Molon Labe

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Summary

GM: William
Session: Spring 809 WK
Night: Tuesday (from 15th Sept)
Location: Royal Oak
Level: Mediumish

Summary
As Queen, there are days when you shouldn't get out of bed. Any day your enthusiastic warriors attack the wife of someone who has a habit of regicide is a bad one. If on that same day the west secedes, your son runs off, a trusted member of the family isn't as trusted as you thought and you're out of lemons then all that should be done is pull the covers back over your head and declare the day null and void.

If, on the other hand, you're any of the others mentioned, sleeping in may not be an option for a while...

NB Not a lemon gathering adventure.

Employer
Lady Anelia of Ladlaugh province
Party
  • Lucius - The Lord Protector
  • Kern - A disgraced warrior
  • Aryan - An impetuous warrior

Gerald (GM Info) is a male Human Illusionist played by Struan - A toady

  • Albion - A charming figure (honest)
  • Kilroy - A mercenary with a heart of gold
Known to the PCs
The provinces Ladlaugh (full of babies) and Liesuen (full of longbowmen) are both neighbours and also dislike being ruled by Eidolon and it's indolent nobility. Both courts largely favour seceding from the greater Elven Empire, Lieussen has been all but independent for living memory (including the 23rd's) and no-one really paid attention to Ladlaugh until really recently. The two rulers were meeting to discuss an alliance and how to approach Elsfield's High Lady Maris when they were attacked by the 17th cavalry. The party (pre-gathered as a result of an astrology reading) is racing to relieve the defenders.

This is however small news. A week earlier nearly every Elvandan elf dropped what they were doing and headed west to Elvandar which has closed it's borders. That and news of Prince Rylec has vanished after a very public and royal 'tantrum'. That's what had every elf's attention so riveted so what is the 17th up to?

The Rebel position is largely precarious, it needs a conduit to the outside world, allies and a way to make Eidolon take them seriously.

Payment
Ladlaugh is actually quite prosperous these days. Getting it out of Berylia and Anghamerabad is the trick.


Scribe Notes

25th Ice 809

We go over the party introductions and then sort out the party roles which results in Lucius being the party leader due to his relationship with our employer High Lady Anelia, Aryan is the logical Military Scientist and I, Kern will be the scribe for our foray into deep elven politics and military matter.

We discuss many issues and Kilroy in light of our healing abilities suggests that we reset our plane to be Kilroy's plate which we all fly down to Slippery Rock to do so. While there we stock up on potions and salves as well as undertake rituals etc.

We return to Seagate for the evening.


26th Ice 809

The morning dawns and we take a cloud with an air mage from Ladlaugh named Beriadan and start the 1300 mile flight. Aryan stoically carries his boat the entire time to the amazement of many on the cloud, others ritualise or sleep due to magic.

Just after 7pm we arrive in Town and we immediately go to the Ladlaugh Town Hall which is where the Lady of Ladlaugh province lives and start some discussions. We discuss the acrimony between Lady Anelia and Lady Celeblothel and why Lady Celeblothel is all set on returning to Ladlaugh to take her place as its ruling lady again at the head of an elven army that is due to attack on the 2nd of Thaw 809.

Lady Celeblothel is at the head of an elven army consisting of the 1st (Royal Elven Guards) Heavy Foot Regiment, the 17th (Royal Elven Guards) Cavalry Regiment and the 525th Elven Legion and that she has sponsored their joint manoeuvres with a view of retaking Ladlaugh using her ancient High elven rights and what seems to be the approval of the Elven Queen Aliera. We learn that this army is presently camped near the border but inside Varnendor Province.

Lady Anelia wants us to stop the predicted attack and protect Ladlaugh as well as her allies in Liesuen and Elsfield.

We decide to visit the Dryad Grove nearby and Lucius suggests alcohol for the fae so that we may talk with them. Some wine is quickly placed outside and soon thereafter a small goblin-like being appears named Tagh who is a fae Redcap and is the sheriff of the area. We discuss what we were thinking of doing and soon thereafter we find ourselves transported some distance away to a fae grove where there are some very old and special trees.

We meet with the dryads/guardians and talk of Nexus Stones, Sacred Groves and many other important subjects. We also do some casting of magic and find the area especially efficacious. Kern is given a nut seed which will become a troll/tree when 'planted'.

We have considered on some objectives and these are:

  1. Deal with Lady Celeblothel
  2. Keep the rites of Spring Safe
  3. Fix the High Mana area issues if possible

In the late evening we decide to return to town - the old fashioned way so we all start running back to Ladlaugh town. Soon after some decide to fly as running is 'a bit tiring for them'. We get back to town by 10pm where we go to our Inn to eat, drink and make nice with the locals and then good healthy sleep ensues.

27th Ice 809

Over breakfast we decide to reconnoitre the army in Varnendor. We take flight and after around 12 hours flight we have travelled some 500 miles and we land in what we suspect is Varnendor although we have noticed a large black jagged edifice/mountain that isn't supposed to be there. We land at what looks to be a deserted manor and we are accosted by 3 hobbits who ask us our business. It turns out that this previously prosperous and populated manor has had most of its population stolen by demons in the night over recent times. They say that the evil mountain nearby spews forth demons who steal people (hobbits etc) and do foul murder under cover of darkness, and this has only happened since the evil mountain came to the area.

