The World of Telvar

Quote of the Week

I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. –
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969)

Character Name ........ Race & Class .......................... Level ...... HP
......... AC ............................................................. Player ...... Creator

Raybur Sidebottom .... Dwarven Fighter/Cleric ............. 6/6 .... 64
..... (-7) -3/0/2 ......................................................... Jay ...... Joel
Phyllis Sidebottom ..... Dwarven Fighter ........................ 7 ...... 64
........... -5/-5 .................................................... Katherine ... Katherine
Effrede George ......... Half Elven Magic User/Thief ....... 6/6 .... 34
…........ -3/1 ...................................................... Katherine ... Katherine
Talarian Blackguard .... Half Elven Fighter ...................... 7 ...... 68
......... Activated Ring (-9) -8/-3 .... Else .... (-7) -6/-1 ..... David ........ Dean
Conrhia Applewhite .... Half Elven Woodsman ................. 7 ...... 68
......... -5/-4/0 ................................................... Rhonda ...... Rhonda
Serlisse Reintar ......... Half Elven Druid ......................... 7 ...... 32
......... -1/1/1 .................................................... Rhonda ...... Rhonda
Sputnik .................... Half Elven Cleric …….................... 7 ...... 49
......... 1/4/4 ……..................................................... Jay ...... Jay
Arthur of Petethal ..... Half Elven Ranger ...................... 6 ...... 58
........... 2/4 .......................................................... David ...... David
Zephram Trent .......... Hill Gnome Fighter/Illusionist ..... 5/5 .... 41
..... (-5) -3/-2/2 .... w/out Phan. Armor .... 1/5 ........... Alan .........Alan
Shirlard .................... Half Orkish Fighter ..................... 5 ...... 44
........... 3/3 ....................................................... Darleen ...... Darleen
Costigan ................... Coastlander Fighter//Cleric ...... 1//3 .. 25(35)
......... (2)3/3 ....................................................... Rodger ...... Rodger

December 13, 2193
We receive a letter about the identification of the Icon of All Avatars. It is a dangerous but powerful item that can allow a cleric to draw on the personal power of his/her deities’ avatar like a low level spell draws on one’s own personal faith. It is a cleric only, one shot item that may reappear elsewhere in the multiverse after use. The cleric can use the avatar’s power as if it was his own, but at the risk of permanent harm including level drain and death. We suspect that higher level clerics can probably use it with less risk and less power used means less personal risk.

We talk to Junior about the sheet of metal we have that is very springy and yellow in color. He says that the 1’ square sheet of metal is “Moon Metal” and he can’t chew it. His people call it “Knack.” He is helping to build our house, so the house will be twice the size that we had thought for our initial investment. The townspeople are helping us as well, so we will probably need to give some gifts. Junior has already been given 500 coin-weights of gold as a reward.
We decide to see what we can find out about the original “accident” that led to the discovery of this continent. Dirk wasn’t told what the original expedition was doing. He thinks it was to create a trade route to another land – perhaps the dwarven lands that these dwarves are from– as they had several representatives from different kingdoms of dwarves who knew about etiquette and a variety of local traditions. There was a low level priest of Moradin as well. The sponsors of that expedition were companies interested in raw metals who were probably looking for a “Northwest Passage.”
There are a few islands between Teft and New Teft. Bear Paw Island is the last documented island vaguely near our route. It is too far for Teleport and not really along our path. One of the Far World battles occurred there and it is believed to be haunted by the ghosts of the Far World’s army.
When we try to figure out if we can use the Belt of Hill Giant Strength with Fire Giant Strength potions to regain levels above natural level limits, we find out that the two effects very different even though they seem to have the same result. This means they are not compatible for short term level resumption.
Also, the best solution for us to get an alchemist is in fact to convince Fred to learn Alchemy. He will need to use a tokenized laboratory to extract from any target creatures the necessary ingredients for the potions he will make.

April 15, 2194
Nothing happens over the course of two days, so we send our ship on its way and prepare to go back to exploring The Resort. We are thinking about trying to save time by camping in the Taxidermist’s house, but we are a little concerned about the roaming horde of undead, so we will explore during the day until we figure out what is the undead situation.

