[Below is an account of the 16-Nov gaming session.]
The party meets with the local leader, a Sidhe elder who relates to them the plight of the Sidhe. Four hundred years ago, the Sidhe noticed that they began aging and subsequently, dying. They did not know the exact cause of their malady, but they were able to discern that it was magical in nature. Their solution was to create a gate to another existence where this malady was not present. It worked. Now, they had time to try and find a solution to their problem and be able to return to their homeland. This pocket universe, as it were, possessed some strange phenomena, the most noticeable being that the perception of the surroundings tended to mimic the feelings of the most willful person in the area. For example, the first area was “ruled” (for lack of a better word) by a Sidhe that was previously a skilled alchemist. He was always optimistic and certain that a cure would be found. As such, the area within his domain appeared to be a vibrant and busy alchemical lab, with all people in the area (regardless of their actual skills) appearing to be apothecaries, doctors, and assistants working in lockstep to find a solution. In reality, the Sidhe in this domain ran the gamut of experiences and skill sets (warriors, gardeners, carpenters, fishermen, etc.) but they all appeared outwardly to be workers in a laboratory environment.
In an adjacent domain, the strongest willed Sidhe is a man who, back on Arnur Soghal, was a skilled naturalist. The years away from Arnur Soghal began to take a toll on his spirit, putting him in a state of perpetual despair. As such, the appearance of his domain was one of darkness and gloom. The Sidhe here outwardly appeared to be sentient plants that would attack intruders by spitting thorns (Sidhe archers) or slashing with barbed vines (Sidhe soldiers).
Being a proud race, it is not within the nature of the Sidhe to ask others for help. However, in this case, after 400 years, they are beginning to get desperate and have beseeched the party to aid them in solving their problem.
The party, continuing through this Plane, traveling from domain to domain, finds Y’lora’s parents, discovering that they are her foster parents; her biological parents left Y’lora for dead at birth. Her foster parents have been calling to Y’lora from this existence through her dreams. They were apprehended by the Sidhe several years prior, thinking that they were the biological parents of a Severed Soul, and hoping to study them for a cure to their malady given that the Sidhe believed there was a link between a cure and Severed Souls. Finding out that her foster mother is barren (and thus, not the biological mother of a Severed Soul), the Sidhe left Y’lora’s foster parents on their Plane, determining that finding a cure and returning to their beloved homeland could be hindered if the other races of Arnur Soghal were to discover too soon the true reason that the Sidhe had disappeared from the land.
Y’lora’s foster parents had not been held as slaves by the merchant from Cloie. Rather, he was a philanthropist and had bought Y’lora’s foster parents from a slave trader in order to free them. Being miles from their (now destroyed) home in the Eastern reaches of the Tiarnach Forest, the merchant provided employment for Y’lora’s foster parents. When the Sidhe apprehended them, the merchant of Cloie assumed them dead after they had not returned for several years. Y’lora’s foster parents, being older than their appearance would indicate, began to die due to old age. Their souls, however, lingered on the Plane of the Sidhe, tormented until they could see their long lost daughter one last time whom they had not seen since her childhood. Now they could pass on to the afterlife.
After Y’lora’s foster parents fade away, everyone in the party begins to experience vertigo, with their surroundings beginning to blur. After a few moments, everything goes dark. The party members open their eyes and find themselves in their beds in the inn in Cloie, and it is morning.
Except for Alexis. She opens her eyes to darkness.
The party members go down to the common room to check on each other. Siglan awakens to find himself blind once again. When he gets out of bed and prepares to go to the common room, he picks up his staff and his eyesight returns.
In the common room, the party members (minus Alexis) talk of their dream; all of whom experienced the same thing. Outside the inn, Thain is engaged in a heated conversation with a noble and his two aides. The noble is Alexis’ brother, Vincent Gastoni. Vincent is demanding to know the location of Alexis. Thain explains that he has no idea as to her whereabouts. Vincent demands that until she is found, Thain is to remain in Vincent’s custody. The party comes to Thain’s aid, words are exchanged, and a fight breaks out between Vincent and his two aides, and the party.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
The Sidhe
[Below is an account of the 02-Nov gaming session.]
Beyond the door leading out from the large prison room is a hallway that leads into darkness, stretching as far as torchlight will reveal. Traveling down the hallway, the mages notice a step change in the mana level; it is now higher. Ahead in the distance, the party can see the hallway ending, opening into a room that appears to be a laboratory of sorts. Inside the room, there are three individuals who appear almost human, almost elven, but not the same as a half-elf. They are wearing smocks and appear to be carrying out some sort of alchemical experiment. The party attempts to engage in conversation with them. The three alchemists, instead, attack the party, trying to apprehend Y’lora. The fight ends with two of the three alchemists dead and the third captive.
Questioning their captive, the party finds out that:
1) the people here are in fact Sidhe,
2) the reason the Sidhe left Arnur Soghal several centuries earlier is due to the fact that they began to suffer a malady that caused them to age,
3) Arimas is in fact part-Sidhe.
When the party asked why they were so intent on capturing Y’lora, the person said that he did not know, and that he was only following orders. Demanding to see whoever was “in charge”, the party paraded their captive in front of them, having him lead them to his superior.
En route to see the Sidhe’s leader, the party passed through several more rooms, each of which having something to do with performing alchemical experiments. In one room was a bed with a Sidhe lying upon it who had several lesions about his body. Two other people were attending to him, applying various pastes and elixirs to his body.
Beyond the door leading out from the large prison room is a hallway that leads into darkness, stretching as far as torchlight will reveal. Traveling down the hallway, the mages notice a step change in the mana level; it is now higher. Ahead in the distance, the party can see the hallway ending, opening into a room that appears to be a laboratory of sorts. Inside the room, there are three individuals who appear almost human, almost elven, but not the same as a half-elf. They are wearing smocks and appear to be carrying out some sort of alchemical experiment. The party attempts to engage in conversation with them. The three alchemists, instead, attack the party, trying to apprehend Y’lora. The fight ends with two of the three alchemists dead and the third captive.
Questioning their captive, the party finds out that:
1) the people here are in fact Sidhe,
2) the reason the Sidhe left Arnur Soghal several centuries earlier is due to the fact that they began to suffer a malady that caused them to age,
3) Arimas is in fact part-Sidhe.
When the party asked why they were so intent on capturing Y’lora, the person said that he did not know, and that he was only following orders. Demanding to see whoever was “in charge”, the party paraded their captive in front of them, having him lead them to his superior.
En route to see the Sidhe’s leader, the party passed through several more rooms, each of which having something to do with performing alchemical experiments. In one room was a bed with a Sidhe lying upon it who had several lesions about his body. Two other people were attending to him, applying various pastes and elixirs to his body.
Prison of Desolation
[Below is an account of the 26-Oct gaming session.]
Arimas calls out to the people speaking in what he perceives to be the Sidhe language. There is no answer. The party begins to approach the building. When they get to within a few yards of the nearest building of the town, the scenery changes. Now, instead of the village of Cloie lying in front of them, the party sees a vast landscape of rolling hills and sparse vegetation. There are few trees, some scattered boulders, and no signs of inhabitation, save one: a lone, run-down shack the size of a tool shed. Vyn notices that his super-human strength is still present, even though the magical gauntlets are not.
After a few moments, two individuals emerge from behind some boulders several yards from the party. They speak to the party in elven (appearing to be elves themselves), and insist that the party accompany them so that all their questions will be answered. The party, refusing to go anywhere before their questions are answered, resists the two elves’ persuasion. The talk escalates to a fight whereby one of the elves attempts to drag Y’lora by the arm. In the end, the party fends off the two elves, who tuck tail and retreat to the run-down shack. After several minutes, no one emerges from the small shack, so the party investigates it. Looking through the windows and eventually through the front (and only) door of the shack, the interior appears to be very non-descript with no visible exits within. Vyn, Arimas, Alexis, and Y’lora venture into the shack. When they cross the threshold, they disappear.
Siglan stays behind and prays, hoping for insight and direction. Instead, after half an hour, four robed individuals appear from over the nearby hills. They are dressed in the raiment of the Holy Order of Lady Ygnasia. They beseech Siglan to come along with them and all questions will be answered. Siglan speaks to them in six different languages, all of which they understand. He assumes these individuals are other-worldly (I mean, who would actually know six different languages fluently... right. Like that would ever happen... unless they were blind, perhaps). Figuring that they may actually be members of HOLY, and therefore trustworthy, Siglan accompanies them into the shack.
Upon crossing the threshold, Siglan finds himself back with his comrades. The inside of the shack has transformed… instead of a 15’ by 15’ run-down shack, the party now finds themselves inside a large cut-stone building with iron bar cells down either side of the enormous room. It appears to be a well-kept prison with no windows and a single door located in the middle of the opposite wall of the cavernous room. The doorway through which they entered is now gone. The HOLY members no longer appear as the robed humans they did earlier. Now, they appear to be similar to the two elves the party had encountered earlier (which are also within this large prison building). All six individuals are clad in leather armor and wielding weapons. They insist that Y’lora come along with them. The party (most of all, Y’lora) refuses to budge until it is explained to them what their intent is. A fight breaks out, with two of the elves attempting to apprehend Y’lora. In the end, the party is victorious, killing or severely wounding several of the elves. Those that are wounded or otherwise begin to flee, heading to the only door in this room. Arimas cooks one of them from the inside out.
During the fight, a bell is heard in the distance. Figuring it is an alarm, the party barricades the lone door with anything they can find (mostly consisting of cots and benches from within the empty cells). Alexis puts the ring back on, hoping that it may activate a portal out of this location. It does not. After an hour, the bell stops. After the second hour and having no one enter the room, the party decides to venture through the door.
Arimas calls out to the people speaking in what he perceives to be the Sidhe language. There is no answer. The party begins to approach the building. When they get to within a few yards of the nearest building of the town, the scenery changes. Now, instead of the village of Cloie lying in front of them, the party sees a vast landscape of rolling hills and sparse vegetation. There are few trees, some scattered boulders, and no signs of inhabitation, save one: a lone, run-down shack the size of a tool shed. Vyn notices that his super-human strength is still present, even though the magical gauntlets are not.
After a few moments, two individuals emerge from behind some boulders several yards from the party. They speak to the party in elven (appearing to be elves themselves), and insist that the party accompany them so that all their questions will be answered. The party, refusing to go anywhere before their questions are answered, resists the two elves’ persuasion. The talk escalates to a fight whereby one of the elves attempts to drag Y’lora by the arm. In the end, the party fends off the two elves, who tuck tail and retreat to the run-down shack. After several minutes, no one emerges from the small shack, so the party investigates it. Looking through the windows and eventually through the front (and only) door of the shack, the interior appears to be very non-descript with no visible exits within. Vyn, Arimas, Alexis, and Y’lora venture into the shack. When they cross the threshold, they disappear.
Siglan stays behind and prays, hoping for insight and direction. Instead, after half an hour, four robed individuals appear from over the nearby hills. They are dressed in the raiment of the Holy Order of Lady Ygnasia. They beseech Siglan to come along with them and all questions will be answered. Siglan speaks to them in six different languages, all of which they understand. He assumes these individuals are other-worldly (I mean, who would actually know six different languages fluently... right. Like that would ever happen... unless they were blind, perhaps). Figuring that they may actually be members of HOLY, and therefore trustworthy, Siglan accompanies them into the shack.
Upon crossing the threshold, Siglan finds himself back with his comrades. The inside of the shack has transformed… instead of a 15’ by 15’ run-down shack, the party now finds themselves inside a large cut-stone building with iron bar cells down either side of the enormous room. It appears to be a well-kept prison with no windows and a single door located in the middle of the opposite wall of the cavernous room. The doorway through which they entered is now gone. The HOLY members no longer appear as the robed humans they did earlier. Now, they appear to be similar to the two elves the party had encountered earlier (which are also within this large prison building). All six individuals are clad in leather armor and wielding weapons. They insist that Y’lora come along with them. The party (most of all, Y’lora) refuses to budge until it is explained to them what their intent is. A fight breaks out, with two of the elves attempting to apprehend Y’lora. In the end, the party is victorious, killing or severely wounding several of the elves. Those that are wounded or otherwise begin to flee, heading to the only door in this room. Arimas cooks one of them from the inside out.
