On Ionius

Baudemagus stated that, if they assume that there was a traitor, and the Dwimmerlaik were involved, the inquest would cause the Lords of Gossomer would be exposed.  

  • He prefered that the traitor be Callius, but that was unlikely.  
  • Bastiano was easy to paint as a villain, primarily because of the use of Umbra, but he was righteous about the Gossomer Lords.  
  • Dale was gone for centuries at a time. Who knew what she encountered on those journeys. It would difficult to think that she did not know of a return of the Dwimmerlaik. But she was not territorial or politically motivated. She was difficult to paint as a villain, but it was not impossible.
  • It was not conceivable to Baudemagus that Drake could be a vilain. Mena wondered if Drake knew more than he was telling.
  • Lucien was more scholar than conqueror, and it would be anathema for him to collude with the utter devastation espoused by the Dwimmerlaik. If he were the one, they would be completely unaware, and they could find themselves fighting the Grand Stair itself.
  • Baudemagus said that if Vala were the villain, the battle was already lost.

Baudemagus said that there should be an inquest, and that the team should undertake it. The team knew that their task would be to find and capture a Dwimerlaik for interrogation. Jane belived that the one on Fierce had been a scout or spy.  

Baudemagus posed that the Dwimmerlaik might not be true Dwimmerlaik, or shadows from a specific world, or just a handful of survivors from the war. There were many Dwimmerlaik who were unaware that the war had ended.  

Then there was the matter of convincing the Gossamer Lords that the Dwimmerlaik were back without revealing that there was a traitor.

Baudemagus suggested that there was a way to speak with his wife using a ritual known as the Last Walk, last used to end the war with the Dwimmerlaik, and required the essence of a Gossamer Lord gifted with Eidolon. It could be performed as part of the funeral.

Seeking Advice

Having filled in Baudemagus on their adventures, the team began the journey to the funeral with Baudemagus.  Per Vala’s orders, they needed to inform Drake.  However, Uther was reluctant to speak to him without first running things past his uncle, who was more informed on the political scene that he was.  To facilitate the communication, Cyra and Uther travelled to a nearby Gossomer world where magic functioned, and teleported him to his uncle’s location.  His uncle advised seeing Drake as part of the Last Walk because he would not be able to interfere with them until it was completed.

In the mean time, Cyra contacted her mother.  After some small talk, Cyra asked if her mother knew anything that she needed to know.  She thought that:

  • Bastiano might make an alliance to remove the Dwimmerlaik as competition.  
  • Drake might deal with them to avoid future conflict.  
  • Some believed that Lucien, as he was the most knowledgable about the Grand Stair, might have had something to do with the Grand Stair stopping the last war, and therefore could be seeking to avoid another.
  • Vala was unlikely, unless she could broker a deal where both sides made it equally.
  • Finian would likely be a good ally as he hated the Dwimmerlaik.

She suggested that the traitor would most likely interfere with the team during the Last Walk, but it would be easier to just steal the coffin, which would grant access to all her secrets.  They might encounter bandits, mercenaries, slavers, threshold guardians, the Ascendency, and others along the way.  Departing from Shatterlight should be safe enough, and the Last Walk usually finished on Finistere, but there were dangerous places along the way.

Sturm contacted Mother Girl using his icon.  She advised that there would be many, including the Black Raven Legion, who would try and stop them.  The Black Raven Legion was led by Mordechai, a former protege of Drake.  They were hired by an  emerald   peacock lady with little gray birds flying about her, who was being controlled via her True Name, probably by a really gifted Enchanter with a mastery of Umbra and sorcery.  Mother Girl supported the team pursuing the Last Walk.

Uther suggested that Morholt had a Dwimmerlaik icon.  He suggested contacting it and saying that Morholt was dead and that the team was its new contacts who needed to be read in.  It was a dangerous proposition that could implicate the team in the Dwimmerlaik plot, if one existed and the contact knew of it.  However, when they tried to make contact, no connection was made.  It must have been someplace where it could not be contacted via an icon.

The team then separated to prepare individually for the ordeal to come. Uther went off the walk the Grand Stair. Jane found a magic accessible world in which to practice. Uther pulled her and William to a world of ruined libraries where they researched the Last Walk. Sturm retrieved Baudemagus and brought him to Shadowlight.

On Shatterlight

On arrival, the team was escorted to the end of the line of the funeral line.  Vala was at the head of the line.  Sotosama followed her.  The woman in the emerald robe with the gray birds, Morholt and Jason were also among the mourners.  Drake was not in attendance.  Jane tried to see if the woman’s True Name was retreiveable.  She discovered that the woman’s True Name was shielded and warded.

Vala initiated the ceremony.  The body transformed into a wood and star glass chest.  Each mourner passed by and touched the chest.  When Mina touched it, she had a sensation similar to an icon connection, the chest glowed, but then one similar to Wayfinding pointing to the door from Shadowlight.  The same occurred for each of the team members, but not for Baudemagus.  All present witnessed the team being selected.

After the viewing

  • Mina spoke with Sotosama and learned that Fierce was open again and doing much better.  
  • Wiliam spoke to Morholt.  He detected a much stronger Umbra presence in Morholt, who had been invited to attend the funeral by Vala.  He made a veiled threat against the team.  Cyra returned Morholt’s Google glasses.  
  • Sturm approached the woman in the emerald robe.  He learned that she was called Lady Kitabu, and that she was being tightly controlled.  She said that she had been a friend of the deceased.  She was unable to say anything positive with respect Sturm, nor could she tell him who was preventing her from speaking her mind.
  • Uther spoke with Jessamyn, an apprentice of Luther that he knew.  This was her first journey on the Grand Stair.
  • Jane introduced herself to a woman with a book.  The woman replied in verse.  She said that the deceased was a gifted poet, who also stole several books for her.  She mentioned that a lot of people did not attend the funeral because the Last Walk would bring the deceased to them.  Her name was Mayfair of Copper Hair.   She was a Master of ther Grand Stair, an Invoker, and a knew Wrighting.

The team paid their respects to Vala.  Uther asked if she had any advice for the chosen.  Vala replied that Wayfinding would be important as the team would likely be sent on individual tasks along the journey.  Baudemagus would likely wait at Shatterlight, but would be present on Finastere when they arrived there.  She would keep Baudemagus under her protection until after the team spoke with Drake.

Vala mentioned that the Dwimmerlaik attacked the Last Walk procession the last time the journey was made.  It would probably be worse this time because the war ended as a result of the last time.

The Team:

  • Sturm von Krieg the warrior (Joab)
  • William Edwalton the scientist (Greg)
  • Jane Edwalton the explorer (Jenna)
  • Mena the traveler (Stephanie)
  • Uther the gatherer (Dave)
  • Cyra the sorceress (Mike)