Web of Lies

"**Web of Lies**" (2x11) is the eleventh episode of Memory=Null Season 2, in which the truth reveals itself.

## Synopsis

Emberlin takes a moment to go outside, takes a deep breath, and then screams at the sky in frustration. After taking some time to himself, he heads back in and gives everyone the day off. Emberlin, Hex and Toothy head to the central island to find out more about the city. They eventually find their way to the local museum and, while they find a lot of information on the local industry, they can find nothing on either Idrith or the old gods. They compete against two children in a miniature boat race at one of the children’s interactive exhibits; Emberlin and Hex tie, though Emberlin knocks one kid (who was doing quite well) off course with Mage Hand. At the gift shop, Emberlin purchases one of the remote-controlled boats (christening it the “Duke ‘The Duke’ Duke Memorial Pleasure Cruiser”) and a keychain.

They find some street meat for lunch before making their way up towards the castle. Once they pass through the outer walls, they find themselves in the rich part of town. Not wanting to get into any trouble with the guards, they simply tour around the outside of the castle where the ruling council (the Bureau) resides. Wanting to pull out his axe out of view of the guards, they head to the nearby Monkey Margaritas - a pizza place where the waiters are all monkeys.

While they wait for their pizza, Emberlin goes to the bathroom to pull out the axe in private. Speaking the word “seeking”, his vision suddenly darts out of the restaurant and settles on a little hut near the outer walls. Returning to Hex, the two of them devour their monkey-delivered meat-lover’s pizza. After paying, they head out and begin following the wall, until they eventually find the hut from Emberlin’s vision. Now knowing where they need to go, they head back to the Golden Wake.

With everyone still out, Emberlin takes some time to study the painting of Idrith. He starts asking around about the identity of the pilot and finds out his name was Aladon. Tellessa directs him to a kenku named [insert sound of tripwire triggering], the local historian. He explains that they were here about thirty years ago, and stayed for about a month. They primarily fought creatures of dragon-descent, and always carried out their jobs with great efficiency. When they weren’t on a hunt, Idrith was usually pouring over various tomes at one of the corner booths. Before leaving, her plan was to head north, but at the last minute, learned of something and headed south-west and was never heard of again.

Emberlin gets the log books from Tellessa and sits down at Idrith’s old booth to look for any indication of where she went when she left. While there, he notices that the edge of the table has been burned, and finds a handprint burned into its underside. Eventually, they find a note which indicates they left for Deledar by way of Fearanndreh.

The group hangs out until midnight before heading back to the hut. Knocking on the darkened door, it’s eventually answered by an elderly firbolg. On hearing they are here for Shehada, she invites them inside. Emberlin gets straight to the point and explains their intentions, and she begins to brew up some tea with Hex’s assistance. As they wait, they discuss the purposes of the gods.

With the tea ready, they each drink, and she begins to lead them down a long, spiraling cavern. Eventually, the cavern begins to flatten out, and they reach a point where she cannot continue on. She says she’ll be waiting for them when they return, and the four press on. The cavern resumes spiralling downward into the island, though it soon becomes apparent that the distance traveled is greater than the true height of the island itself. It eventually straightens out again and opens into a cavern with a massive pit in the center. Inside the pit, a massive creature sits, its crystal-embedded back rising out of it; the sound of breathing rises to meet them.

Emberlin tries announcing the group to Shehada, but nothing he says seems to rouse them. Thinking back to their interaction with Camarta, Emberlin pulls out a knife and cuts his arm. As the blood drips down into the pit, Shehada begins to move. Turning over, they begin to climb up the wall of the pit, revealing a giant crystal encrusted bat. It’s eyes have thousands of points of light in them, and its breath is the smell of a thousand corpses.

Shehada’s voice booms through their minds, saying “The stench of fire is upon you”. Emberlin introduces himself as the Herald of the Queen of Embers, prompting an amused reaction from the old god. They say it is fitting that the goddess of rebirth would be the one awakening everyone. They invite Emberlin to join them in spreading their wings (as he is the only one of the court with wings). With that, Emberlin leaps off the cliff in pursuit of Shehada.

They fall out the bottom of the island, and as they approach the water, Shehada unfurls their wings, revealing a wingspan of nearly a thousand feet. As Emberlin, following behind, approaches the water’s surface, the voice of Shehada screams through his mind “fly!”. A pair of spectral wings burst from Emberlin’s back, and as they extend, he skims across the surface of the water. Igniting his hands, he pulls up and leaves a fiery trail behind him as he follows Shehada north.

