The Last Reminder

"The Last Reminder" is the ninth episode of Book 1: Sand & Starlight of Regolus: Dark Age. 
== Official Description ==
"Our adventurers stand on the brink of their first task. Having reached the edge of Sulevara, they now prepare for their first bounty—an ominous request from Hareem Lord Hareem. Their mission: to intercept a train bound for Faleeria and claim a bounty that could alter the course of their journey. But what lies within Sulevara and the depths of the train? Secrets long buried, dark forces stirring, and unknown dangers that may test them in ways they never imagined. 
Will they emerge victorious, or will this mission mark their downfall? Time will tell... if they survive long enough to see it. Come join the mythweaving."
== Plot ==
=== Part 1 ===
* The group just arrived in the outskirts of Sulevara and was greeted by A-Rank Leader Euphoria. She tells them that it has been a tough time in Sulevara because there has been a problem in the woods and security is still investigating. They make their way into the tent for some food and planning, where Euphoria continues to tell them about the incident at the bridge "Vir’Enasal". There has been an altercation between the Vanguard and the Nevricīl that got the Vanguard’s attention three days ago. So around the time when Salvador was in Sulevara, but Euphoria does not know him. Apparently there was also a jailbreak shortly after and the Torch Bearers are in town because of it. Bubbles heard about them on his travels, those walking lanterns of green flame, and knows to stay away from them. Hearing that name, Aelys gets a flash of a vision about a lantern cage of dark iron, green flame billowing from its slats and a harrowing familiar voice that tells her to drink the light. Euphoria warns them to stay away from the Torch Bearers.
* She asks about their mission so they give her the fake contract and tell her what they are here for and also inform her about the alleged death of Værina. Euphoria helps them plan, as Gilgore, the other A-Rank arrives, who immediately finds a new friend in Bubbles. Euphoria told them before that she doesn’t work in teams but Gilgore is the exception. Sethius, the other A-Rank leader, is okay too but he does mostly his own thing anyways.
* The cleansed cult member ran after their skiff and is still waiting outside. While the others lay down to rest, Synnove and Lenore make their way to the convert to bring them some food, but they say they are filled with light and don’t need anything. He asks what Synnove wants them to do with the heretic next to her, meaning Lenore, but she tells them she can be changed just like they were. Synnove gives them the name Sol, Carrier of Light. Lenore asks about what and when that happened to the person, as it reminds her of what could have happened to her if it went too far. When Lenore excuses herself to go back into the tent, Synnove asks Sol to make more friends just like Synnove made them her friend. Sol will report back to her when there are four others.
* Synnove stays outside a bit longer, even though Sol is gone, and tells Stella that they are making progress. Her book vibrates and as she opens it, teenage Stella appears next to her. She tells her that this is good and that this is just the beginning before Stella wraps around her. With a sense of belonging, Synnove returns to the tent, where Lenore is still awake and can see that Synnove’s eyes are bright gold for just a moment before they turn back to normal.
* After Synnove goes to bed, Lenore makes her way outside to where nobody can hear her, before she screams to V to get down here so they can talk. As the liquid ink between the stars shifts, the word “stop” appears in the firmament. As she calls him a coward, the sand drops from beneath her, the stars peel down in a dome, shifting and shuttering around her. As a voice appears, she repeats herself, and is suddenly drifting in a pool of darkness. Lenore and V have an argument, he calls her a tool in an empty box, but she needs him and he needs her. Lenore tells him that she is mad at herself and mad at him because of what happened to Synnove. V answers: “When my family was smote upon the mountains I was stuck in this ink. We are two sides of a great coin. You would do well to remember such things, tool”. Lenore wants more control but V can’t give that to her. The ink compacts inwards. Lenore does not return to the tent that night. 
* Synnove dreams again about the dead tree and the ruined temple on the grassy hill. The serpent does not appear, but the phoenix is there and gives her control about where to go. Synnove goes inside the tree. As she looks inside, she hears the rustling of parchment rattling across each other, a stream of scroll and paperwork flying past her into this pin prick of green light in the distance. She gets pulled into it.
* JB dreams and finds himself on the top of a volcano. He moves down with the swirls of lava that converge almost like a whirlpool. His consciousness follows through the magma until he reaches a chamber with a stone island in the middle of it all. In the middle of it sits something similar to a construct of steel and dark iron and a natural golem, covered in runic hieroglyphs that pulse in shifting lava. As JB drifts into this chamber it looks up towards him and says “Two have been taken. Find the remaining four”. JB wakes up.
