Remove ads by subscribing to Kanka or enabling premium features for the campaign.

  1. Journals

Soul Stitching 101

Claw Recap
2021-06-27

Lesotruth 16th, 989 IaC

After being led to the Unknown household, the Cursebusters met with the witch Soulstitcher, who had embedded herself in Caedali's former body. Confident and generally nonplussed by the encounter, Soulstitcher made introductions with the group, speaking about her personal philosophies and history with Caedali, phrasing her curse as a "gift". In return for peace with the party, Soulstitcher offered to teach the groups the basics of life alchemy in return for her continued peace, warning that if they attempted to oust her, their actions would likely lead to the deaths of many innocent villagers. The group understood that Soulstitcher was highly manipulative, but decided to work with her to learn life alchemy as their conflict with the Ossuate was more pressing. Soulstitcher, who revealed that she had never drunk from the Poison Pits of Levilthan, held no particular feelings towards the former members of her coven and informed the group they would begin training the following morning. She promptly exited the room and spoke with Unknown, somehow convincing the man to cease his hostilities and disperse the crowd. The witch informed Thandas and Yulaeryn that the party would be spending some time with them, and retreated to her room.

The group introduced themselves more formally to Thandas and Yulaeryn. The party learned that Thandas was a cleric of the God of the Hearth Unknown, and was a bastard that was exiled from his home kingdom in the Free Lands. Yulaeryn was once a warrior but was captured and enslaved in the south; she escaped and met Thandas in the Kalhastian Empire, and the two traveled for a time, evading the slavers that continually tried to hunt Yulaeryn down. After some time together, they had Caedali, and escaped to the north in the Unknown with the aid of a mysterious stranger. The two parents expressed a bit of concern regarding their "daughter's" flirtations with the occult, but were generally positive and supportive patrons.

In the night, Steve scried on Unknown, witnessing him studying the Black Book fervently. Ilryn spoke to Steve about her studies in time magic, and he determined that the strange crystal in her shoulder was keeping her safe from something, but could not determine its exact nature. Kel sent a message to Eliza Millheart, who was traveling to the Tower of Startha and promised to give the group updates. Caedali tried very hard to remember one of her former lives, realizing that as a man named Unknown, she loved jam on toast.

Lesotruth 17th, 989 IaC

Kel awoke thinking something was off, but could not quite place what it was. The group began their studies on life alchemy with Soulstitcher, with each member of the party making varying amounts of progress. Soulstitcher expressed an interest in Lambchop's soul belly and natural ability to handle disembodied spirits. Kel made an attempt to size Soulstitcher up, deciding that she wasn't purposely leading them on.

In the evening, Patty walked up to Kel and shit a nice, cold black egg out at her. Steve spent a few minute scrying on the Ossuate, who appeared to be traveling in a maze-like dungeon alongside the Right Hand and Anise Taranil. Kel sent another message to Tamidilly Rideonvattle, who was just setting out from the guild to investigate the Singing Bloodkeep. Caedali spent some time learning about Thandas and bonding with her long-forgotten father, who had no way of knowing who she really was. Thandas spoke about his time locked away in a tower by his mother in the kingdom of Unknown, stating that he was thankful he was exiled and was able to see the world, rather then remain sequestered away forever.

Lesotruth 18th, 989 IaC

The party continued to train with Soulstitcher, again making varying amounts of progress. After training, Soulstitcher spent hours staring at Steve working through his Black Book. She offered Steve some advice regarding his Identify spell, teaching him how to harness the weave and cast the spell at-will. Caedali spent her night out hunting with Yulaeryn rather ineffectively, but Caedali was able to enjoy their bonding time regardless.

Lesotruth 19th 989 IaC

Feeling something off again, Kel found that strange sand was falling out of everyone's ears while they slept. Steve realized that ever since the group had arrived, he had not been having any dreams. Looking into the past, Steve determined that the group slowly expulsed this strange glittering sand as they slept.

The group trained again with Soulstitcher, but due to the group barely progressing, she ended the training early. Soulstitcher expressed some interest in Merja's powers, claiming that they likely came from death and a torn soul, musing that she had probably died before she found Pelema. Studying the nature of the curse the Ossuate had levied upon her, Soulstitcher determined that her current state of unlife has not due to her curse, but by the dark power that she already harnessed. Merja showed Soulstitcher the head embedded in her chest, which began freaking out until closed up again. Soulstitcher offered to remove it, and after some hesitation, Merja agreed. Soulstitcher operated on Merja, taking out the demonic head of a nycaloth and replacing her lungs. The witch disposed of the head in a chest.

