Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Tales of the Legacy - Concluded
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Delemental" data-source="post: 2963649" data-attributes="member: 5203"><p>Soon the party was skimming along the ocean waves in a small catamaran, sea spray flying in their faces. Kyle pulled at the ropes, familiarizing himself with the unusual craft, while Lanara laid in the center of the deck, trying not to move or open her eyes.</p><p></p><p> It was only an hour before they reached the place that Lanara identified as Tishalullé’s lair. Four spires of black rock jutted out from the ocean, looking like a clawed hand ready to clutch a passing ship and pull it under. Kyle brought their ship into the center of the rocks, then brought it into the wind to empty the sails and stop it.</p><p></p><p> “Okay, now what?” he asked.</p><p></p><p> “I’m not sure,” Lanara said, still quite queasy after the boat ride. “Either she comes to us, or more likely we go to her. I say wait here a few minutes to see if anything happens. If not, then we probably have to get wet.”</p><p></p><p> The Legacy waited on their ship, listening to the waves lap against the hulls and against the four monoliths around them. As Lanara expected, nothing happened. She even tried singing a song announcing their presence and asking Tishalullé to see them.</p><p></p><p> “I can cast <em>water breathing</em> now,” Tolly said. “We’ll have about three hours.”</p><p></p><p> “Maybe we should wait,” Arrie said.</p><p></p><p> “We are going down there, aren’t we?” the priest asked.</p><p></p><p> “Yes, but maybe we should see if we can get down there without it,” she explained. “Your spell is the only one we have available to us today, and we don’t know what else we’ll need to do. Tishalullé’s price may involve going somewhere else in the ocean. Or we may have to fight more Drowned, or even whatever is causing these disturbances.”</p><p></p><p> “Then maybe a couple of you could check it out first?” suggested Lanara. “Wake me up when you get back.” With that, she laid down on the deck and closed her eyes.</p><p></p><p> Arrie and Xu dove off the side, and went down. A few minutes later, they surfaced.</p><p></p><p> “Looks like we’ll need your spell, Tolly,” Arrie said. “It’s too deep to hold your breath.”</p><p></p><p> One spell later, the entire group was diving into the ocean. They swam for several minutes, until they finally spotted a cave entrance on the ocean floor. After procuring a few light sources, they swam into the cave, which went almost straight down for several yards until it suddenly bent and turned upward again, leading into a large underwater cavern. The cavern floor sloped gently upward, leading to a ledge at the back where they could see a pocket of air. Inside the air pocket was what looked to be a laboratory of some sort. At the far end of the cave, sitting underwater on a throne carved of black basalt, was a hideous, green skinned woman.</p><p></p><p> “Welcome,” the hag said, in heavily accented Common. “So, what brings the land-dwellers to the abode of Tishalullé?”</p><p></p><p> “We have questions,” Tolly said, “and we have heard that you are a source of answers that can generally be trusted.”</p><p></p><p> “The spirits never guide Tishalullé wrong,” she replied.</p><p></p><p> “The ocean dwellers have been very edgy of late,” Tolly began.</p><p></p><p> “Tishalullé knows this,” the hag said. “What do you wish to know?”</p><p></p><p> “We have friends among those who live on the islands,” Lanara said. “They have been subjected to attacks lately. We believe that the force that is causing these attacks is the same that is causing the disturbance among the sea life, and if so, we wish to know what that is and how to stop it.”</p><p></p><p> “The spirits demand a price that is high for answers that search so far,” Tishalullé said.</p><p></p><p> “And what happens if we don’t wish to pay their price?” Lanara asked.</p><p></p><p> The hag smiled, showing off jagged, crooked teeth. “Then your question goes unanswered, land-dweller, as do many of the great questions of this life.”</p><p></p><p> “What price do the spirits ask for the information we seek?” Arrie asked.</p><p></p><p> “The spirit’s business is the spirit’s own,” Tishalullé said. “Their first price is secrecy. You must not tell anyone what they ask of you.”</p><p></p><p> The group nodded. They’d been expecting this, and it wasn’t as though they were unaccustomed to promises not to reveal information.</p><p></p><p> “The spirits can count on our discretion,” Arrie said.</p><p></p><p> “Tishalullé knows this.” The hag inhaled deeply, seeming to almost fall asleep for a brief moment. Then she opened her black, soulless eyes. “The spirits need one of their own returned to them. The spirit has drifted from where they belong, into the realm of the spirits of the dead. You must find a spirit of the living in the land of the dead, and return it to its proper place. Do this, and then return to see Tishalullé. Then the spirits will answer your questions.”</p><p></p><p> “Is there a time limit on this?” Lanara asked.</p><p></p><p> “Only if your questions have one,” Tishalullé said.</p><p></p><p> “Okay, then,” Lanara said. “As soon as possible then. Kyle, let’s go home and take a nap.”</p><p></p><p> Kyle tried hard to suppress a grin and almost succeeded. “Gosh, Lanara, Autumn would be awfully upset…”</p><p></p><p> “Not with me, you moron!” Lanara blurted. “I’m interested in someone else!”</p><p></p><p> “Besides, she is pursuing a prince, not a mere duke,” Xu said, getting into the spirit.</p><p></p><p> “I’m not quite a duke,” Kyle corrected.</p><p></p><p> “That’s right, ‘Duke-Consort’,” Arrie quipped.</p><p></p><p> “While this conversation is fascinating, land-dwellers,” Tishalullé sighed, “it would be better if you held it somewhere else.”</p><p></p><p> Tolly turned to the hag. “You have no idea how many times I’ve tried to say that.” He paused. “Actually, you might.”</p><p></p><p> Tishalullé smiled at Tolly, which seemed to be intended as charming, though the effect was more terrifying.</p><p></p><p> Their return trip to the island was uneventful, other than the fact that Kyle ended up sailing in the wrong direction for an hour before the party noted that the sun should really be ahead of them, not behind them. As they’d decided not to discuss the hag’s terms until they could present it to everyone, the ride back was also mostly silent. Lanara slept again on the tight netting between the hulls, until they were just about to slide onto the beach, when Tolly reached over and startled her awake, shouting about how the boat was capsizing. A moment later the cansin, her face covered with sand, jumped back up onto the catamaran and shoved Tolly off the other side.</p><p></p><p> The party reunited with Autumn and Osborn, and told them of Tishalullé’s bargain. They agreed that on the surface, the price seemed acceptable, though some niggling questions remained.</p><p></p><p> “What kind of spirit?” Autumn asked.</p><p></p><p> “I think more important than ‘what’ is ‘how’,” Osborn said. “Any idea how you find an unborn spirit on the Shadow plane and get it back?”