Session 96 - Skymax 616

GM Observations
- Another session split between Grant and Ethan. Grant continues to following the stolen memories, getting ever closer to his destination. Ethan finally has a ‘date’ with Abbie, with some consequences of falling in love who has changed.
- Regarding the stolen memories, I tried to think about how the Dwimmerlaik would hide/store these memories, and also to think about what their ultimate goal was of acquiring these memories. Lurker37 of course thinks that their purpose is to disadvantage the Lords of Gossamer, but what if they were after something … something that only the Lords of Gossamer know which they desire badly. Ah, I wonder what that would be ….
- For Ethan, I really tried hard to think about Abbie as as Eidolon-enhanced human who has adopted Earth as her homeworld. In some ways this is self-GMing (with a bit of input of course), but Lurker37 didn’t feel comfortable running some of this so I thought really hard about what an ordinary person who had been Eidolon-enhanced would make of Earth and the difference in perspective. If you’ve read this far, you’d recognise that Lurker37 and I are very different people. I can run a romance story for Sophia and Grant without it feeling awkward (fading to black where appropriate), but David does not feel the same way. No criticism - we’re just different people. Back to Abbie, she doesn’t see things the way that a normal Earth-born human would, but that’s the point. Abbie doesn’t perfectly understand Ethan because she’s not an Earth-born human and there are differences.

Part 1 - Preparations for Midas
- Ethan prepares for a date with Abbie. He eats a good breakfast, spends time in the workshop and deliberately avoids anything which could get him into trouble and miss his date. He decides to dress well and dons a suit and tie. He ignores the catty laughter from the felines as he irons a shirt (after dusting cobwebs off the shirt, and then having to use Eidolon to ‘purify’ the iron so that it would not stain the shirt). Ethan tries not to be nervous but he doesn’t want to mess it up with Abbie.
- About half an hour before the appointed time, the phone at Westgate manor rings. It is Abbie, calling from the Tipsy Elephant (the local pub in Fiveways). She sounds a little odd - she was driving to Westgate cottage but turned the car around when she saw the desiccated grass ringing the house and smelt the terrible odour emanating from it. She can tell that the creature that ‘ate’ the building that she was staying in (GM’s note - this occurred in Session 72) has visited Westgate and she is unwilling to cross where it has been.
- Ethan agrees to come and collect her, and he sets off in the Eidolon Car. Meeting her at the Tipsy Elephant, he is astonished to find her in hiking gear with boots suitable for trail-walking, and carrying a daypack with two water bottles. She is equally astonished to find Ethan in a suit, but she laughs and asks her if he would take her to the cottage. A few curious onlookers watch as Ethan opens the car door for Abbie, and then they drive away. Abbie asks after the creature and Ethan explains that he is aware of it, but hasn’t had a chance to deal with it yet. Abbie presses and Ethan promises to deal with it when he returns. Abbie is pleased by this and she relaxes.
- Arriving at Westgate Cottage, Ethan and Abbie head inside. Stolvir wakes up when Abbie arrives - he wags his tail but he does not get up. Macavity opens one eye and then closes it again and pretends to ignore Abbie. Ethan leads Abbie to ‘The Door’ and she asks whether they are going anywhere dangerous. Ethan promises that this will not be the case, and she seems disappointed. Abbie teases a little and says that she would appreciate a little excitement and she asks where they are going. Ethan explains that he plans to take her to Midas, which is an island resort. Abbie smiles evenly and asks about sailing and diving, and perhaps some dancing. Ethan nods and they head off.

Part 2 - As the Sun Goes Down
- As they walk, Abbie asks if she’s dressed appropriately for Midas (as she has no idea what type of place it is). Ethan explains that they will have clothes there. A short walk later and they are there. Stepping through the Door, they are greeted by a well groomed man named Ferdinand, who shows them to a comfortable room and explains some of the facilities available. When Ethan asks if they could be given some time to walk and explore, they are introduced to their personal concierge named Bonnie (whom Ethan has met before) who gives them some guidance as where to go. Abbie leaves her pack behind and Ethan changes into some more comfortable clothes. 
- It is late afternoon when they set off down to and along the beach. Ethan points out that they can go inland and climb the peak here, and from there see about half the island from the lookout. Abbie asks when he has been here before, and Ethan explains. Abbie smiles and says that she is already enjoying this. 
- They reach the peak before dusk and watch the sun set before heading back down. Abbie reiterates her thanks, explaining that it’s hard for her to get away like this, and she says that she’s missed Ethan. Ethan says that he’s missed her too, but she shrugs off a kiss when one is offered. 
- Walking back as the light fades, Abbie takes Ethan’s hand. She asks him if he’s going to come back to Earth and is pleased when Ethan says that he will. She asks about his adventures and Ethan is candid about what he remembers and what he does not. She listens as they make their way back. Bonnie is waiting for them, and she organises some refreshments for them. They sit down beside the pool, with the small waves on the beach lapping only a short distance away. Ethan asks about what Abbie has been doing, and this is where the conversation starts to go awry.
- Abbie has become aware of the problems on Earth. Big problems. She refers to Earth as her “adopted home” and she is determined to do something about the problems she sees, but she can’t do it alone. She wants Ethan to help her. Ethan listens as she outlines some of her plans to tackle world hunger, health care, education and so on. She speaks passionately about the need to make a difference, and points out just how much of a difference Ethan can make. From her point of view he’s already made a huge difference (e.g.: to the ‘Make a Wish’ kids) to small groups of people and he could do so much more. Ethan begins to wonder if she is trying to ‘save the world’ to make up for the fact that her own world was destroyed and she was powerless to stop it. Is she spending with him because she needs his help to achieve her goals, or because she actually enjoys his company?
- After talking for awhile, Abbie realises that she’s said something wrong - she’s been talking too much and Ethan has said too little. She attempts to backtrack, and apologises. Ethan tries to move on but Abbie stops him, and pleads with him to explain. She doesn’t want to blow things with Ethan. Ethan finds it hard to articulate. Taking a deep breath, she explains that Ethan saved her life, and he has inspired her to do something with this second chance. She wants to make a difference, and she knows that she can. She asks him if she is doing the wrong thing?
- Bonnie approaches and offers them another drink. The interruption gives Ethan time to think. He knows if it’ll be costly if he says the wrong thing.

* Image by Haryarti on DeviantART
- Ethan tries to gently and carefully explain that while he thinks that what she is doing is ‘beautiful’, he sees it as truly unusual for someone who is born on Earth to think this way, almost selflessly. They talk a little, realising that there is a gulf between them. It slowly comes out that Abbie sees the problems of her world as her personal responsibility to solve or contribute to. Ethan explains that most people on Earth don’t see things that way. He illustrates the point by talking about litter - most people on Earth wouldn’t pick up garbage that they see on the street because they didn’t drop the litter, and hence it’s not their responsibility. Abbie finds this surprising - where she came from, whoever saw the litter would pick it up, and whoever dropped it would be ashamed if they knew of it. 
- Abbie is astonished as she thought Ethan had a similar ideal to herself. He saved her, he cured kids, he healed all of the sick people in a hospital. None of these are selfish acts in her mind so she had no idea that he didn’t see things the same way. They discuss their different philosophies - surprised at just how different their viewpoints are.
- At last Ethan admits that he thinks that she is right. He’s thinking like he is still a powerless ordinary man. He does have the power to change things, but has been thinking like everyone else that it is not his responsibility to do something about it. He admits that it is his responsibility, and he just hadn’t thought of it before. Abbie encourages him and reminds him of all of the amazing and generous things that he has done. In her opinion it was ‘right’ then, and it is still ‘right’. 
- By this point Bonnie has brought them some dinner, and they sit by the seaside, picking at food and talking in the cool of the evening. Ethan admits that he can’t imagine being in the public eye like Abbie is. Once in the public eye, it can’t be undone. She points out that he doesn’t have to do it that way - he can operate in other ways, like what he did at the hospital. She admits that she would like him with her, but not if would make him uncomfortable. She asks about his family, whom he moved to Marindar - if they are gone, does this not make him feel more comfortable? He admits that it does. Abbie says that she wants him her life - she’d prefer that he’s not hidden away but if he’s not comfortable being in the public eye, she’d accept that. Ethan agrees to give it some thought.
- After dinner, she smiles and thanks him for listening. She doesn’t think they’ve ever quite talked like this before. It’s late, but she’s not tired - she asks what else there is to do and is pleased when he suggests that they go for a late night swim. 
- Drifting in the pool, occasionally pausing to talk, Abbie reiterates that it’s lovely just to relax for a bit. Ethan observes that Abbie seems to have chosen a hard road, and she explains that it’s a lonely path, and no one would believe where she really came from, just Ethan. Ethan doesn’t know what to say to that.
- At last, Abbie leaves the pool, dries herself off and relaxes by the poolside in a robe while Ethan continues to float and relax. Abbie asks if she can ask Ethan a question, at which point Ethan knows that it’s going to be something hard which is on her mind. He comes over to the side of the pool, and Abbie asks if he’s met someone else. Abbie says that he doesn’t mind (Ethan isn’t sure whether to believe that), but she’d like to know. Resting on the edge of the pool, Ethan says that there isn’t, but he does remember kissing Isabelle when he didn’t have his memories. Abbie asks about when he lost his memories - she asks if he remembers everything again, and Ethan confesses that although he remembers almost everything, most of it feels a bit muted. The feelings are there, but they’re somehow not connected properly. Abbie observes that it sounds like a trauma which just needs time to heal. She asks Ethan that he thinks of Isabelle. The line of questioning makes him feel uncomfortable. He admits that he liked having her as a travelling companion on the Stair. Abbie further sums it up that Ethan liked having company on his adventures, and he agrees. Abbie smiles, and says that she thought as much. 

