Tag: magic

Report 27: Research Complete

On By ravonlockeIn Journal, SvalaLeave a comment

My thesis is done!

  • I have taken ROK’s advice to heart – it isn’t about learning everything there is to know about magic, but rather understanding the Weave.
  • Understanding that all power comes from one font in the Universe.
  • And that Divine Power, and thus Divine Magic is the most reliable and powerful way to access it.
  • There’s also a rod of Universal Travel that could get me home for a visit, past the barrier of this Wheel.
  • I defend my these to The Keeper of Tomes, and while he disagrees, I have finally become an Avowed of the Library!

Druid Grove Blight

  • Ms. Rosewood finally tells the group what is wrong – her grove has been blighted, like many before it.
  • We go to investigate previous sites – this seems to happen every fifty years somewhere in Faerûn.
  • The most recent past blighted grove is beginning to grow again, but the land is scarred – the townsfolk said the blight ended after all the druids were dead or gone.
  • The oldest site, 250 year ago, contains no signs of the blight, but many trees and much life.
  • Ms. Rosewood senses the power of a current Grove nearby and leads us there, but she is the only one invited to enter their circle.
  • They return to the group and we Windwalk to the nearest leftover blighted section – a cave with petrified remains and strangely empty spaces.
  • Ms. Rosewood tells us she spoke of the blight coming on the backs of beasts in the night, encircling and destroying everything.
  • At the third site, 200 years old, we find a group of goliaths and other small giantkin – we offer to help with their crops and a potion of longevity to their elder and they agree to speak with us.
  • This man invites us all in for a feast and celebration, during which he explains a period of death and destruction of a druid grove at the base of the mountain.
  • They tried to help, but found the only way to stop the blight was to destroy that which was blighted, and even those druids who left the grove to join their tribe died of a rotting sickness.
  • The other sites we visit have no more information to add, one has not recovered at all, the other has some elves who live nearby now.

Candlekeep Resources

  • Great Reader Nyantani investigates the samples of the blighted groves that we were able to bring back.
    • All of the samples are natural materials corrupted by the necrotic energies of the Shadowfell.
    • Planar incursions this severe are rare outside a Spellplague.
    • Something is doing this in a targeted way, needing to destroy these areas and the druids who maintain them.
    • That being could still be nearby or could have set it in motion and gone away, but the power is still going somewhere, to something.
    • He recommends speaking to the remaining life there, communing with Ms. Rosewood’s grove.
  • Great Reader Savikas reads through Ysayle’s notes on the incursion and looks over our samples.
    • She also believes it is targeted and intentional, but not the work of the Raven Queen herself.
    • An object of power somewhere in the area is allowing the one responsible to do this, a very powerful artifact.
    • She recommends looking for beetles closer to the inception of the events to lead us to it.
    • It must be located and stopped before the lands can be fixed.
    • She also tells me that she once researched the Rod of Universal Travel, and that we should look for information in a Netheril Tomb or in the shadow of it, suggesting Myth Dranor as one possibility.
  • Great Reader V’ziir-Ag eats one of the corrupted beetles we brought back.
    • He says they are ingeniously designed, and certainly blighted.
    • Confirms the Shadowfell as the source of their corruption and suggests radiant energy to drive them back.
    • He believes a powerful necromancer could wield such corruptive power.

Report 20: The High Mythal of Candlekeep

On By ravonlockeIn Journal, SvalaLeave a comment

The Library of the Mythal

  • The crescent room is lined with bookshelves which are full of lore and history of the High Mythal seen through the viewing wall.
  • A central dais in the room holds the symbol of Candlekeep and the names of the mages who worked to harness the Mythal’s power.
  • The Mythal itself stands below, occasionally sending sparks of power out to metal and stone slates rotating in the air around it.
  • These slates covered in magical runes and spell work, I immediately set ROK to copying down what he can see.
  • The others investigate the books, while I study the spells.
  • Ms. Lendiel tells us that it is called “Eternal Knowledge Through Which Time Holds No Command.”
    • She says it used to be bigger, more chaotic, and colorful.
    • They harnessed it, causing it to shrink and come under control.
    • I don’t know that it likes being controlled, the green looks sad somehow.
    • I cross check with the books she has found, to pinpoint how long ago the vision in my dream was and start writing down names
    • None of them sound familiar, and there is no record of his accident.
  • I want to get closer to the Mythal, we’ve gotten this far, and we weren’t told Not to get close, just that we should be Able to, and to be careful if we do somehow manage it.
  • I’m not the only one, but there are several objections, so we decide to sleep on it.

