Session 13 Player Notes — Downtime in Highpoint

These are the players’ own session notes, preserved from the party’s game document. They capture the table’s perspective — what the players saw, did, and said.

Key Events

• Dinner with Reeny at Highpoint — she reveals Chathan Prime’s betrayal and asks Reaghl for help with a gladiator arena
• Night out on the town — Shanty Stabaroo fight club, with Reeny getting spectacularly drunk
• Reeny takes Lyra to the dungeon to interrogate MooMoo about the Elixir of Undying; Lyra confesses Lux used the potion on Kaial
• Alora Amathur talks to Ilmater in dreams about Kaial and Kyle’s incomplete soul
• Party leaves for the Castle of Azir; meets Caldwell (Azir’s father) at the perimeter
• Azir’s projection greets them at the door — “I was wondering when you’d arrive”

Session Notes

Dinner with Reeny

Two weeks after arriving at Highpoint, we have a dinner with Reeny. Alora can see that Reeny is a little bit cute, but understands that there are cracks in the confidence.

Reeny explains that Chathan Prime, the minister of war (Gerard Prime’s minister of magic brother) was contacted by Occhio Voir and tempted by what he was trying to achieve. They used Highpoint’s standing in the alliance to try and pick off towns and feed Occhio. Something happened in Highpoint that set everything off. Reeny saying this gives Lyra a little anxiety.

We are staying in one of the most luxurious apartments in Highpoint. Reeny turns to Reaghl and explains how she was always infatuated by the gladiator arenas, and that she didn’t realise how sad it would be. “Watching you fight was like poetry.” There are moments when she looks at people as she talks. “We’re all going to be friends right?” It’s a melting moment, but we’ve never noticed this eloquence to her before. As she says “friends” there is something a little “silvery” about her words. She requests Reaghl’s help to develop a gladiator arena in one of the slums of the city. He offers to help only if the men are free men and there is compensation for them.

She shows the group her bedroom. She takes us down the hallway. There is amazing art on the hallways with history-defining moments depicted. There is a piece of art 40 feet high and 60 feet wide. There is a blank space on the wall, which is dedicated to a commissioned piece of the moment when we defeated the lich. It will take a year to paint.

There are papers everywhere in Reeny’s room. Lyra sees a paper about Jesse and Lyra Millspear. Lyra asks her about this, and Reeny states that she was going to ask Lyra about it. She blushes and says “he’s so annoying”, before turning away. She offers Lyra a paper about the council and recommendations she wishes to make about governance.

Party Night — Shanty Stabaroo

We have a great night. Alora rolls a 30 insight. She is aware of Reaghl’s disdain for Reeny, as is Kaial. We have a little party time with Reeny and the team on the town. She gives us all bracelets to communicate. Their range is up to 1000 feet. Everyone except Reaghl and Alora wear the bracelets.

We go to a party by a fake church. Guts hears about Shanty Stabaroo, an establishment with fighting pits. Reaghl wonders about Azir. He hears murmurs from a guy who escaped from Azir’s tower. Everyone in the tower fled, but others were caged and caught. “It’s way over my head, we need to save them.”

We hear stories of Nemesis and Alora and “those fucking unstoppables. They’re shit.”

Arawn feels that there is someone in the vicinity of this neighbourhood who is triggering his black dragon senses. Reaghl is listening for news of an artificer — “Kasros Dazzlebelt” (Dingleberry Dazzlepants, according to Reaghl), the same Kasros that Gerald Prime asked us to investigate who had the observatory. He is currently in Highpoint. The Dazzlebelts are part of a school of high-tech artificing. Reeny is very drunk, but Kaial looks after her. We get 15 hit points from Kaial.

Guts and Lyra decide to go to the docks and head to the fight club Shanty Stabaroo. Lyra sneaks up on the guy behind the bar and puts her arm around him. He laughs, and she sneaks off while stealing a beer. He offers us a coffee and Alora and Lyra accept.

The Fights

Reaghl and Guts get in the arena. Alora causes the flames to dim and cast red light on them as they enter. Kaial causes flames to spark. Reaghl smashes the two fighters, and Guts throws them to Lyra to steal their stuff. Lyra rolls her eyes. The plan was to steal from the crowd.

Reeny and Lyra walk into the crowd who heckles them. Alora causes a rumble of thunder to boom through the arena and the light extinguishes. They roll double stealth (28 and 30). Reeny whispers “I am the shadow.” Lyra scales the rock face with Reeny on her back. There are two brutes in the arena. One has a wooden leg. As they look up, Lyra and Reeny drop. Reeny face plants and vomits, but Lyra drops onto the man. Alora causes a strobe light to illuminate her dropping through the air, knocking them both out.

