Session 08

Date range of Session 08.

## 57th of Duoary

### Many Meetings

We open on the 57th of Duoary, the day after Mornon’s death and the Greenheart Council meeting.

Trusting few in the city, Balthazar, Electra, and Amanita had spent the evening at Crookroot Mot in lodgings provided by the Celial Sisterhood. While Amanita spent the evening in the sanctum itself, recovering and trying to reconnect with the earth, Electra and Balthazar were able to rest.

In the morning, Balthazar was called away by Alexander Morozova, who needed him elsewhere on urgent business, and the Manor sent Zara and Zahim Morozova to represent the Morozovas in his stead. They received his pendant and the Horn of Castigation, and Balthazar was teleported away.

As the new party reconvened in the morning, they heard a knock at the door. They were greeted by a grizzled dragonborn who introduced himself as Archion Bolea, another representative of the Court of Fire and a mentor to Mornon. As the party discussed Mornon’s potential whereabouts, they were surprised by a second knock at the door. This time, a Celial Sister, Sister Cybin, appeared bearing a wooden chest. She explained that Archdruid Earyn had been brought to the sanctum’s hospice for healing, as she was found with extensive injuries. She had been carrying a chest to be handed to the party and had requested their presence.

When Amanita opened the chest, she saw the rusted crown of Nekrosis and a letter in an ornate script, reading, “*Your problem again xxx Thanks for the book*”. The script did not appear to match the hand of Alistair Blackthorn or any other script they had on their persons.

Before visiting the Archdruid, Amanita plucked Blackthorn’s steel rose from Electra’s lapel and cast *detect magic* on it, revealing some divination magic. Much to Electra’s chagrin, she handed the rose to Sister Cybin to be destroyed. The pair shared a terse exchange, Amanita scolding Electra for leaving her at the council and Electra scolding Amanita for not appreciating her helping Mornon. Amanita, growing tired of Electra, headed off for the hospice. Electra shouted, “*That bitch Klaxi might have been right about you being hysterical,*” and Amanita responded, in turn, by casting *silence* on the cleric.

When the party reached the hospice, they saw the badly injured druid on a bed surrounded by several monk-like figures. Archion spoke to the Archdruid, who claimed that someone had been using her likeness and had put her under a spell the preceding day. She claimed to have fallen unconscious in the Dawnkeeper library before waking in an alcove at the library a few hours prior. She was seen escorting Ubass the Hunter from prison and was last spotted leaving the council chambers with Amanita and Electra. Archion was not convinced, but when he tried to get close to the druid, a shield of green light protected her. Zara/Zahim appeared agitated and conjured their scythe.

As Electra detailed what had happened following the council meeting, the party realised Earyn was missing her druidic staves, representing the Secret Third’s responsibility and wisdom. Amanita questioned whether these staves were also elemental artefacts, but Earyn insisted that the Secret Third created them. At the mention of the missing book, Zara/Zahim noted that “Baghra was not pleased,” and Earyn seemed concerned, asking Zara if they were aware of what was kept in the Manor. Amanita then showed Earyn the crown, and she seemed slightly calmer, content that they had felled Nekrosis for the time being.

When Zara asked about Earyn’s injuries, they noticed she appeared to bear a number of slashing cuts, as if from a sword. Wanting to get to the bottom of what happened, Earyn asked the group to retrace her steps, visiting Ubass the Hunter and the Dawnkeeper library. Amanita suggested that the Archdruid stay with the Sisterhood and recover.

Electra, deciding that the safest place for the crown would be on her head, resolved to attune to the artefact. When she placed the crown on her head, the colours of the world around her became muted, and she heard the familiar, unnatural voice of Nekrosis echo in her mind: “*I’m waiting to come back*”.

Before leaving, Amanita apologised to Electra for destroying her rose and offered her a rose-shaped mushroom to replace it. Electra was still annoyed but accepted the mushroom rose, pinning it to her new crown. However, as the mushroom touched the crown, it began to wilt and rot. Amanita seemed more than a little hurt. When Amanita tried to connect with Electra via her spores, the same pain as the Xeros Mine seemed to pierce her mind, and Amanita informed Electra that she would no longer be able to speak with her if she insisted on wearing the crown.

Leaving the Archdruid, they resolved to visit Ubass the Hunter.

### Ubass the Hunter

Ubass was being held in the hold of the Greenheart, in relative luxury and freedom as a councillor. As the party approached the awakened troll, they sarcastically asked for their “little mouse friend”. Zara/Zahim spoke up and challenged Ubass to a fight, and the troll agreed to give the group information in exchange for House Morozova’s vote and one vote from the Sisterhood. Amanita refused.

