C2 Session 27: A Moonlight Arch and the Journey to Tephu Report

General Summary

11th of Diesmir 1545 Continued

When everyone is awake they, they ask the scorpion for what the riddle was so they can think it over.

"I am found where oceans weep into sky,
yet I am not a cloud, nor rain that falls.
I rest in vessels, but am never drunk,
a jewel of tide, yet shaped by hands.
Seek me not in desert’s thirsting sand,
but where water is bound and carried still.
Bring me, and your curse shall ebb away."

 The scorpion was once a halfling and would like to be so again if someone can figure out the riddle. The patron was a water fae/djinn/genie. He believes the answer to the riddle is to do with an elemental water source or something. 

After spending their morning pondering the riddle, the head off for the day at 7am to start their journey. As the sun gains height during the walk, Ana spots something shiny in the sand. They pause and use Ana's mage hand telekinesis to get it without getting close. It takes a moment to unstick the object, but it does come free from the same with a skeleton hand clutching the shiny object.

Through the use of rituals they learn it is magical and that it is an Efreeti Bottle. They discuss what to do with it and resolve to sell it or wait until they can use a magic circle spell if they were to open it. It is given to Jamal for safe keeping.

At noon, the group stops and Margaret summons her dome to provide shade while they rest. While they rest they consider what they might wish for it they got a wish from a djinni.

• Durn would help his friend Gary.
• Kael would remove something causing misfortune in the world.
• Jamal doesn't say.
• Brin would remove his void seed.
• Margaret would want more knowledge of the early moments of their world.
• Ana wants a staff of power.

They joke that Ana could become queen of the desert.

By 4pm, the party is back on the move before stopping again at 7pm. When they hit 10pm, they start to rest and have watches. Before bed, Durn and Brin talk about their friends sealed in objects. Jamal suspected past with the axe is brought up.

12th of Diesmir 1545

Brin and Durn take the second watch that starts at midnight. They continue to discuss Gary and Thain, the amulet and axe. The amulet gives Durn protection, but he tries not to use it in case doing so hurts Gary. Durn is inspired by Brin's story of his dream that allowed him to communicate with the axe and will look into ways to repeat the process with Gary in hopes of being able to talk to his friend again.

As they talk, Brin hears something outside the dome. He goes to investigate and meets a camel selling dates and rice. It has the ability to talk. Brin buys 2 bags of dates and the camel rests beside their dome for the night.

The next day is very peaceful in it's travel. They bid the talking camel farewell as they go. At about 10am Luna and Brin see three large creatures on the top of a dune that is white. They seem to be facing one another. Brin can see one is likely made out of metal and another of stone. But the sun must be getting to him as one seems to be made out of ice. They start to approach but upon seeing them move with Luna's approach, they decide to give it a wide birth and continue on their way.

They stop at 11:30am for a break and get going again at 4:30pm. At 7:30pm they stop for the night and it is peaceful.

Brin takes time to talk to the axe and share stories. He's rewarded with a dream of a Dwarven fairytale.  Good Dwarves gain the favour of the Earth and bad Dwarves are eaten by Orogs.

13th of Diesmir 1545

The party is up at 6am. They get moving at 7am and continue to travel without issue until noon, when they put up the dome to take a break. They've arrived in the general area of what they're after. Margaret planned out a search pattern for them for after their break.

At 4pm, they start their search pattern. They have Luna flying high above them to scan the distances for structures. After an hour Luna spots something and by 6pm, they arrive at a bowl space of dried and cracked dirt and sand, with a raised section in the middle with a stone structure. It becomes clear someone had destroyed the arch and it wasn't just weathering. The island is tear shaped. Stepping stones start at the point of the tear and lead up the centre of the large part where the remains of the arch are still in place.

