21 Cuersaar 837
Rodreck and Rumis, for reason’s unknown but presumably related to their shared evil-deal problems, take a level of exhaustion and do not get the full benefits of a long rest (this is permanent, they do not recover from this level of exhaustion).
Aida opens Paige’s gift, a book called Jawbreakers and Nutcrackers: No-Nos for Big Species with Smaller Lovers, and experiences anime-levels of embarrassment (presumably, AK wouldn’t know would she?). Aida’s hair is unbraided, so Jon braids it for her. Paige tries to watch Aida’s reaction, but Jon’s wings block her.
Paige annoys Zook with her insistence that the woods of the ship are fake, so he sends her onto an endless path (presumably some kind of pocket dimensional illusion?). Aida ends up following her on her magic broom, and they both examine the magic trees. Paige realizes the rune on the trees are offering protections for the ship, and finds similarities to magic math she understands.
Pandora examines Rumis’ hand for signs of the deal, and finds minor damage and dead skin but no entry wound. They decide to wait for Paige before doing anything further.
Before returning to the group, Aida tells Paige the others can’t know about Ioun.
Aida says, in elvish, “Ioun’s spellbook must be kept secret. Please don’t mention it to the others.” And you see her pocket the spellbook, and put it in her bag.
“Uhhhh okay. We’re like, a couple hours out from them.” She’s saying this back in common, being like, “Like, that’s fine. I understand. I just want to point out I don’t know why you said that in elvish, because I’m pretty sure this entire party speaks elvish. Maybe not one person, but…y’know.”
“Still.”
“And also…that’s fair. I’ll keep it a secret if you want. I don’t think it needs to be, but that’s me. Do what you want.”
“With what happened in Stilben, I assume we’re all going to be on the radar with a couple of folks-“
“Yeah. Oh do you mean like around other people outside of the group? Shit, yeah no-“
“No, the group as well because let’s say, well, some of the folks here are not on good terms with the Clasp - well, no one is, but let’s say folks detect thoughts on some of y’alls minds, and the Clasp members get to know where Ioun’s spellbook is, and take it for themselves. And I don’t want to risk that.”
“That’s fair.”
“This is a valuable artifact. I made my mistake, back in Port Damali (Wildemount), to that one orc…”
“I mean if you’re talking about the one at the Cobalt Soul, I asked you to put that down, but y’know that’s fair. It was a quick and easy way to get access to the teleporter, and it was just the first thing I thought of. I’ll definitely keep it down.”
- Aida and Paige discuss the logistics of teleporting straight to Emon, but realize they might need a speedy exit with how the mission’s been going thus far. Somehow, this results in Aida asking the book for fanfics of the group, and reading sections of a poem with insight into each member of the group, and Harley’s thoughts about the group written in his diary. Aida also refuses to use Ioun to look in the restricted section of the Cobalt Soul, for fear of losing the blessing of Bahamut. Paige nags her about taking the choice from her as well, and Aida’s self-esteem makes a first appearance:
“Well, you’re not Ioun’s chosen!“
- Pandora pulls Rumis aside just before Aida and Paige return to offer a warning.
“I’m gonna say this to you, because I think you’re the only one in the group that isn’t experiencing this currently: don’t be so trusting. There’s…and I mean, me too. You shouldn’t trust me. You’re going to, but you shouldn’t. Aida…there’s something off. Paige…she’s always keeping secrets, I don’t know what they are, but they’re deep. Rodreck…writes angsty poems all day. I don’t…the thing with the demon? The shadow thing? That was stupid. You…mmm. That was bad. But. You gotta know, to some extent, that you can’t trust people. Even people you might consider friends.”
“I was hoping I could at least trust you guys, but you’re probably right.”
And then I’ll put my hand on Rumis’ shoulder, and I’ll say, “It’s just a piece of friendly advice.”
- Paige and Aida arrive as Pandora and Rumis return, and Rodreck has the group gather for his poetry reading.
Rodreck’s Poem
Lo! Our secrets laid bare
Dark gods have laid out a snare
A mask that would make me a king
A shadow, what Horrors it will bring?Why do I not fear what whispers in my ear?
Because my path already leads to me Mad, what can be more sad?These voices of truth also tells lies
Its honeyed words makes food for the flies
The favorite of ravens stands ready with knives
But her peers before her all had short livesThen those that stand alone, no secrets they sewn
So they are hard to trust, my opinion I must adjust
Rodreck’s eyes dart between Aida and Paige at the line about those that stand alone, and Paige stares daggers back.
Pandora questions what Rodreck meant about peers before her, and he tells her he’s never heard of a chosen of the Raven Queen that lived to be old. Pandora freezes at this new information. Rumis brings up Alyxian as an example of what might become of god-chosen, and Pandora’s horror grows.
Paige casts Legend Lore on Rumis, focusing on his bond with Torog, while maintaining eye-contact with a distrustful Rodreck.
