You find yourselves sweaty and covered in muck after enduring a week of grueling travel. The sky above you looms black, lit only with the silvery glow of the moon—a common sight in the Ostoyan Empire, where the sun has vanished forever from the sky.
A week ago, you accepted a quest from an old man in the backwater town of Lunsk: Recover a tarnished old circlet from a mausoleum somewhere in the eastern woods of the empire. All around you stand skeletal, petrified trees—and through a gap in the branches, you see your destination.
Pushing forward, you find a small clearing. Before you towers the gothic façade of the Penumbral Vestibule. A plain of black glass sprawls beyond, shrouding the floor of this petrified forest as far as the eye can see. The steeply pitched roof of the mosscovered stone mausoleum is festooned with eerily realistic skeletal grotesques. Its stone doors are closed shut, decorated with an intricate sigil of a sun.
A flat plain of perfectly smooth black glass with an almost mirror-like reflectiveness extends out beyond the mausoleum. It stretches to the edges of your vision, faintly reflecting the dim light of the moon above.
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Union!- Errydha (Homebrew) Setting Embers in the Dark - Errydha (Homebrew) Setting Welcome to the Jungle- Far Realms Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun - Erathis (Grim Hollow) Setting
Yevelda the Mutt- 3rd Level Half-Orc Battlemaster Fighter- Far Realms Rehgys- 5th Level Satyr Bard of Eloquence- Far Realms
"Well this is charming," Dr. Buddie says, surveying the scene before them. He turns to a nearby tree and examines it for a moment before pulling a handkerchief out and swatting at the bark a few times before he deigns to turn and lean against it.
Dr. William Buddy is a tall, lanky gentleman of almost six feet and weighting little more than the billowing black leather jacket he wears. Affixed to his belt and to the inside of his jacket are various instruments, bottles and jars he uses quite frequently as well as several large scalpels which he keeps pristine and handy at all times. He carries the standard backpack but to that is affixed another black bag in which he keeps more tools of his trade, whatever precisely that is. Inside are vials and bottles of various liquids and unguents as well as several texts, a personal journal and small carefully folded packets of paper containing what he says are necessary herbs. He is generally friendly enough but a bit haughty and a bit... off.
"Overview," he whispers sharply to Shelley, the small black owl that mostly stands atop the good doctor's backpack when not filtering about the skies. With the whispered common the owl shakes itself and then launches into the air to get a good look at the surroundings and to report anything and everything it sees...
"Do please remind me never to agree to go to Lunsk again. Only such a backwater place could lead me to such a fabulous journey as this has been!" Dr. Buddie pauses for a moment and glances side-eyed towards Ha'liday. "What drunken fool thought we should take jobs from that old man anyway? Do we even know why he wants this circlet? Surely not sentimental value and I DO hope he is paying us more than it could possible be worth...."
With his bit of complaining over, Dr. William Buddie pulls out a Waterskin and takes a long pull of water from it. He surveys the surroundings himself, best he can without moving from his oh so comfortable leaning-tree.
Ha'liday looks back at the doctor. "Well i reckon it mahght have been me, but if it were i truly dohnt recall." He pulls his flask and takes a small pull. "But at least this looks to be the place"
Ha'liday stands about 6 feet with a build that belies his sallow complexion. His unkempt sandy hair slightly long. Like the doctor he also bears a pack. Along with a rapier at his right hip and a small crossbow hanging near it. On his left hip however is a holstered pistol.
Taking another sip. "Does that bird tell you anything or jus look pretty"
Landing beside the two humans, Morrow's wings blow up the dirt and air around the party as he unfolds his crouched landing. "If you're done bickering, I'd like for us to not be noisy." The scout of the party, as well as a tiefling, Morrow didn't stick close to the party for the majority of their travels, instead moving around them either in the air or on the ground to keep an eye open for trouble...and because he doubted that humans would enjoy his presence, especially with the added wings that he held.
