Izomandakus steps into position and hits once, further grappling his foe and setting up Valena who steps in and ends the green hound. Kast heads into the fog, but misses. Rastaf does something heroic! Seamus drops purple after a few stabs culminating in a critical! He steps up on pink, and swats it twice as well, also with a critical but it was fresh, and does not fall so easily.
The Sheriff, potion at the ready, waits to hear a call for help (delay).
With yips and barks the hounds coordinate and switch to Valena as their next target. They each 5’ step into position and strike!
(fog)
(image)
(image)
Valena drops two more images, as the hounds slowly thin the herd.
Val holds out Pachemu for Izo. ”Take her and set her down where they cannot get to her!” Should Izo be unable to take her, she will instead set down the poor familiar in spot southeast of her.
She turns back to the battle, stabbing up at the most wounded yeth hound as she turns her stare to it.
HP: 113/113
AC: 37/20/27
Saves: F13/R19/W16 +2 will vs charm and compulsion, +2 fort vs poison and drugs, +4 fort vs alcohol
Hypnotic Stare: orange
Painful Stare: orange
Active Implanted Tricks 2/7 used): Mask Misery (herself, unused)
Hero Points: 2
Spells/Conditions: Freedom of Movement, Eldritch Weapon (keen), Blessing of Fervor (ac/hit/ref), mirror image(2), haste
0: (Dancing Lights, Prestidigitation, Mage Hand, Message, Read Magic, Ghost Sound)
1: 3/6 used (Vanishx1, Psychic Readingx0, Ill Omenx0, Faerie Firex0, Invigoratex0, Remove Fear, Eldritch Weaponx2)
2: 3/5 used (Mirror Imagex2, Placebo Effectx0, Lesser Restorationx0, Tonguesx0, Apport Objectx1)
3: 4/5 used (Sendingx1, Displacementx1, Major Imagex0, Invisibility Spherex0, Step Through Realityx2)
4: 2/3 used (Dimension Doorx0, Freedom of Movementx1, Tough Crowdx1)
[ dice]1d20+20[/dice] to hit;
[ dice]1d6+10[/dice] damage.
Izomandakus takes Pachemu from Valena and gently puts her back into safety "You are going to recover from this, Father Zantus is going to take good care of you don't get too slept"
All while striking at the hound in front with his horned head.
The pig breathes fortunately stable!
And then heals under Rastaf cares.
+2 if within circle vs evil
+0 if within circle vs evil
Round 17, Init 15-
Kast will flail around in the fog and hope to hit a no-cat.
to hit; (GMW)
magic cold iron damage
miss
to hit; (GMW)
magic cold iron damage
miss
to hit; (GMW)
magic cold iron damage
miss
hp: 105/105
AC: 30/23/19 (always on shield) +2 with MCaE + 4 SoF +2 BoF
Saves: F6/R11/W8* +7 vs. mind affecting
Furious Focus, GWM=+3, SoF = +4
Aroden's Verve: 0/0 used
GlitterBomb: 0/0 used
Extend GammaRadiation: 0/0 used
Extend Rods: 3/6 left
Quantum Leaps used:
Pathfinder Carry: 0/0
Think Really Hard: 7/7 left
1: 7/8 left
2: 8/8 left
3: 6/8 left
4: 5/7 left
5: 5/7 left
6: 3/5 left
[spoiler=Kast's Pre Exploration Magics][ /spoiler]
to hit; (GMW)
magic cold iron damage
to hit; (GMW)
magic cold iron damage
[spoiler=Perfect Blessing Round 1/13]
[ /spoiler]
Izomandakus secures his sacred pig - and gouges pink which lingers until Valena stabs upward finishing it. Kast would have stabbed orange twice out of three tries but the fog hides his opponents. Rastaf heals Pachemu! Seamus starts in on orange, digging in with his blades and a crit though it doesn’t drop.
Still, it’s just raining hounds.
The Sheriff, potion at the ready, waits to hear a call for help (delay).
The hounds continue to focus on Valena, dropping an image or two before the party piles on and drops the remaining two - one already heavily injured.
The underground chambers grow quiet as the last of the baying abates and the party takes stock.