They look it over, cast a few rituals on it to figure out if this was for sure the place they wanted. They learn:

• It is magical, but the magic has faded some with it being broken. Thankfully magic still present and hanging on.
• It is hard to identify in pieces but the general gist is that should it be whole again, it is a safe and sealed way into the shadow world. Designed to only be opened on the full moon from this side. Unsure about the other side though.
• The parts of Masetian that are readable still tell of how wanting to hiding in the veil, shouldn't mean isolation in the veil. How Azari and his forces might think themselves clever, but not clever enough to destroy all Masetians and their culture if they hide it where no one will go looking for it willingly.

Durn has some knowledge about working with stone and they decide to try and repair it. He would make a cement based grout to make it as stable as possible, but he'd need time to dig for limestone. Margaret assisted with this magically while Brin and Ana collected all the pieces before they rested for the evening.

At 9pm the dome is set up, Margaret is on first watch with Durn, followed by Brin, Jamal third and Ana with Jamal last.

At 11:30pm while on watch, Brin hears something outside the dome. Upon investigation he finds a lizardfolk creeping around the dome who immediately draws his blade as he looks at Brin. Threatening Brin, he warns his blade is poisoned before licking it. However, he immediately realises his mistake as he has poisoned himself. The lizardman accepts Brin pity as Ana is woken up to heal him before he and Ana get some rest and Brin returns to watch.

14th of Diesmir 1545

At 5am, Ana is already up from her watch with Jamal, but Margaret joins her. She notices their new visitor. Ana explains what happened and the name Rahrum rings a bell for Margaret. This is where the lizardman is from and that village name is on the map she bought of the area.

At 6am, everyone is up and getting ready for the day. Margaret is helping Durn make the first batch of cement. Those who were not aware of the lizardman's presence last night, are made aware now as he is up and giving the party a wide berth. Margaret and Ana goes over to speak with him, with their map in hand. They learn that this person has never seen or used a map before, which might explain how he became so lost in the first place. In fact he'd never left his home village of Rahrum before. The pair clarify the directions about following the sun and how to only follow it in the morning before having it at your back in the afternoon. This will get him to the river and how he can follow it from there. He's then on his way while the group goes back to their project. 

Brin and Ana act as scouts while Margaret goes back to helping Durn apply the cement. It needs a few hours to set while Durn makes more cement for the next section. The day continues in this routine until 1pm when Brin will take over grinding and Ana helps with the construction so Margaret can gets some rest with Luna helping Kael and Jamal on watch. After her rest at 3pm she goes on watch proper to talk to Kael while Brin rests and Ana grinds the dust. 

Margaret learns that Karl mainly had experience with undead incursions from rips in the veil during winter near his village. However as Margaret shares what happened in Shoufal and about the manufacturing of Mummia, Kael finds himself feeling very unwell and leaves to be sick in private. 

The rest of the day is peaceful as people swap duties and the arch continues to be slowly put back together. At 9pm they start overnight watches. Ana and Kael's watch is peaceful, and so is Margaret and Durn's at 11pm for a time. But at some point before midnight they notice the winds are picking up and getting aggressive. Realising it's a sandstorm and the arch is vulnerable, they wake everyone up to move the dome to act as a protective barrier for the arch. 

15th of Diesmir 1545

Brin is awoke by Jamal for his watch and it's peaceful. Everyone else gets up at 6am and continue to work on the arch, putting the top of the arch back on before doing some protective rendering with the cement, trying to avoid the runes where he can. Overall the day progresses well.

At 2pm, the strangest thing happens. The whole party notices that somehow two barrels tied together have appeared around 60 ft from them. Luna notices that there are spider like tracks around them and a slight drag mark from the first barrel. They discuss it before approaching carefully. Brin jabs at the front barrel before opening it and finding it's filled with water. Ana tries to remove the back lid with telekinesis, but it won't budge. Brin goes to open this second barrel himself. The second helps Brin open it as a black tentacle comes out of the top, spider legs growing out the barrel and it roars at Brin, biting at Brin.

