Interlude One Shots

## 12/22 Session

### Veggie and Reggie

* Veggie is headed to the Kasaiyo Kingdom in Relmith to see Reggie in prison. He walks down the street and passes by a lot of wanted posters with his face on them. The posters say that Reggie is wanted for necromancy and connection to the College of Whispers.
	+ Veggie puts together a disguise and starts investigating the court building to see if Reggie is still in town. There hasn't been much news about Reggie since he was first arrested.
	+ While he's in the court building, Irving approaches Veggie and tells him that he has information about Reggie. Irving brings Veggie to a bar in the back and tells him that Reggie isn't in town anymore. Reggie is in the Nymerian Capital investigating the College of Whispers for the Kingdom Alliance. Irving has a vested interest in that investigation so he can take Veggie to Reggie and they can see what's going on if Veggie wants. Veggie agrees.
* In the Nymerian Capital, Reggie is assigned a Kingdom Alliance investigator, Investigator Ro. He has an anti-magic collar around his neck. The Kingdom Alliance believes that there's an active necromancer at the Academy that they need Reggie to identify.
	+ Since Reggie first made contact with the College of Whispers at the library, they head there and wait until night because that's when they will be able to find the book. However, after night falls, Reggie finds that the book has been checked out, which is unusual.
	+ Reggie and Ro go to see who checked out the book. Ro finds that a young tabaxi named Walks Through Mountains checked out the book. Ro thinks that this tabaxi is not the main necromancer, but a student who is connected to them.
* Reggie is tasked with befriending her. Ro and Reggie infiltrate a student party and Reggie starts chatting with Walks Through Mountains. He manages to impress with his singing skills.
	+ Walks Through Mountains asks Reggie to show her what kinds of illegal spells that he knows. She takes Reggie to a little garden for privacy and casts False Life. Reggie's collar means that he is unable to cast necromancy spells in kind, so he tells her that he was the one who was arrested at the Zion festival. Walks Through Mountains invites Reggie to join her necromancy club.
* Veggie and Irving arrive a few days prior and are not able to find Reggie. They decide to find the necromancer first and then wait for Reggie and the investigators to show up. Veggie was a part of the necromancy club back in the day, so the two of them wait in the closet of the classroom that the club meets.
* The professor, Walks Through Mountains, Marcus, Reggie, and investigator Ro all arrive in the classroom. Ro told Reggie that the plan is to get the professor to confess to necromancy and then call in the Kingdom Alliance paladins to arrest everyone.
	+ Reggie tells the professor that his name is Alfred even though he told Walks Through Mountains that his name was Martin. He has to make up some story about Martin being his middle name which he prefers because he Alfred was his father's name and he hates his father.
	+ In the closet, Veggie seems to have forgotten why they are there in the first place.
* Reggie's story starts to fall apart, and the professor starts to suspect that Reggie is a plant and casts Ray of Sickness on Reggie. Ro throws Reggie the key to his anti-magic collar, allowing him to unlock it.
	+ Reggie attempts to banish Professor Neumann but fails. Walks Through Mountain casts Chill Touch on Reggie while Marcus casts Circle of Death, downing Reggie.
	+ Veggie bursts out of the closet and casts Cure Wounds on Reggie. However, all the necromancers in the room cast Ray of Sickness on Veggie.
* Byrd and Ice Man walk in, having taken out the paladins at the door. Byrd casts Sleep on everyone who isn't one of the necromancers.
* Reggie and Veggie awake tied to chairs in a damp, unknown location, both wearing anti-magic collars. They speed run a father-son reconciliation before Byrd arrives and gives them 2 choices: either both Reggie and Veggie die or they get their memories wiped.
	+ Reggie says "give me necromancy or give me death" and Veggie agrees to die with him. However they specify that they want to be killed by someone who speaks elvish and by guillotine.
	+ As soon as the guillotine chops off Veggie and Reggie's head, they each cast Banishment on each other so that they both end up in a different universe together.

### Eli and Liluth

* Liluth awakens to see Eli sitting straight up in bed, poining a finger at Liluth casting Toll the Dead. Liluth entangles Eli in vines and shakes Ina awake. The two of them run out of the room straight into Agent Burk.
	+ Liluth says that Eli cast a spell on her, so she entangled Eli in some vines and ran. Eli is shaken by this revelation and stutters out an apology. Liluth nods and writes "things happen." Ina isn't in agreement with what Liluth wrote but doesn't say anything. Burk suggests that he stays with Eli, and Ina and Liluth can stay in Burk's room.
* The next day during lunch Eli goes to Liluth and Ina's room to give Liluth another sincere apology. Liluth accepts but says that she's still not comfortable sharing a room with Eli. Ina says that Eli has changed and her behavior isn't what Ina remembers. Eli runs away back to her room.
* 2 days later, the airship starts descending due to an attack. When they land, they learn that an Etherium bomb went off on the Nymerian Capital, much like the one that the Court of Owls planted in Sirex. The bomb detonated during an Arasaka speech with the Tarrin governor, so Tarrin has sealed their borders and Arasaka is issuing a temporary hold on Nymeria's borders. It's unclear whether the Tarrin governor is going to live because the Etherium in the blast is interfering with the clerics' ability to Revivify.
* The group stays in the small town that they landed in for a few days until Burk can find a way across the border. Liluth tries using Speak with Animals to try and get more information about what happened. The animals feel a disruption in the ecosystem. Eli sets up an investigation board in her room in the inn.
* Eli asks Ina about the BMD. Ina says that after the BMD scandal, the Protectorate cut off the head of the snake (Odelifus). She thinks that the ousting of Odelifus was a distraction so that the Protectorate could keep some of the people involved in place. For example, she heard rumors that some of the scientists that worked in the BMD were continuing to work under Shahd.
	+ When she was captured by Dr. Perry, she learned that the BMD was experimenting with extraplanar connections. She believes that Dr. Perry was part of the BMD and was one of those that escaped prosecution. Damien may have been part of the BMD too, though there's no evidence to support that.
	+ Ina believes there may have been a schism in the Shahd administration between the scientists, and she thinks that's why Dr. Perry and others moved to Nymeria. Ina had just caught on to the Versatile Vials lead when she had been kidnapped.
* Burk tells them that they will not be able to get across the border by any official means for the next couple months. Instead, he suggests that they sneak across. Liluth will cast a fire and Eli will create an illusion of a fire giant, and the rest of them will sneak across the border while the Tarrin border guards are distracted.
	+ Liluth turns herself into a goat to sneak across the border while Burk, Ina, and Eli go on foot. At some point in the plan, Burk splits off from to creep ahead and make sure that the guards ahead don't notice them. Ina and Eli sneak along a windmill.
	+ Eli feels the tingling of magic. Something taps on her shoulder and a voice says "stay calm." Eli recognizes the voice as Leanne, and Leanne drops her invisibility. Ina isn't next to her anymore.
* Leanne asks Eli if she has a way of contacting Hal. Sigil needs to get Tolbo back and Hal is their only lead as to where Tolbo might be. Eli says she can't contact Hal, but she has Arasaka construct technology that she can show Leanne if Leanne can get Ina and Eli back to Sirex. Leanne gives Eli a shoddily put together radio and tells Eli to contact her after she gets into Tarrin.
* Eli meets back up with Burk and Ina, and they meet Liluth at the rendevous point. They cross over to Tarrin without incident.