Though you’ve been in the western chamber a bit, I haven’t had a chance to describe it.
Although portions of this cathedral have collapsed, leaving mounds of rubble on the floor and crumbling walls, the chamber retains its sense of menacing awe. Four black stone pillars support the arched roof forty feet above, and on the floor between them the image of a three-eyed jackal seems to glower from striations in the stone itself.
This image glows with a soft rusty light that illuminates the entire room from below. Alcoves to the north and south contain statues of a jackal-headed pregnant woman. Each clutches a pair of kukris crossed over her chest, and a reptilian tail winds down around her taloned feet. To the west, what once might have been a stone pulpit featuring other statues seems to have been partially buried under an ancient collapse. The walls of this room are densely decorated with hundreds of scribblings and sprawling runes - as with the rest of the complex.
Sensing a lull in the storm, Kast moves back to get the Scribbler’s body and drag it back to the main area and stairwell.
”Well, that was interesting. Sheriff? Do you want to take the bodies of your men upside? We still have work to do down here and don’t want them to be in the way,” Kast offers to take the men up if the lull continues.
And if it remains quiet, he will see if the Scribbler has anything of interest upon him.
The Sheriff nods, ”You lot check the rest of the place. I’ll see to my men and guard from here.” He picks up Matt and starts struggling back up to the rim with help from the guards above.
The hounds and demons, as you may imagine, had little wealth. But the Scribbler was well appointed by his master Lamashtu.
Breastplate +1 (1,350gp)
Fanged Falchion (22,375gp)
Dagger, cold iron, +1 returning (12,304gp)
Headband of inspired wisdom +2 (4,000gp)
Diamond Dust (750gp)
Seamus lunges southwest, through another fog enshrouded hallway, into a small chamber. Well, battleground really. Blood is this cavern’s decor; swaths of it lie spattered on the wall, and pools have congealed and begun to rot on the ground. Bits of flesh lie scattered as well - whatever happened here, it ended poorly. You expect this is where Walter and Matt were killed.
Fog reveals another hallway which leads to the kennels. Here three once separate chambers have become one, joined by collapsed walls and the erosion of ages. The walls are decorated with countless scribblings written sloppily in blood. You can see this is where the Yeth hounds resided.
Following yet another fog laden passage, you discover another chamber. The walls, ceiling, and floor of this otherwise empty room are densely packed with writing, in many cases overlapping and tangled to near the point of illegibility. Four short lines stand out on the northern door, carved into the stone but otherwise alone on its face.
There is a door here, but again covered with an illusory wall. There is also a magical trap which Seamus is able to resolve (take-10) with relative ease. It would have implanted a deep suggestion in one of you that the rest of you were Lamashtu worshippers about to sacrifice you.
Moving to the hallway beyond (again fog shrouded) you find another door hidden by illusion. The invisibility surely worn off by now, you open the door. The walls of this room are decorated with flowing script and runes.
A low table against the east wall is covered with vials of colored liquid, and sitting in an inkwell is a quill made from a peacock’s feather.
Lying on a bare bedboard, freshened with a gentle repose spell, is a youth named Bening. The kid, scarcely 15, likely got too close to the pit. Maybe even on a dare. The Scribbler killed him and has kept him here. Somewhere there's a group of kids who just lost a friend.
When someone checks the room for magic, they are nigh blinded by the quill. You’re not immediately sure what it is…
There’s more, but we’ll pause here for further investigation.
Val is not much help at identification of magic objects. She closes the youth’s eyes if they are not and folds his arms on his chest to give him at least a touch of dignity. She tries to see if there is a sheet or something similar unmarked by Lamashtu that she can drape over him.
"About a minute or so Seamus" Izomandakus answers but his attention is on Pachemu. The boy recovers his human shape while he worriedly observes Rastaf to do his magic, smiling when the pig recovers consciousness "Thanks a lot Rastaf. I never met anyone with such a strong connection with the gods, one day you must explain me"
As the group moves forward, Izomandakus follows close, frowning at the discovery of the kids "What kind of monster can do such a thing" and studying every area with detect magic, particularly focusing on the quill when it is found.