</p><p></p><p> Everyone looked at Kyle, who shrugged. “No idea. If we were somewhere with a library, I could look it up, but…” he gestured to the palm trees and grass huts surrounding them.</p><p></p><p> “Let me ask around,” Lanara said. “Someone on this island might know something.”</p><p></p><p> As it turned out, Lanara was right. She learned that there was a hermit who lived on the top of the mountain peak, who was called simply ‘the wise man’. It was suggested that he was very knowledgeable about mystical matters. Lanara, Arrie, Xu and Osborn decided to make the journey, leaving Tolly, Autumn and Kyle behind to rest up for tomorrow’s journey and to help if there were any more attacks on the island.</p><p></p><p> The sun was low in the sky by the time the four adventurers made their way up the mountain to the peak. Once there, they were surprised to see that the peak was somewhat flat, and torches had been set all around the mountain. Two other features stood out; the first was an enormous tree, whose trunk was so large that the four of them, linking hands, would not have been able to reach even halfway around. The other was a man, who was sitting on a rock looking north. His hair and long beard were wild and unkempt, and his skin was dark and weathered. He wore simple clothing made of hemp, without any of the bright colors or patterns seen in the native garb. Cautiously, the adventurers approached.</p><p></p><p> “Hello,” said the wise man in a dry, yet deep voice. “Have you come to watch the storm?” His eyes were deep set, but piercing; Lanara immediately noticed that one of his eyes was ocean blue, the other bright green, much like her own.</p><p></p><p> “We weren’t aware there was a storm,” Lanara said.</p><p></p><p> The wise man pointed north. They all looked, but could see nothing but blue sky and ocean.</p><p></p><p> “A storm is coming,” the wise man said, “A very unusual storm.” Then he turned his gaze onto the group. “But you didn’t come to ask me about a storm.”</p><p></p><p> Looking out over the ocean, Arrie was suddenly not so sure they shouldn’t be asking about it. She recalled the magestorm they’d endured in Noxolt, when Kyle and Autumn had been attacked by the Scion-Watchers, and they’d met the two dragons Anduriel and Tiranel. Arrie wondered if this ‘unusual’ storm was another one like it. But without being able to see anything herself, there was no way to even guess what made the supposed storm so odd to the wise man.</p><p></p><p> “We have come to ask your help in a quest we’ve been given,” Lanara said. “You seem to be our best bet for getting the information we need.”</p><p></p><p> “What kind of information?”</p><p></p><p> “We need to find a spirit that belongs on the Ethereal Plane and return it there, but it’s currently on the Shadow,” Lanara explained. “We’re not certain how to accomplish this.”</p><p></p><p> “You seek life and death,” the wise man said. “How ironic. Most seek neither, as they already possess the one, and the other will come to find them in due time.”</p><p></p><p> “So, any suggestions?” Lanara was hoping this wouldn’t be one of those ‘wise men’ that dispensed knowledge in indecipherable mumbo-jumbo or obtuse prophecy.</p><p></p><p> “Death abhors life,” the wise man said, “and therefore will try to hunt it and subsume it. In the realm of death, watch for those who live there. Wherever they go, you will find the life you seek. This is the cycle. Death feeds on life, life feeds on death.”</p><p></p><p> “Okay,” Lanara said. It was surprisingly straightforward advice, but the bard felt it wasn’t quite enough. They knew how to find the spirit, but how to get it back? “I don’t suppose you have anything of more… tangible assistance to us? The advice and knowledge is insightful, but getting the spirit back where it belongs is beyond our capability.”</p><p></p><p> The wise man looked at Lanara for a moment, and then suddenly stood up, jumped off his rock, and walked over to the large tree. Transforming himself into a monkey, he climbed up to the highest branches. He returned carrying a branch, which bore leaves and a few small, unripe fruits which none of them recognized. Turning back into a human, the wise man looked the group over for a moment, and then handed the branch to Xu.</p><p></p><p> “This is a key,” the wise man said. “It opens the door between death and life. It will only work once, so use it wisely.”</p><p></p><p> “Thank you,” Xu said, bowing.</p><p></p><p> “There is a price,” the wise man said. “This tree marks a place of power, a place where the cycle of Erito takes form*. By taking this key to the Shadow, you empower the realm of death, ever so slightly, until the key is used. To take this key, you must provide a counterbalance to the realm of life.”</p><p></p><p> “Okay,” Lanara said, “how do we do that?”</p><p></p><p> “One of you must remain here, close to the tree, until the key is used,” the wise man explained. “The realm of life will draw upon your own living spirit to balance the power. Whoever stays will not be harmed by this.”</p><p></p><p> The four climbers looked at each other. “I’ll stay,” Osborn offered. “If you guys are going to the Shadow plane, you’ll probably end up fighting undead, and that’s not really my strong point anyway.” The hin drew his short sword and held it out, pommel first. “This sword’s enchanted to really hurt undead. If someone wants to borrow it, they can.”</p><p></p><p> “Thanks, Osborn,” Lanara said, taking the sword and sliding it in her pack. “We’ll hurry back.”</p><p></p><p> “Don’t worry about it,” Osborn said. “I can hang out up here for a while. I’ll get some rest, watch the storm coming in, climb the tree…”</p><p></p><p> “Do not climb the tree,” the wise man said.</p><p></p><p> “Okay, then, I won’t do that.” But he turned and flashed a big wink to Arrie.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">* * *</p><p></p><p> The next morning, the party assembled on the beach, ready to go.</p><p></p><p> “Oh, wonderful,” Arrie sighed. “Another trip to the land of the dead.”</p><p></p><p> “At least it’s not involuntary,” Tolly offered.</p><p></p><p> “Yeah, because the last time I was placed involuntarily into a near-death state it was a laugh riot,” Arrie griped.</p><p></p><p> “And you could have out-drank a dwarf afterward,” Tolly said.</p><p></p><p> “I had a lot of living to catch up on.”</p><p></p><p> “I’m not sure I would consider that ‘living’.”</p><p></p><p> “The presence of sensation was all I needed,” Arrie said. “Even the hangover was enjoyable.”</p><p></p><p> “I’ve had mornings like that,” Lanara said.</p><p></p><p> “Anyway,” Kyle said, “are we ready?” Besides wanting to get started, Kyle didn’t want Arrie to keep dwelling on her experiences in Miracle too much. She’d have a hard enough time having to be in the Shadow plane at all.</p><p></p><p> Kyle cast his spell, and soon they all found themselves in the gray, featureless expanse of the Shadow plane. They looked around at the landscape, a distorted mirror image of the real world. Sound was muted, and color almost nonexistent. Everyone shuddered and pulled their cloaks tightly around their shoulders as the chill of the plane set in.</p><p></p><p> “Anyone have an idea where we should start?” Lanara asked. “I don’t see any ethereal spirits around here.”