7/12/19 mancation notes (ENS)

Two dozen planes that have their own capitol regions (extend far beyond 12 outer planes) 271-09 and 272-09 first two Silver Planes of a couple dozen.  

 

We wait around Coapeia (the most up-river civilization in plane, and most eastern island) for a week to talk to a mage (and talk to Summertrack rogue) to ask about Silver Planes.  It’s been seven years since we came back from Oronocco.

 

Meet a Mage at the mage’s guild, who we call Dean (his actual name is too long).  “Coinage of the Summer Kingdom” is what they call the silver coins.    Efrim trades some bullshit magic item for info on the Silver Planes.  He tells us:

 

  • 271-9 and 272-9 tip of silver planes, and they fan out from there.  There’s a giant plane about the size of the prime plane (272-13, which would take up the space of 262- through 274-, and -13 through -16).
  • He also gives us a map of that region.
  • The mage (Dean) hasn’t been there, but is obsessed with a hero (cleric of Youchig) who travelled there.  
  • Undead have taken over “many but not all” of Silver Planes.  
  • 271-9 they call Colossus Homeland (and undead not there)
  • Far-seeing humans spread civilization through Silver Planes but always aware they were “sharing space” with the Summer Kingdoms.  Those beautiful people would come sometimes to trade.  They also had trees that would grow in both kingdoms (silver and material).  At some point (several thousand years ago) the Summer Kingdom was conquered by invasion from even further out in the planes. 
  • Silver Plane sometimes shares connection with Brass Realm, and from there came the invaders and created the Winter Kingdom after fall of Summer Kingdom.  They would raid from there and take valuables.  Then undead took over many of the planes.  
  • Undead are more powerful in Silver Plane because they are “closer to the soul”
  • More personality is preserved there, so a skeleton there “might be playing checkers” instead of being mindless.
  • They theorize long ago some immortal added the Silver Planes as added “layers” to the existing and thriving planes.  
  • For Immortals, they talk about Phaher (giant god) long-gone but was part of this area.  
  • Summer Kingdom manufactured silver jewelry and coinage.  It’s said if you wore it you’d appear more attractive, and if you wore at least three items you could pass to the Silver Realm through any mirror surface.  He doesn’t think it’s related to the Living Collosi
  • Stories of people visiting Silver Planes and finding skeletons that express more of original personalities.  They can be talked with and reasoned with.  Silver Depths, in that it’s one level deeper than the material plane, and Brass one below that.  And the stories and myths are that the deeper you go the closer you get to the place where souls are.  
  • He gives us directions to the Living Collosi plane.  

 

Pontus is going with us to show disk magic.  Far-seeing humans are admired in River, particularly a sub-race of far-seeing humans with beakish noses and long hair.

 

Plan to go planar south to ocean plane, first have to get to the Island of Breknin, which has the miniature dragon hives.  We teleport and transport there, to ancient grove.  Stone lectern (probably giant sized) there.  Green dragon with black stripe there, five feet long (5HD), sees Lakshmi teleport there and screams.  Efrim tries to charm it, but he fails.  Gets fungus from dragon breath.  He stabs it, Al shoots with arrow and it blows up into fungus gas.  Efrim timestops, casts three cloudkills, and Al suffers artifact side-effect of pain using furtive gate. 

 

We arrive on the Plane of The Great Cascade.  Six oceans arranged vertically in tiers, surrounded by walls (and in three cases towers/castles) and spill over from one ocean to the one below.  Three oceans can support life, only two of those support life robustly and are dangerous.  The next node is at the bottom of the dangerous ocean.  Our entry node is on top of a platform (stone with vines and greenery) about 200ft wide on the wall between the highest sea and the next sea down, in the shadow of an elaborate palace.  This plan must have its own Yantsi artifacts, and it doesn’t allow magical flight.  Carrock and Al (who has immortal flight) are not caught off guard.  

 

We’ve heard that natives are hostile toward outsiders.  Castle is giant sized but we’ve heard humans live here. The humans look similar to river folk from prior plane.  Bowmen have stings and chains on their bows.  Iustal finds a Youchig stone and learns the coordinates for next node: shapechange and magical flight don’t work, water breathing is necessary, has own ethereal plane, no transformation spells. 

 

We teleport/transport to next gate under ocean, and cast forcefield.  We see an octopus and fish.  And a giant statue, that has its crotch area is carved away.  They detect a Youchig marker but it has same information as prior one.  (Efrim uses a wish to connect forcefields.)  Efrim uses dagger to detect metal/gems.  Finds a rusty trident, 2 ep, 2 sp, 5 cp, and 2 gp.

 

We furtively gate to the next plane, which is called Maychill Shallows.  Most of the plane is cold, but still water (easy to see through) and about three feet deep.  Ocean floor is covered with tubular creatures like sea grass. There’s a collapsed stone archway nearby.  Not a dangerous plane but annoying to have sea creatures grabbing at us.  

 

Finds a Youchig stone that says where next node is, and notes that creatures toxins can build up over time.  There’s a region with a series of hills and “source water” which is solid ground where we could rest.  We do a rainbow to get there. 

 

Tops of hills are mostly flat (like karst towers) with a broke-egg-shaped stone at top of each with water flowing out.  Pontus is very interested in this plane…he named himself after a plan of Pontus, that has similar egg-shaped structures for moons.  We rest there for a “night” though the sun doesn’t set.  Carrock heals Efrim from his fungus damage.

 

The exit note is in the shallows.  We teleport/transport through plants and furtive gate.  Al uses the artifact twice without side effects.

 

The next plane is a room-sized plane: The Bronze Arena.  We enter into the upper deck of giant arena ¾ mile across.  Set up to seat hundreds of thousands of people.  In the middle is a giant dragon statue and a moat, with four platforms.  Youchig stone note tells us where next node it, no one knows purpose of plane, dragon statue in middle can disintegrate you, moat gradually fills with liquid bronze and if you even touch with your tongue your blood becomes bronze (slow movement, minus dex, plus con) permanently.  Of course we mess with the dragon.

 

It’s about 60 feet across and 100 feet long, it’s also melted or softened.  It appears to have been altered since sculpted.  Dragon has sabre teeth, and doesn’t appear to be a bronze dragon.  Has a huge cock, or something sitting under it.  Four platforms surround this, each with a ruin and a single chain link embedded in the platform.  Lakshmi reads them: loyalty, trustworthiness, righteousness, and cosmic justice.  Pontus recognizes the language as “one of the ancient languages from this region”.

 

We waste a day waiting for a legend lore and Efrim uses tome to map the one-room plane.  

 

Iustal finds Youchig marker at next node, and it warns that the next plane is dangerous: you could end up gating to vortex plane and twice a day “as the heartbeat picks up and begins to race you need to anchor yourself down and there are places in the tunnels to do so”, no teleportation spells.  

 

We find graffiti on the other node, with giant haggish woman sucking giant dragon dick.  We try to gate furtively but Al goes gaseous.  So we wait for 10 hours.  Tome of Elish comes back id as Idol of the Bronze God:  if you touch, save vs death ray -9 or disintegrate and if you save you can see into the Bronze Realm.  Efrim touches it and makes his save!  His veins are dark brown.  

 

We go back a plane to set up an alchemy lab so Al can make more luck potions.  Because he’s so awesome, he does so.  

 

Luck potions in hand, we all go back to dragon statue and slap that mo-fo.  We all have bronze veins. And then we go on through exit node.

 

Next plane (Underground Tunnels 271-8)appears to be a cave, which looks like a natural limestone cavern but to the touch it feels more like playground foam.  The cavern is a rounded rock that’s a primitive, carved eyeball two stories tall.  Where the pupil would be is a large hole.  After about five minutes we hear a thump-thump of a heartbeat and feel a blast of air.  Iustal finds Youchig marker (after three sets of heartbeats) and he learns:  roughly where gate is planar node west, tunnels will have chains embedded to attach ourselves if heartbeat picks up, you know you’re close when you pass a “flaming flower” and it describes the exit there to take. 

Efrim uses dagger to find a couple copper coins.  Carrock uses find the path to pass through correct passages.  Over a few hours, “heartbeat” goes to once every three minutes. 

 

I come to a blocked section, Lakshmi passwalls it.  After 7 hours, the find the path ends.  Pontus uses his Book of Perilous Paths (which finds way to a dangerous place), and he leads to the flaming flower.  We come to a room with metallic walls and water on the floor.  The summoned orc platoon tests it and the water is slippery.  

 

We pass tunnels with roaring sound, as heartbeat speeds up.  We get tied down and behind forcefield. Water flushes through and washes the orcs away. We continue in honor of their sacrifice.

 

The ceiling shows signs of digging, and beyond the softer rock is harder rock.  Hole in ceiling goes up 15feet and stops.  It appears petrified.  Al casts stone to flesh and the hard rock turns into spongey stone like lines the cavern.  Efrim tries to stab it a few times with dagger.

 

The book leads us further down into a single tunnel and then is steep enough that stairs are necessary.  Enter a large, dome-shaped room with fifteen exits about 80 ft diameter.  In the center is an iron contraption that is spitting out sparks, gradually growing in heat and turning red.  And it looks roughly like a flower.  Efrim runs up and touches it, to lore it, and takes 10 points of damage.  Not a magical effect however, so no lore.  From the Youchig note, Iustal knows which passage to use and it’s blocked by a lowered portcullis.  We lift up the gate and when it slams it down the heartbeat picks up again.  Tunnel widens into cavern, and a primitive carving of a nose appears.  We are at the node and gate furtively.

 

On the other side we see a chasm with people who look like Creffa (dark skin) and they are taking down ropes that were across the chasm.  They don’t see us (furtive and invisible) so we quietly sneak through.

 

Iustal looks for Youchig marker but has to wait for people to move on. 

 

Miles away we see a dark green collosi, and within site there are seven disks (none within three miles).  Those of us with good vision see dozens of disks, covering maybe 50% of land within 3 mile radius (if this number of disks is consistent across the plane). 

 

The people finish cleaning up and then move to a nearby city (all behind walls).  The city looks large and well-developed with clear signs of magic and defensive warfare technology.  Around the chasm is a wooded area, including some that are barren and some are faded.  We see people walk through the completely translucent ones. 

 

Youchig marker says no yantze artifact magic here, says there is an ethereal-like plane here but it’s not the ethereal.  

 

Efrim and Carrock use transport through plants to travel into the Silver Realm.  The trees there have fruit, there’s snow on the ground and the sun has bluish hue.  We take one back and feed it to Al.  He chooses to fail his save and seems to acclimate to the cold (and feels too hot on this realm).  

 

Up the hill is the nearby collosi, which is a man wearing the style of scale mail.  His head is starting to turn in our direction.  We fly up and wait.  Then try to communicate specific messages.  He says “interesting” and will return, at which point he disappears into the ground.

 

Efrim makes a sculpture of Scimicu the Ageless with her name runes.  Al makes another luck potion.  After a day, they collosi still hasn’t come back.  A couple of local children come to investigate us.  The NPC scrubs go talk to them for an hour or two, learning about the locals.  

