Session Summary

The party's latest adventure begins with Aidan Knight travelling back to Blackwall to retrieve their cart, only to find time frozen yet again, accompanied by a sinister black mist. Following the mist leads him toward Farpost, but he instead opts to reunite with the group in Dawnhaven, where he encounters the same unsettling cultists and purple mist. Meanwhile, Wurinn 'Drache' Fuuldrusch also experiences a frozen moment in Yakawa, forcing him to leave a note for Emmeline and flee. The two meet at the Uvam Dynasty’s border, only to be pursued by the Ethertwist Haunter, narrowly escaping into a bright light that delivers them to the rest of the party near Dawnhaven. They reunite and exchange stories, only for Chenris Tallfellow to show increasing signs of illness, though he insists he is fine.

The group decides to infiltrate Dawnhaven’s palace using hidden tunnels. Along the way, a cave-in severely injures Chenris and Mordecai, but they press forward, eventually entering the eerily empty palace. Inside, they encounter a masked figure, Velthis, who forces them into a contract with vague terms, claiming it is necessary to save Dawnhaven. Despite their reluctance, the group signs and is tasked with retrieving a crystal from the crypts below. While traversing the crypts, they battle necromancers tainted by purple magic and encounter undead creatures, eventually finding the crystal surrounded by a void-like space filled with shades and an ethereal whale. The shades’ cryptic warnings reveal Velthis’s intent: someone must sacrifice themselves to retrieve the crystal.

Chenris, revealing he is dying, volunteers to sacrifice himself, much to the party’s despair. In his final moments, he shares heartfelt words with each member, encouraging them to overcome their struggles and continue their fight against the gods. With a mixture of grief and pride, the party watches as Chenris uses the device to activate the crystal, his blood triggering its power. The group is blinded by a brilliant light and finds themselves outside Dawnhaven, witnessing the city consumed by a purple explosion and disappearing into a massive crater.

Full Session Notes

Aidan & Drache

For the last few days, Aiden Knight has been travelling back to Blackwall to retrieve the horse and cart. However, as soon as he got to the stables time suddenly started to slow down until it completely halted leaving Aidan in an unmoving world. It was a very similar experience to the last time when he had to go to The Tulan Fort, the only difference was that this time there was a black mist that seemed to follow the road out of the OFC. With little else to do, he followed it, the mist took him into The Dawn Empire and to a fork in the road, one way would take him to Dawnhaven and the other would take him to Farpost the trail of mist seemed to want to to take him to Farpost. The thought of having to deal with something sinister alone terrified him so he opted to go to Dawnhaven and meet up with the rest of The Party.

Reaching Dawnhaven, he was confronted by the same sight as Chenris Tallfellow ‡, Mordecai Reverence and Kal The Korrigan † with robbed cultists surrounding the city and thick purple mist blanketing the area. However, the party was nowhere to be seen and time did not unfreeze. Sighing deeply, Aidan followed the path back to the Farpost and to his surprise, he encountered the party travelling along the road, however, time did not unfreeze and the mist carried on past them into the Uvam Dynasty. This left Aidan confused since the last time this happened, time resumed once he rejoined the group, perhaps his objective was different this time? Before he left the party he wrote a quick note: "I'm stuck frozen in time, currently following a black mist going to Farpost and beyond". With that, he carried on into Uvam.

Wurinn Fuuldrusch suddenly awoke from a deep sleep, everything felt incredibly wrong. He quickly checked on Emmeline, who seemed fine until he realised she wasn't moving, in fact, nothing around him was moving and it was all dead quiet. He quickly jumped out of bed, grabbing his great axe, he ran outside to find everyone was still around but frozen midway through going about their daily lives. There were even birds hovering motionless in the sky. Drache gripped his GreatAxe tightly before focusing his breath and used Detect Good and Evil to see if he could figure out what was happening to him. In this heightened state he realised that this was very similar to the feeling of walking through The Black Woods during their fight with The Ethertwist Haunter. With that realisation, he had the sudden and urgent need to leave Uvam. He rushes back inside to write a note to Emmeline: "Something is wrong, I have to leave, be safe my love." He stabs the note into the door before donning his armour and leaving Yakawa.

