”I don’t know where! One day he’s doing stuff in the dream world, and the next he’s saying that he needs to go to another continent ASAP. And I’m not telling you anything else until we come to an agreement!”
I don't think you're in a position to make demands. We can let you go bargain for even smaller concessions after this. It's only going to get more expensive. You should be trying to see what your info buys you now before you're fully locked down.
He turns away, waving her off dismissively and leaving her to the rest of the party before they move on.
Boodiddly shakes his head as well. "I'm afraid that's not enough, Melisenn. Enjoy your sleepless stay at the Agency."
*
”She’s a tough nut, I’ll give her that.” Ms. Wrentz pours cups of tea for the amnesiacs. ”I had to step in personally for her interrogation, but she’s difficult to get to talk. She’s admitted to killing Magistrate Padgett and taking over Fort Hailcourse. She also admitted to murdering Royal Accuser Omari when she started getting in too deep,”
Winter Klaczka sips her tea silently, clearly disturbed by the news of the Royal Accuser.
”Melisenn apparently got into Count Lowls’s good graces, then influenced him further using ritualistic magic. This was how she became his steward when he disappeared. But she refused to elaborate on the count’s current whereabouts. She’s keeping that information close to her chest. This is why I’m bringing this up to you; you four went through the count’s estate, so you likely have an idea of what Lowls is up to. So, what did you discover?”
“That Lowls was headed to Casmaron, very likely to Katheer in Qadira.” Boodiddly holds the large cup with both hands, savoring the warmth. “He bought lots of books, but apparently there’s one that’s in a collection there he wanted to find. Topics were occult in nature, perhaps with a particular focus on dreams. I’m not certain when exactly he left, but precise timekeeping might not be that useful when looking at someone making a journey of that length.” Slowly he sniffs the tea, enjoying the scent of the spices.
"Casmaron? Do you have any idea where? Or why he's so keen on this particular book?"
"Nothing more specific I'm afraid. Melisenn wanted to use that information to barter for her freedom, but..." The gnome frowns into his cup. "That was more than we were willing to pay."
Jevar winces as he admits That's... kind of what we hoped you could drag out of her. We're going to need some clue to narrow down our search. Of course, we can search Iris Hill for more clues, but that's not guaranteed to turn up anything.
Kolgradd looks frustrated at Melisenn not being more forthcoming.
"The count did leave a great deal of research materials. There may be clues in there to give us a more solid lead"
"this map's the best we're going to get, I bet. If she's not telling, she's not telling, and enchantment will only get us in more trouble, I imagine."
Shakur traces the path along the map. "He used the waterways specifically, and since Cassomir is circled, I say we make a notable stop there before moving on to Katheer." He turns to Ms. Wrentz with a sigh. "Got a boat? We'll take the exact path outlined here stopping at ports to ask about skunkbeard along the way."
I still don't remember much about life before Briarstone, so what's another location?
He likewise turns to ms. Wrentz and... adds another request.
And any agents you can spare? Winter? I think we'd take all the help we can get.
"The count did leave a great deal of research materials. There may be clues in there to give us a more solid lead"
Ms. Wrentz sips from her tea then nods. ”If Count Lowls is as thorough in his research as he claims to be, you should be able to discern much of his motive from what he left behind.”
"this map's the best we're going to get, I bet. If she's not telling, she's not telling, and enchantment will only get us in more trouble, I imagine."
Shakur traces the path along the map. "He used the waterways specifically, and since Cassomir is circled, I say we make a notable stop there before moving on to Katheer." He turns to Ms. Wrentz with a sigh. "Got a boat? We'll take the exact path outlined here stopping at ports to ask about skunkbeard along the way."
”Cassomir…” Ms. Wrentz puts down her tea and pulls out her pocket notebook and starts flipping through it.
And any agents you can spare? Winter? I think we'd take all the help we can get.
Without looking up from her notebook, Ms. Wrentz responds. ”The reach of the Sleepless Agency is largely centralized on Ustalav. That isn’t to say that I do not have agents in other countries—we provide services all across Avistan—but the further away from the Sleepless Building an agent is, the more difficult it is for me to contact them. Simply put, I will try to do my best send agents to assist your efforts, but I make no guarantees that it will be in a timely manner, especially if you are planning to follow Lowls to Casmaron.”
