Category Archives: Conversation

Good Blessings. Bad Blessings.

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At some point during their two weeks at the grove before heading to Barra’s pool the three treasure hunters are all having an evening meal together. After some logistics Alexis turns to his companions.

“I’ve been thinking about our battle with the Red Cloaks under the fort, and how much easier it might have been if you’d both accepted the ‘blessings’ of the symbol/archtype you both refer to as ‘Avv’. And the thing that has me confused is the ‘blessings’ you’re willing to accept and the ones you’re not. And I speak as someone who is happy to accept boons and blessings from almost any ‘god’. Obviously Nurgle would be hard for me because the slime, the spores, etc.” Alexis gives a shudder of revulsion. “And I wouldn’t trust a gift/boon from the Arril-Noroth since I expect it would contain a barb of some sort. But back to the subject at hand…”

“You both willingly accepted a ‘blessing’ from Bora Bloodfist, servant of She-Who-Is-Fierce, and from that ‘blessing’ we were taken on a journey together and now better understand the Path of the Peacemakers. Great. But that started because you both accepted magics from a priest of the goddess of the gnolls. That was acceptable, but ‘blessings’ from ‘Avv’ are not.”

“And you both willingly accepted the task to break Dauntless for a boon from She-Who-Is-Fierce. And I was, and still could be, excited to see what sort of boon that would be. But my point is that getting a boon from that goddess whom many consider evil and hostile to humanity, Raiden, etc was acceptable, but blessings from Avv are not.”

“Red, you can I carried the Eyes of Maglubiyet accepting the risks and rewards therein. But somehow a blessing from a matriarch of humanity is not.”

“Gus, you wear bracers of the VahnYir, who pledged themselves to the Arru-Noroth. And you accept the magics I learned from those bracers to further help you in your aim. Magics that also come from the VahnYir. This is all acceptable to you, but blessings of Avv are not.”

“Please help me understand how you are both willing to accept the magics of forces so antithetical to humanity and Raiden, and so hostile to accepting help from the human magics of ‘Avv’, who defended humanity at one of the points when humanity needed it most.”

Alexis looks between Gustav and Ethelred.

In With The New

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A day or two down the road to the Greyfax estate, as the Crimson Calling has just finished setting up camp and is starting their evening chores, a lone man approaches leading a horse.

The man is wearing a heavy winter cloak, and a simple undyed tabard. Under the cloak and tabard, the observant make out dark-red, almost black chain mail and the hilt of odd shaped, dark-handled sword. It reminds those that remember of the blade Ethelred called “Bushwacker,” but longer.

The man raises his arms confidently in the universal gesture of peace,

“Hail, I am Rask Felmar, of Thater that Was. You must be the Crimson Calling.” He calls out confidently.

A Remembrance Of Mysteries

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After Vagram and Teldon have left the tent of the Crimson Calling, Alexis consults his notebook and then addresses the group.

“Depending on how things go up north we might be able to answer some of our outstanding questions, mostly from our time at the Greyfax estate.” Alexis looks at his companions, and through his look conveys that this is a good time to bring Ezrin up to speed on anything that might have been missed previously.

“Some of the questions that have been on my mind” Alexis pats his notebook

“What really happened on the night we witnessed?”
“What was the nature of the donkey cart with all the monies that went into the woods?”
“Who was the girl chased by the wolves? It would be nice to make sure her name is sent to the Hoodites for a proper ‘rememberance’.”
“Where were the people taken? What were the swirls in the mist?”
“What happened to Torrin, and why was he the anchor for Utiog?”
“Were they aware of Avv’s involvement? Can they tell me more about that?”
“What happened to Lady Sofia that night? Where was she?”
“Who was the girl Ty-Lin girl that haunted Telosh? … and who was eventually… um… banished to the undead city?”
“What is the name of the undead city? Is it Kobos? Do they happen to know anything about Kobos? Now that I think about it, I should ask Vagram and Teldon on our hike north, on the very-remote chance.”
“How much interaction did they have with the Dark Hand? My understanding was that the ‘night-of-the-mists’ resulted in the people at the Greyfax estate being taken away into slavery. If so, it seems reasonable that they could have had a ‘relationship’ with the Dark Hand.”
“Much to do with Barra’s cave. Did they know it was Barra’s cave? What do they know about the pool? What do they know about the Eyes?”
“Based on how much Torrin hated Arri, it seems reasonable that they might know about Arri. I would be curious to know more.”
“Do they happen to know any more about the Saggi or the Akkil?”
“Obviously, all the mysteries around the twice-broken?”

