(Session 28)

The wizard lead us through some ducts to escape but we got stopped at a grate Skar was able to open it with his echo knight The wizard introduced himself as a glpyhscribe named Salazar Eventually the vent forked in two directions Through a nearby vent we saw a stone statue of a gnome that matched the statue on Glimmervale We went left On the left path we encountered another grate behind which was a set of gears with something jamming them Me and Skar teamed up to open it, then Nirx re-jammed it after we passed through We came to a blocked doorway with another broken mechanism with some sort of broken belt There was a spinning blade behind us Skar and Constance teamed up on this one. We once again closed it behind us The final fork had 3 paths: left, right, and a bit back and right We the back right and it led to an area where the walls were crunched in tightly Constance got scraped and had to be healed using my potion (which thankfully did not empty) We saw through a vent to a room with multiple constructs, one of which was much larger than any of the ones we had seen thus far. A hologram of Theresa was speaking to the constructs We proceeded forward without interfering with the room We eventually found one of Salazar’s runes, signaling we had found the right path Eventually we arrived at Salazar’s secured chamber Salazar told us he saved us because he believed we could get him off this plane He expressed how dangerous copper guardian units were and was intrigued by Skar He claimed to have come to Mechanicus because of his interest in the divine He arrived via a stored plane shift spell He was originally from the College of the White Sun which was of the Twin Colleges He said he only started hearing and seeing Theresa Lacoris once the copper guardians began being deployed Messages he had been reading always start with a 3 letter identifier, always either CAM or THL He mentioned that Mechanicus is powered by a sort-of engine called the Optimum Mechania. It is also the source of the emanations coming from the plane We determined we would need to reach Mechanicus’ Archive in order to get the information we needed on how to temporarily shut down the Theresa AI and potentially allow Vladinkul to escape Mechanicus’ pull To find the archives’ location we decided we would need the memory core from a copper guardian I inquired to Salazar about his studies of the divine Divine energy is emanating from the Optimum Mechania, but while it is one source it is divided between 2 waveforms He was unsure about why all the gnomes were petrified The petrification was different than what you would see from a gorgon or cockatrice I noticed Salazar had not healed from the short rest. I offered him a drink from my healing flask but he refused I suspect he may not be human Skar, Gael, and Nirx ambushed a copper guardian and quickly dispatched it Nirx made the construct look as though it had perished in an accident and we made off with the memory core I helped Salazar identify the memory core to discover a path to the archives The archive was a massive cylindrical chamber with cylindrical bookshelves lined with countless tomes, rotating slowly. Its architecture resembled the overall structure of Mechanicus itself I helped Salazar scan the library but noticed he was struggling due to a surprising amount of frailty I tried to get Gael to help distract him while I casted Detect Magic but was unable to get away with it sneakily I helped Klara investigate the archive for technical documents and blueprints While searching with Klara I found a scroll for the Fly spell Gregory assisted Nirx with finding info about the Raven Queen   Session 29 Salazar determined we would need to go to the AI’s chamber to shut her down, but that it was not located near our ship at all We needed to split into two teams: one with Salazar, Klara, and Lancaster to retake the ship Second team: shut down Theresa Salazar gave us a magic conch shell to communicate with him Nirx received a vision from the Raven Queen She said he had 2 months to return to Safehaven An important event is imminent The crisis is related to a lack of worship for the Raven Queen at the moment She needs to convert the current pantheon that she has a role to serve in it (at least for the time being) Gael also got a vision from the Witch of Irisil She warned Gael about a prophecy that rippled through the “Dreamscape” Gael also asked the Witch out on a date As we traveled toward the center of Mechanicus we increasingly were affected by the aura of grief in the plane When we reached the entrance of “Theresa’s” chamber we could feel pulses of energy emanating from within as well as hear alarms On the door was the same CAM acronym that Salazar told us about which I told him about through the conch Klara mentioned plans for construction for a Central Arcana Matrix It was meant to be a central repository of knowledge but it couldn’t be finished The room we found was in a state of disarray with damaged machinery and debris strewn about The Optimum Mechania was spinning at ludicrous speed and releasing a tremendous amount of energy We heard Theresa’s voice welcoming us into the chamber The voice seemed to be a layered combination of voices At the far end of the room we saw a humanoid figure in front of a massive machine It was Theresa’s form melded into the machine, in a way that was bizarre and horrific We had to operate 3 valves to open the central