On one particular unseasonably warm autumn evening, you have all found yourselves --- coincidentally or not --- in the village of Locke, where the chatter of the town is still the anomalous event "out past the hills". The blue glow is not strong enough to overpower the lamp lights --- a recent technological improvement, by Locke's standards --- that line the major streets of the village, creating a strange, sickly combination of yellow and blue light that helps cut the small point of civilization out of the wilderness. You may have found yourself in one of the few inns, taking in the local fare while listening to exaggerated and drunken tales of courage and heroism regarding the site of the pillar and the laments of those who have been working to rebuild broken structures and machines and settle the consistently distressed livestock, or perhaps you have spent more time out on the street and at the edges of the village, where you get a chance to observe the muted and limited response from the volunteer guard of Locke. If you have a family or friends here, they too find their idle time consumed by talk of the event, as nothing much else of note happens here usually, at least to this degree. The night is like every other night, otherwise. Quiet and calm, most folk retired to their homes or passing time at the bar. Locke feels at times like a forgotten stop in the march of technology --- not quite skipped over, but much behind --- and yet you can see pieces of magitech here and there --- the lamp lights most notably, but occasionally a minor machine or enchantment in the streets and establishments, an improved tool that has ever-so-slightly started modernizing the otherwise rural farming life out in the wilds of Mystvil. The smell is that of fresh earth and the air after a thunderstorm, pulling your thoughts back to where you are --- and where you are not. [Pausing here to allow for folks to advance and/or establish connections with one another. Don't forget that the character tool will have given you some seeds for how you know someone else on the adventure, which you can solidify and embellish on to your heart's content. And as a reminder, post within this thread be replying to it, until there is a major scene change, and please bottom post (i.e. the text you are replying to quoted above your text) when at all possible.] -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
Nia will lurk on the outskirts of town and try to spot a friendly face. She has met Gegren at his forge, so will lurk in those environs. Nia’s goal is to get more information about the anomaly. While she wants to investigate it, if there are people in town who know more about it, she would prefer to venture out with as much information as she can. If she encounters a known person, she will ask them: “What do you know about the light from over the hills?” “Has anyone gone to investigate it? And where are these people now?” [OOC: I’ll assume Nia has run into Dax and Arsal while out in the countryside, but is unlikely to know where to find them. If Nia sees Gegren at the forge, she will try to make the connection between the smith she remembers and the new form he inhabits now. Likely she would not know him if she passed him in the street. It is too hot for chainmail, so she will be dressed in a sleeveless tunic and summer leggings. Her bow and shield are on her back and her mail and other gear is stuffed in a bag. She is visibly armed with a sword and dagger. Townsfolk give Nia the creeps, so she will definitely be in ‘lurk mode’ unless she sees Gegren, Dax, or Arsal.] On Wed, Jul 2, 2025 at 12:55 PM bss via Emerald Flame < emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote:
On one particular unseasonably warm autumn evening, you have all found yourselves --- coincidentally or not --- in the village of Locke, where the chatter of the town is still the anomalous event "out past the hills". The blue glow is not strong enough to overpower the lamp lights --- a recent technological improvement, by Locke's standards --- that line the major streets of the village, creating a strange, sickly combination of yellow and blue light that helps cut the small point of civilization out of the wilderness.
You may have found yourself in one of the few inns, taking in the local fare while listening to exaggerated and drunken tales of courage and heroism regarding the site of the pillar and the laments of those who have been working to rebuild broken structures and machines and settle the consistently distressed livestock, or perhaps you have spent more time out on the street and at the edges of the village, where you get a chance to observe the muted and limited response from the volunteer guard of Locke. If you have a family or friends here, they too find their idle time consumed by talk of the event, as nothing much else of note happens here usually, at least to this degree.
The night is like every other night, otherwise. Quiet and calm, most folk retired to their homes or passing time at the bar. Locke feels at times like a forgotten stop in the march of technology --- not quite skipped over, but much behind --- and yet you can see pieces of magitech here and there --- the lamp lights most notably, but occasionally a minor machine or enchantment in the streets and establishments, an improved tool that has ever-so-slightly started modernizing the otherwise rural farming life out in the wilds of Mystvil. The smell is that of fresh earth and the air after a thunderstorm, pulling your thoughts back to where you are --- and where you are not.
[Pausing here to allow for folks to advance and/or establish connections with one another. Don't forget that the character tool will have given you some seeds for how you know someone else on the adventure, which you can solidify and embellish on to your heart's content. And as a reminder, post within this thread be replying to it, until there is a major scene change, and please bottom post (i.e. the text you are replying to quoted above your text) when at all possible.]
-- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB_______________________________________________ Emerald Flame mailing list -- emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org To unsubscribe send an email to emerald-flame-leave@lists.incorporeal.org
On Wednesday, July 2, 2025 3:38 PM murph via Emerald Flame wrote:
Nia will lurk on the outskirts of town and try to spot a friendly face. She has met Gegren at his forge, so will lurk in those environs.
Nia’s goal is to get more information about the anomaly. While she wants to investigate it, if there are people in town who know more about it, she would prefer to venture out with as much information as she can.
If she encounters a known person, she will ask them:
“What do you know about the light from over the hills?”
“Has anyone gone to investigate it? And where are these people now?”
While keeping to the quieter parts of Locke, Nia does encounter a few familiar and friendly enough faces, though they are not much help in answering her questions about what occurred. The people around town seem to embody a quiet, subdued fear of the situation --- not in a panic or speculating wildly about what lies beyond the hills, but rather just trying not to worry about it, not to think of what if anything might come next. No one Nia recognizes claims to have even started to approach the site. [OOC: but, there might be someone --- talking with people doesn't seem to be Nia's strong suit, but an occasional conversation seems to draw the attention of someone --- a male half-elf, looking to be a teenager --- who seems like they would know a bit more, the question is if they'll talk to Nia. Give me a difficulty 2 Intellect task to have a good social encounter and get some actually useful information. [Nested meta OOC: we will play with the variants of "I call for a roll, you reply, I narrate" vs. "I roll for you when it's obvious you would act" vs. "you tell me you want to roll and preload your action if/when you succeed" and so on as we go. On this one since I'm thinking this is an unexpected opportunity that strikes Nia (or doesn't), I won't just foist a success/failure on you, and we'll explore the normal progression a bit for everyone's sake.] Oh, and I'm assuming, without getting in the way, that you may indeed bump into any of the others, but Gegren hasn't yet gathered any information of his own ahead of time --- perhaps too busy coming to terms with whatever happened with the whole sudden helborn-ness.] -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
[OOC finally remembered the right dice syntax for IRC Nia’s diff 2 roll is hindered in town to a 3, but she riolls a 15. Success!] Nia will get what she can out of this half-elf, and will ask their name and heritage as well. Nia is pretty perceptive, if she gets a sense that she can trust that this fellow knows what they are talking about, she would ask if they would talk with a smith she knows named Gegren.
On Wed, Jul 2 2025 at 03:38:27 PM -0500, murph via Emerald Flame <emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote:
Nia will lurk on the outskirts of town and try to spot a friendly face. She has met Gegren at his forge, so will lurk in those environs.
Nia is likely shocked when she sees a helborn, albeit one with strangely familiar features, closing up Gegren's shop. When the figure speaks, "Hello Nia. I'm guessing you're in town because of recent happenings", the voice is what match the new face to the one without horns and reddish skin. Gegren's face turns pinkish as he pales, realizing. "Uh, there's been some changes since you last saw me." He's wary, and waiting to see if Nia is going to be one of those who quickly leaves, or worse, who quietly and slowly edges away.
Gegren's face turns pinkish as he pales, realizing. "Uh, there's been some changes since you last saw me." He's wary, and waiting to see if Nia is going to be one of those >who quickly leaves, or worse, who quietly and slowly edges away.<
Nia can count the beings who she has successfully had a conversation with in the last century on part of one hand. She is not going to make that number smaller on account of some horns. “Changes…yes I see. Now, about this green light in the sky…” [ OOC: She does not yet know about Gegren’s Inner Evil, and maybe it’s a good thing she doesn’t. She is relieved to have found a familiar…identity, and is hoping she can convince the smith to go investigate this anomaly with some company.] On Wed, Jul 2, 2025 at 9:34 PM Mike Bloy via Emerald Flame < emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote:
On Wed, Jul 2 2025 at 03:38:27 PM -0500, murph via Emerald Flame < emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote:
Nia will lurk on the outskirts of town and try to spot a friendly face. She has met Gegren at his forge, so will lurk in those environs.
