Rovuk looks wildly about
“That one Xorn that disappeared. It has surfaced and is attempting to call a Dawada Al-Jumishat. “
If anyone speaks Dao:
He points to the top of the Stalagmite/stalagtite column the Xorn had originally melded to. It now hangs 20 meters up, a strange instrument gripped to its top mouth area by one hand while the other arms and legs anchor it to the rock
“We must kill it quickly! Our lives are in danger!”
High pains drifter brawl
Rovuk: 23 [ranged atk]
Sophi: 22 [drinking]
Hamar:21 [pending]
Justin:18 [pending]
Merle:17 [pending]
Xorn:16 [sounding the call]
Alessia:12 [Pending ]
Blayze:11 [pending]
Karrin: 8 [pending]
Mel:7 [pending]
Rovuk fires a brace of arrows at the Xorn
Two strike the creature
Hamar drops his weapons and draws his bow firing 3 shots at the Xorn.
Ranged Attack #1 - Damage
Ranged Attack #2 - Damage
Ranged Attack #3 - Damage
Rovuk looks wildly about
“That one Xorn that disappeared. It has surfaced and is attempting to call a Dawada Al-Jumishat.“
"A what?" asks Alessia, sounding mildly annoyed.
Rovuk grimaces
“Big worm monster. Made of crystal. Spits acid. Swallows you whole. Not a good thing to meet”
Rovuk grimaces
“Big worm monster. Made of crystal. Spits acid. Swallows you whole. Not a good thing to meet”
"Finally, a chance to relax."
;)
Justin blinks in response to his companions rapid physical assaults. (He later claims that the material component he needed was stuck in his pocket.)
"Good job everyo,..." <RUMBLE!>
"Ohfertheluvof,..."
Rovuk grimaces
“Big worm monster. Made of crystal. Spits acid. Swallows you whole. Not a good thing to meet”
"Yeah. Let's skip THAT particular sight on the tour can we?!" Justin agrees with enthusiasm.
The wizard eyes the creature on the side of the crystal column, and gives a tight half-smirk.
"Lets just test exactly how fireproof you REALLY are,..."
Justin plucks a bit of arcane flotsam from a pocket, squints one eye to get a good bead on the musical Xorn, ('This guy would fit RIGHT in at Caritas!' he can't help but think) Then draws a sigil of flame in the air, sticks his hand into it, and shouts "FUEGO MAXIMAS!"
Justin’s fiery blast washes over the creature, the flames engulfing it and blackening the crystalline stone around it. Nevertheless, the subsonic moaning continues
Having reloaded her weapons, Blayze unloads both of Glory's barrels, swiftly loading a third bullet with but a thought and firing again. Her weapon filling the cavern with a cacophonous roar
Merle casts a grease spell where the Xorn is hanging hoping for gravity to do the rest
Merle casts a grease spell where the Xorn is hanging hoping for gravity to do the rest
Having reloaded her weapons, Blayze unloads both of Glory's barrels, swiftly loading a third bullet with but a thought and firing again. Her weapon filling the cavern with a cacophonous roar
[dice=Glory +1 distance double barreled pistol/Haste vs touch AC]1d20+15+1
[dice=Bludgeoning/Piercing]1d8+1[dice=Glory +1 distance double barreled pistol/Haste vs touch AC]1d20+15+1
[dice=Bludgeoning/Piercing]1d8+1[dice=Glory +1 distance double barreled pistol/Haste vs touch AC]1d20+10+1
[dice=Bludgeoning/Piercing]1d8+1
Blayze’s hail of bullets strike the clinging creature. Bits of its stony skin rain down from above
Hamar drops his weapons and draws his bow firing 3 shots at the Xorn.
Ranged Attack #1 1d20+11 - Damage 1d8+2
Ranged Attack #2 1d20+6 - Damage 1d8+2
Ranged Attack #3 1d20+11 - Damage 1d8+2
Hamar’s arrows wing towards the creature, but only one strikes.
Karrin casts quick fly and charges the xorn.
If Karrin can land next to the xorn she will do so.
