Tristan glares at the elf, tight-lipped and emotionless. Will the incessant lectures never stop? “Yes, well nothing like ruining the moment. But be that as it may it does not change the fact that I was at the mercy of those demons if not for you. Now, if all you did was protect your own skin while I was senseless, perhaps that cheapens my sentiments. I guess I will never know.”
Just as quick, Tristan’s expression was replaced by his own smile. “After all, who knows, if our positions were reversed I may have just left you. Regardless, we make quite the pair, for good or ill. Now let us head to the dock to find this Tabaxi” Tristan extends an arm before him with a graceful flourish “After you, ambassador.” and accompanies Llyr to the docks with a jaunty tune on his lips, all else already out of his mind and forgotten for now.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
As the angel dissipates, and Kulloda comes back to himself, Dog dismisses the wind, and listens to the now-chatty half-orc.
"Yes, that would not have been fun for either of us. I am glad you shook it off. I took a gamble with the wind."
He moves closer to the bones and feels the warmth. He sinks to his knees, staggers at the pain, and then looks at how the fingerbones are gripping the sextant. Trying to puzzle out how it might be used, or perhaps how not to use it to avoid incineration or blindness.
Investigation: 14
He'll try to pick it up with a piece of cloth and stow it in his pack. He looks around for any sign of the Traveler. "So you know about the gods. What should we do with these bones? Feels weird to leave them here, and weird to gather them to bring elsewhere. There is that god cemetery. What do you say?"
Kulloda watches Dog examine the bones for a few moments.
"Not sure. Kulloda know nothing about gods, except Tempus before, but now think know a bit," Kulloda says slowly. "Like bones push knowing into head."
He looks at the bones more closely too and tries puzzling out an answer to Dog's question. Is there something they should do with god bones found on a mountain? Is there any issue with this god going to the god cemetery?
Religion: 21
"Hmm. Maybe take time to get answer," Kulloda says. "But sure take to god graveyard. How get there?"
Forgot to roll with disadvantage but it doesn't matter.
Martin's arrows find their mark, leaving the djinn panting and clearly in a bad state. It looks towards Gash and then at Martin, anger in its eyes. But there is a resignation there too. The djinn knows it will not last the fight.
"I will not forget this," it says before darting into the ocean.
Drip-drop suddenly splashes to the ground into a puddle, leaving the divine graveyard quieted from the sounds of battle.
Llyr and Tristan leave behind the dissolving corpses of the infernal chasmes to make their way across town to the docks. There are actually two sets of docks in the city-on-the-cliff. One is the original docks inside the walls and the other is a more recent addition as the city expanded outside the walls. The docks outside the walls are the more likely candidate and also closer, so it is their first stop.
Investigation (12): 21
The tabaxi man, an orange, black-spotted fellow with tufts of white, is selling at a busy stall across from the stone stairs that wind down to the ocean. It is a high-traffic location, even at this late hour. But there is opportunity to catch the man's attention from time to time as the traffic here turns towards going home and the stalls begin to close.
"Yes," the man says when asked. "That circus was my family. My home. Those of us left still meet every ten-day at the festhall to remember the dead. In fact, we're due to meet two days hence. Consequently, why do you ask?"
A memory springs to mind unbidden when Kulloda explores his newfound knowledge. It is not a vision, but a memory. Just...not his own.
A thin man, almost gaunt, looked at himself in a mirror. To Kulloda, he appears sickly, but this man was a god. He is remembering through Istus' eyes. The man spoke to himself in the mirror.
"Hello, Kulloda," the man said in a resonant voice. "You are my final vision of the future, 10,000 years after my death. I am grateful that you will find me. I am grateful that you will put Kaysis to rest. His life will be one almost entirely of pain and loneliness. I have told him this but he is...well a piece of me, and I am nothing if not accepting of my fate."
The peculiar memory-not-his-own is somewhat haunting him when he suggests to Dog that they go to the divine graveyard. More of the memory of the man in the mirror springs to his mind, interrupting his suggestion.
"I choose to meet my end at the top of Mt. Ulaa, Kulloda. Kaysis will stay by my side until you arrive to take care of my remains. Once you have my sextant, my remains will have served their final purpose. Bury me atop Mt. Ulaa. Your companion will be able to do this easily enough in the hard stone. Good luck. I have seen what happens next but not what follows. Good luck."
