Weeding Lordsday 17th-49 degrees-leaves and small twigs in constant moti0n, flags extended-
-Immersion Sight-See something natural in the distance-Scene-Altered Negative-
The morning after the goblin raid, the mood is jubilant. Though there had been losses, a threat had been vanquished. Warriors had tales to share, and wives and children were eager to listen. Suddenly, horns sounded in the distance. Smiles vanished, and people started grabbing their weapons.
Q: Hobgoblin? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: Goblin? EXCEPTIONAL YES
Men and women rush to the barrricades surrounding the village, as a horde of goblins race towards us. I mutter a prayer to my ancestors, my parents, asking their protection in the coming fight. Glancing northward, I see a puff of smoke coming from a distant mountaintop that looms over the rest of the forest. It is strange what one can see from a clearing such as this. I wonder if a dragon lives there as well.
The goblins draw closer and arrows fly from the camp towards them, and back again towards us. Children scream in fear as they are rushed inside the lodges for “safety”. No place is safe if the goblins are not driven off!
A large group of goblins races towards us. Arrows flie, sending two of their wolves crumplinng and their riders tumbling to the ground. A third wolf reaches our lines, it’s rider slashing at Genelli. A warrior I don’t know cleave’s the dog’s head in half with his axe. Standing atop a rock, I spy a gobln shaman riding a worg, and force the earth around them to erupt with shattering force and the crack of thunder! Then I duck back behind a longhouse, hoping not to be struck by a goblin arrow. The goblins piled after us, as I hear they often do when they think they have numbers on their side. The vicious worg knocks over a bold young warrior who had rushed forward to kill one of the gobln archers, but I see a chance, stepping out into the open once more. “Tonitro” I shout, as the earth erupts again. The worg shards of stone disembowel the worg, and the shaman falls from it’s back, rent by the sound of the blast, and falling to the ground, shattered and broken. The blast caught nearly half a dozen other goblins as well, and the center of their line crumbled! The goblins falter as my companions shout their victory. We drive forward after them, cutting them down by axe, or filling them with arrows as they try to slip away. With a bolt of flame I strike down one hapless foe!
Q: Does the rest of the battle go well? YES
Elsewhere, goblin raiders get ensared by the tribe’s gardens, or get cut down by frenzied berserkers. Their desperate fury and eager bloodlust are no match for magic of the Matriarch and her “Sisters”. With spear, arrow and axe, they are driven back, and even the horn sounding the retreat is cut short in it’s cry.
There is a jubilant cheer and as I walk through the camp, staring at the carnage, I realize that none of the tribesmen had fallen! Several were lightly wounded, but it is as though their gods had protected them.
Q: Does the matriarch pursue? EXCEPTIONAL NO
Several of the young men are eager to pursue the enemy, but the Matriarch forbids it. Instead, she has people start clearing away the dead. Wolves and the two worgs are skinned, trophies are taken.
Q: Does he invite me to stay? YES
Beryn comes over to me, a smile on his face, “A battlemage is always handy in a fight.” He puts his hand on my shoulder, “If you are a criminal among your people, you may be a hero to ours.”
I look at him, taken aback, “But I am not one of your people. I would never strike down a defenseless child, or a woman cowering in fear, even a goblin one.”
Q: Is he insulted? YES
“Fe! Those aren’t women and children. Not even goblins regard them as such. They kill there own young and beat their own mates. An early death is a mercy to them,” Beryn snarls.
I shake my head in disagreement, “I cannot prevent a goblin from doing evil, but I don’t have to live as a goblin. Are we done here?”
Q: Does the matriarch send for me? EXCEPTIONAL YES
A young girl suddenly appears at my side, pulling on my shirt sleeve. I recognize her from two nights earlier, she was eagerly listening to my tales about Telgast, and my first duel with Roche. I follow her to the old woman who leads the tribe.
Q: Does she invite me to stay? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: Does she want me marked? NO
“Mendy of White Tower”, she says looking me up and down appreciatively, “you fight well for one so young and small. You should stay with us another night, enjoy the celebration and regain your strength before you continue on your way. You have helped us, and for that we are grateful, but your place is not among us.”
I nod appreciatively, glaring at Beryn.
-Immersion-Touch, NPC Breath- Scene, altered negative
The Viper clan holds a great feast celebrating their victory over the goblins and I am seated by the Matriarch as a guest of honor. But I notice, many eyes that had greeted me warmly at first and after the battle, look at me with anger and contempt. People whisper and point to me, but overall, the mood is still jubilant…it’s just that I seem to be a very unwelcome intruder. I also understand nothing of what is being said.
Wooden bowls are filled with stew, and some sort of fermented juice is offered as well. My smile of gratitude is not returned, and even my hostess seems to glare at me.
Q: Does she tell me? YES
I ask her what I’ve done wrong. She says, “You have insulted us. Insulted our offer of hospitality. Insulted our offering of goblin flesh back to the Green which they despoil. We sheltered you. We allowed you to fight by our side instead of giving you over to your own people. And you insulted us in return.”
“I did not mean to insult your people. I do not know or understand your gods, or your ways. I am grateful for your help, but I suspected you offered it because you needed help. Not out of compassion for me. And when you kill children as an offering to your gods, it is no different than when a gobln kills you as an offering to their gods. I don’t understand your people. And you don’t understand me,” I reply, as calmly as I can. Then I stand up and walk away from the celebration.