During the fight, a bell is heard in the distance. Figuring it is an alarm, the party barricades the lone door with anything they can find (mostly consisting of cots and benches from within the empty cells). Alexis puts the ring back on, hoping that it may activate a portal out of this location. It does not. After an hour, the bell stops. After the second hour and having no one enter the room, the party decides to venture through the door.
Monday, October 22, 2007
I Don't Think We're In Kansas Anymore, Toto.
[Below is a summarized accounting of the 19-Oct gaming session.]
1) The Sea Tiger arrives in Kroel upon Arnur Culri to pick up the party.
-- In the middle of the night aboard the ship, Y'lora awakes to see a man standing in her quarters. He jumps toward the porthole, transforms into a fish, and is gone.
-- the party's copper is gone; Vyn looks sheepish.
-- via their daily telepathic call, Y'lora tells Moorlun of their travel through the Sidhe towers; he is very interested
2) The party arrives in Falduin.
-- reward posters on the dock for Bannin Stredak (signed by Dyderick)
-- Alexis casts an illusion disguise on Vyn.
-- Siglan meets with Ghevard Rennes (high ranking member of HOLY) and briefs him of recent events
-- Ghevard tells Siglan that a man by the name of Woltjer will meet with him in Espydur.
-- Siglan gracefully trips while leaving Ghevard's office, dumping his books on the floor.
-- Siglan offers papers/books found in The Master's tower concerning the Sidhe to Ghevard, who has them transcribed.
-- Vyn's headaches continue to increase in intensity. Taking off the gauntlets alleviates the headaches.
-- Johan is called away to the Bailwick of Morong. The war with the kobolds is increasing in intensity. The Crystal Dawn has called him to aid in healing the wounded.
-- Negotiations between the Ramfandir Holdings and the Dwarven Kingdom in the Derzaunen Mtns. are getting heated. HOLY has requested by the Bretwalda to send an earth mage to the talks. They send Bruno.
-- Bruno, desiring to know what his ring is/does, figures that Moorlun (being steeped in magical research) may be able to find out. He gives the ring to Alexis to give to Moorlun, given that she apparently knows him and is able (at some level) to garner favors from him.
3) The party travels via horse and cart to Espydur.
-- Siglan comes across a letter that was accidentally leafed into his slave trade ledger. The letter is written to Ghevard from Renloc (another member of HOLY), stating that "Y'lora appears to be in good care and that Siglan's insight is serving the party well; it is working out as well as they had planned."
-- Vyn teaches Y'lora how to handle a team of horses.
-- Alexis teaches Arimas a few spells.
4) The party arrives in Espydur.
-- The party meets with High King Helkenbraugh and relate the events on the Isle of Souls; the High King, hearing that the immediate threat is gone, decides to send a detachment to the Isle of Souls when resources become available, to check on the current inhabitants of the Master's complex.
-- Y'lora requests (and receives) a writ from the King to gain an audience with the Lord of Cloie.
-- Arimas and Vyn visit with Fremont again (dwarven brewer). Fremont is elated to see them again. He works with Arimas to make a batch of ale; Vyn drinks for free.
-- Per the agreement, Moorlun put a word in to the High King for Alexis to have him grant her an audience. Alexis meets with the court, beseeching that he help in bringing her brother to justice. He agrees to detain him when possible, but it is up to her to present evidence against him.
-- Siglan meets with his Order; there was some confusion as to where Woltjer was supposed to meet Siglan; Woltjer is heading to Falduin.
5) The party travels to Cloie to search for information concerning Y'lora's parents.
-- White roses are growing fairly abundantly in the area.
-- The Lord of Cloie meets with Y'lora. He says that the merchant named in the slave trade ledgers passed away 10 years prior. His eldest son now owns the estate just outside of town.
-- The inn's offering of ale doesn't meet Arimas' standards; he provides trade tips to the innkeeper as they begin to make a new batch; Vyn drinks for free again.
-- Vyn overhears patrons of the inn mention Alexis' brother being out and about.
-- Alexis investigates the store that was owned by the man who had purchased Y'lora's parents; there are no elves currently working in the store.
-- Y'lora scouts out the estate now owned by the merchant's son. She passes a graveyard on the way, gets a funny feeling, and finds two tombstones with her parents' names. The graves appear to be tended. "Lost but not forgotten" is inscribed on the tombstones.
-- In the morning, Alexis, Thain, Verinda, and Frederick awake. The rest of the party is not to be found.
-- Thain enters the rooms of the others; they all appear to be dead in bed with no visible signs of injury.
-- Alexis notes that a small group of men on horseback is entering town bearing her brother's heraldry.
-- Bruno's ring begins to glow brightly.
-- Alexis puts on the ring and is whisked away, ending up on the top of a Sidhe Tower similar to the others, except this one has a sixth portal which appears to exist in thin air. The rune on the center of the top floor of the tower is "12".
-- Alexis steps through the sixth portal and finds herself back in Cloie, alongside Vyn, Arimas, Y'lora, and Siglan. It is morning, as she remembers, but it is overcast now (it was sunny when she had put the ring on). The ring is now ice cold, to the point of being painful, and is no longer glowing. She takes the ring off.
-- Siglan realizes that he can see.
-- Cries for help, in Elvish, come from a nearby building.
-- Arimas hears muffled talk from behind the building... low enough that he "shouldn't" be able to hear it. The language is one that he's never heard before, but realizes he can understand it... is "sounds" like Sidhe.
1) The Sea Tiger arrives in Kroel upon Arnur Culri to pick up the party.
-- In the middle of the night aboard the ship, Y'lora awakes to see a man standing in her quarters. He jumps toward the porthole, transforms into a fish, and is gone.
-- the party's copper is gone; Vyn looks sheepish.
-- via their daily telepathic call, Y'lora tells Moorlun of their travel through the Sidhe towers; he is very interested
2) The party arrives in Falduin.
-- reward posters on the dock for Bannin Stredak (signed by Dyderick)
-- Alexis casts an illusion disguise on Vyn.
-- Siglan meets with Ghevard Rennes (high ranking member of HOLY) and briefs him of recent events
-- Ghevard tells Siglan that a man by the name of Woltjer will meet with him in Espydur.
-- Siglan gracefully trips while leaving Ghevard's office, dumping his books on the floor.
-- Siglan offers papers/books found in The Master's tower concerning the Sidhe to Ghevard, who has them transcribed.
-- Vyn's headaches continue to increase in intensity. Taking off the gauntlets alleviates the headaches.
-- Johan is called away to the Bailwick of Morong. The war with the kobolds is increasing in intensity. The Crystal Dawn has called him to aid in healing the wounded.
-- Negotiations between the Ramfandir Holdings and the Dwarven Kingdom in the Derzaunen Mtns. are getting heated. HOLY has requested by the Bretwalda to send an earth mage to the talks. They send Bruno.
-- Bruno, desiring to know what his ring is/does, figures that Moorlun (being steeped in magical research) may be able to find out. He gives the ring to Alexis to give to Moorlun, given that she apparently knows him and is able (at some level) to garner favors from him.
3) The party travels via horse and cart to Espydur.
-- Siglan comes across a letter that was accidentally leafed into his slave trade ledger. The letter is written to Ghevard from Renloc (another member of HOLY), stating that "Y'lora appears to be in good care and that Siglan's insight is serving the party well; it is working out as well as they had planned."
-- Vyn teaches Y'lora how to handle a team of horses.
-- Alexis teaches Arimas a few spells.
4) The party arrives in Espydur.
-- The party meets with High King Helkenbraugh and relate the events on the Isle of Souls; the High King, hearing that the immediate threat is gone, decides to send a detachment to the Isle of Souls when resources become available, to check on the current inhabitants of the Master's complex.
-- Y'lora requests (and receives) a writ from the King to gain an audience with the Lord of Cloie.
-- Arimas and Vyn visit with Fremont again (dwarven brewer). Fremont is elated to see them again. He works with Arimas to make a batch of ale; Vyn drinks for free.
-- Per the agreement, Moorlun put a word in to the High King for Alexis to have him grant her an audience. Alexis meets with the court, beseeching that he help in bringing her brother to justice. He agrees to detain him when possible, but it is up to her to present evidence against him.
-- Siglan meets with his Order; there was some confusion as to where Woltjer was supposed to meet Siglan; Woltjer is heading to Falduin.
5) The party travels to Cloie to search for information concerning Y'lora's parents.
-- White roses are growing fairly abundantly in the area.
-- The Lord of Cloie meets with Y'lora. He says that the merchant named in the slave trade ledgers passed away 10 years prior. His eldest son now owns the estate just outside of town.
-- The inn's offering of ale doesn't meet Arimas' standards; he provides trade tips to the innkeeper as they begin to make a new batch; Vyn drinks for free again.
-- Vyn overhears patrons of the inn mention Alexis' brother being out and about.
-- Alexis investigates the store that was owned by the man who had purchased Y'lora's parents; there are no elves currently working in the store.
-- Y'lora scouts out the estate now owned by the merchant's son. She passes a graveyard on the way, gets a funny feeling, and finds two tombstones with her parents' names. The graves appear to be tended. "Lost but not forgotten" is inscribed on the tombstones.
-- In the morning, Alexis, Thain, Verinda, and Frederick awake. The rest of the party is not to be found.
-- Thain enters the rooms of the others; they all appear to be dead in bed with no visible signs of injury.
-- Alexis notes that a small group of men on horseback is entering town bearing her brother's heraldry.
-- Bruno's ring begins to glow brightly.
-- Alexis puts on the ring and is whisked away, ending up on the top of a Sidhe Tower similar to the others, except this one has a sixth portal which appears to exist in thin air. The rune on the center of the top floor of the tower is "12".
-- Alexis steps through the sixth portal and finds herself back in Cloie, alongside Vyn, Arimas, Y'lora, and Siglan. It is morning, as she remembers, but it is overcast now (it was sunny when she had put the ring on). The ring is now ice cold, to the point of being painful, and is no longer glowing. She takes the ring off.
-- Siglan realizes that he can see.
-- Cries for help, in Elvish, come from a nearby building.
-- Arimas hears muffled talk from behind the building... low enough that he "shouldn't" be able to hear it. The language is one that he's never heard before, but realizes he can understand it... is "sounds" like Sidhe.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Dreams Made Real
As Y'lora struggled to get back out of the water, Alexis noted that the beast that had rammed the boat was a shark. As she was about to get into the boat, she slipped and fell back into the water. The shark came back about and bit Y'lora's leg. Arimas was able to apportate Y'lora out of the water and began moving her back to shore. Meanwhile, after another ramming of the boat (which then began to leak, much to the dismay of Alexis and Thain), Thain was able to cut the shark as it passed by the boat. Wounded, it began to run. However, it's attempts to flee were dashed as Bruno crushed its head with good-sized stone missile. As its lifeless body began to sink, its tail began to change shape and a pair of humanoid legs could be seen just before it sank out of sight.
Pulling the boat inside the tower through the gaping hole in the wall of the tower (courtesy Bruno), the party sat down to rest while Alexis healed Y'lora's wounds. Bruno, Arimas, and Siglan went back up to the top floor of the tower to see if the ring that Bruno pulled from the hand of the wraith on the Isle of Souls would activate the transportation gates. After an hour of pulling, pushing, twisting, and prodding the ring, along with adorning it on various extremities, Bruno gave up.
With the party now rested, Arimas apportated the party to the shore, with Y’lora pulling the boat via rope. The party then talked with Yngvi, the Ascomanni villager from whom she had borrowed the boat. After relating the story of killing the shark in the tower, an apprehensive Yngvi let the party off the hook by only charging them 100 copper for the damages to his boat.
Flashing forward in time a bit, the Sea Tiger, with Vyn aboard, made port in Nestbaggann. Vyn stayed on the boat in order to avoid any imperial entanglements. Captain N’Questra sent several of him men ashore in order to find some way to offload the slaves and captured Master’s minions. While the ship was in port, Verinda, Frederick, and Thargus took the opportunity to see some of the city. They made their way to an inn where Verinda and Frederick took a much-awaited bath. Thargus tried to woo one of the bar wenches. Apparently, it worked, as they left the inn together. Thargus has not been seen since.
