates something had shattered—yet the row of sculptures seems intact. Disenna recalls the many ghost stories surrounding Paraska Manor, and how “something” destroyed much of the house when the new owners took over the place from its previous disgraced occupants. She hurries to catch up to the others and they head back to the party.

Still in the main room, Touse suddenly notices the area getting far colder than it should be for the time of year. He asks Sir Koncor if he feels it too, which the other man confirms. The chef worries it might ruin the food, so Sir Koncor heads to the front door to let in the warm breeze from outside. The moment he opens the door, a virtual avalanche of snow comes pouring in, partially burying the taller man.

Arlow and Disenna help pull him out of the snow and look outside. Although it’s Autumn, and should be relatively warm for the year, the entire area is blanketed by snow, and the pair are pelted by ice as they retreat from the door. With difficulty the hunter manages to shut the door against the onslaught, and Disenna uses her scarf to try absorbing some of the snow from Sir Koncor.

Touse decides to retrieve the coats, and Arlow leads him down the hall to where they are. Lady Nuria drinks another glass of wine to drown her panic, while Lady Duskar trails after the hunter and the chef to retrieve her furs so she can help her snow-soaked companion warm up. The three of them enter the ballroom where Artok had dropped the coats—and the cake—only to find the previously broken dragon head bust is now perfectly intact.

Arlow assumes the hosts must keep “emergency dragon busts” around in case one breaks. He also notices the coats and cake are gone. Touse calls out for “New”, and surprisingly Artok comes running despite the fact the moniker isn’t his name. Touse asks where everything is, and Artok insists he left everything in the room—then stops short as he sees the fully intact dragon bust.

The chef tasks Artok with finding firewood as he goes in search of the kitchen. Arlow leaves to look for a warm sitting room, and Lady Duskar returns to the main room to care for her frozen knight.

Disenna tries to help warm up Sir Koncor, who insists through chattering teeth the snow shouldn’t be there. They stand up just as Lady Duskar returns, and the three of them begin to search for a warmer room as Myra suggests they all try to stay together.

Myra also calls out to Lady Nuria to follow them, but Nuria is trailing far behind them as she sketches a crackling fire inner notebook. By the time she’s finished, she glances up to see she’s alone in a kind of music room. She also notices the window in the room looks out the back of the manor, even though she had just been walking in the front of it.

As Nuria peers through the window, she sees that it’s completely covered in ice. As she watches, a crack spreads across the spot she’d just been looking at, but she’s not sure if it’s the ice or the window cracking.

Touse continues his search and eventually finds the kitchen. A large humanoid figure is busy hacking into something on a cutting board, and the chef begins to offer suggestions for alternate types of knives that will provide a cleaner cut. The person chopping the meat takes offense at his forwardness, and tells Touse to come to the chopping block and “show me how to do my job.”

Touse tries to determine what’s being butchered, and comes to the conclusion it’s serpent-like, but wholly unnatural and shouldn’t exist. He briefly panics, but recovers quickly and decides it’s merely some kind of snake. Turning to the other chef he admits he doesn’t know what’s being prepared, which only irritates the other man further. Touse then asks if the man received the cake he brought, but the other man says he hasn’t.

They briefly discuss the dessert course before Touse leaves, but not before calling the chef Antonio. The other chef denies that’s his name, and says there’s never been an Antonio at the manor. Touse asks his name, and he responds with something unpronounceable.

Arlow finds a sitting room for the group to recover, and Artok brings firewood. As the hunter lights the fire, Disenna begins hearing strange music from down the hall. She asks if anyone else hears the music, but the others say they don’t. She’s curious, but afraid to investigate on her own, so she asks Arlow to accompany her when he’s finished with the fire.

Arlow asks what kind of music Disenna is hearing, but she can’t put it into words. The tune and the words are alien, yet she feels the lyrics are familiar but *just* out of reach.

In the meantime, Nuria tries to determine if the cracks forming are from the ice outside, or the actual window. At first it was just the ice, but now the window is beginning to crack under the strain of the cold. Nuria walks over to the piano and touches one of the keys without pushing down; the only sound is the crack spreading across the window. She presses down on the key, and immediately the window shatters as wind and snow pour through the opening. She tries to escape through the door, only to find it locked.

The snow piles in with preternatural speed. Nuria suddenly feels a cold chill around her wrist, but not from the snow. She looks down to find an icy hand has risen from the floor and grasped her arm, causing it to burn. She tries to stab it with her pencil, but it yanks on her arm and she winds up piercing her own shoulder. The hand drags her even further into the snow, until she can’t breathe. It’s too hot, especially given the freezing snow, yet she feels a heavy, burning weight on top of her. She hears screaming, but can’t tell if it's coming from her.

Touse rejoins Sir Koncor and Lady Duskar in the sitting room. He asks about the whereabouts of Chef Antonio, and says the current chef is preparing snake meat for the party. This greatly upsets Lady Duskar, who leaves the sitting room; Sir Koncor explains to Touse that the lady is descended from a medusa and raises serpents as members of her own family. The knight is confused why Lord and Lady Paraska would dare serve snake meat to her.

Touse enlists the help of Artok to start ransacking the sitting room in search of a secret entrance. Artok can’t even get an agreement out before a bust from a nearby bookshelf dislodges and shatters on the ground—seemingly be itself. Touse is impressed, telling Artok to do the same thing with other books and statues, but Artok counters that he didn’t do it.

More books keep falling all around Touse. He starts sifting through the cookbooks, separating the “real” and “fake” cookbooks to find a secret entrance key. As he does so, the nearby bookshelf topples over…revealing a secret hole behind it. As he nears the hole, he hears a voice from further in:

“Come along—it’s time to come home.”

Back in 78 CR, as the tour group passes by the medieval weaponry section, two figures watch them from inside a spear that has clearly seen battle. Domus and Brodin stand in contemplation from the spear’s display window; Domus asks how much longer it will be, and Brodin responds it shouldn’t be long now.

Brodin points out the holy symbol on one of the tour group members, commenting the man is trying to conceal it but is doing a poor job of it. He tells Domus they’re “almost at the end.” Domus replies that he’s glad, because he wants to do something useful. When Brodin asks if he hasn’t already done something useful, Domus admits he doesn’t remember much of the past.

Brodin reminds him that, by reuniting Karavox, he may have saved the entirety of Quelmar—but everything will come down to what happens to the tour group that just walked through. Domus replies, “I guess we better watch closely, then,” to which Brodin agrees, but adds, “And if we have the chance, one last act. It’s what he would’ve wanted, since he can’t watch with us.”

System Agnostic/Episode 3.1: Party at Paraska Manor

2023-02-16T16:25:52Z

Sae: Created page with "The third chapter opens on a tour group in 78 CR, waiting just outside the Paraska Manor—at this point a museum—in Dolmvay. The group is an eclectic mix of students, bored..."

The third chapter opens on a tour group in 78 CR, waiting just outside the Paraska Manor—at this point a museum—in Dolmvay. The group is an eclectic mix of students, bored teenagers, a family on vacation with a young child…and a pale man bearing a familiar eye-shaped holy symbol. A frazzled tour guide ushers them all inside with the warning that, while magic has long since left the realm, several artifacts are still volatile.

As they enter, the camera veers back to 466 PR, when the manor was still a residence, and focuses on four individuals who have been invited to a party there: the hunter Arlow, the chef Touse, the noble lady and engraver Nuria, and the medical scientist Disenna. They each received a mysterious invitation, all of which are signed by Lord and Lady Paraska.

Arrow and Disenna arrive a bit early and are met by a tall, dark-skinned humanoid in a dress uniform, and a fair-skinned woman with intricate copper braids who wears a flowing dress and furs.

The other invitees gather and at 7 PM sharp, they’re all greeted at the door by a disheveled and slightly confused young man who tells them he’s new. Chef Touse believes “New” is the man’s name and begins calling him such.

The group steps into the foyer and sees a statue made from some type of stone of a humanoid pixie with dragonfly wings, holding a gilded rose. Standing in front of the statue is a servant who wears his uniform much better than the timid man who greeted them at the door.

The servant tells them one of the hosts will be with them shortly and invites them to mingle. Disenna asks if this is the entire party for tonight, and the servant confirms this, saying all seven guests present are the entire party. The woman in furs asks why she only sees six guests, and the servant responds the man who greeted them at the door is actually a guest, not an employee. Touse asks the name of the chef preparing the dinner, and is informed their name is Antonio.

The other servants begin passing around refreshments. The taller humanoid strikes up a conversation with Arlow as he swipes more than one pastry from the plate. He introduces himself as Sir Syva Koncor, in the employ of the lady he arrived with. Koncor asks if anyone else was expecting an invitation, to which they all say no.

Touse asks if anyone will take his coat and tosses it to the young man from earlier, who awkwardly holds it. Arrow follows suit, and the two of them throw their outer clothing onto him, with Touse handing him a full-on multi-layer cake as well. The man staggers away with everything, trying to find a place to put them, and both Arrow and Disenna trail after him to help. Touse examines the pastries, thinking them to be crab rangoon, but is corrected by one of the servants.

Lady Nuria is finishing her second glass of wine and trying to avoid talking to anyone. She examines the art in the area and comes to a painting featuring three genasi representing water, air, and earth—but curiously, no fire. Her thoughts are interrupted by the lady accompanying Sir Koncor, who asks why she thinks there’s no fire genasi included. Nuria responds that artists take liberties, and it’s probably a commentary on something.

The woman notes Nuria carries herself differently from the others, and asks if she’s nobility. Nuria tries to place the woman’s face within her social circle, thinking back to all the parties and gatherings she’s attended. She does indeed remember her, but her mind goes back to a time where that woman was much younger, with unkempt hair and a face streaked with dirt—and eyes filled with fear. Nuria finally places the name: Lady Duskar Duskar.

They formally introduce themselves to each other, and opine as to the reason for their hosts’ absence. Myra eventually complains that the young man from earlier now has her furs, and excuses herself to track him down.

Arrow and Disenna follow the redhead boy as he simultaneously balances the coats—and cake—and searches for a spot to lay it all down. The group manages to find the ballroom, and the three of them drop the coats. The man tries to set the cake down as well, but gets caught on the edge of a dragon head bust; it topples over and shatters.

The young man starts panicking, and admits he only ever sees fancy places like this when working in them. He was fired from his previous job as a house painter when he was caught with a pipe in the garden trying to “calm down”. He shows them the crumpled invitation in his hands and says the hosts wanted to see his skills in action, but found the reason confusing as he had been fired from most of his jobs.

He introduces himself as Artok Bolt and drops the rest of the coats over the ruined dragon bust as he tries to reason his way out of blame for its destruction. They hear another crash nearby, but don’t see anything. Artok pulls out a pipe and asks if he’s allowed to light up in the hosts’ manor, but agrees to find a balcony for that.

As the group leaves the ballroom, Disenna briefly searches the area for the cause of the second crash. She doesn’t notice anything amiss, but there’s a layer of rock-dust at the base of one of the other busts that indicates something had shattered—yet the row of sculptures seems intact. Disenna recalls the many ghost stories surrounding Paraska Manor, and how “something” destroyed much of the house when the new owners took over the place from its previous disgraced occupants. She hurries to catch up to the others and they head back to the party.

Still in the main room, Touse suddenly notices the area getting far colder than it should be for the time of year. He asks Sir Koncor if he feels it too, which the other man confirms. The chef worries it might ruin the food, so Sir Koncor heads to the front door to let in the warm breeze from outside. The moment he opens the door, a virtual avalanche of snow comes pouring in, partially burying the taller man.

Arlow and Disenna help pull him out of the snow and look outside. Although it’s Autumn, and should be relatively warm for the year, the entire area is blanketed by snow, and the pair are pelted by ice as they retreat from the door. With difficulty the hunter manages to shut the door against the onslaught, and Disenna uses her scarf to try absorbing some of the snow from Sir Koncor.

Touse decides to retrieve the coats, and Arlow leads him down the hall to where they are. Lady Nuria drinks another glass of wine to drown her panic, while Lady Duskar trails after the hunter and the chef to retrieve her furs so she can help her snow-soaked companion warm up. The three of them enter the ballroom where Artok had dropped the coats—and the cake—only to find the previously broken dragon head bust is now perfectly intact.

Arlow assumes the hosts must keep “emergency dragon busts” around in case one breaks. He also notices the coats and cake are gone. Touse calls out for “New”, and surprisingly Artok comes running despite the fact the moniker isn’t his name. Touse asks where everything is, and Artok insists he left everything in the room—then stops short as he sees the fully intact dragon bust.

The chef tasks Artok with finding firewood as he goes in search of the kitchen. Arlow leaves to look for a warm sitting room, and Lady Duskar returns to the main room to care for her frozen knight.

Disenna tries to help warm up Sir Koncor, who insists through chattering teeth the snow shouldn’t be there. They stand up just as Lady Duskar returns, and the three of them begin to search for a warmer room as Myra suggests they all try to stay together.

Myra also calls out to Lady Nuria to follow them, but Nuria is trailing far behind them as she sketches a crackling fire inner notebook. By the time she’s finished, she glances up to see she’s alone in a kind of music room. She also notices the window in the room looks out the back of the manor, even though she had just been walking in the front of it.

As Nuria peers through the window, she sees that it’s completely covered in ice. As she watches, a crack spreads across the spot she’d just been looking at, but she’s not sure if it’s the ice or the window cracking.

Touse continues his search and eventually finds the kitchen. A large humanoid figure is busy hacking into something on a cutting board, and the chef begins to offer suggestions for alternate types of knives that will provide a cleaner cut. The person chopping the meat takes offense at his forwardness, and tells Touse to come to the chopping block and “show me how to do my job.”

Touse tries to determine what’s being butchered, and comes to the conclusion it’s serpent-like, but wholly unnatural and shouldn’t exist. He briefly panics, but recovers quickly and decides it’s merely some kind of snake. Turning to the other chef he admits he doesn’t know what’s being prepared, which only irritates the other man further. Touse then asks if the man received the cake he brought, but the other man says he hasn’t.

They briefly discuss the dessert course before Touse leaves, but not before calling the chef Antonio. The other chef denies that’s his name, and says there’s never been an Antonio at the manor. Touse asks his name, and he responds with something unpronounceable.

Arlow finds a sitting room for the group to recover, and Artok brings firewood. As the hunter lights the fire, Disenna begins hearing strange music from down the hall. She asks if anyone else hears the music, but the others say they don’t. She’s curious, but afraid to investigate on her own, so she asks Arlow to accompany her when he’s finished with the fire.

Arlow asks what kind of music Disenna is hearing, but she can’t put it into words. The tune and the words are alien, yet she feels the lyrics are familiar but *just* out of reach.

In the meantime, Nuria tries to determine if the cracks forming are from the ice outside, or the actual window. At first it was just the ice, but now the window is beginning to crack under the strain of the cold. Nuria walks over to the piano and touches one of the keys without pushing down; the only sound is the crack spreading across the window. She presses down on the key, and immediately the window shatters as wind and snow pour through the opening. She tries to escape through the door, only to find it locked.

The snow piles in with preternatural speed. Nuria suddenly feels a cold chill around her wrist, but not from the snow. She looks down to find an icy hand has risen from the floor and grasped her arm, causing it to burn. She tries to stab it with her pencil, but it yanks on her arm and she winds up piercing her own shoulder. The hand drags her even further into the snow, until she can’t breathe. It’s too hot, especially given the freezing snow, yet she feels a heavy, burning weight on top of her. She hears screaming, but can’t tell if it's coming from her.

Touse rejoins Sir Koncor and Lady Duskar in the sitting room. He asks about the whereabouts of Chef Antonio, and says the current chef is preparing snake meat for the party. This greatly upsets Lady Duskar, who leaves the sitting room; Sir Koncor explains to Touse that the lady is descended from a medusa and raises serpents as members of her own family. The knight is confused why Lord and Lady Paraska would dare serve snake meat to her.

Touse enlists the help of Artok to start ransacking the sitting room in search of a secret entrance. Artok can’t even get an agreement out before a bust from a nearby bookshelf dislodges and shatters on the ground—seemingly be itself. Touse is impressed, telling Artok to do the same thing with other books and statues, but Artok counters that he didn’t do it.

More books keep falling all around Touse. He starts sifting through the cookbooks, separating the “real” and “fake” cookbooks to find a secret entrance key. As he does so, the nearby bookshelf topples over…revealing a secret hole behind it. As he nears the hole, he hears a voice from further in:

“Come along—it’s time to come home.”

Back in 78 CR, as the tour group passes by the medieval weaponry section, two figures watch them from inside a spear that has clearly seen battle. Domus and Brodin stand in contemplation from the spear’s display window; Domus asks how much longer it will be, and Brodin responds it shouldn’t be long now.

Brodin points out the holy symbol on one of the tour group members, commenting the man is trying to conceal it but is doing a poor job of it. He tells Domus they’re “almost at the end.” Domus replies that he’s glad, because he wants to do something useful. When Brodin asks if he hasn’t already done something useful, Domus admits he doesn’t remember much of the past.

Brodin reminds him that, by reuniting Karavox, he may have saved the entirety of Quelmar—but everything will come down to what happens to the tour group that just walked through. Domus replies, “I guess we better watch closely, then,” to which Brodin agrees, but adds, “And if we have the chance, one last act. It’s what he would’ve wanted, since he can’t watch with us.”

System Agnostic/Episode 2.7: Karavox Reforged

2023-01-14T13:48:41Z

Sae: Created page with "The arc’s final chapter opens where it previously left off: at the archivist Aaron Duscalla’s house, with a frenetic pounding on his front door. The door begins to bend in..."

The arc’s final chapter opens where it previously left off: at the archivist Aaron Duscalla’s house, with a frenetic pounding on his front door. The door begins to bend inward under the force of the blows, until it shatters violently.

The camera then cuts back to the adventuring party, as they’re still trying to gain access to the head of Karavox. Kyuri thinks back to the brief moments in the time since they all first arrived at the temple, and begins to wonder if he truly is himself—or if he’s someone else who only bears Kyuri’s memories. After some deep thought, he comes to the conclusion that—while he is indeed Kyuri—there’s either an unknown passenger “traveling” within him, or he’s simply someone playing Kyuri’s part in history.

Domus sets up his immovable rod outside the doorway to the henge as Chonnnk rolls through the doorway. Xen offers to keep watch outside as Domus, Kyuri and Rooney enter together.

Everyone quickly realizes that, while Chonnnk is technically rolling and Rooney is flying, neither of them are going anywhere. A voice addresses them from the darkness, asking them who has come to seek Karavox. They introduce themselves, and the voice demands that one of them relinquish their “place in this world” (the ability to put down roots in a single location) as the price to get one step closer to obtaining the axe head. It furthers explains that Karavox’s head “has been removed from time and space”, and that to bring it back requires both.

Rooney asks if there’s a dragon in the room, and the voice responds it can present itself as many obstacles; it demonstrates by appearing in front of Chonnnk as a snow leopard, then Rooney as a white dragon. But it concludes it has no need for such displays, and evaporates into the darkness again as mist. Kyuri asks what the entity is, if neither a leopard nor dragon, but it simply responds, “I am.”

After some deliberation within the group, Rooney steps forward and offers to make the sacrifice, as he never stays in one place anyway. Immediately, the others are transported outside the henge, leaving Rooney alone with the entity. They strike the bargain, Rooney repeating the words “For Karavox, I give up my roots.” The ranger walks through the doorway with a renewed, much stronger wanderlust.

Xen catches the group up on the current situation: both infernal *and* abyssal creatures are rapidly approaching the area, and possibly “Marileth herself.” The party hurriedly approaches the next door.

Domus sets up the rod again and Chonnnk waddles through first, followed by the others. The Ursin is separated from them and approached by another voice from the darkness. The voice demands that Chonnnk sacrifice “who he is”—that is, his past and his memories—to obtain the final step in reassembling Karavox. Disheartened, the Ursin turns down the deal, saying he has a title back home he needs to defend and must retain his memories to do so. He turns and walks back out of the room. Only Xen is there to greet him.

In the meantime, the other three find themselves in a study. A blonde figure whose face is covered by a mask rises from a nearby chair to greet them. She pulls three ruby-like gems from a pouch and gives it to each of them. Domus asks how she knows them, to which she counters she doesn’t, but that the answer is long and complicated. He asks if she has the head of Karavox, and she replies that she can negotiate to have the third door opened. The paladin casts Divine Sense and picks up a hint of celestial energy from the figure before him, and lingering aftereffects of fiend around her—more from being around them than actually being one herself. He also picks up the fiends Xen warned the group about just through the doorway.

The group takes the opportunity to heal before their next fight. The woman casts a healing spell to help them, although doing so clearly takes a lot out of her and her form begins to flicker. Rooney’s hand briefly touches hers, and he instantly gets the impression he does indeed know her. But he doesn’t know from where, and the feeling rapidly fades.

The woman admits she’s not technically in the room; her presence is a failsafe against “certain problems.” She goes on to warn them that she can negotiate to lower the third door’s price but not erase it entirely. Rather than erase a person’s entire history, either one of the three would have to give up every memory except a single defining moment, or all three of them would have to give up one defining moment for each of them.

Without hesitation Domus agrees to give up all memories save for his defining moment: obtaining his spear. In his own words, “As long as I have that one moment, I can find everything else again.” The woman places her hand against the paladin’s chest, her eyes glowing gold. When she pulls it away, a thin strand from his heart comes with it. She calls upon Brodin and requests that he return to Domus what is lost. Domus repeats the words: “For Karavox, I give up my history.” Once again the light surrounding the door turns iridescent as the strand disappears.

The light from all three doors coalesces and focuses directly in the center of the area, and Chonnnk is nearly knocked off his feet from the tremors. A bone sphere, slightly cracked, emerges from the earthquake, at the same time several creatures arrive.

Back in the room, the woman declares the trials completed and urges the others to open the sphere and retrieve Karavox’s head, saying “The weapon will know what to do.” She coughs again, and her hand comes away with blood. She assures them she’ll be fine, but again directs them out of the room.

