(An FYI: I'm going to settle most of these with simple skill checks
and lore/exposition dumps, just because that's easier than back and forth RP. After lunch will follow soon.)
Johanna:8 AM:
(Intelligence Check to decipher Evil Book: 1+4)
Half the text is a heavily ciphered mess of incomprehensible diagrams and unreadable figures. It's hard work, but the cipher starts to break under Johanna's keen mind, and the secrets of the Dragon Cult begin to spill out, free to hijack and weaponize for the forces of the Lord's Alliance. Know thy enemy, and all that.
The first of many secrets is a potion that will "boil fyre from thy belly, scalding the foes of Thee Dragon Queen". It doesn't seem too difficult to create; the ingredients, while expensive, aren't too uncommon, and the process should only take an hour, at most.
9 AM:
Johanna is waiting outside the door of her patron (whose name she realized she missed) in the chill winter's wind (perhaps furs would be a good investment?) when the nine o'clock bell rings, and is promptly invited inside by a butler. They've a rather nice house, if a bit heavy on the carpets and tapestries, Johanna notes, before it finally clicks; the tapestries are to hide the damage and burglary from a few nights ago.
She is led to a study, where a wiry, strungout-looking woman is setting up her easel and paints over a white sailcloth to protect the luxurious hardwood. Her patron is sitting on a padded stool, looking off into the middle distance with a self-important expression when she enters. His eyes snap to her, and a quick smile graces his face. He gestures to a similar stool off to the side. Johanna takes it, and makes small talk with her client and the painter while she finishes her preparations. She picks up the client's name, (Mr. Voclain) during that. The painter strikes her as a talented, but exceptionally nervous young person. Slowly, the conversation transfers into painting, but not before Mr. Voclain turns down Johanna's original outfit, and dismissing another three before settling back on the first one.
(Arcana Check: 14+6)
Johanna maintains a simple illusion of high fashion using continual reapplication of Minor Illusion, which does the deed well enough, but is sorely lacking in the fine detail of more taxing spells. When the portraitist requests that detail, she switches over seamlessly to Silent Image, matching the illusion so closely to Mr. Voclain's slightest movements, the clothes are almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
Johanna's well paid after the three hours; 25 more Golden Lions jingle in her purse. Mr. Voclain gives her a letter to pass onto a reliable tailor in a city, if she passes through one.
Adrik:The elderly half-elf is minding the temple when Adrik enters. He smiles kindly, "Welcome, traveler. What can I do for you? The temple is ope-"
He stops, realization spreading across his face.
"Ah! You must be Adrik, that adventurer! Escobert told me you would be coming around."
The priest's eyes drift to Adrik's amulet, and sparkle with interest.
"And this must be why you came. Well, it's a simple enough answer; you won't find Elven silver smiths of that skill anywhere outside of Elven lands-beside the guilds of Waterdeep."
His smile fades, replaced by a somber expression. "Escobert told me what you're looking for. Be careful when dealing with the guilds; they have long memories and longer grudges. If your parents were members, someone would remember them. Sorry, but that's all I can tell you of it."
The smile returns, and he asks "Is there anything else you need my help with?"
Arwen:The blacksmith is busy today, apprentices running around frantically, the bellows already hot and pumping hard, and the sound of metal on metal rings out across the neighborhood. If a kobold knocks his eyes out next, Arwen reckons, at least he'll be able to find the blacksmith to sell his gear.
A rather bored, yet tense apprentice is manning the counter today, and eagerly helps Arwen.
The total cost for tempering the blade comes out to 50 Gold, payable in Golden lions or Baldur's Gate-minted Trade Bars. The apprentice retrieves the sword from the back, and lays in on the counter, wrapped in thick leather. Unwrapping it, the apprentice reveals a beautiful, almost brand new sword. The grip has been rewrapped in shagreen, and the pommel polished to a shine. But the blade itself is the main attraction. It's been completely reforged, tempered in the center a silver-blue and on the edges to a golden-straw like color, with the cutting edges sharpened to razors. The apprentice explains that the blade will soon dull, and require professional resharpening, but for a few battles, it's an especially deadly weapon.
There are several different shops in town that Arwen could peruse, ranging from an apothecary, a market where various farmers and hunters are hawking their goods, a tailor, and a stable.
Which would he like to patronize?There were many men at dinner last night, Arwen will have to be more specific.(Intelligence Check: 8+2)
The closest thing this town has to a library is the governor's study, which holds a handful of books about magic. One Arwen picks up is a rather lengthy and dry text about the history magic.
Lord Ao created the universe. At first it was nothing but energy, with neither light nor dark, heat nor cold. Eventually the energy created two deities Selūne and Shar. Together they created heavens and Chauntea, the embodiment of the world of Toril. Chauntea begged for light and warmth so that she could create life on the new world, but Shar opposed this vehemently. The subsequent war between the sisters created new deities war, murder, and destruction among them. When Selūne lit one of the nearby heavenly bodies on fire to provide the light and warmth needed, Shar became enraged, trying to extinguish light everywhere. Selūne tore the energy from her own body and flung it at Shar, where it joined with Shar's energy and passed from both of them, thus creating the goddess of magic, Mystryl. The birth of Mystryl not only brought a truce to Selūne and Shar, but created the Weave.
(Intelligence Check: 20+2)
It took Arwen an hour to get through half of the first part, but it was a long slog; he hasn't sat down and read a book in ages. After all, reading is a muscle like any other, and he forgot to stretch before going in. He rubs his blearly eyes, and gets ready to start in earnest.
In the newly created Toril, magic abounded in everything, but in its raw state it was too dangerous for mortals to use. The Weave is a like a fabric, consisting of many threads, all woven together to create an intricate design. Spellcasting and the use of magic items pulls individual threads and reweaves them, creating a new design. Now both mortals and deities could use magic through this fabric that was both the embodiment of Mystryl and a conduit to raw magic.
When the Phaerimm, a race dwelling under the surface of the earth, began to cast spells draining the empire of Netheril of its magic, a powerful mage named Karsus created a link to Mystryl in an attempt to steal her power, become a god and save his empire. This caused a great rift in the Weave, and Mystryl was so weakened that she sacrificed herself to save the world. Since she was the Weave, magic immediately ceased all across Toril. A new goddess of magic named Mystra was born, and she was able to repair the weave in a way that such powerful spells could never be used against it again.
When Bane and Myrkul stole the Tablets of Fate from Ao, the overgod cast all the deities of the Realms out of their divine homes and forced them to walk the Material Plane in their avatar forms until the tablets were recovered. The only exception was Helm who was tasked with guarding the Celestial Stairway from any deity who attempted to return home.
Mystra, whose presence on Faerūn was damaging the Weave, attempted to get past Helm so that she could start fixing it, but Helm, sworn to guard the Stairway against any intrusion killed Mystra for her attempt.
At this point, lunch is about to begin, and Arwen forces himself to put down the book, leaving the fate of Mystra, the Weave, and magic in the world for later.
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Topic: D&D 5e: The Tyranny of Dragons. IC Thread: A Much Delayed End. (Read 119900 times)