Still, the lean, ash-colored man tied back his hair and glared at the Doctor with piercing green eyes, "If you're so dull as to not keep insurance on our client, than I wonder how you've last this long, dear doctor." The snark in his tone is clear, and the ranger quickly takes to leaning up against a skeletal tree, bow at his side, whilst they awaited the owl's return. He didn't care if they chose the bird brain (literally) over him for the same task, if anything he welcomed not having to be the one in danger, but rather he found these people strange. All the more strange was why his friends had requested that he take this job with these people.
Aftari catches up with those who have already stopped. "Oh good, We're here. Definitely an inviting place, wouldn't you think? I'd keep all my most harmless valuables in a place like this." She flashes a genuine smile at those around her. About average height, the tiefling's gold colored skin dully reflects the light of the moon. She stands confidently, a small crossbow at her waist and a greatsword hung behind her, the scabbard between her dirty pack and her back. She has no wings, and now looks between Dr. Buddie and Morrow. "Which one of you knows what's ahead this time?"
Hadar pushes into the clearing last, hunching over a little to catch his breath. He brushes his hair out of his eyes and straightens, half listening to the conversations of the party and half examining the landscape with something close to awe.
Hadar is a thin, half-elven man whose curly black hair is worn long and nearly always kept covered by a wide-brimmed black hat. He carries an over-stuffed satchel filled with notes and research supplies and wears a worn leather jerkin over a simple waistcoat and shirt. A large shield bearing a painted eye is strapped to his back over a mace, and a crossbow hangs at his hip.
He gives Aftari a small smile in acknowledgment, and then moves closer to the mausoleum to examine the sigil.
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I do both party and individual character commissions. PM me for info.
Corti- Warforged bard (Union!)
Hadar Jaffe- Half-elf Knowledge Domain Cleric (Nemo's Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun)
Dr. Buddie coughs as the kicked up dirt and debris is kicked up by the landing of Morrow and glares at them a moment as he waves his handkerchief around a bit to try and clear the air. "I would think, good sir, that our discussion was far less noticeable than this nebula of dirt and filth which you so kindly turned into a beacon of our whereabouts," he would point out.
"As for our client," Dr. Buddie would say through a yawn, "I am sure whatever insurance you have is plenty for all of us. I happily leave such details to the riff raff..."
The doctor then turns to Aftari now that she's arrived and returns her smile. "Quite right, my dear. We may find ourselves having to decide which is more valuable, our questionable employer or the bauble they hired us to acquire... Now, let me see..." Dr. Buddie closes his eyes and keeps a steady lean upon the tree as he loses himself for a moment to instead use the senses of Shelley and see, hear and sense what his familiar does on her journey. Dr. Buddies narrates the details to the others in a soft, dreamy voice as the details come to him.
Once withdrawing his senses back to his own body, Dr. Buddie looks quickly around. "Oh! Hello there, Hadar. I did not hear you join us..."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
Buddie, you see no signs of any other creatures nearby as Shelley makes her rounds. It's not too surprising, as the trek here took several hours and it isn't exactly by the wayside.
Hadar, you examine the sigil and recognise it as a common pattern found on artifacts from the ruins below Nov Ostoya. They're all the rage in Antiquarian circles, but until now, only scant details are available. One of them is the veneration the civilisation held for the sun, with the motive cropping up all over the place on pottery, tools and also here, on the large stone doors. You don't notice any lock or doorknob though.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Union!- Errydha (Homebrew) Setting Embers in the Dark - Errydha (Homebrew) Setting Welcome to the Jungle- Far Realms Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun - Erathis (Grim Hollow) Setting
Yevelda the Mutt- 3rd Level Half-Orc Battlemaster Fighter- Far Realms Rehgys- 5th Level Satyr Bard of Eloquence- Far Realms
(OOC - So the ground between us and the mausoleum is glass? Or is covered by a sheet of glass? Is this something we have seen before? Have heard about? What is the distance from outer rim of this effect to the mausoleum? Does there appear to be any debris upon the glass, like normal blown twigs or leaves or anything?)