Once outside, Kyuri immediately catches sight of his father, Alistair, surrounded by reptilian-like devils and a flaming suit of armor. Meanwhile Xen stares down a snake-like woman with six arms, each one bearing a blade. The woman is flanked by demonic creatures unfamiliar to the others, including one demon bearing a resemblance to a donkey with crab claws.

Alistair greets his son from across the battlefield and asks where Kyuri’s mother is. He retorts he was about to ask his father the same thing. Kyuri touches the clasp of his cloak, activating his Wings of Flying, and the cloak transforms into raven’s wings.

The six-armed demon general Xen called Marilith turns to Alistair and calls out “Essler! I believe we had an appointment,” before turning to attack Alistair’s entourage. Alistair tells her to wait, as he has some “family business to attend to,” and instructs the devils with him to retrieve Karavox’s head while he goes for the haft. In an instant, he teleports across the field and fires a volley of magic missiles at Kyuri, who manages to cast Shield to block them. In the meantime, the suit of armor begins attacking the bone sphere.

Kyuri summons his dragon spirit ally Iirtem and his shadow hound Kastrinal to harry Alistair. Chonnnk tucks into a ball and rolls over to Alistair, tearing into the man with two great swings. One of the devils retaliates by attacking the barbarian and literally kicking his soul out of his body. The other devil begins attacking the Marilith, and suddenly both Iirtem and Rooney begin to feel uncontrollable rage well up inside them.

Blinded by his anger, Rooney pulls out a short sword and turns to attack Domus. His attacks miss as Domus calmly deflects them; the paladin may no longer remember Rooney too clearly, but understands they’re allies and are here to do a job. After trying to hit Domus, Rooney’s rage vanishes and he drops the sword in shock.

Kastrinal bites Alistair, who is already injured from Chonnnk’s attacks, and takes him down before fading back into the shadows. Iirtem, also caught in an inexplicable rage, tries to snap at Domus, but the paladin shrugs it off. Domus casts Protection From Evil and Good on Chonnnk and attempts to breathe fire at one of the devils. Unfortunately, the devil is unaffected by fire, although Domus’ fire breath does melt the snow around it.

One of the demons attacks Xen but misses. Meanwhile, on of the other demons attempts to bite the bone sphere but ends up breaking all of its teeth. The third demon assists its mistress in charging at one of the reptilian devils and eviscerates it.

Everyone on the field hears a piercing shriek that evolves into a loud roar as a large blue-white dragon covered in ice crystals arrives and stands directly over Alistair, unleashing a breath of ice at the remaining reptilian devil—as well as Iirtem, Rooney, and Chonnnk’s body. After a moment it gently grabs Alistair’s unconscious form and begins pulling him out of combat.

Marilith continues attacking the devils in front of her and the suit of armor that’s trying to pry open the bone sphere. The armor responds in kind, attacking her. Kyuri, knowing Iirtem is still magically enraged and unwilling to take the chance he will destroy Chonnnk’s body, drops the summoning spell. Instead, he uses one of the Scrolls of Death Ward on Chonnnk’s body.

Chonnnk’s soul returns to his body and he awakens. The remaining reptilian devil swipes at the barbarian and Domus, missing the latter but nicking Chonnnk. Rooney flies into the sky and casts Windwall around the bone sphere. The suit of armor is buffeted by the gale force winds, but continues its task.

Xen grasps the demon in front of her and casts Inflict Wounds as it scrabbles to get away. She turns to the party and reminds them if they get the axe head they may not have to fight the Marilith and could end the fight faster.

Domus casts Cure Wounds on Chonnnk from his necklace of prayer beads, then attacks the reptilian devil with his spear. Some of the other demons try to attack Xen, while the one who lost its teeth earlier tries to claw at the sphere but misses. The donkey-like demon rips into the suit of armor, dealing it heavy damage.

The dragon steps back and looks Kyuri in the eye. He instantly understands: the creature before him is his mother, and she’s protecting his father because “she married him for a reason, and it wasn’t devils.” She then tears into the devil before her, leaving it dazed and terrified of her.

The Marilith follows the donkey-like demon in attacking the suit of armor, leaving it far worse off than before. Suddenly no longer liking the odds, the suit vanishes from the battlefield in flames.

Kyuri aims for the sphere, hurling several Magic Missiles at it. The Windwall initially deflects them upward, but they find their target and even more cracks spread across the sphere’s surface.

Chonnnk stands up and charges at the Marilith, but she parries one of his attacks and the other doesn’t hurt her as much as he’d assumed it would.

Rooney unleashes a volley of his Angry Hornet arrows at the bone sphere, widening the cracks. With his second arrow he pierces the shell, splitting it until it crumbles and melts into the snow like water. The head of Karavox lies atop the ground, and Domus’ bag begins humming as the haft vibrates: Karavox wants to be whole again. Rooney flies down to pick up the head and Misty Steps next to Domus.

One of the remaining devils attacks the dragon, while Xen casts Inflict Wounds yet again on the demon in front of her. She tosses it to the side and runs up to Rooney and Domus, telling them to put Karavox back together. When Domus pulls out the haft, the axe head in Rooney’s hands flies away from him, cutting his fingers as it reattaches itself to the handle.

Once whole again, Karavox gleams so brightly it nearly blinds everyone on the field as it declares, “Free at last.” It then asks Domus, “Who must fall?” Domus responds “devils,” and—with the command from Brodin to help the genasi being the only memory still clear in his mind—he hands the axe to Xen.

Xen clutches the axe and murmurs, “You know who must fall.” As she does so, the remaining demons go after Kyuri, poisoning him with their claws. The donkey-like demon attacks Chonnnk, but the death ward prevents him from falling. The dragon flies across the field and rips apart the demons that attacked Kyuri.

The Marilith downs Chonnnk with a melee attack, then runs her blade through his body again, killing him.

Kyuri glances up at the dragon and says “Let’s do this,” before casting Raulothim's Psychic Lance at the demon in front of him.

Rooney calls out for Domus to use one of their remaining Scrolls of Revivify on Chonnnk before flying up and attacking the Marilith with his Angry Hornet arrows. His first attack misses, but the second does a bit of damage to her. Sensing the battle’s been lost, the remaining devil jumps into the ocean and disappears.

Xen briefly gazes at Karavox in contemplation before closing her eyes. Rooney and Domus feel enormous power emanating from the axe in waves, as though the weapon’s magic is being released and coming undone.

Kyuri feels his mind splitting apart, now certain there’s another presence—or at least a “passenger” as he ascertained earlier. He views the events from two perspectives: the way things were, and the way they are. Like the other two, Kyuri sees Karavox being unmade, but knows that’s not how it was supposed to happen.

Historians don’t know how the devil incursion was stopped, although Karavox certainly played a part. According to history books and what Kyuri saw, an earth genasi cult member sought a way to escape, and met up with the party to “briefly” use Karavox and make amends by driving back the demons.

However, what the real Domus and Rooney see in the present is Xen stabbing herself with Karavox and falling, followed by the Marilith collapsing and dying—Xen’s connection to the demon general serving as her downfall.

The few remaining demons flee the battlefield. Domus casts Revivify on Chonnnk, bringing him back from death itself. Kyuri stands with his mother, who is still in dragon form, and casts Cure Wounds on his father. Upon waking, a panicked Alistair tries to attack, but the dragon’s claw firmly pushes him into the ground. Kyuri tells him Marcella just saved his life and not to ruin things now. His mother tells him in draconic she and Alistair will lay low so the devils don’t kill them, and they will find him later. She flies off, her husband still tightly gripped in one talon.

Rooney flies down and pulls Karavox from Xen’s body, trying to heal her in a panic, but she’s already dead.

In pain but alive once again, Chonnnk pulls a book out of his bag and gives it to Domus as thanks. Domus asks what the book is about, to which Chonnnk responds it’s “Speed Rapping for Dummies.”

The world itself appears to unravel, and three of the adventurers are pulled away. For a moment, only Kyuri and Xen remain as the world crumbles. “Kyuri” recalls this scenario happening before, with a Titan-sized version of the genasi now at his feet once ripping the entire world apart and screaming to be released. As history—or some version of it—seems to repeat itself in front of him, Xen opens her eyes and looks in his direction, saying:

“Find me when you understand; then it can start.”

Before “Kyuri” can ask any questions, Xen is gone. Then he's gone, too, as reality falls apart at the seams.

The camera breaks away, back to the house where the chapter first began. The house is in disarray, with drawers overturned and debris scattered about. A figure steps through the shambles and comes across a poster advertising a new collection featuring Karavox in a nearby museum. The figure moves away from the poster towards Aaron Duscalla, who lies on the floor with a bloodied gash across his forehead. The figure extends a hand downward, but the camera moves to their other hand—which reaches for a familiar eye-shaped holy symbol that glows a violent, violet light.

System Agnostic/Episode 2.6: Cultists and Crystal Spires

2022-12-21T18:27:19Z

Sae: Created page with "The episode starts with the archivist Aaron Duscalla retrieving a metal bucket, old popcorn, and a film reel from the mysterious box left on his doorstep. As he contemplates t..."

The episode starts with the archivist Aaron Duscalla retrieving a metal bucket, old popcorn, and a film reel from the mysterious box left on his doorstep. As he contemplates the items, the camera veers back in time to the Doughnuts and Dondurma bakery, where the members of the adventuring party have come face-to-face with the earth genasi that battled two of them at the temple.

She peers at them from her seat on the stool, with a large cake in front of her topped with rock crystal spires. Yet when Domus and Kyuri examine the cake, they don’t see rock crystal; they see metalwork that seems similar to chariots, but the wheels are made of metal and there’s no space for a horse. Domus also notices a candy design resembling fire on the cake.

She offers the paladin a slice. Suspicious, he asks the price. She tells him there’s no cost, but seeing he mistrusts her she take her dagger out and cuts a slice for herself. He asks why she’s so calm this time compared to their last meeting, and she merely responds that he “was never a concern.” They argue semantics as Chonnnk and Rooney tuck into a few pastries.

The genasi cuts a slice of cake for Domus, which includes one of the carriages flipped onto its back. He asks where she found her inspiration for the design, to which she responds with delight and asks what he knows about it. He tells her he’s never seen anything like the metal carriage before, and she visibly dims with disappointment.

She tells him the group has something important—or rather, half of something important. Domus admits they have the haft of ''karavox'' and asks why she’s interested. She says she has need of it in its completed form, and that her use of it would benefit everyone. Kyuri asks if she could be more specific, to which she responds she wishes she could. When Domus asks her why she can’t, she only points to the metal carriage on top of the cake and enigmatically responds, “Because you two have never seen that before, and two of you don’t see it at all.”

The party peppers her with questions, but she continues to evade them. Instead, she offers assistance against the marilith whose general they dispatched at the temple in exchange for using ''karavox'' once it’s completed. Domus tries to get a read on her motives, but is too caught up in the memories of the smoke and fire from the carriage that the cake before him now evokes.

Kyuri asks if the genasi can at least tell them why letting her use ''karavox'' will help everyone. Domus adds that, if it helps, he had indeed seen the carriage before, but only in his smoke-induced dream. She replies that it means his patron Brodin is aware of the situation, and approves of her methods. This answer satisfies the paladin, and he agrees to help her. Chonnnk takes the opportunity to lament the bakery is now out of donuts, and starts in on the pastries Rooney is currently eating.

The genasi swears to each party member in turn, using their names, that if they allow her to use ''karavox'' first, they’ll at least be able to strike a blow to the Man In Black, if not destroy him. They’re free to choose not to help her, but she admits it likely means they’ll have to fight her at some point. Rooney asks her position on Tiamat, to which she says she’s not a fan but recognizes the dragon’s importance on the grander world stage.

Kyuri acknowledges the genasi addressed him including his last name, and asks her opinion of his family. She says that, as a whole, the Essler family has made too many deals with devils. Their one saving grace is that those who marry into the family are not bound the same way that those related by blood are—though some choose to make deals anyway. He goes on to ask if she’s heard of anyone in the family dying and coming back; she replies that most people whose souls are bound by contracts tend to become infernal creatures themselves upon their death, making resurrection rare. He decides her answers are honest, and throws his lot in with Domus. Chonnnk decides to devour another tray of pastries, but the genasi gently guides the tray over to the others in the group.

Rooney mistrusts her in-depth knowledge of infernal politics, but she counters that she also knows a great deal about the heavens as well. He asks what her favorite part of the sky, as his is the cumulonimbus. She responds that she likes its “ephemerality”—that it changes, rather than staying solid. He may not trust her, but agrees to go along with the others. Chonnnk tries to speak, but his mouth is full of pastries; the genasi takes it as a sign he also agrees. She formally introduces herself as Xen.

Rooney finally recognizes her as the genasi from the temple. She holds up her arm to reveal several runes on it, though there’s fewer of them now, and replies she had been “waking up.” Kyuri remarks to Domus that the paladin had been mistaken, as the runes didn’t appear to be a skin condition.

Xen admits she doesn’t like being vague with the party, but they’re “not there yet” and hopes next time will be the proper time. Kyuri asks what she means by “next time”, but she only smiles in response and tells them to enjoy themselves in the bakery as it’s all paid for. She asks if they have an agreement, and shakes Domus’ hand before departing.

Chonnnk and Rooney continue to enjoy the pastries, while Kyuri once again struggles with the feeling all the memories he’s been recently sifting through aren’t actually ''his'', and they carry a sense of alienation with them. For just a moment, he even feels like someone else. In the meantime, Domus takes a bite of candy fire and is mentally transported back to the vision he had earlier. He sees several metal carriages scattered and on fire; screams fill the air as hands grab at him. He only comes back to the present when he hears the voice of their guide Exuus asking if he’s alright.

The halfling then picks a piece of rock candy off the cake (to Kyuri and Domus’ collective surprise, as they hadn’t noticed the spires) and starts to eat it. Chonnnk sidles over to the tray Xen moved earlier and tries to stealthily grab more pastries; unfortunately he’s also humming his own theme song while doing it in full view of the others, so he fails to be sneaky about it. After a brief discussion of the nightlife in Gol Zenagi, they all agree to settle in at Madame Gritania’s place.

Once there, the group is met by the gruff, no-nonsense half orc called Madame Gritania who agrees to take them to their rooms. Exuus bids them goodbye, turns to leave, and promptly slams several fingers in the doorjamb which fall to the floor as he departs. After a few moments, he returns to retrieve them.

Domus and Rooney double up in one room, with Kyuri and Chonnnk in the other. As the others sleep, Kyuri casts Sending to reach out to his sister Odessa, asking if it was true that he’d died before. She responds that she’d been sworn to secrecy, but admits he did—albeit for a short time—and that their mother nearly died too. After a moment, she adds that she’d been with their father when it happened, but when they came home Kyuri hadn’t been breathing, their mother only barely breathing herself. When Marcella woke up, she had formed a contract.

Kyuri tries to process all of this, and thanks Odessa for telling him, saying he has an apology to make. She responds that their mother didn’t want the event hanging over his head. Kyuri admits Marcella said as much, and that’s why Odessa might be getting a visit from her. His sister merely responds “She can try.”

The sorcerer then uses another scroll of Sending to Marcella herself, apologizing for his earlier actions in light of what he’s discovered. Marcella tells him “What’s done is done” and ponders how they’ll proceed when they next meet, only telling him to be ready. Sensing the danger of his upcoming mission, he tells her they may not ever meet again, but he hopes they do and can mend their relationship. She mysteriously responds that they’ll definitely meet again where he’s headed next.

After Kyuri falls asleep, Chonnnk tries to sneak into Rooney’s room to steal the ranger’s pastry. He does so, and eats it in his own room.

The next day the party finishes their shopping in town, with Domus purchasing a scroll of Bigby’s Hand and Kyuri picking up a set of “experimental” rings of Comprehend Languages for each party member. Domus also tries to see his pet Devon, but it appears the maw demon is playing with Queen Vol’ak. Rooney practices with his new bow, and asks Exuus to help him try it out. Chonnnk looks into buying Boots of Haste, but they’re too expensive.

In the morning, before the breakfast bell, Xen and Vol’ak come to collect the party, informing the group that Gol Zenagi is over Breme. The queen again requests they “say hello to ''karavox'' from Arethar” for her. Chonnnk offers a copy of his book to her, to which she gently responds she’s already read it when she touched him, and gives the book to Devon who immediately devours it. The party joins hands, and with one last warning from Vol’ak not to utter Krampus’ name within Breme, they’re dropped thousands of feet towards the town below.

After hurtling through the air for what seems like forever, Feather Fall kicks in and the group gently touches ground moments later. Kyuri hands out the rings of Comprehend Languages, and Chonnnk puts his on his toe. Rooney uses his Primeval Awareness to detect dragons, only to find his detection keeps pinging on and off in the direction of the archway behind the group the entire time his ability is active. He mentions this to the others and says it’s a “no-go”, but Xen points out all the doors must be opened.

Chonnnk takes the opportunity to steal Rooney’s bagel. As he eats it, light explodes from the rainbow henge near the party, bathing them in a colorful glow and extending upwards from the crystal spire. Marcella Essler steps out from the glow. Kyuri asks if this is what she meant by meeting him again where he was going, which she confirms.

He’s the only one who remembers their encounter in Artagan’s smoke vision, so he re-introduces her to the others. Chonnnk then remembers her from the “stick party” and wonders why she didn’t have a stick; Marcella asks Kyuri if she should kill the barbarian first.

Kyuri confronts her with the knowledge he died before and asks why she did it. She says he’d been infernally bound even as a child. So when he died, she made a deal. As she puts it: “What was I supposed to do?” She then says to pay her back, he needs to give her ''karavox''. He declines, saying they’ve already promised Xen the use of it. Marcella counters that it’s not her problem.

Xen tries to bow out of the family drama and take the others to one of the other doors—which concerns Rooney, who’s still worried about dragons. Kyuri presses his mother further until she admits the devils she contracted with have ordered both her and her husband—Kyuri’s father—to retrieve ''karavox''. And if she can’t convince Kyuri to help, his father will take it by force.

Kyuri tries to convince Marcella to come with them, but she says she won’t see him die again. When he tells her giving ''karavox'' to the devils would doom everyone, she counters that the two of them and Odessa would still live. He disagrees, saying the cost is too high, and asks her “don’t be like Dad.” She rebuffs him with the fact that his father wouldn’t simply *ask* for ''karavox''.

At an impasse, Kyuri finally asks if Marcella would willingly kill the entire world. Without hesitation, she says she would do so for him. As she says this, she turns her attention to Chonnnk and Rooney and attacks them with lightning. Xen decides she doesn’t want to get involved, and walks into one of the other henges.

Chonnnk grows in size, tucks into a ball and attacks Marcella. Rooney follows suit, shooting his new bow at her before taking to the air. Marcella responds to the attacks by banishing both of them from the battlefield. Kyuri tries again to convince her to stop, but she’s resolute in her decision. Domus strikes her with his spear, following it with a paladin’s smite.

In the meantime, an injured Xen is suddenly expelled from the henge she’d tried to enter. At the same time Kyuri suddenly reels from taking inexplicable psychic damage, but comes to understand he’s also now protected from fae creatures for the next day.

In their astral relocation, Chonnnk sits down and starts to read, but Rooney prepares to attack once they’ve returned to the material plane. Back on Breme, Marcella unleashes another barrage of lightning, this time at Domus. Panicked, Kyuri pulls out a piece of fuzz from his Bag of Tricks and summons a jackal. He tasks the reluctant animal with distracting his mother—hopefully without dying.

Domus attacks again, smiting Marcella, and her concentration on the banishment breaks. Rooney, prepared ahead of time, strikes her with arrows as he reappears. Xen gingerly picks herself up off the ground and once again refuses to get involved in family issues.

Out of nowhere, two fae creatures step out of the same magical field that’s protecting Kyuri from said creatures. They immediately attack the jackal, who falls on the first hit, then go for Marcella—and kill her as well. They try to strike out at Domus, but can’t get past his armor.

Chonnnk sees the fae creature kill Marcella and assumes they’re allies, but Rooney notices how they attacked Domus and fires at them. His spider bow manages to take down one of them, and Kyuri shatters the other one with a cold Chromatic Orb.

Kyuri scrambles to his mother’s body and begs the others to use one of their Revivify scrolls. The spell is within Domus’ wheelhouse, albeit aa higher level than he’s used to casting, so he attempts to use the scroll. Unfortunately it fails, but he asks Rooney for another scroll and the ranger obliges.

The second scroll works, and Marcella breathes again. Opening her eyes, she glances over at Kyuri and simply says, “Go.” He tries to convince her to come with him, but she repeats her order. The other three follow Xen towards one of the other henges. Kyuri attempts to cast Cure Wounds on his mother, but she again refuses and tells him yet again to go. He does so reluctantly, trailing behind the others.

Domus is struck with a realization. The first scroll he tried to use failed, as though something didn’t want him to succeed. But using the second Revivify scroll he taps into every source of power he knows, including that of his patron, the centaur Brodin. Yet it goes even deeper than that: his consciousness expands to sense another, glaive-wielding centaur watching him—yet not ''him'' per se. In this moment, he’s just a conduit. Going even further he feels another consciousness; he is, at the same time, both himself yet not. Finally, diving even further, he feels an over-arching consciousness too vast to understand, although he understands its avatar well enough.

But why would an incomprehensibly powerful being take the form of a bucket?

Before the episode draws to a close, the camera pulls back to focus on Aaron Duscalla once more. As he contemplates the bucket and film reel before him, his thoughts are interrupted by a frantic, insistent pounding on his front door.

System Agnostic/Episode 2.5: Gol Zenagi

2022-12-15T21:07:42Z

Sae: Created page with "The episode begins, as per usual, at archivist Aaron Duscalla’s house as he shakes the package that was mysteriously left on his doorstep, but the package doesn’t reveal a..."

The episode begins, as per usual, at archivist Aaron Duscalla’s house as he shakes the package that was mysteriously left on his doorstep, but the package doesn’t reveal any hint to its contents.

As he searches for a knife to cut through the copious amounts of tape covering the box, the camera zooms back in time to the fireplace in the Nested Tiger, in front of which a currently unconscious Chonnnk is unceremoniously splayed out. Several deep lacerations mar his face and belly, and a withered-looking cat is napping on top of him.

