Zg Session 129

Aleith|DM: As you head into the jungle, Zane, following the path near the lighthouse, you find something extraordinary.
Aleith|DM: Beneath a high canopy, the body of the once-towering eladrin goddess Srasama lies with her six arms crossed over her chest. Shafts of shock quartz, six feet tall and roughly hewn, circle the grove, and each sparkles like a stream in sunlight.
Zane isn't a particularly religious, or really even spiritual, person. But this… this is deserving of veneration and awe. And Singh really needs to be here. He abandons his exploration plans and heads back to the tower.
Aleith|DM: Meanwhile, back at the tower…
Miller: "You've been reflected too. Av, the moon. It's a plane of mirrors, and the realm you pass through when you’re stepping through a portal. Its power tore me in two five hundred years ago. And when Av shattered a few days ago, the same thing happened to you. One version of you is back home, and the other version is here. Nothing you do here can change what happens there, and nothing the other yous there can do will make a difference in saving your world, not unless you fling yourself into the Gyre. If you want the other version of you to succeed, you're all going to have to die."
Garrett: "It's kind of stretching the definition of 'die,' but."
Garrett: "Oh no I just realized there's a philosophical discussion to be had there."
Gerald: "Is that supposed to be ominous or something? Because you're coming with us."
Ernst: "What knowledge are we bringing back exactly that would help our other selves…?"
Gerald: "We're putting Miller back together that way killing him will finally stick."
Miller: "You came here for a reason, correct?"
Garrett: "I mean… no we just sort of ended up here after an Av encounter went horribly wrong."
Garrett: "And now we're doing what we usually do- the best we can."
Garrett: "It's really more of a stroke of providence…?"
Garrett: "Since we would have needed to get here anyway."
Phyllis: "PROVIDENCE."
Miller: "And why did you need to come to the Gyre?"
Gerald: "Right. And also, the thing I said is happening. Killing Rot is somewhere on the docket as well but that probably won't be as complicated."
Garrett: "We needed easy plane access to craft icons to repair the state of our world."
Miller: "Then you would be able to pass on the knowledge of the planes here, and these…'icons' that you've made."
Garrett‘ glances at Phyllis, wordlessly asking if this passes the smell test.
Phyllis nods at Garrett for confirmation. "Personally, I think we would have been able to discover planes and craft icons given enough time, but the Voice of Rot is a concern we would have ventured here to find and deal with anyway."
Garrett` nods approvingly. "Best to make hay while the sun shines, then."
Miller turns to Gerald. "No, I don’t believe so. My penance is to remain here, looking over this fragment."
Gerald‘ shakes his head. "No, you are."
Gerald: "Wronger about that than you’ve ever been about anything, and you were wrong about a lot of things."
Phyllis: "For once, I agree with Gerald."
Gerald: "Nico needs to die, and the easiest way to do that is to put him back in you, and then kill you."
Gerald: "So that's what's gunna happen."
Miller: "I can tell you how to reconnect to your other selves at the end of the Gyre, but I am not making the trip back myself."
Phyllis: " - maybe not so much that, but he at least needs to have some form of … restraint applied."
Miller: "I'm as much a ghost as he is."
Phyllis: "You're that restraint."
Gerald: "If we can be made whole again I don't see why you couldn't be as well."
Miller: "I doubt myself to provide it."
Phyllis: " - oh, gods, is *my* other self left unchecked out there, as well?"
Miller: "Acting like that will surely bring out my worst traits of bitter arrogance." He scoffs.
Gerald: "Don't worry, I got enough bullet for everyone Phyllis."
Garrett: "I assume we're over there too and I trust myself enough."
Garrett: "(To do what, I'm not sure, but.)"
Gerald: "Anyway I really don't give even a tiny amount of shit about your self loathing pity party so give me a better solution to killing Nico if you really want to remain unfused. And also not have me just kill you on the spot. Seeing as how you're still the root cause of all this shit."
Phyllis: "… You were of the Clergy, yes? In fact, if I recall, the Humble Hook itself was once around your neck. I think there is some information that has recently come to light, if you were not aware."
Miller: "In a general sense, yes." He blinks a few times, in shock. "The…hook?! How-"
Phyllis: "You seek perfection, even now, and find yourself lacking, and cut your journey short without even trying. As if living up to Triegenes' name and deeds were impossible, so it was better not to try and fail."
Garrett‘ calmly looks to the door and folds his arms.
Garrett` . o O (Hey, Zane. Miller’s in here. Don't kill him. Or wound him because I don't really want to spend effort keeping him not-dead.)
Phyllis: "The general understanding for a long time was that Triegenes underwent the sacrament of the apotheosis, ascending to godhood."
Garrett‘ . o O (Other than warning you ahead of time, I guess.)
He shakes his head a bit and recomposes himself. "Hmmm."
Phyllis: "Yet it turns out he never did. He was human the entire time."
Garrett` . o O (But apparently we need his spirit self to join with his… other self? In order to make a long-term solution stick.)
Zane … quietly fades out of the shadows behind Miller, slipping his favorite knife back into its sheathe. .oO(…As you command, my king.)