April 16, 2194
We decide to make the whole party Invisible and let Fred clean the Taxidermist’s House with cantrips. We leave a possum in the house with food to see if the roaming undead can come through the wall.

April 17, 2194
The next morning, the possum is fine, but bored. We explore invisibly around the city checking each building to see which are open and see if there are any tracks around. We see smallish bare footprints that look as if they might have been made by Ancients. They seem to go almost everywhere, so we sweep around all the doors in the Artisan’s area in hopes that we can figure out where the undead are coming from and where they are going. We clear about six feet around each doorway.

April 18, 2194
We figure out quickly that the footprints lead to the triple building near the middle of the Artisan’s Area. The building is three teeth that are connected. There is a passageway through the middle of the central building from the front to the back. We can see that there are footprints leading in and out of this portal and there are exits into the opposite sides of the building. We have Fred send an Invisible Amorph into the passageway with several Continual Light coins so he can drop them and light our way. Hopefully it will drive back any undead within. As soon as the light is at the doorway to the side, a ghoulish creature starts screaming. The Amorph is blasted out of existence and Costigan and Sputnik are level drained. The party runs away but before Fred takes to his heels, he lets a Pool Ball Lightning go. He makes his saving throw and gets away, too. When we get to the favorite jump point, we activate the Battlement Bridge and get back to our “safe house.” We hole up and in 20 hours, Costigan regains his level. Sputnik regains his after 30 hours.

April 20, 2194
We decide to test a theory – we will send Costigan (the person who has the least to lose by losing a level) with a Silence stone up to the intersection in hopes that the attack is in fact sonic and not something worse. The big chicken decides that he’d rather have Fred send in an Invisible Servant. As soon as the light gets to the intersection, the stone and coin fall to the ground – another dispelled minion.

April 21, 2194
We decide that the best way to fight them is from a distance, so we debate using crossbows or lightning javelins, but Fred’s new caster level wins out in the end. He will Fly scouting their numbers and if he gets a chance, he can Pool Ball Lightning them (multiple hits if they are between buildings). He can probably also Ice Storm them and we’ll give him a couple of Lightning javelins in case he needs to throw some at them.
As he Flies about, Fred spots 14 ghoulish creatures. He figures out that he can catch most of them perfectly between two buildings. He triple hits 11 of them with Pool Ball Lightning, destroying them (66 HP). They run for home, but he hits all three of the escapees for another 20 HP of damage from Ice Storm (3d10). He then deals another 16 from a lightning javelin (6d6), killing one and wounding the other. With a second javelin, he inflicts a final 25 to the last two ghoulish things before they can get home.

April 23, 2194
We decide to continue the nighttime scouting to make sure they are finished. On the second night, a second group of ten appears roaming around in addition to the bodies of the first slain ones.

April 25, 2194
Fred can’t find a decent killing field until the third night of hunting the remnants. He does 30 - double bounced and slays seven. The remaining three are significantly injured by the Ice Storm. So he resorts to Magic Missiles on them. He finishes one and two escape.

April 30, 2194
They come back out after five nights and Fred double hits for a total of 48 points of damage – slaying both of them.

May 3, 2194
Fred scouts for two more nights with no sign of movement. We use another Invisible Servant to carefully enter the triple building. The openings off the passageway in the triple building appear to have been shops and they were wrecked by the most recent inhabitants. There are few dead things within the shops. The upper level seems to have been two cafes that were connected by a common dining space. Around the perimeter of the upper level are statues that appear to have been sarcophagi. There are about 50 of them total, but only half were actually carved with faces. The carved ones are open and the unfinished are all closed.
At Shirlard’s insistence, we search all of them and find three ornate glass bottles with labels and two smaller square bottles. All five contain magical liquids – they were in one of the sarcophagi behind the bar. We also find nineteen pieces of Ancients’ jewelry – about 2000 gp worth.
The statues were residents of The Resort that passed away. The writing on the sarcophagi tells much of the stories of their lives. We are able to account for all of the missing bodies.
Orkish remains are found in the stores downstairs. We think there were about 6 to 10 and there are some random items amongst the bones. One of the Screaming Ghouls was in the trash as well.
The storage rooms are empty. The doors to the stores, storage rooms and stairways can be closed. There are places where food preparation can be done, but there are no food supplies or food creation, so we’ll have to supply our own, but we can cook here. The stores were a food store, a wine and liquor store, an art supply store and a clothing store. The clothing store is the most trashed, but none are intact. The orkish gear and the five bottles tucked away are the only things that are relatively intact.