 

It seems to be a plane of city states, the nearest of which is Glennet.  This is the “world’s number one provider of metal”.  The silver metal isn’t here but comes from the silver plane.  They are ruled by a tyrant Hespet (female) who threw out the aristocracy because they didn’t like foreigners.  Tuaffas and Stayins (two other city states).  The High Rope festival was some trapeze fair, we saw them picking up.  The winner can marry three people.  

 

The kids say there are over 200 disks on the plane.  Some are uniquely powerful.  The kids have lots of stories about the silver realm.  Streams of sparkly fog can appear in this land, and white skinned raiders would come out to kill and steal.  They call these “Silver Roads” and stay away.  They are pale humans.  They can communicate with Silver Realm people through “chalk trees” and “tarufftin trees” (which are rare, and were planted by Summer Kingdom long ago and sometimes breath music).  Kids can communicate via like morse code by moving those trees.  

 

The Great Ghostly Fort is a large structure, made of floating chalk wood boards. Weather is nice and rarely rains; people are deathly afraid of thunder.  A turquoise haired collosi appears during storms.  People here think lightning is a potent source of power.  Pontus said to look for yellow crystal and red lightning veins (called “red yellow crystal”).  And especially a peach with blue lightning veins called “the great diamond”.

 

After two days a different collosus returns, peachy-sandstone material and robes that seem oversized as they bunch at his feet.  Triforan the Improbable is his name.  “I’m here because you claim to be delivering a message.”  Al uses a luck potion to us artifact and communicate with Skimicu the Ageless.  Gerifena the Daunting is the new chieftain.  

 

We ask Triforan the Improbable about Thorn/Charisma.  Seneti the Mighty has visited 37 times but he is dead and his home is far from here (confirmed: his home was Tortoise Back).  Does she have allies here?  “I doubt it”.  Temples here?  “I doubt it.”  Tell him that Thorn/Charisma still longs for Seneti even though he’s dead.  They are aware of the tragedy on Tortoise Back and know who’s responsible.    

 

7/13/19 mancation notes (ENS)

Potential questions for collosi:

  1. Charisma history
    1. Who did Chrisma meet with?
    2. Could we meet with that person?
    3. What information did Chrisma study when she was here?
    4. We’re fighting Thanos’ destructive forces, any information you can provide to help us. 
  2. Silver realm
    1. What is the source of souls in this portion of the planes?
    2. What are the levels to the metallic realms (i.e. silver, bronze, etc)
    3. Who created the metallic realms?
    4. Do they have information on the Bronze Idol and Bronze sight?
    5. Do they know of places that provide silver sight, brass sight, etc.?

 

Al does some potion making and we go to the nearest city to gather info and reagents.  Efrim casts legend lore on fruit from Silver Realm.  

 

Carrock gets disguised-disguised and goes with Pontus and Creffa to Glennet.  HIgh stone walls, with some parts replaced with wood.  Lots of guards.  One has plate with helmet that’s kind of lizard or dog shaped.  Breastplate has six leg motiff.  They mine here, a bunch of metals.  He speaks highly of the “tyrant”.  He’s a supporter of the new leadership.  This is the mining center. 

 

Security is prized here.  Outsiders have to leave a security deposit and record your affiliation. Carrock leaves a magic table cloth.  An inn is recommended for visitors, and Pontus looks into mages.

 

Meanwhile, the rest of the party on the hill enjoys a misty morning.  Efrim is peeing before lunch and sees a misty fog lingering, with lights like fireflies in it.  Efrim runs towards it.  Lakshmi notices a collosi behind them.  This collosi is chromatic with streaks of dark red, he looks mostly naked with a skirt.  His name is Brevdish the Unleashed.  Lakshmi and Iustal head to collosi, Al watches over Efrim.  Efrim does the singing performance of his life to the Nameless Goddess (rolled a one). 

 

Chromatic collasi is gazing down toward the silver mist.  

 

Efrim approaches the light and steps into the fog, with Al behind.  Very hard to see once inside the fog. Lights move around and disappear/reappear. Efrim and Al get separated in the fog, Efrim follows the road as he can’t get close enough to elusive fireflies.  Efrim emerges at a bend in the road, but there are fruit-covered trees and frost on the ground.  Sees a tower in the distance, and it’s quieter except for wind.  He begins mapping.  Translucent trees on the other side are dead here. Efrim tries to cast a spell on the Silver Realm and it doesn’t work either. 

 

Lakshmi tries flattery on the Brevdish the Unleashed.  Will you talk with us?  “I doubt it.”  He has friends on Tortoise Back, and Lakshmi offers communication to them.  “Perhaps that would be interesting to speak Veera-Neer to Subtle.”  “For the likes of us, you can’t live long enough to gain our trust.” He refers to Chrisma/Thorn as “the Goddess”.  Lakshmi asks for introduction to collosi to put us in contact with one of those who spoke with Chrisma.  

 

Collosi doesn’t “intentionally” defend the plane from invaders from Silver Realm.  The realms were created by many gods, many civilizations, and there are many layers.  He confirms there is a source of souls here but he isn’t willing to share.  There is no bronze world here, but there are bronze worlds on other planes.  “When you are in the brass world, you can see into the bronze.”  Lakshmi asked about other idols that give metallic realm site, but he said he wouldn’t answer more until we facilitate the communication with Veera-Neer.

 

Efrim walks back up the road through the fog but doesn’t re-enter the plane.  Leaves a continual light piton buried in the ground on the Silver Realm.  Then he uses artifact to transport via plants to re-enter the regular plane.    

 

Backup for Youchig markers:  Maychill Shallows, plane north fo there tower arranged in rings.  To north of Bronze Dragon Arena is a dead plane with fallen suns and moon.  To west of Bronze Dragon Arena is known for smokey images (it rises in columns out of the ground) in the shape of people and creatures. 

 

Commune:

Is this the goddess? Yes

Do we get more detailed answers when we’re within certain distance of you?  Yes (indication of maybe more)

Does exploring or gaining knowledge of the silver depths help us in our mission to revive the goddess?  Yes

 

Next commune:  

Does exploring or gaining knowledge of the silver depths help us in our mission to uncover Thanos’ cheat?

 

Places where we get or don’t get super commune:

Tortoise Back – no super commune

Living Collosi Homeland – no super commune

Two Continents – we got a super commune

 

Efrim looks at the tower, and it looks several centuries old and hasn’t been maintained for hundreds of years.  There are wooden supports to help keep the tower erect.  There are two figures on top of the tower with white walkers.  Efrim leaves them alone and goes back to the regular plane.

 

Using wish wording, Carrock casts wish to get people with permanent communication.  

 

Pontus finds out there’s an aristocrat secret society.  Also, the Great Diamond disk allows 10th level spells but casters risk having limbs turned to stone.  Collosi will then sometimes show up and ask to eat the affected limbs.  10th level spells include: Rich Harvest, Rain of Corruption, and Epic Wish.

 

Carrock shares a meal from his Hero’s Feast Tablecloth with the guards.  We also buy local clothes for the party to wear when they enter the city.

 

The next day, we meet the guards.  They say Summer Realms invaded from below by undead and eventually taken over.  Carrock shares the tablecloth again.  The other three enter the city.  

 

Efrim helps an old man clean up graffiti and someone bumps into him and calls him a spook. A melee breaks out!  Efrim and Al defeat him without weapons.  Guards come up but old man speaks up for him.  The old man accuses the other guy of being Red Lightning.  Efrim makes a bust of the man and trades it to the guards.  

 

We also talk to another disk mage (thin guy with robes) and get some more information about them.  Always one of the city since a disk mage is always lashed to it.  The guardians on the disk have guardians standing on them (some disks only have a couple) and the disks themselves can attack with artifact powers.  

 

We pick up maps on of the plane and silver realm.  

 

We go to the music instrument store, which is surrounded by poor people.  Troften tree piece, which remains on both planes even after they die.  Old woman in store shows us a piece of such wood that once a year wind comes out off on all pieces across the plane: “The Pipes of Heaven”.  Carrock buys one as well as another troften carved woodwind instrument.

 

Another city-state called “The Stans” is a more racist place, more xenophobic.  

 

Finding out about silver stuff:  

  • The silver realm has undead but also pale humans
  • Some stories of people crossing over (e.g. story of rich girl who buys three pieces of silver to cross over and marries the King of Winter Realm).
  • We have maps of the silver realm. 

 

We learn the location of a coven of druids here. There’s a place called The Highlands (which is an elevated grassy plateau) and they live in the forest beyond that.  

 

People want polygamy but both aristocarcy and tyrant agree it’s not good so no longer allowed.  But have the gymnastic contests to determine who can get right to marry multiple partners.  Cheating and out-of-wedlock kids are ok.  No established group of people who go to Silver Realms, but bigger city has “a couple of eccentrics” that sometimes travel there.  As do the druids.  A group of kids follow Efrim and praise him for respecting the elders.  We treat the tavern to food and drink.  Al sleeps with a promiscuous serving wench.  We walk the old man home to meet his wife, and we are ambushed by eight enemies.  They use red lightning attack (“on brand!”).

 

We subdue seven and kill two.  We loot them all and turn them over to the guards.  They all have painted red lightning bolts on chests and arms.  Efrim flirts with the young captain of the guard.  

 

Mist and the chromatic colossus are both gone.

 

The next day, the chromatic colossus is back on the hill.  Al does the communication bridge with Veera-Neer and Brevdish.  He says “she is the mountains, the hills bow at your feet.  Her very name reminds him of visions of the distant past.”  Etc poetic tributes.  Speak in a lot of metaphors, and it seems to be about the past.  Al treats them for a second round for free.  

 

He tells us we should speak with Vaun the Arresting about Chrisma. He will at least ask for us.  Lakshmi asks him about how to access Bronze plane, in the nearest point.  He gives us three examples (269, 275-13, 272-310 and 270-11 is a hidden pocket plane).  Regarding Thanos’ plan here he suggests talk to Vaun the Arresting.  Silver Realms are here because this was once the hub of a civilization that created them.  Those creators no longer exist in a meaningful way.  The Third Collosi plane is the Outkopf Preserve is the only other plane with collosi.  The Watcher Collosi were likely “inspired” by and have a historical connection to them.  He doesn’t think any of the metallic planes block druidic magic.  Efrim: Is there a better way to be stronger or defuse ourselves into multiple planes?  He doesn’t think it’s possible for us.  

 

I ask about faenare songs and damaging undead.  Our songs tap into positive energy and life and it’s probably connected to the place of souls below the Silver Depths.  I ask about the God Egg and he says he might know about a similar event.  Such things may have happened before.  To understand you would have to know the inclinations of outer plane creatures. Enemies of the visgonn lay those eggs.  Most vortex planes are quiet on a few days a year, and their connection to other planes differ.  And on the Day of Rising, the vortex next door shuts down!  

 

We take off for the open vortex, going back into tunnel plane.  We can still hear the heartbeat and the flaming flower room is still hot.  Then to the site of the vortex.  Now there is a gate open to an ocean plane there, a few hundred feet above the ocean.

 

It’s the 11th month, third day in year 1035: it’s the Day of Rising!  

