As they made there way through the old elven valley ruins, Kythaela grew quieter and quieter. When they reached what appeared to be an old Manacalon tower surrounded by ruined buildings she stood staring in shock.
It was at this point that Tess truly realized what this entire voyage had been like for Kythaela. Everything and everyone she had ever known was a thousand years dead, gone, and forgotten. And they were now approaching what had once been her home. And her own memories were so fragmented she couldn’t even remember them clearly herself.As they explored the overgrown ruins, they met with a number of minor nuisances – dire wolves, flying vipers – but nothing terribly threatening. But this led them to let down their guard a little too much, as they were attempting to explore the ruins and find their way to the main tower, Tess was ambushed by a Vampire!It was Kythaela that reached her first. Kythaela leaped to her defense, frying the wretch in a blistering gout of flames and then immediately turning to check on Tess.As they made their way to the Tower at the center of the ruins, there were a number of signs of recent activity. They feared the vampire that had attacked Tess had been just one of many. The tower was magically sealed, but Kythaela knew how to open it. But she said it could only be opened at midnight. Kat was not terribly pleased with the idea of hanging around ruins known to contain an unknown number of vampires at midnight, but that was the path forward.When midnight struck and Kythaela began the ritual to unseal the tower, sure enough, vampires appeared to attack en masse..They beat back the tide, but it seemed… easier than it should have been. As if the horde was a distraction. And Falcon was sure he caught a glimpse of… something… following them into the tower.They saw many wonders in the tower, including spectral librarians guarding and maintaining an ancient arcane library. The place looked spotless, as if the last thousand years had been but a day.Kythaela knew where she needed to go, and led them down to the basement of the tower, where they found a large open room containing something they had never believed actually existed…. a sleeping dragon!
As the others stared, transfixed, she strode up to it and said some words in a dialect even Tess did not understand. Then to their shock she collapsed in front of them and dissolved into a stream of energy flowing into the dragon. Her last words, barely heard, were “I’m home, Master”.But they had little time to digest this development, as a new threat appeared. A Vampire Lord coalesced in front of them, introducing himself as “Razan” and thanking them for opening the tower and leading the way so that he could drain the power from the sleeping dragon. Then he summoned minions and immediately attacked.Like Aksha he had strong powers to cloak himself and blind them. Unlike Aksha he was perfectly content to assail them magically while letting his minions take the punishment. And also unlike Aksha he chose not to fight them during the day in an area with conveniently hidden windows. The fight was looking very grim.But just as things looked the worst, the Vampire Lord discovered that the dragon was no longer asleep… and was looking decidedly unhappy. He immediately turned to mist and fled.Falcon was furious. Dragon or no. What did you do to Kythaela?But the Dragon bent down to Tess, and said – in what was clearly Kythaela’s voice – “Worry not my friends, I am still here”
The Dragon told them many things. She was Adrasteia, known as the Prudent Shield and Master of Abjuration in the old Manacalon Arcaneum. Each school of magic had a Master, and each was actually an ancient dragon in elven form. It was they who had made the final push to seal the Rift – sacrificing their minds, bodies, and for some their lives to seal away the Sorak threat. They had already met another dragon, though they had not known it. Mardracht was the dragon Master of Necromancy, but in sacrificing his mind he had forgotten who and what he was. Kythaela had been a “mental construct” to safeguard Adrasteia’s memories while she slept until the amount of ambient magic in the world recovered enough from the Cataclysm to allow her re-awakening. Kythaela had been, and still was, genuinely a part of her. But not entirely her at the same time.
She told them of the Crown as well. It was the Crown of Kaseinax – the Magister of the Arcaneum – and her brother. It was the Crown, imbued with the gems of all eight schools of magic, that had enabled the closing of the Rift. And Kaseinax’s spirit was still inside. That is the voice that had been speaking to Tess. It had bonded imperfectly to Tess because it had never been intended for even a true elf, much less a half-elf. It had been intended to be worn by a Dragon in elven form.
Armed with this knowledge she asked them to complete Kaseinax’s quest, though she could not say exactly what Kaseinax intended to do. She also asked them one final favor, which they were only too happy to oblige. She asked them to end Razan in the tombs above. She said such things had not existed in her time, and she could not bear the “stench” of it. But she still needed to regain her strength after re-awakening. She would protect them from his magic, and told them where to find his tomb. She also promised that they would see her again, when she was needed most.
3 responses to “Solasta: The Master Calls”
atcDave
You got a number of excellent Dragon renders with that, including some consistency on an unusual color!
I like these vampire renders too, Razan is a different look.
Technically in Solasta they are “Defilers” – which is vampires with the serial numbers filed off – that have their own history and origin. But yeah. The minions are far more bestial while the lords look more like Aksha and Razan. And that un-dispellable cloud of darkness is a major pain-in-the butt when fighting them. At least Adrasteia gave us a gem of true seeing, so that one of them can ignore it.
Kythaela was just beginning to grow on us. She does lighten up as she gets accustomed to the way things are now. And all things considered it “feels” like a death even if that’s not really what it is.
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