Act IV, Chapter 21: "Give me battlefield mobility and/or give me death." (2024/12/14)

(Combat recaps continue to be hard. Doing my best with the notes I got, ya know?) 

The gang is still fighting Azher when they notice the final shield dissipate from around the soul turbine. Guess the Guardians came through! We are, however, too occupied to text them our appreciation. Time for everyone to take a free action, because of fate and stuff. Everyone seems to have a cool and normal time with their free actions except Null. Recently revivified Null has ultra-low HP you see and so tries to remedy that by using her action to take a potion of supreme healing. Sucks to be her, because the unshielded turbine has a lil arcane UNO reverse when it comes to nearby healing magics. This chick drops to 0 HP again and this time Azher looks hella compelled to make this a permanent arrangement for his wayward science experiment. Bro's gonna be disappointed though, because in an absolute KING move Silas swoops in and Dimension Doors his friend a couple hundred feet away from the turbine. He rouses her and tells her to wait until he can bring them back to the fight. Grateful, Null will chug a couple health potions until Silas DD's them back to scrap.

Meanwhile, back at the turbine, things are not going well. Alistair victimizes Flynn until he hits 0 HP and then kills Berrik! Lotty tries to do some rapid distance math and reflect on whether her dead pal is an object. Azher casts Invulnerability on himself, knowing the wizard was the last one with a chance of dispelling it. Lotty finishes her equations and casts Haste on herself, grabbing Berrik and dragging him as far as she can away from the turbine. Silas and Null DD back to the fight, appearing right next to Lotty and dead!Berrik. Azher Feebleminds Silas, but a Greater Restoration potion solves that real quick. Silas continues his MVP world tour and crushes white exaltium in order to be able to Dimension Door two more of his friends to safety. Strangely the exaltium's wild magic affects Lotty, allowing her to immediately cast Arcane Gate. A portal appears in front of the trio, with another popping up next to a still-downed Flynn. Clocking an opportunity to get Flynn away from a potential killing blow, Null runs over and drags him through the portal. The duo appear next to their friends. Null snatches a potion from dead!Berrik's bandolier and pours it into Flynn's mouth, bringing him up. She then turns around and leaves back through the gate to take Azher's attention off of our little recuperation station. Lotty gets Berrik back to the land of the living. Flynn heals up and rejoins the fight. Berrik, now fully amped for wizard on wizard violence, steps through the gate. He dispels Azher's invulnerability and then finishes off with a Healing Word (Reminder: healing magic hurts Azher). 

We're back in it, babes! The Ashen Company is off to the killing races again. A bit more fighting happens. We continue trying to shrug off lair actions. Lotty spots a strange but familiar figure from the mountain, a dwarven chef being piloted by a rat. She feels inspired? Null yeets Azher into the turbine with fate stuff, but the damage is necrotic so the cinematic falls flat. Azher keeps trying to villain monologue us, but fate steps in and we feel replenished, like we've each gotten a full night's rest in the past 6 seconds. SO WEIRD.

In the end, it's Null who gets the killing blow. She sweeps his legs and knocks him prone, stepping on his wrists to stop any last minute somatic attempts. Null brings down the blade of Reaper's Scream into his open mouth before he can speak another word - no spells, no threats, no laughter. Alistair's demise sends a shockwave through the entire chamber, forcing everyone to make saving throws. Lotty falls unconscious, but everyone else stays up and instead takes massive amounts of force damage.

Berrik and Silas heal up Lotty right away. A somewhat dazed Null keeps stabbing the now-still corpse of her lifelong tormentor. Is this a blatant homage to Buffy the Vampire Slayer S2 E01, when Buffy finds an outlet for her trauma by destroying the bones of the Master? Maybe, but there's no catharsis to be found here for our gal Null. Flynn discreetly texts Ezra that it's time to do his thing. The soul turbine hums along. We'll have to do something soon.

Act IV, Chapter twenty "One Alistair down, one to go" (07/12/2024)

 Our heroes continue the fight with Azher and, as avid readers of Lotty's journal will know, fight notes are hard dude so some of highlights include:

Berrick destroys the orb holding Flynn's concentration and gets polymorphed in to it's replacement. Flynn dispels the polymorph meaning the litch can only concentrate on two spells at a time.

Berrick is almost disintegrated but Flynn saves him just in the neck of time but it's still not a fun time for Berrick, he does go down to zero hit points just at the point the fates grant the rest of the group some temporary hit points.

Null summons our old buddy Cade for a big heal and gets everyone back on their feet, healing is halved in close proximity to the soul turbine but it does the jov.

Null dies - but you know, it's been at least an hour since anyone has died so it's par for the course and Silas brings her back before the turbine can claim her soul.

Silas is almost killed but sacrifices Flame to restore to full health and spell slots, Lotty hands off Latharial's Grace to Silas, both practically and thematically it just feel right that Silas puts the lady's sword to good use.

The Ashen Company does kill Alistair at one point but we all know it's not going to be that easy; like any BBEG worth their salt he quickly returns more powerful than, ever full restored in health and spell slots

Berrick accidentally magic's himself to the Etherial plane with a wild surge, it's not the first time Berrick's spent a chunk of a fight missing out on his turns (and it probably won't be the last) and he pulls it out of the bag with a good use of fate cards.

The cliff-hanger is Berrick returning from the Etherial plan giving everyone a free action to take against the Marionettist

Act IV, Chapter Nineteen "It's time" (30/11/2024)

Whilst the last two Death Knights are locked in a force cage the Ashen company take a breather. Berrick casts Catnap on Lotty & Flynn whilst the OG Zanidonia crew catch up and give Silas the tdlr version of all the wild things that have happened in the months he's been gone. On the subject of Nikolai Silas is able to feel his heartbeat through their shared blades, he doesn't know where he is but he knows he's ok for now. Null asks Silas if he would do the honour of marrying her and Latharial, he's cagy about the future and suggests they concentrate on the task at hand first. 

After their catnap Lotty tries to comfort Flynn around his loss in the same way that Mordecai did when she lost her father and tinkers the sound of the ocean on to the now lifeless urn to remind Flynn of Mordecai's favourite sounds (it would have been a touching moment but everyone else was giggling at some double entendre that had been made in the background 😉 ).

After dispatching the last two knights the Company steel themselves to face Alistair when Null feels herself suddenly transported to a new, empty, space. Alistair is going to make sure he takes one last opportunity to offer Null a place of power less-horror in his new world. Of course she's not going to turn to the dark side so he resorts to threatening Latharial but our girl stays strong and silent. Both a blessing and a curse he also restores every last memory ever altered or taken from Null's mind. As Null is returned to her friends she's shaken with all the good and bad that's come flooding back to her as happy childhood memories are laced with murderous ones. 

As her friends rally around her Null and the Ashen Company are only ever more determined to end this.

The Marionettist, Alistair Azher, finally appears himself and the fight ensures with the Litch. Reno has already been eliminated, Flynn is banished to a Maze, some heavy hits have been dealt to the Ashen Company and Azher is still looking mostly unhurt......

Soul Turbine Tower levels:

• Entry - Aspect of Azrael
• Necro fruit- Rune scarred cultists
• Clockwork - Lich & death knights
• Graveyard - Rune scarred banshees (Hi Eleanor!)
• Lava - Rune scarred balor
• Ice tundra - frigid cold
• Swamp - Rune scarred basilisks
• Snow farm - Rune scarred zombie giants
• Classroom - Alistair's riddles (+book on Soul Transference)
• Underwater - Kraken
• Wall - Spikes of agony
• Ashen Company Villa - duplicates
• Sands - Silas
• Azher's tower entrance (Astral Plane?)
• Inverted Tower ft. Magister Peanut Gallery
• Puzzle cube 
• Handsy platform - Noped
• Magic fuckery bridge - bug guys
• Welcome back Silas - Death Knights
• Soul Turbine Boss Level - Alistair "The Marionettist" Azher

Act IV, Chapter 18: "Revenant and Martyr" (2024/11/16)

It's been a long week, so these notes are gonna be ~brisk~ 

Anyway!

The Ashen Company have just finished changing their loadouts following Ezra's warning about crafted enchantments being imminently destroyed. Like clockwork, an incorporeal Azher appears before them to gloat about said enchantments being imminently destroyed. He's barely started his little villain monologue before he notices the unfazed stares of the Ashen Company. Crestfallen, he zips away to plot more evil stuff and work on better bullying material. Flynn probably insults him on his way out.

Suddenly, a pillar of fire descends from above. The Ashen Company look on, shocked Pikachu-style, at the column of flame blocking their path. Some long moments pass. The party is on the verge of brainstorming their way around the obstacle when they see a familiar figure walk out of the fire. Silas is alive (still? again?), and wreathed in radiant flame. This is a trip!

