Lore

Crossworlds: Taken from the word crossroads, but between universes. A crossroads in folklore represents a place between worlds, where spirits from other worlds can be summoned. The Crossworlds is a very physical, very real place between worlds.

   At any given time, on a normal day, there are 950 doorways into Crossworlds. Our world has one such doorway. To us, it is located in Dawncrest, Connecticut. To them, it is located near a small village in a forest, tied intrinsically to a temple of Kealoha.

   Ivy Tippett, a 13 year old girl messing around somewhere she shouldn’t be, falls through this doorway. It crumbles behind her in an evil magic spell. She is met by Dirt, a cactus leshy simply passing through, and his animal companion, Squishy. He does not remember his life before traveling. She additionally meets Pandora Price, a sacred servant of Kealoha. The four of them travel to the nearby village. There, they meet Redacted, a travel guide and lowkey con artist, and Anjelika, a living construct of a porcelain doll.

   They travel together to Refersi, the capital of the Crossworlds, to seek a meeting with the Queen. However, the night before they arrive, a politician is killed by the elusive vigilante Spectre. They manage to seek counsel with Prince Luka Novikov, a well-mannered and easily flattered young adult who agrees to help them. Redacted also asks Luka out.

   That night, they are lured into a shady tavern by Killian Foy, criminal kingpin and Black Bishop of Rajuk Amon-Gore. He says that the murdered politician was important to his plans, and demands that they find Spectre for him. In an effort to keep the situation calm and keep Ivy safe, the party accepts.

   After some investigation, they invite Spectre to meet with them through clues dropped in Pandora’s podcast. Spectre tells them that the system is broken, and that his goal is to either scare the corrupt politicians enough to straighten their act, make a statement to society as a whole, or both.

   After the meeting, a premonition Anjelika had comes true. Spectre watches over them, and is immediately followed home by Redacted. The rest of the party returns to their hotel room. There waits Mairi Creely, information broker and right hand man of Killian Foy. She asks for a progress update and watches the party dance around her questions.

   The next day, they meet with Luka once again, as well as a Shadowfolk--a member of a (homebrew) race that is spiritually and inexorably tied to the Crossworlds. Phoenix tells them that years ago, the Council and the previous lineage created an accord to bring the Crossworlds to 950 doorways, and then close and open one each year on a rotating cycle. However, this accord is broken, as there are only about 875 doorways open. They request entrance to Kritya, an exclusive village floating above the Crossworlds, home to Shadowfolk, scholars, and heroes.

   The party invites Spectre to their room and explains that they know his identity--Spectre is Luka Novikov. Unaware that Mairi is eavesdropping, they tell him that they plan on working with him and refuse to work with Killian. Killian meets them there, and they fight him. Mairi and Ivy are knocked unconscious in the fight. Once he discovers that Spectre is the prince, however, he leaves and takes Mairi with him--but accidentally leaves his glaive.

   Anjelika promptly decides the adventure is not fun anymore and goes home. The next morning, Redacted and Pandora bring Ivy to breakfast and meet Tairin, a traveling scholar who worships Paletius. They agree to travel with the party. Not long after, however, Luka and Killian both arrive--Killian for his glaive, and Luka for answers.

   Killian explains that long ago, he made a Blood Pact to help Luka’s runaway sister escape the capital. In exchange, she would keep certain information about him secret. Blood Pact, by the way, is a homebrew spell that functions similarly to pact parchment without a physical copy. Magical contract, basically. He also has a Pact with Rajuk Amon-Gore. He takes his glaive back and leaves.

   The party agrees that Luka should travel with them. They convince Queen Novikov to let him join the party. They gain conditional permission to enter Kritya, and leave for the meeting point.

   On the way there, the party meets Matteo Cherith, famed rockstar. Tairin helps him discover who his father is. Ivy, after the battle with Killian, is given a wolf familiar named Echo--one of the wolves constantly beside Kealoha as a protector.

   The party meets Cardea Xoti, poisons expert and black market dealer. Dirt recognizes her immediately and escapes the restaurant they’re in. Redacted digs for information and discovers that Dirt was created, alongside other leshies, to be used for poison.

   This is where the dream stuff really picks up. Pandora begins having visions of a woman, slowly gathering information about her life. Currently, she has a vision of this woman meeting a man, who she later unwillingly slaughters before entering a portal to the Maelstrom.

   Meanwhile, Dirt meets Lyvalia. Unbeknownst to him, he fore-tells her her own legend, which she greatly appreciates. He also meets Rajuk Amon-Gore, who cushions his words enough that Dirt considers him a friend.

   Redacted relays Dirt’s early life to him. Dirt promptly remembers everything in his early life and has a mental breakdown. Pandora reveals to Ivy the reason Kealoha is so insistent on her protection: Ivy is part of a prophecy to be fulfilled when she is older. This causes a rift between Pandora and Kealoha, as Kealoha had recently commanded Pandora to stay silent.

   In dreams, Redacted visits the Theatre of Arrival, the sacred space for every deity in the Porphyra pantheon (aforementioned: Rajuk, Lyvalia, Paletius). Nise, a goddess betrayed by Lyvalia, scolds him and the rest of the party--but especially Dirt. The party summons Paletius, who was definitely sleeping but takes in new information. Both of them are surprised that Rajuk Amon-Gore and Shade are still alive.

   Together, Dirt and Redacted work together to stop Cardea’s work. They sneak in to steal a holy text that is important to her. Instead, Lyvalia intercepts them and offers to take away Cardea’s divine casting, so long as they leave the holy text. They accept.

   Pandora receives a dream that they believe connects the woman, named Jaya Terrazas, to Killian. They confront him and discover that it’s not Killian she’s connected to, but another servant. Faulkner Byrne, brains and brute force of the operation, let Jaya into a sacred library of Rajuk decades ago after she requested help with necromancy. The ritual failed, however, because of a curse tied to the Maelstrom.