Karrin swings her axe, but Ferissirion is brought up inches away from the thing’s hide by some invisible force
High pains drifter brawl
Rovuk: 23 [ranged atk]
Sophi: 22 [drinking]
Hamar:21 [ranged atk - 1 hit]
Justin:18 [pyrectile disfunction]
Merle:17 [pending]
Xorn:16 [sounding the call]
Alessia:12 [Pending-holding action ]
Blayze:11 [ranged atk - hits]
Karrin: 8 [swing and miss]
Mel:7 [pending]
Mel sends his Spiritual Weapon flying up to attack the creature
Mel points his mace at the distant creature and begins chanting. His entire body starts to glow with a bright light.
FIAT LUX MAXIMUS!
A blinding strobe of sunshine-bright energy bursts around the Xorn. Although Karrin has landed next to it, she feels nothing but a warm summery heat, like a pleasant day outside
The burst of energy blasts the Xorn off its perch, and it tumbles to the cave floor where it breaks apart into several chunks
Justin’s fiery blast washes over the creature, the flames engulfing it and blackening the crystalline stone around it. Nevertheless, the subsonic moaning continues
Justin purse his lips into a disgruntled mue.
"Huh. That's pretty fireproof. Dangit."
Then he winces and partially ducks as the rest of the party let loose with a barrage of assorted arrows, gunfire, swinging magical axes and a burst of holy light that apparently is all too much for the stony monstrosity to endure.
Justin looks at the shattered and scorched Xorn fragments. He nods approvingly.
"OK! Now THIS is much more like a typical day for us! Good work everyone. Smoke if you got'em!" He says cheerfully, pulling out his own pipe and tamping tobacco into it before he begins searching the remains of ther Xorn for interesting items. Particularly the two wand-wielding Xorn who seemed near-immune to physical assault.
GM STUFF
Justin starts searching the dead Xorn. The odd creatures have very little body fluids, which is a blessing, and what they do have reminds Justin of well-used cooking oil. Their garb consists of sturdy bandoliers with multiple pockets, fashioned out of some sort of flexible mineral substance. Each of the casters has two wands and a stone dagger. There are 12 of the odd stone cudgels the others were wielding. There is the very odd musical instrument the final Xorn was attempting to use, but Justin isn’t sure he could even make a sound with it because of the structure of the thing. There is also a collection of rough gemstones and chunks of high-grade ore in the bandolier pockets
Hamar nods to Mel, "Good spell. Though I am curious what this worm looks like...of course curiosity is how the meerkat saw the inside of the hyena's stomach so some things are best left unseen".
Hamar stays on a knee and recovers as the Wizard picks the body of the dead like a vulture. Hamar grins at Justin as his breathing is labored, Even the civilized among my kind enjoy a good looting of the dead.
Hamar nods to Mel, "Good spell. Though I am curious what this worm looks like...of course curiosity is how the meerkat saw the inside of the hyena's stomach so some things are best left unseen".
Hamar stays on a knee and recovers as the Wizard picks the body of the dead like a vulture. Hamar grins at Justin as his breathing is labored, Even the civilized among my kind enjoy a good looting of the dead.
Alessia refrains from taking any of the spoils. However, at Hamar's remark, she comments, approvingly;
"I know not what creatures you speak of, but I am curious as well. Perhaps these things are not best left unseen."
After a brief pause, she adds;
"You are not weak. I... respect you."
Rovuk looks around
“We should get moving. I don’t think it was able to summon a worm, but it’s safer to move on”
Blayze looks slightly surprised as she overhears the exchange between Alessia and Hamar. Shaking her head as she adjusts to...the strangeness of everything around her, she reloads and holsters both her weapons, nodding as Rovuk suggests moving on.
"Hey Sophie, you alright? Looks like you had a bit of a nasty time of it for a moment."
Mel looks at the group
“Sound off if you’re injured. I can spot heal or pop a channel if enough people suffered injuries “
"Hey Merle, Seph, you two wanna take a look at these too?" Justin calls to his feline companions as he makes a basic spread of the collected items and the ground before him.
HE chants a simple detection charm, and studied any magical energies he detects with a practiced eye,...
Alessia refrains from taking any of the spoils. However, at Hamar's remark, she comments, approvingly;
"I know not what creatures you speak of, but I am curious as well. Perhaps these things are not best left unseen."
After a brief pause, she adds;
"You are not weak. I... respect you."
The scout stands up sheathing his swords and gives a slight bow to Alessia and replies gruffly, "I can ask for no greater honor from my companions".