Back on the ship, several of the city guard boarded the Sea Tiger and spoke with Captain N’Questra at length. After the conversation was over, N’Questra took Vyn aside and explained to him that the guards were looking for a man by the name of Bannin Stredak who is wanted for murder. They were told that he had been seen aboard a ship in the Sea of the Bereaved and might be making port in Nestbaggann. N’Questra assured the guards that he was not harboring any fugitives and made it worth their while to take him at his word. He then told Vyn that he recalled back on the Isle of Souls that Vyn claimed his name was actually Bannin. In the end, N’Questra informed Vyn that he is effectively abetting a fugitive, and then asked Vyn what it would be worth to him for the good captain to keep Vyn’s presence on his ship a secret. They settled for one iron-bound chest full of copper (the one that the party looted from The Master’s tower). The Sea Tiger, now restocked and unburdened of its many passengers, weighed anchor and is now heading out to sea, making for the Bay of Arnur Culri.
Back in the coastal village on Anur Culri, Johan asked if any trading ships visit this village regularly. Yngvi said that they didn’t, given that they do not have a large enough population in the village (not to mention not having a dock big enough for a sea-faring ship) to warrant regular arrivals of large ships. There is, however, a larger town, Kroel, 30 miles to the west that does receive larger ships. The party rested for the evening, with Siglan spending time at the local temple to Gix, learning of the Ascomanni’s deity what he could, and in turn teaching the locals what he could of his Order.
After a night’s rest, Y’lora, Johan, and Arimas got up to travel to the larger town in order to tell the harbor master that if the Sea Tiger were to make port, tell the captain that the party is in a small village to the east. As they were making ready to leave, Yngvi approached Y’lora, handed her a white rose (which pricked her finger), and told her that he overheard her speaking of her search for the final resting place of her parents on the mainland. He gave her his condolences. Just as the three adventurers were about to leave the village, several of the fishermen arrived back from their early morning catch. Arimas was unfortunate enough to be in the way of one of the men as he tripped, spilling a basket of fish on top of him and soiling his armor. At the end of the day’s march, Y’lora, Johan, and Bruno arrived in Kroel and booked rooms at an inn. In the morning, they found themselves back in the fishing village. To make a long story short, the previous day’s events were only remembered by Y’lora and Arimas. To Johan, they had not yet left for Kroel. This appeared to be yet another dream. This time, however, Arimas and Y’lora shared the same dream. And, when they awoke, Y’lora was holding a white rose and her finger was bleeding. Arimas awoke to find fish slime on his armor. After relating to the rest of the party what they remember of the previous day (which did not appear to have actually occurred), Alexis recounted that white roses only grow in a small region in the Ramfandir Holdings, southeast of Espydur, in the hills around the town of Cloie. This is the same town that The Master’s slave ledgers indicated was the home to the merchant who had purchased Y’lora’s parents.
Pulling the boat inside the tower through the gaping hole in the wall of the tower (courtesy Bruno), the party sat down to rest while Alexis healed Y'lora's wounds. Bruno, Arimas, and Siglan went back up to the top floor of the tower to see if the ring that Bruno pulled from the hand of the wraith on the Isle of Souls would activate the transportation gates. After an hour of pulling, pushing, twisting, and prodding the ring, along with adorning it on various extremities, Bruno gave up.
With the party now rested, Arimas apportated the party to the shore, with Y’lora pulling the boat via rope. The party then talked with Yngvi, the Ascomanni villager from whom she had borrowed the boat. After relating the story of killing the shark in the tower, an apprehensive Yngvi let the party off the hook by only charging them 100 copper for the damages to his boat.
Flashing forward in time a bit, the Sea Tiger, with Vyn aboard, made port in Nestbaggann. Vyn stayed on the boat in order to avoid any imperial entanglements. Captain N’Questra sent several of him men ashore in order to find some way to offload the slaves and captured Master’s minions. While the ship was in port, Verinda, Frederick, and Thargus took the opportunity to see some of the city. They made their way to an inn where Verinda and Frederick took a much-awaited bath. Thargus tried to woo one of the bar wenches. Apparently, it worked, as they left the inn together. Thargus has not been seen since.
Back on the ship, several of the city guard boarded the Sea Tiger and spoke with Captain N’Questra at length. After the conversation was over, N’Questra took Vyn aside and explained to him that the guards were looking for a man by the name of Bannin Stredak who is wanted for murder. They were told that he had been seen aboard a ship in the Sea of the Bereaved and might be making port in Nestbaggann. N’Questra assured the guards that he was not harboring any fugitives and made it worth their while to take him at his word. He then told Vyn that he recalled back on the Isle of Souls that Vyn claimed his name was actually Bannin. In the end, N’Questra informed Vyn that he is effectively abetting a fugitive, and then asked Vyn what it would be worth to him for the good captain to keep Vyn’s presence on his ship a secret. They settled for one iron-bound chest full of copper (the one that the party looted from The Master’s tower). The Sea Tiger, now restocked and unburdened of its many passengers, weighed anchor and is now heading out to sea, making for the Bay of Arnur Culri.
Back in the coastal village on Anur Culri, Johan asked if any trading ships visit this village regularly. Yngvi said that they didn’t, given that they do not have a large enough population in the village (not to mention not having a dock big enough for a sea-faring ship) to warrant regular arrivals of large ships. There is, however, a larger town, Kroel, 30 miles to the west that does receive larger ships. The party rested for the evening, with Siglan spending time at the local temple to Gix, learning of the Ascomanni’s deity what he could, and in turn teaching the locals what he could of his Order.
After a night’s rest, Y’lora, Johan, and Arimas got up to travel to the larger town in order to tell the harbor master that if the Sea Tiger were to make port, tell the captain that the party is in a small village to the east. As they were making ready to leave, Yngvi approached Y’lora, handed her a white rose (which pricked her finger), and told her that he overheard her speaking of her search for the final resting place of her parents on the mainland. He gave her his condolences. Just as the three adventurers were about to leave the village, several of the fishermen arrived back from their early morning catch. Arimas was unfortunate enough to be in the way of one of the men as he tripped, spilling a basket of fish on top of him and soiling his armor. At the end of the day’s march, Y’lora, Johan, and Bruno arrived in Kroel and booked rooms at an inn. In the morning, they found themselves back in the fishing village. To make a long story short, the previous day’s events were only remembered by Y’lora and Arimas. To Johan, they had not yet left for Kroel. This appeared to be yet another dream. This time, however, Arimas and Y’lora shared the same dream. And, when they awoke, Y’lora was holding a white rose and her finger was bleeding. Arimas awoke to find fish slime on his armor. After relating to the rest of the party what they remember of the previous day (which did not appear to have actually occurred), Alexis recounted that white roses only grow in a small region in the Ramfandir Holdings, southeast of Espydur, in the hills around the town of Cloie. This is the same town that The Master’s slave ledgers indicated was the home to the merchant who had purchased Y’lora’s parents.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Teleportation and Going for a Swim
Mid-morning, Anarire 19, 370 F.S.
En route to the Sidhe tower on the Isle of Souls, Thargus asks others in the party who "the other ship" was, referring to Dyderic's ship who had shown up on the Isle of Souls when the Master's minions decided to launch an attack upon the Sea Tiger. The party lets him know it was a merchant named Dyderic. Thargus then tells the party that Dyderic is more than a mere merchant, dealing in extortion and black market trade (Thargus had done work for Dyderic in the past). He found it interesting that Dyderic would take interest in the party.
The party continues to investigate the archways atop the ancient Sidhe tower on the northern end of the Isle of Souls. Deliberation ensued as to the operation of the gates. In the end, Siglan's adventurous streak won out and he (with the aid of Alexis) walked under the arch with the numeral "7" inscribed on its lintel in Sidhe. He disappeared. More deliberation ensued. After a bit, curiosity won out and, one by one, everyone in the party except for Vyn and Thargus (who has been following Alexis around like a puppy) walked under the arch. Before Y'lora entered, she told Vyn that if the party did not make it back, that he was to travel back to the Sea Tiger and tell Captain N'Questra what has happened.
They did not come back.
After an hour, Vyn begins the one-day trek back to the Sea Tiger and informs Capt. N'Questra of the events, and that most likely, the rest of the party is in the Bay of Arnur Culri (according to the text found in The Master's library, this is where they believe the tower would be taking them). Vyn requests that N'Questra voyage up to Arnur Culri to pick up the party. N'Questra, realizing that the "cargo" for which he was charged with safely delivering to, and returning from, the Isle of Souls is now 1800 miles to the north, agrees to travel to Arnur Culri with the condition that he must first make a two-day delay by stopping in Nestbaggann to drop off the rescued slaves and captured minions with "somebody", as well as restock the ship's supplies. Vyn acquiesces, and travels aboard the Sea Tiger.
*flashback one day*
Arimas, Siglan, Alexis, Thain, Y'lora, Johan, and Bruno, having stepped through the teleportation arch, find themselves on the top floor of yet another similar yet very different tower. The Sidhe sigil "7" is inscribed in the middle of the floor. About the pentagon-shaped room are five more archways, each with a Sidhe numeral inscribed in their lintels (6, 9, 12, 5, and 3). Arimas notices that arches 6, 9, and 12 possess an aura whereas 5 and 3 do not. After closer interrogation of the diagram found in the tome concerning the 12 Towers, Alexis hypothesizes that all gateways may not be presently working, and some may only work one-way. In any event, after stepping into the various arches and realizing that nothing happened, the party came to the conclusion that they are stuck here.
Looking out from the windows of the tower, it could be seen that this tower was located in a large body of water, with the shore about 50 yards to the north. Siglan and Y'lora heard a splashing sound from within the tower, some floors below them. Investigating, they find that the first floor of the tower is completely submerged. Y'lora finds some relatively fresh humanoid tracks on the second floor near the stairway that leads down into the water. The tower contains nothing of noteworthiness; just some sparse and very old and decayed furniture. While investigating the second floor, Siglan hears something in the water. Looking into the stairway leading down, Y'lora sees the water boil (as in movement below the surface... not steam and such).
Returning to the top floor, the party debates on how to escape to land. Arimas apportates Y'lora out of the tower and onto shore. Soon afterwards, several of the villagers living on the coast approach Y'lora. She begins a discussions with one of them, a fisherman. She explains that her party is in the tower and needs to reach land. The fisherman wants nothing to do with "that blasted tower", explaining that they have lost some men in the past when attempting to investigate the tower in the bay. He tells of a mysterious great shark that can pull men from dry ground into the water that haunts the tower. Y'lora convinces him to let her borrow his boat (for a nice deposit of copper, of course) and she makes her way back out to the tower. Alexis and Thain are the first two to climb into the boat. Just as Thain makes his way into it, the boat shudders as something very large runs into it from below the water. Y'lora loses her balance and falls into the water.
En route to the Sidhe tower on the Isle of Souls, Thargus asks others in the party who "the other ship" was, referring to Dyderic's ship who had shown up on the Isle of Souls when the Master's minions decided to launch an attack upon the Sea Tiger. The party lets him know it was a merchant named Dyderic. Thargus then tells the party that Dyderic is more than a mere merchant, dealing in extortion and black market trade (Thargus had done work for Dyderic in the past). He found it interesting that Dyderic would take interest in the party.
The party continues to investigate the archways atop the ancient Sidhe tower on the northern end of the Isle of Souls. Deliberation ensued as to the operation of the gates. In the end, Siglan's adventurous streak won out and he (with the aid of Alexis) walked under the arch with the numeral "7" inscribed on its lintel in Sidhe. He disappeared. More deliberation ensued. After a bit, curiosity won out and, one by one, everyone in the party except for Vyn and Thargus (who has been following Alexis around like a puppy) walked under the arch. Before Y'lora entered, she told Vyn that if the party did not make it back, that he was to travel back to the Sea Tiger and tell Captain N'Questra what has happened.
They did not come back.
After an hour, Vyn begins the one-day trek back to the Sea Tiger and informs Capt. N'Questra of the events, and that most likely, the rest of the party is in the Bay of Arnur Culri (according to the text found in The Master's library, this is where they believe the tower would be taking them). Vyn requests that N'Questra voyage up to Arnur Culri to pick up the party. N'Questra, realizing that the "cargo" for which he was charged with safely delivering to, and returning from, the Isle of Souls is now 1800 miles to the north, agrees to travel to Arnur Culri with the condition that he must first make a two-day delay by stopping in Nestbaggann to drop off the rescued slaves and captured minions with "somebody", as well as restock the ship's supplies. Vyn acquiesces, and travels aboard the Sea Tiger.
