The Tenrook and Talonguard are most pleased with the triumphs and tribulations of the Knight Owls over these past six months.  The organization as whole has had more internal struggles than in the past, but through the actions of a few, traitors were exposed and eliminated and the Tenrook is confident in the organization's ability to not only recover, but become stronger than ever.

  The Tenrook, in honor of the powerful deeds done by their members, have offered the following decrees:
1) In celebration and recognition of outstanding conduct in the dawn of a new age, we allow each Knight 1 year of respite from their Owl duties.  Each Owl is free to pursue their own work, but keep their annual salary (100 platinum)..
2) Those imparted unto the Skypiercer shall be granted a boon; treasure, artifact, something else; please discuss with your sources what you would like.

IN-GAME
Player characters have 1-year in game time to do something.  They will message the GM with what they'd like to accomplish, and we will work together to create a narrative that could be shared (with permission) here as an Interlude segment.  They will also plead a case for their boon; like a present for a fantastic year of epic content.  (This is, and always will be, OPTIONAL.  It is NOT a requirement of play.)

  Upon returning to Tidespear, Anai'Stra'sana does not dismount the Skypiercer with the rest of the party.  It appears, at least for now, that the creature has laid "claim" to the vessel.  Each dawn, it calls lightning into the vessel's conduits, and through an odd form of purring, appears to be reconfiguring its circuits.
  Loremaster Edwin Gola has attempted to address the creature, but has been met only with an inscription...burned into the stonework at his feet.  It took him weeks to decode it, but it reads: 
​  "You do not own me.  I faced the dragon without my sisters, and it pained me.  Let me find them; then we’ll talk of this…’transportation’."

For now, the Skypiercer belongs to no one.

  The battle now won, the Seed returns to its Sheath, Nikz.  However, summoning it is...problematic.  Though Nikz tries, often it does not form.  His mark remains on his palm, but he wonders if the sword will be needed in the future, or if his time has passed for now.
  Eli and Alvus, however, take note of a mark upon each palm that held the sword.  It appears to be a simple tan ring, with two lines of different lengths bisecting at their ends.  It is more of a tattoo than anything else, and as time rolls on, a lighter hue of skin tone in the center of this "clock" appears, framing an upside-down hammer...like a pendulum. 

Tendrils of black lightning lash out onto the party streaking up and over and around the metallic shields, burning holes into the group (and dropping Brysar in the process).  Xun Fu seeing the opportunity of the red dragon laying splayed before him, he flurries blows in its general direction, but misses each one.  Beebir considers his options at the front of the ship, staring into the face of the draconic visage; he notices that the form may not be "solid" and appears to ebb and flow from within the cloud.  He discerns that this is some sort of draconic umbra in the storm, and the face is not actually Narizguun in the flesh.  With this knowledge, the bard fires the arbalest in front of him into the face - it slides through the face to no effect (piercing immunity).  
  Eli, his hands still grasping the Seed, wills its elemental damage to fire, and sets to work freeing the neck of the ship from the grasp of the Umbra, cleaving into the claw and pouring the white hot light of oblivion into it.  The right claw recoils in intense pain, bits of it burning away, and it releases the neck of the ship (that 10-foot wide path now a rickety 5-foot path).
  The red wyrmling refuses to die, leaping back onto Xun Fu and digging his jaws into his leg.  The copper slams against Gosef's Shield of Faith to no effect.  The green dracolich, unable to retrieve its poisonous breath, instead takes a swipe at Riswynn (slams against the Shield of Faith), then digs a claw into Brysar's body (auto-crit, loses two death saves) in frustration, and bites into Riswynn.  Seeing Brysar at death's door, Riswynn sends a healing word to him, bringing him back from the brink (he instinctively, and quite effectively, plays dead) and whips a thorn whip into the dracolich's big toe.  Darrak triumphantly returns, burning another legendary resistance, then effectively stunning the creature...and forcing him to fall prone...onto Brysar (who is also knocked unconscious).
  Elata uses her Spellcraft ability (part of the Sage class) to use Tethered Teleport.  A lasso of energy wraps around Brysar's form, teleporting him to her side, where she sends a charged healing word to him.  Notloc slams his hand into the sharp prongs at the cockpit, willingly giving life-force to the ship.  Instantaneously, the ring of light around the ship re-ignites, pressing the cloud and the claws away from the ship; they seem to retract from the white light.  Gosef hops up and disengages from his copper wyrmling, downing a greater healing potion.  Alvus decides that now is the best time to fling alchemist fire at the draconic face.  The flask explodes across the face as the green fire displaces some of the visage.  
  The seven orbs of black lightning begin to circle again, streaks of energy arching and crackling into the party, putting Alvus within an inch of his life.  One orb, however, loses its charge on its own (critical failure), and crackles out of existence.  The right claw then streaks across the head of the ship, slicing toward Eli, Alvus, and Beebir...  But Eli intercepts the claw, using the Seed to slice off and eradicate the fingers of the claw, and it passes over his allies harmlessly before reforming the fingers within the cloud.  Seizing the opportunity, Beebir uses Run Like Hell (Asset) to automatically sprint down the rickety neck of the ship, far away from the dangers at the front.  The bard's escape was just in time, it seems, as the left claw slices across the head, cleaving into Alvus and Eli.  As the rogue begins to fall, however, he engages a second Soulfire (Asset) to heal and maintain damage resistance for another few moments.  
  But then the terrifying visage opens its crackling maw at the front of the ship, and spews a wave of necrotic breath across half the deck.  Notloc, Eli, Alvus, and Darrak all feel the pulsing undeath spread into them, robbing them of valuable life-force (and dropping their maximum hit points).  Xun Fu continues his assault on the red wyrmling, at last connecting under its jaw and slicing it off, then takes the opportunity to drink a greater healing potion.  Beebir, now near the cannons, takes the helm of one and fires a column of force through the Umbra's eye...which does not re-form.  
  The rumbling voice of the storm again fills their ears.
  "I SHALL ADD YOU TO MY FLESH."
  And in response, Eli lays-on-hands himself.  :)  (he was down to 1 HP)
  "I CAN SMELL...MY SON...UPON YOU."
  The party is now adequately creeped out.
  The copper wyrmling, bored with the wizard, flaps over to Xun, biting and clawing.  Brysar (!) rises at last, downs a healing potion, glaring at the prone dracolich, and fires a firebolt at the copper dragon...revealing its resistance to fire.  Riswynn contemplates the degrees at which a dragon is not a beast, and ineffectively fires an arrow on the green one's hide.  Darrak runs up to the dracolich, still prone on its face, and yells to the party, "If you have a potion of invincibility, drink it now!" and proceeds to punch it into stunned silence once more.  Beebir suddenly feels a warm touch upon his body, and watches as his skin and clothes cover with a veiled layer of rock; he feels protected and solid as Elata casts Stoneskin upon him.  Notloc at the wheel, he immediately downs his potion of invincibility, then attempts to blast the Umbra with a ray of light, but misses.  
  As the ray disappears into the cloud, the party shudders as another dry, sucking roar fills their ears.  Wings shredded and broken, slices of flesh and exposed bone, the form of a white dracolich, massive and angry, appears in the cloud behind the ship.  It rockets toward the tail...
  In preparation for the coming hell, Alvus chugs a greater healing potion, then spends his third Asset, Scroll of Disintegrate, upon the Umbra...  
  And with the inspiration and luck of his allies behind him, Alvus holds up the scroll and a sickly green ray of light slinks through the sky toward the draconic visage.  The scroll burns away, and for a moment, nothing happens.  The storm shifts around them as time seems to slow....

They watch the smoking face of the Umbra, a huge draconic head, open its maw once more, necrotic breath licking the edges of its mouth...then scream as the spell detonates in the center of its face.  The Umbra is split apart, ripped asunder, and the claws begin to rend endlessly into the ship as the Umbra enters its Death Spiral.  The motes of black lightning supercharge, and rush inward toward the ship, punching holes through the hull and joints.
  And as the claws mindlessly grind themselves into nothing against the ship, the party feels the relic begin to spin, as one wing detaches, flung into the abyss below, and they, too, enter a spiral...
  

