Main / CSC-SUM

Claiming Skull Church - Summaries

Goblin Negotiations

[Talwin (Michael-14198)] (We’re only letting them hold it until we push them in the pits)
[Lisa] lol
[Talwin (Michael-14198)] (Then we'll take it back)
[Lisa] that's not very honorable good knight
[Lara] ROFLMAO!!!!!!!
[Talwin (Michael-14198)] (Yeah. I was a mercenary long before I was a Knight. LOL)


[Talwin (mharm-05997)] Does anyone else have a torch? Or magic item?
[Master] Torches last 15 to 30 minutes
[Thistle (Carissa)] (Who else had light stones? Wasn't there more than one?)
[Talwin (mharm-05997)] Did we buy shitty torches or something?
[Kaeln Echem (valma-73412)] (I'm just reconsidering being a non-magical character)

Hourglass

Mining Operations

QUOTES


[Talwin (mharm-05997)] It does make it difficult when character specialized for something aren't in. But, that’s why we have to Role Play :)


[Lisa] do we have a wagon?
[Master] of course! I would LOVE to let you have a wagon

Summary April 2nd 2021 04 02c

Started the night with Brer and Indigo discussing the combat with the Umber Hulk and the confusion that ensued. They also discussed gods and devoting yourself to one versus trying to collect as many as possible.

Tiffress entered in a panic (again) and called us to kill the many-headed (?) ankhegs that were chasing her through the mines. So Brer, Indigo, Sundown, and Howard headed off to take care of the problem. Although the first ankheg went down easy, the second swallowed Indigo and the third knocked Howard unconscious and nearly dead. Luckily, Indigo freed himself, Brer dispatched the last ankheg, and Sundown quickly bound Howard’s wounds to make him easily healable when they reached Skull Church and Baron Ulgin.

With that, the last of mining and road disasters were managed and the Protectorate is once again running smoothly. Back to the task list. Sundown suggests we tackle the farthest haunted weirdness first and work our way back home. Sounds like a plan, so the group (whether you were there or not) heads off to Old Man Millers at Redfern Lake to see what’s up with Otsutan.

Miller tells us that people sometimes camp there and then are never seen again. No one knows how or why. Miller, Brer and Indigo begin guessing what makes people disappear. Bandits? Goblins or other creatures? When Indigo guesses that a portal opens up, Miller asks if they could do that.

Who’s they? You know, those people that Branwyn sent a couple years ago who partially destroyed the inn. Those people. Who left. Who didn’t stay and tell Snee to stop building the road. But Miller sent Mr. Silver to threaten us! But Miller hasn’t seen Mr. Silver for about 2 years! Something fishy is going on around here … But Miller also said the town had the reputation of disappearing people for decades. Very mysterious indeed.

Why does Mr. Silver care about the road? And if he isn’t living at Redfern Lake, Dragon Fen, or the Protectorate, where is Mr. Silver hiding?

After getting some food and drink and promising Miller we’d let him know what happens, the group leaves and arrives at the abandoned town to investigate and make a plan to uncover the mystery of the town of Otsutan. Sleuthing time for next Friday!

Session: 20210709c - 20210716c - 20210723c - 20210730c - 20210813c - 20210820c - 20210827c - 20210903c - 20210910c

The adventures of Hourglass begins with Pete pointing out Snee neglecting the haunted village that is literally next-door to her house. Maybe she should get on that? Also something about losing a worker. But before we get too far, we're introduced to the very short Bixi Fizzlebang, aspiring gnome writer of ghost stories. Haunted village? Count her in!

The current total population of Hourglass is 18 people. No one lived here until Snee started building. The Inn is still somewhat intact with a gate of solid iron. It's beyond desolate when we arrive, no footprints, only the ghostly whispers of children playing and yelling about leaving the door open. No spirits can be seen. We find some gold and dust in a guesthouse, an empty barn and dust, and within the inn, sitting on the dusty table: an hourglass.

