Glory Exultation

Separation and Planning

In consultation with Tollerath and the Amber Dragon, the Companions determined they must separate in order to achieve the next set of tasks. To bring the Holy Temple back into phase with the rest of Crescent, the spell must be taken apart in the crater of Mt. Daneasus, powered by divine energy, and guided by arcane channeling. Thus, someone must be in each of the 3 major locations: Mt. D, the Grand Concert Hall in Luminaux, and the Spellpool in the Jade Tower.

Jericho traveled to Luminaux, accompanied by Phantos, where he auditioned for, and secured, the lead vocal role for the Gloria. While "practicing", he studied the powerful protective runes in the Hall and systematically disabled several of them. Baelwren was visibly disturbed by the necessary separation from Jericho but acknowledged its importance.

Tollerath traveled to Mt. Daneasus in secret, preparing to coordinate the spell from there.

The rest of the party made its way to the Jade Tower, needing to enter and secure it so that Baelwren (presumably) could access and utilize the Spellpool to channel the dismantling of the phase spell.

Approaching the Jade Tower

Little was known about the current status of the Jade Tower and its defenses. Legend held that the archangel Yanseldra stood guarding the entrance, but no recent confirmation or reports were available. Regina was worried about the lack of information and voiced concern that significant opposition, possibly led by Simone Delcius might control the tower.

When the party entered the forest surrounding the tower, they were immediately surrounded by a glittering faerie fire. Most of the party handled the situation calmly, but Regina was noticeably agitated and far more paranoid than usual. (Which is saying something...) Unfriendly rangers began to be visible as the party penetrated deeper into the forest, signaling the Companions to depart. Baelwren responded by boosting her aura to "irradiate" and making direct eye contact with the rangers. When one approached and verbally threatens the party if they did not withdraw, she attempted to parlay, but the ranger ignored her and rode away. Shortly thereafter, a group of rangers attacked, ignoring all attempts at discussion. The party prevailed, discovering the rangers were the undead remnants of the last wardens left by the army of ORB after the tower's fall.

Yanseldra

The rest of the approach to the tower was uneventful. When the party came within sight, they could see that the tower had no visible gates, doors, or windows. However, standing stoically in front of the tower was the archangel Yanseldra. She bore a look of resigned sadness and her visibly wounded left wing steadily dripped blood onto the ground below.

The party approached cautiously and found Yanseldra to be resolute but non-threatening. She denied the party access to the tower, as her duty was to guard it. She said, "(quote about the terms of her compulsion--thank you Josh for posting here)". The Companions attempted to question her about how to fulfill those terms, but she was unable or unwilling to clarify. She declined to let the party spill their own blood in an attempt to free her, saying "I have seen enough pain." When Nigel cut himself anyway, she merely winced. Turning to him, she prompted, "Consider why you are here..."

The Companions withdrew a respectful distance to discuss their options. When that debate began to solidify around the unpleasant possibility that the Companions must attack and slay Yanseldra, it was surprisingly Regina who casts an augury using a gold coin. The near-instant response was woe, indicating that such a course would be a very, VERY bad idea. {Mechanics note: Josh later revealed that Yanseldra's Challenge Rating was around 20...} Upon further consideration, Nigel concluded that when the paladin order fought and slew the heavenly host, it represented a betrayal that binds Yanseldra, the sole survivor, to this place.

Knowing his family's long history of paladinhood, Nigel approached Yanseldra and learned that it was in fact his own grandfather who wounded her. Bending to a knee, he humbly apologized for his grandfather's actions and, by extension, the betrayal by the entire order. He requested her forgiveness. Yanseldra silently extended her wounded wing towards him, and Nigel lay hands upon her, healing the wound. Eyes closed, she let out a supernatural sigh of relief, then sprang straight up into the air, her wings snapping open loudly, and flew upwards until lost in the sun. A single feather drifted down through the still air until caught by a misty-eyed Nigel.

The Jade Tower

Approaching the tower, which Regina had been diligently searching for traps, Baelwren noticed depression in the wall of alternating circles and triangles. At its nadir lay a slot sized and shaped exactly like the holy symbol of Mehana, Goddess of Magic. When Baelwren pressed her pendant into the slot, a door appeared and opened into the main hall of the tower.

The tower turned out to be deserted, although there was a distinct lack of dust or other signs of age. The main hall contained portraits of prominent figures among the history and hierarchy of arcana. Most rooms had self-evident purposes, with a separate training room apparently devoted to each school of magic, except necromancy. There was a teleportation chamber with permanent circles devoted to major locations throughout Crescent; of note, a circle devoted to Windy Point had been destroyed.

In the uppermost room sat the Spellpool, roughly half-full of liquefied mana. A slender green beam stretched up out the ceiling from the pool. The beam was conscious and spoke in the persona of Segilus the Blind; it was a manifestation of the phasing spell that held the Holy Temple in extradimensional space. Shortly after greeting the Companions, the beam emanated a green pulse that passed through the party, seemingly harmlessly. (Regina reflexively dodged the pulse.) For most of the early conversation, "Segilus" did not acknowledge or respond to Nigel. However, when his presence was mentioned, the beam briefly turned blue and Segilus greeted the paladin.

Segilus explained that to utilize the Spellpool required joining with it, which required permanently sacrificing a known spell. The main power the Companions needed to utilize was channeling the dismantling of the phase spell. One of the other powers the Companions would need to utilize was the ability to scry on nearly any location. Segilus indicated that with significant study and training, a mage could tap the Spellpool from any location and cast any spell that had been sacrificed into it. While it was theoretically possible for one user to channel the spell while scrying on Jericho and Tollerath (to precisely coordinate timing), doing so would likely be prohibitively taxing. Segilus indicated that his prescience had indicated 2 users during the actual dismantling of the spell.

Paranoid as ever, Regina worried that the tower would be attacked during the ritual. After "trapping the hell out of" the main entry hall and the teleportation chamber, she offered to serve as the second Spellpool user in order to allow the more able fighters to remain free for defense. Baelwren quietly indicated distrust and aversion to relying on Regina in that role, and Kimo agreed to be the secondary user. Regina remained as a back-up user.