- Grant enters a new section of Stair. A section that rises on all sides in a mesmerizing array of staircases and alcoves. Within many of the alcoves are Doors. He has been drawn here as he sensed a Door being opened (or closed). (GM’s note – Masters of the Stair can sense Doors being accessed)
* Image sourced from Google Images
- Exploring further, he finds two dead Dwimmerlaik. Both have been killed from behind and the wounds are cauterized. It’s hard to tell how long they’ve been here because decay on the Stair doesn’t work the same as in the realms but Grant guesses that this is recent. No more than a week.
- He explores the nearby Doors, assuming that they emerged nearby, were chased, killed and fell. The first Door opens out onto an agrarian world populated by bird-like creatures, each of which has two sets of wings. Another Door opens onto a world of red sand where great mining machines slowly dig for riches. A third Door opens onto a floating island, one of many dotting the sky where cascades of water fall from one to the next, before finally ending their journey in a vast ocean far below. There is plenty of food here but no people. The Door itself belongs to an old structure that doesn’t appear to have been used in a long time.
- Grant rests and eats some of the fruit. He contacts Drake via Icon and asks if any of his people might be active in the area. Drake is familiar with the ‘great wall’ section of Stair that Grant has found but he is not aware of any recent activity here.
- Carrying on, he explores a fourth realm where a nationalistic group of humans are hard at work conquering their planet. The ‘Regime’, as it is called, reminds Grant a lot of Nazi Germany and Grant feels uncomfortable in this place. He senses small pockets of magic in this world and finds evidence that there are some Dwimmerlaik in this world. He assumes that they have shapeshifted to adopt the form of the natives here.
- Intrigued, Grant decides to continue on the Stair and he quickly finds evidence of two other locations where the Dwimmerlaik seem to be in hiding. In one, a group of Dwimmerlaik children and two adults are under the protection of a proto-human tribe who have acquired primitive percussion weapons. In another, a small community of Dwimmerlaik have retreated to the icy wastelands of the far north and used magic to create a pocket reality beneath the main reality.
- The more Grant looks, the more this section of Stair feels unusual. It feels cold and hollow. There is fear here. Grant spends more time looking around. He finds the occasional Blank Door and it looks like some of the Doors have been severed. Finally, he finds a landing where there is a pile of flesh-stripped Dwimmerlaik skulls. Someone has made a pile as a marker and a warning.
- Assuming that there must be a reason for this skull-pile to be placed here, he investigates the Door above on the left. The modern Door opens into an office complex which is as quiet as the grave. Exploring the complex, he finds it is a manufacturing facility but there is no power here. Further on, he finds the generators and machines to make robots. The control booths are designed for humanoid controllers but there is no one here. Further on, he detects slight movement in the structure above. There is something going on here. At last he finds there are some autonomous machines at work on the upper levels. They are building this complex but it is not yet fully operational. Grant decides to get outside this structure and he finds himself high in the mountains breathing thin air. The place is eerily quiet. Far below this structure is a vast city, or at least what is left of it. A number of robots are working on this city, deconstructing it.
- Grant flies down to investigate. He finds a number of silvery machines at work, some on legs, some on massive balled wheels. They are breaking down the old proto-Dwimmerlaik city, deconstructing it and building something new with the acquired materials. Grant watches the materials being carried away back to the robot citadel. There is a precision to the machines and the operations which feels like Eidolon. Grant can sense another Door far away but there don’t seem to be people nearby.
- Returning to the Stair, Grant tries another Door near to the skull-pile. This Door looks to be made of a shiny chitinous material. It is difficult to open and he needs to use his fingers to pry the Door open. Most unusual.
- Debris has been piled up on the other side of the Door which he pushes away. It falls from the landing and disappears into the abyss below. He finds himself looking down upon a city of spires. Black spires. Many have fallen partially or collapsed completely. This looks like it was once an advanced civilization but the sky is a strange broken purple colour. There is definitely Dwimmerlaik influence here. Grant takes a look around – there is a lot of damage here. Blast marks on structures that were designed to last. The marks look recent.
- Wandering about the city, he finds Dwimmerlaik corpses all over the place so whoever killed them was physically strong. Their bodies have been shattered physically, but the wounds are cauterised, almost like they were struck by lightning. Most of the city is powerless but occasionally he finds a lonely street lamp still glowing.
- Grant searches for survivors. (GM’s note – I use FATE cards and I drew a +4 (Incredible Luck) for this attempt. Coupled with Grant’s Good Stuff, I judged this to be a success) He finds a small Dwimmerlaik family of one adult and two adolescents hiding in the ruins. Shapeshifting into a Dwimmerlaik form, he convinces them that he is a friend. They give their names as Hadjut (the adult is a scholar), Kuday and Videy. They are nervous and scared. They don’t know of any other survivors. They tell Grant that the invaders came a few weeks ago and wiped out everyone they could. Many Dwimmerlaik tried to flee through the Doors but they elected to stay put and wait for a rescue. Besides, none of them have the ‘gift’ to open Doors (GM’s note – not all Dwimmerlaik can)
- The intruders were humanoid and clad in silver and gold. The golden ones were bigger – much bigger than man-sized – and very strong. They hunted down everyone they could. They came from the Stair.
- The thought of a new group able to open Doors sounds ominous. Grant decides to take the surviving Dwimmerlaik to safety and investigate further.
Off-Camera Narrative
- Ethan performs a number of Divinations. Enough to convince himself that he needs Liliana. He is almost certain that Bolas is targeting the Legendary Realm and will come in person. He believes Liliana can be trusted to a point, but Bolas will try to persuade her to rejoin him and Liliana will be tempted to betray him.
- With all of this in mind, Ethan agrees to using Eidolon to raise her to her full potential. To give her access to all of the powers that she can wield in the Legendary Realm. Liliana seems surprised that Ethan would not try to put any constraints on her. No rules. No conditions. Ethan says that he doesn’t need to. They both want to survive this, by any means necessary. He knows very well that she’ll be tempted to try to take over.
- With a crooked smile, Liliana says that Bloodstone doesn’t have enough sorcerers. She wants the Wizards of Thay. Ethan has no objection to this. He also points out that the Kingdom of Vaasa to the north has been fought many times and there are countless dead there. Liliana appears surprised and Ethan makes it clear that he wants Liliana to raise an army. A very, very large army.
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