The boy also tries to find a pattern on the scribbling done in the structure.
When there is more time, and after the area is considered safe, Kast will take his time to really explore the writing, the area, and anything of historical or religious interest.
Know (Local/History, +2 more if Rel/Planes)
Spellcraft - quill
"Is Pach going to be okay? Might be better if he tries to avoid getting surrounded by planar hounds, or sticks to the back," Kast offers a new target of his frequent worry that others are getting hurt on his watch, joining Seamus.
You are successful in your spellcraft (with aid) and know the feather to be the artifact it is! Called the Relevation Quill (link) this mighty writing instrument answers questions put to it providing divination (90% success rate!) and contact other planes (10 questions!) services.
You continue to search the level as the Sheriff carries the last guard body upwards.
The room to the north, with the pool. You examine the waters to find them clear despite debris and the like falling within. A quick taste sours the tongue however - the water is fouled! A few detection spells and a little knowledge religion (I'll use Kast's roll) and you realize it must be a Lamashtu birthing pool. One is found in every church to the goddess - though this one seems particularly powerful if it birthed a creature such as the Scribbler. Perhaps even blessed by the goddess Lamashtu herself.
Beyond the door to the south, and more fog, are a pair of meditation cells behind even more illusory doors. These walls too are covered with the Scribbler’s rantings.
About those rantings. The walls and ceilings down here are covered with writings. Most of it seems like gibberish, but there may well be something here worth knowing. After all, the Scribbler said he knew secrets from the ancient past. Secrets that would be helpful now.
But it will take some time to translate. First, they’re in Thassilonian, so only speakers of that language can do any translations at all. Even if you brought Brodert Quink down here (and it’ll be hard to keep him away from it all to be honest) you’re talking about several days of painstaking reading and notation. Maybe longer.
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Once everyone is sure the area is safe and explored….
”Looks like our work begins now, doesn’t it,” Kast looks at the scholars in the party…first to Seamus, no, uh, then to Val, uh, no…then to Rastaf, no, that’s not right…then to Izo! ”Isn’t that right, Izo!? We have some history to uncover here. We might find our answers about the Runewell.”
Kast thinks about the best place to set up a desk.
”And we’re going to need Brodert.”
Kast will get to work, if that’s what’s needed.
Val winks back at Seamus. ”Oh I have the hand crossbow still, Sea. And honestly I find myself not particularly needing even that.” She tosses her rapier and catches in by the tang, the point down. ”I am truly a one-weapon girl at the end of the day, I think.” As long as she is only good with one weapon, she never has to feel like she is a warrior; she can just be some noble lush with more luck than sense. She is just a victim of circumstance, following where fortune takes her. Fortune is a better leader than her. ”As long as we are sure that this place is cleared of danger and the people above are safe for now—hopefully those sounds from above were just reactions to the baying down here—and I think we can do whatever we need to, Sea.”
"Wait Kast, perhaps we can still find out just by using this quill!" Izomandakus looks at the implement with a happy face "The Peacock Spirit is connected to it directly. Let's see, let's ask him about the Runeforge..."
Without further delay, Izomandakus writes with the quill:
How do we find the entrance to the Runeforge?
I’ll cover the next few days generally, but please interrupt with anything specific you might want to do - especially those not researching. I’ll get to what the Quill replies with when Izomandakus decides if he’s casting Divination, or Contact Other Plane (and if the latter, what plane is he contacting?).
For the researchers, please give me two linguistics checks to shorten the research time. It’s not so much that you’re researching anything really, it’s that you’re reading the tangles writings of a madman, who wrote over the things he already wrote - usually in different directions but not always. So you’re trying to parse the interesting bits from the complete gibberish - and it’s mostly gibberish.
Thankfully he only had a few days to write from the looks of things. Your timely return, even if the teleport was a little off, has made the task easier. Then, with what you have left, you have to try and order it. That’s not as hard as it may seem - it will just take time. For this step however, a Perform check will work wonders in shortening it.
So two linguistics checks (from those who can read Thassilonian) and one Perform check (to order the phrases in the end) please. And let me know what you do with the next three days (though I’m sure Seamus, at least, will head in to Magnimar on at least one of those days via Wind Walk if Rastaf would be so kind).
