AAR: [10M] Tea and Tyranny (2021-02-08 00:30 GMT)

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bronzemountain
Posts:606
Joined:Fri Feb 21, 2020 10:02 pm
AAR: [10M] Tea and Tyranny (2021-02-08 00:30 GMT)

Post by bronzemountain » Fri Feb 05, 2021 10:25 pm

LFG: Tea and Tyranny
GM: Dvarim
ECR: 10
Difficulty: Medium

Rumor: Off to the Dragon Mountains to deal with a mean old spirit, by domination or diplomacy.
Requested by: Moe'uhane

Notes:
- Adventure runs at 7:30pm EST on Sunday, February 7th
- As always, I run groups of 5 players.

Sign up format:

Code: Select all

[b]Name:[/b] Character name
[b]Date of Last Game Played:[/b]
[b]Circle:[/b] Circle of your character
[b]Discipline:[/b] Your character's Discipline(s)
[b]Unique:[/b] What your character is bringing to the table.
[b]Downtime:[/b] Talents and Skills that other characters can use over downtime: [Talent] [Step including +Karma Step if appropriate] ([Rank]) ([Further Details])
Last edited by bronzemountain on Mon Feb 08, 2021 5:35 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Lashana
Posts:167
Joined:Wed Jun 03, 2020 9:40 pm
Location:Virginia Beach, VA USA

Re: LFG: [10M] Get a Little Action In (2021-02-08 00:30 GMT)

Post by Lashana » Fri Feb 05, 2021 10:36 pm

Name: LaShana
Last played on: 2021/1/31
ECR: 10 (491715)
Discipline: Thief 9/Scout
Quote/Unique: Well that was....interesting/fun/unique!! Can we do it again?
Notable Abilities: Enthusiasm and an ability to fumble/stumble into trouble. Can also open...and close....doors - possibly even if they are locked....and a wicked bow
Downtime: none
Last edited by Lashana on Mon Feb 08, 2021 1:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

Sharkforce
Posts:527
Joined:Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:39 am

Re: LFG: [10M] Get a Little Action In (2021-02-08 00:30 GMT)

Post by Sharkforce » Fri Feb 05, 2021 11:37 pm

Name: Zivilyn
ECR: 10
Last Played: Event, same as everyone else (before that, Jan 10 I think)... unless I get into the 3H game.
Discipline: Shaman/Wizard/Elementalist/Nethermancer 8/7/6/5
Notable Abilities: Spells, a little bit of everything at this point. Good with animals. Only *mostly* incompetent at social stuff.
Downtime: Downtime: Animal Training (Talent) - Step 20 including karma (Rank 10) (can train up to 10 commands total, or improve non-combat skills by +1 per command used on it)
Research - Step 24 including karma (Rank 5). +3 to the step is available at a cost of 20 sp for access to the Great Library of Throal.
Item History - Step 19 including karma (Rank 6)
Design Enchanting Pattern - Step 19
Create Blood Charm - Step 19 (for the moment, you'll need to supply your *own* patterns... but feel free to use my downtime abilities to make one =D )

Xzandrate
Posts:382
Joined:Tue Apr 07, 2020 8:28 pm

Re: LFG: [10M] Get a Little Action In (2021-02-08 00:30 GMT)

Post by Xzandrate » Sat Feb 06, 2021 4:46 pm

Name: Moe'uhane
Date of Last Game Played: 2020-02-05
ECR: 10
Discipline: Illusionist(10)/Messenger (6)/Boatman(7)
Unique: Fear banishing, stealthy inducing, Phantom Fireball machine (with a side of Dragons)
Downtime: Research 5 - step 13(16 with library bonus)
Craft Spell Matrix Objects:(11/23) Standard - 5 days -1000 SP; Enhanced 6 days - 2000 SP; Armored Matrix 7 days - 4000 SP
Design Enchanting Pattern:(11/23)

Tentatively throw my name in

User avatar
etherial
Posts:964
Joined:Sun Nov 27, 2016 11:04 pm
Location:Berlin, Massachusetts
Contact:

Re: LFG: [10M] Get a Little Action In (2021-02-08 00:30 GMT)

Post by etherial » Sat Feb 06, 2021 4:53 pm

Name: Daldorer
Last Game Played:2021-02-07
Effective Circle: 11
Discipline: Nethermancer
Quote/Unique: Daddy can make you feel better
Notable Abilities: Critical Thinking, Friendly Darkness, Last Chance
Downtime:
  • Alchemy Step 8 (Rank 3) Recipes: Booster Potion and Small Light Quartz
  • Item History Step 20 (Rank 8) (Historian: Extra Successes reduce Research Times)
  • Research Step 44 (Rank 12) (Librarian: Extra Successes reduce Research Times)
  • Patterncraft 23 (Rank 11) :
    • Craft Blood Charm
    • Craft True Pattern
    • Design Enchanting Pattern
    • Incorporate Bound Spirit
    • Incorporate Glyph
Seriously, I already played today, why would you pick me?

