Session 15 Player Notes — The Tower of Light

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

Explored Azir’s headmaster’s office: found keys, a telescope, an experimented-on paladin, and Azir’s lab
Discovered the Ball of R&R (Rest and Requirement) — a portable luxury spa room
Found the Grimoire of Shadows by Lord Jergal, containing Kelemvor’s Communion spell
Kaial used the Sword of Light and Lux channelled his guide to shatter the Shadowfell anchor crystal, re-anchoring the tower to Mount Celestia
Trapped Azir’s soul permanently in the Ring of Mind Shielding, then Lux disintegrated his body
The Castle of Azir becomes the Tower of Light — a beacon of hope worth 120,000 platinum
Attended Queen Reeny’s coronation; party named Protectors of Highpoint

Session Notes

The Headmaster’s Office

The damage from the Meteor Storm causes one of the spires to collapse. Alora sees Nazir’s body and a keychain laying half out of his pocket. She dashes over to grab the keychain. It’s a circular steel ring with 5 keys. They are plain-looking, almost like they aren’t a part of the design of this building. She takes 17 points of damage.

We are 500 feet in the air. There are flat walls, and outside is the Shadowfell. We can’t see the ground from where we are as the darkness blocks out the view. We head back through the teleportation circle.

We are back in the room where there was the lever. It is no longer an empty room. The reverse gravity spell ends, and we fall to the floor. This is the top level room in the tower. This seems where Nazir has provided his demonstration.

We see a telescope looking into the Shadowfell, there is a table with a humanoid figure strapped to it, there are books, shelves with potions.

Lux casts Detect Magic. Tensions are high as we come in off our massive battle. There was an illusion spell designed to make the room appear empty. The table the figure is on has a circle around it approximately 20 feet in diameter. It looks charred and burned, similar to what we saw in Fork. The figure’s arms are back and shackled.

The Creature on the Table

Lyra investigates the room. She walks up to the table. The body is twisted and distorted, pale with pulsing black veins. It was once a well-trained warrior, but is now skeletal. The pair of wings have been pinned on its back and the flesh is taut. She senses an aura from the creature, the sense of damp paper on a dry day. It was probably once a man but has undergone a transformation leaving it monstrous. She makes out the rising and lowering of its chest. It seems like it’s breathing, but is too infrequent to seem alive.

There are three empty vials next to it. Across the room is a red curtain over the wall and we can see it shuddering. Lyra heads over to the curtain. It shudders then goes flat. Behind it is a mirror. It’s like looking through one-way glass. Someone is in the mirror, banging and trying to get Lyra’s attention. Lyra can’t make anything too recognisable. The hand seems like it’s wearing Kaial’s gloves. Lyra puts her hand to the mirror, and Guts grabs her just in case. Lyra’s hand sinks into the mirror and she feels herself being pulled in.

Kaial is panicking trying not to pull her in. Everyone runs over to help, and with a burst we fall back, pulling Kaial into the room. “God damn! Don’t go in mirrors. It’s weird, you could go around the whole castle looking through mirrors.”

Alora: “Would have been helpful to have you in the Meteor Shower.”

Kaial: “Sorry I missed the show.” Lays healing hands on Reaghl. “That mirror did not go where they said it would go.” He gives Lyra a hug.

Everyone goes over to look at the body. “We should stab it,” Lyra exclaimed. Alora looks at her. We feel an aura similar to what Kaial has. The aura and scents do not give us a monstrous feeling. When Azir was running the castle he had a paladin bodyguard, who over time went into servitude with Azir. He kind of looks like that guy. It’s hard to tell.

There are three vials of blood next to him. There are the effects of a spell that have been cast in this area. Azir or someone has cast this spell on this thing. The last time we saw something like this was the blob-sister in Fork. He appears to be resisting this spell. The vials are empty, but spattered with blood. Lux reveals that this must be one of his attempts to use Aasimar blood to create a new creature: an undead that isn’t undead. There are two shackles on the wrist and on the legs. The brass shackles are emitting magical auras. Lux has seen these before in books. They are dimensional shackles: they prevent creatures from using extra-dimensional travel, though not going through a portal. It’s possible you could wear these while travelling through a portal to the Far Realm and not experience the full effect. One of the wizards to have travelled through this was Occhio Voir.

Kaial: “I’ve got Sister in a jar. I’m not walking around with this. I put her in the basement of the house Reeny gave us.” Reaghl: “You put her in our house?!?!”

Kaial: “Look, I can kind of get in her head.” Reaghl: “Just do Greater Restoration.”

