A Blaze of Glory

From the Journal of Sanaha Illuvistari. A snipit from her draft of her early adventures, along with reflections on recent events:

Arriving in Rubealon, Sanasha found signs of the Veiled Vanguard before tracking them through to the Lammuld Wood. Passing through Alyrmin, she met grim news: the masked fighter, Diablo Dorado, had perished. Realizing time was slipping away, she hurried to the nearby Hidden Grove.

Inside, she met Zulkifli, the man who had originally requested help finding Naoki. The news he shared was crushing: they had lost all sign of the Veiled Vanguard on this Plane. Her mission had failed. Defeated, Sanasha settled into the Grove, waiting for word on how to return home. But just when all hope seemed lost, word came that the Vanguard had suddenly reappeared in the Xoraxan Wastes. The chase continued.

Reflection

My mind raced through everything that had occurred of late. I struggled against some of my companions to do the right thing. My thoughts lingered on that moment in Penance; chilled at how quickly I was ready to sacrifice myself, angry that I couldn’t save Bill. Naoki stopped me… I had grown to believe there was a wisdom inside him that he wasn't expressing. Was I wrong? 

Chaos

We emerged back into an Illnerya in chaos. Silas Aberdom had called upon an army of devils to help him destroy the dam to "save the city." We planned to rally the Sunkeepers just as Mathias arrived with those loyal to him. As panic ensued, the High Luminary calmed the people enough to facilitate an evacuation. And so, we rushed forward to stop the Mad Governor. 

Descent

We lunged off the edge to reach the fourth level; my breath caught with fear, wondering if Emelyne would let me fall. Despite my fears, she did as promised and slowed our descent. Rushing on, we saved who we could, destroying a large contingent of devils in a blur of red. Then we reached the final confrontation: Silas Aberdom had set up magically charged crystals to blow the dam, locked behind a gate with three massive devils to stop us. 

Death

We rushed forward, and I lost myself to rage. I felt the tree enhance my strength, growing massive ethereal wood over my arms and axe, making my blows fall like a raging bull. I struck the gate, then things went white as I was blasted by a warding spell. I spent most of the fight clinging to life, fighting desperately until I fell.

I felt the devils stab deep into my flesh. Then, I realized I was looking down at myself. Gore dripped from the devils' claws, and viscera pooled from my still body. Everything was wrong—I just saw myself die. A woman stood next to me. She held her hand out to me just before I felt Percy calling me back to my body. This wasn't my time, but she reminded me that my time will come. I gasped back to life. Without time to process, I rushed into battle again and let the rage take over. We fought hard until the devils were either destroyed or banished, leaving only the Governor.

Tainted Offerings

He promised to "make it look good," and suddenly massive, fiery meteors fell from the air above us. As death approached, the meteor coming to bring our doom was split in half at the hands of a demonic horror—a precursor to its master. Our savior, Oriana, the Demon Prince of Pride, had come with an offer. Portals began to open as demons arrived with food, priests, and aid to save the city. His only price: we had to allow his priests to stay. We weighed the risks, and reluctantly agreed to his terms and Oriana departed.

Aftermath

In the aftermath, we were hailed as heroes of Illnerya, with Mathias being pushed for elevation as the new Governor. Our key reward was the deed to a manor where a celebration would be held in our honor.

We soon learned that parts of Draelwrym had chosen to side with Contras. The Deceiver is no longer confined; his hold on this realm grows. The High Luminary suggested we should visit Myradorne and try to convince the traders there to help us travel to Mysteria to gain the blessing of Allura. With this, we may finally get the answers we need from her library. We prepare for the celebration as I write these words—one victory here, while our failure in Draelwrym continues to spiral. We revel, while another Demon Prince begins to influence this city. Were we heroes, or villains?

A collection of notes from Naoki and Sanasha, discussing events that occurred on the First Veiled Vanguard Day. It is unclear who compiled these notes, as the individual editors have not been identified to this date. We presume there may be inaccuracies, including misspellings of names/locations and events. Scholars have chosen not to correct these discrepancies, for fear of removing anything of note.

The party settles into their new manor, each claiming their own bedroom. There are 8 rooms, a kitchen and larder. Magic circle and hidden basement with a vault. This used to belong to Valerious Thorne. Every 2 rooms shares one bathroom, the baths have dual decanters of endless water that run hot and cold water using controls.

