Session One Hundred and Twenty-Six Summary (Graveyard of Empires: After the Fall)

Session 126, February 15 2023

Introduction

We continue at 11:40PM on the 23rd of Denrilden (00.000.09.08 on the Apocalypse Clock) with the party inside the secret archive hidden below the Inquisitorial Citadel in Gharmarost. Having secured books from the main secret archive and poison cabinet, the group now plans to grab volumes from the Poison Well using Velkin's shadow stepping ability. Foremost among the tomes they aim to collect are a treatise called "The Forbidden Dimension" and a two-volume work on Prixithalma's virus that hijacked XenoTel. However, the party is uncertain about how much time remains before they are discovered -- especially since the DVLs guarding the spellbooks Kauri grabbed have been freed ...

Larry's Summary

Lambertus et. al. pile the bodies and books around where we will unfurl the web portal to escape.

Lambertus gets a torch from Khelratha and lights it.

Discussion of teleporting with the portal back to the Dwarven embassy in Malgrim.

Lambertus casts cure light wounds on Kauri, it has middling effect. Felix also casts cure light wounds on Kauri for minimal effect.

Velkin descends the elevator.

Druul spreads pouch of ash on ground next to the door.

Velkin shadow steps down and looks around to see what he sees.

It is dark and requires light.

There is a muffled noise on the other side of the door.

Velkin scans for the books we need and starts looking for double set of green and red books and easily finds them.

Velkin pulls a few black books for 3 full bags (8 books each for total of 24 books).

2 books we know what they are and 22 random books.

The door goes boom, passes over the poison well and hits the wall.

Standing beyond is a large creature, human looking head and torso with a snake like body and wings.

13 books in the bag when this happens.

Ithirialma unfurls the webportal Felix rolls in Aliceon and dives in, Lambertus rolls in Khelratha, Kauri jumps through with his bag of spellbooks, Druul jumps in with a bag of books, and Lambertus is last with the torch to destroy the web portal.

Renthark comes over and says in Deep Gnome looking at the pile of us and asks if we're alright, where's Borthan?

Velkin explains that Borthan died a warrior's death.

Renthark goes off.

Ajax flies in and lies on the partially destroyed cannon. Velkin says, "Hey, Ajax" He says, "Hey" Was it successful?

Oskar, Borthan, Jardin? Khelratha and Alisceon are hurt badly? No, they are dead, but we hope to fix that shortly.

Peronelle comes in to check Khelratha and Alisceon's bodies and looks around to see if she can help anyone else.

Ithirialma picks herself up and dusts herself off and we give her the dimensions book and the book by Jaeger and she can start reading. I will go let Prixithalma know what happened.

(Velkin knows that Lolth's nest is in a physical place, in the Temple of Lolth in Tralvig.)

Peronelle asks what to do with the bodies? Velkin suggests cleaning them up and wrapping them up as best we can.

Peronelle said that Prixithalma is in the main hall working with Caspar and the smiths, and just shakes her head and goes about her work. Velkin asks if there is something else. Oh, it's a lot.

Peronelle, oh, the little one? Forcas, yes, he was manning our escape route. He was jovial. Sometimes he would hold my hand and lick my fingers.

Velkin and the rest move out and pull the sacks of books with them.

There is a lot of activity. Prix and Caspar are consulting the nanocarbon books. David is holding the shard, and it looks like they started work on it and are taking a break to consult.

Towards the next tunnel is Holmeda and the kids. It looks like someone has moved the decaying bodies of the mushroom men. The circle where they were left is gone, but there is still an odor lingering.

Directly across from where the Winter King portal was there is a larger tunnel heading into the outer wall of this cocoon of webbing. It might go to Tralvig.

Ajax mentions to Velkin that they've been scouting looking down all the tunnels and haven't found any portals. The big tunnel leads to double doors, but we haven't opened them.

Druul goes to little Kala and gets down and asks if she didn't see anything or hear anything? She makes an exaggerated frown and looks like she'll cry and points at her brother. He is running in circles, basically the former circle of the mushroom bodies.

Druul finds the smallest dagger he has and spins it on his finger, and the boy slows and is drawn to it. Druul walks away and Cas holds his hands out and follows Druul.

