16 - 09/06/23 : Through the Sound
"Did you try the tuning fork?"
Reilly Springs
Exhausted from their confrontations with Zegrod and Azrok, the party made their way back to the Undermountain entrance in Ramrider's Retreat. To prevent her from being harmed by the teleportation circle, the party had a mage on-duty in Revelmoore castle teleport in to brand Hilda and allow her passage. The party chose to report to Renaer immediately at Ilvastarr Palace where he was in a meeting with Izerna Sundever and Vesper. They gave him the rundown about everything that had happened, sparing no detail. Rebaer had some misgivings about the alliance between Azrok's Legion and the Xanathar Syndicate, since he feared Raeziel having access to more potent forces than she already did, but accepted that it was the price of saving Volaire Evermere's life. Upon explaining the cognitohazard that was knowing Aezora's name and her imprisonment in the luck blade that had been his predecessor's badge of office, Renaer grew somewhat angry; he speculated that his father Dagult Ambermantle must have used the The Stone of Golorr to erase the memory of this fact, increasing the potency of the cognitohazard. He surmised that his father likely did so to have the option to cause havoc in Revelmoore after his dismissal, and became further assured of the new King of Oceanus' involvement. The party also introduced Renaer to Hilda, who took a shine to the Open Lord immediately. As they spoke, Vesper leaned against one of the far walls and remained quiet. Her eyes rested on the katana on Renaer's belt, a katana that Hilda found very interesting. However, Oz and Sin could see that it clearly caused Vesper some pain to look at. Renaer moved on to the reason he was meeting with Izerna and Vesper; they had decided to suspect Halaster as a possible suspect in allowing the drow through the Undermountain in such large numbers, since he had total control over the dungeon. Renaer admitted that they had to consider Halaster a suspect in allowing the drow into the Undermountain in such large numbers. He asked the party to use the Mad Mage's interest in them to investigate this possibility, for he badly wished it not to be the case. If it were, it would mean Halaster openly assisted in an attack on Revelmoore, and Renaer did not want to find out what war with Halaster would entail. Regarding Hilda, Renaer suggested that they see his close friend Reilly at her workshop, the Spring of Creation. Luckily, the party was quite familiar with Reilly, and decided to visit her in the morning after resting for the night. The party traveled to the Balladeer's Eclipse, where they held a meeting before bed. At Ozwik's recommendation, they spoke about how Aezora had tempted each of them (avoiding using her name so as to not affect Vesper with the cognitohazard). Oz spoke of his dream of living with both of his parents in a kinder world, Sin talked about her vision of success and open acceptance from the people of Revelmoore, and Edea talked about wanting to find what was so important to make her mother leave her as an infant. The party also discussed Sin's background, and her unfamiliarity with drow society despite her being affected by prejudice against her people. Vesper comiserated with the way drow were viewed, having been thoroughly inundated in their culture during her time as a priestess of Lolth. Vesper, unlike the others, was much more reticent to speak of her past, citing her previous party's insistent curiosity as a reason to remain a bit tight-lipped. Sin returned to her home for the night while the others retired for the night; Oz, Edea, and Vesper in beds, and Hilda in a fancy salad bowl provided by Arathir. The party visited the Spring of Creation the next morning. Reilly was excited to see them, particularly Edea, and was introduced to Sinelthriandra. She also inquired if Vesper was going to take her up on the offer of taking her arm in the tradition of fey-retribution, which Vesper once again declined. Finally Reilly was introduced to Hilda, and the question of her planar origins was broached. Reilly's immediate question was "did you try the tuning fork?", referring to the test Edea had already performed. With something more accurate required, Reilly had her secretary Vex power up a centrifuge in her workshop, which Hilda was shuffled into. As Hilda was jostled and spun about in the centrifuge, a helpful pixie by the name of Dot Matrix encoded the results onto a piece of paper, which was then given top Reilly. After reviewing the results, Reilly concluded the following:
