Session 05 - Hitting the Books

[*NOTE: My memory of this session is a bit fuzzy as I didn’t write a summary beyond my own character’s actions. At the moment it sounds like Ciarán has main character syndrome! Hopefully, someone else can fill in the gaps and clear up anything I might have missed - B*]

## Arrival at Rymes and Farewells

Upon arriving at Rymes, the party split from their companion, Atticus, who elected to accompany Billy Tanager in his recovery. Rymes was a distinct change from the locations the party had previously visited. Due to its proximity to the university, the city appeared suffused with magic, with floating discs transporting goods rather than carts. The party began to head towards the imposing and breathtaking structure of the Ersatz University with the names of the academics that Cerious had given them.

Here they parted ways with their werewolf companion Layla, who surrendered herself to the university for treatment. Wishing Layla well, Ciarán ripped a section off his cloak and handed her some fabric embroidered with the moon – as a memento and a token of thanks. She hugged him and said her farewells to the party.

On the university grounds, the party was intercepted by Tobias Gold, who offered each party member a letter that would allow them to speak with their relevant academics. The party, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, accepted these letters. [*Note: Did Tobias tell us about the mirror here or later?*]

## Meeting the Academics

Kipper spotted a group of rangers and a druid practising some kind of plant-based magic and decided to join in their practice. From this practice, he was able to learn the druidcraft spell.

The first academic the party encountered was Angmac, a silver tiefling who appeared to be the closest thing to a specialist in multiversal/interplanar theory at the university. Angmac’s office was little more than a broom cupboard, likely pointing to the undervaluing of his work within the institution. After initially being denied entry, Salibar presented Tobias’s letter to Angmac and was able to speak with the tiefling. Angmac revealed that Slaibar was not the first to pass through planes. After a discussion of planar and dimensional theory, during which Angmac questioned Salibar on his origins and lineage, he offered to teach Salibar a “detect plane” spell. Salibar remained with Angmac to learn this spell while Liliana and Ciarán visited the next academic.

Having located Clean Falore’s office, the pair stumbled upon two figures speaking outside the door, a white dragonborn and an unusually old-looking elf, Falore. After the dragonborn had left, Liliana presented the elf with the letter. Falore spoke to the pair as if he was expecting them. Liliana then proceeded to tell Falore about the ritual the party had witnessed in the woods, and Falore used some kind of memory retrieval spell to watch the memory of the ritual himself. After witnessing this ritual, Falore became noticeably distressed (as did the painting on his wall, which seemed to mirror his mood). The words “by a mirror slain, by another shall he rise again” provoked a particularly strong response in the elf. [Note: *Not sure if this conversation occurred after the rest of the party had appeared or before*]. Falore then began to detail the history of the Horned King, a mythic figure and ruler of Arcadia in the third age. The Horned King was a powerful necromancer and fae who, according to legend, was once a mortal. Falore informed the party that there was something he needed to show them, and casting haste upon himself, he ran off to fetch the other party members.

When the party rejoined, Falore invited them to share in a joint vision of the past. The party found themselves as wizards in a great battle between the forces of fae and non-faefolk against those of the Horned King. The party saw Queen Titania riding a dragon and fighting alongside Queen Mab: a rare union of the seelie and unseelie courts. Liliana, who was inhabiting the memory of Clean Falore in the battle, led the forces towards the centre of the battlefield and a final fight occurred between Falore’s forces and the Horned King before a great tree. One by one, the party members fell to the might of the Horned King, but the group had successfully bought enough time for a group of wizards wearing green and red robes to trap the Horned King within a mirror-like device. The party later learned that these wizards formed what is now the “Order of the Eleventh Eye,” and apparently hold the skull of the Horned King.

Fearing that a group was seeking to resurrect the Horned King, Falore implored the party to discuss what they had learned with the Dean of the University.

[*Note: This section may be wrong, my memory is fuzzy of the details of the conversation*] The party then met with Dean Marikosa, the distinguished white dragonborn they had seen earlier. Dean Marikosa listened to the concerns that the party had about the possibility of the Horned King returning but cautioned the party against any panic, noting that she thought Falore was obsessed with the return of the Horned King. She revealed that it wasn’t the first time the elf had claimed that forces were attempting to revive the Horned King. The party revealed that Tobias Gold had asked them to retrieve an item (the looking glass) stolen from the university. The Dean expressed her distaste for the gnomish gentleman and politely asked them to find a way of removing him from university grounds.

