No, it wouldbe the +1 bonus (and the blade being magical) while the light is on. You can make it the free action fire on/off instead if you prefer?

The equipment slot is for magical items, the conceit being that two magical items in the same area would interfer with each other (it's just game balance).

So your normal bandolier would just be across your chest or around your waist, and can be fitted along with any other armour/magical belt.

OOC: Ahh ok, just checking :)  Was looking around the Player's Handbook and it mentioned you can wear multiple magical items in the same slot if they'll reasonably fit there, but you only get the benefits from one of them.
(Unless, like Meri, you just alchemically glued two amulets together so you could use both, hehe).

Yeah, I'll go with the light and the fire effect both drawing from the same power source then, so the +1 is always active.  (Assuming that's +1 to attack and damage caused by it?  At least then it'll still have a bit of bite to it, even without the fire effect).
I think Meri will definitely be interested in upgrading it further though, she might see that as a half-finished job :)

Cool, I'll update the magic items thread to denote the power swapping :)

And yeah, because you are only two players and also two mages, I'm able to houserule a little more about having two magic items be fused like we're doing for multiple effects. Plus it's a fun ability to be able to give a player artificer!

Anyway, so speaking of the sword...

As the night progressed, reading the journal became harder as the mind wanted to shut down. It became what the Old One had once mentioned as 'the dangerous time', when The God would start speaking to you. After going blind looking so closely at the details for so long, you could hear the tiny voices of those details, The God's children.

Yet it was when the mind was at its worst to judge if The God was being a teacher, or a trickster.


The Delver's gem required a power source, and had presumably been attached to its golem for a good long while. It was easy for sympathetic magic to rub off, give something the echoes of life. Worse, if the item needed, then what more could be considered living than that?

And fire, well, fire was very easy to categorise as alive...it breathed or it died, it hungered and fed as it would, it hated...

No, that was probably a tired fancy. Still, a gem that had the echos of magical life, and an enchantment of an element that aped life. Meri had perhaps not fully worked out how to make a weapon that could be animated yet, like the dissassembled dagger she carried, but especially looking to the sword, it was tantalisingly close now. Just a few more experiments with something like this sword, which was a perfect conduit, and she might figure it out. After all, she had some deeper revelations regarding crystals, and souls, and Timur's life now.

She couldn't animate the sword just now, but perhaps she could awaken something in it. Not true life, but an awareness that might be the precursor to animating the sword.


These were tired thoughts, but also inspirations, and the connections tumbled like locks being opened, in a mind that had been working this out in the background, and just waiting for the right thought at the right time - or the right key.

However, that strange little itch that had plagued Meri once, then faded, sudden;y worryingly returned. Barely there at first, but as the thoughts on the sword started tumbling, the itch became more persistent and more distracting. It was like freefalling down a hill, and finding the weed snagged more and more until the fall was arrested.

Eventually, thinking became unbearable, and just as suddenly as it came on, The Itch stopped.


Feel free to roll me an Insight check for no reason, otherwise... just your evil DM doing an evil thing, or something :p

OOC: Hmm, tempted into following the same path as Daedra?  Down that road lies madness.  (Then again, he was a little bit twitchy to start with, so probably wouldn't have been a long road for him...)

Insight: 18 (7 + 9) - Meh...

Also, I actually did get an itch on my head while reading that, so I'll likely be slightly freaked-out for the rest of the day now!  (O.o)'

Oops, did not mean to give you real life itches! Between this and the spiders I'm being quite horrible to you just now!

And eh, animated weapons aren't alive, so that's fine, and giving awareness to something isn't the same as actual life, so I'm sure that's fine too... *cough*

Anyway, your insight check isn't Hard DC breaking, but it's still not bad. Remmebr there's quite a jump between Moderate and Hard. So Meri will be able to feel that this itch doens't feel natural - shock - but also notice that it lagged her own thoughts, as if reacting to them, rather than being the cause of them. So make of that what you will...

OOC: Don't worry, spiders freak me out more than itches :)

...Unless the itch is caused by a spiderweb in my hair!  EEEEK! (;~;)'

https://img.memesuper.com/fc3d...er-meme_625-468.jpeg

Summer months are the worst time for them too.  That's when their invasion forces move in...  Well, I'll be ready for them!  Not going down without a fight!  >:(
*dual-wields cans of Raid...*

Anyways...


Meri idly raised a hand to scratch her head, then paused, looking up from the book and peering around her with a suspicious look.

"That's odd" she muttered to herself.

Closing the book and placing it aside, she closed her eyes, trying to return to the train of thought she had been on before...


