Damnatio Memoriae

Summary

The Expedition to Elona
Day 8, 6th of October 2017 | 6th Day of Colossus 1330 AE
– with the rise of the sun, the entire group set out to their final goal, the Aches Estate
– before they wandered off, they ran into Severo, who accompanied them on his Definitely-Not-A-Skimmer-Dolyak for a short while
– they followed the path up the mountains to the north, a steep climb, passing an outpost where Maya felt someone watching them, before moving on.
– They reached the enormous estate with closed doors, taking a moment to take in the architecture, before their attention was caught by a guard standing on the arch, who after a while, disappeared and opened the gates for them
– the group step their first steps into the estate, the courtyard presenting them with a symbol of a sun circled by three statues
– Corvus’ and Accipiter’s weapons started to glow the moment they stepped inside, balls of light jumping out of them and deeper into the building, out of which Kopaki later ran, telling the group that ‘Everyone was waiting for them’
– The group followed the young Sunspear through the maze of stairs and plateaus before landng in a big hall, filled with the spirits of House Aches giving the group a curious look
– Finally, one of them seperated from the crowd. Aches, the founder of the House, approached them and begegd them to sit at their table for a brief conversation with him and the other spirits (most notably young Pica, who wanted to pick a fight with Ikaros)
– brief introductions were made, and Accipiter explained why they crossed land and sea to this estate: To bring the Sunspear Order back, and protect Elona like it was meant to be
– Aches agreed to that, yet told them that there was one problem with the estate, leading them back outside
– the only reason the estate still survived in Joko’s land was a soulstone in their underground. Everytime one of the members died in the fight against Palawa, the stone would take their souls, and once it was filled completly, would wipe out everything within the estate that was not of Aches’ blood
– luckily, the stone was only filled with one soul at the moment, a ‘black sheep’ corrupting the stone and the safety mechanism from within. It was our groups task to go down there and take the soul out of the stone
– The gathered at the sun symbol in the middle of the courtyard, the three statues showing strange interpretations of the gods Kormir, Lyssa and Balthazar
– Accipiter used his blood to open the entrance to the rooms below, starting their task…
– They arrived at a door, mirroring the same statues from above, and decided that the first out of the three trials should be Lyssa
– The door opened, revealing a hall with the statue of the godess, as well as small streams to the side. A voice chose Ikaros, Coryn, Bret and Maya as the current champions, before setting their enemies up: The young Kopaki, his twin sister Cantet, and their parents Ausir and Ciconia.
– They got a brief preparation time, in which Kopaki and Cantet disappeared into stealth and Maya and Bret prepared the attacks of their group
– The rite was bloody and fierce, Coryn getting stabbed by Kopaki, while Maya’s body was taken over by Ausir and she was forced to attack Ikaros. In the end however, the heroes won. Ciconia the dervish got a bullet through the head, Kopaki’s body was crushed by Coryn’s vines, Cantet succumbed to burning and Ausir was carved up by Bret.
– angry, frustrated and saddened by the trial, the group left the chamber. Accipiter opened the door to the next one, Balthazar, the room resembling more an Arena than anything. The chosen champions were Hiroe, Kass and Niattin
– Meanwhile, their enemies were the young Pica, Ciconia, whose soul the group saved from her sunken ship in Orr, and Alcedo, the theorized saltspring of the Aches family
– Niattin quickly came up with a strategy to defeat them, Hiroe silencing Cygnia and kass keeping Pica as far away from close combat as possible
– The fight however, found it’s end after the first turn, as Nia asked them if fighting really was the only solution to this trial. Ironically, considering the statue of the god behind them, it wasn’t. The groups agreed not to hurt each other, and Cygnia’s team forfeit the fight
– The second trial done, they moved back to the door, and the last trial
– Kormir’s room was light brightly with torches and glowing crystals, while Sola, Klaus, Accipiter and Corvus were chosen for the trial, only for the first two to be thrown in a dark pit, seperated from the rest
– The enemies were two Seraphs, revealed by Corvus to be their parents, yet mercy was not an option. Accipiter straight out refused to fight them, while Corvus jumped through a hail of arrows, only to be revealed by his mother’s magic, soon hit by a spear of justice from his father, being pulled closer
– everyone outside of the arena tried to tell Accipiter to stand up and fight, for the sake of the disappeared Sola and Klaus, as well as for Corvus… and indeed, the words found their way
– Accipiter let the assassin run freely, covering half the room into jade as he assaulted the Seraphs, crashed through their defenses and decapitated his mother. The archer took his bow, attempting to shoot the unconscious Accipiter, only to be attacked by Corvus, getting poison shoved down his throat, and finally, falling to the ground.
– Sola and Klaus found themselves in a dark room, occupied by a woman with a black moa, who spoke cryptically of isolation and forgotten family members, before handing them her bow as they were teleported back upwards
– The last trial was over, Sola and Klaus being welcomed back, before they moved on to the final room with the Soulcrystal
– There, Aches revealed his true color: Playing an elaborate game, it turned out Aches was in truth a mordant crescent by the name of Soris, who had destroyed the Soulcrystal and thus, the entire safety spell of the house
– as he made his way to escape, Corvus and Accipiter being held as hostages through his domination magic, the group quickly fought back
– Tyra disabled his portal, while Kass and Coryn tried to stop his movements and Nia went straight for the kill. Meanwhile, Ikaros tried to stop Corvus from harming himself in pain.
– Soris tried to make an escape, forcing the spirits to fight against the group, yet Niattin and Kass quickly bypassed them, the latter knocking the mesmer to the ground, while Niattin crashed the middle of his body under her stone-reinforced feet, only to later drive her flaming sword through his neck, before Tyra turned him to ash with her laser.
– With an unconscious Corvus and a barely standing Accipiter, the group made it out to the surface, only to see a scouting troop appear, led by the hunter of the Desolation, who demanded a battle
– Nia made sure the estate was safe for the moment by destroying the archway with the door through earth magic, killing the approaching awakened
– insults were flung back and forth, until Bonny’s airship landed. Everyone quickly jumped on it, abandoning the estate and making their way home

