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It seems another member of the Circle – a wizard named Maura – had vanished while investigating something with potentially “catastrophic consequences”. And Maura had explicitly been looking for power which could be used against Eothas… Llengrath wanted them to meet here at the Halls of the Unseen – an abandoned temple to Wael (mad god of dreams, secrets, and mysteries).

The Temple was located in the barren basalt wastes of the Black Isles – a series of desolate volcanic islands.

Inside they found Llengrath arguing with another ArchMage named Tayn. It seems that what Maura had been searching for – what she believed the be hidden under the Temple – was the long buried titanic mortal form of Wael himself! And she had been searching for a way to use this buried Titan to counter Eothas. Tayn was all in favor of this plan, believing there was no better way to counter the Avatar of a Mad God than with the Avatar of another Mad God. Llengrath, on the other hand, considered this to be doubling down on insanity. That the *last* thing they needed was another Deity physically stomping around the Deadfire. *Particularly* when that Deity was *literally* the God of Madness. Sapphire, Grim, and the others were rather inclined to agree with Llengrath.

In any event *both* Archmages agreed that they needed to quickly figure out what Maura had *actually* been doing and what had happened to her. As even in the upper levels of the temple where they were now tentacles could be seen bursting through the floor and they could regularly feel quakes from below. Clearly *something* was stirring… So while they put their talents to work scrying and attempting to make sense of Maura’s notes and half-finished experiments in the upper chambers, they wanted Grim and the others to explore the regions below.

Going below they found a massive library stretching in all directions in twisting stairways and passages.

The library was being tended by monkish librarians… who turned out to be faceless when they attempted to communicate with one. It gave them the basic Rules before returning to its cryptic tasks.

(1) Do not remove anything from the shelves.

(2) Avoid the east wing, which is “infected” and due for cleansing over the next 10-15 years.

(3) Do not interfere with the work of the Librarians.

It had little to say about Maura, beyond that a sapient of her description had unwisely entered the “infected” wing.

So naturally they decided to investigate exactly where they had been told to avoid. It did not take long before they found themselves fighting off hordes of infected Librarians in a library that appeared to have been overrun by a massive fungal infection.

As well as legions of fungal Sporelings.

Eventually they came upon a large fungal nexus which could “talk”… and considered itself to *be* Llengrath! Llengrath was apparently not a singular being, but a form of communal memory which was continually passed along to new hosts. And the fungal nexus had absorbed the memories of an early Llengrath. This was of great interest to the current Llengrath… but did not really help them in their task.

Returning to the Library proper they asked about the large doorway in the back. They were told it lead to the “Oratory”. It was not technically restricted, but there was no known way of bypassing the fiendishly complex locking mechanism. While the Librarians indicated that it required searching the Library for a lost ritual… Ace took that as a personal challenge. And sure enough, he proved up to to the task of figuring out how to open it directly.

In the Oratory they found Maura – a clearly infected Maura – arguing with an unknown robed and masked figure. The two blocked them out with walls of force, and then the unknown Mage killed Maura in a quick but brutal wizard duel.

Afterwards the unknown wizard referred to himself as “Fyonlecg” – and seemed greatly perturbed that none of them had never heard of him. He ranted to himself about “partial erasure from the timeline”, and then apparently decided he needed to eliminate them as well.

He gestured and the great Orrery in the center of the chamber began balsting the area with massive streams of energy. While the others scrambled to avoid the beams, Ace homed on what he intuited to be the power source and eliminated it.

This left them in a battle against Fyonlecg and the various beings he summoned and controlled.

They eventually defeated the Madman, but discovered nothing but worms behind the mask. Blur was decidedly creeped out by this discovery, but Sapphire told them it meant this was just a Simulacrum. That the real Fyonlecg was still lurking somewhere.

On Maura’s corpse they found a Tome titled “The Sacrifice the Eyeless Face Demands” – which indicated that to descend to the lowest levels of the Library they needed to sacrifice “the memories of the Trephine”. And that “a memory of a thing is not the thing itself. A memory of a thing is a thing itself“. It was not clear what on earth *that* was supposed to mean.

