The Tracks Never Lie

Year, Season, Month, Days: 5990 F.Y. Frinle, Yria 10

Molly dreamed of a cat heading westward, its hackles raised in warning. It was clearly Novulu, but the voice came garbled through Spot. Meanwhile, Felicity dreamed of sailing and slept well, unburdened by sight.

When Felicity awoke, she found herself cured of her blindness by Tektun and was pleased she no longer had to keep watch. Molly, awakened by Tektun casting Cure Blindness/Deafness on her, reflexively grabbed his throat before releasing him shortly after. Irritable, Molly attempted to express her stress about being involved with the God of Torture, but Felicity couldn’t relate, blaming much of it on Molly’s choice to become thier champion. Molly insisted that the power dynamic left her with little choice.

After consuming a hearty breakfast soup, Molly pulled Felicity aside and asked for her support in doing what needed to be done when they found the Duke. She also told Felicity to do what she had to if Molly spiraled into madness. Felicity was unphased. The group packed up their camp and set off westward, raising the Hello Kitty flag.

As the forest grew denser, Felicity noticed the appearance of a path and ruins, most likely remnants of the ancient Elven Kingdom. Tracks led into buildings on the outskirts. Kneeling down, Felicity smelled and even tasted the ashen tracks, deducing they were hours old. Molly humored her, though she doubted the accuracy of that deduction.

Feeling spiritually thinner after consuming nothing but soup and not breaking the ashen ground, the party reached a farmhouse. Felicity kicked down the door, only to be confronted by a wall of eyes and whispers just below audible range. The creature, a grotesque mass of grey flesh, mouths, and a single hand, reached out to her, pleading for help.

Attempting to identify the creature, Molly realized it was some sort of magical pseudo-ooze, a collection of creatures fused into one. Whatever had happened in this land persisted within it. As it reached out again, Felicity gave it some fish jerky, which it devoured before asking for love. Molly, showing both fear and pity, gave it a portrait of the “slutty elf” she had stolen from the half-orc bartender. The creature consumed the portrait and transformed into an elf-like shape, though disturbingly distorted with too many joints in the wrong places. It offered a gift to Molly, escorting her to a hidden compartment that contained an ashen key. When asked where the key led, it pointed westward. When Molly asked its name, every mouth responded with a different name. Before parting, the creature gave Molly a hug.

The duo, struggling to process the absurdity, continued westward. Olman checked on Molly’s mental state, and she responded that the world deserved vengeance against fate. Olman tried to impart wisdom but Molly resisted, claiming she wasn’t ready and Olman assured her she wouldn’t have them for much longer. Olman impressed the idea of serenity upon Molly, who then decided to get a tattoo of the serenity prayer on her lower back. Felicity demonstrated impressive skill in calligraphy and placed the prayer on Molly’s back, but altered two words: “the serenity to accept the things she can change and the courage to change the things she cannot.” Afterward, Molly felt sick, likely from Felicity using her torture implements to tattoo, and wrapped herself in Ruth’s shawl.

Felicity then “found” an “old” track leading to what they assumed was a tavern. Molly examined the ashen key, and with Han’s help, found the letters “LBSMNT” etched into it. Felicity tried to examine a nearby charred sign, but it disintegrated in her hands. Inside, they discovered bodies, most of them elves, but surprisingly also some gnomes. When Molly attempted to loot the area, everything crumbled to ash.

Before leaving, Molly found a bottle of lantern oil in the ash untouched by the surrounding decay. Outside, Felicity discovered remnants of an encampment with tents and bottles bearing the Ensin Empire seal. Based on the setup, they deduced there had been about 8 or 9 people in the expedition. One set of footprints headed east but didn’t return.

Realizing the eastbound person was likely the one killed by the bat creature earlier, the party chose to follow the larger expedition. They also noticed a strange second sun in the sky, but neither they nor their compatriots could identify its origin. They pressed on and soon encountered a large garrison wall with a portcullis, following the tracks through a massive hole leading toward a castle.

They advanced cautiously, sending Ruth to keep watch on the battlements while the rest of the party searched the empty encampment. They found notes and maps belonging to the expedition, indicating that the group had been searching for keys, likely meant for this very place.

