31 - 1/30/25 : For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky

"Now... what say you to penning an end to this tale of ice and woe? One last lesson? We shall do what I have ultimately always trained you to do... we will practice killing a god."  

Veszaltyrr Oussndar

---

  High Necromancer Cadavix proved to be quite the blasé specter, only disappointed in his form for reasons of it not being an impressive enough feat of necromancy. The Lonesome Few spoke with him, gaining some information about Ythryn despite the necromancer's sarcastic and acerbic attitude. In particular, they learned of what had become of Antecedent Minerva Iriolarthas; she had been transformed into a lich, something Cadavix was quite jealous of. The necromancer also told the party to seek the "Obelisk of Remembrance" if they wished to learn more about chardalyn, or as he knew it, the "Blood of Ythryn".   The party was also able to convince Cadavix to part with one of his skeleton's fingers to be used as the 'ashes of the dead' in the Rite of the Arcane Octad, but when they tried to match his sarcasm with their own japes, the spirit grew annoyed and vanished.   The party next visited the House of the Arcane, which had once been an academy for talented students in Ythryn. Within the lecture hall of the building, the party discovered a curious magical chalice filled with steaming water. Melfina, using identify, concluded that drinking from the chalice was not only safe, but possibly beneficial. The rest of the group tested this, receiving small boons that granted them a temporary ability to cast various cantrips. However, Melfina could not partake, once again foiled by her transformation causing all food and drink to turn to ice and snow once they passed her lips.   The group tried to take the chalice from the lecture hall, but found that it teleported itself back when carried too far away. They decided to leave the House of the Arcane behind, but encountered another echo of Nevara as they left. This one seemed to depict her at a fairly younger age, accompanied by a similarly younger Minerva, as the two seemed to be practicing somatic spellcasting gestures with each other.  

"Do you remember the day we met? You had escaped from your father's gaze long enough to secret yourself away to a study hall in the academy. You wanted to try casting cantrips without supervision for the first time. You didn't expect to find a young girl your age, hiding from her highborn peers who looked down upon her for lack of a family name. We wove glittering illusions in the air for hours, talked as if we had been companions since our first days. I learned just what it was to long for another that day. For the rest of my life, nothing would ever shine brighter than the glimmer in your eyes."

  The Lonesome Few's next destination was the Tower of Conjuration. Within stood a miniature wizard's tower, surrounded by four large ghostly hands. The arcanima-inclined members of the party realized that they were living spells - products of conjuration spells imbued with permanence and sentience - and were specifically living Bigby's Hands.   Curious to see if they would recognize something similar to them, Alith used her mage hand spell and had the resulting conjuration pace across the floor to the opposite wall. The living hands tracked the mage hand's movements, and Alith further distracted them by having her mage hand perform a dance akin to finger puppetry. All the while, Melfina approached the miniature tower and tapped it, revealing a portal. The party stepped through, with Alith keeping up her performance until the last second.   The occupants of the pocket plane within were frightening creatures indeed; a coven of three deadly night hags named Pinch, Pillage, and Plunder. The three fiendish sisters were delighted that adventurers had come to their door after so long, and were even more amused to hear that they sought the inscription of the Tower of Conjuration. They revealed that they had the means of accessing it, but would only give it in return for three memories, permanently plucked from the minds of some members of the party.   The group refused to give up any of their memories, and briefly discussed attacking the hags outright. However, they settled on a counter-offer; they offered Professor Skant the professor orb, to the sisters. After some considering, the coven of hags agreed to the exchange, much to the orb's displeasure. With the exchange completed, the hags gathered in a circle and began to vomit up a horrid mixture of bile and other unknowable fluids, within which floated the three pieces of the stolen inscription.  

"Second, summon a flame in the palm of your hand."

  With the (disgusting) inscription in hand, the party then realized that the hags had no leverage any longer, and that they could be attacked without fear of losing the inscription. The party prepared to attack and take back Professor Skant, but the hags recognized their hostile intent and blinked away to the border ethereal when they were threatened. They teased their would-be slayers, insisting that a deal is a deal.   The party turned to depart the way they came, but not before they spotted and claimed an interesting magical token; a mythril disc that was identified as the Token of the Faithful Companion, which could be used once to summon illusory copies of a companion creature such as Peanut & Blammo.   Departing from the tower (after distracting the living Bigby's Hands once again), the party encountered another echo of Nevara.  

"High Conjurer Damorith, perhaps more than any of us, saw beauty in the Mythallar and its price. A monument to our ability to reach across the very planes and forge contracts with beings beyond mortality. A symbol of our hubris. We thought so highly of ourselves for it; for if you can speak with an archdevil, forge a contract as an equal, and offer life itself unto his altar... Just how different is that, from divinity itself?"