Kaial: “I can’t do that. That’s Alora’s gig! I can still hear Sister screaming, but I can’t hear this guy at all.”

Lyra: “We had three weeks off. You could have mentioned this at any time. Even I would have put her out of her misery.”

Kaial: “I think there is a path. I think we should take the shackles off it.” Kaial goes over and tries to take off the shackles on the legs. Lux walks over and runs his hands over the sigils. It clicks open, and Lux now owns a pair of inter-dimensional shackles.

The Ball of R&R

In the room is a little silver ball with a button on top. Guts is halfway to pressing the button when Reaghl yells at him to stop. Guts presses the button.

He bursts into a room with a little bed, the view is whatever he wants it to be. It’s a great little chill-out room with snacks. There is a wooden hot tub in the corner and a good-looking woman with towels. There is fresh soap with a stamp in it. Guts gets into the bath and has a good old scrub. Someone massages some shampoo into his scalp. There is soft music playing in the background. The background music amps up and Led Zeppelin bursts into the room. He finishes up and Guts finally presses the button.

Reaghl scowls. “Why do you smell like you’ve had a bath?”

Lyra presses the button. “His hair looks nice. I’m going in.” There is a massage bed and a masseuse. There is some tea and a book. The servant brings her a pint of beer which she skulls. Lyra feels incredibly relaxed. Before she comes back, Reaghl presses the button. He enters then leaves.

Guts presses the button, and Lyra is ejected. All of a sudden it’s just Guts and Reaghl in the room.

“What happens if we shake the ball?” Arawn surmises. We keep the Ball of R&R (Rest and Requirement).

The Grimoire of Shadows

We find a book called the Grimoire of Shadows: Unveiling the Secrets of Necromancy. Written by Lord Jergal. Lux and Alora recognise that he is the right hand man to Kelemvor, the god of death. Jergal would be the guy running background checks and keeping demons away. He was a man on the material plane who was a warrior and worked his way up to this position. He was called “the Lord at the End of Everything.” The book is bound with human skin and bone, adorned with blood and grotesque symbols. Inside, the parchment is made of vellum. The book doesn’t appear to be magical, but we recognise that the book is probably priceless. The book is quite a tome. The opening paragraph reads:

Delves into the art of necromancy. Often misunderstood. Master of death, magic, or just wish to understand, this tome serves as an invaluable resource. Spell is Kelemvor’s Communion — beseech the god of death to give an audience. Can speak with him for up to one hour, ask up to 10 questions related to the dead or afterlife.

Kaial is going to stay with the creature as he doesn’t want to leave it and won’t drag it around with the group. This version of the castle is in the Shadowfell. If we break the anchor we will disconnect this castle from the one in the material plane.

Lux picked up an item in the desert — Callum’s Cubic Gate — which allows up to 8 people to shift from one plane to another.

Kaial casts his scrying spell but can’t see Nazir. It could be because he is dead, or because he is in the material plane.

The Dungeon — Dead Students and Ghosts

We head down to the dungeon. We see dead 12-17 year olds, and ghost-like figures who are sobbing and screaming. There is a glowing figure walking among the ghosts. When he touches them they disappear. We don’t see anything, only Lyra sees them.

There is an area at the end of the room that looks like an experimentation zone and a well. Lyra kneels next to the closest one. She places her hand on the kid’s head, putting her hand through the bars. Her hand goes through the body, but the head turns and looks at her. It starts screaming again. “Where am I? I don’t know this place. I just want to go back. I’m a student at Azir’s castle. He locked us up. There was shaking, we couldn’t get through the bars and now I’m here. I heard a click and now I’m here.” Lyra tries to calm them and tell them she will figure out what’s happened. The ghost reaches out to Lyra. Her form passes through her, but she calms down. The glowing figure is still walking through the figures, and they seem to be calming. No one else sees anything.

Not knowing what to do, we move forward. We stand at a well which leads to the depths of a hole. The edges are rough and uneven. The room smells musty and damp, and there is a faint dripping of water. Near the well is a lever. There are bars that are closing off the well. There are experimentation tools and a bookshelf.

Letters and the Canoloth Trade

There is a letter: “Hey Azir… mentioned wanting to trade a Nightmare Orb for 2 Canoloths. Trade with Yelsid, General of the Yugoloths. If you want more you can breed them yourself. I’ll send them over. Enclosed in a box for the orb.”

