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11/27/2024 -- Operation Solandis Parts 1 - 5

From The Shivo Library

Operation Solandis I – Haef 35th, 715AR (12/1/24)

  • As we start this session, we do a quick downtime regarding what people have been doing for the previous thirty days. We begin on the 35th of Haef.
  • Ki hangs out with Margaux and Claudia. She also begins to train.
    • FOURTH MOUNTAIN – 3 and 3, 2
      • Successfully complete!
    • A defensive mountain. Very cool.
  • She heads out to see Claudia. She is moving about Widow’s Home, looking over maps and charts. Shes been checking out the new differences to the Primordial Ring.
    • “Do… you think Bee is doing okay? It’s– I mean– it’s almost been a month and we… As it is we can’t even check up on them.”
      • “Well… Bee and the others are strong. I’m sure that they are completing many challenges in order to finally unearth what is at the bottom of that Sanctum.”
    • “I just hope they are not locked in some room somewhere and have been waiting there for thirty days, haha–”
      • “Hopefully not. The expeditions have shown that the ways to that floor have been sealed now. Who knows, maybe they’re completing some kind of trial.”
    • “Maybe this will be the last level for the Sanctum. Maybe we will finally be done with this.”
      • “Mm. Maybe. That would be nice.”
      • Claudia requests a few Hob scouts sent her way.
    • With 3 successes, you’re able to acquire like 10-12 scouts. Ki thinks it sounds like a good number, Claudia didn’t specify though.
      • She smiles and gives her a hug. Things should go quicker, now.
    • “Have… you ever had a crush on someone, before?”
      • “I do.”
    • “How do you know when you… fancy someone. More than just like, friends.”
      • “Well… you have a desire to just be around them. There is an underlying love and admiration greater than just a simple friend. Why?”
    • “Well there is– Someone new who came into camp, and, well, I don’t know if he has– I don’t know if he’s interested in anybody but– well, he– he’s been– he went on the expedition too and– I just noticed I kind of miss him. A lot. Um. Yeah. I don’t know this– this is my first time I’ve ever had feelings like this for somebody–”
      • “Mm! Well, I would say perhaps go for it.”
  • Andreas and Charon have a lengthy conversation about hovering over the Maiden. Charon doesn’t really get it, but will listen.
    • Charon asks Andreas to knock, and he does. The Maiden calls out that the door is open. Andreas opens the door. You can see the Maidens' apartment. That place in Widows’ Home that she has taken for herself. Within the coffin with the body of this woman. Ishin. She sits on the couch with a cup of tea and looks into the coffin. She gives a small smile.
    • “Hello.”
    • “I think everything feels like it should. Although it doesn’t make it any easier.”
    • “I owe both of you and everyone an apology. I gave up on you all.”
      • “No. No. You put up with a lot of our shit. We are not innocent or blameless in this situation.”
    • “When she was gone, with the way that she is now, I thought that I had failed. There was a point in the final hours of the Titanic War… we had… tried to suppress the influence of the Dark Star for as long as we could, but then– the Titans, they did something. And it started getting far worse. I thought that… There was no other way. I… killed her. I shattered her. And I… killed so many in those days. I thought… that I had given up then too. But I had made the wrong choice? I hadn’t just failed all of you– but all of this. Everything that’s happened. It could have all been avoided. I don’t know if that’s true or not.”
    • “She showed me it once. This beautiful idea. I honestly could barely comprehend it. But it was of a flourishing place, where people were happy. Where people got second chances. I didn’t know how we’d do that. But looking at both of you, and everyone else… How could it not come true?”
    • “I thought if I shared in all of your sufferings, to take everything on as I possibly could, that everything could be better. Because… I’m not as breakable. I don’t think that was right either. I think sharing that suffering also comes with… actually being together. Actual sharing and not… martyrdom. I think I’ve had the wrong idea for a long time. I’m… I’m sorry that I… was so lost.”
      • “I think that’s enough philosophical questions for awhile. I have a question for you, Maiden. If there wasx one place you could go on the Rings– or the Cosmic Stack, where would you go?”
    • “Hm… I would go… well… I don’t really know. Anywhere with the people who I love. I’ve gotten to know so many people since I’ve come out of isolation. I have friends from the top to the bottom of the Cosmic Stack. I really would just want to be with them. Anywhere would do.”
    • “I will take that trip with my wife and daughter. I promise I won’t stop until I help us all get there. To that future.”
      • “You promise to stop to eat though, right?”
    • “I do. I know I’m still far from okay, but I promise to try. Really try. I’m not going to stay like I was. I’m gonna give it everything I have. So that when I see my wife again… I’m a better version of myself. Not just for her. For all of you.”
    • “Thank you. Um. Would you two like to stay for dinner, tonight? I’m… I’d really like it.”
  • Thomas would like to finish the Fifth Mountain. Please for the love of God he wants to finish it.
    • PHYS – 4
    • PHYS – 4
    • SPIRIT – ?
    • SPIRIT – 2
      • SPIRIT – ?
      • Training comes to an end! Yippee!
  • Thomas heads to see Cordell, getting a pass in.
    • You pass by different cells until you find the one containing the Lady of Thorns. The eyes focus on you, there is no response.
    • “You brought me my son.”
      • “Yeeeees. I did.”
    • “Thank you for that.”
      • “Of coursssssse.”
    • “Do you know where Philip is?”
      • “Ahahah. The question is, where isn’t Philip?”
    • “Explain, please.”
      • “Hm! You should have known when you crossed the Broker of Despair what would happen.”
      • “Your son isn’t dead, no. He’s very much alive.”
      • “Ohhhh. You poor thing. You will never truly find him. No. His pieces, kept alive, strung about, unable to pass on. Wards on wards. Keeping him from your reach. From the reach of that Dog.”
      • “There is someone you can ask, though. The Third. That you left behind. Hmhm. The Broker of Despair found out from Ishin… a gift for your redemption, but we know the truth. We know what it will wrought upon you.”
      • “Did you not think it was possible for a High God– no, something greater than a High God– imbued with the power of the Dark Star… come now… Surely you know. How can there be a happy family, two sons and a father, without a mother.”
    • “My wife is dead.”
      • “Yessssss. Death. Is. A High God. That Runs. From Ishin. Death is not the beast in the shadows anymore. Death flees as the true shark prowls in the depths below. Moving through dark waters. Waiting to strike. And Ishin has struck. HOW DEATH HAS SCREAMED! HOW HE SCREAMED! Oh I haven’t heard it myself…. But… the Broker told stories. The howling pain. The endless triumph of the way beyond death. They’re all coming. All of them. Ohhhh… You will have so much fun.”
      • Cordell leans back against the side of her cell.
  • It has begun to grow dark, Thomas. You feel a strangeness start to settle over this camp. You quickly look towards the gate, it is about 2AM. There is something wrong here, Thomas. Here, in the gloom, you feel… nothing approaching you. This wave of Primordial Silence that is beginning to eerily creep into this camp. Thomas is running off to look for leadership. Something is obviously wrong, and Thomas doesn’t know what is going on.
  • Andreas and Charon, you’re sitting with the Maiden as she perks up as well. Something wrong. Ki heads back to Claudia, you freeze in your tracks too. Something makes your stomach twist into terrible knots as all of your eyes begin to fall upon the Gate. Something is at the Gate. It is trying to get in. You odn’t know how you know. It’s this primordial knowledge. Everyone in the Sanctum has finally made it to the surface.
  • Those who make it to the surface begin swarming towards the Gate.
  • Charon gestures to the Gate. Something is very wrong here, we need to find the others.
    • “This force… I’ve only felt it twice before. And it has been in the presence of elder evils.”
    • The Maiden says she loves Andreas and Charon both. She hugs them before putting on her armor.
  • Thomas runs into Andreas and Charon. They agree to head off together, Andreas warns him about what the Maiden said.
  • Seth heads to his father. He looks around in surprise.
    • “Son. What’s happening.”
      • “I don’t know, something at the Gate.”
    • “This– The Gate. I’ve never felt anything liek this before.”
      • “I haven’t either. We need to protect our tribe and our family.”
    • “Yes. I will go start to rally the tribe. Where is the safest place here?”
      • “Nowhere is really safe. Take them to the Sanctum.”
    • “Figure out if there is anyone out there that I cannot find. We have survived the very worst they have thrown at us. And, Son, I have just returned to you. You will not leave me and your mother.”
      • The wolf speaks of strangeness. It is like all of the world is silent. Quiet. Never heard anything like it before, smells have gone and died.
      • The Spirit states that there is a demon here, more powerful than he has ever faced.
      • “We are hunted. We are hunted. Beware.”
  • Seth exits, acti5vating Greater Resurrection. He is targeting Nay’lor Reymas. This may be something necessary to travel to the Primordial Tree to. As the world around you descends into chaos, Seth, you walk in and behold the Tree of Primordial magic, now thundering with power and energy, unlike that of which you’ve held before. There, is Elthrendil, touching and communicating with the tree, but now Seth this is your moment. You allow the power to rush through you.
    • NOW PLAYING: SETH’S THEME
    • Nay’lor Reymas did not die a normal death, and would normally not be resurrectable. As you make your way to the tree, and you touch it, you begin to feel lightning surrounding your body, red crackling lightning and degrading energy. You take another breath. This barrier of Primordial magic surrounding you. Taking deep breaths you close your fist as you start to imagine a body, purpose, it flows through you now. Quickly in waves as everyone in this chamber begins to see leaves on the Primordial Tree begin to flick off, and swirl, around, and around, as you are doing this you feel this intent, heavy, pushing against you Seth.
    • You watch as bones begin to form. You see a middle aged man in very fine mages robes begins to form, as his eyes open you begin to feel Aether start to spill out of him. As he smiles, parts of his hair go from dark grey to black. He blinks.
      • “Haha. Where am I? What’s happening?”
      • He summons a flying carpet, saying they must be going now.
  • At this moment, dozens of Hobgoblins lay dead on the ground. Kleshch, you can see what appears to be a man? A very nice hat. He is crawling away. Bits of the flesh seem to have been ripped off the body. He is trying to yell, trying to scream, but no noise comes out. You watch as this individual starts to be lifted up in the air, from around a corner comes this girl.
  • The pupil settles on Radovan Raze. There is no noise, no sound. He slumps. He is thrown aside without a noise, without a sound. You all are about 200ft away from this entity. At this moment, they turn. Some Hobgoblin mage from up on a building has summoned a fireball in his hands. As he is about to fire it, the Mage meets the gaze of the individual. And then they turn inside out. Literally if you were turning a shirt inside out. Bones. Organs. Muscle. He begins to immediately disintegrate.
  • The combat schools were originally meant to fight demons. Like the one in front of us. And they don’t like it when you do that.
  • You peaked the Fourth Mountain. You peaked it. At the moment, immune to Spiritual damage, immune to Normal damage, resistance 10 to magical damage, no weaknesses, worst saving throw: mental.
  • Without a word, the eyes fall upon you.
    • PHYS SAVE – 3
  • Kleshch spends two destiny tokens.
  • All parts of your body begin to shut down. You begin to be forcibly silenced, your role in the song decimated. In this moment, Kleshch, you step forward and huck a rock at this entity. It is the biggest you can find, multiple tons, and it just impacts. You watch as the dust begins to settle. The creature slowly looks over to you, enough to drop concentration on Ki. At this moment, Ki, you are at 1HB and it is so strange. It’s like every part of you feels wrong. Off. This woman, swaying side by side, begins to approach you. She continues her march.
    • Ki prepares Summon Nothingness to break her concentration. It might not work.
    • Kleshch begins grabbing people and running. Ki is picked up.
