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Statistics:Posted by yankeeschic — Mon Jun 02, 2025 6:44 am
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Statistics:Posted by yankeeschic — Sat May 24, 2025 9:07 am
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While in Throal, I heard that Truck (of the Deep Sevros clan, windling Warrior and Scholar) was looking for people to join them on a quest to cleanse a shrine to Raggok. It had been almost 3 very uneventful years since the trip to the Twilight Mountains to help Vralino find closure and I felt like I should do something before Jacint and I went completely soft (Teh and Isidoros were always soft and cuddly).
It turns out that Truck had enlisted Vralino's estranged parent, one Calina Ravanqnerosicor (elf Wizard) who had spent the last few weeks researching the shrine and its horrific history during the scourge. The group met in an establishment mostly catering to Orkish clientele called the Ghost Pepper Hurlg, despite my days of debauchery with Juniper, I preferred to wait outside in my comfortable home. The group also included Orlam Rolfson (human Elementalist) and R'edtarian (human Warrior and Weaponsmith).
Eventually we left, heading for the gates. Calina seemed to be short on sleep and nervous, while R'ed was talking about some weird runes which may have been similar to the ones Calina claimed were inscribed on the ruins of the shrine. Regardless, the runes bothered me and I felt like they could be connected to horror activity.
As we got on the road south towards Kampung Gajah, Calina seemed a bit more at ease although she and R'ed displayed some odd and concering behaviors. Things came to a head close to the town when Calina started performing some kind of rite near a tree. A ritual that did not seem to have any positive outcomes, so I knocked her out with a swift charge. Orlam then proceeded to try and undo whatever had been done, saying that the ritual was an attempt as seeding some kind of infection.
In the evening Truck and I went to the Cracked Barrel, an inn just outside town, to collect some information from the locals, while the others kept Calina out of the way. Other than discussion of some mining operation we didn't really find any new information over what research had dug up.
The second leg of the joureny, up into the mountains, was as eventful as the first, with R'ed and Calina continuing to act weirdly. If I sound unconcerned here it's just because I was confident the rest of us could take them down if necessary and constant paranoia has never helped. We reached an old shrine to Upandal which seemed to have some kind of astral construct protecting it. There both Calina and R'ed seemed to shake off their malaise.
The road soon turned into a field of bones, the remains of an army of undead mustered by the scourge Cultist that had attacked a few years prior, but we eventually got to our destination. Calina rushed in to examine the rune carvings before sun down while the rest of us stared at the frankly horrific ruins. Truck mentioned something about orks and bones, which I preferred to just not remember. As the moon rose, Calina shouted a word and then flying squids popped out of the sky and started attacking us. They weren't much of a challenge and we were soon rid of them.
Just in time for some betentacled figures walked out of a portal. Following the good old rules of thumb that "tentacles: bad", "portal: bad", tentacles and portal must have been doubly bad, maybe even bad and wrong? Badong? Regardless, we immediately engaged, I got rid of one of the figures while the lead one tore Truck apart, quite literally. Luckily for us after that they immediately left so we could proceed with emergency healing.
After the portal closed Calina seemed to be free of whatever influence was driving them. They mention something about forgetting "words" they had learnt from the runes, which seemed to be a wise course of action.
Statistics:Posted by sigfriedmcwild — Wed Feb 16, 2022 12:15 am
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For a long time now I have been hearing reports from people who have traveled near the old shrine to Rashamon at Uzhok Pass (hex 46.12). They all agreed that something freaky was going on, but none of the travelers felt inclined to investigate the situation further. I felt that somebody really ought to look into the situation further. I asked Calina Ravanqnerosicor to assemble some notes on the place. She did an amazing job and collected a huge amount of information. (Her complete report is filed with the Great Library of Throal in reference # (ref#)) Some of the more pertinent bits I repeat below.
***********************************
Legendary Questor of Rashamon, Ardan Yan founded the Shrine at Uzhok Pass. , Ardan Yan was dedicated to the ideals of Rashamon; alliance, perseverance, endurance, royalty, and leadership.
