- Resume in the battle with the glabrezu
- Aurelia thinks the best option is to bring him to a Priest(ess) of torm
- Lily cast Darkness and it was a lil chaotic
- Tzon is dragged through the portal. its a long long hallway with no roof. He does some sick w
all jumps and shit to the point that gravity is reversed and he can come back through the portal
- Skraps and Cass go down. Cass gets some kind of vision with a fem voice and a masc voice
- We defeat the baddies but the portal stays up
- Gideon holds the line as we go up to the priestess of tomr we know (Faeria)
- We help her prepare the ritual of returning. Aurelia does the prayer to cleanse the desecrated altar of torm. I offer Travick's ashes as a symbol of courage and self-sacrifice
- Faeria tells us to be ready to step in to help if something goes wrong
Pherria continues setting up for the ritual. One of the basins of holy water is filled with crabs. Lily stands to the side looking skeptical and asks, "What are we supposed to do to help?" Pherria responds "This is my first time attempting this ritual, and I don't know whats gonna come out of him or whats gonna happen. His mind is elsewhere and we are returning him to himself."
Pherria touches the helm, and the air almost changes. The refugees give us a wide berth but are watching intently. The candles burn blue-white. The smell of incense is almost swallowed by ozone and the smell of sulphur and ash. Ravenguard's body arches. His eyes shoot open, but they look beyond reality. Around him light begins to gather. At first they are small and beautiful like fireflies, but then the glow brightens and sharpens. The orbs stretch into skull like sparks. Pherria's voice tightens, "Those aren't spirits; Fear, memory, death trying to find their way in. Don't fight them. Hold him steady, and anchor him." Duke Ravenguard whispers "The companion, the oath, the riders. The chains were there all along."
The helm seemingly overwhelms Ravenguard's physical form. He seizes up. His veins bulge, and he shoots up to an unnatural, upright sitting position. We need to anchor his body.
Tzon moves up to him and holds him down by his shoulders.
Cass recognizes that Ravenguard is reacting to specific memories, not random pain. We should look for grounding words, or the like, that remind him of who he is. Lily tries to speak to him to pull him back, "Duke you know who you are come back to yourself. You are a protector. You are strong." Both Lily and Tzon's actions seem to help.
I put my hand on his chest and tell him to focus on all of the feelings he is about to feel. I cast cure wounds. These both work together to cause his body to relax. His heart is still pounding, but his body isn't tense anymore
As we stand in the center of the chamber, it almost falls away. We begin to see flashes of visions. Everyone outside of the chamber no longer exists. Flashes of an angel riding across Avernus. A group of warriors behind her. We see the companion. We see flashes of the Elturgardians signing the Creed Resolute. We see Elturel being pulled under, deep into Avernus. Pherria calls out, "We are seeing what he's seeing. Walking the edge of his vision. It's not clear." We need to figure out a way to gain the knowledge that we can from his visions
Tzon looks closely and can see through all the flashing and spots Ravenguard inside the vision. Not the version we are holding, but the one that has been pulled away surrounded by alternate versions of himself. They are sending some kind energy into him. As Tzon notices the duke, he is able to see more clearly. Every soul in the room has a thread. Some are silver, some are black. Ravenguard's is wrapped around the helm. His is kind of a flame-like orange red.
Aurelia investigates further. She begins to notice inconsistencies. The chains that bind Elturel into Avernus seem inconsistent. Different sizes. Some of them are shaped into holy symbols. She sees some of her own memories play out before her. Some are accurate, but others seem false or altered. People who weren't there. Her vision snaps once more, and she can see Baldur's Gate from above. Streets arranged like a battlefield map. Purple lines connect noble houses. She sees her family crest appearing beside infernal script. A note that says "Psionic asset unstable, eldest daughter suppressed." Aurelia grabs Lily's hand and squeezes it tight before asking what Lily can see right now.
Lily sees one of the false Ravenguards which almost begins to glow with the same light as the wisps. It turns towards her, and its body launches itself at her. As its form hits her, she feels a pain deep in her being, and she gets a flash of a glittering patriar party. Laughs all around her. She is moving through the crowd gathering secrets. People are whispering into her ears. Each secret manifesting into a chain around someone else's throat. She hears a voice say, "Instrument remains unaware."
