Session 11: The Castle

NPC's
Nema, Tia, the twins, Aster, Queen Illantha

Location
The High Enclave, The Royal Sanctum, The Castle

Summary
The party returns to Tia's house, who has filled a chalkboard with an infiltration plan and many funky symbols. The party is prepaid a bran muffin for their troubles. Tia uses the twins' heirloom large top as a drill to drill into a tunnel system made by large worms. As the party climbs, they come across some nice-smelling, luminous moss, which Garoon eats. It is, in fact, a hallucinatory drug. They also get chased by an army of spiders. They emerge outside of the castle walls, covered in silver foliage, and immediately get caught by a guard, who they feed to the spiders. The party splits:


 * Garoon and Oleander go to a garden. They find the cargo hold, crushed and mangled. There is faint harp music. Looking into the river, they realize the bottom is filled with eyeballs instead of pebbles.
 * Alastor and Cryllos go ghost to investigate the castle. The first floor consists of a reception room. On the second floor, They hear voices, who mentioned Cryllos, despite no one being there. The third floor is blocked by the silver vines.

The party regroups. Alastor seduces the guard to let everyone in. One room is filled with dancing marionettes. At the end of the room, they find a shimmering door, which room changes depending on the opener, and a staircase. As they climb higher, the yellow crystal gets louder. Also, Nema disappeared. At the top of the stairs, Aster stands, waiting for the party. He confirms his connection the the blood lily experiments, then shows them into Queen Illantha's throne room. She sits upon a throne, which is above an endless pit. She demands the crystal, to which the party declines. She fruitlessly tries to convince the party that her plans are good. This aggravates her, so she tries to take it by force. Cryllos and Oleander are grabbed, and Cryllos drops the crystal, which Alastor catches, then immediately consumes. This causes him to pass out. Oleander is taken away. Queen Illantha threatens to drop Cryllos into the pit if Garoon doesn't comply with her orders. He lets Cryllos get dropped because he is not one of his priorities. Garoon then goes to hit the queen, but is suddenly intercepted by Aster, who knocks him out.