Part 1 – Seizing the Initiative
- It’s only two hours before dawn when Grant returns from his snooping. He talks with Ethan and Isabelle while Olin remains fast asleep. They decide that they will take no action that evening.
- In the morning Grant is awoken by a mummy servant sweeping the stone floor in the corridor nearby. Olin is still asleep. Ethan and Isabelle are already up and having breakfast whilst being attended to by some of the undead servants. They talk again. Ethan says that he has done more Divination spells. Liliana will be leaving the realm today but will not be gone for long. There is some sort of event happening in the next 2-3 days which is important. They are all still in danger but Abbie is in less danger than they are. Isabelle wonders how long this hospitality will last.
- After a while, Yaeger Zane arrives, brimming with confidence. He grabs a piece of fruit and as there is no place at the table for him to sit, he stands. He asks how long they intend to stay – it is very clear that he doesn’t want them here. He doesn’t them ‘muscling in’. Grant asks how he came here and how he would leave (given that there are no Doors). His answer is cryptic but Grant assumes that he knows Sorcery.
* Image of Yaeger Zane by Sam Denmark
- Ethan says little. Grant does the talking. Eventually Olin arrives. Grant admits that they came for Lady Abigail (Abbie) and that there is a spell on her. Yaeger doesn’t believe it, and he whistles for a shadow to guide them to her. Abbie is close-by, clad in light armour, armed and with her hair tied back in a bun. She stiffens when she sees Ethan. Yaeger says that they believe that she’s enchanted. Yaeger agrees and pays her a complement on her physical beauty. She reacts negatively but takes it out on Ethan (GM’s note – Ethan’s Bad Stuff again). Again she refuses to leave.
- Ethan tries to reason with her but she unloads even further, pointing out the number of times that Ethan has ‘fixed things’ (even a whole world) and then walked away from it. Grant tries another tact and reasons with Yaeger that they are under a spell even if they are not aware of it. Yaeger listens thoughtfully while Abbie remains angry.
- Yaeger retrieves some powders which he inhales (GM’s note – yes, why wouldn’t Yaeger be snorting some white power to trigger his ‘sorcerous’ powers) and then he throws a fistful of ‘dust’ into the air while chanting. Yaeger’s spell reveals a lot of magical spells in the room. Abbie’s defensive wards show up as red and orange blooms. But there are also intricate green-blue flowing chains around both her and Yaeger. Abbie shows curiosity at first but then her attitude hardens. It does not change her opinion – she seems to be convinced that Ethan has manufactured this situation somehow.
- Surreptitiously, Isabelle has been using an Icon of Abbie to create a mental connection with her – to see whether the real Abbie is here or whether this person is someone else. Suddenly Abbie becomes aware of this intrusion and she smiles a cruel, most un-Abigail-like smile and promptly blasts her off her feet with a force bolt. With this attack, the shadows and guardian mummies are alerted and they begin moving from adjacent rooms. Olin draws his sword and covers the door, ready for the inevitable attack.
- Yaeger leaps into the fray, drawing a weapon and siding with Abigail. Grant makes a beeline for Abigail and for a moment, Ethan considers unleashing a spell on Grant but changes his mind and directs a full strength ‘force push’ upon Yaeger, blasting him out onto the balcony.
- Grant unleashes Umbra upon Abigail, smashing the spells around her – crashing her sorcerous defences and agitating the green-blue lines of control. Grant follows up and renders her unconscious, much to Ethan’s dismay.
- Yaeger gives a bellow and leaps back into the room. The green-blue chains around him are also writhing furiously. He is amped up, pissed off and ready for a fight. He has a massive curved blade. Grant barks an order to Ethan, telling him to tend to Isabelle while he handles Yaeger.
- Battle is joined between Yaeger and Grant. The bloodlust is with Yaeger Zane and Grant is fighting to subdue him. Grant quickly shatters Yaeger’s sword with Gorgorin the Shatterer and then then the battle becomes a fist fight. Meanwhile, Ethan has erected a force-shield to prevent the jackal-headed guards from entering the room and shield the floor and walls from the shadows that are coming through the stonework. The jackal-headed guards begin incantations to dismantle the shield. There are many places that the shield is coming under attack. Normally Ethan would be capable of withstanding this sort of attack but his mind is in disarray. Inside the shield perimeter, Olin waits for the unhappy moment when the shield will collapse.