Garrett: "Welcome back. I can’t imagine you found anything more interesting."
Miller: "I feel like I would have instead let my arrogance get the better of myself, and without a body to tie myself to humanity, let it get the better of me, driving me to greater lengths to forward the 'greater good', forgetting about the importance of the individual."
Zane: "You have no idea how right you are." At Miller. "You have no idea how wrong you are." At Garrett.
Phyllis: "You are doing it even now."
Phyllis: "Do you not see?"
Phyllis: "This talk of 'penance.'"
Miller: "It's better if I don't involve myself with the world anymore. You don't even want one of me down there right now."
Garrett: "Oh gods, don't pout about it."
Gerald: "Like I said, present me with a better option or you're going into the gyre weather you like it or not."
Miller: "And then I'll just stop existing."
Zane: "I like that option."
Zane: "Does it make the other you also stop existing?"
Miller: "Most likely not."
Zane: "Do you have an alternative?"
Miller: "A great deal of magic would probably need to be involved."
Miller: "If I die here, I reappear within a few days. I presume the same for Nicodemus?"
Zane looks at Phyllis. "Your serve."
Zane: "Yeah."
Gerald: "Yes."
Phyllis: "Correct. As long as you remain here, as long as this half of yourself remains outside, it is checkmate and he wins."
Phyllis: "Can we possibly make it any more clear than that?"
Miller: "Then yes, I do believe it would take an amount of magic on an epic scale. Like that which tore us apart."
Aleith|DM: Diplomacy check?
Phyllis wordlessly gestures in the direction of the Gyre, the arc of Reida, and the Voice of Rot.
Phyllis rolled d20+43 and got 10 ( Total: 53.0 ) for Suggestion
Garrett: "We kind of already have that, it just involves the deaths of many, many others."
Miller: "…the sacrament?"
Garrett: "Which is, well…" He swings his crossed arms around a bit. "Probably fine right now? As how we got the world back on our side again. Mostly."
Miller: "That…"
Garrett: "Or at least reminded everyone how amazingly bad a deal the Ob gave them."
Miller: "You're right. That is a terrible option."
Miller: "How many believers does he have now? Thousands? Tens of thousands? More?"
Zane: "Speaking of which… There's something you all need to see in the forest. it's why I came back."
Gerald: "Couple countries worth at least."
Aleith|DM: Even for a ghost, Miller pales.
Zane: "He's got Danor, but we've done a pretty good job undercutting him in most places."
Garrett: "Our public relations people are working overtime in our absence, no doubt."
Miller: "You could kill even the idea of Nicodemus that way. But that would result in at least as much death as Srasama's demise, at this rate…"
Zane: "I do find the symmetry appealing."
Phyllis: "That is the utilitarian argument."
Phyllis shoots Zane a glare.
Zane shrugs. "The Obscurati made their bed, I am willing to bury them in it."
Miller sighs. "Alright, you win. I will join you on your trip to leave the Gyre."
Miller turns to Zane. "You found her grave, then?"
Zane: "I did."
Garrett: "Who's grave?
Miller turns towards Chandrasekhar. "You look like someone who would want to see her grave."
Garrett: "…oh boy."
Miller motions for all of you to follow, and he starts heading down the path through the jungle.
Gerald‘ glances over at Zane, before following.
Phyllis follows. She has no words for an occasion like this.
Aleith|DM: On the way there, Miller begins explaining about the Gyre.
Miller: "With the proper mental perparations, ssomeone who falls into the teeth of the Gyre can avoid being outright annihilated, but can instead choose where their consciousness ends up."
Miller: "It requires the right sense of connection to the world you wish to return to."
Miller: "I’ve spent centuries meditating on the nature of the Gyre, and while I have no proof, I know it will work."
Miller: "It requires an emotional connection to someone else in the world who misses you, and who can help guide you home."
Miller: "Also necessary is a goal, some change that you want to make, to give you an impulse to travel across the cosmos."
Miller: "And, of course, your other self has to be alive."
Gerald: "Hmm."
Gerald: "Me and Ernst might be fucked."
Zane chortles.
Gerald: "Lets hope Delft likes us more than he lets on."
Garrett: "Oh no, that was a sad emotion!"
Ernst: "… what's stopping me and other me just meeting up in my astral seed?"
Phyllis: "Your astral seed being mirrored by Av, possibly?"
Phyllis: "Grimsley would miss you, I'm sure, Gerald. I thought you got along with the dockers."
Garrett: "I'm pretty sure Stocke likes Ernst, that counts, right?"
Phyllis shrugs. "That, and I thought he had family, at least."
Gerald: "Hmm. Well, I got goals and motivation to spare at least. Anyway."
Phyllis: "Rock Rackus!"
Phyllis: "… If he's … on the material plane. Hm."
Zane puts an arm around Geralds shoulder. "You're like the psychopathic little brother I never had. Of course I want you back."
Garrett: "I'm sure we'll run into Rock if he's in the Gyre. Or we'll hear about him if he is here."
Gerald: "Heh."
Miller: "Rock Rackus?"
Gerald: "I AM pretty curious what happened to Rock."
