Episode 47: The Calm Before the Storm
Our heroes escaped the Shadow Dragon in the underdark and pulled into the train station in the Mirrorden District of Bur Boldor. There, the met Captain Borreanas again and reunited with Delilah Applebottom. Chip and Galatia accompany Delilah to take in the city and drop off their things at a local inn. Meanwhile, our four heroes make their way with Captain Borreanas to meet Bur Boldor's new king, Thoden Orcsbane.
As they enter, they are greeted and meet a host of new and familiar faces.
Bjorn accompanies the Hierophant to worship at the temple of Moradin. His concerns over the selection of the new king are a source of confusion and contention. Unfortunately, tempers flair and both he and the Hierophant are left with sour tastes in their mouths. Bjorn, looking into his tome for guidance, sees a message in pink ink scribbled quickly: A star burning out brightly in the sky. Blood of the undying spilled out.
Sankara meets a new face a court-- a white-haired, beautiful woman with striking blue and purple eye shadow, Argenti the Silver Dragon. "If my brother, Aurum is Justice, then I am Freedom." After a brief tête-à-tête, she leaves him with an invitation to the war council meeting later on that night and hopes that he'll be in attendance.
Lucky reunites with Natalia, the sole priestess (babysitter) of Abbathor. She tells him that she foresaw his coming and communicates a dream she had: A star burning out brightly in the sky. Blood of the undying spilled out. The great deception at the foot of mountain's song. Concealing the bride's fingertips at the engine. Calamity. Islands in the sky. Wailing in the hills. Wailing in the sea. Wailing in the sand. And yet, hope. But there is another piece: Calamity begins at the death of the willing and unwilling. She leaves him with a concern, "I get this feeling that something terrible is about to happen."
Gallogk and Lucky are intermittently aware of a strange, wild presence just beyond discernment. Baked goods and flowers.
Sankara, suspicious of King Thoden, wildshapes into a spider for an itsy bitsy reconnosance mission...
Later that night the war council meeting takes place and what follows is a dream-filled sleep for all of our heroes:
SANKARA: A figure clothed in a white gown with a crystal sword at her side and golden crown on her head walks through a wide, grassy expanse that fills the wide range between three temples. Glynndarryl. The seventh tier. Her hair is disheveled, her eyeliner running down her stoic face, her eye swollen from tears that have since dried. In her arms, she carries the wilted figure of a man with long brown hair. His once athletic frame now cachectic and frail. His breath is shallow and weak. Fatigued. Unable to open his eyes. Gabriella lays Michael down in the grass. His breathing slows further and slowly stops as whatever wrathful infection that polluted and broke his soul takes its last toll. Mouthing words imperceptible to your ears, Gabriella kisses Michael on his forehead. His body begins to glow from within and lift from the ground below. Higher and higher Michael's body rises, glowing brighter and brighter like a star. His shining form illuminates the night with a brilliance foreign even to these skies. Just when it feels like the light couldn't be any more intense, any more gleaming, any more beautiful, Michael's form burns away-- and with it the light is snuffed out and disappears suddenly from a night sky that seems now even darker than before.
LUCKY, GALLOGK, BJORN: The world around you dematerializes and swirls into dust and for a moment you are greeted by the peace of an ever expanding void. But as soon as this reprieve settles it is it ripped away as you find yourself appearing in a new location. The ruble crunches under your feet as you and your companions stand in the narthex of a once undefiled cathedral. Only partial remains of statues stand unrecognizably amidst the broken stained glass that has fallen from windows that look down upon you from above. The stone walls of this sanctum are scarred by arcane energy that has burned and etched its way across their surfaces. Your gaze makes it way down the aisle and at the far end you see a statue. . It teems with a malevolent, violent energy. Around it, like mulch around a tree, are countless bodies have have been mutilated and tortured in countless careful ways. At the foot of the statue stands a woman, naked, ivory skin with complex arcane symbols finger painted in blood, and long, black hair. Her back turned to you. One hand caresses the statue tenderly, lovingly, tracing the lines of muscle in the stone as her other hand makes it way down her torso. After a moment, Ileana turns around panting, and leans her back against the statue and mouths something that is difficult to see. Her gaze drifts to the altar nearby where a concoction bubbles, crimson vapor rising into the air above it. "Soon." She begins to smile, which gives way to a chuckle and then a laughed that become maniacal. In her laughter, she collapses onto the pile of bodies, rolling on top of them, almost playing with them like a child diving into a ball pit. The laugher fills this cathedral, this once holy place. And it is this laughter that echoes in your mind as your eyes open suddenly on the morning of The Battle for Mirkarkden.
Is what you've seen a dream? A vision? Uncertainty regarding its nature abounds. But there is one thought that quickly takes root in your mind and heart: Something terrible is about to happen.