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  1. Journals

Ascent

Peas Recap
Session
2020-08-23

Olkorinik 3rd, 951

  • Journey and Phaelnah arrived at the foot of the demon tree Abrax, who was depressed and wanted to be left alone
    • The rest of the Peas emerged from the Roomy Chest
    • Leadbelly refrained from taking some of the old weapons lodged in Abrax's trunk
  • The group began to cross a high-cliffed isthmuth when they were addressed by the god of the sea Jylurm, who wished for Leadbelly to keep his "promise" to jump into the ocean on his return
    • Phaelnah thought ahead and cast Waterwalk on the party 
    • Jylurm seized the mind of the reluctant dwarf who kicked away Tyerjon's attempts to stop him and leapt out into the ocean, hitting the water like a solid land
    • The water formed hand-like appendages to pull Leadbelly in, breaking through Phaelnah's spell as the ocean swallowed Leadbelly
    • The group began to freak out and attempted to bargain with Jylurm, who was only interested in seeing the party jump into the sea
      • Wander toyed with the idea of jumping in himself
    • Below the surface, Leadbelly was pulled to the bottom of the sea, meeting a giant fleshy creature
    • The creature beckoned to Leadbelly to hug him and attempted to break his mind, which Leadbelly resisted
    • Leadbelly eventually gave up and tried to hug the creature, and was stopped by a ghostly ship sailing through the sand on the sea floor
  • Up top, the sea began to rage and beat against the cliffside, threatening its structural integrity
    • The party began to run as the path behind them crumbled, and after a marathon, came face to face with a giant iron golem that turned to face them
    • As the golem started to engage hostilities, the Dirty Whale, now a ghost ship, flew from the ocean carrying Leadbelly and shooting the golem off the cliffside with its cannons
    • Lanwright Bodgit and Lodgren Teravash wished the party well as the ship sailed back down to fight more monstrosities, disappearing in a reverse explosion
    • Tyerjon was prevented from trying to lodge an axe in what appeared to be a charging station for the golem
  • The party began to make their way back towards the Temple of the Earth, but soon sensed the presence of slagbeasts
    • Hearing a shout in the distance to run, the group booked it while an encroaching horde of beasts began to chase them
    • The Man of Flame, apparently having survived capture on Floril Isle, joined the party alongside the living sword Televander to fight off their pursuers
    • Facing a few complications along the way, the group eventually outpaced the beasts, finally making it to the circle of safety at the center of the island
  • At the circle of safety, the party met with a number of individuals and learned a bit about the current state of affairs
    • The party was hailed by the buff Father Falis, whose team had successfully returned from the Free Lands with their crystal
      • Falis had managed to hire a group of Fectern priests to assist in warding back the forces of Jylurm, which had been attacking the Temple of the Earth
    • The party checked in on the Rain Knight, who was mostly depressed and wished to be left alone
    • The party was introduced to Rilbekk Tudefrodgaline and Undgregas Castrock, friends of Selathwin that answered her call for help
    • The wizards instructed Tyerjon to leave the Roomy Chest in the circle, as that would be the only place it worked, and so that people could teleport into Madrioc and make their way to the island through the chest
  • The party continued on their way to the temple, their journey rendered safer by patrols of guards along the route that warded back the slagbeasts
  • At the temple, the group supplied the resonating crystal to Selathwin, who incorporated it into a larger crystal as part of her stabilization ritual
  • Waiting around for the rest of the day, the group engaged with some of the new arrivals to the island and performed various tasks
    • Merin Lavelle approached the party, telling them about the resistance in Pallam
      • The resistance had come to assist in hopes of gaining support in their war efforts 
    • Seamus was hailed by King Dodren of Falderheim and Halarain Ovastios, who discussed kingly matters
      • Dodren claimed he had arrived simply because he was bored of the peace in his nation 
      • Dodren asserted that if Seamus proved his mettle in battle, he'd help him ascend to the throne of Sanaris
      • Halarain offered to help Seamus with his kingly problems if he help him with his
      • Dodren challenged Seamus to an arm wrestle, which the half elf lost
      • Wander gave Dodren a bottle of rooteere wine, which the old king downed in a gulp
    • The group was introduced to General Arix of Locir Dorcas, who had brought a small army to help reclaim the Unyielding Flame from the Nightseeker
      • The group didn't let her know that it was currently part of the revived Vortek
    • Wander spoke with a paper clone of the wizard Silestro, who was happy that Wander had learned some of his rituals
    • Phaelnah messaged a number of people to check on their status
    • Phaelnah and Tyerjon made an excursion back to Madrioc to buy another ceremonial bowl for a Heroes' Feast, passing by a number of familiar faces along the way, including the Lucent Hand
      • They spoke briefly with Layton Mocksong who was maintaining a field of magic at the circle of safety, musing that the assistance of Azmok might be helpful
    • The group entered deals with the mercenaries, offering 2000 gold to the Broken Band up front, and 5000 to the many that had arrived from Madrioc
    • Vetraxu and her devils arrived, hoping to curry good favor through helping
    • The Silent Knight, Kerimtin, and Laisa showed up, wishing to return the favor for the Peas' help at the beacon
    • Valx offered to teach Journey one of his special techniques, as Karcius sulked in the corner