Q: Do they stop me? YES E: Negative for Mendy Bleher: the Cruelty of a Burden Q: Do they hold me as a slave? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: Do they give me an orphan? NO Q: Arrest me for the baron? EXCEPTIONAL YES
Three sets of hands grab me roughly and pin me to the ground. “Bind her as before,” I hear Beryn command. He and his companions take my belt and weapons, shoving a medicine pouch into my mouth, and tying it in place. My arms are pulled back, and I am lashed to a pole erected in the center of the camp, near the firepit. Many of the tribesmen look puzzled at this event, but when the Matriarch explains, they nod appreciatively.
A few of the young men come over to get a better look at me. Poking at me and laughing as I squirm. They are quickly ushered away by a few of the women. Some children also come over, curious about my clothing, woven cloth being uncommon among them, They are frightened away by the big man who led us to the goblin village. Thankfully, he is fully dressed now, but I still recognize him. He stares at me, a look of confusion in his eyes. Then he stands next to me, planting his feet firmly on the ground, and nobody else comes near as along as he stands watch at my side.
Q: Anything happen overnight? YES E: Positive for Mendy Bleher: the Carrying of Wounds (I figure this means someone sets her free out of gratitude for helping them, mending the wound of dishonor that betrayal brings the tribe….but all of the suspects turn up “no”. But then, what of the Green itself? The viper totem? The friendly serpent’s nest and the snake she returned to the ground? A sign?)
The feast eventually winds down, and the villagers go back to their lodges. A few more people come by and spit at me in scorn. I squirm against my bonds, but it does no good. Beryn knows how to tie a solid knot! He is the last one to visit me. Checking to make sure I am secured. He says a few words to the big man, who seems to disagree with him about something. Beryn seems to chastise him, and grumbles to himself as he goes to the lodge. The big man just looks at me, disgust on his face, but then returns to his post at my side.
I am tired, my muscles grow sore, but I cannot sleep. I start to drift and the pain jolts me awake as I start to fall against my bindings.
Suddenly, I am on the ground, and the pole to which I am tied begins to writhe around coiling around me, wrapping me in its strong embrace. The warrior lets out a cry of shock, and staggers backward as I realize I am no bound to a great serpent, which coils up as though to strike, it’s bares it’s fangs towards the warrior as though protecting me, though I am still bound to it.
In fear, I struggle to free myself. The serpent shifts suddenly, pulling free from me, and staring down at me. Its slitted eyes mesmerizing. I begin to lose myself in its gaze, yet I no longer fear. Then it lunges at me and pain shoots through my body.
Weeding Heyday 18th-56 degrees-leaves and small twigs in constant motin, flags extended-
-Immersion Smell-Spice=Scene Altered-Positive
I wake the next morning in the center of the camp. My bounds are gone, and instead, I seem to be wrapped in the shed skin of a great serpent, as though I slept using it as a blanket. The smell of cinnamon lingers in the air. My left arm feels numb.
As the camp wakes up and people begin to gather around, I pick myself up, and there is a collective gasp. I look down at my arm, the sleeve of my tunic has been torn off, and I see that my arm is now covered in strange markings. As I look, I realize that I bear the mark of a great serpent, a tree adder, the viper totem of this tribe. I had rejected the tribe. The tribe had rejected me. But here I am, marked as one of them.
Q: Any powers? EXCEPTIONAL YES Q: Do they want to know where I am going? NO Q: Do they try and stop me? NO – Survival check on direction-Missed it, I’m heading too far east-
The matriarch stares down at me, a shocked look on her face. The confusion in my eyes must be as readily apparent. I carefully stand, looking around. “Where are my things?” I ask. And it seems as though everyone understands me now. My satchel is quickly returned to me, and I quickly shoulder my pack, belt up my weapons, and walk out of the camp. I find myself rubbing my arm. It itches.
I head south out of camp. I feel strangely refreshed, though I had not slept well until the vision of he serpent. Or was it a vision? I woke up wrapped in its skin.
-Encounter-Small cats-
Midmorning, I hear a bird cry out as there is some rustling in the undergrowth nearby. Looking that way, I see a very happy looking cat emerge with a wounded bird in its mouth. It struggles to break free, its wings fluttering. But the cat pins it down and bites it once more, breaking its neck for good this time. Then it looks up at me, seeming to yawn in boredom, before carrying it’s prize back into the undergrowth.
A short time later, I come to the river, not having passed within sight of the obelisk. I’m not really sure how I missed it though. Whether I should go upstream or downstream.
Well, upstream should be deeper into the woods, but the tower was visible from a great meadow, so I will head downstream, for there was no vegetation this thick along the river before I came in sight of the tower the first time.
-encounter-wilderness dressing-rare flower-
Walking along the river, I notice something red trapped in an eddy of current. It’s a flower! I raise my hand uttering the word “manimpa” and by force of will, pluck the flower from the water and bring it into my own hands. I examine the blossom, and with a few more words, have dried it from he water. I smile, and place it in my hair, weaing it into the braids that never seem to keep all of the loose strands from my eyes!
I realize the itching on my arm has stopped. Which, of course, makes it return. So I scratch my arm a bit before continuing on my way. I think the reason so many travelers carry staves is so they have something to do with their hands on long walks like this.
As I finally reach the meadow where I fought the ankheg, I can see the tower in the distance. I sigh, and sit down to eat. Some bread, some cheese, some dried fruit and jerked meat. At least the water is fresh and cool by the river!
