Session0008

Episode 0008 - Pawns on Someone's Board
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**Setting:**

Chwaka - The Emerald Highlands - March 29th-April 3rd, 211 AW
**Synopsis:**

* Outside the Imlaq Colossus, as the party prepares to depart, Lane Coronato suddenly appears. He insinuates that he has been listening to their conversations, and offers to help Malkoth learn to control his powers, if the party comes to Karaad.
* Rye tells Lane Coronato that he is his father - and, by extension, Malkoth’s grandfather.
* Lane Coronato asks Rye to help him get to the Hells, but Rye says he has no way of doing so.
* Eventually, Lane Coronato departs for Karaad, asking Rye to stay in touch, and offering to help Malkoth master his powers if Rye helps him reach the Hells.
* The party departs, beginning their journey through the desert toward the Emerald Highlands and the city of Avallon.
* Gragnok discovers that he no longer has access to the magic granted him by Erathis.
* In the night, Gragnok is approached by a celestial messenger from the Raven Queen, who invites him into the Raven Queen’s service, and tasks him with retrieving Orion’s Key and using it to enter the Luxturrim Obelisk.
* Discussing their most pressing goals, the party decides that they should prioritize finding Orion’s Key and traveling to the Luxturrim Obelisk.
* In order to search for information about the Luxturrim Obelisk, and also to complete a smuggling job that Jack is working on, the party decides that after Avallon they will travel to Paxeter in search of the Free Arcanists Lodge.
* The party continues their journey toward Avallon, traveling through desert and badland, and eventually reaching the Emerald Highlands.
* The party spends a night at a small farming village, where they restock on supplies and speak with the locals before pressing on.
* Eventually, the party reaches the Bastion River, where they find that an elemental nexus has destroyed the bridge they were going to use to cross.
* Jack uses his magical abilities to close the elemental nexus.

## March 29th

Outside the Imlaq Colossus, as the party is making preparations to travel towards Avallon, Lane Coronato suddenly appears. He insinuates that he has been listening to the party's conversations, and offers to help Malkoth learn how to control his powers, but says that he must return to Karaad, and invites to party to return there to speak with him.

Before Lane Coronato departs, Rye tells him that he is his father. Rye reveals that in his former life as Louche, he was the powerful devil that had a tryst with Natalie Shaw in Sigil - making him the father of Lane, and the grandfather of Malkoth.

At this revelation, Lane asks Rye to help him find a way to get to the Nine Hells. He expresses that he doesn't feel that he belongs in the Material Plane, and begrudges his mortal heritage and his living conditions working for Millan Watts in Karaad. He explains that he has been searching for a way to get to his rightful home in the Hells for all of his life, and asks Rye to help him do so. Rye, however, says that he doesn't currently have any way to assist Lane in this endeavor.

Rye asks Lane about his relationship with Israphel, and how the two came to work together. Lane says that Israphel approached him about a week ago, and asked for his help accessing the Imlaq Colossus - which would require Malkoth's amulet. In exchange, Israphel promised Lane that he would help him reach the city of Sigil in the Outlands. From there, Lane hoped to find his own way to the Hells. According to Lane, he still expects Israphel to hold up his end of their arrangement, but understands that Israphel can only spend limited time in the Material Plane, and will have to return later to complete their arrangement.

Rye expresses an interest in staying in touch with Lane, and Lane agrees, saying that finding out the identity of his father has been a long-time goal of his, and expressing an interest in taking advantage of Louche's position of power in the Hells. Lane considers staying with the party, but ultimately decides that he should return to Karaad. He says that if Rye helps him get to the Hells, he can help Malkoth learn to master his uncontrolled magic. When pressed for how he would be able to help Malkoth, Lane explains that he was also born with uncontrolled magic powers that he had to learn to control. He also vaguely divulges that, much like Malkoth, someone died as the result of his uncontrolled magic.

Before departing for Karaad, Lane asks Rye to give him a name, expressing his discontent at his mortal heritage and the name given to him by his mother, Natalie Shaw. Rye says that he will think about it, and Lane departs.

Their business at the Imlaq Colossus concluded, the party discusses where to go next, and whether they should return to Karaad as Lane Coronato asked them to. They decide to press on towards Avallon as planned, and then discuss further plans from there. As they are discussing, Rye temporarily loses his ability to speak, becoming euphoric and stupefied. The party speculates that he is unable to maintain his serious demeanor as Louche without eventually reverting to his more carefree attitude as Rye. Gragnok attempts to use a *protection from evil and good* spell to cure Rye, but strangely, he finds that he is unable to cast magic.