      • Ki – 3
      • Angel – 6
      • Zey – 3
      • Kleshch – 7
        • Kleshch grabs Ki and Zey like a man late for the train.
  • If Kleshch hadn’t picked up Ki and Zey, it would have just been death. Kleshch loses 50 stamina– which he can’t do–Zey and Ki are reduced to 0 and max is reduced to 0 until the end of a complete rest.
  • You leave them behind as more forces begin to run forward. You watch as the personal guard of Mace Crane is running forward. Magion himself is beginning to emerge and start to head that direction as well. At the current moment, as everyone is running now, all groups collide with each other. Just outside the command building.
    • Ki communicates what she learned.
  • Andreas says we are not equipped to fight this thing.
  • At this point, Angel, you can see standing parallel to the side of the command building where you are at… this girl. Eyes looking at all of you.
  • As you summon up water, the entity  looks at you. Your brain begins to have a seizure, you clutch the side of your head. I now need you to make a spirit save to prevent yourself from screaming.
    • SPIRIT – 3
    • You watch, as you begin to scatter, Zey tries to summon up water around him. The Entity sees. The demon watches. You feel your mind attack itself, Zey. In this one horrid flash you scream.
    • The entity frowns. With a flick of the finger you’re sent into the atmosphere. And you are gone. Parts of the command building start turning to sludge, falling silently away. Bones tumble from within the sludge. The command building is being eaten from the inside. Soldiers and people run out of exits, but those who scream very quickly die.
  • You find the Maiden in full armor and Helmuth by the training grounds.
    • “There is something here, looks like a young girl– she’s quiet. So quiet. And… um… nothing. Nothing we can do could harm her. SHe is just killing people– I think Radovan is dead, Zey might be dead. It’s bad. Very bad.”
      • “Radovan died?”
    • “I don’t know. Silenced? Slumped over in a way I didn’t think was possible.”
      • “Da.”
    • Andreas tries to give a description secondhand.
      • “Do you know where it is headed?”
    • “It is in the Command Building. Sanctum? Maybe even the temple. I don’t know if it really cares what it does here.”
  • You watch as an explosion rips out from the Command Building itself. As it does, a mushroom cloud starts to rise up into the air. Powerful magic expands outward. All of you begin to see lights and explosions from the Command Building, and then…. Nothing. And you can see Helmuths face momentarily drop.
    • “I have never seen that before.”
      • “This is bad.”
    • “We shall buy time. As much time as possible. Damn. Find a way to stop this.”
      • “Must be something. Can she be reasoned with?”
        • “I don’t know. I’m going to go try. If I can put this evil in my Aether Realm perhaps I can slow it down just long enough.”
      • “Okay. I’ll follow at a distance. I can’t do much more I’m afraid, this thing is out of my league.”
        • “It might be out of all of ours. It’s alright, set up protections and fortifications as best as you can. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to slow this thing down.”
        • She begins to dash off.
      • “Is this a good idea?”
    • “There are no good ideas. There is only survival. Pick something and live with the consequences.”
  • Thomas attempts to make sound.
    • PHYS SAVE – 5 Successes.
    • You are not dead.
    • You probably wish you were.
    • You turn to run and feel a hand like steel wrap around your neck. You begin to cough and sputter as you are lifted up. You see the whistler spark and evaporate.
      • “Shhh. Be quiet.”
    • The entity starts to squeeze. You feel a second hand grab your spine, and begins to silently snap. Snap. Snap.
  • You feel this force rise up around you. In that moment…
    • POWER OF THE 9TH
    • You feel this impact as Karina Khan, from the destruction of hte command building, severs the arm of the entity.
      • “NOW WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!”
    • Hole in her chest. Size of a bowling ball. As you turn and are stumbling around… she looks at the hole in her chest… and she is flung back into the building as her bones mangle.
  • The Entity summons up a void, blacker than the blackest night. As she does so, folding this darkness together, make another PHYS save.
    • 15 total.
  • You watch as, with this anger, you see as this black void shoots forward and the dimension springs up around you momentarily. You are a different person. Your name is Greg. You live a completely different life, a baker. Your normal talents are gone, you have never participated in Solandis at all. All of the experiences you had– everything you ever did. In. This. Bubble. It Does. Not. Matter. It is all silenced and replaced. And then… there is this bubbling effect. Ki, you see this black aura spread out in all directions. You fire your nothingness. It is able to shoot Thomas out of this black void. As you roll amongst the rubble, you are Thomas again. This is good. But you must run. As you attempt to move parts of your body are still broken. You are not mending the same way. Kleshch is here to help, chucking a few rocks to obscure the view he picks up Thomas and begins to run. She takes a hesitant step forward, and begins moving the way they were moving.
  • Angel begins putting up rubble.  You stack it high as you go off pure adrenaline. Piece after piece. It doesn’t matter, though, as it all begins to turn to black sludge. She walks forward. There is no stopping this path physically. You watch it all begin to melt away, not even at the touch. Just as she moves. A perfectly bored hole through the rubble.
  • Kleshch drops Thomas down. He runs off and sings in a brief, 3 second burst. Destiny says she is heading for the door. He is making noise. Lots of noise. Helmuth is outside, waiting, ready to protect this place. Same as Elthrendil, too. People are lined up. Charon you are able to see this entity continuing to make their way.

Operation Solandis 2 – Haef 43rd, 715AR (12/8/24)

  • Where we begin is 7… 8 days after the previous engagement with Khloe. The Brigade in Widowstone Keep are recovering, much of the leadership has been severely injured and their wounds are not healing correctly. It’s taken a considerable effort to save the lives of the leadership, and many many soldiers, as well as rebuilding the command building, restoring the sanctum, have the civilians in a position where they are not about to panic. At this point, on the 43rd of Haef, you all finally have a moment to yourselves. Caerwyn has settled down near the door. Elthrendil has begun making his way around the camp, usually once or twice a day lending his healing magic to those who need it.
  • Bee recruits Seth to help her speak to Mr. Reymas. Professor Naylor has been working in the rebuilt Command Building, taking his time and attempting to fortify the building as much as possible. Much of the remaining structures of Widowstone Keep as well. As you enter inside a room he pours over charts and things of the like.
    • “Ah, can I help you?”
    • “Ah… oh… I believe I might remember you.”
    • They discuss Reymas’ plural deaths. He is only aware of one of them, the original timeline. Bee elaborates on the alternative one they are in now.
    • Reymas recruits Bee and Seth as assistants.
  • Angel heads to see Elthrendil to inquire about his old body. Elthrendil is found circling the tree, inspecting it.
    • “Ah. You! Welcome.”
      • “Yes, hello, am I interrupting anything?”
    • “There are no interruptions. The world simply is, to think that there are interruptions would be to think that there is space and time properly assorted. And that is not the case.”
      • “I just had a question about when you… when you brought me back after– well, cutting my head off.”
    • “Mm? I see.”
      • “If there was someone else in that body with me– I think, do you know what happened to him?”
    • “I sensed no one else in the body.”
      • “Huh… Okay. Odd. And in this one too? Is it just me? Can you tell?”
    • “Please, come.”
    • He motions for Angel to approach, which is obliged. The Material God walks around, inspecting you like he did the tree. He presses an index finger to your forehead.
    • “Hm. Could you say something?”
      • “What, like anything?”
    • “Hm! Fantastic.”
    • You watch as this strange man begins to hum. He takes a step back.
    • “Huh. I see… Empty. Like a larder after a winter.”
      • Angel is unsure how to process having always been One.
    • “You see, I once heard atale of a moth who sought the moon. She fluttered and flrew though the dark, past briars and shadows chasing its light, and yet one night that moon was gone. It was not in the woods, nor the fields, nor the glistening streams. The moth despaired, as it flew circling and spinning, it found an owl. It spoke to the wise owl and it sad where hath the moon gone? And the owl chuckled. The owl simply said the moon is still in the sky. Watching as you search for it. It has never gone away it is always where it has always been. The moth did not understand, it was weary, so it turned ts gaze upward and continued chasing until on the horizon it saw something. A light. The moth went to it. THe moth saw the sunrise, and n the light of the sunrise the bird saw the moth, and ate the moth. THe owl saw the event, and said foolish moth. If you had known where to look, and had known the past, you might still be alive.”
    • “Do you understand?”
      • “I… I think I do yeah.”
  • Andreas and Ki wish to speak to Caerwyn. You find Caerwyn holding audience with a group of what seem to be children. He is causing a series of balls to float around and do interesting patterns and tricks. He smiles as the children clap and play.
    • “Alright now, it seems I have work to do. I’ll catch you all later, come right here after supper.”
    • “Ahh! Andreas and Koilos Sky, welcome to my little corner.”
      • “You’ve got yourself a nice setup, I see you’ve already become popular with the kids.”
    • “The best type of popularity.”
      • “Good to see smiles on their faces again.”
    • “They’ve been through much, at the very least they will have tales to tell around their campfires tonight. Now, you’ve all sought me out? What is it you come for? Or, is it simply just a magic trick you wish to see too?”
      • “I wanted to come by to thank you for your help with Khloe.”
    • “Ah, yes, that business. You did well. We did what we could.”
    • “You keep going. Times get tough.”
    • “Perhaps the worst is behind us now.”
      • “I hope so. We’ve got a lot of heat coming our way soon, I can feel it.”
    • “Yes, the Cosmic Stack is breaking apart. Most of the dimensions falling away. I would say that we are in a good position.”
      • “It can be fixed though, right?”
    • “Anything may be fixed. Fixing things, well, harder than breaking them, but nothing is unfixable. At least, not to people with the right attitude.”
      • “And what of the people who lived on the other layers?”
    • “Ah… that is a good question. One that I myself would like to know. They have likely been returned to their primordial Aether.”
      • “There must be a way to separate them back out..?”
    • “Oh, absolutely. I would say that if not it would violate the laws of magic. Coming up with how to do such a feat… that is the question.”
      • Andreas begins asking after his forcefields. He wonders how he can spread his magic throughout people.
    • “These are great feats of magic. There is a possibility, based on what I know about you, and I like the cut of your jib– I think you could pull it off. At the very least we must give it a try, for all of the people that came before us, and all the people that will come after. There is so much good in this world, I would hate to deprive this world of a good grilled cheese. The simplicity of it, and yet its delectability.”
    • “With our time likely dwindling, how do you propose giving this magic to others?”
      • “The magic is limited by what I can see. So… if I can see more..? Of course, that would also make me a huge target, but… But it would give our people a fighting chance. A stand against the darkness.”
    • “My suggestion would be that we find you the highest spot in this camp, and tomorrow we align all peoples in Widowstone toward a given purpose. My recommendation would be to make some nice flowers grow, although… I… wouldn’t mind anything else. Perhaps a mountain of grilled cheeses. That might get through to the Titans, if they’re good enough, but I wouldn’t count on it.”
    • “From what Elthrendil was telling me, this Ring, fracturing, has stunted the power of the Ring. If it can be repaired, then we might have a chance. Perhaps, too, if we can, well, I don’t want to call our dear Maiden a battery, but if she would be able to give us more help… material to work with… then we might have something.”
      • “I can ask if she’s willing.”
    • “Only if she is willing, Andreas. The woman has lost a daughter, a wife, and so much more.”
      • “She has lost a lot, if she’s willing, if she’ll do it– if not, she’s already does so much for us.”
    • Caerwyn is going to see to placing wards on the Unknown 12ths door.
      • “That’s what this is?”
    • “Yes. Each one of the High Gods was locked behind a powerful meropian seal, a seal to keep their own dimension far away. They might only be able to influence each other in vagaries. Each has a door, the site of the seal, and this– This is the 12ths. Here. Right beside the Sanctum.”