Continuing on they came to the “Scriptorium” – which appeared to be a central nexus for the Library. It included massive walls of books with interspersed passageways, tended by Librarians… with gigantic eyestalks watching from overhead. Here they met the Chief Librarian, who told them that Library was managed by “The Hand Occult”. Its purpose was to gather “everything that had ever been known”. It had an “Archives” wing – which they had already explored – which stored the entire history of the world. The “real” history. And a “Collections” wing – which stored things which had been “edited” from history. Things that either couldn’t or shouldn’t exist, or had been deemed to problematic to the timeline to be allowed to exist.

The Chief Librarian told them that someone called “the Oracle” was the power behind the Library. And that further questions would have to be directed there. It had little to say about Maura beyond that she was a known entity which had always “respected the Library”. Of Fyonlecg it merely commented that something had escaped from Collections and was still being retrieved.

At this point Sapphire was beginning to have very nagging doubts. Whatever else Wael was,  “organized, clinical, and methodical” was most definitely *not* it. The doctrine of Wael didn’t even have a concept of what “should” or “shouldn’t” exist, and was far more interested in burying secrets than cataloging them.

They returned to the upper level to discuss things with Llengrath and Tayn. They were both dismayed to learn of Maura’s death, but determined that the investigation needed to continue. Neither of them had ever heard of Fyonlecg, but had some information of their own. They had been magically searching the “Collections” wing. They had discovered that there were large numbers of Huana, humans, elves and such kept captive there in various horrific states of psychic capture. This state was partially enforced through some form of sonic emanation transmitted throughout the wing. If they could find the source of the transmission, they could disable it and broadcast a counter. Tayn provided a spell which would disrupt the transmission and restore the captive minds…. randomly. As in each person would receive a random combination of memories from the others. Llengrath provided a different spell to simply provide merciful death. It was unclear why anyone would consider the former a desirable outcome. At this point the quakes increased in earnest, and a large orb of light flared in the central pool

Attempting to examine it, Sapphire found herself drawn into a mental landscape. There she met the Oracle entity – which was decidedly unfriendly. It considered their presence a “corruption”, demanded that they leave immediately, and then ended the connection. Nevertheless they continued their explorations.

Collections appeared every bit as nightmarish as its initial description. There was a central pit which seemed to descend forever, and out of it came something that sounded like a cross between screams of despair, crazed laughter, and song.

Keepers appearing similar to Monks tended the area, as well as other “things”. When a crazed prisoner ran for the pit and attempted to jump, what constrained him, pacified him, and made him meekly return made their blood run cold. A Vithrak. Exceedingly rare spider-like psychic beings known for trafficking in rare – and often cursed – magic in exchange for “memories”.

Collections contained a very odd mix of what appeared to be exhibits. From humanoid groups of various descriptions continually re-enacting labelled emotions to “things” which it was difficult to describe.

Including a large freakish skeleton that it was difficult to even visualize as having once belonged to a coherent living being.

They found a huge suspended “cocoon” which appeared to function as an elevator, and they asked it to take them up a level. At which point they discovered an entire Vithrak colony – which was none too pleased at their arrival.

They fought desperate battles against Vithrak which constantly assaulted their minds as well as their bodies – keeping Star and Xoti busy merely keeping them mentally functional.

Eventually they found the Vithrak leader – a being named Sissak – with whom Sapphire was able to converse. It seems the Vithrak had an arrangement with the Oracle. In payment of some ancient debt they tended Collections, and in exchange were provided with their pick of memories. Sissak believed they were close to having fulfilled their end of the bargain, and could soon be freed. But Sapphire asked to review their “contract”. She quickly pointed out that while many sections had been signed by both parties, the Oracle had never actually signed the page which provided for an end to the Contract. Technically speaking, it was eternal! Sissak was enraged at this, and immediately ordered the Vithrak to cease cooperating with the Oracle. As far as it was concerned this was an explicit breach of the agreement.