Balsam notices Lily going through crisis and thaumaturgically shouts, "Release my friend, or feel pain you've never felt! Release the duke, or feel pain you've never imagined!" With the sheer force of their will, they send the fragment from Lily. At the same time, the ones around Ravenguard are blasted away from him. Their vision flashes, and they see refugees kneeling in pain. Devils encircling them. Torturing them for no reason but to revel in the pain of others. They feel themselves say in a voice not their own, "Pain is not yours little devils. You only rent it." The Devils look back at them, and the chains around the refugees loosen.
We see Ravenguard no longer surrounded by the false versions of himself. He looks over and notices us all. He looks confused and hopeful. He must be called back.
Skraps says, "What else would anyone want to come back to but the perfect massage?" He looks at Tzon. Lily pulls out some massage oil from her bag, and Tzon replies,"I guess I have to!" Cass casts guidance on him. The vision of Ravenguard is wearing armor which Skraps helps by decoupling the armor from him. In the dreamscape Skraps's will alone gets him down to his knickers immediately.
Tzon scrolls on up and reaches out with two fingers that touch the ki spot right in Ravenguard's chest. He proceeds to do a small circle before bringing in his other hand to work on his muscles. As he focuses in on his energy, Tzon pushes in with his energy connecting the two men metaphysically. This readies Ravenguard to be called back
Aurelia kneels down next to him and whispers into his ear "I don't know if you remember me, but I am Lady Aurelia Ravenshade and I get what its like to have a responsiblity you didn't ask for but a lot of people are depending on you. You are the Duke. This city and BG are both not doing well. You are needed. Its hard but you have to push past when others crumble. I call you back to your post" It doesn't fully work but he looks at her and says "I'm so tired. I need rest."
Lily swoops in after hearing that, positioning herself with her back arched and her hand on his chest sultrily whispering "then come back here and take a rest with me." His eyes alight with passion for a moment. the vision is blasted away and we are back in the chapel. the wisps of light spiral into a single burning right above the dukes body. for a moment his shadow stretches across the floor and then he inhales. ragged mortal and real. the lights burts outward. the helm falls from his brow. he rolls onto his side coughing. he looks up at you with eyes of his own.
"elturel was not conquered it was signed away" he says. We know. "Baldur's gate is next" that we didn't fully know. Aurelia remembers that she saw something the psionic unstable thingy and the infernal script and such. He doesn't speak at first, his hands shaking against the stone. he lifts a hand brushing Pherria away. He looks down thinking trying to remember, "there was a battlefield, avernus. the ground was red. a woman in armor with elturels crest. hurt badly. cut across the face. a sword not a soldiers or a dukes but staring at a sun through water." his gaze drifts to lulu. "you were there." he has fear in his eyes "wings beating so fast. you flew beside her. Demons came for them. huge thing long arms mouth like a furnace. she could barely stand. drove her sword into the ground lulu trumpeted. sound threw the demon back. stone rose around the blade. marble. came up all at once. sword almost building a home for itself. avernus took it. the ground opened. the little elephant flew into the red sky until she couldn't tell where she was. lost. she found 2 bird like creatures. Kenku. Patchwork armor, strange tools and weapons. stood beside an infernal machine on wheels. iron and smoke. looked at her like scavengers. it was the vision i was meant to see. from torm. but the abyss showed me more. BG is being prepared the same way"
he looks at aurelia "ravenshade. I saw it beside lines of infernal script with maps of BG. Trade routes, marriage records, board reports" Aurelia asks who is married he responds "your sibling. the document said the eldest daughter surpressed. asset unstable."
he looks to lily "I saw a party. upper city. music wine and perfume. smiling too much. secrets passing from mouth to ear. every secret leaves a mark. he saw the chains of favors, debts and blackmail. you were at the center thinking you were the one doing the listening but something was listening through you. something sinister and powerful like you are the conduit." Lily looks down and gets lost in thought.
he looks at skraps "there was a tent on fire. circus canvas. painted signs. people running. rakshasha walking through the flames calmly looking for something or someone. words burned into the back of a poster. 'two escaped, one opened the way and saw the face'"
looks at balsam "saw refugees on their knees. devils waiting for them to give up. then an orc began to speak. the pain didn't vanish but chained. the people lifted their head and the devils hated that. said stop teaching them to own it."
to cassandra who wont look at him " a prayer room elturian, noble and clean. a family crest on the wall and a book on the altar. prayers became terms and terms became punishments. one phrase stayed clear 'corrective bond approved'"
finally to tzon "i saw a small figure with his eyes shut. everything burned. i thought he was hiding but then i saw what he saw. oaths chains and fear moving through like vibrations. fear wasn't the chain but the warning." he leans back "vanthampurs were part of it but not all of it. not even the clever part"
to all "I thought i came here to save elturel but its the warning. you were in the visions not as the ones who damned it but the ones we are all counting on" he leans back and stops speaking
Aurelia brings us together and says she saw her thing he said. even if he seems crazy. Lily and balsam agree because they also did. skraps doesn't know how he'd know about the circus if he was crazy. he spoke about the abyss like it was sentient. tzon brings up the threads he saw. He closes his eyes and thinks back on what color our threads are he isn't seeing them but is remembering.