The rest of the party is greeted by this sight as they emerge from their rooms at the inn. Rooney approaches the cat but pauses as it growls at him. Ultimately he does manage to reach past it to cast Cure Wounds on the barbarian, who slowly wakens. Kyuri asks is he’s all right, but Chonnnk doesn’t hear him. The sorcerer asks the others if he’s dead, to which Syr pipes up from the nearby bar that Chonnnk *was* dead but “no longer.” When asked if something had killed the Ursin last night, the tabaxi shrugs and responds “Stupidity…fate.” The others wisely choose to remain silent.

The group irons out the details for their trip to Gol Zenagi, and Syr again reiterates the necessity to act “properly” as they are essentially representing him. Rooney tries speaking with the cat and asks if it was the one who injured Chonnnk. The cat responds that he was already injured beforehand, and his face wasn’t comfortable enough to sleep on so it settled for its belly. Rooney understands it, though he finds its manner of speech unsettling; the others only hear a sound emanating from the cat that’s more akin to a demonic, guttural growl than a cat’s meowing.

While Chonnnk recuperates underneath the cat, the others visit a magic shop within Jewelspar. They come across a shop that appears abandoned, but Domus knocks on the door anyway. The proprietor of the shop, a yuan ti, cautiously opens the door, and Domus tries to barter with him. The shop owner reveals a tuning fork he’d been holding and promptly smacks each party member on the head with it, declaring each one to be “okay” until he comes to the maw demon Devon—who then tries to eat the fork. The shop owner prepares to attack Devon, but Domus tells his pet the fork isn’t food and Devon relents. The yuan ti admits he doesn’t sell to devils, and indeed has disguised his entire shop to look abandoned so devils will leave him alone.

He produces the items each adventurer has requested, and takes their gold before stepping back and slamming the door. Rooney laments not asking him for anything a cat might enjoy, but a fish comes out of seemingly nowhere and smacks him in the face.

With their treasures in hand, they return to the tavern. Rooney offers the fish to the cat, and it deems the treat acceptable in exchange for leaving Chonnnk’s belly—but not before saying a few things that no language can translate. Its jaw unhinges in a manner the party is fairly certain should be impossible for a “normal” cat, and steps off the barbarian.

The group prepares to leave for Gol Zenagi. Syr begins chanting and places their hand on a nearby table as the group’s collective vision darkens, before finding themselves in a tall cylindrical room, and surrounded by glowing runes. A humanoid insect greets them, and informs them they must first have a meeting with “Vol’ak” before being turned out upon the city.

As they follow behind the being, the walls becomes decidedly softer and malleable, to the point it looks like the party could put their arm through it. Rooney does so, and is promptly burned by acid. Their guide apologizes, explaining part of the castle is a literal living ooze, and that touching the walls may be detrimental. Rooney agrees not to punch the walls.

They enter the throne room with a dais in the center, atop which sits a pulsating red ooze. Rooney jokes he “won’t punch that either”, to which their guide responds seriously that the party would be executed if the ranger tried. He then asks the group’s individual names, to which introductions are officially—if awkwardly—made, and before retreating the guide presents them to the city’s ruler: Queen Vol'ak, the Mimicking Ooze.

She welcomes them to the “Shifting Palace of Gol Zenagi” and asks what brings them to her city. Domus presents the haft of karavox; she gingerly accepts the haft and examines it, declaring it a “nasty weapon” before returning it to the paladin.

She asks if the group knows karavox is sentient, saying he’ll be awakened when the haft is reunited with its head. She also asks what it is the group is seeking, and between Kyuri and Rooney they describe the poem they heard in Artagan’s tent. She responds there’s only one Horned Redeemer she’s aware of: Krampus of Breme. The others confirm that’s who they’re seeking, and she tells them they’re likely headed to a spire sealed by several doors that require passing a test to unseal. The spire lies on an island off the coast of Breme.

Before they leave the palace, she lays out the rules they’re expected to abide by—not the least of which is a command to leave the devils living in the city alone, without antagonizing them. They agree, at which point Chonnnk finally looks around to see the queen in front of the group and introduces himself. He shakes hands with the queen, who suddenly starts making comments about his life, remarking on his profession, his past, and his choice to carry several copies of the same book.

They break their connection, and she apologizes for the intrusion, explaining she’s an oblex. Chonnnk and Domus recall an oblex is a type of ooze that can absorb people’s memories, eventually growing old enough to physically embody the person whose memories are tapped. There are two oblex varieties: the first, like Vol'ak, won’t harm the target. The other, however, completely devours its victim in the process of absorbing the memories, leaving no one behind to object when they take the target’s form.

Intrigued by the encounter, Chonnnk asks if the queen could access repressed memories. She admits it’s possible, to which the Ursin laments he would write it down if he had his notebook. She promptly informs him he left it under the books in his bag two years ago, and he begins searching. Rooney asks when was the last time Syr had visited the city, to which she responds a few decades.

The group agrees to be put up in a boarding house run by “Madame Gritania”, and Domus asks where a good place would be to house Devon. Vol'ak briefly holds a conversation with the maw demon, and after a moment, the queen responds that Devon is welcome to stay with her, or in the city proper. Domus leaves the decision to Devon, but cannot understand him. Vol'ak approaches him and asks his permission to touch him; when he gives it, she bestows knowledge of the Abyssal language on him so he can understand Devon. The very second it happens, Devon greets his owner with “Feed me, you sonofabitch!” The two promptly enter negotiations as to what is considered “living”, and Devon leaves to consume every flower he can find—with Domus running behind him.

Right before the others leave the palace, the queen recommends the others visit a specific bakery after sundown. She then asks them to say hello to karavox from her—or rather, as she adds, “from Arethar.”

Chonnnk finds his notebook and requests to speak further with Vol'ak. She agrees, and the others leave. They meet yet another guide outside, a halfling dressed in a black coat with a wide-brimmed hat. Kyuri notices a series of stitches encircling the halfling’s arm, and several other body parts as well—as though the stitches were keeping their body together.

The guide introduces themselves as Exuus, and asks where they planned to visit, and the group asks to see the magic shop. Along the way, they catch a glimpse of the “walls” around Gol Zenagi, built mostly to protect its inhabitants from falling off the edge of the floating city. Rooney asks abut dragons, and Exuus responds there’s a recent addition of a red dragon skeleton that now sits in the city’s museum after its original owner thought to breach the walls.

Back at the palace, Chonnnk asks Vol’ak a variety of questions to understand more about oblexes. She responds to the questions, but the brain fog he’s experiencing from the previous day’s exhaustion and unfortunate encounter with the tavern cauldron leave him unable to fully process her answers.

Outside, the halfling brings the other party members to a shop called “Ariadne’s Arcane Oddities,” which is covered by cobwebs and silk. When they enter, they find a large counter that comes up almost to their shoulders, behind which stands Ariadne—a tall dark elf woman. She greets them warmly, and offers them water and healing potions.

Getting down to business almost immediately, Domus rattles off a list of items he’s looking for. As they discuss price, Ariadne steps behind the counter, and everyone notices the lower half of her body is that of a spider.

She and the paladin discuss prayer beads and an immovable rod, but as he speaks, Domus begins coughing uncontrollably and he reaches desperately for the pitcher of water Ariadne provided. Suddenly a gremlin emerges from his mouth, but Devon —smelling blood—bursts in from outside and chomps down on the creature. More gremlins try climbing their way through Domus’ mouth, but between the paladin and the maw demon the duo makea short work of them and Ariadne returns to collect items.

Rooney asks for Revivify scrolls, and takes interest in Ariadne’s magic “angry hornet” arrows among others. Kyuri’s eye is caught by her Death Ward scrolls and stronger healing potions.

When business concludes, Ariadne bids the group goodbye and asks Exuus if he’ll be home tonight. He responds he’ll be with the group but will return within the next day or so.

Back at the palace, Chonnnk relays a story of his childhood to Vol’ak, saying he has his powers because he was “kissed by a giant” at an early age. Vol’ak gently corrects him, saying it was a half lie: he had actually been challenged, not kissed by a giant, after Chonnnk’s father drunkenly boasted his child would grow to be stronger than any other creature. A giant who took offense to the boast prophesied they would meet you in battle one day, but to make the fight fair they gave the prideful father a gift—who promptly forgot it after falling asleep. Chonnnk’s mother then wisely gave it to him. He thanks her and rolls out of the palace.

Remembering the queen’s recommendation, the others meet Chonnnk on the street and the party heads to the bakery known as Doghnuts and Dondurma. Immediately upon entering, each member is struck with an inviting nostalgic scent that somehow reminds each of them of their own home—but only the good memories. To their shock, they find the earth genasi that Chonnnk and Domus fought back at the temple waiting for them at a nearby table.

Back at Aaron’s house, he’s found a knife and finally manages to open the box to reveal the contents within: a slightly dusty, slightly worn metal bucket.

System Agnostic/Episode 2.4: Secrets in the Smoke

2022-12-08T19:57:47Z

Sae: Created page with "Episode four picks up at Aaron Duscalla’s abode as he’s presented with a mysterious package on his doorstep and no delivery driver in sight. The camera trains once again o..."

Episode four picks up at Aaron Duscalla’s abode as he’s presented with a mysterious package on his doorstep and no delivery driver in sight. The camera trains once again on the tent painting.

Rooney, Kyuri, and Chonnnk, still caught in the effects of Artagan’s “vision” smoke, watch as Domus appears next to them. As they discuss where he’d been, a growl sounds from behind Chonnnk. Domus notices a large snow leopard, but as he tries to warn the barbarian another leopard approaches behind him as well. In short order the group is surrounded.

Chonnnk curls into a ball and tries to roll away from the leopards, but is stopped by a much larger snow leopard tabaxi who accuses Chonnnk of running from battle. It starts rattling off almost impossibly long words, causing the Ursin to cover his ears and try to block them out.

Rooney tries to look for the haft of ''karavox'', but only sees the snow leopards closing in on the barbarian. Sensing how the situation could turn ugly fast, Kyuri moves closer to Chonnnk and Domus try to interpose himself between his friend and the leopards.

The tabaxi unleashes another unnecessarily complicated word at Chonnnk, who shuts down mentally. Kyuri attempts to distract the smaller leopards with a Minor Illusion, but to no avail, while Rooney readies his bow in anticipation of another attack against the barbarian. Domus casts Calm Emotions, but only manages to affect Rooney.

The tabaxi pulls a long stick from behind it, which Rooney immediately recognizes as the haft, and attacks Chonnnk. Rooney unleashes his arrows, but in his calmed state he accidentally hits Chonnnk instead. He tries again, but the tabaxi catches the arrow mid-air.

The other leopards close in on Chonnnk and attack. Kyuri manages to use his connection to the dragon spirit Iirtem to cast a pair of protective wings around the barbarian, but several blows still land and he falls unconscious.

Kyuri casts Cure Wounds on the Ursin and tells him “Please stop doing that.” Rooney Misty Steps behind the tabaxi in preparation to grab the axe haft, and Domus unleashes his Eldritch Blast at it, dragging it away from Chonnnk. It simply turns and, using its own abilities, materializes next to its quarry again and attacks with the haft. Kyuri notices a series of flashes with each hit, and it suddenly occurs to him: if Chonnnk is hit astrally with ''karavox’s'' handle enough times, he may not physically wake up on the other side of this trip.

Chonnnk interprets Kyuri’s words to mean “stop getting hit”, and prepares to grab the haft when the tabaxi attacks again. But the other leopards take him down first, and the sorcerer has to cast Cure Wounds a second time to revive him. With the tabaxi back in place Rooney again prepares to grab the haft; seeing this, Domus casts Sanctuary on the barbarian and tries—but fails—to grapple the tabaxi.

Initially unable to strike Chonnnk, the tabaxi turns to Rooney instead and lands a blow. Turning its attention back to the Ursin it attacks again, but misses. Chonnnk takes the opportunity to reach for the haft and succeeds, but smacks himself in the face with it. Regardless, upon touching the haft, Chonnk’s enemies melt into the darkness—but not before unleashing another terrifyingly long word. The ordeal leaves Chonnnk exhausted.

The party winds up in the graveyard where Domus first found the spear he uses to fight; they’re inside one of his memories. The area is vaguely familiar to Kyuri, but ''very'' familiar to Domus, and the latter is met by a centaur who asks “Who grabs my flag?” Domus responds that he is. The centaur warns the paladin there’s a price for wielding it, and Domus accepts. The centaur declares he is now Domus’ “direct commanding officer” and introduces himself as Brodin.

As Brodin speaks, Domus hears a piercing sound from behind the centaur that he doesn’t recall occurring during this memory. A metal monstrosity vaguely resembling a carriage has upended and now sits ablaze. Domus runs towards it, but is stopped by Brodin. The centaur asks “Do you see it?” Domus responds affirmatively. Something sounds in the shadows, but no one in the party picks up on it.

Brodin tells Domus things are in motion that the paladin will never understand “till the end”, but acknowledges he accepted the price, and tells him to seek out the genasi and “do whatever she asks.” He retrieves the haft from his holster and holds it out to Domus, who takes it. The world, once again, fades to black.

The party awakens to the (relatively) familiar surroundings of Artagan’s tent, holding the haft and recalling the journey with varying degrees of detail. Kyuri asks why Artagan didn’t accompany them as promised, and the linguist responds that he was in a memory of his own, translating a tablet with Syr—yet the memory didn’t feel like his own, as a few of the others had also picked up on during their own trip. The elf finishes with “I am not Artagan, for are any of us truly who we think we are?”

Artagan breathes in particularly thick smoke before exhaling into the faces of the others, and they hear a voice declare:

“The head of ''karavox'' lies encased in bone

where the Horned Redeemer guards alone.

Crystal spires mark the site

where haft and blade may reunite.

Pay each price, unseal all doors,

and ''karavox’s'' power can be yours.”

The four adventurers contemplate this. Chonnnk becomes convinced the “crystals” must be found in the Underdark, while Kyuri vaguely recalls stories hailing from Breme of a dangerous creature that “redeems” evil-doers by quite literally hugging the evil out of them.

For a brief moment Rooney’s vision darkens, and he becomes aware of something that sounds like massive footsteps across brickwork. After a second, he suddenly finds himself able to smell every scent nearby individually and clearly, including the various items Artagan has been smoking the past several days. The stench of vomit brings him back to reality, and he notices Chonnnk has emptied the contents of his stomach.

Artagan poses the question of what happens if a basilisk and a medusa stare at each other, and if they understand the connection they have before turning to stone. Domus asks if he’s met any “crackly” genasi with skin issues. Artagan says no, although he “knows one with knife issues.” He again reiterates nothing is real and is merely a construct of their collective imagination. Domus asks if Artagan has a map they could use, and the elf responds by drawing a cube in the dirt with several stick figures inside.

The group agrees to get some rest before anything else. Back at the Nested Tiger, they rejoin Syr and relay what they’ve learned, mentioning the Horned Redeemer and the crystal spire. Syr tells them of the Legend of Krampus: a horned creature that can’t see those who are “good”, and doesn’t care about (but ''can'' see) those who remain neutral, but will capture those who follow an evil path, detain them in a Sack of Holding, and eventually “hug” them into a state of lawful obedience. He concurs with Kyuri’s recollection that the legend stems from Breme, and the group starts to make travel plans.

Several methods of transport are tossed around, until Syr mentions a floating city by the name of Gol Zenagi, stating its citizens are more familiar with an aerial view of Quelmar and may be familiar with the crystal spires in question. The tabaxi describes the eclectic population comprised of individuals who are—or feel—out of place in the rest of society, and admits they nearly settled in the city were it not for the desire to help the disenfranchised of Pteris. They offer to reach out to their contacts within Gol Zenagi for transport, to which the others agree. Domus once again asks the tabaxi if they know a genus with “skin problems”, to which Syr says no.

Syr adds one request to the deal: for the party members to behave well, as the tabaxi is risking their reputation for the transport to occur. Rooney takes the opportunity to mention that Artagan had briefly indicated Syr was not a tabaxi. Syr seems surprised, and assures the party they have ''always'' been a tabaxi.

Most of the others retire for the evening and wind up collectively dreaming of Chonnnk, who had been experiencing a rather unfortunate bad luck streak earlier in the day and is now getting ready for bed. They watch as he attempts to knock himself out, accidentally spinning himself around. He trips over his own feet and crashes through the window onto a mining cart below. In an almost seesaw-like effect, the contents of the cart lift upon impact, only to fall back into the cart and launch the Ursin back through the now-broken window. He lands heavily and rolls out of his room, down the tavern stairs straight into the hearth, and his head slams into the cauldron located within. It didn’t occur quite the way he’d anticipated, but he did succeed in knocking himself out—the word ''Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia'' ringing in his ears as his consciousness fades.

To add insult to injury, the cauldron promptly tips over, the contents inside spilling onto the bear’s prone form. Shortly after, a scraggly-looking cat with black fur meanders into the room, climbs up Chonnk’s body, claws his face and belly, then lays on top of him. The bag the barbarian normally carries with him has been set ablaze, along with one of the books contained within.

The camera pulls back from this tragic scene to find Aaron on his doorstep, peering around a final time before finally picking up the package and retreating once again into his house.

System Agnostic/Episode 2.3: Runic Secrets

2022-11-22T00:00:42Z

Sae: Created page with "Episode 3 sees Aaron Duscalla trying to get some work done, to no avail. The doorbell to his home sounds, snapping him out of his thoughts. As he heads towards the door, he pa..."

Episode 3 sees Aaron Duscalla trying to get some work done, to no avail. The doorbell to his home sounds, snapping him out of his thoughts. As he heads towards the door, he passes a painting in his house depicting a large colorful tent surrounded by verdant foliage.

The camera zooms in on the tent, bringing the viewer back to the adventuring party as they seek out Artagan Branch, the elf linguist Syr Lokord told them about. They approach the tent hesitantly, noticing the inordinate amount of smoke pouring from it. Rooney thinks something inside might be on fire, and the group rushes into the tent.

They’re met by massive and varied piles of junk that, in their own way, still bear some semblance of organization. They also see a red-haired wood elf reclining and smoking an impractically long pipe, who distractedly confirms he’s Artagan.

It quickly becomes apparent Artagan has clearly been smoking more than just the pipe in his hand, and for quite some time. Kyuri declares his approval, while Domus presents the axe haft to the elf. Artagan sits up to inspect it, dumping the contents of his pipe in the process. Kyuri offers to help, and fetches more plants from outside the tent.

Artagan informs the party the haft is magic, but the magic is “sleeping.” He adds that several other runes are *not* magic, and promptly starts licking them. After Kyuri returns with more “organic enlightenment” for Artagan’s pipe, the elf explains some of the runes are in Deep Speech, which is odd as the language has no written counterpart and dates back to the time when Beholders freely roamed the planet. He then poses a question for the ages: “What do you think came first, the Beholders of the Beholden?” The party has no ready answer for this. The elf adds that the language must have been imprinted onto the haft.

Artagan licks the haft once more before returning it to the party. Kyuri decides he’d like to party with the elf in the future. Chonnnk misunderstands, thinking the sorcerer means a “stick party” and rolls outside to find one. Artagan then (very) briefly seems to sober up as he poses another question: “Have you ever noticed how some people are actually different people—and they don’t even know?” Again, the party has no answer.

Referring back to the haft, or “fancy stick”, Artagan says he can try to translate the runes, or help the party do so so. Rooney asks how, and the elf rummages through his junk pile to pull out a surprisingly well cared-for box. Inside it is a smaller box with strange tubes. Artagan calls it a “huminifier” among other things, and says he only uses it on special occasions because it blew up once before. He gently pulls out a bag of what he labels “vision smoke” and places it atop the box, telling the others he’ll take the trip with them because “this is the good stuff.”

The group agrees to embark on the vision quest. Devon begins chewing on Artagan’s leg, but Chonnnk’s tasty book directs the maw demon’s attention away from the elf. Kyuri stations a bear from his Bag of Tricks to stand guard outside the tent before the “trip.”

Artagan open the bag and sprinkles a small amount of powder into the box. He lights the device, and the dark smoke fills the tent. When it clears, the party finds themselves in an overly opulent and gaudily decorated space that smells clean, but carries a subtle scent of brimstone. Kyuri recognizes it as his mother’s study in his childhood home. The group also realizes Domus and his maw demon didn’t come with them—and neither did Artagan. Rooney also points out the haft is missing.

Kyuri’s mother arrives in the room and addresses him. He realizes this seems to be a memory of the moment he told his mother he was leaving the family and responds accordingly. His mother defends the deals the family has made with the devils roaming the continent, arguing that they helped solidify the Essler’s standing in society and she only did what she had to in order to protect her children. In her own words, the “devils are here to stay” and a countless number of monsters roam the lands. Kyuri’s response is less than tactful.

While they argue, Rooney searches the room for the haft. Chonnnk, on the other hand, is searching for his book and the stick he had found outside the tent before the trip began.

As he argues, Kyuri gets the odd sensation that, even though they’re *his* memories, it feels like those memories are from someone else’s life.

Chonnnk tries to lift up the desk, only to freeze in place. Rooney notices a gigantic great sword over the fireplace that can move—and kill—on its own. Looking more closely, he realizes the great sword’s handle is the axe haft they’re missing.

On second glance, Rooney also can faintly make out the tent still surrounding them all, including Artagan—who, for a moment, bears distinctly human ears. After a blink, the tent disappears again.

Kyuri is still trying to process the feeling that he isn’t part of the memory he’s replaying, even though it is indeed *his* memory. His mother is the one who freezes Chonnnk in place, at which point he understands it’s no longer just a memory or a bad drug trip; his mother is standing in front of him, in real time.

After more back-and-forth discussion that just barely manages to stay civil, she walks past Kyuri to retrieve the haft of ''karavox'' from the mantle. Rooney tries to grab it, but she teleports from his grasp; she tries to leave the room, but a shower of sparks that sends her backwards towards Chonnnk indicates she can’t exit, either.

Rooney tries persuading her to give the group the haft, admitting they need to translate the runes. She offers to help, in exchange for giving her the relic. Kyuri says there’s nothing the party wants from her. She insists everything she did was for the family, but he believes he and his sister were only bargaining chips. She counters they never were, but that she made a deal to bring him back from death—something he’d never heard before.