Summary

Aches-Birthday
12th of February 2018 | 43th Day of Zephyr 1331 AE
– Corvus and Accipiter Aches were celebrating their birthday, inviting everyone to Corvus’ house for dinner
– after an exchange in formalities, jokes and presents and eating the delivious food, sour news struck the attendants
– Accipiter has found a letter in the estate from ‘an old friend’, asking him to meet in Istan to fight against Joko
– furthermore, the younger of the twins explains that as Bonny went to pick them up, both he and Nilarra as well as the captain were attacked by exceptionally strong Awakened who claimed the estate as theirs
– Nia went on to speak about nightmare-like attacks she had a few days ago and that she went to investigate them with Corvus and Jinni
– they came to the conclusion that the Hunter that was after them in Elona was coming after them till Tyria, the current invasion a clear sign that distance was no issue for them
– the group suspects he uses mesmer magic to attack Nia and take her over, thus harming everyone in the Refuge including the Sunspears
– Bret, Nia, Jinni and Corvus went to develop a plan, involving the bolstering of the Refuge’s defenses in preparation for a possible attack
– the rest of the night was spent by either people working on the defenses or calming down in Maya’s house over some tea

Traces in the Mists
16th February 2018 | 47th Day of Zephyr 1331 AE
– the mists around Niattin were stirred up ever since her nightmare of the Estate and a person talking to her
– Cannaxx, noticing this, offered his help to Nia as he tried to explain the possible danger she might be in, leading to some suspicion from Niattin and Jinni
– after some back and forth, Nia finally agreed to have Cannaxx attune himself to the mists around her
– returning from his inspection, Cannaxx revealed the following:
– an unknown mistmage is trying to communicate to Niattin
– he is using the basics of invocating a legend, finding the imprint Nia made on the history, thus, on the mists, and her through those events
– Cannaxx followed the trail of the mistmage beyond the ocean to a big island, presumably Istan
– heavy theorizing ensued, before people decided to call it a night and rest

Summary Day 1

Damnatio Memoriae – Prelude: Istan (Day 1)
2nd March 2018 | 62th Day of Zephyr 1331 AE
– The group consisting of Accipiter, Corvus, Nia, Jinni, Ikaros, Sunny, Droffa, Bonny, Caewyne, Ora and Garen arrived in Istan at the most northern cliffside
– Acci gave a brief summary of the events and their goal in Istan:
– Objective: Scout the area, get an idea of the situation, help the Sunspear resistance as best as possible
– Possible Enemies:
– Awakened, Crescent, Loyalists
– a group of rogue, awakened members of House Aches, apparently having arrived in Istan a week ago
– one of them trying to use mist magic to invoke Nia, yet failing to establish the proper connection
– two having attacked Bonny, one of them wrecking her airship while the other neglected any canonfire (Larus and Sayornis)
– two others, able to summon a dragon of flames
– all of them possibly equipped with Inquest technology
– Palawadan being under naval lockdown
– They headed out to gather information about the Sunspears at the Corsair docks, where Bonny used her connections to gather intel while the rest felt more or less uncomfortable
– after some chaos, Bonny’s friend Daniel told them they managed to capture the Spearmarshal of Istan, and sold him off to Joko, also mentioning where they caught him
– the group took a route near the sea to Champions Dawn, passing the guards outside by stealthing most of the group while Bonny acted as if she’d caught Ora, Acci and Corvus
– inside, the group spread a little, Garen talking to a prisoner to get more information out of him, while the Sunspears freed themselves, and Bonny opened the cages of other prisoners

