Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

[Bobthewizard]

Polari Human Sorcerer 3 / Warlock 1 AC: 15 (MA) | HP: 27/27 | HD: 3/3d6 1/1d8
PP: 12 PInv: 12 PIns: 12 Spell Slots, 1st: 2/5 2nd: 2/2
Sorcery Points: 5/5 Restore Balance: 2/2 Healing Light: 2/2 Conditions: none

Polari listens to the voice in the cloud. Temple of Fate? Center of the inevitable machine? Mechanus? Orcus killed us? None of this makes sense.

He then turns to the rest of the party,

"Are all of you ok? This doesn't seem right. I'm sorry I led you all here. Does anyone know what this voice is saying? Temple of Fate? Inevitable machine? Rik? Oren? Geronimo? Theria? Are you still here."

He tries to feel around to find the rest of the party, calling out to them as he goes, but for some reason still advances further into the mist.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Possible Reactions:
1. If Polari is hit and the roll is 19 or less, he will cast shield with his reaction.
2. If he is hit by 10 or more elemental damage, he will cast absorb elements.
3. If one of the players is attacked with advantage or has to attack at disadvantage, I can use a reaction to make it a normal roll.

Spoiler: Caverns Map

Show

Spoiler: Notes

Show

Geronimo, goblin bard
Professor Melange, Mentaujit
Pelonia, Abracio fleet - Rik and Oren
Sister Spinozo, Longwands - Polari and Geronimo
Heir Ermans, Sister Spinoza's boss
Rincip 'Cottonpads' - Allisog and Sakuya
Hopalloz, lost 150 years ago
Chexxa, Hopalloz outpost for arcane research
Captain Gomyabber, scouts found tunnels to Chexxa
Soulcrystal and ritual book, for collecting energy from Chexxa's forge - Polari gave them up
Nodovico, gnoll guide RIP
Namera and Pandinho, rescued Mraow (stayed behind)
Remilia, betrayed others with gnolls (all dead now)
Nyokawamtoto, dragon-thing stuck in the forge
Danifae, oracle and spear wielder
The Nip, or Disciples of Danifae have SS in a building in the territory of Affios 'Pinnails'
Doctor Coccyx and Bellatrice
Affios, stole dragon money from Pozernoa, runs Nips
Jaere'e, from Pozernoa, lives in Substratum, leader of the scions of shadow dragons.
Lola (candle) and Lalo (bell)
Orderly Principality - Aven and bard Coco, looking for Polari.

Spoiler: wizard

Show

Suddenly Polari remembers a magical fight. A wizard cast an ice storm that pummeled five young sorcerers in front of Polari. He was about to then cast phantasmal killer on Polari when he was stopped by a friend of Polari's. Someone else then came and dragged Polari away. You remember the wizard with his ritual dagger that was a meat-carving knife. His bones shone through his face at spots where he had eaten a part of his own face.

Spoiler: Polari's Cloud in Temple

Show

You move within the cloud and it seems the cloud is quite deep.

Lola starts speaking in her normal whispery monotonous voice
Haems is the name of the mountain behind the temple. This a temple of Fate, the final state of every machine, the value of the function, the inevitable end result of everything.

A huge pendulum swings by you in the cloud.

This temple is quite powerful. It can actually transport us to the the center of the inevitable machine. This is Mechanus as much as this is the temple at Haems

A series of balls rolls by you at intervals that seem like a combination of regular and irregular. You seem to remember that there's a code in them.

The pole of a meromorphic complex function is a point on the complex plane on which the function is undefined or approaches infinity. Your existence in Mechanus was about research. Research requires growth. Mechanus is complex enough to allow growth but growth can only exist in areas that are not normally covered. Your inability to adapt is what sheltered you when many other pieces were destroyed by Orcus. Orcus killed most of you. That was fate... but not the end. You're still here, you and your infinite potential.

A series of lightning bolts flashes by you.

You're not the only one with infinite potential to grow and define Mechanus. Other pieces of you are looking for you. By the end there can be only one. All uncertainty will be removed.

You keep walking and the cloud seems to go on and on.

Spoiler: Luracidon

Show

There's a sea under the world, the Subhadal, also called the Shining Sea. The sea is not a normal sea of water, it is full of small mycoid intelligent organisms called endzymes. These creatures claim to be everywhere in the world, among other creatures and to suffuse them with the ability of psionics.
On this sea of psionic beings sail the mraow pirates. They protect their boats with soul crystals and build cities on islands that stand out of the sea. . The greatest of these cities is Luracidon.
The mraow also protect themselves through the path of Rose Madder Eye. Rose madder is the name they give the divine force that allowed the creation of other gods to balance out the lawful good gods of the catfolk. To balance Eboncrystal, the god of law and loyalty was formed the Choice. The Choice, also called Starlight-spear is a god of nobility and leadership. Howlingstorm, the good god of artifice and toil was balanced by The Plot. The Plot is also called Twilightspider, the god of artifice and traps. To balance the Crimson Eagle, the god of strength and resolve was formed The Act. The Act is also called the Vengeful-Hand the god of war and tactics. To balance Crying Hawk, the god of Healing and Medicine was formed The Loser. The Loser, also called Soulreaper is a god of death and murder. Finally Burning-Hunter, the god of good and redemption, was balanced by The Eternal. The Eternal, also called Shadowscorpion, is the god of Glory and Legend.

The mraow gods are gods of nihilism. They enhance the real, the materialistic, the present. They help their followers focus on what the faith's adherents know is important, survival in particular.

The mraow of Luracidon are primarily followers of the Twilightspider. Their city is in the middle of things because they have planned to build a city into a place where they could achieve this. The primary force the mraow of Luracidon use is intimidation. This they do to impose their plans on each other. They play power games.