*flashback one day*
Arimas, Siglan, Alexis, Thain, Y'lora, Johan, and Bruno, having stepped through the teleportation arch, find themselves on the top floor of yet another similar yet very different tower. The Sidhe sigil "7" is inscribed in the middle of the floor. About the pentagon-shaped room are five more archways, each with a Sidhe numeral inscribed in their lintels (6, 9, 12, 5, and 3). Arimas notices that arches 6, 9, and 12 possess an aura whereas 5 and 3 do not. After closer interrogation of the diagram found in the tome concerning the 12 Towers, Alexis hypothesizes that all gateways may not be presently working, and some may only work one-way. In any event, after stepping into the various arches and realizing that nothing happened, the party came to the conclusion that they are stuck here.
Looking out from the windows of the tower, it could be seen that this tower was located in a large body of water, with the shore about 50 yards to the north. Siglan and Y'lora heard a splashing sound from within the tower, some floors below them. Investigating, they find that the first floor of the tower is completely submerged. Y'lora finds some relatively fresh humanoid tracks on the second floor near the stairway that leads down into the water. The tower contains nothing of noteworthiness; just some sparse and very old and decayed furniture. While investigating the second floor, Siglan hears something in the water. Looking into the stairway leading down, Y'lora sees the water boil (as in movement below the surface... not steam and such).
Returning to the top floor, the party debates on how to escape to land. Arimas apportates Y'lora out of the tower and onto shore. Soon afterwards, several of the villagers living on the coast approach Y'lora. She begins a discussions with one of them, a fisherman. She explains that her party is in the tower and needs to reach land. The fisherman wants nothing to do with "that blasted tower", explaining that they have lost some men in the past when attempting to investigate the tower in the bay. He tells of a mysterious great shark that can pull men from dry ground into the water that haunts the tower. Y'lora convinces him to let her borrow his boat (for a nice deposit of copper, of course) and she makes her way back out to the tower. Alexis and Thain are the first two to climb into the boat. Just as Thain makes his way into it, the boat shudders as something very large runs into it from below the water. Y'lora loses her balance and falls into the water.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Leaving The Master's Complex
The entire timeline of the campaign, from its onset to now, can be found here. In the middle of this post, I have described what Arimas found out about Bruno's ring when he analyzed it. I had notes on this written up ahead of time prior to last week's game session, but I couldn't find them last week, so I winged the descriptions of what was found on the ring. Well, I have now found my notes, so I've given the findings by Arimas later in this post.
As the party finished looting the Tower, a robed figure looking to be The Master arrived in the complex via cart. The party speaks with him inside the Tower. They call his bluff and the imposter (named Ecbert) succumbs to the party. The end result of the "negotiations" is that the party is leaving ASAP (with a hefty pile of swag), Ecbert is staying behind in the complex. One of The Master's minions, Thargus, becomes enamored with Alexis and follows her around like a puppy. The party offers passage back to Arnur Soghal for all fifty of the slaves being held in the complex. The remaining ten or so minions of The Master run out of the main gate of the complex during negotiations with Ecbert.
Waiting on the dock for the Sea Tiger to arrive, the party sees a large ship flying The Master’s colors (and then pulling them down) sail down the river. N’Questra later tells the party that they saw a large ship pass them that came from upstream.
After some quick negotiations with Captain N’Questra, he agrees to house all fifty slaves, along with the eight minions of The Master that the party apprehended the previous day.
The party raids the larder of the complex in order to feed these extra mouths.
Information gained by the party from books in the Tower indicates that one of the 12 Towers is located on the northern end of the Isle of Souls. With some aid from Moorlun, the party has N’Questra sail around the southern end of the island, up the west coast of the island, and around its northern end. Along the way, they spot several isolated buildings on the island, scattered about its southern end.
While on board the ship, Arimas analyzed the ruby ring that Bruno found on the robed figure in The Master's complex that was standing guard over the Black Cauldron. Each of the spells enchanted onto the ring, as far as Arimas can determine, are variants of spells that he has heard of. Here is what he found:
1) the first enchantment on the ring is something that involves the opening of doors
2) the second enchantment is something that involves everlasting life
3) the third is a location-finding enchantment
4) the fourth enchantment has something to do with rapid movement
Throughout the four hours of analysis, Arimas sensed an overriding enchantment on the ring... almost as if it were yet another odd variant of spells he is not really familiar with. This one overall "impression" seems to create a tether or an anchor to something. It is difficult to discern, but Arimas' mind sees the tether as being a link to a physical place and a state of being. As he examines the enchantments' magical properties, it tends to give him a headache whenever he looks too long at the tether itself.
Making their way onto the north end of the island, the party begins scouting for Sidhe tower that is allegedly on this island. Vyn picks up an old foot trail, the party follows it, and they end up at an old (but well-built) 5-story stone tower. On the top floor of this tower, there are five archways. Three of them emanate a magical aura. Two do not. Y'lora enters into beneath one of the magical archways (labled "12" upon its lintel in Sidhe) and one of the non-magical archways (labeled "2" in Sidhe). Nothing happens in either case.
As the party finished looting the Tower, a robed figure looking to be The Master arrived in the complex via cart. The party speaks with him inside the Tower. They call his bluff and the imposter (named Ecbert) succumbs to the party. The end result of the "negotiations" is that the party is leaving ASAP (with a hefty pile of swag), Ecbert is staying behind in the complex. One of The Master's minions, Thargus, becomes enamored with Alexis and follows her around like a puppy. The party offers passage back to Arnur Soghal for all fifty of the slaves being held in the complex. The remaining ten or so minions of The Master run out of the main gate of the complex during negotiations with Ecbert.
Waiting on the dock for the Sea Tiger to arrive, the party sees a large ship flying The Master’s colors (and then pulling them down) sail down the river. N’Questra later tells the party that they saw a large ship pass them that came from upstream.
After some quick negotiations with Captain N’Questra, he agrees to house all fifty slaves, along with the eight minions of The Master that the party apprehended the previous day.
The party raids the larder of the complex in order to feed these extra mouths.
Information gained by the party from books in the Tower indicates that one of the 12 Towers is located on the northern end of the Isle of Souls. With some aid from Moorlun, the party has N’Questra sail around the southern end of the island, up the west coast of the island, and around its northern end. Along the way, they spot several isolated buildings on the island, scattered about its southern end.
While on board the ship, Arimas analyzed the ruby ring that Bruno found on the robed figure in The Master's complex that was standing guard over the Black Cauldron. Each of the spells enchanted onto the ring, as far as Arimas can determine, are variants of spells that he has heard of. Here is what he found:
1) the first enchantment on the ring is something that involves the opening of doors
2) the second enchantment is something that involves everlasting life
3) the third is a location-finding enchantment
4) the fourth enchantment has something to do with rapid movement
Throughout the four hours of analysis, Arimas sensed an overriding enchantment on the ring... almost as if it were yet another odd variant of spells he is not really familiar with. This one overall "impression" seems to create a tether or an anchor to something. It is difficult to discern, but Arimas' mind sees the tether as being a link to a physical place and a state of being. As he examines the enchantments' magical properties, it tends to give him a headache whenever he looks too long at the tether itself.
Making their way onto the north end of the island, the party begins scouting for Sidhe tower that is allegedly on this island. Vyn picks up an old foot trail, the party follows it, and they end up at an old (but well-built) 5-story stone tower. On the top floor of this tower, there are five archways. Three of them emanate a magical aura. Two do not. Y'lora enters into beneath one of the magical archways (labled "12" upon its lintel in Sidhe) and one of the non-magical archways (labeled "2" in Sidhe). Nothing happens in either case.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Negotiations at the Tower
After a half hour of ensuring that the tower is secure, Vyn noticed a horse-drawn cart enter the complex from the west gate. Throught the driving rain, he could make out one individual driving the cart. The cart stopped in front of a building to the southwest of the tower, whereby the driver dismounted and began speaking with several of the minions who were in that building. Alexis asked Verinda and Frederick if they could determine who it was who had just arrived. After a long look through the rain, Frederick stated, "That is the Master."
Y'lora, being a shoot-'em-all-and-let-[deity of choice]-sort-'em-out kind of an elf, opened one of the windows in the Tower and took aim at the robed individual that Frederick had identified as the Master. The minions noticed the window opening and quickly ducked back into the building from which they had emerged. The Master shouted from the building, wishing to discuss the present situation like civilized people. He wished for both sides to meet in the gazebo in front of the Tower, without weapons.
Siglan and Alexis, trying to ascertain the Master's motives, did not sense deception in his voice. However, it did appear to them that this person (who appeared to be the Master) lacked a sense of confidence in his voice.
The session ended with the party coming to the mutual conclusion that this guy probably is not the Master. Siglan, Vyn, Alexis, and Y'lora discussed how to handle the situation. Suggestions were:
Y'lora: have Alexis cast an illusion on Verinda, making her appear to be Y'lora. Then, send out the party (with Verinda posing as Y'lora) while Y'lora stays in the tower and takes up a line of fire on the gazebo just in case negotiations go awry.
Alexis: have Verinda and Frederick come out with the party to the gazebo, showing the minions that the party is NOT here to wantonly slay all who breathe (i.e., that they are indeed willing to talk).
Siglan: We have their tower. Have THEM come to US. We are in a defensible (sp?) position... they are in no position to negotiate on any terms other than ours. Besides, if this guy really were the Master, he wouldn't be so willing to negotiate to get his tower back; he'd just come in with guns ablazing.
So, that's where we are now.
This upcoming Friday, there will be no game session (Renaissance Fair!!!). So, we will pick up on Friday, Sept. 14 with Bruno, Arimas, and Johan suddenly springing back into action.
Please feel free to use the next two weeks to discuss among yourselves via e-mail as to the actions of the party when we pick back up on the 14th. And leave me off the distribution list... the GM having a priori knowledge of the players' actions is not always a good thing. [evil grin]
Y'lora, being a shoot-'em-all-and-let-[deity of choice]
Siglan and Alexis, trying to ascertain the Master's motives, did not sense deception in his voice. However, it did appear to them that this person (who appeared to be the Master) lacked a sense of confidence in his voice.
The session ended with the party coming to the mutual conclusion that this guy probably is not the Master. Siglan, Vyn, Alexis, and Y'lora discussed how to handle the situation. Suggestions were:
Y'lora: have Alexis cast an illusion on Verinda, making her appear to be Y'lora. Then, send out the party (with Verinda posing as Y'lora) while Y'lora stays in the tower and takes up a line of fire on the gazebo just in case negotiations go awry.
Alexis: have Verinda and Frederick come out with the party to the gazebo, showing the minions that the party is NOT here to wantonly slay all who breathe (i.e., that they are indeed willing to talk).
Siglan: We have their tower. Have THEM come to US. We are in a defensible (sp?) position... they are in no position to negotiate on any terms other than ours. Besides, if this guy really were the Master, he wouldn't be so willing to negotiate to get his tower back; he'd just come in with guns ablazing.
So, that's where we are now.
This upcoming Friday, there will be no game session (Renaissance Fair!!!). So, we will pick up on Friday, Sept. 14 with Bruno, Arimas, and Johan suddenly springing back into action.
Please feel free to use the next two weeks to discuss among yourselves via e-mail as to the actions of the party when we pick back up on the 14th. And leave me off the distribution list... the GM having a priori knowledge of the players' actions is not always a good thing. [evil grin]
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Arimas' and Johan's Findings
As with the other recent findings, this information has been added to the one comprehensive post concerning the party's actions in the Master's Tower: see 30 Minutes.
After staunching his wounds, Johan decides to delve into one of the tomes found by Arimas and Bruno: The 12 Towers. This book describes twelve stone towers that were constructed by the Sidhe 2000 years ago. The text focuses on the locations, overall construction, and the present condition of the towers. Information regarding their purpose (if any) is not given. One of the last pages of this tome contains a diagram. A summary of the contents of this tome can be found here (MS Word) or here (pdf).
Earlier, when Arimas was pouring over the book that was left open on one of the benches in the alchemy lab. "I wonder if there's any information in here regarding the cloning bodies or turning a different body into a Lich and then transferring one's essence into it?" thinks Arimas. After reading a bit, he finds that, no, there is no discussion as to the in's and out's of becoming a lich. Rather, the tome is a “how-to” book on brewing a Lich elixir (yummy). i.e., it is a formulary. That is the basic gist of what Arimas gets from the tome, anyhow. Actually trying to follow the "recipe" is difficult at best for him. It's not quite as bad as trying to get your cat to understand Schroedinger's Wave Equation, but you get the idea. In the end, it does not discuss the in’s and out’s of becoming a Lich.