Summary Day 2

Damnatio Memoriae – Prelude: Istan (Day 2)
3rd March 2018 | 63th Day of Zephyr 1331 AE
– The group that ventured to Istan agreed to help the Sunspear on a raid of Palawadan to distract the Awakened and weaken them before attacking th e Greathall to free their leader
– the groups:
– offensive: Nia, Jinni, Garen, Isa, Sunny, Ora, Accipiter; assisst the initial raiding, running through the town to mow down the enemy forces
– stealth/infiltrating: Aisha, Bonny, Ikaros, Caewyne, Corvus; gather supplies while the Awakened were distracted
– group 1 marched towards the gates with the army, while group 2 climbed along the walls surrounding Palawadan to drop down on the south
– the offensive part was quickly faced with hails of arrows descending upon them as they wrecked the gate, while group 2 went to grabs as much food and water as they could
– breaking the doors in, group 1 was faced with a swarm of Loyalists and Awakened, yet the Sunspears’ side’s defenses still strong and their hunger for blood even bigger
– group 2 moves to gather blankets, pillows and matresses, before deciding to establish a dead drop to stow the supplies for now. Killing a few patrols to opent he way, they stole two skimmers from the table and let Ikaros and Corvus carry them off while Bonny, Aisha and Caewyne moved further north to gather the rest
– group 1 fought their way south in the meantime, defenses slowly weakening by the strain put on them. The battle took it’s toll on them, even as our heroes supported them
– finally, group 1 reached the most southern plattforms, sitting upon water. With Nia’s and Acci’s help, the way they came from was sealed with jade so they did not have to fear an ambush from behind.
– yet, as group 1 arrived on the plattform and killed the few remaining guards that had protected the buildings, a strange voice would have rung in their ears, soothing and calming, inviting them to rest with an overwhelming power
– the remains of group 2 would spot one lone caster atop the temple of Joko. Seeing the embers fly around him, the group decided to quickly move to a cannon, preparing it to take out the caster.
– Group 1 was still struggling with the mesmeric song, now suprised by a group of Asura that came from the east and ran up to the group with nothing but regret in their eyes, muttering apologies as they tried to cling to the army
– the cannonball of group 2 hit, delaying the casters spell for a moment, which ripped group 1 from their mesmer illusion and quickly had them set up barriers for what was to come as the chanter finished…
“The Queens’ heresy was to great, their pride to strong,
and the gods proclaimed to have them suffer for their insolence!
And they brought forth beasts to devour what the land once blessed the Elonians with,
creatures to eat off their food, their skin, their body, their soul!
And they said: there shall be a plague over all of Elona,
—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again!”
– the sky was set ablaze, blue fire emitting from the scroll the man had read as thousands of flaming scarabs would form from the flame…and then, like a meteor shower, descend upon the weakened army
– Sunny, coated in spectral armor and shroud raised a spectral wall enhanced by ice to stop the scarabs
– Jinni followed, her cry waking the Sunspears from their confused state, before she raised a reflecting wall in front of Sunny, the Sunspears following her example as they prepared a few weak barriers
– Garen, already confronted with one Asura, pushed it back to the others after a warning from Nia while Isa was moving to Garen to check on him, unprotected from the swarm
– Niattin would have stopped the charging Asura through ice, before helping Jinni and Sunny with a weaker Arcane Barrier
– The flaming scarabes crashed over the army, the first line pushed back into their brethren by Jinni’s reflect-wall, few not making it through the Sunspear barriers and Nia’s, before the walls broke down, and Sunny’s defenses held back the rest
– The moment the scarabs found a body, they would eat through armor, cloth, skin and flesh into the people’s body, burning them alive from inside and setting them ablaze
– to make matters worse, the scarabs hitting the Asura would ignite the powder beneath their clothes, thus, having the Asura explode and setting more chaos upon the battlefield
– hell had descended upon the plattforms, and the second group was only now meeting up with another, forced to watch as flames devoured the south. Bonny quickly made her way north, out of Palawadan, to grab the Thunderchild.
– On order of Nia, the Sunspears fought their way to the east, taking Accipiter with them, while the rest stayed behind.
– Yet the sunspears were confronted with heavy fire from the harbor, being forced to remain on the plattform and have a last stand against the approaching Awakened
– Finally, the airship closed in, teleporting the members of the Refuge up before opening fire on the ships, distracting them and destroying some of their parts
– the army made it to the north, suffering mroe casualties, before fleeing Palawadan

Summary Day 1

Damnatio Memoriae – Act 1: Dajkah (Day 1)
7th April 2018 | 7th Day of Phoenix 1331 AE
– seeking out an ancient weapon of House Aches, stolen by the ‘Apep’ family, Corvus, Ora, Nia, Jinni, Coryn, Sunny, Mivenia, Isabelle and Ikaros went on board the Thunderchild to travel to Dajkah
– the group arrived on Dajkah, greeted by a storm that had engulfed the island
– Bonny sent off the group to find a suitable place for the airship to land
– right when stepping on the island, it became apparent that something wasn’t right, as if someone took a hold of the entire ecosystem of the land
– Coryn and Ora could figure out that there was a layer of druidic magic over the entire island
– fighting through the howling winds, the group soon encountered a native charr by the name of Dylyn, who informed them not only of a place for their airship to land, but also of survivors within the damaged cube that was Rata Primus
– landing the airship successfully, Dylyn lead them to her hometown, as the group decided that finding the weapon was easier with native support, especially since their enemy, looking for the weapon herself, seemed to be a problem to the charr as well
– recieving informations from the Lorekeeper of the town, the group set off on their treasure hunt, stealthing themselves while Ora and Corvus disrupted the druidic flow around them to not be followed
– Coryn tried to overpower Sayornis’ hold on the island, yet was quickly pushed back, ending in a short dizziness
– the group decided, since they could track Sayornis, to prepare an ambush for her using Jinni’s traps
– sadly, instead of Sayornis, two elonian women instead came their way, which were quickly dragged off by Sunny, and later revealed themselves to be servants under Sayornis
– the druid herself never appeared, thus, the trap was disabled, prisoners taken, and the group moved onward to the treasure
– finding it on the shore, Bonny dug out the weapon, somehow making Corvus’ and Accipiter’s ancestor appear from it
– the spirit introduced itself as Anser ‘Apep’ Aches, revealing that Bonny’s family is a splinter group fo the ‘main’ Aches family, with Anser as their common ancestor
– having found the weapon, the group returned to the airship, resting, but only briefly
– over the comm, they heard Sayornis preparing to take the weapon back, and decided on a quick assault before it comes to that