  Tonight the collected Owls find themselves in the War Room in the high tower of Tidespear Keep.  They have been invited at Keddigan's request to attend the grand cleric Arif Teth's strategy meeting.  
  Arif is human, young but commanding, hair red as fire and decked out in heavy half-plate.  The wings of Sarenrae splay out from his silver and violet cloak.  He pours over a set of maps, some laid out over others, trying to formulate a defensive strategy should the storm move closer, while simultaneously making sense of the jury-rigged layout of the known world.  The maps are dotted with small pins and markers of various flags and crests.  As the players watch, he moves one such marker from fortress at Orlandin to mountain castle of Frostburn, muttering, "Don't know if the Pale Guard will be of any use right now..."
  As Arif ponders, the Owls take note of the assembled maps, noticing that the ones positioned beyond Io's Edge are much less...ornate than the others, clearly an artist's representation of a guess of what might reside beyond the known world.  They also take in the silent Striga, sharpening his halberd as he watches the night sky grow thick with clouds and cold.  In the other corner of the room, a studious Elata examines the text of her Magnus as it floats a few inches above her lap, moving the glowing script around as her eyes move alarmingly fast over the words.  ...Malfurik does pushups in the corner.
  Arif: "I just wish there was less risk. Sending a ship we barely understand into an enemy's lair in the sky seems a bit ludicrous... But if we wait too long, we threaten to be overrun in a fortnight."  After a few moments, he crosses his arms and breathes out a heavy sigh.  "It seems that there is no way around it.  Take tonight...you leave at dawn."  
  Arif exits the room and the Owls each go to prepare in their own ways, but before they separate, a very inebriated Darrak stumbles around the room, handing each ally a small vial, slurring, "Take this when we're in battle, but not before...  Potion of invis, uh, invus, *cough*, invulsilibility (Invincibility).
  Riswynn, Xun Fu, Gosef, and Brysar go to rest immediately, eager to get enough sleep for whatever comes tomorrow.
  Notloc takes out his guide to the prime gods and finds the chapel of Sarenrae within the keep, taking an acolyte aside and asking him how to not die by dragon.  After receiving some sage advice on reading, the acolyte also hands off nine care packages (each with a greater healing potion and a flask of holy water) to Notloc; Notloc returns to the group and divvies them up, then returns to his reading.
  Eli and Elata spend some much needed time together.  Eli: "How do you feel about the coming battle?"  Elata looks up at him, a knowing smile creeping along her face.  "There is a chance.  A slim chance...but your chances are greater since I'm coming with you."  
  Eli mutters under his breath.  "You've saved my butt plenty of times, so I do not object."  
  Elata replies, matter-of-factly, "Tis a fine thing, so I must save it."  Then giggles and smiles as the dragonborn visibly blushes and turns away.  She then glances over at Beebir, who is examining his new necrotic longbow, muttering to himself about needing arrow.  Opening her Magnus, she summons two cordons of 30 arrows and a large quiver and tosses them over to the bard, who is taken aback and immediately starts practicing.
  Alvus finds Keddigan in the rafters, and asks him for some tinkering help...  The rogue spends the entirety of the evening (suffering 1 point of exhaustion) to alter his "crowbot" (procured from Malfurik sessions ago) to able to fly and deliver incendiary avian payloads within 20 feet...
  Darrak searches for a place to purchase healing potions...and comes up short, then goes to bed...
  
​  

  The Skypiercer is not a complete ship.  An Esper-class airship, the Owls have learned, utilizes at least two elemental souls to keep it running and flying.  This ship has three elemental brazers, and only one has a soul: the Firesoul, named Rai'Lepesk.  The other two brazers, Life and Lightning, are powered instead manually; Life needs blood, given willingly, and Lightning needs, well, lightning, sent into the lightning rod in the lower engine room below deck.  These three elements create rings of energy that wreath the ship; a fire ring around the neck, a burning white ring around the body, and a small ring of blue lightning around the tail of the ship.
  Darrak hands a Skybridger Brew to each of his allies, and takes point on one of the shoulder cannons, with Eli taking the other.  Notloc takes the wheel, and the ship whirs to life, rising from the keep and turning toward the storm ahead.  The mechanical, draconic wings on the ship begin to shift forward and beat the air in long, powerful strokes as the fire ring burns red hot.  In a rush of power and speed, the airship rockets forward, like a spear into the storm...
  As they approach, the clouds seem to stretch and widen, obscuring the sunlight further, and the Owls feel a rush of intense cold as sleet and hail begin to hammer against the ship.  Passing beyond Io's Edge, Alvus and Beebir peer over the side of the ship to the Aether abyss below...and swear they see flashes of topaz energy, illuminated tentacles, and an eye.  Chills running down their spines, they decide to turn their attention back to sleet and hailstones.
  The incoming clouds suddenly shift, swirling around the ship, like a cyclone.  Crackling lightning and booming thunder echo around them, and between these beats, a voice, louder than the gods themselves - it pierces each of them, vibrating the the ship's hull with each word - "I.  AM.  THE EYE."  
  Alvus' keen eyes spy something scaled and silver in the clouds.  "There's something out there!"  And there, a massive silver dragon emerges, eyes burning red, the clouds cling to it, like skin.  It opens its mouth, a ball of cold forming just ahead of its maw.  Darrak, sensing the creature's intent, aims and fires his cannon, the dragon dropping its wings and ducking under the shot, then arching over Eli's cannon fire.  It responds with a ball of ice toward the ship, Notloc deftly moving the wings out of the way.  But as they trade fire with the creature, they become aware that there are other...things...in the clouds.  Everyone readies for combat.
  
  Gosef moves first, hurling a Firebolt toward the dragon, smacking it right in the face.  Alvus looks up at the dragon to see it charge another ball of cold, aiming this time at the wizard.  The rogue grabs an Alchemist Fire and chucks it toward the dragon's mouth...but it smacks against the ship's shield and he catches it, putting it back away (oops), and diving behind a post on the ship deck, praying that the dragon doesn't see him.  Fu sees two wyrmlings, one copper and one red, emerge from under one of the wings, screaming toward the chamber he's in.  Taking the opportunity, Fu grabs the arbalest near him and sinks a bolt into the copper one.  Beebir, up front, fires his own arbalest bolt into the silver dragon.  Two more cannons miss the creature, as it fires a ball of cold at Gosef, freezing his legs.  Meanwhile, the red and copper dragons BOTH breathe fire, strafing around Xun Fu's chamber, but are unable to burn him.  Brysar quickens his spells, creating mirror images of himself and unleashing another firebolt toward the dragon, slamming into it.  The dragon then begins to charge...a lightning bolt.  Riswynn summons a moonbeam upon the silver, and Darrak hits it with a cannon shot.
  At this point, more creatures begin to emerge from the storm.  A draken beast and another wyrmling join the silver dragon at the front, while two adult dracoliches - one of bone, a heart of lightning in its chest, and a green and gold hybrid (covered in small scratches, like feline claw marks...) - slam their full weight into the wings; but Notloc is too fast on the wheel and keeps the ship steady.  Elata, seeing this, uses her Spell Augmentation to spin the weave of Shield of Faith to affect 5 other individuals.  Notloc then uses the Ring of Fire at the cockpit to send a devastating ray of energy strafing across the silver dragon and the wyrmling, knocking each back from the force of the ship.  
  Seeing the change in circumstance, and his allies attempting to keep the others at bay, Eli mounts his horse and slams his gauntlets together, white light emanating from them, as he draws the legendary Seed of Oblivion (on loan from Nikz), a 5-foot straight nodachi that glows a brilliant hot white.  With deft acrobatics, Eli's horse dashes out onto the wing, and he charges toward the skeletal dragon.  The sword cleaves through it, shaving off one wing, an arm, and several ribs as the creature roars.  It responds in kind, whacking the paladin with its one good claw, trying to knock him off the wing to the abyss below...  Eli falters, but stays where he is due to his horse's uncanny balance.  Happy to help, Darrak also rushes up while the others continue to sink arrows into the other creatures and uppercuts the thing's head off, it's body shattering into hundreds of pieces as it peels over the side.  
  With the copper and red wyrmlings now grappling the tail of the ship, the red one comes face to face with Fu's staff and fists, taking punishment enough to grasp the monk's staff in its jaws, angrily ripping it away from him.  The green dragon leaps from the side of the wing onto the main deck wall, spewing a torrent of poison into its metaphorical barrel of fish...and Gosef and Brysar fall unconscious from the cloud.  Riswynn sends a healing word to Brysar immediately.  Elata uses her Magnus Purge to use a Mass Cure Wounds at double healing, and raises the fallen casters.  
​  The silver dragon, frustrated with the damage it is suffering, stops flying and lands not the "face" of the ship, biting and clawing at Alvus and Beebir.  Beebir hops down enough to dodge, but Alvus is taken up in the creature's jaws, ground by the dragon's teeth...and he uses his Soulfire (Asset) to resist being eaten and drops back down to the deck.  Notloc calls upon the tempest, channeling his divinity through the Ring of Lightning, sending a laser beam of electricity into the silver dragon.  The beam enters the creature through the mouth, erupting in a concussive explosion that runs down to its tail, the body exploding out and the wings falling away.  But the respite is short-lived, as Alvus sees a Chimera emerge from the cloud, latching on the side of the ship, carving its way in...
  Alvus aims up at the new threat, sinking an arrow into the goat head through the eye; it hangs lifeless.  Beebir then sinks another bolt through the wyrmling's face...and it falls out of sight.  With Eli using Misty Step to get back on deck, his horse charges the Chimera...slicing it in two.  
  Beginning to regain control of the ship, the party begins to settle into a rhythm, but their victory is short-lived.  A crack of lightning splits the sky around them, and something huge shifts behind the cloud cover.  Movement.
"I.  CAN.  SMELL YOU."
Before the group can react, a huge claw of smoke and scales roars out of the storm, grappling the "neck" of the ship and pulling it down.  Screeching metal fills the party's ears as the path is partially crushed, and effectively cut off from the rest of the group.  
  The copper and red crawl into the ship, continuing to wreak havoc and turn Gosef into a chew toy.  Brysar bends logic and casts Gust of Wind on the smoke hand, appearing to deal some damage to its form...for now.  Riswynn, seeing this, then decides to move her Moonbeam to the hand, dealing radiant damage to it...which it EATS, and heals what the gust had done (Riswynn cancels Moonbeam).  Using his teleporting dagger, Darrak blinks forward to the green dragon lich...and proceeds to punch it into using all of his legendary resistances.  Elata Supercharges a healing word to Gosef's broken body.  Notloc attempts to call lightning from the storm...and calls it upon himself (this is not his storm).  But Gosef summons his own thunder and pushes the dragons away from him.  
​  Again, the group slowly gains control of the boat...until another massive claw emerges from the storm on the other side, slashing into the wings.  Seven orbs of black lightning begin to coalesce around the ship, bombarding it with strikes, and a giant draconic face peels into view before the ship...

