"I loved the woods too.  I went there every chance I got, though my parents certainly weren't as supportive as your dad was.  They didn't think it was "appropriate"."

She pauses before continuing quietly.  "It's one of the reasons I left..."

After a few more minutes of silence she got up to poke at the fire and add another couple of logs before returning to her seat, offering Marcus another piece of lizard meat.

"When you say that you are 'hers', what does that mean?  I'm not sure I want to belong to anyone, even a god."

Eventually Hiran hears the vague mutterings of a voice shouting from behind him and he looks backward seeing Eryn shouting at him. He begins digging the goop out of his ears and when he's gotten enough so he can hear he casts a very quick incantation with his hands "galaful tikka" and wisps of magic spills into his ears and cleanse any of the excess goop that his hands were unable to clean out.

"Yes Eryn, how can I help you? I was just taking some notes on this fascinating work that Mira has finished you really should check it out the magical work is quite interesting."

Eryn looked over at the zombie and wrinkled her nose. "Perhaps later," she said. "I will gladly listen to you telling me about this fascinating topic, but I don't much feel like looking at it."

She deliberated for a few seconds before continuing.

"Notes you say? In the past I've made some observations of my own, actually. Look, Hiran... recent events got me thinking. Magic is an incredibly powerful force, and one that it is worth to learn how to control. I've spent my life so far pursuing mastery over weapons and martial skill, but despite how simple some say it is I have not yet found time to dabble in spells beyond performing the odd peasant ritual. After witnessing so much of it today I feel a greater need than ever before to educate myself on the subject."

The seasoned traveler reached into her bag - which was by now heavy with lizard skin and various trinkets - and withdrew a mostly well-kempt book with a few rough edges on its pages. She opened it and showed the wizard a random page near the front. It was a book with blank pages, this one partly covered in scribbles and drawings clearly made by an unskilled artist, but still meticulously done. The image depicted a crooked, ghostly creature with some kind of smoke or fire around it. A circle with detailed runes had been drawn around, clearly more detailed than the sketch. The writing bore signs of someone who had a fondness of observing spells and rituals, but a complete lack of knowledge about how they actually worked.

"These are my notes on magic I have encountered in my travels, but I have been unable to understand any of it without the intuition true mages seem to have. Do you think you could explain a few things to me, and perhaps even teach me a spell? I can pay for the service, if need be."


Obtained the book with (mostly) blank pages from a use of Adventuring Gear.

Hiran first hands Eryn his book with his recent drawings and notes about the zombie. It's clear he's not a professional but his artistic hand is pretty good from all his years doing this sort of work. "Look those over and let me know if you have any questions, I can certainly teach you but understand that with magical power comes much research and study."

Hiran takes Eryn's notes and then looks up at her. "Do you mind if I add some notes to help you with what you have started here?" Assuming Eryn allows him Hiran makes several notes and adds additional glyphs and symbols crucial to the understanding of what was already on the page. "You have a keen eye but you are missing pieces, likely due to lack of study and training in the craft. Now before we go any deeper I must tell you that the first lesson of magic is that magic is dangerous, very dangerous.  One false hand gesture, one symbol done incorrectly and the results can be catastrophic.  If you understand and accept this we can continue."

Hiran has a big smile upon his face, he always felt Eryn was bright but just uninformed and it was pleasing for him to finally share with her some of his wisdom.  He had others he had taught before and he always enjoyed it.  The studying and learning was always Hiran's favorite part of the arcane.

"I can tell right away that your notes on... well, pretty much everything... are far more complete than anything I have ever written, even when I had a couple of hours to spend. I am prepared to study - I just haven't had any other material to reference, so progress has been nonexistent."

Eryn peered at the new scribbles on the page. Wheels were spinning in her head but not going anywhere. Finally she gestured at one of the symbols Hiran had drawn next to her notes. "I can sorta get what this one means, but I don't understand how you translate the theory into waving your hands and making magic come out. I never got the feel for it, and since magic is as dangerous as you say I never dared try. I mean, that spell you just used... I somehow don't understand the the words when you speak them. Is understanding the language all there is to it?"

Marcus gave Ilura a sympathetic look at her mention of leaving her family behind, not bringing up the fact that his father later became a supporter of the Overlord.