Seeing the conversation was going nowhere, Electra cast *charm person* on Ubass, who could not express what they wanted to say. It was as if they were under some spell. Ubass noticed Amanita attempting to cast a *detect magic* spell on them and became enraged, their pupils dilating. They then screamed, “*I will fight you for your tokens, or you can leave me in peace*”. Archion cast *enlarge* on himself and met the troll eye-to-eye. The fight began.

Amanita closed her eyes, sighing, and Electra donned her merch and searched for canapes in the kitchen.

Archion could not withstand many of Ubass’s hits, and after an exchange of blows, he transformed into a large brass dragon to fight the troll.

Electra returned from the kitchens to find a dragon where Archion once stood and whispered to Amanita. Both seemed surprised that Archion was holding his own, and the pair shared some canapes as they watched the fight unfold.

When Archion struck Ubass with an electric attack, the troll appeared pained, but even with these elemental barrages, Archion could not prevail. With their weapon raised above Archion, Ubass urged him to yield. Reluctantly, Archion yielded.

With the fight concluded, Ubass gained another vote, and the Morozovas lost their long-held seat on the Greenheart Council.

Before Ubass could leave, Electra asked for their autograph and not-so-subtly revealed that their friend, Mornon, had recently been “turned into a lizard”. Ubass seemed to piece things together. Returning to Archion, they claimed they would not give up information that he did not win through the terms of the fight, but, respecting how well Archion had fought, they suggested the party find them later in the Atrix Catacombs. The party recalled the series of pre-Mage War tunnels being used for cult activity, specifically necromancy. They decided to hold off on visiting the catacombs until the following day.

### The Dawnkeeper Library

The Dawnkeeper Library was a large circular building, repurposed from an old art gallery sometime after the Mage Wars. The inside of the glass building was filled with owls of spectral light: hundreds of familiars carrying books and scrolls through the library.

Electra began to wander around, looking for the least “bookish” librarian in the building. She stumbled upon Omnac, a purple-skinned tiefling with goat horns and a goatee. When she asked about books, Omnac offered the cleric a number of suggestions, including the seminal text *NUMBERS.*

Zara searched for general information about the political structure of the Ironclad Union. They learned that the region was governed by a group of nine oligarchs called the Council of Fi, led by Doctor Mia and a monarch named Queen Tarina. Zara thought that Alistair Blackthorn could possibly be working for the Council.

Meanwhile, Archion had barely entered the building when he ran into Blackthorn in the flesh. The newly-appointed councillor appeared to be reading into the history of the Swarmlands. The two shared a brief exchange, and Archion mentioned his missing comrade, Mornon. When speaking of the Shadowfen, Blackthorn described the region as a place “*full of possibilities*”.

Finally, Amanita, accompanied by Zara and Archion, and not daring to spend any more time than absolutely necessary in what she perceived as a graveyard of memories, headed straight for the head librarian, an elderly goblin woman known as Fyzrott Tanner. The goblin appeared surprised to see the Sister, and Amanita explained that she was here on behalf of Archdruid Earyn, who was recovering at Crookroot Mot. The librarian noted that the book the Archdruid had been reading, *The Corpus Mysterium,* had been checked out, along with three other books the druid had requested, *Irrakian Mysteries, Swarm One*, and *From Vudaner.* When Amanita asked who had checked out the books, Tanner gave her the name of Jarl Bolcan.

Led by Tanner, the party then descended to the vaults beneath the library, where forbidden writings were stored. The archives were empty, and an eerie layer of fog coated the ground. Archion noticed a strange glint of light and a scuffle on the ground and found a small crystal shard. Tanner guided them to two relevant texts, *Psychia Fractora* and the *Compendium of Dark and Forbidden Magic,* then left them to the archives.

Archion perused *Psychia Fractora*, and while the magic was inaccessible to him, he saw details for lorewalking and memory exchange spells, including spells to access the memories of the deceased, spells for transferring memories, and spells for taking memories by force. He copied as many runes from the book as he could. Meanwhile, in the *Compendium of Dark and Forbidden Magic*, Amanita read some history of soul-swapping spells and the reason for their banning. She also located the spell used on Mornon, a spell named *soul swap,* and learned that the spell would have killed Izzic Manytooth.

