Raid/Defense - The Dying Embers / Calligraphy of the Sky
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Though Narfell is a fair few mages short due to the disappearance of Spellweaver's Keep, Isolde has sifted through her notes, wracked her brain and consulted various experts of the arcane. Elvadriel in particular played a primary role in deflecting the last fiery "star" that descended towards Peltarch and Isolde now reasons they might try to replicate the circle magic used then. Even if the city is evacuated, there's always those that cannot or will not flee, plus it 'just' got rebuilt... and so she puts the call out to any spellsavy individuals willing to partake - if enough of the ritual magic can be recalled to make the attempt viable, that is.
Laura, for her part, seeing Jhael's thorough work on the Soul Jar, sets her sights on a more offensive research - namely potential uses of crystalline materials to embue with cold magic. She begins with coldstone, already carrying that innate property, but also tries moonstone, quartz and other locally available gemstones. Meanwhile she's drawing up wobbly-lined but intricate charts likely only she can make sense of. Though if asked, she'll explain that the basic idea is to explore ways of anchoring the creature both to the plane and the place selected for the showdown, through enchanted pillars envelopping an area with intense cold. "Though, um, if we're unable to gather and enchant enough material, enfusing just one good quality crystal with this cold could create a weapon that might weaken the being.... I think. I erm, I still haven't found the ideal component..."
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May 16th is the target date for this finale. You are invited (but not at all obliged) to coordinate any final preparations in this thread, if you have them.
DM Xanatos Gambit / Eternal
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I should be available on the 16th
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@Flom OOC: I missed the part about posting availability and I'm guessing other did too if they've even checked the thread. On Discord, I think only @Robyn and I expressed reservations for the 2nd? Mine have cleared.
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Would the 16th work for everyone for the final event? We can use the next two weekends for preparation and character interactions and to digest the consequences of the last two events.
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OOC: the 9th is not good for me, unfortunately. I do not see myself available before 21:00 CET, which is late to kick things off.
It does seem the 16th is free.
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OOC: Given that there was only a partial indication of availability in this thread, and given that we may be pushing back the new Norwick launch a little bit, I am inclined to use this weekend for a penultimate RP and planning session -- to have the Geese (and Locus) respectively plan their actions for the ultimate event which could be the weekend after next, i.e. May 9th -- please let me know if this would work for the scheduling.
[DM Xanatos Gambit]
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Jhael finds various tomes referring to "souls" as necessary reagents for the creation of phylacteries, as matter storable in soul jars, even as the fuel for certain darker magical spells -- her research leads her invariably to the spell used by Adan Whisperwick upon George Longcloak, i.e. Aumvor's Soul-Shatter - namely, its variant, for the aggressive ripping of a soul from a body to store it in another container, like a baleful creation of a phylactery (and the more surgical dissection of a soul from any parasitic passengers therein). But, she also finds the much more approachable Magic jar (Soul Jar) spell. This latter spell is the one proposed by Farian and the proposed stone tablet device he put forward, described in the previous posts. Jhael also comes to one potentially terrible realization: if Jax and his soul truly are merely a fragment of this "George Longcloak", the soul jar method likely simply won't work. If, however, Jax and his soul truly are their own separate individual entity (theory: or perhaps yet if they might have acquired this level of distinction over time)... then maybe it might work. Besides that, Jhael uncovers a method of invoking the soul jar offensively, which lowers the otherwise rather high marginal DC of success by 5.
Aoth finds that the commonfolk, farmers, and wildlife all hide underground, in those new tunnel formations, far below where it is still bearably cool. After her trip further north, to the great glacier, she further finds that the winds are quite welcome in the polar vortex. What begins as a breeze turns to a gust and then a whirlwind, until, eventually, it forms a proper blizzard, pelting the region with chill wind and icy cold that makes its way south towards Peltarch -- a cold finds itself at odds with the growing heat. The result is severe weather, with storms and hurricanes, but the net effect of this is further reprieve from the otherwise still as of yet growing heat. There is, however, one great glacier - the largest of them in the north - which has yet to lend its cold. A stubborn thing, holding out as if negotiating with the wind.
[DM Xanatos Gambit]
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For a time, Jhaelrya seems especially heartbroken at the unexpected loss of a friend, and the reaction is only exacerbated by her untimely absence. Having no connection to divine magic, she turns instead to her earliest lessons, to studies which she long elided from her curriculum vita. With the limited resources within reach, she begins to consult necromantic texts in search of gleanings about the incorporeal undead. She searches for treatises on the atoms of spirit, on the consumption of spiritual energy, and the transmutation of the soul as practiced in the lower planes. She takes notes on shortcuts, common hacks, and the incomplete closures in these practices. She hopes to pinpoint likely methods of disrupting and reversing the process that took Jax.
Elsewhere, very many elsewheres in fact, one might think the gray druid has left civilization to fend for itself. At the outer reaches of Peltarch's farmland, hunters find new stone formations and crevices of uncertain depth. The wise will see the shade these provide, and access to aquifers. With a conception of kingdom befitting her druidry more than any political title, Aoth has done what she can to preserve the insects, the birds, the wild seed, and all the hidden webs of life that city walls can never truly exclude nor exist without. Then, with what time remains, she speeds north toward the edge of the glacier, where the great barrier of the polar vortex runs its eternal course. She lifts her prayers as ever to the heart of the tempest herself, but not with incense today. She dances with whirlwinds, summons unseasonly storms and capricious entities of the air. All this to call on her goddess---to tempt her goddess---to let loose these chill winds from their circumpolar cage. What mere star can lay a claim to fate when a butterfly can upend all?