The barbarian turns to Mel, "I am fine, I blooded my foes and received no wounds back. My father would disapprove but he is not here". He grins at the thought of his fathers disapproval of the young man's fighting style.
"Yeah yeah sure."
Spellcraft Merle
Knowledge arcana Merle
Spellcraft Seph
Knowledge arcana Seph
"Hey Sophie, you alright? Looks like you had a bit of a nasty time of it for a moment."
She scowls down at the nasty gash still on her neck, as Erebus snakes his head around to lick the wound clean. She slides Sophie's Folly back into it's cane handle, and pulls two new bullets from her bag, loading them into Sophie]s Choice before she holsters it as well.
"I'll be fine," she mutters. "Save your spells Priest, I'll make another healing elixir next time we stop to rest." She pats the new bag slung around her shoulder.
She scratches Erebus under his chin and he purrs contentedly before withdrawing his head back into Sophie's shoulder and disappearing. Turning to Blayze, she nods at her pistols. "You handle those with great skill. I'd love to compare styles when next we break for camp."
Two of the wands seem to be focus items for the Xorn casters. The other two are wands of Haste . The musical instrument reads as magical, some sort of summoning magic. Likely it calls a creature already present rather than conjuring one from elsewhere. The gems and metals are non-magical.
Justin and Merle find themselves getting a headache as they attempt to use their detection spell. The magical auras here are pervasive, and there is an immense amount of background ‘static’ from the surrounding rocks. Magical energy suffuses this place
Justin pinches the bridge of his nose and squints his eyes hard, then relaxes, trying to relieve some of the headache he now has.
"Well, the wands of Haste will come in handy. Always good to have a back up." Justin says, handing one of the mentioned stone wands to Merle as he tucks the other into his quiver where it vanishes silently.
"The instrument is clearly for summoning, as our esteemed guide already noted. I'm familiar with conjuring spells, but I'm no musician. I'm not even sure a standard 'humanoid' could play this thing?!?" He holds it up for inspection by anyone whose interested.
"THESE two wands seem to be focus items, like my new blasting rod. They might come in handy, but we'll need to get out of this positive energy zone to tell exactly what they do. The magical energies are literally blinding and obscure the fine details. Not to mention giving me a migraine. If I stay here TOO long I'll become a cranky-old-wizard in no time!" He says, wincing as he smiles.
He focuses (blearily) on Merle and Seph.
"Did I miss anything? You two OK?" He asks the feline siblings.
"No I suppose thats everything and I'm just peachy thanks." Merle with an expression that suggests anything but.
"Hey Sophie, you alright? Looks like you had a bit of a nasty time of it for a moment."She scratches Erebus under his chin and he purrs contentedly before withdrawing his head back into Sophie's shoulder and disappearing. Turning to Blayze, she nods at her pistols. "You handle those with great skill. I'd love to compare styles when next we break for camp."
"Sure, I'd like that." Blayze replies with a grin.
Rovuk leads them out into the next section of caves. They travel forward, the caves getting bigger and bigger as they progress
The party travels onwards for three days. They camp and set watches , but nothing bothers them. The landscape is becoming much more ‘lifelike’ as they go on. The caves are truly immense now, with roofs that are often a kilometer above them. Crystalline vegetation cloaks the ground and walls, and even small ‘animals’ made of rocks run across their path on occasion.
The fourth day from the Xorn fight, Rovuk is walking, when he halts suddenly, bringing his fist up to halt the others. He gestures for the party to come to him.
“An Old One is nearby. We must tread lightly. “
He points to a massive footprint imprinted into a bed of green crystalline ’moss’. A three-toed creature, the print looks vaguely reptilian, but not quite
Hamar cocks his head slightly and asks, "Is there a Prime... is that the word? Name for an "Old One"?
Rovuk nods
"This place, this plane .... in many ways it is one of the building blocks of the Prime Material plane, a basic element of more complex things. I am no philosopher, but I have heard it said by the shamans that the life force of the Radiant Sea, and its further shore, the Positive Material Plane, is where all life gets its energy. So, the primeval life force mixes with the elemental stone, and you get elemental life. What you might call elementals."
He gestures at a crystalline 'tree' nearby, with a small swarm of crystal creatures with translucent mica wings flitting about it.