Finished in Part 2 - stay tuned!

...As the party passes through the threshold onto a floor of white and golden sand, they become sonically assaulted by clicking clocks and grinding gears.  Across this massive room, they see immediately a giant grandfather clock with a pendulum, locked in place.  Spider cracks of conduits and etchings of gold and silver spread across the walls from the clock, and form fissures of energy that run along the floor toward three structures.  One is a familiar thing; a giant book, somewhat mechanical, locked shut by some invisible force, a black cube of glass resting upon its cover.  The other two appear to be dome-like chambers with four quadrants on each - cells, protected by thick glass and dark inside.  It appears as if these domes are "settling" into place.
  And as the doors shut and fall away to a sandstone wall, the domes click into place, and the clock, minute by minute, rapidly resets to noon.  At this point, each cell illuminates, and the party sees a variety of creatures inside most of them.  In the left dome, in order: 1) A powerful woman in black and red armor, black leathery wings, a vicious whip at her side, and a long, angry sword in one hand; 2) seemingly empty; 3) A small toad; 4) a dwarf-sized creature in dark leathers, with beard and hair of flame.  In the right dome, continuing in order: 5) a unicorn; 6) also empty, but with broken bits of furniture within, and as the party watches, there is an angry torrent of wind that slices a chair in half; 7) a human carpenter, measuring and cutting wood to make a table; 8) a copper dragon wyrmling.  Upon the book: 9) a Satyr dances with a fife, happily playing away.
  As the party attempts to discern what to do, the grandfather clock begins to tick forward and the domes begin to rotate opposite directions (left, clockwise; right, counter-clockwise).  Over the time, the party tries to figure out what to do:
  Roze takes stock of who is where, trying to track the rotations.  
  Flynwick tries to judge connections, and he and Brenna notice writing wreathing the clock face in many languages: "The pendulum swings."
  Nikz moves toward the giant book, attempting to read the spine, and becomes a little distracted by the fine white sand under him.  A short investigation later, and he discovers that this is indeed not sand, but ground bone ash.  Checking the spine of the book, it reads: "True Balance."  Still trying to figure things out, Nikz takes his new gauntlet (a gift from a god), and presses it to the book, attempting to communicate.  He hears, "Let it happen."
  Quinn studies chamber #6 and recalls that there are creatures that like to stalk and are invisible.  Alvus, using his goggles, sees the Invisible Stalker angrily writhing around.  Chamber #2 is actually empty.  
  Brenna takes a deep breath, seeing now that the clock is a quarter-past, and steps into the empty chamber, no wall to stop her.  Immediately, the copper dragon breathes fire angrily at its wall, to no effect, then settles down.  Brenna does notice that there is a pile of ashes scattered around the chamber that used to be something living...
  Realization dawns on something and yells to the group: "True balance, the pendulum swings, consider the creatures!  Consider their alignment!"
  Darrak steps into the same chamber, "I am." and kicks Brenna out.  Immediately, the Invisible Stalker goes ballistic in its chamber.  Flynwick then steps in, and the human begins to look around curiously, then gets back to work.  Slowly, the party members begin to experiment with stepping into the open cell, taking note to what reacts.  At the same time, the clock continues to tick by, at faster intervals.
  Darrak tries to sunder the glass surrounding the human carpenter, sending a crack across the glass...and sending an identical crack along ALL of the other cells too.  It seems that if they wanted to break out one, they'd need to break them all.  
  Flynwick and Alvus take note of two swirling purple vortexes on one side of each dome.  Curious, Flynwick dives into one...
  ...and is flung out the other.  Patting himself down, he looks no different, but a maniacal grin stretches across his face, a small trickle of blood leaking from his ear.  He has the want to hurt others, and immediately heads toward Xavvan.  Xavvan takes the hint, insulting and guiding him to the cell, then dodging out of the way before Wick can get his hands on him.  The cell door shuts, and Wick spins around, suddenly unable to hear, or see, the party; lucky for them, Nikz can read lips.
  Now the clock speeds up, the domes rotating faster in short spurts, sometimes changing direction sporadically.  Quinn, in a moment of brilliance, puts a few things together: Koda and others have mentioned the Pendulum already, and the idea of it needing a push if it swings too far in one direction; also, based on the state of the room, the cells, and floor of bone ashes, whatever happens when the bell tolls won't be very pleasant for anything in those cages...
  Darrak decides to also jump through a vortex...and emerges exactly the same, so he steps between the two rotating domes, waiting for the two vortexes to meet.
  With only minutes remaining, Roze, Boom, Brenna, and Notloc rush toward the grandfather clock.  Climbing underneath its massive base, Brenna finds a huge keyhole, and though Roze is not confident, she tries the Conduit Key in the hole...and nothing happens.  Meanwhile, Notloc does his best to climb up the side of the clock, positioning himself to face the swinging pendulum.  Below, the domes begin shifting erratically, slowly lining up with the purple smoke holes.  In a desperate maneuver, Notloc unleashes a huge gust of wind, targeting the pendulum.
  The clock strikes 1:00.
  The vortexes connect, sending a shockwave of violet electricity into each other.
  The cages simultaneously superheat or chill to the point of shattering.  Flynwick looks out at nothing, unable to see or hear his friends, as his body is turned to ash.  All at once, each creature is frozen or immolated.  
  And there, between the two domes, a confident Darrak is surrounded by the amethyst energy, and watches in disbelief as his body turns to ash...

...But the clock does not chime.  The gust from Notloc holds the pendulum at bay, as the clock twitches 1 minute to toll, then clicks, and resets.
 
  A moment passes.

  The gnome's ashes pulse with radiant light, and Flynwick is reconstructed, returned to his Neutral/Good state.  He breathes a sigh of relief, lying on his back in the now-open cell.  
  Between the two domes, Darrak's ashes remain, unmoving...
  But with another pulse of purple light, Darrak's form returns from death, reconstructed and very sore.  While he recovers in the sand, the two domes sink rapidly below the sand, as a gigantic treasure chest rises from the depths where the door once was.
  Flipping it open reveals a glowing, painted door within, and as the party makes their way towards it, the chest flips onto its side, righting the door.  Opening it reveals a massive cavernous chamber full of discarded artifacts, treasure, clocks, mechanisms, and ancient weaponry and armor, deposited there like trash.  Looking through the doorway, Nikz spies a draconic statue, gray slate and marble, with sapphire accents upon the scales of the chest and tail.  One wing is broken, but the base looks solid, encased in sapphire and topaz.
  One by one, the party crosses the threshold and enters their final test.