Montaugh
Posts:203
Joined:Thu Dec 19, 2019 1:49 pm

Re: LFG: [10M] Tea and Tyranny (2021-02-08 00:30 GMT)

Post by Montaugh » Sat Feb 06, 2021 10:01 pm

Name: William Carver
Date Last Played January 30, 2020
ECR: 11 (1,247,275 LP)
Race: Human
Discipline: Scout 11, Thief 8, Journeyman 5, Cavalryman 6
Quote/Unique: I'll get you there and back again.
Notable Abilities:
Talented: Scout, Stealth, Ranged/melee/mounted combat.
Items:
Potions: Kelia's Antidote (1), Booster Potion (5), Kelix's Poultice (1), Halt Illness Potion (1), Healing Potion (3), Last Chance Salve (3)
Mounted: Huttawa named Charlie and he's sworn, He might also swear.. I don't have animal talk yet.
Downtime:
Perception step (9)
Versatile Forge Weapon Rank: (9) Step 22
Versatile Research Rank: (10) Step 23, Step 26 with library Access
Versatile Item History Rank: (10) Step 23.
(Karma spent with Applied versatility)

LadyDragoon
Posts:143
Joined:Wed May 27, 2020 2:11 am

Re: LFG: [10M] Tea and Tyranny (2021-02-08 00:30 GMT)

Post by LadyDragoon » Sat Feb 06, 2021 10:54 pm

Name: Azurea M.D. (S.O.A.P)
Circle: ECR 9
Discipline: Shadow 9/Purifier 5
Last Played: 5/2/2021
Quote/Unique: No spirits! No cats! And definitely NO SPIRIT CATS!!
Notable Abilities: Sneakiest Of All Purifiers
Downtime: Alchemy 6 (12)
Booster Potions - 2 days for 2
Small Light Quartz - 4 days
Absorb Blow Charms - 4 days

Sharkforce
Posts:527
Joined:Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:39 am

Re: LFG: [10M] Tea and Tyranny (2021-02-08 00:30 GMT)

Post by Sharkforce » Mon Feb 08, 2021 6:40 am

From the Journal of Zivilyn, Windling Magician: Tea and Tyranny

Moe, a longtime friend and ally, has been preparing for some time to mount an expedition to speak with the Spirit bound to his necklace. The aftermath of Kampung Gajah seems somewhat under control, so I was able to lend assistance. He had narrowed down the location somewhat to a place called Temple Rock in the Dragon Mountains, which we were not able to find out much about in the Great Library. It seems that there is a limit to the knowledge stored there after all. The location was not too far from Travar, so we booked passage on an airship headed that way.

Joining this expedition in addition to myself, my companions, and Moe were LaShana, Daldorer (who I admit puts my own not inconsiderable researching abilities to shame), and William with his companion Charlie. It seems William and Daldorer had some friends in the area, and while Daldorer and I hit the books (his friends were fellow Scholars) the other three went on an epic pub crawl (or so I am told) and met someone (likely a Questor of Lochost from their description) who had been investigating the same site we were interested in. It seems he had sent two separate groups to investigate previously, and they had not returned. I wish he had not sent anyone; their lives could have been spared, and our task much easier.

Daldorer and myself (mostly Daldorer) learned somewhat of the history of the region; long ago, before Travar was founded, the region was home to 5 major tribes (and likely many smaller ones; it was a bit of a rough read, much of what was there was written in obscure dialects of the Human tongue, and if I'm honest I picked out a few books for targeted memorizing for a large portion of our time there). One of them held Temple Rock to be a sacred place as well as a place of judgment, and it seemed likely the Spirit in Golden Rule was from there. I shall not mention her Name here; it is my belief that if you want to summon her, you ought to earn her respect first, and a little bit of a challenge will do you some good in that respect. At any rate, it seemed she had been quite the terror in her living days, and she (or a Spirit that believes itself to be her) had at some point been bound to the necklace.