- After a few minutes, Ethan judges that the situation is going to get much worse if they stay. He tells Grant that they are leaving immediately and Grant quickly agrees, even though he has the upper hand in his battle with Yaeger Zane. (GM’s note – Grant outranks Yaeger Zane in Warfare but they are a closer match with Strength) A teleport spell is hastily triggered and all of them (Grant, Ethan, Isabelle, Abigail, Yaeger and Olin) are transported to the Legendary Realm. The teleport is a shock to the system. Their bodies feel like they are on fire. Olin collapses. Even Yaeger is staggered. But the intricate blue-green spell-chains are still on both Abbie and Yaeger. They have a moment to draw breath but there is a sudden flash and both Yaeger and Abigail are gone. Ethan is very upset by this – they didn’t adequately interrupt the enchantments on both of them and whoever cast the spells had built in some sort of recall ability.
- Isabelle regains consciousness soon after. She has bruises where she was slammed into the palace wall. Olin escaped without a scratch. Ethan bitterly admits to them that they lost.
Part 2 – Salvaging the Situation
- Standing in a farmer’s field to the east of the Bloodstone capital, the group talk about what to do next. Grant and Ethan are frustrated and angry. They assume that Abigail and Yaeger have been recalled to Amonkhet. The spellcraft was certainly the work of a master magician. They debate whether to return immediately to Amonkhet or not.
- Grant points out that Amonkhet will be crawling with undead soldiers and returning would almost certainly result in another fight. Ethan thinks it over. Isabelle points out that that Abbie was certainly there – she verified it via Icon. Icons don’t work into Amonkhet but they do work within Amonkhet.
- Ethan steels himself and decides that they’re going back. He gathers his equipment from the Legendary Realm, including the impervious Dragonshield and the Silver Crown which can shape reality, both of which were recovered from the Dragons’ Graveyard. He places a sorcerous marker on the ‘bird cage’ (also recovered from the same place), just in case. (GM’s note – these artifacts were recovered in Sessions 134-135)
- Ethan is not completely sure that he can adjust his Mental Invisibility spell to avoid the undead but he decides to wing it (without telling Grant). He and Grant teleport back to Amonkhet to their previous rendezvous. Ethan uses a modified version of Mental Invisibility and discovers to his pleasant surprise that it works. Grant hides in shadow form in Ethan’s shadow.
- But neither Abigail nor Yaeger Zane are in Amonkhet. Wayfinding tells them this. They quickly decide to change target and capture Liliana, figuring that she probably knows the most about what is going on.
- They make their way back into the palace. Ethan has to concentrate hard to do this as the black-eyed jackal guards and the sightless shadows are difficult to fool. Using Wayfinding, Ethan hunts down Liliana and finds her in a separate chamber full of peculiar, sweet smelling yellow smoke that flows from a lit brazier. A deep bass voice can be heard inside the chamber, talking to her. Clearly the smoke is a sorcerous method of communication.
- The voice says that it is not amused and asks Liliana why she has disturbed him. She reports that two Lords of Gossamer came to Amonkhet looking for Lady Abigail (she oddly doesn’t mention Isabelle as a Lady of Gossamer). The voice tells her that nothing has changed and to keep to the plan. Liliana asks about her people (presumably referring to Yaeger Zane and Lady Abigail) and the voice assures them that they are safe with him. Liliana says that it is difficult to keep to the plan without them and the voice asks them which is needed more. Liliana wants Yaeger due to his strength. The voice says he will consider her request, and the connection is cut. Ethan catches a glimpse of what is in the smoke before it dissipates – the head of a great horned dragon.
- With the room still full of smoke, Grant shifts into shadow form and tries to find a vantage point to ambush her. This fails as she spies the shadow on the wall and realises that is not one of hers. Before she can attack, Ethan drives her into the ceiling with a Force Push. She collapses on the floor with blood on her lips and Grant quickly incapacitates her with a second punch. He is careful not to render her unconscious lest it be a trigger for a recall spell.
