The Vengeful Notes 2026-05-30

Kalassarian Statue Chamber

• The party descends into older Kalassarian ruins beneath Eastonton.
  • A long stair leads to a lower chamber with five goddess statues roughly fifty feet tall.
  • The statues appear older than the Divine Masochist angel traditions that later syncretized the pagan goddesses as angels.
  • Classical Kalassarian inscriptions name or describe the figures, but only partial readings are available.
• The party maps the statues onto the Apgarian pagan goddess portfolios.
  • Volupta is associated with delight.
  • Pomona is associated with nature.
  • Minerva is associated with civilization.
  • Justicia is associated with justice.
  • Amarina is associated with humility.
• The repeated use of “goddess” is noted as strange.
  • The party considers comprehend languages.
  • The group moves on before settling the translation question.
• The chamber connects to multiple routes.
  • Two massive staircases lead down toward the statue level.
  • Other paths lead toward storage corridors, trap routes, the Green Lord shrine, and deeper ruin systems.

Dirty Ruins and Hidden Power

• The ruins are repeatedly described as dirty.
  • Some sections appear to have been specifically cleaned, possibly by magical means.
  • Other sections remain in disrepair after centuries of decay.
  • Stone thickness may interfere with communication or detection.
• The Reformists are not immediately numerous in the explored area.
  • They may be elsewhere, avoiding dangerous zones, or using the party to trigger something.
  • The party suspects something deeper has been awakened, fed, prepared, or starved.
• Rats flee past the party.
  • They seem to be running from something deeper rather than toward the party.
• Enemy voices mention a dangerous power problem.
  • They need “more power.”
  • A “stick” has three charges.
  • An “unspeakable horror” is frozen, hungry, and expected to be fed soon.
  • “New kids” are still fresh and may last about a week.
  • Enemy speech also references Gris, griswood, smoke, spores, and improper “marination.”
• Someone mentions damage to a power supply line.
  • The party considers checking nearby stairs or upper routes to identify the interference.

Miya, Contact, and Old War Memories

• Dorothy “Miya” Campbell leads with a torch.
  • She later changes into proper traveling clothes, boots, and a cloak-like dress.
  • She eats jerky, offers some to the group, and says she left food for the other kids.
  • She carries a barrel of water in a light pink Bag of Holding branded “Miya Holiday,” connected to her public Miya persona.
  • She also retrieves a trendy Bresen drink connected to Warp Star Cafe and a free voucher.
• Miya experiences magical or telepathic contact.
  • It feels like ringing in her head.
  • She blocks it for now.
  • She suspects Essen, the house, or something inside the ruins.
  • The contact does not seem to have the party’s exact location.
• A character recalls a teleportation circle at Malterdale.
  • They were commended for excellence after fighting for Seneran lands.
  • They were teleported to Thronderbury before the Crown Prince.
  • They were drunk from celebration and vomited on the Crown Prince’s feet.
  • The vomit slid off without soiling him, either due to magic or unreliable memory.
• The same character briefly reflects on war and survival.
  • The memory centers on fear, fighting, and friends surviving together.

Senera, Hedwig’s Circle, and Old Contacts

• The descent prompts discussion of Senera, Raibon, Bayline or Baywald, and old war contacts.
  • Angel is from Senera.
  • Marlion is also described as Seneran.
  • Emily’s home is discussed as Bayline or Baywald.
• Emily and Emma are described as twins.
  • One is a little older.
  • Emily is kind, elven, and may look fifteen or sixteen despite being much older.
  • Emma looks smaller or younger and is currently pregnant.
• General Strandiz is discussed with conflicting details.
  • He may be around ninety.
  • He is somehow “actually forty people.”
  • He is linked to Emma, but the relationship is unclear.
  • Emma allegedly once left him unclothed and took his items.
  • Emma may also have put bugs inside girls’ minds, literally, magically, or by unreliable retelling.
• Hedwig’s group includes many unusual beings.
  • Narmaya is identified as a vampire and may be nearly eight hundred years old.
  • She fed on Reformists in Tardemont.
  • She travels or associates with Laiya and Father de la Fouet.
• Rolf de la Fouet is remembered as a missing brother whose ship disappeared.
  • One speaker fought him in war.
  • Rolf injured enemies in battle, then healed them afterward so they would not die or suffer broken bones.

First Ambush by the Statues

• The party hides near or behind one of the goddess statues.
  • Approaching enemies have lowborn Seneran accents with Bayline or Baywald elements.
  • One party member realizes they are speaking Apgarian instead of Seneran after too long in Apgar.
  • The enemies are loud enough for the hidden party to overhear.
• The enemies discuss bodies and power.
  • They may have run out of bodies.
  • They need more power.
  • Their comments reinforce the suspicion that victims are being used as fuel.
• Miya prepares darts for a dart tube or blowgun.
  • She first reaches for a sleeping agent.
  • After hearing the enemies, she switches to another vial and coats four darts.
• Miya shoots one enemy in the neck.
  • The attack hits.
  • The agent is called Serum of the Harem.
  • The target becomes agitated and sexually aggressive toward another enemy.
• The second enemy resists and begins casting hold person or is targeted by it.
  • An ally draws a maul but grapples or strangles instead of striking.
  • The intervention prevents or disrupts the hold person resolution.
• Miya shoots the other enemy with a sleep-agent dart.
  • The attack hits and deals minor piercing damage.
  • The sleep effect succeeds.
  • Both enemies end unconscious or down.
• The party searches and binds them.
  • Scrolls recovered include one fireball, two knock, and two Tasha’s hideous laughter.
  • Their paladin armor may or may not be magical.
  • They are tied around a statue and gagged.
  • The party does not yet know what “pierced” means for these enemies.

