The Aftermath
As Cyr removes the two
tjurunga from his pockets, he can plainly see the snake's-head shaped carving glowing with an inner light. He notices that the hum and glow both seem to grow more intense as they are moved closer to the great well. After Ferris has tended to the party's wounds, the deva gathers those that are still standing into a semicircle, and places the totem on the lip of the well. There is a bright flash, and then you are confronted by a hazy vision hovering above the water.
I AM WITITJ, you hear the spirit's voice echo in your mind,
OLIVE PYTHON, SPIRIT OF THE RIVER, GUARDIAN OF THESE FRESH WATERS. YOU HAVE MY THANKS HEROES. THANKS TO YOU THE FIRST SEAL REMAINS CLOSED AND THE POWER OF THE SHADOW REMAINS CONTAINED. YOU HAVE HELPED PROTECT MY CHARGE WHERE THOSE WHO WERE ENTRUSTED WITH THE INSTRUMENT OF MY POWER COULD NOT, DECEIVED AS THEY WERE BY THEIR LEADER, WHOM THEY HAD THOUGHT THE WISEST AMONG THEM.
ALREADY WORD OF YOUR DEEDS TRAVELS ON THE MOUTHS OF THE LESSER SPIRITS DOWN MY FLOWING CURRENTS ON THEIR MANY BANKS AND BRANCHES. GO NOW, AND TAKE THIS DEFILER WITH YOU. HE MUST PAY FOR HIS CRIMES BEFORE THE COURT OF THE MAKARRARTA. THE RINGGITJ WILL CONVENE TWO DAYS HENCE, ALREADY THE SPIRITS TRAVEL TO SUMMON THE LEADERS OF THE FOUR CLANS, ALONG WITH THE GNOMISH MAYOR FIZZENDEN AND SNARL, THE SHIFTER CHIEFTAIN. GO NOW AND PRESENT YOURSELVES TO THE RINGGITJ. BOTJ AND HIS PEOPLE WILL WANT TO EXPRESS THEIR GRATITUDE. TRAVEL IN SAFETY KNOWING THAT I AM WATCHING OVER YOUR FOOTSTEPS.
As the spirit fades from your sight, you feel a balmy, humid breeze surround you, filling your nostrils with the scent of fresh rain and you feel reinvigorated. Those who had fallen in battle are brought once more to their senses.
Afterwards, you bind and gag the unconscious warlock before settling down for a few hours of much needed sleep, posting the ever-vigilant Sir Exsixten to keep watch.
*****
The next two days' journey passes uneventfully, with Dhakanmirr, seemingly resigned to his fate, offering no resistance during the long forced march. Towards the end of the second day, following the great river down out of the mountains, you arrive back at the tree-camps of the Rripangu clan during the final light of the setting sun. Looking up the trunk of the great gathering tree you see a young man beckon you to climb up. At this point Dhakanmirr loses his nerve, refuses to climb, and has to be forcefully dragged up the roped ladder by the combined strength of Jezebel and Sir Exsixten.
On the platform amidst the great tree's branches you see an array of familiar faces that you've met since your arrival just a week ago all seated in a circle around a fire ring: Matjala, the young leader of the Djaapana clan, with his elderly councillor Gepu, as well as Larrani of the Munhaku and Dhawu of the Waltjan clans. You also see Fizzenden and Hyrellon as well as several other of the gnomes you met at Laughing Glade village, and you are considerably surprised to see none other than Berekis Halfhand and his man Willace also seated at the fire, having apparently returned from their delivery to the Island of O. You notice several unfamiliar, and hairy faces among the gathered peoples. A massively muscular shifter, wearing a cloak decorated with all manner of feather and bone trophies, who Ferris is quick to identify as Snarl, sits reclining against a tree branch, a massive falchion resting across his crossed legs. And at the head of the entire assembly is none other than Botj.
"Gow, gow! Welcome back heroes!," the old man calls,
"All of us gathered here, cause we been hear the voice of Wititj the Olive Python, great ancestor of my people, the Rripangu clan. Him say you come bringing, not just one, but two tjurunga! This true?"