Winter looks askance at Jevar’s question. ”I…Not to sound rude, but I have done my duty. I was sent here to assist Accuser Omari in investigating Count Lowls’s shirking of duties. Omari is now on her way to meet the Lady of Graves, and Lowls is no longer here. I’m…likely going to return to Caliphas. Lowls abandoning his county is a sign of his incompetence as count, and as the remaining member of the team sent to investigate him, I have a duty to report back. What Lowls is doing beyond the borders of Versex is…not of my concern. I’m sorry.”
”Aha!” Ms. Wrentz flicks a single page in her pocket notebook in triumph. ”Thrushmoor does not usually get many large vessels—mostly coal barges or simple fishing boats, but nothing big enough to get to Cassomir. However, a ship named the Sellen Starling is set to port in Thrushmoor in two days and makes frequent trips up and down the Sellen Passage—I have encountered the captain on previous occasions and she owes me a favor or two. I will handle the Starling granting you passage. You can stay here in the Sleepless Building until then. I will also pull some strings to try and allow you to acquire more favorable equipment for your journey. I would recommend trying to go through Lowls’s research in the intervening time.”
Jevar frowns slightly at Winter's response, but having mostly expected it shifts into a warm smile relatively quickly.
I... suppose I understand. And yet... we experienced much at Briarstone. I expect you'd at least be curious as to the meaning of everything strange there and here in Thrushmoor. Perhaps we'll catch you up after we've figured it all out so you can have some closure too.
Thinking on it a moment more he chuckles and adds Or, perhaps you never want to think about what you've seen here again. Me and my companions are much farther from closure, having very few memories from before...
He then turns to Ms. Wrentz. We thank you. The ship will certainly save us some time.
Kolgradd strokes his beard suspiciously.
"Hmm, it's not a lot to go on, and Cassomir's a big place. Maybe we can find a bit more of a lead in his research."
He grumbles a bit more before realising he's being ungrateful.
"Thank you though Ms. Wrentz. Finding us a ship like that is a great boon."
I sort of hope it's a long voyage. If I could spend a few days with an interesting book and some strong coffee it would make a nice change of pace
*
As one of the amnesiacs goes off to do shopping, the others decide to look through Lowls’s notebooks. The first thing they realize is that Lowls is woefully unorganized—his handwriting is messy at best, his actual notetaking follows no semblance of any kind of standard, and loose sheets of parchment are sometimes shoved between pages—sometimes pages of his research notes are even shoved into the books that he was researching! The count’s disorganized “system” means that it would take a significant amount of time to properly figure out what he was actually meaning—though the count might be able to follow his own cluttered “organization.”
Nevertheless, though, the amnesiacs find a rather noteworthy notebook among the mess: Lowls’s notes of his interviews with one Ulver Zandalus of Briarstone Asylum. Though Zandalus was mute, Lowls would interview him while he drew his charcoal drawings of a strange and empty city, and during the process details would emerge which Lowls would interpret. In later interviews, Count Lowls made use of magic to read the man’s surface thoughts, and in even later ones, would use magic that would prod deep into the man’s psyche. Through this process, Lowls was able to learn about a distant lost city in some nameless desert that reportedly featured three Star Stelae, identical in shape and arrangement to those in Thrushmoor. In the last pages of the notebook, Lowls stops relating what he learned from his interviews with Ulver, and begins writing with maniacal fervor about his obsession with the city and his belief that its discovery alone can repair his academic reputation. Stuffed inside this notebook is a scribbled-on piece of parchment that contains a draft of the equipment, supplies, and number of slaves the count plans to purchase for the final leg of the expedition.
*
*
Even in the afternoon, the fall air of the Thrushmoor docks gives a slight chill. Ms. Wrentz claimed that the ship would be here at this time. And sure enough, amid all the small fishing dinghies and coal barges is a large, fifty-foot long keelboat that appears to be about finished being loaded with cargo. Across the side of the boat is its name: Sellen Starling. Unfortunately, though, there appears to be commotion occurring right in front of the Starling.
“I’m not making them reload it,” says a fat man in an ill-fitting harbormaster’s jerkin. “And you’d best be on your way shortly, shorty.”
A curly-haired, redheaded halfling woman in high leather boots jabs her finger up at the man twice her size. “What do you mean, you won’t reload it? It’s loaded wrong! Ships can’t just list to one side like you drunkards. Hardwood is heavy and as thick as your skull—your people loaded it nine stacks deep to port and three stacks starboard. I’ve got to get it all the way to Cassomir, and I won’t make it if my boat rolls as easy as your sister!”
“Hoo!” A fisherman that’s not too far away from the amnesiacs (but a decent ways away from the halfing and harbormaster) exclaims under his breath as he watches the scene before him intently, occasionally popping a handful of kettle corn into his mouth.