</p><p></p><p> “Hold on,” Kyle said. He cast a spell, and suddenly a large number of eyeballs appeared around him. He concentrated for a moment, and then the eyes zoomed off in all directions.</p><p></p><p> “That’s a disturbing spell, Kyle,” Tolly said.</p><p></p><p> “I’ve instructed them to return when they see a large group of creatures besides us,” Kyle said. If it’s within a mile, we should be able to spot them.”</p><p></p><p> The party waited on the gray beach near the gray ocean, watching as barely-audible gray waves crashed at their feet. After about forty-five minutes, one of the eyes zipped back. Kyle held it in his hand for a while, his eyes closed, and then the eye vanished with a pop.</p><p></p><p> “I’ve got it,” he said. “They’re out by where Tishalullé lives. There’s a white ghost-like spirit being pursued by several shadowy black creatures. There seems to be an energy or essence leaking out of the white spirit. They’re all coming this way.”</p><p></p><p> “Let’s go,” said Tolly, drawing his maul.</p><p></p><p> “No need,” Kyle said. “Things travel faster on the Shadow. They’ll be on top of us in a minute or so. Get ready.”</p><p></p><p> The party made their preparations, casting a bevy of protective spells. Lanara’s bardic song was already underway when the mob reached them.</p><p></p><p> The saw the white ghostly form, hazy and indistinct, racing straight toward them. Behind it was a half-dozen of the black forms, which looked like shadows, though larger and more… shadowy than ones they’d seen before. Xu immediately ran forward, and with her natural foot speed enhanced by Kyle’s <em>haste </em>spell, she was able to close with the lead shadow in mere moments. Unfortunately, her very solid fist passed right through the insubstantial shadow. Xu felt numbing cold spreading up to her shoulder before she withdrew her arm.</p><p></p><p> Arrie was the next to move in, running right past the spirit and into the largest cluster of shadows. She swung her chain wide, and connected with all four as they tried to pass her. All four recoiled as the metal chain ripped through them; it had been enchanted to deal with insubstantial creatures such as they. Ignoring their prize, the four shadows converged on Arrie, a situation that seemed to suit the warrior just fine.</p><p></p><p> Tolly moved up to assist Arrie, ready to bathe the area with celestial brilliance. But as the spirit floated by, he paused. Though indistinct, the spirit’s features were definitely hag-like.</p><p></p><p> <em>No wonder Tishalullé wanted this spirit saved</em>, he thought. He was about to release his spell, but again hesitated. The spell damaged evil creatures; it would hurt the shadows, but what about the unborn soul of a hag? He focused for a moment on the spirit, using his training as an Inquisitor to read the hag’s aura. As he expected, there was a strong taint of evil. Sighing, he abandoned his spell, knowing that he risked destroying the spirit they’d come to rescue.</p><p></p><p> Autumn charged the one shadow that had slipped past the others, laying into it with her axe but failing to connect with the insubstantial shadow. Kyle launched an immense sphere of electricity into the group around Arrie, bending his spell through sheer will to create a hole in the blast around his friend. Two of the shadows were unharmed, but one vaporized, and another appeared to diminish.</p><p></p><p> Lanara looked to see where she could help out. She saw the shadow attacking Autumn connect, drawing the sentinel’s strength away, and decided to come to her aid. She started to release the strings of her lute so she could hurl a whip <em>feather token</em> at the shadow, but suddenly a compulsion seized her, and she realized she didn’t want to stop playing. <em>Qin-Chu’s Toes!</em> she swore to herself, realizing that for the first time since she’d begun collecting and merging the True Instruments, she had failed to maintain control over them. All she could do was keep playing, and hope it would end soon.</p><p></p><p> Arrie swung her chain again, ripping through shadows, while nearby Xu pounded her target with fists and feet, connecting enough times to batter the undead creature senseless. Autumn and her shadow were also locked in combat, the sentinel’s greataxe flashing despite the oppressive gloom of the plane. The hag-spirit floated past Kyle, in the rear of the battle, who immediately stepped toward it.</p><p></p><p> “Wait!” he called out, “we’re here to help you! We can get you home!”</p><p> When the spirit paused, Kyle reached out and cast a spell, covering the spirit in a shroud of negative energy that hid it from the shadow’s senses. The spirit, seeing that the shadows were no longer trying to break away from combat to pursue it, stopped running and turned to Kyle.</p><p></p><p> “You… help me?” it asked in an ephemeral voice.</p><p></p><p> Tolly lent his aid to Autumn, blasting her shadow with <em>deific vengeance</em>, even as Arrie finished off two more shadows and Xu destroyed hers as well. The two remaining shadows tried to break away and run, but the party converged on them and destroyed them.</p><p></p><p> As the party wound down from the frenzy of battle, they immediately noticed that Lanara was still singing. “Um, Lanara?” Arrie ventured.</p><p></p><p> Lanara looked at the warrior. Her face strained with a sudden effort, and a trickle of sweat ran down her forehead. Abruptly, the bard stopped singing, and with a sigh put her instrument away. “Yes?” she asked.</p><p></p><p> “Don’t you normally do more in battle while singing?” Tolly asked.</p><p></p><p> “Shut up!” the cansin snapped. “You know not of what you speak! Be quiet!” Tolly shrugged and turned away.</p><p></p><p> They all gathered around the hag-spirit next, who seemed weak and frail. Its essence was still trailing off into the Shadow, though not as rapidly. “You… help me… out….”</p><p></p><p>“Sure,” Lanara said, “we’re the good guys.”</p><p></p><p>“Actually, in this case that would normally be an impediment,” said Arrie, “but sure, we’ll help.”</p><p></p><p> “Door…” the hag-spirit said, pointing with a bony, withered finger toward the center of the island, indicating the top of the mountain.</p><p></p><p>“Door it is, then,” said Kyle, and they floated off.</p><p></p><p>It took only a few minutes for the party to close the distance to the island’s peak. The first thing they noticed at the top was that the enormous tree that they’d seen there was also present in the Shadow plane. This was unusual enough, since most of the time living plants and animals in the material world were not reflected in the Shadow, but what made it stand out more was that the tree was a deep, lightless black, that seemed to absorb what little light there was.</p><p></p><p>“Door…” the hag-spirit said, pointing at the tree.</p><p></p><p>“Looks like we have a ‘tree of life’ thing going here,” Lanara said. “Xu, you stil got that stick?”</p><p></p><p>The monk produced the branch. “But if this is the key, where is the lock?” she asked.</p><p></p><p>Most of the party started searching the tree, while Arrie and Tolly kept an eye out for undead. Finally, Xu found a spot on the bark that was loose, and when she moved it aside, a bean of white light shot out across the plane.