Session Information

Session Date: 23rd Jul 2026
Saga: 8th Saga - Gutenous Guardians
Attendance: Sam Gallon,Rowan Hales,Tom Brothers,Caleb Hamlet

Session Summary

The battle against the Aspect was a desperate struggle: Chenris used dimension door to engage it directly, while the party was surrounded by exploding Ash Spawn. After the aspect fell, it re-formed as a shapeshifter, mimicking Mordecai and then Drache, sowing confusion among the party. Eventually, Mordecai (with Seifer's help) delivered the killing blow using a twinned Chromatic Orb, but the victory was costly, the party was exhausted, and the war against the endless Ash Spawn continued to rage around them. Seifer emerged to mock their performance, and Chenris created a Leomund's Tiny Hut for a desperate rest, but their respite was shattered by an overwhelming wave of power emanating from the battlefield.

Viktor, separated from the party during the retreat, was confronted by Ebis Daro himself. Ebis effortlessly transformed the fallen soldiers into hundreds of new Ash Spawn, then forcibly extracted the psychopomp from Viktor's cloak and corrupted it into an ash-and-lava servant. Ebis spared Viktor's life, dismissing him as insignificant, and departed through a portal with his forces. Viktor returned to Blackwall to find the city in flames and the party tending to the wounded, haunted by the devastation and the terrifying realization that their victory over the aspect meant nothing, Ebis had grown stronger from their losses. The session ended with Viktor wondering aloud how anyone could possibly defeat a foe who turns every defeat into fuel for his army.

Full Session Notes

Summery of Combat Encounter

• The party buffed Drache through Death Ward and Haste. Most of the party were quickly surrounded by Ash Spawn, so Chenris used Dimensional Door to teleport them and Drache to melee range of the Aspect of Ebis Daro.
• Every time an Ash Spawn was killed, it exploded in flames, affecting a 5ft area. Chenris prioritised using Fireball and using their awakened spellbook ability to change the damage type to force to get rid of as many of the Ash Spawn as possible.
• The aspect eventually fell, and its body eventually dissolved into a smoke cloud of thick ash.
• After a brief pause, the aspect reappeared, disguised as Mordecai: Drache and Aiden Knight were all convinced. Viktor was initially fooled but soon figured it out. Chenris used the Orrery Compass to figure out where the nearest source of powerful magic was, which was the Aspect of Ebis Daro.
• The aspect then changed form to Drache, and the process of figuring out the real party member was started again. The fight continued, and the aspect eventually whittled the party down until just Mordecai and Drache were left. Drache was surrounded and would be taken down again quite soon.
• Mordecai stood face to face with the aspect (disguised as Drache) and used their Metamagic to twin a Chromatic Orb and quicken a healing word, killing the aspect once and for all and ending the fight.

The party slowly rose to their feet as the war with the ash spawn army surrounding them raged on. The battlefield was littered with the emerald fort's soldiers. The Ash Spawn seemed to have slowed slightly now that the aspect of Ebis Daro had been slain, and it was clear that the OFC would eventually win the battle, but it would cripple the army. Chenris stood sniffing his moustache in deep thought, but as he had used many of his spell slots in the previous fight, he struggled to think of anything that could turn the tide of the war.

Kase was nearby and signalled for them to use the small passageway that the soldiers held so the party could retreat into Blackwall. The party all looked towards chenris waiting to see if he could come up with anything to help the situation. Meanwhile, Mordecai was exhausted and handed control to Seifer. as seifer's conscious came to the surface, she looked around the battlefield in disgust and fear.

"Holy shit, you guys suck", she said as she surveyed the area around Thyme. "How are you going to take down the real deal if you can barely take down an aspect?"

"Well we'll do what we just did but then not die when we do it" stated Drache.

"Yes, quite right, and to be clear, we did beat the aspect." said Chenris.

"Barely!" Seifer huffed "You were on the floor for five fucking minutes!"