Being helpful souls we offer our protection and assistance in defending them from the evil demons and thus we lay an ambush for that evening. Mr Pigwhistle, the eldest of the hobbits and their erstwhile leader provides for us and we make plans for their safety.

In the middle of the night the flapping of wings is heard and a short battle ensues where they mistake us for poor innocent hobbit nibble (illusions of course) and we mistake them for sport and cut them down but only kill 1 of the five and 1 gets away from us into the dark night sky. It turns out that they are actually transformed elves (previously of the 525th and 17th) and they have been exposed to a demonic item of great power.

We chat to one that we wounded once he comes around and discover that he is Mildar of the 17th (Royal Elven Guards) Cavalry Regiment and he relates that he and his regiment (and others) were ordered by the Ministry of War to follow Lady Celeblothel's orders and make war on rebellious provinces. He says that the 17th has 120 officers and 380 troopers, the 1st and 525th have around a 1000 troops and officers in a more realistic mix. A divination of Mildar determines that he has been affected by The Eye of Baelor.

Kilroy sets up a rune portal and we decide to destroy the demon artifact to stop the transformations and the rape and pillage of the empire. We consider just killing all the demons but decide to set realistic objectives first and then improvise where possible if opportunities come about.

We fly close to the demonic edifice and then after some good illusions we walk in the front gate of the 'fort' within the mountain and we are confronted with scenes of pain and suffering with beings chained and transforming into demons as we pause in our steps. We decide quick action is required and we DA for where the demonic artifact effect is emanating and we thus head up some stairs. We pause briefly to alter our illusions once we knock out some devils we came across. We then find a central chamber with around 30 devils and the Eye of Baelor on a stand in the centre of the room. Entering the room we attempt to magically assess the artifact but we are 'rumbled', Aryan's prearranged plan B is started.

We start to move towards the door guards that we have just passed to enter this 160 ft oval room and lethally engage them as these devils look like real devils rather than transformed ones. A violent scene ensues and a minute later the 30 devils are dead or consecrated and the room is ours so we move to deal with the Eye of Baelor. During the altercation some summoned imps tried to bring the fatal discussions we were having to their masters attention by opening portals to our location but swift and decisive action on our part (consecrating the half-open portal to Raphael) stymied that course of action and (as we discovered later) stunned Malthus and left him with a raging headache. Oddly the devil corpses (those not melted by angelic power) didn't vanish back to hell.

We discuss many options and try destroying it but resort to bagging and fleeing with the Eye to stop further transformations. We move to exit the mountain high up and once through the walls of the mountain we find ourselves not on Alusia any more but a more forbidding place with a blood red sky and many other fortresses dotting a barren landscape - all in all a place without relief.

Well since we are here and we are still wanting to save the elves within this fortress and not leave them here in Malthus's Hell we hide back inside while we divinate the mountain and experiment with restoring the transformed elves and hobbits. Using Lucius or Aryan's swordwork we can lift the curse but it will take too long (weeks) to do all of them. The mountain is a demonic fortress that may be summoned and banished by those that know the appropriate talents/rituals. We assume that Malthus and Celeblothel are both capable of the summoning. With nothing we can do for the transformed Elves, we settle for releasing the 200 prisoners who have not been transformed yet, quickly briefing them and then banish them back to Alusia to raise the alarm. Once we have done what we could and while puzzled about the lack of senior devil/demon response we banish ourselves back to Kilroy's home in Slippery Rock.

28th Ice 809

We take the eye out of town to an empty field before we generate any more devils, there Kilroy sits in a consecrated area and divines the Eye. Seeking divine inspiration, Lucius's calls upon Raphael for guidance and soon thereafter a worldly traveller appears and introduces himself as Calaiel, one of Raphael's servants. We discuss our issues and he has some thoughts/advice which are/is:

  1. The eye may not be destroyed. Expanding on this, Calaiel does not know of a way and does not expect we will be able to do it.
  2. The library may have some information about unmaking the Eye of Baelor
  3. The curse effects of the eye may be lifted by drinking the The Waters of Life. The waters would retain this property if magically bound (in a Water Elemental or as Bound Water) and transported to where we need it. It should also work if inhaled as a mist.
  4. Travel to the headwaters is by following a river just north of Kadath, the headwaters are not strictly on Alusia. Once at the headwaters we must defeat the guardian there who is 'A First One' (whom we take to be a dragon) in order to access the waters. The guardian may appreciate 'gifts' and the contest need not be in combat.
  5. The fastest way to travel from the head waters to Alfheim would require using the ancient elven portals however that may expose us to The Great Enemy or his minions. We may also be able to use the portals to travel quickly to Kadath - if there's anything left there.
  6. Known portal points are North of Seagate, The Elven University and at the Headwaters. The portals are guarded and access isn't guaranteed to just anyone.
  7. The Great Enemy is under the lake below Eidolon
  8. There was a guardian of the old portal network but it was destroyed by someone (a guild party?) which has caused 'The Great Enemy' to stir and start waking
  9. When asked about averting my death we are advised that Kern is no longer fated to die in 12 days but Kilroy is now so fated. We are advised to seek out the fates or get a better prophecy about the matter

We get what we require from Slippery Rock and redo the relevant magics and then fly to Seagate. Upon arrival at the guild we restock on various potions and get a guild lead lined coffin for someone named Saydar that might help contain any ancient evil artifacts (they just seem to have them in stock at the guild) and prepare depart to travel along Geralds Fae paths.

