Editing Elder Blood and Cosmic Cold (section)

==== Combat ends ====

* As Alphie drifts, they wake up in a prison cell. The cell itself is made out of a ghostly cyan material, still hard. They see their other Tattercoat Knights there, unconscious. They rush to wake us up, approaching Astranna first. They see the place where her head was detached, a thin scar there. The fight happened. We lost. Badly.
* They shake Astranna awake, and she takes air into her lungs with a terrible wheezing sound. Alphie hugs her, and she reaches up to her throat, feeling her scar. Alphie asks if she can stand, then tells her to stay there, going to wake the rest, hugging each.
* Anja checks for Maple. She’s there, shaking, matted blood on her flesh.
** “What– what– what happened?”
** “I don’t know, I don’t understand, I died…”
* Maple says she was fed to a dog. Jericho and Astranna check for their pets – Piero is there, but Henrietta is gone.
* Astranna tries to melt one of the bars of the cell. She’s able to easily do so, but outside is just void with no nowhere to go. She paces.
* Anja takes out her fabric to work on. As she looks down, there are all these strange lines and symbols on her body, lightly glowing orange. Just slightly. No one else can see them.
* At some point, Gwyn tries to use the Breezestone. We get slammed into the ceiling and knocked out for a while longer. Eventually, the interior shakes, and we hear a familiar voice.
** “Hello, everybody. I hope that you’re all awake. I’d like to talk to all of you. Would you be able to behave?”
** “Would you let us out?”
** “I would.”
* One of the walls begins to shimmer and shift, becoming a door. Gwyn helps Jericho up.
** “Jericho, I understand you might not be all here right now. Just stay close to me.”
* We’re led into Morgen’s lab.
** “Hello, Olwen. And friends. Alphecca. I’ve been waiting to see you face-to-face for… a long time.”
* Alphie is fully not looking at her, looking instead at the Gibbit, which is almost comatose. It occasionally squirms or moves, but isn’t lively. It’s in stasis.
** “Don’t worry, the creature is fine.”
** “Can you let him out?” (Gwyn)
** “No. Olwen, there’s much that must be done. Perhaps in time, very, very soon, dear, we can let the creature out, but it is necessary for… this machine. For so much that I’ve built here.”
* She says the machine will make Olwen whole again, using the magic of this place.
** “You are very sick, dear. But I’ll make you better again.”
** What did you do to me? I tried to kill all my friends, I–”
** “It was for your own protection.”
** “My mind wasn’t mine.”
** “Some of your mind was left behind. I only tried to help you, doing what you wanted me to do. I promise.”
** “What did I want?”
** “You wanted to be made whole again. I know that you do.”
* Gwyn says she feels full. Whole.
** “I know I don’t remember what you want me to remember, but I feel like my own whole person outside of that, I know you don’t understand–”
** “I was truly patient, hoping you’d find your way back, but obviously you’re still lost. But it’s– it’s– it’s all Maddock’s fault. Bran’s fault. You ruined everything, but now, now with Alphecca, and Anja, windfall indeed. A blessing answered. You’re gonna be fine. You’ll be whole again.”
* Gwyn asks if Bran is in the Skybound Lands.
** “No, he’s not, he’s gallivanting around, fighting, trying to… he… he’s working against us. Working against you, trying to make sure that you stay in that cave forever. Trying to bring us all down. [...] They won’t let you go, whenever I get some of the fragments out of the cave, you’re brought back, It Which Thirsts brings you back. I was a fool, I should’ve listened to the Cosmic, but I didn’t–”
* Morgen turns, whipping her arms about, almost in a mad frenzy of sorts. Gwyn takes a step back, looking terrified.
** “no, no, sweetheart, sweetheart–”
* Morgen takes a few steps forward, hands out.
** “We… we are gonna find… your soul. We’re gonna get you back. Our dream, Allatir. We’re gonna– we’re gonna make you whole. [...] You must promise to stay, darling. I don’t want to frighten you.
** “I won’t be frightened, I promise. I just wanna know more.”
* Gwyn makes a spirit check (1 success). Her mother is hesitant, but she lets out a long, deep breath.
