Session 9: The New Moon Festival

Back outside the hollow star, the anchor remains intact as the glowing star persists. Sol hands the Crown of Stars to Moss; the artifact appears dimmer than before. The party climbs the rope to exit the fissure, finding Joyboy (JB) waiting at the top.

"You didn't break the chain"

• As he speaks, the ground trembles, the light dims, and the area is swallowed by shadows.
• JB falls to the ground. The party attempts to explain, but JB grows furious.

"I don't want excuses."

JB wields a crystal star battleaxe as an ice dragon rises from the shadows to join him.

"Do you feel it? The light is dying, the dawn is drowning... The drowning star will save me."

• The dragon breathes an unnatural flame. It strikes Vesper, who feels a strange, wrong sensation.
• The flame hits Sol, but it flows around her harmlessly, having no effect.
• Hunters arrive and confront Gimbol, demanding to know what has been done. They inform the party that Lysander wants to see them immediately.
• The light of the hollow star turns pitch black before fading completely. The faint hum of the mountain dies away, replaced by the echo of JB’s laughter in the distance.

The party enters the chamber to find Lysander studying a map showing a storm forming in the east. He is accompanied by Parsons.

• Parsons smiles knowingly at Sol.
• Parsons accuses the party of carrying something that doesn't belong to them, noting the glow from the pouch Spider-Moss is holding while on Gimbol's Shoulder.
• Gimbol explains the events at the star, and Vesper recounts JB's cryptic parting words.
• Lysander is incensed and asks if Parsons knows of these omens.

Parsons reveals that when the gods fell, twin stars fell as well: one in the north (the Hollow Star) and one off the coast of the Red Oracle. Gimbol convinces Lysander that the party should investigate the second star. Parsons declares he will consult the notebook of Durum (Gimbol’s mentor).

The meeting is interrupted as the door flies open. Captain Vayra Dorn of House Marrow enters, beaten and bloodied.

"The dead are rising... they are revolting. The crypts are broken. Lord Marrow demands aid. House Marrow has fallen."

As said by The Flame: “By the new moon, a house will fall.”

The party rests and Sol uses her teleportation stone to bring the group to Lunaris. They are greeted by Sol's father, who shares glowing wine with Sol, and Jin.

While Solara bathes, Moss places the crown on Sol’s head. Sol communicates with the artifact.

"Heavens bow only to the worthy"

"Let the stars themselves witness the oath"

• The Crown claims the “tether” in the mountain wasn't its doing.
• It expresses a preference for being worn by “beautiful people.”
• Mechanics:
  • Calm Emotions
  • +1 bonus against charm or fear (10-foot aura)
  • Mandate of Heaven

Moss speaks to the scepter regarding law and justice. The scepter agrees to take the form of a quarterstaff.

• Mechanics:
  • Hold Person
  • Dispel Magic
  • Judgment of Oaths

While Sol and Jin are preparing for the festival, the remainder of the party visits the library, with Sol and Jin later rejoining them there:

• The Two Stars: One is the Hollow Star (emptiness/hunger). The second was absorbed by the ocean, resulting in blackened water and barnacle-encrusted creatures. It emits a constant hum and causes visions.
• The Emperor: The current Emperor has reigned for hundreds of years, far longer than his predecessors. He was known to frequent the docks in Veiled Compact territory and was supposed to be the bridge to the gods.
• The Pantheon: There were five gods. One is missing, one is “fallen” (and escaped), and three “didn't make it.”
  1. Abolith: God of Justice, perpetually at war with other gods.
  2. Vhalzeruun: God of Death. Collected forgotten souls and lost memories. Followers believe identity is suffering, memories are a burden, and death is a return to stillness. The Hollow Star was Vhalzeruun.
  3. God of Mischief
  4. Charum: God of War (associated with the chain).
  5. God of Spiritual Righteousness

The festival begins with the “Great Arrival.” Sol gives an opening speech.

• Jin wins a drinking contest but passes out, experiencing a vision of one-eyed creatures and sirens in spinning water calling his name: “Jin, come to us.”
• As the choir competition starts, Moss and Vesper notice the smell of ash and burnt food, spotting two masked figures who vanish into the crowd.
• Solara attends a diplomatic meeting, potentially securing business deals.

The party visits Seresa the Fortune Teller:

• Sol: “Embers of bone forge… the fire remembers the maker and it remembers you.” (The card burns in her hand).
• Moss: As Moss flips a card, the tent grows cold. “The eye sees you now… do not give it a reason to blink twice.”
• Gimbol: As Gimbol flips a card, frost spreads across the card and across his hand, the lunar chill. “A cold light guards you little man… The moon protects you in its quiet armor, but beware, the warmth attracts predators.”
• Vesper: As Vesper flips a card, the ink fades away, and the card goes blank. The name slips from your mind, a mercy, a warning. “Memory is a fragile chain, some links break for a reason.”
• Jin: Jin opts to have a card chosen at random, the shadows swarm and dance, shadowy hands shuffle the remaining cards. As the card is drawn, a silver coin with the Shadowsong emblem materializes in his hand. “Looks like youve won the grand, The Shadowsong family owes you a debt… favors are heavier than they appear.”

As last card is revealed, the closing of the ceremony starts, and the party hears music from outside.

As the moon begins to reappear, the atmosphere shifts. A single lantern flickers gold, blue, and black. Musicians miss their notes, dancers begin to stumble. Via her connection to the flame, Sol attempts to command whatever has invaded.

A woman screams as a thin blade of ash protrudes from her neck. Panic erupts as shadows spin up behind festival-goers.

• Ash Assassins strike, declaring, “We have no master.”
  • Lord Faylen Vay is killed.
  • Mistress Irelan is assassinated on stage.
  • An assassin appears behind Sol's mother, but Moss intercepts it with a Guiding Bolt.

The fortune teller runs to Sol, warning that they have been found. An assassin targets them, but a figure jumps between them and winks.

"My debt is sealed"

Sol and the fortune teller disappear into a cloud of ash as the assassins vanish. Moss thinks back on the mirror used during the ritual to sever Nan's connection to the flame, and remembers seeing the ash assassin's mask on the figure he then glimpsed in the mirror.