Atherian Arcs

## The Arcs of Atheria

The story of Atheria is broken into many different stories and arcs. here, you can find each arc and see what sessions they took place. You can also find recaps of those sessions here to catch up on lore and information. You can find the google drive recaps on the Discord "Recaps" tab if you would rather read them there. This section will be updated shortly before the bi-weekly recap is posted on the Discord server. If any information is incorrect or changed, please let me know and I will correct it as soon as possible.

### Arc 1: Introduction/Into the Forest

* Session 1: The Journey Begins

* Abidus 22
	+ All players were enjoying a nice day in the largest town square in Cloud City when four bombs went off. From the smoke came out four people in weird attire slashing and hacking people. Leon, Ferox, and Nikos did not intervene, but Sacha and Veletri did. Nikos then asked one of the people why they were doing this and they responded “boss ordered the attack now” and continued to hack. Eventually they got close to the fountain and Leon and Ferox were forced into combat.
	+ After a few minutes, the party wiped out the attackers. The lead of the King’s guard, An Orc woman named officer Dancy, arrived and took the party to the king for a reward. They were each given 5GP and then were asked to deliver a message to the king’s “friend,”  Erana Sillonian (High Elf),  in Tol Eressea. Upon which they would each be rewarded with 1500GP each. He then offered them a session with the oracle and they each got a prediction of their past/present/future.
		- Ferox: You are standing in a field of grass. It begins to grow around you and you run, but the grass eventually grows too tall and you run blindly searching for something yet you know not what you need.
		- Leon: You stand upon a mountain top looking at the horizon. It's cold, sending shivers down your body. Yet in a sense you are used to the cold, its warmth that is unknown. Your path leads you towards the winter but you may one day see summer.
		- Nikos: You are standing in the middle of a busy city. People all around are moving around you yet you remain standing still. They all have somewhere to be but you don't know where to go. You turn around and you see nothing, but when you look in front all you see is chaos.
		- Sacha: You are laying in a meadow in the forest. It's peaceful, the sun is shining, you feel the warmth fuel you. You stand up to plant yourself but before you can you are trapped in thorns. The trees around you begin to die and the sun is blocked out. You hear a voice in the wind say, “A blossumless life, a blossumless death”
		- Veletri: You and are taken to a house, a familiar house where people don't recognize you but you recognize them. They ignore you as you shout and vie for their attention. Yet you feel that there is someone watching you, but they are hidden. You turn to see if you can find them but all you see is pain.
	+ After which she gave them a letter with information that was to be taken to a woman, Susan J Secrets. She is currently in “The Crossroads” which is an unmarked city on the Eastern Path to Tol Eressea. If the party gives her the information from the Oracle, they will be rewarded with either knowledge or a large sum of money.
	+ The Party then departed the city by hiring a carriage. As they left through customs, a green tiefling asked for your name. Once all of the players gave them your name they transformed into an orc, announcing themselves as Gorgak and the party lost the memory of their names until they quickly looked at their IDs and remembered them. Gorgak promised to see the party again soon then left.
	+ The party found Snooty Steves and wanted a room but it was too costly except for Leon so the rest of them went to Standard Stevens. Sacha and Ferox shared a room and Veletri and Nikos shared a room. But before the session ended we had a tense moment between Veletri and Nikos? What could they say to each other next?

* Session 2: Welcome to the Jungle

* Abidus 22 (Continued)
	+ Leon persuaded a drunk patron of the inn they were staying at and brought him up to the room to feed. Sacha and Ferox spent a quiet night inside. Nikos and Veletri had a heart to heart about being away for so long. There were lots of emotions shared.
* Abidus 23
	+ The party got breakfast and before they left to get on the main road they each picked up 8 days worth of spam rations to get through the forest. On their journey they saw all the trees in the first connection and then released from each other. Sacha knew what this meant.
	+ That evening on watch, Leon heard a voice telling them to “come with me” into the forest. They did not go and woke up the rest of the party. Second watch, Veletri also saw and heard the voice but did not go. Nikos during the final watch saw and heard the voice but did not go and chose not to tell the rest of the party.
* Abidus 24
	+ The party traveled during the day and came across an abandoned camp that seemed recently left. Leon investigated and saw a silver cup with a handprint logo on it. They brought it to Nikos and asked if they knew what this was. While Nikos said that he didn't know, Leon’s suspicions seemed correct. After further investigation, there appeared to be signs of struggle leading into the forest. The group reluctantly decided to go looking into the forest and after about 10 minutes of walking, they came across a dead body of a woman with a face print like Nikos. She was wrapped around the tree covered in branches, leaves, and other foliage. Nikos looked around and saw that in her satchel had a letter saying that phase 1 occurred on Abidus 22 and phase 2 would begin on Calistril 2. She also had lots of gunpowder on her. Sacha noticed something about the body being tied to the tree via nature and freaked her out. The party then left the forest and traveled until they came across an inn located in a very small village. The innkeeper told the party to be aware of the nightmares and that people see the cosmic spider. The party stayed and Veletri had a nightmare where he saw the cosmic spider and all of his friends and family dying gruesome deaths
* Abidus 25
	+ The party met in the inn for breakfast. Veletri discussed the nightmare that he had with the rest of the group. The group is currently in discussion of what they want to do next.