Accepting the piece of meat, the paladin bit into it to give himself time to consider the question Ilura posed. It was something that was such integral part of him that it felt like she asked how his heart kept beating. "It's not so much of belonging to her, but with her." he paused considering how else to put it "What was your most treasured memory from the forest. When did you felt safe and at peace the most? Like no matter what happened next, you would be alright?"

"You must find the power source unique to you and it is different for all of us.  Some are naturally born with a power for the arcane, some gain their's from other planes of existence, and even some gain their arcane powers from a deity similar to the divine power Marcus wields." Hiran pauses for a moment letting it all sink in for Eryn.

Hiran then leaned in and began to quietly whisper to Eryn
This message was last edited by the player at 20:36, Tue 20 Feb 2018.

"Once, when I was little - maybe only 11 or so - I ran away.  I spent three days in the forest, living on berries and mushrooms and a few tubers.  I felt so free.  Once, when I was drinking water from a creek, I was startled by a wolf.  When my face came up from the water she was there just across from me, as white and as silent as a ghost.  Not much farther than you are from me now.  At first, I was afraid.  But somehow that feeling left and I felt safe, even though I knew she could tear my throat out in only a second if she wanted to.

It felt like she stared at me for hours, though it was probably only a minute or two.  The two of us just sitting there, each curious about the other.  Finally, she bent down and had a drink and loped off into the woods.  I felt at one with the forest for the rest of the day and that night too.  It wasn't so much a sensation of peace or even safety, but more of 'rightness' - like I was where I belonged and that the world was as it should be.

That feeling lasted until my dad's tracker found me the next morning."

The last was said quietly, her gaze on the ground.  Her skin still bore some of the scars from her father's "lesson".  It had been many years before she'd worked up the nerve to run away again.  And when the tracker found her the second time, he'd earned an arrow for his troubles.

She wondered what Lusiny would think of that.  But she wasn't sure she was ready yet to treat Marcus as her confessor.

Eryn laughed nervously at Hiran's whispered comment, then frowned when he finished the sentence and she realized he was serious.

"I wouldn't dare approach deities or... other patrons. Marcus has proven himself to be an exemplary man, but many who follow the gods begin to see their piousness waver. They think themselves better than others, and their hubris ends up ruining them."

She whispered back, glancing over at the other members of their party to make sure they weren't listening in.

Eryn kept talking at a more normal volume, in an effort to avoid drawing attention to the brief pause they must have seemed to have from the others' perspective.

"I don't think I have any innate sense for magic either, unless I've missed something. If I could cast a spell with focused motions and fighting spirit instead of prayer, now that would be something I could understand on intuition alone. Like this!" She waved her hand and did a punch in the air. "Whoosh! Magic blast!"

She grinned and tapped the hilt of the blue sword strapped to her belt. "This blade is a great start - it does magic and I don't have to do a thing to make it work, yet I can sort of sense that it has some kind of power when I hold it. It is hard to explain. It's just... there. Something tingles in my hands, and if I knew how to get a feel for it I think I could manage to go from there."

"Is that a way that could work, or is it too roundabout?"

Hiran chuckled a bit. He realized though Eryn wanted to learn of magic she might not be ready to learn deeper secrets of his own. The last thing he needed was the three in his party coming after him as some sort of heretic but he so wished to share more than he was socially allowed. "I don't speak about gods but I understand your meaning all the same.  It is possible you could harness magic through your martial prowess since it is where you are most comfortable."

Hiran looks up and to the side in a jolt and says "Oh you shut up, i've done nothing wrong and I dont need your commentary!" to seemingly nobody then returns looking at Eryn.

"Follow my hands precisely but with a blade you are comfortable with. Then speak the words just as I do.  This spell if done properly will bring light into being."  Hiran begins going through the motions of the very basic spell his hands intertwining then separating gesturing in several quick but precise ways. Then he speaks. "Lumin das expintus fie!" with the final word a glowing ball of light begins to form in his hand.

This is the first time Eryn has really been focused on Hiran as he cast a spell and it's odd you swear you can see black and red outlined smokey figures, faces even swirling around the old man but they quickly dissipate as the magic comes into being.

"Repeat this process and do not let frustration slow you down, magic takes practice and time to truly master just as I imagine wielding armor and blades of steel do as well."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:35, Wed 21 Feb 2018.

