Files

Stanislav Fifik 9b51e0f38d fixing plotholes, streamlining

2026-07-17 13:39:46 +02:00

29 KiB

Raw Permalink Blame History

The Order of Mending — Cultist Subplot

The Grand Design: The Opening

Mother Vyre's vision: The planes of existence were once unified — a single, complete reality where the Material, Ethereal, Shadowfell, and Feywild coexisted as one. An ancient catastrophe (or deliberate act) severed them, creating the fractured multiverse. The barriers between planes are not natural — they are scars. Mother Vyre wants to heal those scars by dissolving the barriers entirely.

She calls this The Opening.

What she tells recruits: The world is broken. Incomplete. The suffering, the injustice, the death that doesn't make sense — all symptoms of the separation. Heal the world and everything flows back to balance.

What it actually means: Total dissolution of planar boundaries. The Ethereal bleeds into every street. The Shadowfell's despair soaks into every home. Fiends walk freely. The dead don't stay dead. The beautiful and the terrible coexist without filter. It's not an apocalypse — it's the removal of every wall between heaven, hell, and everything between.

The worst part: She might not be wrong about the history. The planes might have been one, once. The separation might have been artificial. But "the world was once different" doesn't mean "the world should be that way again."

Nessa and Dalla — The Living Prototype

Four years ago, six-year-old Nessa manifested an innate sorcerous gift during a fever. Her uncontrolled projection should have carried her consciousness into the Astral Plane and returned it along a silver cord. At the same time, Mother Vyre's early E–III experiment created an artificial pull toward the Border Ethereal. It dragged Nessa sideways, then closed around her silver cord. Her body has remained unconscious and unaging ever since; her projected self is stranded in the Border Ethereal somewhere outside the Nether Inn.

Vyre found Dalla by tracing the damage from her own experiment. She could have attempted Nessa's reintegration months ago. Instead, she preserved the separation because it produces an unusually stable transplanar gradient:

Nessa is the anchor — a living consciousness held across a planar boundary.
Dalla is the maternal conduit — her blood relationship gives the Order a route to Nessa's trapped vitality.
The monthly blood rituals are extraction — presented as building a road home, actually drawing energy through Dalla for the Opening.
Xarrul's binding is a field test — one secondary use of the same harvested energy.

Vyre's promise remains technically true: if the Opening destroys every boundary, nothing will keep Nessa from Dalla. Nessa's release is not the purpose, however. It is an incidental result expected only after both mother and daughter have ceased to be useful.

Phase One: The Acquisition Test

Tonight's events are the result of Phase One — a proof of concept.

The Order does not hate the House. It exploits it. Dace's stolen dossiers turn planned assassinations into an acquisition network: the Order knows which targets possess planar relics, unusual blood, true-name records, or memories of other worlds; it knows when the warning will be served, who will strike, and when the House's seal will make further investigation stop. The cult lets the assassins create access and then harvests the scene.

The greatest required object is the Severance Nail, a black iron spike revered by the House as its founding weapon. Mother Vyre knows it once pinned a planar breach shut and believes reversing or destroying it could stabilize Phase Two. The House does not understand what it owns and would never surrender its founding relic.

The plan:

Summon and bind Xarrul using components acquired through Haddon's dead drops, a name from Mother Vyre's research, and planar energy siphoned from Nessa through Dalla's blood.
Send it through the House's security using stolen voices, altered memories, and Dace's intelligence.
Make the archive custodians remove the Severance Nail and sincerely remember an authorized transfer. Killing is permitted only if necessary.
Retrieve Xarrul and the Nail, then use both the relic and the binding data for Phase Two.

What went wrong:

Xarrul reached the inner archive but was discovered before it could remove the Nail.
The archive's Final Closure activated automatically. Built to protect assassins against possession and compulsion, it severs every supernatural claim crossing its threshold: one exact cut through the hand holding the chain.
The ward severed the Order's command binding. Most summoned beings would snap home; Xarrul shifted into the Border Ethereal at that instant and caught itself there.
The House saw it dissolve, assumed it banished, and interpreted the injured and confused custodians as survivors of a failed assassination.
Xarrul remained free, found the Nether Inn on the Order's thin-point map, and began its own crossing.

