Nola 5th - Nola 10th (15 campaign days)
Vivianna left in the dead of night, acquiring a fast horse and making for destinations unknown (though Donatella had her suspicions). She promised to rejoin the group in a week's time.
Aleksi, Maia, Donatella, Theros, Senator DeWitt, and the cloaked gnoll Seddar boarded The Dancing Hut and left early on the fifth, beginning a five-day journey across the Saindoron Plains to Hawkmoon. Situated in the middle of the grasslands and flint hills, Hawkmoon lacked in obvious importance. Yet the elves had marked it as the site of the second Trouble, so the party made haste. If they could catch Overseer Nulfur in the act, they would neutralize the systematic undermining of the nation.
Along the way, the hungering curses of both Theros and Aleksi demanded attention or the two would die of starvation and transform into horrible monsters before they reached Hawkmoon. Horrible monsters were unavoidable, however, as on the plain twin exorcisms led to the creations of hideous squirrel-demons. They were put down, but not without a lot more effort, magic, and luck than anyone expected.
The wendigo was finally defeated.
On the fifth day, around high noon, Hawkmoon came into sight. Strangely, among the hill, the mine, the academy, the eclectic bunching of shacks, houses, and shoppes, not a single soul was in sight. It looked like a ghost town... until something, or someone, caught Donatella's eye in the high, yellow grass.
Unbeknownst to the others, Maia saw someone too.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Friday, October 10, 2014
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Chapter 14: Decisive Actions
Evening, Nola 4 (10 campaign days)
Notable NPCs
Senator Jasmin DeWitt: A late arrival to Godswon, this thirty-something senator from Wesburg is intent on mobilizing Avencia, but at the same time preserving constitutional law; Before she is willing to commit to the idea of Corellion involvement, Jasmin demands proof. She'll be accompanying the party nearer Ambros, intent on joining her fellow senators and substantiating the party's claims along the way.
Mayor Abernathy Teak: Portly, toothy, possessed of an impressive mustache, his mayoral virtues consisted of relaying Benjim's message and provisioning the group. At least he wasn't any sort of hurtle. In fact, he wasn't even a speed bump. If you had to guess, real authority in town likely rests with the Eradicator and Dare.
Eradicator Benedict Hollowin: Tall, grim, glaring, the leader of Godswon's heavenly order of Firebrands was ready to mobilize against the elves without any substantial proof. While he could be considered hasty by some, in Benedict's mind this is war and decisions must be made quickly and decisively.
Toril Kostus: Cured, recovering, and a de facto leader of the Scarlet Blades, Toril has devoted the eastern Blades toward either protecting Congress or scouting Edmark in hopes of eventually rescuing Anita and the other senators. Though hesitant to do so, he's also given Maia the okay to pursue her longshot mission with the gnolls.
Kinn: Theros' rival appeared in Godswon with troubling news. The entire tabari caravan had been captured and thrown into a Norslandian interment camp somewhere between Hawkmoon and Taldare. Consisting entirely of nonhumans, the prison uncomfortably echoes the imperial past and leaves the fate of Old Nen and the others in question. Kinn urged Theros to come with him, but the paladin wanted to enlist the party's help first.
Sweet Lips: One-Armed Bill's slutty sister, she enlisted Aleksi's aid in deterring many of Godswon's warhawks, veterans, and conscripts from abandoning the town and rushing off to join the Brotherhood of Man's "Free March". Seems as if this swelling crusade of Avencians is intent on circling the country gathering troops and supplies, then launching an attack on Edmark, regardless of how that might hinder General Warrish, Congress, or any other legitimate attempt to win back the nation. Aleksi wisely called in Avencia Dare.
Avencia Dare: Back home in Godswon, down an arm but up in spirits, the party couldn't help but marvel at how her return boosted the general morale. Beaver's Hall was rattling with song and merriment in celebration on the night of her return, and good thing, as her influence halted a majority of much-needed conscripts from abandoning their posts to join the Free March.
Notable Organizations
Church of Aventine (as glimpsed in Godswon's Chapel of the Liberator): More civic than any other religion in Othyr, Aventine's faith is ingrained in national politics. Churches are often used as meeting houses and town halls, and vice versa. In the minds of most Avencians, living free, earning and keeping what's theirs, and speaking one's mind are as much religious tenants as they are the responsibilities of every citizen.. It's miraculous how the church of Aventine manages to preserve the rustic nature of true, hard-earned democracy and avoid the corruptions that have turned so many other religions into leeching institutions and corpulent bureaucracies. Perhaps its Providence, or the collective virtues of keen minds, passionate hearts, and stalwart muscle which serves the church and state, be it as a parson or a senator.
Notable NPCs
Senator Jasmin DeWitt: A late arrival to Godswon, this thirty-something senator from Wesburg is intent on mobilizing Avencia, but at the same time preserving constitutional law; Before she is willing to commit to the idea of Corellion involvement, Jasmin demands proof. She'll be accompanying the party nearer Ambros, intent on joining her fellow senators and substantiating the party's claims along the way.