Part 3 - The Stair Frightens Me But
- Ethan wonders what she is smiling at. She asks if there is much else to do on Midas when the sun goes down. After a short discussion they go inside to change before heading down to the bar. Bonnie has organised a booth with lit candles and sound-baffles to screen out nearby conversation and the noise from a nearby dance floor. After a glass of nectar-wine, they dance. They have a pleasant time but Ethan can tell that Abbie has something on her mind. Ethan can tell that she doesn’t really want to be dancing so he makes a joke of the situation and makes some other suggestions, trying to gauge what she would prefer to be doing. Abbie asks Ethan gently to stop pushing. She says she’s enjoying the dancing, and asks him not to spoil things.
- After a while there is a natural pause, and they head out to a balcony overlooking the beach. It is cool and dark outside. By starlight, Abbie thanks Ethan for bringing her out and for reminding her just how much he means to her. Ethan tries to say something but she shushes him. She explains that what she has to say will take a few minutes but it’s important. She admits that she loves Ethan and that nothing has changed for her - it scares her that he can simply walk off onto the Stair and she won’t know when is coming back, but she wants Ethan in ‘her world’ but she also wants to be ‘in his’. She admits that the Stair still frightens her, but she’s no longer the immature waif that he first met. She says that she is stronger, and better prepared physically and mentally. That’s why she dressed for walking when she arrived - she has realised that she can never be in ‘his world’ if she limits herself to Earth. While she wants to make a difference to Earth, she knows she will lose him if she demands that he stay, or if she refuses to venture on the Stair. So, she asks him to take her onto the Stair. 
- Ethan is rather astonished by this. He remembers almost dragging Abbie around, rescuing her repeatedly because she was ill-equipped for the perils of the Stair and other worlds. But she seems to be serious, and she has changed. 
- Seeing Ethan’s hesitation, Abbie pushes. (she has clearly prepared for this) She reminds him that she has the weekend off. She asks if he’s tired, and he isn’t (because he prepared for this date and he got extra sleep). She says that even though she’s been working hard, she made sure that she rested before the weekend because she didn’t want to spoil the fun by being overtired. They could stay here in this very pleasant resort, maybe do some sailing or diving; or maybe they could ‘have an adventure together’.
- Ethan agrees to take Abbie back onto the Stair. He asks why she didn’t ask in the first place, and she says that she was enjoying the conversation, but also she was afraid he might say no. Perhaps he was seeing someone else. Perhaps he’d forgotten about her somehow. Ethan laughs. He didn’t realise that Abbie wanted to travel with him on the Stair or he would have offered. He thought she was so busy on Earth that she couldn’t afford the time, or just wasn’t interested. Abbie admits that she thought she was a burden in the ‘early days’ of their relationship, but she has worked hard to change that. Ethan reassures her, further explaining that he was trying hard not to interfere with her new life on Earth and give her an opportunity to be her own person. He admits to being in love with her, but didn’t want to smother her by always being around.
- Blinking, Abbie says that she never expected the conversation to go this well. She sums it up that Ethan loves her, and she loves Ethan, and she asked to be more involved in Ethan’s life and he agreed. She asked Ethan to be more involved in her life, and he seemed to agree to that too. Just reiterating it astonishes her further. She thinks, smiles and asks if they can go have an adventure ‘now’? Ethan gives a shrug, kisses her on the forehead and suggests that she change back into her hiking kit. He proposes that he pop back to Westgate, get his things, come back and they’ll go find ‘an adventure’.

Part 4 - Assault on Skymax 616
- Meanwhile, Grant is travelling with Greywalker, Dash and the Birdman and headed to Skymax 616 on the world of Stratospheria. Skymax is a maximum security penitentiary, but Dash and the Birdman have been persuaded to carry on. As they approach, the cabin vox crackled to life and they are instructed to identify themselves. Greywalker nudges Grant to answer but before he can do so, Skymax warns them that they are entering restricted airspace and will be fired upon if they do not answer. 
- Grant uses Umbra to distort his voice when he replies. He says that they are a food delivery and gives a fake ID. Despite the far fetched nature of his explanation, he is given permission to land but Skymax warns him that the ship will be shot down if they deviate from their course, and upon arrival they are to surrender and be boarded. 
- Dash breathlessly does as he is told and lands the ship. A group of glittering robots comes out onto the platform to apprehend them. Grant shifts into a shadowy form to get past them, whilst Greywalker simply walks by them and they do not notice him.
- As Dash’s ship is impounded and the crew are arrested and taken away for questioning, the two Lords of Gossamer head into the complex with Greywalker leading the way. After almost fifteen minutes of avoiding doors that are likely to be monitored, they run into a slender four-legged canine creature in one of the corridors. It cannot see them, but it can clearly smell Greywalker.

Part 5 - Busted
- Grant fully expects Greywalker to be able to easily overcome this obstacle, so he surprised to hear “Oh dear” from the veteran Lord of Gossamer. Grant decides to take action, and uses Umbra to make the dog-creature very sick (with a belly ache). It growls and then runs away. Greywalker frowns and advises Grant that they should split up. “Go do your thing,” he advises, as a klaxon goes off somewhere, sounding the alarm. Grant then uses his shadow-form to slip away. 
- Making sure that he isn’t leaving any scent, Grant makes his way into a different section of the Skymax. He takes his time, avoids traps and takes special care when opening and shutting doors to temporarily disable any monitoring mechanisms. After an hour of searching, he finds his quarry in Cell 1138 (GM’s note - yes, another Star Wars reference)but he chooses not to bypass the sensors and enter the room as he can’t interrogate the courier psychically without triggering the ‘Breath of Eden’ and mind-wiping him. Without Greywalker, he can’t get the information he needs.
- Backtracking, he goes looking for Greywalker is being held and he finds him being interrogated by two guards in sandy brown uniforms. Greywalker is being obstinate and is refusing to answer any questions without a decent cup of tea. He is clearly stalling so Grant goes looking for the control centre that is monitoring the interrogation room. He finds it run by one guard, whom he then subdues. Grant then deactivates the alarms in the area, but doing so triggers an alert which he has to subsequently recall. Now impersonating the control centre guard, he heads to the interrogation room and overpowers the two guards, taking a communicator from one of them but taking the time to disable the positioning beacon in the device.
- Grant explains that he has found the target and they make their way directly to the detention block. 
On the way, Grant asks if Greywalker learnt anything useful, to which Greywalker comments that the dog-creatures are intelligent and can hold a decent conversation. He doesn’t think the facility itself is Dwimmerlaik controlled.

Part 6 - Undercover
- As they make their way back to the detention block, Grant is faced with having to pass through Restricted Areas with Greywalker. In opening the door, he receives inquiries from one of the other monitoring stations as to why he has deviated from his station. He is advised that his locator appears to be damaged and instructed to hold position. Ignoring the instructions, they choose to carry on, and Grant increasingly uses Umbra not only to hide their passage, but also to cause confusion in other areas.
- Their luck eventually runs out and the prison guards put the entire Skymax on lockdown. This doesn’t stop the Wardens but simply slows them down. In one corridor they encounter a sentry drone with a very large calibre gun - they are able to pass it very carefully without it noticing, but it is unnerving for them both to pass so close to an armed sentry.
- At last they reach Cell 1138, Grant opens the Door and Greywalker strides in, telling the serpentine courier (who is now fully awake/alert) not to be afraid, and that ‘this won’t hurt’. Greywalker makes a psychic link with the courier, then gently blanks his memories of ever meeting the two Wardens. 
- The mission accomplished, Grant insists on finding Dash and the Birdman. They quickly find them (they are in a low security part of the installation) and they escape back to the ship. As they flee, Grant decides to wipe the Skymax’s records of Dash and the Birdman, hoping that this will help them. 
- Back on the ship, Dash laments that they will be shot down as soon as they take off. Grant reassures them, and tells them to make a power dive straight down, and he’ll take care of the pursuit. Dash does as he is told and the ship launches, then dives. Incoming fire from the Skymax is absorbed by an Umbral Shield projected by Grant, and the pursuit ships are not quick enough to catch them. 
- Returning to Aerion station, Greywalker thanks the pair for their help, and then alters their memories so that they do not remember meeting either of them. Instead they remember taking some rich people on a sightseeing trip, and Grant leaves them some gemstones from his stash to reward them.

