The Old Lands - Session 12 - 6/23/2025

🪨 Session 12 – “Ashes in the Mirror”

Date: 6/23/2025
Location: The seas and coastline of the Glass Coast.
DM: Collin Ritzinger
Players: Dillon (Grim), Emily (Stevia), Matt (Oberyn), Tony (Tim Patty)

📜 Session Recap

The party continued their voyage aboard the Stormbreaker, navigating the treacherous waters of the Glass Coast through clever coordination and skillful crew leadership. As they approached land, they encountered deadly swarms of void glass horror swarms and glass walkers, initiating intense combat that tested their magical and tactical abilities. Amid the chaos, Uncle Dino began a cloaking ritual to shield the ship, forcing the crew to defend him while maintaining concentration under pressure. Oberyn displayed remarkable survival skills by preparing the void creatures as food, while Stevia experienced a cryptic, prophetic dream hinting at deeper cosmic forces at play. The session closed with the ritual’s success, the party securing shelter in a sea cave, leveling up, and setting the stage for the mysteries still waiting along the shattered coast.

Tim Patty’s Gambling Background & Voyage Shenanigans

The session began aboard the Stormbreaker, sailing toward the treacherous Glass Coast. Tim Patty revealed insights into his gambling history, admitting to being a habitual gambler who often bets beyond his means. Tim's colorful past provided not only depth to his character but comedic relief as well, describing himself as both streetwise and foolishly impulsive when stakes rose high. The DM had Tim entertaining the crew with stories and gambling games, effectively mingling with crew leaders like Gianni “No-Shoes” Feretti, Angelina "Babyblade" Mancuso, and Lorenzo "The Lint" Basile.

Tim Patty's gambling session aboard the ship proved surprisingly fruitful; a standout performance roll netted him 75 gold, though the implications of his addictive tendencies lingered ominously. The dynamic aboard the Stormbreaker grew clearer as Tim's social success illuminated the social hierarchies and unwritten rules among the crew, fostering greater cohesion and understanding. Tim was quick to figure out that the Stormbreaker was more or less composed of two social circles with Angelina “Babyblade” Mancuso and Gianni “No Shoes” Feretti as the center of gravity of each.

Initial character motivations crystallized as Oberyn prepared himself for whatever awaited on the Glass Coast, Grim sharpened his tactical acumen, and Stevia continued bonding with the crew, keeping morale high through music and humor.

Giovanni “No Shoes” Feretti - Captain of the Stormbreaker and First Mate of Oberyn

Navigation of the Glass Coast

Approaching the Glass Coast, the crew faced their first significant challenge—a skill challenge to safely navigate the turbulent waters riddled with environmental hazards. The ocean was described as supernaturally clear yet violently unpredictable, filled with ghostly steam columns, drowned relics, and mysterious underwater ruins. A successful series of skill checks unfolded dramatically, as Tim Patty identified safe currents by observing seabirds, marking the first of several critical successes.

Oberyn expertly maneuvered rigging and sails, securing another success, while Grim adeptly assisted at the helm, applying delicate finesse to steering under challenging conditions. Stevia contributed perceptively, spotting underwater obstacles amid reflective illusions and chaotic visuals. Despite one hiccup where Tim Patty's whiskey-based seasickness remedy initially backfired, Stevia's enthusiastic performance and Grim's insightful navigation skillfully guided the ship past concealed dangers, including narrowly avoiding an encounter with a massive Kraken.

The Boiling Expanse

The Boiling Expanse is a stretch of ocean off the Glass Coast that seethes with magical instability, thermal eruptions, and metaphysical corruption—an ever-changing hazard zone formed by the collapse of leyline geometry and Source saturation near the Great Oubliette. From the deck of the Stormbreaker, it appears as a vast field of superheated water threaded with columns of steam, flickering heat mirages, and bursts of unnatural lightning arcing across the sea. The surface pulses with shimmering hexagonal distortions—evidence of arcane fractures suspended just below reality’s skin.

Within the Expanse, the sea itself betrays physics: currents loop illogically, patches of boiling water hover in the air before evaporating, and drowned ruins rise briefly on the horizon only to vanish again. Navigating it requires both divine warding and precise skill, as it's haunted by void-touched creatures, unstable magic fields, and the gravitational pull of the Oubliette’s forgotten relics. It is said that the deeper one sails into the Expanse, the more likely they are to attract the attention of sleeping gods—or awaken something worse.

Among Black Church sailors, it is referred to in hymns as “the Mirror Sea that burns but does not reflect.”

The Stormbreaker navigates the deadly Boiling Expanse

The Crownlight Coastline

The Crownlight Coastline is a jagged, radiant shore bordering the eastern edge of the Glass Coast—named for the eerie golden shimmer that glints from its cliffs at dawn and dusk, like a crown wreathed in divine fire. It stretches along the rim of the Boiling Expanse, where shattered cliffs of obsidian, voidglass, and rusted iron rise from the surf like the broken teeth of some long-dead god. The coastline is warped by both time and Source saturation: trees grow sideways along magnetic ley currents, tidepools glow with bioluminescent script, and the very air carries a hum of unfinished incantations.