OOC: Interesting.  Someone or something trying to stop Meri discovering what she was about to discover there?  Trying to provoke it to reappear and see if she can figure out what might be causing it.  Would mind/psychic stuff be an Arcana check?

We have two people at work who hate spiders and so yeh, I can imagine that response one day as I walk in :) We had a ladybird invasion recently, and I have a white walled south facing building, so certain years I can't have my windows open in summer :(

Meri found that to start with, the itch did not return. Thinking about the concepts in general, the thought of fire being alive, on how to craft lviing items and animated weapons, on aping the flying dagger, none of thos seemed to generate any feeling. Even contemplating experimenting on a flaming sword with such a gem was fine. It was only when specifically starting to think about experimenting with this weapon of the sergeant's now that The Itch reappeared, will all its previous ferocity.

It was as if something - either her mind, or something external - really did not want her to great an awareness in the sword.


Yup, Arcana would be a good one. Even if it doens't let you explicitly know what this is, and stuff about psychic powers, it can give you hints, or let you know what it is not.

Als, never forget you can burn Inspiration and your encounter power to give yourself bonuses/rerolls.

OOC: Hmm, strange.  The first time she felt the Itch, she never even knew the sword existed, let alone was thinking about it, so not sure why it would be reacting so strongly to the sword now.  If it was just the sword, I'd wonder if the ghost of the sergeant's father was being overprotective and trying to keep Meri from possibly experimenting on her weaponry :)

Only other possibility that comes to mind is that there's something significant about that sword that she almost thought about before, though I have no idea what that might be...

Arcana roll: 29 (15 + 14) - ooo, good one :)  Pity I didn't roll that for the lower skill check earlier instead of the higher skill that could probably have scraped through on a lower roll.  The gods of dice mock me once again!

Yup, almost like the sword is not the main or only thing the itch will be bugging you about...

So Meri would know that there are magical and mental compulsion effects but usually they are forcing an action, rather than restricting an action. Or the compulsion masks itself as a person's own thoughts. Celindara's unwillingness to notice the Blight would be an example of one such compulsion effect trying to stop an action. So usually a compulsion would be to make the sword come alive, and the itch should come when Meri tried to force herself to stop. Going the other way around seemed very strange.

So this can't be a normal magical compulsion or restriction, as it's not trying ot mask itself. It's just annoying. And there doens't feel as if there is any external psychic agency to this, The Itch comes perfectly the moment Meri thoguht about something, the lag seems consistent with Meri's thought processes, not with someone monitoring her thought processes then moving to stop them.

It does not seem to be to do with the sword at all, as the first time it was experienced it was in the World Tree, and it did not seem to be anything to do with that. It seems simply to stop her explicit action to further enchant this particular sword with an awareness.

Still, one thing is clear - it is an affliction of some kind, one trying to restrict her. And it does not seem to follow the logic of magic, and does not seem to be psychic or otherwise mortal controlled in nature. That starts to rule out many avenues, and annoyingly points to one potential avenue. The Shadow had warned of the gods' attention being directed to the group, and it seems like a god's method to punish independant actions. Or being charitable, warn a mortal of potentially unwise actions without actually speaking with them and letting them make an informed decision. So perhaps Meri needs to make a point of asking around the temples regarding such occurences, when Farren is asking after his Raven Queen.

Oh, and just to reassure you, the sword you have forged, as it stands, it perfectly good and happy thing that isn't a trick. Indeed it and your actions around making it will turn The Sergeant in to an ally, and your actions and the weapon will have a positive effect on her. XP is incoming regarding this and everything!

Whether the further enchantment experiments were a trap, or whether it was a viable enhancement to build upon, and something is trying to stop your work - that I'll leave up to you to discover / gamble upon :)

Let me know if I can clarify anything for you, since you rolled so well.

OOC: Hmm, maybe from Melora then, since we were in the tree...  Or the Raven Queen, since it was just before we met Farren again.  Both of them might deal with life (in their own unique ways!  One encouraging it through nature and the other dealing with the loss of it!)
Though it wouldn't be "true" life, or "un-life", so I doubt the Raven Queen would care about it.  Melora might consider it unnatural, though if that was the case all the original creators of the Warforged would have been driven insane by itchy heads and surely someone would have noticed that!

Either way though, maybe the gods don't know that trying to prevent Meri from doing something with no explanation is more likely to make her even more determined to break through the restriction and do it anyway, hehe.


Meri sat up, placing Timur down beside her and got up to walk over to the workbench.
Picking up the sword, she examined it for a moment before looking around the room then at the door.