Exhausted from their confrontations with Zegrod and Azrok, the party made their way back to the Undermountain entrance in Ramrider's Retreat. To prevent her from being harmed by the teleportation circle, the party had a mage on-duty in Revelmoore castle teleport in to brand Hilda and allow her passage. The party chose to report to Renaer immediately at Ilvastarr Palace where he was in a meeting with Izerna Sundever and Vesper. They gave him the rundown about everything that had happened, sparing no detail. Rebaer had some misgivings about the alliance between Azrok's Legion and the Xanathar Syndicate, since he feared Raeziel having access to more potent forces than she already did, but accepted that it was the price of saving Volaire Evermere's life. Upon explaining the cognitohazard that was knowing Aezora's name and her imprisonment in the luck blade that had been his predecessor's badge of office, Renaer grew somewhat angry; he speculated that his father Dagult Ambermantle must have used the The Stone of Golorr to erase the memory of this fact, increasing the potency of the cognitohazard. He surmised that his father likely did so to have the option to cause havoc in Revelmoore after his dismissal, and became further assured of the new King of Oceanus' involvement. The party also introduced Renaer to Hilda, who took a shine to the Open Lord immediately. As they spoke, Vesper leaned against one of the far walls and remained quiet. Her eyes rested on the katana on Renaer's belt, a katana that Hilda found very interesting. However, Oz and Sin could see that it clearly caused Vesper some pain to look at. Renaer moved on to the reason he was meeting with Izerna and Vesper; they had decided to suspect Halaster as a possible suspect in allowing the drow through the Undermountain in such large numbers, since he had total control over the dungeon. Renaer admitted that they had to consider Halaster a suspect in allowing the drow into the Undermountain in such large numbers. He asked the party to use the Mad Mage's interest in them to investigate this possibility, for he badly wished it not to be the case. If it were, it would mean Halaster openly assisted in an attack on Revelmoore, and Renaer did not want to find out what war with Halaster would entail. Regarding Hilda, Renaer suggested that they see his close friend Reilly at her workshop, the Spring of Creation. Luckily, the party was quite familiar with Reilly, and decided to visit her in the morning after resting for the night. The party traveled to the Balladeer's Eclipse, where they held a meeting before bed. At Ozwik's recommendation, they spoke about how Aezora had tempted each of them (avoiding using her name so as to not affect Vesper with the cognitohazard). Oz spoke of his dream of living with both of his parents in a kinder world, Sin talked about her vision of success and open acceptance from the people of Revelmoore, and Edea talked about wanting to find what was so important to make her mother leave her as an infant. The party also discussed Sin's background, and her unfamiliarity with drow society despite her being affected by prejudice against her people. Vesper comiserated with the way drow were viewed, having been thoroughly inundated in their culture during her time as a priestess of Lolth. Vesper, unlike the others, was much more reticent to speak of her past, citing her previous party's insistent curiosity as a reason to remain a bit tight-lipped. Sin returned to her home for the night while the others retired for the night; Oz, Edea, and Vesper in beds, and Hilda in a fancy salad bowl provided by Arathir. The party visited the Spring of Creation the next morning. Reilly was excited to see them, particularly Edea, and was introduced to Sinelthriandra. She also inquired if Vesper was going to take her up on the offer of taking her arm in the tradition of fey-retribution, which Vesper once again declined. Finally Reilly was introduced to Hilda, and the question of her planar origins was broached. Reilly's immediate question was "did you try the tuning fork?", referring to the test Edea had already performed. With something more accurate required, Reilly had her secretary Vex power up a centrifuge in her workshop, which Hilda was shuffled into. As Hilda was jostled and spun about in the centrifuge, a helpful pixie by the name of Dot Matrix encoded the results onto a piece of paper, which was then given top Reilly. After reviewing the results, Reilly concluded the following:
- Hilda wasn't a fiend, but was apparently made of some sort of sentient fiendish substance; possibly demon ichor.
- After consulting a catalog of known abyss layers, Reilly found that Hilda pointed to layer 571: Desposyni.
- Desposyni was a realm adjacent to Shendilavri, home layer of Malcanthet, Demon Queen of the Succubi.
- Desposyni is said to be a twisted realm of hedonistic delights; a pleasure chamber for some, and a house of torture for others. It is said to be the place where one's deepest dreams come true, at the cost of one's very soul.
Portraits
HALASTER BLACKCLOAK
THE FAIRHILL FOUR & CO.
NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS
Comments