“Wait, what’s wrong with Kolgradd?” Boodiddly keeps clapping to keep his spirits up (and those of his friends). He whistles, and the sound ripples outward pleasantly until it reaches the swarmed fighter. There, a slightly-discordant cacophony erupts like a toot from an elephant’s backside.
Boodiddly continues singing and uses his magic, and when he does, Kolgradd suddenly ceases having his strange visions.
Jevar moves over and sends a bolt of lightning at the spirits!
The frog spirits ignore the wizard’s electricity and focus on the one who is harming their superior—Kolgradd.
*
*
*
A deep, booming roar echoes from the lake! As the amnesiacs and spirits look to the north, they see the thing in the lake rearing upward. The distance and night light still make the thing’s details indistinguishable, but it is now clearly shown itself to be quadrupedal in some form. As it roars, it is surrounded by flashes of primal manifestations that do nothing to illuminate its silhouetted form.
A single bolt of lightning shoots off from the distant thing into the sky above Sarnath before dissipating. Seconds later, a dark cloud grows out from where the lightning bolt was last seen. It grows outward at an unfathomable rate, covering over a half-mile area in a manner of seconds! And when it does, the effects are immediate: gale force winds pound at anything and everything! But of more pressing concern is the hail the size of boulders raining down from the sky!
Critical Failure
Critical Failure
Critical Failure
Critical Failure
Critical Failure
Critical Failure
Critical Failure
Critical Failure
Critical Failure
Everyone, living and dead, are battered by the intense hailstorm! What remains of the panicking partygoers is completely decimated by this storm! As the increasingly panicking Shakur, not wishing to die again, looks behind him, he sees the staircase from which the amnesiacs came is now blocked off—a combination of massive hailstones and rubble from those hailstones’ impact has completely clogged up the stairwell!
The frog spirits, rather than terrified, are happy! Three of their number (one from Kolgradd and two from the hailstorm) have fallen and they are joyful! No. Not joyful. Fanatic. They look out to the lake with arms spread wide, mouthing silent prayers to the bringer of this destruction: the thing in the lake. They worship it.
The thing continues moving inexorably toward Sarnath, its wrath clearly on this city. This is precisely what the frog spirits wanted: Sarnath’s doom.
Sarnath’s end has come. There is no saving it.
Round 3
==============
Shakur (-40)
Kolgradd (-60) {doomed 2; sickened 1; Heroism +1; Frightened 1}
White (-78 from “3” attacks [before resistances]) {prone}
Boodiddly (-40)
Jevar (-40)
Red (-40 from “1” attacks [before resistances])
Blue (-40 from “1” attacks [before resistances])
Event
==============
"We've got to get that statue and GO!"
Kolgradd remembers once thinking that the sound of rain pinging against his plate was pleasant, as the hail-boulders threaten to squish him.
We can only handle a few seconds of this, let's make them count
◆ Strike
◆ Advantageous Assault
◆ Advantageous Assault
Despite the urgency, Kolgradd seems unable to get the statue out of the spirit's hands!
"I am NOT dying here again!"
Shakur concentrates, sending the dagger at white again.
"I. AM NOT!"
"DROP IT!"
Shakur a wave of charity to White.
Kolgradd goes to attack White, and hits the spirit once.
White silently glorifies to the thing in the lake. The spirit holding the statuette then attempts to heal itself.
Despite Kolgradd’s efforts, the spirit is STILL THERE!
Round 3
==============
Shakur (-40)
Kolgradd (-60) {doomed 2; sickened 1; Heroism +1}
White (-60 from “5” attacks [before resistances]) {prone}
Boodiddly (-40)
Jevar (-40)
Red (-40 from “1” attacks [before resistances])
Blue (-40 from “1” attacks [before resistances])
Event
==============
We're trying to take these things down and they're... going to church over that monstrosity?
Just... give us the statue and you can bask in its destruction all you want.
He steps up and fires another line of lightning through the next two frogs.
Boodiddly winces from the force of the hailstones, then whistles encouragingly. "Don't worry about those ones Jevar - just focus on the statue!" Desperately he makes grabbing motions with both hands.
Boodiddly sings and uses the power of the Dreamlands to completely disarm White of the green idol!
Jevar, seeing the green idol fall to the ground, moves over next to White, picks up the idol, then moves as far away from the spirits as possible!
