March 15th, 2024

Mare Custodia 13th, 1194 (Continued)

We spend ten minutes clearing out the rubble from the room that the spawn messed up, and then Ralzer directs Sigmund on how to use wall of stone to support the ceiling and keep it from collapsing.

While exploring, we trigger another haunt that creates images of fungus and whispers the name Kaajh’Kaalbh. It alters Graynor’s and Ralzer’s physiology to that of a plant; both have small mushrooms imbedded in their skin.

We visit the other barricaded area, knock on the door and are calmly told that the door is open. Within is a ruined alchemist lab with blood circles on the floor and books tossed about. The man inside is a scholar named Brad. He radiates an overwhelming aura of evil. There is one dead guy in here, Brad says that he had to kill him after it looked as if something was being summoned through him.

Brad says that he saw the dead guy traveling with Tolm. The corpse does have a Vallyn map on him; Vallyn was the missing region of the similar maps that we saw at Tolm’s underdark manor. He also had, what looks like to be, a key to the front door of Tolm’s manor.

We cast speak with dead on the body, Brad suggests asking his name.

What is your name? — Garrick Renfrow.

Did you come with anyone else besides Tolm? — No.

What was Tolm after? — I don’t know.

What is Tolm’s ultimate goal? — To imprison a god.

Is that god Kaajh’Kaalbh? — Yes.

Sigmund felt something a little off with all of the answers, except for the one about his name.

Ishtar bluntly asks what Brad is before we leave and he merely states that he is an extraplanar traveler.

As we leave the room, Ishtar and Ty feel something probe their minds and abscond with a memory or anxiety that they never knew they had.

We then activate the angel heads and go down to the next level. This level is protect with Guards and Wards, as warned by Thyrr. The dense fog makes it difficult to see, Thyrr also believes there will be suggestion effects, as well as possible others.

After a short discussion about what to do with the fog, we encounter a dread wraith and Sigmund dispels the fog. Afterwards, we need spend time restoring the drain that was done by the wraith. Restoration does not remove the plant effect on Graynor and Ralzer.

Going back down, we encounter more of those nasty slug-oozes; one of them being larger. After that fight, we decide we’ll have to take a longer rest, so we head back to the first floor.

On the first floor, more hounds of tindalos assault us. We kill them and then break the mirror that was supposed to summon axiomites.

March 9th, 2025

Vita, Custodia 12th, 1194 (Continued)

The whole party visits Elder Thyrr about the rescue mission. We find out that we won’t be able to leave until we deactivate the defenses. In the Soul is an angel with empty eyes—this is where we must insert our fingers to reset the defenses. Tolm may still be in there, but it’s possible that he got out before everything went online.

The guardian is responsible for the defenses in this situation, where the Soul is breached, the most dangerous zone. One of the possible contingencies is for the guardian to destroy everything, as a final precaution. We don’t know if this was triggered. The guardian is an exscinder archon; they’re lawful good, have DR/evil and are close combatants. There are also the following defenses:

• • A mirror that will summon axiomites, lawful neutral outsiders that can summon zalakut inevitables.
  • Soulbound shells, constructs that blend in as statues, cast spells, and have DR/adamant.
  • Clockwork mages, constructs that cast spells from a pre-determined school of magic, with DR/adamant.

There will be angel statues on each floor; we have to swivel their heads in specific directions (towards the wall that they are facing away from) to go farther. This is like the note that we found in Tolm’s underdark manor.

She gives us a key to unlock the Mysterium and will alert the guards to our mission.

We take the rest of the day to prepare for our rescue mission and commission two Ildan swords from the Temple of Salvation.

Mare Custodia 13th, 1194

We head into the Mysterium and find dead bodies strewn about. We trigger a haunt in a classroom; Elder Thyrr did warn that strange things happened the last time that the defenses were triggered about 100 years ago.

We encounter some hounds of tindalos, evil outsiders that hunt people who transgress against time and space. These should not be here, maybe they were tracking Tolm and got stuck.

We manipulate the angel heads as we were instructed to reveal a descending staircase.

Below we encounter some smaller shoggoths, oozes that spread a nasty parasite. These, too, should not be here.

We find some crazed guards that barricaded themselves in a room. Sigmund calms them down, but they won’t leave the room; which is probably for the best. We give them some water. One of them does recognize Tolm as visiting. They will stay here until we secure the area.

In another room, we find a spawn of the Dark Tapestry, like what we fought in Crestfall. We aren’t sure how this got here either. Did Tolm bring all of this with him somehow or summon it?

March 1st, 2025

Iustitia, Custodia 10th, 1194 (Continued)

We visit Tolm’s manor. Ishtar scouts it as a bird and spots human servants inside. We then discuss various plans: delivering the portrait as a ruse to gain entry, staking out the building to gain more info, and checking out possible sewer access.

Ishtar and Ty stake out the manor during the night. On Ty’s shift, Ishtar looks for sewer entrances as an earth elemental. There is no sewer, or other, entrances to the basement of the manor.

Mors Custodia 11th, 1194

Sigmund uses locate gate around the area of the manor, to detect any teleportation circles, but finds nothing. Ty gets a floor plan of the manor by going ethereal, finding nothing alarming.