May 4, 2194
We go back to exploring in the shadow of The Mall. The next building “in line” is closed. As we enter, we find many damaged statues, some with bits lying around that look like humanoid figures and animals. None are whole – most are rubble.
We do not get attacked by any statues, but we feel like we are being watched and then we notice some eyes following us. They are not part of a statue and they are creepy. Fred has the Servant shift the stone and nothing happens, so he flips it back over. Fred and Arthur realize that the eyes are flirty women’s eyes and they are flirting with them.
We also find half of a song bird’s head and neck. It is moving around almost as if it was alive. The motions are not a programmed loop. It really seems to follow you and react to your motions.
There is a staircase up to the next level. The second floor is a workshop with tools and stone in disarray. Some things are broken. Everything looks like it has been smashed intentionally.
The third floor room is surprising in that is undamaged. There is a metal frame bed, dressers and a desk. On the right-hand side of the stairs are two weird things. There is a skeleton with bits of jewelry and an intact shirt. Beyond it is an undamaged statue of a dog. There is a glowing smoky globe on the desk.
The dog starts moving and Serlisse tries Speak with Animals. He is reasonably friendly and Serlisse Speaks with him. He is bored. His master was coming up the stairs when the thing downstairs killed him. The master would spend time with her hand on the stone on the desk. He has only seen a couple of other people before. She was running up the stairs when the axe, tentacles and pincers killed her. It smelled like dying things and burning things and frost burnt meat.
Our Detect Evil shows that the downstairs has turned into a dark and intense, angry, vengeful chaotic evil. When Raybur shines his shield downstairs, for an instant he thinks he can see screaming dwarven faces. When we throw lights downstairs, we get brief flashes of it. It is a weird amorphous shape that seems to ooze and bubble. It is between 3 and 11 feet in diameter.
We try several things and finally we decide to try a three pronged attack. Conrhia will throw a javelin of Lightning, Sputnik will blast it with Radiance and Costigan will shoot a magic heavy crossbow at it. Sputnik and Costigan will have to hang over the edge with help. Conrhia fumbles and pops herself with the Lightning Bolt. Sputnik may do a bit of damage, but Costigan really seems to make it mad. Somehow it jumps into the middle of the party.
We struggle more than we should but eventually Phyllis with a bit of help from the rest of the party (especially Raybur’s Spiritual Sword) destroys the statue. If Sputnik or Raybur had thought to cast Prayer before the three pronged attack, it might have been a little easier, but the Protection from Evil 10’ Radius saved several hits and possible wounds. Even so we are very battered and it takes most of our healing capability to stop the bleeding. It had multiple arms and a soul draining attack that Raybur and then Phyllis resisted. When they resisted, the rest of us had to fight a fear effect, to which several of us fell victim. When it is slain, we find that the statue was a spiny ball with arms coming out of the center.
The dog does not want to leave his master, so we take her remains with us to Rest Eternal them. The dog preferentially bonds to Arthur, possibly because he is now the most Ancient-like, after 2 months of channeling that aged him 7 years. The dog’s name is difficult to translate, but he says it is “Rug” and another longer phrase. Rug had never left the building before today. He says he is hungry, so we feed him, but it, when he eats it is like Cookie Monster – food goes everywhere but down his non-existent gullet.