What the cultists know now:

Their instruments still register Xarrul and the vitality invested in it, but commands receive no answer.
Rennt believes the weapon remains bound and silently operational. Dalla felt the command cord pull free but accepts Haddon's explanation that it merely "settled at a distance."
Haddon strongly suspects control is lost, but hides behind the technically true phrase the connection persists.
Essek alone has compared the blank return clause, dead command sigils, and continuing outward flow: "It isn't bound. We're still feeding it."
None of them begins the night knowing Xarrul is beneath the tavern.

Phase Two: The Real Opening (Background)

Phase Two is beyond the scope of this session, but its existence adds weight:

Mother Vyre plans to summon something far more powerful than Xarrul at a major thin point — a nexus where multiple planar boundaries converge.
The summoning requires components that Phase One was meant to test: binding techniques, blood sacrifice potency, and control duration.
Dalla and Nessa are intended to power the final stabilization. Vyre expects the Opening either to consume what remains of them or release Nessa incidentally once no boundary remains.
The Nether Inn is one candidate on Mother Vyre's map of thin points. It was not Xarrul's assigned destination; after gaining freedom, the fiend chose the old worked breach for itself. Haddon is using tonight's meeting to study the site and diagnose the lost connection without realizing his former servant is directly below him.
Haddon's journal contains references to Phase Two. Essek has seen Mother Vyre's private correspondence about it.
Even if players resolve everything tonight, Phase Two is still in motion somewhere. The Opening has lost its controlled fiend and perhaps one candidate site, but not Mother Vyre's design.

The Members: What Each Knows and Believes

Haddon — Knows the Most, Believes His Own Lies

Topic	What He Knows	What He Tells Himself
The Opening	It's a real plan with a timeline	"We're exploring a theoretical framework"
The summoning	He organized the Severance Nail heist and memory manipulation	"Recovery of a historically misidentified instrument"
Dalla and Nessa	He knows the Order caused the dislocation, could attempt reintegration, and instead drains both through the maternal conduit	"Preserving a unique research state until the work is complete"
The fiend's escape	Commands are dead although energy remains; he strongly suspects freedom	"The connection persists. Control is an imprecise layman's term."
Phase Two	He's planning logistics	"Future research directions"
Mother Vyre	Regular contact via dreams and dead drops	"A visionary colleague"

Dalla — Knows Her Part, Doesn't Care About the Rest

Topic	What She Knows	What She Feels
The Opening	Vague — "the planes will merge and the broken will be healed"	Doesn't care as long as Nessa is fixed
Her sacrifice	8 months of blood draws, supposedly constructing a path home	Desperation; later rage that every draw fed on Nessa too
The summoning	She knows a fiend was bound. She provided the blood.	Guilt, buried deep
Her daughter	Nessa's body is in suspended animation; her projected self is trapped in the Border Ethereal	Desperation beyond measure
Haddon	He promised the summoning would help	Trusts him because she cannot afford not to—until the notes surface
Mother Vyre	The woman who promised to save her child	The only person she hasn't lost faith in — yet

Rennt — Knows the Ideology, Not the Details

Topic	What He Knows	What He Believes
The Opening	"The planes will merge and everything will be equal"	It's revolution — cosmic, beautiful, necessary
The summoning	He set up the circle, handled components	"We summoned a tool for the cause"
The lost contact	Commands stopped after the House ward fired	"The weapon is still pursuing its assignment autonomously."
Mother Vyre	The visionary who gave him purpose	She can do no wrong
Dalla's sacrifice	Vague — "she gave something for the cause"	Doesn't want to know more
Phase Two	Doesn't know details	"Whatever she needs, I'll do it"

Essek — Knows the Most Dangerous Truths

Topic	What He Knows	What He Feels
The Opening	It's real, it's planned, it will dissolve ALL boundaries	Terror
Mother Vyre's notes	He's read her private correspondence — the merged world isn't paradise, it's annihilation of all barriers including the ones that keep fiends from walking the streets	"I've read what she actually wrote. It's not what they told us."
The summoning	Full details; the Final Closure severed command but not the energy feed	"It isn't bound. We're still feeding it."
Dalla's sacrifice	Knows about the blood rituals and Nessa	Pity, horror
Phase Two	Knows it exists and is bigger	This is what keeps him up at night
His brand	The Unmooring Brand requires monthly stabilization; Haddon reads strong activations through a brass indicator	Trapped, watching for allies who can be relied upon rather than merely trusted

Entry Points for Players

Haddon's Missing Research Folio

Haddon brought two restricted research extracts to the meeting because he expected to discuss the Xarrul binding after the tavern closed. They are the only documents in the room that connect Dalla and Nessa directly to the Order's energy extraction—and the only local record admitting that Mother Vyre's earlier experiment caused Nessa's condition.