-Immersion-sound-dragging-
Over the babble of the river, I hear another sound. Human voices. People speaking Tankin, like myself. I crouch down and in the distance spot a group of farmers it looks like, with a yoke of oxen. “Tie that down better! No, keep the little logs rolling. It’s like you’ve never done this before!” It’s a group of men hauling a parcel of logs across the meadow, using smaller logs as rollers, since they have no wagon or sledge. I wait until they slowly pass from view before rising to my feet. No need to be captured yet again!
It is late afternoon as I ascend the trail to the tower. I pass by where killed Cole. There is no sign of his passing.
Finally, I come to the tower.
It looks to be about five stories tall, maybe six or seven, if the upper floors have lower cielings. The windows are spaced in such a way that it might be the case. The first three stories are very wide with about double the floor area of the upper stories.
Q: Any signs of life? YES (signs on floors 1, 2, and 5, rolling to see…fire elemetnal, gargoyle, and the boss (whatever that turns out to be)
There is a flicker of light through the windows of the first floor. Hard to spot as night has not yet fallen, but there is an orange glow nonetheless, as though from a great fire. A bit of movement catches my eye above that window. There is something else there, on the outside. Amidst the columns that form an outer ring around the structure itself. And for a moment, I imagine I saw a face from the uppermost floor. The whole tower looks not so much like it was carved by human hands, but summoned forth from the very stones beneath. It is very strange. Is Dryannor truly dead? Or has he just gone into hiding, here in his tower far away from the great cities of men?
Q: Are there divination wards upon the place? YES
I pull out my book and begin chanting, asking that my eyes be open to the woven tapestry of magic, so I can see how it is bent out of shape as I approach. When the spell is ready, I walk forward with new eyes spotting the glyphs and wards, their power now faded, but still present, still blinding me to what lays within. Wards against magical sight. Wards against teleportation. The magic is faded but still strong enough to defeat the likes of me!
“Corvos, look around. Is there a way inside?” I mutter to the crow, needlessly as my thoughts perpetually flood its feeble mind. I send the bird up to examine the landing above the third floor, to see if I might be able to enter from the outside above it, if I can climb well.
Q: Does the gargoyle attack? NO Q: Does there seem to be a way in n 4th? YES Q: Has the hinge fallen in? NO
The crow flies up and circles the tower, looking for doorways and windows. There is a an old door visible that opens onto the landing. Whether it can be opened or not remains to be seen! My crowbar and pick, my rope…all of the gear I bought for this mission remains with the Viper Clan. I failed to demand my things returned. Just my books, which are all that is truly of value anyway.
So I walk up to the wall, looking carefully to determine the best path to take to clumb up the tower.
-The illustration shows plenty of nooks and crannys, lots of growth on the tower. Plenty of handholds and footholds. I’d say this is an easy task. Using Hipster’s DC remix https://www.hipstersanddragons.com/difficulty-classes-for-ability-checks-5e/ , that’s a DC 8. Mendy rolls a 15–
I am easiy making my way up the outside of the tower when I recognize the danger. From behind a pillar, a great beast of stone reaches out towards me. I hurl a bolt of flame as I look for someplace to leap for safety, but miss. The beast, a gargoyle carved in the shape of a winged demon, snaps at me with its jaws and my protective wards flare as I withdraw my hand.
-Acrobatics DC 15, hipster hard, to land safe from a 15 foot fall-
I leap down, rolling nimbly to a safe stop on the ground, and hurling a second blast of flame at the winged beast, scorching it slightly. The thing then swoops down after me, gnashing it’s teeth and nearly biting my hand, but my ward flares again. Then it slashes and bites some more, and I have to conjure a shield to keep it at bay! But the shield fades quickly and a second blast of flame has done little to slow it down. The creature is relentless, and though I try backing away, it stays on me ripping through my final wards and slashing me lightly across the arm while I blast it again with fire. And then a second time, causing it’s skin to crack like stone from the ice. It’s fury increased, I summon another shield to keep its claws from my throat and then hit again with arcene fire. It rips through that shield and tears down the ward that had been reignited, raking my writs with its claws and bearing down on me, it’s jaws hovering over my face as i conjured fire once more, blasting it through hte heart with magic fire, causing it to shatter into a thousand pieces, tiny jagged rocks all around.
I pick myself up and look around. A lot of magic was spent facing down a single guardian! I walk around a bit, pacing. Thinking things through. Was this the movement I saw? Why didn’t the people with the fire come outside to hlep their guardian?
I treat and bind the cuts I endured in the fight. No reason for them to become infected! Then, after I feel rested, I try again to climb up and soon find myself on the landing facing the doorway to the fourt floor of the tower!
Q: Is the landing guarded? NO (Using TSAT to generate the door)
I pull out my book and try again to divine what magics may lay ahead. But the spell is still blocked by ancient wards, so eventually I put my book away and start to examine the door directly. It looks ancient, not worked by human hands anyway, but by whose, I am unsure. I notice there is a slot in the frame, and realize that if the door were to be opened, a blade would drop down slash the hands and arms of any who pushed the door open, or do even worse damage had they tried to force their way through!
I step back, and try to gently push the door open with my arcane hand.
Q: Is the hand strong enough? NO (disarm trap roll of 19 though, on a DC 14)
When that doesn’t work, I look around the base of the tower for a sturdy branch, but there is nothing good nearby to use that will let me push the door open safely. Instead, I start to cut up my blanket, but think better of it, and cut up one of my town outfits, balling up the bits of cloth and using my dagger to jam the cloth up into the grooves through which the blade would fall. Then I push the door open.
Iron hooks protrude from the wall, allowing objects such as weapon racks and coats to be hung there. The wall has been used as a canvas by an obviously talented artist.