Olkorinik 4th, 951

  • The Peas passed the time in various ways, hoping the last group would arrive soon
    • Wander spent some time assisting against the hordes, also proccing his Kingleader Dagger and summoning the ogre, who arrived later at night
  • The earth began to quake from the Nightseeker's ritual as the hordes of shadows began to strengthen
  • A number of new arrivals came, including Ulian Bowband and a group of necromancers from Necreziel
  • In the middle of the night, Kalkot, Leidren and the Lightning Man arrived with their crystal, and minus their wizard
    • Selathwin immediately completed her ritual, and rushed the tired ley-affected individuals into a set of claustrophobic chambers, and began pumping them full of ley energy

The Time Between Times

  • Tyerjon
    • Tyerjon awoke at the bottom of an endless valley, fighting eternally against strange, primordial beasts and growing in size
    • After over 500 years, Tyerjon had grown to massive size with insane strength
    • Suddenly blessed with a clearness of mind, Tyerjon decided to climb the cliffsides, taking the better part of a year doing so while still fighting the beasts from below
    • At the top of the cliff, Tyerjon witnessed the majesty of the world and the planetary bodies beyond it, eventually faced with two doors, a small one and a large one
    • A blue figure appeared, stating a number of points, but mainly informing the dragonborn that if he wished to keep this new strength, he would need to sacrifice his mind by remembering the centuries of conflict he endured
    • Tyerjon ultimately chose to take the small door, blessing himself with certain abilities, and upgrading Frosthold
  • Wander
    • Wander awoke in a fiery chamber containing the true form of Etarus, who was bound in chains
    • After a minimal conversation, Etarus killed Wander, but afterwards the scenario reset
    • Wander then resolved to kill Etarus, experiencing countless thousands of deaths as he learned Etarus' attacks and patterns
    • Manipulating and choreographing Etarus' movements, he finally managed to get the devil to strangle himself, killing him
    • Wander appeared back at the temple with some new abilities and some haunting memories
  • Leadbelly
    • Leadbelly awoke in a large arena atop a stormy cloud, addressed by Onyr and his three storm champions
    • Leadbelly engaged the champions in battle over and over, constantly getting beat down
    • Slowly, Leadbelly began to hold his own, and after countless battles, finally prevailed over the champions
    • As Onyr offered Leadbelly power, a blue figure appeared and froze Onyr, addressing Leadbelly and questioning whether his path of revenge was the right one
    • Leadbelly, true to his god, chose to accept the path of vengeance without hesitation, seizing Onyr's power and reforging Onyr's Tongue
    • Leadbelly returned to the temple with newfound power
  • Journey
    • Journey awoke to a white, slightly iridescent void, addressed by a crystallized figure that claimed to be Malae
    • Malae offered Journey great power at the cost of replacing her own heart with the dragon's crystal heart, fusing the two irreversably
    • A blue figure appeared to Journey, speaking of Malae's history as a conqueror and tyrant
    • Journey ultimately rejected Malae's offer, and the dejected dragon shattered away
    • Journey then lived a full life of adventure and heroism, settling back in with her family and helping her village grow
    • Journey awoke in the temple, armed with new knowledge and power
  • Phaelnah
    • Phaelnah found herself in a bizarre landscape, split between a fey forest and the dire Nighblight
    • Evael appeared alongside a manifestation of the Nightblight's consciousness, and the former went on to scold Phaelnah and express her bewilderment regarding the locale