As he approached the border, Drache spotted a horse and carriage making its way down the winding path. Drache didn't know if should be excited or suspicious as this was the only thing he had seen moving for nearly a day. He ended up frantically waving to catch the rider's attention. As Aidan began to cross the border into Uvam he spotted a white Dragonborn frantically waving and shouting for his attention, He immediately recognised them as Drache and shouted out to the man. They meet each other halfway, with Drache giving him a huge bear hug.

Aidan is just as happy to him and exclaims how great it is to finally not be alone when time freezes. Drache is confused and so explains how a similar thing happened when everyone was infiltrating the Tulan Fort. However, the time when he met up with everyone time didn't resume and this time there was a black mist that he had been following. His sentence began to railer off as he noticed that the black mist was crowding around drache's feet. But when asked, the Dragonborn was unable to see it. As they're talking, they sense some movement coming from behind but are unable to figure out where it is coming from. They turn back to face each other to ask if they noticed anything but neither had any ideas and figured it must be part of all of it. They hear a faint reselling from behind them, however, when they turn around all of the trees around them look like they have died and all their leaves have fallen off. Clinging onto the side of one the tallest trees was The Ethertwist Haunter.

Suddenly a wooden tentacle shot out of the ground at the slashing Aidan but missing Drache as he was able to dodge out of the way. They both try looking away from the monster, hoping that it will go away like the last few times. after waiting for a little bit they check again, only to find it significantly closer to them. Aidan calls for Drache to get into the cart so they can try and escape it. They both clamber on and begin to race away. Drache asks if there's a way to kill or hurt it. Aidan thinks back but realises that in the Black Forest, the Haunter is unkillable, meaning their best option is to run away. Even with the carriage moving at full speed, the Haunter seemed to easily keep up with them, firing wooden tentacles at the cart, slowly taking off small chunks as they kept running. As they leave Uvam, a bright white light suddenly appears in front of them, and with no other options, they race into it.

Reuniting With Rest of The Party

The rest of the party is standing on a hill observing the cultists around Dawnhaven, apart from the spell, everything was eerily quiet. When suddenly bright flash of light appears revealing Aidan and Drache on the carriage moving at breakneck speeds crashing into a nearby tree. Mordecai and Korrigan rush over to help and ask what happened and how they got here. Drache is out of breath spluttering "Time weird, tentacles, scared.", with a quick laugh korrigan says "That sounds like a great honeymoon" confusing Chenris greatly as that sounds like a disastrous honeymoon. Mordecai stops that conversation quickly saying that this is not the time to talk about something like that.

After they are able to catch their breath, Drache and Aidan explain their experiences to the group, with Aidan pointing out the note in Mordecai's pocket, something that they hadn't noticed due to how chaotic everything had been for the last few days. Mordecai tries to read it but isn't able to and gives it to Chenris to read allowed. This leads the party to find out that Mordecai is unable to read due to having dyslexia. Aidan isn't sure what that is and accidentally likens it to being impotent making him receive backlash from the party. While this is all happening Chenris has to sit down due to being out of breath and having a coughing fit. When asked if everything was ok, he just said he feeling a bit under the weather and may just have a cold. Mordecai uses the message spell to make sure but Chenris continues to deny anything is wrong. Korrigan confirms that he isn't lying as far as he can tell.

Korrigan quickly gets distracted when he realises Drache hasn't seen his new Wild Shape ability and quickly transforms into a large horse. Drache is impressed and tries to pick it up but the horse is way too heavy for him. Mordecai gets them back on track, as they think everything, including this weird spell at Dawnhaven, is the work of The Black Cult and Chronovorus. At this, Korrigan says "Chronohorsey" only drache can understand as he is able to understand animals. Transforming back into a Humanoid, korrigan tries his best to remember all of these old Thieves' paths into and out of the city. One of them is fairly close, and chenris surmises that the cult would almost definitely not attack them since the spell they are performing is so complex, it needs their whole focus to maintain it. As they're discussing their options, The ground begins to shake violently as a massive earthquake happens.