** “Fine. Fine. I’ll remind you, sweetheart. But just know that this is what you wanted. This is what we want. [...] We were… harvesters of Braxa leaves. You know this, I’ve told you. In Shah Vaedin, nightmare of a continent, to be sure. But we were living lives of luxury and grandeur. Our experiments, oh, what we did. All of this is just a morsel of what we were creating.”
* With them was Bran Maddock – associate and competitor. They needed his ability to artifice, to understand the ins and outs of the flesh. Sigils, how they interact on a dimensional level. There was much they could learn from him, and of course they needed capable people in Shah Vaedin while they were avoiding Arnyr and other monsters.
* They found signs of a cave that supposedly contained a map to Allatir, the mythical city of zostrium, the dream of any artificer. Some of us would’ve heard of Allatir, lying at the edges of the cosmic stack.
* “We went to this cave, my dear, and inside we found secrets unknown to mortals and immortals alike. We gleaned the truest slant of the world for a few brief moments.”
* She shudders as she seems to remember that moment.
** “We found them. The Cosmic. The cave, it almost took us, but the Cosmic saved all three of us. It offered me a chance to join in on its quest, but I refused. I was scared, but you did not. You agreed. You’re my brave daughter, who I miss very much.”
** “What did I agree to? What did the Cosmic..?”
** “Bran panicked and he killed you, he killed you, after you agreed, but then… ah… I tried to stop him, but he was too fast, and the cave… I was weak, I was bleeding, I was afraid. I took your body, paid healers far and wide, but your aether was torn between the land and the afterlife, many fragments still remaining in the cave. Whenever I draw the pieces out, they would always return–”
* Tears flow down her face, like a red-hot knife pressed into the heart. A mother’s grief. Gwyn steps toward her, placing her hands on her arms as an almost-hug. Morgen grabs onto her immediately. She thinks maybe her girl, her lost daughter, is in there, just a piece, just a fragment. And she smiles, a wide, beautiful, happy smile.
** “Oh, I spent years trying to revive you. But I couldn’t. But then, then, after I built this container to house you, and it wasn’t working, the Cosmic, he showed up at my door, and we had tea, and I was ready, so… they brought me here, to this world. And I agreed to aid the Cosmic in their quest. In exchange, he promised to show me the path to get you back. Show me how to bend this world of new magic, of whimsy and wonder, and so, and so… we’ve been here. I let you go, I built for you a happier peace, a desire for wanderlust so that you might have the good memories. Good memories.
** I’m sorry I left you alone, but it was necessary. It was necessary. But now… now, we have Alphie, we have Anja, we have… we have this miracle of a creature who can create worlds. We… are going to make you whole. I promise. But we need Alphie’s Gelid Engine. Once we have it, once we draw it out, I believe it would be enough. It would be enough.”
* Gwyn grips her tighter.
** “I know this is what you think is right, but you were hurting people, good people. I’m right here. I’ve been here. It’s not the same, but… I can try harder.”
** “Just try for me, Olwen. I need you to try right now, I just need you to trust me a little further. I know that whatever the anomaly was, it scrambled you, my darling girl. I am your mother, and I love you.”
** “I’m trying to trust you, I can’t let you hurt Alphie, I can’t let you hurt Anja…”
** “You weren’t gonna kill Alphie, you weren’t gonna kill Anja! That wasn’t my programming…”
** “I was just about to kill Astranna, what about her mother? You must understand.”
** “Something is wrong with that girl! I don’t know what, but something is wrong with her!”
* Astranna snaps at her, saying nothing is wrong with her – ''she’s'' the one who pulled Astranna here. Anja also speaks up in her defense. Morgen turns to her.
** “You, Velgersi with a death mark… perhaps it was a prayer answered that you came.”
** “A death mark, what is that?”
** “Ah, you don’t know… Well, I’m positive you’ve seen… well, your power. I’m guessing you haven’t always had it, yes? You’re filled with low magic. You were bitten, you became a Velgersi.”
* Anja says she wasn’t bitten by anything.
** “You went into a forest, I’m guessing, yes? The death mark woods, judging by your mark. And while you were there, you were bitten by a Volgersi, an invisible one made of low magic. Bit rambunctious, probably didn’t even get a physical mark.”
** “No, I just… I found a stone there, I wasn’t bitten.”
** “A stone, they do like those stones. Have you been collecting many stones?”
* Anja says she’s been collecting them for her whole life.