Questions: 

  1. We can walk through the open gate safely now?  The vortex is not operating right now but Thanos gillfiend is in the vortex plane, which now appears to be an ocean plane. Thanos knows she escaped through the vortex but not exactly where.
  2. How should we proceed?  She doesn’t want Thanos gillfiend to know we’re this close to her.  If we could hide it would be useful to “collect samples?”
  3. Samples of what?  Samples of life we would find interesting.
  4. Where is the next gate to where we collect samples of life?  Three cascades, in the middle cascades at the bottom has the gate.  She gives coordinates and there are deep trenches in the ocean that lead to it. 
  5. Where should we go in the Silver Depths to best progress our plans?  I have long suspected that he is hiding untold, massive numbers of followers in the silver depths.  If you can find them and prove that they are illegal, it could be devastating for him.   

 

For next time:

  1. What accounts for the ability to commune with you more fully on the Day of Rising?
  2. We recently found the Bronze Dragon Idol and received bronze sight.  Where are other idols that could give us other metallic sights (e.g. silver sight, brass sight, gold sight)?

 

Gillfiend are like giant mermen and can cast any immortal spells, fiendish immunities, and “breathes in horrific ways”.  We sneak away and leave no trace.  Carrock’s plan: a mission impossible style dive in the second it opens next year, getting sucked through all the way to the next gate, but not through it, as it closes.  Then we can pass through before gillfiend shows up to stand guard.

 

We race back to the town and catch the guard group entering the city for the dinner date.  Courtyard of masks, which represent heroes of the realm.  We go into a room below the tower, which is like a half arena.  Middle age woman, with a metallic scorpion tail below her robes.  She is a 19th level disc mage (a.k.a. Disco Magician) and has a staff with seeking tentacles on it.  Neither staff nor tail are artifacts.  

 

She sits at the top tier table, other important people on the second tier, and we’re on the third tier.  She has one husband and two more consorts.  She tells us about a variety of gods and goddesses worshipped here.  Not fans of the gods of entropy.  They believe in fidelity and caring for family members.  

 

Second tier has: masters of music, acrobatics, and professional adventurer (green dragon scale armor).  

 

Anil’s idea: set up followers of Thorn in Glennet too.  

 

We go to the hill outside of town to check on the tower Efrim saw on the Silver Realm.  There are phantom wooden buttresses from the other side but no stone tower. One of the trees there is shaking, and we shake it back.  Then we transport over.  Windy and cold but fruit covered trees.  Two men in black and purple armor, with halberd and spear.  Pale humans but have oddly ugly elven faces.  Youthful taught faces that don’t fit quite with their bodies.  

 

Al uses his tongues potion.  They talk briefly but the two ask for our passes.  Efrim stays with our weapons and the rest go in to meet the viceroy.  There is an ice sculpture of a leader.  ESP shows that they don’t have names but they think they can bind us with our introduced names.  They also say they can use help killing worms to get the silver (from the mines they’ve already dug on the other plane).  They also can use help with killing undead. 

 

They seem to have all types of undead, including nuclavee and nightwalkers.  Those creatures cannot enter the castle/keep though the viceroy won’t reveal how that happens.  Three ways to get our passes:

 

  1. Clear out mines including killing the nightcrawler, we also get profits on silver (50/50)
  2. Give 1 cum magnet and kill the nightwalker
  3. Give 5 cum magnets
  4. You die

 

Black and blue stone, winged boots, and lightning on shield with a stone giant shield. Vaun the Arresting.  Appears downhill looking up to us.  She was investigating what Thanos was doing in Silver Realms. He won’t tell us what Thanos was doing.  We need to provide a means by which a god we trust can see through us.  He thinks there may be evidence in all the silver planes, but perhaps the most interesting would be [coordinates] to three planes where previously one mentioned.  He had conversations with her that lasted years.  He met the lost tribe and give us the name of the leader as Bluewing (at the time), as he met them when they passed through this place.  She left in great rush and with uncertainty of her survival, chased by Thanos (you could say).  She was in desperate circumstance and seeking safety.  The lost clan visited when looking for the dyrden that came here looking for Chrisma.  Bluewing and clan were hoping to convince the dyrden to convince them to show them where Chrisma was.  [we get the dryden name].  Bluewing came here about 300 years ago.  The dryden left planar west into the Silver Plains, presumably Bluewing went the same way.  

 

I share my psalms and he knows a new one: Song of Hope and Faith.

 

When they talked, she was interested in philosophy, life, and death.  She knew more about life and death than he dead.  Her view of life and death: 1) death gives meaning to life and 2) interested in relationship between life, death, and silver depths.  Thanos was also interested in this.  Always excited about learning; it was infectious.  

 

At lower levels the undead still take commands but death is less threatening as they’re closer to something important so they have more autonomy.  Agave wasn’t from there, but Chrisma wanted to take him there to help him.  After her second journey she decided it wasn’t possible to help and offered to end his existence.

 

As of 300 years ago, the 272-3 10-11 was the best way to approach the pocket plan that allows access to Bronze.  The faenare tribe went there but he doesn’t know what happened.  They returned fewer in number.  They entered the bronze plane there.  

 

Lakshmi asked about other sources for metallic sight gifting but he doesn’t know any that survive.  

 

When in Brass realm, we will be able to see into the Bronze realm through our Bronze site.  

 

He asks to hold Thorn’s Braid, and he does so.  He says Crisma ran into creatures that it was hard to determine if they were alive or undead.  Biologically dead, but psychologically alive.  Me: maybe the faenare songs are her way of developing a test for undeath. 

 

Undead get smarter and wiser when closer to the soul.  It doesn’t impact other creatures.

 

He met Crem, too.

 

He doesn’t think she’s within a few planes.  She went through the vortex while it was active.  That vortex switches to other location perhaps 10% of the time even though it still active vortex.  He thinks someone could recognize the life samples on the other side and “someone could recognize them.”   Maybe the spires plane is the place where the prayers come through.  Need to go back there and try commune when the gate is open/closed to see.

 

He thinks:
1) she’s transcended the normal laws of immortal contact

2) she can communicate through the two spires plane via that vortex

Me possibly:

3) someone else has picked up her portfolio or is imitating her

 

She went through the first or second of November (two days before the Day of Rising).  Sometimes vortexes appear over civilizations but he doesn’t know what sets them.  Three known vortexes (two of which we know).  There are also a handful of vortexes known in the 13-20 plane range.  Not as much known on vortex outputs as they aren’t as dangerous and not always active.  

 

Theory: she fled through ocean vortex on a day it was active, which sent her to one of ten worlds far out.  Then either an ally (dryden) or incredible accident meant a nearby vortex exits in Two Spires. 

 

7/14/19 mancation notes (ENS)

We set up CUM magnets around the mine in the Winter Kingdom.  We kill a large number of wights/specters and giant skeletons.  One skeleton rose up and seemed to be confused about its existence.  A ghost came out pretending to be a specter and went back in.  A giant skeleton emerged in a group and had a magic spear that allowed him to attempt dispells.  He tried two times and then the item was non-magical.  Two phoenixes were used to burn up undead around the CUM magnet.  No other undead emerged; the Viceroy and crew observed from a nearby hill.

 

We did a find the path into the mine, seeking out the Nightcrawler and travelling further/deeper into the mine.

 

We are attacked by not one, but two nightcrawlers and a ghost in the tunnels!  We cast Dance on both of the nightcrawlers and destroy the ghost.  Success!

 

We destroy the corpses and bring the two tails back as proof.  We are rewarded with the silver pass, good for access to Winter Kingdom (across all the realms).  They will hire miners, and split the profits with us 50/50.  They will store our profits along with theirs in the main keep.  We are now investors in a far, far out silver mine.

 

We meet women who are silver spinners, and can weave the necklaces.  The silver is softer and more malleable on this plane. 

 

They feel like they’re losing the overall war against undead across all the silver realms.  They win some and lose some, but are overall losing ground.  As a result, they haven’t been able to raid the above planes much.  We get information about which silver realms nearby are most infected with undead.

 

Loot from the nightcrawlers:

  • 121,000 gp in gems (which includes 10 diamonds)
  • 51,000gp in jewelry (which includes two silver realms leaf pin)
  • Potion of healing
  • Bag of Holding 
  • Tusk shield +1 gave to Sefera
  • Scroll of Earth Travel/Glide – disc mage spell
  • Human sized banded mail +2 gave to Sefera
  • Spear +3 gave to Sefera
  • Spear +3 gave to Sefera
  • Scroll of Protection from Undead

 

We plan to get our silver items, learn honor Seram, ask about taking Iustal to next planes, go to Tu-affa, learn Concentration non-weapon proficiencies.

 

Commune with goddess:

 

  1. Is it prudent to take the Iustal (follower of Yoichig) to the pocket plane and bronze realm to witness? Yes (for bust Thanatos).
  2. Should we consider Yoichig an alley in this endeavour?  Yes (for bust Thanatos).
  3. Is the lost tribe of faenare with you?  No.

 

Next time Commune:

  1. Did the lost tribe ever find you?
  2. Is it prudent to take a druid to the pocket plane and bronze realm to witness, for our plan to ? 
  3. Based on the unfading process as we understand it, are you on the plane where you suggested we get samples from?

 

We spend some time to get our proficiencies trained up, and after a month we’ll go get the first silver delivery.  Then we’ll go to Tu-affa, which is a bigger city-state and home of merchant houses. The fort is a large pile of partially collapsed boulders.  There’s a stream that comes down and becomes a rolling fog road.  

 

Winter soldiers have horse-like creatures with leathery skin.  They challenge us as we travel, but ask for our pass and will let us through.  

 

We meet a priest of Seram in Glennet. Mages gathering for red/yellow lightning disc, arrive of thunderstorm and collosi, and Al stumbles into sex club and finds the tyrant youngest consort having sex with a man.  Al enters the sex club and gets a tour.  Mayinuu is the model in a lot of the erotic art.  Theronn and Mayinuu is a famous erotic story of the realm.  Theronn is a human man and Mayinuu is eating fruit from Summer Kingdom and it drips down her shirt and Theronn is there eating on the material plane and sees her shape in the juice, and he juices his nose and butt to show her.  They fall in love and have tree encounters and then he quests to find her.  Goes to the silver realm to find her and show their bodies to try to prove it’s her, and finally (like cinderalla) finds the perfect shape.  

 

Efrim uses his dagger to help map out the mines, in exchange for a two-year moritorium.  

 

Al hooks up with a female druid that’s visiting the sex house.  Gets a sample of sex stamina drugs.  

 

Rethau is the highest level priest of Seram (11th level).  Seram tells him to learn more about Thorn, so we share that info.

 

We talk to the lightning colossus, Mirristanel the Pensive, turquoise hair in long dreadlocks and dark black/brown gemstones.  Thinks there are clouds between soft realm and silver realm. We share stories about lightning.  He zaps Carrock with a big ol’ lightning blast to see my immunity.  

