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Session Date: 14 March 2026
Base camp
- We pick out our tents!
- Vera calls Fletcher on her Sending Stone
- Lord Renoir Dzemael visited the Guild and argued with Sebastian Westring, accusing him of being involved with his son Art’s death
- Sebastian denied it vehemently, sweet-talking his way out of it like he’s wont to do
- Eventually Renoir left to find his wife
- Another dead guy was found brutally murdered in an alley, possibly same as the person who killed Art
- Fletcher asks if there was anything missing from the body; Vera confirmed there was nothing missing
- Could be a copycat or Sebastian’s assassin
- Fletcher tells Vera to be careful and gives her updates on her first full day in the Void.
- She talks about her reckless party and the one guy who tried proselytising to her :3
- She also mentions the undead echoes, and the voidmatter sample she got from Lady Camilla’s undead echo.
- Vera mentions she will look into the undead echoes and promises to call tomorrow night again.
- Fletcher tells Vera to tell her mother to leave the city if they haven’t already
- Fugue attunes to the Medallion of Thoughts and gains 3 charges :)
- Pan goes to Mal’s tent and snitches on Fugue!
- They ask about the House of Grief, if Mal knows about it — and she does
- Mal takes out her cube and shows the symbol of Shar on it, says she found it in Venus’s office
Dinnertime
- Mal is still in her armour, took off her big coat and gloves, wearing her shiny new ring :)
- Mal asks Kaylin how much of the city is preserved
- The city and Underdark have merged together and sometimes rearrange from the upwards movement
- A lot of the structures are weird amalgamations of the original buildings
- Outside of base camp is an empty space with a shaft where the Palace/centre of the city used to be, not including the big noble houses surrounding the Palace
- The undead echoes aren’t really undead, but constructs made of voidmatter
- Kaylin’s theory: the Void is alive, a living thing that makes these undead constructs
- These are replications; the bodies are nowhere to be found
- Voidmatter stuff:
- It’ll give you nightmares if you keep it around you
- Fletcher goes pale upon hearing this; she got a nightmare on the first night she had that vial of voidmatter on her person
- It won’t kill you but it’ll wriggle inside your head and make the host suggestible to the Void
- It seems like it wants to return to its own body
- It’ll give you nightmares if you keep it around you
- Kaylin thinks the Void has a “gravity” pulling living creatures down to its centre; he’s not sure if it’s an off-shoot of something else down there
- The Void preys on people’s curiosity, like an angler fish
- He does not want to talk about his theories on how the Void came about
- Insight check: He knows something, but he doesn’t want to be forthcoming about it
- He says it’s Classified :) And that we’ll find out when we get to the second layer why they had to keep it a secret
- We show him the severed leg! Kaylin recognises it and he goes pale
- Kaylin wants us to report it to Lady Venus right away before he can tell us anything
- Mal asks why we’re not reporting to Lady Vesta instead, and Venus says it’s because she’s in the 6/7/8th layer
- There’s a comms barrier in the 5th layer and only Venus can receive Vesta’s messages
Venus Facetime
- We get out our little telepathy stones and start a Facetime with Lady Venus
- She immediately clocks the look on Kaylin’s face and he presents the severed leg
- Venus has a calculating look in her eye, deciding on what she will or will not tell us
- Fletcher: Are you anticipating a leg kicking around?
- Venus: Kinda?
- The severed leg is supposed to be in the second layer, not the first
- Each layer is the result of a mass sacrifice, tied to an immortal soul confined to the Void but not restricted in their movements
- This leg is part of an immortal soul
- Only one of these souls are actively hostile
- Venus accuses us of stealing her cube. “If you have it, you’ll be unsafe with it. Someone might have to hunt you down for it.”
- One of the immortal souls (tied to the sixth layer), Eilidh, wants it
- There’s a flash of a woman with short ginger hair
- We should not give her the cube. Kill her current vessel before she can kill us
- Venus doesn’t know why Eilidh wants the cube. It’s a powerful artifact, something a powerful wizard could use
- Mal asks why we can only talk to Vesta through Venus and asks about the specifics of how it works
- Venus: We’ve always had a link.
- Insight check (Fugue): It’s not that simple!
North team arrives
- North team finally arrives with a dragonborn scout… and Cassie’s missing D:
- Fletcher immediately goes over to them and asks where she is
- Riza: I wish we knew!
- Paris: “Useless dog just disappeared the first chance she got.”
- We need to find her ASAP!
