H:RotG Chapter 11: Nadir's Zenith

You are asleep. Asleep, and yet so awake. Your body frozen in time, your eyes clamped shut by a force you cannot defy, your ears unable even to make out silence.

And yet, you can still see. Not with your body, or even with other senses, but with… something else. You can sense the presence of others near. You can feel their emotions, probe their consciousness.

Through this unknown power, you learn about the world about you. About civilization, about culture, about politics and power; about the Dragon-Gods and the domains they rule over; about your caretakers, and their vast incompetence. You yearn for your release so that you may have your say after so many years of silence. And yet you remain trapped.

You… you are tired. You cannot take the silence of your cell for any longer. You need to escape. Escape, and run free. Escape and make right the wrongs committed against you. Escape and destroy the forces behind your imprisonment. You. Must. Escape.

Two humanoids, details of their bodies obscured by the darkness, traverse down a musty corridor. One carries a dim torch in their hand, holding it close to the wall. The two creatures walk til the path widens into a vast chamber with a high ceiling, forming its own personal labyrinth by various crates and packages, many of which are covered with heavy white linens.

They continue forward, reaching a towering cylindrical container, it’s surface glazed over with a mixture of ice and dust. The torch-bearer turns around, resting their back against the cool surface… when suddenly, their companion pulls a dagger, stabbing into their cohort over… and over… and over… Blood stains the ice in wide splatters and flows to the earth below, a river flowing back in the direction of the entrance.

As the predator begins to clean their blade, a powerful tremor shakes the storage chamber. Storm clouds manifest above him, the budding tempest pelting them with heavy rainfall. And just as the torch rolls into the mixture of bloody water, two blinding yellow eyes shatter the darkness.

A day after the events of the Betrayal, Nadir’s Zenith is being pelted with a similar heavy rain, lightning bolts roaring challenges to one another across the valley that pins the tower to the sea. Though given a day to rest their, the heroes who halted Tephra’s demise are plagued with aching wounds to their bodies and minds alike- Jacques Nifeton has escaped with the artifact he used to cause this destruction, leaving the Ashen Breach decimated and leaderless, barring P’targ, who had already begun making moves to claim the Mantle for his own desires.

They have little time to mope this evening, however, as they’re summoned by a… unique resident of the tower proper, meeting with the group at the indoor garden. He’s deathly pale, with dark hair that swoops into a swan-like shape, two wide triangular sideburns, and a three-point beard that sticks out sharply from his face. He’s got a grey suit on, but layered on top of it is a pair of bright blue overalls, his crumpled pink tie sticking out the top. Two cups of an unidentified red liquid sit on either side of his head, connected with a band and with long winding straws leading down to his mouth. He smiles, revealing two sharp fangs, and introduces himself as Mr Curse.

Having already heard of the party’s exploits, the eccentric vampire excitedly greets each one of them and provides them with an in-depth tour of the magical tower’s functions. Though it appears to only have 10 floors from the outside, it actually has 100 floors total, though many are currently empty. Each floor could be navigated to by verbally requesting that the tower move you, teleporting you to the desired location. Non-magical items, including furniture, can be manufactured within the tower’s walls with only a simple verbal request. Curse displays this by bringing the group to his own room, where all the furniture is covered in tacky pictures of his own face.

There were already floors dedicated to a hospital/garden, food storage and consumption, and various meetings. Most unique were the middle-most and bottom floors:  the former of which was the Core, the primary power source of the tower that allowed such magic to occur within it; and the latter of which was the Pirene Spring, a flowing fountain within which Gustave spent most of his days, apparently allowing him to extend his already-lengthy life for millennia more than it should have spanned.

Their detailed “tour” of the facility was capped by their arrival at the latter listed location- the bottom floor of Nadir’s Zenith, known as the Pirene Spring. It’s a beautiful space, with a massive pool of water crowned with a vibrant arch of shelves housing the treasures of Gustave’s hoard kept over countless centuries. Despite having some time to rest the old purple dragon looks as ragged as ever, but with a fierce determination in his eyes.

Speaking openly with the group, he reveals a shattering secret to them- the Dragon-God Karomatzu has been slain by a god-killing creature named Curunthsh. The gods were said to be indomitable, but after much research the purple dragon discovered that there are artifacts known as Dragonstones, relics which preserve the Dragon-Gods’ immortality. As long as the Dragonstone remains whole, the god can be “slain” and still live, resurrecting at a later time. However, the destruction of the stone renders the god completely mortal, and though he is unsure of who or what destroyed Karomatzu’s stone his death has resulted in a domino effect, causing the clearing of the fog over the Twilight Loch and the eruption of diamonds from the Ashen Breach. The death of another deity could result in the total annihilation of the Big Stretch as a whole.

To prevent such reality-ending destruction, Gustave founded the Brigade, a guild dedicated to stopping the end of the world. Though there aren’t many members at this point- only himself and a small number of Daggerhart refugees- he pleads for the brave heroes who helped save Tephra to join their ranks. They agree, and after some discussion they agree to head into the heart of enemy territory in order to rescue Shards, the dragon mage they coincidentally saw get spirited away by the Glitterati only two weeks prior.

Before they depart, they take some time to rest, enjoying the beach in the pleasant weather after the storm disperses. Volleyball is played, the ocean is swam in, and a mysterious inch-tall trinket is found that causes people to go into a frenzy. Kefyn also makes a call to his guild, the Cabal of the Brass Arrow, alerting them of his adventures thus far and the corruption of Tephra’s mind.

While packing their things, they discover that none other than Lowdik, the orange dragon they had a kerfuffle with on their way to the Ashen Breach, is also a member of the Brigade! Though the adolescent dragon immediately has a negative reaction, Gustave interjects in their squabbling and demands that the young fellow behave, as he’s to bring these adventurers to the edge of the Southwestern Fringe.

After being unceremoniously dumped in the swampy territory, the newly recruited members of the Brigade dredge their way through the dingy outer towns of the Fringe. Though they face several scheming beggars and a number of oozing enemies, they deftly dodge their way out of any major conflicts for several days, enjoying not being on the brink of death as often as they usually are. But unfortunately for them, their streak nears its end as they approach a ghost town nestled at the base of a mountain, the distant sound of a music box singing in the distance...

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 TBD