Summary Day 2

Damnatio Memoriae – Act 1: Dajkah (Day 2)
8th of April 2018 | 8th Day of Phoenix 1331 AE
– in the same night, Jinni and Nia went down, together with Lilly disguising them as Awakened and Mivenia stealthing herself and Lilly
– following the tracking of the comm, they arrived at an underground cave where the druid and her twelve followers had gathered
– she had a shield in four different colors around her, which Nia connected to a sleeping druid-spirit they found while scouting
– returning to the airship, four groups were established to hunt down each spirit and kill them at the same time
– the green one, the Earth spirit was handled by Ora, Xipil and Corvus
– the orange one that Mivenia spotted from the shipt, the Sun Spirit got taken care of by Mivenia, isabelle and Bonny
– the purple one, the Storm Spirit found after a quick search, was assigned to Nia, Jinni and Ikaros
– and finally, the blue one, the Water Spirit, guided Coryn and Sunny over slippery stones
– killing the spirits let them briefly erupt with their elemental charges, though did not badly wound anyone
– with the barriers down, the group went into the cave, which was sealed after by charr to not have anyone escape
– it folowed a battle against two awakened Asura engineers with their turrets, five guardians and three spellcasters behind them, who blocked the way to Sayornis
– combat ensued, and thanks to the variety of the group, the turrets were quickly taken care of, the shield wall of the guardians falling and the mages … … properly dealt with, the group moved to the further back of the cave
– Sayornis was awaiting them with two mages at her side, carrying Sunny’s sword
– the druid asked the group why they were still searching combat with her, if they already got the weapon they were looking for, and the answers varied between personal attack on their family to doing the good thing
– unable to see reason in their words, the conversation got interrupted by Larus calling over both Sayornis’ and Nia’s comm
– before the druid could warn her ally of the spy in their system, Nia lightningflashed to her and cut her comm in half
– that locked the asura in close combat with Sayornis, as the mages raised a stone wall, that was quickly torn down by the rest of the group
– Sayornis was quickly ganked from multiple people, while Isa and Xipil stopped her Naturespirit from raising every defeated foe in the area back to life
– the fight was won, the body burned and hacked, leaving a little message behind…

Summary

Damnatio Memoriae – Interlude: The Path to Peace
9th of June 2018 | 70th Day of Phoenix 1331 AE

– Unconvinced of Bret’s death at the Estate, Accipiter wanted to see if he could find traces of the man in the mists, and thus, see if he was still alive or truly dead
– being a rather inexperienced revenant, and knowing of the dangers of the mist, he had to assemble a small group of people to protect him
– with Daeva, Nia, Jinni and Ikaros, the five went to the Godslost Swamp to open a portal to the mists without further strain on the revenant, then stepped inside
– arriving at a desolate landscape full of what seemed to be snow and ice, the group took a brief look around to secure the area…and found the spirit of Sayornis in the distance
– with utmost care and after some climbing, the group approached the former Awakened
– Sayornis instead, seemed rather hestitant for a talk, without weapons and apparently with little magic
– Apparently, the woman was hunted by another Aches member, and thought the group of 5 was some sort of seperate hunting party to cut her way off
– to calm her and prove that there was no need for hostility outside of Elona, Nia offered to calm her hunter(bearbeitet)
– her hunter, soon to come by with the sound of thunder accompanying him, was no other than Aches himself, the founder of the House
– however, instead of looking for Sayornis, the man seemed to be talking to someone else, who promptly replied: Geranus, the leader of the ‘rogue’ House Aches members
– the two bickered for a while, though Aches clearly had intentions to kill the other
– thus, the group decided to get their attention before things escalate even further
– Jinni enhanced her voice, and a bellow echoed through the area that indeed made both of them stop
– while Sayornis moved behind the group, Aches came down on their island to find out what the noise was about
– Nia, Jinni and Accipiter tried to explain the founder that, while Sayornis might have been an enemy in life, she was no threat as a spirit
– while it seemed impossible, the group was trying to convince both sides of the conflict that constant vengeance would lead to nothing, and that they had to forgive if they don’t want more people to suffer
– to make the first step, Accipiter suggested that Sayornis would be left alone in the Mists, and handed over to the rogue members in exchange for a Sunspear friend of Nillara, who held a lot of information about the Refuge
– to support that statement, Nia and Jinni offered to be the communicators of to support the exchange, even though they could very easily be betrayed(bearbeitet)
– the date of the trade has been agreed to be next week, at the Altar of Silence in the Crystal Oasis
– further informations about the man-power that is supposed to be expected from both sides will be relayed over the comm

Summary

Damnatio Memoriae – Act 3: Crystal Oasis
18th of June 2018 | 78th day of Phoenix 1331 AE

“Ah…children. You think yourself the saviors, naturally.”