As Paige is gently holding Rumis’ hand, focusing on this well of evil that manifests in this black dot. What happens is, at first, it’s very quiet. It’s very anticlimactic for one breath, two breaths, three breaths, and what Rumis probably notices, I don’t know how many of the rest of you do, is that Paige’s eyes frost over into a milky white where you can’t even see her pupils or her irises any longer. And then she is basically exploded backwards, like there was a grenade in Rumis’ hand or plastic explosive. Some big bang, but Paige is the only one who feels it. Paige, for you, this feels a lot like the drug in Judge Dredd that slows down time. It’s like bullet time for you. You can feel yourself rocketing backward through the air in an arc, but it all goes real slow. And during that time, while you’re in the air, you get thousands, tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of flashes of this black spot on an equal number of hands. Hands of people throughout the eons who have been touched by Torog. And one and all, you are left to witness not only their worst moment, where they were given this black mark, but the moment where the mark collects its due. Because, much like the black mark of Legend, the mark of Torog requires a price. So, yeah, you get treated to about a six-month, non-ending private showing of the worst edition of Hellraiser that Paige can possibly imagine. And then you hit the ground and roll, your eyes snapping back to normal. The moss that covers the ground of this room, kind of cushions your fall, so you don’t take any physical damage, you kind of just ragdoll your way up against the wall. But you are left with these memories, and they will haunt you for a while, because that perfect memory is not always a great thing for you.
Rodreck recalls the tale of the Laughing Hand, and Paige matches the imagery to a figure she saw hunting down others marked by Torog, as well as a warrior she saw make a deal with Torog at his lowest. She also learned that Torog essentially owns Rumis’ soul and will come to collect, but for the time being, Rumis will get power from his deal with The Crawling King.
Rumis asks for their assistance in solving his dilemma, and Pandora points out that it is technically part of their mission.
As Paige continues trying and failing to process six consecutive months of torture she can remember in perfect detail with Aida unable to help, Pandora and Rodreck both make unhelpful comments that only further her panic. Seeking a solution, she realizes the Cobalt Soul probably has a Modify Memory spell scroll she can use to erase the traumatic memories from Legend Lore.
Paige makes a teleportation circle for Westruun, with Aida and Jon at her heels. Pandora arrives as the portal closes, and narrows her eyes, validating some stray belief in her head.
“Well, it appears half our team has abandoned us for unknown reasons,” Pandora informs Rodreck and Rumis.
“Well, that’s unfortunate,” Rodreck remarks. “Do we start the ship again?”
“I’m not sure what they’re doing since they didn’t see fit to inform us. I suppose that’s up
to us. Do you have sending prepared? We could ask them.”“I do, but I don’t really wanna talk to them after they left us.”
“I mean, let’s be honest, Aida’s squeamish, Paige’s unreliable, and Jon is Aida’s play toy. I think we can make do.” And I think Pandora is like completely blank when she’s saying this, like, just like nothing, nothing is showing. And so she’s going to say, “Rodreck, you do what you think is best. You’ve been my second-in-command long enough. We’re equals.” And then she’s gonna go to her tent.
Rodreck would shrug, and say, “I’ll give them an hour.”
Paige, Aida, and Jon materialize in the Cobalt Soul, and are almost immediately taken to Greisalda Cassios. Paige has a panic attack, and Aida struggles to explain what happened with Paige incapacitated. Greisalda, having seen this reaction in other mages who delved to deep in darker tomes, recognizes what is happening and asks Aida to give Paige a potion that wipes her memories of the last 24 hours. Paige takes it, and enters a loose, almost drunken state. Greisalda also reveals to Aida that she knows Aida is the chosen of Ioun, and offers a teleportation circle spell scroll at Aida’s request (as only Paige knows the spell) for the price of trying to keep Paige in check.
Aida casts sending to speak to Rumis
“Paige is doing okay, had to be treated in Cobalt Soul. We might take awhile to come back, everything is fine, see you soon.”
“Thank Aida, I’ll relay the message to others. Hope you guys are safe.”
Paige makes mischief with her magic as the party reunites, Aida explains why Paige is like this, and Pandora listens from her tent. Aida tells them to keep conversation light, and Rumis tells Rodreck that nothing traumatic includes his poetry. As Rumis and Aida help Paige to her hammock, Paige turns an illusionary hole in her chest to a laughing mouth. As the hysterical laughter fills their camping area, Pandora listens more intently from her tent, while Aida attempts to dispel the illusions that Paige continuously replaces.
Jon calls Aida smart for her idea with tiny hut to protect the ship from drunk Paige, and Aida calls Jon smart for his use of Wish in the past, and for saying an airline probably has something to do with a skyport (that Paige had been halfway through making a joke about before passing out).
“You are a smart, smart, clever boy. Very, very smart. You have used your wish a long, long time ago to save us from a dragon and it’s…Wow. The wish that you asked for. It’s not just any power, but you have formed your words and asked the gods to provide that wish in a manner that saved everyone. You know, that can’t really be done easily, especially in a panic. You held strong and powered through.”
“You talk very elegantly for someone in your situation,” Rodreck remarks.
“So did we…Did we save Paige?” Jon asks.
“Um…I don’t know. When she wakes up, she’s gonna have a gap in her memories,” Aida replies.
“This just might not be her now,” Rodreck points out.
“No, it’s Paige! It’s Paige. It’s just the past 24 hours, you know? But she’s lived her whole life as Paige. She knows who she is. She knows who we are. It’s just…”
“This is basically experimental brain surgery. We don’t know the side effects. This just might be her personality now.”
