Session 15 (The Pirates of Atlas)

 

"Session 15"
The Pirates of Atlas episode
Episode no.	Episode 15
Original air date	November 19, 2023 (2023-11-19)

"Session 15" is the fifteenth session of the campaign The Pirates of Atlas.

Synopsis

Back on the ship when Durgl was downed, Willem and Maren begin to notice their surroundings warp. They see Pravuil and Vidro being whisked away. Death appears and informs them that they will be sent through time. Almost instantaneously, they find themselves in a new environment, in a crowded room filled with heavily armed rebels. They hear muffled sounds of shopkeepers. They see a large table with various adventurers, mercenaries, and mages. Vidro immediately notices Willem and Maren and whispers to them what they are doing. The two, bewildered, remained confused. They are then greeted by the leaders of the resistance. One of the leaders gives them a quick run-down of what has transpired in Atlas. They learn that Atlas is under martial law and that a large faction in Parliament turned against the Queen. The leader takes out the ledger which contains all of the names of the members of Parliament who conspired against the Queen. Lord Byron the Third is the first name revealed from the ledger. He is a powerful mage who is quite capable of dealing great damage. The next person is Sir Fendric, an old knight. He is in charge of the commerce in Atlas and has the power to determine the level of taxation and customs. He is the reason many shopkeepers have gone under. The next target is the most influential of them all. He is the leader of Parliament, Lord Gladius the Fourth. He is an expert swordsman who commandeered Navy ships not too long ago. The last target is the alleged mastermind who calls himself Goldhand, trained in the ways of the fists, he strikes and can shatter one's spine in half. The resistance feels confident that they have enough forces to muster against these targets, but they shall split the targets in two groups. They are told they will be found deliberating in the chambers of Parliament. They will each be guarded heavily. The leaders offer their support. Up to two of them can join them. Helga can punch through a stone wall. Willem says they can be a team of all strongmen, purely offensive, no healers, no support. The captain chooses Helga and Thronkgar. The black-haired woman asks which two of the four targets they should pursue. They decide to target Lord Gladius. They inquire more about Lord Byron. There is concerns that he may be too difficult to fight as a master mage without any mage to counter him. They offer Zellis.

Maren transforms into a cat, deciding to bench from the fight as they substitute her for Zellis, the mage. The captain asks Zellis if they are capable of teleporting. He says he does. They strategize how he could use the teleportation powers effectively against Lord Byron. Willem suggests they could teleport Maren, who can transform into a large creature, and have her dropped on one of the enemies. After they finish deliberating, they disperse. The eyepatch-wearing man beckons them to have some of his stews and ale. Vidro proceeds to speak to the headmaster. He says his beef stew is made from centaur. Willem feels a bit conflicted, having concerns over the ethics of eating such a creature, being so similar to humans. Maren meanwhile happily laps at the stew. The broth tastes quite gamey but reminds Maren of home. She grabs more of the meat with her claws and bites into the meat. It is more so muscular tissue that it is incredibly salty. It is hard as rock and as one bites into it, instead of finding edible meat, it is teeth-chipping material. The crew opts for the turkey meat instead.

Maren is splattered with the meat's juices and she is annoyed. She is picked up by the orc and she transforms back, telling him to let her go. He is confused and he continues eating. Willem is handed a turkey leg with honey glaze.

Vidro looks for the headmaster and heads upstairs. The headmaster does not initially notice him. Vidro asks if he knows more of Lord Byron, beyond what intel has given them. The headmaster says he tries not to believe in rumor and to base his judgments on hard evidence. However, he says he believes that he has heard Lord Byron is in control of human trafficking, both for labor and sex. His personality is quite pompous and self-entitled. Vidro wonders if they could play with the man's ego to get at him. The headmaster says such a man is quite calculative and prodigious despite being so young. Vidro asks if there are any mages capable of fighting Lord Byron. The headmaster says he may find such people at the university but they do not have much time before they commence their operation. Vidro goes back down to ask his crewmates if they are willing to join him. Willem says he will stay behind with Maren to continue training.

