15 Duscar 837
Heroes of the Netherdeep | Elsewhere (Unknown) | Session 01/25/2024
- After a long rest, each member of the party takes a bite of the False Hydra heart, starting with Pandora.
The heart itself is tough and chewy. It’s somewhere between the consistency of raw hamburger and Laffy Taffy. It’s not good. It tastes like corruption, but hot. And it is bitter to swallow. It is a bitter pill. Chewing it is actually made worse. Like. It’s easier to just swallow it. Pandora, for some, for some odd reason, for some odd fucking reason, you take this as a challenge, right? You taste corruption and you’re like, oh, mommy Lolth, I can take anything. Watch this. And you fucking chew it. You chew it like it’s fucking jerky or jerky that is a never-ending gobstopper because it never disintegrates and never breaks apart no matter how much you fucking chew it. It’s like chewing a giant wad of gum, but that tastes like refried asshole. And it’s only after at least a solid minute of this.
That you finally swallow it and choke it down into your body and you can feel it all the way down like you are very conscious of where this lump of flesh is in your body. And when it sits right at the center of you, right in your very middle, that’s when you feel it start to pull. And… It keeps pulling until you are inside out, hurling through infinite blackness. And to call it infinite is like a misnomer, right? Like you have faced this darkness before, as a matter of fact. It’s just blood and shadow. And the edge of understanding. This is beyond that. You took a peek at Torog at some point. So it’s disorienting and horrible and infinite and solitary as this sequence continues. It is made so much worse by the sense that you are moving. You are leaving where you were and going to somewhere else. Right?
- Fennec is the only one that is okay with the journey to Elsewhere, as a being that belongs to there, and Rodreck is reminded of the grave in which his mother buried him, but finds this less bad.
You hurl through this infinite blackness to a place where time and gravity just simply do not exist. And although this is full of dark nothingness, it is also full of the most bizarre and inconceivable wilderness that you can conceive of. If you think about every moment of your existence as a single image, um, and you stack all of those images on top of each other, and that’s what creates a lifeline, uh, this is a place where you exist in the same place. You exist in the space between each of those images. Uh, it’s a space where everything is a infinite layer of different highly morphic layers of continuity. Changes in the elemental and energy traits of you or anything around you, um, can affect the environment, um, your perception of it, uh, and, um, possibly, uh, reality as you know it. Um, the, these translucent layers are penetrated by rivers of milky white fluid, uh, that sometimes float freely and sometimes flow along a layer’s edge for a few feet and then pour through into the next layer. Strange blue globes rain down from unseen heights, bursting when they strike something that you can’t see, and unleashing horse-sized ticks that immediately scuttle away to hunt for blood. Gelatinous worms crawl through these layers. Forests of writhing, tentacled vegetation, encrusted with orange moss, growing above an impenetrable amoebic sea. At the very limit of sight drifts huge, multi-layered shapes, vaguely resembling creatures that you might find in the deepest parts of the oceans of Exandria. The smallest is the size of a city. And they have no notice for the lesser beings that occupy only a single layer of their own. This infinite madness.
- Pandora is the first through, and is grappled by an unknown figure with a dagger to her throat. As the others fall into Elsewhere, she recognizes Rumis’ form, dressed in the Deathwalker’s Ward. Pandora remarks that they can do this the easy way or the hard way, getting increasingly irate as he fails to respond, and then confused as he asks her why the party at large speaks to them as if they know him.
- Fennec informs Erevan that he is trespassing, and not welcome, to which Erevan replies he’s here on the Raven Queen’s accord and does not require permission. Paige discovers travel requires thought, and is not easy.
Gravity and time do not exist here. The only kind of movement possible is the passage between the layers, which needs only a thought. The air is as viscous as syrup. It’s possible to swim through it, though it is not very easy.