They all look at the cultists and the city to see if anything has changed, but everything seems relatively unaffected. However, it does become clear what is happening, all of the black tendrils seem to be reaching out and congregating at a single point just above the palace. Chenris realises and says that they'll probably get answers to most of their questions if they can get closer to the palace and asks Korrigan if any of the thieves' routes lead to the palace, korrigan says there are and it would be quite easy to get to. The party hides the horse and cart nearby and makes their way to a hidden tunnel entrance. just as they enter, korrigan has a horrible thought that this could somehow be related to Terathra and does a quick check and is relieved to learn that nothing about this seems to be related to him. The energies and magics are too different from his own.

Inside the tunnel, it is dark, and damp and smells disgusting as korrigan explains how this tunnel used to be part of Dawnhaven's sewer system before being decommissioned 100s of years ago. As they slowly made their way through the tunnel network another earthquake happened causing the tunnel to collapse in on itself. 100s of tonnes of debris began to fall on the party, with most being able to jump out of harm's way, Chenris and Mordecai weren't so lucky. large amounts of concrete fell on Chenris' arm and Mordecai's ankle crushing the bones underneath with sickening crunch. When the earthquake stopped the rest rushed in to help and see how bad the damage was. Checking over their wounds, korrigan learnt that the damage was too much for any healing spell they knew. The spell would fix any of the outside damage but would have no effect on the bone.

He instead opts to make a sling out of vines and uses old daggers as splints. When making Chenris' sling he notices that Chenris is much more out of breath and in pain than Mordecai who hurt a lot more than him. This was incredibly odd since Chenris was not one to outwardly show how much pain he was in. Korrigan was quickly distracted by Mordecai who needed help to even walk and carry on. korrigan helps the Tiefling up and Drache helps carry him down the rest of the tunnel. Fearing another cave-in, they tried to move as fast as possible with their injuries. Eventually, they come to the end of the tunnel where there is an old ladder that leads to a grate. Silently, Korrigan climbed the ladder and checked to see if there was anyone around. The palace was empty and pitch black as none of the torches, candles or chandeliers were lit. Quite sure no one was around he began to help everyone up out of the tunnels. With everyone in the palace, they began to have a look around.

A Masked Man

Suddenly a purple flame appears in the hand of a man wearing a black mask illuminating him in the dark to the party. Korrigan instantly greets him "Hi Xekai!" But the masked figure has no idea who that is and simply asks if they are aware that they are trespassing in the palace of Dawnhaven. Mordecai accuses them of doing the exact same thing. Before the man replies, he clicks his fingers and behind him, Galen Verix ‡ appears kneels by his side and calls the masked man Master. Korrigan can quickly tell that something is controlling him. The man says that they have no idea what he is doing, for all they know, he is trying to save Dawnhaven for the world. Mordecai attempts to cast Dispel Magic but it fails instantly. The man pats Galen on the head and tells him to go back to bed, Galen immediately walks back to bed in a daze.

The man explains that he was originally planning to kill them but it is fortuitous that they have appeared as he needs someone to run an errand for him. Mordecai's eyes narrow in distrust while korrigan casts Protection From Good And Evil on Drache just in case something happens to them all. The masked man continues, stating that if they don't help him then they will be killed instantly. Looking at him carefully, Chenris understands that this man is at least 2 to 3 times stronger than Xekai and warns the party that he is not bluffing when he says that. The man wants them to sign a contract and then he'll leave them alone. pulling it out, the contract reads "You will do one task the contractor asks of you" Everyone is completely against the idea. To sweeten the deal he even offers 1000 gold each on completion of the task but refuses to elaborate what the task is until they have signed the contract. Drache seems ok after hearing about the gold, stating it could be used to help the OFC but is soon reminded of the Ivory Crest's contract and how easy it was for him to be manipulated.