Cas says, "Mine, mine, mine." Druul flips it in his hands and asks Cas if he likes it. Cas is fixated on it and says yes. Druul asks if he's been over near the doors. Druul is cleaning his nails, ignoring him. Cas snaps to look straight at Druul, like trying to guess what answer he wants, and quietly whispers, "Yes??"

Druul says you're not in trouble we're interested in what's behind the doors? Scary spider ladies. They're scary, did they see you? No? Are they close? Shakes his head yes.

Cas starts to reach for the dagger and Druul says, I'll give you something nicer, and spins 3 electrum pieces and shows him how to spin them on the ground, and now he's forgotten the dagger and is completely occupied.

Prixithalma says, wait, so we're leaving? All of us, and her eyes drift to the kids.

We're running out of ability to return to this location. Prix, exactly, we're working on this device and how would we get it to you.

This embassy place sounds more secure than this place. It is not, says Druul, but Malgrim has a lot of chaos and strife. The Silence has already attacked once in Malgrim. We do have to head that way and scout it. We also need to know how the Emperor is doing?

Prix, so the artificers would stay here? The smiths, myself, the young family.

1 - Spider from Lolth 2 - Map of Underdark passages 3 - We do have blood magic teleport 4 - DVLs know where Emperor is. Prix takes that in, and says, that complicates things even more for those who stay behind if we travel through the Underdark. We can shout and see if he can hear us, since he may be listening in on us. 5 - We don't know Situation in Tralvig (Lolth loyalists, Winter King faction, or Silence?) 6 - 16 of us counting Ajax. 7 - 9 Volumes of DVL Magic - get it to Malgrim. Conjoined Twins Archmages can put to good use. Kauri review to tally up. 8 - Ithirialma going through two books on other dimensions. 9 - Two books on blood magic. Lambertus and Felix will review to see what we have. 10 - Velkin will review the 13 books he recovered to see what we have. 11 - Druul suggests we are no longer secure in this spot due to the Winter King knowing what we are after. 12 - Geryon saw us jump in the portal, so it is safer to move. 13 - Prix will have Caspar and the smiths pack up their things. Tells Peronelle to let the others know, and Holmeda. 14 - Dragon Emperor and all other Dragons except Niximanthus are gone from Xen Khel. 15 - Xen Khel has fallen. 16 - Niximanthus has two samples of infected from Xen Khel. 17 - There *MAY* be Lolth priestesses in Malgrim who can raise our dead. 18 - Velkin has a contract from a Yellow Hat.

We'll rotate through different people shouting at the portal. Peronelle takes first shift.

Druul takes magic book and his lute and start playing. Second shift yelling emperor's portal.

Velkin sets up in the center and keeps an eye on things.

Velkin next shift yelling at emperor's portal.

Felix last shift yelling at emperor's portal.

9 volumes of magic appears to be the complete listing of all DVL magic.

Lambertus and the Blood Magic - 1st the theory book moon and lunar phases it seems that it is theories how blood powers magic as potential energy and impacted by lunar phases. The short of it is, there is something about the moon that affect potential energy, new moons double cost, half is regular, full moon half. Whether intervening phases affects it is unclear, but only applies when cast outside in moonlight.

Lambertus & Felix - Interrogation Records on Blood Magic - general accounting of interviews with native magic users in secret lab in Xen Khel. They include a large number of spells, but not sure if it is a full listing.

There is a range of healing spells from cure light up through cure serious wounds AND the reverse to cause wounds, neutralize poison, silence 15' radius, hold person, prot evil 10' radius, insect plague, invisibility, No magic missile, sleep, fireball, Wall of Stone, No Raise Dead, No Dispel Evil, Cure Disease. Seems to favor clerical magic. Knock, Teleport, Fly, Control Weather.

Over a couple rest periods can get a complete list.

Druul playing on lute the song book. It will do a number on the fingers and will need to practice, and will be fatigued. There are well worn pages. The introduction of the book. These songs were composed by an imperial bard in the early days of the empire. He cold manipulate the resonances of his songs to enhance their powers.

- The Courage of Metetron - Increased ferocity and skill in fighting. - Becomes more pronounced the longer it is played. - The silence of Prixithalma - Dampens magic increases in power longer played. - Release of Dagon - Cancel ongoing effects of spells. Seems to automatically dispel ongoing magic after ten minutes. - The Gaze of Marientaxus - fascinates audience, charmed after 5 minutes "?"

