The Chosen: A High Magic 3.5 Homebrew

[random user]

The Chosen is a D&D 3.5 High Magic campaign set in the world of Nyternia.

The campaign website is at: http://www.cardplace.com/dnd/chosen/

and contains more in-depth information.

This campaign is an experiment in high magic, multiple timeline, alternate(?) reality fantasy. This is accomplished through groups dreams which the party occassionally suffers from. (There may be other methods but as my players may read this, I'm not saying anything more about this.) The first group dream shows up in chapter 3.

The only important difference between this world and many other worlds is the existance of a race called the belar. They are essentially one step below demi-gods and rule the world. They also live for 5000 years. They see humans as humans might see cats... some may form emotional attachments, while others may be mostly indifferent. In general they are isolationist, and don't care much about what humans do as long as it doesn't get out of hand. Luckily the belar are all lawful good. More information can be found about them on the website.

So far the campaign has been going very well. For those who check out the website, you may ask why read the story hour if I also keep track of what happens on the website. Well, I've lucked out in that I've gotten almost all my players to write journal entries for their characters. For the story hour entries, I've merged bits of the player journals along with the DM journals to hopefully form something more cohesive (and less repetitive).

I'm planning on updating every 2-3 days, or at least enough to not fall further behind (we have gotten through 13 sessions so far, and it's looking like it's going to be 2-3 updates per session).

The characters start off as students (all about 16-18 years of age) at a prestigious university in the capital city of one of the territories that is co-taught by belar and humans. Because of their sheltered upbringing, the characters are a blank slate, to a large extent, ready to shape themselves in the world.

This is the party at the start of the campaign:

• Blink - lawful neutral monk, doesn't like to get hit
• Errol - chaotic neutral bard, likes to whine
• Kestrel - a good fighter, likes to think things through
• Malif - a wizard, doesn't like the belar
• Vaugner - a rogue, crass and paranoid
• Vernon - a good cleric, a loner, doesn't like to interact with people

Oh, last note. I decided to use our calendar system instead of creating a custom one. Time plays a major factor in this campaign (in many ways), and I decided it would be too much of a pain to try and translate each time it came up.

 

[random user]

Prologue: The beginning

Prologue: The beginning

It began with nothing. Then Lodi looked upon the void and decided that this would be the chosen place. Lodi called his brothers and sisters -- Moana, Deonstramous, Ely, Valkon, Benk, Keele, and Valtorin -- and together they created land, air, and water, weaving magic through the void to cause them to coalesce.

Eventually the continents and seas stabilized, and the magic used to fuse the elements mostly dissipated, though small remnants of magical fields remained to reinforce the world.

The gods looked upon their creation and found it lacking. The gods decided that each of them would add a feature to the world until they all found it satisfying.

Ely said, "This world is too bland."

She walked through the world as she started humming and moving her hands. Thus the first forests, streams, and mountains were created. The gods thought it an improvement, but still found it lacking.

"There are no creatures," Valkon said.

He stood at the top of a mountain peak and concentrated. From out of the air, many birds were formed. From out of the trees, bears, tigers and all sorts of beasts sprang forth. From deep in the oceans, whales, sharks, and fish were born. The gods delighted in these creatures, but still found it lacking.

Benk said, "We must have sentient creatures -- creatures to rule this world."

He made short stocky creatures much like himself, and infused in them a love of the earth.

"I shall call these dwarves, and they shall be the chosen," he stated.

But alas, he infused in them too much love for the earth, and instead of wanting to tame and rule the world, they turned their attention into the hills and mountains, delving into the earth trying to uncover its secrets. The dwarves would not be the chosen ones.

Moana said, "Your dwarves were a good start, but they love the earth so much they neglect the rest of the world."

To compensate, she imbued a love of all of nature into her creatures. But she also infused in them a slight distrust of the underground, so that they would concentrate on the surface world.

"These creatures shall live longer, as well, so they may truly appreciate and tend to the world they live in," she claimed.

And thus the elves were born. But alas, while the elves did love all of the world, instead of wanting to tame and rule the world, they grew fearful of their own mortality, and instead isolated themselves in their own community. The elves would not be the chosen ones.

Moana said, "The elves live so long they grow fearful of dying. They fear change. We must have creatures who are innovative and willing to take risks."

And thus the humans were born. The humans were indeed innovative, and willing to try and tame and rule the world. But the gods did not anticipate that this innovation would cause humans to live such short lives.

"These humans die before they can cause any permanent change! We must fix this."

The humans would not be the chosen ones.

