Bran looked over at Joser and blinked a few times, looking blankly. "Did you?" He shook his head. "Sorry. I'm...I admit I'm a bit woozy. I lost some blood and am not at my best."

He shrugged. "In that case, I volunteer to sleep first. Wake me for whatever watch is needed." He grinned.

Joser places a hand on Bran's shoulder.  You, me friend, sleep an' heal as much as ye ken.  I think we got the watches covered.  If'n ye need help bandagin' up, jus' ask me

“Before you drift into the world of Dream, drink this first.” Basilisa kept quiet while the group discussed watch. She rummaged in her bags for a vial. “Magic may be weaker in this world, but you need as much healing magic as we can spare.” She held the healing potion toward Bran’s lips, encouraging him to drink.

Bran smiled at Basilisa, "Thank you, lady." He reached for the potion with one hand, but then the smile faltered and fell off. He drew his hand back without taking the potion. He let out a loud sigh. "I really dislike this place."

He shook his head slowly. "It's worse than I thought. I'm starting to think this place actually drains magic." He nodded at the vial she was holding. "I'm fairly certain that is no longer a potion, but just a mundane liquid now."

"Imagine what it feels like to become useless, since the magic you rely on is suddenly gone."

Makes me glad I didn'a have tha talent fer it, Joser says.  Anyone feels tha need, I ken teach ya how ta use diff'rent weapons'n what yer used ta.

Cinnabar didn't notice the attempt to use the potion until it was much to late, but something in her expression makes it seem like she is disappointed by it, but rallies with a new idea.  ”Some magics are more robust than others, some sources stronger than others.  Potions, particularly simple ones, are among the weakest and no doubt the easiest to drain.

This is undoubtedly a difficult world with significant problems but there is no reason to think they will be insurmountable, and no doubt a new day will bring new insights into that.
 I will take the morning watch and see if I can do anything interesting about breakfast, until then I recommend some amount of inventory of the abilities of your magical items so we can compare that information in the morning.”

The group settles in to rest and recover. There is plenty of wood for a fire if needed due to the collapsed floors and ceilings from above.

The rest passes uneventfully, it is hard to tell what time of day it is being in the lower level of the building. Those awake do notice a slight lightening of darkness as light filters in from the few windows upstairs.

OOC: If you decide to check your magical gear just let me know which items and such.

Joser takes the time, during his watch, to check the capabilities of his magic weapons and items.

spear of the whirlwind:  whirl it around.
javelin of lightning:  does have a strong static charge.
gauntlets of ogre power:  move something heavier than he normally could, or just think about having moved debris earlier.
clothes of mending:  Make a littie cut, see if it mends.
periapt of wound closure:  make a little cut, see if it heats.
bagpipes of haunting:  play a short tune to test the sound.
bag of holding:  is all his stuff still in it?

Kel'li lets the others know that there was a creature who came near, but 'seemed' peaceful, "It is about two feet tall and sorta reminds her of a rat though it has no eyes, large ears and a long neck. It walks semi upright on two legs balanced by a tail as long as its main body."

She tests her winged boots to see if they are still non-functional.

Taking the morning watch Cinnabar helps prepare some food testing out simple magics to heat the food that comes from her magical preservation box without fire, and performs a fairly common ritual for detecting magic, which she then uses to scan all of her own items, and any known magic items used by the others for discrepancies.

<quote Nameless>
The group settles in to rest and recover. There is plenty of wood for a fire if needed due to the collapsed floors and ceilings from above.

The rest passes uneventfully, it is hard to tell what time of day it is being in the lower level of the building. Those awake do notice a slight lightening of darkness as light filters in from the few windows upstairs.


Bran slept like a log, or like someone who was heavily wounded and needed the rest to heal. He might have slept a little longer than normal, in fact, due to it. When he awoke, he checked over his gear to see if any of his magic items had drained away or were not functioning as they should be.

But he did first smile at the group, if a bit weakly, "Good morning, all."

OOC: Do 'we' (mostly me lol) heal and get back hit dice as normal?

