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[PF] Old Gods, new tricks
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<blockquote data-quote="Doc Donuts" data-source="post: 7640686" data-attributes="member: 6999815"><p><strong>Session 2: The search for the missing Orc, a discovery and travel to the Big City. </strong></p><p></p><p>It is good that there is no one left to fight, it wouldn’t take much to finish them off. Mel is blind, and they are all wounded, with Ryll barely conscious. </p><p></p><p>Vanal and Figorna make sure that all of the Orcs are dead, and examine the bodies. The Orcs all have heavily scarred backs and look like they had not eaten well recently. They all wear iron bands around their left ankles, and from the scarred skin around the band it was obvious they had been wearing them for a long time. They all had good masterwork weapons and are wearing well made armor, but none of them had any other possessions. </p><p></p><p>The last creature they fought is a bigger mystery. There is no body in the clothing, which is sized for someone with a much slighter frame than the large Orcs. The clothing is much better quality than what the Orcs were wearing, and there is also a ring, belt and a small bundle of sticks with runes carved on them that all radiate magic. Examining the clothing further they find a strange gold coin sewn into the cloak the spellcaster was wearing. They take it all of it for later examination. </p><p></p><p>Mel describes what little he saw of it, namely a narrow pale face and violet oddly shaped eyes. None of them have any idea what it might have been as it was definitely not human, too tall for a halfling and not the right build for either an Orc or dwarf.</p><p></p><p>[OOC: Only PC races in the world are Orcs, humans, halflings and dwarves]</p><p></p><p>Ryll feels well enough to walk, so they decide to head back to the trail. Figorna takes the lead while Vanal lead Mel, who is still blind.</p><p></p><p>When they reach the path it is late afternoon. Vanal decides to hike back to the clearing to check out the remaining dead Orcs. He returns in about half an hour with troubling news. He found only three bodies, and there should have been four. The last Orc they fought in the clearing, the one that delayed them from chasing the Shaman and other Orc was not there and he couldn't find any trace of him. </p><p></p><p>The group debates whether or not it was better to stay and search for him, or head back to the village in case there were more in the area. In the end they decide to head back down the mountain and reach the village about half an hour after dark. </p><p></p><p>After warning a few of the locals they go back to Ryll's house and collapse. In the morning Mel removes his blindness and they heal themselves of most of the damage they had taken. They try to identify the items and determine they have a <em>Belt of Physical Perfection</em> and a <em>Ring of Feather Falling</em>. The rest are still a mystery.</p><p></p><p>With the village on a higher state of alert they go back up to investigate further. They find all of the bodies are where they left them, but one of the bows and all of the arrows are missing. They search the area all day looking for the missing Orc but never do find him. </p><p></p><p>They do find something though when they stop to rest for a bit. They are almost 400’ directly above the clearing they had picnicked on yesterday when Vanal notices something in the rocks right above him that looks a bit off. </p><p></p><p>Ryll climbs up to where Vanal points, secures a rope and drops it down so Vanal can follow. He looks around for a long time, and is about to give up when his hand passes through the side of the mountain. Not expecting that he stumbles and almost falls down the steep slope but manages to catch himself.</p><p></p><p>Mel and Figorna climb up to help. A little more examination reveals a large doorway of worked stone about 12’ high and 8’ wide. Even though they know it is an illusion they still can’t see through it, only their sense of touch allows them to determine what is really there. Mel tries without success to dispel it. </p><p></p><p>The four of them keep searching, and Ryll eventually finds a depression in the stone while standing on Figorna's shoulders. She feels around and pricks her finger on a needle trap, but whatever was on it is apparently no longer active. She manages to find a release mechanism and the door opens...Outwards, knocking all four of them off of the ledge. They tumble down the slope but are not seriously hurt.</p><p></p><p>They make their way back up, and Vanal goes inside. Once he is through the opening the visual illusion disappears for him, though it is still present for the others.</p><p></p><p>He is standing in a small room facing a second stone door. The walls are made of stone block and covered with runes in a language he doesn't recognize. He notices that the runes look a bit different every time he looks at the door. </p><p></p><p>Mel can barely look at the door when he detect the presence of magic, the aura is that strong. He concentrates and eventually gets the impression of very strong abjuration, illusion and transmutation magic, plus something else he cannot identify. The magic on the door keeps shifting in time with the runes changing. He keeps concentrating but can’t hold the shape of each rune in his mind, they didn't sit still long enough for that. </p><p></p><p>He tries dispelling the magic on the door, also without success. Figorna is a bit frustrated by the group's inability to open the door and before the others can stop her she touches the door, figuring she can disarm the trap by triggering it. The door's magic flares, flinging her across the room, barely alive but unconscious. </p><p></p><p>Ryll heals her and lectures her briefly about not touching magically glowing doors,. They keep searching, but eventually decide there is no other way in and leave. </p><p> </p><p> Once all of them are out of the room they hear the door gently shut, and there is no sign that there was any opening at all. Mel tries detecting magic again and gets nothing, but the illusion is still present. Vanal climbs back up and can feel the door with his hands.