"Master Bit. Welcome to Sarini Manor. I wonder if they're planning on renaming it."
"I never really thought about that," Emma admitted. "What would we even call it? Or would that be up to the city?"
"Majara vouches for you and that’s good enough for me."
Emma bites back a sarcastic remark in response to this. She trusts Majara, after all, and it's hard to tell sometimes how the gnome might react to humor.
"This is a Celestial Orchid from Elysium. Difficult to export, harder to raise to maturity outside her natural climes, quixotic in temperament, and – if you choose to adopt and she accepts you – she will probably save some of your lives."
Emma looks at the plant with keen interest after hearing this. Elysium isn't the realm of her own patron, but it's one she's generally held respect for in her short career, and truth be told, one she may have ended up drawn to had her life been less rigid when growing up. She finds herself smiling at the plant, though she feels a little foolish.
"I'm not sure 'hero' is quite right, I think that applies more to stories and songs, to history." She turns to Emma, smiling, always happy to talk up her friend, "Or to those whose deeds are righteous."
Emma's eyes widen slightly. "If any of us could be called hero, all of us could be called hero," she puts in after Hannelia is done.
"We have an Iomedan in our number," she says with a little chin jerk at Emma. "If nothing else, she won't stand for evil acts. I would think that might count for something with the bloom."
Emma accepts the statement with a slight nod. "It's true - I am a Paladin of Iomedae, if that counts for anything. I hold great respect for those of and serving Elysium."
Emma accepts the statement with a slight nod. "It's true - I am a Paladin of Iomedae, if that counts for anything. I hold great respect for those of and serving Elysium."
"It counts for a lot, Emma," Hannelia replies. "Don't undersell yourself. Most of us have to work hard to achieve what you do and most people will probably never get there."
A look of disappointment crosses the gnome’s face. ”Unfortunately, I’m not fluent in her tongue. We’ve worked out a mish-mash language of sorts but it’s more of an approximation. I wouldn’t try to translate her name because I know I can’t get it right. She doesn’t mind nicknames so, if you choose to adopt her, I’d suggest you pick a meaningful name.”
Having mentally cringed at not making the connection sooner, she turns back to the orchid. Switching to her newly learnt Celestial, Hannelia addresses her in what she presumes is the flower's native tongue. "Sehweet, su celestial ol pe sup. El sou etha seck it el sen sooth sa sia si unm sloocktloonn shoonncean. Ann co im sa haprence al cin ee pop sclen co, ee eam hweeckhweth oo."
Switching back to common for the benefit of everyone, including herself and her still green language skills, she asks, "I think we are all in agreement that we would be interested in adopting her. How exactly does she exert her influence? Does she," she casts around for the right phrase, settling on, "work through us - enhancing our abilities? Or does she affect others more directly, such as trying to turn malign actors away from their deeds? I assume she would need to accompany us but does she need to be held in order to best do her work? She is a beautiful living creature so we can hardly just stow her away. But some kind of protection for her - beyond ourselves, of course - feels like it might be prudent."
After Hannelia finishes speaking in Celestial, Bit shakes his head. ”She understands Celestial just fine but if you really want to speak with her… it isn’t that easy. Can get your hands on a spell for speaking with plants? That’s best. Our compromise is a mix of Celestial, First Speech, Sylvan, and interpretive dance. It’s tiring but effective.”
"How exactly does she exert her influence? Does she," she casts around for the right phrase, settling on, "work through us - enhancing our abilities? Or does she affect others more directly, such as trying to turn malign actors away from their deeds?"
The gnome moves the potted plant closer to the team as he explains. He points to the stamen with a vivid apricot-colored head. ”She has three stamen and this is the mature one. There is only one fully mature stamen at any one time. They mature about once per month. Let us say, you are adventuring and you need her help. You would pull the mature stamen out and place the drop of nectar where you need it: on a person, weapon, shield, patch of ground, or whatnot. How you benefit isn’t up to you…. or even her, I think. Elysium’s gift manifests as it will. I can’t speak to all the possibilities but I can give you some examples.”