Does sand normally glitter? Why is it nearly three feet tall? Is it magical? Howard says absoposilutely. Should we let it run out of time? That may take awhile. Are those weird blobs around the room Howard sees deadly? Doesn't seem like it. Can we dispel the magic? No. Is that blood writing "Halfway" on the wall? Does seems like it. So what to do? Why not just... smash it?

And here Spring rolls a Natural 20 with a magical weapon which results in Bob needing to take a break because we're really, really good at doing the things he doesn't plan for! Like a critical hit. Even if it was on the edge of possibilities, it was still a possibility!

Some uncounted minutes later, it is decided that people suddenly appear around us, the sun starts shining, a horse appears next to the horse-obsessed Raelynn, and a mage with a spear in his back appears. Oh, and the hourglass? Smashed. Shattered. Splintered and split. Scrunched and splinterized. Smattered.

Anyways, to clarify, only Snee and Raelynn started in the sunshine while Indigo and the rest were still in the Mist. A handful of them cross safely into the sunshine. Things that are important to note and reasons for summaries. Would have been nice to remember this before... Also the horse left and was fine to visit Howard.

We stop the mage from bleeding, try to figure out why there are people from Carnak here, what happened, and WHEN we are? Bob posts a couple of different important links (hint those are them). We know, from those, that Mig, Gormel, and Ergel are from Carnak (for the Queen) while Susan, Roland, Alain, and Cuthbert are the rebels with Tinlin as a wanderer and Barkeep Gerry having always been here.

Talking with Gerry, we found out the WHEN is whenever Queen Bolpel ruled and probably over 150 years ago. There are no lions with man's heads around anymore that we know about. Tinlin remained as he was the only one who turned the hourglass completely over while everyone else disappeared. There used to be six or eight other towns between Hourglass and Redfern Lake, a lake where monsters live and eat everyone who gets too close (says the barkeep). Also Hourglass was once called Maki. The Inn was called the Lost Eagle when it was bought from a family that left for a settlement called Jarvis. Well no matter, Snee says Gerry can keep the inn.

While those inside talk to the barkeep (and ignore the dead mage), Brer, Talwin, and Craigh find Howard outside the gate after being sent by Pete. Howard does his best to give them an update. For the moment, all agree it's better on the side of the Mist than to go towards the (sun)light...

Philosophical questions on if the wine is really old or not, if things will reset the next day, if the gold found at the guesthouse duplicated, if it's a bad idea to drink the ale or eat the food, if rats and horses are the only animals here, and when we'll finally heal up that mage so he can talk rather than just leave him on the floor still mostly dead.

Before we get to him, first point is the horse coming back over to the sunshine resulted in a need to roll save versus magic. Raelynn sees nothing unhealthy about the horse. Brer decides to join them in the sunshine and has to make the same roll. He arrives in one, shiny metallic piece some of which is sunshine, some of which is "paladiness". Outsiders only see dull grey, while insiders see him sparkle (he claims to not be a vampire).

Back to the inn and the nearly dead mage, after confirming with Gerry they took all they could find off him (iron key, silver key, two small rubies (with Gormel), a piece of parchment (with Susan), and a belt with small pouches (with Gormel). Finally giving him a cure light, we wake up Orthinmadrigal the Amazing (soon to be known as Jerkface). Mind you, he does faint a few times, each time we mention the broken hourglass, but he comes back to the "present".

Orthinmadrigal is confused by the year and claims to be five years too late. He claims you cannot get to the future as you can only go backwards. Orthinmadrigal realizes he just wants to leave and stop answering questions until he noticed how very pretty Raelynn is (critical roll for persuasion check). He decides to humor her, tells us his name, claims to be the Master of Time and it's not where he is going but when and why he is going. And then he gets confused about why he was so willing to talk, decides to shut back up, but then notices how lovely Raelynn's eyes look with that sparkle of sunlight streaming inside through the windows (or something, I don't know, she's a higher priestess of a Goddess of Love and Beauty and had another fantastic crit roll). He mentions how Time is fluid, flexible, and can be chosen, and exists as a Plane. He tells her he won the (second?) war. And then Indigo speaks.

