Burning Witch Adventurers Session #8 **Updated**
Midweek has come again which means another party of adventurers traveled to the "Complex" along with Cerulean Sea. The weather is the best it has been this year and the bloated red sun only vaguely melancholic. In hind sight, maybe it should have been a bit sadder for another causality hit the adventuring community of Orm. It has been a bloody week. The particular party facing this most recent particular tragedy was:
- Avreml Oofnik (Level 1 Beet Thief)
- Betina (Level 1 Fighter)
- Kay Em Dee (0-Level Tuff)
- Journeyman Crannoc (Level 1 Magic-user)
- Merry Mako, the Singing Spearman (Level 1 Fighter)
- Phasmo (Level 1 Magic-User)
- Cadmium (faithful steed)
- Richie Bando (Level 1 Thief), deceased
- Sergio Canksore (Level 1 Half-Elf)
Here is a Phasmo's summation the events of the delve (composed by the magic-user's player, Ben):
We gathered at the Burning Witch, a band of capable souls, five strong. I, Phasmo, lens grinder and ardent student of nature; the Journeyman Crannock—a fledgling sorcerer drawn to flashy and obvious enchantments; the warrior Bettina; a half-elf named Sergio Canksore; Avreml Ooofink, the beet dealer; and cunning Richie Bando, may his soul rest in peace. I recognized Journeyman Crannock at once from our school days together, and we shared many a fond memory over the establishment's weak ale before turning to business. The five of us formed a plan to enter the strange dungeon beyond the miraculous cleft in the rock, hoping to parlay with gnomes within, keepers of the place who might know more about its nature
Approaching, we saw that the entrance had refashioned itself, drawing the natural stones into the shape of stairs reaching up towards the aperture. My companions seemed to display no curiosity, wishing to simply clomp over the miracles in pursuit of lucre. My attempts to convince them that it was a metaphysical riddle worthy of a natural philosopher seemed to fall on deaf ears—even poor Crannock forgot his training from Transcendental Congress, and grasped by a desperate desire for coin rushed ahead. I was barely able to tie up my horse Cadmium and detain them long enough to perform a few simple experiments.
Within, we headed towards the balcony leading to the region of the gnomes. At an altar of bone, I performed some experiments. I deftly discerned that its structure was intended to play with light and shadow. By shining its light upon it through my mystical prism, I was able to project a figure of shadow upon the wall. Unfortunately, my success called forth guardians of the altar, hideous transparent flying amoebas, intent on our decapitation. We raced ahead of them, pressing on quickly to the area of the gnomes.
Sadly, there had been a massacre of the gnomes at the hands of the fell disciples of the Illuminated Eye. All were gone or dead. Pressing in we came upon an unholy chamber, where an ancient stump brooded. It called to Richie, who open the door where it rested. They had congress and it seemed to make him some sort of offer, but possessing dignity and clarity of mind, Richie rightly declined—and thereupon it slew him as a blood sacrifice—oh how terrible it was! Shuddering, we sealed the door, grieving to leave our companion behind.
We discovered behind another door a great beast, a bird man with iridescent feathers and hooked talons. But soon we heard commotion behind us. Looking out the door, we saw several disciples of the illuminated eye in their colorful armor, in struggle with the decapitating amoebas that had pursued us from our initial encounter. Once the disciples of the illuminated eye had slain the amoebas with their weapons of light, we sprang into action, and here—to give him his due—Crannock shined, keeping his wits about him long enough to induce an unnatural slumber in them.
We took one prisoner, and looted the bodies of the others, some of which we noticed were identical. Seizing their arcane arms and armor, and one living prisoner, as well as several scrolls and various other treasures, we beat a hasty retreat. But not before we tamed the strange feathered beast and led him forth in a harness. In all, it was an exhilarating adventure. The place has begun to yield its mysteries to us. I am confident that further research will reveal more of its nature.
