Loose threads: The fate of the soul well and the agreed ritual to split the well and give Monday's portion to a Unknown. What the potential truce between Unknowns, Unknowns, and Unknowns means for the New World. The true nature of the soul well machine and how it relates to litchdom.
Participants: Captain Paro, Swampy, Tinkado Mushameri, Aeonrei Aeminus
Locations: Blight Rock
Short summary:
A brave group of adventurers help Swampy really commune with his inner Summoner abilities in service of the Weaver by hunting and slaying an Umbral Unknown. They make a deal with a Unknown along the way, waltz through the front door of the dragons' lair, content with a disable soul well, and slay the dragon and two of his three comrades before the contract devil, Lexi, appears. They reactivate the soul well while the remaining dragon makes a deal of his own with Lexi to give a portion of the soul well to a Unknown leader rather than let it fall into Monday's clutches. The party attempts to get their bearings, but in the minute they use to converse, the other parties finished their arrangements and left.
Full Report
Captain Paro here! Our eclectic group set out for Blight Rock with myriad motivations yet a common goal - killing an Umbral dragon. After a delightful chat at the Pub, we set sail and quickly encountered an all out war between Unknowns, weird gray-skinned sailors, and Unknowns, with the latter being a dragon turtle in our case. Suffice it to say, we crashed their party, attacking both parties without mercy. Many foes were slain, yet a few demons teleported away and the wounded dragon turtle escaped the clutches of the harpoon cannon. The ship formerly helmed by the gray-skinned creatures had the following ancient Elvish phrases:
- Serving Elfkind, in both life and in death
- Vehicle Code: AQUNɐɐɐɝ
- Built Year ɻɶ
While on the vessel, a weird ghostly Elvin man appeared and said the following before vanishing:
- Come to þære Cytadel
With some fresh loot and information, we look for a landing spot, guided by yours truly. We set out site on a safe beach with more dead dragon turtles. Taking a closer look, we spot a note on the corpse, indicating the demons have taken dragon turtle eggs hostage. The note also has the ability to summon the contract devil working for the demons. Swampy does the honor to summon the devil, who introduces herself as Lexarith.Tinkado Mushameri would have much rather killed her then and there, but between my diplomacy, Swampy's intimidation, and Aeonrei Aeminus' legal mind, we are able to craft a reasonable contract that gets us some information. Though before we can finish our negotiations, four adamantine dragons rudely interrupt us. Tinkado Mushameri is apparently a dragon hunter, slaying 3 out of the 4 dragons, with Swampy getting one.
We manage to finish our negotiations and sign the contract. Lexi is able to share information about why she is hear - acting as a mediator between Zalael and the demon over an overdue soul fragment - the dragons location and different options to enter their lair, and this odd soul well thing (though she is very cagey about it). With some additional pressure, she shares the Soul Well and Monday merged and combined in some weird way and that this well acts as a super-charged soul cage, but attempts to capture any free souls within miles of it.
We say farewell to Lexi and rest, with Swampy really communing with his patron and truly becoming a Summoner. When we all awake, we decide to take the front door option to enter the dragons lair. As we approach, our souls feel and uncomfy tug, though we manage to keep them all in our bodies without too much trouble. The door has a serious of seals and wards and locks, but our diverse group manages to open seal after seal: A nature gate, puzzle gate, arcane gate (with the unfortunate remains of Murphy), occult gate, and religion gate. Aeonrei Aeminus shines brightly with these trials, though Swampy and I valiantly assist here and there.
We open the final gate and see four dragons plotting in front of the Soul Well device. There is the wicked Umbral dragon along with a Mirage, Empyreal, and Omen dragon. We charge in, but the cowards disable the soul well device, causing it to exert an even greater pressure on our souls. Tinkado Mushameri slays the Omen dragon, the Mirage dragon plays confusing tricks and counteracts some of Aeonrei Aeminus's spells, the Empyreal dragon heals his allies while being pretty tough, and the Umbral dragon 1v1s Swampy. Thanks to Aeonrei Aeminus's magic and the ability to get super tall, I manage to get large and take down the Mirage dragon. Aeonrei Aeminus barely survives the Empyreal dragon's assault while Swampy is bullied and knocked unconscious a couple times by the Umbral dragon. Fortunately, I land the killing blow on the Umbral dragon while Aeonrei Aeminus traps the Empyreal dragon. After Swampy stabs the Umbral dragon for good measure, its soul joins the Mirage and Omen dragons' soul in the well.
Aeonrei Aeminus and I quickly look to see if we can deal with the soul well. We learn more about the device, see who is nearby (and that someone is scrying), and learn more about the script when Aeon translates "Wundorferð cymþ" as "Wonder traveler arrives" (said by the device when the Umbral dragon's soul was processed". She also figures out that ɐɐɐɑ is 0001. Lexi appears and the Empyreal dragon, Goldspawn, tells us how to reactivate the wards (engage sāwol weard). It seems Lexi wants some more dragon souls.. well, lets just let her explain it:
| "Well, uh, getting to the deal at hand - the Zalalel soul fragment got in contact with us, and is willing to execute a ritual to split the soul well in half - one with the Zalalel fragment, the other with the Monday fragment. To achieve this, we need a sufficient amount of souls to power the ritual. As a loose summary, my employer is seeking rights to the consumption of the monday fragment half, a truce with the zalael fragment , a truce with you, Warden, and sixty-six dragon souls to power the ritual" |
This soul fragment is also referred to as a god-fragment. Goldspawn did not seem very interested in letting us have this fragment and the four of us quickly huddled to get our bearings and to heal up super fast. Though not fast enough, as they finished their agreement in the minute we were gone and left, potentially to the Dread Citadel. We search the place, finding some notes (a previous warden thought being a lich might help protect their soul from the well) and some treasure.