Mayor Abernathy Teak: Portly, toothy, possessed of an impressive mustache, his mayoral virtues consisted of relaying Benjim's message and provisioning the group. At least he wasn't any sort of hurtle. In fact, he wasn't even a speed bump. If you had to guess, real authority in town likely rests with the Eradicator and Dare.
Eradicator Benedict Hollowin: Tall, grim, glaring, the leader of Godswon's heavenly order of Firebrands was ready to mobilize against the elves without any substantial proof. While he could be considered hasty by some, in Benedict's mind this is war and decisions must be made quickly and decisively.
Toril Kostus: Cured, recovering, and a de facto leader of the Scarlet Blades, Toril has devoted the eastern Blades toward either protecting Congress or scouting Edmark in hopes of eventually rescuing Anita and the other senators. Though hesitant to do so, he's also given Maia the okay to pursue her longshot mission with the gnolls.
Kinn: Theros' rival appeared in Godswon with troubling news. The entire tabari caravan had been captured and thrown into a Norslandian interment camp somewhere between Hawkmoon and Taldare. Consisting entirely of nonhumans, the prison uncomfortably echoes the imperial past and leaves the fate of Old Nen and the others in question. Kinn urged Theros to come with him, but the paladin wanted to enlist the party's help first.
Sweet Lips: One-Armed Bill's slutty sister, she enlisted Aleksi's aid in deterring many of Godswon's warhawks, veterans, and conscripts from abandoning the town and rushing off to join the Brotherhood of Man's "Free March". Seems as if this swelling crusade of Avencians is intent on circling the country gathering troops and supplies, then launching an attack on Edmark, regardless of how that might hinder General Warrish, Congress, or any other legitimate attempt to win back the nation. Aleksi wisely called in Avencia Dare.
Avencia Dare: Back home in Godswon, down an arm but up in spirits, the party couldn't help but marvel at how her return boosted the general morale. Beaver's Hall was rattling with song and merriment in celebration on the night of her return, and good thing, as her influence halted a majority of much-needed conscripts from abandoning their posts to join the Free March.
Notable Organizations
Church of Aventine (as glimpsed in Godswon's Chapel of the Liberator): More civic than any other religion in Othyr, Aventine's faith is ingrained in national politics. Churches are often used as meeting houses and town halls, and vice versa. In the minds of most Avencians, living free, earning and keeping what's theirs, and speaking one's mind are as much religious tenants as they are the responsibilities of every citizen.. It's miraculous how the church of Aventine manages to preserve the rustic nature of true, hard-earned democracy and avoid the corruptions that have turned so many other religions into leeching institutions and corpulent bureaucracies. Perhaps its Providence, or the collective virtues of keen minds, passionate hearts, and stalwart muscle which serves the church and state, be it as a parson or a senator.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Chapter 13: The Trouble with Elves
Nola 4th (10 campaign days)
After camping, discussing possible cannibalistic curses, picking at a roast heron, and somehow managing to sleep in the wake of the burrow, the party boarded Aleksi's Dancing Hut with designs of returning to Godswon.
In that time, Vivianna and Avencia Dare ruined whatever chance at coexistence their factions might have had. Unfortunate how often personalities get in the way of peace. However, the folk hero couldn't completely condemn Vivianna (the inquisitor did help rescue her, after all), thus the uneasiness between Godswon and The Dawn Knights will likely continue...
Maia also took her leave, having emerged from the dungeons with a collection of innocent gnoll pups and their den mothers. The train headed south on the floodplain, the Blade intent on reaching an old friend with valuable experience in these matters. Her intent was to meet back up with the party in Godswon in the next day or two.
On the ride back, the interrogation of the captured elf was of the utmost importance. First known as Elmer and ultimately Falarune Uldaru, he was arrogant and chiding due to a blanket of powerful protective enchantments. Vivianna, with the aid, of all things, of Theros' reciting poetry, located the weak points in his wards and eventually dismantled them.
The magic hinged, cleverly enough, on being tortured. One wound would send the elf phasing back to his compatriots. All the elf had to do was keep quiet and be patient, but he was an opiniated one, quick to correct and argue the inferiority of Othyrians. This led Falarune into revealing more than he'd ever intended. When he'd had enough, Falarune attempted to bite his tongue and trigger the arcane fail-safe. Instead, the force of his bite actually severed his tongue! The shocked elf proceeded to scream, bleed, and flail about.
Once healed, Falarune was much more cooperative, though not quite as overly forthcoming. He looked about as if a bolt of lighting or elven arrow would find him at any moment. But it did not, much to the party's benefit, and the designs which troubled Avencia since that morning in the senate building were revealed...