- Mal mentions Sebastian and his involvement in all of this
- Paris tries to butt in but everyone tells him to behave. He tries to leave but Pan gets in his way
- Pan: Say please :D
- Paris: *groans* (He hates it :D)
- Pan says Sebastian put a hit out on Paris’s older sibling Art
- Sebastian and Renoir were supposed to kill Kivia and Art was to take her place
- Paris didn’t think Sebastian would kill Art; now, he feels it’s his fault and leaves
- Fletcher and Cass weren’t close and doesn’t know if she has family; she wanted to be down her real bad
- Anyway, the implication is that Sebastian sent Cassie down (in place of Rion) so that he’d have eyes in the Void; more likely she could be meeting up with Hex now
- Fletcher mentions specific poisons can only be found down here, and Sebastian’s most likely been sourcing it from Hex, since Hex has been clearing places out before the Divers could get to them
- Mal asks Fugue to talk to Paris about his family history, where they came from and what they were doing
Fugue chats with Paris
- Fugue takes a bowl of spider soup and brings it to Paris’s tent
- Perception check: Paris is crying in his tent
- Fugue uses his medallion upon approach; he rolls a 5 on Stealth but Paris rolls a 2 on his Perception 😭
- Paris feels guilt, and now apprehension about getting approached
Note
This part below was transcribed by Ash here.
- Fugue: Consider this a peace offering on behalf of my team.
- Paris: I know what it’s like to have a weird team (looks at Riza meditating nearby). Thank you, it’s good to know not everyone down here is out for my throat.
- Fugue: I met your mother shortly after the tragedy.
- Paris: (Fake disdain shattered by mention of his mother) You know where Mother is? She’s safe?
- F: It was a difficult time for her at the start. Lord Renoir was no help.
- P: I know. He’s a piece of shit.
- F: Even the strongest of us cannot stand alone. She came to me for help and I helped her.
- P: (Suspicion overshadowed by relief) Thank you. She deserved better than the family she ended up with.
- F: She talked about you, and your brother.
- P: (Surprise that she would talk about him - second son, used to being an afterthought). What did she say?
- (They go inside the tent and sit down
five feet apart because they’re not gay) - F: She was very much overridden with grief, it was all sadness that you and your brother left her. From what I witnessed, she loved you very much.
- (Flashback: Renoir looking down with contempt. You stupid boy. If you hadn’t gone- if you hadn’t made our family weak-)
- F: If it’s any consolation, she’s doing much better now.
- P: Where is she?
- F: Still in the city, but she’s doing good work. She’s helping others who have gone through the same pain she has.
- P: Thank you for looking after her, picking up my dad’s slack. He should’ve been there for her.
- F: She came to me, after all. Just doing my work. Have you always lived in Halia?
- P: Since I was born. Are you from Halia?
- F: No, I’m from… far away.
- P: There’s a settlement to the east called Madura. That’s where I grew up. My family were nobles there but then the Collapse happened, and I guess my father saw an opportunity.
- F: I suppose life has been much better since you moved here?
- P: It wasn’t that hard of a choice, I suppose - around that time there was quite a lot of rebel activity, noble houses weren’t safe.
- F: Were you ever a target?
- P: Not really.
- F: That’s good:)
- P: Our family weren’t that important until Luden’s Rest.
- F: If it’s not too much to ask: why did you leave? You could have anything you want.
- P: I don’t want to talk about it.
- (Detect Thoughts: Feelings of jealousy, inferiority, of lack of recognition; he feels stupid about it)
- F: That’s fair. We all have our reasons.
- P: Well, it means a lot that you came over and told me about my mother.
- F: Of course.
- P: What was your name again?
- F: My name is Fugue.
- P: Right- well, thank you, Fugue.
- (Fugue squeezes his hand. It’s not gay if you’re manipulating!)
- F: If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here.
Eros chats with Fugue
- It’s late at night, and Fugue gets a knock on his tent — it’s Eros!
Note
This scene below was also transcribed by Ash; thank you Ash! <3
- Eros: Do you have a moment?
- Fugue: Can I help you?
- E: Why don’t you tell me about that goddess of yours?
- F: At this hour?
- E: (Knowing look). It was for your comfort that I decided to come now and not in broad daylight.
- F: Why don’t you come in.
- E: (Makes himself comfortable inside the tent). You know, I’ve always wanted to pen a ballad about Shar, but your people are so secretive.
- F: With good reason.
- E: Does she talk to you often?
- F: (Confused and uncomfortable) Um. Okay. Have you never met a Sharran before?
- E: One or two. You don’t like to talk. I get that. Your secret’s safe with me.
- F: You just said you were going to write a ballad.
- E: Sometimes art is more for the artist.
- F: Secrecy is part of our practice. It’s our code, loss is private. Grief can be an intimate thing - I wouldn’t want my darkest moments proclaimed to the world, would you?
- E: No, I wouldn’t. If you don’t mind me asking, does she speak to you often?
- F: Her nature is not to talk, but I feel her presence. If I close my eyes I can feel her embrace. Here in the Void, I feel it more. Haven’t you mentioned that your god told you to come down here?
- E: He did - did yours?
- F: Kind of. Isn’t your god - who is your god?
- E: Milil - god of music, song, worship. I have a fascination with religious practice [missed some of this but he talks about worship & intimacy creepystyle]. Don’t you think?
- F: …sure? (apprehensive) Your god of music told you to come down into the Void there’s no coming back from?