* Session 3: The Village of Nightmares

* Abidus 25 (Continued)
	+ The party is split on whether to investigate or leave the village of nightmares. Veletri, Sacha and Ferox leave to investigate a nearby woman. The woman discusses how 4 years ago the village began to have nightmares and be covered in darkness. She also said she had a dream where her husband went into the forest and then died. Since then she has believed in the spider.
	+ The party decided not to investigate and left. Nikos saw a footpath that day while travelling and decided not to interact with it.
	+ The Party camped that evening. Leon did not feed. On watch, Leon saw a green mist. It was a “brothel casino with free drinks” The others didn't see anything that evening.
* Abidus 26
	+ The party had an uneventful morning.
	+ As the party was travelling, Sacha saw a path that led into the forest. She pointed out how the air was colder and some of the trees had frost, which is weird in such a hot and humid environment. Nikos didn't want to go in, but had to because the trees moved and prevented the group from travelling on the main road. As they travelled they came across a large stone circle that had elven writing that was indecipherable from being covered in frozen plants. After a thorough investigation it was revealed that the stones were using a protective abjuration spell that was preventing a dark and evil  necromance presence underneath of it. Nikos and Veletri went into the circle and attacked the stones for some reason. Veletri left and Nikos attacked again. This time, Leon stepped in and prevented another attack. However, Leon casted a spell inside the circle after being compelled to do so. The stones glowed blue then purple then red then purple again. The party then left.
	+ That evening Leon feasted on a weary traveler. It was revealed that this bard had a family and was travelling to meet his secret lover. Leon then took the corpse into the woods and covered it as best as they could in the time they had.
	+ Nikos and Veletri took a watch and saw the same Brothel and Casino. None of them went to it, but on Veletri’s watch they told Veletri about a dead body they saw in the forest that was near them.
* Abidus 27
	+ The first thing said this morning was from Veletri, “THERE’S A DEAD BODY IN THE FOREST AND I DON'T WANT TO INVESTIGATE ALONE!” So, the paty investigated the body. It looked completely drained and nobody could figure out why. Some thought it may be a vampire, but that was quickly debunked as a myth as the last “vampire” sighting was more than 300 years ago. Sacha told the group about an ability she had to return the body to the earth. The group reluctantly agreed and let her do her ritual. This looked exactly like the body that was seen a few days ago on the tree (Check Session 2 Recap). After she did that the group devolved into a conversation about the ethics and reality of that ritual.
	+ The rest of the day travelling was uneventful until they travelled for about 7 hours and came across a major Atheiran military camp. Since the group didn't stay long they didn't get any information on why they were there or what they were doing.
	+ The group travelled another hour and reached the fortress that is the border between Atheria and Vinyamar. The group decided to camp outside the fortress. We will pick up here and do some roleplay with the travelers and other people camping. It is around 5PM.

