All I require is the votes...and an assurance of no meddling from those who would stop my ascension."
“Meddlers? Who would meddle against the future god of ambition, is someone working against you?”
Tristan sits back in the chair, taking in the conversation surrounding the Traveler with curiosity before leaning forward. Always on the watch for additional items of power, he sees a potential opportunity before them.
“In order to secure votes, many of the gods set tasks in front of us. The recovery of priceless artifacts, that sort of thing. What resources can you offer to make those tasks easier?”
King Haddian was beloved, an expert statesman, and a learned mage. His ascension to the throne was unusual, securing the monarchy when his grandfather adopted him as his heir ahead of his older brother. Haddian and his wife, Duliani, never conceived a child. It may have been Duliani's half-elf heritage but some suspected that Haddian wanted to select an heir as he was selected. Thus, when weary, embattled travelers delivered the young Gentoa to his country estate, he adopted her as his own. She was, after all, the daughter of Milil, the god of music and poetry.
It was just in time, too, as Haddian was dying. The clerics and potions had done much to keep the mage king alive but the disease was winning and, within a year of Gentoa's adoption, he was dead. Duliani accepted his place as Regent while Gentoa, now crowned Queen of Alcion, matured.
The daughter of a god was a tantalizing prospect for the hells and the gods that had pursued her had irked the less extreme of them. The strife caused by the hells and heavens battling over Gentoa's future caused a rift in the desires of the gods. Some wanted to continue business as usual. Some wanted to create a new sphere, neither heaven nor hell. This faction wanted to join 3 planes of the heavens with the 3 from the hells to create limbo. The heavens, hells, and limbo would be balanced with 14 gods apiece. But this would mean two new gods would have to ascend, one to the heavens and one to the hells.
First, Gentoa's protectors would have to determine the factions and who were the major players as the gods sent angels and devils to Alcion to try and resolve their conflict peacefully. The court of Queen Gentoa was a safe place for such discussions. She had been declared off-limits as a result of an agreement to avoid all out war.
Through parties and dinners hosted by the crown, which no doubt frustrated the men of action, Gentoa's emissaries delved into the gods' past. In a long-buried dwarven city, they found the lost history of the gods. They learned that the ranks of the gods would swell and then implode, as these mighty deities succumbed to jealousy, suspicion, and vengeance. Three times the gods purged themselves. The fourth pantheon sought to prevent this from happening ever again. They fixed the number of gods at 40 and balanced the heavens and hells as a means of preventing the next purge.
Further evidence of this history was discovered at the bottom of the Alcion Sea where a graveyard of the gods remained, untouched in a magical bubble of arid atmosphere. They returned a giant obelisk as a reminder to the gods of what had once happened. These were the stakes if negotiations failed.
This was enough to convince a few of the gods who sat on the fence. The limbo faction had enough support to force a vote that ended in their favor. There would be a new sphere of limbo. There would be two new gods. But who?
Finnegan, a reclusive, obnoxious, and powerful wizard, was one possibility. Many in the hells favored his ascension to godhood as the god of ambition. He was not quite powerful enough to ascend, although he seemed to have a plan. Finnegan happened to also keep Doggear Brakespine's parents as indentured servants, at least until recently.
The other option was an old, legendary dragon named Xa'lawea, also known as the Red Scourge. A cult of her worshippers had experimented on Ronis and recruited Gash's cousins to be their muscle. Still, she was not nearly as obnoxious as Finnegan. Her place, were she to ascend, would be as the goddess of adversity.
The mage has offered his worldly possessions, as well as freed Dog's parents, in order to gain as much mortal support as possible. The Red Scourge has offered her hoard as well. The gods, some of them are willing to take a side...for a price. Generally, those who would change their vote to support Xa'lawea want devilish things. Those who would change their vote to support Finnegan want heavenly things, creating a dilemma.