Red and Blue are both distracted with praising the thing in the lake. They then see Jevar grab the idol and run, and as such the two frog spirits rush at Jevar and attack him!
As the thing in the lake slowly moves closer, the horrid weather above shifts drastically. Instead of hail, caustic rain falls down from the clouds above!
The acid rain proves deadly! Both of the frog spirits accosting Jevar fade into nothingness. Likewise, after being pelted by hail, the acid rain proves too much for the wizard, and Jevar collapses into unconsciousness!
Round 4
==============
Shakur (-60)
Kolgradd (-80) {doomed 2; sickened 1; Heroism +1}
White (-80 from “6” attacks [before resistances]) {prone}
Boodiddly (-60) {Lingering Courage: Round 0 of 4}
Jevar (-56) {prone; unconscious; dying 1}
Event
==============
"The idol!"
Kolgradd rushes ◆◆ up to Jevar, releases ◇ his grip on his maul, and reaches ◆ down to grab the idol.
"You hold onto that!"
Shakur quickly heals Kolgradd. "But I'm NOT dying again either"
Kolgradd moves over and picks up the idol from Jevar’s unconscious body.
Shakur heals himself and Kolgradd.
The only remaining spirit “Stands” up and manifests a single bolt of lightning in its hands and chucks it at Kolgradd!
plus 4 persistent electricity
Round 4
==============
Shakur (-42)
Kolgradd (-42) {doomed 2; sickened 1; Heroism +1; 4 persistent electricity}
White (-80 from “6” attacks [before resistances])
Boodiddly (-60) {Lingering Courage: Round 1 of 4}
Jevar (-56) {prone; unconscious; dying 1}
Event
==============
Boodiddly watches Shakur’s movements and tries to hear what the priest is saying before imitating him.
Relieved that it worked, he whistles to himself. Got to hang in here long enough for Kolgradd to get out with the idol…
As far as his perception goes, Jevar is conscious again as soon as he was unconscious. He blinks awake and looks around, re-orienting himself amidst the chaos.
I'd almost hoped to fully wake from the dream... or rather this nightmare it has become.
Then, reflexively his hands grasp for the statue. He frantically looks around before spotting Kolgradd with it.
Phew! Okay...
He stands up and unleashes a lightning bolt at the remaining worshipper of doom.
Boodiddly heals Jevar.
Jevar stands up and launches a bolt of lightning at the remaining spirit. But as he does so, the spirit quickly cups its hands as if to catch the electricity!
But even despite White’s efforts to contain the lightning , the spirit is completely destroyed by the spell!
The acid rain of the storm stops, and instead, several bolts of lightning descend from the heavens, destroying several of Sarnath’s buildings in its wake! And the thing in the lake continues moving ever closer.
Round 5
==============
Shakur (-42)
Kolgradd (-42) {doomed 2; sickened 1; Heroism +1; 4 persistent electricity}
Boodiddly (-25) {Lingering Courage: Round 2 of 4}
Jevar {wounded 1}
Event
==============
"Alright we've got it, let's go!"
Kolgradd scrunches his face and closes his eyes tightly, then suddenly opens them, hoping to be back aboard the Sellen Starling.
◆◆
Wake Up
He promptly ◆ curls up in a ball nursing the agony of his headache.
“You heard him!” Boodiddly has to yell to be heard over the storm. “Let’s go!”
The gnome doesn’t vanish. Worriedly, he tries to soothe his aching head.
But that doesn’t work either.
Yes... you're right. This nightmare is getting worse by the second.
"Alright. Time to go."
Shakur stares out at the thing in horror. "TIME TO GO! NO NO NO NO."
All four of the amnesiacs attempt to Wake Up, but only half of them manage to do so.
One final bolt of lightning strikes down, causing a horrid wave of thunder!
Shakur and Boodiddly are completely deafened! As they look out onto the lake, they see the thing has started to get tantalizingly close, to the point where they can almost see what the thing is.
*
The amnesiacs awaken in a cold sweat. The Sellen Starling continues bustling as it normally does, completely oblivious to the horrors the amnesiacs had witnessed.
Kolgradd rolls out of his bed, wipes the blood out of his eyes, and goes to make sure everyone else is OK. When Boodiddly and Shakur don't wake at first, he rings his hands. He shouts to Jevar as he's rousing, but he's mostly speaking to himself.
"I shouldn't have left them, it's KILLING them!"
