Session 11

Heroes (lvl 5): Bastion, Thrum, Aibell, Percival, Yvaine

The heroes arrive at the dwarven village of Kled alongside Horth Araxis. The settlement survives through discipline, labor, and faith beneath Athas’ unforgiving sun. There they meet the village’s leader, a stern priest of the sun who confirms what others have already whispered:

The Wanderer passed through Kled not long ago, traveling east toward the cursed ruins of Bodach.

The trail is certain now.

The heroes depart once more, and the journey becomes a brutal crossing of Athas itself. Weeks pass beneath the crimson sky. Sandstorms sweep across the wastes. Water is rationed carefully while ancient ruins and bleached bones mark the passing of forgotten civilizations.

Eventually they reach Fort Shale, a lonely outpost standing at the edge of the Sea of Silt.

There, they hire Captain Nhela, a scarred half-elf captain who commands a weathered silt skimmer capable of crossing the endless gray expanse. With few alternatives, the heroes board the vessel and begin the dangerous voyage eastward.

Days pass upon the choking silt sea. The air hangs heavy and still. Beneath the surface, unseen things move.

Then the silt erupts.

A massive silt horror bursts from below the skimmer, its writhing tentacles crashing across the deck as crew members are dragged screaming into the gray depths. The creature lashes against the vessel with terrible force, threatening to tear it apart beneath the burning sun.

The heroes rally beside the crew and fight desperately upon the shifting deck. Steel, magic, and grit finally bring the monster down, though not without cost. Several sailors are lost to the creature before the battle ends, their bodies swallowed by the endless silt.

The skimmer survives.

And so the journey toward Bodach continues across a world that feels increasingly empty, silent, and doomed.

Session 10

Heroes (lvl 5): Bastion, Thrum, Aibell, Emile

The heroes leave Tyr behind, but freedom is short-lived. Under the cover of night, a band of guards pursues them into the desert. Steel clashes in the darkness, and the fight is swift and final. When it ends, the sands claim the fallen, and the heroes press on.

They turn north toward the mountains, seeking relief from the relentless heat. Days pass in harsh conditions. Water runs low. Strength begins to fail. It becomes clear that without aid, the desert will take them.

In desperation, they send magical lights into the sky. An answer comes.

Horth Araxis, an earth priest and guardian of a hidden shrine, finds them and offers refuge. Within the cool stone sanctuary, the heroes recover and speak of their quest. Horth knows of The Wanderer and confirms his path leads east, toward Bodach—the long-dead city now haunted by the undead.

The destination is certain.

Horth offers to guide them further, to the village of Kled, where they may find supplies and aid for the journey ahead. As they prepare to move on, one truth settles in: Athas is not only cruel. It is slowly dying.

Session 9

Heroes (lvl 5): Bastion, Thrum, Aibell, Percival, Yvaine, Emile

Brought before the authority of the arena, the heroes stand in the presence of Templar Maerigal, a figure of cold control and measured cruelty. She listens as they speak, their tale strange and improbable—too strange, perhaps, for even Athas. With a gesture, she summons two mindbenders to strip away deception and peer into truth itself.

When their power settles upon Emile, resistance falters.

His thoughts unravel, and the truth spills forth—Sigil, portals, the dying world, the mission to find The Wanderer. Yet the truth, laid bare, proves too vast, too impossible. Maerigal does not see revelation. She sees madness.

The heroes are dismissed.

Not executed, not believed—simply returned to the slave pits, their words cast aside as the ramblings of broken minds.

Back among the condemned, they find something far more valuable than belief: knowledge.

An old slave, bent with age and hardship, speaks of a figure long whispered of in the depths below the arena. A man who was not broken. A man who escaped.

He speaks of the Wanderer.

According to the old slave, this figure wielded the power of earth and stone itself, perhaps a priest of the elemental forces that still answer on Athas. He did not flee blindly. He walked with purpose—toward what the old man calls “the end of the world” and “the city of the dead.”

The path is clear. But the chains remain. The heroes act.