To further complicate matters, there is a 41st god, cast out of the heavens for improperly unbalancing the heavens against the hells. They have wandered the mortal plane for hundreds and hundreds of years serving as an impromptu god to needy travelers. Their name is lost to time and they go by only The Traveler now. Finnegan clearly wants to trap them, perhaps as a means of bolstering his own power to ascend to godhood. If Finnegan does achieve the position, it will be at the expense of the Traveler's own power and perhaps their life. This means the heavens will need to nominate a new god.
If Xa'lawea ascends, the heavens will nominate reinstatement of The Traveler, one who is still clearly the enemy of many gods of the hells.
Martin and Viviora, who has been imbued with divine might by Oghma to become his champion, learned the typical ways to pray to The Traveler. They are usually found wandering the roads far from any city, so this is the best place to set up a shrine and deliver a prayer. The are especially drawn to offerings of divine objects, which the emissaries obtained in the graveyard of the gods.
Before the emissaries attempt to commune with The Traveler, however, they are paying a visit to Finnegan at his tower in Matas. His parents have been truly released from their servitude to Finnegan. Yet the emissaries wish to know more. They have convinced Finnegan to parley with them to learn about how they might help him ascend. While they have Finnegan locked in conversation on the third floor of this tower, Kulloda is sneaking about for information. He has just climbed the steps to the fourth floor and is moving on to the fifth floor.
[If there is anything else you'd like to add or ask about this recap, please do so! I will, if everyone is back in, continue the game from here!]
All I require is the votes...and an assurance of no meddling from those who would stop my ascension."
“Meddlers? Who would meddle against the future god of ambition, is someone working against you?”
Finnegan snorts. "It is a competition...for the greatest power and privilege a person can achieve. It is longevity, potentially immortality. The stakes are high enough that I will take no chances. None."
All I require is the votes...and an assurance of no meddling from those who would stop my ascension."
Tristan sits back in the chair, taking in the conversation surrounding the Traveler with curiosity before leaning forward. Always on the watch for additional items of power, he sees a potential opportunity before them.
“In order to secure votes, many of the gods set tasks in front of us. The recovery of priceless artifacts, that sort of thing. What resources can you offer to make those tasks easier?”
"I suppose that would be specific to the quest you endeavor towards. If I know the details of what you are attempting, I can probably fill some need."
Dog's eyebrows rise. "Wow, so the Traveler is either very dangerous and annoying and worth such effort... or Kalazath, and you, are canny enough to see the opportunity of a god wandering the mortal plane."
"The Traveler is unwanted. The gods do not know what to do with them. Some would find their return....unwelcome. They had their chance. Now it is for more worthy gods," Finnegan says with a curl of his lip.
Kulloda looks at the door to the kitchen but decides to keep going up the stairs. He'd like to get a look at this cage the others kept talking about.
The next floor appears to be blocked by a heavy wooden door with iron reinforcing bands. A heavy lock protects any unwanted visitors, undermined by the key jutting from its keyhole. Stepping inside is a archetypal mage's laboratory, with work benches, shelves of components and artifacts, books and scrolls haphazardly placed on every surface, and more A half-constructed iron cage stands in the corner, large enough to contain someone even Kulloda's size. There are no other rooms here, although plenty of cabinets and drawers. Another staircase leads up to the sixth floor.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Kulloda moves through the lab quickly and as quietly as he can.
He sweeps more scrolls into his bag of holding before examining the cage.
Yeah, it’s a cage, he thinks to himself. How do you hold a god in a cage? One of the smart ones should be here. Kulloda does his best to try and commit to memory what he’s seeing.
He looks up the stairs and then grunts quietly to himself. Best go back and find the others.
But before he does, he looks around the room carefully. He’s not sure how the teleportation magic works or if this room is protected from it. But he can at least try to have a mind picture of it in case they can teleport back here.
As an afterthought he takes the key from the door and puts it in his pouch before heading back downstairs.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
DM shield:
1
36
(All of the scrolls Kulloda managed to grab are notes, historical documents, or other academic pieces. There appear to be no spells in the bunch.)
The clattering of dishes and metal pots and pans indicates the kitchen workers are busy and also provides Kulloda with enough sound to cover his descent. On the third floor, he can hear Finnegan and the rest still wrapping things up.
