2.3 The Dwarven Expedition

This recap covers Biggles, Vrinill, and Ze Xie's journey to the Pijaratva temple with the dwarven expedition, their deadly game of Fulfillment, and the murder of Praandham.  

Beneath The Heavenly Spires

The largest conglomeration of people to go out adventuring at once was spearheaded by prominent dwarves in their quest to reclaim their lands from the Chaos. Fifty people total. Biggles, Vrinill, and Ze Xie were hired as bodyguards against the Chaos and other nasties that might show up. But they weren't the only ones - other guilds joined in on this potentially lucrative opportunity. One such guild was CLAMS who were represented by Shariad and Cloak Guy. Another was a new one, VORE (The Venerable Order of Royal Explorers) which led to the introduction of three rivals-to-be. There was Vain, the dragonborn leader and queen bee, Tamrynek the snooty elf, and Kan Sha the ditzy powerhouse. Let's just say that, from the moment the party met these people, they knew that I made them exclusively to be rivals. And they just rolled with it.   Look at me talk about this Dwarven Expedition and failing to introduce even one dwarf! They are the key players in this arc after all, and deserve as much screen time if not more than their bodyguards. Praandham was the head honcho, and they and the other muthratvas - a specifically dwarven gender identity consisting of AFAB dwarves that grow long beards - were primarily interested in cleansing and reconnecting with their holiest sites. Munaanism was the name of the religion they practices, and its core tenets were that followers should aspire to reach Fulfillment and achieve the good afterlife by focusing on their inner selves. I mention this because Munaanism and Munaan the god themselves are integral to the plot, and not simply set dressing.    Next, we had various priests and priestesses accompanying and aiding the muthratvas. Then there were various merchants, artisans, and other skilled workers to make sure that people were fed, clothed, and well taken care of.    So, with all these people assembled, it was time to move out. The journey to Pijaratva Temple, the largest munaanist temple in the world, was suprisingly quiet, all things considered. No Chaos monsters appeared like before, and considering that people were literally slaughtered by the thousands a century ago in that very region, the situation was confusing. The expedition continued to grapple with such questions while they trained snail mounts, squished spiders, and socialized for the next couple of days.    Bubbles and Maltose will berate me if I leave out any new member to the menagerie of SKRUNGUS. So, I must mention the two kongamato eggs that were found and kept safe for the remainder of this expedition until they were ready to be taken back to Fengqi.

Munaan's Trials

Upon the group's arrival at the Pijaratva temple, all seemed pretty normal and ruin-y until a select group of people were forcibly taken into a strange dimension all within their minds. Most everyone except Biggles and a small group of others were now trapped in Munaan's "Inner Realm", a brightly illuminated dreamscape that housed a gigantic Munaan watching over all. Indeed, this 'Munaan' began speaking of assisting all within the Realm achieve Fulfillment, or be forcibly "Fulfilled" themselves. And since the act of attaining this state was concurrent with one's death and entrance into the afterlife, this was bad. Real bad. Munaan then challenged people to follow the "Six-stranded braid" that lead to Fulfillment on their own if they wished to, well, live essentially. And so, the death game began, and some of those initially spared (Biggles included) decided to play as well to increase the odds of all surviving.   However, all did not survive as someone willingly gave their own life to extend the timer for the rest of the participants. The stakes were high, and the party got off their asses and began strategizing. Working with the rules set in place, the party deduced that the best option was to split into three groups each weaving a different path across all six Trial locations throughout the Heavenly Spires. Hours of deliberation later, they stuck to a set path and began their quest for survival.   In the party's group was Praandham and their right hand muthratva Guundham, as well as a smattering of priests and prominent dwarf figures. Together, they braved the six Trials of Munaan and got to know each other quite well. Indeed, the Trials themselves were deeply personalized, with each one tapping into a characters innermost thoughts, feelings, and sense of self. I feel that I do not need to painstakingly cover every character developing detail that was added, so I just want to mention one major thing.   An NPC priestess who was created and named in a matter of seconds was about to begin her journey towards becoming one of the party's favorite NPCs of this entire campaign. All because she got insanely lucky rolls in one of the Trials.    So yeah, this whole Trial business took several sessions to complete and was an extremely effective bonding experience between the player characters and some of the NPCs along with them. All this would make the grand finale of this arc that much juicier.  

Whodunnit?

All three groups were succeeding in keeping most everyone alive. This twisted game was about to come to an end when everyone would return to Pijaratva. Someone would receive a gift from Munaan if they were first to reach them in the Inner Realm upon completion of their Trials, and naturally, that someone should be Praandham by most of the group's request. After some preparations, Praandham would enter the Inner Realm accompanied by Guundham, Biggles, Vrinill, and Ze Xie. They slowly climbed up Munaan's beard and past the magical hexagons.    Suddenly, Ze Xie popped out of existence and mere moments afterward, Praandham began fading out of existence. Everyone left the Inner Realm immediately and was greeted by a grisly sight. A dead Praandham and a unconscious Ze Xie with a bloodied hand axe. A body has been discovered! Investigation commence! [Cue Danganronpa music].   Jokes aside, this was a very emotionally charged encounter as the players did care about Praandham as well as the people who mourned their death (i.e. Fatima). The entire session for this murder mystery was exciting and suspenseful, even for me, the DM who knew whodunnit from the get go. Alibis were rounded up, evidence was gathered, and so many dramatic reveals occurred.   All in all, it was soon uncovered that the guilty party was none other than Guundham. Well, not just Guundham, most other dwarves in the group were accomplices. You see, "Munaan" was able to influence the minds of their followers to a certain degree, and was afraid of the type of change such a leader as Praandham would bring to the religion should they receive their gift. This was motivated primarily by extreme fear and paranoia, as Munaan themselves put it when the party went to confront them after they solved the crime. However, Fatima, pure soul that she was, wanted to forgive Guundham and more importantly Munaan.    It was through this compassionate approach that the party was able to learn so much from "Munaan." For starters, the being that just put the party through a death game was Munaan, but corrupted by the Chaos. They had only a slight degree of self-awareness until they had been 'defeated' and released from the Chaos' grasp. Amongst several other things (I'll put them in the sidebar), the most major reveals were that they were one of Munaan's two souls - their mortal soul, and that they and the Court were partially responsible for the Chaos happening in the first place. Or at least, that's what this Munaan felt through their fading bond with their divine soul.    After this discussion, Fatima got the closure she so needed with Praandham and then she was the one to receive Munaan's gift, which was essentially great wisdom and willpower. The party got the other spoils, which included tons of qi and Munaan's 'eye'.   This has been a lengthy recap, but I got yet another reveal coming your way! Cloak Guy is none other that Bethany! An NPC from Cradle and specifically, from Umeiri's childhood. The implications were staggering, but we gotta end this here! Stay tuned for the next one!