      • “That’s why Khloe wanted to get to it?”
    • “My assumption is that if she would have broken open this door, well, we might have lost another High God. Or at least much of their power. Their ability.”
      • “Well, Ki, you saved a High God.”
  • Zey heads to help Corania with her duties, while she is injured. She has insisted on being set up near the Hook, she goes over records and the like. During the battle she attempted to use a variety of machines to contain Khloe. Khloe ripped off both of her legs. They were reattached.
    • “Can you bring me those reports? Those ones, yes. The Hook was never meant to be offensive but… perhaps if we can… open up certain holes or spaces, moving solid objects into the very hearts of the Titans or… Their creatures. We might be able to get an upper hand.”
      • ‘Where would we be taking it from? Not much left.”
    • “Well, that’s just it. My assumption is once the battle begins we won’t need a command post as much, nor a tavern, or dormitories. Whatever we have, we will fling.”
  • Seth has a mission! He wants to see Elthrendl. He brings the wolf along with him.
    • “Ah! Seth, is it?”
      • ‘Yes, sir.”
    • “Hm! A warrior, a hunter, a scholar! Welcome.”
      • Seth inquires about touching the tree.
    • “TO touch a tree such as this is to be a part of the whole. You’ve poked around in its roots, and its leaves before. Hmmm… What is it that you seek?”
      • “I seek to understand what it wants from me. What is my purpose in all of this.”
    • “Hmm! I see.”
      • “The Titans are coming, and I want to help protect the tree. My family, and my people.”
    • “Very curious. You remind me of someone that I knew long ago… always asking where she was going next. Huh. What she was to do. Who she was to fight. Protect. So much. I told them, wait. Listen. This world holds so much. You… I think see all that the world has to offer, yes? Well, I was once walking along, and I saw a spider. I went up to the spider and I asked the spider why she was spinning her web. For the joy of art? Or to catch prey? Or for some other reason? And I watched this little being skuttle around, and all of its eyes eventually fell on me. The spider said neither. The web was being woven just because they wanted to. Because it felt right. The web truly held no purpose, they lived in another tree, they could not see the web from this tree. And they had no hunger. The web had no purpose, it simply caught the wind and the rain. It asked me if that was enough. I looked at the spider and I said, truly wise, tipped my head, and kept strolling.”
    • “Seth, look at what all you have accomplished. A father returned. Great magics unlocked. The touching of the Primordial Tree. You seek answers when, truly, the answers are within you.”
    • “Although, I suppose, the tree is yours if you like.”
      • “One last time, I suppose, right?”
    • “Hm. Perhaps. Or, you could touch another tree.”
      • “What will that tree tell me?”
    • “Oh, I have no idea. I know the Primordial. I know nothing of dreams.”
  • You hear your spirit rumble. Ancient power. Strong. Not of this Ring.
    • “Where is it from?”
    • “Derives from another kind of magic. The Angels possessed this one. I know my old master used to sit amongst this trees’ branches. He told me stories of it. I do not know its smell, I do not understand its sap. It is alien like a fish in a desert.”
  • Seth goes into the Unknown! As you touch the tree, immediately your mind is overwhelmed with this cacophony of voices. All swimming within your mind. As you are here, you throw your head back trying to cry out but you can’t. It is so much magic. So much power. It starts to infuse and intertwine with your body. And then, Seth, you fall into the tree. You are absorbed by it.
  • Caerwyn makes his way around, talking to people, making sure they will be at the base of one of the watchtowers.
  • Caerwyn walked in with the Maiden, and begin writing in the book. He used some magic, and then Charon seemed to jumpstart. Everything seems normal, but there is definitely something different. You were erased, everything was gone, but Caerwyn rewrote some things. Charon would notice some things are different. It doesn’t hurt to think as much, well, really at all. You are more solid in the world. You don’t feel your grimoire tugging at you in the same way.
  • A bunch of motherfuckers go to see the Maiden.

Operation Solandis III – Haef 44, 715AR

  • The 44th of Haef, 715AR. We have a group of individuals on the brink. Widowstone Keep is burning. Now Ishin and her legions march across the Primordial Ring. The Brigade stands assembled, ready to resist an ancient threat. Once it was broken, many of its members becoming twisted versions of themselves, as they fled across the Primordial Ring, and eventually dimensions. However, they stand as one here. It has been 225 days since the burning of Tpres, and the Primordial Ring needs heroes and hope now more than ever. We find people trying to come to grips with their own past failures. Trying to pick up the pieces and figure out if they can muster the courage to be heroes one final time. At this moment, the world is burning.  The titans descending on Widowstone. You watch as Zolona, once again, levels the divider. There is a pinprick of light that turns into a torrent, as a beam splits through the walls, cracking open Widowstone Keep, as Slaad, Revour, and Impure funnel through the opening. And another. And another. As Ishin and Xix begin to make quick work of the outer defenses. Andreas, from this vantage point you see Yvonne the Roving Hex come through the breach first. What few soldiers are there are quickly felled, fodder to an endless horde and swarm. As you look down below you, at all of this occurring, you see the people that you have fought with. The people that you would have died for. And then your head looks up to the sky, as you see through red lightning limbs. Drach, descends from the sky. THe great spider emerges from the red lightning, spindles of gold begin to descend. Not wildly, they are purposeful. Andreas, you are the target. There is no where to run. You are a dead man. This isn’t a vantage point to survey your gran accomplishment, to spread the power of the Xeroxixia, and to mend what was once broken. The Watchtower is now an altar of sacrifice. A sacrifice that will seal the victory of the Titans. What are your thoughts as those tendrils of gold rush toward you?
    • Andrea reaches out to Xix, the real Ishin, thinking about the Maiden, and preparing to defend himself. If he can at all. He attempts to charge up his barrier if it will buy any time.
  • With that, as you’re here, we go to a different location. We go to hallways, bathed in darkness. Flickering lights. Boots thundering as individuals run. Running. Moving. Shifting. But we’re following a single set of boots, as they make their way forward. As they continue to move, eventually you watch as the Artificer opens a door.
    • “Hey. They’re here. We’re ready, at least whenever you are.”
    • In this moment, in the command chair, an individual turns around.
      • NOW PLAYING: SAHAKIAN’S THEME
  • Balek, you’ve been away. You were shot through the Cosmic Stack, but you’ve been away before. And you knew there was a plan. A plan that you have begun to enact. A plan to turn the tide. Yes… you had been at the moon, but not before going and fetching a fleet. An armada that you had built long before. At your signal, The World Fleet will uncloak. As you look below at the battle, what can only be called a slaughter, you see Drach descending amongst the other Titans. What do you do?
    • “They’ve taken the bait.”
      • “Yes they have– seems like though… that Drach fella. About to burst through. Going down… they’ve gathered or something!”
    • “Well. Do we show ‘em what we got? Or wait a little bit.”
      • “Weapon is primed, sir. It’s your call.”
    • “Let’s have a party. Fire the Volcano Canon.”
      • “Yes sir.”
      • Artie gives a salute and makes his way over, hitting a few buttons. There is a rumbling that passes through the ship. A massive canon begins to unfurl.
  • Below, Andreas, you hear a roar as the sky begins to radiate light. A thunderous bellow begins to shake the Primordial Ring with the wrath of an angry god. A blinding lance of molten energy erupts forth through the empty sky. The clouds part as it’s not any force, necessarily, but heat separating them. They vaporize into steam as the Volcano Canon punches through the atmosphere. The heavens are set aflame with apocalyptic fury. Yes. Here you are. Beneath this beam. It slams into the back of the eldritch monstrosity in front of you. With the might and fury, the Aether Eater has a hole punched directly through it. As you look up, a massive fleet begins to uncloak. They rain fire down below on the other attackers. One of the limbs of Drach goes flying, slamming into your watchtower. It is collapsing. You are flying through the air, tumbling down into the crowd below.
    • Andreas summons a barrier to act as a slide. He slams onto the ground, looking around. The shockwave is subsiding, there is an intense ringing in your ears. You’re all together.
  • As we begin to run, we enter a skill challenge. At this moment, as arnyr descend from the sky, and enemies swarm this place, Widowstone is gripped in chaos. All of you need to find your way through, otherwise you’ll be caught. Else those forces will stop you.
  • Angel makes a PHYS check +2D6
    • 5 Successes (1 Pip)
    • Angel attempts to push their way through, but as the arnyr begin to descend, their claws glow with light. Light of the Dark Star. They slash at you, you take special care not to be touched. You are outnumbered even with the arrival of the World Fleet.
  • Fidelis makes a PHYS check at B1
    • 6 Successes (2 Pips)
    • As you go back for people, Fidelis, you start blasting out with bursts of flame and light, you begin to collect individuals, helping to create a convoy going forth.
  • Charon makes a SPIRIT check, summoning illusions of buildings falling around. Power arcs through you, momentarily that bluish aura turns golden. Your illusions are thrown up, and as they radiate out they go further than you would expect, you obscure your friends for as much time as you can. As you’re running, you see Slaad making their way across the illusory dust and debris. They track with smell as forked tongues lick the air.
    • 6 Successes (2 Pips)
  • Thomas makes a PHYS check to throw shit!!!!!!!
    • 10 Successes (3 Pips)
    • He slams into anything in the way, digging a hole through the Command Building for his friends. Making its way through the building is a 6 limbed Slaad, it probably weighs a ton Thomas. With one way through, you grab it, ramming it through the wall and sending it flying. Your friends are hot on your tail. It is a thin stretch of land and outside the Sanctum.
  • Ki makes a PHYS check.
    • 4 Successes (1 Pip)
  • All of you make your way to the outside of the Sanctum, as you reach it you can see that some enemies have already arrived. The bodies of dead hobgoblins and Brigade guards lie strewn about. As you look you can see the Sanctum itself protected by a barrier of Energy.
  • Free action dropping into the First Nihil, Charon hits a Gloomweaver for 100 damage, taken on a HB.
  • Ki has an action that I missed.
  • Thomas activates the First and Fifth mountains.
  • Angel reaches out attempting to shut down a Gloomweaver. The virus stops working, and the Weaver collapses.
  • Zey deals 12 damage to each Zombie, taking a HB from each.
  • Fidelis uses a resource magic attack, focused on one of the Zombies.
  • Andreas uses his BG action for an AB.
  • Storm runs forward.
  • Charon attacks into the Gloomweaver for 30, taken on stamina. Andreas gets a bonus to his damage rating.
  • Ki gives a bonus to Thomas’ damage rating.
  • Thomas destroys one of the Zombies offhand. He runs up to the Slaad and punches it, taken on 2HB.
  • Angel shuts down another of the Impure. Uses BG action on the Slaad next to him.
  • Zey explodes the last Zombie and the Gloomweaver.
  • Fidelis uses another resource magic attack. 36 into the hexed Slaad. BG action to Charon
  • The Slaad time!!!
    • Raking Claws into Fidelis 20/40 both on stamina
    • Raking Claws into Angel 64/64
      • Angel is just barely able to block this.
  • Arnyr time!!!
    • Attacks to Charon 105 (stamina) / 150 (2AB)
    • 200 normal crushing damage at sheer II. He barely survives.
  • Andreas runs forward.
  • Storm runs forward. He gives Thomas his BG action.
  • Brandon gets to roll 1d6 to see if anything arrives!
    • 3
      • 1d4 – 1
  • Charon grabs Andreas and runs to the Sanctum.
  • Ki shifts her turn to just before the Slaad.
  • Thomas grabs Zey and dashes toward the Sanctum.
  • Angel drags Storm in. They try to fire on an arnyr but… They just negate it.
  • Zey drops a Heal on Charon.
