Bitterness and Dread

is the second episode of Exandria Unlimited: Calamity, the third installment of the Exandria Unlimited series of miniseries. The Ring of Brass deepen their investigation into Vespin's inconceivable ritual while juggling their own profound desires and lofty ambitions...

Part I
Cerrit, having just seen Vespin Chloras in the mirror and having killed an invisible entity, continues to investigate the room. He notices the glyph of the Golden Scythe on the deanimated hodmedod, but no means of animation for it. He also finds that the inside of the throat of the person he killed is covered in growths. As he prepares to exit the room, he gets a call on his sending stone from his son, Kir. Kir, using code names and pretending to be a detective, tells him that Maya, Cerrit's daughter and Kir's older sister, has been sneaking drinks of liquor in Cerrit's absence. Cerrit tells Kir not to worry and that he would take care of it when he got home, and that he loves him. Kir told him he loves back and asked when his mother would be home; Cerrit reassured him that he wasn't sure, but that she was "brilliant" and very busy working on important things. Cerrit then exited to return to the party in the hopes of finding Zerxus.

Outside, Loquatius realizes that Purvan Suul's terseness was likely due to him being afraid and not having any more information than he gave them. Meanwhile, Zerxus summons Tempus and attempts to catch up to Nydas, who had left earlier, but misses him.

At the Golden Scythe, Nydas asks Alessander to provide him with four automata. When Alessander tells him that he cannot spare any, Nydas asks him to requisition the Taxmen, a special prototype the Golden Scythe is secretly developing on behalf of the city of Avalir. Alessander is reluctant, but ultimately agrees.

Back at the Palazzo Por'co, in the ivy-covered alcove of the Ring of Brass, Loquatius tells Cerrit and Patia about his talk with Purvan and Cerrit tells the others of the hodmedod, invisible person, and Vespin Chloras's threat that they would not see the Wildmother's embrace, which he interprets as a potential issue with the city's landing. Patia and Loquatius urge Cerrit to continue investigating but not to alert anyone else; Cerrit asks to speak to the rest of the Ring of Brass. Patia also mentions that she's aware of what Nydas might be doing.

In the Meridian Labyrinth, Laerryn stands before the Astral Leywright, a large machine with a pendulum. The pendulum swings over a massive platform covered in runes, and is fed by batteries and immense amounts of arcane energy. It attaches to another device, called the Ley-Rudder. Laerryn also holds a locket that once belonged to Evandrin Alterra, Zerxus's deceased husband. She recalls both good memories, but also Evandrin fading away into translucence, and the guilt of not knowing if she had caused it. She hears footsteps and casts Animate Objects for protection but drops it when she sees it's Nydas. After Laerryn and Dweomer express some surprise at the strange Taxmen, Laerryn drops concentration on Rary's Telepathic Bond and tells Nydas that it's time to move the city, as the apogee solstice only comes once every 120 years and it is their only opportunity. They insert the bow from a solar that Cerrit had brought to the party and activate the machine. Two of the Taxmen begin to be crushed, but Nydas and Laerryn see the leylines of Cathmoíra as the machine continues to work. Nydas is deeply moved. The engines then stop, and the Ley-Rudder moves along with Avalir, then at a diagonal to Avalir's path, then disappears. The gems on the Astral Leywright blink, confirming that the transfer to another plane was successful.

Nydas and Laerryn celebrate and Laerryn says that she will inform the rest of the city about the plan to travel to other planes after the Replenishment. However, Laerryn and Dweomer then notice that 8% of the city's power was used on the experiment, and that the Arboreal Calix appears to have drawn that power. Laerryn attempts to fix the problem, but primarily recalls that the Arboreal Calix draws the majority of the energy tithed to the Gau Drashari per the terms of the Pact of Crown and Throne; it has no instructions and typically does not draw her attention, and she used it only as an ancillary engine. She realizes that the best source of information would be the Magisterium, as the Arboreal Calix had been built 119 years prior, when the pact was last updated shortly after the ascension of the Raven Queen.

As this occurs Zerxus arrives at the Golden Scythe and finds out from Alessander that Nydas had gone into the Meridian Labyrinth to work on something with Laerryn. He then flies to the labyrinth and quickly catches up to Nydas and Laerryn. While Zerxus notices that Laerryn is holding Evandrin's locket and is highly emotional, Nydas manages to divert his attention, and the three of them return to the rest of the party at the Palazzo Por'co.

