The Rectifiers, their allies, and the escapees from Luxen arrived at the walls of Barba in the foothills of the Altas Mountains. The walls, buildings, and even the knights of the city were covered with intricate patterns and colors, giving the entire city a sense of luxury. Orlos, the councilor that had previously appeared to be an ally of Vis’s, greeted them at the gates with open arms and knights ready to assist. Feigning muteness at The Rectifier Vote, Orlos now spoke openly, explaining his need to put up a facade for Vis. He and his knights led them into the city and into the keep to rest. Zola and Orlos continued to his office while The Rectifiers, Vint, The Gunslinger, and Revelrae were guided to a large suite to rest.
After some discussion, the group decided they should gather the Anchors and visit Morrithana with a feather. They retrieved the rose and book from Zola, and brought Revelrae and Vint with them to The Solstice Magerony.
The party found Morrithana dressing to travel, but she stopped to speak to them. They recapped her on all that had happened since last they met. She grew angry at their dealings with The Red Inquisitor, and even brandished her staff against Vint for letting them continue to do business with him. Morrithana was calmed down, but she warned them to stop speaking to the strange warlock in the future. The group also learned it was in fact Morrithana that pulled Audrea from the hellscape in which she was cast adrift, though she knew nothing of Audrea’s past either.
Morrithana also seemed intrigued by Viv, the woman that took Cess’s Anchor. After the group described her appearance, Morrithana began searching through some books. After a few minutes, she shared a story of an old, arrogant Mageron that tried to fly one of their flying ships all the way to the silvery sphere in the night sky. Some say he made it there, but regardless, he came back extremely sick. His skin had faded to a purple-blue, his organs had melted to liquid. With this new information, everyone believed they now had an avenue to destroy the Anchors, if what Viv claimed was true. To confirm the theory, Gale handed over the map fragments retrieved from Skywalker and Blackrose. Morrithana called forth an enchanted looking glass and stared straight at the moon, comparing it to the two sheets of parchment. She told the party to look for themselves. What they saw were matching landmarks on the silver surface.
On the topic of Anchors, Morrithana asked if they had reconsidered whether they want her to cast the costly spell to learn more about the active Anchors. The party begrudgingly agreed to have her cast the spell, reckoning that the cost would be lesser than the cost of not knowing more about this evil. Morrithana cast the ritual spell from a magic circle, calling forth blood and life-force from some other section of her tower… She told the group she reached ten Anchors in total, including those they already had encountered. She told she saw words on a page…knights of shadow….clinking metal…smoke…grinding metal.
Before the party decided to return to Matar with their new knowledge, Morrithana told them that perhaps there were relics of strong Mataran magic still in Matar that could help them face such strong Doom Magic, if that was something they needed. With that, the party was cast back to Matar.
When The Rectifiers returned to Matar, they found themselves well rested, and the sun risen. They ventured over to Orlos’s office to speak with Zola. As they were entering, Orlos was leaving with an assistant. He absent-mindedly regarded them as he ordered his assistance to open the taverns and require citizens to house Luxen refugees. Inside the office, they found Haven asleep on a couch while Zola stood outside on the balcony. Before they could speak to either, a note on the desk lit up with a magic light and a voice entered the air.
The voice was Londo’s. He had written an endearing note for Zola in the chance that he died. In it, he spoke of times the two had shared and named her Lady of the Kingsguard. The note was ended with Londo’s full name, including his Mageron surname. Zola entered the room, dried tears on her face, and apologized, stating she thought she had put the note away. Resolute, she immediately roused Haven and had him restate his report for The Rectifiers. In all, it seemed that only three-fourths of the Knights of Luxen made it out, a little more than that for the mages, and a little over half of the citizens were accounted for. After the report, Zola asked to be caught up to speed on what they had learned from Morrithana. On the topic of magical relics that could help, she mentioned perhaps exploding the Doom airship with strong fire magic, or drowning the corrupted dragon in water. She added that they may find something related to fire magic in abandoned Scarlet fortresses, but said that the councilor of Amanta would know more when they arrived. With that, she ordered Haven to begin readying what Luxenians wished to continue on to Amanta along with the knights and mages. She told The Rectifiers to meet her later in the day in Orlos’s keep’s courtyard to leave.
With a few hours to spare, The Rectifiers journeyed to the wealthy marketplace to purchase goods and supplies. Once resupplied, they decided to use Karth’s storytelling magic to re-battle the skeletal dragon they had fought in Cess’s realm to keep their muscles trained. Inside the storybook The Rectifiers were pulled.
With the dragon dispatched, the party began to return to the real world through a magical tunnel, but were ambushed by strange figures wielding daggers…