Session 96

Thren’Vaal drained spirit energy from Orianna and Seryna.
- Orianna was nearly killed.
- Aydriann used a Geas spell to stop the monster.
Thren’Vaal asked Aydriann why he shouldn’t kill.
- Aydriann promised more victims if Thren’Vaal followed the group.
- Thren’Vaal agreed and left them alone.
Peach approached the magic compass for the boy.
- Peach named him Lux.
- Lux said he’s had many owners, some kind, some violent.
- Lux mentioned Tess, making Peach suspicious of Aydriann.
- Peach asked Aydriann about it, but Aydriann didn’t give a good answer.
Ember told Aydriann to talk to Peach about their friendship.
- Aydriann tried to explain Tess is his dead sister inside Peach’s mind, but it didn’t help.
Aydriann and Peach had a difficult conversation.
- Aydriann struggled to talk about love and honesty.
- Peach wanted truth and openness.
- They argued, but eventually just tried to understand each other.
The river journey ended quietly.
- The group got off the boat, leaving the dark Tenebralis behind.
- Lux led them to a safe place to rest near waterfalls.

The Story

The Thren’Vaal wrenched spiritual energy from both Orianna and Seryna, siphoning their vitality with tendrils of alien power. Orianna hovered at the brink. In desperation, Aydriann tore open a spell scroll, his hands shaking as he called out the words of Geas. The Thren’Vaal halted, claws poised inches from Orianna’s throat.
In that moment of tense silence, a voice echoed in Aydriann’s mind from the Thren’Vaal. “Why do you command me not to kill?”
Aydriann steeled himself. “There will be more,” he replied, projecting calm he didn’t feel. “If you wait…if you follow us…there will be others. You’ll have more than you could claim here.”
The Thren’Vaal lingered a bit but it relented eventually, curiosity outweighing its hunger. And with that, the battle was over.
Peach crossed the battered deck to where the compass rested, its surface shimmering with a faint internal glow, the boy still dancing nearby. He stopped and headed to where Peach was. Peach named him Lux, and Lux accepted the name, explaining in soft tones how he’d had many owners: some who bought the compass, others who took it by force. Lux tells peach about Tess which alarms Peach’s concerns of Aydriann hiding the truth from him. Peach asks Aydriann about this but he doesn’t answer the way Peach wants.
Later, as the tension faded, Ember found Aydriann and struck up a conversation, her tone deliberate. She pointed out that Aydriann needed to speak with Peach. Their relationship, she said, had drifted ever since the banishment. Ember felt that at some point before, Aydriann and Peach were in a close relationship. Struggling, Aydriann attempts to break the ice by saying that Tess is his dead sister inside of Peach’s mind. It didn’t go over well.
Aydriann approached Peach. Aydriann struggled to articulate the confusion swirling in his chest and in his mind. “What is love?” he admitted, “I don’t know why we have to label us and why it is something we have to discuss. Can’t we be what we are without labels.”
Peach talked about hypocrisy, in that Aydriann was holding secrets, even when he wanted Peach to tell the truth. Peach wanted honesty. Transparency.
Aydriann tried to counter to avoid the blame and shame. “We all have secrets. I’m not the only one. Mine are not impacting the group unlike your sadistic father.”
The two drifted to the prow of the ship, words spilling into the cool Tenebralis air and for a moment, neither had to be right…they only had to be understood.
The river’s end came quietly. The ship drifted to a halt, and the group disembarked into a world transformed…mist parted to reveal a broad path flanked by thundering waterfalls, the darkness of the Tenebralis Expanses finally behind them. Led by Lux, they found a place to rest, the sound of falling water soothing the wounds of battle.