Eryn observed in silence and forrowed her brow at the glimpses she got of odd forces at work. She got the impression that there was more to the wizard than she first expected.

"I'll use the sword then. My spear is more familiar to me, but I can feel magic at my fingertips when I hold this one."

She concentrated and waved the blue sword in the air in roughly the same manner as Hiran had gestured. "Like this?" Without waiting for a reply, she attempted the incantation. "Lumindas expentius fai!"

Nothing happened.

"Luminn das expentis fei!"

Nothing.

After a few more unsuccessful attempts, Eryn finally glanced at Hiran and made him repeat the words he had spoken several times, until she fully grasped what he was saying. Once she figured she had an understanding of the spell, she drew her breath and moved the sword more slowly, focusing on her enunciation.

"Lumin das expintus fie."
"Lumin das expintus fie."
"Lumin das expintus fie."

Suddenly, the tip of the sword glowed more brightly for a split second, but before it could gather into something useful the light splintered and faded like a mass of tiny fireflies. Eryn, however, looked very pleased that anything happened at all.

"Oh hey! That was something!"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:58, Wed 21 Feb 2018.

As Ilura recalled her perfect moment, Marcus smiled with understanding. "Now imagine if it never ended. If every day at every place was right." the paladin nodded to confirm his words, despite how strange they might seem "Terrible things happened here, but they would be far worse if we haven't come. It's not easy or safe, but it's right. And I'd never go back to doing anything but following Lusiny's teachings and striving to make the night better."

His hand reached to grasp the holy symbol, and he was startled for a moment when it didn't find it, until he remembered it guided Druzy now. Lowering his hand, he raised his head and seemed to look for the moon in the sky beyond the cave "It might not be what you need, but I hope you find something that provides you with the same purpose. If it's the Silver light, I'll be all the gladder."

In reply to Eryn (msg # 573):

Hiran smiled and clapped his hands.  "Very good you catch on quickly just realize even the simplest of spells carry danger with them so you must practice your craft."

Ilura nodded slowly, trying to wrap her head around the abstract concepts.  The laws of nature were complex, but far more intuitive.

She noticed the holy warrior reaching for his absent symbol.

"You gave your symbol to the child.  Don't you need it?  To know her will or to work her powers?"

"I can tell. I was focusing on keeping the odd sensation I got from holding the blade in balance, but right before the light appeared I felt this power building that I had no control over at all."

Eryn grabbed her book and scribbled down a few notes about what she had just learned. She confirmed the spelling of the incantation and made sure to draw them extra clearly. Then she flipped a few pages and looked at another word she has jotted down on some past journey.

"These words are quite similar, but I don't think the effect they produce is similar at all. How do you know what incantation to say? Where did you learn what motions to make? It still seems very vague, even after what you told me of finding your own focus."

"I might need it. But not to connect with Her." he sounded slightly amused at the notion "For that, I just need my conviction and dedication." he stared at his empty hand for a moment "It served to remind me of my past." thinking back to his actions after taking on the mantle of knighthood, Marcus realized the symbol did more for him than just that "I did use it to channel Lusiny's power. It helped to hold something that represented her."

Letting the silence draw on, Marcus looked around the cave. A glitter from one of the niches caught his eye and he rose and strode towards it, returning with a palm-sized white rock disc. He showed it to Ilura with a soft smile "She provides." he commented shortly with no further explanation as he sat down and cupped the stone in his hands, singing quietly

"Silver light in the night, softly shining.
Silver light against the dark, always caring.
Silver light inside my heart, never dimming."

As he sang, traces of light could be seen between his fingers. When he finished, a mark of Lusiny was engraved on the stone, and Marcus fetched a piece of twine from his pack and wrapped it around the small outcropping on the disc. "Would you like to have it?" he offered the symbol, nodding slightly to encourage Ilura to take it.



Hope it isn't too much. Could be a variation/combination of Guidance and Sanctify Rotes. I marked use of Adventuring gear, if that helps.

Ilura accepted the stone disc hesitantly.  Her body cast a shadow protecting the stone from the light of the fire behind her as she held the disc between her hands.  She could see a faint glow in the lines that slowly faded into the stone as she held it.  She traced her fingers over the lines.  It felt cool to the touch.  She turned it over a few times as she looked at it, contemplating.  Then she shook her head as if coming out of a trance and offered it back.