Just before we leave we get signed up on Isilith's tab to 'Provide for the defence of the elven empire from enemies internal and external - for the duration of the emergency' at double guild rates per week. Most of us sign up with this vague 'contract' and Kern signs up his mercenary regiment The Silver Sabres.


We travel the paths and by 3pm we find ourselves in Gracht where Gerald reorientates himself and we start travelling to the Elven University. We come to a barrier during our fae walk and we transit out about 7pm. We then have to fly to get to the University which we reach at 1am.

Upon reaching the University we speak with the most senior looking elf we can find and organise a researcher to look into our 'Issues of great importance'. We meet Ilmar the researcher who will look into the unmaking / destruction of the Eye of Baelor.

We also discover some interesting facts that may be pertinent to our interests, these are:

  1. Clamway in Elvandar knows of ways to destroy the fortresses
  2. Ulwin the Mad knows information about the Waters of Life
  3. There may be way(s) to survive the heart being torn from Kilroy's body, including;
    1. The nut of a MacMac tree could replace the heart
  4. Inanna was Baelor's nemisis
  5. The Mirror of Ultimate Reality may be of us to us but it's in the safekeeping of the Lunar Empire Titans

29th Ice 809

We arrange some rooms and sleep until midday when we head off to a university tavern named The Trollshead for some hearty fare.

We spend time with Ulwin who is reasonably mad and we end up being advised to speak with an elf who was called Astronia in the distant past but now better known as Seir.

Ulwin does an astrology reading for us with the question being "Where is Celeblothel" and the result is "The Queen of Winter will be travelling through the lost lands to the North of the Empire". The Scrolls of Kael being found heralded the birth of the Queen of Spring with the 'birth' being akin to bringing into being/realisation.

After we discuss that the omens leading to the release of The Great Enemy are being ticked off, Ulwin decides it's time he took a sabbatical somewhere a long way from Alfheim. Aryan suggest sunny coastal Ebola. As soon as Ulwin is packed we are ushered out and the tower sealed behind us.

Before leaving the University Kilroy sets up a portal for future use in a secure room and we head off to Ladlaugh by the portal Kilroy has previously established in Varnendor. We stop to see how the Hobbits are in Varnendor and using that portal we return to Ladlaugh around 6pm.

We make a report to the Lady of Ladlaugh, arrange transport to Kadath with the Beltan, then get some sleep.

30th Ice 809

We decide on a way to diminish the Eye of Baelor's powers by defeating the 15 Sorcerers bound within. We gather the Swords of Ascendancy with Lucius holding Fedei, Aryan borrows Jus from The Justicar, a Beltan Elf named Captain Ireanus wields Veritas. The Swords of Ascendency are each aligned with one of the powers of light, except for Sammael who doesn't do Swords, there being no such thing as overkill, we decide to invite Michael to join in. Aryan concentrates on Fedei and asks if Michael would be willing to lend his sword to the endeavour. To most peoples surprise, Aryan is not struck down and Michael's avatar turns up for the fight. Aryan and Michael have a brief machismo moment over who is in charge, the avatar decides to humour the mortal. Thus we set to work on the Eye of Baelor, release the sorcerers bound within and soon thereafter the sorcerers are dead forever. Kilroy divinates the Eye and the results are that it is still part of Baelor and he can see out of it should he choose to do so, it has prophetic powers and can pronounce an event once a year, its minor power is that it can see through any crystal ball and acts as a Rank 20 Crystal of Vision.

Some discussion is held regarding a local mercenary company answering to Kern and the men are ordered to protect Ladlaugh.

Returning to the plan of getting Lady Celeblothel and stopping her attack we do an enhanced locate and discover her to the far north of Ladlaugh. We take flight Northwards into the frozen wastes.

Around noon we find ourselves flying over the Frost Giant infested mountains outside of the Alfheim weather protection sphere. We land on a dormant Volcano and are accosted by Aratac the Ice Giant who after some discussion agrees that the Elven woman is here and we can have her for 10 Dwarven Metal Glaives. We decide to take a direct route to the location of the Lady who it turns out is in discussions with King Heinric of the Frost Giants. We enter the cavern, negotiate the neutrality of the giants, then take down the lady and her 2 bodyguards, one of which was a devil and the other a charmed handsome elf named Captain Alain of the 17th Gds who thought Lady Celeblothel was a very nice girl.

At the edge of eternal spring, we stop to strip the charm from Alain and divine him for any magical nastiness associated with taking him to Ladlaugh. Without the benefits of the charm he is rather traumatised by his recent experiences.

Back in Ladlaugh, we turn him over to the Beltan who have more experience with traumatised elves. Their standard solution of shoving him back to the front line should sort it out one way or another.