Storage Corridor and Egg Room

• The party continues through a narrower but still massive corridor.
  • The route is dirty, heavily traveled, and used for storage or dumping.
  • Boxes, crates, and pallets line the space.
  • Many are empty; some remain unopened.
• Trade marks are visible.
  • Hardpebble Trading Company appears on some goods.
  • Merian Trading Company appears on other goods.
  • Old Kalassarian stone and metal decorative objects line the walls.
• A pale purple flickering light is visible at the far end.
  • A strong Perception check does not reveal how many people are present.
• At least ten masked people work in a room by lamplight.
  • Some write things down.
  • The group is impatient and wonders what is taking “them” so long.
  • They appear to be monitoring a giant egg or globe-like object.
• The egg is connected to copper tubes like earlier conduits.
  • It is not scaly and is compared to large salmon roe.
  • A small shadowy creature pulses inside it.
• The masked group needs “those two” to go.
  • They may intend for someone to disguise themselves as the missing pair.
  • The party considers luring away or replacing two masked people.
  • Height and believability problems keep the disguise plan from feeling reliable.
• The party decides not to engage immediately.
  • They double back to check other statue routes first.

Traps and the Green Lord Shrine

• The party follows the path facing Amarina or a similar statue.
  • Minerva faces the direction the party came from.
  • Pomona and Justicia are also referenced.
• The route shows signs of recent death.
  • Decaying remains include a leg and an arm.
  • Dark splatters on the walls suggest triggered traps.
• A party member casts or ritually casts find traps while advancing.
  • Multiple traps are identified and avoided.
  • A major pit trap is found at a fork.
  • A side path shows no traps.
  • Boyle nearly triggers, or triggers, a small trap, but nothing happens.
• The party infers some defenses are inactive because power is off.
  • If ruin power returns, currently inert traps may become lethal again.
• The path leads to a circular shrine with high curving walls.
  • The statue is not Pomona.
  • It is identified as the Green Lord, a fey god with a stag mask.
  • Finding a Green Lord shrine inside Kalassarian ruins surprises the party.
• Clean, sweet water flows from beneath the statue.
  • At least two characters fill waterskins.
  • A companion leaves acorns or seeds as an offering.
• The offering buries itself, sprouts, blooms, withers, and produces a magical golden apple.
  • The apple ripens through green, red, yellow, and gold.
  • One character eats it and preserves the core.
  • Reported effects include three Lucky charges and recovery of one highest-level spell slot.
  • No wild magic surge occurs.
• Water flows into a nearby grove.
  • Sprites dance among the plants and help sustain the grove.
  • They vanish outside the grove and reappear when they return.
  • Wary animals hide in the bushes.

Bob the Flumph

• The party encounters Bob, a flumph-like aberrant guide hiding in the grove.
  • The name Bob is later confirmed.
  • It was brought there by other people, escaped, and hid.
  • It is unsure how long it has been there because time relates strangely to the Far Realm.
• Bob says the party all look alike.
  • It asks for a signature, scent, magical trace, or other identifying marker.
  • At least one party member speaks Deep Speech fluently.
• Bob agrees to help in exchange for protection or escape.
  • It points the party toward teleportation circles or a way out.
  • It senses no worm or parasite presence in at least two party members.
  • The party does not yet know the limits of this detection.
• Bob explains the green liquid.
  • It does not directly turn people into aberrations.
  • It makes them hosts or vessels.
  • The victim’s mind disappears, the person dies, and a new mind replaces them.
  • Some captors were vessels for mind flayers.
• Bob warns about an energy siphon.
  • The exit requires passing a crystal or orb that drains energy and sends it elsewhere.
  • If the siphon has nowhere to send power, it may keep absorbing raw magic until it collapses or explodes.
  • The party connects this to a yellowish orb, later identified as the Orb of Absorption. They call it the Yellow Absorption Orb.

Escape to Admiralty’s Helm

• The party follows a guide named Aranar.
  • Miya and Boyle introduce themselves.
  • Aranar reacts as if Boyle’s name is familiar.
• The party evacuates rescued children and victims.
  • They are loaded onto floating disks.
  • At least one victim is barely alive.
• The group reaches a large teleportation area.
  • The circle may be large enough for everyone and perhaps two cars.
  • Arcana checks around 19 and 24 are involved.
  • The circle needs a power source, surge, scroll, diamonds, or another activation aid.
• Boyle finds crates of diamonds.
  • He places them around the circle or in its slots.
  • He supplies the destination sigil for Admiralty’s Helm.
• A caster surges during activation.
  • The surge result is 78.
  • The effect involves a spectral hand slapping, pinching, or lifting clothing.
  • No one appears physically harmed.
• The party arrives at the Admiralty or Admiralty’s Helm.
  • Soldiers surround them with guns and sabers.
  • Boyle defuses the situation as Lord Captain Boyle Eastonton.
  • He explains the emergency escape and the need to treat rescued children.
  • He invokes special orders or dispensation from Crown Prince Marlion Dragonheart.
• The victims are sent to the infirmary.
  • All available clerics are called.
  • Miya accompanies the victims to ensure they are examined and protected.
  • Henry Surrata-Spellvig is to be woken and sent to a conference room.