Sigmund then gathers some information and confirms that the servants leave to pick up supplies rather than have them delivered. We settle on Sigmund and Graynor visiting the house and trying to get information by talking to a servant. They confirm that he left for Vallyn 4 days ago.

We then purchase the spellcasting services of teleportation from the Magic Circle to get to Vallyn. During the teleportation effect, Ralzer again feels like someone was probing his mind, albeit unsuccessfully.

We arrive in Vallyn. Ty goes to the Mysterium to watch the entrance while ready; it’s currently closed to the public. Sigmund and Graynor gather information on Tolm and both hear absolutely nothing. Ralzer checks out the magical markets and doesn’t find anything of note. Ishtar visits the local druid’s grove and hears rumors of a halcyon druid that went bad in the northern forests.

Sigmund casts commune to get some bearing on our situation; the answers take longer than normal to receive.

Is (a) Tolm in Vallyn? — No.

Are there multi-Tolms? — Yes.

Are they all working together?— No.

Are there multi-Tolms on this plane? — Yes.

Are they parallel versions from another dimension? — Yes.

Is the Tolm that made the Gilarabrywn still alive? — Yes.

Did Tolm sacrifice Ildan to make the Gilarabrywn? — Yes.

Is the Magic Circle investigating Ralzer? — No.

Is the Raven Queen holding the storms as bay? — Unclear.

Is the Raven Queen real? — Yes.

Is Avara Sigmund’s patron deity? — No.

Is it possible for Ishtar to return to his original time? — Yes.

Are the sky pillars related to Kaajh’Kaalbh? — Yes.

We then go to the park to test of Ralzer casting dimension door will trigger that strange sensation of being watched. Ralzer comes back catatonic—he did not resist so that we can test in a controlled environment, per Ishtar’s advice. Meanwhile, Ralzer sees the starry sky shatter and a meteor drop from the sky into a desert, pulsating energy. He feels something off him great power, which he is willing to accept. Next, he’s on a precipice looking at a world he knows is his. There are some figures bowing in reverence, while others are fleeing. Then, another scene is a figure with burning eyes stating, “I was the first, you are the last.” He comes out of his catatonia about 10 minutes later.

He then casts dimension door again, to test. He is, again, catatonic. He receives more strange imagery, different from before. A voice asks him, “Which path do you walk and which path walks you?” Then, there is a river showing many different reflections of himself, a garden full of “breathing” flora, and a tree with a black staircase at it’s base. Finally, he has a sensation of being sculpted, like clay, by many hands and hears, “We have been sculpting you, and now you are nearly finished.” These visions have him more like an observer than a participant.

The testing indicates that arcane forms of teleportation trigger this effect. Transport via plants from Ishtar and plane shift from Ziggs, both divine teleportation effects, were safe. The teleportation circle from the Magic Circle and Ralzer’s own dimension door, both arcane, were not safe. We may want to tell Archmage Sandoval about this.

We discuss our plans and thoughts on the current events and Ishtar tries to scry on Tolm, which doesn’t work.

Vita, Custodia 12th, 1194

Ty and Ishtar visit the Mysterium, which is still closed. The guards direct them to Elder Thyrr. She confirms that Tolm was in town; he triggered the Myterium’s defenses and she thinks that he stole something. They keep dangerous magic items here, she thinks that he stole “The Keening Runes of the Architect Kings”. It’s a book bound in obsidian and contains blueprints for anchors to attract outer gods. There are still some people trapped inside by the defenses and she would appreciate it if we could rescue them.

Sigmund and Graynor gather more information. Rumor is that some thieves broke into the Mysterium and triggered the defenses. Now the guards are trying to keep something in rather than keep others out.

February 16th, 2025

Mare, Custodia 6th, 1194 (Continued)

We perform a thorough search of the area; there are no magic auras. The altar here bears the holy symbol of Xhal’ith. The whispering gets louder as we approach it and we feel as if it is drawing us closer. Each of us hears something.

• Ralzer: Far to the north, a realm beset by endless winter has a secret pact with a mysterious figure known as the Raven Queen. Sacrifices of rare black feathers keep the blizzards at bay. Lately, the feathers have grown scarcer, and storms loom.
• Ishtar: Scattered across the land are seven ancient wells, each known for a distinct harmonic hum. When played in unison they generate a resonance that can resurrect a legendary hero… or a forgotten evil.
• Ty: A lone figure drifts among the stars, forging cosmic chains from stardust. Should these chains ever be broken, the constellations would unravel—and with them, the fate of the mortal realm.
• Sigmund: A half-buried ballad etched onto broken tablets claims a queen once ruled in silence. Her voice, if heard, would command the very tides. Now only fragments of her lullaby remain, locked behind wards of unbreakable stone.
• Graynor: Buried under shifting desert sands, an arcane library’s doors are guarded by monstrous shadows that feed on words. Anyone entering must sacrifice a cherished memory to pass safely—those who refuse have their minds devoured by the hungry shade-librarians.

