“So that’s the plan then? Just stroll to the Black Lakes, get on a boat – and go into the Heart of the Maelstrom because some wizard told you he lost his bag?” Gnomarchy asked, scratching his head.
“You put it that way it sounds really stupid,” Sir Tawmis admitted, still uncertain why he’d even let things get this far. But something seemed to compel him forward – something in him wanted to help the odd wizard.
“Sounds like a fabulously horrible idea!” Gnomarchy chuckled. “But if we’re going to the Black Lakes, we’re going to need a light to guide us through the darkness. The Heart of the Maelstrom casts constant darkness over the lakes. And I’ve got just the thing. Well, not so much a thing, but a person in mind.”
The party followed Gnomarchy through the woods, into an area that became denser, wetter, and quickly reminded Sir Tawmis of the goblin hill they’d just been in. “Is there a reason we’re marching into a swamp?”
Gnomarchy turned their head. “Yes. You think I’d get lost in my own forest?”
“I don’t know what to think anymore,” Sir Tawmis admitted.
“WoodsGirl0402!” Gnomarchy suddenly called out.
“WoodsGirl0402?” Sir Tawmis asked.
“Ain’t you ever met a firbolg before? They’re odd ones – but they don’t have names. It’s just WoodGender and the number they are of that gender… so there’s WoodsMan309, WoodsThey432, and WoodsGirl is 0402,” the gnome shrugged. “I mean, everyone has their own naming conventions of how they do things.”
Sure enough, an attractive firbolg emerged from the murky swamp. “Oh, you brought friends, Gnomarchy? You know us firbolgs are a shy lot. What can I do for you?”
“We need Wsyperra,” the gnome winked. “Apparently this lot is headed for the Heart of the Maelstrom in search for some bag. So we could use Wsyperra’s light to cut through some of that blasted darkness. The light of a will-o-wisp would be handy.”
“I will see if Wsyperra will join you on your most noble quest,” the firbolg woman said, and seemingly disappeared back into the swamp. A moment later, a ball of light, swaying back and forth constantly appeared. “Wsyperra!” the gnome called out.
“Oh, it’s you!” the will-o-wisp called back. “WoodsGirl0402 said you’re all going to the Heart of the Maelstrom?”
“That seems to be the plan,” the gnome remarked.
Sir Tawmis took note – he’d heard horror stories of actual will-o-wisps… and what he was seeing was not a will-o-wisp. It was a fairy that glowed brightly.
As they marched back through the forest, Sir Tawmis slowed down his pace. “What’s the deal with Wsyperra?”
The gnome laughed, “We all pretend to accept the fact that Wsyperra is a will-o-wisp. Truth of the matter is, they’re a fairy who sneezed just as they were casting a light spell to light up a rabbit’s warren for them – and the effect created a permanent light spell on themselves. So, I suppose, to hide the fact, Wsyperra began telling people he was a will-o-wisp. Regardless, his light is magical and should hold out against the Heart of the Maelstrom’s continual darkness.”
Chapter Seven: Lunar Sea.
“If we are truly headed into the Heart of the Maelstrom, near the mountains, there is one who might provide great help,” Wsyperra’s tiny voice exclaimed. “He dwells high in the mountain tops of Featherstone.”
“Isn’t Featherstone home to the bird-people,” HelloIml asked, strumming his loud instrument, for dramatic effect.
“The Kenku?” Sir Tawmis asked.
“Oh, I do love ravens,” IAmSposta clapped his hands excitedly.
“Are they ravens?” Choir of Fire asked.
“I thought they were crows,” HelloIml replied.
“I love crows too,” IAmSposta giggled. How this massive minotaur sounded like a fourteen year old girl was beyond Sir Tawmis’ comprehension. “I just love birds.”
“They’re called Aarakocra,” Wsyperra’s voice sounded exasperated already. “The one we seek is named Quar1on.”
“Quar-one-on?” Sir Tawmis asked.
“Yes,” Wsyperra replied. “But it’s a one.”
“That’s what I said,” Sir Tawmis replied, confused.
“No, as in the number one,” Wsyperra sighed as if it were obvious. “The number in their name details their rank in their order. 1 is more important than 2. And 2 is more important than 3. So on and so on. So since they are a 1 – they are the mostly highly respected of their flock.”
Choir of Fire kept stride with Sir Tawmis and whispered, “Ever notice that the next person recruited ‘knows someone else’ that we should speak with?”
Sir Tawmis nodded. “I noticed. Seems like forced telling story. Like we’re just actors in some weird story being told. And perhaps that’s why we feel compelled to do this.”
“Oh, I love being compelled,” came the burly minotaur’s reply from behind them.
“Contrived,” HelloIml said, strumming his instrument, producing a loud noise. “That’s the word you’re looking for. A story that feels rushed or lazy is called contrived.”
“Thanks,” Sir Tawmis looked at HelloIml, then back at Choir of Fire, and then his gaze went forward. The party had just reached Featherstone. On one side of the towering mountain, its grim face stared out towards the Black Lakes, where in the center of the massive bodies of waters, raged a darkened magical storm of red waters, churning ever upward – the Heart of the Maelstrom. The red waters were said to be clay, deep beneath the lakes that were churning in the waters – but the story evolved that it was the blood of those who lived on the scattered islands of the Black Lakes when the Maelstrom first emerged. It developed the name the Heart of the Maelstrom, because the blood-like waters churned like blood pounding into a vein, into dark, mysterious clouds above that crackled constantly and unleashed unnatural, red bolts of lightning – also said to be due to the water absorbed into the clouds from the clay – but everyone else said it was ‘blood lightning.’
The other side of the towering mountain faced a serene ocean, whose waters barely even seemed to ripple or have waves. The ocean water was impossibly still – which is why it earned its name Lunar Sea – because when the ocean was first spotted, it truly appeared as if the moon were laying on the ocean waters and could be touched by swimming out to it.
Quar1on, according to Wsyperra, was a bird race known as an Aarakocra – who was a lunar sorcerer – whose focus changed, depending on the phase of the moon.
“So,” Sir Tawmis grunted as they continued to climb up Featherstone. “You mean to tell me this wizard…”
“Sorcerer,” Wsyperra corrected. “Very different; wizards study to get their magic, sorcerers are born with it.”
“Right, sorcerer,” Sir Tawmis grunted as he reached for the next stone to grab, nearly losing his footing. “He gets his power based on the phases of the moon?”
“Correct,” Wsyperra floated upward effortlessly, pausing constantly for the others who could not fly.
“And he has three – what did you call them?” Sir Tawmis asked.
“One you said is an organ-duck?” Sir Tawmis asked, pausing to catch his breath.
Wsyperra fluttered in circles, waiting. “Origami. Are you truly that uneducated?” Sir Tawmis clenched his fist, but felt Choir of Fire’s hand on his shoulder to ease his frustration. “Origimi is a from Kamiori – where the people of that island developed an art of paper folding. He uses this during the new moon, because the new moon symbolizes creation. And with origami, you create new things from paper.”
“Paper folding,” Sir Tawmis muttered. “And his second focus, for the crescent moon is a pair of scissors.”
“Yes,” Wsyperra said. “And before you ask, it’s because the crescent moon looks cut. And his third focus, so I don’t have to repeat myself for a third time, is an actual moon rock, which he uses during the full moon to honor the gift of the moon.”
Sir Tawmis lunged at Wsyperra, but Choir of Fire caught him by the belt and prevented him from reaching the ‘will-o-wisp’ fairy.
The party finally reached the top – where they were greeted by a sight of several nests. One stuck out more so than the others – it was larger, also precariously out on a limb that overlooked the Lunar Sea. They could see one of the Aarakocra gazing outward from the nest, seemingly in a deep trance – or perhaps a conversation with the moon itself.
Sir Tawmis began to edge his way across the branch when suddenly the bird-being named Quar1on snapped out of their trance and began screaming. “Hey! Whoa! Whoa! Stop! Stop! What by the gleaming moon are you doing? Your dumb weight will send my nest over the edge! Do you have hollow bones? I don’t think so! Maybe a hollow skull! But certainly no hollow bones!”
Sir Tawmis quickly backed off the branch, relieved. “Not really a big fan of heights.”
Quar1on marched across the branch, their feathers ruffled. “Well, you would have fixed that right up had you gotten any further! We would have both been racing to meet the stony ground below because of that empty skull of yours.”
“Can’t you fly?” Choir of Fire asked before the words came out of Sir Tawmis’ mouth.