You see, in the past few weeks the Ashen Company has experienced several iterations of Silas and Niko's fate. Most of them mourned the deaths after the Palirano Ploy, while another had to hide that the boys were alive and in hiding. Then we all found them captured and unresponsive (but alive) in the streets of Myridia, sharing a heart meant for one. And finally, maybe an hour ago, we found our friend Silas alive (ish) in the thrall of Azher. He fought us against his will, and Flynn had to strike the killing blow. An hour ago Silas died in front of us, ripping open an all-too-familiar wound for Flynn, Berrik and Lotty. An hour ago Null watched her friend die for the first time, after weeks of keeping the secret of his fake demise. What the hell is going on? The emotional whiplash stuns us all for a moment.

We're all understandably a little sus of this development, but it only take a few words from Silas to quell our worries. This is our friend and he's back! A nagging feeling lingers though - Is this for good? Are we going to have to lose him again when all this is over? Silas can't really put their minds at ease on that front. 

Silas knows he has something important to do. He beckons Flynn over and gently places a warm palm on the goblin's forehead. Flynn is overcome as he sees a vision of how Silas came to rejoin them. In the jar, his patron Mordecai is smaller than he's ever seen him. The genie is trapped in the damaged urn and getting weaker by the moment in the oppressive atmosphere of their surroundings. Sitting next to Silas's lifeless body, the genie laments not being able to keep Flynn safe and resolves to do something drastic. The last thing Flynn sees is his beloved patron, his friend, lay an elemental hand on Silas and suddenly self-immolate. With this final act, Mordecai uses every ounce of power and life he has left to resurrect Silas and send him to Flynn. To keep Flynn safe.

Silas lets his hand fall to his side. Flynn lets his mask slip long enough to show his shock and sorrow. Never one to show vulnerability, the warlock gently touches the urn and steels his gaze. His friend is back and his friend is gone and there is no justice in an exchange like this. The party moves on, up the stairs and into the next chamber.

We enter a long room bathed in green light, a pathway framed in ornate black and gold arches. An enormous spherical device, much larger than the one they encountered in Ezra's tower, can be seen at the far end of the chamber. Two arcane barriers shimmer around it. This is what they're here for: the Soul Turbine. Berrik's hand twitches towards the bomb. They know the other teams still need to bring down the shields. Lucky for us, a whole bunch of death knights appear and seem willing to occupy our time. We roll initiative.

Flynn gets all the aggro and barely manages to remain in the realm of the living. Null fails to grab soul trinkets like 4 times before she successfully beats the pull of the turbine. Lotty and Berrik eventually turn the tide enough that outcomes are looking better for Flynn's immediate survival. I'm like 95% sure we're still in combat with a couple of death knights though?

(Welcome back, Nacho! 😊)

Act IV, Chapter Seventeen "out with the old, in with the new" (09/11/2024)

 As the Ashen Company approach the bugs Null senses that maybe they're not supposed to be there, as she glances at them they sheepishly run back through the portal.

Sensing that maybe the bug creatures were supposed to be guarding the other side of the portal the Ashen Company realise there's an ambush on the other side of the portal. They prepare themselves for the ambush by walking in to it.

Through the portal they see a long bridge ahead of them with purple gems lining the edges and a similar purple glow in the form of runes along the pillars lining the walls. Berrick drops a fireball on them and a fight ensures.

They probably could have finished the fight quicker if they didn't do as much damage to each other as they did to the bugs. Flynn's eldritch blasts went haywire, stretching out to a wide beam in random directions. Berrick found himself possessed and attacking his friends (again), Lotty lost vision a couple of times but thankfully Null was able to dodge and stab around the battlefield - although she struggled to take the souls of any of her fallen foes; the soul turbine must be close.

Better late than neve Flynn works out that touching the gems allows magic to be cast normally, Berrick is unpossessed and the fight is won.

As they take a moment to recuperate after the fight; Flynn confides in Lotty that he hasn't been able to speak with Mordecai since a few portals back and that a crack has appeared in the urn. Lotty takes some time to have a look at the damage, mending has no effect and she discerns that it's the effect of the current environment. The longer they stay in this place the worse the damage may get until the urn is destroyed. Lotty does her best to sugar-coat the news and assures Flynn it will be ok once they're out of there. Lotty confides in return that she saw strings coming from Null when they were resting in the skull tower, she's sure it's not anything with Null to worry about but a sign of how evil this place is.

Once they have their shit together, the Ashen Company prepare to move on - expecting to find Azher very soon. Before they can continue Ezra appears, rushing he says they have discovered that the litches have the power to remove enchantments from items but they have managed to find a few unique items that can't be unempowered.

Each grabbing an item from the bag Lotty tells Ezra they encountered his mother, she's still fighting Azher, she loves him and she's proud of him just as Ezra is sucked back through the portal.

• Flynn takes a ring that grand him advantage on some saving throws with a chance to deflect the attack. 
• Berrick has a staff that boosts his AC, attacks and saving throws as well as containing a number handy-dandy spells
• Lotty finds a stone that swirls around her raising her proficiency
• Null gets a kick-ass murder sword.

Time to re-check their equipment and start swapping things out.

Act IV, Chapter Sixteen "slow death" (26-10-24)

As the Ashen Company descend the stair case to the next head in the wall they see the face of a beautiful young woman; adorned in exotic jewellery her voice echoes as she speaks her request for a demonstration of illusion magic. Berrick casts seeming on the group and they all appear to look like Flynn - albeit Null & Berrick slightly larger versions.

Satisfied with the demonstration; her demand to break to seal is to craft an illusion she can not see or provide an item infused with illusion. Null graciously pushes the (6" diameter) nightfall pearl in to her mouth and somehow she still breaks the seal.

Next is the inevitable head of death, a cold and dark skull emanating the smell of rotten flesh. The skull introduces themself as Sarnec, the holder of all you need to pass on. The demand is for a soul or to watch someone die.

A weird and sadistic request that, sadly, doesn't surprise the Ashen Company at this stage. Straight down to business Flynn takes off his jacket and whispers to Null to do the deed. Before Null has a chance to slit her friend's throat the skull calls out that it has to be someone else, Null is tainted. Berrick doesn't put it quite like that but stops the kill. The Ashen company awkwardly look at each other working out the practical logistics of who is most difficult to kill, who can do the most damage quickly and who's desire to sacrifice themselves for the group is the the strongest.

Berrick, ever the practical guy, casts disintegrate on himself - knowing it won't do enough damage to kill him but it makes the decision for the group. If she wasn't already messed up enough something in Lotty snaps, with the reasoning of not wanting to waste Berrick's sacrifice she holds the thought of the loss of the majority of people she's ever known and bears her loathing of death straight in to the eyes of the skull as she grasps Berrick's throat and finishes the task. 

Revivify potions administered and the final seal on the door broken the Ashen Company need a moment to deal. As Flynn takes a catnap and Berrick takes a long night potion Lotty & Null act as cushions (and hairdressers) for them. As the ladies de-brief Null tries to comfort Lotty's guilt but ends up telling her what a slow painful death she must have given Berrick. Null confesses that she sees everyone shivering and uncomfortable here but for her she's toasty, comfortable and never felt like she's more at home. Null's worried Azher is having some kind of influence on her when she's so close to his domain. Lotty does her best to reassure Null she's her own person and incredibly strong with it. 

Rested and slightly more scarred for, what's left of, their lives they go through the next portal and find themselves in an M. C. Esher-esque cube. On each of the six sides of the cube have tiles of constellations and a window to the outside with another, different, constellation in the sky.

After a lot of confusion and puzzling they eventually work out that the tiles need to be willed in to place to match the constellation outside the window. If an attempt is made and failed to move the tiles it takes it's toll and moving from one wall to another takes a lot of strength and hursts if you fail. Even when they are successfully moved they will hurt and blind all your friends.

Eventually the group work it out, they're exhausted and hurt but when they leave the cube they find themselves standing next to a tiny cube on the floor. Taking in the landscape they find themselves on a floating platform of stone hands looking as though they were both holding up and a part of the landscape.

At the head of the platform is a giant head with wings of hands, the mouth seems to be the opening to get out of here. As they approach the Ashen Company see four bug-like creatures coming from the mouth looking for a fight.

[Honestly - a bit hazy towards the end, that might not be a great description!]

Soul Turbine Tower levels:

• Entry - Aspect of Azrael
• Necro fruit- Rune scarred cultists
• Clockwork - Lich & death knights
• Graveyard - Rune scarred banshees (Hi Eleanor!)
• Lava - Rune scarred balor
• Ice tundra - frigid cold
• Swamp - Rune scarred basilisks
• Snow farm - Rune scarred zombie giants
• Classroom - Alistair's riddles (+book on Soul Transference)
• Underwater - Kraken
• Wall - Spikes of agony
• Ashen Company Villa - duplicates
• Sands - Silas
• Azher's tower entrance (Astral Plane?)
• Inverted Tower ft. Magister Peanut Gallery
• Puzzle cube 
• Handsy platform - bug creatures?

