- Ethan returns to the Legendary Realm. Bloodstone is in a mess given that Abbie lost the entire army of 20,000 men. Bloodstone’s neighbours haven’t yet figured it out but it won’t take very long.
- Meanwhile, Liliana has told Grant and Ethan more about Nicol Bolas’ powerful inner circle of sorcerers. Ethan leaves Liliana in a comfortable place with an Icon of Ethan.
- Ethan goes on a journey with Grant but their journey is interrupted by an old minelayer (GM’s note: refer to Session 167) They end up in Midas for an after-Christmas party. Isabelle and Ethan talk but it is uncomfortable. Ethan is a bit down and she encourages him to talk to Abbie again. Ethan slips away and tries to find Abbie. He talks to her via Icon. She is in good health but she says that she does not need to be rescued. She tells Ethan to leave her be. Ethan is relieved to at least have a civilised conversation with her. She no longer seems to be mad with him but she clearly wants some space.
- Ethan returns to Bloodstone and tries to figure out what to do. He is interrupted by an Icon from Grant. Grant remembers that Liliana said that Nicol Bolas has conquered ‘death’ – he infers that Bolas probably was resurrected in the Dragons’ Graveyard and there may be clues there as to how he found a way to come back. Ethan agrees that this is logical. Grant decides that he should go and find Lofwyr (GM’s note – last seen in Session 148) and ask for his advice.
- Grant heads to Lofwyr’s domain. Opening the Ultra-modern Door, he rides the magnetic trains to Lofwyr’s home city and then makes his way to Lofwyr’s gold-plated skyscraper. Last time Ethan had the Beguiling Gem which enabled him to get an appointment without a prior booking. This time, Grant only has to give his name and the grey-uniformed receptionist confirms that Lord Lofwyr is expecting him.
- Riding the elevator up to the penthouse, he is met by a blonde-haired woman clad in a sheer purple dress. He is quickly ushered into Lofwyr’s office. Lofwyr sits in his chair with an expansive view of the city behind.
* Image sourced from Google Images but I believe this one is from a Shadowrun game
- Lofwyr is polite and says that it is always a pleasure to meet a Lord of Gossamer. Grant asks about what Lofwyr knows of Nicol Bolas. Lofwyr is surprised but tells them that Bolas is an Elder Dragon, one of the ancients. There are many strange stories of Bolas but he is said to have transcended death, to have mastered all magicks, and to be a master of worlds. When asked how Grant should be deal with Bolas, Lofwyr counsels him to not make an enemy of a dragon because they have long memories. He suggests that Grant run and hide if he has made an enemy of Bolas.
- Despite this, Lofwyr and Grant strike a deal. Lofwyr needs an ‘advocate’ – his divination has revealed the most suitable candidate – and to Grant’s surprise Lofwyr has chosen Lady Abigail to be his new advocate. Lofwyr does not know Lady Abigail and is surprised that Grant knows the target of his divination spell. Grant promises Lofwyr an introduction if Lofwyr will help him to find where she is. Lofwyr agrees and says that he will make Lady Abigail an opportunity that she cannot refuse.
- Grant then journeys to the Dragons’ Graveyard. He arrives at the Door but just as he is about to step through, it dawns on him that Lofwyr expected him and that is most unusual. Normally Umbra Masters are difficult to predict. He wonders what powers the True Dragons like Lofwyr and Nicol Bolas actually have.
- He takes one step through the Door and there is an explosion of pure Umbra that blasts him back onto the Stair. His body on fire, Grant hastily erects an Umbral Defence and gets out of the way as entropic black fire spreads on the Stair.
- The Door is quickly shut but it takes twenty minutes for the fire to die out. Grant is astonished – normally the Stair is quick to restore itself to normal. As he waits, another Door opens and Grant has a very bad feeling.
- A group of Dwimmerlaik arrive with black enamelled armour. Four of them. They size Grant up. One of them uses an Icon and suddenly Krovaliss appears. Grant recognizes him by his enormous size and is suddenly very scared indeed. Krovaliss is someone that even Drake is wary of.
* Image by Jason Rainville
- Krovaliss approaches Grant and greets him formally. He calls Grant by name and calls him “Destroyer of his Empire” and one who has brought misery to his people. Grant is wary – is it possible that the Dwimmerlaik know of his involvement in stirring up the recent civil war? He briefly feigns ignorance but Krovaliss draws his sword. The sword is almost as big as Grant is. Even with Gorgorin, Grant is cowered by this situation. He is not prepared for this.