Botj's skinny face breaks into a smile at your nods of affirmation.
"Manymak! Very good," he then turns to look at Dhakanmirr and his eyes narrow,
"And I see you bring him back too, eh? Our 'elder' who left us alone, without power of our ancestors in time of great need. Let's see what him have to say about this mess."
Noticing your looks of alarm Botj adds,
"Yaka worry. Him have no power to hurt us here. Look, put tjurunga here and here," he motions you to place the
tjurunga you're carrying around the fire to the west and south, along with two more that already sit to the north and east. He nods,
"Now the circle complete. Him bound by the will of the ancestors. Take off that gag, eh? Lets hear his words. Speak Dhakanmirr," Botj commands as the gag is removed.
For a few moments Dhakanmirr stands as though mesmerized, doing nothing. You sense a conflict of wills, which the warlock rapidly loses. He then begins to relate a long, sad tale. He tells of an elder's son born weak, without the strength of muscle to hunt effectively, or the strength of spirit to commune with the ancestors; of a child scorned by his peers, and a young man regarded with disgust by the woman to whom he was betrothed in an arranged marriage. He tells of constantly praying to the spirits to grant him the strength to do something for his people, but feeling that all his prayers fell on deaf ears.
Then a spark of unholy joy lights up the withered old man's eyes as he speaks of the sojourn he took after his wedding aboard the Swiftcurrent under the command of Berekis' father. After witnessing an arcane exposition by a great Oan wizard during a shore leave, Dhakanmirr disembarked at the Island of O, thinking it was there that he would find a path to true power and thereby earn the respect of his Kythiran peers. He paid his way through the Oan Academy by washing dishes and doing scullery work, only to find he had just as little aptitude for arcane magics, as for combat or dreamwalking... that is until he found the mirror in a disused corner of the Academy's relinquary. Through the power of the mirror he managed to contact someone on the other side of the veil between this world and the long dream, a feat he'd never managed even on Kythira where the veil is stretched thin. That someone was a beautiful and powerful woman named Shezzerakh, who promised him love, power, and respect if he would give himself unto her service. She 'confirmed' his most bitter inner thoughts that the power of the great Kythiran spirits was nothing more than a hoax perpetuated by the island's shamans, an illusion.
Through Shezzerakh's boon Dhakanmirr was finally able to wield arcane power and excel in his studies. As the two spoke more frequently, growing ever closer, the Shadar-kai woman confided to him that it is not just the power of the great spirits that is false, but the foundation of the very world itself. That the gods' creation was no more than a stain, a blemish on the Great Prior Darkness, and that she served a being of truly great power who could banish these illusions and set things right once more. But that he had been locked away outside the world and the realm of shadows long ago by the nefarious Eladrin of Kythira who had tricked Dhakanmirr's ancestors into helping them bring about cataclysm that opened the Shadowrift, destroyed the Eladrin kingdoms, and banished the Submerged Eye from the realms of creation. Promising him that they would one day be together before they were granted blessed oblivion by her lord, Shezzerakh pressed Dhakanmirr into returning to Kythira under the pretense that he had found a calling to serve the great ancestor Wititj, while secretly plotting to use the power of the
tjurunga to break the bonds that lock the Submerged Eye outside this world.
Then, seeming to exert a bit more of his own will, Dhakanmirr turns to the party saying,
"You may think you've won a great victory heroes, but you've only delayed the inevitable and brought greater suffering upon the peoples of this island. What we sought to accomplish through stealth, Mistress Shezzerakh will now have to pursue through open warfare. Even now her forces gather, ready to-"
His speech is suddenly cut off, as a viscous, black, vile smelling fluid erupts from the warlocks mouth, cutting off his airway, stifling his tongue, and quickly suffocating him.
