The Shackled City - Golarion Prelude

[Shayuri]

"Interesting," Nia muses. "Wondah what happen if we take away all de bad tings. Do de grey men suffer then? Or do the tree punish for takin' its tings away, even if dey be poisoning it?"

She opens her pouch of spell components and selects a sample of several...the things needed to cast a few of her favorite spells, minor as they are. After a moment, she scrawls the icon representing herself, and that representing the great spirit she had formed her pact with, granting her its energy. Around these she places the spell components.

"It is not much," she admits quietly to the tree, "But it is what I ken offer."

 

[jkason]

Caytis Maggerin, half-elf magus

As Caytis watches, a sense of welcome peace washes over him. For a brief moment, a bright blue sigil flashes on the back of his hand and then disappears as quickly as it came.

Caytis smiles at the warm emotion, but as he notices the sigil appear and fade, his natural distrust kicks in.

"It's marked me in some way," he tells the others. "If the feeling can be trusted, perhaps it's some kind of ward,"

The half-elf hisses something, and his eyes return to their serpentine aspect from before as he looks at the spot on his hand where he thought he saw the rune.

[sblock=ooc]Casting Detect Magic. Rolls below if there's anything on his hand (or the tree for that matter) to interpret:

Know: Arcana; Spellcraft (1d20+8=13, 1d20+8=20)[/sblock]

 

[Dragonwriter]

"Maybe it's to let you open the door. Some kind of magic-lock. And considering that little inscription says 'give of yourself,' taking stuff from the tree sounds like a bad idea. Even if they are poisonous to it."

Marcus sheathes his sword and tears a strip off the bottom of his cloak. He ties the strip around the small crossguard of his dagger, his old last-resort weapon, and hangs it from a branch.

 

[ahayford]

As Nia and Marcus place their tokens, the tree again shudders with life. More silvery leaves spring forth with new life. Two new buds form on their respective branches.

Nia’s bud twists and elongates until it is nearly 6 inches long. Suddenly it bursts open revealing the burnished copper petals of an exotic orchid. Three small agates tinkle on the ends of copper wire stamen, completing the reproduction of the jungle flora. The heady aroma is near intoxicating.

Long, shark thorns grow rapidly over the branch with Marcus’s bud on it. It swells up and pops open to reveal a polished steel rose. The surface of the flower is polished to an almost mirror finish. It smells like spring time, dredging up childhood memories of running barefoot through the mud.

As each flower blooms, a similar crest flashes upon Nia’s and Marcus’s hand, and then is gone.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Detect Magic:

As you close your eyes and oppen your inner sight, you realize you are surrounded by magic. The tree itself radiates with power. The roots burrow deep into the ground, drawing energy from the earth itself and transporting it throughout the body of the tree like any mundane plant would draw water. It is obviously an artifact of great power. In its weakened state, you are impressed with its power....you can hardly imagine what it must have looked like in its prime.

A silvery thread extends from the back of your hand to the flower that bloomed when you placed your token upon it. It is your guess that the tree has marked you and your lifeforce is now bound to it. You are fairly certain that it is meant to act as a key...perhaps granting you access to the city to those petitioning to be citizens. You feel confident that you’ve been given the trees blessing, and you can feel a small amount of the trees power in the enchantment on your hand. However, you cannot help but wonder if the union goes both ways.

 

[Maidhc O Casain]

Val's initial feelings of grief return full force as Nia speaks of the poisoning of the tree. I've got to do something . . . something to help free this lovely thing from its bondage to those foul . . . beasts. Something to heal it, maybe, so it can better resist the poison.

The young cleric hooks the well carved wooden mug from his belt and fishes around in his pack for a moment, finally coming out with a potion vial. He pours the contents of the vial into the mug and breathes a quick prayer to the God of Freedom and Bravery before pouring the potion at the base of the tree, around the roots. Finally, he whispers a benediction as he brushes his fingers lightly against the trunk.

[sblock=Actions]Pour Potion of Cure Light Wounds around the roots, cast Resistance.

I know, I know, we might need that potion later - but the tree's plight speaks to Val, and he's young . . .[/sblock]

 

[jkason]

Caytis Maggerin, half-elf magus

Caytis stands a moment, seemingly mesmerized, as he takes in what his sight reveals.

"Those of you who can should really take a look at it," he mumurs. "It's ... gods, it's amazing, and this is with the tree in such poor straights."