- Grant decides to ‘rabbit’ (at Engine Speed). He uses his Mastery of the Stair to evade pursuit and Umbra to thwart any Divination that is being used to track him. Finally, he reaches for an Icon and contacts Drake. Explaining that he has just had a run in with Krovaliss, the two wonder how Krovaliss could have found him. They reach the conclusion that Nicol Bolas must be somehow involved. Drake offers his protection and Grant steps through.
- Two weeks pass whilst Grant maintains a low profile. He receives information from Lofwyr about Lady Abigail’s location and starts to make plans to rescue her. After two weeks, Grant contacts Ethan and asks how he is faring. Ethan sounds tired. He says that the loss of the Bloodstone army has been noticed. The wizards of Thay have been emboldened but they seem to be afraid of Liliana. Grant expresses surprise that Ethan has brought Liliana to the Legendary Realm. Ethan explains that he couldn’t protect her from Bolas if she were anywhere else. According to Ethan, she’s been keeping her end of the bargain. She’s being a good guest and hasn’t zombified anyone (yet). Ethan says that there was an assassination attempt on his Castellan but it was thwarted. Grant asks if he has spoken to Abbie and Ethan recounts what happened.
- Grant tells Ethan that he is going after Bolas. To Grant’s surprise, Ethan admits that he is considering ‘walking off the map’ and just leaving it all behind. The only reason why he doesn’t is that he and Abbie spent so long nurturing this world. If Abbie remembers who she was, and he throws this all away, he’s not sure what would happen.
- Ethan also comments that the ghostglobes that he acquired from Boraelis (GM’s note – see Session 152) are buried under the plains to the east of the capital. He doesn’t like leaving those weapons of mass destruction out there for anyone to find.
- Grant urges Ethan not to run away but to do the right thing. He reminds Ethan that a lot of people in the Legendary Realm are counting on him to do the right thing. Grant promises to rescue Abbie and to trust him on this. Ethan accepts his friend’s counsel and the Icon contact is ended.
- Ethan thinks through the situation. He can’t bring back the dead using Eidolon. He could use magic to reverse the timeflow but he’s never tried anything like that in the Legendary Realm. He could bring in a new population into Bloodstone from outside but the disruption caused by the loss of the Bloodstone army would still exist. At last, he decides to contact Nibazizjawlei. (GM’s note – Ethan acquired a genie with three wishes in Session 123)
- Ethan makes his third and final wish. He wishes for Abbie and the rest of the Bloodstone Army to be returned to Bloodstone in the same state as when they last left the realm. In Amonkhet, the corpses vanish. The soldiers of the Bloodstone army reappear in the capital in good health with no memory of what happened after following Lady Abigail into Zendikar. But Abbie does not return.
- Ethan thanks the genie for his service and the genie departs in a puff of smoke.
* Image sourced from Google
- There is much rejoicing in the lands of Bloodstone. Ethan takes a fresh look at the kingdom and decides to put all of his energy into restoring the kingdom to what it should be. He is a king in all but name. He sends out messengers to neighbouring kingdoms, seeking to make treaties and establish alliances. Liliana Vess sticks close to Ethan. Not only do the Red Wizards and the sorcerers of the Black Circle find the old witch threatening, she is very insightful and gives good counsel to Ethan. Liliana persuades Ethan to use Eidolon to rejuvenate and de-age her.
* Image is from Liliana, Heretical Healer MtG Art by Karla Ortiz
- Time spent with Liliana is somewhat corrupting for Ethan. Even though she now dresses simply and is demure for most of the time, she is every bit as sharp as she was before. Perhaps even sharper. She is very persuasive and she quickly learns how to focus Ethan, pushing him to rebuild the kingdom of Bloodstone. Unlike Ethan, she seems to have experience in rulership and she quickly assesses the geopolitical situation and offers good counsel. Liliana seems to like the Legendary Realm very much – there is plenty of power here, and she sees Ethan as potentially quite useful.
- There is a short-lived dalliance between Ethan and Liliana that he immediately regrets. However he does not have time to dwell on it. The morning after he finds a strange drawing done in crayon on his writing desk. It is a child’s drawing of a house, a cat and a moon with a pair of blood red eyes. Ethan is horrified. He left Hilda in what he thought was a safe realm (GM’s note – back in Session 157). How could Hilda have sent this drawing here? And is the Red-Eyed Dwimmerlaik back? (GM’s note – Ethan and Isabelle escaped from the Red-Eyed Dwimmerlaik back in Session 56 but he was never defeated).
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