Sixty-Third Session - Dead Souls and Dead Cities

Session resumes with a spirit of the Lady of the Lasting Embrace, henceforth known as Mirror Lady, trapping Max in her realm to offer him therapy about how much death haunts him. She tells him that 'those deaths should not weigh on you', as all things in the end must die. Max is duly skeptical, and she gifts him a black coin that will let him choose a soul to commune with when dropped in water. She tells him this will be useful in the final trial of the Lady’s Night, then Max is cast back into the Hall of Mirrors.

Alana and Max escape the rest of the hall and reunite with Celia and Ishaq. Max shows them the coin, and they both recognize it as marked with an ancient, pre-Raith symbol of the Lady. After a discussion about the implications and philosophy of death, the Keepers move on. Marching order - Celia, Max, Ishaq, Alana

While Max and Ishaq are talking, a trapdoor opens beneath them - they plummet into a tunnel, separated from Celia and Alana. Max and Ishaq land in a lightless room, thigh-deep in goop. Ishaq activates Driftglobe. They see a hulking humanoid figure in front of them, drooling. Ishaq screams and immediately casts Firebolt and misses.

It turns out the ogre is a kind of puppet operated by a halfling. The Driftglobe reveals that Max and Ishaq are standing in gelatin and fabric. The puppeteer is irate at her near-immolation, and reprimands Ishaq for using prohibited weapons/magic in the trial. Ishaq HATES PUPPETS.

Meanwhile, Celia and Alana move on. They feel a cold breeze, then a cold arm pulls Alana toward the wall. Alana breaks free and warns Celia, just before Celia gets grabbed and dragged. Celia submits out of curiosity, and a mushroom chant begins. Celia then intimidates the shit out of the graspers by informing them she eats through her hands. Terrified, the grabbers slap some goop on Alana, then urge the two to leave.

Back below, Max and Ishaq enter a room filled with sticky, strong webbing. A chittering noise builds all around them. Ishaq fails a WIS save, starts to feel bugs on him, tries to get them off him by Prestidigitizing his skin to be covered in oil. Max sees no bugs and carries Ishaq’s oily body away, using his feet to clear the web. They reach a staircase, and the bug illusion disappears once they reach the top.

Alana and Celia enter a room strung with wires/threads, and manage to sneak through with a combination of acrobatics and DEX checks. The Keepers finally reunite within a votive area dedicated to the Lady, filled with candles, surrounding a fountain.

Celia hears whispers coming from the fountain, sees an image of her deceased grandmother in the water. She waves at the image, it waves back. Celia botches an investigation check, calls Ishaq to help her figure out why her grandma is in the fountain trying to communicate with her. When Ishaq approaches, he sees an Elven woman who may be related to him, but doesn't recognize her.

Ishaq spots coins at the bottom of the fountain - calls Max over to show his coin, some of them are the same black coin, but most look like just coppers and silvers.

An apparition arises of a beautiful Elven lady. She introduces herself in Sylvan as Gwendolyn Duvainor, Ishaq’s ancestor who introduced draconic blood into the family through her liaison with a red dragon. She offers to answer questions, Ishaq *immediately* asks about the, erm, mechanics of her encounters with a red dragon. Gwendolyn confirms that Ishaq's draconic ancestor still lives in the material plane, and that Ishaq inherits his passion from him.

Max offers the Black Coin to members of the party because he's scared of what it could show him, and thinks his friends might put it to better use than him. All the Keepers pass on the chance to use it, and Max ends up putting the Black Coin away to use later.

Celia steps forward and throws a silver in to talk to her grandma. Grandma tells Celia that she’s proud of her and all the death, and that no one ever really dies because of the circle of life and because Celia and the rest of the family ate Grandma’s body. Grandma also tells Celia that some members of the family went away to work with Dark Elves, while others live in the above-ground in the jungles. She left Celia something in her hovel, beneath the floor.

Max sees Heft, a female elf who was third-in-command of Troublestab, his old mercenary company with Cyrus. Her image looks torn, weird, twisted, due to having died a violent death. Heft absolves Max of his failure to detect Cyrus’ treachery, and encourages him to go kill the traitor. When Max asks if she’s at peace, some supernatural force censors her description of the afterlife. She departs telling him not to worry so much and promising they’ll drink together eventually, and Ishaq comforts a deeply shaken Max.

The party exits the trials of the Lady and reunite with Markoris and their many winged cats, who appear to have overwhelmed Markoris while they’ve been gone. The Keepers camp out on Rainen’s roof and get free dinner before preparing to leave Ueramos in the morning, which is gray and drizzly. They get fresh rations from Rainen, and +15 HP from Ishaq’s Inspiring Speech.

Alana transforms into a massive Quetzalcoatlus, and the Keepers climb on and set off. Celia has an idea where to go, but Marvos Dunham has been a lost city for a while. They fly out of the city northward until they reach open land criss-crossed with canals, swampy jungle beyond, and mountains to the north. A storm threatens up ahead, with dark shapes circling in the sky. Ishaq realizes there's always going to be a lot of rain around the mountains

The wind picks up, and the party have to make DEX saves. Celia, Max, Ishaq, and Raul all fall off Alana’s overcrowded back. Markoris catches Max, Ishaq snags Celia and Dimension Doors them both back onto Alana, and then Alana swoops down to snatch Raul out of the air in her jaws.

The storm is getting worse, so Alana lands near a swampy lake, taking 12 bludgeoning damage from the rough landing. A nearby hut is the only apparent shelter from the rain and wind. The party runs for the hut, and Ishaq is his charming self for the Tortle man who answers the door. The party is invited inside by a Tortle named Harold, who operates swamp tours of the area with his boat.

While Celia eats a roasted big grub, the party asks Harold about Marvos Dunham. He knows where LOTLE’s temple in the area is, but doesn’t believe the city can be found. Max hires him for a tour of the temple, and they settle in to wait out the storm. Harald mentions another party also wanted to find the lost city, about a week ago - not Cyrus, possibly Tristan.

Alana and Ishaq know that Marvos Dunham became lost through a mysterious conflict that resulted in the extermination of the entire city. Ishaq particularly knows this site was used as a sacred place for pilgrimages to LOTLE for the POWER OF ULTIMATE DEATH. Ishaq suspects it was tied to LOTLE's more vengeful period, pre-Raith. Alana has heard that the inhabitants of the city took the power of the gods into their own hands and started changing life in their image. Alana's Circle believed this to be a great blasphemy and that the city earned their fate.

After a Short Rest, Harald gets the boat ready and the party sets off through the swamp. As Harold points out attractions and landmarks, Celia, Markoris, and Alana spot a moving tree with a face - just for a moment. Ishaq immediately terms it an 'Entitree.'

Alana asks Harold about the Entitree. He says there are brain-eating scary trees that talk in your head. Alana casts Pass Without a Trace on the party while Ishaq readies a Firebolt. The Keepers roll VERY WELL on a group Stealth check, and slip by the Entitree and its bug minions without incident despite hearing a voice in their heads.

Ishaq strongly requests Harald warns them in advance of dangerous creatures from now on. Next up are the mound-nests of the 'Brendrils' by the side of the stream. They are fluffy, eat leaves and bugs and bread. Harold warns against upsetting them, but says the party can feed them.

The party pays 2 silver each to help feed the cute creatures. Fightyclaws wants to pounce on them, but Max bribes him with bacon to keep the peace. Session closes with the party on the verge of reaching Marvos Dunham.