Vecna’s Sanctum Encounter (~Session 31)

One of the most significant events in the campaign. Lyra died, was taken to Vecna’s Sanctum inside Allabar, and was rescued — but not before the party came face to face with Vecna himself and witnessed his contract with Kelemvor.

Part 1: Lyra’s Consumption

• Chief Nosnra (the Hill Giant chief from Against the Giants) had been transformed into an Ettin Ceremorph by Allabar/Vecna’s influence
• The Ettin Ceremorph consumed Lyra — her brain was eaten. She was dead.
• Her shadow still lingered on the material plane
• Allabar compelled Nosnra to consume Lyra and transport her body to Vecna’s Sanctum inside the Elemental Eye (Allabar)

Part 2: The Sanctum

When the Ettin Ceremorph was destroyed by Nemesis, a gate opened inside its tendrilly mouth leading to Vecna’s Sanctum.

[[Kaladin]] (former party member) entered the sanctum through this portal.

The Desecrated Temple

The black gate opens into a desecrated temple. Ash blankets the floor and broken pews lie strewn about. Along the cracked stone walls of the temple you see the tormented dead as they cry out to you. Upon further investigation of the floor, you see that beneath the ash, you are walking over the faces and severed limbs of thousands of dead bodies. Each step you take feels spongy and unbalanced. From the roof hangs a chandelier of bodies all attempting to crawl through an opening in the roof, but seemingly appearing to never make it out.

The Lyra Illusion

On the far side of the temple, at the top of a set of stairs is a corpse chained to the wall, you instantly recognise Lyra. As you approach her, you see her pack (including her inventory) and she is wearing her gloves of thievery and other magic items you could come to expect. Her dagger is missing, along with her left eye.

The Reveal

Kaladin broke the chains (too easily). The illusion of Lyra dropped. In her place: Vecna, imprisoned and chained to the wall.

Vecna had formed this illusion through lair actions developed over hundreds of years of imprisonment.

Lyra’s actual body was at Vecna’s feet.

With a cruel glance at you, Vecna says in a raspy voice that nonetheless carries across the room, “I would congratulate you on your perseverance, but you won’t be alive long enough to appreciate it.”

Part 3: The Escape

• Kaladin and Lyra attempted to retreat from the sanctum
• At a point, Lyra was paralysed
• In desperation, Lyra called on Kelemvor for help
• Vecna felt an intense connection between his Sanctum and the Fugue Plane through Lyra’s call
• Vecna left Lyra and cut a portal through the planes — leveraging Lyra’s will and intent in calling on the God of Death
• The sanctum came alive: statues of bodies on the floor and hanging from the ceiling began to move. The room tried to swallow Kaladin and Lyra.
• Both retreated toward the gate in the Ettin Ceremorph’s mouth
• Last-ditch effort: Kaladin threw Lyra’s body out of the sanctum through the gate
• The gate closed before Kaladin could escape
• Kaladin’s body never truly entered the sanctum — he was left spasming and paralytic on the floor around Nemesis
• Greater Restoration healed his mind and restored him

Part 4: Lyra’s Resurrection — The Fugue Plane

Lyra’s brain had been eaten. She was dead and incomplete — a normal revival wouldn’t work. [[Alora Amathur]] performed True Resurrection.

Lyra’s Death Experience

When Lyra died, her soul was presented in the City of Souls on the Fugue Plane. She met a Fugue Plane version of herself (Lyra OTFP).

Two offers were presented:

1. Be sent to the afterlife — peace, reunion with her family
2. Be sent to the Planes of Hell — fight in the eternal war between Devils and Demons on the Plane of Avernus

Lyra could see [[Princess Reeny]] there, having the time of her life. Reeny beckoned her to join.

Lyra’s choice: She took a drastic measure — she pushed her Fugue Plane self into the afterlife (successful Strength check). Lyra OTFP appealed: “I’m not ready to go!” Lyra said: “You will be ok.”

Kelemvor commented: “She is far more interesting than Jergal, ‘The End of Everything.’” (A direct reference to the [[Grimoire of Shadows]] author.)

Alora’s True Resurrection

When Alora entered the world of the undying as part of the True Resurrection, she found herself on the Fugue Plane. She found Lyra sitting next to Kelemvor, completing paperwork. She told Lyra it was time to come home.

Vecna’s Arrival on the Fugue Plane

Vecna cut through to the Fugue Plane from his sanctum using [[Shadowthorn’s Bane]] — Lyra’s missing dagger.

He walked up to Kelemvor, looked at Lyra with satisfaction (his first instinct was NOT to cut her down — a sign of interest, not hostility).

Vecna revealed a contract: “Our pact remains. I invoke our ancient contract. Deliver unto me the rogue’s shadow, as agreed.”

Kelemvor’s response: “Vecna’s return… A portent of dark days for mortal kind.”

Vecna raised his voice in anger — a radial kilometre of souls in the Fugue Plane instantly evaporated.

Kelemvor nodded, waved his hand to open a portal to the Infinite Battle on the Plane of Avernus. Bane, God of Tyranny and Strife, stepped forward with Princess Reeny.

Vecna’s Address to Reeny

“Welcome, dear one, to my realm of darkness. You have been chosen to serve as my harbinger, my instrument of doom. Embrace the shadows that now envelop you, for they shall grant you power beyond mortal comprehension. Together, we shall reshape the world in our image, casting aside all who dare oppose us.”

Lyra and Alora fled.

The Aftermath

When Lyra came to, she heard Kelemvor’s voice in her head: “I am going to need that dagger back!”

Key Revelations

1. Vecna has an ancient contract with Kelemvor — involving “the rogue’s shadow”
2. Princess Reeny is now Vecna’s harbinger — recruited via Bane from the Plane of Avernus
3. Shadowthorn’s Bane (Lyra’s dagger) is with Reeny — and Vecna used it to cut between planes
4. Kelemvor has a personal interest in Lyra — finds her more interesting than Jergal
5. Vecna’s Sanctum is inside Allabar (the Elemental Eye / Red Moon)
6. Vecna can leverage calls to other gods to cut portals between planes