Over time, grateful merchants made gifts to the questor in thanks, and the small shrine turned into a palisaded compound where travelers through Uzhok Pass could stop are find safety and refreshment on their journey. No one is quite certain which of the raiding bands of ork scorchers was responsible for the attack that destroyed the original shrine and killed the questor Ardan Yan, but there is some evidence to suggest that the Therans were not pleased with the increased traffic along the Via Caucavik. Rumors of murder persisted
After Ardan Yan’s death, a more permanent village with a larger shrine appears to have been built closer to the Coil, though the details could not be found in the records of the Great Library. The records do indicate that the new town benefited from a discovery of mineral wealth in the nearby hills, including rich veins of True Earth (and the surrounding stone matrix) which were traded to the Therans before the Scourge. The trade records are muddled by middlemen, but ultimately appear to benefit the Theran Houses most suspected of being behind the death of Ardan Yan and the destruction of the original shrine community. What is clear is that the new town is not at the site of the old massacre at the original shrine location, which is up in the pass.
It is interesting that the descriptions of the location of the original (destroyed) palisade and shrine appear to match the location of the impressive edifice seen in Uzhok Pass today, though there are no records of it being built before Throal sealed itself before the Scourge. The craftsmanship of the stone work of the new shrine is reported to be extraordinary, as is the central area which is now covered in polished smooth stone slabs. There are so many questions about this edifice; who built it, how did they build it after Throal was sealed, how did it change with Rashamon’s ReNaming (if it was not actually constructed for Raggok in the first place), and so on.
The primary structure of the new shrine is composed of a large rune inscribed stone arch approximately 150’ feet in height, with two plinths located on either side but only the remains of what is believed to have been a connecting top to the structure, which is broken off. Wear patterns on the broken section described by a windling elementalist who flew up to inspect it indicate several hundred years of erosion, which would place the time of breaking near or soon after the ReNaming of Rashamon to Raggok during the Scourge.
Each plinth is in the shape of a stone rectangle with a footing that is approximately 20’ x 30’ in size. The central area under the missing arch is a dark polished stone that is quite slick in the icy weather of the pass. It forms a circle approximately 100 dwarven paces across and retains an unnatural polished look even given the extremes of mountain weather. A Nethermancer reported “feeling” as though they were stepping into a very complex Bone Circle and left quickly since he reported feeling “watched”. It is odd that there are no remains of the broken top to the arch reported where rubble would normally be expected to have fallen. There are reports that descriptions of the engravings vary depending upon the phases of the moon, and the presence or absence of moonlight.
When taken, he screamed how he “would NEVER disturb the sacred territory of the Great One” before he died of a heart attack before he could be questioned further. There are disturbing rumors that Questors of Raggok go on a sort of Pilgrimage to the Pass after completing particular zealous acts of devotion to the passion of bitterness and betrayal. One anecdote spoke of “sharing the essence of betrayal to the winds in the pass, so that the Great One can take word of our deeds to the “Font” or “Fountain” of Betrayal.
************************************
We assembled a team, and we all read through Calina's research, then set out for the pass. We all immediately noticed that Calina seemed changed. She was jumpy. Nervous as a cat. We had not even gotten out of Bartertown before Calina announced that we were being watched by some unseen foe. Some of us thought that R'edtarian was also seeing things when he reported seeing strange tattoos on the back of Calina's neck that looked like the runes she had shown us the day before, but that were not there upon further examination, both visual and astral. The further we progressed, the stranger Caline became. Cats and Birds would stare at her, and then run away. At one point she pounced upon and killed a rat. She spent hours gazing at a single pebble. Another time she started what appeared to be an unknown blood ritual with a tree that so unnerved us all that we stuck a bag over her head and tied her hands for a while so she could not complete it. Early in the journey she would cast wizard mark upon each of us every morning, but by the end not a single party member would allow her to cast that spell upon them. We were all at least 3/4 convinced that she was Horror Marked. We kept her under constant watch, and kept reassuring ourselves that her behaviour had never crossed the line from "weird" into "dangerous".
At Clear Creek Crossing we learned that Elder Mirriem was reporting repeating visions of the settlement coming under vicious attacks from something formed of darkness. Mirriem is the last of her family with 2nd sight, and has been having the visions for more than 3 weeks now.