“Oh, goodness me. Okay.”
“All I’m saying is I think you guys were too hasty in running down there and having magic cast on your brain. Without even talking to the rest of us.”
At hasty, Pandora will fey step in. She’ll say, “Oh, you guys are back. Lovely to see that you saw fit to inform us.” And then I’m going to… I have a package that is stored in my bag of holding and I’m gonna throw it to Aida and I’m gonna say, “That should secure your cooperation for further endeavors. Please try to communicate in the future.” And then I’m going to go back to my tent.
Aida’s not responding to Rodreck. Just focuses on Pandora. And just holds the package but remains at Paige’s side and she begins to ritually cast Tiny Hunt.
Rodreck stares at her for those eleven minutes.
She is gonna do it to where the only people that are allowed to enter Tiny Hunt are basically Jon, obviously Paige, but everyone else is pushed out of the bubble. And she is gonna say, “This is for safety measures. She could be casting spells in her sleep. I don’t know how she’ll react when she wakes up. And I don’t want her to have her sleep be disturbed. Let her sleep.”
And I think Pandora hears this justification and she’ll message Rodreck and Rumis separately, and say, “Wizards always sit in secret when they’re protecting others.”
- As the tiny hut seals, Aida’s attention turns to the package.
[Aida] I won’t say regrets, but gets the sense of gosh darn it, I’m back to square one. Everyone is distant, everything is happening, there needs to be a talk. She doesn’t know how to resolve this, and the only person that she’s comfortable talking to is currently knocked out. And remembering how Jon forced the “makeup” between Pandora and Aida, it doesn’t feel like he’s the right choice to talk to about these matters. He’s just gonna push her out of the tiny hut and be like, okay, say you’re sorry for not informing everyone about your mission. But technically, she did tell Jon to mention to the others, but he…he was-
He also panicked. So technically, this is all Jon’s fault.
And [Jon] wanted to follow, it’s fine. It’s like that scene in Barbie. And he just pops up behind the car, but it’s… I will say, Aida’s gonna inspect the package because she doesn’t know what she-Well, she is gonna inspect the package. And with the tiny hut, no one can really see inside because it’s opaque. So I will have a look-see.
So you open the package, and it’s like a seamless, silky fabric. And I think you kind of have an image for what it looks like. And it shifts to form that image. So if you’re picturing it as a shirt, it will form a shirt. If you’re picturing it as a dress, it forms a dress. If you’re picturing it as a cloak, it’ll form a cloak. And it’s very flexible.
[After Aida ritually casts identify…] This is a shiftweave garment. The style and look of the garment changes to your mental projections, to a total of five different patterns that you basically get to program into it. It’s like five outfits in one.
Oh. Aida’s quietly sobbing. I’m sobbing because of a lot, lot, lot, lot of reasons. First of all, uh, the first thing that comes to mind is kindness. Like, just all of the positive things come to mind. Then some negativity, like an intrusive thought just enters. Why is she giving this to me? Then followed by a lot of goodness and kindness thoughts. But, like, the goodness overtakes her negative thoughts seeing as she wants to keep the relationship stable, and knows what’s happening within the group and everyone is being sus about one another. And this could be related to a secret mission or something that we have to do. This could be something nice, and seeing as Aida is someone that, you know, her outfits are basically just, uh, she doesn’t spoil herself. It’s mostly coin that’s used to buy materials and scrolls. So, she considers it a gift. She sees it as a gift. She wants to know why, but wants to think this is not related to a mission. It is just a gift. It could be related to, you know, patching up things after a year. But who knows. For now, she will accept it. She has to say thank you whether Pandora wants it or not.
Pandora did say why she gave it. She said to buy your cooperation. She said this should cover your cooperation. She gave it as a bribe.
She did, like, throw it at you with all the intensity of somebody leaving a wad of cash on the dresser for the prostitute.
Here’s, here’s the thing. Even the air quote cooperation part, in [Aida’s] head, um, she is confused about it. That just makes it look like I’m meeting Pandora for the first time and working together for the first time. It’s not like we’ve known each other and worked on a couple of missions back in Ank’Harel. So, that part was sort of pushed away. She’s confused about that.
Paige wakes in the tiny hut with Aida and Jon hovering over her. Confused and in no small amount of pain, she demands to know why her memory goes blank after the drunken concert in Kymal, with the sole exception being a brief wisp of a memory of drinking a potion Aida and Greiselda gave her.
Aida nervously asks Paige to take deep breaths and calm down, making a PowerPoint with minor illusion of what happened that Paige forgot. Paige notices that the pictures are perfect oil paintings, and look like a yassified version of the crew. Aida skims over a lot of the details, for fear of triggering Paige’s memory, and because it is unpleasant to talk about. Jon recommends Paige seek answers from the others, as Aida gave a bullet point summary and Paige is looking for details.
Pandora and Rodreck watch Paige emerge from the tiny hut, drinking out of a flask, and remarking that she’s “finally awake”. Paige breezes over their attitude, and asks for a summary, while Rodreck remarks that she might have lost more than she’s aware of. After a bit of back-and-forth, Rodreck tells Paige that they had exchanged secrets of things haunting them - shadows for Rumis (specifically Torog), and a mask that calls itself the King Maker for Rodreck. Rodreck tells Paige that they didn’t get much of a chance to discover what Paige learned, as Paige left almost immediately, after which Paige expresses her displeasure with Greiselda having wiped her memory rather than giving her access to modify memory.