The party set off, traveling through the desert towards Avallon. Along the way, Gragnok explains more about his situation. He explains that he was always held to a low ranking in the military, intentionally held back from promotion due to his elven heritage. He says that he suspects that the Duke of Hartwell, Vincent Mason, was responsible for what happened to his troop, and framed Gragnok for their deaths. He explains that the Duke always had a sour relationship with him and his father. He also speculates that Dr. Johann Conrad Dippel might be the necromancer that attacked his troop.

Eventually, the party end their travel for the day and makes camp. Rye regains his mental alacrity, and explains that as a side effect of his transformation into a mortal, he sometimes loses his mental faculties if he is forced to think too hard or take things too seriously for an extended period of time. Malkoth questions him about being his grandfather, and Rye confirms this to be the case. He says that, after his tryst with Natalie Shaw, she stole the amulet from him, and that was how it ended up in the possession of Malkoth.

Meanwhile, Gragnok goes off on his own to pray to his god, Erathis, in hopes of regaining his magical abilities. He finds that the holy symbol emblazoned on his shield is broken, and speculates that his killing of the soldiers from Hartwell violated the tenets of Erathis.

While he is praying, Gragnok is approached by a black-winged, masked celestial surrounded by ravens, with armor emblazoned with the holy symbol of the Raven Queen. The celestial offers Gragnok a new path, in the service of the Raven Queen. He asks what his oath would entail, and the celestial tasks him with stopping those who would subvert their deaths through pursuits of undeath, immortality, and ascension. Specifically, the celestial says that Gragnok must retrieve Orion's Key, and use it to enter the Luxturrim Obelisk, where his task will be made clear.

Gragnok agrees to serve the Raven Queen, provided that she grants him the powers that he has lost. The celestial gives him a new shield, bearing the holy symbol of the Raven Queen. The celestial also tells Gragnok to keep his allies close, and specifically to spare XVIII, even though they are undead, because they still have life within them, and a destiny to fulfill.

After this interaction, the celestial departs, and Gragnok returns to the party, and tells them about what happened. They decide that getting to the Luxturrim Obelisk should be their highest priority - due to Gragnok's task, Patches' task from his deity, and Israphel's statement that he would be traveling to the obelisk as well. They discuss obtaining Orion's Key. Odell recognizes the name Orion as a reference to Alusfaen Orion, a great hero and leader of the elven kingdom of Ayn Sitael during the Age of Arcana, who died shortly after the Gods' War. Odell also says that the Orion family still hold power in the new elvish kingdom of Shaeserin, and says that the only known living descendant of Alusfaen Orion is someone named Avourel Orion, although he doesn't know anything about them. Gragnok says that Orion's crypt is somewhere in Aerzen, protected by the military of Hartwell, although he doesn't know the specific location.

After these discussions, the party rests for the night.

## March 30th

In the early morning hours, the party continues their travel for the day. In the late morning, they discover an oasis. After some discussion, they decide to investigate the oasis.

While looking at the oasis from the distance, Rye has another vision - this time, seemingly, a memory from his childhood. He is walking through a desert town with a man he recognizes as his father, and the two discuss water rationing, and his ill mother. They retrieve their ration of water from a guarded well, then begin making their way back home. Along the way, his father stops to pour him some water, and the two are ambushed by a group of thugs, who kill his father and steal his water. He runs way, eventually returning to his home to his ill mother.

When the party approaches the oasis, they are attacked by plant monsters, which they battle and defeat. They find a corpse of a traveler tangled in the roots of one of the plant monsters, and recover a magic item from the corpse. Afterwards, the party decides to rest by the oasis for the remainder of the day.

While they are resting, the party discusses XVIII's undead nature, and necromantic magic, after XVIII raises concerns that they don't bleed, their heartbeat is very slow, and they don't cast a shadow or have a reflection. Gragnok shares what the Raven Queen's emissary told him about XVIII - that they still have some life within them, and a role to fulfill.

Rye spends some time studying the Psalm of Awakening, in hopes of discerning the nature of its magical properties. While doing so, he has another vision, wherein he is working under the tutelage of Passeri, alongside the mortal version of Israphel, learning a song called the Psalm of Alluring.

Frog presses Jack to reveal what he is keeping hidden in his trunk. Jack opens the trunk and reveals that it has a hidden, lead-lined compartment beneath a false bottom. Within this compartment, he shows that it contains some books, paintings, and drawings; as well as a magical orb that Frog recognizes as a Lorekeeper Orb - a magical device used to record information. When Frog asks about the orb, Jack explains that he is transporting it to the Free Arcanists Lodge - an underground guild of unlicensed magic practitioners in Paxeter.

Meanwhile, speaking with Malkoth, Odell reveals that Malkoth's mentor, Immanuel Belder, was a former member of the Weavers Conclave, who specialized in transmutation magic. Malkoth says that he was unaware of this, and Odell remarks on the strange number of associations between the Weavers Conclave and various members of the party.