The shrine of Upendal a half days journey from the shrine to Raggok was a holy site, and Calina's madness seemed to lift while she was inside the shrine. The Piliths were as described in Calina's briefing. Calina raved that the runes could only be read by combining the visible etchings, with the Astral etchings, and the etchings that were only visible by the light of the moon. As soon as the moon appeared, Calina said what she later told us was a word of opening (totally unpronounceable to me), and the shrine turned blue, and formed a gateway to another world. In a spew of fog, mist, and astral pollution 5 horrible squid-like creatures burst out, which we quickly slew, but not before taking some wounds. Somebody called the squid creatures Fugotenta. We fell back, and as Calina withdrew, the gate, while not closing, seemed to grow somewhat dorment, and no further creatures came out. We returned to the shrine of Upendal and rested and healed.
When we approached the shrine, it seemed to react to Calina's presence, in that it glowed brighter and 4 figures appeared standing upon what appeared to be a huge tentacle. We could only see what appeared to be a portion of the tentacle, but it seemed big enough for hundreds to stand upon. We were glad that there were only 4. Instantly Elisen charged forward and slew one of the Obedient. I also ran forward, but was unable to reach them as quickly as the mounted windling. Calina and Orlim held back outside the gateway to cast spells. R'edtarian at first held back with them, but eventually started to move up as well, a few dozen yards behind us. The Obedient shot tentacles at us, while the handmaiden did various mystic stuff and exchanged banter with Calina.
I finally reached the Handmaiden, and hovered on the far side of her, where I could see her two remaining Obedient over her shoulder. She had at least a hundred eyes, giving her full vision all around herself. I laid into her, doing much damage, but while I managed to knock her down, I was not able to slay her in my first flurry of blows. She reached out and touched me, and I fell to the ground in agony. People tell me that she probably cast bone pudding upon me, which caused me a great many wounds (It might not have been the Bone Pudding spell, as I did not see the horror eating anything, and the Handmaiden did not seem at all messy to me, or at least until I hit it with my sword and mace several times). In addition to giving me many, many wounds (at the end of the battle my physician counted that I had 11 separate wounds upon me, but not all of them were from the Bone Pudding) she also cast Skin Shift upon me, which wracked my boneless body and rearranged my boneless features. It did a massive amount of damage, which combined with the damage I had already taken from various lesser attacks dropped me dead.
I can't directly testify as to what happened next, but I awoke what my companions tell me was a short time later, and that they had chased the surviving Horrors away, and then poured my Healing Potion down my throat and Calina somehow used up the Corruption in the area to empower a massive Last Chance spell upon me, bringing me back from very, very, dead. The gateway was no longer open, and they tell me that it should not open again unless / until somebody utters a word of opening. However it seems that the Horrors and/or the Mad Passion Raggok is actively working on teaching that word and encouraging people (such as Calina did) to utter the word. So we must figure out how to lock the gate before they can arrange to have it opened again.
I should note that I now look very different than I used to. Before I was quite a handsome Windling if I do say so myself. I am sad to report that now my features are somewhat irregular. One eye is distinctly higher than the other, and my nose is both off-center and crooked, my face and limbs have several visible scars.
So about the shrine to Raggok. This still needs urgent attention, but it requires higher circle characters than us. It seems to be a huge source of ehrlgren crystals, possibly for the entire province. But I am unsure what can be done. A massive dispelling ritual might be useful, except that getting that many spellcasters near so many ehrlgren seems like a recipe for disaster. An Earth spirit we summoned said that the shrine continued "very deep" into the ground. I can see how someone could break off the above-ground portion of the shrine, but it seems like it would take at a minimum thousands of man-hours to affect any underground portions. Perhaps some questers of Jaspree and/or some Purifiers ought to be consulted. Frankly, I think what might be needed is a portable volcano. I wonder if we might somehow convince a Dragon to take an interest in destroying the shrine?
Statistics:Posted by ChrisDDickey — Thu Feb 03, 2022 3:27 pm
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One of the more common taunts I've heard delivered to the Scholars of Barsaive is that "If you gaze too long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you". Never thought I'd see it in action. Truck, who has become a Scholar of some repute, had commissioned a report on an unusual shrine tied to the Mad Passion Raggok from Calina, who aspires to join our lofty ranks. She did provide an excellently thorough report on its history and key events, which can be found in a separate report. I shall make mention of them here only as needed to keep things brief.
