Session Overview#
The party awakens to alarm bells in the astral tree village, discovering a fire on one of the branches. When they investigate, they encounter a mysterious figure that pulls them into a series of pocket dimensions where they must make increasingly difficult moral choices, culminating in a meeting with Velz’eth, a chaos god imprisoned by Crowley.
The Theater of Gifts#
The Opening Performance#
The party finds themselves on a semicircular stage before a packed audience, with a masked announcer in white controlling the proceedings. Each party member must draw from a deck of tarot cards, with their selections transforming into mystical items:
The Card Drawings:
- Red (card 11): Draws a card representing “blend, balance, find” and receives a vial of clear liquid that tastes like tears
- Jasper (card 1, The Hierophant): Gets a gold coin with the announcer’s mask etched into it
- Silas (The Hermit): Receives a lantern that “sees truth” after delivering a theatrical bow
- Elspeth (The Sun): Obtains a feather described as lifting burdens
- Bru (The Violet Crown): Is struck by a crystal arrow and nearly dies, beginning a pattern of near-death experiences
Bru’s Critical Condition#
Bru suffers severe injuries from the crystal arrow, beginning a recurring theme throughout the session where he hovers near death. Despite multiple healing attempts from Red and Elspeth , his wounds resist magical healing, forcing Jasper to carry him in a makeshift baby carrier.
The Canyon Sacrifice#
The Impossible Choice#
The party is transported to a desert plateau where they witness a monthly town sacrifice ritual. Two people hang upside down over a canyon:
- Etta: The town’s doctor and healer who has delivered every child for a decade
- Garen: The engineer who maintains the town’s water systems and infrastructure
The Dilemma: The town requires one monthly sacrifice to maintain their prosperity. Both candidates are essential to the community’s survival, and the party must choose who dies.
The Decision and Consequences#
After extensive debate, the party chooses to sacrifice Garen while giving him Elspeth ’s feather, hoping it will save him from the fall. The strategy fails, and Garen dies. However, their decision sets in motion a chain of events:
Long-term Impact: Without Garen’s engineering expertise, the town’s infrastructure fails during storms. Though Etta keeps people healthy during the exodus, the community eventually abandons the sacrifice system entirely and relocates, ending the cycle of monthly deaths.
The Carnival of Chaos#
The Spinning Wheel Games#
The party encounters a circus barker running games with a massive spinning wheel containing various symbols. Each party member experiences different magical effects:
Game Results:
- Jasper : Spins a pepper symbol, experiences intense sneezing that causes him to explode into confetti, and reappear teleported behind Silas
- Elspeth : Lands on a heart with arrow, becoming temporarily infatuated with Red (successfully resists acting on it)
- Red : Gets a magnetic symbol, causing metal objects to stick to his body
- Silas : Disappears to a psychiatrist’s office where he receives therapy about abandonment issues and returns with a prescription for “two laughs a day with water”
- Kevin: Witnesses a disturbing performance where one entertainer decapitates another and transplants the head onto a different body
Escalating Chaos#
As the games progress, the carnival takes a darker turn. The music becomes distorted, the wheel catches fire, and the tent begins burning as the party is transported away, suggesting the realm’s inherent instability.
The Mirror Choice#
The Prisoner’s Dilemma#
The party finds themselves in a sterile chamber facing mirror versions of themselves through a window. They must choose between two buttons: Trust or Betray, while their alternate selves face the same choice.
The Test: This represents a classic prisoner’s dilemma scenario where cooperation benefits both groups, but betrayal could provide individual advantage at the cost of mutual destruction.
Resolution: Both the party and their mirror selves choose to trust, resulting in a peaceful resolution where the walls fall away to reveal a beautiful meadow. The alternate versions shake hands with the party before dissolving into dust.
Velz’eth’s Revelation#
The Chaos God’s Prison#
In the final realm, the party encounters Velz’eth, a chaos god who has been imprisoned in this pocket dimension. He reveals crucial information about the cosmic conflict:
Velz’eth’s History:
- Once maintained balance through chaos and motion rather than rigid order
- Was challenged to a game by “Fergus the Serpent Tongue” (revealed to be one of Crowley’s many names)
- Lost due to Crowley’s cheating and had his power stolen
- Has been trapped in this fractured reality while Crowley uses his stolen abilities
The Moon Queen Connection#
Velz’eth explains that Crowley/Fergus is working with the “Moon Queen” (Eldora) to create a world of “cold steel and blind salvation.” This alliance has allowed both entities to gain power through the systematic elimination of chaos and competing divine influences.
The Gift of Revenge#
Velz’eth enchants the party’s items with “seeds of rupture” - fragments of his chaos power designed to help them eventually confront Crowley. He promises that when these seeds “bloom,” he will follow as possibility rather than divinity.
Return and Resolution#
Healing and Revelation#
Upon returning to the astral tree, the party discovers:
- The fire has been extinguished, leaving only ash and small embers
- Bru is completely healed with no trace of his wounds
- Their items now bear the mark “Property of V” (Velz’eth)
Enhanced Abilities#
The enchanted items gain powerful one-time abilities specifically effective against Crowley and Eldora:
- Token: Automatically succeeds on insight or religion checks to determine intent
- Lantern: Reveals hidden or invisible creatures
- Vial: Removes any status condition from user or ally
- Half-heart Pendant: Allows swapping hit points with a willing creature
Character Development and Themes#
Moral Complexity#
The session explores the party’s moral decision-making under pressure, forcing them to make choices with no clearly “right” answers. Their willingness to attempt creative solutions (like the feather gambit) shows their desire to subvert impossible scenarios.
Cosmic Stakes#
The revelation of Crowley’s alternate identity and possible alliance with Eldora elevates the campaign’s stakes from local threats to cosmic-level conflicts between order and chaos.
Team Dynamics#
Despite the stressful scenarios, the party demonstrates strong cohesion, particularly in their care for the critically injured Bru and their unanimous decision-making in crisis situations.
Ongoing Plot Threads#
- Crowley’s True Nature: The revelation that Crowley is “Fergus the Serpent Tongue” who stole divine power from a chaos god
- Eldora’s Alliance: The Moon Queen’s partnership with Crowley suggests coordinated divine manipulation
- Velz’eth’s Revenge: The chaos god’s plan to use the party as agents against his imprisoner
- Enhanced Arsenal: The party now possesses divinely enhanced tools specifically designed to counter Crowley’s abilities
- Balance vs. Order: The philosophical conflict between Velz’eth’s dynamic chaos and Eldora’s static order
Session Impact#
This interlude successfully raises the stakes of the campaign while providing the party with both crucial intelligence about their enemies and powerful tools for future confrontations. The moral choice scenarios serve as character development exercises, while the cosmic revelations about Crowley and Eldora reframe the entire campaign conflict.
The session demonstrates how even beneficial alliances (with Velz’eth) come with moral ambiguity, as the party must decide whether embracing chaos to fight tyrannical order aligns with their values. The “seeds of rupture” represent both opportunity and responsibility, setting up future dramatic confrontations with adequately prepared protagonists.