We meet our heroes, Kristopher a Confident Arkus who Sees Beyond and Callan, an Ultraterrestrial Nano who Exists Partially Out of Phase enjoying a meal at a local canteen on the outskirts of the city of Aian, Capital of the ProtoDemocratic Nation of Milave. They are joined by the Automation Radius when they spot Zoyin of the Amber Gleaners disoriented in the street. She does not recognize any of the group, know who she is or anything about herself, but Kristopher’s kind confident manner won her over and she allowed the group to take her home.

Radius confides in the group that he has also experienced some recent memory loss. The group seeks out the knowledge of the Amber Gleaners in their station, a squat domed structure made of iridescent magenta stones. It is here that they meet Challenger Forsyth for the first time, the local leader of the Amber Gleaners. He is a mahogany skinned man with a shocking white long beard. He wears Amber robes with a single green gem fixed into the hood. Challenger accompanies the characters back to Zoyin’s hut and, after seeing the condition of his friends, asks the characters if they can do what they can to find the “mudbirds” who the party realizes are the abhuman Murden, and do what they can to restore her to her former self.

The group examines what they believe to be the location where Zoyin was assaulted and lost her memories. Through skills and a few lucky finds they managed to track the Murden activity to an out town just outside of the walls of Aian. Finding their way to the Snug, a local watering hole, they learn that the memory problems suffered by Zoyin are more widespread. They speak with the barkeep, a silver haired woman named Melly, and befriend Hestar, a reedy scruffy haired man who simply could not recall how to get home, but did recall seeing a vegetable cart nearby where a man was transporting the Murden. The group encountered a group of ruffians demanding a “toll” while helping Hestar, but Callan, using hedge magic, was able to fool the leader into taking his own money as payment.

Finding the wagon trail proved to be somewhat challenging but eventually the group found their way down a cart road  passing a number of farms until they found the farm of a man named Federkin, who himself lie dead in front of his house, seemingly from starvation and malnutrition. A search of the home turned up an interesting six eyed helmet and a few shins. A commotion in the barn was caused by 13 murden who rode a wagon pulled by two Aneen out of the doors and east into the countryside. 

The group managed to track the Murden to the Mephitic Forest and after some minor encounters with local fauna, found the Murden Nest. A pitched battle occurred that ended in the surrender of the Murden Flock chief and the recovery of the Memory Collector. A powerful artefact capable of stealing the memories of others and storing them in a tiny synth ball. Touching the balls would give the holder a glimpse of the memories within. They managed to return to Radius his memories (and his axe) as well as Hestar and a few others. They have two left to deliver, one to Zoyin, and another to an unknown person who has forgotten their child.

The first thing the group did was return to the row of huts where Zoyin resides. Challenger Forsythe answers the door inviting the characters in asking if they had any news of Zoyin’s conditions, and was most relieved to learn that they had her memories in a small ball of synth. With her memories returned both Zoyin and Challenger discuss what had passed and express their gratitude to the party along with the payment promised by Challenger. Afterwards Challenger approached the characters about an much longer mission, one where they would accompany Zoyin and a few others to a settlement founded by an advanced group of Amber Gleaners a month or so back in the south east of Milave near the Cold Desert. Radius had previously given his agreement and, after a breif discussion the rest of our heroes decided in favor as well, but let Challenger know that they had a bit of unfinished business to resolve beforehand - the last memory ball.

Retracing their steps and using the glimpses of memories they could glean by touching the ball (but not absorbing its memories) they determined that the best place to look for the mother of Braeyan - the boy’s name - was the Snug as this would appear to be the neighbourhood that he was from. Melly was able to give them a name Taishja, and a location, the local aneen abattoir. Finding her there they gave her the ball and caused the memories of Braeyan to come rushing back. The woman immediately became distressed as, in addition to remembering her son, she remembered kicking him out and chasing him off, not knowing at the time who he was. After some consoling form Callan and Kristopher, they set out to find him, looking in popular spots and then having success at a friends house. The parents where hostile towards Taishja at first, due to Breayan’s account of what happened, but  were convinced by the group to bring him to the door only to discover he had slipped out the back way. The group combed the nearby area, discovering both a strange glass like gem and a culvert made of blue stone big enough for a man to enter stooped.

Sure enough the culvert was where Braeyan was hiding, but he was not alone. Though able to see beyond, A Balikna was capable of using poor lighting to strike at Kristopher, injuring him significantly before pursuing its intended meal, the child. Callan managed to wrestle it to the ground while Kristopher used the memory collector to strip the creature of its predatory skills and drive. AFter dispatching the beast, they reunited the child with his mother, who though not of well means offered them any help she could render in the future.

That night, an interesting development in his sleep Kristopher grabbed and squeezed the Balikna’s memory ball absorbing its instincts. As as result, his mind has now honed its instincts making him a bit stronger, quick, and feeling more predatory and carnivorous, awaking from a nightmare stalking prey he informs Callan of the development

After a bit of shopping and living well using the shins they achieved (and selling the gem, monochromatic or “greystone” as it is sometimes called, and having Zoyin treat Kristopher’s bite wounds, the group met up with Radius and the rest of the caravan setting out to the site of the settlement. Along the way the encounter a farmer, Griff and his son Ko. The wife, Seri, is in the back. Griff informs the group that they had to abandon the farm after digging uncovered a machine that shot out globs of spike green goo, killing his animals and damaging his home. One hit the wife just above the knee causing a horrible infection that Zoyin indicated would require the removal of the left leg below the thigh. 

It took some convincing but reasonable minds prevailed and Seri got the attention that she needed. Callan and Kristopher had the idea to invite the family to accompany them along to the settlement, as it would need people such as them to help it succeed. Griff was grateful twice over, he provided the group with a pair of cyphers that he had found and the group continued on their way.

Having reached the forest of blue brown trees and seen the first of the red cloth bands, the group stopped for lunch, Callan slipped on an embankment, alerting a dozen Betulan, giant brown blue moths swooped down and attacked. Most of the caravan worked to keep the draft animals from panicking and running down a hill while Radius and the heroes defeated the swarms. It is here that we leave our heroes, on the last leg of their journey, to revisit next week.

Kristopher decides to get close and anger the creatures, drawing a number of them off and leading them back to Callan Radius and Visso, who are waiting in ambush. Emboldened by victory, the quartet press their luck and enter the dome, only to find that it appears to be too big on the inside and that a large number of Phrontex, including one twice the size of a man and another who is able to speak The Truth, are too much for them.

The group makes their way back to the village to deliver the worrisome news and enlist the help of any warm body. Kadri, Griff and Ko are all uncertain, but some rousing words from Kristopher convince them that it is the only way and they set out again the next morning. 

This time they are successful in storming the dome, Callan’s Onslaught defeats the large Phrontex, while the rest of the group wears down the rest of their number. The leader, disarmed of his cyphers and spear, surrenders and agrees to take the Phorntex left alive and depart this area. It is here where are heroes wait  and recover, hoping to discover the location of their missing comrades when next we join them

Having vanquished the Phrontex and sent off the survivors, the heroes  continue into the next corridor  and are  happy to find most of the missing first wave of the outpost. Visso found his brother Nort, who similar to Callan was suffering from an allergy to the Phrontex slime, though far worse than the Nano. Also behind the blue synth steel bars where Tsala, the communities leader, Gennd, a quiet delve dressed in dark colors, a number of laborers, and I/O, a Prepared Delve who Defends the Weak. The group was able to free the trapped individuals by making a particular sound in a particular place, allowing the bars to flex and bend open. 

The group were informed the the 5 most injured laborers were taken, and have not returned. The group continues on to explore the last of the chambers. Finding a painting made of the red Phrontex slime of a great storm as well as a crystal formation in the shape of an inhuman screaming face the size of a man. All around the jaw were piles of fine ashy powder that the group, now including I/O, determined to be the remains of the missing workers. They disabled and salvaged the face finding a suitable amount of azure steel in the process. 

Having discovered all that there appears to be of interest, the group returns to the Amber Keep. Everyone focuses on exploring and building the community, with the hopes that it can be raised beyond the ruined camp that the heroes and Radius found it as. Walls and temporary shelters are the prime focus of the settlement, which sees its numbers increased by roughly another 25 settlers in a third wave over the next few weeks. I/O managed to encounter a strange substance that claimed one of his boots, but aside from this the time was fairly calm and uneventful.

During a community meeting where she praises the hard work and effort of the community, Tsala speaks to the Radius and our heroes. She informs them that Gennd has found a place of interest - a gargantuan arm broken past the forearm. Tsala warns the group that there are a group of blue and grey skinned creatures - abhumans or mutants- living in a small village alongside the arm. She knows not much more than that, only that the arm should be a promising place to salvage. The group decides to head out the next day.

The heroes make their way towards the arm and see the village with a few hours of daylight that remain. The group can see some figures moving in the distance and, with no available cover to move up quietly, decide to approach the village. They are met by a group of cautious blue and grey skinned individuals with small black eyes all around their heads. Things appear that they will get tense until finally Kristopher is able to discern enough of their language to communicate. He arranges the exchange of spears with the individual, who calls himself a “blue tongue”, and explains it as a gesture of friendship.

The conversation goes very well, the group meet the village leader and an arrangement is made where Kristopher is permitted to spend time in their village for a linguistic exchange, he will teach two blue tongues Iska and Toole the Truth and they will help him learn their language. They inquire about going into the arm to explore, and the Bluetooth have no problem with it, but they do warn the heroes that there are a number of monsters within the first chamber, and to exercise caution.

The group makes its way into the hole where the arm was originally sheared off and encounter among the blinking lights, scythe banded rainbow links of wire, and strange panels a number of laaks. The group manages to defeat them with near no issue. In the next room they squeeze through a narrow series of panels and make their way to an open room that seems to house some very interesting potential salvage. As they approach it, an ancient security protocol is activated and two salt shaker shaped automations appear, using a combination of tendrils and high pitched sonics, they provide a challenge for the group but are ultimately defeated, leaving our heroes to ponder on what to investigate next… 

The group received a pleasant surprise: I/O fresh back from the latest caravan heard of their predicament and quickly met up with them in the Kalpis, being unbothered by the bugmen after Kristopher’s encounter with them.  The group managed to free radius and learn that the red robed women, Morigera, was the prophet of something called the Machine God, finding her journal amongst the wreckage, they learned that the Machine God (or Ciszan as it was sometimes referred to) was interested in tracking down “Fallen Angels” to retrieve the divine keys that they stole. Radius was listed as one such angel, another called Chord the Philosopher, had been identified as living in the area of Delend under something called the Changing Moon. Radius was familiar with Delend, but noted that it was very far from their current location.

On their way out the group encountered a numenera device that appeared to allow them to ask a single question of the Datasphere, provided that they could endure the mental shock of the information overload. Kristopher learned that the Kalpis was once the research station of a prior world groups of creatures, completely submerged beneath the waves as the tentacled creatures needed the environment. Radius attempted to use the device but it would not respond to him, so I/O asked for him who Chord the Philosopher was. I/O learned that Chord was remarkably similar to Radius in appearance but with a number of small circles embossed in his chest. It showed him in a community under a bizarre moon like structure that, given what they knew, was likely the changing moon. The group decided to leave this thing intact as it may well be useful, but realized it would only work once for each individual.

As they returned to the Amber keep they noted that I/O had a inch square purple mark, vein or root like in its appearance, the same color as the giant hand in the middle of his forehead. Apparently  I/O had an encounter with an energy discharge during the salvage operation. He had been having dreams of a giant four armed automation roaming the countryside.  He had been, to say, “marked by the machine”

Radius informed the group of his desire to head to Delend, he noted he had a vehicle capable of doing so but it needed time and iotum to be repaired, the group had everything they needed with the exception of a few containers of memetic gel. Speaking with Tsala, they learned that there was a community called blue cloud further down the river that was more established and may well have some. Tsala wanted to open up trade with this group similar to how the community had done with the blue tongues. She gave her blessing to make the journey there by water. The group went to Visso who was able to make alterations to a wagon so that it could be turned into a raft capable of making it down the river. 

On their journey the group encountered a creature known as a Grey singer, who communicated in song. The group attempted to respond, but they must have said or sang the wrong thing as the singer simply left. On the raft the group’s journey was largely uneventful save for an encounter between a cloud-like creature that was very interested in Kristopher, transforming one of his cyphers before departing.

Several days later the group arrived on the shore and following the map they received from Tsala, made their way safely to Bleu Cloud where they were first encountered by the Ranger Diada. She was very suspicious of the group, as Blue Cloud has recently lost its defender and had come under attack by a tribe of “demons” that given the description, the group was fairly certain were the abhuman Magyr. After convincing Diada that they were simply traders and representatives of a new community down (or up) river, and that they could help, she brought them to the town leader, and it is here that we leave our heroes to find out what shall pass next time….

Diada led the heroes to Nalisor, the leader of Blue Cloud who informed the group about the current situation with the attacking demons (Magyr) and the absence of their protector, the Nightwalker. The Nightwalker appears to be an enigmatic cloud type entity, faintly luminescent and blue in color (for which the community was named) that has not been seen in a number of days. This happens from time to time, but it seems that the Magyr have taken this opportunity to attack the community. Several have been killed or carried off, including one of the town defenders, Baraton and a number of homes have been damaged. The group, now interested in this situation and concerned for the locals, agrees to help in exchange for two of the samples of memetic gel that Nalisor has in the town vault, plus room and board. At his request, Diada leads the group to the home of Serri, who after the recent loss of her parents to a wasting disease, has some room to spare. 

From Serri they learn a bit more of the community and the missing Baraton, who happens to be her partner. As the characters are getting settled in the sounds of alarm go up, the Magyr are attacking! The heroes challenge a squad of the attacks and emerge victorious. As battle rages on they hear screams and cries for help coming for a burning home. Kristopher acts as a one man bucket brigade, while Callan, using his esoteries, puts the inhabitants into a sort of protective stasis. Once I/O gets the doors open the two quickly ferry the trio out to safety.

The Magyr are repelled, but not without losses in the community. Diada though now finds her suspicions of the characters to be abetted and tells them what she knows of the situation, including Baraton’s discovery of something called the Grove of the Sleeper. Searching Baraton’s jackets and room, they find a map of this place and as bizarre jagged claw shaped bric a brac that Callan simply cannot leave behind. Returning to Serri’s home they meet Kley, the third ranger. He seems pleasant and helpful, which is a surprise to all except Serri, as he is typically known for being surly and difficult. The group is just ready to leave when Nalisor approaches. He is starting to doubt that the Nightwalker will return, he asks the group if they can scout the demon caves to get an idea of what they are up against so that he and the remaining rangers can begin to plan. The group agrees and heads out north.

On the way following Baraton’s map the group goes off track and passes under an archway that causes them to time skip ahead most of the day. Reaching the Grove they find a series of stone structures shaped like prisms (rectangular triangular cylinders, devoid of color on the exterior side but vibrantly colored on the interior. The whole area is pleasantly colorful and emits a pleasant and pleasing aroma (except for Kristopher who finds it debilitatingly nauseating) the examine the altar and the surrounding area to discover that something rather large was taken and manages by exerting a fair amount of effort to determine that the tracks were heading back to Blue Cloud. This discovery is quickly followed by a surprise strike by a wandering group of Magyr, however our heroes manage to vanquish this group. The question remains…what was taken from the Grove of the Sleeper…and by who ?

Having taken a Magyr prisoner the heroes, unable to gain the information they need via conversation, decide to use the Memory Collector to get what they need. Kristopher  removes several weeks of memory and, touching the synth ball containing it, experiences a series of events as if watching them through the abhuman’s eyes that are so terrible that  it causes an injurious mental backlash. He is able to learn that Baraton, the missing ranger is dead, that Kley, the third ranger, was captured and tortured by a group of Magyr and was let go when he claimed he could “get rid of the Nightwalker” Kristopher also learned that there was a secret entrance into the cave network, which itself was the home to roughly 100 Magyr.

Taking this information back to Blue Cloud, they immediately went to Diada and Nalisor and explained what they had learned. The group all decide to go to Kley’s home and, after cornering him inside, learn that he took the Sleeper of the Grove, which is the form that the Nightwalker is forced to take in daylight, and has it trapped in his cellar. IO and Diadra go down and remove the glowglobes preventing darkness from touching it, only to have the creature rapidly change and expand into the slightly luminescent cloud and break through Kley’s home  to return to the sky. All but Callan, who lucky managed to propel himself through a window to the outside, are notably banged up by the unexpected incident. Everyone searches to make sure each other are alright and all are found except Kley, who has disappeared without a trace.

Things become a bit more calm in Blue Cloud the next morning, however the Heores and the leaders of the Aldiea are still concerned for the missing community member who, due to Kristopher’s examination of the Magyr’s memories are likely still alive but will soon be consumed by the abominable abhumans. They make their way to the secret entrance, activate some sort of platform that takes them down below where a corridor with some sort of mechanical arm and banged up old machinery can be found. Using their talents to circumvent and disable the arm, the group unfortunately does not realise until too late that the  machinery is in reality an automation - a disassemble - that the group battles and defeated before moving forward into an open room where they encounter no one but a mated pair of Gnaths, who attempted to attack and presumably devour the characters. The Gnath failed and the heroes managed to slay the beasts, leaving them with an interesting machinery before them. What does it do and might it help them in their quest to save the missing people of Blue Cloud?

Session 8

Working to take apart the mysterious device, IO is able to  retrieve several units of iotum and an acidic resonator, which the group uses to spray their weapons to improve their ability to damage opponents. The search the attached rooms, each filled with circular cubbies some of which are sealed with a waxy substance. Fortune favors them as they find the equivalent of a unit of mimetic gel, the substance that Radius needs to repair his conveyance,  in a few of the cubbies.  Making their way down an access tube in the form of a slippery synth pipe, the heroes find themselves in a large domed room with a number of metallic grey statues of magyr and a large machine, fixed to the ceiling. in the middle. As the group moves, the machine, sensing their presence, comes to life and attempts to grab them. It cannot  grab Callan, as he is out of phase, but Kristopher is not so lucky as the large hand grips him, its fingers cutting into him as it does so. It sprays him with a quick hardening liquid, the same color as  the statues. It is then that the group realises that the statues are not statues but real magyr which have been processed by the automation, known as the entomber. Callan’s force blasts manage to shatter its metal casing, rendering it inoperable, while IO works tirelessly to take down the makeshift but sturdy barrier closing this room off from the others.

Using the memories that Kristopher gleaned from the memory stealer, our heroes navigate successfully past the danger zones populated by the majority of Magyr. Our heroes stumble upon a particularly vile smelling room, vile enough to cause Callan to lose his lunch, populated by two Magyr who are quickly dispatched. In the next room, a Magyr champion, the largest of the foul abhumans any of the group has ever seen,  is encountered in a strange cube of running water. The Champion, despite his physical prowess, is no match for the heroes, who then manage to find two of the missing townsfolk, Orrin and Easa, as well as the traveler Zara, who herself is in a dazed and fugue state from a head injury. The 6 now make their way back up the synth pipe, no longer having to worry about the entomber. On the way out of the Demon Caves the group realizes, only two of the three prisoners were from the aldeia of Blur Cloud. Easa notes that Zep is still missing, having been taken out of the room by the Magyr earlier.

After debating how to keep the already rescued survivors safe, our heroes descended once more into the depths of the Demon Caves in search of the last kidnapping victim. The only room left in the wing where the others were found is, unfortunately, the torture room. Opening the door reveals a human male, most likely Zep, who is strapped to a blood stained table surrounded by 2 magyr champions. He is injured but in one piece. The vile creatures take up arms but are unable to overcome Callan’s Onslaught, Kristophers’ Slug thrower and claws, and IO's spear. The group, prepared to flee with the still injured Zep, comes across a quartet of Magyr, a hunting party who have come back with their catch. Kristopher taunts and goads them into standing and fighting instead of running away, a smart move as the quick to anger abhumans attack with a fury. The group emerges victorious over their opponents and still manage to get themselves and the emancipated townsfolk back to the surface with relative quiet and safety, the 100 or so Magyr that remain in the caverns being none the wiser. Now having rejoined the group of survivors, time must be taken to figure out how to get the civilians that have now been made free back home. But what awaits our heroes once they return to Blue Cloud?

Session 9

On their way back to the community with their rescuers, Callan has a strange encounter with a floating orb made of a combination of synth and crystal. The thing, which he later identifies as a Cuiddit, is noisy and bright but follows him and the group playfully, bleeping, blooping and glittering along the way. Our heroes best guess it that the creature is largely benign and simply curious.

At Blue Cloud they reunite family with friends. All except Zara, the wandering nomad. The group learns that a funeral for Baraton and the other lost souls during the raid is poised to take place the next day. They meet with Nalisor who provides them with their payment plus a few extra cyphers of no use to the community. They then meet Diada, who is in a heated argument with a young woman named Isha, her apprentice. Or is this the case. Both part ways after strong disagreement of Isha’s duties and responsibilities and if those can ever be brought in line with Isha’s hopes and “flights of fancy. The youth rushes off, allowing for Diada to vent to the group. She professes Isha is a good youth and capable, but perhaps with everything that has happened lately, and especially with her added burdens due to the deaths of the other Blue Rangers, Isha needs someone who is not constantly carrying the park on their lone shoulders now that Baraton is dead and Kley is “gone”

IO finds and approaches the youth and after a lengthy conversation an offer is put across to the young energetic and ambitious woman, travel with the group and learn what it means to make a difference. Isha, not believing at first, agrees wholeheartedly once she realizes the offer is genuine. It is clear to IO and the others that there is much work to be done. In the same vein, Zara, having recovered naturally from the blow to her head, speaks of travelling with her liberators for a time, as has been her habit since youth. Normally she goes along but after last time she appreciates the strength in numbers.

Daida and Nalisor express their gratitude and their mild concern regarding the groups decision to take Isha along. However the memorial ceremony is the next day, the entire town makes a progression out to the Dias where items and candles are lit in silent prayer. The candle IO is handed causes a stir until someone recognizes the large black candle that IO was given. The item is deemed inappropriate for the festival and another option is thankfully substituted in, allowing the group to participate in services.

Once the service clears, Nalisor bids the group safe journey and lets them know that they will forever have friends and a place to stay at Blue Cloud. The group makes it way as far as finding their modified cart raft and builds camp for the night. IO and Isha briefly talk, Isha promising to not let the group down and thanking them for this opportunity.  Kristopher, on the other hand, encounters trouble. Lizard-like beasts with bug-like faces, Tachyrons, who perceive the present differently from normal men. Thanks to Kristopher’s gifts he is able to see them coming as they come and as they already have gone. Rousing the group, IO shifts between a protective stance and projectiles, Kristopher strikes with hand and fist (and later boot to the backside), and Callan locks the hungry predators away in stasis to be dealt with in smaller more manageable groups. 

After a pitched battle full of risk the creatures, bloodied and realising that our heroes are no easy prey, run away back into the forest. Though they must fight the current, the group appears to be ready to brave the return trip to the Amber Glave. What will they find when they return?

Our 5 heroes, having rested after their battle with the Tachyrons, fashion some paddles and poles out of nearby harvested wood (a pale, birch-like wood with pale cerulean swirls) and begin their journey back up stream. Their first night of camping by the river side starts fairly uneventful, Kristopher regales the group with interesting stories by a roaring campfire, an ochre quadradeer is hunted and prepared, truly a peaceful night under the moon and its green belt. 

Peaceful until Callan’s Cuiddit starts to act in a bizarre fashion, emitting mauve pulsing lights and repetitive high pitch “phweee!” sounds. Curious, Callan does not notice the slimy translucent creature grab him with one of its 11 tentacles, trying to pull him into it. He shouts out and wakes his companions. Who set out to free him and drive the creature off. A difficult beast to hit, with the entire team on top of it they manage to seriously injure it and drive it back into the river. During the fight, one of its tentacles was severed and began to act on its own, trying to strangle Kristopher. Pinning the thing to the ground they are able to assess it to be a ___, a slippery creature known to live near the water and devour its prey by dissolving them in its innards.

The group continues on the next day, not as well rested as they would like due to the early morning attack. They make it most of the way back up the river but reach a point where their muscles are too strained to continue, They find a fairly defensible campsite. A soft grassy area about 10 meters squares nestled inside and henge of stubby finger like rocks connected to the land by a series of large stones. Fish are caught and - after losing an ore due to accidents and rough waters, Kristopher and Zara set to using the fibers form a number of very large leaves to fashion some ropes and other add-ons to make the boat a bit more useful and secure.

IO and Isha on the other hand come across a lone individual, who identifies as Aedric of Far Brohne, that claims to be exploring the woods. He seeks to find all the hidden places no one knows of and to become the leading expert on the area. IO is cautious, it is after all not common to happen upon lone travelers out in The Beyond. He sends Isha back to bring the others. While Callan makes his way back with her, IO manages to make a favorable trade of cyphers. After questioning the trio for all that they know of the area and about their community, the two groups part ways amicably.

The third day sees the heroes make their way back to the Amber Keep, only to notice a large structure, balanced on a pale yellow column of flame, just outside of the Amber Keep. Making use of his Farspeaker, Kristopher manages to parley with the at first confused owner? Pilot? Manager? Of the strange thing. For all intents and purposes this craft, which the owner Sparadhi refers to as “The Burning Column” seems to be a wandering party craft that stops at communities along the way for socializing and trade. Attempts to get a feel for the “hosts” motives suggest that his intentions are benign. The group makes their return to a more developed Amber Keep -there are more huts, the walls look bigger and stronger, and the wooden watch tower is mostly complete - as the Burning Column descends and “parks” flameless on the ground just outside of the community. The group meets up with  Radius, and happily provides him with the mimetic gel needed to finish the work on his conveyance.

Tsala comes to the group and tells them of this vessel that appears a few hours prior to the heroes. She notes that Sparadhi has invited the town aboard to see his craft and to trade. She notes that after everything they have experienced here she feels a bit uneasy, some of the towns folks, Visso and Nort among them, have already gone aboard. She asks if Callan, Kristopher and Io can accept his invitation to better figure out the true story here. They agree, wondering what  they will find aboard this strange numenera mansion that travels on a column of flame.

At Tsala’s request the group with tier followers make their way towards the now “parked” Burning Pillar with Kristopher seeming especially intent on rounding up the missing community members. As they make it onto the Pillar’s front deck they are greeted by a radiant and animated woman, whom they quickly learn is the steward of the Pillar, the individual known as Sparadi during the communication between Kristopher and via the Farspeaker cypher. 

She greets them warmly and emphatically, noting that several of the townsfolk have already made their way aboard and that all were welcome to come aboard, to eat drink and be merry. A bit of a conversation begins between IO, Kristopher, and Sparadi, Callan choosing to remain silent and observant despite Sparadi’s occasional attempts to make him a more active participant in the conversation.  The group is able to learn that the Pillar was originally the possession of Sparadi’s mother and that she has spent nearly her whole life on it, travelling around the southern edges of the Steadfast and the Beyond. Though she calls herself the Steward or the Owner, she typically lets it steer itself where it wishes to go, stopping at the different communities along the way, trading in everything from provisions, shins, cyphers, and rumours. She has a very interesting philosophy, to go out and to be merry, to see what one is able to see, experience what one is able to experience, to share in what one has and what makes one special. 

After bringing the conversation to a pleasant and amicable end, the heroes make their way deeping into the mansion-like construction that rests atop the pillar and that Sparadi calls home. The main hall is a huge open area with irregular brass staircases heading up to a second and third floor, a giant multi colored crystal chandelier hands from the ceiling projecting a calming multicoloured light all over the chamber. To each side are rooms filled with food, drink and people making merry, including some of the inhabitants of Amber Keep.

Kristopher is on a mission, first approaching Kadri, encouraging his fellow Arkus to leave the festivities if only for a while while dodging the insistent inquiries from the elderly Elgom, who Kadri points out is suffering from a terminal disease and spending the rest of her life in adventure.