Act IV, Chapter 15: "All in all, you're just another Berrik in the wall." (2024/10/19)

 The Ashen Company now find themselves inside of a tower, but inverted so that they must descend 1000 ft to reach its apex. The only way down is by navigating a jagged, spiraling path of bones that protrude from the walls. OH and thousands of creepy disembodied heads adorn the walls on all sides, all the way down. They're not sleeping either - these faces are animated and all of them have their eyes on us. Standing at the precipice, we can see a large green pool 1000 ft down. A stone door is visible in the centre of it. That must be where we need to go. The atmosphere in here sends another oppressive chill through the bodies of everyone except Null, who continues to find it pretty balmy for some reason. Lotty suffers a point of exhaustion, but soon rectifies it by reaching into her growing stash of Greater Restoration scrolls. Null has the sudden confidence that fate is on her side and that they should simply jump to the bottom. She convinces her friends to follow her and they all execute superhero landings on top of the door, taking no damage. So weird - she will never be able do that again.

Now that they're close enough to study the door, they can discern 8 different seals carved into it. These seals are in a vaguely draconic language none of them know, but Flynn is able to read them thanks to Eyes of the Runekeeper: Protection, Summoning, Foresight, Influence, Power, Shadows, Death, Change. As Flynn reads aloud, we start to think about what we might be supposed to do. The words seem to align with schools of magic. Flynn casts Ray of Sickness at the death seal, but it does nothing. The heads cackle around us, but Flynn is able to spot a few heads that remain silently staring in our direction. The closest one is around 50 ft away, up the spiraling bone path. I suppose there is a chance we missed some important context by clipping to the end of the level.

Berrik climbs up to the nearest head: it's a female wizard of elven ancestry with eyes that shift in appearance. The seal for "Change" is visible in a pendant on her neck. She speaks, but Berrik can't understand her. He rips a page out of Ezra's spellbook and casts Tongues on himself. The head and Berrik establish that they can understand each other, and the head mentions that people usually start at the top. Berrik asks for the head's help in navigating the level, but the head demands that Berrik demonstrate his ability before they move forward. Berrik uses a scroll of Polymorph to temporarily change into a giant owl. The head sighs condescendingly accepts this, but still makes it clear that she is unimpressed.

"She" introduces herself  as Aira and tells Berrik how this is gonna work. She and 7 other magisters from the Aeonian Dominion (and definitely not the Tevinter Imperium) are scattered throughout the tower. Each one bears a seal that is linked to one of the seals on the door. To get the door open each seal will have to be suppressed by one of the body-less magisters. Every magister will first require a demonstration of power from the relevant school of magic. Next, they will issue a specific, costly challenge. If the Ashen Company cannot meet the challenge, they can alternatively break the seal on the magister's pendant. If they meet the specific challenge or free the associated magister, the seal on the door will be nullified and they will be one step closer to leaving. Aira then issues her challenge: She wants a whole bunch of very rare magical ore from another dimension (or something like that - I didn't catch this one). Berrik can't really afford that and so opts to free the definitely not evil magister. As he speaks the necessary words he feels a force take over his body and then nothing at all - Our boy has failed a CHA save. As Berrik opens his eyes, he can see his own body standing before him. Our poor wizard has been possessed by Aira, and now finds his consciousness trapped in the wall like she was. He watches his own body bid him adieu and turn to turn to leave. Below, Flynn notices that Berrik's face is now the one in the wall and sounds the alarm. The Ashen Company converges, realizes what's happened, and attempts to keep the wandering magister from leaving with Berrik's body. We roll initiative!

Flynn starts blasting. Null starts stabbing and yapping, trying to get the magister to leave her friend's body. Aira starts to feel a little threatened and casts Time Stop to put some distance between them. Wall!Berrik winces at the use of his 9th level slot. After Time Stop resolves, the Ashen Company can see that they need to change up their strategy. Flynn knows exactly what to do: light that bitch up. He uses Eldritch Blast to pull the wayward magister piloting Berrik's body over the edge of the jutting bone spiral, where it tumbles a few dozen feet and into the green goo below. Null rushes back down to ground level, where she decides not to rush into the goo after Berrik's body. Instead, she dances threateningly while shouting at the green pool "I'm not afraid to kill this body! Get back into the wall or find oblivion in the Soul Turbine". The magister wordlessly obliges and Berrik is suddenly fighting for air in the pool. Whatever is up with the pool causes him to have to make saving throws for each of his magical effects. He only loses Waterbreathing, which ain't bad. The gang recovers and debriefs. They figure if there are 7 more of these to do, they might be better off starting at the top. 

After heading back to the top through a variety of means (Lotty Spiderclimbs, Null parkours, etc.), we start the worst receiving line in history, greeting the undead wall decor and doing our best to not get possessed again. I say we, but it's really Berrik - there's still a language barrier and we need Tongues in order to communicate, so he's doing all the heavy lifting.

First: Heavily armoured elf guy

PROTECTION (Abjuration)

Vibe: Bored Receptionist.

Demonstration and Challenge: Berrik casts Globe of Invulnerability. Berrik supplies a scroll of Globe of Invulnerability.

Misc: Not the Ashen Rider.

Second: Eccentric-looking guy, Morwin Embercloak

SUMMONING (Conjuration)

Vibe: Helpful concierge for a 3.5 star hotel.

Demonstration and Challenge: Flynn casts Dimension Door. Lotty offers up the Mirrored Ball of Brag'inir. 

Misc: Morwin gives us "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and lets us know about a lever halfway down that will make it easier to get around.

Third: Older Elvish woman.

FORESIGHT (Divination)

Vibe: Ominous microaggressions.

Demonstration and Challenge: Flynn casts Arcane Eye. Berrik summons Kel to tell him rare and powerful lore, which he then relays to the magister "Rumor has it in the depths of deep space is an all powerful entity that looks like a massive floating Golden Eye. They are called the One Who Watches. The One Who Watches seems to have a deep relationship with the Eternal. The nature of their relationship is unknown."

Misc: No time to unpack this new lore! Also, is Berrik's dream a vision of how this all ends? Spooky granny seemed to imply this.

~At this point we pass the lever, which when pulled turns the bony OSHA violation into a spiral stone staircase with gilded railings.~

Fourth: Hot, middle-aged Elvish woman wearing lots of jewelry.

INFLUENCE (Enchantment)

Vibe: Newly divorced and DTF.

Demonstration and Challenge: Flynn casts Charm Monster. Flynn gives up the Hypnotic Monocle.

Misc: Flynn does seduction and he's really good at it. He and this dame have electric chemistry, despite the fact that they can only communicate via a mortified Berrik. She tries to convince him to let her occupy one of his friends' bodies so they can bone, but that's too weird and bad. He tries to let her down easy and we depart.

Fifth: Beefy, bald elf with face tatts that has crackling magical energy around him.

POWER (Evocation)

Vibe: PCP Tyler Durden 

Demonstration and Challenge: Lotty casts Resilient Sphere. The gang collabs to deal 50 points of elemental damage per type (Null Cold damage with dagger, Flynn Fire and Lightning with cantrips, Lotty Thunder with elemental weapon on handaxe, Berrik Acid with Dragon Breath, Berrik Poison with Cloudkill).

Misc: Just no.

Okay, two more to go! We'll tackle Death and Shadows next week.

_________________________________________________________

Soul Turbine Tower levels:

Entry - Aspect of Azrael

Necro fruit- Rune scarred cultists

Clockwork - Lich & death knights

Graveyard - Rune scarred banshees (Hi Eleanor!)

Lava - Rune scarred balor

Ice tundra - frigid cold

Swamp - Rune scarred basilisks

Snow farm - Rune scarred zombie giants

Classroom - Alistair's riddles (+book on Soul Transference)

Underwater - Kraken

Wall - Spikes of agony

Ashen Company Villa - duplicates

Sands - Silas

Azher's tower entrance (Astral Plane?)

Inverted Tower ft. Magister Peanut Gallery

Act IV, Chapter Fourteen "Farewell old friend" (12-10-24)

As the Ashen Company continue to battle their old friend they feel broken, both at the heavy hits Silas is throwing at them and as their hearts ache the closer they  come to finishing the fight.

Even with Null and Lotty being knocked unconscious during the fight our heroes come out victorious - despite it not feeling anything like a victory. With Silas on his last legs Flynn know the hardest part of this fight is down to him as he fill Silas with Eldrich blasts he falls. Surrounded by Null, Berrick & Lotty Silas uses his last breath to let them know Nicolai is still alive and charges the Ashen company to save his adopted son.

Whilst Berrick, Lotty and Flynn have long mourned Silas and only just learnt of their own memory changing plan it's all too raw for Null who has known all along Silas is alive and is having to come to terms with his death for the first time. She lashes out at Flynn with a chill touch, which Flynn gladly takes - he's already hurting and doesn't feel it's wholly undeserved. He takes out a cigar and keeps his distance for a moment, not really feeling part of the team and his decision weighing heavy on him.

After trying to clean the blood from Silas Lotty feels it's a moment for his oldest two friends to take care of and goes to comfort Flynn. She bums a cigar and sits down waiting for Flynn to join her. They don't need to share many words and both understand the other is lying when they say they're ok but as Lotty takes Flynn's hand they know they have each other and their friends so there's still a chance everything will be ok.

