Session One Hundred and Forty-Five (Graveyard of Empires Summary)
Session 145
6am, 3rd Day of the Great Fair/Kalena Khel
We awake the morning after the fight with the wyverns, camped within and around the portable tower. Ahead of us lies the Mikhel Peaks, and from the map it appears we’re just a couple of hours from where the gnome met Myrientaxus. The journey would take much longer if we looked to scale the mountains however.
We eat breakfast under an overcast sky that threatens later storms. Packing up and rearranging ourselves for a march, Thorfus collapses the Khel and Chuq sets Socrates to perform short scouting flights of our path. There is no clear route out here, just pure wilderness, but between the map, our avian friend, and a clear goal, we find our way easily enough.
Morning passes, and it begins to rain, cutting visibility somewhat. In no time at all however, we come across the area that is marked as the meeting spot, but there is no sign of the dragon just yet. The spyglass gets pulled out to sweep the mountain ahead, and directly west, near a copse of trees we spy a lone standing stone and decide to head towards it.
Up close, it is clear that the stone was manufactured rather than natural, sat in the centre of a clear ring of trees. It is plain however, but for ancient chisel markings, and the only thing of note is small offerings of rodent bones at its base on the south side. A faint path moves north to south, heading up between the peaks and then down towards the area of Glavnone. Our clerics posit that the stone is a centre of worship for local villagers, though rarely used going by the age of the bones.
We decide to move onto the path and head north, reasoning it will make movement and keeping direction far easier. Slowly, the path seems to rise, and we turn slightly north-west. Periodic flights from Socrates and use of the spyglass reveal nothing of note, and that the path merely continues on up the mountain, weaving around obstructions. Eventually, the sparse forest gives way to a more solid wall of trees, and the path begins to switch back-and-forth up the incline.
The path slowly thins, and eventually we come to a point where one side gives way to a several hundred foot fall. We act cautiously, tieing off ropes to ensure safe passage across the 100 yard space and moving one-by-one. All seems safe until Sturloc slips in his crossing, but the rope and his reflexes save him at the last second. Emilia runs out with the benefit of her arachnid lower-half to support him. She stays at the centre to ensure everyone else’s safe crossing, and eventually we’re all across.
We stop for a bleak lunch before continuing, the rain not letting up and making the trip miserable for everyone involved. Finally, around an hour after noon Socrates comes across a cave, dug into a slope below the path, and reports it back to us. At the very least it’ll get us out of the rain, so we decide to check it out. It requires a bit of light abseiling to reach the entrance, but a number of us move down to scout.
The cave mouth is plenty large enough to enter, opening up into a 60ft space that appears to end to Chuq’s eyes. Axel joins him and confirms that the cave does truly end. The interior has an animal musk to it, though there is no clear nest and only old feces scattered about. A pool of gathered rainwater is the only feature of note, and it allows us to refill our waterskins at least before continuing on.
The march gets tougher, and several hours later a large cracking alerts us to a tumbling boulder heading straight for the party. It seems to be heading straight for the front of the party, forcing the dwarves and spearmen to throw themselves aside, and luckily noone is hit.
A set of rough cut stairs finish up the path, leading onto a plateau. Part way up, as if waiting for us, is a large-built man. We greet him, but as Chuq goes to read his mind he fixes a monk with a look and simply tells him no. Serithas confirms there is resistance there. He claims that this mountain is his, to which Axel blithely calls out the man’s draconic nature.
There’s a brief moment of trepidation as the man, clearly now Myrientaxus, announces that Chuq Nourus specifically is amongst those who are not welcome, for the murder of his sister. Then, he simply says that the Chuq Nourus then is not the Chuq Nourus now, and allows us all to follow him up. He makes it clear that no violence will be allowed.
He leads us up into a large cone-like area. Here, someone as been at work for a long time, thousands upon thousands of pictographs carved into the stone, depicted dwarves and other humanoids, as well as what is clearly a crystal tower. One pictograph, fairly fresh, clearly depicts a monk driving a blade into a fallen woman. The man calls it his ‘Record of Hubris’.
