Session0021

Episode 0021 - To Fall or To Rise
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**Setting:**

Orion's Crypt - The Golden Wastes - April 26th-27th, 211 AW
**Synopsis:**

* At Orion's Crypt, the party interrogates Duke Vincent Mason, who reveals that he is Gragnok's father, and confesses to conspiring with Avourel Orion to have Gragnok killed. He also reveals that Avourel, "The Ghost Collector," is presently within the crypt.
* After some discussion, and in spite of Mason's apparent willingness to submit to arrest and legal prosecution for his crimes, the party executes him.
* The party delves into Orion's Crypt to retrieve Orion's Key and confront Avourel Orion.
* After successfully bypassing the crypt's security measures, the party finds Avourel Orion standing over the sarcophagus of Alusfaen Orion. Avourel reveals that he was the necromancer who attacked Gragnok's troop and killed Carric Blackburn, and he summons Carric's undead spirit to battle the party.
* As the battle begins, Avourel Orion opens Alusfaen Orion's sarcophagus and retrieves his battleaxe, refering to it as Orion's Key. When he does, celestial protectors appear and challenge him to prove his worth in the sight of the gods.
* Before the party can stop him, Avourel Orion uses a *dimension door* spell and disappears from the crypt, taking Orion's Key with him, and leaving the party to fend against the celestial protectors.
* The party flees the celestials and chases after Avourel, rushing back outside to search for him. They are unable to find Avourel anywhere nearby, but they find evidence that he and another individual teleported away from a nearby hiding place.
* Odell releases a *paper bird* to discern Avourel's location. The bird begins flying eastward, and the party deduces that Avourel has teleported in the direction of the Luxturrim Obelisk.
* After a brief discussion about how to proceed, the party decides to use Rye's magical *warp whistle* to teleport to a location with which Jack is familiar, about a day's travel away from the Luxturrim Obelisk, in hopes of catching up with Avourel faster.
* Jack uses the *warp whistle*, and the party arrives at a hill overlooking the Scar, where the Luxturrim Obelisk is located.
* The party rests for the night near some ancient singing stones, which provide them with restorative magic. Rye gleans insights into the nature of Passeri's psalms by studying the stones.
* The following morning, the party sets out across the Golden Wastes towards the Luxturrim Obelisk.
* En route to the Scar, the party comes across the remains of an ancient farming village, which is overgrown with lush plant life.
* In the center of the village, Odell discovers an obelisk adorned with Rune Magic, including arcane glyphs and the holy symbol of Melora. As he approaches to investigate, he is attacked by sentient plants.

## April 26th

Within Orion's Crypt, the party regroups from their battle with Duke Vincent Mason. They work together to stabilize Mason and treat his wounds to prevent him from bleeding to death, then restrain and disarm him.

As the party is recuperating and healing, Patches decides to take a nap. While sleeping, he has a dream wherein he is visited by his patron, who offers him a tray of magical cookies. When he wakes up from his nap, the cookies have appeared nearby. Patches shares the cookies with the party, discovering that they have magical effects. Most notably, Frog eats a star-shaped cookie, and gains the opportunity to scry on a location of his choosing. He chooses the mountaintop where ther party found Syntithenai during their shared dream shortly after meeting. In the scrying vision, he sees the location where the party actually found the sword on the island of Ymana.

After their brief rest, the party wakes up Duke Vincent Mason to interrogate him. They use *zone of truth* and *detect thoughts* spells to ensure that his answers are truthful.

Upon awakening, Vincent Mason admits that he has committed crimes against the Alviren Empire, and submits to his arrest and prosecution. He cautions the party against taking justice into their own hands, warning that executing him themselves would constitute treason, even in spite of his crimes. When asked what crimes he has committed, Mason confesses that he has tried to have Gragnok killed multiple times.