Eastonton Warnings and Command Briefing

• Miya contacts Minfilia with a sending stone from her Bag of Holding.
  • Minfilia and Oscar’s group thought they were rescuing Miya.
  • Miya reports that she has already escaped and is at the Admiralty.
  • She confirms no one is holding her at dagger-point.
  • Guillerma and Aigral Eastonton remain missing or in danger.
• Miya warns about Eastonton.
  • Many or most paladins are tied to the Reformist church or group.
  • Younger paladins may be manipulated rather than knowingly evil.
  • Strange vegetables may be affecting locals.
  • Eastonton is heavily warded, not only the Paladinate.
  • The wards may detect spellcasting and identify casters.
• Miya hid magical items in her Bag of Holding and blocked communication to avoid detection.
  • She apologizes for causing worry.
  • She wants redeemable Paladinate members saved rather than killed.
• Boyle’s family becomes a concern.
  • Miya reports that Lord Boyle’s brother is dangerous or corrupt.
  • He allegedly experiments with aberrations and stores many in a basement room.
  • The group does not identify which brother she means.
• Lilya, Boyle, Henry, and others brief the party.
  • Lilya marks Eastonton as full of Reformists.
  • A High Reformist is associated with the area.
  • Lilya links the Reformist Church with the Children of the Crone.
  • She asks whether Boyle can handle Eastonton.

Parasites and Malthrek Fallout

• The party reports crucial parasite information.
  • Reformists are planting parasites in higher-ranking people.
  • The parasites embed in the head, consume memories, alter thought, and influence the host.
  • The party does not know whether they are mind flayer tadpoles or another aberrant parasite.
• Bob says there is no elder brain in Eastonton.
  • If there were, no one would have survived or escaped.
  • Bob links the minds of four people, explicitly excluding Henry.
  • Minfilia remarks that the Great Old One has blessed them with knowledge.
• The Malthreks have already been treated.
  • One parasite was removed from Duchess Antoinette Malthrek.
  • Two more were removed from Luke and Mark.
  • John Malthrek did not have one and did not seem unstable.
• Duchess Malthrek’s culpability remains complicated.
  • She may not have been a full voluntary Reformist.
  • Parasite influence may have driven some of her actions.
  • After removal, she lost roughly ten years of memory and does not understand John’s current age.
• Bob explains possible extraction methods.
  • Celestial blood can work, but none is currently available.
  • Intense energy may work.
  • Direct psionic or physical attacks on the parasite may work but risk killing the host.
  • The Orb of Absorption might drain the parasite, but it may also drain the host.
  • If the host outlasts the parasite, the host might recover.

Allies, Children, and Next Moves

• The rescued children remain in danger.
  • Miya asks Lilya to help them.
  • Katalin Helsinki is named as a powerful healer who may be able to teleport in.
  • Katalin is a former Nightshift Nurse and now married to Luke Malthrek.
  • Jalester and others are on their way with Philippa.
• The group considers where to move the worst cases.
  • Travertine Keep is an option.
  • Sending for Katalin is another.
  • Rest and coordination are needed before returning to Eastonton.
• The party decides not to enter the Travertines that night.
  • They rest at a relatively safe location with desserts, flan, and children present.
  • Angel Rannek is up past bedtime.
  • Katalin is expected to come to them.
• Angel becomes a live hook.
  • Miya has sigils from Angel and may be able to teleport to her.
  • Miya is reluctant to meet Angel.
  • Someone says Angel is in trouble.
• Port Mibram is reportedly secure.
  • Narmaya is credited with clearing it.
  • The Crown Prince may be with the pirates in the Narrows.
  • The party questions what that means for his authority and identity.

Paladinate Infiltration

• The party operates around the Paladinate in Eastonton.
  • The term refers to the keep of the Holy Knighthood of Paladins of Divine Masochism.
  • The place appears to be a keep, chapel, rectory, and paladin complex.
• Minfilia or another ally adopts a nun-like disguise.
  • Jessica becomes the active infiltrator and presents herself as Jessica and a nun.
  • Jessica does not use a cover story.
  • She invokes Minerva as her true celestial or angelic name.
  • Divine Masochism syncretizes the pagan goddess Minerva as the Angel of Civilization, not Justicia, the Angel of Justice.
  • The group avoids mentioning magic.
• Night revelry surrounds the keep.
  • Food, drink, and party behavior appear abnormal.
  • Jessica smells something wrong in the food or drink.
  • The affected people seem euphoric, dulled, altered, or unresponsive.
  • The effect recalls Northcross food, strange vegetables, and Cletus.
• Sensodyne knocks a reveler unconscious.
  • The target is thrown against or onto the paladin building door.
  • The party notes that this reveals their presence.
• Jessica enters by a rear or service door.
  • She has an Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location.
  • With werewolf senses and a very high Perception check, she detects sleeping staff and euphoric awake people.
  • She wakes a man and asks for the rectory.
  • He says the rectory is through the chapel, but he lacks a key and must go around.
• The chapel raises a detection problem.
  • Several people are inside.
  • An antimagic shell, antimagic field, or custom protection may be present.
  • The effect may affect detection, stealth, and magic items.

