The Child's Scepter

"The Child's Scepter" is episode 59 of SuperQuest Saga. Echo, Persephone, and Sebastian have retrieved The Princess' Lost Song, and beyond the chamber of The Hyoshigi, a Child has also been found...

Sponsor
This episode of SuperQuest Saga is sponsored by The Lucky Die.

Introduction

 * Will Stark shall be your interdimensional dungeon master for this evening.
 * Josh Freeland is playing Sebastian Crenshaw, The Forsaken.
 * Your Special Guest Jake is playing Persephone Goldpetal the firbolg druid.
 * Brian is playing Echo, Bladesinging rogue/wizard.

Recap
Last time Echo, Persephone, and Sebastian took their new friend, The Needlemaster, into the “icky labs” where they met a quartet of quasits and their big friend Legius. After chatting with the quasits for a bit, they heard a strange sound from down the hall and exited the Necro-Labs to investigate. They found an area of the ship which seemed to have a magic item under surveillance, an instrument of two wooden cylinders with a rope tied between that generates a magical force field after making a tapping noise. When they went inside to take it, they were attacked by two phantom creatures with samurai blades. Upon defeat, the creatures turned into red and blue lights that entered the instrument causing it to glow and revealing symbols in a language the party does not understand. As they explored further, Echo, Persephone, and Sebastian found the room with a Child integrated into the ship. Rather than talking, The Child showed them a hologram of herself using a golden scepter with a rose quartz gem to fend off the dark silhouette of a female creature.

I Delete the Door
Echo surmises that the dark silhouette of the female figure with glowing red eyes is probably representative of Ryoka. He records the hologram on his bracer jack. Persephone asks Echo and Sebastian if they should backtrack to an area they didn’t explore. Sebastian thinks they should check that out since it doesn’t look like they can go anywhere else in this area. There’s the door with the heavy-duty scanner in Lady Kamisa’s labs, but it doesn’t seem like they can get through there yet.

They make their way back to the original hallway where they split north, and to the east is a doorway with a button that can be pressed to open it. Echo presses the button and the door opens to quite a large room, which appears to be a high-tech machine shop with smooth, polished floors. There is a raised platform with a large machine plated in black metal that has six spider-like legs, two claws extending from the body like a scorpion, and ten lenses serving as eyes on the face that hangs over the body on a curved neck. A glass orb encased in golden rings is embedded into the chest with black protective plating around it. This one does not have a golden light emanating from its orb the way the other clockwork abomination that the party fought earlier did. It appears to be on display. Various maintenance machines sit around the room, and there is an empty, unraised platform behind the clockwork abomination, presumably where the other one was displayed. On the far end of the room is another closed door.

Sebastian asks if they should try to damage the clockwork abomination to stop it from pursuing them. It is not active now, but they do not know if it could be charged up later. Echo agrees that they should destroy it, or try to activate it and keep it as a pet. Persephone asks how they would activate it if they don’t have a soul. Echo takes a look to see how it might work, but doesn’t find anything. Sebastian also takes a look and determines it is more arcane than cybernetic, and relays this info to the group. Echo takes a second look now that he knows it is magical and discerns they need a fully charged soul gem to turn it on. He is not sure how sentient the creature is once a soul gem is inside; there is a distinct possibility that whatever soul is in the gem is what controls the robotics. There is no way of knowing how intelligent the soul would be, how to persuade it, or if there is some sort of spell in place to cause it to obey the creator of the machine.

Sebastian asks if they should take it or break it. Echo suggests they could take the valuable part out of the machine; the glass orb has a white diamond about the size of a human fist floating in its center. Sebastian eagerly smashes the orb with his club and Echo extracts the diamond with his nimble fingers. He stores it in his armor pocket. Persephone moves on to the door at the far end of the room and presses the button to open it.

Ram Jam
The party finds themselves in another hallway with a door ahead on the north wall. They see a room that contains a large, floor-to-ceiling aquarium. Persephone checks out the door; it is a heavy metal door that would require hacking to open. She asks if Echo or Sebastian wants to try the door since hacking is not her thing. Sebastian tries to look at the computer but it is in a language he doesn’t understand. Echo takes a look as well, but can’t figure it out. Sebastian starts chanting “Percy! Percy! Percy!” as she tries to take a look with her very limited computer experience. She also fails to figure it out.

At this point they notice that The Needlemaster is gone. He very stealthily snuck away from them. As they decide what to do next, Persephone asks Echo if he can read the symbols on the hyoshigi. Echo casts Comprehend Languages and realizes that the symbols on the instrument are names; Aza and Kama. Percy moves forward into the room to check out the tank.

