Session 18

Sessionlog

As the group reconvened in the Snoring Lobster to wait for the morning, Cerrule was questioned as to why Weylin seemed to have recognised her. While she told the others that she did not know, she told them a little more about her clairvoyant dreams. Years from now, the world would be destroyed. All that is green would turn to ashes, and monsters would take over the world. Entities, pure evil, would raid cities and wage wars. And then came a big entity emerged from the portals. She told them that she believed the vestiges were not simply meant to open a portal, and that with all the vestiges combined they could suck the life force out of the world.

Cerrule herself, along with remaining survivors, were eventually driven towards a single continent. However, during a skirmish in the fortress where she stayed, her parents were sentenced to death and they were forced to escape to a safe haven in Avalon. Eventually, the monsters would reach this place as well, but a great light appeared, and she wound up in what would be the current age. During all this, the Scarlet Academy did nothing but stay high up in the sky, observing what happened below and leaving everyone who had survived to their fate.

While the group wondered whether the dreams were only dreams, or perhaps a real experience somehow, both Cerrule and Delbellis noticed some similarities in their pasts. Both of them had been adopted by a tribe of a race entirely different than their own. Delbellis mentioned that her prophecy, too, predicted the future. The group also remembered the dreams they had had thus far, and wondered if something was perhaps guiding them.
Cerrule then mentioned that the Illumus Lux that the prophecy spoke of could have something to do with the light she saw in her dreams, and the group briefly wondered if they were in some way involved with time traveling. To learn more about this, they would have to travel to Avalon and visit the tribe that she grew up with.

Next it was Aragir's turn to share what he had gleaned from Weylin's mind shortly before the archmage escaped.
He confirmed that the vestiges were not only to open a portal, but to summon their god Ozma from it. However, he suspected that Weylin's plans went further than that, as it was not yet confirmed whether the vestiges could open more than one portal.
He told the group about how Weylin had existed for a long time, and that he was seen shifting from era to era. He admitted that this had led him to believe that the mage was able to travel through time, and it was these powers that he was trying to regain through the use of his crown and the energy he gained from the crystals.

He also told them how he had seen him during the 100-Year War, and how his capture, and escape, seemed to have had stripped him of his powers. It seemed his most important goal for now was to gather the refugees in one place. Perhaps the promised land was a ploy to use these people for his own gain.

After discussing what their plans for the morning should be, the group split in two. As Cerrule and Delbellis worked on making potions from Cerrule's goodberries, Aragir and Cynic went outside to the back yard of the inn.
There, after a last attempt to persuade Cynic to change his mind, Aragir eventually offered support for Cynic's involvement with the Getaways, and proposed a plan with which they could avoid suspicion in the future.
He also offered to have him try on the Giant Skull Ring, now reduced to the size of the finger it was last worn by, as long as Cynic would share his experiences for Aragir to make a record of.

It appeared the ring allowed Cynic to see into a realm that revealed the essence, or perhaps soul, of other creatures, as well as magic. While they concluded that this could prove to be useful to detect magic traps, it was not yet clear what other uses it could have.

That night, Cynic woke up in a heavy storm. A winged figure before him reached out, and urged him to take his hand as disembodied voices warned him not to. Cynic, having only a hunch of who this figure might be, told it that he was not yet ready, and the figure promptly threatened that he would find him, and that his kind was dead.
As the voices told him to go, a female voice stood out from the rest. "Don't die," she called out, and as Cynic woke up in a sweat he once again found himself back in the inn.

The next morning, the group swiftly went back to visit Eldgran. After they had warned him that the White Mountains may no longer be safe and that it was best that Cassius returned to Brassdorf, Eldgran went on to share what he had learned from the ancient documents that Aragir had restored and left behind for him to translate.

It appeared that they contained information about the Eastern Kingdoms in the ancient past. Myrneas once served as the capital city of Centra Moria, an elven kingdom from before they had migrated to Esuna. To their regret, little information seemed to be known outside of the Sylvan Realm, an establishment in Esuna not unlike the Academy, but even more exclusive.
As the elves moved to Esuna, they rebuilt their kingdom, though Myrneas remained. The elves of Esuna gradually moved away from the ways of Centra Moria, focusing on knowledge and their love for the world instead.
As the distance between those in Esuna and those in Centra Moria increased, these kingdoms would eventually evolve into two distinctly different elven races.

Another booklet appeared to be in face a small history book. Eldgran noted that, among other things, it spoke of Ozma, previously known as the god that the Church of Talon wanted to summon with the nine vestiges.
In this booklet, Ozma was a ruthless child king, tragically crowned way too soon. He had nearly ascended to godhood, but he eventually was imprisoned by his fellow archmages, ending his reign almost as swiftly as it had begun.

