Chain of Worlds

When we returned to Ascension, we finally deciphered Vostruk's piece of ill conceived poetry, "If fate should a soul remove, seek out she who lives on roofs"

Deducing (incorrectly as it turns out) that this might refer to Olen's current "affliction" we sought out this woman. This required our own ill conceived poetry.

We found Barasta living on the roof tops of Ascension. It turns out she is a former worshipper of the Son who claims to have renounced her worship right at the moment of the Fall.
These are the things she told us:

• The Son asked his followers to take on madness to avoid it himself. Barasta claims to have avoided this madness through her renouncement. Her own actions and speech would indicate that she was not fully successful. This occurred IMMEDIATELY before the fall. Indeed the two seem definitely linked.
• Barasta believes that her remaining clerical powers come from drawing off the Son without his knowledge.
• The Son went mad (or who he was before) he is less then he was before.
• The Son was actually a Furlough god (Petrovich) not a Haven god who was brought through from Furlough during the god wars.
• Petron (The creation god of Furlough) is the source of all other gods in Furlough. He appears to have disappeared (shattered / been destroyed / transformed)
• Petrovich appears next (The dragonborn attempting to get to the Grotius Cube during the God Wars worshipped him)
• Pet is a common father honorific.
• The Haven Gods considered the Furlogh pantheon to be a subset of their own. The kidnap of Petrovich was to complete a perceived hole in the Haven Pantheon. A hole that was predicted to be filled.
• 7 Clerics of the Son survive from the Fall (Vostruk being one of them)
• Barasta opened the gates of the cathedral on Mount Ascension to the Lich Queen. The Son thought that helping the Lich Queen would prevent him from going mad.

Obviously these statements are coloured both by Barasta's tenuous grip on reality and by her source (The Son) who would have set this information in a way that painted him in the most positive light (It would seem that even semi-stable etheric constructs can suffer from vanity.

In all of the information Barasta was providing, I forgot on crucial thing! She is the only definative Eladrin we have met (other then the blind cathedral guardian). I forgot to discuss teleportation with her! We seem to have gained this ability on our return from Furlough. Does she have this ability? If so, when did she gain it? I must seek her out again (though doing so will require more abymsal poetry)

Posted by Savin at 1:59 PM 0 comments  

Labels: Magic, Savin, Summary, Theory

We had entered the forests to the east of Ascension in order to attempt to determine the reason that the Elven nations of the forest had cut off communication with the city.
We were attacked by forest creatures (Dryads and Woads I believe) who claimed that a corruption was defiling the forest and that we were such defilers. Unfortunately, we were forced to battle them.

After subduing the creatures, we continued and came across a large path where necrotically infested Grubs had cut a path through the woods. Clearly THIS was the actual source of the corruption.

We followed the path and after helping a Mother (again in her Primal form) worshipping goblin tribe cleanse a spiritual site of the necrotic corruption, we reached the central holy site of the elven nation.

Here it became clear where the Necrotic energy was coming from. During the undead war that initiated our travel to Furlough in the first place, the elven nation sent an army to Ascension to aid their allies. This army was led by Queen Vereeni. She was who we encountered at the glen. She had died at Ascension. It would appear that the release of the Lich Queen had also released (or reanimated) an undead Vereeni.

Unfortunately, she had enchanted much of the fey court (including her own husband) and we were forced to fight them with only the aid of an ancient elvish druid who had merged with an oak tree (another primal worshipper of the Mother).

Dispatching this threat, we followed a trail of corrupted trees back to Mount Ascension. It appears that Vereeni was using her innate ability to move from tree to tree to return to her territory. It would appear that our actions on Mount Ascension are linked to her reappearance, though I can not yet determine the exact causal relationship.

Posted by Savin at 1:25 PM 0 comments  

Labels: Savin, Summary

As we headed up the mountain towards the crashed Aerie of Summer, we entered a cloud of darkness centered on the mountain. Within the darkness were a multitude of spirit forms. These forms appear to be the husks that remain of other spirits.

It is unclear when these spirits appeared after the fall.

As we progressed up the mountain, we encountered undead who were equipped and dressed in a way consistent with the undead army that sent us to Furlough in the first place. We dispatched these undead and eventually reached the site of the crashed Aerie near the temple at the top of the mountain.

Baern began to have a strong desire to plant his giant acorn in the temple. While I wished to search the Aerie, it did seem desirable to first secure our surroundings. Therefore, we made our way to the temple. Here we encountered an undead warrior guarding a skeleton in a circle. The skeleton had the Sword of Summer inserted into her skull. It was within this circle that Baern wished to plant the acorn.