  • Fidelis makes it the rest of the way.
  • Time is of the essence. We begin ducking into the Sanctum. As we do, there is crunching and breaking. As you make your way inside, and begin to see bodies. Arnyr bodies. And there are a lot of them. At this point, Thomas, you’ve counted twelve. You can see a lone Arnyr before this tree, and another two dozen bodies as before you, you watch as a brilliant swordsman begins to dance. This creature swipes, attacking, and the Material God of the Primordial Ring uses his rapier, cutting a wing, dodging, stabbing through an arm. It isn’t working anymore, the arnyr continues to move. He is almost laughing now as he sees all of you enter. He plants the rapier into the creatures head, ripping it off. Blue aether fire consumes the body.
    • “Hah! Hello and fair tidings to all. It appears like the day of our judgment, our rise or our fall, is here.”
    • “I would ask, for you to, watch, my back.”
    • He gestures toward the tree. Twelve brilliant flowers, pink orange and white, have sprouted.
    • “If any have basket to which plant your quarry, bring it forth. There are flowers that must be plucked.”
      • Andreas, Ki, Charon, and Thomas hand over their backpacks.
      • Zey approves of this.
  • As deftly as he fought, he channels the energy of the tree. With his fingers, pinching the stem of the flower, he plucks them and drops them into the backpack. He slumps back for a moment, giving a smile.
    • “Quite a bit of energy ripping away something so prized! An heir. But, perhaps, only to give us heirs. Futures. Heh. Ah, here.”
    • Elthrendil reaches into a pocket, you can see he pulls out a pocket watch. One familiar to all of you. This is the Hour.
    • “Please, come, take it. I do not believe it safe here any longer.”
      • Angel steps forward to take it.
    • “I’m glad it’d be you. You have a good head on your shoulders, now it’s been fixed. Haha!”
    • “The coffin of Caerwyn, I know that resides in the temple. You’ll be heading to the Alchemists next. Is this true? Very well. Your journey will no doubt test you. But every test has an end. Here.”
    • He motions for all of us to follow. He begins to whisper, putting more of his energy and power into this place. As you then see a shimmering. Part of the wall retracts, showing a passage.
    • “This shall lead below much of Widowstone. Heavily shielded via wards. You should be safe if you prance along its murky depths. Heh. Well, I should ask. Should we–”
  • With that, all of you see Elthrendil lurch. He is thrown back against the Primordial Tree. One of his arms breaks from the impact. Power enters into the room. You hear the clicking of heels, Ki, as you turn around. You see a woman enter. The Dark Stars light shining off of her.
    • “Well. All gathered in one place. I’m so glad.”
      • “Aha! My lady. Despite everything. I’m glad to have seen you one last time. Heh. A man, I suppose, always misses his last autumn and the beauty that it brings.”
    • “This is not your last autumn, Elthrendl, only the beginning. For each of you in fact.”
    • With a snap, Andreas, you turn around and energy begins to bubble up around the passageway.
  • Ki attempts to replace with Nothingness. She winces, and the barrier begins to falter for her. It might be momentarily breakable, but she looks at you.
    • “Ahhh.. Don’t worry, Koilos Sky. You as well. Will be brought into the light of the Dark Star once more, and see truths. Truths that Zolona simply couldn’t. I’m so happy that you get to join us again.”
  • Thomas attempts to break the barrier. He punches once as a spiderwebbing crack makes its way across. You hear Ishin tsk. From the ground, a chain wraps around your arm. The arm that contains your Torvian, the Heraclean. She laughs.
    • “Don’t worry… I will–”
      • “Beloved, please!”
      • A voice cuts through the air. You turn and see the Maiden beleaguered.
      • “Please stop this. These are… friends. Elthrendil. Your companion. This… this isn’t love. It isn’t redemption. We’ve seen love and redemption. But this isn’t you.”
    • “My love… I’m overjoyed to see you again. You… are the song in my heart.”
      • You watch, Fidelis, as the Maidens' lip quivers slightly. Her eyes try to steel themselves.
    • “My love. This is the truth of the Universe. One that we were blinded to. Please. Know, my love, that this is the right path.”
      • “This is a path where you will kill me, the Rings, everyone else here!”
    • For a moment, Andreas, you feel a pang in your chest. Like it was a deep cut aimed at you. As your eyes look to Ishin, there is something in those eyes.
    • “My love… I’d never hurt you. I would do anything to be with you.”
    • You watch, Angel, as Ishin pulls back part of her dress, revealing this open gash in the chest, the flesh around it black and necrosized. You think, Charon, the wound that killed her. That shattered her.
    • “Even in an eternal existence, I would always choose you. I would want nothing else. Desire nothing more. Because you made my life worth it. Please join me once more. Do not worry about this. Or any other malformities, because they will be fixed. I see your friends, your allies, your companions. There is so much to them, that they would wish to change. Angel would like a son, and love. Koilos, her family and friends. Andreas a father and a mother. Thomas, a family restored too. Charon, a body restored. Fidelis, a church restored. Storm… heh. A family, kinship, remade. As well as a friend forged in combat. Well, “friend” perhaps too strong a word, given how she came to me sobbing. But, yet, something of the like. And, Zey, truth and purpose. A reason for shedding blood. All these I can give. I just wish to help you all. And the light that the truth provides can illuminate even the darkest of worlds.”
    • Her eyes turn toward the Maiden. The Maiden takes half a step forward. For a moment she sees the woman that she loves the most. There is dead silence here. A waiting. And then… she stops.
      • “What about my daughter?”
    • “What?”
      • “What about Khloe?”
      • The Maiden looks to Ki.
      • “Is everything that you told me true? All of it? What happened with her in those last moments?”
      • Ki affirms this.
      • “You… And the Dark Star. And the Titans. Have not just taken everything from me, you took a Ring. You took from these people. You speak of help– Yet… you. Are. Down near the roots of this chain. I know this. You speak of heartaches that you caused!”
    • “My love. We did not–”
      • “ YOU! Your actions took my daughter from me. If she had not been subjected to the machinations of the Dark Star! She would not have suffered! My friends would not have suffered! My wife would not have suffered! How. Dare. You. Ever believe that I could be won over by your lies, when those same lies have torn me.”
      • The Maiden takes a few steps closer.
    • “These are not lies. No… I would never do this to you…”
      • “I know that you would not. I know.”
      • With one quick motion, you see, Charon, a blade. It forms in the Maiden’s hand. In a moment, she stabs Ishin through with her sword. All of you watch this look of shock and surprise as the gleaming weapon moves, its tip gleaming, wet with black blood. Ishin looks at the blade. You watch as the barrier in this one moment is faltering more than ever before. Are you trying to get out?
  • PHYS CHECK – 9 Successes
  • With one punch Thomas breaks through the barrier. The Maiden turns to us.
    • “GO! NOW!”
      • “You would dare fight me? I will not fail you again! I will fight you if I must!”
    • Andreas looks back and shouts to the Maiden that we love her.
    • SPIRIT CHECK – 4 Successes
    • As you shout this, the Maiden hears. And you watch as this white glow begins to form in her chest. Aether, white and pure as snow, begins to leak out. Exploding in all directions as the light of the Dark Star roars. You can’t stay much longer. You run. Ducking into the tunnels, moving as fast as you can, as you do.
  • Running. As you move you feel this place continue to shift and warp as high above the Volcano Canon and other weapons continue to fire. Far off in the distance, high above, you hear the IO canon as it continues to ring out, shot after shot. The defiance of Widowstone Keep has not ended. As you keep running, moving up and up and up, you come to a point where the tunnel has collapsed. You run up it. There is nothing else to do. As you scramble up, you are close. Very close to the Alchemist Burrow. As you’re moving, looking around, you see a world in chaos. Xix high above it all, moving, sending blasts of energy down. You’re able to see, Andreas, as a mushroom cloud appears in the center of the body nearly knocking the Titan King off his feet, before he summons up what appears to be a geometric shape or pattern, and as he throws it forward he shunts the consciousness and the world around him into outer dimensions. Eldritch forces continue to rain. You look above, Charon, and see the arnyr are attacking the World Fleet. The battle isn’t going well as ships begin to plummet from the sky. Storm, in this moment, your eyes find something else.  You see Zolona, walking, she makes her way through with her gigantic twitching form. She is not the same. She is different. Red lightning continues to crackle off of her. Whatever humanity was there is gone. Slowly, Storm, your eyes turn. It’s very poetic, Storm. You. Took. Her. Future. What she wanted. Some glimmer of hope that she had. Maybe not even in everything turning out right, but just in the small possibility that she could have a friend. But that dream was killed. As she approaches the Tree of Dreams you know what comes next. Figures and shapes rush around her. Zolona bats them away. You watch as she lowers the Divider once more, all of you look on at this distance, there is nothing you can do. All you can do is watch as the Divider revs to life. And then–
    • Ki wants to do something. She attempts to summon a sphere of nothingness in the palm of her hand to disrupt the Divider from her hands. You do it, there is a brief shunting effect, but not enough to displace it out of her hand. Even then… you feel that magic that you had, that sphere, it gets crushed– folded in. You’ve never felt something so strong before. This force that is within her, whatever Ishin did to her, it has taken her beyond what she was in the Titanic Wars. Ten wings spread. You take a step back, and strangely enough you feel that nothingness, that power return back to you, almost like it was sent back into you. The Divider still cuts through as you watch the Tree of Dreams cut in half. There is that moment as it is sheered where there is silence. Before an iridescent eruption of magic flies upward into the sky. A wail of sadness. Death. In this moment, as you all watch, Ki… You look around. Thomas you see this too. A bloody and beaten Helmuth von Grayz, standing shellshocked maybe 100 feet away from all of you, turns his eyes to the sky. He is surrounded by corpses of Arnyr. With a smile he drops his sword and falls to his knees. Head down.
  • Ki hands off her bag to Zey. Ki runs toward Helmuth. Everyone else heads to the Burrow. Helmuth doesn’t acknowledge her.
    • “Do not bother me. I am enjoying my final moments.”
  • A voice thunders out.
    • “KOILOS SKY.”
  • As you turn, Ki, you see the Titan Queen behold you.
    • “Ohhh my angel. My prodigal patron. Will you come home?”
      • “I’m already home. And you’re trying to destroy it.”
    • “Not destroy. Rehabilitate. To render all that has happened here… obsolete.”
    • You watch as her wings extend once again.
    • “Now… where are you running to?”
  • All of you begin to watch as a hand makes its way down toward all of you. Andreas attempts to set up a barrier around Zolona. She smiles. You watch as red, crackling energy begins to radiate out of her. She begins to melt this barrier, Andreas. This is the Titan Queen. You’ve bought moments where she is stationary. Mere moments. And for that reason, you can take 4HP.
  • At this moment, we go high above. This space, high above on the Flagship, with Balek and the Artificer, is filled with blaring sirens and flashing warning lights. Balek, Artie turns to you.
    • “Hey. She’s stuck. Zolona’s stuck.”
      • “Can we– Can we do anything?”
    • ‘Um, Fuck– The annihilator is primed and requesting a drop? Don’t want to say we should blow our load too early. This is a golden opportunity.”
      • “Do it.”
    • “Are you sure? Okay. Okay–”
    • The Artificer bends down. He taps a button.
    • “Do it.”
  • Ki, the hand is breaking through the barrier, and then Helmuth smiles at you.
    • “You look nervous. Why?”
      • “Everyone here– I thought you would fight ‘till the very very end.”
    • He cackles.
    • “This is the end. This dimension bullet, you are too stupid to know what has been fired.”