After another few moments of gazing about a bit dazed, Caytis shakes his head, returning his eyes to their normal blue.

"I'm pretty sure the marks are intended to be benign. A blessing of some sort. But there's definitely binding magic involved. I think we may be drawing a pinch of the tree's magic now, but I can't guarantee that the connection is only one way, and I've no idea what happens if the tree needs to pull ..."

Caytis' voice trails off, and he looks around at the others as a sudden thought occurs to him.

"You don't think ... the tree was behind the disappearances, trying to keep itself alive?"

[sblock=mini-stats]Caytis Maggerin
HP: 10/10 AC: 15(19) AC(T): 12 AC(FF): 13(17)
(values in parenthesis with Shield active)
Init: +02
BAB: 00 CMB/CMD: 00/12 ACP: -1 ASF: 00 Spot: +05

Conditions: None
In Hand: Quadrens

Saving Throw Total Base Mod Misc Special
Fort: 03 2 +1
Ref: 01 0 +2 -1*
Will: 03 2 +1

* -1 Reflex (Wyrm Blooded trait)
** Conditional: Immune sleep, +2 vs enchantments, +4 vs acid

Weapon Attack Damage Critical Special
Quadrens +2 1d6 19-20/x2 1 pt bleed on crit
Quadrens, Spell Combat +0 1d6 19-20/x2 1 pt bleed on crit
Composite Shortbow +2 1d6 20/x3 Range 70 ft.

* Conditional: +1 attack with Arcane Pool enhancement.

Arcane Pool: 4/5 remaining

Spells Prepared:
* 0 Level (3): Prestidigitation, Detect Magic, Light
* 1st Level (2, DC 15): Shield, Shield[/sblock][/QUOTE]

 

[Walking Dad]

Wilbur

Wilbur follows a strange inspiration, cutting his finger with his dagger and draws a strange sign on the tree.

[sblock=OOC]
the sign is the symbol of yog-sothoth

Hope this will not cost more than 1 or 2 HP

----

AC: 15
HP: 11 / 11

Spells: Doom, Murderous Command
1: 5/5

Gift of Madness: 6 / 6

Wilbur 2
Wilbur Warrington

[/sblock]

 

[ahayford]

The tree accepts Valinaan’s gift, again rapidly growing in response. The earth at the base of the tree pulses rhythmically. A golden vine made of twisted wire climbs up the trunk of the tree. Several small buds form along the vine which, instead of busting open like previous flowers, swell up to form large, golden cone-like structures. One of the cones drops off the tree and falls to the ground. You notice several of the tarnished branches have regained their silvery sheen.

[sblock=Valinaan]You immediately recognize the plant as Hops[/sblock]

Wilbur finishes tracing the sigil of his dark god upon the tree, giving a sacrifice of blood. It shudders again, seeming to accept the gift. A new branch grows from the location of his sacrifice. It seems to bend at impossible angles, creating an odd visual effect that hurts your eyes if stared at for too long. A large bud forms on the branch. The flower is formed by many small amethyst flutes around a central body formed from quartz. You’ve never seen anything like it.

As before, after the plants new growth complete, Wilbur and Valinaan each receive the tree’s sigil upon their hands.

While the dark, corrupted growth still remains upon the tree, it appears much healthier then when you first saw it. You wonder if every citizen had once gifted to the tree, and what it must have looked like before the city was abandoned.

 

[Maidhc O Casain]

Val kneels in front of the tree and the dropped hops, cradling the tree's return in gentle hands. With a whispered prayer he stows the seed pod carefully in his pack and rises.

 

[Shayuri]

"So dat is de way of it," Nia muses, looking at the back of her hand curiously. "We give of ourselves...de tree take dat into itself. Den it gives us a bit of itself back, makin' us part of dis place. De tree is de place; de whole city. Is sympathy magic. Before, dey maybe brought new babies here and bound 'em to de tree from de start. Or maybe dey did it when girl or boy became woman or man. Eidder way, I don't tink de bond ken be broken by takin' de tings away now. It is a bond only death ken sever."

She glances at Caytis and adds, "I don't tink de tree ken make folk disappear. More likely dese grey men came sneakin' in all unknown...strikin' from de shadows and takin' dem away to leave no bodies. Just like dey are doin' now with de children from above."