# Key Summary The session began in the aftermath of a mysterious event called [[The Blackout]] - a five-minute period where the city's protective [[Solas Monoliths]] died, leaving the population in darkness and fear. Down in the [[All-Mother Hearth]], workplace drama was brewing as [[Borin]] the dwarf floor boss was being an absolute shithead, throwing clipboards around and ripping pipe connectors off with his bare hands while berating V about getting certified. Meanwhile, [[Elara]] was coughing up visible breath like it was freezing cold, ice forming on her handkerchief as she and [[Renn]] worried about their missing friend [[Corwin]] - their "third" who hadn't been seen since the blackout. Back at the [[Red's Bottle Factory Apartments]], domestic life was playing out in awkward fashion. [[Frankie]] was obsessing over her coffee precision while [[XIL 3296]] tried to help but ended up breaking her massive espresso machine's lever. The mood shifted when XIL quietly showed off his burn scars from testing at the [[All-Mother Hearth]], and the group agreed to call him "Grand Master XIL" once he becomes a chess champion. But the real plot twist came when [[Mania]] was walking by and experienced a massive déjà vu moment - she recognized Frankie from her dreams, XIL from the children's ward, and V from witnessing her "crimes" and piercing his ear. She actually cut herself with a dagger to test if she was dreaming (she wasn't). The investigation of Corwin's apartment turned into a supernatural horror show. The place was covered in magical ice, and lurking in the corner was an emaciated, translucent creature with horns and bat wings that could breathe frost (an [[Ice Mephit]]). After Mania emerged dramatically from the shadows ("Where did you come from?" "The shadows."), she managed to kill the beast, which exploded into a million ice shards. Poor Corwin was found frozen solid in terror - beyond normal revival and requiring resurrection magic. Mania, investigating the apartment for valuables, found a magical golden orb in a hollowed-out book. V went to alert the authorities, but the most disturbing part of the night might have been the [[Forge Knights]]'s dismissive response to Corwin's "potential death," claiming there was "nothing to be concerned about" while rumors swirled that [[The Sanctorum Council]] was covering up the blackout's true effects. ## [[The Blackout]] - **Date:** Cycle 3, Year 4014 at 0900 - **What happened:** Wind swept through the city, everything shook, then the [[Solas Monoliths]] (30ft fire opal towers) died for 5 minutes before flickering back to life - **Aftermath:** [[Forge Knights]] and the mages of [[The Vaults]] drafted to borders of the wilds for testing ## Key NPCs & Locations - **[[Elara]] & [[Renn]]:** Coworkers at All Mother Hearth, worried about missing friend Corwin - **[[Corwin]]:** Half-elf handyman, missing since the blackout, lives at Red's Bottle Factory Apartments - **[[Borin]]:** Dwarf floor boss at All Mother Hearth, increasingly hostile toward V - **Districts:** [[The Shard District]] (hardest hit by The Blackout), [[The Echo District]], [[The Spire District]] ## Character Developments - **[[V]]:** Forced to clock out and "get training", tasked by Renn and Elara to search for Corwin, tensions are rising at work - **[[Frankie]] & [[XIL 3296]]:** Frankie tries to make coffee and XIL tries to help, XIL shows Frankie his burn scars from testing - **[[Mania]]:** Experiences intense déjà vu seeing the group from the street, recognizes nearly everyone from dreams/past, emerges from the shadows to save the day ## Corwin's Apartment - Covered in an eerie magical ice, freezing cold, we see an emaciated white horned creature with bat wings shooting frost - V tries to nope out and trap the creature but it busts from the apartment and we're forced into combat. Eventually it is killed by Mania's arrow and exploded into ice shards - We find Corwin frozen solid in an expression of pure terror, he would needs a resurrection to be revived ## Suspicious Aftermath - **Forge Knight response:** Dismissive, claims "nothing to be concerned about" - **Council cover-up:** Rumors they're hiding blackout effects - **Mysterious item:** Mania found a golden sphere with magical aura in a hollowed book ## Lingering Questions - Are there more creatures from the Wilds entering because of [[The Blackout]]? - What's [[The Sanctorum Council]] hiding? - Can Corwin be saved? What should his partners be told? - Are the [[Solas Monoliths]] actually protecting the city? # Full In-Session Notes ## Eli's Notes Snow falling but only a dusting covers the streets because of the monoliths (30ft tall crackling fire opals), The Blind Church says it was their god Aleah (sp?) who's heart was the dying star that used to light the world. The Vaults believe that some of the original mages created them with the fire from their veins, kids believe if you touch them you're blessed with luck. 0900 (Cycle 3, Year 4014) The Blackout Wind swept through, where wind never occurred. The city shook and creaked, there was a minute of silence, the All Mother Hearth still blazing. Then chaos, the Solace Monoliths died. 0905 it was over, when they blinked back into life. The Forge Knights and the Vault mages are being drafted to the borders for testing (?) Shard, Echo and Spire districts. Shard: The Cog, where the workers and traders work. It was hit hardest by the blackout and there are still shadows lurking around the edges, whispers and uneasy feelings in between the buildings etc. We zoom into a conversation about the pipes, working in the All Mother Hearth (a gnome and someone else), Elara says she couldn't get warm, she's telling Renn that something or someone is watching. "I'm worried about Corwin (half-elf