      • NOW PLAYING: STRONGEST (KLAUS RU FARAX’S THEME)
  • As he falls, you see, he is not head down. He grips his sword tightly. As he pulls back the blade he activates the Third Star of the Cosmic School, this dimension crumples, a creation of Farax himself as he lines the edge of his blade with it. This is true power. He descends towards Zolona. Andreas, you watch, for real, as the barrier breaks away. As Klaus descends, he smiles, activating the Seventh Star of the Cosmic School. Zolonas image flickers, just for a moment. She returns to a form she previously held as Klaus Ru Farax strikes, not the Zolona that is, but the Zolona that once was. The power of the Cosmic School, for the first time in decades, is truly unleashed.
    • 20400 DAMAGE
  • You watch, Thomas, as an earth shattering explosion radiates outward. All of you watch in disbelief as Klaus Ru Farax lands. As Zolona returns back to normal, her head parts in two. And then… her clavicle. Her sternum. As the Titan Queen is bisected. He is about 200 feet from you, Andreas. He gives you a nod. A silent nod.
    • “Run. She will not be stopped for long.”
      • “--Uh huh.”
  • Tendrils of black energy begin pulling Zolona back together.
    • “Me and Helmuth will stay here. We will delimb her for as long as possible.”
      • Helmuth smiles and summons his sword. Master and student begin to charge the Titan Queen.
  • The battle is not over. Not by a long shot. But you’ve got a moment, one beautiful moment. You run, reaching outside of the Burrow. You hear a voice crackle out from the space.
    • “Don’t worry. We’re opening the doors. You’ll be let in soon.”
    • Nay’lor Reymas opens one of the doors to the Burrow. The gang head inside. As you make your way down, he leads us through corridors. That seem to break down at different points. There are dead arnyr and slaad everywhere. He ushers us further forward. Eventually, we make our way to Coranias workshop beneath where she has all series of devices running. She turns to us, bedridden, not able to move well, but she gives a smile.
      • “All of you are still alive. That’s good.”
      • “Please, Nay’lor can you begin looking at the flowers? Zey, you have experience with microscopes…”
  • Nay’lor tells us to stay close, help where we can. He heard a commotion outside.
  • Zey takes some of Angels blood, utilizing the Torvian. He runs over to a piece of paper and begins scrawling formulas and equations. Nay’lor makes his way over.
    • “By God! I didn’t know magic could do this! This is… instructive. This is instructive.”
    • He begins flipping open devices, beginning titrations. Beakers begin to boil as other machines roll to life.
  • “You often guide others. It is like something that is deeply apart of you, and you have a message, which has been flooding out of you. It doesn’t matter now. This power that you have. I’m wondering… if it could potentially be used to– help focus the Solandis Flowers. A way to get a higher yield.
    • “When I tell you to, I need you to focus your intent on the flowers. Pulling their energy and apart.”
  • Zey begins his roll. MENTAL CHECK – 7 Successes
    • You make every adjustment. You can’t be wrong. You’ve been working and creating for such a long time, and in this moment you do not error. You are perfection. In this moment as well, Nay’lor looks back to Storm.
    • “You’re Ard Magos right? There are blueprints over there. There is a ventilation system that is cut off in this room, but we can open it up. I believe that that door is likely now filled with enemies outside of it. I need you to figure out another escape route. I trust you.”
      • Storm gets to work.
  • Corania looks around, spotting Ki. Charon, you’re momentarily focusing as she wants to break down the flowers and stops.
    • “Charon… with all of this magic going into it, and just due to Charon's nature, I’m wary that we could start a Red Spiral event, if different magics mix together– how precisely can you create this nothingness?”
      • “I can do it to a pinpoint.”
    • “Okay… Can you do it to a molecular level?”
      • “I can… I will do it. I will do it.”
    • “Okay… I need you to make sure that once we collide the Solandis flowers together with the magic, to get them into a base workable form, to twirl the magic out, to immediately summon this space and part them. It will be faster than I can do, faster than Charon, faster than anybody. You need to be ready.”
  • +1HP
  • Charon rolls SPIRIT (8)
    • In this moment you begin to try and break down the Solandis flowers, you feel the energy, the potential to them, the potential to change the world directly from the Tree of Change.
  • In this moment, Ki, as you see energy forming, here is the thing… Magic was rebounded back into you. There was some loss. You will have to draw extra from somewhere.
    • 1D6 – 6
  • You can see Corania is beaming, Nay’lor Reymas runs over. They begin to work. Thomas, you begin to hear the door squealing. You hear impacts from the other side. Things are arriving, but as you turn back you can see an unlit torch glowing with a beautiful iridescent light with runes scrawled into it. Nay’lor Reymas takes two, beginning to work with them in a different way. Corania looks to the rest, exhaling. You watch as fire appears in her hand, and snuffs out. She tries to make it appear again, and it snuffs out once more.
    • “My fire… I can’t light it.”
      • “Ah… the Tree of High Magic….”
    • “Oh… Yes… of course… Your ligiomancy. Fidelis… I would put this torch in your hands. Light it. Carry it. Keep it. Please.”
  • Fidelis will light this torch.
    • SPIRIT CHECK – 3 +15 Resource Points
    • As you focus in, there is fight here. Quelling magic is surrounding this place, the Titans have a monopoly on it. In this moment you push through. You work with diligence. Fire. One of the first runes of ligiomantic connection that you learned. You know it like the back of your hand. As you scrawl the mark and try one last time, it ignites in beautiful green flame.
  • “You will not have long, look, the magic here is not fully set. Would have liked to have more time to let it cook. We can’t doubt if it will work or not. You must do everything in your power to get the door open. If all else fails, save yourselves.”
    • Nay’lor begins to put potions into his pocket.
    • “If the Tree of Dreams has fallen, then the Tree of Change is soon to follow. There may be a way to mitigate damage. I don’t know how long we have. I’ll go with you but I’ll split. You need to open the door. Find the High God.”
  • As the door begins to whine, Thomas, you hear the door dent.
  • With 4 successes, you are able to find a method. Maybe not the most optimal one, you are under pressure. Corania gives a nod to all of us and wishes us luck.
  • Charon puts Thomas up into the vent, then Storm, and then the rest.
    • PHYS – 8 Successes
    • As you pull back, your fist breaks out of the wall. The rest of you see the battlefield unfolding around you. You see on the opposite side of the camp, your target. Your destination. Not the Sanctum, not the Temple. But the Door.
  • As we continue to run, the battle is reaching a breaking point. Most of the ships in the atmosphere above have been shot down. Xix moves with impunity, hunting and looking for survivors. Zolona walks, sending out blasts of energy. Helmuth and Klaus duck and run, great bursts of light off in the distance as the Maiden and Ishin clash. An all out brawl with tears in their eyes. You keep going. Running still. There is no time for stopping. And then, as you keep on running, this time by the Temple of the Gods you see a man on top of it. Caerwyn, back to back with a very injured Karina Khan. Slaad crawl up all around them. They’re holding out, but not much longer. As you hurdle forward, eventually before you, you stop. You see it there. A door in the side of the mountain. It stands there. Unmoving. Waiting. Watching. This is where you have been led.
  • Putting the light to the door, holding it up, there is no change initially. Fidelis holds the light up to the door. As you do, you see the flames flicker off and start at the heart of the door. A small ember. It slowly goes outward in all directions. All of you feel magic unwinding. But it’s slow. This is a Meropian seal. There is a reason why it took so long for Angels to deteriorate. And still it needed help. It is not something that is done quickly. Maybe if you had days you might have enough time.
  • Andreas activates his Torivan, asking if our plan will work. Unless you know what is on the other side of the door, it will not open.
    • “We must know what is beyond the door. What is the Twelfth. Shall we begin? Shall we guess?”
  • Andreas makes his guess.
    • Love.
    • The guess lurches upon the door. Love. Love is a powerful thing. But the 12th did not bend to the Dark Star. If love was enough to beat this… well, Ishin would have never succumbed. Nor so many others.
  • Ki makes her guess.
    • Will.
    • You speak into the door. Will. Powerful thing. Keeps people moving, and driving. But will in a void is not powerful. Someone can have a lot of will but if there is nothing, then they crumble. Many have will. So many, Zorya had will. The Archfey had will. Yet they fell all the same. It is not will.
  • Fidelis would like to make a guess.
    • Unity.
    • Unity is a strong thing. Unity can twist, it can corrupt. The Titans are completely unified. Completely and utterly. The Dark Star’s light unifies. The Dark Star and the 12th are not the same. It is not unity.
  • Thomas would like to make a guess.
    • Fate.
    • Fate. It’s a powerful thing. Fate is close to Purpose, to a predestined past. The Unknown 12th defies fate, and has across your adventures. Reaching out, acting. Creating alternative courses. It is not fate.
  • Charon makes her guess.
    • Change. But from the Unknown 12th, he doesn’t just change things. The actions would be everywhere, and why would it be unknown. Change is strong. But the Titans also want change. So many things want change. How do things change?
  • Zey makes his guess.
    • Forgiveness.
    • Forgiveness, no. The 12ths actions are not about forgiveness.
  • Angel guesses humanity. It is not correct.
  • Andreas says hope.
    • “This doesn’t look like it is a winnable situation, we have a hope we can change something. Hope that the world can be different. It is what changes fate. Hope! It’s everything that the Dark Star cannot give. It is everything, in every moment, what drove us to do those great deeds that the Unknown 12th gave us. Hope we could do something. Make a difference. Change. I have to guess hope.”
  • In this moment, as you make your guess… The Devils feed on despair. The opposite of despair is hope. You feel a churning, a change within you now. The rest of you watch as the door itself begins to open. Hope. The one thing that can break through even the most set truths of the world. Hope. That elusive thing. As the door begins to open, it opens slowly. Thomas, it is now a crack. In this moment, all of you hear the sounds of battle behind slowly cease. The door has to be opened.
  • Thomas would like to open the door. He will use his Torvian to pry open the door. He will open the Door of Hope.
  • As you do, you take a breath and pull. The door, as it cracks open, feels like the weight of a mountain. But you still open it. And there is light. There is nothing else to take the attention off of you.
  • As you pass into this door you see a single room. Light streams through the windows, from sun drenched fields. The air smells of crisp mountain air and old pine. This floor has been well tred. The wood has taken on a light brown color, along with many scratches. Plush leather chairs and couches sit around a roaring, green fire. You hear a voice emerge from the flame.
    • “What is the situation?”
      • “It’s not good. Many people have already fallen. Zolona lost her mind. The Maiden and Ishin are fighting. Xix raining down hell.”
    • “Ahh.. then the day of burgeoning is here at last. Am I to assume we are about to lose?”
      • “Yes.”
      • “But we had hope.”
    • “Ah… I am glad that you know me.”
  • A pillar of fire erupts in the center of this room.
    • “I must admit. I’ve missed this. Sometimes the old ways are best.”
  • And now, as the pillar of fire begins to bow and warp, the fire swirls in on itself. There is heat, but it is not threatening. It is akin to a sunbeam, an inferno that manifests before their eyes. All of you begin to take it in. Bones begin to form, skeleton made from fire that hardens, flame to flesh, next as it wraps around the body before a layer of clothing appears. The bottom of the form finishes cooking first. Fine black boots, perfectly polished without dust or debris on them possessing an inch heel. The trousers are black and hold on a belt. Weapons from a  bygone age made to kill gods slung on the belt. Far off in the distance, a wolf howls. Violet flesh is cloaked by a trenchcoat the color of deep green flame. You watch as buttons appear, golden buttons. The coat radiates with the scent of the sea. An aura of power as fire continues to tumble, and swirl, light begins to appear and features continue to form. A sharp, hawkish nose, wry smile, longer hair. A form elven. Maldow. And a face that begins to smile.