As the two pairs prepare to face each other, Alora causes the windows and doors to swing open and shut to the beat of “We Will Rock You.”

Odds are 8:1 Reeny and Paulina. Kaial puts $100 down on them. “It’s for charity.” Lyra goes stealth mode. Guts gets his arm to grab her, and pulls her towards him in a grapple before holding his action. Reaghl leaps out of the pit, grabs two beers. This has ruined Lyra’s plan as she has been shadowing him the whole time. She tries to play statue. “Fuck.”

The crowd is going wild. Reeny is angling for some drops of beer. Reeny says “I have a mountain of jokes. They are all hilarious.” She casts “hideous jokes” on Guts. Guts finds this hilarious, and falls to the ground laughing. At no point does he spill any beer.

Lyra goes to her hip pocket. She pulls out a bag of ball bearings, drops half of them, and then realises it’s sand. Guts laughs at this. She also pulls out the rusty dagger that Kaial gave her. Reeny bonus action hides.

Guts is still rolling on the ground laughing. The crowd is going crazy. “They were 8:1!!!” Guts is no longer bespelled, but he is still laughing at the ball bearings. Reaghl grabs Lyra and grapples her. Lyra impresses the crowd with her strength and ability, but it isn’t quite enough to beat him. Reeny drops down and says “I think we got off on the wrong foot, but I think we can still be friends. Can you please let my friend Lyra go?”

Something in the way she asks makes Reaghl feel like she might not be that bad. She does a little curtsy by pulling out her pockets. Lyra casts Fast Friends with the ref which causes him to call a draw. There is simply no way to pick a winner. The crowd is so impressed by their skill they don’t actually mind.

Reaghl and Guts face off against the champion. The odds are 220:160 for the champ. Lyra puts what she stole as a bet.

Reaghl holds his action. Guts gets the feeling that this is a fatal arena. He shrugs. Ah well, I’ll give him a hit and see what happens. Alora casts subtle tremors through the earth as the crowd holds their breath. Old mate is tatted up with knuckle dusters, but no weapons. Guts strikes with a chromatic orb, disguising it as a punch. He uses an orb of thunder, striking him with an overhand straight into the chest. 4 damage (from 3d8).

Cam the Champ tries to bite Guts’ face. Reaghl intervenes, and as the champ tries to grapple him, Reaghl uses psionic reprisal. The shield comes through, and Cam tries to headbutt him but misses. (11 points of damage) Blue light explodes from Reaghl, Alora creates a crack of thunder, and Cam the Champ is ejected through a window, landing in the water at the dock. Alora: “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand NEW!!!!” The ref walks up and hangs some belts over their shoulders.

Reaghl and Reeny are looking a bit green. Reaghl is holding his empty beer glass. “It tastes so good when it touches your lips!”

Getting Reeny Home

Arawn senses a black dragon somewhere in the city. He talks to Lux, and they know that black dragons can polymorph into people.

We take Reeny home and tuck her into bed. She is pretty drunk. She has dropped her disguise, she waves off the guards. “It’s cool. They’re cool.” She is rambling. We clean her up and put her to bed. She looks at Lyra and says “Lyra… You’re just so fucking cool. I want to leave this place. That was some fucked up shit. If I’m going to be queen of this place, at least I’ve had some fun. I feel like I’ve lived a little bit. That was awesome.”

Lyra: “Just because you’re queen doesn’t mean you can’t have fun.”

Reeny: “Party kingdom.” Alora makes a cutting gesture at her neck… “I don’t know what the deal is with Jesse, but I like him.”

Lyra does a stick figure drawing of the scene for the painting and pins it to the wall.

Lyra’s Thieves’ Guild and the Dungeon

Lyra created a thieves’ guild underneath the castle of Highpoint. It has lots of secret entries and exits, including one that goes to Reeny’s room. Reeny asks Lyra “Do you want to see something cool?” She takes Lyra to the garden at the castle, where there is a portcullis. “Do you want to see the dungeon?” “Ah, yes.”

She takes Lyra down to the dungeon, where she hears other footsteps walking in behind them. There is a hole in the middle of the room. “Have you ever met MooMoo before?” She yells into the pit. “Wake up! MooMoo wake up!” Lyra can see the emaciated body of a person with a snake on her shoulder. MooMoo shakes, and the snake on her shoulder croaks out “What do you want now Reeny?”

“I’ve got Lyra here and I wanted to show her how cool the dungeon is. I want to be queen in a few weeks. Tell me that thing you were telling me about the other week?”

