Ch. 2: Burned and Broken

As the Archive begins to collapse, the party, and Litanu who has just awakened, watches as the Radiant Knights and Altreans spring into action. Krion and other Altreans hold out their hands and begin to slow the crumbling structure. Capt. Versia tells them they can hold it up for five minutes at most and to get in there and help. The party rushes in as the Radiant Knights form a perimeter to protect the people from the falling rubble and fire.

Theo and Rurik head in first followed by Arkanarzt and Dingleberry Jones. While Theo and Dingleberry Jones manage to find Querra and begin to help her get out, Arkanarzt notices the book she had shown him is missing. Finally managing to get her out, the party watches as Krion, bloodied and out of mana collapses. As Versia assesses the situation, the party asks her what is really going on. She motions them all over to the Golden Drop and explains that there is a lot of things they need to know.

Watching the chaos occurring in the distance, Lilaphona, a half-elven monk, had been watching Coreand from afar. Her master had told her of the outside world but didn't know it was anything like this. Things where so different from the monastery that it seemed hard to believe that people could live like this. That's when she saw it, off in the distance as the rubble and building fell. A being, similar to her master, clad in armor and regalia. She didn't know there were any others like him, so she decided to venture up and into the city. She spots the violet beast and runs over to him asking what has happened. As Krion explains his predicament, he also notices the sash Lilaphona wears and recognizes it being from the monastery. He questions Lilaphona as when looking at her sash, he stated that it looks familiar. While Lilaphona brushes the topic aside, Krion states that he will need her help and to wait for him in the church across town. While she attempts to follow Krion, he chuckles stating that she would need to be much better if she ended to trick him. Embarrassed, she heads off to the church.

As the party heads into a back room in the Golden Drop Tavern, they head down a flight of steps to find a much older room. As they gaze at the strange glyphs and sigils carved over every aspect of the place, Versia begins to speak. She explains that the Empire is not what it seems. She asks the party what they have noticed over the past few years within the Versian Empire. Theo and Arkanarzt pipe up that the Radiant Knights have had a lot of free reign over the past five years. Versia notes that there are individual factions within the Radiant Knights and two main groups have formed. Those who follow the Shield of the Radiant Knight, Cloet, and those who follow the Sword of the Radiant Knights, a man by the name of Clade. Versia then informs everyone that they know one of them has had close connections with a group known as the luminous sentinels and she needs to be sure they can be trusted.

When Versia snaps her fingers, A drow woman by the name of Brianna apparates before the party. Brianna explains that she is a Seer for Versia and that she is going to run a test to make sure the party is truthful of their intentions. As everyone takes the truth test, Arkanarzt reveals that he knew Clade when He was young and ran away from home. Arkanarzt also explains that he and Clade cut ties when Clade asked him to do something despicable. Brianna thanks Arkanarzt for his honesty and states that she knew a certain darkness hung about him, so that adds up to her own information. Upon finishing the test with each member of the party, Brianna tells Versia that they are clean and that they may be able to help. Versia explains to the party that a strange group has taken control of the mines. Versia then notes that Rurik's dismissal from the mines was kept secret and for the past few days, she has continued to receive written letters from Rurik stating the mines progress. Versia states that she has a plan, but needs the parties trust for it to be able to work. The party is not as trusting of Versia because of all the secrets she keeps from them. She looks to them with eyes hardened from all they have seen and states that she is doing exactly what she needs to as the Master is doing everything he can to stop the sentinels. The party is at odds as Versia explains the plan.

Whoever is in control of the mine, as the Master has told them, is supplying the Sentinels with something and they need to stop it. The easiest way, unfortunately, would be to stage a trial of them to lure out whoever is in charge. Once they reveal themselves, the party will use a short-range teleportation collar to give s surprise attack on the weak forces left in the mine. The party is extremely hesitant on if that would even work and Versia informs them that any mass movement from the Radiant Knights would cause too much suspicion, so this was the only other way to lure them out. Versia also adds that she is very much on their hit list so a public appearance like that would surely bait them. The party agrees and decides it is the best plan they got at the moment. Upon hearing that, Versia gives each member of the party a short-range teleportation collar. From the initial looks, the collars look like magic jammers, but Versia states that this is a stop-gap measure in case things go south. The party nods, already in the thick of it, and puts the collars on.