What begins as quiet whispers in the dark becomes a rising tide. Slaves rally. Guards are isolated. Violence erupts in the tunnels beneath the arena. In the chaos, the heroes reclaim their weapons—their steel once more in hand—and break free from the pits that were meant to hold them.

City of Tyr

They emerge into the streets of Tyr, no longer gladiators, but fugitives. The city does not let them go easily.

Guards sweep through the streets. Templars tighten their grip. The heroes move through dust-choked alleys and crowded thoroughfares, evading pursuit by speed, cunning, and no small measure of fortune. The tension does not break until they reach the city gates.

There, waiting for them, stands the arena’s champion.

A towering figure of muscle and fury—the Crimson Half-Giant—mounted upon a savage Crodlu. There is no negotiation, no warning. Only violence.

The battle is brutal and immediate. The mount snaps and claws, the giant strikes with overwhelming force, but the heroes endure. Steel meets bone, tactics overcome brute strength, and in time, the champion falls.

And then the world itself breaks.

A section of Tyr’s great wall—ancient, immovable, eternal—simply ceases to exist.

No explosion. No collapse.

Stone vanishes into nothingness, leaving only empty air where solid structure once stood.

For a moment, even the guards freeze.

The impossible has arrived. The heroes do not hesitate.

They pass through the breach and leave the city behind, stepping out into the endless desert of Athas.

Session 8

Heroes (lvl 4): Bastion, Thrum, Aibell, Emile

The heroes’ arrival upon Athas allows no time for questions or caution. Beneath the crimson sun and before the roaring masses of the arena, they are set upon at once by a pack of thri-kreen gladiators.

The insect warriors move with startling speed, leaping across the sand with chitinous limbs and flashing weapons. Yet the heroes, though disoriented by their sudden arrival, answer violence with discipline. Steel rings, dust rises, and one by one the thri-kreen are brought low. The crowd, expecting easy slaughter, instead finds new champions to cheer.

Their reward is immediate. The gates grind open once more.

From the dark tunnels emerge three towering half-giants, armed with brutal clubs and clad in piecemeal armor. They stride into the arena to thunderous approval, each certain that the battle is already won. What follows is anything but certain. The heroes meet strength with resolve, outmaneuvering the larger foes and driving them down before the eyes of a stunned audience.

By the end, the arena chants for blood no longer. It chants for the newcomers.

Victorious, the heroes are not granted freedom, but escorted below the arena into the slave pits where gladiators are housed, fed, and prepared for further spectacle. There they meet Kallor, a veteran trainer whose scars speak more loudly than his words.

Kallor studies them carefully.

He praises their skill, but it is not their prowess that interests him most. It is their weapons.

Metal blades on Athas are treasures beyond price. Here, bone, obsidian, and stone are the tools of war. To carry steel is to carry wealth, status, or mystery.

Kallor wants to know where such arms were found.

The heroes, wary of revealing too much, claim to be desert folk who discovered forgotten ruins buried beneath the sands. Kallor listens, unconvinced perhaps, but practical enough not to press.

Instead, he offers a warning. They would do well to draw a map. For the templar who oversees the arena will surely wish to inspect these miraculous ruins for himself.

That night, the heroes remain in the slave quarters among exhausted gladiators, chained laborers, and broken men who wait to be spent for sport. There, by torchlight and whispered voices, they hear troubling rumors.

Entire villages have vanished. Not raided. Not burned. Not conquered. Gone.

Caravans speak of empty roads, abandoned wells, and a strange brightness seen in the far distance. Some call it a curse. Others the judgment of sorcerer-kings. Most simply refuse to speak of it for long.

Sleep comes uneasily.

At dawn, Kallor returns. There is no ceremony, no comfort, only purpose.

The trainer informs the heroes that they are wanted. He has come to escort them from the pits and into the presence of the arena’s master: Templar Maerigal.

LEVEL UP!

Sharnak

"All it takes it's a little TIME"

A dragonborn serving a mysterious patron.

