Cal’s performance starts with “aw, this never happens :( ” THEN HE WAKES UP
THE RAVEN QUEEN IS GONE???
Kaya wakes up feeling satisfied 😏 (and also horrified, but that’s neither here nor there)
The Party Gathers
Kaya sees Audrey grab her things, since her band caravan’s leaving
“Caravan’s leaving… you were great. I think you had a nightmare”
SHE ASKS KAYA TO SENDING STONE HER SOMETIME. OH MY GODDDD
Cal walks out his room, goes downstairs and to the bar
He sees Vallen sitting at the bench, twiddling with a knife. He greets him good morning!
CAL PLAYS UP HOW LITTLE HE SLEPT 💀💀💀 HE’S COMPENSATING SO MUCH. HE ASKS VALLEN IF HE KNOWS WHAT A BALL GAG IS
DECEPTION: (4 ORIGINALLY BUT CJ LETS HIM REROLL) 20
Vallen’s like “ok !” (HE ROLLED A 21 💀)
Cal calls over to Foo, asks him for something to drink (whiskey)
Cordelia walks downstairs (gingerly), sits down, and starts reading her book
Vallen greets her, but it doesn’t have a ton of energy
Kaya finally gets her ass up and walks downstairs
Vallen greets her and enthusiastically asks her how her night went
The horrors happen but the lady she slept with was great! 😀
CAL CONTINUES TO LIE TO EVERYONE ABOUT HIS NIGHT
CAL ROLLS ANOTHER NAT 1 ON DECEPTION 💀😭💀 both Cordelia and Kaya know
Recapping the Dream
Cordelia mentions the dream — Vallen asks about it
Cordelia mentions that she wants Camille’s input on what happened, and asks if anyone’s seen them
Vallen says he’ll go check on them
Vallen knocks on the door, doesn’t get an answer, and goes to open it — but the door is locked
He lockpicks the door open
Vallen swings open the door, and sees Camille halfway out the window
They get scared and tumble through the window. Vallen teleports them back inside
They just say “bye” and Dimension Door away
Vallen grabs what they left and returns to the party
Cordelia asks him where Camille is, and he just says “He’s out. Out… side?”
Cordelia asks if Camille is going to be back to discuss the dream, Vallen says probably not
Vallen says “He’ll be back”
Cordelia is like “Wait. Do I have to have an intellectual conversation with just us? With you guys and Vallen?”
LMAO
Everyone questions where Julian is again
Cordelia isn’t too terribly worried
Cordelia makes an educated guess and says that she thinks the reason why Camille isn’t with the party is because of who they are (race/changeling stuff)
Everyone questions Vallen on whether or not he thinks Camille will come back
Cordelia asks Vallen if Camille intends to find OSIRIS on their own (no, that’s a suicide mission / that’s the point)
Vallen reminds Cordelia about what happened when she was in the library looking for answers and not finding any (essentially convincing her to support Camille by giving them space)
Cordelia tells Vallen about the dream
Vallen says he will go by himself to make sure Camille doesn’t hurt themself
He encourages the party to seek out the Keeper and learn about our mission
Cordelia chooses to place her faith in him (“Cool, calm, and collected (said through gritted teeth)“)
Camille’s Perspective
Camille becomes fully cognizant running through the woods, pushing their way through bramble and branches and using the instincts they gathered as a child to follow footpaths left behind by wild animals
Vallen catches up, and asks them where they’re going and if they plan to come back
They ask him to leave them alone, gripping the tree next to them with white knuckles, and when he says that he won’t, they teleport away
Back to the Party
The stone door opens — The Keeper walks through
He senses the vibe is off, and asks if we had a dream (we did)
Kaya shares that The Father wants us to kill OSIRIS, take the Pyramid, and deliver it to him
The Keeper asks us if we’re actually planning on delivering the Pyramid to him
The Keeper mentions that he’s been hunting the Father for a while, and it’s surprising that we actually got to speak with him
He asks if we need help
Cordelia prompts the Keeper to tell us about the mission
He asks where Vallen is (he’s taking care of some personal things, according to Cordelia)
OSIRIS is in the Underdark
We only have a handful of books on the area, it’s not mapped, and only a scant few people have actually been there
“It’s time to… send my Seekers. Your job is to seek.”