Ana casts Hex on the barrel before letting off two eldritch blasts with only one of the blasts hitting. Durn drops his crafting equipment, running over to help while firing a guiding bolt at the barrel. Jamal sends a ray of frost at the barrel as he also runs over. The glowing nature of the guiding bolt, helping Jamal spy a critical weak point before it fades. The barrel is very unhappy about this, slamming into Brin but thankfully the bite misses him entirely. Margaret shifts around to the side, and begins to glow with moonlight as she projects a shimmering field of light around the barrel creature. It falls under her hypnotic pattern which allows Brin a chance to scramble back before throwing and hitting it with a dart from a distance. 

Kael runs forward, throwing javelins but missing. Ana however doesn't have this issue, getting in both her blasts and one is a critical hit. Durn sends another guiding bolt forward as he continues to move forward. Jamal is able to use the glow to great effect again, though not as good as before. The barrel is looking very rough. It shrieks and uses it's legs to cut itself loose from the other barrel and starts to run away leaving it behind. Margaret is able to use the opportunity to finish it off as she reaches out and silvery ice flies out at the creature, bringing down the running barrel. It bursts open and starts the leak out into the dried oasis basin. It seems the other barrel was just a normal barrel. They make sure there are no more barrels in the area before going back to work. 

At 6pm Durn is finished for the day and takes a moment to thank everyone for their hard work. The arch now just needs time to set. They celebrate with drinks. At 8pm Margaret heads out a little bit into the sand, but stays within sight. She takes out her pyramid and activates it, meditating for a bit to discover some knowledge. She asks the sand where Azari took his oath to rise as a god. She learns that he took his oath on the remaining wisps of a world on the verge of being consumed. 

Meanwhile Ana and Brin takes the opportunity to chat with Kael about if he's interacted with portals before. Kael clarifies that they were never portals, but instead were rips in the veil, the layer between light and dark sides of Cerilia. Rip frequence depends on location and time of the year. The darker the space, the more likely for them to naturally occur. Such as forests and caves. He's been into a rip once to try and save a child but he was too late. Brin puts out the idea of breaking the arch once they're done with Tephu and taking the piece back to their guild with them for safe keeping.  

When Margaret returns they discuss a little on what she's learned about Azari and the fact that his original world was likely consumed by the void. Kael and Durn are a little confused by the topic since Azari is a dead god as far as they're aware. Margaret carefully explains that the shadow world is connected to Azari's divine bloodline and that it has notable places the party has explored and they would like to learn more about this in Tephu. 

At 9pm, the watches begin with Margaret and Durn before Brin takes over for a solo watch. 

16th of Diesmir 1545

Jamal and Ana finish off watches for the night. The night is peaceful. Ana checks in with Jamal to make sure that he is doing alright, especially with Kael and Durn's divine presences. He's alright, but was very nervous at first. Thankfully his broach is doing its job in hiding his nature. Ana notices during their conversation that the runes on the arch glow and fade in time with the cloud cover over the moon. 

Most of the group is up at 5am while Brin gets up at 6:30am. Their day is very peaceful, as Margaret keeps the dome up the entire time which helps reduce their risks and also makes sure the dome is up around the arch to protect it as well. Margaret explains she has some abilities that can help them in the shadow world as long as they stay close. She claims this is a gift from the moon. Brin checks about how long they'll be in the shadow world and how they'll leave. They all agree they will be playing by ear. 

At 10pm Margaret stops putting the dome up. The closer they get to midnight, the brighter the runes get.

17th of Diesmir 1545

At midnight, it is like a curtain has dropped down in the middle of the arch, obscuring the view through. Without hesitation Margaret goes through the arch with Ana on her tail. Brin goes through after an exchange with Kael. Kael, Durn and Jamal follow through. On this side of the arch the dried up oasis is no longer dried up. They're surrounded by water and stepping stones to get to the shore. Margaret notices the section near Brin when he comes through calms. 

