AAR 8M Roots of the Present [Tuesday, Feb 1, 2022, Midnight UTC]

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Serespar
Posts:215
Joined:Fri May 18, 2018 3:53 pm
AAR 8M Roots of the Present [Tuesday, Feb 1, 2022, Midnight UTC]

Post by Serespar » Fri Jan 21, 2022 6:05 am

Date: Tuesday, February 1, 2022
Time: Midnight UTC / 7:00 PM Eastern / 6:00 PM Central / 4:00 PM Pacific

Image

Rumor 'round town is that Truck the Windling has been overheard talking about some of the things he's been hearing about the old shrine to Rashamon at Uzhok Pass (hex 46.12). Well, guess it's a shrine to Raggok now since the Passion went mad during the Scourge, but whatever. Word on the street is that he did some digging into its history and is looking to go take a look see. Might be a chance to add to your legend, make a bit of scratch, and nip something nasty in the bud... well, maybe anyway.


When you reach out to Truck, the friendly windling shares a copy of the research report he got back from Calina Ravanqnerosicor, the Elven Wizard that works over in the Great Library (linked below). He said the wizard gal is all glassy eyed n excited about some untranslatable language thing that she just can't seem to get out of her head now. Crazy elven scholars, am I right?

Anyway, you can think about it for a bit and see if you want to go along...

...
Research Report
...
Last edited by Serespar on Wed Feb 02, 2022 4:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.

redwraith
Posts:147
Joined:Fri Jul 17, 2020 8:12 pm

Re: LFG 8M Roots of the Present [To Be Scheduled]

Post by redwraith » Fri Jan 21, 2022 4:32 pm

Name: R'edtarian
Date of Last Game Played: 2021-12-17
Circle: 7 ECR7
Discipline: Warrior 7 / Weapon Smith 4
Unique: The best defense is a great offense.
Downtime: Research Rank 3 Step 9 (step 12 with library access)
Downtime: Item History Rank 3 Step 13
Downtime: Forge Weapon Rank 5 Step 15

I can't do Friday or Monday evenings.

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

Re: LFG 8M Roots of the Present [To Be Scheduled]

Post by Sharkforce » Tue Jan 25, 2022 4:19 am

Name: Orlam
Date of Last Game Played: Dec 17
Circle: 7
Discipline: Elementalist 5 / scholar 1
Unique: healing boosts, combat buffs and debuffs, comfort, navigation, and evidence analysis. (downside: he sucks at damage).
Downtime: Item History (Talent, Rating 6, step 17)
Research (Skill, Rating 2, Step 9, +3 available for 20 sp in the Great Library).
Alchemy (Rating 3, Step 10, lab available) (Kelix's Poultice, Booster Potion, Light Crystal)

(tentative application, since we don't know the date of the game)

predajey
Posts:344
Joined:Mon Jun 15, 2020 9:27 am

Re: LFG 8M Roots of the Present [To Be Scheduled]

Post by predajey » Wed Jan 26, 2022 9:54 pm

Name: Calina Ravanqnerosicor

Image
Date of Last Game Played: Dec 17
ECR: 8
Discipline: Wizard (Circle 6)
Unique: Doesn't really talk much... or at all. Understands Obsidispeak, Or'zet, Throalic, Troll, T'Skrang, Sperethiel, Windling, and Throalic Sign Language. Reads and writes in the same verbal languages. Forgets to bring pen and paper quite often.
Downtime:
  • Research: ESR 28, Rank 8 (Rank 8 + Step 8 PER + Step 4 Karma + Step 4 Speed Reading + 2 extra threads [ESR + 4])
    • Library Access increases ESR to 31 for 20 SP (why you need a Research ESR of 31, I'll never know...)
  • Item History: ESR 20, Rank 8 (Rank 8 + Step 8 PER + Step 4 Karma)
Last edited by predajey on Thu Jan 27, 2022 2:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

sigfriedmcwild
Posts:335
Joined:Wed Nov 13, 2019 6:59 am

Re: LFG 8M Roots of the Present [To Be Scheduled]