Lodi called all his fellow gods around him. "Look, we have made a good start. But these humans do not live long enough, nor are they strong enough to truly tame this land. Enough playing around; we must create creatures which love the whole world, who live a long time but are innovative enough to solve problems for themselves, and brave enough to want to tame the world."

The gods all agreed, and Lodi gathered his brothers and sisters into a circle. Lodi spoke in a thunderous voice various words of magic, and thus the belar were born -- creatures who embodied everything these gods were looking for.

The cost of the magic was great, however. The gods were exhausted and needed to rest and withdraw from the world. As they looked upon world they created, and the belar walking through it, they realized the belar were not perfect, but they were good enough. The belar would be the chosen ones to rule the world.

 

[random user]

Chapter 1 - The Stolen Sculpture

Chapter 1 - The Stolen Sculpture

February 20

All the students at the university were busy studying when 6 students, Blink, Errol, Kestral, Malit, Vaugner, and Vernon, each received a note:

Please report to the Dean of Arts' office at 9:00 AM.
​

The students pondered the meaning behind the note while they studied for their final exams.

February 21

At 9:00, the students arrived at the office.

"I hope she hasn't found out about some of my more creative study habits," Vaugner thought to himself.

In the office were 3 belar. Tera, the dean, ushered them in. The students recognized Mortenser, their class liason, but the other belar was one they had never met.

"Please come in," Tera said, "Welcome all! This is Abbey, and is a researcher who creates new magic items. She has some information for you in a little bit.

"A delicate situation has come up. Someone has stolen one of my sculptures!" She pointed to a sculpture; it was a beautiful rendition of her interpretation of the goddess Keele. Not just a normal sculpture, this one had been painted with 50 layers of paint -- a special semi-transparent paint which interacted with the layers above and below it to create a sculpture with amazing colors and textures. Each of the 50 layers lent a hue or shade to each spot.

"This is the forgery they left behind. I'm not sure why it was stolen, as it is not very valuable nor does it have any magical properties; nonetheless, it is very sentimental to me." Of course, value was relative, the students quickly realized, as Tera estimated the value to be around 10,000 gold -- much more than any of the students had ever seen.

Tera went on to explain that she thought the switch may have taken place two days ago when Jacob the Trader was in the inner city. Jacob had been a trader for over 25 years, and she doubted that Jacob would risk his career by personally stealing it. It would be more likely someone employed by him did it.

She offered a deal. In exchange for not having to take the grueling finals, they would ride after Jacob to try and uncover what really happened and whether anyone in Jacob's caravan was involved.

The students quickly realized they were being asked to go because Tera was probably too embarrassed and reluctant to get involved in affairs that dealt with humans. To admit a human was able to take something out of the inner city would be something the belar would not want.

Tera said, "Jacob was heading towards Asterin, and you should be able to catch up to him in under a week. To help you along, I have 100 gold for expenses as well as horses for those who need them. Abbey has graciously agreed to provide you with a few experimental magic items."

Abbey explained what the items were and what they did, and then wished the students good luck, saying she had to get back to work.

Tera again thanked them, and then rose. Mortenser nodded and left her office. As the students were filing out, Tera pulled them aside. "Be careful, the outside world is not like here. People don't always have your best intentions at heart." She pulled out a small opal. "If you find yourselves in a dire emergency, use this gem and I will try to help as best I can. I'm sorry to have to ask you for this. I wouldn't have even considered it had it not been... such a delicate situation."

The party got their horses from the inner city stables and went to the outer city to do some research. They visited the store where Jacob bought his feed and food supplies. Rina, a mid-aged woman, affirmed that Jacob had been planning on traveling to Asterin, while a young lad, Pippy, advised them to beware of dragons!

The party ventured forth. For many of them it was the first time out of the city. They more or less knew each other from school, so they chatted about inconsequential subjects as they rode. Privately, though, each of their minds were churning.

Kestrel thought to himself, "There are some things that don't really make sense to me. Like, why would someone cross the belar like that? Everyone knows that they are powerful and good, why would you cross them? And the really weird thing is that someone angered a powerful belar just to get a statue that isn't important or all that valuable. And if you're going to steal a piece of artwork, why would you leave behind something almost as valuable as a replacement? It doesn't make any sense."

Malif's thoughts turned to why this particular party was chosen. "Why Tera did not include any of the girls, I do not know. Maybe she thinks Vaugner and I would be too much for any one of them out here alone! He, too crass, and I, too charming! Ha! Too bad she didn't include Kendra, though. She's as quick as any of us and silver-tongued to boot!"

