Campaign: Astrodia
DM: Tommy
Players: Jim, Roy, Kat, Emily, Yemko (Kenyaita absent — Asha traveled with the party but stayed out of the spotlight)
Date: July 15, 2026 (Session 7)
Where We Left Off
Picking up in the basement safehouse beneath Myrna’s beach house in Lathen, the party — The Fallen — sat with the fallout of the previous session: Simone’s enchanted-sand map of magic had exposed Leif as a Warlock, not the druid he’d claimed. The green (fourth-magic) sand had crawled toward him just as the divine sand crawled toward the Golden Chalice. The S.A.T.O. (“the Satyrs”) had also confirmed the chalice is an extremely powerful divine artifact, that the Academy is hunting a figure called the Seeker of the Sinful Spoils, and that a fourth, undisclosed magic tied to the Great Cataclysm now secretly powers every major civilization.
A Warlock Among Us
With the secret out, the party turned to Leif with concern rather than judgment. Drolta, herself a warlock, reassured him — a patron isn’t necessarily a curse. “I appreciate my patron… it’s not always bad. It depends on your relationship with them.”
Leif described his own patron plainly: he hears whispers, occasionally, in a language he cannot understand, echoing in his head. That is all he knows. The party wondered if it could be healed:
- Aren (a cleric) doubted any cleric could undo a warlock pact — “I’m not sure any cleric can heal a divine deal.”
- Notably, Aren — who despises anything that perverts the boundary between life and death — had no objection to Leif being a warlock: “Leif is fully living right now. He’s not broken.” Her enmity is reserved for the undead.
Leif and Red shared a quiet reconciliation — Red held no grudge over the deception. “Still staff bros.”
Myrna’s Beach House
Myrna led everyone up out of the basement into the main floor of what turned out to be her family’s summer vacation home — a genuine mansion. Myrna waved it off as “my little family’s getaway,” while her friends quietly clued the party in: Myrna is the wealthy exception among them, and they’ve learned to let her live in the assumption that everyone has that kind of money.
Red gained a new companion: through a ritual, he bound a raven familiar named Bama. Bama and Leif’s owl Howl took to each other immediately.
Meet Archibald
The Nor family’s butler, Archibald, introduced himself and set about preparing dinner for twelve on short notice — with unsettling ease. Úlfr’s read on him (Insight 14): a perfectly competent butler, but more than a butler — a fixer/bodyguard who quietly provides “additional services” to the family.
The party soon learned why:
- Archibald can cast Teleport — a high-level wizard spell (confirmed by an Arcana check). He is the one who ferries the S.A.T.O. between their campuses. He deflected questions about where a “butler” learns such magic.
- He serves the meal using Unseen Servant, plates floating themselves back to the kitchen (Leif recognized the spell).
- He eavesdrops as a matter of professional duty — “It’s my job to know what takes place under this roof.” On the White Forest, he offered the most useful lead of the night: there was research into the forest’s history before the Academy banned the subject, and the party should find a scholar or professor who studied it prior to the restriction.
- He is discreet about the Nor family but vouched for Myrna: “a good soul, with a strong will and a good head on her shoulders.”
(For the record — Archibald’s menu: potato-and-leek stew, an iceberg wedge salad with blue-cheese cream, panko-crusted seared halibut, and mini molten chocolate lava cakes.)
The Locked Door
During the pre-dinner rest, curiosity got the better of Drolta, Red, and Leif, who tried to break into a locked room upstairs. Drolta’s lockpicking failed; Red then tried to dismantle the lock with his carpenter’s tools — and struck the metal so hard it rang a deafening TANG through the whole house.
Myrna and the S.A.T.O. came running. Red’s cover story (Deception at disadvantage) fell flat, and Myrna was genuinely hurt: “I know I just drugged you, but this is way not cool… you could have just asked me.” She refused to open it — it’s her father’s away-from-home study — and shut the matter down. Simone gently advised the party to stay on Myrna’s good side (the perks of her friendship — and her mansion — outweigh the costs). At dinner, Drolta apologized (Persuasion with advantage, backed by Red and Aren) and Myrna let it go.
Dinner and the Map of Magic
Over Archibald’s courses, Tobin raised a question about Simone’s map. The green fourth-magic concentrates at every major seat of power — the Citadel of the Endymion Empire, La Maison of the arts college, the head church of Dogmatika, the Academy — but two anomalies stood out:
- A spot over a desert on the Lost Continent.
- A spike at Pentamarone — supposedly “just a little village” on the border of Artmegia and the Endymion Empire.
Aren (a native of the Empire) knew Pentamarone: a small artisan crafting town, home to the WitchCrafters — a female guild of witches who produce much of the art and crafting supplies traded across the continent. Crucially, it is the only place inside Empire borders not under the Empire’s jurisdiction. Aren speculated the witches may have learned to harness the fourth magic to resist the Empire.