 

Carrock asks lightning colossus about rainbows.  His name is Mirristanel the Pensive.  I tried rainbow song and gather info on how it operates. He won’t ride on it but he will taste all of the rainbow bands.  We discuss how it operates, must be related to creating humidity, operates without sunlight so must draw illumination from the air, etc.  

 

Carrock practices being gracious and friendly with Mirristanel.

 

We tell him about the Citadel and lightning there.  He says, “Sounds like a pocket plane in the two spires plane, of similar build and purpose.”   He describes the one node that will take us there. Giant gods used to be interested in it, and only a few gods even know about it now.  He’s not sure which ones do, however.  Very interesting and this is right by the exit vortex.  This pocket plane has a sun and lightning rods at the top.  Carrock asks if he has any information he would like to know of that place.  He wants to know if any controls the lightning or if it has any seasonal changes.  Shows us how to test to see if lightning is in the ground or the rods.  “Even the gods would be chary of entering the tower.”  He thinks there’s lightning storms on brass and bronze layers.  

 

Go back to silver realm and viceroy’s tower.  The first month was a haul of 955 bars of silver (318 and ⅓ is our share after expenses).  We each get 45.5 bars worth.  We use 0.5 to pay the necklace makers, and pitch in 3 each for jewelry.  We each have 42 bars and nine pieces of silver jewelry.  Carrock asks to have his made into Thorn holy symbols.  If we wear three pieces we get +1 Charisma bonus and it’s all attributed to comeliness.  You are immune to the effect if you’re wearing three pieces yourself however. You can also travel to the Silver Realm through a mirror or highly reflective surface.  

 

We can unload each piece of jewelry for 51,000 and we can sell bars for less.  

 

Manki (ugly woman) is one person we trade with.  She’s a high level thief and very well connected.  Willing to trade magic items.   Carrock buys a potions of earth glide for 1000gp and scroll of restoration for 1200gp.  He practices Chrysma way of trying to determine what a person wants, using ESP as a crutch.  She is giving us a good deal on cheap items (potion and scrolls) but gouging on more expensive items.  Carrock buys 1 survival and 2 travel scrolls (1120 each) and 4 on transport through plants (960 each).

 

We wheel and deal with Manki on some magic items.  Carrock needs to locate the clerics of Thanehioth, who has a spell that creates light rings around the person, to fight undead. 

 

We meet with powerful woman disk mage who can cast “compel answer”.  Her name is Rhoda (33 level) and she wants to know how to get to Tortoise Back.  One of her companions is a priest of the Healer (max level), Irosom is his name.  She is the leader of this group, but the third is away (a paladin of Yoichig), who is interested in the Silver Quester.  She wants to know 1) safest route to Tortoise Back and 2) the astral plane.

 

She has been to the Brass.  She gives a map of far outer planes that even gods don’t really have because they aren’t interested.  One she knows well is Ram-Folk Plane, which is interesting but it opens into Ram-Folk realm which are short-lived ram like centaurs and she says they aren’t very smart.  She says they aren’t very interesting, and play bad music.  There’s also a whole peninsula that has far-seeing humans.  They have one city-state and have one disk over their city.  That’s probably the only disk there.  No colossi there, but there’s evidence that colossi creators once lived there because it’s all giant sized stuff. 

 

She hasn’t been to Bronze, but she can talk about the Brass.  You can travel from this silver to their silver through the same nodes (which is what we were going to do). Winter Kingdom extends there as well, and trade exists.  The gate is guarded so need a pass (which we have).  It looks similar and they have trees to cross over.  

 

Three ways to get to the Brass.  1) Some winter warriors carry great brass horns and when they blow them certain giant golems come and drag you there and kill you (and everyone else around).  They’re super tough, 80-90 HD and very good armor.  Can show up as more than one.  They dominate the Brass plane “but aren’t common”.  They ride giant sized brass hippogriphs except for wings, which are magical and translucent and extend very far.  They seem to patrol on these and they are strange.  Shields have holy symbol of ancient giant gods and seem to have roles.  2) Occasionally there are hillside honeycombs which are homes of insects that live on brass plane and can cross over.  Can use that to cast travel from there.  3) There are also river grasses (metallic) that can be used to transport between the realms if you have druid magic. 

 

Their experience on the Brass plane is that the golems/servitors will attack visitors and your best move is to get away.  Some info on the golems: 

  • Immune to level 1-6 spells
  • Great AC
  • Edged weapons get stuck and can get absorbed
  • They aren’t immune to immortal magic
  • 80 to 90 HD

Brass plane is very barren and erie/unpleasant to be there.  Disk magic doesn’t work there.  The land does strange things to your personality (no fear effects, when it rains you think about death and when it pours you stop fearing death).  The sky is reddish orange, and the sun is a more intense red.  Theory: while most planes have nodes that extend down to lower levels (silver, brass, bronze) the Ram-folk plane maybe only has the connection down on the Brass, not the main level.  That’s how we’re supposed to get to the hidden pocket plane.  That plane detects as having three nodes, but only two have been found (including Youchig).  The third node is only on the Brass, which is why they haven’t normally found it. 

 

A few thousand years ago there was a civilization that conquered many planes and they were obsessed with formal legal rules.  And that was probably what we saw at the Crossroads.

 

We give them tips for each plane back to Tortoise Back and routes.  We also hear of a third type of vain magics, that don’t use disks or yantze artifacts.  They aren’t very good spells and seem to be dragon-themed.  

 

They think the people who created the disks created the living colossi.  Other theory says that some of the original creators managed to transform themselves into the colossi.  Her group thinks maybe what originally appealed to them about transforming was immortality.  

 

They research spells through books and through some form of direct communication with the disks.  The Healer cleric doesn’t have a speciality exactly but is interested in a few non-descript things.  We share a toast to the “healer, the explorer, and the good gods of the realms”. 

 

Node to planar west is a nondescript section of steppes.  If you keep going you would get to druid forest.  There’s a giant statue that’s only a bust or is buried.  It has been beheaded but the head is still laying there.  Xray vision reveals it’s a full statue buried and the nameplate says “Klytie the Widowmaker”.  Lakshmi finds a chewed up copper piece.  Efrim repairs it and reads “currency of [some empire we haven’t heard of]”.  The guards request it.    

 

On the Silver Side, they have flags marking the node and have Winter Soldier guards checking out the pass.  They check our pass and letter, the guards suggest we take one path and they point as frost outlines a square.  They say beyond is a slot canyon and one out of five times it’s flooding.

 

We say goodbye (for now) to Pontus and thank him for his friendship.  Then we pass through.  The river is cold and rapidly rising.  The winter guards gesture us up, as it’s raining and the river is rising.  Four guards, the female leader is 17th level fighter.  Slightly different uniforms, and have bird feathers.  She has horn-sized lump under her cape.  Carrock shows off his Horn of Blasting and gets her to talk about hers.  She shows hers summons the Brass Avengers.  They drag off everyone around and “usually” kill them.  She thinks she’ll eventually have to use it.  She draws us a rough map in the dirt and shows where the very dangerous parts are of their silver realm.  This part of the realm is dominated by a canyon within a canyon (like Grand Canyon).  We locate the planar node to the south.

 

River falls into canyons, though it’s raining.  Loring a node can take 100 days, but usually it takes around a month.  Efrim Lores the node.  We transport via plant closer to where the fortress is supposed to be.    

 

The fortress has a unit of 24 Winter Warriors outside, and people are coming and going. We are going to speak to the Baron.  Our pass grants us welcome but we have to wait for the Baron to return from the hunt.  They bring us into the building and out of the main hallway, paths carved out and steps up.  Four guards escort us up to a room (there are no other exits) with one crystal wall with a beautiful view.  Every so often we hear grinding noises which “are tunnels moving” within the fortress.  

 

Al finds a very tiny cord that opens a section of the wall.  But the servants shoo him away.  One of the servants gets stuck inside when they close it.  I offer Hero’s feast, but they won’t eat unless I “insist”.  I insist they at least sit with us.  They won’t eat, though, and insist we don’t touch the secret door.

 

Two days later they announce the Baron’s arrival and they ask us to bathe. Al has to make his own liquid to bath in, Lakshmi gets her own bath separate from the men.  

 

The Baron walks in with blue metal plate mail. He says he will answer three questions.

  1. We ask for a map of the plan.  He says he could.  We clarify we request a map. He says if we help with cleanup he will give us a map. 
  2. [clarifying the question]
  3. What would we need to do to have a discussion with the most learned person on Brass Realm in the castle? We pay ⅓ of a bar (from Efrim) for the discussion.

 

The Baron leave and we are left with some servants.  The learned person comes about six hours later, after we have the map.  He wears leather armor, and is possibly older like the Baron.  The servants provide him with a chair.  He is 11th librarian, 21st level cleric.  

 

The guardians of the Brass realm are the Brass Avengers and he knows a little bit about them.  We share a little about our goal for travelling.  Then we ask for answers to questions about the Brass realm.  We would need permission to travel there, without that you need to avoid the Brass Avengers.  There are gods that could give permission but they are longer around.  There are still ways of getting approval of the long-dead gods.  But if you don’t summon them, there’s a good chance to avoid them on the Brass planes.  He gives us a couple names of dead gods [Justin to provide later].   Some winter folk pass through Brass, and some undead are there too.  Safer from undead there than here though.  There are lots of animals and less-intelligent creatures (birds!) living there. The avengers don’t actually seem to come on to this plan, but look in and pull things to them. (Carrock: like the mirrors and looking through to the next realm.)

 

The map lists all three nodes, including the hidden node you can only access from the Brass.  Nearby plane is called “Aching Rains” and it’s “not meant for life”.  The rain gives rise to agony.  There is Brass metal and that’s what the horns are made of. He’s not sure what its properties are.  The horns are magical, and haven’t been made into anything else.  (Carrock: figured that since they will eventually use it, it must just fall to the ground and gets reused.)

 

They worship the Winter God, as their main.  He seems specialized for this race/culture and we think it’s probably a rare god from Matter.  Their race is known as True People, People of Order, and Winter People.  They also have gradations of nobility, most of which are hereditary.  They have no druids.  They have libraries, which is based on generations.  The winter people fight demons and support order (which clues us in to who their god is).  

 

Overview: he’s helpful but seems slightly unimpressed that we don’t have “the secret” to fighting dragons, etc.  He’ll tell us about fighting demons [Justin will provide later].  

 

Regarding the pocket plane, we also learn that if we’re on the silver plane, the node is on the slope of a volcanic cone above the steam vents; high altitude.  There’s a statue there that varies.  In winter realm: summer folk woman, tipped over.  In brass realm: a sabertooth dragon half melted rearing. Node is watched and often guarded by Brass Avengers.

7/15/19 mancation notes (ENS)

Random notes:

Find the path to Thorn temples and corpses

Find the path to pass in Brass Realm

 

We finish with the librarian interview and head to the region where it seems chaulk and traufallin have been planted.  We try to dig up a tree and it slaps Efrim.  Carrock talks to the trees and Al treewalks.  Lakshmi looks through the mirror and sees Ram-folk.  Carrock eats a winter fruit.  Both allow you to pass through.  Chalk trees are barren on material, and fruited on the silver side.  The Traufllin trees have fruit on material and silver  The T tree is “strangely philosophical” about the music, says he is expressing his self and that is in harmony with those around him. Very much like the song of the channel (“What am I but a channel?  I don’t speak my words, they speak me.”) The Ram-folk attend when they’re singing.  

