Episode 37 Glossary
Characters
Helena: Transformed by Acuras's lifeless blood into a Bloodmarked ranger. She infiltrates Venfallas to preserve the bargain protecting her friends, but attempts to stop the wider massacre after realizing Aris and Arthas intend to kill everyone.
Acuras: Lord of the Blood Sorcerers and first bearer of the Lifeless Blood. He permits the Harbingers to leave Keph, then orders Helena to poison Venfallas's Moon Pond and help assassinate Ylvis.
Arthas Ventrex Elutharis: One of Acuras's principal war leaders and Ylvis's son. He leads the infiltration, displays a personal hatred of the Evenari, and advances upon his father within the central spire.
Aris Lantrosa: A vicious Blood Sorcerer commander who leads the larger force waiting outside Venfallas and questions how previous victims survived the Blood Sorcerers' mark.
Ylvis Denell Elutharis: Chief of the Evenari and father of Arthas. He emerges as an archdruid, drives the infiltrators from the spire, and attempts to close Venfallas's veil.
Geordi: Blood Sorcerer entrusted with the vial containing Acuras's blood.
Tareth Morgus: Blood Sorcerer who joins Arthas's infiltration and the attack upon Venfallas.
Jade: Blood Sorcerer who participates in the initial slaughter and assault upon the Evenari settlement.
Harkin Rivas: Blood Sorcerer who eagerly embraces the bloodlust of the attack.
Eleonora: Blood Sorcerer who joins the infiltration and assaults one of Venfallas's guard towers.
Whisper: Uses his magical dagger to complete Bjorn's strike and decapitate the possessed corpse on the bridge.
Normandy Borthal: Attempts to question the frozen traveler with Speak with Dead and discovers that another presence inhabits the soulless body.
Bjorn: Leads the pilgrimage across the bridge, fights the possessed traveler with Helvegen, and privately knows that the all-blade has never made the journey before.
Gods and Religion
Belgor Vrack: The Eternal Blood God and source of the Lifeless Blood that transformed Helena and empowers Acuras's followers.
Sethis: The ancient power whose gift protects Venfallas behind a veil that outsiders cannot cross without invitation.
Devotion to Acuras: The Blood Sorcerers exhibit nearly absolute loyalty to their lord, treating his blood as sacred and his will as the source of their power.
Nornian Pilgrimage: An ancestral journey through the Veng'namar Plateau that tests whether travelers are worthy to approach Dragdah and commune with the dead.
Phaedras's Forbidden History: The revelation Vyr secretly shares with Torrin and Whisper concerning Phaedras's mortal life, transformation, and connection to the party's destiny.
Organizations and Societies
Blood Sorcerers of Keph: Sanguine servants of Acuras who invade Venfallas after Helena opens its veil. Their leadership includes Arthas and Aris.
Evenari: Twilight people sheltered within Venfallas. Their population has slowly diminished because they refuse to have children within Tyve.
Harbingers of Light: Continue the Dragdah pilgrimage without knowing that Helena has helped open Venfallas to attack.
Dregda Moor: Ancient and powerful Nornian clan associated with Dragdah, death, spirits, and the pilgrimage Bjorn now follows.
Creatures and Nature
The Possessed Pilgrim: Frozen human corpse containing no soul but animated by a sickly green presence. It resists ordinary weapons, attempts mental domination, and warns the travelers to turn back.
Nightmare Mount: Dark supernatural horse ridden by Aris as the Blood Sorcerers march toward Venfallas.
Venfallas's Living Shadows: Tendrils and hands of darkness that answer Helena's light, draw her into the realm, and later pull its veil open.
Glacial Wind: Supernaturally cold wind crossing the first bridge. It chills the travelers beyond the effects of temperature and forces them into silent reflection.
Items and Technology
Acuras's Blood Vial: Container holding a small quantity of Acuras's highly prized blood. The invaders intend to mix it with Ylvis's blood and pour it into the Moon Pond.
Helena's Light Vial: Vessel containing the light Helena carries. It helps Venfallas recognize her plea before going dark when she opens the veil.
Helvegen: Bjorn's all-blade. He carries it openly across the bridge and uses it against the possessed corpse, while concealing that the weapon has never completed the pilgrimage.
The Pilgrim's Journal: Bloodied account recovered from the frozen body. Its final entry states that the writer's companions died during an attack in a tower and that he was trying to reach the gate.
Nightbringer: Magical sword Vyr briefly tests against the possessed corpse before finding it poorly suited to her strength.
Oriun Blade: Vyr's shadow weapon, which damages the undead creature but cannot draw healing essence from its soulless body.
Ancient Bridge: Immense, intricately carved stone span apparently formed from a single piece of mountain and unsupported across the chasm.
Magic and Cosmology
Bloodmarked Transformation: Acuras's lifeless blood leaves Helena both humanoid and undead. She no longer ages, resists necrotic power, is vulnerable to radiant energy, and can manipulate her own blood for power.
Bloodletting: Sanguine technique through which Helena empowers an attack by sacrificing her own health and maximum vitality.
Venfallas's Invitation: The Shadowlands accept Evenari naturally, but other beings require permission. Helena's invitation allows the infiltration force to cross the veil.
Corruption of the Moon Pond: Acuras believes mingling his blood with Ylvis's and pouring it into Venfallas's sacred water will weaken the realm's defenses.
Speak with Dead Anomaly: Normandy's spell reaches a body without a soul. An unknown green presence answers in the dead traveler's place and animates the corpse.
Sickly Green Reconstitution: Magic that stitches the corpse together after nonmagical attacks and allows it to resist physical destruction.
Mental Domination: The possessed corpse attempts to invade Normandy's mind after being struck by his holy magic, but Normandy resists its control.
Locations and Realms
Blood Keep: Stronghold of Acuras and the Blood Sorcerers, where Helena receives her mission against the Evenari.
Venfallas: The hidden Shadowlands of the Evenari, existing in perpetual moonlight behind a veil that ordinarily excludes outsiders.
Moon Pond: Sacred lake within Venfallas whose corruption is intended to weaken the realm's protective magic.
Ylvis's Spire: Central structure of the Evenari settlement and the target of Arthas's assault.
Veng'namar Plateau: Glacial region containing the route to Dragdah and the ancestral trials of the Nornian pilgrimage.
First Pilgrimage Bridge: Vast crossing above a bottomless chasm filled with mist, freezing wind, and the cries of the dead.
Pilgrimage Glacier: Rising passage through ice and stone illuminated by yellow-green sconces and covered with marks left by generations of pilgrims.
Glacial Waystation: Circular resting chamber and ancient fire pit located approximately halfway up the glacier.
Dragdah: Ancient capital of the Dregda Moor and the destination of Bjorn's pilgrimage.
History and Lore
Arthas's Grievance: Arthas claims the Evenari abandoned him and reveals that his father's actions allowed Acuras to escape imprisonment.
Decline of the Evenari: Venfallas contains only a few hundred inhabitants. Their refusal to raise children within Tyve means every death permanently reduces their people.
The Long War for Venfallas: Acuras has sought entry into the Shadowlands for years, but torture and magical investigation yielded little useful information before Helena's arrival.
Ancient Nornian Crossings: The glacier walls bear evidence that many clans completed the pilgrimage across thousands of years.
The Failed Tower Expedition: The frozen traveler's journal records that an unknown attack killed his companions in a tower and left him mortally wounded while fleeing toward the gate.
Helvegen's Unfinished Journey: Bjorn knows that the ancestral all-blade has never made this pilgrimage, suggesting its presence may carry unfulfilled historical significance.