Moving into the library to help Bruno look through the stacks of books found there, Arimas gravitates to the shelves in the southeastern corner of the library that deal with necromancy, looking for any information that might shed some light on becoming a Lich. The dominant subjects of the books revolve about reanimating of corpses and prolonging life. This set of books would be the best bet for finding something regarding transference of one’s essence (i.e., a Soul Jar). However, Arimas soon discovers that it will take some time (hours, not minutes) to go through the books in order to find what he might on that one subject.
Turning his attention to the books concerning the history of the Sidhe contained on the southern set of shelves, Arimas begins reading a book entitled "The Lost Nation of Beower". Within it, he finds the following information:
1) The seat of power of the Sidhe nation was a city-state called Beower
2) The exact location of the city is not known for sure, but the best guess is that it is on an island that has sunk into the sea.
3) Various historians have agreed that the most likely location is somewhere between the Island of Hronn, Ascoma Isle, and Arnur Soghal (the mainland). (for reference, click here)
4) In a couple places within the text of this book, reference is made to a place called “Dragon’s Point”.
In the end, Arimas takes one of the books that appears to be a grimoire downstairs to Siglan to see if he can identify in which language it is written. After studying the book for a few minutes, Siglan says that the language is similar to Frasspe (which he can read, and so can Alexis and Johan). As such, he identifies the language as being that of Ergant.
After staunching his wounds, Johan decides to delve into one of the tomes found by Arimas and Bruno: The 12 Towers. This book describes twelve stone towers that were constructed by the Sidhe 2000 years ago. The text focuses on the locations, overall construction, and the present condition of the towers. Information regarding their purpose (if any) is not given. One of the last pages of this tome contains a diagram. A summary of the contents of this tome can be found here (MS Word) or here (pdf).
Earlier, when Arimas was pouring over the book that was left open on one of the benches in the alchemy lab. "I wonder if there's any information in here regarding the cloning bodies or turning a different body into a Lich and then transferring one's essence into it?" thinks Arimas. After reading a bit, he finds that, no, there is no discussion as to the in's and out's of becoming a lich. Rather, the tome is a “how-to” book on brewing a Lich elixir (yummy). i.e., it is a formulary. That is the basic gist of what Arimas gets from the tome, anyhow. Actually trying to follow the "recipe" is difficult at best for him. It's not quite as bad as trying to get your cat to understand Schroedinger's Wave Equation, but you get the idea. In the end, it does not discuss the in’s and out’s of becoming a Lich.
Moving into the library to help Bruno look through the stacks of books found there, Arimas gravitates to the shelves in the southeastern corner of the library that deal with necromancy, looking for any information that might shed some light on becoming a Lich. The dominant subjects of the books revolve about reanimating of corpses and prolonging life. This set of books would be the best bet for finding something regarding transference of one’s essence (i.e., a Soul Jar). However, Arimas soon discovers that it will take some time (hours, not minutes) to go through the books in order to find what he might on that one subject.
Turning his attention to the books concerning the history of the Sidhe contained on the southern set of shelves, Arimas begins reading a book entitled "The Lost Nation of Beower". Within it, he finds the following information:
1) The seat of power of the Sidhe nation was a city-state called Beower
2) The exact location of the city is not known for sure, but the best guess is that it is on an island that has sunk into the sea.
3) Various historians have agreed that the most likely location is somewhere between the Island of Hronn, Ascoma Isle, and Arnur Soghal (the mainland). (for reference, click here)
4) In a couple places within the text of this book, reference is made to a place called “Dragon’s Point”.
In the end, Arimas takes one of the books that appears to be a grimoire downstairs to Siglan to see if he can identify in which language it is written. After studying the book for a few minutes, Siglan says that the language is similar to Frasspe (which he can read, and so can Alexis and Johan). As such, he identifies the language as being that of Ergant.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
The 9 Items of Power
Bruno's attention gravitates to one of the books written on Sidhe artifacts; a tome entitled "The Nine Items of Power". Sitting for a few minutes, he leafs through the book. A summary of the contents can be found here.
As with the other recent findings, this information has been added to the one comprehensive post concerning the party's actions in the Master's Tower: see 30 Minutes.
(Let me know if you cannot open Word documents. If you cannot, I'll send you a pdf.)
As with the other recent findings, this information has been added to the one comprehensive post concerning the party's actions in the Master's Tower: see 30 Minutes.
(Let me know if you cannot open Word documents. If you cannot, I'll send you a pdf.)
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Timeline in the Tower
Everyone has now informed me how they will be occupying their time over the 30 minutes of game time that will elapse between now and our next gaming session on 31 August. I've updated the graphical timeline of everyone's actions. You can find it here.
Vyn's, Siglan's, and Y'lora's actions will take up the entire 30 minutes.
Unless something changes, Alexis is sitting and resting (in the servants' quarters???).
Arimas and Bruno are interrogating the subject matter of the books in the library (let me know if you wish to scan through the contents of any of the books as you are looking about).
Johan, after having the corpse identified by Verinda and Frederick, decides to sit and rest (in the Library???).
Thain is on corpse cleanup detail.
Vyn's, Siglan's, and Y'lora's actions will take up the entire 30 minutes.
Unless something changes, Alexis is sitting and resting (in the servants' quarters???).
Arimas and Bruno are interrogating the subject matter of the books in the library (let me know if you wish to scan through the contents of any of the books as you are looking about).
Johan, after having the corpse identified by Verinda and Frederick, decides to sit and rest (in the Library???).
Thain is on corpse cleanup detail.
Y'lora's Questions
This posting contains the most recent findings of the party. This information, along with all of the other findings, have been assembled into one comprehensive post: see 30 Minutes.
Y’lora spends the better part of her time perusing through the various rooms within the Tower. Her findings mimic those of Vyn: the Tower (other than the library) is very utilitarian. One thing is for sure: the armory is not within the Tower.
Y’lora then arrives back up on the third floor in the room with the corpse just as Johan has finished questioning Verinda and Frederick as to the identity of the corpse. Y’lora then spends a few minutes asking the servants questions concerning the details of the garrison located here within the complex… the order of command, the loyalty level of The Master’s minion, etc. Frederick responds, stating that the loyalty of the men stationed here runs anywhere from being held in service by fear to being almost blindly loyal, the latter being held mostly by the higher ranking individuals.
With that said, Frederick could not say for sure how each of the men would react, seeing their tattoos of “ownership” fade from their arms (at this point in time, everyone has pretty much guessed or assumed that the magical tattoos have all faded). Frederick corroborates the information that was gleaned by the party from the captured minions back on the ship with regards to the estimate of how many men are stationed here… his guess is around 50 men and dwarves, total.
In the end, Y'lora asks Verinda and Frederick if there is a lower level, below ground, to the Tower. Neither of them are aware of any rooms below ground. Deciding to check for herself, Y'lora heads back down to the first floor and begins to search the floors of the rooms, looking for any concealed doors that may lead to a basement/dungeon.
Y’lora spends the better part of her time perusing through the various rooms within the Tower. Her findings mimic those of Vyn: the Tower (other than the library) is very utilitarian. One thing is for sure: the armory is not within the Tower.
Y’lora then arrives back up on the third floor in the room with the corpse just as Johan has finished questioning Verinda and Frederick as to the identity of the corpse. Y’lora then spends a few minutes asking the servants questions concerning the details of the garrison located here within the complex… the order of command, the loyalty level of The Master’s minion, etc. Frederick responds, stating that the loyalty of the men stationed here runs anywhere from being held in service by fear to being almost blindly loyal, the latter being held mostly by the higher ranking individuals.
With that said, Frederick could not say for sure how each of the men would react, seeing their tattoos of “ownership” fade from their arms (at this point in time, everyone has pretty much guessed or assumed that the magical tattoos have all faded). Frederick corroborates the information that was gleaned by the party from the captured minions back on the ship with regards to the estimate of how many men are stationed here… his guess is around 50 men and dwarves, total.
In the end, Y'lora asks Verinda and Frederick if there is a lower level, below ground, to the Tower. Neither of them are aware of any rooms below ground. Deciding to check for herself, Y'lora heads back down to the first floor and begins to search the floors of the rooms, looking for any concealed doors that may lead to a basement/dungeon.
Library and a Corpse
This posting contains the most recent findings of the party. This information, along with all of the other findings, have been assembled into one comprehensive post: see 30 Minutes.
After having pocketed the iron key found on the corpse, Bruno makes his way into the library and begins to study the tomes upon the shelves in earnest. Given the volume of books on the shelves, Bruno asks for Arimas' help in scanning the spines of the books in order to get a quick snapshot of their content. The information that follows is the culmination of Bruno's and Arimas' combined effort in this investigation.
The books on the shelves along the central portion of the north wall contain The Master’s grimoire (some of the book titles are written in Sidhe; others are written in a language unknown to Arimas and Bruno).
The books on the shelves in the northwest corner of the room are written in a language unknown to Arimas and Bruno.
The books on the shelves in the southeastern corner of the room are all written in Common and contain descriptions of various facets of the necromantic art. Dominant subjects are reanimating of corpses and prolonging life.
Concerning the books on the shelves along the southern wall of this room, some are written in Common; others in a language unknown to Arimas and Bruno. Of the tomes written in Common, what can be determined is that they contain a dissertation on the Sidhe, as encountered by The Master. In general, they contain his perspective on the Sidhe based on his dealings with them years ago. Three of the books, however (written in Common), describe particular items/entities created by the Sidhe:
Book 1: The Nine Items of Power
Book 2: The Twelve Towers
Book 3: The Lost Sidhe Nation of Beower
Johan walks Verinda and Frederick back up to the third floor. As they reach the top of the steps in the library, they look around in subdued amazement. This room (as all of you had already noticed) is more nicely decorated than the rest of the rooms in the tower and the two servants pause for a moment, studying the surroundings of the library.
Johan leads them into the windowless room where the corpse (now cut in half, along with a Vyn-sized crack in the rough table/bed on which it is lying) is located. Verinda and Frederick stop a few feet short of the bed, their mouths agape as they stare at the corpse's face. The look on their faces is that of shock and disbelief, but there is not a hint of remorse in their eyes.
Verinda turns to face Johan. Staring at him wide-eyed, in a halting voice she says, "That's definitely him, but he looks... old."
They are certain that the corpse before them is that of The Master.
They are also certain that they saw him leave that morning... dressed in robes, not the tunic and breeches that adorn the corpse lying before you now.
Johan looks back at the corpse and notices that now that a few more minutes have passed that the rapid decomposition of the corpse isn't so much rapid decomposition as it is accelerated aging. The face of the dead man appears to have gone from that of someone in their late 40's to someone in their late 60's.
After having pocketed the iron key found on the corpse, Bruno makes his way into the library and begins to study the tomes upon the shelves in earnest. Given the volume of books on the shelves, Bruno asks for Arimas' help in scanning the spines of the books in order to get a quick snapshot of their content. The information that follows is the culmination of Bruno's and Arimas' combined effort in this investigation.
The books on the shelves along the central portion of the north wall contain The Master’s grimoire (some of the book titles are written in Sidhe; others are written in a language unknown to Arimas and Bruno).
The books on the shelves in the northwest corner of the room are written in a language unknown to Arimas and Bruno.
The books on the shelves in the southeastern corner of the room are all written in Common and contain descriptions of various facets of the necromantic art. Dominant subjects are reanimating of corpses and prolonging life.
Concerning the books on the shelves along the southern wall of this room, some are written in Common; others in a language unknown to Arimas and Bruno. Of the tomes written in Common, what can be determined is that they contain a dissertation on the Sidhe, as encountered by The Master. In general, they contain his perspective on the Sidhe based on his dealings with them years ago. Three of the books, however (written in Common), describe particular items/entities created by the Sidhe:
Book 1: The Nine Items of Power
Book 2: The Twelve Towers
Book 3: The Lost Sidhe Nation of Beower
Johan walks Verinda and Frederick back up to the third floor. As they reach the top of the steps in the library, they look around in subdued amazement. This room (as all of you had already noticed) is more nicely decorated than the rest of the rooms in the tower and the two servants pause for a moment, studying the surroundings of the library.
Johan leads them into the windowless room where the corpse (now cut in half, along with a Vyn-sized crack in the rough table/bed on which it is lying) is located. Verinda and Frederick stop a few feet short of the bed, their mouths agape as they stare at the corpse's face. The look on their faces is that of shock and disbelief, but there is not a hint of remorse in their eyes.