Null & Berrick take care to remove Flynn's armour, as his body seems to fully return to Silas' form they clean and prepare him for a dignified farewell. There is a glowing green light in his chest; on closer inspection it looks like a miniature version of a soul turbine where Silas' heart should be. Berrick as able to cut it from his chest and throws it to the ground to open the next portal.

Flynn asks Mordecai to take Silas' body in to the urn until they can find a suitable resting place for their friend and Lotty straps his armour to her back - despite seeming to be very powerful none of them feel comfortable wearing it - they heal up and step through to the whatever awaits them in the next portal.

The Ashen Company step out on to a large cratered surface, seemingly floating in space. They make their way to a large temple with a 30ft wall of green energy where a doorway should be. Everyone feels a cold chill down their spine, except Null - somehow this feels disturbingly comfortable. 

As they get close to the rune covered stairs leading to the temple Alistair appears in full Litch form.

An Eldrich Blast from Flynn confirms it is just an illusion, albeit one that is powerful enough to silence everyone in the nearby area. The litch with a mouth takes the opportunity to indulge in his favourite pastime of trash talking his foes. Like every villain worth their salt he monologues his plans to have the Company get through the halls in front of them for their final confrontation at the soul turbine.

Taking care to avoid stepping on any runes and a quick update on the group text chat the Ashen company prepare for what feels like the last level of this tower.

Null gathers her friends together for a group hug as they share a tender moment on the edge of the end of the world. Hand in hand they think of all the people that have been lost already in this fight as they step through the portal with renewed vigour not to lose anyone else.

• Entry - Aspect of Azrael
• Necro fruit- Rune scarred cultists
• Clockwork - Lich & death knights
• Graveyard - Rune scarred banshees (Hi Eleanor!)
• Lava - Rune scarred balor
• Ice tundra - frigid cold
• Swamp - Rune scarred basilisks
• Snow farm - Rune scarred zombie giants
• Classroom - Alistair's riddles (+book on Soul Transference)
• Underwater - Kraken
• Wall - Spikes of agony
• Ashen Company Villa - duplicates
• Sands - Silas
• Azher's tower

Act IV, Chapter 13: "Silas of the Slams (aka big ouchies to our hearts and violence to our bodies)" (2024/10/05)

All right so we continue our wee scrap with our doubles: Worse Null and Fake Lotty are left. My notes on Saturday weren't the best, so we're truckin' along from mostly memory.

Actual Null stabilizes an unconscious Berrik in the pantry, before Ghost Walking outta there to find the fight. Worse Null has fled, you see. Actual Null heads towards the closest ruckus, which ends up being the two Lottys. Elsewhere, Worse Null rolls up to harass Flynn and Orun. It doesn't bode well for our warlock. Eventually the girls waste fake Lotty's fake ass and skedaddle to find Flynn. When they find him it doesn't look great, but he's alive. The three wait a round for Worse Null to show up, but she doesn't. Null worries about Berrik's safety with Worse Null running amok and so runs back to the pantry. She ghostily launches herself through the wall just in time to stab Worse Null through the guts and save Berrik from certain doom. Initiative ends. We drag Berrik's unconscious body back to Flynn and Orun, as the polar bear can't easily move between rooms. The fog is dispelled for 20 minutes, giving us enough time to bring up Berrik, heal, and have a rest before moving on. Flynn and Berrik peruse the book on Soul Transference that Null had grabbed from the detention riddle level. It turns out there's nothing in there that would help them find a solution for Ezra's predicament, but Berrik knows how to become a lich now, I guess?

The next level we portal into is an arid desert, reminiscent of Silas's tales of his time in the Sands of Illyria. We are in a nomadic camp of some kind and we can see several tents scattered amongst the rocky hillside. There's evidently no one around except some monkeys and pack animals, so we split up and start exploring to figure out what Jigsaw shit Azher has in store for us today. Flynn immediately realizes Orun can't climb up to the more elevated parts of the camp, and so opts to hang out with his new bff. Eventually Null spots a robed figure rummaging inside a tent and gets their attention with a brusque "HEY". They signal for her to wait until they're done with their rummaging. Null is annoyed, but that soon turns to seething anger when the figure turns around to face her. It's Erithax's favourite princess, the source of our personal and global woes, the arcane rune ruiner, the oligarch of orphanmaking, the one senior citizen we would giddily push down a flight of (Ali)stairs - the Marionettist. Yeah, him. Fuck this guy. Null beckons her friends over. Berrik and Lotty arive in time to hear that we're supposed to find something in the camp - something important that we left behind. Ugh, more games. We're mad as hell but know we have to play along. Null makes a mental note to add "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" to her next playlist about her feelings. Flynn conjures a ramp for Orun using Wall of Stone.

It doesn't take long for us to discover what Assy was talking about. We find our friend Silas kneeling in the topmost tent. Well, a version of our friend anyway, It looks like Silas, but half his face is ruined and dark and a corrupting green glow emits from one eye. He is in a trance and doesn't respond when we speak to him. The Ashen Company is distraught as hell. We thought we had successfully sidestepped the Silas/ Niko heart dilemma - Did we swerve a moral quandary only to be slapped in the face with the consequences of trying to get by with everyone intact? Null's insight tells her that Assy believes he's tormenting them with the real Silas. Is their friend damned forever because they tried to write in a third option? We wonder what's become of Niko, but dare not speak it out loud. Null kicks Silas's weapon towards Flynn and moves to gently inspect him. She touches a hand to his chest and feels a warm vibration on his left side. Heart stuff is afoot. She starts to remove his armour but that triggers initiative.

This version of Silas hits really fucking hard, has AOE's, and multiple abilities that incapacitate for entire rounds. And he mechanically qualifies as undead?! Yikes! We fight for a couple of rounds and it's not super fun. Everyone except Assy is palpably sad and angry, even Silas.

That doesn't stop him from hitting Null with some kind of effect that leaves her stunned. Was it a Negroni Sbagliato recipe? 

Okay bye, see you next week!

Act IV, Chapter 12: "Laura's got a secret car past and I have to work it into the notes somehow" (21/09/2024)

Hey, so we return to our heroes in the midst of a kraken battle. The monstrous creature is bloodied, but things aren't looking great for our long term survival at the moment. This becomes clearer when Berrik, on the verge on losing consciousness inside the Kraken's caustic maw, tries to heal with his Supreme Potion of Healing. Turns out physical contact with the Kraken nullifies any healing magic, an ability called Culling Touch. Berrik has just enough time to let out an exasperated sigh before succumbing to his surroundings and passing out. Before too long, the consistent acid damage kills him and it's a race against time to get him out before he gets rendered into hobgoblin goo. Lotty channels the energy of her scrappy ancestor, Domhnall "Dom" Tŵr Eddo McFini. He was famous on the Mountain as an avid mechanical cart enthusiast and racer, but more than that he was known for his loyalty to his kin. She leaps into the kraken's mouth and hits it hard enough that it regurgitates everyone inside it. Because Lotty doesn't have friends, she has family. And she's lost enough family for a lifetime.

With everyone safely out of the kraken's mouth, Flynn lays into it with a barrage of Eldritch Blasts and end it. As Lotty revives Berrik and everyone heals up, Flynn offers Mordecai some calamari. It's gross. A portal made of blood appears and we all know that we can't stray from the path. This tower is designed like a Zanidonian minimalist furniture store - the only way out is through.

The next level of this horror show is a barren, colourless wasteland bordered by the black void of ethereal space. Looming above the Ashen Company is a grey wall, hundreds of feet tall and covered in angry-looking spikes. The only colour we can discern here is the crimson gore adorning the wall. A black portal can be seen shimmering at the top. Berrik wonders if there might be restrictions on the most obvious solution available to them, much like how they were unable to fly in the balor/lava level. It turns out the same is true here. He tests out teleportation, using Misty Step to move 5ft. The wizard takes 5 points of damage. Looks like teleportation will have to be a last resort, as there's no way any of them could survive the hundreds of points of damage needed to get to the top.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spots Flynn trying to calculate the height of the wall with his hands. Flynn has an idea, but it will require many spell slots and SO MUCH MATH. Berrik loves math, so the boys put their heads together to try to come up with a plan. Lotty and Null nod and look inquisitive but honestly have no idea what's going on. Once the plan is in place, Flynn speed runs a short rest before he and Berrik begin. The warlock and the wizard alternate castings of Wall of Stone and Wall of Force to create a series of ascending 45 degree angle ramps parallel to the pointy wall. Null and Lotty follow them up, still confused but trusting the duo. Eventually, they end up perched on Berrik's Wall of Force 100ft below the top. To save having to use Berrik's 9th level slot in the last leg, Flynn offers to use Limited Wish to cast Arcane Gate instead. Everyone will survive taking 100 points of damage and a wizard's 9th level slot is precious. Flynn reminds Berrik that they will have to pass through the Arcane Gate last and together, since 100 points of damage will cause them to lose concentration on their respective spells. In preparation, Flynn hops on Berrik's back. Null takes this as a sign she and Lotty ought to do the same. The medium-sized changeling asks Lotty for a shoulder ride. Lotty obliges, as she is the strongest of all of us, despite her stature. Null's toes drag slightly on the ground but the two make it through the gate no problem. Berrik and Flynn follow.