We set out to investigate the site (and potentially to return with word of those who had been sent before) and made good time with Metal Wings and Flying Carpets. As we drew near, along a path that the (probable) Questor of Lochost had given us we could see that we were being watched. With the aid of Moe's magic we were able to make our way closer in near-silence. Unfortunately, while we noticed an oddity of frost around the entrance to the Temple (it was a Temple carved into the stone rather than built brick by brick, hence the name), none of us had the foresight to pay it the respect we ought to have. It was some sort of curse, for lack of a better term, placed by a Questor of Raggok who had taken over the temple.

It is hard to describe the effects; a lot of regret, hatred, paranoia, mistrust, and anger, but it almost seemed to vary from moment to moment. We were caught off guard, and the barbed words and fearsome shouts the Questor employed seemed much more effective on us than usual. He had taken the corpses of those we were looking for, and crafted them into undead monstrosities... a pair of deathless reapers (many-armed skeletal creatures), and a trio of ehrlgren (2 kruhz, and one draamf, if my knowledge of such things has not failed me). Fortunately, Daldorer conjured Ethereal Darkness which did not hinder himself, myself, or LaShana, and kept the draamf ehrlgren too busy trying to tear him apart to unleash its corrupting ray on unseen targets, or the fight might have been much more difficult.

Still, it was rough; I was quite badly hurt, Haze could not do much to the undead and I swear the corrupted astral nearby must have been at least partly to blame (even his ambushes proved relatively ineffective), Daldorer took quite a vicious hit, and I think Moe was only one or two blows from unconsciousness, by the time all was done. I believe the Spirit in Moe's necklace was aiding us, as were what I believe to be some unknown Spirits within the temple (the Questor of Raggok went in, started screaming, was suddenly cut off, and there was no sign of him whatsoever when we went through; no sign of any other spirits when we went in though). In the end, I think the Questor's enraging enchantments worked against him... the Unicorn Spirits that I Invoked seemed to particularly delight in spearing the creations and thrashing them about so that their forms were quite compromised, far more than usual.

Upon entering the temple (and not being attacked by whatever had erased the Questor from existence) the Spirit offered Moe a choice; challenge her and gain dominance, or gain her allegiance by performing a task, and he chose to ally himself rather than dominate her, to my pleasure (I had expected he would, or I would not have come along). She had 5 consorts (themselves great generals) bound in a location not too far away. It was an... interesting journey. The anger and mistrust and aggression we were all feeling would not wear off for a full 10 days, which just goes to show how the Mad Passions can be so dangerous. Still, it is not in Moe's nature to blindly attack, so we tried to negotiate with the captors. They were having none of it (it seems their ancestors had been oppressed by these generals, or so their stories said), but were not a match for us (and I suspect here the generals may have tipped the scales a little in our favour where they could as well).

It took some doing, but after some discussion Daldorer and I were able to persuade the Spirits to covenant to freeing slaves were they ever summoned for such a purpose in exchange for their liberty, which our prisoners (the former "prison" guards) begrudgingly accepted (in the sense that it was happening whether they liked it or not, and at least something was better than nothing). I spent a couple more days roaming the plains, enjoying the new terrain and letting Howler and Haze have some space to roam around in before we locked ourselves in an enclosed airship with a handful of people hopped up on the wrath of a Mad Passion; it seemed wise.

I don't know that I shall be able to summon a Spirit as powerful as we just assisted for some time, although I do know her Name now. Perhaps some time I shall invite her for tea instead. I'm sure I could learn something from her.
Last edited by Sharkforce on Mon Feb 08, 2021 9:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

bronzemountain
Posts:606
Joined:Fri Feb 21, 2020 10:02 pm

AAR: [10M] Tea and Tyranny (2021-02-08 00:30 GMT)

Post by bronzemountain » Mon Feb 08, 2021 1:58 pm

AAR: Tea and Tyranny
GM: Dvarim
ECR: 10
Difficulty: Medium

Player Rewards:
Moe'uhane: 69000 LP 1400 SP 3 TIPs
Zivilyn: 69,000 LP, 0 sp, 3 TIPs
LaShana: 69000 LP 1400 SP 3 TIPs - (access to items from Travar Book This adventure only)
William: 69000 LP 1400 SP 3 TIPs - (access to items from Travar Book This adventure only)
Daldorer: 69,000 LP, 1,400 SP, 3 TIPs,