-TSAT tells me I will face a Deadly Encounter-My table for Dryanor, 4th floor-Elemental plane of Air tells me this is a medium Air elemental- I go to https://perchance.org/fantasy-room-generator for a room appearance-Immersion-Touch-
I immediately notice there is a double door opposite this entry, but one of the doors has been lifted from its hinge and leans against the wall nearby. There are iron hooks on the wall, the sort used to hang tools and weapons. The walls have been painted as a mosaic of the sky, of clouds, as though perhaps seen from an eagle’s eyes soaring above? The floor is tiled as a mosaic depicting fire in the center of the room, earth surrounding it, and then the ocean, bleeding into the image of the sky on the wall. The image of phoenix, a symbol of life reborn, is tiled into the ceiling. I feel a strong breeze and sense danger if I step forward into the room. But there is no threat? Nothing I can see, and my magic will tell me nothing of what is beyond this doorway that my eyes cannot already perceive.
I step forward, and the breeze grows stronger, then the air grows still and I see a veritable whirlwing has formed directly in front of me. A man of pure air! The elemental flies at me and I blast it with magic darts as it envelopes me. If feel the force of its wind ripping at my hair and clothing, my satchels and gear, trying to lift me from my feet but I am able to keep my balance until it’s fury ebbs a bit and I can take a breath once more and unleash another salvo of darts. The creature backs away, and lashes at me with it’s “arms”, the force of which buffets me, almost like being punched in the face! More darts, another blow staggers me as the being begins to fade. I conjure arcane fire, and the creature vanishes entirely, but a key falls from where its heart would have been.
I bring it to my hand, and examine the key. It has a clear stone set in and in Draconic, the word “air”. I tuck the key into my belt pouch, and walk forward into the next room.
I see the statue of a great woodens sphinx. The head and torso of a beautiful woman, with falcon’s wings and a lion’s body. On the wall behind her is a strange landscape, like a great beach with only a smattering of trees in the distance, and no water to speak of. A glittering palace within a white walled city is at the center of the image. This must be the desert land of the Sultakar!
There is a set of stairs leading upward to the right, and downard to the left. And four braziers with smoke rising from them, the smell of incense hanges heavy but the smoke begins to take a more humanoid form. “Tonitro!” I shout, and one of the forms immediately explodes into a cloud of dust while the other two lose a bit of their form. Once barely a whisp floating towards me, but the other relatively complete. They breath a jet of steam at me, as though great teapots, but hotter! It burns my skin, but not badly for I am able to avert my eyes, and my clothing is thick enough. I hurl a bolt of flame at one, then realize my mistake as it passes harmlessly though the center of the creature. A creature of fire and air! They then close and swing at me with their small..arms? But conjuring a series of arcane darts, I kill one, causing it to explode in a burst of flame that nearly scorches my shirt, the second one later explodes in the same fashion, but I am able to dodge that as well.
My magic is depleted and I am in a great deal of pain from being scalded by the fire and steam, but I am not certain I want to stay here in a room with an unsecure door. But I also don’t want to climb back outside and stay alone in the wilds, or press forward either up or down stairs injured and with so little magic.
Q: Was the statue damaged? YES
I look at the statue. It’s face is now marked by the magic I unleashed against it. The censers have been knocked across the floor as well. I step back into the first room and pull out my book, laying in place some warning spells. Then I lay out my bedroll, and try to get some sleep. Between Corvos and the ward, I hope not to be caught by surprise.
Q: Does anything enter? NO (very unlikely given the nature of the inhabitants here) E: Setback to ‘Goblins have raided Viper lands’: the Attainment of Wishes (changed to Goblins escape with captives!)
Weeding Damesday 19th-47 degrees-leaves rustle, weathervances beging to move, feel wind on skin
-immersion, I say something to a sidekick, a bargain Scene altered-Negative
Q: Do they have captives? YES Q: Anyone I know? NO Q: Viper? NO Q: Adelian? NO Q: Are they heading to the tower? NO Q: Does Green wish to strike? EXCEPTIONAL YES
I wake the the next morning inside Dryannor’s tower. The magic here is weak, fading. Otherwise, I don’t know that I would have been able to defeat its guardians so far. Still, divination does not work well, and…I hear something outside! The sound of goblins? I gaze outward through Corvos’ eyes, and see a group of goblins encamped at the base of the tower. They must have arrived in the night, but thankfully they didn’t try to climb up! There are some captives among them. Axlan peoples, but nobody I recognize. Not even Viper clan. There is a tingling sensation in my arm, and an urge to draw blood. “Oh Alynn, if you were at my side right now, I would give anything to see your dreams come true..if you were just here for this fight!”
(I figure, DC 15 to overcome the urge to fight, easily pass the test) Q: Does Green leave me? NO
I take several deep breaths and the urge to attack a camp full of goblins single handedly gives way to rational thought.
I quietly sneak back towards the sphinx, and ascend the stairs to the next floor of the tower, and come to a heavy stone door. There are four key hols in the door, each marked to correspond with one of the four elements. There are also powerful arcane runes upon the door. If I attempt to force it, I will undoubtedly be struck dead by some sort of warding spell. I hold up the one key that I possess, and place it in the air lock. It seems to fit, and turn just fine. I pull the key back out. I’m not going to risk pushing the door open with just a single key in place!
I saw fire thorugh the windows of the first floor, and climbing past the second, i was attacked by a gargoyl, an earth elemental of sorts. I suspect that the third floor must be water. Perhaps each floor has a champion who bears a key?
