====== Heart of the Total Eclipse ======

===== Initial Brief =====

Within the Merchant Quarter, Elias Parr of the Adventurer's Guild is once again seen loitering around the Guild Headquarters on Mosia Lane, waving a sign reading "~ADVENTURERS WANTED!~" and trying to get the attention of nearby would-be adventuring types.

It would seem that the Guild itself was recently targeted, and a visitor from distant lands kidnapped. As such, Elias is looking with urgency for a party to investigate and ensure her safe return.

Promising pay of 51 Riel and logistical support, as well as the Guild's favour, he directs those who are interested inside for a more detailed briefing.

===== PCs =====

  * [[user:joew:pc:dauntless|Dauntless]] - Joe
  * [[user:ellieh:pc:experiment_no._seventeen|Sev]] - Ellie
  * [[user:michaelc:pc:lucian_graves|Lucian Graves]] - Michael
  * [[user:steph:pc:adam_adama|Adam Adama]] - Steph
  * [[user:zacsmith:pc:vulcan_blacksteel|Vulcan Blacksteel]] - Zac
  * [[user:thomasl:pc:hugh_branch|Hugh Branch]] - Tom

===== Adventure Summary =====

Instead of being briefed by Elias as usual, the party are sent upstairs and into the depths of the Adventurer's Guild headquarters for a meeting with the Chairman. Directed into a room full of papers, files and books piled up on bookshelves, tables and the floor, the party are addressed by the Chairman who remains hidden behind an enormous stack of these on a desk at the back of the room. The Chairman tells them that visiting Lasran priestess Saga, who had been working with the Guild to try to help her sister Sher following the events of [[resources:adventure:shine_on_you_crazy_primate|Shine On You Crazy Primate]], has been kidnapped from their headquarters following the entire building being plunged into darkness. Telling them that Sher was responsible and is heading back North to Dual Peak, near Margush, they ask the party to recover her and make sure that both sisters are okay, telling them to keep an open mind and do what needs to be done, pointing out that there is an impending solar eclipse. The Chairman also warns the party about an anomaly with which they have a history, whom they believe to be in the area. They tell them not to interact with this being and nor to trust any offers it may make. Whilst there, Adam notes that a lot of the books in the room, especially those towards the back of the shelves, seem to be storybooks.

Promised 51 Riel and the favour of the Adventurer's Guild for their services, the party head out and make their way North towards Margush. Cutting their way through some wolves, and some snake people who accuse them of straying into their territory once they hit the Flux, they head onwards. They begin to get the impression that they're being watched, and the Wayfinders in particular feel something gazing upon them, appraising them. They meet a hermit who along with some wild animals she's tamed attacks them to see what stories they tell. After cutting her down, she fairly quickly fades from existence. They realise that they no longer feel the gaze of whatever was watching them before.

At this point they are then approached by a man dressed in black who congratulates them on their victory. He claims that he doesn't really have a name, but if they must then they can think of him as "The Abnegator". He tells the party that so long as they are interesting enough he can cast off their mortal reality and make them something defined purely by the stories that are told of them, telling them that they will be so much more powerful for it. He offers to do this for Dauntless, and then Sev, though both refuse. Hugh seems interested, but the being informs him that defining one's purpose based on the nature of another (a God) does not lend itself well to the process, and tells him to seek him out once he finds what it is that really makes them unique. The party move on and he leaves.

The party head through a rocky pass and fight through some Flux rock creatures which roll around at high speeds and explode, before reaching Margush, where a representative of the Adventurer's Guild meets up with them, giving them some supplies and medical treatment and providing them a loan of clothes and equipment suitable for heading up into the mountains. They move on and feel presences encroaching upon their minds; some of them whispers telling them that Sinna must be freed, and others bindings telling them to forget. Sev winds up with a vague notion that Sinna should be freed, Hugh a somewhat stronger one whilst Vulcan starts to find it difficult to remember what he's learned of the god.

