A Sorcerer King steps back in time 1478.07 to 1478.08

A fight with 4x giants ghouls in a decaying underground viaduct built during the time of Sosso that links the stepwell to Shree Bel   Emerging into the light at the end of the tunnel in the side of an embankment beneath Shree Bel, Dawn still reveals nothing about what happened to her, where she's been or how she knows where to enter the lacuna (through the broken tower in Shree Bel from the time of Sosso) that's not at the main site of the ruined Sosso Palace complex 2 miles into the jungle.   A camp site has been set up in the central square where super magical spyglass observes the following inhabitants:  

• 16+ Cult Fanatics (Faithful of Sosso)
• Ghouls and gnolls tearing apart and devouring dead bodies
• 50+ soldiers including heavy horse, scouts and irregulars
• Warchief Telu and his executioners
• Zealot Tak Kosi and his invisible guard of Rage Demons
• Circle of Bhaal Priests

Barely escaping the watchful Shadowkin in the surrounding jungle Gimblenock makes it over to the broken tower with the word "Kosi" carved onto it.   The other party members are directed cautiously over, enter the tower, descend avoiding spoike traps, alarm spells and waves of necrotic energy and avoid a fight with the resident vampires, their vampire spawnnd familiars. Entering through an illusory door, the group make their way through a former sorcerer safehouse and before finding the familiar amber coloured exit into the lacuna find:  

• A small figure of Skullbriar (Titan half asleep in the shadowfel beneath the Sosso temple complex) carved from the ivory of a livytan melvillai, that whispers the names of Titans to those who hold it. Dwayne is tempted (but of course he is) to joing Skullbriar overthrow the Sorcerer King, but he remembers that this means switching allegiances and Mama Tet would not be pleased (he has already received his one and only warning)
• Shattered carmine coloured glass pieces from the corner of a window from the Pale House

  Sorcerer King of Sosso Lacuna Arrival!  

• A magnificent manicured jungle garden spread out over miles
• Broken Skull Hill in the distance
• Princes Hall on the peak
• The Faithful of Sosso gathering and starting the ritual of Walpurgis Nacht as night descends
• A fully formed Palace, grounds and out buildings encased in marble + gold, silver and platinum leaf

A small group of Faithful fanatics are prostate at the appearnce of the Sorcerer King whose arms when raised form magnificent purple and gold wings 20 feet across and impossible to view without seeing stars.   "Am I not magnificent? Fall to your knees before me and you ascend as my faithful, only I can deliver you from grief and suffering. My magnificence is love for all those who serve me."   Worked out this is one of 3x mislead illusions sent out by the Sorcerer King as he is bound to his throne while the revels start a long ritual that replenish the Sorcerer King by drawing power from the half asleep Skullbriar in the Shadowfel analogue of Broken Skull Hill. The Time Crystal is key but not in direct possession of the Sorcerer King.   Gundrak feels a hand on his shoulder as the second speaker from the Waterfall of Stars (presumably Mama Tet) put her hands on his shoulder, says, "Its time to speak with my boy. Promises are promises." She then walks on before the air bends around her and she vanishes.   The Princes Hall is entirely surrounded by the Walpurgis Nacht ritual as the faithful of Sosso flow in ribbons in the air above and around.   Brilliantly lit within, outside is now night, circling amber stars in positions from 500 years.   Past the statue of an extinct and forgotten god noone can see or comprehend, and into the Hall's entry of glittering imperial power displayed in gold, red carpets, and bronze leaf columns. Damp, forest smells ahead or ink & paper to the right or bone & smoke to the left.   Let's begin.  

• The Lacuna keeping the Sorcerer King outside of time is open again to real time
• When the Lacuna is open, the Sorcerer King is trapped in memories and is not at his full power
• When the Lacuna is open, beings from the real world can access the lacuna from a handful of extant locations, most are where the Sosso Palace was and are guarded by the Red Imperials. The others are way outside the boundaries of the Sosso Palace remains and known only to those who were alive 5 centuries ago
• The Faithful of Sosso are trying to approach the “Presence” through the known channels
• Mama Tet wants to wreak the lacuna so that Sili and Entariath have a target in the Sorcerer King, a being who knows them AND threatens them, to drag them from hiding

