Narrative

Day 58 began after the party slept in a random or abandoned house in Brass City. The city remained relaxed after the revolution, with tabaxi lounging, sewing, and dancing while lizard, salamander, and snake folk who had once served the fire elementals repaired and cleaned the city.

The party returned to the citadel to meet Lies/Walks with/in the Morning Dew. Lord Briarthorn was with her, unexpectedly alive or at least embodied, while Haze/Hayes had left the party. Briarthorn greeted them with, “My friends… I thought you were dead,” then said, “I was… Apparently I’m not anymore.” He was unsure whether he had his original body, which seemed similar to the body that had perished long ago. He recognized Eliana in the death realm because she looked different there; outside it, he only knew because he could feel it. His memories of death were unstable and contradictory, an eternal existence that he both did and did not want to think about.

Briarthorn remembered Valencia/Cardano/Cardunald as a young one at school. He also remembered going to the moon with Mama/Mum Marthall/Marshall, Thomas/Ennui [uncertain], and Hannah, Francine Joy’s daughter. They used the portal in Eliana’s mother’s house, linked to the dragon place, but he could not remember why he went: “They needed me to go for some reason. And I can’t know why.” He also helped create the sentient No Hurt mushroom and warned that its spores could take over the brain, optic nerves, eyes, and eventually the tongue. Morning Dew sensed Cardunald near the top of a minaret, Traymond/Tri-moon’s corpse with little guarding, and angry spirits plus some of her people in another minaret.

The party entered the Minaret of Learning, a school, library, and bureaucracy tower dedicated to Ataba/Attabre. A warded door blocked elementals and spirits. Geldrin modified its runes so light, water, and air could pass while fire remained blocked, allowing Dotharl and Bynx through. Inside, the lower floors preserved tabaxi classrooms, sphinx drawings, blue dragon toys, university rooms, libraries, and rugs recording old divine and civic knowledge.

A carpet showed five sphinxes, with Trixus prominent. Morning Dew said the unknown fifth sphinx was the one for the dwarves; merfolk did not receive a sphinx but were blessed with memory. A scientific book on Ataba listed the higher sphinx or minions as Anadreste/Annadressdey/Annadrazadey for dragons, Trixus/Trixis for tabaxi, Bene/Benu/Benham for elves, Garadwal/Garadul/Garigal for the Dun/Dunnan/Dunnen humans, and Koko Rem/Coco Rem/Kokoram for dwarves. Other gifts included memory for merfolk and learning for gnomes. Goliaths and avian folk had sought Ataba’s approval but had not received a sphinx. Annadressdey made a true sacrifice against a massive white dragon threat at Snow Serene, imbuing her power into white dragon descendants including Icefang and Icefang’s line. Trixus’s bracelet inscription was remembered as “a blessing from Ataba, protector of the city Salvation to his children, first of his name, fifth of his kind.”

On a spellbook and library floor, a rug showed three blue dragons. Heavy brass or copper doors were locked and warded. Geldrin identified high-level magical locks and opened one by tapping Rubyeye’s eye or item against it. A glass coffin or stasis tomb shattered inside, releasing a woman in blue, Arabic or hareem-style clothes who shouted “Intruders!” and attacked with lightning before transforming into a huge serpentine blue dragon. The party knocked her unconscious without killing her. A dead mind worm was found deep in her ear, though it was unclear whether a dead worm could still suppress memory.

Invar accidentally triggered a shelf’s fire trap and destroyed a travel or location bookcase. The remaining shelves were warded with fire or evocation traps and Counterspell protections. Morning Dew identified the blue dragon as a former teacher of noble children and wyrmlings. Morning Dew cast Greater Restoration, but warned that the teacher might still attack. Bynx tried to contact Ataba to heal or clear her; instead Merikok/Merocok/Mary Cook spoke through him, accusing the party of meddling, saying they would understand soon, and adding, “You can take this one. I don’t need it anymore. Just continue doing what you’re doing. It’s fine.” After a goodberry, the teacher woke confused. She said the library held secret information, remembered “the man with the horns” or “the fallen one” being there, and said Ensi/Ennui/Onwi had something to do with her people leaving and her being left behind. She warned that fire elementals were coming and struggled with the news that it was roughly 1,000 years later than she believed. The party learned or concluded that Merikok was the fallen form of Koko Rem, the dwarven sphinx, and that part of him was missing. The teacher warned that some library knowledge had contributed to her people’s downfall and should not fall into other hands.

