Rays of the Sun

Intro
Matt: Hello and welcome to Celestial Expanse, a real play D&D podcast set in the Celestial Expanse universe, my name is Matthew, I'll be your DM for the night, and playing with me today in this special solo episode is Ben playing as Rell. Ben: Uh, hi! Matt: So, if you've already listened to the Martle and Z duo episode, you kind of have an idea that these are kind of going to be character development episodes, but I think everybody would agree they're kind of needed. Wouldn't you say so, Ben? Ben: I think so. I mean especially if it would give us some insight into what happens between season 1 and 2.

Episode Description
Rell is asked onto a rescue mission to a planet that haunts his dreams. Will he find closure involving his past or nightmares of the future?

Summary
Two months after the events of the season 1 finale, Rell is drinking some tea on a break when he sees an attractive Mentaru woman walk by, and is hit with a mixture of apprehension, love, and deja vu. He remembers a different Mentaru woman with purple skin, very pretty, with the top left quarter of her head replaced by cybernetics. Her name was Valiness, and joined the monastery upon reaching adulthood at 10 (equivalent of 20 for a human). Rell couldn't stop staring at her, she was so beautiful. As Rell remembers approaching her, he's interrupted by a message from Demia. Suppressing the memories with an effort, he declines a refill of tea and heads to the map room.

Demia looks tired; she's been busy keeping the alliance together and assigning missions. Crews have been desperately looking for items of power to use in their war against the crystal creatures, which are heading from the Marauder Curtain towards Central Paramount. Every day comes more news of missing ships and planets gone dark. Demia asks Rell to help out a crew that's investigating a missing scout crew in the Reegor system, in External Paramount. Rell agrees to go, and Demia sags with relief. She confides in Rell that she doesn't know how they're going to win this war: they're seeing more undead, which are somehow capable of traveling the stars, and even Parliament can't keep them under control. She tells Rell the planet he'll be going to is Omega class, Parliament's most dangerous rating: they keep buoys 200km away to warn ships not to go any closer. The name of the planet is Clade. Upon hearing this, Rell starts hyperventilating; this was the planet where he and his fellow monks crash landed, and everyone else died. He says he can't go back there, and runs back to his room. There he falls asleep, and dreams of Valiness. When she first joined, he was assigned to show her the ropes. She acted cold towards him, until one day he tripped her in a drill and she fell on her butt. She found it funny, looking up at a 5'11" Rell. He helped her up and as she leaned against him, caught her citrus-y, flowery scent, and she blushed.

Rell wakes up to a message from Demia, saying he doesn't have to go, but they could really use the help. Wanting to help and prevent more deaths if he can, he says he'll join if they haven't left yet. She thanks him and tells him he has two hours.

Rell heads to Harbor 3 and finds the Adaria and its captain, a dwarf called Xavier the Thunderbrand. He teases Rell about being skinny, then greets him warmly and warns him not to look Ellie in the eye when he meets her. An android, Ellie tells Xavier to be nice, and tells Rell he was just joshing. She thanks Rell for coming along, and sends him to Mark to stow his things. Mark, or Markus, is a beefy human with a pince-nez who unceremoniously tosses Rell's bag onto a pile of luggage. He tells Rell to find a seat next to Thorn in the cockpit, and warns him that Thorn will give him a giant hug. Rell heads to the cockpit and finds an extremely muscular orc humming happily as he cleans the spotless cabin. He introduces himself as Thorn and squeezes Rell in a very tight hug. Commenting on Rell's weight, he gives him some raw meat as a snack, called Schnakko. Rell says he's not hungry, but Thorn insists that it's very fresh, butchered this morning. It's surprisingly good, tender with a sweet aftertaste. Thorn explains the sweetness comes from the berries the beast eats. From outside the cockpit, Xavier yells for Thorn to put the disgusting meat away, as they're about to launch. Thorn argues a bit, then takes one last bite and throws the rest of the meat out the window.

Xavier briefs them on Clade. It has normal gravity and breathable air, but terrible carnivorous monsters. Rell remembers squid-like creatures with slimy carapaces that could move on land with their tentacles.

Rell has another memory of Val, after she'd warmed up to him. She said she'd originally been scared of him because he was a half elf, and she knew most elves saw her race as xenophobic and warmongering, which she agreed with. But she also heard rumors that elves were jealous of Mentaru technology, and would attack Mentaru on sight. Rell disproved this generalization, and they grew more comfortable in each other's company. Eventually they developed feelings for each other, though Rell didn't understand until she kissed him. They entered into a romantic relationship, and soon joined their first training regiment off-planet. They learned more about other worlds and races, and then one day they crash landed on the planet Clade.