Cordelia requests that we have a little time to regroup before we set out. He grants us the rest of the day.
Reports from Diamond have come in: Iron Forge has gone dark
There are earthquakes coming from there
Warforged have been seen trying to claw their way back up, but as far as he knows none of them have been able to make it
The Keeper speaks about the warforged
There are a few that he needs to deal with himself
There are a few warforged dispatchments that seem to remain unaffected by what happened in Iron Forge
The Keeper needs to return to the Capital, write some reports, and interrogate a captured changeling (Sulk)
The Keeper says that it is IMPERATIVE that we + Vallen make our way down to the Underdark
He doesn’t explain why Vallen needs to be down there, only saying that “Vallen will tell you if it comes up.”
The Keeper asks Cordelia where Camille is
SHE’S SO REAL TO ME!! SHE’S LIKE “IT’S NONE OF MY BUSINESS SO I CAN’T SAY”
I LOVE FRIENDSHIP :(
Kaya promises that we will all leave by nightfall
The Keeper asks the rest of the party to tell Camille that he has information on True Changelings
CAL INTERRUPTS HIM AND TELLS HIM TO JUST CALL CAMILLE HIMSELF?? LMAO. KING SHIT
The Keeper says that they haven’t been picking up
If we need anything, we can contact either the Keeper or Oz
The Fister
Cal pulls out a PAIR OF BRASS KNUCKLES?!?!
OH MY GOD. HE WAS TINKERING LAST NIGHT AND APPARENTLY CAME UP WITH THESE??? HE JUST NEEDS SOMEONE WHO LIKES PUNCHING TO USE THEM 👀
How the knuckles work:
Every time she uses a blasting cap, it causes a fracture. Every fracture does less damage on a 1d4 (although it will never exceed zero). Once it exceeds four fractures, the knuckles break
CAL CALLS THEM “THE FISTER” 💀
Back to Quén
They’re still running, but find a spot where they can hide. Vallen is nowhere to be seen
THEY CURSE AT VALLEN
WILL UPDATE LATER I PROMMY
Back to the Party
Julian finally comes back downstairs!
EVERYONE CAN SENSE HOW AWKWARD IT IS
CJ asks for everyone’s passive perceptions
Everyone feels a presence — it’s the same presence that they felt when Camille died. The Orb is near
As Julian walks up to the table, the feeling gets stronger
Kaya asks if we need to have a talk. Julian’s like ???
Cordelia asks if he feels different this morning: Yes! He’s feeling the same thing that he felt back when we fought OSIRIS for the first time - when Camille first died.
Cordelia casts Detect Magic, and senses the Orb’s presence coming from Julian’s satchel
HE PULLS IT OUT AND IS LIKE WHAT THE FUCK???
EVERYONE REALIZES THAT HE’S TOUCHING IT WITH HIS BARE HANDS AND HE DROPS IT
Pink moss starts going along his arm, but before it goes too far fire engulfs it and burns it away
JULIAN’S LIKE ???
Cal asks Julian if he can light his fantasy weed joint. He can’t :(
Cordelia goes out to look for Camille, and tells the party to not do anything while she’s gone
She looks up, and sees their window is open, and figures out roughly the direction where
While Cordelia’s gone, Julian asks Cal to scare him to see if the fire happens again
Kaya offers to punch Julian with the new brass knuckles she just got 😀
Cal says that they just need to scare him, and says: “Cordelia’s probably the last woman you’ll sleep with in your life.”
JULIAN’S LIKE :( SAD. AND ADMITS THAT HE AND CORDELIA BROKE UP THE NIGHT BEFORE
CAL’S LIKE “OH SHE’S SINGLE NOW!” AND WHEN JULIAN POINTS AT HIM THERE’S A LITTLE FLAME AT THE TIP OF HIS FINGER (Cal uses it to light his fantasy weed joint)
Back to Quén
NOTES LATER
Back to the Party
Cordelia and Camille walk back to Foo bar - hand in hand - and see Kaya and Cal lighting up a joint with Julian nearby
Cordelia asks Julian what’s going on with him
He’s like “Do you hate me? 🥺” (because of what Cal said earlier)
Cordelia leaves Camille with the rest of the party, quietly tells them to “be nice to him >:( ”, and leaves to look for Vallen
SHE BUMPS INTO VALLEN. OMG. SHE FALLS BUT HE CATCHES HER!!! HETEROSEXUALITY WINS
She asks him if he hates Camille, the immediate answer is no
She asks him if he’s truly okay (he says he’s fine), and fails her insight check — she believes he’s fine
Cordelia tells Vallen that she won’t ask Camille directly, but asks what they were doing in the woods. He says that that’s for Camille to say
Cordelia and Vallen walk back in, and the discomfort between Vallen and Camille is PALPABLE
Camille senses the Orb, and asks about it
Vallen’s like we have it???