Loot
- 5 sets of Order of the Illuminated Eye armor (minus one helmet), short swords, and "devices"
- Gamblers haul: 85cp, 128sp, and a dagger
- Antique Fochlucan Harp (50gp)
- Bag containing 400gp
- Approximately 100 scrolls penned in gnomish
- Bag contained 600sp
- Strange bestial friend
Experience Points
- 523xp from treasure
- Order of the Illuminated Eye members 4 x 13xp
Player Character Cut
- 90gp, 145sp, and 17cp ea (three loose silver pieces)
- 115 xp ea
Let me know of any downtime activities for this week you want to do in the comments!
Betina would like to Cultivate a Relationship. I rolled a 7 and have no Charisma modifier.
ReplyDeleteWho is Betina trying to develop a relationship with and how do you want to begin cultivating it?
DeleteWhile drinking at the Burning Witch, she strikes up a conversation with an off-duty city guard, offering to buy him a drink.
DeleteYou become acquainted with a mid-aged member of the Orm Civil Defense Force named "Whipple". His voluminous mustache does not hide his horse teeth as he chuckles his away through opinions on the weather, how the Equinox festival went, and the unnerving spectacle that was that party of adventurers dragging Drüg through town just over a month ago. Even when he talks about his worry about the new drug ripping through the scene of Banx, Kay Em Dee, etc.; he still has a chuckle or two. He only really seems to stop long enough to suck down gulps of chestnut ale.
DeleteDo we need to find someone to cast Detect Magic to see if any loot is magical post-delve?
ReplyDeleteMost immediately available is a collection of amateur, theoretical magicians that call themselves the Society of the Coruscating Seal. While they are unable to detect magic, they will dig their their "extensive" libraries of arcane texts to see if they can identity any magical artifacts. It costs 100gp per item and has an 85% accuracy rate. They convene every fortnite at the Drinking Crow.
DeleteFor true magical assistance, a member of the Congress resides in the Impossible Fortress. A magic-user of the 7th Level known as the Enchantress. Oddly, her rank exceeds the station title of "Enchanter" though some in the Congress speculate that she is so old that her title comes from a time when the Transcendental Congress applied alternative ranking structures. Now, how to gain an audience with your better, I cannot say.
Crannoc would like to
Delete1. Set up a secure space for the feathered beast
2. Also note down the arcane sigil on the beast's foot
3. Also claim one suit of armor and device for himself
4. Ask the party if we want to chip in gold and see if the harp is magical by consulting the Society of the Coruscating Seall. I'd like to attempt to play it and see if anything happens. As well, does the dagger seem special in any way, extra-sharp or very quick on the draw?
5. If Crannoc hasn't already used up his downtime action, he'd like to show and sell the black vines and the ameoba corpse to Shrune the Arcane Weaver, to cultivate that relationship. Phasmo can come along if he wants, but i'll be careful to mention he was not there for the conquest of the black vines.
It seems to Crannoc that the easiest method of setting up a secure space for the beast may be in the ruins of Orm-of-Old just north of Orm-that-Is. Ever since Sir Yann Sharp drove Knights of the Road into the Gloaming Hills, the area seems pretty quite outside of the predatory animals that stalk among the remains. You will have to arrange for someone to check on the creature over the rest of the week if you don't want it to wander off due to part two of this post.
DeleteTo see Shrune will require most of the rest of the week as you must travel down, to the edge of Sourwood Marsh, to visit her manse. She will offer 150gp for the "detritus of your adventurous antics" as"a favor due to you having to trudge along the edge of the marsh to pay her a visit.". She'll, someone of her skill should be able to make something appealing of those vines. Make a 2d6+2 roll to see if these efforts lead to a favorable visit and the opening of a relationship clock (you would have automatically opened a clock if they had been gifts).
Phasmo appreciates Crannoc's offer to come along and is tempted to connect with Shrune, but cannot pull himself away from study of the suit.
DeleteI'll look around Orm-of-Old for a likely spot for my beast friend. Can I pay a fee to Merry Mako or a PC (maybe a druid if there is one) to check in on it while i'm away?
DeleteI hike around Sourwood Marsh to manse of Shrune to sell her my things and I roll a 9 total.
I noticed Bast's reply down thread and accept her help with checking on the beast.