Perhaps I could dupe the goblins into storming the first floor and dying there on my behalf? Well, if I had some gold dust, there would be a way!
I head down the stairs and come to a large, vaultlike room, much of which is filled with a great pool of water. There is a fountain in the center, upon which rests the marble statue of a giant mermaid, with a cruelly seductive look on her face. She holds a great conch shell in her hand from which pours a steady stream of water into the pool. Statues of lesser mermaids suround this one, holding tridents aloft that reach up to the ceiling.
Q: Can I spot a weak area in the floor? NO
I look to the base of the pool, hoping to see an area that might appear weak. Seeing nothing, I focus my eyes on a single stone. Then I notice a ripple in the water, as something forms up within it directly in front of me. It is a great serpent made of water. I hurl a bolt of ice at the serpent, which crystalizes part of it, but more water flows up from the pool. I lashes at me once, then twice, but I dodge out of the way, trying to freeze it again. Then it grabs hold of me as I lay into it with arcane darts. As it squeezes me and drags me into towards the pool, I throw my magic at it once more…and it collapses into a harmless puddle, draining back into the pool.
Q: Did it leave the key behiind? NO
I look around for the key, but it was not left behind by the beast, so it must be guarded elsewhere, if my idea is correct. I walk along the edge of the water looking for something, and then decid to inspect the central figure of the fountain. I leave my pack on the shore, and swim out to it.
-Strong Current is Hipster Hard, DC 15. Mendy has advantage on swim tests, and rolls a 15+2=17–
There is a strong current, like a riptide here, that could easily pull one around in circles endlessly, churning them under the water! But i reach the central mermaid, and climb up on it’s tail. I begin searching for any sign of the key. Perhaps a necklace, or perhaps inside the shell where the water pours forth.
Feeling around inside the shell, my fingers find a latch, and I pull hard on it. The mermaid’s mouth opens and I see upon her tongue, a key with a dark blue gem set in it. I call the key to me, and her mouth snaps shut…no sign of a hinge or anything! when I lower myself down, I realize that I can now stand on the water, as though it were solid ground! I walk over and pick up my pack, and then head over to the next set of stairs down.
–I skip a weekend of play to fiddle with some AI art programs. On returning, I floorplan the next two levels of the dungeon before resuming–
Q: is there a door to the earth? YES Q: are there doors? YES E: Positive for Viper Clan: a Dispute over Power (The goblin kidnappers fall into dispute over sacrificing victims now or later)
I go downstairs and find a stone door with no handle. I carefully examine it’s surface, and notice that a stone protrudes from the wall next to the door. I push that stone, and the door swings inward towards me, revealing a well lit altar room beyond. There are four sets of alcoves on either side of the room, and a great altar at the far end with a giant demonic statue looming over it. There are braziers before each alcove that seem to be lit with eternal fire, and inside the alcoves, the onces that I can see, are statues of lesser demons. Whoever Dryannor was, it seems his conjuration talents were not merely devoted towards mastering the primal forces, but also towards channeling the Tyrants as well.
-Room contents -easy enemy, some loot and the clue (elemental key)- Immersion speech from sidekick to enemy, normal speach, chitchat-Monster tactics-Monster will stalk and wait
I step into the hallway, and notice a figure at the far end of the hall, a bit larger than me, about the shape of a burly soldier, move into the shadows. I don’t get a good look at him, but his movements aren’t human like, more surly and burly, like an ogre or something.
“Don’t mind me, I’m just looking around for an elemental key.” I call out, as I move to the nearest alcove. Trying to peak around the corner while also keeping an eye on the “other”. “You wouldn’t happen to have seen one lying around have you? I’d like to go upstairs. Hey! Do you know where Dryannor used to keep his staff of conjuration?”
Q: Does the elemental respond? NO
There is a doorway inside this alcove, and two giant statues of demons on either side of the doorway. Looking across, I can see the same configuration opposite me. So I’m guessing eight demon statues in all, four doorways, if each of the alcoves is the same.
Q: Is a statue missing? NO Q: Are the minor statues gem encrusted? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: look like the gargoyle? NO Q: matching? YES Q: Any magical aura NO
The statues seem to be of carved stone, all matching, but I don’t recognize the sort of demon they represent. Only that it is disturbing to look at. The froglike appearance brings back bad memories.
I walk over to the door.
“Are you waiting for me to try and open a door? So you and one of your buddies can jump me at the same time?” I ask the shadow walker. I hear no reply. (Perception roll of 7 vs stealth 16, I don’t hear where he is anymore)
I run my hands across the door, it’s wooden surface has been carved to remind one of human bones.
Q: Does it attack now? NO
I don’t want to open a door just yet, there is still the great altar at the end of the hall. That’s where I would place a key. Unless I wanted to be sneaky or something, so I guess it’s probably not there. I want to check it out anyway.
I step out of the alcove and come face to face with a faceless mountain of earth! As it lunges at me, I blast it with a thunder sphere and try to back up. It swings at me with a mighty fist and I summon a shield to deflect it. The surge of magic revives my broken wards but the creature drives me into the alcove so my back is against the bone door. As it looms over me, I blast it again, and the creature explode into chunks of rock and clay that scatter across the hallway. A golden key with a brown gem in the handle clatters to the ground, falling from where its heart would have been.
I pick up the key, admiring it briefly before putting it into my pouch, “Three down, one to go!” Then I listen, thunder magic isn’t exactly quiet, and after my ears stop ringing from it, I strain to hear if anything else heard.
