“Vecna” No sooner had the name passed through Endrin’s lips than the entirety of the market square’s spectral denizens turned their angered gaze toward FCG. Artaema attempted to hold one of the ghosts at bay while Endrin sought a better vantage point from which to combat them. Nyx and Triple J fired off spells, and Eris and Malcolm drew their blades against the spirits. The angered specters swirled about the party, attempting to drain away their life essence. Slashed within an inch of its undead life by Malcolm, one of the spirts sought to and succeeded in seizing the fighter’s strength for its own as it possessed Malcolm. On the other side of the square, Artaema found herself surrounded by a flock of specters and blew them all away with a thunderous wave of energy. Endrin too decimated many of the spirits, as well as the surrounding ancient structures, with a massive gravity sinkhole. Triple J continued to keep the ghosts on his front at bay with menacing psychic attacks while Nyx handled two more ghosts with forceful eldritch energy. Eris honed in on one spirit in particular and smote it to wisps with Bahamut’s might. The ghost possessing Malcolm directed the fighter’s fury at Endrin, forcing Malcolm to carve a bloody gash across the gnomish wizard. Surrounded by both specter and Malcolm, Endrin did not panic. Instead the wizard managed to dispel the ghost right out of Malcolm, thus freeing the fighter from its influence as well as turning the tide of the battle. Whole and united once more, FCG made quick work of the remaining spirits, allowing only a spectral baker to escape.
As the long dead city, the ruins of Aeor’s Cognouza Ward, fell silent once more, the party began sifting through the ancient market for anything that might be of use. Eris succeeded in finding the ruins of a general store, within which she discovered a map of the entirety of Aeor before it fell from the sky. The party pondered and mused over the locations noted on the map. Within the Cognouza ward they determined that they were currently in an area known as Philosopher’s Square and that the locations marked as Grand Archive of the Somnovem and Animum Cor Meum would be places of interest in their hunt for the Bladescarred’s artifact. They also noticed that Aeor’s Genesis Ward, the potential location of L-17I, was adjacent to the Cognouza Ward. Following a lengthy discussion on the implications of their findings in Aeor thus far and how they might relate to Vecna and Remnants, FCG set off toward the other side of the square where the Grand Archive of the Somnovem loomed.
Across piles and piles of skeletons the party trudged up the archive’s grand stair. Between the large pillars at the top, the party noticed an open entry way, which they approached cautiously. Within the archive FCG discovered a two storied vast library of books. They also noticed that the back of the structure had seemingly been blown away and destroyed. As Eris reached down for a book amongst many of the piles, she was struck by two large clawed arms that burst forth from beneath. A green, smooth skinned, gorilla like entity with the head of a dog leapt out from beneath the pile of books and began assailing the paladin. From up above, another of these monstrosities leapt down and charged right at Nyx. The creature beat the sorceress bloody, within an inch of her life. Triple J sought to heal his unconscious comrade, but the strange creature twisted Triple J’s healing words, instead causing them to pummel Nyx further, killing her outright. Artaema rushed into the archive to find Nyx dead on the ground. Panicked, Artaema summoned forth her spell book and cast her most powerful dunamantic spell on Nyx. Nyx’s bones cracked back into place as she was dragged upright, seemingly rewound in time. Artaema fell to her knees, exhausted from the effort. Endrin sought to create space between Nyx and the monster and blasted it backward with a pulse of gravity. Unfortunately, Endrin’s spell caused the wild magic to swirl around him and temporarily shunt him from the material plane. Malcolm and Eris tag teamed the other monstrosity, employing a number of tactics to gain an advantage over it. Triple J finished off the monster that had been harrying Nyx, causing it to bleed profusely from its pours before falling dead. Eventually, Malcolm and Eris managed to finish off the remaining monstrosity without enduring any more casualties.
