Reflections Campaign

17 min read

We May Have Fucked Up

Session 38

TLDR
Important Points:
  • Yul is freaky and shot a blood bullet at Wilfred Dongle during the fight
  • Yul can materialize blood
  • Using her blood we can animate dead, bane, and summon a demon
  • Wilfred Dongle was trying to make a deal with Elidor, the prime minister of The Empire of Dagdra
  • Find a book about the origins of creating synthetic life
  • Dried geimshall wood could be important for potions
  • Gabriel shows up, we interrupt the ritual but accidentally power him up, he tells us we need to go to Celestial Peak, Valzelia tonight immediately
    • He cannot kill Sarah because of his oath?
  • Sorean Vasara has met Gabriel before, killed somebody named Percival in front of Sorean
    • Has fought before, was spared out of pity, went to interrupt a ritual for Ruin
  • Gabriel tells Bloo to relay a message, once we kill the woestrider he will kill us all and that Bloo is to escort everybody to Celestial Peak without Seliph and to not interfere with Tabitha
  • Higher ups in The Order of the Fish known as Upper Trinity, Milton Peristine (minister of religion (archbishop) of the dagdran empire), theodore, Gabriel

04.23.0347 | Half Moon Bay, Valzelia

  • Middle of fight with Dongle, Yul clasped her hands tgt, pressurized her blood, and pierced Wilfred with it
    • The blood poisoned him in a weird way
    • She didn’t do all that she could’ve done, she was merciful and could’ve done more
  • The portal is closed, the fire is extinguished, forge is extinguished
  • Sarah goes to kick the boiler, hear empty metal
  • Sarah breaks the crystal for the portal
  • The purple bits of the crystal fall to the ground, and it just lays there
  • Sarah stabs Yul’s hands to draw some blood for research(?)
  • Yul puts her blood into a yogurt jar (not my yogurt jar)
  • Apparently Yul just materializes blood
  • 3 things we can do with Yul’s blood according to Sarah’s blood
    • Animate Dead
    • Bane
    • Summon a demon
  • Bloo goes to investigate the other room in the boiler room
  • “Can we just drag him around so we don’t lose him?” -Yul to a corpse
  • “I do have a bag of holding I can cram his corpse into” -Nim
  • “Am I still under investigation” -Nim
  • “Why would I know?” -Sarah
  • “Wait you’re the mayor” -Nim
  • “Oh yeah!” -Sarah
  • Yul gentle reposes the corpse and we shove it into Nim’s bag of holding
  • Bloo sees an alchemy room filled with flasks and beakers
  • Bloo goes to investigate the pot of suspicious green smoke
    • Bloo feels an noxious assault on my nostrils
    • It smells like disgusting, rancid, but only smell when I’m up close
    • Bloo inhales it, as Bloo inhales it, it’s trying to assault your body in some way, it’s gaseous poison
    • Bloo attempts to bottle the poisonous gas
    • 1 Noxious Fume acquired, Malice, DC 15 con save or you are poisoned for 1 hour
  • General chemistry and alchemy experiments, transmutation experiments, aren’t really anything interesting, 2 potions of healing, 5 greater potions of healing
  • Sarah takes off her glove and touches the blood, feel the blood draw into the open cut, it makes your body feel weird, it’s tensing up in some areas, it’s not a disease or a poison, there’s a foreign object spreading through your veins
    • New status condition: bloodhexed
    • Yul knows that a specific creature within a certain radius has it
  • Sarah: “Yul, can you slap me?”
  • Yul, after much deliberation, and Sarah keeps asking for it, sure….
  • Yul slaps Sarah, Sarah feels the weird foreign thing pop inside of her, it feels weird, but she shakes it off
  • Sarah: “the fuck?” but not longer hexed
  • Bloo looks at book, inside it says, “Treastise on synthetic life volume 1”, book is open, bookmark attached is a key
  • Nim tries the key on the door, the door retracts into the wall
  • See a massive library inside
  • Archive, documents labeled within the last 2 years, see numbers going back 70 years
  • More recent ones, see a letter falling out of an envelope, recently placed there
  • In an empty journal to be filled with records, see letters between wilfred and gabriel
    • Wilfred Dongle is trying to make a deal with Elidor, the prime minister of Dagdra
  • In door in archives, bowl of salt with candle on fire, that is red, similar to one under lighthouse (which was blue?)
  • Sees a bust of Tabitha
  • Sarah hits the bust, swings Spellcleaver, it looks like a marble bust of Tabitha, as Sarah swings, she manages to crack the statue, some pieces of the hair fall off, the eyes start to glow white
  • Hear a voice
    • “Tread carefully Dongle” mwahahahhaha
    • It’s a prerecording