* Session 4: A Night at the Border

* 27 Abidus (Continued)
	+ As the party settled into their campsite outside the fortress that borders Atheria and Vinyamar, Veletri and Sacha decided to chat with some of the other travelers in the area. Nikos, Leon, and Ferox stayed together at the campsite.
		- Veletri and Sacha ended up at the largest campsite where they were welcomed. They heard stories of travelers who had been across the continent looking for goods, love, and adventure.
		- Sacha wanted to learn more about why The Crossroads is such a major trade hub, and a Dragonborn trader, Thurkear, said that it's a place where you could get items that normally you couldn’t get anywhere else.
		- Thurkear then let Sacha and Veletri know that he had a job for them if they were interested. Sacha and Veletri told Thurkear that they would have to talk to the rest of their travel party.
		- At the campsite, Nikos, Leon, and Ferox stayed and conversed about what they were “running away from.” This conversation was a little awkward and shifted tones quickly. Even though much was not said, it spoke volumes.
	+ The party reconvened at the campsite and Sacha and Veletri let the group know they could do a job for a great reward that would help them on their journey to The Crossroads. The party was interested in the job and they met up with Thurkear.
	+ Thurkear described the job to the party telling them that they needed to eliminate three of the guards in order to get a trade pass that he desperately needed to cross the border. Though it involved killing, some members were surprised to see others agree to a violent job.
	+ After some time had passed, The guards came up to the wagon and were ambushed by the party. Thurkear set off his firework distraction so that the other guards and travelers would not notice the sounds of violence. After a few rounds of combat, the guards were killed and they retrieved the transit pass.
	+ After giving Thurkear the transit pass, he opened his wagon to give the party the rewards they were promised. Some chose silvered weapons and others chose health potions. Also inside were three people who were tied and gagged. Nobody chose to investigate or ask any questions. Thurkerar also gave Sacha five coins with a Dragonborn face on them. He told them that this would get them a small discount at the “underground market” but not at regular stores at The Crossroads. He also let them know that he had jobs available if they wanted to make some more money when they arrive at The Crossroads.
* 28 Abidus (FULL MOON)
	+ The party began packing up and heading through the customs in the fortress. Nikos was the only one pulled aside, but was not noticed as all the party members were checked separately.

* Session 5: Tunneling Under the Full Moon

* 28 Abidus (Continued,FULL MOON)
	+ The party, after clearing customs, decided to head into the tunnel to get into Vinyamar. A guard warned them before they entered that there was a tunnel collapse and there was an alternate route deep within the passage. They didn't have any more information so the party continued.
	+ The group travelled for a few hours uneventfully before they came across the collapsed part of the tunnel. They chose to enter the cavern to their right to continue forward. Pooka went ahead to scout and brought back a bloodied bag full of “num nums,” a drug commonly used by younger people to emulate suffocating while getting so high you can “connect with god.” The party chose not to take drugs. Leon did take the bloodied bag and Ferox still has the drugs.
	+ The group made it to the end of this cavern and saw the light leading to the main tunnel to their left, and the continuation of the cavern to their right. Also to their left was a troll. The group chose to go right, but quickly found it was a dead end with a pit of dead bodies. Some were more decomposed than others. The group chose to engage in fighting the troll rather than trying to sneak by because they actually thought of the greater good for once. After an intense battle the troll died.
	+ Finally, the party made it out of the tunnel and into the Vinyanar Republic. When they exited the tunnel, they were greeted by a shockingly empty fortress. The only people there were soldiers with handprints on their face led by a captain with the same marks. These guards didn’t interfere with the group and the party chose to leave rather than engage with them.
	+ After another hour of travel the group found a few guards on the road who offered them a break. Skeptical, the group investigated and sensed that there was no real trouble. After conversing with the guards for a few moments they learned that they were transporting a prisoner from Kalune (the most intense fortress prison and naval base in all of Ather) to Cloud City via Atheria. They took out the mysterious prisoner and let her sit by the fire to eat. This elven woman had a shaved head, beauty mark on her cheek, scar near her mouth, and muscles for days. The guards were unable to share any information regarding the prisoner for “legal reasons” and said if they wanted to know more they would have to speak to her.
	+ The party began the process of attempting to pry out any knowledge from this woman. However, she deemed them “unworthy” of such information, including her own name. She did though insinuate that she wanted to be free. Only then would she tell you why she was arrested and taken to prison. The group reluctantly agreed and came up with a plan to distract the guards and have Pooka use his teeth to stealthily grab the keys to her magic handcuffs. The distraction worked and Pooka brought the keys back to Ferox. Before they released her, she told them that the party owed her a favor (even though they helped her). For reasons unknown, the party unlocked her cuffs and she followed through with her promise. She showed the party why she was arrested as she casted the spell “disintegrate” on one of the guards. The guards shook, hid behind the wagon out of fear. She turned to the party one last time and asaid, “don't forget you still owe me” and retreated into the forest.