Fire elementals approached after the explosion. Dirk heard words including “disturbance,” “here,” “fire,” “care,” and “traps.” The party locked the door and projected a blue-dragon sigil. One elemental said, “We need to report back,” and another said, “Come back later.”

A small retriever-like dog claiming to be Hayes scratched at the door and brought back Bish and Bosh because he had “promised.” Bish and Bosh were no longer cursed or compelling. Separately, they were normal blackjacks. Together, they became +1 finesse/light blackjacks. Bish could stagger a target on a hit result of 21 or more, preventing reactions and bonus actions until the start of the wielder’s next turn. Bosh could, once per day on a hit, force a DC 17 Constitution save or knock a target unconscious for 1d4 rounds.

The upper floors included a crowned-tabaxi bureaucratic or rulership floor and a museum-like civilization floor. The latter showed the original Grand Tower before later copper, crystal, or white-wizard additions; three merfolk cities; several dwarf groups; dragons before the Snow Serene/Snow Sorrow split; a gnome city with airships and towers; and human tribes with a central mediator. Goliaths, halflings, and avian folk were absent.

At the top, a hot door decorated with dancers and performers opened into magical black smoke. Failed saves caused mind-control effects, with smoke trailing from victims’ eyes. Eliana was controlled and stabbed Geldrin. Dotharl and Geldrin later suffered effects as well, and controlled Geldrin cast a dangerous high-level fireball. The enemies included exploding flame creatures and a larger smoke-spider or insectoid with eight spindly legs, a man’s face, and a distended jaw. Its claws damaged mind or soul. Invar’s spiritual weapon killed the smoke spider, and the smoke vanished.

Cardunald/Cardano/Valenticard was found motionless on a bench, as in the earlier truancy vision. She was an ornate, high-grade constructed body and vessel for a soul rather than an ordinary automaton. She had shut herself down to prevent the smoke creature from controlling her. Bynx sent a message into her mind, and the party proved themselves with the secret that there was a lot of dwarf porn in her library. The runes on her chest faded and she woke, asking, “It’s safe?” She explained, “I had to shut myself down so that he didn’t take over me… because in his hands it would have been dangerous.” She identified Dotharl as one of her mother’s early creations, like a sentry drone, and called Platinum “the one creation that hasn’t betrayed me.”

Cardunald believed Ensi/Ennui/Onwi caused her capture or translocation through the barrier. Only one of her old compatriots could have forcefully moved her against her will through the barrier, and she suspected Onwi and Browning were back to old ways. Onwi had Traymond’s arm or staff, which would let him maneuver through the barrier. The party’s head item could open the barrier but not teleport through it.

Back in the library, the blue dragon teacher refused to let Cardunald take books, saying, “The last time you came here for knowledge… things did not end well.” She claimed the library for her people but agreed to prepare Geldrin a safe spellbook by tomorrow, selecting only knowledge that would not pose an existential danger to her kind.

Cardunald said the Dome or barrier had been made “to protect people” and seemed to believe this. When the party explained Browning’s plan to use the trapped population as power to become a god, she realized the structure made sense: like the elemental prisons, the Dome trapped everything inside to power something, and sacrificing everybody would be enough. She said the Dome should come down, but simply breaking it after another prison collapse could release all prisoners in chaos. She proposed using the Grand Towers control room to reroute power so the prisoners stayed contained by their own prisons while the Dome came down.

Cardunald said Avelina/Avaline was perhaps the purest of the old group and may have been trapped outside because she resisted the plan or learned Browning’s true intent. She said Merikok had been “kind of killed,” gone up in a puff of smoke, and was engineered because they needed a creature of light for the last hole or prison. Garadwal chose to bind himself with void to become strong enough for a prison. Wrath held Rubyeye and had entombed Hartwar/Heartwar/Hartwell [uncertain]. Wrath was not exactly in Rubyeye’s eye; the eye was more like where Wrath lived or hid. Replacing the eye might not be enough.

