Multiverse Chronicles # 3

The Travelers Union has received reports of a disturbance in a remote region of the multiverse. An ancient artifact known as the "Seal of Eternity" has been shattered, unleashing a dimensional terror upon the unsuspecting worlds. The party is tasked with locating the shattered fragments of the seal and containing the unleashed chaos before it consumes everything in its path. This is a major threat and it's not clear anyone can survive a fight with the terror and live to tell about it.

The party take their ship the Celestial Starlight to the first world affected by the terror's wraith. they reach a ruined town simply called The Forgotten Haven and is an eerie and desolate town that lies within a desolate wasteland. Once a thriving community, it now stands as a haunting remnant of a forgotten past. Buildings are crumbling, and nature has started to reclaim the streets. The air is heavy with a sense of abandonment and mystery.

The party spend time exploring their ship, training and relaxing in the CS's many rooms. as the ship entered the world and landed on the planet's surface a sense of duty and wonder filled their hearts. Michael taking on a leadership role voted for by the majority calls the party to the bridge to discuss the mission.

"Okay, now that everyone is here I'll repeat what Hikari told me...the Union received reports of a monster known only as a dimensional terror being unleashed upon the worlds after an artifact sealing the creature broke and now this beast is laying waste to many worlds in its destructive path. Now our job assigned to us by Hikari is to Locate and retrieve the shattered fragments of the Seal of Eternity, Track down the Dimensional Terror and neutralize it, Then restore the stability of the affected dimensions. Now any questions?" asked Michael as he turns to face the party.

Ryan raises his hand. Michael points to him and says "Yes, Ryan?"

"Isn't this a bit too big a job for us right now? We got captured and loss our memories and now we're expected to fight a kaiju?"

"I agree with the simpleton for once, we can't take this thing on!" said Kira

"Hey am not a simpleton! you damn rabbit!" yelled Ryan

"Enough Pickering you two!" yells Akiko "We can still fight, we did well against the Void guards on our escape from their prison. What's the difference now?"

"We barely knew how to fight and plus those guys were weak sauce! This is a Kaiju level monster." Ryan says

"Would the Japanese people here tell me what a Kaiju is? am not familiar with that word." Asked Michael

"It's basically a giant monster, like Godzilla...seems Ryan's back to watching his tokusatsu DVDs in his room again." says Goro

"Oh yeah, I forgot that Ryan was a weeb." Michael

"Hey don't be calling me a weeb for liking art like Ultraman and Kamen Rider, those shows were great and am glad I got the chance to rewatch them with fresh eyes again." says Ryan

"You got to remind me to borrow some of those DVDs of yours Ryan." says Goro

"Sure thing Goro, but for real we can't fight a monster like this after we just barely got back into action...it'd be a slaughter!"

"Not if we plan ahead and prepare for the fight." says Michael "We don't have to face it head on, we can try and find it's weaknesses and work on our strengths. maybe even work with other Travelers to get the job done if need be."

"Wait we can just hire people?" Kira asked

"Not hire, but I imagine the rewards would be split if we worked with other Travelers." says Michael "But we first need to rebuild the 'Seal of Eternity' so we can reseal the monster. so before we even worry about the monster we need to first get the fragments of the seal and put them back together. This means traveling to the world were headed to now and retrieving the fragments."

As the ship entered the world's dimension and landed near a small ruined town in a wasteland. it was desolate and empty but clues about the where abouts of the fragments could yet be found. The ramp of the ship opens and dropped down as the party made their way out. Akiko had bought some starting gear for the party with what remained of the Aether shards in the ships safe and armed everyone up. the party marches onward towards the ruined town in search of clues and traces of the Seal's fragments.

Michael makes an investigation check and rolls a 15, that's a success with 2 raises.

he enters the Collapsed Mine of the ruined town and finds a journal detailing the the aftermath of the Dimensional Terror's attack on the town. The latest entries tell of the failed attempts to fight off the beast and it's corrupting touch on the land. The entry tells of cultists breaking the Seal of Eternity to unleash this beast and that they usually reside in the lost temple north from the town. The cultists' hideout might be the best place to search for the first fragment.

"I've found a journal telling of the fate of this town, and it turns outs that a group of cultists are responsible for the Dimensional Terror being unleashed from the seal." says Michael

"Wasn't your friend killed by a cult? do you think their the same one that did it?" asked Ryan

"Yes but my memories are still cloudy and I don't know if their the same one...doubt they would be any less dangerous though...come on, there is a temple where they reside not far from here."

and so the party followed Michael to the lost temple in hopes of catching the cultists. When they arrived they found a sandstone temple and the Nexus Locater Akiko has is picking up a surge of Chaotic Dimensional Energy coming from the building. It's very likely that the cultists if inside are doing rituals with one of the fragments of the Seal of Eternity. Now that the party is here what should they do?

