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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="James McMurray" data-source="post: 1073427" data-attributes="member: 743">Note: the previous post has been edited because I accidentally said that Toshiro and Tsura were Crane clan. They are Crab.----Armed with their newfound knowledge, the party goes in search of information on the Phane and the Crystalmist mountains. They learn that the Crystalmists are mostly governed by humanoid tribes in the far North, the mid-North section is ruled by an Orc Kingdom, and the South owned by Dwarves. Ten years ago a huge was waged between the humans and the Orcs, and although it seemed that the Orcs' tactics were easily stopped, their numbers never seemed to drop, until abruptly the war was ended by the combined efforts of a half-elven diplomat and her half-orc husband. Indeed, the tactics of the orcs were so poor that they actually tried to scale one keep's walls by charging it, then climbing the bodies of the dead. currently there is a truce on between the Orcs, Humans, and Dwarves which has lasted for ten years (despite minor infractions on all three sides, mostly in the form of trespassing adventurers in Orc lands).About the Phane they learn the following: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Its touch can trap a person outside of time, not unlike Temporal Stasis. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It feeds on the temporal energy of those it has captured.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It can only be permanently harmed by good weapons.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It can somehow make short jumps back in time.</li> </ul>Regalin, using his powers as an Agent Retriever, attunes himself to the caverns of the Marshanki Charuk, and the next day the party heads out, Wind Walking thanks to Farlight's magic. As they approach the caverns, they see a single figure below them on a slope look up and point, then run in the direction they are heading. A few minutes later, they arrive at the caverns. Regalin directs them down to a slope opposite the Marshanki mountain, and several of the tribes' members begin to point and talk amongst themselves.A small group of Marshanki Charuk (blue-skinned and straight-backed goblins) begins to walk across the valley towards the spot where the small group thought they were well hidden. Although the goblins carry swords and bows, they do not have them drawn, and do not seem offensive. Aust awaits their arrival, preparing to search their auras for signs of evil, but their slow pace makes him head down to meet with them.Once the goblins are deemed non-evil and friendly, he waves the remainder of the group forward, who come somewhat cautiously."Welcome Seekers," the lead goblin hisses through blue lips. "Welcome to the halls of the Marshanki Charuk. The Portal you seek, and its guardian, await." At this range, the party notices that the goblinoids have a weak gray flicker in their auras, like the one seen by Regalin in the Bather who directed them here, but not as strong. When asked, the Charukai replies, "We are the Children of The Pool." When asked if they are its guardian, the Charukai states simply, "No, we are the children, the Phane guards the portal."Friendly talk ensues, and the party, fearful of the abomination, enquires about its capabilities. They learn that it can never be killed, and that some have tricked their way past by sending forth sacrificial victims to draw its attention. One Seeker once ran past the creature, but he was very fast.Although this news brings a small amount of talk regarding trying to sacrifice someone to get past, that idea is soon shut down. The paladin, hating the existence of an evil abomination, votes to attack it. The remainder of the group is uncertain about that course, as they know how powerful Abominations are, and are fearful of being captured by it.Additionally, the party fears that if they do somehow manage to sneak past the thing, it will simply jump back in time and place itself in position to prevent that. However, the fact that others have managed to bypass it without fighting assuages that concern.Tsura tells the group that she has the capability to create duplicates of herself outside of her body, and that she could send those copies in to hopefully distract it. Meanwhile, everyone else would attempt to run past. This idea is agreed upon to be the one with the most merit, and the party returns to talk with the Charuk.When asked to draw a picture of the room that the Phane guards, a Charukai asks in a puzzled tone, "Draw? What is thisdraw?" When the paladin points to the room around him and then draws an outline of it in the earth at his feet, the Charukai cries out in shock. "He places rooms in the earth! Truly you are the most powerful Seeker I have seen." Aust replies that the creature could draw if he wanted too, but does not realize that these beings are children of Time itself. Although their understanding of time and its flows, their spatial awareness is greatly hampered. Tsura steps forward and draws forth a small square of paper. With several deft movements, she creates a near-exact duplicate of the cavern in which they stand. The Charuk are all quite awed at this, and one of them bravely steps forwards. Pointing to the origami room he asks in a fearful and reverent hiss, "May I?" Aust has no idea what he means, but Farlight is quite perturbed at this point by what he deems to be useless chatter with pathetically inferior creatures. "Yes you