Motteditor's Strange Aeons PBP

Game Master motteditor

Tenebrynn picks herself up and starts helping Al. "You weren't there when the Cutter came for us the last time we were all trapped in a dream, but there was a doctor nearby in the waking world who kept shouting at us to wake up but her words came through all backwards and jumbled. Well, the others heard it jumbled. Cutter'd already got me. But maybe if we already jumble the words here, they'll hear them in the right order there and it will help?"

Tenebrynn starts shaking 1d3 ⇒ 2 Heinrich and shouts, "Now! Up! Wake! Now! Up! Wake!"

Round 3

Shouldn't be any DR vs. the magic missiles so not sure the maths are correct as Tris has done 14+19+20 to the dome, let alone what the team has put on.

Tristain casts another big ass force spell, this time without the pushiness.

4d6 + 4 ⇒ (4, 2, 2, 4) + 4 = 16 force damage

Heinrich's mind snaps as Al goes in the thing. He downs his mutagen and changes!

As Tenny shouts Albert shakes, slaps, and splashes with water the sleeping form of Heinrich. "Wake up boy!"

some kind of check?: 1d20 ⇒ 13

It's not really clear, whether you can be woken or not from the Dreamlands, but I'm going to rule you can.

Heinrich and Kyffin wake as Tenebrynn and Al shake them, leaving just Tristain in the Dreamlands for a few moments of sheer terror before he too is awoken by his companions. In the real world, it's still dark night from what you can tell below deck, your bodies hurt but not as badly as it seemed from the last fight. You've only taken the damage from the initial ritual plus any you may have taken to (try to) wake up.

That said, you can heal and sleep if you want so don't worry about tracking the damage at this point, but I'll also give you time to react to the events.

Tenebrynn sighs with relief as the Tristain wakes, the little gnome not realizing that she makes the entire room swirl with a stiff breeze as she does so. "Oh thank goodness!" Her tone then immediately shifts to one of incredulity as she slumps back to a seated position, "That place was horrible!"

”NO!!! I WAS GOING TO KILL THAT THING!” Tristain rawrs with uncharacteristic anger, both because he was about to win, but also he’s a lousy morning person. ”WHat did you do!? It was about to die!” Tristain looks around at the party.

”Now we have to go back! Now we have to start it again!?!” Tristain argues, really not sure what to expect of time and refreshed dreams. ”What if it’s fresh again? What if we have to do it all again!?”

"I don't see the angle in going back myself. Clearly that realm is much too tough for us. Kill it indeed. It may be made of dream stuff and be unkillable! The shopkeeper was quite deadly, and while we managed to dissipate him, he may be back as well - he could be a ghost."

He shakes his head, "No, I don't see a reason to go back there in a hurry. What is there for us anyhow?" he mutters. "Only pain and death. Thanks to whomever for waking me up. Thought I was a goner there for a moment."

Tristain looks at Kyffin, talking tough for the first time in his life. ”NO! We didn’t need to run just yet. I would have killed it. I would have, given a few more dream-minutes,” Tristain angers back uncharacteristically.

”Well, nothing to do now but prepare for normal sleep and whatever happens tomorrow. I’ll see what the books say about it.”

Tbh, not sure we can handle that thing and may need to wait a level or two before going back.

In the morning, Tristain will look through the books to try to both understand his dream experience better, but also to find ways to overcome monsters like that.

”Tristain, that nightmare nearly broke me in half. If that had hit any of you we’d have found out the hard way if dying in there means dying out here too!” Tenebrynn crosses her and frowns, ”You can read all you like, but it was a terrible decision to go there and I think Kyffin’s right: it’d be dumb to go back.” The little gnome then shakes her head, unaware of a trickle of blood creeping down her cheek from her ear.

"Dream minutes? I was inside the beast being digested. I didn't have minutes. Yes, see what the book has to say, but I agree with Tenebrynn, that place is too nasty for us. See if there's something in that book of yours to give us the edge before we go back. We've a few days yet for our journey anyway."