GM Reward: Dvarim: 184,000 LP, 2,500 SP, 3 TIPs

Downtime:
Daldorer: Alchemy Step 8 (Rank 3) Recipes: Booster Potion and Small Light Quartz
Item History Step 20 (Rank 8) (Historian: Extra Successes reduce Research Times)
Research Step 44 (Rank 12) (Librarian: Extra Successes reduce Research Times)
William: Versatile Forge Weapon Rank: (9) Step 22, Versatile Research Rank: (10) Step 23, Step 26 with library Access, Versatile Item History Rank: (10) Step 23.
Zivilyn: Downtime: Animal Training (Talent) - Step 19 including karma (Rank 9) (can train up to 9 commands total, or improve non-combat skills by +1 per command used on it)
Research - Step 24 including karma (Rank 5). +3 to the step is available at a cost of 20 sp for access to the Great Library of Throal.
Item History - Step 17 including karma (Rank 6)

Summary:
Gaela, tyrant spirit of the ancient Huulki tribe, has made compact with Moe'uhane. The guardians of the Four Tribes are wary, but have been mollified with kind and careful words. They watch. Farren Othar, Questor of Lochost, is a contact in Travar for Adepts looking for work, or to create social change. Uradharan Rudhraksha, Questor of Raggok, is very much dead (ironically, killed by ghosts).

Xzandrate
Posts:382
Joined:Tue Apr 07, 2020 8:28 pm

Re: AAR: [10M] Tea and Tyranny (2021-02-08 00:30 GMT)

Post by Xzandrate » Tue Feb 09, 2021 4:45 am

From the writings of Moe'uhane, T'skrang Illusionist, 10th Circle, Boatman 7th Circle, Messenger Rank 6

The time has come, it is time to deal with the spirit of the Golden Rule. Long since Reyis described the undertaking and the nature of the spirit within the torc, I have known the journey would be far and require a specific set of individuals.

On this day, I gathered two of the best scouts I knew in William and LaShana, they would help navigate the streets of Travar as well as they could the wilds of the Dragon Mountains, to ensure I was able to properly deal with the spirit of the torc as well as any ancillary spirits, I brought Daldorer and Zivilyn.

I knew the torc had been forged in a location known as Temple Rock near the edge of the Dragon Mountains at the end of the Iontos River; with that information in mind, we arranged travel to Travar to begin our investigation there to hopefully find more detailed information on the region.

Once we arrived in Travar we split into two groups to gather more intelligence. Daldorer and Zivilyn put their research talents to work in the Delver's Athenaeum, looking through numerous books about the area and the histories of Temple Rock. They managed to turn up that the location was not a true temple to any of the Passions, but in fact named because of it's devout structure. It was actually sacred to an ancient tribe of humans known as the Huulki. The Huulki were a very aggressive tribe, having been known to have conquered the other four tribes of the area and ruled for a long time. This was only end when the other tribes rose up against the Huulki, in what is known as the Four Tribes Rebellion. The lands were ruled by Gaela, the spirit of the warlord within my necklace, and during her rule the land was known as Rinvar Taravar, the land of five tribes. Daldorer even managed to garner a certain rudimentary understanding of the Huulki language based upon some old research notes.

The rest of us hit the streets, visiting various locations of interest which we felt may direct us to the type of information that would help us on the quest. Eventually we were directed to, and allowed entrance to a rather impressive tea shop hidden within the back of a shop. Upon entry, it was quite obvious that we were encountering others of our ilk. Unfortunately, we were approached rather quickly, so I did not get the ample amount of time to enjoy the locale as I might have. I will need to plan a return in the future. The gentleman who approached us was a Mr. Phaeron Oathar. He inquired as to our arrival in Travar and the reason for our visit. Upon indicating we were adventurers from Throal and we were seeking information on Temple Rock he took a particular interest and invited us for tea. Phaeron did not mix words and was rather direct and to the point. He wanted to know if we believed in the core tenets of Throal, namely that every Namegiver is in ownership of themselves. When we reassured him that we were quite against the sale of others, he confided in us his affiliation to a group known as the Protectorate. The group was in the business of helping those under the yoke of indentured servitude to escape the city and find a new place to live. In the hopes of finding a new safehouse, Phaeron had sent two parties to scout Temple Rock over the past two weeks. The first group of five had not returned, and a second duo meant to scout the fate of the previous group also appeared to have been waylaid. Phaeron asked that if we were heading to Temple Rock, if we could confirm the status of his scouting parties so the proper arrangements could be made. We agreed and took what further information he could provide on the area, including the known approaches. William updated his map, we rested the night and began our week long trek to Temple Rock.