“Fly? Fly? Sure! But a captain always goes down with the ship! And so an Aarakocra always goes down with the nest!” Quar1on proclaimed.
“That seems like a bad idea,” Sir Tawmis muttered.
“Well so does a captain going down with the ship, but you humans do it,” Quar1on shrugged their feathery arms all about. “What can I do for the human-brained lot of you?”
“Isn’t that supposed to be ‘bird-brained’,” HelloIml whispered, but then strummed his loud instrument and drew attention to himself.
“Let it go,” Choir of Fire whispered after the awkward silence passed.
“We’re on a quest to enter the Heart of the Maelstrom. Apparently a wizard lost his magical bag and has asked me – us – to help him find it and return it to him,” Sir Tawmis began.
“Ah,” Quar1on nodded. “Then the all-seeing Moon was right. The Moon saw you and saw your quest and bestowed knowledge to pass down to you. Understand, I am not aware of the meaning and can only pass the words, as best to my understanding from the Immortal Moon to you. The Moon told me – ‘Seek the one who bears all; who has the rage of the beast within. They speak not, but their companion no longer sleeps, for he has been awakened. They will provide you with the knowledge where to go next.”
“Where to go next? Why couldn’t the moon just tell us where to go next? Why do we need to find someone else to give us yet another clue?” Sir Tawmis began to rant, but then Choir of Fire stepped in front of him.
“Forgive him, he’s tired and cranky,” Choir of Fire apologized.
“The Moon told me he would be,” Quar1on seemed to somehow smile with his beak. “Good fortune on your quest.”
As they descended, it was the minotaur’s high pitched voice who piped up, “You know,” he said, gleefully. “I think I know who he means. The Moon’s clue was vague – but you know, we animals, we got to stick together. And there’s a Koala-folk I know who has an awakened Kangaroo. The only problem is,” the minotaur high pitch voice went to a low whisper.
The Ruh’shaw Forest – an elven term meaning ‘beware of fang and claw’ meaning bears. The story goes that the dense forest is populated with thousands of bears – bears that do not permit any humanoids to enter beneath the wooden canopy.
“Well,” Choir of Fire sighed, “IAmSposta is right. That is a problem. If our Koala friend is in there, there’s no way any of us are going in there and going to survive the bears in there. We’d be mauled once we got about three feet in. I can already feel the eyes of a thousand bears watching us from inside the density of those woods.”
“Leave that to me,” Sir Tawmis smirked.
“That’s been a bad idea with how you’ve interacted with others,” IAmSposta pointed out.
Sir Tawmis turned. “Remember your remark about animals sticking together?” Suddenly Sir Tawmis’ features began to change as he took on the form of a massive brown bear. “As it turns out,” his voice, deeper, garbled, as his bear tongue tried to compensate for the formation of words. “As it would turn out, I am a shifted – a werebear woman infected my grandfather, and now it’s been passed down.”
“I…” IAmSposta paused, “… did not see that coming.”
As Sir Tawmis made his way through the woods – the bears in the woods made no effort to hide that they were following; their massive paws crushing branches, snapping them as easily as they’d snap bones; occasionally growling from the shadows.
Sir Tawmis finally reached the center – where to his surprise, he saw Koala-Kin rolling around, crashing into everything. “Excuse me,” his voice was deep. “I see your leader.”
“BlackBear_,” one called out.
“Black Bear Underscore?” Sir Tawmis’ bear tongue wagged. “Is he a bard then? He’s done scores of music?”
“I am hardly a bard,” a towering Koala-kin stood, then tumbled out of the tree, as he reached for eucalyptus leaf. As the Koala-Kin stood up, a kangaroo hopped over to Sir Tawmis. The Kangaroo looked at BlackBear_ and growled, “Wat av i tol' ya about talkin' Bloody oath mate?” It turned its attention to Sir Tawmis in bear-form. “Ya ahah in the bloody presence of the bloody kin'. Wat business dya av?”
“We seek advice about entering the Heart of the Maelstrom,” Sir Tawmis tried to speak as clearly as he could, but he had a feeling he sounded something like the odd Kangaroo’s odd dialect.
“That is a foolish ideah.”
“We know,” Sir Tawmis confessed. “But we feel obligated.”
“Head down the bloody rivah until ya find the bloody one bawrn of dragons.” The Kangaroo pointed and BlackBear_ nodded in agreement, chewing on a eucalyptus joyfully – pointing to the left – then seeing the Kangaroo pointing to the right – changed, and he too pointed to the right.
“So deeper into the woods; Can I get my companions? I know normally humanoids are not permitted I these woods – but I will need their aid,” Sir Tawmis confessed, thankful to know that none of his companions would have heard his confession to needing help.
“Fine but make it quick. Fahraggin’ fair dinkum mate!” the Kangaroo growled – then oddly whistled. A moment later, Sir Tawmis’ companions were escorted into the center of the odd village.
“What’s happening? They all appeared out of the woods – and growled at us – circling us – then a burst of light and we were in the woods,” Choir of Fire explained.
“Oh, honey pot,” the minotaur chuckled, “it was just a summoning circle they made. We’re all good now. What’s next?”
“We need to find a Dragonborn by the river,” Sir Tawmis explained. “They will give us the next clue.”
Chapter Nine: The River of Sticks
The party moved through the Ruh’shaw Forest until they finally heard the sound of running water – then a voice calling out. “Kel! I loved you! Why have you forsaken me? I had to flee from the Black Lakes! The Maelstrom came! And everything changed.”
Sir Tawmis peaked through the brush and saw a topaz dragonborn. “You must be DrakenBrine?”
The topaz dragon who had been rolling around on the floor in sorrow, rocking back and forth as if they were trying to put out a fire on their now muddy cloak, sprang to their feet and muttered words of magic; a purple glow forming around their hands.
“This one is a warlock,” Wsyperra warned. “That purple magic energy is a warlock signature. Means they made a pact with a demon and it’s brimstone that powers their magical abilities.”
“How did you know my name? No one knows my name here! Not since the Maelstrom took away the island I called home!” the Topaz Dragonborn snapped.
“The Kangaroo,” Sir Tawmis called out.
“That blasted minotaur-muscled-rodent talks too much,” the Topaz Dragonborn hissed.
“Hey, I take offense to that,” IAmSposta’s high pitch called out from the shadows.
“Not now,” Sir Tawmis whispered. He turned and faced the Topaz Dragonborn whose hands were no longer glowing. “We will leave you to your wallowing,” Sir Tawmis shouted, “once we get some help. We were told you know something about the Heart of the Maelstrom.”
“You…” the topaz dragonborn seemed shocked. “You are going into the Heart of the Maelstrom?”
“We are,” Sir Tawmis nodded.
“Why would you do anything so foolish?” DrakenBrine asked.
“We’ve asked ourselves that for a few days now,” Sir Tawmis confessed. “Near as I can tell because there’s an odd impulse to do it.”
“I don’t know how to get you in,” the topaz dragon began.
“Let me guess, but you know someone else who does,” Sir Tawmis called out, heaving a deep sigh as he looked to Choir of Fire.
“Why do you keep doing that? I only have a few lines, and I am not even going with you! Let me get my own lines in without cutting me off! But yes! I know someone. A gnoll ranger named Kayaking Poodle. They are the protector of boats that travel the rivers. And they know how to traverse through the River of Sticks.”
“River of Styx?” IAmSposta called out, concerned.
“Yes,” the topaz dragonborn replied. “Was I not clear enough in how I pronounced it? You know like branches that fall off from trees. Sticks. S-T-I-C-K-S.”
“Not S-T-Y-X?” IAmSposta asked.
“Who would spell ‘sticks’ like that? Weird people who spell their names weird?” the topaz dragonborn seemed genuinely confused.
“I don’t know if I feel comfortable with this,” IAmSposta whispered. “Whether they really mean ‘sticks’ or they just don’t know they mean ‘Styx.’”
“If you go to the Heart of the Maelstrom and put an end to it, I will be able to return to Kel,” the topaz dragonborn seemed elated.
“Who is Kel? If she was on one of the islands when the Maelstrom appeared,” IAmSposta called out, having lived on one of those islands and only escaping thanks to the unicorn headed genie that saved him and his people.
“Oh no! She wasn’t on the island. She’s a corrupted Kelpie – you know the seaweed people. I got all tangled up one night swimming – and it turns out I was tangled up in her. It was like a real life metaphor. Being tangled in her love.”
