Dragons & Vampires campaign

As we stand before Athena, we see a half-complete contract materialise in Bynrora’s hands. Athena tries to sweet-talk each of us in turn to add something to the deal. She offers Lucia her credibility, or information about why it was destroyed. She offers Rupen his wife back. She offers Jhin his family back, or to help with the beads. She asks Lysandra what she might want. Each of us turns her down, Lysandra saying that she just came for Altarian back.

Athena says that she could keep his soul for herself, but will give him to us for a price. She begins to name her terms. Firstly, that we keep the secret of her nature confidential and not allow anyone to learn the truth. Secondly, she wants her followers to have the freedom and security to fulfil their religious duties in the Dark Domain without fear of being hunted, and for the Dark Domain to recognise her followers. (Rupen and Lysandra know that her cult, which Rupen’s father fought, is hideously evil, practising child murder and genital mutilation in her name, believing that Mother Soulweaver was robbed of her rightful place as ruler of the cosmos and would usher in a new age of peace.)

Lysandra tells Athena that she doesn’t have the authority to agree to that on behalf of the Dark Domain, but Athena tells her that she is beloved to her father and could persuade him. She says she will give us two minutes to confer and her horde of demons usher us out of the throne room. We hurriedly discuss the terms she’s offered - we agree that keeping how to kill her a secret is okay as a concession because we already told Ainwya and the Vampire King, but are extremely concerned about the religious duties she mentioned, agreeing that we’ll try to insist those religious duties are within the current laws of the Dark Domain. The demons return and we are brought back into the throne room to continue negotiations.

The contract

For her first point, we tell her that we will keep the secret of how she can be killed from now on, but that we aren’t responsible for managing what people who aren’t currently present do. She tells us she also wants her identity kept secret - she doesn’t want people who aren’t her followers knowing that Athena and Zoryana the Mother Soulweaver are the same entity. Lysandra asks if that includes Altarian, and she says she will allow Altarian as the exception, although Jhin and Lysandra realise that she likely can’t put any restrictions on her own children anyway.

For her second condition, we agree that her followers will be recognised by the Dark Domain and not hunted, but that they must follow the existing laws of the Dark Domain. Athena says she cannot forfeit her followers fulfilling their religious duties but says they will only practise on the scum of society - this is too subjective, so she offers only the people the Dark Domain deem as wicked. We eventually agree that the Dark Domain will allow the cult of the Mother Soulweaver to have two victims every month who have already been sentenced to death by the Dark Domain, and whose month of due process after this sentencing has elapsed. We will ideally provide victims between the age of 20 - 24, one male and one female. We agree that victims will only be provided from the existing pool of death row candidates and that if there are no suitable victims available then we are not obliged to provide any that month. We clarify that Athena and her followers may not enchant or otherwise coerce innocent people to commit crimes to fill that quota.

We also clarify that when she says she will return him to us, that we are talking about the soul of the Elder God Cet, who is known to us as Altarian, and that his soul will be returned in the same perfect condition as it is when the Forgebuilder gives it to her, with no tampering, exactly as it was at the moment of his death.

After we finish hashing out this contract, Athena turns to Merla, who tells her that she already said she would have to be present in the Feywild to fix the fey halflings. Athena says that in return, she wants Lord Valgore’s cooperation in acknowledging her as the Queen of the Hells, and Merla says that she’s not in a position to make that decision and Athena will have to make that arrangement with him Athena asks if she thinks Lord Valgore cares about her halfling kin, wouldn’t he take this deal in exchange for their restoration? Athena wants him to help defend the Hells in the case of an invasion on her domain. Merla stands firm, telling Athena that it isn’t her decision to make, and Athena tells her that’s the price for her help with the halflings and that Merla knows where to find her.

Bynrora and another demon bring over a signing table bearing a humble pen next to shining golden paper with space for all five of our names. Lucia asks Ainwya whether there’s anything we should have done differently and Ainwya says that her mother had won the moment we stepped through her doors but there was no other way to get Altarian back - Salabana going to the Forgebuilder would have been much worse.

Merla checks the pen, which seems normal, and Lucia recognises the magic of the contract as one similar to that made sometime in academia between two powerful rivals that nullifies the power between them. If we try to tell anyone other than Altarian (or Lord Valgore, for Merla) about Athena’s secret our mouths will be magically stopped. The magic of this type of contract only if it’s signed willingly and without magical coercion. Rupen is brought a shallow disk of ink to sign with his claw, and all five of us sign. Bynrora takes the contract to Athena, who reads it over then also signs.