They are all still hesitant and the man sighs saying that they have gotten off on the wrong foot as he uses magic to force them to walk with him to the dining room. Drache isn't affected by the magic due to Korrigan's spell from earlier but joins anyway just in case it can help them get a one-up on the man. They're seated in an elaborate dining room, presumably where Galen would entertain his guests. Skeletons serve them delicious-looking food and nice alcohol. The party are distrustful of the food until Chenris picks up his glass of wine and gives it a taste. It isn't poisoned thankfully and although it was probably the best wine the Dawn good offer it was nowhere near as good as the wine made in Ehobel. The rest of the party watched in shock at how easily Chenris risked his life to try the wine. With a frown, Chenris states that it isn't poisoned but taste leads much to be desired. The masked man snorts exclaiming if he wanted them dead then he would have done so ages ago. Chenris leans back in his chair comfortably as he sips the wine.

With everyone eating some food the man leaned back and told them to sign the contract. He is completely unwilling to tell them anything about his identity or what he is doing, stating that he is under no obligation to do so. "I have been more than patient with you a lot. sign it or die a 1000 gold poorer." the man said. Chenris agrees to sign it, much to the shock of the party. "You don't want to die do you?" he says as the man conjures a purple portal above chenris and drops the contract onto this lap. Not wanting to move, he signs the contract with [[Mage Hand|[Mage Hand]] and encourages the rest to do the same. The masked man seeing their hesitation, bargains that he will allow one question to be asked of him and he will answer to the best of his abilities as he is on a tight schedule. They brainstorm possible answers as they try to figure out the best way to learn as much as possible with one question. Some of these ideas are "What is your name?", "What are your intentions, good or bad?" or "Are you a part of The Auditors?". With that last one is an ongoing theory of theirs ever since they say the purple mist, flames and portals since they're very reminiscent of Xekai's magic. While they are discussing, the man amends the contract to include their one free question.

Eventually, Aiden and Drache begrudgingly signed the contract. Mordecai, after some thought signed it as "Reverence". Finally, the contract came to Korrigan who signed it very annoyed as "Kal". The man doesn't care how they sign it, as long as they do. He asks what their question is and they respond with "Tell us everything about yourself."

The man sighs before saying "My name is Velthis, I'm a part of The Necromantic Circle of Dawnhaven and I'm trying to save the people of this city. Errr I take my whisky on the rocks. My clock has had a weird stain on it for years and I never bothered to wash it off. I'm here in the palace to make sure Galen doesn't do anything stupid."

With their question answered Velthis leaned forward and explained what their task was. They are to go into the crypts under the city, where their circle meets, and retrieve a crystal hidden behind a door. He explains that they'll need a special tool to retrieve the crystal and asks who the smartest among them is. They all silently point at Chenris. Velthis nods and passes the device through a portal to Chenris. It had a large shape spike on it and a box with many cogs on it. Chenris was immediately interested since he had never seen such a device before. Velthis then opens a portal to a very dark and old-looking area that they presumed to be the crypt. and begun to shoo them off to do their job. Chenris immediately gets up to go through. korrigan asks if the man will tell them about the spell happening outside of Dawnhaven but the man refuses and they should be lucky he has been so lenient with them.

Mordecai smugly points out that he can't possibly help with this with how badly his foot was broken. Without a word, Velthis opens a portal behind him and grabs him by the scruff of his clothes. Mordecai was about to complain that he was ruining his clothes when he saw a sword come out of the portal. The sword easily cut off his leg before catching it. Velthis then cast some purple magic on the severed foot before reattaching it to Mordecai's body. The foot was healed but was no longer fully connected to his body and would probably slowly die off. They also have no sensation in that foot but can still move it like normal. Horrified by what just happened, the party silently followed Chenris into the portal after he called out to them. Velthis offered to the the same for Chenris' arm but he refused, saying he was quite all right.

The Crypt

Korrigan is slightly annoyed at the party as it feels like he was forced to yet another contract against his will referring to the one about using the Goblin Mafia during The War for the OFC's Freedom. The party reasoned that none of them really had a choice in the matter as they didn't particularly want to die. Aidan asks if korrigan knows anything about the crypts. Korrigan thought for a moment before saying he had heard of them, but they were just an old legend since nobody had really visited them, especially since they were originally built by the dwarven empire. This excited Chenris as they were walking through such a historical area.