Nearby, there is a tent set up with a fire, and several people are sat around it. As we approach, it’s clear that the men, three of them, are Kottar and two of the ancient rebels. Axel rushes over to greet the man-turned-devilfish, much to his shock, and at a nod from Myrientaxus, we’re invited into the tent. The dragon specifically denies the use of dwarven technology in his home, pointing at Thorfus’ collapsed tower. Axel wisely removes his armour.
Chuq takes the time to observe the carvings a little more closely, specifically the one depicting the crystal tower. The carvings are beyond master-level, more and more details becoming apparent the longer he looked, each pictograph clearly having more dimensions then the single plane should allow. Details of gathered people and airships appears amongst it, including an explosion in the side of the tower, and scenes of dragons and dwarves battling. Lysander’s death is visible there as well.
As we gather, Myrientaxus moves amongst the party and greeting us all by name, much to the surprise many gathered. It’s clear the dragon knows more than should be possible, and he reveals that he is the Keeper of the Records of the Fall of Meidia. Disconcertingly, a good number of the last few events pictured feature our group, and he reveals that there are several more to come.
We sit and begin to talk. The dragon begins by telling Kottar that Chuq isn’t the man he once knew, and the monk quickly feels the probe of Araquil’s thoughts. Whilst it is easily blocked, Serithas responds with shock that he believes he knows who inhabits Kottar’s body, that it’s a fellow Old One. To the monk’s eyes, he sees Serithas’ manta form and one surface from within Kottar too. The ancient devilfish begin to talk, and their voices are relayed through the dragon to the rest of the group.
Serithas approaches with much bombast, tossing down his titles, but also fights Chuq’s side. Araquil remains silent however, and so Kottar looks at Chuq and asks him who he is, if he remembers Araquil and Prixithalma. Serithas interrupts, pointing at Axel and citing the prophecy to save the world, that they could bring back Lysander! Araquil denies him though, calling the Night Court member a liar, saying that he’d lied to us all along.
Instead, Araquil turns to the rest of us, asking if we knew that Chuq had been taken over by Serithas, that it was an old trick of the devilfish’s. We don’t seem to follow the reasoning, but Edan leaps to Chuq’s defence with the lie-box, backing up his argument that the change in Chuq is due to the removal of Brice rather than the Serithas’ influence. Edan calls for utter honesty, that we’ve been lied to far too much.
Araquil is unconvinced however, continuing to call for Chuq’s return, for Serithas to come clean under threat of being thrown from the mountain. He is utterly convinced that Serithas has been continuously poisoning everyone’s minds he can reach, poking around and leaving seeds of madness. Those seeds would’ve blossomed into madness on the fool moon.
It comes clear that Chuq has been replaced truly. The man we knew has been drawn into the skullcap, leaving a soul that believes itself to be the reincarnation of Merendur, an ancient folk hero who would be instrumental in the avatar prophecy that would see Lysander’s revival. Chuq clearly believes himself to be this, a member of a secret sect of Lysander-worshipping monks, claiming ownership of the Merendur artifacts and responsibility for bringing our group together and guiding us towards salvation. They believe that they can use the revival process for Prixithalmus on Lysander instead.
We demand the return of the original Chuq, much to the chagrin of the monk in front of us.
Thorfus reveals the countdown clock to Myrientaxus, much to the dragon’s shock, who believes the dwarves are gone and that our destroying of the orb prevents their return. Edan brings Kalgunn in to explain what is due to happen, but the half-elf is clearly angry, snapping at ‘Chuq’ to keep him quiet, going so far as to threaten the destruction of Kalgunn if everyone does not throw aside their petty squabbles and work together, without agenda. He blames Kalgunn and the dragons and governments for the mess we’re in, and asks Myrientaxus if he’s wrong. The dragon agrees, citing that being the reason for his work here.
Axel relays the prophecy once more, to show that hope remains. It is cited as brilliant, that the three named clearly balance each other out. That any one of them alone would see a god arise, the death of magic, or the destruction of the mainland, but together on the orbital, they could truly be our salvation.