    • The blue figure appeared, claiming that it could give Phaelnah power, but if she kept both aspects of herself, her form would be incapable of surviving
    • Phaelnah ultimately chose to keep the Nightblight in order to remove its power from the Nightseeker and prevent other forests from becoming subject to it
    • Opening herself up to the Nighblight's influence, Phaelnah's consciousness began to span over countless levels of dimensionality as she finally began to comprehend its true nature, having a small, actual conversation with it
    • Phaelnah eventually returned to the temple, no longer feeling Aeltra's presence
  • Seamus
    • Seamus found himself growing up in his home village as a child, as if the attack never happened, growing into a soldier of the Emerald and eventually the Shadow Guard
    • After committing terrible deeds for his nation, he was tasked with razing a village, where he found himself as a child
    • Despite Voidspeaker goading him to do so, Seamus declined to kill himself, leaving the child under the bed
    • Years later, Seamus was tasked with killing himself again, and was finally chopped up into little pieces by his young self, who he became
    • Seamus experienced many lives of hardships and struggles, where the results of difficult decisions led to dire consequences and deaths
    • After so many lifetimes began to fade into a haze, Seamus entered the Ceon'tir Bastion, faced with the crown or an open door
    • Seamus chose to take the crown and pursue the path to becoming king, giving up his freedom and accepting the hardships he would face
    • Seamus emerged into the temple with new power and understanding
  • Aftermath
    • Falis got bigger
    • Kalkot got buffer
    • Leidren got stranger
    • The Man of Flame became a skeleton
    • Bigsy earned the ability to change into water
    • The druid became quiet and distanced herself from everyone
    • The lightning man became pure lightning
    • The veiny woman exploded

Olkorinik 4th, 951

  • Tired after their ordeals, the Phaelnah made a Heroes' Feast, but had to leave the Rain Knight out due to there being 13 people.
    • Falis regaled the table with tales of the heroics of Fectovarano

Olkorinik 5th, 951

  • Seamus received the sword Kingkeeper from Relyan Velowyn
  • The armies prepared for their assault, and began to group up for the battle ahead
  • With the armies behind them, the party began their assault on the Nightseeker, smashing through the attacking shadows and leading the charge
    • A bridge of energy extended to follow the receding shadow bridge as the Fectern priests warded off the creatures of the sea
    • The party fought alongside the armies for a while, eventually moving their way to the vanguard
  • Coming to a perimeter that was shadowed by a rain of ethereal arrows, the group hesitated for a moment
    • Suddenly, Arghan appeared and ran through the arrow rain, and the group followed in his stead
    • Bowling through the shadowy archers, Arghan continued onwards to smash a crystal creating a barrier of shadow
      • The resulting explosion sent him flying into the sea
  • The group began to engage the shadows, taking them out as they destroyed the barriers on the shadow bridge
    • Despite taking some heavy hits, the group persevered, pushing through the enemies' defenses
  • As the shadows retreated, the party ran down the long bridge, suddenly aided by a strange alacrity that brought them to blinding speeds
    • In this strange slipstream, the party was addressed by Krel'la Tavesh, who provided them aid from afar, asking them to join her for drinks in Madrioc if they survived
  • Sped days ahead of the armies, the Peas arrived at the base of a giant, shadowy structure, and they entered
    • Looking into the center, the group spotted a giant, shadowy figure with thick full-plated armor
    • The figure pointed at the group, and in Balnar's voice, spoke to Leadbelly, telling him that he would go no further