BtSS Chapter 1 - Scarlet Nights

• 4E016/05/09 - A warehouse used for drug trafficking in Fayshine is blown up by the Roja Cartel as one of the workers wanted to snitch.

• 4E016/05/14 - In the eastern city on a weekend, Miri Tempest woke up in the shop of her two adopted dads, "Tempest Artificery". Her gnome dad cooked the food while she reminded her dwarf dad to come eat. It was the weekend, so she was going to go to the cabaret Ruby Knightclub that day. Her parents were worried and didn't want her to continue working at the mafia-owned club. GnomeDad reminded her that the carnival was coming in a month or two, and she could hopefully perform there instead. In the northeastern part of Fayshine, Esther Bishop left her flat and was greeted by the various townspeople of her neighborhood. A taco-stand seller dragonborn named Gyhan gave her a free taco, but was worried about an explosion last week and asked if they were in danger from the Roja Cartel. Esther reassured him and the others that the Rubino family had it handled and it wouldn't hurt them. She was then called through her ruby sending stone to the Knightclub by her friend, Capo Luciano Caballero. That evening, Luciano introduced Esther to Miri at the club. He talked to Esther about a favor he was doing for a friend next weekend in the West City, which was Ratti turf. He didn't assume it to be dangerous, but let her know his location regardless just in case. When the singer Rebecca Booth started performing, she was poisoned on stage and turned into an aberrant body-horror monster, her spine bursting out of her back to become wings. Her shriek paralyzed half the people there and the other half fled the club. Esther, Miri, and Luciano put up a good fight against the monstrous Rebecca, Esther doing a lot of damage as Miri prevented them from being hurt. After killing her, Miri discovered a broken Abyssal brooch on Rebecca's body. Luciano wondered if this was a cartel hit on him, but this didn't fit their style. He gave Miri a bonus of a hundred gold and sent her home, and asked Esther to reach out to a "Diego". Miri reached home late at night, and DwarfDad was both happy for her earning that day and also worried due to her promotion in the mafia club.

• 4E016/05/16 - At the Gwynne Manor in Faithills, Sir Cedrik Gwynne had breakfast with his similarly old orc butler named Azukk Tuskon. Azukk told him that he received a letter from his ex-wife, which requested him to give a guest lecture at the Carminus Universum about his art collection. He agreed to go tomorrow.

• 4E016/05/17 - The next day, Silvius Esmer-Gradus met his best friend and classmate Norah Ward at the cafeteria while sketching away. She told him about the guest lecture in the evening, and they discussed the possibility that this "Sir Gwynne" is the ex-husband of their head teacher, "Ms. Clara Gwynne". Cedrik showed up to the CU campus by evening with three of his prized paintings to talk about. He met his ex-wife Clara as well as another professor named Loras Runestrong who was very excited to meet him. Cedrik gave a good lecture about historical artworks, and after the lecture Norah and Silvius went up to talk to him. Cedrik recognised Silvius as the son of two world-famous artists, Merwin Gradus & Zuria Esmer. Norah invited Cedrik to their Art Studio to see the facilities. There, Silvius and Cedrik critiqued Norah's work-in-progress artwork, before she suggested Silvius should speed-paint Cedrik. Silvius' innate magic of painting the true essence of people interacted wrongly with Cedrik's true innate self, as the paint came to life and leapt out of the painting. The paint ooze tried to turn into an angel, but since that is forbidden by divine laws, it just turned into a roaring monster. Cedrik protected the kids by anchoring the paint fiend in place so it wasn't able to move, but got hurt badly in the process. Norah threw paint-remover on the monster, and Silvius finally got inspired to do something in this first ever real combat and erased the monster from existence. Cedrik lied to the kids that this happened because of them painting a Firbolg and not something specific to him. He offered to sponsor their art careers, which Norah agreed readily due to not being from a rich background. After Cedrik left, she and Silvius discussed that it couldn't have been due to Firbolg magic as they paint Ms. Clara all the time. Cedrik took the long way back to his mansion in the tram, and was unable to keep the voices out of his head that day. By the time he reached late at night, Tuskon helped give him some medical attention before leaving for the night.

• 4E016/05/18 - While working away at the Sombus Archaeological Museum, Vetri Yildiz and Oscar Ortez were approached by their boss Berion Goldquill as well as the president of the society, Martin Candlewynd. They told them that they were setting up a new exhibition in a few weeks called the "Artifacts of Demonology". Their first task was to go down to the society's warehouse in Oldwharf and find an old figurine labelled "VN-2" from the messy storage. Oscar owed a favor to Edgar Starling (for getting his stalker ex off of his back) so he called in Edgar as well. In Castella, Edgar saw his landlady Mrs. Perez yell at one of his orc neighbours for being late on rent. She warned Edgar that she didn't appreciate his "Cop friend" coming to the building. On his way to meet Oscar, Edgar ran into Inspector Rorax and had a chat with him at the sausage stall. Edgar, Vetri, and Oscar met at the Birch Coffee House and got to know each other. The three headed down via tram to the Archaeological Society's warehouse, where the lazy security guard let them in. While searching for the artifact, Edgar found an old work notebook written by his father, Allan Starling, who used to work at the society before his death. Vetri found VN-2, which looked like a legitimate demonic artifact to her. She handed it to Oscar who set it down. The sunset light coming in from the windows put the artifact into darkness, which then also got triggered by Vetri and Oscar touching it directly. It summoned a large demonic snake who almost killed Vetri, but the three together took it down. Oscar wrapped up the artifact in cloth and gave it to Vetri, and the three split ways back in Dragolyn.

• 4E016/05/21 - Martin Candlewynd, Luciano Caballero, and Loras Runestrong headed over to the S.A.S. Warehouse for a mysterious meeting with someone who Martin considered dangerous. Near midnight or just after, the three were murdered, and VN Abyssal B stolen.

• 4E016/05/22 - In the early hours of Saacel, Cedrik received a letter from Martin too late requesting his presence at the warehouse. He and Tuskon headed out for the warehouse together. Meanwhile, Vetri and Oscar learned about Martin’s ‘death’ from some late-night rumors at the museum, and went to investigate. At the CU, Silvius and Norah learned of Loras being in trouble at the docks as well, and Norah ended up helping Silvius escape the university to go check it out. Late night at the Ruby Knightclub, Esther and Miri were informed of murders and trouble in the west city docks. Esther headed out to investigate by hiring a ferry across the stormy sea, and Miri secretly followed her. Finally, Edgar was called to the scene by Insp. Rorax. The party all converged at the warehouse around 3 AM, and Rorax allowed them to investigate the crime scene. Esther and Miri snuck in through the back, leading to a heated exchange between everyone trying to figure out what was going on. As they investigated the three bodies, they realized that they died to necrotic damage mid-combat, and at least a fourth person was there. As they discussed the possibilities and mourned their losses, Rorax informed them that he sent most of the policemen home for the night and that the proper investigation would happen in daylight. Soon though, they heard the sounds of combat as the policemen and Tuskon were assaulted by goons from the Ratti family, who considered Luciano’s presence as an attack on their turf. The party fought the goons taking care not to kill them, Silvius almost dying to a few of them in the process. Cedrik invoked his spirit mantle for the first time in a very long time. Fighting against both the goons and the stormy waves of the sea, they managed to beat the goons. Rorax told them to stick together and go to a safe place, and Cedrik offered to take everyone back to Gwynne Manor. They all discussed and speculated during the trip to the manor, but officially introduced themselves to each other at the manor before going to sleep. Edgar spent some hours looking over his father, Allan Starling’s notebook. The next morning, they all woke up late. Cedrik heard from Karael, but shut him out. They all shared a home-cooked breakfast from Tuskon around the large dining table, and discussed their next steps. They then explored the mansion and its various rooms, Silvius looked into Clara’s old art studio, Vetri and Edgar explored Cedrik’s library, and Miri played the piano. When Insp. Rorax finally arrived, he sat them down and interrogated their circumstances and why they were there. Finally, he told them that the six of them were some of the only people who wanted to know the truth of what happened last night, and officially named them a ‘party’. He gave them six sending stones all linked to each other. Esther came to trust Rorax eventually. When he left, they met Insp. Gailhel Redeye as well, who Esther recognised as a more morally gray cop. After a small conversation with Edgar, Cedrik decided to tell the party about the fiendish angel trapped within him. They decided to split into two groups for the investigation that day. Edgar, Esther, and Cedrik went to the Planar Pub in Castella, where Edgar met his cousin as well as found his Ratti contact, Bruno. The rat goons were all drunk, and they managed to somehow steer the conversation safely into convincing Bruno to invite them to Don Ratti’s daughter’s wedding in a few days. Esther got a message through Luciano’s sending stone and she informed the operator of his death. Meanwhile, Cedrik met with the pub’s owner, a mind-flayer named Svazzall. He initially lied about his name as ‘Gwedrik’ but came clean rather quickly. Meanwhile, Vetri, Miri, and Silvius headed over to the museum. She got them through into the staff-only areas by convincing a cogwork archivist to stand aside. Silvius erased the lock on Martin’s office and they investigated his office to find out that most of the documents were taken already. Silvius saw a portrait of Martin painted by his parents, and they talked to the portrait who told them that the police took everything. They found one of Martin’s elite rapiers and took it for Edgar. Deciding to investigate Martin’s penthouse in Hyrden before the police got there, the entire party converged there. Silvius disguised himself as Rorax to get past the reception, and they all investigated the penthouse on the 150th floor. Esther found some gold bars hidden away in Martin’s bedroom, but Vetri and Edgar investigated the aquarium and discovered a secret room behind it and the bookcase. They found more useful documents (including Martin’s sources list) in there, as well a locked safe that everyone helped Esther crack into. Inside, they found a demonic letter from Xarkos, gold, as well as an old aethian figurine of Varkanus. Vetri’s alarm spell on the door went off, as Silvius and Cedrik met Insp. Gail as well as three of her elite men. They convinced her that they were alone, and she told them to leave. As they left, she shot Silvius in the back of the head, almost killing him. In the combat that ensued, the party managed to gain the upper hand and knock everyone out, including Gail. They tied them up and decided to interrogate her, realizing that she’s a cultist of Varkanus. She didn’t reveal much to them, before saying that she would be reborn. She then cast a spell that caused her and her men to violently puke up blood until they died. The party quickly left via the fire escape, splitting for the night. Miri convinced her parents that she was now employed by Cedrik.

• 4E016/05/23 - The next morning, Esther headed to the Rubino Villa and turned in Luciano’s sending stone. She found out that Don Rubino was still at Alverona but she did meet Capo Terzo Sombosso, who told her that if things go south with the Ratti family Esther would not reveal herself as a Rubino. Meanwhile, Cedrik had another conversation with Karael, who was begging to be allowed to stretch his wings and help Cedrik. He even offered him knowledge. Cedrik tried to get Tuskon into going on a vacation, but he refused, claiming to be interested in the situation as well as worrying for Cedrik. At the CU, Silvius told Norah and later Clara about what happened, divulging limited information to them. Edgar received invitations to the Ratti wedding from Bruno. The museum decided to continue on with the exhibition despite Martin’s death. Vetri investigated the Varkanus figurine until late at night, when Oscar pointed out to her that one of the cogwork archivists was behaving oddly, as if being tampered with or under the control of someone. Vetri called the entire party to the museum, getting them past the guards as well. When they tried to investigate the archivist, it ran away from them and revived a tyrannosaurus rex fossil on display. In the fight that ensued, Cedrik got critically hit and flung to the other side of the hall by the dinosaur. In his desperation, he finally let Karael out, invoking his archon form. Everyone managed to take down both the skeleton and the archivist, with Silvius using a cannon on display to launch an infernal helm at the dinosaur. Vetri realized that it indeed was tampered with, and one of her artificer friends, Xoe, would know more about this. She and Oscar spent the night restoring the fossil to cover their tracks.

