DM: Omelette

From 25 October 2024 to 13 December 2024

Party:

• Leader: Hallowman/Killian/Barbarian 5
• Scout: TheOddity/Slissezh/Warlock 5, Sorcerer 2
• Trailblazer: Calmseeker/Yusung/Druid 8
• Cartographer: Konopa/Vivi/Sorcerer 9
• Espada/Beralt/Blood Hunter 8
• Tiffthatsit/Galli/Wizard 8

Summary:

We went with Bonnie to see Destra and the librarian to ask about Charlotte’s father. Bonnie had memory problems. We ran into Sylvester (Sly). The party found a black mass above Destra’s castle. I offered up a copy of his memories to the librarian for information on Charlotte’s father. The librarian asked us to look for Sizzle (Sly’s sister) and informed us that as a result of Destra’s spell going wrong, Destra was split into multiple versions of herself. The same thing happened to Vivi. Vivi combined with his other version and managed to persuade Destra to accept herself. To get rid of the black mass, we had to protect the crystal that housed the heart of the castle. We fought Rose and other beings that sought to destroy the heart, which was a golden acorn. The three versions of Destra combined back into one. Her spell managed to get rid of the memory problems that Bonnie had and the black mass. We returned to town with Bonnie.

Day 1:

At the Potted Plant Inn in Port Mirandia, I encountered Bonnie and “Bon-Bon,” two seafaring women that other party members were familiar with. Bonnie spoke of someone named Charlotte that had been taken.

“Charlotte is gone, taken by that evil necrotic spewing dragonborn.”

-Bonnie.

The best lead they had on Charlotte was finding Charlotte’s father and using him to track her. Through their research, they had found mention of a librarian that could lead to the coven of witches that captured Charlotte’s father. Bonnie seemed to have trouble with her memories, for when Vivi mentioned “Dredulai,” she struggled but failed to remember something. Charlotte apparently could conjure luminescent golden wings, which she inherited from her father, while she got her magic from her sorcerer mother. That made me wonder if she was an aasimar, but Bonnie was unsure. Vivi also mentioned having memory problems. Bon-Bon decided to not go with us as she had scars to heal from fighting cultists.

Admittedly, there were a lot of details to follow, but what I did understand was that we had to go with Bonnie to visit the librarian located in the Small Woods Forest to the southeast and visit Destra as well since she was in the same area.

While hunting, Beralt and Killian found tracks belonging to a creature that seemed like a large feline of some sort as well as a dead deer that had been torn apart. After tracking them, we encountered what looked like a giant blue tiger that had jagged rocks covering its back. Vivi asked if we could offer it food. I tried suggesting giving it a goodberry. Slissezh said we should put the rabid beast out of its misery. While we were debating this, a voice called out:

“Oh, my dearest Dunkin, oh my oh my oh my. What did I tell you? Did I not warn you about what would happen should you break your bonds once again. Did I not warn you about what would happen, should I chase after you once again?”

The voice belonged to a fox person standing on its hind legs, wearing a fancy attire that suited a high class individual. He was short in stature, only around 2 feet tall, but appeared to be knowledgeable and skilled in handling himself. He introduced himself as Sylvester but went by Sly. He referred to the tiger creature as Dunkin. “Sly” explained that the deer had been bait for Dunkin. He raised his hand, and an invisible force raised Dunkin and held its neck. Vivi and Galli tried to protest against the abusive treatment of the creature, and I also had to admit that Selûne, goddess of the moon, would not condone such treatment as well. Sly had a carefree attitude about his abusive actions initially, but he took on a more somber tone. He was practiced in using magic clearly as he could make a chair, table and cup of tea appear easily.

He then explained that he intended to kill the tiger creature and not abuse it.

“I intend to kill it, right after inflicting the same pain it inflicted on the people that fed and took care of it.” He pauses a moment. “Is it cruel that I rid the world of this abomination in a manner I see fit? Or is it cruel that two children lost their father and another was orphaned due to this creature?”

-Sly

He also accused Vivi of cruelty for surviving on the bodies of others.

Taking this into account, I replied:

“The intent to survive and vanquish a dangerous creature is not cruel in and of itself. Perhaps I have taken part in cruelty in the past myself for the sake of defending what was precious in my eyes. However, indulging in vengeance and torturing a wild creature is an unsightly display. If the tiger must be killed for what it has taken from this plane, then grant it a swift death and allow any remains that will not be used to return to nature, Sly.”