They reach a small village at the base of the mountain, who take them for cultists here to experience the eclipse, just like the people who recently passed through, and insist that they stay for some food and rest before morning, since the mountain can be treacherous at night. As they eat, shadowy voices whisper things about Sinna and how he should be freed, which some of the party ignore. Hugh, Sev and Adam engage with them somewhat, and whilst they are given various details they find those details hard to remember and before long their minds are addled in various ways. After remembering who they all are and deciding that they're not in fact members of a cult and that none of them have kidnapped any of them, they get some rest and move on.

As they begin to climb the mountain, the world around them seems to darken. Before long, their surroundings stop seeming like a rocky mountain pass and more like some strange dark territory of unknown nature. Sev senses large amounts of mana all around, whilst much to the Wayfinders' dismay the area seems to be Consensus, which is not what they expected of this mountain. Then, in front of them, lights flicker to life as they find their way blocked by an array of deadly lasers, with awesome special effects and everything. Getting slightly singed on the way through, they continue into the ever expanding darkness.

The party encounter some glowing constructs of bindings trapping in light and darkness, and just about manage to dispose of them. Though not before most of them have been downed and affected by the constructs. When they all come to, most of them are finding it difficult to remember details of Sinna. Vulcan just can't seem to retain any knowledge of him. They move on and encounter Saga attempting to make an escape from the clutches of Sher's cult. They intervene and promise to keep Saga safe, whilst Sher insists that she needs to see what will happen at the center of this place at the height of the eclipse, though she can't explain why. They agree to go and see what happens, at least. Hugh takes Saga's appearance.

The going gets tougher as the darkness seems to drag at them and slow them down. A scout from Sher's cult comes back missing an arm and screaming, and the party slowly make their way forwards. As they do, more of the lasers appear, this time quickly moving at them in various formations which the party attempt to dodge. This goes well for half of the party, but Lucian, Hugh and Adam don't get out of the way quickly enough and wind up with their magically stabilised but unconscious bodies being dragged along by Dauntless as various lasers pass through them. They get quite horribly sliced up, but the effects of Bind the Wound and Death Ward somehow cause them to remain in one piece.

The lasers cease and they come to, in immense pain. They have various fine scars all over them, and are unable to feel their limbs. Hugh attempts to fix his leg by taking Dauntless' form and having her attempt to hammer the leg back on like she would with herself. However, the Identity Theft proves to not extend as far as methods of fixing oneself, and this ends badly, with him unable to put any weight on the leg without being left in even more pain. They move on, feeling like bits of them could fall off any moment.

They fight through more constructs and eventually reach the center of this space. Still Consensus and with Mana Sense readings through the roof, they see a final set of constructs and some animated ritual bindings flanking a figure encased in some sort of glowing binding: the god Sinna. A fight ensues and the god's form is cut down, but the animated bindings attempt to keep him under control. Once all of the constructs and bindings are dealt with, the party gather around Sinna's body.

Unsure as to what to do, Dauntless begins to pull at the bindings around Sinna but cannot through strength alone do anything. Sev uses her magical knowledge to try to weaken them, which takes a bit of time, during which the party, Saga and Sher debate whether they should free this potentially malevolent being. Dauntless and Adam seem opposed to the idea that they should do, whilst Sev continues working on the bindings and Hugh encourages them to free him. Eventually the bindings are broken and Sinna stands, unbound.

There is a brilliant flash of light and before them stands Shatu, Lasran goddess of the sun. She addresses Sinna, whom she reveals to be her twin brother, apologising for having forgotten all about him for many aeons. It becomes apparent that Shatu's former lover, Aya, became jealous of her closeness to her brother, and wanted to get him out of the picture, and so being a Mage of Binding and Fracturing performed a ritual to trap Sinna and cause everybody to forget about him. Attempts made by Sinna's will to reach out into the world became warped by the ritual, and before long, people's perspective of the god of darkness became warped. The ritual space is beginning to fall apart and crack and with a radiant wave of light Shatu shatters what remains of it, leaving the party and the Lasrans standing atop one of the peaks of the mountain, once again in Flux.

