Expedition: Clay and the Warden's Tomb - 19 August 2021

[Bluehorse]

happy Christmas back! No rush here.

[GreyWolfVT]

Smoglea wipes a hand over his forehead "Phew that could have been a close call. Glad we didn't get bitten by any vipers."

[Marullus]

Thank you again for your patience. I'll hopefully wrap up some of the other loose ends then resume this in full.

[Zhym]

Any chance of this expedition starting back up again soon?

[Marullus]

Yes. I will try to set aside the needed prep time this coming weekend.

[Zhym]

Bump?

[Zhym]

Marullus, are you planning to kick this off again, now that the Demon Hole expedition is over? Or is this now in a sub-DM's domain?

[Marullus]

...was it really April when I said I would do this? Yikes. I was holding for Rusty here, too. I will do my prep, write in an IC reason for Clay to be befuddled, and get this going.

If I can get it up in the next two weeks, is everyone else still here and willing to resume?

[Zhym]

"Everyone else" at this point is GreyWolfVT and Alethan, right?

[Alethan]

Willow is still in.

[Bluehorse]

I just happened to pop on here to see what had happened on this thread since assuming it was dead (hey, I'm a poet and didnt know it) If things are going to start up here again I wouldn't mind bringing Bianca out of my character archieve

[Zhym]

Sorry to be a pest about this, but is this expedition going to get moving again? If not, can we get a wrap-up post that will let us use these PCs in other expeditions? Maybe even with an XP award?

Thanks!

[Marullus]

You are right. This is on me and has taken far too long. I apologise.

I mulled it over this weekend and, with both Rusty and Alethan out for RL reasons (and my continuing writer's block), your request is more than fair. I will summarize with a wrap up post that describes the outcome. You will return with the quested objects need d for both Clay and Willow so they can move on to the next chapter in those respective stories. I will award Bianca, Clint, and Smoglea each an appropriate magic item for venturing into the pre-Cataclysm ruins first as well. I will mark your sheets with appropriate XP, given this was an epic quest arc. OOC, feel free to join the Fall Festival and new expeditions. I will have the final post up soon.

[Bluehorse]

Wow! Sounds good

[Marullus]

Rising now on the 27th of August, you set out, changing your course to veer due north, Clay's certainty of your course growing. He doesn't think it is far now. A few miles west of your path, Maurice reports that there's an oddly-symetric large round hole of pure darkness in the ground. It is octagonal and about 100' across. As Clay is looking for a rising tower, you don't divert at first, but opt to go a little further then discuss it. You've gone about six miles by mid-morning when you see a welcome sight - a looming Black Tower upon the northern horizon about where Clay hoped it would be about 4 to 5 miles away.

Adventure Summation...

Having at last found your goal - the Dark Tower - you went forward with hope and determination. You found that the door opened for you, surprising in itself. Once inside, however, you find what transpired difficult to describe. The tower itself exists in five-dimensional space, with fluid interpretations of space, time, and rules of physics. You struggled with the challenges within and came to appreciate how much more advanced knowledge of both reality and magic must have been for the wizards of the Pre-Cataclysm. You overcame guardians of the tower, but it is difficult to say if they were physical or merely spiritual, and upon comparing your stories, you realized that they had a completely different-yet-terrifying appearance to each of you. You are certain you spent at least a year in the tower struggling with the mysteries and challenges therein, yet when you exited and returned to civilization you discovered that less than a month had passed and you were, in fact, back in time for the Fall Festival.

What is certain among you is only what you found to still be real when you emerged and planned your return:

• Clay Weatherwax emerged with the Iron Rod, the object the goddess Beith sent him to retreive. You all recall acquiring it from atop a sarcophagus in a great tomb hall, and that in doing so you disrupted some equilibrium in the magic of the place which prevented your further exploration.
• You know there was a greater sanctum of the Wardens, and you glimpsed the extradimensionally magical wonders of it only briefly before the dissruption prevented you from continuing. It is a tempting puzzle for those who seek magical power to return and find mastery of.
• Within the Dark Tower of the Warden's Sanctum, you found the remains of an apprentice who died in attendance thereof. For some of you he was old, others young, some spoke to his undead body, others to his luminescent spirit. It was through him that you found the great tomb hall and you were able to lay him to rest. Bianca claimed the Book of the Warden's Apprentice, his travelling spellbook, as her own.
• When you departed the mysteries within, you found you did not emerge at the Dark Tower, but at a tilted and half-collapsed Crystal Tower, a massive building entirely of shining glass. Three other crystal-constructed buildings floated abov your heads, circling slowly, sheer stone cliffs surrounding the valley of the floating buildings. Willow recognized the collapsed building and was able to retrieve the glass pillar from within, which her own quest required.
• Clint bravely defended his companions as best he could, but found himself ill-equipped for the heady mysteries of the Warden's Sanctum. In exploring the Crystal Tower with Willow, he was pleased to recover more easily explicable treasures. After defeating hosts of metallic servitors, he claimed long metal rods which were revealed to be four javelins of lightening and a bronze pegasus, which transforms into a flying steed at his command.
• Not to come home empty handed, the party found the Crystal Tower contained a plentitude of long, faceted diamonds of the highest quality, one apparently powering each metallic servitor they destroyed. They were able to each fill their pouches with a dozen of the clear trapazoidal gemstones (500gp each).
• Smoglea was deeply affected by his time in the Dark Tower, whispering and muttering about horrors that none of the rest of you experienced. He found a ring of invisibility, and one night on your return journey, he dissappeared without a trace, never returning to your group.
• Clay Weatherwax also decided to keep a fine cape of raven feathers, suitably sized as a cloak for a badger. It revealed itself to be wings of flying, capable of carrying the badger aloft in even stranger fashion than before.
• Willow emerged from the dark tower with a second treasure as well, an iron minature of the dark tower itself, which was discovered to transform itself into an Instant Fortress when you needed shelter during your return journey.

You emerged from the forests to find Gaul before you, your own lives forever changed by the journey but the fields and shops of the city you left much the same.

You all have been awarded character XP.
You each get 10,000 item XP but it cannot be split among more than two items.
You each get the loot above (12 gemstones and magic items as-listed).

You all devoted over a RL year to this expedition at the expense of other opportunities for these characters. Again, my apologies for the expedition's lag. I hope this explanation is sufficient to get you back into the game.

Please pass 30 days in town, including the festival. Roleplay your reflection and character growth in the appropriate town-based locations.

[Marullus]

Amended:
The group also parcels out the treasure gathered from the troll horde in the forest.
700 ellurian-minted gold coins
1000 ellurian-minted copper coins
a large square-cut ruby
a large round-cut diamond
a large square-cut ruby
a large square-cut sapphire
a platinum chalice set with blood-colored rubies
a pair of amber cufflinks
an amber cloakpin
a small lockbox with a broken lid which contains four dusty, old potions

And the potions taken off the dead orcs:
a ruddy brown orcish potion
a sludgy gray orcish potion

The group decides to distribute by lots. Whomever gets the diamond has that as their whole share. The others dice for the remaining items in turns.

- Clay Weatherwax, Cleric-Badger or Beith
175 ellurian-minted gold coins
The second dusty potion.
a pair of amber cufflinks (30gp)
large square-cut ruby (250gp)

- Bianca, elfish witch of Beith
175 ellurian-minted gold coins
large square-cut sapphire (100gp)
an amber cloakpin (40gp)
the first dusty potion
a ruddy brown orcish potion

- Willow, druid of Beith
175 ellurian-minted gold coins
a large round-cut diamond (1,000gp)


- Clint, paladin of Freydis
175 ellurian-minted gold coins
large square-cut ruby (250gp)
the fourth dusty potion
the third dusty potion
a sludgy gray orcish potion

Diamond to [1d4] = 3; other [1d6] = 6[1d5] = 5[1d4] = 3
Redo with potions separated [1d9] = 7[1d8] = 3[1d7] = 1[1d6] = 2
[1d5] = 2[1d4] = 4[1d3] = 1[1d2] = 1
Last two potions go to: [1d3] = 2[1d2] = 2