### Franz and Tolbo

* The Black Company puts Franz up in a hotel while they try and figure out a way to get him out of Nymeria. Franz goes to the Academy library to learn more about magic before going to Kagero's speech. The bomb explodes and Franz gets PTSD flashbacks to the warehouse bomb. He shakes it off and starts pulling people out of the rubble before making a quick exit.
* Byrd is waiting for Franz at his hotel and tells him that Black Company is pulling out of the Nymeria now. Byrd and Franz meet Iceman, Professor Neumann, and Walks Through Mountains at a carriage. Franz talks to Professor Neumann about necromancy on their trip out of Nymeria. Franz also steals Walks Through Mountains' magical artifact.
* They travel from the capital towards the mountains. The plan is to find the narrowest point to cross the mountains, get to the coast, and then get a Sirex ship. At some point in that journey, a metal construct drops out of the sky and crashes into the ground right in front of the carriage. The frame and stature of the construct looks like Tolbo.
* Tolbo turns his arms into swords and attacks Neumann, downing Neumann. Byrd heals Neumann with Healing Word, then casts Gaseous Form on Neumann. Franz attacks Tolbo.
* Byrd attempts to say an activation code but it doesn't work. Upon seeing Franz, Tolbo's eyes flash blue and he says "new primary target acquired", and he begins directing his attacks at Franz. Walks Through Mountains climbs up a large rock and yells that there's water coming. A wave of water knocks back Franz and Ice Man.
* Franz, Byrd, and Iceman continue fighting Tolbo. Another wave of water comes and knocks down Iceman. Franz attempts to cast Dimension Door and run away, but Tolbo Counterspells it. Franz Misty Steps away, but ends up sinking in the water because he's wearing a breastplate.
* Tolbo jumps over to where Franz is and attempts to hold him underwater.

## 1/4 Session

### Franz and Tolbo

* Franz tries to swim away, but Tolbo long jumps over to him, grapples him, and tries to drag him into deeper water. Ice man attempts to freeze Tolbo and fails but Tolbo takes cold damage. Franz and Tolbo exchange blows. They're both looking very injured.
* Neumann creates a giant skeletal hand that grabs onto Tolbo and lifts both Tolbo (and Franz because Tolbo has grappled Franz) and tries to crush Tolbo. Byrd heals Franz a bit.
* Neumann casts Blight on Tolbo, and Tolbo can feel the gold feathers in his brain rotting away. Seeing that Tolbo is close to death, Franz stabs Tolbo in the head. Tolbo somehow hangs on. Tolbo attack back and downs Franz. Neumann casts Blight on Tolbo again and Tolbo is killed. They both collapse to the hand. The skeletal hand gently picks up Franz and floats him to Neumann who casts Spare the Dying.
* Franz wakes up with a permanent level of exhaustion due to his near death, which he temporarily treats with Greater Restoration. The group continues on their journey on a Foldable Boat with the remains of Tolbo. Franz and Neumann talk about magic (necromancy) use in military and everyday life.
	+ Byrd and Ice Man have taken Tolbo apart and inspected it. They talk about how it is a copy, and how certain things that they expected to be there are no longer there.
* The group cross the mountains at the lowest, skinniest point and get to the coast. Byrd sends out a signal and a privateer boat shows up. The captain is a very rough looking (ex) Commodore Norrington. After the party's trial, Norrington had been tried for treason and sent to prison for a few months. Byrd got him out, contingent on him running some black ops operations for the Protectorate.
	+ Franz offers to bring a note and some money to Norrington's family. Norrington gives him a little money.
	+ Norrington also mentions that Ursar Baz has been pushing him to patrol the Anvil islands to check to see if anyone is heading in or out, because Franz told the Protectorate that the Orb is in the Anvil Islands.