Later in the day, Vidro and Pravuil find themselves whisked away alongside Zellis to the university which is brightly lit by sconces. They see groups of students. Vidro asks Zellis if Lord Byron had ever attended this university. They look behind and see a collegiate village which has various shops and taverns. They head towards the large university chapel. Pravuil and Vidro inquire about the state of the university. It does not appear that martial law apply here. Zellis says if it is because of his intervention that he helped prevent martial law from being imposed onto the students. They are able to exist autonomously free from Atlas and are smarter than most and know better not to meddle with political affairs. Mages these days are not as ambitious since much knowledge has been lost, sunken underwater. Vidro asks if there is anyone who is capable in memory magic. Zellis says there is a professor who is proficient with divination magic. However, Zellis says he knows of a cleric who is able to help clear one's mind, who may be of better use to them.

They then walk into a small library. Vidro, with his observation haki, notices four figures of note. He is able to discern what kind of studies they are in. Each of them are studying various studies of magic, none of them are sitting together. Vidro asks the headmaster what kind of magic is lacking among their group and whether any of the students before them may be of use. The headmaster says the female student is studying a kind of magic not well-known. Vidro decides to talk to the cloaked magician and notices that it is a machine. Vidro introduces himself to the magician and surmises it is a warforge. The magician tells him to be quiet as he does not want his identity revealed. Vidro tells him how he is able to tell because he is an artificer. He asks him if he is able to create a machination to teleport people. The magician admits that he is not quite advanced in his magic. He is capable of moving and lifting objects. Vidro explains how he is able to infuse his magic into his bullets. Vidro asks if he can manipulate gravity and wonders if there is a way to create a field to enhance or weaken gravity. The magician says he is unsure if he can do such but is willing to learn how to do it for his thesis. He asks if Vidro is willing to be involved in this experiment but in the meantime, is quite busy in his studies. The magician says his name is "Leonard". Vidro notices numerous biographies, portraits, and plaques of alumni. Vidro sees a portrait of younger Reyen, mid-sneeze. Vidro asks about him to the headmaster. The headmaster says he was a great student who was trying to find the Apple of Eden. Vidro explains he is seeking anyone who may know more about Lord Byron and is not interested in recruiting any student to fight. They are frustrated with the lack of progress in getting any details on Lord Byron.

Vidro decides to approach the female student who is busy deep in her studies. Vidro whispers quietly to her but she is startled. Vidro says he notices her chronomagic and she is surprised he knows. She says there is not many books on it. She is skeptical of their intentions with her. Vidro explains why he is at the university. He is seeking students who may know anything about Lord Byron and are proficient in magic. Vidro is interested in her capabilities in chronomagic. Vidro tells Lord Byron is deeply involved in human trafficking. This is enough to convince her to join the revolution. With that, they return to the revolutionary headquarters. She introduces herself as Elfie, Vidro welcomes her with everyone else in the group, and she explains what chronomagic entails. She explains all of the spells she knows. One of the spells she knows can age someone 30 days to their death. Such spell is highly forbidden and can easily backfire if not channeled properly. Willem tries to wrap his mind around the spell and wonders, based on the stereotype of wizards who are quite old, may make the casted target stronger inadvertently. They argue about the theoretical implications. They table discussion on this forbidden spell and inquire about the other spells. One of the spells, she is capable of freezing a spell, and have it be casted later. She can also modify a timeline and change actions.

Helga interrupts them and tells them they are about ready to fight. Maren transforms into a panther. They discuss and recap the plan for the operation. They then gather their armor and weapons as they assemble. They step out into the streets. They notice the sounds of battle already happening and war horns blaring. Atlas is in a total state of chaos. They see civilians and Atlantean guards fighting against the Spartans. As they prepare to fight, Vidro gives them all visors. Maren, perched atop Helga's shoulder, pounces against the enemy and tears them apart. Helga throws her warhammer and tears off a Spartan's head. Vidro applies heat metal against the crossbowers' plate metal. As they attempt to take off their armor, they are stabbed by opportunistic rebels.