There's no particular sex discrimination among the mraow. Those who are intimidating, those with the best plots, they rule. The mraow would accept a ruler of another race. Submitting to force is just natural. Other races don't really arise to power within Luracidon because the mraow find racism useful.

The mraow dislike the show of magic. They know that magic, once spent, is lost. Therefore the mraow support implied capability of magic but consider actual use of it vulgar and stupid. The wizardly school in Luracidon is powerful and focuses on spells of divination. The schools of enchantment and abjuration are also considered acceptable while other schools of magic are scorned.

The most blessed individuals within the mraow are considered the Destined sorcerers, closely followed by the psionic soul sorcerers. Many of the best plotters in the city, those who rule cabals of one kind or another, are destined.

Sorcerer: Destined
1st level You can cast your spells without visible spell effects. If the spell's description has no visible effects, you can cast the spell without verbal or somatic (but not without material) components.
6th level You gain the lucky feat.
14th level You gain advantage to initiative rolls and you are never surprised.
18th level You gain advantage to any saving throw to avoid being blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, incapacitated, paralyzed, petrified, restrained or stunned. If the spell or outher cause that would cause this condition is tied to other effects such as damage, this advantage does not help you avoid the other effects.

Plotting is the driving force in Luracidon. Plots put things and people to their place. For individuals that do not plot there are four main paths. The first and the one that surprisingly is the weakest is that of the skilled individual. Many think that great skill increases their worth. Yet for the one who plots the skilled individual is a circumstantial tool of little worth. The skilled individual is given the difficult tasks and the minor rewards. The loyal servant gets the easy path. For the plotter, the enthousiastic loyal servant is the one who has the most value. Bards are common in the loyalists. The College of eloquence is supreme and gives basic teaching to the children of the powerful.

The third path is the one of the survivor. Some learn to avoid the plots, make themselves look unattractive as a target. Plotters don't see such people as threats, for few of them think of the survivors at all. The main paths of power for this group are to become clerics or druids of spores.

The fourth path is the one most hated by plotters. It is the path of the trader and mercenary. Plotters actively aim to rid the city of them yet there is always natural demand for traders. The few traders that do survive, tend to have their efforts helped by the lack of competition. The traders employ most of the rogues in Luracidon for rogues are also hated by the people in power.

For the ones who wield power and plot, the most respectable paths to might are those of paladin of conquest, wizard, battle master or PSI knight.

For the commoner, the adventurer's path that is most supported by those in power is that of the samurai fighter. Warlocks are also plentiful, though the more powerful plotters see them as individuals of divided loyalties and hence expendable.

The powerful in Luracidon hold no slaves. The concept of ownership is in general annoying to those who plot. The idea that ownership is a higher law than the will of the plotter is repugnant. Those in power take what they choose to require. Hence, no one is slave, but everybody is expected to serve the ones more powerful than they. This service, if sufficiently good, may also be rewarded out of generosity. Slaves do exist in name as well, for the few traders that have power enough to thrive, use slaves.

The city is home to 60 000 individuals. Half of them mraow and others of subservient races. The island which holds the city would not support many more. Already the city is built in many layers over each other.

The waves of the Shining sea give a rhytm and a pulse to sea. The psionic pressure all around them is felt by perceptive and intelligent individuals. The day is divided into six sessions based on the surrounding atmosphere. The sessions are in order: Surprise, Happiness, Fear, Anger, Disgust, Sadness. Most prefer to be awake during surprise and happiness.

Most of the food of the realm is either brought in from other territories or fished in the Shining sea. The druids of spore circle also grow fungus in their gardens and teach the commoners to do similar in smaller scale.
The city is built on grounds of reason and necessity. Things of beauty are reserved for those in power. The construction is powerful and everything is built to intimidate. High walls, tough forms. There are few windows in buildings. The buildings of the powerful and in the middle of the city, built on those of lesser importance. Any signs of magic have been hid when possible.

The Mentaujit is the main place for studies of younger individuals. Mentats teach the young and between the lessons the young measure each other. The stronger pupils draw the weaker ones into gangs as is proper. Of course, to get in, one already has to have parents with a certain amount of power. The young with no parental support end up in workshops or as houseservants.

The Substratum is the lowest part of the town. It's the place of the powerless and the outsiders. The houses are small, catacomblike. The houses have low ceilings and their very existence is more for support of the upper layers than for the ones living inside. Fires are forbidden in these narrow tunnels and magical lights are frowned upon. Everything is done with the visibility given by darkvision. The substratum continues underground and some of the deeper tunnels fill with water. The only powerful organization that prefers the substratum are the druids of the circle of spores. They have barricaded a large section of the tunnelnetwork for their fungus farms.

The Web makes up the central layers of Luracidon. These layers have the attention of those in power while they don't reside there themselves. Continual light spell have been cast in many areas in this section of the city. To cover up that magic was used the lights are covered by metal grills, as if a flame was inside.

Most buildings have insignia of them. These markers imply who the building owns allegiance to - whose plot are they in on. Lines and crowds are typical sights in this layer. Instead of trading, the individuals in power just give out what they want. Their troops show their support by gathering into groups and behaving like the crowd. The powers that be don't want these crowds of their to fight for that would create loss of resource. Rather they want constant visual signs of their power on the streets.

War is the major trade of the mraow. Luracidon seeks to develop generals and strategists in particular, but they don't want war on the streets. Rather the atmosphere is that of constant preparation for war. Releasing tension is equally important to avoid conflagrations of hostilities. It's common to see groups that have opposing loyalties engaging in ritualized half-hearted sports events, dances and similar events. The most important festival is that of Repeating Drummings or just Redrum. Half the citizens may engage in simultaneous beating of drums making the whole city sway with the sound waves.
One thing of interest in the Web is the roads. The large roads go straight from ports to the towers owned by the most powerful. These roads have a network of supporting paths in the area local to the tower. Only small narrow paths unite the network of roads around one tower to that of another.