Part 7 - The Teahouse
- Returning to the Stair, the two discuss next steps and Greywalker suggests that find a quiet place to have a cup of tea. Grant finds a Door to a world where the people are tall, thin, quiet and very reserved. They make their way to a quiet teahouse, and have tea and cucumber sandwiches. 
- While they rest, Greywalker uses a fist-sized orb as the focus of a spell to scry the Stair and check the way ahead. Once he has found a safe passage, they return to the Stair with Greywalker in the lead. Again he takes a ‘long’ route through many Doors and sections of Stair. In one section there are many recently slain Dwimmerlaik and red-skinned orc-like creatures. At last, they reach the Starfield section of Stair and return to the Door where the courier transferred the memory canister to someone else. Greywalker produces a fist-sized crystal orb which he uses as a focus and he begins to study where the completed spell would take them. The spell was designed for the courier and only the courier, but Greywalker is capable of tracing the spell. When he is sure, Greywalker initiates a sorcerous teleport with Grant.

Part 8 - Return to the Sparrowhawk
- The two of them appear on an airship which is familiar to Grant. He’s been here before. It is the Sparrowhawk (GM’s note - which Grant first boarded in Session 33 Part 3. Outside the Sparrowhawk there are white capped mountains, pockets of thick cloud and snow falling. 

* Image by TerryLH on DeviantART 
- Greywalker notes that there is another Warden onboard and he advises Grant to mask his presence. Grant’s presence is already masked - he has been in the habit of doing so ever since he started working undercover as Trell to infiltrate the Dwimmerlaik Empire. He assumes the form of an ordinary guest and asks one of the attendants and asks about their journey. He finds that they are headed north to the Ice Mountains of Shaar, and they are 4 days into the journey. This is a stroke of luck because it means that they have probably caught up to the individual who is carrying the memory canister. With the use of Wayfinding, Grant confirms this. It is another 5 days to their destination, so Grant asks for a suitable cabin. He had prepared a suitable explanation for why he would be asking for a cabin half-way through the journey, but the attendant does not ask.
- Grant and Greywalker settle down for the journey, although Greywalker is clearly less than keen to stay onboard. He clearly has other matters that he would prefer to attend to. Greywalker wonders why the courier is taking ‘the long way home’. Grant speculates that maybe it is easy to get memory canisters out, but hard to get them back in.
- Over the course of the next few days, Grant decides to have dinner in the main dining hall with its many windows looking out across the ice-capped mountains. There he identifies a tall, dark-skinned man as the other Warden. He is well dressed and looks very physically strong.

* Image is by Ian Napier - one of two unnamed NPC images included in the Core Lords of Gossamer Rulebook (p102). I’m using this image for Khalim
- Grant does not know that this man is Khalim, one of the Imperial Wardens. Only Ethan has met him. (GM’s note - last seen in Session 84) Grant finds Khalim very difficult to read, but he thinks he doesn’t like cold places.
- Apart from the occasional stroll, Grant spends the rest of the time in their shared cabin. He asks Greywalker about ‘Gandalf’ and Tolkien’s epic tale about Middle Earth. Grant is curious as to how much of the story is true. Greywalker tells him that part of the story is true, but his old friend Tolkien has taken some of what really happened and turned it into a greater narrative. Grant inquires further, and Greywalker explains that there was a renegade Dwimmerlaik warlord named Sauron. He was an Umbra Master, and a powerful one who had managed to ‘cheat death’ at least once by imbuing part of his essence into other artefacts, including a golden ring. Grant listens to the tale but it sound very different to the one he has read. There was a Fellowship who set out to destroy Sauron’s Ring, but the importance of hobbits in the tale was very much smaller than in the book. But there are also elements that are not in the books - that Sauron was trying to escape Middle Earth, and conquest was only part of his plan. Being an Umbra Master with no ability to open Doors, he was seeking to drain enough of the land’s life-force in order to accumulate enough power to leave. After listening to the tale, Grant is left with the distinct impression that Sauron may not have been defeated. He asks Greywalker about this, and Greywalker replies thoughtfully that he believes that Sauron is gone, but some Umbra Masters are capable of opening doors to very dark places - places between and underneath the realms. He calls those places Shadows because they are not Realms as a Lord of Gossamer would comprehend. They are holes in the universe from which few return. After thinking of this for some time, Grant asks if it is possible to reach from the Shadows to other worlds, to which Greywalker gives him a grave look.
- They also talk at quite some length about the war, and Greywalker shares a little about what he knows of the others. With Mordecai and Drake missing in action, Bastiano is the most competent general that they have in the field, and he has brought considerable forces to bear. The Dwimmerlaik armies have been very well coordinated though, and there are many more Dwimmerlaik Lords than there are Wardens. Greywalker tells Grant that they will have to be prepared for the Dwimmerlaik reclaiming large sections of the Stair, at least for a time. Lucien and Cooper have been hard at work for some time working on the Breath of Eden and they have no doubt made a great deal of progress (but Greywalker claims not to know the details). Then there are a few others, like himself, Yaeger, Cordelias and Kelric who have been working to destabilise the Enemy and stop them spreading out too far. Greywalker is particularly concerned with Drake’s alliance with the Mandragora - the Dragon Lords - but he understands that this mission is more critical, at least for the time being. 
- Grant asks about Yaeger, and Greywalker explains that he’s been trying to locate “Velheka”. Grant has heard of this place as Trell for it is known to be the Dwimmerlaik Afterlife. He asks why Yaeger would do such a thing. The Dwimmerlaik believe it to be a sacred place, semi-divine, perhaps even mythical. Greywalker gives a smile and asks what Grant knows of the Afterlife. Grant shares what Trell knew - when a Dwimmerlaik dies, they have to pass by the guardians of the gate - and if the guardians judge the Dwimmerlaik to be unworthy, the individual is destroyed and his soul-ashes scattered. But if the guardians judge the Dwimmerlaik to be worthy, then they are reunited with their glorious brethren. As Grant continues to describe the Afterlife, he realises that that their ‘Heaven’ appears to be a universe where they are greatly superior to all other lifeforms and dominant over all. He wonders if the Dwimmerlaik are motivated to create ‘Velheka’ in the real world. He asks Greywalker’s opinion but Greywalker changes the topic. Instead, he explains that Mowbray’s Ailsiliar are very much warlocks and priests. It wouldn’t surprise him if Mowbray believes that Velheka is a real place with a real Door to access it, in which case the Dwimmerlaik would be effectively ‘immortal’. Grant thinks that such an idea is mad, but Greywalker kindly points out that all Umbra Masters are more than a little mad, and Mowbray is the greatest Umbra Master in the service of the Empire.

Part 9 - The Ice Fortress
- At last they arrive in the far north, the Ice Mountains of Shaar. The town of Torvaal is bathed in snow and almost no one is there to welcome the Sparrowhawk’s arrival. Both Greywalker and Grant can sense a Door nearby, and they spot Khalim as he leaves the airship with a bag slung over his shoulder. They watch him leave, and then Greywalker walks off the ship, ‘invisible’ to mortal eyes. Grant decides to become a black bug (as he has done many times before) and he peeks out from Greywalker’s collar. 
- High above in the mountains is a massive castle made of white rock. Khalim is seen heading towards the foot of the mountain and then starting to ascend a narrow rocky stair. They consider following him, but then they would run the risk of being caught in an exposed space. Instead, they find one of the ‘unclimbable faces’ of the mountain and Grant transforms into a colossal white spider which is capable of climbing the rock face. Greywalker holds onto Spider-Grant’s back as he makes the ascent. Spider-Grant climbs swiftly, vanishing into the falling snow and reaching the castle unseen.
- Creeping over the battlements, he finds that the people here are blue-skinned with wholly black eyes and white antlers. They wear armour that is made out of a white-silver metal. They look a little like Dwimmerlaik but they are not quite Dwimmerlaik. Realising that the Imperial Warden has vanished through the Door (he senses the Door being opened), Grant and Greywalker covertly follow. In an icy cold chamber, they find a Door made of black crystal, and in front of it is a white and blue serpent lying across a multi-coloured carpet made of tiny pieces of crystal. There is no mistaking that to cross the carpet would result in sound being made which would wake up the Door’s guardian. Despite this, Grant is able to keep the guardian asleep whilst Greywalker crosses the floor and lays his hand upon the guardian’s brow. Greywalker succeeds in putting the guardian is put into an even deeper slumber. 
- Greywalker and Grant take turns at the Door, trying to sense what is on the other side. Neither of them has much luck. Grant is about to open the Door when Greywalker points out that the Imperial Warden may still be nearby on the other side. Disappointed, Grant sits down to wait, shifting into a more comfortable form to withstand the cold. Greywalker takes out his pipe to smoke. 

Part 10 - Fortified
- After two hours of waiting, Grant decides that it’s time to go through. He knows that even if the Door is being observed on the other side, he should be able to emerge without being seen, such are the properties of the Doors. So he opens the Door a crack and peers through. On the other side is finds a black glossed corridor with some ambient lighting coming from the floor. Two Dwimmerlaik warriors, ready for anything, are standing right by the Door. There are other Doors in the corridor, and they are guarded too. Shifting into his shadow form, Grant slips into the nearest warrior’s shadow just behind his heel. 
- The Imperial Warden is no longer here - he has left by another Door - but can Grant get across the corridor without being detected?

Part 11 - A Call to Adventure
- In contrast, Ethan and Abbie have a marvellous time on the Stair, wandering here and there and exploring a range of ‘safe’ Realms. Abbie is given a glimpse of the broader multiverse that exists and she demonstrates that she has learnt some minor magic from Sophia, including a spell that enables her to quickly translate spoken languages into a form that she can understand. 

