Ash gets exasperated. "The force dome! The force dome! Why does no one know about the force dome!? This village is inside a dome made of magical force! How does no one know about that!?"
Derbrun thinks. "Of course! No one knows about the force dome because they haven't seen it... yet! It only appeared this morning when I triggered the Water Crystal of Energy. And the good news is this: the existence of this force dome suggests that we are in situation B! The Crystal is diverting time, not diffracting it!" He waits. "We are not moving in super slow motion while the outside world passes us by!" He waits to let that sink in. "300 years haven't passed out there! Your loved ones aren't dead!"
Outside, through the sheet curtains, you see a flash of lightning. Derbrun opens his mouth to respond but stops. He looks outside the nearest window. "That storm came out of nowhere." You hear a heavy rain start. Derbrun shakes his head and shrugs. "I'm sure it's nothing. Ash, likely yes. We deactivate the Crystal and the force sphere around it should dissipate. The problem is, well, I don't know exactly how one goes about deactivating the thing. We'd need to know its moment of engagement, and that, heh, well, of course we don't know that until it happens." Lightning flashes again, and thunder rolls over the village.
K: "What is the effect of this time diversion? It diverts it into the force wall? What is its 'engagement moment'? Is there any way we can predict when it will occur?"
Lightning strikes and thunder rolls. The sounds of a heavy rain surround you.
Derbrun: "No, the time diversion has a center, the Crystal, and a radius of effect. I had tried to design a small radius, one that only offered villagers a little extra time in the town square, but apparently the radius of effect is much larger. The time diversion's effect results in the force wall which indicates its radius of effect. We cannot, unfortunately, predict its moment of engagement. It could be the next moment, or it could be years from now. Or never."
Ash's jaw drops. "We could be stuck here forever? Why did we let this banshee convince us to do this, and then let that imp vault us into here? This is a tragedy!"
After a few moments, K asks again: "Derbrun, I don't understand the 30 year difference in here and out there without the time diffraction. With time diversion, is the force wall the only effect, or is there also a time-related effect?"
Derbrun's face takes on a serious look. "There is also a time-related effect."
Just then, lightning strikes again. Everything fades quickly to white and you feel briefly like you are in some stasis, as if you are outside of yourself and the world, and then you snap back and feel yourselves falling faster and faster.
The carriage crashes into something and you come to a stop, checking yourselves over to make sure you are feeling okay. You leave the carriage to find yourselves inside a familiar old barn. A familiar male and female gnome and child gnome stand shocked in front of you.
The young gnome says: "Look, pa. Foreigners!"
The gnome male raises a hand crossbow and fires a single shot at you, missing badly.
Badger holds his hands up in a nonthreatening way. "It's us! We've told Guldark about the animating potion accident. Did he make it here to help you?"
Kristofferson watches the gnomes' reactions. Do the gnomes recognize them? Insight: 9
Ash takes the initiative: "We've made a mistake and mean to correct it! We'll pay for the damages and go tell Guldark about the accident. He'll come help with the trees, okay?" If it seems like the gnomes will let them leave, Ash leads the way quickly off the property.
Ash: the gnomes are confused and skeptical of you. Yet, they do let you leave after you've promised to get Guldark. The three of you have left the farm and are on the road you recognize leading into the town proper.
Ash: "It seems we've discovered the effect of time diversion. We got diverted back to the point in time when Derbrun activated the Crystal."
K: "Does that mean the Crystal was activated when Derbrun was talking last night? Or... I guess that's tonight?"
Badger: "It seemed timed with a lightning strike. The third strike, I think it was. We need to learn from Derbrun how to deactivate the Crystal at the moment of the third lightning strike. But first, we have to go see Guldark at Lu's."
Ash scoffs. "What for? If we don't successfully deactivate the Crystal, we'll just get diverted back here again. Some strage tree problem seems the least of our concerns."
Badger: "I mean, we promised we would."
