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Runtime Break start
4h 17m 2h 18m

Episode 99: Downfall: Part One

Light.
Light suffusing all. Eternal, undying, infinite.
Names beyond counting does this place have in the timeless time in which it existed. But in your tongue, Exandrian, let us simply call it Tengar, the Eternal Palace. Behold endless ramparts and hallways of spinning stars. A nebula so vast that light would age a thousand lifetimes of its origin to cross from the threshold to the ending of this palace.
Let us imagine beings of infinite possibility and endless wonder, populating the vast and joyous caverns, chambers, hallways, ramparts, all of the chapels and unending mystery that this Eternal Palace has to offer those that have always dwelt herein. Shimmering light, beings of wonder whose potential (having never touched ‘the real’) is limitless.
Within this place we must describe for you in words that mortals can comprehend. What you have come now to witness.
In Tengar, the Eternal Palace, past the hallway of the Unbroken Shard, one can spy the Quill of Infinites (that which writes those worlds that have yet never been). We see a small parade of twinkling lights. These lights that we now behold are, to us, inhuman. But of course, this realm has never known the touch of humans. So, let us instead give it a name, that we might understand it. Sparkling light traveling down a hall, we see EDUN, a kaleidoscoping ephemera of twinkling lights moving through the palace towards the Orchard of Possibility, as once it was called. EDUN beholds a small flickering shape, ARU. Though it would be impossible for a mortal to comprehend, (Nick describes a star). EDUN, much larger than you, ARU, rolls past.
“Oh, Aru! Splendid! I was wondering if I might come across any of the vibrant denizens of these wings of Tengar. Have you any friends nearby to call out to? I wish to show you something, if I could.”
Light spirals out as EDUN moves past you. (Aru calls out to Luz (Ashley)).
LUZ, you arrive at the edge of a vast balcony ending in a staircase descending to an orchard of fractal light. They are trees, but they are also mirrors and stars and perhaps the hands of some great and eternal love for the being of all things yet to come. EDUN, this kaleidoscoping, shimmering train of light begins to descend the staircase, and you see ARU, eternal sibling of yours rushing behind you, LUZ. As you see ARU, a shape comes and turns to look at you and it’s now shimmering blue, but a crackling fire in front of you. This is your sibling IMRI.
Imri:“What’s going on? Is something happening? Are we starting a new game?”
Luz:“I don’t know.”
Aru:“Edun has something to show us.”
Imri:“Well, Edun certainly can’t show it to all of us at the same time and I, as ever, shall be there first!”
IMRI surges forward as a trail of fire shoots down the staircase, into the stars. Luz takes off after. IMRI rushes past EDUN as quickly as possible.
Edun:“Careful! Careful!” You see the trees shimmer. Purplish light, almost what you would describe as the reflection of water when it plays on a wall, lounging beneath the trees, fractals playing on fractals, enjoying the peace.
IMRI races past, trips on a purple fractal, explodes in endless fireworks.
Imri:'I could’ve known, always louging around in the Orchard. EDUN! Nahal tripped me!"
Edun:“Oh, sweet Nahal. I did not wish to disturb your slumber. IMRI, you have run much too fast and become a thousand beautiful exploding fireworks. Enough of that!”
EDUN begins to surround a tree. NAHAL you look on. You feel a growing sense of something that you’ve always felt, like you might feel one day, but have never yet felt, is unusual in the Eternal Palace, to feel anything for the first time. You feel a sense of dread.
Nahal:“What is this? It’s exciting and horrible.”
EDUN looks.
“Ah! Yes. What I wished to show you. A new tree being born in the Orchard of Possibility.”
A tree shimmers and twitches. Sharp, painful. There is a fruit hanging from it, but also a gem, but also a sun falling into itself. EDUN looks up. IMRI looks at you and goes,
“Beautiful…I don’t know if I agree. Don’t you feel a little bit…”
IMRI looks to you for the word that they have never had to say before. EDUN reaches up and plucks the fruit.
Luz, you say, “Wait. Give it a chance.”
A moment too late.
Edun:“Oh.”
Edun’s shimmering form ceases. Each point of light is fixed.
Nahal:“What is this?”
Luz:“What is happening?”
Edun:“I’m sorry. I think I’m going away.”
Nahal:“What is away?”
Aru:“Edun!”
A point of lightlessness rests in the middle of the Orchard.