Playing any of these songs after a period of time, he will have to work for it. (Dexterity checks are intervals if keep playing.)

Velkin and Alchemy book - Jam packed with recipes. Some aren't immediately relevant - home remedies for various ailments, and mixed in are some poisons both deadly and incapacitating, including some with the possibility of aerial dispersal if in a container that can be shattered. Nothing about Astral travel or alludes to it in other words. The poisons for each type, there is an ingredient list AND a whole list of substitutions. Regardless of what area above or below, some combination will be listed here.

Ithirialma - Books on dimensions. Starts with the one from the bottom of the poison well: Forbidden Dimension - by high inquisitor Cassiel, also known as Metatron. It is a narrative and discovery of new medial dimension where time is malleable and possibly could be controlled.

It discusses an expedition. Elemental Plane of Stone. Local lord gravity so strong, it slowed down time.

Gravity generally on the elemental plane of stone and used a blood magic spell, Sphere of Local Gravity, only one person returned as a young boy with hazy memories. He wandered for hundreds of years and huge machines. Pockets of looping time where snippets of other worlds were trapped. Only outsiders could break the loop. The machine took notice and offered to send him back ten minutes after leaving and younger, and machine overdid it in age. There is a cipher at the end from

One thing in the narrative, things are clear, if find way to Elemental Plane of Stone, how to get to portal and names the local lord with the gravity well. Apparently he is known by his subject as the Stone God. (GREAT! - He won't help us....) .

Peronelle shouts are portal for a couple of hours, then Druul takes his turn.

Around 4:00 AM Druul practices the notes and makes up his own words in the melody to concentrate on the fret board. "Emperor, emperor, where are you, Emperor, answer the door."

After about an hour the wall in front starts to unzip.

Druul waits to see what happens. A figure comes stumbling in with a body behind him. He is dressed like a Dervish dragging an older looking man, shouting Burn it! Everyone else is dead, Burn it!

Druul shouts and pours acid over it and eats away at the webbing on the other side.

It is a weirdly smooth end of the hallway as the strands of web are melted together.

Dervish collapses and starts whispering. They are all dead, everyone, Xen Khel.

Druul asks who is this, you have with you, he tried to fight, and then he fled. Druul gets down to bandage, check the pulse. There is a pulse.

The Dervish says it's Niximanthus. An green eye opens and grabs Druul's hands. My friend, you have been damaged severely and croaks out, where's Azrael. The Dervish shakes his head in agreement. Sir, I got you out of there, they came, it was pestilent fog, and creatures, and Lord Azrael went to fight with the rest of your kin and you are the only one who came back.

Help me, let's pick him up, we'll bring him back to the rest of the group. Niximanthus, says No, no, I can walk. Druul still helps him on one side and the Dervish the other side.

Druul, yells out Clerics, I need your service....

Dervish is Roheis. Niximanthus - Virology (Combine the Ancient Dwarven undead disease with Prixithalma's DVL virus.

There is concern about poison. Druul asks if the cloud was poisonous. It poured down the valley and filled out halls. Those huge machines somehow knew exactly where we were and there were monstrous things in the fog. I think they were devils.

Niximanthus - Indeed they were servants of one who calls himself Beelzebub.

Niximanthus coughs a bit, I got some of my research out, and pulls out a glass jar with a bit of pulsating flesh, and another one with a piece of flesh with all kinds of spikes growing out of it. Samples from the infected at Xen Khel. He goes to pull out a third one, a glass jar that is shattered.

Pull up his shirt, the flesh looks gooey.

Felix gives him a dose of the lake water and almost immediately the flesh of his mid section starts to congeal back to regular flesh. He's still searching his robes, where did the sample go.

Lamberus reveals that "Ronan" has been captured. What did Khelratha have "Ronan" guard?

Niximanthus notices Prixithalma, the samples and your Knowledge of the virus that took down Xenotel and the samples, is still an option.

My one time husband, I guess his choices have finally caught up with him. If he hadn't interfered with the rebellion with the ancient dwarves, we wouldn't be in this situation.