The party enters a large, deep, mostly hollow cavern.  There are mounds of earth and buried treasure that dot the landscape.  A shattered pirate ship, a mound of gold, a sundered clock, or set of swords embedded in a stone; but it is the dragon statue that catches their eyes.  Alvus and Notloc, using their Goggles of the Night and Pale Wing Telescope, respectively notice a small mote of magical energy in the chest of the dragon statue.
  Nikz decides, and walks toward the statue.  As he does so, Roze, Nikz, Brenna, and Quinn notice glowing, golden etchings begin to follow him along the walls and ceiling.  They write in a thousand languages, they recognize a few, but there are thousands more.  
  They read: "When enough lights go out, my beacon will ignite.  It shall pierce the storm, and no creature will deny its brilliance - not even a god."  
  This glowing script overlaps hundreds of times, wreathing the room and filling it with golden light.  While Roze searches for infernal artifacts and others try to fill their pockets with gold, Nikz continues forward, saying "For Io and the Balance" and reaches toward the dragon.  The scales shift aside and bright white light spills from within the statue, revealing a long white hilt.  Without hesitation, Nikz reaches out and grasps it...and his whole body goes limp, his hand remaining clenched to the hilt.  
  Notloc sends a healing word.  Nothing happens.  Brenna attempts a Mage Hand to pry his fingers away.  The spell ends before it reaches the hilt.
  At this moment, all the script along the walls shifts.  A thousand languages, a thousand times saying, "HE IS NOT WORTHY.  HE IS NOT WORTHY."  Over and over again, spilling over each other.  HE IS NOT WORTHY.  HE IS NOT WORTHY.  Until one line is different, settled just over the statue and Nikz's dying form.  "Is he worthy?"
  Roze steps forward immediately, puts a hand on Nikz's shoulder, and says, "Yes."

  A heavy impact shatters the wall behind the group as the undead face of green dracolich smashes through snarling, a sea of wyrmlings behind it wrestling with hundreds of warforged.  It lets out a guttural roar, and the party dives for cover.  
  Having faced this creature before, the party moves fast.  Darrak clicks his greaves of haste and rushes up to the dracolich, punching it to no effect...then runs the opposite direction.  Alvus dives out of the way, loads his hand crossbow, and fires upon the creature.  The arrow shatters against it, then Alvus hides behind a pile of gold.  Roze holds strong to Nikz, but tries to communicate with the Conduit - which responds with a prompt to pull Nikz's soul into the Ring of Mind Shielding held in its pommel.  Roze agrees, only as a last resort.
  Flynwick protects Notloc from Evil by smacking him on the forehead, and Notloc runs toward Nikz's form, holding the rest of his turn.  Quinn runs like hell, dragging her husband, Xavvan, with her.  Now further out of reach, she unloads a few arrows at it, shattering against its scaly hide.  Xavvan slides over to Nikz, inspires Roze, and grabs onto Nikz, saying "He is worthy."  At this point, Xavvan and Roze look up at the wall and notice that two of the previous phrases have changed to the question, "Is he worthy?"
  Brenna realizes there is a dragon behind her and notices that the script illuminating the room has begun to disappear, darkening from the destroyed wall and moving slowly toward the base of the statue.  She steps to face the dragon, pulling out her wand of magic missiles, and unloads nearly all the charges into it and hexing it on top of that, then uses her Instant Transmission to teleport over to Nikz, grab on, and say that he's worthy.  (another bit of script changes as more light leaves the chamber)  Boom, the last one near the dragon, casts another fireball on it, charring bits of its already broken flesh off, then casts Sanctuary on himself and RUN!  The dragon leaps onto Boom...and is unable to hit him.
  Alvus, looking past the dragon, sees a fire elemental form through the wall and something serpentine and feminine slithering over the rocks, dragging six swords and a spiked tail.
  Nikz, now taking hold of his own soul, finds himself sitting in a tavern at a round table.  A man sits across from him in a fine suit and a top hat, holding a watch.  For a moment, the man's face is only humanoid, unrecognizable; but then it shifts to a traveler Nikz met while in the Feywild, then shifts again into the face of a werewolf named Arukren, changes again and becomes the mask of Lady Lessai, and finally shifts back to this humanoid face.  He checks his watch.  "...Now there's the Broken one.  Time runs short.  Can you make the choices no one else can?" (death save) 
  Nikz: "I am ready to restore the balance."
  The Many: "Can you be my Pendulum?" (death save)
  Nikz feels Roze sitting next to him, as well as Brenna, and Xavvan.  
  Meanwhile, on the outside, the lights continue to fade.  Darrak drags Notloc (by slapping him around) to Nikz, putting his hand, and Notloc's, onto Nikz's body.  "He is worthy."  Alvus sinks more arrows (and sneak attack) into the dracolich, nearly severing an arm, while Boom runs for his life.
  "YA-TAAH!" Suddenly, the champion-armored kobold leaps down onto the marilith, cleaving into it, and a heavily-armored Koda, with ballistic arms, appears and punches the jaw off of the dragon.  
  With reinforcements arriving, Roze feels the sword rise, pulling her toward the wreckage pile beyond the statue.  "We are worthy." She then lists off all of Nikz's allies, including Malfurik, Keddigan, and Kincaid.  Also, the sword pulses with "Home."
  Flynwick, seeing the lights go out, snuffs out any other light sources he can, just to be sure....
  Soon, the fire elemental cannot pass beyond the wall's threshold, and steps back, giving Flynwick the opportunity to bear hug Nikz.  "He is worthy."
  A dark cloud spills forward from the farthest wall, punching through what remains of the citadel, a draconic face billowing forth.  With a roar of lightning and death, it cascades over the sea of dragons, flowing quickly toward the cavern.  Alvus steels himself...
  Notloc uses Greater Restoration on Nikz...and is momentarily transported.  Nikz notices Notloc's head sticking through the wall, confused and strange.  The Many: "Get. Out."  Nikz: "I have very dedicated friends."
  Quinn takes the opportunity, takes aim, and impacts the dragon with a devastating arrow attack, severing the dragon's tendons in its neck, and its head falls off...which Koda rushes forward and pulverizes into paste.  By now, light is getting very low in the room, the light from the statue's chest growing dimmer and dimmer, fading, fading, fading...
  
And in the darkness, The Many: "Just one question.  ...Where do you find your strength?  Your strength to choose?  Your strength to defy my will?  Where does my Broken Hand find his strength?"

Nikz thinks long and hard before answering: "...Growing up with the will of my father to be peaceful and live in the Wilds with all of the Fey, versus the will of my mother to make me a weapon, I have chosen to make my own path, and will always choose to make my own path.  But, I understand balance and I choose to seek it in my own way."
  The Many closes his watch, and puts it in his coat pocket.  He then reaches out his own hand - one that clicks and whirrs of its own accord - and offers it to Nikz.  "The Pendulum swings." (death save with advantage - natural 20)
  
  Darkness takes the room.  A roar of lightning rumbles toward the heroes, and waves of death spill into the room.  They hear the voice of Narizguun.  "I AM THE EYE, THE WILL, AND THE STO-
  A blinding column of light punches through from the statue, piercing the dragon storm and dispersing it.  The beam burns away the marilith, the dracolich, and all the remaining wyrms.  And there, in the column of light, Nikz rises, noticing a small bronze seed taking root in his palm, and forming a tattoo of a hilt...
  As the light spills forth, all the random wealth that the party filled their pockets with turns to dust and they see the Darkness, the dark energy that Koda calls the Failsafe, begin to consume the Barrens.  They judge they need to move quickly.
  Roze lets the Conduit move her, and she is pulled immediately through the debris behind her.  The party follows as fast as they can, and notice a large metallic structure shuddering to life under the debris.  As it does so, a door opens; a hatchway, and the group dashes inside before it closes again.  The druid, with the sword's help, finds her way to a large cockpit, three brazers of elemental energy displayed beyond the wheel.  And there, in the terminal, is a slit in the make...like a sheath.  "Home."  the word echoes in her mind...and she lets go of her companion.  The sword fits into the sheath easily, then sinks further in, elemental energy pouring from it.  "Goodbye."  The red brazer ignites in a ring of fire, and the party feels the structure light from the inside, wings folding out and flapping without lift.  
  Boom finds a cannon, and grabs on, feeling vicious thorns dig into his tiny hands and feeling blood drain from him into the ship.  In the cockpit, the white brazer ignites with life force.  Finally, at the basement of the ship, Notloc and Nikz find a lightning rod and Nikz shoots it with a lightning arrow.
  With all three brazers lit, the airship lifts off, rising above the Barrens as the Darkness floods over it, driving the civilization down and down into the continent of Erena.  Alvus reads the script in Abyssal that runs along the wall: "I have awakened.  I, the Skypiercer."
  And there, safe for the time being, Roze begins to orient the ship toward Diskana...and the coming storm.

