The Shadow of Artemis

Overview
The second story arc of the Mortal Fools campaign. Preceded by Intermezzo. Followed by Entr'acte.

Our adventurers face new perils within the walls of Arojam. What starts as a normal stop for rest and recreation quickly becomes a complex mystery, as they are forced to relive the same four hours again and again.

PCs

 * Tormine
 * Quill
 * Bahlron
 * Ashiok
 * Baelor

NPCs

 * Nidala
 * Folmir (Edwyn)
 * King Caudio
 * Chief Guard Landry
 * Jaz
 * Dreg
 * Rothgar (Bugbear gladiator)
 * Escatin
 * The Stowaway
 * Riley
 * Senator Petro
 * Dirk
 * Firez
 * Barry
 * Peices
 * Christiana
 * (Late) King Reynald

Locations

 * Arojam
 * The Stowaway's Lair

1: The Cutpurse
As the adventurers entered Arojam, they quickly realized that they had arrived on the eve of a holiday: the Festival of the Sun. The streets were bustling with activity, banners bearing the crest of Apollo flying high all around, and more than a few street-merchants and performers crowding the roads.

Standing in the City Triangle, they were approached by a man named Dreg, who asked if they wanted to “make some coin.” At that moment, Bahlron was pick-pocketed by a gnome child, Nidala. Bahlron, Quill, and Ashiok chased after Nidala, eventually cornering her in an alleyway to the west of the City Triangle. She explained to them that she needed the money in order to buy a potion to save her sister, Jaz. Jaz and Nidala, while exploring the catacombs beneath the city, had awoken something, and Jaz was able to freeze the room full of monsters, allowing Nidala to escape. Unfortunately, Jaz was also frozen in the process.

The gang agreed to help Nidala save her sister, and they made their way to the marketplace, where they met Firez, the witch who agreed to make the potion to unfreeze Jaz. (Along the way, they passed Arojam’s Colosseum, in front of which stand protestors chanting about freeing slaves.) Firez told Bahlron, Quill, and Ashiok that she still needed a rare ingredient, the Apollo’s Tear orchid, to complete the potion. Nidala and the gang split ways, Nidala venturing back into the crowds to steal some more money, while everyone else journeyed to the Royal Gardens, where the Apollo’s Tear could be found.

Just outside Castle Romaja, the group encountered a stream of well-dressed people of many races. They learned that the king of Arojam was throwing a ball, and that he was in search of a significant other.

In order to get into the Royal Garden’s maze, Ashiok and Bahlron cooperated to distract the guards along the western entrance. They set Baelor free and pretended that she was a monster that had escaped. Meanwhile, Quill snuck into the maze and began exploring in search of the Apollo’s Tear.

2: Smoke in the Maze
Quill emerged into the center of the maze: a large open space enclosing serveral large animal topiaries, a pedestal bearing the Apollo’s Tear orchid, and a statue fountain in the shape of a familiar woman. It was the same woman from the Black Spider’s drawing: Christiana. Along the base of the statue was carved:"To our queen: vanished, but not from our hearts."Wary of the topiaries, Quill set each one on fire before snatching the orchid from its pedestal. As soon as he touched the flower, each of the topiaries, now burning, came to life and advanced upon him. All of the exits from the center of the maze magically closed shut, and Quill turned to face the advancing monsters.

Outside the maze, Bahlron and Ashiok suddenly saw smoke rising from the center. Not wanting to sneak past the guards, they urgently started forcing themselves through the hedges themselves. It took time, but by the time they reached the center, Quill was already in combat with the monsters. During the fight, Quill was downed. However, he was revived by Aethershred, who then took control of Quill’s body. Together, the group fought the flaming shrubbery and managed to escape mostly unsinged. They set off toward the market, to meet up with Firez and Nidala.

Meanwhile, across the city, Tormine had wandered off to find a stiff drink. He didn’t feel like chasing after a street urchin, and needed to rest from their long journey. He located a bar, where he purchased a bottle of wine, then found his way to the Colosseum, hoping to join the protestors in forming an angry mob. Sadly, the protestors had left by the time he got there, and he was swept into the audience of the Colosseum.

Tormine tried to write a note to Bahlron in the Lovers’ Journal page he carried, but his writing was unintelligible due to his drunken state.

In the stadium, Tormine witnessed a series of one-on-one gladiator battles, followed by the execution of a flesh golem by burning-at-the-stake. He grew bored around the time two teams of gladiators took to the arena. One team was dressed in blue, bearing a crest with a sword inscribed in an eagle’s feather. The other team was garbed in red, bearing the crest of a phoenix. Both sides had a figure wearing a crown. Tormine left the Colosseum before the battle was over, and made his way back into the market.

3: Possessed
While walking through the market, Tormine tripped on the steps near the statue in the center of the marketplace: a bronze statue of a Tiefling gladiator. Tormine knocked his jaw into the marble step, breaking his jaw. A few moments later, he was reunited with Ashiok, Bahlron, and Quill as they returned from the Royal Gardens. Just as the four were about to reach Firez’s shop, they ran into a scuffed-up and out-of-breath Nidala, who claimed she had just escaped from prison after being caught by city guards for stealing.

Together, all of them made their way to Firez, where an unfamiliar man was working with the old witch. The man introduced himself as Edwyn, and explained that he was Firez’s assistant.

The group gave Firez the Apollo’s Tear, and she dissapeared into the back to prepare the potion that would unfreeze Nidala’s sister, Jaz. Meanwhile, the party spoke with Edwyn, who told them that if they were going into the catacombs, they should carry one of several safire-looking gems. Each gem had an imperfection in the shape of one of the phases of the moon. Edwyn did not explain what the gems would do.

The group discussed whether they wanted to help Nidala reach her sister, but they were interrupted when Aethershred took control of Quill’s body. He commanded Bahlron to dance, aiming an arrow at the dwarf. Bahlron tried to dance, but did a very poor job. Aethershred was satisfied, and moved on to Ashiok. Aethershred told Ashiok to chase his own tail, but Ashiok instead suggested that he could play fetch with a smooth gemstone. Ashiok threw the gemstone, summoning Baelor from inside when it was over Quill’s head. Baelor subdued Quill, who dropped Aethershred (the bow, not the demon). Ashiok picked up the bow, but was brought down by the poison inflicted when Aethershed’s weilder is disarmed. Baelor began attacking Quill, who managed to wrestle free control of his body once more.

