Session 13

Taking in surroundings

The Fated Eight took a moment to breathe before observing their surroundings. They took note of the large piles of scrap metal and debris blocking the warehouses flanking them - with only the warehouse in front of them having any visible entrance into it.

Estimating the Threat

The party made the decision to take a short rest before continuing any further into the warehouse. Somnus cast a spell and conjured a Tiny Hut to obscure this downtime from any assailants or enemies watching them - Jin was tasked to stealthily watch the exterior.

Tiny Hut Time

Within the Tiny Hut - The Fated Eight tended to their resources whilst chatting amongst themselves. Axton spent a majority of his focus and time working on a contraption to aid in a future combat. Lady reconnected with many members of The Party and was formally introduced to Somnus. She recalled a memory; on the tip of her tongue, of a person she was forgetting but the others could not recall who she was referring to.

During a conversation with Lady; Graxious and the Half-Elf Monk noticed a shadowy figure standing beyond the boundary; in the direction of the exit, of Somnus’ Tiny Hut. More confusingly - Graxious lost sight of the figure after moving a distance away from Lady. The others confirmed that they also could see the figure when standing nearby their fellow Monk. Graxious headed outside to speak with Jin and to test the cause of this vision. Graxious tested if the others could also see him from the inside - but it was quickly determined that the figure had some connection to Jin specifically.

Jin is a shadow - but only near Lady

Jin walked inside after speaking with Graxious, as the others noticed the shadows cling to his body. Jin was disoriented after entering the Tiny Hut, as his vision was pitch black for a moment before he was standing in front of a tall, hooded, shadowy figure - made of smoke billowing up from the centre before falling to the ground. The figure spoke to Jin before the vision disappeared.

“Two truths have been kept from you - Master Ryujin. Your subconscious has awoken me to realize one of them for you.

The Path Of The Heavenly Demon is not so weak to be bound by wrote-learned traditions. Cover new ground along said path, make the untaken steps, and overcome the Demons implanted into your mind.

I return to you - your true fighting prowess…”
- The Figure to Ryujin Cheon

Jin regained focused as his vison was once again that of the Tiny Hut. The others noticed that this posture and demeanour had subtly changed - he was standing a little taller and more comfortably. Jin spoke with Graxious outside and made a deal to acquire the Greatsword the Leonin Paladin had recently stopped wielding in favour of his Uncle’s weapons.

The Diary

The Fated Eight finished their short rest by reading the leather bound diary, collected from the corpse of the now dead Halfling man who had escorted them here. The diary was written; quite illegibly, in Halfling - leading SHAI to use a spell to translate it as best he could. SHAI understood the following truths after reading the diary:

• The Halfling man wanted to save his Sister & is worried what “Plight” is going to do to her
• He hates himself for what he has condemned the poor bar staff to but understands there is no other way to set himself and her free
• He contemplated ending his own life after hearing word that a Halfling woman had arrived in town and had a coma the other day.

A moment of silence came over the party as some tried to figure out how this new information fit alongside the other clues that they had found, whilst the others grieved for the Halfling man who had clearly struggled right up until his eventual demise as the hands of SHAI’s Fireball.

The Fated Eight regained their composure and exited the Tiny Hut to explore the interior of the warehouse.

Into The Warehouse

Entering the warehouse, The Fated Eight took in their surroundings carefully - unsure if another ambush lay in wait for them. It didn’t take them long to find out.

“Continuing through the run down warehouse district - you see run down machines, half open steel drums and wooden barrels, and other remnants of a time long forgotten. The roof has clear holes where skylights and other less structurally sound materials had once been & and various sized piles of scrap decorate the interior.

You each notice that the floor is dusty and dirty before your attention is drawn to the centre of the of the warehouse - where two unfamiliar Drow figures are standing with weapons drawn - their red eyes almost glowing in the darker interior of the warehouse.

As your eyes adjust to the light, you see a man that is heavily armoured and wielding a large glaive, on the shaft of which you see a decorative jagged crown; similar to what you saw on The Monarch’s door back at The Dealt Hand.

