Blood of the Earth - Session Synopsis 8

Blood of the Earth – Session 8 Synopsis (May 2073)
(via Brooks, via Shadow)
The group started out traveling to Denver again, because the Dagger and the Dragon Book both pointed to a significant event in Denver. Steel, having learned from the last visit, projected ahead to let Ghostwalker know we were coming. The group met with Ghostwalker (holy crap that dragon is HUGE) in his own lair to find out who the new Lorekeeper was. The group learned the hard way that all magic ceases to function in Ghostwalker’s lair, including forcing Shadow to his tiger form. Shadow was provided with an amulet that would allow him to change shape back to human form. During discussions, Ghostwalker informed the team that Hestaby was named the new Lorekeeper and even “offered” to take the Dragon Book to Hestaby. The team decided that, in order to meet the agreement made concerning return of the Book, that they would return it to Hestaby in person.

The team then travelled Portland in order to meet with Hestaby. After setting up a meeting time and place, the team travelled to the border of Hestaby’s territory on Mount Shasta. There, the Memory Gem (Book of Dragon Lore) was returned to Hestaby, who graciously allowed them to leave without incident.

The next point of greatest possibility was determined to be an island off the coast of Greece, as this was where the Book of Light directed. The team was able to do some research on the island and found that the island apparently turned into a huge magic surge area sometime after the awakening. Many teams were sent in to study the effects over the next several years. Then, about 50 years ago, all teams sent in to study the island disappeared. Now, any team sent to the islands fails to return.

The team landed their jet about a mile from the island and used a small inflatable boat to travel the rest of the way to the island. They circled the island after Shadow noticed that there was a path leading up to a deserted city coming from the other side. When the team made it to the other side of the island, Shadow stepped onto the path, causing it to turn red. This, of course, caused the team some trepidation, which resulted in them traveling to the Ruins via the woods, instead of the path. Upon arrival, Shadow noted a ward circling the ruins, which Rain was able to study then dispel. Once they crossed the former barrier, a red glow surrounded the party. Unable to do anything about the glow, the team proceeded into the ruins, where they discovered two things. 1- Once inside the actual ruins, the glow ceased and 2- there were several inscriptions on the ruins themselves. Rain and Steel were able to translate as “Death to all who enter except the bearers.” Not to be deterred, the team still continued into the ruins.

The team camped out in the ruins until the anticipated D-Day. As midnight on D-Day, the temple apparently transported them approximately 22,000 years back into the past, to a point prior to the creation of the Dagger. The temple at this time was intact and the village was actually populated. Rain wanted to insert the Dagger into the altar that appeared, but the team convinced her that they should investigate the village first. Upon travelling back across the barrier circling the ruins, Shadow noticed that each of the team was now a manifested spirit. They decided to continue traveling to the village, which appeared to be divided into 7 factions. One section was only a single building, and apparently contained a bound and contained Shedim.

The team attempted to sneak into the village, but were seen (even in the astral plane) by one of the guards. They were able to convince the guard to let them pass, and travelled to the hut of an elderly elf. After some discussion, they were able to determine that they were actually astral echos of Arachne (the Dagger), at least as they existed in that time period. The team also determined that Arachne was actually a divination spell, apparently the most power divination spell ever created or cast. The team also discussed the current temple on the hill with the elderly elf, and he seemed surprised that there was an altar in the temple. The elf also indicated that not everyone should know about Arachne or the fact that they had travelled back in time (or actually been projected back in time as an astral echo). The team figured this was simply a way for the elf to secure some sort of advantage for the Elven faction. During the discussions, the team also found out that the Fey were called Islani at this time in history.

Next thing they knew, the team was back in the present, with no knowledge of what happened when they went back in time. All that Shadow remembered was that someone (something) scanned his entire memory and then an incredible sense of dread, then nothing. Apparently, not everyone was affected in this way, and the team was able to piece some things together about the trip back through time.

They waited around in the ruins for a few more minutes trying to decide what to do next (the team was split on how to proceed), when they were transported back in time again, but not to the exact same time as the previous trip. This time, when examining the village, the team noted that the Fey faction portion of the village appeared to be much smaller. Obviously a result of what we told the elderly elf during our first visit. The team decided to travel back to the village to investigate, and this time the village guard actually welcomed them to the village instead of blocking the path as the guard did on their previous visit. The decision was to travel to the Dragon faction, but the team was attacked by tendrils of magic and pulled into a magical circle in the Fey faction. Completely overcome by magically induced pain for several minutes, they were then questioned by the Fey mage regarding what was told to the elderly elf on their first visit. How the Fey knew of the first visit is unknown at this time. The Fey mage appeared to be more of an amorphous blob than an actual form, but was somewhat bipedal. After some minutes Rain and Steel answered the mage’s questions. At that point, the team was again shifted back to the “Temple” and forward in time again to the current time, while Shadow had lost all knowledge of any previous visits or anything that had occurred during his time in the temple. Rain, however, seemed to have been able to resist the mind-wipe, and was able to provide the information on the previous trips through time.

The team decided to take one more trip back in time. During this trip, Shadow gained complete amnesia, not remembering anything about what the team was doing and why they were here. Something also happened to Raven, although no one is sure exactly what, other than she appears to have different memories. Because of this, Rain and Steel decided to go to the village alone to speak to the Dragon faction. Once again, they were able to enter the village without incident and made their way to the Dragon lodge. Once inside, something happened that caused the two of them to lose grip on their sanity and they attacked one of the non-dragons in the lodge, killing him. This, of course, upset the dragons who entered, one of them being Dunklezahn. Rain and Steel talked with Dunklezahn for a bit, informing him of some future events, including that Lofwyr would eventually become the Lorekeeper. Found that Dunklezahn did not have a very high opinion of Lofwyr. Steel also gave Dunklezahn a hint that he might be the target of an assassination (attempt?) after he is elected president of the UCAS. The team was then shifted back to the present, and it was decided that any future travels to the past represented entirely too many unknown dangers, given that we don’t know the actual results of these visits as yet. Upon return, the memories of all 3 trips were restored, and it appears that Raven was able to recover as well.