Choose your stance

[Anume]

Hostilities are brewing between the KNIGHT and TRIBUNAL forces, follwing Knight Faurnin's forced recruitment of a vast part of the Val Miran populace. Yet has the Knight recruited them to let them die in his army or to save them from a fate far worse?

The goblin zombies which were trudging through Val Miran's street are suddenly gone without a trace. Or are they? Mysterious portals have opened just beyond the city's gates, creating a focal point just over the commons.

Meanwhile, the Savants have been busy to save their crumbling tower, yet will moving it be enough, and will moving it be successful?

While the Maelbrim population so far has not had many people following the Knights conscription efforts, troop movements have started in the city of Miruvhor. One of history's biggest heists has been committed, ridding Ghregory of all of his detect trap scrolls as well as the master scroll. But to what effort?

Boats make ready to launch, armies gather.

All the while a mysterious illness has left tiny corpses scattered along the main trade routes.

Some take a back-seat, watching, assessing. Some plot and plan, to rescue them all or kill them all?

 

Where will you stand? Choose your stance wisely.

[Volgathras]

GUA Archimus, Acclaimed Adventurer and Inventor Extraordinaire: Faerie Fates in the Balance
To: All Denizens of Aabahran

Quote

 

.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.

Men, women and creatures of Aabahra,

It is I, Archimus. Many of you likely have never heard my name. Others

may have forgotten. However all of you have surely walked passed the

locked building to the West of Maelbrim. In years passed it was flooded

with enterprising denizens of the realm who battled ignorance with wit!

I called it Archimus' Association for the Advancement of Aabahran. The

Q-A.

 

I will get back to that. Unfortunately my correspondence today is

cheerless and concerns dire matters. It is a note about death, treachery

and - perhaps - the extinction of an entire species. I have only recently

been made aware of this calamity, but it is clear the matters are beyond

my ken. So I turn to you.

 

Some background. A note reached me from an old friend, Estelar. This

was unexpected, as we have not spoken in some time. He was once a

wanderer like myself, and it was during an excursion that we met and

became fast friends. Eventually he returned to his people in Gualorium

to serve as an Elder. Our exchanges grew less frequent as the vicissitudes

of life demanded our respective attention. That was, until just recently.

 

The contents of the letter were not encouraging. Instead of a joyous

exchange Estelar revealed that his people were in danger. He explained

that the fae were creatures closely tied to magic, and relied on its flows

for well-being. The anchor which connects them to these flows is the

Source, located at the heart of Gualorium.

 

For reasons unknown the Source has begun to fail. Its once bright light

dims and the fae’s link to magic is frayed. Some of you, in your travels,

have discovered faerie bodies on the road. The illness which has claimed

them is derived from losing their connection to magic. To the Source.

 

Estelar approached me in desperation. Other efforts to restore the

Source have failed. In his view only two options remained to save his

people; either discover a new Source, or to make one. As a world-

renowned adventurer and inventor, he sought my guidance. But before I

could offer it, my old friend was killed.

 

The culprit will be found and dealt with, but I find it my solemn duty to

first address what Estelar gave his life for - a future for faerie kind. Both

of the paths before us present challenges. How does one find a Source?

Could one be created? These are questions I cannot answer alone.

 

I plead for any adventurous or enterprising soul to answer the call. I am

once again opening the Q-A and will begin research immediately on

whether creation of a Source is possible. Likewise, I urge anyone with the

requisite knowledge or even just the interest to help in any way they can.

Seek out a replacement, or help me learn how to build one. We must do

this before the fae fade from the world of Aabahran.

 

Yours in grief,

Archimus, Acclaimed Adventurer and Inventor Extraordinaire

.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.

 

 

[Volgathras]

GUA Archimus, Acclaimed Adventurer and Inventor Extraordinaire: Research notes
Thu Nov 21 20:03:26 2019
To: All Seekers
 
<A handful of poorly scribbled notes with comments in the margin.>
 
Brambus, thank you for taking the time to look over my designs. Needs
As I'm sure you've read, we have a problem. Others are working containment
on finding a new Source for the fae, but I figured our talents         Something
are better served in creating something new. Now, preliminary strong enough
research shows that there are two big problems to overcome. to bear high
                                                                                                                    intensities
First, a core. An item of focus of enormous magical potential. 
                   Slow release at high concentrations. Stability?
Obviously something of incredible strength, or alternatively enough
of something weaker to achieve the same ends.  How to link to a whole race?
 
