Usurper Session 26

Equipped with all the information we need about the Prophetess’ memory of Parade, we prepare complete one final iteration of the loop. Almost. First, Kava and Ariel decide to take advantage of their temporary invulnerability to test their skills in MORTAL KOMBAAAAAT. It is a quick and decisive win for Ariel, thanks to two crit success attack rolls in a row. The two shake hands, agree to rematch again soon, and leave with grins on their faces. Ollie might be traumatized for a while though.

At last, the gang prepares for the final loop. The whole party storms the warehouse where the real ambassador is being held and secures a bloody victory, resulting in the rescue of the ambassador and the killing of all but one of the goons. The final goon we interrogate (rather, the half-elves interrogate him, Ariel and Kava just make fools of themselves with empty threats), who reveals that he was hired for this job by underlings of (Chief of a southern raider tribe.) In exchange for this information, Ollie pays him 150 gold (his hiring fee) and lets him go free. Meanwhile, the Ambassador is happy to talk and tells all about how he was abducted by the raiders. Fetch Rabikah and tell her that we found the ambassador thanks to her vision, then bring her and the ambassador back to the Eladrin embassy. Everyone is relieved and they quickly prove that the fake ambassador is an imposter, the parade goes on as planned, and all is well. And as we tell everyone, it’s all thanks to Rabikah!

The memory goes gray again, but this time with a door in the featureless void. We walk through it and find ourselves in an utterly pitch black expanse. The only notable feature is a voice from above singing the Ballad of Rabikah the Prophetess, which tells of her life and exploits (see Notes and Clues section for the text of the song.) The first verse tells of her vision in Rosekeep which we just play through. Another door appears and we find ourselves in the middle of the scene of the second verse…

We are in a dark graveyard, at the time of the new moon. Rabikah is nearby, sitting at the edge of a freshly dug grave (no tombstone) and making some sort of repetitive motion with her hands. After a few moments, she throws her materials to the ground in frustration and goes off into the gravekeeper’s cottage nearby. We cautiously inspect the scene. The bottom of the grave is filled with graveshadow, which gleams silvery in the darkness. We suspect that this must be a graveportal, one of those places where the walls between the mortal realm and the Shadowfell is particularly thinn, but try as we might we cannot interact with it. Looking at the grave through the Mirror of Eberron shows it shining brightly. Next we try to enter the cabin, but it is locked and warded by magic and Rabikah does not answer. Eventually, the light inside switches off and for some reason we are able to push the door open. Inside we find many pages of theological notes, cold coffee, a strange ball of twine, and a sleeping Rabikah. We wait for her to awake, but she does she seems unable to see or hear us. She does however when we knock the twine off the table, pocketing it and saying “You’re not getting away from me that easily.” So naturally, we steal the twine and go back out to the grave to experiment some more. Nothing really works, but the graveshadows do seem t coalesce around the twine when it is brought close. Eventually the dawn comes, and Rabikah emerges from the hut disappointed, says “I guess I’ll have to try again next month” and wanders off. The memory ends and resets.

When it resets, we notice something curious: the twine we took last loop is still with us. After more unsuccessful shnennigans, we hatch a plan. We reset the loop several more time until we have an excess of twine and then, guess that the it is the “angel hair” mentioned in the second verse of the Ballad, we use it to weave a cloak imbued with the shadows in the grave. We test it out, and the wearer seems to vanish from the awareness of those around them. We sneak back into the cottage, tuck the cloak around Rabikah. When she wakes, she seems confused but pleased and leaves. The door of the cottage is now a door like those in the Fortress of Memories and once more we step through it…

...this time emerging onto a raging battlefield. We just have time to see two powerful mages battling--one of them is Rabikah and the other must be the necromancer of Fondren’s Bluff--before we are beset upon by zombies! Prepare to fight next session!