The trip to the top hurts like a bitch, but we all have enough potions to take the edge off. As we have a breather, Null tries to wiggle one of the spikes out of the wall. (Spikes of Agony, which reduce the target's max HP by an amount equal to the damage they deal). Now this chick isn't good at STR checks and she knows it, but she's gonna give it a whirl anyway. Is it hubris? Fake it til you make it confidence? Stupidity? Probably all of the above. Lotty grimaces as she watches Null's dainty hands slip on the attempt, cutting her palm. The rogue loses 3 HP off her maximum, but it's not the end of the world as her current max is artificially inflated already due to Heroes Feast. She considers a second attempt, but decides against it to save herself the embarrassment. When the group decides to go through the portal, Lotty hangs back and easily yanks out one of the spikes before following.

The next level is an eerie version of their own home, the Ashen Manor. It's drenched in sickly green Culling Fog. As they stand on the front steps and ponder their approach, Lotty hands Null the Spike of Agony. Null is jazzed and thanks Lotty for the thoughtful gift, while also trying to mask how unwieldy this thing is in her weak little hands. She puts in her pack for later - Maybe it will be useful!

Flynn, ever the go-getter, is the first to open the front door. As he steps through, he disappears. Lotty sends Boobrie through to see where the door takes them. Through the familiar's eyes she can make out the manor's library, so hopefully Flynn hasn't gone too far. Lotty, Null and Berrik decides to walk through the door together, hand-in-hand to try to avoid getting separated. It doesn't work - surprising no one. In the end, the gang are dispersed as follows:

Flynn: Great Hall? (idk)

Berrik: Pantry

Lotty: Library 

Null: Privy (of course!)

We are greeted by rune-scarred versions of ourselves and begin to duke it out. It turns out fighting someone evenly matched in skill and ability is a grind! Both Lottys are beefcakes with HP for days. Flynn gets a bit of an advantage by summoning his Beast Protector Orun (thanks, Latharial). Berrik is out-Berriked when his evil replica uses their 9th level slot to cast Heal on him, which really fucking hurts in the Culling Fog. Null and Worse Null cancel out any possibility of proccing Sneak Attack on each other with their Ghost Walks. Eventually the latter gets bored with the monotony and leaves to try to kill someone else. Elsewhere, Even Greener Flynn is obliterated. Worse Null finds Berrik (prone and unconscious and ready to be critted on) and Evil Berrik. Actual Null follows and manages to kill Evil Berrik on her turn. Worse Null doesn't want to get into a slapfight again and dips, eventually running into Flynn. Flynn, who knows these fakes are controlled by the Marionettist, is still eager for the catharsis that will come from besting a version of Null. He readies up. Null, still in the pantry, sees Berrik barely hanging on and hopes she can stabilize him.

Fingies crossed!

 Tower Progress

• Entry - Aspect of Azrael
• Necro fruit- Rune scarred cultists
• Clockwork - Lich & death knights
• Graveyard - Rune scarred banshees (Hi Eleanor!)
• Lava - Rune scarred balor
• Ice tundra - frigid cold
• Swamp - Rune scarred basilisks
• Snow farm - Rune scarred zombie giants
• Classroom - Alistair's riddles (+book on Soul Transference)
• Underwater - Kraken
• Wall - Spikes of agony
• Ashen Company Villa - duplicates

Act IV, Chapter Eleven "Release the Kraken (again)" (14/09/2024)

The Ashen Company gather themselves to leave the snowy farm Lotty gets momentarily paranoid, still thinking about the short swim through the swamp she casts water breathing on the group before they go through the portal.

In stark contrast they find themselves in a large classroom, arcane experiments are spread out over benches, chalkboards at the head of the room covered in Aeonian writings. Between Flynn's ability to read languages and Berrick's book smarts they determine this is a place where new spells are crafted, a high level of magic studies. Flynn finds a book on soul transference; when he pulls it from the bookshelf to give to Berrick a young vision of Alistair Azher appears to admonish him "you couldn't possibly begin to comprehend it" Flynn retorts "you don't even know me, besides it's not even for me - jokes on you!" 

It turns out that this version of Alistair is giving the Ashen company a test of their wits giving them a series of riddles to solves before the next portal can appear, they need to solve at least four of his riddles.

Flynn is asked the first riddle:
"I bind the threads of life and death, And grant them form with every breath. Though none can see the weave I make, Through me, all paths converge and break."

He incorrectly answers "Death" and receives a huge hit of psychic damage and the word "Failure" appears carved in to his arm.

Berrick chooses to opt for a new riddle:

"I am sought by all who dream of more,I herald triumph, war, and lore. Yet those who seek me oft do weep, For my burden is too great to keep."

He correctly answers with "Power"

Null has been pondering on Flynn's riddle and correctly answers with "Fate"

Lotty's riddle:
"Born from silence, I give life to form, Through me, cities and storms are born. I am the architect, though I do not build, And in my stillness, great power is willed."
Despite her relative intelligence clever words aren't Lotty's strong point and she incorrectly answers "Earth" receiving more damage and "failure" carved in to her arm.

Berrick's takes another stab at a riddle:
"I am the might that bends all knees, Though I hold neither sword nor key. In every land, when I do show, All obey the winds I blow."

He correctly answered with "time"

Flynn takes another riddle:

"With one thought, I control the sea, With one word, the mind bends to me. I wield no weapon, raise no hand, Yet by my will, all things must stand."

He incorrectly answered "authority"

Null's takes another riddle:

""Born from silence, I give life to form, Through me, cities and storms are born. I am the architect, though I do not build, And in my stillness, great power is willed."

She correctly answered "ambition" to end the ordeal an a portal appears.

After a quick catnap they pass through the portal and find themselves underwater, surrounded by broken city ruins. Lotty quietly feels smug that her paranoia paid off as they breath easy and swim towards a central stone circle. Null finds a horn in the circle and Flynn is able to read the inscription on the side to discover the blowing on the horn will summon a kraken.

With thoughts of losing Cade to a kraken not that long ago this is not a challenge they relish but this is what they do. With control of when the fight starts they get prepared for the fight, buffed with freedom of movement, in position, Flynn summons the beast.

As they carves in to the tentacles of the kraken Flynn is swallowed by the sea monster and casts a wall of force inside the belly of beast to keep it in place, after Lotty & Berrick also take their turns of being swallowed and spat back out the Ashen Company are battered and bruised but have relative control of the battlefield with the kraken stuck in place.

Tower summary:

• Entry - Aspect of Azreal
• Necro fruit- Rune scarred cultists
• Clockwork - Litch & death knights
• Graveyard - Rune scarred banshees 
• Lava - Rune scarred balor
• Ice tundra - frigid cold
• Swamp - Rune scarred basilisks
• Snow farm - Rune scarred zombie giants
• Classroom - Alistair's riddles
• Underwater - Kraken (in progress)

Act IV, Chapter Ten "Hail Jim, King of the swamp" (07-09-2024)

As the Ashen Company tuck and roll through the icy water portal they find themselves in a more humid swampy environment. Ahead of them they see vague stone shapes in the distance.

Null hears a rustling in the bushes, as Lotty & Null whisper if it may be friend or foe they call over Flynn who uses Latherial's gifts to cast speak with animals and meets what turns out to be a giant toad who introduces themself as Jim. Jim says there's a shiny thing at the bottom of the swamp that people go through, that must be the Ashen Company's way out. Flynn asks Jim if he's alone and Jim sadly replies that they used to be more of him but they're all stone now. Lotty's mind flashes back to an encounter where Rhone saved her lift fighting a basilisk when right on cue four rune scarred basilisks appear from the long grass.

Jim, thankfully, retreats in to the reeds and bushes whilst the Ashen Company take on the basilisks, constantly fighting off the threat of petrification our heroes jump in to action. Flynn makes sure to take a defensive position near Jim's hiding place to draw any hits away from their new ally, dividing and dominating the battlefield the basilisk are defeated one by one, Berrick shrugs of petrification after a near miss which is just as well as Lotty is turned to stone twice in as many hours - allowing Berrick to, once again, save her. 

As the last basilisk is causing the Ashen company trouble they have battled it down to a near death when Jim senses his moment to avenge his friends; leaping from the bushes Jim lashes out at the basilisk ending it's life and threat to this (probably not real) swamp. As Jim stand victorious on top of the dead basilisk Flynn gives a bow to the new King of the swamp and the group swim down to the portal with the benefit of Berrick's Oasis.