"I am not one of her chosen.  And I'm not sure I could be.  I fear my heart is not as pure as yours.  Besides, you may have need of it.  Your healing energies could well be needed further before we get this lot to safety", gesturing at the huddled mass of children near the fire behind them - several, oddly enough, cuddled up against the gnoll.

No need to use Adventuring Gear for this.  There are plenty of rocks nearby and material for twine could easily be gathered from one of the broken bridges.  Now if you want an entire spool of twine or a rock carving kit, that would warrant an Adventuring Gear use.

"Those sorts of questions are why mages commonly become scholars and travel the world for answers.  Some magics have become commonplace and many mages know them and they are passed down, others you learn with study and adventure or are found in tombs of long past wielders of magic.  There is no direct answer, magic is complicated and comes with many avenues and dangers but also with great rewards."  Hiran smiles he knows what he's sharing is hard to take in but it is the truth and one Eryn must accept to truly embrace the world of arcane magic.

Accepting the amulet, Marcus put it slowly around his neck, inhaling slowly as the symbol rested on his skin once again. "Maybe Druzy isn't either." he retorted to Ilura's rebuttal of the stone "It is not about who you are, but whether you need it." he smiled again, following the ranger's gesture, but it was here words that brought him merit "Pure or not, your heart is as good as mine. Are you not here for the same reason? And what better way to stop the twisted night then by stopping the greatest evil this world had seen?" his eyes moved from the children to their resting companions "No matter what our reasons are, we all walk the silver path."

Ilura nodded slowly then turned back to the darkness.  Her eyes studied the flickering shadows playing over the ceiling of the cavern and the far side of the ravine, though they occasionally glanced back to the amulet Marcus had carved.  The two of them sat quietly together for about another hour or so before she roused herself.

"Time to let Rirrick take his turn.  You and I both need our sleep."

She helped Marcus to move the sleeping children away from the dog-like creature, comforting a little one who whimpered and stirred as his head was adjusted.

"Your watch Bard."  She gave him a gentle shake and waited for him to rouse before removing her armor and settling for the night.  She set her bow beside her head and nestled into the warmth of where the gnoll had been resting, giving a quick smile to the holy knight as he quietly removed his armor and laid out his cloak as a bedroll.

"Sleep well.

And thank you."

She drifted to sleep listening to the soft beating of drums and a quiet song haunting in both its strangeness and familiarity.  A small boy's head nuzzled into her breast as her mind wandered into the mist of a dream.


The cavern was dark and quiet when she woke.  She started as she realized the children and her companions were gone.  The fire had burned down to coals that cast light about the cavern only because her eyes were so attuned to the darkness.

She called out to her friends, but her response was met only by echoes.  She grabbed her bow and quiver and was searching for signs of her party and the children when her peripheral vision caught a glimpse of white.

She turned to see a shape vanishing down a new passageway that had somehow appeared during the night.  She charged after the shape, the leather soles of her boots almost silent as they navigated the path in nearly pitch darkness.  In only a few moments, she emerged onto the surface to find the land awash in the red of the blood moon.  The light turned the green of the forest ahead black and somehow made the shapes of life and growth seem twisted and dark.

The white shape vanished along a path leading into the darkness, and she followed - leaping over fallen logs and avoiding areas of marsh.  She had run for almost an hour when she heard the voices of children crying and screaming in the distance.  She picked up her pace and reached the edge of the forest.

It ended abruptly at a cliff that opened into an enormous depression of barren rocks and sand.  The blood moon was full overhead and bathed the land in its corrupting light.  She could see the children now, far in the distance surrounding an enormous pit that was spilling noxious vapors.  The blue shade creature that had attacked her mentor was there.  She could see now what was causing the children's cries.  The shade was sewing the children together, fashioning them into some grotesque chain of living paper dolls around the pit.  Zombies surrounded them, herding them close to the pit.

She was about to cry out when she caught a glimpse of white again.  Far ahead, there was a spit of land that jutted out into the depression.  On it stood the wolf she had met so many years ago, somehow unaged.  The wolf stood at the edge of the spit, lifted its muzzle to the sky and howled.