</p><p></p><p>“I think that’s it,” Lanara said.</p><p></p><p>The party and the spirit gathered around as Xu placed the end of the stick against the beam. The light spread up and down in a thin line, and then began to widen, giving a visual impression of someone opening a set of double doors into a brightly lit room. When the light had reached about ten feet across and about twenty high, it stopped, and there was an audible click, which sounded clear despite the sound-muting properties of the Shadow plane. Suddenly, there was an enormous rushing of force toward the doorway, as though they had opened into a vacuum and air was rushing in. The hag-spirit rushed through the door without hesitation, while the party resisted the pull. Unfortunately, the pull was very strong, and moments later Kyle, Autumn, Xu, and Lanara were sucked through the doorway and vanished.</p><p></p><p>“We should go after them!” Tolly shouted over the maelstrom.</p><p></p><p>Arrie hesitated. She had no idea if going to the Ethereal plane would cause problems for her as a psionic being. She’d never even considered bringing the subject up to Aran, or even Kyle.</p><p></p><p>Tolly sensed her uncertainty. “Think of it as a rebirth!” he yelled, offering her his hand.</p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Well, better the plane of the unborn than the plane of the dead,</em> she thought, and took Tolly’s hand and let herself be pulled through the door just as it slammed shut.</p><p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center">* * *</p><p></p><p> Literally a world away, but not as far as he thought, Osborn had grown bored. He’d spent the night up on the mountain, and initially had enjoyed exploring, climbing around the mountain, and watching for the alleged storm to the north that never materialized. But the wise man proved a limited conversationalist, and he soon ran out of entertaining things to throw rocks at. When he awoke the next morning, he decided he was going to climb the big tree.</p><p></p><p> Osborn looked in on the wise man, and saw that he was sitting in meditation, his eyes closed. Quietly, he slipped away and approached the enormous tree. Try as he might, Osborn couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of tree it was, or how old. But the bark was rough, and there were a lot of sturdy branches, so the tree was practically begging to be climbed.</p><p></p><p> He made his way up into the foliage, scampering up nearly as fast as the wise man had yesterday while in the form of a monkey. Surprisingly, he saw no signs of insects, or birds nesting in the branches. The leaves were very dense, and Osborn only caught the occasional glimpse of sunlight peeking through.</p><p></p><p> He decided he would try and find the spot where the wise man had broken off the branch he’d given to Xu. It took several minutes of guesswork and climbing, but finally he was able to locate a tiny knothole in one of the highest branches. Examining the hole, Osborn was surprised to see that it didn’t look like that branch had been cut off, nor broken off. It had simply detached and fallen off in the wise man’s hands. The wood showing through the small round hole was white, and felt slightly springy. As he considered this, he noticed a slight sparkling near the knothole. As he watched, the sparkling coalesced into a faint white light that seemed to emanate from under the bark. Curious, Osborn poked at the hole with a finger to see if it was warm to the touch. As soon as he did, however, his finger stuck fast as if glued in place. As Osborn pulled at his hand to free it, the light began to spread up his finger toward his wrist. The light was warm and pleasant feeling, but still unnerving to Osborn, who tried desperately to break free. The light spread quickly up his arm and shoulder, and enveloped his chest. Within moments, it had covered his entire body. With a cry of surprise, Osborn vanished into thin air, and the light disappeared. Where Osborn’s finger had been stuck, a small branch laden with immature fruits now protruded.</p><p></p><p> A short distance away, the wise man opened his eyes. “I told him not to climb the tree,” he said to no one in particular, and then turned into a seagull and flew off.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">* * *</p><p></p><p> The Ethereal plane is the realm of the unborn. It is also the realm of possibility, of potential. Like its opposite, the Shadow, the surface of Aelfenn is reflected in the Ethereal, though here the images of living things can be seen as well. Unlike the Shadow, everything is shrouded in white, and there is an explosion of life and vitality there. Looking skyward, one sees not only the weather as it is, but in every possible combination. Thus clear skies coexist with hurricanes, gentle rain showers, even snowstorms. Plant and animal life of every variety bursts from the ground, overlapping each other. Here a desert cactus crowds out a fern, there a family of squirrels rides on the back of an elasmosaurus.</p><p></p><p> The party found themselves marveling at these sights, as they stood at the base of the only non-mutable object in the area; the tree atop the mountain, which was now pure white in color. Nearby, the hag-spirit stood, absorbing the energy of its home plane. Once Kyle had dispelled the shroud of negative energy around it, the spirit had begun to grow and heal, the rents in its form closing even as it grew from a shriveled form the size of a human to its full, nine-foot height.</p><p></p><p> The hag-spirit regarded the party. “This… will not be forgotten.” Then the hag turned and floated off rapidly.</p><p></p><p> “Say hello to Tishalullé for us!” Lanara called out.</p><p></p><p> “So, I take it that was the spirit you had to rescue?” Osborn asked.</p><p></p><p> Everyone turned at once. “What are you doing here?” Arrie said, shocked.</p><p></p><p> Osborn explained his tree-climbing adventure and what had happened to him. After the party filled him in on the rescue, Tolly looked around.</p><p></p><p> “So, are we ready to go back?” he asked.</p><p></p><p> “Shouldn’t we get closer to the village, so we don’t have to climb down the mountain?” Kyle asked.</p><p></p><p> Tolly shook his head. “The <em>plane shift</em> spell is inaccurate, much like your <em>shadow walk</em> over long distances,” he said. “In fact, I can guarantee that we’ll be off target. Which reminds me…” Tolly cast a spell, and touched everyone in the group. “That will keep you from sinking.”</p><p></p><p> “How far off the mark will this land us?” Lanara asked.</p><p></p><p> “Anywhere from one league to about a hundred and fifty leagues,” Tolly said. Noting the looks he was getting, he added, “our other choice is to look for another ‘door’ like this one, but even then we have no key. And the natives here aren’t necessarily friendly.”</p><p></p><p> “So, we’re getting wet,” Kyle said. “Well, let’s just hope for the best.”</p><p></p><p> The party joined hands, and Tolly cast his spell. Moments later, they had vanished.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">* * *</p><p></p><p> High in the sky, the wise man circled in the thermal currents above the island. He looked all around him as he flew, but paused as he glanced northeast.