Pressed for details, Vincent Mason reveals that he is actually Gragnok's father. He explains that Gragnok was born to Valania Aloro, with whom he had a romantic relationship for many years before becoming the Duke of Hartwell. After their relationship had ended, Valania brought Gragnok to Vincent as a baby, explaining that she could not care for the baby, and planned to take him to the orphanage if Vincent would not take him in. Vincent, concerned that Gragnok's existence could jeopardize his position as Duke, agreed to take Gragnok in, but then took him into the wilderness under cover of night with the intent of killing him. He was stopped by Carric Blackburn, who urged Vincent to give him the baby, and he would never speak of the matter again.

Many years later, Vincent was approached by a mysterious elf who introduced himself as "The Ghost Collector," and threatened to reveal Vincent's secret to the Empire unless he complied with a request - to send Gragnok on patrol in the Eiswald Forest at a designated date and time. Vincent complied with this demand, despite the fact that he suspected that The Ghost Collector intended to kill Gragnok.

Subsequently, after the events that transpired with Gragnok's troop and the death of Carric Blackburn, The Ghost Collector approached Mason once again. The Ghost Collector blackmailed Mason, demanding that he remove the military guard from Orion's Crypt, and allow him entry, or he would reveal their conspiracy to the Empire. Mason, feeling that he had no choice other than to comply, agreed, and met The Ghost Collector at the Crypt.

When asked, Mason reveals that The Ghost Collector is still within the Crypt, having just headed inward a few hours prior.

The party discusses how to proceed. Frog advocates for delivering Vincent Mason to the authorities for a legal trial rather than killing him, but the party argues that this isn't realistic or practical, and they doubt that the Duke would actually face a fair trial. Malkoth asks the Duke what he believes would be a fair sentencing for his crimes, and the Duke admits that his crimes should be punishable by death. The party also asks him who else knows the truth of Gragnok's lineage, and the Duke says that only he, Valania Aloro, Carric Blackburn, and The Ghost Collector are aware, to the best of his knowledge.

As the party discusses the possibility of executing the Duke, he once again warns them against it, and also says that if they submit him for punishment through legal channels, he could recommend Gragnok as the next Duke of Hartwell, as his own son. Gragnok declines, saying that he has no interest in being the Duke of Hartwell.

At Gragnok's behest, Chak-ik-cha executes the Duke.

Gragnok offers Chak-ik-cha the remainder of his payment for assisting in killing the Duke, but Chak-ik-cha refuses, seemingly insinuating that he does not feel he aided the endeavor sufficiently to earn the payment. Gragnok offers that he could earn the rest by helping them confront The Ghost Collector within the crypt, to which Chak-ik-cha agrees.

After briefly recuperating and healing, the party heads deeper into the Crypt in search of The Ghost Collector and Orion's Key.

Proceeding deeper into the crypt, following a staircase that leads to an underground level, the party finds a chamber with a statue of Corellon, and an inscription describing the foundational religious pillars of the ancient kingdom of Ayn Sitael. The chamber also contains a fountain that feeds a pool of water, and four bowls on pedestals, decorated with reliefs of elven and religious imagery. Searching the chamber, the party finds the footprints of a single humanoid, which disappear into the water. With his *wand of secrets*, Odell discerns that there is a hidden passageway within the pool.

The party deduces that the bowls throughout the room must be appropriately filled with water that signifies the pillars of Ayn Sitael as described on the statue's inscription. With some trial and error, they appropriately fill the bowls, and the passageway opens, leading further downward.

Below, they reach a chamber that contains a large sarcophagus, with a statue of an angel overlooking it - presumably the burial place of Alusfaen Orion. Standing before the sarcophagus is an elf, adorned in black accoutrement, his face half-scarred with what appears to be damage from a burn or explosion - presumably The Ghost Collector. The Ghost Collector addresses Gragnok, using magic to change his appearance, and confirming that he was the necromancer that attacked Gragnok's troop in the Eiswald Forest. He says that he intended for Gragnok to die that night as well, but Gragnok's decision to leave his father and troop behind and chase after The Ghost Collector saved him.

