Session 15 Prep

Set Expectations & Communicate

Set the expectations for the session and communicate any above table information FIRST before starting the session…

Player’s only group chat?
- Some tables do this to discuss/align plot threads outside of session OR to share notes
Notes! Please take them - even just jotting down NPC names or important terms will really aid your ability to remember plot threads if we ever have a much longer break than normal.
Took some feedback/learnings from the pacing & puzzles last session - will adjust going forwards
There’s the possibility for short combat this session and a bit of PC:PC roleplay depending on the path you each take.
Gentle reminder: Be the audience you would want - keep the phones/screens to a minimum if we can please.

Recap & Re-Familiarize

Recap the previous session events with brevity, then reintroduce them to the world.

Last we left off… you tended to your wounds after your fight with the Blight Sibilings and learned that Giselda and Mathias had been somehow corrupted into the Drow you fought. Whist recuperating after the fight - Somnus spotted beads of light that coalesced nearby the corpses with rewards for your party - a large diamond and breastplate being the most prominent rewards. From there you secured the perimeter of the warehouse and prepared for a night’s rest - a well earnt one indeed. SHAI and Axton shared a watch, as did Somnus and Jin - before Lady awoke and finished the final two watches solo. During the night, some of you heard or felt movement around you and you noted that it felt like something was below you - with Jin noting it reminded him of a forge.

The morning came and you decided to explore the rear of the warehouse - where the grey cloaked assailants had run off to where after some investigation you found a trapdoor hidden under a pile of scrap. The trapdoor proved impossible to open until Lady was able to; with the help from beyond the Material Plane, shear the steel trapdoor and reveal a ladder leading downwards. It was in this moment you all recalled the existence of; and the sacrifice made by, Aurevald - your Goliath companion.

We had a brief interlude to see what Aurevald’s fate had become and we saw him overcome the shackles that bound him before escaping the realm he had a called home for over 2 months. Back in the Material Plane - you each noticed light flicker from various parts of your bodies before coalescing together and shattering - leaving a Goliath male in it’s place. Aurevald had been returned to the Material Plane - albeit cold, dead, and unconscious. The miracle of revival - see by your troupe twice now in 2 days; each through different mechanisms - was preformed by Somnus who called upon The Maiden to correct this wrongdoing. You shared short reunions and made some sense of your convoluted memories before Graxious jumped down the hole without warning.

You entered a space with progressively odd shaped rooms containing puzzles to solve that included a specific arrangement of people on a pressure plate, a sequential consumption of foul tasting fluid around a board room table, and the use of an Arcane contraption to turn words of seeming importance into the contents of a vial.

As you completed the third chambers’ puzzle and entered the stairwell than peer deeper downwards - you found yourselves suddenly accelerating as the stairs fell away; creating a slide. As you approached the end of this slide - most of you realised from the sharp increase in temperature and the nearly-blinding light that you were hurtling towards a vat of molten lava.

And that’s where we’ll pick up from… - The current day is Hymark, the 15th of Vaelorn, 920 PD. You are currently hurtling towards a giant lake of lava with no obvious way of stopping your momentum. The smell of smog, ash, and iron is wafting up towards you all and there is not much time left before you reach the end of this slide…

Immediate Event

The immediate action for the Party to deal with.

Ask them what they would like to do?
- They are 200 feet away from the end of the tunnel are moving rough 50 feet every few seconds (DC14 Perception, Survival, INT)
- Let them try various actions
- Every two or so actions they move forward 50 feet
- Every successful action will slow them down 50 feet
  - 4 successes before 4 failures
  - Reward creativity
- Roll raw D20s to see the order in which people land

Plots Points/Paths Forward

Details about various plot threads that can be explored this session - with a subheading for each one.

PLTPNT - The Unknown Anchor

The Laboratory

Fourth Floor: Shaped like a D10 - manufacturing floor; machines, hardware, scrapped glyphs

Resume from when they realize there is a floor

You each land with a thud on the hard, stone floor and instantly aware just how close you are to the lava below.

The room around you is smaller than the previous three and is an odd shape - with 5 pentagonal panels carved out of the basaltic rock and all meeting at a point in the ceiling. There are 10 forges of various sizes around the room all fed by the lava below. Before you can take in any more of the room, you hear the sound of clockwork gears whir as 3 smaller robotic constructs and two larger ones turn and face your direction. The smaller ones are insectile and wielding a buzzsaw in one arm and something cracking with energy in the other, whilst the larger constructs are humanoid and have large stone slabs bolted to their arms. For both types - what you gleam to be their eyes are currently glowing yellow.

