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Ookla the Mok
I don't know if its possible to carouse within the confines of a small budget, but I have just over 700 gp left on my person. That noted…
In "Important Information Gained from Carousing" from Session 33 Planning, Tavis wrote:
the Great One firmly believes that Myfanwy will lead the astral projections of those who follow this procedure, and in the minds of the shamans Ookla finds memories of journeying far from this world, silver cord trailing behind, and reaching destinations on other planes with the Dreaming God's guidance.
Based on this, I would like to know whether I think that it might be worth Ookla's while to try to make an initial journey to wherever it may be that Maldoor et. al., are currently in residence. If I reach this destination, I would try to gain any information that might be helpful on our future journeys there, and in the best case, locate those missing members of the Grey Company and try to communicate with them. If this is too ambitious a plan for a carouse, then I would wish to try to use this carousal as an attempt to commune with Myfanwy to see if she has any insight or advice which may aid our journey.
Journeying via astral projection has risks that go beyond carousing; your initial explorations suggest this is possible, but we'll want to wait for table play to undertake the journey. Your best lead on lore about Myfanwy would seem to be the dreaming city of the Lotuskeepers; you spend 500 gp flying there and back and gaining audience with their shamans. Much, but not all, of their lore seems like hallucinations to Ookla. Choose one of the below:
- You learn a fragment of truth without the context that makes its meaning clear.
- You gain two bits of lore; one is true and one is false, but you don't know which.
- You test the truth of your theories; the DM asks you five questions, and then either confirms the truth of all your answers or supplies a disproof of one.
- You discover what you already know that is relevant to the object of your search.
- You decide what you most want to know, and identify where you'd have to go to learn it.
I would like to go with "* You test the truth of your theories; the DM asks you five questions, and then either confirms the truth of all your answers or supplies a disproof of one." because that one seems like it might be the most fun.
Here, then, are the questions asked of Ookla during his audience with Myfanwy's shamans. First, how do the souls of the dead normally reach the afterlife?
The souls of the dead are usually led to the afterlife by those designated by the gods that rule over that plane, just as for the Olympians Hermes leads the souls of the dead to Hades and for the Norse the Valkyries will gather the souls of heroes killed on the battlefield and take them to Valhalla.
Who benefits when this takes place as usual?
The list of who benefits from what many will refer to as "the natural order of things" is long and varied. For the most part, the gods benefit, as this is part of the order they have constructed. It may be said that the dead themselves stand to benefit, since depending on how they are judged they may come to rest and find peace. Elsewise the souls of the dead would be forced to wander endlessly, robbed of both rest and solace. It may be said that those who stand behind what has perversely been called "Lawfulness" see a benefit in this "order" as many of the dead find at the end of their road one who waits to pass judgement over them, as though there were a correct or more correct path through the chaotic wilderness in which we have been placed, which is in truth, pathless.
Who might benefit when the normal process is disrupted?
Those who seek to place a rift in this "order" may be seen as beneficiaries, and any list I could provide would doubtless be incomplete. Those who traffic in the souls of the dead or make other use of them as a commodity would benefit from them staying within their grasp. Those who stand apart from the immortals but wish to pass some judgement or take an ultimate revenge upon these dead benefit by retaining the opportunity to do so. Also, any who might wish to prevent the possible return of the souls of the dead to their bodies through some magic may stand to gain. It may be said as well that when, through these same magics, the souls of the dead are returned to their bodies it is they who benefit, though you must beware the Monkey's Paw. [Cue blast of ominous music!]
Who is responsible for this process not taking place for the Grey Company?
Ugh. Ashur Ram the Necromancer is my A-Number-One choice.
Did they act directly, or via intermediaries?
Short Answer: Intermediaries.
if indeed I am correct in my assessment, Ashur Ram would not himself have the power to capture the souls of the dead in transit to the underworld, so he would have to have used some sort of intermediary to do so.