During Essek's gust in the opening brawl, Haddon's folio bursts open and its papers scatter. In Rennt's blackout, Xarrul partially manifests beneath the cultist table and takes both extracts. Haddon assumes they were lost in the brawl and searches the floor with increasingly visible panic. Xarrul keeps them because the truth inside is better leverage than any invented accusation.

Use the extracts as two paced discoveries rather than one exposition dump:

Maternal-conduit extract — print handout. Xarrul plants this first, after whispering to Dalla in Haddon's voice. Good locations: beneath the cellar stairs, folded into Haddon's displaced book, or pushed from the Ethereal Plane into Dalla's reach. It identifies Dalla but hides the meaning behind clinical terminology. DC 14 Arcana, Medicine, or a direct explanation from Haddon/Essek establishes that a maternal conduit is a blood-relative used to reach and drain Nessa across planes.
Dislocation-event extract — print handout. Xarrul withholds this until the players can understand its value. Good locations: beside the tear in the Deep Cellar's Old Work, elsewhere along Xarrul's ethereal route, or offered during negotiation. DC 16 Arcana translates the argument: Nessa's projection was healthy enough to return until experiment E–III diverted it into the Border Ethereal and trapped her silver cord. The phrase iatrogenic transplanar dislocation means the researchers caused the condition they later claimed to treat.

Neither handout names Xarrul or explains the conclusion plainly. Let the players ask what the terms mean. Haddon initially calls them preliminary models taken out of context; Essek recognizes Mother Vyre's approval mark and can interpret both.

Through Haddon (Intellectual)

Haddon loves to talk. His ego is the crack in his armor.

Engage him in scholarly discussion about planar theory → he'll lecture at length, slipping real information into "theoretical" frameworks
Challenge his expertise → he'll overcompensate, revealing more than he should
Show him the brand on Orenn → he'll diagnose it accurately (fiendish) while deflecting blame
Trap: If players present contradicting evidence calmly and academically, Haddon will try to explain it away. Each explanation requires a Deception check (his +5 vs. player Insight). After three failed deceptions, his composure cracks.

Through Dalla (Emotional — But She's Loyal)

Dalla is approachable but she's not a crack in the cult's armor — not yet. She's a believer. Kindness gets her talking about Nessa, but she frames everything within the Order's worldview.

Show genuine concern → she talks about Nessa freely, but as proof of why the Order's work matters: "My daughter is caught between planes. The Opening will make her whole."
Ask about the Order's activities → she's open about the mission (as she understands it): healing the world, restoring the planes to unity
Question the Order → she pushes back: "You don't know what it's like. Her heart beats, but she hasn't opened her eyes in four years. Mother Vyre is the only one who offered help."
Suggest the summoning was wrong → "We did what we had to. And we'll fix it. Haddon says the binding can be restored."
Show her the conduit extract → she stops defending Haddon and demands that someone explain maternal conduit
Give her a viable offer from Xarrul → she will consider helping the fiend before she will gamble Nessa on another cult ritual

Through Rennt (Provocative)

Rennt is proud and passionate. He'll argue the cause with anyone.

Debate the ethics of The Opening → he's eloquent about inequality, the broken world, the promise of change
Insult Mother Vyre → immediate hostility. He'll escalate.
Ask about the practical work → he'll brag about his role in the summoning without realizing he's confessing
Useful: Rennt is the most likely to accidentally reveal that the cult summoned a fiend, because he doesn't think there's anything wrong with it.

Through Essek (Quiet)

Essek is the hardest to reach but the most valuable source. See Cultists NPC file for methods to get him alone.