- Two jackal guards attack from a chamber on the other side. Ethan blasts them away.
- Despite Liliana’s weakened state, she is still somehow capable of using spells. She triggers a spell and as she rises to her feet, sigils glow over her body and Grant can feel the life being sucked out of him. Grant uses Umbra as an anti-magic screen to scour the sigils off her. She screams as green and purple light rips over her but Grant does not hold back. He rips the sigils from her. Collapsing on the floor and spitting blood, she begins cackling with glee, declaring herself finally ‘free’! Chuckling, she tells the Lords of Gossamer that they have no hope and that Nicol Bolas will kill them all. (GM’s note – yes, Nicol Bolas, who else?) Grant realises that Bolas’ enchanted coils are still on Liliana – he hasn’t yet broken them – and they are highly agitated as they were when they were fighting Yaeger Zane and Abigail.
- More of the undead tear into the chamber. Ethan blasts what he can but the smoke has made the visibility very poor and his defences on the room are incomplete. Some get through, forcing Grant to defend himself.
- Despite everything, Liliana still has enough power to stand and cast spells. She shouldn’t be standing but somehow she is exceeding her physical limits and still going. Grant decides that he is running out of time. At the next opportunity during the battle he uses Umbra to violently break all remaining enchantments and spells upon her. She struggles to withstand the attack and for a moment Grant thinks she might able to hold him. Suddenly, she falls to the ground like a puppet with her strings cut. Liliana Vess is dead. Grant has apparently killed her.
- Once more frustrated, Ethan puts up the best shield he can around them and tells Grant to cover him. Using Eidolon, Ethan brings Liliana back from the edge of death. Her face and body have aged to be that of an old woman but her piercing eyes open and she tells Ethan that he is a wonderful fool. With Ethan’s shield cracking around them and shadows phasing through the unshielded floor, Grant declares that it is time to go. Cradling Liliana, Ethan musters another teleport.
Part 3 – Japanese Teahouse
- The three appear outside Ethan’s favourite tea house (GM’s note – last seen in Session 96). They go inside and order some tea and cucumber sandwiches. Liliana smiles an old woman’s smile and tries to size them up.
- This time Liliana is quite talkative, especially after Ethan shows that he can use Eidolon to heal her (and potentially even rejuvenate her). She clearly wants to be seen as valuable to the Lords of Gossamer (Grant assumes that Nicol Bolas will come after her and she thinks they can offer her some protection). She admits to having been a servant of Nicol Bolas but there is no longer a binding on her. She explains that she sought power a long time ago and made pacts with different beings that gave her power. They left sigils on her flesh, marking her as theirs. Bolas was just the longest in a long line of masters. But for the first time in an age, she is actually free. She’d forgotten what that feels like.
- Her mission in two days was to strike a treaty with the ‘Cinders’, a race of elementals that has been cursed to burn without dying. They have been persuaded to serve Bolas on many occasions.
- She says that she rarely deals with Nicol Bolas in person and having him turn up in person is definitely something to be avoided. She mentions some of Nicol Bolas’ other minions whom she knows of. Zendikar is important to Bolas because of the number of worlds that are easily connected to it via the hedrons. Beyond that, she knows that Bolas wants to rule the multi-verse (he has already conquered death) but she doesn’t know the specifics as to how he plans to do that.
- Grant asks how they find Nicol Bolas and she tells them that Bolas will find them. They’ve interfered in his plans and he has a long memory.
- Ethan asks about the bindings that Bolas places on people and, to their surprise, Liliana says that Bolas monitors his servants, gives them power but that generally his servants have free will but there is suggestive magic to follow Bolas’ orders or at least the intent of his orders. The thought that Abbie is actually choosing this course of her own free will is stunning to Ethan and in some ways even worse for Grant because he hasn’t told Ethan that Abbie spent last night in bed with Yaeger Zane.