Following the long sessions of discussion, drenched with mysticism and lotus juice, in which the above question and answer takes place, the shamans of Myfanwy take issue with one of Ookla's suppositions. They take him down to a subterranean grotto in which a species of cave bees has been bred to emit light like fireflies. Thanks to the effect of the lotus, the passage of these lights through the darkness leaves glowing trails on Ookla's vision. "As you perceive these bees, so Myfanwy perceives those who travel between our world and the dreaming vastness. See how the paths of the drones go to and from the hive? We know of Ashur Ram, but his activities do not leave the hive; he dines on what the drones bring him, but does not direct their flight."
Xeno
Xeno chooses to spend several weeks scribing all the spells the group has acquired into the communal spell book at his own expense — not carousing, but diligently building up the magical resources of the Company. In his possession are scrolls of new spells enlarge, magic missile, and Word of IOUN. He further volunteers to scribe the "new" magic-user spells from the scrolls we were given: unseen servant, Timaharn's Blind Spot, Reveal the Unseen, Feather Fall, Erase, Burning hands, Detect Undead, Blur, Santander's Wasp Spell, and Strange Waters.
If Obscura chooses, he also volunteers to scribe the spell scroll she purchased last session, Seven Gates, at his own expense, but that is of course up to her.
He estimates this will take at least two weeks and cost near 3,000 of his gold in supplies. He sharpens several quills, and begins work in a quiet nook of Caswyn's vicarage.
Xeno's previous research spent 1,600, invested this amount towards enlarge, and earned as many XP.
I cannot be at this weekend's game, so this explains where Xeno is while also getting rid of the logistics of copying those scrolls. For purposes of this weekend, the scrolls he will have finished copying during the first week are: magic missile, Word of IOUN, Unseen Servant, Timaharn's Blind Spot, reveal the unseen, erase, and detect undead.
Jarri
Jarri and the dwarf he hired during his last carouse in the Menegril's Palace, One-Eyed Esa, decide to head back to the Menegril to get their hands dirty. Jarri figures if Esa is going to go to battle with him (likely against giants), he wants to begin the esprit de corps thing started right away. They will try to fight any pit fight clubs or gladiator combat going on at the Menegril's, try to set something like that up, and hopefully come away with a better knowledge of fighting giant-class foes. If there are no suitable fights of this nature, Jarri will look to find a teacher of the fighting arts and hope to give Esa and himself some pointers. Jarri has average stats for the likely purposes of carousing, but he does have a background in wrestling should that play a factor in his learning anything from possible grappling/wrestling he finds himself in.
Jarri manages to attract the Ninth Menegril's interest in holding a dwarf/giant wrestling event at his palace, with the proviso that Jarri pay for the additional security needed to ensure that none of the visitors are on a mission from the Assassin's Guild. This expense comes to 2,200 gp but Jarri feels that the experience (2,200 XP) is well worth it. At the end of a wholly successful evening, One-Eyed Essa and Jarri have been bonded into a formidable tag-team and Jarri's theories about holds and throws suitable for much larger foes have been extensively tested.
Also, Jarri spent 1650 gold on his last carouse. That should be on the spreadsheet, right?
Indeed, it is fixed now, and I've added XP from these carouses as well.
Obscura
In order to prepare for a raid on Hell, Obscura decides to visit her ex-girlfriend; being a little familiar with the education of the champions of light, the sexy visionist thinks that paladins know a thing or two about chaos and evil.
After stretching out on the cot in Mareth’s monastic chamber, Obscura rolls over, props her chin on her delicate hands, and asks: “So if you were going to Hell, how would you prepare for it?”
“Oh, who’s the big-time demon-slayer now?” Mareth scoffs while polishing her sword by the light of an arrow slit. “You got really lucky last time around, babe. I’d stick to this world until you learn a few more spells…”
“C’mon, champ… Give me some advice,” Obscura teases. “You’ve dreamed about kicking ass in Hell since you were a wee one. You’re the only nice person I know who looks at your nightmares as reconnaissance.” Without disclosing much private Grey Company business (for example, the reason for going there), Obscura explains what she has learned about the subworld: “We think it’s a place worth sacking. I know you’d approve.”
