Part 5: The Infinite Library
Session 19: Delrune Mayze
Evening, 3rd High Summer, 498 CE
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- The cross the Queen's Bridge, and enter the Ash District.
- They shop for a bit, and Revana almost steals something, still a little unsure of what money is and how it works.
- As they're wandering, they come across a rude customer arguing with a dwarf.
- They interrupt the argument, and the angry customer leaves in a huff.
- The dwarf thanks the women and introduces himself as Duriel Goldhammer.
- Duriel and Revana talk for a while about what it's like to be an outsider in a human world.
- Duriel tells Revana and Remy about how his sister went missing ~20 years ago.
- He offers Revana his sister's ring as a sign of their new friendship, as the two of them form a Bond of Friendship.
- Sanglant and Ekhart arrive in Animal Town.
- Sanglant picks up a small skunk boy that fell down in front of him. He thanked them before running off.
- An old tortle named Lortug approaches Sang and Ekhart.
- He greets them, calling Ekhart “Master Auron,” saying he's grown so much since last he's seen him.
- Ekhart initially believes Lortug has him confused with someone else, until he mentions that the last he saw him was when his mother, Delrune, came to collect him.
- This was around the same time that the Wind Elemental, Auranos (Ekhart's Father and Delrune's patron), disappeared.
- Apparently when Auranos disappeared, many wind spirits and the Infinite Library went missing as well.
- The Infinite Library was apparently where most of the Wind Spirits used to live, and Animal town was only where the very young, the sick, and very old wind spirits would live.
- Lortug said that he was raising Auron for a few years before Delrune came to collect him.
- Very confused about what this all meant, Ekhart and Sanglant returned to the physical world and met up with Remy and Rev at the Duke's Fancy.
- The four of them talked for a while, discussing what it could all mean for their quest.
Afternoon, 4rd High Summer, 498 CE
- The party left the Duke's Fancy and made their way to the Upper Court.
- They were stopped briefly by a female guard that mentioned only nobility were allowed in the Upper Court.
- Ekhart proved his noble birth and the party continued on.
- Upon reaching the Upper Court, the party waited outside the Maer's Tower (the massive tower in the center of the Upper Court that acted as the cities main governmental building.)
- After about 10 minutes of waiting, Delrune finally exited, looking tired and disheveled.
- Delrune ushered them into an alleyway, made cast a spell with her pipe, and made a door appear in a wall.
- The party entered Delrune's Tiny Travelling Laboratory.
- Delrune and Ekhart caught up, as he introduced his mother to his traveling party.
- Delrune mentioned that she hadn't seen Remy for many years and that she had grown up quite a bit.
- The party then began to discuss the quest that they were going on with Delrune.
- She was very curious about the mechanical details of how what they were doing worked.
- She cast a spell, projecting what seemed like everyone's spiritual essence onto the ceiling.
- Ekhart could understand most of what was written on the ceiling from his years of study, but for some reason Sanglant was able to read everything easily.
- Delrune pointed out that Sanglant has had several words written onto his soul, the word “Shadow” and the word “Water,” and that that was what the Elementals were doing when he became their champion.
- Delrune began to ponder whether it was possible to recreate this artificially.
- After a while, Ekhart finally brought up the nature of his parentage and what Lortug had told him.
- Delrune tried to dodge the question for a while, but eventually relented and told them what happened, showing them a necklace that contained the Wind Elemental.
- She said that she had entered into a contract with Auranos that she would give him a child if he taught her how to use magic.
- It went fine for a while until Delrune betrayed Auranos, sealing him in one of Selina's Tears.
- She said that Auranos had a perfect understanding of the future, but only great acts of love could overcome his future sense.
- The party made their intentions of wanting to release Auranos, but Delrune said she wouldn't allow it.
- Delrune mentioned that whatever his plan was, it involved keeping Ekhart away from her, and she wouldn't allow that.
- She did mention that, with Selina's Tear, she could probably send them into the crystal where Auranos could make Sanglant his champion.
- She said it would be dangerous without a fool proof way of bringing them back.