Estavan

"Don't worry, you can pay me back LATER"

An ogre mage and merchant lord who deals in every sort of glittering Treasure and dirty Cargo.

Session 7

Heroes (lvl 4): Bastion, Thrum, Aibell, Percival, Yvaine, Emile

The heroes return to Sigil, carrying with them the weight of their deeds in Elysium—and the Gem of Harmony, now altered by their choice. The city receives them as it always does: indifferent, sprawling, alive with motion and intrigue.

Their first concern is practical.

The gem is far too valuable to keep, and far too dangerous to carry without purpose. They begin searching for a buyer, wandering the crowded stalls of the Grand Bazaar. Merchants eye the stone with interest, but it quickly becomes clear that none present can offer a price worthy of its true value. This is no ordinary trinket to be bartered beneath canvas and shouting voices.

They withdraw.

Back at Ubiquitous Wayfarer, they reconnect with Parisa, their bariaur guide. She listens, considers, and offers a solution. There are buyers in Sigil who deal in matters beyond coin and measure—members of the Trade Consortium. She can arrange a meeting with one such individual, though such dealings rarely come without strings attached.

That night, as the city hums beyond their walls, sleep brings no rest.

Each of them dreams.

A vast desert stretches beneath a crimson sun. A colossal, shimmering dragon coils around a towering ziggurat. In the distance, a pale, consuming light advances across the horizon, swallowing the world in silence.

They wake with the image burned into memory.

The next day, Parisa makes good on her word. The heroes are brought before Estavan, a powerful ogre-magi and high-ranking member of the Consortium. Wealth clings to him as surely as magic, and his interest in the gem is immediate. He agrees to purchase it for a fair price, one befitting its rarity and power.

But the transaction is not so simple.

Estavan has a request.

The details are provided by his associate, a dragonborn named Sharnak. The heroes note the medallion he wears—an ouroboros, a serpent devouring its own tail. A symbol of cycles, endings, and beginnings intertwined.

Sharnak speaks plainly.

There is a world called Athas. A dying world. A difficult world. On it walks a figure known only as The Wanderer.

The Consortium wants him found—and brought back.

No further explanation is offered.

The heroes accept.

They are led into the Lower Ward, into a fighting pit far removed from the polished dealings of the Bazaar. There, they are given a simple object: an obsidian arrowhead. A key.

A portal awaits.

Without ceremony, they step through.

The world changes instantly.

Heat crashes into them. Light blinds them. Sound engulfs them.

They stand in the center of a vast gladiatorial arena beneath a merciless crimson sun. Thousands roar from the stands. Dust and blood choke the air.

There is no time to think.

Across the sand, insectoid warriors surge forward—thri-kreen gladiators, their chitin glinting as they charge.

The crowd howls for violence.

And the heroes, newly arrived on Athas, are already fighting for their lives.

Session 6

Heroes (lvl 4): Bastion, Thrum, Aibell, Percival, Yvaine

The heroes now carry all three Items of Accord, their purpose clear at last. With chalice, gem, and purpose aligned, they set their path toward the sacred reaches of the Ornwood Forest, where the final rite of healing must take place.

As they approach the forest’s edge, they find it already watched.

A host of celestial and goodly beings has gathered—guardinals, eladrin, and other radiant creatures of Elysium. They stand vigilant, their attention fixed not on the forest, but on Abaya, the spider-demon who walks beside the heroes. Word has spread. A fiend treads in a realm of peace, and many have come to end that contradiction.

The heroes step forward and speak. They explain what has transpired—the wounded angel, the stolen spark, the fragile balance between destruction and redemption. The host listens. Some with doubt, others with quiet curiosity. Their leader does not fully trust what he hears, but neither does he strike. At last, he allows the party to pass into the forest, though he promises to watch from afar.

The heroes enter the Ornwood, accompanied by Abaya and Ybdiel, whose strength continues to wane. The forest is serene, almost impossibly so, its quiet pressing against the turmoil carried within the group. At its heart lies the Labyrinth of Accord.

