# 51. Session Fifty One — The Lightkeepers **In-game start:** Summer 21 | **Played:** 24 June 2026 [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/13 - Session Notes/Session 50 - Priorities|← Session 50]] · [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/00 - Home & Navigation/Campaign Home|Campaign Hub]] · [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/13 - Session Notes/Session 52 - The Rose Taken|Session 52 →]] ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Session Artwork/Session 51/Screenshot 2026 06 27 at 20.55.41.png|780]] > [!abstract]+ TL;DR > - **A Quiet Evening at the Golden Swan:** The note supposedly from Ryla had told [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] to meet her at [[Slavers' Row|Slavers’ Row]] at nine o’clock, alone, because [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/07 - Characters/07b - Antagonists and Unknown Alignment/Boristov Sokah|Boristov Sokah]] might be planning to steal the [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/09 - Items, Artifacts & Documents/Rose of Igoda]]. > - **Thiago Radaxian:** The enemy were still testing the lines, still striking here and there, but the attacks had lost their old clarity. > - **Philip Pentos and Zormir Ketok:** Next came an elderly tiefling scholar with white eyes, a long white beard, layered academic robes, and a faded gold shawl stitched with arcane symbols. > - **The Brotherhood of Ko:** They had used something called the [[Blood of Ko]] to control entire villages, making people docile and obedient. > - **Divine Retribution:** [[Solland]] had, after the Breaking, unified itself through the hunting, imprisoning and destroying of old gods, demi-gods, Archai and other ancient beings. > - **Elena Enters the Fight:** The blade struck the grappling guard hard enough that his grip broke, freeing [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] from the hold. > - **Elena Unleashed:** Her blade came down with such force that the guard collapsed under the impact, blood spraying across the cobbles. > - **One Terrible Answer:** If his theory was correct, then freeing the souls, destroying the blade, and killing Q’ruhm would require both to be destroyed at the same time. > [!star]- Memorable Moments > - 🔥 **Badass — Thiago:** Asked where the Lightkeepers stand if the Crown itself is compromised, Thiago’s answer is immediate: **“Find me a target and I will strike.”** His loyalty is to Solland, not whoever currently occupies a throne. > - 🤯 **Revelation — Zormir / Raphius:** Zormir’s work on Vhail’s Blade produces the most frightening theory yet: the weapon may function as a soul vessel or phylactery tied to Q’ruhm, and killing one without the other may achieve nothing. > - 😬 **Trust Exercise — Raphius / Lightkeepers:** Raphius lays an extraordinary amount of the party’s hidden knowledge in front of people they have only just met, betting that the Lightkeepers are what Talador believes them to be. > - 😱 **Threat — Party:** The investigation of disappearances points towards Slavers Row and a network capable of taking people out of Bastion under the cover of curfew and confusion. > - 🛡️ **Solidarity — Lightkeepers:** For the first time in a long while, the party are in a room with capable people who are not asking them to hand over the problem — they are asking where they can help. ## Session Notes ### A Quiet Evening at the Golden Swan As evening settled over [[Bastion]], the party remained split. ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Session Artwork/Session 51/Bastion Golden Swan.jpg|780]] ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Locations & Shared Scenes/Bastion Chase.jpeg|780]] [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] and [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]] had vanished with Talador through the hidden rune and into the secret meeting of the Lightkeepers. [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] and [[Elena]], meanwhile, travelled by carriage through the curfew-darkened streets toward the Golden Swan. The note supposedly from Ryla had told [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] to meet her at [[Slavers' Row|Slavers’ Row]] at nine o’clock, alone, because [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/07 - Characters/07b - Antagonists and Unknown Alignment/Boristov Sokah|Boristov Sokah]] might be planning to steal the [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/09 - Items, Artifacts & Documents/Rose of Igoda]]. None of it felt right. The wording was wrong. The instruction to come alone was too convenient. And [[Slavers' Row|Slavers’ Row]], in the northern slums, was hardly the sort of place Ryla seemed likely to choose for a secret meeting. So [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] and [[Elena]] went first to the Golden