Underworld Adventurer

 A new of new faces, hungry for the gold and glory of adventure, wandered into the Burning Witch. They wandered up to a table of adventuring sorts and introduced themselves. A human woman with a sickly pallor to as "Maevra Lun " while a vat spawn with indigo skin and min green eyes identified herself as "Bex". They were offered up spots at the table and given a chance to weigh in on the tavern's gossip. A handful of Burning Witch regulars left three weeks ago for a place called the "Great Cavern" and have yet to return. A dwarven chef at table, Bludoon, claimed to have been in the aforementioned cavern. Any details beyond how dangerous the place is were left undivulged by the culinary artist as he quickly got lost in describing the collection of mushroom's he had acquired form a large, sentiment mushroom he had encountered in the vast wilderness of the Complex's fourth level. Another at the table, the cleric Dawg Dog, leaned in and in a hush vo...

The Magician Phasmo sent out a call to the adventurers he had shared his last dungeon delve with. He wanted to find out more about the "demonic mirror beings" they had encountered on that adventure . They agreed that they wanted to know more but they felt they had few leads. Too late, as well, Phasmo had received the results of his inquiry into arcane symbols on the pedestals on which the celestial orbs floated so the group did not have time to rope Journeyman Crannoc into their plans. PakPak, though, was especially eager to do business with the the dwarves Fiddle and Faddle on Level 3 (the same level the party had encountered the "demonic mirror beings"). The following group decided to head down to the beach and start heads towards Level 3 to look for clues: The party: Hate Pit (Level 4 Vat Spawn) PakPak (Level 5 Kobold) Smokey Proag (Level 2 Halfling hireling) Phasmo (Level 4 Magic-User) Lirazil (Level 1 Elf retainer) Wolfgang (Level 3 Duelist) No one had seen the...

The following statement was added to the records of the Athenaeum of the Dying Sun by the Librarian Valtropis covering the event around Phasmo's (with Scamndros' aid) questioning of a prisoner: When Wolfgang, PakPak, Hate Pit, and Phasmo returned from their last expedition into 'The Complex', they brought back with them two prisoners. One, seemingly PakPak's deceased wife L'dy Meggee. The other was a spitting image for the vat born adventurer known as 'No Leg' (though, free of the injuries to his legs form an adventuring party and strange trap in 'The Complex'). Phasmo wanted to keep them at the Athenaeum of the Dying Sun unguard constant guard for he was certain the pair were in his words, "powerful demonic mirror doppelgangers". L'dy Meggee was to be kept in one of her widower's jars as she was in a shrunken hob form. Phasmo took the utmost care in sealing the heavy jar; leaving only pinprick holes in the lid for her to breath...

 The Athenaeum of the Dying Sun received a research request most usual a couple weeks ago. Much in Orm seems different since then. It was before the death of the 111th Company founder Banx. It was before the magician Scamandros, sometimes called Riverborn, stabbed the Sorcerer King Valtropis in his heart with his own dagger. The adventuring assassin Thea Noir was still a captive of the Order of the Illuminated Eye. The skald Fancy Jean-Yves Beauvollier wasn't married yet, either. Yes, indeed, times were very different in Orm when the Midnight Marauders offered to trade the location of an unspoiled chest of treasure for a quartet of librarians assistance in fixing the injury to their light-fingered compatriot Carabas. Some vats as drawn by Hate Pit's player Marie for comic. The Pool of Life is more orderly than this but looks less cool. The magician and co-founder of the Athenaeum, Journeyman Crannoc, quickly volunteered to undertake the first round of research into the matter. ...

 Phasmo returned to his notes on the research he is conducting into the rune-covered skull said to belong to one "Huugal Aerith". How does he know that is the name of the owner of said skull? According to Copra Kaan, the vat spawn adventurer that contracted Phasmo's efforts in researching the skull, Huugal's ghost told him as much. While not plagued by some unquieted spirit seeking a final rest, Phasmo still was pleased that Copra asked the Beholder to pick from one of the four lines of inquiry unearth in his efforts to pursue further. They were: Further delving into Xeelos exploration of the theology of the tale of Huugal Gold Tooth and the Four Divine Beasts. Studying more about the specifics in Xeelos' writing about the tomb Huugal's body resides. Researching the Vale Among the Oneric Mounds or Peaks in the only tome cited by Xeelos the library has-- Homerinous'  History of Magical Mysterious Appendix N: The Peculiar Realms of Twilight, Elfin and Other...

