Session 29
White Mountains
Before the party stands Alenriel, disciple of Weylin. The party briefly talks to him and attempt to persuade him to not go through with whatever he thinks he must but it fails. Just before it all Delbellis throws a Potion of Tenacious Mess and explodes at the feet of Alenriel, leaving a green-yellow foam that quickly hardens into rock - locking Alenriel in place. No turning back, now.
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 appaers as he takes Alenriel with him through a rippling bubble across the realms. We then see Gustav, Jago and Alenriel speaking with Weylin as he explains he cannot travel back no more, only forward in time, there must be a way around it. The memory shifts forward and Aragir sees a wounded Weylin now among his complete disciples with Peshka added, his bloodied robe, now older. And sat upon his head is now seen the crown vestige, stolen from a cultic order of mindflayers. The important book that Weylin also wanted has escaped him 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 it needs Yggdrasil's 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.
And 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. A female voice, spoken in an old strangely familiar language, speaks to what is left of Alenriel en demands to keep fighting for a deal is a deal. Alenriel's body rises as it is taken by shadow and smoke like energy, rising him off the ground and possessing him to become the champion of a new god, a malevolant one.
The battle rages on, the darkness begins to show strength. In a split second decision, Kaimos successfully banishes Alenriel to the Shadowlands and the party has 1 minute to figure out what to do or risk fighting whatever is coming back, if anything at all. The party prepares, they heal up a little bit. Cynic, now under lingering influence of Alenriel, feels compelled to attack friends as they are substituted for what Cynic now perceives as his former adversaries, a certain group of fierce pirates. He was unable to hurt Aragir in the process, though Cynic 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 begins to meditate in the hopes of solliciting the help of someone, something, anything. Delbellis reaches out to help, the tethers connect as time begins to slow down gradually... And as this happens, Alenriel is showing a 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 him as retaliation. As this is happening, Kaimos launches a fireball and drops Alenriel.
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 rejuvinating celestial magic fades, Cerrule is given something. A crystal marble filled with blue/green spiraling 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 a emotionally unstable Cynic who is confronted by his traumatic past. And then, a familiar coin begins to expel warmth in his pocket.
Geralt's voice fills Cynic's mind through touch of the coin. It appears they are aware of Cynic's reluctance to carry out simple orders from Vinny. Geralt had indeed come to the Lavarr house as Cynic requested but instead the Getaways had killed Lavarr and his young son Jules. Cynic's membership of the Getaways is now revoked and they will come collect the communication coin. He bids Cynic farewell.
As the group begins to rejoin and 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...