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| Runtime |
Break start |
| 4h 0m |
2h 17m |
Episode 18: Vindicta & Vale
Last we left our Seekers, you had traveled far from Castle Torch down the Tiria Via into the desert of the Endless Night (in the ruins of the fallen Obridimian Empire, a sorcerous realm of powerful human dynasties that had fallen some 70 years ago as the House of Obridai (with their two priestly houses of Tachonis and Halovar stood to defend Tansul, god of the sun whose ruin is now smote over the vast region of never ending night and shifting sand)).
Arriving at Tannesar (a holy site dedicated to a posthumous promise predicted by Tansul, god of the sun and Shaper of humankind), that should he be slain by his brother, Azgra (which did not come to pass, actually they died on the same side of a war against mortal beings) that his priestly houses would have the ability to create a celestial to wreak terror and ruin (presumably on those that would've struck him down, being Azgra and the forces of Kahad and his realm).
We see here in this space, when you arrive, ancient celestial writings here having to do with the creation of what notes that you discovered predicted as the Deva Vindicta (a creature that would've been able to strike from beyond, one last blow struck by the god of the sun against his enemies). And it was here in the dark that you saw the fleshless bodies, the skeletal remains of Barrowguard, Tachonis, and robed figures in the bearing of spellcasters almost (those not heavily armored and not heavily armed) and the other bodies seem to have been affected by spell attack.
Outside of Tannesar, a moment of magical wonder, essentially as the Stone of Nightsong lifted aloft from Thaisha's hand back to Vaelus as the bodies (filled in their skeletal remains with nightingales) flooded into Thaisha's body back into you) and you attuned to the Stone of Nightsong, gaining, amongst several other powers, the ability to cast Speak with Dead.
Entering into Tannesar and the original excavation site, you found tents and missives and equipment. You found a glowing crystal buried into the stone with which it seemed that the Tachonis had helped to facilitate some great working of magic here (a slight necromantic power extending over the land) why the bodies had decomposed in the span of a day or two like they had been here for years.
On lighting your lights, a giant scorpion, Saharkis, the pet of your cousin Tertia. And the skeletal remains animated around you, defending Tannesar. Repelling the skeletons as quickly as possible, and emerging victorious, you also watched (on a nat 20) Occtis shattered the crystal with a Fire Bolt, undoing some spell of his sorcerous House.
Thaisha and Julien collecting the remains and preparing to honor them and inter them, you also found the remains of Pascard Velmonte (a figure who we have not met in the campaign, but) who, immediately prior to the beginning of our story, Thaisha and Occtis had gone to Venatus to retrieve the coffin of Olbalad from.
In the tents, you discovered a tremendous amount of documentation. Occtis, you found internal maps of what had been excavated in Tannesar so far, lying in three separate directions. There was a interior barracks where the Tachonis were keeping privately to themselves. There is a chamber that they referred to as the Apotheotic Obelisk. You also found that there was a chamber behind the Hall of Guardian Demons referred to as the Apotheotic Vindicta (which appears to also lead to something called the Sepulchral Veil). Vaelus also found tons of correspondence in a more military tent that made reference to Tachonis forces stationed outside the Golden Orchard that could not be stationed there for long. A question from Primus Tachonis, if the sacrifice needed to occur within Tannesar, if the Obelisk still stood. I believe you also found a question about the Halovars having some innate resistance to 'the procedure'. You discovered the terms Ossement and Calcidion. You also discovered in that litmus about the Orchard, "We can't chance the Sea Door closing." We also found notes about Tertia being a similar failed experiment that "...her own innate connection to the Tenebral Reaches may have thwarted the grafting of the calcidial prosthesis. I shall miss her dearly."
Additionally we ended our last session with the casting of Speak with Dead on the remains of Pascard Velmonte. He looked at you, unrecognizing, wondering if you were some spirit come to guide him to the other side. And then you asked him what happened here, he said,
"In a word, chaos."
And it is to chaos that we return. Vaelus, you stand here in the antechamber of Tannesar. The other three of you basically are watching Vaelus interact with the remains of Pascard Velmonte.
Ultragramps
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