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Wildwood Red in Tooth and Claw II [IC]
- Thread starter Voadam
- Start date
"I...don't know...I didn't think so..." Inamar stammers, dismayed by the question and the implied answer.
She brushes her hand on the staff's aura, latching onto something...anything...to distract herself from unpleasant conjecture.
"That's kind of pretty...it wasn't glowing before..."
Inamar trails off as she squints to examine the radiance in more detail. It really WAS pretty, but it was also a lot more complicated than it looked at first. The aura seemed multi-leveled, like shells of light nested inside one another, so close together that they looked like a single thing at first. Each 'layer' swam with tiny patterns...some of which she -recognized-...only to realize with a start that she'd seen them before. On her skin.
Spooked, Inamar jerks her eyes away from the staff and focuses on Weylan instead.
She brushes her hand on the staff's aura, latching onto something...anything...to distract herself from unpleasant conjecture.
"That's kind of pretty...it wasn't glowing before..."
Inamar trails off as she squints to examine the radiance in more detail. It really WAS pretty, but it was also a lot more complicated than it looked at first. The aura seemed multi-leveled, like shells of light nested inside one another, so close together that they looked like a single thing at first. Each 'layer' swam with tiny patterns...some of which she -recognized-...only to realize with a start that she'd seen them before. On her skin.
Spooked, Inamar jerks her eyes away from the staff and focuses on Weylan instead.
Voadam
Legend
The Eye of Night
The druid nods in response to Weylan's question and begins to explain "In an earlier age of the world, a warband of the wood giants overcame the green dragon Estaraloth. One of the heroes of that band brought a great gem from the dragon's hoard, a large smooth topaz the size of a closed fist, and presented it to their tribe's druid Aran Hieuli as thanks for the healing that had saved him from the ravages of disease as a youth. The druid could tell that it held potent focusing magics but he knew not its purpose and brought it to his Circle for further examination. A hag among the circle, Ventrelle Cadori, was known for her powers of divination and she discerned that the gem was a summoning focus, tied to astromancy and fell realms beyond the stars. It could not be used alone, but combined with the proper other tools a skilled master could use it to draw on various other realms and powers, binding alien energies and fell beings to his will. Depending on the sacrifices performed and the current alignment of heavens at the time it was used different celestial alignments would provide access to different realms, many of them powerful and inimical to all life as we know it. Uncontrolled, such beings could be dangerous individual hazards, while some of the energies could potentially warp or scour all life from Wildwood entirely. Cadori named the gem the Eye of Night.
"The Circle decided the artefact was too dangeous and should be destroyed, but it proved resistant to shattering, lightning strikes, dragon acid, cursing, magical destruction and numerous other methods that were attempted. Cadori determined that it could be destroyed but the specific method was unknown and might require the direct power of a divinity. The Circle therefore decided to safeguard the Eye of Night, lest it fall into the hands of one who might unwittingly unleash disaster upon the Wildwood as they sought to bind personal power to themselves. Knowledge of the Eye of Night was kept a closely guarded secret of the Circle, lest those who lusted after power at any cost would not be tempted to seek it out.
"A fey realm was established, this realm, that was cut off from the vibrant full realm of Wildwood. It required a connection to the Land and could be brought into conjunction by those with a connection into or out of the realm. I was a member of the Circle and volunteered to undergrow the Evergreen Transformation ritual sacrificing much of my druidic power and my old life to become the Bloodthorne Guardian, bound to this realm for ages to come. Once I had done so I accepted the Eye of Night, hid it within my very being, and took up the stewardship of this realm, establishing further wards and defenses should its primary one ever be pierced. As the Bloodthorne Guardian I hold dominion over this fey realm and the natural features and wildlife native to the realm. Over the ages I have maintained contact with the Circle, acting as a teacher for many druids who have come to me to learn, while only the highest members of the Circle, such as your druid Zallon, held the true secret of my guardianship should disaster ever fall and I needed outside help.
"And disaster has fallen with these invaders."
The druid nods in response to Weylan's question and begins to explain "In an earlier age of the world, a warband of the wood giants overcame the green dragon Estaraloth. One of the heroes of that band brought a great gem from the dragon's hoard, a large smooth topaz the size of a closed fist, and presented it to their tribe's druid Aran Hieuli as thanks for the healing that had saved him from the ravages of disease as a youth. The druid could tell that it held potent focusing magics but he knew not its purpose and brought it to his Circle for further examination. A hag among the circle, Ventrelle Cadori, was known for her powers of divination and she discerned that the gem was a summoning focus, tied to astromancy and fell realms beyond the stars. It could not be used alone, but combined with the proper other tools a skilled master could use it to draw on various other realms and powers, binding alien energies and fell beings to his will. Depending on the sacrifices performed and the current alignment of heavens at the time it was used different celestial alignments would provide access to different realms, many of them powerful and inimical to all life as we know it. Uncontrolled, such beings could be dangerous individual hazards, while some of the energies could potentially warp or scour all life from Wildwood entirely. Cadori named the gem the Eye of Night.