As the howl rang out across the land, clouds she had not previously noticed parted and revealed the silvery white of Lusiny.  Her light washed out the redness of the blood moon and driving the shade back and away from the pit and the children.  However, the creature quickly regrouped and directed the zombies toward the spit.  The undead creatures slowly started to climb the cliff making their way towards the wolf.  One had made it to the top and was about to attack the majestic creature when Ilura let loose an arrow knocking it off the spit and sending it crashing to the ground.

More zombies climbed, and more arrows flew.  The ethereal howl grew louder, and the moon's brightness shone whiter, chasing away the clouds until Ilura herself was bathed in the goddess's light.  She felt a tingling in her palm and looked down at her bow to see it now etched with the symbol Marcus had carved for her that evening.  She drew and fired her again, her now glowing silver as she speared undead creature after undead creature.

Thomas flew out from behind her. "I will free them."

The crow darted forth amidst her volleys of arrows and set about gently plucking the threads from the children's skin until they were freed and could run to her from safety.

She lost count of how many arrows she fired before the red moon set and the sun peeked above the horizon.  The children huddled around and called her name.  "Mistress Ilura?  Mistress Ilura?"


"Mistress Ilura?"

The ranger opened her eyes to see the small boy who had slept against her tugging on her arm.

"Mistress Ilura?  The old wizard says it's time to wake up and get going.  Is it ok if I wake you up?"

She stretched and nodded her head.  "Of course," she smiled and eased herself from the ground.  The fire had been re-kindled to a cheerful blaze with wood salvaged from the two bridges and the children were dining on some sort of broth made from the lizard meat.

She stretched again, working a couple of kinks out of her back.  Her leg and shoulder were still sore, but somehow despite the unpadded ground and the bizarre dream, Ilura felt oddly refreshed.

She pulled on her leather armor and took a long drink from her flask before grabbing her quiver and bow.  As her hand sled over the oaken shaft, she felt something odd.  Lifting it up, she could clearly see Lusiny's mark etched into the wood, a faint silvery light still glittering in the depths of the markings.  She was staring at it in silent shock when she heard the flutter of wings and felt the faint grip at her shoulder that marked Thomas' arrival.  He pecked gently at her ear in his usual greeting.

"Good morning sleepy head"

Hiran slipped into his sleeping bag and by the light of the campfire fell asleep studying his books and notes.  He was excited he not only got to share with Eryn the beginnings of the arcane but he himself had figured out a spell weaved into the binding of one of his books.  He had yet to test it but according to the bits he understood it's intended to magically force another to treat the caster as a friend.  "This could certainly be useful in the future, if I can completely master the spell." He thinks quietly to himself as he dozes off to sleep.

He awakens a bit achey from sleeping in a cavern but refreshed and began studying his book of spells preparing for the journey ahead.  As he did this Hiran also grabbed a pot of water and began to throw all the bone and sinew with bits of lizard meat stuck onto it into a pot and set it to boil over the campfire.  The surrounding area filled with the smells of cooking meat and eventually a delicious broth was ready just in time for the children who were beginning to awaken.

After finishing his spells and dining with one of the early rising youngsters he begins to pack up and asks one of the children to awaken Ilura and the others. "It's time that we go, please wake up the others for me young one." the child nodded in agreement and ran off to awaken the others while Hiran finished his last preparations for the day.

Seeing as there were no looming threats this night, Eryn spent her part of the watch laboring over arcane studies.

She realized she had stayed up for a bit longer than she perhaps should have as well. While she still pondered over recent events, her mind was becoming occupied with everything she'd just learned from Hiran. It would be a long road before she could feel confident in her spell casting, but just knowing that it was possible to learn at all was exciting enough.

Following Hiran's instructions, Eryn had managed to memorize a few phrases and hand gestures that would allow her to cast simple spells - provided she kept her mind focused and her untrained self didn't lose grip on the magic when it surged through her. She was excited to test it out in practice, but had become more and more apprehensive of the strange sights and whispers that seemed to hang around the wizard whenever he cast a spell of his own.

Would she end up haunted the same way?

Eryn packed up her book and shook these thoughts from her mind. There was no use in worrying about such things now. She quietly repeated a few magic words to herself several times while packing the rest of her things. The wizard-in-training focused on learning the easiest things first: Sensing the presence of magic power, and gathering some energy into a force that could be thrown at enemies.