Athena gives the original copy to Lysandra to keep, and with a satisfied smile, says that we’ll go to the Forgebuilder now. She approaches the roiling lava and in the flaming chasm we see and hear people screaming in agony. Rupen checks but can’t recognise anyone he knows, unsurprisingly since they’re burned beyond recognition. A portal materialises above the fire, pitch black, and Athena walks above the fire on an invisible platform into it. We follow her and are encapsulated by perfect blackness that no darkvision or truesight can pierce. The darkness feels alive and malevolent and we are filled with despair before rallying as Salabana’s protection kicks in.

We grab each other’s hands and Ainwya catches hold of us, saying ‘walk with me’ in a voice that is calming and consoling. As we walk, we are surrounded by the hissing and growling of the residents of the Abyss and feel hideous brushes of wind. Those with connections to the outside world find they are broken - Merla cannot sense Lord Valgore or even Ainwya, Rupen cannot sense Life, Lysandra’s vampiric nature is suppressed. Merla asks Ainwya is she’s still here and Ainwya reassures her that she is, reminding her that this is the Abyss, the furthest place possible from anything remotely good - darkness manifest.

Suddenly, we hear a horribly loud ‘ZORYANA’. We feel Athena turn to us and say that she’d appreciate it if we let her handle the talking, then walks forward as we follow.

‘ZORYANA! ANSWER ME!’

‘I’m here, Forgebuilder.’

He tells her that she has some nerve to insult him in his own domain and to bring a traitor into his presence - we now know that he’s referring to Jhin, since his grandfather agreed to take the Kukoken blade created by the Forgebuilder then switched its allegiance to the Serpent. Athena tells him not to be hasty and that the boy is of no consequence and can;t be blamed for the sins of his grandfather. She says she’s here for a different purpose - she wants Cet back. For a brief moment there is a flash of purple light and we see a massive hand, large enough that our whole group is the same size as one of its fingernails, about 200ft away. Hovering above the palm is Altarian’s sleeping soul.

The Forgebuilder asks Athena what she’ll give him for an Elder God and she asks what he would like from a concerned mother. He asks for 1,000 innocent souls and she reminds him that she doesn’t have access to such a resource but can offer souls from the Hells. He tells her he will take 150,000 Hell souls and 1 innocent soul. Athena reminds him that righteous souls belong to Mana and he says that he will accept the soul of the traitor she so kindly brought.

Jhin asks how he can be a traitor, the sins of his grandfather were nothing to do with him - Athena chastises him, telling him to let her do the talking, before telling the Forgebuilder that she can’t allow it because she’s signed a binding contract with Jhin. Jhin hears Athena’s voice in his head telling him that this is his chance to be free of the Serpent - he says free of the Serpent but under the control of the Forge, but she says that the Forgebuilder is more reasonable and he would have her to help him, consider it a sweetener to their successful contract.

Aloud, Jhin tells them he has no use for the blade and wishes not to deal with it, telling the Forgebuilder he’ll return the blade if he agrees to destroy it. The forgebuilder tells him that he offers something that already belongs to him, and Jhin says no, I offer you something that’s the Serpents - the Forgebuilder rumbles the ground in anger. Athena chastises the rudeness. The Forgebuilder tells Jhin to pledge his allegiance to him and he’ll release him from the sword, and offers him the might and power to slay creatures of the void. Athena tells Jhin that the Forgebuilder feeds on creatures of the void, not on mortal souls and isn;t that better but Jhin insists he wants to find his own power, not their borrowed power. The forgebuilder tells him he can overrule the Serpent (and Athena reminds Jhin that he can surrender them to her) - Jhin asks the Forgebuilder what he’ll do with them and he says he’ll find a worthy wielder - who do you have in mind - none of your concern - Jhin says it is if it comes back later to bite him in the ass, and the Forgebuilder tells him to have fun with the Serpent as Jhin drops to 0 HP, blood pouring from him as Ainwya struggles to support him and Lucia checks his pulse to make sure he’s still alive.

Athena tells the Forgebuilder she will give him 150,00 Hell souls, plus anbothe r10,000 from the uppermost tier of Hell, and he accepts. We hear a wave of tortured screaming voices as a horder of souls stream past and are transferred from the Hells. Then we hear the songs of bones crunching and slurping and sloshing - the entity is eating.

In another flash of purple light we see the massive claws release Altarina’s souls, which floats into the possession of Athena. She thanks the Forgebuilder and turns to leave as the rest of us follow. We travel back the way we came and hear the portal again, passing through and regaining our vision as we reenter the Hells. Lucia pours a potion of Healing down Jhin’s throat, who regains 10HP and wakes up furious at the Forgebuilder, since he wasn’t done asking questions. He tells Athena that she’d said he was more reasonable than the Serpent, and she says that she can’t control his actions, and that he’s lucky to be alive since she’d have given him up if they hadn’t signed the contract. He tells her that the blade’s bound to his blood and he doesn’t want the Forgebuilder approaching his brother - she tells him that that’s his brother’s decision but that eventually the blade would find its way to his or his brother’s progeny.

