Session 45 - "Reflections on the Terraces" Report

Venen 13, 1247

The sun has set in the Cactsian city of Valorum, and the Fate-Steppers sit eating inside of the Owl's Roost in the neighborhood called the Grand Felicity.

As they do so, H011-3 asks if they could find someone that could potentially give insight into the manuscript "A Meditation on the Planes." Thais regretfully informs the automaton that while they can look, arcane magic is frowned upon in Cactsia, which will make it hard to find someone willing to talk to them. She also takes the opportunity to warn Holly and the other spell caster - Jacob Sterling - that they should probably keep their magic on the downlow, and only use it when absolutely necessary.

It is by pure coincidence during this meal, while discussing the other planar realms, that Holly also learns of Beauson de'Bete's plans in Brillante, and how he intends to unleash the Hells onto the Material plane.

The party discusses visiting the neighborhood where Holly's maker, Syrus, had his home and perhaps even visiting it. But they eventually decide that it perhaps is something that they should wait on for the moment, and get a good night's rest before looking at their situation with fresh eyes in the morning.

Unfortunately, that is not what everyone decides to do. Thais sneaks out of her room after everyone has gone to sleep (indeed, she even leaves without her armor), and slips out into the Grand Felicity.

Foenix Stolnent, ever vigilant, hears her soft footsteps and follows her out into the city. His roguish abilities keep her from ever noticing her shadow as she approaches the Meditation Terraces.

Knocking on the door, she speaks to Damascus, a red dragonborn monk to Silencia. She asks if he can in any way help her find out what is causing her memory loss - and as the door closes, she becomes aware of her tail (critical success). Foenix reveals himself, and while he does not apologize, he does ask Damascus with all sincerity and worry if he can at all save Thais's memories.

Damascus attempts to, but admits it's a bit beyond his capabilities. He is able to help Thais find the source of her mental wound (critical success for Thais): the battle with the oblex, when the Fate-Steppers lost Alimony Symphero.

When Foenix asks if there's anything that Silencia - or the monks - can do to help Thais, Damascus isn't able to answer him. He warns that the gods don't answer every person's prayers, and that it's best not to wait for something that may never come. Instead, he suggests using the kind of techniques that the monks use for meditation to attempt to stop/repair the leak in Thais's mind.

She readily agrees, and Damascus shows her to a meditation room. Here she has an opportunity to pray alone to her goddess, the same way that her mother would pray to Silencia when Thais was a child. Foenix, for his part, leaves Thais alone to do her part while he wanders to the edge of the terraces.

Within the meditation room, Thais prays long and hard. It isn't immediate, but soon she is able to hear like a whisper on the wind a voice.

"I embrace you, my weary warrior. Lay down your weapons, and feel my arms around you.

With those words of comfort from her deity, Thais remembers. Her dearest friend, Dimitrius. She had thought often of him - and fondly so. But she had not remembered that he was dead... and now she did. The grief was nearly choking.

Venen 14, 1247

Foenix stands on the terraces, overlooking the Grand Felicity when he hears a horn - far off near the Hawk's Keep.

He stands up, looking over towards the walled district. In the distance, the pale walls are darkening, as if they are being covered with ants or some other tiny insect. Feeling the urgency of the situation, Foenix dropped down onto the street and began to run, until he neared the Hawk's Keep and pulled himself onto the roof of a nearby building to look over the wall and into the neighborhood.

Below he could see hundreds of kobolds. They are fighting with guards, and attacking the houses themselves, having scaled over the city wall. Windows and doors are broken down, with the people being dragged away into the jungle.

Foenix takes out his shortbow, and aims down at the street below.

Back at the Owl's Roost, Olena and Jacob hear a thump at the front door. They both leave their rooms, and as they do can hear the low bellow of the warning horn in the distance.

They look over the balcony, and see their own mass of kobolds clamoring at the front door into the tavern - already barred for the night, thankfully.

Holly uses the few seconds bought by the innkeeper's caution to cast gift of resilience on Olena, just before the door breaks in and the kobolds tumble into the building.

The ones within the tavern are quickly dealt with, but as the party-of-four (Olena, Ambrose Praxidice, Holly, and Jacob) runs outside, they see several more kobolds doing much of the same as they were in Hawk's Keep: breaking into homes and dragging the people away.

The Fate-Steppers work to save as many as they can, including their old friend of earlier that day, Xavier. One, unfortunately, does end up escaping with its prize.

Foenix runs up to them just as they are finishing up, reporting the breach in Hawk's Keep. He has a pretty good guess as to where the civilians are being taken: the bridge and the kobold camp beyond.

They still don't have Thais with them, and so Foenix rushes upstairs to grab her armor while Holly casts fly on herself, then the sorcerer and rogue rush off to the Terraces to get their paladin as Ambrose helps the civilians and guards in Hawk's Keep by casting spare the dying on as many as he can.

They find her still meditating, but as soon as they mention the attack she focuses in. Putting on her armor and taking up her weapon, they meet up with the others and rush towards the bridge, where they find many people already taken across the bridge... but in the center of the bridge, next to the other citizen they had lost in the Grand Felicity, Ambrose recognizes his aunt, Lucilla Amalthea, in the clutches of a rather intimidating kobold.

Holly casts a wall of light on the other side of the bridge, killing two of the waiting draconids, while Olena charges onto the bridge and barrels into one that loses it's balance and falls off the bridge to its death.

She continues charging, using her lance to kill the one holding the citizen from Valorum and Foenix runs between her legs, chasing down Lucilla and the kobold champion.

Jacob fires a trio of magic missiles at the champion, but it tanks those. Not even Foenix's attempt to curse it with Tasha's hideous laughter has any effect.

The champion crosses the bridge to solid ground, tossing Lucilla aside. It looks back at the bridge and notices that there are no kobolds on the