Oden goes wide-eyed as he realises the implications. "That's a name I've only heard in my childhood, given to a giant shark... a story to scare children. But an ancient god who makes you flee between dimensions and moves the Sahuagin against land people? Is he the reason you abandoned your underwater vessel? You have to tell us more!"
Beatrice shoots a wide-eyed look at Oden, and immediately follows after Faendal. "You can't just say that and leave, what do you mean ancient gods from other planes!"
Anyone who missed the spoiler on the last page can read it now as Faendal finished casting his spell:
Faendal finishes casting his spell and now a shimmering doorway appears. Faendal calls out "We should already be safe here" gesturing to the small wooden room you were all in already "however, one can never be too careful, so I for one am going in here" and he points through the shimmering doorway. "You are all welcome to follow or leave. Just be aware that the door behind you" he gestures to the shadowy door you all stepped through to get to this room "will disappear within the hour. I do not know how you have become entangled with ancient gods from other planes of existence, but from what I have heard of you" and he looks at Oden when he says this next part "and because of your heritage, I am trusting you are not pro-Dajobas."
Those that follow Faendal through the shimmering doorway enter into the foyer of a large building. It is somewhat like an Inn or Hotel, but much larger and grander (and gaudier) than any you have ever seen. Near-transparent forms in purple jackets and small round brimless purple caps start approaching with drink trays and food.
Faendal finally stops casting spells, walks to the nearest table and sits down, the worried look still on his face. He calls out "join me and tell me everything you know about this vile item and how it came to be in your possession. I do not want to make assumptions, but I take it that whatever Bryn was lending you the helmets for led you to discovering it? Did you find the item on this plane?" he looks around and corrects himself "Did you find it on the plane where my shop is located, or another plane? Please also tell me anything you have learned about the Cult of the Devourer of Worlds."
(History/Religion/Arcana if Aliez has heard anything of this Cult or something 20)
"This is... impressive magic. Tell me, where did you learn this?" Aliez asks as she quickly takes in the scene of the large mansion. To Beatrice, Aliez says, ""Apparently, this scepter is related to a powerful entity that is not of our world, think gods or elemental princes." Turning her attention back to Faendal, "Yes this was found on the material plane. A priestess was using it to turn humans into shark-like-abominations. We slew her and these abominations in the ruins of Palma Flora. When I took the scepter from her corpse, it tried to turn me against my sea elf friends. I have dared not touch it since."
Aliez (and everyone else) who passes a DC10 INT check would be able to figure out:
It sounds like Selachai and those that were following her would be part of the cult.
It also makes sense that the book 'Liturgy of the Tides' that Oden found and read passages from to you all (and what some other members of the party have discovered outside the main thread that are similar) are related to the cult. As a reminder the part of the book that Oden read out was:
"Anon comes the Slaughter! The Red Feast signals the gorging on the unbelievers! The consumed apostates will fail to sate the Hunger and time itself will be devoured!”
"And on that moon when the tides glisten with blood, the Hunger will awaken and woe to the world of the sun. Their sands, mountains, and green lands will all drown in their own blood.”
"The blessed feast on the weak and the faithless. The Red Feast comes anon! Rejoice the voracity of the Devourer!”
The Champion, you also learned some minor information in this post.
There may have been other breadcrumbs too.
Aliez, you can have used that roll as an Arcana roll to have figured out what spells were cast (even though you do not have access to them, based on your background you have been around higher level casters a fair bit). I'll provide that info later (busy right now).
"This is... impressive magic. Tell me, where did you learn this?" [...]"Yes this was found on the material plane. A priestess was using it to turn humans into shark-like-abominations. We slew her and these abominations in the ruins of Palma Flora. When I took the scepter from her corpse, it tried to turn me against my sea elf friends. I have dared not touch it since."
Faendal leans into the compliment "I have learned my magic across a number of planes from those spells my initial master told me, those gleaned from dusty tomes of long dead wizards, those stolen from books of angry liches and a number that I've bought through shops like the one I now own. But onto the more pressing matter - I am sad to see influence of the Cult of the Devourer of Worlds has finally managed to leak into this world. Things were much simpler when the local sahuagin just worshipped thatUk'otoa creature. I guess it should not be too surprising given how long Deep Sashelas has asserted watery influence on this plane."