Vernon's thoughts were inwards, "My days in long studies are almost completed but I do not feel that they have answered any of my real life questions. I am still an outsider within these stone walls. Perhaps there is a greater reason for getting us to go outside of the city. Time will only tell here."

While the rest of the party seemed enthused, Errol traveled reluctantly. "Given that I have been practicing for my final recital for the last three months and studying at least that long I am pretty unimpressed with how wonderful a deal this is, but they need me so I will go. It's not easy to refuse the belar," he thought to himself.

Seeing the unpaved road and horse dung alongside the road, he commented, "This road sure isn't well kept. The belar do a much better job of running the inside of the city than whoever is in charge here."

No one saw fit to directly comment, but he was prety sure he heard the words "whining" and "complainer" muttered under various people's breaths.

 

[target]

Whee, our story is being told.

I'm Kestrel, the fighter. Kestrel's character arc is from naive believer in all he has been taught, to ... not quite sure yet. We shall see.

I have to say, though, this group has some interesting perspectives on the world. I'm never spent time with people I would actually characterize as paranoid delusional before. On the other hand, it's possible that some of the apparent paranoia is actually a result of my character being too trusting.

- target

 

[random user]

Chapter I - The Stolen Sculpture, continued

By nightfall they reached Mero, a small village. They decided to spend the night in the local inn. Janson, the barkeep and inn owner greeted them as they entered. The inn was small but well-kept. He said, "Take any open table. If you need your horses stabled for the night, Zaii, our stablehand can help you out. Lydia will be out in a moment to take your order."

They party bought rooms for the night. Vernon went out to take care of the horses, and the rest of them started drinking. Sensing Errol had never drunk alcohol, Vaugner went up to Janson and asked for something "special" for his naive friend.

As they were drinking, Vaugner noticed the waitress seemed despondent, and eventually coaxed out her story.

"I married my husband Douglas about 4 months ago. But then he got laid off when he was injured, and we couldn't afford to pay the tax. They made him go to a mining town to work off the debt. It'll be six more months before he'll have paid it off. That's why I took this job. Every week I work here is two weeks earlier I will see my husband," she said.

Vernon chatted with Zaii the stablehand and confirmed that Jacob had been this way.

"He seemed to be in a hurry though... he usually spends the night at the inn but didn't this time. He said he wanted to push on a couple more hours before the sun set. Oh, the other thing is his wagons were really heavily laden. I remember his horses didn't look too happy," Zaii remembered.

Vernon attempted to find caravan tracks and was able to discern what he thought were wagon wheel marks. It was possible he was wrong, but the tracks indicated heavy wagons, and there hadn't been many other caravan wagons in the last couple days.

As they went up to their rooms for the night, Kestrel strayed a moment and counted out 15 gold from his own pocket and left it on the table. From Lydia's story, that was exactly the amount they still owed. The next day Lydia found Kestrel, and thanked him deeply; but she also insisted she could not take the money unless he considered it a loan, and demanded to know a way to contact him when she could repay him.

February 22 & 23

The day passed uneventfully and they camped for the night in a clearing. This would be the first night they spent outdoors!

As Vaugner laid down his bedroll, he told the rest of the party, "Don't get too close me when I'm sleeping, I'm not kidding, you won't like it," as he sprinkled caltrops around him.

Errol didn't realize he was supposed to bring a bedroll. While the others got ready for bed, Errol complained, "Why didn't someone tell me that we would be sleeping on the ground? Sleeping on the ground is for animals, and even the smart animals like monkeys don't do it."

No one answered him, but Vaugner and Malif both rolled their eyes.

On Kestral's watch, he spotted a trio of glowing lights. They were similar to will o wisps, but from his studies he knew they were not. He seemed to remember them from class... He found a nice long stick and woke Vaugner with it.

Vaugner couldn't quite recall what the lights were either. They decided to wake the rest of the party. While various people in the party thought that they might be Firefly Wisps, which were good for... something... no one remembered for sure. The wisps didn't seen to notice the party, amd floated away as the party decided not to pursue them.

"What kind of band of adventurers are these guys? I may have hooked up with the wrong bunch," Vaugner thought to himself. He had been the only person in the party who had advocated trying to kill the wisps.

Blink, however, saw things in a different light. "Vaugner is all for chasing them down. My intuition tells me they want to lure us in and get us killed by dire wolves. Adventuring seems easy as long as you're not stupid," he thought as he rolled over on his bedroll.

The next day was also uneventful. At night they found another clearing to camp at. But where was the caravan?

"I think we should have overtaken them already," worried Kestrel. But there was not much else they could do in the darkness.