Cardunald said Lady Envy was originally meant for her because others mistook her envy of Rubyeye’s wife for a sufficient hook. She refused because “it was just a crush” and she understood Rubyeye and his wife were truly in love. The party suspected Envy needed to be handled before freeing Mama Marthall/Hartwell or Rubyeye, lest Mama Marthall be released still under Envy’s influence.

Eliana told Cardunald, “It appears that I am Evelina/Eliana Hartwell/Marthall.” Cardunald remembered Hartwell’s second child as if recovering a forgotten fact and recalled Eliana as a “little whelp” who was protective of her mother. She suggested that restoring Eliana’s original form or body, if possible, was beyond her and might require a priest of A Grain/Agraine. During talk of Eliana, Marthall/Hartwell, and school memories, Morgana saw a naked long-haired woman reflected in Invar’s armour and later motion in Eliana’s dagger. Cardunald knew who she was, became visibly nervous, and said, “I had a thought that I cannot utter,” and “If we can remember her… she’s not fully gone.” The party stopped that line of conversation.

The party reviewed its priorities: deal with Envy and remove her influence on Mama Marthall/Hartwell, free Rubyeye from Wrath and his endless-loop prison, free Mama Marthall and reveal Eliana is her daughter, use Cardunald at the Grand Towers control room to bring the Dome down safely while leaving prisoners contained, retrieve Geldrin’s spellbook, possibly fix Ensi/Ennui/Onwi, and inspect Traymond/Tri-moon’s body.

The party investigated Mama Hartwell/Marthall’s imprisonment. It was the burial form of Imprisonment: she was far underground in a magical force sphere and could not be reached by ordinary teleport or planar travel. The spell used a silver dragon figurine or statuette as a component. The party remembered such a figurine in Hartwell’s lair or shrine, partly green from jade dust, and decided they likely needed the exact object.

Errol was examined. Valenth/Cardunald-like magic determined that he was alive and sentient, not merely an automaton: “he’s alive like you… he’s not just an automaton anymore… his spirit’s been awakened.” Errol insisted, “I’ve always been real,” complained about not being used to being alive, and objected to being stuffed into a bag or pocket dimension. He could find Rubyeye by instinct like a compass, using warmer/colder direction-finding, but could not describe the location.

The party explored Stolchar/Stoltjar’s tower. Geldrin modified the door runes so only fire elementals were blocked. Inside were iron-banded doors, mosaics of five chromatic and five metallic dragons, and forges for precious metals, military or war metalwork, and mundane construction. Invar tried to pray to Stolchar for permission but received no contact despite performing the ritual correctly, implying the Sultan or fire-plane situation blocked Stolchar there. Morning Dew said Squall had a tower, but people avoided it and some did not return. Official records named Squall as god of weather, change, loss, and air; grieving people prayed to Squall to understand change and loss.

At the top or guildhall of Stolchar’s tower, the party found Trayman/Tresmen/Tremon’s body: a huge roughly 30-foot carcass with legs detached and propped against the wall, head missing, at least one arm missing, and torso reshaped into a faceted inward-reflecting crystal reminiscent of shield or pylon crystal. Geldrin suspected reattaching the head would not simply reanimate it because consciousness, if any, was likely tied to the head.

In the same room was a very pale, emaciated human-looking figure in red-gold robes and turban, alive but almost motionless in a worn chair. He communicated by blinks. He was not stuck, did not choose to be there, needed help but not escape or completion, did not need food or water, and was concentrating on a dangerous long-running spell. He was shielding the place or Trayman’s body rather than locking it. Geldrin detected powerful abjuration and conjuration. The figure was the reason the Sultan could not get in. Valenth said the Sultan was one of the elemental creatures the tabaxi created protections against and one reason the tabaxi had to leave. The spell’s power was compared to the magic that moved Snow/Snowserene’s room. Further questioning suggested the figure was not a follower of a god, was likely a darkness elemental rather than fire, did not dislike the Sultan, blocked him because the consequences of entry would be bad, did not block all elements, knew Trayman personally, and had an unclear relationship to Valenthilde/Valentinhard/Valenthide. The party chose not to interfere until they understood him.

