(3) Legend of the Elder Souls (Inactive)

Game Master mdt

Once everyone but Lina is through, Neri holds up a hand for her to pause, and pulls out his rope. He casually tosses a bit past the sparkles, then if nothing happens, lets go of the rope. If it were like the Demonwall, it wouldn't care about the rope until he let it go... if it weren't, then it'd be something different, now wouldn't it?

The rope lays on the ground with some sparkles around it.

"Well... it definitely doesn't explode neutral things. So we know that, now." Neri says, offering a small shrug. "I'm not really sure how your bag works... but now's as bad a time as any."

After stepping trough the wall of glittering light the forest suddenly opens up into a clearing. In the centre towers a huge tree, with only a small amount of light filtering down trough the branches from whom strange fruits hang. And in the centre of the tree is a small hole, looking only large enough to barely fit an adult human. The ground is covered in soft green grass, clearly unnatural given the lighting conditions, and small bushes dot the area.

At the edge of the clearing lays several discarded metal spikes, with grass growing around them as if they had been there for months.

"There! Glad no-one or nothing exploded so far." Liisa grins and heads down to her tree. "Make yourself at home - and don't poke the lizard, he's a hungry type."

Despite her warnings she sits down for a moment to pet the lizard, giving the others some time to get comfortable. Or sit under trees. Or experiment with ropes - or gems and bags of holding. She grabs one of the fruits to snack on and also attempt to feed the lizard. But after a while, she gets up again.

"Okay. Let's start checking things out. Those are what is left of the bindings." She points at the overgrown metal spikes. "There is also some balls of salt at the edge of the clearing. Might learn something useful from that on the topic of suppression. I'm going to check out the hole in the tree. Maybe I'll find a way to the thousand acre woods - who knows?" Liisa chuckles and heads over to explore the hole in the tree.

"Sounds like someone took 'salt the earth' a little literally." Neri responds, moving over to look at the metal spikes, before poking one with his Estoc. He expected sparks, if they were tied to one of the 'other' gods.

How big are the spikes?

"I'll stay out here, until I know what's going on in there... we tend to be protected from our own compounds, but not each others, necessarily. Or in Lina's case, compounds aren't safe from her."

Oh, whoops, didn't realize I didn't go through.

Lina walks across the barrier, and—if she can—goes and sits underneath the tree, trying to remember a meditation form that the monks have taught her, in the hopes of acquiring vast cosmic wisdom.

@Spikes - Foot long something

"Well, it worked I guess. But on the bright side we can make unlimited pretzels - assuming noone minds an ingredient recycled from a divine binding spell..."

Ssetheen looks around the clearing curiously, examines the tree, walking around it from all angles, then sits near the base and watches the others. "What is going on here? Can you explain it to me please?"

If any of the fruit has fallen, but is still good, he'll pick up a piece, sniff it to see if it smells good.

Luna cautiously traveled through the glowing wall and began to search the area if she passed unharmed, once on the other side she began looking for traps near the tree.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15

"Uhh ..." Liisa replies with her head halfway into the tree. Pulling out she turns around and leans back against the trunk of the tree. "My predecessor, Sel, planted this tree and cared for this garden as a shrine to nature. But when she was gone, someone snuck in and desecrated it. Now, that is undone and all is right. And we are curiously checking out to see if Sel left anything behind here. More then that hungry lizard that is."

"He's very cute... He resembles my uncle Hesssillian a little." He turns to the lizard and addresses it in his own language in case it speaks Raptorian or something similar.

"Hello little cousin. I am Ssetheen... have you a name?"

As Lina walks through the barrier, she's blown back 30 or 40 feet as her haversack detonates in a titanic explosion.

Damage: 10d6 ⇒ (5, 3, 1, 2, 5, 6, 6, 3, 6, 3) = 40

Fort save for half

The explosion does not enter the circle of trees.

Neri stops fussing with the metal rods, and immediately zips in her direction. He's rather surprised that the barrier kept the explosion out. 'Good to know.' he thinks to himself as he slips towards the edge of the grove, trying to get to a position to guard her, in case something else came after her; he didn't have many options for healing her, though.

Ssetheen's eyes widen in surprise as he hears the voice in his head... and he stares at the lizard first, then around at the others and the tree... he replies aloud: "who or what are you? who claims this little cousin?"

Suddenly though, he is distracted by the large explosion and he trots toward the source cautiously, not wanting to pass the barrier he had to be brought through... "I have some healing ability if needed.. "

Fort (no familiar): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
Surge: 1d6 ⇒ 5 Did I make the save.

"Damn!" Lina calls out. "Don't tell me we lost the gem? Those things are f***ing hard to come by, and we needed its power..."

Also note, we just lost:
-1 Handy Haversack (can probaly repair it for half cost, but it's too high-CL for Make Whole)
-800 gp in gems (Lina's "pocket cash")
-74 gp in coins
-Damage to two metamagic rods (the two extend rods; these aren't destroyed, but do gain the Broken condition, as they've taken exactly half their HP in damage)
-Not the adamantine pick; this is fine.