And there are some additional questions I have since we will be going north.
“What is the nature of the bell?”
“What other treasures do they know about at the undead city? Do they know more about the nature of the undead city?”
“Have they heard about lost treasures north of Middlebar?”
“What was the effect within Middlebar when the villagers came out and confronted the Aegirian army?”

Alexis looks between his companions, mutely asking for additional questions, or ready to answer questions they have about his questions.

Post-Lectures Thoughts

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At some point after Ezrin has given Ethelred lecture 13, Alexis asks Ethelred about the lessons when the two of them are alone.

“Listening to Ezrin’s lessons takes me back to my time learning the arts. And sleeping through lectures. I don’t think I’ve ever slept so well, as when I was hearing those lectures.” Alexis smiles remembering the time fondly.

“But I wanted to see how you’re faring with your teacher. You’ve gotten a lot of lectures, and I hope he’s given you concrete tasks; I know you do well with those. Perhaps he has given you a gem and asked you to probe it for flaws? Or perhaps he’s given you a few materials and had to rank them by hardness? Had to list a primary purpose for each material? In a ‘spell-component’ sort of way. Perhaps he’s brought you a stick from a nearby tree and asked you to discern which tree he got it from? I never did very well with that exercise, but I think you would be better suited to it.”

Alexis stops talking to allow his friend a chance to talk about his journey into magical learning.

Each One Teach One

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Ezrin approaches Alexis one morning g after breaking the fast.

“Alexis Laelius, I believe learning the Recollection Perfextion incantations from you would help me teach Ethelred. I would better be able remember the lectures and be able share them more accurately. Would you be willing to teach me?”

Where Fools Dare Tread

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Around the fire, the subject of the Dark and Hand and Bandesing rises in discussion. Telosh, Clyte, the Axe Man, Shai-yeeni, Varisimuss, Mavon, Skelor, Leer, what and whom – have you.

“Beware the Light Foot, for death follows where the Singing Bandit steps…” Ezrin seems to reciting a proverb from the streets of Sutheron.

“Most I know would avoid them, but I suppose it is too late…

“And it seems you’ve already received a lesson, or your late companion did at least.”

The Sutheroni mage looks at his new companions with a mixture of fear, concern, and compassion, and perhaps a bit of awe and excitement.

“Supposedly the Foot, sorry, the Dark Hand – even young nuns wear old habits – is engaged in the traditional business of the Black Hills, but no one know who they sell their…”

It is obvious that Ezrin is used to using a particular type of slang when discussing these types of topics.

“Slaves to. And they do not do business with the traditional Hill-guilds. There have been a few conflicts, not with good results for the Hill folk…”

“Everyone knows they took the Kings’ betrothed, but beyond that..” the mage shrugs.

“Their goals and motivations are the subject of much speculation. Their power and danger are clear though, and you have placed yourself squarely in the sights of their crossbows, chasing treasures they desire…”

Ezrin is quiet and thoughtful for a moment, then he shakes his head a little, and smiles ruefully.

“So be it, Crimson Calling, if you’ll have me, I’ll cleave to you now and join in your work to undermine the… Dark Hand.

“What have you learned about them so far?”

Ezrin is clearly nervous about this choice, but also very serious about it.

Hazards of the Trade

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Shortly after Alexis gives Ezrin the two priceless potions from sometime around the second age, Alexis sits down with Ezrin.

