Session0015

Episode 0015 - Drug Addicts and Narcs
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**Setting:**

Mychorrhiza - Alviren Kingdom - April 15th-18th, 211 AW
**Synopsis:**

* Having defeated the demons and summoned Heartsong from the Star Road, Frog accepts his role as the vessel for Heartsong to remain in the Material Plane, and Heartsong joins itself with him.
* The party spends some time talking to Aristoadle about his business with the Weavers Conclave, and the quest that Frog is to undertake.
* Overnight, Rye is visited by Mahadi, who appears to him briefly using a *plane shift* spell, and offers him new information about the Psalm of Assimilation.
* The following day, the party departs Mycorrhiza, returning to Molldorf, and then sets out towards Saltcrest in search of XV and the clone of Tamrius Grimm.
* Along the way to the coast of Sapphrius Bay, the party battles carrion stalkers that have infested a ransacked caravan, and they continue to experiment with Syn and awaken more of its properties.
* Arriving at the coast, the party gains passage on a smuggler's ship, and set off to Saltcrest by sea.
* During their travel, the party battles sea monsters, and continues to learn more about Syn, discovering information about the blade's history within a book taken from Natalie Shaw's estate.
* After a few days of travel, the party reaches Saltcrest.

## April 15th

With the demonic creatures defeated at the Shrine of Chronicles, and the astral spirit Heartsong successfully summoned, Frog and Aristoadle close the portal that they created to the Star Road. As the party regroups from the battle, Heartsong introduces himself to the party, expressing his gratitude for defeating the demons, which he explains were servants of the Demon Lord Araumycos. After verifying that the party has learned the Fable of the Thousand Year Door, Heartsong asks Frog if he agrees to fulfill his role in the prophecy, and serve as Heartsong's vessel. The party expresses some concerns that Heartsong is attempting to possess Frog, but Heartsong assures them that the process requires a willing vessel, and that unlike a possession, Frog will maintain his own personality and autonomy, merely serving as a tether to the Material Plane for Heartsong. He also explains that his presence will grant Frog new powers, allowing him to call on Heartsong's aid in battle.

Heartsong also asks Jack for his willingness to participate in the prophecy, explaining that the journey will require the use of the Chaos Core, which can only be used by a conduit. Jack tentatively agrees to aid in the journey, though he expresses some hesitation about his own capabilities.

After their conversation, Frog allows Heartsong to inhabit him. The astral spirit disappears into Frog, and communicates telepathically with him, offering whatever aid and information he can provide to assist.

Afterwards, the party spends some time speaking with Aristoadle, who is one of the nine members of the Weavers Conclave, about the Conclave and his involvement with it. When the party expresses some mistrust and reservations towards the Conclave, Aristoadle defends the organization's philosophy and mission to ensure that magic is practiced safely and peacefully, despite the differing approaches of its various members, and the questionable reputation it has received. Jack mentions the Inquisitors, cautioning Aristoadle that they pose a serious threat to the validity of the Weavers Conclave, and they need to be dealt with. Aristoadle admits that he knows little about the Inquisitors and has not taken their threat as seriously as he should, and agrees to speak about the matter with his colleagues.

The party questions Kamm's membership in the Weavers Conclave, asking why an enemy of the Alviren Empire would be allowed to join. Aristoadle explains that the Conclave is intentionally a non-political organization, and as such, political concerns are not factored when members are chosen. According to Aristoadle, Kamm is a powerful arcanist, and as such, deserves a position on the Conclave despite his conflicts with Mycorrhiza and the Empire.

Malkoth asks Aristoadle if he can provide him with a license to practice magic; Aristoadle agrees to begin the process, but explains that it would take months of training.

Odell asks Aristoadle about his colleague, Grenfi Nackle, and his opinion of her. Aristoadle expresses a professional respect and even camaraderie with Nackle, describing her as a kindred spirit, as a fellow historian and lorekeeper.