Post by sigfriedmcwild » Thu Jan 27, 2022 1:56 am

Name: Elisen
Last played on: 2022-01-18
ECR: 9 (383880lp)
Discipline: Cavalier 9 / Troubadour 7
Quote/Unique: Deliverance flies on silent wind
Notable Abilities: Inspiring Sparkly Zoak power!
Downtime: Animal training step 17 (rank 6; 13 + karma), Item History 21 (rank 7; 13 + 2 karma), Research 21 (rank 7; 13 + 2 karma)

Item History / Research:
  • Journeyman: 3 test or research knowledges / week
  • Warden: 2 test or research knowledges / week, 3 with library access (+20sp)
  • Master: 2 test or research knowledges / week
Last edited by sigfriedmcwild on Mon Jan 31, 2022 3:05 am, edited 7 times in total.

ChrisDDickey
Posts:1011
Joined:Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:02 pm

Re: LFG 8M Roots of the Present [Tuesday, Feb 1, 2022, Midnight UTC]

Post by ChrisDDickey » Sat Jan 29, 2022 5:32 am

Name: Truck
Date Player last played: June 11th
ECR: 7
Discipline: Warrior 6th circle, WindMaster (3), Scholar (3) - Windling.
Quote/Unique:
Notable Abilities: Slice and Dice, with a bit of investigation on the side.
Downtime: Item History (rank 4, step 14). Research(rank 6, step 16 (+3 step if pay 20 sp library access), Knack gives two extra successes!

redwraith
Posts:147
Joined:Fri Jul 17, 2020 8:12 pm

Re: LFG 8M Roots of the Present [Tuesday, Feb 1, 2022, Midnight UTC]

Post by redwraith » Wed Feb 02, 2022 12:28 pm

First off thanks Drew for another great session.

When I get around to writing my journal I will be adjusting what happened and not have Elisen attacking Calina. I will instead have Calina collapsing after her blood magic interaction with the tree. R'edtarian would of defended his dear friend against Elisen a stranger but I didn't want to escalate things last night and ruin the session. Everything else after her collapse would then make sense for how R'edtarian would behave.

predajey
Posts:344
Joined:Mon Jun 15, 2020 9:27 am

Calina Loses her Mind a Little Bit

Post by predajey » Wed Feb 02, 2022 3:28 pm

An extravagant white leather bound journal contains several chapters detailing Calina Ravanqnerosicor’s journeys. It is written in a rich blue ink and the pages have a gold trim. It is written in Sperethiel.

Chapter 127: Becoming a Passion

Truck dropped by in the Great Library and has requested a particular research topic be expanded upon and explained in great detail. An old shrine to Rashamon, the dead name of Raggok. Back when Raggok was the Passion of Endurance, many had made the pilgrimage to his shrine prior to the scourge, often offering up donations that eventually turned what was a tiny shrine tended to by Ardan Yan into a grand altar. Of particular note were these rubbings of various runes found by travelers who documented their journeys to or through the altar. Reports of massive pillars that were covered in these runes were supported by other similar reports. I have never met a language that I couldn't eventually master, so I began the long process of deciphering the runes. As I worked (I'm not sure how many hours went by, but I am told that I had spent weeks researching the symbols) it felt as though there was something missing from the runes. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I had to translate these runes. It would be quite the milestone in my career as a translator.

So the party had made their last minute purchases and finally was ready to head out. They deigned to meet at the least civilized of taverns in the Hall of Bodal, a place called the Ghost Pepper. Not sure why we had to meet up anywhere other than the front gate. It would have made sense to meet at the Great Library. Unaware of who all was joining us on this journey, I was particularly excited to see that Elisen would be joining us. Vralino has spoken at great lengths about the Cavalryman turned Cavalier. A bit later, the rest of the party came out of the Ghost Pepper with Truck, the honorable R'edtarian among the members, and we headed out the Gates of Throal.