• 4E016/05/24 - The party met up at the museum and helped take the broken archivist to Arkwich. When Esther saw the signboard of Yizuko Labs, she visibly freaked out. As they met Xoe Yizuko as well as Faktoré, they all realized that Xoe and Esther were ex-girlfriends. Despite the awkward situation, the three artificers put their brains together to figure out what was wrong with the archivist. They found out that another artificer had modified it and was remotely controlling it yesterday night from a close proximity. Xoe decided to look into it as well as more information into the cult of Varkanus, thinking back to her days aboard the Phoenix Nebula and the incident with Dr. Genso. The party then left Yizuko Labs and split. In Castella, Edgar jumpscared Insp. Rorax who was at the sausage stall. He informed him of the entire incident with Gail, and Rorax decided to not inform the police as he didn’t know who could be a cultist. Meanwhile at the Manor, Cedrik connected with Karael who told him that regardless of Martin actually meeting Varkanus or not, it’s bad. He told him of secrets deep below the city, and of a ritual Cedrik can conduct that would increase his connection to Karael and make his flames stronger. He needed to burn together a bone from a devil (which he already had in his collection), black powder, a ruby, and ash from a dead evil humanoid.

• 4E016/05/25 - At the CU Dining Hall, Silvius saw Selda Hightower and her cronies bullying Norah about her claim of being sponsored by Sir Gwynne. Silvius tried to intervene and convinced Selda that Cedrik did in fact offer to sponsor Norah. She believed him and headed off with her lackeys. Nora seemed kind of annoyed about Silvius intervening, but thanked him regardless. Silvius then went to the office of Professor Triston Hightower, where Professor Clara was also present drinking tea. Silvius asked Triston about the Cult of Varkanus and its presence in Sombus. He told Silvius that the cult had not been active for at least the past sixty years. When Silvius mentioned Gail killing herself, Hightower seemed palpably interested. He tried to push Silvius to reveal more information, but Silvius was bailed out by Clara, who told him to go eat lunch. Meanwhile at the Fayshine Cemetery, Esther and Miri attended Luciano's funeral ceremony. Esther met Luciano's ex-wife Noelia Caballero and his son Camilo Caballero. They had a conversation with Camilo, who was curious about their relation to Luciano. Miri handed Camilo their card. They then met the four capos of the Rubino family; Terzo Sombosso, Basilio Tortuga, Gianna Giasivi, and Esmeralda Castrillo. Esmeralda was the mentor of Esther, Luciano, Arthiel, and Diego. She was saddened by Luciano’s death as well as the fact that Esther was the only one of the four kids mourning him. Miri realized that Esmeralda was a regular at the Knightclub. They talked about the Ratti Wedding that Esther and Miri planned on attending. Esmeralda entrusted Esther with Luciano's ring, and also gave Miri a performing outfit that Luciano had commissioned for them. Esmeralda mentioned how they wanted to promote Esther to capo and give her ownership of the club. Esther was hesitant, claiming that she didn’t know if she was ready for the responsibility. Esmeralda then said that they would discuss it once Don Rubino returned from Alverona.

• 4E016/05/26 - The next day, everyone dressed up for the wedding of Angelica Ratti and Kaya Nezumi. Edgar had to ask his landlady Mrs. Perez for a good suit since he didn't have one. She offered him her late husband's suit. Everyone except Vetri met at the entrance to Sewertown and headed in towards the sewer chapel. They met Bruno, who introduced them to some Ratti enforcers named Jamison and Carlos. Jamison stuck a dynamite in Edgar's mouth during a quickly heated conversation, which was promptly put out by Carlos. Carlos recognised Esther and then led them to Don Ratti. They saw the Don talking to Svazzall, who greeted Cedrik before leaving the office. Don Ratti greeted Esther "Alfieri", confused as to why she hadn't already been promoted to capo. He also offered his condolences regarding Luciano. They managed to introduce themselves and clear up the situation with them beating up the goons. Esther asked how Don Ratti's men knew Luciano was at the warehouse, but he refused to give up his sources. Miri with the help of Silvius ended up convincing the Don to give them some information. He told them that his son, Rico Jr., was in charge that night. The gang ended up joining the festivities until the ceremony. After a few hours, Cedrik noticed Rico Jr. sneaking out of the chapel. The gang followed him, but on their way they got ambushed by Carlos who threw a poison bomb that did a lot of damage and instantly downed Esther and Cedrik. Silvius, Miri and Edgar survived the attack, and Silvius immediately brought the two back up. After an arduous combat in which multiple people on both sides got downed and brought back, Esther took Carlos out and prevented Silvius from drowning in the sewage. They decided to follow Rico Jr.'s trail and took the unconscious Carlos with them. The trail led them to a prison inside the sewers. There they decided to interrogate Carlos. He didn't give much information, other than the fact that Don Ratti was unaware of what Rico Jr. was doing and that he was loyal to both of them. Then he screamed out to alert the prison guards before they knocked him out again. Cedrik disguised himself as Carlos to meet Rico Jr. Esther was turned invisible by Miri and sneaked inside the prison where "Carlos" was in the process of spinning absurd lies which everyone seemed to believe. Rico Jr. mentioned that his "friends" would prefer the party dead and ordered him to kill the party as soon as possible with Jamison and put guards at the entrance to Sewertown. Esther found Mya, an enforcer in the House of Rust, in one of the cells. She spat at "Carlos" but was calmed down by Esther. Esther broke Mya out as Cedrik distracted the others while leaving. The party then met up with a newly freed Mya and a gagged and tied Carlos. They decided the best way to escape was to squeeze through the disgusting sewage pipes. While they were crawling inside the pipe, the pipe broke and they fell into some sewage water in complete darkness surrounded by giant cockroaches. Esther helped navigate everyone and Edgar cast light to illuminate the area. After dealing with the cockroaches, they crawled out into the Cristol River, and paid a nearby boatsman to transport them over to Gwynne Manor after saying goodbye to Mya. Cedrik contracted flesh rot overnight from the sewage exposure.

• 4E016/05/27 - In the morning, Vetri was called to the mansion. Cedrik seemed unconcerned about the flesh rot, but Vetri insisted on going to the hospital and ended up calling her father Rakta Yildiz to the mansion. Meanwhile, Miri casted Zone of Truth and the gang questioned Carlos. He revealed that Rico Jr was trying to expand his network and mainly in it for the money and not actually a cultist. He revealed that Rico Jr. met a redhead girl around the same as Silvius at the Planar Pub who told him about Luciano, someone Silvius recognised as Selda Hightower. After some deliberation over what to do with him, they turned Carlos over to the police and got him arrested. Dr. Yildiz then visited the mansion, looking over Cedrik while they made awkward conversation with Vetri. He cured him with a specialized potion of cure disease, and instructed him to take care of himself due to his old age before leaving. Edgar revealed to the others that he'd never killed anyone yet, and Cedrik let Silvius have Clara's old Wondrous Palette. They then discussed selling off the loot they'd gathered so far, and Vetri received a sending from Xoe about an update over the Cogwork Archivist. They headed down to Yizuko Labs where Xoe revealed that she looked up the original blueprints and cross-referenced them with the body of the archivist. She saw that there was a single modification, a small pink psionic shard, which the rogue artificer must have used to control the archivist. Xoe also reversed the polarity of the crystal, which now will resonate if it is in close proximity to its counterpart. They assume that an artificer from the museum could have intimate enough access to the archivists to be able to modify them in this way, and decide to visit the museum sometime. Xoe then gave Vetri her shooting gloves, and then gave Esther the Planar Cirque that she had made for her some time back. They then traveled down to Lighton to visit Hana's House of Hex, where they sold the gold bars and other loot and bought new things from Kumoko Hana. Hana offered to buy Miri, but they refused. They all decided to then visit the University to talk to Selda, and on their way there they passed by the Starling Agency in Castella. There, Jamison was waiting for them on top of a rooftop and yelled at them about giving Carlos back. They fought him and his goons, dealing with many explosions and putting fire to the building next to the Agency. Vetri got the final blow on Jamison, knocking him out and calling Rorax to arrest him as well. They then decided to stay the night at the cramped Agency, and Ms. Perez warned Edgar to tell her before throwing parties. Esther flirted with Edgar, with Silvius acting as a chaperone.

• 4E016/05/28 - The next day on a weekend, they stopped by the Birch Coffee House for a small detour in the early morning to discuss their next steps. Heading to the Carminus Universum, the party all met Norah Ward as well as Professor Clara Gwynne, discussing their plans to kidnap Selda Hightower in detail. Clara suggested an official route using her or Professor Kalista to ask Selda questions, but they decided to follow her as she’d be heading home. They planned on cornering her mid-way. Selda headed instead to the West Sombus Train Terminal. At the concourse, Silvius and Cedrik disguised themselves as Rico Jr. and a Ratti thug, and approached Selda. She berated ‘Rico Jr.’ about messing everything up, before saying that they should meet Varkanus again. The three went up to the center of the concourse where Selda spoke the code word “3 tickets to Madness.” being transported away instantly from the middle of a crowd. Esther and Miri overheard the phrase, and the rest of the party followed the three into a demiplane version of the concourse with a heavy atmosphere and a giant glowing eye in the centre. Selda, now sure that it is Silvius in disguise, threatened them and summoned an Aboleth Spawn. However, Vetri quickly dispatched of Selda with two critical shots, and the rest of the party took down the Aboleth Spawn as well. Vetri took out the Varkanus Figurine, which the giant eye immediately focused on and demanded from Vetri in Abyssal. Vetri was ‘marked’ by the eye, before the others snapped her out of the trance. Realizing that Selda was somewhat evil, Cedrik cut off half of her red hair for use in his ritual. Cedrik in a lone corner burnt the offerings together, inhaling infernal fumes and being branded on his arms by celestial runes written in infernal script making his flames hotter. Meanwhile, the party interrogated Selda who kept giving long-winded but truthful answers stalling for time. She revealed the organised structure of the Cult of Varkanus, the fact that she worked under Xarkos, and how she truly believed that she’d met Varkanus and its not just everyone being dumb. They were still convinced that it is an impostor cleric calling himself Varkanus. She revealed that Rico Jr’s part in the story is relatively minor, getting the mafia off of their radar for now. Finally, many cultists showed up followed by a tall paladin dressed in a plague doctor’s outfit named Yulis. They demanded the code word to leave from Selda, which was “Tickets to Sanity.” Silvius still thought the number 3 was important, and only left with half the party forcing the other half to follow later. The party then split for now, and told Vetri to stay at Gwynne Mansion for her own safety at least for a bit.