You know who hates the un-hatable Indigo? Orthinmadrigal. He really, REALLY hates Indigo. How can anyone hate Indigo?? Mad about the fact that Indigo exists (and caused some wrinkles in time, apparently), Orthinmadrigal gets very angry, assaults Raelynn, yells and curses, and apparently finally realizes that, yes, the hourglass is gone (and all those synonyms). Oh, also Orthinmadrigal aka Jerkface hates elves because he claims they could have stopped The Mist from being created, but then he lies and claims to know how it all ends when he really doesn't so do we really believe this arrogant guy?

He does apparently have a ring and monocle on him. Indigo takes the ring away (likely full of spells), but has currently left the monocle which can identify items. He had planned to stop the horses of the Bolpel Horse Brigade from saving the day, but clearly, someone wanted him dead (rightfully?) first. And he got stuck at the inn with everyone else. Unless he still dies in 300 years?

So things we find out that may or may not be true: the hourglass will be made in 362, Jerkface has gone back to 136 but never past when he was born (66) and only moved forward in bits, the Inn was trapped in 187, during his life in 350 he had been in Bolpel Estates studying while Josephine Bolpel was Queen (she is not), mages from the war chased Jerkface into the in who attempted to escape with his hourglass, Jerkface is evil but not active in evil, he claims Bopel before she was assassinated was about to ensure Lizard People were treated equally with all, and he feels safest not ever leaving that Inn.

Quoting BOB: Is he an asshole? or just so supremely confident that HE IS RIGHT that it show up as Evil to Brer, as in I am right and you will do what I say because I am right, the truth of the single out weighs the truth of the many?

So we do test a few things. Divination spells do work in the WHEN of the Inn as there is no Mist. Bixi knows what the forecast is for the next three days. With help of Brer's Tacharin as a spell component, Raelynn asks some future questions:

"How can we leave this town and re-enter the Mist of our proper time safely?" Simply walk out.
"How do we safely re-enter this specific time, space, area that we are in from outside it if we leave it?" You can go be safe when you go WHEN you want to go.

We update Craigh and Howard on what has transpired. When we go back into the Inn, we find Jerkface carefully gathering the glass shards and pushing the sand with his fingers into a pile. He claims the glass cannot be repaired until a forge a demon can bathe in and the breath of an angel blow into the glass. He also claims if any of the sand leaves, or perhaps him, too, then some of those at the Inn may disappear. At least everyone is in agreement that all the pieces should be hidden if it has to stay at the Inn.

Gerry pours out some ale to test if tomorrow will be the same day, again, or maybe a different day, finally. Literally pours it out. What a waste of good ale! So what of the rest of us?

For one, the horse we assume was Susan's horse? You know, where the icon reads Pylons, and the page for Hourglass says Susan's horse was named Pylon? Maybe it isn't actually her horse. Maybe it's Tinlin's horse, the farmer who came later, who wasn't in the original party trapped here, but was still in Gerry's time as he knew Gerry.

So why did Brer and the horse need to roll a save versus magic when they entered the sunshine? Still not sure, but I stand by Brer Necholas not being human. Is he a sword given mortal body as Michael guesses? Well, he's close to some truth, but what truth? If it had to do with age, why did the elf walk inside no problem yet the paladin had to throw a die over his shoulder? Odd.

Anyways, Jerkface doesn't want anyone but him to touch the sand from the Hourglass. We take at least his ring which may have spells and will hopefully keep him stranded at the inn, or at least in a position to never remake the hourglass. He keeps his useless monocle. He tries to bribe the barbarian with gold he does not have, but doesn't do well at it. If you couldn't figure it out, he's a not nice, very self-centered mage. Hence my name for him: Jerkface. Arrogance does not buy you many friends.