Our ship and possibly some water mages to help should be ready by morning. Some of the party are mildly concerned that it's a brand new ship and this is its maiden voyage, Albion self-medicates with wine. We get a good nights sleep before the seasonal day on the morrow and the night passes uneventfully.

High Holiday - Candlemansa

We are up before the sun and we depart on the Beltane ship The Exaultant piloted by Captain Foteaus. We bring some possible gifts for the guardian and thus wine, truffles and blue cheese are bought aboard in some quantity. We leave at dawn when the 'mana tide-flows' are best and during the voyage the captain/crew attempt to show us how the ship works while we fly high above the lands below and then into clouds so high that we see neither land nor sea and we apparently fly via the ether. During our transit Aryan raises the question "have you ever tried fishing while flying in the ether" and concerned brows indicate no and that it may not be a good idea to see what takes the bait.

The morning and early afternoon pass and we travel far across Alusia to the other continent.

Around mid afternoon we arrive at the ruins of the 1st city and judge where the lake was and headwaters would be and are thus dropped off 10miles away on the northern side some 30miles from where we suspect the water to originate from. We start walking and encounter some dead elven spirits along the way who we find are tied to the area by their grief. They share some information with us however and thus we discover the the guardian is currently a Cockatrice who was set to guard the headwaters by Namorii the Vengeful after they had destroyed the previous guardian. We know that cockatrice are very poisonous creatures and apparently the creature fouls the spring it guards and allow the water to flow outwards as a vile poison on the land.

We get within a mile use crystals etc to espy the area and form a plan to avoid fighting the cockatrice if possible but still achieve our aim of getting a quantity of the water if life. Surprisingly we go with my plan of digging out underneath the cockatrice and burying it which works fine except the cockatrice doesn't fall into the pit. Next we create a cave in and bury the cockatrice and get our water and make to depart but we talk with the cockatrice first about what she is doing. We discover that she is The Cockatrice and she is fouling the water deliberately at Namorii's bidding but she is doing life a favor in reality as the effects of the undiluted water would be potent. We consider this and free her of some of the rubble around her and leave on possibly neutral terms. We also find that she is a foe of The Great Enemy

Some experiments are undertaken which results in;

  1. One of the local spirits becoming alive again in his previous youthful body and his 3 friends are also 'reborn'
  2. Gerald frees a dwarven spirit he had named Rolf who is reborn
  3. A human vampire hunter named Holos is freed by Aryan and reborn

We take a number samples of the 'bad water' fouled by the cockatrice and a lot of samples of the 'good water' for empirical testing. We recover some items dropped by previous visitors (a winged large skeletal figure in armour etc) to the headwaters and depart once more on The Exaulted. We fly back to Ladlaugh through the night and early day.

1st Thaw 809

We arrive back in Ladlaugh on The Exaulted at noon and once there we make plans of how to deal with Lady Celeblothel and her special friends in the soon to be fight. We get a good nights sleep ready for the morrow.

2nd Thaw 809

At Dawn we enact our plan to fool Celeblothel and set free the trapped demon elves.

She is staked in a field and she awakens to a fallen guard in view and her loyal charmed follower Capt Alais (Gerald disguised) setting her free. We add pressure by appearing to notice this and charge to stop her getting free and she reacts calling her master/patron Malphus who appears along with the citadel containing the trapped elves. The trap is sprung and water rains down cleansing the transformed elves thus freeing them and the avatar of Malphus tries to flee Ladlaugh but the fae hold him there and we are able to kill his avatar which inconveniences him somewhat. The day is spent with more cleansing and enlightening the 'rescued elves'

3rd Thaw 809

The day is spent with more cleansing and enlightening the 'rescued elves'

4th Thaw 809

By dawn the last of the cleansing is done along with recovery of miscellaneous items from the demonic citadel and we discover we have rescued 2500 elves from their demonic peril. They have decided to not invade Ladlaugh after all and wholeheartedly join in the spring rites celebrations. During the day we walk to the grove and get a MacMac nut to possibly aid in staving off Kilroy's looming doom.

5th Thaw 809

Kilroy realises that his doom is a major curse and that he can get rid of it himself and undertakes a remove curse ritual to do so and at midnight the curse is still there.

6th Thaw 809

Kilroy continues his remove curse ritual and by 7pm the curse is lifted. While Kilroy was doing his ritual we had decided on the course of action and so we have decided to see Lady Maris of Elsfield. Once Kilroy is free we then portal to Varnendor and then sleep for 4 hours till midnight.

7th Thaw 809

We take flight and head southwards into Elsfield where we reach Elsfield City itself by noon and we get to see Lady Maris. We talk of many issues such as:

  1. Lady Isilith
  2. The Eater of Souls (on the side of good) – whom we take to be Liessa the ascended
  3. Matters of State such as the rebellion, Lady Celeblothel etc
  4. The keys to the Underworld are held by the High Guardians of Alfheim and they guard the ways into the depths below Eidolon in which the Great Seals hold the Great Enemy. We think that we need to go there and have a look for ourselves and enhance our knowledge of the matter/being.
  5. The Guardians also look after the 'Destroyers' of Alfheim
  6. Eidolon is actually a floating fortress acting as a cork over the great lake above the great enemy.