Bahlron healed Ashiok, which calmed Baelor. Nidala, confused and frightened by the display, took the potion from Firez and ran off to save her sister without the party. Though Quill was no longer threatening them, Ashiok and Bahlron decided to hogtie him and carry him on Baelor’s back to the Veristableum, where Edwyn suggested they could find information about possessed weapons.

Edwyn led them to the Veristableum, then departed, claiming the “wasn’t time,” and that they should meet him in the City Triangle when they were done.

At the door to the Veristableum, the group stabbed Quill in the buttocks with one of the anti-gravity arrows Quill had purchased from Erwin. Tormine (still half-drunk and half-delerious from his broken jaw) decided to try out his Magic 8 Ball. Immediately, he burst into flames, sending the rest of the group in a panic. Ashiok rushed into the Veristableum, where he was greeted by a man named Dirk. Dirk gave Ashiok a bucket; Ashiok filled it with water and tried to douse Tormine, who was not put out.

Suddenly, the group heard a strange distortion: the sound of thousands of people screaming in terror, which diminished, culminating in a great crash, followed by silence, and finally the sound of glass being shattered. An explosion of blue flame errupted from the Colosseum. In a fraction of a second, the fireball tore the Colosseum to dust, ripping through the streets, engulfing the entire city.

The explosion killed Tormine, Bahlron, Quill, Ashiok, and Baelor.

Then, they woke up in the City Triangle, four hours earlier. Dreg asked if they wanted to make some coin and Nidala pick-pocketed Bahlron. They realized that they were stuck in a time loop. They checked their pockets, and found that they were still carrying the saphire gems Edwyn had given them.

4: About Time
Nidala disappeared into the crowd before Bahlron could grab her. Quill and Ashiok decided to split off and search the Veristableum for more information about Aethershred. Bahlron and Tormine ran off into the alleyways and caught up with her around the same place they had chased her to in the previous loop. As they started to explain Nidala’s situation, they were interrupted by Edwyn, who was relieved that the party remembered the events of the previous loop. Edwyn told Bahlron and Tormine that he would explain what was going on, but that he needed the entire group together first. Letting Nidala go, the three set off toward the Veristableum.

Quill and Ashiok arrived at the Veristableum, where Dirk greeted them once more. They discovered that Dirk was somehow part of the library itself, as each building contained a duplicate of him. Dirk led them to several books on enchanted and possessed objects. From these books, they learned that Aethershred was probably created in the Sacrificial Forge, deep within the plane of Shadowfell. Only there could it be destroyed. All accounts of attempts to destroy similar items resulted in the bonded demons driving their owners to destruction.

Soon, Edwyn, Bahlron, and Tormine arrived at the Veristableum. Together, Edwyn led the group back toward the marketplace. He showed them a diadem with seven empty gem slots. This, he explained, was an artifact he had recovered, and it had held the seven Artemis stones, crystals of time itself made physical. Earlier that day, someone had stolen two of the Artemis stones from his room, and one of them was being used to create the time loop.

Edwyn led them to the gladiator statue, and, pressing a small button in the shape of the Crest of Apollo, opened a secret passage leading into the catacombs. He led them into the caverns below the city until they arrived at a ladder that ascended into a storage room inside the Colosseum. In this room, there was a large, nested rune drawn into the floor. The Artemis stone with the full moon on it was at the center of the rune. Tormine immediately reached in to place his Artemis stone within the rune, but as soon as his hand crossed over the edge, the rune triggered. Dark energy curled into the Artemis stone at the center, and the entire city exploded once again.

Waking back up in the City Triangle, the group traversed the path to the rune again, meeting Edwyn along the way. Once there, he finished explaining that the outermost rune was a timer that lasted four hours. The inner rune summoned a chaos elemental and tried to bind it to the Artemis stone. This, however, caused the Artemis stone to shatter, breaking time itself. This was the cause of the time loop.

Edwyn told the group that he had been stuck in the loop for what amounted to several months now. He hadn’t been able to figure out who was responsible for the time loop, but he decided to recruit Tormine, Ashiok, Quill, and Bahlron because they seemed like (mostly) capable heroes who could help him. He told them that he’d stop by the City Triangle at the start of each loop if they needed him. With that, Edwyn left to continue his investigation.

The party brainstormed how to stop the rune from going off. They decided to try digging up the rune, and began cutting a hole around it. Quill left briefly to investigate the Apollo’s Tear orchid, but soon returned. As soon as they dug within the spherical radius of the rune’s edges, it went off, and everyone woke up again in the City Triangle.

5: Blackmarket Goods
Bahlron snatched Nidala before she could escape, managing to hold onto his money this time. Faced once again with Dreg’s offer, the group decided that they would take him up on it. Bahlron, Tormine, and Ashiok told Dreg they would help him. Dreg informed the three of them that he needed someone to rough up several of him employees, namely Barry, for failing to make a shipment. After they were done, the party was supposed to meet him at the Bloody Gutter, a seedy bar in a back alley near the marketplace.

The group followed Dreg’s instructions, and found themselves at a “Charred Unicorn on a Stick” stand. They told Barry that they were sent by Dreg to beat him up; however, they had no interest in actually doing so. Barry took them into a back room, where they could see shelves and racks of battered weapons and gladiatorial armor. Barry agreed to let them go without harming them, and offered them his knife as proof that they had done the job.

The party left, arriving soon at the Bloody Gutter. Dreg was delighted with their quick work, and offered to buy them all a drink. Each member of the group accepted, and the bartender, a female dwarf named Sheila, took a liking to Bahlron. Dreg sat everyone down at a table and began explaining that he had a more important job in mind. Beating up Barry was just an audition for this task. The group asked what the job was, and Dreg told them he had some blackmarket items that needed to be delivered to the Colosseum before the festival. Each of the party members began to feel woozy, realizing that their drinks had been drugged.

Dreg told them that they wouldn’t be delivering good; they were the goods. Losing his patience, Dreg pounded his hand on the table. Everyone in the bar, Sheila included, fired a volley of sleeping darts at the three party members. One of the darts flew straight into Tormine’s eyeball, piercing it, and knocking him unconscious. A brief struggle erupted, but the remaining group members were subdued quickly and collapsed to the group one at a time.