Rodreck asks Paige if she remembers being contacted by any entities, and Paige says that unless it happened during the gap in her memory, she hasn’t been contacted. Pandora and Rodreck can both tell she’s being honest.
“Has anyone else get contacted by any outer worldly entities? I think now would be the time,” Rodreck says.
Paige points at Pandora
“Listen I’ve already been honest it’s not my fault you drastically went through memory and forgot.”
“You haven’t given me…you haven’t told me anything yet,” Paige argues.
“I told you you just forgot it.”
Paige looks at Rodreck.
“I don’t know.”
Paige sighs.
“Okay look, like you realize what we’re doing right now right? Like the main forces that we are going up against are the Betrayer Gods, and i assume that like whatever dark forces have contacted you guys are most likely involved with them right? We’ve already got fucking Rumis rocking it with a uh the mark of Torog or whatever and I have never fucking heard of whatever the hell Rodreck’s got. Like this isn’t information we should hide from each other.”
“I already checked,” Pandora remarks, “I did the whole detect good and evil thing that’s how we figured out the information because i was able to sense it like a Geiger [um or not like a geiger we don’t have that]. It was really strong. I showed you with magic, you understood, and we decided that we would cast legend - well you would cast legend lore - because of the unknowns, and you essentially learned that Rumis made a deal that’s going to potentially cost him his life.”
- After a bit of discussion about the Laughing Hand, Paige tells Rodreck and Pandora that they don’t have to dig into each other’s personal lives, but they should share information like this because of the scale of what they are fighting.
At this, Pandora’s going to lean forward, and say, “Did you give this same speech to Aida?”
Paige looks at Pandora.
Pandora when Paige looks at you, you feel this tingle go up your spine.
Is it similar to any other thing I’ve felt before, or is it just kind of like a weird sensation?
It’s mostly just a weird sensation that just happens to correspond with the look that Paige levels at you, but I guess you might recognize it uh… when is the last time you got the fear shivers?
I think probably when we were facing down the demigod Alyxian.
Kind of feels like that.
Pandora is not going to say anything as Paige looks at her, her lips are going to just slide up into a smirk.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Paige asks. “I’m trying to be fucking responsible about the shit we’re going up against because if we don’t take responsibility, if we don’t fucking go make sure we take everything into account, if we don’t take this fucking seriously it could mean the end of fucking everything dipshit. It could mean that everything you know and love is fucking gone - not dead, gone - I know you like the fucking Raven Queen and shit, but nothing’s going to be dead, okay? You need to fucking take this seriously, all right? If there’s any information that you can share with us as a group then you need to fucking say it because it means not just our lives but it means literally fucking-“
“I’m not the one keeping secrets, Paige. I just gave you a lead!”
Paige proceeds to punch Pandora in the face using a spell called Paige’s Comeback.
I think Pandora knows how strong Paige is, and you hear like something like the air crack right before she punches you and it hurts a lot, I think like she sends you like stumbling backwards a couple feet probably a little bit of a bloody nose too.
Pandora wipes her nose of blood, and says, “You got one free shot. Try that again and we’ll make this different.”
Aida it’s at this point that the book starts vibrating in your bag.
I pick up the book.
Okay um as soon as you pick it up it stops vibrating.
I flip pages.
And the pages that you flip open to are filled with mathematical calculations and schematics and uh magic calculations um and it is impossible for you to decipher just kind of standing there and looking at it especially with uh Pandora and Paige about to kill each other in the background um but you do make out Celestia as part of it like the moon, Celestia. And uh you also can discern that there seems to be some kind of bridging mechanism, some kind of connection, but that’s about that’s about all you can can discern with a glance. You’re gonna have to sit down and really study these to to get what Ioun is trying to tell you.
- Aida grapples with that before trying to get between Paige and Pandora, wanting both of them to stop and calling for Jon to help her as she holds the Tome of Ioun. Pandora and Paige both fail a wisdom saving throw (made at disadvantage) and are left under the effects of a Hold Person spell, a spell Aida did not have prepared.
Pandora, as this is happening, is saying to Paige, “I am taking this seriously. I gave you hints you don’t have to be a bitch. I’ve lost things too. My entire life I built up is decimated because the fucking gods, okay?”
“Cool, mine fucking too.”
“Yeah well you didn’t have to witness it first-hand.”
“What does that have to do with anything?
“We’re all fucked okay everything’s fucked the world sucks and i have to deal with all of you judging me, constantly, again because you seem to think I should be better than I am.”
“I’m judging you because you’re pulling a fucking knife on me right now. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“You fucking punched me.”
“Yes I did because you’re being really super fucking bitchy.”
“Yeah, I’m responding to your energy, Paige. Have you ever tried not being a bitch?”
“Have you ever tried not being a bitch?”
“No, because I don’t find people worth it.”
Rodreck, with perfect comedic timing, says, “Oh settle down. This drama is far too cliche.”