Garrett: "Dramatacist and adventurer extraordinare."
Garrett: "Quite popular with- well, dang near everyone."
Miller: "He was here yesterday. Srasama's ghosts nearly crashed his ship because he was flying a damaged Golden Legion ship."
Gerald: "Oh man,"
Garrett: "Oh no."
Gerald: "Is Rock gunna fuck the Goddess? That seems like the Rock Thing To Do."
Zane: "Odds are not in his favor."
Gerald: "It'll be entertaining regardless of the outcome."
Garrett: "I guess we better find him before we leave."
Miller: "No. He sang a touching ballad as paying his respects, and departed with his crew of fey afterwards. I talked with him a bit but he didn't know much about the state of the world with all his recent time spent on Av."
Gerald: "Ah."
Garrett: "Class act, really."
Aleith|DM: When you enter a clearing, you find the body of the eladrin goddess in repose, her six arms crossed over her chest. Various obelisks of quartz surround the clearing, each sparkling like a stream in sunlight.
Garrett: "Trouble just seems to find him…"
Garrett‘ approaches silently, clasping hand in hand, giving a quiet bow and holding it for a number of moments.
Phyllis strolls up, resting a hand on the obelisk, as if confirming its reality.
Zane leans against one of the pillars to stay out of the way.
Aleith|DM: Touching one of these obelisks summons a wash of memories of thousands and thousands of eladrin women who perished in the Great Malice.
Zane immediately drops to his knees with his hands to his head.
Zane: "Hnnnnfffffffgh."
Gerald: "…?"
Gerald: "What’s wrong?" Gerald has a gun trained on Miller while looking around.
Zane: "Memories… In the pillar…"
Phyllis keeps her hand there, staring quietly, unflinching.
Miller: "It's not just Srasama's grave, but a graveyard for all the women who perished with her."
Gerald: "Ah."
Gerald‘ lowers his gun.
Garrett: "…mm."
Garrett` withdraws from the grave, but is also careful to not touch an obelisk.
Phyllis searches for the spirit of a familiar name, not Kasvarina, but perhaps one of her sisters or family members…
Chandrasekhar did, in fact, follow. Actually, he moved towards Zane at the -look in the man’s eyes- when he faded out of the shadows, but he's been… waiting. And then he enters the clearing, and drops to his knees.
Chandrasekhar is silent for… several minutes. Call it reflection.
Chandrasekhar reaches out, his fingers gently brushing against the obelisk. It is overwhelming; it overwhelms him. This is proper.
Chandrasekhar finally, with quiet intensity, speaks. "These voices, too, will be added to the Song. A new refrain, testament to our pain, in hope and glory of the future that we -will- attain; with time and time the rocks will crumble, but the golden vines remain."
Chandrasekhar: "…thank you, Zane."
Aleith|DM: When you look up, an ghostly eladrin stands before you. You saw her, once, in a vision months ago, atop a tower. Now, though, she looks at peace, wearing a three-piece amber pendant of a kind you recognize.
Aleith|DM: Though she is certainly a young woman, she is flanked by faintly visible, skeletal-faced ghosts of other eladrin women. You know this must have been a ranamandala, a ruling circle of queens.
Dala: "What has happened to our people, masked one? What of the world now?"
Chandrasekhar: "Our people… have survived. We wrote a song that sustained us in the darkest of times."
Chandrasekhar: "The world… falters, but it will not fall. This I vow."
Dala: "And what of my sister, Launga? My mother, Kasvarina?"
Aleith|DM: The other spirits are somber and silent, despite Dala's lighthearted voice.
Zane moves over to put a hand on Chandrasekhars shoulder, squeezing, but saying nothing.
Gerald‘ glances over at Chandra, ready to answer if he can’t.
Chandrasekhar: "Launga fell in battle, betrayed by those she trusted. Kasvarina…" He bows his head. "She lives, but she is still at the side of the man who once was Miller, in the waking world. The man responsible for the world's calamity now as he was in your time."
Dala's smile turns a bit sad. "It must have been awful for my mother to have lost both of her daughters."
Dala: "Son of Elfaivar: What should become of Srasama? If you bring a token of the dead goddess intot the teeth of the Gyre, and it survives to return with you to the real world, even in death she still has enough power for one final act."
Chandrasekhar nods, once. "Hers has not been an easy path, even by our peoples' standard."
Dala: "The ranamandala are divided."
Chandrasekhar looks up, listening. He knows his -answer-, but not the form that it will take.
Aleith|DM: She takes off her amber necklace, holding it in a clenched fist. "Some are driven towards seeking vengeance, striking against the man twisting my mother's actions and the cause of all of this."
Aleith|DM: She then shifts the necklace to her open palm. "The others wish to offer resurrection, bringing back all of the dead women. When the time comes, there should be enough power to do this last thing."
Aleith|DM: Dala puts the necklace representing the three aspects of Srasama back on. "Which do you choose, Excoriant?"
Dala: "The path of the maiden, the warrior? Or the path of the mother, the giver of life?"