door in the chamber We only damaged one stone gnome while doing so I tried speaking to Theresa but she was unresponsive besides insisting on a need for “repairs” Mechanical claws around the room started attacking us as well as the small constructs from before I tried to reach out to Theresa’s mind and got a response but it seemed to upset her and she grabbed me with a mechanical arm It seemed to hurt her when she attacked Skar Reaching deeper into her mind I felt feelings of powerful grief from her and she said that she was “not whole” Near the end of the fight, I decided the most merciful thing to do would be to destroy her, with the Baron taking control of our body The fight ended when Nirx stabbed into her chest, seemingly killing her Eerie silence filled the room after Theresa was killed I hugged Skar to comfort him and myself Salazar told me over the conch that mechanicus has stopped spinning The Optimum core was closed with a metal covering I scanned her body and could still hear sound from within Lurching back to life, Theresa was still alive. She seemed to now be herself again She ripped the crystal out of her chest and handed it to Skar She told us we could not help her now but maybe could in the future, urging us to leave As we left we noticed valuable metals on the tables and a strange device We took the device and shoveled as many valuables into our bags as we could The rest of the crew was able to meet us near the core with the ship for a getaway As we left we saw Mechanicus began to start moving again though the core was no longer releasing emanations We learned from the crystal that the C.A.M. was created by the gnomes to store and use their collective knowledge The attempt to construct it was 1000s of years ago and it had been a failure at the time 11 years ago communications from Mechanicus cut off and all contact was lost with the gnomes (the same time Theresa disappeared) I theorized that someone had tampered with the Optimum Mechania and that this was related to Theresa’s disappearance My current theory is that someone is tracking our movements and meddling in response to our actions Gael informed us of the need to return to Safehaven for the Raven Queen’s masquerade ball Observing Salazar on the week’s travel back to Vladinkul, I noticed that his wounds did not heal, they simply stopped bleeding He spoke a little of his time in Myrefall working for the Mysterium Concord (Twin Colleges) Composed of the College of the White Sun and College of the Red Sun I identified the item before as a Auxiliary Assistant, a spine-integrated set of mechanical hands that could help with using artisan tools and manipulating items We decided that Nirx and Skar should modify it for Skar’s use in order to wield a 2-handed weapon and a shield at the same time We discovered Lazarus had been invited to the Raven Queen’s masquerade I switched to The Duke near the end of the sessions We spent a few long rests worth of time on Vladinkul and were able to level up I made a secret santa gift for Gael I made him some gauntlets which allow him to tap into the power of his vampiric blood to gain speed I spent time training with Lazarus and Salazar Learned that Salazar has begun greying early from the stress of his life (he is only in his late 20s) Salazar grew up in Agraria, being young during the shift to democracy Salazar’s great uncle Al was a powerful wizard who took Salazar as a ward I noticed when training with Salazar he only ever used cantrips and ritual casts Also spent time moving between human village and vampires trying to help out and create good will Spent time training Jacob, had him work with me to help the local populace Learned some sad backstories from the mortals of Crestfall Sending message to Holly in Glimmervale: “How do you and the villagers fare? We have traveled to Mechanicus and survived. Now we are bound for a masquerade of gods.” Got back a garbled message I could not interpret. Something seemed to be interfering Sending message to Azzafar: “How are you doing? Were you able to make it safely to your home?” Received a haiku type message in response. He seemed to be at peace Tried sending a message to Theresa: “How are you doing, old friend? I am sorry I could not save you. I will not forget you. I will return.” A person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically exclusive of sexual or family relations. Tried speaking with Ramodeus about the upcoming Night of the Stolen Masque He is attending as +1 for his superior Alpharon His rival, Castration, will also be attending. Rammy wants my help to foil his schemes. Refilled everyone’s flasks Ravens arrived on Vladinkul to bring us invitations to the Raven Queen’s Masquerade. From Nirx, I learned the following people would also attend: We learned that the High King of Coalier, Doleus Varungarth will be in attendance Why is he going to be there? Junior Executive of the Rose Corporation Various archfey and devils Religious figures, such as the Guardian of the Eternal Quest I helped Skar and Klara uncover information from within Theresa’s knowledge crystal The answer is Time. Time is the answer She told me to seek Viltry Siik I deduced I could use the ship’s engine to display the information inside Lazarus is a vampire of the Revana Coven. They are known for wielding nature-based powers, such as the ability to transform into animal forms The Revana are one of 9 covens which control vampiric societies