Jhin threatens to destroy all three entities if that’ll end the contract and Athena offers him a deal - she’ll hijack the beads so that the connection is between her and Jhin, with the Serpent having no access to the souls, and in return when the time comes she will help him try to kill the abyssal entities, since they’re a threat to her rule. He wouldn’t need to worry about the deal with the Serpent, since he’d be under her protection, but in return he’d need to promise not to turn his blade on her. He asks for the same level of protection to be bestowed on his brother and Athena agrees - Jhin instantly feels his connection to the Serpent fade into nothing with one last death rattle.

Jhin bows deeply to Athena - she says that for his politeness, she’ll tell him that Voldrus Sendrum carries something with him and if Jhin slays him and takes it, he’ll be one step closer to killing the abyssal entities. Jhin tells her that whatever she needs doing when it comes to killing those entities, he’ll do.

Athena hands Altarian’s soul over to Lysandra - it’s like carrying a thin, warm blanket. He looks like he;s just sleeping. Lysandra asks the group if anyone knows how to put a soul back in a body and Rupen ponders asking Life, before Ainwya tells us it’s time to go. We agree heartily and her Teleportation Circle encases us. Just before we leave, Athena looks at Lysandra, smiles, and tells her to let her know if she needs to talk to King Rivaine.

The teleportation circle activates and we are shot up through the Hells, through several different planes, before landing back in the sylvan village. We make our way straight to Altarian’s body, with Ainwya telling us we’ll need to bring him back to life before his soul can return to his body. She produces a scroll of Revivify and hands it along with three diamonds to Rupen. The sylvan elves, seeing Jhin hurt and covered in blood, heal him back up to full. Lysandra, carrying Altarian’s soul, asks one of them to run and get Altarian’s parent’s, Enarion and Faena.

We reach his body, now respectfully covered by a blanket. Jhin is unable to face it and stays outside while the rest of us enter, Merla and Lucia staying back a little, Lysandra and Rupen taking their places next to the body as Enarion and Faena enter. Ainwya tells Rupen it’s all on him now.

Rupen pulls back the cover from Altarian and begins chanting in Druidic. The three gems fade into nothingness and a breath of life warms Altarian’s cheeks with colour and chases the deathly stillness from him. His soul reabsorbs into his body and we see tiny roots begin to grow inside his chest cavity, twisting and swelling until they resemble a heart. The vines keep thriving inside him, becoming muscle and flesh and completely healing the awful wound, and Altarian opens his eyes.

Rupen tells him “Welcome home, buddy,” and Altarian asks why he’s naked - Rupen says sorry and quickly covers him up. Altarian starts asking questions, confused about why he’s on the table and what happened with the battle but is interrupted by his parents descending and hugging him. He tells them he missed them too as Lysandra also joins the hug. “You’re acting like I died,” and it takes a few tries to get him to believe that he did actually die and was dead for three days, Lysandra knowing how long it’s been down to the minute.

Merla joins the hug, everyone’s crying, Jhin comes in. We ask Altarian why he didn’t tell us he was an Elder God and he has no idea what we’re talking about - he doesn’t remember anything past being punched either. Everyone lets him go and Rupen runs out to find clothes, while Lysandra keeps clinging to him. He asks why we didn’t revive him earlier and we tell him we tried as Rupen returns his comically mismatched clothes - rather than go to Altarian’s house and get his actual clothes, he’d thrown money at a shopkeeper. Altarian hugs Jhin too, and starts joking around, trying to make light of the situation, comparing himself to some guy in a book he read who’d been dead for three days and came back.

Altarian’s parents hustle us all to their house for dinner. Altarian starts setting the table and Merla pulls the plates out of his hands, so he goes for utensils instead. We all sit down and have a lovely meal, with Merla being the party face and graciously thanking our hosts. Rupen tells the story of Altarian thinking Lysandra was a sex demon when they met - Enarion laughs delightedly while Faena is shocked, and Altarian and Lysandra try to backpedal and downplay it. Rupen then tells the story of the first time he drank wine, it was actually blood - Jhin throws an apple at his head as the nom nom takes the cue to dive into the fruit bowl and Lucia retrieves it apologetically. As we eat, Illusius, Medusa and Cassian come by, happy to see Altarian back, and Illusius hugs him. Rupen keeps telling embarrassing stories, stressing Lysandra out and Altarian starts trying to get him to drink enough that he passes out. Enarion and Faena suggest dessert, bringing out pudding, and coo over Merla when she uses her new dictionary to say ‘thank you’ in sylvan.