There, they are met by nymphs—graceful, ageless, and resolute. The path forward is not barred, but it is not freely given. To begin the healing, the heroes must pass three trials within the labyrinth. Trials not of strength, but of truth.

Within its winding paths, the party is confronted by reflections made real.

They witness the moment of Ybdiel’s failure—his misplaced trust, his flawed judgment in choosing a mortal vessel. They see Abaya’s hunger, her instinct to destroy, the echo of every cruel impulse that defines her nature. And beyond both, they are shown what could be: redemption not as certainty, but as possibility.

Each trial presses inward, forcing the heroes not merely to observe, but to understand.

They endure.

They emerge.

At the center of the labyrinth, they find a radiant pool, its waters impossibly clear. Here, the ritual reaches its climax. Ybdiel and Abaya both falter, their strength and will slipping as the tension between them breaks open.

The stolen angelic spark rises into the air between them, untethered—uncertain.

Then the water erupts.

From the pool claws its way a monstrous form: a twisted spider of radiant and shadowed energy, born from Abaya’s darkest thoughts and Ybdiel’s failure combined. It lashes out, violent and unstable, threatening to tear the fragile balance apart.

Steel is drawn. Magic gathers.

And then the heroes understand.

This is not a battle to be won by force.

They lower their weapons. They hold their ground. Each one turns inward, seeking calm, clarity, and peace amidst the chaos. The creature thrashes, but finds nothing to strike—no hatred, no fear to feed upon.

One by one, the heroes reach that stillness.

And the creature dissolves.

Silence returns to the glade.

The angelic spark descends, drawn not to flesh, but to the Gem of Harmony. It settles within, contained but not yet claimed.

The choice remains.

From the edges of the glade, the watchers arrive. The host that once barred their path now stands witness—silent, expectant. The decision will not go unseen.

The heroes choose not to return the spark to one alone.

Instead, they divide it.

The power is diminished, but shared. Ybdiel lives. Abaya lives. Neither is made whole, but neither is lost.

A fragile balance is born.

Ybdiel, weakened but resolute, entrusts the heroes with a final charge: guide Abaya, help her walk a path she was never meant to tread. The burden of that choice now rests with them.

The tension breaks.

The forest breathes.

The host does not intervene.

Instead, the heroes are welcomed. Word spreads quickly, and soon they are invited to the shining city of Pax Benefice. There, they are offered rest, food, and recognition.

Not as conquerors.

But as those who chose understanding over destruction.

And in doing so, changed the fate of two souls.

Session 5

Heroes (lvl 4): Bastion, Thrum, Aibell, Percival, Emile

The heroes depart the monastery at dawn, carrying the Chalice of Peace and the weight of their task. Their path leads first to Lake Serene, whose waters are said to embody perfect tranquility. The journey is quiet, the rolling fields of Elysium untouched by strife, but the lake itself is not unguarded.

As they approach its shimmering shores, a pack of moon dogs emerges from the mist. These celestial guardians watch the party carefully, their luminous eyes studying each traveler in silence. They question the heroes about their purpose and intentions. The answers they receive are honest: the party seeks the Waters of Serenity not for themselves, but to heal a wounded angel and restore balance. Satisfied with their candor, the moon dogs step aside and allow the ritual to proceed. The Chalice of Peace is lowered into the lake and filled with its gentle, radiant waters.

With the first of the sacred elements secured, the heroes turn their steps toward the mountains, where the phoenix known as Sunrise makes her nest.

"Truth, destruction, and peace will see you through" - Sunrise

The climb is arduous, but the party eventually reaches the high crags where the great bird dwells. When they explain their quest and ask for the Gem of Harmony, Sunrise listens in silence. She has already heard whispers of their journey and the wounded angel they protect. Rather than granting the gem immediately, she asks to see him.

After some discussion, the heroes agree. They summon Ybdiel.

The angel appears before the phoenix, but he is now barely able to stand. The poison of the demon-spider’s bite has ravaged his celestial form, and his strength is nearly spent. Yet he does not arrive alone. Standing beside him is Abaya, the very spider-demon who once stole his divine spark.

