Open Waters

**Open Waters** is the 47th session of the first WGA campaign. After the shock of discovering that Valac had been replaced by an imposter, Rilvra Mirimm, the party returns to the safehouse in Rosohna. All they can do is wait until the next day, drained of resources and energy, before they can rescue Valac from Xuton Mirimm's residence.

### Preparing to leave

It's the morning at last, and Kismet hasn't slept, Florian barely so. Kismet waits in the living room for everyone to make their preparations. Isa approaches Blitz, determined to know exactly what it is they are getting into. Not only could this benefit the Cobalt Soul, but she is worried about how deep into trouble Finch is. Blitz gives her the rundown: Xuton was the cause of Keldrym and Kaulmyn's father's disappearance, responsible for the death of Ilianaro Hythenos, and the abusive mentor of the twins. He believes he owns them, body and soul, and wishes to remove all of their connections so he can have them back in the Lens and under his control. Additionally, Xuton captured Valac, torturing him and keeping him hostage for a number of days.

During the conversation, members of the Red Thread keep popping up and startling Blitz and Isa. Isa herself is angling away from Kismet who is emanating rancid vibes from the corner of the room.

### Breaking in

After preparing spells, the party heads out, sneaky-beaky like. The group passes the stealth check and arrives at Xuton's residence without harassment. Florian's father, Ilrin Arabette, meets them outside. He informs them there has been no movement in or out. Additionally, he could not find any entrances or windows beyond the front door itself. Blitz gets a read on Florian's father, not trusting anyone, as Rilvra Mirrim could be impersonating him. All seems well.

While the option of blasting a hole in the wall with residuum is on the table, ultimately the party decides to simply go in the front entrance. They know Xuton is expecting them, and the longer they hesitate, the worse Valac could be when they eventually get in. Kalypso and Florian dimension door inside, looking around. The door isn't even locked, and they open it for the others. Florian hears whispers, but can't pinpoint the source. He checks for traps, none to be found. There are a few rooms, stairs going up, and stairs going down. The stairs leading to the basement have blood on them.

Kismet spots the blood leading down, and before the party have a chance to investigate the rest of the house he turns invisible and heads down as quietly as he can. The party follows, panicked, but Kismet is single-minded. He listens at the door, but can't hear anything. Isa checks for traps, still nothing. Kismet tries the handle. It's unlocked, and he opens the door.

### The torture room

***Content warning:** This section contains descriptions of bodily harm, violence, and mild gore.*

Upon entering the room, a grisly sight meets the party. There are torture implements set out upon a metal table, the floor is caked with blood, and there are hooks and manacles attached to the walls. What draws Kismet's attention immediately is Valac, delirious and nearly unconscious, held up by his wrists against the wall. His arms are both clearly broken, bending the wrong way. He has a large gash on his cheek, his nose is broken, and there's a stab wound straight through his hand. Blood cakes his hair. He doesn't register anyone entering.

Next to him, equally as battered, is Amour Beltune. It's clear she has been held down here for some time. Xuton himself is standing next to Valac, and turns as the party enters, leaving a snide comment. "Glad you could make it." With that, he stabs Valac in the thigh.

### A lethal intersection

A vicious and bloody fight breaks out. Isa dashes straight to Xuton, punching him twice in the face. Florian slashes at him with Whisper. Xuton attempts to dash away, but Blitz stops him with a Sentinel attack. Xuton lets off chain lighting which catches Valac, who immediately falls unconscious. "I told you I'd kill you in front of him." Kismet sets off a *Beacon of Hope*, catching everyone in the radius, and casts Spare the Dying on Valac who stabilises.

Throughout the fight, Finch attempts to cast a number of spells, many of which Xuton resists or counterspells. This disheartens the small tiefling almost to the point of paralysis. Xuton casts *Tether Essence* on Blitz and Isa, linking their health. At this point, everyone is aware that Xuton is a powerful dunamancer.

Footsteps can be heard, and Rilvra drops invisibility, revealing herself. Valac and Amour both have collars around their necks, and Amour begs Keldrym to take hers off. The collars are clearly inhibiting magic, preventing the captives from casting spells. Florian releases Valac from his chains, and as a bonus action disengages, fleeing as far as he can with Valac over their shoulder.

### It's looking bleak

Xuton casts a lightning bolt, catching a number of the party in it. The two monks evade, taking no damage. Finch and Kismet are hit. There's no chance to maintain concentration on *Beacon of Hope*, and Kismet must cast it again. He does not heal Valac, and does not move from his spot. Kalypso has her eye on Rilvra, exclaiming, "This is it! Show me who you really are."

