The Ship of Theseus

Historian: Caleb. Date: 08/18/2025.

TLDR – We meet Alphie’s family. Alphie throws Inora into a battlefield of a different kind. Astranna learns some new magic. Gwyn breaks the bad news to Bran, and he tells us to meet them in Havell. Dusk meets their hero, and then gets a glimpse of Jubilex. Alphie breaks their parents’ hearts. Prudii makes a prayer to Magion, and admires the local wildlife. Then brings the local wildlife inside. The milkman comes to have a chat with us.

Date: 50 Lionnir 777 AR.
Caleb gives the recap.
We’re ushered into Alphie’s home. Jamie is asked to describe it.
- “It’s probably a bit cleaner than before, as the two older kids have grown up, but there’s still remnants. Pictures on the walls, rugs that look kind of old and worn, well-loved. The furniture has some scratches and dents in it. It looks like people lived and had a lot of fun in the house as they were living in it. It looks well-loved.”
The table is still set for 5. Alphie’s dad starts to put on a kettle for tea and find some snacks, while Maeve tries to make everyone feel warm and comfortable. She bombards Alphie with questions. The first thing Alphie says is that she missed her.
- “We’ve been in a weird place, a world that feels like a storybook, but we escaped. Still have some work to do, but… here now.”
Maeve says that what counts is that they’re here now. They still have their old bed, of course, and turned Tesca’s room into a guest bedroom… she can find spaces for everyone here.
Essar comes back with fruit and meat. He asks if we like walnuts.
- “Everything you have would be okay.” (Anja)
- “Everything?”
Anja tries to correct herself and say anything, but it’s too late, and we end up with basically everything in the kitchen on the table in front of us. Anja does her best to keep Maple from batting at the fruit.
Alphie chooses now to summon Inora. They focus in, and there’s this swirling in the air next to her. Inora pops in, and their mother and father look absolutely stunned.
- “Oh, good, it worked! You all remember when I was telling you about Inora. Well, she’s here now, real. Not dream-like anymore.”
- “Ah! It’s great to know our daughter isn’t insane! Welcome, welcome! Nice to finally meet you!” (Essar)
Essar very enthusiastically shakes Inora’s hand, while Maeve tries to reassure Alphie she never had a doubt they were sane. Jericho gets a hero point for using inquisitor on this – Maeve didn’t think Alphie was insane, but did think they may be possessed.
Inora says she’s been around the whole time. Essar asks if she saw him trip and fall down the stairs before.
Essar’s attention moves to Gwyn, who’s been awkwardly trying to stand out of the way and stay out of the line of attention.
- “A tall person like you needs to eat a lot to keep going.”
Gwyn asks if she can help with anything, and he says there’s a nail on the stairs he needs to reach. He then proceeds to bounce around to all the tasks he hasn’t been able to do, eventually asking her name somewhere in the middle.
Anja pours everyone tea, and finds a water dish for Maple. She offers for Astranna to pet Maple, but Henrietta does not allow this. Astranna thanks Henrietta for being by her side, and Henrietta snuggles up closer.
Essar offers up mattresses, blankets, quilts – he offers to sleep on the couch so we can have his bed, and is insistent on it until Anja says she doesn’t want to get cat hair on his bed. Maeve then points out that she wasn’t moving from the bed, and Essar says the bed is off the table.
Jericho spends an hour cleaning the Noxas. Anja writes in her stack of papers and notes, with Maple in her lap (probably a writing surface).
Gwyn plans on using the dream sand tonight.
Alphie has a conversation with Inora.
- “As promised, much better this time than the last.”
- “Much better, yes. Wow, I didn’t think that we’d be going back home again.”
- “I didn’t think so either.”
Alphie confirms Inora saw everything growing up. She says that when Alphie’s vision turned greener, she tried to help out when she could, but it’s been easier in the Skybound Lands. Alphie gives her a shoulder bump, which she returns.
Inora says it was nice to get to talk to their parents, and asks if they liked her. Alphie thinks so – they do like everyone, but she thinks they liked Inora (they point out that their dad is not subtle when he doesn’t like someone).
