Differences
This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.
Both sides previous revision Previous revision Next revision | Previous revision | ||
campaigns:history_is_a_cyclic_poem [2018/08/29 01:57] galacticcmdr |
campaigns:history_is_a_cyclic_poem [2021/12/03 23:36] (current) |
||
---|---|---|---|
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
- | ====== History if a Cyclic Poem ====== | + | ====== History is a Cyclic Poem ====== |
~~NOTOC~~ | ~~NOTOC~~ | ||
//See Also: [[http://bardicknowledge.com/2018/gamemasters/chips-games/history-is-a-cyclic-poem|Bardic Knowledge]]// | //See Also: [[http://bardicknowledge.com/2018/gamemasters/chips-games/history-is-a-cyclic-poem|Bardic Knowledge]]// | ||
Line 66: | Line 66: | ||
==== Stone Magic ==== | ==== Stone Magic ==== | ||
- | Once safely inside Rog tears into each of them. Even the smallest of them make it through without rousing the bodies from their sleepwalk. Now he will have to stay the evening before he can leave. He tells them they are on his own from here. He just points out the direction of the other door while building a fire from [[lore:white adler]]. He says the ash from the wood heals the sickness from the bodies and the smoke keeps the mistress away. | + | Once safely inside Rog tears into each of them. Even the smallest of them make it through without rousing the bodies from their sleepwalk. Now he will have to stay the evening before he can leave. He tells them they are on his own from here. He just points out the direction of the other door while building a fire from [[lore:white alder]]. He says the ash from the wood heals the sickness from the bodies and the smoke keeps the mistress away. |
Keribrar and Anne get curious and look around The Tower. The sensation of magic is overwhelming and probably leads to the unusual construction. The tower has several "branches" that just jut out from random locations. There are no interior walls, but stairs that rise to the top; although most are too damaged to climb. At the top is a large basket and pulleys to lower it. | Keribrar and Anne get curious and look around The Tower. The sensation of magic is overwhelming and probably leads to the unusual construction. The tower has several "branches" that just jut out from random locations. There are no interior walls, but stairs that rise to the top; although most are too damaged to climb. At the top is a large basket and pulleys to lower it. | ||
Line 74: | Line 74: | ||
Quilate arrives after he lands on top of the tallest point of the tower. It is large enough inside for him to spiral down to the main floor. | Quilate arrives after he lands on top of the tallest point of the tower. It is large enough inside for him to spiral down to the main floor. | ||
- | Lady Anne discovers a secret door in the ash beneath the hearth. Rog tells her to leave alone and refuses to help any further. It is dangerous to tempt the fates and rouse the wrath of the Mistress. | + | Lady Anne discovers the tower sits on a [[lore:ley node]], a rather powerful one. Plus she finds a secret door in the ash beneath the hearth. Rog tells her to leave alone and refuses to help any further. It is dangerous to tempt the fates and rouse the wrath of the Mistress. |
==== One Tree ==== | ==== One Tree ==== | ||
Line 82: | Line 82: | ||
This tree is a single root of the Great Tree. With the help of a caretaker he could commune with those tending and watching the Great Tree in [[atlas:Ellendar]]. What Hafwyn notices is five stone benches that were not made by elves. They are laid out in perfect symmetry, which is the antithesis of elven magic. They are stalling the flow of magic needed for the tree to prosper. Keribrar recognizes the benches as dwarven-made, so their purpose makes sense. | This tree is a single root of the Great Tree. With the help of a caretaker he could commune with those tending and watching the Great Tree in [[atlas:Ellendar]]. What Hafwyn notices is five stone benches that were not made by elves. They are laid out in perfect symmetry, which is the antithesis of elven magic. They are stalling the flow of magic needed for the tree to prosper. Keribrar recognizes the benches as dwarven-made, so their purpose makes sense. | ||
+ | They are also choking off the growth of the tree. Summoning magic in his chamber is nearly too easy as he draws in everything he can and reduces all of the benches to dust. The reaction is immediate as the flow of magic in his room becomes unstable. Thorne and Seirian are thrown back into the [[lore:fae lands]], Anne collapses in a fit and would have choked on her tongue without Hafwyn's assistance, Hafwyn is pulled to the tree and collapses unconscious. Quilate take wing and flies to the top of the chamber to avoid the worst effects grabbing to an iron ring. | ||
+ | Keribrar tries to dampen as much of the magic as he can and it nearly overwhelms him. The tree grows several decades of growth in the space of seconds. It is harmed by the rapid growth and partially healed by the power. The tree is unstable and possibly permanently damaged. He grasps the tree and shunts as much of the magic as he can into healing it, but he is not an arborist. | ||
- | <- campaigns:The Past is Never Dead|Previous^campaigns:Fountainhead|Master Page^campaigns:History is a Cyclic Poem|Next -> | + | Hafwyn is reduced to huddling in a fetal position and crying. The warrior spirit that had defined her for so long is no longer there. Instead she is filled with the connection to all Great Elves. She has lost something that even if it should return will never be the same. She holds on to the tree knowing the depths of despair, she holds on to the tree for comfort. |
+ | |||
