Session 34

Elfinmon 20th

They walk into a large chamber below the city. Despite how far they are underground, vines crawl out of vents that let in fresh air. In one corner is a waterfall filling a deep pool, and all around there are braziers. The room isn't empty, unlike the others. People scattered around look to them as they enter, some curious, some excited, others just looking up at the sound. Across from where they entered is an alter with someone sitting in front of it. The Red Priestess, presumably. As they approach the alter they take in this person for the first time: she has strong features, her dark brown hair is shaved on the sides while the rest is braided. Her face has patches of multi-colored scale tattoos and a red strip of fabric covers her eyes. Though she wears leather pants, she's otherwise bare.

The party tentatively approaches her, and she's friendly enough, mostly curious. When asked what brings them, Vasilena straightforwardly tells her about her dream. She doesn't seem surprised by this, in fact, she implies this has happened before. Vasi continues that Gormadraug wanted her help to free the wild, and in turn, he would help free her. This sparks the priestess' attention. She invited them to sit with her and tell her about themselves.

Vasi introduces herself first. She tells the priestess about her people, their beliefs, how she came from Ostoya. Vasi tells her that she doesn't know where her power comes from, she had always presumed the primordials but now... The priestess agrees it's possible her background is why Gormadraug reached out to her.

At that point she turns her attention to the rest of the party. Eden stares at Faust until he awkwardly introduces himself, giving a very vague description of who he is. Without hesitation she clarifies his name, Faust, and then asks with whom. Faust tries to feign ignorance at first, but settles on saying he tries not to think about it. The priestess accepts this, and looks to the next introduction.

Della introduces herself next. They tentatively admit that they do still worship the primordials, but their stance that Gormadraug is apart of the natural cycle. Without him there would be nothing for them to draw their power as a druid from. Or, at least where they used to draw it from. She seems almost amused by this, until Della carries on that they're hunting the beast together and her expression grows serious again. Again the priestess admonishes the primordials when they're mentioned, prompting Della to apologize again and explain themselves, but she assures them it's moreso reflex. She presses further on what it is they want with the beast, and Della says they hope to kill it.

Eden introduces himself, and says plainly that he respects the priestess enough not to lie to her, so he doesn't. He tells her he's a prophet of Aurelia, and working with the party to kill the beast. Thankfully, she's not bothered by this, and appreciates his honestly. He goes on to assure he isn't part of the Hearthkeepers. The priestess tells him to be careful, as the presence of a prophet could be seen as a threat to the imperial throne. Eden replies plainly that it is, but that will be known in time.

At this point she says they have been awfully honest so far, except for ONE thing. There are five people in their party. And with that, Vasilena introduces Basil.

The priestess goes on the about the beast, asking what they think it is. No one has a clear answer, but Eden asks her what she thinks the beast is. She thinks it's possible it's Gormadraug's heart, searching for its pieces. The heart was supposedly tossed into the sea, with an island springing up where it sank. Regardless or what or who it is, currently, it's sewing corruption through the world. Vasi asks what makes her so certain of this theory. The priestess says the way the beast interacts with the enviroment, it reads as intimate. Vasi and the priestess debate this point, but even Della chimes in that they can see the correlation, even in themselves.

Seeing it from this lens, it stands to reason the beast seeks release. While Gormadraug's spirit could be anywhere, she finds it interesting that he chose to reach out to Vasi the way that he did. It may be that the spirit and the heart exist seperatly, both wanting the same thing, but moving in different ways. Eden asks what, then, would she suggest they do going forward with this idea in hand. She proposes two paths: seek out what else is left of Gormadraug and present them to the beast, or simply slay it outright, as they have been. Regardless what they do, she simply ask that they bring the heart of Gormadraug back to the church if they are able to retrieve it.

As far as seeking other parts of him, the first place they could look would be the island of his heart, but it's incredibly far north. Otherwise, there is reason to believe the heart was moved south upon the eruption of the coldfire crisis. She suggests they try searching near The Teeth, a collection of peninsulas still further north of Altenheim. It's then that Vasilena comments on how strange the priestess is, mentioning having years of experience behind her despite appearing human. She doesn't elaborate entirely, only saying she has indeed lived many years, and intends to live many more. It's then that Vasi and Eden really notice that she seems to radiate warmth and something about her seems perfect, almost in an uncanny way. Eden asks plainly if she's a downcast. She doesn't answer yes directly, but it seems thats the case as she prompts him to explain himself. He tells her vaguely about Ravnium, and the seraphs hunting him.

The priestess seems unsurprised by his explanation, and says she doesn't know what exactly the seraphs want from the downcast. As for herself, though, she is the priestess of Gormadraug, not a downcast, not a living seraph. Eden accepts this answer.

