April 13, 2024

Hook

TSB;EoA: Veins of Primordial Blight [Session 12] (Planar Sea; Recordatio)

Plot Synopsis

The party enters the Recordatio to an expansive vertical library crammed with people. A weird glitching door can be seen floating in the center of the air, before it splits into two- one shooting up and the other shooting down before disappearing completely. A series of tests on the people reveals that they have no response to anything the party does- if not for the fact that they could be physically touched, it was as if the party didn’t exist at all to them. The books contained nothing more than gibberish, so the party decides to go upwards. After a few flights, entirely bored and out of options- Ignis decides to light one of the books on fire. At this point Ignis and Wisteria can feel a faint twang of magic in the air, probing them to burn even more books. The feeling comes again, more strongly to Ignis than anyone else, pulling him upwards and downwards. Deciding that it is easier to walk down stairs the party leaves the burning books behind and heads down to the lowest floor.

This floor is devoid of people, a simple hallway is all that the area has. At the end of the hallway the door that they had seen at the start. Pushing through it the party finds themselves on the edge of a room crumbling into the planar sea. In the center of the room lies a scale, weights on both sides that only Ignis is able to touch and move. Spheres of Green and White rest on either side, relating to the source and sink of all magic. Choosing the spheres relating to the Source of magic, Ignis begins to place them one by one onto the scale. The twang of magic Ignis was able to feel earlier only surges greater with each sphere placed onto the scale. After all of them are placed, the magic surges once more before dissipating- though not completely.

A door opens to the next room. This room is relatively blank compared to the last one. A door on the opposite side, and another to the left. Ji and Wisteria figure out that they have to play a life sized version of Minesweeper to open the door. While they are doing this, Ignis attempts to force the two doors open. He is able to cut his way through the door on the left, but the one across from where they entered remains unopened. After the game is finished, the door across opens- though they go through the left door before continuing on.

They find themselves in what appears to be a deadend. A simple room lit by flickering flames, a singular toilet stands in the center- the bowl however is as large as a bathtub. [[Bass-boosted voice] COMMUNAL TOILET] Confused by what they see before them, they smash the toilet to pieces and leave the room.

Entering the other door, the party finds themselves on a path through the cliffs of Ruefang. Following the worn path they walk for an hour or two before stumbling on what appears to be a deserted forge. Water boils on the stove, racks and racks of well crafted weapons are put on racks in the back room- along with a stone door with a lock on it. The party figures out that to unlock the door, they need to figure out which weapon is of poorer make then all the rest. It doesn’t take long, and soon the door rumbles open with a light shove. They take a few moments to take a rest and drink some tea before continuing on.

Beyond this stone door the party finds themselves in a lush jungle. It takes a while of wandering before they stumble upon a mother Grassfang and her two children. Anemone runs up and sits on top of her, much to her confusion. Moryena is able to talk with her to ask her to see if she knows of an exit. She does not, though she mentions how the forest does have some kind of boundary. They wander off to go find this boundary- and wander around until the moon begins to rise. After wandering confused on what to do, Anemone runs off, and they follow. Just as the moon hits the precipice in the sky, they find the mother Grassfang in a field as the air itself opens to a dark room on the other side. She ushers them forward, though the doorway, before it closes.

They find themselves in a morgue, drawers line the walls. The place is dimly lit by fluorescent lights on the ceiling, though it does little to disperse the dreariness from the space. The few drawers that are open reveal the still and pale form of Wisteria. Each one alike and as unnerving as the last. Further investigation reveals each of the 980 drawers along the wall contain the same body. Disgusted and thoroughly unnerved, the group continues to the next room and descends down into an operating theater, a singular table in the center with what appears to be a body under a white cloth. Wisteria pulls back the white cloth to reveal the still form of Gale beneath them. The speaker system buzzes to life above them, the voice of Tsorren echoing through the room. He gives them a deal, either find the key to leave the room somewhere in the body before them, or put Anemone into a small box in the wall and give Tsorren some time alone with her. By choosing the second option, he also says that he will save Wisteria’s dad. After the speakers click off, Gale takes a large breath and wakes up.

The party descends into heated discussion, trying to figure out which of the two options to choose. Moryena- believing everything that's happening to be false, says that choosing to find the key within Gale is the safest route. Ignis on the other hand has figured out that the only tools that Tsorren had given them were cutting instruments, and that he had no way of obtaining anything that would help save her should they try cutting into her. Discussing with Anemone, the party decided that placing her into the box would be the better outcome. After Anemone disappears into the wall, the door opens, allowing the party to leave.

The Doom has been entered.

Noteworthy Postgame Events