Spells Aliez recognised (possibly with Silvia's help) included:
He altered the appearance of his shop using the Malleable Illusions ability to change some of the parameters of Mirage Arcane which was already at work in his shop (hence him being able to walk through walls etc.), Demiplane to create the wooden room, Nondetection to prevent anyone using divination magic to find the sceptre and Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion to create The Grand Budapest Hotel the extra-dimensional mansion you are all now in.
"Is Brokenbank in danger now? I don't know how Dajobas would be able to recognize your shop or know where it is, but you reacted as if he could. Could there be more cursed artefact wielding Sahuagin out there?
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Kenton's INT check: 17
Kenton, who has been mostly just zoning out in the strange otherworldly mansion, now snaps back his attention on the strange shopkeeper. A... cult? A devourer? Deep... sir, you have perhaps destroyed or contained an artifact of such evil and power that I could sense it, where my abilities in that area are very limited. For that reason you have earned my trust. But now I must ask you to speak plainly. What is the cult you speak of? And what is the foul creature they serve?
"Is Brokenbank in danger now? I don't know how Dajobas would be able to recognize your shop or know where it is, but you reacted as if he could. Could there be more cursed artefact wielding Sahuagin out there?
Faendal responds "I believe that I managed to cover the eyes of the sceptre before it saw too much of where we are or had a chance to look at me too closely. If anyone searches for a Sceptre of the Devourer now they will not be able to figure out where that one is, beyond that it is not on the Material Plane. Whether Brokenbank is in danger depends entirely on whether or not someone tried to locate the sceptre by magical means since you have been on the island. How long exactly have you been here... I mean how long were you there?"
He continues after you answer "As you seem to have deduced, I suspect that if there is one cultist of enough standing to be wielding a sceptre on this plane, there are likely to be at least a handful of other cultists, if not many more. Whether or not there are more sceptres, or even more powerful artifacts of the Devourer, I do not know. I have little concern about whether Dajobas recognises my shop, as if he is ever released and came to this plane any land-dwelling creature and many of those that call the water our home would be doomed. Of more concern to me about letting that vile sceptre open its eyes in my shop is that Dajobas might recognise my true face and provide that information to third parties that are a much more targeted threat, or someone might scry on the item and do the same."
He looks you all up and down and stops himself from saying anything more. [If any of you want to get more information, you can ask more. Don't roll persuasion yet though, as it will depend on what you say as to whether a persuasion roll will be appropriate.]
But now I must ask you to speak plainly. What is the cult you speak of? And what is the foul creature they serve?
Faendal responds "Those are not a quick questions to answer, but I promise to answer them and explain everything that I know. Please share any other information your party has first, so I can try to determine how far reaching Dajorbas's reach is into this plane is and whether I need to do anything further today or whether we have the luxury of the night and tomorrow morning to plan what to do with the sceptre long-term."
Kenton is exasperated, angry with the answer. He holds his tongue with great effort, and looks to the rest of the party. Is there anything else we can share? For myself, I believe I have told everything I know.
"I wish we had interrogated Selachai... this is the only other thing we have found in relation to this Devourer." Oden brings out the Liturgy of the Tides.
Faendal takes the book made of kelp and says "Ah, The Liturgy of the Tides. If you have read through it, you probably have a fair idea of the madness of the cult and their main goal. Anyway, if you have only come across one sahuagin priestess of Dajobas and have not heard of any other, maybe the threat is not too great at the moment on this plane."
Kenton reminder, you have heard of that title before:
When your previous ship, The Z.A. Boreas, was attacked the only other survivor heard the sahuagin that attacked sing one of the hyms from The Liturgy of the Tides “And on that moon when the tides glisten with blood, the Hunger will awaken and woe to the world of the sun. Their sands, mountains, and green lands will all drown in their own blood.”
Faendal then explains the what he knows over the next hour or so, which is summarised below:
The cult worship the terrible Shark God, Dajobas the Devourer. Dajobas is one of the many water gods that are native to the Elemental Plane of Water and his domains include cannibalism, carnage, hunger, war, blood and sharks.