Continuing into Barter Town, I felt an unnerving presence that seemed to be observing us as we traveled through. If there was anyone I trusted to keep me safe, it was R'edtarian, so I clutched onto him, letting him know we were being watched. I didn't know where these observers were, but I told him to keep an eye out. The party, seeing me distraught and R'edtarian searching for the observers, guided us down an alleyway. R'edtarian informed me that there were symbols running across the back of my neck and tried to draw them in the sand, so I immediately pulled out the notes I had taken of the research I did for Truck. Normally I'm much more ogranized, but I didn't have the time to filter through the information, so I pulled everything out and handed him the copies of the rubbings from the Great Library. He went over the information, but I was more concerned with finding that observer than his ability to identify the runes on my neck. After packing up, we continued onward towards Juniper Hollow.

I have never noticed how beautiful Via Triolvi is. Most Plebeians don't know the name of the road between Barter Town and Juniper Hollow, but I know. It was quite the peaceful trip as we put distance between us and the observer, only ever coming across potential threats every once in a while. With the party confidently walking past these other "travelers", my instinct to hide off the road as they passed was ignored, for the time being. Upon arrival at Juniper Hollow, my Astral Sense granted me a higher level of being. I didn't just see the Astral Plane, I merged with it. It was quite the experience. Then there was that pesky rat, annoying rodent. It must be cleansed of the road. R'edtarian will do nicely for just such a task. We must keep the roadways clear and safe. Felines. Felines everywhere. Begone Mr. Whiskers! The town is safe from rodent and feline alike. Well done, R'edtarian. Well done. Our next destination on our journey shall be Clear Creek Crossing.

When we arrive, there are more felines, but significantly fewer rodents. I shall have them away. There's a big construction site, as the town prepares to defend itself, erecting palisades and other fortifications. These will be useless against any real threat. The party knows this. The town is safe from taint and horror. I once again merge with the Astral, and it is as clean as the garments I donned for this journey. Silky, comfortable, cooling, and comfortable Astral comfort perfect for sleeping in safety. But, there's a Ley Line! And the soil! Such accurate representation of the cycle of life and nutritional recycling! Such a wondrous flow of magic passing through this city! I found a pebble, and in this pebble is a model of the universe. I can peer into it and focus and identify the path ahead, this magical pebble, so perfectly spherical, unnatural, a true sayer's tool, and it'll assist me in my passionate predictions. A band is scheduled to perform at the Cracked Barrel. My followers deserve a respite, and I shall demonstrate the proper way to head bang! Yes, the pebble has shown me the ways of dancing in the future! Next on our pilgrimage, we hit Kampung Gaja.

But before our arrival, there is something magnificent about this tree. This grand tree, one of many, forming the whole of the forest while only be a tiny part of it, absorbs nutrients from the soil saturated and sated by the death and decay of moving life which feeds on the tree. What a wondrous cycle and intertwined is not a mystic thread of magic made for spells and talents but a simpler magic that blends with the area undetected by Astral Sense or Horror's sight. I must dig in, I must merge with it and siphon its latent and hidden power, I must become one with the cycle. I see... darkness. Betrayal, someone has stolen consciousness from me, but I see all. As if in a dream, but reflective of the real world. I am dragged away from the tree, the ritual cleansed from the earth, and an Elemental is summoned in fear. Faithful servant, you have no fear of my wrath when I return to the physical plane.

Despite Elisen's Betrayal, I forgive you, as all Passions do. My brother and fellow entity Upandal has a shrine higher in the mountains, along the Via Caucavic route. Electricity flows as Upandal and I commune, and a scent of fear washed over R'edtarian as he realizes what his long time companion really is. A small group of dwarves passes through, I think those little pods are called families? I had a family once. They betrayed me, too. Now I have transcended. We must erect my shrine on the grounds of the altar belonging to the Mad Passion.

We have arrived. I immediately begin to try reading the runes, but they are incomplete, as their rubbings would suggest. I see astral glyphs, but still, the message is incomplete. We need different light. Quartz crystal? You there! Servant! Bring me a quartz crystal! No, that didn't do anything. Maybe a magical flame or moonlight? Moonlight! Yes! The last of the waning moon is tonight, and it will provide the missing details we need to decipher the language of the Passions, completing my transcendence! It's only two hours away! I must prepare everything so that the lunar glyphs will simply fall into place and provide me my answers!