"So this is where the cult is? looks like an old desert church." says Ryan

"The energy readings are off the charts, who ever is in here is generating a lot of Dimensional Energy." Says Akiko

"Okay it looks like the culprits are inside this building, now is the time to form a plan." Michael turns to his team and asks "Any Ideas."

"We could try sneaking inside...but admittedly it would be a hard place to sneak into as it's well lit and only has one entrance and exit." says Kira

"If there is only one way in or out, that means we can trap the enemies inside the building." says Goro

"Yeah but if their already using this place as a method of creating dimensional energy they can just wait until they have enough power to defeat us." Michael says "We need to act fast if we want the best chances of winning."

"Okay, am not usually the planning type but am guessing this place is going to be close quarters, so let's sent in our best melee fighters in first and have them protect the ranged fighters by having them go in the building second." suggests Ryan

"Anyone else have any ideas?...no?...then I guess Ryan's plan will have to do."

And so they confront the cult directly sending in the two melee fighters Goro and Ryan into the temple to fight off the cultists. The gunners will come in after the brawlers to aid them.

**Combat Start**

Ryan runs up and strikes down the first Fanatic cultist with a swift blow to the neck. The rest of the cultists are now alerted to the party's presence and launch their counter attack. The cultist in the right hallway of the temple attacks Goro but Goro parried the assault and pushes the cultist back without taking a hit. Three of the cultists are still performing a ritual in the center of the temple, the party must fight their way though crowded halls in order to stop them. The rest of the cultists are moving in to stop the party's interloping. Then Goro throws a powerful palm strike that throws the cultist off balance, leaving him open to his next attack. Kira casts a deflection spell on Goro making him harder to hard in combat. The shaken cultist is still dizzy while the rest of the cult moves it to attack their targets. Michael moves behind Goro and readies his gun for the shot. he yells out "Goro, duck!" and fires his shot as Goro ducks, it hits the stunned cultist in the chest and he falls to the ground dead! Akiko moves deeper into the temple but the way is cramped and there isn't much clearance. Goro pushes into the right hall of the temple and attacks the fanatic as he moves in, channeling his inter wrestler he attacks the foe but alas he could not find an opening and misses every blow! Ryan readies himself and fights the cultist in the left hallway in close combat. He manages to strike down the foe with a kick defeating them in a single blow. Afterwards Ryan rushes deeper into the temple hoping to reach the courtyard as yet another cultist appears before him. Meanwhile Goro parries another attack from his cultist opponent. Michael moves to the entrance of the left hallway behind Ryan and yells "Ryan, duck!" and fires a shot at the cultist in front of him. Ryan follows suit but the cult leader blocked the shot with his dark magic shielding him. "Damnit" says Michael. "A little more warning would be nice!" yells Ryan. Akiko moves into the building and sees Michael and turns on her Data Overlay System, she seems to have remembered she had that installed on the Nexus Locator. a targeting AR overlay appears in front of Michael aiding in his shooting. "Thanks for the help." says Michael to Akiko. Goro attacks his target with a fury of blows but the cultist parries every punch thrown. Michael takes aim increasing his accuracy and yells to Ryan once again. "Duck again!" and as he ducked Michael fires another shot at the target. BOOM the shot ring out and shot the leader in the skull, killing him instantly! As Akiko and Ryan push deeper into the temple the three cultists performing the ritual finally stop what their doing and attack them. Goro still facing his opponent parries another strike from the fourth cultist. Kira moves behind Goro and yells "Stand aside, Goro!" and casts a spell that fires multiple arrows and lasers. The hit connects but only shakes the foe. Goro dropkicks the stunned foe and knocks him out cold! Akiko and Goro push towards the next hall and Goro meets up with two of the cultists from the courtyard. Both attack Goro but fail to land a hit as Goro dodges effortlessly. Ryan gets within range of the two cultists and launches his own attack! He pummels one cult member to the point of shaking them. But their still in the fight. Kira feeling a surge of magical energy enters the north hall of the temple and casts a volley of magic arrows at the stunned enemy. She blasts the foe knocking them out of the fight entirely. Goro does a spinning top strike using his arms as hammers as his spins around the hall. knocking the second to last foe off his feet and out cold.

The last cultist panics and yells "I yield, please don't hurt me!". The battle ends and a fresh source of information is ready to be extracted.