Many centuries ago Dajobas and his followers waged war on the other inhabitants of the Elemental Plane of Water and their gods. Deep Sashelas and a number of other gods (which none of you have heard of) fought back and imprisoned Dajobas in a cage of pure elemental force and magically induced him into a deep slumber.
Deep Sashelas has concentrated on keeping Dajobas subdued since, as Dajobas dreams of revenge and slaughter.
Dajobas's bloody dreams snake through sea. These cancerous thoughts, born from Dajobas’ rage and hunger sometimes take hold in the hearts of sahuagin, hunting dire sharks and others who are led astray by the Shark God’s promise of terrible power. These followers are known by many names including the Cult of the Devourer, the Church of Dajobas and the Devotees of The Shark God. These servitors of Dajobas yearn for the release of their terrible god. Adherents strive to bring forth the Red Feast, a slaughter so devastating that the seas will run red with spilled blood. They have attempted this on both the Plane of Water and the Feywild, with the powerful creatures on both of those planes subduing the cultists.
According to the cult's religious books the Red Feast will provide enough power to Dajobas to wake him and allow him to break free of his prison and even through to another plane, where he will feed ceaselessly on unbelievers until the only he and the cultists remain. Then, empowered by those he and his followers feasted on, he will move on to the next plane and continue the slaughter.
That is... strange. Firische did mention that the sea devil - the sahuagin who attacked my ship - sang a song from the 'liturgy of the tides'. I suppose I didn't pay it much mind. We were both in shock and had barely survived. He frowns. After all, what does it matter if a sea devil witch spouts nonsensical music. He regains a bit of bluster. Good sir, this all sounds a little overblown, don't you think? Evil gods from other planes? The true Gods would never allow such a thing, surely?
Faendal shoots you an icey glare "True gods? The gods of my plane are just as true as the gods of your plane and are not stupid enough to lock themselves away behind some gate. If your gods were of any real usefulness they would have stopped the cult from leaching into this plane."
He composes himself a little and asks "I did ask for all relevant information. Are you saying that there was another priestess of the cult? How did she attack your ship? The devil - or evil god - is in the detail."
[Do you explain what happened with The Z.A. Boreas? If so, there is no need to roleplay explaining it all (unless you want to), I can provide cliff notes.]
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Oden goes wide-eyed as he realises the implications. "That's a name I've only heard in my childhood, given to a giant shark... a story to scare children. But an ancient god who makes you flee between dimensions and moves the Sahuagin against land people? Is he the reason you abandoned your underwater vessel? You have to tell us more!"
Beatrice shoots a wide-eyed look at Oden, and immediately follows after Faendal. "You can't just say that and leave, what do you mean ancient gods from other planes!"
Anyone who missed the spoiler on the last page can read it now as Faendal finished casting his spell:
Faendal finishes casting his spell and now a shimmering doorway appears. Faendal calls out "We should already be safe here" gesturing to the small wooden room you were all in already "however, one can never be too careful, so I for one am going in here" and he points through the shimmering doorway. "You are all welcome to follow or leave. Just be aware that the door behind you" he gestures to the shadowy door you all stepped through to get to this room "will disappear within the hour. I do not know how you have become entangled with ancient gods from other planes of existence, but from what I have heard of you" and he looks at Oden when he says this next part "and because of your heritage, I am trusting you are not pro-Dajobas."
Those that follow Faendal through the shimmering doorway enter into the foyer of a large building. It is somewhat like an Inn or Hotel, but much larger and grander (and gaudier) than any you have ever seen. Near-transparent forms in purple jackets and small round brimless purple caps start approaching with drink trays and food.
Faendal finally stops casting spells, walks to the nearest table and sits down, the worried look still on his face. He calls out "join me and tell me everything you know about this vile item and how it came to be in your possession. I do not want to make assumptions, but I take it that whatever Bryn was lending you the helmets for led you to discovering it? Did you find the item on this plane?" he looks around and corrects himself "Did you find it on the plane where my shop is located, or another plane? Please also tell me anything you have learned about the Cult of the Devourer of Worlds."