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We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
Hadar jots down a sketch of the sun pattern and the mausoleum and makes a couple notes next to it. He tugs his gaze away to Dr. Buddie when he speaks, "Ah— yes, hello. I was... in the back," Hadar shrugs a little, pointing back towards where they'd come from with his shoulder. Hadar clears his throat and gestures at the door, relaying the information he knows about the sigil, "Pretty good find, all things considered."
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I do both party and individual character commissions. PM me for info.
Corti- Warforged bard (Union!)
Hadar Jaffe- Half-elf Knowledge Domain Cleric (Nemo's Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun)
The glassy plain sprawls a total area of nearly 150 square miles throughout the petrified forest between the plains of Soma and the Black Mire.Since the trees of the petrified forest are long dead, there is little in the way of clutter or debris on the glass.
You all recall huddling around a dimly candlelit table in the Tithewater Tavern in Lunsk, one week ago. A welldressed old man with a well-trimmed white beard and a greedy glint in his eye spoke to you in a hushed tone. He called himself the Nightseer Sage. “It’s truly an item of tremendous importance,” the sage said. “Historical importance, that is. And to me, personally. It is a circlet. Gold, likely tarnished, and rumor has it, with a cracked peridot gemstone set into it from when it was briefly used as a lich’s phylactery. It’s from a civilization that predates our own empire. I am desperately fascinated in ancient civilizations. All a part of getting old, I suppose.”
Hadar, seeing these symbols on the door seems to be a very good indication that you might find what you're looking for within the mausoleum.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Union!- Errydha (Homebrew) Setting Embers in the Dark - Errydha (Homebrew) Setting Welcome to the Jungle- Far Realms Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun - Erathis (Grim Hollow) Setting
Yevelda the Mutt- 3rd Level Half-Orc Battlemaster Fighter- Far Realms Rehgys- 5th Level Satyr Bard of Eloquence- Far Realms
((Sure, be we still want to debate who to blame for taking the job! lol))
((And ok, so we have walked on this glassy plain already, no specific reason we'd think it's a trap or such such...))
"Well Mr. Ha'liday, I would think we wait for our last companion to arrive (I'm assuming Ekaterina is joining us still?) but then I suppose we walk up to the door and knock?" Dr. Buddie answers, and mentally directing Shelley the owl to perch herself atop the mausoleum above the front door and to keep watch for movement other than us...
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We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
Ekaterina saunters up to the rest of the group almost as if on cue. “I’ve been here the whole time. I find it amusing to listen to you all banter about whose to blame for our current situation.”
Carrying a well worn pack over her tan shoulders she joins the rest of the group at the door. Dressed plainly in mostly clean clothes her hair pulled into a tight, neat bun at the back of her head, she stands and searches the faces of the rest of the group with her bright green eyes.
“Well are we going to stand her all day? Or make our way inside? I highly doubt this circlet we are trying to find is going to be found out here.”
"I can fly us over one at a time, but I doubt most of you care for it." With a burst of his wings, Morrow shoots back up into the air, choosing to scout the path ahead with his bow drawn ready. He'd head over to the door if no one made an effort to call out to him, or otherwise stop him.
"It seems our transport left without us, my dear Ekaterina," Dr. Buddie says, standing up straight after pushing off from the tree. "It does seems we will need to go inside to get the merchandise. As much as it would honor me to lead this band of misfit toys, however, I'm afraid I am much more the follower type..."
Dr. Buddie looks from one to the other of the remaining companions, waiting for someone to lead the way. "Shelley assures me the surroundings are as clear as her eyes can see," he says in his most reassuring voice, even while one hand slips into his coat to draw forth one of his scalpels... Just in case.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
You find yourselves sweaty and covered in muck after enduring a week of grueling travel. The sky above you looms black, lit only with the silvery glow of the moon—a common sight in the Ostoyan Empire, where the sun has vanished forever from the sky.
A week ago, you accepted a quest from an old man in the backwater town of Lunsk: Recover a tarnished old circlet from a mausoleum somewhere in the eastern woods of the empire. All around you stand skeletal, petrified trees—and through a gap in the branches, you see your destination.