Tzon looks to skraps first since they were both spoken of their shared history. skraps has a few. one between him and skraps, a silvery purple almost enflamed. as he focuses in he sees more threads but he can't see where they connect. but there are many of many colors that sprout off of him.
next he looks at balsam. he sees another purple thread but a deeper darker purple that is almost black. it runs between balsam and cassandra and it is almost spiky.
Cassandra has the one with balsam and a smokey black and red thread that goes to Lily.
Lily also has a few more. one to aurelia that's green vine-like. and a few connected at the top of her head, elbows, and knees that are deep red and extend forever into the sky.
Aurelia has ones that extend out and surround the group itself not to individual people.
he doesn't tell us about these things so our characters don't know about them yet.
As we huddle together, lulu has joined us "I think I remember something! I remember helping one of the hellriders plant zariels sword int the ground. raised a fortress around it. i don't remember where the sword is but i think i remember the kenku. they took me to a junkyard called fort knucklebone. they built these infernal vehicles designed to move quickly across the wastelands! I'll be right back!" and she zooms out across the chamber
Reya is by ravenguard's side speaking to him. Aurelia notices that she very clearly has picked up on the message that she isn't part of the group. we huddle closer except cassandra who stays upright until I pull her into the huddle Aurelia whispers "what are we doing? why are we so involved in whats happening here?" we know that BG is gonna be taken down next. we are in the preemptive game. And also its weird that we are so involved in all this. it feels pretty curated. we certainly didn't expect for it to feel so personal. its a bit freaky. skraps is a bit nervous that because we killed half of cass's parents that they would sell all of BG out about it. A little of Cass's stuff comes out. About how bad they were. I say that people don't tend to come and make use of my services unless its real bad. Lily gets a distinctly guilty expression for a few seconds before she composes herself. I describe a vague thing of my services as a form of therapy. a way to reclaim your pain
Aurelia comments on cassandra not looking at people. Lily turns cassandra's face to look at her and asks "what is going on with you?" as Lily looks into her eyes she can see that nothing is looking back. Cassandra can't see her. Lily leans in even more and moves her face looking for recognition and Cass flinches back but doesn't look. Lily whispers "Who did this to you?" Cass responds "Who do you think? my family" Aurelia asks again. I suggest that we should have it all out in the air. Cassandra thinks Aurelia isn't ready. Aurelia takes offense. Cass says that maybe she isn't ready and she sits down and starts her ritual to summon der'ik. Aurelia storms off and shouts out about her indignation.
Lily looks around for the blacksmith who is present. Ravenguard is sweaty and leaning against a wall as Reya and Pherria dote over him. She takes all of it in. Lily and I both walk over to Aurelia as she is like boisterously complaining. Lily takes out one of her clove cigarettes and lights it and puts a hand on her shoulder and asks her to be calm and patient. I add that Cass seems more ready than ever to speak on this. Aurelia is upset that all the cards aren't on the table. we try to calm her. and she box breathes. Skraps pops up and is curious if maybe they wanted her psionic abilities to be surpressed. Skraps tells her she is so good and powerful and shit and pulls out a medal she got for her cooking. Aurelia takes a knee to get eye to eye and she puts her hand on his cheek and says she thinks she misjudged him before they met and thanks him for his compassion and humor. he says he didn't steal it for money, just to help her if she was feeling low. We collectively help calm her enough to take a rest. She takes out one of her instruments and plays a tune
Skraps points out that we don't know if the portal's closed or not. Skraps is willing to go and scout it out. Tzon is uncomfortably willing to help. Skraps puts up his psychic link between him, tzon, lily, and aurelia. I double check that aurelia is okay and then head back to sit with Cassandra.
As we start to part Lulu flies back with an announcement trumpet "I can see fort knucklebone! its gotta be less than 10 miles away." we get some clarification. We need to maybe speak to Ravenguard in the morning to see if he can give us any more direction.
