We can only put dead bodies in the bag!
Maltheo and Briya share a secret as the group recruits friends to join them into hunting for the center of corruption. Maltheo joins forces with a "friend", and the group discovers a house-sized gate within an enormous illusion magic phenomenon. Someone attacks.
Session 32
Maltheo and Briya are chatting before bed on their own. Maltheo interrogates Briya about her seemingly-indifferent attitude toward the Empire. He's somewhat incredulous of the fact of her having traveled with the circus for so long, and yet never having any bad experiences with them. Briya replies that mostly it's because she and family are from a remote part of the Empire and have never really been bothered by them. Yes, dealing with soldiers on their off time can be dramatic sometimes, but otherwise not really that bad. She's from the very, very far west, where the Empire's reach is thin and unimportant, since they are only considered the place that "feeds the Empire". Briya is curious why Maltheo seems to love and hate the Empire; she offers to send an animal message to the flag-emblazoned tower on Maltheo's behalf. He accepts, but needs time to think of the content of the message.
Maltheo also expertly cuts a diamond Briya purchased into a useful 300 gold-piece sized one, and leaves roughly 180 gold's worth of diamond dust. It seems that during this time, it's the only moment where Maltheo seems completely relaxed and at-ease.
Prophet manipulates the downtrodden into seeing him as a savior and to follow him. He tries to convert some of the camp locals, and it sort of works. No one was converted, but Prophet made such an impression that people are talking of Someone being around.
Kra'naelen chats with Vesryn about inconsequential things. He also studies the two staves in his possession (the Mirrorlight Harbinger and the Staff of the Ivory Claw) with his brother's help. They also talk about the vestiges of divergence (divine magical items), how regular magic items +1 and +2 can be created with not too much effort but that stronger ones are very rare. Also that magical creatures can contribute to being used as catalysts for magical items.
The next morning brings debate on possible courses of action. We know we need to speak with Monica and Thulina for sure. But then do we hunt the hags? Or the blood mage and Shivver associates? We're not sure we're prepared to go alone against the hags.
Monica arrives, and she tells us she found something interesting: a wolf statuette she pulls out of her fancy bag of holding-ish belt. She smells it and says it has the strong odor of illusion magic. She recovered it from a soldier who dropped it when being killed by the Barber, and thinks perhaps it could be some sort of key to work toward undoing the illusion magic that is happening all around Molaesmyr.
Briya insights that Monica is certainly genuine in her confidence level. She thinks she can find the source of the magic. We confer with her that Kra'naelen's nothic compass can guide us; that there are 3 hags and even possibly 3 others with them (the Shivver and blood mage / a demon / a devil)
Agden is back; we approach him to join Vesryn and Monica in joining us. He accepts. Briya sends her animal message via dragonfly for Maltheo (privately):
"Augen Trust Here. Warning. Shivver working with devil Raokan. Meeting Lorna the Hag, she is the source of the dark corruption. Help remove her."
Cass sends Skysibil Abriana a message to check on the whereabouts of Raokan and company. A reply comes that she'll start scrying. Cass gives us all the Gift of Alacrity for the day. We head out, along with Vesryn, Agden, and Monica joining us. We once again go into the ruins, and as we reach the far end of the bridge, Maltheo hears a voice.
"Jane Tusso of the Assembly. Thank you for the warning. I believe you may have been misinformed. Where can we meet?" He replies: "Heading into Molaesmyr with Uthodurnians. Looking for the center of the corruption. Look for the Tiefling. Get me alone away from them. We can talk then."
As Kra'naelen leads the group with his compass, his confidence is a bit shaken due to a bad survival check. Eventually he gets a bit lost, and the illusion changes make it very difficult to follow the direction indicated.
Prophet gets message from Skysibil, saying:
"Prophet, I cannot find Raokan. I did see the dwarf and her group. Raokan not with them. They are walking in the city." He replies: "Thank you for sharing this; we will be vigilant; keep us apprised of new information please."