One map referenced O13, the Ensin Empire possessing the right arm and searching for the Eye of Hope. Another list of body parts mentioned the left leg located in Elysntire, needing the Veil of Freedom. Tektun quickly copied the notes before the party set up an ambush within the tents.

Several hours passed before something metallic clinked onto the table. Molly investigated and found a dog tag, and minutes later, four more fell, bearing various titles including Wizard. Molly checked in with Olman who then decided to enter the castle. Ruth loosed a warning arrow and the party heard screaming from within the castle.

As they returned to their hiding places, Felicity saw a woman fleeing the castle, missing a forearm. She screamed, “You have to stop! It’s not you!” before an arrow pierced her forehead. A man with a green cape and glowing green eyes casually strolled from the castle, remarking “pity” before heading back inside. Another dog tag appeared on the table as Molly recognized the voice of Duke Overn Adsin.

Felicity examined the cleric’s body and found that neither her magic nor potions had been able to stop her bleeding. The party took the maps from the table and entered the castle and found a shocking amount of blood and heard the sounds of arrows flying and screams. Searching the rooms, Felicity found an armory filled with Elven weapons, which she took several, and Molly found a firearm which she loaded and took with her.

Moving forward, Molly entered the space with the Duke and saw him sitting on a throne covered in blood, surrounded by bodies. He stood and then tossed it aside, revealing a set of stairs beneath. Molly, in disguise, appears with the letter. When asked to toss the letter to him, Molly threw a dagger with Spider Vine Poison as well. Not noticing the dagger, he was hit by the poison and collapsed, the bow falling from his hands, his eyes still glowing green.

Felicity grabbed the bow and felt a sudden urge to take control and then realized she could do it later and then stored the bow in the gauntlets. Molly removed Overn’s hands and Felicity took all his jewelry while Molly broke his knees. Withered from his poison, he came to, but Molly revealed herself and taunted him, eventually opening the letter for Overn to read. As he read it, electricity rippled through his eyes and Molly heard many layered voices in her mind, which were unfamiliar say, “The final blow is yours, Molly”. Spending 2 hours, Molly tortured Overn until he gave out.

Meanwhile, Felicity and the rest of the crew went down the stairs and found an immense door with three keyholes. She found they matched the keys in her possession and turned them, opening the door and finding a pristine and undamaged portion of the castle made of white marble. In the center of the room was a stand with a bell jar. Inside the bell jar was a shriveled right leg with no skin. At the top was a disc attached to a chain with an impossibly small script, at the ankle was a broken shackle. There was an inscription beneath the bell jar: “To reach me find the key that brings peace and life to lands broken”.

Unable to open the bell jar, Felicity searched further, finding a loose stone concealing a thin Veil, a shroud of mourning. The moment she touched it, it was as if the oppressive weight of the environment lifted.

Coming down after cleaning herself off, Molly found Felicity spread out with the expedition maps and the Veil hanging off one finger. Molly, trying to pull from her memory, thought the Veil could free someone from any containment, were unable to be bound, and could free others by looking through the veil from any sort of binding such as enchantments but with a potential cost. It was said to be from a bride whose husband was executed on their wedding day, and though she tried to free him from death’s shackles, she failed.

Determined to test the Veil’s power, Molly donned it and looked at the leg through it. She saw ghosts outside the vault going about their daily lives. Looking closer, she saw enchantments around the bell jar and a dark nimbus encircling the leg.

Despite the Nimbus, Molly attempted to reach through to grab the leg. Felicity watched Molly turn sheer as her fingers slid through the glass. Molly watched as her fingers turned black entering the Nimbus as she felt pain and was thrust out of the glass. She tried again and was able to pull the leg from the glass, but found the Nimbus encased on her wrist. Felicity and the rest of the party could now see this darkness in place on her wrist as Molly was near-fatally wounded.

Asking Tektun to heal her, she found the spell consumed and blighted by the Nimbus, opening wounds on Tektun instead. Stopping him from attempting further, Molly attempted to read the inscription on the disc but found it was entirely too small and likely something immense shrunk down to the size of a coin and would be impossible to read in its current state. She put the arm in her Handy Haversack and asked Tektun to try to use Remove Curse but the spell was consumed by the Nimbus and turned to blood.

Resolving to search the rest of the castle, the party collected their notes and moved forward.

The party leveled up! The party gained a mythic trial!