- “It’s kinda sad we’re gonna be leaving. I forgot just how nice this place is.”
- “Would you like to sit with me to go through some of the things in my bedroom?”
Inora agrees. At this point, we pan out as the night continues on. Astranna slips out of the house once everyone is asleep, and finds a hilltop where she can see the stars. She looks up at the sky, then down at her palm where her father’s mark had been, and tries to tap into the power she used before.
Astranna focuses (4 successes), and feels her consciousness begin to expand a bit. She’s focusing, and feels this touch of power. With 1 success (phys), she feels something helping her, bringing the power to the forefront… she doesn’t see Henrietta in the window, watching her, helping to stoke this power.
As she reaches out, she feels this electricity along her fingers. She looks down at her hand, and she sees tiny pinpricks of light begin to appear across her skin like stars. She feels like she wants to connect them, like she wants to try to make a constellation, to mold the night sky. She wants to set it in a pattern resembling the apple tree sapling.
- What do you want the stars to give you?
She wants understanding – to understand why her father did what he did. She rolls a 1d6-1 (0). She reaches out, trying to gain this knowledge, unfiltered and pure… she feels the stars shifting, and watches as those pinpricks of light around her body flare and die, and flare die. Caleb is asked to a number 1-3 – he successfully calls a 2, meaning he can use the ability once again this session.
Astranna has unlocked a new novice form of magic. She can feel the galaxy shifting. She’s put something in motion in the world. As she feels the power, it feels… calm. Almost warm, as she lets that constellation fade.
- And you’ve done it, Astranna. You feel the world beginning to shift to your whim and will. A gift from your father.
She whispers a thank you to him. She stays a while longer to stargaze, and falls asleep.
Gwyn finds herself in a dreamscape.
- “This message is far clearer.”
She tells Bran we’re on the Titanic Ring again – temporarily. We must return very soon. She’s looking down, almost ashamed, as she’s talking to him.
- “Why must you return soon?”
- “We… really really messed up. I think first you must know, Morgen is… essentially dead.”
- “Dead? I’m… sure that was no small feat.”
- “It… surprisingly, kind of was. We gave her a potion that would erase her mind. I gave it to her mixed in with tea, and… she was gone. Just like that. She believed me that I was Olwen, and she trusted me, and… I killed her.”
Bran says it was likely for her own protection – Morgen would’ve stopped at nothing to get Olwen back. Gwyn says she agrees, though she didn’t want it to end like that.
- “I don’t know if that can be considered a mistake, Gwyn. You did what you had to do.”
- “And then we spoke with the Cosmic.”
- “You did what?”
- “We spoke with him. We were backed into a corner. We’ve been fighting with this hag, Cracklebones, and… we had no other choice. We helped him.”
- “You… you helped the Cosmic? What did you do?”
Gwyn says we helped him summon Jubilex.
- “What. Is that.”
- “I don’t know what it is. We were trying to protect ourselves, the Skybound Lands, we thought that was our only choice, and now I’m worried he’s gonna destroy all of it and more, and I know we have fucked up more than you could’ve expected us to, but we need your help, please.”
- “I’ll do whatever I can to help you. I promise, we were trying to figure out a ritual to bring you out of the Skybound Lands. I thought I had nearly succeeded. It seems like I was too slow.”
- “I’m sorry for working with him.”
- “We can’t dwell on that now.”
Gwyn asks to meet him. He says they’re under watch, and now he’d understand why – the Cosmic and their agents seek to return to the Rings of Meropis with whatever this thing is.
- “Perhaps only we know how truly in danger the world is.”
He says he could attempt to send someone to meet with all of us on the Titanic Ring and bring us back to his safehouse in Havell, or we could come meet them there.
- “While me and my group sought to return to Shah Vaedin, to the cave, we may put that on hold so that we perhaps may face an even greater threat, at least to make sure you and others in your party are not in grave, immediate danger.”
He’ll have his people watching, and if energy reminiscent of the Skybound Lands enters Havell, they’ll come to meet us. Gwyn apologizes for putting him in danger.