Narrowing her eyes, she peered at the backpack as if considering something inside it, then shrugged and returned to her comfortable rest, taking the sword with her and placing it down beside the Sun Globe which she tapped on to dim the light, then picked up the journal again, clearly intending to read until she felt sleepy...


OOC: Meri is all: "Weird!  But who cares?  I'll figure it out tomorrow!" :)

By the way, I keep thinking I've read that name "Geekaar" somewhere before.  Don't think it was in this game, but maybe in another one?

Yeah, Melora is certain a good guess. Whether it's right is another matter, but it's logical :)

Sounds like you can have a few days to relax IRL while Nym catches up to Meri.


Geekaar the Great was my character in Laughing Shark's own game she started running a few years ago. Hopefully it's not too emersion breaking to have an echo of him cropping up in the periphery here :D

OOC: Ahh ok :)  Can't remember much about that game, think he was a merchant in that one too?  Also I recall Sabre's Rune Star character was in there too.
Yep, just remembered, I had Swift Fox v1.0 as a lurker character :)  Different avatar with similar, less scruffy, appearance, and definitely happier.  (That character was eventually recycled into another of my Kai characters called Star Song.  The one with Frodo as an avatar.  Ahh, memories).

Anyways, what time is it here in-game?
Was tempted to have Meri go for a wander around town at night, although she doesn't have the key to lock the workshop door behind her and unlock it again to get back in, does she?
(Suppose she could just dismantle the lock and manually open the tumblers like she did when testing it, although that could be awkward (and possibly amusing) trying to explain what she's doing if she gets caught picking the lock to get back in again!)
Will probably just have her quietly stewing away in her own emotional mess, figuring out ways to get around the restriction on her thoughts...  She may be slightly...  tense in the morning.  At least slightly more than usual!  :)

Yeha, a merchant or something similar. I think he was a reskinned sage or something, and had access to lots of knowledge.

The time at the moment is flexible right now because I want to have wiggle room to link you and Nym up, and there are some game world events that I don't want to de-sync if both of you keep in separate timezones.

Still, it is certainly late enough to go wandering without many people - if any - being around.

Realise that she could just put the lock on the door without snibbing it, so that it gives the appearance of being locked up? And, of course, put a trap or two on the door to actually stop an intruder while she is gone :) You have one trap you can set 'for free' that I posted in the rules thread. Don't think you've ever rested anywhere to gain the benefit of it, but you can go ahead and set up a 'trip the trap' like effect on the door if you like.

OOC: Hmm, maybe.  Though I'm not sure where I'd have her go anyway, if I had a specific plan for somewhere in town she wanted to go or something she wanted to do then I would, but I think it would just be aimless wandering for now, and Meri doesn't seem the type to bother with aimless wandering just for the pleasure of it.
Pity Meri doesn't know about Geekaar, or she might be tempted to figure out if he knows anything that could be of use :)


Meri didn't move for a while, staring up at the ceiling of the workshop.
Then she suddenly got up and strode over to the backpack, pulling out one of the loose sheets of parchment she had been scribbling alchemical calculations on before and returning to her place.
Thinking a moment, she started to write.

1 - The World Tree.

2 - The Sword.  Fire and Life.

Leaning back again, she closed her eyes and tried to remember every detail about what had happened after she had woken up on the tree branch after returning from the Shadow's domain, focusing intently on trying to recall everything she had been thinking about...


OOC: So yeah, she's trying to remember what was going through her mind then, checking to see if anything brings back the Itch in the hope of narrowing it down to a particular thing and then seeing how that relates to the sword and the "fire and life" thing.
She might have just grabbed some rest, but whatever this is, it's interfering directly with her mind, and she takes that as a challenge ;)  hehe.  First step she's taking is to figure out where the limits are placed...
This message was last edited by the player at 22:35, Tue 25 Apr 2017.

Just to save you hunting if you din't know exactly where it was:





So basically that was what Meri was thinking about before, and that was then what was said and happening right before. So the thing that happened immediately before was Many looking up to Ryn flying around, but it could also have been a growing reaction to something else mentioned - The Other, the Abyss, naming Thrazidum, mentioning conversations with The Shadow, and mention of Nym trying to interact with the cler stone.

Also, if Meri is thinking about any of these things now, nothing will generate The Itch. That's now including thinking about the sword. Only if Meri actually genuinely tries to think about experimenting with giving awareness to the sword will The Itch return.

Meri sighed as her attempts seemed to bring on no itching sensation, only a headache from trying to concentrate too much.
Scrunching the parchment up into a loose ball, she tossed it towards the pack, only for it to bounce off and roll across the bench top, falling to the floor on the opposite side.