The sight is startling. The creature does not attack. Instead it remains near the angel, watchful and protective. The struggle within it is plain to see—malice and compassion warring in the same monstrous form.

Sunrise observes the pair with piercing eyes. She sees what the heroes now understand as well: the demon carries within itself both the angel’s stolen power and something far stranger—a spark of change. The phoenix finally presents the Gem of Harmony to the party, but not without a warning.

Ahead lies a choice.

They may save the angel and destroy the demon.

They may spare the demon and abandon the angel.

Or they may allow the birth of something entirely new.

With gem and chalice in their possession, the heroes depart the mountains, traveling together with the weakened Ybdiel and the conflicted Abaya. Behind them, Sunrise prepares for her own end. As the party descends the slopes, the phoenix immolates herself in a blaze of radiant fire. The sky erupts in color as her flames scatter across the heavens.

The moment of awe does not last long.

From the shadows emerges Garrish, the fiend who previously sought to bargain for the angel. He returns now with violence rather than negotiation, accompanied by a band of mezzoloth mercenaries. The fiends fall upon the heroes, determined to seize Ybdiel for their own purposes.

Battle breaks out amid the fading glow of the phoenix’s fire. Steel and spell meet claw and corruption. The heroes drive back the attackers and break the fiendish assault. Garrish himself is forced to retreat, escaping the field rather than face destruction.

The party remains victorious, but the warning of the phoenix lingers in their thoughts.

The Chalice of Peace is filled.

The Gem of Harmony is secured.

Only the final trial remains before the healing can begin—and the choice that waits at its end grows ever more difficult.

Session 4

Realm of Principality in Elysium

Heroes (lvl 3): Bastion, Thrum, Yvaine, Aibell, Percival, Emile

The heroes walk the gentle hills of Elysium, within the realm of Principality. The air is warm, the light soft, and even the wind seems to move with intention. Yet the peace is marred by purpose: a demon has come here.

They encounter two shepherds upon a green rise overlooking a quiet valley. The men are solemn, digging a grave. At their feet lies the body of Jalkim, the Cipher slain in Sigil when the spider-demon tore open a path to this plane. The shepherds speak of witnessing the fiend’s passing. They describe not only its monstrous form, but something stranger—an undercurrent of hesitation, a flicker of guilt, as though the creature recoiled from its own violence.

They explain a truth of Principality: in Elysium, the swiftness of one’s journey is measured not in distance, but in virtue. Those who perform goodly acts find the road unfolding swiftly beneath their steps. Those who do not, wander.

The heroes help lay Jalkim to rest. When a lamb slips into a rushing brook, they wade in without hesitation and pull it free. The shepherds smile, and the road ahead feels shorter already. They are directed toward the Rollicking Crescent, an inn where many travelers through Elysium gather.

At the Rollicking Crescent, tranquility has given way to ruin. Timber is splintered. Tables lie broken. The spider-demon has passed through here as well. Survivors repeat the same uncanny detail: the fiend raged, yet seemed conflicted—snarling one moment, faltering the next, as though torn between malice and remorse.

The heroes set to work, lifting beams and freeing the trapped. In the midst of this mercy, the demon returns. Cloaked in shadow and preternatural stealth, it slips among them. Before alarm can spread, it seizes Ybdiel and vanishes into darkness. Every attempt to pursue is thwarted. The fiend is gone.

In the aftermath, the heroes are approached by Lady Selene of Pax Benefice. Composed and radiant, she offers guidance rather than despair. She directs them to the Conclave Fidelis, a monastery of the Monks of Accord—healers and sages whose wisdom may reveal how to restore Ybdiel and track the demon.

At the Conclave Fidelis, they are received by Cebulon, high priest of the Power of Principality. He listens without interruption, weighing each word. When the tale is finished, he sets them upon a path not of vengeance, but of harmony.

He entrusts them with the Chalice of Peace.