Notable NPCs
Falarune Uldaru: Elven agent of Phoenix captured by the party and interrogated for a vast amount of information. His arrogance was quickly dismantled when Vivianna pierced his protective enchantments. Before he could be freed or killed, Donatella magically cast him back to his people with a festering plague-in-a-jar. Vivianna is in possession of his robes and staff.
Overseer Nulfur Carrandin (mentioned): Commanding Phoenix agent in charge with collapsing Avencia. Up until recently, his plan was going perfectly. Edmark is occupied. A combination of Norsland and Belarion have been marked the culprits. Congress is divided, while The War of the Crown continues to expand. Due to his overwhelming need for precision, however, Nulfur is personally moving across the country activating the sleepers and agents enacting The Ten Troubles. It may be the party's only chance at halting the alarming fall of the young republic. To their credit, the party has already foiled the first Trouble, though no telling what affect that might have on the entirety of Nulfur's design (it certainly doesn't help).
Empress Bel Norson (mentioned): Opposed to the Highking's designs for Othyr, she feigned the formation of Belarion to get the attention of continental leaders and warn them of the impending attacks. Before Bel and her trusted guardian Relic could inform Othyr's Icons, her own daughter, the teenage Jubilee, betrayed her in favor of the grandfather she had come to idolize. With Bel and Relic captured, the rest of their loyal cadre was forced to cooperate for the empress's continued well being, Gloriandel decided to follow through with the formation of Belarion, if for nothing else than a feint and scapegoat. As for where Bel and Relic might be held, Falarune suggested only the overseer or someone very high up on the Phoenix totem pole would know for sure.
Heurra: A gnoll shaman who turned away from the dark spirits and fled her tribe, aided five years ago by a then-initiate of the Blades, Maia. She is a wise, old gnoll who's made a life for herself in the woods south of the floodplain. While ill, she's agreed to take on the gnoll refugees of the burrow. She was also able to interpret Maia's dreams of Satayel, and agreed to offer one of her sons as Maia's gnollish tutor, but which should she choose...
Oran, The Spirittalker:
Kerr, The Hunter:
Seddar, The Cunning:
Notable Organizations
The Corellion Empire: Four decades ago, the star-elves descended onto Loranna to help win the war against the Yth. In doing so, they unfurled their massive world-ship onto the eastern ocean and created a new continent: Corellon. The resurrected Highking Gloriandel called all elvendom across the planes and planets of existence to it, founding a shining beacon of the eldar race. A new empire was formed, with five provinces according to the migrated peoples: Seldarine (star elves), Drow, Gloriandeline (former slaves and vagabonds formerly a part of Othyr's ancient elven empire), Sylvan (elves of the Wyld), and Feladrin (last of the ice elves). Through the use of Gloriandel's god-like magic and the Seldarine's curious blending of magic and technology known as Incarnum, a world power unlike any before it has risen. And how unfortunate it's aim now seems to be the conquering of Othyr, though with Highking Gloriandel as absolute sovereign was it really so surprising...
Phoenix: Corellon's intelligence and espionage initiative meant to undermine Othyrian nations through the use of ten-step missions called The Ten Troubles. Similar initiatives, according to Falarune, have already conquered Liscar, Tolerna, Clannash, and most surprisingly the mighty city-states of desert Azerbad, While active in Avencia, it's uncertain if the free nations (Saspien, Norsland, Citadel, Izolda, The Lands of the Bastard Kings, and Thrakkis) are combating their own Ten Troubles or unwittingly falling under elven dominance.
As it stands, the party has foiled the first Trouble for Avencia in rescuing Dare, eliminating the gnoll threat to the eastern river-lands, and freeing Godswon to act more immediately in Edmark's best interests.
After camping, discussing possible cannibalistic curses, picking at a roast heron, and somehow managing to sleep in the wake of the burrow, the party boarded Aleksi's Dancing Hut with designs of returning to Godswon.
In that time, Vivianna and Avencia Dare ruined whatever chance at coexistence their factions might have had. Unfortunate how often personalities get in the way of peace. However, the folk hero couldn't completely condemn Vivianna (the inquisitor did help rescue her, after all), thus the uneasiness between Godswon and The Dawn Knights will likely continue...
Maia also took her leave, having emerged from the dungeons with a collection of innocent gnoll pups and their den mothers. The train headed south on the floodplain, the Blade intent on reaching an old friend with valuable experience in these matters. Her intent was to meet back up with the party in Godswon in the next day or two.
On the ride back, the interrogation of the captured elf was of the utmost importance. First known as Elmer and ultimately Falarune Uldaru, he was arrogant and chiding due to a blanket of powerful protective enchantments. Vivianna, with the aid, of all things, of Theros' reciting poetry, located the weak points in his wards and eventually dismantled them.
The magic hinged, cleverly enough, on being tortured. One wound would send the elf phasing back to his compatriots. All the elf had to do was keep quiet and be patient, but he was an opiniated one, quick to correct and argue the inferiority of Othyrians. This led Falarune into revealing more than he'd ever intended. When he'd had enough, Falarune attempted to bite his tongue and trigger the arcane fail-safe. Instead, the force of his bite actually severed his tongue! The shocked elf proceeded to scream, bleed, and flail about.