"The Circle decided the artefact was too dangeous and should be destroyed, but it proved resistant to shattering, lightning strikes, dragon acid, cursing, magical destruction and numerous other methods that were attempted. Cadori determined that it could be destroyed but the specific method was unknown and might require the direct power of a divinity. The Circle therefore decided to safeguard the Eye of Night, lest it fall into the hands of one who might unwittingly unleash disaster upon the Wildwood as they sought to bind personal power to themselves. Knowledge of the Eye of Night was kept a closely guarded secret of the Circle, lest those who lusted after power at any cost would not be tempted to seek it out.
"A fey realm was established, this realm, that was cut off from the vibrant full realm of Wildwood. It required a connection to the Land and could be brought into conjunction by those with a connection into or out of the realm. I was a member of the Circle and volunteered to undergrow the Evergreen Transformation ritual sacrificing much of my druidic power and my old life to become the Bloodthorne Guardian, bound to this realm for ages to come. Once I had done so I accepted the Eye of Night, hid it within my very being, and took up the stewardship of this realm, establishing further wards and defenses should its primary one ever be pierced. As the Bloodthorne Guardian I hold dominion over this fey realm and the natural features and wildlife native to the realm. Over the ages I have maintained contact with the Circle, acting as a teacher for many druids who have come to me to learn, while only the highest members of the Circle, such as your druid Zallon, held the true secret of my guardianship should disaster ever fall and I needed outside help.
"And disaster has fallen with these invaders."
Inamar listens, frowning with concentration. Near the end she opens her mouth to ask a question, then shuts it. She's still for a moment after the druid's done...then brightens abruptly.
"That's why we had to have that object! Otherwise we wouldn't have gone into the...the fey realm! We would have stayed behind and -never- found it!"
Almost immediately though she shakes her head. "How did the rat monster get in then? And we thought we saw signs that there was another machine man...like NZ...around. And how did the rat...oh right...he said a dragon sent him...but then how did the dragon know about you, and the realm, and the Eye of Night?"
"That's why we had to have that object! Otherwise we wouldn't have gone into the...the fey realm! We would have stayed behind and -never- found it!"
Almost immediately though she shakes her head. "How did the rat monster get in then? And we thought we saw signs that there was another machine man...like NZ...around. And how did the rat...oh right...he said a dragon sent him...but then how did the dragon know about you, and the realm, and the Eye of Night?"
Voadam
Legend
"Precisely."Shayuri said:
"These are partially mysteries, though the dead rat-goblin there, he called himself Bloodwhisker Gannu, revealed a little when he had me bound. He would haul me up enough to let me partially heal and discourse with me, mostly to brag of the power of his master and the honor he held in containing me. The limited attacks I could muster without magics, a spray of poisoned thorns, could not pierce his hide to wound or poison him.
We do not know the true origins of the Eye of Night, only that at one point it was in a dragon's hoard. When the raiders first entered the realm I became aware and sent ravens to spy on them and report to me. It was a large band of goblins, many riding worgs, others of rat visage and accompanied by swarms of rats. Fiends walked with them in the vanguard as well. They were led by a thin scaled upright being who had a rod of some sort that spouted intense fire upon his command.
I rerouted the paths through the wilderness and set up ambushes of wild beasts but he avoided them, burning a path straight here. Gannu said his master knew unerringly which way to go to recover his prize."
Voadam
Legend
"Bloodwhisker mentioned that his band swore to the master and claimed that others would soon follow, led by the Gannus in their moonstone mines. He believed his master would favor his clan.
He was boastful that only moonstone could harm his family and that he kept enough with him so that he would not fear them. In his boasting he did not seem to realize he was anouncing his vulnerabilities. His band had been carrying a trading mission's worth of moonstone when they came upon the master, he demonstrated his power and they agreed to serve him.
His master empowered him somehow with fell protections, what seems a lesser form of what we fear the Eye of Night can further empower when combined with other such tools. With his master's blessing, he said, only magic moonstone such as the blade he wielded could kill him and he no longer needed to fear other Gannus or those armed with moonstone or their moonspeaker's concoctions. He ranted about how if he had gone back he would have killed his father Awrenc and taken control of the clan and their mines, but that the clan would undoubtedly bow in fealty to the master and be his first servants thanks to BloodWhisker's glorious service.
When the master and his horde made their way to me and we fought I had prepared with potent fire wards upon myself, my badger companion, and the various animals I had summoned to combat him. He was able to suppress my ward, though I do not know how, and then burned me while I was vulnerable. While I had placed many druidic battle magics to enhance my animal guardians, they fell to his minions as I writhed in his flames.
I gathered that empowering Bloodwhisker was apparently not a thing lightly done, even when the master had the Eye of Night back in his possession. It was only after he found that I kept regrowing after being burned to the ground and that the gnawing rats Gannu commanded could keep me cut back enough to be perpetually contained that he performed his ritual to empower Bloodwhisker. After performing the ritual with the Eye the master seemed drained. I believe it severely disturbed him that he could not kill me or destroy my druid staff with his fire and he was willing to pay dearly of himself to insure I did not rise against him again.