Pushing forward, you find a small clearing. Before you towers the gothic façade of the Penumbral Vestibule. A plain of black glass sprawls beyond, shrouding the floor of this petrified forest as far as the eye can see. The steeply pitched roof of the mosscovered stone mausoleum is festooned with eerily realistic skeletal grotesques. Its stone doors are closed shut, decorated with an intricate sigil of a sun.
A flat plain of perfectly smooth black glass with an almost mirror-like reflectiveness extends out beyond the mausoleum. It stretches to the edges of your vision, faintly reflecting the dim light of the moon above.
Union!- Errydha (Homebrew) Setting
Embers in the Dark - Errydha (Homebrew) Setting
Welcome to the Jungle- Far Realms
Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun - Erathis (Grim Hollow) Setting
Yevelda the Mutt- 3rd Level Half-Orc Battlemaster Fighter- Far Realms
Rehgys- 5th Level Satyr Bard of Eloquence- Far Realms
"Well this is charming," Dr. Buddie says, surveying the scene before them. He turns to a nearby tree and examines it for a moment before pulling a handkerchief out and swatting at the bark a few times before he deigns to turn and lean against it.
Dr. William Buddy is a tall, lanky gentleman of almost six feet and weighting little more than the billowing black leather jacket he wears. Affixed to his belt and to the inside of his jacket are various instruments, bottles and jars he uses quite frequently as well as several large scalpels which he keeps pristine and handy at all times. He carries the standard backpack but to that is affixed another black bag in which he keeps more tools of his trade, whatever precisely that is. Inside are vials and bottles of various liquids and unguents as well as several texts, a personal journal and small carefully folded packets of paper containing what he says are necessary herbs. He is generally friendly enough but a bit haughty and a bit... off.
"Overview," he whispers sharply to Shelley, the small black owl that mostly stands atop the good doctor's backpack when not filtering about the skies. With the whispered common the owl shakes itself and then launches into the air to get a good look at the surroundings and to report anything and everything it sees...
"Do please remind me never to agree to go to Lunsk again. Only such a backwater place could lead me to such a fabulous journey as this has been!" Dr. Buddie pauses for a moment and glances side-eyed towards Ha'liday. "What drunken fool thought we should take jobs from that old man anyway? Do we even know why he wants this circlet? Surely not sentimental value and I DO hope he is paying us more than it could possible be worth...."
With his bit of complaining over, Dr. William Buddie pulls out a Waterskin and takes a long pull of water from it. He surveys the surroundings himself, best he can without moving from his oh so comfortable leaning-tree.
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
-- Eleanor Shellstrop
Ha'liday looks back at the doctor. "Well i reckon it mahght have been me, but if it were i truly dohnt recall." He pulls his flask and takes a small pull. "But at least this looks to be the place"
Ha'liday stands about 6 feet with a build that belies his sallow complexion. His unkempt sandy hair slightly long. Like the doctor he also bears a pack. Along with a rapier at his right hip and a small crossbow hanging near it. On his left hip however is a holstered pistol.
Taking another sip. "Does that bird tell you anything or jus look pretty"
Laissez les bons temps rouler
Landing beside the two humans, Morrow's wings blow up the dirt and air around the party as he unfolds his crouched landing. "If you're done bickering, I'd like for us to not be noisy." The scout of the party, as well as a tiefling, Morrow didn't stick close to the party for the majority of their travels, instead moving around them either in the air or on the ground to keep an eye open for trouble...and because he doubted that humans would enjoy his presence, especially with the added wings that he held.
Still, the lean, ash-colored man tied back his hair and glared at the Doctor with piercing green eyes, "If you're so dull as to not keep insurance on our client, than I wonder how you've last this long, dear doctor." The snark in his tone is clear, and the ranger quickly takes to leaning up against a skeletal tree, bow at his side, whilst they awaited the owl's return. He didn't care if they chose the bird brain (literally) over him for the same task, if anything he welcomed not having to be the one in danger, but rather he found these people strange. All the more strange was why his friends had requested that he take this job with these people.