Once healed, Falarune was much more cooperative, though not quite as overly forthcoming. He looked about as if a bolt of lighting or elven arrow would find him at any moment. But it did not, much to the party's benefit, and the designs which troubled Avencia since that morning in the senate building were revealed...
Notable NPCs
Falarune Uldaru: Elven agent of Phoenix captured by the party and interrogated for a vast amount of information. His arrogance was quickly dismantled when Vivianna pierced his protective enchantments. Before he could be freed or killed, Donatella magically cast him back to his people with a festering plague-in-a-jar. Vivianna is in possession of his robes and staff.
Overseer Nulfur Carrandin (mentioned): Commanding Phoenix agent in charge with collapsing Avencia. Up until recently, his plan was going perfectly. Edmark is occupied. A combination of Norsland and Belarion have been marked the culprits. Congress is divided, while The War of the Crown continues to expand. Due to his overwhelming need for precision, however, Nulfur is personally moving across the country activating the sleepers and agents enacting The Ten Troubles. It may be the party's only chance at halting the alarming fall of the young republic. To their credit, the party has already foiled the first Trouble, though no telling what affect that might have on the entirety of Nulfur's design (it certainly doesn't help).
Empress Bel Norson (mentioned): Opposed to the Highking's designs for Othyr, she feigned the formation of Belarion to get the attention of continental leaders and warn them of the impending attacks. Before Bel and her trusted guardian Relic could inform Othyr's Icons, her own daughter, the teenage Jubilee, betrayed her in favor of the grandfather she had come to idolize. With Bel and Relic captured, the rest of their loyal cadre was forced to cooperate for the empress's continued well being, Gloriandel decided to follow through with the formation of Belarion, if for nothing else than a feint and scapegoat. As for where Bel and Relic might be held, Falarune suggested only the overseer or someone very high up on the Phoenix totem pole would know for sure.
Heurra: A gnoll shaman who turned away from the dark spirits and fled her tribe, aided five years ago by a then-initiate of the Blades, Maia. She is a wise, old gnoll who's made a life for herself in the woods south of the floodplain. While ill, she's agreed to take on the gnoll refugees of the burrow. She was also able to interpret Maia's dreams of Satayel, and agreed to offer one of her sons as Maia's gnollish tutor, but which should she choose...
Oran, The Spirittalker:
Kerr, The Hunter:
Seddar, The Cunning:
Notable Organizations
The Corellion Empire: Four decades ago, the star-elves descended onto Loranna to help win the war against the Yth. In doing so, they unfurled their massive world-ship onto the eastern ocean and created a new continent: Corellon. The resurrected Highking Gloriandel called all elvendom across the planes and planets of existence to it, founding a shining beacon of the eldar race. A new empire was formed, with five provinces according to the migrated peoples: Seldarine (star elves), Drow, Gloriandeline (former slaves and vagabonds formerly a part of Othyr's ancient elven empire), Sylvan (elves of the Wyld), and Feladrin (last of the ice elves). Through the use of Gloriandel's god-like magic and the Seldarine's curious blending of magic and technology known as Incarnum, a world power unlike any before it has risen. And how unfortunate it's aim now seems to be the conquering of Othyr, though with Highking Gloriandel as absolute sovereign was it really so surprising...
Phoenix: Corellon's intelligence and espionage initiative meant to undermine Othyrian nations through the use of ten-step missions called The Ten Troubles. Similar initiatives, according to Falarune, have already conquered Liscar, Tolerna, Clannash, and most surprisingly the mighty city-states of desert Azerbad, While active in Avencia, it's uncertain if the free nations (Saspien, Norsland, Citadel, Izolda, The Lands of the Bastard Kings, and Thrakkis) are combating their own Ten Troubles or unwittingly falling under elven dominance.
As it stands, the party has foiled the first Trouble for Avencia in rescuing Dare, eliminating the gnoll threat to the eastern river-lands, and freeing Godswon to act more immediately in Edmark's best interests.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Chapter 12: Sunlight and Fresh Air
Nola 3rd (9 campaign days)
Notable NPCs
Canglraeth (dead)
Sekare (presumed dead)
Darkpaw Gnoll Clan (defeated)
Mage-Gnoll/Elven Mage (in Theros' custody)
Ithaqua/Howler-in-the-Winds (banished)
Gnoll Refugees (in Maia's care)
Six Sacrifices (dead)
Treasure
Cannibalism (you know who you are)
The Scroll of Eternal Slumber [Vivianna, claimed from the elven ruins during the escape] (consumable): Copied from the golden grimoire of the Highking himself, first and greatest of all wizards, the true Archmage, comes a spell that has become immortal legend in the fairytales and bedtime stories of Othyr: sleep, far-reaching and everlasting, the kind that casts whole castles or cities into hibernation.