The room holds a dark aquarium full of horrifying, undead fish from the deepest bodies of water in the galaxy; tendrils, teeth, tentacles, milky white eyes, some eyeless, and bizarre proportions all around. The water is murky and it is difficult to see very far into the tank itself. In this room is another door with a push button. Echo asks Persephone what she makes of the weird creatures in the tank. Percy is very excited to see the aquarium and pushes her face against the glass, but the excitement turned into disgust when she saw the horrifying creatures within. She notices that something very large is stirring and moving around at the back of the tank; it looks like some large crustacean creature. Percy tells Echo she sees something big in there but doesn’t think they should mess with it.

Echo suggests pressing the button to open the next door. He turns to look at Sebastian’s big, brown eyes, and Sebastian gives him a nod. Echo ram jams his hand against the button and looks around in the next hallway. Echo sees that the dark, nondescript hallway stretches to the east and is bisected by another hallway that heads south. There is a door on the far north wall. Percy suggests they continue forward; as they approach the bisecting hallway they see there is a second doorway on the far east end. Echo moves towards the northern door and checks with Persephone and Sebastian before ram jamming the button to reveal a simple broom closet. Echo finds a push broom and takes it with him.

The eastern door has a push button as well and Echo uses the handle of the push broom to press it. Behind this door is a t-shaped room, essentially two halls crossing, and directly ahead they see stairs heading upwards. The party decides to close some loose ends before they move onto a new level; they have the Guardian Song to return to The Princess, The Needlemaster’s workshop is back that same way, and there are a couple doors they were unable to get into.

Hey Little Mama, Let Me Whisper in Your Ear
Echo, Persephone, and Sebastian backtrack all the way through this second level and down the stairs. On the first floor, they notice the door to The Meijin’s room is closed again. The door to The Princess is still open, so they are able to waltz in with no issues.

Echo casts Message to reach out to The Princess and she asks him to play the song. Earlier he took a recording of the song, and he plays that for her first; but there is no effect. She asks him again to play the song. Persephone hands the hyoshigi over and Echo mimics the recording. When he is done, both gemstones glow and a white forcefield is emitted from the instrument, surrounding the party and The Princess in a bubble. Echo and Persephone feel a warmth and protection from the glow, but Sebastian takes radiant damage and is pushed out of the room. The two Masked Ones appear before Echo and Persephone, and kneel before The Princess.

The incorporeal spirit of The Princess steps forward out of her body; she is lovely with long purple hair, ornate robes, and a white shawl. She thanks them for returning her song and asks Echo to hand it forward. He extends his hand and when he releases it, the instrument remains suspended in the air. The Princess informs them that the instrument will provide some protection for a time and she has her mind back. She asks if they are here to stop “that wretched woman.”

Echo tells her that their primary goal is to obtain the Soul Eater, but a secondary goal is to stop Ryoka. The Princess says that obtaining the Soul Eater should be enough to stop Ryoka and free the trapped souls; their entire endeavor was a mistake. Echo asks how the souls got here, and The Princess tells him it is a thousand year story that she does not want to get into. Echo asks her to describe what the Soul Eater looks like. It is a great, black, void-ish orb and gestures with her arms to demonstrate its size. They will not be able to physically handle it, they will need something else to deal with it. But she offers to help.

Echo tells her that they got some information from denizens of this place who may or may not want to be here, and The Princess interrupts to ask if they have seen her sister. She is rather small with long blue hair. Echo asks if the sister has been integrated into the ship the same way The Princess has. He tells her that The Meijin instructed them to collect pieces of souls. The Princess is unfamiliar with The Meijin, but is willing to share a portion of her power since they will need it to get close to the Soul Eater.

Echo informs her that they will need help from not only her, but a child who sleeps but does not dream, and two warriors. The Princess believes that sounds right, The Child is definitely her sister and asks about her status. Echo tells her they found The Child in a similar state as The Princess’ physical form, but she seems upset. The Princess states that she should be upset. Echo promises they will do their best to free her, and The Princess asks how she is to give them a portion of her power. Echo reveals the soul gem and The Princess inspects it for a while before closing her eyes. Her spirit form begins to glow and that glow coalesces into an orb in front of her; she wills it towards Echo and the soul gem sucks it in, then begins to glow a light violet color.

The Princess believes that should be more than enough. She hopes that, if they cannot reclaim the Soul Eater, that they can at least talk some sense into Ryoka. This whole endeavor has been a failure. She turns to leave, but Persephone speaks up to ask about The Child’s rose quartz scepter. The Princess reveals it is Susa’s royal scepter; she carries it everywhere she goes and it allows her to do wondrous things. The Princess believes Kamisa is spending all her time studying the items she took from the forlorn souls because she could not get her hands on them while their owners were conscious.