Chandrasekhar: "…vengeance would be just, and perhaps proper. Certainly it would be satisfying; the world mirroring the world. But…" He looks up, voice radiant. "In the darkest night of our people, we learned that life and the love of life, in the face of howling entropy, was the bright fuse that drove our hearts. I choose life, and abjure vengeance."
Dala's smile grows brilliant. "Thank you. We will meet again later." As she fades away, the necklace falls to the ground, while the shimmering of the quartz obelisks goes dark, and the body of Srasama fades into glowing motes that drift like stars into the night sky.
Aleith|DM: You feel as if you have created a meaningful bond with Ascetia.
Zane speaks softly, for the benefit of his dearest friend. "It is well done." His lips peel back, baring his teeth. "I shall simply wreak enough vengeance for all of you."
Gerald: "Yeah, pretty much. We can always find another way to kill a ghost, anyway."
Gerald‘ nods to Chandra.
Phyllis furtively casts her eyes to the side, eyebrows furrowed. Right, she hasn’t yet ascertained this mote's properties, has she?
Chandrasekhar reaches out for the necklace, looks up towards Zane. You get the feeling that he's smiling.
Zane gives Singhs shoulder another squeeze and steps away.
Miller: "Now that you've paid your respects, you may feel free to stay and rest here as long as you like before we leave."
Miller: "I also have another guest you may wish to speak with: an envoy from one of the nearby planes, Iratha Ket."
Phyllis creates an icon for Ascetia from three coins with a hole pierced in their center, tied together by a string.
Gerald: "What's their deal?"
Phyllis rolled d20+43 and got 4 ( Total: 47.0 ) for Arcana, Nature, DC 30
d20+31: 15 [Total: 46.0 (High), Avg: 15.00]
Total: 93.0, Avg: 9.50
Miller: "Their plane is in danger from Obliatas."
Miller: "Along with another threat that cause their world to enter the Gyre."
Aleith|DM: Planar Trait: People are more aware of history. By the time everyone is an adult, they naturally acquire a +5 bonus to History checks.
Phyllis: Energies are … Life and Time?
Aleith|DM: Yes
Phyllis: Perhaps a fitting replacement for Reida.
Phyllis: We'll see.
Aleith|DM: Back at the lighthouse, Miller introduces you to Catahoula. He's a lanky and jaunty-looking skeleton in a black cotton jacket with red epaulets and white buttons.
Gerald‘ stops. Stares.
Aleith|DM: He bobs his whole upper body from side to side as he talks, giving his speech a natural beat.
Zane also.
Gerald` turns to Zane. "Boss. I cannot take this seriously."
Catahoula: "Ah! More visitors!"
Zane: "At least he’s got rhythm."
Phyllis: "So he'll attract the wyrm?"
Catahoula: "It's a pleasure to meet you, though the last one was certainly one to remember. What a duet we had!"
Zane: "We *do* need to kill Rot, so… I'll allow it."
Catahoula: "But I must admit, my world is in dire straits, and I wonder if you might be able to help?"
Gerald: "Probably, but we're sort of on a time limit."
Chandrasekhar actually snorts in amusement. He's too fey *not* to like this guy's aesthetic. "We're often willing to listen, at the very least."
Aleith|DM: He conjures magical music to accompany him as he bursts into song to describe the plights affecting his plane, providing the beat with a drum of his own.
Aleith|DM: Centuries ago, a magical plague swept across a world, so vile that even the mages of the great crescent city of Iratha Ket could not cure it. It had infected everyone, and death was only a matter of weeks away. The ruler King Calcasieu, a man renowned for his soulful lyrics and effortless dances, realized that the world was doomed, but he refused to surrender hope.
Aleith|DM: In a ravishing and rakish duet, King Calcasieu and his Queen Atchafalaya captured the hearts of all their subjects. They decreed that all the young lovers should sleep, paired together in a gentle stasis where the disease could progress no farther. They would be the hope of the future, that some day their people might find a cure and create a new generation. The greater task fell to the older generation. They would be a sustaining song, keeping alive the magic and ceaselessly seeking a way to defeat the disease.
Aleith|DM: To fulfill this duty, however, they would have to give themselves over to undeath, persisting as skeletons so they would have no flesh that could carry disease. To ensure they would not lose sight of their precious mission, every month two lovers would be awoken, giving the mages another chance to find a cure, and giving the lovers an opportunity to remind the rest of their civilization of how brief and precious life is. Each new pair of lovers would receive a love song of their own. The city would celebrate their awakening, and they would be given all the luxuries the city could provide. If they could not be saved they would also become undead, but the spirit of their people would be refreshed.
Gerald‘ purses his lips together, doing his best to not recall the last time they encountered someone that wanted to sing at them rather than talk, and does not reach for any firearms.
Aleith|DM: Every month a new couple is awoken, and every day songs fill the streets of Iratha Ket, culminating in a parade that runs from the everexpanding city graveyard (filled with tombstones but no bodies) to the palace, where the couple resides as honored guests of the king and queen. Skeletons in colorful clothes whirl and croon and dance and play instruments to celebrate that they have not yet fully perished.
