Session Overview#
Sol, the old dragon, transports the party to a cautionary example of what happens when magical experimentation goes catastrophically wrong. They visit a shattered world held together by desperate magic, where they meet the survivors of a time travel disaster and learn valuable lessons about the dangers of unchecked scientific ambition.
Arrival in the Astral Sea#
The party finds themselves on floating islands connected by psionic chains and tree roots in what Bru identifies as the Astral Sea. The landscape consists of:
- Massive floating fragments held together by magical roots and chains
- A dying city-sized tree (Matthew Broadtwig) that serves as the anchor point
- Various structures including a massive clock tower with floating gears
- A pale white dwarf star providing dim illumination
Meeting the Survivors#
Scarlet - The Artist/Former Assassin#
The party encounters Scarlet, a short blonde elf who maintains the world’s stability through magical painting. Key details about her:
- Uses enchanted paints to create physical manifestations of what she draws
- Former assassin who used map alteration to trap and kill targets
- Currently responsible for connecting new floating islands to keep the world stable
- In a complicated relationship with Marcus spanning multiple timelines
- Gives the party a magical paint set that can alter reality through artwork
Matthew Broadtwig - The Dying World Tree#
Bru discovers a massive tree that speaks telepathically, revealing itself as Matthew Broadtwig:
- A sentient tree the size of a city whose roots hold the floating islands together
- Dying due to insufficient light from the pale star and general world decay
- Gives Bru a seed to plant in their world, claiming it will stabilize their reality
- Explains that when he dies, the world will completely fall apart
- Part of a complex relationship triangle with Scarlet and Marcus
Exploring Marcus’s Tower#
The Chronomancer’s Workshop#
The party investigates Marcus’s tower, discovering:
Workshop Contents:
- Time gun schematics (stolen by Helisanna ) showing how to use explosions to tear through space-time
- Detailed journals documenting thousands of time travel attempts
- Evidence of multiple timeline iterations where the three survivors tried different approaches
- Photographs showing Marcus and Scarlet had children in some timelines who died from the experiments
Magical Technology:
- Violessence crystals similar to but more advanced than Eldoran technology
- Red ’s exceptional perception (Natural 20) reveals these crystals are artificially created rather than naturally occurring
- A multidimensional radio that picks up communications from other realities
- Time bubbles floating throughout the tower showing scenes from different timelines and realities
Confronting Marcus the Chronomancer#
The Rock-Off Challenge#
The party meets Marcus, a arrogant chronomancer wearing a beret and working on timeline calculations. When he dismisses them as “simple minds,” Helisanna challenges him to a musical duel:
Performance Results:
- Helisanna rolls 30 on performance, completely overwhelming Marcus
- Her purple magical tendrils force him to play backup to her lead
- Marcus concedes defeat and agrees to listen to their questions
The Time Gun Catastrophe#
Marcus reveals the tragic history of their world:
The Original Disaster:
- Created a time gun that required shooting yourself to travel through time
- Could only travel to “nodes” - critical decision points in reality
- Each use consumed bullets; going backward used bullets, going forward restored them
- The device could only be controlled by shooting oneself with it
The Endless Loop:
- Marcus, Scarlet, and Matthew have lived for two millennia trying to fix their mistake
- They’ve tried every possible combination: different relationships, having children, switching roles
- Every timeline eventually leads to the same disaster: someone creates the time gun
- They’re trapped in what Marcus calls “the Time Gun Timeline” where this outcome is inevitable
Current Situation:
- Marcus has only one bullet left and has reached the last possible node in time
- He’s preparing to shoot himself one final time, knowing it will send him back millennia to start over
- The world continues to decay despite Scarlet and Matthew’s efforts to hold it together
The Bathroom Heist#
Despite repeated warnings not to enter the back room, Bru inevitably infiltrates what turns out to be a bathroom containing:
- A pedestal with dramatic lighting
- An iron flask of mysterious but obviously significant importance
- Bru successfully performs an Indiana Jones-style swap and steals the flask
- Uses the actual bathroom facilities, discovering an advanced bidet system
Items Acquired and Revelations#
Magical Items Obtained#
- Magical Paint Set (from Scarlet): Can alter reality by painting changes on maps or canvases
- World Tree Seed (from Matthew): Intended to stabilize their home reality when planted
- Multidimensional Radio (stolen by Red ): Receives communications across realities
- Time Gun Schematics (stolen by Helisanna ): Complete plans for time travel technology
- Iron Flask (stolen by Bru ): Mysterious container of unknown but significant contents
- Advanced Violessence Crystals: More efficient power sources than known technology
Critical Intelligence#
Technological Warnings:
- Concentrating too much magical power in one location can shatter reality
- Time travel inevitably leads to paradoxes and world-ending disasters
- The artificial crystals represent technology more advanced than current Eldoran capabilities
Cosmic Implications:
- The Astral Sea contains fragments of multiple destroyed realities
- Their world’s violessence crystals may have similar destructive potential
- Eldora’s collection of violessence could lead to a similar catastrophe
Return to Their World#
Marcus’s Portal#
After delivering his cautionary tale, Marcus opens a portal to send them home:
- Transports them to a snowy mountaintop outside a Goliath village
- Near the cave system where Red ’s trials originally began
- The party is now equipped with powerful magical items and crucial knowledge
The Lesson Learned#
The visit serves as Sol’s intended warning about the dangers of:
- Unchecked magical experimentation
- Concentrating too much power in single locations
- Time travel and attempts to “fix” past mistakes
- The hubris of believing technology can solve fundamental problems
Character Development and Themes#
Bru’s Chaos Theory#
Bru continues his pattern of doing exactly what he’s told not to do, successfully stealing the mysterious iron flask despite repeated warnings. His natural curiosity and disregard for authority consistently drives plot advancement.
Helisanna’s Growing Power#
Her musical abilities prove capable of overwhelming even experienced magical practitioners like Marcus, suggesting her bardic magic continues evolving beyond normal parameters.
Red’s Technical Insight#
Red ’s exceptional understanding of crystal technology provides crucial intelligence about the relationship between their world’s violessence and the advanced power sources they’ve discovered.
Moral Complexity#
The session explores themes of unintended consequences, the dangers of perfectionism, and how attempts to fix mistakes can often make them worse. Marcus, Scarlet, and Matthew serve as tragic figures trapped by their own good intentions.
Ongoing Plot Implications#
Future Threats#
- Eldora’s Crystal Collection: The cautionary tale suggests Eldora’s violessence gathering could lead to similar reality-shattering consequences
- Time Gun Technology: The party now possesses the knowledge to create time travel technology, presenting both opportunity and extreme danger
- Iron Flask Mystery: Bru ’s stolen artifact likely contains something of cosmic significance
- World Tree Planting: Matthew’s seed represents either salvation or another potential disaster for their reality
Enhanced Capabilities#
The party’s new magical items provide significant advantages:
- Reality-altering paint for creative problem-solving
- Advanced power sources for Bru ’s inventions
- Multidimensional communication capabilities
- Potential for growing their own world-stabilizing tree
Session Conclusion#
This interlude successfully delivers Sol’s intended lesson while providing the party with powerful new tools and crucial knowledge about cosmic-level threats. The tragic fate of Marcus, Scarlet, and Matthew serves as both warning and inspiration, demonstrating what happens when heroes become trapped by their own attempts at perfection.
The session ends with the party returned to familiar territory but fundamentally changed by their experience, carrying both the burden of knowledge about potential futures and the tools that might help them avoid similar catastrophes in their own world.