Echo asks if The Princess has any idea where these items would be kept. The Princess imagines they are in Kamisa’s Laboratory on the third level. The Princess turns to the two Masked Ones, telling them it is good to see them. She tells the party that she must rest, speaking with them is tiring. She thanks them again for returning her instrument, it should protect her mind until Ryoka notices, then vanishes.

Hey Big Pinchies!
Echo checks to see if Sebastian is okay and apologizes for not telling him to get out. Persephone adds that they should have noticed and remembered the holy property of the hyoshigi, and tells Sebastian they’ll be more mindful in the future.

Echo, Persephone, and Sebastian take stock of any other loose ends they have. They decide not to actively pursue The Needlemaster; if they run into him they might need to fight him, but for now he has kept his end of the bargain and not told anyone about them. Echo still has a materials card that might have a use on the third floor. Persephone suggests they try the door next to the aquarium again.

As they approach the tank, Persephone uses her firbolg feature to try to speak with the crab monster. She calls out to it to get its attention and she sees something large begin to move; mud gets pushed up and stirred around in the water and a large silhouette approaches. It is 5.5-ft. tall and a giant, sunken eye looks up at her through the glass. As the water clears up, she can see it is a large, reddish-green lobster monster with two enormous big, meaty claws, dark, sunken eyes, a ridged belly, and a pointed and frayed nose. It walks on four legs. It is undead. Persephone marvels at it but is scared, she can now turn into this creature with her Wild Shape if she wants.

The party decides to head up to the next level. At the top of the stairs they find themselves in a lobby-like room with a window on the north wall where they can see outside. The Bellerophon is mid-dive amongst the wreckage of The Crucible of Khullnar. Echo takes a minute to check his bracer jack for the status of The Starling, and so far everything looks okay. They have seven hours before The Bellerophon leaves these coordinates.

On the southeast wall there is a door with a computer module. Echo still has Comprehend Languages on and manages to open the door. They find a corridor with doors on all four sides of the room. The northern and southern doors are like many of the metal, electronically controlled doors that they’ve been dealing with; they are both closed. The door on the east wall looks very out of place; it is relatively small and made of wood with a circular, glass window at eye level. Persephone suggests they check out the small door.

Sebastian walks up to it and sees an empty, black void through the window. He reports what he sees, and Echo goes to check it out as well. He thinks there might be some magic behind the door. Persephone suggests it could be the Soul Eater. The Princess described it as a black void orb, maybe they put it in this room. Echo thinks it is like the void space where the devils were displayed near The Needlemaster.

Echo moves to the north door and checks with Persephone and Sebastian before pressing the button to open it. The door reveals another platform floating in a void-ish pocket dimension with large glass cases displaying specimens. Unlike the unmoving devils in the showcases earlier, these specimens are active and moving in their cases. Echo observes they are various alien lifeforms in an undead state. There is another door on the eastern ledge of the platform.

Persephone moves towards the eastern door and Echo pushes the button with his broom before she can. Inside this room is an emergency evacuation room with six individual escape pods with O2 storage. Persephone notes that they should keep this place in mind as a potential escape route, and Echo pins it on his map. As they return to the display room, Echo summons Jhank and sends him to scout.

Who’s That Pokemon?
As Jhank begins to move around the room, he draws the attention of the three undead animals and they try to escape their cages to get to him. The cages do not appear breakable. Echo sends Jhank into the corner as a distraction so the animals watch him instead of the party as they move through the room. One of the creatures is large and insectile; it is segmented like a centipede and has large, horned pincers on its head that curve upwards. Its eyes are undead and rotted in. Another creature looks like a dinosaur that is a blend between a shark and a reptile; it has two hind legs that it stands on, and rather than hands or claws, its two arms end in a hooked, single claw with a fin extending from its forearm. It has razor sharp teeth and dark sunken eyes are in a very meaty, bulging head. The final creature is a large, brown, spiny, bipedal reptile. It has short, clawed arms, a very large jaw with sharp teeth, and a spiked crest on its forehead. Its tail ends in a couple spikes. Persephone recognizes these creatures from her studies as a Megapede, a Garburias, and a Monarch Stone Drake. The Monarch Stone Drake notices Echo, Persephone, and Sebastian, but is unable to get to them. Jhank keeps distracting the creatures as the party heads to the next room; he sprouts little dragonfly wings and starts flying around.

The Lab and The Scepter
Echo approaches the next door and it opens automatically. This room is another void platform that seems to support picturesque, natural hot springs with steaming pools of water, cascading waterfalls, green plant life, and gray stones and boulders. There is a stepping stone pathway that leads through the water and heads towards the center of the room before splitting into two paths, one leading to a southern door and one to an eastern door. Echo recalls Jhank.

Sebastian suggests they should inspect the water before they try to jump or swim across. He uses his Divine Sense and doesn’t pick anything up. Echo gets into the water; it is very warm and nice, like a spa. He heads towards the southern door, which automatically opens at his approach.