Planar Binding and Corrupted Oaths

• Enemies reveal a hostile mission.
  • Someone addressed as Master hands off responsibility.
  • A ritual phrase mentions a path and a fork, with left chosen.
  • The mission is to remove a high-ranking paladin and lower-ranking targets.
  • The attackers seem prepared for celestials or extraplanar beings.
• Jessica is identified or suspected as Celestial.
  • The enemies say her eyes give her away.
  • A caster attempts planar binding.
  • Jessica succeeds once with a natural 20 and later succeeds exactly against another attempt.
  • She shapechanges into werewolf form, flies upward, denies being a demon, and asks whether they are willing to talk.
• Jessica later voluntarily accepts another planar binding after inviting the caster to say her name.
  • The caster invokes God and the Divine Masochist.
  • She is ordered to return to the ground and follow the group inside.
  • Whether later “Master” language is magical obedience, sarcasm, or roleplay remains unclear.
• The confrontation exposes corrupted oaths.
  • Paladins confirm they act under Lord Garward’s command.
  • Minfilia argues they are not breaking their true oath by standing down.
  • She says their obedience has been redirected toward Garward, not the Divine Masochist.
• Divine Masochist rites are contrasted with Reformist corruption.
  • Piercing, pain, pleasure, obedience, oath, and creed have been twisted.
  • “Pierced by God,” “Bearer of the Whip,” “Great One,” and related titles need confirmation.

Hallow, Parasites, and Paladin Battle

• After a Hallow effect is dispelled, about twenty paladins arrive.
  • Some are seasoned.
  • Others are frightened, inexperienced, or still donning armor.
  • Lower-level paladins may be placed toward the front.
• Minfilia casts the real hallow with an aberration ward.
  • The ward appears to target parasites inside infected paladins.
  • It functions as a sixty-foot-radius effect with DC 18.
  • Many lower-level infected paladins flee.
  • At least one higher-level paladin panics and cannot flee before his turn ends.
• The party insists the true enemy is inside the paladins’ minds.
  • One paladin shakes violently as a parasite emerges.
  • An eye is displaced outward as the parasite exits.
  • Defenders accuse the party or a foreign angel of using vile liquid.
  • The party clarifies the liquid is celestial blood or healing blood.
• Sensodyne destroys a parasite with a handaxe.
  • The hit is enough to destroy the parasite without killing the host.
  • It remains unclear whether this affects other infected paladins.
• Enemy powers reveal mixed doctrine and Far Realm influence.
  • Some use radiant paladin-like attacks such as Sun Spear.
  • Others use purplish psychic or mind-blade attacks.
  • A corrupted scripture identifies the “heavens” of their doctrine with the Far Realm.
• Combat remains chaotic.
  • A spectral ram or Ring of the Ram-like effect cuts off escape.
  • Oscar casts hold person on a fleeing high-level enemy.
  • Oscar is later hit by psychic damage, threatening concentration.
  • A ring is bequeathed to Cotto as proof of devotion to God.

Sir Essen, Miya’s Fans, and Training Piercings

• The party clears the Paladinate after the first battle.
  • A hostile parasite or mind-flayer-related entity speaks telepathically.
  • Planar binding is used as command/control to order the parasite out.
  • The parasite exits destructively through the host’s mouth.
• The parasite is large.
  • It is bigger than the one removed from Duchess Antoinette Malthrek.
  • It becomes roughly human-brain-sized once gathered.
  • Sensodyne kills it, then uses Action Surge and a healer’s kit to stabilize the host.
  • Greater restoration is needed; revivify alone is insufficient.
• The host is Sir Essen.
  • He may also be the accused assailant called “Lord Ass.”
  • Oscar stores the dead parasite in a Bag of Holding with other specimens.
• Miya asks the party to rescue her trapped fans.
  • She is frightened and traumatized.
  • She knows what the Reformists are capable of and is trying to expose and punish them.
  • She wants the party to separate deliberate abusers from people who were only being used.
  • She accuses Sir Essen of trying to assault her and exploiting her fans.
• Two rescued people are named.
  • Lannis is explicitly spelled L-A-N-N-I-S.
  • The second rescued person is Bourne.
  • Bourne shows fear-trained responses around the Bearer of the Whip.
• Training piercings are linked to corrupt induction.
  • They involve pain, pleasure, prayer, obedience, and nighttime conditioning.
  • Morin or Ross Morin has a training piercing but no parasite yet.
  • Bourne may have had a genital piercing placed by the Bearer of the Whip about a year ago.
  • Minfilia gives him sufferer’s blood; something exits through his ears.
• The Bearer of the Whip is nearby or inside the complex.
  • She is described as a masked woman in leather, associated with a nine-tailed whip.
  • Jessica may track her scent into the rectory.