ASK THEM WHAT THEY DO - they can try to persuade/deceive or fight

Floor is obsidian glass - it’s transparent and they can see bubbling lava beneath them - it doesn’t extend past the line of all the forges - it’s like a disc in the centre of the room.
The forges are numbered 1-10 with a small badge near the base.
There are ingots in some of the forges - others have the materials to make them.
- 2 steel ingots
- 1 Slag-Runesteel ingot
Seriously humid and warm - there’s hammers and arcane equipment nearby a still active furnace/generator.
The 10th forge has a flat panel with three indents on it’s face.
- It is magical
- On the left and right are flat, quadrangle cut-outs that go maybe 1/2 inch deep or so.
- The centre indent is much smaller but is
  - It’s a keyhole (Investigation check or intuit - give them the hint after a few minutes)

Combat

The eyes of the mechanical figures before you quickly shift red as they move into a formation in front of you.

I need everyone to roll initiative

Forge Golem, (16, +0)	Forge Helper (18, +2)

The golems will try to block for the helpers whilst they shoot on angles.

Solution The panel on forge #10 is a keyhole for the key they received yesterday. When the key is inserted arcane energy will begin to spark on the inner edge of the cutouts either side of the keyhole. Careful investigation will show them there is an Arcane circuit that needs to be bridged to exit the room.

DRAW A QUICK DIAGRAM IF THEY NEED

The party either need to convince the constructs to leave them alone/forge the runesteel into flat plates for the panel OR destroy the constructs and use the loot to bridge the circuit.

After bridging the circuit - the lava will slowly drain from the floor below revealing a mirror image of the top half of the room (5 pentagon panels) but shifted over to tesselate with the ceiling. The bottom half of the floor will open outwards like a flower blooming

You see the lava below begin to drain away - revealing the floor of this room is another set of five pentagonal shaped panels carved out of basaltic rock. Shortly afterwards each of the panels begin to move and open outwards like a flower blooming - before the obsidian floor you’re all standing above begins to shake as it slowly descend down a perfectly carved 10 sided column. Every 100 feet or so there is a small arcane light that turns on whilst in proximity to you.

After a few minutes the platform jolts and ceases to move. In front of you is a another hallway - this one dimly lit by glowing balls of light that alternate which side of the hall they’re on.

Ask them what they do:

Fifth Floor: Shaped like a D12 - captives floor; jail cells, ripped straight jackets, research notes

You enter from the hallway and are immediately greeted by an acrid and off-putting smell about it. The room gives you all a vile vibe from a few moments standing in it. Shortly after entering you each pickup on the consistent ticking of a cloak that echoes through the entire room.

The room is dimly lit so you can’t see much around you but there’s a single desk in the middle with notebooks and various arcane textbooks/research notes. Hanging from a pole in one of the corners is humanoid skeleton with a faint glow about it.

It’s hard to make out in full detail but once again this room is also oddly shaped. It’s once again carved perfectly out of the surrounding granite stone - the floor is pentagonal in shape and that’s all you can gleam in this light.

Every minute - a louder tick is heard. Every hour an even louder tick is heard - it shudders the room a little.
Without using Darkvision or casting light - vision based checks are at disadvantage.

The vibes here remind Somnus of his home before that day…

Notes:

Searching around the room can find them scattered notes from Alexander Tryst’s logs. (Intersect to CHRPLT - The Elixir Of Life’s realization)
They can find painting of a mage in red robes and grey/white hair standing next to a tall Human man wearing a fur coat over his mages robes - there are giant red X’s placed over the eyes of the older man.
- Morgyn can intuit this is Thelnyron and Alexander Tryst (Intersect to CHRPLT - The Elixir Of Life’s realization)

There are various letters that are written in code - on a DC23 Investigation check they can find a letter that is decoded saying:

Accept this payment and finish production of the core.