The plotters live in towers above the Web. Collectively these towers are sometimes called the Twilight zone. The name implies something that's between things. The reference is to place that's between dreams and reality, between the divine Twilight spider and servants. Even the most powerful plotters in the city see themselves as weak in comparison to how powerful their dreams can be. Even more so, they live in fear of loss, which is why they abhor change.
In the towers of the Twilight zone very little ever happens. What does, is ritualized to a level it lacks all efficiency. Even small things are accompanied by as much spectacle as possible.

Each tower defines a territory and a plot. The nature of the plots is usually best understood as a protection scheme though others might argue for the legality and justification of taxation. The nature of the person on top is rarely an issue for they are separated from all below and cloaked in idolatry and extravagance.

Some of the more powerful plotters in town are

Rincip 'Cottonpads'
The territory of Rincip has the Circle of spores, food and herbal market, the largest port as well as the Mentaujit.

Marisuale 'Saltytips'
The territory of Marisuale has a warlock pairing academy where they subordinate youngsters to various patrons [usually these are celestial, fiend, lurker in the deep, raven queen, undead or undying]. There's also a military academy for most fighter types. There's armourers, bowyers, smiths and other artisans related to military professions. The cartographer's academy is also here.

Carnacio 'Cleverone'
This territory has temples for the god of War and Tactics. Carnacio is considered by many a falling plotter. His extreme longevity and the rising violence in his territory, including the presence of the undead are all suggesting to others that Carnacio is losing the Plot. Forces outside the city keep propping him up though. This region has an active street life fuelled by the dispensation of alcohol. There's also a bardic college of valor and swords in the territory.

Erarqa 'Highpyre'
This territory has the temples for the god of Plotting. Most clerics, paladins and monks of the city live here at one point or another. This area also has colleges for city-planning, engineering, agriculture, fishing and history.

Rupacio 'Sugarskin'
This territory functions as a sanctuary for traders, at least up to a point. The temple of the God of murder resides here as well. The area is considered trashy by other plotters but so dangerous that it can't be removed.

Affios 'Pinnails'
A victorious general who returned with glorious spoils created this territory. This area is more luxurious than most, a guarded territory where many pleasures are easily available. There's a shrine for the god of Legends in this area. Affios has allowed monk orders to set up in his territory, raising general interest in becoming a monk in the city.

Enyor 'Happypaws'
A territory where wizard colleges reside. Enyor's territory also has many storehouses. The territory is at the very center of the city and has many structural supports for the city's towers. There's also a bardic college of glamour and satire.

Bernadora 'Whiskers'
Her territory is the most open to outsiders. Least courtesy is demanded and creatures of other races are accepted somewhat easily. There's a port of significant size. Many industries that are considered uncomfortable, such as dyeing are practiced here. Waste disposal is also a feature of this territory as is animal-keeping.

The power in the city is divided between plotters who generally maintain the status quo of power, the gangs which seek power through cleverness or forceful action and the traders who openly challenge the status quo.

Gangs are lower in the ranks of power than the true plotters. Yet their actions are more visible for they aim to act. In the city of plots the people with real power aim to threaten but never act. So one is much more likely to run into gangs engaged in interesting activity.

Many major gangs of the city recruit from and fight for influence in the Substratum.

The first mentionworthy gang is that of the Iron chain, a gang of heavy armor fighters and warlocks.

The second of the larger gangs is The Plagues. They seek druidic and bardic members, seemingly making them less dangerous to the city while still gaining power.

The gang called Darkweb is a religious cult, seeking purity of plotting on clerical grounds. Clerics and paladins form the main adherents.

These three are called high gangs. They exist as extensions of the ruling power block, but are viewed as corrupt in one way or another by the true powers. They are usually opposed by the low gangs that seek to challenge or even supplant the ones in power.

The fourth gang is the Hypothalassians. They are a gang of wanderers, rangers and barbarians. They aim to seize independence and to hold power in the regions surrounding Luracidon.

The gang called Impossible rise is largely made of bloodhunters and rogues. They aim to be seen as the most dangerous gang in the city with no other concerns.

The gang called Longwands is primarily a solace for wizards and sorcerers who use the more unacceptable colleges of magic.

Law is enforced variably. Each territory has their own laws. If a law is broken, the lawbreaker is expected to make good their actions of their own volition. The powers that be don't want to have to bother to actually uphold the laws. But if a lawbreaker is so obvious about how they flaunt the law, the plotters have no choice to utterly and completely destroy the lawbreaker. Such acts are plotted with the care of a dangerous military campaign. But when victory is certain, these events are turned into triumphal celebrations on the broken corpses of the guilty.

The merchant princes
There are few who dare to openly stand against the plot. Philosophically the merchant princes may see themselves as either opponents or misunderstood patrons of the city and society.

The merchant princes who see themselves as opposing the plotters are usually adherents to the cult of the Loser, the god of death and murder. With their trading they seek to create chaos and destruction in the realm. They are usually purged from the city even though they are accepted by society. Hence, the successful merchant princes of this type act beyond city walls. They're pirates and trade ship runners. They create purposeful shortages and gouge prices. They import cursed, faulty or subversive items to the city and they leave orders unfilled, anything to destroy the powers of plotting.

The other merchant princes pay homage to either the god of Nobility and leadership or the god of Legends or both. They frame themselves above and beyond plotting. They engage in trade while doing their business in ways that seem like they fit the city's standards. They call themselves the Cornecopia.

The borders of the town are the shores. Beyond the shores is the navy. The navy is large and is primarily martial in nature.

[Smilex]

Spoiler: Polari

Show

None of the others are here. It's just you. The others are somewhere else.

You move further inside the cloud.

