41: The Rebinding Ritual
🎧 Podcast coming soon • January 30, 2026
Conference with Bafael
The session opens aboard Captain Buckle's vessel, now past the harbor and sailing toward the crash site where Luna fell. Around midday, with the site still hours away, Bafael asks Ohma to gather the party in his cabin below deck. The meeting becomes a strategy session about their true allegiances.
The Question of Direction
Bafael: "Have you decided what you are going to do when we get to the crash site?"
Bru: "I have concepts of a plan."
The discussion quickly turns philosophical. Bafael challenges the party on their ultimate goals:
Bafael: "I don't know your direction. You seem like you think about what is right now, but I don't know what the end goal is. You fight the dragon. You fight the empire. Are you going to fight everyone?"
The Mercenary Revelation
Bafael reveals crucial information: the dragon knights on this ship are mercenaries, loyal only to whoever pays them.
Bafael: "They are mercenaries. So if you have money, we can take this boat back. Right now, they are aligned with St. George. So if you do something, they will fight you unless you offer a better price."
Silas: "Or we do something and they don't realize we did something, and we don't have to pay them anything."
Understanding the Stakes
Olivia presses for more context about the Order of St. George's relationship with Eldoran:
Olivia: "I want to know how long they've been working with Eldoran. They've done a lot of war crimes."
Bafael arrived only a month ago, and the two were already working together. As he understands it, St. George wants to kill all dragons, and works with Eldoran because Eldoran can finally kill the gods—including the draconic gods such as Noraxis, Luna's dragon lover. (Ohma reasons that Eldoran's aim is to make their god Eldora more powerful.) Bafael adds that dragons are coming, Noraxis among them, and that they must decide whether the space gun shoots Noraxis or is taken down.
The Scorpion Philosophy
Bafael shares his philosophical perspective on destruction:
Bafael: "Not every destructive force is evil. It is in itself an aspect, an agent of chaos, an element of our universe moving forward. A scorpion is a scorpion, right? But is a scorpion evil?"
He mentions the two scorpions at the zoo—which prompts a tortle superstition:
Ohma: "One scorpion, three scorpion, five scorpion, but two—never. It is a very bad omen."
The Sabotage Plan
Rather than choose between factions, the party develops a clever middle path: complete the ritual (necessary to reseal Astro) while sabotaging the Order's tracking equipment so they can't locate other dragon orbs. Bafael explains that three sensors ring the crash site, and each ship carries a relay to read them—on this one, in the captain's quarters.
The Distraction
Ohma and Olivia create a diversion by challenging each other to arm wrestling on deck.
Athletics Checks:
Ohma dons his wrestling persona, showing off his Belt of Giant Strength. The match draws a crowd, with betting erupting among the sailors. After a tense bout that goes back and forth, Ohma slams home the victory to huge cheers.
Infiltrating the Relay Room
While the arm wrestling match captivates the crew, Silas rolls a 27 on Stealth to sneak Bru and Elspeth, tucked inside the portable hole, toward the captain's quarters, where the relay equipment is housed.
Inside, they find a 1960s-era satellite dish with a revolving antenna and a console at its base. The artificers get to work.
Group Arcana Check:
The combined roll exceeds DC 20, achieving full success:
- They hijack the signal, routing the real coordinates to their own local storage
- They sabotage the relay network, sending erroneous signals to all other receivers
- Only the party will know where the other dragon orbs are located
Silas: "Neither faction is better off. And we have not made either side better off."
A Night Aboard
The infiltrators slip back above deck unnoticed. The captain announces they will reach the site in the morning and opens casks of ale "on St. George," and the ship parties late into the night. At dawn, Ohma, Bafael and Olivia practice tai chi together on deck as the sun rises over the water.
Arrival at the Crash Site
In the morning, the lookout calls out that the crash site is almost here, and people scurry to the front of the boat.
The Impossible Ocean
As the party makes their way forward, they witness something extraordinary—a border where the sea simply ends. A sheer drop reveals a perfectly dry ocean floor within an open ring of water, hundreds of feet below.
The ocean forms a swirling vortex with stark walls, roughly 300 feet down to the exposed seabed. And there, sprawled across the ancient ocean floor, lies the glowing skeleton of a winged figure some 400 feet long: Luna, the fallen moon goddess.
The scale is staggering. This is no metaphor—they're looking at the actual body of a god.
Descent to the Ocean Floor
The party descends the 300-foot drop using a combination of techniques. Bafael demonstrates the monk approach—wave dashing in and out between water and air, rapidly descending.
Ohma follows with similar grace, performing what the party describes as "360 no-scopes" on the way down.