Ilryn expressed concerns over the time sand, asking Kel to speak with Eliza and see if anything was fucked up. Kel spoke to Eliza in order to determine whether or not they were losing time, but she apparently not seen daylight for a few days. Tamidilly was no help, as she was preoccupied.

Kel creeped on Thandas at night, attempting to see if he was affected by the time sand, and also just looking around his room. When Thandas immediately spotted her, she "covered" for herself by asking if he had any ice. Thandas stated that Soulstitcher had something that could potentially make ice in her room.

Steve made an attempt to identify some of the time sand, discovering that it was indeed temporal magic, and was terribly unstable. It seemed to be an artifact of a "potential future that must come to pass", and resulted from the time magic tearing itself apart. The cause could not be determined, because it resulted from something that happens in the future and thusly was untraceable by way of magical history.

Lesotruth 20th, 989 IaC

Studies continued, and Soulstitcher's end goal was to have the group capable of pulling a soul out within a minute of uninterrupted contact. Soulstitcher focused her efforts on Lambchop this time, tearing the soul orb out of his stomach, filing it down, and re-embedding it within his body, allowing him to use its power. The group also spotted him walking around with a strange book.

Ilryn decided that it would probably be helpful to identify the crystal in her shoulder, and had Kel open her up while Steve stuck a finger in to touch it. Steve determined that it was a "time anchor", a extremely dense piece of time itself. He determined that Ilryn seemed to have had the crystal in her shoulder her entire life, from birth. Its true purpose appeared to be to obscure Ilryn from entities outside of time, shrouding her existence in the timeline. However, if the crystal was removed, it could likely be repurposed.

Steve also identified his Inkwell Ring, finding a little bit more about it, and discovering that it could potentially make portals between two places.

Caedali, worried about Lambchop's book, snuck over to him in the night and discovered the book was the Unknown, a book of terrible recipes with half the pages blank. She used Zevian's power to determine the book was, in fact not cursed, and left it with him, satisfied.

Lesotruth 21st, 989 IaC

Studies continued. Caedali spoke with Soulstitcher, questioning her designs. Soulstitcher claimed to have no grand plot, and only had a love for knowledge and growing. Caedali accused Soulstitcher of taking people's lives away with her powers, and Soulstitcher retorted by claiming Caedali's thought process to differ from hers; Caedali believed that people had rights to a full life, whereas Soulstitcher believed that there was no such order in the world. The witch also believed that she didn't "take" lives, but simply change their state; souls are recycled, shifted, moved to different worlds, and so on. While nobody asks for these things to happen to them, chaos and disorder is the nature of the world.

Ilryn played everyone a song on her harp, filling the cottage with a warm, kind atmosphere. Soulstitcher caught a glimpse of Avra in a mirror on the far wall. She beckoned Ilryn over to speak about Avra, explaining a bit about their past; Avra, originally Ranaeva, was a child of Durzick and Unknown, borne from the goddess's tears as she birthed Unknown, Ranaeva's brother. Ranaeva spent much of their life tormenting their brother as a god of tears and crystals, but their actions eventually resulted in the death of Unrirnu's wife Unknown, an act that resulted Unrirnu trapping Ranaeva in the mirror realms. Soulstitcher advised that Ilryn, if she considered Avra a friend, to guide them as much as they guide her, and to not trifle with time.

Ilryn borrow a mirror off the way, an act which prompted Yulaeryn to infer something else completely. Ilryn spoke with Avra about her conversation with Soulstitcher, prompting some self-reflection from her patron. After shit-talking Soulstitcher, Avra asked about the time magic, as they wished to undo what they had done to Ayaten, still somewhat irritated that no one got "the joke" that involved sequestering the goddess's soul in a crucible at the bottom of the pits of hell. Avra apologized to Ilryn for changing their relationship after she left Unknown, as he became enamored with the promise of the power to undo his past. Avra made a comment about the husk that Ilryn hid in the forest, saying that they had spent a considerable amount of attention keeping it obscured from Yulaeryn. Finally, Avra gifted Ilryn with the Unknown, a powerful weapon originally gifted to them by their father, Durzick.

Worried about the time magic, Kel casted Commune to speak with Patalir, learning that there was something the group could do to stop the sand, and it had nothing to do with where they were currently located. When she asked if the sand had anything to do with the Ossuate, Patalir answered no...and yes.

Lesotruth 22nd, 989 IaC

In the morning, the group found some small papers in the time sand. Training continued to progress, moving on to the group attempting to practically remove souls from bodies. Ilryn moved "grandpa" down to Soulstitcher's cellar.

The party spotted Soulstitcher talking to Connor, but were unable to make out what they were saying. The witch gave Connor a small ring. Kel confronted Connor to try and get him to tell them what he talked about, and eventually tried to take the ring from him. Connor began running away from everyone, and Merja tormented him by calmly following him.