Verinda turns to face Johan. Staring at him wide-eyed, in a halting voice she says, "That's definitely him, but he looks... old."
They are certain that the corpse before them is that of The Master.
They are also certain that they saw him leave that morning... dressed in robes, not the tunic and breeches that adorn the corpse lying before you now.
Johan looks back at the corpse and notices that now that a few more minutes have passed that the rapid decomposition of the corpse isn't so much rapid decomposition as it is accelerated aging. The face of the dead man appears to have gone from that of someone in their late 40's to someone in their late 60's.
30 Minutes
The information given in this posting plays out the party's actions for the half hour following the end of the fight with the two skull spirits.
After the skull spirits had been disposed of, Vyn, Y’lora, and Arimas entered the dark room with the corpse (the temperature in the room was below freezing). Arimas noticed that when he walked into the room, it did not feel cold to him. In fact, his feet could feel the cold, as could his head, but the mid-section of his body felt warm. In particular, the center of the warmer temperature seemed to be located at his belt pouch. After a quick deduction, Arimas recalled the mana-canceling stone shards from Moorlun’s Tower that he had been carrying. After he placed the shards around the corpse, the temperature of the entire room began to warm back up to normal, and the corpse began to decay at a rapid rate.
Arimas then entered the alchemy lab and read through a tome that was sitting open on one of the benches. The tome contains a formulary (or at least a possible formulary) for a Lich elixir. Arimas’ concentration while reading the tome was almost broken as Bruno hollered from the adjacent room, “HEY, ARIMAS! CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT MY NEW RING DOES?” But, the even-keeled Arimas was able to keep his composure and continue studying the tome.
Meanwhile, Johan sauntered into the lab, being as careful as a bull in a china closet, and began rummaging through the glassware while looking for a healing potion. Having no initial luck with that, he asked Arimas to take a quick look at the books stored on the bookshelf within the lab. A quick scanning by Arimas of the tomes on the bookshelf (all of which are written in Sidhe) indicate that they are various compilations regarding elixirs to extend one's lifespan.
“Hmmm… No Red Bull” thinks Johan as he leaves the lab and heads down to the second floor. He enters the servants’ quarters (Verinda and Frederick) just as Alexis sends Thain to go collect the ashes of the corpse. Johan hears Alexis offering Verinda and Frederick employment within Alexis’ service as her retainers. She then tells them that if they are not interested in the proposition that they are free to go, and she will give them some walking-around money to help them on their way. Verinda and Frederick appear to be interested in this proposition. But before they accept her proposal, they request to come along with the party in order to get back to the mainland. They promise to give Alexis an answer one way or the other once they reach the shores of Arnur Soghal.
As Alexis is winding up her discussion with the two servants, Johan addresses them, asking for a few more details concerning The Master: when was the last time, specifically, that they saw him. They recount the events of the morning: they arose in the morning to fix his breakfast, which they did a bit earlier than usual, as the day prior he had told them that he was going to make his weekly trip to the western part of the island which means that he would be up early in order to get a good start on the trip. He came down to the dining room, dressed in the robes that he always wears on his trip, ate breakfast, and headed out of the complex in his horse-and-cart with a slave riding, shackled, in the cart with him... just like he does every week.
At this time, Thain arrives back up on the third floor and prepares to make a doggy bag out of the corpse’s ashes. Since the corpse is still intact (the face is still recognizable yet), Thain waits for it to decay (as mentioned earlier, the decay rate of the corpse is higher than normal, but it has not yet fully decomposed).
Vyn, seeing that Thain has arrived at the room with the corpse, figures that there’s no need in having two people watch to make sure that it stays dead, heads into the alchemy lab and then to the library, checking for any activity on the ground outside the tower. Noticing that that there are no balconies outside the windows on this floor and determining that there is little chance that anybody would be foolish enough to attempt to scale a cut-stone wall during a tropical storm, he determines that the third floor of the tower is secure, and heads down to the second floor. He continues his routine of inspecting all windows, as well as checking the flues of the fireplaces, and continues down to the first floor. The contents of the rooms in the tower appear to be fairly sparse. “Hrmph,” snorts Vyn. “No pointy bits.” The exterior doors (three sets of double doors in the main entry hall and one door in the dining room) are all still barred from the inside. “Good”, he thinks. Then, he notices that the windows in the back three rooms (clerk’s office, planning room, and dining room) have not had their interior iron shutters closed and locked. So, he begins making his rounds to secure the windows from outside entry.
Meanwhile, Bruno finds an iron key attached to the corpse’s belt loop. After querying Arimas again to see if he has the time to analyze his ring, he takes a moment to ponder the purpose of this key. As he is about to put it into his backpack, he stops to take notice of the ornate design that is embossed onto the hilt of the key. The pattern is the same as the iron sigil that is attached to the hallway-side of the door that led you folks to the stairs leading up to the third floor. Earlier, Arimas and Siglan had determined that the symbol on that door meant “freedom” in the Sidhe language.
After having pocketed the iron key found on the corpse, Bruno makes his way into the library and begins to study the tomes upon the shelves in earnest. Given the volume of books on the shelves, Bruno asks for Arimas' help in scanning the spines of the books in order to get a quick snapshot of their content. The information that follows is the culmination of Bruno's and Arimas' combined effort in this investigation.
The books on the shelves along the central portion of the north wall contain The Master’s grimoire (some of the book titles are written in Sidhe; others are written in a language unknown to Arimas and Bruno).
The books on the shelves in the northwest corner of the room are written in a language unknown to Arimas and Bruno.
The books on the shelves in the southeastern corner of the room are all written in Common and contain descriptions of various facets of the necromantic art. Dominant subjects are reanimating of corpses and prolonging life.
Concerning the books on the shelves along the southern wall of this room, some are written in Common; others in a language unknown to Arimas and Bruno. Of the tomes written in Common, what can be determined is that they contain a dissertation on the Sidhe, as encountered by The Master. In general, they contain his perspective on the Sidhe based on his dealings with them years ago. Three of the books, however (written in Common), describe particular items/entities created by the Sidhe:
Book 1: The Nine Items of Power
Book 2: The Twelve Towers
Book 3: The Lost Sidhe Nation of Beower
Bruno's attention gravitates to the tome entitled "The Nine Items of Power". Sitting for a few minutes, he leafs through the book. A summary of the contents can be found here.
Johan walks Verinda and Frederick back up to the third floor. As they reach the top of the steps in the library, they look around in subdued amazement. This room (as all of you had already noticed) is more nicely decorated than the rest of the rooms in the tower and the two servants pause for a moment, studying the surroundings of the library.
Johan leads them into the windowless room where the corpse (now cut in half, along with a Vyn-sized crack in the rough table/bed on which it is lying) is located. Verinda and Frederick stop a few feet short of the bed, their mouths agape as they stare at the corpse's face. The look on their faces is that of shock and disbelief, but there is not a hint of remorse in their eyes.
Verinda turns to face Johan. Staring at him wide-eyed, in a halting voice she says, "That's definitely him, but he looks... old."
They are certain that the corpse before them is that of The Master.
They are also certain that they saw him leave that morning... dressed in robes, not the tunic and breeches that adorn the corpse lying before you now.
Johan looks back at the corpse (and since he made his Physician roll last game session) notices that now that a few more minutes have passed that the rapid decomposition of the corpse isn't so much rapid decomposition as it is accelerated aging. The face of the dead man appears to have gone from that of someone in their late 40's to someone in their late 60's.
Y’lora spends the better part of her time perusing through the various rooms within the Tower. Her findings mimic those of Vyn: the Tower (other than the library) is very utilitarian. One thing is for sure: the armory is not within the Tower. Y’lora then arrives back up on the third floor in the room with the corpse just as Johan has finished questioning Verinda and Frederick as to the identity of the corpse. Y’lora then spends a few minutes asking the servants questions concerning the details of the garrison located here within the complex… the order of command, the loyalty level of The Master’s minion, etc. Frederick responds, stating that the loyalty of the men stationed here runs anywhere from being held in service by fear to being almost blindly loyal, the latter being held mostly by the higher ranking individuals.
With that said, Frederick could not say for sure how each of the men would react, seeing their tattoos of “ownership” fade from their arms (at this point in time, everyone has pretty much guessed or assumed that the magical tattoos have all faded). Frederick corroborates the information that was gleaned by the party from the captured minions back on the ship with regards to the estimate of how many men are stationed here… his guess is around 50 men and dwarves, total.
In the end, Y'lora asks Verinda and Frederick if there is a lower level, below ground, to the Tower. Neither of them are aware of any rooms below ground. Deciding to check for herself, Y'lora heads back down to the first floor and begins to search the floors of the rooms, looking for any concealed doors that may lead to a basement/dungeon.
After staunching his wounds, Johan decides to delve into one of the tomes found by Arimas and Bruno: The 12 Towers. This book describes twelve stone towers that were constructed by the Sidhe 2000 years ago. The text focuses on the locations, overall construction, and the present condition of the towers. Information regarding their purpose (if any) is not given. One of the last pages of this tome contains a diagram. A summary of the contents of this tome can be found here (MS Word) or here (pdf).
Earlier, when Arimas was pouring over the book that was left open on one of the benches in the alchemy lab. "I wonder if there's any information in here regarding the cloning bodies or turning a different body into a Lich and then transferring one's essence into it?" thinks Arimas. After reading a bit, he finds that, no, there is no discussion as to the in's and out's of becoming a lich. Rather, the tome is a “how-to” book on brewing a Lich elixir (yummy). i.e., it is a formulary. That is the basic gist of what Arimas gets from the tome, anyhow. Actually trying to follow the "recipe" is difficult at best for him. It's not quite as bad as trying to get your cat to understand Schroedinger's Wave Equation, but you get the idea. In the end, it does not discuss the in’s and out’s of becoming a Lich.
Moving into the library to help Bruno look through the stacks of books found there, Arimas gravitates to the shelves in the southeastern corner of the library that deal with necromancy, looking for any information that might shed some light on becoming a Lich. The dominant subjects of the books revolve about reanimating of corpses and prolonging life. This set of books would be the best bet for finding something regarding transference of one’s essence (i.e., a Soul Jar). However, Arimas soon discovers that it will take some time (hours, not minutes) to go through the books in order to find what he might on that one subject.
Turning his attention to the books concerning the history of the Sidhe contained on the southern set of shelves, Arimas begins reading a book entitled "The Lost Nation of Beower". Within it, he finds the following information:
1) The seat of power of the Sidhe nation was a city-state called Beower
2) The exact location of the city is not known for sure, but the best guess is that it is on an island that has sunk into the sea.
3) Various historians have agreed that the most likely location is somewhere between the Island of Hronn, Ascoma Isle, and Arnur Soghal (the mainland). (for reference, click here)
4) In a couple places within the text of this book, reference is made to a place called “Dragon’s Point”.
In the end, Arimas takes one of the books that appears to be a grimoire downstairs to Siglan to see if he can identify in which language it is written. After studying the book for a few minutes, Siglan says that the language is similar to Frasspe (which he can read, and so can Alexis and Johan). As such, he identifies the language as being that of Ergant.
After 20 minutes have gone by, Siglan calls up for Y’lora to come to him. After another 10 minutes, Y’lora is practically bouncing back up the stairs. When asked for why she was so happy, she relayed what Siglan had found in the slave trade ledger: The ledger spans the timeframe from 30 years ago to present day. The entries in the ledger are concerning sales of slaves. The entries usually give the name of the unfortunate soul being sold, but not always. After searching for nearly half an hour, Siglan found two names that pique his interest: Ernwith and Calembel Eladiel. The reason that these names grab Siglan's attention is because that is Y'lora's surname as well. These two individuals were apparently appropriated in or near the town of Ramluine, an elven coastal town northwest of Fehutros, near the northern reaches of the Derzaunen Mountains. The shipment of slaves of which Ernwith and Calembel were a part appears to have been sold to a clothing merchant named Thalantius who resides in (or, at least, the point of sale was made in) Cloie. (Cloie is a town about 100 miles east-southeast of Espydur. See the attached bitmap. ) The ledger lists them as being 32 years of age and bringing a price of 300 copper, each. The date of this entry is 344 F.S. (26 years prior).