Kristopher then moves on to engage with Lagim, a rare visitant known as a Varjellen. The Wright is fascinated by Lagim and doesn't appreciate having his conversation broken up  by one such as Kristopher, who is intent on ending it. Krirstopher manages, though not before Lagim, who himself is a bit of a craftsman, decides to sell Visso a carved wooden figure of a broken hound. The Varjellan has not had much contact with humans prior to its time on the Burning Column, and is therefore very inquisitive as to what the local det up to on a day to day basis.

Meanwhile IO and Callan, content to let Kristopher work his social magic, come across a short stocky man, well dressed with a topknot by the name of Mondris. Mondris is carrying a brass platter full of samples of blue bars with golden and silver veins coming through them, served on an edible red leaf. He encourages the  pair to try one, which IO does. Once eaten it  gives him a warm feeling, causing his veins to lighten with a golden and silver tinge. This goes away, but leaves him with Golden Iris’s and silver lines in the cornea. Mondrsi mentions that this does not happen every time, but only to those who “have a special destiny” He then continues off in the direction of Zoyin. Callan takes note of a well muscled woman with a stronglass arm. She is amusing Nort, Visso’s brother, by breaking things with it.

Callan must suddenly phase shift to avoid the attack by a crazed man, the man, who has a number of sparking protrusions from his scalp, falls taking out a table with it. The other guests are quick to get Sparadi who warns the man, a nano called Beverec, that one more outburst and he will be dropped off in the middle of nowhere. She asks Callan and the woman with the Stronglass arm, who goes by Thule, to take Beverec to his room upstairs. Sparadi apologises profusely for the disruption to the pleasant mood.

Krisptopher, who as just managed to free himself from the unintelligible ramblings of a man missing all of his teeth on the left side of his mouth and who reeks of booze, enters the room and makes his way towards where Zoyin is in conversation with Mondris, he tries one of Mondris’ creations, but his eyes remain unchanged. He successfully impresses upon Zoyin that there will be more time later to return and socialise before turning his attention to the last remaining member of the Amber Keep aboard the Burning Pillar - Nort.

Nort has been watching Thule with unabashed awe use her arm to crush, squeeze and break objects, and even engaged in an armwrestling competition that she allowed to go on longer than necessary. Kristopher approaches Nort, who is glad to see the Arkus, and is about to leave disappointed with him back to the village when Thule intervenes, stating that she is not impressed with Kristopher intruding on their good time. Some words are exchanges and a wager is made, with Zara and Thule, convinced by Kristopher to use her human arm, will arm wrestle to determine if Nort will head back to the Amber Keep, or if he and Thule will continue their afternoon uninterrupted with Kristopher picking up his duties for the rest of the day. Zara, though putting forth a strong effort, fails. And sure enough Kristopher keeps his word leaving the appreciative Nort behind. 

IO and Kristopher also wish to discuss trade, as it is something that Sparadhi has alluded to doing in The Amber Keep as well as other communities she has stopped at in their travels. Among the items that Sparadhi has it is the jewel of the collection -  an Analyzing Shield. Kristopher offers the Slugspitter, to which Sparadhi is willing, so long as the group can sweeten the deal a bit. Some back and forth occurs when IO comes up with the unique and intriguing idea of trading a memory of his along with the slug splitter for the shield. As what this entails is explained to the curious Sparadhi, she becomes more intrigued and agrees. IO thinks back to the time that he explored a series of numenera ruins with his then ward, Nicholas. It was during this time that he had lost his ward in the ruins to another dimension and when he had vowed to search in all corners to fine something - anything - from the present and any prior worlds that would allow IO to find his ward and bring him back home. It was during this excursion that the decision to become a Delve became solidified in his mind. IO carefully instructs Kristopher what memory to take, and Kristopher has success, but while removing the memory of the ruins, the memory of how Nate disappeared and of the event that made up IO’s to choose his profession left as well.

IO still knows of Nicolas, knows that he disappear and still wasn't to find him, however when pressed for the details of why he became a Delve and what happened in the temple, his mind draws a foggy grey blank, even when Sparadi tries to inform him of his ward’s fate second hand. The memory is gone, surgically removed to leave no damage to his purpose and other memories, just some bizarre hiccups in the knowledge of others.

Kristopher is handed the shield, Sparadhi is left wondering if t perhaps she pushed herself too far as the synth ball crumbles and IO’s memories  enter her mind as her’s. IO is struggling to recall some important information. Sparadi in her concern decides to provide  IO with a small token of, a pen whose ink is only visible in the cold. With a deep respectful bow Sparadhi promises to safeguard IO’s memories for the rest of her days

That evening the pillar starts to slowly circle the village, its movement being what is responsible for its odd music while a number of citizens return to enjoy the rare opportunity that such a place provides to those who live out in the wild. Kristopher decides to head over to Tsala’s home instead, where they have a long evening talk over a few drinks and Tsala confesses to having a crisis of confidence as a leader as of late. Kristopher is able to sooth her concerns and the pair have a pleasant evening together before Callan and IO stop by to check in.

The next morning the Heroes, accepting an invitation from Sparadi, make their way towards the Pillar for a breakfast  buffet of fruits, breads, and cheeses. Kristopher invites Tsala, who  finds his company increasingly pleasant and desirable, to dine with him. Callan makes an attempt to do the same with Thule, who appears to be more focused and infatuated with the currently absent Nort, and is rebuffed.  The meal is a pleasant one, until a distressed looking Visso approaches Thule inquiring as to the whereabouts of his brother Nort. Both seem to be under the impression that Nort was with the other and, their conversation now being noticed across the hall, cannot find him anywhere. The group inquires into the matter and sadly the information both can provide has relatively few answers to the burning question on the Burning Pillar, “Where is Nort?”

Visso and Thule’s worried conversation has begun to spread to the rest of the festivities, garnering the attention of Kristopher, Tsala, Callan and IO, who inquire about the matter. It also draws the attention of the recently arrived Thremody, a Risk-taking Wright who Battles Automations and Sepherith, a Mutant Glaive who Constantly Evolves. Both have been working with Visso and Nort over the last little while while the rest of our heroes had journeyed to the adelia of Blue Cloud. Arriving at the source of distress, Tsala conducts an awkward and belated introduction. 

Thremody, Callan, and IO have the idea that Berevec may be responsible for Nort’s absences. They confront him, he starts off sad and lonely, lamenting his tragic tale for the trio before said tale in itself causes him to begin to become angry. IO swoops in and ingeniously deescalates Beverec’s bottled range into sadness, after which the poor broken Nano just wants to lay down and be alone. He claims to have no knowledge of Nort and the group complies, returning downstairs. A number of other patrons Senmin, the half-toothed drunkard, Thule, who had spent the majority of the day before with Nort and the varjellan Lagim all volunteered to  assist.

IO and Isha, they head to the exterior as despite Visso’s instances that Nort did not return home, that did not mean that he had not found his way somewhere else outside of the Burning Pillar, cleverly triangulating  the circular path of the pillar around the Amber Keep IO determines that wherever Nort may be, it must be somewhere on the Burning Pillar as he clearly did not set foot outside. Using his skills and triangulating the path he is able to conduct this search in about a quarter of the time that a less experienced Delve would need, enabling IO and Isha to return to assist with the search.

Sepherith pairs up with Lagim, both of whom find the other interesting in their uniqueness, Lagim begins to ask many questions of Sepherith regarding his tentacles, having never seen a human such as him. The two engage in a conversation regarding being “different” from the majority and in their friendly chat, maybe pay a little less attention to the search. Thremody has a bit less luck with his partner, as Senmin is quite inebriated and unintelligible, and as such spends almost as much time searching as keeping Senmin upright.   Callan partners with Thule hoping to edge in a bit of romance, but finds her to be completely oblivious to any advances, it becomes clear that she only has eyes for Nort.

Kristopher and Zara appear to also have little luck in their search as well, but eventually the pair runs into Threnody and Callan.Shortly after Sepherim and then IO arrives just on the heels of Sparadi, who has an uncharacteristically worried expression on her face, she informs the adventurers that they must have been drawn to the pillar for it holds the door to what Sparadi calls “The heart of the pillar” Sparadi explains it as a strange palace, almost alive. It is a whimsical playful place that she used to go in and play with years ago when she was but a child, but became harder and harder to get into. But perhaps not for Nort, given his very child-like mind and demeanour. She urges the group to  open up their heart to gain access. Kristopher give an emotive speech and tries to gain access, only not having enough

To force his way in. Callum  and his phasing abilities are brought into play, he opens up to imagine what his unknown childhood would be, visions of purplish blue nebula drift across his mind as he opens his imagination and taps a previously unknown childhood sense of wonder. He then reaches into the wall to pull the heptagonal door open revealing the condensed dimension beyond. Sparadhi, amazed to the point of near speechlessness, tries to reach in  but a field the form of the door blocks only her, and only in the spots that she would touch. She appears sad and crestfallen as one by one the group is able to enter. She cautions them on the maze and warns them not to lay down and sleep as the Heart find it rude

The heroes all  enter and find a room where the floor and ceiling are all covered in a dense rolling golden fog that is around ankle deep the ceiling appears to be much the same. The walls appear to be made out of some glass like-substance. Behind these walls are the flaming rainbows, There are two corridors running in opposite directions, each has a golden that rolls in like a hazy fog making it impossible to see what lies at the other end. The group decides on the left corridor and ends up in a single room with a heptagonal window apparently peering out into the dining area where everyone had breakfast. All are surprised when Senmin reaches through the porthole and grabs a hunk of cheese bringing it back though to eat. Others experiment with this  feature before continuation on down the next corridor, calling out to Nort in the hopes that he will respond, if able.

The corridor offers a challenge as it appears to be both occupying the space of another perpendicular path, but not all at the same time. With a bit of effort the heroes  make their way through this strange nearly incomprehensible  passage, though find it extremely mentally taxing. The next chamber is similar but has a transparent face on the wall. IO studies it only to have it, in turn, study him, copying every expression the Delve makes until the group leaves heading in what they hope to be a northerly direction. It is here that they find Nort, asleep and partially sunken into the floor. They are unable to wake him, but Sepherith, taking advantage of the tentacles that serve as his arms, wrap them as best he can around Nort and with some assistance, pull the large man free of the floor.

Nort immediately wakes up, a bit unsure of where he is at and glad to see his friends, he thanks them all for finding him and wants to go home. At the door he is happy to see Thule and with a hearty thanks goes off to spend time with her. 

Sparadhi, still saddened by the heart's lack of desire for her to go in, laments that perhaps it is time for her and the pillar to leave the community and perhaps this is why her mother gave her the Burning Pillar when and in the manner she did. Kristopher, saddened and sympathetic, uses his talents and assists Sparadi in finding the childhood spark. She opens the door, and is completely speechless, the finery she has built around her persona melts away  and every part of her being radiates joy. She informs the heroes of her everlasting gratitude and tells each of them to select any one cypher that she has as her thanks. As she heads into the Heart she tells the group that it is her intent to continue on her journey in the evening and to please spreads the word that she will be leaving then. She informs them as the door closes that she will not be available for most of the day, she will be busy getting reacquainted with an ‘old friend’

Sure enough  people, mostly those already living in the Amber keep begin to leave, though a few of Sparadhi’s guests decide to give the community a shot. They include Thule, who as become enamored with Nort, Senmin, whose pleasant but unintelligible speech remains a bit of a mystery, and Beverec, who has decided to leave the Pillar and try to live up to IOs encouraging words, maybe this is where he can do it. With that the pillar irises up on its column of flame and departs sought towards the Cold Desert. The heroes themselves will soon turn in as they have a journey soon ahead of them as well.

With the departure of the Burning Pillar, life returns to what passes for normality in the community of Amber Keep. Callan takes advantage of the lull to recover from his experiences whileKristpoher and Zara speak with the quiet and reclusive Gennd regarding the salvaging of iotum to help Zara learn to craft cyphers. An accord is struck where Gennd will exchange knowledge for resources and the possibility of further beneficial exchanges has been entertained. Krstopher appears to find Gennd a bit of a mystery, constantly dressed in unrevealing black clothing, her cat-like eyes almost glowing in the dark, perhaps something to pursue further at a later date.

IO and Thremody take the time to make plans for future developments and work to attempt to disassemble a few cyphers and oddities to find  their composite iotum or the seeds of a plan to perhaps build something more. The pair discuss needed materials for the farspeaking pylon or tower that Thremody wishes to construct to link the community with others.IO is interested in trying to develop a device that could aid in the search for Nicholas, his former ward. Together they manage to make some progress, with Thremody condensing an iotum into a banishing node and IO finding the beginnings of how to construct a spatial warp ring.

Thremody later meets up with Sepherihm, Visso, Nort, and Thule. They are patching up a weakness in the stone wall that surrounds the community while making peasant conversation. Nort cheerful and childlike as ever simply cannot get enough of the Glaive when he wags his tentacles and encourages Thule to show him the “cool trick” she can do by crushing rocks with her stronglass arm. Much praise is heaped upon the Glaive for his help, especially by Nort who remembers his rescue (well to a point at least). It is around this time that, fresh from the rudimentary workshop they have set up in their hut, Thremody arrives on the scene to help.They and Visso strike up a grand conversation about what can be done to improve the strength and quality of life in the community, with the suggestion of using baked drit in place of wood when possible construction going forward. Conveniently Tremody with Sepherihm’s aid has the chance to test another application by using said innovation to help shore up a section of weakly set wall. 

Midday meal soon comes, and the community meeting at Tsala’s cottage that the Kadri pronounced earlier in the day, banging his metal rod on the large synth disc to attract the listening ear of all, has begun. The group can see their friends, followers and contemporaries present as Tsala welcome and thanks all, new and old for all of the hard work that they have done thus far. She tables the question of what might need doing, to which Callan and Kristopher raise the question of Griff’s farm.Griff, turning his hat in his hands like a steering wheel on a conveyance, mentions that it will be a while before the crops are ready but he has nowhere to store it. Some back and forth go on and the idea that a storehouse or a grainery, preferably with a root cellar be constructed. Visso mentions the possibility of an oven to make baked drit blocks, a conversation that turns into the decision to build a workshop after the stores have been completed. Senmin also makes a few strong points, or at least thats what those in attendance assume the incoherent mutterings mean.

At the end of the meeting, Radius steps up and announces his intention to depart the community in search of his sibling, a notion that causes Thremody to roll their eyes. He hopes that the tendril crawler, now repaired, will bring them to and fro quickly. He thanks his friends and companions for all they have done to this point and for the upcoming help on the journey ahead. With that the meeting is dismissed. The group helps Radius rig a few extra seats to the conveyance and, after a heartfelt exchange between Tsala and Kristopher, where the former gives a gift of a stamp that denotes edible food to the latter, the group say their goodbyes and set off into the approaching sunset.

The journey starts off quiet and easy, the 8 travellers (9 if Callan’s cuiddit can be counted). The first day’s journey puts them on a hill overlooking the grand sprawling city of Rarmon, capital of the Paythorian Empire and home to the Empress Challadien III. The heroes decide to save their shins and make camp on the hillside, which allowed both IO and Kristopher to bear witness to the unknown to them rare sight of the Sunken Palace, levitating out of its resting place near the city centre turning and awash with a field of gasoline technicolour, turning and then setting back down. Though a few kilometres away, Kristopher is able to use his gifts to view the events as if he were on the paving path across the street from it. He describes the sights he sees close up to IO who recalls the stories and rumours that he himself has heard of the Sunken Palace, wondering if perhaps just perhaps there may be marvels within that would allow him to better pursue his goal. He asks Radius the next day that, if at all possible, they may be able to stop at Rarmon on the way back, to which the metal man agrees.

Not more than a few hours into the second day’s journey, the group notices smoke and then an oddly shaped crashed nightswimmer in the fields ahead. As they approach, a number of 8 foot tall Oorgolian soldier, each armed with either a slugspitter or beam emitter, approaches and in harmonic machine language, which only Kristopher appears able to understand (Thremody is unsure if they believe that Radius can’t) asks if the group is responsible for the “termination of movement” of the vessel. After establishing that they are not, the automations direct them towards a 5 sided porthole to enter and fix the ship. Time is apparently of the essence, as there is an impending “Termination of Delight” coming on if nothing is done.

The porthole leads to a long cord as wide as a human foot, that extense 300m in this structure that should simply not be this big on the outside and connects with a large suspended cube. Kristopher starts to regale the trio with a helpful anecdote about tightrope walking, but the chamber causes his voice to reverberate and become so loud that the cords begin to shake and tremble, making movement impossible until they stop. A clever way to cross using one of Thremody’s oddities is devised to get across within Sepherith basically pulling them across while Callan and Kristopher stand guard in the small exterior room. Sepherith slips! But is thankfully able to grasp IOs outstretched waiting hand. He climbs back up and the trio is able to safely get across to the cold room on the other side.

This second room, also larger than it should be, is a virtual labyrinth composed of 12 foot slabs of dark synth with irregular light trails running across them in no discernible pattern. Thremody recognizes these as databases, storing an untold wealth of information in a non physical form. Resisting the temptation, They along with IO and Sepherith make their way through the jumble, this time exiting out of a bioluminescent water garden. In the centre appears to be a 4th  passage in an apple core shaped configuration, Semi-circular portholes would appear to grant access.

Before much action can be taken, IO begins to feel an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach, as if danger is near. A yellow swarm , duller than the bright blues greens and yellows of the garden engulfs IO in their cloud nipping, biting and stinging. Seraphim and Thremody attack the swarm with fire and energy, doing enough damage to drive them off of the unfortunate Delve, who in turn uses a sweeping deluge of fire to try to flush out the rest of the now greatly reduced swarm., but also causing a not insignificant part of this forest to be set ablaze.

This fact does not go unknown to the Oorgolian Soldiers, who level their slugspitters asn Kristopher and Callan, who had been at that moment mulling over perhaps going deeper in to help their companions stating that their trust in the party has apparently been greatly misplaced and that they should prepare to meet their “deity, progeniture, creator, manufacturer, transcendent entity”. How will they get out of this?

Session 14

Staring down the barrel of an Oorgolian Slugspitter Kristopher unleashes a verbal barrage so intense that the automation takes notice. At this point thoroughly fed up with conditions and the strange dialog of the Oorgolians, Kristopher convinces them to take he and Callan deep into the nightswimmer and to determine the cause of the fire. Using their articulate toes to grasp the cords and their knowledge of the layout to navigate the labyrinth, it takes minutes for them to get to the bioluminescent garden, where IO has successfully used an extendable hose to extinguish the burns sections of the area.  

Once the group is all together Kristopher makes his way in and investigates the situation. As it would turn out, the centre of this inner chamber has a large 5 to 10 foot diameter sphere that is in reality a dimensional portal, used by the nightswimmer as an engine. He and Callan are quickly able to determine that normally such an anomaly would shift from dimension to dimension, changing its end point and thus generating whatever energy is necessary for the vessel to move as it should, but at present something was keeping it locked in on the current location, which appeared from every angle to be a room made of blue crystal from the vantage point of a door. It was also determinable that the root cause of the portal being “stuck” was on the other side.

Stepping through the experience of dimensional travel was disorientating for some, and injurious for Kristopher. Callan, being ultraterrestrial in nature, found the journey as taxing as seeping from one room to another, however he did discover that for some reason he could not phase through objects in this realm, which immediately consisted of a large greeting hall three stories tall with winding staircases leading up. The doorway they stepped through was a wash of magenta energy, as were the numerous windows high up above.

As the group marched up with Callan in the lead, two blue crystal skulls with glowing red eyes wreathed in fuchsia flames descended and spoke to Callan in a language they could not understand but Kristopher, thanks to the use of his comprehension worm, could. He understood that the beings before them were inquiring about their purpose in the tower and if they were here under the direction of “The Master”. After a few tries, the skulls, which spoke as one, were able to effectively converse with Kristopher and to explain that normally the tower moves from dimension to dimension  and this procedure was powered by thought. It was however no longer working as the master dreamed a dream and thought into being a device to aid its servants, but apparently had had an unfortunate series of consequences.

Having convinced the glowing skulls that their intentions were help, the group moved up three floors past a number of curious glass diodes and bubbles connected via tubes funnelling strange liquids and  gases, tables covered in carved runic script, archaic looking suits of armour with vermillion mist wafting gently out of the face plates ant finally the room up top. In this room half blocked by the solid blue crystal, something roughly human sized appears to be embedded within so deep as to be just barely perceptible to the naked eye. Along this wall runs a machine made of glittering precious metals and that allow s through clear tubing made of an indiscernible material pumping unknown fluids throughout. It would appear that this machine, though intended to facilitate dimensions shifting from world to world and reality to reality while protecting the towers integrity from adverse dimensional trappings, has actually caused the tower to become stuck on the nightswimmer’s portal. It is now up to Thremody and IO to take the thing apart, a difficult task as the whole of the machine appears to have been fitted together as if it has always existed in this state. They are successful, with IO salvaging a number of different iotums, shins and parts and Thremody, narrowing their search, manages to salvage some pliable metal needed for their project back in Amber Keep.

Now that the machine has been disassembled its effects have passed, Callan is able to once again be out of phase and the tower starts to tremble and shudder, the magenta and white lights flicker and flash outside the windows. The heroes begin to leave asking the skulls if this is normal. While it is not, they surmise that it is an effect of the tower’s inactivity while linked to the portal. They state that the heroes are well welcome to stay to see the next destination, an intriguing prospect to some, but should leave now if they wish to return to their previous reality. Shortly after the group returns to the Oorgolian nightswimmer, the portal shifts and now appears to look out upon deep space, before shifting again to something else a few minutes later. The Oorgolians offer a gift of a cypher as gratitude for the group’s aid, Kristopher manages to convince them to part with a slugspitter in place of that.

Voyaging onwards confident that they have done right by the strange automations and that hopefully soon they will leave and any conflict that would have resulted once they began to explore the nearby area and settlements, they come to a rest by a river near the border between the Pytharon Empire and the province of Malevich. The night brings pleasant opportunities to rest, recuperate, and even relax, however it is not long after the heroes set out the next morning that trouble is discovered. The tendril crawler approaches a bit of scrubland where the dishevelled and grease form of a man appears to be lying face down in the  dirt, moaning and groaning in pain. Attempts to scan and go over the area turn up that it is a real flesh and blood human man, but is very much dead. 

The whole of the scenario, as many suspected, was indeed a trap. 10 Sathosh, 5 on each side, spring from the concealed hiding places that they covered with the disguised by nature shields. Sepherith pummels the villains with he tentacles, Kristopher bare knuckle brawls, Thremody cleverly converts and iotum to a beam weapon, Callan uses his mental assault to physically batter the faceless creatures and IO takes a defensive stance, calling out to his friends who may be at risk before mixing it up with the enemy. In the end, all but two of the Sathosh have fallen, the last two running back to where they came. Radius raises the suggestion that the pair of abhumans should be followed as other Sathosh live and travel in large packs, and such a grouping could spell disaster for any adelia in the area. It appears that the group has a beef with some abhumans, a beef they intend to bring to the creatures front door.

Our heroes allow the wounded Sathosh to flee into the distance and, making Radius’ suggestion their own, decide to follow them , IO and Isha taking point and doing the majority of the tracking, back to their colony. While Thremody has their doubts that Radius can truly empathize with the potential plight faced by any organic life, he seems genuine at the moment in his desire to do good and vanquish those who would harm the people of this region. With a bit of time and a lot of skill. IO and his follower are able to  follow the tracks back to a patch of brambles and bushes that have a large burrow 5 feet in diameter hidden among them. The tracks, two pairs of somewhat human prints, make their way up to this point and then stop.

The incline is a bit steep so Sepherith, taking advantage of his mutations, lowers himself by means of tentacles while IO tries to use his own talents with ropes. Both Are successful and assist the rest of the crew down with only Radius remaining on the surface. A helmet with a glowglobe fashioned to it is provided and Sepherith dons it, leading the way. The burrow continues to descend, only at a much more reasonable decline and open up to 8, 10, or twenty feet wide.

Callan’s Cuiddit choses this unfortunate moment to become rather noisy, alerting the Sathosh to a presence in the cavern of intruders. The bizarre tentacle-faced abhumans rally each other but their numbers fall to stop Callan’s onslaught, Io’s short and long ranged weapons, Kristopher’s slugspitter and bare fists, Thremody’s vaporizing iotum blast, and Sepherith’s forceful tentacle bashes that quickly win the day against the first wave of defenders. Shortly after as our heroes advance into the burrow, unable to determine what creature was responsible for creating it originally, a second wave of Sathosh warriors arrive followed quickly by a third. Having stomped and pounded on their shields with their weapons in an attempt to psych themselves up before rushing in, the heroes had time to ready themselves as well with Sepherith and IO mostly holding the line against the violent assaults of the abhumans (with IO using his cypher effected crude spear to jab and teleport randomly away) allowing Kristopher, Callan, and Thremody to act and support them from afar.

It is during this struggle that a lone Sathosh, dressed in  a much finer raiment made of shins synth and other materials, enters the fray. Unlike its lean, nearly emaciated cousins, this one has wiry  cord-like muscles over its entire body. It supports a long metal tube, with wires and smaller tubes running in and out of it, which it readies on its shoulder with the aid of its tentacle. It fires, just missing a number of the heroes, a fist sized rock which loudly shatters upon hitting the earthen wall. As the group whittles the number of Sathosh down, they turn their focus to eliminating the artefact wielder. It puts up a fight, but in the end suffers the same fate as all who challenge the heroes.

Investigating around the group are able to find a number of oddities as well as shins. They endeavor to explore the last 2 chambers in the burrow and at first discover a cesspit with a scent so foul that several  gag and turn back out, eyes already watering. Sepherith, less bothered than the others, decides that exploring it might have a result. It does, but not in the way he had hoped as a large crab clan grabs his tentacle and drags him down under in the foul murky water. The group hears the commotion and confronts a Mesomeme, horrible crab like beat with gibbering heads on its back. It takes a bit off effort but Sepherith is able to separate himself from its grip before it can use the other claw to sever his head and add it to its collection. Force blast, slugspitter, bow and arrow, and iotum blast are all called to bear on the horrific creature in effort to save their friend before it is too late. The beast is defeated, leaving its carcass in an appropriate resting place.

The last remaining room, which is entered much more carefully contains a bizarre looking configuration, a purple bulbous crystalline configuration, much in the same colour as the giant arm that the BlueTongues near the Amber Keep have used to shelter their community rest inside, oozing a clumpy purple blue ooze like substance. What does this do and what is it for, mysteries that will have to wait.

Thremody, Callan, and Sepherith behold the strange structure before them and with some hard work and study, are able to determine the device allows the one manipulating it to hear far off places, however it does not seem to give points of reference and there are no real clues to know where one is hearing at the moment (or search out a specific place). The “far listener” as Thremody describes it, is of interest and they try to suss out some plans for it, a difficult task especially negotiating in the hot sun. Efforts are appreciated and it is taken apart, with the plans and a number of parts and cyphers to show for it, as well as a sealed container filled with the blueish ooze that Callan collected beforehand

It is once they hit the open road the next day that they notice Khristopher and IO’s illness, neither can lift himself up and both seem to only be capable of unnaturally slow movement. A decision to head to the small agricultural community of Aagar where Radius understands a surgeon or medicine man can be found.. It is on their way their that a floating metal orb with a number of bizarre extensions.The automaton looks damaged, however after it scans both Radius and Sepherith, it  somehow hovers a palm sized black cube out to Seph and after an awkward few minutes it drops to the ground before continuing on. Radius believes the object to be some sort of artefact, but  is not knowledgeable enough regarding them to suggest what its purpose might be. The odd encounter seemingly self resolved, the group continues onward to  Aagar.

And at Aagar they arrive just as dusk settles, the sun’s angry red tail disappearing under the horizon. They are greeted by a small wary mob consisting of a half dozen or so villagers. The leader of the rabble, a woman named Jarkenn questions the characters as to their intent and satisfied with the explanation of seeking aid for ill friends. She directs them to Maxis, the local Aeon Priest who takes them to the long house. The Long house has a look as if someone placed an upside down canoe on top of a longboat. It is made with the same orangish sticky wood as every other building nearby the community’s centre. Inside the heroes notice a host of oddities mostly nature based such as the skeletons of strange creatures and a terrarium filled with iridescent beetles.