So as for the scroll? He claims it is a healing potion, but do we believe him? No. But we later find out Susan took some parchment from the mage. She wants to keep it in case it's important for her time. That's fine. We just ask her to make sure he doesn't get it back.

Bixi and N'laea take a quick tour of the mansion, mostly for Bixi to get ideas for her stories, but find nothing of interest. Raelynn is still outside and notices the tack on the horse is new and modern... odd. Well, anyways. Without more reason to stay, it's time to test going back into the Mist. Who's first?

Barbarian Mig still believes someone will get him gold so he goes through the gate... and disappears. Bad omen? Or just back to his time? We can't just stay here, can we? I mean, we can, but we have no reason nor desire. So Brer volunteers, crosses, and suddenly feels very... off. Is it because he's holding the mage's ring? Oh, duh, no. Mist sickness, but at least he is back in his proper WHEN. And so, one by one, the others go through with poor Indigo getting so sick he passes out.

N'laea and Johan wait and watch. N'laea calls Susan over to let her know about Mig. She also asks her to promise to mark the wall on her way out with something that'll last a few centuries. This way, if we see it, we know Susan returned to her WHEN (and if her WHEN matches up later to our WHEN). If not Susan, someone in her steed. With that promise, N'laea goes to the gate.

Briefly testing returning, Raelynn goes back into the sunlight, feels much better, then crosses back into the Mist, rolls horribly, and feels terrible. Darn. Johan and N'laea follow without much fanfare or event. A quick wall scan for a mark and bad roll find nothing, but we'll look again later.

So back to the shrine for Indigo, Brer, Raelynn, and Bixi. Howard, Johan, Craigh, and N'laea will sleep/stay outside near the inn to keep watch overnight and see what happens. And with Snee and Talwin one round behind, maybe sick or not, they will be...somewhere.

Overnight camping brings some discussion. Craigh, from the very deep Mist, hasn't seen sunlight before, and never did go into the sunlight, but claims it's very green farther in? Johan debates if the gnome counts and if he and Howard even counted before being apprenticed to Branwyn. We briefly debate what happened to Mig. We also debate if Howard is the same Howard and if we're all in the same time we left (for those who left). Johan shows of some of his fun illusion-but-not-illusion tricks. We also wonder if being "Wrapped In Time" is a fitting prison and how long it may hold a person (it varies per individual).

When morning arrives, Raelynn, Brer, Bixi, and Johan decide to go back into see how things fared. No rolls needed. Horse testing briefly debated, but continue on to see Gerry. He feels he had a very long sleep, and he actually did need to clean some things up, but the cask is full again! Er, why?

Sad Jerkface Mage, curled around the remains of his hourglass, says it's a rebound: it is used to being full so it is full, but if things are not used to being together, they will not stay together. Stone is used to being in one piece so stayed, wood is used to rotting away so broke, and beer is alive (yeast) so since the cask wasn't broken, it had something to return to, or something. So if an item has soul or spirit, it heals, but if it is broken, it dies. Does this only apply to items...? (But if it has a spirit, but that spirit is broken, apparently, by way of the still alive mage, it will stay alive).

Anyways, we can dwell on those implications later. Instead, we lie to Jerkface and tell him Mig disintegrated when he left the gate. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't, but it scares him enough that he agrees to stay at the inn for now which was the goal. This is high level magic, and the best one to deal with high level magic and a mage who messes with it is Branwyn, of course. She can likely make better heads or tails of this situation and help us decide how to move forward - we hope.

Jerkface, who asks that we simply refer to him as Amazing (Jerkface), mentions how The Mist hides the Brotherhood (they all died out in his time, and we did see Brer become extra shiny in the sunlight). He actually says please TWICE when we talk to him. He tells Raelynn she is an elf no matter what others say which... is that an insult or an attempt to be nice? He does hate elves so backhanded complimenting insult? And while he acknowledges Gerry is now in charge of this area, as per orders by Snee, and that Branwyn will determine his fate, he seems resigned to this fact. As I said, broken spirit doesn't kill, but it does seem to make some individuals nicer(?), or at least easier to deal with them.