The topaz dragonborn led them to the gnoll, who had a raft pulled on the shore – and explained the mission. The raft, seemingly adjusted magically, to grow in size to allow for the party. The gnoll looked at everyone. “I must warn you. When we go through the River of Sticks,” the gnoll began.
“There it is again,” IAmSposta muttered.
“The roots of the land from which the Maelstrom has torn apart, will reach out like the hands of the undead and seek to pull you off the raft and into the water,” the gnoll explained.
“Seriously, this sounds like the River of Styx,” whimpered, his massive, muscular body shivering as if he were deep in snow.
“Once you enter the Maelstrom, be aware of two things. The first will be the Nothic. It can peer into the minds of people… and pull out … jokes that would make you laugh. Do not laugh. It is critical you do not laugh at the Nothic’s jokes. To do so would allow it to pull you into the Plane of Jesters.”
“Gestures? Like movements?” IAmSposta asked, so worried about this ‘River of Sticks.’
“Are you tone deaf? I said Jesters. Like the people who wear funny clothes and tell bad jokes?” the gnoll sighed.
“What’s the second thing,” HelloIml asked.
“The second is the summoned darkness that makes up the Maelstrom,” Kayaking Poodle warned. “A sorcerer tried to stop the Maelstrom from taking the island – and tried to pull its magical energies into himself… however, what happened is that the Maelstrom was more powerful – and he turned this sorcerer, whose name has now long been forgotten, into a shadowy mist known as The Summoning Dark.”
The gnoll began rowing down the river. “In order to recover the magic bag, you will need to free him from the shadow.”
“Wait,” Sir Tawmis looked at Kayaking Poodle. “How do you know about the magic bag? We hadn’t mentioned it.”
“Destiny,” the gnoll replied, cryptically. “Destiny told me your mission.”
The gnoll miraculously maneuvered the raft away from the grappling roots, whose fringes, moved like eager finger tips of children, trying to grasp candy. As the raft came to a sudden halt on the sole island in which the Maelstrom wrapped itself around, the eerie voice from somewhere beyond called out.
“I am Nothic 2 See Here 2,” it said.
“Don’t you mean ‘Nothing to see here too’,” Choir of Fire asked.
“You won’t confuse me,” the voice retorted.
“No,” Sir Tawmis nodded. “She’s right. The saying is ‘Nothing to see here’,” he shrugged. “And if you’re indicating a response, it’d be ‘Nothing to see here, too.’ If you were doing an Investigation check, for example.”
“Hold on,” the voice asked. “Have I been saying this saying wrong my whole life then?”
“Afraid so,” Sir Tawmis shrugged, looking around him, uncertain where the voice was coming from. “In an Investigation, details matter. Or so I recently heard.”
“Well, can I still tell you some of my jokes?” the voice asked, somewhat pleading, clearly devastated it’d named itself incorrectly.
“Sure,” Choir of Fire called out.
“Remember don’t laugh though,” IAmSposta warned – his soft whisper as gentle as rolling thunder.
“Any Paladins in the group?” the voice asked.
“Just tell the joke,” Sir Tawmis called out.
“Why do Paladins prefer chainmail? Because it’s HOLEY armor! Get it? Like HOLY? But HOLEY? Any clerics? You know why adventurers love clerics? Because they’re the life of every party! Get it! Because they heal? Did you hear about the death clerics who worship a milk god? Apparently they can churn undead! Get it? Like TURN undead? But churn? You know, churning butter!? This is a tough crowd! Well, speaking of undead, you know why there are no undead bards? Because they can’t compose music, they can only decompose!” the voice laughed to itself. “OK! Here’s some more! What’s a mountain peak guarded by rogues called? A sneak peak! What do you call an entire party of rogues? A surprise party! Why do Rogues use leather armor? Because it’s made of HIDE!” The voice again chuckled. “Oh, another bard joke – what do you call a group of bard in plate mail? HEAVY METAL!” The voice now sounded frustrated. “OK, final joke – you don’t laugh – you can see the Summoning Dark. What do you call a halfling fortune-teller who escaped from prison? ... A small medium at large!”
Not a sound of laughter.
Suddenly a doorway opened, and beyond it, swirling darkness.
“You may pass into the Maelstrom,” the voice called out, frustrated.
“I don’t understand what happened,” Sir Tawmis took a deep breath. “I was laughing at a lot of those jokes.”
“I thought some of us might be, so just as we stepped on the land, I cast Silence on myself and made sure I stayed in the center of the group. The sound of our laughter never left the sphere. Because several us were laughing quite a bit,” Choir of Fire smirked.
As the party entered the swirling darkness, Sir Tawmis called out, “Wsyperra, we need your light.”
“I am trying,” Wsyperra called out, “but the darkness is stronger.”
“Why have you come,” a voice boomed all around them. This was the man who had now become The Summoning Dark – his face spread across the darkness.
“We have come to recover a magical bag that apparently ended up here” Sir Tawmis shouted.
“Then you seek Mealladh,” the voice growled. “Do you wish an audience with the green hag? I assure you it would be your last. I will give you once chance to depart.”
“We can’t,” Sir Tawmis said, firmly. “If it is a green hag we must face, then we shall.”
HelloIml looked at the others. “That’s the name of the hag that cut me in half.”
“Indeed,” the Summoning Dark laughed. “And now you must face yourself.”
In a blink of the eye, the party was somewhere new – the feywild – and dark magical energy was being channeled into a cabin in the woods – like smoke from a chimney going in reverse. Just as the party rushed forward – they were greeted by a thundering boom as a massive spiked club barely missed them. “I crush’em and eats’em I wills!” They stared up at a towering Ettin that looked exactly like HelloIml might – if he was distorted by pure evil.
However, the Ettin was surprised as he watched his only remaining head remove itself from his body – as HelloIml stood behind the Ettin, holding a metallic string from his instrument that he used to sever the Ettin’s head. HelloIml stared at his hands – then at the others who looked on – shocked. “I… I am sorry,” he said, “I saw myself – a purification of evil and could not stand what I saw. I cannot believe that was the other half of me.”
“It never was,” Choir of Fire said, comforting her friend. “You had your own mind. You shared a body. But your mind was your own. You’re free of the darkness.”
“And that is what this is about,” the Summoning Dark’s voice called out, “that we can all be free of the darkness.”
The party kicked down the door of the wooden cabin of the hag – and saw she was drawing the power into a red and green bag – the bag of holding. “I will draw from this power when I need to!” she laughed as she stared at the party. “So much power contained inside! You have no hope of stopping me.” With a wave of her hand – everyone was suddenly pinned to the wall. “Look at you all. Ornaments for me to break and shatter on the ground.”
“All save for one, hag,” a familiar woman’s voice, to Sir Tawmis, snapped – and suddenly the earth rumbled and the hag, unable to maintain her balance, stumbled backwards into the very bag she’d been channeling all of the Maelstrom’s energy into! The party collapsed to the ground and Sir Tawmis looked up, “AEDorsay! Where in Hades have you been? You were supposed to meet me in Joureja!”
She laughed. “You know the saying – a wizard is never late. She arrives precisely when she means to.” She looked at the phylactery on the counter and shattered it. The Summoning Dark – suddenly a mortal – appeared in the hag’s cabin. “I am finally free.”
“Your soul is yours again,” another familiar voice said. Sir Tawmis looked. It was the plump wizard, adorned in his unusual red and white attire. “You may not recall your name, but you can begin anew. Make a new life for yourself.”
“And you,” he looked at Choir of Fire. “Your redemption is the truth revealed. You never burned down that church. That blasted Arch-Devil made you believe so – so distraught with guilt after you learned of the gifts – it allowed him to shape your body into that Tiefling form. Look here, look in the mirror and see the true you.”
Before everyone’s eyes, Choir of Fire’s body was restored to the very body they’d always desired.
The odd wizard named Nikalos picked up his bag and peered inside. “Oh, I see I have a visitor in there. Well, that’s where she will remain until she finds her Gift of Giving Spirit again. Now, with the Maelstrom destroyed – the world is, for now, free of the darkness. And now, the Celebration of Giving can proceed.”
The party stared at one another, and then embraced tightly.
Ordinance of Great Liberty war – That should be obvious what that references.