</p><p></p><p>They return to Longmont and plan their next move. Ryll and Figorna decide to stay in the village as Ryll is a bit worried that more Orcs would show up. </p><p></p><p>Vanal and Mel travel to Avenal. On the way they stop at Mel's farm and spent a day with his family. Mel explains to his wife <strong>Pella</strong> that he has to leave again and tells her about the Orcs. Vanal enjoys playing with Mel's two granddaughters and comments on how nice it is that the two toddlers didn’t inherit Mel's unfortunate looks. Mel’s wife agrees with him without reservation. </p><p></p><p>The next day they leave, and three days later are in Avenal. Mel goes to talk to his mentor <strong>Funewhite</strong>, a noted magical scholar who has mostly retired from public life and lives in a tower on the outskirts of the city. Vanal doesn't go with him, deciding that he needs to go shopping for missile weaponry. </p><p></p><p>Funewhite greets him warmly and they sit down and talk while his great-granddaughter make tea. Though frail, his mind is still clear and he seems excited to have a visitor. </p><p></p><p>Mel relays what had happened with the Orcs, and describes the battle. He doesn't mention the door and room they found at all, for some reason it doesn’t occur to him. Funewhite looks at the magical sticks and the coin and his eyes light up.</p><p></p><p>He explains that the sticks are a bit unusual, and act like either scrolls or potions depending how they were made. The construction technique are not used much locally, but are quite common in lands far to the East and are activated by breaking the stick. He is able to identify these as scrolls of <em>water breathing</em>, <em>remove poison</em> and two scrolls of <em>invisibility</em>. </p><p></p><p>The coin is even more interesting to him. It is quite smooth and while roughly circular in shape, closer examination showed that it was actually a heptadecagon, with seventeen equal length sides. </p><p></p><p>Funewhite tells him that it it not intended as money, but is probably a holy symbol. He can't remember the god's name, but suggests that Mel look in his library for more information. Mel can see his mentor is getting tired and takes him up on his suggestion to explore the library while Funewhite naps.</p><p></p><p>It takes a few hours to find, Funewhite’s library is mostly devoted to books on the arcane magical arts, but eventually he finds a book on religious myths that describes it. </p><p></p><p>Mel finds the book interesting. He personally has little use for the gods, even though he has some minor abilities in that area himself, somehow granted to him without him having to do the normal activities like prayer or devotion to some silly ideal or otherworldly being. </p><p></p><p>In his mind, he is a god, just not a very powerful one...yet. He decides that it is a shame that his Art consumes all his time. At some point it might be worth spending a little time learning more about religion. </p><p></p><p>But the book surprises him. He knew about the Twelve, as the major deities worshiped locally are called. He also knew that there are numerous other minor demi-gods that have a few worshipers here and there. But he never realized that Gods could be killed. The coin that he had looked like it belonged to a cleric of a dead god. </p><p></p><p>One section of the book describes a pantheon of gods that he had never heard of. Supposedly a few millennia ago they were the patrons of each of some of the major races, and according to legend, had created those races. These gods were competitive, and each one tried to advance the cause of their patron race, usually at the expense of everyone else.</p><p></p><p>According to the book this was a time of great turmoil. These were not remote deities, they were directly involved with their people and their servants walked the lands. <strong>Doershae</strong>, Creator of the Orcs exhorted his people to war with the other races. He was the most powerful god, and because of this the Orcs flourished. </p><p></p><p>The other gods tried to counter him. <strong>Helgei</strong>, Mother of the Dwarves and <strong>Pechinae</strong>, Elf-Father both fought hard, but they could not counter him. Only one of these gods held her people out of the conflict. <strong>Liotei</strong> spent her efforts protected the halfling tribes and tried to broker peace between the others, with almost no success. </p><p></p><p>This all went on for centuries. The humans, not having a patron deity, were too busy fighting among themselves to concern them with this type of religious wars, but a few ended up fighting in the conflict. Eventually though, the Orcs gradually began to win. The dwarves shifted to a defensive war, hunkering down in their mountain fortresses of stone. The elves tried to do something similar, retreating into the forests. They were less successful than the dwarves, and eventually they were overwhelmed. Pechinae was killed, and the elven race effectively ceased to exist. </p><p></p><p>Shortly after this, the remaining two other gods Helgei and Liotei, combined forces with other unknown entities and managed to banish Doershae, at the cost of severing their own connections to the world. Bereft of their power, their clerics turned to other deities, and within a few thousand years the old gods were forgotten.