Previous Episode: “The Nox Engine”

  • UltragrampsOPMEnglish
    1•5 months ago

    ♪Episode Song References♪

    ᕕ( ᐛ)ᕗ

    Highlights

    • 00:25:40 Our last two spirits, you are seeing a hallway (that has been infinite for a timeless timelessness) suddenly begin to fall behind you. Describe yourselves as you see your doom now approach in the moment of understanding what doom even is.
      Noshir:“EDAM is a cacophony of sound, constantly collapsing in on itself, and then exploding back into new shapes and forms. It tries to pull objects to it. It mimics, tries to copy the trees it sees. It’s always trying to change and explore; endless chaotic curiosity.”
      Edam:“How did you do it? I’ve been trying to get to nothing forever, and I can’t. Who did it? Who did it? I need to know!”
      Ash:“Nothing happened on its own!”
      Abubakar:CORU is this shimmering, not-necessarily tubular, but it sparkles and is frantic. It stops sparkling and it calms and watches, and lets itself be taken in by this madness that is ensuing and going forward.
      A thread of pure fate wraps around CORU, as IHANA, the Weaver of Time, pulls you towards her as the hallways (vanish so completely from existence that) you would never have been.
      You see that Tengar is collapsing around you. IHANA looks at all of you and asks,
      “What are you doing?”
    • 00:31:03 BLeeM:“As you exit eternity and (enter) possibility. Welcome to the real.”
    • 00:33:55 Imri’s hair is molded by the waves of heat into two horns before Luz heals him.
    • 00:35:14 Aru:“We have to remember where we came from. We’ll always have a home with each other.”
    • 00:36:45 Edam apparates a compass and stabilizer (like an arcane gyroscope)
    • 00:41:03 Nahal:“Maybe Away was better.”
    • 00:42:09 You look up, broken, frightened, as looming over you, monstrous figures who see that you have come to their domain… Hawk’s Hill on the continent of Gwessar. Over a century into the Calamity, a sky choked with ash and ruin. A village that is in some ways a waystation, in some ways a boomtown. This is where people have gathered in the ruins of Exandria for the chance at salvation.
      Salvation from the Gods? No.
      Most of the gods haven’t been seen in decades, even though they choked the sky and burned the lands and laid waste to the vast civilizations of Exandria. The Age of Arcanum is a distant memory for most mortals now, no. Hawk’s Hill is waiting for salvation from the last and greatest bastion of mortal magic.
      They are waiting for salvation from Aeor, the last of the great sky cities, whose skyships still fly, even 100 years since the war of the gods has raged across this place; Prime Dieties, Betrayer Gods, their vast armies of devils and celestials, of monsters and dragons, and the fey called to their banners. Hawk’s Hill is nestled in between two craggy ridges. If they had known at the outset of Hawk’s Hill, how long the town would stand here for, they might’ve taken the time to build some of it out of wood or stone. But with the Calamity, most people aren’t willing to make that bet. So some of these tents and shacks have been standing for the better part of a decade at this point.
      You hear the moving of wagon wheels, people shouting at horses and cattle, moving them into place. There are trading posts and pawn shops and all of it extending in slums and ramshackle dwelling places around a massive central landing pad with a sigil of Aeor across the top where the skyships come and land.
      You see that it appears to be swollen with to the bursting point. Whatever little mattresses of straw people have to let out to travelers are long since spoken for. People sleep on the ground, animals fly hither and yon. In this time of the Calamity, most people do travel with animal companions. Rangers are some of the only people that know how to get around in this time period. It’s very unusual to find any place that can stand long enough to really be called civilization.
      Hawk’s Hill, to the extent that it can be, is alive with activity. Feels like very soon that salvation may come.
    • 00:53:43 Amaris:“You know, for a holy man, Ayden, you seem to encourage a lot of gambling. Our son is nine. I know you’re a young man yourself, I just mean to say, 15, but, you know.”