(History/Religion/Arcana if Aliez has heard anything of this Cult or something 20)
"This is... impressive magic. Tell me, where did you learn this?" Aliez asks as she quickly takes in the scene of the large mansion. To Beatrice, Aliez says, ""Apparently, this scepter is related to a powerful entity that is not of our world, think gods or elemental princes." Turning her attention back to Faendal, "Yes this was found on the material plane. A priestess was using it to turn humans into shark-like-abominations. We slew her and these abominations in the ruins of Palma Flora. When I took the scepter from her corpse, it tried to turn me against my sea elf friends. I have dared not touch it since."
The Champion nods emphatically as Aliez speaks, and adds. “What is it with people not listening when I talk about these things?? Is it my face?”
Paladin - warforged - orange
"Definitely the face," Aliez says in a teasing voice to the champ.
"You have raven feathers in your hair," Beatrice adds with a wide grin.
Aliez (and everyone else) who passes a DC10 INT check would be able to figure out:
It sounds like Selachai and those that were following her would be part of the cult.
It also makes sense that the book 'Liturgy of the Tides' that Oden found and read passages from to you all (and what some other members of the party have discovered outside the main thread that are similar) are related to the cult. As a reminder the part of the book that Oden read out was:
"Anon comes the Slaughter! The Red Feast signals the gorging on the unbelievers! The consumed apostates will fail to sate the Hunger and time itself will be devoured!”
"And on that moon when the tides glisten with blood, the Hunger will awaken and woe to the world of the sun. Their sands, mountains, and green lands will all drown in their own blood.”
"The blessed feast on the weak and the faithless. The Red Feast comes anon! Rejoice the voracity of the Devourer!”
The Champion, you also learned some minor information in this post.
There may have been other breadcrumbs too.
Aliez, you can have used that roll as an Arcana roll to have figured out what spells were cast (even though you do not have access to them, based on your background you have been around higher level casters a fair bit). I'll provide that info later (busy right now).
Int check for Beatrice putting stuff together: 12
Int for the Champion
11
Paladin - warforged - orange
Intelligence: 14
Faendal leans into the compliment "I have learned my magic across a number of planes from those spells my initial master told me, those gleaned from dusty tomes of long dead wizards, those stolen from books of angry liches and a number that I've bought through shops like the one I now own. But onto the more pressing matter - I am sad to see influence of the Cult of the Devourer of Worlds has finally managed to leak into this world. Things were much simpler when the local sahuagin just worshipped that Uk'otoa creature. I guess it should not be too surprising given how long Deep Sashelas has asserted watery influence on this plane."
Spells Aliez recognised (possibly with Silvia's help) included:
He altered the appearance of his shop using the Malleable Illusions ability to change some of the parameters of Mirage Arcane which was already at work in his shop (hence him being able to walk through walls etc.), Demiplane to create the wooden room, Nondetection to prevent anyone using divination magic to find the sceptre and Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion to create
The Grand Budapest Hotelthe extra-dimensional mansion you are all now in."Is Brokenbank in danger now? I don't know how Dajobas would be able to recognize your shop or know where it is, but you reacted as if he could. Could there be more cursed artefact wielding Sahuagin out there?
Kenton's INT check: 17
Kenton, who has been mostly just zoning out in the strange otherworldly mansion, now snaps back his attention on the strange shopkeeper. A... cult? A devourer? Deep... sir, you have perhaps destroyed or contained an artifact of such evil and power that I could sense it, where my abilities in that area are very limited. For that reason you have earned my trust. But now I must ask you to speak plainly. What is the cult you speak of? And what is the foul creature they serve?
Faendal responds "I believe that I managed to cover the eyes of the sceptre before it saw too much of where we are or had a chance to look at me too closely. If anyone searches for a Sceptre of the Devourer now they will not be able to figure out where that one is, beyond that it is not on the Material Plane. Whether Brokenbank is in danger depends entirely on whether or not someone tried to locate the sceptre by magical means since you have been on the island. How long exactly have you been here... I mean how long were you there?"
He continues after you answer "As you seem to have deduced, I suspect that if there is one cultist of enough standing to be wielding a sceptre on this plane, there are likely to be at least a handful of other cultists, if not many more. Whether or not there are more sceptres, or even more powerful artifacts of the Devourer, I do not know. I have little concern about whether Dajobas recognises my shop, as if he is ever released and came to this plane any land-dwelling creature and many of those that call the water our home would be doomed. Of more concern to me about letting that vile sceptre open its eyes in my shop is that Dajobas might recognise my true face and provide that information to third parties that are a much more targeted threat, or someone might scry on the item and do the same."