BtSS Chapter 2 - Midsummer Days

• 4E016/06/01 - On the first day of Midsummer, Edgar got a knock on his door and saw an Oniling woman named Tengai Rin. She introduced herself as one of the lieutenants of the Shinpi-Gumi Yakuza clan. She revealed that her wife, Tengai Kimi, was murdered two days ago in their apartment in Hyrden. Both the police and her fellow yakuza had concluded the death as a suicide, and refused to listen to her claim that it is murder. As this touched home for Edgar, he took the case. Rin revealed that she had a sketch of a suspect, revealing Alfieri, aka Esther Bishop. After she left, Edgar called Esther and they discussed the situation, deciding to not tell the others just yet. At Gwynne Manor, Vetri was still very paranoid about the whole situation from yesterday. The entire party then met up outside the Museum to look for Trixie, meeting up with Oscar as well. Over the next hour, they tracked her location into Starswirl Park next to the museum, into the abandoned mine tunnels below that were interlinked with sewage pipes. Oscar didn't join them inside, where they found a makeshift lab that Trixie Truespell was using alongside some constructs. Using a combination of musical distraction and invisibility, they lured the enemies into a fight. Vetri, Cedrik and Esther got multiple critical hits in, and cleaned up the automatons and took Trixie down. Trixie tried to self-destruct before she got captured, but with Silvius's Slow spell and Esther's acrobatics, they stopped her from doing so. They investigated her lab and found a large arcane battery and Cogwork Archivist blueprints. Interrogating her, Cedrik decided to bribe Trixie with 5000 coins and get her on their payroll. She revealed that she worked under Yulis, and that she was looking for the Varkanus figurine as well as a few books on demonology set to be exhibited in the coming week. They told her to keep working away on her plan but not actually give the books to the cult. Vetri also gave the battery back to Trixie, who revealed that she was funding a fully constructed body for herself as well as a giant mech. The party then split, as Miri went home, Cedrik, Vetri, and Silvius went to the Manor, while Esther and Edgar went to Hyrden to investigate the murder. They talked to the security guard of Rin's building about the crime that occurred last week, who seemed to recognize Esther. Edgar and Esther discussed the possibility of someone using disguise self to frame Esther and also ruled out the Rubino Family and the Shinpi Yakuza based on their respective self interests. Seeing the police eyeing them, Esther retreated while Edgar investigated Rin's apartment and learned more about the crime. Rin told her that her wife was found with her wrists cut open, and that there were no signs of struggle. Edgar did however notice a lockpicking scratch on their door. Edgar collected some witness statements, and left soon after. Meanwhile at the Manor, when the three reached they found Tuskon standing next to a revived Gailhel Redeye. Cedrik and Vetri stopped Silvius from immediately attacking her. Gail said that they're no longer being investigated for the murder of Martin Candlewynd, but threatened the parties family members and warned them that they had until the exhibition to give the figurine back before she left. They talked about the significance of the figurine, in order to get some kind of insight into why the cult wants it. Meanwhile Edgar and Esther headed down to the central city police department in Somton, the most densely populated part of town. As they reached, they saw none other than Gail who was also on her way back from the mansion. Gail told them about her encounter with the others and also denied their request to go to the morgue. She threatened Edgar's cousin and Esther's orphanage. Esther kept her cool during the information but freaked out after leaving. The party regrouped at the mansion and mutually freaked out about Gail's return. Edgar almost slipped up and started talking about the investigation with Esther, but was stopped by Esther herself.

• 4E016/06/02 - Vetri, Silvius, and Miri decided to create two fake versions of the Varkanus Figurine, a convincing one and a not-so-convincing one to fool Gail. They went to the CU Art Studio to make the fakes including the Aethian concrete needed for them. In the evening, Esther went to the Ruby Knightclub to meet Giovanni, Luciano's old second-in-command. He suggested to her that she should ask Diego Péon for more information as he saw Luciano talk to them often some time back. Giovanni assumed that it was the Rattis trying to set Esther up. Cedrik wrote to Clara asking for her to be careful.

• 4E016/06/03 - Vetri, Cedrik, and Edgar headed to the museum which was preparing for the upcoming exhibition. Vetri introduced Edgar to Berion, who recognised him and asked him about his mother Lilian Starling. After Edgar told him that he was investigating his father's murder, Berion looked surprised and asked Edgar to meet him after the exhibition on the weekend to talk more about his father. Miri warned her parents to be prepared for "enemies" of Cedrik due to Gail's threats.

• 4E016/06/05 - The party met up in the evening for the night of the exhibition at the museum, where they were greeted by Vetri, who was already there as part of her job. The notable people in the party included Berion Goldquill, Clara Gwynne, Norah Ward, Connor Chambers, Triston Hightower, Svazzall, Viraj Yildiz, as well as MP Autumn Bates. Berion gave an opening speech, thanking the organizers, including Vetri and Oscar. He then went around the room, describing the artifacts on display such as the Fossilized Ooze Tentacle of Jubilex, Replica of the Wand of Orcus, Replica of the Demogorgon's Tooth, History of Demonology, the Whisperer's Crystal Ball, the Black Scrolls of Vark, VN-2, and VN Abyssal A. Most importantly, they had the Sarcophagus of the Serpent "Vanos Wakhotep" which the museum had leased from Kasaaq. Silvius, curious about the Sarcophagus, asked Berion as to why Varkanus never revived Vanos. Berion brought Professor Triston into the conversation, who explained that there wasn't much of him to bring back due to his living mummification. Vetri went to meet her brother, Viraj and talked about their parents and the exhibition. She then introduced her brother to the party when Esther realized she'd seen Viraj before, with Luciano. Once Viraj left early, Esther pulled Vetri aside at the kebab table and told her of Viraj's meeting with Luciano. After some more mingling, the party found themselves talking to MP Autumn Bates and Mr. Svazzall. Autumn talked about Cedrik's association with Emperor Sombra, and how she heard that Cedrik got injured on some mission from Grand General Zoan. Cedrik shut the conversation down politely. Cedrik talked Clara and told her that if something weird happened in the museum, she should leave safely and carefully. Clara appreciated the concern, but brushed it off, explaining that she prefers honesty over apprehension like what was shown by Silvius. Later after most people had left, Esther noticed the student, Connor Chambers, noting down the text written the VN Abyssal A artifact. Silvius, after some convincing, dragged the party to Connor, when they realized that he was reading the full A & B abyssal text. As he did this, large amounts of smoke released from the sarcophagus next to them. The smoke coalesced into eternal khenra as Connor seemed to have panic attacks. During combat, the party saw the "souls" or "life force" of the dead nobles enter the sarcophagus, and create more eternals. Edgar also saved Berion & MP Autumn's lives. After a long and arduous combat in which many civilians died, it ended with Connor casting fireball centered on himself. He was heavily hurt, but alive. By this point, Gail along with the rest of the officers were at the scene. Gail killed the last eternal, and promptly stole Connor's notebook as evidence. Esther started to comically pretend that she was distraught, thanking Gail for saving them all. She then grabbed on to Gail for "support" only to stealthily steal Gail's police badge out of her pocket. Silvius and the others lied about the origin of the eternals to temporarily save Connor's skin. Vetri also subtly let Berion know to remain cautious around Gail, who was distraught and mad. Vetri and Silvius headed to the hospital with Connor, where they stayed in his room to make sure no one killed him. Since Vetri's dad was on call at the hospital, she caught him up on what happened. Meanwhile back at the museum, Gail asked about the whereabouts of the figurine. Cedrik lied and told her it was with Vetri. They also realize that she did not know the cult's plan today. A reporter walked up to them after Gail left, and asked them about the incident. After giving somewhat factual information, they were also asked if their party has a name they wish to be referred by. The party unanimously agreed to go with "Six Reasons Why". Esther and Miri gave fake names while the others used their real ones. Esther offered her help with Edgar's investigation into his father as she wanted to return the favor of his help with her investigation. Clara asked Cedrik about what exactly happened today and what Karael was, which he vaguely clarified. She then asked him if he's going to continue and try to fight his battles on his own even though she was and always had been open to help. He said that while his actions were rooted in an attempt to keep Clara safe, he didn't think that those facts needed to be at odds with each other. He wished to change this about himself, and hopefully be able to be more honest with Clara in the future. Clara wished him the best with that. Silvius and Vetri rehearsed for a little bit before Gail walked into the hospital. They ended up getting Connor's notebook from her, but two of the more important pages were missing. After she demanded the figurine, they handed her the badly made fake version. Once she saw through the lie, they then gave her the well made fake version, which seemed to fool her for now. They briefly followed her, finding out that she was headed to the train station again. They then headed back to the hospital in order to stay with Connor for the night.

• 4E016/06/06 - The next morning's newspaper had the headline talking about the incident at the exhibition as well as mentioning how the "Six Reasons Why" saved the day. Edgar dreamt of a 16 year old memory, when he was 11 years old. He saw Berion meet his mother, who was giving him some work related documents. He then introduced himself to Edgar, calling himself Allan's best friend. The dream then turned slightly nightmarish as he witnessed the invasion of the Dark Hunt and the destruction it caused, noticing Berion rummaging through the rubble of the Starling house. As morning dawned on the hospital, Vetri woke up and met Viraj as she drank her coffee. Afterwards, Vetri and Silvius started interrogating Connor. He told them that he was forced into doing this by the Church of Blood, who were threatening his grandmother. He said that the church actively recruits people at the university. He was introduced into the church by Elijah Hunt, who Silvius knew to be a jock star-athlete Paladin. He also asked them to check up on his grandmother, which they did. The grandmother offered them breakfast, but they politely declined and headed to Gwynne Mansion. The party all met up for breakfast in the dining hall. After talking about where they should build an indoor swimming pool in the manor, Silvius caught everyone up. Azukk, who was listening in on the conversation about Elijah, brought up the fact that his younger daughter, Biz Tuskon, was also a Paladin enrolled in the CU and was Elijah's junior. The party was slightly reluctant to involve another person with anything related to the cult or church, but Azukk assured them that she could take care of herself. They decided to head to the university tomorrow where Silvius would lure Elijah out by using alter self, while the rest of the party would be on standby. Afterwards, Miri went home to talk to her parents. GnomeDad was reading the newspaper, which mentioned a "fairy" helping Cedrik Gwynne, who they knew as Miri's boss. They somehow believed Miri's lies, but told her to be careful all the same. Silvius went back home where his butler let him know that his parents arrived last night from Timeron. Zuria Esmer told Silvius that they got done a bit early, so they took an airship home. Merwin Gradus then asked Silvius about the exhibition yesterday, which he found out about in the newspaper. He was able to convince his parents that he's being safe and that what happened was just a coincidence. They told him to be more careful, since the city was a bit unsafe at the moment. His parents also brought up the deaths of Loras and Martin, who they knew. Silvius sensed that they seemed to know more about this than they were letting on, but wasn't able to get much out of them. He then let his parents know that he'd be taking some money out of the bank, and left before he could be questioned about it. Edgar and Esther went to meet Berion at the society. Edgar brought up his dream/memory to Esther and also showed her his father's journal. Edgar showed Berion the journal as well who was visibly emotional while skimming through it. Berion talked about the incidents that led up to his fathers death, about how Allan went to meet Martin's contacts, some Aethian Tritons, for an artifact. He explained how he was out of town when Allan died, but spent a week trying to bring justice to this clear murder before soon realizing that he was incapable of doing so without dying himself. When Edgar brought up his dream, Berion looked visibly startled. He told Edgar about how he was hoping to find something he could use to find the truth behind Allan's murder. He had asked Edgar's mother for work documents and anything else that might be relevant. She gave him the documents she found, but also mentioned a locked safe that Allan kept. Berion then took them into his apartment, where they saw that safe. Berion mentioned the different ways he's tried to have the safe opened magically or otherwise, clearly to no avail. The safe could only be opened with a magical key word. Edgar said that he was confident that he could deduce the password, and was told by Berion that he could take it with him. Berion alluded to either Vetri or Oscar being promoted down the road, and praised Vetri's work. Cedrik and Vetri meanwhile traveled towards Trixie's workshop in Noxham. They stood out a lot there. Inside Trixie's workshop, they saw an extremely large mech, called the Shockerstomper. She gave them the two books she stole from the museum to Vetri and had replaced them with fakes. They decided that they'll tell the cult that as a security policy, the museum only kept a fake version of the book. Trixie also gave them a sending stone that they could use to contact her from now on. At night, Cedrik heard Karael call out to him. Karael explained that those cultist "kids" were playing with powers they can't conceive. He said that this modern age had forgotten the power that Vanos the Serpent held. He was feared by the gods himself, and that he MUST NOT be resurrected, as it would spell trouble for everyone including Karael. Cedrik ended up angering Karael in this interaction, and felt his hand clench against his will for a brief moment.

