Session 29
Alenriel
Before the party stands Alenriel, disciple of Weylin and Champion of Savras. The party briefly talks to him and attempt to persuade him to not go through with whatever he thinks he must do but they fail. Reacting to this, Delbellis throws a Potion of Tenacious Mess and explodes at the feet of Alenriel, leaving a orange/yellow foam that quickly hardens into rock - locking Alenriel in place. No turning back, now. Aragir's familiar finds its way back in this moment, bringing with it a note from Vaeri: she's reached the platoon of magically aged soldiers, and she brought some Scarlet Academy members with her. Aragir acknowledges this and looks forward to Alenriel once more as Delbellis and the others inch forward, to fight.
The battle begins. Alenriel cannot move and it proved immensely favorable for the Four Feathers, they pummel Alenriel bit by bit. Delbellis notices the armor slowly cracking and splitting and with several fire attacks from Cerrule, Kaimos and ultimately Cynic he goes down. While this is happening, Aragir dived deep into his mind and begins seeing pieces of the memories. He sees a wonderful city, inhabited by various people - including elementals and automatons. The memory shifts into a prayer for the goddess Savras. When the memory of the scorched earth is seen the image of a younger, crownless Weylin appears as he takes Alenriel with him through a rippling bubble across the realms. Aragir then sees Gustav, Jago and Alenriel speaking with Weylin as he explains he cannot travel back anymore, only forward in time though he believes there must be a way around it. The memory shifts forward and Aragir sees a bloodied and wounded Weylin bubble in now among all disciples with Peshka seen as well. As Weylin reappears, Aragir now sees sat upon his head the crown vestige. Weylin explains it was stolen from a cultic order of mindflayers. The important book that he needed had escaped by a mortally wounded mindflayer off to somewhere in the world. He's found a way for them to go back, all the way to the seed of Yggdrasil and deliver Alenriel the Promised Land but he learned he needs Yggdrasil's very energy to travel that far back - the energy of life itself. And so the deal begins: Alenriel siphons life from the people to give to Weylin as Weylin pays the price of power from the crown with his own life, keeping it going perpetually.
Returning to the present, with Cynic's final blast of fire, Aragir is ejected from the depths of Alenriel's mind as Alenriel departs, supposedly died. Decisively, Aragir shifts to delve into what now remains of Alenriel and is instead welcomed by a dark entity, a mind so vast it immediately begins hurting Aragir. He hears a female voice, spoken in an old strangely familiar language, whispering to what is left of Alenriel's conscious and demands he keeps fighting for a deal is a deal. Aragir allows the Detect Thoughts effect to fade as he retreats from this mind. The party now sees Alenriel's body begin to ascend as it is taken by shadow and smoke-like energy, raising him off the ground to possess him and become the champion of a new malevolent deity.
The battle rages on, the darkness begins to show strength. In a split-second decision, Kaimos successfully banishes Alenriel to another realm and the party has 60 seconds to figure out what to do or risk fighting whatever comes back, if anything at all. The party prepares and they heal up a little bit. Cynic, still under lingering influence of Alenriel's compelling enchantment, moves to attack friends for they are substituted for, what Cynic now perceives as, his former adversaries, a certain group of fierce sea-faring fearsome pirates. He was unable to hurt Aragir in the process. And though Cynic snaps out of this enchantment, he is reminded of his past once more.
As a rift in the fabric of reality begins to where the return of something is now guaranteed, Cerrule commences to meditate in the hopes of soliciting the help of someone, something, anything. Delbellis reaches out to help, the tethers connect as time begins to slow down gradually for them alone... And as this happens, Alenriel displays some internal struggle. What had possessed him before now merely lingers, leaving him in a confused but still dangerous state. Cassius becomes compelled to fight as Cynic snaps back to cripple Alenriel as retaliation. Coming up behind the others, Kaimos conjures a fireball and in a fiery blast Alenriel drops to the floor, unmoving.
Now in deep meditative state, Delbellis witnesses a prior image of Alenriel without the darkness engulfing him. Cerrule has an honest talk as Alenriel begins to understand his place in history. He understands he was never meant to stop the deviant and he hopes the gods sees him once more. He is ready to move on. And with that, Cerrule is given the ability to return Alenriel to where he belongs, with Delbellis holding onto her shoulder.
As the rejuvenating celestial magic fades, Cerrule is given something. A crystal marble filled with blue/green spiralling bright dust and flashes of light. A gift, from the goddess Enoreth! They fade back into regular time. Kaimos accepts the reality of the matter, no longer bound by shortsightedness he had developed giving up on his goals. Meanwhile, Aragir comforts an emotionally unstable Cynic who is confronted by his traumatic past. And then, a familiar coin begins to expel warmth in his pocket.
It's the Tiefling blood hunter, Geralt. His voice fills Cynic's mind projected through touch of that warmed coin. It appears the Getaways are aware of Cynic's reluctance to carry out simple orders from Vinny as the goblin tribe remains undisturbed within the Siren Woods. But as per Cynic's request, Geralt had indeed come to the Lavarr house at the edge of the forest. Unfortunately, instead of the protection that Cynic wanted for them, the Getaways killed Lavarr and his young son Jules. Punishment to Cynic's inability to comply and in addition Cynic's membership with the Getaways is revoked. Geralt informs he will come collect the communication coin, he can find Cynic by blood alone. Geralt bids him farewell and the coin grows cold.
As the group rejoins to take a breather up against the side of the mountain, Aragir and Cerrule notice a magical barrier up ahead and beyond there birds are seen flying slowly...