Ishtar goes subterranean via elemental form and searches. There are a lot more bones buried here, dumped like a mass grave. The three dug up spots don’t appear to be different. Maybe whomever did it was looking for an item buried with the bodies.

When Ty goes ethereal, the altar looks much different—like a monolith of impossible geometry with pulsating fungus. At the top is a black halo that draws in black energy. It speaks to Ty and offers her a deal, “Unshackle your mind from safety. Let the creeping horror nest in your thoughts, and in return, I shall whisper truths mortal ears are not meant to hear.” Ty says she’s not interested in horror’s nesting in her mind, then receives a counter offer, “Bask in the stillness of oblivion for one turn of the moon. Close your mouth, your eyes, your mind—and let nothing break your vigil. Then you shall be worthy of my counsel.”

We then leave and begin our plant travel back to Ironwald Downs.

Terra, Custodia 7th, 1194

Ralzer visits his contact about the gilarabrywn and the shopkeeper takes his “payment”. A gilarabrywn has a unique resonance that can be unraveled when the weapon that was used in its creation is struck there. He offers to find specific information on the gilarabrywn. Ralzer tells him that Tolm made it and and sacrificed his assistance, Ildan. For his assistance he requires information as payment and Ralzer says that he will consider this.

Ty visits Graynor at the Temple of Salvation for guidance about Xhal’ith. They meet with Gallant Malik Du Pompadour, who advises that any pact should be very straight forward. Such an agreement could place a dark taint on one’s soul, but such things could be worth the cost.

We discuss our plans and first decide to obtain a write from the Empyrean Council to facilitate access to the Obsidian Library. Advocate Greatbear will work on this for us.

Forte, Custodia 8th, 1194

Graynor and Ty visit the Temple of Salvation about finding Tolm. They suggest that we keep scrying and to find an associate in Jasper.

They then go visit Lairn to ask about the Mysterium. It’s a library in Vallyn, AKA the Hakkar Minair. It’s very old, founded around the same time as the city, and is controlled by worshipers of Adira.

Ishtar visits the Assembly of the Four Corners to ask about the severe storms in the north and the Raven Queen. His contact there, Morvathe, hasn’t heard anything like that, but sounds like it could be fey. There is an alleged fey gate west of Short Rock Pass, where we fought those hell hounds. Ishtar tries scrying on “Tolm” a couple of times with no luck.

Bellum, Custodia 9th, 1194

We transport via plants a few times to get to Jasper. We plan our research topics (gilarabrywn, the storms, Wells of Knowledge, the city that cannot be found, and the Empyrean Council) and then head to the Courts of Inequity to pick up our writ.

A priest of Hastur, Administrator Croft, delivers the writ of access and informs us that he is sponsoring our access to the Obsidian Library. The Courts of Inequity enlisted their assistance in obtaining this writ on our behalf.

Through an art dealer, we get directions to the artist Marian Dumont, who painted the Tolm portrait. He remembers the portrait of Mr. Barolo, as he refers to him. Tolm is a nobleman in town, he thinks. He painted the portrait about a year ago, which took four days, and Tolm stayed at the Gilded Ledger. Tolm was very interested in getting his eyes right. He said, “A man’s eyes see the truth of what he is, in every reality.” Tolm paid him in rare uncut gemstones. The appraiser could not tell from which region they originated, which is strange.

We then head to the Gilded Ledger. We confirm that Tolm stayed here for a week about 13 months ago.

Ty visits the local Blackstone Monastery for advice on oblivion meditation.

Sigmund gathers information on Tolm in Jasper and discovers that he is indeed a minor noble, but not much else is known. We find a local address.

Iustitia, Custodia 10th, 1194

We take our visit to the Obsidian Library. We get confirmation that a different weapon, with the correct name on it, can unravel the note on the gilarabrywn. The person wielding it must aim for a specific spot to do this and someone more attuned to arcane casting may be more accurate with locating it.

We find some descriptions on the severe storms carrying shards of other realms in them. There is nothing about the Raven Queen or a ritual, but there are a few theories.

The Ancient Ward Theory is that there was an old civilization that created wards that once contained these storms. The Grand Incinerator is Namas’ link to the storms; the fire and water sects each have different stories that reference the storms.

There is prophecy called the Frozen Temple Prophecy from Seer Aldhira, Priestess of the Ice Veil:

When the frozen stars return to the sky and the riftwinds howl in chorus, the planes shall bleed again. The walls are thin. The hunger is great. The Grand Storm shall awaken, and the world will know the cold touch of its forgotten king.

We don’t find anything about activating all seven of the Wells of Knowledge or the City that Cannot be Found.

We find out that the dragons on the Empyrean Council my be entering in pacts with mortals to impart magical powers unto them.

We then plan our “visit” to the Barolo manor.

January 18th, 2025

Vita, Custodia 5th, 1194 (Continued)

We still haven’t found an area where the gilarabrywn could have been staying or created; Tolm’s manor didn’t show clear evidence of that, and Kyzvyn never saw anything like that in his area. So, we head towards the fungal forest.

Graynor and Luna feel that strange mind effect linger upon entering and, we all hear faint whispers. As we walk, we have a sensation of being watched. The whispers say specific things to each of us, trying to sow discord and fear. Whatever it is, it seems to know personal information about us that we’ve never shared.