– following the trade agreement and possible first step towards peace, Accipiter rallied a group to help him go to Elona
– they were going to exchange Sayornis in a soulstone against Oren, a Sunspear and friend of Nilarra
– however, Nia and Jinni recieved a concerning morse-code-message over the comm, that spelled out: FATHER DANGER MEETING TRAP HELP PLEASE
– with the message in the back of their head, Accipiter, Nia, Jinni, Nilarra, Bonny, Sunny, Isabelle, Coryn and Moreera set out to the Altar of Silence in the Crystal Oasis
– upon arrival in the desert, Nilarra and Coryn went ahead to scout the area, finding 3 of the rogue Aches members, as well as five awakened centaurs and Oren himself
– the rest arrived while the two scouts remained on the high ground
– Larus, one of the rogues and a hammer wielding warrior approached them first, handling most of the communication and demanding the soulstone of Sayornis
– Niattin and Jinni argued they first want to see the Sunspear, who was promptly brought, and after more discussion, the sack over his head was removed
– while indeed revealing Oren, both Nilarra and Bonny quickly noticed that there was an illusion cast over him and that the man’s body was dead
– with few words, the negotiations found their end, and combat ensued.(bearbeitet)
– Larus and the awakened Oren, closest to the group, had no problem breaking through their frontline
– The rampaging centaurs were quickly locked in place both by Ikaros’ pistols and Nia’s earthspike, before being assaulted seperately
– Larus and Jinni were locked in melee combat, the Asura seemingly having found her match
– meanwhile, Geranus briefly focused on Coryn and Nilarra as the latter’s shot knocked out the third rogue, Noctua
– however, he switched his target to Accipiter, who was somewhat seperate from the group
– Coryn found out that Geranus showed purple eyes, and shouted that he was a mesmer, leading to Nia giving the command to kill him the moment Bonny got close to him
– a headshot from close distance knocked the man out, and with the centaurs and oren burned alive and ripped apart, Jinni and Nia only had to take care of Larus, who was smashed into the ground and beheaded(bearbeitet)
– Geranus managed to escape through mistmagic, but Larus’ and Noctua’s corpses remained and were inspected
– both their souls soon formed as birds. Sadly, Acci could only capture Noctua’s, only to summon her and explain the situation
– the mute used her illusion magic to recreate the a scene between the rogue members, in which Geranus, after the meeting in the mists, was confronted by a woman and Larus
– in the middle of the argumentation, the shadow of a bird appeared over Geranus and seemingly took over his consciousness, before ordering the Awakened Oren to him and leaving with Larus and Noctua
– and quickly, it became apparent who that shadow was: Soris, the man who had taken care of the Aches Estate on the first Elona expedition, and was killed/put to rest by Niattin
– now his spirit, invoked by Geranus, had taken over the revenant completly, and cause the ruin of those negotiations
– exhausted and furstrated, the group decided to leave, but not without finding Noctua’s apparently tame griffon, and deciding to take it home

Summary Day 1

Damnatio Memoriae – Act 3: Kourna (Day 1)
14th day of Scion | 14th of July

– Aisha called the Refuge over her communicator, explaining that the Sunspears have declared war on Joko and are asking for the Refuge’s help
– House Aches instantly offered it’s support, backed by Nia, Jinni, Coryn, Bret, Sunny, Lizzi, Moreera, Xipil, Ikaros and Caewynne in the main group
– meanwhile a few others (Dylinna, Launell, Kara, Mivenia, Isabelle) went with Bonny’s airship a day before
– travelling to the Desert Highlands, the group went through a somewhat bumpy journey before reaching the tomb of the primeval kings
– once arrived, they were greeted by cheers from Sunspears and Olmakhon they met on their last adventures through Elona, before stepping through the portal
– finally, they arrived in Kourna, right next to the main camp
– the group briefly split up, figuring out the situation, talking to scouts, medics and officers, before they found Aisha
– the woman brought the group to their station, where they were handed a few crates full of materials and left to build their own defenses
– Sunny, Acci, Corvus and Coryn moved to built a tent (1) , while Moreera and Lizzi built defenses like mines and quicksand around the area (2 & 3)
– Acci put down a few jade shards on the southern part (4) while Bret later added explosive minions to the defenses on the west and east
– during this, Nia, Jinni, Bret and Caewyn found a few Choya who were dancing around an effigy of Coryn, which soon resulted into the latter developing a God-Complex…shortlived, luckily, and quickly gotten rid off by Sunny’s disciplinary methods
– relaxing under the makeshift tent and bye a campfire, the group let the day end with food and drinks from Jeff

Summary Day 2

Damnatio Memoriae – Act 3: Kourna (Day 2)
15th day of Scion | 15th/16th of July

– the group wakes up to a familiar face: Dylinna returned from her duties at the frontlines
– she informed them that the attack on Joko was imminent, but shattered every hope to join the fray when she continued the orders: remain in position until further notice
– frustrated by their lack of action, there was a small debate over wether to ignore orders or not, before the shaking earth would grasp everyone’s attention
– a large army was charging at them from the north, mostly awakened centaurs and soldiers, as they spread along the northern flank
– about a hundred came towards their camp, and last minute preparations were made to greet the attackers, like Jinni’s traps at their entrance or the readying of the airship
– as the horde of about 100 came over the refuge people, 10 of them were swiftly taken out by their defenses from before, while the airship mowed down another 20 with it’s bombs
– of the 70 remaining, 20 turned around to attack the camp, while the bulk charged forward to the frontlines, followed soon by Coryn, Launell and Kara
– Nia and Xipil started raising spikes and ditches for their defenses, while Ikaros, Corvus, Moreera, Bret, Cae and Lizzi took to the offense, supported by Accipiter’s chant and Mivenia’s cover fire
– having gotten rid of the first twenty once they were trapped in a flaming tornado, another enemy made their appearance
– Luscinia did not waste time with monologues, and instead, used the flames from before to haul them back to their camp
– this time prepared, Jinni, Lizzi and Accipiter raised their own defense against the raging fire, surviving the onslaught…for now(bearbeitet)
– the battle against Luscinia continued , the weaver being brought out of the air by united force, yet that was not enough to stop her
– controlling all four elements at the same time, the awakened sent a tornado on the groups position, making it rain stones, ice and fire from the sky
– the few that could escape, Moreera, Caewyne and Bret with a returning Coryn, continued the assault, while those inside the storm, Nia, Jinni, Xipil, Lizzi, Ikaros, Corvus and Accipiter, raised their defense and tried to rip the storm apart, one element by one
– during the fierce close combat battle between Coryn, moreera and Luscinia, the latter once more called upon the elements to rain down on the ones attacking her…yet somehow, they didn’t respond
– a wave of magic swept through the land, as if long drained life returned to it. The woman didn’t move. Which was the perfect opportunity for the finishing blow
– being cut and ripepd apart by Moreera, Coryn, Caewyne (‘s mistwolf), Jinni (‘s greatsword) and Bret (‘s skeleton hands), Luscinia found her end
– as the group had a brief respite, the news over the comm suddenly spread like wildfire: All awakened stopped moving, some started crying other were dazed
– Finally, the confirmation: Joko is dead.(bearbeitet)
“Allies, friends, brothers and sisters in arms! Today is the day, where we have achieved victory, not for Kourna, not for Elona, but for the entirety of Tyria! Today, we put an end to the long reign of the lich! Today, we won the war against a tyrant! Today, we are free!”