Lesotruth 23rd 989 IaC

The papers in the sand began to grow larger. Steve attempted to scry on Steve 2 yet again, but his clone resisted the spell. Studies continued with Soulstitcher. Lambchop began to fall behind in the studies, but Merja came closed to mastering the technique. Due to Soulstitcher's occasional assistance and advice given during the party's downtime, the group managed to level up to 10.

Caedali continued to spend time with her parents, but felt saddened that she wasn't seen as their child. She asked around the party for any disguise magic, but the group wasn't capable of such.

Merja began making a vase for Soulstitcher, attracting the attention of Ragil, who tried to convince her to tear an eye out from the Malthyras and add it to her creation. Merja ignored them and fired the vase in the Unknown, creating some form of living vessel. Soulstitcher took the vase, offering nothing but a "thank you". Kel learned from the interaction that you get a girlfriend by making a vase, later telling this knowledge to Patalir.

Lesotruth 24th, 989 IaC

Studies continued with the group. Steve was able to finally finish his training ahead of the others, much to Merja's dismay, and was capable of pulling a soul out in a minute. The group saw Connor practicing boxing near the edge of the forest. In response, Merja made him a tiny, living plate. Kel renewed her Gentle Repose on Cora's corpse. Steve tried to look in on Steve 2 again, failing.

Caedali reached down into her soul to attempt to speak with Cora, who seemed fragmented and strange, her memories mixed in with the other personalities. Cora was disturbed that Connor was given a ring by Soulstitcher, and after saying that Caedali should contact the authorities. Cora then took over Eralta's body, chasing down Connor and giving the halfling a giant hug while speaking about strange, twisted memories. Connor's ring fell out of his pocket as Caedali came back to her senses, and Connor ran away at the soonest opportunity. Caedali had Steve identify the ring, determining it was the legendary Unknown, a powerful ring that can grant great strength and power, at the cost of a permanent loss to ability afterwards. Caedali tried to take the curse out of the ring with Zevian's Nail, but couldn't untangle it with the level of magic the sword possessed.

Merja made a ceramic clone of Connor, making an immaculate, to-scale model of the halfling. Once fired, the clone simply stood around without emotion and impetus as it did not contain a soul.

In the night of a Batra full moon, nothing seemed to happen.

Lesotruth 25th, 989 IaC

More sand, bigger papers, more training. Steve scried on Steve 2, successfully this time. The evil clone was confronting a librarian, soon immolating him with sinister flames and entering the library, seeking out a particular book on time magic. 

Kel spotted a number of artifacts in Soulstitcher's room, her interest piqued by a gauntlet surrounded by frosty mist. Kel demonstrated the awesome power of her tooth bag, which Soulstitcher effortlessly swatted aside. The witch spoke of Patalir and her priests, amused that Kel was holding on to the many terrible memories she received in the Splintering Halls. Soulstitcher offered the gauntlet to Kel, believing that the darkness in the cleric's mind could convince it to work for her. The gauntlet, Unknown, found Kel to be a proper wielder, and began asking her about the "next feast" as Kel attuned to it.

Steve finally finished Unknown, and of course, the book grew teeth and attacked. The party panicked as some of the group tried to hit the book, with Ilryn accidentally striking Steve with an Eldritch Blast. Kel tried to strike the book with Sacred Flame but missed as Steve dodged out of the way. Cora managed to tear the book off as Steve distanced himself, and Merja finally pulled out the Unknown and sliced the book in half.

Steve, after studying in the Black Book, understood the spell Temporal Serpent, which would allow him to establish a portal that would tunnel back through time, though the exact destination would be unknown. The spell required a temporal anomaly, a dialator, and an anchor to function.

Kel messaged Tamidilly, learning that the other group had made some progress on the Singing Steel, and that somehow Erdo had been roped into a marriage.

Lesotruth 26th, 989 IaC

Training continued. Connor confronted Caedali about the Ring of Shaewood, convincing her to give it back to him.

Lesotruth 27th 989 IaC

Merja was finally able to finish her training alongside Kel and Ilryn, but Caedali and Lambchop still couldn't grasp it.

Lesotruth 28th 989 IaC

The papers became large and barely legible, but only a few words could be made out. Training continued for Lambchop and Caedali.

Lesotruth 29th 989 IaC

Caedali finally managed to master the life alchemy technique. The papers in the sand were large enough to read, stating, "You have         something you shouldn't have". Steve realized the space between the words could fit about 4 letters. Kel sent a message to Eliza asking her if she could hold out a bit longer, and the tired-sounding Eliza told her to take all the time the group needed. Steve scried on Eliza, finding that she traveled with the Iron, Unknown, Ohrakk Cinderhand, and a knight with an eye on their armor.