### Eli, Ina, and Liluth

* Burk, Eli, Ina, and Liluth sneak into the Tarrin border town. Burk tries to find a way back to Sirex, while Eli tells Ina and Liluth about seeing Leanne. The radio that Leanne gave Eli tells her to go to a waterfall near the edge of town and to ditch the Black Company.
	+ Before they leave, Eli leaves Burk a note telling him that she has found her own way back to Sirex and that she can't bring him with her because her contact doesn't like the government. She left him 100 gold pieces to tide him over until he can get back to Sirex himself.
* At the waterfall, Leanne tells Eli to go into the hidden cave alone because she doesn't trust Ina or Liluth enough to show them the way to get back. Eli goes inside the cave and sees a teleportation array, which will apparently teleport them back to the central clock tower in Sirex.
	+ Eli tells Leanne that she has magical resonance and that she takes medication for it. Leanne tells her to stop taking her medication because it will give her hallucinations, though it's ultimately Eli's choice. Then Leanne steps into the array and disappears. Eli brings Ina and Liluth into the cave and talks them into trying out the array. They all hold hands and step into the center of the array together.
* Eli, Ina, and Liluth feel pins and needles all over their body, and that those pins and needles are pulling their body into all different direction. Liluth's vision goes white and she feels heat all around -- it's as if she is looking into the Plain of Fire. Just as quickly as this happens, it disappears and Liluth appears with Ina in a dusty old clocktower behind the clock face. Eli is not there. Liluth looks out a spyglass in the clocktower and sees that it's locked on to the Protectorate Senate building. There are also maps on the walls of the Court of Owl's underground canal system with markings that show how to get into the Senate building.
* Eli finds herself appearing in the middle of the woods. Ina, Liluth, and Leanne are nowhere to be seen. Eli turns around and sees a clearing and hears a baby crying. She wraps her cloak around it and picks it up to try and soothe it. Suddenly the baby starts to age rapidly. As it becomes an adult, it clearly becomes Barnabus. As soon as she recognizes him, Eli throws her arms around Barnabus and cries "I'm sorry, don't go" over and over again. He continues to age until all that's left of him is a little bit of skin with the Court of Owls tattoos. Eli picks up the piece of skin with a piece of cloth and gently puts it in her bag.
* Eli goes to the cabin. It's mostly empty except for some animal skins and a big grandfather clock that has the same message as the one that had been left in Eli's apartment (“Be careful Eli, continue on this path and your time will come”). Instead of being numbered up until 12, it is numbered to 26298.
* Eli tries to walk out out of the woods but ends up right back at the clearing. She takes the potion of short term flying and flies up to see if there's a way out, but all she sees is forest. The radio lights up with the words "What if you were alone? What if it was just you for years and years?" Eli is becoming convinced that this is all in her head.
* Eli spends the next couple days trying to get out of the forest, until eventually she gives up and stays in the cabin. She reads over her notes again, puts up her investigation wall, blows up the clock, etc until she runs out of things to do and starts reflecting on her life. She doesn't bother to keep track of the days, and she's not hungry or thirsty. Time stretches endlessly, days turning into weeks into months.
	+ She thinks about how maybe her parents were right, and that in the end family and friends are more important, more tangible, than any high-minded ideal of truth and justice.
	+ While she does still think that Ina shouldn't have published unsubstantiated articles into the paper, she does regret not believing her and abandonning her.
	+ She thinks about all the traumatic things that have happened since Norbury, and strangely she doesn't regret starting this adventure. She would go to Norbury again, given the chance.
	+ She wants to see her family again before she dies. She wants to see if Alexei running away means that Mother is still alive.
	+ She thinks that if she did die here, she probably deserves it. She takes out what's left of Barnabus and thinks about how secretly relieved she and Ina hadn't been eaten by the Timeeater, and she feels awful for feeling that.
* Eventually Eli runs out of thoughts and gets bored sitting in the cabin and starts considering whether killing herself will get her out of this place. She eventually drowns herself in a nearby river. Just as she feels her consciousness fading, she appears with a pop in the clock tower with Liluth and Ina, who were just about to leave.
* Ina, Liluth, and Eli go to the elvish cultural center so that they can help Liluth get home. Ina and Liluth exchange tearful goodbyes -- Liluth wants Ina to come with her, but Ina wants to finish the investigation that she started. Eli gives Liluth 100 gold and the painting Aelis's painting that she owns.
* Eli brings Ina to her family's house, and Mother opens the door. Eli hugs Mother and breaks down crying.

## 1/8 session

### Zhu Li

* Zhu Li was captured by Arasaka and experimented on, before being rescued by the Mendeni Ambush. She fell in line with the Mendeni, and was very reliant on Jaque for emotional support and to help her navigate Nymerian society. She's very intimidated by Valda (V).
* Zhu Li was traveling around Nymeria with Jaque who is working uncover as an Arasaka asset and feeding Arasaka false information. The two are at the Elder Tree trying to meet up with the ambush to discuss next steps. Zhu Li is called to see Pensive Paw. She tells her that a far group is in the Elder Tree is looking for elemental magic users to help them hone their skills and asks her if she wants to connect with them.
* Zhu Li is feeling extremely socially anxious being around the Elder Tree residents. Jaque suggests that they join the festivities tonight that are being held for the new people at the tree to help break Zhu Li out of her shell.
* Zhu Li gets food while Jaque goes around and talks to people. A tabaxi named Distant Song approaches Zhu Li and reveals that she's part of the distant community that Pensive Paw was talking about. She gives Zhu Li a little ball with a dragon carved into it and tells her that when if she wants to contact her, she should put her magic into the device. The tabaxi says that her group has a prophet (a tabaxi with no eyes) and they took in interest in Zhu Li.
* Zhu Li goes to find Jaque and shows him the metal communication device. Jaque tells her that it seems to be associated with the dragons. They dance and then go outside to have a heart-to-heart about Zhu Li's home, how Jaque doesn't want Zhu Li to go to the dragons yet, and Jaque's relationship with Valda.
* Valda arrives and calls a meeting for all the Tyger Claws in the Elder Tree. According to intel, Arasaka is working on a new Etherium-powered weapon. Valda has identified an Etherium refinement factory in the Kokonei Village that she believes is being used to develop the weapon and she wants Jaque to help the Tyger Claws blow it up. Jaque is morally conflicted.
* The next morning, Jaque and Zhu Li head to the village where the factory is located. The plan is for Zhu Li to go into a nearby village and cause some mayhem. Jaque will bring the witnesses over to the village with the factory and convince Arasaka to go and investigate.
	+ Zhu Li gives herself lightning feet and zooms into town. Because she still can't control her magic, she accidentally also casts wall of acid on a townsperson, melting them.
	+ Zhu Li runs out of the town and back to Jaque, traumatized by her first kill. Jaque tries to comfort her, but doesn't really work. He finally hands Zhu Li a disguise self potion.