</p><p></p><p>Mel is not sure what to make of this. He has heard of elves, but they were stories to scare children, not real creatures. He spends a few more hours looking for other books, but finds nothing else. He says goodbye to Funewhite’s caretaker and leaves to meet Vanal for dinner.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Doc Donuts, post: 7640686, member: 6999815"] [B]Session 2: The search for the missing Orc, a discovery and travel to the Big City. [/B] It is good that there is no one left to fight, it wouldn’t take much to finish them off. Mel is blind, and they are all wounded, with Ryll barely conscious. Vanal and Figorna make sure that all of the Orcs are dead, and examine the bodies. The Orcs all have heavily scarred backs and look like they had not eaten well recently. They all wear iron bands around their left ankles, and from the scarred skin around the band it was obvious they had been wearing them for a long time. They all had good masterwork weapons and are wearing well made armor, but none of them had any other possessions. The last creature they fought is a bigger mystery. There is no body in the clothing, which is sized for someone with a much slighter frame than the large Orcs. The clothing is much better quality than what the Orcs were wearing, and there is also a ring, belt and a small bundle of sticks with runes carved on them that all radiate magic. Examining the clothing further they find a strange gold coin sewn into the cloak the spellcaster was wearing. They take it all of it for later examination. Mel describes what little he saw of it, namely a narrow pale face and violet oddly shaped eyes. None of them have any idea what it might have been as it was definitely not human, too tall for a halfling and not the right build for either an Orc or dwarf. [OOC: Only PC races in the world are Orcs, humans, halflings and dwarves] Ryll feels well enough to walk, so they decide to head back to the trail. Figorna takes the lead while Vanal lead Mel, who is still blind. When they reach the path it is late afternoon. Vanal decides to hike back to the clearing to check out the remaining dead Orcs. He returns in about half an hour with troubling news. He found only three bodies, and there should have been four. The last Orc they fought in the clearing, the one that delayed them from chasing the Shaman and other Orc was not there and he couldn't find any trace of him. The group debates whether or not it was better to stay and search for him, or head back to the village in case there were more in the area. In the end they decide to head back down the mountain and reach the village about half an hour after dark. After warning a few of the locals they go back to Ryll's house and collapse. In the morning Mel removes his blindness and they heal themselves of most of the damage they had taken. They try to identify the items and determine they have a [I]Belt of Physical Perfection[/I] and a [I]Ring of Feather Falling[/I]. The rest are still a mystery. With the village on a higher state of alert they go back up to investigate further. They find all of the bodies are where they left them, but one of the bows and all of the arrows are missing. They search the area all day looking for the missing Orc but never do find him. They do find something though when they stop to rest for a bit. They are almost 400’ directly above the clearing they had picnicked on yesterday when Vanal notices something in the rocks right above him that looks a bit off. Ryll climbs up to where Vanal points, secures a rope and drops it down so Vanal can follow. He looks around for a long time, and is about to give up when his hand passes through the side of the mountain. Not expecting that he stumbles and almost falls down the steep slope but manages to catch himself. Mel and Figorna climb up to help. A little more examination reveals a large doorway of worked stone about 12’ high and 8’ wide. Even though they know it is an illusion they still can’t see through it, only their sense of touch allows them to determine what is really there. Mel tries without success to dispel it. The four of them keep searching, and Ryll eventually finds a depression in the stone while standing on Figorna's shoulders. She feels around and pricks her finger on a needle trap, but whatever was on it is apparently no longer active. She manages to find a release mechanism and the door opens...Outwards, knocking all four of them off of the ledge. They tumble down the slope but are not seriously hurt. They make their way back up, and Vanal goes inside. Once he is through the opening the visual illusion disappears for him, though it is still present for the others. He is standing in a small room facing a second stone door. The walls are made of stone block and covered with runes in a language he doesn't recognize. He notices that the runes look a bit different every time he looks at the door. Mel can barely look at the door when he detect the presence of magic, the aura is that strong. He concentrates and eventually gets the impression of very strong abjuration, illusion and transmutation magic, plus something else he cannot identify. The magic on the door keeps shifting in time with the runes changing. He keeps concentrating but can’t hold the shape of each rune in his mind, they didn't sit still long enough for that. He tries dispelling the magic on the door, also without success. Figorna is a bit frustrated by the group's inability to open the door and before the others can stop her she touches the door, figuring she can disarm the trap by triggering it. The door's magic flares, flinging her across the room, barely alive but unconscious. Ryll heals her and lectures her briefly