Once we defeated the warrior, I studied the circle. It was similar in design to the circle we recovered the Grotius Cube from (though still active). Designed to focus energies into the circle and then into the outer planes. I now believe that this circle was designed to allow the Lich Queen to potentially ascend into a quasi-deity.

I constructed a secondary circle around the other to keep the spirit forms away from the Queen when I suppressed the circle. I was concerned that these spirits would be able reanimate the Queen if they were able to infuse her body.

Seconds after I suppressed the circle, the Lich Queen came back into action. What power! She dropped her own circle and was barely slowed by my own (I have made notes that I believe will strengthen my future efforts). She recovered two swords before departing.

In retrospect, this is what I believe happened: The two swords represented the phylactery of the Lich Queen and her hand matron (the guard we defeated). The circle had blocked the Lich Queen from her phylactery until it was suppressed. Once this occurred, she was able to restore herself and depart.

Planting the acorn had an immediate effect. An oak tree began to sprout from the spot and the darkness was quickly suppressed. Though in retrospect, in may have been the departure of the Lich Queen that caused the dissipation.

Baern’s instructions did not include any warning or consideration about freeing the Lich Queen. I think this may be an indication that while the Mother remains, she has been altered on a behavioral level. It is as if she has become more animalistic, more feral. I suspect that this change may be caused by the Primal worship of the Mother that we encountered to the north.

It is now time to leave Ascension and see as to the fate of the other Aeries.

Posted by Savin at 1:12 PM 0 comments  

Labels: Savin, Summary

We finally have reached Ascension but the city is not the center of learning it was when we left.

As we entered the city, everyone was required to hand over their books to have them inspected by the Scriveners and have their mark updated. In my day, a Scrivener mark was a simple indication of the scribe guild that made the copy. Now, however, it looks more like governmental censorship. Books are “reviewed” before the mark is applied.

I was able to only hand over two of my many books by a clever explanation of the arcane situation. Unfortunately, one of the books I was forced to pass over was my journal. It seemed innocuous at the time, but soon I would get additional information that would change this view.

Since entering the city, it has become increasingly clear that the Patriarch runs Ascension as a theocracy. Church enforcers roam the streets. The University shows the greatest impact. Here, scientific investigation has been replaced by religious doctrine. All of this close mindedness appears to stem from the fact that the Patriarch was the first to reappear after the fall with divine powers. This, combined with the complete destruction of the existing university hierarchy, has allowed the church to dictate magical theory.

We have met with the Patriarch, and there is something wrong with him. I cannot fully determine the nature of the issue, but I suspect that he may6 be under the influence of an outside force.

I have recovered my tomes, and the party has established a source of income. I will continue to build influence with the University and, hopefully, I can reestablish a proper research group.

In the meantime, there is a crashed Aerie near to Ascension. If I can examine the dualistic elements that make up the power room, I may be able to determine precisely what occurred during the Fall. Unfortunately, the undead army that was threatening Ascension at the time of the Fall seems to be reestablishing itself on the mountain.

Posted by Savin at 10:24 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Savin, Summary, World

I have recently had two separate conversations with two unlikely sources of information.

The first was with Baern who put forward an interesting theory. When we all passed through the portal from Haven to Furlough, we each had an encounter with beings representing themselves as the four gods of Furlough. Each of us was asked to make a choice.

The choices were as follows:
Bearn: The Mother (clearly)
Olen: The Father (again, clearly)
Myself (Savin): The Brother (The offer was of knowledge)
Voss: The Brother (likely for reasons similar to my own)
Yulia: Unknown. We did not discuss our respective encounters until very recently (for reasons of our own) and Yulia is, temporarily, not with he group.

Here is what Baern asserts:
1. Yulia chose the Father.
2. The current state of the Furlough pantheon is a direct reflection of these choices
a. Two chose the Brother and Barrera now represents this diety (where before the Brother was the least openly worshipped)
b. Two chose the Father and the Ecclesiarch (a Father aligned relio-political faction) now rules Ascension.
c. One chose the Mother. Worship is scattered and weakened. Common wisdom holds that the Mother was wounded during the fall (Those of Ascension say it was the Brother though this could be propaganda)
d. None chose the Daughter and she appears withdrawn or gone from the world.

This is a compelling theory. In fact, it allows me to place several additional pieces together.