Everyone senses battle coming. Kyuri’s mother protects herself with mage armor, while Kyuri himself calls upon two old friends for help: his shadow hound, Kastrinal, and the spirit of a gold dragon called Iirtem. He asks the dragon to take the haft from his mother, to which Iirtem complies.

While Chonnnk is still paralyzed, Rooney distracts Kyuri’s mother with arrows. She still casts a cone of cold, catching Chonnnk, Kastrinal and Iirtem in the blast. The greatsword attacks Rooney, but he ducks out of the way.

Kastrinal manages to drag Kyuri’s mother down to the floor. Kyuri attempts to cast a spell to incapacitate her, but not kill her. She tries to dissipate it, but it reflects back on him instead. He just barely manages to absorb the magic without being injured by it. He asks Iirtem to give Rooney the haft.

Rooney strikes out at the greatsword, and it clatters to the ground. He puts the haft against his head and concentrates, but can’t decipher the runes.

Kyuri’s mother stands and unleashes another cone of cold, affecting Chonnnk, Rooney and Iirtem. Kyuri asks why she is the way she is, but she insists everything she did was for him and his siblings. He asks “What if we didn’t want these gifts?” to which she responds it’s not their choice. He counters that, in that case, she didn’t really do anything for their sake, but she’s adamant she did.

He refuses to attack her, but instructs Iirtem to keep her from casting again. He interprets that as an order to attack, and claws at her. Rooney readies a longbow in case she stands up again. She does so, and he hits her with more arrows.

Furious, she tells Kyuri to get out of the house. He asks why she never told him he’d died before, to which she retorts he never asked. Mother and son hold a brief, if sullen staring contest, before she declares she won’t give him what he wants. When he asks what that is, she replies “Seeing me in pain.”

As Kyuri realizes his mother is also stuck in the room just like they are, she attacks the party again. Chonnnk finally breaks free from the paralysis spell, sees the dragon and shadow hound, and assumes they’re new guests to the stick party. He rummages through his surroundings to find his book and stick.

Kastrinal drags the woman to the ground again. Kyuri begins looking for a way out, and comes to realize the haft is the key to their release; if this is his own memories, he has to be the one to touch it. The group’s surroundings start to fade, as do Kastrinal and Iirtem. But Kyuri sees the emotional toll their argument has taken on his mother, and understands she’ll remember him telling her he didn’t want the gifts she gave him.

The room melts away, and to Rooney, the aroma of the smoke filling Artagan’s tent turns into the alarming scent of fire—with enough heat behind it to burn an entire village. He glances up to see a massive red dragon glowering at him. Chonnnk comes face-to-face with the icy breath of a white dragon, and Kyuri turns to find a black dragon, both of which are staring the Aarakocra down. Rooney also notices a green and a blue dragon lurking at the edges of his vision.

The haft of ''karavox'' is once again out of the party’s grasp, sitting underneath the red dragon’s head. Rooney tries to move, but is paralyzed by fear. He manages to Misty Step over to the haft, but before he can retrieve it another dragon appears, bearing the five chromatic heads that indicate—whether real or not—Tiamat herself.

Without looking at her, he grabs the haft. She reaches out to strike, but Rooney is faster, and the dragons disappear. The adrenaline rushes out of Rooney and he’s left shaking on the floor, exhausted.

The camera zooms out from the painting of the tent to rejoin Aaron as he opens his front door. No one’s there, but a package addressed to him is left on his doorstep.

System Agnostic/Episode 2.2: Extermination and Extraction

2022-11-14T19:54:00Z

Sae: Created page with "The second episode opens again on the curator Aaron Duscalla as he finishes his breakfast and dumps his dishes into a sink already overflowing with them—just one of many sig..."

The second episode opens again on the curator Aaron Duscalla as he finishes his breakfast and dumps his dishes into a sink already overflowing with them—just one of many signs that things aren’t going well for him.

He steps into his office and picks up a stack of papers, but accidentally sends them scattering. The page that comes to rest atop the pile depicts an idol with a humanoid body, but its head resembles the sun, and bears ruby eyes.

The camera focuses on the eyes before zooming back to the adventuring party, still locked in combat with the crocodilian creature that just killed one of the archaeologists. Rooney aims his arrows and downs the two cultists holding the remaining archaeologists hostage.

As the others race downstairs to help the ranger, the crocodile tries to lull him to sleep. It fails, but manages to put the small demon in the corner to sleep. Attacking again, Rooney wounds it but doesn’t kill it. Chonnnk arrives at the bottom of the stairwell, where he goes into a rage and downs the crocodile with an acid attack.

Kyuri and Domus make it down the stairs right as the fight ends. Domus finds the tiny maw demon and attempts to tame it with food rations and keep it as a pet (much to Kyuri’s horror.) He succeeds, sort of, and names it Devon.

The group speaks to the remaining archaeologists, who mention finding a stone idol with a sun for a face, bearing ruby eyes. One walks over to a brazier and pulls it out as they speak.

Rooney asks them if they know Syr Lokord, the Tabaxi who hired the party to find them. They respond affirmatively and the group prepares to exit the temple, but the archaeologists admit they can’t leave “without it.” The pair briefly explain how they had originally finished their excavation at the temple and returned home, only to be kidnapped by the crocodilian creature and dragged back to the temple and begin digging for an artifact.

As they talk, one of them clears away debris from an indentation in the wall and inserts the stone idol. The floor beneath Chonnnk open up and swallows him. Rooney attempts to dive in after him, but the same floor then reverses position, sending Chonnnk flying back upwards. The Aarakocra barely manages to duck out of the way as Chonnnk lands in the same position he’d been in before, still holding his book. The only thing that seemed to have changed was the pedestal in the center of the floor, holding an oddly shaped stick. The archaeologists are confused, claiming the stick should, in fact, be an axe—only it’s missing the axe head.

They go on to describe a weapon called karavox, rumored to be located in the temple ruins—a weapon that can not only wound someone connected to a powerful entity, but is powerful enough to send ripples from the blow reverberating throughout that connection to wound the entity itself.

The axe haft bears runes the archaeologists believe could provide clues, but no one amongst the party is able to read them. They all head out of the temple, as the haft is placed into the bag of holding.

They make the trek back to town. Along the way, Domus and Rooney discuss the strange cultist that had been carving into its arm. The paladin warns they’ll probably be back.

Chonnnk trips while walking, and tucks into a roll. He expects to feel rocks or earth, as one does when traversing natural terrain, but instead encounters something cold. He feels the world “shifting”, but unnaturally so. The sensation is brief as he regains his balance and begins walking again.

Arriving in the outskirts of Jewelspar, the group enters The Nested Tiger, the bar where Syr Lokord is located. They greet the party, who then informs them of the death of one of the archaeologists. Domus tells them the body is in the cart outside, and asks if the man’s family has enough money to resurrect him. Syr responds that death is expected, and too expensive for all but the richest people.

Syr offers the party the amount of gold agreed upon beforehand, as well as a diamond that, in their own words, may prove useful should a resurrection be necessary in the future. Turning their attention to the remaining archaeologists, they ask why the pair seems nervous. In response the two of them produce the haft, explaining they have no idea why the axe head wasn’t attached.

Examining the runes, Syr says they may know of someone who can help decipher it, but firmly declares the role of the other two archaeologists in this endeavor to be over. They ask if the adventuring group would be up to the task, and the party agrees. Syr says to seek out someone called Artagan, who lives in a hovel on the edge of Jewelspar. They inform the group Artagan may ask a favor in payment, although gifts of gold or food may mitigate the cost.

The maw demon “Devon” eats a chair in the bar, to Syr’s chagrin. Chonnnk tries to introduce himself to Devon, who promptly eats half the book he was holding. Unfazed, Chonnnk pulls out another copy of the same book from his pack. The party gathers itself and sets off in search of Artagan.

Back in Aaron’s home, he begins picking up the papers that fell, not giving any care to their order. He puts the stack down on his desk, then leans against it, trying to pull himself together. After a moment he shuffles over to the TV and turns it on at low volume as he returns to work.

Kyuri

2022-11-01T02:10:29Z

Sae: Created page with "thumb Kyuri Essler is a human shadow sorcerer. ==Physical Appearance== Standing about 5’10”, he sports collar-length black hair, a bit unruly at the en..."

[[File:Kyuri.jpg|thumb]]
Kyuri Essler is a human shadow sorcerer.

==Physical Appearance==
Standing about 5’10”, he sports collar-length black hair, a bit unruly at the ends, and gray eyes. Eschewing traditional sorcerer gear in favor of simpler attire, he wears linen and leather garments in complementary neutral tones. A small metal ring adorns his right index finger, holding an inlaid crystal shaped like a dragon’s eye.

==History==
Born to a family with a long line of magic users, there was no surprise or fanfare when Kyuri began displaying a talent for it as a child; thankfully the fire was contained quickly and the house didn’t burn down.

But the Essler name also bears a mark of shame, as whispers throughout town insinuate many family members have entwined their fate with the infernal creatures spilled from the Nine Hells—accepting devils’ bargains to attain higher wealth and status amongst their peers with questionable speed. Inheriting this widespread suspicion as his birthright, Kyuri has gone out of his way to break out from under the family’s shadow (pun only slightly intended.) He conceals his last name when he can, worships the sun god Pelor, and spent a few years as part of the City Watch solely to gain the peoples’ trust. This was met with mixed results, given the fact his natural affinity for shadow magic and infernal language comes directly from the family bloodline.

==Abilities==
Attuned to the shadows around him since childhood, most of Kyuri’s abilities come from this connection. However, he’s managed to use his magic for (mostly) benign purposes, and two years ago he came to possess a ring connected to the spirit of a dragon named Iirtem. The dragon agreed to become his ally in a fight, and bestowed a couple of gifts upon the sorcerer as well.

[[Category:Player Characters]]

File:Kyuri.jpg

2022-11-01T02:01:57Z

Sae:

Kyuri Essler

System Agnostic/Episode 2.1: System Reset

2022-11-01T01:58:33Z

Sae: Created page with "Following Celeste’s demise in the Library at the end of chapter 1, focus now shifts to a house in Dolmvay in north Osugbo. The house belongs to Aaron Duscalla, curator of hi..."

Following Celeste’s demise in the Library at the end of chapter 1, focus now shifts to a house in Dolmvay in north Osugbo. The house belongs to Aaron Duscalla, curator of historical artifacts.

As Aaron wakes up and begins his daily morning routine, the camera lingers briefly on a picture of his wife and daughter before centering on a desk in his office with a list of artifacts for a new collection. Foremost on the list is something called Karavox, of which very little is known.

At the appearance of the name, the camera careens backwards in time to the era of dragons: a tumultuous point in history during the Infernal Emergence, made even more dangerous after Tiamat was released. Theories run rampant—specifically the idea that getting rid of the “Man In Black”, the devil closest to the pit that’s responsible for all others roaming the land, will end the reign of terror. The problem is, no one’s been able to get close enough to him to test that theory.

There’s also rumor of a weapon that can not only wound a devil, but the one who controls it. However, the location of such a weapon remains a mystery.

Four adventurers have set camp in a ruined temple to Pelor: the Aarakocra Ranger, Rooney; the Ursin Barbarian, Chonnnk (emphasis on the “k”); the Human Paladin, Domus; and the Human Sorcerer, Kyuri. Having been hired by Syr Lokord to search for archaeologists that went missing at the temple, the group had decided to sleep indoors to avoid the elements.

Rooney and Kyuri are alerted to movement outside the room they’re in, and they quickly wake the other two. As the group prepares for a fight, Rooney searches for another exit. His hand runs along the wall, and for a moment brushes against a soft, malleable metal rather than the stone he was expecting. He tries to find the spot again, but fails. Chonnnk uses the time to pull out a book and begin reading in the corner.

There’s a knock on the door, and Domus invites them in. The party is met by a fiendish crocodile-like creature with several mouths lining its body, who speaks in a primordial tongue that only Rooney understands. It tells them its master, the “General” is waiting to speak with them outside the chamber.

Once in the hallway, the group sees hooded cultists lining the passages, and Domus discovers a small creature that’s seemingly a mouth with appendages attached. From the other end of the hallway, a massive demon approaches them.

The crocodile tells Rooney the demon is “General Arzarox”, its master. Domus recalls this type of demon is a fulad-zereh—a large, horned creature that commands armies of lesser demons—and that this particular fulad-zereh serves a demon known as a Marileth.

The name doesn’t appear in any history or other textbooks…which then prompts Domus wonder why he’d have “textbook knowledge” when he doesn’t know what a textbook is. Shaking himself from the reverie, he comes to the realization the demon before him doesn’t serve any devil that’s pouring through the Underdark.

Arzarox speaks to them telepathically, asking why they’re at the ruined temple. Domus skirts the issue, claiming it was only to get out of the rain, but fails to deceive the general. Rooney inches closer to the truth, admitting the group is seeking “lost people”. When further pressed for details, Kyuri adds “the living kind,” to which Arzarox gestures to the cultists and responds there are many living people around to choose from. Domus finally specifies they’re seeking archaeologists, and the general says he put them to work for him after he found them wandering around “his project”.

Domus asks for terms to negotiate the release of the archeologists, but Arzarox insists when their task is complete he’ll return “what’s left of them.” The paladin tries to persuade the demon to let the party see the archaeologists, but the general refuses.

Reluctantly the group agrees to leave, but not before Domus telepathically asks Arzarox about its boss “M”. He is immediately lifted into the air as the fulad-zereh demands the human spill what he knows. Domus admits he knows *of* Marileth, but nothing more than that. Arzarox drops him to the ground and growls at the party to get out.

On their way to the entrance, Rooney spots a cultist that appears different from the others, an earth genasi that’s trying very hard not to be noticed. Their sleeve is pushed up their arm, and they’re currently gouging their own skin. Confused, he moves on.

They exit the temple and immediately begin plotting a way back in, which Domus calls a heist. Chonnnk suggests asking really nicely for the archaeologists’ return, which the others agree wouldn’t work. Plans are bantered back and forth between sneaking back in and digging under the temple. Rooney again mentions the wall with the strange texture, and Kyuri thinks sneaking into the room may uncover more clues.

Finally Domus suggests he and Chonnnk provide a diversion while the ranger and sorcerer sneak in, but the Ursin is confused by the plan and asks several questions. As he and Domus get caught up in semantics, Rooney casts Pass Without A Trace on the lot, and Kyuri walks into the temple followed by the others—except Chonnnk, who has now lost sight of the party.

Inside the temple, the arguing over what to do continues in hushed tones until Rooney and Kyuri notice Arzarox moving down the hallway towards them. Panicked, Kyuri casts a spell that floods the area with radiant light; the general resists it, and immediately sets his sights on the sorcerer. Chonnnk rolls into his path, blocking further movement. In the ensuing battle the Ursin manages to fell the general with Domus’ help. Rooney soars past and follows the reptilian creature to a set of stairs leading down, killing another cultist in the process.

The big barbarian bear then attacks the earth genasi, who responds in kind. It quickly becomes apparent she doesn’t act as the other cultists do, and seems far more powerful. She issues Chonnnk a clear warning not to interfere as she goes back to carving into her arm. Not understanding the situation, the Ursin attacks again.

As they’re fighting, Chonnnk briefly gains the perception that nothing beyond himself and the genasi in front of him are real. The feeling lasts only a moment as his opponent lunges forward to attack again. Domus tries to help his ally, ultimately compelling the genasi to fight him instead so the heavily injured barbarian can slip away.

The genasi approaches the paladin and grabs him, warning him not to lose too much of himself inside this temple before leaving.

Rooney descends the stairs to find a large dimly-lit room with stairs ascending to a platform with a block on it. The crocodile-like fiend and two cultists are also there, holding the archaeologists hostage. Seeing this, Rooney immediately draws an arrow and aims for the cultists; the reptilian responds by clamping its jaws down on the hostage in front of it.

Veering back to Aaron’s house, the camera pulls away from the ledger that bore the strange name and moves to the dining room. Aaron eats breakfast alone, sitting across the table from a picture depicting a young girl with coppery braids and dusky skin.

System Agnostic/Episode 1.6: The Temple of Reality

2022-09-27T17:12:21Z

Sae: Created page with "The final chapter picks up once again in the library, where Celeste is searching for the last film to complete the saga of the five adventurers from prehistory. Coming up empt..."

The final chapter picks up once again in the library, where Celeste is searching for the last film to complete the saga of the five adventurers from prehistory. Coming up empty, she eventually finds a garden blooming with familiar-looking flowers—the kind that once adorned Aranwe’s hair. Entwined in the flowers is the reel she’d been seeking.

Filling the “magic bucket” with popcorn once again, she places the reel in the projector and flips it on. The camera once again centers on the group recuperating in the graveyard. Indomitus kneels next to Brodin’s grave, offering thanks and the hope that his fellow soldier is now at peace.

Puud Een thanks Sae for resurrecting her, acknowledging the cost but claiming she’s seen great things ahead for the (former) cleric. Sae quietly patches up the rakshasa, using a poultice in place of a spell. More subdued than ever, she moves away from the party to gather her thoughts. Citizen Doctor Merhermbler continues to sob, curled into a two-foot ball.

Eventually the group collects themselves and, with Ainok, make it to the temple. There they rejoin Aranwe, who had been teleported to the door when Indomitus was brought to the nymph’s grove. He pretends to be unconscious; Indomitus draws an apple from the Bag of Holding and hurls it at him, smacking him in the face.

Aranwe says he’s been waiting for the others to arrive. The fighter asks if he has the blessing of a god, to which Aranwe ponders if his hawk Ronan might be one. Ronan points out the magic bucket in Indomitus’ possession to Aranwe, and how the roiling mass of colors is spinning ever more frantically in the temple door’s presence.

At the same time, Puud Een feels the volcano’s heart pulsing and pulls it out of her pocket. It starts to drift towards the door; Indomitus attempts to grab it but is burned, so he releases it.

The stone from the Brightling moon also floats out of Sae’s hands, its light enveloping the heart. In the cosmos the Brightling moon flares to life, as all the light emanating from it is siphoned into the stone until the moon itself grows dark. The magic bursts forth from the bucket on Indomitus’ back. When all three ingredients connect, a bright light envelops the entire party, including Ainok.

Aranwe finds himself in a dimly lit area: the cave back in Outrys, with the dryad Vilya’s tree. He discovers her crying, where she admits she knows this is the end and her time is almost up. She says her tree and she were both saved long ago by “one who would not call herself a goddess” even though Vilya’s convinced otherwise. The dryad passes the entity’s blessing onto Aranwe, though she doesn’t know the deity’s name. She tells him to “find the center”, but he doesn’t know what she means as he’s pulled away from the vision.

Sae is brought to the beach where she first left her home to spread Rian’s message to the rest of the world. There she meets with Rian himself, who simply observes that she severed their connection to save someone who not only doesn’t believe in gods, but actively seeks ways to circumvent them. Sae tries to apologize, but he tells her his purpose for her is to heal and protect—to see that her party is safe. She broke their connection rather than let her friend die, and for that, he’s proud of her. He re-establishes their connection, and offers her his own blessing before saying that, when it’s her turn to die, she has a place at his table. She too is pulled back to reality.

Indomitus finds himself back in the graveyard, and turns to find Brodin—the real one, not the spectral facsimile from before. The fighter asks if his friend is at peace, to which Brodin responds he’ll be at peace when he knows Indomitus has found it. He and the other soldiers are already dead, but they have what they need in the afterlife; it’s Indomitus who has sacrificed, forced to move on after the rest were gone. Brodin tells him the party is coming to a very important moment in history, a turning point that will be watched by all. He passes on a blessing from Obad-Hai, the deity who created the Centaur race. Brodin salutes Indomitus, his once and forever general, before the fighter also returns to the temple.

Citizen Merhermbler is one again traversing a desert alone, only this time with her gear—including her eye-shaped holy medallion. She turns to find a figure floating before her, shrouded in a cloak that conceals its identity. They address her as Eloise; she tries to correct them by including the Citizen Doctor honorific, but they reply “the mistress”—her deity—doesn’t care about titles. They ask if she believes she’s served their god faithfully, but she replies she doesn’t know. She thinks she should start targeting the ankles of her opponents instead of their knees. The creature before her bluntly replies: “It is not where you hit, it is whether the thing you are facing deserves to be hit in the first place.” They’re unimpressed with the paladin, but says the mistress will grant her blessing to enter the temple. However, after the deed is done, Merhermbler will lose the mistress’ favor and gifts.

Puud Een blinks, and suddenly sees nothing but darkness. She hears laughter around her, and a voice asking who she is. She introduces herself and asks who the voice is as well. It responds that the name it’s normally known by is Chaos. It claims to be willing to help provide the final key for entrance to the temple, but when Puud Een presses for the reason it remains evasive, saying only that it “has its reasons.”

Everyone returns to themselves just as the temple doors open. Ainok is excited, but when the others asked if someone gave him a blessing, he wouldn’t elaborate other than not learning the entity’s name. They all briefly discuss who should go in first before Indomitus takes the lead, followed by Puud Een, Aranwe and Ainok. Sae and Citizen Merhermbler bring up the rear.

They enter the massive temple, with rows of stone benches facing an altar. A brightly colored painting on the far wall is a focal point, featuring a horned, red-skinned creature adorned in golden robes, embracing a golden-haired woman who bears a resemblance to an elf—except her ears are rounded, not pointed.

Ainok immediately inspects the stone benches, noting that the area isn’t covered in dust as one would expect a sealed chamber to collect. In the meantime, Puud Een is overwhelmed by the magic thrumming throughout the structure. She casts True Sight, hoping to get a better idea of what’s going on.

Aranwe and Merhermbler take a closer look at the painting, and it slowly dawns on the ranger that the woman depicted is likely the deity that bestowed her blessing upon him to enter the temple in the first place.

Sae searches the perimeter of the interior, finding ancient tools and weapons that have been maintained and cleaned using methods that would’ve been impossible in the era they were fashioned. The artifacts exist alongside much newer pieces, which are kept with the same meticulous care that make the entire collection appear ageless.

Indomitus inspects the stone altar, which bears the inscription:

“The chamber’s sealed, its knowledge locked away. Should you need it, the blood of chaos unlocks the way.”