Boodiddly tries to hide the scowl that has been plaguing him ever since he read exactly how many slaves Lowls wanted to buy and studies the man for a moment. What’s going to be the best way to talk to him… he wonders, absentmindedly rubbing the small badge pinned to his shirt.
Nothing in particular comes to mind, so the gnome steps forward and clears his throat. “I must say, that’s incredibly brave of you to trust that there’s not going to be any bad weather on the voyage,” he begins, a disarming smile on his face. “I suppose you could consider it the ship’s crew’s responsibility to move them, but then you’d either be looking at a delay in delivery or not getting the goods to their destination at all.” He shrugs, hands in his pockets. “I’m no merchant, but I know I’d certainly be upset with either of those two outcomes - especially if I could have fixed the problem quickly with my loading crew in a few minutes in the first place.”
Moonday...
Jevar spends his free day studying in The Chain of Night, attempting to transcribe both Dream Message and Nightmare (Spell 4) into his own spellbook.
As the day proceeds, Jevar spends much time in Lowl's notes. He's troubled by what he surmises of the Count.
He remarks to the group He almost seems like a desperate hack looking to repair his reputation. Yet in the process he taps into things most of us can barely understand. I wonder if he does. I spend the morning studying The Chain of Night in an attempt to gain access to some of these powers myself. For the time being, I seem to retain my full faculties and judgement.
The last bit he deliveries with a sternness and emphasis hinting that this should be watched as they continue to gain knowledge about the phenomena surrounding their experiences.
Toilday (now)...
Jevar uncomfortably watches the dispute on the docks, but lightens up and chuckles at the halflings colorful remarks. He jabs Kolgradd in the side with his elbow. Hehe, rolls like your sister. Clover one.
He looks over at the fisherman and calls out Say, can you spare some of that kettlecorn? It looks like the perfect thing to accompany taking in a scene!
Just then Boodiddly steps forward to provide constructive resolution. Jevar is almost disappointed that the entertaining is going away.
Well, after all, we'll be on that ship and need it to travel safely.
The halfling woman is pleasantly surprised at Boodiddly’s sudden involvement, but returns her attention back to the harbormaster.
”Yeah! This is happening over the majority of the winter; bad weather happens! And if my boat capsizes, it won’t exactly be easy to get everyone out in the middle of the freezing cold to reorient it!”
The harbormaster looks completely stunned, then just slumps his shoulders in defeat. He shouts over his shoulder at some dockhands. ”You heard the woman! Six stacks each to port and starboard! Get moving!” The dockhands grumble in response, but move to work on reloading the Sellen Starling.
The halfling woman smirks triumphantly and turns back to Boodiddly. ”Well thank you, kind stranger…oh man.” She rubs a hand on the back of her neck. ”Sorry, not used to actually talking to people at eye level; so used to looking upward. Nice change of pace, though. Anyway, thanks. These assh*les just don’t know when to let up sometimes. So, I’m—”
“Miss?”
Two humans interrupt the halfling. One is a whip-thin man with long, stringy, dark hair; and the other is a stout woman with thick glasses and intricately braided blonde hair.
The halfling turns to them. ”Was in the middle of a conversation, but what can I do ya for?”
“Is this your ship, ma’am?”
“Yessir!”
The thin man smiles as he motions to himself and his companion. ”My name is Wreben Malliver, and this is my associate Gossa Kelkin. We are professors of, well, my specialty is in the history of the Shining Crusade, though that’s an oversimplification; and my associate’s a master on Enthronement architecture—“
“Didn’t ask for your life story, pal. Get on with it.”
The man is stunned at the halfling’s bluntness, but the woman—Gossa—clears her throat. ”We heard that your ship is making a journey to Cassomir, and we would like to humbly request passage now that our sabbatical—”
“Again, didn’t ask why. Thirty crowns.”
The two professors are flabbergasted. ”Thirty gold pieces each?!”
“No, no, no, no. Total. Fifteen each.”
The professors calm down slightly. ”That is still quite a steep price…”
The halfling shakes her head. ”No, it really isn’t. The journey is just over twelve hundred miles, and that’s six copper for every five miles. And in case you haven’t noticed, mine is a cargo ship, not a passenger vessel, so if you don’t like the price then it’s no skin off my back. Only reason I’m agreeing to it in the first place is because I know that there won’t be another ship of this size for quite some time that’ll make the journey. Just because you two are some hoity-toity academics doesn’t mean you get to pull a fast one on me; any passenger ship would offer you the same price, maybe even more for the price of luxury. So, thirty crowns; take it or leave it.”