* Session 6: Susan J. Secrets

* 28 Abidus (Continued,FULL MOON)
	+ The party chose to leave the scene where the mysterious woman killed the guard. The group began to discuss what they had just done as they travelled for another hour before they set up camp.
	+ That evening on watch, Nikos saw nothing on the first shift, but during Veletri’s second shift, he was approached by an eagle-esque aarakocra made of wood and other plant material. This creature is called Zarnan, and he told Veletri that there was danger coming. Veletri woke up the party and let the group know that there were dangerous things approaching.
	+ The group was attacked by werewolves. After a short fight, the party had killed them all with the help of Zarnan. Sacha was bitten by a wolf and got puppy disease, but she doesn't know it yet. Leon pocketed a necklace of one of the dead wolves and was asked what it was. Leon responded that they may have pissed off someone powerful. The rest of the night was uneventful.
* 1 Calistril (SHADOW SOLSTICE)
	+ The group finished their morning activities and were greeted in the morning by a familiar face, Thurkear. He offered them a ride to the Crossroads so that they wouldn’t be in the woods during the Shadow Solstice. A few of the party members were suspicious but after doing some thinking they decided it was safe. The wagon, which still had illegal goods and weapons, no longer had the three bodies that were in it when they crossed the border earlier.
	+ The travel to The Crossroads was uneventful. Zarnan flew above the party rather than sitting in the wagon. After about 8 hours of travel, the party was dropped off outside of the main gate to the Crossroads.
	+ The group entered the major trading metropolis and quickly found an inn where they thought someone might know where they could find Susan J. Secrets. Fortunately, the front desk man did know where she was located and gave them directions. He also let the group know about how there are “no laws” in the city and that the only places with laws are owned by the government which is marked with a six sided black star. The group left the inn and headed to Susan’s.
	+ The group found a long line outside of Susan’s place. They asked the assistant how long the wait would be and he told them it would be about 7 and a half hours. Unwilling to wait that long they showed him the letter from the oracle and he had to get a co-worker to investigate the letter. After verifying that the letter was in fact from the oracle, they were rushed into the building to meet Susan J Secrets herself.
	+ They made it to the massive office of Susan’s and were greeted by her. She quickly changed her appearance every few seconds. Sacha quickly picked up on the fact that Susan was a changeling. The group gave her the letter and she brought her assistant in and told them to file it under a specific alpha-numeric code. She then asked the party if they had anything that they wanted to share about themselves or their journey in order to be paid in information. The group asked about the woman in the forest who killed the guards. Susan gave them some information on the woman:
		- Her name is Morana. She was a once prominent public figure who turned to violence after her sister ousted her and took her power. Morana has since killed those who have worded for her sister but has not killed her sister.
	+ The group wanting to know more - especially who her sister was, began to give Susan more information about their travels, but it was Leon, who revealed to Susan that vampires do exist (in secret, so no players still know this) that they (Leon) was told the name of Morana’s sister, “The Lotus.”
	+ Susan then asked the party to play a game where they would try to use two pieces of information to make more out of it. She had them guess what the correlation between the fortress being empty and the information that the war would start tomorrow would mean. The group was quick to understand that this war is being controlled by the “cult” that Nikos is part of. The group struggled to understand why the fortress was empty, so Susan explained that the fortress is empty because they are going to siege The Crossroads since the war is being orchestrated; both sides want a fair shot at controlling The Crossroads.
	+ The session ended shortly after that revelation. The group is still in Susan’s library. However, they have a lot of questions for Nikos and other party members as some juicy revelations were made.

### Arc 2: Laiani and The Crossroads

* Session 7: The Seige of The Crossroads

* 1 Calistril (Continued, SHADOW SOLSTICE)
	+ After your meeting with Susan, you heard the warning horns blow three times in a row. This caused a lot of panic in the city as you saw many people running to the streets to get more information. There were warforged horses with riders going to the gates while other warforged began to pour out to guard the city. You decided to go to an inn for the evening rather than leaving the city on the night of the Shadow Solstice.
	+ Nikos had a nightmare where he met his god in a shadow figure. His god was pissed that he was not following through with his orders and realized that Veletri was the problem. As punishment and incentive, his god began to snip minor memories of Veletri from Nikos’ past. Nikos’ God then said if his task was not completed by the 8th of this month, there would be more punishments to come.
* 2 Calistril
	+ The party was awoken early by the horns blasting again and the sound of projectiles hitting buildings and other projectiles in the air. The streets were full of panic and the Warforged guards were asking for volunteers. Zarnan came back with some badges that allowed the party up on the walls to fight since they didn't want to have their names associated with the crossroads and its bureaucracy.
	+ The group headed to the Western Gate where the Atherian troops were attacking the wall. The group then began to fight off invaders who used ladders to scale the wall. As they were fighting, this wall was targeted by artillery and other weapons to pull it down. After a few rounds of combat, the party managed to run to the next wall segment as the wall they were just on collapsed. Hundreds of Atherian troops began to pour into the Crossroads.
		- Zarnan during the fight was flung away by a boulder. His status is currently unknown
		- Leon did not fight any of the Atherian troops, rather, he “kissed” two of them.
	+ The party, after seeing the wall fall, ran to the other side of the city across the river. They decided that the best solution would be to leave rather than staying and fighting. They found the sewer system and followed the signs out of the city. Before they could get down they heard the sound of a few explosives that were set off and saw the bridges collapse into the river. The party still continued into the sewer and retreated.
	+ The party travelled for about two hours in the sewer. During this time they had numerous conversations with each other. Some relating to background information and topics of morality and decision making.
	+ After the two hour journey, the group made it to the exit of the sewer system about 6 miles south of The Crossroads. They entered into a small village where they were greeted by the one and only Susan J. Secrets.