Rindeth Mar is waiting patiently, hands clasped behind his back at the corner of a nearby shop. An alley stretches behind him, mostly lit by the midday sun.
"No, sir. You are the first," he says. He remains stone-faced at Kulloda's talk about his slave status.
"I suppose that would be specific to the quest you endeavor towards. If I know the details of what you are attempting, I can probably fill some need."
Tristan stands abruptly as Finnegan provides his answers “Well, perhaps when we have decided what quest to undertake, we can return with a proper request. As it stands now, I fear we will just waste your time. I am glad to see that Dog’s parents have been released, and your servant was kind enough to give us their last known location. Thank you for your time, we will leave you to your work for now.” Tristan looks at the others of the party “Unless, there are other questions?”
If there are no questions from the others in the group, Tristan gives a graceful bow and moves to see himself and the party out of the tower.
Finnegan is a little startled by the abrupt end of the conversation but he nods enthusiastically. "Very well, very well," he says, hopping down from his chair. A minute later, the team has assembled outside Finnegan's tower and have exchanged their tales.
Martin looks to the others. "Well? Do we proceed to try to contact the Traveler? I'm not sure we gleaned anything from here that changes the immediate needs."
Kulloda looks in his bag of holding and then over at Gash.
"Kulloda maybe find things Gash like," Kulloda says. "Some Finnegan scrolls maybe get in Kulloda bag by accident. Some books and designs too. Maybe cage designs."
Kulloda describes the cage he saw to the others as well.
"Not look finished," Kulloda says with a shrug. "Think maybe have copy of plans in bag too. We make own cage and catch Traveler. Then talk to him."
Scroll List:
I think Kulloda acquired some random books, and what he though were designs for the god catching cage and a journal of some sort, so he'll offer all of those to the others to sort through in case there's something useful in there. And just to carry forward the list of spell scrolls he found. He'll pass all of those to Gash assuming his new wizard friend can use them all:
Catapult Erupting Earth Evard's Black Tentacles Telekinesis Dawn Illusory Dragon Sunburst Demiplane
Dog's eyes widen at Kulloda's haul, and encourages him to put it all back in the bag. "We can look at this when we are away from here."He begins walking down the road as normal as possible, speaking quietly until they are well out of earshot. "You really are a marvel, you know that? How did you do that? With any luck, he doesn't have copies. I don't think we want the dragon to ascend, but if it's to be Finnegan, we don't want him trapping the Traveler until we know more."He looks around. "How far away do we need to be to summon him? Ordinarily I'd say we should do it far away from that tower, but with the cage incomplete, there's nothing to fear."
“That is quite the haul”Tristan lets out an amused chuckle at Kulloda’s finds “It appears our trip here wasn’t wasted after all.”
As Dog asks about the Traveler, Tristan looks over at Martin. Vivora had uncovered the secret to call to the fallen god. “If I remember correctly, he only visits shrines away from big cities such as this one. We would have to travel 50 miles or more outside of town to begin the ritual.”
Tristan turns back to Dog “But before we go, we do know the name of the inn where your parents are staying. The Bugler and Brandy I believe. I am not sure they can tell us anything of Finnegan that we don’t already know, but they are your parents. Do you want to visit them first?”
Kulloda stuffs everything back into his bag and looks around at the others.
"Boots make Kulloda quiet," Kulloda says. "Let's go then. 50 miles not far. Call Traveler. If not come, Kulloda find king no one like and take his head."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
(Dog can insert his response before this next bit.)
It takes a long day of forced marching to get out of Matas far enough to attempt contacting the traveler. It is almost midnight when they finally collapse into a hastily assembled camp.
40
The night passed without incident and it is late morning when everyone manages to rouse themselves enough to manage breakfast. Next, the group attends to the mystery of how to bring the Traveler to their camp.
Kulloda looks at the door to the kitchen but decides to keep going up the stairs. He'd like to get a look at this cage the others kept talking about.