Swan, hoping to confirm whether Ryla had truly sent the message. The carriage pulled up outside the tavern, its windows glowing warmly against the gloom of the curfewed city. The driver looked back at them and quietly warned them to be careful. [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] thanked him and sent him away. She and [[Elena]] stepped down into the street. Inside, the Golden Swan remained lively despite the curfew. It was not rowdy exactly, but there were people drinking, talking, laughing and enjoying themselves in defiance of the restrictions outside. [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] found a member of staff and asked after Ryla — a very tall furbolg woman, hard to miss, fond of plants and difficult to mistake for anyone else. The woman recognised the description immediately. Ryla had not been seen that evening. She had been busy with meetings all day. That confirmed very little. It did, however, make the note feel even less like Ryla. [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] and [[Elena]] waited for half an hour with drinks, keeping sight of the door and watching for any sign that Ryla might return. She did not. Eventually, the pair left the warmth of the Golden Swan and stepped back out into the curfew-darkened city. If the note was a trap, they would find out. But they would not walk blindly into it. ### Through the Curfewed City The route to [[Slavers' Row|Slavers’ Row]] took them north, toward the older, poorer edges of [[Bastion]]. ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Session Artwork/Session 51/Bastion Slavers Row Olde Gallows.jpeg|780]] The streets were quieter now. The city had not gone fully silent — not in [[Bastion]], never in [[Bastion]] — but movement was limited. Patrols of [[Crownshold]] guards enforced the curfew, their armour catching what little light remained as they moved through the streets in disciplined routes. [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] and [[Elena]] travelled carefully. [[Elena]] sent [[Myst]] ahead where she could, using the raven to look around corners and check routes before they committed to them. [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] moved with the quiet patience of someone used to moving through woodland and field, timing their movements around patrols and slipping between darker stretches of wall and alley. They were not in the protected beauty of the [[Gilded Plaza]] anymore. They were moving toward the slums. Toward [[Slavers' Row|Slavers’ Row]]. Toward whatever waited beneath the false name of [[Ryla Vein]]. ### [[The Spires]] Far away from the streets below, [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] and [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]] stood with Talador inside the shimmering purple dome of the Spires. The walls around them looked like glass, but also energy — shifting, translucent, and alive with violet light. Outside, shapes moved through the air. More than once, a vast screech rang across the dome, and the enormous shadow of something winged passed overhead. Talador explained where they were. [[The Spires]]. Hundreds of miles to the north, in the lands of giants and dragons. The secrecy was extreme, but necessary. No one in [[Bastion]] could know where the Lightkeepers met. No one could follow them here easily. No one could stumble upon them by accident. ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Characters/Bastion The Lightkeepers.jpeg|780]] [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]], faced with the silhouettes outside and the strange scale of the place, instinctively stepped a little behind [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]]. Talador reassured them that they were safe. Then he led them toward the round table. Around it sat hooded figures, their faces hidden in the glow and shadow of the dome. One by one, they began to reveal themselves. ### [[Thiago Radaxian]] The first to lower his hood was a male dragonborn with deep blue scales and twisted gold horns. ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Characters/Lightkeeper Thiago Radaxian.jpg|780]] He wore armour beneath his cloak, not merely for show, but worked into a design that looked both ceremonial and brutally functional. Smoke occasionally curled from him as he breathed. This was [[Thiago Radaxian]], High Commander of [[Frontier's Reach|Frontier’s Reach]]. He recognised [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] by blood, not personal friendship. He had known [[Sir Dain Sunward]]. And he hoped, for the sake of [[Solland]], that Dain’s blood ran true in his son. Thiago spoke first. The attacks from the Onus Wilds were changing. Not increasing. Decreasing. The enemy were still testing the lines, still striking here and there, but the attacks had lost their