Session0067

Episode 0067 - Tell Me What You See
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**Setting:**

Mimrinoth - The Shadowfell - Mycorrhiza - June 21st, 211 AW
**Synopsis:**

* At the Chancellor's Hall in Mimrinoth, XVIII confronts Gragnok, and after a tense standoff, XVIII attacks.
* As Gragnok escapes, the situation is deescalated, as XVIII is trapped in a *forcecage* after threatening to kill innocents in their rage.
* Grenfi Nackle gathers information about yesterday's events and the other threats at hand, and offers the party imperial aid in dealing with Asmodeus and the Morningstar before departing.
* Malkoth secretly offers to send XVIII to the Shadowfell to try to save Dr. Johann Conrad Dippel rather than dealing with the fallout of the morning's events. XVIII agrees, and Malkoth *plane shifts* them to the Shadowfell.
* In the Shadowfell, XVIII searches for Dr. Johann Conrad Dippel, eventually becoming lost in the Raven Queen's Fortress of Memories, before eventually finding themself confronting the Raven Queen herself in her throne room.
* XVIII strikes a grim bargain with the Raven Queen, agreeing to enter eternal servitude to her in exchange for the freedom of Dr. Johann Conrad Dippel and their siblings.
* The Raven Queen sends XVIII back to the Material Plane to aid in stopping the Morningstar's ascension, in which she has a vested interest, after which XVIII's service to her will begin.
* Rejoining, the party spends the day in Mycorrhiza making preparations to journey into the Underdark and address the Earthstar.
* Using their magical painting, the party travels into the Eartstar's lair in the Underdark, arriving in a cavern that has been rigged with traps in preparation for their arrival.

## June 21st

Arriving at the hall of the Chancellor Orgrul Earthheart of Mimrinoth, the party finds a few dozen imperial soldiers escorting Grenfi Nackle, who is asking questions to the Chancellor and Auvorix about yesterday's events. Amongst the escort of imperial soldiers, the party spots two paladins of Erathis, a paladin of the Raven Queen, and Gragnok, who is now wearing imperial colors and seems to have entered the service of the Alviren Empire.

Auvorix introduces the party to the chamber, explaining that they were responsible for the defense of the city from the Titan of Sapprius Bay's attack. Grenfi Nackle starts to ask the party some questions about yesterday's events, but before she can get far, XVIII interrupts and warns the imperial soldiers to leave immediately, threatening violence if they don't comply. Gragnok urges them to stand their ground.

As the situation clearly begins to grow tense, Odell invokes a rune to force nearly everyone in the room to kneel and bow to him momentarily, including Chancellor Orgrul Earthheart. Odell attempts to deescalate the situation, expressing his frustration at all of the infighting and petty squabbles and politics while there are dire universal threats that need to be dealt with, admonishing XVIII, Gragnok, the Empire, and the College. XVIII rejects Odell's plea for cooperation, refusing to work with Gragnok, who tried to kill their entire family. Gragnok retorts that he did not come here to fight with XVIII, and is only here out of a interest in helping deal with the existential threats that the party faces. Odell asks them to at least give the room enough time for a conversation, and XVIII reluctantly agrees, but says that Odell only has a few minutes before things are going to become violent.

Furious at having been targeted by magic in his own hall, Chancellor Orgrul Earthheart leaves the chamber.

Setting aside the dispute between XVIII and Gragnok for the moment, Grenfi Nackle asks the party about what happened yesterday with the Titan of Sapphrius Bay, explaining that she is only here on an information-gathering missing on behalf of the Empire, not an interrogation. The party explains what happened, providing the details regarding the Imlaq Colossus, Israphel, the assimilation that took place afterwards, etc. They also mention that there are more dire threats at hand that need to be addressed, briefly referencing Asmodeus, the Morningstar, and the Earthstar. Odell tells Grenfi that Thalien Omadithas is attempting to ascend to godhood, and asks her if she knew about it. Grenfi claims not to have known. She says she wants to hear more about both this and the other threats, but that she believes she's gathered all of the information about yesterday's events that she came for on behalf of the Empire. She suggests that the party take the rest of their conversation outside the Chancellor's hall, having clearly overstayed their welcome with the outburst of threats and magic.