Geologically unstable and metaphysically volatile, the Crownlight is known for mirage horizons—hallucinations of cities, armies, or celestial bodies that appear on the sea and vanish without trace. The ruins of failed settlements dot the cliffside, many now home to scavengers, rogue elementals, and glasswalker nests. At its center lies the legendary crater of Kalé’s Cradle, where dozens of meteor sized Godseyes once fell, seeding the land with prophecy and madness.

Though beautiful in its own apocalyptic way, the Crownlight Coastline is deeply feared by sailors, prophets, and occult scholars. The Black Church calls it a “divine scar,” a place where the boundaries between gods, time, and mortals wear dangerously thin. Even the Stormbreaker’s crew lowers their voices when sailing near its shimmer.

The Crownlight Auras

The Crownlight Auras are fluctuating halos of metaphysical energy that shimmer across the cliffs and sky of the Crownlight Coastline, manifesting as gold-blue veils, prismatic distortions, or ghostly coronas above the sea. These auras are not merely visual phenomena—they interfere with memory, distort time perception, and sometimes allow echoes of the past or future to bleed into the present. Black Church scholars believe the auras are remnants of divine collisions or Godseye resonance, still unraveling across centuries. To sailors, they are both omen and warning: no spell behaves quite the same beneath them, and some claim to have seen versions of themselves walking into the sea when the light bends just right.

***Environmental Effect - Crownlight Resonance

When casting any Divination, Enchantment, or Illusion spell beneath the Crownlight Auras, roll a d6 to determine the resonance effect:

• 1: The spell fizzles—no effect occurs.
• 2–3: The spell completes but delivers unintended insights or side effects (the DM offers a cryptic vision, twisted emotion, or strange sensory bleed).
• 4–5: The spell functions normally.
• 6: The spell is empowered—treat it as cast at one level higher without expending a spell slot.

The Crownlight Auras - Known for its beauty and its dangers.

First Encounter: Void Glass Swarms

Upon reaching closer proximity to the coast, the party faced their initial battle encounter—swarms of horrifying, glass-like insects called Void Glass Horrors emerged from the caves. Grim discovered the swarms first, urgently retreating to warn the crew. Combat began swiftly, with Grim sniping accurately from the crow's nest, obliterating several swarms. Tim’s unpredictable Wand of Wonder humorously sprouted leaves on nearby insects, showcasing his chaotic charm even amid danger.

Stevia creatively employed spells like Sleep, tactically incapacitating multiple swarms and causing them to plummet into the water. Oberyn demonstrated versatility by engaging directly with the swarms using both melee and ranged attacks, effectively protecting crew members who were overwhelmed by these strange, crystalline creatures.

Swarms of the insect like void glass horrors are a common sight on the Glass Coastline.

Cloaking Ritual

Recognizing their vulnerability, Uncle Dino initiated an ancient cloaking ritual to hide the Stormbreaker from potential threats. Despite his dementia causing confusion between past and present, Dino was supported closely by Oberyn, who repeatedly redirected Dino’s focus through assertive methods, including light slaps and whiskey splashes. The crew diligently stabilized the ritual, with Grim and Stevia providing continuous oversight and magical assistance.

Challenges arose when the Void Glass swarms, attracted by Dino’s spellcasting, intensified their assault. The party’s effective defense allowed Dino crucial uninterrupted moments, highlighting their teamwork. Oberyn’s diligent supervision ultimately ensured Dino maintained the ritual's integrity, crucially safeguarding the crew and ship.

Uncle Dino uses his Beherit Amulet to cast a miracle and cloak the Stormbreaker.

Intense Combat Sequence

Combat escalated significantly when Glass Walkers—humanoid entities of living obsidian and magical resonance—emerged alongside the insect swarms. The encounter became strategically intense, with Tim Patty’s use of his Wand of Wonder creating a powerful Gust of Wind that repelled and disrupted enemy formations.

Oberyn confronted enemies head-on, wielding his enchanted sword to deliver devastating blows, while Grim continued precise ranged assaults from an elevated vantage point. Stevia’s radiant spells proved highly effective, exploiting enemy vulnerabilities and significantly aiding the group’s survival. Tactical decision-making was critical, as the group worked together seamlessly, protecting vital crew members and repelling waves of enemies.

Glass walkers and swarms of void glass horrors attack the Stormbreaker as Uncle Dino performs his miracle.

Survival and Resource Management

Oberyn’s meal, fashioned from the crystalline remains of the Glass Walkers and Void Glass Horrors, was an unsettling triumph of survivalist ingenuity and divine improvisation. Guided by his connection to Senji—and a gambler’s instinct for risk—he began by carefully selecting shards from the horrors that hadn’t begun to pulse with residual Source radiation. The chitinous husks of the insectoid swarms were cracked open and shaved into delicate crackers, resembling gold coins. These he flash-seared on a forge-heated blade, releasing a faint scent like scorched juniper and cold iron.