 

We step through mirrors and into the material and talk to Ram-folk.  We win them over with singing, clapping, and laughing.  Al gives them an illusory backstory and the oldest is impressed and gives Al a fine (non-magical) spear.  Rams have no sense of personal space.  Efrim gets the rod of communication going with the elder.  We use Hero’s Feast to heal the 15 sickest Ram-folk.  They sometimes see undead or have issues with them.  They call themselves Bauden (Ram Centaurs).  

We head to the Brass Realm.  We go back to the silver realm first, and find the path to the entity that has permission to pass the Brass Realm.  Carrock finds the path and heads up into the mountains.  He rainbows and lands in a pack that killed game recently.  Larger elk creature that’s been torn up and a cat/dog creature like deplacer beasts with tentacles.  They scatter.  

 

Mountains have trees but vegetation is getting barren.  Keep going up-slope, and arrive at a basin of sorts.  There are ancient ruins to one side and cave to the other.  Snowmelt runs down into a mirror-like lake.  Little stone markers in tripod shape near lake covered by overgrowth.  Through the lake we see the cave is there but ruins are not.  We fly toward the ruins.  

 

A voice says “don’t go there, that’s Sefera’s hunting ground” in Winter tongue.  We see a far-seeing human with gold hair.  She is a gold dragon, and probably lives in the ruins, but her human guise has a small hut.  We give her the putzy magic items from nightcrawler battle (Tusk shield +1,Human sized banded mail +2, Spear +3, Spear +3). Efrim gives her the original Blitz Blade and she agrees to talk to us.  She has been here a few hundred years.  She has silver jewelry.  She has met good singers and enjoys hearing faenare songs but hasn’t heard them before.  Efrim and Lakshmi are the only two who can talk to her.  

 

She’s been to Brass realm and says there are giant sized villages long ago abandoned but still dangerously trapped.  There are giant sized insects there too.  Some animals and occasionally a Brass Avengers.  Every night there are shooting stars.  Brass Avengers let her pass unmolested; she thinks at some point dragon gods took over the Brass realm and saw giants as their servents so the Brass Avengers in their images.  Skull-like heads and bulbous eyes, long thin golden jaws.  Large muscular biceps and quads, but tiny forearm and calve muscles.  She’s seen them attack and “kidnap” people from the other realm.  She thinks they patrol and have certain areas they guard.  Some assigned as guards won’t leave their assigned area, but others patrol the plane and will pursue you to the end of the plane.  They fly on weird magical hippogryphs that fly faster than a dragon (possibly).  On the brass horns, she thinks they were long ago worried about invaders from the silver realm, so they could catch them there and kill everyone without permission.  Seems hard to fool them with disguises and invisibilities.  It doesn’t seem to be sight-based, they “just seem to know” if you have permission.  

 

Commune: 

  1. Is honoring immortal after witnessing enough to count for “witnessing”?  Yes (possibly)
  2. Is it better to get a witness clasp? Yes.
  3. Is honoring immortal while witnessing better than honoring later?  No.

 

Lakshmi will honor Seram to give him the details of what we’ve seen and what we’re thinking.  Then we will ask Seram priest commune:

  1. Would you be willing to provide us with a witness clasp?  Yes.

Then two kids that have been following us come to our camp.  They deliver a jade eye (immortal) they say an elderly pregnant woman brought them.  

 

Lakshmi dreams she goes silver, brass, bronze, gold.  Set down the eye and say “Immortals behold” in ancient tongue and leave.  

 

Sefera (the gold dragon) has heard rumors of gold realm.  She’s heard that brass realm monoliths guarded by skeletons (they didn’t used to be guarded) and you can use the monolith to travel to bronze.  Also heard if you drink bronze blood you can travel.  And she heard some planes have Gold Avengers that can give you blood to travel to gold realm.  The skeletons are a few centuries old and are very powerful warriors, giant-sized about the size of a storm giant.  Some have fought skeletons to examine monoliths.  

 

We gather some dual plane reeds, which are blue-green with hints of brass.  We’ll make a terrarium for the reed so we can store it for a few days.  

 

On the silver side of the node, there’s a summer folk female statue, tipped over.  They were known for beauty and the statue depicted as showing skin.  Very attractive.  Detects as immortal magic, which is preservation magic. People have written on the face and drawn, but it’s not destroyed only tipped over and partially buried.  Name on pedestal identifies her as a queen.  (We are told the brass plane at this node has a statue of a bronze dragon with a big penis.)

 

Iustal finds Yoichig two long lost markers by earth glide.  They say we can’t pass out of this level and it goes to a small plane that used to be a home plane of a dragon god. Even back then, there were brass golems guarding the gate so you have to get through before they kill you.  The other side is dangerous (though marker is old); has material, silver, brass, and bronze layers.  Says the bronze layer is too dangerous because size of an island (big island of Hawaii) and is dominated by a large castle that used to be this god’s home and is full of traps and enchantments.  Recommends being very speedy.  Gate node here is a little smaller, so three square blocks instead of the more usual four square blocks.  This is on the open slope of a volcanic cone so it’s a bit exposed.  

 

We move six or seven rounds away.  We use the river plant to transport via plant to the brass plan and then plan to turn immortally invisible.  We step into the brass and we look around.  There are flowers and vines and dog-sized bees.  The bees have goggles and plates on their backs (not clear if natural or not), lots of orange in the sky and it’s daytime.  There are building foundations nearby (one or two feet of building stones) probably a giant, or large building.  We don’t see any brass golems.  We fly out of the crevice and toward the gate and presumably the golems. There is a nest of vines and a creature rooting around, which looks like a knoll but on all fours (and is 4HD).  Humanish but acts more like a beast.  It wanders off and we approach the ridge.  There are a few stones as if there was a road here in the past.  We top the ridge and see the volcanic cone, and to the side, where the summer queen was on the other side is a familiar dragon statue although this one is rearing up as if to fight.  The volcano is active in this realm.  We see the Brass Avengers: bulbous heads, big eyes, narrow long jaws, eighteen feet tall, shields with symbols.  One is dismounted next to its hippogryph.  The other two are on mounts but on the ground.  They are all still.  

We are a couple miles away so we start flying toward them.  They move location within the node, probably every 42 minutes or so.  One stays on the ground near the middle and the other two stay on hippogryphs around the outside edge of the node, which is about 1500 feet in diameter.  

 

We get within 500 feet of node and they haven’t noticed us.  We touch the ground, Efrim does first.  One of the Brass Avengers turns to us and begins going to that spot.  We pass plant out and jump through mirrors back to material.  And wait. 

 

Al disguises as a brass avenger and attacks Lakshmi, but she isn’t able to magic missile him.  Then Efrim stabs Al in the face and Al hits Efrim.  Carrock yells “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

 

The group plans to go to the monolith on the brass realm and fight the two undead warriors.  Sefera rainbows with us to the location of one of the monoliths, which is deep in the canyons near a raging river that rises and falls rapidly throughout the day.  Above the canyon, we step through a mirror into silver then through grass into brass.  

 

The canyon is full of water on the brass side and the monolith is just barely poking up through the water surface.  One skeleton on our side and one skeleton on the other side.  Armor on skeleton is falling apart and axe it wields is in bad shape.  We pass through plants in and attack in two groups: 1) Lakshmi, Carrock, and Creffa 2) Efrim, Al, Iustal.

 

Lakshmi almost is able to cast dance on one.  Efrim stabs his but it doesn’t take electrical damage; he gets stabbed back by skeleton for 33 and save versus paralysis -2 and barely makes it.  Iustal does 18 points, Al does 68 points to his and kills that one.  Carrock one-shots his with an even 100 points of damage (thanks to x4).

 

The monolith is marbled black stone.  Detects powerful magic, but on the edge of mortal/immortal.   Efrim touches it to lore it.  It has an epic wish on it that it is never moved damaged or destroyed.  “Monolith of language instruction.”  We wait for the river to lower so we can read the monolith easier.  On three sides is language.  On the fourth it says the “learn the language of liberation” which gives key phrases and vocabulary between two languages (neither of which we know). Through our scroll of questioning:

  • The monolith has been here a few thousand years.
  • The purpose is to teach the dead how to free themselves.
  • It doesn’t know who ordered its creation.

The dagger of mineral detection says it’s made of dual-realm marble.  

 

Find the path to dual-realm marble.  Carrock heads up over cliff to middle canyon.  We see see brass avenger but he doesn’t see us through our immortal invisible.  Up to wall of the outermost canyon to a place where there a treacherous path and I begin to head into a cave.  I start picking up a bunch of tiny flakes and then Efrim uses the dagger to start finding more.  We find about a one pound rock.  We do some more mining.  We get scared off by a gnoll guy.  We get 2.5 pounds of dual plan crystal then head back to the material.

We go back to Sefara and have her take us to meet draconic mages in the material realm.  We take the rainbow to just outside the city and she changes into the form of a human who has long teeth and a rigid spine and dragon tail.  Farseeing humans live here with one disk over it.  She goes by the name of someone who looks draconic.  She says she’s here to speak with Gresklina and arranges a meeting.  We’ll meet outside the city and she’ll come out to speak with us.  People come and go from the city.  Sefara speaks with some of them, including a couple toughs in platemail who are going to guard us.  

 

Gresklina is also fanged and draconic looking, and she has two companions/apprentices with similar look.  She appears gorgeous and is deferential to Sefara.  

 

We plan to use call lightning to save up bolts and do 60d6 points of damage, so that Al can recharge wands using his secret craft of alchemy.  We’ll need a storm present, however.

 

We ask Gresklina about draconic magic, which is rarer than disk magic here.  She runs the only school in the city.  Their focus is just intelligence, whereas disk mages need Int/Wis.  We offer her luck potion and silver jewelry; she’s willing to talk and answer questions. 

 

Questions/answers with Gresklina:

  1. How does one start a relationship with dragon disk?  You have to apprentice with master and have Int to work with materials they use.  It makes sense to Efrim.
  2. She cast spells that transform her when she goes up in level.  That might be what Brass Avengers recognize but not sure.
  3. The Brass Avengers approach and ask questions (what’s your business here, in dragon language).  Then they leave her alone.  Sometimes remind her she’s only allowed two henchmen.  
  4. Pinnacle of draconic magic?  Many high level spells but her favorite is to assume form of an elder dragon. 
  5. She has some magic user spells but they’re a little odd.  They have a travel and gate like spell.  Have dragon breaths they can adopt. Carrock asks about dragon breath song, and she knows of ones that can allow groups to breathe fire.  
  6. Do you have items/scrolls others can use?  They have scrolls.  We’re interested in “assume dragon-like form”, she asks?  She doesn’t think that will be enough to fool the brass avengers.  
  7. They don’t’ know the dragon disk.  They know the dragon “source” artifact however.  They won’t say what it looks like but it’s in the tower. 
  8. Natural creatures can walk around fine there.  Dragons can pass.  A draconic mage of power can go freely.  There are stories of people with the right blood being able to enter the realm too.  
  9. There’s a bronze realm not far away.
  10. How to get from brass to the bronze?  Some people carry giant-sized bronze helmets.  If you wear one and cast travel you can cross over.  It’s not the same helmet as brass avengers.  And there are dual-planar monoliths you can cast travel at.  
  11. Mage that can stoneshape?  Probably but no one she knows personally.
  12. Avengers will attack if they discern you aren’t supposed to be there.  
  13. She’ll write down some answers to potential Brass Avenger questions in draconic and phonetically.  (Risky but possibly ok.)
  14. What items do they have that might be for sale?  [everyone buys stuff while I’m in the bathroom]

 

Carrock casts a wish (wording by Lakshmi and Efrim) to give Efrim the Draconic language proficiency for 4 days.  Al buys material components for recharging a rod.  Carrock draws in a storm and uses call lightning to blast it and recharge.  We get 13 more charges.  