The two professors stare at the halfling in shocked silence, then decide it best not to argue and Wreben just hands her three platinum coins. The halfling pockets the coins. ”Pleasure doin’ business with ya. Get on the Starling, I’ll figure out sleeping arrangements later.”
The two professors nod and make their way toward the ship, Gossa handing Wreben fifteen gold coins along the way. The halfling then turns her attention back to Boodiddly. ”As I was saying, I’m Skywin Freeling, captain of the Sellen Starling, here. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance!" Boodiddly gives the captain a grand bow, sweeping the hat from his head (and revealing a disgruntled toad perched atop his flaming locks of auburn hair). "I am but a wandering fool with no name, but you may call be Boodiddly. These are my friends, known as Kolgradd, Shakur, and Jevar. I'll let you guess which one's which." He gives the halfling an exaggerated wink.
"As to what we are... Why, we are friends of Ms. Wrentz, who is a friend of yours I believe. And by the transitive property of relationships, that makes us friends as well! Or at least friends until the Sellen Starling makes port in Cassomir."
”Ah, YOU’RE the folks she told me about.” Skywin looks the amnesiacs over carefully for a moment. ”Alright. Thirty-six crowns, if you lot will help defend the ship on the voyage; otherwise it’s sixty.”
Kolgradd laughed heartily at the heated exchange, a bit of levity just what he needed after such a stressful period. Jevar's elbow calmed him down a bit and stopped him from making a scene himself, but by the time he's introduced his mirth has receded to a somewhat red face and an easy smile.
"I'll be the Kolgradd. I mean- well that's my name. Kolgradd Thunderiron! We'll be pleased to help defend the ship of course, what sort of dangers do you foresee, pirates?"
"I'll be the Kolgradd. I mean- well that's my name. Kolgradd Thunderiron! We'll be pleased to help defend the ship of course, what sort of dangers do you foresee, pirates?"
Skywin raises her eyebrow. ”You’ve never been down the Sellen Passage, have you? I mean, pirates aren’t unheard of, but this isn’t the Shackles, it’s a river. We’d have a bigger pirate problem while we were on Lake Encarthan, and pirates aren’t a problem there. No, the more likely issue would be dealing with various what-nots from the countries we pass through. I once had a group of Eagle Knights firing on the Starling because they were certain that I was trafficking slaves! They didn’t even realize that they had the wrong ship! Hanspur’s tail, I gave those bird-brains a piece of my mind when everything was over with! What was I talking about? Oh yeah. The most likely problem will be fey; the Verduran Forest is full of ‘em. There’s a reason I carry this by my side,” She unsheathes her rapier to reveal that it is made of cold iron. ”If you start smelling candy in the air then be on guard; blackwood satyrs are clever buggers. So yeah. Fey, giant pests, carnivorous plants, the occasional pirate, maybe a miffed druid, and so on.”
* Scroll of Ice Storm (70gp)
* Scroll of Stoneskin (70gp)
* Scroll of Countless Eyes (70gp) - because in this game... it makes too much sense :P
Assuming he had the 120 minutes to spare that same day...
Steep Jevar exclaims under his breath to Kolgradd just before they join Boodiddly to be properly introduced.
It sounds like you expect all manner of creatures to set upon our voyage as we pass. Is it really that bad? If so I want to be properly prepared each day...
He waits expectantly for her to say something like she just wants to scare them.
After that he asks understanding it's a cargo ship, will I at least have room to setup my alchemical lab?
It sounds like you expect all manner of creatures to set upon our voyage as we pass. Is it really that bad? If so I want to be properly prepared each day...
”Eh, I’m mostly being hyperbolic. I’ve gone up and down the Sellen Passage so many times that I’ve lost count. We’re not going into the Worldwound or something—there aren’t pirates or fey or Eagle Knights around every river bend waiting to ambush us just for existing. But it’s a well-traveled trade route; stuff happens.”
After that he asks understanding it's a cargo ship, will I at least have room to setup my alchemical lab?
Skywin folds her arms. ”If you damage my ship, it’s all going overboard; maybe even yourself as well.”
Shakur shovels another large bite of kettle corn into his mouth before joining the conversation. "So, we're expecting something every once in awhile? I think we can manage that. How much warning we usually get? Enough we may be able to get a few spells of before we're attacked? I don't want to be too jumpy."