Rectory and Hidden Complex

• Jessica orders a search for Reformist magical items.
  • Targets include orbs, cursed devices, curse-emitting objects, planted items, and anything tied to the Reformist Church.
• The rectory lies behind the chapel.
  • The door is unlocked after the chaos.
  • Jessica and Sensodyne descend through a trap door.
• The hidden passage appears magically carved.
  • Some sections resemble stone shape.
  • A larger breach may have been made by disintegrate or stronger magic.
  • The deeper structure is smooth stone and metal, includes iron, and does not appear Feywild-made.
• Jessica and Sensodyne detect people deeper inside.
  • Their stealth checks are strong.
  • They follow a scent trail that continues past nearby figures.
  • At a fork, they hug the wall and see movement to the right.
• Two hostile NPCs discuss the orb.
  • It is dangerous because it absorbs more the closer one gets.
  • They need reinforcements.
  • They expect the mistress to wait for someone arriving through a teleportation circle.
  • They hope Lord Garward sends people, but his location is unknown.
• Jessica and Sensodyne ambush them.
  • Sensodyne grapples first and aims to incapacitate.
  • The captives are restrained, gagged, and intimidated.
  • A gag prevents one captive from biting down on a hidden mouth or tooth device.
  • The device may be poison, a signal, a suicide measure, or something else.

Orb of Absorption

• The hidden complex leads to a balcony or ledge overlooking the orb.
  • Part of the balustrade has been cut away.
  • A ladder descends from it.
  • The party recognizes it as the Orb of Absorption and calls it the Yellow Absorption Orb.
• Sensodyne feels the orb before fully entering its range.
  • A Constitution check is required near it.
  • Because she is infernal and magical, the room drains her.
  • The drain resembles an earlier Miya Campbell, Wilhelm Kohler, and Sensodyne energy-transfer event in reverse.
• The orb and conduit network are part of the Kalassarian power system beneath the Paladinate.
  • The furnace and other devices draw power from that system.
  • The orb absorbs any kind of magical energy, including raw magic.
  • Victims were attached to conduits so their magical energy could be siphoned into the system.
  • Miya and others may have damaged a conduit, cutting its connection to other powers.
• Sensodyne uses the orb as interrogation leverage.
  • She threatens to offer captives to the skull, orb, or device.
  • The calmer captive says Garward’s location is need-to-know.
  • Compartmentalization protects the operation from mind-reading and destroyed members.
  • No confirmed Garward location is learned.
• Sensodyne reverts toward her infernal form.
  • The transformation is magical and succeeds despite the orb’s drain.
  • The drain saps her strength rapidly.
  • She returns upstairs spiky, wounded, tired, and warning that the orb is dangerous.
• The orb is tested against parasites.
  • One captive has two entities fighting inside him.
  • He passes out alive while the parasite seems dead or immobilized.
  • Minfilia treats the head wound with Remove Disease or Lesser Restoration-like magic.
  • Necrotic flaring, blood discharge, and invasive material flush from bone or tissue.
  • The party has not found a safe extraction sequence yet.

Thorin and the Missing Decade

• Jessica wakes the treated captive.
  • He looks healthier and no longer pale.
  • He asks whether he is seeing demons, angels, or purgatory.
  • He believes he is still a new recruit and worries about curfew.
• He identifies himself as Thorin.
  • He remembers his name, his first day at the Paladinate, and little else.
  • He appears to have lost roughly ten years.
  • He thinks he is sixteen or near that age, but should be about twenty-six.
  • A mirror forces him to confront the missing years.
• Jessica explains that he was manipulated and used.
  • Reformists planted something in him.
  • The party removed it.
  • Thorin recognizes or has heard of the Reformists or Reformation.
• Thorin speaks unusually elegantly.
  • Jessica notices he sounds more like a prince than Minfilia.
  • Thorin thinks he may have learned the manner from Sir Essen and Lord Garward.
  • Before joining the Paladinate, he may have served Sir Essen.
• Thorin discusses theology and identity.
  • He mentions Anasai gods, Piaran or Phaethan paladins, Senerans, the Haryan nation, and the Divine Masochist.
  • He interprets Minerva as an angelic or divine title tied to civilization and progress.
  • Jessica rejects worshipful framing and says she is not God or the Angel of Civilization.
  • Thorin reframes their relationship as mutual help and recovery from hubris or sin.
• Jessica searches Thorin’s room with detect magic.
  • Two divine or divination wards are present.
  • An evocation aura comes from under the mattress.
  • The item is an adult intimate magical device tied to missing memories and Reformist conditioning.
  • Its link to Essence of the Moon is still unknown.