"i needed a powernap" replied Chenris curtly, "Sometimes when you're up late drawing arithmancy puns on the walls to frighten the mind you share a body with, it takes a little bit out of you!!"

"Well maybe if you weren't such a cunt, you two would have a nicer time together!"

"The two that don't own the bodies they're talking through are arguing" Drache said to Viktor as if mum and dad were arguing again.

"Or maybe being a cunt can be quite amusing sometimes" retorted Chenris.

"Oh, well I wouldn't know because I am an adult!!"

"Well in Elven years I am still considered young and dashing!"

"I can tell," Seifer practically spat out.

The remark hit Chenris right to his core. he prided himself on his old wizardly appearance and demeanour. He clenched his fist to move past the statement and announced that a tactical retreat would be the best idea, as none of them was ready to fight the rest of the war as they were now. They all nodded in agreement as Chenris gave the signal for the Kase to signal a full retreat back into the city.

Seifer jumped high above the battlefield and used their wings made of flames to fly over the walls into the safety of the walls of Blackwall. Chenris and Drache chased after them on foot but struggled to gain good footing in the blood-soaked mud and eventually got in safely. Kase's commander gave him a look, which he returned with a confident nod.

Out of the corners of their eyes, the party members watched as the emerald fort soldiers broke down doors and swept houses, pulling everyone out kicking and screaming, unwilling to leave their family homes. Many were evacuated moments before fireballs landed and set them ablaze. Their protests were immediately drowned out by the sound of burning thatch and wood, as their faces were lit by the cold, uncaring flames that melted the memories of countless generations.

Chenris reached the black tower and, in the centre of their city, sat cross-legged and quickly began casting Leomund's Tiny Hut. he planned to create a space where the party could safely rest and recuperate, for what would presumably be a long fight ahead. He quickly entered a trance as the others soon joined him, gasping for breath that seemed to escape them.

There was a moment of peace inside Leomund's Tiny Hut before they all felt it.

Power

Raw and undiluted power.

It was emanating from the battlefield they had been moments ago. Whatever it was, it felt like a gravity well had just opened up, and they were slowly being absorbed into its centre, where a malignant force waited patiently for their demise. None could so much as breathe before Seifer spoke, "Where... is Viktor...?"

Viktor's POV

Viktor desperately tried his best to catch up with the party, but the damage he had taken during the fight made it difficult to keep up. Blood and mud made him greet the floor as the soldiers and ash spawn kept fighting around him, oblivious to his plight.

A flash of red appeared behind him, and Viktor did not move, unable to fight the gravity of the being that had appeared behind him. His third and final death felt inevitable, but he dared to turn and face his maker. Before him was a being enveloped in a burgundy red mantle with fine gold detailing that covered his body from head to toe. His face was covered by a simple mask clad in gold, reflecting a face of fear. Viktor lay on the ground covered in mud, ash, and gore, but looking upon Ebis Daro, somewhere deep inside his consciousness, his survival instincts told him it was polite to kneel before a king.

Viktor was pulled into the air by his greying hair. Even with his feet unable to reach the ground, Ebis Daro still looked down on the Dampir. Next to him stood a girl who also wore a gold mask. From under Ebis' mantle, he drew an ornate greatsword that set itself ablaze as its metal collided with the burnt air, sounding it. Viktor instantly recognised is from Chenris' notes, it was the Firesoul Greatsword. Viktor was pulled closer to Ebis until his throat met the tip of the blade.

"You put up a good fight, I will give you that" He surveyed the battlefield for a moment. "No use in staying in a place... like this, you'll give me everything I need soon"

Without missing a beat, he withdrew the blade. He slammed it into the earth below him, and Viktor watched in horror as every single broken and battered soldier became a bonfire, setting the battlefield ablaze with the ferocity of the summer sun. When the fire dulled, the ash from the bodies of once brave men swirled in a vortex of beautiful horror above them before landing behind Ebis as hundreds of Ash Spawn soldiers in rank and file formation.