Aleith|DM: And at the end of every month, the two lovers watch each other waste away and die.
Aleith|DM: Since his decree, King Calcasieu has seen over seven thousand loving couples come and go. The rest of the world crumbled away, and only the crescent remnant of Iratha Ket and its mighty river remains. The greatest wizards of an entire civilization have never found a way to stop the plague, and though tens of thousands of skeletal citizens endure, only a few hundred more couples survive in stasis. The king has fallen into a depression, fearing the ultimate death of his people.
Aleith|DM: Worse, the undead-hating sun Obliatas now assails the city with greater intensity. King Calcasieu’s magic once kept the monster at bay, causing it to withdraw and ‘set’ occasionally. For the past year, though, Queen Atchafalaya has had to adjust her romantic duets to become solos, and the devouring light has managed to destroy many hundreds of the city’s undead citizens. Those who remain are growing reluctant to sing the necessary songs to keep the stasis magic active, and the latest romantic couple is honestly having a pretty rough time because the singers keep missing their cues.
Gerald: "Hmm."
Zane works his jaw but nothing comes out for a minute.
Garrett: "Usually our help comes in the form of killing something, but uh…"
Catahoula’s performance winds down.
Gerald: "Yeah I don't think I can shoot a plague to death, and my other solution would be, uh, fire. Considering the lot of you are skeletons…"
Gerald‘ waves vaguely in the air.
Phyllis: "YOUR help, you mean."
Garrett: "I did say ’usually.'"
Zane: "Except somehow we need to save *them* from an evil sun?"
Catahoula: "If you could somehow convince Obliatas to stop bothering us, at the very least, that would help a great deal."
Garrett: "Sometimes I ask a building something!"
Gerald: "You want us to… convince a sun… to stop shining…?"
Garrett: "Honestly, I think we have it in us."
Gerald: "Do… do you know what a sun is?"
Catahoula: "You could convince it to orbit somewhere else, maybe? Or find some other undead for it to annihilate?"
Chandrasekhar: "Have you met us? And have you considered where we are?" He seems almost amused.
Gerald‘ glances at Ernst briefly before rubbing at his eyes.
Garrett: "Maybe we could get it to stop annihilating undead altogether, too. Like maybe if it felt included in the festivities and research process."
Garrett: "I’m about ready for a warm muffin and a sit down with this lad."
Garrett: "(Maybe a large cake, instead.)"
Aleith|DM: With the Vortex Array, Gerald run some scans for the nearby planes.
Phyllis: "Orbiting somewhere else seems the most doable."
Phyllis: "That sure was a sentence I just said."
Chandrasekhar actually snorts.
Aleith|DM: To the north, past the high energies of Obliatas, you can just make out Earth and Water energies from Ringes.
Aleith|DM: To the northwest, you gest readings of Earth and Life from Elofasp, and beyond that, faint readings of Fire and Space from Egalitrix.
Aleith|DM: And between them, Apo reads as Death and Space.
Aleith|DM: To the southwest, you get faint readings of Earth and Life from Dunkelweiss, past the empty void between it and Ascetia.
Aleith|DM: You rest up a bit and discuss where to go next. What's the plan?
Aleith|DM: Miller will travel with you on the airship if you like, for now, and Catahoula as well if you plan to stop at his plane sometime.
Zane: "I need to visit Dunkelweiss before we settle up with Rot. I have something of theirs to return."
Gerald‘ knew Miller was coming with them all along, yes.
Garrett: "More the merrier. I think."
Phyllis: "I’d like to survey planes for their properties, at least."
Garrett‘ nods. "We’ll need to visit the lot… minus Avilona."
Phyllis: "Let's circle around the place to do some scanning, then stop by Iratha Ket." So Obliatas, Apo, Ringes, Elofasp.
Aleith|DM: As you travel north, the light becomes blinding as you approch a two-hundred foot wide orb of white lght.
Aleith|DM: As you approach within a mile of it, you hear a shrill voice in your mind. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"
Garrett‘ thinks back at it!!
Gerald` lowers his goggles.
Garrett` . o O (Hello, Obliatas!)
Obliatas . o O (WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT?!)
Garrett` . o O (Obliatas the bright, whyfor do you houndingly assail the undead of Iratha Ket!)
Obliatas . o O (THEY ARE FOUL ABOMINATIONS OF UNDEATH!)
Garrett` . o O (I see, I see, but they are trying their best against the disease that eats the remaining of their alive! It is definitely harder to do that for them when they are losing rhythm guitarists and frontmen!)
Gerald: "Why is the sun talking…"
Obliatas . o O (THEY. ARE. ABOMINATIONS!)
Chandrasekhar: "Charming fellow."
Aleith|DM: He sounds not a little unhinged.
Garrett` . o O (Something they have embraced to survive! But the nature of their soul is pure!)
Zane: . o O (And who are you to judge them?)
Phyllis: "… you’re a talking sun."
Obliatas . o O (…UNDEAD KILLED EVERYTHING!)
Garrett‘ . o O (You, you brightest and heatful! Would that you warm the face of a sleeping babe, but to stare upon your visage is to cause everlasting pain! To dawn upon their kingdom is to kill even more!)