Dauntless and Adam are apologetic over their desires to keep Sinna contained, but Shatu laughs and thanks them for their part in what the party has done. The gods offer them all their thanks and favour. Noting the state Lucian, Adam and Hugh are in, they offer their aid in fixing their problems, but Lucian states that he would prefer to seek help himself and Adam declines, claiming that he doesn't deserve their help. Shatu tells him that despite his misgivings he can always call upon their help should he need it in future. Hugh accepts this offer, and light and darkness wash over him. This settles down, and he is left with the glow of twilight pouring from the scars across his body. When something tries to pull parts away from his body, there is a hint of intertwining coils of light and darkness somehow keeping it held together.

===== Debrief =====

As Shatu and Sinna are vanishing, Dauntless can be heard apologising for attempting to maintain the binding.

Immediately following the disappearance of Shatu and Sinna, Sev begins collecting the remains of the ritual used to bind Sinna while Dauntless starts looking around the edges of the ritual area, taking some of the ritual bindings with her.

Adam and Lucian struggle heavily during the journey back. Hugh has difficulties at first, but seems to improve massively over the course of the journey, to the point he seems uninjured by the time the party reach Acryn.

Stopping via Margush on the way, Vulcan ensures that they return the borrowed mountaineering equipment to the Adventurer’s Guild representative. As they travel, Lucian talks to Saga and Sher in an attempt to negotiate trade deals. Though they are reasonably well disposed to him, they point out that Lasra likes to keep to itself, and whilst there are those there willing to trade and they can put in a good word, he will have to visit and make arrangements there himself should he desire to set up a consistent trade route. This will require complicated and lengthy travel to the desert (probably in an Adventure), but could potentially be highly lucrative, as such a thing has not been set up before.

Once back in Acryn, Hugh makes the case for the party being paid twice the originally offered 51R. While the Adventurer’s guild is unwilling to step outside its original contract, both Saga and Sher are willing to put money forward and bring the party’s total pay to 86R each.

Hugh contacts the Watch to inform them that Adam Adama has escaped jail. The watch are initially doubtful but dutifully investigate and are shortly entangled in a series of prison transfers so convoluted that they have little idea where Adam //should// be, let alone how to confirm he is still there. When Hugh checks back with them a few days later, he is told that if Adam **is** out, then there isn’t much they can do about it unless some helpful citizen were to catch him performing a new crime, at which point they would make sure no politics got involved in his ongoing incarceration.

Adam visits the Adventurer’s Guild to arrange a meeting with the Chairman. However, Elias Parr tells him that the Chairman is usually extremely busy and that arranging a meeting with them would be difficult. He instead offers to pass on a message and relay Adam’s queries about being “The Bard” and all of the storybooks in their office.

Some time later he receives a letter from the Chairman, thanking him for his efforts and apologising for being unable to arrange a meeting. The letter goes on to explain that the Chairman was once a bard, and that because of this they appreciate the sorts of deeds about which stories can be told and songs sung. It tells of how they met and fought against the Abnegator back then, because they believe that people should be doing great deeds and writing new stories, whilst the Abnegator simply wants people to keep living out the same stories over and over. The letter concludes by thanking Adam and the rest of the party for not accepting the Abnegator’s offer and instead going on to tell an interesting new tale.

Sev contacts the Civil Service and fills them in on the details and outcomes of her mission. She asks them for anything they have heard on the Abnegator, which is very little. They have a working theory that the Abnegator is an anomaly capable of producing other anomalies. Given the potential dangers, they would be keen to get more detailed information about this entity in the future. Slightly later Adam informs them that Hugh Branch recognised him, they say that they will handle the situation, they do not say anything about the lack of a full debrief, although it is noted.

Lucian gives a full debrief to his Father, and arranges a similar report (with a short summary version) to be sent to Corlo Graves. Lucian also reports the details of the not-flux/flux area at the top of the mountain, and asks about any known interactions between the flux and magic. You don’t get told much, as apparently this information is only available to very senior people in the guild, but it sounds like areas of consensus protected by magic at the time of the upheaval is not entirely unheard of.

