May Celine's Assassins Physical Description: They are four. None show their face. Each is veiled by a hood, helmet, masque or otherwise. The first is a heavily armored warrior, who wears a fur pelt, and carries a greatsword inscribed with golden and firey runes. The second is presumed to be a priest who wears chain armor and cloak inscribed with various symbols of a spiraling sun, invokes divine magic, and wields magical spears of dull gold. The third is some manner of rogue or scout who wears a black leather jerkin and carries scabbards for two short swords as well as a longsword, along with various other satchels for tools and potions. The fourth is a mage wears who wears an arcanist's robe and cowl, and carries with him various scrolls and tomes. Public Knowledge: The quartet assassinated May Celine, High Priestess of the Hidden Moon on the eve of her meeting with the Paladin Ashla Mihr Anahel one fortnight following the exodus of Lunar Knights from the Order of the Hidden Moon. The attack was a combined effort of all four in a coordinated and well prepared ambush. The quartet's spell-casters countered May Celine's magic, blotted out the moon with an illusory solar spell, and physically and magically assaulted the priestess in the middle of her conversation with the Paladin Ashla. Ashla was magically subdued. Three of the four were already gone when the Locus Operandi intervened to save Ashla from the warrior's executioner's blade, the full party's surprise intervention forcing a retreat. May Celine's body was never recovered; the circumstances of its disposal remain unclear. Rumor is that the assassins have absconded with it. Thematic Music: Coda in the dark.

Updated.

Updated

I am delaying this to be held next week sunday instead.

The hand-bound text sits on Jhaelryna's usual desk in the Moonreach library. Algebraic Illusion and Automatic Proofs in Combinatorics By Jhaelryna Desptyl Submitted to Spellweaver Keep, Narfell In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Illusion Advisor: ___________ Within, the first few chapters each introduce a set of diagrams - runes of illusion that control the flow of arcana. Each is seemingly quite simple, if opaque to the casual reader. The hundreds pages that follow are devoted to disentangling their meanings and combinations. For the few with expertise in its combined subjects --- illusion, logic, and abstract algebra --- the thesis outlines three specific uses for programmed illusion: one capable of adding or multiplying any two integers, the second a memory space to store and order these integers, and the third a set of logical operators for combining these resources. If the text is abstract, the demonstration makes plain a few possibilities. Within the library, improving with every iteration, an illusory celestial sphere revolves forward and backward, jumping thousands of years in either direction according to the needs of the illusion's operator. Day by day, Jhaelryna corrects the programmed illusion with Farian's best charts, and it swiftly comes to outpace them all. Unlike these books and the astrologer's mechanical tools, the illusion has no more weight than the scroll of paper on which its casting is inscribed. Unlike constructs and an artificer's gimmicks, the illusion is consistent, and requires no animating soul-stuff to be bound within. Illusion may have always seemed a strange specialty for the elf without a single theatrical bone in her body. Jhaelryna disagrees. "Illusion is thought itself," she'll explain to the interested. "Logic is the law of thought, and mathematics its language. With this, any problem that can be expressed with integers can be solved." The second text, which Jhaelryna worked on simultaneously, she keeps hidden. Even if one should one riffle through her personal items, they'd find text to be gibberish unless one spies and unlocks the illusion. Report on Unsanctioned Magic in Northern Narfell After an short introduction of praise for Mystra's grand order, the report is further divided into two sections. Moonreach - The text explains the basics of astrologer Farian's teachings, noting that despite atypical components and their corresponding limitations, the effects do not exceed Mystra's limitations on mortal magic. Astrology is directly compared at many points to the known benefits of circle magic, ritual casting, and other acts which require significant preparation and resources. This section also contains notes on the divine magic practices of Moonreach, which Jhaelryna suggests may be connected to an unknown demipower. The section concludes with a passage dedicated to "Advice," in which she primarily suggests that Spellweaver not allow Moonreach become isolated again. The Golden Geese - This section makes three points plain. First, the Golden Geese well-deserve the accolades given, and they have even earned more trust than is commonly accorded to them. Second, the author claims to have witnessed the workings of magic not bound by the Weave. Whether this means manipulating raw magic or something more alien, Jhaelrya is uncertain. She describes her experience with an extraplanar space referred to as "backstage," which operated as a less-reliable form of Conjuration. Jhaelryna opines that the casual usage of such dangerous and forbidden magic while within Realmspace signals a carelessness that could cause considerable injury to the local Weave. Third, she notes that the members of the Geese appear to be in disagreement over this practice. Like the first half of the report, the final subsection begins with the heading "Advice," but its contents are blank.