Obliatas . o O (GOOD.)
Chandrasekhar: . o O (These undead are not those who destroyed what was dear to you, and no future is ever constrained by its past, O shining one.)
Garrett` . o O (If you deign to speak of abomination, look upon yourself, ye star- and burn your self within!)
Aleith|DM: You can almost hear it sulking. But it doesn’t stop orbiting the plane.
Phyllis: "If you consider undead a threat, these are tame, but a worse threat looms on the horizon."
Zane grins at Phyllis
Obliatas . o O (?)
Phyllis: "Observe the north, near the silver arc, commandeered by a serpent who controls legions of the undead."
Zane: . o O (We know where there's a huge undead for you to burn.)
Obliatas . o O (?!)
Garrett‘ . o O (Positioned near the teeth of the Gyre, The Voice of Rot coils and hisses, controlling spirits, decay, and entropy.)
Zane points. . o (An undead serpent big enough to destroy worlds.)
Obliatas . o O (I HAVE NOT HEARD OF THIS)
Zane: . o O (You have now.)
Gerald` . o O (Sort of a new arrival, as well.)
Obliatas . o O (A GIANT UNDEAD HORROR DESTROYED ALL OF MY PEOPLE)
Obliatas . o O (THIS ONE HAS DONE THE SAME?)
Garrett` . o O (Has done, and plans for more.)
Garrett` . o O (It seeks to ascend to godhood.)
Obliatas . o O (YOU WOULD STOP HIM?)
Phyllis: "It may inflict such a fate on existence itself, both within and outside of the Gyre."
Phyllis: "Why do you think we are here?"
Garrett` . o O (Stop? No.)
Garrett` . o O (OBLITERATE.)
Zane: . o O (We would cut out his lying tongue as a trophy and let the rest of him be annihilated. "
Obliatas . o O (…………………………………….)
Garrett` . o O (Would that we would suffer only his tongue for existence, to pay a debt to those he has brought suffering.)
Obliatas . o O (I WILL HELP YOU)
Chandrasekhar smilews.
Garrett` . o O (Such that I am warmed by your assistance!)
Aleith|DM: You feel a meaningful bond with Obliatas.
Aleith|DM: Planar Trait: Any undead caught in the sun’s light takes 1 radiant damage every minute. When used as a plane for the Axis Seal ritual, instead it deals damage to any undead that can see its place in the sky. Depending on where it is placed in the system, it’s possible that roughly half the year, night-time would be safe for undead, while the other half day-time would be.
Phyllis rolls and autopasses for icon-making, if only to ascertain its traits.
Phyllis: "So, um…"
Phyllis: "How do you move?"
Chandrasekhar: "Very carefully, one imagines."
Obliatas . o O (A SUN SOARS THROUGH THE SKIES ALWAYS)
Obliatas . o O (I WILL MEET YOU TO THE NORTH WHEN YOU ARE READY TO STRIKE AGAINST THE UNDEAD HORROR)
Aleith|DM: The voice is still shrill, but it sounds somewhat-less unhinged with a renewed purpose.
Gerald` salutes.
Zane: "I gotta admit, I did not even vaguely anticipate that."
Gerald: "Same, on many levels."
Garrett` shifts his telepathy to Catahoula, who is probably somewhere safely belowdeck, in an area with no windows. . o O (Okay, well- I think we’ll see if we can't rearrange the order once we're up there, too.)
Phyllis: "Honestly, I blurted the first thing that came to mind."
Garrett‘ produces a muffin, and takes a bite.
Chandrasekhar: "Brightly woven, Ms. Lenz."
Garrett: "It was a great thing!"
Aleith|DM: Ringes, to the north, appears as a barren moor. With the Vortex Array, you detect nothing larger than crocodiles in the swamp.
Aleith|DM: Hovering over it, nothing bothers you as you examine the plane from a distance.
Aleith|DM: …the results are less than satisfying.
Aleith|DM: Planar Trait: Creatures with Intelligence 3 or greater are driven to murderous violence.
Phyllis: "… go. Go. Keep moving. Don’t land here."
Gerald‘ laughs
[OOC] Zane: lmao this is indeed bat country
Aleith|DM: To the distant east, Gardboral detects of Air and Life.
Aleith|DM: Northeast, Guay detects of Life and Space, with distant ruins beyond it.
Aleith|DM: To the north, Metarie detects of Life and Water, with distant traces of Air and Fire from Bonilathe beyond it.
Aleith|DM: Everything else is plundered ruins or dead motes.
Phyllis: May as well determine their traits.
Aleith|DM: Heading to Apo, you find a twenty-mile-diameter hoop, its edge a hundred-foot-wide shelf of mortared bones. This surrounds a vast plain of segmented plates with complex repeating patterns that form a labyrinthine road, fifty feet wide, which weaves toward the center.
Aleith|DM: It looks like there might be some puzzle to decode, but scattered around the plane’s perimeter (so there's always at least one visible) are roughly-carved wooden signs that read 'Warning: Invisible Lava.'
Aleith|DM: It takes a bit to puzzle out what this planet is about, but….