The centerpiece of the dish was the “heart-glass” harvested from the larger Glass Walkers—translucent cores laced with shimmering ley-thread. When ground with sea salt and boiled with Voidwater extract, the substance softened into a gel that glowed faintly blue, resembling moonlit broth filled with gems. Oberyn combined some of this broth with dried kelp and ashroot bulbs from the Stormbreaker’s larder, forming a thick dough that steamed into a fluffy, sweet, savory roll.

Though most of the crew eyed the meal with suspicion, a few brave sailors claimed it heightened their dreams or temporarily stilled their sea sickness. The dish, quickly dubbed “Little Shits on a Shingle,” was later sung about in ship hymns—as a testament of survival. Stevia called it “eating comfort food with a god,” while Tim swore it cleared his sinuses and rewired his ability to lie while counting cards. Regardless of its amazing flavor, the meal proved that in the deadliest waters of Kol, Oberyn could still wrest nourishment from the void.

Oberyn’s famous - Little Shits on a Shingle

Stevia’s Dream – The Matuk’s Plea

As sleep overtook her, Stevia drifted not into quiet darkness, but into something colder, older. The sea’s breath vanished. The world fell away. She found herself standing barefoot upon scorched glass, at the edge of a vast crater ringed in obsidian and vein-lit with deep crimson glow—like a wound on the surface of the world, still pulsing with heat long after the blade had fallen.

Above, the sky spun with no moon. Only auroras cracked like fault lines through the stars, and a faint drizzle of ash swept across the crater in slow, spiraling descent.

At the center stood a woman—robed in black scale, tall and still, framed by a wide-brimmed witch’s hat and a scythe that bled starlight in long, drifting arcs. Her presence was unmistakable: Arevay, goddess of memory, endings, and mercy ungranted. Though her face was hidden beneath the rim of her hat, her voice pressed softly against Stevia’s thoughts, bypassing language.

“The Grave-Witch's heir walks beside you.”
“Through her, the Vault will open.”

The crater shifted beneath Stevia's feet. Visions spilled upward like steam from the earth. She saw Morrigan, illuminated in flickering grayscale, standing before a sealed vault of bone and glass, its surface marked with sigils that pulsed like living veins. At her hip hung a whistle, faint and white-hot—its song silent, but its meaning immense. She was not forcing the gate. She was being recognized by it.

“Something within stirs,” Arevay whispered, as a shadow twitched behind the Vault door.
“Not a beast. A choice. One we dared to bury.”

Then, slowly, another memory overtook the dream—this one old, precious, and private. Stevia saw a towering half-orc chieftain—hair like iron, tusks marked with ceremonial silver. Matuk. His armor bore the symbols of the ancient Raven Queen, now long fallen. He was kneeling not in weakness, but reverence, offering something in his calloused hand to Arevay. It shimmered: a crystal seed, a sliver of white light—something sacred. A promise.

Stevia felt what Arevay had once buried beneath centuries of divine stillness: a love quiet and terrible in its depth. Arevay had loved Matuk. Not as a goddess, but as a woman who mourned the inevitable.

Matuk, now one of the trapped Ainheria, had sacrificed himself—body, soul, and memory—to forge the White Whistle. With it, Arevay had sealed the Outer God Ebriettas inside its demiplane prison: The Vault. But in doing so, Matuk’s soul had become part of the seal—and now, that prison was beginning to whisper back.

As the dream began to fade, ash curling into stars and stars into silence, Arevay’s voice returned—frayed with grief and gentleness:

“Tell her…”
“She was not wrong to love the dead.”

Stevia woke with tears on her cheeks, her lantern faintly glowing, and the feeling that something forgotten had just remembered her back.

Arevay encourages Stevia to push forward and help the goddess fully restore.

Session Conclusion

As the session concluded, the cloaking ritual successfully shielded the Stormbreaker, providing critical protection from lurking threats. The party settled into a secure sea cave, preparing for a necessary long rest and taking time to reflect on their recent ordeals and gains. The successful survival strategies, valuable resource collection, and mystical experiences provided substantial character and narrative development.

Players finished by leveling up, preparing their characters for upcoming challenges deeper within the Glass Coast. The conclusion left intriguing narrative possibilities open, hinting at future explorations, mysteries around the powerful obsidian egg, and deeper threats related to the Aurora Memory Shard and prophetic visions. Anticipation built as the crew rested, readying themselves for the adventures ahead.

🗣️ Quotable Quotes

“You’re not seasick if you can still gamble!” — Tim Patty

“That’s not a Kraken. That’s a maybe Kraken. Let’s not find out.” — Stevia

“If it bleeds glass, I can cook it.” — Oberyn

“You’re going to feed that to the crew? Remind me not to sleep on an empty stomach.” — Grim

“No, not that rune! That’s the one for birth! I need the one for hiding! Wait—was it the other way around?” — Uncle Dino

“Steel to sea and shadow flame, we bind the breath, we curse the name…” — Stormbreaker Crew, hymn chant

“You know the weirdest part? That glass bug was kind of… crunchy in a good way.” — Tim Patty

“The moon is gone… and the scythe is singing.” — Stevia, dreaming

“You’re doing fine, old man. If you lose control, I’ll knock you out and finish the ritual myself.” — Oberyn

“I’ve seen worse. Just not all at once.” — Grim