Session0042

Episode 0042 - Trust Is Like a Candle
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**Setting:**

Volus - May 29th-30th, 211 AW
**Synopsis:**

* The party battles the celestial defenses within the Purgatory in Volus.
* During the fray, XV slays Tamrius Grimm, revealing to the party that he was instructed to do so by Dr. Johann Conrad Dippel, and assuring them that Grimm will be reborn into his clone, which is in Dippel's possession.
* After defeating the celestials, the party takes some time to rest and recover, and discusses what to do with the sleeping prisoners, eventually deciding to store them within Malkoth's *demivault* for the time being.
* The party decides to rest for the evening before continuing their exploration of Volus. During their evening watch, they note that the merrow of Volus seem to be mounting some sort of counteroffensive against the invading forces.
* During the rest, Odell uses a *legend lore* spell to deduce that Avara Wasanthi's Tome of Rune Magic is currently part of a treasure hoard being protected by a dragon turtle somewhere in Volus.
* The next day, the party investigates the wreckage of the Flying Dutchman, finding that it has already been plundered by the merrow.
* Next, the party visits the ruins of the Tabernacle of the High Council, where they discover a recording left behind by Avara Wasanthi before her death, which reveals the location of the Tome of Rune Magic and the truth of the heritage of Halimath Wasanthi - and by extension Gragnok.
* Afterward, the party heads to the Palace Spires in search of the merrow's treasure hoard. Along the way, they rescue a pair of merfolk children being held captive by the merrow.
* Deep beneath the Palace Spires, the party discovers the city's treasure vault, where they find a dragon turtle and the merrow's Queen guarding the city's treasure hoard.

## May 29th

Within the Purgatory in Volus, the party battles the celestial defenses which appear to protect the sleeping prisoners. As the fight begins, Gragnok attempts to slay Vecna. However, when the party explains that killing him would likely just release his soul to return to a clone, he turns his attention to help battling the celestials.

As the tide of the battle begins to turn in the party's favor, celestial reapers appear at each prisoner and attempt to slay them, presumably to keep the party from rescuing them. As the party scrambles to battle the celestials while also stabilizing the prisoners, XV takes the opportunity to kill Tamrius Grimm. He apologizes to the party for misleading them, and reveals that Dr. Johann Conrad Dippel instructed him to kill Grimm. He assures the party that Dr. Dippel is in possession of Grimm's clone, and that Grimm will have been reborn into his clone upon his death.

Eventually, the party manages to defeat all of the celestial defenses and stabilize the remaining prisoners.

After the battle, Patches and Malkoth both begin casting spells to contact Patches (Deity). Patches' *commune* spell completes first, and he tells his patron that Tamrius Grimm is no longer imprisoned. His patron emphasizes that he still needs Tamrius returned to him, not just freed from imprisonment. Patches asks his patron how they will meet up once he recovers Tamrius, and his patron tells him not to worry about it, assuring him it'll work out when the time comes. When asked, he assures Patches that Tamrius is still alive.

Next, Malkoth's *contact other plane* spell completes, and he also speaks with Patches (Deity). He explains the situation with Tamrius Grimm, telling him that Grimm is now in the possession of Dr. Johann Conrad Dippel. Patches says that his new task is to recover Tamrius from Dippel. When asked, Patches also tells Malkoth not to worry about how they will meet up when the task is complete. Malkoth asks if XV is going to turn against the party, and Patches says that XV will only do whatever Dippel instructs him to do. Finally, Malkoth asks Patches about methods for achieving immortality.

Afterwards, the party discusses what to do about the remaining prisoners. They discuss whether to leave them in the prison, take them along with them, kill them, etc. Frog insists that he wants to bring Kamm with them in hopes of learning more about their situation, and possibly using them as a political prisoner for leverage against Kameshima. Regarding the other prisoners, the party discusses eventually bringing them to the Raven Queen in the Shadowfell, to which they all tentatively agree. In the interim, they gather the prisoners and store them within Malkoth's *demivault*.

Discussing their plans moving forward, the party decides to rest in the Purgatory for the evening and await the following morning's Prime Zenith.

During the rest, at Odell's request, Patches casts a *legend lore* spell to learn more about Avara Wasanthi's Tome of Rune Magic. He sees visions of Wasanthi writing the Tome and presenting it before the High Council of Ayn Sitael, and later being executed for heresy as a result. Finally, he sees the Tome sitting amongst a hoard of treasure protected by a dragon turtle. The party surmises that the Tome has been taken by the merrow and stored with the remainder of their treasure, though they are not certain of its location.

Overnight, Gragnok and Malkoth keep watch outside in the city. They observe that the merrow seem to be regrouping and preparing for some sort of counteroffensive against the invading outsiders.

## May 30th

In the morning, Patches shapeshifts into a harengon, and Louche plays the Psalm of Imitation. Malkoth uses the Material Resonator to summon a *rod of alertness* and a fey companion.

Departing from the Purgatory, the party heads toward the wreckage of the Flying Dutchman to investigate. They find the wreckage undefended, and begin searching. Investigating the ship, they deduce that the ship itself is magical, and can be used to summon a ghostly ship and crew by using the regalia of its former captain, Davy Jones. However, they find that the ship has already been plundered of any goods or treasure, including the regalia. They speculate that the treasure is likely being stored in the hoard along with the Tome of Rune Magic, and decide to continue searching for the hoard.

For lack of a concrete lead on where to find the treasure hoard, the party decides to investigate the Tabernacle of the High Council, where Avara Wasanthi lived and was executed. They proceed toward the Tabernacle, making their way through the city.