  As they made their way to investigate Ythryn's library, the party heard the sounds of a large creature stomping about nearby. They quickly hid in order to safely observe whatever creature it happened to be, and were alarmed to see a death giant; a rare breed of giant that had sworn themselves to act on behalf of the negative energy plane. The giant brandished a scythe with a glowing blade and observed the area, but could not find the party, and thus departed. The way to the library was clear.   Melfina found herself quite at home in the library. However, it soon became apparent that the adventurers were not alone in the building. They soon encountered Scrivenscry and Kingsport; a mad arcanoloth and his awakened, blind giant penguin manservant. Mumbling to himself constantly, Scrivenscry demanded the party's assistance in searching for the Books of Keeping, a legendary quartet of books that were said to hold the true name of every yugoloth ever created. Scrivenscry demanded the party's assistance and then returned to combing the library.   As Scrivenscry moved out of eyesight, Kingsport approached the party and carefully handed (or beaked, rather) a scrap of paper to Melfina, upon which was only written the words "Help Me".   The party had sympathy for Kingsport and his difficult situation, so they silently agreed; but they would not carry through with the idea without making Scrivenscry useful. They decided to reveal to the arcanaloth that the neraby Tower of Divination held a device that could possibly seek the city for the the Books of Keeping. Although reluctant, the mad Scrivenscry agreed with this course of action, since he was stuck in Ythryn with no way to teleport back to his home plane while La Saia continued to disrupt such attempts to prevent any exit from her dominion.   Before they left, Melfina was able to find two powerful scrolls; one of chain lightning, and a highly advanced scroll entitled the scroll of the comet. Melfina tucked the two scrolls into her bag to hold them for a future fight; especially the scroll of the comet, for all of its apocalyptic power.   At the Tower of Divination once more, the party watched as Scrivenscry tried to force Kingsport as a guinea pig to ask the jar of eyes a question. However, due to his lack of eyes, Kingsport found that he could not coax anything out of the jar. Scrivenscry took over then and asked the jar where the Books of Keeping were. The party of course could not see what Scrivenscry saw as an answer, but it quickly became apparent that the arcanaloth did not like what he was shown; the Books of Keeping were not in Ythryn, despite his insistence.   Realizing he was trapped in Ythryn with his goal beyond his reach, Scrivenscry's madness quickly reached a fever pitch as he was unable to comprehend his failure to find the books. Scrivenscry became violent and started demanding that the party relinquish the books to him, forcing them to fight back. Scrivenscry was promptly erased from their plane by Melfina's powerful disintegrate spell, leaving Kingsport free at last (if not somewhat confused).   Ragna took the time to ask the jar another question; where was Captain Ardyn Cinderswift? Intending to seek revenge after their business in Ythryn was concluded, Ragna laid a hand on the divination jar. This time, he was not able to fend off the jar's demand for a price, and his right eye exploded in a painful shower of blood. The missing eye then appeared in the jar itself among all the other eyes, seemingly unharmed.   The barbarian was rewarded for the missing eye, however, with a vision. Instead of waiting for the jar to take their vision outside of Ythryn to wherever Cinderswift was hiding, Ragna was surprised to see their scrying gaze drawn to the central spire in the hidden city; the Spire of Iriolarthas. Within a window, about halfway up the tower, Ragna spotted Cinderswift ascending a spiral staircase. Even more surprising was the figure accompanying him, as the captain was soon followed by a familiar looking devil. Mendrion, the erinyes who had sacrificed his own angelic brother to help create the chardalyn dragon, followed the captain but stopped at the open window, locking eyes with the scrying sight Ragna had conjured with the jar. Mendrion grinned evilly, and the vision immediately ended.   With such a chance afforded to them, Ragna asked the party to accompany them to the Spire to seek their hated enemy, hoping to exact vengeance for putting one of their few remaining siblings in danger. The party followed and attempted to enter the Spire; however, they were denied entry, and a nearby plaque instructed them to perform the Rite of the Arcane Octad to enter. Ragna relented, and figured that Cinderswift wouldn't be going anywhere quickly in Ythryn without running into the Lonesome Few at some point. The party elected to keep exploring, seeking more powerful magic items and the remaining inscriptions.   As they crossed into the other half of Ythryn they had yet to explore, the party paused when Melfina suddenly collapsed from another wave of lethargy brought on by her icy transformation. Veszaltyrr quickly made his way to her side and examined her condition, worry plain on his face. He asked the party for a moment's time to investigate his student's affliction more closely, intending to delve into her mind with a spell and determine the damage on a more metaphysical level. He urged Melfina to try to trance as their people could, so that he could cast dream upon her and speak to her consciousness. Though it took some effort, Melfina was able to partially lose consciousness, allowing her master to cast his spell.   Melfina found herself within a dream as expected, and a familiar one at that. She recognized the mechanical marvel of a landscape she found herself in; the Mnemonic Planisphere, Veszaltyrr's favored backdrop for his uses of dream. Veszaltyrr greeted her from a platform across an open abyss from her, though his gaze communicated far more pain and inner conflict than his words did.   Veszaltyrr revealed that he had brought his student to the Planisphere in order to speak to her directly without the risk of Ragna or Alithkav overhearing them, for his words were for Melfina alone. The sorcerer first paid his compliments to Melfina, openly admiring her curiosity and drive in the face of terrible odds. He considered her the closest to family that he had known in a long time, and while Melfina reciprocated this sentiment, Veszaltyrr followed it with a grim portent. He stated, matter-of-factly, that Melfina was surely dying. Worse still, he potentially had the power to do something about it, but could not do so.   He revealed that he knew more exact details about the Mythallar's function than he had revealed to the rest of the party. Veszaltyrr possessed a scholarly grasp of the artifact's capabilities thanks to his research with Dzaan and Avarice, but was also highly concerned that the artifact had become unstable. After all, it had been abandoned for millennia, and was likely further destabilized by his previous interference two years prior during his initial attempt to infiltrate Ythryn.   Thus, Veszaltyrr needed to prioritize what he could manage to do with the Mythallar without risking its destruction or non-function. He outlined his priorities in the following order:  