      Ayden:“The stars say it’s a good time.”
    • 00:56:27 Brennan’s excellent Sideshow Bob impersonation
    • 00:58:00 …a mantle of raven feathers over his shoulder.
    • 01:14:30 Upon return from a bio break, we get a “Hell yeah” from BLeeM.
    • 01:17:37 We get an “Incredible” from Nick before BLeeM after he rolls nearly the lowest possible with a 1 and a 2.
    • 01:26:38 You look at the crate in the back and get a funny feeling.
      Noshir tries to contain himself
    • 01:27:50 A conversation is overheard about a nearby civilization called Highgrove is believed to have fallen.
    • 01:32:28 Abubakar’s stomach rumbles audibly and he shares a smile with Ashley.
    • 01:35:45 Gambling pays off for Topher
    • 01:40:43 Topher:You’re a biiig lady."
    • 01:44:24 The guards make it clear that the gods, their worshippers, and their symbols/emblems will not be allowed passage.
    • 01:50:50 We get to the crate.
    • 01:58:27 “Apples.”
    • 02:00:00 The Latimus Princeps is the name for the shield around Aeor blocking immortals from entry.
    • 02:03:10 A stowaway is forcefully removed from the ship “No Ticket”
    • 02:05:57 In a twist, the druid Asha becomes a wolf by dropping Wildshape (reverting to true form)
    • 02:16:00 Illusory Gnome shenanigans
    • 02:17:38 Fan Art Moment Colossal Aeormatons (20-40 feet tall!)
      INTERMISSION
      We return to Exandria in the midst of Calamity as the Venatoria (sky ship) docks with in the great sky city of Aeor.
      The Ars Ward (one of the many wards of the flying city of Aeor, which I know some of our players will be familiar with) a district of artistry, innovation, craftsmanship, extends on a massive, rectangular slab of stone. The arms of Aeor are like a massive watch hand, moving around the central spire of the city. Looking throughout, you see lights, automaton. You see aeormatons moving throughout the city in vast and sundry conflagration of size and shape, number and amount of limbs, speaking sapiently and sentiently. This place where mortals have created life; thinking, feeling, perhaps even with a soul, though that’s always up for a heated debate.
      You behold the city here. There are many constructs and automata beyond the aeormatons. Massive warrior beings made of steel and arcane gems move throughout this space. Docking on the ship, you look out and see (on this massive stone pier supported by glowing chunks of brumestone held in brass sconces) the mages and wizards of the city of Aeor. You see many of them of high station, gilded and regal and epaulets and medals or robes denoting high station, walk with demons in the streets of Aeor, bound to their service. You see some have horned, barbed creatures with silver chokers and little bells to mark their subservient station to the might of Aeor’s summoners. You see some dressed in wrist cuffs or with small bits of fabric around their neck to denote that all can be bent to the power of Aeor and its mighty civilization.
      Thrumming within the core of the city, you feel the genesis (although that’s a charged word to use here in Aeor) of the Latimus Princeps, and, indeed, accompanied by something that (in your nostrils) feels like the crackling of ozone before a lightning strike. There feels like some charged magic in the air here.
      Throughout the raised buildings, you see many sky bridges, and also venomous green light from rails of arcane trams that move through the city at speeds so fast that you wonder how the people aboard them can even be safe.
      Sound FX Spotlights down.
      You see the streets are very busy, exclusively with military presence. You see there is a wagon in which some young Aeorian mortals have been cuffed and thrown into the back of an arcane wagon that is not pulled by any beast. Surely anything that moves on four legs would’ve been turned into food in this place that cannot grow food of its own. This arcane wagon has youthful delinquents. You see a hint of a broken window and some graffiti over on the side. You see that these youths have been badly beaten and harmed.
      This city bristles with fear, power, status, and a desperation that comes with being so close to making it all “worth it”.