"This life is basic, roughly formed, unsubtle. But strong. Some of these elementals live uncounted aeons, becoming stronger and stronger as time wears on. Some have come down from eras long ago when other creatures ruled the Prime Material Plane. An Old One is one such. This one seems to have taken the form of a giant dragon or elder lizard. It is large. Very large."
"No I suppose thats everything and I'm just peachy thanks." Merle with an expression that suggests anything but.
Justin opens his mouth as Merle turns, but nothing manages to come out.
He makes vaguely fish-like motions as she stalks away.
Turning to the nearest other person, the wizard asks, with a confused look,
"Was it something I said?"
Rovuk nods
"This place, this plane ....(ETC) This one seems to have taken the form of a giant dragon or elder lizard. It is large. Very large."
Justin moves forward to hear their guide, and to get a better look at the indicated footprint.
"An,... Elemental,... Dinosaur?!? THAT is so very awesome!" The wizard grins at the footprint like a kid.
He looks up, and quickly assumes a more somber expression.
"Not so 'awesome' that I'd want to risk my LIFE to see it mind you. But still,... Very interesting."
Yes. Right. Be careful. And quiet. Got it."
Justin clears his throat self-consciously, and slowly moves back to his place in the travel order,...
"No I suppose thats everything and I'm just peachy thanks." Merle with an expression that suggests anything but.Justin opens his mouth as Merle turns, but nothing manages to come out.
He makes vaguely fish-like motions as she stalks away.
Turning to the nearest other person, the wizard asks, with a confused look,
"Was it something I said?"
"I think she already has the migrane. She's never been very good with anything that requires concentration."
Justin looks at Seph, blinks when he realizes that the cat has resumed his 'normal' humanoid form. Then smiles at the teen.
"Ah. This persistent light can't be helping either. Even with the goggles your eyes are far more sensitive than mine." Justin tells the young feline.
He does manage to resist mentioning that his own migraine isn't far behind at the moment.
The group travels on. The light grows brighter as they advance closer the the borders of the Radiant Sea. The cave system becomes truly immense, with the ceilings lost in mists high above. The claustrophobic feeling they had felt early in the journey has faded, and they could almost forget they were not on a regular world.
Another two days pass by, and the party comes to a narrowing of the caves again. Rovuk expertly leads them through a tangle of passageways that snake through crystalline rock formations. Finally, Rovuk leads them into an area that opens up before them as they leave the cramped tunnel they had been traversing.
They emerge on a bluff of rock overlooking a sort of ‘beach’, but one that none of them have ever seen the like of. Behind them is a sheer face of crystalline rock, its top so far above them it cannot be seen. In front of them the outcropping ends some five meters away at cliff. 20 meters below that lies a rocky shore where waves of what look like liquid light lap crystals and round stones. It is searingly bright, and even with the goggles it is hard to stare for long at this ‘ocean’. The liquid light stretches out into the distance, shifting and moving as a similar body of water would on a Prime world. There is the sound of waves striking the shore, a constant thrum/hiss that any who had visited a beach before would recognize.
The shoreline is interesting. There is flotsam and jetsam tangled amongst the stones. Delicate crystalline shells of immense size lie scattered among the rocks. Large tangles of glowing seaweed lace the wave’s line of maximum distance on the rocks. There is some sort of vessel wrecked at the ‘waters’ edge, a most strange vessel, like a large metal tube with a smaller cabin on top bristling with unidentifiable instruments. The entire vessel seems to be made of gold, or at least painted yellow. In the glare of this energy ocean it is hard to see.
Rovuk gestures to the beach
“Behold, the Radiant Sea. We are near our destination. Pando lies within a cave on the beach cliffs”
Alessia:
"I am not one for writing, I've not the tongue for it, but I may have never laid my eyes on anything so beautiful in my life and I may never again". The Barbarian stares out in awe at the Sea. In the Shining South is the Shining Sea, that Sea is dull by comparison and Hamar remembers the feeling of eternity and endless possibility when he first laid eyes on that as a boy. In a way, the grasslands of the Shaar were similar, a Sea of green grass blades. But that too does not measure up.
He looks down at the "thing" wrecked at water's edge, for them, their endless possibilities crashed into reality and lap at the waters of shattered dreams.
