[Adventure] Marna is Missing (DM: pacdidj, Judge: renau1g)

[pacdidj]

"Very well then, we are finished with this meeting," says Dhakanmirr. Then to his clansmen: "Ma. Ringgitj bilinha." As his clansmen begin to depart one-by-one down the rope ladder, the Rripangu elder says by way of parting, "One last word of advice adventurers, if you travel northward keep to the banks of the river as much as possible. The forest is full of things that prey on the unwary, and those who do not know their way here often get lost. Also, stay away from the Shadowrift. Many who cross that thin veil into the gray land never find their way back from the long dream."

His advice imparted, the Rripangu elder then climbs up yet another ladder to a smaller platform higher up in the great mangrove tree. "Malthurra," says Botj, "You follow, I take you to my wahnga."

He leads you back down the main rope ladder, across the water, and up to another tree platform. As you are stowing your gear and unrolling bedrolls, Botj busies himself constructing a small fire below the platform. Seeing your looks of puzzlement as he reascends the ladder he says, "Smoke help keep the midgies down, eh? Don't wanna get bite while you sleep. Also fire keep me bones warm from the cold," he says giving a small shiver. Apparently his internal thermostat is most comfortable several degrees warmer than any of yours.

"You mob rest good. Long walk again tomorrow." As your party is bedding down for the night, Ferris focuses his memory recalling what he can of the bear clan chieftain.

[sblock=Ferris]You recall only dimly hearing that Snarl had assumed leadership of those among your people initiated under the bear totem. By the time he had consolidated power, you were already spending the majority of your time with Hyrellon in the sacred glades of the western forests searching for some sign that Dayna returned, or at least recognized your fervor and devotion.

You do remember him from your childhood though, a charismatic yet arrogant youth several years your senior. He came from a family less isolationist than the majority of the shifter tribe. The elders of his family were known to make friendly overtures to the human tribesmen in the south of the isle, frequently sailing down the coastline to trade pelts and bone tools for foodstuffs and other necessities. They were also rumored to have some sort of contact with periodic visitors from other parts of the shifting seas, though this was rarely spoken of openly as most other shifters found even the idea of trade and exchange with suspicious foreigners unseemly.

Given Matjala's assertion that the elopement of Snarl's baby sister Sunrise put a dent in her brother's political ambitions, you surmise that Snarl had fixed her betrothal to an important member of the wolf clan. Uniting two important families of both great totems would have allowed him to make an excellent claim to the grand chieftainship of the entire Kythiran shifter tribe.[/sblock]

Exhausted from the heat and from your long day's journey you all settle down for the night.

[sblock=ooc]Another update is coming today. In the meantime you can ask any questions you'd like of Botj.[/sblock]

 

[pacdidj]

The next morning you awake to find Botj already awake and offering you a small repast of unleavened bread made from some type of slightly sweet yet bitter flour. After you are breakfasted and ready, you descend from the tree canopy to find Matjala already waiting for you below with several spears strapped to his back. "If you ready we go now," says the Djaapana law man.

As Matjala begins to turn away and start leading you southward along the rivier, Verloc pipes up, "You know, maybe it's better if we, uh... split up. Yeah that's it. I'll stay here and, um, ask around to see if anybody knows about these 'charunga' or whatever they're called," says the rogue, badly butchering the native tongue.

Garry eyes him suspiciously, "Not thinking of deserting already are ya? Just cause of a few bugs and some hot weather? Well, if he's staying here I'd better stay behind also just to keep him honest. We'll see what leads we can turn up by asking around these parts."

Botj's brow furrows slightly, and he says with a sigh, "Alright I look after these two. You mob go with Matjala. Go have a look at that mulka where they keeping the lost tjurunga."

And with that the four of you set out following closely behind Matjala. The early morning passes pleasantly enough as you head back toward the shore where Berekis dropped you off, a light breeze whispering through the trees. But, as you pass the branch in the river closer to midday a thick, damp heat sets in and biting flies begin to harass you. Still, the trek down to the shore passes uneventfully enough save for one moment when Matjala signals you to freeze, then points out a snake you hadn't seen moving silently across the riverbank only a few feet in front of you. "Careful, eh? Them poison."

When you reach the shore Matjala leads you around the rocky outcropping that shelters the bay in which you initially landed. Rounding the corner, you can clearly see a good-sized barrier island less than a quarter mile distant across the water. Matjala briefly scouts around, locating a pile of brush near the mangroves which he pushes aside to reveal a large dugout canoe. You all pitch in to launch the small water craft, and with several hands at the oars you swiftly cover the narrow span of calm seawater.