Summary Preparations

Damnatio Memoriae – Finale: Vabbi (Preparations)
26th Day of Scion | 26th of July

Map of the Estate and it’s village.
1 – Mine
2 – Water Reservoir
3 – Meeting Hall
4 – ?
5 – Grainary
6 – Pylon
7 – Magitech Anti-Air Constructs
8 – Courtyard | Statues of Balthazar, Lyssa and Kormir | Hidden Stairway to the Basement | Home of “Steve” the Junundu Wurm
9 – Great Hall
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– the Refuge gathered at the war room, where Accipiter proposed another attempt at retaking the Aches Estate with Joko’s Death
– Nilarra provided information to what she found from her scutings half a year ago
– after some concern about the magitech constructs, Acci summoned Noctua to ask for information
– Noctua revealed that the constructs were anti-air weapons, as well as a wurm in the basement called ‘Steve’, which was raised by the druid Sayornis
– she also talked about an air djinn being bound to the estate by Luscinia, and of runes made with “foreign magic” by Anpu
– it was revealed that it was also noctua that moved through Kryta per repeated blinks and chronomancy, as she was searching for the Hunter and the weapon of the Aches family he was carrying
– Acci used the moment to ask why exactly the rogue ones, lacking any blood, were after Aches’ weapons
– the answer was, that they wanted to keep the Aches family from using them, and summoning the army of House Aches in the middle of battle
– Corvus and Accipiter, completly struck with the reveal of an army they could summon at will, were told that they would need to bring the soulstones to the elonian desert. Their blood and the magically charged sand will bring their ancestors out of their soulstones
– at that moment, Nia remembered the bow Sola recieved from a woman named Chleo in the estate, and that it probably belongs into that collection
– Nilarra and Kiinzy will scale the walls to destroy one of the anti air constructions, while Ora will take the other, both groups accompanied by Sunspears that Azar will hand them for their efforts
– ‘Steve’ will either be charmed by Kiinzy if Sayornis is willing to help, or be distracted by Nia’s earth elemental magic and lead into Jinni’s traps
– the group expects to meet Geranus in the Great Hall, where Nia and Jinni will prepare a ritual to sever him from Soris

Summary Day 1

Damnatio Memoriae – Finale: Vabbi (Day 1)
27th Day of Scion | 27th of July

– arriving on the gates of Vabbi, the heroes set out to march towards the estate
– the group consisted of Acci, Corvus, Nia, Jinni, Nilarra, Kiinzy, Coryn, Garen, Cannaxx, Lizzy, Isabelle, Sunny, Maya, Ikaros, Emily, Lilly, Bret and Malek
– arriving at an outpost before the actual climb up the mountain, the group devised their plan:
– Lilly made herself look like Palawa Joko to bring the villagers they wanted to save to follow her, backed up by Maya, Bret and Lizzi in case something went wrong
– the rest of the bulk remained behind, waiting for the villagers to be evacuated
– the town seemed rather empty, outside of Anpu, standing with a handful of soldiers facing the south-east, while villagers cowered behind them
– after some talking and resistance by Anpu to believe the tale of the king about faking his death, an appearing abomination cut their talks short
– Lilly lead the somewhat hypnotized villagers away, while the being slaughtered through the soldiers and Anpu had to back off
– sadly, the abomination was quick to charge after the villagers, and the group had to intercept it to not hurt the innocents
– a fight against the beast ensued, many going for a frontal attack as it was known to absorb magic projectiles, while others tried to lock it into place or support the attackers from the distance
– the abomination retaliated, summoning flying blades towards the group at the distance, while swinging it’s tail against the close combatants
– Coryn and Corvus got hit by the projectiles, while Nia and Jinni took the blade of it’s tail, before Nilarra interrupted it with a full counter
– while all of this was going on, Anpu had prepared another chant in the distance, and finished it as the abomination was about to go down
– summoning what seemed to be the head of the Elder Dragon Kralkatorrik, a giant ritual circle was cast from his position on the eastern cliffs towards the groups position
– with it gradually expanding, crystals of light surged out of the ground, entombing everything they touched, not unlike the Brand itself
– the abomination quickly made sure to run, with Lizzi and soon Corvus still on it’s back, while Sunny and later Isabelle and Bret tried to find shelter from the massive attack, the rest fleeing behind a defensive formation of Garen, Maya and Emily
– Sunny and Isabelle were trapped in the ritual, enceased in crystals of light, while Bret’s shade at least prevented the freezing, yet the spikes still hit his body
– Lizzi and Corvus narrowly escaped the brand by tumbling off the wild abomination’s back, the latter being frozen over
– the main group managed to evade the attack completly, standing outside of it’s radius…yet they were also the ones now having to act
– not wasting a second, Corvus and Lizzi were quickly found and brought to Maya to be healed (even with Lizzi protesting)
– Bret tried to carve out Sunny and Isabelle, but realized the futility of his attempts, and instead dragged the crystal to the others, where Nilarra amanged to slowly disenchant it
– Malek’s squad, aided by the asura Blezza, arrived late to the party, though were going to secure the village while the others rested and got healed up
– getting the last message that the remaining villagers got probably slaughtered by a second abomination, the corpses were burned and the squad patrolled the night while the others got the chance to rest