Content Update: War of the Aureates An Ancient Acropolis "Once, fire wore a mask of gold. Before that, the two were one." -- Flamekeeper Ereda. Square off against the memory of a golden age trapped in the corpse of an empire: a labyrinthine complex of buried ramparts, destroyed palisades, and crashed spires -- home to the echo of those that denied the night, whose dead sun refuses to set. This update expands the deepest levels beneath Moonreach Keep. It introduces new areas, enemies, items, and bosses, the new rune-crafting system and new secrets, lore, and puzzles for a cohesive and objective-based challenge. This content is designed for levels 13-16+, with areas for solo, small groups, and full parties, and introduces a vision for endgame difficulty & systems. Relics of a Forgotten World "Bastard won't go down. Nearly cut me in twine." - "Courage! Greater foe, greater glory. Besides, don't you want his fancy knife?" "... Yes." -- Feowem Belarod to Dorron Aster. This update implements our totally revamped encounter, loot, and item systems, part of which involves a new approach to item rewards that accounts for rarity and the opportunity to acquire handcrafted gear. Defeating new enemies and exploring the new maps provides a chance to find pre-determined unique equipment and themed sets. If an enemy wears a piece of armor, cloak, or jewelry, or wields a certain weapon, or other such equipment, that enemy has a chance to drop it (or a more balanced variant). Faction chests also have a chance to drop any piece from that faction's set. Each contains specific stat combinations and comes with a piece of Moonreach lore. Whether you want to complete a collection, find a specific type, or put together the history of the province, defeating these foes and raiding their zones will give you a chance to progress. There is also a chance now to find all scrolls, including rare and powerful scrolls, such that mages can now complete their spellbooks without having to rely on a DM. That is in addition to a large set of new potions, as well as a new type of crafting material, small stone tablets of archaic scripture called runes, which can be used in an all new crafting system -- and other more unique rare consumables. It also introduces hidden arcane chests, the keys for which are fragile and crumble upon use, and can be found in the general loot pool. It likewise introduces the separate concept of crafted runic key items, which must be combined from fragments in different locations. All of the foregoing is distinct from and in addition to the expansion of Moonreach's crescent moon key system with additional crescent moon doors and a new crescent moon key to find. The rarity of drops, what exactly drops, and how often items do drop, will vary depending on difficulty and location. Harder content means more risk, but also more reward -- sometimes much more. * Image generated by AI using Gemini. Runes & Runewords: Transmute Fabled Artefacts "Words hold power. It was ever thus." -- Lady Hokanoe. "Beautiful, but a storied memory. Not so potent as the original." -- Legate Ravoque. Our overhauled loot drop & crafting systems are combined to introduce a new endgame item enchantment system: runes & runewords, which enable players to add properties to existing RLG base items in order to craft specific gear tailored to their PC and playstyle. Players can now find rare runes in PVE. For example, "Ath" is a rune. So are "Lir," and "Nefh," and many others, for a current total of 26 different runes. They are now in the drop pool in Moonreach. Collect, trade, & combine runes in the right order at a special crafting station to imbue an RLG item with a runeword. This adds properties to the RLG item, from a pool of desirable stats. Some properties are legendary combinations of multiple stats, to form a truly end-game level piece of equipment. There are over 40 runeword combinations, with many more to come in future updates. Combinations vary widely in potency, complexity, and rarity. For example, the weapon runeword "Crescent" adds the Keen property, whereas "Thirst" adds Vampiric Regeneration. For armor, "Fortress" grants Armor Class and Physical Damage Resistance for better durability, but "Balefyre" grants, among other properties, flaming aura magic to retaliate against attackers. These are merely a few examples. Different combinations of runes and their effects are initially secret. You must either experiment, or discover hidden recipe books scattered throughout Moonreach. Even after you add the runeword properties, the base RLG item's existing properties are preserved. Depending on the preserved properties, your version of a given runeword/rune-crafted item may therefore be quite different than another adventurer's version. Choose the base RLG item carefully. Once a runeword is added, the item is finalized & locked: you cannot undo it, nor can you add a different runeword or remove the runes. If you want a different variation of a given runeword, upon a different base, you'll need to find another set of runes and another base item. Long Term Endgame Vision "Don't focus on single dots. Connect them. Syllables, words, sentences. See the pattern?" -- Astrologer Rena. This update is the spearhead for TOTON's endgame. It uses each of our modernized PVE, boss, loot, and crafting systems to create an engaging, difficult, and long-lasting PVE experience meant to be greater than the sum of its parts, with deliberately heavy risk balanced against appropriate reward that accounts for rarity and power. Endgame progress will now involve itemization to scale. Character progress is moving away from primarily experience points gain (which by definition is finite / must end), and instead moving towards locating, acquiring, and combining different rare items and crafting components -- some of which are exceedingly rare -- to favor flexible, horizontal, long-term itemization, crafting, and collection objectives. Character builds will no longer only be a matter of class and feats, but also also choices of items (including crafted items) and their potentially unique play-style altering properties. The "best" item for a given slot will no longer be so obvious, or even extant, and will instead depend on PC preferences. Options will no longer be only about meeting simple thresholds of basic stats like AC, enhancement, and saving throws, but will also involve tradeoffs and choices among many more different desirable stats when deciding what to equip in the slot, and upon what to spend rare and valuable crafting material. When it comes to a given item slot, different player characters of the same class may want a very different sorts of weapons, armors, or other equipment. Lore, Campaign & Plot Progression "As above, so below." -- Archaic Proverb. "What artifice of divinity. I can only laugh!" -- Magister Vamque. Return to Moonreach Keep and the Locus Operandi, as plots converge & narratives collide in the wake of unearthed threats and adversaries. The saga continues on the launch day of this new content, currently scheduled for July 26, 2026. That includes plot progress with regard to the Locus Operandi's current situation, including: The recovery and repossession of the coalesced aether; whispers heard by Florian of the intentions of the Moonfey, the Gloaming Witch, & the restored Calderan Lord to vie for the coalesced ether now possessed by the Locus; the annihilation of Hokanoe; a quicksilver clone of Octavia, which is at large; and, Aenhever's visions of a fearsome moonlit rite and courting by a pack of feral ne'er-do-wells. Laura Cade's search for her brother Barton; Jhaelryna's research into Spellweaver Keep; Nerrez's affiliation with a moonrat student of runes; archaic tomes found by Patrick; as well as Jax's reconstitution, whose body has been restored, but whose tether and stability are in question. The abandonment of May Celine by all but the small handful of her closest Lunar Knights, following Ashla Mihr Anahel's challenge against her secrecy and clandestine dealings surrounding mercurial quicksilver, and the inquiries from other Lunar Knights which followed. More generally, the battles against Adan Whisperwick and the blazing star entity have quaked the province of Moonreach, leading to the re-opening of long-forgotten passages below, including to the Aureate ruins and their tarnished fane. Your adversaries will not rest, nor will the ground beneath Moonreach Keep, as it quakes and crumbles to open new passages into lost and lethal realms.