The party moves to exit the hall, as do Grenfi Nackle and her escorts, but the situation remains tense between XVIII and Gragnok. XVIII once again threatens the imperial soldiers that they have one minutes to flee before things become violent. Gragnok and XVIII exchange threatening remarks at one another, and then XVIII summons a ghostly monster that attacks the imperial soldiers, including the other paladin of the Raven Queen, who denounces XVIII as unholy due to their undead nature. As violence erupts near the exit of the Chancellor's hall, Gragnok remains nonviolent, rushing outside and finding cover, and using protective magic to try to deescalate and prevent the imperial soldiers from being harmed.

Louche questions XVIII regarding why they are attacking soldiers that seemingly don't have anything to do with what happened to their family, but XVIII seems completely irrational and enraged, even threatening to kill members of the party as well. Gragnok asks if the party is going to stand by and let XVIII kill innocents. The party tells him to have the other soldiers stand down, but Gragnok retorts that his soldiers never attacked to begin with, and he also has no authority to give them commands. Nonetheless, he asks the soldiers to stand down if they are not attacked. The soldiers agree, except for the paladin of the Raven Queen, who insists that XVIII must be destroyed due to their undead nature. Jack joins XVIII in the attack, attacking the Raven Queen paladin and mortally wounding him, while also harming several other imperial soldiers. Soldiers of Mimrinoth also join the fray and attempt to deescalate the situation and prevent violence.

In an attempt to deescalate the situation before it gets more out of hand, Malkoth casts a *maze* spell on Jack, trapping him in a harmless demiplane, and Louche casts a *forcecage* around XVIII, preventing them from harming anyone else. Meanwhile, Gragnok escapes out in to the streets of Mimrinoth and out of sight. When Jack returns from the maze, he sees that the situation has calmed somewhat and that Gragnok is nowhere to be found, and sheathes his weapon.

Gragnok heads to Mimrinoth's nearby barracks and tells the soldiers there that a vampire is attacking the Chancellor's Hall. Dozens of soldiers rush off toward the hall. He then contacts his higher-ups in Ossidia using a *sending stone*, and arranges to rendezvous with Grenfi Nackle outside the city.

Back at the Chancellor's Hall, as the soldiers arrive and find the situation under control, Grenfi Nackle questions Jack about his attempt to kill the Raven Queen paladin. Jack explains about Gragnok's attempt to have XVIII's family killed, but concedes that he doesn't actually know if the Raven Queen paladin had anything to do with it. Mimrinoth soldiers attempt to arrest Jack, telling him that there will be a trial to determine the truth of the matter. Before they can apprehend him, Jack teleports away, telepathically informing the party that he will meet them outside the city walls.

Senator Bardryn Earthheart discusses with the party how to proceed legally in the wake of what's happened. Working together to leverage their political status and knowledge of imperial law, Frog and Louche convince the Senator that both XVIII and Jack are under Mycorrhizan jurisdiction, and must be taken to Mycorrhiza for trial before Mimrinoth can apprehend them. They agree, ostensibly, to return XVIII and Jack to Mimrinoth for questioning afterwards.

Meanwhile, Odell and Malkoth speak with Grenfi Nackle, telling her about the situations regarding the Earthstar, Asmodeus, and the Morningstar (though they omit some secret details regarding the Earthstar, and their known location of Asmodeus). Grenfi offers imperial aid in addressing these matters, stating that she can convince the Empress to mobilize imperial forces, though she admits there will be political ramifications to deal with. She also insinuates that the Empire was already aware of Thalien Omadithas's ascension plans, thanks to intel she received from Gragnok. After some discussion, Odell agrees to stay in touch with her and keep her appraised of how the Empire can help.