Paladinate Roster and Food Control

• The party tries to understand how many Paladinate members or paladins remain.
  • Numbers conflict: twenty-four present, five full paladins present, fifteen full paladins earlier, and seventy-four total Paladinate members.
  • Full paladins may have homes and families in Eastonton.
  • Recruits or those who have not fully taken their powers must stay at the Paladinate.
• Named paladins include Sir Kilkenny, Sir Griswold, Sir Essen, Sir Malachai, Sir Craig, Sir Percival, and Sir Aigral.
  • Sir Malachai is among the captured.
  • Another captured person was taken by Cotto Junior and has not yet been questioned.
  • Sir Essen may know where Garward is.
• Garward Eastonton remains missing.
  • No one knows where the Lord Commander is.
  • NPCs suggest Sir Essen or full paladins may know.
  • Aigral Eastonton is identified as a good paladin, alive.
  • Aigral was deployed with the Bishop of Surrey’s Bishopguard.
• The Bishop of Surrey is tied to the Reformist Church.
  • Minfilia says she already killed him personally.
• Reformist food manipulation becomes clearer.
  • Warned-against vegetables and fruits make consumers susceptible to belief alteration or manipulation.
  • Eggplants are named.
  • The scheme may aim to make people healthy, compliant, and stupid.
  • A convent near Eastonton may be an infiltration tactic.
• The party needs deployment records from the Chief of Staff’s office.
  • The records may reveal where paladins were sent or whether Garward appears in a manifest.
  • A next-morning meeting is planned.

Lower Orb Extraction and Flesh Horror

• The party reviews parasite-removal options.
  • Continued use of Celestial Blood is off-limits because each extraction would require more blood.
  • Good-natured celestials would be inclined to keep donating, even at long-term cost to their own lives.
  • Another is exposing the parasite to the lower orb’s psionic or absorption energy.
  • Transferring a parasite into another smarter host is mentioned but untested.
• A Ring of Mind Shielding protects an afflicted man’s brain.
  • It must be removed near the orb at the critical moment.
  • It may be drained, destroyed, or consumed by the lower orb.
  • Minfilia removes most magic items into a Bag of Holding but keeps an Orb of Repulsion.
• Miya and Lord Boyle reportedly rescued twenty-four children and eight adults from below.
  • The victims were being used to empower the orb.
  • Some remain in critical condition.
  • The children may include yellow-eyed children.
• The party descends into well-preserved Kalassarian ruins.
  • Dolapan gives directions toward a dressing room, balcony, and lower orb.
  • The orb draws energy from the air and intensifies enough to shake or distort the structure.
• The afflicted man removes the ring near the orb.
  • The parasite or body begins acting.
  • Minfilia snatches the ring and forcibly moves him from the balcony toward the lower area.
  • He screams and appears to expel something.
  • Medicine identifies two life or magical flows, with the second fading faster.
• An Eastonton-looking human appears deeper below.
  • He is not Garward and is not old enough to be him.
  • He calls himself only a helper.
  • He uses eldritch blast, implying warlock abilities.
  • Minfilia throws a glass container holding a live parasite at him; the parasite enters near his eye or nose.
• A huge ooze-like horror blocks the chamber.
  • It contains corpses or body parts.
  • It attacks with hammering, grabbing, biting, tentacles, and limbs.
  • It does not appear undead and is not a known ooze type.
  • Freedom of movement helps break or negate a grapple.
• Minfilia uses necromancy on remains inside the horror.
  • The spell resembles animate dead or another necromantic animation.
  • Kalassarian undead tear free and cast precise Fireball-like evocations.
  • Their magic appears foundational to later Baterrean and Seneran traditions.
  • They look at Minfilia before disappearing, but their words remain unknown.

Reinforcements and Research Center Assault

• Minfilia sends word that she is in danger and needs help.
  • Boyle orders trusted reinforcements, especially Lilya’s squad, to assemble at the teleportation circle.
  • Murky Mabrams and Henry Surrata-Spellvig are assumed to be with the squad.
  • Lilya cuts formalities short and departs.
• The reinforcement group moves through damaged ruins.
  • Destroyed conduits may have disabled some defenses.
  • They pass the Green Lord’s grove and the vast goddess-statue chamber.
  • Boyle orders the squad to spread out near the statues.
• Philippa and Lilya can see sprites in the grove.
  • This may be because they are daughters of Malthrek.
  • Flame sprites eat wrought iron from damaged areas and bring it to the Green Lord’s statue.
  • Miya gives them something metal, possibly a dart.
• The group finds Minfilia near the orb.
  • She holds an Orb of Repulsion above her head to protect herself and her unborn child.
  • She confirms she is pregnant and complains about carrying two men and fighting at the Paladinate.
  • Protective suits with attached repulsion orbs were used to move through the Orb of Absorption unscathed.
• The research center lies below or ahead.
  • It contains the giant egg-like object connected to conduits.
  • The chamber is huge, with massive stairs and five fifty-foot statues.
  • Murky scouts about four figures near boxes, possibly in or near water.
  • The enemies are not advancing, suggesting a trap.
• The party prepares for traps and counterspells.
  • Miya stays back to watch enemy hands and counterspell casting.
  • Arcana reveals scattered glyphs of warding.
  • Boyle and Murky rush through the trapped area, triggering explosive glyphs.
  • Repulsion protection appears to block mental trapping effects.
  • Initiative begins as Boyle and Murky reach the first spellcaster.

