Don't make fun stories while I'm typing

Session 53

A flashback to the previous evening. Prophet sees the High Priestess alone, in her silver vestments, at the temple with the Righteous Brand soldiers still finishing up with the ending of the battle that had happened with the incubus. He goes to her as she's trying to emanate good emotions outward to those around. He introduces himself as Barnabum, and says they need to speak. He says that her sermon was excellent and her people look up to her with pride and admiration, and his "friend" wishes so much that they could have the same thing.

She replies that his "friend" is looking for… admiration? Is that what she's to understand? She sits on the steps of the temple and invites him to do the same. He says the problem is that the friend has created an image of himself that may not even be real, even though others look to that image truthfully. How could he be loved if it's based in lies?

She says those are big questions, and it sounds like "your friend" might be having a crisis of faith in himself. "Well, my friend has always told others that he can commune with gods but he cannot." She says talking to gods isn't all it's cracked up to be and that no one in Kamordah listens to her because of the gifts she's been given or miracles that have been performed. She thinks they listen to her because in moments lacking the gods, her faith does not waver. What is faith if not the search for a guide; a rock.

"So you're saying I should believe in myself more?"

"I'm saying just to be there for them. Here, follow me."

She brings him to the double statue fountain in the town square. She points to them and says to look at them. "These are the founding members; some 300 years ago. It's said that this brother blessed Lady Kamordah when he saw how virtuous she was. How her unwavering sense of virtue kept her from the wrong path. What do you think the blessing he gave her was? Power? Visions? No… I think you have a little more to see. It's not something to show; it's something to feel. But I'll tell you this (as she gazes at the statues) I don't think she wanted a statue of herself. In fact, I think then she was in a similar spot that you (um, your friend) is now. I think she was called to be leader from need, and he simply showed her the way. Meditate on this for a while. Let go of the artifice and the feats, and go back to fixing your friend's crisis of faith. Goodbye for now; I have a large mass in the morning. Stay here. Ponder and ruminate. Rarely is the town square ever this quiet." He does so, and prestidigitates his own tears away.

Prophet then returns to the inn and wants to cook. He ruminates for a while and makes a Krynn-style "warm smoothie". In fact, he accidentally made something delicious when he was trying to make a poison… he was missing ingredients in a dream once. As he drinks the broth, the familiar smell takes him back to Rosohna. It's partly because of the herbs of the region, but also of their incenses. Time starts to roll backwards. He finds himself at the center of the town square again. Still moving backwards even faster now. The sky itself is spinning. Kamordah begins to shrink back to the size of a hamlet; even smaller. Then it's gone. Nothing but a small pond, a halfling girl, and a tall man holding a staff topped with the balance scales. The man turns to Prophet and winks.

He comes back to himself in the kitchen. "Did I just have my first divine communication? Maybe I am divine!" It's at this moment he remembers the word "amnesis", which is the process of remembering instead of forgetting. It's the same ritual to learn of past lives, as the Librarians had done with Mint before. The implication is that it's an actual memory of Prophet's past.

///

Back to the mid-day leaving of the group. Prophet and Cass do a makeover because Harpies apparently don't like cats. Cass is made to look like a spiky anteater-sort of thing, and something similar for the echo.

A few hours of walking later brings us to the foothills of the mountains. We locate a path into them, and Maltheo asks Yahnist if he knows this type of terrain. He does, and so he leads the way into the mountains. On our travels, we learn about rocks from Yahnist since he's a rock giant.

The group hikes for the rest of the day and most of the evening. Before resting, Briya communes with nature, but again comes up with nothing. Yahnist looks to make arrowheads, knives, crossbow bolts, etc... Cass casts Dream on Popovski for the sixth time; she's in the nightmare (but succeeds on her saving throw).

Maltheo asks Briya about her mother and how Briya is feeling. Maltheo says everything dies. It's the way of the world. It never really goes away, but does become easier over time. Then they talk about where Maltheo went earlier that morning at the inn and how he won the maze of debauchery. They talk of age and home. Maltheo left home at 8. Briya is 21 years old. Maltheo knows about the importance of found family. Briya becomes an albino bat to do some reconnaissance, and hears that the Prophet, sleeping in his tent, is having a fitful sleep.

He dreams: standing "inside" of an abstract painting. One half is entirely red, and the other is all purples and blues. He hears a song he's very familiar with: the song of creation. But from the red side, someone's trying to play the minor chord version; the tracks are piling on top of each other into a discordant cacophony. Briya notices (and so does Maltheo) that rainbow colors are spilling out of Prophet's tent. He awakens completely startled: pouring out of him are beams of light as shapes and colors (just like the song of creation) One of the shapes goes for Maltheo:

Initiative (Fighting three colored shapes, blue, white and gray)

After successfully defeating the summoned lights from the discordant song of creation, we realize that it was most likely caused by the devil or blood demon that was Lorna's superior. Her curse on Prophet didn't just give him cool new powers. His eye was red during the fight, and as soon as we ask, it turns back normal.

An arcana check reveals that it must have been an accident from someone inside the dream. We may be being watched, and this could happen again.

Just then, three Aarakocra show up; one carrying a spear and two carrying bows that are more owl-looking. Their weapons are glowing.