As we await the rise of the moon, I get a grand idea from Orlam. Upandal can craft a moon. Perhaps returning to his shrine below will allow us the proper tools to interpret this message properly, but too late. The moon rises and the first term is... open? As I say it aloud, a netherportal to the Astral Realm leaks corruption into the valley, bringing with it several tentacled beasts, flying, obsessed with taking my fellowship as tribute to the Mad Passion. I will not allow my worshippers harm! But they have not accepted my mark!?! I cannot assist nearly as well without my mark! Blasphemers! I will deal with you once you stand in awe of my power! Burst into oblivion, vile fiend! Those who threaten my followers will give their essence to me!

The battle left my worshippers bruised and battered, but not broken. We descend to the safety of Upandal's shrine. The gate shall be weakened enough to prevent passage as the lightless moon refuses its mystic energy to the shrine of the Mad Passion. We return on the night of the new moon, and the gate opens once more. Another Passion child appears. This pretender must be dealt with. I am the one true Passion of this age! Go forth, minions! Remove this stain of a lineage from existence! A grand assault, Elisen! Orlam, take cover, and stop using spells! Move to attack, Truck and R'edtarian!

With the battle won, the last of my efforts bolster Orlam's ability to bring Truck back from the brink of death. I collect the corruption of the area and cram it into his tiny windling body. No pretender will rob me of even one faithful. You shall not die today, young windling. Arise and continue to spread the word of Calina, the Passion of the Aether!

I'm not even sure what to make of these ramblings. We had forced the retreat of whomever that tentacled woman was. The master, assumed to be the Mad Passion Raggok himself, also retreated from the Gate, denied of his newest handmaiden. I may have gone mildly insane. I think Truck, Orlam, Elisen, and even R'edtarian believe me to be Horror Marked. This is not the best first impression I could have made to Elisen. I think it'll be best to burn the notes on this location. Every translation, as much as it pains me to remove my work from this plane, seems to be useful to nothing but death, doom, discourse, and dysphoria. I am thankful to have R'edtarian watch over me during this tirade.

Serespar
Posts:215
Joined:Fri May 18, 2018 3:53 pm

Re: AAR 8M Roots of the Present [Tuesday, Feb 1, 2022, Midnight UTC]

Post by Serespar » Wed Feb 02, 2022 4:30 pm

Was a wonderful creepy time at the game last night guys, you rocked it! And for the record, I HATE skinshift *puts whole package of disney band aids on poor windling*. Glad you had fun.

For Calina, Elisen, Orlam, R'edtarian and Truck, standard 8M awards of LP 19,000, SP 900, TIPs 3, Half Price forgings through contacts of the Great Library of Throal, Half Price Healing aids from a nethermancer interested in the adventure journals, plus standard journal bonus and downtime as applicable (+950 LP, +225 SP).

Downtime Abilities
  • Calina; Research: ESR 28, Rank 8 (Rank 8 + Step 8 PER + Step 4 Karma + Step 4 Speed Reading + 2 extra threads [ESR + 4]), Library Access increases ESR to 31 for 20 SP (why you need a Research ESR of 31, I'll never know...), Item History: ESR 20, Rank 8 (Rank 8 + Step 8 PER + Step 4 Karma)
  • Elisen, Item History / Research; Journeyman: 3 test or research knowledges / week, Warden: 2 test or research knowledges / week, 3 with library access (+20sp), Master: 2 test or research knowledges / week
  • Orlam; Item History (Talent, Rating 6, step 17), Research (Skill, Rating 2, Step 9, +3 available for 20 sp in the Great Library), Alchemy (Rating 3, Step 10, lab available) (Kelix's Poultice, Booster Potion, Light Crystal)
  • R'edtarian; Research Rank 3 Step 9 (step 12 with library access), Item History Rank 3 Step 13, Forge Weapon Rank 5 Step 15
  • Truck; Item History (rank 4, step 14). Research(rank 6, step 16 (+3 step if pay 20 sp library access), Knack gives two extra successes!