Rilvra steps back and starts to cast a fireball, centered to catch as much of the party as she can, bar Valac and Florian. Finch desperately casts *Counterspell*, and in retaliation, Xuton casts *Temporal Shunt*. Even with advantage on wisdom saving throws, Finch still fails. She disappears, understanding exactly what is happening, crying out "No!".

The fireball is devastating, knocking out Kismet and doing heavy damage to everyone except the monks. Rilvra casts a firebolt at Kalypso, but the other changeling is still up. The vendetta is strong. Isa, seeing Finch disappear, calls Xuton a bitch and punches him in the face. She knows the most powerful healer is down, and gives him a healing potion. Florian heals Valac, who wakes unaware of his surroundings with the name "Kismet" on his tongue.

Xuton casts *Crown of Stars*, and immediately fires upon Blitz. Tether Essence transfers the damage to Isa. Xuton casts a 9th level fireball, and most of the party is nearly down or unconscious. *Crown of Stars* is still up, both enemies have powerful AoE spells, and Tether Essence remains in place.

### Valac joins the fight

Kismet casts *Mass Cure Wounds*, and while *Beacon of Hope* no longer remains, the healing is still effective. Taking a gamble, Kismet puts Valac's arcane focus in his sling and fires it toward Florian, who catches it. Keldrym turns his focus to Xuton. "It took me a while to see how badly you were fucking with my family!" Finch reappears, begging Vallin for help. Blitz hears this, cussing out Vallin, and tells Finch she doesn't need a validation from a voice in her head. "You are more of a wizard than she will ever be."

Kalypso sees that things are desperate, and puts on the Thorns of the Hungering Lich. Buffed to hell and back, she's ready to wail into Rilvra. Blitz is taken down by an *Inflict Wounds* that Finch tries to stop but can't. *Tether Essence* breaks. Valac can't cast somatic spells with both arms broken, but he can use his psionic powers to cast *Summon Aberration*, screaming in rage. It goes straight for Xuton. Another *Chain Lightning* from Xuton. Isa, Blitz, and Beckett are unconscious. Everyone is heavily damaged.

### Turning the tide

Valac seeks out Kismet in the chaos, and with a good perception roll, finds him. He immediately starts the telepathic connection, which confirms for Kismet that it really is him. "*It's you!*", he cries over their link, and makes his way to Valac. He casts *Mass Healing Word* to get the unconscious party members back up, then without looking, casts *Path to the Grave* on Xuton. The next attack that hits will do double damage.

Blitz sees Amour and says, "More faces stolen." Rilvra had been impersonating Amour. The rumours that Amour had died during the attack on the Ball had a ring of truth to them, but Amour was not killed. She had been abducted, and Rilvra had taken her place. She stole the Beacon, framing the Beltunes.

Finch stares down Xuton. She watched Isa go down in front of her, and just wants it all to end. Gathering all her courage, she casts *Witch Bolt*. It hits, with double damage. Though she wants to kill Xuton, she knows he has done more wrong to Keldrym and the rest of the Red Thread than herself, so adjusts the weaves of her spell to merely subdue him. Xuton falls.

Kalypso has had enough. She says to Rilvra, "Maybe in a previous life we could have been something. But in this life, I want you to be ash." She casts a 5th level *Shatter*, killing the changeling. While she dies, Rilvra reverts to her natural Changeling form, and Kalypso looks at a near mirror of herself. The only other changeling she has ever met, dead by her own hand. She falls to her knees.

### Closure

***Content warning**: This section contains descriptions of eye gore and threats of bodily harm.*

> Kismet and Valac meet halfway, and despite having hidden their relationship from the party (not successfully), kiss in front of everyone. Keldrym calls over to them, asks them if they have anything to say to Xuton. The pair walk over, Kismet drawing a knife. Standing above Xuton, he says, "I will give you a choice. Do you want to hear the end, do you want to see the end, or do you want to be able to scream while you die? Either way, I am taking two of your senses." Valac tells Kismet to leave one of the eyes so that Xuton can watch Valac as the life leaves him. Keldrym asks Kismet to leave his ears, so he can hear what the twin wants to say. "Just the one eye, then," says Kismet, and he deftly cuts out Xuton's eye, squishing it beneath his boot.
>
>

*Description of eye gore over*

Keldrym steps up to Xuton. He delivers an emotional speech, showing that he has finally broken free from Xuton's influence. "I don't think anything you say could give me closure, but I'm okay now. I'll be okay." Without delay, he takes his glaive and stabs Xuton through the chest, exactly has Xuton had done to him during a training exercise. Keldrym falls to his knees, sobbing, slamming the ground with his fist.