Putting his flask away. Ha'liday looks at Morrow "Nice landing sah. Did you see anything of note?"
Laissez les bons temps rouler
Aftari catches up with those who have already stopped. "Oh good, We're here. Definitely an inviting place, wouldn't you think? I'd keep all my most harmless valuables in a place like this." She flashes a genuine smile at those around her. About average height, the tiefling's gold colored skin dully reflects the light of the moon. She stands confidently, a small crossbow at her waist and a greatsword hung behind her, the scabbard between her dirty pack and her back. She has no wings, and now looks between Dr. Buddie and Morrow. "Which one of you knows what's ahead this time?"
Hadar pushes into the clearing last, hunching over a little to catch his breath. He brushes his hair out of his eyes and straightens, half listening to the conversations of the party and half examining the landscape with something close to awe.
Hadar is a thin, half-elven man whose curly black hair is worn long and nearly always kept covered by a wide-brimmed black hat. He carries an over-stuffed satchel filled with notes and research supplies and wears a worn leather jerkin over a simple waistcoat and shirt. A large shield bearing a painted eye is strapped to his back over a mace, and a crossbow hangs at his hip.
He gives Aftari a small smile in acknowledgment, and then moves closer to the mausoleum to examine the sigil.
I do both party and individual character commissions. PM me for info.
Corti- Warforged bard (Union!)
Hadar Jaffe- Half-elf Knowledge Domain Cleric (Nemo's Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun)
Dr. Buddie coughs as the kicked up dirt and debris is kicked up by the landing of Morrow and glares at them a moment as he waves his handkerchief around a bit to try and clear the air. "I would think, good sir, that our discussion was far less noticeable than this nebula of dirt and filth which you so kindly turned into a beacon of our whereabouts," he would point out.
"As for our client," Dr. Buddie would say through a yawn, "I am sure whatever insurance you have is plenty for all of us. I happily leave such details to the riff raff..."
The doctor then turns to Aftari now that she's arrived and returns her smile. "Quite right, my dear. We may find ourselves having to decide which is more valuable, our questionable employer or the bauble they hired us to acquire... Now, let me see..." Dr. Buddie closes his eyes and keeps a steady lean upon the tree as he loses himself for a moment to instead use the senses of Shelley and see, hear and sense what his familiar does on her journey. Dr. Buddies narrates the details to the others in a soft, dreamy voice as the details come to him.
Once withdrawing his senses back to his own body, Dr. Buddie looks quickly around. "Oh! Hello there, Hadar. I did not hear you join us..."
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
-- Eleanor Shellstrop
Buddie, you see no signs of any other creatures nearby as Shelley makes her rounds. It's not too surprising, as the trek here took several hours and it isn't exactly by the wayside.
Hadar, you examine the sigil and recognise it as a common pattern found on artifacts from the ruins below Nov Ostoya. They're all the rage in Antiquarian circles, but until now, only scant details are available. One of them is the veneration the civilisation held for the sun, with the motive cropping up all over the place on pottery, tools and also here, on the large stone doors. You don't notice any lock or doorknob though.
Union!- Errydha (Homebrew) Setting
Embers in the Dark - Errydha (Homebrew) Setting
Welcome to the Jungle- Far Realms
Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun - Erathis (Grim Hollow) Setting
Yevelda the Mutt- 3rd Level Half-Orc Battlemaster Fighter- Far Realms
Rehgys- 5th Level Satyr Bard of Eloquence- Far Realms
(OOC - So the ground between us and the mausoleum is glass? Or is covered by a sheet of glass? Is this something we have seen before? Have heard about? What is the distance from outer rim of this effect to the mausoleum? Does there appear to be any debris upon the glass, like normal blown twigs or leaves or anything?)
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
-- Eleanor Shellstrop
Hadar jots down a sketch of the sun pattern and the mausoleum and makes a couple notes next to it. He tugs his gaze away to Dr. Buddie when he speaks, "Ah— yes, hello. I was... in the back," Hadar shrugs a little, pointing back towards where they'd come from with his shoulder. Hadar clears his throat and gestures at the door, relaying the information he knows about the sigil, "Pretty good find, all things considered."