• 4E016/06/07 - The party headed to the Carminus Universum and met Biz in the cafeteria. They then discreetly asked her about Elijah, which seemed to pique her curiosity. The party tried to tell her what they could without getting her too involved, but she seemed adamant to know more. After a lot of convincing on both sides, they decided that she'd introduce a disguised Silvius to Elijah, to maintain plausible deniability regarding her involvement with the party. Silvius and Cedrik disguised themselves as random students, with Biz taking "Jonner" aka Silvius to Elijah at the training field, while the rest of the party hid nearby. Jonner tried to pry information out of Elijah by using Selda as a mutual connection that sent him here to meet him. Elijah seemed a bit skeptical of Jonner but couldn't really confirm his suspicions. Elijah then noticed Edgar hiding behind the stands, and asked Jonner to prove his worth by casting fireball on the person spying on them. After some initial reluctance, Jonner stepped forward, and pretended to cast fireball on Edgar, while actually casting it directly on Elijah and his lackeys, catching them completely off guard. After a quick combat, where Biz ended up helping them out, Esther got the final blow on Elijah. Edgar almost killed one of the lackeys. As the gang was tying them up, they saw campus police approach them. Biz and Jonner went up to them and persuaded them to call the police, specifically Rorax. About thirty minutes later, the actual police showed up along with Inspector Rorax. There, Rorax asked them why they beat up this random Jock. "Jonner" and Biz explained the situation and Elijah's connection to the cult. After Jonner got a face full of fire from Elijah, he was taken away in a muzzle and arrested. The party then decided to attend a lecture being held by professor Hightower about Blood & the Weave. Esther and Vetri however chose to sneak into Triston's office to find some connection of his to the cult. Esther was able to spot a Professor Orb as well as Triston's wizard staff. They ended up stealing both. After the lecture was over, the party met up, where Silvius informed them of the severity of what they've stolen and its potential consequences. They decided to pawn the items off to their trusted contact, Hana. They did so, and ended up buying some items while they were at the House of Hex.

• 4E016/06/08 - Edgar, Silvius, and Vetri spent the next day working their way through the "History of Demonology" book they got from Trixie at the Mansion.

• 4E016/06/09 - The party headed to Roja Island where the Seven's Carnival was being held. At the carnival, they saw all varieties of performers, including a silver dragon. They also saw the Troupemaster Seven, an arch-fey that has been leading the Seven's Carnival for hundreds of years. He made a speech welcoming everyone, talking about the 7 days of festivities to follow before disappearing in a green flash of fireworks. Miri also noticed the Great Fairy Bard Toffee, one of their main inspirations growing up. As the party roamed around participating in the festivities, they encountered a Triton by the name of Vundus Valexath. He was hosting the "Trial of Teeth", challenging adventurers and parties into fighting 3 waves of sharks for a prize of 60k coins. The party ended up participating. They made easy work of the first two waves of sharks, after which they fought a Corrupted Aberrant Shark, summoned by Vundus. They defeated it and completed the trial after a lot of effort, earning themselves 60k gold and a roaring applause from the crowd. Edgar, wanting to pry Vundus about his involvement with the cult, went to ask him a question. With Miri's help and Cedrik's intuition, Edgar was able to fool Vundus into thinking he's a member of the cult. Vundus, looking almost un-phased, hugged Edgar and told him to meet him alone in his tent after the day's festivities end. After this exchange, Miri met her parents, Dubon & Fizz Tempest, who praised her for her performance against the sharks. They also met the rest of the party, thanking Cedrik for hiring their daughter. They also told Miri that they arranged for them to give a performance at the carnival tomorrow. Miri was gob struck, but clarified to their concerned parents that she was overjoyed. As part of the lead up to the performance, Miri also needed to talk to Esma, the Troupemaster's Assistant. Miri and Fizz headed into Esma's office, where she gave Miri the details of when they'll perform tomorrow. Esma also told her that her parents paid Esma 2000 gold coins, and that they'd need to attract a crowd of a few thousand to break even, or even make some money or potentially get hired by the troupe. Miri told her they might need some back up dancers in tight latex, which Esma agreed to. Meanwhile, Esther met her ex-Rubino ex-boyfriend, Diego Péon, at the dock. They talked about Luciano. Esther asked him about who might have a grudge against her or Tengai Rin, explaining how she was being framed for the murder. Diego didn't know anyone in the cartel that would want to frame, or kill, Esther, at the moment. He warned her about other murders that might occur, if someone really was out to frame her. Esther also asked him about cultists in the city, and if there were any at the festival. She listed off some names, out of which Diego only recognized Vundus, the Triton they met earlier. He clarified that Vundus was a fence and smuggler. He also warned her that if the fake Esther killed someone of the cartel, the cartel might destroy all of Fayshine in retribution. After the festivities ended for the day, Edgar went to Vundus' tent to meet him alone. Vetri turned invisible to accompany Edgar while Miri entered his pocket. Edgar lied to Vundus who assumed that he was a part of the Church of Blood here in Sombus, which is different from his sect from the Aethian Dominion. Vundus' brother, Veresko, also entered the tent. Vundus asked Edgar about the cult in Sombus and expressed a desire to heal the broken trust the Sombian sect had with the Valexath brothers. He showed Edgar a special necklace of 'Varkys' that he assumed that the superiors of the sect had sent Edgar to buy. Edgar told him about the train station, and Vundus said that he would try to visit tomorrow. Edgar then asked him about Allan Starling, his father, and how he met tritons 16 years ago at the carnival and then died. He also lied that Allan was a cultist as well. While Vundus was perplexed, Veresko entered into a rage upon Allan's mention which prompted Edgar to get mad as well. Vundus tried to calm his brother down as Edgar asked the brothers if they killed his father. Veresko said that he didn't kill Allan, but he wished that he had since Allan apparently stole something important from them that led to their fallout with the cult in Sombus. Before Veresko could attack Edgar who was goading him, the rest of the party entered the tent to defuse the situation, posing as cultists as well. Vundus explained that 16 years ago, Allan Starling was supposed to buy the Aethian Varkys Figurine from them but cancelled the deal once he found out that they were cultists. Furthermore, Allan actually stole the figurine from them and sent it off somewhere. The brothers captured and tortured him, before sending him off to a third party that actually killed him. Veresko even said to Edgar that he enjoyed his father's screams. Edgar vowed mentally to kill the two, before they split off for the night. The party then went to the Rubino Knightclub in Fayshine to calm down and stay the night, the party meeting Giovanni as well as getting introduced to the Rubino Family side of things. Esther opened up about her issues with a doppelganger and the murder mystery to the rest of the party, vowing to not keep any secrets from now on.

• 4E016/06/10 - The next day, the party actually enjoyed their time at the carnival, playing games, eating cotton-candy, and attending performances. They even called in some friends including Oscar for Miri's performance later. They did not see the Valexath brothers at all that day. Around 6 pm, Miri had her four-part performance in which she cast Spirit Guardians, Faerie Fire, Rope Trick, and other spells to boost her songs played on her Saxaboom. The performance was a roaring success. An hour later during the performance of the Great Fairy Bard Toffee, Esther felt uneasy, almost spotting something in the sky above the stage but nothing was there. Vetri thought that Esther was feeling uneasy from the crowd, so they stepped out for just a moment before Karael told Cedrik something was actually wrong and to touch the Varkys Figurine. When Cedrik did so, he took some psychic damage but managed to enter 'Paused Time' with everyone else paused in place and the world coated in a green light. He managed to unpause the rest of the party, who saw an aberrant Formless Beast floating in the sky above eating the joy and memories of the entire crowd. Esther assumed that this was summoned by Vundus, not the Troupemaster. The party fought the beast, barely defeating it before it overwhelmed their psyche. As they did so, they returned to normal-time, with Edgar unpausing on the stage from where he quickly misty stepped out. The party discussed what had happened and wondered if they should talk to Troupemaster Seven. Esma and Miri's parents met up with Miri, praising her performance, giving her the gold that she earned beyond what she needed to recoup, and even offering her a job with a few years for her to consider. Even Toffee showed up to praise a starstruck Miri, enchanting her Saxaboom with fae magic before bidding farewell.

• 4E016/06/11 - The next morning, while the party was on their way to the carnival to meet Troupemaster Seven, their tram stopped in the middle of the Isabeau tunnel. Outside, they heard Tengai Rin call out for Esther and Edgar. Silvius disguised himself as Esther to provide some cover, and they exited the tram as it left. Tengai chastised Edgar for enjoying the festivities with her wife's killer. The party tried to argue logic with her, but it didn't work and a tedious combat ensued. Finally, Edgar managed to reason with Rin, and Esther lowered her weapons. Rin seemingly believed them and stopped fighting, and asked for real proof that Esther was with Edgar that day within two days. Esther and Edgar then split from the party and went to meet Rorax in the west city, who suggested getting an affidavit from Jamison from the prison in Wallton. They tricked him into signing the affidavit, that they then took to Rin and proved Esther's innocence. They both then vowed to solve the murder. Meanwhile, Silvius, Cedrik, and Miri rummaged through the Valexath brothers' tent and stole their blasphemous trident. They then managed to gain an audience with Troupemaster Seven but had to explicitly invite Karael inside as well. Troupemaster Seven and Karael exchanged a cryptic conversation in which Karael had to begrudgingly bow to Seven. Seven also met Miri for the first time and congratulated her on the performance, with pixie dust appearing around Miri for the first time. He discussed the Valexath brothers with the party, and then offered a pact. They would goad Vundus into summoning demons against them in the fight tomorrow, and that will give Seven a reason to banish them. They agreed, and the party met back up at the Knightclub. 

• 4E016/06/12 - The party headed back to the carnival in the morning, and met Norah and Biz there as well. Biz wanted to fight in the Trial of Cruelties with the party, and they begrudgingly accepted after warning her of the risks. In the trial, Vundus summoned a large armored demon known as the Master of Cruelties, alongside nearly a hundred minor demons. After a tough fight aided by Biz's aura, the party managed to defeat the swarm of demons and Edgar stabbed the master demon with the bloodshard trident in front of Vundus. Almost immediately after in the staff-only area, Troupemaster Seven appeared and banished the Valexath brothers from the carnival for good. Esma gave the party their money as well as a boon from Seven. Meeting Silvius for the first time, she insinuated something about his parents' "true work" in the Scarlet Keep but did not elaborate. The party followed the brothers instead, with Silvius sneaking ahead using his invisibility to blend into the tram the brothers were traveling in. He followed them to a hotel in Sigton called the Sapphire Hotel, and waited for the others to catch up. Esther then pretended to be a police officer by flashing Gail's badge at the receptionist, and after a small bribe learned the room the brothers were staying in. The party bought the room next to the brothers' room and spied on them for the next few hours until nightfall. They followed them into a stormy and foggy night, ambushing them before they could leave Sombus via ship. After a quick combat, they defeated the brothers but Edgar spared their lives. Vundus revealed that sixteen years ago they were working for a cultist of the archivist, and how Gunian is more evil than Varkanus in his neutrality. He then remembered the name of the cultist: Berion Goldquill. This shocked Edgar and Vetri to their core, especially how Berion was about to be promoted to president of the Archaeological Society soon. They got the brothers arrested and headed back to the Knightclub to discuss their next steps. Edgar, silently going through his father's notebook while the rest talked, suddenly cracked the riddle and figured out the password to Allan's safe: Lily, his mother's old nickname. Edgar, Esther, and Vetri headed west to the Starling Agency late at night, unlocked the safe, and discovered Allan's magical rapier as well as an Archdemon's Soul within the safe. Meanwhile, Silvius went to the carnival to meet with Esma. Cedrik and Miri went with him just in case, as Silvius barged into Esma's tent and demanded to know the truth about his parents. She was reluctant to reveal their secrets and told him to ask them himself, but eventually relented and dryly revealed to Silvius that his parents were spies for the Crimson Empire and drew magical portraits of foreign leaders for Sombra. He believed her to a degree and left dejected. She and Cedrik had a small conversation about children, which led to him having a dream in the carriage ride home thinking back to the idyllic days of his youth in the forest village. The dream ended with a young Clara reaching out to him but calling him 'Daeba' instead. Back at the mansion, the party met back up and discussed their findings. When Edgar revealed the Archdemon's Soul, Karael manifested and told everyone to be careful. He then spoke to the party for the first time, and introduced himself as "Daeba Karael".