He passes this message to the others, whereupon Puud Een reveals she met a being known as chaos. Believing herself to be its agent now, she spills a few drops of her blood onto the altar—to no effect. Everyone conjectures what the message could mean, while Ainok begins raiding the chamber for treasure. Indomitus, with the explanation that his spear has seen much blood shed in a chaotic fashion, places it on the altar. It, too, is ineffective.

Puud Een attempts to reach out to the chaos entity she’d met. She asks how she can “get” its blood, to which it responds she already has it—much to her confusion. She then asks where the blood is, only for it to enigmatically tell her it’s “in the temple.”

Indomitus pulls out the spotlight mushroom from the amphitheater they’d explored earlier, squeezing it onto the altar. The room is brighter, but that’s all that happens. As the others ponder their next move, Ainok discovers a patch of dirt in the chamber that seems the perfect size to plant something. Aranwe comes to understand the flower he wears is known as senthira chaosium—Elvish for “blood of chaos.” He plants the flower in the dirt; almost immediately, it grows rapidly as the stone around it breaks apart to reveal a set of stairs leading further down into the temple.

In the library, Celeste is out of popcorn but is too reluctant to stop the film for more. The temple confuses her: by all accounts it shouldn’t exist, and she can’t find any information on it beyond the events she’s witnessing. A single book remains on the table, as she’s cleared the others away to get a better view of the film.

Back at the temple, the party descends the stairs. All but Indomitus feel a heightened sense of anticipation. They belatedly realize most of it isn’t coming from them, but from some unseen power that pulses throughout the stairwell.

They reach a stone chamber, dimly lit by crystals embedded in the walls. A single stone tablet stands aloft in the center, and the far wall bears a portrait of a nebulous, shadowy figure. Indomitus tries to make sense of what he’s seeing, and is overcome with even stronger anticipation than the others—and a brief, inescapable need to read the tablet.

With her true sight active, Puud Een looks at Ainok. Whatever she sees, she doesn’t share with the rest of the party.

Sae asks Rian for one last moment of revelation, to help her determine what to do. He tells her the tablet is a trigger; when read, “something” will be released, but *not* reading the tablet may doom their world anyway—and will definitely cause the ruin of others she’ll never meet. She passes the information to the others, and Aranwe steps up to read the tablet:

“When chaos abdicates the throne and the sundered citadel lies scattered and still, then Xentallia’s wrath may be unleashed to erase the multiverse she helped to build.”

Aranwe is confused, as nothing is happening. Ainok encourages him to look on the back of the tablet, earning suspicion from Sae; why is he so eager for the tablet to be read? Amidst Ainok’s protestations of innocence, Puud Een moves behind the tablet to read the other side aloud:

“Dear pawns,

You’ll have to forgive the game we played. You don’t even comprehend what you’ve just begun, the machinations that will be unleashed because of your actions here.

If you’re reading this—and we know you are—then your task is complete. You’ve been so helpful. Maybe you’ll have a reward for it in the hereafter—or maybe fate is fickle. But know we mean you no ill will; everything done, none of it out of malice—only necessity.

She must be unleashed. Thank you for taking the steps necessary to free her.”

A tremor shakes the chamber, sending cracks along the wall like spiderwebs. Indomitus immediately tries to gather the party and leave as a nearby wall explodes, as gigantic limbs of crystal and wood begin to break through. The group rapidly ascends the stairs, only to be stopped by a rock wall blocking the exit. Indomitus manages to burst through it and the group tries to make their escape.

Once outside the temple, they look up to see the figure that escaped the lower chamber now towering far above them—and very angry. Most of the party gets thrown backward against the temple wall, save for Indomitus and Citizen Merhermbler, but the centaur is stabbed in the back by the magic bucket that’s now sporting limbs…and a knife.

Sae heals Ainok while Aranwe releases Ronan, telling him to flee to safety. Puud Een races through the area, trying to disenchant every item available so she can cast a portal for everyone to escape.

Citizen Merhermbler is thrown against Indomitus by the titan’s arm. She attempts to stab it, but a spike from the earth juts up to impale her, and the titan sends her dead body flying.The paladin sees the gates of death, but a wraithlike figure stops her from entering just yet—telling her she’s to bear witness to what comes next.

The ground around half the party vanishes, sending Puud Een and Ainok plummeting into the nothingness below alongside Merhermbler’s body. The rakshasa open a portal on the way down to a universe that *isn’t* currently imploding on itself, disappearing from existence. She appears elsewhere, in another universe, and is immediately knocked unconscious.

Realizing things aren’t looking good, Sae casts invisibility on herself and makes her way to Indomitus, getting into position to help him. Aranwe readies an arrow and tries to understand what he’s seeing; the temple lends a bit of knowledge to him in response. Legend says that, long ago, only nothingness existed. Then came The Five: The Chaos, whose essence was used in the formation of “everything”; Magic, AKA The One Who Shapes Everything; Earth, or The One Who Solidifies everything into their correct shape; The Voidling, who sets the boundaries of every world in the multiverse; and the One Who Sees how everything fits together. These entities formed Quelmar’s original six gods, tasking them with creating the world according to their own vision. Aranwe realizes they’re facing off against an avatar of Earth, the One Who Solidifies.

Indomitus tries to attack the bucket, but ends up being severely injured by it instead. The titan causes more ground to fall away, but Sae clings desperately to a crack in the wall to keep from falling. Indomitus and Aranwe aren’t as fortunate, and fall into the earth as it seals over them.

Indomitus calmly puts his belongings into the bag as he falls through the darkness, including the antagonistic bucket, before throwing it upwards right before the ground closes above. His body is crushed by the earth, but as he approaches the gates of death he’s met by Brodin. The wraith keeping Citizen Merhermbler at bay attempts to stop him as well, but he walks past to rejoin his army. He offers the kender the opportunity to join him, but she declines.

Aranwe blinks as he falls, and watches as the titan begins flattening the entire world. His vision goes dark, but he hears Vilya’s voice in his mind, entreating him to join her and saying he doesn’t have to witness what comes next. He agrees, and his consciousness joins hers while his preserved body rests forever within the chaos bloom flowers he once wore in his hair.

The last one standing, Sae watches helplessly as the entire word is completely transformed, the earth tearing itself apart. When it settles, the titan has vanished. What she and Aranwe don’t see is how the world briefly flickers and glitches before “correcting” itself.

The film stops, but no one turns the projector off. The camera pans to Celeste, sitting in her chair with her throat slit—her face frozen in horror during her final moments. Her murderer stands behind her, bearing the same type of eye symbol that Citizen Doctor Merhermbler once wore.

System Agnostic/Episode 1.4: The Brightling Moon

2022-09-20T13:39:59Z

Sae: clarifying miscommunication

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Episode Four: The Brightling Moon}}

Resident librarian Celeste comes across a new, different room from those previously, wherein she discovers a contraption that allows her to view the night sky from different points in time, including the distant past. Going back to prehistory she observes the two moons, one of which is obviously a glowing rock, the other less clearly defined—though it does appear solid within.

Moving the device forward in time, she watches a chunk of the moon fly off and hurtle to the planet below. At the place of impact she finds a note, perfectly visible in the moment yet unseen when turning the device forward or back. The note is penned by Sae, directed to her deity Rian. It reads “This isn’t what I signed up for, and I’m so sorry I was a part of it. I don’t know where to go from here, and if it wasn’t for that contract, I’m not even sure I would stay. I honestly don’t know what to do.”

Celeste turns her attention back to the space where the note appeared, finding another roll of film in its place. Eagerly grabbing it, she races back to her spot in the library, which is now overflowing with books.

The film begins with the group coming to a halt close to the decidedly less active volcano. Aranwe and Sae discuss the party’s actions from their previous encounter; Sae is still shell-shocked from the explicit violence (and her part in it) shown towards the oread that was just protecting itself, and Aranwe expresses reluctance at continuing with their task if their earlier mistakes are repeated. Sae regards Indomitus as someone incapable of anything but violence, while Aranwe feels the centaur missed the point of using one’s strength in self defense.

They both reflect on the veracity of Puud Een’s vision, to which the wizard begins to share what she knows of the Brightling moon: whereas other moons have natural waxing and waning cycles, the Brightling moon does not. It’s not even known if it moves in the sky, or remains fixed as the planet rotates. While unproven, many also believe it’s solely the Brightling moon providing the meteorites that fall—meteorites that are highly prized, and very valuable. Puud Een then suggests finding someone that may be in possession of one.

Aranwe realizes the act of removing the heart from the pillar of the volcano has sealed the fate of both the oread and the mountain it protected. Meanwhile, Puud Een continues playing with the obsidian heart, and comes to understand contact with it will provide her an element of resistance against fire.

After a fairly restless night, the group awakens to discover both Indomitus and his “magic” bucket gone, but not before he left a note with Ainok: “Went to take care of something, will find you when it’s done, will try to look into unfettered magic while gone.”

The remaining party members ponder their next move. Ainok mentions a former acquaintance who may be able to help: Azarin, a merchant lord of the above-ground settlement Tharingar, who used to brag about keeping a meteorite in his home. After some very confusing directions from an equally confusing Ainok, the group journeys to Tharingar.

They briefly meet the silent orc town guard and their far more chatty goblin friend, the latter of whom tells the party not to steal and warns them against wandering into the woods. Once inside, Ainok provides a bit more information about Azarin—primarily that the merchant lord was born under the eclipse of the two moons, a fact he frequently mentions, and is so confident in himself that he hires guards to look important more than as protection. The redheaded elf then excuses himself and retreats to the Dryad’s Kiss Inn.

The others make their way to Azarin’s place of business. Sae notices others in the town watching them as they travel, and suggests that Puud Een keep a closer eye than normal on the heart.

Puud Een and Sae enter the large building while Aranwe and Citizen Doctor Merhermbler wait outside. The wizard speaks to the very busy Eladrin secretary, who eventually spares a moment to ask why the pair is here. Puud Een says they have magic items to trade, but the secretary says Azarin is too busy and won’t be able to see them until the next eclipse. The rakshasa eventually manages to convince the secretary to contact Azarin, who allows the party an audience.

Aranwe joins the other two inside the building, leaving Citizen Merhermbler alone. The paladin doesn’t notice his departure, and becomes absorbed in making sand art outside.

Once in Azarin’s office, the trio is met by a formidable-seeming gnoll seated behind a large desk. He inquires what they want from him, to which Puud Een bluntly responds they want to trade him for his meteorite fragment. Azarin responds less than kindly, slamming and locking the doors to his office and leveling a glaive at the wizard’s neck, demanding she tell him what they know about it. Puud Een backtracks a bit, acknowledging its importance to Azarin, and Sae mentions his lending it to the group could end up saving the entire world, making him a hero.

The gnoll leaves the weapon to hover mid-air, and grudgingly admits the meteorite had been stolen and taken into the nearby woods. He offers them a deal: if they can retrieve his property, they can use it for their purposes, but once finished, they must return it to him. Puud Een insists once they retrieve the rock, it technically then belongs to them, and they’re not required to bring it to him. This again angers Azarin, but Sae and Aranwe agree to his terms—and to keep the wizard in check. Azarin clasps both their arms, branding them with a symbol, and tells them he’ll always know where they are. Sae looks a bit deeper at Azarin, and sees something much older than the gnoll before her staring back…something with frost dripping from its breath. Assuming the others see it too, she remains silent. With the deal struck, the group departs.

Citizen Merhermbler finishes drawing a unicorn in the sand, only then noticing she’s alone. Believing the others to be dead, she heads off in search of a new party.

Back in the library, Celeste has fallen asleep. Jerking awake, she notices the film reel has finished while she slept, and sees two ravens sitting on the desk, watching the blank screen. Rewinding the reel to where she’d nodded off, she resumes taking notes.

The others emerge from Azarin’s business in time to see Citizen Merhermbler, who was unsuccessful in finding a new party. She gets angry at Aranwe’s hawk Ronin for scratching its way through her sand drawing, and mourns the loss of her “perfect” artwork. This mourning is interrupted by the emergence of several tiny creatures that, quite literally, pop up out of the ground and sweep the paladin away.

The thoroughly confused party first battles, then follows the creatures—known only as gurblins—to the Dryad’s Kiss Inn. The gurblins whisk Citizen Merhermbler through the inn, past an equally confused innkeeper, down into the basement—closely followed by Puud Een and Sae. Aranwe chooses to stay out of it all, and books a room for the night.

The creatures toss Merhembler into the corner of the basement and stare silently at her, while the paladin appears to accept the current events as her fate. Sae repeatedly attempts to break through to her, trying to understand where Merhermbler’s thoughts are, while Puud Een attempts to figure out why the gurblins are here to begin with. The creatures continue repeating whatever they hear, occasionally throwing rocks at the Merhermbler’s head.

Over time the gurblins leave one by one, causing utter chaos in their wake—and one of them stabbing the goblin innkeeper in the rear (who is then healed by Sae.) The cleric eventually leaves for her own room, while Puud Een chooses to stay in the basement to keep an eye on the paladin.

The last remaining gurblin gives a bottle cork to Merhermbler, who promptly eats it. Puud Een comes to the understanding that the paladin was, essentially, put in “time out” by the creatures, before making her way up the stairs and she, too, books a room amidst the chaos. The paladin, determining the latest events to be a test from her god, stays in the corner of the basement until she falls asleep.

The party reconvenes in the morning and heads to the forest gate, where the half-orc guard lets them through. Upon entering, they’re immediately struck by the fact there’s snow all over the trees, but not the actual path. Aranwe searches for tracks, and finds elven footprints—prints that have left a layer of ice with every step. Strangely, the ice in the prints—and the forest itself—doesn’t seem to be thawing despite the temperature actually being quite warm. The ranger concludes the being who made the prints probably isn’t an elf.

They venture further into the woods, and Ainok also points out how unusually warm it is. Coming to a fork in the road, they lose the footprints. Sae prays to Rian for guidance, and water flows from the symbol on her armor—directly *between* the two paths. The stream of water also freezes mid-air and breaks away from the armor, as a meow catches the party’s attention. A cat with a ragged black coat that still somehow sparkles with frost, part of its tail gone, stares back at them as it hisses before disappearing. Puud Een and Aranwe both come to the conclusion a nymph must be controlling the forest.—and if she’s the reason for the winter wonderland, she’s probably angry and may not appreciate unwelcome visitors.

They discuss the best way to approach an angry nymph, and Puud Een suggests Aranwe give up the flower Vilya had gifted him; the ranger counters that a gift probably wouldn’t lure out a nature spirit. Sae asks the others if they think the state of the forest has anything to do with the frost that came from Azarin’s mouth, thinking they’d seen it too. They hadn’t, and her words surprise them. Aranwe suggests they could instead be dealing with an ice dragon rather than a gnoll, and Sae wonders if the nymph herself possibly took the meteorite from him. Puud Een tries to dispel the magic brand Azarin placed on Aranwe and Sae, to limited success.

The group follows the path Rian indicated until they reach a clearing, immediately noticing two things: a scintillating light partially hidden under a cage of branches—the stone they’re seeking—and a pale woman, covered in ice down to her talon-like fingernails, her once thriving barkskin garments now dead and blackened. She turns her equally cold gaze onto the party.

The reel finishes in the library, much to Celeste’s irritation. Without even pulling the old reel out of the projector she races through the library, trying to find the next film.

System Agnostic/Episode 1.5: Of Moons and Magic

2022-09-19T22:41:04Z

Sae: spelling

The story begins—as always—with Celeste in the library, whose search for more films about the prehistoric group she’s been studying proves fruitless. However, upon returning to her table she discovers two reels, one a bit smaller than the other.

She puts that one in her projector first. The film centers on the Centaur fighter Indomitus as he departs from the party and makes his way to a graveyard, where he visits the resting place of his entire army.

He comes to stop in front of a tombstone bearing the name “Brodin.” The wind picks up around him, carrying the sound of unearthly, hollow laughter with it. Within moments, tombstones begin exploding out of the earth around him. Indomitus readies himself for an attack, suddenly realizing the damage to the gravesite is much worse and ore longstanding than he’d thought.

The tombstone behind Brodin splits in two as an otherworldly creature claws its way out of the earth and laughs again. Indomitus tries to ask who (or what) it is, but the creature disappears and begins hurling tombstones at him.

The fighter searches for a source of the specter, but is instead faced with electrical energy that feels more like fire as the creature attacks again. The attack hits not Indomitus, but the bucket at his side—which begins pulsing with that same electric-like spark. He tries to reason with the creature, but it responds with a cry so loud and piercing the fighter nearly drops his shield and the bucket just trying to cover his ears.

The film ends, prompting Celeste to put in the next reel. It flickers to life, picking up in the forest clearing with the other party members and the icy nymph. Puud Een tries breaking the tension with a compliment about trees, to no avail. Sae glances at Aranwe, only to find a haggard and confused Indomitus in his place. Sensing his vulnerability, she steps in front of him and tries to open non-hostile dialogue with the nymph. The nymph is thoroughly unimpressed and accuses the party of trying to take her “treasures”, although Puud Een counters they just want to commune with it.

While Indomitus gathers himself, Citizen Doctor Merhermbler approaches the nymph and asks her name. At the nymph’s silence, she declares she will call them Rebecca. The nymph attacks her in response. Merhermbler then claims her “one true god” has decided they should kiss, and attempts to do so without the nymph’s consent. The roots of the nearby trees punctures the paladin and the nymph retorts that her god is false.

Puud Een notices the bucket in Indomitus’ hand and silently suggests putting it over the nymph’s head, but the centaur instead catches the creature’s eye and holds their gaze on him.

Sae takes a step back and tries talking to the nymph again, trying to make sense of the unnatural winter surrounding them, but the nymph angrily insists everything is perfect. Puud Een takes the bucket and gently places it over the nymph’s head, which breaks eye contact with Indomitus, and the creature lashes out at her.

Indomitus offers encouragement to Sae, who then prays to Rian for some insight into what to do. The realization comes to her: the nymph keeps referring to “treasures”—as in more than one. Sae is also shown a semi-ethereal strand extending from a dark, nebulous corner of the tree, embedded in the back of the nymph and seemingly controlling her like a puppet. She relays this to Indomitus, who demands whoever is hiding in the darkness to come forth.

Merhermbler takes the opportunity to run up the nymph, try to hug her, and cast Lay on Hands to break the cord connected to her. The cord snaps, and the paladin is dropped to the ground. The nymph staggers backwards and disappears into the tree, while a very large panther—angry at one of its “treasures” escaping—emerges from the darkness.

Indomitus tries to defend Sae, but the panther believes it indicates Sae is a higher priority target. It attacks her, and the cleric feels the area where it hits fading out of existence.

The panther lands in front of Puud Een. Sae heals her before moving towards the trapped moonstone, while the wizard attempts to connect with the nymph inside the tree and ask them for help. Merhermbler hits the panther with her halberd, which starts to melt at the point of contact.

Indomitus stands under the cage and holds the panther’s gaze, telling the others to get the stone. Puud Een casts magic missile at the cage, but can’t knock it down. Merhermbler refuses to leave “Rebecca”, and causes more damage to both the panther and her halberd. Sae climbs onto the centaur’s back and manages to knock the stone from the cage.

The fighter commands the rest to leave, saying he’ll join them when they’re at least 50 paces away. They do so except for Merhermbler, with Puud Een grabbing the bucket on the way. The paladin manages to overcome the panther, and it melts into the shadows.

Merhermbler moves from tree to tree, trying to call the nymph to her until falling tree branches knock her unconscious. The others pick her up and exit the forest. On the way, Ainok asks Indomitus how he teleported to the group, and the centaur responds it “must have been the bucket.” It’s the first time the others reluctantly agree the bucket must, indeed, be magical.

Indomitus tells them they must return to the graveyard he had been visiting to capture the unfettered magic. After a night back in Tharingar, wherein Citizen Merhermbler purchases a new halberd, they head out.

Arriving at the graveyard, Indomitus explains who lies there and why he visits it regularly. He explains how, during the fight at the volcano, he’d lost sight of what it means to trust one’s friends, and apologizes for his actions there. He also tells them of the unnatural forces at work in the graveyard that led him to believe unfettered magic may be found.

The group follows the fighter to Brodin’s grave, where he tells them of the creature he’d fought—and where the bucket gained its magic.

A creepy laugh permeates the air, and the party almost immediately find themselves separated and trapped in their own version of hell. For Indomitus, a half-skeletal Brodin appears and accuses the fighter of letting him die, blaming him for his spectral state.

Sae sees the waves of her homeland, with a version of Rian that’s decidedly less benevolent than she remembers. He tells her how disappointed he is in her, ending with “Who would ever be (proud of you)?”

Puud Eeen stands witness to her hometown burning. She counts her fingers, and tries to determine if she’s dreaming or not. Houses continue to collapse around her, but she doesn’t awaken. She finds her own home to be the source of the blaze. Holding the volcano heart firmly, she understands she’s dreaming—but still feels the heat. Eventually she comes to understanding the group is facing the very embodiment of unfettered magic, with a consciousness and will of its own.

Citizen Merhembler wanders an endless desert, and realizes she’s missing her armor, weapon, and symbol of her deity.

The visions begin to take their toll. Brodin entreats Indomitus to join his former army in death, and the centaur takes damage as the specter attacks. Blindsided by “Rian’s” accusations, Sae starts to panic and tries to escape, but is dragged beneath the waves; despite being able to breathe underwater, she starts to drown. As Merhermbler frantically digs for her holy symbol, she begins to get pulled under the sand and is suffocating. Puud Een tries to cage some of the fire, still clutching the stone—not realizing her hand is, in reality, starting to get burned by it.

Indomitus realizes “Brodin” is not real, and is a trick of the unfiltered magic. He uses the bucket to scoop the image of Brodin into it, watching it get sucked into the bucket’s void. He sees his friends standing around, staring at nothing but in distress—and a wraith, sitting on one of the tombstones and looking back at him. He attempts to capture it with the bucket, but it escapes, so he turns his attention to waking the others.

Still in panic mode, Sae shuts her eyes against everything happening and calls out for help. In a moment of clarity, the real Rian tells her, “You don’t need help—you’re strong enough.” He tells her to breathe, so she does, and is snapped out of the vision.