After we finish eating, we start to ask Ainwya and Altarian’s parents for the whole story - how did they end up with an Elder God as a son. Despite Altarian’s confused interjections, Ainwya explains that Altarian was originally born to and created by the Mother Soulweaver. Whenever he dies and reincarnates, he’s reborn to other parents, with no memory of his previous incarnations. He died 28 years ago and was reborn to Enarion and Faena.

Altarian protests that he can’t be a god, he’s not like Onyx, he doesn’t have wings or wield radiant magic. Rupen tells him that not all god are created equal, and maybe he’s the God of Handsomeness, which Lysandra agrees with.

Ainwya tells him that when he was reborn, Ainwya and Lord Valgore recognised him immediately. As priests of Ainwya, his parents swore a sacred oath not to reveal his true nature, because they were afraid he’d fulfil the destiny their mother wanted for him. He doesn’t feel like a god because he’s still got to grow into his powers as the God of Nature. She tells him that when he died 28 years ago, it was because Salabana baited him into ritual combat by killing people dear to him, and Altarian lost. Ainwya asks him to promise he won’t pick a fight with Salabana, that he stayed out of the fight 30 years ago because he assumed Mother Soulweaver would win and if he’d been there the Six would likely have lost.

Rupen asks Altarian “if you’re the God of Nature, are you my god?” Altarian says he doesn’t know and Rupen starts asking him to teach him spells, making Altarian smile. He asks where Onyx is and Merla tells him about Onyx ‘failing’ their trial and needing time, leaving the party before we went to get him back from the Abyss. We explain what happened with Guan, Bynrora, and Medusa, telling him the whole story with Onyx, Rupen and Illusius getting petrified.

During all this, Lucia gets a Sending from her old Professor, Irynthar Sendoku, who tells her that he’s being made Lord of Magic and he wants her there at the ceremony in two weeks. She congratulates him, says she’ll be there and asks if he received her letter - he tells her he did and she warns him to be safe. She tells the group and we start discussing what to do next. Lysandra mentions that she has an airship - we could ask Lord Valgore to teleport us straight to Regalia, or we could teleport to the Dark Domain so we can catch up with the Six, then take the airship to Regalia, which would only take a few days.

Merla asks Ainwya how they should approach the issue with the fey halflings - they need to speak to Lord Valgore. Merla says she’s not feeling good about it at all but that the decision is for Lord Valgore to make.

We agree to sleep here for the night, since for the first time in a while we’re not rushing headlong against the clock. It’s still early in the evening, and Rupen is excited to head back to the tavern, suggesting some game called ‘D&D’. While Rupen, Merla, Medusa and Illusius head for the tavern, Jhin and Lucia go to find the shopkeeper Jhin promised to help, and Lysandra and Altarian (and Cassian) stay at his parents’ a little longer.

Jhin and Lucia enter the shop and greet the shopkeeper, with Jhin introducing Lucia as the mage he’d mentioned. The shopkeeper returns holding a crystal ball - Lucia is shocked to recognise the powerful magical signature within as a Wish spell, and asks where on earth he got it. He tells her that it was the last thing his bard wife made, and doesn’t seem to know what it is. Lucia tells him that she left him a wish spell. He tells about his wife, who mused about the possibilities, left the village and returned very sick before quickly succumbing to death. Lucia recognises the symptoms of extreme arcane addiction - she had far overreached herself in creating this and only stayed alive long enough to return to the village because of the cleansing power of the feywild.

Lucia takes the crystal ball and casts a dispel magic, managing to release the wish spell which floats in her hands like a tiny star. She hands it to the old shopkeeper and ask what he’ll wish for - his first instinct was to wish her back but he knows that she wa very sick and he is at the end of his life so that would be cruel - he doesn’t know yet. He sobs and disappears to the back. Jhin and Lucia wait as he rustles around, eventually emerging with a beautifully ornate fey-style chess board, passing it to Jhin who opens it to see intricately carved pieces inside. Jhin closes it and bow deeply to the man, telling him he hopes he wishes for something that brings him happiness, and Lucia shakes his hand while warning him to use the spell responsibly. As they leave, the old man calls out to Jhin to ‘take care of it for me, it’s the most precious thing I have left’ - Jhin promises to.

