Session 23: A Deal Once Struck

* Session began with the remains of our party watching their dear friend fall to the floor, dead
* Chaos reigned, everyone rolling initiative to see who would have the chance to act first
	+ Clara was the first to move with a nat 20, bolting to her brother’s side and casting a powerful inflict wounds spell on Faephine. She remained sitting at Marcus’ side, clutching at the downed sorcerer
	+ Eora passed out promptly and was caught by Tsunder
	+ Pogo turned back into a shrieking Dire Opossum
	+ Elyzabeth shrieked and looked grief-stricken, alluding to the fact that she too is a Star Child
	+ Entari bolted from the shadows to throw himself at Ecath, trying to stop the Prime Minister from doing something he’d regret
	+ The Dowager raised a hand as if to strike at Clara with a burst of necrotic magic but it fizzled out, everyone around watching as blood so black began to drip steadily from her nose
	+ Tato bolted to Clara’s side, ready to defend her
	+ Morgan remained frozen where he was, stuck in a moment of stupor resulting from a Nat 1
* Noticeably, with an Insight check directed at them both, Ecath and Daelynn appeared frozen and near sick with grief, both for their own respective reasonings
* A roll by the crowd to see whether they believed Marcus or not was made by our players, resulting in the outcome of the crowd believing the accusations made against the Dowager
	+ Daelynn ordered Faephine to be confined to a wing upstairs to await trial, the Dowager being dragged off by guards.
	+ Elyzabeth followed her who was, in turn, tailed by Ramzi. The elven handmaiden appeared to lose some coherency the further from Faephine she got, leading our cleric to realise there was more going on here
* Back in the ballroom, Clara was praying quickly in Dwarvish
	+ With a bright flash of light, the visage of Lunari appeared standing over the two siblings before blinking out of existence
	+ Clara collapsed beside her brother, Dr Develblum and Thia bolting over to assist
	+ It is there, with a look of utter astonishment, Dr Develblum announces that there is a heartbeat coming from Marcus’ chest, albeit a small one
* The rest of the party retire upstairs where the Callowbrand siblings are put to bed, the cleric and doctor remaining by their sides to watch over during their slumber
* Tato chooses a corner to sleep in, later accompanied by Morgan after he finished working on another gun design (much to the DM’s horror)
	+ On the way to the room, Morgan found his brother and his respective partners in the living room, apparently taking turns keeping guard
	+ The brother’s share a moment of honesty, Morgan mentioning he knows about the trio’s engagement while Entari asks his twin to be his Best Man
* Ramzi, upon returning to the rooms, goes to find his daughter, only to find her having commandeered an entire chef’s brigade into watermelon carving with her throughout the entire festivities. The two also joined the world of sleep not soon after.
* That night, our heroes had a brief moment in turn to speak with their respective star deities
	+ In the dark void of a shared dream, they all saw each other in the darkness, also glimpsing the hulking figures behind them as the stars they represented
	+ Making perception checks, they also see a few more people in the mist:
		- Marcus and Bantay (the Sentry) and Clara and Fadila (the Giver)
		- Elphira, Midnight and Adele (the Judge)
		- Elyzabeth and a gleaming sword, her eyes fixated on Aegis (the Shield) in what could only be seen as longing
* The next morning, the group sat down together to discuss everything they had learnt.
	+ Clara was the child of The Giver, Fadila, and now held the number 179
	+ They had identified the children of all the deities except for the Sword (though they were certain it was Lyza), the Harvest and the Stallion.
	+ They were uncertain if Sol and Lunari had representatives or not
	+ Clara had made a deal with Fadila in order to give up half her heart, leading to Marcus not dying from the fatal spell
	+ Marcus was remaining with Lunari in her plane for now, learning and reading by her side until it was time for him to return
* Planning their next move, the group approached Empress Daelynn
	+ She surprisingly had guards outside of her throne room and, when approached, she looked tired and miserable
	+ She explained that while she was happy Marcus was alive, she had limited charges to keep the Dowager under lock and key
	+ With Marcus’ accusations, she was able to prolong everything and keep her there but it could be argued that she couldn’t have performed Power Word Kill
	+ Daelynn swore she would do everything to make her pay but it’d be a long process
	+ Asking her if he’d frequented any places before losing their latest memories, Tato learned there was a mountain range on the southern coast of Limerock that she often frequented.
* We ended the session with our party preparing to leave