Entering The Mythal Room

  • He is there, in my dreams, older, sadder, alone – Who Are You? What do you want?
  • Sleeping has only made Mr. Darkfoot, Shohei, and Ms. Lendiel more interested in getting past the viewing wall.
  • Questdrone and Ms. Rosewood enter a Rope Trick, wanting nothing to do with the Mythal.
  • The rest of us study the magic protecting it, these are high level protections.
    • But we can see a way to interact; it will be extremely dangerous, but possible.
    • My first attempt is nearly catastrophic, causing the light in the room to flash and dim.
    • With a little more care, and assistance, I crack the first level of protections, bringing the door itself into reality.
    • Mr. Darkfoot, Shohei, and Mr. Trisfir manage to sidestep the traps on the door together.
  • The window becomes solid, and a wooden door is available to be opened – disappearing when it does.
  • The resonant hum of the Mythal washes over us, almost like a song, welcoming us to come closer.
  • Ropes are tied together and Shohei lowers us down – Me, Ms. Lendiel, Mr. Darkfoot, and then climbs down himself, with Mr. Trisfir managing the rope from above.

The High Mythal of Candlekeep

  • I sit down against the wall, recording every bit of spellwork I can see.
    • The hum is uncomfortable down here, but I start up a Detect Magic ritual to better examine everything. This causes a very strange smell to float around me.
    • A ring of crystals around it states the name Ms. Lendiel found above, and is inscribe with the Rules of the Library.
    • The slates are each emanating a single school of magic, and also contain the Rules of Candlekeep.
    • The Mythal itself is an absence of these schools, rather pouring out raw magic, it appears a bright void to the detect spell.
    • The other three begin to approach the Mythal, I caution them, and wish I could, as well, but touching it is not being careful.
    • Mr. Darkfoot is thrown from his feet, and I hurry to stabilize him.
    • The other two slump, but look satisfied with whatever happened.
    • Mr. Darkfoot wants to try again, so I cast Deathward on him, and hand him my amulet of health to borrow for the duration.
    • He has more success this time, but none of them will tell me what happened.
    • I must not touch it without permission, no matter how much I wish to, the Tome Keeper said he would get me access to other mythals. Perhaps when I know more.

Green Goddess

On By ravonlockeIn Journal, TristiaLeave a comment

I don’t even know what’s happening anymore. My ears are buzzing as the guys talk about what to do with the body. I can’t look at any of them. There’s shouting for a moment about the body rising, but a few bursts of magic and it is down again. Dalish animates it, to keep the shadow from doing it again. I can’t look at any of them. What are we doing?

A couple of them start talking to the air, and Klyce materializes out of the mists. The others explain what has been happening, and we move on. The haze is thickening as we go down. Too much for a normal mana mine. It feels weird, like static in the air. The shadowman follows us, ranting. Easier to focus on his madness instead of my own.

He caught them scheming against the king, but he wasn’t fast enough. They enfeebled him and send him down to the mines. Him, Arnis Lysander. It took him months to regain his mind, but the mana degrades and warps. It erased his ability to cast spells. He lost track of time between escape attempts. They took bits of him every time, until his mind was gone. Then She came. She restored his mind and his magic. She promised to restore his body. If only he would break the Bones. He will gladly repay her, gladly kill a thousand people. One small family means nothing to him. He wants to finish this.

We arrive in a chamber, much like the one that led us to the gods the first time we were ever here. This one, however, has four of the mutant prisoners and one horribly distended, bloated, purple body. They posture at each other, and bring up Rictus one last time. He laughs about Rictus’ clone factory, and says that should we find Rictus’ own clone, only then would we have a chance of ever defeating him. He says that those clones won’t work for us, we’re blocked down here, from that magic. Too much mana, too much static down here.