Nia is likely shocked when she sees a helborn, albeit one with strangely familiar features, closing up Gegren's shop. When the figure speaks, "Hello Nia. I'm guessing you're in town because of recent happenings", the voice is what match the new face to the one without horns and reddish skin.
Gegren's face turns pinkish as he pales, realizing. "Uh, there's been some changes since you last saw me." He's wary, and waiting to see if Nia is going to be one of those who quickly leaves, or worse, who quietly and slowly edges away. _______________________________________________ Emerald Flame mailing list -- emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org To unsubscribe send an email to emerald-flame-leave@lists.incorporeal.org
On Wed, Jul 2 2025 at 09:46:34 PM -0500, murph via Emerald Flame <emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote:
“Changes…yes I see. Now, about this green light in the sky…”
"Well, the wave or whatever it was caused <gestures at himself> this. What's left of the old watchtower roof was never purple before either. There were a few other effects around town, and I think I heard about a someone with unusual eggs in his pack being brought into town, injured, afterwards. I'm not sure of the details. As you can imagine I was rather busy." He pauses, then continues, delicately, as if he fears the answer. "You're... not frightened of my new appearance? Only everyone else is. As far as I know I'm still the same person... er... except for this." With this, he causes the horseshoe he'd just finished to levitate off the anvil, circle around his head, then Nia's in a figure eight pattern, before moving back and settling on the anvil. "I must admit that's new." [OOC: bss if I remember the rules right, Hedge Magic costs 1 intellect point but I have an Edge of 1 in intellect so I can basically do that all day for free. Also I'm assuming no roll here because this is not 'combat conditions' but if not let me know and I'll retcon things.] "Regardless of all that, you might say I have a vested interest in figuring out just what the... ", Gegren's mouth quirks weirdly here, "... HELL has happened to me."
[ OOC: She does not yet know about Gegren’s Inner Evil, and maybe it’s a good thing she doesn’t. ]
[OOC: Yeah it'll be interesting when that comes out, won't it]
On Wednesday, July 2, 2025 10:19 PM Mike Bloy via Emerald Flame wrote:
[OOC: bss if I remember the rules right, Hedge Magic costs 1 intellect point but I have an Edge of 1 in intellect so I can basically do that all day for free. Also I'm assuming no roll here because this is not 'combat conditions' but if not let me know and I'll retcon things.]
[OOC: right on both points. It's pretty common that a build will get a couple special things for free at Tier 1 (unless they spend Effort, of course) and Hedge Magic is a good example. A roll is usually warranted when the "target" "resists", which can be obvious in a lot of combat and social situations, or if there's a natural difficulty or interesting risk in what's being attempted (e.g. the horseshoe is in a highly magnetic environment, the horseshoe is being placed on a trap's pressure plate). Graduated success (how much you find out, to what detail you see the orc horde ahead, that kind of thing) is a notable exception, circumstantially. But yeah, your best judgment on if a roll seems necessary is fine, I'll jump in and retcon if necessary. Or throw out a GM Intrusion.]
"Regardless of all that, you might say I have a vested interest in figuring out just what the... ", Gegren's mouth quirks weirdly here, "... HELL has happened to me."
From discussing the situation with the teenage half-elf (Torin), Nia does know a bit more than the average villager. She drew Torin's attention and managed to make some small talk and do a comforting enough job at interacting with a stranger in town. What she learned, aside from the more obvious effects seen in Locke, is that the area where the column now glows a vibrant blue from some unobvious source in the woods and brush at the location, as if the area had been enchanted with some kind of bioluminescence. "I went there to check it out a couple days ago," Torin said to Mia, "expecting to see the place destroyed, but instead the whole area is still. I'd been in the forest there before and there was never anything special about it, but when I was there, I could tell something was off. It was like something underground burst free, leaving a cave or something. I hung out there for a bit to see if anything happened, but aside from feeling weird from the stillness, nothing did. Everything just glowed. I decided I wasn't going to go into the hole, and came back." Torin also suggested he could take others there if they wanted, but that it wasn't that difficult to find on your own, especially for anyone used to navigating a forest. -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
"You're... not frightened of my new appearance?
Nia *is* actually a bit freaked out by Gegren's appearance, but is trying to keep a lid on it as she remembers a former comrade (Grillo) who was disfigured by acid who did not get Nia's full support. She has vowed to do better this time. So long as Gegren is acting as he has been, she can be good with his new, hellish appearance.
"It was like something underground burst free, leaving a cave or something."
Torin's statement gets Nia's attention. A cave below the mysterious light? She's in. Nia will size up Torin. If she gets the sense that he will freak out at the sight of trouble, she will leave the half-elf here. If he seems particularly capable, she will ask if he wants to be a guide to the cave - but she will make clear that she will likely be entering said cave.
On Thursday, July 3, 2025 6:31 PM via Emerald Flame wrote:
Torin's statement gets Nia's attention. A cave below the mysterious light? She's in. Nia will size up Torin. If she gets the sense that he will freak out at the sight of trouble, she will leave the half-elf here. If he seems particularly capable, she will ask if he wants to be a guide to the cave - but she will make clear that she will likely be entering said cave.
"Capable" might be pushing it; Torin has the personality of an overconfident youth, he seems willing to go but it might not be the greatest idea. So on that note, he agreed to Nia's terms, and would have tagged along to the smithy to bring Nia to Gegren, unless otherwise dismissed. It's evening, so you could all go now, he says, where it's even easier to navigate, or you can prepare first and/or wait until morning. [OOC: it might be good to pause on actual traveling in order to introduce and include Asal and Dax, especially with the long weekend for us USians. We can give their players a couple days to continue to get their bearings and whatnot.] -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
Dax I always walking around in the woods, so perhaps Nia has seen him at some point? Maybe she knows Yalan [Elven Warden of Locke Forest]? I'll assume Gegren tells Dax about this weird glow thing that crashed and wanted to go look into it. Dax is always looking for neat things to investigate. On meeting Nia, "Hi, good to meet you." Will eventually sk about something notable that she is wearing or comment positively on something she is interested in. If she has questions for Dax she shares what he can. On Friday, July 4, 2025 at 12:11:45 AM CDT, bss via Emerald Flame <emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote: On Thursday, July 3, 2025 6:31 PM via Emerald Flame wrote:
Torin's statement gets Nia's attention. A cave below the mysterious light? She's in. Nia will size up Torin. If she gets the sense that he will freak out at the sight of trouble, she will leave the half-elf here. If he seems particularly capable, she will ask if he wants to be a guide to the cave - but she will make clear that she will likely be entering said cave.
"Capable" might be pushing it; Torin has the personality of an overconfident youth, he seems willing to go but it might not be the greatest idea. So on that note, he agreed to Nia's terms, and would have tagged along to the smithy to bring Nia to Gegren, unless otherwise dismissed. It's evening, so you could all go now, he says, where it's even easier to navigate, or you can prepare first and/or wait until morning. [OOC: it might be good to pause on actual traveling in order to introduce and include Asal and Dax, especially with the long weekend for us USians. We can give their players a couple days to continue to get their bearings and whatnot.] -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB_______________________________________________ Emerald Flame mailing list -- emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org To unsubscribe send an email to emerald-flame-leave@lists.incorporeal.org
On Sunday, July 6, 2025 5:45 PM Stuck Ey via Emerald Flame wrote:
Dax I always walking around in the woods, so perhaps Nia has seen him at some point? Maybe she knows Yalan [Elven Warden of Locke Forest]? I'll assume Gegren tells Dax about this weird glow thing that crashed and wanted to go look into it. Dax is always looking for neat things to investigate.
