OOC forum

[Mant72]

Nice one, OM!

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[coil23]

Does Tip want the same room he and Salt Peter shared last time? Graeala had the nice room for the private bath. And Travix?

[Mant72]

Yes, Tip will take the same room he and Salty stayed in. He will check to see if anything is amiss before bedding down.

[OGRE MAGE]

Trav wants the same room as he had before. Just as he asked IC a few posts back.

It looked to me like the others were heading our way already, but I am ok with retiring for the evening if there is nothing else to sort out tonight.

[coil23]

Tip and Salt Peter had shared one of the small rooms (5sp/night), Travix had let Graela have the one suite for herself(2gp/night) and Travix had taken one of the larger medium rooms (1gp/night). Nothing seems amiss when checking out the rooms. And there is still the locked storage closet/small room the group has rented and a key for on the main floor.

[coil23]

I've recently had a slight perspective shift and insight regarding graduate school which offers a brief respite from the terror and overwhelm so I am feeling magnanimous. Of much more relevance there is the fact that you are going to desperately need this largesse in the near future. So with that in mind...

Each of you already were at 500xp. You have each earned another 2001xp which will be enough to take each of you to 2nd level. Please make any needed changes to your character sheets. For hit points: roll twice and keep the higher amount. Please use your respective private Q&A threads to let me know about your character sheet changes with this level up.

A few pieces of the puzzle are just now beginning to emerge from the fog and you are starting to see some objectives beyond those of just immediate assignments. We will now be taking a step deeper into this campaign.

[Pulpatoon]

[hedgeknight]

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[Mant72]

Thanks!!!!! Hopefully we can now stay alive a little longer.

[OGRE MAGE]

happy dance.gif

I nearly did a heavy spit take when I saw this one.

Thanks Coil! Looking forward to more!

[coil23]

Greala has officially been transformed (at least in my mind) into 1) always wearing a hideously ugly christmas sweater and 2) breaking into the happy dance when she thinks no one is looking....I always knew that gruff exterior was just a facade. She's such a silly girl.

(I'm not just saying this to be ornery, it's unfortunately been burned into my brain!)

[Pulpatoon]

Dwarves do seem like they'd have an affinity for ugly sweaters, don't they? They'd get so into the craft of knitting that they'd always be showing off just how elaborate their designs could get.

[Pulpatoon]

Before we head out, we may want to review what we know so far:

The Bone King:

Flower: He’s scary, bad. Hurts and torments others. Then the Bone King won’t let others die.
the Bone King...he wants the magic in the mountain...
Bone King came and started taking over tribes, forcing us to push northwest toward the Spine. We have to scout and keep pushing our camps closer to the mountains. Heard someone say King wants the magic there. Does scary things with bodies.


The Voice in the Dark: Now with more of us together we can talk to all of you, even those without arcane tethers. Our curse remains for now, we need more information. If it becomes possible for you to help then we will ask for your assistance. We wish for you to find the great oracle, Torisssithiel, for she may be able to guide us on what is coming from the Spine and transforming the land. Our hopes for direction lie with her. You have the first piece of the map leading to her abode but you must gather the others to find the way. You will find yourself with strange and unexpected allies if you will allow. The lines have been redrawn with this strange tide.

But your enemies are more fearsome still. The Bone King only sends the weak for now but as his suspicions grow, so will his tide of ill. We fear you should stem his foothold and soon to prevent too much information getting back to him. And Sikklining’s children are about, even Sikklining herself is loose upon the land. When the madness is licking at the edge of your vision and your mind betrays- then you will know she is near.

This place was a monastery devoted to Deneir. Something wanted to remove us as guardians with what is playing out here. We still struggle to return so that we may protect and pray you will stand in our stead and we will join when able. The library helps inform our guardianship and our faith. The book of yellow-crazed binding may offer some illumination on our foes. But if it is treasure you seek, explore the northeast corner of the central courtyard.
*squeak*

Coil23: Deneir is a NG deity of knowledge, scholars, literature, cartography. Though known, it is not a deity of wide-spread worship and is increasingly obscure to the common people.

From the Dungeon Library: The yellow-crazed book binding is spotted on the shelf and you draw it down. It reads as a history of some of the dark figures in history and mythology of the region and of a future coming from the Spine. This future time will be a dark and mysterious emergence from the bowels of the earth, both terrible and wondrous. There will be a sundering of the traditional divisions. Humans, humanoid tribes, dog men, beasts, monsters- kind will fight against kind. Likewise, strange new treaties and cooperation will arise that once were foes.