The Magistus
Someone recalled that Pentamarone was founded by one of the Magistus — and the table’s collective history (Red rolling best) surfaced the legend:
- The Magistus are the spellcasters who stopped the Great Cataclysm.
- Accounts conflict on their number: some say three, some four. Quintilius’s version reconciles it — four went out, but only three returned.
- Only one Magistus is known to still be alive today: Emperor Endymion himself — currently marching an army to unify the continent, and possibly the most powerful spellcaster in the world. The other two returners vanished shortly after coming back.
The implications rippled outward: one Magistus rules the Empire from the Citadel, while another founded Pentamarone — the one town the Empire doesn’t control — hinting at a falling-out among the Magistus. And the green cataclysm-magic runs along the very line the Magistus supposedly stopped. Úlfr connected the threads aloud: the students want to know where the green magic came from, and here is an unexplained pocket of it in a town founded by a Cataclysm-stopper. Someone should go look.
The Whispering One
At the head of the table, Úlfr rose to deliver on the quest Leif had given him — to name his patron. He spoke of his people’s reverence for names and stories, and of the old belief in a time before names, when the gods had not yet carved the world into things that could be spoken of, and there were older powers — vast, and loud, and quiet.
“I think we should call your patron the Whispering One.”
The table loved it. The Whispering One — a working name until the entity’s true name is known, a way to begin understanding it rather than merely being spoken to. The party toasted: “To the Whispering One.” Drolta offered to ask her own patron, Nephthys, for more information — no guarantees, but worth a try. Leif was moved and grateful.
A Night’s Rest, Then the Town of Lathen
The S.A.T.O. teleported home for the night (Archibald casting), leaving the party the run of the safehouse. After a long rest, the party set out to explore Lathen — a small port city to the south, better known as a spring-break destination for Academy students than for anything else. Two weeks a year it’s overrun; the rest of the year the locals just get by.
- A town gate with bored, lax guards who waved the party through once they name-dropped Myrna.
- A shanty/nightlife district to the “left” — rentals and taverns where the college crowd comes to drink; clearly the trashier quarter.
- A business/port district to the “right” — warehouses and cargo staging where ships offload goods bound inland. This is the part of town with a purpose beyond tourism.
The Temple of the Agent of Mysteries
Lathen’s small temple is dedicated to Earth, the Agent of Mysteries — a winged young woman whose statue crowns the doorway (Aren recognized her at once). A sermon had just let out; the friendly priest welcomed the outsiders to worship whatever higher power they served, since his goddess embraces the great mysteries — including which being is the right one to devote oneself to. This turned into the session’s great cosmology download:
The Solemn Pantheon. The world was shaped by a singular higher being, the Solemn, who has since departed, leaving his Agents to govern his domains. There are nine canonical Agents (some argue ten):
| Agent | Domain |
|---|---|
| Mercury | Wisdom |
| Venus | Creation |
| Earth | Mystery |
| Mars | Force |
| Jupiter | Miracles |
| Saturn | Judgment |
| Uranus | Entropy |
| Neptune | Life |
| Pluto | Death |
The disputed tenth — The Moon. Some theologians hold that the Moon is a sentient power on par with the Agents, but whose purpose is to protect the Agents rather than govern mortals. She is said to reach out to those she deems worthy to aid her in that protection.
The Dark Lords. Shortly after creation, a group of higher angels (just below the Agents in power) rebelled against the Pantheon, were cast down, and fell to earth, sowing discord among mortals ever since — even before the Severance. The first and their leader is the Morning Star; some claim to have seen his physical form. (An uneasy echo: the party calls itself The Fallen.)
On the White Forest, the priest knew nothing beyond the curse, and believed — on faith alone — that it was stopped by divine intervention. He was aware of no divine or Pantheon connection to the forest itself.
Red drew a private thread out of the sermon. He described a recurring dream — three orbs (purple, blue, red) hanging before the moon, with the animals he knew “betwixt and bewitched” — which the priest identified as Venus’s three orbs, the muses through which she channels divine inspiration. Red then admitted he’s also been dreaming of the moon, and things had “started happening.” The priest’s read: the Moon may be reaching out to Red as one of her “lucky few.” He promised to research the Moon’s worship and get back to him. Red dropped a silver in the collection basket.
The Curse of the White Forest
Across the day’s conversations, the party assembled what’s known of the White Forest:
- Named for its ethereal white trees — unnatural, clearly touched by magic (probably divine, per Simone’s map).
- Decades ago, a curse spread from the forest as cursed vines and thorns that corrupted the land and killed or corrupted anyone who touched them. The Academy and even the Endymion Empire sent people to stop it; all failed.
