Strange Aeons (E1-E23): Our Story So Far…

Strange Aeons (E1-E23): Our Story So Far…

As of this writing, we have played this game for almost a full year and 23 sessions. I’m going to do individual session write-ups going forward but have neither the time nor the energy to write a backlog of 23 game sessions. Instead, I’m going to simply summarize this past year here so that you, dear reader, will know basically what has gone before.


The PCs awaken into a nightmare scene. They are in what look to be prison cells somewhere underground and there are screams of “Wake up!” and “Help me!” from right outside their cells. Outside their cells they see a woman dressed in what looks to be a physician’s outfit torturing a bound man on a table. It is the bound man that is screaming at them.

The PCs manage to escape from their cells. They fail to save the man on the table but they do kill the doctor. Once dead, the woman’s form shifts into a slender, gray figure with elongated limbs and face. They deduce that it is some sort of shapeshifter.

It is at this point that they realize that none of them remember anything from their past beyond their names and a few meager skills. The party consists of the following characters:

  • Enni – A Female Changeling Witch
  • Gardain – A Male Dwarven Fighter
  • Strummer – A Male Tengu Bard
  • Zachariah – A Male Half-Elf Warlock

After finding some gear and getting out of the cells, the PCs discovered that they were in an asylum of the mentally ill but that there were strange things going on. Sleeping was dangerous. Everyone’s dreams were plagued by nightmares of being hunted through an alien city by a murderous entity known as the Tatterman. Dying in the dream could kill you in the waking world… or worse. It could transform you into a ghoul or doppelganger. The problem was that no one could get out of the asylum. A roiling fog surrounded the place and monsters lurked in the fog.

The group stumbled upon a small enclave of survivors led by a priestess of Pharasma that had holed up in the asylum’s chapel for defense. The chapel was the only place they found they could sleep in safety. The dreams didn’t touch them there. They decided to use the chapel as a safe haven while exploring for a way out and additional resources.

During their explorations, they discovered that they had been brought to the Briarstone Asylum by a Count Haserton Lowls. They had been in a fugue state when they arrived. Not long after they arrived there was an earthquake, the fog descended, and a patient uprising led by a patient by the name of Ulvar Zandalus occurred. The deadly dreams and monsters from the mists started.

Through a good bit of exploring and investigating, the group found out the following:

  • Ulvar Zandalus had suffered from terrible nightmares and drew remarkably realistic images of a strange, alien city in the mists. Haserton Lowls had been very interested in Zandalus’ pictures and had attempted to interview the man about them on numerous occasions but Zandalus was mute.
  • Lowls had given the Briarstone Administrator, Doctor Losandro, an occult book called The Chain of Nights that he thought had a ritual in it that might help Zandalus speak again. The doctor had been eager to try after researching it a bit.
  • Doctor Losandro apparently attempted the ritual in the book but it didn’t work correctly and instead created a conduit between, herself, several other people in the asylum, and the Dream Realm. It did seem to fix Zandalus’ muteness.
  • Winter Klascka, the priestess of Pharasma at the chapel was from Caliphas, the capital of Ustalav, the country they were in. She had been sent with a Royal Accuser to investigate Count Haserton Lowls IV for corruption and failure to execute his swore duties to the crown. Winter had come to Briarstone specifically to attempt to interview the PCs; although, she never had the chance due to the trouble that started almost immediately upon her arrival.
  • It appears that the PCs had been in the employment of Haserton Lowls as “troubleshooters”.

Eventually there was a confrontation with Ulvar Zandalus and his followers. A battle ensued and it turned out that Zandalus was possessed by a creature from the Dream Realm called, The Tatterman. After the battle, the group was able to leave the asylum and the island it was on and take a boat with Winter Klascka back to the town of Thrushmoor, the Versex County Seat and the home of Haserton Lowls.


The party arrived in Thrushmoor with Winter Klascka and almost immediately went to The Sleepless Agency, a detective / investigative agency. The leader of the agency, Cesadia, recognized them and was not favorably inclined towards them. Apparently they had been thugs in the employ of Count Lowls and had a nefarious reputation.

Winter was looking to find the Royal Accuser, Omari, and report to her. Cesadia let her know that Omari had disappeared. She wasn’t the only one either. Fourteen people had gone missing over the course of a couple of weeks. Here’s what the party soon learned:

  • Count Lowls had left town for parts unknown right before people started to go missing.
  • The mercenaries hired to be the town guard had abandoned their duties when the Count was no longer paying them. The Magistrate had gone to Caliphas to recruit additional guardsmen.
  • The Constable had been left with instructions to hole up in Fort Hailcourse with the remaining guards until reinforcements could arrive.
  • The Count’s seneschal, Melisenn, had closed Iris Hill, the Count’s residence to everyone until the Count returned.
  • Royal Accuser Omari had gone to speak to those in charge at Fort Hailcourse and Iris Hill and had disappeared somewhere in the midst of that investigation.

Over the next several days, the party investigated and then assaulted Fort Hailcourse where they learned that all the guards there had been killed and a shapeshifter had taken the identity of the Constable. The fort was overrun by skum that seemed to have gotten into the fort through the well.

The party added a Priestess of Pharasma, Mayra, as a party member. The priestess had been receiving dreams and visions from her goddess concerning the party and their current activities. She helped them assault the fort and then they moved on to investigating Iris Hill.

Once they gained access to Iris Hill, they discovered it was filled with thugs and cultists to The Yellow King, an ancient eldritch horror. They fought and destroyed the cult. Investigation turned up many books being studied by Count Lowls, correspondence with fellow scholars, and hints of a planned trip to search for some ancient forgotten city.

At this point the group delved into the crypt under the manor in order to root out Melisenn, the cult leader and possibly someone with answers about them and the Count.

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