about not touching magically glowing doors,. They keep searching, but eventually decide there is no other way in and leave. Once all of them are out of the room they hear the door gently shut, and there is no sign that there was any opening at all. Mel tries detecting magic again and gets nothing, but the illusion is still present. Vanal climbs back up and can feel the door with his hands. They return to Longmont and plan their next move. Ryll and Figorna decide to stay in the village as Ryll is a bit worried that more Orcs would show up. Vanal and Mel travel to Avenal. On the way they stop at Mel's farm and spent a day with his family. Mel explains to his wife [B]Pella[/B] that he has to leave again and tells her about the Orcs. Vanal enjoys playing with Mel's two granddaughters and comments on how nice it is that the two toddlers didn’t inherit Mel's unfortunate looks. Mel’s wife agrees with him without reservation. The next day they leave, and three days later are in Avenal. Mel goes to talk to his mentor [B]Funewhite[/B], a noted magical scholar who has mostly retired from public life and lives in a tower on the outskirts of the city. Vanal doesn't go with him, deciding that he needs to go shopping for missile weaponry. Funewhite greets him warmly and they sit down and talk while his great-granddaughter make tea. Though frail, his mind is still clear and he seems excited to have a visitor. Mel relays what had happened with the Orcs, and describes the battle. He doesn't mention the door and room they found at all, for some reason it doesn’t occur to him. Funewhite looks at the magical sticks and the coin and his eyes light up. He explains that the sticks are a bit unusual, and act like either scrolls or potions depending how they were made. The construction technique are not used much locally, but are quite common in lands far to the East and are activated by breaking the stick. He is able to identify these as scrolls of [I]water breathing[/I], [I]remove poison[/I] and two scrolls of [I]invisibility[/I]. The coin is even more interesting to him. It is quite smooth and while roughly circular in shape, closer examination showed that it was actually a heptadecagon, with seventeen equal length sides. Funewhite tells him that it it not intended as money, but is probably a holy symbol. He can't remember the god's name, but suggests that Mel look in his library for more information. Mel can see his mentor is getting tired and takes him up on his suggestion to explore the library while Funewhite naps. It takes a few hours to find, Funewhite’s library is mostly devoted to books on the arcane magical arts, but eventually he finds a book on religious myths that describes it. Mel finds the book interesting. He personally has little use for the gods, even though he has some minor abilities in that area himself, somehow granted to him without him having to do the normal activities like prayer or devotion to some silly ideal or otherworldly being. In his mind, he is a god, just not a very powerful one...yet. He decides that it is a shame that his Art consumes all his time. At some point it might be worth spending a little time learning more about religion. But the book surprises him. He knew about the Twelve, as the major deities worshiped locally are called. He also knew that there are numerous other minor demi-gods that have a few worshipers here and there. But he never realized that Gods could be killed. The coin that he had looked like it belonged to a cleric of a dead god. One section of the book describes a pantheon of gods that he had never heard of. Supposedly a few millennia ago they were the patrons of each of some of the major races, and according to legend, had created those races. These gods were competitive, and each one tried to advance the cause of their patron race, usually at the expense of everyone else. According to the book this was a time of great turmoil. These were not remote deities, they were directly involved with their people and their servants walked the lands. [B]Doershae[/B], Creator of the Orcs exhorted his people to war with the other races. He was the most powerful god, and because of this the Orcs flourished. The other gods tried to counter him. [B]Helgei[/B], Mother of the Dwarves and [B]Pechinae[/B], Elf-Father both fought hard, but they could not counter him. Only one of these gods held her people out of the conflict. [B]Liotei[/B] spent her efforts protected the halfling tribes and tried to broker peace between the others, with almost no success. This all went on for centuries. The humans, not having a patron deity, were too busy fighting among themselves to concern them with this type of religious wars, but a few ended up fighting in the conflict. Eventually though, the Orcs gradually began to win. The dwarves shifted to a defensive war, hunkering down in their mountain fortresses of stone. The elves tried to do something similar, retreating into the forests. They were less successful than the dwarves, and eventually they were overwhelmed. Pechinae was killed, and the elven race effectively ceased to exist. Shortly after this, the remaining two other gods Helgei and Liotei, combined forces with other unknown entities and managed to banish Doershae, at the cost of severing their own connections to the world. Bereft of their power, their clerics turned to other deities, and within a few thousand years the old gods were forgotten. Mel is not sure what to make of this. He has heard of elves, but they were stories to scare children, not real creatures. He spends a few more hours looking for other books, but finds nothing else. He says goodbye to Funewhite’s caretaker and leaves to meet Vanal for dinner. [/QUOTE]
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