“You’re new here, and I worry you have an orientation towards treasure hunting that is not shared with the Crimson Calling. The speed with which you wanted to bundle up all the artifacts in your supplies. The clear frustration around being robbed of treasure. These things worry me, and I will share where my fears come from. You have come to us recently, but the Crimson Calling has been around for years and dealt with many treasure-obstacles, and I consider myself very, very, fortunate to have made it this far.”

“While I have always led the Crimson Calling, I have claimed virtually none of the artifacts from our adventures, even though it is my right as the leader. In our first major find, only Gus and Red walked away with priceless items of power.” Alexis gives a shrug clearly showing that this doesn’t bother him.

“Significantly later, on a quest from a powerful patron, two of us were perverted by a powerful magic item and had to be subdued to finish our quest. It is for the best we did not keep that item.”

“One of our previous companions suffered from artifact-avarice such that he stole from us in the night and wandered off with a significant fortune. He has since spent, drank, or gambled all of it and is in a very lonely place.” Alexis looks clearly sad about this last part.

“Another time, one of us succumbed to an item of power beyond comprehension and enslaved most of the rest of us. Thankfully our close bonds allowed us to overcome this item.”

“One of us stumbled upon madness, possibly in the presence of several powerful forces/items/powers, and unleashed a threat to this whole area. The two wyverns that were spotted were part of that madness, and we were fortunate that we were able to prevent many, many, more dark creatures from flocking to this area.”

“Related to the madness I just mentioned, one of us carelessly touched the creation (mentioned earlier) without thinking about the consequences and unleashed a minion of a dark power. A being of corruption and lies. There are still times I wake up in a sweat seeing that corrupted being.” Alexis shivers at the thought.

“More recently, we had someone with us who had learned secrets to use our magics against us. Gus was most affected by this using-our-magics against us, possibly given how magical he is” Alexis looks towards the holy grove for a moment.

“These are the cautionary tales we three live with every day. This is why we don’t see all treasure as equal. Why all power isn’t to be sought with the same ferver.”

“But you know we don’t eschew treasure. You know of the Mithril Lord, who was created because the Crimson Calling pooled our treasure to make sure he would be rewarded for his time with us.”

“And even those that try hard, but fail, we still attempt to reward if we can. Before you, we have traveled with many others. At one point we had the son of a rich man join us for the ‘glory’ of it. And even though he nearly got us killed by the giant, we still rewarded him with a trophy head for his future tales of glory with us.”

“We have refused to work with powerful forces that do not align in treating magics with the sort of care we know is important. They are not our enemies, but we have to go our separate ways. And you have the same question in front of you now Ezrin. Will you embrace the Crimson Calling, even if it means you may never see any magical treasure of your own, or will you strike out on your own for treasure that you may study from, learn from, and grow rich off of?” Alexis looks relaxed but expectant for an answer.

The Unfortunate Stoners

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While the group is sorting through the treasures, Alexis talks to the group in general.

“We should pull those bodies out of the sulfur pit. While stone, the bodies might not be dead. It’s possible Clite, Telosh or… the axe guy are still alive in there. And Possibly even the bodies that are less complete. Perhaps if we pull out the old bodies the broken stone will become full bodies.”

“I wonder who the other two bodies are. Perhaps goblins from when Barra was here? An orc fellow of Yog’s? More kids who have come to the calling of the Sword Chaotic?” Alexis shakes his head in disappointment at that.

“What supplies do we have to pull them out?”

So Many Questions…

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Upon arriving at The Tree Fortress, Ezrin is rather wide-eyed, but takes it in stride and unrolls his bedroll in a spot on the second floor.

After things settle down and a bit and the Aegirian ranger and… apprentice are busy, Ezrin approaches Alexis.

“I have so many questions Colleague… perhaps though, I should start here… what is this place?”

The Sutheroni mage gestures expansively at the massive trees around them.