Often mistaken for the Azure Northern Dragon. Known for trickery and petty collusion with the evil races.
I certainly hope not since, if true, that might indicate that we are walking into a trap set with the dragon and the goblins.
Posted by Savin at 4:04 PM 0 comments
Labels: Savin
At times, I am inclined to believe in a thing that lesser intellects call luck.
At times.
We had made our way to the Trench in order to look for possible routes across. In order to maintain the agreement with the North Haven Azure dragon that we had struck earlier, we needed to attempt to retrieve her cache of eggs from the hobgoblins who had stolen them and taken them into their Dwarven stronghold.
While performing this search, a child from the nearby town fell through the covered top of an old granary of the destroyed and abandoned Dwarven hold of Steirholm. After rescuing the child, we uncovered a large store or grain, much of it still well preserved (See Gothak Sortan's Treatise on Botanical decay for the intricacies of long term grain storage).
This granary offered us a backdoor into Steirhold and possibly a way to get closer to the bridges that cross the Trench. An interesting bit of trivia only except for Gregoir's Diary. Found amongst the treasure hunter's belongings, Gregoir's Diary seems to offer us a guide through the complexities of the hold. At the very least it was promising enough for us to take the chance that some degree of geographic correlation could be found.
Because the diary mentioned being stuck by a large body of water, we returned to town in order to seek a solution. I was forced to speak again to that Thaumological half-wit Marcus.
While Marcus remains trapped in a pre-Thamaic thought pattern, he has spent longer immersed in the new arcane realities of our world. This has allowed him to adapt some spellforms that I haven't had the opportunity to yet study. If only his notations weren't so Hetnian. The inefficiencies of his structures are astounding. A simple water walking form which would previously have taken mere seconds to cast, required orders of magnitude more time! Additionally, his overwrought forms required the consumption of an inordinate amount of highly prepared components. I am convinced that this does not reflect the change in the magical world but is, rather, simply Marcus' own inadequacies coming through. I am certain that, given adequate time, I will be able to adjust Marcus' forms to regain the lost alacrity and efficiency of material.
In any event, we made our way back to the entrance and entered the hold. This led us to the large underground lake that Gregoir's Diary had mentioned. While we were approaching from another direction, we could begin to see similarities to the Diary's descriptions. I set about casting the ritual to allow us to traverse the aquatic body (see above for the issues I had with Marcus' poorly wrought spellform)
Partway through the cavern, we came to a side set of doors the Gregoir's Diary indicate may lead to the Grotius Cube. While not our primary mission, the Cube seems to great of a prize not to investigate. The timeline with our Dragon ally is lax enough to allow for this.
While investigating the door, we encountered a large number of undead (I believe that would be classified as Zombies though their exact behaviour and physiological makeup differed from those I have studied). It appears that these zombies (the term will serve until a more accurate classification can be done) are mostly human. Strange that in a Dwarven hold.
We were able to open the doors to the deeper hold and drain the water (and the majority of the undead).
While we have no indication as to the Cube's true abilities, it is (or was) a greater artefact. I am curious to see what effect (if any) the rearrangement of the spellforms has had upon an artefact. In theory, it should be unaffected if the shift has been constrained to spellforms alone. If however, there has been a greater rearrangement, it is hard to predict what the effect will be. I am eager to have an opportunity to further my studies into our new magical landscape. Hopefully, the Cube will restore some of my woefully diminished magical abilities.
Posted by Savin at 5:00 PM 0 comments
Just so that all of you know the dating convention -
4 seasons, each of three months:
Paksee (spring)
Kurn (summer)
Ellaselle (fall)
Fenor (winter)
Of those three months, they are labelled 1-3 as:
1. aspiring
2. ascendent
3. waning
Each month has 30 days
Posted by Anonymous at 11:33 PM 0 comments
Labels: World
After negotiating with the blue dragon Vermafex, she gave you the corpse of Gregore Stonehew, dwarven (ex)-explorer. On said corpse, in addition to some magical items which have been divied up, there was a map of the ruins of Treffenholm, and a diary.
Here are some of the more pertinent entries from that diary.