Graynor gets tired quickly afterwards and Ralzer uses secure shelter to set up camp.

Mare, Custodia 6th, 1194

We each experience a unique, unsettling dream. An emaciated humanoid comes up to the window and warns us to “give tribute to the Whispering Dark”; that is an alias of Xhal’ith.

Ralzer’s contact from the Umbral Bazzar tells him via sending that he has information on the gilarabrywn and can only tell him in person.

We follow the tracks of this undead creature, and it leads to a dais with runes and pulsating fungus. It looks like some digging has been done in this area as well. On top of this structure is a rolling mass of black fungus; Sigmund thinks it could be an extraplanar plant.

As we approach, the whispers get louder and more clear, with each of us hearing something unique.

Ralzer hears, “A king’s true heir holds fiendish lineage, born from a demon’s bargain two generations past. The royal line teeters on corruption, bound by an ancient promise never fulfilled.”

Ishtar hears, “Deep beneath the labyrinth of shadows, a sealed chamber houses a library of tomes transcribed by chained scribes. Within lies knowledge so potent it unravels the minds of those who read it.”

Graynor hears, “A reverend saint from ages past never truly died; entombed alive by zealots who feared his revelations, he still breathes in a dark crypt, guarded by illusions.”

Sigmund hears, “Each moon, an entire city vanishes from memory, its inhabitants sinking into the shadows. All maps shift to obscure its location; only one who bears the mark of Xhal’ith can rediscover it.” He also hears, “An ancient workshop built by lost artisans molds memories like clay. All who emerge from it recall entirely new origins—and soon become pawns of the shrine’s designs.”

Ty hears, “A prophecy throughout the land was recorded in reverse. Its true meaning forecasts calamity for the very heroes meant to save the realm.” She also hears, “One of the pantheon is a hollow shell, its divinity siphoned by Xhal’ith’s cult. The deity continues to grant minor boons, but only as a tool to lure followers deeper into shadow.”

During the battle with this fungal creature, three much tougher shadows appear, and then a mnemodemon shows up. Mnemodemons collect and steal memories. It tries to tempt us with knowledge of the gilarabrywn. When it dies, shadows pull it under.

After the battle, we still hear the whispers.

January 4th, 2025

Vita, Custodia 5th, 1194 (Continued)

After killing the derro and cytillipedes, Greynor explore the next room. He finds a pool of water, but retreats after getting peppered with crossbow bolts by about 12 hidden derro.

Once everyone else arrives, we enter the room with the water. We dispatch many of them and the rest surrender. During the combat, Ralzer acts strangely and won’t enter the room.

According to the derro, Tolm has been gone many weeks. He’s been helping them to overcome their sunlight aversion, allegedly. The derro are here to trade with him and are waiting for his return. Our description of Tolm doesn’t match theirs. They describe him as looking like the portrait. They don’t interact with Kyzvyn, he’s crazy and the area is haunted.

Ralzer now appears for be afraid of bodies of water and Ishtar diagnoses him with a phobia, which will take some time to treat. Sigmund believes it could be a result of the strange sunken cityscape painting.

We being a deep search of the manor. We find nothing of note in the basement laboratory. The ground floor has lots of alchemical stuff and a box of wine from Jasper. The maps in the study are nice and there is space for one that appears to be missing. Each is a region of Moravia; the missing one is Vallyn. Behind a map we find a scroll of raise dead.

We search the painting room, careful to avoid the landscapes. Behind a painting is a trapped and locked safe containing gold and a book about cabal magic.

In the top room the patchwork things are skinstitch constructs and they housed swarms of hell wasps inside them. We find more alchemical paraphernalia. There is a brain in a jar with an ivory horn attached to it, we can hear lullabies from it. There is a jar labeled #61 with a cloth that floats in it like a drowned sheet caught in an unseen current. It responds and may be intelligent. We find a hidden ladder to the next floor.

The next floor is adorned with many curtains made from skin, taken whole, with faces of torment. There is a person sobbing on another ladder leading up. He looks like another hollow one. He’s clutching some paper and is upset that the master is gone “days ago”. He doesn’t know where the master went, but he does give us the note. It mentions the Mysterium, the otherworldly protector of the library, and a soul in an iron puzzle box. There are a number of pictures of angels with a caption, “swivel the heads in the right direction to delve further”. The handwriting matches the other Tolm documents we have.

While climbing up the ladder to the next floor, Ty has images in her head of a fungus rapidly growing, collapsing, then growing again. She also hears, “it reaches its tendrils through the minds of those who know of it. It reaches beyond the veil of dreams. Hurry.” Climbing up that ladder leads to an attic completely overgrown with vines and has the a scent of decay. There is some kind of large plant-like creature on the roof rafters.

Ty gets another message in her head as she approaches, “it sends its tendrils through their minds to gather its strength, but despite your knowledge you are clean. You can stop it. Don’t let it infect this world.” We engage the creature and kill it, it had many elemental and physical resistances.