He won't talk with other cultists nearby
His brand glows when he considers betrayal — observant players (DC 14 Perception) might notice
If gotten alone: "I joined because I thought we were studying something beautiful. I stayed because I can't leave."
He's the only one who will tell players about Phase Two unprompted

Internal Dynamics During the Session

Before the Murder

Haddon maintains the facade. Scholarly discussion, academic posture.
Dalla is distracted, pale, barely engaging.
Rennt is wound tight, eager for confrontation with the assassins.
Essek watches everything and says nothing.

After the Murder

Haddon immediately constructs an alibi. Too fast. Too smooth.
Dalla barely reacts to the murder. She's thinking about her child.
Rennt is defensive, volatile. He blames the assassins reflexively.
Essek looks at the brand on Orenn's chest and his face goes grey. He knows what did this. He won't say. But a DC 14 Insight check catches his recognition.

If the Fiend's Involvement Becomes Known

Haddon pivots: "If there is a fiend loose, that's clearly the assassins' doing — they're known to deal with dark forces." (A lie, but a plausible one.)
Dalla is worried but holds the line: "If something escaped a binding, we need to fix it. Haddon, can we rebind it?" She's already thinking about solutions within the cult's framework.
Rennt maintains denial: "The binding was perfect. If the assassins hadn't interfered—"
Essek looks at the players with desperate, silent appeal.

If the Cult's Summoning Is Exposed

Haddon attempts damage control: "It was a contained experiment that was sabotaged by the guild."
Dalla is shaken but loyal: "We were trying to protect ourselves. The assassins have been threatening us for months." She's defensive, not broken — the summoning was justified in her mind because the cause is just.
Rennt doubles down: "We did what was necessary. The Opening requires sacrifice."
Essek (if already talking to players): "There's more. Phase Two. Something bigger."
Sevra (assassin leader): Cold fury. "You sent a fiend to kill me? And you sit at my table with wine and books?"
Mags: "You brought this into my house. Into his house." — This is when Mags stops being a neutral investigator and becomes a very dangerous woman with a very specific target list.

Xarrul Opens the Wound

Once Xarrul has stolen Haddon's folio, it approaches Dalla with truths rather than a command. Using Voice Thief, it places Haddon's voice just behind her shoulder while the real Haddon is plainly visible elsewhere:

Haddonův hlas: „Mohla ji zachránit už před měsíci."

„Zeptej se ho, co krmila tvoje krev."

Further whispers should be questions whose answers are hidden in the two extracts: „Zeptej se ho, proč na tom byla Nessa po každé oběti hůř.” „Zeptej se ho, co znamená mateřský konduit.” „Zeptej se, jestli tě Vyre našla předtím, nebo až potom, co se dozvěděla o té nehodě.” Xarrul then plants the conduit extract where Dalla or the players can find it.

This is manipulation, but not deception. Xarrul knows the binding from inside and has read the stolen notes. It never claims more than it knows.

Dalla's Fracture — Two Revelations

Dalla can absorb the exposed summoning and remain loyal: she believes it served the cure. What breaks her is learning that the cure was deliberately withheld.

First revelation — the conduit extract: Dalla learns that her blood did not build a road to Nessa. It allowed the Order to reach through her and drain Nessa into the binding. She turns on Haddon, refuses further blood, and becomes willing to hear Xarrul's offer. She may still cling to the belief that Mother Vyre did not know.

„Každý měsíc jsi říkal, že je blíž. Každý měsíc byla tišší."

Dalla looks from the page to her scarred arms.

„My ji nepřiváděli domů. My ji tam drželi."

Let the confrontation become ugly. Haddon first calls the extract an incomplete technical model. If anyone explains maternal conduit, Dalla asks him one direct question: „Mohli jste ji přivést zpátky?” He cannot comfortably lie with the report in front of him. His answer—„Předčasná reintegrace by zničila jediný stabilní gradient, který jsme kdy zaznamenali”—is academically accurate and emotionally monstrous. Dalla crosses the table for him. Rennt restrains her and calls Nessa's suffering a necessary sacrifice; Essek finally blurts, „On to věděl, Dallo. Celou dobu.” Unless the players intervene, the cultist table becomes a grapple, shattered glass, and Dalla trying to reach Haddon with whatever is in her hand.