• Restore power to the Heart of Cygnus using the souls trapped by the Mythallar, delivering them unto the artifact as a miniature 'plane' instead of offering them to Stygia and therefore Levistus
• Use the magic runoff energy generated by the transference of souls to the Heart of Cygnus to end the Eternal Winter
• Somehow save Melfina's life
• Anything else

  Veszaltyrr believed that it was too much of a risk to do anything more than restoring the Heart of Cygnus and ending the Eternal Rime; one was his ultimate goal worth sacrificing anything and everything for, and one was a promise he made to amend for his mistakes, wishing to avoid being just like Lolth in her capacity for callous destruction.   With these two goals in mind, Veszaltyrr could not settle for anything less than the closest he could come to certainty; he could not take time to experiment or spare any of the Mythallar's energies to save Melfina from her condition, even though he desperately wished to, out of fear that it could overwhelm the Mythallar beyond asking it to end the winter; or worse, allowing it to possibly endanger the Heart of Cygnus.   Melfina gracefully accepted her master's judgment and her own impending death, asking only that he continued their shared mission and remember her.  

"I knew you would understand. Somehow, that is the most painful part of this. Know that I take no pleasure in this, and I vow to you now; I will make your sacrifice worth the cost, my dear student. When I storm the Demonweb Pits, when I force Lolth to beg for mercy and choke on her own offal... I swear to you that I shall carve your name into her shriveled, blackened heart, right next to Zesala's."