+ | ==== King of the Hill ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | Thorne and Seirian appear in a light forest comprised of red and yellow trees with crystal leaves. The leaves act as prisms casting a cacophony of light on the floor. As they move further away the leaves become more opaque and the forest darker. The red and yellow trunks are replaced by deep blue and white. The presence of the [[creatures:unseelie]] can be felt. The land twists and turns until neither of them know the way back. Eventually the sounds of drums and flutes drive them on. | ||
+ | |||
+ | As they exit the forest they see a large mob of [[wp>trooping faeries]] holding swords, axes, pitchforks, and torches. They are marching to the sounds of a drum and [[wp>fife]] band behind a banner of green and brown. Ahead of them is a large hill with a single fairy atop. As the trooping fae charge up the hill Thorne and Seirian feel themselves pulled along. The battle ends with faerie bodies covering the hill and the large brute still holding the peak. As Throne watches the hill absorbs the fae bodies. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In the distance the sounds of a drum and fife announce a second attack. This time Thorne stands in the van and charges up the hill. At the ends of this battle the king has be dethroned and Thorne stands on top. Over and over the scene takes place with the hill ever getting higher. Sometimes Thorne wins, occasionally Seirian, but mostly one of the large trooping faerie. Thorne is losing himself in the constant struggle for control of the hill. | ||
+ | |||
+ | With great difficulty and reluctance he pulls himself away and drags Seirian with him towards the portal. Now that he is thinking clearly he remembers where they crossed over. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Honorblades ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | The damage to the node and tree passes and Quilate flies down. He wakes Anne, Keribrar and Hafwyn from the ordeal. Thorne and Seirian wake themselves from their visit to the [[lore:fae lands]]. The magic has changed the chamber and exposed five arches along the walls. While Keribrar and Quilate examine them, Hafwyn confides in Anne that she is no longer a [[creatures:Dark Elf]]. She is not really sure what she is anymore. Keribrar figures out how to open the door and there is a hallway on the other side. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Each of the doors leads into the same hallway that circles the tree room. The only other way out is a door that leads to a hallway. Iron rods as thick as a human's forearm are drive in a triangular pattern down the hallway. Each set getting closer and closer to the previous set. When they are nearly touching the tunnel ends in a door. The door is incredibly difficult to move, but once they get it moving keeping it going is far easier. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Beyond the door is a small dwarven community. The [[creatures:dwarf|dwarves]] in the village raise the alarm sending them scrambling for weapons and armor. Six men in chain hauberks with pole-arms and shields are led by two men in plate armor. A dwarf in a crest helm demands the intruders surrender and step away from the elves so that he may kill them. When they refuse he orders his men to advance. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Before the battle can be joined the dwarven commander calls them to halt. He yells for the others to step away from the elves or risk death. Instead of abandoning their companions the other step in front and guard them. A second line of dwarves with shortbows form a line behind the first. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Before the battle begins a richly appointed dwarf comes out of the longhouse in the center of the town. He wishes to parley with the group and has his second bring a small table and two chairs. The dwarves are here at the behest of the [[lore:Earthmother]] to heal the wrong that was done to this land. The damage they have done will take generations to repair if such a thing is possible. | ||
+ | |||
+ | He is [[orgs:Dwarven Clan#Skáld]] [[people:Barathorn Blackthorn Kuhn]] and this is the village of the [[orgs:Blackthorn Clan#honorblades]]. The dwarves clan hold is far from here, but every ten years a Kald is named to lead his chosen to this land. They undertake the work of their great ancestors. Their histories are extensive and kept in the library in the longhouse. Quilate negotiates a deal that will Kald will provide a letter of recommendation to allow him to visit the great archives in the [[atlas:Blackthorn Mountains]]. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The Kald allows them to stay if each of them provide their word of honor that Keribrar will destroy nothing. They are warned to stay inside until the sun rises or face the wrath of the [[orgs:Circle of Marak#Shadow walker]]. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Hafwyn learned the truth of the dwarven scout who was trying to save Keribrar. She is apologetic, but the dwarves simply say they know that death awaits them here but she is welcome to raise a drink to their fallen companion. | ||
+ | |||
+ | They know that [[people:Aegrin]] fell somewhere in the fallen city. They can guide them to [[atlas:Natttåke Keep]], the gatehouse that serves as the deepest of their holdings. Anything in the city beyond will forever darken a [[lore:mortal soul]]. If they return to the gatehouse and have not fallen victim to the madness they will be allowed to return. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | <- campaigns:The Past is Never Dead|Previous^campaigns:Fountainhead|Master Page^campaigns:To Live Alone|Next -> | ||
{{tag>journal aquanius legacy_marak}} | {{tag>journal aquanius legacy_marak}} | ||