As Chenris exclaims his excitement, he falls into a coughing fit but no one registers it, believing his lie that it was just a cold. Korrigan, however, doesn't believe him and secretly checks him over. To his horror he learned that Chenris was dying, his lungs were filling with blood and he might not have that long to live. The realisation made him stop in his tracks for a moment before resuming. Chenris gave him a knowing smile. before carrying on, confident his friend wouldn't spill his secret.

Mordecai asks Obeus Yelris what she thinks about all of this. She admits that she is unsure since nothing like this has ever happened in Ehobel. She is mainly focused on completing their task so they can get away with their lives. As they walked down the path they encountered a small room with animated skeletons roaming around it and a note on a nearby table. Chenris used a mage hand to grab it. It read as follows:

"It has come to my attention (again) that reanimated skeletons are being left to wander the halls, chambers, and occasionally the pantry after their tasks are complete. This is unacceptable. While we pride ourselves on our necromantic mastery, leaving discarded constructs lying about is both a safety hazard and a breach of basic sanctum etiquette. Do I need to remind you of the incident with Apprentice Maldin and the "unwashed custodian" skeleton last month? Effective immediately:

1. Decommissioning: All skeletons must be properly dismissed or returned to their storage alcoves after use.
2. Sanitation: Any remnants—bones, dust, or arcane residue—must be cleaned up. The undead do not tidy themselves, as much as we might wish otherwise.
3. Reporting Damage: If a skeleton is damaged beyond usability, report it to Archivist Tharil for cataloging and disposal. Do not leave pieces lying about for others to trip over.
4. Pantry Protocol: No skeletons near the food stores. Ever.

Failure to adhere to these guidelines will result in your summoning privileges being temporarily revoked. Remember, we are necromancers, not slobs. For the continued harmony of our sanctum,
—Arch-Necromancer Velthis"

The note, made Chenris chuckle before storing it away in his pack before he urged the others to move along without alerting any of the skeletons as they might not be friendly. They reach a fork in the road and decide to send Aidan out to scout ahead and see if he can find the crystal that they are looking for, while Chenris casts the Alarm spell on his boots so they are made aware if anyone or anything approaches them from behind on snuck up on them the darkness of the crypt.

He first went right and discovers that it forks off again and decides to backtrack and go left. Mordecai uses the Message spell to ask what is happening so they plan out their next move. The party catches up and decides to right and finds out it led them to an empty communal sleeping area. On the other side of the room was another corridor that they followed. It led them to a large room with a huge magic circle on the floor. Skeletons were dotted about the room and near the centre was a necromancer but due to the light they could not see what he was doing.

They decide to backtrack and explore the other path where they found another bedroom, this time with a necromancer in it. Someone accidentally stepped in a puddle, which made noise loud enough to draw the necromancer's attention makes a noise. The necromancer turned around and his eyes and veins were sickly purple almost like his blood had been replaced with a thick purple substance. The necromancer let out a cultural roar before attacking the party and summoning Skeletons to fight for them

When the necromancer died, their body burned up releasing a wave of purple magic. As their body slowly disintegrated, they weakly said "Finally…freedom."

The Party try to theories why they were attacked, if they're all working for the same guy. Chenris suggests that these people might have been taken over by something and it probably doesn't matter to Velthis as he wins either if they die or manage to retrieve the crystal. Korrigan and Aidan find a bunch of Gold on a nearby table. Aidan says as they were the ones who found it, they should be the ones to keep it. Korrigan gets mad at the fact that Aidan would be so greedy and demands that they should share it evenly with the whole party. Aidan relents and they share out the gold evenly. Korrigan tries to give some gold to Obeus but she is uncomfortable taking it since she already has so much and gives it to the party.