Applying diagnostic leeches, Maxis expresses his relief about having at least one problem that he may well be able to solve, unlike the issue with the disappearances. When pressed for more detail, Maxis reveals that lately there have been disappearances, first livestock, and lately people (“first the Yaris girl, but she was trouble and frankly no one really cared, but then it took Thod, who was well liked and now we are all a bit on edge) the multi paw beast drags off its victims, no one knows to where. He lets the heroes know that he will be able to eat the leeches the next day and plot a course of treatment for them, suggesting that they seek out Ogin, the brother of Thod, for lodgings as he shared his home with his brother and obviously now has some spare room.

Not much sleep is had as in the middle of the night a scream, sounding like that of an elderly woman, rang out in the night. The beast has claimed another victim. Our heroes arrive on the scene and attempt to track it east in the direction of the Black Riage’s foothills before losing the trail in the foliage and dark of night. Upon returning to Aagar, it is discovered that the victim is the much loved Elder Eda, who was apparently attacked on the way to her outbuilding. There is much sadness in the community as the news spreads with the coming dawn.

Callan, Thremody and Sepherith resolve to find the beast first thing in the morning. With Daylight comes better luck and soon enough they can spot the  beast, a Frilled Baul, paces around a bit of shrubbery . Using a cypher known as a Ghost Viel, Calln (with VECHI and Cuiddit tow) comes up on the beast to perform a scan. The beast starts to sniff the air, aware that something is not right, but unsure of what. Eventually it manages to put 2 and 2 together and bites at Callan, sinking its teeth into him and the fight is on! It is a ferocious fighter, biting with its powerful jaws and stomping with its poison laced claws. Even attacking it is a risk due to the razor sharp frills along its back. A combination of mental and electrical blasts from Callan, crushing tentacle blows from Sepherith and intense beam strikes from Thremody’s iotum eventually felled the creature.

Exploring the scene in hope to determine the fate of the villagers turns up the chewed and stripped bones of human and inhuman creatures alike. They also turn up 3 small Frilled Baul “cubs”. This gives the heroes pause, is there another such beast nearby? A mated pair? And what should they do with what they have found?

Having found the Frilled Baul pups, the heroes have taken them back to the village of Aagar where they discussed the matter with Jarkenn and then Maxis. Maxis offers to train the pups to work with whomever is willing to have them. Isha, IOs ward, offers to look after one, whereas the heroes donate the other two to the protection of the town.  During the week that follows Seph, Thremody and Callan all assist with the  building up of local defenses, such as a crude stone wall and a wooden watchtower made from the same mysterious orange wood. It is during this week while out patrolling that Callan sees the signs of…something coming from an old shed. Creeping quietly (even the Cuiddit is quiet) and discovers a secret meeting between a well dressed man warning a fuligin cape and cowl speak with a number of the villagers, Ogin included. 

The man is some sort of resistance member, but who is he resisting? Someone called the Hand of Melch, the secretive vizier to Holiva the first. From what Callan can overhear the rulers of Thaemor have been exploiting the people for their labour, wealth and possession while neglecting to ensure the very basics of safety and security have been provided to the people, all for the alleged purpose of some secret venture that is ventured to allow Thaemor to emerge as the dominant power in the Steadfast. The man tries to gain support for the resistance movement to put the rule of Thaemor back in the hands of those who care about the people, but only Ogin and one other seem interested.

Callan returns to the others and tells what he has heard, attempts to track the mystery man show that they took too long, he has left on the back of some sort of bird-like creature (based on the tracks left behind). Searching the barn, they are able to find a symbol resembling a clawed hand among some shapes but not much else. They still have Ogin that they can ask questions of, so the idea is to prepare a meal at his dwelling with him. Ogin is able to fill in some but not all of the gaps, from him the heroes learn of the negligent and sometimes overt oppression that the people of Thaemor must endure from their current ruler, and that the man seen at the barn last night was the Emissary of someone called the Truncator. Ogin urges that the group keep that symbol hidden (filling in the missing pieces for them) as should the Hand of Melch or his shadowy agents, whose reach runs quite far, catch wind of someone with it, it would not just be the holder who disappears but also their friends, family, and recent associates.  Thankfully for the information and cognisant of the potential danger, the heroes resolve to be on guard and, once their business is concluded, they ensure that Kristopher, still suffering from a serious case of the Sloth sickness is safe in Aagar with Zara before making their way on the Tendril Crawler east towards the Black Riage, visible on the horizon, and the mountain adelia of Delend. 

Crossing the mountains to Delend is surprisingly uneventful, though the site of the enormous “Crimson Moon” over head  is quite a site as they enter the mountain valley to which Delend can be found. As they descend the hilly pathway towards the stone arch that marks the endurance of the town a strange red-like rain begins to descend, bouncing off of electrified rooftops, though anything else it touches, including a hat, getst its composition rewritten into a westward facing stone slab. Callan manages to solve this issue by using his newest esotery, a movable forcefield, its a bit cramped underneath it but it seems to offer protect save for Thremody, who stumbles and needs to keep up, using a cypher to retrieve temporary protection but still taking some damage as a result. 

Once in Delend proper, a man who calls himself Johann ushers for them to quickly  enter his home and safety. Johan is a bit flustered by the heroes carelessness, but is more than able and willing to answer a number of questions about Delend. He is particularly interested in Radius, who bears a striking resemblance to an individual called Chord. The heroes learn that chord was a bit smaller, had a different hue to his skin and had circular symbols carved into his chest. No one has seen Chord in about two months, the last time he climbed up to the Changing Moon to explore.Having rested and chatted until the red rain, which is thankfully an infrequent occurrence, they are urged to seek out Melynder, whom many of the townsfolk seem less than happy to be ruled by, as she is the one who controls access to Hildwinns ladder. The only reliable way into the changing moon.

The group decides to pick up a few of the electrified batons, like the one the Johan used to remove the red rain from disintegrating Thremody’s possessions during the rain, just in case the need come up again. It is while they are browsing the market section of Delend that people begin to part away as the PC notices a small number of individuals, very important looking emerge from the group and seem to beckon towards the characters. Who are they and more importantly, what do they want.. 

In the Market in Delend, the crowd parts and the heroes are approached by a muscular woman with tattoos covering the left side of her face and body. She is flanked by two large human-like creatures that look like they are not entirely developed. Whispers in the crowd identify this person as Melyndwr, also known as Boss Melyndwr, the ruler of Delend.

Melyndwr immediately notices Radius, noting its similarity to Chord, a brusque conversation follows in which she bluntly informs the characters of Chords last known location, and the fact that they are not the only ones who are looking for him. A group of cultists bearing tattoos of machine parts and gears ascended Hildwin’s Ladder in search of him. It becomes increasingly apparent that Melyndwr is a blunt and shrewd individual primarily concerned with her own interests. She informs the heroes that she has an offer for them, but will not discuss it in public, they may find her down by the ladder when they are ready, so long as they do not keep her waiting too long.

As Melyndwr and her entourage of Vatt Warriors leave the market, the group decides to spread out and look for anything that might give them an edge in the Changing Moon, notably Cyphers and Artefacts. The market offers a plentiful bounty in this department as Io’s talent for seeking out the numenera is not solely limited to out in the wild. While the group searches, Thremody works to craft a cypher, able to cobble together a functioning Energy Siphon disc. IO manages to successfully trade for a Stem Cypher and a sword that turns out to be a mysteriously depleted Null Blade. Callan, not so much the negotiator, uses his imposing form to secure an excellent deal on an Eye in the Sky Cypher. Thremody negotiation technique is far more cagy, exchanging a few oddities for a invisibility nodule, which as far is Seph is concerned is the most nonsensical thing he has seen in a long while, and trades the slugspitter he acquired from the Sathosh for a projectile drone artefact. Seph for his part  is quite happy with his foray into the world of commerce, leaving the market with a Pain Inverter Cypher and a scythe ball that tells the temperature using colourful lines of light. They finish up their foray with the purchase of a large quantity of rations as well as a few helpful items for their journey upwards.

Making their way to where Melyndwr said she could be found, they arrive at the base of Hildwin’s ladder, which extends from the ground all the way up to one of the Changing Moons spires. The structure appears less sturdy and stable the closer it gets. The fixer, flanked by a number of vatt Warriors (there seems to be more than a dozen here) brings Melynder to meet with the group. She confesses that she has reason to believe that a Red Rain event is coming in a few weeks, and that this particular rain will be stronger and more powerful than any in recent memory. Too power even, for the electrified rooves of Delend to stop it. She of course has devised a plan, but needs oraculum, 5 units of it, to put her plan to save the “Ungrateful community of Delend” into action. She is unable to go into the moon herself, least her absence put her dominance over the community at risk. The heroes though, they already want to go up in there, they want to find Chord and, while she respects the Philosopher, her interests are not adversely affected by his presence one way or the other. They bring her the oraculum, they do not have to pay the exit fee. They do not bring it back and lose her divining artefact (which the fixer hands over to IO) they would be better off taking their chances with a Shift then with her back down on the ground.

A deal is agreed on and the companions make their way up Hildwin’s ladder to where, swaying in the breeze, it connects with the spire Seph is the last to make his way across and it is at the moment that he tries to step over that a strong burst of wind causes his grip to begin to slip. Callan reaches out and Seph, with his hard as iron crushing tentacle grip, firmly grabs him. He makes it across into the spire.

The insides of the Changing moon clearly denote it as a prior world structure (as if the fact that it is a giant metal sphere suspended in the air by an unknown force was not clue enough). Everything seems to be made up of linked or free forming cubes, some of which emit a red light. The group traverses a bit of non euclidian geography followed by a maze of hallways (made easier by the discover of  a number of chalk line marking the path of the Machine God Cult. 

The path to Chord seems to lead the heroes to a large open chamber, festooned with piles of scythe and metal junk. Five massive lumbering creatures, identified by Callan as Esculants. He makes sure to share pertinent info, such as their preference for flesh over junk and garbage. It is at this moment that two unfortunate things take place, the first is that Thremody begins to feel shaky and ill, she notices two of her cyphers are interacting due to the proximity to each other and separates them. She know that she will have to use one soon.  The second thing is tha Callan’s Cuiddit, fairly well behaved for the last few days, begins to make noises while emitting a pulsing orange light. This seems to get the attention of the Esculant, who are now making their way over. Due to their size, the creatures  could potentially be a great to any village they cross. Thus the situation must be dealt with, but what will our heroes do?

Deciding to avoid conflict, the group backs off and initially tries to flee the  approaching Esculants, most of the group makes it away and ducks around a pile of scrap. Thremody tripped, twisting her ankle and allowing the lumbering beasts to gain ground. However at the same time, Seph, having rushed a bit quickly around the debris, inadvertently caused an avalanche, temporarily impeding the Esculants. Thremody uses this to her advantage, setting off a beam of energy that makes the behemoths decide that they have bitten off more than they can chew.

Once the creatures are far enough away. Thremody IO and Callan all work together to find some of the oraculum that they promised they would bring back, coming up with 3 units between them as well as other useful salvage. Continuing onward and hoping to find Chord Thremody lends her expertise in tracking automations to IO’s prowess as a navigator. This with the aid of the diviner first finding their way to script clearly written by the machine god cultists and then on to a room in the shape of an ellipse, cords and coils of synth and metal connect various cylinders and boxes with lights panels and diodes to the ceiling and the floor. In the centre of the room is a roughly 8 foot long cylinder, transparent top, resting on a bed of wires, tubes and coils. The group is able to determine that it’s function appears to be healing injuries and ailments, and Sepherith, who has had a few scrapes and bruises over the last bit, approaches and is, to his amusement, grabbed by tentacles which secure him into the pod. At first things are going good, the device eventually is able to communicate that it is diagnosing and restoring Seph, healing him, but then it glitches and keeps trying to heal, though what is unknown. It is uncomfortable at first, but quickly becomes painful. IO and Thremody try to get him out, and using his corrosive tentacles the trio is eventually successful and pulls the  injured glaive from the pod. 

It reacts aggressively trying to grab anyone who  needs to recover, Callan uses a notably powerful onslaught, blasting some of the tentacles and causing the pod to burn and spark. Thremody, now free of any threat, rushes over to the walls and manages to find the kill switch for the pod, rendering it inert and ending the threat. The group takes a moment to rest and recover, Callan helping to heal the damage redone to Seph and Thremody able to pull some interesting  organic iotum out of the deactivated pod. Io with Thremodies help, continues to explore the red hued labyrinth, successfully following the signs  and clues left behind by those there prior to them. Eventually they come across a gruesome clue that the machine god cultists are on the trail of Chord, one of them has apparently been fatally sandwiched between two of the red cubes, themselves inexplicably suspended in mid air. Cautious that the fiend had set off some sort of trap, they debate how to cross safely, with Seph throwing a hammer and Thremody detonating a temperamental cypher. Mostly sure of their safety they successfully cross to see a mostly circular chamber containing a flickering cube floating in mid air.

Approaching cautiously to examine the cube, Callan is first presented with what he suspects to be present day images of the one place that he considers a home in this dimension, the Amber Keep. Things are pleasant but the images change sharply to show buildings on fire, friends dead and an automation, similar in appearance to Radius brandishing bloody weapons and wearing a bandolier with human heads attached standing in the midst of the carnage. It is clear to those watching him that something is wrong, Callan shares his vision which is enough to convince Seph and Thremody to look anywhere but, but Radius, shocked at what Callan has shared about what he has seen. IO, also intrigued, sees the same thing. However the cube has something extra for the delve. For roughly 10 seconds IO and only IO sees a young man, scuffed up, hands on his ears as if a sound is too loud, floating or drifting somewhere. It takes a moment but IO recognizes his lost ward, Nicolas, looking somewhat older than before. For the first time since his loss, the numenera has shown IO that his ward is alive, and given him a clue as to where in the multiverse he might be.

Seph and Thremody make their way to the other side of the room, not wanting to stare at the cube out of concern that what they see may be disturbing. They are confronted with a translucent energy barrier blocking the entrance to the next room, a large chamber with 3 other entrances. In the centre of the room appears to be a thin staircase made from red blocks leading up to a suspended platform made of the same. On this platform sits a being who, based on its appearance, must surely be the automaton Chord. Chord is cross legged holding up a glowing white orb which is emitting the energy field. It does not respond to calls or shouts out to it. It sits there in a trance.

Radius is the first to try to cross the barrier, it does so with no ill effect. Concerned that it  was able to do so because it is a machine. The other debate goes on and devises a number of convoluted tests before ultimately throwing caution to the wind.  Radius and IO discuss the next move and, ultimately, Radius decides to ascend the stairwell and give Chord a little jostle. This works better than expected as the moment Radius touches Chord, it come out of the trance, the field (which Callan was able to determine protects the environs from the effects of a shift) comes down. The two long lost siblings introduce itselves to each other. Radius has many questions but Chord tells it that, while it has much to share, they should probably get to somewhere a bit safer beforehand.

Chord discusses its find of the Diamond Mind with Callan, who is able to determine its uses and properties for both organics and automations, even taking in a bit of the benefits of it in the process. Chord asks to join the group, believing that Radius is its sibling and one of the 4 automations that the diamond mind said it was connected to. It tells IO and Thremody about its escape from the Guild of Purity and how the Mender Karlox helped it, tended to it and gave it a love and fascination with wellness, peace, and knowledge. Having heard of the diamond mind, it made tracks for Delend and became a respected member of the community before heading in and finding the item, it was during its meditation to establish a connection with the artefact that the heroes woke its from its slumber.

Before leaving the field that protects this room, and has indeed saved Chord from the effects of a number of shifts, Thremody takes the time to study it and determines that the main functioning component is an irregular disc like object with a partial sphere on each side, is responsible. Encouraging IO, whom himself stands of the shoulders of Radius and is thus just able to reach the device, deftly salvages it and as a result has a level 5 stability projector, able to protect the holder and those nearby from the effects of the shift (and other reality altering effects as well).

The group comes across a circular room with and stone and synth device in the middle, upon entry they quickly discover that gravity has shifted and has been multiplied in strength several times over the norm, pinning the automations against the floor/wall while others cling to cracks between the cubes comprising the former floor, now wall. IO and Callan are able to make their way to the device followed by Thremody. Sephireth manages to hoist a surprised Radius up into the air and onto the floor that is now the wall, he also uses one of his mentally controlled cyphers to retrieve Chord, but psychic interference between the disc, the gravity manipulating device, and the changing moon itself causes his vision to change, allowing him only to see things in monochromatic shades of red. The trio deactivate the device before pulling it apart, finding among their spoils 3 oraculum, one more than they need, and a few shins and parts for their troubles. They were also able to determine among the lot of them that this installation is part of a much larger system responsible for reorganising the interior of the Changing Moon during shifts.

It is at this moment that seven red robed figures emerge from the aperture on the far side of the room, the chief of their number displaying a face tattoo of an intricate gear, marking him as a prophet of the machine god. The prophet Troth discusses philosophy and religion with IO becoming more flustered and distracted as the conversation continues. Callan uses this moment to attack with onslaught, brutally effective against the underlings, and all but Chord, who is a pacifist, leap into the fray. The battle quickly turns in the heroes’ favour when a bizarre noise can be heard emitting deep from within the bowels of the installation. Cubes begin to pull free from walls and move in singles and groups. Troth screams “Machine save me! It’s a shift” before a wall of red cubes slide forward into the space that he occupied and he is gone. At least 2 of the other 4 remaining cultists are visibly slain by the moving materials but the combination of the Stability Projector and disabling the device central to this room, are enough to protect the heroes from the dangers associated with being inside the Changing Moon during a shift. 

The group, thankfully unharmed, now find themselves within a nondescript hallway. IO takes the lead, after a period of feeling his way through the scarlet labyrinth he leads the group back to the same gravity shifting room. His confidence bolstered that he is on the right track, he powers on and comes out at a new chamber. This one is home to 13 fountains, only one of which appears to be working. Thremody is able to quickly determine that the red liquid extruding from its nozzles is the same material that makes up the red rain. IO cobbles together a stick and dips the extra oraculum into the liquid while Seph decides to take the more straightforward approach of tossing a claw hammer into it.

Sure enough, both hammer and stick turn into west facing slabs of stone. The oraculum does this as well…but is animate and begins to slowly lumber-waddle towards the western edge of this chamber. What does this mean? Is it nothing? Is it a clue to the purpose of the red rain? Are they even going the right way? Only time will be able to tell.

The heroes continue to study the animate slab, it waddles itself into the wall going true west and nothing really seems to have much of an impact on this and its single minded actions During this, Thremody manages to acquire a sample of the red fluid, Chord looks on awestruck, Callan observes the slab with curiosity, as Seph makes his way over to it and, in an attempt to move it, snaps it in half and decides to keep the top half. The group decides to see where it goes and follows it “West”.

Moving back and forth through the red squared labyrinth the group eventually comes to a large open area filled with trees and bushes made solely out of the red blocks examining the water by the tried and true method of “tossing an axe into it” . As they gather around the pool, Callan notices a quintet of creatures circling the group, getting closer. The electrical currents coursing through their tails and frills identify them as Babarisa, pack hunters who hunger for flesh. They dash in and dash out, closing their net on the heroes, meaning that the current hopping from one to another begins to become painful and harmful. Thankfully the heroes, with a combination of Radius’ hammer, Callan's onslaught, Thremody’s artefact and Seph’s iron tentacles kill some of their number and drive the rest off before their hit and run tactics can do too much harm.

The group, continue to choose the westward option of  passages (or at least the most westward and after a few hours find themselves in a room very much similar to the one with the out of whack healing pod. Thremody, taking a risk, decides to give it a try, only to be firmly pulled into the pod. A burning feeling followed by pushing happens, but no healing. Thremody exits the pod with small, bat-like vestigial wings protruding from her back, unfortunately too underdeveloped to be effective.  With Callan’s help, she approaches the pod once more and manages to first deactivate it before pulling it apart finding a treasure trove of oddities, psiranium, shins and parts. Satisfied that the room has been cleared, they continue on to the next room and hopefully answers.

The group has excellent luck with the labyrinth and realises two things. One, that West leads to the exterior of the moon and two, they are close, so close that they find themselves confronting the Machine Cult prophet Troth in the exit. He “holds” a gem floating between his two hands and demands the automations, who he calls “Fallen angels”, surrender their divine keys. Troth begins to blab a bit more than he should, but catches himself  before attacking with the gem artefact.  He is quickly overwhelmed by the heroes, who discover that they must wait for the ladder to reach the recently shifted moon once again.

When able, the descent back to Delend and solid ground, however Melyndwr is furious as their “pet slab” destroyed much of the work done to reattach the ladder after the shift. It took an extra day to effect repairs, so in addition to the oraculum  she demands a few shins oddities and the gem artefact used by the machine prophet, which the group turns over to keep the peace. They begin their long journey back to the amber keep with the automation Chord in tow, they make a stop to check in on the Frilled Baul’s and Maxis has them well treated. They also pick up Kristopher who seems to be coming out of his sickness. Together they journey to Rarmon, one of if not the largest city in the southern steadfast. What wonders or troubles might they find here on their way back to the amber keep?

Upon arriving in Rarmon, capital of the Pytharon Empire and former and future jewel of the Southern Steadfast, the group parts from Kristopher, Zara, Chord and Radius and makes their way down the large boulevard towards the centre of the city where the Emperor's Market can be found. Sampling a few early morning street food vendors, the group learns that the best place to trade for iotum is in the west end of the market by the Wrights and Artisan’s districts, that there is a doctor who, depending on who you ask, is a miracle worker or complete charlatan, by the name of Istiev Kob, and that the best person to ask about transdimensional matters, would appear to be Garrot in the Grand Orrery.

Io and Thremody make their way to the artisan’s district and manage to make a few shred trades to  cobble together a device allowing IO to detect transdimensional disturbances or anomalies within a kilometre. Furthermore Thremody is able to gather a number of rare and interesting iotum needed to craft a few projects she is interested in once the heroes return to Amber Keep. In the meantime, she crafts a few temperamental cyphers that should help with discussion and negotiation as Topher is still recovering from his illness.

Seph has heard good and bad about the Doctor, everyone he and Thremody have spoken to agree on one thing…his address. He makes his way there and is greeted by Istiev Kob, a man with a frizzy perm, long curly moustache and long thin beard on one half of his face…and absolutely no detail on the other, not even the other half of his mouth. The two discuss the problem and arrange payment, Kob will trade a curative elixir for the pain inverter cypher, a hammer, and services rendered. He heads out to collect the 10 shins from the yoghurt seller  who asked for his extra toe removed but  now has no toes, and after some persuading manages to get his due and. Drinking the potion, is soon able to see other colours again. He is so happy he gives the doctor a big squeeze…breaking the vial of numbing oil in Kob’s jacket causing both Kob’s torso and Seph tentacles to go completely numb for the time being.(Thankfully this will wear off in about an hour)

IO makes his way to the Grand Orrery and after some patient waiting, is able to meet Garrot, a diminutive man decked in the accoutrements of a man of science and engineering. Garrot is unable to help IO directly, but he believes he knows someone who would have the answers he seeks. A woman in the town of Guran by the name of Mecky. A former nano now running a “junk shop” called the Rusted Relic. He warns that she has had some unfortunate exposures and her memory may need help to properly give IO the information he seeks. After taking in the beauty of the Orray IO and Thremody depart and meet up with Seph to tick off the final box on their Rarmon wishlist.

The trio make their way to the Sunken Palace dipping down below ground level to its current entrance. They make their way through short meetings with a number of functionaries before being put  in front of a courtier by the name of Imogéne Falz. Thremoday discusses trade and a possible allegiance or swearing of loyalty to the Pytharon empire in the future with Falz, who for his part is unable to commit to  any official course of action. He does say that he will put a fluttering moth in the ear of some merchant contacts he knows in Far Brohn and instructs Thremody on the forms to fill out and how to fill them out to get an official Envoy to visit the community. The discussion, while a bit formal, is very pleasant overall leaving both sides feeling that at least some small good has been achieved and positive progress made. 

Those happy thoughts were rudely interrupted once the trio noticed a pack of shady individuals following them through the streets. Turning down an alley, they attempted to set an ambush for their pursuers with Thremody and Io hiding up against opposite walls and Seph…laying on the ground. While the would be bandits approach Seph with confusion Thremody and IO strike! It turns out that their leader is a semi-formidable nano, who is able to put Seph into stasis. Not wanting to give him another chance, IO grapples him and pins his hands behind him while Thremody uses a combination of tactics to dispatch the remaining bandits. The nano surrenders, he and what’s left of his gang flee after leaving behind their cyphers. Seph then wakes up and wonders why everything looks markedly different…

The trio round out their trip with a few basic purchases and then continue south homeward to the Amber Keep. Upon arriving they notice that the population has increased and now includes a small number of Blue Tongues that Kadri has been working with. They stop to see Tsala and on their way pass the food stores and the workshop, as well as the homes that look more like cottages and less like makeshift huts and lean-tos. Tsala is able to catch the group up and the thankfully uneventful month or so while the heroes fill her in on their journey and introduce her to Chord.  It is at this point that both Radius and Chord begin to meditate with the Diamond Mind Artefact, hoping to learn more about their siblings. Thremody decides to work on assembling two Brain Bud artefacts, using one on herself and gifting the other the IO, who himself takes the time to do a little anomaly hunting and prospecting. Seph seeks out his pall Nort and gives the man a snowglobe-like oddity that he had found on his journeys. 

What else do our heroes get up to on their well deserved down time? And what might cause it to end?

After their long journey, the heroes readjust to life not on the road. While Radius and Chord continue their meditation with the Diamond Mind, the others turn their attention to their friends and their home. Thremody, short a few needed supplies for the Farspeaker Tower she wishes to build, accompanies Gennd out into the surrounding wilds. The pair manage to find an undulating metal wall along the side of a hill that appears to be organic once cutting through the outer layer. With a few days of digging they are able to secure a half dozen units of biocircutry and roughly 2 dozen parts.

Now fully stocked, Thremody takes a few days to build the tower. She focuses her attention on the City of Milave and is pleased to discover an entire community, which includes Challenger Forsyth, the local representative of the Amber Gleaners, and several others. Once she has completed this task, connecting their community to the world in a very real way. She turns her attention to the workshop, building over time a hoverbelt, and a friendly relation with Nort, learning the card game that the simple yet cheerful man enjoys playing (but does not know the name or origin of) and discovering that he is surprisingly clever and shrewd at. Both spend several evenings enjoying the game and each others company

Callan and Seph turn their attention to the development of the town. Both suggest that it works to become more self-sufficient and assist with the labour of building a ground water pump and cistern, as well as a windmill to generate electricity. The windmill…is a bit odd. Its blades turn at a slow and leisurely pace regardless of the force of wind, but its base vibrates with such force that the surrounding ground constantly trembles. Using his knowledge of ultradimensional forces, Callan is able to determine that the slowed turning is the result of a highly localised temporal disturbance, which seems to only affect inorganic metal. Seph and Nort use this to develop a game called “Is it metal?” where they pick up a small object and throw it at the top of the windmill. If it slows, its metal, if not, it’s not.

Life is going well, people are more or less happy, the blue tongues are working well with everyone. Even a few traders have trickled down from the area of Far Brohn, bringing foods, textiles and interesting wares for the  people, including a few oddities that one benificent merchant decides to hand out in return for help received.

All good things must come to an end. One day 3 of the blue tongues out for a hunt return carrying one of their number. They encounters a horde of roughly one hundred men and their leader was a machine-man like Radius only bigger, bulkier, and sharper. The quartet warns that the horde is only a few hours away. Callan and Thremody decide that creating as many simple detonation cyphers as possible is a good first act. And Thremody and Visso manage to work together to create a grand total of 14 with materials on hand. Sephirith, with help from Topher and Chord, whip up the bravery and tactics of the town, getting everyone on board with a defensive strategy. Callan Radius and Thremody make their way to Griff’s farmhouse, lying in wait there to see what happens.