- E: I’m not the only one. I’ve talked to a few people whose gods told them to come down here.
- F: It’s good we’re not alone, I guess.
- Insight Check: Eros is about to ask something else, but decides against it.
- E: This has been [INCOMPREHENSIBLE]. Like I said, your secret’s safe with me. Let me know if I can do anything for you. Oh, and a word of advice: if you want to hide your god, lying is a lot more effective than secrecy.
Nightmares
- Malachi: A scene before things went wrong, with her family. She’s holding a baby with red hair, Pyr. Black tendrils grab at Pyr, wrench him away from Mal. It takes the form of a goliath, dragging her son away
- Fletcher: She’s in the Dancing Dryad tavern with Rion. She sees the bartender slide them a drink, then watches Rion get poisoned and die in front of her. There’s a pair of eyes looking back at her, and a voice speaking inscrutable words
- Pan: Younger Pan chilling in an expanse of nature. The ground beneath them falls away and everything evaporates. Elin’s eyes stare them down, and it flickers, turning blue
- Fugue: He lies awake, slipping into a dream-hallucination. There’s distant music, and next to him is a not-quite-familiar figure: an aasimar with long dark hair, grey eyes, and a blank face. He places a hand on Fugue’s chest and pushes further, wraps around his lifeless heart, squeezes, bringing blood rushing back into him.
Wisdom saves for everybody! We are all fine, but Fletcher wakes up with the vial of voidmatter in her hands.
Breakfast
- Kaylin sends North & South team in different directions. Mal takes the map, then delegates map reading to Fugue :)
The Honeybee Tavern
- We’re out in the streets of Corvald again, in a less than reputable part of the city.
- Near the tavern, hanging off signpost and buildings, are bits of moving leather
- Mal and Fletcher investigate — in the alley nearby, Mal finds a backdoor, and Fletcher finds a hatch. Both are locked
- Mal fails to unlock the cellar hatch. While she’s trying to unlock it, there’s a rustling sound beneath…
- Mal opens the backdoor while Fugue casts Guidance
- Welcome to the club! It’s a strip club/casino. There’s undead echoes everywhere
- A tiefling dancer blows a kiss at Pan
- History check from Pan: the dancer is the spitting image of the First Prince
- A lady’s resting her head at the bar, looks really tired, and there’s a half-elven woman with mousy brown hair behind the bar
- The bartender Elise welcomes us. Mal mentions Vincent sent us here, and the two women look concerned about Vincent coming to the tavern soon
- Mal brings up Venus and Vesta
- Elise: I assume you know what’s going on here.
- Pan: So. You wanna kill the king.
- Elise: And what are your thoughts on that.
- Pan: I say let him hang.
- Elise takes us to the backrooms where there’s a big table of poker with two people sitting around it (Amber and… I didn’t get the other’s name)
- Lady Caroline, a member of the nobility, works with/for them. She serves as a distraction to Lady Lenore Fane’s pet telepath, Harley.
- Lady Fane is close to the king, and Harley is deeply loyal
- Fletcher mentions she worked for Sebastian
- Apparently, Sebastian used to be “just” an advisor to a noblewoman (Lady Fane), and had no business with the apothecary ten years ago
- He also has an association with the Blackstaff Academy
- Vesta had a vision of something going wrong. No specifics but they’re on high alert regardless
- Venus can cast Gate and Dimension Door
- Hal & Ellion are the ones who will deal the killing blow to the king. They’re both pretty good fighters
- Ronan is a powerful druid, and Cordelia is a sorcerer who dragged half the palace into her orbit
- They had to get Kivia and the Crownguard out of town
- Mal: Was the fuss in the east that big of a deal that they would leave the capital vulnerable at the night of the Royal Gala?
- “Kill enough nobles, that’ll get their attention.”
- Fugue: Was it just the king they wanted to kill?
- That’s the minimum they want to achieve: taking out King Ronan, Lady Cordelia, and the First and Second Prince.
- Mal & Fletcher: And then what?
- An easy question to ask but a hard one to answer.
- Mal: Who came up with the plan? Who got you all together in the first place?
- Hal & Ellion.
- Perception checks: We notice something in our periphery, and it flips behind the curtain in the corner.
- Mal peeks behind the curtain and sees a yellow sprite, then she disappears
- Fletcher pops See Invisibility, and sees the sprite darting out of the room
- We give chase. Roll initiative!
- Mal goes first and Ice Knifes the sprite (whose name is Teasel!)
- Fletcher catches up to her and she sees that Teasel looks banged up by Mal’s attack
- She heals her and convinces her to stay
- Teasel’s curious; she doesn’t see many living people around here. She’s a Diver too, technically, who snuck down into the Void with the help of her Big Buddy who’s also a Diver.
- Insight check: she’s lying to your face :D
- Teasel: We’re spying on you. For Hex.
Footnotes
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Coming from the guy who wears his mask 24/7… smh ↩