As they walk towards the tavern, Lucia looks at the chess board and sees a magical glow. Carefully opening up the white side of the board, she finds the wish spell, along with the words ‘thank you’. Agreeing that this is too big a gift to be given lightly, the pair decide to return to the shopkeeper in the morning, and hide it carefully away in the board again before continuing to the tavern. Session 24 - contracts and resurrections

As we stand before Athena, we see a half-complete contract materialise in Bynrora’s hands. Athena tries to sweet-talk each of us in turn to add something to the deal. She offers Lucia her credibility, or information about why it was destroyed. She offers Rupen his wife back. She offers Jhin his family back, or to help with the beads. She asks Lysandra what she might want. Each of us turns her down, Lysandra saying that she just came for Altarian back.

Athena says that she could keep his soul for herself, but will give him to us for a price. She begins to name her terms. Firstly, that we keep the secret of her nature confidential and not allow anyone to learn the truth. Secondly, she wants her followers to have the freedom and security to fulfil their religious duties in the Dark Domain without fear of being hunted, and for the Dark Domain to recognise her followers. (Rupen and Lysandra know that her cult, which Rupen’s father fought, is hideously evil, practising child murder and genital mutilation in her name, believing that Mother Soulweaver was robbed of her rightful place as ruler of the cosmos and would usher in a new age of peace.)

Lysandra tells Athena that she doesn’t have the authority to agree to that on behalf of the Dark Domain, but Athena tells her that she is beloved to her father and could persuade him. She says she will give us two minutes to confer and her horde of demons usher us out of the throne room. We hurriedly discuss the terms she’s offered - we agree that keeping how to kill her a secret is okay as a concession because we already told Ainwya and the Vampire King, but are extremely concerned about the religious duties she mentioned, agreeing that we’ll try to insist those religious duties are within the current laws of the Dark Domain. The demons return and we are brought back into the throne room to continue negotiations.

The contract

For her first point, we tell her that we will keep the secret of how she can be killed from now on, but that we aren’t responsible for managing what people who aren’t currently present do. She tells us she also wants her identity kept secret - she doesn’t want people who aren’t her followers knowing that Athena and Zoryana the Mother Soulweaver are the same entity. Lysandra asks if that includes Altarian, and she says she will allow Altarian as the exception, although Jhin and Lysandra realise that she likely can’t put any restrictions on her own children anyway.

For her second condition, we agree that her followers will be recognised by the Dark Domain and not hunted, but that they must follow the existing laws of the Dark Domain. Athena says she cannot forfeit her followers fulfilling their religious duties but says they will only practise on the scum of society - this is too subjective, so she offers only the people the Dark Domain deem as wicked. We eventually agree that the Dark Domain will allow the cult of the Mother Soulweaver to have two victims every month who have already been sentenced to death by the Dark Domain, and whose month of due process after this sentencing has elapsed. We will ideally provide victims between the age of 20 - 24, one male and one female. We agree that victims will only be provided from the existing pool of death row candidates and that if there are no suitable victims available then we are not obliged to provide any that month. We clarify that Athena and her followers may not enchant or otherwise coerce innocent people to commit crimes to fill that quota.

We also clarify that when she says she will return him to us, that we are talking about the soul of the Elder God Cet, who is known to us as Altarian, and that his soul will be returned in the same perfect condition as it is when the Forgebuilder gives it to her, with no tampering, exactly as it was at the moment of his death.

After we finish hashing out this contract, Athena turns to Merla, who tells her that she already said she would have to be present in the Feywild to fix the fey halflings. Athena says that in return, she wants Lord Valgore’s cooperation in acknowledging her as the Queen of the Hells, and Merla says that she’s not in a position to make that decision and Athena will have to make that arrangement with him Athena asks if she thinks Lord Valgore cares about her halfling kin, wouldn’t he take this deal in exchange for their restoration? Athena wants him to help defend the Hells in the case of an invasion on her domain. Merla stands firm, telling Athena that it isn’t her decision to make, and Athena tells her that’s the price for her help with the halflings and that Merla knows where to find her.

Bynrora and another demon bring over a signing table bearing a humble pen next to shining golden paper with space for all five of our names. Lucia asks Ainwya whether there’s anything we should have done differently and Ainwya says that her mother had won the moment we stepped through her doors but there was no other way to get Altarian back - Salabana going to the Forgebuilder would have been much worse.

Merla checks the pen, which seems normal, and Lucia recognises the magic of the contract as one similar to that made sometime in academia between two powerful rivals that nullifies the power between them. If we try to tell anyone other than Altarian (or Lord Valgore, for Merla) about Athena’s secret our mouths will be magically stopped. The magic of this type of contract only if it’s signed willingly and without magical coercion. Rupen is brought a shallow disk of ink to sign with his claw, and all five of us sign. Bynrora takes the contract to Athena, who reads it over then also signs.