- “There’s danger everywhere. Do not be afraid.”
Gwyn tells him her friend Jericho knows some of his people – Galen and Lavinia. Bran says Galen is one of theirs, and they’ve been in contact with Lavinia.
Gwyn wakes up to a far-off rooster crowing. Everyone wakes up, and everyone who slept together notices Astranna is missing. They rush to go look, and see Maeve and Essar have set up a family-style breakfast. They begin to search, and Jericho passes a window and sees Astranna snoozing on the hill. Essar says he’ll go get a towel, and Jericho goes to get her. He rouses her, and she says she fell asleep stargazing. They go inside.
Alphie runs into Dusk – an orc kid, with darker green skin. They’re 14 years old at this point, rocking a side part on their head, layers of flannels and things of the like. Their eyes go wide.
- “Alphie?”
Alphie asks how they’re doing. They say well, and nervously offer a fist bump.
- “You got– you’re back. Why are there people downstairs?”
Alphie says we’re their friends, and we’re on an adventure.
- “We have to keep going soon, but we stayed the night.”
They ask what the adventure is. Alphie starts describing the floating islands, and immediately pisses them off. They roll their eyes and start to leave, but stop dead in their tracks, mouth open, staring at Jericho.
- “Is? Alphie– Is that Jericho Lachance? [...] He’s one of the, like, best fortunetellers on the Prime Ring! He’s disappeared off the map for the last few years! Can I get his autograph?”
Alphie says they can, but stops Dusk before they can go off.
- “You’re gonna need this.”
She hands them a piece of celery. Dusk goes up to Jericho.
- “Mr Lachance? I’m a big, big fan of your work.”
- [They hold a piece of celery in his face. Jericho swallows his mouthful of oatmeal.]
- “Um, thanks. Uh…”
- “You like celery? You like?”
Jericho says he’s not personally a fan, but Piero likes it. Dusk gets to feed Piero :) They say Jericho has a 72% success rate, one of the highest in the Prime Ring over the past 20 years. Dusk tracks that sort of thing. They ask him to sign a napkin, but he takes out his notebook, signs a piece, and hands it to them. They ask how much a reading is, and he says he’ll give them the friends and family rate, since they’re related to Alphie – one fortune free of charge.
Dusk asks if they’ll be a famous fortuneteller one day. Jericho does a quick bibliomancy reading, doing a basic check of the outlook on them being a fortuneteller. He gets “End”. He then uses Augury: “What is the outlook for Dusk’s life going forward?”
- Jericho closes his eyes, and feels the vision come to him. He finds himself walking next to a great ocean. The ocean’s waves are rolling as if in the middle of a storm. There are no clouds in the sky, and the sky is a dull burgundy color. Ahead of him is an oceanside town, he strolls within, and as he makes his way inside, there is a path going left and right. The left has candles and the right has, occasionally, silver coins scattered about.
- Jericho chooses the candles (left). As he goes down this path, he can see along the rooftops of these houses and shops, vultures begin to look at him. He finds a tombstone in a cul-de-sac. Before the tombstone is a massive hourglass, 3/4ths done with the sand. As he looks upon the tombstone, he sees the name “Dusk” and the dates 763-778.
Then Jericho is sitting back at the kitchen table with his oatmeal. Dusk is looking at him very excitedly. Jericho asks about his methodology, and offers to teach him a few tricks.
[I stepped away for a few moments here.]
Alphie tells her dad a little bit about the Skybound Lands, including Granny Cracklebones. Their parents are displeased that they called her a hag, but Alphie insists she’s a real hag, and an absolute bitch.
- “I get it. I know something about absolute bitches. [...] Samantha across the street–”
Maeve chides both of them for calling Samantha a bitch, but falls silent when Alphie asks if she doesn’t also want to dethrone her. Alphie then puts Prudii on the spot to answer their questions about the Skybound Lands.
- “Do your people grow bamboo?”