A few nights before the moot, Miv does his best to attempt to skulk, stalk, and hunt down the tallest goblins he can find in order to steal their headdresses, pelts, and worn leathers or any other garbs and weapons they might carry -- all the more to help build disguises in order to infiltrate the goblin moot. "Thank goodness goblins aren't exactly master detectives." He also sheepishly waggles a few 'Endure Elements' scrolls he's managed to get his hands on. "Anticipation for the King's 'electrifying' speech -- should he attend."

Aureate Ruins Physical Description: Located in the depths beneath Moonreach Keep, seemingly fused and sunken into the earth and stone, this cascade of decaying architecture is the corpse of an empire, and monument to a dead devotion. The stones, once painted a veneer of gold, are now tarnished and dulled to a defeated, pale tallow-yellow. It is an open question whether the builders ever once used true gold, though from time to time a more genuine glitter can be found amidst the ravaged stone. The devastated structure is damaged every which way: some have crashed together, as evidenced by damage to the sides; others, from an impact, as evidenced from damage above; and others still are damaged bottom-upwards, their rooftops intact but lower portions having absorbed sudden and violent blow, as though from severe crashing or earthquakes. Though long having been laid low & destroyed, it shines with a sort of ruined majesty. Viewed from afar, the sheer height of its crumbling ramparts, the magnitude of its abandoned aqueducts, its slanted and devastated temple structures, and the very many walk-ways, roof-tops, and streets encompass its enduring & decrepit splendor. Its walls are etched with glowing runes. They are in a lost language. Arcanists recognize them as the reason why, despite the ravages of time and whatever other great calamity that this ancient architecture has endured, it nevertheless remains recognizable, reasonably intact, and navigable. Public Knowledge: According to the reports of adventurers, the ruins are haunted by the memories of their past, and the damage inflicted by an unknown calamity. Adventurers who have managed to reach them reported conflict against ghostly soldiers, mages, priests and more, adorned with the tarnished golden armor of a bygone age. Enemies appear to relive some long-past battle or catastrophe. Defeating them causes the strange soldiers to fall and, in some instances, ephemerally dissipate -- effectively clearing an area of the threats. Yet returning to that same area later on sees the very same enemies, walking the same paths, uttering the same noises. Tangential research so far suggests it was once the premiere site of rune-crafting and runic magic. Rare and archaic books describe the profound and fearsome rites that took place in its holy fane, to transform, elevate, and imbue their champions with runic might and magic. Their strongest warriors were adorned with runic transcriptions -- ancient words of power -- upon their armors and blades and, in some cases, even their flesh. Recent quakes beneath Moonreach Keep have once again opened its perilous passages. Thematic Music: Gilded and Broken.