   They arrive in Capua Tor, the pickup and dropoff point for Kritya. Here, Pandora and Tairin search for answers at a Library of Paletius. Redacted searches for a job to make some extra cash. Luka finds his sister and catches up with her. Ivy learns how to talk to Echo.

   The party finally makes it to Kritya, which turns out to be a village of 87 people—81 of which are Shadowfolk. As they are given a tour, it becomes increasingly obvious that they’re trying to separate Ivy from the party. Once successful, the citizens of Kritya reveal that opening a doorway is not as easy as it should be. Any Shadowfolk who have looked into the doorways becomes cursed with insanity, and they fear for their lives.

   Pandora, Dirt, Tairin, Redacted and Luka agree to attempt the Test of the Starstone for them. If they succeed, they are given a spark of divinity and will eventually become deities. With this power, they and the Shadowfolk hope to overcome whatever—or whoever—is causing this.

   After a good ol’ escape room, battle, and personal tests of will and worth, the party succeeds—except for Luka. He discovers that even though he passed a harrowing test of will and worth, the Starstone can’t give him divinity. He, the prince, is given infinite wealth as a consolation prize. The others are now gods-in-training (meta note: they have mythic tiers).

   Before they leave Kritya, they send a letter to the Queen informing her of their progress thus far. She replies with an excited invitation back to the castle. She also suggests a gala held in their honor, in order to gain renown and worship. The party accepts and prepares to journey back to the castle.

   Dirt communes with Rajuk in dreams to speak about the doorways. He manages to get not only a confession, confirming the party’s suspicions that Rajuk Amon-Gore is the driving force behind the doorways’ closure, but a motive. He wants to close the doorways so that the Shadowfolk will die, and therefore doorways can open and close at his will.

   He admits that Shade is working alongside him and has been in the Crossworlds as well. When asked, he says that Killian is also in on the plan. However, Faulkner and Mairi are not, even though they each have an important place in his plan.

   When the party touches back down in Capua Tor, they hold a party in a barn (with permission). The party is a success, and each of the new deities gains their first worshipper. However, they find a familiar face. Mairi is among the crowd, separated from Killian and Faulkner.

   Concerned for her safety, Dirt and Pandora pull her aside and out of the barn with Tairin and Redacted joining soon after. They explain the situation, and Dirt allows her to read his memory to prove that he’s telling the truth. She’s unconvinced and goes to smoke with Redacted and their group, even after Tairin shows her the afterlife she is fated for.

   As they’re all headed back to Refersi, she travels with them. She eventually reveals that she’s under an enchantment that puts her under constant threat of surveillance, and that defectors from the Rajuki cult are dealt with cruelly and without honor. The party, with her permission, makes a plan to help her escape at the gala.

   Pandora casts a spell on Luka to find out information regarding his divinity—or lack thereof. She finds out that Luka’s soul is definitely tied to Shade, despite Shade not wanting his soul in the first place. Not only this, but Luka’s father is not really his father and was furious with the Queen for her adultery.

   As Mairi meets with Killian to pretend everything is fine, the party follows her. He admits that now that she knows the plan, she shouldn’t stay, but he can’t let her go alone or easily. The party interrupts, ready to fight, but quickly de-escalates the situation. He allows her to go with them and agrees to ally with them when the time is right. He does warn them that he will do things against their wishes in the meantime.

   That night, Dirt meets with Lyvalia via dream and manages to get the recipe for the Zenith, a poison capable of killing gods. She also warns him that if the party can not get all of the ingredients, Shade should have a vial of the Zenith.

   At the gala, they meet a bunch of people and things are fun and everything. Until Rajuk Amon-Gore and his Rajuki launch an attack on the doorways that they have been planning for the month that Killian, Faulkner, and Mairi were separated. 102 doorways close at once, bringing the new total from 950 to 682.

   With a new sense of urgency, the party retrieves as many ingredients as they can. When all they have left is illegal ingredients, they find Killian once again—alone, upon his request. He points them to someone who can sell what they’re looking for. When he finds out they’re trying to brew the Zenith, he unscrews a secret compartment in his glaive and gives them a vial of the Zenith, proving that he is Shade in disguise.

   He agrees to meet with them at a tavern later that night to answer questions about Luka. When the party returns to the castle, Luka asks his mother about who his father really is. She admits that his father is Killian Foy (and though she regrets that, she still loves him and has never regretted his birth).

   Pandora scries on Cardea after finding out she’s gone missing, and discovers that she is training in Rajuki fighting. Shade/Killian helps Luka ascend to divinity alongside the rest of the party. He is shocked to find out about Cardea, but now knows he and Rajuk are definitely keeping things from each other.

   He says that there is another large-scale attack planned. There must be something placed near Bexley, a town in the mountains. Conveniently, this town just appeared in Pandora’s dreams and is connected to Jaya Terrazas.

   They agree to meet up there for the final battle, so that they’re away from as many people as possible but near as many allies as possible if needed.

   Once there, they set up a trap for Rajuk and his allies that can be activated by an arrow, and set up to settle in for the night. They tuck around a campfire, telling stories about their past. Pandora reveals that she believes Jaya is her mother. Redacted pulls Luka away from the group for their first kiss.

   The next morning, the adversaries arrive. Rajuk, Killian/Shade, Faulkner, Cardea, and a newly created lich approach. After a long and harrowing battle, the group defeats them.

   The Zenith preserves Rajuk’s divinity, meaning that they have a spare dose.They leave it with the Shadowfolk when they visit, and the Shadowfolk bring them to Kealoha and Dawncrest’s doorway to bring Ivy home.