With the only other way forward being the other room with the necromancer in it, they decide to go and plan a surprise attack. With everything ready, they charge into battle. During the fight, korrigan uses his bow's lightning bolt ability to deal a huge amount of damage to the necromancer. However, the lightning bolt is a powerful stream of energy that hits not just the target in front of it, but anything in a straight line behind it will also be hit. The bolt managed to get into the next room meaning it could have hit something, the party just can't be sure until they investigate it. Fearing the worst Aidan investigates and sees an irate purple monster that looks to him like a demon. He rushes back to explain what he saw but before can finish the 'demon' appears in the room on all fours like a beast dragging itself along and attacking Aidan with a claw swipe.

The party attacks the create all at once making quick work of it due to the massive amounts of damage it had taken from the Korrigan's lightning bow attack. Figuring they were close to the crystal they pressed on and found a room with a large ruby vein and some dead bodies. the bodies had nothing on them oddly enough and without anything to mine the vain they pressed on down the path. on the right was a small room with a golden altar with golden blood-soaked cloth covering the altar's Idol. On the side was an old diary. They didn't have any time to read the diary as at the end of the corridor was a wooden door, the same one mentioned by Velthis.

Chenris' Sacrifice

Opening the door, they were confronted by a huge expanse of inky black void. in the centre was a large glowing crystal that Chenris, korrigan and Mordecai instantly recognised as the ones found at the top of The Towers, however, this one didn't seem connected to anything. Hovering around the crystals were barely corporal shades that seemed to fly around aimlessly. behind them and the crystal seemed to be a huge whale that swam through the nothingness like it would in the ocean. Stepping into the room, it was like there was no floor and they just began to float in the void, making it difficult to move but it was still possible. As they entered the room the shades became incredibly excited, rushing over to the party, repeating the same phrase over and over again: "Lightbearers!, they're coming to take it, coming to take it again"

Chenris gets out the device given to him by Velthis earlier and there is now a light blinking on it. The closer he moves to the crystal the faster it begins to blink faster. The shades also became a lot more erratic as well as becoming more and more exciting that someone was about to sacrifice themselves for the crystals. The party were dumbstruck as the pieces finally fit into place, Velthis wanted them to do it so he wouldn't have to sacrifice himself. However, none were exactly jumping at the idea of sacrificing themselves for Velthis' potentially evil plan. That was until Chenris got his expensive bolt of wine from his pack and poured himself a glass before nominating himself with a calm and neutral tone "Oh I'll give it a go". The party turned him in shock, as the man who was so selfish was not offering up his life so they could live. The only one who wasn't surprised was Korrigan as he quickly realised that because chenris was dying he probably saw this as the most efficient use of his death.

Chenris nods to korrigan saying that his friend has already figured it out, he then announces to the party "Don't worry about me, you shouldn't worry about fool who is dying" and begins to explain how when he woke up from the witch's spell he felt strange, it was too late when he realised that his body was dying. The party are in shock at the news as Mordecai and korrigan try to figure out who might've been responsible out of the tow them for this. When neither could get a concrete answer, Mordecai turned to face Chenris with tears running down his face. Giving the Elf a huge hug, he kept saying sorry over and over again. "Sorry, I know you're not much of a hugger, but give me this" Chenris gave him a one-armed hug as he tried not to spill his wine "Woah woah, easy there, you'll make me spill my wine." Mordecai gives a sad laugh. Chenris exclaims that it's not his fault or anyone for that matter and it was just a cruel twist of fate.

Once Mordecai had let go, Korrigan casts Hex to make it appear like a crown had appeared on his head and jazz up his clothes to make him look almost regal. Mordecai followed suit by using their Prestidigitation spell to neaten him and get rid of any blood stains on his clothes. Drache casts Shield of Faith to give Chenris an almost holy aura. With their best efforts to make Chenris look and feel as good as they saw him, Chenris gave them a rare smile before saying his final words:

Final Words to Mordecai

They all watched as Chenris turns his gaze to Mordecai, his breath shallow but steady. Despite everything, his voice carried a rare softness. “Mr Reverence, do not mourn my passing. It is unbecoming of a person who liberates those who would join you in the depths of your darkness—you even dragged me out, though I’d never admit it. But there’s more to be done. Don’t just save people from their sadness—tear apart the machinations that create it. Smash the chains of this cruel world, piece by piece. It won’t be easy, but then again, you’ve never taken the easy path, have you?”