After the skull spirits had been disposed of, Vyn, Y’lora, and Arimas entered the dark room with the corpse (the temperature in the room was below freezing). Arimas noticed that when he walked into the room, it did not feel cold to him. In fact, his feet could feel the cold, as could his head, but the mid-section of his body felt warm. In particular, the center of the warmer temperature seemed to be located at his belt pouch. After a quick deduction, Arimas recalled the mana-canceling stone shards from Moorlun’s Tower that he had been carrying. After he placed the shards around the corpse, the temperature of the entire room began to warm back up to normal, and the corpse began to decay at a rapid rate.
Arimas then entered the alchemy lab and read through a tome that was sitting open on one of the benches. The tome contains a formulary (or at least a possible formulary) for a Lich elixir. Arimas’ concentration while reading the tome was almost broken as Bruno hollered from the adjacent room, “HEY, ARIMAS! CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT MY NEW RING DOES?” But, the even-keeled Arimas was able to keep his composure and continue studying the tome.
Meanwhile, Johan sauntered into the lab, being as careful as a bull in a china closet, and began rummaging through the glassware while looking for a healing potion. Having no initial luck with that, he asked Arimas to take a quick look at the books stored on the bookshelf within the lab. A quick scanning by Arimas of the tomes on the bookshelf (all of which are written in Sidhe) indicate that they are various compilations regarding elixirs to extend one's lifespan.
“Hmmm… No Red Bull” thinks Johan as he leaves the lab and heads down to the second floor. He enters the servants’ quarters (Verinda and Frederick) just as Alexis sends Thain to go collect the ashes of the corpse. Johan hears Alexis offering Verinda and Frederick employment within Alexis’ service as her retainers. She then tells them that if they are not interested in the proposition that they are free to go, and she will give them some walking-around money to help them on their way. Verinda and Frederick appear to be interested in this proposition. But before they accept her proposal, they request to come along with the party in order to get back to the mainland. They promise to give Alexis an answer one way or the other once they reach the shores of Arnur Soghal.
As Alexis is winding up her discussion with the two servants, Johan addresses them, asking for a few more details concerning The Master: when was the last time, specifically, that they saw him. They recount the events of the morning: they arose in the morning to fix his breakfast, which they did a bit earlier than usual, as the day prior he had told them that he was going to make his weekly trip to the western part of the island which means that he would be up early in order to get a good start on the trip. He came down to the dining room, dressed in the robes that he always wears on his trip, ate breakfast, and headed out of the complex in his horse-and-cart with a slave riding, shackled, in the cart with him... just like he does every week.
At this time, Thain arrives back up on the third floor and prepares to make a doggy bag out of the corpse’s ashes. Since the corpse is still intact (the face is still recognizable yet), Thain waits for it to decay (as mentioned earlier, the decay rate of the corpse is higher than normal, but it has not yet fully decomposed).
Vyn, seeing that Thain has arrived at the room with the corpse, figures that there’s no need in having two people watch to make sure that it stays dead, heads into the alchemy lab and then to the library, checking for any activity on the ground outside the tower. Noticing that that there are no balconies outside the windows on this floor and determining that there is little chance that anybody would be foolish enough to attempt to scale a cut-stone wall during a tropical storm, he determines that the third floor of the tower is secure, and heads down to the second floor. He continues his routine of inspecting all windows, as well as checking the flues of the fireplaces, and continues down to the first floor. The contents of the rooms in the tower appear to be fairly sparse. “Hrmph,” snorts Vyn. “No pointy bits.” The exterior doors (three sets of double doors in the main entry hall and one door in the dining room) are all still barred from the inside. “Good”, he thinks. Then, he notices that the windows in the back three rooms (clerk’s office, planning room, and dining room) have not had their interior iron shutters closed and locked. So, he begins making his rounds to secure the windows from outside entry.
Meanwhile, Bruno finds an iron key attached to the corpse’s belt loop. After querying Arimas again to see if he has the time to analyze his ring, he takes a moment to ponder the purpose of this key. As he is about to put it into his backpack, he stops to take notice of the ornate design that is embossed onto the hilt of the key. The pattern is the same as the iron sigil that is attached to the hallway-side of the door that led you folks to the stairs leading up to the third floor. Earlier, Arimas and Siglan had determined that the symbol on that door meant “freedom” in the Sidhe language.
After having pocketed the iron key found on the corpse, Bruno makes his way into the library and begins to study the tomes upon the shelves in earnest. Given the volume of books on the shelves, Bruno asks for Arimas' help in scanning the spines of the books in order to get a quick snapshot of their content. The information that follows is the culmination of Bruno's and Arimas' combined effort in this investigation.
The books on the shelves along the central portion of the north wall contain The Master’s grimoire (some of the book titles are written in Sidhe; others are written in a language unknown to Arimas and Bruno).
The books on the shelves in the northwest corner of the room are written in a language unknown to Arimas and Bruno.
The books on the shelves in the southeastern corner of the room are all written in Common and contain descriptions of various facets of the necromantic art. Dominant subjects are reanimating of corpses and prolonging life.
Concerning the books on the shelves along the southern wall of this room, some are written in Common; others in a language unknown to Arimas and Bruno. Of the tomes written in Common, what can be determined is that they contain a dissertation on the Sidhe, as encountered by The Master. In general, they contain his perspective on the Sidhe based on his dealings with them years ago. Three of the books, however (written in Common), describe particular items/entities created by the Sidhe:
Book 1: The Nine Items of Power
Book 2: The Twelve Towers
Book 3: The Lost Sidhe Nation of Beower
Bruno's attention gravitates to the tome entitled "The Nine Items of Power". Sitting for a few minutes, he leafs through the book. A summary of the contents can be found here.
Johan walks Verinda and Frederick back up to the third floor. As they reach the top of the steps in the library, they look around in subdued amazement. This room (as all of you had already noticed) is more nicely decorated than the rest of the rooms in the tower and the two servants pause for a moment, studying the surroundings of the library.
Johan leads them into the windowless room where the corpse (now cut in half, along with a Vyn-sized crack in the rough table/bed on which it is lying) is located. Verinda and Frederick stop a few feet short of the bed, their mouths agape as they stare at the corpse's face. The look on their faces is that of shock and disbelief, but there is not a hint of remorse in their eyes.
Verinda turns to face Johan. Staring at him wide-eyed, in a halting voice she says, "That's definitely him, but he looks... old."
They are certain that the corpse before them is that of The Master.
They are also certain that they saw him leave that morning... dressed in robes, not the tunic and breeches that adorn the corpse lying before you now.
Johan looks back at the corpse (and since he made his Physician roll last game session) notices that now that a few more minutes have passed that the rapid decomposition of the corpse isn't so much rapid decomposition as it is accelerated aging. The face of the dead man appears to have gone from that of someone in their late 40's to someone in their late 60's.
Y’lora spends the better part of her time perusing through the various rooms within the Tower. Her findings mimic those of Vyn: the Tower (other than the library) is very utilitarian. One thing is for sure: the armory is not within the Tower. Y’lora then arrives back up on the third floor in the room with the corpse just as Johan has finished questioning Verinda and Frederick as to the identity of the corpse. Y’lora then spends a few minutes asking the servants questions concerning the details of the garrison located here within the complex… the order of command, the loyalty level of The Master’s minion, etc. Frederick responds, stating that the loyalty of the men stationed here runs anywhere from being held in service by fear to being almost blindly loyal, the latter being held mostly by the higher ranking individuals.
With that said, Frederick could not say for sure how each of the men would react, seeing their tattoos of “ownership” fade from their arms (at this point in time, everyone has pretty much guessed or assumed that the magical tattoos have all faded). Frederick corroborates the information that was gleaned by the party from the captured minions back on the ship with regards to the estimate of how many men are stationed here… his guess is around 50 men and dwarves, total.
In the end, Y'lora asks Verinda and Frederick if there is a lower level, below ground, to the Tower. Neither of them are aware of any rooms below ground. Deciding to check for herself, Y'lora heads back down to the first floor and begins to search the floors of the rooms, looking for any concealed doors that may lead to a basement/dungeon.
After staunching his wounds, Johan decides to delve into one of the tomes found by Arimas and Bruno: The 12 Towers. This book describes twelve stone towers that were constructed by the Sidhe 2000 years ago. The text focuses on the locations, overall construction, and the present condition of the towers. Information regarding their purpose (if any) is not given. One of the last pages of this tome contains a diagram. A summary of the contents of this tome can be found here (MS Word) or here (pdf).
Earlier, when Arimas was pouring over the book that was left open on one of the benches in the alchemy lab. "I wonder if there's any information in here regarding the cloning bodies or turning a different body into a Lich and then transferring one's essence into it?" thinks Arimas. After reading a bit, he finds that, no, there is no discussion as to the in's and out's of becoming a lich. Rather, the tome is a “how-to” book on brewing a Lich elixir (yummy). i.e., it is a formulary. That is the basic gist of what Arimas gets from the tome, anyhow. Actually trying to follow the "recipe" is difficult at best for him. It's not quite as bad as trying to get your cat to understand Schroedinger's Wave Equation, but you get the idea. In the end, it does not discuss the in’s and out’s of becoming a Lich.
Moving into the library to help Bruno look through the stacks of books found there, Arimas gravitates to the shelves in the southeastern corner of the library that deal with necromancy, looking for any information that might shed some light on becoming a Lich. The dominant subjects of the books revolve about reanimating of corpses and prolonging life. This set of books would be the best bet for finding something regarding transference of one’s essence (i.e., a Soul Jar). However, Arimas soon discovers that it will take some time (hours, not minutes) to go through the books in order to find what he might on that one subject.
Turning his attention to the books concerning the history of the Sidhe contained on the southern set of shelves, Arimas begins reading a book entitled "The Lost Nation of Beower". Within it, he finds the following information:
1) The seat of power of the Sidhe nation was a city-state called Beower
2) The exact location of the city is not known for sure, but the best guess is that it is on an island that has sunk into the sea.
3) Various historians have agreed that the most likely location is somewhere between the Island of Hronn, Ascoma Isle, and Arnur Soghal (the mainland). (for reference, click here)
4) In a couple places within the text of this book, reference is made to a place called “Dragon’s Point”.
In the end, Arimas takes one of the books that appears to be a grimoire downstairs to Siglan to see if he can identify in which language it is written. After studying the book for a few minutes, Siglan says that the language is similar to Frasspe (which he can read, and so can Alexis and Johan). As such, he identifies the language as being that of Ergant.
After 20 minutes have gone by, Siglan calls up for Y’lora to come to him. After another 10 minutes, Y’lora is practically bouncing back up the stairs. When asked for why she was so happy, she relayed what Siglan had found in the slave trade ledger: The ledger spans the timeframe from 30 years ago to present day. The entries in the ledger are concerning sales of slaves. The entries usually give the name of the unfortunate soul being sold, but not always. After searching for nearly half an hour, Siglan found two names that pique his interest: Ernwith and Calembel Eladiel. The reason that these names grab Siglan's attention is because that is Y'lora's surname as well. These two individuals were apparently appropriated in or near the town of Ramluine, an elven coastal town northwest of Fehutros, near the northern reaches of the Derzaunen Mountains. The shipment of slaves of which Ernwith and Calembel were a part appears to have been sold to a clothing merchant named Thalantius who resides in (or, at least, the point of sale was made in) Cloie. (Cloie is a town about 100 miles east-southeast of Espydur. See the attached bitmap. ) The ledger lists them as being 32 years of age and bringing a price of 300 copper, each. The date of this entry is 344 F.S. (26 years prior).
Initial Findings
Given here are the findings of the party as they made their way through the Master's Tower. The point in time where this content stops is approximately 3 minutes after the fight with the skull spirits was over. i.e., when Arimas places the stone shards from Moorlun's table around the corpse that was found on the third floor of the Tower.
Room 1 – Assembly Hall: 40’x60’ room dominated by a dias along the northern wall. On the dias is a podium. 10’ ceilings. The Master’s heraldry hangs from all four walls. Two fireplaces in the room, one on the east wall and another on the west. Three sets of double doors, one each on the east, west, and south walls, lead to the outside. One set of double doors is on the north wall (they lead to Room 2). Two single doors are on the north wall (the western one leads to Room 4; the eastern one leads to Room 3). There are large braziers, unlit, in the four corners of the room. (Johan and Vyn have barred the three sets of exterior double doors and have closed the wrought iron interior window shutters.)