 

We go back to the river and get more reeds to take along.  How to store reeds?  Efrim: stone them for transport.  Carrock:  allow them to die and then cast raise dead.

 

We pass through plant through the reeds to go to Brass Realm, then fly immortally invisible to node. At 100 feet from the boundary to the node all three Brass Avengers turn toward us.  Two hippogryphs fly toward us.  One on the ground is staying in the center of the node, near the dragon statue.  We fly last 100 feet into the node and cast furtive gate.  Furtive gate and fly through. Barely close furtive gate as Bronze Avenger raises grass spear and hurls a ghost copy of it toward the gate. We are casting transport via plant.  

 

In dome/half dome structure made to look like the inside of a dragon’s mouth.  Two ivory colored fangs could close, though now, the jaw looks broken. A bronze avenger turns and see us, from one round away.  He heads towards us, saying “halt” in draconic.  Efrim and Al respond in draconic and then we all transport through plants 100 miles to the west.  We appear over the ocean with a shortline a little way off.  

 

We peer into the Bronze, the sky looks darker and the sea looks more molten and dark.  Slower like molten metal.  Al checks for lich via his compass.  

 

At the shore, we see the ruins of a temple.  Further on, there are two giant skeleton “sheppards” with a gargantuan ram in a pen.  The island is dominated by an enormous castle/palace.  It looks like a lot of the palace has been defaced (and it was a dragon palace).  Dragon language evokes “great bronze forger, greatest ruler of worlds.”  There is on big, non-collapsed shrine.  There are many monoliths (four or five aren’t guarded).  Though to the Bronze we see an arena glimmering gold — there’s a glittering gold statue, which looks like a giant standing by a huge hammer.  Al uses immortal eye to get a bird’s eye view, and sees the roof of the palace has dragon ruins cast in metal which reads “justly defiled”.  His eye zooms in on the arena, and the statue looks maybe like a storm giant or cthoklan.  

 

Al recasts immortal eye near the arena.  Carrock start ESPing Al in case he goes gaseous he can still describe what he’s seeing. Al gets the pain side effect and Carrock learns it drops his mindblock, but it’s just replaced by the pain and wanting pain to stop and swearing.

Al’s new immortal eye appears over the golden arena, and it’s really more yellow than gold, but the giant statue is gold.  Giant is non-descript, except wearing armor and holding hammer.  Around 25 feet tall.  Areana and statue only exists on the Bronze plan, which we can see into, but it isn’t on the Brass.  It has 140 HD.  

 

At the place of the shattered shrine on the Brass, on the Bronze side is a shattered drolem (dragon golem) and refers to “master of planes” “creator” “father of tens of thousands” etc. for the great forger.  The bronze here seems more sacked.  We see a few skeletons wandering around, but the writing is on that side saying “justly defiled”.  No grass, and few trees.  Vines criss-crossing there.  We see animals moving and it seems safer on Bronze.  

 

In the silver realm above, see a lot more skeleton shepherds.  See them playing board games and doing activities.  We see more repetition on the silver in their behavior. After awhile the skeletons let out the ram and follow him as it frolics.  It starts to rain and we think about death.

 

Efrim lores the nodes, and per Justin we can move between realms for an answer as long as we don’t move planes.  Al lores the golden statue on the Bronze side arena.

 

We use the disk Efrim made and Carrock casts travel and we all pass through into the Bronze side.  The rain makes us feel acquainted with our true self, which is connected to all others.  Similar to the soul brothers from the dryad but more intense.  

 

The arena has the same platforms “truthfulness” “loyalty” “cosmic justice” “righteousness” the same as other arena but these are in draconic. 

 

As the rain stops, about five hundred feet away, a giant sits up from a relaxing position, snapping off vines.  He has silken robes, and plate.  He floats up to a hut.  

 

His eyes are black and featureless.  Like a specter when no ethereal.  He has 14HD.  Carrock speaks cloud giant to him but he doesn’t understand.  He answers in something like a giant language and we get him to touch rod of communication.  He gives us his name Tiro.  We see a bed, harp, and firepit in his hut.  He provides cups with bronze water.  

 

The vines can be a threat if you’re weak enough.  The locals aren’t always as kind as he is.  He says he was once very cruel, but many hundreds of years ago he had a change of heart.  There’s a book he references, and about 300 years ago he had a change of heart.  Moving to the bronze changed him.  Someone taught him the language of liberation, one of his compatriots.  You learn the language of the monoliths and slowly capture your true self.  Gods brought that message but he doesn’t know who they were.  Some follow the rules but are still cruel.  

 

The gold statue is a servant of the immortals left here long ago, when they reconquered the plane.  They were a group of giant gods.  If you go there and enter combat with it and win, you can drink its blood and enter the golden realm.  It’s immune to most magic, hammer does tremendous damage and often flattens people.  Dispels even immortal magic.  Sometimes people beat it a few centuries ago.  It was “a simple man” that was a god, in mage form.  He fought it with a staff.  

 

The Silver Well plane has a gold realm below it.  

 

We get directions to other helpful creatures on this island.  

 

More mindless undead up on the material.  Lot of undead on the silver that learned some lessons.  If he killed someone and they became a specter, he would have to control them to liberate them.  

 

Carrock tires to ESP him.  Undead are immune but he tries.  This guy is not someone to ESP.

 

He worshipped a fire giant god, then was forced to worship Old Nix against his will.  It shouldn’t count without belief.  They had to undergo the rituals honoring her.  Somehow the monolith guardians were slain and they could read the language.  It takes a long time, you have to learn it like a mother tongue.  It was a group.  He had someone command him to study it.  

 

He gives us the name and directions to a “small person like us” on the island two days away that has been to the Silver Well.  He will check for the eldest, wisest, kindest to talk to us. 

 

He is harder to turn/control.   “Death is unfortunate, but nothing to fear.” 

 

Carrock sings songs to him.  He plays the harp.  He says he’ll return in two or three days and give us the key to his hut.  He gives us info on animal problems to watch out for on the island.  Vines are mostly harmless but some big ones can be trouble.  He describes giant sized ran folk with small heads.  They are beasts not humans.  Some upright lizard creatures that show fangs.  Cats like displacer beasts we saw earlier.

 

Carrock finds the path and rainbows to the nearest monolith in either elven, semu, or ancient tongue.  AL and Efrim use dragon breath to clear out the vines.  This one is written in ancient tongue.  Lakshmi reads it and then transcribes it.  “Primitive impulse” is a fear of death and it’s repeated often.  That impulse is dominate in the mind of undead so altruism and creativity is undercut by that.  Helps understand what’s going on so you can nourish your faculties that undercut that primitive impulse.  Seems like that in undead, the primitive impulse is much more front and center in their minds; in living creatures they have that but it’s often forgotten about or pushed aside mostly.  This is teaching psychological mechanisms to overcome that pattern of thinking.  

 

The deadites are constantly thinking about death and that’s why they are fearful about it and how they’re controlled.  The impulse is so primitive the arguments against it are hard to land.

 

Shrine nearby is to the bronze creator god again. He’s still reminding followers that he’s their father and powerful.  So not a great guy.

 

Commune from the Bronze plane:

  1. Is this the faenare goddess?  No.
  2. Tell her about what we found.  Are you aware of these monoliths and their effect on undead?  No.
  3. Do you know of a way into the gold realm besides the guardian?  No.

 

Retro:  Creffa knows ancient tongue so he read the monolith and is sure that the language on the monoliths echos the language of Thorn’s theology.

 

We see the shooting stars at night, and the clear constellations including a dragon and huge penis.  

 

Adrianta is the woman we travel to meet.  She’s a nosferatu, 17th level druid.  Originally from the Silver Well, then became undead here on the material realm.  The great liberators took over and commanded her to go to the brass realm and read the language of liberation.  She has the same kind of silk finery on the specter, and faintly indonesean look.  She keeps a garden and cooks for us.

 

She’s eternally 30 and she’s interested in learning about us as well as answering questions.  Her liberators were a couple people and  Lifre and Mevrim were the god pair that led them to liberation. She was controlled for several centuries until liberator who worshiped Lifre and Mevrim.  They came here and established the monoliths, but not a lot of clerics.  She was elvish and he was humanish.  Thought to be in the human wave of immortality/gods (not giants and dragons).  People no longer worship them, but never met a cleric. It was her passion (Lifre) and his system (Mevrim).  

 

She knows about the realms in Silver Well.  They interacted a lot with the silver realm, but she didn’t go lower.  

 

In the arena, if subdued the gold statue will unbelt the grail and collect his blood and give it to the victor.  Everyone is invited if there’s a challenge as a second, gold sun rises in the sky.  She hadn’t heard of the gold realm until she came here.

 

She tells us the way between here and the silver well plane.  She gives us details about how to travel.  [Justin will provide later]

 

She can cast healing spells and somehow can channel positive energy.  She can’t receive healing though.  [fucking weird!]

 

Al has sex with a vampire [fucking extra weird!]

 

Find the path to dual planar objects not our granite. On this plane there are huge flowers that are completely empty in the middle, where a male/female vine twist together.  Efrim lores it as “brass/bronze vine flower”. 

 

Find the path to the shrine of Lifre and Mevrim.  Quite a long time ago, shrine was built in gratitude to Lifre and Mevrim.  Depicted as larger as life.  The god and goddess are shown as giant sized but we are told they are human sized.  Scenes of them bringing monoliths and teaching undead.  She looks like a far-seeing human but her hair is not afro style, and more like prime plane hair and has a pick in her hair.  He is a far-seeing human wearing robes and teaches from an open book.  (This is a bit like Crem’s more recent guise.)  

 

Spectre tells us to visit Grawlit who is among the earliest of enlightened deadites.  He likes the ocean even as strange as it is here.  He has a hut along the southeast shore, near other huts.  Formerly a giant lich of Old Nix, clerical lich that doesn’t get spells (no god).  A few thousand years old with red points of light for its pupils, wearing chainmail armor.  Carries a staff, 22nd level.  

 

Giant specter woman, says he’s away for two days and to stay in her place.  She’s 12 HD.  We stay a day or so.  Grawlit returns a day later.  