On the first watch, Blink spotted the same wisps, again seemingly innocuous. Later in the night, again on Kestral's watch, suddenly Blink's horse awoke with a dreadful cry. Three monstrous black horselike creatures were attacking their horses! By the time the party was able to react, Blink's horse was almost dead. Courageously, the party sprang to battle. Errol sang a hymn that lifted the spirits of his comrades. Vaugner and Malif fired at the horses, and Blink and Kestrel each finished off a carnivorous horse while Vernon rushed to save their own horses from death. Seeing two of his pack fall, the final attacker had had enough and fled!

"Whew, this is harder than I thought," Kestrel said to himself. "Still, everyone helped out and we seem to work well together, so that's something."

Malif, too, thought that the reality of combat was nothing like he had expected. "It's quite a different thing firing in combat. Not like fence posts back with Jules in the Outer City. Everything moves all the time, friend and foe alike. At least fence posts have the courtesy to hold still!" he thought.

Februrary 24

The party left early in the morning, and by noon caught up to the caravan. There were five wagons, each pulled by two horses. In addition, eight additional horseman were interspersed around the wagons. 18 men and women total -- a couple were in full plate, and the party could spot at least one spellcaster.

The party was full of adrenaline as they mentally prepared to react to whatever the caravan might do to greet them.

 

[random user]

Chapter II - Jacob's Caravan

Chapter II - Jacob's Caravan

February 24

The party caught up to Jacob's caravan and handed him the letter of introduction Tera had provided. Jacob looked a little surprised, but welcomed them when he read the letter and introduced his team. Troy was a veteran warrior, Paige and Rose were young twin fighters, Lisa a wizard, Yorag a cleric. There were also several other novice warriors.

Jacob said, "Well I'm hurrying towards Gront as I have an important appointment there. There's a rainstorm coming, and I'm hoping to beat it there."

By early afternoon, though, it started to rain, and it quickly worsened. After about an hour making poor time through the deluge, it was clear the caravan would not make it to Gront that day.

Jacob called a stop to the caravan to camp there for the night. With amazing precision and organization, a massive tent was created using the wagons as support for canvas. In addition, another tent was erected for Jacob.

Vernon and Errol knocked at the tent and asked if they could have a word in private. Alone, they recounted the story of the lost sculpture. Jacob looked pretty doubtful, but the letter was clear; he was to help the party as best he could.

After dinner the rain stopped, and Kestrel and Vaugner gathered some information about the caravan crew. It turned out that several of the employees were fairly new -- in addition, one of the new warriors, Savan, was missing!

The party debated whether to pursue Savan, press forward to Gront, or to wait there. Eventually Vernon grew exasperated at the indecision and struck out on his own. He found Savan's tracks leading towards Gront and started following them.

After about 15 minutes, Blink noticed that Vernon was gone. A decision was made -- Kestrel, Blink, and Malif would go after Vernon, while Errol and Vaugner would wait in camp in case Savan returned.

Meanwhile, Vernon continued tracking Savan's footprints. Luckily, with the recent rain, his tracks were easy to follow. After walking about an hour, the tracks led off the road and up a slight incline. Figuring that the others would be spurred to action, and hopefully would be along soon, Vernon cast light upon a twig where the tracks diverged from the road.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, the rest of the party, who had been following the road looking for Vernon found the lit twig. Blink called out, "Vernon!" and then quickly realized perhaps that wasn't the wisest thing to do. Apparently it did not matter though; Vernon heard the call and waved his torch, and not a peep was heard from anyone else.

Blink, Malif, and Kestrel caught up to Vernon, and together they wandered up the path. As they crested the incline, a small meadow lay before them. About one hundred yards away, they saw three figures: after watching it quickly became evident that it was a group of two people talking to a single person. One of the figures held out a torch and was making no effort to conceal the light. Vernon was able to catch a few snippets of conversation. The figures were engaged in an argument about money. The party decided to send Blink back to get Errol and Vaugner, while Malif went back down so that when they returned they would know where to turn off the road.

Eventually the argument was settled, and one of the men passed another two pouches. Then he and his partner turned and exited at the far end of the field, while the single figure turned around and started back towards the party.

The party hid out of the way. Luckily the lone figure seemed to be preoccupied and didn't notice the party, but the party noticed him! It was definately Savan. As Savan neared the road, Malif silently cursed as he realized it wasn't the rest of his party. He tried to scoot back silently but crushed a couple of twigs. Amazingly, Savan was so preoccupied he didn't even notice that!