</p><p></p><p> <em>Odd,</em> he thought to himself, <em>why would seven people choose to stand in the middle of the ocean?</em></p><p></p><p>-----------------------------------</p><p></p><p>* Recall that in this setting, Erito is the goddess of magic as well as life and death. She transforms the energy of life and death into magic - whenever a soul leaves the Ethereal to be born as a new being, or when a being dies and their soul goes to the Shadow, a little bit of the energy used in that transition bleeds off and gets used by Erito.</p><p></p><p>This is the reason that characters who are raised lose a level; it's called 'Erito's Tithe', and is the payment that a raised soul has to make to compensate for the energy that Erito loses. In the case of a <em>true resurrection</em>, the assumption is that the cleric casting the spell is in such high standing with their deity that the deity pays the Tithe for the raised soul (or, if the cleric is a priest of Erito, she just foregoes the Tithe).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Delemental, post: 2963649, member: 5203"] Soon the party was skimming along the ocean waves in a small catamaran, sea spray flying in their faces. Kyle pulled at the ropes, familiarizing himself with the unusual craft, while Lanara laid in the center of the deck, trying not to move or open her eyes. It was only an hour before they reached the place that Lanara identified as Tishalullé’s lair. Four spires of black rock jutted out from the ocean, looking like a clawed hand ready to clutch a passing ship and pull it under. Kyle brought their ship into the center of the rocks, then brought it into the wind to empty the sails and stop it. “Okay, now what?” he asked. “I’m not sure,” Lanara said, still quite queasy after the boat ride. “Either she comes to us, or more likely we go to her. I say wait here a few minutes to see if anything happens. If not, then we probably have to get wet.” The Legacy waited on their ship, listening to the waves lap against the hulls and against the four monoliths around them. As Lanara expected, nothing happened. She even tried singing a song announcing their presence and asking Tishalullé to see them. “I can cast [I]water breathing[/I] now,” Tolly said. “We’ll have about three hours.” “Maybe we should wait,” Arrie said. “We are going down there, aren’t we?” the priest asked. “Yes, but maybe we should see if we can get down there without it,” she explained. “Your spell is the only one we have available to us today, and we don’t know what else we’ll need to do. Tishalullé’s price may involve going somewhere else in the ocean. Or we may have to fight more Drowned, or even whatever is causing these disturbances.” “Then maybe a couple of you could check it out first?” suggested Lanara. “Wake me up when you get back.” With that, she laid down on the deck and closed her eyes. Arrie and Xu dove off the side, and went down. A few minutes later, they surfaced. “Looks like we’ll need your spell, Tolly,” Arrie said. “It’s too deep to hold your breath.” One spell later, the entire group was diving into the ocean. They swam for several minutes, until they finally spotted a cave entrance on the ocean floor. After procuring a few light sources, they swam into the cave, which went almost straight down for several yards until it suddenly bent and turned upward again, leading into a large underwater cavern. The cavern floor sloped gently upward, leading to a ledge at the back where they could see a pocket of air. Inside the air pocket was what looked to be a laboratory of some sort. At the far end of the cave, sitting underwater on a throne carved of black basalt, was a hideous, green skinned woman. “Welcome,” the hag said, in heavily accented Common. “So, what brings the land-dwellers to the abode of Tishalullé?” “We have questions,” Tolly said, “and we have heard that you are a source of answers that can generally be trusted.” “The spirits never guide Tishalullé wrong,” she replied. “The ocean dwellers have been very edgy of late,” Tolly began. “Tishalullé knows this,” the hag said. “What do you wish to know?” “We have friends among those who live on the islands,” Lanara said. “They have been subjected to attacks lately. We believe that the force that is causing these attacks is the same that is causing the disturbance among the sea life, and if so, we wish to know what that is and how to stop it.” “The spirits demand a price that is high for answers that search so far,” Tishalullé said. “And what happens if we don’t wish to pay their price?” Lanara asked. The hag smiled, showing off jagged, crooked teeth. “Then your question goes unanswered, land-dweller, as do many of the great questions of this life.” “What price do the spirits ask for the information we seek?” Arrie asked. “The spirit’s business is the spirit’s own,” Tishalullé said. “Their first price is secrecy. You must not tell anyone what they ask of you.” The group nodded. They’d been expecting this, and it wasn’t as though they were unaccustomed to promises not to reveal information. “The spirits can count on our discretion,” Arrie said. “Tishalullé knows this.” The hag inhaled deeply, seeming to almost fall asleep for a brief moment. Then she opened her black, soulless eyes. “The spirits need one of their own returned to them. The spirit has drifted from where they belong, into the realm of the spirits of the dead. You must find a spirit of the living in the land of the dead, and return it to its proper place. Do this, and then return to see Tishalullé. Then the spirits will answer your questions.” “Is there a time limit on this?” Lanara asked. “Only if your questions have one,” Tishalullé said. “Okay, then,” Lanara said. “As soon as possible then. Kyle, let’s go home and take a nap.” Kyle tried hard to suppress a grin and almost succeeded. “Gosh, Lanara, Autumn would be awfully upset…” “Not with me, you moron!” Lanara blurted. “I’m interested in someone else!” “Besides, she is pursuing a prince, not a mere duke,” Xu said, getting into the spirit. “I’m not quite a duke,” Kyle corrected. “That’s right, ‘Duke-Consort’,” Arrie quipped. “While this conversation is fascinating, land-dwellers,” Tishalullé sighed, “it would be better if you held it somewhere else.” Tolly turned to the hag. “You have no idea how many times I’ve tried to say that.” He paused. “Actually, you might.” Tishalullé smiled at Tolly, which seemed to be intended as charming, though the effect was more terrifying. Their return trip to the island was uneventful, other than the fact that Kyle ended up sailing in the wrong direction for an hour before the party noted that the sun should really be ahead of them, not behind them. As they’d decided not to discuss the hag’s terms until they could present it to everyone, the ride back was also mostly silent. Lanara slept again on the tight netting between the hulls, until they were just about to slide onto the beach, when Tolly reached over and startled her awake, shouting about how the boat was capsizing. A moment later the cansin, her face covered with sand, jumped back up onto the catamaran and shoved Tolly