WE REALIZE THAT WE CAN PUT THE KEY 🤜 IN THE HOLE 👌
PUTTING THE KEY 🤜 IN THE HOLE 👌
Cordelia isn’t inclined to tell the Keeper that we have the Orb
Julian contemplates the fire that came up to burn the pink moss
He doesn’t remember much of his time (in the Hells) — but for a brief moment, he looks terrified
Camille whispers to Foo that we’re going out to “do something stupid”, and to look out for us when we come back (if we come back)
We start heading back to the ritual area!
THE KEEPER MESSAGES CAMILLE
“HAVE YOU SEEN THE ORB!?????”
“Yeah, we have it. We’re going to put it in the door :]”
“THE FUCKING DOOR???”
“Yeah, the door :] Also I was told you have something to tell me? We can talk when we get back.”
The Keeper is standing at the door when we arrive
He reveals that the door leads to the Underdark, and that his original plan was for us to enter the Underdark through the Capital — however, he reasons that this will be a good learning experience for us
He implores us to map the Underdark, and that he will pay us platinum if we do well
He gives Cordelia a set of cartographer’s tools upon Camille’s request, and tells her that he will both pay her for mapping the area and that she will be able to publish her maps under her name (in academia)
He gives Camille a prototype Sending Stone which is able to take pictures (upon request). It draws a LOT of mana from the air and take and send images, and is super top secret. He says he only trusts them with it
Entering the Scary Basement (Cave)
Kaya puts on her glove, pulls the Orb out of her bag, and slots it into the door
The orb begins to spin, runes lining up on its surface. The door creaks open, and the Orb begins to fall out
Kaya grabs the Orb, putting it back in
The feeling of the Orb disappears, and when Kaya looks back inside, it’s gone
The path leading down is about the same size as the door. It’s about 10 feet in total, and the cavern itself is about 20 ft. tall
As the sunlight fades, we see little glowing crystals in the wall lining our path
We all grab glowing rocks!
Cordelia takes note of this entrance, and sketches the rock
Branching Paths
The path opens into a cave-ish area, with branching paths: the left path leads up, and the right path leads down
Camille suggests that Kaya use Mold Earth to leave subtle markers that we can “breadcrumb trail” follow back
Cal says that his grandmother always says to go right, and that we should follow her advice
We all agree, and start following the right path
The path opens up after 10-ish minutes, and the ground curves down (so we’re on a little hill)
We see a gothic castle-like region - about the same size as Hillford - laid out similarly to how the Capital is. There is an outer circle wall, an inner circle wall, and a spire-like building at the center
Less wall like the Capital, but more like the walls like Hillford has (made of stone) — shorter, and less grand
Camille takes a picture
They feel themself almost be pulled towards it, and then the feeling fades (they don’t like it)
Entering the Underground Ruins
Kaya asks the party if we should be sneaky, and the consensus is yes
Camille casts Guidance on Julian
We pass a stealth check!