Odell also gives Grenfi Nackle the journal and Codex of Halimath Wasanthi, and the vial of Wasanthi blood needed to activate the Codex. The two pledge their good faith with one another, and share they mutual desire for the Weavers Conclave and College of Mimirinoth to work together and share information. The two also briefly discuss Gragnok and the situation that has just transpired, before Grenfi bids him farewell and prepares to depart.

Before departing, Grenfi Nackle speaks briefly with XVIII, who is still trapped in a *forcecage*. Grenfi assures them that their family is safe in the care of the Weavers Conclave, and that the church of the Raven Queen will face extremely dire punishment if they bring any harm to them.

Frog also speaks with XVIII in the *forcecage*, and the two express their frustrations and anger with each other. Frog also telepathically contacts Jack and gives him an update on the situation before their telepathic link ends, and also admonishes his behavior with the imperial soldiers.

Meanwhile, Jack sneaks back down to Mimrinoth's underground to find Pepper, finding that he is with Lo at a tavern. He tells Pepper that they need to leave town, briefly explaining what's happened. Pepper bids Lo a fond farewell, and the two depart.

Out front of the tavern, Jack and Pepper happen upon Gragnok, who came to talk to Lo. Jack confronts Gragnok about why he came to Mimrinoth, and Gragnok explains that he only came as part of his duty to the Empire to investigate yesterday's attack by the Titan of Sapphrius Bay and gather information, and had no interest confronting the party. After a brief, tense standoff, Jack and Pepper depart to rendezvous with the rest of the party. Gragnok heads inside, where he briefly visits and bids farewell to Lo, then sneaks out of the tavern through a different exit.

Back at the Chancellor's Hall, as the *forcecage* spell is nearing its end, Malkoth discretely asks XVIII if they want to go to the Shadowfell and try to rescue Dr. Johann Conrad Dippel, rather than deal with the fallout of what's happened here. XVIII agrees. Just as the *forcecage* spell ends, Malkoth casts *plane shift*, sending XVIII to the Shadowfell.

XVIII arrives in the Shadowfell on the banks of the River Styx, near the Raven Queen's Fortress of Memories. They collect some water from the Styx in vials, then turn invisible and sneak into the Fortress, where they begin searching for Dr. Johann Conrad Dippel.

Meanwhile, back on the Material, Malkoth explains what happened, and the party discusses whether they can do anything to help XVIII. They realize they don't have any way to help, particularly because XVIII has presumably entered the domain of a god.

Inside the Shadowfell, XVIII gets lost in the ever-changing halls of the Fortress of Memories in search of Dr. Dippel. They eventually find a chamber where they relive one of their most precious memories, wherein Dr. Dippel taught a young XVIII about the sanctity of life and the practice of medicine. After reliving the memory, it is taken from XVIII, who permanently loses the memory. Afterwards, the Raven Queen speaks to XVIII telepathically, inviting them to speak with her, and opening a doorway to her throne room. XVIII agrees, and enters the throne room.

In her throne room, the Raven Queen speaks with XVIII, who explains that they have come to see Dr. Johann Conrad Dippel. The two discuss Dippel's sentence, the penance he is doomed to pay for his necromancy, and the Raven Queen's views on death and undeath. Eventually, the Raven Queen agrees to let XVIII see Dippel. XVIII's mind is flooded with all of Dr. Dippel's memories from life, including his early life, his years working as a doctor during the Pale Death, his marriage to Martha Dippel, the birth of their child Gabriel Dippel (and subsequent death of both Martha and Gabriel), and the genesis of Dippel's conviction that he must end death itself. After experiencing these memories, an apparition of Dippel appears before XVIII, though he is unable to speak.

The Raven Queen offers to release Johann Conrad Dippel into the afterlife to be with his family, and to release her claim over XVIII's siblings. In exchange, XVIII would have to commit themself to her service for eternity, becoming the new face of death, responsible for collecting the souls of the dead and bringing them to the Fortress of Memories. Should XVIII refuse, the Raven Queen says they will be returned to the Material Plane, and their soul will never receive an afterlife, instead being cursed to remain on the Material Plane for eternity.