At the Palazzo, Cerrit notices a strange sense, as if the city had reached a ley intersection he was unaware of. Patia distracts the partygoers and Laerryn excitedly tells her that the Astral Leywright had been successful, but that the Arboreal Calix was drawing power and she needed to learn more from the Magisterium. Loquatius, Cerrit, and Zerxus all express surprise, having been unaware of these experiments; Laerryn tells them that the only thing separating them from the gods is the ability to travel between the planes, and this would allow them to do so. Patia and Nydas are both in support of this, and Patia mentions Aeor's upcoming weapons test as a reason to travel and gain more knowledge from other sources. Zerxus, meanwhile, cautions the group to keep quiet as this would make them, and the city, a potential target. Cerrit and Zerxus also catch the others up on their respective encounters with Vespin Chloras and Purvan. The group all realize that the number of coincidences on this night is building up to something concerning that is likely to occur within the next 24 hours. Patia also recalls the lore she had been told about the solstices, taught to her by the woman who would one day be the Raven Queen. Zerxus gives the others a stirring speech and they all go to further investigate the man Cerrit killed.

Zerxus, upon seeing the body and the growths within it, realize the man is a k'nauth: a person so dedicated to the gods they serve as a puppet of them. He also realizes that the growths date back only two weeks, indicating this man became a cleric of a Betrayer God within that time - which in turn means that the Betrayers must have been released, as they had not been able to lend their powers since their imprisonment during the Schism. Loquatius, in turn, realizes that the cleric must have been sent to do something, but was stopped by Cerrit. This leads Patia to discover that the cleric entered the party disguised as Lacrytia Hollow's hodmedod, then slipped into the room and went invisible, at which point Cerrit found him. As the party discusses what to do next, the fireworks display for the Festival of Replenishment begins.

Part II
Patia opens Lacrytia's gift and finds it is a small vial of nonmagical poison, accompanied by a note reading, "When the time comes, this will be the easier way out. All things end: Lives, stories, even ages." Laerryn shatters the vial on the floor while Patia attempts Scrying on Lacrytia, but it fails due to Lacrytia's Ring of Mind Shielding. The two wizards go to Madara Glyph, who had been speaking with Lacrytia for much of the evening. Madara tells them that Lacrytia had told Micah Cormorant that she wanted to follow Purvan, presumably to apologize for slighting him, but Patia notices she seems confused and casts Detect Thoughts. She finds that Magister Cormorant had ineptly cast Modify Memory on Madara to cover up Lacrytia going invisible and beginning to cast something likely fatal on Purvan. Patia realizes that Loquatius and Zerxus likely inadvertently saved Purvan by being present with him until he left, and coldly dismisses Madara.

The Ring of Brass, connected again by Rary's Telepathic Bond, then split up. Cerrit and Loquatius go to the Herald's Tome to look for more information on Vespin Chloras. Loquatius finds an interview with Vespin reported by Elena Tuvaris, in which Vespin stated that a future recreation of the Raven Queen's ritual was inevitable, and likely would not dethrone a Prime Deity in the same way. Cerrit finds footage of a party in Vasselheim, about eight years prior, in which Vespin was speaking to Lacrytia Hollow and Loras of the Weaver's Mask and mentioned the Tree of Names in connection to the ascension ritual. Cerrit recalls from his training at the Eyes of Avalir that the Tree of Names is within the Arboreal Calix, and that it is considered incredibly important to Avalir and the pact with the Gau Drashari. When he mentions this over the bond, Zerxus recalls the tree from his dream and that the blossoms in the dream seemed to sicken Evandrin. This leads Cerrit to realize that Elena's files on Evandrin appear to be empty. He asks Loquatius for more information, but Loquatius only tells him that Elena had had to be dismissed some time ago.

Patia and Laerryn arrive at the Magisterium. They find Magister Cormorant's office, and upon discovering the door is locked, Laerryn summons a construct to break it down. Within the room, Patia detects something magical to the left, and Laerryn casts Fireball. Micah Cormorant attempts to Counterspell it, but fails, and appears, having lost concentration on Greater Invisibility due to the damage. The construct then kills him. The wizards search his office and find that he has been tampering with the teleportation circles to permit illegal entry into the city, and that he had pulled files on both Laerryn's work and on the Pact of Crown and Throne. The notes on the pact indicate that the Gau Drashari had concerns about the wizards of Avalir abusing the power of the Tree of Names and had refused to reveal more about it. Patia copies all the information into her orb.