- Revana showed Delrune the ring that she had gotten from Duriel, and Delrune said she could turn the ring into a magic ring that would help bring them back.
- Ekhart and Delrune then set on creating a new spell, to summon Selina's Tear (which was at the University.)
- Once they had the Tear, and the newly enchanted Obsidian Ring, Delrune sent them to the Infinite Library.
- Upon reaching the Library, the party was confronted by several large stone guardians that blocked their way.
- The party fought the guardians and eventually defeated them.
- They then set out to find Auranos.
Session 20: Auranos, the Wind Elemental
Afternoon, 4rd High Summer, 498 CE
- Revana, Ekhart, Sanglant, and Remy ventured deeper onto the island, toward a town that they saw.
- The town appeared to be deserted, except for these white shapeless creatures milling about.
- Sanglant approached, attempting to make contact with what he thought were some wind spirits.
- A wisp latched onto Sang and possessed him, causing his possessed body to turn on the party.
- The party fought to subdue Sang, as his body was mumbling about wanting purpose.
- They dragged him away from the town, causing the wisp to exit his body and return to the town.
- As the party was gathering themselves after the altercation with the wisp, they noticed a strange bunny woman run out of one of the buildings inside of the town.
- The creature avoided the wisps and then darted into the forest to west.
- Without any other leads, the party followed the creature into the Azurewood.
- There, they met Auriel, the Wind Spirit.
- Auriel didn't remember anything from before she was sealed in here near the Infinite Library.
- She mentioned that the Master of the Library would occasionally exit the library and take someone from the town back to the library.
- She also mentioned to not go too deep into the woods, as there were angry spirits guarding something in there.
- He hadn't done that for a while now, and those that remained in the village had become lifeless wisps.
- Auriel also mentioned that the Master of the Library's assistant was still outside the library.
- She could be found on the shore of Lake Loane, to the east of the village.
- Auriel mentioned that there was something called a Bell Guardian guarding the entrance to the Library.
- The party made their way to Lake Loane, avoiding the town of Fortune along the way.
- There, they met Karma, who was a Wind Spirit barely holding on to her physical form.
- She had been ordered by Auranos, the Master of the Library, to keep an eye on the outside.
- She told the party that if they wanted into the library, they would need to wait for an appointment.
- The party decided to head to the entrance of the Library, and see if they could find a way passed the Bell Guardian.
- They arrived to the Bell Guardian sitting between them and the Library entrance, which appeared closed without any sort of handle or lock.
- When Sanglant approached, the Bell Guardian attacked him, swinging his mighty bell at Sang and destroying part of the stairs.
- The party realized they could use the Guardian's slow attacks to damage the front door to the library and get in.
- After a short, harrowing battle, they managed to trick the guardian into destroying the front door, and entered the library.
- Inside, they found a never ending library, stretching forever in each direction.
- Ekhart called for his father, but no one answered.
- A small fox-like wind spirit stopped what it was doing and motioned to the second floor, where there was a study.
- The party thanks the fox and travelled up the stairs.
- Inside the study, they met Auranos, the wind spirit, and had a length discussion with him.
- He was no longer the Wind Elemental.
- He had two children; Ekhart and Cidmuir.
- When he demanded Ekhart from Delrune, she betrayed him by sealing him away in his library, and taking Cidmuir back to the physical world.
- Wind Spirits cannot use their power of foresight to see past great acts of love.
- He mentioned that Cidmuir was the new Wind Elemental.
- Having a child was part of his plan, as only a human born spirit would have the power to cast the spell he needed.
- He said that he foresaw that, one day, Terra would wake. This would cause the Faerealm and the Darkness to disappear.
- This would also cause all life on Terra's surface to die.
- His plan was to save all the spirits from the destruction of Terra waking up by open a planet sized portal, which would allow all the spirits to live, while all live on the physical world would end.
- He also questioned whether Revana was actually talking to the real Terra.
- When pressed with whether Terra wanted to wake up, he said that as a spirit, he is part of Terra's will and so his desire for it must equate to her desire to wake.
- He also questioned whether Revana was actually talking to the real Terra.