MooMoo recounts how the Unstoppables’ quest to get the potion failed because Nemesis interrupted their quest and took the potion. “We’re still friends, you can tell me everything you know.” MooMoo spills the beans and tells Reeny everything.

Reeny and the Elixir of Undying

Reeny says “Lyra, my coronation is coming up soon and this potion is kind of a big deal. This potion doesn’t just take years off of your life — it makes you live forever. If my dad drank that he would have lived forever. I just need to know where that potion is.”

“Do you want that potion for yourself?”

“It’s my coronary right. My father was 13 when he became king. You don’t want to take a potion so young or you could be a king forever. As soon as you drink it there is a chance you could live forever. The older you are when you take it, the more chance you have of living forever. My dad probably would have lived forever if he had taken it when they had found it. Part of me looks to the future and I feel like I could build, and part of me looks to the past and I see what I have lost.”

Kyle from the Unstoppables is brought in by Clifton the Righteous and 7 other paladins. One of the paladins steps forwards and says “Your crown, Reeny, would you like me to deduce truth.”

“I am sick of forced truths. No one is ever going to be forced to tell the truth again. MooMoo says you couldn’t get the potion because Lyra took it. What is your truth?”

Kyle gulps. “Look, I mean, it was a long day. I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t see who took it. I don’t even know if it was in the box. Guys, there are so many of you. This is very flattering, I have to say. MooMoo was given a job. She failed. You can’t blame me for that. As for this Nemesis crew, ah who really knows the truth.” He shuts his mouth.

Reeny looks at Lyra. “What happened Lyra?”

“I’ll tell you, but not here.” Lyra explains the past and the role of going down to save the church and the water source. She tells of collecting the box, and not understanding what it was. The goblin girl gave it to Lyra, who gave it to Lux. It wasn’t until later that we even remembered it because she couldn’t open the box. Kaial died, and we brought him back. I’m sorry to say this but Lux gave him the potion, and I didn’t think twice about it. I didn’t realise the necessity of it. If it is that important to you though I’m trying to build something, and I’m sure we can find another for you.

25 deception check re. goblin girl giving it to her. 20 persuasion on finding a new one.

Reeny: “I get it. I aspire to be exactly like you. I would have done the same thing. It’s just different now. I just don’t know. I have all of these responsibilities. Do I let other people call the shots or do I try to lead and be better than what I was the first time we met. I don’t care either way. If my dad was still here he’d probably run this place forever. Now that he’s gone I can possibly do the same thing. I guess time will tell.”

Lyra sees truth in her face. She holds out her finger for a pinky swear. “Can we just be truthful with each other? I want to build this entire empire with you by my side.” They pinky swear.

We go back to the room and sleep.

Alora’s Dreams — Ilmater and the Kaial/Kyle Soul

Kaial approaches Alora and tells her that when he tries to scry for his little brother he keeps seeing Kyle from the Unstoppables. Kyle also tells Alora about being pulled into the dungeons with Lyra and Reeny. He has all of the memories from when he met us, but it feels like they belong to another person. He no longer talks as much about the fame and money, but he is still a little annoying. He says he feels like he is the little brother and the other one is the big brother. He remembers the night she pulled him from the void, and they banished him. He went to darkness.

Alora has moments when she is talking to Ilmater in her dreams. He says that all worlds were destroyed except for this one. Ilmater appears in her dreams as pristine, and the cuts now appear on Alora. He says he sees all worlds, and the reason why people see him as covered in cuts is because of the lich. He has been restored to what he was before Occhio Voir attempted to take his position.

Alora talks to Ilmater about Kaial. “Because of the corruption, our Kaial is the big brother. Kyle is the little brother from the other world that was destroyed. The tethers of souls is not black and white. One of the souls you saved that night is incomplete.” He offers the advice to find a way to resolve the incomplete soul. “When the time comes, do what you do. Call on me when you do.” We need to fix the bond that is broken + divine intervention/revivify to fill the void of the body. Kyle from the Unstoppables does not currently have a soul, though the soul exists. It’s in a “waiting room” where the god of death is waiting for the ledger to balance properly.

Alora feels as though she could give life to anything, even though it’s outside the traditional bounds of a cleric.

Kasros Dazzlebelt

When we go to the artificer’s tower we recognise the style of their design and craft. Kasros Dazzlebelt is chilling in the observatory. We introduce ourselves. “I have been talking with my brother who is stationed in Fork.” He looks at Lyra. “He said you extracted something terrible.”

Reaghl shrugs. “We’ve done some work in Silverton and Fork.”

“So you know about the black pyramid floating near Fork? I would have very much liked to have seen it. I can only imagine it’s somewhere at the bottom of the ocean I guess.”