BtSS Chapter 3 - Borough of Madness

• 4E016/06/13 - Cedrik finally revealed the origins of Karael that he was aware about and his backstory of how he became his gaol. Karael revealed that this was 1/66th of the soul of Orcus, who was defeated by the god Mawekh almost a thousand years ago. This object was infinitely evil, and capable of true resurrection. Karael was worried that the sarcophagus of Vanos and this soul being in the same city is a bad combination and that they needed to keep the soul safe. Meanwhile, Esther as an elf knew that all angels who became fiends did so in the Angel Rebellion thousands of years ago, and that Karael's story did not add up since he must've only turned into a fiend relatively recently. Karael's anger at the party bled into Cedrik's feelings, who dispelled Karael. The party rested for the night. The next morning, Esther headed back to the Sigton Docks to receive Don Rubino, and took Edgar with her. She introduced Edgar to Esmeralda Castrillo, and then received Don Ettore Rubino alongside her. Don Rubino gave them his condolences about Luciano, and then wanted to have a chat with Esther later in the day. After that, Esther's adoptive sister and the Don's bodyguard Arthiel Rook disembarked from the ship and immediately punched Esther, leading to a brawl through which they worked through their emotions. She then hugged her, and got introduced to Edgar who was wary of the barbarian elf. Arthiel then left them to go enjoy the last day of the Seven's Carnival. Meanwhile, Silvius went to the Esmer-Gradus mansion with Cedrik and Miri, unsure of what he was going to talk to his parents about. When they reached though, they saw police at the doors and his butler Daniel sobbing. The cult, led by Yulis, had just abducted Silvius' parents. Cedrik lied to the police that this was just some art stunt and nothing was wrong, sending them away. Silvius immediately headed to the train station concourse and called the party to him. However, upon reaching the concourse, the old password "tickets to madness" did not work. They tried some new passwords while they waited for Esther and Edgar to catch up with them to no avail. They decided to find Selda at the university, eventually locating her in the CU Library. The party intimidated Selda and her underlings but she refused to give up the new password, emphasizing how much she hated Silvius personally. Esther threatened her father, which actually managed to get under Selda's skin as she revealed that he wasn't a cultist. She then believed that Yulis could take care of them, and gave them the new password, "tickets to awareness". She then warned Yulis they were coming with a sending spell. Silvius tried to tell her that she could still leave the cult, but due to her believing that Varkanus was the leader in-person did not sway her feelings for now. At the train station, Silvius and Esther snuck into the demiplane using invisibility and saw Yulis and twelve cultists waiting for them on the other side. They snuck outside the station and saw the varkanist demiplane properly, and assumed that Silvius' parents were being held in a twisted version of the Temple of Jakuna. They left the plane for now, as they felt like it would be suicide to go in with no knowledge for now. The party retreated back to Gwynne Mansion for the day. Esther traveled back to the Rubino Knightclub for her meeting with Don Rubino. He reiterated how bad it would be if her doppelganger killed someone from the Cartel, and how Fayshine would be destroyed if that happened. Despite the risk, he offered Esther the job of north capo, which she finally accepted. With her new promotion, she was now the capo and the owner of the Rubino Knightclub. Giovanni and her new crew celebrated once the Don left.

• 4E016/06/14 - In the early morning, Najmi el-Sallah, the archaeologist from the Kav’orran Archaeological Survey who accompanied the sarcophagus of Vanos to S.A.M., met Berion and discussed the possibility of taking the sarcophagus back to Kasaaq. He convinced her not to return right now for safety. She discussed with her telepathic physical familiar cat, Apotheosis “Theo” el-Sallah, and told her that she would gather all her research into the sarcophagus and take it directly to Emperor Sombra. She told Theo that she’d come for her in a few hours. Meanwhile, the party discussed their next steps at Gwynne Mansion as Cedrik received a letter from Najmi asking to meet up and discuss the sarcophagus and the events of the exhibition a week or so back. Silvius and Miri made a quick shopping detour at Hana’s, before the party headed over to Najmi’s apartment near the museum. Theo, worried that Najmi hadn’t returned for many hours, returned home first and found black ichor all over the apartment as well as Najmi’s dead body. Her research was gone as well. The party reached around the same time, investigating the murder and finding it similar to the murders of the warehouse last month. Theo eventually revealed herself to the party, and they discussed Najmi and the cult. Esther tracked the ichor to the sewers, eventually leading into a sewer hideout where many cult members were located. Vetri tried to sneak in closer while invisible, but she was spotted by an illithid arcanist named Qe-Bal. The combat against the cult was difficult, but between Theo’s additional healing and Miri they managed to persevere. Silvius banished Qe-Bal to the plane of madness, and the party discovered an inactive portal that was a side entrance into the varkanist demiplane. They woke up one of the defeated cultists, another student named “Jake Baker”, and he revealed that you need portal orbs to open the portal and that Xarkos had passed through the portal only hours prior; confirming that “Xarkos” was behind all the murders of the friends and families of the party. They traveled back to S.A.M. where they met Berion who was being questioned by Gail again, this time about Najmi’s murder. The apartment was a crime scene now. Edgar did not let up the fact that they knew about Berion’s secret, but Berion did pick up on the fact that they must’ve made progress with the safe. Silvius and Theo followed Gail back to the police HQ in Somton, where Theo stole Gail’s portal orb after Silvius forced her to change her uniform using prestidigitation. The party met back up and headed over to Gwynne Mansion to rest. 

• 4E016/06/15 - That night, Silvius had a dream of a memory back to when he was 10 and taken into the Scarlet Keep’s red gardens with his parents. His mother was drawing a portrait of the princess and explained how their magic worked to a degree. Silvius, in this memory, overheard the grand general and the prince-consort tell his father to make “two paintings”. That morning, the party discussed their strategy of dressing up in cultist robes to sneak into the demiplane. Tuskon was surprised at Theo’s telepathy and gave her extra food, happy to see something new like a talking cat. The party headed back into the sewers and passed through the portal into the “Borough of Madness”, a secret neighborhood of Sombus in a demiplane with at least a thousand resident cultists, many of them just normal people. They first showed up in the Blood Sewers on the other side of the portal, guarded by two mind flayers. Some of the party including Theo was invisible, others in robes, and Cedrik disguised as Jake Baker. One of the mind flayers asked “Jake” about Qe-Bal’s absence, to which he made some excuses that fooled the illithid. However, the mind flayer noticed something about the invisible Theo before they left. They casted a scroll of locate-creature and walked through the streets of the demiplane towards the temple of varkanus. Esther noticed a rich vedavin lady on a balcony, “MP Mythika Woods”, who was the MP of Fayshine (Vetri also recognised her as a far-family friend). They eventually came to a residential block near the temple by the time the spells ended. Theo and Miri looked around and found one building with the windows blocked out at the fourth story and increased guard presence on the third. Esther and Silvius snuck in while invisible and managed to get all the way up to the fourth story where they discovered a makeshift artist’s studio. A sleep-deprived Zuria was halfway done painting a portrait of Emperor Sombra, while Silvius’ dad Merwin was asleep on a nearby chair. Only two guards. Silvius informed his mother that they were there to save her, as Esther and him approached his father to check his condition. As they did so though, the “alter-self” spell faded and Qe-Bal climbed out of Merwin’s head. He had replaced Merwin and taken him elsewhere in the demiplane. Combat ensued with the party split apart in the cramped apartment building. The others fought their way through the lower levels while Esther and Silvius dealt with Qe-Bal and the two guards upstairs. Qe-Bal was quick to overwhelm and knock Silvius out. Esther managed to avoid most of his attacks and mind blasts at first, but eventually Qe-Bal managed to stun her just as the others came up to the fourth story. Theo sensed that someone, probably Xarkos, had an aura that permeated the demiplane that made death saves be made at disadvantage. On the other hand, all magic was stronger in the demiplane. The fight against Qe-Bal was very difficult and the party almost did not make it, but Silvius within an inch of his life managed to erase Qe-Bal from existence as the first true “kill” of the party. They recovered with Zuria for ten minutes, and she also took her portrait so that they’d have to start from scratch and buy at least four-five days for Merwin. They decided to head out back the way they came from, and in the blood sewers encountered a group of cultists being led by both Yulis AND Xarkos, who in-person looked like a mummy-lord. Theo recognised him as looking like one of Vanos’ original servants, making Xarkos two-thousand years old. Xarkos “sincerely apologized” for having killed the party’s loved ones, but that it was only “the will of Varkanus”. The party hit him back by asking why Varkanus—the god who hates undeath—tolerates him, something that Xarkos ignored. Combat ensued as the party tried to run to the portal as the two leaders and cultists tried to stop them. Miri immediately used dimension-door to take Zuria out of the portal, but Yulis quickly bridged the distance and attacked them with his giant sword. Silvius managed to counterspell both Xarkos and Yulis, as the party barely managed to escape one by one. They managed to paralyze Yulis with hold-person, but even still they could not even manage to hit him for a single scratch. Esther threw her blood-trident at Xarkos, but he just caught it in place as it “belonged to them”. Silvius threw a fire-bolt at Xarkos’ hand which made him release the trident which then returned to Esther, discovering Xarkos’ weakness to fire. Just as the party made their narrow escape, Theo in her anger threw a guiding-bolt at Xarkos which was a critical hit and bloodied him. The party turned off the portal from the other side, and made their way back to Gwynne Mansion. Zuria promised to reveal everything to them soon, but she needed rest as she hadn’t slept in days.

• 4E016/06/16 - The next day, the party decided to investigate other possible entry-points into the demiplane. Theo went back to the sewers and asked some rats about it, and they alluded to an ancient city deep below Sombus in the Underdark. Meanwhile, everyone else planned to finally deal with Berion Goldquill. Edgar and Vetri went to his office first, and lied to him about the safe containing nothing attempting to lure him to the Starling Agency while the others set up a trap there. Berion went to the agency after a few hours, but he spotted Vetri trailing him. He called her out, and she pretended to be on his side instead of Edgar’s. That being said, Berion saw through the magical trap on the safe as Edgar and Vetri confronted him. They got him to reveal his entire plan and motivation as he explained his rise to power and how much he regretted having killed Allan. He stated how much he had loved Allan, but loved him as humans would love a dog. He also called Najmi an idiot for trying to take the sarcophagus back to Kasaaq. A fight broke out, but Berion managed to escape the building into the streets. As he tried to cast teleport, Esther ended up traveling with him alone to the makheti wing in the museum. Barely escaping with her life, she met up with everyone else and tracked Berion down to the Ironheart Casino. Esther was apparently banned from the casino, but managed to get inside to meet Mr. Rust and Takara, the co-leaders of the House of Rust, alongside Berion. They were protecting their friend Berion and disallowed violence within the casino. Takara also explained that they had proactively banned Esther due to the impostor Esther running around. The party explained their motivations for wanting to kill Berion, and in the end Esther and Theo made a convincing plea to him. Mr. Rust let Berion go with a head start of ten minutes, and wished the party well. The party chased him down until they caught up to him in Serenox Plaza, where both sides fought a final battle exhausted to their cores. Edgar took his revenge for Berion having killed his father, and stabbed Berion through his chest. As he died, Berion’s body morphed into a Keeper as Gunian claimed his soul and made him an eternal servant. They investigated Berion’s office before the police would get there, discovering notes and magical items. The party headed back to Gwynne Mansion in silence, meeting up with Silvius and Zuria and catching them up. Silvius had explained the entire story so far to Zuria and Tuskon as well. Zuria then explained the origin of her and Merwin’s magic, about how they made a pact with the archfey of creativity, Sheora, to gain the ability to trap a small portion of someone’s soul into their artworks. This ability got the attention of Sombra’s spymaster, who recruited them as spies. Zuria also revealed that they speculated that Silvius was not a warlock of Sheora like them, but a sorcerer possibly born of Sheora’s blood. Silvius had a lot of arguments with his mother about trust and lies before they turned in for the night. Theo asked Zuria to possibly draw Najmi. When alone, Cedrik demanded Karael to explain his role as the angel of chaos. After some prodding, Karael deemed Cedrik worthy of the truth and explained his entire story as well, about how he was the angel of chaos and he was hunted down by the gods and his own brother for trying to balance the cosmos during the era of order by introducing more chaos into the world through a world war. He explained how he accepted Gunian’s help and became a fiend, killed his brother before he would kill him, and was then trapped into a warforged vessel and eventually transferred into Cedrik. He warned Cedrik to not begin thinking that Karael was a better person than he truly was. 