* The next morning, Euphoria and Lenore are not in the tent, but they hear Euphoria calling for them outside. They step outside, where they see an unconscious Lenore being carried by Pterry. Apparently they found her sleeping in the desert. They try to wake her up and Synnove asks Stella for help, but the book snaps shut. JB is able to send a pulse of energy through Lenore which wakes her up. For a moment, she sees the figure of V in JB that says “Remember what we are here for. I am with you but tread lightly”, before her vision goes back to normal. Lenore tells the others that she had a bad meeting last night but that she is fine. Synnove asks if she saw Sol, so the others ask if that’s the person that followed them in the desert. Synnove tells them that she sent them off to do some work, but the others wonder what kind of work that would be. She tells them his task is to spread the light and love and make new friends. They ask a few more questions before they arrive at the open doors of Sulevara.
* They make their way into town, the bridge directly visible. It is the reason the town was built, as it is the one and only crossing point from the entirety of the Prime to the Vhen’Saar (Heartwilds). As they stand there, they notice three things: the large presence of Vanguard, including a few Solarbornees, the Torch Bearer standing right in front of the jail and an familiar, hobbled old elvhen man, pulling an oversized covered wagon, who stops right in front of the bridge. They look at the group and grin.
=== Part 2 ===
* When they come closer to Halifax, they notice three familiar looking stones in his cart, the orichalcum they use to upgrade their abilities. Halifax asks why he is here, he heard 13 knocks* wrapping on his door and he might be able to help them do their job. When Halifax notices Lenore, he says “Part of you has come a very long way. Have you been there yet? Or are they just teasing you? Have you seen the Prime from above as they do? We share a seat at the same table”. Lenore answers that she is not good at sharing anymore but Halifax says that she is being shared. They ask about the orichalcum and what they would be willing to give. While JB and Lenore take a step back, Bubbles (“the lost one”), Synnove (“the light”) and Aelys (“child of many, mother of none”) make a deal with Halifax, the stones in exchange for one success in the future to come. Halifax then asks them to consume them now so he can watch, which Synnove does, but not without a consequence. She loses some of her health permanently but gets two upgrades instead: Slipstream and Dominant Fortitude. Bubbles asks if Halifax is able to put it in his goggles but Halifax needs more from Bubbles for that. Instead of three chances the next time Bubbles slips in the inbetween of life and death, he only gets one chance to survive (meaning only 1 Death Save instead of 3). Bubbles agrees and his Sigil of Æons is changed, Halifax’s sigil woven into it. As soon as that deal is made, Halifax disappears as if he never was there, but Bubbles goggles and his orichalcum are gone. Devastated, Bubbles stays silent. 
* The group asks the Solarborne in front of the bridge about the incident that happened here and apparently in the Heartwilds a few days ago. The Solarborne tells them that what occurred on the bridge is none of their business but that it would be better to not return to the Heartwilds because it is in shambles. An internal event happened, a purge, a generation lost, that came from within the walls of Üthevhenan and not from an external source. The Solarborne tells them to stray away and if they have any more questions, they should head to the jail and discuss with Inquisitor Gaius.
* They split the group: Bubbles and JB go to the train station to see if they can get train tickets with their Copper Legion status, and the other three go to the jail with the Torch Bearer in front of it to get more information.
* On the way to the train station, flashing lights appear on Bubbles’ harness, as his goggles, now imbued with Temporite, drop out this forming wormhole of light. Out of pain, anger and relief, Bubbles lets out a scream, which gets the attention of two Solarborne nearby. After a quick conversation, they are sent to the train station, where the ticket seller Talon tells them that there already has been a Copper Legion group that came through today, a group of 5 including a tortle, a person with a staff, one with horns, one with three eyes and a cloaked one. They showed him their tokens with the symbol of the Copper Legion on it and are currently already on the train. Bubbles and JB are able to get cheaper tickets for them all before they turn back to meet the others.