** “It must have loved you, then. But your power only growing recently… Tell me, I’m guessing you were in an environment, unsure of how you fit into the family, not many friends, a tad bit isolated, am I onto something?”
** “I’d rather you stop talking.”
** “It gives you power, it needs a host. My guess is that you weren’t a very good host, but now that you are a Tattercoat Knight, well, you see, the Volgersi builds up a host, it hangs around it, making others around this host cherish them, love them. That’s how it feasts. It wants a person to be loved. Isn’t it strange how so many people immediately love you? [...] The Volgersi, Anja, it’s building you. It makes a mountain out of a person in the eyes of others.”
* Morgen says she’ll soon probably be the most beloved person in the Skybound Lands, using the myth of the Tattercoat Knights to help accelerate the process. Anja looks sick.
** “Of course, you are but a false idol. The Volgersi will build you up. Pride before the fall.”
** “So that’s why you look so revitalized when Maple is happy with you and is purring.” (Alphie – +1 hp)
** “Yes, a pet, ooh, enough to allow the Volgersi to survive, with you able to slowly grow. You see, Anja, your power… your abilities… to help unite, to help soothe the soul, you’re exactly what I need for this process, so we can help draw what’s left of my daughter out of this cave. You can help power my device, my machine.”
* Morgen dashes over to the behemoth chunk of metal. We see hundreds of thousands of individual runes carved into it, in meticulous detail.
** “Please help me bring my baby home.”
** “You are mistaken. My power does not do what I want it to do.”
** “Let me help you, then. I can help you. We can help each other.”
* Anja says she doesn’t trust her.
** “I could’ve killed you, but I did not. I don’t want to hurt anybody, I just want my daughter back. That’s it. And then after that I’ll make sure all of you get back to theRings of Meropis. Yes, that’s where you’re all from? I’ll make sure you’re all back. I just need your magic. I need the Breezestone. I need you, Olwen. I need you to help as we construct a fresh body, so we can fully get you back. And Alphecca, I need your Gellid Engine.”
* Alphie asks what that is.
** “My dear. I see you beginning to shiver already. It’s that thing they put inside of you.”
** “Who’s they?”
** “Hmm? Good question. A good question.”
* Gwyn asks if she can help Alphie’s condition.
** “I think I can, yes. You see, my sweet, that… that thing in them, it is… a pocket dimension. Created using dark alchemy, but it’s a pocket dimension unlike anything you or I could ever create. A pocket dimension the size of a literal galaxy inside them, but it’s not just that, a galaxy which uses Sisyphus Cooling. Do you know what Sisyphus Cooling is?”
* Gwyn tries to recall it, but only gets 1 success… she’s heard of it, it’s somewhere in there, but it escapes her.
* Alphie’s heard the myth of a Zell soldier who tried to strike Zell down, and was killed by Zell. The Archfiend, under Zell’s request, went to Zell and said they wanted to make an afterlife for Zell, so that none would dare strike down such a benevolent ruler again. Zell said there wasn’t anything bad enough for such an individual. The Archfiend got to work, constructing a mountain and lining it with devils. They placed a boulder made of platinum, heated to the point of glowing, and this soldier, Sisyphus, was tasked with rolling it up the hill as the devils tripped him, attacked him with spears.
** The goal was, if he got to the top of the mountain, he could take a rest as he watched it roll back down. They never let him get to the top. It would always roll back down. A Sisyphean task. He would not smile. They would know Sisyphus.
* Morgen explains the method of Sisyphus cooling.
** “Imagine you have two beams of light. Lasers. And when a tiny particle, smaller than anything you can see, tries to move around and gets excited, gets hot, the laser pushes it to a calm spot. The particle gets worked up, but the laser keeps saying go back down the mountain.”
* This is what the galaxy does, from millions and billions of tiny stars, making the temperature of the galaxy exponentially cooler over time.
** “This… person… they can be used for all sorts of things, but of course they usually don’t last very long. You’ve lasted a remarkably long time, but things here are different. I believe I can extract this galaxy using the Breezestone, the gibbit, and the magic. Anja, you too. And if you would help me, Olwen, and with a detached Gellid Engine, I could bring my daughter back. I could fulfill the wishes of the Cosmic, and I would go on my way.”
* She offers to send us wherever we want, use the machine to create whatever we want. We tell her the machine is a creature she’s torturing, and Gwyn walks to where the Gibbit is being kept. Several of us join her.