After the captain answers his question, Shakur hands over some gold before boarding the boat and approaching the academics. He offers a second handful of kettle corn to them after tapping the woman on the shoulder. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear we've got bunkmates. Gossa, was it? May I ask why you're headed to Cassomir? I'll share first: Off to see an old friend of ours. Left quite a mess behind but we think we finally tracked him down."
If they haven't already both accepted some kettle-corn, Shakur motions for them to take some again. "And you?" he adds, taking a single puff for himself.
Scroll of Phantasmal Killer (70gp)
2x Scroll of Haste (30gp each)
Wand of L1 Fear (60gp)
I lost track of moneys somewhere, so I'll just count last gold amount and this one.
That leaves me with 136.68gp.
Jevar chuckles sheepishly and tugs at his collar, turning on his warmest smile to disarm her suspicion of his activities.
No no, nothing explosive at all. It's more tinkering really, you'll barely notice it. I'll just... find a nice place behind the cargo out of everyone's way.
"So, we're expecting something every once in awhile? I think we can manage that. How much warning we usually get? Enough we may be able to get a few spells of before we're attacked? I don't want to be too jumpy."
”Depends. Sometimes there’s a warning, sometimes they just jump out at you; be ready at a moment’s notice is all I’m saying. Alright, we’re still in the process of loading the ship, but you can get on now. Hope you brought something to read; we won’t be getting to Cassomir until the new year.”
After the captain answers his question, Shakur hands over some gold before boarding the boat and approaching the academics. He offers a second handful of kettle corn to them after tapping the woman on the shoulder. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear we've got bunkmates. Gossa, was it? May I ask why you're headed to Cassomir? I'll share first: Off to see an old friend of ours. Left quite a mess behind but we think we finally tracked him down."
If they haven't already both accepted some kettle-corn, Shakur motions for them to take some again. "And you?" he adds, taking a single puff for himself.
“Well, we’re just professors. We’ve been on sabbatical for the past nine months and are returning home. I specialize in architecture from the Age of Enthronement, while Wreben here is a historical master on the Shining Crusade.”
*
*
*
Book 3 of Strange Aeons is very different. The entirety of the book is basically one giant downtime trek. Downtime starts on “Day 0” of the voyage, which is the day that you all went to the docks and met Skywin (11 Lamashan). Barring any unexpected detours brought about solely by PC agency (such as convincing Skywin to stop in a large port town to do some shopping), the Sellen Starling arrives in Cassomir on 6 Abadius, 4717. That means that, including “Day 0” of the voyage, the party has 91 days (or 13 weeks) of downtime, with the ship arriving at the end of “Day 90” of the voyage. These include stops in port towns to stock up on supplies, but these port towns will almost never be greater than a level 3 settlement, and those that are aren’t places you want to stay in for long, so the most shopping you’ll be able to do is for very basic stuff like raw materials (in essence, you cannot spend any of those downtime days doing shopping, but how you get enough raw materials for, say, Crafting is handwaved). For those worried about not being able to shop during the voyage: just trust me here, it’ll be a non-issue in the end anyway.
There will be events that occur during the voyage itself that relate to defending the ship, but these events are few and far between.
However, this does not just mean that it’s ninety days of downtime and y’all are suddenly level 10; you do have a goal to accomplish during this three-month voyage: figure out what exactly Count Lowls is up to. You currently have all of Count Lowls’s research notes, as well as the tomes he referenced to do said research. So, this means that you must use the research subsystem once again. Spending one day of downtime allows you to make a single Research check. For the sake of transparency, I will provide the maximum RP that can be earned as well as the DCs of the checks; this is so I don’t have to retcon someone’s downtime if they choose to research a library that’s already been drained of information all because I didn’t post a follow-up in time. I will still keep track of the RP earned, but you all know how critical successes/failures work, so you can mentally keep track of how many RP has been accumulated between my posts. Again, a crit success earns 2 RP, a success earns 1 RP, a failure earns 0 RP, and a critical failure LOSES 1 RP. I will present the research you need to do in a separate spoiler. Note that since this is NOT a check to Recall Knowledge, Bardic Lore cannot be used to replicate one of the skill checks to earn RP.
I will be running these downtime days in 7-day chunks, with exceptions occurring when an event happens on a strange-numbered day (for example, the first event occurs on Day 3, so I’ll only be running for Days 0-3 in this first chunk).