Merhermbler is also panicking, because she’s lost her symbol. She closes her eyes and thinks back to the time her god approached her and said, “Follow me, child.” She assumes if her god has a plan, either this is it…or she’ll be spared. The sand continues to suffocate her.

Puud Een sets the cage in front of her and sits down, considering the dream. She knows this dream is what her people consider “the end”: the earth will crumble, fire will claim the village, and the oceans will split the land. Comparing this to her vision in the bucket, she now understands: a disaster is inevitable, but how bad it will be depends on their success in the temple.

The fire scorches Puud Een again, and her body falls to the ground, dead. She finds herself at the black gates of death, a dark starry vortex beyond.

Several things happen at once. Indomitus puts the bucket over Citizen Merhermbler’s head, snapping her out of the illusion. The wraith sees Puud Een’s body and declares “mine”, making a beeline for it. Sae asks the fighter to keep it occupied as she prays to resurrect her friend.

The answer comes back to her—it’s possible. But it requires three sacrifices: money, offerings to several gods…and her link to Rian.

Merhermbler reaches for her holy symbol, relieved it’s there. She falls to the ground in tears, having thought her god abandoned her.

Indomitus tries to defend the party, but the magic wraith is too fast and still goes after the rakshasa.

With a heavy heart, Sae sacrifices her link to Rian. The symbol from her armor flows from it through her body and into Puud Een. The wizard’s eyes open and she almost immediately sees the magic specter bearing down on her. She casts a spell, trapping it in a cage, and Indomitus successfully draws it into the bucket.

The film ends, bringing a stunned Celeste back to herself. She realizes deities exist as long as they have followers…but she’d never heard of Rian before. And that means there were no clerics after Sae that existed to tell Rian’s story by the time history started being recorded.

However, gods don’t die, even if they fade into obscurity. With this knowledge, Celeste makes her way into a room at the library that houses a shrine to any deity the visitor chooses to see.

System Agnostic/Episode 1.5: Of Moons and Magic

2022-09-19T22:26:08Z

Sae: Created page with "The story begins—as always—with Celeste in the library, whose search for more films about the prehistoric group she’s been studying proves fruitless. However, upon retur..."

The story begins—as always—with Celeste in the library, whose search for more films about the prehistoric group she’s been studying proves fruitless. However, upon returning to her table she discovers two reels, one a bit smaller than the other.

She puts that one in her projector first. The film centers on the Centaur fighter Indomitus as he departs from the party and makes his way to a graveyard, where he visits the resting place of his entire army.

He comes to stop in front of a tombstone bearing the name “Brodin.” The wind picks up around him, carrying the sound of unearthly, hollow laughter with it. Within moments, tombstones begin exploding out of the earth around him. Indomitus readies himself for an attack, suddenly realizing the damage to the gravesite is much worse and ore longstanding than he’d thought.

The tombstone behind Brodin splits in two as an otherworldly creature claws its way out of the earth and laughs again. Indomitus tries to ask who (or what) it is, but the creature disappears and begins hurling tombstones at him.

The fighter searches for a source of the specter, but is instead faced with electrical energy that feels more like fire as the creature attacks again. The attack hits not Indomitus, but the bucket at his side—which begins pulsing with that same electric-like spark. He tries to reason with the creature, but it responds with a cry so loud and piercing the fighter nearly drops his shield and the bucket just trying to cover his ears.

The film ends, prompting Celeste to put in the next reel. It flickers to life, picking up in the forest clearing with the other party members and the icy nymph. Puud Een tries breaking the tension with a compliment about trees, to no avail. Sae glances at Aranwe, only to find a haggard and confused Indomitus in his place. Sensing his vulnerability, she steps in front of him and tries to open non-hostile dialogue with the nymph. The nymph is thoroughly unimpressed and accuses the party of trying to take her “treasures”, although Puud Een counters they just want to commune with it.

While Indomitus gathers himself, Citizen Doctor Merhermbler approaches the nymph and asks her name. At the nymph’s silence, she declares she will call them Rebecca. The nymph attacks her in response. Merhermbler then claims her “one true god” has decided they should kiss, and attempts to do so without the nymph’s consent. The roots of the nearby trees punctures the paladin and the nymph retorts that her god is false.

Puud Een notices the bucket in Indomitus’ hand and silently suggests putting it over the nymph’s head, but the centaur instead catches the creature’s eye and holds their gaze on him.

Sae takes a step back and tries talking to the nymph again, trying to make sense of the unnatural winter surrounding them, but the nymph angrily insists everything is perfect. Puud Een takes the bucket and gently places it over the nymph’s head, which breaks eye contact with Indomitus, and the creature lashes out at her.

Indomitus offers encouragement to Sae, who then prays to Rian for some insight into what to do. The realization comes to her: the nymph keeps referring to “treasures”—as in more than one. Sae is also shown a semi-ethereal strand extending from a dark, nebulous corner of the tree, embedded in the back of the nymph and seemingly controlling her like a puppet. She relays this to Indomitus, who demands whoever is hiding in the darkness to come forth.

Merhermbler takes the opportunity to run up the nymph, try to hug her, and cast Lay on Hands to break the cord connected to her. The cord snaps, and the paladin is dropped to the ground. The nymph staggers backwards and disappears into the tree, while a very large panther—angry at one of its “treasures” escaping—emerges from the darkness.

Indomitus tries to defend Sae, but the panther believes it indicates Sae is a higher priority target. It attacks her, and the cleric feels the area where it hits fading out of existence.

The panther lands in front of Puud Een. Sae heals her before moving towards the trapped moonstone, while the wizard attempts to connect with the nymph inside the tree and ask them for help. Merhermbler hits the panther with her halberd, which starts to melt at the point of contact.

Indomitus stands under the cage and holds the panther’s gaze, telling the others to get the stone. Puud Een casts magic missile at the cage, but can’t knock it down. Merhermbler refuses to leave “Rebecca”, and causes more damage to both the panther and her halberd. Sae climbs onto the centaur’s back and manages to knock the stone from the cage.

The fighter commands the rest to leave, saying he’ll join them when they’re at least 50 paces away. They do so except for Merhermbler, with Puud Een grabbing the bucket on the way. The paladin manages to overcome the panther, and it melts into the shadows.

Merhermbler moves from tree to tree, trying to call the nymph to her until falling tree branches knock her unconscious. The others pick her up and exit the forest. On the way, Ainok asks Indomitus how he teleported to the group, and the centaur responds it “must have been the bucket.” It’s the first time the others reluctantly agree the bucket must, indeed, be magical.

Indomitus tells them they must return to the graveyard he had been visiting to capture the unfettered magic. After a night back in Tharingar, wherein Citizen Merhermbler purchases a new halberd, they head out.

Arriving at the graveyard, Indomitus explains who lies there and why he visits it regularly. He explains how, during the fight at the volcano, he’d lost sight of what it means to trust one’s friends, and apologizes for his actions there. He also tells them of the unnatural forces at work in the graveyard that led him to believe unfettered magic may be found.

The group follows the fighter to Brodin’s grave, where he tells them of the creature he’d fought—and where the bucket gained its magic.

A creepy laugh permeates the air, and the party almost immediately find themselves separated and trapped in their own version of hell. For Indomitus, a half-skeletal Brodin appears and accuses the fighter of letting him die, blaming him for his spectral state.

Sae sees the waves of her homeland, with a version of Rian that’s decidedly less benevolent than she remembers. He tells her how disappointed he is in her, ending with “Who would ever be (proud of you)?”

Puud Eeen stands witness to her hometown burning. She counts her fingers, and tries to determine if she’s dreaming or not. Houses continue to collapse around her, but she doesn’t awaken. She finds her own home to be the source of the blaze. Holding the volcano heart firmly, she understands she’s dreaming—but still feels the heat. Eventually she comes to understanding the group is facing the very embodiment of unfettered magic, with a consciousness and will of its own.

Citizen Merhembler wanders an endless desert, and realizes she’s missing her armor, weapon, and symbol of her deity.

The visions begin to take their toll. Brodin entreats Indomitus to join his former army in death, and the centaur takes damage as the specter attacks. Blindsided by “Rian’s” accusations, Sae starts to panic and tries to escape, but is dragged beneath the waves; despite being able to breathe underwater, she starts to drown. As Merhermbler frantically digs for her holy symbol, she begins to get pulled under the sand and is suffocating. Puud Een tries to cage some of the fire, still clutching the stone—not realizing her hand is, in reality, starting to get burned by it.

Indomitus realizes “Brodin” is not real, and is a trick of the unfiltered magic. He uses the bucket to scoop the image of Brodin into it, watching it get sucked into the bucket’s void. He sees his friends standing around, staring at nothing but in distress—and a wraith, sitting on one of the tombstones and looking back at him. He attempts to capture it with the bucket, but it escapes, so he turns his attention to waking the others.

Still in panic mode, Sae shuts her eyes against everything happening and calls out for help. In a moment of clarity, the real Rian tells her, “You don’t need help—you’re strong enough.” He tells her to breathe, so she does, and is snapped out of the vision.

Merhermbler is also panicking, because she’s lost her symbol. She closes her eyes and thinks back to the time her god approached her and said, “Follow me, child.” She assumes if her god has a plan, either this is it…or she’ll be spared. The sand continues to suffocate her.

Puur Een sets the cage in front of her and sits down, considering the dream. She knows this dream is what her people consider “the end”: the earth will crumble, fire will claim the village, and the oceans will split the land. Comparing this to her vision in the bucket, she now understands: a disaster is inevitable, but how bad it will be depends on their success in the temple.

The fire scorches Puud Een again, and her body falls to the ground, dead. She finds herself at the black gates of death, a dark starry vortex beyond.

Several things happen at once. Indomitus puts the bucket over Citizen Merhermbler’s head, snapping her out of the illusion. The wraith sees Puud Een’s body and declares “mine”, making a beeline for it. Sae asks the fighter to keep it occupied as she prays to resurrect her friend.

The answer comes back to her: it’s possible, but requires three sacrifices: money, offerings to several gods…and her link to Rian.

Merhermbler reaches for her holy symbol, relieved it’s there. She falls to the ground in tears, having thought her god abandoned her.

Indomitus tries to defend the party, but the magic wraith is too fast and still goes after the rakshasa.

With a heavy heart, Sae sacrifices her link to Rian. The symbol from her armor flows from it through her body and into Puud Een. The wizard’s eyes open and she almost immediately sees the magic specter bearing down on her. She casts a spell, trapping it in a cage, and Indomitus successfully draws it into the bucket.

The film ends, bringing a stunned Celeste back to herself. She realizes deities exist as long as they have followers…but she’d never heard of Rian before. And that means there were no clerics after Sae that existed to tell Rian’s story by the time history started being recorded.

However, gods don’t die, even if they fade into obscurity. With this knowledge, Celeste makes her way into a room at the library that houses a shrine to any deity the visitor chooses to see.

System Agnostic/Episode 1.4: The Brightling Moon

2022-09-11T09:40:23Z

Sae: spelling

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Episode Four: The Brightling Moon}}

Resident librarian Celeste comes across a new, different room from those previously, wherein she discovers a contraption that allows her to view the night sky from different points in time, including the distant past. Going back to prehistory she observes the two moons, one of which is obviously a glowing rock, the other less clearly defined—though it does appear solid within.

Moving the device forward in time, she watches a chunk of the moon fly off and hurtle to the planet below. At the place of impact she finds a note, perfectly visible in the moment yet unseen when turning the device forward or back. The note is penned by Sae, directed to her deity Rian. It reads “This isn’t what I signed up for, and I’m so sorry I was a part of it. I don’t know where to go from here, and if it wasn’t for that contract, I’m not even sure I would stay. I honestly don’t know what to do.”

Celeste turns her attention back to the space where the note appeared, finding another roll of film in its place. Eagerly grabbing it, she races back to her spot in the library, which is now overflowing with books.

The film begins with the group coming to a halt close to the decidedly less active volcano. Aranwe and Sae discuss the party’s actions from their previous encounter; Sae is still shell-shocked from the explicit violence (and her part in it) shown towards the oread that was just protecting itself, and Aranwe expresses reluctance at continuing with their task if their earlier mistakes are repeated. Sae regards Indomitus as someone incapable of anything but violence, while Aranwe feels the centaur missed the point of using one’s strength in self defense.

They both reflect on the veracity of Puud Een’s vision, to which the wizard begins to share what she knows of the Brightling moon: whereas other moons have natural waxing and waning cycles, the Brightling moon does not. It’s not even known if it moves in the sky, or remains fixed as the planet rotates. While unproven, many also believe it’s solely the Brightling moon providing the meteorites that fall—meteorites that are highly prized, and very valuable. Puud Een then suggests finding someone that may be in possession of one.

Aranwe realizes the act of removing the heart from the pillar of the volcano has sealed the fate of both the oread and the mountain it protected. Meanwhile, Puud Een continues playing with the obsidian heart, and comes to understand contact with it will provide her an element of resistance against fire.

After a fairly restless night, the group awakens to discover both Indomitus and his “magic” bucket gone, but not before he left a note with Ainok: “Went to take care of something, will find you when it’s done, will try to look into unfettered magic while gone.”

The remaining party members ponder their next move. Ainok mentions a former acquaintance who may be able to help: Azarin, a merchant lord of the above-ground settlement Tharingar, who used to brag about keeping a meteorite in his home. After some very confusing directions from an equally confusing Ainok, the group journeys to Tharingar.

They briefly meet the silent orc town guard and their far more chatty goblin friend, the latter of whom tells the party not to steal and warns them against wandering into the woods. Once inside, Ainok provides a bit more information about Azarin—primarily that the merchant lord was born under the eclipse of the two moons, a fact he frequently mentions, and is so confident in himself that he hires guards to look important more than as protection. The redheaded elf then excuses himself and retreats to the Dryad’s Kiss Inn.

The others make their way to Azarin’s place of business. Sae notices others in the town watching them as they travel, and suggests that Puud Een keep a closer eye than normal on the heart.

Puud Een and Sae enter the large building while Aranwe and Citizen Doctor Merhermbler wait outside. The wizard speaks to the very busy Eladrin secretary, who eventually spares a moment to ask why the pair is here. Puud Een says they have magic items to trade, but the secretary says Azarin is too busy and won’t be able to see them until the next eclipse. The rakshasa eventually manages to convince the secretary to contact Azarin, who allows the party an audience.

Aranwe joins the other two inside the building, leaving Citizen Merhermbler alone. The paladin doesn’t notice his departure, and becomes absorbed in making sand art outside.

Once in Azarin’s office, the trio is met by a formidable-seeming gnoll seated behind a large desk. He inquires what they want from him, to which Puud Een bluntly responds they want to trade him for his meteorite fragment. Azarin responds less than kindly, slamming and locking the doors to his office and leveling a glaive at the wizard’s neck, demanding she tell him what they know about it. Puud Een backtracks a bit, acknowledging its importance to Azarin, and Sae mentions his lending it to the group could end up saving the entire world, making him a hero.

The gnoll leaves the weapon to hover mid-air, and grudgingly admits the meteorite had been stolen and taken into the nearby woods. He offers them a deal: if they can retrieve his property, they can use it for their purposes, but once finished, they must return it to him. Puud Een insists once they retrieve the rock, it technically then belongs to them, and they’re not required to bring it to him. This again angers Azarin, but Sae and Aranwe agree to his terms—and to keep the wizard in check. Azarin clasps both their arms, branding them with a symbol, and tells them he’ll always know where they are. Sae looks a bit deeper at Azarin, and sees something much older than the gnoll before her staring back…something with frost dripping from its breath. Assuming the others see it too, she remains silent. With the deal struck, the group departs.

Citizen Merhermbler finishes drawing a unicorn in the sand, only then noticing she’s alone. Believing the others to be dead, she heads off in search of a new party.

Back in the library, Celeste has fallen asleep. Jerking awake, she notices the film reel has finished while she slept, and sees two ravens sitting on the desk, watching the blank screen. Rewinding the reel to where she’d nodded off, she resumes taking notes.

The others emerge from Azarin’s business in time to see Citizen Merhermbler, who was unsuccessful in finding a new party. She gets angry at Aranwe’s hawk Ronin for scratching its way through her sand drawing, and mourns the loss of her “perfect” artwork. This mourning is interrupted by the emergence of several tiny creatures that, quite literally, pop up out of the ground and sweep the paladin away.

The thoroughly confused party first battles, then follows the creatures—known only as gurblins—to the Dryad’s Kiss Inn. The gurblins whisk Citizen Merhermbler through the inn, past an equally confused innkeeper, down into the basement—closely followed by Puud Een and Sae. Aranwe chooses to stay out of it all, and books a room for the night.

The creatures toss Merhembler into the corner of the basement and stare silently at her, while the paladin appears to accept the current events as her fate. Sae repeatedly attempts to break through to her, trying to understand where Merhermbler’s thoughts are, while Puud Een attempts to figure out why the gurblins are here to begin with. The creatures continue repeating whatever they hear, occasionally throwing rocks at the Merhermbler’s head.

Over time the gurblins leave one by one, causing utter chaos in their wake—and one of them stabbing the goblin innkeeper in the rear (who is then healed by Sae.) The cleric eventually leaves for her own room, while Puud Een chooses to stay in the basement to keep an eye on the paladin.

The last remaining gurblin gives a bottle cork to Merhermbler, who promptly eats it. Puud Een comes to the understanding that the paladin was, essentially, put in “time out” by the creatures, before making her way up the stairs and she, too, books a room amidst the chaos. The paladin, determining the latest events to be a test from her god, stays in the corner of the basement until she falls asleep.

The party reconvenes in the morning and heads to the forest gate, where the half-orc guard lets them through. Upon entering, they’re immediately struck by the fact there’s snow all over the trees, but not the actual path. Aranwe searches for tracks, and finds elven footprints—prints that have left a layer of ice with every step. Strangely, the ice in the prints—and the forest itself—doesn’t seem to be thawing despite the temperature actually being quite warm. The ranger concludes the being who made the prints probably isn’t an elf.

They venture further into the woods, and Ainok also points out how unusually warm it is. Coming to a fork in the road, they lose the footprints. Sae prays to Rian for guidance, and water flows from the symbol on her armor—directly *between* the two paths. The stream of water also freezes mid-air and breaks away from the armor, as a meow catches the party’s attention. A cat with a ragged black coat that still somehow sparkles with frost, part of its tail gone, stares back at them as it hisses before disappearing. Puud Een and Aranwe both come to the conclusion a dryad must be controlling the forest.—and if she’s the reason for the winter wonderland, she’s probably angry and may not appreciate unwelcome visitors.

They discuss the best way to approach an angry dryad, and Puud Een suggests Aranwe give up the flower Vilya had gifted him; the ranger counters that a gift probably wouldn’t lure out a nature spirit. Sae asks the others if they think the state of the forest has anything to do with the frost that came from Azarin’s mouth, thinking they’d seen it too. They hadn’t, and her words surprise them. Aranwe suggests they could instead be dealing with an ice dragon rather than a gnoll, and Sae wonders if the dryad herself possibly took the meteorite from him. Puud Een tries to dispel the magic brand Azarin placed on Aranwe and Sae, to limited success.

The group follows the path Rian indicated until they reach a clearing, immediately noticing two things: a scintillating light partially hidden under a cage of branches—the stone they’re seeking—and a pale woman, covered in ice down to her talon-like fingernails, her once thriving barkskin garments now dead and blackened. She turns her equally cold gaze onto the party.

The reel finishes in the library, much to Celeste’s irritation. Without even pulling the old reel out of the projector she races through the library, trying to find the next film.

System Agnostic/Episode 1.4: The Brightling Moon

2022-09-11T02:09:57Z

Sae: Created page with "Resident librarian Celeste comes across a new, different room from those previously, wherein she discovers a contraption that allows her to view the night sky from different p..."

Resident librarian Celeste comes across a new, different room from those previously, wherein she discovers a contraption that allows her to view the night sky from different points in time, including the distant past. Going back to prehistory she observes the two moons, one of which is obviously a glowing rock, the other less clearly defined—though it does appear solid within.

Moving the device forward in time, she watches a chunk of the moon fly off and hurtle to the planet below. At the place of impact she finds a note, perfectly visible in the moment yet unseen when turning the device forward or back. The note is penned by Sae, directed to her deity Rian. It reads “This isn’t what I signed up for, and I’m so sorry I was a part of it. I don’t know where to go from here, and if it wasn’t for that contract, I’m not even sure I would stay. I honestly don’t know what to do.”

Celeste turns her attention back to the space where the note appeared, finding another roll of film in its place. Eagerly grabbing it, she races back to her spot in the library, which is now overflowing with books.

The film begins with the group coming to a halt close to the decidedly less active volcano. Aranwe and Sae discuss the party’s actions from their previous encounter; Sae is still shell-shocked from the explicit violence (and her part in it) shown towards the oread that was just protecting itself, and Aranwe expresses reluctance at continuing with their task if their earlier mistakes are repeated. Sae regards Indomitus as someone incapable of anything but violence, while Aranwe feels the centaur missed the point of using one’s strength in self defense.

They both reflect on the veracity of Puud Een’s vision, to which the wizard begins to share what she knows of the Brightling moon: whereas other moons have natural waxing and waning cycles, the Brightling moon does not. It’s not even known if it moves in the sky, or remains fixed as the planet rotates. While unproven, many also believe it’s solely the Brightling moon providing the meteorites that fall—meteorites that are highly prized, and very valuable. Puud Een then suggests finding someone that may be in possession of one.

Aranwe realizes the act of removing the heart from the pillar of the volcano has sealed the fate of both the oread and the mountain it protected. Meanwhile, Puud Een continues playing with the obsidian heart, and comes to understand contact with it will provide her an element of resistance against fire.

After a fairly restless night, the group awakens to discover both Indomitus and his “magic” bucket gone, but not before he left a note with Ainok: “Went to take care of something, will find you when it’s done, will try to look into unfettered magic while gone.”

The remaining party members ponder their next move. Ainok mentions a former acquaintance who may be able to help: Azarin, a merchant lord of the above-ground settlement Tharingar, who used to brag about keeping a meteorite in his home. After some very confusing directions from an equally confusing Ainok, the group journeys to Tharingar.