After our frank discussions we decide to head on to the west to deal with threatening events there and thus take our leave of Lady Maris and bid her adieu. Kilroy is granted licence to establish a portal somewhere secure and once completed we port to Varnendor and then using the portal point onto the University arriving there by 2pm. At the University we discover that most of the researchers and student have left to join Lady Isilith's 'Home Guard' or Peacekeeper Military formations due to the exigent circumstances in Alfheim currently. We talk with Kalah the porter who is quite helpful with our enquiries. He details Kalimdar who is in charge of the Historical artefacts section whom we suggest might want to secure those artefacts to prevent unwarranted use in the coming months. We have decided that

  1. We are heading west to speak with the Elvandarians to find a way to reduce bloodshed amongst elves, share intelligence, discuss future plans and get a feel for their mood, leadership and capabilities.
  2. We need to find out more of the Great enemy
  3. The colourful armour we have recovered needs investigating
  4. We would like to know who else was working with Lady Celeblothel.

We talk with Kalah and Researcher Maryn who has a specialty in the Great Enemy and discover the following information.

  1. The colourful armour may be the legendary 'Chromatic armour' of Prince Garrick
  2. The Great Enemy is a major demon who at the time of his imprisonment was locked up far away from the elven capital at the time in a small uninhabited backwater under lake and under a small fortress made fopr holding him there.
  3. He is an insidious corruptor of other beings
  4. Krenopus of Elvandar (an advisor to Lord Veltyn) is also a knowledgeable source of information on the great enemy.

At 3pm we decide to take our leave of the University and bid them to watch their defences while we head west to establish relations with the Elvandarians. We fly west. After 5 hours flight we find ourselves in central Merche (after travelling 200 miles) where Kilroy establishes a portal and then we carryon at 830pm. Around midnight we espy a dark forest ahead.

8th Thaw 809

Just after midnight we land in front of a large, thick, dark and foreboding forest where we first establish a rune portal and then hail the forest asking for passage.

We are soon approached by a patrol of wild elves led by Talon of Elvandar and we explain our need to see Lord Veltyn and Prince Eoren. They agree to take us and we start running through the woods through the early morning.

Around 7am just after dawn we arrive at the site of Lord Veltyn's forest headquarters and after some assessment and introductions we are escorted to see Lord V and Prince E. We hold discussions about our tasks and once established we are shown much courtesy and invited to discuss the present war plans for the gathering elven host and its plan to invade Eidolon and liberate the Empire from its present tyranny and anarchy. Our esteemed generals including the very experienced General Aryan contribute to the planning and give the command staff much to consider. Once we have related our recent activities, current events across the empire and future plans we suggest alternate plans including us going to Eidolon and getting the population to depart the city in order to avoid the impending doom. The Winter Palace might be a suitable alternate residence for the Royal Elven Court.

We however do invite Lord Veltyn to return to Eidolon with us (albeit not directly) to help invest the city and see to its defence by investing the city with good hard troops rather than show royal troops.

In discussions with Krenopus we are advised further about the insidious nature of the Great Enemy's corruption of others and that signs of this corruption are:

  1. Descent into madness
  2. Petty cruelty
  3. Wanton abandonment to base desires
  4. Weakness of will
  5. A gnawing evil corruption aura

Further we discover that the Great Enemy is the original god of Chaos and destruction who had to be contained for the world to come into being – or the war of chaos would have occurred and life on Alusia would be very different from now. Resetting the Seals that hold the Great enemy is an option and seeing the Selkai would be best as they were the original mages who established the Seals. Thus if the seals were reset and repowered then the great enemy might continue his enforced slumber much longer than recent prophecies state. Whichever path we need to get close to the Seals, Selkai and Eidolon and make further plans from there. We head off to rest around 9am after an arduous past day.


9th Thaw 809

We awaken and take sustenance. Aryan ports back to the guild and soon thereafter returns with Kilroys Little Land. Kilroy and another few rune mages spend the day and night banishing troops (in total some 6,000 troops) in order to provide a fast reinforcement pool if required. The night and day pass with the rest of the party sleeping and watching Kilroy or discussing plans with Prince Eoren and Lord Veltyn.

10th Thaw 809

Very early in the morning (5am) Kilroy stops doing his mass Banishment and we all sleep away most of the day. 5pm sees us arise, have some sustenance and 6pm sees us depart via Rune portal with some additional company - namely another rune mage (and Bodyguard) and several scouts. 7pm we arrive at the University drop off the company and proceed via the expeditious Ancient Elven portal to Eidolon.

We are met at the other end of the portal by 2 large spider like humanoids whom we identify as Spirit Warriors and who are wearing blue hats that identify themselves as peacekeepers. We are shown to Lady Isiliths Headquarters where we chat with her, explain some local issues and get some information on the area below the city.

We discover that a coven of Mages called the Selkai are down below. They were originally 10,000 strong when they were first tasked with maintaining the bonds that hold the great enemy below the lake. When last they were counted (see some guild scribe notes - Engleton etc) there were only 30 or so left. The Eater of Souls [[Liessa] is again mentioned.