Kurn ascendent, day 13, 1036 AC
It is an auspicious day, but not one I expected. While taking a break from my months of unsuccessful studies at the grand library of Bareira, I met in a cafe a most curious man, who regailed me with tales regarding Kirwin's journeys during the Godwar. It took me a while to believe this eccentric elf, but as I listened, more and more of what he said matched what my studies had told me. To make a long story short, while not knowing the ulimate fate of Kirwin Swordsinger, he had deducted where Kirwin's treasure was - the fabled Grotius Cube. As I had suspected, it lies in the ruins of Treffenholm, and had not entered the Settled Lands as had previously been posited.
Paksee waning, day 2, 1037 AC
It took me much longer to get here to Steirholm than I expected - my uncle most unreasonably refused to extend to me the funds needed to complete the journey. However, having borrowed heavily from his till, I now finally have the money I need. I know he will be angry when he finds out - and thus I leave at dawn - but his tune will change when I return iwith riches and glory - and the Cube!
Ellaselle ascendent, day 20, 1037 AC
I have installed myself at the court in Steirhold and have begun to (carefully) search for more information regarding the ruins of the old hold
Fenor aspiring, day 17, 1037 AC
What great luck - the fool Cervenish has let slip the very information I need to continue my quest - that old plans for Treffenholm can be found located in the vaults of the Steirholm library. Now, just to figure out how I can get my hands on them to make myself a copy...
Fenor aspiring, day 30, 1037 AC
Sweet fortune shines on me! In now have the maps in these very hands! The real maps, alas, which will mean I have to act quickly to avoid discovery - there was no time for me to be able to copy them. Also alas, I had to abuse Lady Elamir's trust horribly, which is a shame for this will surely mean that our most palitable relationship must end. Nut no matter - once I have the Cube, riches and women will be mine as easily as plucking a peach from a tree. Still, I will miss those sweet lips.
Fenor ascendent, day 6, 1037 AC
I'm finding the maps less helpful than I had hoped - at least this close to the Scar, everythings a terrible jumble. Hopefully, as I manage to penetrate this shamble of stone I will be able to place myself on my charts.
Fenor ascendent, day 23, 1037 AC
At last! I have finally found my way past the wreckage and into the ruins themselves! Alas, not where I had hoped, but hopefully enough remains intact that I might still make my way.
Paksee aspiring, day 2, 1038 AC
I had hoped that the passing of the old year would see me with my prize in hand, but no such luck, as I find my path blocked by a section of flooded passages and corridors. I have started to look for a way around, but no luck so far.
Paksee aspiring, day 12, 1038 AC
I'm beginning to think there is no way around, which means I will have to risk a trip back to Steirholm to acquire some potions - a couple waterwalking and perhaps a waterbreathing incase the passage will become completely flooded. As always, the thoughts of the prize to be had carries me through my setbacks. I am so close I can feel it...
Paksee waning, day 3, 1038 AC
I must have offended Her Lady Paksee somehow, for somehow, in this her season, she has turned her eyes away from me and let the Lord Fenor rule my house. Alas, the Young Lady is fickle, but it seems I have regained her affection. 2 months ago, after procuring the potions, I was caught and arrested on suspicion of stealing those old maps. Fortunately, I had the foresight of hiding them before entering the hold, otherwise I would be having trouble writing, what with my soul and body having been made strangers. Instead, I am now free - it seems that Lady Paksee is not the only lady in whom's heart there is still affection. Now, however, I must reclaim the maps and reclaim my prize, so that I might her sweet lips once more.
Paksee waning, day 5, 1038
Alas, it seems I have regained the affection of the one Lady more than the other, for Paksee once again shuns me. In recovering the maps, I was spotted. Due to my quick wits, I made my way free, but unfortunately the known paths into the ruins are now guarded. It seems I will have to find another path. MY greatest regret is that my camp is still set up in the ruins, and I will have to do without it until I can make my way to the Cube and back to it. A pity - until I make it back to it, there will be no luxury in my life.
Pakesee waning, day 10, 1038
She smiles again - I believe I've found a way in! I've found a shaft down into the mountain, and after a short climb will let me know if this is one more disappointment, or if my prize is again within reach.
And that is the final entry.
Posted by Anonymous at 10:00 PM 1 comments
While strictly belongiong to the Blue Dragon family, the Noth Haven Azure dragon is noted for her strong loyalty to her brood. This was certainly the case in this encounter.
Fortunately, it would appear that we have reached a concord for the time being.