A short while after the adventure, Saga and Sher depart Acryn, returning to Lasra to spread the truth about their gods.

===== Consequences =====
==== All party members ====
  * 81 Riel
  * A favour from the Chairman of the Adventurer's Guild

==== Dauntless and Vulcan ====
  * The 'Divinely Favoured: The Radiant Dawn' Background
  * The 'Divinely Favoured: The Shadow of Dusk' Background
  * Some remains of bindings from the ritual and its constructs - could be useful in the hands of a Mage to understand what was done and to replicate the ritual

==== Sev ====
  * The 'Divinely Favoured: The Radiant Dawn' Background
  * The 'Divinely Favoured: The Shadow of Dusk' Background
  * Remains of a Binding/Fracturing ritual used to bind a god - possible artefact component

==== Lucian and Adam ====
  * The 'Divinely Favoured: The Radiant Dawn' Background
  * The 'Divinely Favoured: The Shadow of Dusk' Background
  * The 'Disarmed' Quirk

==== Hugh ====
  * The 'Palm of Dawn, Fingers of Dusk' Quirk

===== New Divine Favour =====

==== The Radiant Dawn ====

Lasran goddess of day, the sun, light and truth. Twin sister of the Shadow of Dusk. Miracles are invoked by reaching out to the heavens, calling upon light to shine upon the world and reveal that which is clouded by darkness, often accompanied by wide sweeping hand gestures as though to part clouds for the sun to shine through.

**Twilight Resonance:** By having the favour of both of the twins, their equivalent miracles may be combined to produce greater effects by simultaneously performing the appropriate actions for both gods. Doing so counts as a use of both miracles, and causes the Twilight Resonance miracle to take effect instead of its components.

=== Level 1 Miracles ===

== Blinding Light ==
20 Seconds - A piercing beam of light shines down upon a foe, dazzling them for a BLIND 5.

Twilight Resonance: Blinding Light + Well of Darkness -> Twilight Glow\\
20 Seconds - The gentle glow of twilight makes sight easier. Any BLIND effect on the target immediate ends, and they become IMMUNE to BLIND for the remainder of the encounter.

== Burning Gaze ==
20 Seconds - The fury of the sun is turned upon a foe, searing them with all the sun’s heat for a REND.

Twilight Resonance: Burning Gaze + Cloud the True Nature -> Focused Ire\\
20 Seconds - Darkness twists and bends the sun’s fury and focuses it upon an object to SHATTER it.

== Truth Revealed ==
30 Seconds - A light shines in the area which brings light to darkness and reveals hidden truths. Objects which have been actively hidden become more noticeable and obvious, and those exposed to the light feel slightly more inclined to reveal secrets (this is a roleplaying effect, they are not compelled to do so).

Twilight Resonance: Truth Revealed + Shadow of Secrets -> Clarity of the Mind’s Eye\\
30 Seconds - The gentle glow of twilight provides clarity of thought. You may call DO AS YOU WILL against a target, ending any mind-altering effects upon them.

=== Level 2 Miracles ===

== Solar Beam ==
20 Seconds - A beam of concentrated sunlight is launched at foes, call MASS DOUBLE. This must be arced in a very narrow arc (~10 degrees maximum).

Twilight Resonance: Solar Beam + Wave of Shadow -> Twilight Reckoning\\
20 Seconds - The combined powers of concentrated light and darkness intertwine and strike a single target with considerable force. Call QUAD REND at a target within 5 meters.

== Dawning Revelation ==
30 Seconds - Brilliant light shines upon a target, illuminating their heart and all that is within. The caster becomes loosely aware of the target’s past, motivation and intent, and the extent to which they tend to keep secrets. This is a vague feeling and the insight gained is limited, but should be sufficient to get a feel for the target’s character and their true intentions towards the caster.