- Rodreck uses his card to cast Eyebite, and finds that the spell works, though sleep has no effect on an elf. Pandora breaks out of the grapple with an elbow to his gut, while Paige attempts de-escalation and explains the situation from their perspective (while Pandora expresses disbelief at Paige’s assertion that they came out swinging).
- Erevan presents himself as the Grave General of the Raven Queen’s army, the Raven’s claw, which causes Pandora to roll all eight of her eyes while Paige tries to refresh his memory with details about Rumis and questions on his memory.
“My queen giving me back my rightful throne. Igniting me as the protector of the Shadowfell.”
“Okay,” Paige says, probably pinching the bridge of her nose. “So there’s a huge gap between then and now.”
- Erevan shows hints of remembering with Aida’s minor illusions accompanying Paige’s verbal recollection of their shared memories. Erevan calls them lies, and tricks of Torog. Aida presents the charm he’d gifted her when they reunited in Stilben. Erevan feels like he’s looking through a dense fog, but recognizes a connection to the party. He tells them his mission is to undermine Torog, which Paige points out is vague. Erevan reveals he’s protected from the plague of Elsewhere’s madness. Paige points to the mark of Torog, and finds nothing, while they all question the wisdom of the Raven Queen’s plans for Erevan in Elsewhere despite the designs for the party on the Material Plane.
- Pandora attempts to glean insight into the Raven Queen’s tactics, and finds herself unable to connect to the mindset she once was able to embody. As a cleric of Lolth, all she sees is strings, webs, and patterns, and knows the only things that matter are who is predator and who is prey.
- They discuss the battles taking place across the planes, and Paige attempts a Remove Curse that accomplishes nothing. Pandora grows frustrated, as Fennec and Paige’s suggestions find deaf ears in Erevan.
“I mean, let’s be honest,” Pandora speaks up, words dripping with condescension. “Erevan. You’re going against a being that is more immense than you. You’re not tackling the root of the problem, which is Torog’s worshippers. And you were originally tasked with a different mission that’s now all suddenly changed. So believe what you want. I can’t stop you being an indoctrinated slave to Her Highness but using common sense might be profitable should you have any remaining.”
Erevan pause, and stares at Pandora, recognition cold. “You…I do know you. You must be Pandora. You failed your mission, and now you’re trying to make me fail mine.”
Pandora grits her teeth. “She failed me.”
“You failed yourself.”
Pandora gives a startled sort of laugh, and glares at Erevan. “No, if we want to go there, you’re the one that fucked it up for me in the first place. If we really want to drag it all the way there, Rumis was running around like an idiot looking for his memories. He made a deal with Torog in the first place, and that’s why She abandoned me. So, we’re both failures here. You’re not above me because She likes you at the moment. She’ll toss you away like you’re nothing because you’re nothing more than a puppet.”
“What you don’t know is that if I leave now, your material plane is doomed. Torog’s influence here is growing, and if it reaches the material plane, the fight’s already over.”
- Pandora connects with her sword - Sinnafex - to understand Lolth’s stance on Torog as the group discusses the King in Yellow’s disdain for the Crawling King and what exactly Erevan has accomplished thus far. Sinnafex is not impressed with all this grandstanding. Lolth has no love for Torog, but at least he/it is interesting. Not like those sanctimonious Prime Deities (in Sinnafex’s words). She also advises Pandora to cut Erevan down, to repay the insult of him pulling a knife on her. She struggles with the thought and impulse, feeling it similarly, but fights it and decides against it.
- As the party questions the Raven Queen’s intentions further, Erevan grows frustrated, seeing them as peasants questioning him on his queen’s actions and thoughts without reason or justification. His connection with Her is close, able to communicate messages back and forth with delays, and channeling Her power into Elsewhere as he sees fit.
You could probably do whatever you wanted to Pandora right now, and the Raven Queen would not care. There’s no standing orders about her, but you do know her shame. If she’s still capable of feeling shame.
- Erevan agrees to answer questions, and Paige’s approach goes from all-business to something more personal, more hurt, knuckles white and gripped in a fist.