It is not long before the horde comes into sight, the howling intimidating racket of metal weapons banging on metal sheilding and the loud angry shouts announcing them minutes in advance. The leader, an automation named Axis that is not unlike Radius calls out with its booming voice that it searches for Radius and that it knows Radius is here. It gives the Amber Keep 1 hour to turn over Radius to it or it will raze the community to the ground and leave no survivors.

The trio in the farmhouse come up with a plan. Radius will appear to give himself up but the out of phase Callan will hide in the metal man and, with Thremody leaping into the air with her Hoverbelt from the side. Meanwhile Seph and the Blue Tongues manage to make over a dozen spears to help the defenders. Chord and Seph also notice that Axis does not appear to be aware that of its presence.

Moving slowly to help Callan stay concealed (though Callan seems to get bizarre flashes of confusing images from his overlap of the automation during this time). Radius approaches the horde and is let through to Axis, who immediately questions its about its “divine key”. It is clear from the conversation that Axis does not know what this key is either, but it is willing to tear Radius apart to find it. As Axis’ goons grab Radius, they launch the sneak attack Callan pops out and hits Axis with his onslaught. Thremody takes to air, peppering the surrounding mercenaries with detonation cyphers from the air before opening up on Axis with energy beams from her remaining iotum. Radius swings his axe, but avoids or perhaps hesitates to bring his arms to bear on the heavily armored Axis, who uses his flame sword to strike the grounded pair. Crossbow arrows and stone fly up at Thremody, but thankfully the hoverbelt allows for impressive enough mobility to avoid most damage (her armor takes care of the rest)

As the horde crashes up on the community wall, the detonation cyphers fly , taking out many before turning to their acid sharpened spears. Seph dives over the wall, one of his hammers has become animated and begins savagely beating on all of his nearby opponents (and seemingly overexcited, hits Seph once as well). The valiant amber keepers with Seph as their frontman, slays and backs off the invasion. Meanwhile 50 metres away a heated battle between defenders and Axis concludes with Callan onslaughting  a large chunk of machine out of Axis’ right  side. The automation’s eyes go black and he falls. With the majority of Axis; forces dead and the rest fleeing. Victory is had with roughly 12 dead and same again injured. The windmill and waterpump will also need a bit of work.

Visso rushes up to them , shouting about Tsala being hurt. Sure enough, the group finds Tsals, laying on an incline. Callan uses hedgemagic to clean the wound and pull the small metal projective  and Thrmody applies smart tissue in place of a tourniquet. Tsala eventually come to but is faint and thirsty from lack of blood. Topher, who never leaves her side, and the rest get her into her bed in her cottages.

Is this it? Or is it simply the calm before the real storm?

The heroes take time over the next few weeks to get the damage done to the Amber Keep repaired, though nothing can fix the loss of roughly a dozen  members of the community. Thankfully Tsala’s injuries were not too severe, she is able to get around, albeit sometimes she needs assistance to do so, and has taken the time to even try and organize communal meals when possible to get everyone together. Materials are being gathered to build up, but it is uncertain if the community will try to build a healing hall, a mortuary, or both.

Meanwhile, Thremody has spoken with Chord and Radius regarding the body of Axis. Along with Callan and Sepherith, she manages to convince the automations to allow her to take Axis apart and search for the “divine key”, under the condition that she puts it back as she found it as best as possible. While unable to find any physical trace of the key, she does find a few useful objects in its make up. The group notices that the automations have severed Axis’ head from the rest of its body. The pair explain that they learned from the Diamond Mind that it was necessary to stop it from regenerating and self repairing the damage done to Axis during the attack. The siblings are continuing to use the artifact to try and find out more about themselves and their other siblings.

Just as the community gathers enough units of building materials, people in the village begin to get sick. They are fatigued, their stomachs ache, and a few, such as Khadri, begin to develop dark spots all over the body. Even Thremody begins to feel tired and sore in the abdomen. Thankfully with the use of a cypher she recovers, but the others in the community have no such recourse. 

It takes a while to interview and retrace the steps and actions of those who are sick, the only thing that they seem to share is an enjoyment of one of the newer foodstuffs that has arrived in the community; duskfruit. The duskfruit was brought by a gatherer and peddler named Tyek, who no one has seen leave his lodgings for the last few days. Sure enough he is ill in bed. Figuring that the automatons are immune, the group has Chord interview him, and learn that he found the duskfruit in a forest about a dozen miles to the north that surrounds a pre world structure known as the Weeping Tower. Chord is able to extrapolate a map leading there and Radius offers to unpack the Tendril Crawler to take everyone there.

It is not long before the 4 reach the forest of short (10-20 foot tall) trees. The weeping tower can be seen in the distance, jutting out of the treetops at a 45 degree angle. Radius informs that the passage between the trees is too narrow for the crawler, and that they will have to continue on foot. It is during this journey that they are ambushed by a pack of broken hounds. Seph uses his bell bracelet oddity to intimidate and scare off half of them. The overly loud bongs either making the creatures flee or angry. Thremody makes good use of her last detonation cypher, which she charges up for added potency, and Callan utilizes his natural gifts at being out of phase to round out the conflict. In the end, the few survivors flee allowing our heroes to continue onward to the tower.

They arrive at a clearing to find that the enormous obelisk shaped structure is located in an extremely well-maintained clearing in the forest. Water pools on the surface of the tower like sweat running down the sides and almost causing a light drizzle on the tower’s underside. The only entrance noticeable is the one at the very tip top of the obelisk. Thremody uses her infiltrator cypher to delve into the tower. Finding multiple rooms tilted at strange angles, few matching the orientation of the tower. An automation, one of many it seems, makes a statement in a language that the drone does not know, but allows it to pass, where it continues along until it is subjected to a time disturbance and extreme cold.  Left with more questions than answers at this point. The group scales the tower.

The trek is dangerous going as the water on the pillar can make the smooth polished surface of the tower quite slick. Seph uses their corrosive abilities to etch grip pads into the wall making a part that Thremody and Calln can thankfully catch themselves. Once inside they make their way to the fused man, whom Trhemody has given the moniker of “The Operator” Once it hears the group speak it switches to the Truth. Questions seem to lead to more questions and confusion, so trickery is attempted and successful, granting the group deeper in. 

The heroes pass a few vaults, which serve as no barrier to Callans gifts. He is able to find a number of shins and parts, some iotum that will be useful in crafting installations, and nearly a half dozen cyphers. Meanwhile Thremody attempts to question one of the other operators only to have the silent machine make a painful telepathic link. Rather than fight it, Thremody opens up to it allowing for an exchange of ideas that gives her the information that the tower and the forest work to cancel each other out and that the dusk fruit illness can only be cured with something called silver ioquid. The group knows it still has a long road to get down before the solution is in their hands but will they figure it out in time,?

Continuing along the path that Thremody had previously traced with the Interceptor cypher, the group has been taking its time, which has had the added benefit of allowing IO to catch up to them. Callan continues his exploration of the vaults, though he mostly comes across small amounts of parts and shins. He does make a good find in a grey crystal mind blade, but discovers dangers when a large mechanical monstrosity, which Thremody eventually recognizes as a disassembler, attacks and forces it’s way through the vault door. Threomody gets her autocannon set up, IO attempts to attack from a distance, Seph uses his corrosive touch before picking up a vault door to throw, and Callan readies his esoteries. The group manages to corrode and shatter the creature's armor before pummeling its insides with physical and mental attack. The disassemble does get in a few hits, unweaving Callan's armor and damaging Thremody’s cannon, before being smashed.  

IO gives up his micromesh to help Callan, and the group goes through the pieces of the automation, finding shins, parts, and a biometric patch. IO is also able to take another go over the thing and locate pliable metal.The group manages to continue onward to the time dilation room, unaware of its exact purpose save for it has something to do with the flow of time. They make their way to the last operator - the one opposite of the chilled passage. After a long pointless conversation the metal man has been somehow provoked and it attacks. The heroes manage to quickly fend it off, causing it to step back into the wall.

The group ascends the uneven bone chilling passage - Seph having a bit more time and the pain of frostbitten suckers - and arrive at the Meteoron control in the center of this installation. 

After brief negotiation and explanation the control center  allows the group a number of vials of silver ioquid, more than enough for the village’s needs. Upon their return, the heroes are quickly able to develop a cure for the dusky pox with many of the community members - several who became quite ill or had loved ones who also did so - expressing their thanks. Tsala, reading the mood of the Amber Keep, holds an impromptu feast a few days later, making sure that all are well aware that there is absolutely no dusk fruit on the menu.

Now home at the Amber Keep and having cured the Dusky Pox plague (the silver ioquid being set up in gas well lantern style apparatuses around the community, for some reason this has eliminated the signs of the Pox in all effected), the heroes have begun to turn an eye to the development, security, and prosperity of their home.

Callan, ever quiet and stoic, has turned his attention towards the Farm run by Griff and Seri. He has helped with maintenance, planting, irrigation as with Seri’s leg, Griff and Po have been having a harder time keeping up. Callan spends so much time with the family and gets on so well that they start setting an extra setting for meals when he is around and begin to think of him like a member of the family. While open with him about themselves, Callan remains a bit private about his origins, (which perhaps he himself  may find difficult to put in a way that the inhabitants of this universe would understand?). As the rains pick up, he finds that he is spending more and more time working around drainage. Having seen and heard Seri’s laments over her lack of leg, he politely leans on  Visso to build her a prosthetic made of synth. Visso gladly puts this on the list.

Thremody spends much of her time scavenging supplies for her latest project; she wishes to convert her torrent artefact into a Lightning Turret. She has much success, but it takes time. She first crafts an object replicating cypher and goes on the hunt for materials, bit by bit she finds what she needs, and even stumbles upon an interesting cache of apt clay that, while perfectly functional, has a transferable bright green coloration. She is thankfully able to borrow from Visso or break down other items in her possession to find what she herself is unable to find in a timely manner. Despite distractions during the rains, she is able to build the Turret after only a few months, a fairly remarkable feat considering. She occasionally sees Nort around, as he enjoys helping around the workshop, but not much conversation is exchanged between the two.

IO takes this time to further prepare and train Isha to safeguard against the dangers of the ninth world and to embrace the gifts and knowledge found in its wilds. He oversees her development as a hunter and a tracker. As for himself, he decides to try his hand in the ranching business in between hunting and scavenging runs. The two of them find a mated pair of Shuil, large herd animals. After taking the time to calm the beasts and establish a report, they are able to take them back to the community, setting up a makeshift barn for them and allowing them to graze in the nearby plains to the northwest. The two, due to the time they spend out of the community, are some of the first to notice just how local the rains are around the Amber Keep

The rains began a few weeks after the hero's return from the Weeping Tower. It was light rain at first, but simply became unrelenting. After a week people in the community began to wonder if there was some sort of unknown cause, while others thought perhaps this region just had an issue with rain, even select pockets of rain, for part of the year. With the rain came the translucent winged filament creatures, dubbed “Rain Sylphs” by the locals. These creatures emitted a bluish light that, when they struck something, caused an electrical sparking. Though not much more than a nuisance in ones or twos, in larger numbers they could be a serious menace. On one occasion the Sylphs, numbering a half dozen, became aggressive, dive bombing structures and resident alike, the latter dropping to the ground temporarily immobilized. The heroes rushed to action, Callan with his powerful esoteries, Thremody with her mastery of cypher and numenera, and IO’s expert bowman ship won the day. It did get people wondering, just why these creatures had shown up in the community and when would the rain let up?

Despite soggy conditions, a number of community members brought the idea of celebrating the founding of the community to Tsala, who working with them put together a feast for what she called “Founding Day”. During the large feast under a canopy tarp (due to the unrelenting rains) she begins a custom she had brought from her corner of Milave called “The Telling” in which everyone tells of something that relates to the community, their connection to it, a fond memory. The heroes share their stories and it is very much the theme (though some more verbose than others) of feelings of belonging and the meeting of new friends, be they be people travelled here with, people rescued, or the new arrivals from the Burning Pillar. The event is viewed as a success and there are those whose spirits have been lifted already talking about preparation for next year.

Shortly after reflecting on friends already made, a new caravan from Aian arrives bearing documentation from Challenger Forsyth. There are men, women, and even children (a dozen not counting Po) to bring the total population to around 140 people. There are a number of skilled tradespeople, but an even larger number of unskilled and untrained who, for whatever reason, decided to take a chance on the Amber Keep. A small number end up helping Visso and Tremody in the Workshop (Visso having recently finished construction on the Healing Hall and is now turning his focus to the Mausoleum, or would be if he didn't have to construct rain and water barriers). Two young people in their early 20s Zard and Kaence end up working with IO’s shuils and do fairly well despite limited experience.

One individual though puts an uneasy feeling in the hearts and minds of the heroes. Ganilon Brig, a large broad man with a winning smile, dangerous eyes, and a tentacle in the place of his left arm, asks to meet the heroes. All of them have heard at least a bit about the man from the others, and he has made a good impression on many as a generous, take-charge man who's going to do “big things!” but what those things are and how Ganilon intends to achieve them is  unknown. The verbose overly friendly man shakes hands, and verbally bigs up the heroes. He promises much, looking forward to finally getting things off the ground here. When questioned about helping, it becomes clear to most that he is capable of moving goods and services around, though not above appearing to be the one doing the favor rather than the groups he pressured or set up to do it actually. Upon parting, Callan muses that should they come back and folks are missing and Ganilon is in charge that he will “take them out”.

Into the third month of now unending torrential downpour the community is at risk of washing away. The group tries to determine the cause and it is IO who eventually notices that the rain and activity is centered around the silver ioquid lamps and, after saving a child who accidentally breaks one, rain lets up where there is no ioquid. The group makes the decision to remove the lamps and take them to the edge of the Cold Desert, where they may return to try and terraform a bit of it should time and circumstance prevail. Thankfully the Amber Keep is now rain free and some of the ponds and giant puddles have already started to dry up.

Radius also has some news. He and Chord have also found another unknown sibling using the diamond mind, unfortunately they do not know much about him except  he is located in Shmallas, Perhaps the time for adventure has returned?

During the three month period Seph has busied himself around two main tasks; learning how to do some minor blacksmithing, and getting a defensive force at Amber Keep to help defend while they are gone. For the first of these, Visso helps him, though Seph tends to rely on his own corrosive abilities  to shape and sharpen, he learns well and is able to make a series of basic tools and weapons, provided he has access to the proper facilities. Seph also organises a starting fighting force of around 22, with 14 being fairly dedicated and another 8 not so much. !0 more people join with varying degrees of commitment when the new settlers arrive. He’s also taken some time to hang out with his pal Nort, who brings him a “cool”oddity, a porous stone (the pours resemble his suckers, says Nort) that cleans and makes things smell nice if they rub it on it.

At Founding Day Seph is at a complete loss as to what to say, as if he brain just emptied, and he passes. Once the settlers arrive he keeps hearing people big up this Ganilon Brig fellow, figuring that maybe Seph knows him due to them both having tentacles. He does, and can never seem to find Ganilon, almost like Ganilon is avoiding him? Ganilon even meets with Sephs friends without him! Talking to them later about the meeting (Callan vocally not in favor of the man) is the final piece of the puzzle that tells Seph that Ganilon is in fact deliberately shunning him. What’s more Seph can figure out why?

Radius finally convinces them to help him go to Shamallas, he gets the tendril crawler set up as  the crew grab a few last minute things. IO gets Isha some light armor. Blue skinned leather armor covered in white fur. The exquisite armor is surprisingly inexpensive. Callan trains with his found sword and Thremody puts the final touches on a few things, she will need to stay behind but promises to catch up. At the end of the first day they stop just outside of Rarmon, IO picks up a replacement suit of armour cloth while the others window shop. A day and a half later, just as the group is about to cross from the Empire into Malevich, a portwalker moving at breakneck speed comes out of nowhere and slams into the crawler. Radius is ejected forward and the portwalkers carriage slams into the ground.

Once checking to see of Radius is ok (its metal skin healing itself before the heroes’ eyes) they turn their attention to the other vehicle. Four people exit. Bovix, a scruffy looking jack, Gresten, a silent chain smoking Delve, and Nuzu and Uduvu, both glaives. Uduvu being the bigger of the two and Nuzu, the driver. Nuzu immediately start shouting about the heroes having gotten in his way and not watching where they were going. Callan has some brief but terse words for him and Uduvu looks about to put his two shins in (at his size more like 5) when Bovix interjects, showing himself to be the negotiator of the group, IO speaks up and the two broker a cooling down as they inspect the vehicles. It seems that a Portwalker Leg has become mangled and has pushed  though into the “brain” of the crawler. Using some rope leverage and other creative means. The two groups work together to dislodge the leg, but even still it is clear that this is not enough to get either vehicle travel worthy again.

Bovix and his companions are aware of a strange place near the chasm that might have what they need, biological and mechanical, roughly half a day northeast. They leave Nuzu, who Bovix identifies as a jerk, and Radius behind with the vehicles to stand guard. They are able to smell the location before they see it, and when they do see it, it is obscured by a expansive mass of swarming flies and insects hovering over the 100 or so metres long field of corpses. Most are human and intact, but a small number are visitants and others are not finished looking. One or two looks like they could not possibly exist. A machine, using some sort of telekinetic ability, goes to the edge of a square opening in the cliff face and hurls another corpse out into the field.

The group decides to go around rather than through. The smell is nauseating . the eventually make it and lower a rope down to the hole below. Entering they see a rather larger chamber with what appears to be a glowing yellow brick inside. Ignoring this they continue deeper into the facility, on the lookout for automations and hoping they can find something  that they may salvage to get their vehicles working again. They find a few odds and ends, but it is likely that more time and effort will be needed before they may leave this accursed place.

Back in the Amber Keep, Chord approaches Thremody, explaining that it had given IO one half of a cypher that should allow the holder of the other half - which it passes to Thremody - to transport themself to the other. Chord explains that all Thremody has to do is think of IO to transport herself, which causes her to think of IO and blip out of the Amber Keep.

One second IO is in the corridor helping to salvage, the next a confused Thremody stands in his place. Uduvu, is the first to notice, but the last to register. The heroes catch the Wright up on what has transpired in her absence. They have this talk and the three explorers from the other group introduce themselves, as they arrive at a sealed door at the end of the long, west-ward corridor. The group looks over the walls and find two circular pads, one on either side. They realise they need to be pressed at the same time to open the door and Seph, able to stretch his tentacles wide enough to do so.

The chamber, which is shaped like an elongated half-oval, contains a number of large to small sized automations, similar to the ones that the group watched toss a body out of the facility. Thremody scans one of the smaller ones and goes to salvage it when it and the others begin to glow red. The smaller ones retreat and the larger ones advance on the wright. A pitched battle begins, Seph grapples and slams the hovering automations with his tentacles, Thremody, in her element, floats up and obliterates one after the other. Callan, blindsided by an attack by his Cuiddit, puts it in stasis before belting the mechanisms with his onslaught. The trio also assisted with Uduvu in particular smashing the machines with his spear. They hold out well, but Bovix is injured. Thankfully his crew has a rejuvinator, allowing him to recover a fair amount.

After destroying the automations the group salvages them, finding a number of parts, shins, a few iotum and a pair of oddities. More than enough to repair the other’s portwalker. A discussion is held, and the others decide to hold up to their end of the bargain. The heroes continue to make their way to the roundish chamber across from the automation room. 6 golden rectangles hover and slowly turn in the centre. Callan is able to determine that they have the power to recharge a recently spent cypher, or even an artifact, under the right conditions. Thremody decides to return to some of the other panels in the hallway, finding the last of what she needs to repair both vessels. The six of them make their way back out and repair their vehicle, Thremody learning a plan seed in the process. Nuzu, ever the asshole, makes a few rude comments as the other’s disappear to the east.

The group continues to the north, but makes a gruesome discovery in the west Thaemor countryside. A number of bodies lay in a clearing, one is Ogin who lived in the village of Aagar as well as a The Emissary of the Truncator. The party takes a look. Callan uses his knowhow to determine what happened to the bodies. All appear to have been completely drained of blood, their faces white and pale yet none have any cuts or even scraps. The emissary of the Truncator appears to have an additional symptom, a black handprints embedded into the skin of his chest. Thremody attempts to examine the scene to see what is happening but cannot determine what happened. The best she can figure is that they must have harmed each other as there is no evidence of anyone else. They bury the bodies and continue onward

Passing the city of Auspar,ITs needle like metal structures gleaming in the sunlight, the group then passes the Dark Hills and are on route for Shamallas. Seph is able to foil a would be pickpocket on their way into the southeast gate. It is not long before the group learns where Shamallas gets its name as the City of Echoes. They notice that they are being followed by a group on a similar conveyance, only to discover that it is an echo of themselves that is following the exact path that they have taken. Once this occurs they begin to notice more and more the echoes of Shamallas, sometimes it is them, other times townsfolk who walk past then walk past again in a sort of bizarrely normalised deja vu.

The group with Thremody at their lead begin to ask around about a being similar to Radius. They ask a few of the city’s guards who become suspicious of the questions and in turn begin to uncomfortably question Thremody. Once convinced that the heroes are not trouble (for now at least) they leave. Thremody notices a young street urchin, he had been listening quite intently to the guards interrogation from the shadows. Now it is the group's turn for guile and stealth as they follow him without his knowledge down and across streets, pathways, and alleys until he arrives at a rundown blue building. Looking both ways, he enters.

The group knows that they want to know what is going on inside. Callan obliges with his phasing abilities. Undetected, he sees the boy speak to a woman with long braided hair and a red sash. Telling her that outsiders (the heroes) have been asking about Origin, which the party knows to be the name of Radius’ sibling. The entire area gives Callan strong “hideout” vibes as he pulls himself back through the wall and goes to share what he has learned with his companions. As they discuss their next move, they notice a number of cloaked individuals quietly and stealthily approach the blue building. One of their cloaks slips revealing the uniform of the town guard. What trouble is about to unfurl here, and how do our heroes fit into it?

Session 29

Unsure of what they are seeing but suspecting sinister motives on behalf of the Shallamas guards, the heroes decide that the best course of action is to bring attention down on them. Thremody moves out into the street and calls out that the guards are not in fact guards but thieves, trying to break into the blue building. A pair of them move up in an effort to silence her but are met with the imposing and intimidating forms of  both Callan and Radius. They back off and Thremody continues making noise, causing a circle of locals to gather around and warn the boy, the woman, and the other inhabitants of the building, who fled. Half the guard runs after them while the other three close in on the heroes with the goal of subduing them. 

Clearly they were not prepared for them as Themody Seph and Callum make extremely short work of the local law, taking care not to kill or do any undue injury. It is not long before a pair of them are dragging an unconscious 3rd away back down the alley and the heroes realise that the rest of the guards as well as the occupants of the building are long gone. As the crowd disperses they decide to make the best of the situation and investigate the contents of the blue building, an old storehouse and repository, now a hideout for a collection of petty thieves and street urchins. The group goes over the structure noting a number of shins parts and oddities among the items left behind, and that is when Thremody notices the painted tarp poorly hiding an entrance to another room.

This room contains a bed stuffed with the blue feathers of some large animal, a night table with gaslamp, a few worthless personal possessions, and a large table with the torso and right arm of a being that very much resembles Radius. A number of small paper boxes hold what appear to be some of its “parts” as well. Radius enters and the little warmth  that it has in its cool metallic features is extinguished by the sight of its sibling dismembered on a table. It laments that this seems to happen too frequently with its brethren, being hunted by humans or turning the hunter as was the case with Axis. Thremody finds herself in the odd position of trying to calm down the automation before she finds a packet of loosely strung together scraps of paper. On one is says Gislan has found the head, it is in Garmulu’s manor”

It is decided that the heroes will find out who Garmulu is and where they live. As it turns out even the idea of asking about Garmulu gets some curious and worried looks, as they are apparently considered a dangerous recluse who live in a wealthy district where the houses are all raised on blocks of stone as a security feature. Some meandering around town finds them a delivery man who, for the generous price of 5 shins, walks them to the gate and tells them of the dangerous guard animals, who he refers to as gophers, and the fact that the entry balcony is trapped with a sound vibration device set off by the doors knocker. Having arrived at Garmulu’s manor, they can see the home in the middle of a well gardened field, raised up on the smooth stone. The delivery man wishes them luck and tells them to seek him out if they survive their visit.

After knocking and some brief back and forth with one of the gardeners, Seph uses his tentacles to snap off the slide panel. The gardener, mortified, decides to let them in but tells them to wait by the doors. As he heads off in the distance, 8 of the gopher creatures, 3 to 4 foot long clawed beasts the size of a large dog with razor sharp teeth, rush the heroes and attack. They manage a few bites on Callan Seph and Radius (Thremody having decided to hover above and blast the beasts with her iotum ray) but the groups sheer skill and power are too much for the guard animals, who are quickly dispatched via a combination mind slices, iotum rays, and tentacle grapples.

Tracking down the gardener hiding in the shed and getting very very loud with him. He reveals what is and isn't trapped between here and the balcony door while begging for his life. The group lets him live, and makes their way to the manor entrance, first by climbing the series of steps  and onto the balcony. Callan attempts to simply phase through the door, but is stopped by some sort of network of anti phasing crystals trends woven into the exterior.The door is assessed and with available resources and some effort it would seem that picking it would be easier. Thremody spends some time jiggling her tools in the lock, he eventually gets a click and the door swings open revealing a long hallway that seems to abruptly turn left 30 or soe feet in. To the left there is a door, to the right a narrow halfway. 

Thremody can’t shake the feeling that there was something not quite right about that lock opening but doesn't  know what it could be. Calln, able to phase through interior walls it seems, peeks into the room on the left and sees it as an infrequently used pantry full of crates of things that are not food. The group then goes down the narrow hallway across to find a sitting/reading room there with another door on the opposite side. The group looks over the room with its comfy chairs and chaise lounges. Thremody checking the books notices one called The Life and Times of Thremody Wrainwright. The very old book, when the front half is skimmed proves to be accurate. Nervous, he hands it to Seph for safe keeping.

Just as the four are about to turn their attention to the locked door, the burbling fizzing of an approaching figure can be heard in the narrow hall, the terrifying creature, a Ressiduum makes its walk toward the heroes and it seems pissed. The collection of data machine and synth approaches, its dialogue cryptic and its just plain strange form advances aggressively on the heroes. IT strikes at their minds harming  Seph ripping and uncontrollable fear, he does a similar thing to Thremody, making her overhead and angry to the point she confusedly attacks her own comrades. Radius seems to blip out of existence and Callan receives some sort of flash of a mutant man called Gailin being embraced by his family, taking him out of the fight for a few moments

All the stops come out as the heroes realise that this may be one of the single deadliest opponents they have faced Callan “opens” the creature and onslaughts it repeatedly, Sepherith grabs and  entangles it once he can, and Themody, using every automaton fighting idea she has picked up in her years and blast him repeatedly. IT takes some time but the creature falls to pieces and every part of it is mangled body that is reusable, including a number of shins parts iotum and cypher It is here that they wait, taking a few moments to rest while wondering where Radius has disappeared to.

IO arrives unexpectedly back in the Amber Keep, having just moments ago begun surveying and salvaging components of the pre-world ruin that some of the others referred to as “Corpse Flinger”. He is with Chord in its home, who also looks a bit bewildered to see him. “That is not how the cypher was supposed to work,” the automation muses with a confused and slightly defeated tone in its voice. The two catch each other up and Chord states that it has another device that may return IO to where his companions are. IO uses the time to stock up on a few torches, rations and other key travelling supplies. Chord returns with a violet-blue crystal. It tells IO to place it under his left foot and step down on it, crushing the crystal while thinking of the person that he wishes to go to. IO thinks of Thremody, crushes the crystal, and is quickly encircled by a swirling mass of glittery violet clouds.

When he can see again, he finds himself in a well put together room with comfortable chairs, a bookcase and his friends, minus Radius and Isha (who he will learn is guarding the Tentacle Crawler), standing over the partially salvaged ruins of…something. They bring IO up to speed, and assure him his arrival had nothing to do with Radius’s disappearance.