The mirror falls from view and Kulloda remembers seeing the sun setting to the west from the exact spot he is now standing. A blade is thrust through his chest, only in memory, which he confirms when he looks down to see no blade passing through him. He remembers Istus dying here on the top of Mt. Ulaa, still clutching his divine sextant.
Kulloda snaps out of his 10,000 year old memory back into the present. He sees the bones of the god in a heap at his feat and knows what the old god wanted.
Tristan glances around the docks “An interesting place for a follower of Leira.” He faces the Tabaxi and smiles as he creates a illusion of a miniature circus in his hand before waving it away “Let’s just say we are kindred spirits. I am a performer with an interest in the circus. I am glad to hear that there are other survivors, has anyone looked into restoring the circus? Surely there are those among you who wish to return home”
As almost an afterthought, he seeks more information on the attack itself “What do you remember of the attack on the circus? Who was responsible?“
Insight on any hesitation or deception during the responses: 16.
Smirks at the mention of Leira and the display, but nods. "Our high priest," the tabaxi says with a small sob, "He died in the attack. It was like...a tiger-man. Not a tabaxi. He was much larger, stronger, magical. He spoke with a demonic voice. I heard it was killed at the palace gates."
Tristan's head is filled with a million jumbled details from his predecessor, the Regent, his own team. and many more. But this rings a bell. The tabaxi is probably talking about a rakshasa that was said to be the instigator of the attack on Leira's temple.
"We hid," the tabaxi says, "For a long, long time. But none ever came for us."
As for who was responsible, all Tristan has is the likely theory that it was one of the other gods. Someone was angry enough at Leira to destroy one of her only temples.
“Well I can’t bury things in solid stone, but I can try with that loose stuff over there,”Dog says, pointing at any area of packed scree or anything that is not solid rock and casting mold earth a few times to try to excavate a grave for a god, using powerful, almost primal somatic components - all of his arms and some of his body. Then, with surprisingly gentle and meticulous care, he moves the bones, one or two at a time, into the grave. He does his best to arrange them, and calls upon his familiar, a furry pink tarantula, who he introduces to Kulloda as Stitches, to help with precision. And securing them in place with webbing. Once he finishes, he looks to Kulloda for a confirmation that that old dead god was happy with it, and then slowly casts the cantrip again to move the loose rock back into the grave, covering it and then more - pulling loose rock and earth from other parts of the summit to raise a cairn for Istus. However long it takes. He asks Kulloda if there is a symbol he knows that means Istus, and if so, he’d try to arrange it on the top of the cairn. He does his best to finish the outside with a solid layer of interlocking stones, by hand if necessary, accepting Kulloda’s help if offered.
(What does the sextant look like, by the way? And we don’t see the Traveler creeping about do we?)
When he finishes, he looks at the barbarian. “I’m glad I didn’t have to kill you on this mountain. Is the old dead god happy with this?”
Martin casts healing spirit a few (3)times over the next few minutes to patch up the trident wounds.
142118
Then he starts looking around with Gash to see what the Djinni was doing here
Investigation(18): 26
All signs point to the djinn being a curiosity seeker, a tourist. Some now disturbed glyphs in the soil suggest that it had prepared an alarm, probably curious about who had been here recently and prepared in case they came back.
Kulloda watches Dog move the earth to make the grave and bury the bones. He thinks for a moment, waiting to see if the god comes back to say anything more. But he doesn't expect anything else.
"Looks good," Kulloda says. "Old god should be happy. If not, can do himself."
Kulloda tries to see if there's anything left in his mind about a symbol associated with Istus.
Kulloda watches Dog move the earth to make the grave and bury the bones. He thinks for a moment, waiting to see if the god comes back to say anything more. But he doesn't expect anything else.
"Looks good," Kulloda says. "Old god should be happy. If not, can do himself."
Kulloda tries to see if there's anything left in his mind about a symbol associated with Istus.
Martin
concentration checks 16 3
Martin runs north (Dis on AoO) and casts hunter’s mark on the djinni again before firing twice more
Attack: 18 Damage: 11 + hm 4
Attack: 27 Damage: 7 + hm 6
+ oath bow damage 10
Paladin - warforged - orange
You know, I forgot to do that for the djinn.
11 Con checks: 27, 18, 21, 14, 25, 25, 25, 21, 24, 16, 9
He passed them all.
Tristan glares at the elf, tight-lipped and emotionless. Will the incessant lectures never stop? “Yes, well nothing like ruining the moment. But be that as it may it does not change the fact that I was at the mercy of those demons if not for you. Now, if all you did was protect your own skin while I was senseless, perhaps that cheapens my sentiments. I guess I will never know.”