off the other side. The party reunited with Autumn and Osborn, and told them of Tishalullé’s bargain. They agreed that on the surface, the price seemed acceptable, though some niggling questions remained. “What kind of spirit?” Autumn asked. “I think more important than ‘what’ is ‘how’,” Osborn said. “Any idea how you find an unborn spirit on the Shadow plane and get it back?” Everyone looked at Kyle, who shrugged. “No idea. If we were somewhere with a library, I could look it up, but…” he gestured to the palm trees and grass huts surrounding them. “Let me ask around,” Lanara said. “Someone on this island might know something.” As it turned out, Lanara was right. She learned that there was a hermit who lived on the top of the mountain peak, who was called simply ‘the wise man’. It was suggested that he was very knowledgeable about mystical matters. Lanara, Arrie, Xu and Osborn decided to make the journey, leaving Tolly, Autumn and Kyle behind to rest up for tomorrow’s journey and to help if there were any more attacks on the island. The sun was low in the sky by the time the four adventurers made their way up the mountain to the peak. Once there, they were surprised to see that the peak was somewhat flat, and torches had been set all around the mountain. Two other features stood out; the first was an enormous tree, whose trunk was so large that the four of them, linking hands, would not have been able to reach even halfway around. The other was a man, who was sitting on a rock looking north. His hair and long beard were wild and unkempt, and his skin was dark and weathered. He wore simple clothing made of hemp, without any of the bright colors or patterns seen in the native garb. Cautiously, the adventurers approached. “Hello,” said the wise man in a dry, yet deep voice. “Have you come to watch the storm?” His eyes were deep set, but piercing; Lanara immediately noticed that one of his eyes was ocean blue, the other bright green, much like her own. “We weren’t aware there was a storm,” Lanara said. The wise man pointed north. They all looked, but could see nothing but blue sky and ocean. “A storm is coming,” the wise man said, “A very unusual storm.” Then he turned his gaze onto the group. “But you didn’t come to ask me about a storm.” Looking out over the ocean, Arrie was suddenly not so sure they shouldn’t be asking about it. She recalled the magestorm they’d endured in Noxolt, when Kyle and Autumn had been attacked by the Scion-Watchers, and they’d met the two dragons Anduriel and Tiranel. Arrie wondered if this ‘unusual’ storm was another one like it. But without being able to see anything herself, there was no way to even guess what made the supposed storm so odd to the wise man. “We have come to ask your help in a quest we’ve been given,” Lanara said. “You seem to be our best bet for getting the information we need.” “What kind of information?” “We need to find a spirit that belongs on the Ethereal Plane and return it there, but it’s currently on the Shadow,” Lanara explained. “We’re not certain how to accomplish this.” “You seek life and death,” the wise man said. “How ironic. Most seek neither, as they already possess the one, and the other will come to find them in due time.” “So, any suggestions?” Lanara was hoping this wouldn’t be one of those ‘wise men’ that dispensed knowledge in indecipherable mumbo-jumbo or obtuse prophecy. “Death abhors life,” the wise man said, “and therefore will try to hunt it and subsume it. In the realm of death, watch for those who live there. Wherever they go, you will find the life you seek. This is the cycle. Death feeds on life, life feeds on death.” “Okay,” Lanara said. It was surprisingly straightforward advice, but the bard felt it wasn’t quite enough. They knew how to find the spirit, but how to get it back? “I don’t suppose you have anything of more… tangible assistance to us? The advice and knowledge is insightful, but getting the spirit back where it belongs is beyond our capability.” The wise man looked at Lanara for a moment, and then suddenly stood up, jumped off his rock, and walked over to the large tree. Transforming himself into a monkey, he climbed up to the highest branches. He returned carrying a branch, which bore leaves and a few small, unripe fruits which none of them recognized. Turning back into a human, the wise man looked the group over for a moment, and then handed the branch to Xu. “This is a key,” the wise man said. “It opens the door between death and life. It will only work once, so use it wisely.” “Thank you,” Xu said, bowing. “There is a price,” the wise man said. “This tree marks a place of power, a place where the cycle of Erito takes form*. By taking this key to the Shadow, you empower the realm of death, ever so slightly, until the key is used. To take this key, you must provide a counterbalance to the realm of life.” “Okay,” Lanara said, “how do we do that?” “One of you must remain here, close to the tree, until the key is used,” the wise man explained. “The realm of life will draw upon your own living spirit to balance the power. Whoever stays will not be harmed by this.” The four climbers looked at each other. “I’ll stay,” Osborn offered. “If you guys are going to the Shadow plane, you’ll probably end up fighting undead, and that’s not really my strong point anyway.” The hin drew his short sword and held it out, pommel first. “This sword’s enchanted to really hurt undead. If someone wants to borrow it, they can.” “Thanks, Osborn,” Lanara said, taking the sword and sliding it in her pack. “We’ll hurry back.” “Don’t worry about it,” Osborn said. “I can hang out up here for a while. I’ll get some rest, watch the storm coming in, climb the tree…” “Do not climb the tree,” the wise man said. “Okay, then, I won’t do that.” But he turned and flashed a big wink to Arrie. [CENTER]* * *[/CENTER] The next morning, the party assembled on the beach, ready to go. “Oh, wonderful,” Arrie sighed. “Another trip to the land of the dead.” “At least it’s not involuntary,” Tolly offered. “Yeah, because the last time I was placed involuntarily into a near-death state it was a laugh riot,” Arrie griped. “And you could have out-drank a dwarf afterward,” Tolly said. “I had a lot of living to catch up on.” “I’m not sure I would consider that ‘living’.” “The presence of sensation was all I needed,” Arrie said. “Even the hangover was enjoyable.” “I’ve had mornings like that,” Lanara said. “Anyway,” Kyle said, “are we ready?” Besides wanting to get started, Kyle didn’t want Arrie to keep dwelling on her experiences in Miracle too much. She’d have a hard enough time having to be in the Shadow plane at all. Kyle cast his spell, and soon they all found themselves in the gray, featureless expanse of the Shadow plane. They looked around at the landscape, a distorted mirror image of the real world. Sound was muted, and color almost nonexistent. Everyone shuddered and pulled their cloaks tightly around their shoulders as the chill of the plane set in. “Anyone have an idea where we should start?” Lanara asked. “I don’t see any ethereal spirits around here.” “Hold on,” Kyle said. He cast a spell, and suddenly a large number of eyeballs appeared around him. He concentrated for a moment, and