Session Seventy-Three Summary (Graveyard of Empires: After the Fall)

Session 73, December 1 2021

Introduction

We continue at 12:00PM on the 29th of Laurilden (00.000.10.02 on the Apocalypse Clock) with the party having concluded their extended discussion with Azrael and Jardin about the nature of the threat to Meidia and what might be done to foil Asmodeus's dastardly plot. While Kauri and Oskar accompany the Dragon Emperor down into the archives to find records from the dragons' war against the Matriarchs and Alisceon Hayne retrieves some healing elixirs from the storerooms, the rest of the party follows Jardin to the dervish cells to settle into their temporary home. The plan is to leave in a few days to assault Hdrasta before heading off across the ocean to raid the Inquisitorial Library for information on Medial Dimensions ...

As agreed at the end of last session:

• Kauri & Oskar and Velkin go with Azrael the Dragon Emperor to look at things.

• Allician Haynes healing potions.

• Jardin leads rest of party to Dervish cells to rest.

The party gets settled in.

Druul focuses on Oswitha and ends up with a mat of flowers on the floor that make a map with blue flowers as waves, brown as the southern islands of Curabel, and white flowers as the lands far to the south. Red flowers like ships, and a gold flower on the lead ship. Druul sketches a map, then cuts down the flowers and annoys the Winter Elves with them.

Velkin, Kauri, and Oskar go with Azrael to his ancient study and help look for the report on the ancient Matriarchs.

The summary follows:

After thorough interrogation of the captured human warriors and vivisection of select specimens, the initial hypothesis that the entire human race is native to Meidia must be revised. While the prisoners themselves were born in this dimension and will admit to no knowledge of a previous home, there is clear evidence that members of this particular tribe have ancestors from Elsewhere. Specifically, the supernatural powers of some of their shamans (i.e., those who don’t practice blood magic) depends upon a unique “negative” trans-spatial force. This negatively charged intrinsic quality allows them to manipulate energy to create effects similar to what the Draic’kin can achieve, but by very different means; they are, in effect, energy sinks that passively collect power just from existing on Meidia. The likeliest scenario is that two groups of humans have mixed in this tribe – one native and the other Outsider. This would explain the sporadic nature of these abilities in the current population. While this is interesting from a theoretical standpoint, it follows from the distinctive nature of the negative trans-spatial force that further study of this tribe will not lead to any insights regarding a means for our own people to return home. Their original dimension must differ considerably from the Draic’kin home, at least in terms of energy signature. The best course of action, therefore, is to eliminate the unusual shamans and pacify the remaining tribe members

Lungmold, Brendil, and Ranarth use the much more frayed and much smaller portal to go to the Winter King. They find the Nexus bare and the portal to the Winter Realm much smaller. They are greeted by Sir Firthold who leads them to the Winter King.

The Winter King charges them to tell no one of his desire, not even other Winter Elves, for the secret of time travel and to get it from the dragon emperor unawares. He changes their medallions to only have a dim light, like Kauri's candle, and gives them a small snowball that only lets them call the Winter King, he can't listen in. Brendil takes charge of that.

The Winter King muses that if they succeed, they will be at his right hand like brothers and he can give them entire planets. They can meet the dragons with overwhelming force and kill them, then do the same for the dwarves and use their portals to take over their realms.

He admits to being worried about the DVLs as they are a lot like he is which is why he is consolidating power in the underdark.

Sir Firthold leads them back to the Nexus and they learn that there is another web portal in the Higeki temple in Malgrim. They send Ranarth to tell Velkin that Lungmold and Brendil are going to get the other portal from Bili.

Ranarth is obviously lying when he says that the Winter King promised them some things vaguely and said that we are doing a great job and to keep it up. He even suggests Velking should get in on the action.

Lungmold and Brendil get to the embassy and get the portal from Bili and tell him about the other portal in the Higeki temple.

Azra gives Lungmold a bunch of paper labeled "To Kauri."

Jax says that he won't leave the embassy, but that Azrael or one of his flunkies, like Jardin are welcome to visit. He "resigned" which isn't allowed, so is concerned about retaliation.

Lungmold and Bredil head back to the other portal.

Khelratha gets a basin and water for a bath and a comb and beard oil, that Alician gets from Jardin.

Contents of papers for Kauri:

i.) The Matriarchs are ancient heroes who sacrificed themselves to preserve the knowledge of their people. They are the guardians of knowledge, wisdom, courage, and good health.

ii.) The Matriarchs called their original acolytes to the Great Mountain before they cast off their mortal forms, teaching the earliest Daughters and Sons secret wisdom that was used to fight back the wilderness’s monsters and establish a realm of peace surrounding their holy mountain.

iii.) Eventually, though, the Matriarchs grow ancient and chose to sacrifice their living form to become eternal guardians. They were able to continue shepherding their acolytes, who consulted the Matriarchs’ wisdom in prophetic dreams and visions.

iv.) When the Dragons came from the Outer Darkness, the Matriarchs helped lead their living acolytes in war against those abominations. Despite their great wisdom and goodness, though, the Matriarchs and their children were almost undone by the unnatural power of the dragons.

v.) Some, like Oswitha’s children, fled the dragons; others, hid themselves on the holy mountain; most marched to their deaths in an attempt to destroy the Outsiders.

vi.) When it was over, the Dragons had triumphed. However, the Matriarchs were kept hidden and safe. They whispered in the dreams of their children, keeping alive the memory of freedom – both through the Dragon’s realm of terror and the Dwarven Empire that succeeded it.

vii.) Finally, when the Matriarchs’ great-great-grandchildren won their freedom from Outsiders, the Mothers called a new generation of acolytes to the Holy Mountain. There they lived lives of simplicity and hard work, guided by dreams and visions filled with the Matriarchs’ wisdom.

viii.) The ascetics of the Caverns of the Dead taught me and Azra about the Mothers. Neither of us attained the same degree of enlightenment they enjoyed, but we were improving. When the earthquake killed them, we tried to continue our meditations on our own, but it was hard.

Druul takes Brendil to his room and gathers up a bouquet and asks Ceres to breath ice on them, and Druul says, 5 gold for your lady? Brendil pays and delivers them.

She gives him a stony look as Brendil hands them over, but does not knock them out of his hand.

Brendil bows and she points at Brendil then points at the door. Then he hears a bunch of laughter and giggling.

Lungmold relays to Tyrial that any way shape or form to get the information on time travel from the dragons.

For Next Session:

• Tell Azrael about Jax to work on the pylons and the snowflake thing.

• Azrael did make a sketch of Hdrasta. Just general shape of main entrance.

• Velkin will ask if there are any stashes of weapons that will affect the DVLs. Most Imperial weapons were DVL stuff.

• The door One Horn can't open has three depressions the stone key around his neck looks like the stone on the bracer that Brendil now has. So we need one more.

• Perhaps the Harpy lair or Myrientaxus' old lair?