may," he gruffly says, then turns to the group. "These creatures are obvious idiots. Let's go."A short bit of talk later and the group goes forward. When they think the are near, they begin their spellcasting preparations, the last of which involves Tsura creating four duplicates of herself, and casting haste on the entire group.The party rushes forward, but it is farther than they thought due to the Charuk misinterpretation of space, and several of their defenses drop or nearly drop before they get there.Aust moves into the room first, making a wide berth around the Phane, a horse-sized creature made of shadowy black, with two pinpoints of emerald green light for eyes. He is followed immediately by Toshiro and then Tsura's duplicates. The duplicates charge the Phane, and it lashes out at them, freezing all but one of them outside of time. The remaining one moves to block the creature as the rest of the party pours into the cavern.The Phane, sensing they are about to run around it, move to block them off. He is driven momentarily aside by a Blade Barrier thrown up by Farlight. Meanwhile, Agamina and Regalin dive through the portal. Less than ten second later the remainder of the party dives through, having seen that they cannot even hit this beast with their weapons. Although it manages to touch Aust, Toshiro, and Farlight, they all shake off its temporal trap.-----------On the far side of the portal, the group appears in midair. A 1-foot drop onto a plush carpet reveals them to be in a large courtroom, at the head of which sits a crowned man on a throne, flanked by several guards. Beside him stands a small (perhaps ten years old) boy. The boy rushes forward to Aust, the closest party member. Aust, clumsily regains his feet and the party notices that their clothing and gear are drastically changed. Even more so, several of them have changed races completely! Farlight is quite distressed by his new human body."Are you the great heroes that we requested?" asks Cutter, the small boy. "Truly only great heroes could appear out of thin air floating on carpets!" It seems that Aust and Toshiro's boots (both Winged Boots) have transformed into large carpets, and left them barefoot. It seems quite odd to them to have bare feet in full Knight's Jousting armor.Aust replies, "What request?" and the king (actually Duke Cornish, or ) waves his arms. The guards all drop their hands to their swords and take a single step forward."What be ye doin' appearin' in me chambers if'n ye not be the heroes?" He asks."We're looking for the Pool of Time," is all Aust can think of to say."I'm not knowin' a thing about a Pool of Time, but we are havin' troubles with waters. Perhaps th' two be related," Cornish replies.Cutter steps up onto Aust's carpet and says in an enthusiastic and youthful tone "You've just got to help us! I can tell you're great heroes, please help my village!" His tone displays all of the enthusiasm and hope of youth.Unable to turn aside a child's pleas, Aust agrees.Meanwhile, the remainder of the group listen and investigate their new forms. Farlight has become a human, and his mithral armor is now mere iron. At his side hangs a mace, not the Longsword he is accustomed to. His haversack has apparently become a bag, and is draped over his should with a rope.Aust too, although he has not realized it yet, is a human. His Full Plate has been replaced with an even more elaborate suit of jousting plate, and his spiked shield now sports several sword blades, jutting out in a triangle around its outer rim. His boots are now a flying carpet, and much of his remaining gear seems to be gone.Tsura seems to be the least changed. The bundle of scrolls at her side, from which she prepares her daily spells, has gained a binding and is now a large tome. Her form seems to waver and shift, even though the duration of her Displacement spell has long since worn off. A single scroll tube is tucked into her belt.Greyhawk, once a tall human male, is now a smaller elf. His Full Plate is mostly unchanged, although its glamour is gone and it stands revealed as armor. The sword at his side is also changed, but feels fashioned to his grip when he reaches to grab the sheathed hilt.Toshiro is the most distressed by his change. His ornate Crab Clan armor has been changed into jousting armor, and his precious ancestral katana has been replaced by a large (yet seemingly familiar) bastard sword. At his side where his Wakizahsi once lay hangs a crudely fashioned Westerners' short sword. His boots too have become a carpet, leaving his feet bare.He slowly draws the short sword from its sheathe and looks it over. Wondering if he would be allowed to commit seppuku with it. Although it is unclean, it is apparent that he has lost his family's sword, and there is no other recourse for him. Tsura sees this in his eyes and places a hand on his wrist. "Patience my lord. I believe that the blades you see before you are still the same blades you hold dear, merely changed to match this new land.-------------------Out of Game:At this point Brian (Farlight's and Greyhawk's player) asks to make a Spellcraft check to see if he can recognize what has happened to them. I reply, "Spellcraft, what the heck is that? Recognize spells, that sounds like a good idea. Maybe we'll put it in a future version of the game." Brian groans aloud as he realizes now why I sent out an email several weeks ago asking if anyone still had their Old D&D (Basic through Masters) books. Nobody did, but I told them I had found them online for fairly cheap (svgames if anyone's interested). The group thought I was converting forward from an old adventure, not converting backward from current characters. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />Several confusing minutes later, the new character sheets are handed out. Kismet (a.k.a. Aust) takes his Adventure record sheet and begins to fill it out with character names, GM names, etc. When he reaches the blank that says "Campaign Goal" he fills it in with a loud "to return to 3rd edition!" <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />This should be interesting! Now back to the action:-------------------As the group tries to figure out what is going on, the room grows dark and a chill wind lifts the wall hangings. A huge skull materializes out of thin air and floats in front of the heroes. the eye sockets are inky black, and water drips from the nose, ears, and mouth. When the water hits the floor, it runs to blood, staining Aust's and Toshiro's carpets and feet a dull red. A stench of dam rot fills the air, and the skull speaks:The blood of Men grows pale and weak,The land rots while you search and seek.A blight on earth for all to see,So civilization can never be.The cure you seek is in your handEven while you search the land.No man can change this evil's course,Unless you seek the curse's source.The skull vanishes as rapidly as it came, and the light level returns to normal in the room. The only signs on its passing are the bloodstains left behind.Cutter, his tongue held by fear while the skull was there, cries out after it vanishes. "You have to take me with you now! I'll take you to the Seer! He told our village 'when words of water turn to blood, seek me.' This must be what he meant!"The group agrees to go see this Seer, and they ask for shoes to cover the warriors' now bare feet. Shoes are brought and the party moves into the courtyard, heading towards the stables to pick up the horses that were offered. As they cross the yard, horrible screeching is heard in the air, and several large hairy flying creatures appear in the skies above them. Their fur is a slick, greasy black and their wings are hairless and leathery, like a bat's. Their eyes glow a feverish red and their right arm's end in bone extensions resembling a saber’s blade.Springing into action, Tsura hurtles a fireball into their midst, but it seems to have no effect. Farlight creates a cloud of insects, which are ignored by the beasts. Attempting to slow their advance Greyhawk creates a wall of fire. Unfortunately, his attempt to create it inside them causes it to appear behind them. Meanwhile, Aust charges forwards on his carpet, heedless of the fact that young Cutter is still aboard. His sword slams into one of the beasts' hides, and he is soon surrounded by several of them.The rest of the Saberclaws charge the remainder of the party, all but Tsura (who is encircled by her group-mates) is attacked by at least two of the creatures. Swords and maces block and parry, and only Greyhawk and Farlight find themselves mildly hurt.Again the party lashes out, this time everyone but Tsura trusting to their weapons. The beasts are all hit hard, but none fall. Indeed, they merely grimace and screech, ignoring the pains of cuts and broken bones. The Saberclaws again lash out and strike Greyhawk and Farlight. Toshiro and Aust remain unharmed, easily batting aside the sword arms of the creatures.Tsura calls forth a Power Word, and one of the Saberclaws drops several feet to the ground, stunned. The cleric and fighters again lash out, and when Greyhawk slams his sword into the belly of one of the three beasts surrounding him, each and every Saberclaw screams as a hole appears in its belly. as one the foul creatures fall to the ground, where they slowly dissolve into water whose touch kills the grass beneath them.Cutter, again seeming to be a font of useful information, tells the party, "Those were Saberclaws! I've managed to hide from them in the past, but they sometimes come into the village and fly off with people. My father Korse... actually he's my foster father, I don't know who my real parents are, but I love him just the same... anyway, he was almost killed just last week. He didn't want to let me come here, but I'm so good at avoiding the animals and 'claws that he decided I might be able to make it out to get help."When prompted for details about the troubles at the village, cutter explains. "During the waxing or the waning of the moon, our crops are stunted and our animals (and even some villagers) turn savage, attacking anyone that gets near. During the full moon the villagers and animals fall into a deep sleep. At the new moon, those who slept die.""I hope the Seer can tell us what to do. But we've got to be careful. The Seer's advice always gets you what you want, but sometimes not quite as expected. For instance, a farmer whose fields were dry and barren went to the Seer for help. The Seer promised him fertile fields for the rest of his natural life in exchange for the farmer's service until the sun rose. The farmer agreed, reporting for service that night. But he waited in vain for the morning, and it was twenty years before he saw the sun rise. He then went back to his farm, and he truly did have good crops the rest of his life. But he had aged twenty years and died shortly thereafter. Only a single night had passed for the rest of the world.""I can take you to his island. We should leave as soon as possible, the full moon will come soon, and after that more people will die!"</blockquote>

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