Jack adresses The Ghost Collector as well, and says that he recognizes him. The Ghost Collector, after a moment, recognizes Jack as well, refering to him as the conduit, and saying that he regrets not killing him when he had the chance. The Ghost Collector then produces a smoky glass orb from within his robes, and shatters it on the floor. From the shattered orb, the undead spirits of several Hartwellian soldiers appear, including that of Carric Blackburn. The Ghost Collector insinuates that he collected their spirits after their deaths, and commands them to attack the party.

As combat begins, The Ghost Collector approaches the sarcophagus of Alusfaen Orion. He cuts his hand to draw blood, and by placing the blood into an indentation in the sarcophagus, opens it. When he does, a number of celestial guardians appear within the chamber, and demand that The Ghost Collector prove his worth in the sight of the gods before claiming Orion's birthright. The Ghost Collector reaches into the sarcophagus and pulls out a battleaxe that the corpse is holding. He refers to the axe as "Orion's Key," and shows it to Gragnok, stating that there can be only one heir to the Orion name. Then, he casts *dimension door* and disappears.

The celestial protectors remain in the chamber, continuing to battle against the party members that attacked them as the fight broke out. Quickly discussing how to proceed, the party begins to flee the chamber, chasing after The Ghost Collector in hopes of finding him somewhere above ground. As they are fleeing, Odell asks Gragnok who The Ghost Collector is, saying that he needs his name in order to locate him. Gragnok reveals that The Ghost Collector is Avourel Orion - the last known descendant of Alusfaen Orion, and a leader of the elven kingdom of Shaeserin - information that he learned in Paxeter from Federico Tinelli. Odell writes Avourel's name on a *paper bird* and releases it, in hopes that it will lead the party to him. It begins to fly out of the crypt, and the party pursues it.

The party successfully escapes the crypt, and the celestial guardians do not continue to pursue the party once they escape the chamber. Outside, Blakjak reports to Malkoth that he has been keeping watch while the party was inside, and has not seen anyone exit the crypt, or any other movement or activity.

Odell's *paper bird*, after exiting the crypt, begins flying eastward. The party chases after it, with Jack leading the way using a *haste* spell and a *fly* spell. Jack follows the *paper bird* for several minutes, but it continues flying, until it is well out of range of the crypt. The party deduces that Avourel must have somehow escaped the vicinity, as the *paper bird* continues to fly eastward, and eventually out of sight. Judging by the direction of the *paper bird's* flight, the party speculates that Avourel has gone to the Luxturrim Obelisk, based on the fact that he escaped with Orion's Key.

The party regroups outside Orion's Crypt, and searching the area for any sign of how Avourel escaped. Hidden behind a nearby boulder, they find the footprints of two elves, and a spot where they clearly used magic to teleport away. The deduce that someone was waiting outside for Avourel, and teleported them both away once Avourel arrived.

After some discussion about how to proceed, Rye offers his *warp whistle* that he acquired in Mycorrhiza, saying that it can be used to teleport to any location the party has seen before. Based on the party's approximate knowledge of the location of the Luxturrim Obelisk, and Jack's familiarity with the region, Jack says he could teleport them to safe location about a day's travel from the obelisk, which would save them a great deal of travel time through the Golden Wastes. Emphasizing the importance of catching up to Avourel Orion before he can get whatever it is that he wants from within the Obelisk, the party agrees to this plan, and they begin to quickly prepare to teleport.

The party gathers their mounts and belongings, and they burn their wagon, in an effort not to leave behind evidence of their presence at the Crypt. While making these preparations, they discover the the jawbone of the corpse of Duke Vincent Mason has been removed. Odell speculates that Avourel must have taken it, in order to prevent anyone from using a *speak with dead* spell on the corpse.