This shrine was located in the Throalic Mountains to the south of Throal, in the neighbourhood of Kaer Bamor, in a region which has seen a flurry of somewhat concerning activity of late. Along the route to a former base of the Scourge cultists, near a tunnel filled with reeking, rotting undead, is a trail which predates the scourge, and which had seen some "repairs" if you can call them that by an army of undead to prepare an invasion of Kampung Gajah by the depraved fools. That trail, once known as the Via Triolvi, passes right through the shrine, which had originally been established by a Questor named Ardanyan. This Questor had subsequently been betrayed by what were likely agents of Thera, and a community of Orks living with him had been subjugated and tortured.
One key piece of information that Calina could not resolve were the strange markings on a massive broken monument which marks the location of the shrine. They have the characteristics of writing, but none could discern them from the rubbings which Calina had found in the Great Library. An expedition was chosen to explore that shrine, with myself, Truck and Calina as well as R'edtarian who seems to have come along as an escort to Calina and a new acquaintance, a very sparkly Windling named Elisen, who I believe is both a Cavalier and a Troubadour of considerable skill and reputation. Perhaps they were recruited through the warrior networks available to R'edtarian, or perhaps they heard something through the rumour mill; Troubadours often have their ears to the ground after all.
In any event we were arranged to meet at a Tavern called the Ghost Pepper. I am unsure who established this as the meeting point, since half of our party seemed extremely reluctant to enter. My only speculation is that perhaps Calina had heard Taras was there at some point and wanted to investigate (I'm not sure if she's still trying to figure him out or not) but then decided the fumes from a mixture of hurlg and spices that will melt your face off from 10 yards away even when not combined with rotting fat and alcohol made it an unwise decision. We ordered some tasty flatbreads from the tavern and instead found a place we could discuss in one of the discussion halls. The debate was alright, but let's just say that the loser is lucky we didn't bring any ghost pepper hurlg with us or he might have needed hospitalization. It turns out the flatbread is quite capable of reaching a surprising distance when thrown properly.
In any event, not much was gained from our discussion so we resolved to depart the next morning. Calina had a nervous breakdown while walking through the tent village outside of Throal which some have taken to calling Bartertown, R'edtarian said he saw weird symbols on the back of her neck, and nobody else could find anything noteworthy in our environment even after giving a good look around. This sort of activity would continue to plague our journey; animals would flee every time Calina tried to get a good look at someone in the astral, R'edtarian got all protective any time someone thought she was being weird, and at one point Calina did "something" to a tree using a blood ritual which scared the Wood Spirit residing in it terribly, though I was able to cleanse the earth of whatever she did (which she insisted she couldn't remember, while the spirit was a bit vague but implied some sort of unnatural removal from the cycle of life and death would have been the result. I'll settle for having discovered that purifying the earth works against such things in exchange for surrendering the knowledge of what exactly was going to happen, but I've attached a rough map to the tree for anyone interested in studying that further as well).
Frankly, I halfway started to think there might be something wrong with me myself, but the sculpture I hastily made showed no signs of anything wrong, thankfully. It was somewhat disquieting that Calina's embroidery showed no signs of corruption either though, and there was *definitely* something going on (I have attached a report describing these behaviours and unusual events for any who make the Mad Passions a primary topic of study, I'll stick to studying things that don't like to play with their food quite so much; I don't know what if any of it might be significant, but you can feel free to go get gazed at yourself without any more help from me, thanks. I for one am busy recategorizing the wealth of fauna left behind after the scourge changed our lands).
A brief stop at Kampung Gajah where we decided it was best for Calina and R'edtarian to stay isolated from large groups of people garnered no rumours of note regarding the object of our investigation, but a brief visit to a local shrine to Upandal seemed to dull the effects of the outside influence on Calina and R'edtarian, though a local family might have been a little unsettled by our discussion of what we proposed to do to the monument to Raggok we were investigating.
In any event, the road to the shrine is broken and wrecked so I don't imagine many go that way. The monument is covered bottom to top in the strange markings, which Calina seemed to be able to make some sense of... while also making less sense to the rest of us. Something about moons and three-part runes, and she actually took it seriously when I nervously suggested we should go back to the shrine to Upandal and ask the passion to craft her a moon. Those of us possessed of all our faculties were interested in how we might remove this source of corruption rather than trying to read the scriptures of the Mad Passion of revenge, but I sadly cannot report much of assistance on that matter; the monument has the appearance of a sort of broken arch with a structure something like massive bones made from untold numbers of smaller bones, and from what I could learn through an Earth Elemental I summoned it seems unlikely that they can be easily uprooted or erased.
