Session 33 Prep

Set Expectations

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

• thank you for feedback

  • no immediate changes, a big to digest. Waiting on a few more responses and there is a wide gamut in the types of opinions.
  • what I would like to do directly before the next session, have an open table discussion about everyone’s experiences.

• The Scribe

  • I will be taking responsibility for the skeleton. This should be enough to last until that session Scribe has ample time to deliver the notes. This helps me align canon, provide quotes and resources, and also reduces the delivery burden on The Scribe.
  • The Scribe just needs to take the skeleton and flesh it out into paragraphs and sentences. Anything more is appreciated but is not an explicit requirement.

• tone and seriousness

  • play mentality for a play activity

• warmup question:

  • What is more important your character - being liked, feared, or respected?

Recap & Re-Familiarize

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

Last we left off… The Fated Eight caught their breath after saving 3 Terralpi youths from a grisly fate as the shadowy aura left behind by one of the odd-looking Displacer Beasts formed into the form of Azriel - the companion who had left your troupe the previous night.

You learned that Veda, Bjorn, and Eryk were out searching for The Eternal Mountain, before meeting Kludge - the father of the two boys - who seemed to think Aurevald was in fact The Eternal Mountain.

You continued onwards to Cinder’s Den - the site of first of the three relics you needed to recover in order to restore SHAI’s society. What appeared at first to be a volcanic and perilous location was revealed to instead by a dark and sunken manor; and here Azriel heard the familiar taunting voice of his Patron. Inside you found multiple journal entries written by a man named Allexander - who spoke of places and dates that you were not familiar with.

• Roses, puzzles, enemies

And that’s where we’ll pick up from… as 5 snow-white furred Displacer Beast-adjacent creatures have revealed themselves from the ceiling.

Immediate Event

The immediate action for the Party to deal with.

Vanisher Beast Fight

Vanisher Beasts:

• Buffed displacer beasts
• 2x attacks, guiding bolt affect on 1.
• As a reaction can target another creature, force them to make a CON save (DC 8 + CHA + PROF), failure means swap places and take the attack intended for them
• enemy movement within 10ft of them is halved.

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AFTER TWO ROUNDS - Zarkadyne The Thorn will taunt and say to Azriel “This is taking too long - let me help you out”.

Loot

• Bead Of Refreshment
• Dust Of Sneezing And Choking
• Vanisher Beast pelt, seems luxurious.
• Journal #740

Plots Points/Paths Forward

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

The Correct Solution

• Learning from your mistake, you identify that the Blonde rose should go on the outside ring, then the silver rose on the middle ring, and then the twisted rose in the centre
• As you place all three roses in their correct location, you all watch as each section of the disk begins to rotate and each rose begins to emit a glow. After a few moments an image is formed as:
  • On the innermost ring, The twisted rose reveals a tall lithe figure who seems to be intently taking in it’s own appearance.
  • On the outer ring, The blonde rose reveals a male humanoid with a sword in one arm. The movement of the disk makes it look as if the figure is walking.
  • Between them, the silver rose reveals the large head of a feline figure; not dissimilar from the heads of the creatures you just fought. It rotates at the just the right speed to always have the human figure in eyesight.

The projection ends as the human figure pivots and in a flash crosses to the other side of the outermost disc in a flourish, as the feline head begins to fade - leaving just the human and lithe figures in a standoff on the disk. At the same time, a section of the wall next to the fireplace opens up - presenting a narrow doorway to exit this room.

Azriel will hear a voice in his head:

I do hope you mean it when you say you’re going to kill me. It’d be such a shame if you’re all talk.

The Many Rooms

• A long hallway with 4 doors, 2 on either side: Zarkadyne The Thorn: “So many doors! He’s really trying to keep you from finding me, isn’t he?”

Door 1

• A door with a glowing rune on it, made of two parts. A detection component and a barrier component.

  • If any of SHAI, Aurevald, or Azriel step near it, it will glow brighter.
  • “Only Fey allowed”. Only people with “Fey” blood can enter. (Arcana 16)
    • SHAI (changeling)
    • Aurevald (Half-Gyi’Gantos)
    • Azriel (cursed blood)

• Leads to a small private chamber with a desk and two chairs. There is a diary entry on the table that reads:

I was returning from a supply run when two Harpies descended upon me. I thought for a going to be their dinner when a strange man appeared - the next moment I’ve swapped places with him. He slew both of them with a single swipe of his crescent blade.

My Wife thinks I’m just exaggerating to make my Son behave, but I owe Zarsh my life. I’m thinking of offering my support for his cause. He mentioned he needs help taming some pets that he’s bred. If I earn his trust, maybe he’d help cure my Wife of her afflictions.

Sael

IF they mention sitting on the chairs - DEX 15 saving throw as a mimic reveals itself. 1 attack of decent damage will kill it.

Door 2

• A spiral staircase that leads to a study with tall bookshelves.
• The room seems to have been used for alchemical purposes.

Experiment Log ___ Subject retained greater sanity and control whilst gaining enhanced abilities. Baseline dosage increased to 5 drops per hour for 1 day. Explore using crushed Gyi’Gantos bone as a a re-agent for further stability.

A breakthrough is imminent, I must hurry. Time is short - I cannot draw his suspicion this close to the finish line.

Searching the room will reward a bottomless flask - any non-magical fluid poured into it will be dispensed endlessly until a different fluid is poured into it.