There is a chest up top; it has some notes inside along with some diamonds and platinum. The notes are talk about pathways through stars, his remorse for using Ildan as a sacrifice to move forward, and a lot of mindless ranting.

We discuss the possibility of using scrying magic on Tolm.

We then try to talk to specimen #61. It is not Tolm, but it does know of him. Tolm went to the Mysterium, but it doesn’t know where that is. It doesn’t know of Gilarabrywn. It knows Ildan, Tolm’s apprentice, but not what happened to him. It then asks us to dump some chemicals into the jar and kill him—we do so.

Ty goes ethereal and this area and the cavern looks to be a little darker than normal.

We try scrying on Tolm twice, as the kidnapper of Ishtar and as the Tolm that we defeated long ago. Neither of the attempts work.

We search the caverns around here and find a secret tunnel that opens into a room with six magic circles etched into the ground. There is a central circle with five others surrounding it. They don’t look to be more than a few years old and all have summoning wards. There are lots of old crates and some more wine boxes from Jasper. This looks to be a hidden store room that was converted to a summoning chamber.

December 28th, 2024

Mors, Custodia 4th, 1194

We head into the passages to the Underdark and come to a four way intersection. Sigmund finds foot traffic in each direction; both humanoid and non-humanoid. We pick the left choice, for no particular reason.

We come upon a fungal forest that has biolumination in the area. We search it and start to feel our mental capacity diminish, so Sigmund suggests turning back.

We then take the middle path and it leads to many broken buildings. Ralzer believes the rubble to be several hundred years old. There’s one building that is a little better maintained, so we check that out. There is a damaged sign with three angels and the phrase “Give succor to the troubled”. The door is trapped and using the knocker triggers a minor acid spray. Not long afterwards, the door opens and a tall man greets us. He appears to be a servant to the master of the house, who is not in at the moment. He will be back tomorrow. The upon closer inspection, servant doesn’t seem to be human.

We then head back and go down the last tunnel. Down this one some of us hear many soft whispers from several sources and moving farther doesn’t make it louder. We find more ruined buildings and fungal growth. Sigmund, Ralzer, Ishtar, and Graynor feel some effect in the area.

A crazed derro with bulging white eyes jumps out and tells us to keep quiet in a very strange way. Then he walks away and we follow him. He refers to the whispers as leylines and the Watchers want to unravel the leylines. His name is Kyzvyn and he appears to have multiple personalities. He’ll take us to a leyline in exchange for some gems.

We hand him one of the gems that we got from the Citadel. He then leads us to a central area with a chalk circle on the ground that Kyzvyn drew himself from intuition—Ralzer does see some magical runes within it. When asked about the circle and symbols Kyzvyn mutters, “keys to unlock life’s secrets and peel back its skin”. He’s waiting for the Great Awakening. He then skips away.

We continue to investigate this area. Ty goes ethereal, but sees nothing different. Ishtar can feel that a leyline is close. He turns into an earth elemental and looks around through the ground. When Kyzvyn sees him do this, he gets really upsets and warns about smudging the lines and causing Cosmic Retribution. Ishtar is able to find the leyline nexus and thinks that he can access it from the “surface”.

We head back to the middle tunnel and camp.

Vita, Custodia 5th, 1194

When Ty approaches the master’s door she hears in her head, “The blot quivers. The lake ripples. His stain is here”, along with a clicking noise and some whispering.

The master is not home, his name is Tolm Barolo. We then engage this thing in combat, killing it swiftly. Turns out that it was a hollow one, a kind of construct used to resemble humans and have a spark of intelligence.

The portrait inside is made by a famous artist, still alive, in Jasper and could be worth something.

The second floor has some unnerving paintings; an underwater cityscape, a landscape, a portrait, and a theatre. Looking at the cityscape made Ralzer and Sigmund feel ill.

The third floor is full of books and colorful jars. There are two large patchwork constructs attending to the tables; they are not aggressive and we leave without searching. Judging by the height of the manor, there should be at least one more full floor, but we cannot find access to it at the moment.

We take the elevator to the basement and there is some strange glass construct there that utilizes fire bombs. It has magic resistance, so it could be a golem. In the corner is a vat of liquid holding an ochre jelly. In The Sepulchrum of Exquisance, Investigator Vale confronts a cabal that uses the jellies, split many times, as stencils to create intricate tattoos and as a torture method in larger quantities.

There is another option on the elevator to go to another, deeper, floor. Graynor and Sigmund squeeze in and take it down. It goes down pretty deep and on the floor below are two derro and two large, chitinous creatures, cytillipedes.

December 15th, 2024

Terra, Artis 30th, 1194 (Continued)

We attend our evening meeting—Thauglorauthamiir leads us west to the designated area. We walk through some fog and suddenly we’re on a mountain top. We head to a cave with a large room that is warded with runes, then the council arrives.

They address us and speak of the urgency of the situation. Thauglorauthamiir was tasked with guarding the citadel and the council is upset that he didn’t bring this to their attention earlier, “as soon as he realized the power of the Achitects lingered there”.