As people die, Willem notices blue orbed souls fly out of their bodies with his fruit. He notices a scythe quickly whirl around, collecting the souls. Willem absorbs some of these orbs. Willem uses his Presence of the King haki to clear the way as he forces the Spartans and civilians out of his path. As people fall, the dead are reanimated to fight for a minute. Pravuil flies through and decapitates Spartans' heads as he whizzes by. As they approach the gates, they notice throngs of people being pushed back and killed. Above is the belltower and Pravuil remembers what he was told back in Parakis and tells Vidro to shoot four times at the bell. Suddenly, lights from the heavens descend. They see heavily-armored paladins, winged, ready to fight. The headmaster teleports them into the upper quadrant of the Parliament fortress they are storming.

They find themselves, invisible, in the chambers where Lord Byron is sequestered. The invisibility will break if someone takes an action. They are led through the Parliament's halls. They notice rogues in the scaffolding dashing through, killing guards one-by-one. They enter into what appears to be a cathedral stripped of its religious symbolism. Various relics have been taken down. It has been turned into a house. The headmaster tells them that Lord Byron is here and that once he casts a spell surrounding the chamber, Lord Byron will become aware.

Willem opens the door as he and Pravuil step forward into the room. Vidro stands back. Maren remains sitting atop Helga. Elfis stands right behind. The old mage opens his hands as a massive dome envelope around the chamber. The room turns red-hot orange as glyphs emerge and a great energy beam shoots out. Vidro takes no damage as he takes out a trinket to consume the fire. Maren is shielded by Helga. Willem uses his cloak to shield most of the fire damage. Pravuil takes direct damage from the fire but puts it out. As they step through the door, they ascend the staircase. They notice a once holy temple and what once were pews have been removed. The cobblestone floor is stained with old blood and moss growth. They see a table of all kinds of artifacts, instruments, books, and multi-colored vials with organs. Lord Byron is standing up, arms crossed, looking down. As they make their way, he asks who dares intrude upon his chamber. Vidro fires a shot at him as Willem taunts him back. Lord Byron deflects it and tells them if they want a fight, they will get the fight.

Pravuil attempts to restrain Lord Byron with hold person and dashes towards the left. Helga charges towards Lord Byron and whacks him, dealing substantive damage. Vidro loads his magic bullet into his weapon. He charges another weapon and shoots Lord Byron again. He is able to land both shots. The golden solar rounds are bright as bursts of sunlight. Lord Byron is able to shoot back black streaks of magic in retaliation. Vidro is able to use his haki to shield some of the rebounding necrotic damage.

Lord Byron shoots a powerful magical beam and is able to cast some damage on Willem and Efis. However, Pravuil casts Rebuke the Violent which casts damage back at Lord Byron, casting a great beam from the heavens back. Vidro is also able to shoot an intercessory shot to blunt the beam's damage.

Willem dashes towards Lord Byron and casts his echo to lurch closer and attacks the man.

Lord Byron begins casting a thick smoke which billows around the room. Elfie bends time to negate Lord Byron's damaging effects. They are able to mitigate some of Lord Byron's necrotic spells. Elfie conducts weathering spell and aims it towards Lord Byron. As she lands her blow, she inadvertently steps on a trap and sets it off. She is able to avoid taking damage however.

Maren pounces in an attempt to silence and suppress Lord Byron with her claws. She slashes Lord Byron's neck and swipes the potions into his direction. He angrily growls as he sees the vials crash against the floor. One of the potions that splash on Lord Byron is a green, acidic liquid which burns into his leg. He collapses and staggers as his leg dissolves, and he cries out in great anger. He tries to grab a health potion and passes out as Vidro shoots a tranquilizer shot. Maren grabs the man and drags him. He bleeds profusely from the leg. Pravuil and Willem perform the last rites on Lord Byron before Pravuil executes the man. Willem then collects Lord Byron's soul as his head rolls across the floor. He collects the head for the potential to turn it in later for a bounty.