When they do awaken, he heaves a sigh of relief and sits down heavily.
"Well that was quite something. Bokrug themselves ... I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky we went when we did, though it's hard to feel lucky right now"
Jevar takes several moments awake before he sits up.
That was... intense.
Groggily shaking his head he stands up and joins Kolgradd to check on the others.
Killing them? I think they'll wake up with nasty headaches... or a nauseous level of adrenaline.
He waits for several moments until they wake.
Yes, here we go. Shakur, Boodiddly, welcome back.
Shakur doesn't even wait to begin ranting. I've now died once in that dreadful place and almost died again. I, for one, vote we go to the poet with what we have at this point. If he wants that last piece of tribute, we can go get it, but I'm not about to risk my life, again, without knowing it's necessary. Shakur stands and heads out to the deck of the ship, hoping that watching the water can calm his nerves.
Boodiddly is too busy jotting down impressions from the dream in his journal to notice Shakur’s departure until the cabin door closes. “Hmm? Why’s he upset? It’s just a dream - we can’t really die for good in there. So we can experience things we wouldn’t normally survive. It’s like a one-night stand with death.”
Jevar frowns at the gnome. Yeah... but, doesn't it hurt? Or feel awful?
“Well sure, but feeling those feelings means you’re still alive. When you stop feeling things, that means you’re dead.”
"We spend so much time in there, it's hard to say this world feels more real any more"
Kolgradd gets a look on his face as if trying to Create an Impossibility before looking more relaxed.
The waking dream... we could sure use some time away from that experience.
Jevar starts picking through his bag of holding, trying to remember what he might have been working on before the dreams. Then he remembers that they're probably just going to be off to the next location.
After considering for some time, finishing with a heavy sigh, Kolgradd speaks up before Boodiddly and Jevar also leave.
"I'm not sure about Shakur's plan to skip the last item. It's true that we might not need all of them, or even any of them..."
He pauses for a long time as he rubs his beard.
"But if we piss of the Mad Poet we might lose our one chance to find Lowls and ourselves, and that's a risk not worth taking if you ask me."
He looks to see their reaction, nervous that they'll agree with him so that he'll need to talk to Shakur, and nervous that they won't
“Yep, that makes sense.”
These dreams have been painful... very painful. Sometimes waking up from them is even worse. I just have this nagging feeling that by not being as prepared as we can be for the Mad Poet... that something worse is waiting for us. I seriously doubt that once we meet him that he gives us the chance to retrieve the last bit.
Jevar grimaces and glances at Shakur to see how he reacts.
If you've got one more in you Shakur, we can load up on extra protections. Invisibility, some alchemical effects... Either way, I think we could use a day or two off before heading to the Mad Poet.
Shakur, having overheard all of that, walks back in and sighs.
"Fine. But I'm outta there at first sign of giant lake monsters or ghouls."
Shakur, having overheard all of that, walks back in and sighs.
"Fine. But I'm outta there at first sign of giant lake monsters or ghouls."
Day 33
==============
Boodiddly (Earned Income: 2.2 gp)
Jevar (Reverse-engineered moderate frost vial; scribed mind reading: 3 gp discount)
Kolgradd (Retrain feat: 3/7)
Shakur (Earned Income: 7.4 gp)
Signet Ring
Feline Tail
Royal Ghoul’s Skull
Green Stone Idol
Ambassador’s Heartstone
Captain’s Tricorne
Webbed Foot
==============
Jevar revives his alchemical project and sets to reconstructing his moderate frost vial from the raw components that he'd broken it down into.
Kolgradd goes back to training for more insightful strikes. He can already feel his stamina for charging starting to wane, but all the work is going to be worth it he's sure.
So, basically, for the frost vials you only need 1 day (instead of 4) to prepare to Craft them. And I’ll say that you can retroactively use that previous day of downtime for Crafting the frost vials, since that’s an easy retcon. So you have two days toward making the frost vials.
*
*
When the amnesiacs arrive in the Dreamlands once more, they find themselves in a crowded ballroom of cavernous proportions. The ballroom is several hundred feet wide and lit with the reddish light of sunset through the west-facing windows. The ballroom is currently thronged with thousands of attendees in courtly dress—though some seem to be several decades out of fashion. Many of the attendees are dancing, though a few converse in small groups or enjoy hors d’oeurves presented by liveried servants. Certainly more subdued and refined than the party the amnesiacs found themselves in in Sarnath.