"Rovuk, what is that down there in the water?" Hamar points to that yellow "ship". "It is like no ship I have ever seen though I've not spent much time on the sea or the ocean so my own references to such are limited at best".
Rovuk squints at the wreck
“I am not sure. I have never inspected it, it is dangerous to wade into the surf of this ocean. “
He looks at Hamar
“But I have my guesses. There are great explorers that yearn to see wonders that others are not able to even conceive “
He gestures to the vessel
“I think some magewright yearned to explore the depths of the Radiant Sea. They must have created that vessel to plumb those depths. A noble calling, if true, but something must have gone awry.”
"I am not one for writing, I've not the tongue for it, but I may have never laid my eyes on anything so beautiful in my life and I may never again".
Justin purses his lips in a silent whistle.
"Well said Hamar. Well said. THAT is,... Yeah,..." Justin quietly agrees with the burly bladesman without ever taking his own eyes away from the sight below.
"Rovuk, what is that down there in the water?" Hamar points to that yellow "ship". "It is like no ship I have ever seen though I've not spent much time on the sea or the ocean so my own references to such are limited at best".
Justin perks up, listening to their guides' response with intense curiosity.
"THAT is fascinating. And I would LOVE to examine it closer. But seeing the condition it's in, I'm guessing that the 'Radiant Sea' is not the safest beach on the Planes?" He asks Rovuk rhetorically with a smirk.
Justin gives a wry shake of his head. behind his own smoked goggles his eyes are squinted so tight they are almost shut. His passive magical defenses are almost worthless against the sheer amount of positive energy flooding the area. (He is, quite frankly, afraid to even try a simple detection charm right now, for fear of being blinded, or worse.)
He will admit to being crazy at times. (OK, several times.) But he's not stupid. He will simply have to add THIS to his list of fascinating things he has discovered across the Planes that he simply wasn't equipped to explore at the time.
Justin smiles. "Ah well. Another Mystery for another day. As much as I'd love to explore, that's not the reason for this hike." He says with as much sincerity he can muster. (Which is a lot. But the disappointment is still evident.)
He nods to Rovuk. "Thank you for making sure we got to see this." And gestures for the guide to proceed when he is ready.
Rovuk nods
“We should go. It is beautiful, but too much time here can be bad for you”
He leads them down a winding track in the sea cliff to the shore. The party gingerly picks its way across about a mile of shoreline, hugging the rock face closely. There are beautiful crystals and shells that look like they are carved from crystals here. They come across a large fish skeleton wedged among some quartz boulders. Fully two meters long, the bones seem to be spun from diamond, or some clear crystal. It shimmers and gleams in the bright light from the Radiant Sea.
The light begins to trigger headaches, but they all manage to make it to a large cave mouth before the pain becomes too great. They hurriedly enter, and just the few feet of rock between them and the sea eases their pain immensely.
The cave is a narrow cleft in the sea cliff. About three meters wide, it shows evidence of the liquid light having been in the area. Did the area have tides? When asked, Rovuk nods
“There are forces that change the sea. I would not call them ‘tides’ but sometimes the sea rises up and swallows the beach. There is no schedule to this that I know. Also, there are storms here. We should pray none finds us while we visit”
The party walks on, and suddenly the narrow tunnel opens into a vast cave.
While not as huge as some of the caves the party has walked through this past week, it is respectable. The ceiling is high above, and it looks like there is possibly a half-kilometer radius to the rough circle of area. The cave is a geode, its lower half filled with beach rocks and more sea flotsam. There are pools of liquid energy in several places, enough to cast a rich glow over the thronged crystals that make up the ceiling. In the center of the cave is a raised island of blue crystal. Atop it are 23 large standing transparent crystals, slowly fluorescing with multiple colors in hypnotic patterns.
Suddenly a voice reaches out to all of the party mentally
Hamar spins suddenly, wary of what is happening, "Wizard, there is a voice in my head! Did you hear it?"
A feeling of calm reassurance washes over Hamar
Alessia: ** spoiler omitted **
On her first sight of the Radiant Sea, Alessia freezes in place, long enough for the rest of the group to pass her on the narrow path. After a moment, she recoils slightly, shaking her head.
"Not now... not now... she whispers to herself, before following behind the others.