She revealed that the looking glass was stolen by the former student/teacher (?) of transmutation Carlos Valas alongside a Ring of Modified Polymorph and a Rose Wand. The party learned that Valas had fled to Glumm in Kerrithungle, where they reside with their wife Belladonna, having taken the moniker of “The Beast King”. She offered to compensate the party for their recovery of the looking glass and the other items, offering them a Wand of the War Mage belonging to a former student to help on their journey. The party refused the wand but remained open to the idea of returning the looking glass to the university.

Having exited the Dean’s office, Ciarán suddenly fell unconscious. Salibar attempted to catch him, but he was too late, and Ciarán fell to the ground. While the other party members presumed him to be unconscious, Liliana attempted to contact Ciarán and successfully established a telepathic link with the cleric. Ciarán, unaware that he had fallen unconscious, was met with a warped vision of the Dean’s office. He was surrounded by darkness and strange, forest-like surroundings. A large figure stood in the Dean’s office, standing at about 7ft tall. Ciarán attempted to call to his companions but quickly realised he was alone and attempted to back away from the figure.

Hearing Liliana’s voice, Ciarán described a figure coming towards him – babbling nonsense to his companion. Holding his lantern in front of him, he attempted to back away. The figure, however, continued to get closer, revealing itself as the Stranger. With the light of his lantern, Ciarán was able to see the Stranger more clearly, noting the four eyes and the incorporeal essence of their body. The Stranger pointed at Ciarán and towards a quartz orb nestled in an alcove in the hallway outside the Dean’s office. Hesitating, Ciarán attempted to reach for the orb, but the vision faded.

Waking up, and much to the confusion of his companions, Ciarán stumbled towards the orb, reaching his hand towards the smooth surface. When nothing happened, he grabbed the orb and hid it inside his robes, resolving to head to Dorlan’s office. Before leaving, however, Ciarán confessed to Liliana that he was thankful to have another voice in his vision.

[*Note: This is more Ciarán-centric, so feel free to delete the irrelevant information and add anything else that occurred. I think Salibar spoke with Dorlan, but I can’t remember*] Upon entering Dorlan’s office, Ciarán spotted a sketch of the Stranger on the wall and immediately approached the image. Dorlan, an air genasi with floating hair and tight-fitting attire, approached Ciarán and asked if he could assist him. Ciarán then asked about the Stranger and fumbled for his envelope, giving Dorlan the letter from Tobias.

Dorlan exposited much of the information Ciarán has previously received, but he painted a more positive portrait of the Stranger, connecting them to guidance and noting that they visit those whom they consider to have a part in a larger story. Like the Harvest Man, Dorlan noted a connection between the Stranger and the Darkwoods. After a moment’s hesitation, Ciarán confessed to Dorlan that he had seen the Stranger in visions.

After describing his experiences with the Stranger, and his most recent encounter, Dorlan expressed doubt that the quartz ball had any magical properties but encouraged Ciarán to keep the orb. Dorlan then asked about Ciarán’s heritage, casting an identify spell and revealing to Ciarán that he was, unusually, of half-shadar-kai lineage. Not knowing his true heritage, Ciarán was interested in learning more about the shadar-kai. Attempting to locate how a union between a human and shadar-kai could have occurred, Dorlan detailed the story of the “Strife of Camlann,” which saw a city of people vanish and was commonly linked to the Stranger. He suggested that Ciarán look in Camalot for further answers, but not before he gifted Ciarán a number of disguise scrolls for the party to conceal their identities from the shadar kai – revealing that they do not look kindly upon outsiders. He expressed sympathy, as another who rarely found his own people, to Ciarán’s outsider status. Dorlan also gifted Ciarán some anti-magic powder that he could use if the visions with the Stranger became too intense but warned him not to use the powder in dangerous situations.

Before Ciarán left, Dorlan encouraged him to “be open to new experiences” and suggested that he try new things. Ciarán attempted to give Dorlan coins for his trouble, but the air genasi refused. Ciarán then promised to return with information or something to repay Dorlan for his time and the information.