Several of the guests cast questioning side-eyes at the suddenly-appearing amnesiacs and their less-than-fancy attire. However, none outright condemn or question the group.
The amnesiacs make their way through the ball to find relatively quiet place to make their daily preparations. They do so, though they do take note of several things:
First is a high platform bearing a throne with a commanding view of the festivities rises at the southern end of the ballroom. Seated on the throne is a man dressed in dark green attire. This is likely the viscount, though the amnesiacs avoid talking to the man right this moment in favor of making their daily preparations.
Second, the amnesiacs notice that in occasional spots on the dance floor are stains of blood and gore. The attendees dance around the stains, clearly noticing them but not saying a word about them as they pretend they aren’t there.
Finally, once the amnesiacs finish with their daily preparations, they witness a very interesting scene. It begins rather mundanely, as a servant carrying a bottle of champagne bumps into a dancing partygoer. The servant drops the bottle, and it shatters onto the floor. While the music does not stop, the surrounding attendees all cease and stare at the clumsy servant for the briefest moment. They then quickly (almost nervously) return to their previous activities, no longer daring to look at the clumsy servant. Suddenly, a thick, rope-like strand descends from the ceiling above the servant and lands on top of the servant’s head. In an instant, the strand pulls the servant up into the air, his shrieks echoing. As the amnesiacs look upward, they find the servant taken toward the ceiling, which is obscured by darkness and thick webbing. None of the partygoers mention anything about the abducted servant.
The throne is surrounded by several attendants, functionaries, and sycophants, all who seem to keep a healthy distance from the man upon the throne. Upon the throne is an urbane and handsome man with high cheekbones, dirty-blonde hair, and sympathetic green eyes. The lavishness of his clothing exceeds even that of even his most finely dressed guests. Asking any of the surrounding sycophants confirms that this man is indeed Viscount Pietro Brellin.
One way or another, the amnesiacs push towards the viscount’s throne. As they approach, Viscount Brellin looks at them with curiosity.
”My, my, my. I do not recognize you four. So my little soiree has HACK!” The viscount suddenly erupts into a fit of mucous-y coughing. He makes no effort to cover his mouth as a tar-like phlegm flies from his mouth onto the amnesiacs. ”HORF! attracted attention from outside Celephais?” The viscount continues speaking as if nothing had happened, dribbles of phlegm staining his chin and the front of his fine clothing with a crusty smear. ”I do hope you are enjoying the festivities.”
As the amnesiacs speak to the viscount, they notice that he is not wearing any kind of ring upon his hand.
I’m assuming Jevar is Crafting a batch of four moderate frost vials. So it will require 20 gp of raw materials.
He's just putting the one back together that the decomposed to get the recipe, so he has exactly those raw materials for it. I assumed he would only be able to re-craft that one but I imagine at least he should still have those materials. Does it save time if he just crafts the one and has no further costs to make up?
Suddenly the mage's gruff demeanor shifts to a smile (that he hopes is warm and not rigid) as he takes on his best "sales" persona.
Yes it has attracted our attention. I think I can speak for all of us when I say it exceeds our wildest expectations! You must know a lot of people. I mean, just look at this crowd!
He gestures out over the dance floor below.
“It’s an honor to stand before you, your grace.” Boodiddly bows deeply, holding the position just a little bit longer than he normally would to see if any of the phlegm wishes to fall off his face. “Perhaps this humble bard might offer a song, if it pleases you?”
Kolgradd just does his best to minimize the look of disgust at being expectorated upon, and leaves the impression making to his more charismatic allies.
Instead he studies the count intently for any indication of why he's coughing up tar. Some sign of illness perhaps, or a curse?
Shakur holds his hand up, and shoots a look to Kolgradd, fingers only a quarter inch apart. "I'm already this close to bailing."
Shakur puts his hand down and makes no effort to clear the tar. "Let's just come at it straight, okay?"
"We were wondering if there was anything we could do for you in exchange for a certain signet ring. Surely, seeing as how you aren't wearing it, there must be some price you can put on it."
"We were wondering if there was anything we could do for you in exchange for a certain signet ring. Surely, seeing as how you aren't wearing it, there must be some price you can put on it."