XVIII asks the Raven Queen why she would offer to spare them at all, and why they're important to her. The Raven Queen explains that she believes XVIII plays a role in stopping the Morningstar's ascension, which is of the utmost importance. She further explains that if XVIII agrees to the pact, she will send them back to the Material Plane, where they will remain until the Morningstar's ascension is thwarted.

After some consideration, XVIII agrees to the Raven Queen's proposal, but asks for a few minutes to speak with Johann Conrad Dippel, which she allows. Dippel becomes semi-corporeal and able to speak. He embraces XVIII and comforts them, apologizing to them and expressing his affection. XVIII apologizes for what happened when they last met, but Dippel takes responsibility. The two share a heartfelt goodbye, expressing their love for one another, before Dippel is ushered away by Charon to be taken to the afterlife. As Dippel departs, XVIII discovers that there are shadow holy symbols of the Raven Queen superimposed over the backs of their hands. The Raven Queen then sends XVIII back to the Material Plane.

Meanwhile, back on the Material, the party meets with Jack outside the walls of Mimrinoth, where they explain the situation with XVIII. Shortly later, as the party is discussing what to do, XVIII reappears amongst them, and explains what happened in the Shadowfell.

After some discussion, the party decides to head to Mycorrhiza to recover and make preparations to head to the Underdark and deal with the Earthstar. Before departing Mimrinoth, XVIII heads back into the city, where they leave their magic painting received from Gregarian Advantis outside the apartment where their family is staying, along with a note explaining what it is and how to use it.

To facilitate the party's travel to Mycorrhiza, Louche gives Lo his painting from Gregarian Advantis, and they install it at Odell's house where Lo is staying, so that the party can travel through Sigil and use the Inner Gate to reach Mycorrhiza. Louche also privately talks with Lo about her pregnancy, which she confirms. Afterwards, as planned, the party travels through the painting to Sigil, then uses the Inner Gate to travel to Mycorrhiza.

In Mycorrhiza, the party spends the day recovering and making preparations for their journey into the Underdark.

Malkoth and Jack work together to craft a *plane shift* tuning fork for the Material Plane for Jack.

Odell spends some time working on his runes, and completes the Rune of Divine Transference. He also casts a *commune* spell to gather some information for their upcoming ventures. He asks if dealing with the Earthstar and Asmodeus before dealing with the Morningstar will prevent his own ascension plan from succeeding, and receives an unclear answer, due to the spell's inability to predict the future. Next, he asks if the Earthstar is from this universe, and learns that it is not. Finally, he asks if the Raven Queen will treat XVIII fairly and honor the agreement they made, and learns that she will.

Later, Odell and XVIII meet up and discuss the arrangement that XVIII made with the Raven Queen.

Frog, Porcini, and Buttonsworth go to a baseball game. On the way, Porcini fills Frog in on the situation in Kameshima, explaining that as rebuild efforts were beginnings, the Kameshiman dead began to rise, seemingly infected with some sort of fungus. She explains that they have captured one such corpse for the party to examine.

Later, the party reconvenes at Mycelium Palace. Here, they are shown one of the Kameshiman risen dead that is being kept in the dungeon - a konoko corpse that is overgrown with and seemingly animated by fungus and mold. Aristoadle explains that there are tens of thousands more like it in Kameshima, and that they suspect the Eartstar to be responsible, presumably having gained sufficient power from Daimao's destruction of Kameshima for Benny Barracuda to redirect the power to a new plan.

Odell shares what he learned about the Earthstar being from a different universe. Frog attempts shining the light of the Star Shard onto the infected konoko corpse. The fungus seems to withdraw and recoil from the light, but the konoko nonetheless remains animated. Heartsong explains that the Star Shard's light will protect against the spores of the Earthstar, which can cause mutations and mind control effects, and also says that the Star Shard could be used to permanently neutralize the Earthstar.

After completing their preparations, Aristoadle activates the party's magic painting connected to the Underdark, and the party proceed through it. Arriving, the party finds themselves in a large underground cavern, where their arrival through the painting seems to have triggered some sort of trap, as lava begins to flood the chamber.