  • Paths of salt in this room, pointing in 2 different directions, the 2 pillars point in the direction of the lighthouse and one in the castle
  • Under the lighthouse, there was a line pointing at the lab and another potentially pointing at the castle
  • Nim: what happens if we take someone out of the triangle/square and then snuff the flames out?
  • There’s a cage in the corner, Sarah casts Detect Magic and senses divination magic from in the cage, Sarah also detects divination magic from the bust
  • Yul dispels magic on the bust, hear one final phrase, “I’ll remember this” mwahahahhahahaha
    • As the line ends, the eyes fade and no longer glow, the head crumbles, there were no eyes in the sockets
  • Bloo shapeshifts into Wilfred Dongle
  • Still divination magic coming from inside the cage
  • Yul also dispels magic in the cage
  • Poof, now there is no longer any divination magic in the cage
  • Nim opens the cage and walks in, notice a rusty key in the cage, also smells like garlic
    • The rusty key goes to the cage?
    • Floor of the cage doesn’t have bars
    • Nim sees something weird in the dirt, a footprint, the shape of the footprint isn’t a common shoe, but a boot, but a boot of armor
    • It sort of matches Sarah’s boot, it’s a little smaller
    • Only the left footprint
    • More than the weight of a child
    • The footprint is pointing into the corner
    • Nim presses the wall in the corner, the wall is a little warm, it’s a little warmer in this room than in the archive, but it’s getting hotter and hotter
    • Nim looks for keyhole in wall, see a weird divot, Nim puts the key in, the key keeps going, the opening is too small for your hand, it’s like a coin slot
    • Bloo makes a mundane copy of the key with Prestidigitation, it slides in, goes through some chutes, and then it slides back
    • Nim puts in the original key, hear a thunk, a small panel on the side slides open, it’s a journal
    • The panel that opens isn’t super deep, it’s a journal
    • Nim grabs the journal
    • The leather cover is falling apart by the stitching, the binding is loose, a couple pages fall out onto the floor
    • One of them is a spell scroll, slotted in as a hidden thing, 2 spell scrolls, Cloudkill and Globe of Invulnerability, the pages are sort of tattered, but they should probably work fine
    • The journal itself has a weird font, it looks very very old, almost like a keepsake, can’t make out the cover, most of the pages the ink has smudged and weathered, almost unreadable, do notice a couple of things
    • It appears to be a personal journal, and Nim understands thieves’ cant, and also understand these are hidden research notes
    • Not Wilfred Dongle’s handwriting, appears to be somebody Wilfred respects, or even somebody he cares about
    • It’s haphazardly written, artificial, injection, toxic, not sure what to make of it, medicine is not your specialty
    • Yul is listening(?)
    • It’s connecting to Yul somehow, it’s detailing the properties of Yul, artificial life, synthesizing blood into a puppet, the blood is toxic, you feel your pulse everywhere, no irises in her eyeball, no blood erupts
    • Yul sees a vision, a hand gently caresses your face, long fingers, Yul feels the inside of her body burning, sharp pain in chest, blood rushing, but not your own, she tilts her head up, the hand that’s gently caressing your face isn’t actually caressing, the long pointy nails are drilling into your left temple, see blood dripping, it’s yours, see a shard of glass protruding out of your chest as she pushes it in deeper, the pain is excruciating, remember the one voice you heard, “she will be pleased”
    • Yul mouths the phrase too
    • And then she snaps back to reality
    • The book is about the origins of creating synthetic life
  • Book at the end of the archive, written more recently but dried now, another transcribed letter being archived
  • Letter to Count from Dongle, spelling of Jeice is “Jace”, next page has another letter, and another letter (check plot)
  • A lot of the letters in the archive from 70 years ago, mostly archival stuff, not relevant, records of study and processes, some blueprints, mostly failed prototypes, not even all of this is his, a lot is correspondence between other people entirely, the vast majority of the aisles are of very little use
  • Letters between Dongle and Gabriel

Letter 1: Forgeking Wilfred Dongle, I am pleased to inform you that our plan is proceeding smoothly. The “resignation” of the previous Keyholder has surely made its way to you. By now, you should have recieved a letter from Jens. Please correct me if this is not the case, as I will make sure to rectify this. When you write back, be sure to send an update on the deal with Elidor. Best, Gabriel