May The Unseen Thorne Prevail…

Objects

Approaching the Skeleton will cause it to spring forwards and a voice will echo through the chamber:

“Secrets lie in wait,
but time is a price that some can’t afford to pay.
Reveal the truth, have a say.
Don’t be a fool, don’t be late.” - It will glow/pulse brighter if they ignore it too long (5-10 mins max)

If they sit in the dark too long; they can search the desk and fight a small rune on the underside of a drawer that illuminates the room fully
Searching around the room, they will eventually find a clock that is moving in rhythm with the ticking - but counter-clockwise. The clock will read 12 - 1d4 hours unless they discover it immediately.
The room has two holding cells and large table of implements including scalpels, scissors, and Arcane tools for inscribing runes and conducting rituals.
They can find two ripped leather shirts that are ripped open lying next to separate flat tables that are suspended in the air. The sleeves are sewn into the opposing bottom edge such that they make a cross.
There are numerous empty glass vials with odd smelling/coloured liquids and even a large vial with a metal spike on the end - Morg knows this is a syringe
There is a mirror that is magically enchanted\
- If a person who looks like Alexander Tryst approaches it - it will speak with them in a monotone voice and answer upto 5 questions.
Wing some creepy shit

Solution They will eventually intuit (DC15 mental check) that the ticking started upon them arriving and is counting down

They can either:

wait till the countdown hits zero - potentially really bad for Brannan (35% chance he is not transformed yet)
Interpret the puzzle and spill some beans to decrease the countdown by 1 hour.
- Lies that seem like secrets will increase the countdown (Looking at you SHAI)

Sixth Floor: Shaped like a D20 - production floor; full scale experiments, Boss encounter

The air is electric - there is arcana flowing through every particle in this room. Wing this if they get to it too early but I doubt it. End session if past 330

CHRPLT - The Elixir Of Life

Morgyn can recall hearing about an expelled member of The Arcane Will who experimented on people. A Human named Alexander Tryst - but he was more often called by his “nickname” of The King Of Crazy.
He experimented on civilians trying to turn them into Drow and Drow into non-Drow species.
It was believed that he died in a factory fire that shut down much of the development in The Ratways.

CHRPLT - The Treeseeker

During a quiet moment for Aurevald - or if he tries to reach out to his patron. He’ll receive one or all (read the moment) of the below visions…

Desert:

An oasis amidst arid sands that go on for miles
A large Acacia tree stands tall in the middle of his vision.
The tree suddenly catches alight and it burns to the ground in a moment
The sands shift and change and from below where the Acacia tree once stood - a withered tree erupts upwards.
DC16 Nature or Wisdom check == the tree vaguely resembled an outstretched hand for a split second.

Forest:

Thick forest that seems endless
A sturdy oak tree stands tall in the middle of his vision
The ground begins to quake as the tree crumbles into dust.
The quaking grounds continue as a withered tree is thrust from below the earth and stands where the Oak once stood.
*DC16 Nature or Wisdom check == the tree vaguely resembled an outstretched hand for a split second.

Mountain:

A mountain the seems to tower over the rest of the land - with clouds that go on seemingly forever.
A foreboding Birch tree stands tall in the middle of his vision
The winds begin to churn as the tree is battered, then broken, and then ripped from the earth - roots and all.
The gale winds continue as a withered tree crawls upwards from below and stands where the Birch once stood.
*DC16 Nature or Wisdom check == the tree vaguely resembled an outstretched hand for a split second.

Coast:

A humid rainforest takes your gaze - with a thick canopy that allows only the smallest bit of light through.
A large Kapok tree stands tall in the middle of your vision
The ground beneath you begins to rumble as a sudden rush of water comes gushing over the cliffs to the North. The tree, try as it might is ripped from the ground and carried with the tidal wave.
The water continues as a large withered tree pushes upwards and stands where the Kapok once stood.
*DC16 Nature or Wisdom check == the tree vaguely resembled an outstretched hand for a split second.

He will realize that each of the withered trees looked distinctly different - the bark was the same as that of the tree it replaced.

Post-Credits

That’s where the session ends for your characters - meanwhile, somewhere else in Vaelorys; or maybe beyond it, a conversation is happening

In a liminal space four figures are conversing about recent events: “You HAD him and you LET him escape?!” a furious voice erupts outwards as the heat of his breath ignites the air around his mouth.
”I didn’t LET him escape - I don’t know how he broke a deal. I NEVER get the worse end of a deal.” a cranky voice rumbled in response - the ground quaking with each syllable.
”AHHH the lot of you are useless - none of us are getting out of here at this rate.” the furious voice snaps back.
”And how do you think that I feel here? I’m the only one that hasn’t even spoken to him yet and you two want to complain?” a shrill, feminine voice howled out of nowhere as a gale blew by.
”Darlings - all of you - calm down please. This is a setback but there’s no need to point blame after all. The Emperor make a costly mistake yes, but we are making progress. I think it’s time for a change of season - what do you think Sister?” a calm but shrewd voice washed over the space as the crash of waves began to echo around them.