Having rested right at the end of the last session, we were able to set off immediately deeper into the canopy on the hunt for Wildfire. As we travelled, the party filled me in on a group of adventurers known as “The Legends”. The Legends adventured together and fought against The Titans, and even managed to defeat some of them.
As we made our way following the tracks scouted out the day before, we had more chances to observe the Emberachnids, and noticed that they make a chittering sound right before they change direction or pick up a new task. We believe this chittering must be a sign of them listening to new commands from Wildfire.
We observed that most of the Emberachnids were either moving towards or away from one particular direction, so we did our best to follow that path - hoping that it would lead us to their hive. On our way, we saw a very large hollow Gryphon.
We ventured far enough into the canopy that it started to look like the sun was setting, even though we’d only just woken up within that hour.
Only a little bit further in, we managed to find a spot with a good enough vantage point to spot something enormous ahead of us. Its movement bent the webs and trees - despite being massive cord-like strands. We saw one giant leg, and while it was hard to tell exactly what it was composed of from that far away, what we could see is thousands of Emberachnids crumbling and forming along its body.
We knew in that moment that we were looking at Wildfire.
As we discussed what to do next after seeing the truly gargantuan size of Wildfire, we took stock of a nearby cocoon of web. Through The Serene’s remarkable empathy, we could tell that there was some kind of creature inside.
Thinking that - if we could detect emotions from the creature - then they mustn’t be hollow yet, Ryn suggested we free them. As Ryn’s blade pierced a hole large enough in the sack, a hand reached out and grasped his forearm.
It wasn’t long before the tall humanoid emerged - remarking “how quickly their mortal bodies crumble with time”. From the ground around the cocoon, another body formed - remarkably similar to the first.
While Ryn may not have understood what was happening, the rest of the party was quick to remark that these were The Kings of Extinction; Mion and Vuela. The party mentioned that they had fought these two before, but that they always come back to life somewhere else - stronger than they were before, and often with completely different abilities.
Kara - knowing that The Kings of Extinction are typically just looking for a good fight - decided to see if she could convince them to come with them to fight Wildfire. However, they remarked that us wanting to attack “The Broodmother” was further reason for our demise. Kara - still thinking there was a chance, questioned them, to which they responded “What parent wouldn’t defend their children”. Implying that Wildfire was in some way their child. The party theorised that if what they were saying was true, and that The Titans were all siblings - then they may be the parents of all Titans.
During the battle, Mion most resembled a necrotic cleric, summoning zombie-like guardians of faith, ghoulish spirit guardians, and a spiritual weapon. He tried to keep his distance from us, and as he moved, so did the guardians of faith.
Vuela on the other hand acted more like a very powerful druid. Transforming into creatures that many druids cannot. He began by transforming into a dinosaur, and later transformed into a Beholder - although not with the full potency of such a beast.
In the end, they were both brought down by divine smites. Vuela from Kara, and Mion from Ryn.
They dropped several Smithing Stones;
- A large, cold smithing stone
- A fused white-gold and platinum smithing stone
- A viscous swirling red smithing stone later identified by Rime as a Vampiric Smithing Stone.
- A pure white smithing stone
Feeling a little underprepared for a battle with Wildfire, the party decided to chant a name - Olfolk, and in doing so, a portal opened up. Stepping through the portal, the party seemed to fall before landing on solid ground. While the rest of the party clearly knew what to expect, Ryn was caught unawares and landed quite harshly.
They were greeted by Chad Johnson, whom Ryn had heard about from the party several times now. He walked with a limp, a clear sign of some kind of illness. He welcomed everyone to The Glitterstone College, and mentioned that Serenity Emelda would like to talk to The Soul Vessel - remarking that they are a most curious creature.
Some lady that Ryn didn’t catch the name of approached, and helped to remove the Emberlings crawling all over every one. She did something that caused the creatures to crawl off of us and on to her, and then banished them.
We caught Chad Johnson up on what we had been doing, and asked for advice for facing Wildfire. He mentioned that Ferros Ocham - who had been doing research into The Titans - was apparently running behind schedule. His research was that of The Titans being able to have their soul and body separated, whilst retaining the same amount of power in both body and soul. This theory was reinforced by Chad Johnson having encountered the soul of Quake despite Quake’s body having been destroyed.
Chad Johnson theorised that the hollowness we’ve been observing may suggest that what we are seeing is Wildfire’s body - not his soul. However, they have not been able to find Wildfire’s soul in either Lithilihad or The Astral Plane. In fact; while trying to locate it Miss Olfolk was nearly destroyed by something as she was scrying.
The session ended with one final note from Chad Johnson. The Arch-Dragon is returning to Miltaur.