in his late 30s, thoughtful and inquisitive he likes to fix things in the building, he's a bit of a busybody, he notices things) I haven't seen him since..." they're worried. The blackout was when they last saw him, he lives in the Red's Bottle Factory Apartments (loft style factory apartment, . They bring V into the conversation. V's Character Description: 6ft Brown wavy hair somewhere between his ears and shoulders. Vitaligo on his face and body with tan skin. Athletic lithe build with some strength built from his job. Has a young look, brown eyes. Elara and Renn get closer when they realize that Corwin hasn't been seen. Elara keeps coughing and when she does V can see her breath, as if its cold. She's coughing out, like visible air. As she coughs, ice starts to form on her handkerchief. She's having a hard time breathing and she's really worried about Corwin because he's their third. <3 Renn says they'll get Elara to a doctor, and they ask V if he can look for Corwin when he gets back to the apartments. Renn and Elara head up the iron elevator and then lets the floor boss know that they're going home because Elara isn't breathing well. Borin (dwarf floor boss) comes to be a shithead and be demanding about the T connector in the pipes. Several hours later he's back, raising a clipboard and being even more of a shithead, he's throwing a clipboard around and there's a pink notice attached to it. "Get out of my way" he rips the old connector off with his bare hands and forges it back together with his shape metal ability. He rips into V, telling him that he needs to get himself into a class or get certified, and then he seems to suggest that maybe V was fired. V tells him that he needs V because they have shitty worker situation. Borin gets increasingly angry. "I'll send you a message. And goddamn it someone fix that!" As he kicks a pipe. V picks up the clipboard to return it to Borin. Borin tells him to take some time off, to brush up on his pipe skills because "we're going to need it". Then V goes through an elaborate punch-out system to clock out. V isn't new at his job but he also isn't a veteran: Technician I. He doesn't show a ton of ambition. He's a VERY straightforward thinker. V knows too, that tensions have been high at the All Mother Hearth. V heads back to the Red Bottle Factory apartments to look for Frankie and then for Corwin. Frankie is making coffee and she's trying to be incredibly precise about it, XIL tries to help her push down her massive espresso machine but breaks the lever. Frankie and him talk about the All Mother Hearth and about the fact that XIL was tested on at the All Mother Hearth, XIL shows Frankie some of the burns on his panel and gets quiet when Frankie asks if it hurts. V comes home and Frankie and XIL are being super awkward around each other and V comes home and informs them about Corwin, Elara, Renn and Borin's bad attitudfe. They all agree to call XIL Grand Master XIL once he becomes a chess champion. From the street of the apartment building, Mania is walking by and she catches a glimpse of a person she has seen before: Frankie. Mania recognizes Frankie from her dreams, and she knows XIL from the children's ward when they were both ill. Lastly, Mania even recognizes V, who once witnessed her CRIMES. Mania goes "What the fuck?" Mania feels suddenly caught with deja vu. There's something weird about it, like the dreams, just out of reach. Mania isn't sure whether she's awake or not, when she thinks its a dream, she tests her own flesh with her dagger to see if it hurts. Blood appears. She's awake. Mania slips into the apartment building and melts into the shadows as the rest of us knock on the door, and find it slightly ajar. The apartment is covered in ice and its freezing. Frankie calls out to Corwin and hears something shift in the apartment. V enters. The black ice on the floor doesn't make V slip, but only just. In the corner, V sees there's a light trying to come on. In the corner there is a white horned creature extending a bat-wing. It is emaciated with clawed hands and almost transparent. Very slowly V tries to back out of the room and close the door. It rears back and starts shooting frost out of its mouth, and V scrambles to close the door. The creature screams and scrambles towards it, chips of the door are coming off and a claw bursts through. We enter initiative! V tries to push the creature, grappling with it. It screeches making Frankie afeared and she fires off a firebolt. XIL buffs V and Mania steps from the shadows to fire a crack shot at the creature: "Where did you come from?" and Mania goes, "The shadows." "Whatever you just did, do it again!" It attacks Frankie, leaving a chill that lingers on him. Mania goes again, steadying herself and she kills it with a final arrow. It explodes into a million ice shards. Corwin is frozen, he can't be revived except for a resurrection. I can't tell the time of death because everything is frozen but the ice is definitely some sort of magic ice. He looks frozen in fear, horrified. Mania has heard rumors that the snow is piling up sometimes in the district squares, and some people are saying that the Council is trying to hide the effects of the blackout. V freaks out and runs to tell the Forge Knights what happened to Corwin. The first responder Forge Knight turns to their sparrow familiar and has them fly to the Spire. They tell us that we're safe, that there's nothing to be concerned about, that there isn't really anything inside the barriers. Mania doesn't believe them. Frankie is pretty sure there's something shady about this. While V was getting the guard, Mania finds a golden sphere in a hollowed-out book with a magical aura. **Extra Notes** Room and Board for Frankie and V: 100g/mo