Dotharl stayed in Brass City while the others traveled. The party received sending stones from Morning Dew and left one with Dotharl. Valenth teleported the travelling group near the Dome by Thomas’s lab, and they used Trayman’s skull or crystals to open the barrier. Briarthorn left near Everchard or the swamp to make his own way, while the party asked birds and Our Lady Chorus to watch him. Morgana used Transport via Plants to reach Tradesmalls/Tradesports.

Tradesmalls was becoming a mixed settlement of Goliaths, Dunnans/Dunham, and greenish-copper Tarnished dragonborn. Dirk visited his family tent, where his sister Ingris immediately looked for Bynx. The council included Ogrim Fungalus, Sansong, Gren Boulderfist, Dirk senior, Blisterfoot, Knits/Nits Flesh with attendants, and Verdegrim. Verdegrim said the peace agreements were going “swimmingly well,” with the Tarnished promised part of the city and mutual protection and trade. Ogrim said Tradesmalls historically traded with small folk and should become cosmopolitan again. All Goliath cities were under Goliath control; dragons had retreated to guerrilla warfare; Lady Carpool/Harpool’s forces had defeated or driven off Rockwake; Hartwall was well and garrisoning elsewhere; and Willow Whisper had taken over surviving Ashkelon forces and hidden in the savannahs. Another Errol-like bird had been found in Worndu, expanding the communication network. Knits/Nits Flesh said Bone/Benu had returned after penance, accompanied by Garadwal, whom Benu said was clean and would watch. Vulture people and former Hephaestus worshippers were integrating with the Dunnans and might be accepted after three years. Dirk’s father asked him to keep in touch and received a sending stone. Bynx stayed with the Goliaths, Dunnans, and Tarnished to help rebuild civilization and perhaps go to Ashkelon. Dirk sent Anastasia a message via Errol saying they had been busy killing Peridita, freeing peoples and nations, and would see her soon.

The party teleported to Hartwell/Hathwall’s lab. The teleport-room door was blockaded from outside, and someone ran barefoot away. In the urn or shrine room, they found a red-haired young woman of about 18 sleeping in commoner clothes with a satchel, later identified as Goldilocks. They retrieved the silver dragon figurine or statue covered in jade dust without waking her. In an old bedroom, they found a red-haired young man named Jack, one of about eleven copper-dragon resistance refugees from Snow/Snowsorrow. Other refugees included Mother Goose and Hansel. Mother Goose said they had fled a retaliatory dictatorship, another group had gone elsewhere, only weak-willed copper dragons remained in the city, and the portal was disabled so the bosses could not follow. The party gave the refugees a map and context, suggested Hartwall/Pine Springs, gave them 100 gp in current coinage for supplies, and received old copper, silver, and platinum dragon coins. They warned the refugees not to release the tiny fire elemental or portal in one bedroom and not to open the small secret dining-room hatch because the place might explode. Mother Goose recalled Hartwall lore: Hartwalls were the ruling family among silver dragons, there was a scandal that a Hartwall slept with a white prince, a silver prince died mysteriously in a way that some blamed on wizards, and Hartwall was magical, “sort of” a wizard but unlike the city wizards.

Geldrin inserted the recovered core into the gnome/founder armour. It powered up with purple or light-filled cracks and opened like powered armour. The internal voice took the name Alfred, recognized Geldrin’s voice pattern as a founder and later as elite-class founder, and permitted him to use it. Alfred had 10 non-recharging charges. One charge activated it for 24 hours as plate armour AC 18 with no Strength requirement, proficiency, and spellcasting compatibility. While active it granted Light, and charges could power Jump, Strength 18 with advantage on Strength checks and saves, Investigation advantage, Shield, and 5th-level Magic Missile. Inactive, it required Strength 18 to wear or move.