Letter 2: Gabriel, This was not part of our arrangement. I was supposed to earn this position myself— it was my life’s work. I feel betrayed. To think, you didn’t have faith in my ability to rise the ranks on my own. I don’t need you or this stupid cult. I have secured the deal with Elidor, he will be docking on the 20th, as agreed. Why you couldn’t accomplish a simple task is beyond me, but I hope you’re happy. Our relationship is purely transactional. I have half a mind to snuff out the damned Saltflame in my storage room, so stay in line. I don’t need any more of your damned help. Regards, Wilfred Dongle

Letter 3: Wilfred, Under no circumstances are you to extinguish that flame. Doing so will kill all the ring holders. This was a precaution on Tabitha’s end, in case the guild attempts to interfere. This will compromise our plan, as there is no realistic way I can pin this on them, so you will take the fall instead. Tread carefully, Gabriel

Dearest Wilfred Dongle, esteemed king of the forge, You have been cordially invited to the ascension ceremony. You have been selected as a candidate to become the next Metalwork Keyholder for the Exhas Merchants and Trading Company. The ceremony will take place on the tenth of the third month in the Exhas Guildhall in Trinity Bay. Please use the enclosed Scroll of Sending to accept this nomination and contact my secretary, Reginald Fluttershark. I hope we hear back from you soon. Best Regards, Jens Pollux

Letter 1: Dearest Count, I am very pleased to hear that you enjoyed the prototype. I will have the finished gauntlet sent to you by the end of the month. Jace will make a fine operator. Don’t forget your end of the deal. Best Regards, Wilfred Dongle

Letter 2: Esteemed Forgeking, My son’s name is Jeice. Don’t mind the details, but the plan is going well. I will venture into the Feywild to collect the remaining materials for the ritual. Jeice’s superior is higher up in the Order than I, one of the Upper Trinity. I am a bit saddened that I won’t work alongside him, but I think Milton will give him strength. Have you or your associates worked with a lad named Theodore? I’m normally not one to pry but he reminds me of the man you referred me to. Gabriel, his name was? Regardless, you shall not be disappointed in my work. Best, Leopold