• At Abbie’s request, Ethan opens the Door to Middle Earth and they explore the White City of Minas Tirith. It is very beautiful but Ethan feels a chill wind coming from the north and he is keen not to linger too long. Abbie asks what Ethan knows about the place and he confesses he knows very little, but there is a book written by an English author that tells a story of this place. Abbie decides that she will read the book when she returns to her ‘adopted home’.
• They venture to the orbiting bazaar of Oasis Seven (last seen in Session 68) where Abbie is most fascinated by the enormous windows that allow her to look down on the rocky world below. Both Abbie and Ethan try to find some sort of knick-knack for the other but both fail.
• Further on the Stair, Ethan takes Abbie to a wondrous realm inhabited by intelligent teddy bears, dolls, trains and all kinds of children’s toys. The toys are very excited to see them, but don’t want to let them leave. They make it very difficult to do so.
• Ethan attempts to find the Legendary Realm, but is unable to do so. The Door has moved. So he decides to find a world where there is there is some adventure.
• Ethan takes Abbie to one of his favourite haunts, named Versais. He learnt swordplay here, and although some of his friends have moved on, his favourite inn is still there. Arriving in time for dinner and a goblet of wine, the two have a merry evening together, interrupted only by a drunk noble’s attempt to claim Abbie for his own - and she flattens him much to amusement of everyone present. The next morning they explore the countryside for a few hours, ending up in the town of Versais. From a modern point of view, the town smells very bad, but it is still an experience. Heading back to the local chateau with its Door, Ethan and Abbie evade the owners and re-enter the Stair.
• About a mile away on the Stair, Ethan seeks a world where there is a festival on, and to his surprise he finds a world where it is “Startica”, or more correctly, the day before Startica. The Door opens into a village covered in snow and every tree is covered in magical lights. Ethan and Abbie wander around the township, looking at the festive windows and all of the goods for sale. It seems a little like Christmas. After a few hours, Ethan suggests that they come back here in the evening.
• Walking further, and climbing up ladders, they emerge from a trapdoor onto a cruise ship. They spend hardly any time in this realm. Abbie asks whether it is possible to find ‘wisdom’ on the Stair, not just a physical thing. Ethan frowns and thinks, then he sets off. After about an hour, they reach a weathered Door.
• Behind the weathered Door is an ancient monastery, but this is only the gateway to a mountain trail which snakes higher and higher up the mountain into the clouds. Abbie is astonished by this - she asks what this place is and Ethan says that he’s never been here before, but that he searched for a place where she would find the ‘answers’ she is seeking, and it brought them here. It looks bitterly cold up the mountainside, and Abbie declines, thanking him but deciding to come back another time.
• As they head back, Abbie asks what Ethan would like to do next given that they have only one evening left. He suggests that they go dancing and she agrees to this. They head to Nexopolis, where they buy new clothes and head to a swanky dance-club. Ethan can sense the presence of multiple Wardens here but he ignores them - instead he focusses on Abbie and they have a good time.
• Time passes by quickly they almost forget to return to “Startica”. Rugging themselves up in Nexopolis, they head back as darkness settles in across the village and the locals begin singing carols. They quickly make friends with the locals and are guided to a respectable establishment for an evening meal. Over mulled wine and a roasted dinner, the two discuss what a good time they have had. The two drink a little too much (even for them), dance and talk long after the band has stopped playing and everyone has gone to bed, and just enjoy each other’s company while the snow falls outside.

- At last, feeling quite merry, they brave the cold and make their way back to the Stair and Realm 0. Arm in arm, it is like old times but not quite the same. However, upon reaching Realm 0 it becomes apparent that something has happened to Earth. The Door has cracks all through it as if it is under enormous strain. But that should be impossible ….


…. and that’s where we left Session 96.

GM Commentary

Session 98 was run this evening. 

Session 95 - Stratospheria and Oscar’s Tale

GM Observations
- And we’re back to part of the session being for Grant, and part being for Ethan. As I write up this narrative, we’ve actually done Session 97 now and we’re closing in on Session 100. Who knows, we might even run a “Christmas Special” for the fun of it.
- Grant is still tracing the damaged memory canister, hoping that it will lead back to wherever the Dwimmerlaik are storing the stolen memories from many Lords of Gossamer. Given that the architect behind this is Mowbray, they are not making it easy for Grant but he has Dominant Rank (1st Rank) Warfare and he’s an expert in Shapeshifting (with a lot of in-game practice at tricky/sneaky stuff) plus he’s now a Master of the Stair. One of the biggest things in Grant’s favour is that the Dwimmerlaik don’t know much about him - they can’t decipher his memories because he’s an Umbra user, so they will likely assume (incorrectly) that he’s Bastiano. They don’t realise that the Lords of Gossamer have another Umbra Master amongst them who also has High Ranked Warfare. Because Grant has been so sneaky, they haven’t yet figured this out. Bastiano is infamous to the Dwimmerlaik, and Grant doesn’t realise that he’s contributing to Bastiano’s infamy.
- Talking about Dominant [1st] Rank, it’s worth noting that Bastiano has [X+1] Rank in Warfare and above him, Drake has [X+2] Rank, and Krovaliss has [X+3] Rank. Why do I mention this? Because as described in previous sessions, Drake has been affected by the Breath of Eden and ‘turned’ to the Enemy. We start to see evidence of the consequence of that in this session. Part of the reason for turning Drake to the ‘dark side’ is that it makes Bastiano and Grant extremely important - because they are literally the best of the best that the Lords of Gossamer has….. and beyond that, well, you’ll just have to read the session writeup.
- Finally this session makes reference to Stratospheria which is an official Rite Publishing supplement. You can find it at DrivethruRPG here. Buy it! It’s worth it.

Part 1 - Assistance from Greywalker
- Grant attempts to contact Lucien via Icon but can’t reach him. This is most unusual. He pauses and then decides to try Greywalker. He initiates a contact using the method he has been taught to prevent transfer of the Breath of Eden and, to his relief, Greywalker answers the call.
- Hello, he says, it’s been quite a while. Grant then launches into an explanation as to everything that is going on. Greywalker listens for a while and finally stops him, asking if he is in danger and then to slow down. Grant takes a deep breath and tries to explain. Greywalker listens patiently, and then agrees to come to see the ‘fascinating Door’ that Grant has found.

* Image sourced from Google Images
- The contact is broken, and Grant sits down on the Stair to wait for Greywalker. He has no idea how far away the old Lord of Gossamer is, and he prepares himself for what could be a long wait.

Part 2 - On the Warpath
- To his surprise, Grant receives an Icon contact after a few hours. The Icon contact is sudden, painful and insistent. Grant doesn’t quite know what to do - he doesn’t think it is an attack, but the person on the other end is clearly desperate.
- Grant accepts the contact and it is Bastiano. (GM’s note - Bastiano has already lost his memory to the Breath of Eden and as an ‘infected’ person, he can’t lose it again. So in this case, there is no transfer of the Breath of Eden)
- “He’s gonna kill me!” yells Bastiano, and Grant hastily invites him through. Bastiano collapses in a heap at Grant’s feet. There’s a nasty gash across his forehead which is bleeding everywhere, his clothes are torn and he sobs uncontrollably. Grant has never seen Bastiano like this. He is astonished to see Bastiano so broken.
- Bastiano looks around and demands to know that they’re not in the Labyrinth, which Grant confirms. Bastiano goes into shock, and Grant realises that he has been badly injured. He has sustained multiple bullet-wounds and he’s bleeding all over the place. But who could possibly do this to Bastiano?

* Image by Jason Rainville
- Grant uses shapeshifting to try to heal his wounds quickly, but he quickly realises that the damage to him on a physical and psychological level is severe. He needs to get him some assistance.
- Helping Bastiano to a nearby Door, Grant connects it to ‘Comet City’, a modern metropolis where there are large numbers of superheroes. In this place, villains are scarce because they are quickly mobbed and flattened by a plethora of nearby superheroes. An ambulance is quickly called, and Mega Man helps fly the ambulance to the main hospital. As they fly, Grant asks Bastiano what happened to him and he tells Grant that Drake almost killed him. Grant feels sick - he knew that Drake was one of the missing, but it seems that Drake is now working for the Dwimmerlaik, probably because his memories have been altered. Arriving at Emergency, Bastiano is whisked away. Nevertheless, somehow he still manages to deliriously profess his love for one of the nurses there. (GM’s note - yes, typical Bastiano)
- Once Grant is sure that Bastiano is receiving appropriate medical treatment, he thinks as to how to best protect Bastiano from Drake. Grant doesn’t want to stay here, especially as Greywalker was heading to meet him, but if another Warden of the Stair is coming for Bastiano, he can’t leave him unguarded. But who could possibly stand up to Drake?
- Grant goes through his Icons and decides upon Yaeger Zane. Yaeger accepts the contact, and Grant explains the situation. Yaeger is a little bit disappointed, suggesting to Grant that he was in the middle of something, but he agrees to help out. Yaeger Zane appears in the hospital - he looks as if he’s just come from a war zone as his coat is torn and stained with mud. When he realises where he is, he quickly puts aways his favourite chainsword and asks his ‘bud’ if the cafeteria does a good mocha? They head to the cafeteria and exchange information.