The fight begins and Klyce, in scorpian body, starts attacking Nat. Klyce gets controlled too easily, I levitate him up to the ceiling until he calms down, edging my way into the room. When I let him down again, he starts attacking me, until Gerhardt dispells the mind control. Lysander put up a barrier to block our spells, so they group focuses on the mutants, while I work my way around the room. I got too close though, and everything turn to blackness.

There is darkness. And a green hill. And something Very Important. Nothing. Red smoke. “Revenge is my purview, witch!” Blackness.

I wake up in bed with Marybeth beside me and Nat curled up near our feet. Everything hurts! Remy knocks on the door, but we make him wait a moment. What happened, is he dead? I don’t know if he’s dead. What? It’s too much and we let Remy come in to change my bandages.

They tell me that I died. But then a glowing green figure with six arms rose in my place with a blinding flash. They say this figure called down lightning right through the earth, ripping the mine wide open. They say that when Lysander tried to get away, the figured ripped open a five hundred foot crevice through the mine to get at him and destroy him. They say it called such a horrible storm down. But then it was suddenly gone, and they found me, badly burned where it had been.

We gather up with all the others, and I tell them about the red smoke and what it said. Afraid for a moment that it was Lysander, but the others remind me he was black shadow, and Nat assures me he is gone. The others think maybe it was the Wandering Vengeance. Klyce admits that he sees red auras around people who hurt him when he fights, and tells us about how his father died. Maybe he opened the door in his anger to this god.

We take stock. Nat’s dad is still unconscious. The town seems safe, the prisoners are no longer running amok. There are, however, strange things still happening in the castle. We have to find Vlad Tepish and the other invader and stop them. First, though, we get all the townspeople safely back out of the castle and to their homes.

Hard Times and Assassination

On By ravonlockeIn Journal, TristiaLeave a comment

Hardin Klein explains that his mission is to figure out how to use mana without having to dig it up and refine it. The cost of doing so is growing too great. He asked them to find someone like Xin Yue for him to study, and the picked me. I’m furious, but there’s nothing to be done about it. He’s not planning any of the ridiculous experiments his underlings had been doing.

I try to explain my magic to him, but since most of it suddenly appeared one day, I don’t think it will help any.

Some comes from the earth, like Xin Yue. Some comes from the old goddess, the Dawnmother. Some may come from the evil eye of the dead fae god, Balor, but I haven’t tested that yet. The rest… Well, a hag in the woods said it came from murder, but I didn’t kill anyone when I got my magic. Honestly. I think she was referring to the Old War.

Poor Mr. Klein spent hours asking me questions and I spent hours explaining that I had no clue how I did it. I showed him what I could do, and talked about how I made the elements do what I wanted. I told him all about the Dawnmother and my prayers to her. I even explained Balor and the horrible, awesome power as we destroyed his eye. This went on for months.

Then, one morning, I woke up and something was wrong. Mr Klein hadn’t seen me for several days, and I had no memory of that time. He looked into my head and noticed my memory had been modified. I begged him to fix it and he did, though it took some doing.

Rictus had taken me away from the facility. He made me do things. But it wasn’t me! I didn’t have control! I can see in my memory, watching my body kill people. It’s foggy, but I think there were six of them over those days. Then he wiped my memory!

I think I had a bit of a screaming fit after I realized what happened. Some of it in Sendings to Dalish, some to my other friends. I’m not sure I was coherent at all, but they all agreed it was horrible. Klyce, as usual, was the most reasonable of the group.

He suggested I tell people about what was happening. Put pressure on Rictus to get him to stop wiping my mind at least. I wouldn’t be able to stop being his instrument of death, but at maybe he would stop messing with my head.

Mr. Klein looked terrified at the idea of going against Rictus. Aleria replied to my plea saying that Primes are above the law, and short of a Certimum, there’s nothing to be done. I asked Dalish to ask Rictus if he would meet with me, and if not, would he at least stop wiping my mind, I’d do what he wanted. Dalish passed the message along, then told me Rictus said it was better if I didn’t know what my body was being used for! That just made it ten times worse!

Next, Klyce suggested I try and gather political power to put pressure on Rictus. I asked Dalish if his party could do anything, and he apparently caused a scene at a meeting. One of the members did come talk to me, though. He said that I needed to get more political allies, and change the law which put Primes out of legal danger. He also talked to people on my behalf so I wasn’t stuck inside the facility all day every day. I got to go into the city on weekends.