Thremody and Seph are still a bit engrossed with the book,”The Life and Times of Thremody Wainwright”. She gets Seph to pick a spot and read, he picks a spot near the half point and finds he is reading about events that occurred only a few hours ago. Though a bit of a slow reader, he catches up to the present only to find the pages blank, and filling in as things are happening (mostly him reading the book to Thremody). After a brief discussion over the nature of fate, which Sepherith is admittedly not the most knowledgeable of, Thremody decides that the unsettling novel won't have any hold over her. Triggering an iotum ray, she blasts to book, reducing it to cinders. 

Finding Radius becomes the group's priority. Callan and Thremody put their minds together and as best they are able determine that the Residuum could not have sent the automation far, and due to the crystal lining of the manor, there is a good chance that Radius is still somewhere within. Thremody applies a bit of pressure and chemistry to a unit of psiranium and a pluripotent mass, causing the psiranium’s psychic side effects to shift from organic beings to automations. It is decided that IO will ingest the mixture as it has the least chance of harming him (though it still does). Shortly after he is able to detect the thoughts of Radius, coming from the western side of the manor.

The heroes make their way down the hall and discover a shifting non-euclidian style maze. Thankfully Radius does not appear to be within it. They first go south, arriving on a hidden balcony that gives a marvellous view of the city of Shallamas. Then, realising it is a dead end, north to what appears to be some sort of sitting room. In the centre of said room is a device that provides a pleasant experience for Callan, and is highly debilitating for everyone else. What’s to make matters worse, IO hears it “speaking”; singing, telling jokes, and doing an overall terrible job at being entertaining. It is loud, so loud he almost cannot hear Radius’ mind anymore, and so leaves through the door to the west. The sound lessens the further he is, but it is still fairly loud and excessively obnoxious.

Thankfully he is able to direct the group in the direction of Radius. The office has a door that is fairly solid, and barred shut from this side. Callan uses his phasing powers, as the interior walls do not share the crystalline barrier of the outer walls. To walk through the door and then another almost identical on the other side. He sees Radius, and another man, sitting in the corner. The second man is dressed similarly to the leader of the raid on the blue building. Radius is glad to see them, tells them that he has no idea how he got here and that the other person has not been helpful. The other person, named Collias, has been here for an unknown period of time and is quite disorientated.

Callan returns to the group, assuring Radius it will be out soon, and Seph, rather than simply sliding the bars aside, hulks out and obliterates them.  Radius and Collias  are freed and IO takes a thorough sweep of the office, discovering a key hanging underneath the desk, and taking a number of second hand accounts of numenera devices from Garmulu’s desk. The group then, with caution to avoid harm a second time. Takes apart the entertainer, which protests this to IO but quickly becomes a number of Shins parts and iotum.

Garmulu, standing roughly 8 feet tall, covered in an oversized loose fitting cloak appears in the opposite doorway. “Theives! Interlopers! You shall pay for breaking in here and attempting to steal from Garmulu!” it says, its cat's paw style hands reaching out and setting off one of Thremody’s cyphers, causing it to overload her senses. In a panic she runs to the door. A fight is on, there is no talking to this angry being, who moments later reveals itself to be a Sarrak, a biomechanical half feline half lizard superintelligent creature with a glowing ball of energy for a head. It attacks with its bare paws as Callan unleashes the force of his esoteries. IO uses skill and spear, Seph meets physical force with physical force, and Thremody, a bit of iotum always on hand, blasts once she shakes off the effect of the cypher.

The battle draws to a close once Seph brings a powerful tentacle swing down on Garmulu’s back, breaking its spine with an audible snap and causing the energy ball to blip out. Garmulu is no more. A quick search of its sleeping chambers reveals a few simple but interesting oddities. The key that IO found turns out to work in the heavy door in the reading room, revealing the Trophy room. A few interesting items are found, such as a mirror that always has a golden futuristic city in the background and a few artifacts (a shatter wand and a mind displacer) and cyphers. 

They also find Origin’s head. Radius, silent and visibly holding back emotion, cradles the head, similar to its own in many respects in his hands. IT does not take a genius to recognize the hurt and emotion of the moment, and after a time Radius addresses the group, mentioning that there still appears to be something left in Origin, a spark of life perhaps, that should be accessible if it is placed near the rest of his body. Solemn now their union, they take the first few steps on their journey back to the Blue Warehouse where they first found origin, or at least part of it, with hope that Radius’ sibling can be saved.

Returning to the blue warehouse where the rest of Origin’s known remains still rest. Radius enters with its sibling’s head under its arms and immediately begins to yell at someone inside. The heroes enter and see Radius, angrier than any have ever seen it, yelling at the same red scarf-wearing woman who appeared to be in charge of the thieves. The two are standoffish and the woman appears defensive of Origin’s remains. Thremody and Seph work to calm everyone down and discover that the woman, Selani, was a close friend with the automation. 

Once tensions calm, Origin’s head is affixed to the torso, it begins to knit itself back together, however it would appear that the automation is on borrowed time… Its voice sounds distant, its eyes do not light up, its sounds disorientated, uncertain. The heroes rally quickly, Thremody uses a cypher to pull the power from her hoverboard and with a bit of synth and iotum, channel it into Origin’s form. The automation’s eyes light up, its voice and its mind becomes clear. It thanks the heroes for their aid in “alleviating the sorrow of those who care for me”. It  quickly becomes clear that Origins’s body has lost any further ability to regenerate. Origin can not recall much of it’s encounter with the machine god, it tried to place it’s memories on a cube, but this has caused the automation to lose much of what happened. It tells them that its memory should return in time, as it recalls important information it will alert the heroes at once.

Thremody has a difficult time with what has happened, Selani comes to her and thanks her for saving origin, Selani learns that the group killed Garmulu and that the manor house is now unoccupied, Selani aims to take her gang and occupy it in the near future.  The band of thieves invite the heroes to share their lodgings for the night, they have strict instructions from Selani to leave the gang alone (though a few of them do play on Seph’s innocence convincing him that they are tradesmen not thieves until he eventually figures it out).

Thremody and Callan set out the next day to gather iotum and parts to build Origin a hoverchair. They manage to buy and trade most of what they need, the rest Thremody already has. They meet dour io salesman whose spirits are invigorated by the sheet number of io Thremody buys. He asks about where they are located and if more folk in that region have similar needs.

An old man in a brown cloak with pulsating yellow-white boils on his hands and face offers Callan 5 shins for the purchase of the Cuiddit that follows him. Callan accepts, informing the man that he can have it if he can get it to follow him. The man pays, the shins gooey and sticky with partially dried pus from the boils (Callan discards them once he leaves.) The man then seizes the Cuiddit, the color and sound immediately drains away from it and it remains motionless as the man departs. 

As the group prepares to leave Shallamas, Selani and her band saying their goodbyes to Origin, who Radius cradles in its arms on their way back to the Tendril Crawler. Suddenly, the Cuiddit, moving faster than Callan has ever seen, returns noisily to Callan’s side. The man, pulsating boils quivering with his anger, screams at the heroes. “ Thieves! Scoundrels! Brigands!! You will suffer the wrath of Azklan the Grand!” In response, Callan puts him in stasis. The group leaves town, with Azklan hurling angry curses and swearing vengeance against Callan in the distance as they depart. The crew, eager to return to the Amber Keep with Origin pass by Thaemor, pass by the Corpse Flinger and continue a brisk pace to the Amber Keep. They stop only when Thremody’s sharp eyes notice a strange object int the grass which turns out to be an artifact, a gravity suit. They arrive back to a sight of disgruntled unrest.

The people of the Amber Keep have rallied around the home of Tsala, and they are not happy. The heroes soon learn that Tsala has raised a tax of 10 shins per month on all residents - more than some earn in a month. A number of burly men block the doors, the heroes recognize them to be henchmen of Ganilion Brig. The group makes their way into the house and sure enough Ganilion is in there with her, his silver tongue sweeping away the last vestiges of doubt that Tsala had about the tax. They converse and Seph immediately notices that Ganilion is avoiding him,keeping his distance. The exchange is awkward and terse at times, however the group leaves not liking the tax, but accepting the argument for it.  Callan shares his theory that Ganilion is somehow scamming or skimming and Seph has draw the conclusion that Ganilion, who he does not like, is up to no good. They visit Chord, who sadly report that it has had no luck locating the final remaining sibling.

A few days pass, and while out and about, Seph discovers a sinkhole that is full of blue fungus. Thremody crystalizes it and Ganilion, of all people, requests that she check some additional sites for fungus. Though none is found, it turns out that she discovers that all of the sites share one thing in common - they are all sites where silver Ioquid stations had been set up.

This epiphany is interrupted by sounds of commotion in the north-eastern outskirts of town. It appears that a group of Refugees has arrived mostly women, children, the elderly, and one lone elderly thuman. They are led by a woman named Marraxi and come from what was the adelia of Conphas, where demons and a rust red growth have subsumed the community, killing or running everyone off in the process. Ganglion whips up fear of these demons, claiming that they will likely follow the refugees here and that they do not have enough food to feed so many new mouths. He is well on the way to convincing the others to drive the refugees away when Thremody, who has at this point had more than enough of the slippery man’s rhetoric, slaps him hard in the face. Seph and Thremody get the people back on side with accepting and housing the refugees. Marraxi is thankful, but also expresses concerns that the demons may indeed spread outward from Conphas and eventually find themselves attacking the Amber Keep. For our heroes, the next move is clear - head to Conphas and discover how to stop this menace before it can be realized

One Week Ago

Vox the Curious rides through the Beyond on his way to the Amber Gleaners settlement, known simply as the Amber Keep. He meets a number of tradespeople in the caravan, a sure sign that the community is taking off in the right direction. He strikes up the occasional conversation, mostly with Erix the cobbler, about what sort of adventure that they may expect. Upon arrival he is greeted by a local Arkus, a stocky man by the name of Kadri, who takes the time to help integrate the new arrivals. It is a bit worrying that there appears to be a bit of unrest as people are upset about a new 10 shin per month tax that the community leaders have put in place. The situation seems to be resolved upon the arrival and intervention of a group of adventurous types.

Kadri mentions to Vox that the group he observes has been instrumental in saving the community a number of times, that is when they are not out adventuring across the 9th world. When the pair happen to come across the heroes arguing in favor of allowing the refugees from Conphas to stay, the wily Arkus takes the opportunity to introduce Vox to the others. He suggests that Vox could be of great help, both due to his powers over wind and lightning, and his curious nature. The heroes welcome Vox into their ranks and discuss their upcoming journey to the abandoned aldeia of Conphas.

The people are already talking about the possibilities that the demons that have driven the 30 or so survivors out may follow their trail to the Amber Keep now that their food source has run out. The heroes make their way to Radius, who after only the slightest convincing, allows them to borrow the Tendril Crawler so long as they are careful with it. The group notices that Radius seems much more cheerful than it has in the recent past; the saving of Origin has had a positive impact on automation. None of the siblings have had any luck at this point detecting the last living member of their family through the diamond mind at present, it is as if something is in the way of their efforts.

The refugee’s trail leads through a recently flooded swamp, Thremody ever the risk taker, pilots the crawler through the swamp. It lists from left to right but the heroes make it across with minimal difficulty. In fact they even come out a bit richer as they find a cypher that has become stuck to the underside while crossing. They continue on through a grove of gnarled trees with multicoloured leaves that, upon examination Vox and the others determine are a form of responsive synth and are able to harvest 30 units of it over about 30 minutes.

The next stop is the village of Conphas, or at least what is left of it. On the approach all of the village and nearby area seems to be covered with a porous rust red crust similar in many ways to coral in its composition. A haze of vermillion sits over the top of the covered village, caused not by gas but apparently an optical illusion made by sunlight off the ground. The crust, as it turns out, is thin and brittle, with a gooey spongey muck beneath the smell and consistency of soft cheese. 

The group attempts to use their cyphers to get a better look with IO first deploying an eye in the sky. He gets a good idea of where the growth is the heaviest, which would suggest a point of origin. As he attempts to learn more, the cypher is enveloped by one of 4 leathery flying crescents, each roughly twice the size of a man , each with a rust red skin on its back which makes it indistinguishable from the crust that covers the ground. It is decided to avoid attracting these creatures, possibly the demons the refugees spoke of. Callan, using his invisibility and his intangibility powers walks silently into the centre of town, carrying half of Thremody’s remote viewer so the rest may see what he does, before making his way to the centre of the  growth.

Callan finds himself ducking through an open doorway, the growth of red so heavy and thick that it almost impedes his motion. Inside the home he makes an unfortunate discovery, a transdimensional energy that hampers his natural powers. He can be invisible or intangible, but not both. He also discovered an archway, highly complex but relying on his ultraterrestrial knowledge and experience, he is able to determine that the arch is the source of the energy. He makes his way back and, after informing the others of his discoveries, the heroes make their way back stealthily to the home relying on powers, cyphers, and artefacts to not be seen. Once inside the nano’s give the archway, which maintains some sort of odd red haze unlike the one observed outside in its centre, a good looking over. They discover the archway is not a gateway per se, but is actually limiting the flow of the ultradimensional energy into  their world.  Both nanos also are left with the strong feeling that the energy they are feeling is artificial in nature.

 Vox, in attempting to manipulate the arch to further control and limit the energy, accidentally disabled the arch, causing the rift to explode outwards 10-20 feet in each direction. Several flying crescents fly out to feed as well, They decide to enter the dimensional rift and explore what they can find, as possibly the only means of resolving the problem here long term lay on the other side. The heroes march through the red haze and find themselves standing on the roots of a single enormous tree, suspended in the red hazy universe.There seems to be no other structures here, and the gravity on the tree seems to pull things down to the nearest branch, trunk or root. The red growth is present here and the top of the tree from the roots is too far away to see in the haze. The heroes see some sort of transparent enclosure in the distance near the base of the tree and make their way up to it. It seems to be covered int he red crust like growth. IO decides to take the lead in exploring the structure, which almost seems to be some sort of observatory under cluster scrutiny. As IO delves into the enclosure, a hulking creature, seemingly made up of the red crust, rises up out of the ground to a height of roughly 7 feet. It turns to face the heroes, what is it and what with they do?

The creature, a hulking biped seemingly made of the very red crust that has infested this dimension and the town of Conphas, makes its move towards IO, braining him with a large claw-like hand and knocking him to the ground. The heroes responde with a combination of Onslaughts followed by Seph’s tentacle strike, defeating it. While Thremody searches the area - finding a cognitive weave in the gunk, Isah helps IO back down the root network and out of the portal, the poor delve so dazed he needs time to recover - and Seph realises that an oddity - lodged inside the being - was now stuck to his tentacle along with copious amounts of the red cheesy goop.

The continue up the tree, thremody discovers some soft or brittle patches on the tree near its base, Investigating through prodding, each one seems to be a hollowed out “pit” swarming with semi translucent white bugs, eating the tree. Careful to avoid these hazards, they move on to the next enclosure, where Callan, having phased through the walls finds skeletal remains covered in the red crust. As he searches it pulls itself free and swipes at him, unable to harm the intangible ultraterrestial. Callan retreated and warns the others just in time for them to anticipate its fated arrival. Callan uses his stasis ability while Vox puts his gravity belt on it. The heroes continue up the side of the tree - considered “down” based on how gravity is working in this dimension - until they notice the large root-like branches extending from the tree and the bizarre movement of something on them in multiple places. 

Thremody and Vox decide to ascend forward on an angle to investigate, noticing a 8 foot by 6 foot hole in the side of the trunk that looks natural.   They pass by it and get close to the branches, gravity starting to invert slightly with a “tug” pulling their feet up to the bottom of the branches (still easily resistable for this distance) they see that the growths are tentacles the coil like a fiddlehead and uncoil, undulating as they do and emitting a curious sigh-like sound. Thremody attempts a controlled fall to the underside of the branches and is mostly successful.

Meanwhile Seph decides to explore the hole, which is surrounded by very brittle red growth. Navigating the inside is bizarre as every wall or tree bark surface in here is down. In the bottom, where the red crust is the sturdiest and the thickness is a bizarre device that seems to have no known purpose. Seph mentions that he has found “something” Which draws the attention of Vox and Themody who return to investigate. Meanwhile Callan, who has decided to avoid the hole, finds a different one not of his choosing. A barkstripper nest - full of the white bugs - opens up under his feet causing the nano no small inconveniences crawling back out of.

As the heroes reassemble, Vox, ever curious, decides to explore the machine and becomes covered in a thick sticky layer of the red crust. He seems to be fine. They pass through the branches and sneak by a circling wave of crescent flyers and make their way to the top of the tree, where the nano Coultan sits affixed into her tree-formed throne. It is clear from their conversation that Coultan is not overly predisposed to engaging the characters, she explains that she retreated into this dimension which she used to work on her biologicals after the people of Conphas how they harmed her, killed her pets and tormented her. She tells them that she tried to be good to the community and then keep her distance when they treated her like a freak and a witch. The final step was when a boy went missing, the townsfolk immediately blamed her and drove her into the dimension where she has stayed ever since. 

Thremody tells her that she doesnt have to stay, that she can come back with the heroes to the Amber Keep where there are many people like them and her who are valued for their gifts. They also tell her about what has been happening, how this artificial dimension has been leaking into the Ninth World, which shocks Coultan bringing her to a place of despair. It takes some time, kindness and verbal finesse but she agrees to go with them. Once they exit Steps are taken to seal the hole in the dimension the effects of which, once completed, are almost immediately visible. Crescents fall out of the sky and the red crusty growth begins to sink down, become even more brittle and darken in colour. Though difficult to pinpoint exactly, it would appear that there would not be very long before, hopefully the crust disappears entirely. To add more good news, the Thuman that the refugees brought apparently did belong to (or more accurately was the companion of) Coultan. Glide, as she calls him appears happy to see her and vice versa. The journey back to the Amber Keep is uneventful following along the trail that the refugees left.

Upon their return the heroes with Coultan in their retinue come across Marraxi, the leader of the refugees, on the edge of the community. Freezing for a moment, Coultan extends her hand and hits Marraxi with such a powerful onslaught that it twists the woman’s neck around backwards, killing Marraxi instantly. The heroes are in shock as the other refugees, and indeed a small number of residents, circle them and Coultan, calling her a witch and a murderer. She looks back to Thremody and apologizes, telling her that Marraxi was the one who riled up the village against her and that she could not stop herself. She is willing to accept whatever punishment the community decides.

At that moment Ganilion Brig arrives and immediately flocks to the side of Coultan. He both inflames and calms the situation, almost simultaneously, in a fashion purely advantageous to himself. He attempts to inflame sentiment against the refugees saying that their treatment of :”this poor woman” led to their leader's demise and the problems of their community. In many ways his actions darkly mirror those of the PCs who are also trying to diffuse the situation. Thremody runs to get Tsala with hopes that the community leader can put a stop to the situation. Vox, studying Ganilion’s words and mannerisms, is taken aback by the man’s mastery of speech and of his ability to shape the truth to fit seemingly any desired machinations or grift the mauve man desires. It is like watching a master at work.

Tsala returns and asks Brig his opinion. It is here that the group realises just how fully Brig has established himself in the community in their absence. Callan has had enough, he mindslices Brig causing the man to thrash his head back, a thick violet blood running from his nose. When asked what has happened, Brig simply states, smiling menacingly at Callan, that he has taken ill suddenly. He intends to rest and then”deal” with the cause later. As he turns to leave Calan mindslices him a second time. This time Brig’s head explodes showering any nearby in purple gore. Panic ensues, the mob disperses, all control is lost. A rock hits Coultan in the head, dropping her. Tsala, trying to calm the people, is knocked down and trampled. Callan protects both by putting them in stasis.  

Once everything is returned to relative calm it is decided that Coultan will stand trial for the two murders, Marraxi’s and Brig’s. Vox, though unknown to all but himself, realizes that the mindslices where not the work of the tentacle haired nano but of his companion Callan, he is unsure what to do with this information, or even how he feels about it. Is is decided that the communities interest will be represented by the Arkus Kadri, leaving Topher, who has taken up other roles since the end of his adventuring days, to defend the addled nano. If that was nto bad enough, upon searching Brig’s remains is the ring of a powerful cypher, known to the heroes as a fallback clone cypher. It would seem that even death itself may not be a significant setback for the mauve manipulator….

Coutlan is taken to a safe yet secured spot and offers no resistance. It is discussed that a Heptaid will be held, the names are drawn and among those selected are Visso and Griff, however another man, known to be a hanger on of Ganillion Brig is also selected. For obvious reasons the heroes cannot be chosen.

Topher and Kadri, who have been chosen as the Vocero Coultan and Vocero Norad respectively, speak to the characters. KAdri is short and brief, stating a desire to question them before the Heptaid to give them a picture of events. Topher is looking for something more specific. He is having a hard time reconciling the fact that Coultan admits responsibility for the death of Marraxi but not Brig. After speaking with Callan Topher suspects the truth, but cannot put words into mouths they did not leave. He speaks to IO and to Vox and has come with the idea that Brig’s cyphers may have been responsible. While he is uncertain if it is true, it sounds to Topher like just the sort of thing that would bring a doubt and that he may be able to convince a majority of the Heptaid of. He hears the suspicions of Brig’s selfish and potentially sinister motives, and tells IO, Callan, and Vox that having more info would be greatly helpful if they could find it.

It is with this in mind that the Trio comes up with a plan to sneak into the home of the late Ganillion Brig, past his henchman Gömur, who seems to be occupying (guarding?) it still. With the assistance of Isha, IO takes some game animal that they have hunted and put together a mouth-watering meal under the guise of distracting and occupying Gömur’s attention. He seems suspicious at first but once he smells the food and hears the seemingly genuine concern in IOs voice for his loss, he sits with them on the step of the cottage, eats, and begins to reminisce. Meanwhile Callan and Vox enter throught the back wall and back window respectively. They scan the area in search of anything of use. Vox finds a simple oddity as well as a major glowglobe. But bumps a glass ornament that shatters with a loud bang. While this is happening, Callan has found a cypher, an oddity and a cache of shins along with a few letters of interest.

However this discovery is timed with the rather loud breaking of the glass ornament. Gömur becomes suspicious, he heads to the door to investigate, despite IOS best friendly efforts to distract him. Vox hides behind the door and Callan turns invisible. Once Cömur is in the cottage and looks down to the broken object, Vox uses stasis on him. The group grabs up the letters and the items, but not before the nano’s use hedge magic to mend the broken item and replace it with an oddity Callan has that always reforms after being broken.  The nanos vanish leaving IO and Isha with the Henchman, who during their conversation does provide some interesting information about Ganillion Brig as a person.

Apparently Brig took Gömur off of the streets “seeing something in him” and recognizing how much that decision changed his life for the better, Gömur has been fiercely loyal to Brig ever since. When asked by IO Gömur realizes he doesnt actually have any idea as to what Brig actually does for a living, just that “people do things for him like he does for them.” He was very very adamant on one thing, Mr. Brig never never lied. The group leaves and the nanos, with the help of Thremody, extract IO from the situation, leaving Gömur to himself. Callan shares that the parchments include a map of the Kalpis, a strange mind bending structure where a machine cultist had waylaid Radius many months ago, a letter from Challenger Forsyth regarding a man who would be joining the keep at his endorsement, but never arrived (the group recognizes a similar letter being presented by Brig during his arrival) and a second letter, in what the heroes recognize to be Brig’s handwriting claiming to be an endorsement of him from none other than the Empress of the Pytharon Empire.

The quartet decides that the evidence of this deceit cannot wait til the heptaid. They round up Kadri, Tsala and Topher and present what they have found. Kadri is upset by this action by the heroes as he feels it is outside of the established process and is highly disrespectful of the Heptaid, which he feels very strongly about. IO is able to eventually ease the feelings of the upset Arkus as well as show Tsala that Brig, in whom she has started to put her trust, was not what he claimed to be, proof came in comparing his letter to the ones that Callan had found in his bedchambers, the wording matched that of Challenger’s but the writing was that of the empresses. A quick examination of the Storehouse showed that roughly 300 shins of the 10 shin per month tax were not accounted for. The three leaders confer with the heroes and, thanks to Topher’s suggestion, agree to postpone the heptaid until noon the following day giving the group all night and the following morning to investigate the Kalpis to see what business Brig had with the strange place.

On their way to the Kalpis, a mere 20 minutes outside their community, a mechanical creature rushes from the north and attacks.  It is a relentless reaper and through mental intrusion, it makes it known to Callan that he is its target. The powerful heroes with a combination of Callan’s open technique, Cox’s onslaught, and Thremody’s iotum beam, the automation is rendered to slag and scrap, but what sent it? And what secrets does the Kalpis, long forgotten, now once again guard from the outside world?

Our heroes stand before the doorway of the Kalpis, familiar to some, new to others. Callan and IO, having been here many months ago when they saved Radius from a Machine God Prophet, lead the way. They first come across a curious sight, a rocky coral-like bidet-shaped fountain spewing and burbling what looks like red dyed water up into the air before it falls back down inside. This is new to all, Thremody decides to pour an indigo coloured glop out of a thermos she has and catch a sample of the water before moving deeper inside.

What should be a large open area is now a series of multiple honeycombed tunnels along the floors and ceilings that twist and turn in unknown directions. To make it more abnormal there are pools of water and such on the walls and the ceilings of these rounded pathways. Using IOs tracking and marking their trail with Vox’s jar of retractable glitter. The quartet makes their way to what they feel is the end of a maze of confusing twists and turns in good time, only to see an opening that is currently occupied, perhaps guarded, by three oniscid, who are normally shy and use their mental powers to hide and misdirect. IO puts himself between the oniscid and his friends, while Callan leads the rest of them forward as best he can.

These Oniscid are not the passive tricksters that the pair remember, they are angry, aggressive, hostile. One uses his abilities to cause Callan to flee ahead in fear, he is chased after by Vox. The others attempt to jab and stab IO with what looks to be pretend imaginary spears. IO manages to avoid these “attacks” but sees the creatures have some sort of red swirling cloud in their normally jet black eyes. Eventually he and Seph, who had heard that his friends had gone to investigate the situation, are both struck by the weapons to find that the pain and their injuries were very much real.

Having caught up to Callan, Vox, and later Thremody, who has decided to flip her perspective (along with her gravity). They notice a fleshy pod with synth tubes and wires protruding and a large man hiding behind it. Scanning the area, Box learns that the pod is a level 10 now defunct device used for regeneration as that the man is a level three brute. He also sees his vision change to show a number of walls and other geographical and geological sites a flat red in color. The trio advance of the figure behind the tube and see that it is Igo, the tougher meaner henchman of Ganillion Brig. He is in a panic and nothing seems to be able to break him out of it. Vox puts him in stasis and Thremody dismantles the device. This reveals a large brackish stream being flooded with some sort of deep thick red liquid that quickly begins to dissipate. It is fairly clear to those in observance that the divide causes the same.

The oniscids fight on and the heroes rush back to aid IO and Seph, who have had mixed luck subduing them. It takes a combination of Seph’s might, IO’s skill, and Thermody, Vox, and Callan’s talents to put a quick end to that fight. They make their way back to Igo, who is brought out of stasis. With the aid of an emotion suppressant cypher Thremody confidently lies to the henchman leading him to believe that Gömur told them everything. He buys it and gives information to the PC about what has happened. That when Brig died he got a message telling him to come here and sure enough, shortly after Mr. Brig emerged from the pod. It was then that the “bug men” started to get aggressive and crazy.Igo tells them Mr. Brig apparently knew how to undo it, but told Igo that it required someone of great intelligence, which he admits is not himself. Brig went to the nodule to reset everything to normal, but never came back, nor did everything go back to normal. When Igo went to check on him the bug men did something to his mind and he had been cowering here ever since.

Igo leads the group past the downed oniscids to the recursion nodule. Vox, with Callan’s help interfaces with the device. He has the chance to get one answer to a question the Kalpis knows the answer to, or to reset the Kalpis. After some deliberation he chooses the latter. Everything goes dark and, just when everything seems to have gone terribly wrong, the glowpods illuminate showing the Kalpis as normal again. There are no more red walls, no more bizarre twists and turns. Callan and IO can confirm that the structure resembles its past appearance as best as they can remember. They gather Igo, intending for him to be a witness to the process of the Heptaid and search the area just to be sure that Brig has truly bailed (he has) before heading to the exit. But questions remain, where is Brig? If he is not here, where did he go?