Together again, Malif, Vernon, and Kestrel followed Savan, knowing that he would be caught in between the other returning party members and them. But the plan didn't quite work. Hearing the hoofbeats of Blink, Errol, and Vaugner's horses (who still made better time riding than walking despite having only moonlight and a bit of torchlight), Savan quickly doused his torch and dove into the bushes.

Seeing Savan's light wink out, Vernon quickly lit his torch and looked around, trying to spot Savan. Though he wasn't able to find him, he strove into the bushes and was able to find Savan's tracks running parallel to the road. Dashing ahead on the road a few hundred feet, Vernon then cut back into the side of the road and amazingly was able to find Savan's tracks again! Casting longstrider on himself, and by taking a more direct route (Savan was weaving a bit, being a little panicked), Vernon caught up to Savan. A melee ensued. Vernon took a nasty nick from Savan's dagger but grimly pressed on.

Vernon stabbed with his spear and scored a huge gash along Savan's chest, but Savan stayed up. By then, Blink had caught up.

"We won't kill you; we just want to talk. You can't win -- there are 4 of us here," Blink shouted.

Upon hearing the distressing news, Savan thrust the dagger into his chest, fully intending on killing himself. But Vernon was too quick and cast a cure minor wounds to stabilize him.

While Vernon had started chasing Savan, Vaugner and Kestrel went back to the caravan to head Savan off in case he showed up there. They filled Jacob in on the story and then waited impatiently for the rest of their party to arrive, not knowing that the others had captured Savan.

February 25

Vernon cast a cure light wounds on Savan but was unable to bring him to consciousness. Searching through Savan's belongings, he found 250 pieces of gold and two amazingly lifelike figures of trolls. Then he tied Savan to his horse and they started heading back to the caravan. After about half an hour, they neared the caravan. Reunited, the party compared notes and decided to ask Jacob and Yorag, the cleric, to come out -- they didn't want to bring Savan into a camp potentially containing an accomplice.

Jacob agreed, and Yorag was able to revive Savan. He seemed suprised and distressed he was still alive, and claimed that he was "already dead." After a bit of intimidation, Savan became more pliable. He admitted to stealing the statue, claimed he was alone, that he had been hired by a man named Burton to steal the statue, that the statue was in his wagon, and that he was supposed to deliver the statue later that night. When asked about the troll figurines, he replied that when water was poured on them they turned into real trolls. If necessary he would have used them to create a distraction.

The party discussed their options. Eventually, they decided an attempt to ambush Burton would be the best option. They headed back to the meadow, but unfortunately, Burton did not show up. At dawn, the party found two sets of tracks leading away. Following the tracks, they eventually came to a large cave. Though the tracks led in, there was no sign of light or life from within the cave. Vernon noticed that the cave was very odd -- it looked mostly like a natural cave, but was actually man-made. It could easily be trapped or full of enemies, or it could be completely empty.

 

[random user]

Chapter II - Jacob's Caravan, cont'd

After debating whether to peek inside the cave or not, they decided to be safe and not go in.

"I don't know about the rest of you but I want to get some sleep!" exclaimed Errol.

Before heading back to Gront, though, the party explored some of the surrounding area and discovered another cave about 500 to 1000 yards away.

As the party headed to Gront, they had a heated debate about what to do with the troll figurines. In the end it was decided that the figurines would be sold.

Blink thought to himself, "They serve as a neat metaphor for our little group: random acquisition, acrimonious argument, ideological differences, dangerous ideas, and reasonable compromises. Thank the gods we managed to avoid using them; I'm sure we'd all be dead."

At Gront, Vernon went to worship and seek guidence at the local temple, Errol bought a nice bedroll, a cloak, some soap, and other supplies. At the caravan (which had arrived in Gront by this time), Jacob was talking to four dwarves, Brevrin, Trevrin, Sevrin, and Mevrin. Kestrel greeted the dwarves in a heavily accented dwarven. Amused that a human could speak dwarvish, Brevin gave Kestrel a small chiseling hammer as a token of friendship.

The party sold the troll figurines to Jacob for 400 platinum, took possession of the sculpture (which had been hidden in one of the wagons) and decided to delay sleep and head back to Pavalar immediately.

Errol complained loudly, but he was outvoted five to one, and they guided their horses back towards Pavalar.

February 28

After a couple days of pressing their horses when they could, they were about five hours out of Pavalar. In the distance, they spotted a huge figure which could only be a belar rushing towards them. Every few minutes, the belar's horse would wink out of existance only to reappear several miles closer.

It soon became clear that the belar would catch up to them shortly, so the party reined in and waited to see if the belar was simply on the road or was specifically looking for them.