You can choose to Earn Income on the ship, but Earning Income on a moving vessel provides limited options. You can choose to assist Skywin in odd jobs around the Sellen Starling, in which case you can use Sailing Lore, Athletics, or Survival to attempt job tasks of up to 7th level. You can also go for something else to Earn Income, but if it isn’t Sailing Lore, Athletics, or Survival, then the maximum task level is only 4, AND you’ll have to convince me how you could feasibly earn money using that skill while on a moving ship.
I feel like I’m forgetting to mention something right now, but whatever; at the moment that’s about all I got.
Research Checks DC 17 Academia Lore, DC 22 Occultism, DC 24 Arcana
Day 0 - Day 3
==============
Count Lowls’s Journals: 0 RP
==============
It takes Boodiddly a day to get into the swing of things (and to mark all the spots in the journal where slavery is mentioned), but once he does he swings like a moose!
Having some time away from monsters, with books and ledgers to research is Kolgradd's idea of a good time. A library with some comfortable chairs and a pot of thick dark coffee would be better than a ship, but he'll take what he can get.
He starts digging into the notes with Boodiddly.
He similarly struggles at first, finding the organization of the journals difficult to get a handle on, but Boodiddly's breakthrough helps and he starts to make more progress. The contents are a little unsettling, but it's better than fighting for your life.
Jevar saunters into the room with Lowls' papers spread all over the floor, a few on the bed. Wait, was this Kolgradd's room or Boodiddly's room? It matter's not.
Here, hand me a stack.
On the first day the wizard just cannot sit still. He tries one position, but then something itches. He moves to the bed and it bounces too much and causes Oreb to fly around the room. Finally he gives up to try again the next day.
On the second day Jevar disappears into the papers and starts to get hooked on some fascinating threads. In typical intellectual fashion, he uses the pressure to squeeze two days of productivity out of one.
After a couple of days, the wizard feels he's gotten all he can out of the papers he picked up... for the time being. Also, he's feeling stale being in the Dwarf's room for two whole days!
Was it the dwarf's, or the gnome's?
Returning to his own bunk, he pulls one of his alchemical bombs out of the trunk at the foot of his bed and begins tinkering with it. Moving a part here, and loosening a fastening there he begins to disassemble it...
If you have an item, you can try to reverse-engineer its formula. This uses the Craft activity and takes the same amount of time as creating the item from a formula would. You must first disassemble the item. After the base downtime, you attempt a Crafting check against the same DC it would take to Craft the item. If you succeed, you Craft the formula at its full Price, and you can keep working to reduce the Price as normal. If you fail, you’re left with raw materials and no formula. If you critically fail, you also waste 10% of the raw materials you’d normally be able to salvage.
Guess I'm helping around the ship?
Turns out Shakur is terrible at navigating rivers (at least initially).
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The notes also detail a ritual that Lowls used to consistently reach the Dreamlands , as well as a codeword for said ritual to travel to the caravanserai upon enter the Dreamlands.
Rare Dream Conjuration
Cast 1 hour
Focus a miniature staircase made of polished horn and ivory worth 15,000 gp
Secondary Casters 2, no more than 8
Primary Check Occultism (expert) or Arcana (master)
Secondary Checks Arcana, Occultism
Range touch
Duration instantaneous; see text
Targets Primary and secondary casters
————————————————
This ritual’s components are relatively simple (though not necessarily easy) to perform to allow this ritual to be performed while groggy or otherwise ready to sleep. This ritual must be completed at night on the Material Plane. The casters begin chanting the incantation while they pass around the miniature staircase, feeling each of its 70 steps. With each passing, the staircase appears a bit heavier and a bit larger. The primary caster drops the miniature staircase on the ground as the incantation is completed. A portal opens where the staircase lands, revealing steps leading downward from wherever the ritual was performed (even if performed upon a rooftop or the deck of a ship). The casters can step forward to descend this staircase together; doing so puts the Material Plane bodies of the casters to sleep and thrusts their psyches into the Dreamlands. Before the completion of the ritual, the primary caster can utter a specific string of words that allows the portal to open in a specific area of the Dreamlands. In the Dreamlands, the casters manifest lucid dream-bodies identical to their Material Plane bodies (including any equipment they have on them), save that they have the dream trait.
Critical Success The casters descend the staircase and arrive in the Dreamlands at no hindrance, and can make their daily preparations in the Dreamlands as normal. The casters gain the Wake Up and Create Impossibility actions. Time spent in the Dreamlands count toward time spent resting for their waking body (such as for a night’s rest), though time between the two planes tend to go at different rates (typically 1 Material Plane hour = 1 Dreamlands day, though variations to this are not unknown; this typically means that each each casting of Dreamlands excursion allows eight days of apparent time in the Dreamlands). The targets’ waking selves cannot be awoken short of powerful magic, their lucid body successfully Waking Up, or their lucid body dying.