"Awareness, the creation of false life.  Possibly it's that.  Maybe something I said when we were in the tree..." she muttered.  "Whatever this thing is though, it seems almost like a conditional enchantment.  It only activates in response to certain events, so it may not be something 'alive', or something with consciousness..."

She trailed off, glancing towards Timur.
"No, I doubt it's my imagination.  My own mind is too sadistic to content itself with a mere itching" she snapped, before getting up and stalking towards the bench.
"The stone perhaps.  The name of the Chained God and the stone...  We already know he can communicate through the stone, perhaps he can hear through it too, maybe being a part of the portal's mechanism for so long forged a link between it and the portal.  Hope those idiots back at Stonebridge took my suggestion about burying that place seriously enough.  Maybe I should just destroy the stone and be done with it..."


OOC: Yeah, I looked back at them, but was trying to figure out more specifically what it was she said or thought about that triggered the Itch.  Basically looking at it like a techie, treating the Itch as a technical problem, first try to reproduce the problem and thus narrow it down to what's causing it :)

Since it's not helping in that regard though, she's falling back on trying to think what may have changed.  Since she never had the problem before (I'd assume), the first big change in her life was the events leading up to acquiring the Clear Stone.  And that also made her think of the possibility it's forming a remote link of sorts to the portal under Stonebridge, or may simply have picked up enough of the energies active in that place to act as a kind of mini portal itself.  Like the link between the druid's staff and robe she exploited earlier.
This is also leading her to the idea that it might be better to destroy it than to risk carrying something like that around.  Especially since it's already shown some curious coincidental ability to escape her pack on more than one occasion.

Indeed, the problem has only manifest twice, the first time being that evil little comment at the start of Chapter 4.

The clear stone seems to be some form of diamond or crystal, so certainly Meri with her knownledge of crystal magic, and ability to disenchant things, can destroy the Clear Stone if that's what you want to do.

My only cavet would be that it's one of the communication methods to speak with one of The Shadows, but if you think that's the false one, or that neither can be trusted, or it's not worth it, then you can destroy the clear stone right now :)

Picking up the stone, Meri peered at it, turning it slowly to catch the light from the Sun Globe.
Sticking her hand into the void in her pack, she pulled out the toolkit from earlier, opening it one-handed and pulling out a short thick metal rod that appeared to be hollow with what looked like a ruby crystal core, protruding in a narrow spike from one end and glinting a fiery red through rune-shaped gaps cut into the metal with the kind of precision that could only be achieved with magical crafting.
Placing the clear stone on the bench, she gripped the rod tightly in her fist and held it above the stone, as though about to bring it down sharply onto the object below.  A burning red glow seemed to flow down the rod and gather at the crystal tip...

Then she paused and looked towards Timur who was staring at her.  He gestured towards the stone, then pointed to Meri, tapping his own head a few times and then making several other rapid hand-waving gestures, including pointing at the stone again a few times.
Meri looked back at the stone, then slowly relaxed her grip and placed it aside, the red glow fading out slowly as she released it.
"Possibly" she murmured.  "If it is like the link between the staff and the robe..."

She grinned slightly as she returned the rod to the toolkit and packed it away again.
"You know, I find this excess of faith in me a bit disturbing" she remarked, looking to Timur.

Picking up the clear stone, she reached for the pack intending to stash it in the secret compartment...


OOC: While Meri was fully intended to destroy the stone there just to be sure, I (from a player's point of view) thought it might still have some use.  So yeah, got so indecisive I just ended up rolling for it, and the stone very narrowly survived, hehe.
So had Timur suggest something that changed Meri's mind.

And yep, that was a reworked Darth Vader quote, it just popped into my mind as I was writing Meri's reply there when I was going to have her throw that earlier "You trust me, are you crazy?" line back at him ;)
Meri may yet find her way to the Dark Side if she's not careful...

Also, getting into the way of things now, so I left out the bit where she actually puts the clear stone away in case you're thinking of springing something on me there ;)

Don't think there's anything else important she'll want to do tonight, so happy to wait until Nym's thread is done, unless something comes up before morning.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:11, Thu 27 Apr 2017.

Aha, so Timur has been stealing all the faith of the Death Star personnel to feed to Meri? Hence the deficit / surplus? That criminal mastermind! :p

The stone will happily go in to the backpack, in that it will not react. But I'm pleased that you are now scared to do anything without something bad happening. No, wait, despite appearances, that's actually a bad thing! Don't be scared... honest...

Also, Meri will spot that she could later perhaps upggrade tyhe pack to both have the clear stone just locked in to a metaphysical dimension pocket in her back, but also create a magical effect to use the physical pocket to hide a second item. That would make it a level 7 item, so we'll have to come back to that one!