“Meddlers? Who would meddle against the future god of ambition, is someone working against you?”
Tristan sits back in the chair, taking in the conversation surrounding the Traveler with curiosity before leaning forward. Always on the watch for additional items of power, he sees a potential opportunity before them.
“In order to secure votes, many of the gods set tasks in front of us. The recovery of priceless artifacts, that sort of thing. What resources can you offer to make those tasks easier?”
Previously on...
The King is Dead. Long Live the Queen.
King Haddian was beloved, an expert statesman, and a learned mage. His ascension to the throne was unusual, securing the monarchy when his grandfather adopted him as his heir ahead of his older brother. Haddian and his wife, Duliani, never conceived a child. It may have been Duliani's half-elf heritage but some suspected that Haddian wanted to select an heir as he was selected. Thus, when weary, embattled travelers delivered the young Gentoa to his country estate, he adopted her as his own. She was, after all, the daughter of Milil, the god of music and poetry.
It was just in time, too, as Haddian was dying. The clerics and potions had done much to keep the mage king alive but the disease was winning and, within a year of Gentoa's adoption, he was dead. Duliani accepted his place as Regent while Gentoa, now crowned Queen of Alcion, matured.
The daughter of a god was a tantalizing prospect for the hells and the gods that had pursued her had irked the less extreme of them. The strife caused by the hells and heavens battling over Gentoa's future caused a rift in the desires of the gods. Some wanted to continue business as usual. Some wanted to create a new sphere, neither heaven nor hell. This faction wanted to join 3 planes of the heavens with the 3 from the hells to create limbo. The heavens, hells, and limbo would be balanced with 14 gods apiece. But this would mean two new gods would have to ascend, one to the heavens and one to the hells.
First, Gentoa's protectors would have to determine the factions and who were the major players as the gods sent angels and devils to Alcion to try and resolve their conflict peacefully. The court of Queen Gentoa was a safe place for such discussions. She had been declared off-limits as a result of an agreement to avoid all out war.
Through parties and dinners hosted by the crown, which no doubt frustrated the men of action, Gentoa's emissaries delved into the gods' past. In a long-buried dwarven city, they found the lost history of the gods. They learned that the ranks of the gods would swell and then implode, as these mighty deities succumbed to jealousy, suspicion, and vengeance. Three times the gods purged themselves. The fourth pantheon sought to prevent this from happening ever again. They fixed the number of gods at 40 and balanced the heavens and hells as a means of preventing the next purge.
Further evidence of this history was discovered at the bottom of the Alcion Sea where a graveyard of the gods remained, untouched in a magical bubble of arid atmosphere. They returned a giant obelisk as a reminder to the gods of what had once happened. These were the stakes if negotiations failed.
This was enough to convince a few of the gods who sat on the fence. The limbo faction had enough support to force a vote that ended in their favor. There would be a new sphere of limbo. There would be two new gods. But who?
Finnegan, a reclusive, obnoxious, and powerful wizard, was one possibility. Many in the hells favored his ascension to godhood as the god of ambition. He was not quite powerful enough to ascend, although he seemed to have a plan. Finnegan happened to also keep Doggear Brakespine's parents as indentured servants, at least until recently.
The other option was an old, legendary dragon named Xa'lawea, also known as the Red Scourge. A cult of her worshippers had experimented on Ronis and recruited Gash's cousins to be their muscle. Still, she was not nearly as obnoxious as Finnegan. Her place, were she to ascend, would be as the goddess of adversity.
The mage has offered his worldly possessions, as well as freed Dog's parents, in order to gain as much mortal support as possible. The Red Scourge has offered her hoard as well. The gods, some of them are willing to take a side...for a price. Generally, those who would change their vote to support Xa'lawea want devilish things. Those who would change their vote to support Finnegan want heavenly things, creating a dilemma.
To further complicate matters, there is a 41st god, cast out of the heavens for improperly unbalancing the heavens against the hells. They have wandered the mortal plane for hundreds and hundreds of years serving as an impromptu god to needy travelers. Their name is lost to time and they go by only The Traveler now. Finnegan clearly wants to trap them, perhaps as a means of bolstering his own power to ascend to godhood. If Finnegan does achieve the position, it will be at the expense of the Traveler's own power and perhaps their life. This means the heavens will need to nominate a new god.