With an eloquent reciting of the scroll, an area no smaller than 1 x 1 miles and no greater than 10 x 10 miles is immediately and irrevocably cast into deep, dreaming sleep. Animate and inanimate things enter their versions of unconsciousness, during which they are impervious to the ravages of aging (though everything gets a somber coloring and dusting of cobwebs via the magic).
At the time of casting, the caster must designate the stipulation for waking using only three words, for example "true love's kiss", "the king returns", "the sword pulled". Fate will take care of the rest, understanding that even with the word "eternal" in the spell name, nothing truly lasts forever...
And no, you simply lack the skill (and level) to copy this spell into your spell book.
The Cauldron of Dead Men [Donatella, rolled out of Canglraeth's nest]: Centuries of soot and congealed meat juices have blacked the exterior of this large iron pot, and made the magical runes on it almost impossible to read. The power of the cauldron, though, is well known from story and song as a legacy creation from The Lich Queen Victoria Il'spana. You couldn't just leave it...
Put a dead body in the cauldron, add water, and boil it up. Soon, the dead body will come to life and climb out of the cauldron. The stories are mostly accurate. You may use the cauldron during a full heal-up to restore life to one recently-killed corpse. The resurrected individual looks ghastly – it’s a walking corpse that’s been scalded all over by boiling water – but is otherwise unaffected. This restoration is only temporary, though – the person you resurrected dies again at the start of the next full heal-up, unless you stick them back in the cauldron for another hot bath.
So, you can use the cauldron to keep one slain player character semi-alive, as long as you keep resurrecting them with each full healup. It may still be worthwhile seeking out a more permanent source of resurrection, but the cauldron’s a gory stop-gap. You can also use it to bring back other characters on a temporary basis, as a source of information or to perform one last task.
Quirk: Loves to cook.
Your Most Humble Servant, Wilhelm Scream [Donatella, received the next night on the surface via giant centipede]: You receive a curious letter sealed in red wax with the symbol of a hunchback with a shovel pressed firmly in the paper. Inside, the following:
Dearest Mistress-Reaper,
I am not fit to lick the night soils from your boots! And yet I dare to write, hoping that in my meager existence I might somehow serve you. I am Wilhelm Scream, a worthless performer of odd-jobs who has, in the past, been employed by the likes of both your Great Sire and Void-tossed grandmother.
I write with immeasurable shame that, for the last seventy odd years, your mother has not seen fit to make use of my services, now forcing me to look to the next generation of the imperial Il'spana line. Please, mistress, I beg you make use of me. I am the ears behind the gravestones, the eyes in the alleys, the bloodhound, the arson, the fixer of problems (and should you demand it the creator!), the spider, the worm, and the mule!
I am forever and ever at your disposal. In you, I sense a kindred spirit I have not felt in near a century. You need only scrawl your directions to me in black dirt where bugs do crawl and I will receive them in good time. Word travels faster than you'd believe between the creepy-crawlies!
My payment is your satisfaction. And the respect of my great shyness, which prevents ever looking upon your macabre glory with my own eyes.
Your Most Humble Servant,
Wilhelm Scream
The Ebon Staff of Orlanc the Apprentice [Vivianna, stolen from the elf captive](recharge 16+): One of the only known half-orc/half-elves to survive beyond infancy, Orlanc was abandoned early and survived childhood through theft, lies, sabotage, and the use of his innate sorcery. He grew into adulthood in the time of elven dominance more devious than a drow and more formidable than a mountain giant.
Combining the greatest aspects of elf and orc, a paragon of magical and physical prowess, his insidious cunning was his most fearsome trait. Seven times he avoided extermination by the Highking Gloriandel, a series of infamous tales set across centuries in Othyr that no elf would suffer hearing titled The Seven Offenses of the Ebon Prince.
Orlanc was eventually cornered by the Highking by design, in the center of a spell-sapping dungeon of the half-breeds own making, one so heinous the elves have all but erased lore of it from history. Gloriandel narrowly won, but it was said Orlanc stole something very precious to the Highking.
This is a +3 staff belonging to Orlanc during his tutelage underneath the great wizards, witches, demons, and necromancers of his day. It allows its wielder to memorize 2 extra spells, reflecting the voracious appetite for power Orlanc himself possessed.
It's rumored reuniting the seven staves will create a beacon to the spell-sapping dungeon, inside of which are hidden Gloriandel's seven most powerful spells.
Quirk: Prone to evil mastermind monologues.
Faralune's Tropic Robes [Vivianna, stolen from the elf captive] (recharge 11+): These deep purple robes with fiery, citrus colors at the hems suggest a tropical shore far from Othyr where the sun burns fiercely in the skies and passions run magically deep. Your blood is purple, thick as treacle, and hot as boiling oil. As a free action when you are staggered, you may inflict an amount of fire damage equal to your level or your current ongoing damage (whichever is greater) on all foes engaged with you.
Quirk: Passionate in the extreme.