Heinrich stands there, huffing as he comes to himself. "That was... intense. I was the beast for a moment. Then... here. Fascinating. No wait, not that. Terrifying. Yes, terrifying."

”Why do we even need to go back in there at all? We know where Lowls is headed. We already have what we need to try and catch him.”

Regardless of your immediate plans, you take time to heal, the next few days again passing in blissful boredom 17 days now on the barge. Tristain continues to pore over the books and Lowls' notes.

Finally, he manages to make a breakthrough. He realizes that this is where you likely lost your memories. That's not surprise based on the note you found in Lowls' desk.

"This revelatory dream has cost me much … The sacrifice of the minds of my five companions has put them into a fugue state, but they yet live, unable to remember their lives or react to outside stimuli. Now I must turn them over to the warden of Briarstone Asylum, according to our agreement, never to see them again."

What he realizes, however, is that if you could find this Mad Poet he mentions in the Dreamlands, you might be able to get your memories back and learn more about what truly happened to you.

"Well I for one think we should go back. Evil in dreams stills needs a stomping out, just like evil in the waking world." Albert doubles down on his daily practice as he works with the blade to deliver heavier strikes.

When Tristain shares his learning on the Mad Poet Albert starts preparing. "Let's find that fella then. Seems like memories are the only thing we can bring back from there, let's go find those."

"My problem is that I don't know that I want my old memories. What if I was a weirdo or something?" Tristain asks, before beginning to bonk his head against the wall.

"But that's where our memories, I'm sure of it."

*bonk*
*bonk*
*bonk*

"Yeah, not sure I want to know who I was before...or do I?" Tristain continues after some bonk-thought. "What if we try again tomorrow night. Maybe we can do better against that monster? Or, you know, just not go in that room unless we need to?"

"It's pretty clear we were evil, and quite possibly despicable. Not sure I want that back. I'm following, however curvy, a brighter path now. Finding the Mad Poet might have some advantage, but I don't see it."

"I'm not going back tomorrow night. The first fight was nasty, and as far as I can tell, unprovoked. The second nearly killed us. Probably would have if we hadn't woken up. Whose to say what shape we'll be in should we return. No, I think it's a bad idea."

"There's plenty of evil here to focus on. Let's capture Lowls and go from there. If our leads dry up, well, maybe we can try the dreaming again. Maybe."

Need to have some consensus on what you want to do...

I think we have Albert and Tristain voting to go back, with Kyffin voting to track down Lowls first. Tenebrynn seems to be leaning that way as well, but you should confirm that Tenebrynn. So we need, probably, Heinrich to break the tie.

So, Heinrich, are we going back to the dreamland tomorrow night? Or hunting down Lowls first? Or something else entirely?

Heinirch votes to avoid the Dreamlands for now, as it seems far too dangerous in their present condition. He votes to track down Lowls.

Tristain, outvoted, continues his research. If he finds anything that helps make his point to go back, he will share it. Otherwise, he’s content with his books.

Tenebrynn nods enthusiastically as Heinrich agrees that Lowls is the better target. "That's a relief. I hope we never have to go back to that dumb, dry, hot nightmare town." She then spins toward Al, "Still though, whether it's a dream or not, you can't keep wiggling your eyebrows and frowning at people like that! It makes them really angry. Maybe we could get you a hat with a veil or something so you could do your grumpy stare if you really needed to but maybe they wouldn't be able to see you doing it. Would it work through a mirror? No, nevermind, if you can see them in the mirror they can see you right back. Hmmm. Maybe the veil is the best option."

Those who want to track down Lowls should push the story and the team in that direction. The other option is back to the Dreamlands which Tristain will make happen. More posting and pushing please, if this is your plan.

Tristain, outvoted, continues his research.

Kyffin waits on the boat, unable to do anything productive until they reach port and can continue their hunt for Lowls. He tries to enjoy the rest, but the visit to the dreamland has left him unsettled.

(I don't think we can do much else but wait for the DM to get us into port Tristain. Unless I'm missing something...)