Botj nods sadly saying,
"Angry snake chokes on his own venom. Yatj dhawu. This very bad news, eh? We must think long on our next course of action. But you giving us time to think, and we very grateful for it. Step forward toward the fire heroes and receive the ancestors' blessing."
You feel a momentarily intense pressure, and then each of you feels an object on your person pulse for a split second with intense heat. Jezebel, Ferris, Alnar, and Sir Exsixten look down to see that their weapons have taken on a subtle, reddish hue, not unlike the wood from which the
tjurunga are made.
"Dark lady, furry one, dragon keeper, and steel warrior," Botj says addressing each in turn,
"You proved to be great Djambatj, great hunters, eh? Now you needing tools to match your skill. Your weapons are now fangs of the river python. Much more effective than before. And you," he adds, addressing Cyr,
"Pale one who stand tall and strong before the shadow. You hard like the turtle's shell, eh? But even the hardest need help sometime," he motions Cyr to look down at his hide armor, which has taken on a more scaly, ridged appearance,
"You got part of the World Turtle's shell, eh? Help you stand up brave and strong in front of many things, not just shadows."
[sblock=Treasure Received!]Alnar: Staff of Ruin +1
Cyr: Hide Armor of Durability +1
Ferris: Medic's Battleaxe +1
Jezebel: Flaming Whip +1
Sir Exsixten: Inescapable Waraxe +1[/sblock]
The old man then makes a sweeping gesture, seeming to encompass you all with the motion, then ends it by touching his index finger to his forhead, and saying,
"Buku-djungi! Our contract complete now, eh? You probably wanting to rest. You can use my wahnga if you like. We gonna continue with Ringgitj here, got too much to discuss. When you ready, Berekis take you back to Daunton," he motions to the tiefling captain who nods his affirmation.
"If we need help again, I know where to find you, eh?," Botj adds with a wink, before turning to his fellow elders to discuss the disposal of the warlock's body and preparations for war.
[sblock="XP Awards (from June 15 on)"]XP for March 1 - June 15 previously awarded
here.
Skill Challenge - Nightime Visitations
(Lv 2, Complexity 4): 500 XP x 2 = 1000/5 =
200 XP per PC
Encounter 3
8 Rotshadow Tendrils (Lv 2 minion) @ 31xp each: 248 XP
3 Dark Stalker Eyeless Thralls (Lv 2 Skirmisher) @ 125xp each: 375 XP
623 XP x 2 = 1,246/5 =
249 XP per PC
Encounter 4
7 Rotshadow Tendrils (Lv 2 minion) @ 31xp each: 217 XP
217 XP x 2 = 434/5 =
86 XP per PC
Skill Challenge - Persuade the Mad King
(Lv 3, Complexity 2): 300 XP x 2 = 600/5 =
120 XP per PC
Encounter 5
7 Rotshadow Tendrils (Lv 2 minion) @ 31xp each: 217 XP
4 Dark Stalker Eyeless Thralls (Lv 2 Skirmisher) @ 125xp each: 500 XP
1 Shadow Hound: 250 XP
967 XP x 2 = 1,934/5 =
386 XP per PC
Encounter 6
Dhakanmirr (Lv 4 elite artillery): 350 XP
Hekthesh (Lv 4 elite skirmisher): 350 XP
Vestige Fragment of the Submerged Eye (Lv 5 "elite" minion controller): 100 XP
16 Rotshadow Tendrils (Lv 2 minion) @ 31xp each: 496 XP
1,296 XP x 2 = 2,592/5 =
518 XP per PC
Major Quest - Stop Dhakanmirr!
