[HF]: The Scion of Rondorin (11/2017 - 12/2017)

[Judas D'arc]

Summary: The mysterious white-robed bearer of the Sextant of the Ancients makes another move, revealing a potential weapon in an unknown future conflict, as well as reintroducing two old faces (and an inanimate object sharing the name of another old face) from the past.

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11/28/2017:

At the Keg and Anchor, Aila, Alexia, Deraj, Dubhlidais, Erollisi, Esidor, Ezekial, Faeryl, "John" (Chanticleer), Piper, and Stevie were gathered when a Horrific Beast accompanied by a horde minion entered. They were quickly destroyed, and from their remains rose a skeletal figure, who removed it skull from its neck and spoke a message to Dubhlidais, inviting her to the Umbra arena, and then crumbled into bones.



Realizing that the senders of the message was the Order of Lithos, benign necromancers worshiping Lithos and dedicated to preserving the cycle of life-death, the group traveled to the Umbra arena. There, a lone and injured necromancer explained that his entire order was dead, slain by a group of greedy Luna paladins hoping to stock their vendors, except for himself and two others. While too injured to join his surviving fellows, they were undertaking new steps to choose a new Arch-Necromancer to lead their order. But they had never returned from the final step, confronting a Dark Father within Dungeon Doom, and so he needed Dubhlidais and her comrades to search for them. In return, he promised to convey a strange message to the Britannians.

In Doom, the group battled their way to the Dark Fathers, slaying three before locating the hooded remains of the missing order members, and they returned to the arena to deliver the news. The wounded necromancer proceeded to deliver the promised message:

“In my dreams came a white-robed man, and he told me to deliver a message to those of Britannia who would aid me. He told me of a place existing outside our world called the Bowels of Lithos, a hidden vault with many chambers, used to store items of value to my fallen lord and his brethren. Within one of these many chambers lies the Scion of Rondorin, born of the legacy of the Lands of the Feudal Lords, a weapon that will prove useful in a conflict to come. He explained how this chamber could be accessed, but he showed me this in visions and not words. First, a demon-faced scholar is brought to a floating house occupied by a little human, and from this house’s library, the spell to open the way is learned. Next, a hooded man stalks a facet twisted by time, and he holds the knowledge to craft the reagent needed to power the spell, the blackest rock infused with the power of the elements. Finally, in the former Lands of the Feudal Lords walks the Last of the Rondorins with the blood of Barataria, the presence of which is required to ensure the proper chamber within the Bowels is breached. And then I awoke …”



When he was done with his tale, the necromancer begged Dubhlidais to end his life as he had nothing left to live for. Dubhlidais agreed and did so mercifully, if not quickly. Once the necromancer was dead, Deraj suddenly confronted Dubhlidais and demanded she hand over her spellbook, or he would kill her. The paladin's objection was that the tome, which had been part of clan for generations, contained necromantic spells, which he witnessed her using earlier that evening. Their confrontation became even more tense because due to their past associations "John" felt obligated to defend Dubhlidais, despite agreeing with Deraj about the foulness of necromancy. In order avoid bloodshed between these allies, she finally consented to surrender her spellbook.

An with that resolved and the Order of Lithos no more, the group returned to Trinsic, where some decided to pursue this matter further.

[Judas D'arc]

12/2/2017:

"First, he showed me a demon-faced scholar, and how the scholar was brought to a floating house occupied by a little man. Inside this house there is a library, and it contains the spell to enter the Bowels of Lithos ..."

After meeting at the Keg & Anchor, Deraj, Dubhlidais, Ezekial, Faeryl, Grammy, "John", Sergio, and Thea Caine went to the House of the Holy Fist to discuss uncovering the hidden vault known as the Bowels of Lithos. According to the visions experienced by the last of the Order of Lithos, three things were needed to access the vault. The first was a spell, which could be uncovered by a demon-faced scholar visiting a certain floating house. The group traveled to Ter Mur in search of Dar Skri'lem, the gargoyle scholar who aided them in their search for the Sextant of the Ancients. Instead, they encountered his colleague, Ak Lem, who had recently shifted his area of focus from Britannia to Pagan culture following the Titan invasions. Ak Lem agreed to assist if they brought him the head and talons of a renowned fire daemon from the Stygian Abyss, in order to prove the connection he suspected between that creature and the Perihelion of Pagan. On their way to the Abyss, they were joined by the mage Amy, and then they found the fire daemon, battling its minions before slaying it. Upon their return, Ak Lem eagerly accompanied them to the house of the Pagan thaumaturgist Mythran, located in the Ethereal Void, and they left him there to examine Mythran's library for the spell in question.

[Judas D'arc]

12/7/2017:

"Next, he showed me a hooded man stalking the facet twisted by time. He held the knowledge to craft the reagent to power this spell. The blackest of rock infused with the power of the elements."

As Deraj, Dubhlidais, Erollisi, Ezekial, Faeryl, "John", Lyrai Darkstar, Okami, and Stevie sat around the Keg & Anchor, they were joined by a shaken Aila, who revealed that she was visited in a dream by the white-robed man they had previously encountered. In this dream, she saw Relthor, hooded mage of the Broken Ankh, in the city of Mistas in Ilshenar. This vision was reminiscent of the second vision experienced by the last of the Order of Lithos, which detailed the reagent needed to access the Bowels of Lithos. They journeyed to Mistas and encountered a hooded figure who resembled Relthor but was not actually him. This was an 'In Quas Xen', one of a number of magical duplicates created by Relthor. While not all of his duplicates were of Relthor himself, this one was and its sole purpose was to complete the mage's studies related to the Titans of Pagan. After some discussion, In Quas Xen explained he was looking for Exodus technology for use in binding an elemental artifact connected to the power of the Titans, which the group surmised was the reagent they needed. Parts were then gathered from Juggernauts inside the Exodus Dungeon. Upon the group's return, In Quas Xen stated its orders did not indicate who the reagent needed to be crafted for, so it agreed to do so on their behalf. They escorted In Quas Xen to Mythran's house in the void, where it joined Ak Lem, who was still researching the spell to enter the Bowels.