Soon the belar drew his horse near them. He was a full 10 feet tall, with spiky white hair and pale skin, wearing a black traveling cloak which flowed down to his boots. In one hand was a 6 foot rod, in the other were the horse's reins. Also he wore a silver necklace with a mounted star rose quartz gem.

"WHO HAS THE STATUE?" he roared, looking at each of the party members in turn. "Give it to me, it is mine!"

Kestrel bravely stated that the statue was Tera's. At the same time, Malif smartly crushed the special opal that Tera had given them and quietly spoke the command phrase "Tera save me!"

The belar's face grew a horrific grimace, and he spat out, "It is mine by right, give it to me!"

Kestrel started to say something else when a thin red beam shot out of the necklace and hit Kestrel squarely on the chest. Amazingly Kestrel was still alive!

Vernon drew his horse up and started to speak, but the belar had lost all his patience. Drawing Vernon in with his eyes, the necklace shot forth another beam which drilled into Vernon, but Vernon too did not fall.

As the party looked on in fear, suddenly Tera materialized. "What is the meaning of this Klaus?" she asked in disbelief.

Turning to Tera, a look of recognition crossed his eyes.

"The statue is MINE!" Klaus roared.

Another beam shot forth and hit Tera. Feeling shocked, Tera acted on instinct. Quickly she created a wall of force in between the party and Klaus. "Gather together!" she shouted, as tried to decide how to extract the party from Klaus' wrath.

Another beam shot forth and again Tera was hit. Sparked into sudden anger, without thinking she cast the first spell she thought of to retaliate -- a cone of cold burst forth and hit Klaus. Klaus looked a little frostbit but not too damaged, and returned fire yet again with another beam which unerringly found its mark. The horse looked much worse than Klaus, but also remained alive.

"What's going on?" Tera wondered, "Klaus is more powerful than I am and what is this beam he is shooting at me?"

She decided maybe she could win this fight after all, and cast another cone of cold. As the cone again hit its mark, Klaus let forth a primal yell -- a blood-curling un-belarlike scream. With a final flicker of his hand, he tossed forth a delayed blast fireball at Tera and dimension doored out.

Tera rushed forward to try and throw the bead of fire out of the way, but as she touched the bead it exploded in her hand. Though a little hurt, Tera was still steady on her feet. She probed out to see if Klaus was still nearby but found no sign of him.

Then she turned to the party and asked if they were hurt. The party was mostly still in shock, but managed to tell Tera that they were mostly all right (Tera healed them) and that they were able to recover the sculpture. Then they offered Tera the sculpture.

She replied, "What a rare company indeed, it is refreshing to find a non-excess of ambition. Still, it would be better off for you if you were to return with the statue."

Seeing the fear in their eyes, she put out her arm and murmured a few words. With a shimmer, a giant eagle appeared perched on her bracer. "My familiar Freedom will fly overhead and guard the final leg of your journey. If you run into more trouble, I will see it and be able to come," she reassured them.

Kestrel still had many questions unanswered. "If he wanted it, why not just take it himself and teleport out? It's not like anyone was watching it. Or why not get it from his caravan helper instead of waiting for it to get to the next town? He's a *belar*!" he thought as they rode.

 

[random user]

As the party returned to outer Pavalar, Pippy spotted them. "It's almost the holidays, I have a great gift you can buy! They're called Cherbas... It's a small stone, but if you water it, it will grow fur and begin to talk. You can even teach it tricks and stuff! The cost is only 1 gold!" Vernon, Errol, and Kestrel decided to humor the lad and each bought a stone.

As they neared the gates to the inner city, Malif felt a tug at his pocket. Spinning quickly, he caught a pickpocket trying to lift something.

"Good to see you still have good reflexes, sir!" the would-be thief said with a smirk. "I have a message from Alana; she would like to meet her. The only problem is she's in jail so you'll have to meet her there."

Then with a quick twist he broke free, ran about 10 feet, turned and did a quick bow, and then disappeared into the crowd.

Finally, the inner city! As they passed through the gates though, alarms began sounding and soon 15 armed guards had them surrounded. Evidently the rocks which Pippy had sold them were forbidden, and the students were allowed to continue in after the rocks were confiscated.

They made their way to Tera's office, where a conversation between 3 belar and 4 humans stopped when they entered the room.

"Thank you for recovering the statue; you have done better than anyone has expected of you. I have a meeting I need to attend, but please tell Tangor here about your adventures. I can tell from your eyes that you have many questions to ask. Meet me in my office tomorrow at 9AM and I'll answer them as best I can," Tera said.