They awoke to the sounds of battle, dulled by a layer of stone above their heads. Tormine, Bahlron, Baelor, and Ashiok were lying in a cell beneath the Colosseum. Dreg told them that he was set to make a good profit from the exchange, and that he was looking forward to watching them fight.

Across the room, in a much larger cell, a handful of gladiators rested. One of the gladiators, a female bugbear, told the group that a “storm” was coming soon, and that Dreg had better watch his back.

Soon, the sounds of battle subsided. The gladiator pen was filled with returning fighters in red and blue armor, though far less of the blue army had survived. The ceiling of the party’s cell split open, and the platform below them began to rise. The sound of applause filled the air and sand rained in from above. On all sides, they could see by the flickering light of torches and braziers the faces of thousands of audience members. The platform stopped, level with the sand. To the north, sound, east, and west, more platforms began to rise. The party turned outward to face a Hellhound, a Peryton, an Ettin, and a Gorgon.

6: Sand and Blood:
The battle began, and the group held their own initially, while managing to deal a fair bit of damage. Tormine used his Magic 8 Ball, turning completely invisible, and fought while dodging the attacks of monsters and allies. Baelor dispatched the Hellhound quickly, and gave everyone a chance to focus on the remaining three enemies. The Peryton had difficulty landing hits, but when it did, they were devastating. The most dangerous monster, however, was the Gorgon. The iron bull routinely trampled and/or gored its victims. The Ettin was dangerous as well, but was momentarily knocked out of the fight when Baelor ripped all three of its testicles off. Eventually, they were able to cut off one of its heads, then went in for the killing blow.

Despite having defeated two of the enemies, the group was worse for wear. They still had not managed to pierce or even scratch the Gorgon’s metal hide. It breathed a cone of green steam into the air, which Tormine sucked in. His body became visible as he turned to stone, and was then shattered to pieces by the Gorgon.

Eventually, the Peryton was also defeated, but soon all of the adventurers were unconscious or dead besides Baelor. She continued fighting until Bahlron regained consciousness. Bahlron revived Ashiok, but was then struck down himself. Ashiok used his magnets and a pickaxe to deal some light damage to the Gorgon.

Suddenly, there was a commotion from beneath the arena. The cardinal doors of the Colosseum dropped open and the remainder of the gladiators rushed into the arena. Their leader, the female bugbear, addressed the crowd.

From high in the royal box, the king motioned with his hand. Across the stadium, the giant gilded horn was sounded. From the sand, the bones of the dead began to surface. They wound together at the north end of the arena, forming first the legs, then torso, then wings, and, finally, head of a skeleton dragon. The dragon roared, but moments later was enveloped in a wave of blue fire as the Colosseum, and Arojam itself, exploded once again.

7: Rematch (Minus Gravity):
While the rest of the gang was fighting in the colosseum, Quill attempted to learn more about the Apollo’s Tear orchid. He approached the maze in the Royal Gardens and began attacking guards. He tried to interrogate one such guard, but didn’t find out any new information about the flower. Aethershred took control of Quill’s body and began attacking civilians attending the Festival Ball, but Quill was shot down by the castle guards on the battlements. He died laughing. Quill noticed that Aethershred’s voice had changed slightly, getting older.

The group started another loop in the City Triangle. This time, they decided to volunteer to Dreg as gladiators. Though he was suspicious of their intentions, Dreg accepted the offer, and took Bahlron, Ashiok, and Quill to the Bloody Gutter while he submitted a request to get them into the Colosseum early. With memories of being turned to stone still fresh in his mind, Tormine opted to sit out the Colosseum plan.

After a quick stop by the Charred Unicorn on a Stick stand, Dreg escorted the group below the Colosseum, where they introduced themselves to the waiting gladiators. They told the gladiators that they knew about the revolt, and the lead gladiator (the female bugbear) asked if they were working with Senator Petro. The adventurers said that they were, and told the gladiators to start their revolt after the monster battle. The troupe stepped into their cell and awaited the start of the battle.

Eventually, the familiar sounds of battle filled the arena, and soon the ceiling opened once more, and the adventurers were lifted into the Colosseum stadium. The battle began better than the previous loop. Quill, using Aethershred, disintegrated the top half of the Gorgon, and Ashiok, Bahlron, and Baelor managed to stab the Hellhound, the Peryton, and the Ettin with anti-gravity arrows, leaving them floating in the air, attempting to stabilize themselves.

8: Here There Be Dragons
While the rest of the party waited beneath the Colosseum, Tormine decided to ease his nerves with a bottle of wine. He wandered into the South-East District of Arojam and found himself in an upper-class bar. When he tried to explain his troubles to the bartender, the bartender misunderstood, making Tormine very uncomfortable until Tormine left the establishment.

Tormine found his way to the Colosseum, where he bought a second bottle of wine. In the audience, he soon passed out from drunkenness, only to awake just as the gladiatorial battle reenactment wrapped up. Tormine watched his friends raised into the arena, and as the battle got underway he spotted Dreg, Barry, and Stan in the audience. Tormine snuck up on Dreg, and tried to throw him into the arena. However, due to his drunken state, Tormine was apprehended by Barry and Stan, and was himself thrown into the arena.

The battle was progressing well for our heroes. With nearly all of the monsters floating in midair, the party was able to frequently avoid being attacked. Tormine tried to climb back out of the stadium, but found that it was enclosed in an enchanted barrier that would allow people and objects into, but not out of, the stadium. After a few rounds, however, the gladiators burst through the doors and onto the sand. They had arrived earlier than usual thanks to Quill, Ashiok, and Bahlron’s instructions. They began fighting the existing monsters, but as their leader spoke out demanding freedom from their slavery, the king once again signaled, and the horn was sounded.

The skeleton dragon formed, and with a roar it summoned an army of skeletons, which burst forth from the sand. The skeletons encircled the gladiators and the adventurers. The leader of the gladiators told the party that her and her followers would deal with the skeletons if the party fought the dragon. Quill aimed for the king, still overseeing the battle from his royal box, and fired a powerful arrow. It collided with the barrier, exploding on contact, but the entire dome-like barrier began to shatter and collapse around them.