It happened again. I lost a few days again. Mr. Klein wouldn’t help this time. He didn’t seem to understand what I was asking. I think Rictus might have broken his mind a little bit, too. I sent to Remy, asking if his party could help. They want to limit magical use and abuse. He got a representative to come talk to me. He insisted I join their party if I wanted their support, it would help with lobbying the other parties if I was a member and not just an independant. So, I agreed and the following weekend, I signed up with the Magical Regulation League.

But nothing happened. No one could figure out who it was I had killed even. I was still stuck trying to explain my magic to Mr. Klein. He continued to grow more and more despondant as it lead him nowhere. I didn’t lose any more days, though, before it was time for our Harvest Festival shore leave. I was so grateful when the day finally arrived.

Captive… Again

On By ravonlockeIn Journal, TristiaLeave a comment

Once we’re all gathered back up with Chirina, we decide we had better let her in on the whole mess. We start with the assassins and their contact and our plan to meet him at the bar. Remy tells her about his magic hat, because she can actually speak Italian, but she’s not particularly interested in getting mixed up with DiRudio’s business. Eventually, we give up hedging and just tell her about our magic. This goes as well as could be expected. She doesn’t run out and call the police, but she sure is scared of us now. I ask the Dawnmother to help out her uncle a little bit, and manage to heal some of his bedsores, but he is too far gone for much else.

We head out to the bar to wait for the contact that night, but no one shows. We say with Chirina and take watches that night, getting a good rest despite the cramped chambers. A nurse stops by in the morning to check on Uncle, and Remy and I go get groceries for breakfast. One more day at the bar, and one more day of nada.

Third times the (ill) charm? Day three, about a dozen men with red armbands approach the bar while we wait and head inside. Next thing I know, Gerhardt is being chased outside by several of them, who are beating him up. Dalish is calling for the constables, and Chirina is rushing inside. I try to get them off Gerhardt, but give up and head for the officers myself. They eventually get to the bar and start arresting people, including Gerhardt. Dalish and I follow them all as witnesses, but make up stories about not knowing what happened and they release us. Gerhardt is held for trial, they tell us.

Back at Chirina’s, we meet up with Remy who says they’d come in, knowing he was American and trying to get him to go with them. When he refused, a fight broke out, and they had guns, so it got a bit messy. Chirina goes outside to keep watch for any more of the men. She says they’re agitators for Sardinia, wanting Rome to give in to the Kingdom. Dalish says he has to check on Gerhardt the next day, so we make plans to head north after that. Hit the hot springs then head for DuRudio.

Dalish heads out early to check on Gerhardt. When he returns, it’s only with a message. Gerhardt was taken away by carriage in the night and is now being held in a nice room. While we discuss what this could mean, another message comes in. He’s an hour north of Rome by carriage, at an estate. I send back to him, asking for details of the route or the estate, and he manages to let me know a few landmarks to find him.

With Chirina’s help, we manage to get out of the city and up near the estate in question. Heyhey goes on a scouting run and sees a Lot of guards in the place, and on the walls, but the front gate is wide open. Inviting us into the trap. I let Gerhardt know we’re here, and he says his snake is scouting the building, and he has no windows in his room. Nat sends in her invisible eye to take a look around and finds two rooms she can’t get into. Gerhardt’s snake leads her to the smaller one where he is staying.

Remy and I sneak a bit closer, discussing whether he should go talk to the guards, or I should try to magic my way in. I’ve got a new spell and if the snake can get in and out, maybe it’s just protected against divination. He eventually agrees that I should try. I concentrate and try stepping through the air to the area Nat described to me. And end up outside the door, with a guard to either side.

I shout for Gerhardt to open the door and fight off the guards, mostly by dodging them. Gerhardt manages to get the door open, but one of the guards kicks him back inside, and then follows him in. More guards come rushing up and it becomes too much. I get grabbed up, gagged, bound, and tossed inside.

I ask Gerhardt what happened once he unties me, and he says that he met a guy in the prison who was also looking for the stolen plans. The guy said he’d give us a three day head start, but then Gerhardt was brought here. It doesn’t make any sense. I let Remy know that I got caught and they’ll have to make a new plan. The room is a private sanctum, so there’s no magicking us out.