- After roughly ten years and ~50% progress into the continent, the vines suddenly receded on their own — no one knows what stopped them, or why.
- Even before the curse it was a strange place, with a persistent rumor of a coven of witches living within.
- Quintilius’s warning: it’s a cursed place that “almost destroyed the continent,” and now holds the largest store of divine power in the world. He cheerfully offered to give a good eulogy at the party’s funeral.
Drolta’s Temple, and the Vampires Who Attacked It
Discussing the planned stop at a Nephthys temple on the edge of the White Forest, Drolta shared her past: she was a high priestess there. She left after a gruesome attack in which vampiric beings (Lady Nectaria’s kind) killed many of the faithful searching for something — and she has been tasked with, and is searching for, the truth of what happened. She hasn’t returned since; the memories are too painful, but the chalice and the new magic feel familiar to her.
This sparked a broader realization (Rosie leading): vampires are the only higher beings still active in the world — likely among the oldest living beings, and quite possibly the only ones who actually remember the Severance, which mortals do not understand. There is a vampire professor at Witherbloom College — Professor Valentine — who could be a source, if she can be approached without being killed by (or killing) the party. Aren, unsurprisingly, floated simply eliminating her.
The Plan Forward
By session’s end the party had a layered plan:
- Local temple first — done (the Agent of Mysteries temple in Lathen), for general divine grounding.
- Teleport to the Quandrix campus (Simone provided the runes; Archibald casts, using publicly available circles so the party arrives looking like ordinary travelers). Then immediately leave campus to avoid Academy eyes.
- Travel overland ~6 days to the Nephthys temple on the edge of the White Forest — ostensibly a pilgrimage, really to investigate Drolta’s tragedy and the divine energy.
- Side trip to Pentamarone — via ship up the river (Archibald’s suggestion; Myrna may arrange passage through her father’s shipping business) — to investigate the anomalous green magic and the WitchCrafters, crossing into contested Empire border territory.
Chosen Quandrix over Witherbloom: Drolta still means to visit Professor Valentine, but the group prioritized the forest mystery and Nephthys temple for now.
S.A.T.O. tasks (the “Dumbledore’s Army” on the inside):
- Tobin will dig Academy records for how many “Sinful Spoils” there are and what they are.
- Simone will trace who donated the star-tablet Asha translated (the artifact that got her expelled) — a potential lead to the White Forest.
- Contact maintained via the Sending Stones (once per day).
The repo clock: the Arcane Reclamation Initiative can’t repossess the chalice for about 20 more days (~10 of 30 used), so the party isn’t yet actively hunted — but teleporting will still flag their location to the Academy.
Loot & Resources
| Item / Resource | Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Raven familiar “Bama” | Bound by Red via ritual; friendly with Leif’s owl Howl | |
| **Teleportation runes to [[Quandrix College | Quandrix]]** | From Simone, via Archibald |
Open Threads
- The Whispering One — Leif’s patron now has a name. Drolta will ask Nephthys about it; Úlfr prayed for its true name. What does it want, and what did Leif’s meditation bind him to?
- The Orb Creature — Still imprisoned, still speaking the Whispering One’s tongue. The clearest physical link to Leif’s patron.
- Pentamarone & the WitchCrafters — An anomalous spike of green magic in a witch-run town the Empire doesn’t control, founded by a Magistus. Next investigative target.
- The Magistus — The four who stopped the Cataclysm; only Emperor Endymion is known alive. Two returners vanished; the fourth never came back. A likely falling-out.
- The Moon & Red’s Dreams — The disputed tenth Agent may be reaching out to Red (moon dreams + Venus’s three orbs). The Lathen priest is researching her worship.
- The Dark Lords / the Morning Star — Fallen angels sowing discord since before the Severance. Note the eerie name-echo with the party’s own The Fallen.
- The White Forest Curse — Vines that corrupted half a continent, then receded for no known reason; a rumored witch coven; the world’s largest store of divine power. The party’s destination.
- Archibald’s True Nature — A “butler” who casts Teleport and reads as a fixer/bodyguard. What is the Nor family, really?
- The Nephthys Temple & Drolta’s Past — Site of a vampire massacre searching for something; Drolta’s unfinished business.
- Vampires as Witnesses to the Severance — The oldest active higher beings; Professor Valentine at Witherbloom College is a potential (dangerous) source.
- The Sinful Spoils — How many are there? Tobin is checking. The chalice may be one.
- Who donated Asha’s star-tablet? — Simone’s lead toward the forbidden White Forest research.
Next Session
The Fallen step out of the teleportation circle onto the Quandrix campus — the college of numeromancy, all fractal gardens, cube fountains, and aqueducts of solid water — and set off on the ~6-day overland journey to the Nephthys temple, chalice in hand and the Whispering One whispering. (Next play session: the following Wednesday.)