”Drunk or placed on a person, the nectar can salve wounds, stop poisons, cure diseases, or even end pernicious curses. Placed on a weapon, it can make that weapon anathema to the enemy in your way.” He pushes the plant back towards the center of the table and pats the flower’s head gently as if it were a child. ”Not so long ago, we were traveling and I took the wrong road. I guess I wasn’t paying enough attention. Anyhoo, what I thought were hillocks were actually barrows. Some wraiths came out to say ‘hello’. Well, I had naught but a dagger and my ready smile. I plucked her stamen and dropped the nectar on my blade. If I were thinking, maybe I would have done something else… but that’s what came into my head.” He pauses for dramatic effect, ”In a moment, the blade turned to sunlight, lighting up the dark. I don’t mean it shown like sunlight; it became sunlight. I desperately hacked at the wraiths that didn’t flee right quick. The dagger didn’t care they were ghostly figures. It burned right through them and made them rethink their plan to eat my soul or whatnot. And we lived to tell the tale.”
"I assume she would need to accompany us but does she need to be held in order to best do her work? She is a beautiful living creature so we can hardly just stow her away. But some kind of protection for her - beyond ourselves, of course - feels like it might be prudent."
Bit grins and pulls a contraption from the basket. It is a mélange of mesh, fabric, rods, hooks, and straps. With a minute of work, Bit turns it into a tiny tent with mesh sides. The various straps hold the plant and pot securely. He lifts it up to display the hooks and straps dangling beneath it. ”Ties securely to the top of any decent backpack and is available for the bargain price of 10 gold wheels. This is where I really make my money.”
Hannelia raises an eyebrow. "I can imagine. I've heard of such magics but it's not something I currently have access to. I assume it's nature-based, which as I said isn't my strength, so I can't guarantee it would work. But I can certainly look to acquire something." She looks over to Majara. "Do you have any concoctions that could help us here?"
"You fended off an entire group of wraiths?" she says, impressed. "That's incredible, Master Bitborium. And a genuinely inspired piece of assistance," she adds, addressing the orchid. "I'm glad you lived to tell the tale; related but not really important here, if I may say so, you're natural storyteller. You have a way with words that I appreciate and I suspect it helps make you a successful salesman."
Hannelia flicks her hair, getting back on topic and thinking through the orchid's gifts. "So. It's clear that we are restricted in how often we can call on her powers so that means we have to be judicious in when to use them. Or to save them for an emergency such as you found yourself in. And the effect is not within anyone's control, it sounds almost like it has an understanding on some level of what is needed in any given moment? Would that be a fair assessment?"
She laughs as Bit pulls out the plant's storage apparatus and, given her fascination with devices and how they work, watches carefully as he constructs it. Hannelia nods approvingly to herself - it seems practical and sturdy, while allowing the orchid access to the light and air she knows it needs to survive. She's pretty confident that she understands how it works and could construct it and take it apart without too many issues. She dips into her belt pouch and pulls out the requisite number of coins. "A bargain indeed," she says, offering the gold. "That's a clever piece of kit. I'm pretty sure I can put it up and down as required. And given the amount I paid for my backpack, I'm confident that it's sufficiently sturdy." She pauses, looking around the group. "I may be getting a bit ahead of myself here. I would be honoured to carry her and she may also have a preference that we should take into account. I also think there are practical considerations - while I have the utmost faith in Roger and Emma to protect her from harm, she would potentially be more at risk given their skills lie in close combat. We probably don't need to make a decision on this yet though."
"You fended off an entire group of wraiths?"
The gnome waves off that assessment. ”I was just trying to save my skin. The glowing blade did all the real work. Wraiths are nearly powerless in sunlight, you know. I just had to give the obstinate stragglers a reason to leave me be. When they lit out one way, I grabbed my cart and ran in the opposite direction.”
”…if I may say so, you're natural storyteller. You have a way with words that I appreciate and I suspect it helps make you a successful salesman."
His response is an enigmatic smile. ”We are all in a set of stories. It’s best to craft the narrative as well as we can. Thank you for the compliment.”
”And the effect is not within anyone's control, it sounds almost like it has an understanding on some level of what is needed in any given moment? Would that be a fair assessment?"
Bitiborium considers this briefly. ”I think that’s on the nose. I see it as me (or you) controlling the ‘where’, ‘when’, and ‘why’… But the exact ‘what’ is in someone else’s hands.”