 

He asks if we’re uncomfortable and offers to wear a mask. He worshipped Old Nix in life and in undeath.  He learned Lifre and Mevrim.  He’s around 5000 years old.  He tells us exactly when the great liberation happened 2319BC.  The last time he saw Lifre and Mevrim was 2318BC.  He was the “First Generation” that was liberated with Lifre and Mevrim here.  There were about 17 liberated and then Lifre and Mevrim had to leave.  They asked to worship them, but they told them that “it wasn’t practical.”  They were always serene and sure of themselves.

 

What’s it mean to be close to the source?  There’s some source for the world, and then there’s a great transformation and we had spirits, then another transformation and we had forms.  The forms have been taken from us, some day our spirits will be taken and we’ll return to the source.  Just as we celebrate the source before the transformation we will celebrate it after we return.  

 

They’ve tried and succeeded at liberating on other planes using the language but possibly too far away from the source and more effort to wipe out the liberated. 

 

Agave was about 15-20 years before the liberation. 

 

Not immediately, but at some there have been waves of Thanos incursions.  

 

He gives of names on the Silver Well who were liberated, so we can track.

 

Lifre and Mevrim gave a choice to learn the language and maybe be free or continue to follow Old Nix.  The force of Lifre’s will convinced him.  Carrock:  Agave might’ve taught them that there are undead out there that would choose liberation if offered.  

 

The Simple Man that dueled the golden statue 300 years ago was probably a god of Entropy, according to Grawlit.  He doesn’t think there’s a gold realm here.  Fighting the gold statue probably isn’t the only way to find a way in.  There’s probably also fewer of the gold realms, since they’re deeper and presumably cost more the deeper.  

 

No one has come from Silver Well for a few hundred years.  Any planes with a bronze realm were liberated.  

 

Why hasn’t he dedicated himself to another god.  “To be honest I’m feeling an apathy setting in after so many years.”   

 

He’s heard of the Mestoic Elect and had met two of them.  

 

The Gold Statue needs to be brought to around half (like 500-600hp).  Friends can’t participate but the statue doesn’t stop friends from raising them.  You have to make a save to avoid getting smashed.  

 

Video Notes from Clay

 

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Section 27:

Talking with Nosferatu Lady Druid (Adiranta) about the Gold Golem and the Arena, she tells the party about the Chalice at its belt that it collects and feeds his blood to the victor. She watched the “Simple Man” fight. She doesnt think he was a fighter, he wasn’t attacking 5 times a round.

Gold Realm she’s heard rumor of, she didn’t believe them until coming here. Never met anyone on a return trip from the Gold Realm. Passage from Silver Well to here, her current location, she gives us detailed route of planes. Although she made the trip long ago (2K years?), so the information may be a little dated/off. 

 

A Fiend (a balor/pit fiend style demon) came to destroy the Monoliths on this Realm, and installed undead servitors, she and others drove them off/destroyed them.

 

Discuss reasons why they don’t worship the goddess. Would undead convert to the Goddess if she granted spells. Some would.

 

OT: discussion on what nosferatu eat if not blood.

 

We realize Crefa could be reading the Monoliths since he knows Ancient Tongue. He confirms that its very much her philosophy, mixed with some other voice.

 

The setting up of the Monoliths, about 2k years ago, lines up closely with Nameless Goddess’ disappearance. Seemingly this was the last straw for Thanos.

 

Confirms that Elves were at the Silver Well. Confirms that there are liberated Undead on the Silver Well.

 

OT: about people dropping acid that have cancer will face death more bravely. Ray neighbor has brain tumor and is going to die.

 

She sends us on to another knowledgeable friend.

 

Al gives her a scarf, his signature move. And three acorns. Al puts the moves on her. Al gives her herpes after an average yet awkward amount of intercourse.

 

There are no trees on the Bronze Realm.

 

OT: Real Doll discussion mirrors intercourse with a Vampire.

 

We hang out with her, sings songs, talk and share stories. Info shared.

 

FtP to other Dual Planar material that is not our Marble. Huge Flowers that are completely empty in the middle. Similar growth of the fallu. Efrim Lores the flower: Brass/Bronze Vine Flower.

 

She marks shrines to the two Immortals.

 

Final Section 28:

 

Oct 24 th 2019

 

Notes from Ray

 

24. Exploring Aching Rains (Hangout)

We decide to scry the palace of the big dick bronze dragon god.  The palace is on top of a cliff.  We need to determine which realm we will scry from.

“Intact Shrine” only exists on bronze and brass.  Two marble drolems patrol it.  We ask our lich host about it.  … This shrine is different from the others, which are collapsed.  Looks like it was built by in a relatively new age, by the “auburn sisters”.  They left, but built shrines to their deity.  Ram horns.  has been reappropriated for some god of Onyx Dragons, black dragons and lizard men or something.  The history of this plane includes a lot of turnover.  one theory is that the Bronze Forger built it.  One era is when the Auburn Sisters conquered it – giant sized sisters with ram horns.  pre-dates the Summer people.  So it hasn’t collapsed because it’s not that old and the enchantments on it are still active.

Lackshmi’s guess about gods… from age of giants, there was a god of black dragons and swamps.  didn’t belong to a sphere, and home base was outside the planes.  Gastrum or something.  Sparmight.  The strength of air, or gas.  SprMighg?  Thought to be long dead.  There aren’t currently any gods that are outside of the spheres, but there used to a lot.  “Lone wolves” so to speak.

There is a section of the palace called “volcanic falls” or something.  it’s dried up.  it was molten metals. that section is occupied by lizard men skeleton type beings.  turned into a swamp.  warm and wet.  They come to visit the shrine, so it’s assumed they worship there.  They visit the shrine in the bronze.  Assumed they are liberated.  But they must have found this religion.

You can scry into the palace grounds, but not into the buildings from the bronze level.  There is an ancient onyx dragon on the palace grounds, and the lizard man skeletons pay tribute to it.

Does the dragon teach them?  According to the lich, they were liberated first, they discovered the religion, and then the dragon came and occupied the palace.  The lich thinks there is an exalted creature in the lookout tower, and that’s probably the most powerful thing in the palace.  But, like the dragon, there are many powerful things that reside there.  The tower itself was built about 500 years ago.  not sure when exalted creature moved in, but it would have been after the onyx dragon showed up. Exalted creature is a giant-sized serpent skeleton with a human head.  Thanatos servant?  Possible, thinks the lich.  It’s a good lookout point.

The onyx dragon broke a hole in the side of one of the buildings.  If you don’t want to talk to the dragon directly, then talk to one of the followers.  They make pilgrimages to the shrine.  If you are worried there is a watcher, then you have to be careful about it if you approach the palace.  (we do have artifact invisibility…)

NOTES REFERENCE: “About 300-400 years ago” pops up a lot.  That’s when lost faenare came through.  when the ordinary man defeated the golem, the two far-seeing people taught the liberation language.  Observations: 2 or 3 centuries ago, it was noted that Thanatos was losing followers (giving them to Nyx or Mausaw), but Thanatos wasn’t losing power.  he should have – any other god would have.  So it’s assumed this is when he started “cheating”.  This lines up to some time after Thanos defeated the golem and gained access to the gold realm.  This lines up to when the Entropy sphere switched over from being “rebels” and “humans” and started repping undeath.  dryad/lost tribe was 320 years ago.  Liberation language was 3000 years ago.

*Confer with Anil’s graphic timeline.

We decide to visit the lizard man skeletons that reside at the palace.  We Transport via Plant right to the palace grounds.  We go in Invisible.  We transport between a couple of buildings.  One is the building where the onyx dragon lives.  Giant hole on the east side where the dragon sometimes leaves.  it’s turned into a cave, essentially.  there used to be doors, they are rubble now.   To the west there is a complex called “mountains brook”.  all the floors are sloped, and it’s lit by starlight inside.  It’s unoccupied.  nothing of value there.  we go in and look at what the stars look like.  there are grooves in the floor.  The constellations are different from anything we’ve seen so far. The constellations outside in the sky of this realm that we think are a “ram”, those are missing inside the palace.  To the east, there is a well kept giant sized door made of wood, with silver or platinum plate.  L tries ring of x-ray vision, but can’t look through the door. Al goes up and knocks on the door.  after a few minutes, there is the sound of clicks and bolts.  L becomes visible as it sounds like someone is opening the door.  Al gives L a potion of Speech.  The door opens.  A 7 or 8 foot tall skeleton with a tail appears.  two more behind it with crossbows up.  L raises her hands with a Summer Silver ingot. and says “I come with gifts”.  The one says “you come with a gift?  a gift for us or a gift for sprmighg?”  She says it’s for the dragon.  but we are interested in talking about the dragon.  They are all wearing the same holy symbol.

There is a little dam at the bottom of the door.  Something to keep water in, we can hear lapping water when they move.  it feels hot and humid.  They ask if she has “serpent blood”.  “Do you have serpent ancestry?”  no, we do not. Says he will probably accept our gift, but nothing more.  Now there are 11 skeletons.  One of them is carrying a musket, but only two weapons are drawn.  L sets down the silver.  “We are following the path of …” “Oh the liberators” they say.  “sprmghh is a liberator too”.  “we have met his envoy”.  L tells them her friends are invisible for caution, and we drop the spell.

Our party is Lackshmi, Al, Efrim, Carrock, Kreffa, and Iustal.

“So many people!  We can talk here, but set your weapons on the ground”.  Sprmight is the god of dragonkin, and the liberator of all ponderous creatures.  Represents balance, preservation, etc. etc. He’s not limiting his followers to undead.

The Grand Cheiftainess next door will accept you.  Go in, light the brazier, leave the gift, and leave.  You don’t meet the dragon unless you bring a really great gift.  

Why did the dragon come here?  We were liberated and wanted to worship our liberators, but the liberators weren’t making themselves available for worship.  So Sprmight stepped in.

Neither the names Ka nor Heaven’s Fang ring a bell for them.

they think we could enter the brass plane and not be killed since we have dragon form.

Do you remember the duel with the golem a couple hundred years ago?  No, but there is someone here that does… that person was making a pilgrimage, and saw a duel was happening, went to go watch.

Did the simple man visit?  one of the guard complexes is impenetrable, immortally.  No one has gone there since the auburn sisters left it, but somehow this guy was seen entering and leaving.  The guard complex is in the palace complex.  We think this would be a fine place for us to visit.  Artifact Tools in our toolset:

Lore, X-Ray, Find Traps 100%, Elasticity, Invisibility, Immortal Eye

“it’s taught to us that Sprmight doesn’t belong to the order of the other gods.  he’s a god of the silver realms.”  he takes credit for the depth of the planes.  The ancient dragon gods were first to discover the silver.  bronze discovered brass and bronze.  The Auburn Sisters discovered gold realm.  They conquered this plane and nearby planes from giant gods.  Those are the colossi gods.  Where did they come from?  Great Silver Well, we think.  They left here and went to the gold realm.  They left voluntarily.  According to their mythology, your soul get absorbed on the gold realm, you no longer have individualization.  Does sprmight go to the gold?  They are sure that he can.  The auburn sisters saw themselves as allied with dragonkind fighting against giant kind.  This dragon god was blessed by them and given permission.  According to these lizardmen, the gold golem was created by the Auburn Sisters. 