Goro begins the interrogation. "Why are you after the fragments of the Seal of Eternity?"

Akiko speaks up. "Do we really need to interrogate this guy? Am sure we can just use the fragment to find the rest of the pieces by scanning it with the Nexus Locator and tracking the pieces down that way." She picks up the fragment and scans it with the Nexus Locator and sure enough the device picks up a signal for the party to follow.

"So that's a no on the interrogation?" Goro says while Michael walks up and shoots the cultist in the head with his gun.

"Whoa, what the hell!? The guy surrendered!" Ryan exclaims

"Did these cult types let Sue surrender?" says Michael

"You should take care that you don't lose hold of your humanity over Sue's death Michael...gunning down those who surrender is not a ethical act." says Goro.

"I understand the concern but cult members lost their right to live from the moment they started killing innocents." Michael

"What about thieves? should they die just because they steal?" Kira asked

"Am not going to gun down just anyone for committing a crime, so you don't have to worry about me...cult members are the exception, not the norm." Michael explains.

After killing the cultist, the party returns to the ship and makes their way to the next world holding the fragments. Following the trail left by their energy readings they travel to another world. According to the Union's Databank of worlds the world the party's ship entered is called Arkania. Known for it's ancient mysticism and powerful magic. Forests and mountains as well as lakes can be seen from the windows of the ship. But they also see the ill effects of the Dimensional Terror on the world of Arkania, unstable portals and rifts dot the landscape and Dimensional creatures can be seen roaming the land.

"According to the data on the world, this world is known and are an ally of the Travelers." Explains Akiko

"Which means were in good company...Where are we landing?" Asked Ryan as he walks up to the large window of the ship.

"The data says there is a city nearby, we can try landing close to it...wow there is so much detail for this place...the capital of this world is a city called Arcanum City and it's a governed by King Aric IV." Explained Akiko

"Any signs of the Dimensional Terror?" Michael asks

"Aside from the many rifts and portals...nothing, it may not even be in this world anymore. The reading do pick up a fragment of the Seal of Eternity though, so we do have business here." Says Akiko

As the party arrives in Arcanum City, chaos engulfs the streets. The sound of battle echoes through the air as the city guard clashes with the encroaching forces of the Shadow Circle. Buildings are aflame, and civilians are fleeing for safety.

The party witnesses the desperate struggle and sees a woman, surrounded by a few remaining city guards, holding her ground against the advancing cultists. The party must join the fight and defend the city.

"Damn cultists are raiding the city!" sneered Michael

"Looks like some of the city guard has entered the fight...and it looks like a mage is with them." Akiko says

"We must help them fight off the cultists." Goro says

The party entered the fight taking place in the middle of the city. The guard are outnumbered by the cult but a lone Half-Elven mage is also fighting. The battle was just beginning as the party enters the fray.

Round 1 of Combat

Ryan takes the lead and fights fist to fist with the cultist closest to him. he strikes the head of the foe dizzying them and leaving them open for another attack.

The yet to be identified Half-Elf runs towards the cult with spell tome in hand.

Akiko enters code into the Nexus Locator and unleash her AR Overlay and directs it towards Ryan aiding his strength by pointing out weakness in the target's body. "Thanks for the assist, Akiko!" says Ryan.

As this happens Kira acts, readying her shotgun for her target. her points at a cultist and fires the weapon. BOOM the head of that cultist turns to gore as his body falls dead on the ground.

One of the cultists move toward Ryan and lands a hit, with a nasty stab to the arm Ryan is seriously wounded and shaken. he is also surrounded by three cult members, things look grim for Ryan.

Goro moves to Ryan to defend him and casts a Miracle on himself summoning a spectral armor resembling a Samurai's on his person. but he is still too far to aid Ryan.

The city guardsman move to battle with one of the groups of cultists, their foes also move toward their target. Battle cries and steel noise echo in the city. One of the cultists attack a guard with his dagger but it was quickly blocked by a shield.

Michael takes aim at a cultist near him and fires his revolver. His shot hits the leg of his target shaking them and hindering their movement. "Not my best work, but it should help." remarks Michael.

Round 2 of Combat

Akiko seeing Ryan wounded and bleeding rushes towards him readying a sort of spray bottle. "Hold on! I can help!" she moves towards Ryan dangerously close to the action and using her science she tries and treats Ryan's wounds. She sprays a dose of meds into his arm partially healing his wounds but he is still wounded a bit. The Cultists seeing this shout "Kill her, she is tending their wounds!"

