Session 15 - Things The Fire Left Behind

This is the 15th session of the game Ashes.

Summary
The party made their way back from the Grave of Eku, Mother of the Singing Serpents and finds the entrance back to the Soulkeep. After seeing that they brought back the heart Sybil took them to the ritual chamber.

She led them down the hall directly next to the library hall, which led them into a nonagon shaped room. The walls of the room are glowing white, in the very center of the room is a raised platform that Sybil warns would be painful for non-aasimar to walk on. The platform leads to a cauldron filled with crystal clear water that creates circles within circles as if a stone was being tossed in the center. Sybil explained that she had seen other places like the Soulkeep while gazing into the pool. She had seen an older human man peering into the pool back. She had also seen empty versions of this same room.

Sybil lowered the heart into the pool and spoke, “Lanik, my Pater on high, turn back the hands of time, cleanse this heart of ill intent, the heart of one of your children. Make it sacrosanct in this place and at this time. Turn back the hands of the clock, forge the light in it, make well what was unwell. So we humbly request.”

The heart began to glow in bright white. For a moment hanging above the room, a pillar of light in the shape of a man brings down a glowing sword of light straight down into the cauldron. The light slowly fades from the room. Astraea and Sybil lift the heart of the Coautl from the cauldron and it has been consecrated.

Over dinner, Sybil urges the group to track down the Setting Sun bar, investigate the area, and try to find the entrance to the place where she was taken. Hopefully, the group won’t have to confront the Face or the Hands, but try and free the tieflings, or other aasimar who are being held there. She will also warn the group that putting out the Cauldron will ensure her safety but that the Face will know that someone snuffed the flame, but won’t know who exactly. So the party will have some ability to scout the area without needing disguises, but they should still be cautious since the Face will likely be more vigilant of the area. She also mentions in recollecting the night she left that The Hands let her go, or may have. Enos didn't seem to believe it.

The party had the remaining night to do what they please before leaving the Soulkeep. At one point they had almost all prayed before the glowing orbs of the Nine. Emeran and Autumn talked within the Consecration Chamber about everything that has brought them here. Emeran reveals that he is looking for over a dozen people from his past. Acaelus read a logbook about Astraea and the rest of her crew during the Divine Tragedy. It mentioned the name of each member in her crew as well as the title Skybreaker, which was the name of her team. He also read about the old wizard Pegason, specifically the battle when Pegason put a curse on Lanik proving that the gods could be killed. Elias read a book about Yenna, The Arbiter and found that most historical texts don't speak well on her, almost always referring to her as Balance the Treasonous for her role in creating Devils and Demons. Themus spoke with Enos about what his plans were going to be moving forward, and Enos told him that he'd accompany the party back tp Honeybridge and stay there for a time.

Before the party left they decided to give Sybil the Smoking Crown, with the hope that she could destroy it, or at the very least watch over it within the security of the Soulkeep. Upon Enos seeing the crown he realized that it had been the party that stole it from Vincenzo which was the entire reason he was almost killed by the Carposi's. Themus apologized to him, and Enos said that he couldn't have known how stealing the crown would have affected his life. For most of the trip back up, Enos didn't speak.

The party traveled for two days back to the Cauldron uneventfully. As they approached the Cauldron they heard what sounded like laughter, and the sounds of chains rattling. As they suspected, someone had used the Caudron has a teleporter and made their way back. Within the hall before the chamber the group found Mikael chained to the wall and badly burnt. He explained that he and the other Carposi members were going to head back to Honeybridge the same way the party had thinking it had been cleared out. By the time they got here, they were attacked by demons. He also explains that he was put in the hallway to give the group a fair warning and that the one in charge of the attack had questions for anyone who passed, and didn't want bloodshed. He also explained how you can't creep up on these demons because one of them is a tracker of some kind.

Apprehensive of all of this the group approached cautiously into the chamber. They saw six laughing demons, many dead or captured Carposi members, a large canoloth, and what seemed to be the leader a cultist wearing a metal mask of flames. The leader explained that he is a Burner, someone who dedicated their lives to the cause of the Ash Lord and was brought back to help turn the world into ashes. He spoke in a monotone voice and stated that he would let them all go if they tell him where the 'angel' was. The party refused and a fight began.

During the fight, Astraea was close to death multiple times as the demons seemed to be drawn to her being an Aasimar. Flora was also knocked out once. Ultimately the party was able to kill all of the demons and the Burner, whose body turned into ash after the fight. After the fight was over the party freed what remaining living Carposi there were. Astraea placed the Couatl heart into the Cauldron, causing the flames to be quenched and the cauldron itself to crumble into dust.

After a rest, the party made their way back to Honeybridge where they met a tabaxi named Dewey who let them in with no charge after first asking for coin. He also helped Elias get medical supplies for the injured Carposi members. The party got the 2000 gold pieces from Degdin for saving his two carpet merchants. Themus said goodbye to Enos, who seemed to want to try and be a guard for Honeybridge until the Carposi thing blows over. The party left Honeybridge and after many days travel made their way back beneath the Jaunt.