There is a book beside it — The Care and Feeding of Canoloths by Zoltan, Exotic Creature Tamer of the Hostlers and Stablehands Guild of Zazesspur:

“Welcome to the world of Canoloths. These creatures are one of the most unique and dangerous creatures found in the Lower Planes. With their sharp teeth, acidic bile, and iron-like skin, they are capable of taking down even the most skilled of adventurers. But with proper care and feeding, they can become loyal companions and deadly assets to any fiendish army.”

A letter from Yelsid, General of the Yugoloths:

“So you wants some Canoloths, eh? Well, I can’t blame ya. Those bad boys are tough as nails and mean as all get out. But here’s the thing, I don’t just lend out my troops without getting somethin’ in return… I heard you got your hands on a Nightmare Orb. Now, that’s somethin’ we could use. So, how ‘bout you give me that Orb, and I’ll send ya two Canoloths… Now, I gotta warn ya, these Canoloths ain’t like nothin’ you’ve ever seen before. They’re nasty, smelly, and they ain’t too fond of strangers. But if you can keep ‘em in line, they’ll do what you want ‘em to do… Don’t cross me or I’ll send it back after ya!”

Serafina Dreamweaver and the Anchor

Lyra enters the well. There is an entry into a beautiful rainbow garden. There is a gorgeous woman picking mushrooms. She doesn’t notice her. The woman is very bright and bursting with colour, but has a shadow peeling off, going into the rainbow of the area that she is in. The shadow gets drowned out by all of the colour.

She is Serafina Dreamweaver. There is a black crystal oozing shadows which seems to be the anchor. There are also 6 Canoloths down the well.

Kaial arrives, with the body of the creature over his shoulder. “Do you know where I got this sword? You guys were in the frog lake, which is where I got this. There was a statue in the middle of the lake, this sword of light and it was so dark. I had to fight a huge skeleton on a skeleton horse. I took the sword. The statue had the sword of light which stopped the shadows. Let’s use this to prevent the shadows or whatever is trying to cross. Or we can make it a celestial anchor.”

Lux: “We could make this a channel to heaven.” There seems to be an incompatibility between Lux and Alora (lore vs. belief) and they have been trying to find their joint skill. We are going to go down and see if we can channel the anchor to a radiant/plane of light.

Kaial hands Lyra the sword. Kaial casts Bless on the group.

Breaking the Anchor — Re-anchoring to Mount Celestia

We enter the well.

She asks us: “What is your purpose for being here?”

Lux: “To turn away the darkness. I am the light bearer.”

Serafina — still picking mushrooms. She previously stated the Canoloths… “The Aasimar that Azir has been searching for?” She looks at Lux.

“Azir is dead.”

“Hard to get rid of Azir. Path continues.”

“Banished from this plane he is.”

“This channel is stuck. Hard to banish the crossover.”

“This crystal — what is it to you? How do we reverse the flow of energy towards light rather than drawing darkness?”

“This crystal is too strong. We’ve tried to sever it.” Lux draws the sword.

“Perhaps today is the day that we break it.” The crystal is in a room with 6 Canoloths. Lyra asks how to manage the Canoloths.

“You walk into the room, give them a belly rub and then kick them.” She walks into the room, her eyes glow, she turns and they begin destroying each other.

The tower is shaking and things seem to be getting worse. Lux upcasts Light on the crystal and channels his guide. As Lux’s hands lay on the crystal, the guide’s golden hands encase his. The cavern splits in two.

Alora puts her hand on Lux, and funnels the damage through her and back into the Words of Radiance, and they combat the darkness together.

Lyra grabs the sword. She runs up the wall, jumps off the ceiling, backflips and then drives the sword into the crystal.

Arawn casts Ensnaring Strike on the room, which grows out and the entire cavern roof is covered with vines. They help drive Lyra down towards the stone, and then they drive into the crystal. Roots of gold crack through the crystal, spilling light.

Reaghl walks over and puts his hands on the crystal. He uses psionic reprisal to feed the negative back into the crystal. The darkness is trying to envelop the room.

Kaial interjects over the telepathy bond — “How’s everything going down there?”

“Not now!” Reaghl snaps.

“This guy is getting really heavy,” Kaial intones.

The back of the cavern splits off, and waterfalls of light spill in from Mount Celestia. The light is so dense it moves like water. Lyra is knocked off the crystal, but is encased in the protective vine of Arawn. The cavern is completely filling with light, and a cocoon of roots encases us.

The sword in the crystal is now glowing from the inside. The vines have shattered and are now retracting, the crystal is reforming and the inside of our cocoon is now glowing extremely brightly.

Kaial can hear the group. “Is everything okay?” We seem to be cut off from him. Lux cuts off from the crystal and pulls Alora with him. The crystal is so bright, and the vibration and torrent of light seems to be over.

