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Message: <blockquote data-quote="aartvb" data-source="post: 9519647" data-attributes="member: 7035557">Session 34 (20-9-2023): Unmasking Shadows and the Gidim's GraspThe fight continues.  Rock Rackus aids in the battle against Xambria and the monsters.  During the fight, a young man (a guest) suddenly pulls out a pistol and tries to shoot Rock Rackus. He misses three times. Zuna kills the man with her Moonbeam spell.  An implanter (a type of small worm) crawls into Galarin's ear and explodes. This causes him to develop an irrational fear of anything with teeth (he sees the monster with teeth and associates his fear with it).  After taking significant damage, Xambria suddenly drops to her knees and surrenders. Three eyes have appeared on her arm. She asks the group to capture her so she can try to explain about the entity possessing her.  After this, they quickly defeat the remaining monsters.  Zuna examines the man who tried to shoot Rock Rackus and finds a peculiar gold coin.  Morthos recognizes the man from a meeting with the Vekeshi Mystics.  Zuna uses a spell to speak with the dead man. She discovers that he was a member of the Vekeshi Mystics and claims that "the Old Stag" wanted Rock Rackus dead.  Morthos knows that the Old Stag is a high-ranking figure in the Vekeshi Mystics. According to the dead man, the Old Stag wanted Rock Rackus killed because of his terrible music and for insulting the Unseen Court. The woman on the gold coin is revealed to be Srasama. They leave the corpse for further investigation.  The group heads to the RHC to interrogate Xambria. They take her staff and sword with them, considering it safest.  Upon arrival at the RHC, Saxby asks if she can speak with Ben. However, Ben insists on interrogating Xambria in the prison first.  Xambria begins rambling, revealing the following information:  <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The entity in her mind is called Sijhen. It is a Gidim (or originates from the plane of Gidim). It was trapped for thousands of years in a pocket plane near the ziggurat.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sijhen consumed brains, thereby gaining the knowledge of its victims.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sijhen manipulated Xambria, causing localized memory loss.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sijhen was interested in the Obscurati (a name it discovered after consuming the brain of Caius Bergeron).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Obscurati (The Ob) operates in secretive "cells," with members hidden from one another. Only those at the top know the full structure. Caius Bergeron was not at the top.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Mayor Reed Macbannin was also part of the Ob, at about the same level as Caius Bergeron.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Ob is seeking information about ancient seals. Caius funded research into these seals.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sijhen kept opening portals but failed to pass through. Its goal was to escape and return with an invasion force.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Saxby possesses something Sijhen desires and was also connected to the Obscurati, working for Macbannin.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sijhen wanted the group to capture her, intending for Xambria to be imprisoned here.</li> </ul>Suddenly, a wave of energy washes over everyone, leaving them Stunned. Gradually, their surroundings become translucent. They can see through the entire building, including down to a metro tunnel under construction. They also see a group of darkly clad figures sneaking toward them in the prison.  Due to the transparency, Xambria escapes her restraints. She flies upward and heads toward Saxby's office. Everything returns to normal.  The group is attacked by the darkly clad figures. The fight becomes more challenging due to a "Darkness" spell that is cast.  Shortly after, everything becomes translucent again. They see Sijhen yelling at Saxby upstairs.<code class="bbCodeInline">Note: For the encounter at the RHC, I put the map in Roll20, even though we play in person. That has helped a lot, since it's such a huge map! I have a plus subscription for my WotBS campaign (which is online), so I was able to use dynamic lighting for this.</code></blockquote>

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