The adventurers, with the help of the gladiators, killed the remaining Colosseum monsters. The dragon, seeing that the barrier was failing, breathed a cone of intense flames into the audience, incinerating several rows without bias. It spread its bony wings and began to soar over the field of combatants. They tried to attack the dragon, but none of their attacks landed. As the dragon flew overhead, it shot forth another gust of devastating flames, engulfing Bahlron and Ashiok. Ashiok, badly burned, lost consciousness and collapsed onto the sand.

9: Burning City, Frozen Tomb:
Aethershred took control of Quill, tied his rope around an arrow, and fired it at the dragon. The arrow got stuck in the Dragon’s bony ribs, and Quill (still as Aethershred) was whisked into the air. The dragon continued attacking the audience, now free from the barrier that had kept it in the Colosseum. As it did, Aethershred picked off audience members, boasting to Quill about how much better the two of them were than the people fleeing for their lives below. Aethershred asked Quill to pick someone for Aethershred to kill, and Quill picked the female bugbear who had led the gladiator revolt. Aethershred shot her through the back of the head.

Meanwhile, Bahlron rushed to Ashiok’s side, healing the burned Tabaxi. Baelor and Bahlron continued to fight the Peryton, eventually managing to kill it. The undead and the gladiators fought around the perimeter of the arena, trying to clear an escape path.

The skeleton dragon reached the top of the Colosseum, roared, and dove into the city, roasting fleeing citizens and lighting the marketplace on fire. Aethershred relinquished control to Quill, who used his scimitar to break one of the wings off the dragon. Quill made an acrobatic escape as the dragon crashed to the ground in a heap of flames, bones, and shattered stalls. The dragon turned to Quill and burned him to death. Aethershred immediately revived Quill’s body, taking control once more. He was able to deal some damage to the dragon, but it wasn’t long before the dragon caught up and smashed him through several stalls. The impact killed Quill.

Inside the Colosseum, Ashiok, Baelor, and Bahlron waited for the explosion, which came right on time.

Awaking in the City Triangle, Quill and Bahlron seized Nidala, trying to command her to take them to Jaz. Nidala was reluctant and confused, but ultimately agreed. Quill went to retrieve the Apollo’s Tear from the maze, meeting a panicked gardener in the process. The gardener told Quill that if he used a pair of magic shears (which the gardener had in his possession), Quill could pluck the Apollo’s Tear without awaking the topiaries. Quill followed the instructions, returned to Firez with the flower, and headed into the catacombs with the potion to unfreeze Jaz.

Meanwhile, on the way to the Catacombs, Nidala, Bahlron, and Ashiok were stopped by Edwyn, who inquired after the events of the previous loop. The group told him what they had learned and asked him to investigate Senator Petro, who apparently died at some point within the four hours. Edwyn also told them that he was suspicious of the royal guards, and thought one of them might be involved with the creation of the time loop.

They parted ways with Edwyn and followed Nidala into the catacombs. She explained that she and Jaz explored the caverns and passages beneath the city both as a means of escape and also as a way to bond as siblings. Eventually, they arrived at a tomb, where they waited for Quill to arrive with the potion.

Inside the tomb, the group found Jaz, encircled by a group of skeletons and a skeletal Minotaur. Each figure was frozen solid, though their eyes still glowed with awareness. Jaz clutched a book whose open page contained a glowing blue rune. Bahlron tried to free one of the skeletons as a way to test whether they could move Jaz before unfreezing her, but the ice was extra-hard because of the spell, and he was unable to break it.

Quill spread a drop of the potion across the ice in front of Jaz’s lips. The ice encasing her began to thaw, breaking apart. Eventually she collapsed, unconscious. The book in her hands fell to the floor, disolving to ash, but leaving behind the glowing rune. As Quill scooped up Nidala and Jaz, running away, the skeletal Minotaur began to break free from the ice, and turned to chase them all.

10: In the Catacombs
Quill tossed Nidala and Jaz through the open doors, clearing them from the Minotaur's tomb. He then spun around, lodging an arrow in the beast's knee, temporarily slowing the monster. The entire group hurried outside, barricading the doorway. Nidala led Tormine, who was carrying Jaz, down the tunnel along the route they had taken to get there. Bahlron, Quill, and Ashiok abandoned their post at the door, and took flight at the tail of the group.

They heard a great crash as the Minotaur broke down the bronze doors behind them. It began to chase them at top speed. Everyone in the troupe was fast, but the Minotaur was gaining on them. Quill scooped up Nidala, trying to carry her despite her protests. Eventually, they reached a branch in the tunnel. To their right, a passage gaped that smelled of death and decay. Quill tossed Nidala to Bahlron, then knocked an anti-gravity arrow. He fired and struck the Minotaur. Quill ducked out of the way of the now airborn monster as it flew toward him at charging speed. Bahlron handed Nidala, who was still upset, back to Quill, took up a stance, and readied his warhammer. The Minotaur came within range, and Bahlron batted it straight into the mouth of the nearby tunnel. With a furious roar, the Minotaur disappeared into the darkness.

The group did not stop running. They ran until, at Nidala's insistence, they took a break in the large cavern beneath the Colosseum. Nidala fed her sister the rest of the potion, and Jaz regained consciousness. The sisters were finally reunited, and offered to help Tormine, Bahlron, Ashiok, and Quill in any way that they could.

Nidala gave Bahlron a map of the underground labyrinth that connected the city. The map showed entrances to the catacombs through many of Arojam's landmarks, and revealed a network of tunnels beyond the scope of what the adventurers had originally pictured. The map, Nidala said, had been stolen from a priest of Apollo who was wandering the catacombs. It also bore the crest of Apollo at the bottom, and a cursive note:"The Light shines always from above."Tormine showed Jaz the mirror fragment, and Jaz tried to detect what spell was used on it. However, without the proper ingredients for the ritual, she was only able to tell that the mirror was enchanted with extremely powerful magic, and that it seemed to be bonded to someone or something.

The group told Jaz about the rune beneath the Colosseum and the Artemis stones, and she deciphered its functionality. The group told her and Nidala that the whole city was stuck in a time loop because of the rune. Jaz suggested that they needed a way to disenchant either the rune or the Artemis stone. Nidala and Jaz had encountered a thief who had bragged about stealing a spell-dispersing sword from Castle Romaja. They guessed that he would be in the central tower of Arojam's prison.