### Tolbo

* It's the attack on the Elder Tree, and Hal is pulled away by the Arasaka scientists along with a fake Tolbo (to be shown to Kysona). Hal comes back and turns Tolbo on and tells him that Arasaka is shooting at Eli and he thinks that he made a mistake and that he shouldn't be here. The door opens and Aegnor and Kono Utamara come in. Utamara talks to Tolbo for a little bit before poking around in Tolbo's head. He writes something in Tolbo's head and whispers to Tolbo to look later.
* The door bursts open and Dr. Perry enters. She introduces herself to Tolbo. Tolbo is turned off and everyone leaves. Before he was turned off, Tolbo rewrites his code so that he enters a low power state instead of shutting down entirely.
	+ Tolbo develops a personality file for himself. He starts by giving himself the purpose of categorizing wildflowers throughout Nymeria. He also writes emotions that he wants to simulate -- he writes a happiness file, but ignores sadness and humor because he doesn't think he needs those traits right now.
	+ Tolbo detects the presence of a directive that he isn't able to edit or read. He deduces that it was added after the Etherium explosion. Tolbo adds a directive so that if the secret directive ever activates, he will shut down all of his limbs and external features besides from his face.
	+ The next time Tolbo awakens, he finds himself in a conference room with Dr. Perry, who asks him various questions about his perception of himself. She offers to bring Tolbo flower samples in exchange for his answers.
* The next time Tolbo is woken up, he is in a greenhouse with Dr. Perry. She has flowers and a shovel. Tolbo is delighted to see the flowers. Tolbo and Dr. Perry have a philosophical debate about the usefulness of human emotions and goals. Then Dr. Perry leaves.
* Tolbo calls Hal to help him see what Kono Utamara put in his brain. Hal takes out a piece of Tolbo's code that isn't connected to anything. When translated, the piece of data says:
	+ Don't trust them. Dragon. Storm cells. Elderwynn. Escape mid-jump.
	+ Hal tells Tolbo to destroy the message and after considering it for a moment Tolbo does.
	+ Tolbo adds a subroutine for appreciating and writes the skeleton of a file for liking and disliking people.

### Wan Ti

* Yorinobu says that Wan Ti isn't able to make progress, he will turn the Child over to someone who may make more progress but whom Yorinobu trusts significantly less than Wan Ti.
	+ Yorinobu declares that he will show Wan Ti a place that might help her see the full Nymeria-Tyger Claw-Arasaka picture.
* Wan Ti goes to the library and reads some books on draconic. She reads the legend of how the Sphinx defeated the dragons. She also reads some draconic words out loud to Nibbler. Wan Ti starts playing with Nibbler by having Nibbler attack pillows, and she realizes the way that she pronounces words influences what elements Nibbler uses for her spells.
* Wan Ti and Nibbler are in the mess hall eating and having a food fight when Dr. Perry arrives and offers to have Wan Ti meet Tolbo.
* One of the half-elf aides tells Wan Ti that in a few days they will arrive at the Kokonei Village.

## 1/16 Session

### Tolbo and Wan Ti

* Dr. Perry continues asking Tolbo about his subroutines and emotions while she brings him new flowers. Tolbo is more reluctant to disclose sensitive information about his programming for survival reasons. He expresses to Dr. Perry that he doesn't want her or anyone else physically poking around in his brain anymore.
	+ Tolbo also receives a small mechanical gift from Hal which can create illusions of different flowers.
	+ Dr. Perry helps turn Tolbo's garden into a secured greenhouse
* Guards bring Wan Ti and Nibbler to Tolbo's greenhouse to meet him. Wan Ti identifies Tolbo as the construct that had been at the Senate bombing and the Trial of the Century, and tells him that she had worked with Franz.
	+ Wan Ti asks Tolbo if he wants to leave the ship. Tolbo says that for his own self-preservation, he cannot answer Wan Ti's question.
	+ Wan Ti tells Tolbo that they are headed to Kokonei village. Tolbo scans his knowledge base and learns that it was attacked by the Mendeni ambush and there were 263 innocent casualties
	+ Nibbler paws at Tolbo's limbs and sends some electricity to his brain. A strong sensation (akin to endorphins or a mixture of emotions) occurs in Tolbo. Nibbler then goes to a planter box and starts digging through the dirt. Earth magic comes out of her and creates a new magical plant. It's a foot tall and looks like a venus flytrap with a rose coming out of it.
* The guards escort Wan Ti and Nibbler back to their quarters. Tolbo carries Wan Ti for her. When they get back, Dr. Perry tries to talk to Wan Ti alone. Dr. Perry assumes that Wan Ti is planning on escaping and asks Wan Ti to take Tolbo with her.
	+ Dr. Perry believes that Tolbo's allegiance to Franz may have transferred to Wan Ti since they worked together, and Wan Ti may have more success in getting Tolbo to open up.
	+ Wan Ti says that she get Tolbo off the ship but in exchange Dr. Perry will have to help Wan Ti to actually escape. Dr. Perry says that Arasaka can track any drop ships that leave the vessel, but their tracking technology may not function well during the Spirit of Fire's warp. She suggests that Wan Ti escape mid-jump.
* Wan Ti tells the guard that she needs Tolbo to see the map to see what he might know about the Etherium Vault. Wan Ti makes a good enough argument to convince the guards. In the map room, Wan Ti points at an Orc-ish region and says in Orc-ish, "Dr. Perry wants me to get you off this ship."
* Yorinobu enters the map room and berates the guards for letting Tolbo in here. He tells Wan Ti that they have arrived at the Kokonei Village and it's time for their little field trip. Nibbler stays on the ship because she's exhausted and also as insurance.
	+ Yorinobu orders Tolbo turned off and carried back. Tolbo asks not to be turned off, and surprisingly the guards don't and walk him back on. Tolbo asks to see Nibbler, the guards refuse.
* As they fly down from the Spirit of Fire, Wan Ti notices that they are flying towards a barren field. There's a crater presumably where the factory used to be, and the remains of a tiny village.