Next to him - is a woman wearing tight fitting leather armour with a a crossbow in one hand & a rapier in the other. Her face is painted with a wide maniacal grin as her shrill voice breaks through the silence in the warehouse
”Cain my dear brother, I think we’ve been given new toys to play with!” she says, unable to stand still.
”Yes, sister Eden - It seems father has been kind to us this day. Let us make the most of his generosity! he responds with a gruff and almost cruel voice
The pair move forward to begin their assault against you.”
- The description of the warehouse interior, as narrated

The pair of maniacal siblings attacked The Party within moments of catching their eyesight.

Combat!

The woman referred to as Eden dashed forwards and launched a grey metal ball at The Fated Eight; laughing as it exploded on the concrete floor. A smog expanded outwards and covered the entire party - with many of them taking significant damage from the toxins. Eden took the opportunity to hide and dashed into a dark pile of scrap in the warehouse. Cain stepped forwards and made an assault against the frontline of the party - dealing an impactful blow to The Fated Eight early in the fight.

Gaining The Upper Hand

Morgyn turned the tides of battle in their favour by casting Heat Metal on Cain’s plate armour, causing immense pain to the Drow male and distracting him a fair bit - making him an easier target and less deadly whilst afflicted. The Fated Eight continued their assault and dealt multiple, consecutive blows to Cain; before the Drow male began to crackle with red arcane sparks around his body. Each time a member of The Party injured Cain, they would experience a double vision of sorts where Cain would be seen with one eye, and a Human man with brown hair, eyes, and wearing bartender’s clothes could be seen with the other. The Human man had tears streaming from his face and was clearly in torturous pain.

Eden appeared again and split The Fated Eight’s formation; dealing damage and avoiding most of their retaliation attempts for the time being. She noticed Cain get sluggish and yelled out to the warehouse “Alright - the fun’s over! Come on out now!” as another figure dashed out of a pile of scrap nearby.

A Surprise Assassin

A woman appeared wearing a familiar grey cloak - wielding a Shortsword and a Crossbow. She immediately targeted SHAI and Somnus; who had been healing The Fated Eight from the backline. Through determination and coordination - the party were able to withstand the assault and continue to deal blows to Cain and Eden. Somnus capped this off by casting Command on Eden - commanding her to drop her weapons - before instructing SHAI or another party member to pick them up before she did.

Disarmed and distracted, Eden retaliated by pulling a hidden dagger from a thigh holster but SHAI successfully managed to grab the rapier and crossbow the Drow woman had been wielding.

”The Experiment Is A Failure”

Eden eventually caught sight of the state of Cain and her own physiology began to degrade - as parts of her skin and clothing began to seemingly melt off of her as she continued to take damage. Crazed and out of options - Eden went into a frenzy; assaulting whoever was closest to her.

The entire room heard the cloaked woman call out “Fallback. The experiment is a failure… Leave them to clean up this mess or suffer the consequences of their inadequacies.” before attacking Morgyn whilst dashing towards the back of the warehouse. The cloaked man from the fight outside appeared from a pile of scrap nearby Cain, and moved towards the same location.

Crazed Assault

Cain and Eden were driven even more insane by the realization that their “Father” had abandoned them. The same-double vision began to affect those who attacked Eden - with the Drow woman in one eye, and a Half-Elf woman with red hair, olive skin, green eyes, and also wearing bartenders outfit in the other. She; tears streaming down her face, pleaded with The Fated Eight to “…rescue him…” and to “…end this nightmare…”.

Axton commanded his Eldritch Cannon to fire a long-range projectile at Cain and managed to connect the killing blow. The Drow male screamed out in pain before his body fell to the floor - crackling with red Arcane energy. Eden was cornered by the rest of The Fated Eight where Somnus dealt the killing blow by casting Toll The Dead. They decided to let the cloaked figures escape as to avoid further risk to themselves.

Inspecting The Bodies

The session closed with The Fated Eight investigating the bodies of Eden and Cain - only to find the Half-Elf and Human bodies instead. Inside their pockets were name badges, which read Giselda and Mathias respectively. After a moment - The Fated Eight realized that they were similar to the name badge of the waitress; Aliciya, from The Rowdy Roan.