Before the Rectifiers and company braved whatever evil awaited them behind the stone door, Maron used his magic lantern to summon a shopkeep to restock. The apparition did not fully materialize like usual, and the keeper greeted them with a word they did not understand. The non-solidified apparition turned, and greeted them with disgust when he discovered they were Mataran. The man was confused why they were present with no masters. After purchasing a few highly overpriced potions, the man grew wary when he was offered an item obtained from the strange packages. At this point, he also noticed the symbol on Duma Van’s chestplate. He turned to a levitating crystal and began speaking to it, giving the party sideways glances. Fearing what may come, Maron doused the lantern.
More packages also arrived, but strangely, purple magic tendrils seemed to cut through the red mist that brought the rewards. Through it, came a restorative purple gel. Some of the group used this to regain their vitality. At this point, the party also noticed that Lo Mageronynished. As prepared as they possibly could be, the party journeyed through the stone door bearing the symbol of the Founder Loyalists.
Inside, they found a dark chamber covered in a black membrane. In the center, the membranes formed a sort of pillar, a shiny black stone hovering in its center. It was giving off a purple haze similar to Anchors they had seen prior. Two hooded figures stood facing the stone. The stone door shut and vanished behind the group. When hailed, the two figures seemed to speak to an entity that was not present, then turned. The party then recognized the two as the dragonborn councilors from Ignis and Draconis, Void and Despair, respectively. On Void’s chest there grew a ribcage out from his own skin bearing a dark, decaying heart that was still beating. On Despair’s, a tumor-like head grew out of the scaly flesh. Part of the head had fallen away or decayed off, its eye nearly dripping out of its own socket.
The head then spoke with seemingly great pain. It spoke in third person, referring to itself as Cess. It stated that for him to ascend to true power, he would have to eliminate The Rectifiers here and now. The party tried to tell Cess it was not worth throwing away what he had to become this abomination, but the head shouted back that he had already had nothing. Additionally, when Cess was done, the head stated that everyone would have nothing. With no peaceful resolution in sight, the party entered battle with the mage and warrior bearers of the decaying Cess.
Throughout the battle, the group learned that in order to slay both creatures, they had to be killed at near the same time, else the other resurrected. Though the battle was harrowing, The Rectifiers came out victorious, clinging on for dear life. The spiraled gauntlets the two wore dematerialized from their bodies, and their weapons fell to the floor. The party claimed the weapons, but before they could reach for the gauntlets, a purple tear in the air appeared. Two purple tendrils ripped open the portal and a woman stepped through.
The woman had pale skin with an almost slight blue or purple tinge to it. She had elven features, long hair that was a purple midnight, and vibrant, glowing purple eyes. She wore a dark leather top that revealed her midsection and dark leather leggings. Transparent purple silks covered her arms and midsection. She wore crossed daggers at the small of her back, and a blade at her side. At that time, her blade was drawn. The nails on her fingers had a similar, vibrant purple. She seemed to ignore the group, merely reaching for the dark stone. The Rectifiers voiced their concern and questions to her. She turned and acknowledged them with a foreboding tone to her voice. She claimed she and her associates could destroy the Anchors, that she was not their enemy, but their goals did align. She snatched the stone and tossed it in a satchel on her hip. She introduced herself as Viv. Though she gave vague answers, when asked how to reach her again, she tossed the party a sloshy purple concoction in a fine glass vial. She told them to drink this potent poison if they wished to find her, though they would never be the same. The chamber began to rumble, Viv said time was short, and she stepped back through the portal whence she came. Shortly thereafter, the party was pulled forth from the realm of Doom.
Where they came to was unfamiliar, though they were in the same place. The pit that had swallowed most of Ignis had grown, and smoke now covered the land as far as they could see. In front of them, near the pit’s edge, stood a large garrison of figures with tall black hoods. Only one faced them, and he wore dark gray plates on his cloaks and an iron mask on his face. He spoke softly and fairly. He told the party they had something of theirs, and that they would sack Luxen if need be to retrieve it. The item of which they spoke was the glass orb Karth had found in Greth’s tower. He spoke of salvation in destruction, of a terrible and powerful queen. The commander of sorts told them that they could arrange for an agent to meet them for an exchange of the orb. Before a deal could be struck, red mist opened in the air near them and Londo stepped through with several Knights of Luxen. He crossed blades with the masked commander while the knights engaged the other men. Londo urged The Rectifiers through the portal, and so they went.
They found themselves back on the flagship, Vint holding the portal open on the deck. Once they were through, Vint collapsed the portal and walked to the side of the ship to gaze toward the smokey expanse. He seemed to be muttering something under his breath. Suddenly, he turned back toward the party, and a fresh red portal appeared. Londo and some of the men he had come through with clambered through. He seemed out of breath and injured, but he told the party, “You should see the other guy”. The reunited allies stepped into the captain’s quarters to discuss what had happened.
Londo and Vint told them that Lora had been rescued on the same shore and that the rescue operation for The Forgotten Lands had gone well. The refugees were safely aboard the fleet nearby. Vint recounted that it was quite non-eventful, which concerned him more. The party recounted to the two everything they had seen, save for encountering the Crown Prince Aurum. As they spoke of Viv, a purple tear ripped through the air above Londo’s desk, and two black jeweled rings fell through. These were the councilor rings for Void and Despair. With the threat of the hooded figures attacking Luxen, Londo suggested they speed up the trip home, as Zola was quite eager to throw this party for The Rectifiers, anyway. Vint stepped to the front of the boat, was handed something by Londo, and he opened an enormous red portal whose other side was that of the Royal River leading northward to Luxen. The fleet journeyed through, into the wintry west.
As the Knights of Luxen began disembarking and helping refugees in Luxen’s boathouse, the party stalled momentarily to speak with Vint. Karth had a few specific questions, but the discussion grew to the group at large when he began to discuss Duma’s new chestplate. He said they were getting these items from a mysterious warlock known merely as The Red Inquisitor. Vint retold some strange tales of Magerony heroes visiting a similarly described figure, though sometimes they would not see a stone statue with red eyes on a wooden platform, but a demonic, metal statue with green eyes, surrounded by walls of metal and flashing lights. Vint warned that though the customers found items of great interest, they were soon never seen again. He mentioned that perhaps now would be a good time to use a feather to visit Morrithana if they wished to know more, or consider using her powers to learn more about the Anchors. With that, Vint stated he was off to his tower to practice “dancing” so he could be ready for the party. Amy and Gale both offered him their hands when the time came. Vint nodded and stepped away, but the party thought they saw a slight blush in the doom-elf’s bluish cheeks…