When night fell, Calina said something which sounded like a horde of cadaverous cats trying to claw their way through a slate factory while being bathed in acid, a sound so horrid that I swear I could almost *see* it, and the huge smooth stone circle around the monument turned into a gateway to some terrible nether realm home to huge flying masses of tentacles and eyeballs. Some of us had the sense to hide in cracks in a nearby rock formation and fend them off, while Calina seemed happy to let their blood feed the passage to some blasted realm of cruelty and murder so long as she got to read more of the writing on the pillars. Eventually the portal seemed to go dormant and we were able to retreat and recover somewhat, but as it had not fully reverted we suspected more work was needed.
Sure enough, some twisted things staggered out of the portal in a giant mass of corruption made manifest. It seems the site was a place where tentacle-covered ehrlgren were made from the tortured remains of the orks who had been massacred in this awful place, which dripped from the broken monument as if oozing out from the inside of a massive bone that had been split open. There was some sort of leader, a "woman" of sorts who spoke in some twisted tongue inviting Calina to join her in her worship of something (which, based on the location, I speculate to have been the Mad Passion whose shrine we were investigating, but which could nevertheless still be some other flavour of horror).
Thankfully these newborn ehrlgren did not seem to have their footing and we came out relatively unscathed. UN-fortunately, their mistress took a dim view of the work Truck's blades did to her and her subjects (mostly her, I suspect, I doubt she cared all that much for the near-mindless tortured creations she had brought with her) and damned near turned him inside out with little more than a few words as she left, promising to return and bring Calina with her.
It was at this point that Calina finally seemed to begin to come to her senses... sort of. She said something about forgetting that wondrous language (except for the so-called word that opened the portal in the first place), but just before she was able to consume all the corruption and turn it into some kind of healing power that helped us restore life to Truck, along with our own magic and healing aids. Frankly, I can't imagine anything good will come of it, so I recommended truck to an expert of my acquaintance in the Nethermantic arts for his convalescence. I think it will make everyone involved happier if he is under supervision for a while, and his wounds were severe enough that I think he'll be needing a lot of bed rest while the healers put him back together.
Calina wanted to put a sign with the completed "word" of opening and instructions to not say it (because apparently she thinks rational behaviour is what can be expected of people who come to the shrine of a mad passion), but we advised against it (actually, Elisen smashed quite a few signs before Calina gave up on it I think... they seem like a very trustworthy sort, not prone to welcoming in blasphemous geometries or words that make your eyes bleed or anything like that). Hopefully none of the signs survived, and Truck suggested he would use his influence with the Great Library to bury any dimension-ripping words Calina might write in a more secure place than wherever she got those insane gibberings in the first place. One can only hope.
I for one intend to go back to my own studies for a while. Publish or perish, after all. I've heard the creatures out near Travar haven't been very thoroughly catalogued...
Statistics:Posted by Sharkforce — Thu Feb 03, 2022 9:15 am
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For Calina, Elisen, Orlam, R'edtarian and Truck, standard 8M awards of LP 19,000, SP 900, TIPs 3, Half Price forgings through contacts of the Great Library of Throal, Half Price Healing aids from a nethermancer interested in the adventure journals, plus standard journal bonus and downtime as applicable (+950 LP, +225 SP).
Downtime Abilities
- Calina; Research: ESR 28, Rank 8 (Rank 8 + Step 8 PER + Step 4 Karma + Step 4 Speed Reading + 2 extra threads [ESR + 4]), Library Access increases ESR to 31 for 20 SP (why you need a Research ESR of 31, I'll never know...), Item History: ESR 20, Rank 8 (Rank 8 + Step 8 PER + Step 4 Karma)
- Elisen, Item History / Research; Journeyman: 3 test or research knowledges / week, Warden: 2 test or research knowledges / week, 3 with library access (+20sp), Master: 2 test or research knowledges / week
- Orlam; Item History (Talent, Rating 6, step 17), Research (Skill, Rating 2, Step 9, +3 available for 20 sp in the Great Library), Alchemy (Rating 3, Step 10, lab available) (Kelix's Poultice, Booster Potion, Light Crystal)
- R'edtarian; Research Rank 3 Step 9 (step 12 with library access), Item History Rank 3 Step 13, Forge Weapon Rank 5 Step 15
- Truck; Item History (rank 4, step 14). Research(rank 6, step 16 (+3 step if pay 20 sp library access), Knack gives two extra successes!
