20.06.2025 - Scribe-5 - The Herald

Recap

I wasn't here for the last two sessions, this is what the rest told me happened:

• We dealt with the Archivist (Spent about one whole session in that fight)
• Void's vision from the loom has been coming true
• Radiant light came from the other room, scaring the devils into the next room
• But not after trying to make deals for our souls
• One of them tried to make Sylword a warlock
• Then they died
• Thargnak almost died due to his stupidity
• Sylword had to Banish him, holding concentration on that the whole time
• He's back now, but immediately tried to fight the radiance
• Sylword knocked him out and left him in the previous room
• His sister and Glør are also left behind there
• Bucket peeked into the next room, seeing a gigantian celestial, and E
• The room is in the air, above Hugo-Sha
• Scribes used her spellbook to Dimension Door Void as far as possible into the next room as possible
• He luckily landed on a platform
• (Scribes is concentrating on Haste on Void)
• The book is letting Scribes know what it sees
• She then spent an action trying to figure out what is going on
• The cultists are here, along with their saviour (The Celestial)
• Zarielon, herald of Final Order
• The Celestial has chained itself to many of the artpieces that contains souls, making them part of it's grand plan
• Free will is bad. Perfection. Trying to remove all free will
• It's trying to make the chained souls part of it
• Erin is held in it's core, being the main source of it's power
• The ritual done by the fanatics probably went wrong, waking up the celestial against it's will
• Asgeir suspects it's a contingency of the gods, to eradicate free will in case things get out of hand
• The objects, and Coty (who's also chained to it) are being dragged towards it
• E is also chained, technically. But she's not being pulled
• The cultists are on the triangle island, still in the mirror world. Their book is on top of the ice
• There's no art piece on the eye island
• There are bridges of arcane light
• The celestial seems to have three faces. One of them is a content mask of Mamon (who used to have a chain demon form...)
• Void's pact is gone for a few turns
• Got no context about this one...

You will forget this, all of it. Victory, loss, even this boon. All will be lost.

— The Archivist's final words

I was slumbering. Quiet. Very deep inside the vessel you call Erin. She prayed for ustice, she praved for Deliverance, peace. I answered. I have seen this realm. Filth stained freedom. Cruilty in the name of choice. This will end. Empusia perserved, I correct. I will bring order. No more chaos. No more compromise. You may resist, but know this. Even your defiance will become part of the plan.

This gallery is a stain. I will erase it, I will erase you. What greater mercy than perfection (?)