As we know, Deities are little more than stabilized Thaumological Fields that have obtained consciousness (or at least an approximation thereof). Consider if, during our transition from Haven, something blocked the "belief field" (see my landmark paper on the sources of magic) from reaching the gods. This would have resulted in the instantaneous disruption of their being. The five of us, however, were in transition through the astral plane and thus were unaffected by the blockage.

In desperation, the gods must have waylaid our travel and used us to keep their field stable during the disruption. The Father and The Brother would have maintained greater strength while the Daughter would have been largely (or completely) disrupted.

Greater research is required to confirm the validity of this theory.

The second conversation was with the Memory Devil in Eddington. While great knowledge could be gained by actually having the Devil use its powers, this conversation was with the Devil itself. It has been trapped on Furlough since the fall. Unfortunately, the creature was far from a trained Arcane scholar so any practical knowledge was hard to come by. One thing it did say, however, was that divine worshop was flawed and that, "they worshipped mortal beings rather than true gods." At the very least, this statement would indicate the existence of additional forces at work.

Posted by Savin at 6:41 PM 0 comments  

Labels: Gods, Magic, Savin, Theory

We found ourselves in Eddington wrapped up in a rather laborious legal case. I won't cover the details here (suffice it to say, that Olen's order appears to hold some sway as arbiters) I made an air tight arcane illustration of repairing the city's irrigation system which is sure to carry the day. Mayor Mary Stolhman(also a member of the order of Saint Tac'Ol like Olen and Sir Kenneth von Trapp) heard the case herself.

After the trial was recessed, we (wisely) decided to watch the mayor to protect her from any nefarious action.

And well we did. We followed the mayor and her guard to an abandoned tower. Shortly after additional troops arrived that were dressed as town guard. But they were not. Rather, they were there to kill the mayor. We fought them.

When the Ascension representative, Sir Kenneth von Trapp, arrived, we assumed that the assassins were in his employ. He, however, acted as if WE were the assassins. We were able to convince him otherwise and dispatch the true danger within the tower.

Within the tower was an interesting sight. In addition to the assassins, Mary Stohlman was conversing with a Berbalang, an extraplanar creature that can recover memories of a being by consuming part of their corpse. Any form of remains is adequate, regardless of their condition. Let me reiterate: REGARDLESS OF THEIR CONDITION. Think of the possibilities!

After the battle was done the three members of The Order of Saint Tac'Ol set to accusations. Olen, amazingly, seemed to be the least insane of the three. They were arguing the fate of the Berbalang. Meanwhile, Baern and I conversed directly with the creature.

It appears that Baern is suffering somewhat of a challenge of his faith. I suspect it stems from him learning that goblins (who he hates) were the first to rediscover and worship the Mother (his chosen "diety") This has placed him in a strange conflict and has knocked him off of his typically dogmatic stance.

The Berbalang seemed controlled in its current situation and I find the "all devils are evil" argument simplistic at best. In this, surprisingly, Bearn and I were in agreement.

Predictably, and regrettably, a fight broke out. Baern and myself (again to my surprise) found ourselves the only neutral combatants in the fight (at least to start). I used my powers to attempt to calm the situation but did not seem to be able to. In the end, however, Sir Kenneth von Trapp forced our hand and the Berbalang escaped. I fear that the covenant it had with the mayor, Mary Stohlman may now be void and it may prove a danger to Eddington.

Also, the identity of the assassins remains unknown.

Posted by Savin at 6:03 PM 0 comments  

Labels: Savin, Summary

I have been pondering this for a time but am only now able to get my thoughts into some semblance of order.
This encounter has haunted me.

While in Steirhold, we encountered a dwarf who was able to create yet ANOTHER form of magic that I am unfamiliar with. He did it through the application of a Runic Language.

He said that his master had encountered a book in a room but was unable to take the book from the chamber. The book described sounds eerily like the Malefactrum (Oh to have a copy!). He learned what he could and now has passed the skill on to others.

These runes are fascinating. They appear to represent the basic building blocks of a magical focusing system. It is like all of the maths and formulae I use to channel magics were simplified to a simple alphabet. There is a simplicity and RIGHTNESS to these runes that I have never seen in any other setting. It is like seeing a horse (or at least a fine painting of one) after only ever hearing rough descriptions of the animal.

It was a revelation.

I must get a copy of the Malefactrum of my own.

Posted by Savin at 5:57 PM 0 comments  

Labels: Magic, Savin, Theory