Statistics:Posted by Serespar — Wed Feb 02, 2022 4:30 pm
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Chapter 127: Becoming a Passion
Truck dropped by in the Great Library and has requested a particular research topic be expanded upon and explained in great detail. An old shrine to Rashamon, the dead name of Raggok. Back when Raggok was the Passion of Endurance, many had made the pilgrimage to his shrine prior to the scourge, often offering up donations that eventually turned what was a tiny shrine tended to by Ardan Yan into a grand altar. Of particular note were these rubbings of various runes found by travelers who documented their journeys to or through the altar. Reports of massive pillars that were covered in these runes were supported by other similar reports. I have never met a language that I couldn't eventually master, so I began the long process of deciphering the runes. As I worked (I'm not sure how many hours went by, but I am told that I had spent weeks researching the symbols) it felt as though there was something missing from the runes. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I had to translate these runes. It would be quite the milestone in my career as a translator.
So the party had made their last minute purchases and finally was ready to head out. They deigned to meet at the least civilized of taverns in the Hall of Bodal, a place called the Ghost Pepper. Not sure why we had to meet up anywhere other than the front gate. It would have made sense to meet at the Great Library. Unaware of who all was joining us on this journey, I was particularly excited to see that Elisen would be joining us. Vralino has spoken at great lengths about the Cavalryman turned Cavalier. A bit later, the rest of the party came out of the Ghost Pepper with Truck, the honorable R'edtarian among the members, and we headed out the Gates of Throal.
Continuing into Barter Town, I felt an unnerving presence that seemed to be observing us as we traveled through. If there was anyone I trusted to keep me safe, it was R'edtarian, so I clutched onto him, letting him know we were being watched. I didn't know where these observers were, but I told him to keep an eye out. The party, seeing me distraught and R'edtarian searching for the observers, guided us down an alleyway. R'edtarian informed me that there were symbols running across the back of my neck and tried to draw them in the sand, so I immediately pulled out the notes I had taken of the research I did for Truck. Normally I'm much more ogranized, but I didn't have the time to filter through the information, so I pulled everything out and handed him the copies of the rubbings from the Great Library. He went over the information, but I was more concerned with finding that observer than his ability to identify the runes on my neck. After packing up, we continued onward towards Juniper Hollow.
I have never noticed how beautiful Via Triolvi is. Most Plebeians don't know the name of the road between Barter Town and Juniper Hollow, but I know. It was quite the peaceful trip as we put distance between us and the observer, only ever coming across potential threats every once in a while. With the party confidently walking past these other "travelers", my instinct to hide off the road as they passed was ignored, for the time being. Upon arrival at Juniper Hollow, my Astral Sense granted me a higher level of being. I didn't just see the Astral Plane, I merged with it. It was quite the experience. Then there was that pesky rat, annoying rodent. It must be cleansed of the road. R'edtarian will do nicely for just such a task. We must keep the roadways clear and safe. Felines. Felines everywhere. Begone Mr. Whiskers! The town is safe from rodent and feline alike. Well done, R'edtarian. Well done. Our next destination on our journey shall be Clear Creek Crossing.
When we arrive, there are more felines, but significantly fewer rodents. I shall have them away. There's a big construction site, as the town prepares to defend itself, erecting palisades and other fortifications. These will be useless against any real threat. The party knows this. The town is safe from taint and horror. I once again merge with the Astral, and it is as clean as the garments I donned for this journey. Silky, comfortable, cooling, and comfortable Astral comfort perfect for sleeping in safety. But, there's a Ley Line! And the soil! Such accurate representation of the cycle of life and nutritional recycling! Such a wondrous flow of magic passing through this city! I found a pebble, and in this pebble is a model of the universe. I can peer into it and focus and identify the path ahead, this magical pebble, so perfectly spherical, unnatural, a true sayer's tool, and it'll assist me in my passionate predictions. A band is scheduled to perform at the Cracked Barrel. My followers deserve a respite, and I shall demonstrate the proper way to head bang! Yes, the pebble has shown me the ways of dancing in the future! Next on our pilgrimage, we hit Kampung Gaja.