Chapter One: The Devil Went Down To Joureja. – The title is a reference, obviously, to “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” since Choir of Fire was a Tiefling Bard. It seemed a fitting title. So I named the town a “spelling” of the word “Georgia” into “Joureja” (which has a fantasy spelling … but if you pronounce it, it’s clearly just “Georgia”)
The bag of holding for gifts, was something I used in my own game during Christmas events.
Choir’s song lyrics are a reference to the “origin” the character was given
Chapter Two: Rock Band – A fitting title, since one of the characters was portrayed as a “Stone Giant” look alike bard… So stone… rock… and then the electric guitar. When I thought of the title, I was thinking of the game “Rock Band” which, as someone who loves Heavy Metal, spent a lot of time playing.
Mealladh was the name of the villain from the original story I wrote when I did this, so I thought it’d be fun to bring that back and do a nod to that story. I also went with Green Hag because of the Grinch – and she stole the bag full of gifts.
I made another nod to the original story when Sir Tawmis talks about having a dream about a Satyr who referred to non-fey as “mortals.”
Chapter Three: Wizardry – Introducing a wizard next, the title references one of my favorite CRPGs – Wizardry. And ironically, since I didn’t plan ANY of this and was just seeing where each chapter took me – one of the Wizardry games is called “Heart of the Maelstrom” which became the center point of the story. Again, was just fun writing this, each chapter, and seeing where it went and how it developed without planning.
The goblin hole, if it’s not obvious – is a reference to the opening line of The Hobbit, but opposite of what a Hobbit hole is like
Fry Doodles obsession with ‘roleplay’ is because their posts in the thread have often mentioned/asked about RPing
Chapter Four: The Bull Headed Warlock – As simple as foreshadowing a Minotaur Warlock…
I love puns – if you can’t tell and play on words – so things like “Mane Street” and “Plane of Jesters/Gestures” are things I gravitate towards when I write silly things
I loved seeing where my brain went with IAmSposta’s OVER THE TOP character – and loved the lore I created why there’s gold at the end of rainbows sometimes
Chapter Five: Human Clay – Follow me on this one. This one introduces the Rogue Assassin gnome. So for the chapter title I focused on Assassin since that was the main trait. Which made me think of Assassin’s Creed. Which then made me think of the band Creed. Then made me think of their album Human Clay – and how an assassin just kills people and destroys them like human clay things!
The “The group had traveled for three hours and twenty eight minutes” is because the thread is on page (or was at the time of the writing) 197 pages. 197 pages – if each was a minute – equals a hair over three hours and 28 minutes. So that’s what the reference is to.
Chapter Six: Come On Baby, Light My Fire – Originally written as a Will-O-Wisp, I came up with another idea – that focused on light – and so that made me think of the song for which I used for the title of the chapter
Chapter Seven: Lunar Sea. – This is a play on words since they were going to meet a Lunar Sorcerer – I thought of “lunacy” as in crazy – then thought, “Oh, Lunar Sea. It sounds like Lunacy”… And now I have lore for a Lunar Sea…
Did some 4 wall breaking, where the characters are beginning to feel like they’re in a story…
The name “Kamiori” – means “folding paper” according to google translate (combining the translation into one word)
Chapter Eight: Animal Kingdom – Like the show. This was a fun chapter, because in the intro, I set up the fact that my character was designated as a shifter, and I picked bear. (Because people say I look tough, but I am as gentle as a cuddle bear… Hrmph!) And then the Koala-Kin thing… and only animals could go in – it dawned on me, “Oh, cool chance to show the shifter thing.” Again, none of this was prepped and I was just writing to see what happened! And I loved some of the things that clicked into place.
I treated the Koala bears like Panda bears, because of the Koala bears at the zoo were often just as careless… just not as funny as pandas tend to be.
Chapter Nine: The River of Sticks – This was a fun chapter title that I made up because I knew the next two characters were about bodies of water to some degree. So I had “River”… then thought, “Oh, the overchurned land, would have roots that were alive… like sticks… oh, River of Sticks.” More word play.
DrakenBrine complaining about a lack of lines is a reference to the original story
Chapter Ten: Hello Darkness My Old Friend. – Knowing I’d be introducing The Summoning Dark here, I easily went with this title from the lyric of a very famous song, that you young kids better know! LOL
The "In an investigation, details matter" is a reference to one of my new favorite shows on Amazon Prime - Reacher
The hag’s line about shattering the characters like ornaments is a reference to her “green” hag being the Grinch
AEDorsay showing up at the end is because she was a part of the opening and setting her up in chapter one that Sir Tawmis was in the town to meet her… just so…
AEDorsay could deliver the line about a wizard never being late, which is another reference to The Hobbit (can you guess my favorite book in the world?)
I'm too lazy to insert a GIF but dang, that was good. despite being a gen Z, I got the "hello darkness my old friend" reference immediately and loved it. I love their music.
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Hi, I'm Raccoon_Master, a young genderfluid actor, writer, explorer, and bass vocalist. Pronouns They/Them/Theirs
My Characters:Brorminthe Devout Crusher; Ellorathe Romantic Rookie
I'm too lazy to insert a GIF but dang, that was good. despite being a gen Z, I got the "hello darkness my old friend" reference immediately and loved it. I love their music.
It's all right. I will take comments or gifs. (Comments are easier to reply to because there's some context).
I have always loved doing this kind of "spur of the moment writing." I (was) on an ElfQuest forum where every month folks would recommend three random story elements (such as: winter, dagger, tragic moment, etc.) - and the challenge is you'd write a story that fits all those elements into a single story. Well, I had taken it one step further - my story was on going, so from month to month, each of the segments connected to make an ongoing story, just to pull that off.
I used to do something similar for a game called Legend of Grimrock. The game starts with four characters thrown into a mountain prison and you never find out why. So I wrote a backstory for the characters. Then kept doing it. At work, when I'd go on break - I'd see how much I could write in 15 minutes and keep the story going. I did something similar for Dragon Age: Origins. Created a story that branched off from Origins - with my own cast of characters, and on lunch or break, just sit down and write, with no plans what so ever to see where the story goes.
So I had no intention of writing a story segment for the latest suggested characters - but everyone was posting "Merry Christmas" in this thread and I thought, "OK - fun Christmas present that's free - I do write a story and tie it all to Christmas." And so I sat down - and I think, in total, it probably took me about an hour a half (between googling horrible D&D jokes and googling horrible Australian translators) - and being forced to take a break to do things with the family.
But I immensely enjoyed doing it.
For anyone who missed the new story on the previous page...
My historian brain loves this one the most, because after I got all the continents roughed, I realized that this particular one has a certain quality to it that made me laugh out loud.
You see, you could put the entire history of Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea areas all on this map. It wasn't intentional, mind you, and yes, the peculiar geography is markedly different, but it is quite possible, lol.
This continent has the massive canyon on it. When I get around to doing a "zoom in" on the immense (ginormous?) canyon, there will be a huge waterfall.
The larger of the deserts is located on an immense plateau, as well.
This is likely my favorite of them all. Hence why I gave it the name closest to the planetary.
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
My historian brain loves this one the most, because after I got all the continents roughed, I realized that this particular one has a certain quality to it that made me laugh out loud.
You see, you could put the entire history of Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea areas all on this map. It wasn't intentional, mind you, and yes, the peculiar geography is markedly different, but it is quite possible, lol.
This continent has the massive canyon on it. When I get around to doing a "zoom in" on the immense (ginormous?) canyon, there will be a huge waterfall.
The larger of the deserts is located on an immense plateau, as well.
This is likely my favorite of them all. Hence why I gave it the name closest to the planetary.
What created that canyon? Erosion is the boring answer!
My historian brain loves this one the most, because after I got all the continents roughed, I realized that this particular one has a certain quality to it that made me laugh out loud.
You see, you could put the entire history of Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea areas all on this map. It wasn't intentional, mind you, and yes, the peculiar geography is markedly different, but it is quite possible, lol.
This continent has the massive canyon on it. When I get around to doing a "zoom in" on the immense (ginormous?) canyon, there will be a huge waterfall.
The larger of the deserts is located on an immense plateau, as well.
This is likely my favorite of them all. Hence why I gave it the name closest to the planetary.
What created that canyon? Erosion is the boring answer!
The Great Scar - A cut, over 277 miles long, upon the world. Cliffs of red stone tower over a river that runs along the Great Scar, during the torrential rains that sometimes wash over the land, cause the red stone to wash into the river, turning the waters red like blood. (this was the initial suggestion)
Well, it is fairly obvious that is where the mad titan Thanos slipped on a river rock and fell to the earth, his skull cracking and the blood from it creating the desert. Duh.