Twilight Resonance: Dawning Revelation + Obfuscation by Shadow -> Twilight Body\\
30 Seconds - By containing concentrated sunlight within a cloak of shadow around themself, the user’s body transforms into faintly sparkling twilight. For the next 30 seconds they are WEAKENED and IMMUNE to STRENGTHEN, but may move through any opening through which light may shine, however small, take all damage as SINGLE and are IMMUNE to physical effects such as BLIND, STRIKEDOWN, WOUND, REND and ENTANGLE.

=== Divine Aura ===
Once per adventure, you may bring the full glory of the light of day upon an area. This requires 10 seconds of appropriate roleplaying, after which the time of day in the (encounter-range) area around you becomes midday, with the sun shining brilliantly overhead, as if it were noon at the centre. As one approaches the edge of this area, the apparent time of day shifts towards the correct time. This lasts for the remainder of the encounter.

In addition to the roleplaying impact of the sudden shift in the time of day, the light of day illuminates the area and makes it impossible to conceal things. This means that all calls of BACKSTAB are treated as though the target saw the attack coming, and attempts to be sneaky or use skills such as Flanking may be disrupted at GM discretion.

Whilst the aura is in effect, all party members gain two calls of BLIND 5 and one call of REND at range.

You cannot use this ability if any of the Auras of Day, Night or Twilight are already in effect. You should make it clear when you activate this aura that you are invoking the Aura of Day, calling a TIME FREEZE if necessary to ensure that everybody in the encounter is aware of what is happening. You should brief these additional effects at the start of the adventure such that the monsters are aware of the roleplaying effect and the players are aware of the mechanics.

**Twilight Resonance: Aura of Twilight**
By simultaneously invoking the auras of both the Radiant Dawn and the Shadow of Dusk at the same time, you may instead combine them to invoke the Aura of Twilight. This requires 10 seconds of appropriate roleplaying, after which the time of day in the (encounter-range) area around you becomes apparent twilight, but with both sun and moon overhead in a solar eclipse. As one approaches the edge of this area, the apparent time of day shifts towards the correct time. This lasts for the remainder of the encounter.

In addition to the roleplaying impact of the sudden shift in the time of day, the gentle glow of twilight calms and protects those in the area. Party members within the aura become IMMUNE to all effect calls and mind-altering effects. This may have additional effects at GM discretion.

As per the day and night auras, you should make it clear what is happening and brief the necessary details in advance.

==== The Shadow of Dusk ====

Lasran god of night, the moon, shadows and secrets. Twin brother of the Radiant Dawn. Miracles are invoked through motioning with ones hands as though to veil or cloak oneself, and muttering in a low voice cryptic words which obfuscate and hide the truth, or dance around it in a careful form of lying by omission.

**Twilight Resonance:** As per the Radiant Dawn.

=== Level 1 Miracles ===

== Well of Darkness ==
20 Seconds - A pool of darkness surrounds a foe and clouds their vision for a BLIND 5.

Twilight Resonance: Blinding Light + Well of Darkness -> Twilight Glow

== Cloud the True Nature ==
20 Seconds - The user’s intent is masked and obfuscated, causing the next blow dealt by melee to be a MYSTERY attack.

MYSTERY is a special combat call which causes the target to take damage but then be unaware of how they took it or where the attack came from. You should brief this additional call at the start of the adventure.

Twilight Resonance: Burning Gaze + Cloud the True Nature -> Focused Ire

== Shadow of Secrets ==
30 Seconds - Shadows well up in the area which bring darkness and cloud the truth. It becomes easier to sneak around and hide objects and intents, and those within the shadows feel slightly more inclined to keep secrets and not reveal truths (this is a roleplaying effect, they are not compelled to do so).

Twilight Resonance: Truth Revealed + Shadow of Secrets -> Clarity of the Mind’s Eye

=== Level 2 Miracles ===

== Wave of Shadow ==
20 Seconds - A great wave of darkness is called forth to cloud the visions of one’s foes, call MASS BLIND 5.

Twilight Resonance: Solar Beam + Wave of Shadow -> Twilight Reckoning

== Obfuscation by Shadow ==
30 Seconds - The user may cloak themselves in shadow for a short while, calling DISAPPEARING and relocating somewhere before calling APPEARING again.