She joined Hiran by the campfire and helped herself to some of the food. "Good morning," she said. "It's surprising how easy it is to sleep in a creepy cave like this when you're dead tired. I can't wait to get back to town and wash up properly."


Prepared cantrips, plus the spells Detect Magic and Magic Missile.

Lusiny has granted me my rotes + Bless, Cure Light Wounds & Magic Weapon, though I don't necessarily know that yet...

The morning in the cavern was surprisingly upbeat and chipper, for the most part.  The children all seemed to be in a generally good mood considering what they had been through.  As everyone took turns getting their servings of vorlag broth, Rirrik sat in the corner playing gentle tunes on his drums.  A few seagulls still wandered the area, drawn by the smell of broth in the air, but many of them seemed to be reverting to their original forms by this point.  A particularly big one with bat wings got in a minor squabble with Thomas over a scrap of meat.  Thomas won.

Mira, for her part, sat nearly motionless by the fire as everyone prepared for the day.  She had been in the same spot all night, but was still wet as ever.  Most of the children gave her a wide berth.  When everyone was ready, however, the sea witch stood up and led everyone out of the cavern without a word.  Her zombie followed close at her heels.

In the chamber of the broodmaster bat, when they passed the spot where both her sisters were slain, Mira looked at the spot and tsked with disappointment.  The disappointment seemed to be directed at her fallen sisters though, and not at the members of the party.  As the glowing fungus illuminated their path through the cavern, Ilura could make out something akin to whispers coming from the ceiling.  [It looks like they are finally leaving] [Do you think they will transform us into more birds?] [Will the broodmaster have us retaliate?] [Should we fly deeper into the cavern?] Whatever the answers to those questions were, the party made it across the cavern without incident.

When the party reached the sloped exit to the cavern, Mira pulled a piece of kelp from within her sleeve.  A long piece of kelp.  A whole rope of kelp!  The kelp just kept on coming until it had snaked all the way down to the rough cave floor before.  Then, with a bit of concentration from the sea witch, it twisted and contorted into a kelp rope ladder.  She sent her zombie down first to test it out, then descended herself.  "This way," she said when all the kids had descended too, then motioned for everyone to follow her down the exit tunnel.

In the room where the party had first met Mira, the campfire was nothing but a pile of cold ashes now.  The cooking pot was still set up over the ashes and Mira grabbed the huge heavy metal pot easily with one hand and carried it with her as she led the party out the last stretch of the cave.  "It should be almost low tide again by now," she reported as the group reached the tide pool cavern they had entered the caves from the night before.  Now that the sun was up it was easy to see the rough rocks poking up out of the tumultuous sea.  Barnacles, crabs, starfish, and mussels coated many of the rocks, but they all cleared a path as Mira approached.  It was strange to see a stationary anemone leap out of someone's path, but such was life in a world full of magic.

"This is where we part ways," (Truth) Mira said.  "Druzy? Bronnth?  Our ride is approaching."  She pointed out to the sea where an enormous brown sea turtle was pulling itself into the shallows with its powerful flippers.  Her zombie was already heading out into the surf to climb aboard.  After a quick set of goodbyes to everyone from the dwarven children, they too climbed aboard the humongous turtle.

As she walked out to climb onto the great beast herself, Mira said, "So long and may we never meet again," (Truth)  Then the turtle turned around and carried them out to sea.

---

The rest of the trip to town was fairly straightforward.  After finding a safe way back up the cliffs of the black sand beaches, it wasn't difficult to find a road back to Markhain.  The roads were fairly safe this close to the great harbor, so the main obstacle the party faced were the constant bathroom breaks the thirty or so children seemed to require.  Even so, by noon the party had reached the main gates of the city and it didn't take long to find the famed harbor orphanage that Eryn had heard of.  The sign on the front said Markhain Harbor Boarding School.  After a bit of inquiry, an older woman and a young man missing an arm came out to assist the group.  Rirrik offered to spend the next few days getting the kids situated in their new home so that everyone else could focus on the more important matters at hand.

What do you do?

Everyone
Everyone rested, so add back half your HP if you haven't done so yet.  Also, make sure to select your prepared spells and make sure your XP and equipment are up to date.

Please join me in the new thread.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:47, Sat 24 Feb 2018.