- Paige asks Pandora what she’s even doing here, and when Pandora says that it is to fulfill her debt to her deity, Paige asks if she’d even be here without the Raven Queen, or merely dead and drowned with the rest of Stilben. When Pandora doesn’t offer an answer, Paige asks if she’d fight Predathos of her own volition if the Raven Queen didn’t ask her too.
“I don’t know, Paige. You’re a wizard. You probably already have the answer right under your nose where you always stick it in books.”
“Oh my fucking god.”
“You have every conclusion already drawn i just am here to confirm it or deny it in your head. There’s nothing I have to say to you because you already know everything.”
“Oh my fucking god. I don’t know everything. Why do you think I am pushing everyone to tell us everything? Because I need to know as much as possible-“
“And I directed you to where to direct your questions, and instead you punched me. Anger issues. Interesting to see it from the other side.”
“You could have literally just told me blatantly. You didn’t have to be coy about it. I punched you because you were being a huge bitch about it.”
“What do you want? Do you want me to tell you Aida’s being shady? Aida’s being shady. There you go.”
“Cool. Awesome.”
Jon re-enters the scene with a platter full of soups (his way of helping), and as Aida wants the spell to end, it releases Paige and Pandora from the Hold Person spell. Pandora notices the book Aida’s holding as different from her normal spellbook, and stores the information in the back of her mind for later examination.
As soon as the spell drops, Pandora tells them not to use their magic on her again or she’ll retaliate, remarking that they’re both “weird” in their own ways. She also says she’ll be as honest as anyone else is, and that they have to cooperate until the mission is done, upon which time they can immediately go their separate ways once more. As Paige begins to reply, Pandora’s attention is drawn to something different.
While Paige is saying this to you you feel another one of those tingles slide up your spine, and this time it’s accompanied by uh a whisper that is directly to your left, and directly behind you. There’s somebody standing right there and they whisper right in your ear, “Pandora.”
I’m assuming Paige is saying something while this is going on, so I think my attention splits and I think I’m just kind of looking at the ground waiting for someone to say something I care about.
Do you flinch when you hear that or anything?
I don’t think I would, because I think Pandora has very good control over her facial expressions and her body language and she knows for a fact that some weird stuff has been happening. Plus Orpheus is there and Orpheus has been setting her on edge, so I don’t think she would react.
Okay it happens again a moment later while Paige is still talking, only it’s the other ear, and it’s a little bit louder, and a little bit more insistent, “Pandora.”
- Pandora says something flippant as a reply to Paige, paying no mind to her before turning to see what is calling to her.
So there is nothing behind you um and nobody else sees you turn around. You don’t physically turn around. You mean to, you tell your brain to tell your body to turn around and see who’s trying to get your attention from directly behind you, but nobody else sees you move. So Paige, as those last hostile words leave your lips and everybody in the room turns their attention to Pandora, who has suddenly gone ashen in her complexion, all of you see Pandora sucked into a little spot that must have been directly behind her. Think about how it looks when uh Harry Potter people apparate. It’s kind of that spaghettification, and Pandora’s gone now. This moment leaves the rest of you as if you were moving through molasses so everything that happens right now happens in the blink of an eye for everybody who isn’t Pandora.
Pandora, you feel this like tug from right behind your belly button. It’s not a comfortable feeling and before you can really like process what it might be, you are sent hurling through time and space. This is a very Dr. Strange like sequence. You see the immensity of the cosmos stretched out before you as if you were floating in the infinite void and had nothing within light years of you but the stars and the sky and the blackness, and after a few breaths just as your brain is starting to restart and think like, okay you’re in a situation what do you do next, the stars that you can see - which is all that you can see - start to blink out. I imagine this causes no small amount of panic as you are, after a few more breaths, left in complete darkness and that’s where you hang could be for just a few breaths, could be for years, might be all of eternity, it’s impossible to say. There’s no time here. There’s no reference point. Even your thoughts are muddled. And then everything is white, blindingly white, because in front of you as it kind of scales back, is the mask and the dark outline of the Raven Queen.
I don’t think Pandora will meet the mask. I think she’ll think of what Paige said about like ‘if the Raven Queen was divorced from you, you would like be dead essentially, and she took that as ‘you would be nothing’. I don’t think she’s capable of meeting the mask’s like eyes so she just kind of looks to the ground and bows.
There is no ground there is no bowing. You are floating in infinite blackness. You think about bowing. You think about how that last comment of Paige really, really just kind of got you between the ribs right? Because how much have you toiled and sacrificed to become the chosen of the Raven Queen? This was a goal of yours, that you completed. You met. You are, or you were… until now. Because you can sense as that static mask just fills the front of your vision, the immensity of this being and the weight of her disappointment.
Pandora doesn’t say anything. She just waits, because I think she knows what’s coming. She’s like kind of bracing herself for it but she’s not very good at hiding her panic.