Versia informs the party that Brianna will let them know when the fake trial will begin. As Versia leaves, Krion lets her know that he has someone who may also help in this operation. As Krion escorts Versia to the church, he introduces her to Lilaphona. Krion mentions that Lilaphona was properly trained and Versia cuts to the chase. She states a group that shows some promise is going to help her in an operation. However, considering their skill, she is unsure if the Master is correct in trusting them. She gives a collar to Lilaphona and pleads for her help to keep the party alive and assist in the operation. Lilaphona accepts the invitation, places on the collar, and sneaks back out into the city to await the town meeting.

As the party makes small talk with the strange predicament they have caught themselves in, Brianna announces to them that it is show time as a familiar bell rings within the city. Making their way to the center of town, the party notices there is a lot of unease within Coreand and confusion about what had happened the other night. As the party steps upon the central platform, Versia begins to state that she and the Radiant Knights in this area had found a lead on what had happened the other night. As she speaks, however, Theo notices a strange figure in the crowd. He doesn't recognize him but then gets a strange sense of Deja Vu from the night they were running through the mist. By the time he had pieced it together, the figure began to raise his hand. Theo blasts a fireball at the figure and watches as it nails him, incinerating the cloaked figure.

The crowd erupts into panic as suddenly people began to cloak themselves and rush the stage. Versia yells something to Krion and this strange magical surge pulses from him and slams into the ground. Each member of the party, along with Lilaphona, feel the strange and singular sensation of forces teleportation. The experience of the ground being whipped away from them as their bodies are torn in the opposite direction is disorienting and vicious, to say the least. As the torrent slams into an invisible wall and the members of the party feel the slow thaw of their sensing returning, they look around to find that they are deep within a mine. Not only that, but someone else is with them.

As the party gets acquainted with Lilaphona, Rurik looks around and knows where they are. The party was teleported within the luxinite mines outside of Coreand. As he looks around, he notices that this area was one of the restricted zones as declared by the Empire. Yet, the area seems freshly mined and continues deeper into an unknown section to Rurik. The party ventures deeper into the hidden portion of the mine and as they kill the monsters and beasts hidden within it, they come to a fork in the road. As Arkanarzt and Theo head left, Lilaphona, Rurik, Dingleberry Jones, and Litanu head off to the right.

As the right bound party enters the next cavern, a flawlessly carved stone room is revealed. With four pillars being the only shapes distinguished from the room, Dingleberry Jones lights each prospective pillar. As each flare into existence, a doorway is revealed on one of the impossibly smooth walls. Carefully and cautiously they make their way down as they see a slow glowing light in the distance. As Theo and Arkanarzt venture to the left, there is a pool of dark liquid that fluctuates upon their entrance. Theo, upon seeing movement, cast a fireball across the room. The two watch as the flame roars across the room, over a ledge on the far side, and hear screams and shouts as it slams into a structure in the distance.

Lilaphona, Rurik, Dingleberry Jones, and Litanu burst into a run with the screams and shouts now echoing within the maze-like complex. Entering the lower portion, they see a bunch of villagers tied up and figures in familiar cloaks trying to put out a fire. Immediately, they are forced into an encounter. While Litanu does his best to protect the villagers, Lilaphona and Rurik rush over to form an offensive front with Dingleberry Jones acting as a support. As Theo and Arkanarzt hear the sound of fighting, the rush over to the ledge and see the battle happening below and help out. Arkanarzt takes out one of the cloaked figures while Theo takes down a few trained jackals of the cloaks. As the party manages to control the situation and put down the cloaked figures, they hear footsteps coming down behind them.