While they are making preparations, Odell asks Jack how he knew Avourel Orion. Jack explains that Avourel was somehow involved in the death of Djinni, which Pepper confirms.

With their business at Orion's Crypt concluded, Gragnok pays Chak-ik-cha the remainder of the price for his aid. They bid farewell, and Chak-ik-cha departs.

Using Rye's *warp whistle*, the party teleports, arriving at a hillside pond overlooking the Golden Wastes, with the valley colloquially known as "The Scar" - the location of the Luxturrim Obelisk - about a day's travel away in the distance. The party sets up camp, and spends the remainder of the evening resting, not requiring sleep due to the Psalm of Awakening.

Atop the hillside of their campsite, the party finds a set of singing stones - ancient stone monuments with circles carved through them, which make a whistling sound when the wind blows through them. Jack explains that being in the presence of the singing stones at the time of a zenith provides restorative and healing properties. Studying the singing stones, Odell finds small grooves in the circles of the monuments, etched with arcane glyphs, seemingly responsible for their restorative properties.

Jack receives a message from Raakasi Sunmane of the Free Arcanists Lodge, using the communication device given to him by the Lodge, asking for an update regarding the status of his investigation into the Inquisitors. Jack gives a brief explanation of the situation, explaining that Avourel Orion is en route to the Luxturrim Obelisk with Orion's Key, and that they are in pursuit.

Rye casts a *sending* spell to contact Israphel, asking him about the potential dangers of the Luxturrim Obelisk, informing him about Avourel Orion, and also sharing his suspicion that he and Israphel might be valkyries. Israphel responds, revealing that he is currently at the Obelisk, and that there are many dangers. He expresses a lack of concern regarding Avourel Orion, insinuating that the matter is beneath him, and tells Rye to contact him again once he's arrived at the obelisk.

Afterwards, Rye tells the rest of the party about his message from Israphel, and suggests that Israphel might be falling from his station as an angel. He speculates that if the two are indeed valkyries, that their behaviors might mirror each other in some way, such that Louche's transition away from his life as a devil might have an inverse effect on Israphel, pushing him toward evil. He warns that Israphel could be dangerous, and asks the party not to kill him if it comes to it.

Later in the evening, the party notes that the pond of water they are camping near seems to have some sort of magical properties, as it is highly reflective and unnaturally cold. They are unable to discern the exact nature of its magic, however.

During their watch, Jack and XVIII discuss the killing of Duke Vincent Mason, and the possibility of killing Avourel Orion. Jack reveals that it was Djinni who gave Avourel the scarring that covers half of his face.

## April 27th

At sunrise, as the day's Zenith occurs, the singing stones near the campsite begin to play a magical song, which grants to party magical restoration. Listening to the song, Rye plays along with his instrument, noting similarities between the singing stones' magic and the psalm written by Passeri. In particular, he remembers Passeri teaching him that the psalms relied on the power of zeniths in order to function. By playing along and studying the singing stones, Rye is able to remember how to play another of Passeri's psalms, the Psalm of Rest. Notably, he also recognizes that as the inverse of the Psalm of Awakening, the Psalm of Rest could be used to deactivate a colossus.

After their rest, the party sets out towards the Scar in search of the Luxturrim Obelisk.

En route, the party spots an area of unnaturally verdant, lush greenery growing amongst the wastes. Blakjak, scouting the area, sees that the area is the remains of an ancient farming village. In the center of the village, she spots a stone monolith depicting the holy symbol of Melora. The party decides to investigate more closely, and the approach the village.

Approaching the monolith, the party finds that the village itself is ancient and ruined, but that the plant life is burgeoning and verdant. The monolith itself, Odell observes, is adorned with both the holy symbol of Melora, and elements of arcane magic, including glyphs for conjuration and transmutation. Odell recognizes this type of magic as Rune Magic, and approached to investigate more closely. As he approaches the monolith, sentient plant creatures spring to life and attack him.