He finds a scientific lab with heavy machinery connected to large computers. There are enormous black beakers, vats filled with clear liquid, and empty apparatuses that are clearly designed for holding and restraining humanoids. Most of the equipment looks unused and most of the power is off, with the exception of one device at the center of the room. There is a 3x3 cylinder machine sitting on the floor; its buttons and monitors are alight and above, floating and rotating slowly, is a golden scepter with a pink gemstone on its end.

Echo calls Persephone and Sebastian to tell them that he found the scepter from The Child’s video. Persephone suggests they should be careful because The Princess said Kamisa was studying it so she may be nearby. They all move into the room and see a closed door on the eastern wall. Echo investigates the cylinder and discerns it is some sort of high-tech display machine that is taking different magical readings from the scepter and is holding it up. He shares his findings and checks out the rest of the room. Everything else has layers of dust on it, nothing is being used and it seems like the room hasn’t been used for years.

The party decides to grab the scepter before they explore the area more, and Sebastian inspects the cylinder more closely to see if they can take the scepter without causing an alarm. Persephone casts Enhance Ability to give him some aid. Echo prepares to fight in case something goes wrong. Sebastian tinkers around a little bit and eventually he turns off the machine. The scepter slowly starts dropping, and he reaches out to grab it before it hits the ground. They have a golden scepter, 2.5-ft. long with a rose quartz vaguely shaped like a heart on the end. Sebastian hands it to Persephone, she can tell it is very magical.

Echo asks them to protect the area for a minute, and the others guard the door while he casts Identify. He discerns it is a magical implement that can be wielded by any spellcaster but seems to lean cleric. It requires attunement and is currently attuned. It has certain characteristics of goodness, where it can affect reality in such a way to cause feelings, actions, and happenings of benevolence. He relays the information and hands it back to Persephone.

Needlejuice, Needlejuice, Needlejuice!
The party takes a moment to discuss their plan for escape and what to do with The Starling since they are on a time limit. They decide that Plan A is to beat the clock, and a backup will be to call The Starling into The Bellerophon so that they are not separated when The Bellerophon jumps to its next location. They will deliver the scepter to The Child before searching for The Warriors Two.

Echo tries to summon Needlejuice like Beetlejuice; it doesn’t work. Ten minutes later, they arrive in front of The Child. Sebastian hangs back and stands in the doorway. Persephone approaches and tries to get The Child’s attention, and the symbol on her forehead begins to glow. Persephone tells her that they have her scepter, and The Child’s arm raises up as if to grab it. Persephone hands it to her, and the minute it is in her hand, she begins to glow and emanate a very powerful golden light. The symbol on her forehead glows even brighter and projects forth an image of a young girl.

The hologram is dressed differently than her actual physical form; in the hologram she is dressed in a magical girl outfit and stands before the silhouetted, red-eyed figure, and she holds forth the scepter. It bursts forth with a radiant light and the light seems to undo the silhouette which disintegrates before it. The girl turns to the party, as if she can see them, and she opens her mouth to speak...

The Party

 * Sebastian Crenshaw: A half-orc paladin/warlock. Just look into his big, brown eyes.
 * Peresphone Goldpetal: A firbolg druid. Getting all them new pokemon forms!
 * Codename: Echo: An elf wizard/rogue. Come on and Ram, and welcome to the Jam.

NPCS

 * The Needlemaster (Needlejuice): Totally ditched the group.
 * The Child: A young girl named Susa who is integrated with the ship. Magical Girl Pretty Susa.
 * The Princess: A humanoid woman integrated with the ship. Wants to stop Ryoka.
 * Aza and Kama: The two guardians of the hyoshigi. Guards to The Princess.

Music

 * SuperQuest Saga Theme - by Brian

Out of Character

 * The diamond they pulled from the clockwork abomination is worth 2d20 times 1,000 credits. Will rolled, and the total worth is 9,000 credits.
 * Persephone has proficiency with the flute due to her Outlander background.
 * Persephone gains some new Wild Shape forms based on Special Guest Jake's favorite pokemon.
 * The Mud Claw is based on Crawdaunt
 * The Megapede is based on Scolipede
 * The Garburias is based on Garchomp
 * The Monarch Stone Drake is based on Tyrantrum.
 * Brian and Will discussed giving Jhank "powers lite" of all the functions a wizard's familiar can have. So sometimes Jhank can sprout little dragonfly wings and fly.

Retcon

 * Last episode, Persephone should have been immune to the Masked Ones' fear effect since the party had a Heroes Feast. The table decided to give Persephone the spell slot that was used for Greater Restoration back, and that the aging thing just did not happen.

Nat 1's (1 total)

 * Brian (Investigation)