Summary Day 2

Damnatio Memoriae – Finale: Vabbi (Day 2)
27th Day of Scion | 28th of July

– as the heroes rested, the Sunspears under Azar arrived at the village with Ora and Cannaxx while the Forged kept watch
– the Refuge only recieved a brief respite from their assault of the crystal dragon before the upcoming plans were discussed
– Sunny and Corvus, in company of Isabelle went to talk to the prisoners, former soldiers of Anpu that took care of the village, while Lilly and Lizzi went to look for Anpu himself while the rest discussed a proper formation
– the prisoner woman, the same as the one from Dajkah, was open enough to tell them that Anpu was down to one last scroll, and that they used runestones to form beings not unlike the sandjackals
– unfortunately, she had no idea what happened in the Estate, as Sunny’s ‘pact’ forced her to take a less offensive stance towards the Refuge, and hence, she has been guarding the city
– Lilly and Lizzi found a portal close to the cliffs that lead further up to the pavillion Bret assumed Anpu to be
– Bracing themselves, the entire group went to look for the caster and followed Lilly’s lead
– walking through the portal, the stealthed group did indeed arrive at a broken down pavillion, Anpu sitting in the middle with only a blue barrier sustained around him
– instantly suspicious, the group checked surroundings and magic, yet there seemed to be no trap around him
– the heroes encircled him with drawn weapons and ready for an attack, while Lilly summoned clones to play some music and confront the awakened, apparently to distract him
– the man however seemed less than hostile, seemingly waiting for his death as he saw no reason to fight, the war being over with Joko’s death
– it also turned out that the attack of the crystals was not directed towards the heroes, but the abomination that hunted after the villagers Anpu meant to protect
– the group’s planned assault came to a sudden halt, with Sunny being the first one to step out of the shadows to talk with him, followed by Accipiter, Daeva, Nia and Jinni
– Anpu didn’t see any side of the current ‘Aches-War’ as being the right one, one guided by paranoia and the other by idealism…yet he was ready to listen to Accipiter and see if he can convince him that his way was the ‘right’ one
– Being asked a question about the future of Elona, or more specifically, about how to handle all the problems of Elona, Branded, Forged, Joko-Followers on his land, Acci answered that he would ask different people for their opinion first, before deciding that those that seek peace and union are welcome in his home, to be united against the bigger threat of the Elder Dragons
– Anpu didn’t seem to convinced, but did give in finally, admitting that, while it still seems naive, it was more of a plan than the other party currently had, and handed them his last scroll
– Daeva and Saphir brought the man to the villagers in the Gardens of Seborhin, where he hoped to take care of them before his body would fall with Joko’s disappearing influence(bearbeitet)
– the rest of the group moved back to the village, quickly re-assembling and figuring out that the last scroll was one referencing Abbadon, and apparently could take away anyone’s magic that was opposed to the caster
– deciding to leave the scroll for an emergency, they headed out to meet the Sunspears under Azar and the Forged under Malek
– as they were ready, Accipiter and Corvus moved to a more open space, using both the soulstones to summon their ancestors, as well as Aches’ spear “Dawnbreaker” to call forth their ancient guards

“Honored Spirits, blood of our blood, kin of our kin.
We stand here, on our land and call forth your souls, your wisdom and strenght, to smite all those who oppose our name!
Your bodies may have returned to the land, but your souls are still with us and hear our call!
Men and women, followers, friends, family, heed us! Rise to stand at our side! In union! As one!”

– within the span of seconds, a thousand soldiers rose from the sands and air, spirits bearing different faces, yet all the same emblem, while the ancestors came diving down in the form of bird-like orbs of light, forming their body
– after a moment of initial shock, or awe, or both, the army quickly formed under Nia’s guidance, before they started marching towards the east
– as the estate came into sight, the Sunspears with Nilarra, Kiinzy, Cannaxx, Ora and Daeva charged forward, climbing the towers to take down the anti-air constructs with success
– soon after, the army stormed the estate’s entrance hall, being bombared with arrows, fire and oil, yet their defenses remained steadfast, even as the fire was burning above them
– arriving at the courtyard, the group was greeted by ‘Steve’ the junundu wurm, that formerly attack the airship until now, before turning it’s attention to attack the incoming army
– at small fight with Steve ensued, to which awakened from the sides quickly joined, held back by the army
– fortunately, Sayornis could calm a dazed wurm as the rest took care of the sheer mass of Awakened charging at them
– as the armies were thought with magic and weapons alike, the second abomination appeared at their rear, taken care of by the Forged…for now.
– joining the Awakened army where two Hydras, forming from the formerly mentioned runestones and mostly made out of sands and winds except said runestone
– luckily, their weakspots were quickly found and the beasts taken care of, as the army was crashing against the shield wall like a tidal wave against the shore
– the abomination jumped through the burning wall of the forged, though was subdued in the end by them and summoned skeletons
– slowly, the tide of battle turned into the heroes’ favor, and they managed to secure the courtyard