We see the need to empty the city so that the original purpose of Eidolon may be realised and we immediately foresee some issues around emptying a city of a million souls or so. We discuss options such as the royal court departing for a long term tour of the empire, a series of royal tournaments in the provinces etc.

We ask Isilith to see the Queen and explain some of our situation and to see what see can socially engineer. While Isilith is gone we socialise with her associates and discover that some are tainted with corruption caused by proximity to the great enemy. We cut short our socialising and realise that sleep may be in short supply again soon and so repair for the night.

11th Thaw 809

A small sleep in sees us rise at 10am when we receive a summons to attend the Queen. We meet in a private audience where we exchange some courtier pleasantries and then broach some unfortunate subjects with her majesty. The suggestion of a holiday through the provinces for the court, a time to visit relatives, some sort of national holiday and other suggestions are made as excuses to move some of the populace out of the city and all are taken into consideration.

While there we poll the queens court and discover a corruption rate of around 10% which we quietly inform her majesty and she confirms this and then starts planning things.

We meet Lady Alas who is tasked with ensuring our passage through to see the High Guardians of Eidolon who hold the keys to the Underworld in which the Great enemy is held and the Selkai still abide.

We take leave of the queen while she starts work on pressing matters and we move steadily into the heart of the Upper city of Eidolon. After some time Lady Alas leads us to a door and we pass through where it seems we are expected due to an ancient prophecy on the matter, place and time. The keys are the means of passage into the Underworld ways and also into the Lower Selkai Fortress which needs re-activating. The Guardians show us how to use the keys.


12th Thaw 809

We travel back to Ladlaugh, arrive there in the early morning and we promptly retire to our rooms at the inn where we all sleep until noon. We all awake after some undertaking normal purification methods and others like Aryan sharing their purification with some female company.

We proceed with our plan to consult with the old elven gods on our plans and what's afoot in the empire. We

  • Visit the Hill of the The Laughing God
  • Speak with Nukalvalee The Skinless. He is supportive of our stance and all but Aryan has their shadows removed and held until our return to avoid them being used against us.
  • Speak with Kael and receive some fire protections
  • Speak with Sha'Mez who provides us with dissemblance's to look like Wraiths in order to fool any creatures in the Underworld. We then put on illusions/disguises courtesy of Gerald.

Sha'Mez advises us to "seek the ways beneath the ways". There are 'sewers' beneath the underworld paths and they are a secret way into the city and may not be closely watched. We will need to "take a leap of faith" and jump off the paths into the nothingness below.

Once we have visited with each of the gods we return to Ladlaugh where we consult the prophesying scrolls of Kael, finding this prophecy

"The enemy gets out and the defences don't work, then destroy the 4 great engines of Eidolon, the city will drop and may destroy him"

Further discussions with Kael regarding our plans

There are minions and then faceless ones who have a symbiotic relationship. - Feed the minions and this helps to stun the faceless ones/provide a strong sensation for the senses that they don't have.

Kael provides Kern and Aryan with additional fire armour and a blessing.

Kilroy creates a Bound smell of smelly booze to be the sensation to affect the faceless ones.

Around mid afternoon we discuss all our plans, discoveries and possibilities with Lucius, his wife and Anghamabad and leave instructions with Anghamabad in case of our failure to return within the week.

We sleep the rest of the day away in anticipation of sleep deprivation in the very near future.

13th Thaw

We return to Eidolon by Noon and re-establish our banishment locations as per previous plans.

We pass through the places to the Royal Observatory Garden and see the secret gate there which is behind the pavilion on the north side covered by vines. We unlock the door with our Key and enter the paths, locking the door behind us. We see that we are on a 20ft wide path with nothing discernible over the edges (Vision ranges from 1-200ft through the nothingness) of the path and there are lamp-posts with lanterns situated alternating sides every 20ft along the path. We further divine that there are no spirits here in the 'void space' off the path.

We move along and we come across a 1 story stone building built across the path with a sign saying 'The Last Homely Inn' and we all enter the taproom which seems rather larger than the 20ft wide path it is perched/built upon. We are offered some libations by the barman (avatar strength aura) including a special one which changes stats around (some gain while others lose – It replaces 'He who has been' with another version of yourself) and most have a tipple but not the special one.

Also in the bar is a cloaked young lady named Katherine who is a Human, non-mage. SLS and who doesn't show any sign of being corrupted by the area (neither does the barman) and is quietly drinking but when approached she tells us to jump at the lamp 3miles along the path.

We bid the Barman and Katherine adieu and head off along the path. At the 3 mile point we come across 10 royal elf guards (the last patrol sent in here) fighting with 30 large orcs and we wade in to help, ending the fight ends quickly. The Elves tell us they are here on Isil Eth's orders patrolling and bringing reinforcements, everything was routine and safe until they were on their way home when they were jumped. We tell the guards to hurry back to Eidolon and watch them head towards the Inn and homewards.

We are here at the 3 mile mark so we look over the side of the path and see nothing and thus we take the advice to undertake "a leap of faith" here and jump off hand in hand.

