Tales from Etheraz: Res Camp 2025 Recap pt. 2
Greetings, martyrs, mediators, and manipulators!
I, ATLAS THE BARD, am still stuck in an ancient Vault full of horrifying monsters and the remnants of a cursed elven society. YIPPEE. I’ve been following the group of young Coalition soldiers known as the PC party, and followed them into this terrible place. My mother was right, I should’ve been an accountant… Alas, it is too late now, and I must deal with the lot I’ve been given. How did we get to this point? Listen close, and I shall regale you.
In my previous correspondence, I mentioned that the party had been invited to a masquerade hosted by the mysterious Lodge, a secret society within Arancis. What was this masquerade, and why were the adventurers invited? I snuck into the party to make sure that my dedicated readers got the full scoop!!
Upon arriving at the masquerade, the party was required to hand over their weapons at the door. Inside the lavishly decorated building, though, there was no one waiting. It was just the party, some incredibly creepy decorations, and a table set in the center of the room. However, the party would not be alone for long. A large, foreboding figure with a mask covered in eyes soon entered and began announcing the party’s hosts. One by one, beautifully dressed people in enchanting masks and airs of importance descended into the party, each announced by an enigmatic title. With their arrival, the evening began in earnest, and the masquerade began!
The figures began talking amongst themselves and to the party, and it was quickly revealed that these strange people seemed to have need for the party to do favors for them throughout the night. Because of whatever social and political power they held, they could not directly do the dirty work themselves, and needed third party messengers to run around completing their goals. These goals seemed to vary, though many of them centered around murder and/or poisoning of their political rivals. SPEAKING of political rivals, it seemed that these people weren’t only high-ranking members of a secret society, but also high-ranking members of NORMAL society. Each partygoer, behind the mask, had lofty connections to the Trade Guilds that settled Arancis and each had different economic interests. Furthermore — as so often seems to be the case with politicians — though they all inhabited the same secret society and theoretically had the same goals, they all spent the whole night looking to undermine and overthrow each other so they each could have majority control over the region.
It was a night of whispered secrets, of betrayals and subterfuge, of deep personal trauma coming to light. At the table in the center of the room, the Houses would play a game where they would bargain for resources. It seemed to be whoever won that game left the party with the most political control over Arancis. House Corvis, who led the initial expedition that settled Arancis to begin with eighty years ago, dominated this game. But, there were other, more subtle games being played; two houses seemed to align in order to expel all House influence from Arancis and leave it completely self-determined by the people. Another house spent the night prowling for secrets, prying past traumas from the attendees and speaking of a near future of glorious chaos.
And what was the goal of the night, beyond an excuse to dance and machinate? What was this “grant event” that the Hierophant member kept suggesting? Nobody seemed to know, too wrapped up in their schemes and plots. Most notably, a murder happened that night!! I’m a little fuzzy on the details — I couldn’t see much behind the grand vase I was hiding behind — but it seemed that Elia Corvis sent party member Ez to murder Arren, but when Arren found out, he instructed Ez to kill Elia. After much bartering and gaslighting, Ez ran Elia through with Arren’s sword. I guess that’s one less person to worry about!
The night headed deeper into a strange frenzy as this dreaded “grand event” drew nearer. House Corvis, even with a member dead on the floor, won the game they were playing and declared themselves head of Arancis. But, as Corvis went up to make his gloating speech, he was interrupted by the two independence-based houses, who swore that Arancis would fight their way out of Corvis’ thumb!! It was all very dramatic, but quickly had to be wrapped up, as the “grant event” was here! Wow, amazing! I’m sure it won’t be awful and scary! WRONG. IT WAS AWFUL AND SCARY.
The party was led by the partygoers to something almost indescribable: a gate, pulsing with magical power and barely restrained energy. The air crackled with the power of it all. Was this what the Lodge was there for? Was this the “grand event” at the end of the masquerade? With almost religious reverence, the Lodge members performed a tableau, a haunting play that reveled in this gate’s history and declared themselves as the rightful inheritors of the power. Led by Sanari Simoon, she narrated that this was the Vault of Karna: a place where a God was tricked into sacrificing himself in order to save the elven city of Gazan. But, he was misled, and his death caused Gazan to collapse in on itself and fossilize into a horrifying well of magical power with no escape. Tonight, the Vault would open, and the Lodge would take its power for themselves.
At that decree, the Vault OPENED, and everyone in the room — Lodge members, adventurers, and poor hapless Bards — began getting dragged into it. Though they fought, the party could not escape the pull of the Vault, could not escape the chaos that Sanari worshipped and so promised. The party was dragged into the Vault, and that’s when the adventures REALLY began.
THAT’S RIGHT, READERS. The story, unfortunately, does not end with all of us calmly sitting in the Vault waiting for rescue! Oh no, there are MONSTERS in here, too. But, that is for next week’s correspondence. Until then, brave readers, send some prayers to the Seven that we make it out of this one. And remember: fight together, or die alone.
Signed,
Atlas the Bard