Q: Did anything else hear the noise? YES Q: guards on this floor? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: The goblins outside? YES Q: Do they try for the door? NO Q: climb up NO Q: leave? YES
I don’t hear anything moving around, so I walk around the main hall, looking into each of the alcoves, but staying away from the steps at the end of the hall leading up to the main altar. My magic is almost tapped out, and I need a rest so I want to be careful
Q: Do I find loot in the alcoves? NO
After investigating the alcoves, but without opening any doors, I sit down against a wall near the center, and rest for a bit. Eating some dried meat and raisins to refresh myself. I think about what I’ve seen so far, and wonder about the goblins outside. If there were a clear path, I’d send Corvus out to take a look, but instead, I simply sit and rest.
Eventually, I decide to get back to work. I pull out my spellbook and begin chanting the Ostend ritual, to detect magical auras nearby. Aside from the faint trace of magic that lingers throughout the entire structure and the everburning fires, none of the statues nor the altar seem to conceal any unusual power. I ascend the steps to the altar.
As is often the case for such idols, gems have been inset as the demon’s eyes. I have no desire to climb up after them.
-Room Contents-Hazard-Fungi-Green Slime–
I open the door to the room closest to the altar, on the left hand alcove. Beyond it, I see another alcove with a large demonic statue. There is the remains of a campfire in front of it, and a few empty potion bottles. The cieling is carved in a relief that appears to be a scene fromt he hells, as demons cavort with their victims. There is a tapestry on the far wall that is badly scorched. Dripping from the cieling, and in splotches across the floor, and even hanging from the great idol in the room is a viscous green slime. I am familiar with this “creature” and hurl a few bolts of fire to quickly clean it up, eliminating the slime as a threat. But then, a thought occurs to me. I use my distant hand to pick up the discarded potion vials, and fill each one of them with slime that has not yet burned away. But sadly, I cannot spot any sort of glass stoppers for them. Perhaps they used cork which has long since been dissolved by slime? I finish burning the room clear, but transfer the potion bottles of slime to the the end of the hall using my mage’s hand. i don’t want to touch them.
-encounter-Easy Foe (CR1 Quasit seems likely)-scared witless at sight of me and flees (well, it’s invisible so…)-
I check the door opposite this alcove, and find a similar room to the first, but with a great lion, rampant, painted on the cieling. The paint is beginning to flake off. The corners of the cieling are thick with spiderwebs. there is a tapestry on the wall depicting a feast with dwarves eating a cake and drinking from their tankards. It’s a very joyful scene, out of place next to the demonic altar nearby.
I notice a trio of coins lying on the ground near the idol. I use my hand to summon them to me. Each one turns out to be an old platinum coin. They are of elvish design, dated back to 1457 on the elven calendar. That’s about 4000 years ago! There is an image of a woman, perhaps a queen, on one side of each coin, and a great tree on the other. I put the coins in my purse. Then I search around the altar but find nothing else of value or interest to me.
–next-room contents, deadly encounter (CR 3 looks good, Bearded Devil?, plus loot!, Devil attacks immediatel, decent arcane check, so Mendy knows about it–
I then go out to the alcove opposite the first one I had started to investigate, but on pushing open the door, I am immediately attacked by a bearded devil wielding a great axe! It has a beard like steel, horns and smells of sulphur. It swings its great axe at me, but I conjure shield to deflect the blow, and hit it with a bolt of ice…which does very little to slow it down. It swings again at me but I duck away. I extend my distant hand to grab one of the slime vials, and pour it on the creature as it passes over it. It swings its blade again, and tries to slash me with its iron beard as i back away and send the second vial of slime across it. The gunk from the first vial smolders and scorches the fiend’s flesh.
Then I get backed into a corner for a moment, and the creature’s beard brushes against my arm as I try to slip past. It scrapes and blisters my skin, causing me to suddenly feel weak. The final vial misses the target, dumping its contents on the floor, but the slime from the first two vials is beginning to spread across the demon’s flesh. It comes at me again, and I have to conjure shield once more to protect myself from its attack. I then draw my dagger, the old silver one with the notched blade. For I know this sort of demon is immune to fire, and I can use nothing else against it. As the slime begins to spread across it, I plunge my dagger through it’s heart, and it vanishes into dust, as shadowmendy had done.
–technically, mage hand cannot attack. But pouring as you pass over? If I don’t allow it, Mendy is dead against a deadly enemy that happens to be resistant to all magic, and immune to Mendy’s cantrip. Would I allow it DM’ing other players? Yeah, probably, I’m a softy that way. Makes no sense to me that Mage Hand can’t attack. If a wizard is causing it to swing a sword, well, that was his action—
I see the stairwell leading down to the realm of fire below it, but my magical powers are almost entirely depleted. I will not survive another battle!
I see that someone has painted a symbol of Null on the wall. That greate force of destruction that only a madman would worship! A force so dreadful that even the demons of hell fear it! Across the cieling is stretched a hide of glittering dragon scales. The hide of an ancient copper dragon no doubt! Such a treasure is worth a fortune for one who could move it.
I retreat back up to the room where I entered this tower and set my warning wards once more. Then I crack open the door, and send Corvus out to investigate the goblin camp. I soon realize, they have left! Abandoning a crudely made altar before it could even be stained with the blood of their captives or kin.
Reassured by their departure, I lie down and go to sleep.
Weeding Godsday 20th-47 degrees-leaves and small twigs move, flags extened, steady rain for several hours, 3 inches.