But before our arrival, there is something magnificent about this tree. This grand tree, one of many, forming the whole of the forest while only be a tiny part of it, absorbs nutrients from the soil saturated and sated by the death and decay of moving life which feeds on the tree. What a wondrous cycle and intertwined is not a mystic thread of magic made for spells and talents but a simpler magic that blends with the area undetected by Astral Sense or Horror's sight. I must dig in, I must merge with it and siphon its latent and hidden power, I must become one with the cycle. I see... darkness. Betrayal, someone has stolen consciousness from me, but I see all. As if in a dream, but reflective of the real world. I am dragged away from the tree, the ritual cleansed from the earth, and an Elemental is summoned in fear. Faithful servant, you have no fear of my wrath when I return to the physical plane.
Despite Elisen's Betrayal, I forgive you, as all Passions do. My brother and fellow entity Upandal has a shrine higher in the mountains, along the Via Caucavic route. Electricity flows as Upandal and I commune, and a scent of fear washed over R'edtarian as he realizes what his long time companion really is. A small group of dwarves passes through, I think those little pods are called families? I had a family once. They betrayed me, too. Now I have transcended. We must erect my shrine on the grounds of the altar belonging to the Mad Passion.
We have arrived. I immediately begin to try reading the runes, but they are incomplete, as their rubbings would suggest. I see astral glyphs, but still, the message is incomplete. We need different light. Quartz crystal? You there! Servant! Bring me a quartz crystal! No, that didn't do anything. Maybe a magical flame or moonlight? Moonlight! Yes! The last of the waning moon is tonight, and it will provide the missing details we need to decipher the language of the Passions, completing my transcendence! It's only two hours away! I must prepare everything so that the lunar glyphs will simply fall into place and provide me my answers!
As we await the rise of the moon, I get a grand idea from Orlam. Upandal can craft a moon. Perhaps returning to his shrine below will allow us the proper tools to interpret this message properly, but too late. The moon rises and the first term is... open? As I say it aloud, a netherportal to the Astral Realm leaks corruption into the valley, bringing with it several tentacled beasts, flying, obsessed with taking my fellowship as tribute to the Mad Passion. I will not allow my worshippers harm! But they have not accepted my mark!?! I cannot assist nearly as well without my mark! Blasphemers! I will deal with you once you stand in awe of my power! Burst into oblivion, vile fiend! Those who threaten my followers will give their essence to me!
The battle left my worshippers bruised and battered, but not broken. We descend to the safety of Upandal's shrine. The gate shall be weakened enough to prevent passage as the lightless moon refuses its mystic energy to the shrine of the Mad Passion. We return on the night of the new moon, and the gate opens once more. Another Passion child appears. This pretender must be dealt with. I am the one true Passion of this age! Go forth, minions! Remove this stain of a lineage from existence! A grand assault, Elisen! Orlam, take cover, and stop using spells! Move to attack, Truck and R'edtarian!
With the battle won, the last of my efforts bolster Orlam's ability to bring Truck back from the brink of death. I collect the corruption of the area and cram it into his tiny windling body. No pretender will rob me of even one faithful. You shall not die today, young windling. Arise and continue to spread the word of Calina, the Passion of the Aether!
I'm not even sure what to make of these ramblings. We had forced the retreat of whomever that tentacled woman was. The master, assumed to be the Mad Passion Raggok himself, also retreated from the Gate, denied of his newest handmaiden. I may have gone mildly insane. I think Truck, Orlam, Elisen, and even R'edtarian believe me to be Horror Marked. This is not the best first impression I could have made to Elisen. I think it'll be best to burn the notes on this location. Every translation, as much as it pains me to remove my work from this plane, seems to be useful to nothing but death, doom, discourse, and dysphoria. I am thankful to have R'edtarian watch over me during this tirade.
Statistics:Posted by predajey — Wed Feb 02, 2022 3:28 pm
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When I get around to writing my journal I will be adjusting what happened and not have Elisen attacking Calina. I will instead have Calina collapsing after her blood magic interaction with the tree. R'edtarian would of defended his dear friend against Elisen a stranger but I didn't want to escalate things last night and ruin the session. Everything else after her collapse would then make sense for how R'edtarian would behave.