• 4E016/06/17 - The party split early in the day for different goals. Esther and Theo would drop by Berion’s apartment and go down to Yizuko Labs, while the others would travel to Noxham to try and find the old sealed entrance into the Underdark. Theo and Esther found a lot of police at the S.A.S. Apartments. Esther distracted some officers (who were being misogynistic towards Gail) as Theo snuck into Berion’s apartment, created a distraction for Gail, and escaped with a handwritten note. They went to Yizuko labs, where they met Xoe and Faktoré again. Esther asked Xoe for help creating a new weapon to replace the trident, as Faktoré revealed that Esther and Edgar might be cursed due to their usage of it. Esther and Xoe had another argument about Esther’s nature as a mafioso, and she finally got Xoe to reveal that the reason she hates criminals so much is that Mr. Rust took everything from her parents. As they left, they saw Cane of the House of Rust waiting outside Yizuko Labs, and Giovanni contacted Esther to tell her that the fake Esther had attempted to kill Takara. They informed their allies using the sending stones as they were just reaching the east city. Esther decided the best course of action was to follow along with Cane to the Ironheart Casino. Meanwhile, Miri received a sending from one of her dads that “Esther” was there at the Artificery. The group decided to go there first to try and capture this fake Esther for good. Meanwhile, Takara had a long discussion with Esther and Theo about how much they underestimated this changeling and that the House of Rust would kill any Esther on sight until this situation was resolved. Meanwhile, the rest of the party reached the Artificery, but Miri’s parents revealed that no Esther was there, and neither did they send a message to Miri. Just as this happened, Cedrik realized that there was a bomb, as everyone escaped the building just as it exploded. The changeling failed to kill anyone, but the building was still gone. Theo asked Jakuna for directions to this changeling’s house, to which a leaf pointed southwest. Everyone traveled back to Gwynne Mansion where Tuskon and Zuria took in Miri’s parents. Esther, feeling disrespected by the House of Rust and now with Miri’s parents being targeted, finally decided to take everyone to the Rubino family. At night, they all met Don Rubino, who chastised Esther for not sharing her problems with the rest of the family, and reiterated that they were with her. He gave them a magical lens capable of seeing truesight to locate the changeling, which Vetri incorporated into her goggles. He told Esther to find and deal with this changeling that night and not let them see the next dawn. Realizing that the directions from Theo led to Sewertown, the party left alongside Arthiel.

• 4E016/06/18 - The party reached Sewertown well after midnight, and tracked Rico Ratti Jr. within the sewers to a much deeper alchemist lab under the sewers. There, they saw him talk to “Diego Péon”, Esther and Arthiel’s step-brother and Esther’s ex. Rico seemed afraid of Diego and treated him as a cult leader equal to Xarkos and Yulis, as Diego chastised him for failing twice in one day. Vetri realized that Diego was actually the changeling that they decided to just call Mya. After Rico Jr. left, the party snuck closer to Mya and the cultists but were spotted. Mya, having failed twice in one day, thanked the party for coming to her as she and her six cultist assassins attacked the party. The assassins were acrobatic and their poisons were hard to deal with, and Theo was almost blasted into an abyss by Mya’s eldritch blast. However, Mya’s reluctance to fight head on and attempts to escape were her downfall as the party paralyzed her and took her down. Theo took the alchemist notes here which were trying to create some sort of rebirth fluid. Silvius blew up the lab as they left, traveling across the city as Esther took Mya to the Rubino Knightclub and called both Takara and Rin there as well. While everyone else rested, Esther and Giovanni stayed awake all night torturing and flaying Mya for information about the cult and Diego as Theo watched. Mya offered the location of the demiplane’s gate within the east city for her freedom. In the morning, Takara and Rin arrived. Esther forced Takara to apologize to her and treat her with respect, offering an alliance between their three families against the common enemy. Rin, however, simply punched Mya’s head off, paid Edgar his money, and left. Takara also left momentarily, as the party regrouped, had some drinks, and planned their next steps. They decided to investigate the sealed elevator to the Underdark north of Noxham. On the way there, they stopped by Trixie’s place and checked on her progress on the Shockerstomper. Vetri figured out that the elevator had been modified and used relatively recently despite being officially closed, and that their portal orb fit in its center. On the way down into the Underdark, the party was attacked by a Neothelid, but they destroyed the elevator and used magic to survive the fall and escape it. Discovering the ruins of Old Sombus, they traveled into the ruined city and transitioned into the Borough of Madness. It was never a demiplane, but was actually situated within Old Sombus underneath the city all along. The party snuck into the Temple of Varkanus and lied their way into the Mad Court, where they saw “Varkanus” talk to Xarkos about the “words”. They also saw Merwin there. Xarkos saw through their disguises after Varkanus left, and combat ensued when his truesight caught the invisible Miri. After an incredibly difficult fight in which almost everyone died, Silvius, Esther, and Theo managed to kill Xarkos and reduce him to dust, finally taking their revenge. However, right after that Yulis and some cultists cornered the party and forcibly arrested them. They were put into a blood prison within different cells, while Miri was put inside an antimagic jar. Diego showed up to talk to Yulis, and exchanged some words with Esther. Right as he left, “Varkanus” himself showed up and lowered his hood. Zeta introduced himself to the party, and they had a long conversation about his motives, madness, origins, and purpose. He thought himself a vessel of Varkanus, and foresaw death in Cedrik’s future. Before leaving for the sarcophagus, he muttered that he had the words necessary. Theo had actually taken the words from Xarkos’ desk earlier, which seemed to be an incantation derived from Najmi’s research. After Zeta left, Yulis explained that his madness was a virtue and that Xarkos used to interpret Zeta’s insanity. Yulis and some other assassins and cultists were lured away by Theo who managed to escape invisibly by casting find familiar to create a duplicate and forcing someone to open the cell door momentarily. The party was then approached by Selda Hightower, who was surprised that the party was able to defeat Xarkos. In a first display of fear and weakness, she revealed to them that she was scared for her life now more than ever. She couldn’t go against the cult out of fear for her family, but she gave Silvius the keys despite their mutual hatred and left. Theo and Silvius then used their magic to break out of prison and reclaim everyone’s equipment. They defeated the guards and escaped the borough, heading back to the elevator. They made camp there while Vetri fixed up the elevator. After a long conversation with his father, Silvius found a secluded mossy cave to commune with Sheora, forming a lifelong pact with her within a plane of paint and becoming a warlock. 

BtSS Chapter 4 - Blood & Flame

• 4E016/06/19 - The next morning, the party activated the fixed elevator and headed back up. Halfway through, they were ambushed by Elijah Hunt riding an illithid dragon from above. However, the party used banishing magic to quickly teleport Elijah underneath the elevator and humiliate him out of the fight. After defeating the dragon, they had to remove illithid tadpoles from within their brains. Back on the surface, they traveled to the museum where they met the museum head Penyr Darkmere who caught them up to speed. Gail and her men were guarding the sarcophagus, but it was still safe from the cult for the time being. Esther had some rubino men guarding the museum as well in plainclothes. They traveled back to Gwynne Mansion, where Silvius’ parents had a reunion. Biz was also there guarding the mansion in the party’s absence. As everyone caught up over lunch at a very full table for the first time, they split to do various tasks. Silvius went shopping for a few things, while Esther dropped by Yizuko Labs to receive her new shortswords. Xoe agreed to drop by Gwynne Mansion to help fix up some defenses, while Faktoré made a replacement psychic crystal for Theo. Theo spent 24 hours casting hallow around the mansion for safety. That night, Silvius was scolded by his mother for making a pact with Sheora for hours on end. Vetri suggested Esther and Edgar seek divine help instead of medical help for their blood infection from the trident.

• 4E016/06/20 - The next morning, Cedrik had a conversation with Karael about his own mortality and what would happen when he dies. Karael ominously suggested Cedrik take Biz’s suggestion and draft a will, deciding first who would take Karael from him. Early in the morning, Esther and Edgar traveled to the St. Aetheros’ Cathedral in Fayshine to meet the bishop there. Upon meeting Bishop Elion, Esther remembered a memory from her childhood in which he was lightly racist to her and refused to bless her. Elion at first thought she was here to collect money as the new capo and told her that the church was exempt. Elion begrudgingly checked them over and told them that their blood was abyssally infected. Edgar would only live to see 50 or 60, and his children might be abyssal tieflings. Esther however would only live to see a 100 instead of 450, and be unable to have children entirely. He suggested at first for them to devote themselves to the gods to save their souls from eternal damnation in the Abyss. However, before they left he told them out of pity about Amzaria, an ambrosiac nectar from Aeteria that would fix all their ailments, though it was only given to extremely important or pious people like archbishops or Sombra. Esther promised him that he would see her at the service more often. Meanwhile, Merwin had upgraded Silvius’ tattoo back at the mansion. Esther and Edgar returned and caught everyone else up to their situation. Silvius suggested that they go to meet Spymaster Zerith Summerfate at the Scarlet Keep. There, they had a tense conversation with her in which she revealed that she had some spies in the cult and that she knew about Gailhel’s corruption. She wanted the situation to be fixed without the public’s knowledge, and for the party to serve as the fall guys in case things go wrong. She did not consider the cult and the sarcophagus to be apocalyptic dangers, and underestimated the situation to a degree. She promised them riches, mansions, and whatever they desired that she could realistically provide them. Silvius, in a private word with her, successfully convinced her to stop employing his parents, but she agreed only on the condition that he would take their place. She gave him a promissory slip to take to the Laughing Skull in Maromar which the party could use to get free magic items and potions. In a private word with Cedrik, she chastised him for putting his life in danger and potentially risking Karael’s escape. She accidentally let slip that the Amzaria could potentially free or kill Karael. Before leaving the Scarlet Keep, the party encountered Prince Tenemu Sombra painting within the red gardens. Silvius and Theo exchanged some words with him, as Silvius introduced himself and critiqued the prince’s painting. He gave the prince his painting of Old Sombus which he had never seen. After the prince used magic to clean up after some coughs, Theo sensed him to be a warlock and not defenseless. The party traveled to the Laughing Skull and spent the next five or six hours there getting their items enchanted. After that, they ran into Inspector Rorax at a hot-dog stall. After catching up, he gave them a tip that Elijah was out on bail, and that Connor Chambers was out of the hospital as well. He then asked their help with dealing with the Ratti Family once and for all, as they were overextending and making a power play in the west city. The party slept over at the Starling Agency.