Lola keeps talking
Your memory is strange partially because Orcus severed you from the rest of your memories... partially because you wanted to experiment with your own antithesis, chaos. It's one of the reasons that Orcus couldn't find you and why I too had trouble finding you. ... It won't save you from you though.

At this point you notice that the cloud is not just some kind of watermist. The particles in the cloud are modrons, particularly monodrones. So many monodrones...

Lola continues
You notice them, yes. They are your servants and creations. They love you as I do. This is your world. You are the Prince of this land. Orcus took a part of your power and divinity but he had no interest in Mechanus itself. The realm is hurt but unspoiled...

For a moment, all the monodrones turn to you and bow. Then they continue their curious dance in the emptiness.

The mortals call this part of Mechanus the cloud calculator. This is what you used to solve the fates of people and things. You tried to make sure that all mortals are a part of the cloud but the Chaosfox foiled you again...

Lola's sound starts to crackle a bit.

Oh... The monodrones' reaction to you will be noticed. Other versions of you might notice and find you quicker now. Coco and the Flesheater are not the only ones still alive. Many others would like to gain the power inside of you by killing you. The same is true the other way around. If you destroy the other vestiges of you, you will get more of your memories back. You might become lawful again.

[Zhentarim]

Spoiler: Quote

Show

Meanwhile...

Spoiler: Geronimo

Show

You move within the cloud and it seems the cloud is quite deep.

Slowly you can start to see a vision in the clouds.

You see a blackened forest full of zombies. Behind it a skeletal dragon is rising from a ruin on a desolate mountaintop

Behind the mountain rises a palace that's larger than the mountain itself. You recognize the palace from a book you've read.

It's Everlost, a castle of bone and obsidian, the seat of the demon lord Orcus who rules undeath.

You walk closer and you cross through a wasteland where hordes of wights wander. You walk into the palace, up a series of stairs, all the way into the throne room...

The Demon-God of undeath stares at you with it's orbless sockets. His capricorn skull has enormous horns. In his hands he carries a staff and a sword. He spreads his batlike wings reacting to your coming.

You've come to meet your fate...

Meanwhile...

Spoiler: Oren

Show

You move within the cloud and it seems the cloud is quite deep.

An aven with the head of an ibis and a red spot on it's forehead walks towards you in the cloud.

Hello. Oren isn't it? Still alive, eh? Full of hope and pizzazz. Your friends lead you into this didn't they? A cloud of certain death. How does that make you feel?

Geronimo takes a knee and bows his head before Orcus.

"Lord of undead, I do not know how I come to be before you today, but I have long admired your teachings in secret. You grant eternal unlife, and the power to shape the world over eons in your image. Is this a vision of things to come, or am I truly kneeling before you?"

Geronimo waits in his kneeling position, waiting for an answer.

[Smilex]

Spoiler: Geronimo

Show

As you kneel, you restrict your gaze. Instead of Orcus you're looking at the throne he's sitting on. In it.. you realize... is the form of a titanic goblin. It is the power that Orcus has stolen, the power of your ancestors' and their guardians.

Orcus scoffs. He takes steps forward. Where he lifts his leg, gravestones sprout.
I see you.
He utters.

The death titan in the throne, it lifts a finger to get your attention. Then it tosses a needle near you. The needle is made of black metal.

Orcus continues
You want what is mine... Die!

He directs his sword towards you...

[Zhentarim]

Geronimo moves back, takes out his violin, and matches a ditty to a biting limerick.

"There once was a demon named Orcus,
Who looked a whole lot like a porcus,
He burned in fire,
He screamed in ire,
but he was too late!"

That limerick was magically laced with the spell Vicious Mockery.

"I never loved you, you old swine! I'll find a way to take back what you stole, too!"

Spoiler: Vicious Mockery Damage

Show

(1d4)[1]

Geronimo then moves back as fast as he can, attempting to dodge any attackers.

[Ninja Dragon]

Spoiler: Rik

Show

You move within the cloud and it seems the cloud is quite deep.

Suddenly you notice a silver piece of thread coming out of your chest. You realize, you've somehow come into the astral realm. There's a ratfolk sorcerer bloodline that's particularly attuned to the astral realm and you wonder for a moment if you might have a link to them.

The cloud... it's made of stars.

A cowled figure appears in the middle of them and starts talking to you.
You came in through the temple at Haems, right? Are you interested in where you're going? It's a temple of fate, but you don't have to have yours today.

Why is he here? The rat thinks. The answer seemed simple, but only if he didn't think much about it. He was here because Polonia asked. He was working for her, and her enemies were here. And there was something about them enslaving humans, which provided him somewhat of a moral justification. He also needed to help Polari stay safe from his enemies and help Theria in rescuing her master, and these helped him focus on his task.

But Rik he wasn't specifically interested on the temple of Haems, no.

Suddenly he found himself curious about it, though.

"I suppose I came here just to do a job. No particular relation to the temple."

He decides to ask his own question.

"What is this faith about? I'm not really a person of faith myself. My monastery celebrates the power of the individual and their spirit rather than one god, though we do owe to the gods for providing us with that spirit."

[Bobthewizard]

Polari Human Sorcerer 3 / Warlock 1 AC: 15 (MA) | HP: 27/27 | HD: 3/3d6 1/1d8
PP: 12 PInv: 12 PIns: 12 Spell Slots, 1st: 2/5 2nd: 2/2
Sorcery Points: 5/5 Restore Balance: 2/2 Healing Light: 2/2 Conditions: none

Polari keeps walking in the mists. He startles from the modrons but soon determines that they mean him no harm. Lola's speech doesn't make much sense to him. I'm just a librarian and a fugitive. But even if what she is saying were true, it doesn't change his immediate goal, so he asks for her help.

"Lola, all of that must wait. First I must find my friends. If I have put them in danger, none of this matters."