Lab Combat and Green Liquid

• The fight clusters near boxes by water and the route to the research room.
  • Green liquid is present in and around the boxes.
  • A fireball breaks one box, splashing liquid outward.
  • Boyle and Murky are hit but unaffected, confirming repulsion protection.
• Philippa detects evil or good-style auras.
  • Several enemies appear to have something inside their heads.
  • The party concludes the things in the heads are the true enemy.
  • Four figures near the large egg radiate powerful aberrant evil.
• Enemies use several attack types.
  • Force-arrow or crossbow-like attacks.
  • Sun Spear-like radiant abilities.
  • fireball, including one stopped by counterspell and one high-level blast.
  • Unarmed bludgeoning strikes.
• Party actions break the enemy line.
  • Murky uses Steady Aim and Sneak Attack, killing or nearly killing enemies.
  • Murky poisons a badly wounded enemy after spending part of Sneak Attack damage.
  • Boyle makes reckless maul attacks, uses Crusher-like movement, and deals heavy damage.
  • Miya attacks archers and casters with sorcerous spell attacks.
  • Minfilia fights with scimitar and Staff of Necromancy.
  • Philippa stabilizes a wounded mage affected by green light.
• The wounded mage survives.
  • Remove curse helps but does not fully restore him.
  • Channel Divinity: Preserve Life keeps him alive at 1 HP.
  • He remains in extreme pain with skeletal deformation and a serious back injury.
  • Greater restoration may be needed.
• Minfilia raises two dead enemies or knights.
  • They serve her in the name of the Great Erected One.
  • One manifests a dark Reverse Sun Spear that swallows light.
  • Another uses a crossbow because it cannot move through the battlefield.

Egg, Elder Brain, and Final Mage

• The battle resolves near the research room.
  • Boyle rages and fights with reckless maul attacks.
  • An enemy called an archon moves with unnatural speed.
  • Minfilia’s raised or controlled archons use force bolts, Reverse Sun Spear, and Brain Burn.
• Brain Burn strikes two targets.
  • Both fail Constitution saves.
  • Both take heavy psychic damage.
  • They cannot take reactions until their next turn.
  • One already-wounded target dies.
• Reverse Sun Spear creates light-devouring blackness.
  • Failed saves take necrotic damage.
  • Failed targets become frightened.
• Boyle kills the final mage.
  • He charges, rolls a natural 20, triggers Enhanced Critical, uses Action Surge, and deals massive damage.
  • After the fight, Boyle runs to hug Miya.
• One fading raised ally uses his last strength heroically.
  • He casts greater restoration on someone Philippa had kept alive.
  • The group treats him gently and praises him.
• The egg becomes the focus.
  • The party refers to it as the aberration.
  • The party considers killing it, then stops because it seems like unborn or defenseless life.
  • Minfilia refuses to end it.
  • Nana Clarita is mentioned as warning about killing it or what it could become.
• The egg is soft, cold, heavy, and possibly sleeping.
  • Boyle touches or inspects it.
  • Someone comforts it and says it will be safe.
  • A Deep Speech speaker touches it and asks whether anyone is there.
  • It answers with psionic pulses, mimicry, childlike giggles, and repeated words.
  • It learns or echoes “mama” and “papa.”
  • Warmth and safety are returned with a partly genuine emotional pulse.
• The being is tied to an Elder Brain.
  • It is “not yet” an Elder Brain.
  • Its purpose may involve nourishing or empowering His Majesty or enabling ascension.
  • The party cannot tell whether it is innocent, invasive, dangerous, or all of these.

Securing the Circle and Moving the Egg

• The research room has no obvious exit.
  • Documents track the egg or being’s progress.
  • Reading them properly will take time.
  • The party defers searching for magic items because the egg and orb are immediate priorities.
• Minfilia proposes altering the teleportation circle’s sigils.
  • Enemies familiar with the room could teleport in and recover the egg.
  • Hallow or another teleport-blocking effect is discussed.
  • Mystine later scratches or marks a circle with a rock, recalling a similar action at the Travertines.
• The Orb of Absorption remains dangerous and unresolved.
  • It may explode unless power is redirected.
  • Cutting its lifeline may have endangered the egg or baby.
  • A broken conduit needs repair or rerouting.
  • Special copper or an engineer may be required.
• Anton is requested as the engineer.
  • He has improved significantly.
  • He is currently doing odd upgrade work, but someone agrees to bring him.
  • He is expected the next morning.
• A woman later draws a circle around the huge object.
  • She steps onto it, holds the object, closes her eyes, and casts another teleportation circle.
  • She teleports herself and the egg away to the Hags of Hama headquarters on Raibon Island.
• Dorothy Campbell is identified as useful for circle or sigil work.
  • The caller later says they no longer need to speak with her and specifically says not to bring her.
  • A generator-like mechanism with orbs, caps, or slots may recharge or power circles.

Lilya’s Defense and Wider Allies

• Lilya and her squad hold a threatened location.
  • They have survived two waves and expect another.
  • Lilya uses the Mask of the Green Lord and prepares spears.
  • Mystine teleports in and is briefly treated as a possible intruder before recognition.
• Lilya’s squad includes:
  • Corporal Jalester Silvermane.
  • Private Kaelin Thralson.
  • Private Elmor Havelman.
  • Private Erik.
• Miya recognizes Mystine and hugs her.
  • Boyle arrives or is introduced soon after.
  • Mystine introduces herself to Philippa Vertin.
• Philippa appears religious.
  • Her clothing is a habit, not a costume or cosplay.
  • She gives Mystine a sending-stone-like object.
  • It connects only to Philippa, who asks to speak privately.
• Minfilia contacts Hedwig Rosenkrantz late at night.
  • She asks for news about Eastonton.
  • Hedwig reports news involving Miya, Spark, and her improved spellcasting control.
  • Minfilia says they need Anton and a high-level caster for teleport or teleportation circle.
  • Possible caster options include Hedwig, the Spindle, Tiphanie, and Lilya.
  • Lilya cannot be spared because she must remain with the Malthreks.
• Katalin is resting with Minfilia.
  • The group is told not to bother her yet.