Returning to the “elevator”, they asked instead to be taken to the lower section of Collections. And what they found there was truly horrifying. An organic chamber thick with a bloody “soup” of viscera, various mortals staring and moaning in a psychic stupor, and a large hideous monstrosity which seemed to be an aggregated mass of tortured souls. An which also seemed to be the source of the song of agony being projected throughout the complex. They put this being out of its misery as quickly as possible.

When it fell to the ground, Star found herself unwillingly drawn into the stream of memories it released. Among them were the original creation of the Trephanine – which was the central control apparatus in the Scriptorium. She now knew how to open the passage to the depths below.

Afterwards Sapphire found the bizarre device which had linked the monster to the rest of the complex. In a decision they all supported, she used Llengrath’s spell to put the inhabitants to rest.

Returning to the Scriptorium, Star used the Trephanine to reveal a path to the depths. Llengrath and Tayn came to warn them of what they believed lay below. They would literally be entering the living body of Wael.

This proved to be every bit as grotesque as could be imagined, requiring them to battle Wael’s immune system as they interrupted its functioning enough to allow them to travel into its “brain”.

Once Inside they found Fyonlecg coldly arguing with the Oracle. He apparently intended to “claim his right” by taking control of the body of Wael from the Oracle – which he seemed to believe would give him infinite knowledge and the ability to restore his own existence to the timeline.

But when he attempted to merge with the Oracle, it appeared the Oracle was in more control of the resultant being than the hapless Archmage. And it immediately declared that it needed to eliminate the rest of the infestation. Them.

The battle was long and brutal, and they did not emerge unscathed.

But just when the Oracle had finally been put down, it began to rise again. Threatening to *truly* put them in their place… until a higher power intervened…

Sapphire found herself again drawn into the Void, but this time she was faced with what could only by Wael itself… It seemed… curious? amused?? by the situation. And wondered who could have hidden its own body from it. After briefly considering various other deities, it eventually decided that it had hidden the Temple from *itself*. And that the entirety of the Library and the “Hand Occult” had been a joke played on itself for its own amusement. It was so delighted at the discovery that it wished to know what Sapphire thought it should do with its re-discovered titanic form. Sapphire thought of all they had learned of Wael, the Gods, and this place. And declared that Wael should kill it – so that it was no longer a hidden threat waiting for any and all to use for their own purposes. Wael pouted at this – preferring to hide it from itself once again so it could have the pleasure of rediscovering it later. But Sapphire eventually convinced it that the likes of Eothas could use it in ways it would not find so amusing. And so it relented. It told her that if they killed the Oracle – which currently functioned as the titan’s brain – then it would allow the body to die.

And when Sapphire returned the vision, it only took a nod to signal that purpose to Grim – who executed the battered monstrosity before it could even finish asking what Wael had said.

They gave brief summaries to Llengrath and Tayn before heading back to the Defiant. They needed to return to Dunnage and refocus on their primary objective – stopping Eothas at all costs. They also all *desperately* needed baths…

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Author’s Notes:

This set is almost entirely GPT 1.5. In part because there’s just a lot of freaky weirdness here that really breaks DALLE. In part because I wanted to see how it went relying heavily on using it natively – as in for most of these I didn’t even supply reference imagery. The Oracle fight and Wael were the only ones where I gave it that… And that’s just because five full character descriptions plus Oracle was too much even for GPT, and Waels look is just so freaking weird that its hard get. Note that there’s no way on earth I would have ever coaxed that image of Grim killing the Oracle out of DALLE. Flat out no.

I did still use DALLE for the initial scenic view of the temple entry, because the imagery from it is just so clean and crisp when it works.

Narratively, wow that was an acid trip of an adventure! It was nice to be able to showcase Sapphire for a change, but like many DLC it still felt a tad out-of-place given how close they are to the culmination of their potentially world-ending quest. But that seems to happen a lot in RPGs – not just this one.