We let Amazing Jerkface know that Branwyn the Mysterious et al will be here soon enough (in this now linear time space continuum). Gerry requests bread and fruit (that is NOT apples). Amazing Jerkface asks Raelynn if she wants to try going from NOW to WHEN which, no, she just wants to know if Gerry wants a new outfit. Do we want to try to hide the fact that this sunny spot is technically a different WHEN by making Gerry and others blend in more to our current WHEN outside the gate? Well, either way, before we leave, Amazing Jerkface asks us to pass on this message to Branwyn: "Everything here that is alive is always alive."

As we start making our way to leave, Susan asks what happens to Mig. We take her away from the eavesdropping Amazing Jerkface, tell her the truth, then decide maybe we should try asking the future questions for her? Before we can pry Brer away to borrow his sword, Johan and Amazing Jerkface have a bit of a mage tiff with Johan summoning bats to remind Amazing Jerkface do not do any simple magic until Branwyn determines his fate. Amazing Jerkface does make small bugs appear (real or fake?), but that just feeds the bats.

So back to the questions of the future. If you didn't guess it yet, this magic 8-ball is, well, as good as the ones of your childhood. That is to say, as vague as can be. Try again.

"What will happen to Susan and those of her time if she leaves this space and crosses the gate?" Everyone who leaves finds their own fate.
"Will leaving this place cause immediate harm to Susan and the others?" Everyone encounters possible harm when they leave here.
"Will crossing this gate cause immediate, deadly harm to Susan?" Death comes to all who cross, all die in their own time.
"Will Susan start aging if she leaves here?" Everyone ages where they are, everyone ages to catch up to now.

So yes, frustrating answers. It has been pointed out that Mist Sickness is harm so that answers the first one. There is debate one if the last one means disintegration. On one hand, it's not like we expect Susan to survive to our own time, but will she disintegrate or will she at least go back to her time, be able to live her life, and time in a normal timeframe to her?

For better or worse, these are NPCs. They have what information they want to make their decision. We're nice people so we're trying to be nice and help them, but how much can we really do? We mention how Pylon went across the barrier and was fine, but how his tack is oddly more modern. Yet Mig disappeared and we haven't a clue what happened to him. So what will Susan and the others decide? For now, we have no more questions we can ask, but there may be another day and another chance if we want. Unless someone can think of a way to ask a love-specific future question that may give Susan more answers (different spell).

So what will Susan and the others do? What do we do about Amazing Jerkface? And do we need to hide the truth of Gerry and his inn from future visitors?

After a little brainstorming, talking to Branwyn for ideas, debating trying to control him, and a brief interruption of a Behir attack, it is determined Brer Necholas can carry out an execution under his oath if given the word by Snee. So Snee gives the word. A pair of dice are found on the body of Jerkface who was eerily calm and mostly accepted his fate. Is this going to hurt us, or most likely Indigo, in the future? Only time (ha) will tell.

In conclusion, Gerry mixes the sand with some honey to try to keep it safe. Branwyn gets some information about the sand and explains as best as she can and as much as she understands. This includes telling the NPCs they're likely stuck there. Before she leaves, she tells Gerry to pass on to Amazing Jerkface that she has her stuff if he returns. Because no, we don't think this is the end.

But it is the end of dealing with Hourglass. Onward!

Small notes: Pair of Die land on whatever number you want it to land on as they are the Dice of Certain Wagering. The ring IS a Ring of Spell Sorting although we do not know the activation word.