Olivia, ever practical, grabs the ship's few tattered life vests for herself and Elspeth before they jump, and uses the rappelling ropes to catch herself when the wave-dashing technique doesn't quite work. Bru jumps too—he has things to blow up.
Luna's Voice
As they walk across the ancient seabed toward the goddess's remains, a weak voice enters their minds:
Luna: "Who... who is that? I'm so weak. My bones feel like they might break."
The voice grows stronger as they approach her head—also the location of the ritual site.
The Dragon Orb's Purpose
At the altar, doubts surface. Ohma finds blood magic suspicious and asks where Bafael learned the ritual (from the Order of St. George's research, he says). Silas reads Bafael with a 33 Insight: he joined St. George only to reach this site, and now, faced with an orb that might hold the power to bring back his goddess, he is swaying toward not doing the ritual at all.
Bafael: "I cannot lead you to this ritual. You lead me to this ritual."
The party debates whether the dragon orb could help revive Luna.
Astro Speaks
As they debate, a voice emanates from Silas's backpack—Astro, calling Luna "sister":
Astro: "I will help you, sister. This world will remember the mighty love of Luna and Noraxis."
Then Luna's angelic voice again: "Are you there? Please help me."
Then, directed specifically at Silas:
Astro: "Do what you want, Silas. I will not be stopped."
Bru's Scientific Analysis
Bru takes a scientific approach instead, taking the orb from Silas and walking it around the site. He rolls an impressive 31 on his Arcana check (with Flash of Genius) and discovers fascinating properties:
Away from the altar:
- The orb subtly pulls matter and energy toward it—like a black hole in miniature
- This aligns with Astro's nature as a being of the void
Near Luna's body:
- The orb shoots out blasts of energy that cascade over the skeleton
- Like Roman candles that dissipate across the goddess's remains
At the ritual altar:
- Complete inversion of behavior—chaotic, unpredictable energy fluctuations
- The altar appears to be a "teeter-totter" point that can redistribute cosmic forces
Bru: "It feels like the orb wants to be close to the goddess's body, not this weird altar thing."
A New Plan Emerges
The party agrees on a comprehensive strategy:
- Complete the rebinding ritual - Astro must be resealed regardless of other considerations
- Keep the tracking data - Already secured aboard the ship, so neither Eldoran nor St. George finds the other orbs
- Eventually steal power from Eldora - Take one of her artifacts, or whatever powers the moon weapon, to revive Luna
- Destroy the god gun - As Bafael insists, reviving Luna now would only set her up to be shot again
Silas: "To hell with this dragon. We mess over Eldora and then we use that to help Luna. Everyone cool? Let's do the ritual."
The Rebinding Ritual
The party reaches the ritual area near Luna's skull. Four pillars hold spherical objects. A pedestal with a large ceramic bowl marks the center.
Setting Up
Bafael directs the preparations:
Bafael: "I have learned this through my studies. I brought this big sack of salt. You said you brought the spheres of violescence from the ship. Let us arrange it now."
The party places the four violescent orbs on mantles and lays out seven circles of salt in the prescribed pattern.
The Blood Requirement
Bafael: "We must all pour our blood into the bowl. We must give our blood freely, and then it will start the ritual."
Silas does something rare—pulling out an actual dagger instead of his psychic blades:
Silas: "Normally psychic daggers do everything I need just fine."
The blood falls into the bowl and coalesces into a mercury-like droplet, shimmering and condensing. Ohma bites his thumb in classic tough-guy fashion. Elspeth contributes with her perpetually chapped, bleeding hands.
Bru hesitates, flipping a coin to decide. It lands on heads.
Bru: "All right, I guess it's fine."
Speaking the Name
The final component: speaking the dragon's true name. Silas rolls back his sleeve, revealing the name written on his forearm in phonetic script—neither player nor character has ever gotten it right.
Silas: "Astrolinomini Norox..."
The orb shoots from Silas's backpack, hovering above the blood bowl. It begins to shake violently.
The Psychic Battle
The party is pulled prostrate above the seven salt circles. Each must make a saving throw—wisdom, constitution, charisma, or intelligence—round after round.
Round One
Olivia's Aura of Protection provides +3 to everyone. The artificers throw out Flash of Genius bonuses to support the weaker rolls.
Results:
- Ohma: 25 (popped into shell for advantage)
- Bru: 22 (with Flash of Genius)
- Silas: 20 (with Elspeth's Flash of Genius)
- Olivia: 20
- Leliana: Barely passes
A searing pain pulls through them. For a moment Silas feels his mind will be overwhelmed, but the bond of the psychic link steadies him.