I have poured my power into this staff over the years, it is a thing of potent living magics that is bound to me. I am bound to this realm however and cannot bring the staff out to confront this master to recover the Eye of Night. I can grant my staff to a champion, however, who is willing to quest and work to recover the Eye of Night and restore it to my guardianship here. It is my living magic, and can grow to work for one I grant it to. Over time it will adapt to attune to the bearer and serve their purposes just as the bearer learns to unlock its powers and perhaps adds their own into it.
You four have done well here on behalf of Zallon. You did overcome this twice cursed Gannu. If you agree to seek out the Eye of Night and return it to me I will make you my champions, and bestow upon one of you my staff. My cloak also holds some protective charms and this too will I grant to my champions, should you accept. Third, the shipment of moonstones lies here as well, you could use it to craft weapons that would be proof against other Gannu should you desire to do so."
He was boastful that only moonstone could harm his family and that he kept enough with him so that he would not fear them. In his boasting he did not seem to realize he was anouncing his vulnerabilities. His band had been carrying a trading mission's worth of moonstone when they came upon the master, he demonstrated his power and they agreed to serve him.
His master empowered him somehow with fell protections, what seems a lesser form of what we fear the Eye of Night can further empower when combined with other such tools. With his master's blessing, he said, only magic moonstone such as the blade he wielded could kill him and he no longer needed to fear other Gannus or those armed with moonstone or their moonspeaker's concoctions. He ranted about how if he had gone back he would have killed his father Awrenc and taken control of the clan and their mines, but that the clan would undoubtedly bow in fealty to the master and be his first servants thanks to BloodWhisker's glorious service.
When the master and his horde made their way to me and we fought I had prepared with potent fire wards upon myself, my badger companion, and the various animals I had summoned to combat him. He was able to suppress my ward, though I do not know how, and then burned me while I was vulnerable. While I had placed many druidic battle magics to enhance my animal guardians, they fell to his minions as I writhed in his flames.
I gathered that empowering Bloodwhisker was apparently not a thing lightly done, even when the master had the Eye of Night back in his possession. It was only after he found that I kept regrowing after being burned to the ground and that the gnawing rats Gannu commanded could keep me cut back enough to be perpetually contained that he performed his ritual to empower Bloodwhisker. After performing the ritual with the Eye the master seemed drained. I believe it severely disturbed him that he could not kill me or destroy my druid staff with his fire and he was willing to pay dearly of himself to insure I did not rise against him again.
I have poured my power into this staff over the years, it is a thing of potent living magics that is bound to me. I am bound to this realm however and cannot bring the staff out to confront this master to recover the Eye of Night. I can grant my staff to a champion, however, who is willing to quest and work to recover the Eye of Night and restore it to my guardianship here. It is my living magic, and can grow to work for one I grant it to. Over time it will adapt to attune to the bearer and serve their purposes just as the bearer learns to unlock its powers and perhaps adds their own into it.
You four have done well here on behalf of Zallon. You did overcome this twice cursed Gannu. If you agree to seek out the Eye of Night and return it to me I will make you my champions, and bestow upon one of you my staff. My cloak also holds some protective charms and this too will I grant to my champions, should you accept. Third, the shipment of moonstones lies here as well, you could use it to craft weapons that would be proof against other Gannu should you desire to do so."
Inamar bites her bottom lip, torn.
Danger! screams her rather burly, well-developed sense of self-preservation.
LOOT! bellows her towering, overweaning desire to own better things, to have security through possession. A desire born of never having much, and always worrying about where more will come from.
Unexpectedly though, there was a third vote...similar to the second, but soft and sibilant. It was new; something awoken perhaps by the strange experimentation of the wizard upon her, or by its effects.
Power, whispers Inamar's ambition. And the scales tip.
"I'll do it."
Danger! screams her rather burly, well-developed sense of self-preservation.
LOOT! bellows her towering, overweaning desire to own better things, to have security through possession. A desire born of never having much, and always worrying about where more will come from.
Unexpectedly though, there was a third vote...similar to the second, but soft and sibilant. It was new; something awoken perhaps by the strange experimentation of the wizard upon her, or by its effects.
Power, whispers Inamar's ambition. And the scales tip.
"I'll do it."
Voadam
Legend
Pyrex said:
"A slim scaled being, I did not recognize his race, though definitely not one of the lizardfolk. Taller than the goblins. Goblins, worgs, and fiendish creatures served him, though I believe the rats were solely commanded by the Gannu goblins. I believe the fiends were temporary summons he used for his assault and not permanent forces he could call upon. There was no other construct among them that I knew of. Certainly none such as your Ennar. Bloodwhisker believed him to be a being of unstoppable power who would reward his followers, punish those who failed him, and obliterate all who stood in his way."