He continues to call out, searching for his friends.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Possible Reactions:
1. If Polari is hit and the roll is 19 or less, he will cast shield with his reaction.
2. If he is hit by 10 or more elemental damage, he will cast absorb elements.
3. If one of the players is attacked with advantage or has to attack at disadvantage, I can use a reaction to make it a normal roll.

Spoiler: Caverns Map

Show

Spoiler: Notes

Show

Geronimo, goblin bard
Professor Melange, Mentaujit
Pelonia, Abracio fleet - Rik and Oren
Sister Spinozo, Longwands - Polari and Geronimo
Heir Ermans, Sister Spinoza's boss
Rincip 'Cottonpads' - Allisog and Sakuya
Hopalloz, lost 150 years ago
Chexxa, Hopalloz outpost for arcane research
Captain Gomyabber, scouts found tunnels to Chexxa
Soulcrystal and ritual book, for collecting energy from Chexxa's forge - Polari gave them up
Nodovico, gnoll guide RIP
Namera and Pandinho, rescued Mraow (stayed behind)
Remilia, betrayed others with gnolls (all dead now)
Nyokawamtoto, dragon-thing stuck in the forge
Danifae, oracle and spear wielder
The Nip, or Disciples of Danifae have SS in a building in the territory of Affios 'Pinnails'
Doctor Coccyx and Bellatrice
Affios, stole dragon money from Pozernoa, runs Nips
Jaere'e, from Pozernoa, lives in Substratum, leader of the scions of shadow dragons.
Lola (candle) and Lalo (bell)
Orderly Principality - Aven and bard Coco, looking for Polari.

Spoiler: wizard

Show

Suddenly Polari remembers a magical fight. A wizard cast an ice storm that pummeled five young sorcerers in front of Polari. He was about to then cast phantasmal killer on Polari when he was stopped by a friend of Polari's. Someone else then came and dragged Polari away. You remember the wizard with his ritual dagger that was a meat-carving knife. His bones shone through his face at spots where he had eaten a part of his own face.

Spoiler: Polari's Cloud in Temple

Show

You move within the cloud and it seems the cloud is quite deep.

Lola starts speaking in her normal whispery monotonous voice
Haems is the name of the mountain behind the temple. This a temple of Fate, the final state of every machine, the value of the function, the inevitable end result of everything.

A huge pendulum swings by you in the cloud.

This temple is quite powerful. It can actually transport us to the the center of the inevitable machine. This is Mechanus as much as this is the temple at Haems

A series of balls rolls by you at intervals that seem like a combination of regular and irregular. You seem to remember that there's a code in them.

The pole of a meromorphic complex function is a point on the complex plane on which the function is undefined or approaches infinity. Your existence in Mechanus was about research. Research requires growth. Mechanus is complex enough to allow growth but growth can only exist in areas that are not normally covered. Your inability to adapt is what sheltered you when many other pieces were destroyed by Orcus. Orcus killed most of you. That was fate... but not the end. You're still here, you and your infinite potential.

A series of lightning bolts flashes by you.

You're not the only one with infinite potential to grow and define Mechanus. Other pieces of you are looking for you. By the end there can be only one. All uncertainty will be removed.

You keep walking and the cloud seems to go on and on.

None of the others are here. It's just you. The others are somewhere else.

You move further inside the cloud.

Lola keeps talking
Your memory is strange partially because Orcus severed you from the rest of your memories... partially because you wanted to experiment with your own antithesis, chaos. It's one of the reasons that Orcus couldn't find you and why I too had trouble finding you. ... It won't save you from you though.

At this point you notice that the cloud is not just some kind of watermist. The particles in the cloud are modrons, particularly monodrones. So many monodrones...

Lola continues
You notice them, yes. They are your servants and creations. They love you as I do. This is your world. You are the Prince of this land. Orcus took a part of your power and divinity but he had no interest in Mechanus itself. The realm is hurt but unspoiled...

For a moment, all the monodrones turn to you and bow. Then they continue their curious dance in the emptiness.

The mortals call this part of Mechanus the cloud calculator. This is what you used to solve the fates of people and things. You tried to make sure that all mortals are a part of the cloud but the Chaosfox foiled you again...

Lola's sound starts to crackle a bit.

Oh... The monodrones' reaction to you will be noticed. Other versions of you might notice and find you quicker now. Coco and the Flesheater are not the only ones still alive. Many others would like to gain the power inside of you by killing you. The same is true the other way around. If you destroy the other vestiges of you, you will get more of your memories back. You might become lawful again.

Spoiler: Luracidon

Show

There's a sea under the world, the Subhadal, also called the Shining Sea. The sea is not a normal sea of water, it is full of small mycoid intelligent organisms called endzymes. These creatures claim to be everywhere in the world, among other creatures and to suffuse them with the ability of psionics.
On this sea of psionic beings sail the mraow pirates. They protect their boats with soul crystals and build cities on islands that stand out of the sea. . The greatest of these cities is Luracidon.
The mraow also protect themselves through the path of Rose Madder Eye. Rose madder is the name they give the divine force that allowed the creation of other gods to balance out the lawful good gods of the catfolk. To balance Eboncrystal, the god of law and loyalty was formed the Choice. The Choice, also called Starlight-spear is a god of nobility and leadership. Howlingstorm, the good god of artifice and toil was balanced by The Plot. The Plot is also called Twilightspider, the god of artifice and traps. To balance the Crimson Eagle, the god of strength and resolve was formed The Act. The Act is also called the Vengeful-Hand the god of war and tactics. To balance Crying Hawk, the god of Healing and Medicine was formed The Loser. The Loser, also called Soulreaper is a god of death and murder. Finally Burning-Hunter, the god of good and redemption, was balanced by The Eternal. The Eternal, also called Shadowscorpion, is the god of Glory and Legend.

