October 26, 2024

Hook

Ashes of Dreams | Session 5 [GILDED SLUMBER] (New Spire City, Ley'Ork, Cahyali)

Plot Synopsis

Dawn rises on a new day, and finally their work is finished. The party receives a summons from Ramona to another warehouse in the industrial district, within which they find the woman herself, Irene, and a woman who introduces herself as Doctor Morales, an ex-Sparkpoint employee. All of them are hard at work finishing a strange machine that the Doctor calls a 'Dreamcatcher' and explains how she has information that holds the fate of Ley'Ork and potentially the world at stake, but due to a strong magical effect she cannot simply share what she knows. So, by bypassing the word of mouth, she's creating a portal into her mindscape within the Dreaming so the party may extract the information that they need from her mind. In addition to this, Ramona has pulled some strings and gotten the party some new magic items, explaining that since they don't know what they're going to be facing within Dr. Morales' mindscape, it would be for the best that they arm themselves and stay prepared.

After the necessary preparations are made, the party enters the Dreaming and are greeted by a bleached white laboratory lobby and a mechanical bird who introduces itself as Dr. Morales' subconscious, leading them inside. Within, they browse the hallway of her mind, and the subconscious explains that some entries have been placed in 'another spot' by strange magic, and the party sees this by the inked out images that line the walls where memories should be. The subconscious agrees to lead the party towards the 'other place,' but explains that it may be dangerous, as it is entering a part of the mind that should not be tread by visitors. Still, braving the danger, the party dives in and find themselves on a rock, floating in a sea of stars and chaos, the Sea of Dreams.

Harnessing their willpower and minds, they navigate the sea and eventually make their way to a lighthouse, within which at the top they find a terminal, within which holds all of the misplaced memories of Dr. Morales. It is here that the party learns the truth of Project Aislingeach, harnessing a child named Pea in order to play host to the Old Dreamt of Technology to play pawn in part of a larger project known as Slipstream, a military project that could spell a new era of warfare on Cahyali, one that the party wants to avert. However, before they can leave with this information and act on it, Dr. Morales' mind begins to deploy its anti-intruder systems as a large mechanical woman appears from the abyss, ready to fight.

Noteworthy Postgame Events