They're all able to use the stepping stones to go across without issues. The water parts from Margaret as she uses the stones. She looks up at the stars to see only Azari's constellation in the sky to the South West. Brin leads the group to the river with Margaret acting as assistance. As they travel they come across a strange bat like figure handing from under a dead looking tree. He's blue with specs of glitter throughout his form, suggesting he is ethereal in some manner. He tries to get the party to rest with him, but only succeeds in making Ana fall asleep. Margaret uses her ability to take on an ethereal form of her own in order to get him to back off and wake Ana up before they leave. A slither of the moon shines through to this side of the world, as the world becomes chilly in a refreshing way like a morning chill. 

They continue on their way to Tephu and make it to the river without issue. They can see a settlement to the North and head that way. Jamal is briefly stopped at the edge of the city as if there is a barrier preventing him from entry. The tattoo under his eye flares as he stumbles through. They quickly check on him before quickly heading into the city with the goal of keeping their heads down. They notice that the town is very old in style of architecture, but in good repair. The few other people out at this time of night are dressed very differently to the party.

They are still heading into the town when guards are heading towards them. Margaret uses her form again. The guards questions the party about if they saw an aberrations or undead trying to get through the shield around the city. The party is able to easily talk their way around the issue and receive an escort to a place to stay for the library. The folks here are heavily Masesian in heritage with other faint elements of other origins. 

They are taken to the Old City district where the library and a hostel are available for their use. The dark brown area is the outer city and the grey is Wadjet Walk districts as they are given half a tour on their way. The guard gives them the basic run down of how the hostel operates and how it is not an inn or hotel. The rooms take two people each. The party splits up in the rooms. Margaret and Ana, Brin and Durn, Jamal and Kael. Maragret alarms Jamal's door just in case those guards work out that it was one of them that trigger the issue with the shield. 

After all that everyone gets some rest.

At 9am, Ana and Brin get up to go looking for breakfast once they remember that they won't find food here. There is an artifal sort of sun here that goes across the shield, giving everyone a sense of time and day. Brin speaks with the hostel manager to get them paid up for the night and find out where they can go to find some breakfast. He goes to invite Durn and Kael to join them. When the alarm goes off due to the knocking on Kael and Jamal's door, this wakes Margaret up and she hurries to get ready when she realises that people are heading out for breakfast in the Wadjet Walk district. 

After breakfast they return back to the Old City to locate the library. As they walk, they talk about what they have found here so far. It amazes Brin considering the crazy man and how they learned about this place to find it so normal looking and feeling even if some of it is a little uncanny like the sun on the shield. Margaret hypothesises about how people didn't stop living when the city was moved here and found their own ways to continue on just living their lives and making the place feel as familiar as they could. They're able to get directions to the library on their way back to the Old City districts. 

They head back to collect Jamal before heading to the library and are able to speak to the librarians there to figure out payment and access. The high blue dome of Tephu's Great Library, topped with shining gold pinnacles, towers over the surrounding buildings. Huge columns rise from immense footings along the edifice's sheer walls. Enormous bronze doors, etched with the images of rampant sphinxes, lead into the library's cavernous interior. There are two guards outside keeping watch but not stopping anyone from going inside. 

Inside a large, ornate desk lit by a magnificent lantern seemingly made of water stands in the centre of this entrance hall. Statues of enigmatic sphinxes sit in each corner of the room, their gazes an impossible mixture of pleasure and defiance. Archways in three walls open into larger spaces, the chambers beyond drowning in books, ledgers, librams, scrolls, clay tablets, tomes, and other more obscure forms of record, held in countless shelves and cabinets. The smell of old books is almost overpowering. They start off in the outer stacks. The Party will do the following research:

• The Cult of the Forgotten Pharoah - Ana and Brin
• Cerilia (Goddess) and Old Gods - Margaret 
• Shadow World - Kael
• Magical Items - Durn
• The Forgotten Pharoah - Jamal

The party gets to work on this for their first day. Two rows of columns run down the sides of this long, high hall. The corridor terminates at each end with a wide archway flanked by statues of wise-looking sphinxes. As elsewhere in the library, shelves crammed with books and scrolls line the walls. Margaret magically enhanses herself and Jamal while they're doing their research. 