Nydas and Zerxus arrive at the Hall of Prophecy and find it closed and heavily guarded. Sofyra, an oracle and friend of Zerxus's, tells him that Loras had closed the hall to anyone he did not permit entry. Nydas notices that Sofyra has been crying. He convinces her that Loras had given them permission, and she lets them in, but Nydas and Zerxus both realize that something is wrong. Sofyra tells them that Loras's instructions had been unclear, and that his counterpart, Volucia of Heart's Emblem, had not only left Avalir, but had broken her wizard's staff and renounced her magic after an argument with Loras. Sofyra tells them that beginning two weeks ago, the oracles, beginning with a young woman named Karwen, began to prophesize falsely go mad, and anyone who tried to heal them similarly went mad. The others reached out to the Octothurge, and Volucia was sent. Karwen had seemed to be recovering, but something terrible happened, and, while she lived, Sofyra is now the only oracle who has not gone mad.

Zerxus goes to investigate Karwen's chamber and finds Karwen, seemingly healthy, asleep in her bed, surrounded by a runic circle, but also notices her mirror is broken. He pulls out his and Evandrin's name stones and detects the presence of something fiendish, and reflected in a stream of water down the wall he sees the red, horned figure from his dreams, badly wounded. Zerxus goes through the wall and asks him who he is. The man responds that he is Lord of the Hells, and Zerxus heals him. Zerxus finds him to be hurt and confused, and that he looks reminiscent of Evandrin. The Lord of the Hells tells Zerxus that the doors of his prison had recently violently opened. Zerxus asks the man to explain why he had been imprisoned, and as the Lord of the Hells tells the story, Zerxus casts Ceremony, specifically Atonement.

The Lord of the Hells explains that the gods who would be called the Betrayers created the opposite of positive things such as love and truth in order to enhance the effect of those positive concepts, but the mortals were unhappy with them and did not worship the gods who had created them. When the Primordials began to kill those mortals, the Betrayer Gods felt that the Primordials were justified, as they had been in Exandria before mortals. He becomes upset as he tells the story, and Zerxus comforts him, telling him that much as he adopted his son, Elias, despite not being his biological father, so are the people of Exandria to the Betrayers. The god tells him that he will not forget him, and asks him about Evandrin. Zerxus tells him about the strange illness that made Evandrin fade away. The god then interrupts the casting of Ceremony, and instead casts Protection against Good and Evil on Zerxus. Zerxus then leaves.

Sofyra brings the prophecy that had been deemed false to Nydas, who reads it: "The stars are leaving us. Our hands cannot reach the limbs of the tree, can no longer scribe the name of our deliverance. We will soon be as broken as our promises. Avalir shall fall. All shall fall. And from our folly will the hands that forge the world banish themselves from the broken things they have made." He seems affected, but tells Sofyra that everything will be fine and that the prophecy is indeed false.

As Ring of Brass begins to regroup, Laerryn receives a message on her Ring of Masks from her Helmswoman, Akami Rowe, who tells her the city is in position for descent to Domunas and that everything is going smoothly, but Laerryn then hears a choking noise and the communication cuts off abruptly. She tells the others to head to the Meridian Labyrinth, but they are stopped by Lacrytia Hollow and other figures on the rooftop. The episode ends with an initiative roll.

Ring of Brass

 * Cerrit Agrupnin
 * Laerryn Coramar-Seelie
 * Loquatius Seelie
 * Nydas Okiro
 * Patia Por'co
 * Zerxus Ilerez

New

 * Akami Rowe, Helmswoman to Laerryn
 * Karwen, oracle of the Hall of Prophecy
 * Kir, Cerrit's son (via sending stone)
 * Sofyra, oracle at the Hall of Prophecy

Returning

 * Alessander Kyrus
 * Asmodeus
 * Dweomer
 * Lacrytia Hollow
 * Madara Glyph
 * Micah Cormorant
 * Tempus

Mentioned

 * Calum Staffwright
 * Elena Tuvaris, reporter for the Herald's Tome eight or nine years ago
 * Evandrin Alterra
 * Feromyne
 * Loras
 * Maya, Cerrit's daughter
 * Melora
 * Pelor
 * Purvan Suul
 * The Raven Queen
 * Vespin Chloras
 * Volucia of the Heart's Emblem