As the party turns ready for round two, they find the familiar faces of Krion, Versia, and a helpful night by the name of Callend joining them down below. As the parties begin to explain what had happened and everyone exchanges information, Theo notices another cavern that had a light further down. Callend, upon seeing Theo walk-off, follows him. They enter into a side chamber that is filled with research tools, beakers, strange dark vials, and a magic sigil on the floor. As Callend begins to look around at the books and strange gear, Theo notices the strange inscriptions and pulls out a luxinite crystal he was given. Immediately, the magic sigil reacts, pulling the crystal from Theo's hand, and a magic ceremony begins. Callend, upon witnessing this, breaks the pendent he was given to summon help.

The party watches as Krion stiffens, and fades into a shadow. Versia panics, looks around quickly, and takes off down the other corridor followed by the party. Everyone walks in to see a torrent of red energy collapsing in on the luxinite crystal. This dark magic shatters the vials and begins to convert the crystal into a dark red and black shard. As the bubble continues to expand, with not enough materials being provided, Krion appears, shouting something in a different language, and halts the magic process from being completed. Krion yells out to check and see if anyone was hit by any of the beams. The party checks and everyone was thankfully fine. Krion lets out a deeply held sigh and uses mage hand to grab the crystal and take it into the main cavern. As everyone decides to leave to get a round of drinks and talk, Rurik sees a strange armillary and decides to pocket it for later.

Reconvening at the Golden Drop, Versia grabs a round of drinks for everyone and begins to explain a few things. Between the Legend of the Dark Star and a lot of other folk tales and rumors of late, Versia can say without a doubt, that something dark is lurking within the capital of the Empire, Ashenridge. Krion adds on stating that a lot of information they have been receiving either is counter-intuitive to the mission they were assigned to and even borderline cryptic. Versia explains that they know someone who has proven to be both reliable and trustworthy, but their situation is too dire to simply trust it to anyone. Versia states that she can't tell them everything, that is how they have survived this long and protected the people she loves most.

Hearing this, Dingleberry Jones decides that if she can't trust him, he doesn't need her and leaves the Golden Drop. Rurik follows suit and Versia simply replies that she is glad he's safe. Rurik slams the door behind him and meets up with Dingleberry Jones. As the two talk, Rurik heard rumors of a weaponsmith within Midvale that he needs to meet. Dingleberry Jones states that he will help him with that as that's what friends do.

As Versia finishes speaking, Lilaphona butts in stating that there is no reason for them to trust her since she is hiding who she is working for. Versia darts her eyes to Lilaphona and is about to lash out when Krion interjects. As Krion and Lilaphona meet outside, Krion states bluntly that he is frustrated with Lilaphona's actions considering who she was and that she hasn't figured it out yet. As the two bicker, Krion lashes out saying that they are part of the Underground, why the hell else would they be so secretive! Krion storms back into the tavern to leave Lilaphona to enter on her own.

As the remaining party watches Krion storm in and exit through the back of the tavern and Lilaphona makes her way back in, Versia regains her composure and returns to face the party. Versia now states bluntly that the 100th anniversary of the Midvale Academy fire is coming up and the academy is planning on opening its doors to the public again. While this is good news, she has information that something much darker may be lying behind the walls of the academy. The party begins to add pressure to the distressed Versia and she lets it slip that the people within the Academy have the High Altrean. The party uses a bit of magic to catch her off guard when she reveals that the High Altrean is the Masters's husband.

Litanu immediately rushes to Versia as she begins to have a panic attack and he helps her to calm down. Litanu glares at the rest of the party and everyone begins to step off and separate from the situation. Lilaphona, upon hearing this, pulls another knight aside by the name of Bryce, who they had met before. Bryce echos Krions emotions and Lilaphona admits that all she ever wanted to do was to help people. It was the reason she left the monastery so give her a good reason to help and she will. Bryce states bluntly that is stopping enslavement of the Altrean people, returning order to the Empire, and overturning a dictatorship led by a sect of the Radiant Knights sounds like something she would be interested in, then they are on the same side. Lilaphona is taken aback as Bryce waves them off stating, "Did you really think this world was so simple?" Lilaphona retorts stating that Bryce should tell Krion that Glantee was the one who trained her, and they need to talk.