Summary Day 3

Damnatio Memoriae – Finale: Vabbi (Day 3)
27th Day of Scion | 29th of July

– the group was granted a brief rest after their initial assault, preparing to face Soris in their last push
– as additional support in case something went wrong or they needed more strenght, they chose Elena (Spellbreaker) and Falco (Dragonhunter), Corvus’ and Accipiter’s parents, as well as Noctua (Chronomancer), Ausir (Necromancer) and Malek to accompany them
– they went into the estate, and already felt that something was off: The veil to the mists was a lot thinner than it should be
– Niattin and Sunny tried to find out if there was someone or somthing else in the room ahead, yet the room, according to them, was empty
– opening the doors with Garen at their front, the Great Hall greeted them with an Air Djinn, which had attacked the airship previously, as well as multiple tears into reality
– Lizzi, Bret, Corvus and Coryn tried to stealth and get inside to assault the djinn, yet the moment they stepped inside the room, electricity ran through their body and chains shot out from the tears, attacking Lizzi, Coryn and Bret as Corvus jumped to safety
– while the chains were stopped in their tracks or cut and the rest brought to safety, the djinn was attacked, first from the distance, before being yanked towards the attackers and killed(bearbeitet)
– after the fight, the group moved further inside the Great Hall, which was indeed otherwise completly empty
– Soris would soon speak to them, asking why they were constantly crossing him, and what they hope to achieve after failing once already
– the group answered that they don’t intent to fail this time, and in return, asked why he continues to fight them
– Soris answered that mistakes were made 500 years ago, and it has been long too late to change the course he and his followers are going… he did agree however to show them what exactly happened 500 years ago
– the mist portals extended, engulfing the group as the mists showed them the past of Lord Soris and Lord Aches:
– after the fight, the group moved further inside the Great Hall, which was indeed otherwise completly empty
– Soris would soon speak to them, asking why they were constantly crossing him, and what they hope to achieve after failing once already
– the group answered that they don’t intent to fail this time, and in return, asked why he continues to fight them
– Soris answered that mistakes were made 500 years ago, and it has been long too late to change the course he and his followers are going… he did agree however to show them what exactly happened 500 years ago
– the mist portals extended, engulfing the group as the mists showed them the past of Lord Soris and Lord Aches:
– Aches was shown to have recieved a letter from one of the Princes of Vabbi, in which he was granted an estate and land, yet he was uncertain if he could handle that much responsibility on top of his work as a sunspear
– Soris offered that he would take care of the Estate while Aches was gone, and reluctantly, the latter gave in
– fast forwarding in time, the group was able to see the Estate in it’s old glory, and Soris greeting a wounded Aches who just returned from a fight and was sent home to rest
– later, Aches would however find out that Soris made some questionable choices in his absence, possibly endangering the lifes of those that lived in the estate, and told him he’d retake control if that keeps happening
– however, Soris only intended to safe more lifes through new methods, and already continued with more by the time Aches arrived
– time passes, and during a training session, Soris walks in on Aches and the female trainer speaking about Soris’ decision, and that consequences will have to follow eventually, before disappearing again
– fast forward once more, and the group would see Aches and his squad of Sunspears fight off bandits, that seemingly had support from a wealthier person
– finding a letter with the symbol of the Estate on it, Aches was brought back to the Estate, Soris already waiting for him
– as the sunspears asked, if Soris sent the letters to the bandits attack them, the man was faced with a choice: to speak the truth, save his brother and give up on everything he has worked for, or to save the work of his life, and potentially all the people inside instead of Aches
– Soris denied any accusations towards him, leading to the Sunspears suspecting Aches to have caused the bandit’s increase, and kill him in the process
– as the looks into the past stop, the group gets time to speak to Soris, though with mixed opinions about what was right or wrong
– finally, the man realizes that there was little point in fighting, considering his death approaches wether or not the group brings it to him, and rather wonders how the twins will deal with him
– Accipiter states that he cannot judge all damage Soris has done, but instead the one he witnessed, passing the following judgement:
– Soris will be seperated from Geranus, return to the mists, and deal with Aches himself. His deeds and that of his followers will be recorded, for future generations
– Nia and Jinni performed their spiritual ritual, seperating the two humans and returning Geranus’ body to him
– the ritual also returned the souls of their companions to the mists, safe Noctua, who fled the room to ‘survive’ and return to Geranus
– there was a brief talk with Geranus and the group, saying their goodbyes before leaving father and daughter back in the Great Hall
– outside they meet Anpu, who returned from bringing the civilians back to the village, and with nia and Jinni, joined Geranus and Noctua, destroying their bodies with his fire and leaving behind Geranus’ soulstone
– with every ‘enemy’ gone, Accipiter stepped in front of the united army to hold a speech, officially reclaiming the estate
– after the brief celebration, the group split up, a few like Corvus, Lizzy, Daeva, Sunny and Isabelle remaining in Elona as the rest returned to Tyria

Summary

Damnatio Memoriae – Epilogue: Home
85th Day of Scion | 22nd of September

After a month and a half of restauration, the Estate was returned to it’s former glory. Holding a ceremony, the Aches brothers invited the Refuge to join them to a feast and a night to remember. After a brief round of conversation and food, the ceremony was held, where Accipiter was officially appointed Lord Commander, and Corvus Great General of House Aches. The ceremony continued with the two handing out presents as a thank you for the loyalty of the Refuge, before concluding with a ritual by the Barrows’ sisters to guide the spirits of the Aches family into the mists. With that, the current generation took over, and lead the House into a bright future.