* Image of Yaeger Zane by Sam Denmark
- Grant tells Yaeger that Bastiano has been a fight with Drake, and that it is possible that Drake will come after him again. He explains that he thinks he’s on the right track to find the stolen memories, and Greywalker is helping him. Over an extra-large mocha, Yaeger tells Grant that its complete bedlam on the Stair at the moment. The Dwimmerlaik are fighting each other, and Yaeger has been helping to stir up trouble to further encourage the conflict. Yaeger wonders if the Empress has lost control of the situation - he hopes that is the case. He knows that Drake has been on the warpath for the last six weeks or so, as the Lords of Gossamer have been attacked by his ‘Dragon Army’ on more than one occasion. Grant asks about Lucien but Yaeger isn’t sure where he is. 
- After the drink, they head back to check on Bastiano. Seeing his condition, Yaeger remarks “Man, you got your butt kicked.” Bastiano hears Yaeger’s voice and groans. Pulling out a wad of cash out of his money pouch, he hands it to Yaeger and asks him to take care of Bastiano. Yaeger agrees to this.
- On the way out, Grant also seeks out someone tough who can be counted on here to protect Bastiano. He meets a beefy fellow named Guardian who is dressed in blue with silver trims. Grant explains the situation and describes Drake to him. Guardian offers to protect Bastiano while he recuperates.

Part 3 - Dash and the Birdman
- Grant heads back to the Stair, returns to the Starfield section and the location where he lost the trail. He finds Greywalker waiting for him, puffing calmly on a pipe. Grant apologises for his delay and explains what has happened to Bastiano. Greywalker listens and remarks that things on the Stair are more chaotic than usual. He implies that he has contributed to the situation, but does not explicitly say so.
- Grant explains the route that the courier took, and Greywalker inspects the Door. On it, he finds not only part of the coordinates but he is able to glean a mental image of the courier. The courier is relatively short (under 5 1/2 feet high), with pale sullen features and faintly serpentine features. He is clearly not human, nor is he Dwimmerlaik. Greywalker shows Grant an images of the courier, projecting light from his staff to form an image. He agrees with Grant’s assessment that they will need to find the courier in order to complete the spell. Given that Grant is infected by the Breath of Eden, Greywalker will get the information from the courier when the locate him.
- They set off at once with Greywalker leading. He warns Grant to stay alert as the Stair is more dangerous than usual. Grant gets the impression that Greywalker takes a very cautious route - through back channels and infrequently travelled passages. They stop briefly at a mediaeval inn for lunch. Over lunch, Grant asks a number of questions as to what Greywalker has been doing to destabilise the Empire, and Greywalker is evasive in his answers. Grant is not sure whether he isn’t trusted, or whether there is something else at play, but Greywalker remains polite towards him.
- Travelling on, they reach a section of Stair which appears metallic like the interior of a factory. There are metal grill-plates underfoot and a number of Doors are hatches with yellow and black hazard markings around them. Greywalker locates the right hatch and opens it.

* Image by Adrian Mark Gillespie
- Above the clouds are purple, green and even blue. The air here is thin. It is some sort of city in the clouds. They look around, Grant following Greywalker’s lead. It seems that this place is called Aerion Prime. It feels like the courier is a long way from here - in this realm but clearly not in this city. In the city there are humans, and also slim avian creatures that appear to be flightless. 
- There are a number of sky ships here and it is clear that they will have to either steal or hire one in order to get to their destination. Greywalker suggests that they find a suitable pilot, and he uses Wayfinding to locate a suitable one at a local bar. Greywalker warns him that this place could be “a little rough” and Grant gets a feeling of deja vu as he enters the bar, acutely aware of the cantina music that is playing here  (GM’s note - yes, we are effectively replaying the famous Obi Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker scene as they enter the Mos Eisley cantina - cue music!) Inside, the bar is dirty and smoky. Grant has a drink whilst Greywalker finds a suitable pilot and his co-pilot.
- It does not take Greywalker long to find a pilot named Dash who has a ‘fast ship’ that can take them where they need to go. Dash has an avian co-pilot who doesn’t speak any of his language, so he just calls his co-pilot “The Birdman”. Dash and Greywalker discuss payment, and Dash asks if they are prepared for sky pirates (which are apparently aggressive and common here). Even though no money changes hands, Dash is convinced that he has been paid. The Birdman protests at Dash’s stupidity over this but of course Dash can’t understand a word of what The Birdman has said to him.

Part 4 - To the Skymax
- They set off quickly in Dash’s ship, a fast sky ship that has been heavily modified by multiple successive owners. At dusk they see grey nebulous ‘cloud giants’ - great jellyfish like creatures that float amongst the clouds and give off their own luminescence as the light fades. Dash’s ship has no external lighting - they are ‘running silent’ in case they are spotted by other ships. Dash follows Greywalker’s directions as to where to head, despite The Birdman’s protests. 

* Image by Adrian Mark Gillespie
- In the darkness, there is still an aurora of light above where charged particles are hitting the upper atmosphere. Dash refers to it as a ‘Twilight Sparkle’. (GM’s note - aw, I can’t resist a My Little Pony reference) Greywalker presses Dash to keep going, but Dash keeps an eye on the fuel gauge in case they run into difficulty.
- At last, despite Greywalker’s obvious manipulations of Dash, Dash figures out where they are heading and he snaps out of the situation. He wants to know why they’re heading to the Skymax as they’ll get shot out of the sky. Grant asks about the Skymax and he is told that it’s a maximum security penitentiary. Dash is about to turn the ship around, when Greywalker puts a hand on his shoulder and gently calms him down. The Birdman becomes agitated by this apparent trickery but Greywalker again uses his influence to calm them both and keep them focussed on taking them to the Skymax. 

Part 5 - Oscar’s Tale
- (GM’s note - this section continues on Ethan’s narrative which we left off in Session 92) Another beer arrives for Ethan and he asks Oscar why he was in the library, and why Oscar was there too. Oscar explains that Ethan was looking at the records for someone, but this doesn’t make sense to Ethan so Oscar tries to fill in the blanks for him, and Ethan starts to remember what happened. 
- Ethan apparently had felt activity on the Stair and gone looking for the source of the disturbance. He was led to the Door which opened into the deserted city with the library and the nearby Guardians. Ethan believed that he was hunting another Warden, but she was terrified. She practically radiated fear. 
- But then she vanished or masked her presence. Ethan tracked where she had been to the library, and that is where he met Oscar. Oscar had also felt a disturbance, and was also investigating the same thing. Together, they found where she had disappeared in the library. Ethan managed to get a mental impression of this person - and it was a young girl. She was frightened, and being chased by something.
- A number of books had been disturbed, but there was one book that was out of place. It was a sorcerous text. Ethan wasn’t sure if she had put it there, or abandoned it - but he had thought of Greywalker. Unfortunately, Ethan had been unlucky - by contacting Greywalker at the time that he was working with Lucien to lose his memories and have them restored, Ethan got ‘zapped’ and lost his mind as well. Oscar comments that it had been fortunate for him that Ethan had chosen to contact Greywalker privately without him around, or else he might have been ‘zapped’ too.
- Oscar knew something had happened to Ethan, but he kept away to begin with, fearing that whatever had affected Ethan could also have affect him. Oscar only stepped in when Ethan ran afoul of the plant-zombies in the city and they swarmed him. Oscar helped Ethan fight his way out of the city, but then Ethan asked Oscar to leave him be. Oscar did as he was asked, but kept an eye on Ethan from a distance just in case. Unfortunately Ethan got zapped a second time at the farm - Oscar still doesn’t know how that happened. Ethan asks what happened to the sorcerous book that he recovered from the library, and Oscar says that he doesn’t know - he presumed that Ethan had it.

* Image by Francoclun on DeviantART
- Oscar pauses at this point, and Ethan thanks him for his help. He says that he remembers some of it now, but there is still a gap. He asks if the girl is still out there and Oscar says that he didn’t manage to find her. Ethan wonders if the sorcerous book is still somewhere nearby the farm.
- In studying Oscar, Ethan has recognised that he is carrying technology identical to the other items that he found scattered across various realms, and identical to the wrist blaster that Grant wears. Ethan asks if the escape pod that he found is his, and Oscar confirms this to be the case. Ethan asks what happened.
- Oscar takes a deep breath and tells Ethan a tale from the Great War. The warship that he was travelling on exploded, scattering many pieces of his realm’s technology across many different places. Oscar laments that the ship was too reliant on the home realm. It lost connection with the navigational beacons during a critical time which weakened the vessel, leading to its destruction by the Dwimmerlaik. Oscar explains that he has been trying to find his homeworld ever since - he hopes it is still out there but he has been looking for a very long time (hundreds of years). He feels that his homeworld is still out there, but there is no connection to it. So he has travelled to many ‘broken worlds’ since the end of the Great War, looking for clues.
- Another serving of hot chips arrives with another round of beers. Oscar explains that Lucien keeps encouraging him, telling him that his world must still be there, somewhere, even if they can’t yet find a way to connect to it yet. Ethan asks if there is some way that he can help. Oscar laughs a little then thinks better of Ethan’s offer. He says that some Doors have a resonance such that one can’t sense what is on the other side. He hopes that his world is there somewhere, just warded in such a way that he can’t find it amongst the millions of others.
- Ethan thinks this over. As he does, he realises that there is another mind present, originating from the device that Oscar carries. He is reaching out to Ethan but Ethan does not let it connect.
- Switching the topic, Ethan asks for Oscar’s advice about how to remove the ‘Breath of Eden’ curse. Oscar advises him to get his missing memories back first, and then to remove the curse. He points out that the Dwimmerlaik knows that they have stolen some of Ethan’s memories, so they will be reluctant to establish a mental contact with him. He may be able to use that.