### The aftermath

Finch pulls Isa aside. After seeing her fall, she doesn't want to waste any more time, and confesses that she loves Isa. Tearfully, Isa returns the sentiment. They are, however, at a loss at what to do next, and settle for a hug. Blitz looks down at the body of the changeling, and asks Kalypso if there are any burial rites for their kind. Kalypso grimly states that this one does not deserve the right to a burial. Perhaps a pyre. Kalypso is baffled that she actually gives a shit about the people in the room. Blitz remarks that the Red Thread changes you.

Kismet crouches down to Keldrym, holding his hand back from hitting the floor, wrapping him in a hug. Keldrym is at a loss for what to do next. He's finally free from the virulent influence that plagued his life for decades. There's much more to do in Rosohna - he has to clear his family's name and bring to light all that Xuton had done. Kismet says he should ask Sennim on a date. All his choices are his own now. Keldrym says a quick "I love you," to Kismet, who returns it, calling Keldrym "Kel".

Valac and Kismet have a short moment, standing over the corpse of Xuton. Kismet heals Valac more, tenderly, his arms finally fixed enough to move. They embrace, and Kismet finally allows himself to break down in Valac's arms, though no tears are shed. Florian retreats quietly to the least bloody part of the stairs, reluctant to get between any reunions or healing. Unusually quiet, he abstains from looting the upstairs of the house.

### Old friends

Among the loot, documents are found describing in detail Xuton's dealings. He was looking into Finch (more accurately, Vallin), Beckett, and Essek. The party recover Valac's belongings, and find enough gold that they all walk out 5000GP richer. Essek messages Kismet, calling them all to his tower. It cannot wait. On the way out, Blitz approaches Florian's father. "I know you care for him deeply, but he is not a piece of glass. He's one of the bravest people I have ever met in my life."

The party make their way to Essek's tower, exhausted and changed forever by the events. Sarven meets them at the door and offers tea, and they all crowd upstairs. There are footsteps from further up in the tower, which is confusing as Essek floats everywhere. To the shock and joyful surprise of everyone in the party, Arabella and Agatha descend into the room. They had been at a loss on how to get to Rosohna, but Sarven managed to pick them up via teleport. They both look very different.

There are tearful hugs (most of the tears on Bella's part) as everyone reunites. Kismet hangs back while Valac approaches Agatha. He's at a loss for words, not taking in anything Agatha is saying. "I don't understand. Why are you here? What about Nogvurot?" Agatha fervently assures him that she wasn't about to stand idly by while his life was in danger. Valac steps forward and pulls Agatha into a hug, which surprises Agatha so much she asks what's got into him. Valac says, "Yeah, that felt weird, I'll never do it again," which prompts a laughing protest from Aggie. Some of Valac's humour is back.

### Beacons, timelines, and convergence

With the reuniting out of the way, Essek announces that he has made a breakthrough in his studies on the Beacon. Valac encourages him to be truthful, and after all they've done to help, to stop holding back information. Essek informs the party that he is "not from here". He is in fact from another timeline, and he switched over two years ago, coinciding with the moment he handed over the Beacons to the Cerberus Assembly. There is something deeply wrong with the timeline in this world, and the white dreams are a part of it.

All of the Red Thread may well be from other timelines, and he intends to fix it all with their help. Valac and Kismet vehemently protest, already on the same page. If the timelines are fixed, and they are all from other places, will that mean they will be flung apart? Essek says that as the timelines tangle and converge, people die. Bella mentions that while she's always remembered the Pallid Elves living underground, in this timeline the elves emerged from the caves.

At a loss for what to do, the party talks amongst themselves. Valac agrees to help Essek, followed swiftly by Kismet. During this, Blitz gets a message from their mentor, Ulor. The Abbey, their home, is under attack by the blue dragon that was spotted pursuing the gold and red that Blitz had been searching for. After being assured that their partner and son are for the moment safe, they tell the party they have to go. They don't expect anyone to come with, to which Kalypso assures them they would do nothing else. Sarven creates a teleportation circle. There's no time to debate. Kismet reaches his hand out to Valac, saying into his mind, "This is the next fork in the path."

The Red Thread emerge from the teleportation to see the Abbey up in flames, a huge adult blue dragon bearing down on them. Though battered and half-tapped, they are determined to end this dragon with as much vigour as they ended Xuton. Blitz's family is in danger.