old clarity. Deep scouts had reported that settlements within the Wilds seemed to have fewer troops than expected. The forces were withdrawing, relocating, or preparing for something no one yet understood. That alone would have been strange enough. But there was more. Trusted officers at [[Frontier's Reach|Frontier’s Reach]] were being replaced. Some had been removed only last week. In their place came junior officers whose loyalties appeared to lean toward Lord Postar himself. The curfew in [[Bastion]] was not ending. If anything, whispers suggested it might be expanded. More hours. Less freedom. Less time outside. Thiago did not know why. That was perhaps the most worrying thing of all. As High Commander of [[Frontier's Reach|Frontier’s Reach]], he should have been in the loop. He was not. ### [[Serelis Dawnmere]] The next to speak was a woman with sharp, angular features and silver hair tied into a long braid. ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Characters/Lightkeeper Serelis Dawnmere.jpg|780]] This was [[Serelis Dawnmere]], Ecclesiarch of the [[Sol Spire]] and advisor to the Crown. She confirmed Thiago’s report concerning [[Solsvale]] and [[Lightshold]]. The gates of [[Lightshold]] were to be closed. That had not happened since the Dracodian Plague two thousand years earlier. For a sacred place of Serapha’s light to close its gates was not merely unusual. It ran against the very principles upon which the faith presented itself. [[Lightshold]] was supposed to be a place for all. A place of pilgrimage, warmth and divine reassurance. Now pilgrimages and official business were being reduced. Public explanation was vague. Training purposes. Administrative need. Security. Nothing official had been properly communicated, and no clear instruction had been issued. Worse still, the upper levels of the [[Sol Spire]] remained off-limits even to Serelis. And the Guiding Light had not been seen for two months. By itself, that absence might not have been impossible. But in the current climate, it was deeply troubling. ### [[Osric Kew]] A thin, hunched human man with peppered hair and a heavy jaw stood next. ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Characters/Lightkeeper Osric Kew.jpeg|780]] His clothing was high-end but practical, the sort of formal attire worn by someone accustomed to moving between power and shadow. This was [[Osric Kew]] of the Harpers. He reported that communications from Noonstar and [[Gilyen]] had dried up almost completely. It was as if [[Solland]] had simply stopped responding to matters beyond itself. Reports had vanished. Eyes and ears in noble houses still existed, but information had become harder to obtain. Lords who once talked now seemed apprehensive, frightened or unwilling to speak plainly. Osric believed information was being suppressed across the board. He suspected that whatever was happening would come to a head in the coming weeks. But for now, no one was talking. ### [[Philip Pentos]] and [[Zormir Ketok]] Next came an elderly tiefling scholar with white eyes, a long white beard, layered academic robes, and a faded gold shawl stitched with arcane symbols. ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Characters/Lightkeeper Philip Pentos.jpg|780]] ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Characters/Lightkeeper Zormir Ketok.jpg|780]] This was [[Philip Pentos]] of [[Cairnlace Hall]]. Beside him sat a younger, frailer tiefling with parchment-pale skin, milky eyes, a dishevelled mop of black hair, and a single long twisted horn. This was [[Zormir Ketok]], Professor of Occult Studies at [[Cairnlace Hall]]. Philip spoke of the academy. [[Cairnlace Hall]] had been inspected by the Crown. Officially, it had been a routine matter. In truth, Philip believed it had been a search for disloyalty. The academy had served the Crown for thousands of years, training mages and practitioners in service of [[Solland]], yet now they were being scrutinised as if they were an enemy within. No clear reason had been given. No proper accusation had been made. But the implication was obvious. The Crown no longer trusted them. Philip had also spoken with other arcane academies. Information was being omitted, but he believed several practitioners could be relied upon if the need arose. Zormir, meanwhile, had been working tirelessly on methods of safe passage and concealment — small pocket dimensions, sanctuaries, or arcane refuges that might keep people hidden if the worst came. They were slow and difficult to prepare. But if people needed to be moved or protected, such work might matter greatly. ### [[Thorek Black]] Another figure rose. ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Characters/Lightkeeper Thorek Black.jpg|780]] A huge man with massive shoulders and a jet-black beard twisted into thick knots. He wore informal leathers but held himself like a soldier, direct and blunt. This was [[Thorek Black]], a field commander from the north. His report was brief and grim. There were strange creatures in the sky. Vessels seen at night. People missing. Villages reporting illness. And then something worse. A dead grell had been found near one of the hamlets reporting issues. A grell belonged in the Onus Wilds. Not here. Not hundreds of miles from its expected territory. Thorek did not understand what it was doing this far inside [[Solland]], but he had men loyal to him, and he was ready to move if someone gave him a real target. ### [[Tescalian]] Talador then spoke. He told the Lightkeepers what he and the party had already seen on the road from [[Harringdon]] toward [[Bastion]]. [[Tescalian]] was gone. Not attacked. Not partially evacuated. Gone. An entire town missing. Whatever had happened there, it had not been isolated panic or simple sickness. It fitted too closely with the disappearances, the [[Shadowfell]] creatures, the Riftgates and the strange movements now being reported elsewhere. The room turned toward [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]]. They wanted to hear what he knew. ### [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] Addresses the Lightkeepers [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] was visibly taken aback by the weight of the room. These were not merely sympathetic nobles or half-informed allies. These were high commanders, ecclesiarchs, spymasters, arcane scholars and field leaders — people with influence, armies, information and resources. And now they were looking to him. He began with the illness. What had been spreading through villages was not a plague. It was not natural disease. It was the work of parasitic creatures from the [[Shadowfell]] — Leechers that attached themselves to living hosts and drained their life force. He explained that he himself had once had one clinging to him, invisible until revealed. He told them that people were being taken. That these creatures were being used as part of a wider operation. He explained the existence of the False Hands: former [[Hands of Nyxthys]] who had forsaken their goddess and now followed Q’ruhm. He named [[Zuri Kulum]]. He named Otsi Darkscale. He spoke of the mysterious yellow-eyed figure still at large. And then he produced one of the Riftgate devices. The room focused on it immediately. [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] explained that these devices could open portals to the [[Shadowfell]]. The False Hands used them to move the sick, the infected, or the abducted through into that dark mirror-plane. The devices were powered by [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/09 - Items, Artifacts & Documents/Aetherite|Aetherite]]. And they were not isolated relics. They were being produced. ### [[Lucius Neeve|Lucius]] Neeve and the [[The Order|Universal Order]] [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] then turned to the [[The Order|Universal Order]]. At the centre of it all stood [[Lucius Neeve|Lucius]] Neeve. A man whose reach extended far beyond [[Solland]]. A man whose laboratories had been found across [[Tarin]]. A man who had taken people dear to the party and used them as leverage. [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] tried to make the links clear, though even as he spoke, he knew how fragmented it sounded. The party’s knowledge had been gathered through ruins, visions, laboratories, kidnapped villagers, cursed documents, dying towns, and half-understood experiments. But the shape was there. Lucius’ laboratories had different purposes. Some created devices. Some experimented with creatures. Some drew upon [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/09 - Items, Artifacts & Documents/Aetherite|Aetherite]]. Some touched the [[Shadowfell]]. The Riftgates seemed to come from this network of laboratories. The creatures were being brought through or sent through. The False Hands were using the technology. [[Keth]], tied to [[Arcturox]], appeared connected to the creation and movement of these devices. And [[Lucius Neeve|Lucius]] was using all of it for purposes still not fully understood. [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] spoke of Persephone’s visions and of the Order’s interest in power. He spoke of [[Lucius Neeve|Lucius]] trying to bring back his wife, or at least something linked to her, and of the terrible reach such grief-driven ambition might create. He admitted that much of this remained fragmented. But the fragments were too consistent to ignore. ### [[The Brotherhood]] of [[Ko]] The next thread was the [[The Brotherhood|Brotherhood]]. [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] explained that another faction — the [[The Brotherhood|Brotherhood]] of [[Ko]] — was also active across [[Tarin]]. They had used something called the [[Blood of Ko]] to control entire villages, making people docile and obedient. In [[Gilyen]], the party had freed people from this control by destroying the [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/09 - Items, Artifacts & Documents/Aetherite|Aetherite]] source empowering it. [[The Brotherhood]] were tied to old gods, [[Ko]], the God’s Eye, prophecy, and the manipulation of births across nineteen-year cycles. Their goals were not identical to the Universal Order’s. But they overlapped. Again and again, the same forces appeared near the same points of pressure: [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/09 - Items, Artifacts & Documents/Aetherite|Aetherite]]. Old gods. Mind control. The [[Shadowfell]]. The Seal. The party did not know whether these factions were truly allied, manipulating one another, or merely circling the same ancient power. But they were connected. Somehow. ### [[The Elilim Seal]] Finally, [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] raised the matter of the ancient Seal. A prison for old gods and ancient beings. The prison that held Myvendra’s brother, [[Yuvendra]]. And perhaps far worse things besides. The idea that [[Lucius Neeve|Lucius]] might be working with [[Myvendra]], or being manipulated by her, to open the Seal changed the atmosphere in the room. A few members of the Lightkeepers reacted sharply. The existence of such things was not information to be spread lightly. The Seal belonged to an age unknown to most of the world. Solland’s history with it was ancient, terrible and buried under layers of official silence. If [[Lucius Neeve|Lucius]] could truly open it, then this was not merely a political crisis. It was not merely a military crisis. It was divine. Or worse. [[Elena]], through Persephone’s recollection and the group’s knowledge, pressed the danger of the Seal itself. If the one who consumes lay within it, then opening it would be catastrophic. Whatever old gods or ancient powers remained imprisoned, the party had already learned enough to know that not all of them should be freed. The question was not merely whether [[Lucius Neeve|Lucius]] could open the Seal. It was whether anyone could stop him before he tried. ### Divine Retribution As the party’s information settled over the room, [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] raised a theory. What if this was revenge? [[Solland]] had, after the Breaking, unified itself through the hunting, imprisoning and destroying of old gods, demi-gods, Archai and other ancient beings. If those powers were returning now, or if those imprisoned forces had found ways to act through followers, cults or ancient bargains, then perhaps this was not random. Perhaps [[Solland]] was being punished for what it had done. [[The Great Purge]]. The old gods. The Seal. The rot. The False Hands. [[The Brotherhood]]. The Crown’s lies. The closing of sacred places. It all felt like something divine or ancient tightening around [[Solland]]. Not one enemy. A reckoning. ### [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]] Challenges the Room Despite the amount of information shared, one thing became painfully clear. No one had a clean answer. There were too many threads. Too many possible enemies. Too many half-known targets. Too many organisations moving at once. [[Persephone Amoransia Damnari|Persephone]] eventually spoke up. She challenged the room. From her perspective, the Lightkeepers seemed to meet, share news, agree things were concerning, and then do very little. If information was being blocked, then they had to go and find it. If the enemy was moving, they had to move too. Sitting and waiting would not save anyone. Thiago Radaxian’s temper flared. He stood, massive and furious, smoke rising from him. What, he demanded, would she have them do? March into the [[Shadowfell]]? Invade Postar’s home? Overthrow the King? Send soldiers blindly after theories? He did not fear action. He did not fear confrontation. He did not fear battle. But he would not send troops to die chasing shadows without a target. [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] immediately stepped in, apologising for any disrespect but also acknowledging Persephone’s point. The information shared that night was alarming, but not yet actionable. It confirmed fear. It confirmed suspicion. It confirmed the pattern. But it did not give a single clear place to strike. Thiago was blunt. Find him a target. Give him something real. A person. A place. A lab. A device. An enemy he could point soldiers toward. And he would strike. Even if it meant going against the Crown. Because his loyalty was to [[Solland]]. Not to corruption. Not to Postar. Not to a King being manipulated. [[Solland]]. ### The Limits of the Lightkeepers