With that, she left, and the party started relating their adventures. Towards the end of the debrief, the students received a note from Tera. She apologized but said she was tied up with some other matters and had to reschedule their meeting to March 2.

March 1

Early in the morning, Malif visited Alana at the jail.

"I got myself in kind of a jam, Malif. I was wandering around outside of town when I spotted a cave I hadn't noticed before. Being curious, I checked it out. Turns out there was a stiff in the cave; he looked recently killed and partially eaten. He had a nice leather tunic and I'm pretty sure he didn't need it anymore, so... I took it. As I was getting the tunic off, I heard something from deeper in the cave.

"I figure whatever killed this guy could probably kill me too, so I grabbed the tunic and ran. I was feeling pretty good about the day when I got back into town. I didn't step more than 100 feet into town when some guards came up and arrested me! Turns out they think I stole the tunic!

"They didn't believe me when I told them I just found it off a dead guy and they hauled me off to jail. My hearing is March 10. I tried to get a couple friends to try and gather more evidence from the cave... there was a pouch a little farther in I didn't have time to look through... but they are all too chicken to go in.

"Anyways, I'm almost out of options. But then I remembered you! Certainly took you long enough to get here though," she teased.

Malif said he would look into it and made no guarentees but would see what he could do. He woke Vaugner and together they went out to check out the cave based on the directions Alana had provided.

Sure enough, there was a cave, and a foreboding one at that. Deciding that perhaps it would be better to have backup, they decided to mention it to the rest of the party later.

Meanwhile, Kestrel sought out Pippy in the morning before training. Sure enough Pippy was hawking more stones. Kestrel pressed Pippy for more information. Pippy replied that he and his friends had each gotten a couple stones from a traveling wizard and reaffirmed that they made great toys. Pippy had no further information about the traveling wizard, but offered to sell Kestrel another rock for 7 silver or two for a gold.

A bit puzzled, Kestrel visited Rina. She laughed and said that Pippy had sold her one too.

"It hasn't done anything yet though, except grow a little fur," she laughed. "The seem innocuous enough though. A lot of the street urchins seem to be selling them recently.."

For the rest of the day, each of them trained with their respective tutors.

Malif and Vaugner were both impressed by Kestrel's prowess and chose to learn more about the fighting arts.

Malif had written in his journal:

I am toying with ideas for improving my skills... I fear that too long I have neglected the Martial arts in favor of the Arcane. My aim is poor, despite having much skill with my hands. Lack of practice and instruction is my error. And my constitution, though hearty, lies cold and dormant. I could exercise far more than I do. Still, it would mean taking time away from my studies, which, in all truth, have just begun. I may have finally joined the ranks of the Initiated, but descriptions of the formulation of even the simplest of Arcane Mechanicals still make my head swim! I have hard study to do before I can create even the most minor of trinkets. The thought of delaying that education pains me! And yet, the very real dangers of the world impress upon me that I ought to give serious thought to the more mundane, and yet worthy, skills of battle.
​

and then later:

My mind is settled... Today, we might have all perished. A Belar wizard of great power attacked us. The blow that Kestrel took looked to me as though it would have been fatal had I been where he stood.
​

The rest of the party expanded upon their previous vocation.

Throughout the day, each party member received a letter requesting their presence that night back at the keep. The party was split up, and each person was asked to re-account for their travels. As an additional oddity, a belar was present this time in addition to their human questioners. During each interview, there were many reassurances that the party did nothing wrong and weren't in trouble, but that they wanted to make sure they didn't overlook anything in the initial interview.

Late at night they were released. Finally tomorrow they would be able to ask Tera their questions!

 

[target]

By this time, several of the party members had shown some... idiosyncracies. Vernon just loves to head off into the night, regardless of the rest of the party, and leaves it to the rest of us to chase him down lest he die a greusome death. It's not like he's very sneaky, either, in plate mail.

Vaugner and Malif are, frankly, paranoid. Errol is a priss. Blink and I are the only halfway normal ones.

- target (aka Kestrel)

 

[random user]

[size=-2](OOC note: explanatory post will follow this. Think of the first section as a cut-scene)[/size]

Chapter III: The Cube

Date Unknown

My sleep is troubled; I try to relax but I cannot... My call has been sent, and they answer; they have no choice. I try to concentrate, I must try to speak, to make them hear me. But they do not notice.

They have arrived in the starting room; but still they sleep, a dream within a dream within a dream. How long? I cannot tell. The meaning of time is lost upon me. They awaken... they see the stark room -- fifteen feet cubed, with a single egress. The only method I can communicate lies upon the first altar, if one could say it was communication.