I do both party and individual character commissions. PM me for info.
Corti- Warforged bard (Union!)
Hadar Jaffe- Half-elf Knowledge Domain Cleric (Nemo's Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun)
Looks at the Dr... "So whats our play?"
Laissez les bons temps rouler
The glassy plain sprawls a total area of nearly 150 square miles throughout the petrified forest between the plains of Soma and the Black Mire.Since the trees of the petrified forest are long dead, there is little in the way of clutter or debris on the glass.
You all recall huddling around a dimly candlelit table in the Tithewater Tavern in Lunsk, one week ago. A welldressed old man with a well-trimmed white beard and a greedy glint in his eye spoke to you in a hushed tone. He called himself the Nightseer Sage. “It’s truly an item of tremendous importance,” the sage said. “Historical importance, that is. And to me, personally. It is a circlet. Gold, likely tarnished, and rumor has it, with a cracked peridot gemstone set into it from when it was briefly used as a lich’s phylactery. It’s from a civilization that predates our own empire. I am desperately fascinated in ancient civilizations. All a part of getting old, I suppose.”
Hadar, seeing these symbols on the door seems to be a very good indication that you might find what you're looking for within the mausoleum.
Union!- Errydha (Homebrew) Setting
Embers in the Dark - Errydha (Homebrew) Setting
Welcome to the Jungle- Far Realms
Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun - Erathis (Grim Hollow) Setting
Yevelda the Mutt- 3rd Level Half-Orc Battlemaster Fighter- Far Realms
Rehgys- 5th Level Satyr Bard of Eloquence- Far Realms
((Sure, be we still want to debate who to blame for taking the job! lol))
((And ok, so we have walked on this glassy plain already, no specific reason we'd think it's a trap or such such...))
"Well Mr. Ha'liday, I would think we wait for our last companion to arrive (I'm assuming Ekaterina is joining us still?) but then I suppose we walk up to the door and knock?" Dr. Buddie answers, and mentally directing Shelley the owl to perch herself atop the mausoleum above the front door and to keep watch for movement other than us...
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
-- Eleanor Shellstrop
Ekaterina saunters up to the rest of the group almost as if on cue. “I’ve been here the whole time. I find it amusing to listen to you all banter about whose to blame for our current situation.”
Carrying a well worn pack over her tan shoulders she joins the rest of the group at the door. Dressed plainly in mostly clean clothes her hair pulled into a tight, neat bun at the back of her head, she stands and searches the faces of the rest of the group with her bright green eyes.
“Well are we going to stand her all day? Or make our way inside? I highly doubt this circlet we are trying to find is going to be found out here.”
"I can fly us over one at a time, but I doubt most of you care for it." With a burst of his wings, Morrow shoots back up into the air, choosing to scout the path ahead with his bow drawn ready. He'd head over to the door if no one made an effort to call out to him, or otherwise stop him.
"It seems our transport left without us, my dear Ekaterina," Dr. Buddie says, standing up straight after pushing off from the tree. "It does seems we will need to go inside to get the merchandise. As much as it would honor me to lead this band of misfit toys, however, I'm afraid I am much more the follower type..."
Dr. Buddie looks from one to the other of the remaining companions, waiting for someone to lead the way. "Shelley assures me the surroundings are as clear as her eyes can see," he says in his most reassuring voice, even while one hand slips into his coat to draw forth one of his scalpels... Just in case.
We're doing one small murder-y thing for a bigger, better reason. The ends justify the means.
-- Eleanor Shellstrop
"Well in for a copper in for a gold ah guess." Drawing his pistol Ha'liday starts walking to the mausoleum
Laissez les bons temps rouler
Ekaterina follows behind her gunslinging companion.
Hadar keeps a hand on his crossbow and follows.
I do both party and individual character commissions. PM me for info.
Corti- Warforged bard (Union!)
Hadar Jaffe- Half-elf Knowledge Domain Cleric (Nemo's Citadel of the Unsleeping Sun)