* Aelys, Lenore and Synnove make their way to the jail. As they come closer and closer, Synnove suddenly feels her book burning at her hip. She hears screaming from Stella in her head, telling her to get away from it, as a sharp pain pierces her head. Stella repeats the words “not back in the cage” over and over again, pleading to get away, so Synnove tells the others she can’t go with them. They feel the eyes of the Torch Bearer on Synnove. As they guide her away to a bench, the pain subsides to a dull feeling and the book cools down. Syn tells them that Stella didn’t like to be near the jail, so Lenore and Syn decide to stay back while Aelys goes to talk to the Inquisitor.
* She arrives at the same time as another Solarborne, who also wants to speak to Inquisitor Gaius. He reports about some troublemakers at the train station but Gaius dismisses him quickly and turns to Aelys to ask about her business. She asks about the incident in the woods. Gaius realizes she is highborn and Aelys confirms - away from home and concerned. She feels the magic of a Zone of Truth taking effect on her.
* At the bench, Synnove notices that Lenore is losing color. She asks if Lenore is feeling okay, but Lenore panics, thinking she had more time. She quickly explains that she has to leave, but she is not leaving Synnove, she will try to be back. Pieces of Lenore start to flake off, the space underneath the flaked off pieces almost looks like a purple hazy gray arcane storm. Lenore will explain everything when she is back, but makes sure that Synnove knows that Lenore did not and does not choose to leave her. As her tattoo glows bright purple, Lenore collapses in on herself, into her tattoo, and disappears.
* Synnove does what she did the last time her sister vanished, she writes a message to Stella. There is already a message waiting for her, thanking her. Syn asks about the cage from before in another vision and Stella confirms that this is the same cage but she doesn’t want to talk about it. Stella instead tells her that she won’t leave her. 
* Answering the questions from the Inquisitor truthfully, Aelys reveals that her name is Aleys Ir’viraan, that it is unclear why she is out here and does not know what happened in her home. She is distrustful of the Vanguard of the Mortal States but she asks what they know about the incident in Üthevhenan. The Inquisitor tells her that something happened at the roots, many who were being bred by Spirit were lost but they do not know about the culprit and are still trying to ascertain while mitigating potential outcrying from the Court of the Star. Aelys asks them to relay a message that she was here when they get in contact with anyone from the highborn court. 
* Back together, Synnove informs them about Lenore, her boss V and the storm when she vanished. JB recognizes the description as the Distortion, which manifests as a great arcane storm from the distance. Bubbles knows the energy around Lenore to be close to a divine version of Graviturgy Magic. Aelys remembers two or three gods that have dealt with this: The Void, Dark Drinker. Væxtaar, The Dark Between Stars. Ünen, God of Force. And Uro, Infinite Unbound. They have all dealt with this kind of controlling and altering of force. And with the nickname V, it is probably Væxtaar. JB points out that both Lenore and Synnove have a lot in common, both following a god, but Synnove tells them that Lenore got kicked out, was excommunicated from their home because she was unfaithful and a danger for the community, and Synnove didn’t, she left on her own because of her magic and her ability to speak to their God, which the current prophet did not agree with. Synnove receives a message from Stella, that everyone else around her is also able to see: “We want to heal everything. This is the truth and so am I”. 
* At the end of the day, they make their way onto the train to Faleeria. 
*Note: The 13 knocks Halifax heard were the 13 times a Blessing of Halifax was redeemed in Chat before he appeared.
== Characters ==
=== Player Characters ===
*Aelys Sa’Viraan 
*Bubbles Bathington 
*Jean-Baptiste
*Lenore 
*Synnove Oleander
===Mentioned===
* Værina 
* Sethius
=== NPCs ===
* Euphoria & Pterry
* Sol (formerly known as Averik)
* Gilgore
* Stella
* Xilyreon 
* V
* Halifax
* Inquisitor Gaius
* Boris (Solarborn)
* Alexander (Solarborn)
* Talin, ticket seller at the Train Station
== Locations and Organizations ==
=== Locations ===
* Sulevara
** Train Station
** Prison
* Bridge (Vir’Enasal “the path to relief”)
* The Distortion (mentioned)
* The Heartwilds
** Üthevhenan (mentioned)
=== Organizations ===
* Nevricīl
* Copper Legion
* Vanguard
** Solarborn 
** Torch Bearer
* Court of the Star
== Tarot Card and RP Warmup ==
The tarot card for the episode was The Chariot, drawn by Rachel.
The roleplay warmup question was: "Is it more important for your character to do good or to avoid doing bad?"
== References ==
# The Last Reminder (Youtube)