Session 1

 

The floating skull Morte welcomes some less-than-dead adventurers to the Mortuary

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

The heroes awaken on metal tables in the morgue of the Mortuary, Sigil’s vast necropolis. None of them remember how they arrived there, only the unsettling certainty that they are not supposed to be dead—and yet, clearly are.

They are quickly greeted by Morte, a wisecracking floating skull who acts as an informal guide and commentator. Through him, the party learns the bare basics of where they are and that the Mortuary is run by the Dustmen, a faction who believe true death comes only after shedding all mortal passions.

Exploring the Mortuary, the party encounters its grim routines firsthand. In the autopsy room, they surprise a Herald of Dust dissecting a Flesh Golem. Once both sides realize the heroes are not registered dead—and therefore intruders—the Dustman and the golem attack. A brutal fight follows, ending with both enemies destroyed. The party’s first combat makes it clear that the Mortuary is not a place of mercy, even for the newly awakened.

In a nearby storage room, the tone shifts from violence to horror-absurdity. Two poltergeists stage a grotesque puppet show using scraps of corpses and animated tools. Rather than fighting, the spirits demand to be entertained. The heroes are forced into improvisation, playing along with the macabre performance to amuse the ghosts. Their success spares them from a lethal haunting and provides a rare moment of dark humor amid the gloom.

In the cold locker, the party meets Fruth, a Dustman on his very first day. Nervous, unhelpful, and clearly in over his head, Fruth offers little useful information. Still, the encounter reinforces that not everyone in the Mortuary is an implacable fanatic—some are simply unfortunate recruits.

Passing through the crematorium, Percival makes a fateful decision to test the room’s safety mechanisms. There are none. The crematorium ignites instantly, incinerating Percival on the spot. The moment is sudden, shocking, and final—at least, it appears to be.

The remaining heroes press on and reach a chamber where a chute continuously disgorges corpses onto the floor below. One such body ruptures on impact, releasing a mass of sentient black goo that begins to coalesce aggressively. The party prepares for another fight.

Meanwhile, Percival’s story continues elsewhere.

In a place that is nowhere and no-time, Percival experiences a vision of millions of versions of himself, branching across countless possible lives. A vast, wyrm-like entity—ancient, alien, and unmistakably tied to time itself—intervenes. From the infinite Percivals, it selects one. That version is given substance.

Percival—unchanged, yet subtly different—awakens once more on a slab in the Mortuary’s morgue.