Wendigo Fang (Aleksi, taken from the charred wendigo-made-flesh): This yellow canine acts as a +3 dagger and inflicts 20 ongoing damage on a critical hit (save 11+). If a target makes the save, you make take 20 damage by biting into your own flesh (as a free action) and negate it.
Quirk: You pocket bits of fallen enemies for reasons you dread contemplating...
Pestle and Mortar [Aleksi, found waiting in the Dancing Hut's broom-closet]: Like the mighty Baba Yaga of old, you now possess a large pestle and mortar. It seems the Hut has grown strong enough to produce one of these magical flyers or, through some unseen force which judges witches, druids, and warlocks, you have been deemed worthy.
Riding the pestle and mortar allows you, Aleksi, limitless flight at a speed comparable to a horse at full charge. While in the mortar, you are impervious to environmental hazards (you cannot drown, be melted or burned by lava, electrocuted, etc.) You can still be attacked and hit, though.
1/day, you may use the pestle and mortar to plane shift into any of the known planes (or maybe unknown, if the circumstances are right).
1/day you can shrink the pestle and mortar down to the size of a dormouse with you inside (providing +5 to AC, but permanently weakening you; a free action to return to normal). 1/day you can enlarge the pestle and mortar to the size of a full-grown oak with you inside (doubling all melee damage, but reducing AC to 10; free action to return to normal size).
Belt of Illusions [Maia, noticed strangely entangled onto your own mundane belt like a python](recharge 16+): This belt works like the wizard spell Disguise Self, altering your appearance by cloaking you in a magical disguise. Unlike the spell, though, you can disguise yourself as a specific person without penalty. There’s a trick to it, though – there’s a leather pouch attached to the belt, and the illusion’s based on whatever you put into the pouch. The more personal the item, the better.
The illusion lasts for ten minutes, and whatever item you place in the pouch is consumed when the duration expires.
Quirk: Paranoid that people aren't really who they say they are.
Symbiosis of Satayel [Maia, realized in a dream]: Before the demon lord Yeenoghu preyed on the gnoll's fear of civilization in order to conquer their souls and the dark spirits of the Eald seduced the hyena-men into erecting grisly totems in their honor, they were a tribal people harmonized with Nature. They worshiped the grass spirit Satayel then, embodiment of the sweeping oceans of green, gold, and ivory that stretched from horizon to horizon and constituted the plains, savannas, and meadows of a wide, youthful planet.
Your rescue of the helpless gnolls of the burrow awakened the last glimmer that remains of the forgotten spirit. If you accept Satayel, she will grow inside of you like a seed, fed by the good works you perform for the plains and those who live upon them. Perhaps, with your help, she might reclaim the hearts and minds of the destructive monsters of the grasslands.
At the beginning of each session, you may roll an additional Relationship Die for Satayel.
Iron-hide Shield [Theros, lifted from a black gnoll corpse] (recharge 6+): It may be nothing more than a dire weasel hide stretched over a crude wooden frame, but the primitive shamanistic markings daubed onto the face of this shield make it indestructible. When an enemy attacks you in melee combat, use the shield to inflict damage equal to the natural attack roll on the attacker as their blow smashes into the surprisingly immovable surface of this unyielding armament.
Quirk: Loves to crush things, be it bugs or walnuts or someone's dreams.
Leopard Knighthood [Theros, felt rather suddenly] (2/day): Your good works have not gone unnoticed. Tavishan, celestial lord of your kind and son of the great goddess Eilessa, has seen fit to reward you for your bravery and steadfastness. As a quick action, you may transform into a leopard twice a day (and quick action back into a tabari). All your possessions shift with you and are not lost. You retain bonuses from worn magic items. And besides obvious improvements to speed, stealth, and climbing (+2 bonuses to related background checks), you also receive an attack and aspect:
Leopard Attack (counting as +2 magical items)
Melee attack - At-Will
Attack: Strength or Dexterity + Level +2 vs. AC
Natural Even Hit: 1d10 damage per level + Strength or Dexterity damage + 2.
Natural Odd Hit: 1d6 damage per level + Strength or Dexterity damage + 2.
Miss: Repeat the attack against the same or a different target.
This second attack has no miss effect.
Leopard Aspect - Quick action - Daily
Until the end of the battle, when an enemy misses you with a melee attack and rolls a natural 1–4, you gain an additional standard action during your next turn. You can only gain one additional standard action a turn this way. Powers like elven grace or a command won’t stack with this effect.
And everyone may magically upgrade their armor to +2 if it isn't already.
Notable NPCs
Canglraeth (dead)
Sekare (presumed dead)
Darkpaw Gnoll Clan (defeated)
Mage-Gnoll/Elven Mage (in Theros' custody)
Ithaqua/Howler-in-the-Winds (banished)
Gnoll Refugees (in Maia's care)
Six Sacrifices (dead)
Treasure
Cannibalism (you know who you are)
The Scroll of Eternal Slumber [Vivianna, claimed from the elven ruins during the escape] (consumable): Copied from the golden grimoire of the Highking himself, first and greatest of all wizards, the true Archmage, comes a spell that has become immortal legend in the fairytales and bedtime stories of Othyr: sleep, far-reaching and everlasting, the kind that casts whole castles or cities into hibernation.