Michael takes aim, it's a risky shot as his teammate Akiko is now in the way but he takes the risk and shoots at the shaken cultist he shot before. he does give a warning. "Akiko, duck!" then fires the round at his target! Bang! right in the cult member's brains! Akiko just barely ducked in time for the shot to hit. "Easy!" she says covering her head.

The first group of cultists now down to two members act, the shaken one Ryan pummled flees though very slowly while the last able bodied member attacks Ryan Wildly and misses leaving himself open for a counter attack.

While most of the city guards struggled to land a hit on the speedy cultists one did manage to stagger a foe with a well timed strike with their mace.

Ryan still coping with his stabbed arm recovers partly due to Akiko's healing spray and partly due to his own grit. Though still bleeding he readies himself for another attack and he sees his chance to take down a cultist. He attacks the cultist next to him with a jumping kick and due to his target being wide open he lands his attack! he knocks the foe back shaking them in the process, but the foe still stands.

The second group of cultists farther up the battlefield are still fighting with the city guards. they move in and attack the guards! One of the cultists land a killing blow to a guard. Blood has been shed. Not long after another guard is slain by a cultist, things are looking bad for the city guards.

Goro rushes at the weakened enemy next to Ryan and chokeslams him, he knocks out the cultist for the team.

Kira once again takes aim with her shotty and blasts the head off another cultist, blood is spilling everywhere and she likes it.

The lone Half-Elf starts casting a spell and fires a flaming bolt at the staggered cultist of the group the city guards were fighting. The fire bolt burns the staggered cultist into crispy ash.

Round 3 of Combat

The guardsman strike back against their attackers, though outnumbered they still fight the cult. They just can't seem to land a hit on their targets.

Goro being next to Ryan channels mythical energy into his hand as he touches Ryan's shoulder, healing his wounds. "Be healed friend, it would be bad to let this wound persist." says Goro. "Thanks buddy!" replies Ryan. Ryan is now fully healed of his wounds. After healing his friend Goro moves toward the rest of the cult fighting.

The Half-Elf casts two bolts of fire at her target, one fails to connect but the second burns down the foe!

Michael having cleared the area dashes towards the remaining cultists.

Akiko, Kira and Ryan also dash towards the enemy.

One of the cultists flee leaving the last remaining cultist to fend for himself. They stab a guard in the neck with their dagger killing them.

Round 4 of Combat

Goro moves up more and so does Michael. Akiko moves to a better angle and shoots the last cultist with her police revolver. It only shakes them.

The last standing guardsman shouts at his foe "You won't live to see tomorrow, you killed my comrades and I will have vengeance!" he wildly attacks the cultist but he got careless and falls down as the cultist dodges him.

Kira seeing this happen casts her deflection spell on the guard to hopefully save him from the cultist. The Half-Elf slowly moves toward the remaining fighters. The cultist tries to kill the guard but his dagger got blocked by the guards armor.

Goro being the closest to the action moves toward the cultist and tackles him! he pins the foe down as he unleashes a flurry of blows on the now downed cultist! the battle is over with now every cultist defeated or gone.

End of Combat

Once the battle subsides and the immediate threat is neutralized, Celestia Silvermoon approaches the party. "Well met Travelers! You came along just in time to aid us...without your help I worried we would be slaughtered." Says the Half-Elven woman with silver long hair and blue robes, she carries a leather bound spellbook of sorts. "My name is Celestia Silvermoon, am with the Arcanum Council here in Arcanum City...I can tell your from the Traveler's Union, our kingdom are good friends of the Union."

"Arcanum Council? what's that?" asked Ryan

"I'd love to tell you more, but right now we have a serious problem. But gods am spent...theres a Tavern not far from here, I'll buy you all drinks on me and tell you more about the situation there."

"We actually have some business of our own to handle, have you seen any signs of a monster unleashed from an artifact causing trouble in your world?" asked Akiko

"No, I haven't see anything like that. Nor did any of my colleagues. but you wouldn't happen to know anything about a fragment of an powerful artifact by chance?" asked Celestia

"We do know of such a fragment, we even have one fragment with us...how did you know about them?" asked Michael

"Well prior to you all arriving to save the day a man by the name of Malachi Blackthorn stole from the Council one such fragment while our group was studying it...I fear what dark magic he'll use that fragment for."

"Who were those cultists anyways? I've never seen this group before." Michael asked

"They were the Shadow Circle, Malachi works with them to try and overthrow the King and bring an era of darkness over Arkania. But am tried and thirsty so let's continue this line of questioning at the tavern."

And so the party follow Celestia to the nearby tavern within the Arcanum City in the Kingdom of Eldoria. It's known as the Enchanter's Hearth.