Rye tells the party about his visions, and explains that Israphel, like him, was trained by Passeri, and as such is likely able to play the Psalms and activate their magical effects.

The party discusses their next course of action after reaching Avallon. They agree that they should go to the Luxturrim Obelisk, but they don't know its exact location, nor do they know the whereabouts of Orion's Key. They discuss traveling to Mimrinoth to research these items at the College, but Odell warns that the College would take a great interest in certain party members and their abilities. Jack suggests that the party instead travels to Paxeter in search of the Free Arcanists Lodge, where they might be able to find more information without facing such scrutiny. Harper Wood reveals that he has some information about the Free Arcanists Lodge, given to him by a friend of his in Avallon, Pravi Redroot. Jack remarks that his task was given to him by someone named Binti Redroot, a member of the Lodge, and they speculate that the two are related.

After sundown, the party continues their travel for the day. The terrain begins to rapidly transition, as the party leaves the desert and enters the badland scrub. The party passes a hive of ankhegs, which they manage to bypass safely.

By the end of the night, the party finds a place to rest in the badlands.

On their watch, Rye and Malkoth discuss Malkoth's amulet. Rye says that the amulet was given to him as a gift about 150 years ago, by another devil who was his friend. Based on his visions, Rye speculates that his friend was trying to spark his memories by returning the amulet to him. Rye says that the amulet was stolen from him by Natalie Shaw, after the two had a tryst, wherein Louche was attempting to convince Natalie to sell her soul.

In the night, the party's campsite is swarmed by a cloud of tiny, biting mites.

## April 1st

In the morning, the party presses on through the badlands. They ecounter a pair of gnolls that seem to be natives, who briefly talk with Jack about the surrounding region, and warn him about the dangers.

By the end of the travel day, the party has reached the edge of the badlands, where it begins to transition into the grassy Emerald Highland region. They make camp and rest for the remainder of the evening.

On his watch, Rye spends some time crafting dynamite. While doing so, he has another vision, wherein he learns how to craft dynamite from Mahadi. In the vision, Mahadi asks Louche to write a song that can be used to deactivate the Colossus, and Louche says that he will return to Avallon and work on the song with Passeri.

## April 2nd

In the morning, Rye tells the party about his vision from
the previous night. Though he is evasive at first, when pressed, he eventually reveals the identity of Mahadi, saying that he was his best friend in the Hells. Odell recognizes Mahadi as an important figure in the army of Asmodeus in the Gods' War.

The party travels through the Emerald Highlands over the course of the day, eventually finding a small farming village where they decide to take their rest for the evening. They head to the inn, where they speak with the innkeeper, Henriette Girard. When asked for information about the town, Henriette advises the party to speak with Agnes Renou, a loxodon farmer who has lived in the village for many decades.

Before retiring for the evening, the party visits the general store and resupplies on travel gear. They also visit a monument memorializing victims of the Pale Death, a plague that devastated the Emerald Highlands about fifty years ago.

In the evening, Odell asks Patches if he knows what he is, saying that while he is a shapechanger, his abilities don’t match those of a changeling. Patches insists that he doesn’t know, and says that he still doesn’t remember much.

## April 3rd

In the morning, the party visits Agnes Renou to ask about the town’s history. Gragnok asks her if she knows anything about Alusfaen Orion, but she doesn’t recognize the name. Odell asks her about the Pale Death, and she recounts the difficulties of living through the plague. She explains that some townsfolk lost children to the disease, and many more lost their livelihoods. Eventually, the Alviren Empire offered assistance. Despite Odell’s skepticism, Agnes insists that the Empire’s involvement has been beneficial to the town.

Rye spends the morning helping out on the Renou farm, and learning the local gossip from Agnes’ son, Ludovic Renou.

The party makes preparations to depart for Avallon. They buy a few more mounts and a covered wagon, in order to speed up their travel, and then they depart.

Around midday, the party passes by an old farmland that seems fallow and pale - seemingly destroyed by the Pale Death. They find a khenra druid using magic to help revitalize the land. The druid introduces herself as Myrtle Harmon, and gives the party some information about the region. She tells them that the bridge across the Bastion River has been damaged by some sort of elemental disturbance, and warns them to be careful.

Around late afternoon, the party reaches the Bastion River. As expected, they find that the bridge has been badly damaged, and a swirling vortex of elemental energy is suspended above it. Jack says that he has seen similar elemental nexuses, and explains that he could use his powers to close it. He also says that closing it would yield Material Chaos.

The party approaches the elemental nexus, and Jack begins trying to close it. Hostile elementals appear and attack the party. When Jack successfully closes the nexus, the elementals are weakened, and the party defeats them. As expected, a large amount of Material Chaos results from
the closing of the nexus.