Category Archives: Conversation

To detect something else now

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After a few days of leveling up.

Red approaches Alexis with the detecting bowl in his hand.

“Alexis, this device I made is now not as useful as it once was. I have been pondering what to do with it.

Detecting something else is an option, of course. You have been asking about detecting scrying.

Now that we have the orb I would suggest you let me use it. It shouldn’t be too hard to align this bowl to be able to detect if we are being scryed on… time and material permitting of course.

But if you have some other ideas for what to detect with this bowl, let me know”

How to continue on the path of Raiden

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A week into leveling up

Ethelred has been keeping on a eye on Alexis since we left the dwarven cave with the Tear of Ave.

Red approaches Ca’ramine.

“Car’mine… I want to ask you about Alexis and his keen focus on the Tear of Ave. Let me explain.

When I first met Alexis he was following the god of luck. He always had a coin and took the whims of the world as a challenge.

Then he switched to Ave. I never fully understood this choice, but saw the benefits and the meaning it brought Alexis.

When you and Rask joined the balance of the party changed in many ways. The obvious was the push for conflict resolution through strength. But the more important shift was towards Aigeir and towards Raiden. Once again Alexis switched to newer god. And I get the reason and I see the many benefits.

But now we find ourselves at yet another crossroads. I see two paths. One where Alexis stays with Raiden, and the larger party. One path where Alexis get pulled back towards Ave.

That gem is powerful. More powerful than I think we fully yet understand.

I ask you to keep an eye on Alexis. Especially if we want to keep him on the path of Radien.”

Fight Fire with fire…

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After his attempt to alter his for to ice, Ethelrednlats down and stairs into the middle distance. Deep in thought he stays for a good while.

Then he stirs and addresses Alexis

“We have a difficult task ahead. Then plan to deal with the bats first seems smart. Hopefully there are not too many of them.

When it comes time for the giant I think we have some options to buy us some time.

Smoke could help create some cover for sure. make it at least at a bit harder for the giant to see us.

A wall of ice in front, or around. him could buy us even a bit more time.

If we can get enough vegetation we might be able to build some crude decoys. In addition if we disguised ourself in vegetation we might create even more confusion.

This is in a hope that we can get either past the giant, or close enough to disable him somehow.

If we had a way to get his sword away from him I would feel better about our chances of attacking him. With the sword I do not want to get close enough to get hit. One swipe from that weapon and even my armor would be of little help.

We have a few tools we can leverage, we just have to be wise about how we deploy them.”

The Making of the Fire Room Plan

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After the group has retreated from the eruption of the fire bats from the fire lake, Alexis sits with the Crimson Calling on the steps between the two levels. He adjusts his whip.

“Good. Now we know what’s in the fire.” He looks at Rask, Gustav, and Ca’armine. “First, the bats. Then we try talking to the giant again.” A slight pause. “He must be desperate for conversation by now. Desperate might work in our favor.”

He glances up toward where the giant would be.

“How long does he think he’s been here?”

He lets that sit for a moment, then continues.

“If talking doesn’t work, we have options. That unnatural forest below, we can harvest from it. We could build a ballista again.” He waves a hand slightly. “Long shot.” Alexis looks at Ethelred “But maybe you can find something in that idea worth working with.” He looks at Ca’armine. “Raiden can reach him too. The determined wall of the north, your bolts. That right?”

“If it comes to it, we hit him from range, keep him from throwing those boulders, rest, come back the next day. Repeat. Not my preference, but it works.” A beat. “We might need more food if we’re doing this over days. Gus, you have options. Rask, Carm, you two as well?”

He looks at Gustav, Ethelred, then Rask.

“Any of you have anything that reaches at this range?”

Alexis takes a moment and looks at all his comrades. “But that’s just where I’m starting. Any other ideas? Rushing to the stairs? Blinding the giant somehow if we need to? Something else?”

History Lesson?

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Four or five days into Elthered’s Compass project, Rask approaches Alexis while Alexis is between tasks and the group is resting after Ethelred has been working on his Magic ‘Compass,’ the in the misty first ‘room,’ or level of this strange place, he waits for Alexis to acknowledge him and then respectfully speaks:

“Alexis, do you think it would be useful to us all to better understand what you know or have heard about Sasherak, this King Illceros, and that ‘Kobos’ place the dwarves,”

Rask pauses and glances down, a little ashamed of having slaughtered the dwarves so brutally,

“mentioned?”

Rask pauses breifly, before resuming his inquiry.

“The Dragon and Spider,” the warrior glances at Alexis’ ring briefly, “they are connected to King Illceros, right?”