then the eyes zoomed off in all directions. “That’s a disturbing spell, Kyle,” Tolly said. “I’ve instructed them to return when they see a large group of creatures besides us,” Kyle said. If it’s within a mile, we should be able to spot them.” The party waited on the gray beach near the gray ocean, watching as barely-audible gray waves crashed at their feet. After about forty-five minutes, one of the eyes zipped back. Kyle held it in his hand for a while, his eyes closed, and then the eye vanished with a pop. “I’ve got it,” he said. “They’re out by where Tishalullé lives. There’s a white ghost-like spirit being pursued by several shadowy black creatures. There seems to be an energy or essence leaking out of the white spirit. They’re all coming this way.” “Let’s go,” said Tolly, drawing his maul. “No need,” Kyle said. “Things travel faster on the Shadow. They’ll be on top of us in a minute or so. Get ready.” The party made their preparations, casting a bevy of protective spells. Lanara’s bardic song was already underway when the mob reached them. The saw the white ghostly form, hazy and indistinct, racing straight toward them. Behind it was a half-dozen of the black forms, which looked like shadows, though larger and more… shadowy than ones they’d seen before. Xu immediately ran forward, and with her natural foot speed enhanced by Kyle’s [I]haste [/I]spell, she was able to close with the lead shadow in mere moments. Unfortunately, her very solid fist passed right through the insubstantial shadow. Xu felt numbing cold spreading up to her shoulder before she withdrew her arm. Arrie was the next to move in, running right past the spirit and into the largest cluster of shadows. She swung her chain wide, and connected with all four as they tried to pass her. All four recoiled as the metal chain ripped through them; it had been enchanted to deal with insubstantial creatures such as they. Ignoring their prize, the four shadows converged on Arrie, a situation that seemed to suit the warrior just fine. Tolly moved up to assist Arrie, ready to bathe the area with celestial brilliance. But as the spirit floated by, he paused. Though indistinct, the spirit’s features were definitely hag-like. [I]No wonder Tishalullé wanted this spirit saved[/I], he thought. He was about to release his spell, but again hesitated. The spell damaged evil creatures; it would hurt the shadows, but what about the unborn soul of a hag? He focused for a moment on the spirit, using his training as an Inquisitor to read the hag’s aura. As he expected, there was a strong taint of evil. Sighing, he abandoned his spell, knowing that he risked destroying the spirit they’d come to rescue. Autumn charged the one shadow that had slipped past the others, laying into it with her axe but failing to connect with the insubstantial shadow. Kyle launched an immense sphere of electricity into the group around Arrie, bending his spell through sheer will to create a hole in the blast around his friend. Two of the shadows were unharmed, but one vaporized, and another appeared to diminish. Lanara looked to see where she could help out. She saw the shadow attacking Autumn connect, drawing the sentinel’s strength away, and decided to come to her aid. She started to release the strings of her lute so she could hurl a whip [I]feather token[/I] at the shadow, but suddenly a compulsion seized her, and she realized she didn’t want to stop playing. [I]Qin-Chu’s Toes![/I] she swore to herself, realizing that for the first time since she’d begun collecting and merging the True Instruments, she had failed to maintain control over them. All she could do was keep playing, and hope it would end soon. Arrie swung her chain again, ripping through shadows, while nearby Xu pounded her target with fists and feet, connecting enough times to batter the undead creature senseless. Autumn and her shadow were also locked in combat, the sentinel’s greataxe flashing despite the oppressive gloom of the plane. The hag-spirit floated past Kyle, in the rear of the battle, who immediately stepped toward it. “Wait!” he called out, “we’re here to help you! We can get you home!” When the spirit paused, Kyle reached out and cast a spell, covering the spirit in a shroud of negative energy that hid it from the shadow’s senses. The spirit, seeing that the shadows were no longer trying to break away from combat to pursue it, stopped running and turned to Kyle. “You… help me?” it asked in an ephemeral voice. Tolly lent his aid to Autumn, blasting her shadow with [I]deific vengeance[/I], even as Arrie finished off two more shadows and Xu destroyed hers as well. The two remaining shadows tried to break away and run, but the party converged on them and destroyed them. As the party wound down from the frenzy of battle, they immediately noticed that Lanara was still singing. “Um, Lanara?” Arrie ventured. Lanara looked at the warrior. Her face strained with a sudden effort, and a trickle of sweat ran down her forehead. Abruptly, the bard stopped singing, and with a sigh put her instrument away. “Yes?” she asked. “Don’t you normally do more in battle while singing?” Tolly asked. “Shut up!” the cansin snapped. “You know not of what you speak! Be quiet!” Tolly shrugged and turned away. They all gathered around the hag-spirit next, who seemed weak and frail. Its essence was still trailing off into the Shadow, though not as rapidly. “You… help me… out….” “Sure,” Lanara said, “we’re the good guys.” “Actually, in this case that would normally be an impediment,” said Arrie, “but sure, we’ll help.” “Door…” the hag-spirit said, pointing with a bony, withered finger toward the center of the island, indicating the top of the mountain. “Door it is, then,” said Kyle, and they floated off. It took only a few minutes for the party to close the distance to the island’s peak. The first thing they noticed at the top was that the enormous tree that they’d seen there was also present in the Shadow plane. This was unusual enough, since most of the time living plants and animals in the material world were not reflected in the Shadow, but what made it stand out more was that the tree was a deep, lightless black, that seemed to absorb what little light there was. “Door…” the hag-spirit said, pointing at the tree. “Looks like we have a ‘tree of life’ thing going here,” Lanara said. “Xu, you stil got that stick?” The monk produced the branch. “But if this is the key, where is the lock?” she asked. Most of the party started searching the tree, while Arrie and Tolly kept an eye out for undead. Finally, Xu found a spot on the bark that was loose, and when she moved it aside, a bean of white light shot out across the plane. “I think that’s it,” Lanara said. The party and the spirit gathered around as Xu placed the end of the stick against the beam. The light spread up and down in a thin line, and then began to widen, giving a visual impression of someone opening a set of double doors into a brightly lit room. When the light had reached about ten feet across and about twenty high, it stopped, and there was an audible click, which sounded clear despite the sound-muting properties of the Shadow plane. Suddenly, there was an enormous rushing of force toward the doorway, as