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
Kids these days, not even recognizing the spot where the mad titan Thanos slipped on a river rock and fell to the earth, his skull cracking and the blood from it creating the desert.
Why, as I recall, I was on the beach. In tahiti...
... wonderful place...
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
Time to Make an Adventure! this activity was created by SirTawmis, where someone (usually him) posts a list of questions to create an adventure. someone gives an answer to the next question in order that builds off of what previous people have posted. the questions:
1. What is the name of the adventure?
2. Where is the adventure set? this includes the region, the town (if any), and notable landmarks in the sorrounding area relevant to the adventure
3. Who is the main antagonist of the adventure and what are their goals? how do those goals come into conflict with the players goals?
4. Who are five NPCs that can help (or hinder) the party in the adventure?
5. what assets does the antagonist have? stuff like Minions, a lair, magical abilities, exorbitant amounts of money
6. what is the main stage for the adventure? is it a dungeon? a stretch of wilderness? or possibly a town
7. What is the plot twist? is the party betrayed? do they discover a dark secret that could change the world, nay, the universe forever?
8. How does the party confront the antagonist? what makes the final battle epic?
If you think of any more questions I should add, let me know. I'll start with the name of the adventure:
The Wailing of the Grave Maidens.
Next up: number 2: where is the adventure set?
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Hi, I'm Raccoon_Master, a young genderfluid actor, writer, explorer, and bass vocalist. Pronouns They/Them/Theirs
My Characters:Brorminthe Devout Crusher; Ellorathe Romantic Rookie
Time to Make an Adventure! this activity was created by SirTawmis, where someone (usually him) posts a list of questions to create an adventure. someone gives an answer to the next question in order that builds off of what previous people have posted. the questions:
1. What is the name of the adventure?
2. Where is the adventure set? this includes the region, the town (if any), and notable landmarks in the sorrounding area relevant to the adventure
3. Who is the main antagonist of the adventure and what are their goals? how do those goals come into conflict with the players goals?
4. Who are five NPCs that can help (or hinder) the party in the adventure?
5. what assets does the antagonist have? stuff like Minions, a lair, magical abilities, exorbitant amounts of money
6. what is the main stage for the adventure? is it a dungeon? a stretch of wilderness? or possibly a town
7. What is the plot twist? is the party betrayed? do they discover a dark secret that could change the world, nay, the universe forever?
8. How does the party confront the antagonist? what makes the final battle epic?
If you think of any more questions I should add, let me know. I'll start with the name of the adventure:
The Wailing of the Grave Maidens.
Next up: number 2: where is the adventure set?
2. The graveyard next to the former asylum that now houses the Bazar of the Bizarre in the town of Herringshire.
Chapter Six: Come On Baby, Light My Fire
“So that’s the plan then? Just stroll to the Black Lakes, get on a boat – and go into the Heart of the Maelstrom because some wizard told you he lost his bag?” Gnomarchy asked, scratching his head.
“You put it that way it sounds really stupid,” Sir Tawmis admitted, still uncertain why he’d even let things get this far. But something seemed to compel him forward – something in him wanted to help the odd wizard.
“Sounds like a fabulously horrible idea!” Gnomarchy chuckled. “But if we’re going to the Black Lakes, we’re going to need a light to guide us through the darkness. The Heart of the Maelstrom casts constant darkness over the lakes. And I’ve got just the thing. Well, not so much a thing, but a person in mind.”
The party followed Gnomarchy through the woods, into an area that became denser, wetter, and quickly reminded Sir Tawmis of the goblin hill they’d just been in. “Is there a reason we’re marching into a swamp?”
Gnomarchy turned their head. “Yes. You think I’d get lost in my own forest?”
“I don’t know what to think anymore,” Sir Tawmis admitted.
“WoodsGirl0402!” Gnomarchy suddenly called out.
“WoodsGirl0402?” Sir Tawmis asked.
“Ain’t you ever met a firbolg before? They’re odd ones – but they don’t have names. It’s just WoodGender and the number they are of that gender… so there’s WoodsMan309, WoodsThey432, and WoodsGirl is 0402,” the gnome shrugged. “I mean, everyone has their own naming conventions of how they do things.”
Sure enough, an attractive firbolg emerged from the murky swamp. “Oh, you brought friends, Gnomarchy? You know us firbolgs are a shy lot. What can I do for you?”
“We need Wsyperra,” the gnome winked. “Apparently this lot is headed for the Heart of the Maelstrom in search for some bag. So we could use Wsyperra’s light to cut through some of that blasted darkness. The light of a will-o-wisp would be handy.”
“I will see if Wsyperra will join you on your most noble quest,” the firbolg woman said, and seemingly disappeared back into the swamp. A moment later, a ball of light, swaying back and forth constantly appeared. “Wsyperra!” the gnome called out.
“Oh, it’s you!” the will-o-wisp called back. “WoodsGirl0402 said you’re all going to the Heart of the Maelstrom?”
“That seems to be the plan,” the gnome remarked.
Sir Tawmis took note – he’d heard horror stories of actual will-o-wisps… and what he was seeing was not a will-o-wisp. It was a fairy that glowed brightly.
As they marched back through the forest, Sir Tawmis slowed down his pace. “What’s the deal with Wsyperra?”
The gnome laughed, “We all pretend to accept the fact that Wsyperra is a will-o-wisp. Truth of the matter is, they’re a fairy who sneezed just as they were casting a light spell to light up a rabbit’s warren for them – and the effect created a permanent light spell on themselves. So, I suppose, to hide the fact, Wsyperra began telling people he was a will-o-wisp. Regardless, his light is magical and should hold out against the Heart of the Maelstrom’s continual darkness.”
Chapter Seven: Lunar Sea.
“If we are truly headed into the Heart of the Maelstrom, near the mountains, there is one who might provide great help,” Wsyperra’s tiny voice exclaimed. “He dwells high in the mountain tops of Featherstone.”
“Isn’t Featherstone home to the bird-people,” HelloIml asked, strumming his loud instrument, for dramatic effect.
“The Kenku?” Sir Tawmis asked.
“Oh, I do love ravens,” IAmSposta clapped his hands excitedly.
“Are they ravens?” Choir of Fire asked.
“I thought they were crows,” HelloIml replied.
“I love crows too,” IAmSposta giggled. How this massive minotaur sounded like a fourteen year old girl was beyond Sir Tawmis’ comprehension. “I just love birds.”
“They’re called Aarakocra,” Wsyperra’s voice sounded exasperated already. “The one we seek is named Quar1on.”
“Quar-one-on?” Sir Tawmis asked.
“Yes,” Wsyperra replied. “But it’s a one.”
“That’s what I said,” Sir Tawmis replied, confused.
“No, as in the number one,” Wsyperra sighed as if it were obvious. “The number in their name details their rank in their order. 1 is more important than 2. And 2 is more important than 3. So on and so on. So since they are a 1 – they are the mostly highly respected of their flock.”
Choir of Fire kept stride with Sir Tawmis and whispered, “Ever notice that the next person recruited ‘knows someone else’ that we should speak with?”
Sir Tawmis nodded. “I noticed. Seems like forced telling story. Like we’re just actors in some weird story being told. And perhaps that’s why we feel compelled to do this.”
“Oh, I love being compelled,” came the burly minotaur’s reply from behind them.
“Contrived,” HelloIml said, strumming his instrument, producing a loud noise. “That’s the word you’re looking for. A story that feels rushed or lazy is called contrived.”
“Thanks,” Sir Tawmis looked at HelloIml, then back at Choir of Fire, and then his gaze went forward. The party had just reached Featherstone. On one side of the towering mountain, its grim face stared out towards the Black Lakes, where in the center of the massive bodies of waters, raged a darkened magical storm of red waters, churning ever upward – the Heart of the Maelstrom. The red waters were said to be clay, deep beneath the lakes that were churning in the waters – but the story evolved that it was the blood of those who lived on the scattered islands of the Black Lakes when the Maelstrom first emerged. It developed the name the Heart of the Maelstrom, because the blood-like waters churned like blood pounding into a vein, into dark, mysterious clouds above that crackled constantly and unleashed unnatural, red bolts of lightning – also said to be due to the water absorbed into the clouds from the clay – but everyone else said it was ‘blood lightning.’