Quotes of the Night

[Snezana (Spring)] Snezana casts a spell against : Spiritual Hammer: I summon forth a magical hammer which flies around and hits things for (3+8) 11 rounds.
[Snezana (Spring)] Snezana: Attack: Spiritual Hammer: (16-(d20+0)) [1d20=20] -4
[Master] OK
[Master] You rolled a 20
[Raelynn (Carissa)] (nope he said OK)
[Snezana (Spring)] (uh oh, the capitals)
[Master] Thinking
[Master] sorry this will take a moment you went WAY WAY WAY out there on the edge of possibilities
[Master] using a magical spell of a magical weapon on a magical item and then rolled a critical hit on it
[Master] brb getting water and thinking
[Master] I am away from the keyboard.

[Indigo (Lisa)] Ahhhh ... then you'll get used to people of other races saying strange things to you. Can't let it bother you or you'll be irritated all the time
[Indigo (Lisa)] The only one that bothers me is when they assume because I'm a halfling I'm a thief
[Bixi Fizzlebang (Lemon)] Do you mean about the height and the mining? Or... are there other things I should be prepared for?
[Indigo (Lisa)] But short people? People who live 8,000 years? People who live underground?
[Indigo (Lisa)] Not sure. People like gnomes I think. But people say things about me. Elves say things about everyone that aren't elves!

[Howard Plum (Lisa)] Sheesh Howard!
[Howard Plum (Lisa)] (that was Indigo :) )
[N'laea (Carissa)] (lol not Howard yelling at himself?)

[barkeep (Master)] You attacked five houses?
[barkeep (Master)] and no one stopped you?
[Indigo (Lisa)] They attacked us first
[barkeep (Master)] How much did you have to drink?
[Indigo (Lisa)] They weren't really houses like houses
[Indigo (Lisa)] They had some weird house creature in them that attacked people on full moons
barkeep (Master) shakes his head
[barkeep (Master)] I think that things have changed a lot

[Raelynn (Carissa)] Raelynn: Persuasion check: (d20) [1d20=1] 1 - ROLL SUCCEEDED against 15!!
[Raelynn (Carissa)] (LOL)
[Orthinmadrigal the Amazing (Master)] (DAMN)
[Brer Necholas (TMO)] (nice)
[Raelynn (Carissa)] (she's VERY pretty!)
[Orthinmadrigal the Amazing (Master)] (LOL)

[Carissa] So TMO, why is Brer similar to a horse? I'm hoping for a good punchline.
[TMO] they're both a kind of Ass?

[Indigo (Lisa)] You can't order people to pay for stuff for you
[N'laea (Carissa)] Have you tried asking nicely?
Orthinmadrigal the Amazing (Master) looks at N'laea
[Orthinmadrigal the Amazing (Master)] Fine, N'laea I am broke, could you please go out into The Mist and bring me back a branch of a bush with a flower on it?
N'laea (Carissa) smiles, "No."
[Orthinmadrigal the Amazing (Master)] See
Indigo (Lisa) tries to keep from laughing

[Master] So the group of you are sitting on the side of the road across from the Inn
[TMO] cooking s'mores
[Carissa] You brought the marshmallows?
[TMO] never smite without them
[Carissa] Bob says chocolate doesn't exist, though, so might be just those and graham crackers
[Lemon] Chocolate doesn't exist?
[Master] Not in Drillian
[Lemon] I'm reconsidering my commitment to this...
[TMO] send us to Hell, Bob. I don't want to live in this world no more

[Howard Plum (Lisa)] What can you do?
[Johan the Apprentice (Master)] I stop flies all the time
[Johan the Apprentice (Master)] You can make them do little loops
[Johan the Apprentice (Master)] I make a light to bring moths
[Howard Plum (Lisa)] Talk to me when you can make Brer do tricks

[Lemon] I hope only the horse crossed, and there's a really deep horse hoofprint in the wall, and then it turns out we've got ourselves a Mr. Ed kind of situation :P

[Johan the Apprentice (Master)] I am sworn to Countess Branwyn Branadarus The Mysterious et al
[Johan the Apprentice (Master)] You will not insult me