-Yusung

Sly cut the head off of Dunkin after hearing me out, and Dunkin’s body turned into dust, putting the tiger creature out of its misery at least. Sly referred to us as mortals, and he claimed that he was far more powerful than myself, which suggested that he was more than just a fox humanoid. He mentioned how we reminded him of his sister Sizzle, whom Galli said she recognised. Sly left by walking off behind a bush.

I said a few words in the name of Selûne, goddess of the moon, over the remains of Dunkin. After Galli gathered what was of value from the remains, we returned to camp. I made goodberries for everyone.

Day 2:

We arrived at the village where Destra was located, only to discover that the ground was scorched black, the surrounding buildings were in ruins, and the sky was filled with dark clouds. The air was filled with the clear stench of death.  Above all, there was a swirling black mass above the castle.

We were caught off guard at how different the village was from when we last visited. We made our way to Destra’s castle. There were not much signs of life or any enemies that we could find, despite the ruined landscape. I saw a glimpse of the flower folk that Destra liked, but they had transformed into snarling creatures with sharp teeth-like thorns and limbs. They disappeared into the grass.

Upon arriving at Destra’s castle, we found that its rooms were destroyed. Illestra was curled up in a ball in the destroyed throne room. She thought we were illusions at first but managed to get convinced we were real.

Illestra

Illestra recounted what she could last remember:

“Last I saw you, you were heading up to the tower where Destra was practicing her magic. Some time later there was an explosion, all our guest were missing and the place began to fall apart.” She turns to Beralt. “A couple hours later a legion of shadow monsters invaded and destroyed everything in their path.”

-Illestra

Illestra was unclear what exactly had caused the explosion to begin with though. She seemed to know who Bonnie, Bon-Bon and Charlotte were as well as she recognised Bonnie. She also said how the doorway to the library had collapsed and that the mirrors had to be used instead. Slissezh managed to figure out how to use the mirrors using the instructions written in Draconic on the mirror frame to get to the library. Stepping through the mirror, we arrived at the library and met the Librarian. The library was noticeably less damaged than the other areas of the castle and the village. There was a lack of a ceiling, allowing us to look directly at the swirling black mass high above the castle.

I asked the librarian if she had information on the coven of witches that would have captured the father of Charlotte, which is the original purpose of us coming here. The Librarian asked what we could exchange for this information. I tried offering a magic item I had, but predictably, she declined.

“In these hallowed halls I hold a copy of every book ever written. What I want is the knowledge to fill out more books.”

-The Librarian

As she spoke, she was reading a book named “The life and fun times of Vivi.” Beralt asked if she was responsible for Vivi’s memory loss, but she said she merely kept records that were copies of Vivi’s memories of adventures. She explained how Vivi had lost his memories when Destra’s memories had malfunctioned. Galli asked if the memories could be returned. The librarian showed us an exact copy of Vivi that held Vivi’s memories. I apologised for my misunderstanding and offered up my memories as a way of apology and offering for information on Charlotte’s father. I took hold of the librarian’s hand for the extraction process of my memories. It was not painful and rather pleasant. The book that formed into existence was named “Blowing Bubbles with Yusung.” I felt some guilt that the book did not have more to do with the stars or Selûne. In regard to the information about Charlotte’s father and the coven of witches, the librarian said:

“The one named Fizzle knows the location of the ones you seek. She will come to you with one of their own.”

-The Librarian

She said she could not interfere with mortal matters.

She then explained what had happened to Destra:

“As for Destra, she attempted a spell far exceeding her skill. Her own lost memories had begun returning in the form of nightmares. She sought out a spell from my library that would rid her of them. Alas, she failed miserably. Instead of removing her memories it caused her to be split into multiple versions of herself. The same happened to Vivi, Bonnie and the one called Bon-Bon. The others all got trapped in their own twisted memories. The darkness her father left within her took on a life of its own. It summoned the creatures and went after the true Destra.”

-The Librarian

The black mass seemed to have been created as a result of the spell going wrong as well. It caused the castle to shake.

Vivi reunited with his other self, and two beings turned into particles that formed together into one being. It seemed that something similar would have to be done with Destra, where she had to reabsorb her darker side. If her darker side was unwilling to recombine, she had to be weakened first. We stepped through a different mirror to reach Destra and help her.

“Indeed. Night and day must coexist for the sky to persist, but one may prefer to forget the darkness if the light gives all that they desire. You have my thanks for your assistance, librarian.”