With no time to waste, the team, accompanied by Nidala and Jaz, followed the map until they reached the secret entrance to the prison. Quill and Ashiok decided to sneak in together while the rest of the group waited below. Nidala opened the secret door, and told them they were looking for a man named Escatin. Quill and Ashiok slipped through the door and shut it behind them.

11: Into the Abyss
While Quill and Ashiok slipped into the depths of the prison, Tormine and Bahlron decided to continue exploring the catacombs beneath Arojam. They noticed a strange chasm marked in the center of the map Nidala had given them, and decided to investigate. Nidala and Jaz agreed to go with the two of them.

Inside the prison, Quill and Ashiok sneakily explored the cellars of the prison. They first discovered a shabby restroom, and Ashiok took the opportunity to releive himself. Once he finished, the two of them heard voices from up a set of stairs. Ashiok threw the gem which contained Baelor, distracting one of the guards. Ashiok summoned Baelor, and he and Quill raced up the steps, quickly pacifying both guards. Quill killed one of them by slowly pushing his scimitar into the man’s throat. He turned to the other and asked for information. The frightened guard that remained told them that only two or three guards were standing duty on the fourth floor of the tower. Quill then murdered him too.

Meanwhile, just as Bahlron, Tormine, Nidala, and Jaz were arriving at the junction with the main passages of the catacombs, they heard voices and saw a torch glowing just a few feet away. Nidala, Jaz, and Tormine hid themselves, but Bahlron drew attention to himself by accidentally kicking a few pebbles along the floor. Two men in white, priest’s robes turned around to inspect the area. Bahlron played dead, but not very convincingly, and the two priests moved to try and help the strange dwarf.

Bahlron sprung to his feet, shouting, “You triggered my trap card!” and was immediately smacked by the torch-bearing priest. The two priests, startled, did not keep trying to attack Bahlron, saying that he merely startled them. Why was he down there, they inquired. Bahlron claimed that he was chasing after a baby owlbear, and had gotten lost following it. The priests considered bringing him back to the Temple of Apollo, but Bahlron convinced them that he was trying to get back toward the Colosseum. Headed in the same direction, the priests enthusiastically began to escort Bahlron, proselytizing the holy ways of Apollo.

Their conversion was interrupted by Tormine, who came forward from the shadows. Tormine and Bahlron convinced the priests that Bahlron was a companion of Tormine’s, Nidala’s, and Jaz’s. The priests were reluctant, but without reason to completely distrust the adventurers, decided to part ways. The group waited until the priests had disappeared into the dark tunnels, then continued on their path toward the pit.

Back in the prison, Quill and Ashiok stormed the ground floor of the prison tower. Quill attempted to stealthily kill one of the guards, but failed, alerting him to Quill’s and Ashiok’s presence. A fight broke out between Ashiok, Quill, Baelor, and two guards, one of whom raced up the stairs and raised the alarm. Quill tried to chase after him, but ended up being pursued to the third floor, where he stood in the middle of four bridges that connected the inner tower and the outer cell-blocks. Guards were converging from all sides.

Beneath the city, Bahlron, Tormine, Jaz, and Nidala reached their target. The passage fell away before them, and they saw the decaying remains of a collapsed bridge that had once spanned a massive abyss. All that remained of the bridge were a few boards and support beams on either side of the 150+ foot wide chasm. Stalactites dangled from the ceiling, almost 80 feet above their heads. They could not make out the bottom of the gaping maw.

Bahlron heard the familiar sound of someone writing in the Lover’s Journal, and he read a note informing them that Quill and Ashiok were in trouble. They debated turning back, unsure if the four of them could make it back to the prison in time to save Quill and Ashiok. While they talked, Jaz was transfixed with the abyss below. She told them that she didn’t know what was down there, only that it felt like strong magic and make her very uneasy. Tormine, curious, tossed the shard of mirror into the chasm. They did not hear it hit the ground.

Everyone was about to head back, when the sound of marching guards approached. A dozen royal guards, directed by the female birdfolk guard from the King’s box in the Colosseum, filled the tunnel. The birdfolk guard introduced herself as Landry, the head of the King’s guard, and said that they had gotten her attention “last night.” She twirled an Artemis stone between her fingers.

Landry explained to the group that the royal family was treacherous. King Caudio, she said, had killed his father, the previous king, to usurp the throne. Landry told them that to cover up his crime, Caudio had had his own brother banished from the realm. Landry was determined to bring justice to Caudio, and had risen to the highest ranks of his guards, waiting for the perfect opportunity. She claimed to have started the time loop, and told the group that she would end it if they did two things. First, they needed to kill King Caudio. Second, they had to kill Landry.

With little time left, and not wanting to continue the conversation, Landry ordered her men to advance on Tormine, Bahlron, Nidala, and Jaz. The four of them were back against the open chasm.

”Looks like we’re going spelunking,” Tormine remarked. He pulled Nidala and Jaz to himself, and fell backwards over the edge. Bahlron leapt backward as well. The four of them plunged into the darkness.

In the prison:
The alarm clanged throughout the prison. Quill was quickly overwhelmed by the guards swarming in around him. He surrendered, but Ashiok (still disguised as a guard) convinced the other guards that Quill was a special prisoner, not to be harmed. The head of the prison guard confronted Ashiok, whom he did not recognize. Ashiok claimed that he was sent by a Lord Gilliard to capture both Quill and Escatin, and to bring the two prisoners away with him. The head guard eventually bought Ashiok’s story, and escorted both Ashiok and Quill to Escatin’s cell at the top of the tower.

Ashiok managed to get the other guards to leave so that he could question Escatin.

Escatin informed Quill and Ashiok that Spellbreaker was stored in the Roost, the southernmost tower of Castle Romaja. He warned them that the entire tower, however, was overflowing with Transmutation magic. Escatin told them that he could escort the two to the Roost if they freed him. Quill and Ashiok refused.

Escatin began screaming for the guards, but before he could get out more than a sentence, Quill slit his throat.