Session end.  2:15am
  
  

Viewing Nikz's spacing on the board, the serpent murmurs, "Hmm.  It seems we're bending the rules already..."
  At this point, Brenna feels invisible walls rise around the sandstone pedestal, closing her in.  She realizes that she is now a "player" looking her "pieces" on a game board and that she has three "moves."  Brenna thinks, "Roze."  
  Roze feels her locked up body release, and immediately summons 8 riding horses to fill the spaces next to her allies, plopping one right in front of Nikz, who is happy to have a meat shield.  However, she quickly realizes that she cannot move through the horses' spaces, as her foot presses against an invisible wall.  NEXT, Brenna commands Notloc to move.  Notloc gains control of his body, and suddenly knows that he can move three spaces in any direction, and that he can move between pieces.  Taking this to heart, he targets a space ahead of the wall of horses made by Roze, and disappears in a stream of smoke, only to reappear in the space.  Eager to try a thing, Notloc points at board below him and casts Shatter...
  The party watches Notloc's space shatter apart and his body plummet into darkness.  A moment passes, before another cloud of smoke passes through the board from the hole and Notloc reappears in the space next to him.  The group can see boiling lava at the bottom of the hole, but luckily Notloc caught himself and had another space of movement.  The hole to lava, however, remains.
  Darrak is move three.  He suddenly knows that can move only diagonally one space at a time.  Instead, he tries to Dimension Door to the space next the "king" on the other side, slamming into an invisible force (that seems to crack a little!).  Still inebriated, he happily announces to the group: "The barriers can break!" then moves onto the horse in front of Nikz...which promptly disappears in a puff of smoke when he mounts it.  Nikz mutters, "Hi, meat shield." with a grin.
  With a rumble, the party feels control of the board shift, and a strange amorphous creature moves quickly and quietly across the board.  Its skin continually shifting, it stares at the group with no eyes or ears or nose, only a sickened black tongue sliding in and out of a horrible orifice in its head.  The "eyes" lock onto Nikz, and its features become clearer, clarifying in the precise shape, gear and all, of the arcane archer.  The creature then uses Nikz's own bow and arrows to sink two into him.  Nikz's doppelgänger then shifts back to its amorphous form.  Next to move is a Kuo-toa warrior, who slides nearly the full length of the board up to the horse in front of Flynwick, cleaving it into dust.  Move three, a Satyr (hauntingly familiar to party members who traveled in Frostburn) activates and plays a beautiful, entrancing melody...but Darrak and Flynwick decide it is not good enough to dance to.  
  Then, the board moves.  A fissure opens in the center of the board and a column of lightning streaks across the two center paths, momentary electrocuting Notloc in his new space.    A beat passes, control beginning to shift, but in that split second, Nikz feels control over his body and judges that he has his full movement; he moves diagonally and attempts to shoot the doppelgänger...who is difficult to see within a dark space.  Despite its shifting form, the arrow finds its mark...then continues to sink into the form of the creature, consumed by it.  But as Nikz goes to draw his second arrow, his body locks up, his eyes meeting those of the serpent staring down at him...for now, his turn is over.
  Control again shifts to Brenna, who realizes she now has 4 "moves," as little lights, like motes of fire, ignite over each of her allies (and the remaining 6 horses), indicating her options.  Notloc is up, taking two steps toward a hovering ghost and casts gust of wind upon it (attempting to catch the ghost and the mummy behind it).  The ghost snarls and disappears in puff of smoke, the remaining wind slamming into an invisible wall within the space.  Learning the team a thing, Notloc takes the ghost's space.  The serpent above chuckles, "Hmm.  It appears that someone is about to crowned..."  
  As Notloc's turn ends, Brenna feels his light return, indicating that she could spend another move to move him again...  Realizing this, she does just that.  Notloc takes two steps to the left in front of the "king," a massive bugbear wielding an obsidian axe, and is interrupted by said axe cleaving into him.  As Notloc growls, "Yarr, that'll be a nice scar..." he shatters the space below the king, and the bugbear drops down the hole.  A beat passes, and a grunting bugbear climbs out, stepping into the diagonal space, its axe reappearing in its hands.  Notloc moves diagonally, to the end of the board, and waits...as an angry crown of thorns and spikes begins to form around his head, but the tempest cleric resists the Crown of Madness and his turn ends.  
  Brenna realizes suddenly that she hates fish, and seeing the Kuo-Toa irks her, so she activates Flynwick.  Flynwick becomes aware of the fact that he can move in a straight line (with an ability to charge, if he so chooses).  Instead, he sends an illusory clone of himself behind the Kuo-Toa, who whips around and makes fish noises at it.  Brenna, disappointed that the fish is not dead, activates Flynwick again in frustration.  Flynwick casts Toll of the Dead through the clone and the fish screams in horrible pain, clutching its head as death knells hammer its psyche.  It is still standing, but very unhappy.
  Control shifts again, and the bugbear cleaves into Notloc, attempting to throw him off the board, but Notloc stays put.  Notloc channels his Destructive Strike as a reaction and pushes the bugbear back.  
  At this point, the dragon yawns and says, "Well, this is getting boring...  What do you say we make things a little more interesting..."  
  Brenna: "What exactly did you have in mind there, fella?"
  Dragon: "What if we just leave them to their own devices for a bit... Then I can add something, you could add something..." 
  Brenna: "So let me get this straight.  You wish to suspend the current rules so you can add a toy, then I can add a toy, and we just let them play it out?"
  The dragon takes out a large hourglass and flips it.  "Just until that runs out."
  Brenna: "Yeah, so, is there any chance that we could just talk this out over a nice cup of tea without getting anybody else harmed?"
  The dragon sighs.  "I grow tired of this.  Let's just try something else..."
  Brenna: "I refuse.  Flatly.  Ya' arrogant serpent."
  The creature growls.  "Fine, you don't want to play?  Let's just adjust the board a bit."
  Immediately, the party feels their half of the board give way, row by row collapsing.  Each member feels their bodies free from control and attempts to sprint, Roze mounting a horse and riding ahead (many of the horses, and the Kuo-Toa, fall to their doom).  Even Boom, with his tiny little gnome legs, has a burst of speed and adrenaline that powers him across the threshold and a few spaces beyond...before he locks up once more as the magic takes effect.  
  With the board halved, the sandstone pillars move closer together, and a ticked-off Brenna pulls her staff of magic missiles to unleash six bolts of force at the dragon; which smack against an invisible barrier.  "It's not time for that yet," the dragon chuckles, "I still have two moves left."
  The doppelgänger shifts again into Nikz and fires two arrows in Boom's form.  The Satyr attempts once again to force creatures to dance...and fails once again.  Frustrated, it draws a long, black vorpal blade and slices into Flynwick.  The mummy moves toward Roze, and slams her with its fists.  
  At this point, a shift ripples across the board, and in these close quarters, control momentarily breaks.  The wall surrounding the dragon falls, as well as the one around Brenna, and everyone gains agency of their bodies and minds...
  Brenna immediately hexes the dragon, arching a witch bolt toward his massive form, but the lightning grounds.  With a roar, the dragon unleashes a huge lightning bolt, and the party watches the sandstone chamber explode in fire and death, falling into the abyss...
  Alvus draws a longsword, and slices into the bugbear, now flanked by allies.  Nikz also draws his own vorpal blade and begins to cleave into the doppelgänger, attempting to drop the thing.  While her allies attempt to clear the board, and seeing Brenna explode, Roze attempts to cast Dispel Magic on the board...
  Energy moves through every space and reverberates over the room.  Then the spaces begin to disconnect from each other, falling into the abyss below.  At the same time, the party sees the space around the dragon coalesce into the view; a large stone slab in space and time...and a pair of feminine legs sticking out of its mouth?  Thinking quickly, one by one, the party leaps from one stone to the next, diving for that slab, and one by one with the help of a few summoned giant eagles, they make it...except for Boom.  The little artificer, without his spider friend, falls past the slab and into the darkness below...
  As the board falls away and the party stands cramped on the stone slab with the dragon, he absently chews and talks with his mouth full, "You know, I haven't-" until Brenna Hellish Rebukes him and he spits her out.  "Ahem."  The bugbear fades away, the doppelgänger fazes into the dragon.  "No one has ever broken the board before.  Interesting.  You pass."  And heavy obsidian doors open behind the dragon as the stars become slabs of stone.  Darrak throws a grappling hook to Boom...who is on his back flailing harmlessly on the stone.  
  Boom: "You know, I had a spider when I came in here!"
  Dragon Wyrm: "There is a cost...to everything."
​The party moves on.