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Isolde suggests to Christina and the bardic community at large within the College that those who so desire should join the temporary refuge to Moonreach, providing drinks, sweets and entertainment to ease the tensions. With perhaps a smidge of reluctance, she adds:
"...We should even have the cakes with the 'stuff' in them included in this care package, it's only fair. It is, after all, not just a crisis but a once in a life time chance to really bridge the divide. Let's bring Moonreach a true taste of the best that the Bardic College has to offer, hm? We should liase with Baxter, a local bard, to make sure we don't stomp on anyone's toes."
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George's men stand by and ready for evacuation, as set.
George prays . . . during one of his prayer sessions, he hears word from one of his men that "Isolde Garibaldi" and "Reyhenna Jorino" are organizing some manner of defense, and there is talk of a "trap."
DM Xanatos Gambit
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Gom agrees. Among the list of evacuees, some put up protest; Thalaman, certain Guild Leaders, as well as Dacre Aberdeen, are among the major protesters. That being said, they eventually do come around and begin to assist in the evacuation and be ready to proceed to Moonreach.
Once the first evacuees even arrive to Moonreach, May Celine, on behalf of the Cleimant Council and Lord Caleb, sends official correspondence indicating that, as promised in previous correspondence, Moonreach's doors are open and that the Keep has room for Peltarch's refugees.
She does, however, press hard that Peltarch should bring food supplies, as the Keep might not be able to feed everyone for very long.
Meanwhile, in Moonreach, May Celine and her Lunar Knights have begun a systemic incursion down below into the caverns - occupying control of the first and second levels beneath the Keep, chasing the goblins deeper underground, while the Cleimants have provisioned makeshift cots and barricades to prepare for the arrival of the Peltarch refugees.
DM Xanatos Gambit
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Reyhenna requests General Gom declare Martial Law and impose a curfew to ensure nobody has the opportunity to loiter outdoors whilst staring up at the second sun until they lose their minds. Looking up in general is frowned upon.
She draws up a list of people whom she orders evacuated to Moonreach Keep, where the calamity does not appear to reach:
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King Thalaman
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Issac Thaddeus
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Prince Adrian Fisher
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All Royal Council Members
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All major Guild Leaders
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All heads of Noble Houses and their immediate heirs
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Dacre Aberdeen
She stresses that this is a mandatory evacuation, and invites the other Geese to add any names to the list they think need adding.
Then, in discussion with the others and General Gom, she proposes that Captain Longcloak be moved outside of Peltarch to a more remote location on the assumption that his duplicate is coming for him specifically. Her initial thinking was to place him on a ship or at the bottom of the lake, but on hearing Isolde's recollection of the "freaky cold place" that Friggus Mortis had doubtlessly come from she concurs that that seems like an even better idea.
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Having no real body to train, and his skills seeming ingrained in his wandering spectre, George foregoes the training he usually would submit himself to.
Instead, he spends every available hour with Meadow, ensuring she is as comfortable as she can be in her state, enjoying their time together and urging her to leave Narfell if the star comes too close.
In his function as a captain, he sets his men to prepare an evacuation. Though the order is not given, he wants them ready for the eventuality.
In the quiet hours of the day, when all others are taking their rest, his ghost can be found before the altar of Amaunator. Praying or meditating. If pressed why he worships a dead god, his answer comes "no more dead than I am, really".
In all his prayers, there is really just one question.
"Where do I take my stand?"
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And there is no sign of it stopping.
[DM Xanatos Gambit]
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Isolde, indeed, knows the location deep, primordial "cold," that crack in the earth, initially revealed to the Golden Geese by the death knight of frost, Frigus Mortis. It is to the far northeast, farther northeast than Moonreach still - within the deepest and lowest valleys of the Icerim Mountains.
Horgrim indicates that a baleful teleport would be extremely difficult. The entity is rather large. He indicates he has never before "balefully teleported a star." At Isolde's suggestion of a trap, though, he murmurs that it might be possible if the group had the right bait?
Laura finds very little scientific or arcane answers as to what a soul is. Fiendish texts suggest it is currency. Celestial ones suggest it is the essence of mortal grace -- specifically, the animating lifeforce, essence, and identity of a mortal creature, separating from the body after death to journey to an afterlife plane or to be judged. (Except, of course, if it is caught, abducted, or captured by something else before that can happen.)
Farian takes a rather functional approach reminds her that it is "something that can be extracted" using the stone/soul jar he gave her.
DM Xanatos Gambit
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Isolde and Laura both stand ready at the given time - each with their own ideas and agenda on what's to come.
Isolde considers their earlier confrontations with Far Realm entities Vanity and Dominion - breathing a quiet sigh of relief that divination is restored, though repeating Jonni's then solution in detail is unlikely - the element of surprise being low for the star having watched them all so closely. Still, she consults Jonni on possible alternate means by which to reveal the falsehood of George 'Prime' to itself.
She also consults her notes with regards to a certain location of extreme cold, tied to yet another 'sister' and seeks Horgrim's council with regards to potentially balefully teleporting the entity there (or indeed within some other entrapment like a Labyrinthe wherein they might whittle its defences down without burning the world around them). In clandestine and windowless indoors locations, quiet conversations with the above and all the rest of the Golden Geese and their allies are had...
Laura, for her part, focuses on studying not only the device Farian provided the group, but also the essence of what a soul is - reading any and all materials, including religious texts, that she can find on the subject, clearly determined to bring Jaxon/206 back (and none other). While her worship of Mystra usually expresses itself in studies rather than prayers proper, she will also make the trip to Peltarch to spend a night at her godess' shrine in earnest petition of grace.