Just as quick, Tristan’s expression was replaced by his own smile. “After all, who knows, if our positions were reversed I may have just left you. Regardless, we make quite the pair, for good or ill. Now let us head to the dock to find this Tabaxi” Tristan extends an arm before him with a graceful flourish “After you, ambassador.” and accompanies Llyr to the docks with a jaunty tune on his lips, all else already out of his mind and forgotten for now.
As the angel dissipates, and Kulloda comes back to himself, Dog dismisses the wind, and listens to the now-chatty half-orc.
"Yes, that would not have been fun for either of us. I am glad you shook it off. I took a gamble with the wind."
He moves closer to the bones and feels the warmth. He sinks to his knees, staggers at the pain, and then looks at how the fingerbones are gripping the sextant. Trying to puzzle out how it might be used, or perhaps how not to use it to avoid incineration or blindness.
Investigation: 14
He'll try to pick it up with a piece of cloth and stow it in his pack. He looks around for any sign of the Traveler. "So you know about the gods. What should we do with these bones? Feels weird to leave them here, and weird to gather them to bring elsewhere. There is that god cemetery. What do you say?"
I forgot to respond to this. The fire bolt flies over the djinn's shoulder, splashing against the dome of ocean in a cloud of steam.
Kulloda watches Dog examine the bones for a few moments.
"Not sure. Kulloda know nothing about gods, except Tempus before, but now think know a bit," Kulloda says slowly. "Like bones push knowing into head."
He looks at the bones more closely too and tries puzzling out an answer to Dog's question. Is there something they should do with god bones found on a mountain? Is there any issue with this god going to the god cemetery?
Religion: 21
"Hmm. Maybe take time to get answer," Kulloda says. "But sure take to god graveyard. How get there?"
Martin heads north and casts hunter’s mark on the djinni again, before continuing his attacks
Attack: 29 Damage: 7 + hm 5
Attack: 23 Damage: 12 + hm 6
+ oath bow damage 11
Paladin - warforged - orange
Djinn AoO: Attack: 12 Damage: 15
Forgot to roll with disadvantage but it doesn't matter.
Martin's arrows find their mark, leaving the djinn panting and clearly in a bad state. It looks towards Gash and then at Martin, anger in its eyes. But there is a resignation there too. The djinn knows it will not last the fight.
"I will not forget this," it says before darting into the ocean.
Drip-drop suddenly splashes to the ground into a puddle, leaving the divine graveyard quieted from the sounds of battle.
Combat has ended.
Alciondria:
Llyr and Tristan leave behind the dissolving corpses of the infernal chasmes to make their way across town to the docks. There are actually two sets of docks in the city-on-the-cliff. One is the original docks inside the walls and the other is a more recent addition as the city expanded outside the walls. The docks outside the walls are the more likely candidate and also closer, so it is their first stop.
Investigation (12): 21
The tabaxi man, an orange, black-spotted fellow with tufts of white, is selling at a busy stall across from the stone stairs that wind down to the ocean. It is a high-traffic location, even at this late hour. But there is opportunity to catch the man's attention from time to time as the traffic here turns towards going home and the stalls begin to close.
"Yes," the man says when asked. "That circus was my family. My home. Those of us left still meet every ten-day at the festhall to remember the dead. In fact, we're due to meet two days hence. Consequently, why do you ask?"
Kulloda with a rare spoiler:
A memory springs to mind unbidden when Kulloda explores his newfound knowledge. It is not a vision, but a memory. Just...not his own.
A thin man, almost gaunt, looked at himself in a mirror. To Kulloda, he appears sickly, but this man was a god. He is remembering through Istus' eyes. The man spoke to himself in the mirror.
"Hello, Kulloda," the man said in a resonant voice. "You are my final vision of the future, 10,000 years after my death. I am grateful that you will find me. I am grateful that you will put Kaysis to rest. His life will be one almost entirely of pain and loneliness. I have told him this but he is...well a piece of me, and I am nothing if not accepting of my fate."
The peculiar memory-not-his-own is somewhat haunting him when he suggests to Dog that they go to the divine graveyard. More of the memory of the man in the mirror springs to his mind, interrupting his suggestion.
"I choose to meet my end at the top of Mt. Ulaa, Kulloda. Kaysis will stay by my side until you arrive to take care of my remains. Once you have my sextant, my remains will have served their final purpose. Bury me atop Mt. Ulaa. Your companion will be able to do this easily enough in the hard stone. Good luck. I have seen what happens next but not what follows. Good luck."