Do they know if any other idols for the big dick dragon gold?  Not really.  they aren’t interested in him.  They know you can get gold blood by defeating the gold golem.  There is a legend that maybe the auburn sister broken down their individuation on the gold realm.

There is a faenare song about a god that voluntarily became a mortal again and reformed.  (became a cricket).

marble golems are on the bronze and brass side.  on bronze side they are dangerous but if you have holy symbols and serpent ancestry they will let you in.  Holy symbols are twisted viney things.  We might be able to fake it.

They want to know why we are so interested in their god.  L explains we are chasing the path of the liberators.  According to them, he supported the liberators, and he welcomed them to this plane. On the silver well his followers are green and black dragons, and lizard men.

Sprmighth lives beyond the great silver well, in one of the deep planes.  

We theorize that the liberators might have taken refuge with him.

There is some religious artwork showing the dragon swapping some dragon jewelry for one of Thorn’s combs, indicating a pact.

Their legends say that one of the liberators died, and one fled to the human realms, i.e. the astral plane.  They love the liberators though.

The Onyx dragon is a spokesperson of the gods.  If we wanted to meet with him, then we would need to give him a legendary magic item or an artifact.

We ask, and the dragon speaks “this language” and what passes for ancient tongue in this region.

We discuss leaving a note along with a gift, requesting an audience.

Onyx dragons in general are considered neutral.

He seems to claim a broad range of aspects, but defines his followers very narrowly.  Some of the lizardmen come from the Silver Well.  There are humans there too, and they also have their own gods.  Outside the spheres? they don’t know.  Humans worship a guy from the age of dragons, originally a dragon god, now claims to be a human. Mangit, creativity and artifice.   Silver Well used to be ruled by three gods.  Preethim turned evil.  Mangit and sprmighth teamed up and killed him. Preethim was killed during the Summer Kingdom era.  Preethim was the god of comeliness and beauty.  He got greedy.  Lackshmi thinks she’s heard of Preethim. We thought he died, but maybe he got chased out here.

How does your god feel about undead?  He thinks material undead is cruel and wrong.  but liberated undead in these planes is ok because they get to enjoy sentient life.

Any worshippers of Auburn Sisters still here?  No, they are completely vacated.  Except for this tower.

We tell them we want to go to the shrine, and they tell us to move some tapestries aside to see some reliefs.

We go back to our lich friend and try to get some help with a note.  

We wait outside, the door opens.  it’s a lizard man skeleton, holding horn made out of a kind of wood.  The Trafala tree.  he says he’s a musician, and he got orders from the chieftainess to join us in song.  he assures us that the grand chieftainess can hear us.  Carrock blows the horn… we can see metallic sparkly stuff coming from the horn.  There is a flash in the sky.  He feels like he activated a magical effect.  

With Sapphire Eyes, Efrim can see the flecks releasing a substance.  The flash in the sky was some kind of comet or meteor.

We perform the song, and the hornbearer says it was a moving tribute.  The onyx dragon has witnessed us through the lizardman skeleton.

We ask if there is any advice for entering the gold realm, explaining we are on a quest from the liberators, our gods.  And then we wait…

a little bird with one dead and one blue feather lands near us.  This plane is known for having smarter birds than average.  it looks at us intently.  Carrock speaks to it.  “Good morning! What news do you bring?”  “Someone changed the sky yesterday. You must be very powerful.” When was the last time the sky changed?  Before this birds life…  Carrock asks more questions about  birdlife on this plane.  [this plane is weird.  dark red sky.  plantlife is more animated.. it’s a different life for birds.]

So in our note… let the god know we are headed to the silver well.  if he would like to communicate at any point, we are his humble supplicants.

The next morning, L wakes up, had a dream.  Was it implanted by a god or just intense?  Was looking at the sky, saw a constellation that included a blue and white moon.  No constellation like that on this plane.  we ask our Lich friend.  He confirms there is a constellation like that on Silver Well.  There are festivals associated with this constellation and a crown.  This is a clue we are going to follow up.

back to business.. we create some holy symbols that we remember.  Efrim and Al have “Dragonlike form” permanenced.  As we get closer, the marble golems come around the shrine to receive us.  The front legs rear up as we get closer.  

Al says something in draconic.  Efrim cowtows.  they stand aside, and we are permitted to enter.  four entrances.  One has pics for sprmighth.  The others are covered over with tapestries.

tapestries:

1. conferencing with the libs

2. lizardmen kneeling before the dragon, offering their tridents

3. dragon gives weapons to lizardmen

we move aside tapestries:

images:

1. a group of 7 women with horns and bony faces.  auburn skin.  three-headed goat with dragon body, they follow behind it.

2. meteor?  multicolor space rock, they gather around it.

3. exchanging objects with three dragons, one of them we recognize as sprmighth. black.  mangit is blue.  preethim is red.

we LORE them.  Actually EFRIM Lores them with the TOME.

Google results: 

1. magically preserved.  7 auburn sisters marching to destroy the disks

2. Auburn sisters discover gateway to gold

3. Auburn sisters forge packs with the three gods.

Also in the shrine, a place to leave gifts, light incense.  The Shrine has good acoustics, where you can stand in certain places and hear each other whispering from long distances.  On the ceiling there are a bunch of runes.  64 NAMES.  All of them are feminine.  [get them later].

Efrim happened to remember to borrow Lackshmi’s XRay ring.  Around the holes in the wall, there are cavities in the wall.  Whatever was there went deep.  those holes correspond to the symbols on the floor.

Lore: the Sixth Heavenly Stems.  They detect as magical.  

Lore: whisper spots: communicate to another plane.  sends a message to a plane one planar north, two planar west.  Great Silver Well?

XRay on the carved in Mural.  there is an older mural behind it:  Three-headed goat, flying and breathing on the giant disks.  Anil’s theory is that this was happening on the Silver Well.

Al makes an offering, a pound of storm giant flesh, and lights a torch.  Efrim makes a braid out of vssgon worker silk.  

Efrim sends a communication from the whisper spot: Liberators All! We seek your audience!

Al sends a communication from a different whisper spot: Deeeez Nutssss!!

We leave.  Growlit wants to know what’s in there.  Efrim recreates the relief.  He knows a little bit about the auburn sisters.  they are said to have created the Horn Constellation in the Great Silver Well.  What about the three headed goat?  Prophesy that when there were enough of them united, some god would send down a great beast to help them with stuff.

Plan to visit the guard tower: Lackshmi does artifact powers: Activate X-Ray vision before we go.  make sure it works.  Then go, bring up Truesight. Find Secret Doors.

The lizardmen say the tower is known to be impenetrable.  even to immortal magic.  

We go there.  the tower is about 150′ tall.  There are a bunch of birds lined up on the wall.  there is one bird that doesn’t look quite natural. On truesight is shows up as a 16 HD creature.  it’s trying to look like a real bird.  it’s a golem of some sort.  not immortal magic.  it’s sitting on the wall of the place we are trying to go.  There is a spot where there is a filled in doorway that is smooth with stone.  L starts x-raying.  At ground level, she can see into the first chamber.  it has internal flying buttresses.  a collection of horns, like what the lizardman had.  there are gaps, like some missing. There is a statue of a three-headed goat with a dragon body, 25 feet tall.  With Truesight: 175 HD HOLY SHIT!  perfectly still.  we assume it’s a golem.

Find Secret Doors 100%?  There is a secret door, as it turns out.  it opens into a corridor.  Large, but perilous.  filled with traps.  that’s the ground level chamber.  

Al keeps a lookout for more weird birds.  we start flying up, we’re close to the wall.  One of the birds takes off and starts flying south. L needs to make save vs spells.  feels a strong urge to betray her friends, but doesn’t.

Carrock uses the Helm to cast Invisibility and chases the bird.  it’s going to the lookout tower.  “hey where you going!?”  “I’m going to report to my friend.”  “Who’s your friend?”  “The dead snake.”  Carrock attempts to bribe it.  “I can stop briefly, but i have to go talk to my friend.”  it will pause and talk, but it thinks it still has to go talk to the dead snake.  Carrock considers how he can stop the bird without killing it.  he casts Hold Animal.  Nope.  The damn thing is too smart!  Remember birds are smarter here!  Carrock is left with no choice but to kill the bird.  He catches the falling body to resurrect later.

Lackshmi views into the second floor. It’s a 50 foot stretch, split into multiple chambers.  this change shows a spectral spiral staircase.  it’s magical.  it goes both up and down.  we keep flying up.  Lackshmi makes another save.  Resists temptation to betray her friends.

in the next chamber on the third floor, she sees what looks like a molten golden sun.  it detects immortal magic. it’s very bright.  Efrim guesses that is the announcement sun, for when someone is going to fight the golem.  No writing in the top section.  It looks like a fucking furnace in there.  it’s floating in the air.  two places where staircases reach the floor.

We go back to the second floor to do a more thorough sweep.  Lackshmi makes another save and doesn’t betray us.  The next chamber is made of stone, glittery stone that shines.  Furniture is build into or integrated into the floor.  stone form. it looks like someone’s room.  it’s empty except the embedded furniture.  we continue around.

Lackshmi makes another save…. Lackshmi feels compelled to plot against and betray her friend, and deep down, she resists, and calls on the Luck in Her Heart to make the save, and continues on like nothing happened.

In the next room, there is a lectern that was stone formed there.  Seven chairs.  On the way… 7 lines of something.  Text?  Immortal Read Languages: they are notes.  musical notes.  She says “Carrock remember this” and sings softly.  it’s a seven part harmony.  She sings each part separately.  She looks around, it looks like they are on a stage.  it’s a musical presentation room. 

Next room, save again.  20! success.  again.  12. we’re good.  another spectral staircase.  Black, Red, and Blue.  Next room is Black, Red, and Green.  Furniture rooms.  That’s everything we can see with X-ray vision.  There are probably other chambers in the middle.

  we decide not to try to get inside, and retreat to Growlit’s place.  We practice the harmony, getting Iustal, Kreffa, and the nosferatu that Al boned to join us. The sound is haunting.  it’s very beautiful and powerful, but nothing happens.

We decide to go back to the shrine, Al drinks a merge potion and sneaks everyone in.  We go stand on the whisper spots and we sing the harmony.  The song dies away… we hear a booming voice “beautiful song… it would be better with the horns of the sisters.”

We hatch a plan to get our hands on some horns.  We recall there were 11 missing.  We go to visit the lizardmen skeletons again.  pound on the door, a woman skeleton comes out.  

“We’re back.  we want to talk about your awesome horn.” “You can’t have it.”  “How did you get it out of the tower?” “We didn’t.  someone else did, and they are scattered across the plane.  they are legendary items.”  Do they have any more?  She can’t answer that.  we tell them we need seven horns to play it.  she tells us that the great silver well has the most.

They won’t let us touch the horns again, it’s sacred.  it’s called “horns of the sisters”.