As we approach the entrance, we don’t see a single soul. It’s completely deserted
Camille casts Detect Evil and Good, and Cordelia casts Detect Magic
Neither sense anything, but Cordelia senses whisps of natural magic — it’s darker than on the surface
Arcana Check
Cordelia feels sense of magic wash over her - beyond her Detect Magic - and it’s ancient
Camille (nat 20) senses that the magic is defensive in nature, but not necessarily Abjuration. It’s a magic that they don’t recognize
As we walk, we see broken spears and shields, fallen fruit baskets with rotted fruit inside
Camille theorizes that the dungeon that we fell into - the one with the words of history on the wall and the moving statues - might be connected to the Underdark
Cordelia recognizes this as one of the ancient cities that she read about in books
Cal sees what looks like the firearms of this era on the ground — they’re more advanced than the ones we currently have, so he wouldn’t know what to do with them
Approaching the Town Center
After 15-20 minutes, we approach the town center
We see a statue of a man holding a lute, gesturing out to an unseen crowd. It’s 8 feet tall, and sitting right in front of the church (the spire-like structure at the center)
There’s a small crystal sitting at his feet (bigger than the ones we have). It’s at the center of a gyroscope, and is spinning
We can feel radiant magic coming from it
There’s a plaque at this statue’s feet, roughly 15 ft. away
Kaya approaches, and doesn’t recognize the script
Cordelia approaches, and realizes that this script is one that she’s never seen before (this scares her)
Cal approaches, and can read the script: “Our Savior, Amadeus, protect us” (he reads it out loud)
We realize that this is Amadeus the composer, and one of Oz’s favorite composers
Vallen recognizes the name: he’s also the favorite composer of Audrey
Cordelia remembers him as one of the first graduates of the bardic college that opened in the Capital, and that he studied defensive magic
We debate on whether or not we should take the stone
Cordelia and Camille are against it, using the reasoning that something very bad will probably happen to us if we do
Inside the Church
Cal runs into the church
There are pews, an altar at the end of the room, and no symbols or statues of ANY gods. It’s Barren
Kaya and Cal see - on the altar - a stone tablet with writing inscribed on it
It’s covered in runic symbols, not necessarily a language
At the top of the tablet is inscribed with the text Solmara (as Cal can read it)
Cordelia has seen the word ONCE in history. The context of it is a book of a fictional place (like a children’s book). She remembers one of the characters in the book saying “Oh, I’m from Solmara”
Camille asks if Solmara is the place we’re in now
Camille’s eyes land on Vallen, and they see he has a thousand-yard stare
They tap his shoulder, and say that it looks like he recognizes the name — he does. He heard Dr. Pope say it, but he doesn’t remember where or when.
The Head Speaks
Cal feels a vibration in his bag
The warforged head’s eyes flash open (the head that he’s been carrying around for a while), and it begins to speak
*“I kill but cannot die, I eat but cannot be satiated, I’m alive but dead, I’m loved but cannot show love, I’m loyal but a deserter, I am young but old. Who am I?”
Cordelia looks at Camille and whispers “Vallen”
“Vallen is a killer, Vallen is a soldier, Vallen is not who he says he is, Vallen should be your enemy.” “Ask him about the house fire at the T’pesh manor” “Ask him about his time with Dr. Pope…” “Ask him about Asmodeus. Ask him who he really is”
Vallen is shaking. He tells us the T’pesh manor is an accident
Cordelia remembers that the T’pesh family - the entire linage - died roughly 50 years ago. It was raining.
SHE SAYS THAT THERE WERE CHILDREN IN THAT BUILDING
Vallen says that he will answer any question we ask
Camille asks him to change shape to ease our minds, and he says he can’t because he’s not a Changeling
Vallen reveals that he was an assassin for Diamond, then he was an assassin for Clover
Camille puts together the pieces, and says that one of the first deep lore things we learned about him was that he was used as a tool (the original wording was “dog”, in my memory) over 50 years ago
“After Sapphie died, I had nothing. So I chased, and I chased and I chased, and I killed, and I killed, and I killed. Then I was put on duty with you. We all have a history… I have killed innocents. I do not deserve the love you give me, so I cannot love back.”
Camille tries to affirm that they still love him despite everything, but Vallen reminds them that they still took a step back
Cordelia is silent.