The other side of the towering mountain faced a serene ocean, whose waters barely even seemed to ripple or have waves. The ocean water was impossibly still – which is why it earned its name Lunar Sea – because when the ocean was first spotted, it truly appeared as if the moon were laying on the ocean waters and could be touched by swimming out to it.
Quar1on, according to Wsyperra, was a bird race known as an Aarakocra – who was a lunar sorcerer – whose focus changed, depending on the phase of the moon.
“So,” Sir Tawmis grunted as they continued to climb up Featherstone. “You mean to tell me this wizard…”
“Sorcerer,” Wsyperra corrected. “Very different; wizards study to get their magic, sorcerers are born with it.”
“Right, sorcerer,” Sir Tawmis grunted as he reached for the next stone to grab, nearly losing his footing. “He gets his power based on the phases of the moon?”
“Correct,” Wsyperra floated upward effortlessly, pausing constantly for the others who could not fly.
“And he has three – what did you call them?” Sir Tawmis asked.
“Spellcasting focuses,” Wsyperra sighed, exasperated.
“One you said is an organ-duck?” Sir Tawmis asked, pausing to catch his breath.
Wsyperra fluttered in circles, waiting. “Origami. Are you truly that uneducated?” Sir Tawmis clenched his fist, but felt Choir of Fire’s hand on his shoulder to ease his frustration. “Origimi is a from Kamiori – where the people of that island developed an art of paper folding. He uses this during the new moon, because the new moon symbolizes creation. And with origami, you create new things from paper.”
“Paper folding,” Sir Tawmis muttered. “And his second focus, for the crescent moon is a pair of scissors.”
“Yes,” Wsyperra said. “And before you ask, it’s because the crescent moon looks cut. And his third focus, so I don’t have to repeat myself for a third time, is an actual moon rock, which he uses during the full moon to honor the gift of the moon.”
Sir Tawmis lunged at Wsyperra, but Choir of Fire caught him by the belt and prevented him from reaching the ‘will-o-wisp’ fairy.
The party finally reached the top – where they were greeted by a sight of several nests. One stuck out more so than the others – it was larger, also precariously out on a limb that overlooked the Lunar Sea. They could see one of the Aarakocra gazing outward from the nest, seemingly in a deep trance – or perhaps a conversation with the moon itself.
Sir Tawmis began to edge his way across the branch when suddenly the bird-being named Quar1on snapped out of their trance and began screaming. “Hey! Whoa! Whoa! Stop! Stop! What by the gleaming moon are you doing? Your dumb weight will send my nest over the edge! Do you have hollow bones? I don’t think so! Maybe a hollow skull! But certainly no hollow bones!”
Sir Tawmis quickly backed off the branch, relieved. “Not really a big fan of heights.”
Quar1on marched across the branch, their feathers ruffled. “Well, you would have fixed that right up had you gotten any further! We would have both been racing to meet the stony ground below because of that empty skull of yours.”
“Can’t you fly?” Choir of Fire asked before the words came out of Sir Tawmis’ mouth.
“Fly? Fly? Sure! But a captain always goes down with the ship! And so an Aarakocra always goes down with the nest!” Quar1on proclaimed.
“That seems like a bad idea,” Sir Tawmis muttered.
“Well so does a captain going down with the ship, but you humans do it,” Quar1on shrugged their feathery arms all about. “What can I do for the human-brained lot of you?”
“Isn’t that supposed to be ‘bird-brained’,” HelloIml whispered, but then strummed his loud instrument and drew attention to himself.
“Let it go,” Choir of Fire whispered after the awkward silence passed.
“We’re on a quest to enter the Heart of the Maelstrom. Apparently a wizard lost his magical bag and has asked me – us – to help him find it and return it to him,” Sir Tawmis began.
“Ah,” Quar1on nodded. “Then the all-seeing Moon was right. The Moon saw you and saw your quest and bestowed knowledge to pass down to you. Understand, I am not aware of the meaning and can only pass the words, as best to my understanding from the Immortal Moon to you. The Moon told me – ‘Seek the one who bears all; who has the rage of the beast within. They speak not, but their companion no longer sleeps, for he has been awakened. They will provide you with the knowledge where to go next.”
“Where to go next? Why couldn’t the moon just tell us where to go next? Why do we need to find someone else to give us yet another clue?” Sir Tawmis began to rant, but then Choir of Fire stepped in front of him.
“Forgive him, he’s tired and cranky,” Choir of Fire apologized.
“The Moon told me he would be,” Quar1on seemed to somehow smile with his beak. “Good fortune on your quest.”
As they descended, it was the minotaur’s high pitched voice who piped up, “You know,” he said, gleefully. “I think I know who he means. The Moon’s clue was vague – but you know, we animals, we got to stick together. And there’s a Koala-folk I know who has an awakened Kangaroo. The only problem is,” the minotaur high pitch voice went to a low whisper.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
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Chapter Eight: Animal Kingdom
The Ruh’shaw Forest – an elven term meaning ‘beware of fang and claw’ meaning bears. The story goes that the dense forest is populated with thousands of bears – bears that do not permit any humanoids to enter beneath the wooden canopy.
“Well,” Choir of Fire sighed, “IAmSposta is right. That is a problem. If our Koala friend is in there, there’s no way any of us are going in there and going to survive the bears in there. We’d be mauled once we got about three feet in. I can already feel the eyes of a thousand bears watching us from inside the density of those woods.”
“Leave that to me,” Sir Tawmis smirked.
“That’s been a bad idea with how you’ve interacted with others,” IAmSposta pointed out.
Sir Tawmis turned. “Remember your remark about animals sticking together?” Suddenly Sir Tawmis’ features began to change as he took on the form of a massive brown bear. “As it turns out,” his voice, deeper, garbled, as his bear tongue tried to compensate for the formation of words. “As it would turn out, I am a shifted – a werebear woman infected my grandfather, and now it’s been passed down.”
“I…” IAmSposta paused, “… did not see that coming.”
As Sir Tawmis made his way through the woods – the bears in the woods made no effort to hide that they were following; their massive paws crushing branches, snapping them as easily as they’d snap bones; occasionally growling from the shadows.
Sir Tawmis finally reached the center – where to his surprise, he saw Koala-Kin rolling around, crashing into everything. “Excuse me,” his voice was deep. “I see your leader.”
“BlackBear_,” one called out.
“Black Bear Underscore?” Sir Tawmis’ bear tongue wagged. “Is he a bard then? He’s done scores of music?”
“I am hardly a bard,” a towering Koala-kin stood, then tumbled out of the tree, as he reached for eucalyptus leaf. As the Koala-Kin stood up, a kangaroo hopped over to Sir Tawmis. The Kangaroo looked at BlackBear_ and growled, “Wat av i tol' ya about talkin' Bloody oath mate?” It turned its attention to Sir Tawmis in bear-form. “Ya ahah in the bloody presence of the bloody kin'. Wat business dya av?”
“We seek advice about entering the Heart of the Maelstrom,” Sir Tawmis tried to speak as clearly as he could, but he had a feeling he sounded something like the odd Kangaroo’s odd dialect.
“That is a foolish ideah.”
“We know,” Sir Tawmis confessed. “But we feel obligated.”
“Head down the bloody rivah until ya find the bloody one bawrn of dragons.” The Kangaroo pointed and BlackBear_ nodded in agreement, chewing on a eucalyptus joyfully – pointing to the left – then seeing the Kangaroo pointing to the right – changed, and he too pointed to the right.
“So deeper into the woods; Can I get my companions? I know normally humanoids are not permitted I these woods – but I will need their aid,” Sir Tawmis confessed, thankful to know that none of his companions would have heard his confession to needing help.
“Fine but make it quick. Fahraggin’ fair dinkum mate!” the Kangaroo growled – then oddly whistled. A moment later, Sir Tawmis’ companions were escorted into the center of the odd village.
“What’s happening? They all appeared out of the woods – and growled at us – circling us – then a burst of light and we were in the woods,” Choir of Fire explained.
“Oh, honey pot,” the minotaur chuckled, “it was just a summoning circle they made. We’re all good now. What’s next?”
“We need to find a Dragonborn by the river,” Sir Tawmis explained. “They will give us the next clue.”
Chapter Nine: The River of Sticks
The party moved through the Ruh’shaw Forest until they finally heard the sound of running water – then a voice calling out. “Kel! I loved you! Why have you forsaken me? I had to flee from the Black Lakes! The Maelstrom came! And everything changed.”