The meeting continued, but the shape of it was now clear. [[The Lightkeepers]] were powerful, but not omnipotent. They had influence, soldiers, spies, scholars, networks and resources. But their hands were bound by uncertainty. Postar’s influence had grown. The Crown Guard’s loyalties were shifting. The [[Sol Spire]] was closing its gates. Information from other regions had dried up. [[Cairnlace Hall]] was being watched. The King’s actions seemed increasingly strange. The Harpers’ network was faltering. And yet none of them could move openly without proof. The room felt less like a council preparing a clean strike and more like a group of powerful people realising they were surrounded by fog. [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] understood that better than he liked. The party had spent weeks following threads just like this — never enough certainty, never enough time, always one more hidden door, one more lie, one more faction half-glimpsed in the dark. Before the gathering broke, Thiago placed a heavy hand on [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] and Persephone’s shoulders. His strength was obvious, but he did not crush them. He gave them his promise. “Find me a target and I will strike. I do not fear combat. I do not fear confrontation. And if it means going against the Crown, then that is what I do. For I am loyal to [[Solland]].” The words mattered. [[The Lightkeepers]] would not solve everything tonight. But [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] had found something he had not had before. People in power who knew. People in power who believed. People in power willing to act — if given the blade-point. ### [[Slavers' Row|Slavers’ Row]] While the Lightkeepers spoke beneath the purple dome of the Spires, [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] and [[Elena]] reached [[Slavers' Row|Slavers’ Row]]. It lay in the northern slums, beyond the clean order of Bastion’s noble and market districts. The place was desolate. Old stonework. Ruined public structures. Scaffolding. Crates. A broken space that had once served some awful civic purpose, now left half-repaired and half-forgotten. A single lantern burned on a barrel. That was the meeting point. It was nearly nine o’clock. [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] and [[Elena]] hid nearby, using the shadows and crates to watch. [[Elena]] sent [[Myst]] ahead, the raven’s eyes helping them scan the space. Minutes passed. Then footsteps. A [[Crownshold|Crownhold]] guard in full steel armour stepped into view. He approached the lantern and looked around, checking a scrap of paper in his hand. He seemed to be waiting for someone. For [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]]. [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] whispered to [[Elena]] that she had received a strange note, and that she did not think it was truly from Ryla. Then she stepped out. ### The Trap Springs The guard turned toward [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]]. At almost the same moment, a second pair of boots sounded from behind her. Another [[Crownshold|Crownhold]] guard emerged from the shadows. The trap closed quickly. Before [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] could react fully, the second guard seized her from behind, pinning her arms and locking her in a brutal grapple. The first advanced with a heavy hammer. The note had not been from Ryla. There was no warning about Boristov. No urgent plea to protect the Rose. It had been bait. [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] tried to fight back, twisting against the grip and stabbing awkwardly behind herself with a dagger, aiming for knee, thigh, anywhere she could reach. The heavy armour made it difficult. Her blade scraped and failed to find purchase. Then the hammer came down. The blow struck hard, sending pain through her as she struggled against the armoured guard holding her fast. [[Elena]] moved. ### [[Elena]] Enters the Fight From the shadows, [[Elena]] sent [[Myst]] diving at the guard restraining [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]]. Then she hurled her returning dagger. The blade struck the grappling guard hard enough that his grip broke, freeing [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] from the hold. [[Elena]] advanced, already prepared for violence. The fight became ugly immediately. These were not ordinary street thugs. They were [[Crownshold|Crownhold]] guards. Heavily armoured. Disciplined. Dangerous. [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] pulled herself free and tried to create space. She unleashed a burst of magical thorns, catching both guards in the blast — and [[Elena]] as well, unfortunately, who was close enough to be struck by the eruption. The guards struck back with