Lastly, Eldgran admitted that it was nearly impossible to find any information about Weylin. There was not even a record of him before the 100-year war; It was as if he had simply sprung into existence at some point in history. But he shared with them that which he did find: Weylin was once one of the 'Five Wise', along with Dukat, the trickster mage. Weylin himself was not the driving force that caused the Calamity, but he was the push the Wise needed to achieve it. Eventually, all five were captured in Saffron Stones during the 100-year war, and stored in what was called 'the Dark Vault' at the Scarlet Academy.

As he finished, Eldgran then quickly warned the group about the current uprising in Brassdorf following the reveal of Myrneas, and urged them to be careful. After handing the group their payment, he told them that the Adventurer's Guild was as good as gone. It seemed their audience with the queen proved to be more and more urgent.

Finally the group shared with him the Volentis Crystal, asking if he knew anything about it, and Eldgran showed that there was some information on it in the documents Aragir had found. It appeared that the crystal was once used as a power source in the elven cities; used for things like lighting, heating and other facilities. The elves could recharge these crystals, but it was not known how they did this.

As Eldgran opened his vault to store the crystal, Aragir spotted a familiar mask. He recalled seeing it in the crates they found in the storage above the catacombs. When questioned about it, Eldgran appeared nervous. It was clear that he did not speak the full truth, which raised suspicion among the group. He told them that the mask was a relic of the past, once used by The Fold, but that they no longer held the same beliefs as they once did. Thus, the masks, evidence of their seemingly shameful history, were hidden and preferably forgotten.

After leaving Eldgran to let him rest, the group continued their way to Vaeri, whom they thought could help them enter the Scarlet Academy. She appeared as tired as Eldgran. It seemed that both of them had skipped the night in favour of their research. Nevertheless, after a quick catch up, she accompanied them to teleportation room of the Wizard's Guild so that the rest of the group could accompany Aragir to the Academy.

When Aragir visited his old room in the Academy, he soon found that it had been ransacked; Everything that was related to his research was gone, though it was unclear who could have done it.
Their next destination was the library, where they were greeted by an elegant looking man. It was none other than Garr Hylthe, one of the founding members of the Academy. They followed him to the boardroom, where he questioned them. Aragir warned him about a possible compromise within the Academy, but it seemed that Garr was already fully aware of this. As the board soon appeared as well, for a moment it seemed as if the group was under suspicion, but Cerrule's demand for respect changed Garr's mind and he decided to lift the illusion.

They continued to share with him some of the things they had learned thus far, and he was both surprised and visibly displeased to learn that Weylin had returned. He eventually revealed that he seemingly belonged nowhere. The elves did not recognise him, the dwarves did not want him, the tieflings did not care for him and others did not even know his name. This made him all the more elusive.

He then took them to speak with Asmi Summerset, an older elven lady whom had seen the time before the 100-year war and who was also one of the founding members of the Academy. Though she was otherwise calm and collected, even she was surprisingly vocal in her discontent upon learning that Weylin was back. While Garr was eager to face Weylin with equal force, Asmi seemed a little more reserved yet.

When Aragir shared that Weylin planned on using the vestiges for his goals and was currently in the possession of the crown, Garr told them that the nine vestiges all have unique functions.
The vestiges were relics of the past, once gifts for a young king called Ozma, though he would later earn the name Ozma the Wicked. The gifts were from neighbouring nations, though they were cursed. As the young king wore the entire set, they soon began to devour him. He became violent, greedy, and hungry for power. After his imprisonment, the vestiges were taken from his body and scattered around the globe where they, mostly, remained protected or hidden ever since.

The vestiges used to possess an immense amount of power, originating from the time where wild magicks still roamed free to be captured and forged into physical items. Unlike in this time, where there concurrently were no rules and anything was possible, in the present these vestiges only retained a fraction of the power they once had.

In order to aid the group on their quest to thwart Weylin, the Academy entrusted to them one of their students that had recently graduated and was known to be a skilled mage. Only if the party was in need of more assistance they would consider allowing more students to join them. They would soon meet him in Brassdorf.

Sadly, neither Garr or Asmi seemed to know why or by whom Aragir's research had been stolen. It seemed the knowledge on the various planes was of great interest to someone. Although the research had not yet proven that travel between the planes was indeed possible, it regardless came close to that conclusion. Perhaps it was not entirely out of the question that this goal may be achieved at some point. The conversation moved back to Weylin, and how he and his fellow mages may have opened the portals during the war. Garr and Asmi spoke of a forbidden magic focused on a single point to overload the fabric of reality.

With all this information shared, some of their questions remained unanswered, and perhaps new questions were even raised. And so, the group decided to visit the library next and make use of the vast amount of knowledge that gave the Academy its reputation...

October 16th, 2021

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