  “Existence is playing at being there, when in fact it isn't.”
“You hunt for a shrunken stellar corpse.”
“Don’t ignore what they show you.”
  The Waterfall of the Stars
“Five centuries ago, the Night War ended. Sparklehorse, Starpink and the Paranoid Stamptramp were crowned. Now crowned; Witch Queens of Holocene, all others knelt before them
“Sili, bleating lamentations for the forever mourned. Entariath, syphoning and consuming eternal dark. And Tori. Poor Tori, alive truly only in the zeroth, a virtual Queen.
“With the Witch Queens deep in Ascension rites to claim Hecate’s crown, a random fluctuation in time, pushing fragile time out of joint
“Catastrophe and devastation. Hecate returned to her slumbering deep Spaces Bastille. Witch Queens split across all the Spaces and Places of existence, a minor disjunction event bumping a deafened and silenced universe.
“And here on Holocene. Empires fall overnight against an enemy history no longer remembers. The purple robed Sarpadians annihilated, death worshipping murder cults of Argos now ash, the pyramid building Mayuran swept away. The Janto Hegemony, the Sun People Sphere, the last Major Telehetti Circle and the Elven led Sousarn Khaganate. Vanished, now forgotten.
“And the Blue Star Empire of Azur Semudan. Empire at its largest ever extent, Semud’s one true golden age, wasted by the nuclear rise of the Sorcerer King of Sosso
“A supernova radiating out and consuming all, a proto-empire explosively burning out, turning fallow with hubris and betrayal. The Sorcerer King victim to another fluctuation in time, inside a lacuna, forever trapped on the moment victory, while time elsewhere moved on.
“And now five centuries later. A conjunction of the zombie
constellations the Revellers, Time’s Arrow and Black Dahlia – two Witch Queens are returned, now fully formed and vast “Sili with the dead and should be dead at her command and Entariath, ruby red apathetic and all-consuming unreality.
“And the Sorcerer King? Safely out of time has called the Faithful home for Walpurgis Nacht the conjunction opening the gates to his home, while trapping his form to memory while the zombie constellations stay locked
“You know what you need to do, now piss off and remember
“We cannot see all of existence. We are in the darkness of a trench, a deep cut, dark heavier than densest earth, presences lit by our own blood, little biolumes, heroic and pathetic Promethei too afraid or weak to steal fire but able still to love. The Elder Gods are among us and they care nothing and are nothing like us. This is how we are brave: we revere them anyway.”   Shree Bal
Contains temples once dedicated to but now profaned:

• Eldath, Goddess of Peace
• Ilmater, God of Endurance
• Mielikki, Goddess of Forests
• Lathander, God of birth and renewal
• Chauntea, Goddess of Agriculture

A temple complex has been in this location for over a 1000 years

• Was now seen as a bulwark against the darkness of Sosso, but is now controlled by the Faithful of Sosso
• Was a place of refuge during dark days in the past, desperate messages are scrawled on the walls
• Harboured the Paladins and their allies before they set off into Sosso, some were so powerful a small amount of light was left behind by their presence
• Many priests, especially the more fanatical and bright-eyed younger priests and priestesses went with the Paladins and their allies
• Evidence everywhere of summoned celestials that fought the demons and undead sent against Shree Bal
• Now controlled by the Zealot Tak Kosi and his circle of dark priests
• Remnants of large-scale dimensional anchor weapons used during the war surround Shree Bal
• Gnoll packs have swept through in recent years, some have taken up residence nearby

Sorcerer King of Sosso

• The Sorcerer King was one the of the Hausa children who destroyed the elders by summoning Loa to escape the oncoming Semudan army
• He took on a different “skin” and permanently dispelled the soul of the body he inhabited
• Is actively looking for the ink of Architeuthis and all other Elder God artefacts

Sorcerer King Lacuna

• The lacuna was created using the Time Crystal and a series of linked 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th level spells, some which were gained from Skullbriar
• There were imperfections in the spell casting and the magical items used in the creation of the Lacuna and it immediately split off and trapped the Sorcerer King inside
• Eventually the Sorcerer King learned the treachery of Skullbriar and could only leave the Lacuna while the Time Crystal was inactive, but to do so would permanently shut down the Lacuna
• The Sorcerer King continues to seek a way to leave the Lacuna as himself, but not have the Lacuna permanently dissipate. He has also become addicted to the power of the Time Crystal and would rather stay in the Lacuna forever, safe and wielding his power on the outside world than live without it
• The Ink of Architeuthis could be used to mend the failed spells that created the Lacuna and allow all of this to happen
• Trapped in the lacuna , he is active when the gate to real time is closed, but when the gate is open, is disjoined into many weaker forms trapped in the memories of 500 years ago
• The Sorcerer King and the Faithful are actively engaged in the Palanquin Night War, fluidly changing, and seemingly randomly switching allegiances and strategy
• Intends to reclaim the night as the preeminent force of magic in Semudan
• He has called in many favours slowly gathered over the centuries and has a complicated relationship with Great Old Ones, Destroyers, Titans, Shadow Kings, the Elder Things, Demon Lords and Arch Devils
• The Sorcerer King’s resources were stretched after crushing the Tal Accord and are now rapidly exhausting in the Palanquin Night War, especially the running war with Emerald’s Blaze
• Is currently in contact with the Mummies of Carkade that dwell to the west of Semudan, calculating a way to use them to the best of his advantage without making himself a minor player in current events

Disintegration

• The Shadowfel and Sosso cosmically aligned leading to a temporary planar conjunction and making the borders between each plane “soft”
• Sorcerer King called the Faithful to Walpurgis Nacht when he saw the approaching conjunction, to replenish power and inspire the Faithful through power, terror and the promise of ecstasy
• This power is replenished when the Walpurgis Nacht ritual calls forth Skullbriar and his Shadowfel minions
• The Sorcerer King and the Time Crystal are inside the old Princes Hall

When open, the Sorcerer King is bound to his throne while 3x Mislead illusions go out among the Faithful being:

• The Persona, the mask worn to impose fear and awe among the Faithful and it acts to shield to negative self-images = over the top love and terror, is delusional and megalomaniac
• The Shadow, is the Sorcerer Kings repressed ideas, weaknesses, desires, instincts, and shortcomings = submission to the Witch Queens, betrayal of Hausa, terror of being controlled
• Animus/Anima, primary source of communication with the collective Hausa unconscious = tribal, primal, fixed society roles, “the people”, pride of separateness. This version of the Sorcerer King is Hausan tribal and wears his “original skin”

Tak Kosi, Zealot

• Zealous follower of the Sorcerer King and of the inner circle of Faithful of Fallen Sosso
• Obsessed with the Spaces and power, also speaks the language of the dead
• Is in contact with the Mummies of Carkade and the returned Mummy Lord Coyotl
• Kosi’s tower is one of the outlying entry points into the Lacuna inside Shree Bal
• He oversaw the assault on those that supported Tal and is now in control of Shree Bal
• 2 standard gladiator bodyguards at all time

Warchief Telu commands the forces of the Sorcerer King outside of Sosso with monsters directly at hand:

• Vampire Spawn (groups of 2d4)
• Executioners (groups 2-4) are the enforcers of the Faithful of Fallen Sosso and take orders directly from the inner circle
• Ghouls (groups of 2d12)
• Demons - Maurezhi, Armanite, Bulezau
• Shadow Kin; Led by Corikinis
• Rage Demons

  Allies included the Bakenzenzi, who have now walked away from the alliance and thrown their lot in with the Starless Communion
  Walpurgis Nacht:

• The Faithful hold revels on Broken Skull Hill
• The revels are a long ritual that replenish the Sorcerer King by drawing power from the Shadowfel and the half asleep Skullbriar
• A disjoined, disembodied Skullbriar and his Shadowfel minions are drawn into Sosso. Their crossing into Sosso triggers ancient sigils that power up and maintain the Time Crystal
• Once initiated, the longer Walpurgis Nacht is maintained, the longer the Shadowfel rubs against Sosso and the more power is absorbed by the Time Crystal

The Faithful also take the opportunity to connect directly with the Sorcerer King and establish dominance among themselves   Time Crystal

• Is a magic item of Loa design
• The Sorcerer King is addicted to how “flow” he feels in the presence of the Time Crystal
• Allows the Lacuna to exist
• Allows the Sorcerer King insight into manipulating time
• Cantrip – Forego, Procrastinate, Minor Timepass, Pause, Temporary Wound, Skew Time, Gravity Well, Quicken
• First - Stretch the Moment, Rewind Time, Alacrity, Dampen Movement, Discern History, Iterate, Stunt Reaction, Keen Mind, Longstrider, Expeditious Retreat, Feather Fall, Alacrity, Withered Sight
• Second – Freeze, Déjà vu, Paradigm Shift, Recursive Knowledge, Suppress Reaction, Dampening Field, Misty Step, Continual Flame, Blur, Hold Person, Delay, Fortunes Favour, Compress Gravity, Decelerate, Time Step
• Third – Time Transference, Backward Gaze, Time Trot, Slow, Haste, Blink, Restore Youth, Vacuum Blast, Accelerate
• Fourth – Delay, Quick Nap, Delay Pain, Fast Track, Rending Distortion, Fabricate, Dimension Door, Zwei’s Extension
• Fifth – Instant Break, Checkpoint, Time Control, Paradoxical Summons, Time Walk, Temporal Reversion, Evasiveness, Teleportation Circle, Modify Memory, Legend Lore, Far Step, Delayed Damage
• Sixth – Borrow the Future, Quicken Thought, Contingency, Manifest Echo, Time Loop
• Seventh – Time Leap, Age/Youth, Wonderwall, Reverse Gravity, Teleport, Delayed Fireball, Mass Haste, Lesser Time Stop
• Eighth – Step Back in Time*, Indefinite Preservation, Temporal Stasis
• Ninth – Time Stop, Waypoint, Foresight, Permanency
• Tenth – Time Void
• Eleventh – Summon Duplicate

  Princes Hall

• Sits on top of Skullbriar Hill
• Triceratops Skeletons
• Half asleep on his thrown as he mentally is shut down by the opening of the Lacuna and conjunction with the Shadowfel
• There are two overlapping buildings that c cronverge with the Princes Hall from the Shadowfel
• Skullbriar
• The Titan, Skullbriar, has been lurking, half asleep in Shadowfel for tens of thousands of years but is now stirring and seeking to enter Holocene
• It’s resting place is the echo of the Hill
• A sect known as the Skullbriar Light seeks to return it to the real world.
• Skullbriar is known enemies of the Feywild and the Sorcerer King
• As the Shadowfel merged with the Lacuna, Skullbriar sent Nightwalkers, Nightflyers and Nightguards through to scoop up the unwary

  The BMG failed to appeal to the Shadow and the Persona but successfully appealed to the Animus/Anima and the Sorcerer King's first skin to leave the Lacuna and take up his position again as Holocene's Sorcerer King.   Watch out bitches, the Undefining is finally entering full swing