-Immersion, talk to myself, whispering a question-Scene
My third day in the obelisk, and I wake up asking myself why I am even here? I eat some increasingly stale bread with some hard cheese and dried fruit, and then prepare myself for the day. I notice as I sheathe my silver dagger, that it now has a third notch in its blade, where there had only been two. “A demon slayer’s blade? Well, let’s hope your tally grows. Or better yet, that I need you no more! Three keys down, one to go!”
I get up and head back down towards the first floor, where from the outside I could see fire like from a great hearth. But now, I know to expect some being from the realms of fire.
Q: I there a door? NO Stealth 14-Room contents-a cursed or blessed relic, guarded by a deadly encounter-okay, I’m going to go crazy here, and throw in a Salamander. What’s it’s Intention-Attack by instinct!-
I walk quietly down the stairs, my wards fully refreshed, magic at it’s peak strength, hoping that this will be an easy key to recover.
As I round the stairs headind down, I see a great firepit in the center of the room. There are four smaller fire pits around it, and statues of demons in the far corner alcoves near the front of the building. And then stairs leading up towards the exit. A great wormlike creature, with a humanoid torso and a dragon’s head rises from the firepit, he has a great steel trident in his hand! He snarls and begins slithering towards me, flames billowing from his body. I hurl a globe of frost at the creature,and it staggers from the impact, the flames flicker for a moment as its rage increases. It thrusts it’s spear at me but my shield deflects the blow, yet it spins, and whips its tail around me, trapping me in its coils. The pain as it squeezes me, and the heat of its flames are unbearable shattering all of my protective wards and beginning to sear my flesh!
(missed, but used a luck reroll in the first round, chromatic orb-ice at 3rd level for a solid first round impact)
I focus on an area beyond the Salamander, and find myself there. I immediately race away from it, arounda corner, and continue running, trying to buy some time and distance between myself and my foe. It slithers after me, around the corner, it’s coils brushing against the pillars in the center of the hallway I had raced down. I hurl another blast of ice at it, and the thing howls in pain as it closes towards me. I retreat farther, and soon am faced with a choice of either descending some stairs farther into an unknown threat, or trying to race past a trident wielding fire elemental! It races towards me! But as it looms over me ready to strike me down, I blast it once more with a bolt of ice, and the creature’s flames finally peter out. Turning black, then grey like used up coal, it collapses like a toppled statue, slowly crumbling into into a pile of dust, embers fading from read to black to grey to white.
A key with a red gemstone rests in the creature’s remains. My hand brings it to my fingertips. It is still almost too hot to touch! I smile. In spite of the pain from the creature’s flames, the victory fills my heart with pride! I now start to look around the rest of the room. There are four demonic statues in the alcoves near the front of the room. Two halls with great pillars that help support the upper structure of the tower. And a stairwell leading even farther down into the earth. Near one pair of demons is the corpse of a man. He wears Ardelian style clothing and torn chainmail. Looks like he was slashed then impaled by a flaming trident near his collarbone, and his ribs are broken. There is a lot of dried blood on the ground nearby. I take the man’s purse and offer a prayer for his soul, though I cannot tell what his name might have been.
Q: Any livery on the man? NO
The door to the outside is of stone, of course, and appears to have been carved by gnomish hands, judging from the intricacy of the pastoral design and artwork. There is a sophisticated looking lock on it, and an arcane rune that makes me leery of touching it. I’ve already found an easy way in and out of this tower, so I need not mess with a door.
–so, there is some sort of artifact here. I visited https://www.herebetaverns.com/item-generator and initially generated a really powerful staff whose write up and history are way to complicated for my tastes, so clicking around a bit more, I settled on something different–
Having caught my breath, I walk back to the center of the room and notice that, in the midst of the bonfire, there stands a great spear of some sort. I reach out with my arcane hand, and call the spear to me. Holding it at some distance lest it be hot to the touch, and then bringing it into my hand. It is an elegent weapon, carved with with featherlike symbols down its haft and the image of a falcon striking its prey on the etched into its head. I take the weapon with me, and leave it on the fourth floor where I have been making camp. I want to bring it with me when I leave this place.
-immersion-touch, slimy environment-eew!-Scene
I head up to the fifth level doorway, all four keys at my ready eager to unlock the door to the tower’s upper levels. But as I insert each key, the door begins to pulse and bleed…some sort of sticky looking ichor that makes me quickly switch to using my mage’s hand to handle the task rather than risking touch the door myself. The arcane runes on the door begin to glow brightly, and then:
Q: Does the door open? YES Room Contents-Empty. Mission relevant loot chance 30% (Result: 24
The door swings open and a blast of dust and cold air engulfs me! I pass through a quiet little sitting room, and then into a larger study.
There is a dead woman lying on the floor in the center of the study. Her body perfectly preserved, but her eyes gouged out. She is fully clothed. The walls are wood paneled and lined with bookshelves. Scores of books! I grow giddy with excitement in spite of the presence of death in the room. There are two paintings on the far wall two scenes on either side of the archway. In each painting, people pass through the archway. In one, those who pass through are turned into frogs and attacked by herons. The scene brings back bad memories. In the other scene, people pass, some with their left hand rased, some without. Those with a raised hand have a bird light on their shoulder. Those without a raised hand are attacked by a bird pecking at their eyes!
Beyond the archway, there is some sort of alchemical lab. A great lense is poised in the center of the room over a table, and a skylight is open above it. Tables cluttered with vials and jars are on either side of the room, and there are many shelves worth of such goods along the walls.
