Session 24: Emberil

## Blinded by the fire

> “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”
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Following a dubious attempt to reason with these guards of the fallen fire, we quickly hatched another plan to enter the compound where Lucretia currently rests. Viter disguises himself as a guard, Ivasar transforms into a rat (he barely seems to need a reason to become one, truly) and I turn invisible. Through trial and error, we make our way into the building and onto a rooftop where we watch our old friend Milton, down in the courtyard entering the tower to the East of us. We make our way down and follow him inside, avoiding the guards whose source of power was recently revealed to us.

We enter but Milton is nowhere to be seen. As we formulate a plan, I decide to utilize my invisibility and investigate the floor above. As I climb a winding staircase, I see a ladder at the top that leads up to a hatch as I get to the floor above. I climb the ladder, quietly and slowly open the hatch, and am met with a blinding flame that pierces my retinas straight through to my skull. I see a darkened figure amid the light, and I fallback.

Then I see three doors at the end of a short hallway. Options…

I choose door number 1, and lo and behold, a resting Lucretia behind it. I found her quarters. I hate to admit it but I was startled, and I doubt stealthy enough to conceal myself through the door I cracked open. I rush quietly back down to my friends and lead them to her room.

As we stand outside her door, using only our eyes and a frenzy of limbs, gesticulating wildly and nonsensically to communicate to each other about how to proceed, she beckons us in. I knew my stealth failed me.

Lucretia’s languid form rests easy on a chair in front of the hearth. Her room is simple with little adornment, what one would expect from a practicing ideologue of an emerging religious cult. She proceeds to inform us that she would like to exchange information. In her credit, she has shown us a great deal, or is at least showing us just enough to make us comfortable. While she claims we’re a mystery, Lucretia seems to have untangled a fair amount.

My cousins, lineage and succession. The druidic order. Viter’s path to be a hero. She knows much.

We all of us agree to have the zone of truth cast upon us. We exchange a question for a question. Of note:

* She was the High Flame Keeper of Caspia for a time and made friends among the noble houses who bristled at the state of Sacena after the meteor fell. Those houses sought to support someone else of the flame who sees things differently than the hierarch. Fair enough.

* Lucretia revealed a large shard of delirium burrowed into the centre of her own chest. I have to admit that's pretty badass.

* In her visions, she has seen my cousins. This is quite possibly the most hopeless news of the night—one is cast in shadows (perhaps trapped in Shadowfell?) and the other seems to leave destruction and death behind her using means that should otherwise be out of her grasp. Perhaps a bargain, Lucretia suggests, was made to achieve such power. I must wait to come to conclusions. Could I have come this far to lose one cousin to evil and another to shadow? Is this truly the fate of my kin? Lucretia senses anger and greed in Cat, the one cousin who seems to pop up across Sacena—even the cursed city centre. Cat and mouse, indeed.

* As for Viter, he is going to cross someone or something’s path—but to know it will not be a light burden to carry. Twilight. A relic of the flame? There is a grave cost. I must question Viter later.

* Viter shares a dream he’s had where he heard someone screaming, someone he knew intimately well. Lucretia informs Viter that these are in fact not dreams, but visions. And that Viter is right to consider himself a hero. I’ll never forget Viter’s expression on his face when Lucretia told him he is walking the path of destiny and becoming a true hero. Why so serious, Viter?

* The veil separating Sacena, the Feywild and Shadowfell is thin, at best. The connection to the fey is strong. If the fey are here, so are the shadows lurking.

Most importantly, or interestingly rather, is learning Lucretia’s motivation. She is preparing for a final fight against the darkness. Although the war between light and shadow is everlasting, there could be a turning point, a chance for us to bring an era of peace. But peace requires warriors and somehow the meteor is the key. Peace lasting 1,000 years is at stake.

Lucretia is most interested in the whereabouts of my Aunt, the Queen of Sacena. Funny that she hides somewhere labelled by her name, Lenore. I cannot give up her location, we must determine the motivation under the motivation—always. I will help, I will be there. We shall see. I must be there for my Aunt.

So much information, my head hurts. I require time to meditate and process it. Lucretia rings a small bell. Milton appears. He leads us out, with the instruction of letting none harass us.

One thing is for certain, Lucretia needs us. We may have more leverage than we think…

Now that I think of it, Ivasar asked no questions and sought no answers. Does he not trust us? Where was his mind? What does that mean?

Agh.

Onward.