It now becomes time for the Heptaide to commence. The group has frogmarched Igo to the town. For his part, Igo is in good spirits, and why should he not be, he has done nothing wrong. The group arrives and they find Kristopher, who is readying himself. The news that Brig is indeed alive somewhere is treated as bizarre but usable, especially with Brig’s head goon present to testify to this fact.

Among the 7 citizens who make up the Heptaide are a few familiar faces, Visso and Griff. As Topher calls up witness after witness; first Thremody, then Vox, and finally Callan before bringing Igo’s revelation. All three heroes testimony to the character of Couthan and the seeming lack of intent of her actions sways the 7 more and more. Vox and Callan’s testimony to the nature of the Nano esoteries also helps, as does the Ring cypher they recovered from the body. Kadri attempts to use his formidable powers of persuasion to undo the characters' speculation and support, but alas the character’s win the day. Even Coulthan takes the stand as it were (an open field being the only spot big enough to accommodate all spectators) and gives her honest account of what happened, is the last straw on the aneens back. 

The seven come forward with a unanimous agreement that Coulthan is not responsible for the death of Ganilion Brig and, though responsible for the death of MArraxi, the 7 having seen her  take ownership of the events and her visible remorse for the action as mitigating circumstances. The heptaid with Tsala as its Guide, have decided that Couthan must undo the disharmony wrought to the community by doing a service for it, a project that will be chosen after discussion, and that she must remain in the Amber Keep until it is finished. Topher assures all that this is the best outcome that everyone could likely have ended up with and again thanks his former companions for their service, mentioning how great it felt to be working with “the ol’ gang” again. Coulthan tells the heroes she appreciates their help, even though she is responsible for the death of Marraxi, she is told in no uncertain terms that they do not hold her personally responsible, as she was suddenly and unexpectedly confronted with her tormentor.

A day or two goes by, Origin is still trying to retrieve its memories enough to aid the group in stopping the Machine God Cultists. Radius, having some private personal business, has taken the Tendril Crawler “somewhere”, neither Chord nor Origin know. The Amber Keep appears to be safe from disaster, both man made and natural, for the time being. IO decides to broach the topic of finding his lost ward, Nicolas, who had vanished in an accident with ultra dimensional energies prior to IOs arrival in the AMber Keep.

IO had received information in Rarmon that a woman named Mecky, who runs a curiosity shop in the city of Guran might know how to help. He sits down with Thremody, Callan and Vox and discusses the best way to get there. It is agreed upon that the Sadara River works for most of what should be a 9 day journey, 7 by water and 2 by day should all things go according to plan. With the Tendril crawler unavailable, it is decided that under Themody’s tutelage they will build a rowboat and rely on their numbers and their strengths to go a little faster than one might normally travel. After 2 days they are prepared to push themselves off and venture down the river.

The first day takes them near the Adelea of Bluecloud, They decide to rest and are quickly reacquainted with friendly faces. Nalisor happily shakes their hands and introduces himself to Vox as it is his first time in the community. Nalisor gives everyone on the Sleeper, recent events, and trade to the town coming down from Far Brohn and continuing onward to the Amber Keep. They bed down for the night at Stella’s who has turned the extra rooms in her home into a sort of bed and breakfast for travelling peddlers and merchants. After a hearty breakfast the next morning they head back to where they stashed the rowboat and continue along the river.

Partway through the day they notice strange polyp type growths on either side of the river, Thremody, on a whim, takes a shot at them, to see tendrils emerge and try to grab them. Before they drift into range, the heroes take the boat to the coast, and carry it over land around the creatures, doing well to stay out of their reach, before embarking back on the river.

After a couple of days, the heroes come into the vicinity of Far Brohne along the southern border of the Pytharon Empire. They elect to camp along the coast of the river rather than making their way north into the city. During their watch a group of Sathosh are discovered sneaking up upon them. CAllan makes use of a detonation Cypher and with the rest of the heroes quickly drives them off, leaving the rest of the night uneventful as it is peaceful. Consulting their maps the next day, they realize that they still must pass the great lake as well as Rathscor Fortress before parting ways with the river and entering the Beyond. There is excitement at the adventure, but all wonder who this Mecky is and what can she do to help their companion in his quest.

The Heroes continue on the road the next morning, making it several dozen kilometers further up the Sadara river. Vox, using some of his newer developed talents, takes to the air to recon the general area for danger (not a bad idea after the abhuman encounter the night before) Nothing dangerous appears, however he does notice a flock of kond - brown and black scavenger birds that stand waist high with a wingspan as long as a man’s. He notices that a group of them seem to be interested in something that they have unearthed, he decides to head back to the others in case this is something of interest. 

The others head back with Vox and shoo away the kond, a few let out  a cranky grock or two to express their displeasure. The item of interest appears to have been a long forgotten back pack filled with oddities - one of which, a metal triangle, causes the kond to flee in panic the moment Seph pulls it out - and a single cypher. Aside from this, the evening and night pass quietly and the heroes are ready to start out fresh the next day.

They encounter perhaps one of the strangest sites that they have seen yet as they reach a large lake, a pair of what appears to be mutated octopuses (3 eyes, irregular tentacles, and one with a jaunty hat) having a silent argument. They approach the rowboat and let lose the most horrifying sounds any of the group have ever heard, so bad it causes a few of the travellers actual physical harm. Callan responds with a flash which scares the creatures off, though he feels some guilt afterwards, feeling that they were only trying to communicate. “ A missed opportunity” he sadly muses. 

Later the same day, IO who has been worried about a keepsake Seph has  that he felt was harming him, and accidently dropped it in the lake. Several hours go by when suddenly Seph, feeling a little despondent, feels something hit him in the side of the head. It’s his keepsake with the angry looking hat wearing octo-mutate shaking a tentacle at the boat as if to say “dont dump your junk here!”. The group bunks down for the night on the far side of the lake near where it flows back into the river. While on night watch Vox detects a rustling in the bushes. He calls it out ready for a fight, only to discover a very relaxed casually dressed man with large doe eyes and a pair of antlers. After ascertaining that the antler man is friendly and non-threatening (and providing him with some leftover grub) the antler-man offers to trade his “feelings” with Vox, claiming that the glass bottled colourful potions can allow him to feel  feelings, such as happiness, sorrow, calm, sadness etc  for a period of time after drinking. Vox refuses and, after a bit of banter, the antler man leaves a single bottle of bright orange liquid behind - happiness - before melding back into the bushes and disappearing. Vox tells all of his strange encounters, showing them the bottle. Thremody decided to hold onto what turns out to be a level 2 concoction.

The rowboat continues up river and comes within the environs of Rathscor Fortress, patrolled by the Mahal Shards under the command of Lord Myallatur, They see a man riding what appears to be a large headless marble horse, who identifies himself a s Quen, he invites the heroes back to the safety of Rathscore Fortress. AS he seems on the level the heroes take him up on his offer to  bed down there for the evening,  Quen gives them a tour of the fortress, a mixture of precision cut stones and minerals along with synth and numenera woven in. They get a look at many of the other shards, the stables where the others keep and care for their Brehm, and the dining hall where Lord Myallatu himself is currently taking counsel from a few of his men. One of which, Jy’rel,  is reporting of a nearby Adelia by the name of Pulendo that has been having issues with Sathosh raiding parties. The problems have been getting worse and worse. Myallatur decides to take a party to assist and - having heard of some of the heroes exploits - asks them to accompany. The heroes agree and make their way across land and water to the community arriving only shortly after Myallatur and his men.

Though it is night, they decide that now is just as well as any time to track and dispatch the Sathosh. They leave the clave in Pulendo - a geodesic dome made of lightweight hexagons the colour of spilled gasoline - and ride off into the hills. Once near the source of the trouble, they move quietly - all except Callan who is plagued by his Cuiddit and 2 other Shards who find it interesting/ need to watch the Brehm. Swph, using echolocation notices the band of a half dozen Sathosh first. The two groups become aware of each other and battle, With Seph and Myallatur both rushing the Sathosh, Thremody having a cypher that backfires on her, striking Seph, and Callan, making it just in time to strike a blow on the abhumans just before the fight is one. Victory is celebrated quickly and quietly as there are more Sathosh nearby…

Io and Vox track the Sathosh back from where they came with relative ease towards the cave where they came from and likely call home. Callan’s cuiddit is still making a fair amount of light and noise, the latter is of a concern to Lord Myallatur. Thremody catches it and tries to silence it, however this simply causes it to get brighter, louder and to fly deep into the cave in this condition. Thankfully this is able to attract the attention of the Sathosh warriors still in the cavern. They attack and chase after the Cuiddit as the heroes, with Myallatur and the Shards, advance into the low overhead cavern. The cuiddit zips back behind Callan, much quieter and dimmer, as the Sathosh advance. 

Callan uses his flash esotery and Vox his lightning esotery to both batter the Sathosh, and collapse the ceiling upon those who survive the double onslaught from the nanos. Sure enough with success the threat from the left branch of the tunnel is nullified, however the right branch still remains intact and in need of exploration to make sure that the threat has truly been resolved. As they advance down the corridor, Thremody, who has used a unit of io to enhance themselves, loudly sneezes the glowing fluid all over the back of his lordship in what can only be described as a fairly awkward exchange. Others ahead who could hear a number of individuals doing something up ahead suddenly lose the sound. It turns out that the remaining 5 Sathosh have all elected to lay in wait. All but a few of the heroes rush in, some taking a bit of a battering before overpowering and vanquishing the last of the abhumans. A few shins and oddities turn up in a search of the cave, but nothing more.

His lordship Myallatur claps a few of them on the shoulder in a celebratory fashion. He says that their power and prowess in resolving this problem will be a tale told for some time back at the Fortress. The crew saddle up with the Shards and make their way back to Pulendo, settling down in a makeshift camp on the outskirts of the adelia. Their slumber is broken abruptly by the screams of the villagers. Two horrid creatures who look to be mixtures of flayed flesh, bone and synth are tearing through the community roughing up the people, looking for something. The moment that they see Callan, it is obvious that they have found it.

The creatures, Nidlir by name, rush the nano and attack. Callan quickly discovers that his phasing powers will not help him as the creatures emanate some sort of ultradimensional energy themselves. The others wake and rush to his defense, Thremody using a powerful iotum blast, Seph grappling and crushing, Vox attacking with his lightning powers and IO lining up the perfect shot with his bow. The creatures put up quite the fight, one manages to gore Seph with its multiple mouths, but in the end the creatures are destroyed, just as his lordship and his guard arrive on the scene.

Myallatur is momentarily taken aback by the horrors and openly admits he is even more impressed by the heroes than he was the previous evening. He pledges the friendship of Rathscor Fortress to the heroes who he considers to be great allies, before himself making plans to return to his home. The heroes part amicably, and begin the somewhat grizzly work of salvaging these creatures. They find a few useful bits, but also a note “More will come A-” it takes the heroes a few minutes to realize that the sender of this macabre message is likely from Azklan the Grand, the bizarre old man who was fixated with Callan’s Cuiddit. The heroes now have a choice to make, continue east on their journey to aid IO ward, or turn to the north to deal with this new and dangerous threat before it gets too far out of hand.

The group arrives in Guran from the southwest, crossing into those districts while taking a bridge over to the eastern side. With a bit of asking around they hear of a few interesting areas, such as Errols bridge, which appears to be made of some sort of non neutonian marble,Sweet end, with its bars and brothels, and “that place” the nearby woods. They eventually end up at Raahj’s flophouse. Thremody exchanges a spray bottle that cleans everything for a number of nights for herself and IO where Callan and Vox decide to pay day by day. Callan decided to set out in search of street food dinding everything from sugar sandwiches to grilled kond meat in a cone fashioned from its beak. Vox and Thremody avail themselves of the cheaply made free wheat based gruel, only lukewarm at this time of day. Thremody decides to share her bottle of happiness with another traveller, one who goes by the name of Jek. While she feels good,she can’t help but want more, to feel more. She is determined to seek out another bottle whenever she is able.

IO decides to use his artifact to seek out sources of dimensional anomalies. The group having early gone by Mecksy’s the Rusted Relic and finding no one home, had decided to wait till next day to try again. But not IO, he needs to know. He finds a number of dimensional energy sources in and around the town. One in the clave, one of the first know as This place and another in the claive . He makes his way towards the woodlands, passing by hunters, couple and a few dozen others before he feels a cold sharp pain in his back and linger. As he leaves he notices one of the shadows is different from the other…and that he should not have more than the one normal. The shadow pulls off of IO and forms into a fearful creature, inky and shadowy and hungry for prey. It lunges at IO, who responds with his tactical knowhow, striking a mighty blow.. It is here where we leave off our adventurers until next time.       

The battle resumes as IO spars off against the Stalking Shade in That Place, IO spear quickly becomes lost in the beast, turning the same black as the creature. This leaves the Delve open for the fiend to strike him causing a portion of his body, his left arm to be precise, to vanish! Though seemingly not there, it is still attached but in some sort of other-dimensional space. IO struggles to pull his arm out as a hard shadow-black waxy feeling substance spreads up over the shoulder and pit. IO manages to free his limb, now covered in tiny bite marks evidencing that the painful gnawing sensation was indeed real, only for it to suddenly pop back into the dimension. 

Eventually the cagey delve decides that the odds are not in his favour and beats a steady retreat. He finds Callan in the mid market, who joins him to find Seph. Seph, having decided to splurge and rent a whole room at Raahj’s is currently in the process or organizing the beds in a star shape. IO begins to give them the breakdown of events, when Vox, supporting a somewhat impaired Thremody, the happiness she imbibed only now wearing off, make their way in, having seen Callan and IO make their way into the hostel moments before. Along with Isah, IOs ward, they hatch a plan of action to vanquish the monstrosity before it can pose a danger to any other locals. The heroes make their way back into That Place and track the beast to a hidey hole where Vox, using a juiced up Onslaught. Obliterates the creature leaving only waxy black sludge behind.

Thremody, perhaps still a bit giddy and adventurous from the emot cypher, decides to get experimental. Taking the thermos full of the red viscous liquid that she took from Ganillion Brigs’ regenerative pod, she pours and mixes it with the shadow sludge, then addingin a few biological iotum into the mix something begins to take shape, a vermillion and onyx ooze grows and expands tentacles sweeping out, odd skeletal limbs, like spider legs extend out as the ooze grows over a pair of nearby trees changing them into a more organic and fluid stat as it does. The heroes back outside of its range, moving into range only to strike before jumping back. Vox, while striking a potent blow, is not as fortunate as his companion, a thin noodle-like tendril strikes him in the side, before the killing blow which causes the viscous creature to harden, turn brown, and crumble. 

The heroes decide to rest before visiting Mecky and the Clave tomorrow, going back to Raahj’s. Overnight Vox has a dream, a nightmare. Drowning in fluid viscous crimson nd black swirling fluid, like a mixture of molasses and oil. Vox struggles to break to the surface and when he does his face and visible body is completely covered in the same swirling colors as the horror that they destroyed earlier. He wakes suddenly, breathing hard and heavy, covered in sweat.

The first go to the Clave with hopes that they can remove the remnants of the Stalking Shade from IO as it keeps pulling his arm into the ultradimensional space. The aeon priest Mylian Acan, is able to use a transdimensional blade (the source of the ultradimensional “blip” from IOs artifact), to cut the surrounding layers of skin off, causing not too inconsiderable pain but resolving his problem

. The elderly man and Seph get into conversation and decide to trade cyphers and the aeon priest has a mutation cypher that interests the Glaive. The cypher reacts bizarrely to Sephs physiology, giving him enhanced strength and intelligence but also causes his eyes to mutate in to tendrils, several meters in length and his skin to turn jet black. Mylian is put off somewhat by the change. IO explains the heroes quest to the mayor but he claims an inability to help, stating that MEcky at the Rusted Relic, a junkyard like rummage shop, once a powerful and connected nano somewhere in the steadfast, would be the best person to speak to.

So they do. Arriving at the shop they meet with Mecky, a short woman mid 50s with a shimmering scar on the left side of her face and violet hair, dressed like someone accustomed to  scavenging through a mountain of baubles for a single oddity. Hearing IOs story she tells them of a place in the Black Riage, the Kalideovault, that allows for travel to other realms, but the travellers must know where they wish to go. Since IO doesn’t have that information, she puts him on the trail of a former acquaintance, a nano who has an interest in insects that may know of a place, a place where any one question you have can be answered. The man Petol, lives on the far side of Seshar, in the bustling city of Nebalich on the coast of the Sera Marica. As the distance is quite far, nearly another 300 kilometers, IO and Mecky reach an arrangement around a trade of artifacts, though IO has promised to help her recover an artifact she lost on her last visit to the Kalideovault as well, which crushing a green gem will help reveal. The Flit disc, with a speed of nearly 150 mph, will allow the entire band to travel several days worth of travel in a matter of hours. Their next destination in hand, the group begins to search the wares of the Rusted Relic to see what interesting items they may find…

Our heroes spend several days at the Rusted Relic, helping Mecky organize the mess and getting to know the former nano and adventurer in the process. She has many questions for the adventurers, asking about where they came from, what they hope for, their plans. Mecky learns about Thremody’s second thoughts on the nature of automations, Vox’s development of his gifts (while also cautioning him of the dangers of too much power), Seph’s mutations and his philosophy on change and growth, Callan’s calm and collected approach to life and lack of memory of his previous one, and IOs perseverance in the face of adversity. Though conversation with her the heroes also learn that at one time she traveled with a group similar to them, but something went wrong. One of their number became too powerful and the power corrupted, the others ran away from the friend, who had been driven mad, coming from probably Thaemor to here. Mecky for her part has regrets but is overall content  with her life now. She makes sure that the heroes are aware that she and her home represent a safe haven for them and provides each with a little something as a gift, even taking the time to show Thremody how to absorb the power of a cypher, a one time feat..

While the heroes spend a couple of days on this Vox continues to have strange dreams of being caught in the viscous black and red ooze or liquid. He eventually discovers that he does not need to hold his breath, he can “breathe” the fluid and hear a heartbeat and feel the breathing. Pushing himself, the nano eventually learns that he is connected to the stalker shade, apparently not dead as the heroes thought, as it prowls that place. He tries to make it aware of his thoughts and presence of its mind as a passenger and succeeds. Where he does not succeed is usurping control of its consciousness. The beast mentally thrashes and shakes him off. Vox is determined to keep trying, but is also curious about the appearance of  Ganillion Brig in the dream and what that means for the group and himself. He awakes to discover that shadows, once dark and obfuscating, have been transformed into large white masses of shape.

The next day our heroes pile onto the flit disc and speed off in the direction of Nebalich in search of the scientist Petol. They are interrupted on their journey by a wall of Gazers who , once close enough, reform into the shape of a face and begin to curse Callan with the all too familiar voice of Azklan the Grand. The gazers, 30 in number , prepare to attack but Vox throws a hurricane cypher into the middle of them. The gazers smash together, explode, and are ripped apart by the forces. Their remains rain down on the ground below and the crew, not looking a gift aneen in the snout, begin to salvage, finding multiple cyphers, oddities, and artifacts among the wreckage. Callan, directed by his cuiddit, finds a single piece of glass that project the image of a stone and synth tower. Before it shatters Callan is given the distinct feeling that this is Azklan’s base of operations, as well as an overwhelming sense of dread, as if something were actively pursuing him with the goal of eradicating him. After, the group continues the hour plus to Nebalich, Vox dropping the group off and then securely parking the disc in the sky high above before returning. Here they now stand, on a winding country road leading into the city wondering what fortune and fate may provide one they enter.

After “parking” the Flit Disc, the heroes march into Nebalich moving along the main road through lower class and slum-like neighbourhoods on their way first to the market, and then onward north past the old marble citadels before reaching where they understand someone of Petol’s background may be found. As they make their way to the market first, curious of what such a place nestled deep within the Beyond may have to offer. Seph is tripped, he falls and feels tiny hands rifle through his possessions before grabbing a small amount of shins and running off north. Picking himself up, the heroes ponder whether or not to give chase when Seph waves the idea off. “They probably need it more than me anyway” he states in a testament to his sense of goodwill and kindly nature. The affair settled the heroes continue a few minutes further towards the hustle and bustle of commerce.

The heroes take their time in the market, the first time they have really spent in such an environment in weeks. Seph decided to pick up a few items for friends back at the Amber Keep. A pair of charm bracelets whose charms magically change slightly in number and design overnight, and a feathery necklace that attracts small birds. Thremody is searching for a meditative spice however the seller Marcy Duriv, who specializes in selling spice from all around the Beyond from her strangely animated spice cart. Alas, despite her efforts she cannot seem to find a match for what the Wright seeks. Strangely though, while seeking she is left with the impression that something is seeking or following her, but cannot seem to catch a glance of it.

Callan, quiet and observant as per usual is “flyer bombed” by a fast speaking youth. Under closer examination, which he shares with his friend. The flyer mentions a production “under the stars” promising an unforgettable evening of entertainment with only the slight cost of 2 shins per person for admittance. Vox is dragged off to a fortune teller's tent.the woman, named Madam Veyla, places her hands on a crystalline piece of what is obviously numenera and requests that Vox float down and do the same. The device appears to let her see several things about Vox, though many of them general enough that they may be simple logic or guess work, then her visions turn dark, claiming to be able to see him stalking people and attacking them with mandible claws. Veyna freaks out and screams for guards, Vox takes the opportunity quickly leave the tent and to vanish into the crows 

After a few more small purchases the group make their way further north,passing the ancient and immense marble and alabaster citadels ofNebalich before veering east to the garden district, where all manner of horticulture takes place and with plants, of course, one finds insects. 20 or so minutes of asking around turns up a number of men in protective gabe tending to “nests” of brightly coloured buzzing insects. After getting one far enough away to avoid being stung, the man turns out to be a co worker of Petol and is able to lead them to his dwelling, which as fate would have it, looks like the iron wind has passed through it. Books, bedding, furniture, cookware, all has been flung around and smashed. In addition to this the heroes are able to determine that a struggle or a fight of some sort occurred here as well. Thremody, searching turns up a book of bets that Petol seems to have lost or possibly left behind as a clue. For someone who enjoys gambling as much as Petol does the heroes quickly learn by pursuing the diary that he was not at all good at it. One name keeps showing up over and over again next to fairly substantial losses; Diario.

Asking around the group quickly learns that Diario, or Diario Mardain is the leader of the feared criminal group known as the Yellow Snakes. The snakes are known for their graffiti of varying skill, their yellow armbands, and their willingness to rob and murder anyone they deem a fitting target. The snakes have their hand in all manner of crime, gambling is simply a small part of it. It takes a bit of time but the heroes see a few people fitting the description trying o gain entry to a building in a side ally. They are let in but the characters are not, using their gifts to open the door, they blow past the burly doorguard who didn’t get a chance to know what hit him (though he does accidentally strike Thremody, who herself was distracted by the Philethis that has apparently been following her. They head down the stairs into the hazy dimly lit drugden  below, men and women draped on cushions of varying comfort, smoking, inhaling or simply sniffing anything that would get you hurt. 

A lean, wiry and roughly looking figure relaxes catlike in a particularly nice chair, he seems to be speaking with one of the children that tricked Seph earlier, taking a handful of shins from him before sending him away. The guard comes down and shouts to the man in the chair, who he identifies as Diario, that the heroes have intruded, not knowing the password. A score of men and women, somewhat drug addled but still armed and dangerous rise from their comfort while Diario pours himself from his chair to his feet. He appears amused, engaging the characters in casual conversation regarding their purpose here, much in the same way a cat may watch the mouse dangling from its claw. After learning that they want Petol, Diario decides to offer the heroes a deal.

He tells the characters of the manor home of the Varjellen Magistrate Tyranell and how that self same magistrate is responsible for the death of his uncle also the good target for a robbery, due to the fact he has kept artefacts from those he has slain. One such belonging to Diario’s uncle was the Shadow Reign. All the group has to do is get in there and out with the device quietly as possible. Outsiders are necessary for this job as  he and his men are too well known to the law here. In exchange for the artifact, they get EPtol and his shin obligation. The characters agree and now must prepare to pull off the daringest of heists, will they succeed or will they fail and be cast down low by judges and criminal alike?

Picking up a few items beforehand, the group makes their way towards the varjellen district where the magistrates manor home is located. On the way they pick up some tickets to the show that is on the flyer Callan was given, being held after day at the Celestial Amphitheatre. At best they will have an entertaining show to take in at worst somewhere to hide should the plan fail. Finding the Magistrates home is easy enough and while Callan watches invisible, Thremody and Vox check out the home, visibly casing the joint. As they notice that there doesn't seem to be more than a few ways in or even any way to really see inside from the exterior their very obvious activities gain them the attention of staff. A varjellan who is dressed as a valet and another who appears to be security calls Thremody and Vox down, demanding to know why they are doing what they are. Thremody comes up with a story about trying to figure out energy problems. While convincing to a degree, the pair has still made the staff cautious, as Callan, invisible, hears them talk about being on guard as they chase off the others.

Evening comes and night falls. Vox flies himself and extends his power to Thremody, who has made herself invisible by means of a temporary cypher, to the ceiling where he opens a hole in the roof using a powerful esotery. All this while Callan walks through the ground floor wall into what appears to be the dining area, making sure to make himself invisible. The duo on the roof detect a lifesign below, varjellan,that unfortunately gets woken up by the manipulation of the matter, which is loud and makes a touch of a mess. Vox, quick to act, freezes it in space and time with Stasis while Thremody, searching, manages to find some shins and iotum. The wright then makes her move, slow and steady into the hallway, carefully slipping by cleaning staff trying to figure out which room Diario’s heirloom may be in.

Meanwhile down below, Callan has made his way from the dining hall through to the grand entry hall. Spiral stairs lead up and go down. As the rest of his comrades are safely scouring the top levels, he goes downstairs to the cellar, following the long twisting hallway until he finds two doors; one to the left and one to the right. He passes through the one on the left, finding a large chamber with some sort of energy matrix  being used to   power the home. Though invisible and intangible, a voice reaches out to him, strange, alien as if it is putting the sounds together particle by particle in Callan’s head. The being identifies itself as Nerevon, it tells Callan it is not here doing what it is being used for willingly and wishes to be free and to go back to where and how it was. Callan, understanding the beings plight, figures out how to let it out. The grateful being quickly disperses, rejuvenating the Nano on its journey away.

This causes all of the powered effects and abilities in the magistrate’s home to go dark. The magistrate comes out of a meditation room, only about 15 feet from where Thremody stands concealed. While the staff run downstairs, she closes in on the magistrate and , with an errant candlestick she found on the servants cart, cold cocks the varjellen magistrate, knocking them unconscious. She scours the upper floor while opportunity provides. While she finds a great deal of valuable jewelry, including an amulet of safety, she does not find what she came here for.

After freeing Nerevon, Callan leaves and heads through the other door. Here is the Magistrats workshop and vault. While he is able to circumvent some of the security systems, Callan unsurprisingly cannot phase through the vault. Instead he must rely on his more mundane talents to open it, and while he is unable to do so the first time, it is not long after that he eventually succeeds. Smack in the middle of the vault is the Shadow Reign, the mantle that they have come for. Picking it up off of its hanger he signals Vox and Thremody before making his exit through the ground floor walls of the home. Thremody also makes a quick escape , followed by Vox who has been keeping the security guard in stasis this whole time.

AFter making their way to the theatre and catching up with their friends, the group makes a meeting and exchange with Petol, who once he hears why the heroes want him he calms down considerably. Thremody also tries to hawk some of the jewellery but Diario is interested only in a single piece, a keepsake that once belonged to the Magistrates partner. Diario considers the heroes to be in good standing with the yellow snakes and advises that they lay low or somewhere else as one simply does not rob the law and expect to get away with it.

Someone, Petol perhaps, suggests that the group swing by his home for the night and maybe grab up a few things before setting out the next day. As the heroes enter, they are surprised with a Philethis, the enigmatic creature, which makes cryptic and often sarcastic sounding expressions. Despite difficulties the being seems to have some sort of affinity for Thremody, who mentioned that this creature is similar in a lot of ways to human but more enigmatic, and they should bring it along to help when it feels the urge.A few folks stronger with some interesting prospects for the future, tomorrow they set out for what promises to be a fascinating journey of exploration of ancient prior world artifact or relics and the hopefully finally the answer to the question; Where is Nicolas ?