Ash: "In order to get out of there and not get shot at. Let's go see Derbrun now so we can learn more about the Crystal."
K shrugs. "I think that's fair. Whatever tree problem the gnome farmers have can be dealt with later."
You approach what was once a fine manor but is now showing wear and a lack of maintenance as the sun starts to peak in the sky. Overgrown bushes and crawling vines crowd the home. You knock and wait a minute. You knock again, more loudly, and wait another minute. No one seems to be answering.
Badger: "We don't know where he activated the thing, so we can't try to find him there. Do we just head towards the town square? He did think the effect would be localized there."
K says "Sure let's try there." He leads the way towards the town square.
You find the same well-tended homes around the town square. Along one side of the square is a larger building with fashionable columns in front and a large hourglass at the peak that looks to be attached to mechanical equipment.
A villager or two walk about the square, a large open patch of nicely-tended greenery. You also spot a tavern on the corner with a sign that reads "Lu's Cafe."
Badger sees that the columned building with the hourglass is a both a place of town politics like a city hall, but also a place of learning like a library, a place a studied mage like Derbrun might find interesting.
K notices that you are all about 15 minutes later than the previous iteration. The hourglass has about 25% of its sand dropped after noon. While looking, you notice a shadow pass over some of the machinery inside the tower.
Ash panics. "We need to leave now! How do we get beyond the force dome!?"
Badger puts a hand to his head as he feels faint. He leans against the nearest wall. "300 years? My wife, my kids...?"
Kristofferson stands mute, staring into the middle distance.
Ash: "The force dome, Derbrun! How do we get out!?"
Derbrun just looks confusedly at Ash. "What force dome?"
Ash gets exasperated. "The force dome! The force dome! Why does no one know about the force dome!? This village is inside a dome made of magical force! How does no one know about that!?"
Derbrun thinks. "Of course! No one knows about the force dome because they haven't seen it... yet! It only appeared this morning when I triggered the Water Crystal of Energy. And the good news is this: the existence of this force dome suggests that we are in situation B! The Crystal is diverting time, not diffracting it!" He waits. "We are not moving in super slow motion while the outside world passes us by!" He waits to let that sink in. "300 years haven't passed out there! Your loved ones aren't dead!"
Badger says a quick silent prayer of gratitude to Tyr. The immediate anxiety and tension melts away.
Ash: "Does that mean if we deactivate the crystal, we'll be able to get out of here?"
Kristofferson: "That is good news, sure, but what does it mean that we're in situation B? What does it mean to divert time?"
Outside, through the sheet curtains, you see a flash of lightning. Derbrun opens his mouth to respond but stops. He looks outside the nearest window. "That storm came out of nowhere." You hear a heavy rain start. Derbrun shakes his head and shrugs. "I'm sure it's nothing. Ash, likely yes. We deactivate the Crystal and the force sphere around it should dissipate. The problem is, well, I don't know exactly how one goes about deactivating the thing. We'd need to know its moment of engagement, and that, heh, well, of course we don't know that until it happens." Lightning flashes again, and thunder rolls over the village.
K: "What is the effect of this time diversion? It diverts it into the force wall? What is its 'engagement moment'? Is there any way we can predict when it will occur?"
Lightning strikes and thunder rolls. The sounds of a heavy rain surround you.
Derbrun: "No, the time diversion has a center, the Crystal, and a radius of effect. I had tried to design a small radius, one that only offered villagers a little extra time in the town square, but apparently the radius of effect is much larger. The time diversion's effect results in the force wall which indicates its radius of effect. We cannot, unfortunately, predict its moment of engagement. It could be the next moment, or it could be years from now. Or never."
Ash's jaw drops. "We could be stuck here forever? Why did we let this banshee convince us to do this, and then let that imp vault us into here? This is a tragedy!"
After a few moments, K asks again: "Derbrun, I don't understand the 30 year difference in here and out there without the time diffraction. With time diversion, is the force wall the only effect, or is there also a time-related effect?"