And then she collects what she can, and carries it through. "Right," she asks, "So we've got a barrier strong enough to blast crystals. Can anyone speak with their gems here?"

Neri pulls up short as Lina isn't completely explodinated by the interaction between wall and crystal (or bag?).

If it's negative energy, like I think, it very probably wouldn't affect most of that... though that's MDT's call.

we can make unlimited pretzels - assuming noone minds an ingredient recycled from a divine binding spell...

"That's how I prefer my pretzels: covered in the failure of my enemies."

The smirk on his face is quickly replaced by shock and then annoyance as Johnny jumps at the large explosion. "Damnit, I liked that bag! It was bigger on the inside!"

He tucks the two rods he's carrying securely into his belt, glad they at least weren't caught in the blast. Once he determines Lina isn't in immediately threat of dying, he starts poking through the damaged/destroyed goods, a mournful look on his face. He seems slightly more concerned with the state of the beautifully crafted gear than his companion.

"Until we determine for sure that Liisa's hiding place is safe, it may be better to try to repair these back home rather than here. Liisa, any idea if it was specifically the bag that caused the explosion? Or could it have been one of the other items we had in there? I'd really rather not try to take these through only to have them completely destroyed once again."

Kong jumps two feet in the air as the explosion goes off. "HOLY S!&$#@ Are you still alive Lina?", he shouts as he rushes to her.

I've got two cure lights and a cure mod that are all yours if you need them.

Johnny has 3 CLW and 1 CMW. Given that if we get into a fight, he's probably going to be casting sorcerer rather than arcanist spells, it might make more sense for him to use up those spells slots than Kong's witch ones.

The bag, and it's contents, are utterly destroyed. No amount of magic will bring it back

Lina made the save. It was generic damage from a magical explosion, so not negative energy. I didn't give a reflex save because it was strapped to her. You can't really evade an explosion that's got skin contact.

Liisa makes it through without issue the second time...

and contents? ouch

"Right... so taking that stuff through the wall simply isn't going to happen. So throwing them into a volcano, ditto. Unless these wards are different from ours. This... definitely don't destroy neutral things." He says, staying out of the healers' ways.

"So this might be a less... abrasive version of our own wall. Lees mentioned Sel not liking our wall. If we could swap kinds, we might be able to let specific people through." he taps his foot for a few moments. "The only reasons to completely isolate the valley would have been to prevent entry by the church, which this accomplishes... and to keep the general population away from their compounds and gems until the time was right... so if we can somehow lessen the barrier, I don't think the gems would mind... I'll check with Ptaleon once we're on the other side... though that may well be a very long while away."

Was it... an extradimensional explosion-type thing? Because the Extend Rods would have been able to survive 40 points of explosion damage normally, but eh, it's not the worst loss of wealth.

"No," Lina replies. "ABSOLUTELY not, Neri. We are not doing a SINGLE thing to weaken our wall until we know exactly what that would do to the Church's ability to blast their way inside and march through with an army."

"Trust me. I don't think Ptaleon would tell me how to lower it at all if he thought they could. Remember, he's one of the war dieties, and has frequently talked to me about my poor battle decisions. But I will ask. Because that seems like something he wouldn't talk about if he didn't know for certain. Imagine if our wall let in normal folks but turned the church aside. It's... imperfect. Like when Liisa sent the crow through their door, but 'doesn't innately kill humans or raptors' goes a long way towards convincing people we aren't demons."

"Asking can't hurt. For all we know, it's not possible or we simply aren't strong enough to do it yet anyway. Although before we do anything, I'd like to have an army of constructs on patrol."

Let me rephrase that, the bag itself was destroyed. The stuff in the bag is still in some pocket dimension, damaged. But there's no way to retrieve it since the bag that held the opening to the pocket dimension no longer exists. So the rods do exist somewhere, in some pocket dimension, but there's no way to retrieve them. I just figured 'utterly destroyed' was the same equivalent.

Oh, right! There's an older edition where a broken bag of holding spills its contents, and I didn't realize they changed it.

"The Church has armies of normal folks. But maybe there's a way to strengthen the wall, or expand it."

Kong looks around, "Looks like we lost Liisa again. Anyone seen her since Lina tried to blow herself up?"

Speaking of the D... *uh* Druid and she emerges from the tree again with worry and confusion painted all over her.

"What just happened?!" she cries out even as she notices Linas less-then-amused expression as well as the healers around her. "Are you okay?!"

Luna shows up with as many of the fruits as she could carry just in time to see Lina explode. "Well there aren't any traps besides that around here and I found some food." She offers them to everyone but makes sure to stay out of the way of those tending to Linas wounds.

Oh, nobody's actually tending to Lina's wounds. People will use left-over spells on her before going to bed, but she's doing okay at the moment.