Arawn shoots at the very top of the bud-like structure. The petals of the cocoon unfurl, and we find ourselves standing in a beautiful field of wheat and green pastures. We are in Mount Celestia, thousands of kilometres away.

“Kaial is going to be pissed that we left him behind again,” Guts grumbles.

The voice in Lux’s head says “Remember what you started.” Lux puts his hand on the crystal and focuses on the castle. It’s hard to feel any particular connection to anything. While we are trying to decide what to do, Guts pulls out the Ball of R&R. Lux plane shifts us back to our plane where the tower is. As we take one last look back at the sky and the most beautiful landscape that all of us have ever seen or ever will see.

Returning to the Tower

There is no connection to Kaial as we return to where we last left him. We go downstairs. Some of the students are dead on the floor. Some of them are alive. One of the students explains there was a trap that shot them all, but he has run out of the ability to heal them. The student — Harris — looks very young, about 15 or 16. As soon as he arrived he hated it.

The ghost that Lyra tried to help is a young child, now lying dead on the floor. Lyra closes her eyes and tells her that she’s sorry.

There are capsules floating around the room. There is a muddy-looking Azir sitting at the desk sending the capsules into the air. We understand that this is an important part of the castle. We find diary entries from Azir detailing the experiments that he had run on Lux. It details all of the things that he would experiment on.

Kaial reappears. “The whole thing collapsed. I kept on pulling the lever, nothing happened, a weird lady yelled at me. I’m so sorry. I can’t begin to imagine the terrible places you’ve been. I had to come back.” The mark on his neck is inflamed and there is black spreading out over his neck and shoulder. Lux soothes him, laying hands on him and giving him ten points of healing. He had been stuck under all of the rubble. “And this bitch was just trying to give me mushrooms.”

Arawn gives Kaial wheat seeds from Celestia.

Imprisoning Azir

We find a chest with a scroll of cloning, two diamonds worth 1,000 gold pieces each, and a teleportation circle.

Alora looks into the scrying circle. She sees Azir in the tank.

Kaial pulls out the Ring of Mind Shielding. He hands the Ring of Mind Shielding to Lux. We know his soul is here, so if we imprison him we could prevent his soul from going into another body. We would need to make him attune to the ring, so that if he dies when he is attuned he will be trapped inside.

Lux attempts to persuade Azir who is in the tank to attune to the ring.

“My boy. It seems I don’t have much of a choice, as I’m sure you know. Three times a charm, I guess.”

Guts hears: “Blast, there’s no way out of this mess. As long as the fool never knows that while his blood runs through my veins.” Guts is hearing about all of Azir’s experiments on his father and Lux. He has put Lux’s blood into his, knowing that if he ever dies there is a chance he could live for eternity in Lux’s head and will be able to manipulate Lux.

We pull him out of the chamber. Azir is attuned to the ring. He sends Lux a message through a spell: “There’s no need to be afraid my boy. I’m proud of you. Bold move. Tell Serafina that the mushroom soup is very good.”

Lux wants to cast Disintegrate. Kaial offers to hold him up. Lux murmurs: “People might say that I wouldn’t do this to my worst enemy. I’m not doing this to you. You did this to yourself.” A beam of green light spirals down to Azir, and dust swirls and disperses, drawn into the ring and falling to the ground.

Kaial steps up and puts his hand on Lux’s shoulder. “I know how much that actually would have hurt to go through that process on someone else. It was a necessity and I’m with you. We’ll make sure that this is not a mistake, but an opportunity. We are all here for you. This tower will be a testament to that hard decision. Guts — you should have done the job right the first time.”

The Tower of Light

Welcome to the Tower of Light, valued at 120,000 platinum pieces. As the sun rises, it feels like the sky in Mount Celestia. Kaial sighs happily. “That’s a beautiful sight.” Lux invites the students to stay if they wish, but there will be no necromancy practised at the tower.

We have created not just a tower of light, but a beacon. People gather at the tower, requesting to stay and set up farms.

Queen Reeny’s Coronation

We attend Reeny’s coronation. We are made guests of honour and there is a landing at the castle where she will be presented her crowns. We are guests of honour, but it would also be great if we could act as her bodyguards.

The group sources the Elixir of Youth for Reeny and gives it to her. The team presents Queen Reeny the elixir, and then places the crown on her head. The city of Highpoint erupts into cheers. She gives us the title: Protectors of Highpoint. The crowd cheers. Reeny leans in: “Enjoy it — it kind of gets old.”