Round Two
Another wave of psychic energy. Elspeth rolls a 27. Leliana fails even with a Flash of Genius and screams:
Leliana: "My mind! My mind!"
She takes 12 points of psychic damage but remains conscious.
Round Three
Silas drops to a 13; Elspeth's last Flash of Genius lifts him to 17. As the tendrils pull him toward the void, the psychic connection pulls him back:
Elspeth (through the psychic link, slapping Silas mentally): "Get it together. Come on."
The party feels their consciousnesses forming a bubble, slowly moving in on the orb—like a coordinated assault on the dragon's prison.
Round Four
One last round of saves. Everyone passes, Leliana included.
The Binding Succeeds
The sphere collapses inward. A wrenching, grinding sound—like metal scratching against metal—fills the air as the orb rebinds itself.
Phantasmal chains appear, reconnecting around the orb in layers. The party slowly falls to the ground as the ritual energy dissipates. The orb lands gently in the now-empty blood bowl.
Silence.
The dragon Astroleinomininoirnoxus—Astro, the void dragon, the world-eater—has been resealed.
Cliffhanger: Dragons Approach
As the party catches their breath, a shout from above:
Dragon Knight: "We've got a live one!"
Three grappling hooks spring from the ship, piercing a huge blue dragon flying overhead.
The session ends with the Order of St. George doing what they do best—and the party caught between a freshly-sealed god and an active dragon hunt.
Key Information Learned
The Crash Site:
- Luna's skeleton spans 400 feet across the dry ocean floor
- The site creates a natural dimensional balancing point
- Luna is alive but extremely weak—able to communicate telepathically
- Astro's orb reacts differently at different locations: pulling energy normally, expelling it near Luna, and becoming chaotic at the altar
The Ritual:
- Requires: blood freely given, violescent spheres, salt circles, and speaking the true name
- The blood coalesces into mercury-like substance
- Participants experience waves of psychic assault
- Success manifests as visible phantasmal chains around the orb
Astro's Nature:
- Can communicate independently of the orb holder
- Expressed desire to help Luna—her "sister"
- Claims she "will not be stopped" regardless of what Silas chooses
The Party's Plan:
- Sabotaged Order's tracking equipment while capturing the real data
- Plan to steal power from Eldoran to revive Luna
- Must eventually destroy the god gun to prevent Luna being shot again
Character Moments
Silas: Orchestrates the sabotage plan and leads the party through moral complexity with pragmatic wisdom. His willingness to do "the ritual we need to do regardless" while undermining both factions shows his growth as a leader.
Bru: His scientific approach to the orb—walking it around measuring energy signatures—demonstrates the artificer mindset. His coin-flip decision to give blood shows his chaotic approach to commitment.
Ohma: Faces the emotional weight of seeing his goddess's fallen body. His wrestling match with Olivia provides necessary distraction while his monk training allows graceful descent to the ocean floor.
Olivia: Her Aura of Protection proves crucial during the ritual's psychic assault. Her insistence on life vests before descending shows her practical retired-detective mindset.
Elspeth: Rolls a 27 on her save and provides Flash of Genius to struggling party members. Her mental "slap" to Silas through the psychic link shows her no-nonsense support style.
Leliana: Takes the brunt of the psychic damage but perseveres through the ritual, demonstrating her dedication to the party despite being the newest member.
Unresolved Threads
- How will the party handle the dragon currently being hunted by St. George?
- Will Luna recover now that she knows allies are near?
- What will the Order do when they discover their sensors were sabotaged?
- Can the party access the stolen tracking data before St. George realizes the deception?
- Where are the other dragon orbs, and who will reach them first?
- How will they steal power from Eldoran without alerting the empire?
- What is Astro's true plan regarding Luna?
- Will the mercenary dragon knights become a problem when alliances shift?
Notable Quotes
Silas: "To hell with this dragon. We mess over Eldora and then we use that to help Luna."
Bafael: "I cannot lead you to this ritual. You lead me to this ritual."
Bru: "It feels like the orb wants to be close to the goddess's body, not this weird altar thing."
Silas: "Neither faction is better off. And we have not made either side better off." (explaining the sabotage strategy)
Astro: "Do what you want, Silas. I will not be stopped."
Elspeth (telepathically): "Get it together. Come on." (mentally slapping Silas during the ritual)
The session concludes with the ritual complete and Astro resealed—but with a dragon battle looming and complex allegiances more tangled than ever. The party has bought themselves time and information, but the real challenges of navigating cosmic conflicts between gods, empires, and ancient dragons are only beginning.