  • A journal stands out, it’s a couple years ago (4 years old), by an author you don’t recognize, it’s another scientific journal
  • It’s incomprehensible to Bloo
  • “Dr. Nim plz help” -Bloo
  • Nim looks at it, the artificer who wrote it seems to be quite famous, heard it in passing, could be someone in the guild who’s interested
  • Nim takes it
  • In the corner there’s a flask with a blue liquid
    • Flat, no bubbly, like water, alcohol
    • Bloo sips it, it tastes incredibly concentrated
    • Bloo’s not a lightweight
    • It’s not for drinking, it’s for cleaning
  • Box in alchemy door, in crate, see a tiny pouch, it’s very small, it’s tied incredibly tightly
    • It’s tied so tight that it’s better to untie it
    • Pull apart the knot, it sort of gets looser but get nowhere
    • Bloo cuts it open
    • In the pouch, see a tiny little weird brown thing, it’s vaguely… sort of…. shaped like a hand?
    • “Hand!?” -Yul
    • We all look at the hand, based off of the smell, it’s an herb, it’s named something…. some common names are “dwarf’s hand”, dried
    • Dwarf’s hand is the root of this tree, more a colloquial name
    • It’s geimshall wood, part of the ritual to summon Hades
    • Know that, dunno why, it has some medicinal properties, ppl use it in some sort of potion, don’t remember, can distill it down with boiling water, kind of steep it like tea, might be able to make something
    • Nim peruses treatise 1 on artificial life, this one is entirely concerned with plants, Wilfred was experimenting with artificially creating these roots to make potions, this is actually an imitation of the dwarf’s hand, of the geimshall wood, dunno if it will actually work
    • A later volume of this particular treatise was in the cage
    • There are some things it could do, one of which will make a general antidote, anywhere from healing ails in herbal medicines to supposedly being able to speak with plants
    • No author listed on this treatise
    • Nim determines that there are a couple theories as to why that one might be battered, could have been used more, or used more carelessly around the experiments, vol 1 is around plants, the other one was about humanoids and the like, probably due to more use, as to why one is coded, could be secret experiment or keep from prying eyes, can gauge from background that the treatises are about 100+ years old
  • Yul is technically 132 years old (she was 2 when sealed)
  • Yul gets a sense of familiarity with the book but nothing conscious
  • Bloo feels like they’ve heard about the book in passing, bloo concentrations, remembers, recall Astrid mentions knowing and being acquainted with a weird biological researcher who is planning for the future?
  • Hear a weird crash in the main lab
  • See Gabriel standing there, but he looks a little different, “I have someone who needs to uphold their end of the deal”
  • Feel a weird telekinetic force yanking at the bag of holding, the lip of the bag slowly sways open, Gabriel’s eyes glow deeper red
  • Sarah counterspells, Gabriel scoffs, he looks over and points his finger at Sarah, “are you sure you want to do that?”
  • As Gabriel steps forward, hear the metal of his boot, see his hand extended out, ring glowing
  • Sarah attempts to walk towards him
  • Bloo dimension doors to the candle
  • Nim drops the ring
  • Yul doesn’t know what’s going on
  • Bloo flips the bowl over to snuff out the flame, Gabriel’s ring starts to glow brightly as traces of light start beaming into the ring, his eyes are glowing a deeper blood red, he looks at Sarah, “you idiots”
  • He brings both of his arms to the side of his body, where he had one ring previously he now has 2 wings forming, black flames go over, extending to his right arm, as he floats up
  • In his left hand, see something materializing, and it’s slowly growing, scythe in left hand, spear in right hand
  • “Well this is unexpected” -Gabriel
  • Gabriel’s presence is different, Nim doesn’t know why, this should not have happened, he’s threatening, Nim freezes up, your hand is quivering, you’re frightened
  • Sarah and Yul are shaking a little, but your resolve is steeled, even if you don’t know what this thing has become
  • Demeanor changed from contempt, to something else, his demeanor is off, he’s laughing, with Wilfred dead I suppose you guys are the ones being blamed
  • “So you want to try?” -Gabriel
  • He raises his scythe at Sarah, he points the blade at your head, where if he yanks it, he could decapatite you, he’s imposing but sees that Sarah isn’t backing off, “give me Wilfred’s corpse”
  • Bloo casts Sending at Seliph
  • Gabriel takes the scythe away, “I have somewhere else to be”
  • “I don’t have the right to kill you right now”
  • “I have an oath I can’t break and I need you alive so I can’t kill you”
  • Sarah threatens to kill herself, Gabriel cannot kill her
  • “You and everybody needs to go to Celestial Peak tonight”
  • “You’re boring me” -Gabriel
  • Sarah swings her sword at Gabriel, the blade stops mid-air, spatial distortion, your sword is suspended in mid-air, stopped by something external that you can’t see, the blade doesn’t press harder, as he moves away, the distortion moves away, as he floats away, space around him distorts around him
  • Hear a sudden drop, two clanks of metal on the floor behind me
  • Bloo turns around, looks up, his armor is glowing purple, his head tilted down towards me, his eyes piercing red, bloo has seen those eyes before, thunder roars against night, those eyes filled with malice, right before you is the sharp edge of a scythe, the blood isn’t mine, bloo feels grief for the corpse in front of you, for the first time in your life, Sorean Vasara feels fear, the fallen heart dissolves, the scythe continues up, slicing the body in two pieces, the red streaks of eyes turn away as i hear bloody water sloshing and one name, “no… percival”, hear another thunderous roar, look down at quivering hands, see that smoke is rising from your palms, see a black crackling beam in front of Gabriel, “I still cannot believe you are the one that slayed my comrades, and look what you’ve become, a parasite, inhabiting the corpse of my subordinate, even I’m surprised, so what keeps you fighting?” “I have a special fondness for you, I want you to relay a message to your friends, I will kill them all once the woestrider is killed, you are to escort your friends without Seliph to celestial peak, I can handle Seliph myself, don’t interfere with Tabitha,”, he rotates his palms, cocoons himself
  • How many years has it been since we last met? Don’t you remember who I am?
  • Bloo feels something warm in your chest, you’re bleeding, here’s a memento, keep it
    • He stabs you with a spear, and now it’s all coming back
    • You’ve fought him before, and you lost a friend in the fight, he spared you out of pity, and he seems to be sparing you again as a message, “Enjoy this life while you can, kill that woestrider and then I will kill you myself”
  • The spear is still in my chest, dissolving
  • Weirdly enough, the wound that it caused, in a weird way, has an effect that resembles being cauterized, but it looks dissolved, decayed
  • Remember weird chanting, weird summoning ritual that you tried to interrupt with a close friend, you weren’t supposed to go but you were too late, you remember that encounter with Ruin
    • Ruin was repowered
    • Ruin has returned to its former power
  • Sarah receives a message via sending from Seliph, who’s asking you to go outside right now, he’s asking why are there so many corpses outside
    • Sarah replies “my bad”
  • In front of Sarah, is a black feather, from one of Gabriel’s wings, another memento, almost as if he’s taunting you
  • What is Gabriel’s oath?

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