Lore Drop – A Letter From Faye

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Dearest sister – I have only just noticed that you took your copy of the journal with you, and so I hope that this message finds you well. In truth, I hope that this method of getting a message to you still works as the enchantment was originally one crafted through my alliance with the Winter’s Court. That compact was severed when I turned from the Knight but perhaps this is an enchantment that still endures.

I do not know where you and your fellow travellers have gone, or I would use a more reliable method of reaching out. House Sivis have sent messages for you to your home city, so if there is someone there who can relay them then all to the good. Knowing how you and your companions tend to strike out into the unknown at the drop of a hat however, I fear that this may be our only means, once more, of talking.

Where to begin? Karkanna sends her love, and wonders if she needs to have words with her brother over your extended absence. That in truth is the simplest of matters to relay. So that is done.

I have been working with the fire mage, Katya, as you asked – it seems that your theory that our blood holds a spark of magic is correct as my connection to deeper pools of sorcery is growing to fill the chasm left when my warlock pact was revoked. Perhaps it is her influence, or a reaction to the cold peaks here but fire seems to call to me in the way that venom seems to well within your magics. I am, regardless, learning control of this new source though I still feel clumsy in its use. Together we have been trying to solve the riddle of Rakken.

I say trying, but I should cut to the chase. He is no more. We traced his origins to a set of ruins near the former troll territories, and a concealed House Cannith facility. The artificers there had been working on cataloguing and identifying grades of dragonshards found in the area, and had been contracted by House Lyrandar to accompany one of their scions to assess a new significant set of deposits that had recently been uncovered.

So far, so ordinary – except the scion named was Talisen DiLyrandar, one of the missing people you and I identified as possibly being the Winter’s Knight. We took Rakken with us to see if any of his fractured memories could help unpick more clues and found a fragment that had apparently been carved off from something called the Eye of Khyber. It was a sliver, charged with some form of binding. We’d worked out from a kind of demented game of charades that Rakken had been in contact with the original crystal at some point – it was perhaps behind his transformation – and while nothing happened when I handled it (carefully) the same couldn’t be said for the reaction to Rakken’s touch.

It wasn’t pleasant, but it was quick, and in Rakken’s place was a middle-aged human woman called Talia. It turns out that she was one of the artificers who had been to the site where the Eye had been found. After getting her back to the Hold and helping her recover from her ordeal, she has revealed a number of disturbing things that may be of use nevertheless.

Unlike the usual khyber dragonshards, the Eye had been carefully worked and was already enchanted in some way when it was discovered in a large cave. She said that when she touched it, her mind was overrun with images of runes in stone, the thoughts of dragons, and for a brief moment had a view of the entire web of possibility for the future. It was that moment that cursed and warped her into the nothic called Rakken.

She also said that as she was overwhelmed by the stone, she saw a vision of the Winter’s Knight cutting down Talisen. In her vision, Talisen had just hidden a battered crossbow beneath a stone slab. She does not know the significance of that. Perhaps it was a relic of the person who became the Winter’s Knight, or a means to hurt him?

I am rambling so will compose my thoughts.

One more thing, and I write this in all confidence, but as my sister I feel this is something you need to know. Katya and I, and now Talia, along with the half ogre Kher, have been working with and studying with the Auntie in the Fields. We sup with a very long spoon with a being who loved the previous Winter’s Knight and who was banished to these realms when the new one rose to power. She has spoken of leaving a legacy when her love is restored – and I wonder if that may be us stepping into her story. I do not know if that is a good or a bad thing – but for now it is helping the people of these lands. I suppose if nothing else, we now know where she lives.

Take care sister. I hope this finds you. Write back if you can. I think there are relics that can help defeat the Knight but you may need to find a way to speak to the dead to find them.

NPC – Warden Bessel

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Due to illness there was no game today, so instead I’ve whipped up a new character who may turn up in the game as an incidental individual. Warden Bessel is an Aerenal Elf and cleric of the dead. In other worlds this might paint him as an evil individual, but in Eberron the elves of Aerenal inhabit a jungle landscape that has close proximities to the planes of Mabar and Irian. This makes the lines between life and death somewhat blurred. Mabar is the plane of death, while Irian is a source of positive energy that sustains the honoured undead of the Undying Court.

As a Warden, Bessel conducts funeral and healing ceremonies alike, so that no one slips across the boundaries between life, death, and unlife without purpose. Those undertaking the next part of their journey are honoured and prepared. Those for whom it is not yet time are healed and preserved. As a minor cleric of the Undying Court, Bessel longs to range out into the wider world to increase his knowledge of life and death – but as yet has not gained either a sponsor or companions with whom to travel. As a result he mostly looks forward to aiding and facilitating the efforts of adventurers and travellers who come to the shrines he supports. Occasionally he is called to aid more senior clerics who must travel within the jungles to correct spontaneous risings of mindless undead from animals and careless adventurers alike.

