Paint the Town Blue

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Session 4 of Endgame, the 4th episode of the 2nd season of Story of a Lifetime (Overall session #49).

Took place on January 1st, 2026. PCs were level 13.

Synopsis

Session Summary

Shattered Memories

Having finally recognized Lyon, Selina uses a Magic Mirror to fully restore her memories of their time. (See The Color of Memory for details.)

Battle Plans

Once again, Thora Tarkanan brazenly crashes a meeting amongst the Underworld at the Pearl Club. A tense face-off is somewhat ameloriated when she makes a peace offering: Melora's soul, no strings attached. She claims her debt to Travelyan has been paid, and that no one wants Merrix taken down more than she. The three gangs agree to work together to blunt Merrix's coup, which is already underway throughout Sharn.

Paint the Town Blue

With Cannith's armies filling the Undercity, hell-bent on expunging the criminal underworld, the war had already begun. But once unified, the underworld forces turn the tide, working together to sow mayhem amongst the Cannith troops. The Boromars pull their many political strings, uniting the city's leaders and institutions against Merrix. Daask distributes thousands of doses of Dragon's Blood, temporarily turning ordinary citizens into superheroes, whose random magical powers are too much for the organized Cannith forces. The Tarkanans attack airships and warforged colossi, striking the Cannith army where it was strongest.

The coup iss blunted, but Merrix himself remains at large. They learn that he'd recovered the Earth's Fist, an artifact once used by Halas Tarkanan to shake the foundations of Sharn. With his supreme artificer powers, he'd mastered the device, and had been using it to carve secret caverns for his works, as well as tunnels all the way to the Mournland.

It turns out, during all this action, he himself wasn't even in the city. You see, under the former city of Making, the Astral Throne, crafted by Merrix the Elder in the Last War, had once been used to "make Cyre invulnerable to any foreign attack", thus creating the Grey Mist...at the cost of every soul, and all the life force within Cyre. It still existed years later, when the PCs used it to undo the Grey Mist, and finally send the poor souls of Cyre to their rest. But they published their story, and told the whole world...including Merrix.

Now, he's taken his prime troops and barricaded himself under the city of Making, where he no doubt is working to once again activate this mighty artifact. Its power limits are unknown: Merrix built Queen Dannel a device to "make her into a Goddess", and it was able to work, in a single spell, a power strong enough to defend the borders of Cyre for years to come, at unbelievable cost. It could be activated again, to do something even more heinous, and even if its purpose were somehow benign, the cost would undoubtedly be similarly catastrophic.+

The Wild Card

Before any concrete battle plans can be formed, the players are reminded of the danger posed by Quintus Travelyan. Thora reveals that the object he had her steal from Merrix--which he has recently recovered from her--was a vessel containing Merrix's own daughter, frozen in time to prevent her inevitable death by an incurable disease. Travelyan has ultimate leverage against Merrix, and no doubt is behind this sudden development. While his movements and preparations can't be predicted, Thora has one thing to offer: a vial of Travelyan's blood, taken during a secret meeting. With it, they might be able to set a trap for the necromancer, and finally end his threat once and for all.

With the vial, Selina finally has the opportunity to divine his motives. She sees a life of frustration and bitterness--a brilliant mind amongst brutes, ever in seek of paternal respect he would never achieve. He rose from humble origins to become a powerful necromancer, but no amount of power or esteem was ever enough. Even when personally serving the King of Karrnath as an elite agent, he wanted more, and double-dipped with Aurala, playing both sides against each other, for no greater purpose than to sate his own ego. When he was inevitably caught, he was sentenced, and dead to rights--when the Black Blood offered a way out. With their concoction, he became immortal and more powerful than ever, but also forever bound to their will. For years he served the Black Blood, all while scheming in secret to escape their control. At long last, he devised a ritual to break their hold upon him, even while keeping the benefits of the blood within him, and keeping them in the dark about his betrayal.

The Last Rest

At Selina's stronghold in Sharn, the party took a rest, for what would be the final time. The original three, plus the dragon, took a moment by the hearth to reflect on their journey. The dragon sang a song: the song of his creation, the song of ancient prophecies, the song of the world's end. The song presaged their meeting, and all they would accomplish--and it ended very soon, in their immediate future. It was a powerful and moving moment, one that brought tears to their eyes, and steeled their hearts for the final battle to come.