  • “In the traditions of my [] you can call me The Cavalier. We have an hour to save the Titans, save the Cosmic Stack, and I promise you. We shall make the past, present, and future right again. First though we need the divider. Please, friends. Start the hour. One hour is all we need.”

Operation Solandis Pt. IV – Haef 44th, 715AR (12/21/24)

  • It is time.
  • Where we begin, lightning begins to crash down from the sky with even more ferocity. In this moment, Bea Goode. You are alone. Running through the ruins of Widowstone Keep. All around you people are falling. The light of the Dark Star being placed within them. What are you doing as the world is ending?
  • That perfect moment may never come. From the rubble, a thirty foot Slaad, tails and claws flailing about, makes its way toward you, mouth wide. You see bits of bone and armor in those jaws. It has been busy. Bee slings Tre’dauthin through the creature ahead. As she turns and looks, to your horror, it is already regenerating the wound. It continues to come forward. In this moment, you’re like ‘damn,’ and you recall Tre’dauthin, it goes back through the creature again, and again, eventually it is just chunks of flesh on the ground. That is when you turn and there are two more. Five. Ten. An unstoppable hoard. You can kill a hundred of these things and they would still keep coming, Bee. As one reaches out with claws toward you, the claw comes forward and slopes forward. You see it falls from the body. In this moment, a flurry of blades begins to emerge from the shadows. You can see Helmuth von Grayz, completely covered in guts and gore, making his way through the rubble. Both of you momentarily fighting back to back until the Slaad have fallen. Then you see, also emerging, a man you saw fall from the sky.
    • “Are there any other survivors with you?”
    • “Hm. There should be some at the door. We will make our way there. Widowstone has fallen. We have done all we can.”
      • “The fight is not done, follow. We will find victory this day.”
        • Bee was just thinking the same thing.
  • As Helmuth begins to run, we shift our focus. At this point we begin to find the Party, back in the home of the Unknown 12th. All of you are there, coming back to this moment, the camp currently breaking down. Inside the Cabin of the Twelfth, he gives everyone a nod.
    • “Come on now. Outside we go. Time is of the essence, friends. I believe, if my calculations are correct, once you pop the coffin in front of Zolona, it will unleash an unstoppable force that will temporarily incapacitate her. You should be able to take the Divider from her then if all goes well. At the moment, the Hour should be weakening our friends, the Titans.”
    • He begins to emerge from the door.
  • As you follow, making your way outside, in the distance you see after using the Hour, Xix and Zolona, and some of the Titanic creatures, are moving slower. Sluggish. Xix has fallen to a knee. The King of the Titans brought low by this energy. They seem to be shrinking a bit, withering.
    • “All magic has a price that must be paid. For Titanic magic, it is energy in the future. For mortals like yourselves, the blowback happens gradually and in different moments. But… these beings did not want that sort of detriment. They kept on moving the consequence off. And now, here we are. A debt mere hours remaining on that debt, but still, weaker than they have ever been before. An opportunity that I suppose must be seized.”
  • You can see stumbling forward Bee, along with Helmuth and Klaus.
  • Bee, you can see some of your companions standing next to a strange man in green. Fire flickering at the edge of that cloak. And instantly, as he looks at you, a familiar power seems to move across your body and form. You know that this is the 12th. Their Id made manifest.
    • Klaus gives the 12th a quick recap of what has gone on. He says now is the time to act.
    • “Yes, act. Hm. Well, the problem is, I cannot fight.”
      • “M.. my lord?”
    • “Well, [sigh], only five percent of the seal is gone, which is really quite a fantastic job.”
    • The 12th turns to the rest.
    • “I was honestly hoping for 2% so… honestly, very well done. But, certainly not enough for my Id to wade into that army, or begin to turn the tide in any way.”
      • “We– we cannot keep fighting these things forever, we are powerful but… we have limits.”
    • “Um, right. I do understand this. We’ll have to summon a demon.”
    • He requests a spare Solandis flower, and Andreas hands it over. The Cavalier turns to Zey, requesting him to chew it but not swallow. He also requests Thomas’ hands for this. He bends down, the tips of his hair begin to catch fire along with his fingertips and shoes, green flame that flows up the body and is dispatched onto the ground. There is a small bonfire in front of you.
    • “Now, Thomas, your Torvian. It is the strength of many. Together into a united purpose. I need you to put that strength into this fire, now.”
      • Thomas reaches the Heraclean into the flame, sending his power into it.
    • He turns to Andreas, requesting the most powerful force field he has. Built into the shape of great pillars. Looking to Zey, he requests Zey to spit the flower into the fire.
  • The 12th bends down and begins to focus, the green fire continues to wrap and churn. He gives a smile.
    • “Tell me. Are we the only dimension left, friends?”
      • Andreas says this is likely. The 12th supposes this is both a good and bad thing.
  • As the fire begins to spread, and grow, we pan down. Great pillars begin to emerge in a place far, far away. And yet, right below you. They jut against this plane, this dimension, above the great void of the Cosmic Stack, as a man lets the weight drop. Zey, you begin to feel power surging through you as the flame continues to grow and shift into shape.
    • NOW PLAYING: THE WEIGHT IS LIFTED
  • All of you behold that flickering and changing. It becomes figure and form. As white hair begins to appear, along with monk like vestments, Zey you see your patron before you.
    • “Ah. Hey, Dad. Really got yourself into a jam!”
      • “Well, yes. Quite  ajam I would say. We need time. As much time as can be bought.”
    • “Yeah, yeah. I got it.”
      • “Just prevent them from reaching Zolona. We need our allies to make it there.”
    • “Yep, yep. I got it. I mean, you know I always go for the knockout but I can give you a few days.”
      • “We only need an hour.”
    • “Radical! Alright. Uh, so, Zey! Hey buddy. I knew you’d be here. Alright gang, I’ll watch your back. Just stay in my Aether Realm.”
  • He turns, and begins to walk. Klaus laughs.
    • “Ah. My master will not be touched. Unless you count his Aether Realm, we are always touching that.”
    • As you begin to look around, blue flame begins to spark along Widowstone. You realize what he meant. He Who Holds the World placed his entire Aether Realm around the Rings of Meropis. It is what you exist in every day. Helmuth begins to make his way forward, and you watch as Klaus stops him.
    • “No. We’ll only slow him down. Defend the 12th with me, Grayz.”
      • Helmuth stops. He looks confused and gives a nod. The 12th smiles.
      • “Yes, I have, of course matters to attend to here. Rituals and magic. But, the rest of you, I assume that you can head to the temple of the Gods. Get the coffin from there. Time is ticking.”
  • The fists of this man, well, demon seems more fitting, as he dives into the hoard. Each strike bends the air, reality itself fracturing under the force of the man who created every martial form. He flows like water but strikes like a storm. Effortlessly. This is not mere strength, this is the unending will of the strongest. The strength of this warrior finally unleashes after centuries, millenia of this. It flows into all of you in this moment, that strength being passed as He Who Holds the World begins to share his power with all of you. All of you that stand in the Aether Realm.
    • You all gain the Blessing of the World Holder
    • While in the Aether Realm of He Who Holds the World, the damage rating of all allies is multiplied by 2. Additionally, all allies remove five times the number of health and armor blocks on all damage rolls.
  • At this point, as you run, the world shaking and shifting from the impacts, you run into the temple of the Gods. You see bodies on top of bodies inside. A massive battle has concluded here. At least, momentarily. You enter inside to see Caerwyn and Karina slumped over a pile of bodies, barely breathing as a platinum coffin glitters between the two of them. Bee runs forward to check on them. Ki, you see it out of the corner of your eye, a bolt of magic streaking towards her. Ki steps in front of Bee, blocking the blow, they go flying backward into a far wall. You look down at your blade, it has been eaten through by this magic. By this disintegrating burst. Leaping down from the rafters is Varuz.
    • “To think I had the Xeroxixia here all along. Mr. Wolfgang, I underestimated you.”
      • “Varuz. Can’t say it’s a pleasure.”
    • “Perhaps. But, oh, the rest of you. We can do great things. If, of course, you just give over the magic.”
      • “Varuz, my old apprentice, can’t you see this knowledge will be useless without a world?”
    • “I… don’t care. You will not hold me back any longer. I, alone, can tame the secrets of this universe. None of you can comprehend the secrets that I know. And, for that, unfortunately, if I need to make an example out of all of you, I will.”
    • Varuz falls into a dueling stance.
  • Bee sticks a finger into her bloody nose and draws her symbol onto Tre’dauthin. You don’t see it until it is too late, Bee, you all watch as from the darkness runs the Banker of Bones. Jaws wide and extended. You see is white teeth sink down into Varuz’s scalp. He begins shaking him like a dog with a chew toy. He howls out in pain and surprise. The crunching of his skull. And then, you see the Banker running away on all fours disappearing down a dark corridor.
  • As you pick up the coffin, and begin to run outside, the battle is reaching another peak. Zolona, her form shrinking down into the place near Widows Home. The power you have released with the Hour is doing a number on her. Looking over, Fidelis, you watch as He Who Holds the World continuing his fight. He duel wields Necrodacti as whips. While there is confidence, who knows if he can last that long. You continue to run. Faster, and faster, and faster. At this point you are about 200 feet from Zolona. She has shrunk down into a form smaller than you’ve ever seen before. Probably no more than 5’ tall, on her knees, crumbled over.
    • “Arrived. All of you arrived. Kill. Destroy. Maim. But arrive. You. Betrayers. You all. Destroy. Death. Die.”
  • Andreas begins walking forward. He feels something wrong. The world begins to twist, and you hear a familiar voice. It has not really spoken to you, except when you were so young. So very young that you couldn’t even remember it. And in passing as a foe.
    • “Did you believe that the Divider would be left defenseless? Your tricks are predictable.”
  • From invisibility, creatures begin to appear. So many creatures. The Blossomed. Those infamous impure. The lieutenants and more. Thomas, you look around and see a woman beginning to approach you. She is as beautiful as the day you lost her.
    • “Hello, my love.”
    • Your wife, Willow, reaches out a hand for you.
  • Fidelis, you feel something wrong. You turn, and you see yourself, or an older version of yourself beginning to walk out of one of the tents. You feel power beginning to surge from that one. And, Bee, as you turn and hear a woman cackling, you see your creator. Marie Karhowl. You watch as she takes a bit of red string, looking to you, with Tre’dauthin and smiles.
    • “What a wonderful creation. Evolution like this has not been documented before. I cannot wait to take you apart and see what has made you stray from your original purpose.”
  • All of you hear Amis shout.
    • “DESTROY THEM! TAKE FROM THEM THEIR PIECES. LET US END THIS.”
  • All of you now stand before all of those infamous, lieutenants, and blossomed you didn’t get around to beating.
  • Bee hits her Mama for 154 damage taking off 10HB. She is knocked off her feet. Bee tells her she loves her and backs up.
  • Fidelis blows up Not!Fidelis, sending a burst of energy directly through the heart of the creature. You feel something reattach to you, Fidelis.
  • Amis begins to march forward, using Unstable Deforming on Bee (12x4 = 48 damage). Angel takes 42 damage. Andreas takes 38 damage and 8 damage. Belatrosh gains +2 Sheer.
  • Thomas takes his turn but I blacked out.
  • Fidelis takes 56 and 15 damage from Belatrosh.
  • Andreas activates his Torvian with a BG action. He smacks into the horsie for… some unidentifiable amount of damage. I forgot.
  • Zey hits up the Rising Tide and gains a charge for a BG action. He hits Orion for 50 damage, taken on 15HB. Zey goes for a quick jab but he remains standing.
  • Orion whacks his daughter for 72 damage, taken on stamina. He places Command on Ki.
