The party, still stuck in the Dissian Catacombs beneath the lake of flesh that surrounds the Iron City of Dis, were succumbing to fatigue and injury. Magnus Stairwell was caught in a mechanical stone trap that crushed his right foot, leaving it a mangled, bloody mess. Yuna was able to stabilize him so he wouldn’t bleed out, but her worsening spell sickness caused her healing spells to fail on the first attempt, and burst an uncontrolled blast of healing back onto herself on the second attempt. Despite her efforts, Magnus does not seem to be recovering, and she quickly fell exhausted.

The remaining party members decided to take a breather. Still in the chamber containing the containment field that held first the green jewel that Tak used Levani to retrieve, and then Levani’s still living body once Tak made his escape. Both Magnus and Levani, she still in her discorporated form, attempted without success to take a chalk rubbing of the circular maze in the blood altar, ruining the party’s only map of the Thorimfel region in the process.

Keen tried to lift the Dragonhead coin from Levani’s unconscious body, but was foiled by Ara, who took possession of the Dragonhead, the Ring of Reduction and the Hat of True Frog from Levani’s recumbent form, for safekeeping.

As the party sat and talked, several interesting facts were brought forth. First, the other party members could now hear Levani’s thoughts in addition to their own, even from the Ethereal plane, now that her body was freed of the magical prison that had held it suspended. Second, Magnus related the details of how he captured the djinn that had pursued them through the labyrinth, using the iron flask Ara found. Third, the party found a scrap of parchment upon which someone – possibly Tak himself? – had written on, trying to work out a web of relations between Tak, the party, A Tabaxi named Stalks-By-Night, and the Skink, a criminal lizardfolk organization active in the Eastriver region of Telisar.

Levani explored the area immediately beyond the chamber, looking for evidence of Tak’s whereabouts. She followed his tracks to a long, pitch-black passageway, as well as some seemingly empty rooms.

The party traded stories, and through their conversation learned that Yuna and Levani had met years before, though Levani did not realize it until Yuna related the details of her upbringing. Yuna also explained her divine essence, fully revealing for the first time her aasimar nature and her true father’s angelic aspect. Yuna also revealed the details of her spell sickness, and the warning given her by Masym, Holy Mother of Syf. Levani knew something of spell sickness and further warned Yuna that left unchecked, her innate magical essence would eventually overtake and destroy her.

Meanwhile, Magnus spent some time contemplating the nature of the residium injected into him and his friends, and found that with a focus of will he could not only feel the locations of the others, but divine a sense of whether they were waking, sleeping, or in a trance. This success sparked a memory of his life before his servitude in the El Astrum Public Library, a life in which his obsession was residium and its properties. A key detail surfaced, and Magnus excitedly informed the party that residium has been long theorized to hold the key to collecting, harnessing and channeling the very essence of life and death. Magnus theorized this had something to do with necromancy, and Keen realized that it was via the residium in their systems that they all felt a stab of pain when Levani’s body took what should have been a killing blow from Tak.

That Levani’s body still lived led to some speculation that perhaps the party was immortal, or that they were somehow trapping Levani’s spirit.

Levani then told of her encounter with Anansus, and with Rashtek, the lich that tried to consume her on what she thought was the Ethereal plane (though she was in fact on a plane called, by those who know of it, The Shore). Anansus, an old Dwarven god of trickery and change is widely considered to be something of a folk tale in modern Telisar, but Levani insisted the entity that saved her from Rashtek was none other. Levani also said that Anansus claimed Bahamut, the Platinum Queen and Mother of all Creation, had been slain, and charged her with recovering the pieces of Her flesh that She might be reborn.

Eventually the party decided to spend a few hours resting in the hopes that Magnus and Yuna would recover. Once everyone was in a deep sleep, Levani was surprised by the sudden appearance of a raven in the chamber. The raven seemed to be able to see Levani, even though she remained on the Ethereal Plane. It hopped about and played with her wooden owlbear statue a moment, then disappeared in a puff of feathers which dispersed into thin air. All except one, which remained, placed with purpose, in the hair of Levani’s physical body.

Keen was successful in lifting the Dragonhead from Ara while he remained in his trance, despite Levani’s attempt to stop him.

The party awoke feeling refreshed, all except Magnus, who was surprised to realize that his foot had seemingly not improved at all with rest. Worried for Magnus and puzzling over the raven feather, the party prepared to set off in search of a way out of Hell.

Lore Status: Dumped

Connections Revealed: Several

RP Rating: Awesome