Anja offers for Prudii to pet Maple. He says after breakfast. He then lowers his head so his hat covers his face, removes the kenbo, eats, and puts it back. He talks about the Sweet Meadows. He doesn’t know how much to compare to here, since he hasn’t seen much of this place. But it was happy. He left for a bit to explore.
- “And then uh, I came back and, um… now I’m like this. Long story short.”
Maeve asks if this [she gestures to the bamboo] was a more recent occurrence.
- “A couple years ago. I’ve been… recovering. I just recently came back to explore and search out your child and the party.”
- “Why are you looking for my kid?” [Essar]
- “To help them.”
He mentions danger – when you have mythical heroes that show up, you have to seek them out.
- “Are there mythical threats that need mythical heroes?” [Maeve]
- “I don’t know if they’re mythical… it’s mostly, like, a little otter with little robots.”
- “Oh. Um, that’s not bad then, right?”
- “Right. Not that bad.” [Alphie]
Maeve gives Prudii an “Is that true?” look. Real middle-aged woman stare, piercing through his soul.
- “The otter is… Alphie will make short work of the otter. It’s, uh–”
- “Not our Alphie, Alphie’s a pacifist. Talk ‘em to death!” [Essar]
Gwyn and Jericho start laughing. Jericho catches himself and pretends he choked on oatmeal. Maeve asks how long we intend to stay, so they can get enough food. Alphie says we wanted to go back very soon… if Jericho’s hanging out with Dusk today, Alphie was hoping to walk to town with Inora, since she hasn’t gotten to see it yet, then they suppose we go at night. Their parents are displeased at how flippant Alphie is being – she just disappeared without a trace. They even got a Seraph involved.
- “Maybe it wasn’t your decision to leave, but it’s your decision to go now.” [Essar]
- “There’s things that are at stake that I don’t even know how to describe. To be completely honest, I was lying about the level of danger. It is… dangerous. Very dangerous. But that is why we have to go so quickly. [...] We learned about ourselves and helping others, and now we are uniquely fitted for this.”
Their parents are staring at them. They don’t seem the most happy about that answer. They talk more about the dangerous powers, and their parents fall silent.
- “Dad, I do wish I was still a pacifist.”
- “What does that mean? Have… have you killed someone?”
- “It means that when people keep deciding for themselves that the only answer they will listen to is violence, then why keep speaking in a language they don’t understand?”
Essar excuses himself, saying he has to go pick up flowers for Maeve at the market. He tells the rest of us to continue making ourselves at home. Seems like he doesn’t know how to square all that. Alphie follows him out, trying to give him a very big hug. They get to make a spirit check for emotional manipulation [2 successes]. He hugs them back.
- “No matter what has happened, or what will happen, I’m glad that I got to see you guys again. And I hope that we have more time and the peace has been restored, I can tell you all about that.”
- “I’m worried about you, Alphecca. I don’t wanna see you in danger. I mean, you got some nice friends, but you showed up some of you in real bad shape last night. Blood everywhere. Been gone for… The way you’re talking, I…”
Alphie asks how long they’ve been gone. He says a few weeks.
- “The Alphie that I knew before you left, I don’t know if they’d recognize some of the things you been sayin’...”
Alphie asks to go with him to the market [spirit at B1 – 2 successes]. He nods silently, and doesn’t turn her away.
Anja finishes her breakfast, puts her makeup on, and helps to clean up. Maeve smiles at her and thanks her, and compliments her outfit. She asks to be taught how to do something like that, and Anja agrees. She takes quite quickly to Maple, and feeds her some fish.
For the first time in a while, Astranna is actually eating a full meal! She’s calmer, and seems to be doing better. Henrietta is very pleased, and Astranna gives her a lot of attention. Henrietta gives her a lot of attention in return.
Jericho goes to find a fire pit with Dusk. Gwyn gives him quick Bran updates. Dusk leads him to an indoor fireplace, and he asks if they’ve heard of speculary before. They’ve tried it once or twice. On the second time, they burnt their hair off their head a little bit, but they’re willing to try again. He says they shouldn’t get that close, and they say that the fire was weak, so they tried to throw tar on it. Jericho warns them to stay away from accelerant for this type of thing. He pulls out a couple scraps of cloth.