Fair enough. Where is the boat going? How long to get there?

Cassomir is actually more than 1,000 miles away. You are expecting to spend around two months on the boat. You have so far spent 17 days.

Deciding to not journey back into the Dreamlands, you take up your own activities. For Tristain, that means trying to delve deeper into Lowls books, but there doesn't seem to be much more sense he can make of them beyond what he's already found. He's sure there's more there still, though, so he continues to pore away.

For the rest of you, the boat ride is boring. Each day seems to pass in an interminable passage of water and shore, little to differentiate one from the next. You find yourselves almost wishing something would happen, as the relief of being safe on the first day of your return from the Dreamlands soon gives away to a dull calmness and then finally a seemingly endless monotony. For most of you, it's breeds a strange sort of ennui, a calmness you haven't had since you first woke up in the dungeons of Briarstone, but Tenebrynn takes it harder. A week after the Dreamlands escapade, she seems to start fading, her pink cheeks growing pale and even her hair seeming to dull. She's not sure she can make it another week, much less another month. Now Day 24

Kyffin takes out his copy of the text The Birth of Light and Truth, a Sarenrae holy book. You're meant to write in it, you know fill in your deeds and such. A family might record good harvests, and other peak events. A warrior like Kyffin... his conquests and odds overcome.

It's not just the lazy rolling of the ship that gets in the way, Kyffin is no writer. The battles they've had, the things they've done, just don't seem heroic enough to put into the book. At least not to Kyffin. It all seems rather self centered. Oh sure, they'd done some good - but it was for themselves they did these deeds.

He looks up from another not-writing session, and notices Tenebrynn's pale countenance. He thinks of what little he knows of gnomes. He's heard of the bleaching sure. But never thought it advanced so quickly. He wonders if she herself has noticed. Self awareness isn't very common in his experience.

"Tenebrynn, you OK? Need some time off the boat for a breather? Maybe we can convince the captain to put ashore a day for a hunting excursion or some such."

Al gives thoughtful consideration to the veil that Tenny suggests. "It would keep the sun out of my eyes and face and that would be nice. The bee keepers in our farming community had nice billowy nets attached to their hats, maybe we could find one of those? I don't think folks would trust me though without being able to see my face."

As the voyage lingers on Albert becomes concerned with Tenny's languor and resolves to add some excitement to her days by sneaking up on her every now and then.

Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25
Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24
Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15
Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14
Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27
Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (15) + 9 = 24
Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (9) + 9 = 18
Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29
Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22
Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (10) + 9 = 19

Tenebrynn is only startled by Al half the time, though a blush of color stains her cheeks for a little while after each of his successful scares. The rest of the time, the little gnome draws inward more and more, as her normally exaggerated movements and wild expressions are replaced by tight and minimalistic ones.

When Kyffin inquires about a break, Tenebrynn looks up at him, her expression as blank as if she were regarding a rock. "Plenty of air here. Breathing is fine. Shore would be risky. No berths. Good captain would wait for a port. Skywin is a good captain." The whole time, the gnomes words are hollow and emotionless, but her face turns bright again when Al suddenly jumps out from behind the mast and claps Tenebrynn in the face with a giant fish.

For a brief moment, blue electricity begins to dance all along her frame, flowing toward her hand which she cocks back as if to strike the old janitor in retaliation, but the slimy residue across her face and the harsh smell of fish floods her nostrils and she snaps back to herself.

"What- what's going on? Why are you hold that fish like that, Al?"

---

After Kyffin and Al explain how they'd found her, Tenebrynn sighs, her large eyes falling downward. "It'll just happen again. Even the fish will become boring eventually." She then hops down from the barrel she'd been sitting atop and heads to their shared cabin.

Blasting the door open with a mighty gust of wind, and sending Tristain's books and papers in a wild dance all about the living space, Tenebrynn looks at the head-bonker and states simply, "Ok. We have to go back. If we don't, I'm going to get bored again and wind up blasting everyone off the boat until I'm the only one left."

