Elias informs the party that there has been a break-in to Gateway. The intruder entered the building high above the Barrens quarter, cutting a square out of the Gateway with their sword, and jumped down from there into the district. Here they seem to have pursued someone or something, stuck their sword in the air - or so it seemed - and then, having done this - they fled the way they had come.
The individual must have been very powerful to overcome the natural defences of Gateway.
Elias wants the nature of the individual and the source of their power comprehended, and for Gateway to be seen to be secured against outside threat especially in the current political climate. People must feel safe.
Elias introduces the party to two strangers from Eustragath who will be lending their assistance - Meryt and Shesh, two siblings. They have been tracking the individual in question for some time and want to see him saved.
Meryt - adorned with spears - explains that the assailant was their younger brother, Yuya. He fell into a terrible sickness, unable to love the world, unable to hope for the future, feeling that he was insignificant and meaningless. He created an item as a labour of frantic desperation - a sword which would grant one who was denied their legacy a second chance to fulfil it, and the power to do so.
The sword betrayed him and 'possessed' his body. Meryt explains the concept of the mind and the body. The mind of Yuya was sent into the sword, and the mind of the sword took control of Yuya.
The plan is to send the party's minds into the sword and to free Yuya's mind from within, restoring his body to him.
Shesh - silent, and wearing a creepy wooden puppet mask - nods assent.
The party make their way through a connection incursion in the locality caused by the fear of death bubbling up from Gateway in the wake of the Empire's declaration of war.
The citizens then encounter an Empire patrol, on their way east towards Eustragath. Initially, they submit to travelling with them to an inspection station, but then decide to overpower them.
Now in Eustragath, the party meet up with a Hand - a family unit of small nomads. There is mistwalker who seems like a Paladin, a starborn child with strange powers, a chronicler who speaks legends, and others. An eerie, catchy, music plays. The party are warned that this is an Engine of the Gods, a divine artefact worthy of awe and respect (but not worship) - and they must under no circumstances dance.
Shenanigans ensue. Many of the party begin floating. Garrek gets stuck dancing and has to be unstuck.
The party corner Yuya the Damned in a blasted desert, strange glistering banks of glass interspersed with normal dunes. The terrain in Eustragath is warped and hostile and this seems fairly regular for them.
After a brutal battle, Yuya is subdued, and the sisters pounce. The party feel a white light saturate everything, and find themselves on a path.
This long path leads to a patchwork city in the distance. A city that looks as though it were created by a hundred different architects with a hundred different materials and wildly conflicting sensibilities. Upon the path emerge guards, each believing that they come from a different place, and are defending a different homeland.
Pressing into the city, the party wake up in a strange room - that looks like a servant's quarter in Telemere. Well - all of the party except Mabel, who is missing. After some investigation, it turns out she is trapped in a wardrobe. On being freed she understands exactly where this is, and is immediately confused. Speaking the passwords to the door she remembers from
The Exorcism 'Artemecia', 'To Go About My Chores', she is shocked to run into a small girl returning through the door. She starts screaming for the party to get out, and when they don't, she draws a knife and begins attacking them. She is easily subdued.
The party revive Artemecia and explain the situation. She is horrified to learn of the death of Orderic.
Artemecia explains that she died, but was taken to serve in this place instead. She either wants to be able to leave, or at very least, to end…on hearing this, both Mabel and Jasine summon an Embrace of the Wheel to wrest Artemecia from her cruel fate. They encounter an entity called Legacy who seems to recognise them both, and it compels them to duel. After a close fight, the Wheel Paladins triumph.
Artemecia looks different - she is encased in a white nimbus, and the party can no longer make physical contact with her. She says she feels better.
Artemecia explains The 'Guv'nor' of this place lives in the tower at the heart of the city - and here she gestures to a metal tower that looks like a sword buried into the ground.
Every so often, so she understands, there is a big fight to decide who gets to be Governor. Shalem the Peacebringer is the current person in charge. Artemecia offers to take the party to the Governor so long as she doesn't have to see him or have a fight.
The party are taken to a cross between a labyrinth and a bazaar. Here they encounter lost souls who desire particular things - each who bear keys to a great door. After some truly inspired thinking from the party, they make it through and up to the Throne Room.
Shalem the Peacebringer sits on a throne - the young body of Yuya bound in chains above him. He is surrounded by patchwork guards. Shalem explains his goal is to rid the world of those things known as ghosts - by giving them eternal rest. Heston points out that some of the ghosts ending up in this place can hardly be described as true rest. The party press this point. Confused and shaken, a white light pours out of Shalem…
The party are fighting a different entity now - one that Mabel and Jasine recognise. Legacy encourages the party to conquer it and claim their destiny forever. Having done so, the whole area fades from view…
The party wake up. Yuya slowly comes to. The sword in front of them - Heston and Watcher wrap it in Watcher's icon, and invoking the Shroud's power, the sword vanishes.
Shesh and Meryt are incensed, but too grateful to see their brother freed to take any retaliation. Shesh grabs their brother's fainted body and disappears on puppet-strings into the distance, and Meryt agrees to guide the party back.