Entering into the next room, the heavy obsidian doors closing and disappearing behind them, the party sees a simple hallway.  A tattered red carpet stretches before them into darkness, flanked by slate columns and small sconces of fire.  On the edge of his hearing, Nikz picks up metal armor chinks shifting ahead, and stealths forward into the darkness.
  About a hundred feet forward, the sconces lighting just after he passes them, column by column, Nikz feels a presence directly ahead of him.  Feeling the pressure, he instead slides around one of the columns and attempts to continue and avoid the carpeted path.  Not one step beyond the column he feels a rush of wind in front of his face and something very heavy and very sharp slams into the stonework just in front of him.  With intelligence, he backs away as a set of brazers light and fill the space with firelight.
  Before Nikz stands an imposing figure.  Covered in intricate layers of black plate mail, a dark helm with swooping horns, a long red cape with furs decorating the shoulders, stands an 10-foot tall warrior, a massive claymore (running about the length of Nikz) now drawn and resting at the ready.  The helm, Nikz takes note, has one side painted a sickly red, while the other remains a deep black.

  Nikz greets the creature, "Hello, good sir!  How are you?"  But is greeted with silence from the knight.  Feeling awkward, he sucks down a greater healing potion in anticipation.  The rest of the party, now finished downing their own healing potions at the entrance, rush toward the sound.  
​  Alvus steps forward and asks the knight, "What is your challenge?"
  As if in response, the knight picks up the sword and shoves it into the stone beneath him, the flat side of the blade facing the group.  Notloc steps forward and grabs the hilt, attempting to draw the blade...and ends up hoisting himself upon it like a cartoon jerking wildly at something immovable.  Boom looks past him, and moves around him...and just keeps walking and walking and walking...  The party watches Boom move a foot past the knight and walk in place for the next thirty seconds.
  Attempting to think outside the box, Flynwick and Roze both attempt to cast happier spells upon the knight (Friends and a Wand of Smiles), but feel both impact the helmet and dispel immediately.
  Darrak now steps forward nonchalantly, moves very close, feigning indifference...then attacks!
  With impossible speed and strength, the knight swings the claymore into the monk, slicing deep and hurling him across the room, crashing through a column.  As the party tenses from the movement, Flynwick's keen eyes pick up a small detail: there is writing on both sides of the blade, each side a different language...  
  The side facing the group is in Elvish.  It reads: "A warrior finds a reason to fight."  On the other side of the blade...is Boom (who has a helm of comprehend languages).  As the group tries to move to see the other side of the blade, the knight shifts it to block their view, but Boom, being small and stealthy, finds the opposite end and reads in Draconic: "A champion finds a reason not to."  Immediately, Boom digs through his bag, looks up at the big scary knight, and offers up trail rations with a "Would you like a snack?"
  
  ...The back plating of the knight swings up and open, and a tiny lady kobold torso emerges.  She happily gathers up the offering with a, "Yes I would, thank you so much."  She slinks back inside, closing the hatch.  The knight suit sheathes the sword and steps aside.  The kobold again pops out of the suit, this time from the front, sniffing toward the dumbfounded party and says, "...Whose got my herb?"
  All eyes turn toward Nikz.  "I, uh, actually gave it to your master already, but-
  "Well they're fighting dragons right now, so give it here!"  Nikz begrudgingly hands over another dose, which the kobold immediately investigates, then pours down his throat before Brenna can protest.  "The door's just up ahead!"
  Brenna: "Just a moment, can you give us any idea what to expect in the third and final task?"
  The kobold's eyes dilate a little.  "You know this is a test right?  I can't give you the answers!"  Her voice sounds a little...auto-tuned.  "Oh, it's working already!"
  As more sconces light in the distance, illuminating the obsidian doors, dulled impacts shake the walls, a few loose rocks falling.  
  The Kobold gets back in her suit, announcing: "Don't worry, I'll hold them here.  Good luck!"  and she steps back into place, drawing her huge blade.
  The party passes through the doors to the third trial...

Finished in part 3. 

Adventurers Present: Darrak (Monk-11), Black Roze (Druid-5), Ziplepot Boom (Artificer-9), Nikz (Rogue-2/Fighter-7), Notloc Renexela (Cleric-10), Alvus Thorne (Rogue-7), Quinn (Rogue-4), Xavvan (Bard-4), Flynwick (Cleric-4), Brenna Cormirant (Druid-3/ Warlock-6) = Party of 10.

The Knight Owls have been traveling by land for three days, dodging stalking creatures in the skies, and making haste toward the remains of a place Kincaid once called the Ferusian Wilds.  In its place, surrounded by a deep chasm and a river of lava, a spike of rock now sits, like a nail driven into the center of the world.  A few of the Owls have been here before, and quickly find the invisible bridge that crosses the dangerous chasm, leading them to a sturdy wooden door without a handle.  Nikz and Roze remember this place well, and are keen to keep their distance from the door, until a drunken Darrak falls headfirst into it and is promptly electrocuted and knocked backward.
  While Nikz, Roze, and Boom attempt to decipher the door, Alvus' keen hearing and night goggles spot some scaly foes in the distance, making a beeline toward them.  As Quinn opens fire on one, a third roars to their left; a broken-scaled green dragon, bones exposed, swoops out of the mist and lands on a protrusion from the rock face.  With a roar, it spews poison and death upon the party as they scatter across the bridge, a few dodging instead back onto the other side.  
  The Owls are quick, utilizing their magical artifacts and some ranged sneak attacks to fell two of the wyrmlings before they can reach the party, but the big green dracolich isn't going down easy, despite Notloc (the resident storm cleric) hammering it with snow and sleet and Brenna hurling charge after charge of magic missile into its body.
  Roze, grasping her charge's golden blade, The Conduit Key, she speaks to the elemental inside and it whispers to her in Primordial, "Home."  At this point, the young druid's eyes fill with white smoke and she sees a large slit on the door, like a strange keyhole.  Trusting the creature inside the sword, she hesitantly drives the blade into the slit within the door and feels it fit into a mechanism.  She then turns the "key"...and a massive arch of lightning hurls out of the keyhole, wreaths around Darrak first (who is busy wall-running toward the dracolich), then slams into Notloc, traveling through him into Brenna, then Nikz, into Quinn, then snakes over to Flynwick (who falls unconscious from the impact), then arcs back into Xavvan and Alvus, finally whipping under the bridge to wreath around Boom and his mechanical spider, "Mr. Clanky."  The spider tenses and is pulled rapidly toward Alvus, slamming him into Xavvan, who follows the trail back to Flynwick, who compresses into Quinn, then Nikz, Brenna, Notloc, and Darrak, forming an electric daisy-chain of heroes who, like a whip crack, are flung toward a panicked Roze and a disappearing door...