Vallen walks away
Camille sits down in a pew
Kaya moves to leave, but stops to address the party. She reminds us that we’ve all done terrible things, and that Vallen is the one who has to live with the lives he’s taken. But we should still help our friend
Cordelia lingers by the altar, and Julian asks if she’s okay
When Camille prays, they feel a very calming presence - one they haven’t felt since the Father invaded their prayer the first time. It’s a very faint presence, but it’s still there
They ask Avandra to give them strength to help their friend — he’s hurt and they don’t know what to do
They feel a comforting hand on their shoulder, then it fades away
Vallen is outside looking at the statue
Cal asks Vallen if what the head said is true (yes). Cal basically (emotionally) embraces him, and says that we’ve all done shit in our pasts
“But if you prove me a liar, I’ll kill you myself”
Camille comes up to Vallen, and gently apologizes to him. They affirm that he’s still Vallen and that the party - or at least they - still trust him
Vallen says that his missing memories are still bothering him
Camille didn’t want to mention this earlier, but they theorize that his memories were falsified by Asmodeus (Kaya adds that the magic probably hasn’t faded because of how ancient and powerful Asmodeus is)
Cordelia and Camille think about Asmodeus
Asmodeus was one of the first beings at the beginning of time. He was there when the Material Plane was created, and he is known as the Father of Lies and the God of True Evil
He invented lies, betrayal, and is one of the few gods of death
CJ amends: he is THE god of death, while other gods of death are A god of death
Camille theorizes that Asmodeus was disguised as Lathander when Vallen was first granted immortality, and THAT’S why he’s never heard from Lathander again or why Lathander didn’t lay claim to him when asked by Julian
KAYA REACHES FOR THE CRYSTAL
Kaya reaches into the gyroscope, grabs the crystal inside, and PULLS IT OUT
The machine goes dead, and it’s dead quiet in the city. Then we hear a rumble in the distance
She tries to put it back in, but nothing happens.
We run back into the church
Camille pulls a pew in front of the door
We all duck down
About 20 minutes later, there are warforged - too many to count - all hobbling in a singular direction
Some are fine, others are in shambles and dragging themselves along
They are all going in a singular direction: past the statue, past the church
One bumps into the door, and just stands there
Another hobbles up to the window, and bumps into it. Then it just stands there, staring
A few more bump into them. Some stop, while others move around
Vallen peeks his head out, and the eyes of the warforged outside remain unphased
He theorizes that the warforged have no sentience — since they’re running into things and walking without any particular direction
Julian wants to kill them, but Cordelia stops him
Cal opens the door, and stands face-to-face with a warforged
It walks past him, walking towards the altar. Every time it bumps into something it turns a little and walks in a new direction (like a roomba)
Cal closes the door
The party agrees to leave
As we open the door, all the warforged in the courtyard just keep walking. They don’t register us at All
Julian REALLY wants to kill these guys
Camille asks him what will happen if we try to fight the warforged, spend all our energy doing so, then meet an enemy who actually WANTS to kill us
We discuss what to do
Kaya wants to make a chasm for them to fall into to take a few out, but
Camille suggests we keep going, and warn any civilizations that we see of the oncoming warforged
Camille shares that they tried to cast Sending on OSIRIS before the dream last night
Vallen is like WHY?? and they say they see OSIRIS as a lesser evil, since he can at least be reasoned with (unlike the Pyramid)
The message didn’t go through, which they say is strange and never happens
Camille asks Cordelia to pull out her compass, and we realize that the warforged are going north, the same direction we’re going (OSIRIS)
We Walk
We walk for what feels like hours, and it is hours (three to four, three and a half)
Bioluminescent fungi light our path, and although we’re surrounded by a stone cavern, our feet walk on purple grass
There’s no life in the Underdark that we have seen so far
The life that IS in the Underdark is very hostile and only carnivorous
We all roll for perception (we all pass!)
We kinda recognize the area we’re in — compared to a map of the overworld, we’d be between where the paths split between Hillford, the Capital, and SouthPass
Camille sends V a picture and message of the Warforged
Also Cal asks to send V a dick pic. Camille reluctantly obliges.
Camille messages Foo, asking him to send the letter they left behind to their mother. They also let him know that we’re deep deep DEEP underground and won’t be back for a long time
Vallen pulls the letter out of his bag, and Camille takes it back
Foo messages back, telling us that it’s dark outside and that we should go to bed. He also tells them to check Vallen’s bag
He snuck some food for us into his bag!!
Winding Down for the Night
Camille ritual casts Tiny Hut, and the gang starts winding down for the night
Cal tries to tinker, but it does Not go well (he rolls like a 2 and/or a 3)
Camille asks Vallen if he has hobbies
He’s offended
Camille is like “I remember you read, I literally gave you books”
