GOOD GODS...I just got home from work--so if my grammar sucks, forgive...the vertical shaft is only 5' wide--you'll be climbing it one at a time. Thankfully (for you guys..not me) no one said anything about rummaging for armor.
First thing first--Yeti was working all day to put the pieces together. One piece you're (my original players--the rest of you might not understand completely) missing is Zayda's vision. I remember Shannon briefly explaining it...so now I'm going to post her vision. I'm going to spoiler box it...
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Summons: Zayda Silverbough
As you were sitting calmly at the banquet table in Llewllyn Manor eating a hearty breakfast, a surge of energy tears through your body. It feels like a cold chill that rapidly warms into a hot flash. You can feel the energy vibrating within your form and surging outward.
Your vision blurs; pristine lines and edges of reality becoming fuzzy. Colors swirl and dance in front of your eyes, spinning and contorting into unfathomable forms. A bout of Vertigo attacks your mind, a parasite feeding upon your reality.
You hear a metallic ringing in your ears and recognize the sound of your utensil hitting the floor. The reverberating metal leads you into the silence of unconsciousness.
When you open your eyes, you find yourself in an empty room. There is no light; shadows slowly form into solid high arching walls as your eyes adapt. You realize, through touch, you're on a dirt floor. The walls are smooth only through toil; they seem to be carved out of granite. The room is roughly circular in shape.
Suddenly a bright light pierces the ceiling; a cold blue light falling into the darkness around you, like a halo. A worn, hemp rope falls from the same hole as the light. And two seconds after that, a form scuttles down the rope. Once upon the floor, it turns toward you and steps back one pace, to allow you to see its face.
Standing before you is an ancient man, withered and hunched over with years. A silver beard sprouts from his chin and flows down past his chest and nearly to his knees. Two crystal clear blue orbs glare out of his eye sockets at you. A broad grin reflects much of the soft blue light from the ceiling back toward you.
A wreath of mistletoe encircles his bald head as he leans back out of the light. You recognize it as the mark of a druid. More interestingly, his description matches that of the druid you were sent to find by the elders of Stone Tree.
You hear brief chanting obviously the incantation of a spell and light floods the room. Little flickering balls of flame hover above six stone pedestals around the circular room. Strange writing and symbols are carved into the stone wall you can now see with dim lighting. The druid just measures you up with his eyes and as you attempt to speak he motions for your silence.
Then he recites:
"You may not find me above,
For I have gone below.
The branches wither
When the roots won't grow."
"There is not enough water
For the rain and the skies.
When the darkness comes
The last Phoee'un <1> dies."
"One year after that last day
All the bonds shall be broke
Forest and cities
Devoured by smoke."
"Two questions you may now ask;
The answers I may tell.
Ask quickly my dear
'for the world becomes hell."
Finishing the unexpected poem, the druid leans back to wait for your
questions.
1: Are you the last Phoee'un?
"The last Phoee'un,
The greatest in power,
Their name will not be known
Until that fateful hour."
2: How long do we have before the world ends?
"Guess I wasn't clear,
In verse two or three.
Let's clear this confusion
So you will finally see."
"Cold Winter's approach
Brings final darkness.
At the end of this year
All people will feel distress."
"Suffer one year more
Of pain and hunger
To watch the world die
And the Dark God will conquer."
The old man grins as a sudden bout of vertigo slams into your mind. You feel lightheaded as you blink. Once your eyes re-open, you find yourself back at the banquet room of Llewyllyn Manor. Anastrianna is beside you, holding her own head as though she too experienced a vision. You begin to say something when the doors are kicked open.
In storms Lady Llewyllyn (the younger) and she is positively pissed. The doors swing shut behind her and she glares at the both of you.
"I should've known better than to allow your kind unfettered access to my estate. Your male companions have trespassed upon one of my private rooms. Now, you will all have to pay a hefty price." She marches over and grabs your arm (Anastrianna's too). And easily jerks the two of you into the air and to your feet. Before you realize what's happening, she's dragging you both p the staircase toward the Library.
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Note:
<1> Phoee'un is the actual name of druids in Norum da Salaex. Phoee is the name of the mother of all the other gods. She is credited with all of creation. The suffix 'un means "child of". So, Phoee'un means: child of Phoee a.k.a. the druids.
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The old man in there was the druid Zayda (and Mialee) were searching for and could not find before they headed south in search of Orange Leaf...and remember this vision occured immediately after the infamous wish debacle.
Okay...next post, I'll get to the topic at hand