Their leader then addresses us and asks what we know of the Celestial Attendants. They believe the gilarabrywn may be something that they summoned. It’s presences suggests that there is something tethering the creature to the area, as if on guard. If this one was made long ago, then something must have triggered its reactivation. If it was made recently, that could be worse.

Gilarabrywn are magical beasts of war created by powerful spellcasters. A sacrifice of a loved one is required to make it. If you know what soul was used to create it, you can determine how to destroy it. Their creation is now forbidden, due to how difficult they are to destroy.

The council wants us to either destroy it or seal it away. They will reward us, but failure would result in death.

Graynor asks for some information on the black dragon that has the set item he’s been looking for. It’s name is Nightscale and the council assures his cooperation.

Forte, Custodia 1st, 1194

Graynor asks his church about gilarabrywn, but they don’t know anything. A Valiant will be in tomorrow and may know more.

Sigmund and Ralzer visit Lairn. He will try and get in touch with an Archmage and get back to us.

Ty and Ishtar meet with Mikhail. He knows of gilarabrywn, but not by that name. The Parish may have some information and he’ll look into it.

Ty meets with Judge Balefrost. He accepts the Orrery of Infinite Spheres, but does not know very much about gilarabrywn. Ty catches him up on what has happened since the last meeting.

Bellum, Custodia 2nd, 1194

While waiting for information, we will try and secure Graynor’s item from Nightscale. We travel to Khundrukar via plants, where we manage to find the underground lake and Nightscale. Graynor purchases the cloak from the dragon and Nightscale is surprised to receive money in the transaction, as he was instructed to give it to Graynor. He also gives him a bonus Obsidian Scale Amulet.

We make camp outside.

Iustitia, Custodia 3rd, 1194

We arrive back in Ironwald Downs, via plants, and Graynor meets with Valiant Morvant. He knows of gilarabrywn as being raw magic and are immune to most things and they are guided by their wielder.

We head to our meeting with the Magic Circle at the Temple of Enchantment and meet with Archmage Sandoval about gilarabrywn.

One way to destroy one is to learn it’s name, as in the person whose soul was used to create it. Then, engrave a weapon with that name and pierce its heart. One such weapon is always created when making a gilarabrywn.

Another way might be to overwhelm it with magic energy. Using leylines would probably work for this.

Sandoval is able to see our mythic auras and comments that Ralzer’s looks different. He tells her about his experience talking with the giant crystal in the Silverdale obelisk and she asks that he let her know if he starts to feel different.

After the meeting, Ralzer goes shopping for magic ingredients. The Umbral Bazaar, a store he’s visited before, is much different now. Inside, it’s much bigger than it should be and the shadows in here do not operate normally. The proprietor is much different too, not human. Ralzer asks him about gilarabrywn and he says he will look into it if Ralzer allows him to read his memories. Ralzer agrees.

Mors, Custodia 4th, 1194

We head to the Citadel, greet the kobolds and head to the basement. We check our collapsed tunnel and it’s been broken through with brute force.

We revisit the dragon altar that we could never figure out. Casting fire on the tray causes 4 red gems to fall out of the dragon. Touching them gives a sensation of fire power.

We spot the gilarabrywn in the area of Tolm’s star map. We leave it alone and discuss what to do. Our best option is to venture into the Underdark tunnel that the gilarabrywn came from.

November 30th, 2024

Vita, Artis 28th, 1194 (Continued)

We transport via plants to Silverdale, arrive without issue and head towards the obelisk. Sigmund channels mythic energy into it and sinks into it. The rest of us follow suit. Ralzer and Graynor feel as if someone is watching them; everyone else has a minor headache.

Inside, it looks like a strange garden, full of plants not native to our plane; Ralzer identifies some as veilshrubs and fractal bloomers. The terrain keeps shifting, making it hard to see far.

Past the garden is a chamber of obsidian full of floating shelves. Ishtar reads the Codex of Eternal Spirals, which alters it’s written language until Ishtar can read it. It’s about time manipulation, and while reading it, he doesn’t realize how long he spends on it.

Sigmund skims through a book of blank pages. While handling it, he sees a shadowy figure watching him in reflections of the glass in the room, but can’t see it anywhere else.

Ralzer opens a book with a cover of a broken mask. While looking through it he feels a surge of arcane energy and hears faint whispers, which sound like a bunch of names. Saying a name out loud makes him feel bad. The pages are just full of names and he takes it with him.

Sigmund examines another book, the Mournful Canticle. Picking it up fills the room with a strange choir noise. It’s cover looks like it’s made of skin, and flipping the pages generate a faint, mournful wail. It contains songs of mourning.

Ralzer looks at the Manual of Perfect Silence, which contains strategies on using silence as a weapon. He then finds one, Starbinders’ Ledger, about star maps and weaving star light into constructs.

Ty checks a book about using light and illusion, the Prismatic Codex, and then finds a more interesting book, the Infinite Descent. Picking it up reorients the room to a slight slant and it chronicles the adventure of a group of people exploring a dungeon that rearranges itself.

Sigmund looks in the Book of Dying Stars; picking it up suppresses magical effects. It touches on harnessing cosmic energy to create nasty stuff.

We leave the library and continue exploring.