Part 6 - Returning Home
- At last, Ethan parts with Oscar and he returns home via a sorcerous teleport. Opening the Door into Westgate Manor, the cats and ravens quickly tell him that there has been an intruder on the grounds. Ethan heads outside and finds that something has been within a metre of the fence. There is a ring of dissolved grass and earth surrounding the property and a peculiar smell. Ethan can tell that it is the creature that he encountered a few miles away from Westgate. (GM’s note - first encountered in Session 70, it then proceeded to eat the hotel that Abbie was staying in Session 72 - all because Ethan hasn’t dealt with a problem but instead has allowed it to fester.)
- The creature doesn’t seem to be present now, and his ‘date’ with Abbie is tomorrow - so he decides to leave it be for the moment. He asks Macavity about any other ‘strangeness’ and he is advised that there has been a man in town with large bulbous eyes. The ravens attempted to investigate but then he vanished. 
- Ethan thinks about the situation and decides that he will have to deal with these problems, but after his planned getaway with Abbie. He doesn’t want to ruin things by trying to solve these problems in a rush.


…. and that’s where we ended Session 95.

GM Commentary

Session 97 was run this evening. Closing in on Session 100.

Session 94 - The Violet

GM Observations
- This session continues on from Session 93 as Grant pursues the damaged memory canister across a realm called ‘The Violet’. The Violet is a realm idea taken from Beyond Countless Doorways, a realm book written by Monte Cook (and his colleagues) which is a good fit for Lords of Gossamer. There are probably 50+ ideas for realms in it, and a number of realms are well fleshed out and easily adapted.
- As I write this, we’re only two days from Session 97 and we’re closing in on the magic Session 100. For those of you who have read this far, you’ll see the ‘Big Bad’ changing. For a long time we had the Dwimmerlaik being a threat in the background. Then they became active and they were clearly organised. The problem with having the Dwimmerlaik Empire in a Lords of Gossamer campaign is that they should squash the ‘rebels’ easily if they were truly a unified and coordinated group. Hence we’re moving into the next phase of the game where the Dwimmerlaik Empire is at war with itself, otherwise they overshadow too much in the game. This also allows us to engage with the Dwimmerlaik without all of them being villains that we would attack on sight.
- In terms of the Ethan plotline, this is the last session which only focuses on Grant. On a side note, I don’t see a reason for Grant to bring Ethan into his storyline, and frankly it annoyed me as a player that Grant jumped into Ethan’s plotline to find Lucien very near the end of that arc (even though it made sense in character). So this arc is coming to an end, such that we can reunited the PCs and go forth with the next arc. Separate narratives are much more work than sticking together and taking turns to GM.

Part 1 - Entering the Violet
- Grant pauses at the threshold and decides to contact Lucien to let him know that he’s reached a realm that could be warded. The conversation is brief, then Grant climbs down through the trapdoor into the realm that glows purple through the Door. He finds himself emerging from a hole in the ground. He appears to be standing on a very small landmass - an island of some kind. The ground is made of stone but there are numerous vines criss-crossing it, and occasionally a tangle of them reaches up into the sky. There the vines either dangle, or they reach other stony islands in the sky. 
- Looking down at himself, Grant realises that everything in this realm is glowing a faint purple (violet) colour except for himself. He appears as a dull grey. (i.e.: he stands out)
- Grant tries to use Wayfinding to find the canister but he cannot sense it. There is some interference here and he feels that it is because of his proximity to the Door. So he begins to make his way away from the arrival Door. As soon as he steps more than a few metres away from the Door (outside the ‘bubble’ which the Door radiates), he realises that there is no air here in this realm. Grant quickly adapts his form so that he will not need oxygen. But he also finds that there is no gravity here either. The vines are not reaching upwards, they are just reaching out in any direction out into the purple void - the space between the islands. In some places there are few vines but in others there are many, like a forest. 
- Moving further away from the Door, Grant attempts to size up the situation. He finds the Door has been built into an island, and there are many other islands ‘overhead’ - some of the islands have clusters of vines connecting them, and some do not. Using Umbral sight, he realises that this place has its own natural order and that it would almost certainly crush any minor magics here. Grant surmises that this place is being used as some sort of ‘firewall’ to prevent sorcerers (or Lords of Gossamer) tracking canisters back to their source. He finds that his Wayfinding works a little better here as he moves further away from the Doors.

Part 2 - Vines and Guardians
- Judging this place to be a maze of islands and connected vines, he decides to follow one of the vine bridges from this island to the next. He notes that simply pulling himself along it and using it as a guide (he is weightless as this is a zero-G environment) results in movement along the vine. Realising that this could attract attention, he changes his form into that of a purple cockroach (with sticky feet) in order to follow the vines. Nevertheless, he expects trouble and he keeps a close lookout.
- After only a few minutes on the vine bridge to the nearest island, Grant spots three purple serpents heading in his direction. They glide effortlessly along the vines and Grant decides to hide. Masking himself as best he can (and he’s very good at doing this), he comes within a few centimetres of one of the serpents as it passes him. He can tell that it has a strong mind. 

* Image is taken from Beyond Countless Doorways book, page 204. The art could either be by Kevin Crossley, Eric Lofgren, or Tyler Walpole
- When the creatures have passed, Grant holds his position for some time before deciding to carry on. He considers it possible that the serpents were attracted to the opening of the Door, not to his movement along the vines.

Part 3 - The Violet Maze
- Grant reaches the nearest island to where he arrived. However, again he finds something interfering with his Wayfinding and after a little exploration across the tangled surface, he finds another Door. Grant wonders if it is possible that some or even all of the islands have Doors, in which case the best place to get his bearings and use Wayfinding would be on the vine bridges between the islands. Chuckling to himself, he realises that this would be easy to navigate for someone who knew the way, but it’s clearly easy to get lost here, easy to be found, and it will take him considerable time to find the right way.
- Carefully, Grant works his way across multiple vine bridges and uses crude trigonometry to estimate where the canister has gone by taking ‘gut feel readings’ from multiple points. Once he believes he knows the right way, he tries to head towards it, but again he finds that Wayfinding is only partially helpful here and it takes him a considerable amount of time to find the right path. (Hours and hours)
- Sure enough, he finally reaches what he believes to be the right Door on an isolated island with only one connecting bridge to it. The Door is made of stone but there are gold designs (glowing violet) inset into the rock. Grant opens the Door and steps through.

Part 4 - A Dead End?
- Back on the Stair in a corridor with black polished tiles on the walls and floor, Grant pauses to contact Lucien and update him. Then he follows the trail further, this time in a nearly invisible form. He hopes that he is getting closer. He follows it for a few minutes, but then suddenly the trail goes completely dead in the middle of the corridor. 
- Using Umbral sight, Grant determines that sorcery has been used. The courier appears to have teleported away. Grant pauses to think about the situation. He is not certain what to do next. His Wayfinding has led him to this spot. Now what? Concentrating on Wayfinding, he feels that his true target is far from here. For an ordinary Warden of the Stair, it would take a considerable amount of time to walk the distance on the Stair to find the new destination. But as a Master, could he do it? 
- Grant considers talking to Lucien about it, but ends up deciding upon Bastiano instead. Bastiano advises him that as a Master of the Stair he should be able to connect Doors, effectively going ‘blind’ to his destination. He wishes him luck.

Part 5 - The Starfield Stair
- Grant finds a blank Door nearby - literally the next Door along the black tiled corridor is blank. He then concentrates on it and connects it to a Door which is near to where his Wayfinding is telling him to go. Once connected, he attempts to sense what is on the other side but he can feel nothing apart from it being Stair. Opening the Door, he finds a circular staircase which leads both up and down, but the walls and floor are almost completely transparent, and behind is a vast starfield in all directions. It feels as if Grant is literally walking through the void - a most disconcerting feeling.
- Grant disconnects the Door, and it becomes once more a blank Door. Heading down, he finds every Door here is blank. He travels a little further and finds the place that the sorcerer arrived. However, the sorcerer’s trail again disappears in front of a blank Door. 
- At first Grant assumes that the Door has been connected to somewhere else and then severed, however after he touches the Door he realises that is not the case. There is a sorcerous inscription on the Door itself, but it is encoded and it is incomplete. Grant has never used psychometry before, but he tries to glean what he can. He gets a mental impression of the last person who came here (presumably the courier - a Dwimmerlaik of serpentine appearance) and also he realises that the inscription on the Door contains part of a sorcerous teleport spell, but the target coordinates are incomplete. He tries to use Wayfinding to locate the canister but the trail ends here - Wayfinding tells him that he needs to be here. This suggests to him that the canister is now located in a warded location.
- Grant feels that he is on the right track here as the Dwimmerlaik are going to extraordinary lengths to stop the canister being tracked. He assesses the situation, and then realises that he’s going to need to find the courier - he has a good mental image however he knows that interrogating such an individual will be difficult given that Grant is still affected by the Breath of Eden. He decides to ask for help.