Kra'naelen checks again for a new direction. Gets a bit further.
Maltheo receives, "I have eyes on you at this moment, I think." He then ducks behind a street and waits. Prophet notices but says nothing. A woman appears from invisibility to Maltheo. She has tattoos that fade into her upper arms and, on her belt, a Dwendalian Empire longsword that is mostly plain but for an etched owl on the hilt, standing hooded in a dark brown cloak. They have a fast conversation:
Cloaked Figure: So you're with the trust and with these mercenaries. We won't spend much time here. I understand you're covert. What do you know?
Maltheo: From what I've gathered, Roakan has been freed in the territory of Xhorhas; he's working with the Shivver; they came here together. A Dwarf blood mage and the rest of the Shivver are still in the ruins.
CF: Blood magic? Here??
M: I've seen them use it before; Roakan was a devil of blood. The hags also... They have tainted some creatures here, including a fae dragon.
CF: I believe you have all the pieces of information but in the wrong configuration.
M: Then help me put them in the right place.
CF: Intelligence shows that the corruption comes from here. But maybe not from hags. Let's just say... local figures. I believe most locals say hags because there are three. In fact, one is definitely a hag, but the rest are just a coven, and not even a proper one at that. I do not believe they are the source of the corruption. They may benefit from it, but we don't believe they're the source of the illusion. We're also still searching for the epicenter of the corruption. We do think, however, it may be some sort of gate. We suspect there are keys.
M: Many or one?
CF: We found 3.
M: How many to close the gate?
CF: There's no way to be certain. We have 3.
M: Are you working with the hags?
CF: No, they injured us heavily. Trust that you will have the full support of my team.
M: follow us from a distance; we have a key as well. You may learn some things.
CF: That is our plan. I'll return and get them ready. My superior, Archmage Popofsky, is planning on coming later today. And, well, sorry to ask of you, but may I have some of your hairs? It will make finding you much easier if you get lost.
M: (Has a moment of hesitation, but hands over chest hair just the same) It's good when the Trust and the Assembly can work together.
CF: I'll get to my people and come back to you from a safe distance when I can. (She then turns invisible and seemingly walks away)
When Maltheo returns, Prophet does ask about his whereabouts just now, but doesn't even really seem to care about the reply. Which is good, because Maltheo doesn't really have a convincing answer. (They both rolled natural 1s on their checks)
Vesryn asks if Kra'naelen trusts Maltheo. "He's saved my life more than once and I've only known him weeks. I'd rather not start playing the guessing game in such a dangerous place."
The smell of illusion magic becomes so strong, that the entire group begins to notice it. We find ourselves in an open town square and discover what seems to be a huge yellowish shape surrounded by black clouds within the square. It's warping the space around it. Creating loud, harsh winds whipping all around. Reality could be somewhat distorted around here. Vesryn somewhat in heaven, taking notes. The compass is dying to point at this phenomenon. It's larger than a house.
Briya beigns to ritually cast detect magic. Maltheo looks for something like a small pedestal or some other item that might "hold" the stone wolf statuette. There are some spaces on the ground that appear to not be warping. Maltheo points them out to Monica as perhaps possible points of interest.
Detect magic lights up the orb like crazy. It's stronger than anything Briya has ever seen. It is total and complete pure illusion booming in all directions. But, she also sees one of Maltheo's points of interest, then another, and they're roundish 1-meter high pedestals made of stone, but have the appearance of a naturally growing organic plant. Monica finds a third using her goggles. And eventually a 4th.
Vesryn thinks the illusion is actually being used as protection magic to hide a door, a door that this very phenomenon seems to be. It all appears purposeful, intentional. Briya and Prophet try tossing a rock into the circle. Nothing really seems to happen. It's then at that moment we hear a painful, gurgling sound. We turn to find Agden Longscarf held in place, blood pouring from his face, in obviously excruciating pain.
To be continued!