The hallway leads to a seemingly void-like area and we hear a faint melody and see tiny pin pricks of light. Eventually we come to a large crystal, about 80ft. tall, and there is a rhythmic beating sound in the area. Ty touches the crystal and gets a strange sensation as if traveling through a kaleidoscope. Touching it creates a strange gravity effect in the room and Sigmund bull rushes Ty away from the crystal to end the effect.

We discuss our next moves and decided to leave after Ralzer casts identify on the crystal. When he does so, he hears a voice in his head.

“A seeker of power faces the abyss, how deep will you descend?”

“All the way,” he responds. He then gets a vision of himself standing on a battlefield, holding a staff. He feels a sense of dominance over the battle and victory. Then, the vision cracks and he’s alone and weary, pursued by the unseen.

He again hears a voice in his head, “Step forward seeker, the path to kingship lies before you. Grasp it and the stars will kneel. Will you dare to wield the unyielding, few can grasp the weight of eternity.”

Ralzer steps forward and Sigmund restrains him, breaking him from the trance. We then leave.

We use phantom chariot and then transport via plants to get to Ironwald Downs.

We arrive in Ironwald Downs and Graynor visits his temple and updates them on his business. He gets promoted to Guardian. Sigmund visits Mikhail, catches him up and gives him the Robes of the Architect to hide. Ishtar finds some immigration records related to his old hometown. About 300 years ago the entire village of Silverpine dispersed and the families settled in Aldtown Crossing, Brendencrest, Ironwald Downs, Westermoor, and possibly others.

We reconvene back at Ralzers and discuss our next steps. Sigmund does a sending to Queen Mozdrog about the Council of the Empyrean.

Mare, Artis 29th, 1194

We visit the Courts of Inequity; Sigmund will talk with the Kobolds and Ty will deliver an artifact. Ty schedules an appointment with Judge Balefrost in two days.

While we are being taken to a meeting room to see Queen Mozdrog, Ishtar notices an intricate flail on display that he remembers seeing depictions of at the Assembly of the Four Corners in Jasper. It’s called the Flail of Infinite Cycles and each head is a divine focus of Namas.

Queen Mozdrog is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the other dragons. Something has broken into the lower levels of the citadel; a powerful spirit, sort of like a shadow. Thauglorauthamiir joins us and describes this creature. It’s a Gilarabrywn, a kind of magical beast that resembles a dragon made of energy. They can be quite powerful and this could be a legit problem.

Later, we meet with Advocate Greatbear, who was Mozdrog’s liaison in the temple, to get a better feel about the situation. He confirms that several dragons have RSVP’d and they should arrive tomorrow in the western field.  Greatbear has spoken to a dragon named Codagh and the Council of the Empyrean is like a governing body among dragonkind.

We enter the Ironwald Downs obelisk again and find it to be the same inside and the blank bodies still remain. Sigmund uses one of the new star map books we found in the Silverdale obelisk to see if it has any bearing with the star maps here, and it does appear that way. He’s able to find a constellation called the Blade of Eternity from the Star Binders’ Ledger.

Ishtar visits the local Assembly of the Four Corners to inquire about the flail he saw earlier. They confirm that the flail is a relic of the church, but do not suggest any action be taken.

Terra, Artis 30th, 1194

We head to the western fields an wait for the dragon arrivals. They start to arrive after about two hours. They are big, and according to Ralzer, all evil, except for maybe the brown and orange.

The first one we see is a huge sized orange with a dagger-like tail end, a rare kind that has some psychic abilities. The rest arrive in the following order:

Brown, huge, dagger tail
Red, gargantuan, sword tail
Green, gargantuan, normal tail
Blue, colossal, dagger tail
Orange, gargantuan, scorpion tail
Brown, huge, club tail
Black, colossal plus, sword tail — largest of them all
Black, colossal, morning star tail — seems to be in charge

We watch the meeting from afar. The green dragon breathes fire at Thauglorauthamiir—green ones don’t usually breathe fire. At one point the morning star dragon looks in our direction for a while. A few minutes after that they begin to fly off, with the morning star being the last to leave, but not before slamming his tail into the ground.

Thauglorauthamiir then visits us and lets us know that we are to attend another meeting tonight. He says the council is angry.

November 23rd, 2024

Mare, Artis 22nd, 1194 (Continued)

We give Olaf the mirror and the spheres to hide. Taking the artifacts out of the portable hole doesn’t create an unveiling sensation and we discuss the implications of this finding. We take all of the artifacts out of the portable hole and still don’t feel it. When we leave the room with one of the artifact, the feeling returns. Placing the artifact down while outside of the room also removes the effect. As Olaf says, just because we don’t feel an effect, doesn’t mean that it’s not there.

When we return to the Winking Wyvern, Ty has a message waiting: a meeting with Chamberlain Raithe on the 24th.

Terra, Artis 23rd, 1194

Sigmund contacts Mikhail trying to get access to the Obsidian Library. He then spends time gathering info on the obelisks that fell from the sky. There isn’t much interest in them anymore, since they are now inert stone. There also has been no news of anyone approaching them.

Ishtar visits the druids to find out about plants for traveling to Derth, Oakfield, and Silverdale; finding a route to Silverdale.