While their research had gotten them nowhere, recalling Elmwood’s words about the Celial Sisterhood, Amanita seized the opportunity to search the archives for written information on the Sisterhood. She located a mushroom-covered book and looked inside. The text detailed the pre-Mage War *History of the Lost Northern Mushrooms* and spoke of the disappearance of the northern Celium Network. She read of the first dwarves who came to the north before the region was capped in ice. Rather than attacking the fungal sanctums of the Celium Network, the early dwarves began severing the Network below the mountains at the Penreir River. When they did, however, the northern Network began to corrupt, and strange creatures emerged from underground. According to the book, the first dwarves, the forgefathers, formed an alliance with the Frostlings of the north to fight back this incursion and freeze over the northern Network. Upon learning this history, a history that she had never learned, not even in her 20 years as a Sporeseer, Amanita did something forbidden: she wrote down her findings on a piece of paper and hid the paper in her robes. She did not share what she read with the group.

Finally, Zahim found a book titled *On Life*, which detailed the theory that “life” was constructed from a mixture of the eight elements. The book claimed that to create life was to place these elements in harmony - an exceedingly difficult endeavour.

With their business concluded, the group decided to return to the surface and visit Jarl Bolcan. Electra returned to Omnac and surreptitiously borrowed several titles. As they left the library, Amanita began reciting one of the Sisterhood’s prayers for the memories of the deceased, to which Tanner replied, “*You don’t need to do that every time. You’ve already prayed for them*”.

### Jarl Bolcan

On the gondola on their way to Jarl Bolcan’s residence, Electra offered Zahra/Zahim some fashion advice, and the group noticed the strangeness of the paladin. Amanita tried to connect telepathically to Zahra/Zahim, but the siblings chastised her for intruding into their mind.

When they arrived at Jarl Bolcan’s residence, they ran into Baskar Rawhide, who appeared to be in a foul mood. He grumbled about the unnecessary dredging up of the past before heading on his way. Entering Bolcan’s chambers, they found the orc packing to leave. They had little patience for the group’s questions. When asked about the library books, Bolcan replied, “*Do I look like a man of letters?*” and claimed they must have been impersonated. Zara showed Bolcan the ledger from the library, and they noted that whoever had impersonated them spoke Orcan (Orcish?), evidenced by the dotted “ö” in the signature.

They asked about the orc’s haste in leaving Greensgood, and Bolcan revealed that the Divine Church was sending Imperitors, divine warriors, into the Westmarsh. Not so subtly ushered out of their rooms, the party was left with even fewer answers than before. That is until Amanita conjured an invisible *arcane eye* in Bolcan’s rooms and watched as they spoke in harsh tones to another orc. While she could not understand their language, Bolcan proceeded to write a letter in common, which noted, “*They’re on to you. Return the books immediately. Our deal does not stand otherwise.*” Bolcan then handed the letter to the orc messenger. As the party left Bolcan’s residence, Amanita followed the messenger with her *arcane eye*, tracking them all the way to the Obsidian Spire, where magical interference prevented her from seeing any further.

When they arrived at the Spire, Amanita cast a *locate object* spell on the letter, which revealed the orc messenger heading to the third floor before suddenly vanishing. Amanita and Zahim then headed upstairs to find out why the letter had vanished.

Accompanied by Archion, Electra once again accosted General Rex, asking him for a personal tour of the healing rooms. Rex resolutely refused but suggested she seek a tour from one of the Spire’s squires. The pair were approached by a bright-eyed toad squire named McCullen, who gave them a tour of the structure. Throughout the tour, Electra tried to charm the young toad, and Archion gave them a pep talk, filling the squire with courage and strength.

Meanwhile, Zahim and Amanita found nothing noteworthy on the third floor. There was a painting on one wall, which Amanita checked for magic and touched but found to be mundane. The privy to the right-hand side of the corridor was more interesting. Amanita’s detect magic spell revealed a brick on the wall covered in some kind of alteration magic. She tried to dispel the magic on the stone, but when that failed, she sat down to identify the magical properties of the stone. The ritual would take some time, and Zahim stood watch for any passers-by.

While the first few minutes passed without issue, about six minutes into the ritual, a young toad squire, McCullen, approached and tried to access the bathroom. Zara attempted to move them on, explaining that there had been an accident in the bathroom, but McCullen was undeterred. They didn’t notice Amanita on their way into the privy, but upon leaving, they saw the Sister with her hand against the wall, casting a spell. Amanita could not talk her way out of her strange situation, and Zara stepped in with a more violent solution. Almost killing the young toad, Zahim intimidated them into staying in the privy and cleaning themselves up.

Amanita’s spell ended, and she learned that the stone was a teleport accessible to a few approved individuals. Once again, they were no closer to untangling the mystery.

We end our session with the party in deep shit (literally and metaphorically), faced with an increasingly knotted web of conspiracies and the issue of the young squire.