  Veszaltyrr believed that Alithkav and Ragna would want to try to use the Mythallar to save Melfina despite this, for they had grown fond of Melfina and had hope in their hearts despite everything. He admired this, but could not abide it, and hoped that they could be persuaded. He asked for Melfina's assistance in this endeavor, hoping her voice would hold more weight with them than his own. Veszaltyrr also advised that he and Melfina do not lie, but also not share the full truth of what they knew regarding her situation.   The brass-handed sorcerer ultimately asked for his dear student's forgiveness, and promised that her final hours would be memorable and worthy of her.   Melfina and Veszaltyrr soon awoke, and delivered his grim prognosis; Melfina was dying, and her condition was beyond his understanding or ability to cure. He wished to look out for her and try to find a cure in such a magical place as Ythryn, but stated firmly that accessing the Mythallar and stopping the Eternal Winter ultimately came first. Ragna and Alithkav accepted this, knowing that their quest was one that could end in any of their deaths, but they also endeavored to keep looking until the last possible moment.   Ragna mentioned that she took the epithet of the Eternal Pyre to honor her siblings, but that should any of the Lonesome Few perish in their last hours in Ythryn, she would kindle a flame for them as well, and seek them out in Valhalla when the time came.   Once assured of Melfina's ability to continue, the party made their way to the nearby Museum of Ythryn. Within they encountered another pack of nothics, which quickly scattered after being approached. Although the displays were mostly cleared out or destroyed, the party was able to find a display of a few potions; powerful potions of healing, as well as a rare potion of peerless striking, which would allow the imbiber to see and easily attack critical vital points on any enemy's body for a brief moment.   On the museum's second floor, the party discovered a taxidermied phaerimm; a horrid and cruel aberration from the far realm that delighted in the suffering and destruction of other sentient creatures. Nearby were four oddly featureless stone pillars, one of which Ragna nearly touched. However, remembering their folly in the Caves of Hunger regarding a hiding mimic, Ragna instead swung at the pillar with Skofnung. This revealed that the pillars were indeed spitting mimics, which the party was able to dispatch quickly.   In a nearby chamber, the party laid their eyes upon the interior of the glittering glass dome that they had seen from outside the museum. Depicted on the inside of the dome was a collection of animated stained glass depictions of several powerful wizards, which the Lonesome Few realized were the members of the Arcane Octad given the names on the nearby plaques. In the center of them all, Antecedent Minerva Iriolarthas stood as their authority. Additionally, the party observed the familiar face rendered on the image of the High Evoker, confirming beyond a doubt that Nevara was the High Evoker of Ythryn.   With nothing of interest remaining in the museum beyond the stunning stained glass dome, the party continued to Ythryn's Skydock Spire; a tall tower topped by a floating and rotating glass platform. After reaching the top of the spire, Ragna was able to climb onto the floating glass disc thanks to his now staggering height. Atop the glass platform was mostly rubbish and refuse, but Ragna was able to find two curiosities; a wand made of chardalyn, as well as a model Hyperborean floating inside a glass bottle. After grasping the wand and realizing it filled its wielder with brief murderous tendencies, Ragna left the wand behind and gave the skycoach in a bottle to Alith.   The Lonesome Few's next destination was Ythryn's music hall, an enormous boot-shaped structure capped with three pipes that resembled the arteries of a titanic heart. Within they found old, decaying posters announcing concerts held by and featuring High Evoker Nevara; the party remembered from her diaries that she enjoyed writing poems and lyrics in life. This hobby seemed to carry over to her incarnation as La Saia, whose Codicil of White was lined with poems, and whose haunting singing voice had been heard several times over the snowy dunes by the party.   In the hall proper, they found a host of skeletons comprising the audience, as well as cadavers holding instruments on stage, sitting before a conductor's stand upon which rested a baton.   Ragna asked aloud if anyone knew how to conduct with a baton; Veszaltyrr mentioned that it was a matter of simple mathematical patterns and quite easy to follow. Ragna encouraged him to give it a try, wondering if the music hall held any secrets beyond its dead ensemble.   After a pause, Veszaltyrr ascended the conductor's stand and begun to guide the skeletal orchestra. Even as their bodies laid still and unmoving, their instruments began to be plucked and strummed according to Veszaltyrr's guidance, and the singing voice of High Evoker Nevara began to fill the halls.   Once the conclusion finished, a shower of black roses rained down upon the stage. An echo of Nevara appeared, clutching a bouquet of black roses, as an image of Antecedent Minerva looked on adoringly from the audience.  

"I loved hearing my songs echo throughout the hall. I treasured the choir's every word, bringing my ink-stained pages to life as beauty in the very air. How many, do you think, realize that my songs are expressions of devotion and love to our esteemed antecedent? You must have known, of course. Do you remember the bouquet of black roses you gave me after my first performance here? How I long to lose myself in an endless field of them, wandering and singing songs of you until all the stars burn out."

  The party noted that Veszaltyrr was clearly, deeply touched by the bond displayed by the two ancient wizards throughout the group's own investigations of Ythryn. As the party departed the music hall, Veszaltyrr briefly stopped and took one of the black roses with him.   As they traveled further through the city to the Tower of Transmutation, Xerophon, who had grown quiet and distant during the last few hours, began to mumble and convulse violently. The Lonesome Few watched as the doppelganger succumbed to the arcane blight pervading throughout Ythryn, his form breaking and molding into the shape of a large nothic. After the process was completed, the nothic that was once Xerophon sized the party up as its brethren tended to do, but was scared off by Ragna and Alith assuming battle stances. They lamented his fate briefly, as well as the loss of their two guides, but had to continue on.   The Tower of Transmutation was quickly and easily ascended. Atop its peak they discovered an adamantine statue of High Transmuter Metaltra, whose likeness they recognized from the Museum's stained glass display. They also discovered the tower's inscription, which had its last word missing. The group searched the top floor for pieces of rock missing from the ceiling, and used the mending cantrip to repair the last word. This revealed the whole of the eighth step to the Rite of the Arcane Octad.  

"Eighth, stand firm in thy circle of death and consume poison."

  Another echo of Nevara appeared soon after the inscription was completed, as was becoming typical with the towers.  

"High Transmuter Metaltra. Never was there a more vain wizard in all of Hyperboreia. She would have lined the streets with mirrors just to catch a glimpse of her own reflection while striding the stones. How she paled before you, my love. Perfection has a name, and it is Iriolarthas."

  The party's next destination was the mirthfully named Hall of Weightless Wonder. Within this building, the party found themselves surrounded by a cloud of brilliant rainbow light, and also found themselves quite light on their feet; so much that they were able to float around at will inside the chamber!