Vidro points out the remaining traps in the chamber. As they confirm Lord Byron's lifeless corpse, they decide to investigate the room as they continue hearing battle cries outside. Vidro investigates the table and Pravuil assists. They discover that the instrument was used to cast a concentration of distilled liquid that contains a small percentage of the Blight. They were weaponizing it to create chemical weapons of mass destruction. Elfie goes upstairs to investigate and rummage around for any clues. Willem notices a faint blue glow from a door. As he draws nearer, he hears a magical sound emanating from it. He calls Pravuil, Helga, Elfie, and Maren over. Pravuil opens the door and sees a blue portal whisking about. They are unable to see through the portal. Willem uses his quarry sword to ascertain truth from the portal as a soul-searcher. The portal speaks softly, "My pride and joy".

Meanwhile, Vidro goes through Lord Byron's possessions. He is able to find an interesting emblem from his breast pocket. He sees a shrouded figure with two blades.

Elfie manages to pull open a lever and it opens up a secret passageway. They decide to split up. Elfie, Pravuil, and Vidro investigate the passageway while Willem, Maren, and Helga proceed through the portal.

Willem tortures his captured souls to heal himself.

As Elfie, Pravuil, and Vidro venture through the passageway, they notice that it is a dungeon, reminiscent of the catacombs from the Pravuil Manor. They have an uncanny feeling. Vidro wonders if this could be a tomb of one of the Zodiacs. They grow weary and notice unusual glyphs and a keyhole. Vidro takes out a key he obtained from Lord Byron and insert into the keyhole. The stone morphs into metal. They find themselves inside a state-of-the-art research laboratory. They see blacked out rooms with green cobwebs. They see testing rooms on either sides. They see six black cages of silhouettes of people cowering. The smell is wretched and there is not a single source of water and food in sight. The smell is rotten and as Pravuil approaches the cages, he notices various races. Many of them are emaciated and with festering wounds. Some of the people look similar to Lara and seem to be chimeric individuals. Suddenly another individual appears and yells at them in an unknown language. Elfie tries to cast a spell to comprehend his speech.

Willem, Maren, and Helga step through the portal and find themselves with a massive, black door with a crack that allows light seeping through. There are drawings of angels and demons cast all over it. To Willem, it seems to have a sense of cryptic and occultic feeling. Zellis, who stepped through the portal as well, is baffled at the sight. Zellis says that the room they have entered has such strong music that even Lord Byron could not go through. Once they past the gate, he senses they will not be able to turn back. They decide to step back before they continue further. Zellis decides to remain within the chamber to keep the portal active.

Elfie is able to speak in hobgoblin. Another victim approaches the bar and asks who they are. They explain they came to liberate them and they have killed Lord Byron. They pass around water and food for the victims. Willem, Maren, and Helga arrive and witnesses the horrors. Willem tells them that they have managed to find a portal above. The human victim, taking great interest, asks more about the portal. He says his twin brother went through the portal, Merrick. His name is Verrick. Pravuil decides to stay a while to heal. Helga and Elfie stay to tend the patients. Elfie says she will cast sending to get more helping hands. The rest of the crew decide to explore the portal.

As they return the portal, they find that Zellis is gone. Vidro uses his haki to attempt to track Zellis. Vidro ascertains that he has gone deeper through the wall. They sense that the steps were not designed for mere humans. The steps are towering, almost as though meant for giants. They see the depictions of heaven and hell clashing. At the top right, they see a figure with a scythe. Even Pravuil and Willem, with their deep religious knowledge and devotion, are unable to make sense of this otherworldly place.

They decide to make through the gate. A great white light encompasses their entire vision and no longer feel themselves as if they were walking on solid ground, but find themselves walking on clouds. They feel that they are now walking across the abyss. As they continue forward, they begin to see shattered realms of former worlds. They find themselves walking across a cliff before returning back across the fog of voidness. They see the shadow of a silhouetted figure with slim legs crawling. They continue forward. Willem notices a knight with a torch with no body. He appears almost as an apparition. Only Willem senses it. The knight greets him as Lord Bendric who has come to seek enlightenment and to find the ancient house of an angel or a demon. Lord Bendric says he has not seen a single soul for many moons. He asks why Willem is alone. They appear to be hallucinating. Willem senses a soul from Lord Bendric and is able to grab it from him. Willem asks him if he knows what year it is. Lord Bendric replies a year of the old age. Willem tells him he is wrong and is offended. Suddenly, he sees something and shrieks as he disappears.

