Session 31

### Summary

The Amber Order gets stuck in the most traumatic time-loop of all time. Karaa dies in a scene so tragic it has been scarred into my brain for all time. The group begins to tire.

## Setting

### Time

Attempts one, two, and three of the time loop.

### A Long Day

Mavka cast Dispel Magic on Helio's ring (rolled a 23), so they decided to go back to the house. There were a couple townsguard around, but the city was failry quiet. Karaa and Mavka chatted while Gossamer and Zeema talked about Gossamer's family. Caeli whisteled on the way back.

When they got back to the house, Gossamer told Mavka to distract Helio while she cast alarm to monitor the various rooms, then she and Caeli went to the roof to meditate, and they both rolled well on religion. Caeli felt the force around her, and another good presence as well.

Meanwhile, Mavka's dispel magic (which she told Helio she didn't cast with a nat 20 deception check) allowed Helio's ring to be removed. He was understandably furious about his finger being cut off. Mavka wanted to destroy the ring, or at least keep it away from Helio, but Helio was traumatized and didn't trust anyone else with it. They went inside and told the group, except for Caeli, who had gone to bed.

There was a knock on the door. Gossamer answered; it was Kendrick the communicator. Mavka slipped Helio's ring in her pocket, and she, Helio, and Gossamer avoided his questions. Eventually, they went to wake up Caeli so that she could explain things. She told Kendrick about the council, Tannivh, and everything else. Kendrick was mad at the others for lying to him, and he had seen the ring that Mavka had tried to hide.

Kendrick got Helio talking, and he said that Tannivh told him to keep the Amber Order away from the tower tomorrow and not to lose the ring again. Kendrick said that either the Amber Order would give him the ring, or they would be stranded here and their contract with Kendrick would end. Eventually, Mavka realized Kendrick had been grinning at her an unusual amount. Convinced it was Zund, she tackled him.

Zund cackled, dodging easily out of the way. She said the deal still stood; unless they could pay her off now and give her the ring, she'd tell Kendrick their deal had fallen through. Mavka bribed her with several vials of dragons' blood, and then Zund left into the night. Gossamer tried to scry on Tannivh, and then Mavka scried on Zund, but they didn't really get to see anything.

Caeli was mad at Mavka for lying to Kendrick and told her off. When everyone else had gone to bed, Mavka, worried about the potential for danger that tomorrow would bring, practiced the control flames cantrip on a torch in the kitchen. She then lit some incense, made an offering to Tyr, laid out her bedroll, and went to sleep.

Gossamer dreamt that night. She was back home in her forest, with Vestelle, and they were both children. She saw a hawk flying through the sky, and in an effort to impress Vestelle, she drew her bow and shot it down. When she ran to retrieve it, it took much longer than she thought, and she aged as she ran. By the time she reached it, she realized it was Valandris. She pulled the arrow out, healed him, and the dream ended.

Mavka had a dream too. She was back in the Davelwyn Woods, but she wasn't on fire this time, though the fire did burn, but in the way that dreams do. She felt something staring behind her, and turned to see a humanoid figure, made of flames, with white-hot piercing eyes. She turned to flee, and ran all night through the flames.

### A New Day (Attempt 1)

Helio, Gossamer, Caeli, and Mavka awoke suddenly, gasping for breath as they were choked out by purple vines. Downstairs, Mavka was able to free herself except for her wooden leg, which was still stuck. She cast druidcraft on the one grasping her leg and it disintegrated into ashes, then tried to make her way to Zeema, who was stuck to the ceiling, her face turning purple. Helio freed himself and found the vines were originating from the fireplace, entangling the house and everything in it. He then cut the vines by her neck so she could breathe.

Upstairs, Gossamer freed herself as well. Caeli was struggling, and Karaa was overcome. Gossamer managed to get to the other bedroom to find Karaa completely entangled, and Caeli struggling to free her legs. Gossamer cut Karaa loose, and Caeli freed herself. Gossamer made it to the bottom of the staircase and began cutting Zeema free. Mavka disintegrated the rest of the vines holding her, then she and Helio fought the ones eminating from the fireplace, where Helio slept.

There was a broken orb in the fireplace, which the vines were eminating from. Mavka cast Mending on it to seal the cracks, and the vines stopped. Karaa and Caeli came downstairs, and Karaa was furious at Tannivh. Helio confessed he had put the orb there, but he didn't know what it did. Gossamer used the eyes to spy on Tannivh and saw him in the tower.

Mavka went outside to see a red shadow coming across the land; there was a commotion in the city as people were suddenly fleeing. She called everyone out and they booked it toward the tower. Mavka and Karaa made it through the crowd, but Zeema and Gossamer were nearly trampled. Caeli blasted a path with wind to push the crowd out of the way, then she and Helio made it to the roof and ran across the rooftops toward the tower.