The Aereni civilisation is over twenty thousand years old and has seen goblin and human civilisations rise and fall. Their libraries and vaults hold many secrets lost to the rest of the world. It could well be that the pull of that knowledge may draw in the DDC in their search for ways to defeat the Winter’s Knight…

A copy of the character sheet for Bessel can be seen at https://www.dndbeyond.com/characters/124750377/HkSuF6

Passing Torches

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I’ve been continuing to declutter the flat as part of my self-care among the chaos, and very reluctantly turned my attention to three crates that I hadn’t unpacked since moving in over 14 years ago.

They’ve been quietly sitting beneath the piano, gathering dust – or at least had been until I had to make space for the guys building our new kitchen.

The crates contained old roleplay game materials – mostly second edition Dungeons and Dragons books. I couldn’t bring myself to bin them, but I did remember that there’s a local hospice support charity shop that specialises in books, games, comicbooks, vinyl records, and so on

They’ve been an absolute treasure trove, and very friendly, so I gave them first refusal. They did not refuse. And so this afternoon I dragooned Lady M into helping me carry four bags of books to the shop.

The light that appeared in various volunteers’ eyes tells me the books will be finding new homes very quickly. As these are books that saw me through school and university,  it feels entirely appropriate that a new generation of students will get their hands on these materials and make new stories with them.

Back home, I’ve separated out some White Wolf materials, and a stack of Cyberpunk 2020 books and am trying to gird myself to make another delivery. They’re amazing books, but I haven’t touched them in over a decade. I may have another read through them for old times sake

Map – Beach Tent

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And now for something a little different. On the end of a sandy spit of land is a tent. In that tent lives a story teller. People come from all sorts of places to listen to them recount legends and impart lessons from their peacock chair while the audience sits and reclines on carpets and cushions. The beach is shallow, so sometimes people arrive by sea rather than tracking across the dunes to the north.

Visitors bring food and drink and leave supplies with the storyteller. Sometimes they leave items or information for someone else to receive – and the storyteller makes sure that that the intended recipients are not disappointed. As long as the storyteller isnt overcrowded and is treated respectfully, then all is well.

Travellers who cause problems, are rude, or otherwise annoy the storyteller have been known to wake up in an isolated location cradling rotten cabbages, to find their ships damaged, or led by locals into danger.

The storyteller – Arrenen – is a brass dragon who delights in satisfying his curiosity about their visitors. Arrenen is usually shapeshifted into an appropriate humanoid form of indeterminate gender to allay suspicions. Dragonmarked individuals will be paid particular attention to determine their potential roles within the Prophecy – and as a member of The Chamber that information will be shared with other dragons almost like gossip.

The DAM file for this map has been shared at https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3246156253 – and the map is scaled for a 47×32 grid. Have fun telling stories…

Lore Drop – Fellestri

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Eyes larger than a pony narrowed in contemplation. There had been a moment of surprise at the sudden shift in the runes in the stones, but it had been fleeting. A creature of guile and deceit that had tangled devils and giants in their own devices, Fellestri had quickly rallied. It was not the first time that Prophecies had shifted. Fellestri and others of his ilk were well used to the changes and challenges of interpreting the runes written in Eberron’s coil and scales.

Something had gone awry in the plans of two Lords of Dust simultaneously. Fellestri allowed himself a small chuckle deep in this throat at the thought. It validated his own readings of the Prophecy and the manipulations that followed. Still, it would require some further contemplation and revision of his notes. He plucked a spherical spellshard from its housing and moved it to a nearer set of branches planted in the mossy walls of his library. Its faint glow reflected in his eyes and from his glossy green scales as he called up the weblike map of cross-references and factors indexed in the crystal.

His thoughts, older than the arrival of humans in this land, danced across the annotations and theories laid down, while one of his claws stirred a scrying pool to show different rock faces from different places, and the curving marks recorded. The images rippled and shimmered before settling on a more recently recorded view of a stone in a dark cave surrounded by amber deposits.

There was an irony, Fellestri mused, that so much of this portion of the wider Prophecy seemed to revolve around a small dwarven clan and individuals who had caused him personal annoyance. There was room to trim the fat on the meat of the issue – perhaps there could be some personal satisfaction to be gained from that once the winter’s nexus was resolved.

Mortals were often at the centre of key moments, but past those key moments it was rare for the Prophecy to remember them. Fellestri peered closer at the new image and mused on the interpretations that were possible. Behind him, he heard the slithering of his brood and the faint cries of orcish distress. Fellestri was a dragon who believed in mixing pleasure with his business.

Map – The Last Tea House

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I thought I’d play around with a different biome set, and inspired by a prompt in the Dungeon Alchemist discord server I came up with the map below. It consists of two plaster-walled hovels and a luxurious tent containing a tea house – all of which are next to a small oasis of cacti and small shrubs. The Last Tea House sells tea made with boiled and purified water drawn from the spring, and provides a last taste of civilisation for travellers heading out into the desert wastes.