Room 2 – Planning Room: 25’x30’ room with a large oak table in the center. Ten chairs are located around the table. A fireplace on the east wall is shared with Room 3. Stairs leading up to Room 5 on the second floor are in the southwest corner of the room. There are four braziers, unlit, about the corners of the room.
Room 3 – Dining Room: 20’x30’ room with a central table surrounded by high-backed chairs. Two nice brass candleabras adorn the table. The door in the north wall is an exterior door. The door in the western wall leads to Room 2. (Y'lora has barred the exterior door.)
Room 4 – Clerk’s Office: 20’x30’ room with a desk and two bookshelves. Records of transactions, written in Common, (mostly materials to build the facility) are maintained here. There are four braziers, unlit, about the room. The bulk of the merchants from whom materials have been bought are out of Fehutros and Nestbaggann. (Alexis has taken the written transaction.) There are ten ledgers concerning slave trade which contain information on slave transactions by The Master. They are written in Ergantile and have entries going back 300 years. (The ten ledgers here each have about 30 years of information. They each weigh 8 lbs. Siglan is currently going through the most recent ledger, which would span from a couple years before Y'lora was born through present day.) In one corner of the room is a locked iron chest (correction: WAS locked) which contains 10,000 copper pieces (Y'lora has taken 300 copper pieces, filling her belt pouch with 3 pounds of coins; Bruno has filled his backpack with 40 pounds of coins which would be 4000 copper pieces, leaving 5700 copper pieces in the chest.). It is (correction: WAS) trapped with a gas poison trap.
Second Floor
Room 5 – Hallway: the stairs down to Room 2 of the first floor are in the middle of this north-south passage. (This is the hallway where the party talked with the two servants, Verinda and Frederick. Three doors are on the east side of this hallway, leading to Rooms 8, 9, and 10. Two doors are on the west side of this hallway, leading to Rooms 6 and 7. There is a window at the north end and south end of this hallway. Verinda and Frederick have lit the braziers in this hallway.)
Room 6 – Master’s Bedroom (yes, it is the "Master Bedroom" as several of you pointed out.): sparsely furnished. Very “bare bones”. Simple bed and wardrobe.
Room 7 – Servant’s Quarters: ‘nuff said. Personal effects. Modest accoutrements. There are two humans here; one male and one female (Frederick and Verinda, respectively). They are the maintainers of this building.
Room 8 – Broom Closet: cleaning supplies. Spare linens. 10-pound chunk of condensed pure evil lying in the corner. (Okay, I made up that last part.)
Room 9 – Bath Room (and, yes, as you also pointed out, this would be the "Master Bath"): tub, wash basin, chamber pot.
Room 10 – Stair Access to 3rd Floor: The wooden door to this room is locked. Upon the door is an iron symbol which is the Sidhe sigil for “freedom” (interpreted by Siglan and concurred by Arimas as being "free from the fetters of mortal life"... "ascension", if you will). It is trapped (correction: WAS trapped) with a gas poison trap. The stairs lead up to Room 12.
Third Floor
Room 11 – Alchemy Lab: Three work benches. The first two have a collection of beakers, mortar and pestle, a press (for pressing herbs), and small firepots. There is a bookshelf containing several tomes on alchemy. The third bench has a single beaker over a firepot. The firepot is extinguished, but the beaker on top of it is still warm and possesses a residue of a bright green liquid (the liquid is the same color as the remaining liquid drops that were found within the goblet that is sitting on the small stand next to the corpse that was discovered in Room 13). This is covered in a glass dome with a distillation tube running over to a second beaker. On the bench, next to this apparatus, is a tome that is open to a page describing the formula for creating a Lich elixir (the basic jist of the formula [i.e., the purpose of the elixir] was determined by Arimas). All tomes are written in the Sidhe language.
Room 12 – Library: The room possesses braziers located at the four corners of the room. Two bronze braziers on stands hang over two of the corners of the desk. There is a large polished oak desk and stuffed chair. Sheaves of parchment, two quills, and an inkwell are neatly placed on the desk. Bookshelves (with a good number of books) are located along the central portion of the north wall, in the northwest corner of the room, in the southeast corner of the room, and along the southern wall of the room. (Some of the books on the shelves in the southeast corner of the room are now damaged due to Bruno "The Whirlwind". But, hey, what's a few books given that the party remained intact?)
Some written documents are sitting on the desk. The various documents fall into one of three categories (so far, only Alexis has looked at these letters, so the descriptions that follow are from her perspective): some letters, some more letters , and several letters from Thorinin (written in Frasspe. Alexis briefly scanned over these letters, saw references to Thorinin, and then tucked the letters into her pack. Recall that Thorinin is the spy that the party killed in the inn in Falduin just prior to getting on the Sea Tiger and heading to Moorlun's Tower.).
There are stairs leading down to Room 10.
Room 13 – Dark Room: There are no windows in this room. There is a single flat table in the center of the room. There is a smaller table next to it with two goblets (a green liquid residue was found in one of the goblets). Tapestries on the walls depict a human ascending to the heavens, being unburdened. Lying on the table is a dead human male, arms folded over his chest. The corpse is fresh. (This is the room that was the temperature of a meat locker until Arimas entered and discovered that the shards of Moorlun's stone experimentation table [the shards appeared to be localized no-mana zones] repressed the cold as he walked into the room. He placed the shards around the corpse. After a couple minutes, the temperature of the entire room was back to normal, and the corpse began decaying at a rapid rate.) He is dressed in plain clothes (a simple tunic and breeches). (Bruno had asked if there was anything of value on The Master's person. Other than his tunic and breeches, there is a single iron key attached to a belt loop on his breeches.)
First Floor
Room 1 – Assembly Hall: 40’x60’ room dominated by a dias along the northern wall. On the dias is a podium. 10’ ceilings. The Master’s heraldry hangs from all four walls. Two fireplaces in the room, one on the east wall and another on the west. Three sets of double doors, one each on the east, west, and south walls, lead to the outside. One set of double doors is on the north wall (they lead to Room 2). Two single doors are on the north wall (the western one leads to Room 4; the eastern one leads to Room 3). There are large braziers, unlit, in the four corners of the room. (Johan and Vyn have barred the three sets of exterior double doors and have closed the wrought iron interior window shutters.)
Room 2 – Planning Room: 25’x30’ room with a large oak table in the center. Ten chairs are located around the table. A fireplace on the east wall is shared with Room 3. Stairs leading up to Room 5 on the second floor are in the southwest corner of the room. There are four braziers, unlit, about the corners of the room.
Room 3 – Dining Room: 20’x30’ room with a central table surrounded by high-backed chairs. Two nice brass candleabras adorn the table. The door in the north wall is an exterior door. The door in the western wall leads to Room 2. (Y'lora has barred the exterior door.)
Room 4 – Clerk’s Office: 20’x30’ room with a desk and two bookshelves. Records of transactions, written in Common, (mostly materials to build the facility) are maintained here. There are four braziers, unlit, about the room. The bulk of the merchants from whom materials have been bought are out of Fehutros and Nestbaggann. (Alexis has taken the written transaction.) There are ten ledgers concerning slave trade which contain information on slave transactions by The Master. They are written in Ergantile and have entries going back 300 years. (The ten ledgers here each have about 30 years of information. They each weigh 8 lbs. Siglan is currently going through the most recent ledger, which would span from a couple years before Y'lora was born through present day.) In one corner of the room is a locked iron chest (correction: WAS locked) which contains 10,000 copper pieces (Y'lora has taken 300 copper pieces, filling her belt pouch with 3 pounds of coins; Bruno has filled his backpack with 40 pounds of coins which would be 4000 copper pieces, leaving 5700 copper pieces in the chest.). It is (correction: WAS) trapped with a gas poison trap.
Second Floor
Room 5 – Hallway: the stairs down to Room 2 of the first floor are in the middle of this north-south passage. (This is the hallway where the party talked with the two servants, Verinda and Frederick. Three doors are on the east side of this hallway, leading to Rooms 8, 9, and 10. Two doors are on the west side of this hallway, leading to Rooms 6 and 7. There is a window at the north end and south end of this hallway. Verinda and Frederick have lit the braziers in this hallway.)
Room 6 – Master’s Bedroom (yes, it is the "Master Bedroom" as several of you pointed out.): sparsely furnished. Very “bare bones”. Simple bed and wardrobe.
Room 7 – Servant’s Quarters: ‘nuff said. Personal effects. Modest accoutrements. There are two humans here; one male and one female (Frederick and Verinda, respectively). They are the maintainers of this building.
Room 8 – Broom Closet: cleaning supplies. Spare linens. 10-pound chunk of condensed pure evil lying in the corner. (Okay, I made up that last part.)
Room 9 – Bath Room (and, yes, as you also pointed out, this would be the "Master Bath"): tub, wash basin, chamber pot.
Room 10 – Stair Access to 3rd Floor: The wooden door to this room is locked. Upon the door is an iron symbol which is the Sidhe sigil for “freedom” (interpreted by Siglan and concurred by Arimas as being "free from the fetters of mortal life"... "ascension", if you will). It is trapped (correction: WAS trapped) with a gas poison trap. The stairs lead up to Room 12.
Third Floor
Room 11 – Alchemy Lab: Three work benches. The first two have a collection of beakers, mortar and pestle, a press (for pressing herbs), and small firepots. There is a bookshelf containing several tomes on alchemy. The third bench has a single beaker over a firepot. The firepot is extinguished, but the beaker on top of it is still warm and possesses a residue of a bright green liquid (the liquid is the same color as the remaining liquid drops that were found within the goblet that is sitting on the small stand next to the corpse that was discovered in Room 13). This is covered in a glass dome with a distillation tube running over to a second beaker. On the bench, next to this apparatus, is a tome that is open to a page describing the formula for creating a Lich elixir (the basic jist of the formula [i.e., the purpose of the elixir] was determined by Arimas). All tomes are written in the Sidhe language.
Room 12 – Library: The room possesses braziers located at the four corners of the room. Two bronze braziers on stands hang over two of the corners of the desk. There is a large polished oak desk and stuffed chair. Sheaves of parchment, two quills, and an inkwell are neatly placed on the desk. Bookshelves (with a good number of books) are located along the central portion of the north wall, in the northwest corner of the room, in the southeast corner of the room, and along the southern wall of the room. (Some of the books on the shelves in the southeast corner of the room are now damaged due to Bruno "The Whirlwind". But, hey, what's a few books given that the party remained intact?)
Some written documents are sitting on the desk. The various documents fall into one of three categories (so far, only Alexis has looked at these letters, so the descriptions that follow are from her perspective): some letters
There are stairs leading down to Room 10.
Room 13 – Dark Room: There are no windows in this room. There is a single flat table in the center of the room. There is a smaller table next to it with two goblets (a green liquid residue was found in one of the goblets). Tapestries on the walls depict a human ascending to the heavens, being unburdened. Lying on the table is a dead human male, arms folded over his chest. The corpse is fresh. (This is the room that was the temperature of a meat locker until Arimas entered and discovered that the shards of Moorlun's stone experimentation table [the shards appeared to be localized no-mana zones] repressed the cold as he walked into the room. He placed the shards around the corpse. After a couple minutes, the temperature of the entire room was back to normal, and the corpse began decaying at a rapid rate.) He is dressed in plain clothes (a simple tunic and breeches). (Bruno had asked if there was anything of value on The Master's person. Other than his tunic and breeches, there is a single iron key attached to a belt loop on his breeches.)
Monday, August 20, 2007
Welcome
Arnur Soghal is a the name of the main continent of a fictitious fantasy world created by Jim and Tim Antonicic. This is the setting of a fantasy role-playing game campaign in which I act as the game master. The game system being utilized is GURPS 4th Edition, published by Steve Jackson Games.
The main purpose of this blog is to act as a central location whereby I can post in-game information (primarily targeted to the players) and allow for others to submit comments to individual posts. In this sense, this blog serves as a running documentary of the happenings upon Arnur Soghal as viewed through the eyes of the player characters.My plan is to first post the history of all events that have taken place to-date involving the adventuring party, starting with the conception of this campaign.
This is the first time I have ever created a blog. So, please feel free to submit comments on any of the content of this blog, including page layout, color scheme, organizational flow, average airspeed of an unladen swallow, font size, or under/over-usage of images. (And, yes, I realize that the extra white area around the jpg's of the coats of arms stands out. These jpgs were originally created for a specific page layout purpose where a rectangular area was required. For the purposes of my blog, I will be removing the extra white space in the future.)
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