We return to the party battling fire elementals and salamanders. Lotty shouts a suggestion to run but we collectively proceed to not do that, instead content to be aflame and nearly get constricted to death. But hey, it works out in the end! Grug does an astonishing amount of damage and refuses to give up. Mordecai channels Kathy Bates in Misery on important limbs. Lotty tries to keep everyone in the game and Null does some effective slashing. Berrik nearly gets fatally hugged, but Lotty brings him back in time for the wizard to devastate the remaining baddies with a Cone of Cold. With the death of the last salamander, the room ceases to be punishingly hot. It's still a little stuffy though.
Mordecai rummages through Flynn's belongings and finds a curious vial in with the warlock's stash of cigars. Why would Flynn be carrying around an Elixir of Raise Dead? Doesn't matter - It's time to bring back our friend. We gather in the study to the south, where Mordecai unceremoniously slams the vial down Flynn's throat. Now we rest, and wait. Just before Flynn begins to stir, Mordecai seeks out the only other member of the Ashen Company he respects: Lotty. The genie, satisfied that his protégé will recover, asks Lotty not to tell Flynn that Mordecai came in after him. Lotty replies with "Maybe" and suggests that Mordecai make it clear to Flynn how important he is to him. The genie grows more imposing and asks Lotty again to keep his secret, but she gives him the same non-committal answer as before. Giving up, Mordecai called Lotty a tough cookie, and takes his leave.
Before too long Flynn rouses, sputtering as he removes the vial from his mouth. He is confused about what has transpired and has no idea where they are. Lotty tells Flynn he died just outside the soul turbine chamber and scolds him for being so thoughtless. The goblin is taken aback - Sure, he feels like shit but dying? Null makes eye contact with Flynn and nods emphatically. We explain to him that he died and we couldn't save him there, so we carried him with us. We fought fire monsters in the swamp-ass of Ezra's Tower and then found this elixir to bring him back. Flynn is still in disbelief, though we can't tell whether it's real or feigned. He Prestidigitations the grime off of us while Lotty heals up Flynn, Grug and Berrik. As Lotty heals up Flynn, she cuffs him around the ear and it's clear that this isn't the end of her wrath - just wait til we get home. Flynn minor illusions the canvas to show scenes of the Ashen Company's adventures, but with himself as the much taller main hero. Our newly revived friend doesn't seem up to dealing with the concept of his fragile mortality right now. As we finish up our rest, Null points out the candelabra to Berrik and he proceeds to summon an Unseen Servant to pull it when the time comes. But wait, we should do another onceover of the study before we go? Absolutely yes because we are sluts for lore.
In the bookshelf, Null finds books about elemental magic and the elemental plane of chaos. A piece of paper being used as a bookmark falls out, but she can't read it. She hands everything over to Berrik, who can read basically anything with this setting on his Third Eye. It turns out the note just has philosophical questions like: "Who created the Elemental Plane of Chaos?". Null thinks this is silly, because the concept of purposeful creation is antithetical to the existence of chaos. We turn to the mantel, which holds 2 busts and a gargoyle. The gargoyle is a gargoyle, and the busts are humanoids: an older man and a middle aged woman. Lotty recognizes the older man as Gorgonzola GoneGirl Gilgamesh Gilgonzo Gilton, a scholar of the elements and scion of evocation magic from the Aeonian Dominion. No one recognizes the lady. Neat, lets move on. Berrik's Unseen Servant holds the door open for us and we trudge up the steps to the next floor.