Second revelation — the E–III extract: Dalla learns that Vyre's experiment caused the dislocation, classified it as useful, and ordered reintegration postponed. This destroys her loyalty to the Order completely.

„Nenašla nás proto, že mohla Nessu zachránit."

Her voice goes flat.

„Našla nás, protože už věděla, co udělala."

Essek's testimony or Vyre's correspondence can add the final horror: the Opening would release Nessa only by abolishing the world she could return to. After either full proof or proof plus Essek's explanation, Dalla shares everything she knows and openly opposes Haddon. But she does not automatically support killing Xarrul in the Ethereal Plane; Xarrul now offers what sounds like the safer rescue.

Xarrul's Offer to Dalla

Xarrul can perceive Nessa through the energy wound tied into its binding. It knows where her projection is caught and believes it can unwind the scar and guide her home without an Opening. It cannot do so tonight: Nessa is elsewhere in the Border Ethereal, while the Nether Inn's lockdown seals this building across every plane. Xarrul must first become real or escape when the lockdown ends.

Its promise is exact:

„Otevři tento dům. Nech mě odejít. Půjdu na místo, kde chytili tvou dceru, rozpletu to, co uvázali kolem jejího vlákna, a přivedu ji domů."

Nessa is intentionally not present in the inn. Neither Dalla nor the players can verify the promise tonight. They must judge Xarrul by its demonstrated honesty and accept that fulfilling the promise also frees Orenn's murderer.

Resolution Paths

The Rebinding (Cultist Solution)

If players never uncover the two research extracts—or if they side with the cult—Haddon proposes rebinding Xarrul. A still-loyal Dalla supports this enthusiastically. Once the conduit extract is explained, she refuses another blood draw; Haddon must abandon the plan, coerce her, or find a much weaker substitute.

Requires the complete summoner's binding coffer from the Deep Cellar Workroom
Requires Dalla's blood (she gives it without hesitation only while loyal; after the conduit extract, she refuses)
Requires the binding circle in the cellar (DC 16 Arcana to adapt the summoners' circle)
Requires two readers to use the coffer's Litany of the Averted Step as directional wards while a third character forces Xarrul into the circle
Takes ten minutes to prepare outside initiative; the final three knots take three rounds with Haddon, Dalla and Rennt all actively maintaining separate stations

The true-name Recall brings Xarrul to the outer edge of the upper cellar, not into the circle. Each litany reader prevents Material Xarrul from willingly moving closer to them; two readers positioned apart create a funnel, while melee hits that forgo damage, shoves and other forced movement drive it inward. The litany does not stop Ethereal Jaunt, so the party still needs Private Sanctum, Veilhook Salt or another planar anchor.

During the final three knots, all three cultists must act. Three active voices advance the ritual, two stall it, one loses progress and none releases Xarrul. When one voice breaks, the other active ritualists each take 2d6 psychic damage, which can cascade through their concentration. PCs therefore keep the ritual alive by healing, protecting concentration, taking over a station or using what they learned upstairs to answer Xarrul's truthful attack on each cultist's loyalty. See the complete mechanics in The Reckoning.

If it succeeds: Xarrul is bound again. The cult has their weapon back. Dalla's connection stabilizes — Nessa stops getting worse but doesn't improve. Her body remains suspended. The cult continues toward Phase Two. Dalla tells herself this is progress. Players leave having "solved" the murder by rebinding the weapon, but they've handed the cult exactly what it wanted.

If capture fails: Xarrul remains loose in the upper cellar and attacks the readers, salt-carrier and whoever is operating the Recall. If all three final stations fail: the prepared components burn out, the adapted circle releases Xarrul and the fight resumes with the cultists injured by backlash.

This resolution is available even to players who don't dig deep. It's the easy answer. It solves the immediate problem. It feels like a win. It isn't.

The restored binding preserves the connection to Nessa. She does not wake, but a future Opening could still pull her home. This makes rebinding a genuine rescue route as well as a restoration of the Order's weapon—and makes its moral price sharper.

Bell-and-Sigils Containment

The party can refuse both rebinding and immediate destruction. If they restore the foundation sigils, hold Xarrul inside the upper-cellar circle and ring the iron bell correctly, the three workings seal Xarrul consciously between planes. The Order does not regain command, and Xarrul cannot act. Nessa remains lost, but her connection stays intact for an Opening or safer future research. See The Bell-and-Sigils Seal.