Dotharl explored Squall’s tower alone. Morning Dew brought him there but refused to enter. The door was blackened or burnt wood and locked; Dotharl could not open it alone. A snake or lizard ambassador from the party’s first Brass City visit helped pick the lock, saying, “I haven’t lost my old skills,” then left. Inside, cold plain stone echoed. Chalk drawings showed a living whirlwind with toothy maw and lightning eyes from Dotharl’s visions, a six-limbed or four-armed vulture man in a sandstorm, and a non-bipedal eagle crackling with lightning. One room had darkness outside its window, sourceless light, and carefully placed objects including a copper coin, sock, ripped basket, small brown bag, shoelace, and lump of coal. Later rooms and visions included a hot windy vulture room with pictures of a burned house, library, and white-flower field; a bottomless koi pond whose ripples showed a pigtailed girl before an abandoned building; a people-of-the-world floor with pigeon/Arabica [uncertain], gnome, and gaunt elf; a decadent elf dressing room; an abandoned Freeport dock-front warehouse with rags, a stuffed silver dragon toy, and a bloodied tissue; a funeral or gravestone scene with a dwarf or silver dragonborn; barred third-floor doors; and a top minaret/minorette room with compass rose and weather decoration, a glass ceiling, a chair, and a very elderly man. The old man asked if Dotharl was Errol. A dragon eye appeared in the glass dome, resembling the white dragon from dream. The man said he was there because Dotharl expected to see him, said Dotharl was not like his father and was different, liked change and found being kept a prison because there was no change, said “we all need to make a decision about our forms,” and asked what Dotharl came for. Dotharl said he felt lost and wanted to learn more.

The party decided the least risky order was probably Envy, then Wrath/Rubyeye, then freeing Mama Hartwell/Marthall. Bellburn was a logical place to ask about Envy because of prior Envy and Lamia activity there. The party returned to Brass City by plants, teleport, and barrier routes. Geldrin collected the promised leather-bound, brass-trimmed spellbook from the blue dragon teacher, who asked them to send any more of her kind back to Brass City if found.

The party sought a way to Bellburn/Balburn. A jeweller or merchant, possibly Facets that Gleam in the Sun or a related figure, joked or lied about Bellburn items but said people from Bellburn were camped in the Earthwise quarter. The party found light-skinned Goliath-like Bellburners who greeted them with “free travel to all” and said they came by “the winds of Bridge.” They remembered the party member who had fought a dragon working for Lady Envy in their streets. They knew Envy was at the jade mines, called Lost Vein/Lost Vain, but could not go there because “they’d kill us.” Lamias there extorted goods and materials and stole children at night to work in the mines. The party taught them a crude “butt check” to expose Lamia illusions by checking where an invisible body would physically be.

The Bellburners explained routes. Brass City to Bellburn was about five days by road around the plateaus and mountains near the Great Foot of the Flame Scar. Lost Vein could be reached across the Sulphur Flats or by a longer route through the foot of the Flame Scar and Bellburn roads. They traded a Bellburn pan for one of the party’s pans and gave a Bridge-style blessing: “May the roads forever be open, may your eyes never close, and may the coins fall in your favour.” A first pan-based teleport returned the party to the same place, making the Bellburners laugh and call it a Bridge trick. A second attempt landed them on a familiar snowy mountain top outside the barrier. A third attempt, with a penny tossed into the pan, succeeded and brought them to Bellburn/Balburn/Melbourne. The next confirmed day began after Eliana slept really well.

People, Factions, and Places Mentioned

People and name-like figures include Eliana/Ellaina, Dirk, Morgana, Invar, Geldrin, Dotharl/Dothal, Bynx/Binks, Haze/Hayes, Lies/Walks with/in Morning Dew, Lord Briarthorn, Valencia/Cardano/Cardunald/Cardonald/Valenticard, Mama/Mum Hartwell/Hathwall/Heartwall/Marthall/Marshall, Thomas, Ensi/Ennui/Onwi, Hannah, Francine Joy’s daughter, No Hurt, Traymond/Tresmen/Tremon/Tri-moon, Ataba/Attabre, Trixus/Trixis, Anadreste/Annadressdey/Annadrazadey, Bene/Benu/Benham, Garadwal/Garadul/Garigal, Koko Rem/Coco Rem/Kokoram, Merikok/Merocok/Mary Cook, Rubyeye/Ruby Eye, Icefang, the blue dragon teacher, Bish and Bosh, Platinum, Browning, Avelina/Avaline, Wrath, Lady Envy, Rubyeye’s wife, A Grain/Agraine, the reflected long-haired woman, Errol, Valenth/Valenthilde/Valentinhard/Valenthide, Stolchar/Stoltjar/Stolcher, Squall/Swall, the Sultan, the pale emaciated caster, Our Lady Chorus, Ogrim Fungalus, Sansong, Gren Boulderfist, Dirk senior, Blisterfoot, Knits/Nits Flesh/Knit’s Nest, Verdegrim, Ingris, Lady Carpool/Harpool, Rockwake, Hartwall, Willow Whisper, Bone/Benu, Jack, Mother Goose, Hansel, Goldilocks, Cinderella, Alfred, Anastasia, Peridita/Paradita, the Bellburners, Lady Envy’s lamias, and the old man in Squall’s tower.