Earlier. Basilisa noticed the dullness of her usually vibrant healing potion. She didn’t pull out her other potions. They would likely prove as useless, and she entered a dreamless sleep grateful that she hadn’t given her companions a climbing potion devoid of any climbing power. She slept huddled near Bran, and stirred when he woke up.

“Good morning,” she mumbled drowsily. Basilisa managed a smile for Bran. “How do you feel?” She wouldn’t withdraw all her magical items. Just the ring endowed with Fire magic in her own world.

Once the others wake up Cinnabar passes out the food she has prepared, which is spiced, but not as strongly as usual.  ”It seems like this whole area is within a large but weak anti magic zone, either as a curse or a side effect of some much worse event.  It isn't strong enough to stop persistent magical items, but any item or spell that tries to project magic through it will tend to have a reduced effect something in the order of half what is expected.”

"It seems that we have some of our capabilities, but not at peak performance.  Apparently, we need to rest more often to maintain even the level we have left.  At least, that is my assessment."

Bran looked over at Basilisa and smiled at her. "I am no longer injured at least. For my magic?" The smile faded and he gave a small shrug. "I fear if we stay here for too long I fear I will lose all connection to my Goddess." And that idea sounded...painful to him.

"I wonder if there is a...source...of the drain we could find and stop. Or if we could find a way to leave."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:21, Fri 03 Mar 2023.

With what you have learned and a bit of experimentation it has become apparent that Cinnabar's and your assessments are fairly accurate.  Magic Items seem to have retained their magic but any effect that is projected by a spell or spell like ability is severely weakened. Those with a duration seem to be even worse.

OOC: Instantaneous spells have half effect. Spells with duration are at half effect and will fail at one quarter there normal duration.

As the group has their meal and discusses the situation several of the small creatures Kel'li saw during the night show up, sniffing the air and making little squeaking sounds as the linger  a dozen feet or so from the groups camp.

What are those things?  Joser indicates one of them weird, rat-like things with a movement of his chin.

Bran shook his head at Joser's question. "I do not know. I hope they do not show up in large numbers. That could be problematic."

He frowned and looked down. "I wonder if we can find a way to...I don't know...track the magic drain?" His lip curled. "Not that I want to closer to it, but either to find and disable it, or move away from it."

Basilisa shifted closer toward Bran when the creatures appeared. She didn’t make any further movements, carefully watching the strange creatures. As a Bard, Basilisa considered herself a fair student of people of all sorts. She watched them so she could determine if they exhibited animal behavior, or a sentient form of communication.


OOC:

16:05, Today: Basilisa The Bold rolled 15 using 1d20+2 with rolls of 13.  Perception check on creatures .

Cinnabar doesn't seem to care about the little creatures, or perhaps just didn't notice them.

”If the magic drain is localized we should be able to determine if it has a gradient effect throughout its area, or at the very least a border of some kind and use that to triangulate the source.  But none of that will be fast, and it will almost certainly involve contact with dangerous local monsters we know very little about.”

The group can count at least eight of the creatures, none of which seem to be aggressive. One individual is somewhat bolder than the others and has approached within half a dozen feet of the campfire. It's head raised sniffing the air and its ears twitch as it listens to the group.

Those that have spent time with animals can tell that the creature is more interested in the scent of food coming from the pot than the group itself.


OOC: Cinnibars assessment of the problem is accurate. Though whatever is causing the effect is similar to an antimagic field it doesn't effectively cancel out magic. It acts more like something is draining magic possibly feeding on it, or using it to power something else.

Kel'li breaks up a ration and scatters it to the creatures.

"Maybe we should move around to other locations and see if we can get an idea about where any draining effect is centered?"

Bran eyed the creatures for a moment and then nodded at the others. "Sure. That's a good idea. And for the creatures over there, if we move on and not disturb them, they might leave us alone. We don't need another fight if we can avoid it and they aren't aggressive, I think."

He smiled at Basilisa and started to move back out of the room.

Ah'm fine wit' that.  No need ta cause any more trouble now, Joser agrees.