We all head to do what we need to do. Skraps and Tzon head back out of the chapel and back up into the streets. As they move through the streets stealthily, once again they see the flaming demon horse rider, the Narzugon. He luckily doesn't notice them. They get back to the cemetary. The minotaur are still patrolling. Skraps checks and sees that Gideon isn't in his shed. They continue to sneak just in case. They make their way inside unnoticed. No demons coming up which looks good. Everything seems about the same as before. they get to the meditation chamber is open and they see Gideon laid up against the wall. He opens his eyes. The portal is closed. he says "took you long enough. portals closed. I owe you for your aid. thank you!" He tells them that our group closed the portal and also that he will be fine. Tzon gives him a neck rub. he says that if we ever cross paths again he will look the other way.
They head back after confirming all is hunky dory. They pass by a building. More stealth. they hear a pounding coming from the front door. they ignore it and move along and safely return back to the high hall.
As they make it back, Cassandra finishes her ritual. (its a modified catholic prayer. pretty blasphemous! Yay Kat!!~) Aurelia gives an inpsiration to Balsam and Lily (who sends it to someone else)a whole convo happens about how chill Lily is. Lily gives Aurelia some weed that she stole from Cassandra. They start to sneak off but I stop them as Cassandra finishes her ritual.
We see Der'ik return and Cassandra has a deep exhale. She hugs her bird into her chest as a tear sheds. She gathers herself and is able to track everyone. Both Der'ik and her head are following. Skraps and Tzon arrive and discussions of weed. Cass looks directly at Lily and says "I didn't leave you on purpose. I was abducted from our apartment. I never meant to break up or divorce you. I don't know where I was taken. I don't know how long I was gone for. It was dark and painful. You tend not to know anything after that" Lily asks "by who?" Cass: "my parents were the ones who gave the orders I don't know the name of the cleric who healed me. They destroyed my hands for touching you, my tongue from saying your name, and my eyes for seeing you. That one they couldn't heal." Lily stumbles off and goes into an alcove and throws up.
Lily composes herself and returns and asks "Did you parents ever say why?" "because how dare I besmirch their name by falling in love with Lily" Aurelia walks away. Cassandra looks at balsam with tears welling up. Lily says that she needs to speak with her in private. lily hears a voice say "Dont". Cassandra says don't you want to hear more? She informs of that her marriage to the man was forced for the two of them. Lily didn't understand why Cass did that but she didn't know that it wasn't Cass's decision. Cass says that Gideon (her husband) is a good man but also has no interest in the opposite sex. his parents were worried that thats where his attentions lied so they conspired with Cass's parents to ensure the marriage. Lily hears the voice again tell her that she can control what other people do when cass says that she cannot control what others do and that it isn't Lily's fault. Lily finally understands whats happened since they've been apart. They hold hands and Cassandra sobs. Lily says, "From now on, the choices that we make will be with positive intention for each other. I think we should start over." Cassandra responds "I don't think we've ever done anything but" Lily says this is a lot to process. Cassandra says that the tattoo she had for her won't grow back. They embrace and their tails briefly intertwine.
Aurelia sharply interjects "perhaps we should focus on the task at hand. we have more important things than this triangle between us. This platonic triangle" (SESSION NAME PLATONIC TRIANGLE) Aurelia parts and head to rest. Lily goes to speak with the blacksmith. Cassandra is still shaking and Balsam comforts her and tells her that that seems normal. Skraps comes up and thanks Cass for bringing him back and then dashes away.
We all make a "camp" and begin to rest. The refugees seem to be inspired and everyone seems less hopeless. It's not cheery but its not as bad as it was. In the middle of the night aurelia wakes lily up and they sneak off somewhere. They don't think anyone followed them. Aurelia says that she can't do this anymore. Lily responds that she wanted to. Aurelia can't look her in the eye. They both feel sick to their stomachs. Aurelia says Lily needs to tell Cass and that she's tired of holding her secret and that she's such a guilty liar. That Aurelia loves Lily but its hard to love her sometimes. It requires a lot. What happens if Cassandra finds out and is isn't okay with it. Aurelia looks around again. Lily says that that's why she can't tell her yet until all this is over and then she will come clean. That they need to do this and things Lily needs to learn about herself and then she will tell her everyhing. Aurelia asks if Lily knows who she is a conduit for. Lily says she knows who her patron is. Someone very something. She says that some people refer to him as a Ferryman. She says why do you think her spells involve clicking and coins. His name is Charon. Charon is the ferryman of souls.
LEVEL UP!!!
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