** “I wouldn’t do anything foolish. You are not in a position to escape.”
* Astranna looks around to see if she can spot Henrietta, and Gwyn asks if Morgen’s seen her. Morgen says she hasn’t seen a chicken – on a spirit check, she just gives a quick, dismissive look around. She doesn’t care about some girl’s pet.
** “This isn’t what I would’ve wanted. Hurting the gibbit like this, hurting my friend.”
** “The Gibbit is dangerous. After you’re healed, I promise I will make arrangements for the creature, no, I’ll do whatever you want, I just… I have commitments to the Cosmic, things I also must do with this machine. But afterward, I have no reason to keep the creature here. I’ll release it. Besides, me and you, we need to track down Bran Maddock and his apprentices, they’ve been working against us. They are very dangerous.”
* Morgen walks to Gwyn and pulls out a grainy image. There’s lots of noise in the picture. She holds it up to Gwyn, who sees an older-looking Bran Maddock, with 4-5 individuals. Something in the picture catches Jericho’s eye. He can see a human male, middle-aged, salt and pepper hair, walking down the street… and not 5 paces behind him, Galen. He’s still walking in the cloak Jericho bought him so many years ago. Jericho goes from dissociating to scared stiff in half a second.
** “Who. Who is that.” (Jericho – pointing at the lead guy)
** “This is Bran Maddock, the person who killed Olwen.”
** “Why was he with you in the first place?”
** “He is exceptional when it comes to areas of artificing that I occasionally lack in. You need all the help you can get in Shah Vaedin.”
** “So he’s what, your assistant? Partner?”
** “Colleague. Rival.”
* Astranna comes up and looks at the photo. She doesn’t recognize anyone. But Alphie does… at the back of this group of apprentices, she sees big, thick glasses, the eyes looking around. They see Abeada. Anja doesn’t see anyone she recognizes, but she recognizes the street, as does Jericho, who worked on it – it’s a run-down, slummy area in Havell.
** “It seems like there are some recognizing eyes. Bran Maddock is a very dangerous man. If you recognize people there, you need to help them.”
** “I just wonder what he’s doing in Havell.”
** “It’s a great question. Probably working against us, working, being a dangerous fellow. [...] He wishes to keep the Rings of Meropis in darkness, to hoard information to himself. He fears our advances. You don’t have to be involved in this, but perhaps if you all were to get back, back to Havell, you’d be able to warn these apprentices at the very least that they are associating with a bad, bad man. There might be help for them. But in order to do that, I need your help. Will you help me?”
* We ask about helping the people here.
** “Sure. Sure. You can help the people here, but you haven’t been very helpful now, have you?”
* She says three warlords have come up. She tries to set them against each other. Gwyn speaks.
** “If I promise to come back, if I swear to come back and become whole again, can you let us go stop them?
** “You’d have to help me now. What do you say?”
* Morgen reaches a hand out to Gwyn.
** “Please, will you come back to me?”
** “I… I will try.”
** “Good.”
* Gwyn asks if we can rest for a little bit before helping her – we all just died. She says we’ve technically been resting for many days, but Gwyn gets to make a spirit check at B1 [8 successes – exploding]. As she looks into her mother’s eyes… Morgen breathes a sigh of relief, and smiles at her.
** “Of course, of course. I’m sorry I got overanxious. [...] Here, let me escort all of you to some rooms. The tower’s all mine at the moment, I can show you luxury. Wouldn’t you like that?”
* Gwyn says she would, and asks if the five of us can stay together. Morgen agrees, and the door to the cell disappears. Morgen ushers us out of the room, and Alphie sends a last look to the Gibbit, a silent promise on silent lips. We pan out as Morgen ushers everyone out, and as she’s about to close up she taps a gemstone in her pocket.
** “I have it. I have them. I’m close. I promise.”
* We begin to zoom out at this moment, fading to someplace else, a throne of some kind in a gaudy, almost icy throne room. There sits an individual on the throne, with a similar gem, dressed in fine silks and jewels. They flick the gem in their fingers.
** “Good. Good. You’re doing well. Your daughter will be with you soon.”
* We see Stargazer! And the session ends here. It’s revealed (since Dalton won’t be here to tell us) that Gaelen is Jericho’s ex-boyfriend.