- Sensing the reason for their question, Liliana tells them that what she told them previously was not a lie. Abigail was broken after the battle and Liliana could have killed her easily but chose not to. From her perspective it was almost a whim. On another day she might have chosen differently.
- Faced with the situation that they are no closer to recovering Abbie and that she may really not want to be rescued, Ethan sighs and asks Liliana what her plans are. She jokes about a bath, a glass of wine and then enjoy herself for as long as she can – before Bolas tells her to come back and work for him. Grant and Ethan discuss options. Grant thinks that she needs a minder but he doesn’t want her in Marindar. She brightens when Ethan agrees to look after her in the Legendary Realm. She promises to keep out of trouble but neither Ethan nor Grant truly believe her.
- Standing in a farmer’s field to the east of the Bloodstone capital, the group talk about what to do next. Grant and Ethan are frustrated and angry. They assume that Abigail and Yaeger have been recalled to Amonkhet. The spellcraft was certainly the work of a master magician. They debate whether to return immediately to Amonkhet or not.
- Grant points out that Amonkhet will be crawling with undead soldiers and returning would almost certainly result in another fight. Ethan thinks it over. Isabelle points out that that Abbie was certainly there – she verified it via Icon. Icons don’t work into Amonkhet but they do work within Amonkhet.
- Ethan steels himself and decides that they’re going back. He gathers his equipment from the Legendary Realm, including the impervious Dragonshield and the Silver Crown which can shape reality, both of which were recovered from the Dragons’ Graveyard. He places a sorcerous marker on the ‘bird cage’ (also recovered from the same place), just in case. (GM’s note – these artifacts were recovered in Sessions 134-135)
- Ethan is not completely sure that he can adjust his Mental Invisibility spell to avoid the undead but he decides to wing it (without telling Grant). He and Grant teleport back to Amonkhet to their previous rendezvous. Ethan uses a modified version of Mental Invisibility and discovers to his pleasant surprise that it works. Grant hides in shadow form in Ethan’s shadow.
- But neither Abigail nor Yaeger Zane are in Amonkhet. Wayfinding tells them this. They quickly decide to change target and capture Liliana, figuring that she probably knows the most about what is going on.
- They make their way back into the palace. Ethan has to concentrate hard to do this as the black-eyed jackal guards and the sightless shadows are difficult to fool. Using Wayfinding, Ethan hunts down Liliana and finds her in a separate chamber full of peculiar, sweet smelling yellow smoke that flows from a lit brazier. A deep bass voice can be heard inside the chamber, talking to her. Clearly the smoke is a sorcerous method of communication.
- The voice says that it is not amused and asks Liliana why she has disturbed him. She reports that two Lords of Gossamer came to Amonkhet looking for Lady Abigail (she oddly doesn’t mention Isabelle as a Lady of Gossamer). The voice tells her that nothing has changed and to keep to the plan. Liliana asks about her people (presumably referring to Yaeger Zane and Lady Abigail) and the voice assures them that they are safe with him. Liliana says that it is difficult to keep to the plan without them and the voice asks them which is needed more. Liliana wants Yaeger due to his strength. The voice says he will consider her request, and the connection is cut. Ethan catches a glimpse of what is in the smoke before it dissipates – the head of a great horned dragon.
- With the room still full of smoke, Grant shifts into shadow form and tries to find a vantage point to ambush her. This fails as she spies the shadow on the wall and realises that is not one of hers. Before she can attack, Ethan drives her into the ceiling with a Force Push. She collapses on the floor with blood on her lips and Grant quickly incapacitates her with a second punch. He is careful not to render her unconscious lest it be a trigger for a recall spell.
- Two jackal guards attack from a chamber on the other side. Ethan blasts them away.
- Despite Liliana’s weakened state, she is still somehow capable of using spells. She triggers a spell and as she rises to her feet, sigils glow over her body and Grant can feel the life being sucked out of him. Grant uses Umbra as an anti-magic screen to scour the sigils off her. She screams as green and purple light rips over her but Grant does not hold back. He rips the sigils from her. Collapsing on the floor and spitting blood, she begins cackling with glee, declaring herself finally ‘free’! Chuckling, she tells the Lords of Gossamer that they have no hope and that Nicol Bolas will kill them all. (GM’s note – yes, Nicol Bolas, who else?) Grant realises that Bolas’ enchanted coils are still on Liliana – he hasn’t yet broken them – and they are highly agitated as they were when they were fighting Yaeger Zane and Abigail.