    (continued)

    • UltragrampsOPMEnglish
      1•5 months ago
      • 02:41:04 “Is this (crate) of interest to the ministry?”
      • 02:42:12 S.I.L.A.H.A. shuts down an influencer
      • 02:44:05 Ashley goes from smiles to “Stop it!” face after Laura’s sneeze.
      • 02:45:27 S.I.L.A.H.A. already knows where to go
      • 02:46:47 -Vermillion Line-, Final destination, Opus Ward. Arynx Station.
      • 02:47:58 Fan Art Moment Drunken Aeorian enforcer with what appears to be a demonic spirit trapped in a jar.
      • 02:49:54 BLeeM:“This man will be dead before sunrise.”
      • 02:50:59 The Opus Ward is kept in the shade of other spires and wards.
      • 02:52:26 A large stone building, derelict, its roof having caved in some time ago. At the back, a massive gate, cracked open very slightly. As you enter this place, a voice calls out,
        “SILAHA, is that you?”
        You walk into this space and see an Aeorian archmage.
        Nick and Noshir share a knowing look.
        As you enter, you are in the antechamber, and all of a sudden, all of you feel it rippling throughout. You’re in the antechamber of a tample.
        This place is somehow forgotten, deep in the bowels of Aeor. You look on the walls of this antechamber, and you see that there are smashed sections of the wall where once stone images bore faces, images, scenes, tales of miracles. They are defaced and ruined here, but the stones know the faith of those who once tread them.
        The archmage turns to look at you. She is a beautiful woman, vibrant robes of red and white in a geometric pattern, long braids, deep black skin, a golden headdress. She smiles and her eyes gleam white. She turns to all of you and says,
        “I am the Archmage Arcadia Cerenvetorix. I trust you all received my vision. Well, it’s very unbecoming of me to ever admit to this. I didn’t know this would work. Not sister…”
        The Emissary of Arathis reveals itself
        Arcadia:“Why has she not come?”
      • 02:56:59 “What did she tell you before she sent you here? Do you know what you’re supposed to do?”
        Emissary:“Yes. Share her love with Aeor. Guide them through. I will save them.”
      • 02:59:18 Arcadia:“The ministry of Intention is at the height of their paranoia. There are some within the city, leadership, though much ostracized, the Somnovem believe that great danger is coming. It will be helpful if you look as though you are a part of this. It is a deception, if you can stomach that.”
      • 03:01:19 Arcadia:“The mind of flesh and blood needed time to catch up to great purpose…Our brother arrived here in a form shapable, and as such was actually created within Aeor. Very clever way of bypassing many of the defenses herein.”
      • 03:03:15 Arcadia:“Some of them betrayed and lied and are not here, but four are…” Laura tries to hide a smile. “…Back when distaste for the gods was a small cultural detail. Before it was law and might and writ upon the face of Exandria.”
      • 03:11:56 BLeeM:“Chains. Chained Oblivion. Chains of ruin, chains of torture. Thin golden chains holding the scales of justice.”
      • 03:12:35 Arcadia:“This is a place where they tried to kill a story. It’s a very frightened thing to do.”
      • 03:12:44 BLeeM:“You move into the dark.”
        Nick: smiles “Uh, It is not dark.”
      • 03:12:58 *Four figures arrayed at an altar…a kindly old man (Father Milo Cowst), a “priest of the Dawnfather”…a powerful barbarian woman (Tishar), wounded, resting on the altar…a sickly-looking tortle (Zaharzht)…and a small halfling woman (Umleta) hidden in the rafters.
      • 03:18:30 Umleta:“Who knows? They might do something crazy, like kill a god. Imagine that.”
        Laura smiles.
      • 03:21:05 Arcadian describes The Factorum Malleus as a weapon that can take something infinite and “tear it asunder from the fabric of creation.”
      • 03:24:29 News of a celestial arrival invokes a sense of urgency
      • 03:29:16 Umleta:“If they were reasonable, they wouldn’t have opposed us in the first place.”
      • 03:32:24 Arcadia:“The Eravox Protocol, is if something goes wrong, it’s their ability to take what they know and send it across Exandria. The engines that power the Obtenebrator, that which keeps this hidden from divine sight, that is within the Genesis Ward. If that is still operating, our true selves will not be able to find us here. Then the Latimus Princeps, the repelling wall that you felt when you came here, that will have to be the last thing we do because that has been incorporated into the Factorum Malleus.”
      • 03:42:08 Arcadia:“Our brother does not have to come here in person to to send the storm.”
      • 03:48:06 Arcadia:"We have time to delay this decision. A moment may come when that time is beyond us.My hope is that we have space to do this carefully. We will know quickly and abruptly if we do not.
      • 03:51:16 Zaharzht:“You don’t think you have hooks in you? I know their names.”
      • 03:54:47 Arcadia's Cone of Silence
      • 03:58:42 Ashley rolls a 32 Insight check and Noshir’s eyes nearly pop out of his head.
      • 04:06:11 Two bats, one stone
      • 04:11:06 Laura:“So, both of the main healers are in the same group?” (nervous laugh)
      • 04:13:28 “…and this will be their downfall.”
      • 04:15:18 Umleta’s sarcastic and creepy monologue about family and truces
      • 04:16:16 Arcadia:“To the heart of Aeor, to disarm them of the weapon they would use to destoy the gods. One way or another, this will be our last night as mortals.”