Statistics:Posted by redwraith — Wed Feb 02, 2022 12:28 pm
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Date Player last played: June 11th
ECR: 7
Discipline: Warrior 6th circle, WindMaster (3), Scholar (3) - Windling.
Quote/Unique:
Notable Abilities: Slice and Dice, with a bit of investigation on the side.
Downtime: Item History (rank 4, step 14). Research(rank 6, step 16 (+3 step if pay 20 sp library access), Knack gives two extra successes!
Statistics:Posted by ChrisDDickey — Sat Jan 29, 2022 5:32 am
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Last played on: 2022-01-18
ECR: 9 (383880lp)
Discipline: Cavalier 9 / Troubadour 7
Quote/Unique: Deliverance flies on silent wind
Notable Abilities: Inspiring Sparkly Zoak power!
Downtime: Animal training step 17 (rank 6; 13 + karma), Item History 21 (rank 7; 13 + 2 karma), Research 21 (rank 7; 13 + 2 karma)
Item History / Research:
- Journeyman: 3 test or research knowledges / week
- Warden: 2 test or research knowledges / week, 3 with library access (+20sp)
- Master: 2 test or research knowledges / week
Statistics:Posted by sigfriedmcwild — Thu Jan 27, 2022 1:56 am
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Date of Last Game Played: Dec 17
ECR: 8
Discipline: Wizard (Circle 6)
Unique: Doesn't really talk much... or at all. Understands Obsidispeak, Or'zet, Throalic, Troll, T'Skrang, Sperethiel, Windling, and Throalic Sign Language. Reads and writes in the same verbal languages. Forgets to bring pen and paper quite often.
Downtime:
- Research: ESR 28, Rank 8 (Rank 8 + Step 8 PER + Step 4 Karma + Step 4 Speed Reading + 2 extra threads [ESR + 4])
- Library Access increases ESR to 31 for 20 SP (why you need a Research ESR of 31, I'll never know...)
- Item History: ESR 20, Rank 8 (Rank 8 + Step 8 PER + Step 4 Karma)
Statistics:Posted by predajey — Wed Jan 26, 2022 9:54 pm
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Date of Last Game Played: Dec 17
Circle: 7
Discipline: Elementalist 5 / scholar 1
Unique: healing boosts, combat buffs and debuffs, comfort, navigation, and evidence analysis. (downside: he sucks at damage).
Downtime: Item History (Talent, Rating 6, step 17)
Research (Skill, Rating 2, Step 9, +3 available for 20 sp in the Great Library).
Alchemy (Rating 3, Step 10, lab available) (Kelix's Poultice, Booster Potion, Light Crystal)
(tentative application, since we don't know the date of the game)
Statistics:Posted by Sharkforce — Tue Jan 25, 2022 4:19 am
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Date of Last Game Played: 2021-12-17
Circle: 7 ECR7
Discipline: Warrior 7 / Weapon Smith 4
Unique: The best defense is a great offense.
Downtime: Research Rank 3 Step 9 (step 12 with library access)
Downtime: Item History Rank 3 Step 13
Downtime: Forge Weapon Rank 5 Step 15
I can't do Friday or Monday evenings.
Statistics:Posted by redwraith — Fri Jan 21, 2022 4:32 pm
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Rumor 'round town is that Truck the Windling has been overheard talking about some of the things he's been hearing about the old shrine to Rashamon at Uzhok Pass (hex 46.12). Well, guess it's a shrine to Raggok now since the Passion went mad during the Scourge, but whatever. Word on the street is that he did some digging into its history and is looking to go take a look see. Might be a chance to add to your legend, make a bit of scratch, and nip something nasty in the bud... well, maybe anyway.
When you reach out to Truck, the friendly windling shares a copy of the research report he got back from Calina Ravanqnerosicor, the Elven Wizard that works over in the Great Library (linked below). He said the wizard gal is all glassy eyed n excited about some untranslatable language thing that she just can't seem to get out of her head now. Crazy elven scholars, am I right?
Anyway, you can think about it for a bit and see if you want to go along...
...
Research Report
...
Statistics:Posted by Serespar — Fri Jan 21, 2022 6:05 am
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