Reaghl shows him his rustic and rudimentary shield with his clamped blades. Dazzlebelt states “It looks like the craftsmanship of the Durgans. Interesting.”

“There is a sword I’ve heard of which will allow you to create damage or defence. I want it to be detachable so that it can fit any shield.”

“You want a magical sword in a shield?” Dazzlebelt agrees to see what he can do.

Reaghl wants some armour and weapons from the artificer. 3K ring of protection.

Heading to the Castle of Azir

Lux wants to go to Azir’s tower which is a beacon of necrotic power. He would like to destroy it and liberate the people inside. All of the undead will only go in the perimeter of the tower.

Kaial tells the story of meeting Lux when Reaghl was being ripped away by the army. “Guts (aka fatso) lost his shit and started attacking us. When you were taken away, the army kept fighting us, not satisfied with just taking you. An angel from the heavens (except it was dark and I don’t have night vision so I couldn’t really see him) swept in with a huge owl. You both have a big fuckin fireball in common, Reaghl.” Reaghl now understands who Lux is.

Alora tries to scry for Azir but she can’t find anything for him.

On the Road

We go through Midguard and we hear about the land melting away. There is a fancy caravan (like a circus) that we pass along the way.

“Welcome to the carnival headed to… If you’re interested in seeing some high quality entertainment, head on down to the Witchlight Carnival. We trade in delight. The delight of the Witchlight Carnival. We expect to stay in Highpoint for quite some time. Tickets are 5 gold a piece. You look like the rich folk about here. Keep your children close. They tend to go missing. Not in the sus way. The adventuring kind of way.”

He looks at Arawn. “You’ve got the look of the fey about you.”

On the trail, we come across some gnomes who have some mushrooms. Reaghl, Guts and Lyra partake. It’s not peer pressure. It’s just their turn.

Reaghl becomes free. He starts to take his clothes off, chanting “I am a free man!” It ends up taking three days to walk through the forest. At various points, ten gnomes pitch in to carry one of them. Kaial joins in. “I can see my mother.” There is a lot of throwing up, but it’s a good time.

There is an extensive gloom emanating from our destination. People talk about waves of light coming through the night, like an aurora. The gnomes talk to Arawn who speaks Gnomish about the history of the missing Coatl, and they are happy to see Arawn and Kaial again. They give them 5 more mushrooms, as well as a batch of magical gemstones as luck. They can be used to imbue magic in something and enable a common item to gain a magical property.

There is a little fairy without wings who is riding a tiny dragon in the group. He flies around Arawn, looking at him. “Do you remember me? If you don’t mind, I’d like it to be just like old times.” As Arawn darts through the forest, the little dragon flies along with him.

Reaghl checks with Lux that he is actually seeing this, and he hasn’t just taken extra strong mushrooms. Some of the little gnomes come up to the little dragon, sensing something but not able to see him. The dragon is red.

We sleep and have a long rest.

Arriving at the Castle of Azir

Arawn’s black dragon sense pings. We are far away from Highpoint. During the night we hear the roars of the hydra who is safe and back at Lake Hydra. The black dragon is in the vicinity of the lake. It comes in and out of the range of Arawn’s senses. It is definitely on the move.

On the afternoon of the third day we arrive at the forest outside the Castle of Azir. We set up camp. It is overcast and filled with dread. We can see in a high room which Lux knows to be the headmaster’s office. There is a light on. The tower is black onyx and has a sense of dread to it. It is dirty with mould and ivy hanging off of it. At the base is a swamp with undead. It looks like the marshes of the dead. We see a campfire around the perimeter towards the south, a few miles from us. There is a person and a campfire and a makeshift shanty. The campfire is outside of the danger zone. There are three miles between us and the wall, and then another 500 ft from the wall to the castle. The gnomes have now left us.

Caldwell — Azir’s Father

We head down towards the campfire. It’s about 4pm. He is roasting some mutton on the campfire. “Oh, hello. Who’s there? Show yourselves?” His sight isn’t great. We walk up to the campfire through the gloom. We see an old decrepit man sitting down. “Hello?”

Reaghl asks “Why are you here in the shadow of Azir’s tower?”

“My name is Caldwell and I have come down from Orly to get my son back.”

“Is your son a member of the necromancer’s tower?”

“Yes, but I haven’t heard from him in days. How many of you are there? My son is missing. I need some help to get him back. I’d be keen for some company. I’ve been out here for a few days.”

Guts offers him some mushrooms. The blindness in the old man’s eyes is evident. “I gave that up a long time ago young man. You can call me Cal. I don’t actually like being called Caldwell. It’s a funny story. Cal is fine. I’m just really missing my boy. I just want my boy back.”