 Two librarians of the Athenaeum of the Dying Sun, Journeyman Crannoc and Scamandros, did something not seen in many months: made the walk across Orm from the Burning Witch to join a party from the Drinking Crow . The duo dipped briefly into the Crow before a party stepped out to make that familiar walk down the beach to the cavernous dungeon entrance. The following were among the number that set to free Bors Redbeard (Level 4 Dwarf) and parley with Valtropis, called by some the Sorcerer King: Copra Kaan (Level 3 Vat Spawn) Fredrick Featherstone (Level 4 Vestigater) Journeyman Crannoc (Level 4 Magic-User) Malagath Finbaros (Level 3 Elf) Scamandros (Level 4 Magic-User) Willow the Wisp (Level 2 Illusionist) Valtropis as he looked the last time Bors Redbeard saw him alive. The group returned with the eldest Redbeard brother in tow. Scamandros, sometimes called 'Riverborn', was covered in blood and his dominate hand stained red. The mark binding him from the service of the Imperia...

Before he caught Yellow Fever, the Beholder Phasmo delved into the mysteries of a ancient human skull with runes and other markings carved into its surface through some contracted research by the Athenaeum of the Dying Sun for the vat spawn  V'Naïss Two-Face. Then, though, V'Naïss passed on and then Phasmo fell ill to Yellow Fever. And that is how, only now, Phasmo is presenting the results of his research to the heir of V'Naïss: Copra Kaan. V'Naïss gave Phasmo the following to guide his research: in the hills near Orm, near the village of his people, lay the rest of the body of one 'Huugal Aerith' . She had desired to know where that spot was. Phasmo dived deep into the Athanaeum's stacks and at first, the research seemed futile. While an odd ' Huugal' or two was stumbled across in the ancient texts, none carried the surname ' Aerith '. It was an accidental late night discovery on the fifth day of research that Phasmo had a break through. ...

Here are two downtimes covering the mentoring of Scamandros and Phasmo in the learning of their 2nd Level spells. Riverborn Scamandros Beholds a New Spell Upon reaching the level of "Beholder", Riverborn Scamandros approached the Midnight Marauder Zarthur Mare to study a new spell under his mentorship. Zarthur reminded his fellow Transcendental Congress member to not tie himself too closely to one teacher too closely- else he become just an instrument of that teacher. Plus, the magic-user added, "I am only a Seer. I couldn't teach you your next level spell if I thought continued mentorship was a good idea." Instead, Zarthur pointed Scamandros out towards the low marshlands to the West of Orm to find a new mentor in the magician known as Horbit. Out along the reeds along the river Sarn, Scamandros finds the mud hill hovel that serves as the lair for the accomplished rival of the arcane weaver Shrune-- Horbit. While the damp lodgings and workspace Horb...

Here is the first post of several catching up on downtime activities I had been bad about resolving. This one covers a couple of things Scamandros and Hate Pit have done in the recent weeks. Scamandors and the Gnomes of Indos na Egra Eithog While over 100 dwarves worked on the creation of what the hill dwarfin documents refer to as  The Halls of the Distant Fathers , only 12 are cited as being on the initial contracts (which are not found among the scrolls in the Athenaeum). Of those, only three stayed in Ur-Dan after the migration upon the projects completion: Stoney Rock, Butch Goldbeard, and Lode. That the dwarves that became the Rootless only contained membership of one fourth of the initial contractors the grand subterranean project their descents now are trying to claim looks to place the claim on dubious footing. Traditional, surviving signers or their descents all have to be involved in a claim using the Clause of Abandonment. These legal waters, though, seem to be m...

All week, the adventurers known as the librarians of the Athenaeum of the Dying Sun plotted to execute one of a trio of plots they were "bound to complete". Or, so other regulars of the Burning Witch summarized from their overheard conversations. While they attempted recruit other adventurers to join them, only three of the librarians along with some hirelings form the 111th Company made up the composition of their party. Journeyman Crannoc could be overheard saying to the following fellow party members, "That sorcerer-king is a dick," as they left the tavern: Journeyman Crannoc (Level 3 Magic-user) Sonja Strong (Level 1 Fighter hireling) Tome Berry (Level 1 'Magic-User' hireling) Scamandros (Level 3 Magic-User) Kiddo (Level 0 Scrappy Youth hireling) Sergio Cankersore (Level 3 Half-Elf) Calendonensis (Level 1 Magic-User hireling), deceased The party returned much worse for wear, covered in mosquito bites and smelling of fire, and minus Cal...

GaWoosh, PakPak, Thea Noir, and Wolfgang set upon the old bathhouse currently housing the Athenaeum of the Dying Sun in order to discover more about items recently retrieved in delves into the cliff face. All told, 500 gp was spent over two weeks in order to discover the properties of the items they have uncovered. In this research, GaWoosh's background and native tongue were indispensable. In the research, it becomes very apparent that having someone versed in Gnomic, Old Imperialish,and/ or possessing experience in arcane arts and their symbols is essential to make any headway with the resources currently available to the burgeoning library. All told, the items examined include three unusual liquids, a metal beaker, and a dagger. Two of the strange drafts were the easiest to identify. One was a crystal bottle containing a liquid resembling dirty water while the other was other was a glass vial containing a thick orange-gold substance. Some sort of Old Imperialish alc...