”Yes, we have to go back,” Tristain agrees, trying to grab the scattering papers that contain his notes and research. He would be annoyed, but he’s too pleased and worried by the prospect of returning to the Dreamlands. ”I mean, you’re right, but could you be less blowy about it?” He tries not to get too angry at the windburst, nor Tene’s late realization that he has been right the entire time.

Tristain reaches for a scroll that decidedly definitely did not have some nudie pictures for later.

”Yeah, I’ve been saying that. When do you want to go? Maybe tonight?” Tristain grabs a few more scrolls and papers, sitting on them until the gnome stops blowing stuff around. ”Did you talk to Kyffin?”

"Caught between a rock and a hard place huh? Tenebrynn's bleaching or our deaths? I'm not sure the scales are even there. Nothing personal Tenebrynn."

He takes a deep breath, "But I suppose we must all pay for our crimes eventually. I just hope whatever good I've done in the last few weeks gets me out of an eternity in hell."

"If we're going, we might as well go tonight. I still think this is a mistake, but at least it's one we'll all make together."

Hoping to relieve Tenebrynn's deadly boredom, Tristain again leads you through the ritual as the sun goes down, the hourlong process resulting in the portal again opening, and again wracking you with pain 7 hp to all.

You return to the desert and quickly make your way back toward the caravanserai, though the heat again feels oppressive. Everyone can make a DC 15 Fortitude save vs. the severe heat if you don't take any measures beforehand to alleviate it. You may suffer a -4 penalty if you're in armor, as noted. You can also try Survival if you have it.

The courtyard remains largely unexplored, as does the barred door you decided to avoid earlier. Otherwise you have the room with the deadly ooze again, or one other curtained area beyond that, plus a second floor above the eastern section of the building.

Everyone gets a +2 to the saves vs heat from Tenebrynn

Are our dream bodies in the same state as we when we last left the Dreamlands, or are we back to full hp and spell slots and the like?

Fort Save (DC 15): 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 10 + 2 = 15

Tenebrynn sneaks over to the shopkeeper's place to see if he's back.
Stealth: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (3) + 21 = 24

1d20 + 5 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 5 + 2 = 27 Fort save

"Oh yeah...it's hot here," Tristain immediately complains after being blasted with the heat. "I should have prepared...but I just wasn't thinking about it, you know?"

He moves quickly to the shelter, wanting to be out the heat as quickly as he can.

He casts Magic Vestment on Kyffin or Al when they get to a cooler spot. +2 armor bonus for 6 hours.

"Okay, we don't *have* to face that blob again, but part of me wants to. Let's look elsewhere first. There has to be a reason that we're here."

As we’re going without preparation - that day - Kyffin suffers the heat with the others. And he complains.
Fort: 1d20 + 10 - 4 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 10 - 4 + 2 = 28 vs DC 15

”Fine,” he grumbles. ”Where to?”

He moves with the others to the shelter of the structure, scimitar out.

DC 15 Fort save: 1d20 + 9 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 9 + 2 + 2 = 19

Albert sheds his chain shirt and covers himself with the stained sheet he brought from the boat. Once they reach the shelter he dons the chain shirt again and follows quietly behind Tenny to see if the shop keeper is back. "We should see if that evil merchant is back, might tell us something about how things work in this dream realm. Heck, maybe he'll even sell you your memories."

Stealth: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (11) + 9 = 20

Fort: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 4 + 2 = 16

Your dream bodies are fully restored.

Glancing into the one room, Tenebrynn finds no sign of the shopkeeper.

Tenebrynn looks up at Al and shakes her head with a shrug, then trots back to the others. "Well, the shopkeeper's not back at least. I'll go look behind that other curtain quick!"

The little gnome, her color back to normal here in the Dreamlands at least, slinks over to the curtain to peek behind that as well.

Stealth: 1d20 + 21 ⇒ (19) + 21 = 40
Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21

”Nuthin’ there, huh? It’s not back?” Tristain confirms the ghostly shopkeeper is gone and makes a note that things *do* change here in the Dreamlands and somethings can be permanent and even die.