“What the fuck pulled you from the material plane to here? Like, not, not physically what made you come, like, go from the material plane to here. I mean, like, on what grounds? Why?”
“It’s simple,” Erevan says plainly. “I remembered who I am.”
“An asshole?” Pandora snarks.
Erevan ignores her, focusing on Paige. “I remembered my proper place in this universe.”
Pandora roles her eyes, muttering about rich that is as Paige replies. “And so, you remembered who you are, but the person you were doesn’t matter anymore? That person… There was barely a fucking goodbye.”
“I can understand how that’d be upsetting for you, but I think-“
Paige looks at Erevan like he’s an idiot. “Yeah, of course I’m fucking upset. I think that person you knew is gone.”
“Oh, look at you,” Pandora mocks. “You’re just as dead inside as your queen. How proud you should be.”
“That… person isn’t fucking gone, because they’re standing right there, the fuck, in front of me. I don’t care who the fuck you identify, like, what the fuck your name is now, what the fuck you remember, but you’re responsible for what Rumis fucking did. You’re responsible as that person. And you could have at least fucking stuck back for a second, explained yourself, and then left. You didn’t have to fucking leave like that.”
“What Rumis did is nothing. You have no idea who I am. I have murdered, tortured, all in the name of Raven Queen. And I’ll do some more in the future.”
“Yeah, so has fucking Pandora. Who gives a shit?”
“I can tell you’re angry. I’m sorry, was it Paige? But I don’t think you’re angry at me.”
“Yes, I am angry at you. You don’t get to fucking hide behind this fucking fake a- this fucking… different identity. No matter who you are, no matter what the fuck you do, you and Rumis are one person.”
Pandora interjects, turning on Erevan. “So you remember everything about Rumis, correct? Or is your head as empty as your heart?”
“Yes.”
- Paige gets angry at Erevan’s insistence he doesn’t remember, and eye contact with Aida sparks the largest memory. After more back-and-forth, including Pandora and Erevan arguing, Paige grabbing Erevan by the collar and demanding he bring Rumis out, Erevan extends the Raven Queen’s blessing onto all but Pandora, and Lolth’s reach extends into Elsewhere.
You don’t need his protection Pandora. You have your own goddess and not only a direct channel to that goddess now, but a personal handmaiden of that goddess at your beck and call. You can navigate Elsewhere if you really want to, and now you have the limbs to accomplish that.
Emon, After
We see an unimaginably large tower. We pan up and up and up until we get to a window where the bar is going horizontally and vertically, and inside there’s a detective sitting on an old cot. The cell is dimly lit. The only light is coming from the small barred window high on the wall. Adrian’s silhouette is cast in a long shadow.
“So this is how it ends, huh? Trapped in a cell. A pawn in someone else’s game. They got me good this time, Pandora. But this one thing I’ve learned is that the end of one story can be the beginning of another.”
Adrian stands and walks slowly to the window, looking out to the silver sky. “Maybe I’m out of the picture for now, but who knows? In a city of shadows, there’s always someone lurking, waiting for the right time. So maybe, just maybe, there’s a chance for another play.”
Adrian sets back into the shadows, a figure of resilience.
“Until that day, I’ll be here, keeping the streets of my mind patrolled. After all, every good detective knows the value of patience, and I’ve got a feeling my story is not done just yet.”
God’s Favorite Fuckups | Elsewhere (Unknown) | Session 02/01/2024
As the party approaches Erevan’s command tent, in this bewildering realm of Elsewhere, they find themselves in a landscape that defies all conventional logic and physics. The realm of Elsewhere is a chaotic expanse where fragments of different realities and landscapes float in three-dimensional space. Unbound by the laws of gravity, the sky shifts in color, sometimes showing deep hues of twilight, other times showing an ethereal otherworldly light. Islands of land, each with their own distinct environment, float around, some slowly rotating, others stationary. In this disorienting realm, Erevan’s tent is situated on a relatively stable floating island.