Athena gives the original copy to Lysandra to keep, and with a satisfied smile, says that we’ll go to the Forgebuilder now. She approaches the roiling lava and in the flaming chasm we see and hear people screaming in agony. Rupen checks but can’t recognise anyone he knows, unsurprisingly since they’re burned beyond recognition. A portal materialises above the fire, pitch black, and Athena walks above the fire on an invisible platform into it. We follow her and are encapsulated by perfect blackness that no darkvision or truesight can pierce. The darkness feels alive and malevolent and we are filled with despair before rallying as Salabana’s protection kicks in.

We grab each other’s hands and Ainwya catches hold of us, saying ‘walk with me’ in a voice that is calming and consoling. As we walk, we are surrounded by the hissing and growling of the residents of the Abyss and feel hideous brushes of wind. Those with connections to the outside world find they are broken - Merla cannot sense Lord Valgore or even Ainwya, Rupen cannot sense Life, Lysandra’s vampiric nature is suppressed. Merla asks Ainwya is she’s still here and Ainwya reassures her that she is, reminding her that this is the Abyss, the furthest place possible from anything remotely good - darkness manifest.

Suddenly, we hear a horribly loud ‘ZORYANA’. We feel Athena turn to us and say that she’d appreciate it if we let her handle the talking, then walks forward as we follow.

‘ZORYANA! ANSWER ME!’

‘I’m here, Forgebuilder.’

He tells her that she has some nerve to insult him in his own domain and to bring a traitor into his presence - we now know that he’s referring to Jhin, since his grandfather agreed to take the Kukoken blade created by the Forgebuilder then switched its allegiance to the Serpent. Athena tells him not to be hasty and that the boy is of no consequence and can;t be blamed for the sins of his grandfather. She says she’s here for a different purpose - she wants Cet back. For a brief moment there is a flash of purple light and we see a massive hand, large enough that our whole group is the same size as one of its fingernails, about 200ft away. Hovering above the palm is Altarian’s sleeping soul.

The Forgebuilder asks Athena what she’ll give him for an Elder God and she asks what he would like from a concerned mother. He asks for 1,000 innocent souls and she reminds him that she doesn’t have access to such a resource but can offer souls from the Hells. He tells her he will take 150,000 Hell souls and 1 innocent soul. Athena reminds him that righteous souls belong to Mana and he says that he will accept the soul of the traitor she so kindly brought.

Jhin asks how he can be a traitor, the sins of his grandfather were nothing to do with him - Athena chastises him, telling him to let her do the talking, before telling the Forgebuilder that she can’t allow it because she’s signed a binding contract with Jhin. Jhin hears Athena’s voice in his head telling him that this is his chance to be free of the Serpent - he says free of the Serpent but under the control of the Forge, but she says that the Forgebuilder is more reasonable and he would have her to help him, consider it a sweetener to their successful contract.

Aloud, Jhin tells them he has no use for the blade and wishes not to deal with it, telling the Forgebuilder he’ll return the blade if he agrees to destroy it. The forgebuilder tells him that he offers something that already belongs to him, and Jhin says no, I offer you something that’s the Serpents - the Forgebuilder rumbles the ground in anger. Athena chastises the rudeness. The Forgebuilder tells Jhin to pledge his allegiance to him and he’ll release him from the sword, and offers him the might and power to slay creatures of the void. Athena tells Jhin that the Forgebuilder feeds on creatures of the void, not on mortal souls and isn;t that better but Jhin insists he wants to find his own power, not their borrowed power. The forgebuilder tells him he can overrule the Serpent (and Athena reminds Jhin that he can surrender them to her) - Jhin asks the Forgebuilder what he’ll do with them and he says he’ll find a worthy wielder - who do you have in mind - none of your concern - Jhin says it is if it comes back later to bite him in the ass, and the Forgebuilder tells him to have fun with the Serpent as Jhin drops to 0 HP, blood pouring from him as Ainwya struggles to support him and Lucia checks his pulse to make sure he’s still alive.

Athena tells the Forgebuilder she will give him 150,00 Hell souls, plus anbothe r10,000 from the uppermost tier of Hell, and he accepts. We hear a wave of tortured screaming voices as a horder of souls stream past and are transferred from the Hells. Then we hear the songs of bones crunching and slurping and sloshing - the entity is eating.

In another flash of purple light we see the massive claws release Altarina’s souls, which floats into the possession of Athena. She thanks the Forgebuilder and turns to leave as the rest of us follow. We travel back the way we came and hear the portal again, passing through and regaining our vision as we reenter the Hells. Lucia pours a potion of Healing down Jhin’s throat, who regains 10HP and wakes up furious at the Forgebuilder, since he wasn’t done asking questions. He tells Athena that she’d said he was more reasonable than the Serpent, and she says that she can’t control his actions, and that he’s lucky to be alive since she’d have given him up if they hadn’t signed the contract. He tells her that the blade’s bound to his blood and he doesn’t want the Forgebuilder approaching his brother - she tells him that that’s his brother’s decision but that eventually the blade would find its way to his or his brother’s progeny.