He waits for the report on Tenebrynn’s next exploration.

Kyffin too follows Tenebrynn, staying back far enough not to disturb her silence with his boisterous noises, but close enough to keep her in view... just in case. He does not trust this realm, and keeps his scimitar at the ready and a spell on his lips.

Heinrich follows as well, feeling dread in his gut as they return to the dark place.

"If that ooze thing is there don't get near it." Albert cautions.

Sorry, I'm not sure which room you want to check, but assuming...

The other two rooms you previous entered seem unchanged from when you left them, though Tenebrynn doesn't enter either.

Otherwise you have the room with the deadly ooze again, or one other curtained area beyond that, plus a second floor above the eastern section of the building

Meant that bolded part, but no worries

Tenebrynn appears back before the group shaking her head and shrugging once more. "I think it's just us and that ooze thing down here now and I'm not eager to get snatched up by it again. How about we go upstairs?"

"Upstairs, check." Kyffin looks for the stairs and heads up them, leading with his blade and looking for trouble. He'll start with the small doors that seem to lead to closets, or possibly staircases.

Tristain follows along, quietly, as to not wake the ooze.

”Hopefully upstairs is where the action isn’t. Maybe that’s the happy part of the dream because down here is all nightmare and weird.”

Tristain will help find the stairs up.

assuming that ghostly feast is still going on as well?

Albert moves along with the party maintaining his central location so that his calming old man smell can reach everyone.

try to stay within 10 feet of as many party members as possible

Sorry, not sure why I was confused. Probably because the curtained area still to explore actually has a regular door. Bad GM! Al, you did not see any ghostly forms in the dining room, but last time they didn't appear until someone entered. Let me know if you want to go in later...

The hallway continues around the caravanserai leading back to the area you previously saw had collapsed. You turn your attention to what you thought was a curtain but now realize was in fact a solid door, though it stands ajar, wedged open by a ledger. Still, you enter carefully to see it appears to be an office, which contains a low table and several dozen ledgers.

The ledgers are brittle to the touch and crumble if not handled lightly, but each contains hundreds of pages of cramped handwriting. This writing is utterly indecipherable.

A steep staircase ascends and after Tristain is pulled away from the ledgers, you go up to a sparse, tidy, tastefully decorated office. Framed paintings of landscapes hang on the walls, including a many-spired city with marble walls and brass gates; a windswept waste beneath a distant, ominous mountain; and a gloomy port city constructed rimarily of basalt.

Standing behind a desk in this room is a man who looks like Count Lowls, but dressed in tattered yellow robes that looks like the curtains elsewhere in the caravanserai. He looks up from his text with an expression of surprise that quickly turns to delight. He seems to recognize you.

"Hello! I hadn't expected to encounter you in this august locale! What brings you to the premises?"

I'm off to a wedding this weekend, so I'm definitely gone tonight and Saturday; back sometime Sunday probably.

1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25 Linguistics

Ah yeah...

Tristain moves into the office, keenly interested in the paperwork. He takes up a ledger, puts his feet up, and begins to peruse the entries, wondering what they might be from. After a few minutes of reading, then a few more, Tristain grunts and ponders and reads. After a while, he offers his book report.

”Huh. That’s really weird. At first, I thought the author of these was an illiterate, like you Al, but then, I read more, and...and...I know this might seem strange, but I think he’s been cursed where he writes the wrong thing. It’s really weird, but even this madness isn’t normal. It’s forced.”

When Tristain is pulled away from the ledger office, he tucks one of the ledgers into his backpack to review tonight when he has more time.

At the other office, Tristain stares at the yellow robed Lowls.

”Who are you? Are you Lowls? The King in Yellow? Why are we here? I was going to ask you the same thing!” Tristain rejoinders, uncertain about anything.

1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20 Perception
1d20 + 14 ⇒ (11) + 14 = 25 Know (Arcana/Planes/Religion) - Is he human/undead/planar, just a dream dude?