Speaking of Magnimar, there isn’t a lot to sell, but there are a few high value items on the treasure sheet. Now is a good time to sort that out. There is a +2 ring of protection, a wisdom headband, some diamond dust, and other things you might want to keep as well. Also, I need to know who’s carrying the Anathema Archive (and if they have it on their person) and who’s carrying the Revelation Quill (though it sounds like Izomandakus for both I think).
Izomandakus tries to make use of the daily divination first before trying more bizarre options.
If none else can make use of it, he will take the diamond dust, and seems he can make the most use of the Anathema Archive as well. The boy is happy to carry the Quill too, but the group should be wary by now he is starting to carry half the party treasure, so perhaps someone should put a stop to that.
"Sure Kast, this is something serious that needs some good research focus. Just a pity we did not bring the librarian from Jorgenfist, can you imagine... someone you ask about a topic and it brings you results in less than a minute, what an advance!" the boy says this pensive for a second, then looks at the ceiling and starts translating words.
Despite his many years of Thassolonian and translations, Kast isn't much of a linguist. He just hadn't been as adept on that as he might be over long periods.
He does give it his perfect best though.
Linguistics (untrained)
Linguistics (untrained)
And yes, he will happily call down 'Mus for help on the musical/arrangement part of any process as he isn't the best performer.
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Izomandakus grabs the quill, dabs in some ink, and looks for a blank bit of something to write on. I suspect he has some paper somewhere about his person, and so he writes, ”How do we find the entrance to the Runeforge?”
The quill keeps writing, ”Sift the Scribbler’s rantings, and the entrance will become apparent to you for you are powerful beyond your years.”
Rastaf casts wind walk, and joins Seamus (and I presume Valena) into Magnimar where the group splits up, each going their separate ways for a day or two. You then meet back up to return to Sandpoint and check in on the researchers - only to find they’re not quite done - a day or so more. At the most!
Oh, and yes, Brodert is studying with the Kast and Izomandakus. Those were the two rolls in my last post.
Lastly, does nobody want the scroll of limited wish? Happy to sell it... eyes Izomandakus.
Izomandaus is always happy to get some extra wealth on himself "Sure, if you give the limited wish scroll I am sure I will be able to help with it at some point"
As the quill reveals the answer, he nods understanding "Seems we will need to do some mental exercise and make sense out of this horrible scribbling"
"Gosh, teachers at Araznist's realm were letting any kind of calligraphy to go through their schools..." he states frustrated while trying to find a pattern to transcript the lettering to something more readable.
"Is there anything you can do to trigger out all the lore and legends about this place, Kast?"
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"Is there anything you can do to trigger out all the lore and legends about this place, Kast?"
Kast shrugs. ”Of course,” he responds sheepishly. ”But it seems like cheating. We have all these wonderful clues to dig through, and other discoveries of history to be made…and to just magic our way forward, without knowing the more just seems wrong to me. There is a right way to do things sometimes, and we’re trying to do it right.”
Kast is happy to keep putting in the mental work to decode the scribblings.
”We could also try to speak with the dead Scribbler, Izo, if that intrigues you. But then again, that might involved our local Saraenraen.”
"You are right Kast..." Izomandakus gets red like a tomato when Kast points out he is not putting enough effort into researching and using tricks "Is just... I am so eager to go into the Runeforge... for so long I have thought it was just but a legend, a dream... I cannot wait to be there"
"And what about this Xaliassa, shall we ask about him? I was hopping the Scribbler could tell us about Karzoug's prisoner" he completes while going back to copying more of the scribbling into clear calligraphy.
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It takes four days in total to sort out the diamonds from the cruft. All three researchers did well - even the undisciplined Kast, who got lucky with a few early translations and really set the tone of success. Oh, and I forgot to mention the webbing, fog, illusory doors, etc. all disappear overnight of the first day (guards and wards spell).
It’s Seamus who helps then, as he’s able to fit the jumbled phrases into five couplets - something resembling poetry. That seems to have been the madman’s intent.
”If magic bright is your desire, To old Runeforge must you retire!