### Zhu Li

* Jaque asks Zhu Li if she wants to leave. She says that she's not going to leave Jaque here. He tells her that he spoke with Valda last night and told her that he wasn't going to go through with the bombing. He told her that if she loved him she wouldn't ask him to do this. But Jaque saw that Valda was afraid, afraid that the solar weapon at the factory would mean the end of everyone she loves. So, in the end, Jaque agreed to do it, and dragged Zhu Li into this.
	+ Jaque says that after this mission, he's leaving Nymeria and he's not going to tell Valda. As long as he is in Nymeria with Valda, he will help her. He can't be with her and keep his ideals. He asks Zhu Li to come with him.
	+ Zhu Li feels an electric tingle from the dragon rock.
	+ Zhu Li asks how she can find Jaque again, if she doesn't go with Jaque. Jaque indicates that they can get mutual tracking tattoos, similar to what he and Valda have.
* Zhu Li decides that after this mission, she will look into whatever group gave her the dragon orb and then find Jaque.
* Jaque finds a witness: an elderly human woman. They head towards Kokonei village. Along the way, the elderly woman talks more about the person that Zhu Li accidentally killed.
	+ Jaque goes into the village while Zhu Li stays on the edge of the forest. While she's waiting for Jaque, a tortle named Yeck comes up to Zhu Li and asks if she wants to try some wine. Yeck manages to convince Zhu Li to come to her winery and try some wine. Zhu Li reluctantly goes and stays there for a bit before seeing the Arasaka ships leave the village. She leaves to go to another outlook and find Jaque.