The viscount is taken aback at the Pharasmin’s bluntness for a moment. Before he responds, though, he turns his head to the side in deep thought, beginning to hack up more tar-like phlegm that thankfully doesn’t go at the amnesiacs this time. Once his coughing has ceased he turns back to the amnesiacs. ”I suppose there is something. Please, let me elaborate.
“The Sunset Waltz is the most prestigious event at my galas, and I am to lead the festivities once dusk begins. I had made plans with some worldly folk to dance with them during the Sunset Waltz, trading partners every so often. And then I learned it: she would be arriving!” The viscount’s mouth begins to fill with more of the tar-like phlegm as the amnesiacs realize that he is practically salivating. ”My one and only. My light! My…beloved! Oooh! My dear beloved, how the stars pale in comparison to the sparkle of your eyes. How the sun bows in reverence to the warmth of your embrace. How I wish to hold you and rrrrRAVAGE you until HORF! HACK! HACK! My apologies, I should not discuss such salacious topics; how uncouth of me.
“Now, I did not know that my beloved would be in attendance tonight until recently, and I refuse to perform the Sunset Waltz with anyone but my one and only! Now, this is where you four come in: before I knew that my darling would be in attendance, I had already made plans to perform the Sunset Waltz with three others: the elegant Lady Urdrenda Splinterbone, the influential Ardvin Telgriette, and the beautiful but common Maudette. But I will not dance with them over my beloved! I ask that you deliver this news to them discretely—word must not get to my beloved that I had the intention of dancing with anyone but her, even if only for diplomatic reasons. Return to me with their polite acknowledgement of my refusal to dance and I will present you with my signet ring.”
Jevar has to pick his jaw up off the ground (figuratively... this is a dream after all) when Shakur charges in. It's not that direct approaches were bad, per se, but they sure cut through the options quickly.
The mage gathers himself and refocuses on the viscount.
It is a fair offer and we appreciate you entrusting us with this task. What should we know about the three so that we can most effectively approach them? Who is most vain? Who is most ambitious?
It is a fair offer and we appreciate you entrusting us with this task. What should we know about the three so that we can most effectively approach them? Who is most vain? Who is most ambitious?
”Oh goodness, I do not know; I do not know them personally. However, I’m sure they are nearby.” The viscount pulls a pair of opera glasses from his pocket and uses them to look around the ball. ”Perhaps not…Well, you four look resourceful, so I’m sure you can find them.”
Boodiddly bows deeply again, grateful Jevar's directness had been helpful rather than harmful. "Of course, Your Grace. We are the very models of discretion." Still bowing, he begins to retreat backwards from the throne. Probably best not to ask about the lovely things on the ceiling, yep, best to pretend they're not there and get the ring quickly and leave.
"Alright, let's see if we can figure out who these people are," he whispers to his companions once they are back amongst the crowd. "Lady Urdrenda Splinterbone, Ardvin Telgriette, and Maudette. And if we can find out something about them before we have 'the chat' with them, it could help things go more smoothly."
Jevar frowns for only a split-second at the response before smiling and graciously retreating as Boodiddly does.
Very well. It shall be done.
He turns and whispers back to the gnome. The dancers at the ball didn't seem to want to interact with the horrors around them at all. Here's hoping they'll talk to us about our three targets...
Once they hit the ball floor again, Jevar will approach dancers to attempt to gain information on all three.
Kolgradd looks quite out of his element.
"I can be quite blunt, it's just the way I came out of Torag's forge. In a place like this though where offence, intended or not, looks like it can lead to disaster-" He peers up toward the webbing to see if he can make out this Maudette "I'm a liability. Why don't I head up that ladder and see if I can find this missing beauty? Worst case I get slowly dissolved by the acid-dripping tentacles of an eldritch beast and I wake up in bed with a headache"
He smiles at the others with a toothy grin, but he's clearly concerned about putting a social foot-wrong and ruining everything.
After gathering info on their targets Jevar gathers up the group for a huddle. He nods at Kolgradds suggestion as the first part of a plan.
Someone should keep an eye on you though in case something goes wrong. No one of us should be left alone in this strange place. The other two most personable of us should together approach the Lady and Ardvin, one at a time. How does that sound?
"There's no reason for us to split up," Boodiddly answers quickly, not looking at the ceiling. "We've seen how folks here avoid noticing anything, so it stands to reason that anything could happen. And should something dangerous happen, I'd want you here with us rather than far away."