The mraow gods are gods of nihilism. They enhance the real, the materialistic, the present. They help their followers focus on what the faith's adherents know is important, survival in particular.

The mraow of Luracidon are primarily followers of the Twilightspider. Their city is in the middle of things because they have planned to build a city into a place where they could achieve this. The primary force the mraow of Luracidon use is intimidation. This they do to impose their plans on each other. They play power games.

There's no particular sex discrimination among the mraow. Those who are intimidating, those with the best plots, they rule. The mraow would accept a ruler of another race. Submitting to force is just natural. Other races don't really arise to power within Luracidon because the mraow find racism useful.

The mraow dislike the show of magic. They know that magic, once spent, is lost. Therefore the mraow support implied capability of magic but consider actual use of it vulgar and stupid. The wizardly school in Luracidon is powerful and focuses on spells of divination. The schools of enchantment and abjuration are also considered acceptable while other schools of magic are scorned.

The most blessed individuals within the mraow are considered the Destined sorcerers, closely followed by the psionic soul sorcerers. Many of the best plotters in the city, those who rule cabals of one kind or another, are destined.

Sorcerer: Destined
1st level You can cast your spells without visible spell effects. If the spell's description has no visible effects, you can cast the spell without verbal or somatic (but not without material) components.
6th level You gain the lucky feat.
14th level You gain advantage to initiative rolls and you are never surprised.
18th level You gain advantage to any saving throw to avoid being blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, incapacitated, paralyzed, petrified, restrained or stunned. If the spell or outher cause that would cause this condition is tied to other effects such as damage, this advantage does not help you avoid the other effects.

Plotting is the driving force in Luracidon. Plots put things and people to their place. For individuals that do not plot there are four main paths. The first and the one that surprisingly is the weakest is that of the skilled individual. Many think that great skill increases their worth. Yet for the one who plots the skilled individual is a circumstantial tool of little worth. The skilled individual is given the difficult tasks and the minor rewards. The loyal servant gets the easy path. For the plotter, the enthousiastic loyal servant is the one who has the most value. Bards are common in the loyalists. The College of eloquence is supreme and gives basic teaching to the children of the powerful.

The third path is the one of the survivor. Some learn to avoid the plots, make themselves look unattractive as a target. Plotters don't see such people as threats, for few of them think of the survivors at all. The main paths of power for this group are to become clerics or druids of spores.

The fourth path is the one most hated by plotters. It is the path of the trader and mercenary. Plotters actively aim to rid the city of them yet there is always natural demand for traders. The few traders that do survive, tend to have their efforts helped by the lack of competition. The traders employ most of the rogues in Luracidon for rogues are also hated by the people in power.

For the ones who wield power and plot, the most respectable paths to might are those of paladin of conquest, wizard, battle master or PSI knight.

For the commoner, the adventurer's path that is most supported by those in power is that of the samurai fighter. Warlocks are also plentiful, though the more powerful plotters see them as individuals of divided loyalties and hence expendable.

The powerful in Luracidon hold no slaves. The concept of ownership is in general annoying to those who plot. The idea that ownership is a higher law than the will of the plotter is repugnant. Those in power take what they choose to require. Hence, no one is slave, but everybody is expected to serve the ones more powerful than they. This service, if sufficiently good, may also be rewarded out of generosity. Slaves do exist in name as well, for the few traders that have power enough to thrive, use slaves.

The city is home to 60 000 individuals. Half of them mraow and others of subservient races. The island which holds the city would not support many more. Already the city is built in many layers over each other.

The waves of the Shining sea give a rhytm and a pulse to sea. The psionic pressure all around them is felt by perceptive and intelligent individuals. The day is divided into six sessions based on the surrounding atmosphere. The sessions are in order: Surprise, Happiness, Fear, Anger, Disgust, Sadness. Most prefer to be awake during surprise and happiness.

Most of the food of the realm is either brought in from other territories or fished in the Shining sea. The druids of spore circle also grow fungus in their gardens and teach the commoners to do similar in smaller scale.
The city is built on grounds of reason and necessity. Things of beauty are reserved for those in power. The construction is powerful and everything is built to intimidate. High walls, tough forms. There are few windows in buildings. The buildings of the powerful and in the middle of the city, built on those of lesser importance. Any signs of magic have been hid when possible.

The Mentaujit is the main place for studies of younger individuals. Mentats teach the young and between the lessons the young measure each other. The stronger pupils draw the weaker ones into gangs as is proper. Of course, to get in, one already has to have parents with a certain amount of power. The young with no parental support end up in workshops or as houseservants.

The Substratum is the lowest part of the town. It's the place of the powerless and the outsiders. The houses are small, catacomblike. The houses have low ceilings and their very existence is more for support of the upper layers than for the ones living inside. Fires are forbidden in these narrow tunnels and magical lights are frowned upon. Everything is done with the visibility given by darkvision. The substratum continues underground and some of the deeper tunnels fill with water. The only powerful organization that prefers the substratum are the druids of the circle of spores. They have barricaded a large section of the tunnelnetwork for their fungus farms.

The Web makes up the central layers of Luracidon. These layers have the attention of those in power while they don't reside there themselves. Continual light spell have been cast in many areas in this section of the city. To cover up that magic was used the lights are covered by metal grills, as if a flame was inside.

Most buildings have insignia of them. These markers imply who the building owns allegiance to - whose plot are they in on. Lines and crowds are typical sights in this layer. Instead of trading, the individuals in power just give out what they want. Their troops show their support by gathering into groups and behaving like the crowd. The powers that be don't want these crowds of their to fight for that would create loss of resource. Rather they want constant visual signs of their power on the streets.