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

Re: AAR 8M Roots of the Present [Tuesday, Feb 1, 2022, Midnight UTC]

Post by Sharkforce » Thu Feb 03, 2022 9:15 am

Orlam Rolfsom, Journal Entry # 17: Roots of the Present

One of the more common taunts I've heard delivered to the Scholars of Barsaive is that "If you gaze too long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you". Never thought I'd see it in action. Truck, who has become a Scholar of some repute, had commissioned a report on an unusual shrine tied to the Mad Passion Raggok from Calina, who aspires to join our lofty ranks. She did provide an excellently thorough report on its history and key events, which can be found in a separate report. I shall make mention of them here only as needed to keep things brief.

This shrine was located in the Throalic Mountains to the south of Throal, in the neighbourhood of Kaer Bamor, in a region which has seen a flurry of somewhat concerning activity of late. Along the route to a former base of the Scourge cultists, near a tunnel filled with reeking, rotting undead, is a trail which predates the scourge, and which had seen some "repairs" if you can call them that by an army of undead to prepare an invasion of Kampung Gajah by the depraved fools. That trail, once known as the Via Triolvi, passes right through the shrine, which had originally been established by a Questor named Ardanyan. This Questor had subsequently been betrayed by what were likely agents of Thera, and a community of Orks living with him had been subjugated and tortured.

One key piece of information that Calina could not resolve were the strange markings on a massive broken monument which marks the location of the shrine. They have the characteristics of writing, but none could discern them from the rubbings which Calina had found in the Great Library. An expedition was chosen to explore that shrine, with myself, Truck and Calina as well as R'edtarian who seems to have come along as an escort to Calina and a new acquaintance, a very sparkly Windling named Elisen, who I believe is both a Cavalier and a Troubadour of considerable skill and reputation. Perhaps they were recruited through the warrior networks available to R'edtarian, or perhaps they heard something through the rumour mill; Troubadours often have their ears to the ground after all.

In any event we were arranged to meet at a Tavern called the Ghost Pepper. I am unsure who established this as the meeting point, since half of our party seemed extremely reluctant to enter. My only speculation is that perhaps Calina had heard Taras was there at some point and wanted to investigate (I'm not sure if she's still trying to figure him out or not) but then decided the fumes from a mixture of hurlg and spices that will melt your face off from 10 yards away even when not combined with rotting fat and alcohol made it an unwise decision. We ordered some tasty flatbreads from the tavern and instead found a place we could discuss in one of the discussion halls. The debate was alright, but let's just say that the loser is lucky we didn't bring any ghost pepper hurlg with us or he might have needed hospitalization. It turns out the flatbread is quite capable of reaching a surprising distance when thrown properly.

In any event, not much was gained from our discussion so we resolved to depart the next morning. Calina had a nervous breakdown while walking through the tent village outside of Throal which some have taken to calling Bartertown, R'edtarian said he saw weird symbols on the back of her neck, and nobody else could find anything noteworthy in our environment even after giving a good look around. This sort of activity would continue to plague our journey; animals would flee every time Calina tried to get a good look at someone in the astral, R'edtarian got all protective any time someone thought she was being weird, and at one point Calina did "something" to a tree using a blood ritual which scared the Wood Spirit residing in it terribly, though I was able to cleanse the earth of whatever she did (which she insisted she couldn't remember, while the spirit was a bit vague but implied some sort of unnatural removal from the cycle of life and death would have been the result. I'll settle for having discovered that purifying the earth works against such things in exchange for surrendering the knowledge of what exactly was going to happen, but I've attached a rough map to the tree for anyone interested in studying that further as well).

Frankly, I halfway started to think there might be something wrong with me myself, but the sculpture I hastily made showed no signs of anything wrong, thankfully. It was somewhat disquieting that Calina's embroidery showed no signs of corruption either though, and there was *definitely* something going on (I have attached a report describing these behaviours and unusual events for any who make the Mad Passions a primary topic of study, I'll stick to studying things that don't like to play with their food quite so much; I don't know what if any of it might be significant, but you can feel free to go get gazed at yourself without any more help from me, thanks. I for one am busy recategorizing the wealth of fauna left behind after the scourge changed our lands).