Jhin threatens to destroy all three entities if that’ll end the contract and Athena offers him a deal - she’ll hijack the beads so that the connection is between her and Jhin, with the Serpent having no access to the souls, and in return when the time comes she will help him try to kill the abyssal entities, since they’re a threat to her rule. He wouldn’t need to worry about the deal with the Serpent, since he’d be under her protection, but in return he’d need to promise not to turn his blade on her. He asks for the same level of protection to be bestowed on his brother and Athena agrees - Jhin instantly feels his connection to the Serpent fade into nothing with one last death rattle.

Jhin bows deeply to Athena - she says that for his politeness, she’ll tell him that Voldrus Sendrum carries something with him and if Jhin slays him and takes it, he’ll be one step closer to killing the abyssal entities. Jhin tells her that whatever she needs doing when it comes to killing those entities, he’ll do.

Athena hands Altarian’s soul over to Lysandra - it’s like carrying a thin, warm blanket. He looks like he;s just sleeping. Lysandra asks the group if anyone knows how to put a soul back in a body and Rupen ponders asking Life, before Ainwya tells us it’s time to go. We agree heartily and her Teleportation Circle encases us. Just before we leave, Athena looks at Lysandra, smiles, and tells her to let her know if she needs to talk to King Rivaine.

The teleportation circle activates and we are shot up through the Hells, through several different planes, before landing back in the sylvan village. We make our way straight to Altarian’s body, with Ainwya telling us we’ll need to bring him back to life before his soul can return to his body. She produces a scroll of Revivify and hands it along with three diamonds to Rupen. The sylvan elves, seeing Jhin hurt and covered in blood, heal him back up to full. Lysandra, carrying Altarian’s soul, asks one of them to run and get Altarian’s parent’s, Enarion and Faena.

We reach his body, now respectfully covered by a blanket. Jhin is unable to face it and stays outside while the rest of us enter, Merla and Lucia staying back a little, Lysandra and Rupen taking their places next to the body as Enarion and Faena enter. Ainwya tells Rupen it’s all on him now.

Rupen pulls back the cover from Altarian and begins chanting in Druidic. The three gems fade into nothingness and a breath of life warms Altarian’s cheeks with colour and chases the deathly stillness from him. His soul reabsorbs into his body and we see tiny roots begin to grow inside his chest cavity, twisting and swelling until they resemble a heart. The vines keep thriving inside him, becoming muscle and flesh and completely healing the awful wound, and Altarian opens his eyes.

Rupen tells him “Welcome home, buddy,” and Altarian asks why he’s naked - Rupen says sorry and quickly covers him up. Altarian starts asking questions, confused about why he’s on the table and what happened with the battle but is interrupted by his parents descending and hugging him. He tells them he missed them too as Lysandra also joins the hug. “You’re acting like I died,” and it takes a few tries to get him to believe that he did actually die and was dead for three days, Lysandra knowing how long it’s been down to the minute.

Merla joins the hug, everyone’s crying, Jhin comes in. We ask Altarian why he didn’t tell us he was an Elder God and he has no idea what we’re talking about - he doesn’t remember anything past being punched either. Everyone lets him go and Rupen runs out to find clothes, while Lysandra keeps clinging to him. He asks why we didn’t revive him earlier and we tell him we tried as Rupen returns his comically mismatched clothes - rather than go to Altarian’s house and get his actual clothes, he’d thrown money at a shopkeeper. Altarian hugs Jhin too, and starts joking around, trying to make light of the situation, comparing himself to some guy in a book he read who’d been dead for three days and came back.

Altarian’s parents hustle us all to their house for dinner. Altarian starts setting the table and Merla pulls the plates out of his hands, so he goes for utensils instead. We all sit down and have a lovely meal, with Merla being the party face and graciously thanking our hosts. Rupen tells the story of Altarian thinking Lysandra was a sex demon when they met - Enarion laughs delightedly while Faena is shocked, and Altarian and Lysandra try to backpedal and downplay it. Rupen then tells the story of the first time he drank wine, it was actually blood - Jhin throws an apple at his head as the nom nom takes the cue to dive into the fruit bowl and Lucia retrieves it apologetically. As we eat, Illusius, Medusa and Cassian come by, happy to see Altarian back, and Illusius hugs him. Rupen keeps telling embarrassing stories, stressing Lysandra out and Altarian starts trying to get him to drink enough that he passes out. Enarion and Faena suggest dessert, bringing out pudding, and coo over Merla when she uses her new dictionary to say ‘thank you’ in sylvan.