…. and that’s the end of Session 94. Sessions 95 and 96 were split between Grant and Ethan.

Feedback from BelleSorciere

Glad to see a new session up. Thank you. 

Session 93 - Striking a Match

GM Observations
- Sorry for the delayed write-up. I’ve just moved from one side of Australia (Perth) to the other (Canberra) and it’s taken me some time to get to this. On the plus side, David and I are now in the same timezone which means longer sessions. Woo!
- This narrative carries on from Session 90, as Grant decides what to do after discovering that Lord Aurum was behind the assassination attempt on Lord Forst and Lady Erla of House Suril.

Part 1 - The Plot
- Grant weighs up the situation and decides that that his chance of remaining Trell is almost nil. Members of House Suril will attempt to contact Trell via Icon and that connection won’t reach him. Even if it did, he’s still cursed with the Breath of Eden which would attack whoever made the contact. There is no way forward on that front. He knows that Lord Aurum has tried to assassinate Lord Forst and Lady Erla, and Lord Aurum is influential on the High Council. Revealing what Lord Aurum has done could create a division within the Dwimmerlaik. 
- Grant initiates a series of conversations, firstly with Cooper Nassar, and then with Bastiano. Given that Grant is still infected with the Breath of Eden, they take ‘precautions’ to avoid the transfer of the hostile spell. Cooper confirms that the stone Icon is that of Lord Aurum - he is certain. Cooper also confirms that of the two memory canisters that he has in his possession, the canister of Galatea’s memories is complete, but the canister of Lady Sophia’s memories are incomplete. Discussing the situation with Bastiano, they devise a plan to one of the canister’s as bait, and hopefully trigger some conflict within the Empire. 

* Image is from the Lords of Gossamer Sourcebook (Joe Shawcross) - this is Cooper Nassar

Part 2 - A Disturbance in the Empire
- Bastiano and Cooper Nassar journey to Metro City. Cooper takes the canister of Galatea’s memories (and fabricates an identical canister). Bastiano volunteers to find ‘The Goddess’ (i.e.: Galatea) and convince her to travel with him and restore her memories. (Grant suspects that Bastiano is particularly interested in helping given that Galatea is an attractive woman) (GM’s note - yes, this is Bastiano that we’re talking about here)
- Meanwhile Grant has considered the implications of breaking his cover as Trell. His servant Arana will in danger, but he doesn’t trust her far enough to attempt to recruit her. So he decides to leave her for the time being and come back for her later. She has her own residence which is part of the main complex on the world assigned to Trell. 
- With Cooper’s assistance, Grant is transported to Chammont, one of House Suril’s realms and the residence of Lord Forst and Lady Erla. Disguised as an assassin from House Devish, he prepares in the realm and then performs an assassination attempt. Grant (as Trell) knows a great deal about House Suril’s defences and how to break them. He does not wish to kill Lord Forst or Lady Erla, but he wants to make it look like a solid, plausible attempt. He also wants to be thwarted in the attempt, but in fleeing, he wants to leave some of the evidence pointing to Lord Aurum at the scene.
- Grant’s assassination attempt goes very much as planned. Even though House Suril’s defences are in a heightened state of readiness, and more than one Dwimmerlaik Witch is on alert, Grant penetrates the defences easily (using Umbra). He very nearly kills Lord Forst before being ‘forced’ to withdraw, and even with the forces of House Suril on his tail, he still manages to find time to sow considerable discord in their ranks, committing numerous acts of sabotage across Chammont. 
- Grant does not see how the Empire reacts to this attempt. He returns to Metro City to find that the second part of the plan is ready to put into place. Using Umbra, Grant ‘blows up’ the building where Lord Forst and Lady Erla were conducting their observations of “The Goddess”. He destroys it sufficiently to convince any investigators that Trell must be have been killed. The canister which Cooper fabricated is also destroyed totally, but the canister containing Sophia’s memories is badly damaged (‘just as planned’)
- At this point, Grant withdraws from Metro City. Both he and Cooper Nasser have been very careful with the damaged canister so that each is certain that they can track it across the multiverse if required. They expect the damaged canister to be retrieved by the Enemy sooner or later, and then they should be able to follow the trail and find out where the stolen memories are being held.

Part 3 - The Enemy Within
- Grant goes to ground. He knows enough of the Empire now to position himself where he will learn about some of the fallout from what he has done. At first there is little news, but he forces himself to be patient. He also finds that his body wants to keep returning to the form of Trell, not Grant. He has not ‘been himself’ for some time. Nevertheless, he has to assume the identity of more than one Dwimmerlaik to move freely, listen, and learn as to what is happening.
- After a few days, news start to trickle in that House Suril claims to have been attacked by House Devish, and that some of the other noble houses have sided with House Suril. Grant notes that the Empress is involved and observes the prevailing viewpoint that a political settlement will be reached. Grant is less than satisfied with this and he decides to stir things up.
- Over the next two weeks, Grant tries to bring the Dwimmerlaik Houses into conflict with one another. Using the identity of the first (dead) assassin from House Devish and the (invented) second assassin, also from House Devish, Grant strikes targets of opportunity in House Cavalarn’s territory and he murders a Dark Witch from House Malkesh. Each time, he takes tokens where he can so that he can spread the suggestion that there are multiple factions involved in an undeclared war. 
- To begin with, Grant thinks that he is attempting the impossible. He is only one man, he can’t be everywhere and he doesn’t know the exact points to hit in order to cause real disruption to the Empire. But then, quite suddenly, things start paying off. House Suril has had a Mass Driver in its possession for many years (GM’s note - used against Arcadia way back in Session 34), and Grant sabotaged it in Session 81). There are reports of House Suril using this weapon against other Imperial Targets, but the Empress herself ordered Lord Krovaliss to intervene. Even though Suril’s Mass Driver was quickly destroyed, it’s clear that this situation is not over. 
- Grant takes a more subtle approach on his next attempt. Using information from House Cavalarn, he commandeers a battalion ‘on the orders of the Empress’ and uses it to launch an attack on House Suril. This is very successful, and he causes a great deal of damage to House Suril holdings before he decides to switch sides, join the defenders and swing the battle the other way, this time impersonating a Dwimmerlaik Witch from House Malkesh who has come to their aid. The result of this is even better than he expected, with two other noble houses offering an alliance to House Suril as each concerned that they may be picked off without allies. The concern is that the Empress herself could be siding against the minor houses.

Part 4 - The Cannister Moves
- Meanwhile, Grant is aware that the damaged cylinder has been removed from Metro City. Despite his many forays across Imperial-controlled Stair, he has kept tabs on its movements until it suddenly ‘disappeared’ from view. Grant contacts Lucien to get his point of view. Grant explains that the canister was taken deep within Dwimmerlaik territory before suddenly disappearing from his view. Lucien is wary of a trap. He think it it is possible that the realm is warded and warns Grant to be cautious.
- Turning his attention from tricking the Dwimmerlaik into war, Grant begins the long walk towards where the canister disappeared from sight. Using Mastery of Stair, he takes many shortcuts and he is very careful - he travels through Imperial territory in disguise, pretending to be a Dwimmerlaik Lord and he changes his identity frequently. He suppresses that he is a Warden of the Stair (which is well practised in) and he avoids sections of the Stair which are ‘hostile’. 
- At one point he senses the presence of another Warden but he avoids them. Even with Mastery of the Stair, it seems that it will take him considerable time to reach his destination.

Part 5 - Contact with Vala
- After more than day travelling, Grant receives a contact from Vala. She has clearly been talking with Lucien as she asks him to be especially cautious. She explains that Greywalker has reported that pockets of the Dwimmerlaik have begun openly warring against each other, even though the Empress is trying to stop the fighting. 

* Image by Jason Rainville
- Grant is intrigued and interested in hearing what Greywalker has seen. It sounds like his efforts have been making waves in the Empire. Vala assures him that this is the case. Vala praises Grant for his efforts in creating divisions within the Empire - his fellow Lords of Gossamer are trying to take advantage of that situation in an indirect fashion. In particular, Bastiano, Greywalker and Yaeger Zane have been stirring up considerable trouble for the Enemy. Grant then asks about Galatea and Vala assures him that she has recovered. Grant wonders if the Dwimmerlaik fighting one another might have impacted Ethan. He asks Vala if there has been any word from Ethan and she says that there has not. Vala wishes him luck and the contact is cut.

Part 6 - Following the Trail
- Grant feels very tired. Talking with Vala made him realise that he has started something and yet he hasn’t stopped in days. He decides to find a forested realm, and he goes down a burrow as an animal in order to rest. He sleeps deeply before returning to the trail.
- Grant reaches a section where the Stair is little more than stepping stones and there is no apparent wall, ceiling or floor. Apart from the grey stepping stones, all else appears to be void. Grant finds this quite disturbing but he carries on. At last he comes to a stepping stone that contains a trapdoor - the Door leads down. 
- Grant takes a deep breath, lifts the trapdoor and notes that there is a faint purple glow coming from the realm below.