May 6, 2194
When we Augury Fred playing with the sphere and get this cryptic quote “Historians must willing to look into books.” This seems to indicate Sputnik a bit more, so we Augury him checking it out and get the “clearer” response of “Morning begins with the recognition of a new day.”
Sputnik casts Psychic Impression on the sphere and gets feelings of mainly boredom and monotony followed by a dim sense of reasonable happiness. And then they end.
Sputnik activates the device and barely figures out how to use it (makes his Intelligence check exactly). This is her diary and primarily, she was very bored. She was wealthy and knew that she was a great artist, but she was not happy with the way the sculptures were looking. She was making a pixie and was not happy with the upper part. She implies that she has plenty of stone with which to work on her creations. Occasionally she went out to eat with some of the neighbors, but frequently ordered food in. She was very wealthy even among the people here. She was making insane amounts of money. I pick through the entries for 6 hours before becoming exhausted.
Fred takes over the “reading.” She can buy all the best things she can think of. She can buy as much jewelry as she wants. She has the best equipment. At the Capitol there are some interesting auctions that she thinks of bidding on. Eventually, she buys something really interesting and she keeps it in the back of the drawer in case of an emergency. In searching the room, we find about 15-17 thousand gold pieces worth of jewelry and a ring made from a single piece of ruby that is warm to the touch.

May 7, 2194
We pick up again the next day and to her, the only thing that is interesting is when the statues start moving. The little motions just start happening. She doesn’t think that she has any magical abilities, but the statues are now animated – little things at first, but then more lifelike.
She mentions that the tourists leave but the artists are going to stay and she has enough stone keep working while waiting for the war to pass. She comes to the conclusion that she had sold out – the resort guests are gone and now she realizes that the “art” she had making for them isn’t really art.
Now, she has broken new ground and she has created life out of stone. She had owned a dog name Dark Carpet and she makes a statue of him that also comes to life. She continues to work and makes more elaborate things. The old works, like the stone pixie, annoy her rather than amusing her. After several more months of entries where she works in and orders food in, we realize that she had tabs everywhere and carried no money. She appreciates the lack of tourists in that there are no fawning admirers now. She is stunningly beautiful and many people revered her in ways that annoyed her.
She looks at the last year and realizes that the old stuff is sickly sweet and not visionary. She tries to create a vision of a nightmare representation of the wartime sequestering. She only has a few more entries before they stop. Clearly they were interrupted by the success of her final work.
Some of the entries stand out in that they seem weirder - she refers to the dog by weird euphemisms. Six months after Dark Carpet is finished, she starts to feel weird about the fact that she recreated her dead dog. Sometimes she is mean to the dog, but conflicted about whether to feel bad. He isn’t “alive” after all. The dog is about the talent level of a house dog – no tracking ability and he is afraid of the noise we make when we are doing drills and practicing to stay sharp.
She didn’t damage the statues – the nightmare probably did the destruction. She seems to have been there about six years before the tourists left and then she was killed about a year later.
We long for the day when we can send someone through to get magic items identified and make deposits into the Republic’s coffers.

Treasure

Ancients’ Statues
3 potions – Mind Blast Liquor “When you need to forget”
2 potions – No More Rowdy – waterier than the potions of Calm
19 pieces of jewelry – about 2k

Orkish
Magic Shield
Magic Spear
Magic Footman’s Flail
Potion A
Potion B
193 gp
75 pp
16 100 gp garnets
1 Holy Symbol of Ilneval – god of the common soldier

Sculptor
* Ring – Continuous piece of Ruby – Highly magical – slightly warm
* Silk blouse
Box of Jewelry – 15-17 kgp total
Pair of earrings - Platinum & diamond – 2k
Ring – Platinum & diamond – 2k
Necklace – Platinum, Ruby & Diamond -

Long Term Projects

Trade/sell paintings for Teleport pads between New Teft & Berk + encumbrance reduction devices (maybe tokenized alchemist’s field lab)
Move Obelisk (The Republic pays with help from Magic Item sales) & Armorer’s Tower (we pay)
Train Fred as an Alchemist – Dragon turtle (eggs?) Healing potions, etc. – Purchase laboratory from Berk
Recruit Ancients Sage(s) from The New World

Puzzle Ring is being ID’ed when might it be ready? – Sent in 2194 (probably December 2195)

Faster passenger ship that can make the round trip in one good sailing season or second ship – need more output from The Republic to justify additional shipping