Maren begins to hear something straight ahead. She hears someone call her name. It is the sound of a familiar voice. Maren walks forward. The crew follows after her. The gap between her and the crew widens. The voice speaks to Maren tenderly, wishing she was with her for all those years. The voice tells her to reconnect with her and find her.

Willem begins to hear a different voice. He hears his own disembodied voice. Pravuil latches onto Willem as he follows the voice. Vidro follows right after. Willem's voice questions Willem's religiosity. Vidro clings onto Pravuil and they follow Willem. Vidro begins to hear a melodic song which sounds a faintly familiar tune with vocals. His observation haki kicks in and he has a memory of his younger self in the same elven village where the white-haired elf, presumably his sister, laying on the lap of a woman who sings the song and strokes her hair. He feels another hand holding him, a fatherly one. The vision ends but the melody continues.

Pravuil hears his sword speaking to him. Artorious's voice returns to him. He tells him that this place is ancient and that they are a place unknown. Pravuil, deeply troubled, asks for counsel as this place has never been written or spoken of in any religious studies or scriptures of his. Artorious instructs him to pray.

Maren finds herself seeing a vision of a crib and a woman, whom she has seen in paintings and drawings. Whenever she asked of this woman in her past, no one would tell her. The woman looks reminiscent of her. It is her mother. Her mother asks if Maren remembers her. Maren says she does not. She asks if her father ever spoke of her. Maren says that her father never cared to speak of her. Her mother begins to cry. Maren is able to infer that her mother was the age she was when she gave birth to her. Her mother tells her how she was fated to become the queen and that her father was once a kind man. Maren tells her that she may be talking about someone different. Her mother apologizes to her and is unable to be there for her. Maren says she is okay because she has someone in her life now. The mother says how can she be sure as her love sent her to the next life.

Willem continues hearing his own voice. It keeps beckoning him. It says that it is the part of him that knows things he does not. Willem begins to question the voice as it begins to say things that seems blasphemous. As they argue, they approach a structure that appears to be a large building with huge statues atop columns. It is a massive pantheon with rows of knights, warriors, mages, and various other figures. He has no recollection or idea who any of these statues represent. He suddenly hears another voice. It is the voice of his god. Willem unequivocally follows after it.

Vidro continues to hear the melody as he finds himself going through a treehouse. He smells delicious food and beverages. For some reason, everyone else seems to be phantomed out into indistinguishable figures. He finds himself lying down and tries to pick up food. It smells familiar and new. He walks out and sees beautiful orchids, teeming with life. He hears a voice which asks him if he had the option, would he go back to this life. Vidro says he does not remember this life. It insistently asks if he would choose this life over the one he has now. Vidro says he will need to see more. It tells him to continue walking.

For Pravuil, he sees the rows of statues and feels a presence guiding him. It does not feel of holiness or consecration. It is darkness pulling him. As he looks at the statue, he seems Willem making his way, perpendicular. Pravuil calls for Willem and they speak to one another.

Pravuil's sword speaks again. Artorious tells him that the one of the statue and recognizes him. He tells Pravuil that it is an oathbreaker who slaughtered many innocents. Many marched against him and when they came to him, he was already dead, sliced in half. However, they never found the one who did it.

Maren's mother asks her if she is happy out there. She asks if they desire to be together. Maren says she does not wish to. The mother sorrowfully bids her farewell and fades away. Maren stands in the fog and cloud of waves billow over her. Suddenly, she seems rows of statues and sees Willem and Pravuil speaking to one another.

Featured characters

Player characters

• Akula (absent)
• Anradeem Pravuil
• Durgl (absent)
• Jué Zosteif (absent)
• Ryul Vidro
• Maren
• Willem