### Time Colliding

* Wan Ti and Yorinobu land on the wasteland that was the village. Yorinobu tells Wan Ti that the Tyger Claws set up the bomb behind the factory near the Etherium vats in order to kill everyone without warning. Wan Ti points to the barren earth as evidence that no one should have the Etherium vault. Yorinobu says that if Arasaka has the vault, it will be able to finally bring an era of peace and prosperity to Nymeria. Wan Ti is skeptical about that.
* Yorinobu gives Wan Ti some time to explore the village and get some fresh air. Wan Ti stumbles upon an old tortle named Yeck and her winery. Yeck offers Wan Ti some wine tells her that the Tyger Claws blew up the factory and killed everyone in it. While in the winery, Wan Ti notices that Yeck is repeating herself and that her wine glass is full despite having drank it all and no one having refilled it.
* Wan Ti looks out the window and sees the factory completely intact. She exits the winery and the village is no longer derelict. After confirming that this is not an illusion, Wan Ti heads to the back of the factory where Yorinobu said that the Tyger Claws had planted the bomb.
	+ At her outlook, Zhu Li sees a half-orc and follows.
* Wan Ti peaks around the back of the factory and sees V and another Tygon hunched over a metal contraption. Wan Ti says "hello V." V immediately attacks Wan Ti
	+ Wan Ti tries to tell V that she knows her and that V should listen to her, but V keeps attacking Wan Ti. Wan Ti manages to grapple V, but is stabbed in the back by the other Tygron. While the two keep fighting, the other Tygron activates the bomb.
	+ Zhu Li arrives and uses Shocking Grasp on Wan Ti. Wan Ti calls Zhu Li's name, which causes both Zhu Li and V to pause because no one outside of the Elder Tree should know who Zhu Li is. Wan Ti says that she's from the future and has worked with Zhu Li and they need to listen to Wan Ti. She tells V that her ambush is hunted down in the future. Upon hearing those words, V attacks Wan Ti.
	+ Wan Ti deflects V's attack and tells her that she's the keeper of the Child of Bombyx Mori. She is being held by Arasaka and she needs V to come to the Kokonei Village on that day to rescue Wan Ti. V does not believe Wan Ti and thinks that she's a crazy person.
* The other Tygron tells V that they need to go. Both Tygron sprint away into the jungle. Zhu Li follows them after asking Wan Ti how many people die here. Wan Ti follows Zhu Li.
	+ Zhu Li casts lightning in her feet to make her faster. The wild magic surge causes Zhu Li to become frightened of Wan Ti
* As Wan Ti runs towards the jungle, she sees a dark space forming. She stops, and just as she does the bomb goes off. Wan Ti is thrown to the ground from the force of the blast. She looks back and sees that the factory is gone and there's nothing there but a crater. She looks in front of her and sees the Time Eater by the treeline.
	+ Wan Ti gets up and races to the other side of the clearing towards the trees. She looks back and the Time Eater is gone. She does a 360 turn and notices that the Spirit of Fire is in the sky. She tries to signal it with her coin, and as she does so, the Time Eater appears in front of her and starts advancing.
	+ The Spirit of Fire begins blasting the Time Eater with artillery, but it simply reverses time. Wan Ti books it to the trees, and the Time Eater is hot in pursuit. A time and multiple jaws emerge from the Time Eater's face and tries to grab Wan Ti. Before it can do so, a mechanical dragon dives out of the Spirit of Fire, grabs Wan Ti's shoulders, and flies both of them into the trees.
		- What appears to be Red Sun grabs her, Wan Ti feels time rewinding and the necrosis receding and her arm growing back.
		- The Time Eater is standing in the clearing, staring at Wan Ti, tongue and mouths gone. Wan Ti turns to look at his savior and sees a battered half-elf woman wearing monk robes lying unconscious on the jungle floor. The woman wakes up and looks at her flesh hands in shock.
* Zhu Li runs into the trees in fear, following the Tygron. Zhu Li asks them to slow down and cuts the spell. They circle back to make sure that Zhu Li is okay. They turn around to start running, but waiting in front of them, seemingly out of nowhere is a human-construct-looking person. It's Red Sun (v1.0)
	+ V and Red Sun exchange blows. Zhu Li casts Firebolt at Red Sun and turns invisible. V tackles Red Sun and the other Tygron dogpiles onto her. Dragon-sized wings appear from her back and Red Sun flies into the air and beats her wings, causing Zhu Li to be thrown backwards and the other Tygron to fall and be downed. V clings onto Red Sun.
	+ Red Sun spreads her wings and absorbs light from the sun, causing her katanas to gain radiant damage. Red Sun drives one of her blades into V's chest and then slices V's head off with the other blade. She engages her blindsight to scan the area for any additional targets.
	+ Zhu Li creates a magical giant hand to grapple Red Sun. Red Sun escapes the grapple by detaching her wing. Zhu Li uses her Shield and Magic Hand to ward off Red Sun's attacks and grapple her again, and then attempts to run away. Red Sun shoots a katana at Zhu Li and activates the lightning within the shuriken that she had thrown at Zhu Li earlier. Zhu Li attempts to pull out the shuriken, and downs herself in the process. She attempts to cast some magic in a hail mary. It does nothing, and the last thing that Zhu Li sees is Red Sun driving her blade into Zhu Li's chest.
* Zhu Li feels like she's falling. There's sand on all sides, it reminds her of the Sea of Sand. Since Loxodons believe in reincarnation, she believes that she's in the state between her past life and her next. She notices chains attached to each of her arm and legs, dragging her down through the sand. She starts to drown in the sand until she sees a godly four-armed figure floating in front of her. The deity grabs Zhu Li with her lower two arms and pulls her up.
	+ The deity leans in and says to Zhu Li, "It's not your time yet, you cannot go." The chains drag Zhu Li up instead of down, and she finds herself in the Elder Tree. Distant Song has just handed Zhu Li a dragon stone and walked away.
	+ Zhu Li goes to find Jaque again. They dance again, just like before. Zhu Li doesn't say anything to Jaque. That night, Zhu Li prays for the first time in her life. Then she pulls out the metal orb and sends the signal. A bit later, Distant Song comes knocking on Zhu Li's door.

## 2-4 Session

### Verinen

* Verinen was seeking revenge on the Protectorate, particularly Shahd, for the lack of protection for his clan. However, he found out that Shahd was already dead, so he began searching for a better purpose. He went around using his skills to make money and seek out an ultimate goal for himself. He eventually ended up on the Collector's pirate ship in the Anvil Islands.
	+ Verinen got along with a pirate named Granta whose job was deciphering old runes and ancient languages. Granta was soft-spoken and seemed to only be here because he couldn't make it in academia.
* Verinen is on night watch one night when he hears an eerie singing coming from different directions around the ship. He shoots a lighted arrow into the night and he sees a silhouette of a large tail dart away into the water. Verinen nopes out of there and tells the captain what he saw and to steer clear of the port side. The crew realizes that Jerry is missing.
* The next couple of days, Verinen notices that the ship seems to be passing the same landmarks over and over again. He tries telling the captain but the captain ignores him.
* Verinen and Granta both feel the boat bump against something. Verinen looks into the water and sees a massive tentacle the size of a tree trunk. He goes down the deck and tries to warn the other members of the crew. No one believes him until a tentacle bursts through the side of the ship and grabs Jerry's brother Larry.
* The ship erupts into chaos. Some people are being grabbed by tentacles, others are readying and firing cannons to fight the Kraken, and others are getting into rowboats to try and row away. Verinen runs near the captain's quarters, the highest point of the ship, in case the ship sizes. The captain is cowering under his desk. Verinen takes the captain and pushes him towards the tentacle.
* Granta comes to Verinen and tells him that they are going into a rowboat. Verinen tries to persuade him against it, but Granta doesn't listen and goes into the rowboat.
* Verinen casts Speak to Animals and asks the Kraken what it wants. He gets something along the lines of "Kill, Feed." Verinen goes on deck to look for outcroppings that they can escape to. He begins ripping off pieces of the boat and throwing them in the opposite direction of the outcropping to try and confuse the Kraken. Once he sees that the Kraken is heading in the opposite direction, he finds some gunpowder, lights it on fire, causing a small explosion. It isn't enough to hurt the Kraken, but it's hopefully enough to cause a distraction as Verinen jumps overboard and starts swimming for the outcropping. A few crew members follow him.
* A storm descends upon the outcropping quickly, and Verinen instructs the crew members to begin finding food, water, and shelter. Verinen hears the singing again and sees a beautiful mermaid in the water. He and the other crew members walk towards the water when one of the mermaids grabs one of the crew and drags him under water. Verinen also gets pulled underwater by a mermaid.
	+ Verinen uses Speak with Animals to yell, "We mean you no harm." The mermaid that grabbed him doesn't seem swayed, but another mermaid comes in and pushes the other mermaid off and takes Verinen and swims away with him. This new mermaid is not aggressive, and communicates to Verinen to trust her.
	+ She takes Verinen to the coast of Nymeria where he eventually gets kidnapped by lizardfolk and meets the rest of the party. Along the way, she inquires about Verinen's devotion to the natural world. Verinen takes the shitty pistol that he took from the captain and breaks it in front of her. He puts away the pieces and bows his head to her.
	+ The mermaid seems to appreciate that. Before she leaves him on the coast of Nymeria, she tells Verinen to find his true purpose as protector of the natural world. She leaves him with a seashell.