brutal force. One delivered a devastating blow toward [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]]. At the last instant, Elena’s runic magic flared. Her Cloud Rune twisted the strike’s fate. The blow meant for [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] was redirected into the other guard instead. The impact cracked through armour, and blood began to trickle from the gaps. It was a stunning reversal. A near-fatal strike turned into a wound against their own side. But the guards did not fall easily. One knocked [[Elena]] to the ground. She rose again. And then she changed. ### [[Elena]] Unleashed [[Elena]] drew upon the strange power within her. Her form grew larger, her presence darkening as black-and-white energy gathered around her. Her eyes shifted. The force of [[Nyxthys]] and her own runic strength moved through her together. She marked one of the guards. Then she struck. Her blade came down with such force that the guard collapsed under the impact, blood spraying across the cobbles. The attack was controlled enough not to kill him outright, but brutal enough to end him as a threat. The second guard, now badly wounded and clearly aware the fight had turned against him, attempted to flee. He shouted for backup as he ran. [[Elena]] moved faster. As he passed her, she tripped him, turning his momentum against him and bringing him down hard. Her blade and body carried the motion through, leaving him unconscious on the ground beside his fallen companion. Both guards were alive. But only just. For a moment, [[Slavers' Row|Slavers’ Row]] was quiet again except for [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] and Elena’s breathing. ### Dirty Money [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] searched the fallen guards quickly. There was no time to linger. One guard carried a sentimental brooch — something personal, perhaps a keepsake from family or lover. The other carried a heavy purse. Two hundred and fifty gold. Far too much for a normal guard to be carrying casually. Dirty money. Payment. A bribe. Proof, at the very least, that these men had not simply stumbled into their path. They had been sent. [[Elena]] realised, with horror and frustration, that in the chaos of the fight she had left [[Spada]] behind. There was nothing for it now. Reinforcements could be coming. The guards had tried to summon help. [[Mealla Glynn|Mealla]] and [[Elena]] fled into the night, battered and bloodied, leaving the two unconscious [[Crownshold|Crownhold]] guards behind them in the ruined marketplace. ### Zormir Lingers Back at the Spires, the Lightkeepers began to disperse. One by one, the gathered figures left to return to their posts, their networks, their duties and their own shadows. [[Zormir Ketok]] did not leave. The young Professor of Occult Studies lingered near [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]]. He had listened to the wider conversation, but there was something else he wished to discuss. Raphius’ personal burden. [[Vhail's Blade|Vhail’s Blade]]. [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] told him the truth. Or as much of it as he could bear to put into words. He spoke of [[Aetheric Vhail]], his former commander and mentor. He explained that Vhail had not been himself at the end. Something had corrupted him, influenced him, changed him. In the final confrontation, Vhail had urged [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] to do his duty. [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] had killed him. Since then, the blade had followed him. No matter what he did. No matter where he put it. No matter how he tried to be rid of it. Each morning, it returned. Pristine. Waiting. Bound to him. [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] also explained what he believed about the souls. Those killed by the blade were not passing on. They were being consumed, imprisoned, stored, or otherwise denied their rightful journey. He believed friends, allies, enemies and innocents alike might be trapped within it. And he wanted them free. ### The Truth-Seeking Spell Zormir listened carefully. Then he began to cast. [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] recognised the spell as one designed to draw out or test truth. Zormir was not merely guessing from folklore. He was trying to sense the deeper shape of the curse. [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] continued. Vhail had once made a pact. A man named Jacob had taken the blade, returned it three days later empowered, and Vhail had used that power to win. But after the agreed time passed, Vhail refused to return the sword. From there, the corruption worsened. The blade changed him. The man [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] killed was not the man he had loved and