Posted by Savin at 5:45 PM 0 comments
Posted by Savin at 6:18 PM 1 comments
Labels: House Rules
As my mentor Thaumalogical Research mentor Gothak Sortan used to say, "All data is valid data. In the field it is not the measurers duty to attempt to interpret what data is valid and what is not." While I have been fortunate enough to rarely find myself in the position of field assistant, it would appear that this is now the role that I am forced into. Fortunately, however, I am not subject to the whims of of some softheaded Palsinist and, instead, find myself in the position of gathering data to further my own research.
To this end, I shall endevor to record my experiences as accurately as possible. I shall, at a later date, review this ledger in order to distill proper theoretical conclusions from the data thus gatherred.
After traveling through a failing portal from Furlough and encountering some semi-permanent Collective Spontaneous Thaumological Fields (see my Treatise of Magical History) during the theoretically instantaneous portal voyage, I found myself back in Haven.
It appears that the magical changes that I encounterred in Furlough had persisted into Haven as well. Further, they were at least a quasi-stable phenomenon. Simple solar and cosmological observations allowed me to determine that approximately 97 years had passed during our travel through the portal. Once I have access to proper instrumentation, I should be able to further refine this time.
I have determined that certain Spellforms seem to nearly be capable of functioning. I have managed to get a handful to work though their results no longer corepsond to previous emperical results. I believe that their is an orthogonal relationship between the third, seventh, and thirteenth forms to the second and ninth. This bears further study.
My companions and I finally reached a small settlement after being forced to engage several groups of goblinoid raiders. I hesitate to call it a bastion of civilization for the town possessed no library, observatory, or proper mage college.
I headed over to the Temple which proved to be a simple inn of rough but acceptable quality. There I encounterred two human men and a halfling woman with whom I enterred into discussion.
Of particular note was Marcus who claimed to be a magical scholar. I question the validity of this particulat assertion. To begin, Marcus subscribed to the Helvan school of thought! His thaumological series are divergent beyond the seventeeth iteration of divinational transmogrification! Marcus does not seem to have access to any spellforms whatsoever.
In any event, Marcus was researching a dormant portal within the Temple. He has a formulaic proof that he believes may lead to a possible reactivation of the portal. While I question the basis of his evocative theorems, this research is still worth investigating.
To this end, I proceeded to the mage college to which Marcus had directed me. Unfortunately, this "college" proved to be nothing more then Marcus' domicile. I restrained my instinct to label Marcus as the Lotrian that he clearly is and instead headed to the halfiling's shop directly accross the street.
The puveyor of this shop sold a variety of products that she called "Alchemical". I will have to do research into the etomology of this word. The shopkeep (whose name escapes me) claimed that these items had arisen in the time since the failure of magic as a replacement for the services that magic had provided.
This claim seems unfounded. Instead, it seems clear to me that alchemy is a previously undiscoverred magical control form (again see my treatise on magical history). Her assertion as to the cause of alchemy's discovery does seem well founded. The powers of these alchemical items seems decidedly weaker then the spellforms that I previously had access to. As a result, research before the changes to magic likely were abandoned as unfruitful.
One of my companions talked to the mayor and the watch captain. It was revealed that a nearby kobold encampment had fallen out of contact with the town. I was strongly interested in investigating this development. Because dragonkin express one of the innate magical control forms, I wished to discover what effect (if any) the changes had caused to their access methods.
While I wished to investigate this theoretic branch of research, I decided to accompany the rest of my group who had chosen another direction.
While traveling, we came across the sight of a caravan that had been ambushed. Certain reptilian (or possibly reptiloid) tracks indicated the possible involvement of kobolds. Following these tracks led us to a recently abandoned temple. Draconian grafiti strengthened the kobold theorem even further.
We were able to follow tracks from this temple to an abandoned mine. This mine proved to actually lead to a secret underground hiding place of kobolds.
We encountered several groups of kobolds and a brief interview indicated that they were reluctantly under the trall of a blue dragon. As a result my party has been careful to avoid undue casualties amongst their number. It is my hope, that once we have dealt with this dragon, Yulia (my dragonkin companion) may be able to restore some order to this group.
I am also hopeful that encountering this dragon (which obviously of purer dragon blood then a kolbold) will further refine my understanding of the new state of magical access.
Posted by Savin at 1:52 PM 0 comments