Arriving at the Tabernacle, the party finds a great number of dead merrow and sea creatures, seemingly slain by the invaders. The note that the holy symbology of Bane has been cleaned away, and deduce that the Inquisitors have likely already been to the this place. Searching the bodies, Malkoth finds a key ring hidden on one of the bodies.

Further into the tabernacle, the party finds the former apartments of the High Councilors of Ayn Sitael, the doors of which are all locked. Using the keys that Malkoth recovered, the party investigates the apartments, discovering that they have seemingly not been accessed by the Inquisitors.

The party finds that the apartments have mostly been repurposed into store rooms and dungeon cells by the merrow. They take some time to search the apartment of Alusfaen Orion more carefully than the others, but they don't find anything of particular interest. Gragnok finds the weapon rack that Orion's Key was stored upon, and takes it with him.

Finally, the party investigates Avara Wasanthi's apartment. Odell finds a bust of Ioun in the room, which he discovers is inscribed with rune magic. By activating the rune, he discovers a tiny lorekeeper orb hidden in an illusory alcove. When the orb is activated, it plays an audio recording created by Avara Wasanthi before her death:

> Avara Wasanthi speaking in common: "I do not have much time. They are coming. My name is Avara Wasanthi. I sit upon the high council of the Holy Kingdom of Ayn Sitael. Our kingdom has been blind. Willfully blind to the truth. And it will be our downfall. I am the author of a form of magic which my people have rejected as heretical, which marries divine and arcane magics. I have dubbed it rune magic, and written a Tome which details its practice. Soon, I will be dead. They will try to erase my life’s work. But I have hidden a Tome deep within the vaults of the Palace Spires. It is my last wish that if anyone is to hear this message, they should find it, and bring to life my dream of a world where the divine and arcane need not be at war. My final wish. My son’s name is Halimath Wasanthi. If he should survive the falling of our kingdom… tell him that I am sorry.”
>
>
> During the above, there is the sound of shouting and banging in the background of the recording. What follows is the sound of a door crashing open, and heavy armored footsteps rapidly approaching.
>
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> Avara Wasanthi in elvish: “Alusfaen…”
>
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> Alusfaen Orion in elvish: “Councilor Wasanthi. By decree of the High Council of Ayn Sitael, you have been found guilty of heresy and treason, and sentenced to death.”
>
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> Avara in elvish: “Alusfaen, you don’t have to do this. Can you not see that it is over. Ayn Sitael will fall. Volus will fall.”
>
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> Alusfaen in elvish: “By Holy Law, you are permitted the opportunity to offer the gods your final prayers.”
>
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> Avara in elvish, in a whisper: “Do not do this Alusfaen.”
>
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> Alusfaen in elvish, in a whisper: “It is my duty…” (then louder) “Your final prayer, Councilor Wasanthi.”
>
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> Avara in common: “My final prayer… for the sake of our son.”
>
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> Then the sound of a weapon rapidly swinging, and the sound of Avara dying.
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> Another voice, in elvish: “Did she just say… your son…”
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> Then a brief pause, followed by the sound of combat, blood splattering, and yelling, followed by silence, then,
>
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> Alusfaen, in elvish: “Avara… I am sorry.”
>
>
>
>

Listening to the recording, the party deduces that the Tome of Rune Magic is in the vault of the Palace Spires. Odell also deduces that Halimath Wasanthi was the bastard child of Avara Wasanthi and Alusfaen Orion, born out of wedlock and therefore rendering the Orion name illegitimate. Given that he knows Gragnok to be a descendant of Halimath, he deduces that Gragnok's very existence delegitimizes the Orion name, including Avourel Orion.

Afterwards, the party sets out toward the Palace Spires to begin searching for the vault. On the way in to the spires, they are spotted by an armed merrow scout. They manage to subdue him, and XVIII magically charms him. The party asks about what's happening in the city, the merrow explains that the city is under attack by elves. The party explains that they are here to battle the elves as well, and asks for permission to rest within the Palace Spires, to which the merrow agrees. Afterward, the merrow continues on his way to go join the fight against the elves, which he explains is taking place on the city's west side near the Lightspire.

The party begins exploring the Palace Spires in search of the vault. At one point during the exploration, Malkoth, under the effects of a *see invisibility* spell from his *rod of alertness*, sees that XVIII is being scried on.

In the underbelly of the Palace Spires, the party finds a pair of merfolk children trapped within a cage. The party frees them and gives them some food. In broken aquan, the children explain that they were taken from their parents, and that they live relatively nearby at a crater which serves as a meeting place for sea dwelling folk. The party casts *haste* and *invisibility* spells on them, and sends them off toward the wreckage of the Flying Dutchman, where they promise to meet up with them later. Laguna Scintilla says that he will take them home after he recovers Davy Jones regalia.

Continuing downward through the Palace Spires, the party eventually reaches the entrance to the vault, which is a magically-sealed door within a chamber of holy symbols and offering plates. Following clues offered by an inscription in the room, the party enters a passcode into a series of crystals near the door, which causes it to open. Within, they discover that the vault is magically abjured, and a field of force keeps water from entering.

Malkoth once again notes that the party is being scried upon - this time, specifically Odell. He casts a *dispel magic* spell on the scrying sensor.

Within the vault, the party discovers that the enormous chamber is partially flooded, as the magical field preventing water from entering has seemingly partially failed. Within the vault, they discover the treasure hoard, being protected by a dragon turtle, as well as its wyrmlings and a merrow wearing a regal crown and royal accoutrements.