𝔞 𝔠𝔬𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 𝔬𝔣 𝔡𝔫𝔡 𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔰...
This is for the places, characters, lives, and futures we shape. To the victories and losses. To those we save and to those we must leave behind. To the hearts we mend and to the ones we break, m...
So this is where we are It's not where we had wanted to be If half the world's gone mad The other half just don't care, you see
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An argument arises in the party as the members debate on whether or not they should follow after the kid who gave them the amulet to the "safe haven." Eventually they all agree that it's best to go find it for rest and for answers about the civil war in Arden. Cedric follows the blinking light in the amulet like a compass, and with an incredibly high survival roll, he leads the party bravely through the woods navigating the rivers, broken paths, and darkened woods like a real hero.
They travel for about a day and a half and eventually they come to a large field of vast...nothingness. Confused, the party believes it must be some sort of mistake. Maybe the amulet is faulty?
But then Lorelei notices a very thin band of illusion magic lingering in the air. Walking ahead she feels a strange pull of magic tugging her back and she feels as if there is nothing to look for...but her keen arcane adept eyes bring her back to the realization that powerful magic is masking something in this area. With her hands raised, she walks forward and steps through the illusion magic to reveal a beautiful camp littering the ground and the trees. Wooden houses and grand tents line the trees connected by rope bridges and ladders. The people there are all of dark, rich skin, dark eyes, beautiful hair, and hand crafted clothes. These are the Clanfolk of Asa Pines.
(okay damn it's been way too long since I've even thought about updating this, so I will NOT be giving the entire run down of this session because it's wayyyyyy too long. Starting now I will be just giving a much shorter summary)
The party meets with the elders of the clan and they specifically speak with a Seer named Digging Bird to ask about Benjamin Strider. She tells them of visions she has of a crumbling tower with dark magic, and she can only guess that the "Silver Striding Man"--a man who had aided them before--is stuck in the tower. Digging Bird supplies the party with healing ointments that they pay off by helping the Clan with building tasks and other chores.
In the morning the party heads out following a map leading to a tower out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by fields of blood red roses where the ground is damp and cold. When they enter the black tower, the doors lock them in. Thus begins their wandering trying to figure out what happened and where Benjamin could be. They encounter a few horrific sights that send them into small fits of insanity (being unable to move, constant crying/screaming, being unable to speak, etc.). Calypso and Cedric find a servant's quarter and find hanged bodies hidden behind the walls. Portraits with gouged out eyes still seemingly watch them and they hear little footsteps hurrying after them, but they are unable to locate the person.
Next they enter a grand ballroom filled with ghosts dressed in elaborate, beautiful clothes, yet the ghosts take no notice of their presence. They all roll wisdom saves and only Lorelei makes it! Everyone but her suddenly darts away, Cedric and Mortimer going to dance with the ghosts, and Calypso going to eat from the grand banquet set before the guests. Calypso chows down into a loaf of bread and finds that she suddenly is eating rotting foot--maggots squirm in her mouth and she continuously vomits as Lorelei rushes to snap the boys out of it. With Calypso's eventual help, they get Cedric out of the dancing trance and all rush to help Mortimer. He is dancing gracefully with a beautiful ghostly woman without a face.
Lorelei (by rolling a natural one lol) tries to shove Mortimer away and ends up slapping the woman through the face. A scream erupts and a fight between the party (sans Mortimer bc he's having a breakdown in the corner like a little bitch) and two big guard ghosts.
After the fight, Lorelei calms Mortimer and breaks him from his fit, and he kisses her hand in thanks (!!!). They continue on through a few other floors (they're not that important lol) until they reach a laboratory level.
This lab is creepy with body parts strewn about. There are faceless bodies with their skin ripped open on tables, chemicals bubble through tubes running across the room, etc.
They poke around for a little while until someone finds a trap door on the ceiling. Calypso yeets up on Cedric's shoulders and opens the door then lets down a rope to hoist the others up. As their eyes adjust they see three figures huddled together in the corner of the makeshift room--and these men all look exactly alike.
These men are all Benjamin Strider...well, clones of the original Benji. The party, after proving that they were not there to harm the clones, learn information about the original Benjamin, the man keeping him, and the tower itself. They say that Benji is alive, but not with them. They all hold a small collection of memories from the original and they say that they are only a few of many other clones made. The tower belongs to a man named Pellemont and a strange elf who does not use his name. The clones tell the group that the elf who experiments on them and others is in the next floor above. They leave the clones and leave the door open for them to escape.
In the next room they find themselves at the highest room of the tower and they see a man bound in chains barred to a large pillar. Fragments of what look like a mirror fill the room and an elven man can be seen walking between the shards from within the mirror. He asks what they are doing and who they are. He introduces himself as the Scientist, and they being the sarcastic little assholes they are, respond by calling themselves: The Bloody Redhead (Lorelei), The Demon (Calypso), and The Fallen (Cedric). Hearing Cedric, the man instantly seems intrigued. Before they can react, the shards rush to Cedric and stab into his sides, melting slowly to encapsulate him in a strange, metallic gel. He then sinks through the floor and vanishes.
The Scientist's voice rings through the chamber telling an unnamed enemy to dispose of the intruders. The man chained to the pillar begins to scream as purple fog spills from his mouth, nose, and eyes. A nine foot man forms from the fog before them and a battle ensues where the previously chained man escapes and aids the party in defeating this "demi-god."
The fight is epic, long, Lorelei gets tf bitten out of her by an invisible dog, Calypso sneaky sneaks and stabby stabs, Cedric is hella kidnapped, and the new man helps them survive. They defeat this spooky big guy with the purple smoke and then they all introduce themselves to each other.
The new man, a dark haired half-elf with bright green eyes, a slightly withered frame, but strong hands and arms, introduces himself as Halian, but he goes by Hal. He has been locked away in the tower for weeks due to making his previous master (the spooky purple smoke man) man for not doing his bidding. Hal reveals he is half rogue/half warlock who has just found a new patron through the fight.