though they had opened into a vacuum and air was rushing in. The hag-spirit rushed through the door without hesitation, while the party resisted the pull. Unfortunately, the pull was very strong, and moments later Kyle, Autumn, Xu, and Lanara were sucked through the doorway and vanished. “We should go after them!” Tolly shouted over the maelstrom. Arrie hesitated. She had no idea if going to the Ethereal plane would cause problems for her as a psionic being. She’d never even considered bringing the subject up to Aran, or even Kyle. Tolly sensed her uncertainty. “Think of it as a rebirth!” he yelled, offering her his hand. [I] Well, better the plane of the unborn than the plane of the dead,[/I] she thought, and took Tolly’s hand and let herself be pulled through the door just as it slammed shut. [CENTER] * * *[/CENTER] Literally a world away, but not as far as he thought, Osborn had grown bored. He’d spent the night up on the mountain, and initially had enjoyed exploring, climbing around the mountain, and watching for the alleged storm to the north that never materialized. But the wise man proved a limited conversationalist, and he soon ran out of entertaining things to throw rocks at. When he awoke the next morning, he decided he was going to climb the big tree. Osborn looked in on the wise man, and saw that he was sitting in meditation, his eyes closed. Quietly, he slipped away and approached the enormous tree. Try as he might, Osborn couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of tree it was, or how old. But the bark was rough, and there were a lot of sturdy branches, so the tree was practically begging to be climbed. He made his way up into the foliage, scampering up nearly as fast as the wise man had yesterday while in the form of a monkey. Surprisingly, he saw no signs of insects, or birds nesting in the branches. The leaves were very dense, and Osborn only caught the occasional glimpse of sunlight peeking through. He decided he would try and find the spot where the wise man had broken off the branch he’d given to Xu. It took several minutes of guesswork and climbing, but finally he was able to locate a tiny knothole in one of the highest branches. Examining the hole, Osborn was surprised to see that it didn’t look like that branch had been cut off, nor broken off. It had simply detached and fallen off in the wise man’s hands. The wood showing through the small round hole was white, and felt slightly springy. As he considered this, he noticed a slight sparkling near the knothole. As he watched, the sparkling coalesced into a faint white light that seemed to emanate from under the bark. Curious, Osborn poked at the hole with a finger to see if it was warm to the touch. As soon as he did, however, his finger stuck fast as if glued in place. As Osborn pulled at his hand to free it, the light began to spread up his finger toward his wrist. The light was warm and pleasant feeling, but still unnerving to Osborn, who tried desperately to break free. The light spread quickly up his arm and shoulder, and enveloped his chest. Within moments, it had covered his entire body. With a cry of surprise, Osborn vanished into thin air, and the light disappeared. Where Osborn’s finger had been stuck, a small branch laden with immature fruits now protruded. A short distance away, the wise man opened his eyes. “I told him not to climb the tree,” he said to no one in particular, and then turned into a seagull and flew off. [CENTER]* * *[/CENTER] The Ethereal plane is the realm of the unborn. It is also the realm of possibility, of potential. Like its opposite, the Shadow, the surface of Aelfenn is reflected in the Ethereal, though here the images of living things can be seen as well. Unlike the Shadow, everything is shrouded in white, and there is an explosion of life and vitality there. Looking skyward, one sees not only the weather as it is, but in every possible combination. Thus clear skies coexist with hurricanes, gentle rain showers, even snowstorms. Plant and animal life of every variety bursts from the ground, overlapping each other. Here a desert cactus crowds out a fern, there a family of squirrels rides on the back of an elasmosaurus. The party found themselves marveling at these sights, as they stood at the base of the only non-mutable object in the area; the tree atop the mountain, which was now pure white in color. Nearby, the hag-spirit stood, absorbing the energy of its home plane. Once Kyle had dispelled the shroud of negative energy around it, the spirit had begun to grow and heal, the rents in its form closing even as it grew from a shriveled form the size of a human to its full, nine-foot height. The hag-spirit regarded the party. “This… will not be forgotten.” Then the hag turned and floated off rapidly. “Say hello to Tishalullé for us!” Lanara called out. “So, I take it that was the spirit you had to rescue?” Osborn asked. Everyone turned at once. “What are you doing here?” Arrie said, shocked. Osborn explained his tree-climbing adventure and what had happened to him. After the party filled him in on the rescue, Tolly looked around. “So, are we ready to go back?” he asked. “Shouldn’t we get closer to the village, so we don’t have to climb down the mountain?” Kyle asked. Tolly shook his head. “The [I]plane shift[/I] spell is inaccurate, much like your [I]shadow walk[/I] over long distances,” he said. “In fact, I can guarantee that we’ll be off target. Which reminds me…” Tolly cast a spell, and touched everyone in the group. “That will keep you from sinking.” “How far off the mark will this land us?” Lanara asked. “Anywhere from one league to about a hundred and fifty leagues,” Tolly said. Noting the looks he was getting, he added, “our other choice is to look for another ‘door’ like this one, but even then we have no key. And the natives here aren’t necessarily friendly.” “So, we’re getting wet,” Kyle said. “Well, let’s just hope for the best.” The party joined hands, and Tolly cast his spell. Moments later, they had vanished. [CENTER]* * *[/CENTER] High in the sky, the wise man circled in the thermal currents above the island. He looked all around him as he flew, but paused as he glanced northeast. [I]Odd,[/I] he thought to himself, [I]why would seven people choose to stand in the middle of the ocean?[/I] ----------------------------------- * Recall that in this setting, Erito is the goddess of magic as well as life and death. She transforms the energy of life and death into magic - whenever a soul leaves the Ethereal to be born as a new being, or when a being dies and their soul goes to the Shadow, a little bit of the energy used in that transition bleeds off and gets used by Erito. This is the reason that characters who are raised lose a level; it's called 'Erito's Tithe', and is the payment that a raised soul has to make to compensate for the energy that Erito loses. In the case of a [I]true resurrection[/I], the assumption is that the cleric casting the spell is in such high standing with their deity that the deity pays the Tithe for the raised soul (or, if the cleric is a priest of Erito, she just foregoes the Tithe). [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
Tales of the Legacy - Concluded
Top