• 4E016/06/21 - The party met Rorax early in the morning in Oldwharf at a Sewer Maintenance Facility. Rorax complained about the municipal corporation and how they and the Ratti family fought over control of the sewers. Edgar convinced a municipal foreman to let them into the crime scene, where yesterday two municipal workers were murdered. Edgar found some rattic fur there connecting the crime to the Ratti family, but Esther noticed that the men died to claws and psychic damage. They speculated that their destruction of the alchemy lab three days ago could’ve released some sort of trapped aberration called a Phaerimm that was now quickly reproducing and under the control of the Rattis somehow. Theo casted detect magic and instantly sensed four Phaerimm Spawn above them on the ceiling. After a quick and bloody fight, the party and Rorax killed the spawn. They decided to go to war against the Rattis without fear of the other families or the government, and traveled to Sewertown. There, they ran into Rosina Ratti and Bruno at a tavern. After convincing her that they’re not against her, she revealed to them that Rico Jr. had taken over the business after their father uncharacteristically suddenly left for Alverona. Following Bruno’s lead, the party traveled deeper into the sewers where Rico Jr. and a bunch of his men were. Rosina and Rorax bickered throughout the path. Below, they saw a bunch of Ratti goons, Rico Jr., and Don Ratti being puppeted by the Phaerimm mother. At first Silvius tried to disguise as one of the goons, but the mother saw through it instantly and a deadly combat ensued in which most goons died. After the mother was killed and the party discovered that Don Ratti was already dead, Rico Jr. surrendered; but was instantly executed by Esther regardless. Rosina mourned for her father, and took his pin, becoming the new Don Ratti. She apologized to Esther, and invited them to her father’s funeral. Esther helped Theo extract some aberrant fluids from the mother’s corpse before they left. Rorax thanked the party before departing as well. The party did some shopping before heading back to Gwynne Mansion where Xoe was hard at work boosting defenses. She revealed to Cedrik that the mansion was once owned by “Darkus”, Sombra’s apprentice who disappeared centuries ago. 

• 4E016/06/22 - Edgar spent the night looking over the mansion, and by morning discovered a magical rune below the artist’s desk in the studio that revealed a basement. The party investigated this newly revealed basement, where they discovered a “ruin card”. They then left with Esther to go to St. Aetheros Cathedral for the weekend mass, where Esther sat next to Don Ratti. After attending the service, she discussed the events of yesterday with him. The party discussed theology as they headed back, and Cedrik wanted to stop by the museum to check on the sarcophagus as well as go through Berion’s office upon Karael’s request. He found a book about the Angel Rebellion, and upon reading through it, powered Karael up. Three angels descended upon the party instantly within the Archive, attacking Karael. The party managed to send two of them back to the heavens, but a more deadly and independent Karael used his hellfire to burn an angel into the hells. The party headed back to the mansion, and came up with a plan for tomorrow with Zerith’s approval. They would use the media to sow misinformation about the sarcophagus, and then have four identical sarcophagus-sized carts leave the museum at the same time with people disguised as the party. One would go to the Scarlet Keep, one would go to the Carmine Trust, one would go to Oldwharf and be loaded aboard a Kav’orran ship bound for Kasaaq, and the real one would be sent to Gwynne Mansion. This would hopefully split the cult’s resources. Edgar found his cousin and brought her over to the mansion just in case.

• 4E016/06/23 - Tuskon and the other civilians spent the morning loading up most of Cedrik’s collection, artifacts, paintings, and important books into the basement where they would hide out for the duration of whatever happened today. The plan was set into motion at the museum, the four carts headed out, and the party accompanied one to the mansion with four faithkeepers who helped load it down into the basement. Xoe and Biz prepared for combat alongside the party, with two arcane cannons set up in the entrance hall. At night, Silvius snuck outside to see the mansion surrounded by innumerable cultists on all sides, along with mind flayers floating in the sky. They all heard Yulis’ call out for their destruction, who said "You have invaded our home, now we will show your home despair." as he invoked a “Blood Moon” upon Sombus, causing rage amidst everyone present and giving everyone reckless attacks. As the swarms of cultists comprising regular cultists, assassins, and aberrant cultists invaded the house from multiple entrances, the mind flayers were forced to stay outside due to the hallow spell. They still attacked who they could, especially Theo in the back room, though the one fighting near the entrance strangely avoided hitting Silvius. The invading force at the entrance was led by Elijah Hunt, and Yulis was not to be seen anywhere. As combat broke out and fire spells started being flung everywhere, Gwynne Mansion caught on fire and began to burn down. Just as that happened, Yulis destroyed the roof and crashed down into the entrance hall, attacking the party with full force as he grew larger. The two faithkeepers at the entrance were quickly killed by the invaders, but the two at the back helped protect Theo from the invaders and the Mind Flayer there. As the siege progressed, Biz helped the party knock Elijah out, but Xoe came close to dying to one of the assassins. Yulis proved to be an incredibly difficult foe, but once the party managed to overcome his defenses he retreated to the first floor. Realizing the hallow spell’s power, he unleashed fire spells upon the party which almost led to a total loss as multiple people were knocked down. However, Miri managed to heal the party back up at the last second, and Esther used the chaos to her advantage to teleport behind Yulis and decapitate him. The fight did not stop instantly upon Yulis’ downfall, as the cultists and mind flayers kept the charge going. By the time the party dealt with the rest, many cultists including the one Mind Flayer at the back had escaped alongside the safe that contained the Figurine and the Archdemon’s Soul. Gwynne Mansion burnt down into cinders and rubble as the party left the interior, and Biz carried Elijah out. By the time that the fire brigade arrived, there was nothing left to save, and the plume of smoke from the Mansion rose higher than the highest skyscrapers of Sombus. Meanwhile, nothing happened at the Scarlet Keep, nor Oldwharf. However, once the Kasaaqi ship left Tricristol Bay, a cartel pirate ship led by Diego attacked and sank it, leading to a complete loss. Zerith herself oversaw the fake sarcophagus that was brought to the back entrance of the Carmine Trust, alongside a Blackreyne occultist named Blair who disguised as Silvius. Before the fake sarcophagus could be taken into the vaults, the cult attacked them alongside five mind flayers. However, this fight was much more victorious, with the only loss being the soldier who had disguised as Esther. Blair used the fact that the mind flayers were seemingly avoiding Silvius to her advantage and managed to kill all five by themselves. Zerith killed the leader of the cultists, who then transformed back into MP Mythika Woods. 

• 4E016/06/24 - As dawn rose upon the remains of Gwynne Mansion, the party and the remaining two faithkeepers helped clear the rubble from the northwest so that the civilians could leave the safety of the basement and dig out the sarcophagus. Meanwhile, there was a crowd of dozens of reporters at the front gates of the grounds being held back by a group of soldiers. Merwin had spent the hours locked up in the basement studying the sarcophagus, and pointed out an Omnikarn inscription on its back. The party used Cedrik’s books to solve the puzzle and decode the inscription, which stated that the only way to undo a Vessel of Varkanus’ magic was to use “Aethys’ Curse”, which Theo explained could take away a spellcasters’ magic; at least temporarily. Theo tried to commune with Aethys to learn the curse, but she refused because Theo was “Starwoken”. However, she gave Theo a lead that it had something to do with Tricristol Bay. Zerith and Blair broke through the crowd at the gates to meet the party and catch them up on what transpired elsewhere. Cedrik was resting with Tuskon near the back of the rubble, and was not present for the conversation that followed. Blair introduced themselves as a Blackreyne occultist, and showed Esther a Blackreyne bounty for Cedrik. They had not yet accepted it, and they could not reveal who the client was either. Blair was a trusted ally of Zerith, and was here to assess whether or not Cedrik and Karael were going to be threats to society. Blair also talked to Silvius about the illithids ignoring them, which led Silvius and Theo to think that its his fey pact scaring the aberrations. Blair also explained to Theo about what Starwoken meant- They used to be champions and esteemed followers of Serenox, and that there have been no new Starwoken since her death. Zerith, Blair, and the party had a tense discussion about what was to be done about Cedrik and Karael, and finally Esther agreed that she would take Karael within herself if the need arises as she was already doomed. Blair accepted that for now, and told them that they’d keep in touch. As a sign of good faith, Zerith gave Cedrik the deed to the grounds of Gwynne Mansion which she had been keeping from him for a long time, and vowed to fund the reconstruction. After Blair and Zerith left, they woke Elijah up and questioned him, intimidating him with Yulis’ decapitated head. Esther threatened to sell off his scales, and he broke down sobbing asking not to be killed. He revealed that he was only in the cult for power and standing, and because it made people at the university think he and Selda were dating which they weren’t. Silvius and Biz had him write down a list of student cultists, and go make sure no more cult activity took place at the university. Edgar and Esther stepped up to talk to the journalists who started asking them a lot of questions, including a lot of personal questions such as their ties to the Rubino Family and whether or not Edgar was homeless. Edgar revealed to the press that a cult had attacked them, and Esther defamed Elijah and the Hunt family who earlier had boasted to the press that he was a part of the Six Reasons Why. One of the journalists asked about why the sarcophagus was brought here, but Edgar couldn’t figure out which one spoke up, dodging the question. The party suggested to Theo that they ask the Valexath brothers about Aethys. The party traveled to HMP Wallton Prison, where they interrogated Vundus who was smug and tried to ragebait Edgar. He revealed that 18 years ago after a particularly devastating hurricane, a small immigrant Temple of Aethys in Sigton sunk into Tricristol Bay. He laughed at them upon learning that the trident they stole from him cursed their blood, telling Edgar and Esther that they deserved it. Silvius insulted Vundus until he got up and left, and the party headed to Sigton. Meanwhile at the destroyed mansion, Clara met Cedrik and had a heart-to-heart with him. His charm managed to get a smile out of her, and she said that if Karael was gone and he lived to see it, there may still be a future for them. At Sigton, after getting some help from a few local Tritons, the party swam down to the sunken temple of Aethys. Silvius restored gold into the statue’s eye sockets, leading to a small shockwave. Aethys summoned a sea dragon as a test for the party, and after they defeated it the statue came to life and talked to them. Theo’s audacity eventually led to Aethys blessing everyone but her, and she gave her curse of “Weavetear” to Edgar. The party then headed back to their Scarlet Keep guesthouse.

• 4E016/06/25 - The next morning, the party traveled to the Esmer-Gradus Mansion where they interrogated the portrait of Zeta to learn more about his motivations. Though he was too insane to make much sense, they did learn a bit more about how he recruited everyone and his underlings’ motivations including Gail and Diego. Deciding to deal with the university situation once and for all, they caught a tram to the Carminus Universum. Silvius reunited with Clara and Norah, who revealed that she was submitting assignments on Silvius’ behalf so he didn’t fail the semester. The party then met with Elijah and Selda to discuss their next steps. Though most of the student cultists were scared out of the cult by Elijah and the party, Selda was worried that they’d still be targeted. Her and the party devised a plan in which Selda would call Gailhel Redeye to the university using Elijah as bait, and that they’d defeat her for good. They carried out the plan near the dorms where Elijah stood on the ground and the party hid on a nearby roof. When Selda brought Gailhel, she immediately spotted the party. After an incredibly tough fight against Gail and her underlings, Selda revealed her betrayal and turned against Gail who tried to escape using invisibility. Silvius, using a psychic lance, neutralized her. The party arrested her, and using a letter from Zerith managed to take her to HMP Wallshade where Gail was reluctantly taken into custody by the warden. On the tram back from the prison, the party spotted their dead loved ones outside the tram while crossing the King’s Bridge, suffering a time loop every time they did so. Investigation revealed nothing, and at the Scarlet Keep they reunited with Cedrik. The party then saw Emperor Sombra’s spelljammer ship docked at the Keep, signalling that he had returned. After briefly suspecting him to be a fake, they realized that it was really him and that they had a meeting with him the next morning. At night, the party traveled back to the King’s Bridge to investigate further. Using the goggles of truesight, Silvius saw a woman’s ghost standing at the edge of the bridge. They realized that this was the ghost of Siraye Mistgleam, Sombra’s ex-lover and Prince Tenemu’s mother. Though most of the public thought that she died from childbirth complications, in reality she had committed suicide at this bridge. She apologized to the party and revealed that she showed passersbys the faces of those that they loved so that they wouldn’t forget them, but the look of horror made her reverse time so it never happened. She asked them to tell the Emperor to remember home, before she disappeared.