The head guard returned just as Ashiok got Quill’s restraints back on. The guard looked in horror and disbelief at the dead prisoner before him. Ashiok said that Escatin turned out to be of no use. Still stunned, the guard allowed them to leave. As they reached the third floor, Quill took off running. He dashed past several guards, and the alarm sounded once again. Ashiok gave chase. Quill dove through a window, landing with a splash in the drink of the moat surrounding the prison. Arrows began to pierce the water as Ashiok threw himself in as well. With the help of Baelor, they managed to swim out of the moat, and they lost the pursuing guards in the streets of Arojam’s lower-class district. Without much time left in the loop, Quill broke into a psychotic killing spree. He downed several guards and civilians, hoping to appease Aethershred. Finally, he was shot to death, and he heard Aethershred’s pleased voice in his head as the city erupted.

Underground:
Bahlron, Tormine, Nidala, and Jaz fell. Darkness swallowed them. Suddenly, they were caught mid-air, and found themselves skewered on large ethereal hooks hanging from metal chains. Tormine managed to wriggle free of the hook suspending him, and he fell onto a tangle of chains running horizontally into the darkness.

Suddenly, there was a series of slow, thunderous crashing noises. A crusty column smashed down beside the trapped adventurers, and the sounds stopped.

A figure appeared from the darkness: an Efferent wearing centuries-old clothing. The figure seemed to hover smoothly through the air, but upon closer inspection, they saw that it was suspended from above and below by hooks and thread like fish-wire. It spoke, asking what ended up in its nest. Bahlron asked the Efferent where they were and what exactly the Efferent was.

The column next to them moved, then slammed into the ground, and the environment around them became visible. A psychedelic landscape of moving colors, fluid surfaces, and wriggling life surrounded them. Their minds could not parse the inconstant geometry. Immediately above them towered a carapaced creature with 11 legs. Its underbelly was crowded with humanoid, animal, and monsterous mouths: mandibles, teeth, beaks, and orifaces, all snapping and grasping at the air. Just below the mouths hung a web of chains and hooks. Caught in the web were hundreds of creatures from multiple races. All of them were alive, but soul-less.

The Efferent explained that it was a voice, a puppet for the creature, which had come from the Far Realm to this plane long ago. Then, thousands of years ago, the doorway to the Far Realm was sealed by the elves, and the creature was cut off. Alone, it did its best to re-create its home at the bottom of this chasm. It was a stowaway in the material plane.

Soon, the Stowaway was tired of talking, and said that Tormine’s memories would taste good. The Efferent stuck a misty hook into Tormine’s torso, and he was pulled into three versions of himself: his thoughts/memories, his physical body, and his soul. Something stopped the Stowaway, however, and Tormine was pulled back into one being again. His memories were bonded to his physical body somehow.

The Stowaway lowered a dwarven puppet, and tried the same process with Bahlron, to the same effect. Puzzled, the Stowaway began to lower more puppets, and stated that these creatures would need to be “dissected.”

Bahlron, Nidala, Jaz, and Tormine began to fight back. Tormine made his way along the chains, trying to get out from under the Stowaway. Bahrlon and Nidala freed themselves of the hooks, and began battling puppet creatures. Nidala tried to free Jaz. Tormine fought off the attacking Efferent, but was caught by another hook, which hauled him upwards towards the mouths. Bahlron chopped the arms off of the dwarf puppet, but was also skewered by a hook. He was pulled upwards, but managed to hold onto the horizontal chains below.

With hope fading, Jaz contemplated that they were all going to die whether they escaped the Stowaway or not. She asked them to come back for her again. Then, she cast explosion in the center of the tangled chains, and the group of adventurers tumbled through the air again, before colliding with the soft floor. Reality seemed to waver near the top of the Stowaway, who swayed slightly from the explosion. Pieces of debris and falling chains smashed into the ground around them. Nidala and Tormine had to jump out of the way, then got to their feet again.

Nidala shouted to Tormine, “Wait, you dropped—“ but was cut off by the explosion as Arojam was torn apart.

In the city triangle once again, Nidala was stunned to see that she had survived. She asked the others if that was what dying felt like. Finally, she said, “Tormine, you dropped this,” and held out an Artemis stone. But Tormine had no idea who she was.

13: Lady Ashiok's Entourage
Bahlron, Quill, and Ashiok were startled that Nidala could remember the previous time loop. Nidala considered what she now knew and what Jaz had told her. She told the group that saving Jaz could wait until the time loop was solved. In the meantime, since both the king and Spellbreaker were in the castle, they needed to go there next. To do that, they needed dress clothes.

Ashiok, Nidala, and Quill decided to mug some of the party-goers on their way to the castle. They spotted a wealthy elvish couple near the castle walls. Quill tried and failed to charm his way into the female’s good graces, but his rude remarks bought him only a smack in the face with her purse. Ashiok pretended to chase Nidala, so that the couple would try to help Nidala; however, they simply fled, abandoning Nidala altogether. The three of them took a more direct approach with the next couple they saw: two humans from a lower-class region who had scraped together enough funds for a tuxedo and peacock feather-dress. The couple wouldn’t sell their clothes, so Quill and Ashiok threatened to kill them. The couple relented, and gave up their belongings. Quill donned the tux, and Ashiok wore the feather-dress. Nidala and Tormine decided to pose as servants for Ashiok.

Meanwhile, Bahlron, who was not on-board with robbing anyone, made his way into the wealthy district of Arojam. He found a dress-clothes rental shop, and rented an off-white suit with a striped, purple bowtie. Once he had paid for the rental, he met back up with the rest of his friends, and they all made their way to Castle Romaja.

Once they had reached the lower courtyard, Ashiok approached one of the guards. He pretended to be an aspiring nobleman looking to start his new kingdom, and demanded a tour of the grounds. The guard thought that Ashiok was a female Tabaxi, and Ashiok was indignant when the guard called him “Ma’am.” Ashiok’s outburst attracted the attention of a more-senior guard, who introduced himself as Riley. Riley told the group that they couldn’t tour all of the grounds, but that he could take them as close as he could to the Roost, since that was what they seemed the most interested in. Ashiok accepted the offer.