And the silence stretches as if she knows exactly what’s going on inside of you and she wants you to toil. She wants it to hurt, because you know what’s coming. And that is when Pandora is shunted back into the spot on the ship that she just left. It looks like she was gone for just a flash to everybody else but as she gets shunted back it’s almost like she’s thrown back um she lands in a bit of a tumble and as she comes to rest uh she looks different. Younger, certainly less threatening, especially when the Deathwalker’s Ward kind of lands to the side of her - not on her, not attached, not worn, just next to her. As Pandora lays there kind of just re-acclimating to reality, Rumis, your eyes are the first to fall on the unoccupied Deathwalker’s Ward just laying there on the deck, and you, in this moment of clarity, you are filled with the knowledge that this you will never get a better chance than right now to connect directly with the Queen of Ravens.
- Pandora stays crumpled, unwilling or perhaps unable to meet anyone’s eyes. She tries to perform some blood magic, but it fails, and she comes to the horrifying realization she is in the place she was before Alyxian called for her to rescue him alongside the others. Her magic is weak, and her body is younger. Weaker. Paige realizes she’s using arcane magic she hasn’t touched in over a year when she casts Disguise Self. Pandora remarks that it’s just further insult to injury, before walking off with Orpheus in the direction of the cargo bay.
Pandora & “Orpheus” | Lost Conversation
Okay so you go down to the cargo bay with Orpheus in tow and he doesn’t seem to have any problems seeing you despite the fact that you are wrapped up in your cloak.
I don’t think Pandora would have the awareness to notice that, even with her really high passive perception. I just think that she’s so focused inward that she’s just like ‘yeah come, Orpheus,’ like just mentally summoning him and then he just follows her and she’s kind of just trying not to look at anyone.
Yeah, and you make it down to the solitude of the cargo deck with Orpheus.
I think the first thing that Pandora thinks - I think she might even say it out loud once she knows that the others aren’t gonna hear it - but I think she would say, “Why did you bother bringing me back to life if you were never gonna tell me what I did wrong?” and I don’t think she expects a response but she just like needs to voice it because it’s kind of…it’s like this question that’s rattling around her brain. Because gods have a lot of power but She invested a lot in Pandora so Pandora’s not understanding…like she knows she did something wrong that’s self-evident but I don’t think she knows what what the exact thing is. That’s probably because she was so caught on the power trip.
Yeah and that in and of itself is the lesson but are you saying these things out loud or is this an internal conversation?
I think it would be like a soft whisper because Pandora also feels very very small right now because this is the closest she’s ever felt to when she ran away from home.
So with all of that old kind of guilt and shame being dredged up, Orpheus jumps into your lap if you’re sitting looks you square in the face and says, “Well that was dramatic. Are you okay?”
“No, but I will be.”
“Well you will be much better than okay. You’re you. You always come out on top. But still it’s hard when those we love and worship disappoint us.”
“I don’t know if I should feel disappointed when I expected it at some point.”
“Maybe the disappointment is less in Her and more in you because you saw it coming and yet you tried to make yourself believe that it wouldn’t.”
“I thought…I don’t know what I thought.”
“I think…Well I don’t know. I guess only you can truly know what you were thinking and what you’re feeling and what you’re gonna do next but as you consider those things, I would like to offer you the comfort of knowing that this is barely a speed bump in your path. She might be able to take away your fancy armor, She might even be able to take away your god-given abilities,” and you can sense a little amusement when he says that, “but She can’t take away who you are. She can never change the fact that you are fate-touched. You make your own destiny. You don’t have to dance on Her strings. That was a choice, and now you can choose something different.”
“I don’t…I danced at Her whims because I thought…I don’t even know. My head’s…being weak feels wrong. I’ve worked so hard to be strong. I trained all of this,” and I kind of gesture at my like my fake spell book and like all the assorted like arcane trickery shit, “I trained this out. I killed countless people. I ran a criminal organization and I ran it well and I worked hard at being Her cleric and I don’t even know what I did wrong.”
“And this is the thanks you get, yeah. Because none of Them especially Her will ever match your expectations. They just don’t have it in Them.”
“She said She expected excellence but She didn’t tell me what that meant.”
“But you gave it to Her anyway.”
“I thought I did.”
“You gave Her every ounce of your excellence, and now She has the nerve to toss you out like yesterday’s garbage. I know…well I know that a lot of people are fascinated, starstruck by the gods but you know the truth.”
“Ioun never cared about me because I didn’t care about Her. The Raven Queen said She chose me because I chose Her. I guess I thought that meant something it didn’t.”
“Yeah. It’d be so much easier if She had just told you what She expected of you and gave you the power to realize those expectations.”
“I asked Her but She just said excellence.”
“That, more than anything, should tell you that despite all of Their posturing, They don’t know everything because you gave Her what She asked for and still it wasn’t good enough. You, Pandora, are good enough all on your own.”
“Without Her, I’m just tricks and lies and sneaking. And I don’t know if that’s enough for what the mission requires of me.”
“That all depends on the mission. What’s your mission?”
“Well, I’m supposed to help my friends. Or not friends. Associates? Seems cold, but I guess it’s fitting.”
“Your associates, one of whom just struck you, one of whom just stole from you, and the others who are watching as you are torn away from everything that you’ve built?”
“They must have seen what the Raven Queen saw.”
“Hmm. I think the problem is that you’re seeing what the Raven Queen said, not the other way around. She isn’t speaking truth that is truth. She is speaking a truth that you are accepting.”
“So what, I should just say I’m still the Chosen of the Raven Queen and I’m still powerful?”