- “For this one I want you to try to be looking at a place. The place doesn’t matter, just try to be in your head picturing a place. Take this and wrap it around your eyes. [...] And now look in the direction of the fire, and through the blindfold you should start to be seeing shapes.”
- “I see… a yellow lizard. Um, they’re, they’re walking through a forest, and the lizard has a fishing pole, uhh…. Does that mean anything?”
- “Yes it does. Where are you picturing?”
- “Um, I’m picturing the Skybound Lands.”
Jericho says they’re picturing someone we met there, a fella by the name of Newton. Dusk pictures their dad next.
- “And um, I think I see the flower stalls… um… it’s changing, um, Mr. Lachance, is that normal?”
Jericho says yes – with this type of divination, that tends to happen. Fire is inherently ephemeral, and changes quickly and often.
- “I… I see some clouds, and in the clouds, there’s a goat running through them. It’s pulling a chariot, and the chariot’s on fire, it’s like this orange flame?”
Their mind’s wandering at this point – they don’t know where they are. They try to get back to the Skybound Lands. Their form changes.
- “J… Mr. Jericho–”
- “Hey! Hey, picture your father again.”
- “It’s so big… so many eyes…”
Jericho tries to get their attention, and rips the blindfold off. Their eyes are filled with swirls of violet and white, and they seem to be gazing at something.
- “It’s in a room filled with candles…”
- “Look at me, look at me!”
- “It’s speaking to me…”
- “Don’t listen, don’t listen, okay?”
They blink a few times – and then the eyes go back to normal. Jericho asks if they’re okay.
- “Yeah. Um… What– what was that? Was that real?”
- “Listen. Listen. Okay? So, part of this, it’s important. If you wanna keep going with this practice, look towards the future, the stars, the fire, it’s important to understand… observation by itself still brings danger. It can be– I’ve seen it happen myself, it can be tempting to think that the practice of divination, fortune-telling, all of this, is in some way safe, that you’re just looking, just listening, it doesn’t mean anything…
- But there is still the fact that in order for you to see, something from there has to enter your eyes, or your mind. So there is still the risk that comes with it. You just have to keep your mind, yes where you’re looking, but keep your mind where it’s sitting.”
Dusk says they’ve never had it happen that strongly.
- “It’s alright. Okay?”
- “Yes. I… Thank you. That– that was incredible.”
- “Sure. Let’s, uh… For practicing purposes, let’s keep it a bit more domestic for now.”
They point out that the fire still hasn’t gone back to normal. As Jericho looks at it, it’s a green flame. It’s not dying – it even seems to be growing, just a tad. The 12th’s theme plays.
- “Be careful, yourself. There are many things in the dark. Don’t become one of them. They need you.”
The flame slowly loses its tint, returning back to a more normal color.
Gwyn doesn’t know enough social etiquette not to go snooping around a bit. She looks for a study, but they don’t really have anything like that, so she just admires how domestic it all is.
Prudii goes outside, and sets up a little prayer area. He takes out a massive glaive and lays it in front of him. Then the katana. He sets up a space to burn incense. He’s in a different area, so he’s unsure of whether or not his gods can hear him, but he will offer a prayer to Magion, since that’s the one god on the Rings he’s somewhat familiar with.
- “Um, I… This is to Magion, I– I apologize, I don’t know as many of the others, I was told only of you, the god of the moon. We came at night, but um, thank you for lighting the path, and helping us to find home easier. I don’t know your customs, how to– to provide offerings the way everyone else does, but this is my attempt. So thank you.”
He’s given the choice to make either a mental or spirit check at B1. He chooses spirit (2 successes). As he makes this prayer, he feels the wind pick up for a moment. He glances up at the sky, and based on the positioning of the ring, he can just barely see the moon still on the horizon as he goes through a ritual and a custom. As he sits back and gives a sigh, he feels… almost like the breath in his lungs is refurbished. The air around him momentarily takes on a bit of an iridescence, and he gains +1 hp, as he doesn’t believe his prayer was ignored.