followed. [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] showed or described the black pact documents — contracts of the same dreadful kind the party had found with the False Hands, bearing the name or influence of Q’ruhm. The more Zormir listened, the more terrible his theory became. Zormir had seen a number of theses documents in the past few months. ### The Blade as Phylactery Zormir theorised that [[Vhail's Blade|Vhail’s Blade]] might function as a phylactery. A vessel for souls. Possibly even a vessel connected directly to Q’ruhm himself. Not merely a cursed weapon that consumed souls as fuel. Not merely an artefact bound to [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]]. An anchor. A container. Something that allowed Q’ruhm to persist. The blade had two masters in a sense: - [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]], who carried it and wielded it. - Q’ruhm, whose pact, will or soul lay bound through it. That duality made the curse harder to understand and harder to break. Possession was one thing. Ownership another. But a soul-vessel tied to an ancient entity was far worse. Zormir explained that in some forms of dark magic, a powerful being could use a phylactery to survive destruction. As long as the vessel remained, the being endured. But this seemed stranger still. Older. More ambitious. ### [[The Eternal Pact]] Zormir named a theory. [[The Eternal Pact]]. A supposed ambition of lichdom. A practice so theoretical that most scholars would treat it as impossible or near-mythic. The idea was not simply to create a phylactery. It was to create a second protection. A second anchor. A second point of survival. A phylactery protecting a phylactery. Zormir proposed that [[Vhail's Blade|Vhail’s Blade]] and Q’ruhm might be bound together in precisely such a way. The blade could not truly be destroyed while Q’ruhm existed. Q’ruhm could not truly be destroyed while the blade existed. Each protected the other. Each anchored the other. And between them, the trapped souls remained caught. [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] felt the weight of it immediately. This was not merely about freeing himself from a curse anymore. It was not merely about redeeming Vhail’s memory or proving his own innocence. The blade might be one of the keys to ending Q’ruhm. Or one of the reasons Q’ruhm could not be ended. ### One Terrible Answer Zormir’s conclusion was simple. Terrible. But simple. If his theory was correct, then freeing the souls, destroying the blade, and killing Q’ruhm would require both to be destroyed at the same time. Q’ruhm and the blade. Together. Neither first. Neither later. The same moment. Otherwise, one might preserve the other. [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] had wanted answers. He had found one. But like so many answers in [[Bastion]], it only opened a deeper abyss. To destroy the thing that had chained itself to him, to liberate the souls trapped within, and perhaps to stop Q’ruhm forever, [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] would need to find the entity itself. He would need to face it. And when that time came, [[Vhail's Blade|Vhail’s Blade]] could not merely be cast away. It would have to be brought to the end. The burden [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] had carried since exile now had a shape. A purpose. And a terrible condition. Destroy Q’ruhm. Destroy the blade. At the same time. And that is where the session ended. ## Session End State > [!success]- Where Things Stand > - One by one, the gathered figures left to return to their posts, their networks, their duties and their own shadows. > - A man named Jacob had taken the blade, returned it three days later empowered, and Vhail had used that power to win. > - As long as the vessel remained, the being endured. > - And between them, the trapped souls remained caught. > - The burden [[Raphius Sunward|Raphius]] had carried since exile now had a shape. ## Session Gallery > [!note]- Additional Artwork > ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Session Artwork/Session 51/Screenshot 2026 06 27 at 20.55.56.png|780]] > ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Session Artwork/Session 51/Screenshot 2026 06 27 at 20.55.49.png|780]] > ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Session Artwork/Session 51/Screenshot 2026 06 27 at 20.56.08.png|780]] > ![[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/99 - Attachments/Session Artwork/Session 51/Screenshot 2026 06 27 at 20.56.01.png|780]] [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/13 - Session Notes/Session 50 - Priorities|← Session 50]] · [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/00 - Home & Navigation/Campaign Home|Campaign Hub]] · [[Lineage of the Veiled Kin/13 - Session Notes/Session 52 - The Rose Taken|Session 52 →]]