After we finish eating, we start to ask Ainwya and Altarian’s parents for the whole story - how did they end up with an Elder God as a son. Despite Altarian’s confused interjections, Ainwya explains that Altarian was originally born to and created by the Mother Soulweaver. Whenever he dies and reincarnates, he’s reborn to other parents, with no memory of his previous incarnations. He died 28 years ago and was reborn to Enarion and Faena.

Altarian protests that he can’t be a god, he’s not like Onyx, he doesn’t have wings or wield radiant magic. Rupen tells him that not all god are created equal, and maybe he’s the God of Handsomeness, which Lysandra agrees with.

Ainwya tells him that when he was reborn, Ainwya and Lord Valgore recognised him immediately. As priests of Ainwya, his parents swore a sacred oath not to reveal his true nature, because they were afraid he’d fulfil the destiny their mother wanted for him. He doesn’t feel like a god because he’s still got to grow into his powers as the God of Nature. She tells him that when he died 28 years ago, it was because Salabana baited him into ritual combat by killing people dear to him, and Altarian lost. Ainwya asks him to promise he won’t pick a fight with Salabana, that he stayed out of the fight 30 years ago because he assumed Mother Soulweaver would win and if he’d been there the Six would likely have lost.

Rupen asks Altarian “if you’re the God of Nature, are you my god?” Altarian says he doesn’t know and Rupen starts asking him to teach him spells, making Altarian smile. He asks where Onyx is and Merla tells him about Onyx ‘failing’ their trial and needing time, leaving the party before we went to get him back from the Abyss. We explain what happened with Guan, Bynrora, and Medusa, telling him the whole story with Onyx, Rupen and Illusius getting petrified.

During all this, Lucia gets a Sending from her old Professor, Irynthar Sendoku, who tells her that he’s being made Lord of Magic and he wants her there at the ceremony in two weeks. She congratulates him, says she’ll be there and asks if he received her letter - he tells her he did and she warns him to be safe. She tells the group and we start discussing what to do next. Lysandra mentions that she has an airship - we could ask Lord Valgore to teleport us straight to Regalia, or we could teleport to the Dark Domain so we can catch up with the Six, then take the airship to Regalia, which would only take a few days.

Merla asks Ainwya how they should approach the issue with the fey halflings - they need to speak to Lord Valgore. Merla says she’s not feeling good about it at all but that the decision is for Lord Valgore to make.

We agree to sleep here for the night, since for the first time in a while we’re not rushing headlong against the clock. It’s still early in the evening, and Rupen is excited to head back to the tavern, suggesting some game called ‘D&D’. While Rupen, Merla, Medusa and Illusius head for the tavern, Jhin and Lucia go to find the shopkeeper Jhin promised to help, and Lysandra and Altarian (and Cassian) stay at his parents’ a little longer.

Jhin and Lucia enter the shop and greet the shopkeeper, with Jhin introducing Lucia as the mage he’d mentioned. The shopkeeper returns holding a crystal ball - Lucia is shocked to recognise the powerful magical signature within as a Wish spell, and asks where on earth he got it. He tells her that it was the last thing his bard wife made, and doesn’t seem to know what it is. Lucia tells him that she left him a wish spell. He tells about his wife, who mused about the possibilities, left the village and returned very sick before quickly succumbing to death. Lucia recognises the symptoms of extreme arcane addiction - she had far overreached herself in creating this and only stayed alive long enough to return to the village because of the cleansing power of the feywild.

Lucia takes the crystal ball and casts a dispel magic, managing to release the wish spell which floats in her hands like a tiny star. She hands it to the old shopkeeper and ask what he’ll wish for - his first instinct was to wish her back but he knows that she wa very sick and he is at the end of his life so that would be cruel - he doesn’t know yet. He sobs and disappears to the back. Jhin and Lucia wait as he rustles around, eventually emerging with a beautifully ornate fey-style chess board, passing it to Jhin who opens it to see intricately carved pieces inside. Jhin closes it and bow deeply to the man, telling him he hopes he wishes for something that brings him happiness, and Lucia shakes his hand while warning him to use the spell responsibly. As they leave, the old man calls out to Jhin to ‘take care of it for me, it’s the most precious thing I have left’ - Jhin promises to.

As they walk towards the tavern, Lucia looks at the chess board and sees a magical glow. Carefully opening up the white side of the board, she finds the wish spell, along with the words ‘thank you’. Agreeing that this is too big a gift to be given lightly, the pair decide to return to the shopkeeper in the morning, and hide it carefully away in the board again before continuing to the tavern.