The closer we came to Temple Rock, the quieter things became. The noises of wildlife slowly disappeared, and as we approached the foot of the trail, LaShana found the traces of blood that had been hastily cleaned, while William noticed something watching us from the up the mountain. It was an obvious trap, but since they were expecting us I did not want to be a rude guest, we continued forward up the mountain. We approached the temple and sounds from within caused us to pause. We couldn't make out anything within, but we did notice a strange line frost near the entrance to the tunnel. We could not detect any trap, and Zivilyn could not determine any ill-effect from his Elementalism knowledge, so we pressed forward. This was a mistake. An irritable rage began to overtake us, we could feel the magics, but they were not something known to us. As we were all friends, we held our temper, but we were quickly introduced to the source of our problems.

A single human in a weird horned mask and armor decried us as trespassers and orders his construct minions to destroy us. He appeared to be a questor of Raggok and had somehow gain the compulsion of a pair of boneshamblers and some erhlgren. Antimagic rays began to fly, and the magics of a spell warped and backlashed upon me. The questor was cursing the lot of us. The shamblers descended upon us and began to swing away, luckily we withstood the initial onslaught. The battle was rather drawn out, with the questor reinforcing most of the things the constructs attempted. Eventually he made a mistake and we capitalized and swung the battle in our favor; he compelled William to hit Charlie. His goal was to stir William into a rage, unfortunately it whipped William into a blind rage and he blurred across the field towards the questor. Some well placed phantom fireballs helped to soften the reavers, and Ziviliyn tapped into the pre-Scourge wilds of this location and began to summon feral unicorn spirits. He punched them clean through the ehrlgren. As the battle drew on, I could feel the contempt of the spirit of the Torc pulling at my neck, it's power amplified in this place. It lashed out and took the last of the life force of the first ehrlgren Zivilyn had decimated. Later as the questor fled into the temple to try and follow William to higher ground, I could feel the spirit activate something within the temple and the screams of the cultist were heard from within. With Daldorer's Foul Vapours covering the area the last of the enemies slowly fell.

We took some time for Daldorer to cast recover upon everyone while Zivilyn attended to wounds with Cold Purify. Prepared for what awaited us we entered he temple. Once inside, my torc grew warmer and a visible mist exited the metal and coalesced in front of us. The spirit of Gaela addressed me, knowing why we returned to this place and asked if we were to deal or battle. Knowing that fear is a more potent weapon when wielded properly, I advised that I was not here to quell her natural inclinations. I wished to strike a bargain to make her knowledge my own. She agreed, on the condition that we travel to another location on the next peak over and release her consorts. These were the spirits of her 5 chieftains.

We travelled to the location and encountered four adepts, they claimed to be the descendants of the four tribes and claimed that great ruin would fall upon the land if the spirits of these chieftains were released. I attempted to negotiate, and while they were quite cordial, they were duty bound to prevent us from interacting with the spirits. They fought with honour, but the end result was obvious very quickly as we hampered their every action and brought to bear greater magical power. The surrendered, and we gladly accepted, these were proud warriors doing the duty of their ancestors. I did not wish to insult them, so we had Daldorer examine the spirits of the chieftains and determine the threat they could bring upon the lands. It was determined that they were no greater spirits, and the likely hood of them doing much more than being a nuisance was very low. Daldorer then suggested that we could have them agree to conditions upon their release, and with the fate of Phaerons companions, built into deathless reaver constructs, still fresh in our mind Daldorer suggested we have them swear to aid anyone asking for assistance in the release of slaves. The guardians were rather mystified by the entire exchange, but having little other choice agreed to the concession. The spirits were released with the condition dictated by Daldorer. The guardians were set free to go about their business, but I mentioned that if they should hope to help the people of the lands be free, they should travel to Travar and seek out Phaeron.

We returned to Travar, I met with Phaeron advise him of the fate of his companions and that he may soon be expecting new allies. After the first day in Travar, we no longer felt the uneasy rage beneath the surface when we were outside the influence of Daldorer's Supress Curse. We did some further shopping in Travar and negotiated passage back to Throal on one of the airships.

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