He looks around, and sees a few animals – some squirrels, birds, a badger hole nearby, a small pachycephalosaur… very different from the normal Skybound Lands fauna.
- “Badger hole, you say? Is there a badger in the badger hole?”
His best friend was a badger, so of course he’s checking if there’s a badger! He drops some fruit down the hole and waits. A badger emerges, making noises at him.
- “Usually you speak!”
He gives it more fruit. The badger makes its way forward… then leaps into the air and clamps down on Prudii’s arm. He very excitedly brings it into the home. As we try to extract it, it reattachs to Gwyn. Astranna pulls it off of Gwyn… but then the mate comes charging, latching onto her leg.
Gwyn tries to launch the badger away, but launches Astranna, too. Henrietta stares at her.
As she’s flying, Astranna successfully launches the one she’s holding. Jericho runs after her, and tries to pry off the one on her leg… but he throws it right onto the pachy, who charges us. They run, and Anja uses her curse of the shadow chains on the pachy. It falls unconscious right at the threshold.
Alphie gets home and asks what the hell happened. Prudii goes out to leave some food by the pachy, and returns to his badger friends. Petting the badger doesn’t end well.
Suddenly, Henrietta bolts up the stairs. Astranna and Alphie follow her, but Astranna pauses on the stairs as there’s a knock at the door. We debate on what to do. Eventually, Astranna calls out.
- “Hello? Who is it?”
- “Room service!”
- “We didn’t order any room service!”
- “Milk man!”
There’s a pop, and the sound of sliding steel as Prudii draws his katana. Astranna notices the air seems to have a sharpness that it didn’t before – there’s a weight that has come down on the house. She uses her new magic (1d6-1 – 3) to prepare to make the house safe; she requests that for one hour, no one inside the house can be hurt. Her body lights up, glowing, and she connects a spattering of lights on her body, making a constellation resembling a shield. She tells the party that it’ll be a moment, but she thinks she can make the house safe, so it’s best to keep everyone (including Alphie’s family) inside.
Outside, the world darkens – it’s midday, but it almost seems like the sun has gone.
Prudii steps forward and opens the door. There’s a tall, dark shape waiting for him outside. Behind, there appears to be the night sky, and he sees a full moon behind. The figure has pale skin, dark eyes, and a crown upon his head.
- “Hello there. You are the one that prayed to me.”
- “Magion?”
- “In the flesh. [...] You have here quite an interesting collection of magic. Do you understand what it is you have done?”
- “By praying to you?”
- “No. Or– not likely. I’ve gotten a disturbance. You have come from a world that I do not know about, and that is a rare thing. May I come in?”
Prudii turns to Alphie.
- “You didn’t say if this was a good god or not. Do we let him in?”
Alphie says we should.
- “We would be, um. My dad likes to cook meat. Do you want to eat with us?”
- “I have brought a friend, as well. If you do not mind. We would like to have a conversation with you. Two extra mouths to feed, although I do not eat much, especially at this time of day.”
Anja asks who he is. He introduces himself as Magion.
- “I make sure that beings from beyond the cosmic stack stay beyond. I manage the comings and goings of these dimensions. My moon is my eye, and I watch to make sure the darkness does not encroach upon the light.”
We ask about his friend. He says we might know them. He says it’s safe, and spreads a hand – 50 Ard Magos drop their cloak. They’re in head to toe jet-black armor, with runes glowing on the metal, a mithril longsword, and an elementrix rifle. Coming out from amongst them is someone Jericho(?) recognizes, as does Astranna. The shape is white, moving with a gentle grace forward. There is a crown upon the head, with long, white flowing hair, and beautiful blue eyes, piercing in the gloom.
- What would you think, Astranna, to see one of the empresses of the Titanic Ring striding forward?
Astranna’s flabbergasted, but kneels. The party follows suit. Ishin crosses the threshold.
Everyone gets a level-up! Jericho gets +3 hp for training Dusk.