Shehada eventually locks onto something north-east of them, and in the distance, Emberlin soon spots a massive leviathan casually flying through the air. Shehada goes silent as they fly towards it. The leviathan is dead within seconds as Shehada grabs it and flings it up into the air before snapping its neck. With their prey in tow, Shehada begins flying again. Following, Emberlin soon notices the water and the sky fading slowly to black, and eventually finds himself inside a damp, moss covered cavern. Shehada latches onto the ceiling and begins eating their meal, as Emberlin clings desperately to a stalactite nearby, his wings now gone.

As Shehada finishes eating, Emberlin asks if they are going to change the islands like Camarta did to Greenspires. They answer no, and say that they are going to “wake the night”. With that, they turn and release a deep, guttural roar that echoes throughout the cavern. A moment passes, and pairs of eyes slowly begin to open. Millions of pairs of eyes cover the walls and ceiling of the cavern, and begin to move. Shehada tells Emberlin it is good to be awake and to hunt again, and to tell the Queen they approve of her plan. Emberlin thanks them for the flight, and says that he will remember it for the rest of his life. Shehada looks at him quizzically, and realizes that he truly doesn’t remember anything about his former life. They flap their wings, blowing Emberlin off the stalactite. Falling, he slams into the ground next to Sharsu.

The Court begins heading back up towards the surface, and eventually notice that behind them is a dead end that never gets any closer or further from them. They soon spot the old lady in the distance, and she leads them back up to the hut. Emberlin gives her a platinum to help rebuild the temple (as many more people are going to be searching for answers now), and the group, after thanking her, make their way back to the Golden Wake. On the way back, they get the sense of creatures flitting through the night sky. Once they arrive, Emberlin drinks heavily before crashing in his room for the night.

Emberlin wakes up the next morning and, upon stepping out in the hallway, finds himself once again in the throne chamber. Before him stands Orophel, facing away with her hands clasped behind her. As Emberlin greets her, she turns and begins circling him. “You have been doing quite a few things- things that have set into motion events that cannot be altered”, she says as she passes behind him. As she reappears on the other side, however, it is not Orophel, but Alphos. “ The thing that you seem to not comprehend is that you have not started a war, but, in fact, two, on varying fronts.” Emberlin blinks, and suddenly Selik stands before him. Leaning in to him, she says “You see, you are of the mortal realm, and thus inherently trust people; and the art of war is the art of deception.” He blinks as Jopha continues, “And anytime you talk to one of us, you just assume we are who we say we are.” Emberlin blinks again, and Amon continues “You never once questioned who we are, asked to see even a display of our power; you just took what we said as fact.” Delilah continues “But I suppose you were quite young when you died the first time, so naivety is to be expected. Well then, allow me to properly introduce myself.”

With a raise of her hands, she transforms into a femine figure in flamboyant jester’s robes. She introduces herself as Dalpha, the Lady of Trickery. She claims that, other than the Queen, she is the only other god Emberlin has spoken to, including the lower lords, as she was the only one able to whisper in Emberlin’s ear without disrupting the Queen’s precious listening. She thanks him for doing exactly what she wanted- starting a war amongst the mortals and the gods amongst which she can play her tricks and gain power.

With a wave of her hand, the floor of the chamber fades and becomes a map of the world. She points out the Emerald Shield, who are on a crusade to conquer the world and put all right so that the gods will speak to them once again. She points to the Dogs of War, who have been raised and, with a leader, are fighting back. The individual nations are fighting back against both, and the old and new gods will begin fighting, both above and below.

Emberlin points to Fearanndreh and asks if that is where everything started. Dalpha confirms, saying that the Seanir speaking with a lowly tiefling put doubts into the minds of some of his followers. Emberlin then points to a point slightly off of Fearanndreh, where he awoke. She says that it is simply where the Queen decided to start him. Finally, he points to a completely random point out in the ocean. She says that he hasn’t gone that far yet, and indeed won’t; though someone else will. As the map rushes in on that point, she reveals a tiny floating island. As she gestures towards it, Embelrin reaches back, grabs the axe, and swings. It passes right through her as a slight chuckle echoes from behind him as she steps back into his vision.

Emberlin asks what her next play will be now that she’s had her fun. She replies that he is a pawn which has served its purpose, and that she will now be taking him off the board. As she pulls out a small crystal sphere, Emberlin blinks away from her and offers up a prayer to the Queen of Embers. Dalpha chuckles and says “That’s cute, but she can’t hear you here.” She suddenly grabs him from behind by his shoulder and throws him towards the center of the room. With a wave of her hand, the map disappears and is replaced by a pit of blackness, and Emberlin begins to fall, eventually slamming into the stone floor below. Dalpha, standing nearby, welcomes him to her personal prison. She wishes him luck getting out of the labyrinth, and vanishes into the shadows.

