March 02, 2024

Hook

TSB;EoA: Veins of Primordial Blight [Session 8] (Elemental Plane of Air; Halitus)

Plot Synopsis

After all the setbacks the party is finally able to make it to the Air Elemental Plane. Upon arrival they land at a sort of base camp in the middle of an asteroid field. They find a tent dug into a small cave in the asteroid, a box beside it with some well worn supplies. Most of the group is looking around for supplies in the small camp, Wisteria is able to find a crudely drawn map with a couple of towns (Halitus and the Behari Cluster) located due south east of where they currently are. Stuck on the rock floating in space the party tries to find a way to get to the place that wouldn’t take weeks of time, when Moryena spots a pair of Elemental Grazzoons in the distance. After a bit of discussion they decide to lure the Grazzoons over with some fish to hopefully barter a ride to the town of Halitus.

Ignis lights a flare he was carrying and the pair of Grazzoons pause in their current hunt in order to investigate where the bright red smoke is coming from. As they approach the party realizes that they were much bigger than they previously thought, as the two land nearby- the promise (and delivery) of fish from Moryena is enough to not have them immediately slaughter everyone on sight. Moryena is able to use most of the fish that Ignis has to placate the creatures for now, and the promise of the remaining fish is enough for the pair to roughly snatch up the members of the party and begin their flight to the town.

During the beginning of the flight, Ignis and Wisteria are able to spot the thing that the two Grazzoons had been hunting previously. They see a smaller avian who appears to be heavily bloodied, hiding underneath an outcropping on an asteroid. At first she wears an expression of concern, though after Ignis waves it changes to one of confusion. She proceeds to follow the group, though at a distance. However they quickly lose sight of her as they continue on.

It takes them a full day and night of flight before they reach the town of Halitus right before the “sun” begins to rise. The two Grazzoons land, take the remaining fish they were promised, and leave the party on a nearby asteroid. After checking up on their gear and making sure nothing was damaged during the flight (and fixing anything that was) they wait until everything is at least slightly lighter before using their gliders to reach the larger asteroid that Halitus is on.

They are met by warry, but kind guards at the front gate, who ask them a few questions. Ignis lets them know of the injured Avain who they saw earlier, and the guards let them know where they would be able to find a place to sleep- as the group looks sore and exhausted from their travels. A mutual thanks is given by both parties and they set off towards the ‘Ol Cirrius Cottage, an old inn run by the great-grand daughter of a founder of the village. Though they haven’t opened yet, Cumulus Nuvol welcomes them into the establishment and gets them food and a place to sleep. After the meal is finished the group heads upstairs and promptly passed out for an entire day.

The group wakes up around the same time the next morning and makes their way downstairs. A few of the other patrons give them waves, and Cumulus gets them breakfast and some drinks. It is but a few moments before a bundle of feathers throws herself down the stairs and the party is introduced to Gale Nuvol, a 4 year old avian that is responsible for the drawings that decorate the walls of the establishment. She brings over some chalk and a couple members of the party join her in drawing on the walls. Soon after Bubble (Gale’s pet “dog”) joins her downstairs and sleepily lays under the table.

The party stays like this for a while, until Squall (a person Cumulus had told them about the day before) heads in and sits at a table in the far back corner. After a while Ignis goes back (accompanied by the others) and asks about what she had seen in the woods. She explains it had to do with some black goop, though she hadn’t gotten a good look at it. The party offers for her to take them there, which she vehemently declines, offering instead to draw a map to the location if they wanted to go that badly. The party gladly agrees.

They stick around in town long enough to stop at a few of the shops around town before they begin their trek through the forest. It takes a few hours before they stumble upon some ruins- the black ichor growing over the stones like vines. Ji scouts ahead, but it's not long before she realizes that something is wrong. She sees the tell-tale cages that normally mark Tsorren’s existence, along with a table full of abandoned notes that have been pushed aside, with a singular note in the center- addressed to Wisteria. The party rushes in, finding the cages empty- and feathers scattered around them. The note is read multiple times, before Moryena hears very very faint sounds of screaming in the distance- and reality sets in.

The party takes off in the direction of the town, opting to go to the peak of the overhang and jump off, as it would be easier than going back the way they came. It is a while before they reach the edge, and as they jump off they can see the full scale of the bloodbath in the town below. Bodies litter the streets, and weird glittering clouds fill parts of the village. Ignis spots one of the clones making its way between the houses, and takes a shot, blowing part of its shoulder away. The party lands, and is faced with the challenge of trying to save the rest of the villagers without succumbing to whatever the final version of Tsorren’s experiments have in store for them.

Noteworthy Postgame Events