Twilight Resonance: Dawning Revelation + Obfuscation by Shadow -> Twilight Body

=== Divine Aura ===
Once per adventure, you may bring the shadows of night upon an area. This requires 10 seconds of appropriate roleplaying, after which the time of day in the (encounter-range) area around you becomes midnight, with the full moon directly overhead. As one approaches the edge of this area, the apparent time of day shifts towards the correct time. This lasts for the remainder of the encounter.

In addition to the roleplaying impact of the sudden shift in the time of day, the darkness filling the area makes it much easier to conceal things. This means that attempts by the party to be sneaky and subtle are much more likely to be successful, at GM discretion.

Whilst the aura is in effect, all party members can disappear into the shadows and conceal themselves for short periods. Each party member gains two Dodges, upon the use of which they should call DISAPPEARING, relocating to somewhere nearby and then calling APPEARING again.

You cannot use this ability if any of the Auras of Day, Night or Twilight are already in effect. You should make it clear when you activate this aura that you are invoking the Aura of Night, calling a TIME FREEZE if necessary to ensure that everybody in the encounter is aware of what is happening. You should brief these additional effects at the start of the adventure such that the monsters are aware of the roleplaying effect and the players are aware of the mechanics.

Twilight Resonance: As described with the aura of the Radiant Dawn.

===== New Quirks =====

==== Palm of Dawn, Fingers of Dusk ====
Your body is held together by intertwining darkness and light, and casts the gentle glow of twilight.

**Radiant Blade:** Once per adventure, you may manifest the light within you into a blade protruding from one arm. That arm drops anything it is holding, and instead use a one-handed sword to phys-rep this blade. The sword lasts for the remainder of the encounter and is IMMUNE to DISARM and SHATTER. For the purposes of skills, you may treat it as any one-handed weapon. While wielding this weapon you strike for +1 damage, this stacks with Strengthen but does not stack with other sources of +1 damage. Twice during this encounter you may call BLIND 5 by melee.

**Shadow Guard:** Once per adventure, you may manifest the darkness within you into a shield protruding from one arm. That arm drops anything it is holding, and instead use a medium shield to phys-rep this. The shield lasts for the remainder of the encounter and is IMMUNE to DISARM and SHATTER. For the purposes of skills, you may treat it as any sized shield, and as though you had the appropriate Use skill. Twice during this encounter you may call RESIST to a MASS call or ranged call that you would otherwise be effected by, taking the damage but not the effect. Twice during this encounter you may call FEAR at anything which strikes the shield.

**Uniter of Light and Darkness:** Alternatively, you may use up both of these abilities simultaneously to manifest both the light and shadow together into a huge blade of intertwining light and darkness. Both arms drop anything they are holding, instead use a two-handed sword to phys-rep this blade. This lasts for the remainder of the encounter and is IMMUNE to DISARM and SHATTER and any STRIKEDOWNs which may strike it, and whilst wielding it you are IMMUNE to BLIND. For the purposes of skills you may treat it as any weapon. While wielding this weapon you strike for +1 damage, this stacks with Strengthen but does not stack with other sources of +1 damage. When this weapon first manifests you receive a STRENGTHEN, when the weapon is dismissed you will receive a WEAKEN. Twice during this encounter you may call BLIND 10 by melee.

==== Disarmed ====
You have suffered horrific injuries which you have barely survived using a mix of magic, miracles, and the best doctors of Acryn. It has, however, left you with a problem. If one of your limbs, or something you are holding in that limb, is subject to a DISARM call, then that limb falls off. If you are hit by a MASS call, then in addition to the effects of the call a number of limbs equal to the damage you received fall off (up to a maximum of the number of limbs you have). To re-attach a limb you must roleplay re-attaching that limb for 10 seconds, you must have both the limb and at least one working hand to do this.

{{tag>"heart of the total eclipse" adventure dauntless experiment_no._seventeen lucian_graves adam_adama vulcan_blacksteel hugh_branch adventurers_guild saga sher shatu_and_sinna the_abnegator}}