Emberlin achily sits up and looks around. He lies in a square stone room with two identical doors on opposing walls, and two torches on the others. Pulling out a piece of chalk, Emberlin writes “Emberlin Burns was ‘ere” on one of the walls before opening one of the doors. On the other side lies an island floating in an infinite black. In the middle of it stands a statue with an outstretched hand and a plaque underneath it. Beyond, barely able to be made out, is another door. Emberlin closes this one and opens the other door. This one hides a large, empty stone room. At the far end is a large, sturdy door with a gilded beholder head. Each of the beholder’s eye stalks has a human skull on it.

Presuming the island room to be safer, he heads back to the other door. However, on opening it, he finds that the room has changed, the door now leads to a cozy looking study. Along one wall is a tall bookcase full of books and scrolls. A rolltop desk sits nearby. On another wall is a fireplace with some large armchairs and a small reptilian creature curled up on a rug. Emberlin calls out to the creature, causing it to perk up and reveal itself to be a small cat-sized dragon. Emberlin goes over to it and lets it sniff him before heading over to the desk. The rolltop is locked, along with all the drawers. Inspecting the bookshelves, they all appear to be magical research books such as “The Thesis of Dionysus the Cryomancer”.

Eventually, he sits down in one of the incredibly comfy chairs to think, and hears a tummy rumble from the cat-dragon. He asks if it’s hungry, and it gives a small nod. Emberlin begins scouring the room for food or a bowl, and eventually finds the very obvious box on the fireplace mantle. Inside, he finds a bunch of sweets and candies. Emberlin asks the cat-dragon if it knows where the key to the desk is. It nods, but looks very suspiciously at him. Emberlin offers to give it some food in exchange for the key to the desk. Upon delivery, it disappears underneath the log holder in the fireplace, and eventually returns with a key in its mouth.

The rolltop unlocks, revealing a journal, several vials of liquid, and various other materials. While the journal has no name, it begins: “So it looks like we crossed the wrong god, and now we’re stuck in some kind of magical labyrinth. I’m going to try to discern everything I can about it, but it seems that anytime you open and close a door, it changes the room’s ordering. So, if possible, try to keep doors open with a path back here and make this base camp- bring any useful things I find back here. We’ll see how this goes. Judging time is very difficult here, but I’ll do my best.”

The next entry reads: “It’s really hard to tell time in here. I think it’s been five days- I’m not entirely sure. Despite being starving, I’m somehow not running out of energy or actually withering physically. So, something about this place’s curse seems to maintain me. I will look into this further, because if I’m ever able to get out, that could be a very useful spell.”

The next entry’s handwriting is a little more shaky: “There are hostile things in this world. There are hostile things. If you see them, get out. Close door. Reshuffle room.”

This time, the handwriting is much more deliberate, as if they had sat down to deliberately write it down: “Again, it’s hard to tell time in a place with no sun or no watch. I think it’s been maybe three months. I think I’ve started to at least detect some kind of pattern to the room changes, but I’m not entirely sure. Also, knowing her, she could just change the ordering randomly and then all my research is for naught. I’ve found a small little companion, and it seems quite friendly. Took a while to get its trust, but so far it’s followed me back and is currently napping by the fire. Will update as training and trust is gained.”

“I think it’s been two weeks since the last entry. One time I saw a third door, and I regret not taking it. It looked different than the rest, which made me suspicious. But now, the nagging curiosity is there- was it the way out? Was it something even worse than what’s here? Who’s to say?”

“I’ve found a room that might be the way out. I have the doors propped open. Hopefully, this is my last entry. Wish me luck.”

The final entry, written in red and scrawled with a finger, reads: “Dear god! Please kill me!”

Putting the journal away, Emberlin inspects the vials and finds they are potions of greater healing. The rest of the items appear to be spellcasting components for a wizard, many of which Emberlin pockets. Emberlin invites the cat-dragon to come with him, and then heads over to the other door. Opening it, he finds a small square room with a table in the center. On the table sits a cookie jar. Suspicious of the jar, Emberlin casts an eldritch blast at it, shattering the jar and scattering cookies before closing the door.

Reopening it, he finds a new room: similarly sized, with a door on the opposite size, and in the center, a solitary goose sitting on a nest. Emberlin tries to talk to it, but it just honks back at him. As Emberlin takes a single step in, the goose becomes enraged and begins flapping its wings at him. Emberlin quickly steps back out. Emberlin props “Deal Breaker” into the door to keep it open and heads across the study to open the other door. On the other side is some kind of gladiatorial arena, which he immediately shuts the door on.