“I too was an apprentice here once and made my escape,” Lux states. “I think you should go home and wait for your son.”

“I don’t know if you know what the land is being destroyed. I had to leave my wife behind and the only thing I could think of was to come back and get my boy.”

Alora can see that he is telling the truth, but his mind doesn’t seem right. She casts Greater Restoration on the old man. Lux seems to remember the voice from the castle. His memories start to return, and we realise it’s Azir’s father. He failed to take his boy from the necromancer’s castle. He tells the story of his son who went off to learn these arts, and it was a bad idea to send him away. Azir’s father, who Azir experimented on, led to his own father’s insanity. Rather than face what he did, he just locked him away. Caldwell is called that because he fell down a well and it was cold. He is stuck in a loop of trying to rescue his kid. We see an old man coming to grips with his truth. He was in Orly, but that was thirty years ago. His father seems honest and kind. He talks about being used to be a servant. He was training to be a butler.

Lux tells him to stop looking backwards and start looking forwards. He should go to Highpoint and live out the rest of his life in a clean city full of opportunity. Alora casts Heroes’ Feast. We leave him in the shanty.

Entering the Castle

As we sneak across the marsh, the light in the headmaster’s room is hard to see if the light is still on. Lux knows that there are also underground parts of the castle. We know that the apprentices have been imprisoned in the lower floors. We approach the door. Lyra checks the door and slowly unlocks it. As she opens it, Alora can feel the door open from the other side. Azir is standing on the other side of the door. “I was wondering when you’d arrive.” He looks at Lux. “Come in my boy. We have a wonderful program prepared for you.”

Arawn shoots an arrow. The arrow passes straight through Azir and hits the end of the hallway in a burst of light. As Azir passes through the hallway, the doors swing shut behind him. There is a staircase leading up and a staircase leading down.

Lux manages to convince the high council about how to move the city across the planes.

Items & Loot

• Communication bracelets from Reeny (1000 ft range) — worn by all except Reaghl and Alora
• Fight club championship belts (Reaghl and Guts)
• 5 mushrooms from the gnomes
• Magical gemstones (can imbue a common item with a magical property)
• Ring of Protection (3,000 gp, from Kasros Dazzlebelt)

NPCs Encountered

• Princess Reeny — soon-to-be Queen of Highpoint. Showed vulnerability beneath the confidence. Got spectacularly drunk. Revealed knowledge of the Elixir of Undying and her father’s legacy.
• MooMoo — prisoner in Highpoint’s dungeon, emaciated with a snake on her shoulder. Former member of the Unstoppables. Spilled information about the potion quest to Reeny.
• Kyle — from the Unstoppables. Brought before Reeny by Clifton the Righteous. Now feels like the “little brother” to Kaial — an incomplete soul from a destroyed world.
• Clifton the Righteous — paladin, accompanied by 7 other paladins. Brought Kyle to Reeny.
• Kasros Dazzlebelt — artificer with an observatory in Highpoint. Brother stationed in Fork. Agreed to craft Reaghl a magical sword-in-shield.
• Caldwell (Cal) — Azir’s father. Old, blind, mind broken by Azir’s experiments. Stuck in a loop trying to rescue his son. Greater Restoration restored his memories. Was in Orly thirty years ago.
• Azir (projection) — appeared at the castle door. “Come in my boy.”
• Cam the Champ — fight club champion at Shanty Stabaroo. Ejected through a window into the dock.
• Witchlight Carnival barker — passing through on the road to Highpoint.
• Fairy on a tiny red dragon — recognised Arawn from old times.
• Ilmater — appeared to Alora in dreams, pristine and restored. Explained the Kaial/Kyle soul situation.

Notable Quotes

• Reeny (stealth 30): “I am the shadow.”
• Reeny (drunk, to Lyra): “Lyra… You’re just so fucking cool. I want to leave this place.”
• Reeny: “Party kingdom.”
• Reeny: “I am sick of forced truths. No one is ever going to be forced to tell the truth again.”
• Lyra and Reeny: Pinky swear — “Can we just be truthful with each other? I want to build this entire empire with you by my side.”
• Alora: “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand NEW!!!!”
• Reaghl (on mushrooms): “I am a free man!”
• Kaial (on mushrooms): “I can see my mother.”
• Caldwell: “I’m just really missing my boy. I just want my boy back.”
• Azir (projection): “I was wondering when you’d arrive. Come in my boy. We have a wonderful program prepared for you.”
• Kaial, introducing Lux to Reaghl: “You both have a big fuckin fireball in common, Reaghl.”