Riley told the first guard to let Landry know about the tour when she got back to the castle. Then, he set off, leading the way into the castle proper. They walked past high-class party-goers of various races. Everything and everyone around them was decked out for the party in colorful attire. Eventually, they were led to a hallway adjacent to the balcony overlooking the ballroom. Riley said he didn’t actually know how to get into the Roost, but that they were right next to it, architecturally. Ashiok thanked Riley, then dismissed him.

At the end of the hallway, the adventurers saw a large portrait of the woman they knew to be Queen Christiana. She wore a falconry glove, and perched upon it stood a phoenix. The group inspected the painting, but could find nothing magical or otherwise unusual about it. Bahlron checked the stonework of the walls around it, and noticed two buttons and a secret door next to the painting.

Quill activated the buttons, and the door opened with a puff of dust. Inside, they could see an enclosed, winding staircase leading downwards to the left and upwards to the right. Lining the outside wall of the staircase were stone statues from the torso up of women holding torches. The statues’ eyes were closed. Between each set of statues hung banner’s with a sword embedded in a phoenix’s feather. The group discovered that if they ran up the stairs, they eventually looped back around to where they started. Eventually, Quill figured out that they needed to put out all of the torches. The statues’ eyes closed, and a glowing doorway appeared in the darkness, outlined in the inner wall of the tower.

Through the door, they found another infinite staircase, moving upwards in a clockwise fashion, opposed to the first set of stairs. They heard the sound of piano music being played softly from the top of the stairs, and each time they touched one of the stairs, either a specific note would ring out, or a jumble of disonant notes. It took them longer, but the group eventually discovered that they needed to perform a C major arpeggio. Once one of the group members successfully did that, they heard a giggle from upstairs, and another doorway opened, leading further into the tower.

Inside the central chamber, they found themselves in a semi-circular room that was completely white, aside from a looming archway standing opposite them. Though everyone except Quill had darkvision, the passage beyond the arch seemed to contain nothing but a cloudy blackness. Above the arch, a single inscription stood:"Only they that have conquered fear shall find what they seek. All else will fall."The group was hesitant, but Nidala urged them forward. She strode into the darkness, accompanied by Quill; Ashiok and Tormine followed right behind them. Bahlron sighed, then walked into the archway. Darkness overtook them.

Quill:
The darkness began to lift, and Quill made out dark columns on either side of him. He continued walking, and the columns became more distinct, forming limbs, branches, and limbs. His feet padded along a dirt path through the underbrush of a forest. The twilight solidified, and Quill realized that he recognized the path. He grew up in this forest, learned to shoot a bow here, and hunted for food with his family.

The path emerged from the forest, and Quill knew what he would find: his hometown, nestled just out of reach of the trees. But it was clear immediately that something was wrong. An orange light flickered in the near distance. Townsfolk scurried away from the village, clutching each other close and carrying only what they needed. A fire raged across several roofs as the buildings came into view. Some of the houses were partially demolished. Several dead bodies lay in the street, claw marks streaking their torsos and limbs.

Quill’s pace quickened. He had seen this before. He rushed to the place he knew his house stood. The fire had already spread to the roof, but had not engulfed the wooden structure. The door lay in splintered fragments across the entryway.

Rushing inside, Quill saw his childhood home as it had been that day. The day he had lost everything. Furniture was strewn about the living space. Quills father and mother lay dead on the floor. A bugbear with a grim smile loomed over Quill’s eight-year-old brother. In the opposite corner, Quill saw Tormine, Ashiok, and Bahlron bound and gagged.

Quill’s brother begged for help, and the bugbear turned to Quill. Flaming fragment so the ceiling began to tumble to the floor, and the fire spread across the room, inching closer to Quill’s companions.

The bugbear grabbed the boy and lifted him into the air. He taunted Quill, saying that he couldn’t save them before. Quill hesitated, then made his choice. His brother was already dead; his friends were still alive. He turned away from his brother and the bugbear, and darted toward his bound companions. From behind, he heard a scream and the sound of bone breaking and flesh tearing.

The bugbear took off into the back hallway of Quill’s childhood house, as Quill cut his friends’ bonds. The fire spread, cutting the four of them off from the rest of the room. Smoke filled the air. The flames lurched closer.

Once the last ropes were cut, Quill turned. He saw no escape, so he told Bahlron to make them an exit. Bahlron picked up his warhammer, and smashed a hole in the side of the house. Quill pushed Bahlron, Tormine, and Ashiok through the jagged hole to safety.

Quill turned around again, listening to the sound of crashing furniture from the back of the house. The entire room was now aflame. After a moment, Quill steeled his nerves, and leapt into the inferno.

His clothes caught fire, and he felt the heat begin to sear his body. Quill rushed towards the back hallway, but his foot caught on something. Looking down, he saw that his ankle was clutched in the hand of his undead father. The man looked up into Quill’s eyes and said, “You can’t run forever.”

Then the roof collapsed on top of them both, and Quill was submerged in darkness once again.

Ashiok:
[Ashiok finds himself walking through a library; all of the shelves are labeled with the names of people that he has known]

[Baelor nuzzles up next to Ashiok, but is suddenly alerted by something, and starts to walk on ahead]

[As they walk, the shelves become more chaotic; eventually the books have all been torn apart and tossed to the floor; the pages slowly empty of any writing]

[They reach a door, and a female Tabaxi stands in an open doorway]

[Baelor runs to greet the woman, and she tells Ashiok that Baelor is part of her now]

[Ashiok and the woman decide to let Baelor chose who she goes with]

[Baelor chooses the woman, leaving Ashiok completely alone amid the empty shelves]

[The door closes, and Ashiok, stunned, searches the library]

[Ashiok finds a bookshelf labeled “Baelor”; it contains three books]

[The books describe the adventures of Jade, the Tabaxi woman, and her soul-bound Drake, Baelor]

[The adventures continue through meeting the rest of the party, and eventually end with Baelor sacrificing herself to save Jade]

[The candles go out row by row, until the darkness once again consumes Ashiok]

Tormine:
[Tormine is in a long hallway with a window at the end]

[The hallway emerges into a living space packed with Efferent family members]

[Tormine’s wife asks him to deal with Fera, their eldest daughter, and to pick up some bread]

[Tormine and Fera walk into town - their town is located on the coast, overlooking a cliffside harbor; there is a lighthouse atop the cliff]

[Tormine asks Fera to buy some bread]