We meet with Olaf and he casts legend lore twice more. The Scepter of Temporal Mastery can be destroyed by performing a ritual of undoing at the site that it was originally made, by striking it with a weapon forged with temporal crystals in the Null Forge, or by using it to rewind time on an event that has already been rewound. The Mantle of the Architect can be destroyed by throwing it into a collapsing dimensional rift, unweaving it at the Loom of Creation, or by completing the design that it was meant for.

Forte, Artis 24th, 1194

Ty attends her meeting with Chamberlain Gloria Raithe. It sounds more like the message had nothing to do with our situation. Ty explains a little bit about the outer god summoning and the Celestial Attendants, but Gloria doesn’t know about them. If Bethany is interested in more, she will let us know.

We meet with Olaf and he casts legend lore twice more. The Chrono-Wheel of Destinies can be destroyed by spinning it in reverse at the heart of a collapsing time stream or by performing a ritual to sever its link to the temporal planes at the Null Forge. The Glyphstone Tablet can be destroyed by having a powerful arcane entity, such as an elemental lord of magic, consume it. It can also be rendered inert by destroying the specific leyline that is it linked to.

Sigmund gets a sending from Mikhail about meeting with Venerable Towlson at the Order of Death regarding access to the Obsidian Library.

Bellum, Artis 25th, 1194

Sigmund meets with Towlson and is able to obtain a writ for two days access to the Obsidian Library. Ishtar talks to the druids about leylines. They are not aware of any that have been destroyed, but point him in the direction of strong leylines in Vallyn, Halbrook, and Blackstone.

We meet with Olaf and he casts legend lore twice more. The Prism of the Cosmic Spectrum can be destroyed by exposing it to concentrated light of immense power or taking it to a place of absolute darkness. The Architects’ Codex can be destroyed by submerging it in the essence of the void, putting it in a fire of Creation (like flames from a dying star), or by taking it to the plane of Unmaking.

Iustitia, Artis 26th, 1194

We all head to the Obsidian Library. The topics that we research are the Null Forge, leylines, the Silence in Heaven, chronomancy, space travel, Architect history, Kaajh’Kaalbh and his herald, and whatever kind of stuff the government bans people from knowing.

The Null Forge’s original purpose was not destruction, but perfection. It was used to refine divine objects, but can also return things to their primal essence. It was lost during an ancient cataclysm and some say that it could be sentient, is hiding from those who would misuse it, and may deny those trying to use it. It was on the Wastes of Aetherium within a massive obsidian mountain. A keystone of Aetherium is needed to access that plane through a planar gate. There is references of a society that protected the forge from misuse.

Leylines may be destabilized by overloading them with magical energy. Chaotic necromancy via a blightstone will poison a leyline, bloodmagic and sacrificial rites can effect them, and divine intervention can sever one. Such acts will be felt by arcane casters in the vicinity and elementals or fey may weaken, die or mutate. The Silent Wastes, which is now a desert, used to be lush and fertile before a mage collapsed a leyline. Leylines can be repaired with divine intervention, primal magic, or the original metals of creation.

The banned materials are mostly just information that is dangerous to the public, and there is nothing here about Kaajh’Kaalbh or the Silence in Heaven that is new to us.

The information here about the Architects is very different from what we have encountered before. They are said to be divine beings that were tasked by the gods to create mountains, rivers, and such. The Leyline nexus and arcane forges are hallmarks of their design. They created resonance stones, which amplify energy, and runic spires, which serve as protective beacons. They also created the Celestial Map, which is etched into the heavens and can be used to locate their significant creations.

We find some theories on chronomancy. The Spiral Continuum Theory suggests that there are anchor point events that can be altered to change history. The Temporal Weave Theory says that time is woven like a tapestry where each thread is a life, but altering too much will have grave consequences. Some of the documents on the subject are heavily redacted. A chrono-loom can stabilize anomalies. The Clockwork Lexicon, a tome about controlling time, was stolen centuries ago while on it’s way to this library.

Leyline convergences can act as portals to other celestial bodies. An old text, called the Veil of Stars, suggests that the constellations are glyphs left by an advanced race to help guide travelers through the cosmos. The Voidstone is a gem that can open gateways between worlds, and astral seals can stabilize travel through the void.

We meet with Olaf and he casts legend lore twice more. The Convergence Staff can be destroyed by performing a ritual with a shard of planar crystal, the essence of a dead archmarge, and threads from the fabric of space, or by casting time stop as you are using it’s arcane convergence ability. Legend lore works on Ty’s book, but Olaf gets no information. It’s not as if there isn’t information, but like it failed to get any of it. He just gets a feeling as if he’s being watched the whole time.

Back at the Winking Wyvern there is a message for Ty from Gloria Raithe—Bethany is unable to meet with us.

Mors,  Artis 27th, 1194

We do more research at the Obsidian Library.

Graynor has a meeting with a Gallant from his church about hiding an artifact. He will pass along the information to Valiant Sharpe.

Vita, Artis 28th, 1194

Valiant Sharpe messages that she will be willing to hold on to the Architect’s Codex.