[This is mostly to bump the thread, but I'm good with however you all would like to establish that. I didn't see a randomly-generated link to the starting adventure/party on your sheet, so maybe roll that if you need some inspiration. Bump purposes: I think we're ready to continue forward in-character, assuming that Dax and Asal will soon be able to do their relationships and we can soon roll to see who has some connections for this session.] -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
On Sunday, July 13, 2025 8:19 PM bss via Emerald Flame wrote:
On Sunday, July 6, 2025 5:45 PM Stuck Ey via Emerald Flame wrote:
Dax I always walking around in the woods, so perhaps Nia has seen him at some point? Maybe she knows Yalan [Elven Warden of Locke Forest]? I'll assume Gegren tells Dax about this weird glow thing that crashed and wanted to go look into it. Dax is always looking for neat things to investigate.
As you all collect yourselves [OOC: and finish gathering the party, and thank you to Mike and Murph for relationship connection rolls, I will start folding those in], you know this to be true: that you have lived or traveled far to the west of Trezuria, and now find yourselves in the midst of something to investigate. You all are ahead of the scouts and scholars traveling here from Aera Anon and Horizon, but it is not long until they arrive in Locke, and who knows what they make make of the anomaly when they approach. Those who ask around learn of some visitors [OOC: see Mike's backstory], but their purpose and their origin are both unclear, and they do not seem forthcoming with details. However, they do not yet seem primed to act. What you would all know of the region is that Horizon is roughly half a month's travel on foot, and Aera Anon almost a month, though anyone with the means would find other means of transport to reach Locke. [OOC: I redrew Mike's map using the tool he suggested and added some more stuff; it's at https://orb.moe/emerald-flame/mystvil.png until I can get it on the wiki.] -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
On Tuesday, July 15, 2025 6:32 PM bss via Emerald Flame wrote:
[OOC: I redrew Mike's map using the tool he suggested and added some more stuff; it's at https://orb.moe/emerald-flame/mystvil.png until I can get it on the wiki.]
[Oh, and I futzed with the scale. 25 miles is ~1 day's travel on foot.] -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
On Tuesday, July 15, 2025 6:38 PM bss via Emerald Flame wrote:
On Tuesday, July 15, 2025 6:32 PM bss via Emerald Flame wrote:
[OOC: I redrew Mike's map using the tool he suggested and added some more stuff; it's at https://orb.moe/emerald-flame/mystvil.png until I can get it on the wiki.]
[Oh, and I futzed with the scale. 25 miles is ~1 day's travel on foot.]
[Oh again, Murph asked on IRC what the paths mean. I should figure out how to make a legend, but the bold dashed path between Horizon and Aera Anon is meant to be marked road, definitely well-worn and maybe even paved at points, and the lighter dotted path more like a recognized trail through the wilderness. Airship routes and whatnot might be interesting additions, or other magical connection points, as they become relevant, but I left them out for sake of time/not trying to blow myself out with complicated ideas in the new tool.] -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
With the growing chatter about outlanders coming to town to investigate the anomaly, Nia is getting antsy to get out of town. She would approach Gegren and ask him "So, do you feel like getting out of town for awhile? I think we can avoid the local gossips and make ourselves useful at the same time." Nia would leave Torin, the young half-elf, in town. She'd thank him for his assistance, but suggest he leave well enough alone. "The smith and I should be able to figure things out." [OOC: Nia is not interested in a large scouting party, so wants to get moving before things get crowded. The thought of outlanders from Horizon or Aera Anon coming to investigate the light in the sky is unsettling. This was *her* sign, she wants to solve this...whatever it is. Nia would give a thought to asking after Dax, but her experiences with him have led her to believe that seeking him out is pointless. If Dax wants to be there, he will be simply show up at a moment of his choosing - regardless of any other factors.] If Nia spies Arsal, she would invite them along. She is almost twenty leagues away from Oron-yána, an experienced local guide could be very useful. Assuming Gegren is game to go, Nia would meet him under a big tree outside of town. Nia will load her gear into her bag and sling the tumpline so she can keep her hands free. She's looking forward to some unfamiliar woods.
On Wednesday, July 16, 2025 8:33 PM via Emerald Flame wrote:
Nia would leave Torin, the young half-elf, in town. She'd thank him for his assistance, but suggest he leave well enough alone. "The smith and I should be able to figure things out."
Torin reluctantly understands and agrees to stay behind.
If Nia spies Arsal, she would invite them along. She is almost twenty leagues away from Oron-yána, an experienced local guide could be very useful.
[Just to note: I am assuming Asal is tagging along on however the story advances, and we can flashback if we need to.]
Nia will load her gear into her bag and sling the tumpline so she can keep her hands free. She's looking forward to some unfamiliar woods.
Before the party does head out, it's worth pointing out that there's standard adventuring gear available for purchase in Locke; it might take a bit of extra work to convince someone to open up shop in the evening, but explaining that you are gathering a group to investigate would be motivation enough. If there's anything particular you'd like (standard equipment or otherwise), this is a good point to check in on that. [I don't think I saw a hard tilt one way or the other on price categories vs. gold, so I'm going with gold. Everyone keep your equipment as is from the starting equipment via price categories, with currency going forward; Dax, Gegran, and Nia have 3d6 + 10 gp to spare, Asal has 3d6 + 20 gp.] -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
Nia will spend her remaining 16 gp on adventuring gear and provisions - apologizing to any merchants we dragged away from their dinner. Once Gegren was similarly geared up, she would strike out for the anomaly. “No sense waiting for the rest of Mystvil to beat us to the cave!” [OOC Nia has her sights set on doing some good, and this far she’s got a hellborn smith as an ally and not a lot else. She’s hoping the fates are good as deserting her post is starting to gnaw on her conscience.]
On Tuesday, July 22, 2025 8:45 PM via Emerald Flame wrote:
Once Gegren was similarly geared up, she would strike out for the anomaly.
[Retroactive definitions of how Dax and Asal get involved and tag along (or not, maybe they show up independently, I suppose, though I'd like to not be split for too long) are fine, but to get things moving...] The journey into the woods takes no more than a couple hours, the cool, tranquil autumn evening providing no resistance to your travel. Following the blue light, the smell of ozone getting stronger as you draw nearer. The smell was lingering in the air in Locke, but now it is unmistakable and all but impossible to miss. The forest itself is far from still, but attempts to identify the reason behind the unrest in the trees or the din of birds never give any clarity --- but something is certainly amiss with the area. As you ascend the hills, more and more trees appear stripped or blasted, giving more indication that you are going the right way. The travel ends successfully when you reach the top of a small hill and see a curved bulging in the ground in the small valley below you --- one that was allegedly not there before the event --- with a brighter blue emanating from a natural opening in the bulge. The grass and plants in this immediate area are scorched, but there is still little indication of what awaits, other than it must be below the earth. [Feel free to ask more and/or poke around, some attempts might need checks, depending on the question, and graduated success may also apply.] -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
Following the blue light, the smell of ozone getting stronger as you draw nearer. Nia would assume her usual role of advance scout, her main thinking being she should have a good chance of spotting approaching danger before it gets the main group.
Depending on the size of the group headed to the cave, she would range far ahead of a larger group, and stay closer to a smaller group.
As you ascend the hills, more and more trees appear stripped or blasted…
Nia would wonder about the effects on local creatures… are there signs that animal life survived this event? Or is at least returning to the area? If wildlife is gone and not returning….well, that would be a bad sign.
…with a brighter blue emanating from a natural opening…The grass and plants in this immediate area are scorched…
As soon as this was in sight, Nia would focus her attention on the immediate surroundings of the cave opening. She’d be trying to divine if the scorched plant life is recovering or utterly dead - and if the plants appear to be progressing normally into desiccation/decay/recovery or if there is still some effect that is harming the surroundings that could still be a danger. Nia is keen to explore the cave, but she’s not luring her group to enter if she senses something malevolent is still active…
On Friday, August 1, 2025 5:35 PM via Emerald Flame wrote:
Nia would wonder about the effects on local creatures… are there signs that animal life survived this event? Or is at least returning to the area?
If wildlife is gone and not returning….well, that would be a bad sign.