— The Celestial's opening monologue

This session

• The platforms are moving slightly
• Void casts Eldritch Blast on the chain holding Coty
• They connect with the chain, and he feels an otherworldly feeling: "Please, it was never supposed to go this far"
• The chain breaks
• He shoots another chain
• This time getting a tug of emotion: Anger, shame and failure
• "I failed them. I failed them horribly. I tried to confront the cult. I tried to confront Empusia, and I convinced my fellow heroes(?) to join me. It makes me so angry! Help me, or bring me deliverance"
• He finishes off the turn with a Cure Wounds
• Healing is boosted here. You heal double when standing in the celestial light (not just with spells)
• Bucket flies on Bastian, striking at another chain, dealing massive damage
• He sees a scene play out in front of him:
• Two dwarven brothers clash, trying desperately to murder eachother. However, they resurrect every time they die, and continue the fight
• In the background is a woman that they both loved. To Bucket, she looks like the most beautiful female he has seen (probably a squarrian, depending on Seb's opinion)
• Bucket becomes captivated by the woman, and is now charmed/seduced. The dwarves start to face him, with murderous intent
• He is stuck to the carpet (art piece), and his soul is connected to the carpet, being able to engage with the souls trapped in the carpet
• He manages to push one of the dwarves aside. "My lady. I've come to save you"
• He slowly notices some odd things about her, but finds reasons why that is attractive
• There's small horns peeking out of her hair, and she has cat eyes and hooves
• She tells him that he has to win her heart with his honor and prowess. He has to deal with the dwarves who has sullied her name
• The celestial crits Coty with his sword
• Throwing her out of her dire wolf form, and bringing her health low (73 damage!!!! In one hit!!!)
• The bridge under her slices open
• She manages to save against being blinded
• Coty notices that his light seems to have dampened
• Scribe-5 uses her Wand of Stars to upcast Magic Missile, sending out missles to break all the five remaining chains
• The sculpture of a monstourus skeleton
• She sees a vision of incredible sadness
• There's an elderly wizard that laments that his life's work is used for war
• He's forced to create more of theme metallic creatures
• He'll get the creatures back ruined, fixes them, and sends them back out to war
• He has dreams of everyone being content and happy, but is stuck building war machines
• She manages not to get enraptured by the blueprints, by being interested in the machines
• They are more animalistic and crude than
• She tries to convince him to find a way to break out of the soul prison containing him in the sculpture
• The fanatic book
• There's no soul in the book, but it has been linked to the celestial and the frozen 2D cultists
• The cultists seem desparate to support their saviour any way they can. It's a brink-of-success type of desperation
• They probably startet all of this, using the book
• As the chain is hit, Mamon's face on the Zarielon turns to her. "I must become whole. These souls must become part of ____"
• The fanatics try to push her mind away from the book
• They also manage to dispel all of the other missiles :'(
• The celestial gives her a feeling of being judged (any failed save is considered a nat 1)
• Sylword notices that the only island without a chained art object is made of a giant eye, that is looking rapidly in many directions
• He pulls out a Potion of Deathward, and throws it over to Coty
• She catches it gracefully
• Erin's soul flickers in the centre of the being. She looks fearful and distressed
• After chugging the potion, Coty flees over to E (Empusia and casts a wall of water between them and the celestial
• E: "Free me and I will help you. We can become allies"
• If we free her, she can help getting rid of the creature destroying her collection.
• she will help us free Erin's soul
• Suddenly, all the souls cry out
• Everyone saves, except Sylword, who has to sacrifice 5 lvl's of spell slots
• All the chained items/E are pulles towards Zarielon
• The one being pulled past Coty is a map shows an ancient kingdom that she has heard her stepmother talk about
• She boasted to her highborn friends of her bloodline having connections to it
• It's a fantastical, magical kingdom
• She would bring proof (very beliavable-looking proof that she forged)
• The soul crying out from that object is her stepmother's voice
• Void targets three more chains with Eldritch Blast
• It's a statue of a paranoid dragonborn
• He sees the soul walk in rooms, always looking behind his back. He's trying to hide something
• Void becomes frightened of all of the art pieces
• Void tries to take the shiny stuff beneath the second statue (soul)'s feet. He feels unsurmountable greed
• The Herald flies towards Bucket, giving Sylword an opportunity attack
• It doesn't deal as much damage as he'd assumed (Used radiant dmg)
• It damages Bucket, but does not manage to blind him
• It does however break him out of the charm effect
• He now notices that the lady is a succubus
• It then teleports to Void
• Bucket manages to escape the carpet, and charges the Herald
• 4th lvl Divine Smite, aiming for the parts around Erin
• She looks at him with distress
• His attack is less effective, since it's radiant damage
• it seems that a direct, radiant attack won't be that effective in saving Erin
• The light of the Herald becomes dimmer, as his features become less angelic, and more monstorous
• He does two strikes against Bucket, but misses the second
• Scribes shoots another three missiles
• The map
• It's full of pride. It attempted to convince others of it's position and obvious worthiness
• But in her hubris, she was locked in the map by Empusia
• Scribes rolls an 18 on the save, but still fails -> Crit fail
• Scribes begins experiencing incredible pride in her history (the whole 4 years of it ':) )
• It interrupts all the magic missiles
• Seeing that Scribes was aiming for E's chain, Coty takes that as permission to make a deal with E for her freedom
• Sylword investigates the middle island. It is glowing with arcane runes, and has crystals arranged around it
• He Dispels Magic on it, but rolls really low
• Magic reverberates across the light bridges, and all the platforms connected to them rotate 90 around the main island
• Coty falls off the platform
• After 15 ft of falling, she disappears, and appear on the eye-platform
• E also falls off and gets teleported to the carpet island
• Coty Ray of Frost's E's chain, but she misses

Plan

Only the chain on E remains. Coty is trying to free her to make a deal (sign a contract): E will help us in the fight and free Erin, if we free her

Void is charmed and frightened

He also has Haste

Any save Scribes fails will be an automatic nat 1

There's a wall of water slowing down the map's movement towards the celestial (though it is no longer chained)

REMEMBER: Void has a new Non-detection for 8 hours. Scribes is affected by confusion, and her spellbook is summoned

Scribes is stiffer and more robotic because she lost some humanity (Cha points)

We must protect the silver dragon egg (it likes cold) - It has also been magically altered somehow

Get the dwarves out of here safely (Bucket's honor depends on it)

Scribes should decode the infernal books (contains spells) - She has as many as can fit in her backpack

Sylword can cast Locate Object on the knife that was left on the other side of the Lorladon portal.

Scribes want's to save the last familiar

Scribes needs to read up on what pranks are, and think of one to prank Sylword and Bucket back. Since they told her to.

Learn the new spells: Aquired but unlearned spells

Scribes needs to talk to Coty about what happened with Lorladon (Coty wants to assemble her voodoo dolls first)

We should turn Custodian Auren over to the Path of Hill, claiming that we held him while we investigated his crime of impersonating the Emperor