Rye and Malkoth ask about Natalie Shaw. Aristoadle corroborates what the party has learned about her - that she was a brilliant conjuration wizard, but she became troubled toward the end of her life after the loss of her son, and began dabbling in infernal magic as a way to try to reconnect with him. He explains that in her earlier years, she had focused her studies on trying to create a tuning fork for the *plane shift* spell, attuned to Sigil. To Aristoadle's knowledge, this seemed like an infeasible task, as the city of Sigil cannot be reached by teleportation. When Aristoadle asks about the party's interest in Shaw, Malkoth explains that he is her grandson. He also asks about Elrah Saevel, who was mentioned in Natalie's letter to Lane Coronato, but Aristoadle doesn't know much about him, beyond what the party already knows.

Malkoth asks who replaced Natalie Shaw on the Weavers Conclave after her death, insinuating that they might have had a motivation for her death. Aristoadle says that she was replaced by Ruby Rainsong, a friend and member of their former adventuring party.

The party shows Syn to Aristoadle, telling him about its properties, and expressing concern that the Weavers Conclave would try to take it from them if they tried to register it legally. Aristoadle says that he doesn't believe that Conclave would take the sword from them, because they only take items that are deemed to be a danger to the common good, such as cursed or sentient items. He encourages them to show it to the Conclave to learn more about it, but they decline, asking him not to reveal that they have the sword to his colleagues.

After their conversation, Aristoadle shows the party the locations of the four druid circles that protect the elemental places of power required to charge the Chaos Core. Specifically, he tells them about the Amadou Circle, a circle of fire druids located on Lo'ihi Island, led by Archdruid Goronormous; the Psathyrella Circle, a circle of water druids located at Inika Village, led by Archdruid Silvertooth Bradley; the Tremella Circle, a circle of air druids located in a flying city in the clouds called Nimbia, led by Archdruid Garro; and the Dikarya Circle, the circle of earth druids that the party previously visited in Molldorf, led by Archdruid Maude Mole. Regarding the flying city of Nimbia and the Tremella Circle, Aristoadle explains that the city's existence is a secret known to no one other than the leaders of the Fable Bearers Circle - not even the King and Queen of Mycorrhiza. He explains that the city can be reached from a village high in the mountaintops of the Erdehalt Peaks in Aerzen, where a magic beanstalk stretches into the clouds.

The party recommends contacting each of the druid circles to verify that they are safe, speculating that one of the magic teleportation paintings might be compromised, based on the recent Kameshiman invasion. Aristoadle agrees with the idea, and says he will reach out to them via magic.

Afterwards, the party discusses their plans moving forward. They decide to return to Molldorf and proceed onward to Saltcrest as planned, to meet with Grenfi Nackle and investigate the whereabouts of XV and the clone of Tamrius Grimm. They make arrangements to leave in the morning, once Aristoadle has rested and is able to activate the painting to Molldorf.

The party spends the remainder of the evening resting and relaxing, some remaining at the Fable Bearers Sanctum, and others returning to Mushroom Town. Ilex remains behind at the Shrine of Chronicles to talk with Aristoadle about the Star Road.

In the evening, Rye is visited by Mahadi, who appears to him temporarily using a *plane shift* spell. Mahadi says that Rye's plan to stage an assassination attempt isn't going to happen, as it raises more attention that its worth. Rye says that he really just wanted to talk to Mahadi, and was looking for a way to get in touch. He explains that his memories have started coming back to him from his mortal life, and recounts some of them to Mahadi. He asks Mahadi if he knows how or why he lost his memories, but Mahadi says that he doesn't. Rye asks Mahadi how they first met, and Mahadi briefly recounts the story, explaining that he found Rye in a hopeless state in Karaad, and gave him money to escape the city.

Rye tells Mahadi about having a son and a grandson with Natalie Shaw, and asks him about the properties and function of the Imlaq Amulet. Mahadi insists that the amulet is essentially just a key for the Imlaq Colossus, required to activate it and utilize its functions, in conjunction with the Psalm of Awakening.

Rye also tells Mahadi about his encounter with Israphel within the Imlaq Colossus. Mahadi presses him for the details of this encounter and Israphel's plans, but Rye says that he doesn't know much about Israphel's intentions.