- More of the undead tear into the chamber. Ethan blasts what he can but the smoke has made the visibility very poor and his defences on the room are incomplete. Some get through, forcing Grant to defend himself.
- Despite everything, Liliana still has enough power to stand and cast spells. She shouldn’t be standing but somehow she is exceeding her physical limits and still going. Grant decides that he is running out of time. At the next opportunity during the battle he uses Umbra to violently break all remaining enchantments and spells upon her. She struggles to withstand the attack and for a moment Grant thinks she might able to hold him. Suddenly, she falls to the ground like a puppet with her strings cut. Liliana Vess is dead. Grant has apparently killed her.
- Once more frustrated, Ethan puts up the best shield he can around them and tells Grant to cover him. Using Eidolon, Ethan brings Liliana back from the edge of death. Her face and body have aged to be that of an old woman but her piercing eyes open and she tells Ethan that he is a wonderful fool. With Ethan’s shield cracking around them and shadows phasing through the unshielded floor, Grant declares that it is time to go. Cradling Liliana, Ethan musters another teleport.
Part 3 – Japanese Teahouse
- The three appear outside Ethan’s favourite tea house (GM’s note – last seen in Session 96). They go inside and order some tea and cucumber sandwiches. Liliana smiles an old woman’s smile and tries to size them up.
- This time Liliana is quite talkative, especially after Ethan shows that he can use Eidolon to heal her (and potentially even rejuvenate her). She clearly wants to be seen as valuable to the Lords of Gossamer (Grant assumes that Nicol Bolas will come after her and she thinks they can offer her some protection). She admits to having been a servant of Nicol Bolas but there is no longer a binding on her. She explains that she sought power a long time ago and made pacts with different beings that gave her power. They left sigils on her flesh, marking her as theirs. Bolas was just the longest in a long line of masters. But for the first time in an age, she is actually free. She’d forgotten what that feels like.
- Her mission in two days was to strike a treaty with the ‘Cinders’, a race of elementals that has been cursed to burn without dying. They have been persuaded to serve Bolas on many occasions.
- She says that she rarely deals with Nicol Bolas in person and having him turn up in person is definitely something to be avoided. She mentions some of Nicol Bolas’ other minions whom she knows of. Zendikar is important to Bolas because of the number of worlds that are easily connected to it via the hedrons. Beyond that, she knows that Bolas wants to rule the multi-verse (he has already conquered death) but she doesn’t know the specifics as to how he plans to do that.
- Grant asks how they find Nicol Bolas and she tells them that Bolas will find them. They’ve interfered in his plans and he has a long memory.
- Ethan asks about the bindings that Bolas places on people and, to their surprise, Liliana says that Bolas monitors his servants, gives them power but that generally his servants have free will but there is suggestive magic to follow Bolas’ orders or at least the intent of his orders. The thought that Abbie is actually choosing this course of her own free will is stunning to Ethan and in some ways even worse for Grant because he hasn’t told Ethan that Abbie spent last night in bed with Yaeger Zane.
- Sensing the reason for their question, Liliana tells them that what she told them previously was not a lie. Abigail was broken after the battle and Liliana could have killed her easily but chose not to. From her perspective it was almost a whim. On another day she might have chosen differently.
- Faced with the situation that they are no closer to recovering Abbie and that she may really not want to be rescued, Ethan sighs and asks Liliana what her plans are. She jokes about a bath, a glass of wine and then enjoy herself for as long as she can – before Bolas tells her to come back and work for him. Grant and Ethan discuss options. Grant thinks that she needs a minder but he doesn’t want her in Marindar. She brightens when Ethan agrees to look after her in the Legendary Realm. She promises to keep out of trouble but neither Ethan nor Grant truly believe her.
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