A section speaks of a twisted power from the south, commonly known as the Bone King. This thing will seek the power in the Spine for itself. The tendrils will be slow and weak at first as answers are sought. Once sure of the target it will surge and race to its goal. Good must act early to stem the evil tide. It twists and rends others to build its power. “As we break the body, so we bend the soul to our will.”

Further on, a chapter speaks of a harbinger of chaos, terrible in the past and thankfully banished long ago but destined to return. Sikklining and her brood will carpet the land, bringing madness and despair.

“First come her children like a seething black tide,
then the harbinger of chaos from every side.
Hear the 13 footsteps then your mind it will snap.
Seeing the yellow lightning thus closes the trap.”

The oracle, Torisssithiel, will be sought to aid in stemming the dark tide. A map of three will guide to her abode. One, where compassion will feed the mind. Two, where fear will feed the body. Three, where greed starves the heart. The trio combined under the right light will show the way.

Silring: I know nothing of a hideout, just that the Bone King seems to come from the southeast. His magic is foul, an affront to nature. So far as we know, only goblins have been sent this far to do his bidding but people fear worse is to come. I think it is seeking whatever is going on in the mountains. We know so little but I am certain if the BoneKing connected with that...

Torisssithiel:

Silring: This is astounding. It looks like a map fragment to find the naga queen but most people think that's just myth.

Feregrine Tolmeen: Torisssithiel was a naga oracle who would be sought for wisdom by leaders and a few brave others. These days she is considered just another myth but I know better.

EDIT: New from Silring: Torisssithiel, the Naga Queen, was an oracle of old. A few brave pilgrims would make the dangerous journey to consult her. She was revered in these parts, feared too, though some always maintained she was merely a myth. But knowledge of her and where she resides was lost long ago. Joining a map of three is said to reveal the path again. I think you found one of those parts. I am hoping the scholar will be able to glean clues for where to go for the other two parts. If only we could ask the monks of Deneir.

Sikklining:

Silring: The Sikklining... It is said to be a thing of chaos and nightmares. That thing is even further back in the myths...I had always hoped that's all it was. But the strangeness in the woods makes me wonder if the return is here.

[Pulpatoon]

No additional information on Sikklining, that I can find. It might behoove us to learn more.

On what other topics should we be gathering our clues?

There's the slithery possession-thing in the forest. I don't think we have much information on that, as yet. Hope not to learn more, really.

[OGRE MAGE]

Somehow I think that the forest monster will find us eventually.

[hedgeknight]

So...our first major goal is to find the naga oracle, Torisssithiel...but to find her, we need two more pieces of the map.
Or...perhaps we could seek out the priests of Deneir.

[Pulpatoon]

So...our first major goal is to find the naga oracle, Torisssithiel...but to find her, we need two more pieces of the map.
Or...perhaps we could seek out the priests of Deneir.

Ogre Mage, who seems to know more about them than the rest of us, has implied that the Voice in the Dark is the priests of Deneir, cursed/transformed into rats. Silring has referred to them as being unavailable, as well. So I don't know that we can fruitfully look for them, although if we stumble across a Bishop or somebody who could undo their curse, that would be good.

[hedgeknight]

Okay...so I guess we need to find another piece (or two) of the map, eh?
Where do we start?

Apologies if all of this has already been revealed. My old brain ain't working like it used to.

[OGRE MAGE]

I think that the only reason that I know more is because they could only communicate with someone tied to an arcane tether or some such. I don't think that I have withheld any information. ( I hope I didn't, anyway)

I think the monks/rats wanted us to seek out the bone king to the south if I'm not mistaken.

[Pulpatoon]

Play-by-post makes it particularly hard to keep the plot straight, when months can easily pass between hints as to what's really going on. I couldn't remember what we were supposed to be up to, which I why started collecting quotes, above.

Torisssithiel seems to be our next goal, but for that we need to complete the map. I think. Silring has suggested that Tolmeen can advise us on where to go for the other peaces. I don't remember if the rat/monk/voice had any suggestion on where to look for map bits, too.

Should we start a new OOC thread to keep a Cliff-Notes version of the plot points we've collected?