Emelyne goes to clean up, leaving a trail of blood. Sanasha goes to take a long bath. Diablo just runs up the side of the building and goes to inspect the roof of the building. He has the perfect view of the entire city's vista while inspecting the roof. He sits there, chilling out. The party seems to be decompressing, taking a moment to rest. Emelyne comes out looking for Sanasha who allows her in and gifts her the headband of knowledge. She asks a bit of what she saw when she died. She claims she saw a woman when she left this realm, unsure of whom it matched as the vision is fading away rapidly, unable to piece together what happened. She regretfully thanks Nexus for allowing them to come back by a miracle no less. She mutters that she’ll be a damage sponge for the party, a protector of them and Emelyne tells them that maybe they don’t have to. They also throw some shade at sorcerers.

Sanasha has something happen while she’s in the bath, who knows what happened? Contras is a pervert is my guess. Okay, so Contras visited Sanasha, letting her know he is aware they are trying to destroy him. Her chest burns where the watch was connected to her heart. She taunts Contras back, letting him know they will come for him. He threatens that he will kill Sanasha, convert her into one of his devils and kill her over and over like the maggot she is. Defiant in his face, he scratches her cheek leaving a real wound that bleeds. Contras has begun to be able to manifest physically outside of Draelwrym.

The carriage arrives and Diablo yells into the hallway, the party steps into the carriage. Sanasha questions where Eggy has been to which Emelyne applies that they might be depressed and walks away quietly. The carriage driver who is bald is called Archibald and is very nervous to speak to the Veiled Vanguard. Naoki (Crab), Emelyne, and Percy ride with Archibald while Sanasha and Diablo ride in the 2nd car. They compare how each of their deaths being much different than what they remember. Diablo claims he didn’t let this slow him down focusing on training his body for his eventual return. Sanasha’s while brief felt like a heavy wound was inflicted on her very soul. 

Moving on to Percy, Emelyne and Naoki. Percy asks Naoki if he’s trustworthy. He decides to actually speak up, and breaks his wildshape landing in Emelyne’s lap. Percy gives Naoki a rock, if he can keep the rock he can have a diamond going forward because he didn’t have a diamond to save Sanasha. Emelyne calls Percy out on her loyalty tests, which turns into a full out argument. Emelyne is willing to kill anyone to protect the party, any innocent. Percy expresses that he doesn’t know what the point of saving the world is if she would kill everyone. Emelyne feels like Percy would throw her to the wolves. Naoki quietly uses druidcraft to see what the weather is like. They settle giving Naoki, a diamond and then they open up the carriage to Sanasha and Diablo engaging in a silent screaming match and then officially announce the Veiled Vanguard. Diablo grabs a piece of paper and signs it with his palm and initials, giving it to Archibald.

The staff are wearing white masks across their eyes, with red uniforms and white undershirts. An announcer booms that the VV has arrived, pulling all attention towards the group. Valerous Storm steps closer to us as commotion rises, people getting more and more excited. Further announcements as more people shuffle in. They see Governor Matthias and he looks quite miserable around the stuffy wealthy people. High Exemplar Vance shows up in midnight blue with gold attachments, strikingly handsome almost unnaturally so. He is the head of the Church of the Perfect Sphere, the head of the Church of the Prince Oriana. He flirts with all of the party making them various degrees of uncomfortable/blushy. Emelyne comes back off positively beaming meanwhile Sanasha is dreading it from the childhood memories. Sanasha mentions something before the heralder reveals the Blackshire’s have made an appearance derailing the conversation about Diablo killing someone with their words. They looks over to Diablo smiling saying they are glad to see them again. Diablo was springy before, but now is much more calculated and cold especially after they call him Hugo. He waggles his finger and asks them to not call him that. Naoki stumbles back from the bar with 3 drinks from the bar. Percy grabs all 3 from him tossing a gold at his face. He pockets it before looking over at the heralder as they announce the bard Caelen of the Gilded Strings.