The mirror falls from view and Kulloda remembers seeing the sun setting to the west from the exact spot he is now standing. A blade is thrust through his chest, only in memory, which he confirms when he looks down to see no blade passing through him. He remembers Istus dying here on the top of Mt. Ulaa, still clutching his divine sextant.
Kulloda snaps out of his 10,000 year old memory back into the present. He sees the bones of the god in a heap at his feat and knows what the old god wanted.
Mt. Ulaa:
Kulloda pats his own chest out of a reflex that isn't his own. He then looks down at the bones for a long quiet moment
"Maybe not take bones to graveyard," Kulloda says to Dog. "Old dead god speak in Kulloda's head."
He pauses for a moment.
"Think die warrior death here on mountain," Kulloda says again. "Chose die warrior death here. Bones stay here. Say we bury them in the stone."
For another moment Kulloda stares out at the view.
"Not bad place for end," he finally says. Then he claps his hands together. "What trick you know to bury bones in stone?"
Tristan glances around the docks “An interesting place for a follower of Leira.” He faces the Tabaxi and smiles as he creates a illusion of a miniature circus in his hand before waving it away “Let’s just say we are kindred spirits. I am a performer with an interest in the circus. I am glad to hear that there are other survivors, has anyone looked into restoring the circus? Surely there are those among you who wish to return home”
As almost an afterthought, he seeks more information on the attack itself “What do you remember of the attack on the circus? Who was responsible?“
Insight on any hesitation or deception during the responses: 16.
Smirks at the mention of Leira and the display, but nods. "Our high priest," the tabaxi says with a small sob, "He died in the attack. It was like...a tiger-man. Not a tabaxi. He was much larger, stronger, magical. He spoke with a demonic voice. I heard it was killed at the palace gates."
Tristan's head is filled with a million jumbled details from his predecessor, the Regent, his own team. and many more. But this rings a bell. The tabaxi is probably talking about a rakshasa that was said to be the instigator of the attack on Leira's temple.
"We hid," the tabaxi says, "For a long, long time. But none ever came for us."
As for who was responsible, all Tristan has is the likely theory that it was one of the other gods. Someone was angry enough at Leira to destroy one of her only temples.
“Well I can’t bury things in solid stone, but I can try with that loose stuff over there,” Dog says, pointing at any area of packed scree or anything that is not solid rock and casting mold earth a few times to try to excavate a grave for a god, using powerful, almost primal somatic components - all of his arms and some of his body. Then, with surprisingly gentle and meticulous care, he moves the bones, one or two at a time, into the grave. He does his best to arrange them, and calls upon his familiar, a furry pink tarantula, who he introduces to Kulloda as Stitches, to help with precision. And securing them in place with webbing. Once he finishes, he looks to Kulloda for a confirmation that that old dead god was happy with it, and then slowly casts the cantrip again to move the loose rock back into the grave, covering it and then more - pulling loose rock and earth from other parts of the summit to raise a cairn for Istus. However long it takes. He asks Kulloda if there is a symbol he knows that means Istus, and if so, he’d try to arrange it on the top of the cairn. He does his best to finish the outside with a solid layer of interlocking stones, by hand if necessary, accepting Kulloda’s help if offered.
(What does the sextant look like, by the way? And we don’t see the Traveler creeping about do we?)
When he finishes, he looks at the barbarian. “I’m glad I didn’t have to kill you on this mountain. Is the old dead god happy with this?”
Martin casts healing spirit a few (3)times over the next few minutes to patch up the trident wounds.
15 16 17
Then he starts looking around with Gash to see what the Djinni was doing here
Paladin - warforged - orange
No Traveler here, no. There is some ceremony necessary, according to Martin & Viviora, in order to make an offering.
Here is the sextant, although it is radiant:
Investigation(18): 26
All signs point to the djinn being a curiosity seeker, a tourist. Some now disturbed glyphs in the soil suggest that it had prepared an alarm, probably curious about who had been here recently and prepared in case they came back.
Mt Ulaa:
Kulloda watches Dog move the earth to make the grave and bury the bones. He thinks for a moment, waiting to see if the god comes back to say anything more. But he doesn't expect anything else.
"Looks good," Kulloda says. "Old god should be happy. If not, can do himself."
Kulloda tries to see if there's anything left in his mind about a symbol associated with Istus.
Religion (if needed): 5
https://imgur.com/a/Vs2Cra2