A brief stop at Kampung Gajah where we decided it was best for Calina and R'edtarian to stay isolated from large groups of people garnered no rumours of note regarding the object of our investigation, but a brief visit to a local shrine to Upandal seemed to dull the effects of the outside influence on Calina and R'edtarian, though a local family might have been a little unsettled by our discussion of what we proposed to do to the monument to Raggok we were investigating.

In any event, the road to the shrine is broken and wrecked so I don't imagine many go that way. The monument is covered bottom to top in the strange markings, which Calina seemed to be able to make some sense of... while also making less sense to the rest of us. Something about moons and three-part runes, and she actually took it seriously when I nervously suggested we should go back to the shrine to Upandal and ask the passion to craft her a moon. Those of us possessed of all our faculties were interested in how we might remove this source of corruption rather than trying to read the scriptures of the Mad Passion of revenge, but I sadly cannot report much of assistance on that matter; the monument has the appearance of a sort of broken arch with a structure something like massive bones made from untold numbers of smaller bones, and from what I could learn through an Earth Elemental I summoned it seems unlikely that they can be easily uprooted or erased.

When night fell, Calina said something which sounded like a horde of cadaverous cats trying to claw their way through a slate factory while being bathed in acid, a sound so horrid that I swear I could almost *see* it, and the huge smooth stone circle around the monument turned into a gateway to some terrible nether realm home to huge flying masses of tentacles and eyeballs. Some of us had the sense to hide in cracks in a nearby rock formation and fend them off, while Calina seemed happy to let their blood feed the passage to some blasted realm of cruelty and murder so long as she got to read more of the writing on the pillars. Eventually the portal seemed to go dormant and we were able to retreat and recover somewhat, but as it had not fully reverted we suspected more work was needed.

Sure enough, some twisted things staggered out of the portal in a giant mass of corruption made manifest. It seems the site was a place where tentacle-covered ehrlgren were made from the tortured remains of the orks who had been massacred in this awful place, which dripped from the broken monument as if oozing out from the inside of a massive bone that had been split open. There was some sort of leader, a "woman" of sorts who spoke in some twisted tongue inviting Calina to join her in her worship of something (which, based on the location, I speculate to have been the Mad Passion whose shrine we were investigating, but which could nevertheless still be some other flavour of horror).

Thankfully these newborn ehrlgren did not seem to have their footing and we came out relatively unscathed. UN-fortunately, their mistress took a dim view of the work Truck's blades did to her and her subjects (mostly her, I suspect, I doubt she cared all that much for the near-mindless tortured creations she had brought with her) and damned near turned him inside out with little more than a few words as she left, promising to return and bring Calina with her.

It was at this point that Calina finally seemed to begin to come to her senses... sort of. She said something about forgetting that wondrous language (except for the so-called word that opened the portal in the first place), but just before she was able to consume all the corruption and turn it into some kind of healing power that helped us restore life to Truck, along with our own magic and healing aids. Frankly, I can't imagine anything good will come of it, so I recommended truck to an expert of my acquaintance in the Nethermantic arts for his convalescence. I think it will make everyone involved happier if he is under supervision for a while, and his wounds were severe enough that I think he'll be needing a lot of bed rest while the healers put him back together.

Calina wanted to put a sign with the completed "word" of opening and instructions to not say it (because apparently she thinks rational behaviour is what can be expected of people who come to the shrine of a mad passion), but we advised against it (actually, Elisen smashed quite a few signs before Calina gave up on it I think... they seem like a very trustworthy sort, not prone to welcoming in blasphemous geometries or words that make your eyes bleed or anything like that). Hopefully none of the signs survived, and Truck suggested he would use his influence with the Great Library to bury any dimension-ripping words Calina might write in a more secure place than wherever she got those insane gibberings in the first place. One can only hope.

I for one intend to go back to my own studies for a while. Publish or perish, after all. I've heard the creatures out near Travar haven't been very thoroughly catalogued...

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