"I may be getting a bit ahead of myself here. I would be honoured to carry her and she may also have a preference that we should take into account. I also think there are practical considerations - while I have the utmost faith in Roger and Emma to protect her from harm, she would potentially be more at risk given their skills lie in close combat. We probably don't need to make a decision on this yet though."
The gnome nods, ”Which neatly brings us to care and feeding. It would certainly be best if she wasn’t on the front line. But she can only be carried or cared for by persons of good temperament or those who have affection for her. Her diet is a bit unique. She only feeds on the souls of the damned.”
He lets that comment hang before bursting into laughter, ”I jest! I jest! Her only curious need is holy water. A vial of it, once a month. Other than that, she is like most other plants. Sunlight, fair weather (though she is hardy), and occasionally refresh the nutrients in her soil.”
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The orchid is a gift to the team but also to the other GMs. As we go into middle and higher levels, more and more monsters have interesting/nasty abilities that can accidentally kill characters if the team is unprepared, the GM underestimates the monster’s abilities, or the Dice Gods are especially malevolent. We all make mistakes. The orchid is a chance to clean up horrible, accidental outcomes that the GM didn’t want to happen (without resorting to retcon or divine intervention). It also gives the team the ability to ‘punch above their weight class’ in a pinch.
The players determine when and where the orchid gets used but the DM controls what abilities are invoked.
I’d prefer to leave the orchid’s abilities vague because as the team levels up, we may need to expand them. If you guys would prefer to set them in stone, we can certainly do that. Here are my notes on it:
Orchid Rules:
Only 1 mature stamen is available to the team per game month.
A mature stamen provides one drop of full strength nectar. ‘Full strength’ means the drop provides one or two of the abilities listed at the orchid’s CL. In Bit’s example, the dagger was converted to sunlight and received the Ghost Touch ability.
Pulling an immature stamen provides one drop of reduced strength nectar and hurts the plant. ‘Reduced strength’ means the drop provides one of the listed abilities at half the orchid’s CL. ‘Hurt’ could be the orchid taking two months to grow another stamen, requiring special care, can’t be taken on adventures, etc. It’s a TBD.
If there are no stamen, the orchid dies within a day.
Pulling all three stamen at one time nets a team-wide benefit at 2x CL but it kills the orchid immediately. The exact effects are TBD but I’m envisioning this as something to avoid an imminent TPK… like a team-wide Heal, Raise Dead, or Greater Teleport.
Orchid Abilities: (at CL10 currently)
On a Person: Up to Cure Critical Wounds, Neutralize Poison (Greater), Protection from Evil, Remove Disease, Remove Curse, Restoration (Greater)
On a Weapon: Bane, convert the weapon to a ‘material’ that exploits an enemy weakness, Ghost-touch, Holy
On Armor: Shield of Faith, Bastion, Deathless, Defiant
On an Area: Hallow, Mass Protection for Evil
The gnome waves off that assessment. ”I was just trying to save my skin. The glowing blade did all the real work. Wraiths are nearly powerless in sunlight, you know. I just had to give the obstinate stragglers a reason to leave me be. When they lit out one way, I grabbed my cart and ran in the opposite direction.”
"I well understand the messy reality of these things compared to how they sound when they are reported or told in tales, but it's still impressive regardless of who was doing the work or what exactly happened," Hannelia says.
The gnome nods, ”Which neatly brings us to care and feeding. It would certainly be best if she wasn’t on the front line. But she can only be carried or cared for by persons of good temperament or those who have affection for her. Her diet is a bit unique. She only feeds on the souls of the damned.”[/b]
He lets that comment hang before bursting into laughter, ”I jest! I jest! Her only curious need is holy water. A vial of it, once a month. Other than that, she is like most other plants. Sunlight, fair weather (though she is hardy), and occasionally refresh the nutrients in her soil.”
"That all makes sense and should be workable." Hannelia looks around the group, processing the information. "Given all of that, while I'm happy to vouch for the character and skills of everyone here, I think it probably makes sense for myself or Majara to carry her while we're on the road. With respect, I'm not she would be particularly comfortable with your patron, Nerissia," she addresses the tiefling, hoping that the woman sees this as a logical position rather than a slight. "As I have plans out of town in the next few days and given Majara is best versed in the care of plants anyway, my suggestion is that she looks after her in the first instance."