Success As a critical success, except the casters are stupefied 1 for 2 hours (in the Dreamlands) after transitioning to the Dreamlands.
Failure As a critical success, except descending the stairs does not thrust the casters’ psyches into the Dreamlands, instead returning them to their sleeping bodies after 8 hours. This counts as a night’s rest and they can make their daily preparations the next day as normal.
Critical Failure As a failure, except that after the casters awaken, dark dreamstuff seeps into the waking world, causing one or more malicious denizens of the Dreamlands to appear at some point in the next 24 hours and attack the casters.
Concentrate, Dream
You attempt to forcibly end your journey in the Dreamlands, perhaps at the cost of your mind. Attempt a DC 16 flat check. You can reduce the DC of the flat check by any amount (to a minimum of DC 5), but not without repercussions.
Success You wake up! Your lucid body and any items in its possession vanish and your consciousness is returned to your Material Plane body. Upon waking, you immediately take 2d6 mental damage for every 1 by which you decreased the flat check’s DC to Wake Up.
Failure Your attempt wasn’t enough. You remain in the Dreamlands, and your lucid body immediately takes 2d6 mental damage for every 1 by which you decreased the flat check’s DC to Wake Up.
Concentrate, Dream, Flourish
The power of dreams is limitless, and by utilizing the power of sheer imagination, anything is possible. You attempt to temporarily morph the power of the Dreamlands to your benefit to perform feats you could never achieve while awake, such as gain the effects of a feat you don’t have, increase your proficiency in one statistic, summon an item, create the effects of a spell, or whatever else you could possibly imagine! This effect is known as an Impossibility. Attempt a Will save or Occultism check. The GM sets the DC based on the complexity and power of the Impossibility you wish to create, but the DC is generally a very hard DC for the level of the spell, item, effect, etc. that you are trying to generate. If you increase the number of actions to Create an Impossibility you make the Impossibility easier to manifest. Increasing the actions to 2 reduces the DC to a hard DC of that level (rather than very hard), and three actions reduces it to a standard DC of that level.
Critical Success You create the effect. If it is non-instantaneous, the effect lasts for 1 minute, after which the Impossibility’s effects disappear.
Success as a critical success, except non-instantaneous effects last for 3 rounds.
Failure You fail to sufficiently morph the Dreamlands to your will.
Critical Failure Your efforts did not have the effect you expected and manifested as an annoying and minor penalty or embarrassment, such as your pants suddenly falling down or your head tripling in size. The exact effect and penalties of this annoyance is up to the GM, but it can always be undone with a single action (no check required). The GM may rule that this action has one or more specific traits to undo the annoyance, such as the manipulate trait to pull your pants back up.
*
A dark fog begins rolling in, making visibility very difficult.
”We are NOT stopping at Illmarsh to wait out this fog. That village is never friendly to visiting ships. Hug the coast! We’ll power through the visibility best we can!”
Up ahead, near about where Skywin says Illmarsh is, the amnesiacs notice a pair of cloaked figures, about 200 feet ahead, on two wharfs. The figures are passing a long barbed chain from one wharf to the other, rendering the jetties unapproachable by boat.
Shakur and Kolgradd, however, notice something strange coming from behind the ship: disembodied, glowing red lights—like eyes—appear and disappear in the fog, seeming to grow closer to the Sellen Starling.
The glowing eyes appear all around the ship, but seem much bigger than expected.
“Ground” in the initiative card refers to the deck of the Starling.
Round 1
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Boodiddly
Shakur
Red [10’ above ground]
Blue [20’ above ground]
Green [10’ above ground]
Jevar
Kolgradd
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"Watch out! We've got company!" Boodiddly's warding magic seems stronger now as he hums a sea shanty power ballad. "Do you feel Saint Elmo's fire burning within you!?" Green-blue flames burst in the air above the ship like a firework.
Jevar becomes instantly fascinated with Lowls' delving into dreams. While he doesn't know the count's purpose for reaching the Mad Poet, he begins to wonder what arcane knowledge this entity might hold.
Frankly, while it would have sounded like madness just a month ago, I hope we really do get to chase him into this realm.
Oreb looks dubious.
-------------------------
Who is this St. Elmo you speak of?
He then looks about him and notices the eerie read glows.
Oh...
Boodiddly lets loose a burst of sparkles that surround the bearers of the glowing red eyes, outlining some winged, bat-like creatures.