As Rell remembers this, Markus shakes his shoulder, and he returns to the present. They land on Clade, which has very thick foliage. Rell remembers being able to live off the flora and fauna of Clade very well; the problem was the carnivorous animals that hunted and killed the group one by one. Ellie leads the present group to the scouts' transponders, where they find the scouts bodies being devoured by the squid-like creatures Rell remembered. The group fires at the squid. They are easily killed, in contrast to what Rell remembered from fighting them with less training, and inferior weapons. They look at the lead scout's bodycam, and see that the scouts were ambushed by the squid, which were camouflaged. They were on the planet looking for an energy source they had detected, hoping it would be a weapon or other tool to help with the war. Xavier proposes they finish the mission, and Rell agrees to join them. They make their way to the energy source, which turns out to be the beacon Rell's order had set up when they crashed, hoping for rescue.

Rell remembers his last day with Valiness. They were the last two survivors, and they had just finished fighting off another group of creatures. Rell had lost his arm, and Valiness was dying as he held her. She said she wanted to see one last sunrise, because she always loved looking at the stars. She felt that if she loved looking at the stars, she could find another person who loved looking at the stars too, and if she and that person could understand each other, she hoped she could help compel other people to have that same love. She hoped this would lead to peace with her race and all the other races, because even to this day, the Mentaru are so xenophobic.

As he remembers Valiness growing cold, Rell reaches the graves he dug for the other monks, including hers. Valiness's grave has her necklace: a symbol of a circle, representing the sun, pierced by a stylized arrow. She derived it from an order of monks who would dive their ships into the sun, hoping to reach enlightenment. It was believed that if they reached enlightenment, they would survive the radiation and harness its power. She knew that was impossible, but she loved the idea of becoming one with a star.

Rell kneels at the grave and cries silently. After some time, Ellie gently tells him it's time to go. They leave the planet, but as Xavier prepares to go into hyperdrive, Rell feels a pull towards the system's sun, even stronger than the feeling of his Ki. He knows if he doesn't go now, he will regret it for the rest of his life. He runs for the shuttle and starts the launching sequence. Xavier yells for him to stop, and Rell apologizes but continues. He uses the thrusters to get to the sun, and goes past the point where the shuttle warns it's too dangerous. A solar flare comes out and envelops the ship, and Rell's vision goes black.

He feels like he's floating, and at peace. He feels a warm hand on his face, and he sees Valiness smiling at him. He knows with certainty that it's her soul, despite having been told that Lilith has the souls of everyone who died here. Valiness says her soul was too warm for her; her love for the stars kept her away from Lilith's grasp. She was able to be one with the stars during her last moments with Rell, and their love, with the last ray of sunlight before she died, was enough to achieve what she thought was impossible: to be one with the stars. And now Rell has done the same thing. She kisses him on the forehead, and Rell wakes up, farther from the sun, safe. The last echoes of her voice fade, and he looks at the sun, feeling warm, and understanding her love for it. Rell stays contented for a moment, then remembers he should return the shuttle. Xavier seems to understand the significance of what Rell was doing. Ellie says he just seemed to be looking at the sun for a couple hours. She compliments him on his necklace, and he looks down to see a necklace matching the one Valiness had. He realizes he has become a Sundiver.

New Information

 * Ellie's designation is EL1, after the planet she was born on.
 * Androids don't show emotions very often, but do feel them.

Memorable Quotes
Xavier: Who's on my shuttle? Who is that? Rell? Is that you? What are you doing? Rell: I - Sorry, I need to do something, I'll- I'll be back soon.

Valiness: I was able to be one with the stars, at my last moments with you, Rell. Your love, our love together, and that last ray of sunlight before I died was enough to achieve what I thought was impossible.

Matt: Even though it can be a very dangerous thing, it is literally the embodiment of light.

Ben: I think Rell is just having this feeling of safety and contentment, just kind of sits down and enjoys that feeling for a moment, something that he hasn't felt in, well, since he crashed on that planet basically.

Xavier: Did you find what you needed? Rell: Uh, ye- ye- yes, actually. I did. Xavier: You're not gonna do this again? Rell: Uh, I don't think so. Xavier: Alright. Everybody gets one.