The Balance of Power

[at]

The night at Burr Town is peaceful and food is waiting for the group when they awaken. Eldon has recovered enough to speak with them and the people of the town have offered to clean, mend, and sharpen any of the groups equipment before they leave on their journey.

When they arrive at Eldons room he looks haggard but aware, and ready to answer the groups questions.

[sageaqua]

"I hope your feeling better. But we are in a hurry and we cannot stay long. Can you read this?" asks Ka'lion handing Eldon his book, "And if not can you tell us about the magical properties of our capes?"

[(George) 3.5./ ZEM ( 4.0)]

I don't wish to benbard you with question but afeter your done I do have a few questions of my own. As my friend has said we are in a bit of rush, but there my be key information in this book, Our hope is if it can be read we may find out a lot to what is going on.
after he has finished his work on the book and the capes george will ask his next few questions but he knows the man does need to rest so that he can full recover. yet he looks a lot better then he did, that was some good news, better then he hoped for.

[at]

As Ka'lion reaches down to unpack the book Eldon looks towards Altar, "what of Clearwater?"

Altar answers, "a pack of undead wyverns intercepted us before we reached the town, I returned for help but I fear it is too late - these travellers have come from Clearwater and have seen it's fall"

Eldon inquires "and Lothian?", to which Altar replies "I did not see him fall, but he could not have survived those odds"


When Ka'lion produces the book Eldon seems surprised, "where did you find this?" He sits up to better inspect the book, each page in turn, "this is a record of the demons first attack, it shows where each was imprisoned", looking up, "with this perhaps we could anticipate their course, reach their goals before they do"

He turns back to the first page, "here, the first was trapped under the covenant of the flame itself, we must send them word if it is not already too late"

[rhinobullet]

Garrot raises his eyebrows and simply listens. He will let the big people do the talking to the old wrinkly fellow.

[sageaqua]

"We didn't see it fall. But where told how it fell after we returned from the city under the temple. We lost a month of time. So we didn't see anything other then the barbarian attack on the town and find a lot of dead bodies in the temple. We are going to hunt down the barbarian's to learn what they know latter today. But as far as the flame. It's mostly dead." say's Ka'lion, "From what we where told and have seen."

[at]

"You have heard word from the covenant?" asks Eldon.

[harknail]

"Priests of the flame sent us to give a message to you," answered Vadania. She'll give Eldon the long story, starting with the tomb in the lizard folk valley and how the long dead came to life there. The attack on clearwater by barbarians, ending with the dead coming to life again. She'll describe their exploration of the city beneath the temple and her theory that Clearwater had been slowing draining the holy water prison of the demon for drinking water. She'll tell him about the group of survivors from Clearwater, and how they and the Priests of the Flame were under siege by goblins. And she'll tell him about the portal to elsewhere that they had found with the door propped open and how they left it closed (and asked if there may be weapons to fight the demons to be found there). And she mention the bandits at the farmstead. And finally she tell her theory that the Barbarians knew that Clearwater was slowly releasing the demon, but arrived too late to stop it. She'll answer any questions Eldon has asking for more details.

After all, since she has come to Eldon for advice, giving him as much information as possible will allow him to give better advice.

She concludes with, "What do you think needs to be done now? And can you help us translate the rest of the book before we leave?"

[rhinobullet]

Garrot looks for a nice spot to sit down and rest. He scans the room for anything shiny or interesting.

[sageaqua]

"Your theory? that the Barbarians knew that Clearwater was slowly releasing the demon. That's my theory but it's nice that you agree with me." adds Ka'lion. "Which is why we need to talk with the barbarains to find out what they really know and why they really attacked the temple and Clearwater."

[harknail]

Vadania answers, "The barbarians that attacked the temple are all dead, don't you remember? We killed several ourselves. There may be others who stayed behind, but they might not know what was happening as well as we do."

[at]

Eldon listens somberly to Vadanias account, "the demon is moving quickly, I fear that it will reach it's brothers soon and together they will once again seek to subjugate these lands"

Turning as Ka'lion speaks, "the barbarians are not unknown to Burr Town, yet they did not carry warning here. I cannot say why but the portents must have been grim for such an attack. The tribes are fractured, your descriptions would suggest the 'Rus' who roam to the west of the hollow. Still I am not convinced that the demons escape was so simple, I fear another may have had a hand."

Turning back to Vadania, "The book appears to be a map of sorts, people, places, and perhaps even clues as to the manner in which the demons were first defeated. But the world has changed greatly since it was written, it is no simple translation as landmarks and symbols have changed across the years." He considers, "the libraries of the monastery might provide further insight but the demon would not have left them untouched. Still the book is enough to start a search, here you see" pointing at symbols in the book, "these symbols are the marks of kings, from the old desert kingdoms to the east, a specific kingdom of old - though long lost to the sands"


He pauses, "the heroes of old that bound the demons no longer have a like in this land, but their legacy still lingers for others to take up. The tomb you speak of, the golden sword is one such legacy, and the monastery flame is another if it still burns - it once trapped a demon within and may do so again. Of the portal though I have no knowledge, this land was once contained a wealth of magic, a great kingdom long since buried."


Nearby Garrot pokes around though finds little but food, water, and clothing. This was clearly not Eldon's home.