Derbrun's face takes on a serious look. "There is also a time-related effect."
Just then, lightning strikes again. Everything fades quickly to white and you feel briefly like you are in some stasis, as if you are outside of yourself and the world, and then you snap back and feel yourselves falling faster and faster.
The carriage crashes into something and you come to a stop, checking yourselves over to make sure you are feeling okay. You leave the carriage to find yourselves inside a familiar old barn. A familiar male and female gnome and child gnome stand shocked in front of you.
The young gnome says: "Look, pa. Foreigners!"
The gnome male raises a hand crossbow and fires a single shot at you, missing badly.
Badger holds his hands up in a nonthreatening way. "It's us! We've told Guldark about the animating potion accident. Did he make it here to help you?"
Kristofferson watches the gnomes' reactions. Do the gnomes recognize them? Insight: 9
Ash takes the initiative: "We've made a mistake and mean to correct it! We'll pay for the damages and go tell Guldark about the accident. He'll come help with the trees, okay?" If it seems like the gnomes will let them leave, Ash leads the way quickly off the property.
Kristofferson: the gnomes do not recognize you.
Ash: the gnomes are confused and skeptical of you. Yet, they do let you leave after you've promised to get Guldark. The three of you have left the farm and are on the road you recognize leading into the town proper.
Ash: "It seems we've discovered the effect of time diversion. We got diverted back to the point in time when Derbrun activated the Crystal."
K: "Does that mean the Crystal was activated when Derbrun was talking last night? Or... I guess that's tonight?"
Badger: "It seemed timed with a lightning strike. The third strike, I think it was. We need to learn from Derbrun how to deactivate the Crystal at the moment of the third lightning strike. But first, we have to go see Guldark at Lu's."
Ash scoffs. "What for? If we don't successfully deactivate the Crystal, we'll just get diverted back here again. Some strage tree problem seems the least of our concerns."
Badger: "I mean, we promised we would."
Ash: "In order to get out of there and not get shot at. Let's go see Derbrun now so we can learn more about the Crystal."
K shrugs. "I think that's fair. Whatever tree problem the gnome farmers have can be dealt with later."
Badger reluctantly agrees.
Ash leads they way back to Derbrun's.
You approach what was once a fine manor but is now showing wear and a lack of maintenance as the sun starts to peak in the sky. Overgrown bushes and crawling vines crowd the home. You knock and wait a minute. You knock again, more loudly, and wait another minute. No one seems to be answering.
Ash tries the door handle. "Is he out activating the Crystal right now?"
Badger smacks Ash's hand. "The Crystal was activated the moment we re-started this day. But perhaps he's still observing it or on his way home?"
K: "Or maybe he works during the day? He was concerned with workers getting a longer respite. Perhaps he's one of those workers?"
Ash: The door is locked.
Badger: "We don't know where he activated the thing, so we can't try to find him there. Do we just head towards the town square? He did think the effect would be localized there."
K says "Sure let's try there." He leads the way towards the town square.
You find the same well-tended homes around the town square. Along one side of the square is a larger building with fashionable columns in front and a large hourglass at the peak that looks to be attached to mechanical equipment.
A villager or two walk about the square, a large open patch of nicely-tended greenery. You also spot a tavern on the corner with a sign that reads "Lu's Cafe."
Does Badger see any signs of where Derbrun might be? Perception: 15
Ash also looks for Derbrun. Perception: 2
K studies the hourglass. Does he notice any more interesting details about it? Perception: 19
Ash notices nothing else.
Badger sees that the columned building with the hourglass is a both a place of town politics like a city hall, but also a place of learning like a library, a place a studied mage like Derbrun might find interesting.
K notices that you are all about 15 minutes later than the previous iteration. The hourglass has about 25% of its sand dropped after noon. While looking, you notice a shadow pass over some of the machinery inside the tower.