[Tormine tries to board the nearest ship, but is stopped by a burley moneylender who demands payment on a 300-coin loan]

[Tormine promises to pay, and escapes up the platforms scaling the cliff face]

[Tormine arrives at the lighthouse, where he is greeted by the lighthouse keeper; the keeper propositions Tormine with a chance to escape his life here, in exchange for help in securing the funds for an airship expedition; in order to get the funds, they will need to pull a robbery later that night]

[Tormine agrees, and returns to Fera, who has warmed up to him by now]

[Tormine spends the evening with his family, and departs that night for the lighthouse]

[The group breaks into the moneylender’s house, but the moneylender’s wife is alerted]

[Tormine knocks out the wife and the moneylender, and the group escapes]

[They all take off into the night on the airship]

[One by one the stars go out, and the sea loses its shimmer, and the dark returns]

Bahlron:
[The darkness fades and Bahlron is walking through a snowy path in a mountain ravine; behind him is his home village]

[Bahlron and the small militia of men, dwarves, and elves reach a barricade spanning a narrow section of the pass]

[Everyone readies their arms, and soon a horde of goblins reach the other side]

[Battle ensues, with those on top of the barricade firing into the small army below; Bahlron joins a group fighting on the ground; every couple minutes, the gates are opened, and another wave of goblins are allowed in, where they are dispatched]

[Eventually, the battle ends, but while the village people declare victory, one of the goblins tells them that they forgot the “high pass”]

[Explosions crack through the mountain air; Bahlron turns to see a wave of snow breaking off one of the high mountain faces, hurtling directly toward his hometown]

[Bahlron runs to warn the village, but he and it are both swept away in the avalanche]

[Bahlron feels himself coming to a stop, and is able to pull himself from the wreckage]

[The entire village is destroyed, and Bahlron begins calling out to try and help those still alive]

[Bahlron uncovers a crushed dwarves child; she dies staring straight at him, and then her mother runs over and tells Bahlron that he was “supposed to protect them”]

[Later, Bahlron helps bury the dead, and a mass funeral is held]

[The man who led Bahlron and the other volunteers believes that he and Bahlron should both leave; they failed, and the village will starve to death or freeze soon anyway]

[Bahlron states that they still have a duty to these people; they can’t abandon them]

[The man leaves]

[The survivors raise their candles to their lips, and blow them out in unison. Darkness]

Everyone:
[Bahlron, Quill, and Ashiok see a light in the darkness that becomes an open archway]

[each of them goes through the arch, up a flight of stairs, and are one-by-one ushered into Christiana’s study]

[Ashiok claims Spellbreaker, and the three of them look through Christiana’s notes to discover that she was researching the Planes of Existence and the Far Realm; there is also a stand that looks like it once held something, but now stands empty]

[Hanging on the wall is a painting of Christiana, Quill, Ashiok, Bahlron, and Baelor; there is also a Tiefling warrior that they recognize as the same figure as the statue outside the Colosseum; all of them are seated on horses, looking towards a dark forest]

[Tormine and Nidala fall, and eventually are deposited into a large crypt filled with ancient coffins and a slow, burbling fountain]

15: Spellbreaker
[Tormine and Nidala find secret entrance to the catacombs in the crypt]

[They decide to take the stairs instead, and find their way back to the party]

[Bahlron, Ashiok, and Quill leave the Roost and find themselves face-to-face with King Caudio and his guards]

[The group explains the situation, and wants to show Caudio the painting of themselves and Christiana]

[Landry claims not to remember anything about the Artemis stones or the rest of the gang]

[Quill tells Landry that she told them to kill her and King Caudio]

[Bahlron casts a spell to ease the tension]

[In the Roost, Caudio tells them that the painting they saw there is 35 years old]

[Everyone convenes to discuss what they should do next]

[They decide to have the King accompany them to the Artemis stone, and guard them while they disenchant it]

[Landry breaks out into hideous laughter, falling to the floor; King Caudio is stabbed through the back by Riley]

[The gang moves fast to restrain Riley, first with Bahlron casting Misty Step to teleport behind him, getting Riley into a headlock; Quill summons magical vines which ensnare Riley]

[During the struggle, Riley’s helm falls off, turning into a magical, and revealing that Riley was actually Edwyn]

[The King recognizes Edwyn as his younger brother, Folmir, who tried to kill Caudio and their father when they were young]

[Ashiok takes Folmir’s Artemis stones away]

[The group heads to the Colosseum, where the Artemis stone at the center of the rune awaits]

[As Ashiok unsheathes Spellbreaker, Quill is possessed by Aethershred, and shoots an arrow into Ashiok’s back]

[Bahlron uses the spell Command to force Quill to the ground]

[Together, Ashiok and Bahlron stab Aethershred with Spellbreaker]

[Ashiok, Bahlron, Quill, and Aethershred find themselves in the Astral plane, encased in a translucent sphere]

[They try to convince Aethershred to leave peacefully, but he refuses, and tries to take Quill’s body for himself]

[Quill resists, and as he, Ashiok, and Bahlron are transported back to the Material plane, Aethershred (the bow) dissolves to ashy dust]

[Together, Quill, Ashiok, Bahlron, Tormine, and Nidala grasp Spellbreaker, and plunge it into the Artemis stone]

[They find themselves in the Astral plane, and an elemental from the Temporal plane stands before them]

[The elemental tells them that it will happily be freed from the Artemis stones, but it has a favor to ask]

[It reveals another fragment of mirror, and asks them to take it with them. In return, it tells them that it has already made a promise that it will fulfill]

[They return to the Material plane, and the all of the Artemis stones dissolve as Aethershred did]

[The new shard of mirror immediately bonds to the shard Tormine already had, becoming one larger shard of glass]

[They return to the King, and tell him what happened]

[The King takes them to the Colosseum, and they watch the show]

[Quill sneaks back to the castle, and, disguised as Landry, manages to steal the plans for a magic bow, designed by someone named Eoghan]

[With help from the King and his soldiers, the group rescues Jaz from the catacombs]

[Finally free from the time loop, the gang gets some much-needed sleep in the royal guest quarters]

Organizations

 * Worshipers of Apollo
 * Anti-Slave-Gladiator Movement
 * Royal Guards