From the Drow Pits to the Astral Sea
Following a harrowing battle in the depths of Menzoberranzan—where the party confronted demonic foes to secure the first piece of the Rod—we teleported back to Sigil. After a briefing with the Wizards Three, our next objective was clear: find the second piece, located on a drifting, dead god known as Havoc, which floats within the vast expanse of the Astral Sea.
Our first task was finding passage. In Sigil, we descended from the spire to the chaotic Borderlands and made our way to the Stardock, a futuristic, high-tech port run by monastic Githzerai. There, we chartered a spelljamming vessel, The Rock of Bhaal, to transport us to the specific portal that would lead to Havoc.
The Gith ship captained us into the Astral Sea, a silvery, timeless void. Bidding the crew farewell, we disembarked and flew through the open expanse to the portal. Using our key—a living spider in a glass jar—we activated the gateway.
Adrift in the Void
We emerged on the other side, floating adrift in the endless, silvery-gray expanse. As Gnarls's rod piece pulsed, indicating we were close, we got our bearings. In the distance, we spotted our target: Havoc, a massive asteroid in the shape of a dead god, with a spelljammer ship clearly crashed upon its surface. But before we could approach, we were set upon by two enormous, angler-fish-like creatures from the deep void. After a short, vicious battle—during which Jain was briefly incapacitated by one's glowing lure—we dispatched the beasts and turned our attention to the wreck.
The Wreck of the Lambent Zenith
Flying invisibly and with great caution, we approached the crashed ship, which was broken into three sections. We landed on the deck of the rear section, where gravity strangely took hold. We were met by two Githyanki who, after a tense introduction from Sugar (who claimed we arrived by putting a "Bag of Holding in a bag of holding"), seemed friendly enough.
They introduced us to their acting leader, a Giff (hippo-person) naval officer named Ilren. He explained this ship was the Lambent Zenith, on a mission of peace before it was mysteriously smashed into Havoc. The crew was now marooned. Jain remained invisible, still suspicious of the situation.
Below decks, we met more of the crew—five celestials and an Orc quartermaster—who seemed unbothered by our presence. We learned that the ship had been carrying a rare portal-creating artifact, which was now protected by two hidden runes and some strange magical interference. We also learned that the "captain," a tiefling spellcaster named Figuro, had locked himself in his cabin and was acting suspiciously.
A Captain, a Cultist, and a Rune
We found Captain Figuro's cabin, which was sealed by a Cube of Force. Gnarls, sensing something was off, charmed the tiefling, who then lowered the barrier. Inside, Figuro seemed disoriented, and Gnarls suspected his memory had been modified. As the tiefling rambled, Jain spotted a visual disturbance on the cabin's headboard—a sign of the first rune.
Suspicious, Jain suggested we restrain Figuro in the brig, calling him a potential cultist and a clear danger. Gnarls, however, was incredulous at this suggestion, questioning why they would bother imprisoning someone who was so obviously evil and dangerous instead of eliminating the threat. Taking this as her cue, Jain ended the debate—and the captain—in a single, violent moment. The nearby crew was shocked but did not intervene. The disturbance on the headboard was indeed the first rune, which we promptly disabled.
The Midship and the Second Rune
We proceeded to the ship's middle section, where we found a treant who identified himself as the captain of a lifeboat that had also crashed. He asked for our help finding his "friend" below. Dropping into the midship's lower decks, we were ambushed by a pack of Grell, which the party quickly dispatched with area-of-effect damage.
We found the treant's friend—a blink dog—along with a captain's journal. The journal contained a passphrase: "The Moon sings a song for the lost." This passphrase successfully disabled the second rune, clearing our path to the ship's prow.
The Prow and the Path Forward
In the prow, we finally met the real captain of the Lambent Zenith: an angel with a prosthetic leg and wing. We helped repair her wing, and she confirmed she knew of the Rod and had seen a "serpentine monster" emerging from the heart of the dead god.
With the runes disabled, we found the spelljamming helm, which was completely shattered. The captain's artifact was here, but it was being protected by a final ward. We used the passphrase from the journal—"The Moon sings a song for the lost"—which disabled this final ward.
It did not reveal the Rod piece. Instead, it revealed a gaping hole leading deep into the body of Havoc itself. We've determined that a powerful source of magical interference from within the dead god is preventing us from reaching the Rod piece. Our next task is set: we must descend into the heart of Havoc and confront the source of this dark energy.