[Judas D'arc]

12/10/2017-12/11/2017:

"The Last of the Rondorins, who also bore the blood of ancient Barataria. The presence of which is required to enter the proper chamber within the Bowels of Lithos."

Following the suggestion of "John" to search the City of Zento for information about the purported last Rondorin possessing the blood of Barataria, the Trinsic group journeyed to the library there. An irritable librarian informed them that the Last Rondorin was not an individual, but a series of sequential art fictional stories featuring the adventures of the 'Swordswoman With No Name,' a fair-haired, round-eyed warrior who resembled a Britannian but claimed to be related to the ancient houses of Rondorin and Barataria, and her imbecilic sidekick, a green-haired Britannian caricature called Dio. The author of these tales was a former servant of the Empress who was now in exile. While the library no longer carried copies of this series, the library explained it was very popular among the uneducated masses, and they might find one down by the docks. At the docks, they encountered Wade, a drunk ronin, and his friends, who knew about the Last Rondorin series. Wade agreed to lend them his copy of one of the stories if any of the group could defeat him in a duel. After a few tries, Wade was battled to a draw and shared his torn copy of the Last Rondorin: VII, a tale about the Swordswoman With No Name and Dio teaming up with six Tokunese samurai to defend a small village from a horde of bandits. More discussion followed, and Wade agreed to track down the author of the Last Rondorin series for gold.

The next day, a messenger from Wade arrived in Trinsic and told them how Toshiro, the creator of the Last Rondorin series, was in exile on an island between the main islands of Homare-Jima and Makota-Jima. Toshiro initially mistook them for fans of his work, but after offering to give him future story fodder, he revealed that he heard about the inspiration for the Last Rondorin while still in the service of the Empress: a fair-haired Britannian swordswoman who wandered Tokuno and professed to have ties to both Rondorin and Barataria. According to Toshiro, she could be found near the Fan Dancer Dojo. Before the group departed, the author gave out free copies of his works. Inside the Demon House of the Fan Dancer Dojo, they found the so-called Last Rondorin, revealed to be Callisto, a former member of the group known as the Emerald Empire. At her side was her inanimate sidekick, a green mop that she referred to as Dionysus. Some discussion followed, and Callisto was persuaded to return with them to Trinsic and aid in the ritual to access the Bowels of Lithos.

[Judas D'arc]

12/12/2017:

With the spell (a modified Ethereal Travel spell) prepared by Ak Lem, the reagent (a ring of polished blackrock filled with the power of the Four Titans of Pagan) crafted by In Quas Xen, and the presence of a Rondorin with the blood of Barataria (Callisto of the Emerald Empire), the Trinsic group gathered at one of the Titan Obelisks and Ak Lem summoned the gate to access the Bowels of Lithos.



Inside this vault, they were met by Danforth, a former knight of the Order of the Silver Serpent. According to him, the Bowels not only stored items, but also held prisoners of the Titans. A decade ago, his commander Sir Neville Holden had led an expedition from Britannia to Pagan, and after rescuing an elf-blooded Britannian girl, Danforth was left behind and captured by the Sorcerers and imprisoned in the vault. He further explained that since the Titan's recent defeat, the Bowels were falling apart, and he was cut off from a fellow prisoner he had been trying to rescue, a woman he referred to as 'the Pale Princess.'



Assuming their objective was an item stored inside the vault, Danforth led them to a nearby pile of rubble, where they found Voces Ad Insaniam Convertunt, a tome written in an odd language that seemed related to the Broken Ankh cult and featured a picture of Aila's daughter, Denna. When they informed the former knight they were looking for a weapon called the Scion of Rondorin, he guided them to a nearby cave occupied by a trio of bloodthirsty prisoners who were attempting to perform 'snu snu' on a man chained to the wall. After slaying these violent prisoners, the group rescued their victim, who was revealed to be Bacchus, a former member of the group known as the Emerald Fist and the so-called Scion of Rondorin, which was revealed to be a man rather than a weapon.

As the Bowels continue to fall apart around them, the group entered the portal home, and at the last minute, Danforth decided to join them, finally realizing his 'Pale Princess' was beyond rescue. Back in Britannia, as Bacchus and Danforth decided to stay in Trinsic for now, it was decided to destroy Relthor's In Quas Xen to prevent further troubles, and "John" took possession of its ring of polished blackrock that contained the power of the Titans, so that it could not be used again.

The son of a Rondorin prince, Bacchus was indeed a scion of that long-lost house. He had been absent from Britannia for almost fourteen years, since the final adventure of the Emerald Fist, which led most of the group to disappear into a portal to the world of Pagan. He was separated from the others and ended up on a random world living as a llama farmer, until the Titans of Pagan captured him and imprisoned him within the Bowels. According to the white-robed man's message, Bacchus was meant to be a weapon in an upcoming conflict, but what exactly this meant would remain unknown for now.