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| Gilgonzo Gilton, unknown year BDC. |
Null stands before the door on the landing and looks to Lotty for permission to proceed before she opens the door. Lotty thinks this is kinda weird, but gives the go ahead. Inside, the party finds an enormous, perpetually moving, articulated orrery in the centre of the room. A walkway with four evenly spaced balconies lines the circumference of the room and an exit door lies to the southeast. Along the outer ring of the orrery is an enormous telescope with a seat attached to it. Berrik makes a beeline for this, chugging a Fly potion so he doesn't have to clamber over. Looking through the eyepiece, he sees the inky vastness of the Astral Sea. Grug posts up at the western balcony, looking longingly through a window as the sun begins to set outside. We find a book on the southern balcony full of star charts and coordinates to specific anomalies. The northern balcony holds a smaller telescope and complex lever with several dials. Perhaps we can use these in tandem to manipulate the larger telescope? Lotty flips through the book and notices that Ezra's writing gets sloppier and more frantic towards the end. Did he find something that led to his demise? Lotty turns to the last page to discern the coordinates and calls them out to Flynn so he can align the appropriate dials on the lever. Despite being recently dead and one-handed, he thinks he's got it. He pulls the lever and Berrik goes for a quick ride as the giant telescope aligns itself. Eagerly looking through the eyepiece, he sees... more of the same. Maybe we didn't quite get the coordinates right? Null and a card of Fate help Flynn steady his hand on the dials as he enters the coordinates once more. This time, pulling the lever gets Berrik to where he wants to go. After the telescope shifts once more, he peers through the eyepiece. As his eye adjusts, his curiosity turns to horror. Before him lie thousands of impossibly large, slumbering dragons, floating within a vortex of energy. Several times larger than Nassandrial, they all seems to sorrespond with different elements. They sleep now, but for how long? Berrik relays what he sees to the group. We are struck dumb - what the fuck can we do? This is the last thing Ezra saw and the cosmic megafauna spooked him so badly that he ended up trapped in the Lands of Desolation. We need to save him and speak to him. There's nothing else for us here, up the stairs and onto the next floor.
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| Hic sunt dracones, motherfuckers. |
Null once again stops before the door and seeks Lotty's approval before proceeding. Lotty says she doesn't have to do that. but Null insists that she's trying to be better about rushing ahead and doesn't want to disappoint Lotty again. Lotty says that the rogue has never disappointed her, which means more to Null than she lets on. We turn to the right as we go through the door and find ourselves in a well-stocked kitchen. Everything looks super appetizing and we are so hungry. Grug finds a self-filling tankard and digs in, sitting down on a nearby crate. It's cold to the touch. Flynn already stuffing his face, offers Null an apple. Ever suspicious, she checks it for poison but it's clearly a perfect, non-poisoned apple. Grug, seeking relief from the scorching events of the day, drops trou and rests their cheeks on the frigid crate. Okay, it's a little too cold. What the hell is in there? Lifting the lid, we find a frosty pillar... the fateful ice machine! The Winter Apex bacchanal is saved! Poor Grug is the only one strong enough to drag it around. At least they brought the self-filling tankard with them. We move on to the rest of the floor, Flynn and Null leading the way. They soon find a junction of corridors and doorways, but are immediately met with a recorded message from Ezra. Standing before them, the wizard congratulates them on making it through his tower. He says to take what they need from this floor, leave through the roof and come find him. The image then disappears. The rest of the group catches up, and Null and Flynn fill them in. I guess we better start exploring? Grug continues to drink heavily.
The first room we find is to the northeast - it's full of dozens crates of loot:
- 10k gp worth of each of the types of crafting materials (Divine, Arcane, Primal)
- 100k gp
- 1 copy of each School of Exaltation spell
- 5 units of each type exaltium
- 1 potion vial
Lotty begins brainstorming how we might get the most loot out of here. Maybe she can rig something up. After some chatter, we eventually scatter to explore the rest of the floor. We are by no means finished exploring, but here's what I got:
- Northeast chamber is full of loot and beyond it lies a small chamber with dried foodstuffs.
- Southeast chamber is a dining hall that reminds the party of Zanidonian-style feasting. Beyond it lies a bedroom.
- Southwest chamber is full of magic-related decor and might be good for planning. Purple accents.
- Northwest chamber is kind of like a den/barrack. Cozy + full of spots to sleep and relax.
- Northward corridor ends in a little conference room.
- Southward corridor ends in a fancy-looking office.
Meanwhile, Grug continues to drink. Eventually the half-orc passes out in the corridor, still pantsless. Null takes a break from her aimless wandering to bring Grug some bread and water. She tries to roll them over on their side, but she's too weak. Grug will probably be fine? While this is happening, the rest of the party is elsewhere. In the Southwest chamber, Berrik is searching through some bookshelves when he find a plain, well-worn leather-bound book. Inside he finds a note for Berrik (or for whoever killed Berrik) from Ezra. It ID's the tome as Ezra's first spellbook and gifts it to Berrik, hoping that it will serve him well. Berrik is STOKED, as the book contains every wizard spell in existence. We all continue to wander around the various rooms and passages on this floor and wonder if we'll rest here tonight.
We end the session there.