They briefly meet the silent orc town guard and their far more chatty goblin friend, the latter of whom tells the party not to steal and warns them against wandering into the woods. Once inside, Ainok provides a bit more information about Azarin—primarily that the merchant lord was born under the eclipse of the two moons, a fact he frequently mentions, and is so confident in himself that he hires guards to look important more than as protection. The redheaded elf then excuses himself and retreats to the Dryad’s Kiss Inn.

The others make their way to Azarin’s place of business. Sae notices others in the town watching them as they travel, and suggests that Puud Een keep a closer eye than normal on the heart.

Puud Een and Sae enter the large building while Aranwe and Citizen Doctor Merhermbler wait outside. The wizard speaks to the very busy Eladrin secretary, who eventually spares a moment to ask why the pair is here. Puud Een says they have magic items to trade, but the secretary says Azarin is too busy and won’t be able to see them until the next eclipse. The rakshasa eventually manages to convince the secretary to contact Azarin, who allows the party an audience.

Aranwe joins the other two inside the building, leaving Citizen Merhermbler alone. The paladin doesn’t notice his departure, and becomes absorbed in making sand art outside.

Once in Azarin’s office, the trio is met by a formidable-seeming gnoll seated behind a large desk. He inquires what they want from him, to which Puud Een bluntly responds they want to trade him for his meteorite fragment. Azarin responds less than kindly, slamming and locking the doors to his office and leveling a glaive at the wizard’s neck, demanding she tell him what they know about it. Puud Een backtracks a bit, acknowledging its importance to Azarin, and Sae mentions his lending it to the group could end up saving the entire world, making him a hero.

The gnoll leaves the weapon to hover mid-air, and grudgingly admits the meteorite had been stolen and taken into the nearby woods. He offers them a deal: if they can retrieve his property, they can use it for their purposes, but once finished, they must return it to him. Puud Een insists once they retrieve the rock, it technically then belongs to them, and they’re not required to bring it to him. This again angers Azarin, but Sae and Aranwe agree to his terms—and to keep the wizard in check. Azarin clasps both their arms, branding them with a symbol, and tells them he’ll always know where they are. Sae looks a bit deeper at Azarin, and sees something much older than the gnoll before her staring back…something with frost dripping from its breath. Assuming the others see it too, she remains silent. With the deal struck, the group departs.

Citizen Merhermbler finishes drawing a unicorn in the sand, only then noticing she’s alone. Believing the others to be dead, she heads off in search of a new party.

Back in the library, Celeste has fallen asleep. Jerking awake, she notices the film reel has finished while she slept, and sees two ravens sitting on the desk, watching the blank screen. Rewinding the reel to where she’d nodded off, she resumes taking notes.

The others emerge from Azarin’s business in time to see Citizen Merhermbler, who was unsuccessful in finding a new party. She gets angry at Aranwe’s hawk Ronin for scratching its way through her sand drawing, and mourns the loss of her “perfect” artwork. This mourning is interrupted by the emergence of several tiny creatures that, quite literally, pop up out of the ground and sweep the paladin away.

The thoroughly confused party first battles, then follows the creatures—known only as gerblins—to the Dryad’s Kiss Inn. The gerblins whisk Citizen Merhermbler through the inn, past an equally confused innkeeper, down into the basement—closely followed by Puud Een and Sae. Aranwe chooses to stay out of it all, and books a room for the night.

The creatures toss Merhembler into the corner of the basement and stare silently at her, while the paladin appears to accept the current events as her fate. Sae repeatedly attempts to break through to her, trying to understand where Merhermbler’s thoughts are, while Puud Een attempts to figure out why the gerblins are here to begin with. The creatures continue repeating whatever they hear, occasionally throwing rocks at the Merhermbler’s head.

Over time the gerblins leave one by one, causing utter chaos in their wake—and one of them stabbing the goblin innkeeper in the rear (who is then healed by Sae.) The cleric eventually leaves for her own room, while Puud Een chooses to stay in the basement to keep an eye on the paladin.

The last remaining gerblin gives a bottle cork to Merhermbler, who promptly eats it. Puud Een comes to the understanding that the paladin was, essentially, put in “time out” by the creatures, before making her way up the stairs and she, too, books a room amidst the chaos. The paladin, determining the latest events to be a test from her god, stays in the corner of the basement until she falls asleep.

The party reconvenes in the morning and heads to the forest gate, where the half-orc guard lets them through. Upon entering, they’re immediately struck by the fact there’s snow all over the trees, but not the actual path. Aranwe searches for tracks, and finds elven footprints—prints that have left a layer of ice with every step. Strangely, the ice in the prints—and the forest itself—doesn’t seem to be thawing despite the temperature actually being quite warm. The ranger concludes the being who made the prints probably isn’t an elf.

They venture further into the woods, and Ainok also points out how unusually warm it is. Coming to a fork in the road, they lose the footprints. Sae prays to Rian for guidance, and water flows from the symbol on her armor—directly *between* the two paths. The stream of water also freezes mid-air and breaks away from the armor, as a meow catches the party’s attention. A cat with a ragged black coat that still somehow sparkles with frost, part of its tail gone, stares back at them as it hisses before disappearing. Puud Een and Aranwe both come to the conclusion a dryad must be controlling the forest.—and if she’s the reason for the winter wonderland, she’s probably angry and may not appreciate unwelcome visitors.

They discuss the best way to approach an angry dryad, and Puud Een suggests Aranwe give up the flower Vilya had gifted him; the ranger counters that a gift probably wouldn’t lure out a nature spirit. Sae asks the others if they think the state of the forest has anything to do with the frost that came from Azarin’s mouth, thinking they’d seen it too. They hadn’t, and her words surprise them. Aranwe suggests they could instead be dealing with an ice dragon rather than a gnoll, and Sae wonders if the dryad herself possibly took the meteorite from him. Puud Een tries to dispel the magic brand Azarin placed on Aranwe and Sae, to limited success.

The group follows the path Rian indicated until they reach a clearing, immediately noticing two things: a scintillating light partially hidden under a cage of branches—the stone they’re seeking—and a pale woman, covered in ice down to her talon-like fingernails, her once thriving barkskin garments now dead and blackened. She turns her equally cold gaze onto the party.

The reel finishes in the library, much to Celeste’s irritation. Without even pulling the old reel out of the projector she races through the library, trying to find the next film.

System Agnostic/Episode 1.3: Ainok's Quest

2022-09-04T17:40:24Z

Sae: No, autocorrect, Puud Een's name is not Puud Even.

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Episode Three: Ainok's Quest}}

The story picks up once again with the librarian Celeste, tracking down anything she can find regarding the adventuring party from the era when the planet was still spherical. She comes across a pile of artifacts, including a bucket. Having witnessed its questionable magical properties in the last film, she turns it over to discover yet another reel.

The camera returns to the adventurers, who pick up some rations for their journey before deciding where to travel first. They pool their knowledge of volcanoes, ultimately determining to pursue the “heart” of a nearby volcano—which may involve a mountain protector known as an oread. Arriving on the surface, they stop by the temple first to see what they’re up against.

Back in the library, Celeste is eating popcorn from the “magic bucket” as she watches the film. When the temple comes into view, she suddenly stops eating. Even with a flat screen and several thousands of years between her and the scene she’s witnessing, she feels the power and importance of the temple before her.

Back into the film, Sae points out this temple that suddenly appeared recently is actually older than her own god. Aranwe sends his hawk Ronin to survey the massive, impenetrable structure, but the hawk quickly runs into an invisible barrier so strong it immediately blunts his talons. Indomitus suggests they try the door, to which Ainok steps back ten feet even as he’s agreeing. Ainok claims he’d already been at the door and “nothing happened” other than the door showing him what he needed to open it, but refuses to get any closer despite Indomitus’ attempt to intimidate him.

Citizen Doctor begins praying to her deity, dedicating herself to defending her party members (or “pre-believers” as she calls them) and embarking on a personal quest. Her skin hardens, giving her better endurance, but realizes she can no longer lie in exchange.

Sae examines the architecture and comes to the conclusion the temple is taller than most surface structures, and the existence of the domes crowning it seems strange to her. Puud Een attempts to utilize the site as a place of power to draw out the “unfiltered magic, frenzied and free” that’s one of the required ingredients, but quickly discovers a paradox: the magic she’s seeking would likely be found inside the temple, but if she was already inside the temple she wouldn’t need said magic to get past the door. However, she comes to realize that current beliefs dictate every living creature has a spark of magic that’s released upon death; perhaps a place where death is found in abundance would provide the unfiltered magic being sought. She immediately suggests a mass sacrifice at the site of the temple, which is rebuffed by most of the others. Ainok makes the surprisingly sound suggestion of using a graveyard instead. Indomitus offers his magic weapon, but Puud Een admits she’d likely have to disenchant it. Indomitus isn’t happy with that idea, but also says he doesn’t want to kill anyone, because he’s “done enough killing in his day” and would rather avoid it where he can.

Leaving the idea of unfiltered magic alone for the moment, the group decides to make the two day journey towards the volcano. After setting up camp for the night, a few party members stare into the campfire. For a brief moment they’re suddenly watching themselves from a different angle, almost from above, before being thrust back to themselves and the fire. Upon waking the next morning, Indomitus tries to convince Puud Een to exercise with him but winds up accidentally landing on her instead.

Aranwe sends Ronin to scout the area, and the hawk returns with news of a cave hidden by magma—“possible, but a tight squeeze.” Also, ducks. Ducks from the Plane of Fire that can swim in magma. Who knew? A large plume of ash erupts, and a pair of eyes lurks within as it watches the party approach.

Celeste pauses the film. Two books lie open in front of her: one on Mount Vargola, whose name lived on beyond the passing of the prehistoric adventurers, and a book on unusual sites such as temples and theaters from the era that survived—but can’t find anything on the temple in question. She’s distracted by the cawing of a raven within the library, who stares at her briefly before flying off.

Coming back to the group, they find the cave behind the magma waterfall Ronin discovered. Aranwe shares with the others that the pair of eyes was likely the oread watching them. While the others slip through, Indomitus decides to pull a metal umbrella from the bag of holding to “protect” himself. The magma only slightly sets him on fire as he follows the others into the cave.

The group traverses through the maze of tunnels. Sae asks Rian for guidance, and they’re led to a small chamber with one of the fire ducks Ronin had seen. Puud Een decides to hold a staring contest with it, but it lets her win, holding itself to standard above such things. Aranwe asks it to lead them to the center of the volcano, but it demands bread in exchange. He offers it his rations, which it devours in a blast of flames before agreeing to guide them.

The duck takes them to a large chamber with a glowing pillar in the center. Behind it, the oread emerges from the dark stone. He demands to know who the group is. Aranwe tries to claim the fire duck is a friend, but the duck denies it and quacks its way out of the chamber. Indomitus informs the oread they seek a boon, to which he inquires the nature of their request.

Puud Een identifies herself as a divination wizard and warns of the portents she has seen. The oread dismisses her claims, saying the mountain will survive as always. Sae points out the events *after* the destruction would suggest otherwise—that oblivion will overtake everything, and literally nothing is going to survive. The oread counters if the heart of the volcano isn’t properly cared for, it could spell oblivion for the mountain regardless.

He asks what assurances the group has to prove they won’t end the world themselves. Puud Een shows him the contract they signed laying out the requirements for opening the temple. Indomitus asks him how he keeps the heart safe, to which the oread responds passionately as the chamber begins to shake and the pillar burns even brighter. Indomitus suddenly feels freezing cold for a moment, and realizes the heart may have actually stolen heat from his own body in its passion.

At the end of the oread’s speech, a column of lava erupts from the center of the room. He again asks the group what they can offer him for the heart. Indomitus tells him they can offer passion themselves, strengthening it, but the oread dismisses the claim as mere words and asks if they know the value of a heart.

Aranwe observes the pillar may offer something useful to them as the oread continues explaining the heart already knows what it needs for happiness long before the head does. He knows the group’s concern is genuine, and acknowledges the mountain’s time may be coming.

Puud Een begins searching the bag of holding for something that burns for a very long time. Indomitus decides to try stalling for time, but the oread grows weary of speaking and another column of lava shoots upward. He asks the centaur if he believes the group’s quest is correct, to which Indomitus says it is. The oread tells him to prove it—but before he can explain how, Indomitus takes it as an invitation for battle and attacks him, followed closely by Citizen Merhermbler. A column of lava explodes outward, burning the party as the oread acknowledges they’ve chosen violence and responds in kind. Indomitus tries to knock the heart out of the pillar, but his shield is covered in liquid magma. The oread tries to tell him to prove his commitment without weapons, but the fighter hurls his weapon into the creature mid-sentence, stating the group will “take him out” to accomplish their mission. The oread counters he’s not the one they have to prove themselves to.

The battle continues, the oread continuing to defend his territory and trying to break through to Indomitus. Caught in the heat of battle, the fighter and paladin still relentlessly attack their opponent as Puud Een continues frantically searching the bag of holding. Indomitus uses the magic in his weapon to try making the oread trust them, but gets the impression the oread already had some element of trust in the group before the fighting began—it just needed one thing.

Aranwe leaves the chamber, choosing not to fight a creature of nature and exiting into the tunnel where Ainok waits. Sae, torn by a desire to keep the party alive but against attacking a foe that wished to offer an alternative, heals Indomitus while turning back to follow after Aranwe.

Indomitus and Citizen Merhermbler are eventually victorious, and the oread explodes, melting into a black, viscous puddle. Puud Een manages to pull a rune-inscribed branch from the bag and sets it in front of the pillar, but nothing happens. She drops the branch into the pillar directly and sets the wood ablaze, but there’s still no response. Indomitus thrusts his weapon through the pillar and sets it on fire as well, but again, nothing. Puud Een then conjures an unseen servant and has it charge the pillar, to which it is also set on fire and promptly pops out of existence. Aranwe takes a moment to observe the area around him before rejoining the party, and comes to the realization the mountain and heart witnessed the party attack the oread.

Puud Een finally places her hand into the pillar, retrieving the bright obsidian heart of the volcano, her arm surprisingly not nearly as burned as it would normally be in such circumstances. The group tries to regain their composure, to varying success, and they leave the mountain as they begin to argue.

Fractures appear in the party’s cohesion as Aranwe and Sae adamantly oppose the aggressive tactics of the centaur general, who insists he did what had to be done. Regardless, Indomitus declares the next time the party runs into trouble, he won’t raise a hand towards violence—even in defense. In the meantime, Citizen Merhermbler takes a moment to commune with her deity, claiming everything she did in the volcano was in their name, and asking if they’re proud of her. After a tense moment of silence, a singular word comes back to her: “No.”

The film comes to an end. Celeste finds some information on Mount Vargola: all sources indicate it’s been dormant since the beginning of recorded history. Closing the book, she reflects on the viewpoints of the different adventurers during the battle. The raven that had found its way into the library flies off, its intended destination—and purpose—unknown.

System Agnostic/Episode 1.3: Ainok's Quest

2022-09-04T03:17:14Z

Sae: Created page with "The story picks up once again with the librarian Celeste, tracking down anything she can find regarding the adventuring party from the era when the planet was still spherical...."

The story picks up once again with the librarian Celeste, tracking down anything she can find regarding the adventuring party from the era when the planet was still spherical. She comes across a pile of artifacts, including a bucket. Having witnessed its questionable magical properties in the last film, she turns it over to discover yet another reel.

The camera returns to the adventurers, who pick up some rations for their journey before deciding where to travel first. They pool their knowledge of volcanoes, ultimately determining to pursue the “heart” of a nearby volcano—which may involve a mountain protector known as an oread. Arriving on the surface, they stop by the temple first to see what they’re up against.

Back in the library, Celeste is eating popcorn from the “magic bucket” as she watches the film. When the temple comes into view, she suddenly stops eating. Even with a flat screen and several thousands of years between her and the scene she’s witnessing, she feels the power and importance of the temple before her.

Back into the film, Sae points out this temple that suddenly appeared recently is actually older than her own god. Aranwe sends his hawk Ronin to survey the massive, impenetrable structure, but the hawk quickly runs into an invisible barrier so strong it immediately blunts his talons. Indomitus suggests they try the door, to which Ainok steps back ten feet even as he’s agreeing. Ainok claims he’d already been at the door and “nothing happened” other than the door showing him what he needed to open it, but refuses to get any closer despite Indomitus’ attempt to intimidate him.

Citizen Doctor begins praying to her deity, dedicating herself to defending her party members (or “pre-believers” as she calls them) and embarking on a personal quest. Her skin hardens, giving her better endurance, but realizes she can no longer lie in exchange.

Sae examines the architecture and comes to the conclusion the temple is taller than most surface structures, and the existence of the domes crowning it seems strange to her. Puud Een attempts to utilize the site as a place of power to draw out the “unfiltered magic, frenzied and free” that’s one of the required ingredients, but quickly discovers a paradox: the magic she’s seeking would likely be found inside the temple, but if she was already inside the temple she wouldn’t need said magic to get past the door. However, she comes to realize that current beliefs dictate every living creature has a spark of magic that’s released upon death; perhaps a place where death is found in abundance would provide the unfiltered magic being sought. She immediately suggests a mass sacrifice at the site of the temple, which is rebuffed by most of the others. Ainok makes the surprisingly sound suggestion of using a graveyard instead. Indomitus offers his magic weapon, but Puud Een admits she’d likely have to disenchant it. Indomitus isn’t happy with that idea, but also says he doesn’t want to kill anyone, because he’s “done enough killing in his day” and would rather avoid it where he can.

Leaving the idea of unfiltered magic alone for the moment, the group decides to make the two day journey towards the volcano. After setting up camp for the night, a few party members stare into the campfire. For a brief moment they’re suddenly watching themselves from a different angle, almost from above, before being thrust back to themselves and the fire. Upon waking the next morning, Indomitus tries to convince Puud Een to exercise with him but winds up accidentally landing on her instead.

Aranwe sends Ronin to scout the area, and the hawk returns with news of a cave hidden by magma—“possible, but a tight squeeze.” Also, ducks. Ducks from the Plane of Fire that can swim in magma. Who knew? A large plume of ash erupts, and a pair of eyes lurks within as it watches the party approach.

Celeste pauses the film. Two books lie open in front of her: one on Mount Vargola, whose name lived on beyond the passing of the prehistoric adventurers, and a book on unusual sites such as temples and theaters from the era that survived—but can’t find anything on the temple in question. She’s distracted by the cawing of a raven within the library, who stares at her briefly before flying off.

Coming back to the group, they find the cave behind the magma waterfall Ronin discovered. Aranwe shares with the others that the pair of eyes was likely the oread watching them. While the others slip through, Indomitus decides to pull a metal umbrella from the bag of holding to “protect” himself. The magma only slightly sets him on fire as he follows the others into the cave.

The group traverses through the maze of tunnels. Sae asks Rian for guidance, and they’re led to a small chamber with one of the fire ducks Ronin had seen. Puud Een decides to hold a staring contest with it, but it lets her win, holding itself to standard above such things. Aranwe asks it to lead them to the center of the volcano, but it demands bread in exchange. He offers it his rations, which it devours in a blast of flames before agreeing to guide them.

The duck takes them to a large chamber with a glowing pillar in the center. Behind it, the oread emerges from the dark stone. He demands to know who the group is. Aranwe tries to claim the fire duck is a friend, but the duck denies it and quacks its way out of the chamber. Indomitus informs the oread they seek a boon, to which he inquires the nature of their request.

Puud Een identifies herself as a divination wizard and warns of the portents she has seen. The oread dismisses her claims, saying the mountain will survive as always. Sae points out the events *after* the destruction would suggest otherwise—that oblivion will overtake everything, and literally nothing is going to survive. The oread counters if the heart of the volcano isn’t properly cared for, it could spell oblivion for the mountain regardless.

He asks what assurances the group has to prove they won’t end the world themselves. Puud Een shows him the contract they signed laying out the requirements for opening the temple. Indomitus asks him how he keeps the heart safe, to which the oread responds passionately as the chamber begins to shake and the pillar burns even brighter. Indomitus suddenly feels freezing cold for a moment, and realizes the heart may have actually stolen heat from his own body in its passion.

At the end of the oread’s speech, a column of lava erupts from the center of the room. He again asks the group what they can offer him for the heart. Indomitus tells him they can offer passion themselves, strengthening it, but the oread dismisses the claim as mere words and asks if they know the value of a heart.

Aranwe observes the pillar may offer something useful to them as the oread continues explaining the heart already knows what it needs for happiness long before the head does. He knows the group’s concern is genuine, and acknowledges the mountain’s time may be coming.

Puud Even begins searching the bag of holding for something that burns for a very long time. Indomitus decides to try stalling for time, but the oread grows weary of speaking and another column of lava shoots upward. He asks the centaur if he believes the group’s quest is correct, to which Indomitus says it is. The oread tells him to prove it—but before he can explain how, Indomitus takes it as an invitation for battle and attacks him, followed closely by Citizen Merhermbler. A column of lava explodes outward, burning the party as the oread acknowledges they’ve chosen violence and responds in kind. Indomitus tries to knock the heart out of the pillar, but his shield is covered in liquid magma. The oread tries to tell him to prove his commitment without weapons, but the fighter hurls his weapon into the creature mid-sentence, stating the group will “take him out” to accomplish their mission. The oread counters he’s not the one they have to prove themselves to.

The battle continues, the oread continuing to defend his territory and trying to break through to Indomitus. Caught in the heat of battle, the fighter and paladin still relentlessly attack their opponent as Puud Een continues frantically searching the bag of holding. Indomitus uses the magic in his weapon to try making the oread trust them, but gets the impression the oread already had some element of trust in the group before the fighting began—it just needed one thing.

Aranwe leaves the chamber, choosing not to fight a creature of nature and exiting into the tunnel where Ainok waits. Sae, torn by a desire to keep the party alive but against attacking a foe that wished to offer an alternative, heals Indomitus while turning back to follow after Aranwe.