### Pandora

* Pandora and Azrael head to Dyrewood. To get there, they need to cross the Protectorate border. Pandora is able to successfully switch out her spells though she takes some psychic damage. They are able to find a spot that is not as well patrolled, and they make a dash for the border. They see a small contingent of soldiers coming towards them, and Pandora casts Insect Plague to distract them.
* Azrael explains that they are going to Dyrewood to pick up something that an Asmodeus cultist left behind. Dyrewood is a village in the North where a lot of refugees go to escape the Protectorate-Orc conflict.
* They head up to Fort Ebony, an old Protectorate stronghold that has been ceded to the Orcs. There is snow at the old fort, which is unusual because the warm from Aternum is typically enough to keep the snow away. There they encounter an undead snow giant.
	+ They exchange blows before Azrael manages to banish the giant for a couple of seconds while he and Pandora make a run for it. When the giant returns, Pandora casts Turn Undead and the giant lumbers away.
* Pandora and Azrael continue on their way. They go through the Hollowwoods where the trees look almost dead due to the plight of Aternum. They also encounter an elvish hunting party.
* They arrive at Dyrewood. The town's signature feature is a massive blight-ridden Dyre tree in the middle of the town. The tree is nourished by astral magic of the Dyrewood star. Half of it is alive and blooming and the other half is dying from the blight. The elves of the village maintain the astral connection to keep the tree alive.
	+ Azrael and Pandora take some time to relax and hang out. They drink and throw axes together, then climb the Dyre Tree to stargaze together. Azrael starts flirting with Pandora and Pandora reciprocates. Things get smexy in the tree.
* The next morning they are in their hotel room. Azrael says that they need to retrieve a box buried under the Dyre Tree. He will distract the elvish astral practitioners while Pandora digs it up. Azrael seems very fixated on this plan. Pandora is not pleased with Azrael's aloofness and hyperfixation on the plan, but she resolves to deal with it later.
	+ As she's digging, it almost feels like the stars are watching her. She unearths a creepy looking chest wrapped in chains. As she puts back the dirt, she sees elvish bones, next to the chest.
	+ Azrael tells her not to touch the chest more than necessary. The entity in the chest is not an ally, but an enemy of their enemy. Pandora presses him for answers and Azrael admits that the entity manipulates minds. It connects to you on a psychic level and attaches to you. It will try to convince Pandora to let it in, but as long as she refuses, Asmodeus should protect her. Finally, Asmodeus hides the chest under the floorboards
	+ That night, Pandora dreams of the box sitting on the desk with no chains on it. She hears a voice in her head whispering that Azrael hasn't told her the entire truth about himself. Pandora is able to resist the call of the box. But she then has a dream about Yazmin's death (the warehouse sequence) and at the end of the dream she sees the chest again and instead are hundreds of dodecahedron pendants like the one Yazmin had.