With an eloquent reciting of the scroll, an area no smaller than 1 x 1 miles and no greater than 10 x 10 miles is immediately and irrevocably cast into deep, dreaming sleep. Animate and inanimate things enter their versions of unconsciousness, during which they are impervious to the ravages of aging (though everything gets a somber coloring and dusting of cobwebs via the magic).
At the time of casting, the caster must designate the stipulation for waking using only three words, for example "true love's kiss", "the king returns", "the sword pulled". Fate will take care of the rest, understanding that even with the word "eternal" in the spell name, nothing truly lasts forever...
And no, you simply lack the skill (and level) to copy this spell into your spell book.
The Cauldron of Dead Men [Donatella, rolled out of Canglraeth's nest]: Centuries of soot and congealed meat juices have blacked the exterior of this large iron pot, and made the magical runes on it almost impossible to read. The power of the cauldron, though, is well known from story and song as a legacy creation from The Lich Queen Victoria Il'spana. You couldn't just leave it...
Put a dead body in the cauldron, add water, and boil it up. Soon, the dead body will come to life and climb out of the cauldron. The stories are mostly accurate. You may use the cauldron during a full heal-up to restore life to one recently-killed corpse. The resurrected individual looks ghastly – it’s a walking corpse that’s been scalded all over by boiling water – but is otherwise unaffected. This restoration is only temporary, though – the person you resurrected dies again at the start of the next full heal-up, unless you stick them back in the cauldron for another hot bath.
So, you can use the cauldron to keep one slain player character semi-alive, as long as you keep resurrecting them with each full healup. It may still be worthwhile seeking out a more permanent source of resurrection, but the cauldron’s a gory stop-gap. You can also use it to bring back other characters on a temporary basis, as a source of information or to perform one last task.
Quirk: Loves to cook.
Your Most Humble Servant, Wilhelm Scream [Donatella, received the next night on the surface via giant centipede]: You receive a curious letter sealed in red wax with the symbol of a hunchback with a shovel pressed firmly in the paper. Inside, the following:
Dearest Mistress-Reaper,
I am not fit to lick the night soils from your boots! And yet I dare to write, hoping that in my meager existence I might somehow serve you. I am Wilhelm Scream, a worthless performer of odd-jobs who has, in the past, been employed by the likes of both your Great Sire and Void-tossed grandmother.
I write with immeasurable shame that, for the last seventy odd years, your mother has not seen fit to make use of my services, now forcing me to look to the next generation of the imperial Il'spana line. Please, mistress, I beg you make use of me. I am the ears behind the gravestones, the eyes in the alleys, the bloodhound, the arson, the fixer of problems (and should you demand it the creator!), the spider, the worm, and the mule!
I am forever and ever at your disposal. In you, I sense a kindred spirit I have not felt in near a century. You need only scrawl your directions to me in black dirt where bugs do crawl and I will receive them in good time. Word travels faster than you'd believe between the creepy-crawlies!
My payment is your satisfaction. And the respect of my great shyness, which prevents ever looking upon your macabre glory with my own eyes.
Your Most Humble Servant,
Wilhelm Scream
The Ebon Staff of Orlanc the Apprentice [Vivianna, stolen from the elf captive](recharge 16+): One of the only known half-orc/half-elves to survive beyond infancy, Orlanc was abandoned early and survived childhood through theft, lies, sabotage, and the use of his innate sorcery. He grew into adulthood in the time of elven dominance more devious than a drow and more formidable than a mountain giant.
Combining the greatest aspects of elf and orc, a paragon of magical and physical prowess, his insidious cunning was his most fearsome trait. Seven times he avoided extermination by the Highking Gloriandel, a series of infamous tales set across centuries in Othyr that no elf would suffer hearing titled The Seven Offenses of the Ebon Prince.
Orlanc was eventually cornered by the Highking by design, in the center of a spell-sapping dungeon of the half-breeds own making, one so heinous the elves have all but erased lore of it from history. Gloriandel narrowly won, but it was said Orlanc stole something very precious to the Highking.
This is a +3 staff belonging to Orlanc during his tutelage underneath the great wizards, witches, demons, and necromancers of his day. It allows its wielder to memorize 2 extra spells, reflecting the voracious appetite for power Orlanc himself possessed.
It's rumored reuniting the seven staves will create a beacon to the spell-sapping dungeon, inside of which are hidden Gloriandel's seven most powerful spells.
Quirk: Prone to evil mastermind monologues.