It's the second issue that's the most troubling, and the most exciting.
Whatever we create has to continuously produce and regenerate energy.
Yes, I'm talking about somehow creating a LIMITLESS Source! Think of
the implications! What incredible things could such a source power?
If we succeed, we could not only save all of fae kind, but even produce a
relic the likes of which Aabahran has never seen! But I get ahead of myself.
As incredible as such a prospect is, our first priority has to be the survival
of the fae. Please, share any insights you may have.
 
Archimus
 
    Fascinating. Yes. What a puzzle! Eternal energy production. Will require
 way to restore spent energy. Or recover it somehow. Steal? Siphon? And a
regulator. Don't want something that strong releasing it's payload all at
once. With the power levels you propose, it could level an entire city.
                                                                                                              Brambus

 

Archimus is researching whether it is possible to create a new Source for the beleaguered Faeries. However, this is an endeavor unlike anything he's attempted before. He amd the inventor Brambus have joined forces, but still seek answers. They need to discover;

- Materials for a shell strong enough to withstand tremendous amounts of energy.

- A core of intense magical energy; or a combination of weaker items to the same effect.

- Some way to link this Source to the fae (Faeries, Kaddar and Ylsae).

- A way to keep the huge levels of energy stable.

- A regulator to ensure not all of the energy it released at once.

- A way to regenerate, restore, siphon of otherwise recover what energy is used so the Source can continue indefinitely.

Reach out to Archimus or Brambus if you have ideas for what can be used.

[Volgathras]

Word is that members of the Halfling Hamlet have been seen aiding the Knights. Mighty Lion's Pride soldiers have added their voice to the fray.

Coming on their heels is a contingent of Storm Giant Stormguard, arriving with much-needed supplies. Spies note that they are training the (forcibly) conscripted denizens of the Tent City.

Meanwhile the Tribunal appears to be silent. Faeries across the three cities have been sequestered and kept from the rest of a hostile populace. They grow more ill by the day as the Source from their home continues to wane. Word is Kaddar and Ylsae faeries are also dying at an alarming rate.

War and the threat of extinction loom over these forsaken lands.

 

[Volgathras]

There are several concurrent efforts underway to help, or hinder, the fae. More may yet be undertaken. Below are how close each one is to completion.

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[Anume]

While most people are busy with the faeries, one way or another, a technician is very busy, pulling levers, pressing buttons, getting things JUST right.

He aligns times and deeds as they must be for the TOWER to finally move out of the dumb it has been thrown into.

The shadow of a demon, accompanied by a group of undead creatures can be seen, tinkering with the Mana Pool, purple, a whole lot of purple. And soon, instead of goblins, zombie goblins rise from the pools. A trench is dug around the tower, deeper, ever deeper, but the tower only sinks instead of floating.

The technician frantically pulls another lever...

A goblin, this one quite alive, rushes through the tower at an incredible speed, its movements a blurr, the tower itself flickers, disappearing and appearing again, then - finally, the tower starts to float above the hole. 

Wiping sweet from his brow, the technician continues with his work, mumbling, "that was a bit too fast".

A mage of the tower stands beside a fountain, concentrating. Slowly, the fountain starts to overflow, gushing water on the ground. An alchemist walks through the city of Val Miran, then drops something into the fountain. Another something. A few more. Not too many. The alchemist walks off, smiling.

Just as the technician is done aligning the timestreams, he frowns, watching the fountain.

A beam of pure energy is set free from the fountain, traveling upwards, where it hits the focal point of the portals placed around the city. The air starts to... pulse.

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As the time crystals dissolve, they create a beam of power shooting up and hitting the focal point. The powers clash and the energy lines of the portals get drawn in,  a vortex forms. One by one, the portals are sucked up, they explode as their energy joins the vortex. Time and space distort and the TOWER is suddenly floating above the city of Val Miran. However, the interaction of the portals and time crystals has had some side effects. The zombie mush still clinging to the base of the tower is transformed into a huge goblin zombie golem, which roams the streets of the city, tearing citizens apart. The tower's base is chained to the ground, which looks a bit different now from what it used to. The western part of the city has suffered much damage, houses got hit by the anchor chains, the goblin golem and distortions. The screams of the dead and dying echo over Val Miran. A lot less victims though, as it may have been without the Castle's recruitment efforts.