Over the course of the day the following outcomes happen from research:

• Margaret finds out basic information about the old gods like what their domains were, and that excluding Azari they were all siblings. They were born elves, with their Mother Cerilia being an elf herself and not a natural born goddess. Sometimes the old gods had different names people would use if they were only praying to that god for a set attribute rather than the god as a whole. 
• Sadly Durn, Ana, Brin, Kael and Jamal are unsuccessful on this day.

They head back to the hostel. Brin complains about the research and checks in with Margaret on how long she thinks that they will be here. At the moment she is guessing two to three weeks. 

Margaret mediates and stargazes in the evening before bed. 

18th of Diesmir 1545

Jamal starts to cover the library costs from guild funds in order to make things easier. Today the group discovers:

• Margaret discovers that Andurius was the oldest of the old gods with Basaia being the second born but oldest daughter. Masela was the Youngest of the six siblings. 
• Jamal discovers not only does the Outer Sanctum seem to be missing quite a lot of knowledge, but some of the more interesting and secretive works seem to have been deliberately removed.

Tomorrow Margaret and Jamal will need to start search the next section of the library to continue their research. 

19th of Diesmir 1545

Brin and Ana struggle in the outer stacks while Jamal and Margaret head to the space known as the Processional of Learning. Two rows of columns run down the sides of this long, high hall. The corridor terminates at each end with a wide archway flanked by statues of wise-looking sphinxes. As elsewhere in the library, shelves crammed with books and scrolls line the walls. Today the group discovers:

• Margaret learns that the original elves and the six demi-god elves started to spread out. The demi-gods started to make their own people. Some on Cerilia (the continent) and some off the continent, but in the end their were all drawn back to this landmass. Cerilia was known during this time as the Mother Land. There are brief mentions of Aebrynis, the original god of this plane and his wife Cerilia the elf. 
• Durn started to learn about basic principles about why someone would use a human soul in a magical item with the pros and cons of such creations. 
• Jamal is frustrated to see there is nothing in this area that will aid them.

Jamal and Margaret progress to the next area once again, while Durn progresses to the Processional of Learning. 

20th of Diesmir 1545

Jamal and Margaret progress to the Great Chamber of Knowledge. This breathtaking chamber is a vast, pillared hall soaring upward to a great dome overhead, an airy vastness appropriately painted with stars and clouds. A ring of columns runs around the perimeter, supporting a gallery at the base of the dome. Countless shelves divide the chamber, rising so high that ladders are needed to climb them. These shelves are in turn separated by a bewildering variety of boxes, cabinets, cases, and chests. Littered among these towers of know ledge are benches, reading tables, huge desks for spreading maps, and elaborate displays. The flickering light of lamps and lanterns mingle throughout the space. 

Today the party learns:

• Ana and Brin come to conclusion there is zero mention of a cult in this area and will need to more to the Processional of Learning tomorrow to continue their research. 
• Aebrynis asked two gods from other worlds if he could have some of their creations, the elves and dwarves. They agreed and this allowed him to have creatures to start in his newly formed plane. From there he fell in love with one of the creations, the elf Cerilia. Upon his love being reciprocated, he elevated her to the status of Goddess. 
• Jamal found a papyrus scroll dating from Cerilia's History Second Age over 2,ooo years ago references a "lost" pharaoh named Hakotep. The scroll ascribes the epithet of "Sky Pharaoh" to the forgotten ruler, and recounts his ability to "ride the stars by night." The scroll even contains a crude illustration of the Sky Pharaoh, a figure standing upon a dais surrounded by glass and crystal. As Jamal shows the group he mentions there is reference to ancient Andu technology in the scroll of flying things, maybe even flying cities.

Jamal and Margaret will now need to progress up to the Upper Stacks to continue their research tomorrow.