War is the major trade of the mraow. Luracidon seeks to develop generals and strategists in particular, but they don't want war on the streets. Rather the atmosphere is that of constant preparation for war. Releasing tension is equally important to avoid conflagrations of hostilities. It's common to see groups that have opposing loyalties engaging in ritualized half-hearted sports events, dances and similar events. The most important festival is that of Repeating Drummings or just Redrum. Half the citizens may engage in simultaneous beating of drums making the whole city sway with the sound waves.
One thing of interest in the Web is the roads. The large roads go straight from ports to the towers owned by the most powerful. These roads have a network of supporting paths in the area local to the tower. Only small narrow paths unite the network of roads around one tower to that of another.

The plotters live in towers above the Web. Collectively these towers are sometimes called the Twilight zone. The name implies something that's between things. The reference is to place that's between dreams and reality, between the divine Twilight spider and servants. Even the most powerful plotters in the city see themselves as weak in comparison to how powerful their dreams can be. Even more so, they live in fear of loss, which is why they abhor change.
In the towers of the Twilight zone very little ever happens. What does, is ritualized to a level it lacks all efficiency. Even small things are accompanied by as much spectacle as possible.

Each tower defines a territory and a plot. The nature of the plots is usually best understood as a protection scheme though others might argue for the legality and justification of taxation. The nature of the person on top is rarely an issue for they are separated from all below and cloaked in idolatry and extravagance.

Some of the more powerful plotters in town are

Rincip 'Cottonpads'
The territory of Rincip has the Circle of spores, food and herbal market, the largest port as well as the Mentaujit.

Marisuale 'Saltytips'
The territory of Marisuale has a warlock pairing academy where they subordinate youngsters to various patrons [usually these are celestial, fiend, lurker in the deep, raven queen, undead or undying]. There's also a military academy for most fighter types. There's armourers, bowyers, smiths and other artisans related to military professions. The cartographer's academy is also here.

Carnacio 'Cleverone'
This territory has temples for the god of War and Tactics. Carnacio is considered by many a falling plotter. His extreme longevity and the rising violence in his territory, including the presence of the undead are all suggesting to others that Carnacio is losing the Plot. Forces outside the city keep propping him up though. This region has an active street life fuelled by the dispensation of alcohol. There's also a bardic college of valor and swords in the territory.

Erarqa 'Highpyre'
This territory has the temples for the god of Plotting. Most clerics, paladins and monks of the city live here at one point or another. This area also has colleges for city-planning, engineering, agriculture, fishing and history.

Rupacio 'Sugarskin'
This territory functions as a sanctuary for traders, at least up to a point. The temple of the God of murder resides here as well. The area is considered trashy by other plotters but so dangerous that it can't be removed.

Affios 'Pinnails'
A victorious general who returned with glorious spoils created this territory. This area is more luxurious than most, a guarded territory where many pleasures are easily available. There's a shrine for the god of Legends in this area. Affios has allowed monk orders to set up in his territory, raising general interest in becoming a monk in the city.

Enyor 'Happypaws'
A territory where wizard colleges reside. Enyor's territory also has many storehouses. The territory is at the very center of the city and has many structural supports for the city's towers. There's also a bardic college of glamour and satire.

Bernadora 'Whiskers'
Her territory is the most open to outsiders. Least courtesy is demanded and creatures of other races are accepted somewhat easily. There's a port of significant size. Many industries that are considered uncomfortable, such as dyeing are practiced here. Waste disposal is also a feature of this territory as is animal-keeping.

The power in the city is divided between plotters who generally maintain the status quo of power, the gangs which seek power through cleverness or forceful action and the traders who openly challenge the status quo.

Gangs are lower in the ranks of power than the true plotters. Yet their actions are more visible for they aim to act. In the city of plots the people with real power aim to threaten but never act. So one is much more likely to run into gangs engaged in interesting activity.

Many major gangs of the city recruit from and fight for influence in the Substratum.

The first mentionworthy gang is that of the Iron chain, a gang of heavy armor fighters and warlocks.

The second of the larger gangs is The Plagues. They seek druidic and bardic members, seemingly making them less dangerous to the city while still gaining power.

The gang called Darkweb is a religious cult, seeking purity of plotting on clerical grounds. Clerics and paladins form the main adherents.

These three are called high gangs. They exist as extensions of the ruling power block, but are viewed as corrupt in one way or another by the true powers. They are usually opposed by the low gangs that seek to challenge or even supplant the ones in power.

The fourth gang is the Hypothalassians. They are a gang of wanderers, rangers and barbarians. They aim to seize independence and to hold power in the regions surrounding Luracidon.

The gang called Impossible rise is largely made of bloodhunters and rogues. They aim to be seen as the most dangerous gang in the city with no other concerns.

The gang called Longwands is primarily a solace for wizards and sorcerers who use the more unacceptable colleges of magic.

Law is enforced variably. Each territory has their own laws. If a law is broken, the lawbreaker is expected to make good their actions of their own volition. The powers that be don't want to have to bother to actually uphold the laws. But if a lawbreaker is so obvious about how they flaunt the law, the plotters have no choice to utterly and completely destroy the lawbreaker. Such acts are plotted with the care of a dangerous military campaign. But when victory is certain, these events are turned into triumphal celebrations on the broken corpses of the guilty.

The merchant princes
There are few who dare to openly stand against the plot. Philosophically the merchant princes may see themselves as either opponents or misunderstood patrons of the city and society.

The merchant princes who see themselves as opposing the plotters are usually adherents to the cult of the Loser, the god of death and murder. With their trading they seek to create chaos and destruction in the realm. They are usually purged from the city even though they are accepted by society. Hence, the successful merchant princes of this type act beyond city walls. They're pirates and trade ship runners. They create purposeful shortages and gouge prices. They import cursed, faulty or subversive items to the city and they leave orders unfilled, anything to destroy the powers of plotting.

The other merchant princes pay homage to either the god of Nobility and leadership or the god of Legends or both. They frame themselves above and beyond plotting. They engage in trade while doing their business in ways that seem like they fit the city's standards. They call themselves the Cornecopia.