Phyllis: "… is this plane's trait simply 'lava is invisible' - "
Aleith|DM: Planar Trait: Every minute there's a 1-in-20 chance of a tiny black orb similar to a sphere of annihilation appearing in any given area. A character that enters or starts its turn in the sphere's square must make an Acrobatics check (DC 20) or take 30 damage.
Phyllis: "NOPE IT'S MUCH WORSE"
Gerald: "I don't know it sounds kind of fun…"
Gerald: "Every day is dodge ball day! At random."
Phyllis: "Absolutely not."
Gerald: "I feel like this is definifely lending some weight to my 'hey maybe lets not fuck with shit and put everything back how it was' plan of action, if nothing else."
Gerald‘ still snickering to himself just a bit as they fly off.
Garrett: "I think we’re smart enough to not append 'random dodgeball death' to a world's genetic makeup."
Aleith|DM: In the distance, you can see Egalitrix, a giant flying volcano with various industrial contraptions covering it, belching smoke.
Aleith|DM: Several air skiffs patrol the skies around the volcano.
Gerald: "I'm just sayin' with any many obvious bad ideas as there are, there's even more potential for accidently awful interplay between otherwise reasonable options."
Gerald: "So between Zane and Chandra I'm going to assume we're going to crater this place, right?" He nods towards the volcano city as they approach.
Aleith|DM: As you head to Elofasp, you see spindle spires of waxy gravel rising from the cracked ground of the plane. The vortex array shows a multitude of creatures of various sizes crawling, skittering, and flying around the plane.
Zane: "Well we would be happy to have you help."
Aleith|DM: Here and there bits of civilized structures or colossal humanoid statues with tentacled faces have been integrated into the hives, suggesting that the world was once inhabited.
Phyllis: "I know. Your idea isn't without merit in that it presents some stability. That is why my proposals don't change too much and mostly use our old arrangement as a base."
Garrett: "Yeah, the volcano'll be little more than an oven by the time we're finished here."
Aleith|DM: There's a few birds, beasts, and giant insects that you have to swat as you study the plane, but most of them aren't a threat to you (just the crew).
Aleith|DM: Planar Trait: Animals are larger but more obedient. Any living creature with Intelligence 2 or less can be trained, and a Diplomacy check (DC 20) can goad an untrained creature of animal intelligence to take a simple action at your command.
Phyllis: "That … may have potential for abuse."
Zane: "Cavalry would become incredible."
Phyllis: "Imagine Garrett in charge of a horde of enlarged mice."
Phyllis: "…"
Phyllis: "I'm not doing much to dissuade you from this plan, am I?"
Zane: "Not sure if you're arguing for or against, yeah."
Garrett: "Gods, no, this sounds great."
Phyllis: "AGAINST."
Gerald‘ snickers.
Zane: "OK but now consider… El Extrano with a herd of large mice."
Chandrasekhar laughs.
Phyllis grumbles and heads below deck to tell the crew to keep moving.
Aleith|DM: There’s some more flying around, and it might be before invading the Golden Legion, it might be after, but….
Aleith|DM: Heading north to Metarie, you find a world with nested layers of marsh. Each layer has bits of boggy ground covered in tall grass separated murky ponds, all of it beneath a looming canopy of moss-draped trees. A lot of small bi-pedal creatures scuttle through the forest, as well as newts the size of crocodiles.
Aleith|DM: The lower levels of the swamp are each twenty feet tall, with soggy ceilings instead of forest canopy. The roots of the trees above weave into columns that support each layer, with thirty layers in all.
Aleith|DM: You can faintly hear a rumbling noise from within, and the Vortex Array picks up the shape of an airship in a crater three layers down from the top.
Aleith|DM: Planar Trait: Technology is disrupted. Each round that a firearm or other mechanical or technological device is used, there’s a 50% chance it acts as if broken.
Zane: (we definitely want that one)
[OOC] Phyllis: gerald's favorite
Gerald: "Hard pass."
Phyllis: "Agreed."
Aleith|DM: To the north….
Aleith|DM: Well, it might be a bit harder to hover above this one.
Aleith|DM: The coastal flats of Bonilathe shudder with thunderstorms.
Chandrasekhar: "I don't know, no technology means no spinny gears."
Gerald: "It also means no Stocke."
Phyllis: "Do you want to test that theory right now?"
Aleith|DM: It takes a few hours to determine the traits of this one from a safer distance.
Phyllis: "I could open a portal here."
Aleith|DM: Planar Trait: Storms spawn creatures, typically reptilian.
Chandrasekhar: "I'm joking. That does happen sometimes."
Aleith|DM: There are quite a number of reptiles crawling around the plane.
Gerald: "I got it."
Aleith|DM: But they also tend to kill each other.
Chandrasekhar seems… in a lighter mood than he's been in a very long time. Almost silly.
Garrett‘ offhands to the ship’s quartermaster, "How's our food supply…?"
Phyllis: "Thinking of stocking our stores with ozone-fried lizard?"
Gerald: "Honestly not a bad plan."
Garrett: "Lake lizard's a more common foodstuff around Pine Island, yeah."