Q: is there a spellbook here? NO Q: Potion recipe NO Q: Any magical artifact? NO
I begin looking through the books, treatises on the planes and their denizeens, books on flora and fauna native to our world. Books of medicine, philosophy and history. No spell books. No books with potion recipes, or instructions on how to craft any magical artifact. I pull out my spellbook and attempt to sense magic in the room. There is nothing but the residual aura I have grown accustomed to.
Then I hold my left hand up and pass through the archway into the alchemy lab.
Q: Get turned into a frog? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: Does a bird appear? NO Q: Wisdom gained? NO Q: Intelligence? YES Q: Permanent? NO Q: any magic here? NO Q: An alchemy book? NO
My mind becomes clearer, more astute as i pass through the arch. I begin looking through the ingredients. It is a nice collection of many well preserved ingredients, many I recognizes, but nothing I really know how to use without a recipe.
-Dawdled here, wandering monster check turns up a 1, so here we go! Let’s do a mummy with some lesser spellcasting ability-
I hear footsteps coming from the archway behind me. Turning, I see a hideous looking half desicated woman’s corpse wearing the robes adorned with arcane runes. “The master commands that intruders must die!” it says as it lunges towards me. I hurl a sphere of flame towards it, which seems to engulf its robes. It screeches and shambles forward, chanting…then it appears next to me! The terror of the thing nearly chills me to the bone, but as it reaches out with its hand, I block it’s grasp with an arcane shield and slip away.”
“Maninga!” I yell, spraying that corner of the chamber with flames so the creature cannot possibly escape. It howls in agony as it shambles through the inferno towards me! It swings at me once more, its fist crackling with lightning, but it is too slow, and I blast it with another bolt of flames causing the horror to explode in a spray of bone and cinders.
“Well…crap,” I mutter, looking down at the pile of smouldering robes. “Was she Dryannor’s apprentice or something?”
-immersion-Sense of calm-
I sigh, and kneel down over the remains, offering a prayer on behalf of my unknown foe. I notice a golden pendant in the robes, and pull it out of the smoldering rags. It bears the image of a wyvern, and seems to be well made. I put it in my pouch for safekeeping.
Then I head back out into the main study, raising my left hand as I pass through the archway. I kneel down and offer a prayer on behalf of the eyeless woman as well. It seems she was young, her face unlined. A pity.
-scene-(Room contents indicate a power NPC having just defeated a foe…unlikely given the situation, so I’m treating the room as unoccupied–
I continue through the study and find a set of stairs leading higher up into the tower. I follow them into a kitchen area. To my right, they open up into the servants quarter, visible through a curtain that has been thrown aside, and to the left towards a dining room. The cieling is tiled with the image of a great bird, a phoenix, upon whose feathers are inscribed arcane runes.
I walk over to the servant’s quarters. They once were occupied by two women, judging from the pair of cots and the slightly different sized wardrobes. Most likely the two women now lying dead downstairs. I cannot find a spellbook though, a mundane wand, brushes, combs and other things are in good supply. I take a small silvered mirror. After glancing in it, I decide to borrow a brush and an ivory comb as well for I am a tangled mess, no doubt!
The supplies in the kitchen rotted long ago, and I quickly pass through that area and the dining room to find the stairs leading up to the uppermost floor of the tower!
At the top of these stairs is a great iron door with steel faceplate and a keyhole that appears to have been partially melted shut! I should not have wasted all of that slime!
-immersion-enemy whispers a bargain to me-
Q: Does it know my name? EXCEPTIONAL NO Q: my quest? YES
“Ah, an intruder survives my tests!” I hear a gravelly man’s voice whisper. “Why have you come here? To perish at my hands?”
“I’m seeking the staff wielded by Dryannar, it is said to have the ability to bind a demon forever, and there is a demon hunting for me that I would like to see bound…forever.”
“And what do you offer in trade for my staff?” the voice replies, amused.
“Well…I kind of thought you were dead, or long gone, and that perhaps your staff was simply lying unattended, unneeded and useless, so I might just be able to take it.” I stammer, honestly but unpersuasively.
Q: Does this response anger it? EXCEPTIONAL YES
“Ah! A thief then?” the voice bellows. “Show yourself!” it commands.
-Mendy wears an amulet of non-Detection. She cannot be sensed through divination, but the presensse of something near near the door triggered an alarm. So she is invisible to Dryannor’s attempt to scry her, but he knows somene is there responding to his questions. she’s not fully aware of the power of the amulet, so…-
I look around, confused, as i am plainly visible to anyone who can see me. Why can I not be seen?
“Wait, where are you that you cannot see me? Have you gone blind?” I ask confused.
“Do not trifle with me, thief! None steal from me!” Dryannor threatens.
“Well, if you are busy using your staff, then I apologize for the intrusion. I really thought you were dead or something. If it’s all the same to you, perhaps I should just leave the way I came in. I won’t do anymore damage, and we can just go our separate ways.” I suggest in a tone as humble and apologetic as I can manage.
Q: Is he okay with that? NO Q: Does it attack? YES
“You have killed my servants and invaded my home! You will be punished!” the voice threatens.
I great ball of fire erupts in front of the door! Though I hurl myself backwards, I am still badly injured by the flames, and quickly retreat back down the stairs. I hear a second and a third blast erupt, and a booming voice, “Are you still there intruder! Still alive, thief?”
I don’t hesitate. I grab the spear I had recovered, and hurl it to the ground as i exit the tower’s balcony and begin climbing back down towards freedom.
Outside the tower, I grab the spear and race towards the treeline, where I pause and rest, catching my breath, and tending the burn marks left by the blast of flame. I guess Dryannor gets to keep his staff!
Posts From a Long Winded Gamer 
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