  • Angel tries out some Divine Magic. 13 successes for 234 damage. 70 to Callix (HB) and the rest to Belatrosh (HB).
  • Zey’s corruption is set to 9. Dionysia fires Screaming Blood at Angel, who loses a HB.
    • Injury: 3 – you are blinded as the blood bursts out of your eyes.
    • She summons the Blades of Dionysia.
      • Thomas: 23
        • +2 Corruption
      • Andreas: 15
        • +2 Corruption
  • Black Briar smacks into Zey, taking 2HB.
  • Philip Sky pulls out an ax and gets to chopping. 13 damage on stamina, 30ish damage on 2AB.
  • Gold Hook attacks into Andreas with the Sword of Dessication.
    • 24
      • +1 Corruption
    • 36
      • +1 Corrupton
    • HOOK! 15
      • +2 Corruption
      • Movement reduced by 40ft
    • Terrain Manipulation. Angel gets sent into a hole 30 feet deep.
  • Ki BG actions 4th mountain, Free action 1st mountain. Ki deals 64 to Gold Hook and Amis, taken on stamina.
  • Marie walks over to Callix, pulling out a bottle, and pouring the Water of Life onto Callix. It heals him for 4HB, waking him up. She uses another Water of Life. She throws a Bolstering Grenade between Orion and Black Briar.
  • Blood-Sword Tristain attacks into Ki. Invulnerability does not proc. Band of Jodis does not proc. Ki takes a major injury, 9 – movement speed is reduced by 40 feet.
  • Drain moves in and swipes at Thomas.
    • 10
    • 2
    • 0
    • 6
    • 14
    • 0
  • Yvonne uses one of her actions to teleport and get a better shot. She uses Greater Desecrate on Fidelis.
    • SPIRIT – 6 Successes
      • +2 Corruption, 30 damage (AB)
    • Hungering Shadows toward Andreas.
      • 42 (AB)
        • +1 Corruption
  • Callix crawls toward Bee and slams into her, lighting himself on fire.
  • Thomas avoids being corrupted by his wife. She uses Ishins Embrace on Bee, Angel, and Andreas.
    • Everyone got 2. Our damage ratings are reduced by 10 until the end of her next turn.
    • Dark Light Ray at Andreas for 16 on stamina
  • Bee fires on her Mama again. As she drops back down, there is an electricity in your fingers. You watch as multicolored lightning starts to arc across the sky. From the prison, you watch as clouds of blue start to form. Radiating out in all directions. You can see, looking up at the heart of the storm, Bee, a true coven. You can see three full Storm Witches up in the clouds. You see Lavatera looking down on Zolona. Even from this far away, you can see, Bee, she is not happy. As the blue continues to crackle. You see she takes a breath in, linking arms with Loveday. And Enola. Their energies begin to merge and form. From the ground, He Who Holds the World looks around as an absolute onslaught begins to pepper the battlefield. All of you have the potential to use this Primordial Storm. At order 12, you can choose one of the following options each round.
    • Purging Lightning
    • Lavateras Sundering Bolt
    • Lovedays Horn
    • Or Enolas Skyward Surge
  • Lavatera looks down, a bolt of lightning strikes the battlefield right next to you Thomas. That Primordial Magic begins to drive away the Van Rome virus, leaching into all of your muscles as you breathe out corruption. Everyone is set to 1, including Angel.
  • Fidelis attempts to boost everyone's damage rating by 2. Which is multiplied to 4 with He Who Holds the Worlds bonuses. He gives his BG action to Thomas.
  • Amis moves forward, using Unstable Deforming on Bee and Thomas. He uses Malform on Angel twice.
    • 28
    • 48
  • Thomas punches the horse for 128 damage for 10HB. One of the horse's legs is obliterated by your punch, it goes flying, before the leg regenerates. Thomas deals another 160 damage offhand, taking 15HB.
  • Belatrosh has decided Andreas is a problem.
    • 28 (AB)
    • Fidelis gets bitten but only takes 6 damage.
    • Belatrosh attempts to fly in the air, but procs the warden of three people, and is obliterated.
  • Andreas smacks into Gold Hook for a bunch of damage, leaving them at 5 stamina.
  • Zey attempts to pull water from the blood pooling on the ground, to cover the creatures around in water.
    • SPIRIT – 12 Successes. Complete coverage.
  • Orion hits Angel for 48 damage, which is just barely taken on stamina.
  • Angel grabs Orion by the skull and channels divine magic into him. At the very last second, trying to fight the Ruby Rage to go nonlethal, they aim to power him off like the Impure. Angel hexes Dionysia.
  • Screaming Blood to Thomas, he loses a HB. Fidelis makes a deranged save (11 Successes). 24 damage to Fidelis and 42 to Zey (+2 Corruption to both).
  • Black Briar comes in to smack at Thomas.
    • 77
    • 69 (Immaculate Dodged to 9)
    • 238 to Angel, Rot School delayed to the end of the round.
    • Black Briar is very confused by the slowly opening wound on his body.
  • Philip Sky takes attacks at Andreas. One attack is flipped off by the shield, and as he comes in for the second he grabs his hand and spins him around.
  • Gold Hook loses a HB due to being on fire.
  • Koilos attempts to use the Divine Magic to empower the fire from the Aether Realm.
    • 3 Successes
    • The On-Fire condition is improved. They are now On-Fire-V.
  • Marie spends all three of her actions pulling out different needles and vials, and injecting them into Willow Blythe.
  • Tristain attempts to Understand Thomas, but is unable to gain Sheer II and Malicious II on all damage rolls.
    • Andreas makes a SPIRIT save as chains of blood rise from him. They are now linked!
    • 96 damage (AB)
      • 96 to Zey (AB+HB)
        • 7 – All Creatures gain B1
    • 114 to Andreas (AB)
      • 114 to Ki (6 on Invulnerability, huge.)
  • Drain and Yvonne go. I was distracted.
  • Thomas rolls a SPIRIT save against Willow. 6 successes
    • Dark Light at Bee
      • 16
  • Angels wounds continue to worsen. And worsen.
    • “Good luck, guys. I love you.”
    • Zey, as you are lying on the ground, you see a gout of blood burst from Angels chest, as he slumps, and falls, and remains unmoving.
      • 1d100 – 17
    • As Angel falls, a massive burst of energy is released. The Eon Lattice continues to unwind. As it does, all of you see the world around you continue to break down. The sky accelerates in its destruction. Bits of Widowstone float up and away. A crimson cascade is accelerating. And it is almost done. Bits of the battlefield begin to break down. Those of you who are standing on broken ground, if you do not move by the end of your turn you will fall.
  • Bee focuses. You feel the water of life within you start to surge. You who were partially able to, even for a moment, at your birth, at your creation, control that chaos. Bring order to yourself. To break away. At this moment of the strike, please make a spirit check for me.
  • You think back to Nay’lor Reymas in that moment, trying to piece back that birth. As you use that lucky break, the energy that is wild and free, but now you need purpose. And precision. As Lavatera begins to feel what is happening, she smiles.
    • “I knew you had talent.”
  • As she continues to bring about the magic, are you wanting the sundering bolt. With this lucky break, with your control, you can increase the Sheer, placing on the blessing of the World Holder upon this magic. It strikes everyone here. 400 damage at sheer 25.
    • Andreas makes a Warden attack. Anyone left standing is sent into fire.
  • As the magic of the Storm Witches radiates out in all directions it is Fidelis’ turn. He places a flat forcefield beneath everyone and runs off. BG action on Zey.
  • Amis runs out of the fire using Unstable Deforming on Bee (2 are taken 1 on AB)
    • Malform on Andreas
  • Thomas grabs Angel with his BG action and punches a hole in Yvonne (10HB). And another (15HB).
  • Zey channels the blood of Angel with a promise to find them again. They deal 260 damage sending 65 to each target. It gets through to Gold Hook and Amis.
  • Dionysia makes her way out of the flame, very unhappy, and looks towards Zey. She builds up a massive blast of magic. She sends her blades into Zey.
    • 54 taken on stamina
    • 45.
      • “I might find you a little sooner.”
      • Ruby Rage impacts Dionysia. The blades rip through your heart. Zey slumps over, dead.
    • Screaming Blood to Bee
    • Spirit Save Ki (12 Successes), fighting off the corruption. You won’t fall, you can’t.
  • Tristain swings on Ki.
    • 90. Invulnerability procs.
  • It is almost like the stitches holding Gold Hook together begin to fall apart. They fall apart in pieces.
  • From high above, Loveday sees the situation, pulls out a horn, and begins the Radiant Hunt. All of your minor and major injuries slaugh away.
  • Fidelis hits Amis for 132 damage. Looking at how dire the situation has gotten, Fidelis turns to Amis and extends a hand drawing downward. A pillar of light coming down and striking, non lethally of course. Bee pulls Amis a little out of the way of the Spiral.
  • Thomas is up. He grabs the coffin from Ki, and rushes toward Zolona. He grabs the front of the coffin. You have your hands on the coffin. As you are in front of Zolona, head down who clutches the sides of her head, wings flaring. He looks to her, as he reaches for the lid he says.
    • “It’s okay. We’re going to help you.”
  • She looks up as the coffin is thrown open. It is not what you were expecting, Thomas. You see a man inside. A man that, from the descriptions of others in the Brigade, resembles Xix when he was normal. There is a difference to it. The hair is longer, cracks in the skin. As Zolona looks… You watch as she looks upon this body and goes…
    • “My boy.”
    • Horns on the head, you see flesh that is faintly red. Almost infernal features. You realize, in this moment, truly what happened so long ago. Sin, the traitor, Sin who was not like them, Sin who said ‘don’t tell me I’m them.’
    • As you look, Thomas, Sin exited the Cosmic Stack. As you look down, you realize why. Long ago, there was a Great Betrayal. And in that Betrayal, many Titans died. Only nine escaped through the help of the Dark Star. But not all High Gods were cold to their plight. One volunteered to go beyond. He saw what happened in the Titanic wars. He saw Ishin. And so he decided to break the rules. He went, and he touched the Tree of Low Magic beyond the Cosmic Stack for a purpose. Children of Sin. Yes, he needed a way to pull those disparate pieces together. To keep it safe. It was not free of the taint of the Dark Star, not free of the magics within that threatened the rings of meropis. But he took it upon himself. You look at the child of Zolona brought back in pieces. Now many reformed, placed back together, in a more angelic body and form. Zolonas hands drop the Divider. You see an unstoppable force that you know. Of course you know. Why would you be here, now, without it. The love a parent has for their child.
  • Thomas smiles a sad smile.
    • “It’s going to be alright.”
    • He picks up the Divider. Her power swells outward, bursts of joy, elation, despair. As the world is collapsing all around you, you can see Dionysia is struck by a bolt of red lightning. The same as Tristain. Everything is beginning to crumble now. All of you are on such a small island, in the middle of all of this.
  • Thomas makes his way back to us. Bee offers up the Mantle, Andreas provides the flower.
  • In this moment, where all is collapsing, where all that remaining is here and now, the rings themselves crumbling…
  • The last Lucky Break is spent. As you breathe out, you know what you must do. There is only one thing to do, in this moment. Only one way through. And you release the shot. The energy begnning to build, firstly, at the tip of the divider, growing more an dmore as you watch. Ishin begins to turn.
    • “No! NO!”