- Ekhart, realizing that there was nothing more to gain from talking to Auranos, and fearing that any more conversation would be an attempt to manipulate them into doing his bidding, he tried to signal to Delrune that they needed to leave.
- Ekhart and Auranos had a Divination-off, battle of the wills.
- Ekhart ended up winning, and the party was transported back to the physical world safely.
Evening, 4rd High Summer, 498 CE
- When the party arrived back in the physical world, they were all in their own separate jail cells.
- Ekhart noticed these were the stockades below the University.
- Delrune told them that they might have been compromised, and she panicked and put them all in jail while she figured out a way to find out if everyone was okay.
- She left, telling them they would be back shortly.
- The party talked briefly about what they learned, and where they needed to go next.
- A few moments later, Delrune returned with a few handfuls of spell scrolls she had prepared.
- They were Dispel Evil and Good scrolls.
- She used the first one on Ekhart, and nothing happened. She then released him from jail, and they continued to use them on the rest of the party.
- Sanglant and Revana were clear, but when Delrune went to use it on Remy, she melted away and turned into a giant wind monster.
- They all realized that Remy was still in the Infinite Library.
- Ekhart and Revana returned to the Library, while Sanglant returned to keep and eye on the monster.
- They quickly found Remy reading some books and were teleported back by Delrune.
- They used the last scroll on Remy, and she seemed good.
- Ekhart asked Remy why she wandered off like that, but she said that Ekhart had told her to.
- They figured that Auranos had decieved her with some magic or she had been possessed.
Session 21: Umber, Black Seas, and Giants
The Darkness, ??? CE
- Ragnar, Moira, Maeve, and Marcus had followed Chaaya, the Dark Elf, for several days.
- Chaaya mentioned that the landscape in the Darkness changes, and it is very easy to get lost in it.
- Eventually, the group came upon the town of Umber, an underground city surrounding the Umbertree.
- The party met Mother Magun, the Shepard of Umber.
- Magun welcomed the party into the town and gave them their own home.
- The party were able to enjoy light for the first time since they extinguished their camp fire when they met Chaaya.
- Magun explained that the town was separated mostly into the Shepards, the Scouts, and the Hunters.
- The Shepards were the leaders of the town,
- the Scouts mapped the changing landscape, and
- the Hunters killed monsters that got too large or plentiful.
- The party then spent the next few weeks in Umber, learning about the town, their history, and getting to know the people.
- Maeve spent some time with Chaaya, learning how to the Scouts track and map the changing terrain in their head.
- While out scouting, the party came across a large group of Undead trudging towards somewhere Chaaya called the Giant's Graveyard.
- Having spent so much time with the Chaaya, Maeve learned how to navigate the land of the Darkness like a Scout.
- Moira and Ragnar spent some time with Irdreth, an Umberan Hunter.
- They went out on a ranging party to defeat a large infestation of worm-like monsters.
- While out, Irdreth explained that the monsters come from the Black Sea, and that they grow and become enraged, so the Hunters kill them before they become too plentiful.
- Marcus also spent some time with Mother Magun, and learned of the History of the Dark Elves.
- The short history of the Darkness was that, there were once stars in the Sky, until they met the Light.
- The Light seemed good, but from the Light the Black Sea was born.
- Marcus also learned about the dark secret that the Shepards will only tell one person at a time.
- Apparently, Terra and the Light came together to create the Moon. But the Light betrayed Terra and both it and the Moon were killed because of the betrayal.
- Mother Magun also told the party that if they wanted to return to where they were from, they could ask the White Shade how.
- The White Shade lived in the Black Sea, but the people of Umber didn't go near the Sea because it is the source of the monsters.
- Later, Chaaya returned with information as to where the Black Sea was currently.
- As the party was gearing up to go, Marcus said that he wanted to stay behind.
- Even if they found a way back, he was happy in Umber and decided to stay permanently.
- The party, plus Chaaya, left Umber to find the Black Sea.
- After about a week of travel, the party came upon a purely black sea.
- Maeve looked into the sea, and eventually found a being of white swimming inside the water.