Running out of time to remain on the Material Plane, Mahadi tells Rye that Passeri is somehow still alive, residing on an island in Lake Ryne, within the Taruki Jungle. He explains that Rye should be able to get the Psalm of Assimilation from Passeri, and emphasizes the importance of Rye staying on task. He also expresses some concern about the potential of Rye dying, even after Rye dismisses these concerns, believing that he'll simply be reborn in the Hells if he dies. Nonetheless, Mahadi emphasizes to Rye that he must not die, before disappearing.

Afterwards, Rye tells Odell about his encounter with Mahadi, and what the two discussed. Odell presses Rye about his true intentions, and whether he intends to fulfill the prophecy as the Trumpeter and bring about the apocalypse. Rye dismisses these concerns, and the two agree to discuss it further later.

## April 16th

In the morning, the party reconvenes for breakfast in preparation to depart for Molldorf. Rye tells the rest of the party about his encounter with Mahadi. Jack explains that he knows of the island on Lake Ryne, which is called Nakuloko Island, and is believed to be cursed, haunted, or somehow otherwise perilous.

Ilex reveals that she intends to remain behind in Mycorrhiza, to study the Star Road with Aristoadle and the Fable Bearers Circle. She explains that learning about the Star Road has been her driving motivator, and she thinks the Fable Bearers Circle is the best place to do so, emphasizing that she believes the party is destined to meet again in the future.

Meeting with the party in the gallery of magic paintings, Aristoadle explains that he sent magic messages the the archdruids of the four elemental druid circles. He says that the Dikarya and Amadou Circles - the circles of earth and fire - have not experienced any issues. However, he says he was unable to contact either Silvertooth Bradley or Garro, the archdruids of the circles of water and air.

After the party bids farewell to King Trumpet and Queen Chantrelle, Aristoadle activates the magic painting which connects to Molldorf, and the party departs. Arriving back in Molldorf, the party quickly regroups and gathers their mounts and wagon, then set off towards Saltcrest, traveling towards the inlet where Sapphrius Bay meets the Bastion River in hopes of securing passage aboard a ship.

During the day's travel, the party works towards awakening the properties of Syn by repeatedly using its properties, following Patches and Jack's success. XVIII and Rye successfully awaken the blade and activate additional properties. During the process, Odell studies the blade closely using an *identify* spell, and determines some more specifics of the sword's nature. He discerns that the sword has a semblance of its own sentience, or at least will, and desires to be wielded by powerful magic users in order to imbue itself with their strengths. He also learns that the sword needs to change hands frequently, as it could lose some of its strength if one person remains attuned to it for too long. Notably, by studying the blade closely, Odell also deduces that it is crafted with Material Chaos, which is typically far too volatile of a substance to use in crafting items.

Later in the day, the party encounters a caravan in the grasslands that seems to have been attacked by monsters. As they approach, they discover that all of the bodies of the travelers have been mostly devoured to the bone, and caravan is infested with carrion stalkers. The party battles and defeats the carrion stalkers, and investigates the caravan. They find some basic travel supplies and trade goods, but nothing of tremendous value amongst the belongings. The party decides to bring the wagons and gear to the coast with them, in hopes of selling it.

During the remainder of the travel day, the party continues to experiment with Syn, and Malkoth awakens additional properties.

Arriving at the coast, the party finds a single large sailing ship anchored near a small farming village. As the party approaches to ask about procuring passage to Saltcrest, the captain asks them if they are the travelers he's been awaiting, explaining that he was hired to transport a caravan of travelers to Saltcrest. The party explains that they found the caravan ransacked and the travelers dead, but they offer to pay for passage instead, and to help protect the ship from dangers at sea. Jack, suspecting the ship to involved in some sort of smuggling operation, insinuates to the captain that they will mind their own business along the way. The captain, who introduces himself as Eleazar O'Brien, agrees to the arrangement, and the party boards the ship and departs for Saltcrest.