  • She begins to summon up power of her own. You watch as Xix, momentarily looks away from He Who Holds the World. Far off, he jumps, grabbing a hold of Xix’s arms, and pulling him into the exact place. He sees the shot. As you put your intent together, Divide the Endless. Yes. There is a beam, a light, that cuts the red darkness. It surges forward, it strikes Xix in the chest. The form howls out as black smoke begins to rise. And then you begin to hear laughing. Almost like insane joy, as power explodes in all directions. Andreas, you feel your own power growing. You feel that connection. In this one moment, the intent of you becomes link. The Titan king cries out a furious roar, trapped under a millenia of the Dark Stars truths. In this moment you can see as that black flesh begins to slaugh off, horns falling away, as he cries out. You watch as the form of the Great Titan King emerges. He blinks, and begins to totter. The rest of you see that bolt go towards Dark Ishin. It slams against a blast of power from her, from the Dark Star, two equally matched forces. Momentarily. And then, slowly, you begin to give ground. One step after another. The might of the Dark Star begins to rage against the Divider. And you keep going. You regroup. You focus your intent once more, all of you. You endure. Foot by foot you give up but you don’t quit. You don’t stop. Until you can see there is a flicker of power, a flicker of energy, an opening. In that moment, the power starts to surge the other way. You begin to see why. Souls beginning to circle that power, that energy, their sacrifice not in vain. Zey, Angel, as your spirits witness this… what is your intent? What energy do you give to battle back the Dark Star?
    • Hope.
  • As you focus in, once again, that hope spews forth. It cracks the energy that Dark Ishin is throwing out, and you watch as the Divider zips through the air, this beam of light, before bisecting Ishin. Right down the middle. There is a moment where all is still. All is quiet. As, then, you watch as the form slowly separates. Right down the middle. Ishins flesh begins to fall away, this flesh that was made for one purpose. For one reason. To connect the Dark Star, the powers of the Endless, to the Cosmic Stack. And as it falls away, you watch as this heart of darkness begins to emerge. In this moment, green flame bursts around the Dark Star. A shield. The Cavalier puts it in a circling orb. It begins to light the battlefield as green flame emerge in all directions. And then… you’re able to see it, Ki. A coffin. Platinum. Lifts up from the rubble. Despite the green fire and flame, there are bits of golden energy still within. You watch as they flow into the coffin. Sinking into it. All of you watch as it continues to glow, brighter and brighter. It is a shining beacon of light across the battlefield. It begins to open. As you watch, from far away, there is green flame and light. And you watch as the Maiden stands there. All of you. Standing there. Watching. Looking. And, slowly, you see as two eyes open from within the coffin. Blue and pure. You watch a High God be remade. She stumbles out of the coffin. But the Maiden catches her. From far away you can see tears. You see laughing. Crying on the Maidens face. Ishin looks slightly confused. In this moment, as the Maiden kisses her wife, the energy solidifies. In that moment you watch as the two of them embrace at the top of the Sanctum. In this moment, amending long overdue, has been completed.
  • There is a rumbling. Some sort of shaking. It speaks all around you. It is not of the air, but it is beyond it. The voices. Hundreds, thousands, maybe only one of them speaking.
    • “It. Is. Not. Enough. This universe, destroyed. We know where you are. You will not be able to defend us from here. There is no retreating now. There is nothing you can do. You are trapped.”
  • You watch, Andreas, as a great darkness seems to move amongst the red. You feel a chill on your neck the likes of which you have not felt before. Great shapes, larger than planets, larger than galaxies, start to move. You watch as tendrils of red continue to move.
    • “Go. Enjoy a meager victory. We are coming. There is nothing you can do to stop this. Weaklings. Running.”
  • All of you see the Cavalier is just laughing. Just laughing!
    • NOW PLAYING: BEFORE THE 12TH
    • A voice, loud and clear echoes across Widowstone.
    • “No, no I don’t believe that’s true at all. You see, you are so small. You call yourselves endless but you are only one thing. And you cannot possibly understand what it is we all gained, and what we lost. We are not like you. We bicker, yes, we fall. But also we rise. We rise so far above, only for the reason that we believe that we can. You thought that we lost? No. You don’t understand what is before you. You don’t understand what she’s gone through.”
  • All of you watch as the Maiden starts to glow. White. Pure white light falling out of her.
    • “We have waited thousands of years for this moment. And none more than her. A thousand years of waiting. Hoping that today would come. You could not imagine it.”
    • As the white energy continues to spill forth, all smiles on the face.
    • “You cannot comprehend the power of Aether. That form drawn to those who inspire hope. See the results of your doubt, because I feel it. I truly do. And I know what is real.”
  • The Aether continues to burst out of the Maiden, all at once. You watch as the white Aether rolls against the black tide. You see reality start to stitch itself back together. Piece by piece. From Aether all is made. You watch as the Primordial Ring that you are on become solid once more. You watch as the sky is remade. You watch as the stars begin to be plucked back into the sky. Below you, you feel dimensions reassemble. As you continue to watch as the sky shifts forever.
    • “All that is broken shall be amended. I believe we have endured enough. We deserve a happy ending.”
  • As you look, Fidelis, one, two, three, four. A fourth Ring in the sky, as it starts to be remade. Joining together. As the white light begins to die away, you stand amongst Widowstone, beautiful. The day is shining friends. And as the Maiden hugs Ishin, you look around. Peace. At last. The green light begins to consume that spinning, dark ball. And then… you watch as it is thrown down. Down. Down. All of you feel intrinsically what is happening. It is leaving. As those final stitches well up. The Dark Star is sent flying from the Cosmic Stack as the white Aether forms along behind it. In this moment, as all of you stand around… Angel, Zey, you look down and you see solid hands. All of you begin to look around, you start to see people. Hundreds. Thousands. Tens of thousands. You see them popping up one by one. Remade. Souls pulled backward. No longer bound to death, the Dark Star, or anything else. As all of you stand at the heart of Widowstone, you watch as flowers begin to bloom on the Tree of Dreams. Beautiful, iridescent flowers. All of you look around, family and friends have returned. Oh what is better than this.

Operation Solandis V – 12/22/24

  • Where we begin today is overlooking a Ring that is fixed. It has been said that, truly, there are only two things that unite people above all else. Fear and interest. Fear that grips their very soul and drives them to only act for themselves, interest which taps into a great primordial greed and logic alike compelling a person to act. To the dismay of mortals it was said that all else fails to tip the scales, that is, in these moments, without fear nor interest that overconfidence arises. But there is something greater than fear or interest. There is hope. Hope that drives a person to go beyond themselves, to break free of greed, of fear and logic, to make a better world. A pink sunrise coats the sky above Widowstone Keep. At this moment, flowers are beginning to bloom in all directions. So many wonderful hues spread out before each and every one of you. Yesterday the Brigade met their final battle against Zolona, the vessel of the Dark Star, her army of Titans, and Impure. A few brave heroes gathered, summoned the aspect of a High God, and stood against them on the Primordial Ring, with the intention of eliminating this evil once and for all. With their might they threw the Dark Star front he Cosmic Stack, eliminated the Van Rome virus, and made all whole again. The soldiers of the Brigade stand arrayed. At this moment, peace begins to fall upon the battlefield. As you all begin to look around and smile, you notice Angel standing here.
  • Angel, due to your roll of 23, this form stands at a crisp 5 feet tall. However, your wings expand from you as you blink. The rest of you see Angel in their true form. Zey rushes to him and hugs Angel tightly. Everyone else piles on. Bee wonders what is next.
  • Zolona is kneeling over the coffin. White Aether streams into the open coffin. She just watches. Everybody heads to see her. She sees us approach. Zolona stands, beginning to slowly walk over to all of us. And then, as her eyes fall upon you all, she kneels before all of you.
    • “I… Am in your eternal debt. I apologize. I was blinded by my own grief. Blind to the destruction that was occuring. Forgive me.”
      • Bee puts Tre’dauthin up and wraps her in a hug.
    • “I struggle to comprehend why. The pain that I have caused all of you… immeasurable.”
      • “Perhaps. But if we can move past our pain, we can forgive you. And, honestly, most of that was the Dark Star. And that thing is gone, so.”
  • Andreas peers into the coffin. The eyes open, vibrant greenish-yellow eyes. The individual blinks.
    • “Who are you?”
      • “Hello there. I am Andreas Wolfgang. It is good to meet you.”
    • “Ugh–”
    • This individual sits up, the cracks in the skin healing over, looks around. Immediately, his eyes fall upon Zolona.
    • “Mother?”
    • The Queen of the Titans runs forward, wrapping her son in a hug.
      • “Wierden– I– I thought I’d lost you.”
    • “It feels like I was… in a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from… Who are all of you? Where is this place?”
      • “We are in Widowstone Keep, on the Primordial Ring. I’ll let everyone introduce themselves.”
    • He has no idea where we are, as he has never been to the Cosmic Stack before.
  • Xix moves through the crowd, calling for his son. The Titan King, Queen, and Prince all embrace. A mending of what was broken, at least a partial healing of a great betrayal. The family enjoys each other's company.
  • Andreas heads off to check up on Yvonne. Seth heads off to check on his family, looking out for Damon.
  • Devon and Damon move out amongst the crowd. Seth gives them both a big hug. Marcus has to roleplay with himself, and it is kind of funny. Seth's mother approaches as well, asking if he is alright. She embraces them both. Damon heads off to see Claudia. Seth goes to look for his wife.
  • Andreas looks for his mother. Slumped against the buildings around you is a woman wearing the clothes of Yvonne. She looks younger than you saw last. Andreas runs up.
    • She reaches up a hand, brushing it against his face.
    • “You’ve gotten old…”
      • “This is… I suppose I have. Um… good to see you, mom.”
    • “I… are you? Safe?”
      • “We all are. We saved the world. Everything.”
      • “You owe me many mother-son bonding opportunities.”
    • “I owe you so much more.”
    • With a flick of her fingers, she shoots out a burst of magic which swirls around Andreas. It knocks off the dirt and blood from him. She is a pretty powerful mage of some kind.
      • Andreas remarks that this is cool.
    • “Your father– do you know… about him?”
      • “It’s been maybe two months since I last saw him? The last battle here?”
    • “You’ve– You’ve seen him? Wait– are we at Widowstone?”
      • “He has been away fighting what I assume is a great fight but… with the peace that has returned he should be here soon.”
    • “Your father is… a busy man. He… was able to break away from his duties, once. I do not know if it could possibly happen again. We… met in strange circumstances. I a lady of the court, betrothed to another. And when your father came and visited… well… love at first sight I did not believe in. The future can hold so much. But your father did. And… as time went on things grew and change. He suffered a great [?] and he became reclusive. I found him in that reclusive state. We built a family– we had you. But enemies found us. We both left for fear that our mistakes, our actions, would come back to you. I had hoped to see you again but things changed. Things always change so much.I don’t know if they could ever be the same. And for that reason… Andreas, I…”
  • From behind, two great hands wrap around both of you.
    • “HAH! MY BOY! OH!!”
      • “Father!”
    • “My beautiful wife!”
    • You watch as Yvonne is starstruck in a way. Zell leans in and kisses her. And kisses you on the forehead.
    • “My boy, you have done it!”
      • “Well, I wasn’t alone but… the Brigade endured. God, watching the Divider save the Titans and even Ishin… that was something.”
    • “I wish I could have seen it! But I have stories to regale of it my boy. Emotion, thrown down! The Prime Ring united. It is a great day! A beautiful day.”
      • “You’ll have to tell me them all.”
    • “We will tell battles of glory and victory, son!”
  • Ki heads to meet with her fathers, who are nearby. As they see her they both run forward.
    • “Koilos!” “Koilos, are you alright?”
    • “What are you doing here? You weren’t supposed to leave the house–” “Orion, be glad she did, dammit!”
    • Orion smiles and nods, supposing Philip is correct.
    • Helmuth tells Ki he is proud, and delivers Bailey to her.
  • Thomas heads off to see his wife.
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