The top of the council's tower exploded, sending chunks of brick flying and crushing people in the streets below. The dark clouds gathering swirled in one particular location as a beam of light burst from the sky, hitting the tower. The light pouring into the top poured in for a couple minutes until the tower began to crack, wobbling, as the beam of light ended. The ground beneath the tower split in half and people fell into the crevasse.

Zeema and Gossamer were hit by a falling building. Zeema was badly injured, but survived. Mavka, closer to the tower, fell backwards into the crevasse. Karaa grabbed her hand just before she fell in, so hard that it dislocated, leaving them dangling off the edge. Meanwhile, Caeli and Helio saw a huge wave bearing down on the city from the coast. Helio used some sick-ass earthbending to raise the coastline of the city in an attempt to break the wave.

Caeli saw Karaa and Arthur, both holding someone from falling over the edge. She ran to help Arthur, holding his little girl who was screaming and crying, and helped him pull her up.

Meanwhile, Mavka was slipping from Karaa's grasp. Seeing that Karaa was about to go over the edge, Mavka let go. Karaa cast dimension door and swapped places with Mavka. Her last scream echoed up from the depths: "I love you!"

Mavka scrambled back to the edge as Karaa's scream suddenly stopped. She couldn't see Karaa's body and was about to jump in after her, but Helio grabbed her and started running as the wall began to crack. They got hit by a building. Mavka's wooden leg was dashed to pieces, and the other was broken. Through the haze, she saw Gossamer flying overhead and tried to guide her to Zeema, who catapulted her further away. When Zeema and her building fell, so did Gossamer. She hit the water as if it were concrete.

Mavka, Helio, and Caeli were hit by the wave. Mavka cast water breathing before they all went under, but she got hit by debris and sucked deeper into the city. Caeli and Helio went after her, but Helio got hit by debris and went limp as well. Caeli took his body to the bottom of the floodwater. There was another reverberating boom, and the top of the tower burst in the light, decimating the city. Caeli was crushed by the building.

### A Familiar Day (Attempt 2)

Helio, Gossamer, Caeli, and Mavka woke up, strangled in their beds.

Mavka disintegrated all of the vines in the kitchen with a single scream, burning them into fresh embers, not just ashes. She mended the orb, then they did a quick recap for Karaa and Zeema who didn't seem to remember what had happened. They made their way to the tower, navigating among the crowds. Gossamer and Zeema made out, and it was awesome. Karaa and Mavka also made out and then Karaa carried her the rest of the way to the tower.

Caeli found Arthur in the crowd with his daughter, and he said his wife was in the tower so Caeli said they'd help her get out and then they'd need to flee the city. Caeli levitated her and Helio across to the window where the council's chambers were. Gossamer shot an arrow through the window, then Caeli and Helio threw a rope across. Karaa misty stepped over and charmed the three councilmen. Mavka used the rope to cross, then Gossamer, then Helio, who was carrying Zeema.

Karaa asked them how to get to the floor above, and they said there was a secret elevator that they showed us. He pushed a bookshelf out of the way, showing them the elevator. He brought out a giant horn and began instructing everyone to evacuate the city. Gossamer, Zeema, Helio, and Jasper went up while Mavka and Karaa finished giving instructions to the councilmen.

Gossamer whipped back the curtains in the attic and cast silence as Tannivh was finishing an incantation. There was a floating ball of frenzied, staticy magic, which when Gossamer cast silence seemed to destabilize and grow angry. Tannivh looked over his shoulder, panicked, and Gossamer dropped the spell. He began reciting the incantations again once she dropped it. The orb blasted half of the roof off, melting away the walls and giving the tower a perfect view of the moon. Gossamer dodged the blast.

Gossamer tried to stab him, but missed. Tannivh shoved her aside, and she got blasted with the purple lightning. He saw Helio and scolded him. Helio told him that he killed everyone and everything, and Tannivh said he didn't care. He cast fear on Gossamer and she fled back down the elevator and out of the building.

Tannivh cast command on Helio, Caeli, and Mavka, and told them to sit down. They dropped to their knees. Gossamer's fear wore off and she came back to the tower to find everyone sitting.

The moonbeam began descending from the sky. Tannivh backed into the portal and the moonbeam hit straight into it, blasting the tower into oblivion.

### A Pointless Day (Attempt 3)

The party woke, exhausted and strangling. Once more, Mavka burned the vines into embers and mended the orb. They made their way to the tower. Mavka, Helio, Karaa, and Zeema were unable to keep up with Gossamer and Caeli on the rooftops. Gossamer and Caeli tried to send a message to Kendrick asking him how to close the rift. He said that any rift can close but didn't give them much help.

The rooftop exploded above them. Mavka and the others made it to the tower. Mavka, in an effort to stop the moon from reaching the portal cast erupting earth on it and the tower collapsed, killing herself, Caeli, and Helio. Karaa and Zeema had been left behind. The moonbeam missed the portal and the ground did not crack this time, and the tidal wave was smaller. Eventually, though, it did sweep up Gossamer, who was eventually battered to death.

Helio, Gossamer, Caeli, and Mavka awoke suddenly, strangled by vines.