I’ve shared the original DAM file at https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3246474314 and the map above is scaled for 47×32 squares including the border. Have fun!

view of the 3D model used to make the map featured in this blog post. Two simple houses and a large ornate tent in a desert scrub landscape with a large pool of water

DDC – Burning Hearts

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A little late to the pass, but as we haven’t had a session this week, I’ve finally got round to writing up last week’s game. It was the climactic battle against the demon Derroghast, carried on from the previous week. Darkness had engulfed a portion of the battlefield, many of the adventurers were near death, and the forces of evil looked set for victory.

Hope had, at least, found their adoptive parents – who were a little surprised to see them and asked if they had a plan. Hope’s plan for the moment revolved around throwing magic stones to try and disrupt Derroghast’s war priests’ spells while Arwan and Valenia did their best not to get pinned down. Arwan and Valenia managed to save their colleagues’ lives several times with timely casting of healing spells but the DDC was on the ropes. In frustration, when being taunted by Derroghast, Hope at last called out to Gerlon – their celestial patron, who had promised to come when called for this battle.

In a burst of radiance, the solar emerged through the portal from the original church, and teleported to Hope. With a simple laying of a hand, the dominating magics on Hope were dispelled, freeing them to rejoin the fight properly. The tide was close to turning.

Gerlon and Derroghast became locked in combat, using spare actions to aid or attack others on the battlefield. Seething malice met pure light, while the DDC regained their footing. In quick order the succubi, war priests, and the blackguard warrior of the twisted faith were overcome. This in turn freed up each of the group to join in the final battle.

It was fitting that Hope was able to land the killing blow to their infernal parent – sparking the collapse of the miniature realm within which they were fighting. A hurried retreat, and rescue of the prisoners saw everyone returned to the original chapel – outside of which could be heard a riot. Gerlon strode through the doors to the courtyard beyond and his presence stilled the fighting, allowing the DDC to leave and return to the cloisters. Hope’s appearance began to change again as the infernal portal collapsed – their horns receding backward and smoothing to almost form a loop behind their skull rather than stabbing into the air – their skin also lightened a little, suggesting a diminishing of their infernal origins and a closer link to the celestials of the Sovereign Host.

And that’s where we left things

Sunny Weekend

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I made a conscious decision this weekend to get as much sunlight and fresh air as possible. It’s part of the conscious self-care approach I’m doing, and seeing as good weather has surprised us all it felt rude not to take advantage.

Yesterday therefore I took the cub with me to town for a wander about. As much as he puts on a rebellious and unaffected set of airs, he apparently looks forward to going out with me. I suspect the availability of Costa breakfasts, fast food and the occasional shopping treat has something to do with it. Whatever the reason, he was up and out of bed in record time when I poked my head round the door. Traffic was grim, but I managed a rare embarrassed smile and eye roll when I announced that the traffic jam was our cue for bad in-car dad dancing.

He did not join in.

Once we were there though we had a good saunter around. He did well out of it, some american import candies from a traditional sweets store, a second hand game from CEX, and we got ice cream cones and sat and people watched a while. I also dropped in to the comicbook store and managed to get an order in for the second Starman compendium so that made my day. So much so that I even avoided going into any bookstores as a result.

The cub was rather perturbed that I would rather drop money on a big book than a computer game. He’s funny like that.

And then today, as we haven’t had a D&D game, I grabbed Lady M and kidnapped her away to a local walled garden. I’ve had a lovely time sat on a lightly shaded bench, sketching and reading “The Haunting of Borley Rectory” – which has been a fascinating story of the ghost stories.

It examines the social and historical contexts of the people and places involved and the political shenanigans of the various societies involved in the promotion and debunking of spiritualism and psychics. I’m enjoying it immensely. (By the way, the link is not affiliated, I’m not earning anything, I just think it’s a really good book)

Map – Einnaer’s Ruins

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I’ve whipped this up this evening as we haven’t been streaming – really just to play with some new assets I’d downloaded. Its some sort of hamlet, or a collection of iron age style houses anyway, arrayed on the banks of a river as it opens up into a shallow lake that has some sort of ruined structure at the bottom. That’s about as far as thinking about it or any scenarios. I suppose you could go some kind of Grendel route with an entity disturbed by sounds of celebration or something?

Anyway, it’s here if you want to grab a copy – and the Dungeon Alchemist files can be found at https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3243852894

Drugs but No Rock and Roll

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One of the drugs I need to take to manage my diabetes (ie stay alive) is dulaglutide. Its a drug that stimulates my pancreas to produce insulin. It is also an appetite suppressant. Some of you may know where this is going.

Supplies were already restricted due to Brexit-related shenanigans around licensing and import red tape, but then off-book prescription was approved for helping people lose weight.

So for the last two weeks I have been unable to get a repeat prescription, and my pharmacy has no idea when they will next get some delivered.

I have an emergency consult with my GP pharmacist tomorrow to see what alternatives might work with the cocktail of drugs I’m already taking. My stress levels are through the roof.

I also have a scheduled appointment tomorrow to talk about my mental health.

I’m doing a lot of breathing exercises at the moment