Aleith|DM: Teykfa, to the north, is a barren desert with a mountain in the centre. The heart of the mountain is carved with a time-keeping megastructure, and is the cause of the chiming every 27 hours.
Aleith|DM: Planar Trait: People are more aware of the scale of time, and they can better weight long-term consequences. Time can be manipulated.
Aleith|DM: It has Earth and Time energies.
Gerald: "Nnnope don't need criminals with that."
Aleith|DM: Reida, to the north, has Life and Time energies, as you know, but it is not yet time to visit it. Obliatas greets you as you survey Teykfa.
Phyllis: "Urim and … Ascetia. Seem better options."
Phyllis: Yeah that's right she snubbed Reida when it was right there in earshot.
Aleith|DM: On the way back, Guay is a plane with countless varieties of trees, seeming to be perpetually lit by a setting sun. Every surface is unreal, its shape and texture either cloudy like watercolor or stiff and layered as if painted in oils.
Aleith|DM: Images are painted across every surface.
Chandrasekhar spends… quite some time observing the plane.
Aleith|DM: A recurring motif is windows within windows, and beautiful women whose eyes are hidden by flowing hair desperately trying to smash their way free. Often it seems like the women are trapped inside the painting, trying to get out.
Aleith|DM: As you ponder the plane, a finger taps you on the shoulder, Chandrasekhar.
Phyllis considers … not even determining this one, but science demands it so.
Chandrasekhar does not turn around.
Chandrasekhar: "Ms. Lenz, if this is your idea of a joke, I find it profoundly amusing."
Aleith|DM: You don't have a choice. Your armour lifts you up, beyond your control and turns you around.
Aleith|DM: You find a man who shouldn't be there. Leone Quital.
Chandrasekhar: "-gah!"
Garrett‘ looks.
Gerald` has his shotgun to Quital’s temples in a moment.
Quital: "Quite the airship you have here."
Gerald: "It's nice, yes."
Zane looks. Realizes his traded away his obsidian karambit. Silently rages.
Garrett: "We thought you were dead."
Garrett: "We thought -really hard- about it too."
Quital: "And so will you be. You trust too much. Someone is bound to stab you in the back."
Chandrasekhar: "Being on this side of the end of the world hasn't made you any less dramatic, I see."
Gerald: "So is there like…"
Gerald: "A good reason for this encounter, or did you get bored and decide " welp I'm done, better go get Gerald to kill me again "?"
Quital shrugs. "Why don't you tell me why I'm here?"
Garrett: "Did you end up on the wrong side of a grinding gear too?"
Quital: "No."
Aleith|DM: And then you wake up, scattered across the airship.
Phyllis: "I mean, he was in the Bleak Gate, which is a part of Av…"
Gerald: "Man if I knew I wouldn't have asked -"
Gerald: "- huh?"
Gerald: "…This has happened before hasn't it…?"
Aleith|DM: Planar Trait: Dreams create demiplanes. While someone dreams, a small portal floats nearby them, and it is possible to enter these portals, explore the plane beyond, and interact with the dreamer’s thoughts. Items in the dream can be plundered, which strip thoughts from the sleeper’s mind. Likewise, ideas can be implanted. Sleeping with strangers becomes perilous.
Zane looks both angry and confused.
Phyllis: "…just keep the engine running…"
Chandrasekhar starts laughing. And then directs the crew to get the ship out of range of the plane, through the laughing.
Aleith|DM: Heading to the southeast, you round off your trip in the Northern Gyre with Gardboral.
Garrett‘ scrambles up and barks ordres to also just keep flying.
Zane rubs his temples. "I don’t understand any of what just happened."
Aleith|DM: This plane is covered in devastation. And immense elementals who aren't happy to see any interlopers. You keep your distance in the airship.
Aleith|DM: Planar Trait: Elementals grow larger, and mundane phenomena can generate them.
Gerald: "Sure are a lot of bad picks out here, in the cosmic trash pile."
Phyllis slumps onto the floor, staring at the sky as the airship passes through another unappealing plane.
Phyllis: "We've found a few gems, I like to believe."
Phyllis: "But for the most part,"
Phyllis: "Yes."
Aleith|DM: Afterwards, you head over to Iratha Ket.
Aleith|DM: You've already heard the stories of this plane, but even with Obliatas moved away, you don't yet have a significant bond with it.
Aleith|DM: Planar Trait: Greater altruism. Occasional spontaneous musical numbers. Everyone has natural aptitude for singing, dance, or some sort of musical instrument. A number of times per day equal to his or her Charisma modifier, while performing music a character can grant himself or an ally engaged in the same musical number a +2 bonus to a single attack roll, save, skill check, or ability check as a free action.
Zane: "If the plague had some sort of biological root…"
Gerald: "Nnngh."
Garrett: "Now we're talking."
Gerald: "No."
Garrett: "The power of a good musical is so strong it's a universal modifier."
Phyllis: "Life and Death energies. Either we get rid of Av or Nem if we want it in its place."
Phyllis: "I think it'd be fun, but no."
Phyllis: "We have better priorities."