With that all said and done, they break in the conversation to eat. The priestess has someone bring them bread and seasoned oil, offering it to them all to eat. As they do, Eden asks about the origins of the mirrors in the first chamber. The priestess explains they are remnants of a tragedy, something she picked up and repurposed for the trials of the church. There was an artisan, seemingly cursed to suffer tragedy every time he completed one of the four mirrors, with the last one seeming to be his end. It's unclear what caused the curse, and the enchantment by extent. She asks what prompts his curiosity, and Eden explains his ability, and the vision it showed him. With that they settled into the rest of their meal and linger a while longer before leaving.

That night when they return from the church, Vasilena finds a letter from Cassius inviting her to his home the next day. Clenching her teeth, she agrees to this.

Elfinmon 21st

His home is in the wisteria district, the inner ring of the city. It's not the largest house in the area but still an impressive homestead. A maid greets Vasilena at the door and brings her to the sitting room. He greets her before too long, then takes up a seat across from her. They make brief smalltalk before Cassius cuts to the point of her visit, given that she's previously never taken any interest in him. Vasi tactfully answers, that she's simply concerned for her sponsors and they seem stressed.

Cassius explains his idea: he thinks there is untapped business potential across the spine, in Ostoya. She's skeptical of this idea, but he explains that they take a more cultural approach to the war; introducing art and Altenheim values to the people. "Bring them back into the fold", as he believes. He rebuffs her attempting to pry into who it is he knows in Ostoya willing to work with them, but assures that it's a great idea. Lucrative even. Vasilena is hesitant to agree to anything unless Cassius is willing to be more forward about his plans, and his collaborators.

Vasilena carefully responds, telling him that the crimson court is a dangerous, insidious empire. This only prompts him to press about her background and why she left Ostoya. She does tell him, but an abridged version, just enough to emphasize what risk he's bringing to Altenheim if he goes through with this plan. His response is that it's a shame she doesn't understand his vision. Again she tries to explain how evil they are, the court is made of monsters, and there is no way to know who is enthralled by them. Ostoya is a place of fear and paranoia; she is not an outlier for being afraid. Once again, he seems unconvinced, but thanks her for her warning.

With that, their conversation ends. He beckons for the maid to show her out. Before leaving, Vasilena says one last time to him that she hopes he heeds her words.

As that happens, Eden goes to meet with Enoch in the same clearing they had met last time. Enoch is happy to see him, though a little remiss to see the gift in his hands. Eden firmly insists he accept the bundle of a shawl, the scarf he'd been knitting, and snacks. They sit and talk, Eden recounts their visit to the church from the previous day and what they know about the other cult operating within the city. As always, this prompts Enoch to worry even more about him. After Eden attempts to soothe his nerves, Enoch asks what the rest of his group know of him, and what they think of him. Truthfully, Eden isn't entirely sure, other than hesitation from Vasilena mostly regarding Enoch's status as a seraph. He asks because he think he'll be able to accompany them at least some of the way up north after telling Haven he was going to visit Clerentine. Eden is happy to have him, of course, and assures the rest of the party will as well.

They chat for a while longer, musing about winter clothes for travel, hesitation of returning to their home, and Enoch's growing anxiety about leaving Eden's side. The topic of Haven comes up again and Eden asks directly why Enoch doesn't want to introduce Eden. He admits his reasons are selfish, but he worries he won't be considered important enough to be by Eden's side, even if that's what Eden wants. Enoch would rather wait and gain more status before then, plus, argues that Eden should focus on his current quest before getting involved with the seraphs. Eden agrees to that point. They settle in and spend the rest of the afternoon together.

Later, once the group has reunited, Eden broaches the subject of Enoch joining them for the journey north. Faust seems delighted to have one of Eden's friends come alone, of course. Vasi and Della are visible less eager about the idea, for obvious reasons. Eden tries his best to assure them that Enoch's loyalties are not to the seraphs, even telling them that he lied to Haven to be able to join them. Della is still uncertain though, with the full moon approaching in two weeks. Eden reluctantly offers that if Enoch is still with them by then, he can ask him to leave early for Della's privacy. This seems to soothe their concerns.

Vasi pipes up then, jumping subjects, to ask Eden how he's even so sure about his alleged connection to Aurelia. He admits there is no way to prove it, but to him for the story passed down from generations in his home to have a tangible outcome, that's too much of a coincidence to write off as chance. Ultimately he believes because he must. She points out that stories often change as they're retold over and over, meaning he has no way to really know what the origins of the myth were. He doesn't disagree, only again affirming he believes it to be accurate. All the while Faust has been interjecting bizzare commentary about entropy and the world being a series of dust and rebirth, and near the tail end of the conversation Eden finally addresses the strange history they must have to hold such world views. Faust takes this as a compliment. Eden firmly clarifies that it's not.