If Xa'lawea ascends, the heavens will nominate reinstatement of The Traveler, one who is still clearly the enemy of many gods of the hells.
Martin and Viviora, who has been imbued with divine might by Oghma to become his champion, learned the typical ways to pray to The Traveler. They are usually found wandering the roads far from any city, so this is the best place to set up a shrine and deliver a prayer. The are especially drawn to offerings of divine objects, which the emissaries obtained in the graveyard of the gods.
Before the emissaries attempt to commune with The Traveler, however, they are paying a visit to Finnegan at his tower in Matas. His parents have been truly released from their servitude to Finnegan. Yet the emissaries wish to know more. They have convinced Finnegan to parley with them to learn about how they might help him ascend. While they have Finnegan locked in conversation on the third floor of this tower, Kulloda is sneaking about for information. He has just climbed the steps to the fourth floor and is moving on to the fifth floor.
[If there is anything else you'd like to add or ask about this recap, please do so! I will, if everyone is back in, continue the game from here!]
Finnegan snorts. "It is a competition...for the greatest power and privilege a person can achieve. It is longevity, potentially immortality. The stakes are high enough that I will take no chances. None."
"I suppose that would be specific to the quest you endeavor towards. If I know the details of what you are attempting, I can probably fill some need."
"The Traveler is unwanted. The gods do not know what to do with them. Some would find their return....unwelcome. They had their chance. Now it is for more worthy gods," Finnegan says with a curl of his lip.
The next floor appears to be blocked by a heavy wooden door with iron reinforcing bands. A heavy lock protects any unwanted visitors, undermined by the key jutting from its keyhole. Stepping inside is a archetypal mage's laboratory, with work benches, shelves of components and artifacts, books and scrolls haphazardly placed on every surface, and more A half-constructed iron cage stands in the corner, large enough to contain someone even Kulloda's size. There are no other rooms here, although plenty of cabinets and drawers. Another staircase leads up to the sixth floor.
Kulloda moves through the lab quickly and as quietly as he can.
He sweeps more scrolls into his bag of holding before examining the cage.
Yeah, it’s a cage, he thinks to himself. How do you hold a god in a cage? One of the smart ones should be here. Kulloda does his best to try and commit to memory what he’s seeing.
He looks up the stairs and then grunts quietly to himself. Best go back and find the others.
But before he does, he looks around the room carefully. He’s not sure how the teleportation magic works or if this room is protected from it. But he can at least try to have a mind picture of it in case they can teleport back here.
As an afterthought he takes the key from the door and puts it in his pouch before heading back downstairs.
Stealth is needed: 14
DM shield:
1
36
(All of the scrolls Kulloda managed to grab are notes, historical documents, or other academic pieces. There appear to be no spells in the bunch.)
The clattering of dishes and metal pots and pans indicates the kitchen workers are busy and also provides Kulloda with enough sound to cover his descent. On the third floor, he can hear Finnegan and the rest still wrapping things up.
Kulloda listens for a moment to the sounds of the others talking to the evil little wizard and keeps heading down the stairs.
"Kulloda not get caught in endless talk, talk, talk," he says to himself as he goes down the stairs.
He keeps going until he finds the ground floor and the entrance. Once there, he takes one last look around and then goes outside.
If he gets outside without incident, Kulloda looks around for Rindeth Mar. He frowns again when he's reminded that Rindeth is still a slave.
"We talk Gash later about you not be slave. Need warrior captain when Kulloda king. Not need slave." Kulloda says to Rindeth.
Then Kulloda looks back at the tower and nods his head towards it.
"Anyone come out after we go in?"
Rindeth Mar is waiting patiently, hands clasped behind his back at the corner of a nearby shop. An alley stretches behind him, mostly lit by the midday sun.