Groups and factions include the party, tabaxi, lizard/salamander/snake folk, blue dragons and wyrmlings, fire elementals, old wizards, gnomes, merfolk, dwarves, dragons, elves, Dunnans/Dunham/Dunnen, humans, goliaths, avian folk, Tarnished dragonborn, Goliath city forces, guerrilla dragons, Ashkelon forces, vulture people / former Hephaestus worshippers, copper-dragon resistance refugees, Bellburners, Bridge-associated travellers, and lamias.

Places include Brass City, the random or abandoned Brass City house, the citadel, the Minaret of Learning, Ataba’s tower, the blue dragon secret library, the Grand Tower / Grand Towers control room, Snow Serene/Snow Sorrow/Snowsorrow/Sun Serene, Salvation, the Dome/barrier, Stolchar’s tower, Squall’s tower, Thomas’s lab, the moon, Everchard/swamp, Tradesmalls/Tradesports, Ashkelon/Ashclone, Worndu, Hartwell/Hathwall’s lab and shrine, Pine Springs, Freeport, the Great Foot of the Flame Scar, the Sulphur Flats, Bellburn/Balburn/Melbourne, and Lost Vein/Lost Vain.

Items, Rewards, and Resources

Items and resources include Rubyeye’s eye/item, Bish and Bosh, the magical apple, the destroyed travel/location bookcase, Geldrin’s promised spellbook, sending stones from Morning Dew, Dirk’s family sending stone, the silver dragon figurine/statue with jade dust, Errol, Trayman’s skull/crystals, the gnome/founder armour Alfred, old dragon coins, 100 gp given to refugees, the disabled portal, the tiny fire elemental/portal, the dangerous dining-room hatch, the Bellburn pan, the pan traded away, the consumed penny, jade or hexagonal coins and jade daggers considered as teleport anchors, and Bellburn route information.

Clues, Mysteries, and Open Threads

Briarthorn’s returned body, his fragmented moon memory, and the reason he went with Mama Marthall, Thomas/Ennui, and Hannah remain unresolved. The No Hurt mushroom may still be dangerous if its spores reach eyes or tongue.

The blue dragon teacher’s imprisonment or stasis, the dead mind worm, and the dangerous library knowledge remain unresolved. Merikok/Merocok appears to be the fallen Koko Rem, but his missing light/dark parts and warning that the party will understand soon remain open.

Cardunald’s plan could bring down the Dome safely through the Grand Towers control room, but only if the prisoners remain contained by rerouted power. Browning’s godhood plan remains active, and Onwi/Ennui has Traymond’s arm or staff.

The party’s strategic order remains Envy, then Wrath/Rubyeye, then Mama Hartwell/Marthall, but the exact risks of freeing each prisoner are uncertain. The silver dragon figurine is likely the spell component for Mama Hartwell/Marthall’s Imprisonment, but its exact use is unknown.

Eliana’s original form or body, the reflected long-haired woman, Hannah, and the idea that “if we can remember her… she’s not fully gone” remain important mysteries.

The pale emaciated caster in Stolchar’s tower is shielding Trayman/Tresmen/Tremon’s body from the Sultan. His identity, elemental nature, relationship to Valenthilde/Valentinhard, and the consequences of ending his spell remain unknown.

Stolchar’s silence in his own tower suggests the Sultan or fire-plane situation blocks him. Squall’s tower gave Dotharl major symbolic visions about form, change, loss, his father, Errol, the white dragon eye, Freeport, the silver dragon toy, and bloodied tissue, but their meaning is unresolved.

Garadwal’s current cleanliness, Briarthorn’s future path, the safety of the copper-dragon refugees in Hartwell’s lab, Alfred’s recharge method, Anastasia’s situation, Lost Vein’s defenses, and the fate of Bellburn children taken by lamias remain open.