For only there does wizards’ art Receive its due and proper start.”
”On eastern shores of steaming mirror, At end of day when dusk is nearer,
Where seven faces silent wait Encircled guards at Runeforge gate.”
”Each stone the grace of seven lords, One part of key each ruler hoards;
If offered spells and proper prayer, Take seven keys and climb the stair.”
”On frozen mountain Xin awaits, His regal voice the yawning gates
Keys turn twice in Sihedron - Occulted Runeforge waits within.”
”And now you’ve come and joined the forge upon rare lore your mind can gorge -
And when you slough the mortal way In Runeforge long your work shall stay.”
And now, as you may imagine, I need a knowledge geography check.
Oh, and lastly…
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Val enjoys her visit in the city, making sure to visit Sapphira. She even brings her along for her shopping, regaling her with some of the details of her adventures thus far.
She purchases a new scroll of Breath of Life penned by an oracle, as well as a scrolls of Joyful Rapture, Shadow Walk and See Invisibility.
643.77
+4115
-1250
-1250
-1250
-450
——-
558.77
"Mm... look at this, I think we have all the rhymes finally..." Izomandakus looks from the distance at the papers they have used for the translation and tries to order everything in this head "Frozen mountains... steaming mirror... I think this is talking about the place of the entrance!"
The boy will share some wine during the long period of study "Let's have some drinks to piece this together Kast"
"Frozen mountain of Xin? Are you sure that's where it fits, 'Mus? Maybe it should say 'Avoid the Frozen Mountains of Anything because it's cold there'?" Kast ponders as he listens to Seamus's mixed iambics.
"Yeah, sure Izo..." he drinks a bit as he slowly tries to recall anything he might have seen about Xin.
Know (Geography)
"I hope we're not going someplace cold."
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Now that you’ve all had a few days in Sandpoint, some with more downtime than others but even the researchers need a break to see the sun once in a while.
If time is available, Izomandakus will explore his recently acquired property and check with the Carpenter's guild about replacing some of the burned windows and structure while he is busy with other very transcendental for the world stuff.
There is now time for this. You’ll spend a half a day, off and on while the party rests and studies, meeting with tradespeople at the dilapidated structure.
Do you arrange for anything special? I imagine you’re putting your own ideas into the rebuild on the existing foundation. But do you do an incredibly tall tower or underground lair? Make all the doors reinforced iron? Anything special magically? We don’t need to delve into every last detail, just trying to get a broad stroke of your plans for the place. After all, your neighbors are the lords and ladies of Sandpoint - including Ameiko Kaijitsu.
We’ll use the building rules (link) as a baseline. Pick something close to your dream and that’ll be the base price (the gold value in parenthesis), plus whatever fanciness you add - though it will be fairly fancy ‘out of the box’ given the love of the Sandpoint people for the group. If anyone else wants to buy/build property in Sandpoint, or elsewhere, we'll use the same rules.
Also, in the middle of the research, on Kuthana 4 just before a great feast in your honor, the town council has a public meeting in which you are proclaimed the saviors of Western Varisia by the town of Sandpoint. There are several speeches as you may imagine, and most of it is boring and drawn out overmuch. All the politicians want to thank you and be your friends. At the end though you’re each given a small esoteric sculpture done in glass, and a formal writ signed by the council declaring you the town’s protectors.
The hope, explained privately by Mayor Kendra Deverin, is that this will show those in Magnimar your exceptional worth. The Mayor there is often tight with the purse strings, but he’s no fool. At the end of the day, such a proclamation could result in a gift from the grand, and wealthy, city.
Izomandakus will arrange for the manor to be rebuild on a practical and functional way, with the main building reshaped into a workshop and the stables into a warehouse with a storefront in the middle of the two structures. The top floor will be reserved for "the family", which includes a specific room for Pachemu, and a fully featured personal library.
The finishing architectural style will be a modern reinterpretation of the Varisian structures the group has walked through that Izomandakus will coin as "Neothassilonian".
Rooms 1 Artisan’s Workshop, 1 Bedroom, 1 Kitchen, 1 Lavatory, 1 Sitting Room, 1 Storage, 1 Storefront
The workshop and home for a creator of magic items, a fireworks maker, a glassblower, or the like.