That night at Petol’s as the heroes rest up for their journey to the Swarm Cathedral, Vox dreams. He is again in the red and black fluid, he again looks through the beast’s eye, and he makes contact, experiencing senses that are familiar and completely alien to his mind. He struggles with the beast, communicating through a bizarre combination of thought and of sentiments. Using his mental esoteries he pulls its attention to him and forces an arrangement, which he hopes is mutually beneficial between the two. He stays with the beast, almost like a symbiote thinking and experiencing what it does and vice versa as it stalks and kills a small rabbit like creature. Just as the dream begins to wane, he hears a voice, a familiar voice. The voice of Ganillion Brig.

Awake, as are the others, the heroes with Petol retrieve the flit disc and begin their journey to th eSwarm Cathedral located in the southeastern portion of the Salted Marches along the northern coastline of the Sere Marica. As the group traverses the sea, leaving Nebalich far behind, they are intercepted by a massive emerald coloured crystalline obelisk that rises from the depths.A voice, not originally in the Truth but translated over top of their consciousness booms deeply in the heroes minds, demanding a toll for passage and, in response to IO’s inquiries, highly advises against not paying or fleeing. Each member of the crew provides for inspection an oddity, a keepsake, a curiosity, that they have picked up in their travels, some used, some representing a past grown out of and some representing potential that will never be known. The obelisk, pleased, reaches an ultra thin thread out and takes each before acknowledging payment. It sinks back into the sea as the heroes continue on their way.

Arriving in the wet marshy boggy Salted Marches Petol is able to direct them to the area in question, not that he would need to as the tower, a mix of chitinous and synth plates with orange faintly luminescence veins running between as well as up and over stands out like a sore thumb in the swaps. The tower appears to be slightly breathing. It has a hard tendon-like membrane with a receptacle  on it in the place of a door. Petol informs them that he needs the right pheromones from the right insect to gain entry. The insect in question. A Scuttling Metheglin. IO begins to search the area with Isha by his side and Petol’s description of the beast in the forefront of his mind, he sets off into the marshlands. Fortune favors him as he manages to find one that had been injured in a fight. Petol recommends decapitating it as the gland he needs is high up in the thorax. All but Callan , who is concerned he might explode it, leap into battle making swift work of the electrically charged beast.

With the gland Petol is able to fabricate the needed chemical aroma to cause the main door to open. They make their way into a large cavernous chamber and quickly set out to find their way to the top. IO finds an open column with thorn-like protrusions as stairs. A number of flapping creatures, presumably “the swarm” flap part way up. Vox flies up and around drawing their attention as the rest of the heroes slip by . Continuing upward with Io in the lead and Petol giving direction theory arrive at a chamber with a swirling metal orb contained between two synth brackets affixed to a console. This is the Vertice needed to be interacted with to continue the journey. IO decided to slip by while a creature, what appears to be a swarm of insects inside a man-like crystal structure, is distracted.

IO finds himself transcribed to the Datasphere. He is on a “planet” which when he concentrates sees the name “Oryx” appear there a a number of frame like conduits that when focused on have names of destinations. The only one he can see here leads to “Low Oryx orbit” he traverses this, finds himself in space but, after a short panic realizes that there is air to breath and a liquid like physics that allow him to “swim to other frames. He makes his way past a number of planets until he reaches the one called “Revom”. Unlike the others Revom is not the orbit of a planet but a portion of what appears to be a ring of coppery asteroids drifting in the rift. There is but one more visible frame beyond this one, “Koris, which would seem to put a traveller in close proximity to the brilliant and huge blue giant sun. movement catches IOs eyes, he is not alone. He wonders if he should have come here for these answers alone…..

Thremody, after conferring with the Philethis Rethic on the nature of the vertice and of the datasphere (something that the being has knowledge of, albeit reluctantly shared) she engages the vertical, along with both Rethic and Isha, who has begun to worry about IO. She arrives on the same cold white dusty planet that he did and tries to reach out to move to his location. Unfortunately the rules of the node do not allow someone with her level of access to move around quite so freely. She is successful in determining his path and how to navigate the different frames of this reality, and the trio continue up into orbit, following the paths laid out as a result of her query.

IO, much further along, manages to dodge and evade the bizarre space snake, which itself looks part fish and part snake, as it swims through the “void” (which with breathable air that can be swam through, really doesnt much feel like a void at all) and continues to the surface of Koris, the brilliant bright blue sun at the centre of the system. He begins to burn as he traverses the surface of the sun, mercifully not as quickly as a real sun and also not before he notices the entrance to the next frame, labelled “Koris: Centre” The only problem he has now is that this frame is slowly killing him and the barrier to the next one is not letting him through. Pulling upon digital instincts and with great effort, IO punches through the barrier to the next frame. The burning pain stops, all is blue formless shapeless, and that is when he hears the voice in his head, identifying itself as Esvarric

Meanwhile Vox and Callan, engaging in a bit of rock paper scissors to pass the increasingly long time, are suddenly confronted by the Etterick, which is just now noticing that several beings have used “its” Vertice without permission or payment. Its voice, projected into the heroes’ minds. It goes to smash the vertical to teach the interlopers a lesson, and act that would leave IO. Thremody, and the others stranded in the datasphere with no known way back. The Nanos block the Etterick from doing this, causing the insect driven automaton to become hostile. Callan’s response to this aggression is to push the creature out the only visible porthole to the outside by means of his esoteries, causing the creature to plummet approximately 8 stories presumably to its demise. Problem dealt with the pair return to their game.

Thremody, having determined that IO has made it to where he needs to go, decides to turn her focus to other questions, probing the node with where they might go to find out answers regarding some of the other tasks that they have been handling, She is directed by a leading pulse of blue light down to the surface of the planet Haskill. A red world with red skies, red soil, and red water in red rivers and lakes. The only thing not red are the crystalline trees and growth that emerge from the ground. Each “tree” has a hollow with an entry barrier leading into each. The one marked 5 has a fully furnished home inside the tree, complete with a way to access the datasphere, a crystallised structure that requires manipulation with both arms. She begins to search for sightings of Radius and its siblings trying to pinpoint based on encounters where the automaton originally came from.

IO tells Esvarric everything, all about Nicolas, his time with the others, his life in general and then asks his carefully constructed question. Esvarric thinks for a moment and then provides IO with the items he will need. The voice tells the Delve the name of the dimension, The Tumult, and provides him with a barrier key that allows for the transport, anywhere in the node. He makes his way back towards Orix only to discover the group of his friends on the surface of  Haskell, he returns and meets up with Isha and Rethic as Thremody continues her search, several hours pass before she disengages from the research node and shares what she has learned.

Meanwhile the Etterick, its body a network of spiderweb-like cracks and a number of smooshed bugs on the inside, has made the ascend back up to the top of the Swarm Cathedral. Not dead, and very angry, it lashes out at Callan, leaping on top of him and pummeling him with its transparent metal fists. Callan uses an esotery to break down its defences and he and Vox then use a combination of mind slice and flash to destroy it from the inside out leaving a number of cyphers and an artifact that Vox is able to use to enhance his already formidable intellect.

The others make their way back out of the frames to Oryx and realscribe back into the Ninth World. Thremody reveals that the datasphere showed her that Radius and its siblings seem to have originated not too far from here, the earliest sighting being to the north east just south of the Clock of Kala.She was also granted a confusing vision of an immense black pyramid. IO shares his discovery with all and expresses both his gratitude and his belief that their quest is nearing completion, all that remains is to breach the Kalideovault and enter a dimension of pure sound to find Nicholas. Will it truly be as simple as that? Or are there unknown challenges that lie ahead that threaten to turn all of their successes to failure?

After the group realscribes back and rejoins the others, they manage to share the important information before deciding to take their information about Nicolas’ current location, a dimension based solely on sound known as the Tumult, before heading off in the direction of the Kalideovault. Petol, having gotten by the majority of his problems, decides to stay behind as the rest make their way back to the flit disc and journey to the riverside community of Quintas to rest before beginning the last leg of their journey.

Quintas, the trading hub of Seshar, and its seven spokes or main roads rest quietly, IO and Isha decide to get lodgings at the Purple House, the town's best  and most noticeable inn. Thremody goes shopping and is able to find a man selling immorcell colonies, more than enough to match her needs, Vox and Callan visit the local amber priest, a woman who appears to be a mix of man and machine with a wandering crystal eye. She doesn't know much about the tumult or the kalideovault that the characters have not already heard in their travels, save for those who use the vault to travel, best do their business quickly as the passage does not stay open forever. A short time only. They notice an interesting object, a planet that appears to be called “Marrs” is visible on a floor based projector that comes form somewhere called “SAtell Ohsssa” (Seattle USA).

Eventually all make their way to the inn. Thremody gains a bit of a following as she converts a corner of the common area into a workshop where she expertly cobbles together a few temperamental cyphers. Callan’s Quiddit appears to be making more of an effort to display certain shapes with its lights, something the nano takes as an attempt to breach communication gaps and Callan, realizing the importance of this, begins to take notes on it.Vox in his sleep, again enters a dream world he and the stalking shade are side by side, close, hearing and seeing out of each others sensory organs simultaneously, its is a bit disorientating for the nano. What they are experiencing though, appears to be a young Ganilion Brigg in a crowd. Unbeknownst to Vox, as he was not a part of the group at the time, Brigg is listening to a speech given by the Envoy of the Truncator, though younger looking, much like the speech that Callan IO Thremody and Seph heard months prior.

Something happens, Brigg and Vox recognize each other as dreamers not dreaming, they both try to use what they can in this mental landscape to fight each other, with Brigg eventually turning tail and running. As Vox goes to pursue, two armored figures riding large beasts, Angular Knights known for their hatred of all things mutant and abhuman, pursue a now even younger looking Brigg . Vox is at this moment woken up by inn staff in a chair in the common area, strange as he slept in his bed.

As the heroes are getting their ducks in a row, screams can be heard outside. A horrible creature, mostly machine (or machines as it looks like a junkyard animate) but with human parts often red and inflammed. Attacks the townsfolk indiscriminately. The heroes step out of the Purple house and sure enough, as soon as the creature sees Callan it projects the red and black tinted holographic image of Callan’s wannabe nemesis, the insane Azklan the Grand. After cursing the heroes out the creature, moving with insane speed, begins to attack. The heroes begin by shredding its armor and then beating it down with a blast, beam, and blade until, despite stealing a cypher, there is nothing left but salvage.

The only question remains, as the biomechanical beast lay dead in the intersection is where to go now. Facing west the heroes set themselves on this, the final journey of the path.

The heroes, having defeated the fuser, immediately set to helping, IO and Isha successfully treat an injured woman, Callan, using hedge magic, tidies up the damage form the fight, and Vox, hovering above, eyeballs the area for any sign of further danger. While up here, he finds someone’s rooftop stash of shins and iotum, Callan, is able to find some sort of bizarre organic capsule in a bit of fuser that explodes out into a 12 by 6 by 6 ft crawler tank, seemingly impossible, but thus is the 9th world once again the domain of the impossible.

A group, a militia, identifiable by red armbands with the similar ship's wheel stitched into them. The leader steps forward and demands to know who is responsible for what has just transpired. He quickly meets his match in Callan’s firm and stoic stonewalling. Callan, in his very direct way, drives home the point that there was a problem, the heroes dealt with it, and now they were helping clean up after it. Both come to the accord that the group will be on their way and depart Quintas with haste.

Following the directions that Io was given by Mecky, they pass through the membrane into the entrance of the Kalideovault, found in the southern portion of the Black Riage. Once in the group, led by IO, discover the walls, made from an alien metal, casts unnatural reflection of the group. IO becomes fixated on one such reflection, which he feels pull away, or perhaps strip away may be better, his sense of timidness. The others make their way through here without similar incident into a large open room . In the centre of this room is a globe that reflects at times bizarre scenes but at others moments very familiar to the characters, One such reflection, the inside of an Oorgolian spacecraft, seems to be aware of the heroes on the other side, 5 even go as far as to step out of the sphere to confront the characters. Attempts to talk them down do not work and result in combat. The heroes manage to defeat the strange alien soldiers, and as they do the vision of the beings ship changes to some other random arrangement, this does not appear to be where the characters can choose a dimension to visit. Another door can be seen on the far side of this football shaped room. What miracles or hazards (or both) lay on the other side?

After defeating the oorgolians, the heroes continue deeper into the kaleidoscope. The next stop is a room full of floating crystals each about 8 inches long. The heroes notice that the close you get to the crystals and the center of the disc shaped room the bigger the crystals become, roughly man sized. They shrink right back down should you walk far away.

While studying and exploring the phenomenon, Thremody, who figures out that this whole installation is stuck in spaces between spaces, and that the crystals are some form of data storage, gets caught in between two rather large (to her, to everyone else on the outside they look small) crystals, causing a bizarre transference that leave her not just knowledgeable but a masterful climber. The crystal moves back and forth and can be plucked from the air, Vox give it a shot and becomes knowledgeable about leatherworking and even manages to become aware and familiar with dimensional travel and one, called the Cerellion, in particular.

After all who wish  have a go at manipulating the data it becomes time to continue onwards to the next area, a bridge suspended over a swirling cylinder of deadly energies . Vox, able  to fly, makes short work of this while flying himself and most of the others past this broken non-euclidian assault on physical fitness. He can still feel the gravity pulling him slightly this way and that as he passes through to the other side. Thremody, hungry for a little risk, opts just to freestyle ninja it across. Once safely on the other side they continue into the heart of the installation, a Torus where all surfaces are floor wall and ceiling, in the middle is the yellow energy beam crackling with blue-violet energy. It communicated with the crew via impressed emotions, showing curiosity, and dissuaded the heroes from harvesting the area by impressing its anger on them when the start pulling on and prodding at the numenera. It eventually scans the heroes and becomes able to approximate a holographic “chat window” to communicate directly. It learns that IO has the destination in mind and makes him be sure of his journey before crossing over. Meanwhile the heroes decide to converse with the being, who himself has forgotten its purpose but over some time has come to enjoy ferrying groups around the multiverse. They surprise it by asking what it wants, if there is something that they can do for it, as no one has ever asked that question in all the time it was here. After deep though, it asks the heroes to straighten out the crystal repository when they return.

The heroes also check the back room to find a menagerie of creatures and beings from all over the universe and then some, Each being is contained in and invisibly partitioned 9 ft square area. They find a creature from the Tumult or more accurately they hear one and read a plaque) and even another one from Cerellion, which Vox is now able to recognize. Thremody is surprised to find herself here, a plaque in her space reads “Thremody Wainwright, A Foolish Wright who Burned her Book.” Apparently this action happens so infrequently that it caused what the group determines to be a “Timestamp Entity” of the event to manifest and bleed through into the menageries shortly after it came into existence. The being has memories to a point and only is aware and can only interact so much. A little shaken, the group decides to wrap their tour of the menagerie up a touch early in response.

They find their way back to the central chamber and engage the voice, indicating that they are ready to travel to the Dimension known as the Tumult where IO’s ward Nicolas can be found. The voice gladly facilitates this, reminding the heroes that its portal will open and stay open only for 28 hours, after that they must find another way to return. NO sure what to expect the heroes walk into the gateway ripped open in space time by the voice and everything goes black.

When the characters awake it is all black the, the only experience is a cacophony of sounds, very little harmony all discordant as if 20 one-man bands had just walked into the room. Eventually the heroes are all able to find themselves, but the alien experience of being a living sound is very jarring and difficult to cope with. Having found each others sounds only one thing remains, finding Nicolas and returning to home but how do you find a man that is now only a sound? Especially when you don’t know what that sound is?. Soon our heroes will have their chance to put their resources to the ultimate test as the search the Tumult for the Ward.                                                                   

All in the Tumult have their own sound. Callan is that of an irregular pitch shift, Thremody a double bass drum beat, IO the white noise hiss of air that boosts or suppresses nearby sounds, Vox the flapping of a flag or cape in the wind, Isha is a child’s xylophone doing scales, and Rethic, irregular and randomized beeps and boops. All quickly find themselves in the bizarre cacophony of sounds and form a small island of symphony in the impossible to measure dimension that is the tumult. The heroes are aware of other things out there, they hear faint sounds in the distance, and hear is all they can do as there is no sight, no smell , no taste or no touch. There is no indicator of space, direction or distance only the “faintness” of sound to suggest any of them to the 3 dimensional minds who now must experience existence as sound vibrations and frequencies. 

Thremody seems to adjust the quickest. She uses two cyphers to send a sonar pulse along a sensory path which tells her that there are three other points of interest out there, once that sounds like complex musical instruments and acapella, a area where sound quickly muffles and stops, and a third that sounds like oscillating quartz crystals. The group decides to “make their way” to the complex sounds first, believing that they may be intelligent and that they may be able to communicate about Nicolas.

IO unfortunately makes a faux pas, leaving the Scordaturns, the sound based beings, offended and looking upon him as the sound equivalent of a rude bumpkin. Vox and Thremody are thankfully able to calm them down and get the creatures on board with sharing what they know about strange visitors. They remembered that there was a rather discordant sound that came through here, it was looking for somewhere quiet. The sounds felt that it may have gone off to the quiet area. As the group leaves, one of the Scordaturns recalls that there might be dangerous discordant beings in the area, and warns the heroes to be on guard for this.

The heroes direct themselves to the quiet spot, whether they have moved closer or the quiet has somehow arrived closer to them is unknown. IO moving close to the absence of sound, realizes that getting too close is harmful, managing to pull himself back before suffering any real harm. Examining the patch of quiet Thremody finds a spot that appears to be a gateway, the rushing silence becomes less noticeable and she can hear a sound that was previously blocked before, the sound of a bell.

IO recognizes that bell immediately, somehow Nicolas has manifested in this dimension as the sound of the bell on the door of Nicolas’ family home. Nicolas and IO are overjoyed to be reunited, but all is not well, Nicolas warns his mentor that he was trying to hide and that he was not alone in here. A “Death Chime” approaches its loud low resonating bong slowing and destabilizing the soundwaves of other creatures. The heroes stand fast, firing arrows that sound like sharp notes, onslaughts that sound like boulders and other attacks at the creature. Thremody, realizing that she has a sound based detonator  makes the logical connection and sure enough the cypher does physical damage here where on earth it would have just been noisy. It is not long before the being is dealt with and the heroes can continue their reunion before returning to earth.

The latter part of the plan runs into a slight hitch, as the portal opened by the entity in the Kalideovault seems to have been shut. The heroes realize that time must flow differently or at least play by different rules here. They decide to check out the last thing that they are aware of, the quartz sound. The Sound is harmonic and very very overpowering, almost to the point that others lose their vibe while in its presence. The creature is able to resonate at a frequency that would allow travel, but it needs something from each of them. IO and Thremody give up an artifact, which Vox gives up some memories from his youth, it is unknown what the others have given as they keep this close to their chest.

Soon the heroes are waking up on the east facing side of the Southern portion of the Black Riage Mountain range, less than 100 meters from where they left Seph with the flit disc and where they entered the Kalaideovault. Now reunited in the flesh, the group makes their way onto the flit disc and prepares to journey to Guran where Vox has some unfinished business, and what could that be?

The heroes arrive in Guran, the city of the missing, and seek out MEcky. IO introduces his ward to  the former adventurer turned shopkeep and thanks her for putting them on the right path. They stay awhile, chat and help her straighten out the utter chaotic mess that is the Rusted Relic before healing over to the flophouse they stayed in last time. While making their way there, Callan picks up two people talking about “metal men” looking for someone that looks just like him. With a little bit of time questioning, the Nano  learns that these men were seen heading in the direction of Beckett’s farm to the southeast.

Fearing more servants of Azklan the Grand are on their trail, the heroes make their way to the farm to force a confrontation. What they meet there instead are two old friends, Radius and Chord. Both are here hoping to find the PCs, and both have much to tell from origin. Once in a safe place, radius allows the cube of origin to tell its story and bestow its knowledge about the machine god and their servants on them. AS it turns out the tale starts back in the time of Calaval’s successor Aucmen the second where one of his rivals for the papacy tried to sway the order in her favor only to lose and to be the victim of assassins. She survived and fled to the Weal of Baz where she convinced the machines to allow her to stay and to provide her with the resources needed to create a “glittering army” capable of destroying the Order of Truth and its supporting nations. She was to control the army with a special numenera device in the shape of a crown, but died before she could take her revenge. IT is understood that Cizran has learned of this and he himself wishes to use the army to conquer the steadfast, and it just might be possible.

This all Origin learned from another sibling unknown to either of the others, named Root. Origins is uncertain as to what may have happened to Root but is very concerned about what might have happened and what the machine god has been doing to further their goals. Radius and Chord supply that they feel that they must go to the Weal of Baz and see what they can learn about Root and the being responsible for this terrible situation. Before they leave they decide on a good night’s rest though Vox decides to find his “friend” , the creature he has become linked to. With a gentle meeting of the minds in the physical realm and a literal had boop, the beast seems to have been fine with the connection, seeing vox as one of his own, it agrees to come back while leaving  the stalker in the woods to feed until morning. And feed it does (on something that would have cloth on its hide, which Vox finds worrying)

The group sends Seph back with the Tendril crawler, now much slower than their other options, the the Amber Keep as they make their way to the Weal and, a little help from the automations and the symbol on the cube, they make it past the checkpoint and begin to ask around the area. They learn of a machine A-59, which may be able to tell them what they need to know to find the forgotten nano’s workshop and hopefully get out in front of them. But only time will tell.

The heroes have learned that Root has not been seen in the Weal of Baz for some time and that, while the Glistening Army was built at a manufactory in the Weal some decades ago by a human woman. That she and the manufactory, often referred to as the lost manufactory, have since disappeared. The only name that comes up when discussing Root and the Lost manufactory is the sole remaining automation from that time, Unit A-29 who can be found across the Weal on the other side of the Dragon.

As our heroes head over, Thremody encounters what at first glance appears to be a pile of metal parts but quickly picks itself up into the headless humanoid made out of a hodge podge of different parts. The automation is fluent in The Truth and communicates with a voice that, while relaxed, is clearly despondent and burdened with sorrow. It requests spare parts and Thremody, having warmed to automations in general since beginning her travels and developing an understanding of the creatures’ general plight in the Ninth World, helps by giving not just parts but iotum as well. The being, Neurothon, is thankful and gladly share local news it has heard, including the recent dispute at the entrance between security and a organic wearing red textiles. It offers to help or vouch for Thremody should she have need in the future.

Continuing in they reach the manufactory. Making their way past the automated assembly lines the the brass colours multi limbed sphere with A-29 painted on its side. It speaks the truth with a friendly helpful voice. Cheerfully asking how it can help. Radius and the rest mention Root and the lost manufactory. After loading relevant memory files, A29 informs the heroes that it built a homing device for Root that would lead them to the lost manufactory. It has not seen Root since. It offers to build a duplicate device, and is able to produce it in 10 minutes.

Though Radius is eager to leave, Thremody converse with A29 and works with it to quickly produce some cyphers and items that she feels will help if they encounter any trouble. With the help of the automation and its resources. They work at unprecedented speeds. Thremody and A9 exchange pleasantries  and a hope to once again work together in the future,, before parting, Thremody shares plans for a portal artefact that would allow near instant travel between the Amber Keep (the location of which she also shares with A29) and the Weal should it be built.

On their way out of the Weal, Vox is accosted by a humanoid robot, not as sleek or as put together as Radius and Chord, with a screen in place of its face. It flashes seemingly random image while gesturing at Vox and itself. It takes a bit of time and a bit of nano esoteric but Vox figures out that it wants payment for some fine or possibly, slight, in the form of energy. He uses his lightning powers on the being, which causes it to reboot, communicate visually its thanks for charging it, and gifts the nano a wooden box the size of a cigar box that contains a mummified winged fish before departing.

With the aid of the tracking device and the speed of the flit disc, it takes next to no time to find the lost manufactory, or at least what is left of it. The manufactory looks like the metallic head of an isence supported by a number of metallic legs. As it plods along the group notice two things, a gaping hole where its neck should be, and the present of two red robed beings atop it, looking all the world like a pair of machine god priests. 

Radius, enraged steers the flit disc closer and, unsuccessfully, leaps into action. Thremody follow with a detonator that reorganises matter, making one of the priests living stone. The red-robed pair fly up and, pulling some sort of lantern shaped artifact, rain down crackling beams of energy on the heroes. Thremody pulls the disc up and leaps atop the artifact. She takes painful electric shocks but is able to neutralize the device with her natural abilities. Unable to use the artifact, the crew drops it. Callan opens their armor, and uses stasis on the falling Thremody to halt her descent while Vox uses the same to stop the fleeing machine god priests. Once all are alright (Thremody being able to quickly engage her hoverbelt) they, wrap a chain around their necks,  drop Stasis, hit the pair with onslaughts, and untangle the partially strangled survivor. She hoarsely calls the wrath of the machine god upon them and promises that they will all suffer his wrath and the wrath of his glistening army. Callan puts a synth bag over her head to try and hsut her up and Radius, same intent but with more success, slices clean through her neck with his axe. Callan seals the bag, as one can never know when such an item may come in handy

They make their way into the interior and find a number of consoles, some dead, some active (which Vox is able to salvage for a number of parts and cyphers.) the bedding of the pair of priests and, tragically, the dead, mangled, disassembled form of Root. Radius immediately flies into a rage, with Thremody and Callan and Chord attempting to calm it. A cube is discovered, similar to the one that Origin provided the siblings when they set out on their journey. Activating it, Root tells its sad tale how it trusted and was betrayed by Cizran, who the automation thought was a fellow scholar. Root shares it gave Cizran the mathematical code needed to reach the Howling Pyramid, which is where the siblings apparently came from (four still are). Root’s breathing becomes raspy, as if it knew its time was up it asked the heroes to avenge it before dying. The cube emits a pattern of an equation that Thremody is able to record that would seem to be allow access to the Howling Pyramid, home of Radius Chord, their siblings and , possibly, the Glistening Army.. What is their next step? Pursue Cizran? Restore order if lost? All that they need to do to find out is solve for x.

The heroes puzzle over the equation, Callan manages to solve it, realizing that there is a variable that requires an input of a single number, 1 to 5. The group decides on three. A rainbow lined triangular portal opens, the sounds of rushing wind can be heard on the other side. In the sky miles above, the shape of a green pyramid, its stone walls etched with striations, slowly rotating. After a few moments deliberation, they step through and find themselves in a  room with no ceiling seemingly cut into the side of the pyramid, the triangular doorway sits in a floating wire frame. The open sky is starless, and the sounds of howling wind can be heard above. A platform in the shape holds a number of inorganic devices and switches while the form of a woman laying stripped and naked save for a number of silver and synth  nodules attached over her body.

Touching the woman, causes a holoform to rise out of her and speak to the characters. The woman, communicating telepathically with threnody, identifies herself as Nels. She mentions that her body is tethered here as she finds herself currently out of the right space/time. Her partner should be back soon. As Thremody speaks back to her, she finds herself drifting upwards, as if gravity is inverting. Nels warns her against making too much noise as it causes gravity inversion, and anything the falls too far up gets taken away by the wind who knows where. Unfortunately she has not see Cizran or the other siblings of Radius. The group leaves her in peace as they make their way up the 50 foot tall corridors as quietly as possible.

They avoid a suspiciously burnt out hallway and continue along until the encounter 3 clear floating orbs filled with a reddish liquid. The spheres approach Thremody and begin to flash different colours. She is able to determine that  the colours are the creatures way of communicating and guess some correct or sensible patterns to communicate their benign intent. Though the orbs seem to understand that she and the rest of the group are friendly, she does not make headway with it further than she already has, and therefore continue on.

