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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cypherblade" data-source="post: 9844660" data-attributes="member: 7048389">An evening filled with combat[spoiler]Gustaaf wonders whether Saxby might also have worn a ring with a white stone, but he cannot quite recall.The crew of the Dagger is sound and safe. The Beran ship carrying the goblin archaeologist is still interested in starting their expedition below. Kane and Staf warn them that the gate must remain closed and that additional security should be put in place.Meredith tells Kane many things:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Sijhen is from Gidim; he is a scout or spy. He arrived via Apeth, but was imprisoned by the ritual of the Ancients behind the seals of the temple in the High Bayou. He wants to return to Gidim to organize an invasion from there.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The seal from the High Bayou is still in Flint (it has not yet been transported to Danor, as we had believed), and Sijhen needs that seal in order to open the gate.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">By consuming Bergeron’s brain, Meredith learned a great deal about the Obscurati (the OB). They are obsessed with the Ancients and their planar seals. Bergeron was a major financier. A geas concealed the identity of his superior(s).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Xambria also reveals that the tiefling archaeologist was named Finona Duval. Bergeron and Duval were supposed to take a train on 11 Winter from Beaumont (in Danor) to Vendricce (Crisillyr), where a meeting with senior members of the Obscurati was planned.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Margaret Saxby worked together with MacBannin. She possesses an ancient star map dating back thousands of years, which Sijhen needs to open the gate. However, Sijhen failed to find the map during his break-in at Saxby’s house, which greatly frustrated him.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">During the expedition to the ziggurat of Jiese, Rock Rackus was present. Bergeron was a fan, but ultimately disappointed in Rackus, who mostly pursued his own path and wandered through the Malice Lands. There, he supposedly discovered the ruins of an ancient city and even made a journey to the moon. Felix recalls that Merric and Nessa (his parents), during their expeditions in the Malice Lands, were also searching for the lost city of Pala, founded after the Second Victory by William Miller, a well-known philosopher of that era, opposed to war and an advocate of pacifism. The city existed between 5 AOV and 17 AOV, and its location has never been discovered.</li> </ul>Kane sends a Sending to Stover Delft:The Gidim spirit that inhabited Meredith has returned to Flint. Saxby may be the next target. Keep a discreet watch on her.We sail back to Flint aboard our RHC vessel together with the Dagger. The journey again takes seven days. We arrive on the 25th.[HR][/HR]25 Autumn 500 AOVFrom the ship, we head straight to the RHC. As soon as we enter, we are overwhelmed by a nauseating sensation. It fades after a few moments. Felix recognizes the feeling as similar to Gidim and the Temple of Apeth. The walls appear half-transparent.Shadow creatures round the corner, accompanied by Kell thugs.“There they are, there they are!”Ayleen shoots one of the Kell men. A shadow creature casts Darkness over our room. Felix rushes forward and hits three monsters with a fiery Chromatic Orb. Kane dispels the darkness with Daylight. The creatures swarm Felix, who is aided by Kane’s Warding Flare. Sarïa casts Moonbeam on three enemies. Staf unleashes devastation: a charging assault with four maul attacks drops three monsters.Suddenly the walls become completely transparent. Felix can see, through the cells, the metro tunnel with eight lights arranged in a semicircle. The others look up toward Saxby’s office, bathed in blue light—she is there, under attack by the blue-hued enemy. Felix casts Blink. Sarïa places Moonbeam in the left stairwell. The others rush down the corridor—Staf practically flies through it. Ayleen dashes and fires. Felix strikes three targets again with an Orb, then vanishes into the Astral Plane for a turn.Crawling Spikers descend the stairs and pin Staf down. Kane uses Radiance of the Dawn, dropping more monsters. Though pinned, Staf smashes one Spiker and drags its body along by the leg. Ayleen shoots another Spiker. Felix drifts through the Astral Sea, refreshing a 3rd-level spell slot with the Pearl of Power, then returns and immediately Blinks into the Ethereal Plane.More Crawling Spikers block the stairwell. Kane and Sarïa force their way through without Staf, who misses casually. We pause briefly while Staf clears the remaining Spikers. The walls turn milky, then fully transparent again. We see Saxby’s body on the floor, the safe open. Ayleen Misty Steps to the desk and fires a bullet between the many eyes of Sijhen. The shot is not fatal; Sijhen speaks a word and vanishes.The rest of the party rushes upstairs, where a Gidim mushroom demon offers brief resistance. Ayleen discreetly removes documents from the safe and then heals Saxby with a potion. Felix sees this only vaguely from the Ethereal Plane. We move quickly to Stover’s office. Other RHC agents finish the last skirmishes, and Stover bursts from his office, rapier in hand, accusing everyone of being a doppelganger. He calms down, and we return to Saxby’s office. Another disorienting wave washes through the building—then everything returns to normal.We briefly check on Saxby, who has composed herself and closed the safe. After a short conversation, we are dismissed from the office. Meanwhile, in the restroom, Ayleen reviews the documents and finds three passports bearing alternate identities belonging to our director.An earthquake tears through the RHC walls. Felix quickly explains the semicircle in the metro tunnel, where we suspect a seal is located. We sprint through the metro entrance into the tunnels. There we indeed find a seal with a semicircle of lights, with Sijhen performing a ritual. Ayleen lands two powerful shots, aided by a touch of luck from Felix. Sarïa focuses a Moonbeam on him. Sijhen launches a psychic attack at Ayleen. The seal becomes mirror-like. Felix hits with four Scorching Rays.Staf charges Sijhen and shoves him into the watery portal, sensing that the creature allows itself to be pushed through.Under Ayleen’s direction, we attempt to close the gate—but a massive dark cloud forces its way through. Felix unleashes more Scorching Rays, and Staf hammers at it relentlessly, despite the darkness surrounding our target. Kane detonates a burst of radiant light, dispelling the darkness. Beneath it emerges a gigantic slug-like creature with many additional tentacles. The creature releases a scream that deafens, blinds, and stuns, but Felix, Kane, and Ayleen resist most of its effects. Sarïa’s Moonbeam delivers the final blow, and the slug monster collapses.We continue sealing the gate—and succeed. The seal becomes solid once more.Risur is saved, and Sijhen is driven off—though not destroyed.[/spoiler]</blockquote>

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