Faralune's Tropic Robes [Vivianna, stolen from the elf captive] (recharge 11+): These deep purple robes with fiery, citrus colors at the hems suggest a tropical shore far from Othyr where the sun burns fiercely in the skies and passions run magically deep. Your blood is purple, thick as treacle, and hot as boiling oil. As a free action when you are staggered, you may inflict an amount of fire damage equal to your level or your current ongoing damage (whichever is greater) on all foes engaged with you.
Quirk: Passionate in the extreme.
Wendigo Fang (Aleksi, taken from the charred wendigo-made-flesh): This yellow canine acts as a +3 dagger and inflicts 20 ongoing damage on a critical hit (save 11+). If a target makes the save, you make take 20 damage by biting into your own flesh (as a free action) and negate it.
Quirk: You pocket bits of fallen enemies for reasons you dread contemplating...
Pestle and Mortar [Aleksi, found waiting in the Dancing Hut's broom-closet]: Like the mighty Baba Yaga of old, you now possess a large pestle and mortar. It seems the Hut has grown strong enough to produce one of these magical flyers or, through some unseen force which judges witches, druids, and warlocks, you have been deemed worthy.
Riding the pestle and mortar allows you, Aleksi, limitless flight at a speed comparable to a horse at full charge. While in the mortar, you are impervious to environmental hazards (you cannot drown, be melted or burned by lava, electrocuted, etc.) You can still be attacked and hit, though.
1/day, you may use the pestle and mortar to plane shift into any of the known planes (or maybe unknown, if the circumstances are right).
1/day you can shrink the pestle and mortar down to the size of a dormouse with you inside (providing +5 to AC, but permanently weakening you; a free action to return to normal). 1/day you can enlarge the pestle and mortar to the size of a full-grown oak with you inside (doubling all melee damage, but reducing AC to 10; free action to return to normal size).
Belt of Illusions [Maia, noticed strangely entangled onto your own mundane belt like a python](recharge 16+): This belt works like the wizard spell Disguise Self, altering your appearance by cloaking you in a magical disguise. Unlike the spell, though, you can disguise yourself as a specific person without penalty. There’s a trick to it, though – there’s a leather pouch attached to the belt, and the illusion’s based on whatever you put into the pouch. The more personal the item, the better.
The illusion lasts for ten minutes, and whatever item you place in the pouch is consumed when the duration expires.
Quirk: Paranoid that people aren't really who they say they are.
Symbiosis of Satayel [Maia, realized in a dream]: Before the demon lord Yeenoghu preyed on the gnoll's fear of civilization in order to conquer their souls and the dark spirits of the Eald seduced the hyena-men into erecting grisly totems in their honor, they were a tribal people harmonized with Nature. They worshiped the grass spirit Satayel then, embodiment of the sweeping oceans of green, gold, and ivory that stretched from horizon to horizon and constituted the plains, savannas, and meadows of a wide, youthful planet.
Your rescue of the helpless gnolls of the burrow awakened the last glimmer that remains of the forgotten spirit. If you accept Satayel, she will grow inside of you like a seed, fed by the good works you perform for the plains and those who live upon them. Perhaps, with your help, she might reclaim the hearts and minds of the destructive monsters of the grasslands.
At the beginning of each session, you may roll an additional Relationship Die for Satayel.
Iron-hide Shield [Theros, lifted from a black gnoll corpse] (recharge 6+): It may be nothing more than a dire weasel hide stretched over a crude wooden frame, but the primitive shamanistic markings daubed onto the face of this shield make it indestructible. When an enemy attacks you in melee combat, use the shield to inflict damage equal to the natural attack roll on the attacker as their blow smashes into the surprisingly immovable surface of this unyielding armament.
Quirk: Loves to crush things, be it bugs or walnuts or someone's dreams.
Leopard Knighthood [Theros, felt rather suddenly] (2/day): Your good works have not gone unnoticed. Tavishan, celestial lord of your kind and son of the great goddess Eilessa, has seen fit to reward you for your bravery and steadfastness. As a quick action, you may transform into a leopard twice a day (and quick action back into a tabari). All your possessions shift with you and are not lost. You retain bonuses from worn magic items. And besides obvious improvements to speed, stealth, and climbing (+2 bonuses to related background checks), you also receive an attack and aspect:
Leopard Attack (counting as +2 magical items)
Melee attack - At-Will
Attack: Strength or Dexterity + Level +2 vs. AC
Natural Even Hit: 1d10 damage per level + Strength or Dexterity damage + 2.
Natural Odd Hit: 1d6 damage per level + Strength or Dexterity damage + 2.
Miss: Repeat the attack against the same or a different target.
This second attack has no miss effect.
Leopard Aspect - Quick action - Daily
Until the end of the battle, when an enemy misses you with a melee attack and rolls a natural 1–4, you gain an additional standard action during your next turn. You can only gain one additional standard action a turn this way. Powers like elven grace or a command won’t stack with this effect.
And everyone may magically upgrade their armor to +2 if it isn't already.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Monday, September 8, 2014
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