“Was… Handonis telling the truth about the Time Magic? Do we really need giant hearts as anchors?”

Rask is confused and perhaps even a bit frightened.

Cut Off From the Raw Power of Aegir

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“There’s something happening here, but what it is ain’t exactly clear.”

While Ethelred crafts his magical compass, Rask keeps watch, cleans his gear, tends to camp, and does his exercises much as he always does when the group camps. He prays to Raiden before and after his exercises and before he settles in for the night. He often joins Ca’armine in ritual prayers to Raiden. Those that might notice such things may see the look of concern and disappointment that occasionally flashes across his face when he uncharacteristically falters during his exercises, or even more rarely stumbles during chores. It is similar to they way he carried himself in the Grasslands on the way to the First Gate, but missing the bitter fury he carried then.

After a few days, and shortly after a round of prayers to Raiden, before settling in for the evening, Rask speaks to Ca’armine and Gustav.

“Ca’arm, do you understand what is going on here?” The question seem somewhat Rhetorical, and the warrior continues before Ca’armine can start to answer.

“I’m cut off from Raiden, or Aegir I guess?

Rask looks to Gustav briefly.

“Mage-Eye did say that my tattoos channeled the Raw Power of Aegir… Like I was in the Grasslands, I’m not as fast or as tough here. It feels like part of me is missing. I’m getting more used to it, but that… worries me that much more.”

Rask pauses and looks at the ranger and then the priest, more sad that worried, really.

“You two can stall call on The Power though, and when you do, I feel that connection again…”

Rask smiles wanly, recalling the comfort Raiden’s protections bring.

“I think Hadonis may not have been completely lying Brothers. This place… something is different here…”

He pauses, clearly asking for Ca’armine and Gustav’s thoughts this time,

“What do you think is going on here?” Rask guestures broadly

About to get Shafted

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The group has been awake for a little while, moving through the quiet routines of breaking a camp that was never quite a camp. Eight plush chairs in a room that has no business existing where it does. Everyone present.

Alexis sits forward, elbows on knees, and tilts his hat brim up toward the shaft in the ceiling.

“Before we move, I want to talk about that hole.” He looks up at it for a moment. “There’s light up there. And this room is clean. No debris, no dust, nothing that should have fallen down from wherever that shaft goes.” A pause. “That’s worth understanding before we decide what to do with it.”

He looks around the group.

“Carm, I want to ask you something that might be a long shot. Your connection with Raiden,” he chooses his words carefully, “is there any chance he could tell us when we are? Not where. When.”

He looks back at the shaft.

“And does anyone have a way to learn more about what’s up there before we commit to anything? I’d rather know more than less before we start climbing.”

The Anchor we don’t have

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After the conversations have died down in the room with many fine chairs Ethelred waits for everyone to settle down to sleep. Red nudges Alexis to make sure he is awake. In a low tone he speaks.

“So a lot of words were said about Hedonis and his possible plans. And while we know little there is one part of his story the rings true. For what ever other reasons he wanted us to fight the Giants, the one reason he did state I believe. The part about needing an anchor.

It is just such a specific claim. He could of said anything as justify to killing the giants, why that one very clear goal?

I have gone over all my inventory in my mind trying to piece together what ‘anchors’ we might have. When we passed through that strange metal door things changed. This room feels out of place, different than where we were just before.

When we find the Tear how will we escape? Hedonis said little but made it clear that there was something different about where the Tear is. That an ‘anchor’ was needed to get ‘back home’.

We should have some solutions to this riddle before we are faced with a rushed decision.”

So Much Rushing

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As the group is resting in the room with the comfortable chairs, Alexis looks at Ca’armine. “You sensed evil behind that door back there and wanted to go in.”

He pauses a moment.

“We also ran straight past the key we needed.” He glances at Ethelred. “You and I need to be the ones asking what we’re running past. That’s our job. We need to remember it.”

Hadonis’ Inevitable Betrayal

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Rask settles into the comfortable chair, having scraped his battle-weary battered body off the floor. He slows his breathing and closes his eyes and seems to be on very of sleep when he mutters, “Hadonis… giants…”

His eyes open and he sits up.

“Hadonis was in league with the giants from the beginning! It was a win-win for him,: if we survived great, we are more powerful allies, if we died, potential rivals were neutralized and he would gain our treasures.”

He pauses, clearly tired to his very bones.

“His hearts-anchor thing must have been ruse…” Rask trails off, tired and deeply body weary.

He looks around for a moment to see if anyone registers that he has shared what he, in his exhaustion clearly believes is an important revelation, and collapses back into the chair. The warrior begins to snore softly.