The adventurers land in a pile, with Mr. Clanky's heavy metal form sitting on top, and Roze standing just off to the side.  As members of the party attempt to heal each other in the mound, Roze feels a cold hand, one finger at a time, rest on her shoulder.  She does not step away, and instead reaches up and pats the hand.  A familiar, powerful voice, almost mechanical, greets the heroes, "Oh good.  You are here."  And the party turns to see the 12-foot tall form of Koda the Wise, a creature of seemingly interconnected plating and armor, his "helm" covering a mouth and bright, flickering eyes of amethyst.  Alvus takes a moment to study the creature's mannerisms and make, and realizes him to be a warforged.
  Nikz, Roze, and Boom recognize Koda immediately from the Fardream, taking note of his long violet and gold cloak draped over his shoulders, greet him as he picks up each hero from the pile and rights them.  Nikz steps forward and gives a small pouch of Songsteal (procured from Striga in Interludes) and hands it over to Koda, who takes it, checks it, then opens his chest plate and places it inside with other assorted pouches.  "Anacrusis will be most pleased..."
  The party learns that the herb in question was once used to fight the Bardic Champions in the first age; it allows singers an augmented voice, but, given training, can allow some users to mimic the voices of others, especially those laced with magic; they used the herb, which must be smoked, to effectively counter-charm the Bards.  Koda is also aware of the dragons outside, and presses the party to follow him through the obsidian doors behind him.  
  As the doors open, the party is momentarily blinded by daylight and the sound of trickling water.  Their eyes adjust and as they step through the threshold they see a brilliant courtyard that stretches many hundreds of feet in all directions.  Three suns and a rogue moon orbit above them with a chorus of stars and blue skies.  Rows of mismatched statues, ornate fountains, marble columns dot the landscape and the party takes notice of a set of four statues - a set of three identical brothers, and a finely dressed man with a turban (Wolfe Ward).  As Koda makes his way through the center line of this space, urging the party to follow, they become distracted by a few sights.  A strange human trying to balance a stack of 9 books as he moves toward a hole in the ground, while a dwarf with pink hair attempts to pry black platemail with gray spirals from his body, a warforged appears to be carving arrows out of steel blocks, while another trains a pack of dire wolves to hunt.  The first of these, the party learns, is named Ben, and is bringing the stack of books (7 of which read The Encyclopedia of Alchemical Longevity) to a fire pit in the ground; when Brenna protests, Ben explains that the library is in the fire plane, then drops the stack into it (but not before Alvus swipes a book for himself, #4 in Longevity; and Roze grabs "Worshiping The Old Gods and What It Means To You."  More antics ensue, and Nikz and Quinn make their way to the warforged carving arrows.  Nikz asks if he can have one of the arrows, to which the topaz-eyed creature simply responds, "Why?"
  Nikz responds without hesitation.  "...To protect Io and serve The Many."  The warforged pauses, eyes flickering once more, then reaches behind into its stack of arrows and pulls one out, slamming it into the stone slab before it.  One by one he does this, five times, in silence.  "Five fingers," it says, "...Five fingers for the Broken Hand."  When Quinn leans in and asks for one, the warforged sticks one in the ground in front of her, saying, "One for a new Hand."  (+2 Masterwork arrows, Unbreakable).  Quinn asks if there is anything else that this creature does, and it responds, "This...is this one's purpose.  We have many soldiers.  Sometimes when the Balance..." its eyes flicker rapidly, "...when the pendulum swings...it requires a push."  It then quietly goes back to work and says nothing more.
  Koda eventually gathers them all in front of a large domed castle with seven glass and diamond spires.  Nikz and Brenna take notice of translucent serpents moving around within each spire and Nikz feels a pang of recollection thinking of his new "pet" (Koriasaka, the special dragon), so he asks Koda about them.  "The Omnic came here when their mother died..."  Nikz: "I have a friend who is an Omnic."  Koda: "Then keep it safe, until it is needed."  Nikz: "Always."
​  Koda steps up to a set of two 15-foot tall obsidian doors, then begins turning a set of five concentric clay wheels, each set to a specific runic symbol.  When he finishes, dust settles beyond the door.  "The seed you seek...this one knows of it.  It has three trials, three locks, three gods that made them.  You will face the Trial of the Sage, of the Champion, and of the Pendulum."  And Koda the Wise opens the doors...
  

  The party is ushered into a pitch dark room; cold, empty, and soundless.  Alvus uses his Goggles of the Night and notices small motes of stars floating far below and ahead of the group.  Koda gives each of the group a nod of assurance and utters, "We shall hold here. ...The pendulum swings."  And with one last nod, slow and reserved, Koda closes the doors.
  Heavy latches and stones falling echo around them, as if the room itself were falling into place, then silence.  A low, rumbling growl slakes through the room...and two motes of crackling lightning ignite in the distance ahead of them.  The motes shift together, rising an immense height above.  A deep, silky voice rumbles through the dark, impossibly big and everywhere at once.  "Ah...  Another has come..."  The motes flash once more, this time reflecting off of something...metallic.  Quickly, silently, they rush down to loom over all of them and they realize that they are not bolts, but eyes.  Arching blue electricity begins to flow out from the eyes, bouncing around the room, until each meets and ignites a floating sconce.  Blue fire illuminates the room and the party is standing upon a sea of stars, clouds, and planets, gently moving below them.
  The creature before them, a gigantic draconic serpent, moves its head back, never breaking its piercing gaze, and comes to rest on the far end of this...space.  It sits, coiled, watching.  "In that case...  Enter, Sages, and the trial shall commence..."
  Notloc, undeterred, steps forward into the open space of clouds and stars.  Out of the Aether before him, rises a massive stone slab, a set of marble steps leading up to it from the nothingness below.  At the same time, he feels himself and his allies rise, as a sandstone column forms at their feet, propelling them up to eye level with the serpent.  Looking out and down to the slab, they recognize a two-toned chess board.  As they watch, eight figures appear in small cyclones of lightning onto select spaces upon the board.  They are each different, and some are recognizable as old foes...
  "Light yields keen sight, dark hesitates the weapon's bite."
  Darrak steps onto a light square, while Alvus steps onto a dark square.  Darrak is immediately illuminated and VERY easy to see.  Shadows rise up and cling to Alvus' form, making him difficult to pinpoint.  One by one, each hero moves onto a space (Boom realizes he must leave Mr. Clanky behind on the sandstone), until there is only Brenna and Nikz left.  Nikz notices something inscribed along the board's edge; inlaid gold script, seemingly ornamentation, he now recognizes as elvish upside down.  It reads: "The Student follows the rules.  The Sage understands when to break them."  He instead squeezes between two allies and finds purchase ahead of them, in a new space in the second row.  With only one adventurer remaining on the sandstone, Mr. Clanky powers down, and Brenna feels something strange move up her neck: knowledge...

The trial continues after a short break (and in part 2...)
  

The following is a summary of a Vignette event through the Knight Owls Interludes Facebook group.  Vignettes are short, interactive voluntary events held within the group where players can seek out new lore, run through skill challenges, and be a part of a mini-adventure.

This Vignette took place from 11/25 - 12/3/17.  Story-wise, its events transpire 3 days after the end of Whispers, and 3 days before the upcoming adventure, "Sheath", to be held on 12/9/17 (21+ group).

Following a dire summons to gather at The Platinum Guard in Diskana, all current Knight Owls (and a few retired veterans) find themselves sucking down ale, trading stories, and coming to terms with the concept of an undead dragon god roaming somewhere beyond the Edge...

The door is kicked inward by a clawed foot and a stout halfling marches in, demanding to see his brother.  All eyes turn to the creature, recognizing him as Keddigan Slitspire, one of the Tenrook himself, and immediately turn their eyes to a shocked Kincaid.  Kincaid and Keddigan reunite, but not before some gentle ribbing on the resurrected.  Keddigan then turns serious, ordering all Owls into the cellar, stating "The time for secrets has passed."

When all are assembled, Keddigan's voice changes.  He reveals that he is much older than he seems, that he and his brother are demigods in service of Io, and have been for many years.  He speaks of the fact that two of the Seven came to he and his brother and magically conscripted and inspired them to forge a weapon; over ten years later, they had no memory of what they had constructed, and no physical evidence of it, only a feeling.  Fast-forward to the first rise of Narizguun, the Devourer of the Divine, and the fall of clerical bastion of Brimshire (and Kincaid's death); Keddigan and Kincaid surmise that Kincaid's death at the jaws of Narizguun "planted" a Seed within the dragon's son, Shorimkaz, later called The Sheathe of Chaos by Keddigan and his followers.  In short, it seems, the weapon forged was a seed of power within Kincaid, his sole purpose to die in order to grow the weapon in the belly of something of extreme unwieldy power.

The sword was intended to be drawn by Keddigan, upon Shorimkaz's death, in order to strike down Narizguun and purge him from existence.  ...It seems that that was not how things went, and he was defeated at a great loss the traditional way; the face of Io was changed forever, and the fall of Narizguun marked the beginning of the Age of Ren (the third age).

Now, in recent times, the Knight Owls have come across more and more of Narizguun's follows; transient knights and killers who have gouged out their own eyes for dreaded boons and unholy power.  While investigating the edge of the Underdark, a group fought the upper torso of an ancient black/blue dracolich (later revealed to be Narizfal).  After this came a particular mission involving a broken and defaced temple of Corellon (Elven; music, magic, crafting, and the arts), turned temple of Tharizdun (eternal darkness, decay, entropy, chaos).  While there, they fought off a hybrid gold/green dragon and witnessed the rise of the now lich-god of Narizguun as it burned its way out of the cave system.  And there, beneath the battlefield, the group came across the broken, desiccated corpse of Shorimkaz, a strange stone slab resting in his broken chest with a slit, like a stone sheath, at its center.  Further investigation yields this image as an illusion, meaning that whatever was there has been taken and moved elsewhere.

Shortly after the date on that report, Keddigan reveals that his connection to the seed changed somehow.  The feeling had been adjusted; more "tingly."  Not one to ignore a sign, he wonders if the Knight Owls collected could help him locate it.  A few offer to attempt an energy scry on the seed, using Keddigan's blocked memories as a starting point...

