session 20

Brain Trust¶

After a victorious but grueling confrontation in the Redemption Center, we found ourselves amidst the unsettling quiet that follows a storm. With Sita gone and countless questions dangling unanswered, we braced ourselves for the inevitable—facing the Dyarch themselves, possibly the most formidable mind in Ermis.

As we regrouped, the ceremorph saga took a surprising turn. Gloopwing in a tense tangle with the fleeing ceremorph. It was a bizarre and horrifying sight, her form enwrapping the creature in a desperate attempt to subdue it. Despite her efforts and the chaos, the creature’s wily nature shone through, and it nearly escaped several times. Finally though it found itself outmatched, and with the help of a Hetai warrior, we confined it in the mundane captivity of a cupboard. A temporary fix, surely, but a momentary relief nonetheless.

The authorities were relentless. With such turmoil under the city’s watchful eyes, they demanded clarity and honesty—commodities we found hard to trade given our entanglements in shadows and half-truths. As we navigated the precariousness of our position, our reticence to reveal the full scope of our dealings only drew more suspicion. The promise of a forthcoming audience with the Dyarch hung over us like a sword of Damocles, their renown in mind-reading leaving little room for the usual subterfuge.

Intra-party tensions, always simmering, began to boil as the reality of our situation set in. The potential of facing a mind as penetrating as the Dyarch’s without the veil of secrecy led to hushed conversations and heated debates—could we risk an escape, as Gwen desired, or was the truth our only recourse, as Stigs argued? The labyrinth of our past choices seemed to converge upon a single daunting exit, through the halls of the Synarchon itself. The floating city of Omerth awaited, its mysteries and perils obscured by the mists of uncertainty and the weight of our decisions.

Would we break before the Dyarch’s gaze, or could we, perhaps, find a way to turn even this to our advantage? Only time would tell, and the sands of the Kypar desert beneath the stars of Ermis continued their ceaseless cascade, indifferent to the fates of adventurers and empires alike.