A small path of dark, barren land that seems to resist the whimsical nature of Elsewhere. The island is surrounded by a faint aura of shadows, a signature of the Raven Queen’s influence, creating a bubble amidst the shadow of chaos. The tent itself appears modest from the outside, made of dark, almost light-absorbing fabric with the symbol of the Raven Queen. A raven in mid-flight is anchored securely to the ground with ethereal chains that shimmer with that faint glowing light.
- As the party makes their way into Erevan’s encampment, they notice that many of the soldiers are seemingly displaced in time with strange, older clothing. The soldiers are disciplined, and do their best to give a wide-berth - especially to Fennec and Pandora - while swarming Erevan for answers, plans, and solutions to all their various questions.
- Paige questions Erevan on what his actual immediate goals are, beyond Torog’s defeat, and what a lose condition and win condition are for this whole endeavor. Erevan’s main goal is to prevent Torog from exiting Elsewhere while the Prime Deities are occupied, but looks to Commander Valtor for answers on the immediate. She informs him of swarming aboleths, who gather at the word of Torog.
- Pandora questions Sinnafex on Torog, and if Lolth would consider fighting against him a worthy goal. Sinnafex informs her that Torog is mostly viewed as a force of nature, and other Betrayer Gods work around Him rather than with Him. Tharizdun is the closest to a companion Torog has, for He is chaos in its cruelest form.
- Erevan asks Aida for her thoughts, and Aida shoves Paige forward insisting she’s smart.
- Fennec realizes through the King in Yellow that it is strange the aboleths are cooperating, as they normally don’t work well together despite their intelligence. I sure hope someone else isn’t responsible for this…
- The party eventually is able to locate the congregation of aboleths, and travel to it using thoughts. They find Alyxian holding court with the other aboleths, acting as the ring leader. Despite all warnings, everyone uses magic to attack the aboleths, and Paige casts Blink, finding herself in the negative energy plane.
The vast void of the negative energy plane is a merciless, lightless expanse of manifest destruction and nothingness. Sapping and consuming the life force of any living creature exposed to its energies, it corrodes and disintegrates material objects into rubble, then dust, then nothing at all. Yet the void contains its own form of anti-life. At their densest concentration, the plane’s energies aggregate into bizarre, black-crystalline snowflake structures, and these irregularities spontaneously generate the plane’s resident Sceaduinars. Dwelling in beautiful, deadly cities, drifting in the vacuous darkness, these so-called Void Raptors are incapable of true creation and blame this flaw on some ancient betrayal. So, Paige, you go to the bad place. Like the bad, bad place. And while you are there, you are chased by Void Raptors. You’re going to feel he eroding presence too because like Elsewhere, the very plane wants to erode your existence and you are out of range of Erevan’s protection.
- Jon, on Aida’s order, stands ready and dodges attacks while the others close distance. Fennec locks Alyxian in Forcecage, Paige pops back into existence (with regrets and new trauma), Erevan shows he knows his way around a bow, and Pandora feels a crushing sensation most people call guilt. Paige insists Pandora has some explaining to do, and she feigns ignorance.
God’s Favorite Fuckups | Elsewhere (Unknown) | Session 02/08/2024
God’s Favorite Fuckups | Elsewhere (Unknown) | Session 02/15/2024
Memory
Who is a man without his memory?
Is he a new man fundamentally?
Would this new man walk in revery?
How must he feel mentally?If this new man were to remember-
Does the old man kill the new?
Must the new now surrender?
Does he know his time is through?
Yellow Sign
She is the keeper of the yellow sign.
Her lord is best not named.
Are her intentions benign?
Is all as she has claimed?Her body is a puppet with no strings.
It is after all her king’s.She is a dark void in yellow robes.
She is a lying friend.
To Elsewhere she knows the roads.
I hope her humanity is not just pretend.
- Rodreck