Nikz, Roze, and Boom reach out and touch the crown of Keddigan's head.  Time stops, and the group is transported to a windswept sky high above the city of Exian in an Erena that is familiar, but...larger.  They cannot think on this long, as a roaring black storm cloud looms over them, a draconic face protruding from its center as lightning poises to strike.  Nikz fires an arrow into the cloud, momentarily dispersing its center, like the eye of a storm, and through the column, the group witnesses a ship flanking the cloud.  The ship is wreathed in three rings of elemental energy (red, hot white, and a radiant orange), and begins unleashing balls of fire and lightning upon the cloud, seemingly fired from the rings.  The assault is short-lived, however, as a barrage of lightning easily disables the craft, sending it careening down toward a rising cloud of darkness (some might say, a rising hand of smoke and embers) at top of molten pillar.  

As they watch it fall, the group is pulled toward that black smoke and flecks of embers, and find themselves standing on warmth volcanic rock, surrounded by a swirling wall of darkness and floating cinder.  For a moment, they believe themselves alone, seeing only a knelt metallic statue in front of them.  Soon, though, they see it rise, standing nearly 10 feet high, a long velvet cloak running down its back.  It appears to be wiry, strong, heavily plated, with a v-shaped shield over its mouth.  The armored creature's eyes whirr to life, casting amethyst light toward the group.  It speaks, the voice emanating from its whole body, addresses the group.

​"A blind soothsayer, a broken hand, and a tinkertoy visit this one today.  To come to this Fardream, you must be in seek of something.  But ye travelers speak of things apart from this time.  You must ask the right questions."

Boom steps forward.  "We have been told that the seed of our salvation has grown fruit.  Do you know where we can find the power to fight the oncoming storm that threatens our family and home?"

A moment passes, and the creature speaks again, answering without answering.  "This Fardream is a memory.  His memory.  Of me.  Of this terrace.  To reach beyond it is to challenge the will of The Many.  ...He was not worthy, and thus will not remember what lies beyond this one.  Thus, the way is shut for here and now; this one cannot access it.  But the time you come from, it may yet be opened..."  Its eyes flicker rapidly on and off for a moment.  "...and has been once already.  To grant peace to four who longed for it."

Nikz tries.  "If we approach the Fardream in our time will it consume us like it did those four?"

Its eyes flicker again and stare at Nikz.  "This space is the Fardream.  A memory, locked and still, buried deep in the Aether of time and spirit.  ...You speak to his memory of this one, now, in the past...  This one knows not of the future.  This one only knows what this one" it points to Roze, "has witnessed."

Roze looks up suddenly, anxious and meek.  "If you hold my broken memories and knowledge of things I struggle to remember - will there be more to see in another's memory?  Is the knowledge we need buried deeper?  ...I cannot fail another family..." She grips the golden longsword, Kincaid's "conduit key," tighter in her hand.

The creature holds up a metal hand.  "This one can only see one's recent memory.  To reach deeper would cause you pain..."  The group hears clinking metal, like gears, and the creature becomes a little taller, regarding them all assembled.

Nikz: "Why was he not worthy?  What is the will of The Many?"

“Too many died, they said, because of the hope it brought. He was not worthy. None have been worthy. So it was The Many, in their wisdom, who gifted it to us. I am the gatekeeper, the loremaster, the champion, and its guard. Here we covet the discarded, the forgotten, the seeking, and the Barren; until they are needed again."  A moment passes.  "He, the demigod, could not summon the blade from its sheath.  He was not worthy.  He failed the Trial laid out by The Many.  ...This one has knowledge of all that came before, for this one was built for the job.  They named this one Koda, the Wise.  More answers lie in this Fardream.  You must ask the right questions..."

At this moment, the assembled party feels the embers press inward and a powerful pressure sets upon their bodies.  They resist the coming exhaustion, but time is clearly limited in this space.  The questions become more frequent, the members talking over each other.

Roze struggles against the pressure, whispering to herself, "Who endures this pain, me or my king?"  An echo on the wind and another rush of pressure answers the question for her, but Koda tilts his head to her and attempts to answer.  "This one is the memory of the demigod; it is only you three who are...trespassing."

Nikz asks in rapid succession: "Is The Many one of the Seven old gods?  Did you call Kincaid's cursed men to the Raised Barrens?  Are you there now?"

Roze looks at her ally and attempts to redirect his thoughts: "We need to find another way to approach this.  It's never the most obvious answer..."  But Nikz seems set on his path.

Boom: "How is one judged worthy?  Where do we go to be tested?"

Koda turns to each of them in turn, pausing between answers.  "The Many called Wolfe Ward and the brothers to my citadel.  We were ready to covet them; covet their need for peace and sending.  We did not curse them, though.  Only granted their dust.  In the past, lord Ward and his fleet of wyvern riders were inspired to engage the storm of dragons.  They left broken, and fled the conflict all together, unable to redeem themselves.  ...The right questions are often obvious, once one forms the right words.  ...You must enter where the Espers came to die, the fallen of the Ferusian Wilds.  This one's home."

The pressure surrounding continues to rise, driving Nikz to his knees.

Koda continues.  "To be judged is to face our forge of Trials.  To test your mettle and mind, and be deemed worthy by the entities who forged each test.  We have many trials, many items to seal away, until they are needed.  ...This "seed."  This one knows this Trial.  It was forged by three of the Seven Wings.  It will take much to pass, this one gathers."

Nikz: "Why did you call me a 'broken hand'?  Just being condescending?"

"This one sees dichotomy lingering upon your soul.  A Hand, at least one who pulls the will of The Many without question, is resolute in all things, and questions not.  ...This one is uncertain if you were insulted.  Questions are keys, too, and important to keep."

Nikz: "...Thank you, Koda.  I will keep that in mind.  I hope to see you soon in the world of the real."

The pressure kicks into the party, knocking the wind out of Nikz and exhausting Boom's form.  Time runs short...

Roze prepares her body, taking a knee next to Nikz, and addresses Koda.  "Friend, is there anything I can say to remind those who have forgotten so we may search for answers in our realm?"  ...But Koda just stares back at her.  Either he won't answer or there isn't one to give.

Nikz: "Are the Espers the cursed ones that carried the ring with Kincaid's soul in it?  Who was Wolfe Ward?"

"The Espers are the self-proclaimed descendants of the ancient elemental gods.  They led a war from the beyond the Aether eons ago, in the first age, using ships powered by their raw energy.  When they lost, their remnants came here, to the Barrens.  ...Wolfe Ward came to us as a Revenant, hundreds of years old and eager for death. ...the Thousand Year Door is the gate that stops foolish travelers; only one key can open it, forged before my time by another Hand."

Nikz persists, as the darkness presses inward, the space becoming smaller and smaller.  "Where can this hand find the key to the Thousand Year Door?"

"...by this one's calculations, one of your comrades is already in possession of it, but knows how it functions."

A tingling current runs up Roze's spine, the sword thrumming with power.  Before she can think on it, Boom interrupts with, "Where is the trial forge?"

"...In the citadel."

Roze struggles against the rising wind.  "We need to return home!  We need to regroup."  She holds up the sword to Koda.  "Is this the key we seek, does it hold the answers?  Please, tell me how to help my king!"  The howling wind begins to fill the group's ears.  As the space grows tighter, some see Koda nod once.

Boom:  "How do we get called to the citadel?   Where is it?"

"The citadel lies in this one's city, I have already told you.  ...For security, I know not what the key looks like nor its secrets, but that one there," he points to Roze, "resonates at the right frequency.  One must find its forger to know its command word."

Roze, suffering from the exhaustion from the experience, openly apologizes to her king to rising winds, then turns to Koda.  "Thank you, friend."  And with this, wills her exit from the Fardream.  Instantly, her form dissolves into dust and smoke, joining the swirling winds around the group.  Seeing this, Boom attempts to leave, to run; it does not take much, and he, too, dissolves, leaving Nikz alone in the vortex.  A menacing roar spears though the rising sound; dread spreading across the ground.

Nikz: "Well, Koda the Wise, it seems it is time for me to go.  Is there anything I can bring you when we meet next?  Something from the outside you would like?"

Koda stands in silence for a few moments, thinking.  "This one's protege, Anakrusis, is most curious of an herb called Songsteal.  It once grew on the island of Ixtapex near the southern edge.  ...Farewell, Broken Hand.  This one hopes you never repair, for your own sake."  Koda the Wise steps back a few paces into the smoke and embers, and Nikz feels the pressure fade.  

He blinks and finds himself drenched in sweat, kneeling next to a laughing Keddigan.  His allies, Boom and Roze, sit near him wrapped in blankets and enjoying warm tea and potions.  Keddigan claps him on the shoulder.  "Welcome back, friend.  Haven't done one of those in a thousand years or so.  Well done.  Well done, all of you."  He stands up and looks to the rest of the room.  "Now, let's unpack what the heck that was..."

Vignette close.