- The being, calling itself the White Shade, explained a few things to the party.
- White Shades are created from the Pure Darkness being missing from the Black Sea.
- There were currently two White Shades, he who had existed for a thousand years, and another just recently created.
- He appeared to be benevolent, saying that he was the absence of evil.
- He told the party that there was a way out of the Darkness, if they traveled through the Tower of Thorns.
- The Tower was locked, however, and would require a key to open.
- He told them, “At the Heart of where Giants lie, is the Key.”
- The party then left to find the Giant's Graveyard.
- The Giant's Graveyard appeared to be home to hundreds of bones and human skeletons.
- The found it, and proceeded to leap down the spiral chasm.
- When the entered the bones came alive and began to fight them.
- Ragnar, having yeeted himself down to the bottom of the Graveyard, found a giant crystal heart embedded in the wall.
- After a close encounter, the party managed to free the heart, and slay the skeletons that fought them.
Session 22: The University
Evening, 4rd High Summer, 498 CE
- Revana, Ekhart, Sanglant, Remy and Delrune all talked about what the party learned in the Infinite Library.
- Delrune explained her justification for keeping it secret from Cid; she did not know what Auranos's plan for the child was, but thought it would be best kept secret.
- They party all spent some time around the University.
- Revana attended several lectures, learning more about the human history and politics.
- Sanglant spent some time around the quad, having a good time with some students.'
- Remy went to the Glassworks to learn how the University makes such high quality glassware.
- Ekhart and Delrune spent the evening talking about the future of Voltana.
- Delrune told Ekhart that the Duchess of Voltana, Lyre Lefarge, had been relying on her for advice on what to do politically lately, as a representative of the University.
- They learned that His Holiness Josephet, the Duke of Ortelai, intends to support whichever country Voltana doesn't.
- Even though Ortelai doesn't have a large standing army, they have large stocks of money and supply.
- Ekhart suggested that they should support Naverus and the Dowager Empress, as her claim to regent was more legitimate, and her brother seems to just be going for a power grab.
Morning, 5th High Summer, 498 CE
- The party awoke in the Study Floor in the Masters Hall.
- They discussed the different options of travelling to Cel'Edor.
- They could walk; this would take the most time but would be the safest way to travel.
- They could charter a ship; this would be more risky as the ships have been moored by the Duchess in anticipation of the war.
- They could travel via the Faerealm; this would be the fastest, but most risky. Prolonged stay in the Faerealm may have unintended consequences.
- As they talked, a servant brought Delrune the mail.
- Delrune showed everyone a Wanted Posted of them.
- Knowing now that traveling by land may be more difficult that they had previously thought, Delrune reluctantly told the party about a ship captain she knew that was in Mae Relian.
- His name was Captain Wysees Trialle.
- Delrune told the party that Wysees was a Pirate, but preferred to be called a Treasure Hunter.
- He had a ship, the Meraverus, docked in the Violet Harbour of Mae Relian.
- She was pretty sure that Wysees would help them if he told them Ekhart was Delrune's son.
- Delrune told the party a bit more about her past.
- Delrune, the Baron Vanden, Elai Dane, and Wysees used to be an adventuring party.
- They fought together in the Quiet War, and all had great disdain for the church, especially Father Elai.
- Delrune doesn't talk much with Wysees since he became a Pirate.
Afternoon, 5th High Summer, 498 CE
- The party travelled to the Summoning Circle in the University that was hidden away in some long abandoned classroom.
- Delrune explained that she had created a Summoning Circle inside her Tiny Travelling Laboratory, so she could always have quick access to the University wherever she went.
- Everyone entered the circle, and Delrune teleported them back to Mae Relian.
- Delrune bid the party farewell and left to talk to the Duchess of Voltana.
- The party, trying to be as subtle as possible, travelled to the Violet Harbour to find Wysees.
- After a bit of searching, they found a ship that they identified as the Meraverus, and met Captain Wysees.
- They told him he was Delrune's son, but he still wanted payment for taking the party to Cel'Edor.
- They agreed to tell him about the Demon infecting a high up member of the church.