As you get closer, it does seem as if the wildlife of the area is avoiding the site, and as for the site itself, some of the plants in the area are utterly dead, but the majority seem to be more scarred and potentially recovering. Either way, Nia also feels the unease hanging over everything in the area. [Give me a difficulty 5 Intellect task to learn something special, I think it's fair to apply your specialization in perception.]
Nia is keen to explore the cave, but she’s not luring her group to enter if she senses something malevolent is still active…
Nothing actively detrimental seems to be currently emanating from the cave, but as above, there's something wrong with the site. The forest isn't alive the way it would normally be, Nia senses, cued by her heritage and training. -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
[Give me a difficulty 5 Intellect task to learn something special, I think it's fair to apply your specialization in perception.]
[OOC: Nia gets a 4, so she is too distracted by the blighted landscape to lean anything special] Nia will check with Gegren (and anyone else who is present, “This place is unsettling, but I didn’t come all this way just to turn around. Anyone else up for entering the cave?” She will head to the mouth of the cave and peer in. If it is a vertical descent, she will start looking for a good place to secure a rope to lower people into the cave. On Sat, Aug 2, 2025 at 1:29 PM bss via Emerald Flame < emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote:
On Friday, August 1, 2025 5:35 PM via Emerald Flame wrote:
Nia would wonder about the effects on local creatures… are there signs that animal life survived this event? Or is at least returning to the area?
If wildlife is gone and not returning….well, that would be a bad sign.
As you get closer, it does seem as if the wildlife of the area is avoiding the site, and as for the site itself, some of the plants in the area are utterly dead, but the majority seem to be more scarred and potentially recovering. Either way, Nia also feels the unease hanging over everything in the area.
[Give me a difficulty 5 Intellect task to learn something special, I think it's fair to apply your specialization in perception.]
Nia is keen to explore the cave, but she’s not luring her group to enter if she senses something malevolent is still active…
Nothing actively detrimental seems to be currently emanating from the cave, but as above, there's something wrong with the site. The forest isn't alive the way it would normally be, Nia senses, cued by her heritage and training.
-- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB_______________________________________________ Emerald Flame mailing list -- emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org To unsubscribe send an email to emerald-flame-leave@lists.incorporeal.org
On Saturday 02 August 2025 03:17:10 PM (-05:00), murph via Emerald Flame wrote: Nia will check with Gegren (and anyone else who is present, “This place is unsettling, but I didn’t come all this way just to turn around. Anyone else up for entering the cave?” [Assuming that Gegren hasn't sensed or seen anything that would stop him] Gegren replies: "In my experience, caves aren't supposed to glow brightly blue. On the other hand, in my experience I'm not supposed to have horns. This place was obviously the source of the weirdness, and we're not going to learn anything about it standing out here and staring at it, are we?" -- Mike | he/him
On Tuesday 29 July 2025 01:01:57 AM (-05:00), bss via Emerald Flame wrote:
On Tuesday, July 22, 2025 8:45 PM via Emerald Flame wrote: The journey into the woods takes no more than a couple hours... something is certainly amiss with the area.
As we approach the site, Gegren stretches his newfound occult senses to the limit, feeling how the forest and the event site feel different from town.
with a brighter blue emanating from a natural opening in the bulge. The grass and plants in this immediate area are scorched, but there is still little indication of what awaits, other than it must be below the earth.
Gegren is wary, always keeping an apparent safe location in sight to teleport to if the need arises. He gets out his dagger and warily picks up some nearby debris with his magic, sending it across the threshold of the cave and deliberately making some noise against the cave floor, while he watches from a safe distance. -- Mike | he/him
On Saturday, August 2, 2025 5:51 PM Mike Bloy via Emerald Flame wrote:
As we approach the site, Gegren stretches his newfound occult senses to the limit, feeling how the forest and the event site feel different from town.
The town didn't feel like this, that much Gegren knows. The feel is almost like a strong smell that seems to hang in one's nostrils, the forest senses a bit like how Gegren just /is/ now, though it seems like a fading thing in the forest.
Gegren is wary, always keeping an apparent safe location in sight to teleport to if the need arises. He gets out his dagger and warily picks up some nearby debris with his magic, sending it across the threshold of the cave and deliberately making some noise against the cave floor, while he watches from a safe distance.
The debris, some small stones from the upturned ground in the area, make a surprising pair of sounds. The first sound is a dull, light thud of stone on earth, but a few stones, perhaps scattered a bit deeper in, sound a bit more distant, but also make a more distinctive sound of striking stone. Nothing seems disturbed or aroused by the test. On Saturday, August 2, 2025 3:17 PM murph via Emerald Flame wrote:
She will head to the mouth of the cave and peer in. If it is a vertical descent, she will start looking for a good place to secure a rope to lower people into the cave.
It is a bit of a descent, not quite vertical, but the group could probably benefit from an assist on getting down. The glow continues on inside, enough to make out what seems to be a worked chamber, under 10 to 15 feet of earth, the cave hole you're looking through actually more like a hole punched in the ceiling. -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
Nia will suppress her apprehension about descending into the depths with someone who looks like they were coughed up from the abyss. "A comrade is a comrade" she will mutter to herself. She will take some time to secure a rope at the mouth of the cave and drop the length of it into the cave opening. It looks like the light situation isn't too troubling so far, so she will forego lighting a torch just yet. She will gear up in her armor and tell Gegren that she's willing to go first. "But keep an eye on things down there as I go." Nia will try to make a quiet landing on the floor and immediately scan her surroundings for movement. On Sun, Aug 3, 2025 at 6:48 PM bss via Emerald Flame < emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote:
On Saturday, August 2, 2025 5:51 PM Mike Bloy via Emerald Flame wrote:
As we approach the site, Gegren stretches his newfound occult senses to the limit, feeling how the forest and the event site feel different from town.
The town didn't feel like this, that much Gegren knows. The feel is almost like a strong smell that seems to hang in one's nostrils, the forest senses a bit like how Gegren just /is/ now, though it seems like a fading thing in the forest.
Gegren is wary, always keeping an apparent safe location in sight to teleport to if the need arises. He gets out his dagger and warily picks up some nearby debris with his magic, sending it across the threshold of the cave and deliberately making some noise against the cave floor, while he watches from a safe distance.
The debris, some small stones from the upturned ground in the area, make a surprising pair of sounds. The first sound is a dull, light thud of stone on earth, but a few stones, perhaps scattered a bit deeper in, sound a bit more distant, but also make a more distinctive sound of striking stone. Nothing seems disturbed or aroused by the test.
On Saturday, August 2, 2025 3:17 PM murph via Emerald Flame wrote:
She will head to the mouth of the cave and peer in. If it is a vertical descent, she will start looking for a good place to secure a rope to lower people into the cave.
It is a bit of a descent, not quite vertical, but the group could probably benefit from an assist on getting down. The glow continues on inside, enough to make out what seems to be a worked chamber, under 10 to 15 feet of earth, the cave hole you're looking through actually more like a hole punched in the ceiling.
-- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB_______________________________________________ Emerald Flame mailing list -- emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org To unsubscribe send an email to emerald-flame-leave@lists.incorporeal.org
On Sun, Aug 3 2025 at 08:42:35 PM -0500, murph via Emerald Flame <emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote:
She will take some time to secure a rope at the mouth of the cave and drop the length of it into the cave opening. It looks like the light situation isn't too troubling so far, so she will forego lighting a torch just yet.
She will gear up in her armor and tell Gegren that she's willing to go first. "But keep an eye on things down there as I go."
Gegren again stretches his senses, peering down into the hole as Nia descends. He's especially alert for any signs of illusion, ambush, or trickery. [reminder: G is trained in both Magic and Lore of the Underworld (instinctive knowledge from his new form) and in Seeing through Deception (something he was already good at). Let me know if you need a roll in either of those.]
Nia will try to make a quiet landing on the floor and immediately scan her surroundings for movement.
Gegren hasn't shared this, but he's prepared to Far Step down to Nia's landing location at the first sign of trouble. He's got his dagger prepared. He's also keeping an eye out at ground level.