Ebis' army had at least doubled in size.

He motioned for them to leave as a massive red portal opened behind him and the Ash Spawn disappeared just as quickly as they had appeared. Ebis turned to Viktor, his mask getting increasingly close to the doctor as he hissed, "Now show me that herald"

Though restrained, Viktor smirked, "Do you really think I am that stupid that I would let you add a herald to your army?"

"You won't be giving me anything, I take what I want"

"Do your worst"

Ebis took a step back and clicked his fingers. The girl behind him nodded before approaching Viktor. Ebis' magic forced him to the ground to kneel before Ebis. the girl seemed incredibly young in her red robe that had been tailored for her to grow into. She came to Viktor's side and whispered "I'm so sorry"

Viktor's mind raced as he recognised the voice he had heard recently, but he had no clue from where. She pulled a very ornate golden dagger from within her robes and stabbed it into Viktor's cloak. It immediately screamed and writhed on his back as black mist began pouring out of it.

Far above them all in the sky, the screams of several psychopomps could be heard ringing out over the battlefield as a few remaining Ash Spawn began firing motes of flame at them, quickly grounding the beasts. Beside Viktor was the psychopomp that inhabited the cloak, which was beginning to wither away slowly. Ebis casually watched battle raging above them created a small wall to stop anything from falling on them.

He soon became bored and approached the psychopomp on the floor and stabbed the firesoul greatsword into it. It was instantly reduced to nothing but flames and cinder before reforming into a psychopomp made of ash and lava.

Viktor was raised back into the air again. "See, I always take what is mine" he paused for a moment, inspecting Viktor like a used toy, "You're not worth the effort of killing"

"Why, of course. What could I ever do to a sorcerer as strong as you?" Viktor had meant to sound braver than he felt.

"No need for flattery; I have everything I want, and a tick has no bearing on the schemes of the lion above it. My religion and beliefs are far greater and mightier than the flock of sheep destined for the slaughterhouse. Now run back to the rest of the livestock and tell them that the big bad wolf won't blow their houses down just yet."

"See you soon." Viktor managed as he hung in the air, watching another large portal open behind Ebis. He chuckled before turning on his heel, and with his mantle blowing in the wind, he walked through the portal, followed by the young girl and converted psychopomps. The portal collapsed behind them as Viktor unceremoniously fell into the mud. He sat panting like a dog, unable to draw in clean air as his lungs would only fill with ash and smoke.

His slow return to Blackwall was accompanied by the sounds of flames that did not care for the lives they consumed and the cries of families that had no body left to bury. As he reached the gate, he watched for a moment as the party desperately tried to extinguish the fires and help those nearby. As he stood witness to the destruction of countless lives, he wondered,

How was one supposed to win against Ebis Daro?

Catching up with the rest of the party, Viktor updated everyone on what he had experienced. Recalling the memory, Viktor was stuck on who the small girl was with the man. Thinking back, she sounded very similar to Siefer. Narrowing his eyes at Mordecai, he asked if she had a daughter. Seifer confirmed she didn't have one, stating that 'they' had killed her husband before they had a chance to have one. When pressed for the story, she refused, saying that was for another time.

After some prodding, Viktor teased Seifer by saying, "But did you have sex Ebis Daro though?"

"Ew no why would I have sex with that disgusting half-man?" she retorted disgust hanging heavy on her voice.

"Excuse me?" said Viktor.

"He's a weird man."

"You two seem quite well acquainted." said Mordecai

"Tell us more!" said Drache.

"We fought on the same side in this big war. I'm not sure if you've heard of it... the Sundering. We were both commanders, so I guess we worked closely; he was always a creep." she explained.

She explained that Ebis wasn't a pervert or sexual harasser, but he was just 'weird' but would not explain further than. Eventually, she agreed that if they ever encountered the girl again, Seifer would have a good go at figuring out who she was.