Ronan asks why we’re all here. Kottar says that he is here to do right by the ancients, and to see to the revival of Prix. He shows us her still as a redheaded woman, lying comatose behind a flap in the tent, telling us that her body only lives because he remains near. The physical wounds have healed. Myrientaxus has agreed to help revive her, and knows of a second. The third remains out of reach, and Chuq of course pushes for Lysander, but we already know Jardin.
The issue is the second. Jagger carved out his territory by gifting a golden dragon hatchling, Aurumthrax, to Suttung at Glavnone, which we then realise was the means of crafting the skiff and other items. Myrientaxus visited there recently, which is why Shuqayr is missing, he was taken in the visit and supposedly sent to the Necropolis. Aurumthrax is still within Glavnone, though now working at the behest of the Dark King, who turned all the fire giants except Suttung into Undying, and guards the dragon with an automaton.
(Something about sending things through portals I missed)
That done, we turn back to Serithas and demand the return of Chuq, the original Chuq. Apparently the monk is in stasis within the cap, but Serithas intends to hold him hostage, citing that the current Chuq is far superior to our original friend due to faith in himself.
We won’t need much blood for the process of Prixithalma’s revival, just a single vial from each. The process requires a large source of transpatial energy and the potential sacrifice of several dozen, according to what Prix and Azrael worked out. Sacrifices like the merman peace-conference Chuq helpfully provides.
Finally, Serithas relents, and agrees to return Chuq so long as we gather additional blood from the dragons for the purpose of reviving Lysander in turn. We agree, and Chuq collapses. When he wakes up again, he is the Chuq from just before the destruction of the Jolly Gorgon. We fill him in quickly, and he turns and swiftly apologises to Araquil and the ancients. The two rebels reveal that they can speak a little modern Common now.
Chuq talks to Serithas, and asks for the release of any copies Serithas would’ve made of him within the cap. During this, Kalgunn pipes up and says that the devilfish’s abilities would be fantastic for inserting conciousnesses into complex machineries. Chuq removes the cap for now, silencing the devilfish for now.
We discuss what to next. With Myrientaxus, we believe that if we can find and rescue Aurumthrax, we should be able to convince Jardin for the final vial. Unsure of his true name, Edan points out Jardin on a mural of the battle he’d previously showed us. Jardin was apparently an offspring of one of Azrael’s followers.
Edan asks after the dragon’s origins. There was once twelve of them, though the dwarves killed seven of them. He tells us that they came to our world by accident, and shows us another pictograph of a dragon clawing it’s way out of an egg-like shape. Jagger’s other dimension would be slightly higher up the chain of existence, with the dragon’s coming from far lower, below both the transpatial realm and the shadowrealm.
We turn to talking about getting into Glavnone. We know Finklemur has been sent down to the Necropolis, to await the completion of the portal they are building. Axel reasons that we could use the tunnels left behind to sneak into Glavnone, although apparently it will be still be difficult to get into the dragon’s chamber. Edan wants Suttung alive, he would be a great ally to our cause. Ronan brings up the cloning machine, and that could be a good way of securing the necessary sacrifices.
At Glavnone, there are camps where numerous slaves are kept. The Dark Kings armies are there, defending the township in the stead of the defences that Finkleworm destroyed. Myrientaxus is willing to help rescue Aurumthrax, but is wary of going near the Dark King. Aurumthrax is reportedly sickly and near death, trapped in a cage of ancient dwarven make. We have Kalgunn to helps us spring that particular trap, which he knows of as Prixithalmus was once trapped in one.
We consider scouting Glavnone, reasoning that Socrates would be a best option at seeing this. By flight, it would be an hour’s trip.
Kalgunn points out that if the Lords of the Necropolis are the Conclave in Exile, with them, he could perhaps do something about the Orbital’s defensive grid. Additionally, the cloning machine might prove difficult to move, being about 20′ by 20′.
We spend the rest of the night planning for our next move.
Before bed, after they’ve caught up a bit, Sturloc and Kottar approach Thorfus about Struloc’s proposal. After some brief preparation, Thorfus marries Sturloc and Bellisente at midnight.