Survive the Apocalypse: the Council’s Summons

Survive the Apocalypse — Back from the Chaos Realm

The Queen of Monsters was free. The Hero blamed Drakath for freeing her and challenged him to see what he could achieve without her. Then the Hero left to try to save Lore.

The Hero had been gone for weeks, Maya told them when they emerged. She asked whether the Hero had killed Drakath. The Hero said he was alive and expected their paths to cross again. Maya said the Queen had appeared over Mount Doomskull and disappeared after the Breaking began. Her minions were still attacking, and people had begun fleeing the continent.

The Council’s scroll

Maya had held a summons for the Hero since they entered the portal. Its sender called itself the Council. Maya said the Loremaster’s code forbade her to name the sender or interfere. The message looked like a code, but it had been written in ink that scrambled the letters. The Hero headed for Arcangrove to find help making a magical counteragent.

Rayst was relieved to see the Hero alive. Since the Queen rose, the world seemed more chaotic to him than it had under Drakath. Rayst made the counteragent from Insight Tonic, Arcangrove seeds and burning embers. He deciphered the message and found that the scroll changed as its tasks were completed. It sent the Hero through a portal to She Who Answers.

An answer and a burning land

She Who Answers could only guide the Hero by asking a question. Her riddle was about where to find something that could not be found. The Hero answered that it was in the last place one looked. She said the answer raised another question and sent the Hero toward the Watchers.

The next task led to the Twisted Land, where the Queen’s monsters had displaced villagers. DewDrop asked the Hero to help repair their homes so they could leave her forest in peace. The scroll named another objective there, the Shield of Inverted Sight. The Hero drove off the invaders and helped repair the homes.

After the villagers were helped, one asked how the Hero would stop the destruction. The Hero was still looking for the people who might help. DewDrop said a stranger whose face she could not see had predicted the visit, told her what task to set, and left the Shield of Inverted Sight for the Hero. Dewdrop thought its invisibility would come in handy. The Hero wondered whether someone had planned every step. They decided to follow the scroll’s tasks to the end.

The Pick of Destiny

Ironfist told the Hero that Dwarfhold would stand its ground even as the mountains shook. Ironfist had been given the Pick of Destiny for the Hero. He asked them to take a vial to Madra before continuing the journey.

Madra said the Darkblood once worshipped the Mother of Monsters and that many still did. She and some others deplored what the Queen had done. Madra recognized the Iron Vial Ironfist had sent. It was meant to hold the Tears of the Children, and she hoped it would one day help them save Lore.

Music and DreamDust

The scroll directed the Hero to the crystals of Mythsong and then to the Sandsea for DreamDust. Maya said the unusual objects would be useful once they reached the Watchers. Maya did not know what the crystals were for, but they resonated almost like music. She directed the Hero to Sek-Duat for the DreamDust. The Hero recovered it from him. The DreamDust offered a way to see into worlds beyond their own.

A message from Elucidas

The Hero wondered whether they were already hallucinating. A pale dragon appeared. He introduced himself as Elucidas, leader of the Creatioux, who battle the Void, and said he had worked with another version of the Hero. He brought a message from friends. Losing their powers had not changed who they were.

Elucidas said the Queen posed a greater threat than Drakath. Other planes were disappearing, he warned, and would never return once lost. He urged the Hero to stop the Queen and stay close to Maya. The Hero left with more questions and hoped Maya had found answers in the Book.

The DragonPlane and the Guardian Tower

Maya said the DragonPlane had to fall so the one true dragon could rise and rebuild it. The Hero fought their way back to their own world.

Lord Brentan had a note from the people the Hero was trying to reach, but first he needed help defending the people left behind. The note directed the Hero to the Guardian Tower in Battleon, where a map to the Watchers’ tower was hidden.

The Queen’s minions had forced the Guardians out of their own tower. The Guardian asked the Hero to recover the maps from the war room before the invaders found them. Those maps would point the way to the Watchers.

The Doors of Knowledge

Maya and the Hero parted at the Loremasters’ entrance. As an initiate, Maya had her own door, a ceremony and a debriefing. She told the Hero to pass through the Doors of Knowledge for the Exchange. The Loremasters wanted what the Hero knew and would offer information in return. Maya said they served the one destined to save them all, then hurried to answer her own summons.

The Hero hoped the Loremasters could explain the map and suggest where to look for the Queen. The world was still breaking around them. When the Hero arrived at the doorway, Dominus said they were expected and called them onward. There was little time to prepare for the journey ahead.