To begin the healing, the chalice must be filled with the Waters of Serenity from Lake Serene. They must also claim the Gem of Harmony from the nest of a phoenix on the verge of self-immolation. When these tokens of accord are united, they must walk the Labyrinth of Accord within the Ornwood Forest. Only then, Cebulon declares, can true restoration commence.

The heroes remain at the monastery for the night.

During their rest, a stranger comes to them—soft-spoken, composed, yet unmistakably wrong. The disguise is thin to discerning eyes. A fiend stands before them.

He proposes a bargain. Deliver Ybdiel to him, and they will be rewarded beyond measure. Wealth. Power. Safety.

They refuse.

The fiend does not argue. He smiles faintly and departs, leaving behind an air thick with menace. His interest in the angel is clear, and his patience is not infinite.

The road through Elysium grows brighter ahead, yet shadows gather behind.

LEVEL UP!

Session 3

Heroes (lvl 3): Bastion, Thrum, Yvaine, Aibell, Percival, Emile

At the Ubiquitous Wayfarer, the heroes take their first real pause since leaving the Mortuary. Food is served, ale flows, and conversation drifts quickly toward philosophy—as it often does in Sigil. Patrons debate belief, destiny, and the nature of the planes with casual intensity. The company finds itself drawn into the discussion, testing ideas as much as blades.

Among the staff is Mirta, a scatterbrained serving maid who repeatedly confuses orders and returns the wrong change with cheerful obliviousness. Whether incompetence or distraction, none can tell. In Sigil, even small irregularities invite suspicion.

When their tout fails to appear as arranged, the heroes decide to seek the Hall of Records on their own. As they step out of the tavern, the air shifts. A portal flares open without warning. Before they can react, they are swept through.

They land in another tavern—this one deep in the Abyss.

Abyssal Tavern

The atmosphere is thick with menace. Demons crowd the room, their presence heavy with violence barely restrained. Tension coils tightly. Then, one of the demons reaches out telepathically, urging the heroes to remain calm and draw no attention to themselves. The warning is unexpected. A friendly demon is an unsettling thought.

The moment fractures into chaos. A terrified man bursts into the tavern, stumbling in desperation. Behind him crashes a bebilith, a monstrous spider-demon that tears through wood and flesh alike. It kills the man swiftly. As he dies, a spark of celestial radiance erupts from his body—and is immediately absorbed by the bebilith.

At that instant, the illusion falls away from the so-called friendly demon. The disguise shatters, revealing an angel concealed in infernal form. The angel clearly recognizes both the fallen man and the divine spark that leaves him.

The bebilith turns on the angel. Its venomous bite lands true. The poison burns deeper than flesh, and the wound festers with unnatural severity. The angel falters.

He reaches out telepathically to the heroes, urging them to aid his escape. They do not hesitate. Together, under mounting threat, they dive through another portal.

They emerge in the Great Gymnasium of Sigil. The angel collapses, gravely wounded. Healing magic proves ineffective. Whatever the bebilith’s venom carries, it resists simple remedy.

The angel explains.

He had entered the Abyss on a mission for his god. To conceal himself, he temporarily entrusted his celestial spark—the essence of his divine power—to a mortal man he judged worthy. That mortal, however, somehow arrives in the Abyss as a petitioner. The judgment may have been flawed. When the bebilith kills the man, it absorbs the angel’s spark.

Without it, the angel is diminished. His strength wanes. Death approaches.

He asks the heroes to accompany him to Elysium, where he may petition his god for aid and perhaps reclaim what was stolen.

Events move quickly. The bebilith, now empowered by stolen divinity, has also found passage to Sigil. It storms into the Great Gymnasium and kills a member of the Transcendent Order, believing the Cipher may hold a key to a portal to Elysium. Using the corpse, it activates such a portal and vanishes through it.

The path is clear.

If a demon now carries celestial power into Elysium, the consequences could be catastrophic. The only option remaining is pursuit.

The heroes step toward the portal, preparing to follow the demon-spider into heaven itself.