…. and that’s where we left Session 93. I’ll try to get Sessions 94, 95 and 96 written up over the next few days.


And lastly, since it’s been awhile that I’ve done any LEGO Lords of Gossamer, I’ll show you a Work In Progress shot of a shadow box that I’m working on to display the characters. Yes, some are missing horns, hair, Yaeger Zane’s wings etc and the blocks aren’t perfectly lined up yet. I’m still working on it. (Macavity is missing too)



From top to bottom:

• Row 1 - Stolvir, Yaeger Zane (currently missing wings and chainsword), Red-Eyed Dwimmerlaik (currently missing hair/horns, weapon)
• Row 2 - Lady Sophia, Grant (missing weapon), Ethan (missing shield, weapon, Macavity), Abbie
• Row 3 - Drake, Lady Vala (missing hair, weapon), Lucien (missing weapon), Isabelle
• Row 4 - Greywalker, Mordecai, Jodan, Bastiano (missing weapon)

GM Commentary

Session 96 was run yesterday evening. Hopefully I can get one of the write-ups done tomorrow night and posted.

GM Commentary

Session 95 was run this evening. Greywalker, Oscar, Bastiano, Drake, more mess in Realm 0 and introducing Rite Publishing's Stratospheria too.

Whew... I am now 3 sessions behind on write-up. Attempting to move from one side of Australia to the other with my family plus trying to run the Chosen of the Stair game is just a bit much at the moment.

GM Commentary

Session 94 was run this evening. I'll do my best to get the writeup done in the net week.  

Session 92 - The Other Warden

GM Observations
- A long time ago, we played an Amber Diceless roleplaying game with ~14 players for about 2 years. It was called the ‘main game’ by those who played it. In one of the sessions I clearly remember an incident where a GM introduces a foot-high fluffy dragon into the game and the First Rank Warfare character promptly shot it with an arrow. The GM was upset, wondering what had prompted such a response. The player answered that he’d just spotted a clumsy plot device and he wasn’t going to be drawn in by something so obvious. I’m sure there was an in-character reason as well, but I don’t really recall.
- The reason for mentioning this is that back in Session 51, Ethan met a mad-old fellow named Oscar who is almost certainly Grant’s mentor/master. I, playing Ethan, could have asked Oscar lots of questions about him but it didn’t seem to be in character to do so, so I just carried on with the plot of rescuing Lucien. So the opportunity for expository was lost.
- David took this in his good-natured stride, but now, 41 sessions later, there will no doubt be consequences for Ethan failing to engage with this fellow at the time. What has happened since?

Part 1 - Exploring
- The others that Ethan is with decide to stay in the inn for a day or so. Bartholomew and Sally have a lot of catching up to do, and both Moses and the Colonel need some time to adjust after their imprisonment. With two days left before Ethan is supposed to meet Abbie, he decides to excuse himself and head back onto the Stair to see what progress he can make before he returns.
- Focusing on which Doors have been opened recently, he identifies a total of seven Doors within a few miles of each other. He decides to pick the nearest Door and steps through.
- On the other side is a slice of modern suburbia. There is a corner store selling petrol and snacks. There are overhead powerlines and cars on the roads. The people are dressed in one-piece garments in a range of different colours. The presence of Stolvir attracts attention - some people stop to stare.
- Ethan takes a deep breath and uses Wayfinding to look for anything different here. There is no Warden present but there are three unusual power sources (sorcerous power). Two are close together. Ethan goes for a walk down leafy streets to find the nearest one. He cloaks himself (and his companions) using his mental invisibility spell. His Wayfinding leads him to a nearby school with large, old buildings. He finds his way to a chemistry building, down into the basement and through a number of locked doors. At last he comes to a room with signs warning of a radiation hazard. He prepares a simple protection spell, asks Macavity and Stolvir to wait, and then steps into the room.
- There are a number of small containers here. One of them contains blueish crystals which store and slowly radiate sorcerous energy. Ethan senses that they are part of something bigger. 

Part 2 - Escape Pod
- Three miles back the way he came, Ethan follows his Wayfinding instincts to a shed in a suburban backyard. Again he asks Stolvir to wait but Macavity leaps the fence and Ethan follows. Even though the shed is locked with many padlocks, these are nothing to a Warden of the Stair. Ethan opens them all. Inside there are many tools on the walls and workbench, some of a higher technology level than should exist here.
- Under drop sheets, Ethan finds what can only be described as a small space ship, shaped like an egg on its side. The space ship is clearly too big to fit out of the door. It is made of a silvery metal with no seams. The design looks oddly familiar but Ethan can’t immediately place it. Elsewhere in the shed there is a case and inside is an orb of black energy. Ethan can tell that it contains Umbral energy, but there seems to be barrier surrounding and containing it. Studying the barrier, Ethan can tell that it is not Eidolon, but Wrighting.
- Ethan closes the case and goes back to the ship. He puts his hand on the metal (which feels like a liquid to his touch) and tries to ‘listen’ to the ship. From touching the ship is able to determine that it is a long range armed escape pod, designed to return someone to their home base and capable of cross-dimensional travel. He can tell that this ship has suffered a navigational failure because of an inability to detect certain ‘marker beacons’. Apparently there was a battle, centuries ago - this may have been the cause of the navigational failure but Ethan can’t quite tell.
- Replacing everything as it was, Ethan returns to the Door and heads back onto the Stair.

Part 3 - Further Still
- Over the next day, Ethan goes to five other worlds that the other Warden has accessed. He visits an realm of blue ice, a realm in the middle of a great land war where much of the landscape has been blasted into a moonscape of muddy craters, a forested world where the natives thought that Stolvir was a ‘Great Spirit Wolf’ god, a crystal city where even the slightest noise triggered a symphony of sound, and a world with giant robot machines which creep over the landscape, harvesting crops. In each realm Ethan finds more objects made of the same silvery metal that are both solid but liquid. Each object seems to be part of something bigger. By this time he has figured out where he had seen these objects before - the serpent coiled around Grant’s arm is made from the same materials.

Part 4 - The Mad Warden
- At last, Ethan finds himself in the seventh realm. Stepping from the Door, Ethan finds himself in an outback town. Everything here is covered in a layer of thick red dust. He looks back and finds that he’s just stepped out of a crude wooden ‘dunny’ (toilet). Almost immediately Ethan can sense the presence of another Warden of the Stair.
- There aren’t many buildings here - a fuel station with a diner attached, a motel, a repair garage, a ‘Quick-Mart’ and a few other houses. There is a dust cloud on the horizon and a windmill with large blades slowly turns in the breeze. A single bitumen road runs through the town. 
- Ethan heads over to the diner. He feels that this Warden is somehow familiar to him but he can’t place the individual’s identity. Outside the diner are some blocky looking cars with large sturdy tires. All are caked in red dirt. Stepping inside, he notes that there are a handful of patrons scattered across the twenty or so small tables here. The proprietor seems surprised to see him, Stolvir and Macavity as he didn’t see Ethan drive into town. He shows Ethan the menu and he makes a selection. 
- By the time Ethan has paid for the food, he has identified the Warden in the place. It is Oscar, last seen on Brairus. Oscar is dressed a little better than last time, but his clothes are still pock-marked, trail worn and overdue for replacement. There are two empty plates on the table but he is eating a huge hamburger from a third plate.

* Image by Francoclun on DeviantART
- Oscar shows no sign of recognising Ethan so Ethan sits down for his meal. A short while later, it arrives. Stolvir whines for some food and the proprietor brings over the largest dog food bowl that he has and fills it from an oversized can. While Stolvir tucks into some overdue dinner, Macavity sits on one of the human chairs and insists that he will not be eating out of a bowl on the floor. Ethan asks the owner for some fish, but the owner responds with a blank look. Macavity is disappointed that this realm has never heard of fish, so he settles for some other meat.
- It is only after Oscar’s fourth meal that he glances over in Ethan’s direction and Ethan gives him a casual wave. Oscar redirects his next order to Ethan’s table and he relocates to join him. While he waits for his next meal, Oscar asks if Ethan ‘found her’? This is not what Ethan was expecting him to say and he is taken aback. Oscar gives a chuckle and says that he’s clearly lost his memory. He tells Ethan that he dragged Ethan out of the library before he could be overrun by the plant-zombies. (GM’s note - a reference to Ethan’s adventures from Sessions 79 to 82) He reiterates that Ethan was looking for a girl and Ethan doesn’t know who Oscar could be referring to. 
- Oscar peers at Ethan and chuckles again, saying that he’s clearly been ‘touched by it twice’. (GM’s note - clearly a reference to the Breath of Eden) Oscar grimaces and says that he wishes he’d killed Mowbray when he had the chance. Ethan finishes off his meal and orders another beer. 

… and that’s where we left Session 92. We then switch back to Grant for Session 93 and what he got up to next. The two characters will be reunited shortly, and we’re closing in on Session 100. 

And yes, I guess I’d better think about a LEGO Oscar character.