Door 3

• Opens into the backside of a jail cell.
• A large trail of blood in the back corner.
  • The blood seems sickly; as if it has been cursed.
  • A high enough roll from Jin will show him a small vision of a pregnant woman drinking the last drops of a flask before keeling over in pain. A voice says “Oops, I forgot to warn you - the process will be quite painful.” before a push of his hand to carefully but swiftly force her into the cell. You see around you now.
• There’s blood scrawled in rushed Sylvan using blood. There are 4 legible sentences.
  • “I don’t know what is happening to me. I was supposed to be cured - but my head feels like it’s splitting.”
  • “Why do I have wings? What did he do to me???”
  • “I’m seeing double of everything…”
  • “Something is trying to bury it’s way out of my torso…” (Azriel will recall this feeling from earlier)

Door 4

Leads to a descending staircase and into a small room with a large bloodstain in the middle. Sharp implements surround a large pool of blood and a rotting, and two corpses - one the mangled remains of something vaguely humanoid with a pair of butterfly-like wings, and the other a juvenile, hairless, feline creature with 3 tails and 6 legs.

• Med check MED. The position of the corpses and the burst abdomen of the humanoid implies that the feline corpse burst out of the humanoid one - but neither seemed to survive the trauma.
• Investigation EASY. The humanoid is holding a small key in the hand nearest to a locked door. It appears she was running to open it before she died.
• Perception EASY: Written in blood on the flood in plain common “Zarsh Lies.”

Opening the door with the key will reveal a pitch black tunnel; even for those with darkvision.

WING IT IM TIRED

• Zark might taunt Azriel some more
• Cat might show up if they seem lost
  • “tsk tsk tsk, wouldn’t it be a shame if the little kitty got lost? or worse, hurt? be a brave boy and go follow after it my dear Azriel.”

The Den

Offer everyone a chance to go the toilet or grab a drink, take this yourself.

• The tunnel takes 10 or so minutes to walk through. It winds down and back on itself a few times before eventually reaching an opening; where your eyes suddenly catch light once more. As you reach the mouth of the cavern in front of you - you realise that the light is being emitted by a projection of a stary night’s sky consuming the roof of the cavern.
• Your attention is then caught by a large rumble - as you notice the slumbering giant across from you. A gargantuan feline creature with dark silver-grey fur and displacer beast tails. Each paw large enough to smother even the largest of your troupe. You all intuit that this is the slumbering beast that Allexander talked about in his journal, and the namesake for Cinder’s Den.
• Azriel will hear; “Oh my - Cindrethrax has gotten smaller since I last saw him. Keeping me in a pocket dimension must be exhausting work. If you want to kill me, you’ll need to get through him first. If you’re just going to die - please do it quickly so I don’t get my hopes up. I’d move swiftly if I were you - it looks like he’s about to wake up…”

Wing this part - if they act too brashly or fail it will trigger combat

• IF Azriel goes ahead of the rest AND the rest follow behind, Vanisher Beast’s will spawn between them to distracted.

Cindrethrax Fight

• Objective fight. Azriel needs to stab Cindrethax the top of Cindrethrax’s head.
  • Terrain affects start of each turn.
  • Cindre (600 HP) is resistant to all damage except from Aeternus Falx
  • Attacking Cindre with anything but Aeternus Falx will reveal the resistance and Zark will interlude “Oh my - my fate in the hands of an idiot - if regular magic/weapons worked I wouldn’t need you to escape now would I? Aeternus Falx is made from one of his many teeth - it’s the only thing I found that can injure him.
  • Attacking regularly is useful but Zark will state that “Even with the blade he’s too well defended down low- you might want to try stabbing between the eyes.
  • Ending your turn within 15ft of Cindrethrax, or starting your turn on Cindrethrax will require the lowest of a CON/STR/DEX check; DC18, or be pushed back 20 feet.
  • Climbing Cindre requires 30 feet of movement AND an action.
    • They can attempt to throw Azriel as well.
    • Teleports that normally would work seem to stop at the threshold before Cindrethrax; his mere presence warps the space too greatly for teleportation to take hold.

Stabbing

• Ask Azriel what he’s thinking of in this moment before plunging Aeternus Falx into the head of Cindrethrax.
• Cindrethrax will roar in pain as the blade pierces his weakpoint. His starscape-eyes blinking as tears and silvery blood pour from between them as a black ooze begins to pour from the wound. As as the ooze comes into contact with the air it begins to evaporate into a cloud of black moths.
• Progressively the butterflies coalesce into a lithe Fey figure with curly black hair and bright yellow feline eyes with a black sclera. He stands at near 9 and 1/2 feet, dressed head-to-toe in expensive robes, and flanked by a set of vibrant insect-like wings.
• The most disturbing aspect of this figure are the 6 displacer beast like tails that have wrapped themselves around his lower body. Azriel you know this figure as your patron.

Zarkadyne The Thorn

“Oh my it feels so good to be free!!! Zarkadyne The Thorn the exclaims as he stretches a lot.

“Hello Crimson Temp- Oh wait sorry that’s the last group… Hello Fated Eight! I am Zarkadyne The Thorn - beloved patron of your dear friend Azriel”

• Zarkadyne The Thorn will taunt the hell out of the party, relishing in being free.. but mostly ignoring Azriel.
• They can try attack him (DC21); he will just take the damage and continue. He’s immune to all magical and physical affects whilst in the Den.
• If Azriel attempts to attack him with magic - reveal that part of their pact is that Azriel’s spells can’t harm Zark.
• If Azriel attempts to use Aeternus Falx; he’ll use a free-action to summon a hand mirror and start checking his face. After Azriel calculates damage; Zarkadyne The Thorn will “catch” the blade with the mirror, and one of the tails will hold up another right near Azriel’s heart.
• The blade will extend outwards and pierce Azriel.