The Djaapana Homeland

You reach the barrier island about an hour after midday. After pulling the canoe up onto the beach and overturning it, Matjala leads you through a camp somewhat similar to the one you spent the night in on the Rripangu homeland, though rather than tree platforms, these people cluster around partially underground grass huts which must serve as their shelters. Like the tribespeople you saw further to the north, the Djaapana people also watch your party pass through their camp with impassive, uncurious faces. A couple of them wave, or call out a friendly-sounding greeting to Matjala, but most simply stare as he passes. "My people angry with me," he says by way of explanation, "Let them down by losing tjurjunga."

You pass through the clan's camp to the other side of the barrier island, where the shore faces outward from Kythira toward the great expanse of the open see, and there you are met with an imposing site: the largest piece of driftwood you have ever seen.

It's broken roots tower over your heads, reaching skyward to about five times your height, while the trunk of this broken giant is at least two armspans in diameter, and reaches all the way from the water's edge well back into the mangrove canopy.

[sblock=Nature 15]You are fairly confident that there are no trees that grow this tall native to the Shifting Seas.[/sblock]

Matjala moves over to the root ball of the fallen giant motioning you to gather round. He moves his hand over where the taproot would be had it not broken off seemingly long ago. Whispering a few words in his own language, Matjala removes his hand and you see a hollow in the center of the roots that wasn't there a moment ago. "See. Gone. We don't find any tracks. Shaman sees nothing in the dream. Must be magic, or someone sneaky enough to avoid gaze of ancestors."

Examining the hollow you find that there is indeed nothing inside the dark, woody cavity.

[sblock=Investigation]Let me know what you would like to do, ask, or look at, and what skills or rituals, if any, you'd like to use. Feel free to discuss plans or ask questions in ooc text.[/sblock]

 

[samursus]

[sblock=Nature Check=Success]1d20+7=18[/sblock]

Ferris ponders the nature of the alien tree wondering where it could have come from... and if that was of any importance. Nature 18 if applicable

Then proceeds to examine the cavity and the immediate vicinity closely. Perception 19

 

[Luinnar]

Alnar focuses his will on the arcane power flowing through his veins, trying to detect any magical energy left over from the object coming from the hollow, or where it might have gone.

[sblock=Arcana=19]Roll.
[/sblock]

 

[Dekana]

Jezebel looks on questioningly as Matjala reveals the empty hollow. "Was that a spell you just said? Or is the tjurjunga usually hidden mundanely?"

The tiefling looks for signs of damage to the hollow that the thief might have left - scratch marks and the like - but she has no idea what manmade marks would look like as opposed to natural ones.

She steps away from the tree unsatisfied. It would be easier to get an answer out of a person than from this dead wood. "Perhaps your ancestors really are displeased with you, Matjala, and they spirited away the stone as punishment."

[sblock=rolls]nature 14 fails the 15 DC in the DM's last post, perception 7 to find evidence)

I'll speak first and roll later for her last comment. She'd say it even if it isn't true. Religion 16[/sblock]

 

[pacdidj]

"Was that a spell you just said? Or is the tjurjunga usually hidden mundanely?"

The tiefling looks for signs of damage to the hollow that the thief might have left - scratch marks and the like - but she has no idea what manmade marks would look like as opposed to natural ones.

"Yaka. Not spell. More like a... what you say? Prayer? Or evoc... evocation? Need ask for ancestors blessing to open mulka. Always sealed by them power."

Ferris ponders the nature of the alien tree wondering where it could have come from... and if that was of any importance. Then proceeds to examine the cavity and the immediate vicinity closely.

Though Jezebel gleans little from her examination of the tree and the hollow, Ferris' proves more fruitful.

[sblock=Ferris]The tree itself is a bit of a paradox. You can tell by the degree of weathering and smoothing of the wood that it has been here for a LONG time. Long enough that it should have rotted away ages ago, yet it remains intact. No tools were used to construct the hollow where its taproot should have been, of that you are certain.

Making a thorough search of the area reveals little. Nothing was left behind in or around the cavity, and the only footprints in the area besides your own clearly belong to the human tribesmen. You do notice however that the area seems to be strangely devoid of wildlife (a remarkable thing in and of itself on Kythira), and that the salt grass growing on the beach nearest the tree has begun to wither and die, though it seems to be fine elsewhere along the shore.[/sblock]

Alnar focuses his will on the arcane power flowing through his veins, trying to detect any magical energy left over from the object coming from the hollow, or where it might have gone.

Alnar meanwhile listens to the resonances of the arcane power that flows through his veins.