### Sarovar

*Many months ago*

* Sarovar is in his cell, about to hang himself because he doesn't want the Protectorate to find out that he is a Tarrin spy who killed Shahd. As he hangs himself, his last thoughts are nationalistic.
* The next sensation Sarovar feels is being pulled by chains through a murky black. As soon as he opens his mouth to scream, he begins drowning. Eventually he falls on top of a grave that reads "Sarovar Arlin". There are doors leading in all cardinal directions. Chains are hanging from the ceiling and Sarovar is alone.
* Sarovar opens the **NORTH** door. He sees the same thing. He creeps right and starts walking up the stairs. Eventually the walls stop and he can see other stairs crossing in different directions above, below, and all around. Some are even upside down. As he keeps climbing, the stairs get more and more unusual and he starts losing any sense of direction. He also has very little sense of time, but he doesn't feel tired, hungry, or thirsty. An indeterminate long amount of time later, he stumbles back upon the original room. As he turns towards the initial room, he sees a shadow on the wall with horns standing in the doorway of the center room. The minotaur comes forward and attacks Sarovar. Sarovar hits back and then runs back into the labyrinth. The minotaur charges after him, knocking him off the stairs and onto another set of stairs. Sarovar awakes drowning again.
* Sarovar tries the **WEST** door. There's another hallway with a similar maze-like feeling. He hears music in the distance and he rounds the corner to see a large gala. One of the gala guests steps towards him. It's Aretha, Sarovar's stepmother. She asks him what took him so long, and invites him to dance. As they dance, he sees other couples dancing together. Eli is dancing with Eldon, Damian with Yazmin, Soleste with Grog, Tarrin politician with Franz, and Jacque, Chestington, and Shadh are dancing as a trio. Sarovar tries to dance with the Tarrin politician, but they refuse to dance with him and say that they are just waiting for the feast. Sarovar grabs her arm and asks if he did the right thing. She says "well, you're certainly not doing it now" and she dances away. Sarovar turns back to Aretha who is very angry that he left her and slaps him. Before she can tear into him, Sarovar hears the ding of a dinner bell. Stepping out of the door in the back is a monstrous chef who begins laying out brains on the banquet table. All the guests run forward like animals and start tearing into the brains. Sarovar is on the abandonned dancefloor staring at the chef. The monster looks at Sarovar, lets out a timeeater-esque screech, and leaps at him on horse legs. Sarovar runs away and the chef chases after him. He goes back to the inital room and goes into the door facing **SOUTH**. He throws open the doors and sees Hodgin, his friend through the war and later through the Tarrin group, sitting in a rocking chair with his face shot off. He's rocking there, looking at Sarovar. At this point, the chef catches him and tears him in half. Before he dies, Sarovar gasps, "Hodgin, did I do go?" Hodgin just mutters "...and again, and again" over and over to himself.
* Sarovar awakes drowning again and then ends up back in the initial room. He slouches over his own grave for a long while. He thinks that he prob ended up in his own personal hell, and he reflects on the choices that got him here. Eventually after a few days Sarovar hears sniffing and snorting and the sound of hooves. The minotaur arrives and kills Sarovar again. Sarovar runs into the **EAST** door and goes down a straight hallway. He can hear the minotaur gaining on him, but then for some reason slows down. Sarovar turns back and sees the minotaur standing there, dragging the ax on the ground. Sarovar turns the corner and sees a lot of bodies hanging from nooses. All their faces have been scratched off so he can't discern their identities. The bodies feel almost empty on the inside, like the bones and innards have been taken out. Some of them look suspiciously like Sarovar. The walls begin closing in on him, and the room gets tighter and tighter until Sarovar is suffocated by the mass of flesh and wakes up in the same initial room.
* Sarovar goes **SOUTH** to talk to Hodgin. Sarovar goes and begs Hodgin to tell him that he did the right thing. Hodgin mutters about the war, and then turns to Sarovar and asks, "What was it for? What did it matter? Did anything we've done made a difference?" Sarovar is aghast. Hodgin says that it is meaningless. No matter what they do, no matter how many times they do, the void will wash it all way. Arcadia will melt into the abyss and the cycle will start again, and again, and again. Sarovar tries to shake Hodgin's shoulders. The minotaur arrives after an hour. Sarovar tries to hide behind the rocking chair, but the minotaur sniffs him out and brings the axe down on him.
* Sarovar tries the gala hall many times. He tries hiding in the maze, but the minotaur always finds him. He does not return to the room with the dead bodies. At some point, right as Sarovar is completely without hope, Hodgin gives Sarovar a piece of paper. Sarovar sees on the paper a crudely drawn map of the maze.
	+ Sarovar tries the maze but ends up being caught by the minotaur. He tries the maze about 300 more times before he sees for the first time a source of light. He reaches the top of the maze and sees open inky black sky (the stuff he drowned in). Stretching out around him is infinite maze. There are little Sarovars running around in the maze, each being chased by their own minotaur. Sarovar sinks to his knees, facing the minotaur. It comes forward and strikes him down.
* Every time Sarovar is ready to give up completely, something manages to convince him to try again. He tries the maze many times, Sarovar is on the brink of insanity. After an unknown amount of time, as the minotaur is about to bear down on Sarovar once more, two devils swoop down and cut down the minotaur. The devil with wings carries Sarovar out of the maze. They pass by one absurd, horrifying landscape after another until finally they land at the edge of a large lake, though it appears like an infinite ocean. There's an island in the middle of the ocean with lightning striking down to it.
	+ One of the devils says that "he" would like to speak to Sarovar. The flying devil picks Sarovar one more time and brings him over to the island. The island is surrounded by an undulating black ocean. There is one figure standing on the island with lightning cracking up from them. It's Asmodeus.
	+ Asmodeus tells Sarovar that he brought him here because he needs Sarovar's help finding someone from Sarovar's life before he died. Asmodeus explains to Sarovar that Arcadia has existed many times and will continue to exist many more. And every time Sarovar ends up in the demonic realm, tortured for eternity. Asmodeus offers Sarovar a way to end it forever in exchange for some information from Sarovar's past life. He needs Sarovar to talk to a friend of his about everything that happened after she left his group, particularly relating to Damien Roark. Sarovar agrees. Asmodeus creates out of lightning a little window.
* After her nightmare about the evil box, Pandora wakes up to Azrael bursting in and telling her that Asmodeus needs her. He brings her to the basement where there's a portal. On the other side of the portal is a haggard and desperate Sarovar. Asmodeus instructs him to tell Pandora where he is and what he has experienced. Sarovar tells Pandora that it's awful where he is, and everyone will end up there. Everyone she knows or will know.
	+ Asmodeus tells Pandora that by virtue of Arcadia existing Dol Arrah does this. Pandora asks whether Arcadia must cease to stop this. Asmodeus shrugs and says that Dol Arrah must cease at least.
* Sarovar tells Pandora everything he knows about Damien Roark up until Shadh's assassination. He also tells her that he betrayed the party.
* Azrael asks if Sarovar knows who from the party might have a better sense of where Damien went. They decide that Azrael and Pandora will need to reach out to the old members of her party, Eli and Franz (Asmodeus confirms that Eli and Franz are not in the demonic realm). Sarovar also mentions that the party had been talking about Etherium bombs, and Azrael makes the connection between Etherium and Nymeria.
	+ Pandora states that Franz very much believes in Dol Arrah, but they might have a chance with Eli.
* Once Sarovar is done, Asmodeus waves away the portal and brings Sarovar to the edge of the island to the water. The "water" is actually an undulating mass of tentacles and goo and tongues. It's a sea of time eaters. Asmodeus gestures for Sarovar to step in. Sarovar turns and falls into the lake.
* After the portal call, Pandora admits to Azrael that the box wants something from her and asks Azrael if he would hold anything back from her. Azrael says that he's done things that he's not proud of, and he'll tell her about it once they accomplish their goal.