DeletePhasmo would like to 1. Note down the wizard's mark on the bird creature in his journal, 2. claim 1 "device" for himself, and 3. spend his downtime action beginning research on one suit of their armor. (If you want me to be more specific about the research I can try to do that.) Also: how do I determine what 2 extra languages I can speak? Can I just decide? Since I didn't write it down, I feel like it would sort of be cheating now to be like, "Obviously one is gnomish!"
ReplyDeleteOne last question, sorry: how should we handle the group conversation with the captured member of the Illuminated Eye?
DeleteThe languages known to exist currently outside of common and secret languages (like druidic, etc) include: (1) dwarfish, (2) elfish, (3) halfling, (4) gnomic, (5) ogrish, (6) goblinese, (7) celestial tongue, (8) abyssal tongue, (9) sylian, (10) dragon, (11) harpy, (12) kobold, (13) gnole, (14) mirror tongue ,(15) beast man,(16) amazonian, (17) Holy Modern Imperialish, (18) Old Imperialish , (19) Middle Imperialish, (20) One of the myriad of human dead dialects.
DeleteA few languages (like dwarfish to gnomic, elvish to slyian, or Old Imperialish to Middle Imperialish) allow some level of deciphering of each other due to their similar linguistic roots.
As for investigating the armor, a 2d6+2 (form Int) research roll is needed. In addition, I would LOVE to hear how Phasmo investigates the armor but at initial testing (which I imagine might be board), it is not required.
I imagine that he's renting a room at the Burning Witch, if they have rooms, and that he has turned it into an ersatz laboratory. The first order of business would be to try to understand the runes and suss out the basic capabilities of the thing, using himself as a test subject if necessary. But what really interests him is the material of which the armor is composed. I imagine that in the future he will experiment with its reflective properties, half submerging part of it in water, measuring angles of refraction and the like, casting light and darkness upon it, or upon his prism, and testing its reaction to light of different frequencies. He wants to understand its connection with the power over light and whatever magic the runic patterns signify.
DeleteMy result from the roll is 3 + 4 + 2=9 total.
DeleteWait, what's "mirror tongue"? I feel like he might want to know THAT.
DeleteWhile the Burning Witch does not let sleeping accommodations, the space has an attic currently not in use (unlike at the Drinking Crow where the upper most level is used as a revelry parlor of sorts by beings from the Twilight Shore). It is drafty and awkwardly shaped but will easily serve Phasom's purposes. His stress testing of the armor finds it affords about as much protection as shirt of chain grants someone but it is in his endurance tests to and from the attic to tavern and back again and again that he sees its more practical advantages. It is so like wait that it is far less exhausting to move in. It may be even possible to swim in it. It would decidedly slow the rate of heat exhaustion if one was to say, journey out among the wastes on the other side of the Slumbering Mountains compared to other more mundane forms of securing one's person.
DeleteCursory explorations with your prism find the armor's reflective properties fascinating. What would take mind-numbing polish work to accomplish in similar metal surfaces seem to, at most, require a brief but vigorous cleaning with a vinegar and water mixture.
As for "mirrior tongue", Phasmo would have first come across it in a book in the studies of Auralion the Lingonaut. The book, with many of the telltale marks of one aimed towards the recording for folk stories most likely aimed at children, tells of how the investigations of man and a woman lead to travel to another place filled with mysterty and mazes populated by strange, sage-like beings and cruel, twisted reflections of those we see in ours. It ends in very inappropriate, for the assumed target audience, grizzly fates of the investigators before launching into a brief but complicated section covering the language spoken by the beings of this other place. This language has been coined as "mirror tongue".
Phasmo knows Old Imperialish, for reading the tractates of the natural philosophers of old, as well as Mirror Tongue. Probably he was ridiculed at the Transcendental Congress for his obsessive fascination and tiresome theories about the Auralion's world of reflections. For him it opens up the investigation of mystical optics to a pleasing transdimensional vistas.
DeleteBetina is willing to chip in to pay for the harp to have detect magic cast on it. She'll follow the lead for whatever interrogation plan the party comes up with. She can also check in on the beast if Crannoc would like.
ReplyDeleteAh, Crannoc happily accepts your aid with the beast.
Delete