Hey all,I rolled the "connections" on "dicetest" at the RPG discord chat Mike set up for our other gaming. I got House Magissa 15, House Cendrillion 15, and Yalen (woods/elves/knowledge) 19 Dax meets with Gegren to conduct some magic making business. So I'd guess we'd chat about how he's doing seeing as how his appearance has changed. Hearing about some crash of light out of town, would be curious to see what that is all about. Reaching out the caves would follow along with others into it (far stepping down if possible, rather than climb rope). On Monday, August 4, 2025 at 12:08:21 AM CDT, Mike Bloy via Emerald Flame <emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote: On Sun, Aug 3 2025 at 08:42:35 PM -0500, murph via Emerald Flame <emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote: She will take some time to secure a rope at the mouth of the cave and drop the length of it into the cave opening. It looks like the light situation isn't too troubling so far, so she will forego lighting a torch just yet. She will gear up in her armor and tell Gegren that she's willing to go first. "But keep an eye on things down there as I go." Gegren again stretches his senses, peering down into the hole as Nia descends. He's especially alert for any signs of illusion, ambush, or trickery. [reminder: G is trained in both Magic and Lore of the Underworld (instinctive knowledge from his new form) and in Seeing through Deception (something he was already good at). Let me know if you need a roll in either of those.] Nia will try to make a quiet landing on the floor and immediately scan her surroundings for movement. Gegren hasn't shared this, but he's prepared to Far Step down to Nia's landing location at the first sign of trouble. He's got his dagger prepared. He's also keeping an eye out at ground level._______________________________________________ Emerald Flame mailing list -- emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org To unsubscribe send an email to emerald-flame-leave@lists.incorporeal.org
On Monday 04 August 2025 05:31:45 PM (-05:00), Stuck Ey via Emerald Flame wrote: Dax meets with Gegren to conduct some magic making business. As he's gathering supplies to leave with Nia, Gegren says, "We can discuss commissions and ongoing work when I get back. I feel like figuring out why I look like this now and why there's an eldritch beacon lighting up our night sky is a little more pressing." -- Mike | he/him
On Monday, August 4, 2025 5:31 PM Stuck Ey via Emerald Flame wrote:
Hey all,I rolled the "connections" on "dicetest" at the RPG discord chat Mike set up for our other gaming. I got House Magissa 15, House Cendrillion 15, and Yalen (woods/elves/knowledge) 19
[I am still of the opinion that we should make some sort of larger organization for Yalen, or have him represent one of the existing ones, but for now, noted; you have 3 1-XP-spends to use as you would like per the rules on rerolls and player intrusions.]
Dax meets with Gegren to conduct some magic making business. So I'd guess we'd chat about how he's doing seeing as how his appearance has changed. Hearing about some crash of light out of town, would be curious to see what that is all about. Reaching out the caves would follow along with others into it (far stepping down if possible, rather than climb rope).
[Far Stepping down is possible. I'll get to immediate surroundings and etc. inside in reply to murph or Mike as one big batch when I get a chance.] -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
On Sunday, August 3, 2025 8:42 PM murph via Emerald Flame wrote:
She will take some time to secure a rope at the mouth of the cave and drop the length of it into the cave opening. It looks like the light situation isn't too troubling so far, so she will forego lighting a torch just yet.
She will gear up in her armor and tell Gegren that she's willing to go first. "But keep an eye on things down there as I go."
Nia will try to make a quiet landing on the floor and immediately scan her surroundings for movement.
The blue glow of the chamber makes it easy for Nia to check on her surroundings. Dropping in from a hole in the ceiling, she immediately notes that the larger chamber seems to be man-made in a dark gray worked stone, and old enough to have begun to have lost small chipped areas and to crumble in the corners. The ceiling is of the same construction, aside from a hole roughly ten feet in diameter, through which Nia descended. The original purpose of this room is unclear; there are no obvious furnishings found in it, but moreover, the room is caked in a layer of blasted mud, almost clay, which coats the entirety of the floor and some of the walls in inches of a thick viscosity under the outer shell of earth. It is unlike anything you are likely to have seen before, and traveling over it takes a bit of care. No movement disturbs the mud room other than your own, and the occasional bit of debris getting knocked inside from up above. Nor is there any sign of recent activity before your own, at least not that which disturbed the mud. The chambers continue to the north, through an unassuming open hallway, but beyond it light sources of your own will be necessary, as the unnatural blue light seems to stop outside the room, perhaps cast by the mud itself. The rest of the party makes their way in with no particular trouble, if they choose to, be it by rope or by blinking in. Nothing else going on topside, anyway. The chamber is unexpectedly warm, but not in any kind of troubling way, just not what you would expect of a stone chamber underground in autumn. The odd sense Gegren felt in the approach remains, but is not any stronger than before. [No particular deceptions or underworld magic/lore here just yet, but feel free to ask questions and/or sally forth.] -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
Mike Bloy - he/him
The rest of the party makes their way in with no particular trouble, if they choose to, be it by rope or by blinking in. Nothing else going on topside, anyway. The chamber is unexpectedly warm, but not in any kind of troubling way, just not what you would expect of a stone chamber underground in autumn. The odd sense Gegren felt in the approach remains, but is not any stronger than before.
[No particular deceptions or underworld magic/lore here just yet, but feel free to ask questions and/or sally forth.]
What is the source of the blue glow? Is it just... there, lighting things up? Does it cast shadows? If it has a source, does it feel warmer on the side facing the source? Or cooler, or any sort of tactile sensation?
On Wednesday, August 6, 2025 11:52 PM Mike Bloy via Emerald Flame wrote:
What is the source of the blue glow? Is it just... there, lighting things up? Does it cast shadows? If it has a source, does it feel warmer on the side facing the source? Or cooler, or any sort of tactile sensation?
From spending a bit of time in the room, and watching the rest of the party and himself walk through or at least disturb the mud, it seems to be both the mud and the chamber itself that are casting the blue light. The whole room is seemingly illuminated in this way, as there are no shadows being cast. You can take a handful of the mud and make a serviceable [low light] light source out of it, if you were so inclined. One thing of note is that the chamber/cave and its contents don't seem to be the source of the blue glow seen from Locke that directed you to here --- they are not themselves bright or radiant enough to cast that much light over that much of a distance. -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
While it may not be wise, Nia is not particularly curious about the mud. She will light a torch and move towards the hallway to see if there are clues about this underground chamber’s purpose outside the room itself. She will walk with her torch in her shield hand and be prepared to draw a weapon if necessary. If others are more interested in the mud-room, she will position herself to guard the approach into the room from one side of the hallway. On Thu, Aug 7, 2025 at 12:29 AM bss via Emerald Flame < emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote:
On Wednesday, August 6, 2025 11:52 PM Mike Bloy via Emerald Flame wrote:
What is the source of the blue glow? Is it just... there, lighting things up? Does it cast shadows? If it has a source, does it feel warmer on the side facing the source? Or cooler, or any sort of tactile sensation?
From spending a bit of time in the room, and watching the rest of the party and himself walk through or at least disturb the mud, it seems to be both the mud and the chamber itself that are casting the blue light. The whole room is seemingly illuminated in this way, as there are no shadows being cast. You can take a handful of the mud and make a serviceable [low light] light source out of it, if you were so inclined.
One thing of note is that the chamber/cave and its contents don't seem to be the source of the blue glow seen from Locke that directed you to here --- they are not themselves bright or radiant enough to cast that much light over that much of a distance.
-- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB_______________________________________________ Emerald Flame mailing list -- emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org To unsubscribe send an email to emerald-flame-leave@lists.incorporeal.org
On Thursday 07 August 2025 12:28:31 PM (-05:00), murph via Emerald Flame wrote: While it may not be wise, Nia is not particularly curious about the mud. She will light a torch and move towards the hallway to see if there are clues about this underground chamber’s purpose outside the room itself. Gegren will scoop up some of the mud and store it with an eye towards seeing if its properties change as it dries and/or refining it into something useful for a device. After that, he'll get out his dagger again and follow Nia to investigate further into the complex. -- Mike | he/him
Is it the entire chamber that is also glowing (ceiling too), or more localized to where the clay/mud lies? Shrug, not that it matters, will slink along with the into the rest of this place. Does the complex look old, or especially well made? Dax nervously trails behind the others carrying his glowing orb. On Thursday, August 7, 2025 at 03:52:15 PM CDT, Mike Bloy via Emerald Flame <emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote: On Thursday 07 August 2025 12:28:31 PM (-05:00), murph via Emerald Flame wrote: While it may not be wise, Nia is not particularly curious about the mud. She will light a torch and move towards the hallway to see if there are clues about this underground chamber’s purpose outside the room itself. Gegren will scoop up some of the mud and store it with an eye towards seeing if its properties change as it dries and/or refining it into something useful for a device. After that, he'll get out his dagger again and follow Nia to investigate further into the complex. -- Mike | he/him_______________________________________________ Emerald Flame mailing list -- emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org To unsubscribe send an email to emerald-flame-leave@lists.incorporeal.org
On Friday, August 8, 2025 12:50 PM Stuck Ey via Emerald Flame wrote:
Is it the entire chamber that is also glowing (ceiling too), or more localized to where the clay/mud lies? Shrug, not that it matters, will slink along with the into the rest of this place. Does the complex look old, or especially well made? Dax nervously trails behind the others carrying his glowing orb.
Dax might be the most prepared to determine the nature of the chamber and corridor seen leading north. The construction is solid, but old. It may not be /especially/ well made, but it must have been made to last, given the apparent age of the stone and nature of the construction. However, it is not pristine, and there are signs of natural breakdown and wear and tear in the chamber and hallway. [While reviewing your character for how I wanted to continue this description, I noticed two things: your sheet says "Runic Lore", which is fine, but just in case that's a typo, from Remembers the Past, the ability is named Ruin Lore, which is at least partially relevant to this question, so I thought I'd mention it for clarity. The other thing of note is that Remembers the Past gives you two more skills to be trained in via Knowledge Skills, and I don't see that on your sheet, just the three from Knowledgeable. So I think you have two more skills that you're due, and it might make sense to pluck those out of the ruin/treasure hunter or Yalan/Burclynth Company vibes that you've got going on. If you choose to go that route, I think there's some additional information worth giving that would just come to you naturally as a delver into ancient/lost locales.] The entire chamber is glowing, though so is the mud... On Thursday, August 7, 2025 3:52 PM Mike Bloy via Emerald Flame wrote:
Gegren will scoop up some of the mud and store it with an eye towards seeing if its properties change as it dries and/or refining it into something useful for a device. After that, he'll get out his dagger again and follow Nia to investigate further into the complex.
...having done this, and eventually stashing the mud in a bottle or some such, Gegren and the rest of you note that the mud is also itself glowing, suggesting that the event did something to both the general surroundings and environment. It casts a small but vibrant blue; not enough to be a usable light source on its own, but time might tell if there are other interesting properties to it. Nothing in particular changes with the mud after it's gathered, but given the nature of the blasted mud on the surface of the room, it seems reasonable that any sample taken is already dried out, or will dry out on its own. On Thursday, August 7, 2025 12:28 PM murph via Emerald Flame wrote:
While it may not be wise, Nia is not particularly curious about the mud.
She will light a torch and move towards the hallway to see if there are clues about this underground chamber’s purpose outside the room itself.
She will walk with her torch in her shield hand and be prepared to draw a weapon if necessary.
[It sounds like everyone's interested in the mud briefly, but also in continuing on, so...] You all head through the corridor leading out of the room and deeper into more chambers. The unassuming hallway soon widens, and simple pillars make two rows to the sides of the corridor as you pass through the middle. Same as before, these are of an older, dark stone, showing some signs of wear but nowhere near compromised. You encounter no signs of life as you travel through this area, still lit just by Nia's /everburning torch/, the light casting shadows on the walls and on your faces as you travel deeper within. [The problem of torches seems like one of the first things that a high magitech society would solve, so I'm considering your basic torch to essentially be a somewhat fancy/less temporary torch with benefits like never needing to be fueled, though it probably still goes out when underwater or that kind of thing. Not quite a flashlight in terms of reliable utility, but you get the gist of it I think.] At the end of the corridor you reach a wider, more open room, on which you on a slightly raised portion, much like an apse, with an area roughly 30'x30'. A simple stone altar rests in the middle of the area, again showing some normal wear, and the ceiling above you arching into a semicircular dome. The light from the torch barely reaches the top of the dome, so you cannot make out much, but there does not seem to be anything particularly ornate with how it is constructed. What is perhaps more striking is beyond the altar, at the end of the apse; no more than six stairs descend to what would have been the nave, if this was a church at all, but the stairs instead drop to a deep chasm, a tear that runs through the whole chamber, as if it the room was broken in two. It's unclear how the whole section did not cave in, as you can see the earthen walls and ceilings where the stone work gave way, almost as if the chamber was stretched and ripped in two by titans. Naturally, more stone debris is prevalent at that end of the chamber, but you cannot see from where you are what, if anything, lies beyond or below. -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
Updated character sheet corrected it to Ruin Lore, added Forest Ecology and Geology as skills. If you think more details makes sense, cool. Dax would chuck a rock into the chasm and see how long before it hits bottom. Others would see Dax examining the walls and construction, answering back what he knows if they ask, or gasping if something is a "revelation". How wide is the chasm? On Friday, August 8, 2025 at 11:22:04 PM CDT, bss via Emerald Flame <emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote: On Friday, August 8, 2025 12:50 PM Stuck Ey via Emerald Flame wrote:
Is it the entire chamber that is also glowing (ceiling too), or more localized to where the clay/mud lies? Shrug, not that it matters, will slink along with the into the rest of this place. Does the complex look old, or especially well made? Dax nervously trails behind the others carrying his glowing orb.
Dax might be the most prepared to determine the nature of the chamber and corridor seen leading north. The construction is solid, but old. It may not be /especially/ well made, but it must have been made to last, given the apparent age of the stone and nature of the construction. However, it is not pristine, and there are signs of natural breakdown and wear and tear in the chamber and hallway. [While reviewing your character for how I wanted to continue this description, I noticed two things: your sheet says "Runic Lore", which is fine, but just in case that's a typo, from Remembers the Past, the ability is named Ruin Lore, which is at least partially relevant to this question, so I thought I'd mention it for clarity. The other thing of note is that Remembers the Past gives you two more skills to be trained in via Knowledge Skills, and I don't see that on your sheet, just the three from Knowledgeable. So I think you have two more skills that you're due, and it might make sense to pluck those out of the ruin/treasure hunter or Yalan/Burclynth Company vibes that you've got going on. If you choose to go that route, I think there's some additional information worth giving that would just come to you naturally as a delver into ancient/lost locales.] The entire chamber is glowing, though so is the mud... On Thursday, August 7, 2025 3:52 PM Mike Bloy via Emerald Flame wrote:
Gegren will scoop up some of the mud and store it with an eye towards seeing if its properties change as it dries and/or refining it into something useful for a device. After that, he'll get out his dagger again and follow Nia to investigate further into the complex.
...having done this, and eventually stashing the mud in a bottle or some such, Gegren and the rest of you note that the mud is also itself glowing, suggesting that the event did something to both the general surroundings and environment. It casts a small but vibrant blue; not enough to be a usable light source on its own, but time might tell if there are other interesting properties to it. Nothing in particular changes with the mud after it's gathered, but given the nature of the blasted mud on the surface of the room, it seems reasonable that any sample taken is already dried out, or will dry out on its own. On Thursday, August 7, 2025 12:28 PM murph via Emerald Flame wrote:
While it may not be wise, Nia is not particularly curious about the mud.
She will light a torch and move towards the hallway to see if there are clues about this underground chamber’s purpose outside the room itself.
She will walk with her torch in her shield hand and be prepared to draw a weapon if necessary.