[sageaqua]

Ka'lion chuckles, "We don't know all the barbarians that attacked the temple are dead. We know we killed a lot of them and we think they are dead but I'd be very surprised if they didn't send messengers back home to report what happened in Clearwater. Scouts and messengers will know quite a bit. Their families where back there. Those family members would want and need to know what happened to them. We don't have families but they would send their chief as much information as they could. I know I would if I was one of the chief's messengers and could spare the troops. You better believe it. At the very least the barbarains families would know why they left their people. It would of been genral knowledge. And until we talk to them it is only a theory"

[at]

"The shaman that you describe was almost certainly Yup'ik. He was not the ruler of the Rus but must have siezed control if he led the attack, else Dogon himself would have been there. To mount an attack of such scale would have taken all the warriors of the tribe, perhaps more."

"The quest for such answers, important though the might be, would not be quick nor easy. The fell is not a safe place at the best of times and to travel around its borders would take many weeks."


Eldon looks thoughtful, "Both gods and demons are bound by ancient laws and powers greater than themselves in matters of the mortal worlds. No one knows how these demons circumvented these laws, likely all knowledge has been sought out and destroyed lest another follow their path, but their power here can be contained."

"The first to defeat them fought long and hard before they discovered such knowledge and how to bring it to bear. We have the benefits of their knowledge and the legacy of the magic they forged in battle, but the demons too are prepared this time. I must travel to the monestary, to see if the flame can yet be saved, and then onwards. Without this guide and with the empires of the east to overcome there is yet time to reclaim the magic of old before the demons can rise to full power."


He turns the book back a page and points towards a small figure in battle wielding a golden sword, half man and half beast, "But if you are not to go east then return to the valley. A hero of the old war was laid to rest there. If the demons are cannot be stopped soon then they will bring a new age of darkness to the land and those who fight back will need weapons such as these to stand against them... I can only hope that such does not come to pass."

[sageaqua]

"I plain to go after the golden sword. Just not at this time. We need more exsparance and I need to come up with a plain that wont end up getting us killed." said Ka'lion, "If you hurry you can bet us to it. Otherwise you'll need to wait. But that said it sounds like we have a month journey ahead of us. Can you tell us about the capes and the watchgaurd's?" as Ka'lion reclaims his book and puts it away.

[at]

"I understand that you would not wish to confront the demon, few would. But the book and possessions of those who fought before are the only weapons we have and they must go east even if you do not."

[harknail]

Vadania replies, "You don't get experience by running and hiding Ka'lion. If we want to get good enough to take on the demons, we need to practice by fighting their minions and gathering the weapons we need. "

OOC: We've already learned that running from all fights we can slows down gaining XP. And meanwhile the demons are getting stronger too, especially if we aren't opposing them.

She continues, "Eldon, what about the other priests of the flame? The ones under siege by goblins?"

[sageaqua]

"They well." say's Ka'lion, knowing full well to refuse is death at this point. But also knowing any agreement he made being pushed into a corner like this he had little intention of honoring and knowing full well the priest is a lot more power then he is and could and would cast on the party quest spells if he felt he had to. He also realized that he didn't want to end up killing the old man he just nearly died saving. But he'd go or not on his terms. The objects belonged to the him and Valerma not the long dead. And not those in need. Either.

He had a strong feeling that George would desert if pushed into a corner like this as well. Georges strange and often confusing way of speech made two points crystal clear. Each person should follow their own path and each person should not be dependent on others.

Ka’lion however had a completely different reason for not racing the demon. He felt it was completely insane to start a race and give the faster guy a full month head start and then try to beat him to his goal. Especially when you had no idea where the race was going. To Ka’lion that was the very definition of insanity.

[at]

Eldon nods, "I must rejoin them. My days as a warrior are long past but in times such as these we do what we can." He pulls out his holy symbol, identical to that the blacksmith Grale wore in Clearwater, "the flame at the heart of the monastery was the source of power for our order and the prison for one of the demons consorts, though we knew it not. It's power is now faint and distance, but it still burns."

Thoughtfully, "once the flame and the armouries of the monastery produced silver weapons of great power to wield against the threat of the demons return, perhaps it can do so again... a new order of knights... but there is so little time and so few to answer the call. We allowed time to sow doubt into our minds and now we and those we swore to protect pay the price for our failure."



This is a story branch point that can go several ways - for instance if Ka'lion decides the book is his and runs off into the fell alone the game will restart 1 level and 4 months into the future as the group finally track him down and learn his fate amidst wider changes to the fell itself - though it may be something to discuss in the OOC thread before the party jumps a whole level.

NPCs can be swapped and previously abandoned adventures can also be restarted here too - the underground city, the lost mines, the sunken ship, the portal in the forest, and of course the monastery of the flame. Encounters and treasure will be adjusted to your new levels and legacy item quests are also available.

And Eldon certainly isn't going to be casting a geas any time soon.

[harknail]

May 15, 2014 10:38:31 GMT -5 sageaqua said:

Ka’lion however had a completely different reason for not racing the demon. He felt it was completely insane to start a race and give the faster guy a full month head start and then try to beat him to his goal. Especially when you had no idea where the race was going. To Ka’lion that was the very definition of insanity.

OOC: So instead Ka'lion wants to give the demon several more years of a head start and keep anyone else from racing the demon by removing the tools needed to fight the demon. To Vadania THAT is the very definition of insanity!

So am I really understanding Ka'lion's plan correctly? He wants all of us to drop out of the adventure, taking the tools needed to fight the demon with us. Work for a few years to go up a level (you don't level quickly while hiding), then come out and face the demons once they've had time to secure their power and take over the world?