Emerging in a snowy environment the Ashen Company see a frozen farm, animals neither alive or dead but frozen over and an eerie snow in the air that isn't really falling from anywhere. As they search around the farm Flynn spots two giant skeletal creatures just ahead; fully understanding the assignment Flynn launches a fireball at them.

The giants deal devastating, incapacitating blows and heavy damage; it takes the wind out of the Ashen Company to deal with the threat as Berrick finishes the fight with a critical firebolt they need to take a moment. Exploring the farm they find the door leading inside is a portal they're familiar with at this point

Taking a moment in a barn for a little shelter Berrick, Null & Flynn have a catnap, the group contemplate their position in the tower, the time of day and the inevitable realisation that in less than 24 hours this will all be over, one way or another the world will have ended or they will have saved the day. They decide to be practical and take advantage of one of their boons and a projection of Cpt Kraz appears with a Heroes feast for the adventures - no point in saving something that will last longer than the world.

As they contemplate the gravity of their situation Lotty tries to rouse the troupes, this is nothing worse that what we've faced before. Ezra's tower, countless bad guys - it's bigger and more difficult sure but isn't it always? Every time they've come out on top. Just as everyone is starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel Lotty goes and spoils it all by shaming them in to action - next portal it is then.

Tower summary:

• Entry - Aspect of Azreal
• Necro fruit- Rune scarred cultists
• Clockwork - Litch & death knights
• Graveyard - Rune scarred banshees (Alistair & Leanor)
• Lava - Rune scarred balor
• Ice tundra - cold
• Swamp - Rune scarred basilisks
• Snow farm - Rune scarred zombie giants

Act IV, Chapter Nine "a song of ice and fire (and graveyards)" (31-08-2024)

The Ashen Company follow one another up a staircase but find themselves separated across a graveyard. Null and Flynn on one side start exploring whilst Berrick and Lotty are a little more cautious on the other. 

As they start to take in their surroundings - oddly feeling like it's inside and outside at the same time - a spectral Alistair appears in the sky. It's the younger version of him that the Ashen Company saw in Ezra's tower. Alistair does his best to taunt the Ashen Company "I see you are making your way up the tower you have experience in such environments learned at the hands of my slave". There's a little back and forth but our heroes have just been taunted by bad guys one too many times to bite too hard and continue to look for a way out. 

Whilst The Marionettist continues to watch on, four spectral images of Ezra's mother, Eleanor, appear. The elven-human women are covered in green rune scars, now banshees under Alistair's command. They attack the Ashen Company and a tough fight ensures; after our heroes defeat the banshees the way out is still not obvious. They realise they are going to be facing a slog similar to Ezra's tower but no way out has appeared after defeating the threat.

Eleanor appears again, this time less threatening and speaking softly in elvish. With nobody able to understand the words Flynn hands a potion of tongues to Lotty; she hesitates wondering if she's the best person for a compassionate conversation right now but when Flynn goes to drink it instead she downs the potion and hears Eleanor ask "why do you linger?". Lotty explains they know who she is, they've seen her image from Ezra's locket; she tells Eleanor that Ezra has become a great man, respected across Ios and very powerful, she can be proud of her son; in fact, The Ashen Company are here on Ezra's guidance. Eleanor says she is bound to Alistair and under his control until his death, it won't be long until she returns again in banshee form. Happy to help the Ashen Company defeat the one who shackles her, she tells Lotty they must all find an empty coffin and lay completely inside it and pull the lid back over themselves to move on. She asks Lotty to tell Ezra she loves him and she's proud.

Lotty barks out to jump in a coffin and they all manage to find an empty coffin - or in Null's case make a coffin empty - and pull the lid before the fight started again.

They found themselves at various places on a cliffside, they can see what looks like a doorway across a chasm filled with lava. Those who can begin to fly but find themselves stuck on solid ground; Berrick tries to teleport but also find that futile. Somehow (bowtie? maybe?) Flynn finds more purchase and manages to teleport across the chasm, he tries to take Lotty with him but she remains in place.

About this time a giant, fiery, rune scarred Balor emerges from the lava. Our heroes are in perfect step with one another on the plan - run. Whilst the Balor lashes out serious damage, Flynn manages to create a wall of force to create an invisible bridge across the lava lake. Our heroes manage to run across the bridge as Flynn is almost dragged to his death in to the lava by the Balor's whip. Thankfully some quick thinking and a strange twist of fate sees the Ashen Company through the door whilst the Balor is preoccupied in a mighty battle with Lotty's summoned construct (RIP construct, it fought bravely to be completely ineffectual).

In stark contract to the fiery lava environment the Ashen Company are now stood on ice, not just ice though - this is like the dread tundra, and it hurts! They all fly in to the air as Berrick casts Oasis to give them a moment to hatch a plan. They see another door under the ice and Flynn ponders using True Polymorph to turn in to something big enough to scoop up the group in his mouth and take them through. Lotty prattles on with some facts Cade told her about walruses and blubber before settling on an adult white dragon being the best option. After taking the new form Flynn realises an adult dragon's mouth isn't as big as they thought it was. He casts Lady L's double enlarge special, scoops up the group and dives through the ice unceremoniously spitting them through the door before gathering speed and going full force towards the door to change back at the last second still taking some damage from the icy water but getting everyone safely through the door.

Act IV, Chapter 8: "Secret Rat Level" (2024/08/24)

 The party uses their sidekicks to silently hash out a plan. No one wants to fight the 60 ft manifestation of Azrael's will today, so we opt to try to sneak around. Knowing from the Conclave chat that those green streetlamps are bad news for our chances of remaining stealthy, we loop around the north side of the nearest streetlamp to reach the west side of the tower. Once we're hugging the side of the turbine tower, we slowly shuffle along the wall towards the entrance behind the Aspect. We are all nearly in position when the worst possible thing happens, we're spotted! Something about Flynn, perhaps his snazzy new bowtie, has caught the attention of the Aspect. We roll initiative as the Aspect lays into Flynn.

Berrik rushes forward and posts up near the entrance so that his friends can pass through - as the choker-bearer, he's gotta be the bridge. The Aspect sees what's going on and tries to grapple our well-accessorized wizard. Lotty refuses to allow this and somehow goads the Aspect into grappling her instead. Null grabs Flynn and rushes through the now-accessible doorway, hoping that Berrik will be able to rescue Lotty. Meanwhile, Lotty has been carried off a ways from the tower. The Aspect starts walloping her, hoping to coax the party back outside. Lotty is somehow charmed by the Aspect during this exchange. Inside, Flynn searches for a way back outside. Outside, Berrik casts Time Stop with the aim of rescuing his friend, gaining three turns. He Dimension Doors to the wrist of the gargantuan Aspect, grabs Lotty, and Dimension Doors back to the tower entrance. He uses his movement to drag her through the entrance, which now closes behind them. With his last turn, he gives Lotty a potion (which she doesn't actually need, because she has Temp HP for days). As the party catches their breath, Null hears a roar and pounding footfalls fast approaching. She shouts something along the lines of "Oh lawd, he comin!'" and drags a very confused Lotty across the room, away from the wall where they were standing. Berrik and Flynn are hit with rubble as the wall caves in. The Aspect doesn't have a penchant for late-90's fashion and so will opt to create his own tower access with sheer force instead. Flynn starts blasting, Lotty continues to be confused - this Aspect guy can't be all that bad, can he? The Aspect keeps reaching in and eventually manages to grapple Berrik, pulling him outside. Berrik gets the shit kicked out of him before the the Aspect drops him to the ground. As he hits the cobblestone, our pal Berrik appears to fall unconscious.

Null is frozen and starts to panic. She wants to go rescue her friend but knows she doesn't have enough movement to get back to the safety of the tower. Going outside would leave them both exposed, but staying inside might ensure certain death for Berrik. She starts to dissociate, imagining a combat situation where things are free and easy. Rats in a basement. We win! Everyone lives! Roll credits.

Null is too preoccupied with her anxieties to remember that Berrik's name is in Flynn's book - he gained one HP when he hit the ground instead of falling unconscious. Berrik uses his next turn to Dimension Door back into the tower. Null snaps out of it and lobs a pathetic Chill Touch at the Aspect, missing entirely. The Aspect is super pissed to have lost his quarry, so he decides to widen the hole in the side of the tower, Kool-Aid man style. Poor Berrik is hit by flying rubble, and actually goes unconscious this time. The gang realizes they need to get out of reach of the Aspect ASAP. Null drags Berrik's body upstairs and feeds him a potion to bring him back up. Lotty and Flynn soon follow. Before long, the charm effect wears off and Lotty realizes the Aspect of Azrael wasn't actually that chill after all.

Upstairs, the Ashen Company finds themselves in kitchen of sorts. Fresh produce spills out of every container in sight. We explore a bit more and find a central chamber equipped with several growing chambers. The baddies have been cultivating their own produce, but this stuff feels off. Necrotic energy radiates from the growing contraptions, tainting the produce. On this floor, we are also able to ambush and put down two wandering cultists without making too much of a ruckus. Not much else to see here, up we go to the next level.

This next floor is curious and maze-like. The grated flooring illuminates the inner clockwork mechanisms of the tower, catching Lotty's interest. Shelves and shelves of books on the arcane line the walls, but it's really just the basics. The rare and forbidden texts on stuff like soul magic and phylacteries are more closely guarded. The gang splits up and goes exploring. Null spots the Aspect having a temper tantrum outside, through a window that shouldn't exist. Flynn and Null eventually meet in front of a closet. They yank it open to reveal a lich in the middle of a study sesh. The lich casts Cloudkill. The spell doesn't wreak too much havoc, because Null breaks the lich's concentration on her next attack. She shuts the door in its face, and the lich takes the opportunity to Dimension Door elsewhere. Berrik and Lotty meet back up with their friends at the lich study closet. Berrik peruses the scrolls left behind and pockets scrolls of Chain Lightning, Power Word Kill and Circle of Power. The gang starts to wander again, looking for that lich.

We find him! Plus a bunch of Death Knights. Battle ensues. Null kills the lich pretty quickly, but the Death Knights are annoyingly resilient. They've got hellfire orbs, smites and a penchant for banishing people, especially Lotty. But we battle on, whittling them down. Lotty has smites of her own and Berrik whips out the big guns of Curse of Doom and Draconic Transformation. However, fate has other plans for Flynn's approach. It isn't his Eldritch Blasting or Walls of Stone that finally win the day, it's his smart new bowtie! The remaining Death Knights know they don't stand a chance in the face of such a bold approach to fashion. A man walks down the street wearing a bowtie like that, you know he's not afraid of anything. There is weeping and gnashing of teeth, rending of garments, and then the Death Knights are no more. Combat is over and it appears we have cleared this floor.

Act IV, Chapter 7: "I can take the trouble, 'cause I'm 60 feet tall." (2024/08/17)

We interrupt the party's devastating moral dilemma with a collaborative, OOC group project. We all have flashbacks to our time in the trenches of post-secondary education. After a couple of hours and some meandering discussions, we finally hammer out the ways in which our allies would best render aid in Act IV. Somewhere out there, Michelle happily sips a mimosa and experiences no audio issues.

___________________________________

Alright, back to the story! The Ashen Company remains in the abandoned fort where they defeated Dr. Madam Trolley. Several tanks, along with their doomed occupants, are scattered throughout the premises. The tank containing Niko and Silas is perched on the stone dais that previously hid the entrance to Trolley's demiplane. A mechanical heart floats between them, keeping both alive.

We consider our options. Bringing both back would require a successful Wish spell from Berrik, crippling him and putting the whole success of the mission at risk. Bringing one back would require some difficult checks to give the heart to one. It would also condemn the other to death and their soul to the turbine, denying them any kind of resurrection. We all know Silas would want Niko to live, even if it came at the cost of his own life. However even if we did manage to fulfil Silas's wishes and bring back Niko, what would we do with the surly, traumatized, maimed tween in this horrible place? We wouldn't be able to keep him safe or evacuate him. There is a very good chance the kid would be brought back only to die permanently.

We hem and haw. Eventually we remember the spell that Berrik cast on Remmi to keep the Soul Rot at bay. Sequester could be twinned with some white exaltium, rendering our boys invisible and unable to be targeted by divination. The spell would also keep their condition from catching up with them for the time being, and keep them out of harms way until the soul turbine is destroyed. Once that's out of the picture and Erithax is defeated, we are free to bring them both back with medicine, magic or resurrection. All we need is 5000 gold worth of gem dust!

As we are going through our pockets for the material components, Null hears a commotion in the courtyard. She spots an older, unkempt human-looking man rummaging around. Trinkets and junk are slung across his body, jingling slightly as he inspects an empty tank. She rushes over to get his attention, not wanting his salvaging to attract the attention of the ghost dragons above. It's clear right off the bat that this guy (Carwin) is not all there. It takes a few tries, but she manages to coax him inside and out of sight via a piggyback flight on her back.

Carwin proves difficult to interact with and starts off by being hostile and racist towards Flynn. He asks Null to kill the goblin warlock, and turns to leave when she refuses. Flynn, despite being a failed merchant, know a potential business transaction when he sees it and so uses his book to secretly instruct Null to "kill" him. Null knows the sacred laws of improv and proceeds to emphatically pretend to kill her friend. Carwin immediately goes for Flynn's body, intending to take his head (goblin heads are good luck?). Null stops the vagrant from "stealing her kill" and Lotty, now seeing the situation for what it is, steps in to back up Null. Lotty also has to rebuff the strange man's interest in her own gear. Carwin is losing patience with us and seems ready to leave. If we're going to do business we better get this going now.

Thinking this guy must have something of worth to offer after surviving so long on Myridia, Null offers 3 poisons for barter. It turns out Carwin speaks the language of commerce quite well, and so offers the rogue a rusty key off of a ring of hundreds. As she accepts the trade, the key feels warm to the touch. Flynn, not wanting to miss out on doing business, pops up from being " dead" which sends Carwin running. Flynn manages to chase him down and coax him back with the promise of another trade - the Gambler's coin. Carwin offers Flynn a very snazzy bowtie and promises that it will help him charm the pants off anyone. They have a deal! 

Okay, now Carwin really wants to get going. We ask him how he avoids the influence of Erithax. In a rare moment of lucidity, the strange man tells us that a broken mind cannot be indoctrinated. Null tries to get assurances that he won't tell the enemy about them. Berrik and Lotty surmise that he wouldn't be believed even if he did. Carwin takes his leave, grabbing a piece from an empty tank before exiting the fort altogether.

Back to the task at hand! We scrounge the necessary dust together with the help of Lotty's jeweler's kit. Flynn will pony up a white exaltium for the spell. Berrik crushes and casts the Sequester spell on Silas and Niko. The two disappear from view but the tank remains. Our friend and his ward are now as safe as can be under the circumstances. Berrik suffers a wild magic effect that leaves him unable to remember anyone within ten miles, but it isn't long before his friends figure out the exaltium did something to him. Lotty casts Greater Restoration to set him right. We spend ten minutes prepping for our journey to the tower. Lotty and Flynn cast Nondetection on themselves, as they are without Mind Blank. Berrik ritually identifies Null's new key as a Runic Key. Flynn is confident his new smart new bowtie is powerfully magical. Right before we leave, Lotty and Flynn roll against indoctrination. Flynn avoids another point, but Lotty does not. Null and Berrik still have Mind Blank and are fine. Lotty casts Pass Without Trace from a scroll on the group, which allows us to successfully sneak out of the fort. We narrowly swerve a cultist ambush outside, and finally - at long last -  make our way to the base of the soul turbine tower. On the way, Lotty and Flynn stop in an alley to rid themselves of their indoctrination via more Greater Restoration scrolls.

It takes us twenty minutes to reach our destination. As we hide near the base of the tower, the area is noticeably quiet. I guess Erithax felt his forces were needed elsewhere? Four streetlamps illuminate the area around the tower's base in an eerie green light. Berrik and Lotty figure these lamps are probably bad news for our stealth mission, as they appear to be some kind of security measure. Should we try to get rid of or avoid them?

Before we can answer, a vast chasm of fire opens on the ground in front of the tower. A 60 foot tall demonic being twerks out of the hole, tits out and cheeks clappin'. Homegirl is wreathed in flame and chain -  a crown of fire adorns four sharp horns. This baddie wields a fierce polearm - a scythe with obvious big bardiche energy, emitting both flame and shadow. Lotty recognizes the vibes of this one from run-ins in her previous adventures - this is an Aspect of Azrael and she is serving Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, Talent... and probably our imminent deaths?

Act IV, Chapter Six "Now this is an orphanage that needs to burn down" 10/08/2024

 As the Ashen Company take stock of their surroundings with no obvious way of escape and surrounded by a chambers of presumably people.

They determine the tanks contain those who are able to withstand the harrowing bone scribing that gives them powers but they have not yet had the Marionettest's controlling mark put on their necks - presumably the bad guys don't want to waste resources marking those who don't take to the procedure. The liquid in the tanks is healing the wounds made by the procedure and with how wounded they are essentially keeping them alive. 

Some of this knowledge was learnt as Lotty & Flynn were studying the controls of one of the tanks; Lotty is of the mind that these people are doomed, The Ashen Co do not have the healing magics to save them and if they could; what would they do with them? Bring them along whilst they try to stop the world from ending? She recklessly decides to empty a tank and speed up the process of their discovery and - in her mind - release the person in the tank. The group watch the horrifying death as a red headed goliath dies in agony in the tank.

Null, knowing that Silas & Nikolai are in another tank, is especially concerned about Lotty's actions as the group reveal several of the other tanks to uncover the innocents contained. Null shows the group the tank and believing their friends dead Lotty suggests that digging up the dead is a new low even for Trolley. Null needs to let the group know that their memories aren't real but is worried that Flynn doesn't have mind blank so she writes out a message and shows Lotty, at first Lotty tries to comfort Null believing grief has got the better of her but after Null convinces Lotty to cast greater restoration on herself she's shocked and horrified. Even after such an ordeal it didn't even matter, the sacrifices made, the separation and false memories did nothing - the worst possible thing for Nikolai still happened. 