-Yusung

We entered a small room that led to a staircase. We heard singing while climbing up the stairs. At the top of the stairs, there was a black orb floating in the air. At the centre of the room, there was someone that looked like Destra singing a song to another person laying on the ground with her head in Destra’s lap. I surmised that the singing Destra was a dark version of Destra that had split apart as a result of Destra’s spell having an unintended effect.

The dark version of Destra spoke of how there were three versions of Destra, and she needed one more version that she had to collect, looking towards the dark orb. This insinuated that the third version of Destra was trapped in the orb. Although I wanted to fight Destra (the dark version), Vivi wanted to take a more diplomatic approach, so I decided to trust him. I cast Enhance Ability on him to help with his persuasive speech.

“Even if the three of you recombine, the war will still rage, and the same end can come about. Until all three of you have accepted each other, the whole you has not attained victory. Do not lower your guard, listen to your instincts, and mostly, let us know if you sense anything. You know you better than we do.”

-Vivi

Vivi managed to persuade the dark version of Destra before him that they needed to face and accept one another rather than simply recombining as he had. His speech managed to reach the dark version Destra somehow, and she awoke the sleeping version of Destra (whom was drowsy even after waking up), saying it was over.

Vivi asked the drowsy version of Destra how to stop the void or black mass above the castle from destroying everything. She explained how we had to stop the heart of this place from being destroyed. The drowsy version of Destra carved inscriptions onto the frame of a mirror to allow us to reach the heart of the castle and asked us to wake her when everything was over before going back to sleep. Bonnie decided to stay behind and go where Illestra was rather than risk going with us into combat.

We stepped through the mirror and arrived at a cavern lit by a dimly glowing crystal in the centre of the room. There was a woman whom called herself Rose. There was also a black hound, a hooded figure standing behind the crystal and a figure swinging a pickaxe on the crystal. Clearly, as Galli pointed out to me, they were here to destroy the crystal that protected the heart of the castle. Rose cackled and threw a dagger at the crystal. Despite Galli’s plea that destroying the crystal would kill us all, Rose did not listen. With a firm resolve, we engaged in combat against these people that sought to destroy the crystal.

I polymorphed into a tyrannosaurus rex and formed the constellation of the dragon, and I did battle. We ended up making quick work of the enemies, defeating them with relative ease. We also managed to save the crystal before it got destroyed. A crack in the crystal let us catch a glimpse of the heart that was protected by the crystal. The heart was a tiny golden acorn that looked familiar to Galli. There were also cocoons in the cavern.

We returned to the Destras. The dark version of Destra explained how the cocoons belonged to noxious worms, which emit a natural gas that is absorbed by the crystal and allowed the crystal to regenerate. She then told us that we had to convince the third and final version of Destra to come out of the black orb.

Vivi tried doing this (the next series of events were confusing, but I will try to recount them the best I can). From the surface of the black orb appeared a pair of yellow eyes that belonged to Vivi. It seems this was another version of Vivi. Between the eyes, a tiny hole formed, and within was a scared looking Destra, or the third version of Destra that had split apart when Destra’s spell went awry.

The scared version of Destra felt guilty of being a burden to Vivi and the others, but Vivi managed to convince her to come out of the orb. She explained how the original Destra’s spell warped “her Rose” into a creature of shadows that we had fought. After further encouragement from Vivi, the three versions of Destra combined into one Destra. The black orb then expanded and transformed into a shadowy dragon that was about 30 feet long. Destra said farewell to the shadowy dragon, and Vivi put his hand to the dragon. Lightning and wind formed around Vivi and the dragon, and when it was done, only Vivi remained. Galli asked Destra what that dragon was and what had happened, but Destra remained elusive about the details, saying it was the story of another that was not hers to tell.

At Vivi’s behest, Destra cast a spell that allowed Bonnie’s memory loss condition to get fixed, and the surrounding room was restored as well. The black mass above the castle eventually disappeared as well. Destra wanted to watch the crystal fix itself, so we went to check up on Bonnie. Bonnie said her memory had been restored. Illestra offered us rooms to stay for the night at the castle. I made goodberries for everyone.

Day 3:

After confirming that the castle was restored and the black mass above the castle was gone, we said farewell to Destra and Illestra. We then headed back to town with Bonnie. We decided to wait for Fizzle to make contact with us about Charlotte’s father. The journey back was uneventful.

Day 4:

We managed to make it back to Port Mirandia. I said farewell to Bonnie and the party before heading into the Potted Plant Inn.