Session 30
Road to the Top
The fight with Alenriel was arduous in more ways than one. Not only were they challenged in battle, but in mind as well.
Delbellis and Cerrule looked at the Whisper of Enoreth, a gift bestowed to Cerrule by the Goddess, for a while. For some reason Cerrule inherently knew what it was for, furter proving that it was a sign of her patron's support.
Cynic sat silently against the mountain wall. Aragir was sat beside him, while Kaimos stood close to try and lift the sorcerer's spirit. Both asked him whether he was alright, though he assured them that he was. The tiefling then reminded Aragir that he should talk about the things he had seen in Alenriel's mind before he joined Cassius again.
Cynic and Delbellis then gathered stones to build an altar for the fallen disciples, securing their weapons inside. Aragir joined Cerrule and expressed his trust in her after which he requested to observe the Whisper of Enoreth. The energy felt familiar, as if he had seen or felt it before, though he could not pinpoint what it was. The two then moved to the mountainside where Aragir crafted a wooden bracelet for the relic with his arborsculpture spell.
Before they decided to take a rest, Delbellis flew out to investigate the bubble that they had spotted further ahead. Aragir followed her with his Arcane Eye.
Delbellis noticed there are were bubbles of various sizes, and determined there was a magic trying to stabilize itself. Further up the mountain, near the top, a temple could be seen inside another bubble. She approached, and immediately spotted Weylin standing on a plaza, surrounded by the refugees. Aragir's eye spotted a large bird's nest further ahead.
Weylin was speaking towards the refugees, though he moved too slow for the two to discern any words. It appeared that the bubble drastically altered time inside. From their new position, they could also spot Gustav slowly heading down the stairs.
When moving closer, they found that Weylin spoke of how close they were to their goal, but that they had to wait for the key to arrive. If they but believed in him, he would lead them to the promised land.
The first round of night watch, Aragir studied the Book of Talon when Cynic approached.
The two spoke about various things. The scroll Aragir had written for Cynic, what weylin's plans were and whether he could be defeated. Cynic expressed the need to let go of his past and left his eyepatch at the memorial, after which they spoke about pasts and family.
Cynic then asked whether books could be found on aasimar, as he wished to learn more of them, hoping he could learn more about himself in the process. Aragir offered to peer into his mind in hopes that he could find clues in his past, bearing witness to various events from Cynic's childhood up to early adolesence;
The Wavering Isles. Children were laughing at the young aasimar for being different. A woman kneeled before him, and spoke soothingly. She told him that he was a gift to the world.
A bit later, he was seen in his humble bedroom. Thoughts filled his young mind, questioning what he was, and why he was different.
In the next moment, he walked in the streets. A shadow was seen of what was akin to a father figure. In a flash the scenery changed to a stormy night. Desperation and hopelessness filled his mind as he was bound and thrown on a ship, powerless like the rest of his peers. Large men undocked their ship and sailed from the shores of the Isles.
In a defensive reflex, Aragir was then promptly thrown out of his mind.
Though a little overwhelmed, the wizard then thanked him for his trust, and promised he would help him search for answers.
The Book of Talon revealed that Weylin' crown was called the deceiver's crown. One of its functions was telepathic speech over any distance. Aside from this function, it was to be used as the main focus for a powerful spell that could open a gateway, but for that it would need a lot of energy. The longer it was worn, the more life it would sap from its wearer.
The ring was called the Ethalus Band, and though it allowed the wearer to see and interact with the aetherial plane, there remained a slight risk that they would get stuck in this plane.
Different vestiges would support different spells.
On their watch, Cerrule and Delbellis witnessed the large bird pass by, and wondered if it could be the cockatrice. Cerrule then remembered that it was in fact a roc. They then briefly spoke about their patrons, whether they were taking the right path by following their guidance, and the new things they had learned from them.
The next morning, Aragir received a telepathic message from the Academy. They were informing him that the investigation pointed out that his research was not in fact stolen, but checked out under the name of Alduin Leonelis, his former mentor.
On the road ahead, they encountered more time bubbles, bridges, ladders and gaps in their path. The higher they climbed, the more decorated and refined the mountainwall became. Here or there a small altar was found, among which a small fountain with a depiction of the goddess Eldath.
Where the refined wall ended, it instead was filled and surrounded by bones; Remains of the fallen on both sides of the hundred-year war.
Further up they encountered the roc's nest again, where the roc later landed. They tried to sneak past it, but Cynic stumbled. He managed to make himself invisible, leaving Delbellis behind. With help of Aragir's familiar however, they managed to leave the large bird behind them without any confrontation.