Anmyway, wait to see what Nym is doing with Ryn, but if tht doesn't generate a ton of posts, then I should be able to move you both to morning.

OOC: Well, not so much scared to try it (otherwise I wouldn't have been so indecisive about destroying the stone), but I had an idea of having Meri possibly studying the stone and trying to figure out exactly how it's connection to the portal and the two Shadows works, with the idea of possibly turning it against them if she can work out a way.

Dunno if that's even possible or not, but I had Timur suggest to her that if there is a connection that's working in a similar way to the connection between the staff and the robe (as in, the clear stone has been a part of the portal's 'mechanism' for so long that it's permanently absorbed some of that magic), then perhaps that connection can work both ways too.  Goes back to the idea of perhaps spying on one or both of the Shadows to see how they act when they think they have no-one around to convince of anything :)

Timur was reminding Meri that if anyone is smart enough to figure the stone out, then it's her.  (Whether he actually believes that, or knows that Meri's creative side is the only part of herself she doesn't hate, and thus the only part of her open to possible convincing flattery from someone linked closely enough to her that she can trust their words, I'll leave open to guesswork, hehe).
Hence why Meri was hinting that he probably has too much faith in her abilities, though the comment did cheer her up a little, much as she's pretending it didn't ;)

Hmm, interesting idea.  So then the concealed pocket would become sort of a "mini bag of holding" inside another bag of holding that's linked between two items?  Nothing like a bit of home-made transdimensional engineering to get Meri's interest :)
This message was last edited by the player at 11:58, Fri 28 Apr 2017.

You would probably want to go back to near the portal to properly research, but it would be possible. Also remember that only one of the two Shadows seemed to be connected and contactable through the stone.

Anyway, that seems to be cool research, but for another time - the magical manufacture and journal analysis have probably eaten all your night time brain time.

And yes, fun with backpacks when you get to level up again. It just seems a shame to have a concealed backpack then be forced by common sense to use its one slot to hide the clear stone :(


Anyway, anything else on your mind, or would Meri put the stone away then read the journal until she falls asleep, or try to get some sleep? Nym sounds like she's ready to time jump.

OOC: Ah ok, I thought both Shadows could use it.  At least Tharizdun was supposedly able to contact Meri through it, disguised as the Shadow.  I'd guessed the Shadow would be able to use it too, since it's technically a part of the portal.
Though I'm still not certain if Tharizdun and the Shadow are both the same kind of creature (as in, if both of them are actual gods).  If they were, maybe they can just use the clear stone as a conduit without it having any actual connection to both of them.
And this is Meri's current position on them just now too, she knows she needs more information and more research on this one, hence why Timur was able to convince her to hold off on destroying the stone so easily.

Anyways, yep.  Shall just read over the journal for the rest of the night.  :)

Cool, then join me over on the main thread once again, where I shall wake both you and Nym simulataneously and hope it doens't all go a bit mental getting you both together again :p


As for who spoke to you when and how...


Thrazidum managed to influence you somehow and make you see his name in the book, but otherwise didn't directly speak with you that you know of to start with.

The Shadow spoke to you both of you in the portal room when he was freed.

One Shadow then spoke to you in a dream the first night, saying he was still lingering in the portal room before ascending to his previous position.

The other Shadow then seemed to be manipulating the clear stone until you touched it, and could speak with you. Whether he needed that connection, or was using it as a secure copnnection, he had been unable to speak with you before.


Thrazidun then spoke with you both in some mental or spiritual connection, which only seemed to have needed the distraction of the World Tree's creation to do. Of course, he could have also needed the clear stone and just not told you that


Thrazidum then pushed you in to the realm of the dream Shadow, and that's how you briefly spoke with him before he disappeared.


So the clear stone could be a connection to all of them, through the portal, or just one of them...


As to the power level of the shadow and thrazidum. Well, Thrazidum himself seems to style himself as a god. The dream Shadow theorised that Thrazidum might be a shackle on the gods (like he was a shackle to mortals) and so have the powers of a god. The clear stone Shadow seemed to say that they were two sides of the same coin, and so Thrazidum was more like a deom in power. Thoguh some demons can get god-like status.

The Shadow himself seems to be demi-god powered, given he was created by the gods, and styling himself as Magic. Still, given he seems to have the powers of the wish behind him, he can probably psyphon enough powers from magic and wish granting to basically have demi god to god level powers. Just very shackled.


So depending upon who you believe, they are either a similar aspect but totally different creatures, or different aspects of the same creature :)