Session 62 "The Shape of Things"

Session 62 recap: The Shape of Things

After defeating Vanifer and recovering the phoenix egg, Muffy sent Mrs. Brunkle through the portal and into a world of red sky and badlands, suffused, burnt, and touched by fire. There before the small raven was an enormous engine of destruction. Quickly spotted by an enormous eye like construct, more of the faceless guards that had stood sentinel in the chamber where you had met Amon descended from the massive machine. They dispatched Mrs. Brunkle, thus ending Muffy’s glimpse.

On your last legs and with most of your fire resistance quickly running out, Muffy used her scroll of teleportation to bring you to the Citadel of Light. There you found out that The Professor and Elizabeth had left to attend to an emergency at the school that Elizabeth was taught to use her powers at, the school ran by the professor’s brother, Xavin Broom. You encountered Mornmaster Gladwell and Firefist Tajek, the latter having apparently changed his mind about helping Athkatmon. To that end he wanted to speak to Rhys and Muffy, given that of the members of The Order of the Dawn, they were the two that had spent the most time in The City of Coin as of late.

Eager to get back, you left mid-day. Wanting to touch base with and follow up with Balistar given Amon’s interest, you made your way to his shop through the eerily quiet streets of your home city.  The sun had not yet gone down and yet almost no one was out.

After discussing with Balistar you learned many things. He was the guardian of the portal to the plane of air, which he had taken you to, not for the first time. The phoenix, named Teela-Na had been guardian of the portal to the plane of fire, and might be again thanks to your collective efforts, though it appears as of now the forces of The 9 Hells control the portal. Based on your findings with the automatons and the suspicion of a link to The 9 Hells, Balistar had done some research, and what he found was disturbing. Athkatmon and likely areas beyond appear to be in the grip of a late phase incursion. His assumption was that the devils influence had likely spread to most of the important structures of power in the region. Gram suggested this might be who was behind The Giant’s Legion and Balistar agreed that such a thing seemed potentially very likely.

When Bucky asked Balistar if he was on your side, he said it depended, depended what you planned to do. Balistar had wanted to avoid aiding adventurers, not wanting to encourage a life style he had seen destroy lives, but he also saw the situation for what it was. You were all involved and you would be with or without his aid. When the subject of The Seven Who are One, Tharizdun, came up Balistar told the sad tale of how Bucky’s mother, Naivara Vinedale, had succumbed to the fate that was afflicting Gram. Gram said that what needed to be done was to destroy the eggs, or as he referred to them, The Shards of Elemental Evil. Balistar could think of only one artifact powerful enough to do so—the Rod of 7 Parts. The device was created by Mordain the God of the Dwarves with the aid of Balistar's people, The Wind Dukes of Aqaa to turn back the forces of the Abyss in the age before human, elf, or dwarf. In the final battle with the champion of the forces of The Abyss, the Rod was used to destroy the being then known as Mishka the Wolf Spider that would eventually, over thousands of centuries reform as the being known as the prince of The Abyss, The Demogorgon. The rod was destroyed in this final battle and the pieces were scattered as it was viewed as too powerful and a danger for anyone to wield such a force.

He pointed out that you were the second group of adventurers to come to him with the idea to destroy the shards of elemental evil. The first had been lead by Bucky and Dorn’s dad who had found one of the pieces, the one now worn around Dorn’s neck. Balistar knew of another piece, watched over by Thadius Dawnhunter at the Dome of the Rose Chuch, the man who had taken Muffy in when she was at her lowest. To destroy the eggs the shadow stars or shards of elemental evil as he also called them, you would need to first get near them, and to do so with your minds intact would not be easy. To that end he said there was a manuscript known as The Book of Dyzan that could slowly introduce mortal minds to inclement ideas, but that it was somewhere in the Teejan desert—a place Gram had not been in a lifetime, but knew all too well.

And so we pick up. The situation is as follows. Athkatmon is in danger, as is the world. From two very dangerous existential threats.