I like "Bramblehearts"

(May not hold the event, if most people prefer Norwick content not be interrupted)

@caoimh Okay. No Oscura bit.

Un-Official Essi Unit Guidelines Do not obey orders from bards. Especially those with red hair. If you bring pies to the headquarters, make sure to leave a piece for Lt. Inspector Essi. Cessation of evil is required. Treat co-workers with respect. If you at any point, encounter Nancy Essi, do not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES seduce her.

Leo the Merchant Status: Alive. Description: This merchant has tried to sell various dangerous or questionable products, often because he just has trusted the product to be safe. This is because he's more focused on the profit, than considering to find out about potential harm. Public Knowledge: He has previously at least sold two types of products. One was in Steppenhall, where he sold out some kind of drink. That drink's availability stopped at some point. Later, he has sold some kind of muffins at Peltarch. Initially, it was not known, but later, it was publicly marketed, that the muffins make you see things. He continued selling those muffins for some time, until the stock emptied.

Reconnaissance & Intelligence Report 01D To: Captain Justine Lamar, Norwick Scouts From: Salina Datson Date/Time of Operation: 13th Kythorn, Post-Noon Location: South of the Flowering Woods Primary Objective Reconnoiter the area from which Doomguide patrols were ambushed. Locate possible subterranean root system suffering from corruption - possible necromancy at play. Terrain & Route Analysis We journeyed south beyond the Flowering Wood, through thickets and into an ancient subterranean hallow. Threat Assessment Hostile presence encountered: Ambush by goblin forces - arcanists - jolters Several parties of undead - heavily armed & armoured - priests Unseen 3rd party - possibly vampire Ghoul Lord & retinue of undead - possibly Granzt, servant of Ombretta(?) -Goblin ambush defeated -Several formations of undead soldiery destroyed -Ghoul Lord & retinue destroyed -Multiple friendly casualties Intelligence Assessment Following intelligence retrieved from the undead Doomguide attack (ref: Report 01C), we proceeded to the Temple of Kelemvor to retrieve additional details. After further ambushes on Doomguide patrols, we triangulated the probable location of the source of the attacks, south of the Flowering Woods. After dealing with a volatile goblin ambush along the way, on our arrival we found the location deeply compromised by undead enemies. After engaging several groups successfully, we located a subtereanean cavern guarded by some manner of forest spirit in the form of a large ethereal bear. Ambassador Auli'i was able to negotiate passage, and it permitted us entry to the location it was evidently charged with guarding. Delving into the caverns and passages, we briefly encountered an unseen voice which forewarned us about the Ghoul Lord ahead, and provided a 'tip' as to the location of Ombretta Piccolo - the Midden Bazaar was her last known destination. Upon entering the final sanctum, we were as one assailed with memories of the place's past. It was evidently once a place of sacred import to the Druidic circles of the area, a location of ritual and repose for their dead, returning them to the roots of the Rawlinswood. Likely, this very holy import is what drew the Ghoul Lord there, for it was in this chamber we located him and his undead retinue. A terrible battle ensued, with many of us falling to the unholy strength of his hammer. We destroyed him. We destroyed his retinue. We brought his body back to town to be incinerated. We brought our own dead back to be restored to life by the light of the Morninglord. On his person I recovered the following: A strange tome, likely unholy in nature, requires additional study A holy symbol of the Black Hand - destroyed We also retrieved the body of a long dead Druid, which the Ghoul Lord had been in the process of desecrating. We intend to return it to the local druids for proper resanctification and interment.