[It sounds like everyone's interested in the mud briefly, but also in continuing on, so...] You all head through the corridor leading out of the room and deeper into more chambers. The unassuming hallway soon widens, and simple pillars make two rows to the sides of the corridor as you pass through the middle. Same as before, these are of an older, dark stone, showing some signs of wear but nowhere near compromised. You encounter no signs of life as you travel through this area, still lit just by Nia's /everburning torch/, the light casting shadows on the walls and on your faces as you travel deeper within. [The problem of torches seems like one of the first things that a high magitech society would solve, so I'm considering your basic torch to essentially be a somewhat fancy/less temporary torch with benefits like never needing to be fueled, though it probably still goes out when underwater or that kind of thing. Not quite a flashlight in terms of reliable utility, but you get the gist of it I think.] At the end of the corridor you reach a wider, more open room, on which you on a slightly raised portion, much like an apse, with an area roughly 30'x30'. A simple stone altar rests in the middle of the area, again showing some normal wear, and the ceiling above you arching into a semicircular dome. The light from the torch barely reaches the top of the dome, so you cannot make out much, but there does not seem to be anything particularly ornate with how it is constructed. What is perhaps more striking is beyond the altar, at the end of the apse; no more than six stairs descend to what would have been the nave, if this was a church at all, but the stairs instead drop to a deep chasm, a tear that runs through the whole chamber, as if it the room was broken in two. It's unclear how the whole section did not cave in, as you can see the earthen walls and ceilings where the stone work gave way, almost as if the chamber was stretched and ripped in two by titans. Naturally, more stone debris is prevalent at that end of the chamber, but you cannot see from where you are what, if anything, lies beyond or below. -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB_______________________________________________ Emerald Flame mailing list -- emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org To unsubscribe send an email to emerald-flame-leave@lists.incorporeal.org
Nia would try to throw a rock across the chasm. If there really is another side to the void, she’d try to gauge how far away it is. Nia would also take a look at the altar and see if there is anything about it that is familiar. Really old might mean elven, or perhaps on of the many faiths whose pilgrims passed through Oron-yána. On Sat, Aug 9, 2025 at 10:30 PM Stuck Ey via Emerald Flame < emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote:
Updated character sheet corrected it to Ruin Lore, added Forest Ecology and Geology as skills. If you think more details makes sense, cool.
Dax would chuck a rock into the chasm and see how long before it hits bottom. Others would see Dax examining the walls and construction, answering back what he knows if they ask, or gasping if something is a "revelation". How wide is the chasm?
On Friday, August 8, 2025 at 11:22:04 PM CDT, bss via Emerald Flame < emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote:
On Friday, August 8, 2025 12:50 PM Stuck Ey via Emerald Flame wrote:
Is it the entire chamber that is also glowing (ceiling too), or more localized to where the clay/mud lies? Shrug, not that it matters, will slink along with the into the rest of this place. Does the complex look old, or especially well made? Dax nervously trails behind the others carrying his glowing orb.
Dax might be the most prepared to determine the nature of the chamber and corridor seen leading north. The construction is solid, but old. It may not be /especially/ well made, but it must have been made to last, given the apparent age of the stone and nature of the construction. However, it is not pristine, and there are signs of natural breakdown and wear and tear in the chamber and hallway.
[While reviewing your character for how I wanted to continue this description, I noticed two things: your sheet says "Runic Lore", which is fine, but just in case that's a typo, from Remembers the Past, the ability is named Ruin Lore, which is at least partially relevant to this question, so I thought I'd mention it for clarity. The other thing of note is that Remembers the Past gives you two more skills to be trained in via Knowledge Skills, and I don't see that on your sheet, just the three from Knowledgeable. So I think you have two more skills that you're due, and it might make sense to pluck those out of the ruin/treasure hunter or Yalan/Burclynth Company vibes that you've got going on. If you choose to go that route, I think there's some additional information worth giving that would just come to you naturally as a delver into ancient/lost locales.]
The entire chamber is glowing, though so is the mud...
On Thursday, August 7, 2025 3:52 PM Mike Bloy via Emerald Flame wrote:
Gegren will scoop up some of the mud and store it with an eye towards seeing if its properties change as it dries and/or refining it into something useful for a device. After that, he'll get out his dagger again and follow Nia to investigate further into the complex.
...having done this, and eventually stashing the mud in a bottle or some such, Gegren and the rest of you note that the mud is also itself glowing, suggesting that the event did something to both the general surroundings and environment. It casts a small but vibrant blue; not enough to be a usable light source on its own, but time might tell if there are other interesting properties to it. Nothing in particular changes with the mud after it's gathered, but given the nature of the blasted mud on the surface of the room, it seems reasonable that any sample taken is already dried out, or will dry out on its own.
On Thursday, August 7, 2025 12:28 PM murph via Emerald Flame wrote:
While it may not be wise, Nia is not particularly curious about the mud.
She will light a torch and move towards the hallway to see if there are clues about this underground chamber’s purpose outside the room itself.
She will walk with her torch in her shield hand and be prepared to draw a weapon if necessary.
[It sounds like everyone's interested in the mud briefly, but also in continuing on, so...]
You all head through the corridor leading out of the room and deeper into more chambers. The unassuming hallway soon widens, and simple pillars make two rows to the sides of the corridor as you pass through the middle. Same as before, these are of an older, dark stone, showing some signs of wear but nowhere near compromised. You encounter no signs of life as you travel through this area, still lit just by Nia's /everburning torch/, the light casting shadows on the walls and on your faces as you travel deeper within.
[The problem of torches seems like one of the first things that a high magitech society would solve, so I'm considering your basic torch to essentially be a somewhat fancy/less temporary torch with benefits like never needing to be fueled, though it probably still goes out when underwater or that kind of thing. Not quite a flashlight in terms of reliable utility, but you get the gist of it I think.]
At the end of the corridor you reach a wider, more open room, on which you on a slightly raised portion, much like an apse, with an area roughly 30'x30'. A simple stone altar rests in the middle of the area, again showing some normal wear, and the ceiling above you arching into a semicircular dome. The light from the torch barely reaches the top of the dome, so you cannot make out much, but there does not seem to be anything particularly ornate with how it is constructed.
What is perhaps more striking is beyond the altar, at the end of the apse; no more than six stairs descend to what would have been the nave, if this was a church at all, but the stairs instead drop to a deep chasm, a tear that runs through the whole chamber, as if it the room was broken in two. It's unclear how the whole section did not cave in, as you can see the earthen walls and ceilings where the stone work gave way, almost as if the chamber was stretched and ripped in two by titans.
Naturally, more stone debris is prevalent at that end of the chamber, but you cannot see from where you are what, if anything, lies beyond or below.
-- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB _______________________________________________ Emerald Flame mailing list -- emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org To unsubscribe send an email to emerald-flame-leave@lists.incorporeal.org _______________________________________________ Emerald Flame mailing list -- emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org To unsubscribe send an email to emerald-flame-leave@lists.incorporeal.org
On Friday 08 August 2025 11:21:53 PM (-05:00), bss via Emerald Flame wrote:
[It sounds like everyone's interested in the mud briefly, but also in continuing on, so...]
What is perhaps more striking is beyond the altar, at the end of the apse; no more than six stairs descend to what would have been the nave, if this was a church at all, but the stairs instead drop to a deep chasm, a tear that runs through the whole chamber, as if it the room was broken in two. It's unclear how the whole section did not cave in, as you can see the earthen walls and ceilings where the stone work gave way, almost as if the chamber was stretched and ripped in two by titans.
Gegren will activate and levitate a torch down into the chasm to illuminate it, to the distance limits of his Hedge Magic ability or to something interesting or a floor, whichever comes first. [my roll for this beats a difficulty 2 task. (d20=8). This seems like it would be pretty straightforward so I don't think I'd spend effort for this] -- Mike | he/him
On Monday, August 11, 2025 11:56 AM Mike Bloy via Emerald Flame wrote:
Gegren will activate and levitate a torch down into the chasm to illuminate it, to the distance limits of his Hedge Magic ability or to something interesting or a floor, whichever comes first.
[Also re: the rock tests] The rift is roughly 100' deep, based on the various tests you all do to test its depths. The bottom seems narrow, with the rocks bouncing off the rock walls as they drop, ending with them clattering to the floor. It seems dry down there, again between the rock and torch tests. Judging by the fact that you see both sides of the rift's walls meet at a point at the bottom, and aided by the torch light, it might be about 30' to the other side of the chasm. [I'll assume based on this, Gegren or someone does another magic light trick or similar to test that...] It seems the worked chamber continues on the other side. On Monday, August 11, 2025 9:41 AM murph via Emerald Flame wrote:
Nia would also take a look at the altar and see if there is anything about it that is familiar. Really old might mean elven, or perhaps on of the many faiths whose pilgrims passed through Oron-yána.