He looks you all up and down and stops himself from saying anything more. [If any of you want to get more information, you can ask more. Don't roll persuasion yet though, as it will depend on what you say as to whether a persuasion roll will be appropriate.]
Faendal responds "Those are not a quick questions to answer, but I promise to answer them and explain everything that I know. Please share any other information your party has first, so I can try to determine how far reaching Dajorbas's reach is into this plane is and whether I need to do anything further today or whether we have the luxury of the night and tomorrow morning to plan what to do with the sceptre long-term."
Kenton is exasperated, angry with the answer. He holds his tongue with great effort, and looks to the rest of the party. Is there anything else we can share? For myself, I believe I have told everything I know.
"I wish we had interrogated Selachai... this is the only other thing we have found in relation to this Devourer." Oden brings out the Liturgy of the Tides.
Faendal takes the book made of kelp and says "Ah, The Liturgy of the Tides. If you have read through it, you probably have a fair idea of the madness of the cult and their main goal. Anyway, if you have only come across one sahuagin priestess of Dajobas and have not heard of any other, maybe the threat is not too great at the moment on this plane."
Kenton reminder, you have heard of that title before:
When your previous ship, The Z.A. Boreas, was attacked the only other survivor heard the sahuagin that attacked sing one of the hyms from The Liturgy of the Tides “And on that moon when the tides glisten with blood, the Hunger will awaken and woe to the world of the sun. Their sands, mountains, and green lands will all drown in their own blood.”
Faendal then explains the what he knows over the next hour or so, which is summarised below:
The cult worship the terrible Shark God, Dajobas the Devourer. Dajobas is one of the many water gods that are native to the Elemental Plane of Water and his domains include cannibalism, carnage, hunger, war, blood and sharks.
Many centuries ago Dajobas and his followers waged war on the other inhabitants of the Elemental Plane of Water and their gods. Deep Sashelas and a number of other gods (which none of you have heard of) fought back and imprisoned Dajobas in a cage of pure elemental force and magically induced him into a deep slumber.
Deep Sashelas has concentrated on keeping Dajobas subdued since, as Dajobas dreams of revenge and slaughter.
Dajobas's bloody dreams snake through sea. These cancerous thoughts, born from Dajobas’ rage and hunger sometimes take hold in the hearts of sahuagin, hunting dire sharks and others who are led astray by the Shark God’s promise of terrible power. These followers are known by many names including the Cult of the Devourer, the Church of Dajobas and the Devotees of The Shark God. These servitors of Dajobas yearn for the release of their terrible god. Adherents strive to bring forth the Red Feast, a slaughter so devastating that the seas will run red with spilled blood. They have attempted this on both the Plane of Water and the Feywild, with the powerful creatures on both of those planes subduing the cultists.
According to the cult's religious books the Red Feast will provide enough power to Dajobas to wake him and allow him to break free of his prison and even through to another plane, where he will feed ceaselessly on unbelievers until the only he and the cultists remain. Then, empowered by those he and his followers feasted on, he will move on to the next plane and continue the slaughter.
That is... strange. Firische did mention that the sea devil - the sahuagin who attacked my ship - sang a song from the 'liturgy of the tides'. I suppose I didn't pay it much mind. We were both in shock and had barely survived. He frowns. After all, what does it matter if a sea devil witch spouts nonsensical music. He regains a bit of bluster. Good sir, this all sounds a little overblown, don't you think? Evil gods from other planes? The true Gods would never allow such a thing, surely?
Faendal shoots you an icey glare "True gods? The gods of my plane are just as true as the gods of your plane and are not stupid enough to lock themselves away behind some gate. If your gods were of any real usefulness they would have stopped the cult from leaching into this plane."
He composes himself a little and asks "I did ask for all relevant information. Are you saying that there was another priestess of the cult? How did she attack your ship? The devil - or evil god - is in the detail."
[Do you explain what happened with The Z.A. Boreas? If so, there is no need to roleplay explaining it all (unless you want to), I can provide cliff notes.]