Obscura has interviewed people who have glimpsed the subworld; she has sketched out the details of the prehistoric girls, the pteradons, the lemurs, the Dennis Hopper king-dude the same way that a police sketch-artist would sketch out the face of suspect who got away. Using a minor illusion projected onto the stone wall of the dim castle chamber, Obscura presents her paladin-pal a widescreen presentation of the landscape she’s learned about: “Do you recognize any of this?”
Obscura’s carousal roll is devoted to learning as much information about this infernal subworld and its denizens from Mareth’s larger experience. If Mareth recommends making a donation to a paladin-approved charity or buying a useful magic item, Obscura will do it.
Mareth asks Obscura to donate 400 gp to hire a scribe to copy the new cleric spells found by the party into Patriarch Zekon's prayer book; the illusionist gains as many XP. Her efforts to coax information from Mareth are wholly successful; the paladin supports this cause (and if anything seems to welcome the martyrdom of suppressing her own concern for Obscura's fate in the service of a greater good). Mareth says that she has made an extensive study of the known hells, but that this one is not known to her. The way that Maldoor et al. have wound up in this subworld, and then been left to his own devices, seems strange; from what she understands, the normal entry-points to and from subworlds are either massive clearing-houses where the souls of the damned line up awaiting transport to their final destination, or highly defended gates and sally ports belonging to planar fortresses.
Of the phantasms Obscura projects, only the lemures are familiar to Mareth. She says that this is the form given to the lowliest of the damned in the Nine Hells. Lemures are mindless, and attack anything non-devilish that they see; they are weak but well-nigh indestructible, as they will regenerate all wounds except those caused by blessed things (such as holy water, blessed weapons, etc.) Although much of Mareth's knowledge of demonology is book learning, she has actually encountered lemures in the flesh; acting on a tip from the Verdant Paladin, she once intercepted a caravan carrying lemures to be sold to a wizard, who hoped to turn them into spectres or wights (the would-be merchants were unclear on the distinction between the two).
Arnold "Zolobachai!" Littleworth
Arnold, as usual, is dead broke. But to a Magician, coinage is vulgar and knowledge the only true currency. When the Grey Company arrived outside Slumath's fortress at the end of Hell on Wheels, "Zolobachai" had proposed trading several of the party's custom-researched spells to Slumath in exchange for Slumath's research notes on his super-zombie spell.
This transaction was never completed, because Arnold changed his mind at the last minute, remembering a conversation he'd had with Maldoor in the Sub-World about magic jar. Instead:
- Arnold requests a trade for the magic jar scroll, if Slumath has it in his repertoire.
- If Slumath doesn't have magic jar scroll, the trade is off.
- Zolobachai apologizes for wasting Slumath's time.
- Zolobachai then tries to barter the group's custom scrolls for magic jar from Fingle-Ungle-Narn's consortium.
(None of that is carousing, just late-session / inter-session book keeping.)
If none of that works, Arnold carouses (with the last $100 in his pocket) for word on where he could find a magic jar scroll.
My understanding is that this transaction was in fact executed at the table. Since Slumath does not in fact know magic jar, this ruling means that you gained his souped-up version of animate dead and he gained the spells you offered in trade. This does not stop you from offering these same spells to Fingle-Ungle-Narn; they are written in spellbooks, not scrolls. Unfortunately, F.U.N. does not have magic jar either, nor has the Ninth Menegril been able to locate a scroll of the spell. Making these determinations occupies your entire week of inter-session activity.
Orb of the Spider Tribe, Beloved of Lolth
With his mission not yet complete, Orb uses his dwindling supply of Lucky-supplied funds to seek out an enchanter of quality in fabled Yatakar. Though he is older and more experienced than when he first came here to learn the sleight of sorcery, he still finds himself enchanted. So many peoples, both human and beast-headed! So many strange tongues, so many brilliantly colored costumes, so many vendors of rich-smelling foodstuffs! Ah, to be in Yatakar again…
A gnoll witch, Yaghreen, is pleased by his offering of well-aged spiced offal and charmed by his peculiar accent. After plying her with compliments and sweetbreads, he consults with her regarding potential enchanters of worth and discretion. These include the exiled drow wizard Zerren Zeel, the illusionist Graywind, and Yaghreen herself.