Rooms 1 Furnishings (Storefront), 1 Office, 1 Reliquary, 1 Storage, 1 Storefront, 2 Vaults
A shop that specializes in buying and selling magic items, spells, and magical remedies.
Rooms 1 Bar, 1 Bath, 4 Bedrooms, 1 Escape Route, 2 Furnishings (Bedroom and Sitting Room), 1 Kitchen, 1 Laundry, 1 Lavatory, 1 Lodging, 1 Office, 1 Secret Room, 2 Sitting Rooms, 1 Stall, 2 Storages
A huge manor housing a rich family and its servants.
Kast ponders things, perfectly as he can.
- - -
Izomandakus isn’t sure about the geography, but Kast is, and he shudders a little at the thought of the ancient place.
By way of telling you where it is, you could wind walk from Sandpoint, north along the coast to Riddleport where you can stop for a late lunch. Then you take to the air again and fly north into the hinterlands of Varisia - and beyond! You’ll likely camp on the southern shores of Lake Stormunder that night. Then, in the morning of the next day, you can wind walk again to the eastern shores and Rimeskull - the mountain spoken of in the Scribbler’s ramblings according to Kast.
Rimeskull is a mountain on the western edge of the Kodar Mountains in northwestern Varisia. Located on the banks of Lake Stormunder, it is named for the vaguely skull-shaped carving visible from miles away. The mouth is a large cave entrance though what it leads to is unknown.
At the mountain’s western base, just off the lake, lies a ring of seven ten-foot-tall, open-mouthed stone heads angled toward each other known as the Sihedron Circle. This Thassilonian ruin is a magical entrance to the Runeforge - according to the Scribbler’s rantings and Kast’s brilliant knowledge of geography.
Oh, and it will be cold. Very cold…
It is currently Kuthana 7, a Sunday. You’re in the ‘Dragon having breakfast and chatting about what to do next. The very excited Brodert Quink is with you, begging for an opportunity to join you at the library if your travels take you that way.
"Val I never did thank you for bringing me back to life. I know you spend a lot of gold on those scrolls, If you don't mind I'd like to pay you back for the one you used on me."
Val stops, and she sighs. She pats him on the shoulder and looks him square in the eye. ”It was my fault to begin with. I forgot that the demon could not see through the fog like I could and stepped back thinking it would follow. You would not have died in the first place if I had just paid better attention.”
She puts her hand on her hip and smiles, her eyes glazed with regret. ”I do not want you to feel as though you owe me. As far as I am concerned, I still owe you. A scroll is a pittance for a person’s life, especially for one of the few true friends I have.”
She is quiet a moment as she comes to her decision. ”I will not let you pay me for the scroll I already used. However, as I know reciprocity is something you value, if you want to buy another scroll and give it to me to hold onto, I will not say no. With how dangerous our battles have been of late, I think we would be better to be prepared anyways.”
In overall spaces will be merged, perhaps making them a bit larger but using less rooms, and making them a bit more expensive but efficient.
To gain some room the Magic Shop and Exotic Artisan storefronts and storage will be merged, while the Exotic Artisan living space will be accommodated into the Mansion. Meanwhile the Magic Shop office space will be merged with the Mansion one, as well as the storage space.
Thus, the vaults, storerooms and secret rooms will be built in the basement, while the work and shop space will be in the main floor, and finally the living space will be on the upper floor, building two floor levels if necessary.
"So the entrance is there... Lake Stormunder... all this time it was there..." Izomandakus hand shakes as the knowledge is shared, and tries to add his own bits.
"Wait? Seamus died? When did that happen?" Izomandakus looks at Seamus a bit confused trying to see some signs of rot in the half-elf "You look quite fresh my friend. Are you sure you died?" the boy takes some bread and soaks it into the breakfast fried egg they have been served.
"This part about offering spells and proper prayer for some kind of keys, do we know what spells we need?" the boy struggles for a bit trying to guess himself before breathing frustrated "Last thing we want is to make such a far travel only to find we do not have the tools to open the Runeforge"
Kast ponders more, trying to think back to what he’s read, on the history of the Xin mountains and the Runeforge.