Sir Tawmis peaked through the brush and saw a topaz dragonborn. “You must be DrakenBrine?”
The topaz dragon who had been rolling around on the floor in sorrow, rocking back and forth as if they were trying to put out a fire on their now muddy cloak, sprang to their feet and muttered words of magic; a purple glow forming around their hands.
“This one is a warlock,” Wsyperra warned. “That purple magic energy is a warlock signature. Means they made a pact with a demon and it’s brimstone that powers their magical abilities.”
“How did you know my name? No one knows my name here! Not since the Maelstrom took away the island I called home!” the Topaz Dragonborn snapped.
“The Kangaroo,” Sir Tawmis called out.
“That blasted minotaur-muscled-rodent talks too much,” the Topaz Dragonborn hissed.
“Hey, I take offense to that,” IAmSposta’s high pitch called out from the shadows.
“Not now,” Sir Tawmis whispered. He turned and faced the Topaz Dragonborn whose hands were no longer glowing. “We will leave you to your wallowing,” Sir Tawmis shouted, “once we get some help. We were told you know something about the Heart of the Maelstrom.”
“You…” the topaz dragonborn seemed shocked. “You are going into the Heart of the Maelstrom?”
“We are,” Sir Tawmis nodded.
“Why would you do anything so foolish?” DrakenBrine asked.
“We’ve asked ourselves that for a few days now,” Sir Tawmis confessed. “Near as I can tell because there’s an odd impulse to do it.”
“I don’t know how to get you in,” the topaz dragon began.
“Let me guess, but you know someone else who does,” Sir Tawmis called out, heaving a deep sigh as he looked to Choir of Fire.
“Why do you keep doing that? I only have a few lines, and I am not even going with you! Let me get my own lines in without cutting me off! But yes! I know someone. A gnoll ranger named Kayaking Poodle. They are the protector of boats that travel the rivers. And they know how to traverse through the River of Sticks.”
“River of Styx?” IAmSposta called out, concerned.
“Yes,” the topaz dragonborn replied. “Was I not clear enough in how I pronounced it? You know like branches that fall off from trees. Sticks. S-T-I-C-K-S.”
“Not S-T-Y-X?” IAmSposta asked.
“Who would spell ‘sticks’ like that? Weird people who spell their names weird?” the topaz dragonborn seemed genuinely confused.
“I don’t know if I feel comfortable with this,” IAmSposta whispered. “Whether they really mean ‘sticks’ or they just don’t know they mean ‘Styx.’”
“If you go to the Heart of the Maelstrom and put an end to it, I will be able to return to Kel,” the topaz dragonborn seemed elated.
“Who is Kel? If she was on one of the islands when the Maelstrom appeared,” IAmSposta called out, having lived on one of those islands and only escaping thanks to the unicorn headed genie that saved him and his people.
“Oh no! She wasn’t on the island. She’s a corrupted Kelpie – you know the seaweed people. I got all tangled up one night swimming – and it turns out I was tangled up in her. It was like a real life metaphor. Being tangled in her love.”
The topaz dragonborn led them to the gnoll, who had a raft pulled on the shore – and explained the mission. The raft, seemingly adjusted magically, to grow in size to allow for the party. The gnoll looked at everyone. “I must warn you. When we go through the River of Sticks,” the gnoll began.
“There it is again,” IAmSposta muttered.
“The roots of the land from which the Maelstrom has torn apart, will reach out like the hands of the undead and seek to pull you off the raft and into the water,” the gnoll explained.
“Seriously, this sounds like the River of Styx,” whimpered, his massive, muscular body shivering as if he were deep in snow.
“Once you enter the Maelstrom, be aware of two things. The first will be the Nothic. It can peer into the minds of people… and pull out … jokes that would make you laugh. Do not laugh. It is critical you do not laugh at the Nothic’s jokes. To do so would allow it to pull you into the Plane of Jesters.”
“Gestures? Like movements?” IAmSposta asked, so worried about this ‘River of Sticks.’
“Are you tone deaf? I said Jesters. Like the people who wear funny clothes and tell bad jokes?” the gnoll sighed.
“What’s the second thing,” HelloIml asked.
“The second is the summoned darkness that makes up the Maelstrom,” Kayaking Poodle warned. “A sorcerer tried to stop the Maelstrom from taking the island – and tried to pull its magical energies into himself… however, what happened is that the Maelstrom was more powerful – and he turned this sorcerer, whose name has now long been forgotten, into a shadowy mist known as The Summoning Dark.”
The gnoll began rowing down the river. “In order to recover the magic bag, you will need to free him from the shadow.”
“Wait,” Sir Tawmis looked at Kayaking Poodle. “How do you know about the magic bag? We hadn’t mentioned it.”
“Destiny,” the gnoll replied, cryptically. “Destiny told me your mission.”
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
Chapter Ten: Hello Darkness My Old Friend.
The gnoll miraculously maneuvered the raft away from the grappling roots, whose fringes, moved like eager finger tips of children, trying to grasp candy. As the raft came to a sudden halt on the sole island in which the Maelstrom wrapped itself around, the eerie voice from somewhere beyond called out.
“I am Nothic 2 See Here 2,” it said.
“Don’t you mean ‘Nothing to see here too’,” Choir of Fire asked.
“You won’t confuse me,” the voice retorted.
“No,” Sir Tawmis nodded. “She’s right. The saying is ‘Nothing to see here’,” he shrugged. “And if you’re indicating a response, it’d be ‘Nothing to see here, too.’ If you were doing an Investigation check, for example.”
“Hold on,” the voice asked. “Have I been saying this saying wrong my whole life then?”
“Afraid so,” Sir Tawmis shrugged, looking around him, uncertain where the voice was coming from. “In an Investigation, details matter. Or so I recently heard.”
“Well, can I still tell you some of my jokes?” the voice asked, somewhat pleading, clearly devastated it’d named itself incorrectly.
“Sure,” Choir of Fire called out.
“Remember don’t laugh though,” IAmSposta warned – his soft whisper as gentle as rolling thunder.
“Any Paladins in the group?” the voice asked.
“Just tell the joke,” Sir Tawmis called out.
“Why do Paladins prefer chainmail? Because it’s HOLEY armor! Get it? Like HOLY? But HOLEY? Any clerics? You know why adventurers love clerics? Because they’re the life of every party! Get it! Because they heal? Did you hear about the death clerics who worship a milk god? Apparently they can churn undead! Get it? Like TURN undead? But churn? You know, churning butter!? This is a tough crowd! Well, speaking of undead, you know why there are no undead bards? Because they can’t compose music, they can only decompose!” the voice laughed to itself. “OK! Here’s some more! What’s a mountain peak guarded by rogues called? A sneak peak! What do you call an entire party of rogues? A surprise party! Why do Rogues use leather armor? Because it’s made of HIDE!” The voice again chuckled. “Oh, another bard joke – what do you call a group of bard in plate mail? HEAVY METAL!” The voice now sounded frustrated. “OK, final joke – you don’t laugh – you can see the Summoning Dark. What do you call a halfling fortune-teller who escaped from prison? ... A small medium at large!”
Not a sound of laughter.
Suddenly a doorway opened, and beyond it, swirling darkness.
“You may pass into the Maelstrom,” the voice called out, frustrated.
“I don’t understand what happened,” Sir Tawmis took a deep breath. “I was laughing at a lot of those jokes.”
“I thought some of us might be, so just as we stepped on the land, I cast Silence on myself and made sure I stayed in the center of the group. The sound of our laughter never left the sphere. Because several us were laughing quite a bit,” Choir of Fire smirked.
As the party entered the swirling darkness, Sir Tawmis called out, “Wsyperra, we need your light.”
“I am trying,” Wsyperra called out, “but the darkness is stronger.”
“Why have you come,” a voice boomed all around them. This was the man who had now become The Summoning Dark – his face spread across the darkness.
“We have come to recover a magical bag that apparently ended up here” Sir Tawmis shouted.
“Then you seek Mealladh,” the voice growled. “Do you wish an audience with the green hag? I assure you it would be your last. I will give you once chance to depart.”
“We can’t,” Sir Tawmis said, firmly. “If it is a green hag we must face, then we shall.”
HelloIml looked at the others. “That’s the name of the hag that cut me in half.”
“Indeed,” the Summoning Dark laughed. “And now you must face yourself.”