The Queen’s Declaration

At the third coronation of Highpoint, Queen Reeny released this Declaration to her people:

The Queen’s Declaration

By delivery within the ordinance of Ao and according to our just title as ‘Defender of Hightaeria’, and Supreme Governor of the Churches, within these dominions we hold ‘this document’ as most agreeable to our Queenly office.

The Council pronounce the following laws upon our citizens, any being or soulless entity on the grounds of Highpoint:

Magic, of any sort, of the following schools is hereby forbidden, sanctioned, without the proper permits, through the penalty of immediate banishment (for 1 minute) to the realm of fire:

Necromancy (ie Finger of Death) (but also Revivify)

Enchantment (ie Zone of Truth)

Divination (ie Detect Thoughts)

Further, I hereby declare:

The Council of Stewards is immediately and without rebut, disbanded and all claims from its affiliates and members to permits, land and titles are revoked

That all members of The Opposable Force are drawn into immediate servitude of the Monarch and all Oaths are directed to myself, the Crown and members of the Milford Monarchy

A reward of 100,000 GP will be provided to anyone returning the Elixir of Undying that was intended for my Father back to the Monarch, as rightful owners, as is our birth right, and correcting the desecration of our coronary rights

We are the Supreme Governor of the Churches; and the Ilmater Clerics, from time to time in large assembly, shall have licence under our broad seal to deliberate… from which we will not endure any varying or departing in the least degree.

Items & Loot

Keychain with 5 keys — from Nazir’s body
Dimensional Shackles — brass, prevent extra-dimensional travel (Lux took them)
Ball of R&R (Rest and Requirement) — silver ball with button, creates a luxury spa room
Grimoire of Shadows by Lord Jergal — bound in human skin, contains Kelemvor’s Communion spell (1 hour audience, 10 questions about the dead/afterlife)
Callum’s Cubic Gate — allows up to 8 people to shift between planes (Lux had from the desert)
The Care and Feeding of Canoloths — book by Zoltan
Scroll of Cloning
Two diamonds worth 1,000 gp each
Teleportation circle (found in chest)
Ring of Mind Shielding — now contains Azir’s soul, eternally imprisoned
Azir’s diary entries — detailing experiments on Lux
Wheat seeds from Mount Celestia (Arawn gave to Kaial)
Title: Protectors of Highpoint — granted by Queen Reeny

NPCs Encountered

Serafina Dreamweaver — gorgeous woman in a rainbow garden beneath the tower, picking mushrooms. Helped deal with the Canoloths. Guardian of the anchor area.
Azir (in the tank) — final form. Tricked into attuning to the Ring of Mind Shielding. Disintegrated by Lux. Soul eternally imprisoned. “Tell Serafina that the mushroom soup is very good.”
Harris — young student (15-16), survivor in the tower. Hated it from the moment he arrived.
Kaial — got stuck in mirror-land, then under rubble when the tower collapsed. “A weird lady yelled at me.” Mark on neck inflamed with spreading black corruption.
Queen Reeny — crowned at her coronation. Named Nemesis as Protectors of Highpoint. Issued a sweeping Declaration banning necromancy, enchantment, and divination without permits. Put a 100,000 GP bounty on the Elixir of Undying.
Yelsid, General of the Yugoloths — traded 2 Canoloths to Azir for a Nightmare Orb (via letter)

Notable Quotes

Lyra: “We should stab it.”
Reaghl: “You put her in our house?!?!”
Reaghl: “Why do you smell like you’ve had a bath?”
Lyra: “His hair looks nice. I’m going in.”
Kaial: “How’s everything going down there?” / Reaghl: “Not now!” / Kaial: “This guy is getting really heavy.”
Guts: “Kaial is going to be pissed that we left him behind again.”
Kaial: “The whole thing collapsed… a weird lady yelled at me… And this bitch was just trying to give me mushrooms.”
Lux (to Azir): “People might say that I wouldn’t do this to my worst enemy. I’m not doing this to you. You did this to yourself.”
Azir (final words): “There’s no need to be afraid my boy. I’m proud of you. Bold move. Tell Serafina that the mushroom soup is very good.”
Guts (hearing Azir’s thoughts): “Blast, there’s no way out of this mess. As long as the fool never knows that while his blood runs through my veins.”
Kaial (to Lux, after disintegration): “I know how much that actually would have hurt to go through that process on someone else. It was a necessity and I’m with you… Guts — you should have done the job right the first time.”
Reeny (at coronation): “Enjoy it — it kind of gets old.”
Serafina (on managing Canoloths): “You walk into the room, give them a belly rub and then kick them.”