In a way that could only happen between Null & Flynn with Null hiding notes and Flynn trying to see Null ends up pining Flynn and sitting on him a little longer than could be tolerated and Flynn shocking grasping Null and little harder than he meant to. After verballing knocking their heads together they get to thinking about the situation. Silas & Niko are sharing a heart, it seems like Silas is empowering his adopted son, without some kind of miracle intervention they can only save one of them and even then it won't be easy.

They can't take this decision lightly, if they destroy Trolley this demi-plane will disappear and they all return to the fort, tanks included and they'll worry about it then. As they discuss a way out an invisible Trolley starts to invade the thoughts of the Ashen Company frustrated at the mind blank she manages to dis-spell the effect from Lotty but not Berrick or Null.

A fight ensures, every time Trolley is damaged the attacker takes half as much damage in kind but the Ashen Company persevere taking it to the bitch with some heavy hits, healing prevention and wizzardly live saving skills they batter her down. Null lands the final blow driving her sword through Trolley with purpose, driving her all the way back down to the well of her evil contraptions. Nulls stolen childhood, slain father and brother, kidnapped mother and sister ripped from her side avenged. As Trolley splutters her last she calls out for her master.

Immediately back in fort they killed the Death Tyrant, Trolley is reanimated with puppet strings and the Marionettist is not finished with this vessel. Whilst it is clear Trolley is no longer there her body rises up to fight again. Berrick heals the group and applies the healing to Puppet-Trolley too after a tip from the conclave and sees it does some serious damage. Wasting no time Berrick casts a high level heal spell and decimates the puppet. 

Berrick claims the Choker of Silence that will allow access into the turbine tower.

Act IV, Chapter 5: "*slaps roof of demiplane* This bad boy can fit so many unspeakable horrors in it." (2024/08/03)

 We return to our heroes after a long break. Attempting to infiltrate a fort in their pursuit of Dr. Madam Trolley, the Ashen Company finds themselves face-to-face with a Death Tyrant. They best it fairly quickly, and start to explore the otherwise empty fort. Null finds some keys that help things along. However, after a minute the Tyrant returns at full strength so we have to backtrack and start the battle again. As Berrik banishes the Tyrant to buy them some time, Lotty surmises that there must be some kind of totem in the vicinity that keeps it from permanently napping. We lock it the room we found it in and run upstairs, trying to get as far away from the banished monster as we can in one minute. 

We are rushing across some palisades towards a door when we hear a crash and the screeching whine of bending metal. It's out and coming this way. We see it appear through some grated windows at ground level across the courtyard behind us. We're not sure whether to run, fight or look for the totem at this point. It takes advantage of our apprehension and targets all its rays at Flynn, who is closest to it. Flynn, who is invincible, is unfazed by this and shrugs off seemingly countless effects. Null tosses a Chill Touch back towards the creature, and then moves forward to unlock the door ahead. Inside, she spots some furniture to her left and a curious stone dais on the opposite side of the room. She lets her friends know there's something weird in here. Flynn casts Blindness on the Tyrant and puts some distance between them. In short order, all of the Ashen Company are inside the room. Flynn conjures a Wall of Stone, so that when the Tyrant regains sight we'll be out of view. 

We all gather around the empty but definitely not empty dais and try to figure it out. We're sure there's something hidden here. Everyone is pretty sure we're not supposed to step on the dais. Null takes out a single ball bearing and tosses it towards the dais. As it hits the platform, the room suddenly crackles with a burst of chain lightning. Okay, nobody touch it! A combo of Arcana checks and Detect Magic from Berrik tells us that the dais is hiding 5 magical effects: 2 illusion of 2nd level or lower, 2 evocation of 6th level or lower and 1 conjuration of 8th level. At this point we hear the Tyrant bust through the grates and enter the courtyard, and we figure it's probably got its sight back by now. We are currently hidden from view, but it will be searching us so we have to act carefully. Thinking the higher level effect is the most important to dispel, Berrik dispels the conjuration. As the Tyrant is still roaming around outside, he uses pink exaltium to cast the spell silently. Wild Magic surges as he crushes the exaltium in his hand, and he doesn't know that any future scrying he does will now relay wildly inaccurate visions. Berrik senses that whatever conjuration magic that was present is only temporarily suppressed. Okay, that clearly wasn't the Death Tyrant totem we were looking for. Now what?

Despite our caution, the Tyrant is closing in. Null takes off, trying to lure the Tyrant away while the rest of the group figures out next steps. Berrik's eyes search the room for clues and he quickly notices a faint red light emitting from inside the drawer of a nearby desk. The drawer is, of course, locked. He tears the Knock spell out of Ezra's now tattered spellbook and casts the spell to pop open the drawer. Picking up a glowing red miniature figure of the Tyrant, he knows this is what they've been looking for and that he needs Lotty to start smashing it immediately. Berrik hands the figure over to our party tank and she obliges. As soon as her wrench makes contact with the figure, the Tyrant stops following Null and retreats to deal with whoever is messing with its longevity. It throws everything it has at Lotty, who almost succumbs to a Sleep Ray but manages to stay conscious. As she smashes the Tyrant's mini, the monster continues to retaliate. She shrugs off another Sleep Ray, but can't overcome a Petrification Ray. Lotty drops the mini and takes out an Anti-Petrification salve from her pack, placing it next to her before she freezes up. Flynn does what Lotty would have told him to do, which is blast that Death Tyrant doll to smithereens ASAP. As the totem is destroyed, the Tyrant's eyes flare red. Except Lotty, who is now petrified, everyone goes all in to defeat the creature. 

As soon as the Death Tyrant falls, Berrik rushes over to apply the Anti-Petrification salve to Lotty before it's too late. Before too long, the entire Ashen Company is limber again. Berrik returns to to the dais to figure out next steps. He figures the conjuration effect he suppressed will be back in ten minutes or so, and suspects it may be a demiplane or teleportation effect (despite such things apparently being impossible in this place.) In the mean time, he gets to work dispelling the illusion effects. Flynn sidles up to Lotty and asks if she will cast Catnap on him while they wait for the conjuration effect to return. She obliges and Flynn starts power-napping in a nearby barrel. 

Null doesn't really need healing or rest right now, so she uses this time to rifle through the furniture in the vicinity. Inside some combat undergarments from a nearby drawer, the rogue finds a small handwritten note that reads "How many times do I have to tell you? The passphrase is: Good children get rewarded." She shudders as she is hit with a flashback of the second part of that mantra: Bad children get punished. As Trolley's words echo in her mind, she is rattled by the unwelcome memory but manages to shrug off any immediate debilitating effects. Null walks the note over to Berrik and lets him know that she has the passphrase.

As Flynn's Catnap comes to an end, we gather in front of the dais to prep. Berrik dispels one of the remaining evocation effects, while either Flynn or Lotty (I don't remember who) dispels the other. The gang gets some last minute healing in before they go to confront Trolley wherever she's gone. Starting with Null, the Ashen Company each recites the passphrase scornfully as they step onto the dais and through into a newly available demiplane.

The Ashen Company appears in a rustic, humble kitchen with three doors. They find an equally humble adjoining bedroom. As we try to snoop, we find the contents of it are illusory. Flynn opens the door opposite the bedroom and finds a long hallway lined with even more doors. The warlock is eager to get moving and starts rushing down the corridor, randomly opening doors. He eventually opens a door and witnesses a horrific tableau of a child being beaten and whipped. Flynn fails a saving throw and becomes frightened. He shuts it and keeps going, advising his pals not to open any doors. As Null passes a small closet, she can't help but feel its familiarity - she knows this is where she and other children would have been kept between procedures at the orphanage. Null grits her teeth and urges Berrik to keep moving.

As they further explore the complex, it's clear that this place is a copy of the orphanage basement. They enter a sterile looking chamber with several familiar-looking, person-sized vertical tanks. We most recently saw gooey, naked lightning guys in these back in Pacapa. Flynn explores further, going through a door to the south of the chamber. It's the control room from the orphanage basement, where a small fire turned into a destructive inferno thanks to the clumsy interventions of Flynn and Silas. Flynn's fingers twitch at the sight of so many levers and buttons. 

Back in the tank room, Lotty and Berrik peer inside a couple of tanks and find a teen human-looking girl and a young dwarf, both suspended in some kind of liquid within. Null, deeply uncomfortable with this whole situation, cautiously steps into the tank room. As she nears the tank closest to the door, she feels pulled by a familiar presence within. Full of dread, she tentatively wipes away the fogging condensation on the outside of the glass. In silent horror, the rogue processes the sight of the bodies of Silas and Nikolai. Their chest cavities are open and their hearts are gone. Both are connected to a separate, artificial heart device floating in the tank with them.

Is this real or another horrible manipulation? Guess we'll find out!