(Lv 2) = 625 XP x 2 = 1,250/5 =
250 XP per PC
Minor Quest - Retrieve Both Tjurunga Intact
(Lv2) = 125 XP x 2 = 250/5 =
50 XP per PC
Total Adventure XP
200 + 249 + 86 + 120 + 386 + 518 + 250 + 50 =
1,859 XP per PC
Time XP From June 15th to September 10th = 2.83 mos. at old rate
Alnar: 104 x 2.83 = 294
Cry: 104 x 2.83 = 294
Ferris: 104 x 2.83 = 294
Jezebel: 104 x 2.83 = 294
Sir Exsixten: 83 x 2.83 = 235
Time XP From September 10th to November 10th = 2 months at new rate
Alnar: 208 x 2 = 416
Cyr: 208 x 2 = 416
Ferris: 208 x 2 = 416
Jezebel: 208 x 2 = 416
Sir Exsixten: 166 x 2 = 332
XP TOTALS:
Alnar: 294 + 416 + 1,859 =
2,569 XP
Cyr: 294 + 416 + 1,859 =
2,569 XP
Ferris: 294 + 416 + 1,859 =
2,569 XP
Jezebel: 294 + 416 + 1,859 =
2,569 XP
Sir Exsixten: 235 + 332 + 1,859 =
2,426 XP[/sblock]
[sblock=Treasure Awards]Time GP for March 1 - June 15 previously awarded
here.
Encounter 1
Coins totaling 65 gp, 10 gp Alchemical Reagents, 15 gp Sanctified Incense, Amulet of Protection +1
Encounter 2
40 gp Alchemical Reagents, 40 gp Sanctified Incense, Create Holy Water ritual, Unseen Servant ritual, 2 potions of healing, 2 50 gp gems, Piecemeal Chainmail +1
Encounter 3
none
Encounter 4
75 gp gem, 2 x Clearsense Powder, Healing Potion
Encounter 5
none
Encounter 6
none
Quest Treasure
Staff of Ruin +1, Hide Armor of Durability +1, Medic's Battleaxe +1, Flaming Whip +1, Inescapable Waraxe +1
Time GP From June 15th to September 10th = 2.83 mos. at old rate
Alnar: 89 x 2.83 = 251
Cyr: 89 x 2.83 = 251
Ferris: 89 x 2.83 = 251
Jezebel: 89 x 2.83 = 251
Sir Exsixten: 63 x 2.83 = 178
Time GP From Spetember 10th to November 10th = 2 months at new rate
Alnar: 178 x 2 = 356
Cyr: 178 x 2 = 356
Ferris: 178 x 2 = 356
Jezebel: 178 x 2 = 356
Sir Exsixten: 126 x 2 = 252
Coin Totals
Alnar: 356 + 251 + 13 (from encounter 1) = 620gp
Cyr: 356 + 251 + 13 (from encounter 1) = 620gp
Ferris: 356 + 251 + 13 (from encounter 1) = 620gp
Jezebel: 356 + 251 + 13 (from encounter 1) = 620gp
Sir Exsixten: 252 + 178 + 13 (from encounter 1) = 443gp
FINAL TREASURE:
Alnar: 50gp worth of Alchemical Reagents, Unseen Servant ritual, Potion of Healing, Staff of Ruin +1
Cyr: 2 x Potion of Healing, 2 x Clearsense Powder, 75 gp gem, Hide Armor of Durability +1
Ferris: 55gp worth of Sanctified Incense, Create Holy Water ritual, 50 gp gem, Medic's Battleaxe +1
Jezebel: 50 gp gem, Amulet of Protection +1, Flaming Whip +1
Sir Exsixten: Piecemeal Chainmail +1, Inescapable Waraxe +1[/sblock]
[sblock=DM Credits]8 months worth (March 1 - November 10) x 2 = 16 credits[/sblock]
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OOC:
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Whew! *Wipes forehead*
Great job all, and thanks for letting me stretch my rusty DM chops! I may run a follow up at some point, but things have been busy enough lately that I probably need to take at least a short DM hiatus. Feel free to RP your way back to the tavern from here. You'll all need to resubmit though, as I think you're all picking up at least a level, if not two pending a judge's approval.
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Basic Atk: Battleaxe +7 vs AC, 1d10+4 dmg (Crit = 14 dmg)
Ranged Basic Atk: Javelin +7 vs AC, 1d6+4 dmg, Range 10/20 (2/2)