“I would skip the first part.”
“So much of my power came from her that I feel empty. There’s a void.”
“What do you think came from her?”
“Magic. My strength. Not literal strength, obviously.”
“Oh, my dear child. No, all of that was yours to begin with. Yours by birthright, by the weaving of the lines of fate. She gatekeeps you because She’s afraid of you.”
“Why would she fear me? I don’t even… Dione said something about Ascension, but I’ve honestly never thought of it.”
“Ugh. Dione. Ascension. Talk about a bootlicker. Talk about a beat dog begging for further scraps. You’re better than that. If you want your power back, just say that you want your power back. It was always yours.”
And I think Pandora is going to think of Rumis with his black mark and Rodreck with his mask and Aida just in general. And I think she’s going to, knowing full well that this is probably really bad, say, “I want my power back. I don’t want to be weak. I don’t want to be pathetic. I don’t want to be cannon fodder for the next horde of bad guys or good guys or whoever.”
“All right.”
And Orpheus looks at you for a very long moment, just stares directly into your eyes. Then he looks away and starts licking his paw just like he’s a normal cat again. And you can go right back to level 11. All of your abilities, everything is restored.
Heroes of the Netherdeep | Emon (Tal’Dorei)
Rumis, feeling the call of the armor, picks it up and notices that it seems like it would fit him perfectly. Rodreck and Paige both ask what he’s doing, considering what just happened to Pandora, and he stop himself from fully putting it on.
Aida and Paige discuss her worries about Ioun being disappointed in her and ending up like Pandora, which Paige remarks would be incredibly stupid of Ioun, telling Aida that Ioun is different than the Raven Queen and Aida is different than Pandora.
Aida tells Paige about what the book showed her - all the calculations and markings of Celestia - and asks the book to show Paige too. With Paige and Aida both working to decipher it, they realize some things about the book and Celestia.
Lore Drop: Celestia is an object with a very specific purpose, and blocks a lot of cosmic and arcane energy and radiation from reaching Exandria. Additionally, the book acts as a focusing point for an Einstein-Rosenbridge between Exandria and Celestia that more than Ioun can access. Other entities could potentially hijack the connection too.
Ioun also gives - at Aida’s request - the recipe to the memory potion and some alchemical notes about a previous attempt at an antidote for Paige to ponder. As Paige does, Aida notices that there is a letter stashes between the pages of her book, and tells the others she needs some alone time. She takes the book up to the exterior of the Observation Deck, ritually casts tiny hut, and sits down to read.
Pandora comes stumbling back up from the cargo bay after an hour, knuckles bloody and breath smelling of alcohol. Paige, while working on her alchemical notes, gives Pandora a weird look, noticing that something has changed about her. Pandora ignores the look, heading to Rodreck to share a flask of cheap elven wine. Her presence is noticeably colder and her eyes are dimmer, with her skin looking as though a blue filter has been superimposed on top of her normal appearance.
As Rodreck thinks about how he feels bad for Pandora, Pandora focuses on him, and asks a question.
“Did your mother love you before you killed her?”
“I don’t think she did. She tortured me and tried to kill me. But…was that because of the spirits or because of her? I don’t know. Or maybe she tried to kill me because she loved me. It’s all pretty complicated. I don’t know if it makes any sense to me.”
“Family is just…it’s a series of loose promises everyone eventually breaks. She just broke hers before you broke yours. Maybe I should learn an instrument. Get my power from something other than the Raven Queen, since She’s…not very happy with me right now.”
“Well, there’s plenty of other gods to offer power.”
“I’ve already been through two. Most clerics stick with one. And if the Raven Queen didn’t find anything worth keeping, I doubt I’ll be able to make contact for long.”
Rodreck touches his face. “What do you say, Mask? Do you want to give her power?”
Pandora sighs. “I don’t know. I just…I’m more confused than anything. I’ve studied gods most of my life, but She never…I know she doesn’t like necromancy, so I didn’t do that. The only rule She really had was don’t bring back the dead, and I never did. On the Night of Ascension, I asked Her - because She let me ask Her three questions - I asked Her what she expected, and She just said excellence, but She never defined what that meant. Does it mean She wants me to be a good person? Does it mean She doesn’t like murder? Does it mean I need to be nice? Does it mean I need to kill people? Like…There were no guidelines, and yet I’ve somehow broken enough rules to be… humiliated. Rejected. Demoted.”
Rumis asks, “Have you ever considered that you’re more powerful on your own?”
“I’m not, though. I go up against one wizard and I get hit with magic I can’t hope to counter. Stabbing things only goes so far. As much as I like doing it, even I can admit that.”
“How strong are you if you depend on a god?”
“Stronger than I am without one. I don’t know. I just…I guess it would have been nice for an explanation, but…I don’t know why She invested so much in me if She just planned to cut me off. She told me…Well, She didn’t tell me, so much as show me that I was just entertainment. But I thought, if I was entertaining enough…I don’t know. I miscalculated.”
“Maybe it’s…maybe it’s a lesson?” Rodreck offers. “Maybe She’s trying to punish you and teach you something, or maybe She’s like my mother, trying to cut you off because She loves you.”