It is not long before they run headfirst into another “visitor” to the pyramid, though they have been here so long that it may be appropriate to call the man, covered head to toe in soft furs, a resident at this point. He leads the heroes to a section of the pyramid that has a lot of junk both organic and inorganic around it. In this area they may speak normally without fear of inverting gravity as the man, who calls himself Zayless, demonstrates. Zayless is able to give a rundown of this side of the pyramid. He has not gone further due to his crippling sleep apnea, which means that if he fell asleep elsewhere he would snore himself off of the pyramid. He mentions he did see someone who looks like Radius, in a room near the pyramid’s base, but also mentions the metal man did not look like he was intact. He warns both Radius and Chord that this area seems to be dangerous for machines, though radius will not let anything dissuade him from going to investigate. Zayless , when asked, says he found his way here following a man who wore read and had a tattoo on his face.

This could easily be Cizran or another priest looking like him, Zayless does not know. But what he is able to do is give directions that avoid the burning hallway. What is unavoidable is the strong gust of wind that dips down into the trench, both lifting and throwing Callan “into” a wall, which he passes through unscaved The group makes it to the room, where it seems an effect is slowly draining  the automations just as it has they had been told. The group hacks a counsellor and is able to .top the effect only to find a siblings body amidst the wreckage. Callan lifts the poor being;s faceplate up, it looks very much like Radius only slightly different as it separates from the rest of the head, and gently passes the remains to the automaton. It is clear that this machine person had been the repeat target of salvaging by others, Radius became dark and brooding, moving to anger. Callan tries to console his friend the best they can, until they hear the noise.

While Callan and Radius keep digging, Thremody and Vox keep going into the next room, which has a bizarre looking wall that seems to be an amalgamation of flesh synth, metal circuitry machines and fur. It pulls itself off of the wall and forms into a creature, a massive beast, attacking Threnody and Vox with its bare hands. Callan and Radius are on their way to help, but will they get there in time?

As the Callerail rages against our heroes, Callan, Chord and Radius arrive on scene. Callan uses his open esotery followed by Thremody’s deadly skill with her razor ring. The pair of nanos blast the creature with twin onslaughts. It is not long before the group vanquishes the monster and salvage its bones for shins, parts, and a single cypher. The trio catch Box and Thremody up to speed with their discovery, Radius is noticeably dark and moody while Chord tries to hide its sadness behind its pleasantries. The heroes make their way to what can best be described as the underside of the pyramid.

The underside is divided into a square grid etched into its surface of hundreds of 75m by 75m squares. Hovering overhead is a metal and synth grid of identical dimensions. Lights can be seen in the distance. Cubes of varying sizes jutting out of the floor are the only thing that give this kilometers long expanse and sort of definition of diversity. Radius drops its axe and immediately regrets it, expecting to float, instead he becomes heavier and a red mist starts to coalesce around it. Thremody shout to it and the same happens around her. The mist is red, luminous and a bit gritty. Once it reaches the edge of the square, it stops and begins to solidify; moving though it becomes like thick wet snow or damp sand. As it rises, contained by boundaries that do not exist for the heroes, it becomes clear that they need to move. Vox hovers away, Thremody engages her hover belt and Callan manages to surf and roll out of it, however the automations have problems. Chord is only saved by Vox grabbing its hand and dragging it out, Raidu is completely engulfed and submerged. Thankfully after 5 minutes of no sound the transitory matter, as Callan recognizes it to be, dissipates back to wherever and leaves Radius,aside from a bit of embarrassment, none the worse for wear.

The heroes head for the centre, but on the way they encounter a metallic banging and clanging noise that seems to not set off the red smoke, moving closer they find a xacorocax, a machine the delights in dissecting humans and packing their remains like ground meat at the local butchers. It notices the group and approaches, only for Vox to use his esoteric power to transport the automation up above the grid, where the howling winds of this dimension quickly carry it away to who knows where. After, the heroes make it to eht center finding an inverted triangle surrounded by a floating wire frame. There is no control panel here, and it is clear that the trip to this gate is one way, Earth to here. They decide to make their way towards the eastern light, hoping to investigate yet another side of this strange pyramid.

On their way they encounter a man walking upside down on the grid above them, he carries a 12 foot long stick to balance himself.  He goes by the name of Chikane. Lowering the stick to the ground he slides down it, not rightside up on the pyramid's underside surface. The group does some trading of cyphers and oddities with Chikane and questions the odd man about what he knows. Chicken informs them that he has seen a strange red robed man with a round tattoo on his face recently, and that the fellow headed off in the direction of the “polyp jungle”. The characters head east, round the edge up to the east facing side and are quickly lost in the jungle. They see the strange trees and growth, which extends up and out and acts as a sort of canopy. The group sees the strange polyp like growths, encounters a chime tree, the noise threatens to sent the heroes into the canopy, after 20 minutes of wandering the strange landscape, that no one expected to find on the side of a pyramid,they encounter a webtree that is home to another sibling, this one too has been stripped and salvaged. Radius can contain himself no longer, he slams the ground letting out a ferocious cry of anguish, too late the group begins to float up, there is no barrier here, what should they do?

Using his powerful esotery capable of moving even mountains, Callan gently but firmly presses everyone down to the surface of the pyramid until the gravity inverting effect passes. Radius is now twice angry, one at Cizran for the murder of yet another one of its siblings, and at itself for losing control, Chord’s attempts to console it have no impact. Thremody decides to find a thin silver lining by tracking the automation’s path back through and out of the polyp jungle, hoping that she can find signs of where it cam from. The trail naturally becomes hard to follow once back in the smooth green hallways of the howling pyramid.

What they find instead is a woman, a strange lance-like weapon in hand, hovering on some sort of synth board. She identifies herself as Shesala, a huntress of clickers and cyclic raiders, and  is immediately suspicious of the heroes and their reason for being here.

Radius’ passion for the death of Cisran, someone who Shesala has tried to hunt on the pyramid without success, and Thremody’s logically rationed argument convince her that the heroes are potential allies. She asks that they prove their intentions and trustworthiness by destroying the Callerail on the other face, only to learn that the heroes have already dispatched it. She decides to honor her deal and lead them to the apex of the pyramid, where the entrance to the inside and Cizran can be found.

On their way they run afoul of a group of Clickers, 9 foot tall violet black creatures of solid energy and sound. Callan walls them off with a barrier and Vox teleports enough of them up into the windy void for their collective clicking is no longer loud enough to mess with gravity. Once at the top they fall/slide out of the 20 meter shaft, tumbling out as gravity does a 90 degrees shift. Here there is a tonal key lock, vibrating crystals that must be manipulated in the precise order and fashion. The Nano’s figure it out, but strangely Radius is able to hum the tone in, often moments before the pair activate the chime. It is familiar to him, but he cannot place it.

Once inside the 100 foot cubed inner chamber, they find that they are too late, Cizran already has found what he is looking for. The red robed cult leader stands before them in the apotheosis chamber, scepter in one hand and a halo crown hovering around his head. Radius is ready to tear the man apart. Cizran summons 4 automations that loosely resemble the two automations. He sics them on the heroes and fires deadly energy bursts from the halo. The heroes split their attention, some going after Cizran some the automations, which swing heavy metal fists and fire energy bolts. Cizran gloats, bragging about his newly acquired divinity, Radius takes significant harm from twin blasts and Thremody  is both blasted by energy beams and pummelled by the metal fists.Vox, in an effort to level the playing field, extends an immunity to electrical damage to his comrades. Callan follows this by pulling down the aperture ring and the surrounding stone like ceiling on top of the self proclaimed god, giving the crew a breather. Is the Machine God dead? Or will he quickly spring back with a vengeance?

The heroes make short work of the last two automations, Thremody uses her powers to disable one, where Shesala brutally slows apart the other, much to Radius’ dismay. The automation confronts the woman angry about the brutality used against its siblings. As this argument unfolds, Vox and the others notice that the intensity of the buried halo seems to be increasing. Vox uses his powers to fuse the rock together in an effort to contain whatever is transpiring, Callan holds his action in preparation. Thremody, as she approaches to investigate further, manages to react just in time to avoid the explosion of rock shrapnel, which does strike Vox and Chord, as 4 more automations ring and angry Cizran, who rises up from his knees declaring that the heroes are nothing more than base animals, pawns, and fools to be used and discarded. How dare they think that they could stop a god?

Not wasting a moment, Thremody and Shesala strike against the automations, who have already rushed in among the heroes. Callan and Vox pummel Cizran with onslaught after onslaught while Radius attempts a dive tackle unsuccessfully against the crimson garbed man. Putting everything they have into the fight, it is not long before Cizran, already weakened from before, is taken down by the heroes, the machine god has fallen. Or has it?

Radius reaches out grabbing the scepter, and the moment it does so the halo moves from the fallen man to it. Immediately knowledge and power flows into the automation, memories of it’s creator and the reason for its being. It was never Cizran who was to be the machine god, it was always Radius’ destiny. It speaks of the memories and the knowledge flowing through it, of the evil and the betrayal that it claims lays at the heart of the Aeon Priesthood. There and then, glowing with its newfound power, Radius declares war on the Aeon Priesthood and indeed all humanity that has mistreated machines. It turns to the heroes, its friends, and offers to allow them to join it on it’s quest. The heroes are unterstanably uncomfortable and taken aback by this turn of event.

Thremody approaches and leading the charge, attempts to talk Radius down from this lofty endeavour. The wright brings up the innocent lives, both human and automation that would be lost should it lead such an attack. At first the heroes are of the impression that Radius and its siblings would simply be destroyed in such an attack, until it shows them just how many siblings it has, thousands. Thremody continues to argue the morality of the loss of life, of the ironic robbing of autonomy of its siblings, is this what they would really want. Callan makes the stark point that if Radius takes this course of action, the automation is no different from Cizran who treated its siblings like little more than resources or tools to be used and discarded. Vox brings up the valid point that things are not black and white, that people and machines across the Ninth World are capable of great good and great evil, how does it judge who is good and who must be destroyed? How can Radius avoid harming the innocent in its quest to punish the wicked? Chord remind Raidus of all the good that humans are capable of, pointing to the heroes own actions, Saving Origin, rescuing it from the changing moon, and even helping Radius restore his lost memories, all without any real gain or benefit to themselves.

At first, Radius had a counter argument for every point. It mentions that this is its destiny, what it was meant to do, Callan shuts this down with the notion that Radius is more than its programming that it can choose its destiny. It argues about the betrayal and the attempted murder of its creator and the daily villainy that humanity visits upon the Ninth World, against both machine and organic. The heroes counter with all of the good that is done and how Radius’ path would make things worse, resulting in the death of tens of thousands if not more. A suggestion that he might “press gang” the inhabitants of the Weal of Baz, who themselves who have fled to their home for their own protection, is met with shock, Radius as a Machine God would enslave other machines against their will? Would it become the very thing it claims to hate? In the end Radius’ arguments become less and less as the automation realizes it is arguing from emotion, from anger, not from sense. It takes a long hard look at the scepter before declaring that it has failed the first test of its newfound power and responsibility. Rising above the apotheosis chamber, it bids its friends goodbye as it declares it must leave to ponder “this curse of power”. Radius shoots up and out of the pyramid, to where no one knows, to think, to decide, to reflect. In doing so, the Ninth World is spared a terrible devastating conflict…at least for now.

After returning Shesala to the surface of the howling pyramid (as the aperture no longer functions) Callan uses a powerful esotery to transport himself, Thremody, Vox and Chord back to the Flit Disc where IO and Isha patiently wait. The Delve and apprentice are surprised to see them, and ask about the absent Radius only to be filled in regarding the events of the Apotheosis Chamber. As they talk, a large automation the size of a transport truck, rises up from the Weal. It tells them in machine speak, which Chord translates, that their actions in defeating the Machine God were realized, and that in thanks they would be given dispensation to come and go as they please from the Weal of Baz for the next year. Thanking the creature, as this is an honor rarely given to organics, they make their way back towards the Amber Keep.

They are intercepted by a large automation that resembles the head of a larger automation that refuses to let them pass. Thremody, fearing it to be yet another avatar of Azklan the Grand, disrupts itv vision. It attempts to communicate right after, Chord and the Cuiddit work together to translate the ancient machine language only to discover that it wants to study their conveyance by taking it apart. However it gives no indication that it would put the crawler and disc back together or even if this would be possible after. Callan offers just the crawler, which the being accepts, allowing them to continue along their way.

Once back at the Keep, they are greeted by a scene of disarray. They learn from Khadri that a series of mostly mechanical creatures, some fist sized insects, some large wings globs of intestines and others man sized warped skeletons with a heart of dark energy, attacked a few days ago. They were repelled, but a number of townsfolk, including Zoyin, Nort, Seph Thule and others, were taken. Khadri takes the group to see Tsala, who informs them that the creatures appeared to be in the service of someone called “Azklan the Grand” and that they retreated to the north. Hearing the familiar name, Callan has had enough, angrily grumbling and outraged he is itching to head out as Thremody builds cyphers to hopefully aid them and Vox checks in with various groups in the community, belstowing a useful cypher on the foresters. Chord, now deciding to claim the keep as its home settles in to look after origin, however the heroes prepare to head north in the hope that they might see some sign as to where Azklan’s tower is….

With a mixture of anger at the Insane Azklan the Grand and a desire to save their friends, the heroes head north tracking the vehemance’s unique footprints as best they can. Both IO and Thremody, with enhancements from Vox’s esoteries are able to make child's play of this task. Thankfully the flit disc means that this can be done quite quickly as they make their way up back into the heart of the steadfast. It is in the kingdom of Malevich that the first signs that they are getting close arrive. Two dozen gazers, flying in a circular formation approach and slow to a stop upon contact. Using a diffused version of their energy beams, they make a red tinged projection of Azklan who welcomes them and informs them they are close. The bizarre man informs them he had lost track of them and thought they had fled to another world, so he decided to exact vengeance upon their friends. The heroes try to question him, to figure out his motivations, all but Callan who is of the opinion that Azklan is simply crazy. The villain certainly does nothing to prove the nano wrong, speaking of sales benign agreements benign bonds, how the breaking of a bond must be punished as bonds are sacred and respect must be upheld, how those who will not pay must have others dear to them suffer the pain and agony in their place etc etc. Eventually the madman gives the heroes a clue to his location before the gazers cease their projection and attack. The encounter lasts mere moments as both Callan and Vox make short work of the clusters of automations.

The riddle would seem to direct them somewhere in the vicinity of the fishing and trade city of Boreg on the northern border of Malevich along the southern side of the Wyr river. Arriving it the roiling overcrowded city, whose guards are a mix of man and fish mutant, they quickly find out that the person mentioned in the madman’s riddle is the Lady Vount, also known as the Queen of the Pirates, that resides in Castle Dval atop the nearby bluffs. They make their way there to warn her about azklan and to ensure that there is no collusion. 

Along the way a strange man approaches IO offering him a bracelet in friendship, claiming this to be a local custom, and goes to put it on. IO expertly fakes a twitch causing the man to drop the bracelet and then coldcocks him when he bend to pick it up, knocking the middle aged scammer unconscious. A pair of large men look up and think better of trying to intervene.

At the castle they are led in by a man called adan who tries to gain them an audience with the lady, who they hear discussing tolls with what appears to be a pair of brigants. She demands that the heroes pay the audience fee, they refuse, and adan escorts them out. They do learn that neither adan or lady vount have any idea who azklan is.

Flying up above the forest to the south, Vox discovers an arrangement of trees that, slightly discoloured from their neighbours, makes an almost perfect triangular point centered on a small clearing, in the clearing is a squat three storey tower, made from weather worn jersey stone with a precious metal circuit pattern running up and down. The circuits weep orange viscous fluid in places. A seemingly empty trench surrounds the tower and there is an antenna that seems to stretch up into nothing. About a half dozen Athamak Sailwings ride the aircurrent above.

They land and deploy a hunting blind cypher of Thremody’s to discuss a plan. They decide to use the flit disc to rush the top of the tower, suspecting that they can use the bump they noticed atop the tower to gain access below. Once on top they realize that there is a hatch leading below, and that the bump on the tower top is a gear weevil hive. The creatures exit and link together, forming a semi humanoid assailant that strikes against the team. They also notice that the antenna is actually a ladder that abruptly stops, seemingly nowhere.. Using a combination of powers, they batter the weevils, destroying so many that the amalgam can barely keep its form. One of the sailwings is obliterated, current IO has leaped upon another. The battle rages on, but is this only the beginning? What terrors await beyond this initial encounter?

IO is thrown from the sailwing he clings to, having miscalculated his plan to crash the creatures into the tower. Thankfully he lands roughly on the towertop rather than plummeting to the ground below. Callan uses his blast esotery and Vox a fanned electrical attack to hit multiple foes while Thremody uses her iotum blast. The crew presses their advantage, defeating the horrid winged creatures before deciding to move their way up the ladder to the opening, which itself resembles a round hole in the sky, above.

One inside, it appears that they are inside a muted grey orb an extreme distance in diameter, lattices of porous grey filaments traverse the diameter of the sphere in seemingly any and every conceivable direction. Vox, floating as he does, notices it first, but all experience gravity pulling in multiple directions at varying strengths. Every surface is ground inside here, every surface is down, every space is up. The heroes start to explore, and as they do they hear the now familiar rasping cackle of Azklan the Grand, perched directly above them on the opposite side of the orb’s interior. He mocks the heroes, attempting but failing to intimidate them, and then changes before them.

His body stretches, flesh and robes tear, machine parts made out of some alien metal allow his torso to elongate, making him roughly 3 times the height of a normal human. His boots erupt into biomechanical hawk-like talons, his arms extend to twice the normal length, become double jointed at the elbows, and his fingers erupt long, sharp blades of an unknown metal that seems to drink the very light around them. Azklan’s hood falls back revealing the mechanical nature of his glowing red eyes and a series of eight black round spider-like eyes on the top of his bald head, his skin takes on an unnatural grey pallor. He resembles, in his new true form, some sort of techno-organic spider-mantis. He begins to leap up through the network of lattices towards the group.

Callan strikes first, using his powerful  mountain moving esotery to slam Azklan through several of the lattices and back into the other side of the orb. Thremody follows up with a devastating iotum blast, so powerful that it is fatiguing to hold on to and erases the lines on her palms and fingers, leaving them cartoonishly smooth and undetailed. The sheer power of the blast leaves the mechanical parts of the fiend glowing red. Vox and IO weave and dodge up through the lattices, determined to chase down Azklan and to press the attack. Vox summons his companion, the Stalking Shade, which sinks its teeth into the villain’s arm.

Azklan attempts to strike at his foes, Vox is hit but IO manages to push through the assault. Thremody makes her way up next angling for another shot. Azklan, who is no push over, tears at Vox and IO with his terrible claws and attempts to melt Thremody’s mind with his mental powers. Though he lands a few blows, the Heroes are able to continue to press their attack against him.

He takes a moment to mock Callan, who for all intents and purposes appears to have been holding back this whole time. The fiend has played into the Nano’s hand. Callan needles Azkland with insults which sends the techno-organic horror into a blind rage. Forgetting that he is nearly surrounded on all sides, he begins to leap up, up, up towards Callan. This gives Vox, IO and Thremody the opportunity to strike. IO hits Azklan with a pacifying needler dulling the senses of his organic parts while Thremody messes with his mechanisms, causing the monster to fall into a doped fugue-like state, at least temporarily. Callan seizes this moment to rush up, grab the monster and, using his phasing abilities, merge Azklan with a cross section of  lattices. The fiend howls in pain as he materializes, but what would be fatal to most is merely a hindrance to Azklan the Grand, He begins to pull himself apart, freeing his head, shoulders and one arm, but has miscalculated as the battle to this point has left him grievously wounded. The heroes do not give him a moment's respite and it is Thremody, with an up close iotum beam, that ultimately ends up sealing the monster’s fate before it can get free to continue its assault.

Once Azklan is confirmed dead, the heroes take in the sights of their surroundings, Though a bit difficult to wrap their heads around at first, they come to the conclusion that this structure is in truth a Voidship, capable of travelling to this exact point in other dimensions, but is otherwise immobile. Thremody makes the observation that Callan could use such a vessel to find his home dimension if he wished, however identifying the craft and figuring out how to actually use it are two very separate and dauntingly difficult tasks. Vox and Callan decide to head down into the tower to find their missing friends while IO and Thremody benign to salvage the remains of their longtime foe, finding many interesting cyphers, iotum, and even a Beam Lance Artifact.

Meanwhile the nanos, cautious in their approach, make their way to the third level, which appears to be some sort of ghastly lab and library. In the middle of the books and glassware stands a mechanical hulk, Hunched, it turns and using tones to simulate speech, expresses its confusion at their arrival from above. Stating that “projects” typically come up the stairs from below. The nano’s explain that Vox has the power of flight. The creature, a Dissector, scans Vox and states it will be interested to discover how that works when it takes him apart. The nano’s ready for battle and the creature advances upon them…,

Callan and Vox wear down the Dissector’s formidable defences and then tear into it with force based esoteries. They finish it off just as Thremody and IO make their way down, having heard some signs of combat below and outside of the voidship. After salvaging a cypher from the automation, Thremody searches the lab for anything of use, she finds a book much like the one she found long ago, but instead of her name, it is Azklan’s name. She reads it and at first it looks like it tells the story of his glorious victory over the heroes but then becomes hazy and switches to reflect his actual fate. Shaking off the pain form the mental discord, Thremody is able to determine that the machine here pulls the very “soul” from advanced mechanisms to create some sort of life sustaining liquid for the villain. 

As Thremody explores the lab, the others have cautiously descended to the second floor. Here they find 8 individuals suspended in briny tanks. Nort, Thule, Zoiyan, and Seph are here along with two other townsfolk and an unexpected addition. The antler man. The nanos with IOs help safely pull each person from the tanks and bring them too. By this time Thremody has made her way down and invites the Antler Man to come with them to the Amber Keep, he agrees. They determine if the Gemorrn that forms the moat of this infernal place should be freed and, realizing from the psychic emissions that it is a n entity concerned solely with causing pain and suffering, decide against it. Thremody puts the lab to flame and as the part aboard the now crowded flit disc, CAllan uses a powerful esotery to pancake the tower level upon level, until nothing but flame scorched rubble remains.

The trip back home is thankfully an uneventful one. Upon their arrival many of the townsfolk welcome them and Tsala decides to have a feast in honor of the successful endeavor. Things are quiet for the next few months. Thremody manages to build new limbs for Origin that she is able to connect in a way that it is able to control with its normal neural impulses. This greatly boosts its spirits as well as the spirits of its sibling Chord. Callan takes his time on the farm, helping Griff, Seri and Ko with the farm. The three have taken Callan in and long since viewed him as a member of the family. Regardless of where the Voidship could take him, he knows home is here. 

IO and Vox have taken a bit of time to venture back over to where they moved the Silver Ioquid after the problems with the rain, and have made an effort to divert the water using their ingenuity and Vox’s weather manipulation powers to help irrigate the farm and others like it. This is not without some issues, as the occasional rain sylph has reappeared and cause some troubles here and there, but overall the pair have had great success. Their work has earned them the thanks of many who have tried to grow crops in the somewhat dry and arid climate.

Thremody has decided to spend her time on a grand endeavour. She, with help from Visso, Chord, and Origin, are constructing a great gate that will allow them to journey almost instantaneously to the Weal of Baz. The quartet have had great success in all but one area. The gate simply needs the application of Protomatter which is difficult to find but, after putting out some feelers and using the network available to them as members and associates of the Amber Gleaners, they believe that they have located a source in an area that is familiar to the heroes. The pre-world ruin known to many as “The Corpseflinger:. Deep inside and past the machines and bizarre creatures that call this place home is a lump or biomass that is said to contain protomatter. The heroes suit up to help their friend and head up north to the site of their collision with the other adventurers. 

On their way they nearly crash into an enormous metal monolith that appears suddenly out of nowhere. Where IO is able to veer away at the last moment VOx cannot correct his course along the wind currents in time. Rescued by the others whoquickly slide under and catch him, they turn to find the monolith has vanished. It is quickly determined that it is only there if they are moving at or above a certain speed and seems to fill the role of a “speed bump” for lack of a better term. Satisfied that they solved this minor mystery, the heroes continue and soon find themselves overlooking the rotting corpse field that leads to their destination….The Corpseflinger Installation

The Heroes approach the Corpseflinger via flit disc and Thremody manages to duck just in time to avoid a fresh corpse being flung out of the rough square entranceway over her head. They step off of the disc and into the entry hub, following the trail of the automation that has flung the corpse further into the installation. They encounter a room in the shape of a sphere with flattened edges that has a number of large holes, 2 to 3 feet in diameter. The holes lead to tunnels that are the home of shinspinners, creatures who are not much different than vermin, save for their ability to manipulate the numenera. The 8 creatures try to circle the heroes sensing an easy meal due to their superiority in numbers, but are unable to do so. Callan times his flash esotery so that it strikes and kills half their number, causing the rest to flee back into their tunnels.

The heroes keep moving, finding a long hallway that branches off into a huge room containing tubes of gooey fleshy matter and a large recessed platform that holds the protomatter that Thremody needs under a thick, rippling membrane. Using a teleportation cypher, Vox takes the iotum sample back to the Amber keep as the others continue to search. They come across a  number of other shinspinners and their numenera traps, mirrored rectangular items that seem to be made of a mix of real and unreal materials that the clever heroes salvage for amber crystal and liable metal. IT would seem that the trail that they were following doubles back on itself here.

They trace their way back and follow the other path not yet taken and discover a vertical, an amalgam spire lined with bone  that is bent and shaped over a force field a few feet high like a crooked clawed finger. Studying some of the panels and interfaces the heroes are able to determine that this vertical is somehow, for some reason, realscribing beings on the other side into the Ninth World , but only the physical matter. They all come through brain dead (or just plain dead) They decide upon the momentous task of repairing the unfamiliar and strange device with an even rarer and stranger malfunction. Though a herculean task, they overcome the odds and repair the damage done to the vertical, which should keep the number of fresh corpses to a minimum. AS they take stock of their handwork, the vertical powers up and a man, wearing the garb of a ninth world traveller, suddenly appears beneath the claw tip of the vertice. Confused and upset he asks in a frantic tone where he is and how he got here, how will our heroes handle this unusual situation?

The man who emerged from the now repaired vertical identifies himself as Rafae of Cocao. He is freaked out, doesnt know where he is or understands how he arrived. According to him, the last thing he recalled was trying to remove a long, thin, golden cylinder that he found when investigating a sinkhole in his “village”. When questioned about his home, he tells the heroes that it is by the coast, but does not know of any of the names of the kingdoms of the steadfast. Thremody tries to draw a rough map but Rafae is confused that she has drawn the coast on the west and the mountains on the east. To him this is backwards. He then notices the body - which is a copy of him - and faints as Thremody picks it up and gesticulates it around to show him.

At this time the Janitor automation can be seen coming down the hallway, it levitates the dead husk and throws it out the entryway, as it has done with hundreds if not thousands of corpses before. IO follows it hoping it will head back to its home base, but it comes back expecting to give the same treatment to the unconscious but very much still alive Rafae. Thremody neutralises it, causing it to shut down. They rest waiting for Rafae to come to. Callan helps rouse him and tries, as one displaced being to another, helps him acclimatise to his new situation. Just as he does a second automation takes the first back to their docking stations. After examining the area and checking they have done all they can do to ensure the functionality of the vertice, they leave the facility on the flit disc and seek out the Great Reach in Theamor, the only one of the Steadfast kingdoms that Rafae had ever heard of. The reach actually connects with Rafae’s home kingdom. They return him after a brief encounter with a freak snowstorm and bid him good travels as he disappears beyond the sight of the Reach on its other side.

Back at the Amber Keep Thremody is able to get the Teleporter working with the newly acquired protomatter, but not without cost. An explosion  claims the life of longtime resident and friendly wright Visso, the community mourns the loss, and Nort becomes sad and withdrawn. Thremody continues on and builds a number of portable farspeakers to help with communication.

Over the next several days the weather reflects the mood. It starts as mist, then light rain, and then a constant downpour. IT begins to resemble the rains caused by the silver ioquid a few months back. A sinkhole opens in the ground swallowing several buildings. The heroes rally to the rescue, but how will they get down there? And who, or what, will they find?