Previously, the heroes had just been visited by Epidemius in another dream after having recovered the Book of Woe from the Newport library. They wanted to investigate the possibility of binding Epidemius, either to this plane so they could vanquish him, or imprison him in an object, like the Book of Woe, in the same way that the Senhadrim had been transferred to their arms.
Seventh Day, Second Ride, Autumn Twilight, 1262
(Silvermoon is waning, Bloodmoon is in low sanction, Darkmoon is waxing)
While Neamhan is still soaring through the skies as a peregrine falcon, together with Frostfeather, Chakuq, Emrys, and Luca went to visit the Circle of Magi to see if they could get an audience with Réonan.
Neamhan learned several tactics from Frostfeather as they continued to harass the other griffons over Kingsport. She recognised that a lot of Frostfeather’s tactics revolved around generating turbulence, and so she transfigured into a giant eagle in the hope of trying it out. When she was satisfied, Neamhan decided she wanted to practice defending against an attack like that and she ended up goading Frostfeather into attacking her. Unfortunately, the attack came too fast and she was knocked into a death spiral, hurtling to the ground. The last thought that flashed through her mind as she saw the ground rushing towards her was “Do I have a baby?”, a thought which had planted itself firmly in her mind by Virulencia, right before Frostfeather snatched Neamhan up in her talons and saved her from death.
After their quick visit to the College of Bards, Chakuq, Emrys, and Luca made their way to that other academic institution; the Circle of Magi. As usual, Olafur, the great Miðgarðurian, greeted them at the entrance and arranged for an audience with the grand archmage. The ascent along the spiral staircase, decorated with the many historical mementos of the Circle, left Chakuq feeling a little dizzy, moving him to take off his boots so that his feet found more grounding. At the top of the staircase they walked out on the windowed jetty of the tower, seeing interesting and curious displays; arms, armour, statues, contraptions, and art. A doorway lead from the jetty into the tower’s interior where a museum of even more curiosas were on display. Olafur lead them to a stone alcove with the statue of a hunter cat with a woman’s face; “Prayanti the Sphinx, Guardian of the Scarab Temple of the Great Sand Sea of Noth, please grant us access,” he called, and the alcove spun around the heroes to reveal a doorway behind the statue.
Through the doorway lay Réonan’s inner sanctum. On two sides there were tall, latticed, glass windows with an incredible view over Kingsport. On the far side of the room there was a private library, and on the right hand side stood a magnificent desk, filled with books, stacks of paper, and a collection of scroll cases. On the left was a low table set atop a thick, blue, woven carpet, with three luxurious sofas standing around it. The domed ceiling was a black void serving as the canvas for stars, constellations, nebulae, and the familiar three moons. Réonan was seated on one of the sofas, a book in their lap, and an earthen mug in their hand from which they were sipping. When they looked up, the smiled thinly, and invited the heroes to sit.
During the conversation, the heroes attempted to question the grand archmage on Epidemius, but Réonan was not very forthcoming. Chakuq bluntly asked what was preventing them from helping, and Réonan claimed that with the rising tide of magic, their memories and abilities were slowly coming back, but that not everything was available and known yet.
The heroes did learn that part of the reason Blackstar cannot detect fiends or celestial creatures is because while they are made of pure soul-stuff, their soul is not on the mortal plane, but instead resides on the plane of their origin, with a tether linking them to their original soul. This is also the reason why defeating them on the mortal plane sends them back to their plane of origin. It was possible to bind a creature to the mortal plane, but it would require great sacrifice.
They also learned that Réonan knew Epidemius before his fall from divine grace, when he was known as Epidemiel. A soul’s tether can be changed to another plane through discord. Enough discord can dislodge a soul from its original plane, something that Réonan likened to “falling.” There was a question on whether it was possible to do the opposite, ascending rather than falling, and Réonan said they had yet to see it happen.
The conversation changed directions and focussed on the defeat of Epidemius through other means. Réonan suggested finding them Book of Woe and returning it to Epidemius, but the conclusion was that it would cost too many mortal lives, and would be a cost that the heroes were unwilling to bear.
Réonan offered a question on why Epidemius chose to appear at Steward’s Square. Was it to cause maximum terror? Would he not rather appear in the middle of the palace? Perhaps Epidemius’ power was at its height at Steward’s Square. Perhaps the square was necessary to execute the rat ogres in sacrifice to power the curse that fell over Kingsport. Luca offered that there are stories and superstitions about meeting devils on crossroads, and striking bargains with them at midnight. Perhaps Steward’s Square was the ultimate crossroad. Chakuq asked whether the veil was thinner at a crossroads, and Réonan offered that a crossroads represented a choice; good or evil, chaos or order.
Luca requested whether the heroes could be permitted to use the facilities of the Circle to do research. Réonan consented and said they would make a laboratory available and see about moving the portal that existed between the entrance to the Newport Vault and the Circle to this new laboratory. In return, they asked for their ring back, which Luca did without hesitation.
The conversation briefly turned to the heroes’ intent with the Newport vault, and they shared that they were looking to use it to store dangerous artefacts. Réonan shared that in the past, when “things got really bad, and we were unable to walk the surface”, the pillars inside the halls were used to travel between vaults.
Before their departure, the heroes briefly checked in with Olafur and were offered a stiff drink to help them brave the cold. While Luca and Emrys were considering what a spell that could bind a devil would look like, and would require, Chakuq brought up the oft-heard notion of sacrificing life to power rituals. His thought turned to Neamhan and how much she cared for life, and he doubted she would be willing to sacrifice a life. Chakuq confessed not being comfortable with sacrificing lives, either, since it seemed to be going beyond using prey as bait to catch a predator. This prompted Olafur to ask him how that worked when Chakuq was part of the Red Swords, to which Chakuq responded that while part of the mercenary company it was not his task to put lives at risk. It gave Chakuq the insight that either Olafur had checked up on him, or the Miðgarðurian was not the affable oaf he portrayed to be.
Just before sixth bell after noon, the heroes found themselves on the cold, snowy streets of Kingsport, heading back to the College of Bards to get an audience with Le Papillon. But first, they would make a stop at the Careless Wanderer, to reconvene with the others, and dress up appropriately.