* Session 8: "The Iron Raiders"

* 2 Calistril (continued)
	+ The group, after coming out of the sewers, saw Susan J Secrets and some other people in the middle of the village. Rather than interacting with them, they decided to go to the farm houses and see if they could barter for any rations. When they got to the farmhouses nobody was there. In fact, nobody was even working the fields. Eventually the party made their way over to the group of people in the middle of this village and they made space for them welcoming them.
	+ Susan J noticed the group and expressed her sincere gratitude for getting the information to her. She stated that it saved a lot of lives. She then asked the party if they could do her another favor. She led them into a small house where there were two maps on a table: a war map, and a regional map.
	+ Before Susan could get to her speech, she was interrupted by Nikos who was insisting she tell the group what was on the document that they gave her. She refused stating that she did not trust them with that information whatsoever. The rest of the party agreed that they risked their neck to get it to her so they deserved the information. After a heated discussion Susan had come to an agreement: help me again and I’ll give the information to you.
	+ Susan asked if the party would go to the Iron Raiders and take them out as they were a threat to the village of Harper’s Mill. Because this village is the only way to access The Crossroads without going through a battle, they wanted to make sure that the raiders would not attack. The party agreed on another condition. That Susan sweetened the pot as the information they wanted to begin with was no longer enough. She agreed and asked what they wanted in return. The group wanted information on The Lotus. Susan agreed.
	+ The group had a vibe session for 8 hours as they were still beat up pretty badly from the siege earlier. But after their rest they began to make their way south where they would encounter the Iron Raiders.
	+ The group approached the camp silently around 8:30pm. Pooka took the lead and investigated while the party wiated. Pooka returned and let Ferox know that one building had the smell of meat and bad people, one had the smell of blood, and the other one had the smell of dead bodies. After getting the layout, the group proceeded up the stairs to the bandit hideout.
	+ The group investigated all the buildings except the church, where they heard crying coming from. They saw that there was one man in some kind of planning room. A wizard doing some research, and 12 bandits enjoying their dinner and drinks.
	+ The group decided to take on the wizard first, and as they rammed the door, an alarm bell rang off as the door was trapped. The group now had to fight the wizard and the bandits who were now on their way. The wizard, during the fight, summoned a Vrock using a scroll and the blood on the summoning circle. The Vrock spawned and attacked anybody, it did not recognize the wizard as its master.
	+ After the wizard was killed, the Vrock flew outside, but was stopped by Leon when they spoke in abyssal to them asking if it would help them kill the bandits. The Vrock agreed, but it also said that it would return to kill them afterwards.
	+ The group decided to check out the church while the Vrock was fighting bandits. They opened the door and saw that it was a prison and torture room where there was little blood and the bodies were “dried like raisins.” There was one person crying from a cage to the left and voices from one on the right.
	+ Before they could do anything the Vrock came back and was like, “I killed the bandits now I'm going to kill you.” Leon thought it was bluffing so they told it to come into the church, which it did and attacked. The Vrock was quickly taken down as it was severely damaged by the bandits.
	+ The group began to investigate the voices and quickly noticed these were people who were trapped in the back of Thurkear’s wagon. They wanted to know more about why they were trapped. The one on the left was saying that they were kidnapped because they had information. The group then decided that they would not let them out until they got the information that these people had. This led to an escalation of insults and spitting and even a death threat or two from Nikos. This man was not giving the information and would not disclose it at all. The group then began to leave and when they did the person in the right cell spoke up and said, “I’ll let you know, so long as you don't let the other guy free.” This prisoner spoke about how they may have found a way to separate the voices that some of the cultists hear by a thing known as “The Shroud.” Nikos then got the key from pooka and let the prisoner on the right free.

* Session 9: "Untitled"

* Session on 12/21/2021

* Session 10: "Untitled"

* Session on 1/4/2022

* Session 11: "Untitled"

* Session on 1/18/2022