“I don’t know what lessons I’ll live to learn with the way this mission is going if I’m stuck weak. I don’t know. She is very good at punishing it, though. It would have been kinder to leave me for dead. Do you know the funniest part, Rodreck?”
“What’s that?”
“Today’s my birthday.”
As Pandora continues to think about what future she has outside of the Myriad and being Chosen of the Raven Queen, Rumis suggests doing something fun to celebrate, and tells her that even if she isn’t the Leader of the Myriad or a Chosen anymore, she’s still their friend. She doesn’t react to that, and tells Rumis that he can keep the armor, as she suspects she’s not going to need it again.
When Rodreck is alone, Zantras offers a barbed circlet made of shadows to Rodreck as an answer to if it can give Pandora power. It fills Rodreck with a certainty that the circlet would give her all her power back and more, so he casts invisibility on himself and goes to put it on Pandora. Pandora catches him when his invisibility breaks, but when he tells her what it is meant to do, she puts it on herself and says, “I accept.”
To all eyes but her own, her appearance changes to one of a drow, as she gains the benefits and consequences of the Circlet of Barbed Vision. Her charisma score decreases by 2, but her dexterity increases by 2.
Rodreck tells her they should accept any help they can get, and Pandora agrees, remarking that with the Raven Queen’s complete and utter rejection, she can’t be picky about where she’s drawing power from. She gets the feeling the circlet might be difficult to take off, should she want to.
Aida reads the letter from Ioun in the comfort of her Tiny Hut, and falls apart, severing their connection out of a belief that she is not worthy, a fear that being Ioun’s Chosen will negatively impact her future and limit her choices, and a belief that her lack of traditional worship should disqualify her.
“I’m so sorry. I, I, I don’t think, I, I don’t think I, I can be, I don’t think I can be your chosen. You’d be much better with someone from the Cobalt Soul, clerics or wizards who have worshipped you for years, decades, even centuries. I am just someone who, uh, I, I don’t even know why we paired up in, uh, we paired up in Ank’Harel and, you know, I thought that was going to be it. And then you found me again in Nicodranas. And at first I thought, well, this is, this is going to be a good change. I, I can leave Nicodranas. This is going to be another adventure. But the scope, it’s, it’s, I just, there’s a lot. This is bigger than I can ever imagine or even dream of. I, I just don’t want you to continue being so kind and generous with your knowledge. And I, I, I don’t know. I don’t know. I, I, I have so much that I wish to do in the future. And I, I, being your champion, I, I don’t know what, what I have to do, what, what, what follows with being your champion. And I worry that I can’t do you justice. And I, I, there’s, there’s so many better folks out there. And I, I hold your name in high regards. I will do everything to help you and the other gods. But I am not someone who worships you. And I, I don’t think that’s right. I don’t think it’s fair for someone to not, to not, to not be as dedicated. And I have so much that I wish to do in the future. And I have worries just being your champion might interject with the future plans. But I, I, you know, Cobalt Soul has so many bright minds. And I don’t, I don’t wish to use any more of your kindness. So, please, before, before you invest any more time and energy, I will return your spell book.”
There is no immediate response. I will point out that you are tucked away in a Leomund’s Tiny hut.
I think for this moment, I’ll release it.
So with, with the wind whipping past you on the sky deck of this airship, and Ioun’s tome in one hand and this letter to you in the other, the only response you hear is the wind.
I, I will open the spell book and attempt to write just everything that I said.
Sure. It’s a bit hard to write up here. It’s very windy, but kind of shielding the book with your body, you managed to write out all your thoughts and feelings, and the next time, the next time you close the book, uh, is the last time you see the writing of the Knowing Mistress, or the Knowing Mentor. Every time you open the book from now on, it’s just a run-of-the-mill spell book.
Letter from the Knowing Mentor
My Chosen,
Your fate-touched journey weaves bravery and wisdom into a radiant tapestry, filling my celestial heart with pride. Your pursuit of knowledge and love shines as a beacon of hope.
Aida, your wisdom isn’t just facts but deep empathy. Trust your instincts, echoes of the cosmic web binding all. Seek answers within, your inner light guides in times of doubt. Allies and friends are constellations lighting your path, but in the darkest times know that you are never alone.
Now, permit me to embark upon an arcane elucidation concerning the role of Celestia, the moon, as an exquisite celestial sentry. Behold, conceive if you can, Celestia as an ancient grimoire, its pages adorned in silvered luminescence. Its gravitational allure, reminiscent of a cosmic whisper, exerts a gentle influence upon malevolent radiation — a maelstrom of charged particles and esoteric rays emanating from the remote stellar bodies.
In a manner akin to the diligent librarians who, with tender vigilance, safeguard rare tomes, Celestia, with its celestial ballet, orchestrates a deflection of these particles away from the hallowed sanctum of Exandria. This lunar dance through the celestial expanse ensures that the protective aegis remains inviolate, thereby upholding the cosmic equilibrium that sustains life’s delicate tapestry.
With unwavering faith,
The Knowing Mentor
Queens & Mothers
Abandoned by the gods on high,
Who make orphans of us all.
Without them they expect us to fly,
But all we do is fall.She made her follower feel low,
Much like an abusive mother.
Then she will reap what she sow.
I won’t let her do this to another.
-Rodreck