Well, Kong did the whole 'rushing to your side' and Ssetheen also moved in that direction, but a bit more cautiously, so I assumed they were at the very least inspecting the injuries : )

sorry missed that I didn't actually roll the healing, lol

Ssetheen wouldn't wait to use a 'leftover' spell, and when he rushes over to Lina, gently touches her as he examines her wounds... despite the reptilian claws and such, his touch is quite gentle, and he uses his healing hex on her to alleviate what he hopes is the worst of her pain at least.

healing hex on Lina: 2d8 + 5 ⇒ (3, 4) + 5 = 12

Yeah, I felt like it was pretty clear Johnny was just going to nuke heal you with his arcanist spells. Just remember not to use both classes at the same time, or you'll get sick/tired/something.

"Thanks, Luna." Neri takes one of the fruits from Luna and uses his star knife to carve it open and examine its insides before slicing a piece out to examine the fruit and its smell.

"So... All of that made some sense, though I can't say I'm not disappointed. It makes sense that wherever the gem was, the wall would reject it. If all it took was magic bags to cross the wards, I don't think they'd have done their jobs."

If the fruit doesn't seem intent on his demise he'll eat, avoiding the seeds if they're visible.

CLW: 1d8 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13

Johnny pokes Lina and then immediately goes back to mourning their lost gear. "Well, now that we're here, was there anything else we wanted to examine? Were we still going to head towards Demonguard?"

"Not until we rest, and find out a little about where we are and what resources it offers."

"Glad to see you didn't explode as well..."

Liisa sighs in relief. She looks a bit guilty over the whole thing, it was 'her wall' that caused the problem after all. But she quickly perks up again.

"But I found something sweet, come with me!"

Liisa heads back towards the tree, swoops up the lizard, and head steps into the hole in the tree.

Neri nods, continuing to pick and tease at the fruit as they move into the tree.

"No one's going to blow up are they?" Kong quips as he follows the others into the tree. He grabs a few edibles as the pass by to munch along the way. "I could really do with popcorn if this is going to be a proper show."

If everyone is going into the hole in the tree, Ssetheen follows along, mentally repeating Kong's question in his head... and asking aloud, though softly... "...we could blow up?"

"Yes. At any given moment. You... mostly get used to it." Neri says, offering a shrug. "It's hard to know for certain how anything will work when... most of it hasn't happened before, or at least not in hundreds or thousands of years."

Lina stays outside the tree, suspicious and uninterested until she's actually seen what happens.

Johnny also goes in the tree, trusting Liisa's judgement. And not liking the way the giant lizard was eyeing his familiar.

Everyone who follows Liisa through the tree finds themselves in her compound back where they all started out...

"You know... I almost vote we leave her on the other side for a bit.". Neri says with a grin. "Things will be much more... Calm. Alright, Seth. This is how we show you we're not entirely crazy. This place has several compounds, each one belonging to a different 'Demon'.". He motions to each owner in turn, simply motioning at the tree for Line. "This is Sel's. Ptaleon's is a volcano. Barrius has an apartment building. Kiki has a trade ground. Kinsalia is the bone house. We don't know Lina's gem's name, but they have a funky dojo thing. Alventhin, the Doctor, had a mansion... But its gone. There's another whose name we don't know that owned a tavern, the Teacher, Mikrasa has a tower, apparently full of books. The Builder, Garaleth, has a foundry, I think is the word?". [Ooc]I think

He pauses to make sure Seth is keeping up. Once he's sure the raptor is, he continues, "There are several other compounds as well, that don't belong to anyone who is active. These are likely more dangerous than the other locations, at least in some instances. Like... Don't go too close to this water. Sharks and octopuses and such. Likewise, don't wander too much outside of the compounds... Especially not alone. There are packs of squirrels all over the place. And when I say packs, I mean that literally."

"We should check in with our patrons as well. I'd suggest asking Kinsalia if Seth's soul is even strong enough to support a gem. If it is... We'll have some guidelines to help you choose. The short version is that the angry looking ones are more likely to be jerks. Fishman likes slaves, Horsewoman likes torture. The pictures say a lot about them, though less than we've learned from cards. You might actually be more ideal for Mikrasa or Garaleth. They're... Broken." he says with a frown, looking towards the edge of the compound, rather than his companions. "We should also check up on the brood while we're out here."

Liisa eagerly leads the way into the hole of the tree and once the party emerges in her bedroom she equally eagerly shoos them outside. Hmm. Maybe I should have cleaned up a bit? she muses as they move trough her tree-home. She places the large lizard she was carrying on a branch and thought proudly to Sel. Hey Selvaria! Look whom I found : ). Visualising the smileyface took some extra effort, but hopefully it was worth it!

Now that people were starting to disperse Liisa felt like heading back home and chatting with Selvaria a bit. So much to talk about. And maybe she has something to ask? There was just one thing.

"Ssetheen, if you want somewhere to crash, I think I have a spare pile of leaves somewhere. But why don't you take a quick look around first? Might find other places more comfortable."

The blueish lizard hisses and thrumms in it's throat happily before hopping off and landing on a bird with a bloody chomp and some feathers...

Kong enters into the sun light and stops, dead in his tracks, "How in the Wide Wide World of Sports did we end up here? That is a good trick."

He then starts walking toward his compound and waves his hand as Neri makes his suggestion.