 He thanks them for coming and begins to strum his lute and begins to recite a poem of their battle at the dam with the Governor. Sanasha does a series of flexes, spinning her axe light with lightning. Emelyne launches some firebolts into the sky. Percy (flashily) casts guidance on Diablo. The light seems to catch on Diablo, giving him a glow but he doesn’t otherwise react to the crowd. A man is introduced as Blaze Morgan, a Dragonborne man. He has faded golden scales, wearing what looks to be work clothing. He stands tall and proud, but seems out of place. Diablo and Percy make their way towards the Dragonborne man. He catches sight of Diablo as he approaches. The party continues on, Sanasha does a “Gaston” bench lift with two ladies.

Blaze and Diablo meet, for the first time in some time. Blaze wasn’t sure he was going to come, he grabs a drink and they move outside to a back balcony in a more secluded location. Percy not subtly following them at a distance. Diablo asks about how the gym is going, promotions and sponsorships. Blaze has a few promising students, but doesn’t have as good of a crew and is struggling to keep the place open. Most of his crew went off and got construction jobs for more money. Blaze lives in fear day to day that something terrible is going to happen back in his homeland, Diablo admits he didn’t know anything about what was going to happen there. Diablo lets his mentor know of how he died, he wasn’t alive when the Vanguard made the decision that doomed his homeland. Blaze seems shocked that the Blackshires were there, that Diablo could be in the same room with them after what they did to his mother and to them. He expresses how much it hurts to be in the room with them and not do what he wants to do. He does what he has to do, so long as other people don’t get hurt in the process. He doesn’t always agree with the party, but he’s working a gimmick. Blaze expresses that Diablo will do the right thing, and leaves.

Percy rejoins Diablo, they both consider leaving. Diablo wants to keep an eye on Coach, not to leave him alone in a room with the Baron there. They return to the party, as the High Luminary and Arc Embersmith arrive at the party. Sanasha asks them to stop by their manor later. Blaze walks right up to the Blackshire and the Governors, he calls them out and spits in the Baron’s face. The party comes to see what’s happening, Diablo arrives and asks to walk out with him as Blaze strikes Angus Blackshire straight in the face. There is discussion of peace talks between Illnerya and the Empire, as the Blackshires leave to rest for the evening. Sanasha is curious if Vampire normally sleep during the day.

Diablo escorts Blaze out, who seems to only slightly regret striking the Baron. But he does take some satisfaction in the fact he made the man bleed. Before he leaves, he tells Diablo if he’s not around tomorrow that there’s a false bottom to the side drawer. He gives Diablo permission to go through it. Diablo, checking if the street is clear, hugs Blaze. Baron Blackshire appears behind him, asking him if that’s a friend of his. Diablo admits the man taught him to throw a punch or two. The Blackshire’s taunt him, telling them they can hear his heart racing. A man striking them during a party in his honour. Diablo watches them leave, then returns to the party. His footprints are sizzling, leaving small craters in the ground as he walks. He rejoins the party, then steps up onto the stage where the announcer normally speaks. Diablo speaks loud enough for the room to hear him, a homegrown hero of Illnerya. Some of the party seem unsure about what he’s about to say. The city will live for another day, they can get “shit faced”, their responsibilities can wait till tomorrow. Percy starts clappling, with the entire Veiled Vanguard clapping to help bring an inspirational cheer from the crowd. He returns back to the party and he says that its a good way to raise everyone’s spirits. Naoki shows Sanasha some tricks as a giant octopus pouring 8 drinks on himself and begins to serve the patrons glasses. The head of Oriana’s church throws some shade at the party, expressing that he thought this was a celebration circus. Naoki and Sanasha fail to get a good read on the man, he expresses aloud that the “Veiled Vanguard” saved the city while clearly implying it was Oriana who saved the day. The Arc Embersmith approaches, remarking the man is incredibly rude. Naoki agrees, wondering if all priests of demon princes are jerks.

Emelyne steps outside for a breath of fresh air, drinking from a full bottle of wine as she joins Percy. She asks Emelyne if she knows how he lost his hand, which she doesn’t know. He points out he lost his hand trying to bring her back. They discuss their recent confrontation and Emelyne’s actions trying to kill the Plague Bearer. She tries to apologize to Percy and “accepts” Percy’s apology for his recent distrust of her. He says he needs to trust people more and not test people. He reveals he stole the diamond off of Naoki some time during the party. He suggests she give it to him, and imply he dropped it. She says that Percy says he dropped it while in the form of a drunken Octopus. She asks Percy if he can cast sending to ask Thaine to acquire an item for her, he can’t cast it now but she gives him a note so he can cast it later. She remarks on the incident with Blaze, which Percy reveals was Diablo’s old mentor. Diablo brings a bottle to the balcony he spoke with Blaze and leaves the bottle there. 