There's nothing of particular to note about the altar itself, and it doesn't seem to be ancient or worn down, where any markings might be obscured or lost to time. Perhaps it wasn't used for anything special, or perhaps it was adorned with cloth or similar for whatever purpose it was used for. -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
Nia is feeling a bit stuck. Her 50’ of rope is back at the cave entrance, and she can go retrieve that if there is a need - but she’s not sure what to do next. Crossing the chasm seems vaguely possible, but she’s is a little leery of the inability to see the other side [OOC: if it’s just an illumination thing, then no big deal] If Gegren floats a light to the other side, Nia will see if she can see any details about the other side that could be useful to securing a rope or other way across. On Mon, Aug 11, 2025 at 6:19 PM bss via Emerald Flame < emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote:
On Monday, August 11, 2025 11:56 AM Mike Bloy via Emerald Flame wrote:
Gegren will activate and levitate a torch down into the chasm to illuminate it, to the distance limits of his Hedge Magic ability or to something interesting or a floor, whichever comes first.
[Also re: the rock tests]
The rift is roughly 100' deep, based on the various tests you all do to test its depths. The bottom seems narrow, with the rocks bouncing off the rock walls as they drop, ending with them clattering to the floor. It seems dry down there, again between the rock and torch tests. Judging by the fact that you see both sides of the rift's walls meet at a point at the bottom, and aided by the torch light, it might be about 30' to the other side of the chasm. [I'll assume based on this, Gegren or someone does another magic light trick or similar to test that...] It seems the worked chamber continues on the other side.
On Monday, August 11, 2025 9:41 AM murph via Emerald Flame wrote:
Nia would also take a look at the altar and see if there is anything about it that is familiar. Really old might mean elven, or perhaps on of the many faiths whose pilgrims passed through Oron-yána.
There's nothing of particular to note about the altar itself, and it doesn't seem to be ancient or worn down, where any markings might be obscured or lost to time. Perhaps it wasn't used for anything special, or perhaps it was adorned with cloth or similar for whatever purpose it was used for.
-- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB_______________________________________________ Emerald Flame mailing list -- emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org To unsubscribe send an email to emerald-flame-leave@lists.incorporeal.org
Sounds like on the other side it bends out of sight or something, so we don't have more details, right? Dax and Gegren could both far step across and use rope to get others over by tying one end around altar and if nothing else on the other side, the two of us can anchor? What do others think? Os On Tuesday, August 12, 2025 at 02:45:51 PM CDT, murph via Emerald Flame <emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote: Nia is feeling a bit stuck.Her 50’ of rope is back at the cave entrance, and she can go retrieve that if there is a need - but she’s not sure what to do next. Crossing the chasm seems vaguely possible, but she’s is a little leery of the inability to see the other side [OOC: if it’s just an illumination thing, then no big deal] If Gegren floats a light to the other side, Nia will see if she can see any details about the other side that could be useful to securing a rope or other way across. On Mon, Aug 11, 2025 at 6:19 PM bss via Emerald Flame <emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote: On Monday, August 11, 2025 11:56 AM Mike Bloy via Emerald Flame wrote:
Gegren will activate and levitate a torch down into the chasm to illuminate it, to the distance limits of his Hedge Magic ability or to something interesting or a floor, whichever comes first.
[Also re: the rock tests] The rift is roughly 100' deep, based on the various tests you all do to test its depths. The bottom seems narrow, with the rocks bouncing off the rock walls as they drop, ending with them clattering to the floor. It seems dry down there, again between the rock and torch tests. Judging by the fact that you see both sides of the rift's walls meet at a point at the bottom, and aided by the torch light, it might be about 30' to the other side of the chasm. [I'll assume based on this, Gegren or someone does another magic light trick or similar to test that...] It seems the worked chamber continues on the other side. On Monday, August 11, 2025 9:41 AM murph via Emerald Flame wrote:
Nia would also take a look at the altar and see if there is anything about it that is familiar. Really old might mean elven, or perhaps on of the many faiths whose pilgrims passed through Oron-yána.
There's nothing of particular to note about the altar itself, and it doesn't seem to be ancient or worn down, where any markings might be obscured or lost to time. Perhaps it wasn't used for anything special, or perhaps it was adorned with cloth or similar for whatever purpose it was used for. -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB_______________________________________________ Emerald Flame mailing list -- emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org To unsubscribe send an email to emerald-flame-leave@lists.incorporeal.org _______________________________________________ Emerald Flame mailing list -- emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org To unsubscribe send an email to emerald-flame-leave@lists.incorporeal.org
On Wednesday, August 13, 2025 7:39 AM Stuck Ey via Emerald Flame wrote:
Sounds like on the other side it bends out of sight or something, so we don't have more details, right? Dax and Gegren could both far step across and use rope to get others over by tying one end around altar and if nothing else on the other side, the two of us can anchor? What do others think?
[If I was accidentally too vague regarding the other side, you can see there is chamber there, though it's at the outer end of torch illumination, but another hedge magic trick or similar will net you enough information to see that the cathedral-like chamber does continue on the other side of the chasm, and there are further corridors leading beyond where you could see/where Gegren's magic could reach.] -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
Nia (having seen her companions magi-jump down into the cave) will ask Dax and Gegren if they want to jump across the chasm. But unless there is some other magic, Nia is going to need a rope or something similar to get across. She’d offer to go back and retrieve her rope from the entrance - and would also look to see if there are places to secure a rope on this side. She has spikes and a hammer so she could go that route. On Thu, Aug 14, 2025 at 9:55 AM bss via Emerald Flame < emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote:
On Wednesday, August 13, 2025 7:39 AM Stuck Ey via Emerald Flame wrote:
Sounds like on the other side it bends out of sight or something, so we don't have more details, right? Dax and Gegren could both far step across and use rope to get others over by tying one end around altar and if nothing else on the other side, the two of us can anchor? What do others think?
[If I was accidentally too vague regarding the other side, you can see there is chamber there, though it's at the outer end of torch illumination, but another hedge magic trick or similar will net you enough information to see that the cathedral-like chamber does continue on the other side of the chasm, and there are further corridors leading beyond where you could see/where Gegren's magic could reach.]
-- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB_______________________________________________ Emerald Flame mailing list -- emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org To unsubscribe send an email to emerald-flame-leave@lists.incorporeal.org
On Friday, August 15, 2025 12:58 PM murph via Emerald Flame wrote:
Nia (having seen her companions magi-jump down into the cave) will ask Dax and Gegren if they want to jump across the chasm.
But unless there is some other magic, Nia is going to need a rope or something similar to get across.
She’d offer to go back and retrieve her rope from the entrance - and would also look to see if there are places to secure a rope on this side.
She has spikes and a hammer so she could go that route.
[I am good with this approach and not worried about getting your equipment back, if you want to go that route while we wait for the others.] -- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB
[OOC Sounds good] Nia would go back and get her rope and spike back with an eye towards using them to cross the big crevasse. On Mon, Aug 18, 2025 at 2:08 PM bss via Emerald Flame < emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org> wrote:
On Friday, August 15, 2025 12:58 PM murph via Emerald Flame wrote:
Nia (having seen her companions magi-jump down into the cave) will ask Dax and Gegren if they want to jump across the chasm.
But unless there is some other magic, Nia is going to need a rope or something similar to get across.
She’d offer to go back and retrieve her rope from the entrance - and would also look to see if there are places to secure a rope on this side.
She has spikes and a hammer so she could go that route.
[I am good with this approach and not worried about getting your equipment back, if you want to go that route while we wait for the others.]
-- bss (Brian S. Stephan) | https://bss.zone/ | GPG: 0x80895FCB_______________________________________________ Emerald Flame mailing list -- emerald-flame@lists.incorporeal.org To unsubscribe send an email to emerald-flame-leave@lists.incorporeal.org
participants (5)
-
bss -
Mike Bloy -
murph -
murphzero＠gmail.com
-
Stuck Ey