Baby Aberration and Deep Lore Theory

• Minfilia believes the egg or baby resembles something connected to Deep Lore, the mysterious creature considered the source of the Hags of Hama’s powers.
  • The party compares it to a story from Emily and Strandiz.
• In that memory, Emily found a male sprite or pixie and a baby aboleth at Strandiz’s hut.
  • The baby aboleth was unusually calm.
  • It did not try to hurt anyone.
  • It was returned or brought to Deep Lore through Hama’s hut or Strandiz’s hut teleporting.
• The current question is whether this baby can become a good aberration.
  • It may be raised safely rather than becoming hostile.
  • Minfilia has not spoken to it yet and plans to do so tomorrow.
  • Miya appears to treat it as her baby.
  • The baby cries during later discussion.
• The party connects this to broader aberrant and planar ethics.
  • Aberration does not automatically settle guilt.
  • Use, nourishment, indoctrination, and intended purpose matter.
  • The Elder Brain connection makes the question dangerous.

Social Threads and Publications

• The group continues to exchange books, rumors, and social leverage between crises.
  • My Horse Prince is given to Philippa or Daniel.
  • Spit or Swallow comes from Lime.
  • A leather-bound encyclopedia is accepted by Philippa.
  • Language of Flowers describes a Haryan tradition of coded floral messages.
• Oscar may like Language of Flowers.
  • The tradition includes arrangements that look sweet but carry hostile meanings.
  • Berial, the Omniscient Pressure is mentioned among the titles or rumors.
• The modeling offer recurs.
  • The magazine title may be Legally Built.
  • The work involves being painted, wearing provided clothing, and appearing with a baby.
  • Payment includes a large signing bonus, percentage per issue, and possible totals up to fifty thousand gold.
  • Philippa is interested because the money could support her brother’s education.
  • Minfilia reminds her she can refuse.
  • Philippa asks whether her face can be changed or disguised.
• Philippa would rather do it with Murky if she accepts.
  • Oscar, John, Lilya, and others are discussed as alternatives or complications.
  • Consent is repeatedly emphasized.
  • Philippa says she is all right if the other person is all right and if it is someone she trusts.
• Jessica’s angelic identity remains a theological flashpoint.
  • Minerva is Jessica’s true celestial or angelic name.
  • Divine Masochism syncretizes the pagan goddess Minerva as the Angel of Civilization; Justicia would be the Angel of Justice.

Unresolved Hooks

• Ruins and gods:
  • Which Kalassarian ruin sections were cleaned and which were left to decay.
  • Whether comprehend languages was cast.
  • Why a Green Lord shrine exists inside Kalassarian architecture.
  • Whether the Kalassarian undead spoke a recoverable message.
• Orb and power system:
  • Whether killing a parasite before extraction is safe.
  • Whether the orb can remove parasites without killing hosts.
  • How to repair or reroute the broken conduit.
  • Whether Anton can stabilize the system.
• Egg and aberration:
  • Whether the egg is innocent, already aberrant, or becoming an Elder Brain.
  • What “not yet” an Elder Brain means.
  • What His Majesty intended to do with it.
  • Whether the baby can be raised safely like the earlier aboleth story.
• Reformists and Paladinate:
  • Garward Eastonton’s location.
  • Whether Aigral Eastonton is alive and where he is hiding.
  • Who the Bearer of the Whip is and whether Jessica has her scent.
  • The hierarchy of bishop, Candle Bearer, Bearer of the Whip, Sir Essen, and Garward.
  • Which paladins are infected, pierced, coerced, or voluntary.
  • Whether the new convent is a Reformist infiltration tool.
• People and places:
  • Dorothy “Miya” Campbell’s public names and branding, including Miya Holiday, Miya Campbell, and Spark.
  • Aranar, Dolapan, Philippa Vertin, Gwyniviere, Merwin, Ross Morin, Lannis, and Bourne.
  • Bram’s Gate, Bramsgate, Bramsward, or Port Surrey-on-the-Brams.
  • Thralmal, Pina, Cotto, Ruchanan, Lily of the Cornbloom, and Sir Renard.
• Malthreks and allies:
  • What Rebecca’s exact Malthrek status is.
  • Whether Duchess Antoinette’s Reformist role was voluntary, coerced, or mixed.
  • Where Duke Ellington Malthrek stands in the parasite crisis.
  • Whether John, Luke, and Mark are fully safe.
• Immediate operations:
  • Protect the teleportation circle.
  • Read the research documents.
  • Recover deployment records from the Chief of Staff’s office.
  • Locate Aigral Eastonton and Guillerma.
  • Find Garward.
  • Treat rescued children, wounded mages, Thorin, and other surviving victims.