Orb spends 600 gp bribing his way into the confidence of those close to these enchanters, and earns as many XP. Graywind appears to be the most congenial choice; he knew both Obscura and Mareth when they were students at the exclusive girls' boarding school that is one of the cornerstones of society in Yakatar, and is eager to work with the one of their affiliates. Graywind is ready to begin work on the enchantment right away, although Orb senses that the illusionist is either slightly deranged or possessed of a subversive sense of humor; further investments would be required to ensure that the items would perform exactly as you designed, free of unexpected quirks.
Chrystos
Chrystos would like to use the ring of regeneration if possible to get his eyesight back for awhile, after that he will attempt to assassinate himself in the safest yet most badass way possible so that he may visit Maldoor and tell him were coming and stuff. Then if I'm still able to do something I would like to somehow set up my death so that I can be brought back easily enough that I can still play next session
The ring of regeneration will regrow Chrystos's destroyed eyes, and as E.N. Lightenment is still recuperating there is no one else who needs its assistance to adventure this week. No ways that you could kill yourself and still participate in the trip to the afterlife occur to you; even if you withstand the adversity of dying and being brought back to life with the raise dead spell (as Maldoor did not), you would still be looking at two weeks of recuperation (as E.N. is going through currently).
Darwin of Drumthwacket
Darwin is eager to help with the ongoing plans to rescue Maldoor and others. He has heard great tales of their deeds, and how they helped to bring order to the world. He wishes to aid them in those endeavors.
Holed up in Hruhrudingfallor, he sets about to find out how to restore Maldoor and others to their corporeal forms, should the party be able to rescue their souls. Darwin knows that Bard Hargain can show him the answers to all of life's questions, so he follows this route for answers. He is Exceptionally Insightful and uses this insight to prepare a meditative ritual to align his body and spirit in balance with the world and with Bard Hargain's wishes. He purchases a large metal set of scales, the symbol of his faith (type and quality of metal, as well as size, to be determined primarily by the cost of the carouse), as well as foodstuffs, fabrics, and other material goods to be used in the ritual. He also hires guards to protect him so he is not disturbed during the ritual.
Assuming the ritual is completed succesfully, he will then be aligned and balanced as close as possible to Bard Hargain as he is able to get at this stage in his faith. Upon reaching this state of alignment and balance, he will ask aloud about how to restore the souls to corporeal form. He wil then look carefully and thoughtfully at the physical world around him, in order to see the signs of Bard Hargain's answer. He has performed this ritual before, and while he does not always obtain clear answers to what he seeks, it is the best method he knows of to do so. However, it always provides insight into his faith, and for this he is grateful.
Darwin's purchases sum 600 gp, and he earns as many XP from conducting the ritual (which is entirely successful). During his meditation, he seems to step out of himself for a second and perceives that the body he has left behind is made of gross matter just like the foodstuffs on the table. The things that makes it unique are first: unlike a hunk of bread, the matter of Darwin's body possesses functionality which will allow it to move and speak and act when controlled by a soul; and second: there is in fact a soul attached to his body, which (from the relatively detached viewpoint it has currently attained) Darwin can observe is able to keep out all the other bodiless souls which would like to take over such a suitable piece of matter.
It seems to Darwin that, once established, this link between body and soul remains in effect until the body is killed (and lingers enough that it can be re-established for some time afterward by powerful prayers). If it is true that the place Maldoor occupies is made of matter, then it seems that the body he has somehow attained there is likewise made of matter, and thus his soul will remain happily ensconced in this corporeal form if it is transported to another plane (which, as he understands it, is what happens when you pass through a portal enchanted with the planar gate spell).