Again I shout out -- but they do not hear. They seem confused but they are adept, and literate it appears, as they scan through the words of the scroll. They figure out the door quickly enough, perhaps they will succeed? Not likely...

Into the next room, the same as the first save the altar is different. 5 levers and a button appear before them, with a button to the right of them. They are speaking... what do they say? I strain to hear but silence taunts me.

They throw the levers and pass through to the next room. My pain grows, it is hard to see exactly what they do. Do they understand? And again through to the next room. A feeling long lost upon me tickles me. Dare I hope? No... not yet. I will see what they do.

One more room they march. They see the altar, with a button and four pedastals. The button is hit! Skeletons appear and are quickly destroyed. Not too powerful this party is, but, powerful enough? I ignore the pain and concentrate upon the party again. They have found the figurines!

Another enemy, a mindless gargoyle, again dispatched, but they have been wounded. Will they dispair? Ah, I see one is a healer. Maybe there is some hope after all...

Back to the levers, and a different combination. Which did they pick? I strain to see, but it is too hazy, and I have not the strength to try long. Forward again, and mephits... ah how I hate mephits... but they don't seem to hurt the party much.

More levers, yet another combination. My pain grows, along with my fear. I feel my time slipping. I yell at them to hurry, but they pay me no heed. I must close my eyes for a bit.

Back to the levers, another choice made, and forward again. This time a brown bear awaits them. A dead end. Will they understand? Back to the levers, and forward again. An arc of lightning strikes out... did it kill one? I see the party shimmer out; they have figured out one of the pieces, and are back at the beginning, with the dead member alive again! I can feel it now; these are the ones.

But alas, they tarry! What are they thinking? Eventually they set forth again. The pain eats at me; I cannot concentrate much longer, and I sense the party has been considerably weakened. Another figurine is placed; this time an enormous lion appears. Two of the members fall, but they are able to dispatch it.

They start over again, and head back. This time a cone of cold kills one and they must start over. NO! They have lost the momentum. I shake my head in dispair. And back again; they remove all the figurines and place a new one. This time an ettin! It is too strong for them -- they are dying!

Another set of adventurers dead. No hope. My pain intensifies. A moment of reality hits me, this is not real! "Not bad! Not bad at all" I exult. Ah! The pain is unbearable... I must forget! I feel my consciousness slip away from me... the pain is my blanket and now I must sleep again...


March 2

The students awoke from a nightmare, and realized if they didn't hurry they would be late for their appointment with Tera. Checking in with each other, they realized that it had not been a simple nightmare -- they had all dreamt the same dream!

At 9:00AM they filed into Tera's office.

Errol blurted out, "What the hell?!?"

Tera looked at him confusedly. The students described the group dream they had experienced. Tera looked at them each with concern, but the students couldn't tell if that concern stemmed from the nightmare or because she was worried for their mental stability.

"It's been a long time but I do remember something like this happening several thousand years ago. But it has been a long time since I've come across it myself, and I cannot remember from whence it came. I would try and find the reference but I've been very busy these last couple of days, and will be for a while. There are lots of things happening." As she spoke this, the students noticed she did look rather tired, which was very unusual for a belar.

"Anyays, did you have any questions for me?", she asked. Perhaps because of the traumatic experience, the students had few questions. Tera reported that Klaus was third or so in the line of sucession in the Yogar clan. She had talked directly to Nicholas, the ruler of the Yogar clan. According to Nicholas, shortly after Klaus's encoutner with Tera, Nicholas found Klaus in his laboratory dead -- he had killed himself. Upon further research, they determined that Klaus had contacted a rare disease that made him insane.

"I still have no idea why Klaus would have been interested in my sculpture," she said.

"We also sent scouts to check out the cave you reported. It was just a small cave with furnishings for two people. The back of the cave led to a maze whose egress was the other cave complex you found. It looks like the cave had been used for quite a while and have been outfitted to prevent most means of scrying. When we found it, it was also quite abandoned."

Lastly, she reminded the students that graduation was April 1, and that they should just relax until then. Also she noted that as a reward for recovering the statue, they would be have their pick of mentors, so not to worry about their apprentice lists.

The students ran out of questions, and started to leave her office. Vaugner lingered a little and said to Tera, "If you need us to help with anything else, just let us know!"

"Thank you for volunteering yourself... and your group," she replied with just a trace of a smirk.

Outside again, Malif filled the rest of the party in on the cave. After missing out on the opportunity of whatever lay in the cave outside Gront, they decided not to pass it up again and started walking towards the cave. With luck, they would find something to help free Alana.