Banishment Drives It Home

The Border Ethereal is Xarrul's native plane. Banishment sends it to the corresponding place there and prevents it from jaunting Material while the spell lasts; it does not end the encounter or release the harvested vitality. Material death likewise fails: Deathless Slip leaves Xarrul Ethereal at 1 HP even through planar restraints. Permanent destruction requires reducing it to 0 HP in the Ethereal Plane, whether during a planar pincer, the exposed Vacancy or the Hollowing.

If Dalla dies, Nessa does not immediately die. Her suspended body remains stable and unaging, but the easiest living conduit is gone. Reaching her becomes much harder and requires reconstructing the path from the blood records, Xarrul or the stored vitality in an empowered Guest.

The Cult Fractures (Requires Truth)

Only happens if players uncover the real nature of The Opening and share it:

Dalla turns on Haddon when the extraction is explained; the E–III report destroys her remaining faith in Vyre
Essek follows if he feels protected — he's been waiting for someone to give him permission to speak
Haddon tries to hold the group, but losing Dalla and Essek guts his authority
Rennt is the last holdout — he calls the notes necessary sacrifices and opposes any plan that destroys Xarrul or wastes the harvested energy. He may need to be restrained.
Result: The Order of Mending's local cell collapses. Mother Vyre's network survives, but she's lost her people in this area.

The Cult Is Exposed to the Assassins

If the assassins learn the cult sent a bound fiend into their archive to steal the Severance Nail and overwrite their custodians' memories:

Sevra wants blood. Kael definitely wants blood.
Players must mediate or a lethal fight breaks out in the tavern.
DC 17 Persuasion (advantage if players can prove the fiend is the real threat) to convince Sevra that killing the cultists now is less important than dealing with the fiend.
Mags backs the players on this — she wants the fiend dead first. "Kill each other after. Kill the thing that killed him first."
Note: Dalla is on the cultist side of this confrontation unless she's already broken. A loyal Dalla defends the Order. A broken Dalla steps aside — or actively helps the players mediate.

Dalla's Choice (Requires the Notes)

Deep investigation does not make Dalla the mouthpiece for one correct ending. It gives her three terrible options:

Rebinding: before the conduit extract, she supports it because Haddon calls it progress. Afterward, she knows it reconnects the extraction and refuses to give blood willingly.
Ethereal destruction: killing Xarrul in its native plane should release the harvested vitality back along Nessa's silver cord. It might pull her home; a violent recoil might also damage the cord. No one in the inn has tested it. Dalla wants the possibility but fears gambling Nessa when another route exists.
The Open Door: Xarrul claims it can guide Nessa back after the lockdown ends. Dalla becomes this option's strongest advocate because it is the only offer made by someone who both understands the binding and has not yet lied to her.
Bell and sigils: sealing Xarrul between planes preserves the cord without handing it back to Haddon. Dalla accepts this as a delay only if the party commits to continuing Nessa's rescue.

Her argument is not that Xarrul is good:

„Vím, koho to zabilo. Vím, co to je. Ale Haddon ji využil. Vyre ji tam nechala. A tahle věc je jediná v tomhle domě, která mi řekla pravdu."

The opposing voices become clean and strong:

Rennt and Haddon: rebind Xarrul; preserve the work and the only "proven" path to the Opening.
Dalla: free Xarrul and make it keep its promise.
Essek: maintain a pincer across both planes and kill Xarrul Ethereally; end the extraction now rather than trust a fiend later.
Mags: destroy Xarrul by whatever method does not loose it into the world; Nessa cannot erase Orenn.

The central choice is earned by finding the notes. Players who only scratch the surface receive Haddon's rebinding plan and think they have found the safe answer. Players who learn what Dalla and Nessa really are must decide which dangerous witness deserves their trust. If they bargain with Xarrul, Dalla insists that the spoken terms explicitly name Nessa, her safe return, the people to be spared and the moment the obligation is complete; Xarrul keeps exact words, not implied mercy.

29 KiB Raw Permalink Blame History Unescape Escape