Shakur casts bless from his new staff followed by shield.
The bearers of the glowing red eyes move closer to the amnesiacs, and it becomes clear that these creatures appear to be made of living smoke in the shape of a cross between a bat and an insect. One of the creatures flies over the amnesiacs’ heads to the front of the ship, descending in altitude and swiping at Jevar with its smokey wing!
The other two creatures descend and land on the deck of the ship, their smokey forms enveloping the amnesiacs. Boodiddly and Jevar both feel strange as it becomes clear that the two smoke creatures are manipulating the smoke in their bodies to force the smoke down the two’s throats!
Though both of the amnesiacs resist the creatures’ attempts at entering their bodies.
Round 1 —> 2
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Boodiddly
Shakur
Red
Blue
Green
Jevar (-10)
Kolgradd
==============
"Did you see the ship these things came from? Red sails I think"
When they get enveloped, Kolgradd stops talking and tries to keep his mouth shut against invasion. He moves away from Jevar to present a less convenient target for envelopment.
◆ Step
He tries an exploratory swing to see if his maul can affect them, aiming for the eyes.
◆ Strike
[ooc]If that has no effect he'll do a recall knowledge, but if it seems to do something he'll swing again/ooc]
◆ Strike 2?
Whoa! Jevar jumps as one of them invades his space and swipes at him. He retreats out of the envelopment of the misty cretures, tries to focus on what these things are, and throws up a shield.
Boodiddly coughs and trots down the deck past Kolgradd. "Spread out!"
Shakur expands the radius of his bless before trying a quick cast of Fear (L3) on all of the baddies.
Kolgradd swings his maul and hits it against the smoke monster, its body surprisingly solid. The creature is knocked over by the force of the blow. Kolgradd then does an Advantageous Assault, but the creature dodges away.
Jevar and Boodiddly retreat as they wrack their brains trying to figure out what these things are.
Shakur expands his aura and uses terrifying enchantments on the smoke monsters!
Green, absolutely terrified of Shakur, Stands up from the ground and flies eighty feet directly away from the Pharasmin!
Blue flies over and engulfs Jevar in its smokey form, the wizard feeling the smoke attempting to force its way down his throat!
The creature’s gaseous body seeps down Jevar’s throat, filling his lungs and anchoring him in place from the inside!
Red similarly attempts to force its form down Shakur’s throat.
The cleric resists the smoke monster’s attempted inhalation, and so the creature strikes out at him with one of its claws!
Round 2 —> 3
==============
Boodiddly {Lingering defense: Round 2 of 3}
Shakur
Red {frightened 1}
Blue
Green (-40) {frightened 2}
Jevar (-10) {immobilized}
Kolgradd
==============
The wizard begins hacking violently in a feeble attempt to expel the elemental...
Shakur finally takes a step back and hacks out a lung as a spectral dagger appears near Red.
"Hurry Kolgradd!" Boodiddly pushes some of his youthful energy towards the sturdy dwarf before pulling a translucent disk of energy from the air in front of him.
Kolgradd rushes round with his new-found speed, trying to avoid bunching up, but keeping close to Shakur's holy aura. "The real threat's on that ship, whoever they are must have sent these to us!"
◆ Stride
◆ Strike
◆ Strike 2
◆ Strike 3
As the creature gets up from the ground, Kolgradd slams his hammer into it and sends it flying overboard, its form dissipating into the fog.
Jevar manages to cough out the smoke monster from inside him and retreats.
Shakur summons a dagger of force that slices at Red, but narrowly misses.
Boodiddly hastens Kolgradd and protects himself.
Kolgradd moves forward and hits Red twice and missing once, but the smoke monster remains standing.
Blue flies forward and envelops Jevar once more and attempts to shove itself down the wizard’s throat!
But the man is prepared this time and covers his—and Oreb’s—mouth and nose in time.
Red abandons the inhalation strategy, instead lashing out against Kolgradd with its claws!
Round 3 —> 4
==============
Boodiddly
Shakur
Red (-38)
Blue
Jevar (-10)
Kolgradd
==============
As the apparition approaches Jevar gasps and holds his breath, and cups one hand over Oreb. The wait is excruciating until the thing gives up and turns its attention to Kolgradd.
He quickly sprints out from under it and turns to unleash a bolt of his new and improved fire!
Small feet rhythmically pound the deck as Boodiddly races back towards Kolgradd and Shakur. “Keep it up! Kolgradd, what’s this about another ship?”