We all come to a complete stop quickly soon thereafter when we 'land' on another path where we see Michael having a rest on his sword. He leaps up upon seeing us all and extends warm greetings and we in turn illuminate him as to our purposes here and he agrees to accompany us on such a worthy jaunt.

We move along the path for some time and finally come to a small gate in an actual city wall/citadel that we again open using our key. We move along various corridors and we find ourselves in a large citadel where we encounter some very old elves along with a few young elves. We explain our purpose and we are shown into the central chamber where we meet the Lord of the Selkai.

The Lord of the Selkai explains that they survive on actual food that used to be provided by the inhabitants of the city but now they send out parties along the paths (that open out onto many other planes apart from Alusia) to get supplies and bring back the sustenance that the Selkai need.

He shows us the ritual room where they perform the rituals, there are 6 pairs of mages performing rituals (an ancient style of magic requiring two people working together to achieve greater works than they could achieve separately). We note that one of the pairs is a lot more tainted than the others.

Then (at our request) we are shown where the great demon is kept caged, this is a large tower floating above a pit of primeval ooze and bound by 6 long thick metallic chains that are the 6 seals keeping the great demon imprisoned. He explains that while the Selkai continue with their rituals to re-power the seals he will continue to be held here, although he admits they aren't as efficacious as when first started some 36,000 years ago as the diminishing of the Selkai numbers has had an impact.

We ask permission and then investigate the 6 seals where we discover that the 5th chain is actually an illusion. Following a hunch we find out that the heavily tainted pair are doing the ritual for the fake chain, checking them out we confirm their innocence and warn them to do extra purifications. Each seal is associated with a section of the city, the section associated with this seal is the Eidolon Gate section. It may be that there is something in this section that has broken the seal.

We tell him that over the years Lady Isil Eth has been sending volunteers down to augment the Selkai numbers but he tells us that they have not arrived!

We, the army of 5 (and Michael the archangel) head down to the Eidolon Gate section of the city and once there we feel a great sense of despair wash over us that we thankfully resist.

We get to a position where we can see the Gatehouse and gate leading out towards Eidolon, there is an illusion over the gatehouse, once we remove it we see the gate is open when it should be closed. We move closer and then are jumped by some of the faceless ones, Michael moves past them to engage a great evil standing just by the gates beyond our view.

We stun the opposing faceless ones and use Isil-Eth's artefact to turn them back into Selkai then we move to assist Michael. We are finally able to view Michael only to see him torn limb from limb by a foul creature who identified herself as Liessa the Balrog - after she ate the last Balrog she became the replacement - (her primary vulnerability is Cold) and we take advantage of the time gained by Michaels death to close the gates on her and re-seal the city. We tell Liessa (the evil side of she who was Liessa the guild-member) that we shall be back to deal with her evil and she laughs a deep and evil cackle. Gloats about the invincibility of her master, his inevitable release, how we will all die regardless of whether we hide in the city or come out for her to eat.

We withdraw back to the citadel and see that the 5th chain/seal has been re-established. The Lord of the Selkai informs us that there is only one Balrog but that it is at all 6 of the city gates. We ask if he knows how she may be defeated, getting the answer of "as she was previously vanquished, she is but an aspect of she who was Liessa".

We take our leave and promise to send help soon. We leave via the lower paths and get back to the Inn (via a secret door). Chatting again with Katherine she tells us that when Liessa came through she drank a lot of the Barman's special (though not as much as Engalton), and most of the possible Liessa's moved off from there to their own destinies. Katherine is who Liessa may have been if she was never a mage, she is waiting here for something. Balrog-Liessa is another aspect that was corrupted when she ate the old Balrog. Liessa-1 left here then ascended to become Liessal, it was probably her who was whispering to Michael and guiding him down the paths (not that he was lost or concerned). Katherine avoids talking about any of the other potential Liessa's.

We leave through the Eidolon gate (carefully locking behind us) heading quickly onwards to Isil Eth whom we update and pass the Underworld key for safekeeping. Moving quickly we find and detain the 10 Elves we 'saved' on the paths and the gate guards. It turns out that they were working for Balrog-Liessa, recruiting extra guardians in Isil Eth's name, leading them down the paths to the city where Balrog-Liessa eats them.

We decide we need some extra muscle to take down Balrog-Liessa.

Aftermath

Most of us head back to Ladlaugh, a week later we deliver the Glaives to the giants, honouring our deal with them to get Celeblothel.

Albion and Kilroy then head home to Seagate. Lucius stays on at Ladlaugh for the Spring Rites. Aryan, Kern, and Gerald head to Eidolon to work with the Beltan and Elvandans on the evacuation and re-militarisation of the fortress.

We meet back at the guild about a week before the guild meeting to complete paperwork and debriefing. The stone is installed at its new secret location. The Eye of Baelor is sealed up in its special cold-iron and lead case and locked away in the most secure location (back of the Brussel Sprout cupboard - NOBODY ever goes into that one).

Calendar

Winter 809wk: Ice (9)
24 25 Hired, Slippery Rock 26 Storm flight to Ladlaugh, grove, pub. 27 Fly to Varnendor, ambush devils, capture ourselves, go to hell 28 Banished from Hell to Slippery Rock, Fly to University 29 Sleep, talk, fly to Ladlaugh, sleep 30 Michael & Spectres, Mts.: Frost Giants & Celeblothel, Ladlaugh, sleep
Spring 809wk: Thaw (10)
Moonday Duesday W'ansday Th'rsday Frysday Reapsday Sunday
Candlemansa

Sail to Kadath

1 Guild Meeting 2 Prophesied invasion day 3 4 5 6
7 8 Important appointment for Kern - Kilroy 9 10 11 12 13 We complete our mission and some of us return to Seagate
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 1 2 3 4
Spring 809wk: Seedtime (11)
Moonday Duesday W'ansday Th'rsday Frysday Reapsday Sunday
5 6 7 8 Rites of Thunor 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 Equinox 16 17 Eostre 18 The Seagate Spring Ball
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 1 2

Nominations and SGT Snippets

Reference Information

People

  • Lady Anelia of Ladlaugh, younger sister to Lady Celeblothel, ruler of Ladlaugh from Autumn 808.
  • Lady Celeblothel of Ladlaugh, older sister of Lady Anelia and the lady ruler of Ladlaugh until Summer 808. She seemed to have spent much of her time under the influence of Krrf and other narcotics. She is/was confident, arrogant, and vague.
  • Lady Maris of Elsfield
  • Beriadan - A Handy Air Mage with flight using a cloud and an Air Elemental. He lives in Ladlaugh.
  • Tarahell Alatáriël, see 23rd Legion - he is the only member of the Legion remaining

Groups

  • 1st (Royal Elven Guards) Heavy Foot Regiment, the regiment is known for its stout defence of priceless immobile statuary and public buildings in Eidolon but is considered a show regiment rather than a battle hardened one.
  • 17th (Royal Elven Guards) Cavalry Regiment, they have prestige & equipment but no luck as they have not won a battle in some time, possibly since before Carzala.
  • 525th Elven Legion, 2000 elves under the command of War Leader Garath
  • 23rd Legion, current command is 1 - Tarahell Alatáriël, who is the sole remaining member of the ancient 23rd legion which was formed during the war of tears. Trooper Alatáriël has not stood down for reasons known only to him. A High Elven soldier (barbarians are warriors) he is loyal and a cunning adversary. It is rumoured that he cannot die but whether this is some power or merely the legend surrounding a 36,000 year old Soldier is not known to date.

Places

Party Order

* Front Line Fighters Aryan & Kern
* 2nd Line Kilroy
* 3rd Line Gerald, Albion & Lucius

Loot and Expenses

  • Seed from the grove - gift to Kern
  • The Eye of Baelor
  • Loot from Devils guarding the Eye in Malphus' fortress
  • 33 Ton Stone of Enhancement
  • Vanyarami Armour and Weapon from outside Cockatrice cave
  • Looting Malphus' avatar
  • Looting the fortress as we destroyed it
  • Loss of shadow (if anyone doesn't want theirs back)
  • Kern's re-birthing drink
  • Key, book, and 'De-corrupter' - presumably going back into Isil-Eths 'care' or to the university
  • Pay from Ladlaugh for stopping the invasion
  • Pay from Isil-Eth for defending the realm (for those that double-dipped)
Expenses
  • Weapons for giants
Other
  • Holos Klete & Sword separation
  • Gerald's Dwarf - any implications/changes for Gerald?

Standard Buffs

Armour / Defence / Protection
  • Kern: Earth Armour on up to 3 people 42% Def -1 dam +Magic Protection (on Kern, Aryan & Albion)
  • Kilroy: Rune Armour 25% Def +5 AP (on everyone else)
  • Glass: Multiple Images +2 Images for Combats (Only lasts 8mins)
Stats
  • Kern: Rk 19 Strength of Stone - up to 20 pts split between PS and EN (on everyone)
Combat
  • Lucius: Quickness
  • Aryan: Melee Only: +12IV +12SC +12Def +1 Pass Action at End of Pulse
  • Kilroy: Smite Rk 20 - Res or D+21 + Prone & Stun on first hit (on person, not weapon specific)
  • Kilroy: Rune Weapon Rk 20 - Acid/Poison D-5 + 8 for D pulses - 25 mins
  • Albion: Empathy
  • Aryan: Raise Morale +6 WP (should be running most of most fights)
Other
  • Lucius: Enhance Enchant Rk 10
  • Lucius: Greater Enchantment Rk 20: +21% on 2 areas for 6 days 8,000sp for all areas (on Lucius, Albion, Aryan, Kern).
  • Aryan: Witchsight Rk6 on 1 target (Kilroy)
  • Glass: Disguise - make the non-Elves into Elves (16 hrs or 8 days if have 1 hour(ish) to permanent)
  • Glass: Disguise Mind - makes telepathy far less effective (same duration) on all but Kilroy
Transport
  • Albion: Gaseous Flight 41mph
  • Aryan: Air Skiff 12mph + up to 35mph from Kilroy's Bound Air
  • Glass: Mist Walking up to 650 miles at 100mph (Ritual + 6FT)