[sblock=Alnar]You do detect a faint trace of arcane energy near the tree. You can tell there was in fact a spell cast here recently, however it doesn't seem that the spell would have been powerful enough to overcome the ward placed on the tree hollow. The hollow seems to be warded by a ritual similar to, yet slightly more powerful than the Arcane Lock ritual that your master Wales demonstrated to you as an apprentice. Like the Arcane Lock ritual it is keyed by a password and gesture that Matjala just performed to open it. The ritual's power source is unfamiliar though, certainly not the arcane energy that flows through your veins.[/sblock]

"Perhaps your ancestors really are displeased with you, Matjala, and they spirited away the stone as punishment."

"Now, yes. Great Marna angry with us for losing tjurunga. Before, no. Ancestors not cruel, eh? Not take away our connection to land for no reason. This never happen before. My people protect tjurunga from beginning. Never been gone missing before this," responding to Jezebels query the Djaapana leader seems, if possible, slightly more crestfallen.

[sblock=Jezebel]You recognize in Matjala a kindred spirit. His words, though few, convey a depth of devotion to the powers he serves not unlike your own.[/sblock]

 

[Luinnar]

Alnar meanwhile listens to the resonances of the arcane power that flows through his veins.

[sblock=Alnar]You do detect a faint trace of arcane energy near the tree. You can tell there was in fact a spell cast here recently, however it doesn't seem that the spell would have been powerful enough to overcome the ward placed on the tree hollow. The hollow seems to be warded by a ritual similar to, yet slightly more powerful than the Arcane Lock ritual that your master Wales demonstrated to you as an apprentice. Like the Arcane Lock ritual it is keyed by a password and gesture that Matjala just performed to open it. The ritual's power source is unfamiliar though, certainly not the arcane energy that flows through your veins.[/sblock]

Hmm seems like an arcane lock... says Alnar running his hands over the tree and examining the hollow. Something else was cast here too, not the same kind power as the tree...

Has there been any rituals or ceremonys performed here recently? Says Alnar turning to their guide. Because I sense magic being cast here recently.

[sblock=ooc]Can Alnar tell how recently the spell was cast; was it around the time the object was stolen?

Also was the other magic Alnar sensed a different type than the what is on the tree?

(I'm guessing the tree is primal or divine magic, but is the spell cast recently the same type?)[/sblock]

 

[samursus]

Ferris frowns over the knowledge gained and shares his findings with the rest of the party.
"This tree should not be here... it lies outside the natural ways. That itself isn't the oddest part, nor anything malevolent in itself. But listen to the quiet... the animal-brothers cannot abide this area, and the salt grass nearest the tree thirsts and dies while its kin further on flourishes..."

 

[pacdidj]

Has there been any rituals or ceremonys performed here recently? Says Alnar turning to their guide. Because I sense magic being cast here recently.

"We not make ceremony for whole moon cycle. Not since before last hunt. Maybe four week."

[sblock=Alnar]The spell was cast over a week ago, beyond that you can't tell with any degree of accuracy.

Yes, the spell you sense draws on a different power source than the one that created the tree and the locking ritual.[/sblock]

"This tree should not be here... it lies outside the natural ways. That itself isn't the oddest part, nor anything malevolent in itself.

"This tree always been here. It mulka, holding place. Keep tjurunga safe, like house for ancestor spirit. Legend says it bone of the world. Marna tore it up from seafloor and threw it up to surface to be him mulka. Spent many years drifting up and up. Finally come to this beach where we keep tjurunga."

But listen to the quiet... the animal-brothers cannot abide this area, and the salt grass nearest the tree thirsts and dies while its kin further on flourishes..."

"Nge... this strange. Wasn't like this before ringgitj. Little ancestors usually all around here, but now quiet. Gepu not find anything wrong here when he check before. He our marnggitj: shaman, dreamwalker. Like Botj for Rripangu people."

 

[Luinnar]

"We not make ceremony for whole moon cycle. Not since before last hunt. Maybe four week."

[sblock=Alnar]The spell was cast over a week ago, beyond that you can't tell with any degree of accuracy.

Yes, the spell you sense draws on a different power source than the one that created the tree and the locking ritual.[/sblock]

Hmm, says Alnar thinking hard. Meanwhile Draco circles the tree, exploring it.

This is strange. There was a spell cast here some time ago; but I don't think it is the kind of power the your people use. Does any of the tribes around here have different type of powers or magic than what your shamans have?

After hearing about Gepu Alnar adds. I would like to talk to Gepu and tell him what I found. Perhaps he can help us...