"No, sir. You are the first," he says. He remains stone-faced at Kulloda's talk about his slave status.
Kulloda grunts at Rindeth's response and then turns back to look at the tower. He begins pacing, trying to decide what to do next.
"If not come out soon, will go back and get them," Kulloda says to himself.
Tristan stands abruptly as Finnegan provides his answers “Well, perhaps when we have decided what quest to undertake, we can return with a proper request. As it stands now, I fear we will just waste your time. I am glad to see that Dog’s parents have been released, and your servant was kind enough to give us their last known location. Thank you for your time, we will leave you to your work for now.” Tristan looks at the others of the party “Unless, there are other questions?”
If there are no questions from the others in the group, Tristan gives a graceful bow and moves to see himself and the party out of the tower.
Finnegan is a little startled by the abrupt end of the conversation but he nods enthusiastically. "Very well, very well," he says, hopping down from his chair. A minute later, the team has assembled outside Finnegan's tower and have exchanged their tales.
Where to next?
Martin looks to the others. "Well? Do we proceed to try to contact the Traveler? I'm not sure we gleaned anything from here that changes the immediate needs."
Paladin - warforged - orange
Kulloda looks in his bag of holding and then over at Gash.
"Kulloda maybe find things Gash like," Kulloda says. "Some Finnegan scrolls maybe get in Kulloda bag by accident. Some books and designs too. Maybe cage designs."
Kulloda describes the cage he saw to the others as well.
"Not look finished," Kulloda says with a shrug. "Think maybe have copy of plans in bag too. We make own cage and catch Traveler. Then talk to him."
Scroll List:
I think Kulloda acquired some random books, and what he though were designs for the god catching cage and a journal of some sort, so he'll offer all of those to the others to sort through in case there's something useful in there. And just to carry forward the list of spell scrolls he found. He'll pass all of those to Gash assuming his new wizard friend can use them all:
Catapult
Erupting Earth
Evard's Black Tentacles
Telekinesis
Dawn
Illusory Dragon
Sunburst
Demiplane
Dog's eyes widen at Kulloda's haul, and encourages him to put it all back in the bag. "We can look at this when we are away from here." He begins walking down the road as normal as possible, speaking quietly until they are well out of earshot. "You really are a marvel, you know that? How did you do that? With any luck, he doesn't have copies. I don't think we want the dragon to ascend, but if it's to be Finnegan, we don't want him trapping the Traveler until we know more." He looks around. "How far away do we need to be to summon him? Ordinarily I'd say we should do it far away from that tower, but with the cage incomplete, there's nothing to fear."
“That is quite the haul” Tristan lets out an amused chuckle at Kulloda’s finds “It appears our trip here wasn’t wasted after all.”
As Dog asks about the Traveler, Tristan looks over at Martin. Vivora had uncovered the secret to call to the fallen god. “If I remember correctly, he only visits shrines away from big cities such as this one. We would have to travel 50 miles or more outside of town to begin the ritual.”
Tristan turns back to Dog “But before we go, we do know the name of the inn where your parents are staying. The Bugler and Brandy I believe. I am not sure they can tell us anything of Finnegan that we don’t already know, but they are your parents. Do you want to visit them first?”
Kulloda stuffs everything back into his bag and looks around at the others.
"Boots make Kulloda quiet," Kulloda says. "Let's go then. 50 miles not far. Call Traveler. If not come, Kulloda find king no one like and take his head."
Martin grimaces at the chaos that is Kulloda, but heaves a heavy sigh and nods towards Dog. "Your parents first. You want company or to go alone?"
Paladin - warforged - orange
(Dog can insert his response before this next bit.)
It takes a long day of forced marching to get out of Matas far enough to attempt contacting the traveler. It is almost midnight when they finally collapse into a hastily assembled camp.
40
The night passed without incident and it is late morning when everyone manages to rouse themselves enough to manage breakfast. Next, the group attends to the mystery of how to bring the Traveler to their camp.
Martin would like to see if Viviera knows how to build the shrine.
Paladin - warforged - orange
DM shield:
13