The party winds down and the party returns home. Sansha is carrying Naoki, she’s the only one who hasn’t had a single drink. She has a bottle for Naoki to drink in the morning, “hair of the Firbolg that bit you”, while Percy subtly slips the diamond back onto him with a note. They arrive back at the Manor, there is a door in black ink left for Diablo written by the Blackshire’s. She tells Percy they need to have a party planning meeting in the morning. She tells Percy and Naoki that Contras confronted her earlier today while she was bathing, that he knows what they’re planning. Not quite ready to handle the two right now, she sets Naoki to bed and nestles the bottle next to him for the morning before settling in.

Diablo catches up with Emelyne. He asks if Emelyne knows the city very well, she admits she knows some of it. He asks to have Eggy do some surveillance, he is brought out from the hat where he’s apparently been suffocating and resurrecting repeatedly. He gives Eggy the location of the “gym” and Blaze’s house. He wants to know who’s there, what’s there, don’t interfere and return in the morning. Emelyne drunkenly slurs through an apology with some genuine meaning, he tells her goodnight and everyone goes to sleep. 

Percy casts sending in the morning, based on Emelyne’s note after their long rest. They wake for a long rest, with Sanasha rising first and waking Naoki loudly, he groans asking what she wants. She forces him to get up grumbling. Most of the group is pretty hungover. The smell of good food lingers, as they step out they find Marie having prepared them special muffins. These are the same muffins the party delivered to Sgt. Mathias during their first adventure together. She gives Diablo a hand knit shirt, to help keep him warm (it’s super ugly). She forcefully says that she will be their new housekeeper and will not hear any talk back. Eggy comes back, he couldn’t get into the gym as it was dark and locked up. Blaze’s house was lit up, the door was open but no one was home. The stew was still on the spit.

Over breakfast, Sanasha calls for a team discussion. She suggests they need to head to Myradorne first to find Contras’ weakness, while there speak to the Traders who can help them get to Mysteria. Percy indicates the family in question are the Purebirch family, he reluctantly reveals the head of this family is actually his father, this was his family.

They leave a note for Marie, leaving her 500 gold to maintain the household. She has permission to take on extra staff if needed and claim one of the rooms for herself. Emelyne memorizes the teleportation circle and they head off to the 3rd level under Diablo’s guidance.

On the 3rd level, they come across a simple home with the door ajar (when is a door, not a door/). Diablo steps inside is a lot of posters of events and framed programs for shows. Different things all hosted at Blaze’s Gym, with one poster near the fireplace featuring Diablo’s debut match. There are various champion belts, too big for Diablo along the wall. This is a home for a single person, not a family. Diablo snuffs out the fire, Sanasha asks who lived with here. Blaze, the Golden Sun of Draelwyrm. Diablo thinks he was the biggest personality filled performer, besides his mother. He admits that Blaze did something bold when he didn’t, Sanasha comments the home is abandoned. Diablo makes it clear without saying anything, that the Blackshires silenced him. This was the man who made Diablo what he is today, he lost his arm for this. He chose to go out with pride, respect for himself. It’s not clear if the man is alive or not, though Diablo hopes that he isn’t. Sanasha investigates the room, she finds nothing, absolutely nothing. No blood, no scratches, no cobwebs, no dust. The absence of evidence, is the only remaining evidence. Diablo promises he will remove anyone that knows Hugo, to the party they never knew Hugo, only Diablo Dorado. He searches the hidden compartment in the drawer, he finds an envelope with a letter from Blaze. There is a luchadore’s cape, the equivalent of a cloak of displacement, the cloak that helped him save his and his mothers life. He puts on the white and gold cape, with a golden sun on the back, a perfect fit. He says its no accident that these are the colours he wears. He wears the colours of Blaze as a reminder to not dilly dally. The party discusses what they should do next. The Brylln woods is brought up and Naoki immediately jumps on the idea of bringing Beans with them. He mentions that he was a friend and not a pet to him. He also mentions that they owe beans this as he allowed them to get into the underdark. The party concedes allowing Naoki to steer them into the woods and they can quickly teleport back and begin their journey to Rubaelon.