You watch as smirks weakly, a glimmer of pride in his fading eyes. “You are destined to destroy this world in the most beautiful way possible, and when you are done they will finally understand why they name storms after people. My only regret is not being there to help.”

Final Words to Korrigan

Chenris then turned his head toward Korrigan, “Korrigan… you were a friend to me, even when I didn’t deserve one. You never let me push you away, no matter how hard I tried. And for that, I’ll always treasure you. I know your plans will bring chaos, but if you are the one shaping that chaos, then I’m jealous… jealous that I won’t be there to see it.”

Chenris gives a weak smile. “Shape this world, my friend. Make it something worth the madness. I’ll be watching… if there’s anything left of me to watch.”

Final Words to Drache

Chenris looked at Drache, guilt flickering in his expression.
“Drache… I failed you. You’re a good man—a better man than I ever was. I didn’t live up to what you saw in me, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for every time I let you down… including rigging that dice game to swindle you out of coin.” He chuckled faintly, his breath catching for a moment.

“But I want you to know this: the world needs more men like you. People who see the good in others, even when they don’t deserve it. Keep being that light, Drache. And don’t let anyone… especially not yourself… tell you you’re anything less.”

Final Words to Aidan

Chenris’ voice softened further as he looked at Aidan, his tone tinged with rare empathy.
“Aidan… don’t carry the weight of that pact-like it’s a scar you have to bear alone. You were hurt, and manipulated, and you deserve none of the blame for that. But that pain… that is all the reason you need to hate the gods. They don’t deserve our reverence; they deserve our rebellion. So hate them, Aidan. Hate them enough to kill one. Do it for you, and for all of us who may never have the strength.”

Final Words to Obeus

Chenris turned his fading gaze toward Obeus, his tone almost fatherly but full of caution. “Obeus… you remind me too much of myself. Always searching for answers in books, hoping that knowledge alone will protect you. But it won’t. The world is far crueller than any story you’ll read in a library. An insufferable fool taught me that. Don’t lock yourself away, Obeus. Live. Learn from the world itself, not just its pages.”

(vHe paused, as he began to cough violently, quickly hiding the blood on his hand. his expression pained but resolute. “Promise me you’ll see more than just the ink and parchment, that you’ll live a life worthy of your title… and beyond it.”)

Final Words to the Party as a Whole

Finally, Chenris looked at the whole party and with a knowing smile, he said:
“You all annoyed me more than I ever thought possible… but you were also the greatest honour of my life. I don’t deserve the time we had, but I’m grateful for it all the same. The gods will judge you one day, but don’t let their arrogance weigh on you. Their sins outnumber your own a thousandfold.”

He paused, his breathing ragged. “I know I was never a hero like any of you, probably never could be… but if this is how I make amends for my mistakes, by giving my life so you can live… then maybe I can leave behind something more than just a trail of failures. Be great. Be better than I ever was.”

Chenris’ voice was now no more than a whisper. “The future is yours…” He said. As whispered his final words, his hand weakly rose up and in it was Leotoris' note Now fully soaked in blood and burnt at the edges, crumpled beyond recognition.

“shape it well.” He mutters as it begins to burn brightly. With that final act, his head lulled back, eyes dulled but through it all - a rare smile remained on his face.

Finale

With his body falling limb, the shades pull his body closer to the crystal, they impale him on the sharp spike on the machine. They poured Chenris' blood on the crystal causing a bright white light to shine out and blind all of the party. When their eyes readjusted, they found themselves standing outside of Dawnhaven. Looking over the city they watched at the crystal slowly rise up to meet the black tendrils from the cultist. When the two met a bright purple light enveloped the nearby area, before a huge earthquake hit the area and then Dawnhaven disappeared leaving a deep crater in its place.