During his night's watch, Rye has a vision from his mortal life of his first meeting with Mahadi. In the vision, Louche is sitting on the beach near the docks in Karaad playing his trumpet, when he is approached by Mahadi. The two discuss the state of Karaad, with Louche explaining that his parents are both dead, and expressing a desire to leave Karaad. Mahadi gives Louche a pouch containing a great sum of money, and gives him advice on using it to leave Karaad. He insinuates that the gold is a gift from Asmodeus, and entreats Louche to remember who helped him, and return to Karaad when he has found himself in a better position.

After having this vision, Rye and Odell discuss Rye's plans for the future. Odell raises concerns that Rye is playing into the plans that the Hells have for him by seeking out Passeri and the Psalm of Assimilation, and insists that they should not look for the Psalm at all, expressing some mistrust towards Rye, and concern that he might be intentionally trying to fulfill the prophecy and bring about the apocalypse. Rye is somewhat evasive about his precise plans, but he insists that he does not want to fulfill the prophecy, and that he intends to destroy the Psalm of Assimilation if he finds it. He admits that he isn't entirely sure how he's going to get out of fulfilling the prophecy, but he has to play along for the time being because he is being watched.

## April 17th

The following morning, Malkoth transforms Blakjak into a spider, and sends her into the ship's cargo hold to try to find out if the ship is actually smuggling something illicit, as Jack suspects. Amongst the ship's cargo, Blakjak finds a barrel filled with dancing weed, an illicit substance.

Around midday, the ship is assailed by a monstrous sea rex and some other sea creatures, which the party battles and defeats. During the battle, Frog calls on the aid of Heartsong, launches a disk of radiant energy at one of the creatures.

After the battle, the party uses the ship's fishing harpoons to retrieve the sea rex corpse, severing its head to take to Saltcrest in hopes of selling it.

Later, Malkoth and Rye spend some time socializing with the ship's crew, and befriending a crewman named Armin Fatfingers, who shares some of his own dancing weed with them.

## April 18th

The following travel day, in the early afternoon, the ship is approached by a smaller boat piloted by an owlfolk, who introduces herself as Eterra, and offers to sell the party magical services, including casting spells for them or allowing them to scribe spells from her book. Odell pays her to place an *arcane lock* on the bookcase containing the journal of Halimath Wasanthi, and Malkoth pays to copy some of the spells from her spellbook.

With Eterra's ship in tow, the party continues on towards Saltcrest. During the remainder of the travel day, Rye spends some time reading some of the books that he took from Natalie Shaw's reading room. One of the books, entitled *Compendium Magicae*, he finds contains tales of the great deeds of the arcanists of the Age of Arcana. Within this book, he finds entries related to some figures of interest, including Tamrius Grimm, Basel Anselmo, and Passeri. He also finds an entry in the book about an artificer named Folenor Joris, and discovers that the entry describes Joris' creation of a magic sword forged from Material Chaos, called Syntithenai. A drawing in the book depicts this sword, which seems to be Syn.

Reading further, Rye learns that Folenor Joris was a mage that lived in the late years of the Age of Arcana, who lived and studied in the city of Hartwell, and forged Syntithenai from Material Chaos in hopes of using it to kill Asmodeus and become the lord of the Nine Hells. As described by the book, the sword was designed to gain power from those who wielded it, imbuing itself with the strengths of its bearers. To this end, Folenor traveled around Materi with the sword and visited some of the world's most powerful mages, in the hopes of imbuing Syntithenai with all of their strengths. He eventually convinced seven other mages to attune to the blade and awaken its powers: Tamrius Grimm, Passeri, Myriostoma, Avara Wasanthi, Alusfaen Orion, Daimao, and Basel Anselmo. He did not divulge his intention to use the blade to slay Asmodeus to any of these individuals, with the exception of Daimao. Instead, he framed his quest as an experiment in the arcane.

Once the blade was fully awakened, Folenor Joris traveled to Chwaka to do battle with Asmodeus, and was never heard from again, presumed to have been slain by Asmodeus' forces.

In the early evening, the party arrives at Saltcrest.