BtSS Chapter 5 - Court of Crimson

• 4E016/06/26 -  The next morning, the party was led up the Scarlet Spire into Sombra’s Study to meet the Emperor. They saw him talk to Zerith who left the party alone with him. Sombra thanked the party for everything that they had done, and promised to reward them with everything they desired, be it mansions or ambrosia. He was incredibly furious at the cult for hiding away just under his nose for this long as well as desecrating the homes of his ancestors in Old Sombus. He vowed to borrow a “Time Gear” from Terros to rewind Old Sombus and remove any traces of the cult’s existence. Before any of that, he asked the party for their help in dealing with the sarcophagus, before he used Xarkos’ words to resurrect Vanos the Serpent. The party was taken by surprise by this, and commanded by him to have his back. Vanos immediately transported everyone into some sort of sandy Kav’orran demiplane, summoning greater demons. Vanos struggled to find the right language to speak, before settling on an older dialect of elvish to threaten Sombra. The party fought the demons and protected the Emperor while he focused on keeping Vanos paralyzed. As soon as the party gave him the opening, Sombra then casted Dark Star to destroy Vanos’ physical body for good. He knew that this might not be the end of the Serpent, but it will make any future efforts to revive him that much harder. Everyone was transported back to the Scarlet Spire, finally free of the sarcophagus’ threat. 

• 4E016/06/27 - The next day, Cedrik, Silvius, and Theo met with Prince Tenemu for some tea. They caught up on all the events, and discovered that the prince’s warlock patron was his own father. They informed him of the ghost of his mother, leading to the prince requesting some time alone. Meanwhile, Esther met with Xoe and had her reveal what Mr. Rust did to her parents. She then promised to deal with the Ironheart Casino, and made amends with Xoe. The party reunited and knew that it was time to deal with Diego, but before that, Esther had some questions for the Don. At the Rubino Villa, Esther demanded the truth from Don Rubino who revealed that he did order Diego’s death 16 years ago because he simply knew too much to be left free. When Esther asked whether he would kill her if she wanted to leave as well, Arthiel punched her for asking such a question. The Don, after some thought, said that he would be unable to even if he wanted to because of her connection to the Emperor. He explained his reasonings for doing what he had done, and gave Esther the location of the cartel warehouse Diego was spotted at with the explicit instructions to leave no witnesses, even if it was some child. After the party left his office, Silvius and Esther had a big argument on whether or not the Don was justified in his actions. Joined by Arthiel, they traveled down to Roja Island. Though they snuck into the warehouse marked to them, they revealed themselves to the cartel members and talked to Diego directly. Though Diego revealed his reasons for loathing Esther, she managed to talk him down and convince him to let go and be free. Edgar and Arthiel aided Esther in talking Diego down, and eventually appealed to the logical side of his brain. He then made a pact with them that they’d let him be, get Sombra off his back, and let him essentially lead his own cult and rise to the top of the cartel separated from Zeta. Esther shook hands with him with a blood pact, and they headed back to the villa without conflict. That night, Theo retired to her bed early and figured out through her notes that she could not resurrect Najmi after all. After some sadness though, she had a revelation that she’d get to meet her in the heaven of Svarga one day. Looking at her notes, it finally clicked to Theo that she could use this Lazarus Pool to free Cedrik of Karael. Meanwhile, a guard delivered the summons to a jakunic jury to the party outside, causing Karael to finally snap and take over Cedrik’s body fully. He stormed out from the villa towards Sombra’s Spire to stare him down, but the party caught up to him in time. Karael then took them all into some sort of demiplane Gaol, where they fought. Theo finally managed to convince Karael that she can free him, calming him down. 

• 4E016/06/28 - The party traveled to Yizuko Labs to get Xoe’s help in building the Lazarus Pool below the caves in Sewertown. Once constructed, Theo and Cedrik started the ritual as Cedrik began to melt and die within the acid pool. As this happened, many celestial apostles of Krakus showed up to attack them. The rest of the party kept them at bay while Cedrik’s soul rose from his body alongside Karael. Cedrik managed to tear his soul away from Karael’s for good, and then Theo with great difficulty casted a modified version of Raise Dead to bring Cedrik back. Karael, now freed, reconstituted his physical body above them. Cedrik rose up as a monk and joined the fight. When an entire army of the apostles showed up, Karael finally jumped down and took them on. He said his farewells to Cedrik, and took them all back to the heavens where they could actually die. The party had trapped the leader of the apostles from returning, an angel named Zephon, and managed to convince him to help them take down Zeta. Zephon asked Krakus for his advice, and Krakus’ voice rang out with approval. The party then did their final shopping for potions and items to prepare for the final fight to come.

• 4E016/07/01 - In the morning, before going to the war room where they had been summoned, the party discussed their final plans and strategized. Knowing that this might be the last day, Edgar proposed to Esther and Theo officiated their wedding by casting ceremony. The party headed to the war room outside which were a hundred plus soldiers waiting to follow their orders. Silvius met his parents there, joined by many commanders, generals, Zerith, and Blair. Though the other commanders doubted the party, Zerith defended them and put Cedrik in charge. They discussed their final plan of mass-teleporting the entire army to the outskirts of the Borough of Madness, where they would face off against the remaining cultists at the Blood Dam. Xoe summoned Trixie alongside her shockerstomper mech to deal with the neothelid. As this happened, thunder rang out outside as red blood rain started to fall across Sombus, harming everyone who came into contact with it. With their final plans drafted, the party and the army prepared to teleport as Silvius shared a hug with his parents. As they teleported into the Borough of Madness, the army rushed in and it became a quick bloodbath as Xoe, Zerith, and Blair carved a pathway for the party to head up the Dam. The neothelid rose out of the blood river, but was met by the shockerstomper. Zeta’s sermon  rang out throughout the battle through thaumaturgy. The party made their way to the top of the dam but were ambushed by a group of cultists. After a quick fight in which they threw a few of the cultists to their death—one of them through the dam’s mechanism—Theo casted water walk to let the party beeline for the lighthouse where they sensed Zeta. The party summoned Zephon, and ran up to meet Zeta alongside two mind flayers at the Beacon of Blood. Zeta laughed at the chaos all around him. He was wearing the archdemon’s soul around his neck amidst his many necklaces of Varkanus, and then disintegrated the Figurine of Varkys and took the dust into his bloodstream to absorb its power. As the final combat started, Zeta immediately casted power word kill to take Esther out while most of them were paralyzed. Zephon freed Theo from paralysis, who then rushed to revive Esther. Zeta tried to counterspell Theo, but was counterspelled by Silvius and made to fail by Miri using silvery barbs. One of the mind flayers was taken down, but the one who remained (the same one Theo had been seeing for weeks) continued to be a threat until Silvius dunked him under the water. The fight began to finally turn in the party’s favor once Cedrik landed a few punches alongside Esther’s swords. Theo then used divine intervention to cast a modified version of the hallow spell that gave Zeta vulnerability to Weavetear. It’s as if Saedevi manifested in that moment as the red mist over the borough disappeared alongside the red rain, revealing the star-like ceiling of the cavern. A blue light shone across the borough as Sombra reappeared floating above the dam with a Time Gear in hand. Esther finally weakened Zeta down to nothing, causing him to open his arms in an embrace ready for death. In reality, she had given Edgar an opening to cast Weavetear by transforming his sword into a golden blade cutting directly into Zeta’s soul. In a flash that made Edgar’s soul glow an Aethys-Gold colour, Zeta was cut off from his magic. Sombra used the Time Gear to rewind the Borough of Madness into the pristine and calm ruins of Old Sombus once more, removing any trace of the cult’s influence. Zeta’s smile faded as he yelled about how it was not funny that they weren’t killing him. He tried to immediately jump off and kill himself, but Zephon caught and prevented him from moving. The party joked that not letting him die was chaotic in its own way, which made Zeta start laughing maniacally as he snapped for good. Once the battle was over, they met Sombra again, and Zeta was taken to a secret antimagic prison never to be seen again.

• 4E016/07/04 - Some days later, Sombra summoned Edgar and Esther to his study where he gave them a bottle of ambrosia that finally cured them of their blood curse. Trixie became the third member of Yizuko Labs, and Tenemu visited the ghost of his mother, finally giving her some rest. Cedrik, Xoe, and Tuskon discussed the design of the new Gwynne Mansion at the ruins of the older one, as Clara joined him there. Knowing that he was free now, she put in her own demands for architectural designs as she’d be living there as well.

• 4E016/07/07 - Some days later, Edgar moved out of Castella and said his goodbyes to Ms. Perez. Rorax helped Edgar move to his new mansion in Faithills once more, though he commented that Edgar felt more at home in the dinginess of the west city. He was gonna have his hands full with Rosina Ratti, and Edgar promised that they’d keep working together. Edgar planned to spy on the Crimsons in his new practice. Meanwhile, Silvius finally ‘just-passed’ his semester thanks to Norah, who was still unsure if Sir Gwynne was rich enough to sponsor her. Biz, Silvius, and Norah walked the halls of the Carminus Universum as various students gave him brofists and high-fives, Silvius now a school hero. Selda and Elijah returned to being normal students once more, freed of the cult.

• 4E016/07/09 - Some days later, Esther demanded that Zerith take down the Ironheart Casino. The compromise they reached was to implicate Takara and Mr. Rust in a legal battle that would take them down in the following months. She then visited the Rubino Villa, where she met Arthiel, the Don, and Esmeralda in the Don’s office. She then quit the Rubino family, choosing to do her own thing but promising to help out if ever necessary. Giovanni would take her place as capo. Arthiel asked her what she should do, leave or stay as all their family were now gone. Esther told her that the choice would be her own.

• 4E016/07/11 - Only a few days later, Arthiel would follow Esther in leaving the Rubino Family but becoming a freelance criminal enforcer instead. The day had come that the now-empty sarcophagus would be shipped back to Kasaaq, and Theo and Oscar oversaw the final shipping manifest at the museum. Vetri had been promoted to Archive Head by now. Oscar wondered where Berion had disappeared to, before asking Theo if she intended to go back to Kasaaq. Theo explained that Sombus would be her new home from now on, with her new friends and her new friends.

• 4E016/07/14 - Two weeks after the final fight, a grand award ceremony was conducted at the Scarlet Villa as the Six Reasons Why were all awarded medals and rewards by Emperor Sombra in front of hundreds of spectators including journalists. After the ceremony, the heroes of the city stepped out into the garden for some fresh air once more, and discussed their next plans. Esther and Edgar would move in together, while Cedrik and Clara wanted to go on a long cruise for a year. Miri, her house now rebuilt in Fayshine, would travel and become famous, maybe even join the carnival. Theo would continue watching over the city alongside Silvius and Edgar as they’d help Rorax solve mysteries. As they all headed out, the sky almost showed their dead loved ones in the sky, everyone who had lost their lives due to this madness—Martin, Loras, Luciano, Najmi, and even Allan Starling. Somewhere in Shatterrealm, Karael walked through the masses of Zeskahn City where he proclaimed himself the new emperor of the plane, Khaz Karael.