Indomitus and Citizen Merhermbler are eventually victorious, and the oread explodes, melting into a black, viscous puddle. Puud Een manages to pull a rune-inscribed branch from the bag and sets it in front of the pillar, but nothing happens. She drops the branch into the pillar directly and sets the wood ablaze, but there’s still no response. Indomitus thrusts his weapon through the pillar and sets it on fire as well, but again, nothing. Puud Een then conjures an unseen servant and has it charge the pillar, to which it is also set on fire and promptly pops out of existence. Aranwe takes a moment to observe the area around him before rejoining the party, and comes to the realization the mountain and heart witnessed the party attack the oread.

Puud Even finally places her hand into the pillar, retrieving the bright obsidian heart of the volcano, her arm surprisingly not nearly as burned as it would normally be in such circumstances. The group tries to regain their composure, to varying success, and they leave the mountain as they begin to argue.

Fractures appear in the party’s cohesion as Aranwe and Sae adamantly oppose the aggressive tactics of the centaur general, who insists he did what had to be done. Regardless, Indomitus declares the next time the party runs into trouble, he won’t raise a hand towards violence—even in defense. In the meantime, Citizen Merhermbler takes a moment to commune with her deity, claiming everything she did in the volcano was in their name, and asking if they’re proud of her. After a tense moment of silence, a singular word comes back to her: “No.”

The film comes to an end. Celeste finds some information on Mount Vargola: all sources indicate it’s been dormant since the beginning of recorded history. Closing the book, she reflects on the viewpoints of the different adventurers during the battle. The raven that had found its way into the library flies off, its intended destination—and purpose—unknown.

System Agnostic/Episode 1.2: Inns and Outrys

2022-09-04T03:12:07Z

Sae: More spelling corrections

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Episode Two: Inns and Outrys}}

The story opens once again on the librarian Celeste, poring over remnants of evidence from the small group of adventurers who lived long ago. Books litter the table, pertaining to deities presumed to have existed in post-Giving prehistoric times. Scouring the shelves Celeste uncovers another film, and a yellowed parchment bearing Puud Een’s signature. It’s a warning to her friend Vulpin Winterbreeze about a “massive power” blocking her arcane vision, trying to obscure the truth.

As Celeste turns on the second film, the camera zooms back in on Aranwe, Indomitus, Citizen Doctor Eloise Merhermbler, Puud Een, and Sae Kelven. Picking up from the rescue mission in the previous chapter, they return to the town Outrys and successfully deliver the Rakshasa Youngling back to his father Syth. Overcome with emotion, Syth hugs his son as they reunite, calming the child’s fears that his father would “tan his hide” upon his return. Syth offers the group free lodging at his inn to rest and heal, with the promise of payment for a job well done when they convene for breakfast. They each retire to their respective rooms, the constant litany of Citizen Merhermbler’s “HALALALALALA” echoing down the hallway for several hours.

Upon waking later, Indomitus begins his usual training. Aranwe and Puud Een head outside to take in the surroundings. A slow, rhythmic pulsing of the lichen throughout the cavern catches their attention, and their breathing syncs up with each other, Indomitus, and the lichen in perfect harmony. Aranwe notices the lichen’s colors briefly shift into something much harsher and unnatural before snapping back to its usual softer glow. He admits to Puud Een he had witnessed the medusa from their previous encounter briefly shift and display almost Elven features, but with rounded ears. They commiserate about life underground before the lichen stops pulsating and the Rakshasa briefly forgets to continue breathing on her own.

The group gathers for breakfast and their payment, after which a overly cheerful Wood Elf with bright red hair arrives. Known as Ainok, he’s worked with the party before and led them into dangerous territory enough times (although he swears he didn’t know the flesh-eating mushroom was alive at the time) that his arrival immediately puts them on guard. This time, he bears yet another job for them: escort him to a mysterious temple, find a way to bypass the temple door, and protect him once they’re within. No one is interested until he mentions an important fact—the temple is above ground.

Several members of the party negotiate the fee for the mission, then dismiss Ainok to discuss whether or not to take it. Puud Een scries via a water-filled bucket, where she’s struck with a startling vision: the fiery destruction of the entire world, both above and below its crust, followed by utter oblivion. The temple then appears in her vision, a possible hint that it may be the key to preventing this future. She shares the ill tidings with the party before curling up beside the fireplace for a nap.

While the others contemplate this, Indomitus becomes convinced the bucket is magic and pays the surprised Syth five gold for it. They step outside to go shopping, but are met by Ainok who was “innocently” leaning against a nearby wall as he eavesdropped on the group’s post-bucket conversation. He rolls out a contract written on a scroll, to the shock and suspicion of the group; they had never needed a contract working with him before, so why now? Sae notices Ainok is far too adamant about how the temple “has always been there” for that to be true, and for the briefest moment something about his ears seems strange. She gets him to admit the temple did seemingly appear out of thin air one day.

After much arguing over the terms and payment (Puud Een and Indomitus adding a couple of clauses to the contract themselves) the group reluctantly each sign the scroll. Sae connects to her god for some advice beforehand, and Rian tells her it’s true the temple hasn’t always been where it stands now, yet the temple itself is “older than even he is.”

Once the contract is signed, Ainok seals it with wax, and magic shimmers across it. He then reminds everyone it’s binding before listing the four “simple” things needed to actually open the temple door: the heart of an active and angry volcano, unfiltered magic, the blessing of a god, and the moon. (The bright one, not the normal one.)

Trying to ignore the enormity of the task they just embarked upon, the group separates to prepare for the trip to the temple. Puud Een and Sae visit the Halfling potion seller Josephina and purchase a number of healing potions and poultices, while Indomitus and Aranwe head to Vilya and Squawk’s for weaponry. The fighter purchases an otherworldly glaive from the goblin Squawk—and saves the proprietor from his own bag of holding before purchasing that as well.

Aranwe is taken to the back room, which leads to a very large cave holding a tree, an unusual sight underground. The dryad Vilya steps forward to greet him, and asks if he’s seeking a temple. She reveals a “beautiful creature” akin to a goddess had promised they would help keep her tree alive, but told her when an Elf seeking a temple arrived, it meant her time was near. When he confirms he’s seeking a temple, she sells him arrows crafted from her tree to prepare for the journey. Aranwe asks how he can help preserve the tree, concerned about causing the end of things—even indirectly. Vilya assures him she’s not trying to escape her fate, she merely wants to be remembered. She weaves a flower into his hair, and asks him to plant it elsewhere when his journey is complete.

The film comes to an end on the library projector, and Celeste contemplates what she’s witnessed. She collects her notes on each party member, secretly hoping they succeeded in their mission, as she heads off to find the next chapter within the annals of the library.

[[Category:System Agnostic]]

System Agnostic/Episode 1.2: Inns and Outrys

2022-08-31T15:06:51Z

Sae: spelling/continuity

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Episode Two: Inns and Outrys}}

The story opens once again on the librarian Celeste, poring over remnants of evidence from the small group of adventurers who lived long ago. Books litter the table, pertaining to deities presumed to have existed in post-Giving prehistoric times. Scouring the shelves Celeste uncovers another film, and a yellowed parchment bearing Puud Een’s signature. It’s a warning to her friend Vulpin Winterbreeze about a “massive power” blocking her arcane vision, trying to obscure the truth.

As Celeste turns on the second film, the camera zooms back in on Aranwe, Indomitus, Citizen Doctor Eloise Merhermbler, Puud Een, and Sae Kelven. Picking up from the rescue mission in the previous chapter, they return to the town Outrys and successfully deliver the Rakshasa Youngling back to his father Syth. Overcome with emotion, Syth hugs his son as they reunite, calming the child’s fears that his father would “tan his hide” upon his return. Syth offers the group free lodging at his inn to rest and heal, with the promise of payment for a job well done when they convene for breakfast. They each retire to their respective rooms, the constant litany of Citizen Merhermbler’s “HALALALALALA” echoing down the hallway for several hours.

Upon waking later, Indomitus begins his usual training. Aranwe and Puud Een head outside to take in the surroundings. A slow, rhythmic pulsing of the lichen throughout the cavern catches their attention, and their breathing syncs up with each other, Indomitus, and the lichen in perfect harmony. Aranwe notices the lichen’s colors briefly shift into something much harsher and unnatural before snapping back to its usual softer glow. He admits to Puud Een he had witnessed the medusa from their previous encounter briefly shift and display almost Elven features, but with rounded ears. They commiserate about life underground before the lichen stops pulsating and the Rakshasa briefly forgets to continue breathing on her own.

The group gathers for breakfast and their payment, after which a overly cheerful Wood Elf with bright red hair arrives. Known as Ainoch, he’s worked with the party before and led them into dangerous territory enough times (although he swears he didn’t know the flesh-eating mushroom was alive at the time) that his arrival immediately puts them on guard. This time, he bears yet another job for them: escort him to a mysterious temple, find a way to bypass the temple door, and protect him once they’re within. No one is interested until he mentions an important fact—the temple is above ground.

Several members of the party negotiate the fee for the mission, then dismiss Ainoch to discuss whether or not to take it. Puud Een scries via a water-filled bucket, where she’s struck with a startling vision: the fiery destruction of the entire world, both above and below its crust, followed by utter oblivion. The temple then appears in her vision, a possible hint that it may be the key to preventing this future. She shares the ill tidings with the party before curling up beside the fireplace for a nap.

While the others contemplate this, Indomitus becomes convinced the bucket is magic and pays the surprised Syth five gold for it. They step outside to go shopping, but are met by Ainoch who was “innocently” leaning against a nearby wall as he eavesdropped on the group’s post-bucket conversation. He rolls out a contract written on a scroll, to the shock and suspicion of the group; they had never needed a contract working with him before, so why now? Sae notices Ainoch is far too adamant about how the temple “has always been there” for that to be true, and for the briefest moment something about his ears seems strange. She gets him to admit the temple did seemingly appear out of thin air one day.

After much arguing over the terms and payment (Puud Een and Indomitus adding a couple of clauses to the contract themselves) the group reluctantly each sign the scroll. Sae connects to her god for some advice beforehand, and Rian tells her it’s true the temple hasn’t always been where it stands now, yet the temple itself is “older than even he is.”

Once the contract is signed, Ainoch seals it with wax, and magic shimmers across it. He then reminds everyone it’s binding before listing the four “simple” things needed to actually open the temple door: the heart of an active and angry volcano, unfiltered magic, the blessing of a god, and the moon. (The bright one, not the normal one.)

Trying to ignore the enormity of the task they just embarked upon, the group separates to prepare for the trip to the temple. Puud Een and Sae visit the Halfling potion seller Josephina and purchase a number of healing potions and poultices, while Indomitus and Aranwe head to Vilya and Squawk’s for weaponry. The fighter purchases an otherworldly glaive from the goblin Squawk—and saves the proprietor from his own bag of holding before purchasing that as well.

Aranwe is taken to the back room, which leads to a very large cave holding a tree, an unusual sight underground. The dryad Vilya steps forward to greet him, and asks if he’s seeking a temple. She reveals a “beautiful creature” akin to a goddess had promised they would help keep her tree alive, but told her when an Elf seeking a temple arrived, it meant her time was near. When he confirms he’s seeking a temple, she sells him arrows crafted from her tree to prepare for the journey. Aranwe asks how he can help preserve the tree, concerned about causing the end of things—even indirectly. Vilya assures him she’s not trying to escape her fate, she merely wants to be remembered. She weaves a flower into his hair, and asks him to plant it elsewhere when his journey is complete.

The film comes to an end on the library projector, and Celeste contemplates what she’s witnessed. She collects her notes on each party member, secretly hoping they succeeded in their mission, as she heads off to find the next chapter within the annals of the library.

[[Category:System Agnostic]]

Sae Kelven

2022-08-30T01:25:27Z

Sae: Hey, Sae's on the internet!

[[File:Sae-kelven.jpg|thumb]]
Sae Kelven is a half-Djinn, half-Triton cleric of Rian.

== '''Appearance''' ==
Sae stands just shy of five and a half feet, with dark teal hair that sweeps past her shoulders. Sometimes she’ll put it up with a hair accessory but it’s usually loose.

She has turquoise eyes that seem *just* a bit too large for her face, and whenever she stands under a light source you can swear you see more scales than skin.

She normally wears practical traveling robes in varying shades of green under her armor, and the armor itself bears a small embossed symbol of a conch-like sea shell with water flowing from it. The staff she carries also has various shells from her home affixed to the top with small vines, and she seems to bear some sentimentality towards it.

== History ==
A relative newcomer to the continent, she comes from a small settlement several meters under the ocean. There she and a secluded Triton community served Rian, their god of renewal.

Struck with curiosity, wanderlust and even a bit of mischief as a child, she had trouble understanding the reclusive nature of her fellow ocean dwellers, who were mistrustful of the “air breathers” that happened to find their way into the mercurial waters by happenstance, greed, or simple bad luck. Whereas the other Triton did their best to stay hidden from the eyes of the outside world, Sae made her way to the surface often, helping those who seemed lost or in danger of drowning. Rian took notice of this and, upon the passing of the previous Cleric, chose her to represent him to the rest of the world.

On Rian’s blessing, and that of her parents, she chose to finally approach the land dwellers on their own turf and spread the word of Rian’s compassion to other races. Making her way inward on the continent via secret tunnels and an extensive network of caves—her mother’s Djinn heritage helping ease the transition from ocean life—Sae almost immediately fell in with a somewhat strange-looking, yet oddly compelling crew of likeminded adventurers. Well, alike in purpose save for a strange little Kender who seems intent on leading her away from Rian’s embrace. This is truly not what she expected of her journey, but honestly, she wouldn’t have it any other way.

== Abilities ==
Her talents lie primarily in healing, occasionally asking Rian to bless a fellow party member or asking for guidance. So far she’s had no cause to explore her other abilities.

File:Sae-kelven.jpg

2022-08-30T01:10:24Z

Sae:

Sae Kelven

System Agnostic/Episode 1.2: Inns and Outrys

2022-08-30T01:04:34Z

Sae: Added a summary of the second session. [And maybe screwed up the spelling of some names, who knows? 'Tis a mystery for the ages.]

The story opens once again on the librarian Celeste, poring over remnants of evidence from the small group of adventurers who lived long ago. Books litter the table, pertaining to deities presumed to have existed in post-Giving prehistoric times. Scouring the shelves Celeste uncovers another film, and a yellowed parchment bearing Puud Een’s signature. It’s a warning to her friend Vulpin Winterbreeze about a “massive power” blocking her arcane vision, trying to obscure the truth.

As Celeste turns on the second film, the camera zooms back in on Aranwe, Indomitus, Citizen Doctor Eloise Merhermbler, Puud Een, and Sae Kelven. Picking up from the rescue mission in the previous chapter, they return to the town Outrys and successfully deliver the Rakshasa Youngling back to his father Syth. Overcome with emotion, Syth hugs his son as they reunite, calming the child’s fears that his father would “tan his hide” upon his return. Syth offers the group free lodging at his inn for the evening, with the promise of payment for a job well done in the morning. They each retire to their respective rooms, the constant litany of Citizen Merhermbler’s “HALALALALALA” echoing down the hallway for several hours.

Upon waking later, Indomitus begins his usual training. Aranwe and Puud Een head outside to take in the surroundings. A slow, rhythmic pulsing of the lichen throughout the cavern catches their attention, and their breathing syncs up with each other, Indomitus, and the lichen in perfect harmony. Aranwe notices the lichen’s colors briefly shift into something much harsher and unnatural before snapping back to its usual softer glow. He admits to Puud Een he had witnessed the medusa from their previous encounter briefly shift and display almost Elven features, but with rounded ears. They commiserate about life underground before the lichen stops pulsating and the Rakshasa briefly forgets to continue breathing on her own.

The group gathers for breakfast and their payment, after which a overly cheerful Wood Elf with bright red hair arrives. Known as Ainoch, he’s worked with the party before and led them into dangerous territory enough times (although he swears he didn’t know the flesh-eating mushroom was alive at the time) that his arrival immediately puts them on guard. This time, he bears yet another job for them: escort him to a mysterious temple, find a way to bypass the temple door, and protect him once they’re within. No one is interested until he mentions an important fact—the temple is above ground.

Several members of the party negotiate the fee for the mission, then dismiss Ainoch to discuss whether or not to take it. Puud Een scries via a water-filled bucket, where she’s struck with a startling vision: the fiery destruction of the entire world, both above and below its crust, followed by utter oblivion. The temple then appears in her vision, a possible hint that it may be the key to preventing this future. She shares the ill tidings with the party before curling up beside the fireplace for a nap.

While the others contemplate this, Indomitus becomes convinced the bucket is magic and pays the surprised Syth five gold for it. They step outside to go shopping, but are met by Ainoch who was “innocently” leaning against a nearby wall as he eavesdropped on the group’s post-bucket conversation. He rolls out a contract written on a scroll, to the shock and suspicion of the group; they had never needed a contract working with him before, so why now? Sae notices Ainoch is far too adamant about how the temple “has always been there” for that to be true, and for the briefest moment something about his ears seems strange. She gets him to admit the temple did seemingly appear out of thin air one day.

After much arguing over the terms and payment (Puud Een and Indomitus adding a couple of clauses to the contract themselves) the group reluctantly each sign the scroll. Sae connects to her god for some advice beforehand, and Rian tells her it’s true the temple hasn’t always been where it stands now, yet the temple itself is “older than even he is.”

Once the contract is signed, Ainoch seals it with wax, and magic shimmers across it. He then reminds everyone it’s binding before listing the four “simple” things needed to actually open the temple door: the heart of an active and angry volcano, unfiltered magic, the blessing of a god, and the moon. (The bright one, not the normal one.)

Trying to ignore the enormity of the task they just embarked upon, the group separates to prepare for the trip to the temple. Puud Een and Sae visit the Halfling potion seller Josephina and purchase a number of healing potions and poultices, while Indomitus and Aranwe head to Vilya and Squawk’s for weaponry. The fighter purchases an otherworldly glaive from the goblin Squawk—and saves the proprietor from his own bag of holding before purchasing that as well.

Aranwe is taken to the back room, which leads to a very large cave holding a tree, an unusual sight underground. The dryad Vilya steps forward to greet him, and asks if he’s seeking a temple. She reveals a “beautiful creature” akin to a goddess had promised they would help keep her tree alive, but told her when an Elf seeking a temple arrived, it meant her time was near. When he confirms he’s seeking a temple, she sells him arrows crafted from her tree to prepare for the journey. Aranwe asks how he can help preserve the tree, concerned about causing the end of things—even indirectly. Vilya assures him she’s not trying to escape her fate, she merely wants to be remembered. She weaves a flower into his hair, and asks him to plant it elsewhere when his journey is complete.

The film comes to an end on the library projector, and Celeste contemplates what she’s witnessed. She collects her notes on each party member, secretly hoping they succeeded in their mission, as she heads off to find the next chapter within the annals of the library.

System Agnostic/Episode 1.1: The Beginning

2022-08-25T01:20:22Z

Sae: Created the page

The story’s first chapter actually opens long after it ended, in a library centuries in the future, after the world of Quelmar was no longer a sphere. (And yes, at one time it ''was'' a sphere.) The librarian Celeste is viewing a film from a supposed time traveler.

The film zeroes in on a remarkably round world before zooming further in on the continent of Panglhea, then even further underground to a small group of adventurers: the Rakshasa Wizard Puud Een, the Centaur Fighter Indomitus, the Elven Ranger Aranwe, the Kender Paladin Citizen Doctor Eloise Merhermbler, and the half-Triton Genasi Cleric Sae Kelven.

The group is exploring a dark, recently abandoned amphitheater covered in glowing "spotlight" mushrooms, in search of a young Rakshasa child from the neighboring town Outrys who got lost within is vast tunnels. Aranwe discovers tracks that suggest the child—and the group—has company. Sae prays to her deity for guidance to determine where this new presence is located, and is rewarded with a trail of water that points them all down a set of stairs…before the water crashes to the ground, earning a growl from the darkness beyond.

The group makes their way towards the sound at various speeds, Indomitus and Citizen Merhermbler in the lead. Puud Een briefs the party as to ''why'' the amphitheater was abandoned: a hungry creature has moved in and now lurks in its depths.

They discover the Rakshasa, Youngling, trying to hide by climbing a stalagmite. Youngling describes two creatures residing in the chambers: one, a large crystalline dog-like creature from the Elemental Plane of Earth (which Aranwe recognizes as an Argon,) and another “it” that’s much smaller and makes a hissing sound.

Before the conversation ends, the Argon arrives, aggressive and angry at the group’s intrusion. Citizen Merhermbler immediately tells Indomitus to throw her at the creature, and attacks. In the ensuing battle Sae breaks her staff, but everyone manages to prevail against the Argon.

As the group tries to recover, the other “it” arrives: a Medusa who identifies themselves as Murrakh and is ''very'' irate the others have killed their guard dog. Youngling covers his eyes, leading the others to follow suit as they converse with Murrakh. Citizen Merhermbler “quietly” stage-whispers to her deity asking if they want her to slay the Medusa, but doesn’t receive an answer. Indomitus considers collapsing the tunnel, but realizes it would trap and possibly kill the party.

After tense words (and not-so-small threats from Indomitus) Puud Een enters negotiation with Murrakh, and the Medusa demands all members of the party look them in the eye directly and swear to leave, collapsing the tunnel behind them to prevent further intrusion. They agree, some of them reluctantly, and Indomitus still won’t meet their eyes.

As the group makes their way to the exit, an argument breaks out over precisely which tunnel to collapse and whether or not to keep their word to the Medusa. Ultimately they agree to keep their promise, taking one last trip around the amphitheater beforehand, and Aranwe notices the Medusa watching them from a short distance. Indomitus cuts off a hefty piece from one of the glowing mushrooms and hands it to Youngling, who nearly falls over from its size. Meanwhile Citizen Merhermbler tries to convert the less than enthusiastic Sae to her god via a ritualistic dance and a cry of “HALALALALALALALALALALALALA”.

The group exits the amphitheater, Indomitus bringing down the tunnel in a cacophonous crash as they leave. The rocks fall, but surprisingly, no one dies.

The film ends, leaving the confused Celeste looking on. Several notes surround her, most prominently a note with the names of all five prehistoric figures written down—or at least, four names and several attempts at spelling Citizen Doctor Eloise Merhermbler.