Ilryn decided to take the spell Teleportation Circle, gaining knowledge of the circle in Cloverhall as well as the one next to Unknown.

Lesotruth 30th, 989 IaC

The sand situation continued to worsen. The group decided to stay for another two days in the hopes that Lambchop could also master the technique, so his training continued.

Merja made a small living cup, and stockpiled some water in case the sand men attacked.

Endelshine 1st, 989 IaC

Lambchop sort of finished his training, allowing him to unreliably pull out souls.

At night, shades of Unknown attacked the group, followed by strange time beasts. Kel managed to quickly neutralize the clones of Letros by dousing them with Create Water, but the time beasts moved on undaunted, made of stronger stuff. As Caedali hit one, Zevian whispered that their existence was cursed. The rest of the party started to attack as one of the time beasts started to turn Lambchop into sand. Kel and Caedali began tearing out their curses as Merja blasted a few with her lightning and Ilryn cut open one with her new sword. They party took care of the last one, and Lambchop slowly began to return to normal. Kel got to work fixing a part of the cottage that got caught in the crossfire.

Steve scried on Eliza, finding her and some compatriots deep in the Tower of Startha, in a restful-looking room.

Endelshine 2nd, 989 IaC

The party decided to stay another day in order for Lambchop to finish up his training, and so that the group could finish up their ongoing studies and be better prepared for the fight ahead. As a result, the group leveled to 11.

In the evening, the group offered some farewells to the Malthyras and prepared to set out the following morning. Merja crafted a living ceramic rose as a present for the family

Endelshine 3rd, 989 IaC

After some discussion on the best course of action to take, Ilryn used her teleportation circle to take the group to Unknown, with Steve leaving an inkwell portal behind just in case the group needed to return.

Eager for her death, Gav'tagmal dropped her defenses and allowed Caedali to remove her dark, twisted soul, which she planted in Merja's facsimile of Connor. Caedali did the honors and smashed the ceramic vessel, sending out a massive pulse of ancient energy that immediately tore the life out of the witch's various constructs. 

As the group discussed their next move, Kel received an urgent set of messages from Tamidilly, claiming that the Great Colossus had risen and that many people had already died. The group thought first to make their way to the tower, but soon Ilryn received a message from Unknown asking for assistance in dealing with a growing time rift.

Weighing their options, the party decided to head to Yattersby in order to address the time rift. The group figured it could possibly be harnessed by Steve in order to establish a path back in time, potentially allowing the party to stop the Colossus from rising in the first place. With no way of traveling directly there, the party used the inkwell portal to go back to Soulstitcher, where she offered to teleport the group in return for a memory from each of them. Soulstitcher took various things from each party member, and as she teleported them, took away Caedali's hatred of her.

As the party arrived in Yattersby, Caedali's latent personalities formed together to fill the hole in her mind, renewing her hatred of Soulstitcher. The group encountered Letros and Unknown, Letros's apprentice and the man that ran the "fortune telling" booth in the Owlspring Festival in Bucktuck City. As Letros and Yeckle freaked out at the growing rift, Steve began to study it as Caedali's Caedali's strange box began to jitter in her pack. The box appeared to react to Steve, opening up into a black void. Steve identified the box and found that it appeared to be locked in time, similar to Ilryn's harp. After some goading from the party, Steve quickly stuck his arm in the box and snatched up the fox idol from Foxmoon Cairn, a relic that could manifest a time dilating field. With the anomaly, a dilator, and an anchor with Ilryn's crystal, Steve had the components necessary to cast his spell, Time Serpent. A number of shades of Letros as well as hundreds of time beast began to encroach upon the party as time sand began spilling from their ears. Steve began to open the portal, which required something to fill it; hearing their own voices through the portal, the party offered up the items they received from Yeckle at the festival; Kel's egg, Caedali's box, and Ilryn's rapier. Steve's spell began to take shape and the portal grew, establishing a path through time that connected to all the items Yeckle stole from the future. The party witnessed the history of the portal, realizing that Yeckle was not its cause, but rather its end; the anomaly originally manifested as a result of the group's meddling, and functioned backwards in time.

The party saw the events of the portal in reverse order, with Letros returning to discover its growth, being kidnapped by the Ossuate, accidentally being sucked into it and tearing off shades of himself into the time stream, lecturing Yeckle, and finally Yeckle "opening" the portal by siphoning its power into his crystal, which he took to the city.

Jumping into the portal, the group witnessed many items being stolen that Yeckle would then offer to people during the festival without any understanding of where they were coming from. The party followed a thread of fate that led them past a sheathless sword, and eventually, they piled out of a scabbard attached to the hip of Patras Gritham.