In a blink of the eye, the party was somewhere new – the feywild – and dark magical energy was being channeled into a cabin in the woods – like smoke from a chimney going in reverse. Just as the party rushed forward – they were greeted by a thundering boom as a massive spiked club barely missed them. “I crush’em and eats’em I wills!” They stared up at a towering Ettin that looked exactly like HelloIml might – if he was distorted by pure evil.
However, the Ettin was surprised as he watched his only remaining head remove itself from his body – as HelloIml stood behind the Ettin, holding a metallic string from his instrument that he used to sever the Ettin’s head. HelloIml stared at his hands – then at the others who looked on – shocked. “I… I am sorry,” he said, “I saw myself – a purification of evil and could not stand what I saw. I cannot believe that was the other half of me.”
“It never was,” Choir of Fire said, comforting her friend. “You had your own mind. You shared a body. But your mind was your own. You’re free of the darkness.”
“And that is what this is about,” the Summoning Dark’s voice called out, “that we can all be free of the darkness.”
The party kicked down the door of the wooden cabin of the hag – and saw she was drawing the power into a red and green bag – the bag of holding. “I will draw from this power when I need to!” she laughed as she stared at the party. “So much power contained inside! You have no hope of stopping me.” With a wave of her hand – everyone was suddenly pinned to the wall. “Look at you all. Ornaments for me to break and shatter on the ground.”
“All save for one, hag,” a familiar woman’s voice, to Sir Tawmis, snapped – and suddenly the earth rumbled and the hag, unable to maintain her balance, stumbled backwards into the very bag she’d been channeling all of the Maelstrom’s energy into! The party collapsed to the ground and Sir Tawmis looked up, “AEDorsay! Where in Hades have you been? You were supposed to meet me in Joureja!”
She laughed. “You know the saying – a wizard is never late. She arrives precisely when she means to.” She looked at the phylactery on the counter and shattered it. The Summoning Dark – suddenly a mortal – appeared in the hag’s cabin. “I am finally free.”
“Your soul is yours again,” another familiar voice said. Sir Tawmis looked. It was the plump wizard, adorned in his unusual red and white attire. “You may not recall your name, but you can begin anew. Make a new life for yourself.”
“And you,” he looked at Choir of Fire. “Your redemption is the truth revealed. You never burned down that church. That blasted Arch-Devil made you believe so – so distraught with guilt after you learned of the gifts – it allowed him to shape your body into that Tiefling form. Look here, look in the mirror and see the true you.”
Before everyone’s eyes, Choir of Fire’s body was restored to the very body they’d always desired.
The odd wizard named Nikalos picked up his bag and peered inside. “Oh, I see I have a visitor in there. Well, that’s where she will remain until she finds her Gift of Giving Spirit again. Now, with the Maelstrom destroyed – the world is, for now, free of the darkness. And now, the Celebration of Giving can proceed.”
The party stared at one another, and then embraced tightly.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
Fun Notes:
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
Terra Lubridia archive:
The Bloody Barnacle | The Gut | The Athene Crusader | The Jewel of Atlantis
I'm too lazy to insert a GIF but dang, that was good. despite being a gen Z, I got the "hello darkness my old friend" reference immediately and loved it. I love their music.
Hi, I'm Raccoon_Master, a young genderfluid actor, writer, explorer, and bass vocalist. Pronouns They/Them/Theirs
My Characters: Brormin the Devout Crusher; Ellora the Romantic Rookie
Check out my EXTENDED SIGNATUR (hasn't been updated in forever, fyi) and don’t forget to join the Anything but the OGL 2.0 Thread!
"I don't make sense to you, and I don't make sense to myself. Maybe the only one I make sense to is God" ~ Me, trying to sound smart
It's all right. I will take comments or gifs. (Comments are easier to reply to because there's some context).
I have always loved doing this kind of "spur of the moment writing." I (was) on an ElfQuest forum where every month folks would recommend three random story elements (such as: winter, dagger, tragic moment, etc.) - and the challenge is you'd write a story that fits all those elements into a single story. Well, I had taken it one step further - my story was on going, so from month to month, each of the segments connected to make an ongoing story, just to pull that off.
I used to do something similar for a game called Legend of Grimrock. The game starts with four characters thrown into a mountain prison and you never find out why. So I wrote a backstory for the characters. Then kept doing it. At work, when I'd go on break - I'd see how much I could write in 15 minutes and keep the story going. I did something similar for Dragon Age: Origins. Created a story that branched off from Origins - with my own cast of characters, and on lunch or break, just sit down and write, with no plans what so ever to see where the story goes.
So I had no intention of writing a story segment for the latest suggested characters - but everyone was posting "Merry Christmas" in this thread and I thought, "OK - fun Christmas present that's free - I do write a story and tie it all to Christmas." And so I sat down - and I think, in total, it probably took me about an hour a half (between googling horrible D&D jokes and googling horrible Australian translators) - and being forced to take a break to do things with the family.
But I immensely enjoyed doing it.
For anyone who missed the new story on the previous page...
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=3973
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=3974
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=3975
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=3976
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=3977
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=3978
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=3979
The fun notes about the above story:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/off-topic/adohands-kitchen/166611-anything-but-the-ogl-2-0-literally-anything?comment=3980
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
Okay, that bit got me lol
Terra Lubridia archive:
The Bloody Barnacle | The Gut | The Athene Crusader | The Jewel of Atlantis
Hah! Thanks! I tried to have fun moments for all the characters as I was writing this!
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
Lest you think I forgot...
My historian brain loves this one the most, because after I got all the continents roughed, I realized that this particular one has a certain quality to it that made me laugh out loud.
You see, you could put the entire history of Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea areas all on this map. It wasn't intentional, mind you, and yes, the peculiar geography is markedly different, but it is quite possible, lol.
This continent has the massive canyon on it. When I get around to doing a "zoom in" on the immense (ginormous?) canyon, there will be a huge waterfall.
The larger of the deserts is located on an immense plateau, as well.
This is likely my favorite of them all. Hence why I gave it the name closest to the planetary.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
What created that canyon? Erosion is the boring answer!
The Great Scar - A cut, over 277 miles long, upon the world. Cliffs of red stone tower over a river that runs along the Great Scar, during the torrential rains that sometimes wash over the land, cause the red stone to wash into the river, turning the waters red like blood. (this was the initial suggestion)
Well, it is fairly obvious that is where the mad titan Thanos slipped on a river rock and fell to the earth, his skull cracking and the blood from it creating the desert. Duh.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
Kids these days, not even recognizing the spot where the mad titan Thanos slipped on a river rock and fell to the earth, his skull cracking and the blood from it creating the desert.
Where were you when the mad titan Thanos slipped on a river rock and fell to the earth, his skull cracking and the blood from it creating the desert?
Why, as I recall, I was on the beach. In tahiti...
... wonderful place...
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
I see what you did there.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
Time to Make an Adventure! this activity was created by SirTawmis, where someone (usually him) posts a list of questions to create an adventure. someone gives an answer to the next question in order that builds off of what previous people have posted. the questions:
1. What is the name of the adventure?
2. Where is the adventure set? this includes the region, the town (if any), and notable landmarks in the sorrounding area relevant to the adventure
3. Who is the main antagonist of the adventure and what are their goals? how do those goals come into conflict with the players goals?
4. Who are five NPCs that can help (or hinder) the party in the adventure?
5. what assets does the antagonist have? stuff like Minions, a lair, magical abilities, exorbitant amounts of money
6. what is the main stage for the adventure? is it a dungeon? a stretch of wilderness? or possibly a town
7. What is the plot twist? is the party betrayed? do they discover a dark secret that could change the world, nay, the universe forever?
8. How does the party confront the antagonist? what makes the final battle epic?
If you think of any more questions I should add, let me know. I'll start with the name of the adventure:
The Wailing of the Grave Maidens.
Next up: number 2: where is the adventure set?
Hi, I'm Raccoon_Master, a young genderfluid actor, writer, explorer, and bass vocalist. Pronouns They/Them/Theirs
My Characters: Brormin the Devout Crusher; Ellora the Romantic Rookie
Check out my EXTENDED SIGNATUR (hasn't been updated in forever, fyi) and don’t forget to join the Anything but the OGL 2.0 Thread!
"I don't make sense to you, and I don't make sense to myself. Maybe the only one I make sense to is God" ~ Me, trying to sound smart
2. The graveyard next to the former asylum that now houses the Bazar of the Bizarre in the town of Herringshire.
3?
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
A kind old lady who often paid for goods and services with fresh baked meat pies.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale