The Liminal Court

Summary

Adventure: The Liminal Court
GM: Jim
Session: Winter 825 wk
Day: Tue
Level: Medium-ish

Party

1. Kel
2. Callas
3. Sir Archibald
4. Tyndalos
5. Belladonna

Adventure Full

Employer

TBC

Mission

TBC

Pay

TBC

Scribe Notes

Chapter 1: Preparations and Departure

An Account by Sir Archibald, recorded for the Guild archives

Before

We began this new undertaking with extensive preparation and reorganization of our capabilities. The party had recently undergone significant changes, requiring us to reassess our collective strengths and establish new working arrangements.

Character Adjustments and New Companions

Our group composition had shifted considerably. Tyndalos, myself and Callas remained of the original group. We were also joined by Kel, a drow lady-in-waiting of unremarkable appearance who possessed skills in perfumery, languages, and what she modestly described as simple courtly duties. Additionally, Belladonna, a fire mage from a merchant family in Aleutia, became part of our company. She appeared small and slight, wearing mage robes, with long black hair, green eyes, and notably, an eye patch.

Tyndalos made use of an item called the Eye of Reformation, applying it to the artifact known as the Red Laughter. The eye's power transformed the cursed mask, redeeming its unholy nature and allowing both items to depart this plane, their souls having found peace. This represented a significant victory against the forces of corruption.

Training and Preparation

We established ourselves at House Kerberoth for an extended period of training and preparation. Lady Suneth graciously provided instruction in astrology, which proved essential for our planned journey. Belladonna advanced her knowledge in this field, while we all benefited from the hospitality and wisdom offered.

During this time, we made contact with Henry the Toymaker, though he had unfortunately sold his entire stock and could offer no immediate assistance. We did learn of the complex requirements for creating certain magical implements, involving exotic materials such as thimbles of hydragyrum, labradorite panes, doppelganger skin, kraken ink, and phoenix feathers.

Journey to Aeaea

After completing our training, we departed House Kerberoth and began our journey toward our ultimate destination of Eisenkirk, where we planned to meet with Dr. Wormwood. However, reaching this high-order plane required careful navigation and preparation. We traveled through the Heights of Chaos, where Callas employed her ranger abilities to guide us safely through the treacherous Lands of Chaos. The journey took us six days through this dangerous terrain before we reached the a valley, where we could see the ancient city of Jeroth in the distance. The city showed signs of past devastation but appeared to be slowly recovering, with an estimated population of around nine thousand souls.

Jiroth and the Temple

Upon reaching Jiroth, we observed the proper protocols for visiting an ancient city. We paid our respects at the temple of the goddess Crishna Athena, who governed youth, beauty, and trade. This purification ritual granted us enhanced magical capabilities and access to the temple's services, including the renowned singing bees whose honey and wax possessed special properties.

The temple maintained these remarkable creatures whose buzzing created harmonious melodies. We purchased supplies including the valuable honeycomb, paying the substantial cost of one true silver guinea, as well as way-bread wafers that provided complete nourishment despite their small size.

Crossing to Aeaeaia

From Jiroth, we went by way of the Astral to Hurian and from there crossed the Midnight Sea, a journey that took four days with favorable winds. Our destination was Aeaeaia, the famed city of witches, where we hoped to contact Lady Cerise who maintained connections with Dr. Wormwood.

Aeaeaia proved to be unlike any other settlement we had encountered. The concentration of magical practitioners was extraordinary - perhaps one in a thousand possessed significant magical abilities, with seven or eight truly powerful witches maintaining the city's mystical character. The population of approximately seven thousand included numerous spell casters of varying capabilities.

Meeting with Lady Cerise

We successfully located Lady Cerise, whom Kel had encountered previously. She received us graciously in her residence, where we observed that she had been rebuilding her forces after past losses. Her complement of Medianite dancers had been reduced to three, with two more in training, and she had supplemented her defenders with enchanted fire snakes - eight-foot creatures capable of binding opponents while immolating them.

Lady Cerise served us an excellent crisp Chablis wine with floral notes of peach blossom and cinnamon, demonstrating the refined culture of Aeaeaia. We explained our need to contact Dr. Wormwood, and she agreed to assist us.

The evening proved most pleasant as Lady Cerise escorted us to a renowned restaurant featuring Medianite dancers who performed elevating entertainment. The exceptional meal and cultural experience provided a welcome respite from our recent trials and restored our spirits considerably.

The Star Chart

Lady Cerise provided us with a crucial star chart that would enable our ascension to Eisenkirk. She explained that the journey would require seven days of careful navigation through the upper reaches of the abyss, with asteroids serving as resting points along the way. The star chart, while temporary and lasting only a season, would provide the guidance necessary to reach the high-order plane where Dr. Wormwood maintained her residence.

With preparations complete and the star chart in our possession, we prepared for the next phase of our journey - the ascension to Eisenkirk to meet with the mysterious Dr. Wormwood and advance our mission.

Chapter 2: Revelations

Lady Cerise proved most accommodating, offering various potions and services. She possessed restoratives of considerable potency - far stronger than what our party typically requires. Belladonna negotiated for more suitable preparations while Kel considered the potential benefits for our hardier companions.

The witch also offered to craft witch skins from suitable materials, though she currently lacked simple mouse forms. Callas inquired about creating useful items from dragon materials, noting that dragon skin could be regenerated through magical means. This led to amusing speculation about whether the more robust party members might contribute skin for such purposes, though our enthusiasm for this prospect proved limited.

Abyssward

Having concluded our business and obtained some useful items, we prepared to depart. Callas offered to transport us directly to the astral gate at Harrian using her earth magic, which would save considerable travel time despite the fatigue cost. We thanked our gracious host and set off.

The earth door was successful, delivering us to Harrian where we rested overnight before approaching the astral gate. The temple authorities facilitated our passage, and we found ourselves in the familiar misty environment of the astral plane. Here, Callas noted the proximity to the elemental plane of Earth, which enhanced her magical capabilities significantly.

Using Callas's astronomical knowledge and the star map we had obtained, we navigated through the astral toward the abyss. The journey took approximately an hour before we reached the edge - a vast dark chasm extending downward for miles. Following the map's guidance, we ascended into this realm.

Upward! Unless there's mindflayers and things

Our first stop was a peculiar asteroid-like structure resembling an upside-down hedgehog with a smooth amphitheater on top. The environment supported strange grey vegetation of varying shades, from silvery to charcoal. A central pool provided brackish but potable water. Kel attempted to scan for minds using her telepathy but found only low-level / dream-like thoughts.

The local flora proved to contain extractable poisons of varying potency depending on the darkness of the plant material. Hordling, predictably, showed great interest in consuming these toxic specimens, which seemed to enhance his... unique physiological processes.

After resting on this unusual refuge, we continued our ascent following Callas's navigation. Our next stop proved to be a long, curved boomerang-shaped platform. During our rest here, we detected the passage of what appeared to be a mind flayer vessel - a mile-long asteroid ship showing signs of battle damage. The craft maintained distance from our position, but its presence prompted us to establish concealment using Callas's earthworks and Belladonna's ward magic.

Later, we spotted a much smaller shadow vessel - approximately 120 feet long and distinctly spider-like in design. The craft appeared to be tracking the mind flayer ship, suggesting ongoing conflict between these factions. We maintained our concealment until both vessels had passed safely beyond detection range.

Eisenkirche

Our final ascent brought us to what appeared to be a space station - a protected environment with landing pads and an arched entry portal. Despite some challenging landing maneuvers, we successfully arrived at this facility. The station offered a choice of destinations, and we selected Eisenkirk over remaining to investigate the station itself, though the latter held some appeal given the tortured consciousness Kel had detected.

Eisenkirk revealed itself as an unusually pristine medieval city with remarkably high walls and an exceptionally large cathedral. The population seemed sparse for the city's size, and the inhabitants displayed unusually orderly behavior. The presence of numerous canons and well-armed men-at-arms suggested strong ecclesiastical and secular authority.

We made contact with a local puppeteer named Mr. Upright, who proved amenable to modest bribery and directed us toward the noble quarter where Dr. Wormwood resided. His Punch and Judy show featured the unusual element of a mind flayer as the protagonist, and he provided us with samples of blue lotus - a narcotic favored by the local clergy.

Speculations across time

Gaining entry to the noble quarter required some diplomatic maneuvering, with Kel successfully presenting herself as someone worthy of Dr. Wormwood's attention. The houses in this district featured unusually narrow, heavily secured doors requiring special implements to operate.

Dr. Wormwood received us in her distinctive laboratory attire - a white coat over what resembled a tweed business suit, complete with monocle. She debriefed us thoroughly on the events following her departure from our previous adventure, showing particular interest in our encounters with the Big U, the dragon, and the resolution of the red laughter situation.

The revelation that the red shift component of the bridge had been sanctified and moved on proved significant to her research. She explained that this artifact, combined with Callas's one stone, formed a bridge capable of connecting parallel dimensions. The apparent plan had been to transport Ungoliant from the outer darkness through a parallel dimension and then into our reality using this bridge.

Dr. Wormwood expressed uncertainty about whether the Eye of Discord's recent activities represented opportunistic behavior or part of a larger scheme. She suspected the former but remained concerned about the implications either way.

A new quest

Most significantly, she tasked us with travelling to Cataclysm Earth to investigate potential ongoing threats. She explained that this realm had become the next likely source of white power (from a white hole) for such schemes, given the failure to penetrate Nualis. Our mission would be to capture and interrogate high-ranking Nazi leadership to determine their current activities and intentions.

She offered to facilitate our journey by providing one of her clones to transport us to her warehouse facility in Anchorage, which would serve as a more accessible entry point than our usual route through Ushuaia.

The briefing concluded with disturbing details about Cataclysm Earth's current state - a world where normal technology had failed, replaced by Nazi psionic-powered devices that required the forced extraction of life force from subjugated populations. The Nazis themselves were reportedly refugees from a zombie apocalypse on their original plane, having found their mental powers ineffective against undead opponents.

We now prepare for this new phase of our mission, understanding that we face both the technological challenges of this altered reality and the moral imperative to investigate what may be another attempt to breach the barriers between worlds.

Locations

Map of Lyonesse

Buffs & Mil Sci

Buffs and Abilities

Long Term (assumed always on)

Magic (caster)	Rk	Effects	Duration	Ke	Ca	Ar	Ty	Tu
magic	rank	effect	duration	?	?	Y	?	?

Short Term

Long Term (assumed always on)

Magic (caster)	Rk	Effects	Duration	Ke	Ca	Ar	Ty	Tu
magic	rank	effect	duration	?	?	Y	?	?

Talents, Skills, other buffs

Long Term (assumed always on)

Magic (caster)	Rk	Effects	Duration	Ke	Ca	Ar	Ty	Tu
magic	rank	effect	duration	?	?	Y	?	?

Other buffs

• TBC

Calendar

Winter: Frost 824 (7)
	Moonday		Duesday		W'ansday		Th'rsday		Frysday		Reapsday		Sunday
		Samhain	1	Guild Meeting Seagate	2		3		4		5		6
	7		8		9		10		11		12		13
	14		15		16		17		18		19		10
	21		22		23		24		25		26		27
	28		29		30		1		2		3		4
Winter: Snow 823 (8)
	5		6		7		8		9		10		11
	12		13				15	Solstice	16		17		18	Yuletide
	19	Days of Chaos	20	DoC2	21	DoC3	22	DoC4	23	DoC5	24	DoC6	25	DoC7
	26	DoC8	27	DoC9	28	DoC10	29	DoC11	30	Twelfth Night	1		2
Winter: Ice 823 (9)
	3		4		5		6	First Plough	7		8		9
	10		11		12		13		14		15		16
	17		18		19		20		21		22		23
	24		25		26		27		28		29		30