Know (History)
”Oh, it’s going to be cold up there. You all should prepare,” Kast warns the party, hoping that they can find solutions if they know in advance.
- - -
Izomandakus is fine either way, but would prefer the most expeditious way to acquire the knowledge "We still have not used the Quill today, we could ask a question to the Peacock Spirit. And besides, Kast has been having those strange sudden sleeps and always gets whatever information we need afterwards."
"Do you still remember Seamus? I mean, is it you-you or a new Seamus the second?" Izomandakus inquiries with interest, he does pat his shoes when it comes to the mountains "I still wear the giant's king boots, they are very confy and never got my feety cold again. Even when we sleep in non-glamorous manors."
So, Kast can tell you it’ll be cold (rules) up there. Likely well below zero the whole time, and at times it’ll dip below -20 - especially at night. He doesn’t think it’ll dip below -50 (the limit of protection from Endure Elements), but it might if a storm whips through or the like.
The mountain is high up, and so exposed to the elements. You can expect strong to severe winds (rules) at the end of your journey. That may make it difficult for Pachemu, flying in wind walk form, if the winds to pick up. Izomandakus may need to enlarge her or change her form, for the last hour or two of the trip if possible.
If you’ve all got something like endure elements (as Izomandakus has, but I’m not sure about Pachemu) you should be fine and we won’t have to worry about it much. If you chose to go in with just cold weather gear, let me know and we’ll track it more carefully.
Izomandakus, in a hurry, considers what he knows of the Runeforge. He knows little about the mountain Rimeskull however, though he can confirm, vaguely, what Kast has said. He also knows that in Thassilonian times, it was sculpted, but who the sculpture was of he's not sure.
He also knows the Runeforge was created as a place where agents of the seven runelords could gather to study magic. The runelords wove wards around Runeforge that barred entrance into the complex to any runelord or their direct agents, in order to keep the research within free from sabotage at the hands of an enemy. They were a people who did not trust each other.
Kast, let me know if you want to go with what you know, which is considerable, or try for more with the library.
Val listens intently to their options less because she cares about nature and its elements and more because she likes being comfortable, and she needs to know how to make that happen. ”Maybe we could all pitch-in and get a wand of endure elements? That would cover all of us—including Pachemu—for 8 days and change. Could grab some extra curiosities for help with any sharper hits of cold, too. I hear there is actually a coffee brew that helps protect against frostburn. I think I will pick up some, along with a pot and the various accoutrements necessary for a brew. We will definitely need some cream and sugar, too. Taking it black reminds me too much of a rough morning after a fun night.”
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"Yeah, it's going to be cold. We'll want gear. And warmth. Or good magics," Kast explains about the cold, and the need for gear
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Kast indeed knows much, to the sadness of Brodert. He knows that the Runeforge’s magical enhancements sustained those within without the need to eat, drink, or even sleep. He further knows the final project the runelords set Runeforge on was the development of ways the runelords could escape the imminent fall of their empire - for they knew there was a cataclysm coming.
Each faction developed a unique answer for its runelord, based upon the underlying principles of that faction’s magical traditions (abjuration, conjuration, etc).
He also knows the carving is a relic of ancient Thassilon, and the person depicted in the massive carving is the founder of Thassilon itself: Emperor Xin. During the time of this ancient empire, runelords commonly carved their faces into the mountainsides that faced their capital cities. The carving of Xin, however, faces the Runeforge, a place of great importance shared by all of the runelords.
Finally, there are a few scraps here and there that rattle around in his head as important, but they don’t make much sense at the time. Dusk and dawn are important times for the Runeforge and he knows the names of the Runelords and their respective keyed magic.
Alaznist (evocation)
Belimarius (abjuration)
Karzoug (transmutation)
Krune (conjuration)
Sorshen (enchantment)
Xanderghul (illusion)
Zutha (necromancy)
You may certainly take a quick trip to Magnimar this day and leave tomorrow. You know there are hostile forces massing from this new Karzoug, but you don’t think a few days here and there will make a huge difference. Especially since you just rocked them back on their heels by taking their giant army away.