The borders of the town are the shores. Beyond the shores is the navy. The navy is large and is primarily martial in nature.

[Smilex]

Spoiler: Geronimo

Show

The sword of Orcus slices you in half.

You're sort of alive, but... not. You see Orcus take something off you and puts it in his mouth.

Somehow you float up. You feel empty. Your corpse is on the ground, twitching. Your hands are a font of blackness.

You wonder if you're a shadow or maybe a wraith? There's so many undead, so many options.

Orcus returns to his throne.

The titan inside his throne whispers.
Sew

The needle he threw earlier flies to your corpse and through a part of your intestine. SOmehow the intestine sticks to the needle. The needle flows through parts of your corpse one by one and slowly it gets your body together.

You realize at that point that you can feel your body again... and then you realize you can feel being digested by Orcus and at the same time you can feel your disembodied being floating around.

You remember an obscure manual at the Mentaujit that you breezed through...

Khet is the part of you that is the body on the ground, it could become a zombie, or other corporeal undead controlled by a necromancer.

Sah is the spiritual soul of yours that will continue to afterlife based on your living and how the divines treat you. Probably it will end up with the prisoned titan in Orcus' throne or something. If you store it in a soulstone you will not pass onward.

Ib is your heart, the fount of blood, the source of vampirism.

Ka is the vital force, which defines your life itself. It can be maintained while being lost by ghoulism.

Ba is your personality and ideas. It is what one tries to maintain by turning into a lich.

Shut is your shadow, the part of you that is dead already in life. It is the hole you create and it is eternal. It's you while trying to devour the rest of you.

Sekhem is your spiritpower, that returns to the ultimate divine that birthed it to be reborn and used in another form.

Ren is your truename, which can be used to bind you and bring you back should you die. It is the anchor that ties the other parts together.

Akh is your thought, your genius which can wander around after you've passed on. It has ectoplasmic form and can be found as a ghost. It's more a track of you than anything more.

And you are all the parts. If you live you are all of it. If you want to rule death, you must understand it first. You need to get tools to manage the parts...

As you think these thoughts you feel parts of you try to escape in every direction...

The needle continues to sew you together. It binds your shadow back to the legs of your corpse. It finds your your power and sews it into you and so it continues until only ... something is missing, inside Orcus...

[Wooloo]

Oren Ratfolk Fighter 4 AC: 16 | HP: 40/40 | HD: 4/1d10 Quiver: 20 arrows Second Wind: 1/1 Action Surge: 1/1 Superiority Die: 4/4 (d8) PP: 12 PInv: 10 PIns: 12 Conditions: none

Spoiler: Inside the cloud!

Show

"My friends lead me sometimes, but usually it’s me who runs head first into trouble!"

Oren will try to run out of the cloud, as fast as he can!

[Smilex]

Spoiler: Rik

Show

The cowled figure answers
This is the temple of Fate. Fate is one of the gods that gain their power from absolute order. Others are the Prince or Primus, the Axiom, the Cloud and the Godhand. These are the gods created by the divine force of absolute law.

The cowled figure brings out a deck of cards and shuffles it.
It may seem that the deck is random, that it is a matter of luck... But the order of the cards is not due to luck. The order of the cards is a direct result of the movements I caused.

Ratfolk mythology has a lot to say about luck. Everything the figure is saying is a direct contradiction of ideas that you've been brought up with. Fortune telling cards and similar things are a major thing in ratfolk children's stories though. And you realize the deck of cards the figure has is the deck of many things.

The cowled figure says
Do you want to get to know yours? ... Fate , that is...

Spoiler: OOC

Show

If you want to, the creature will allow you to draw one. If you do so, please roll d22 You really don't have to do this though. You most certainly can just continue the discussion.

[Smilex]

Spoiler: Polari

Show

Polari can't hear or see any of the others.

Lola answers
You have trouble operating the realm because you're a creature of chaos inside a realm of law. Even if the realm loves you, it doesn't understand you. If you really care about your friends, you need to give up the chaos inside of you.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

A simple decision at this point will change your alignment to neutral good if you so choose. The realm of pure law in which you are will simply purge the chaotic traits away.

Lola continues
You don't really need to be afraid for them. They are undergoing the same function as you are. They are simply finding their fates. Once you have gained your values, you will move out of the cloud and back to the temple to fight the undead terror the ghouls left in the next room. It's terrible how ghouls, those cretins, see fate as a source of anxiety and madness instead of something calming.

[Smilex]

Spoiler: Oren

Show

The bird simply reappears in the cloud ahead of you.
This cloud contains your fate. You can't run away from it. They'll betray you again if you allow it. You need to become stronger to protect yourself from them.

Another creature appears from the cloud. It's a female ratfolk of some subrace you've never seen. She seems frustrated.

And then you run into her because you were moving so fast you can't dodge or stop fast enough.

What are you doing here?
She says.

The ibis says
This is Oren's fate. I'm here to remind him of it.

The woman looks at your forehead.
What's that thing?

[Bobthewizard]

Polari Human Sorcerer 3 / Warlock 1 AC: 15 (MA) | HP: 27/27 | HD: 3/3d6 1/1d8
PP: 12 PInv: 12 PIns: 12 Spell Slots, 1st: 2/5 2nd: 2/2
Sorcery Points: 5/5 Restore Balance: 2/2 Healing Light: 2/2 Conditions: none

Polari feels like he is hit by a brick when Lola suggests giving up his chaos. His chaotic nature has always been a curse for him, and he's skeptical that any magic could change his nature.

"That would be a blessing, but I've tried to change my nature and have never been able to. Believe me, I've tried. If you think you can, go ahead."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Possible Reactions:
1. If Polari is hit and the roll is 19 or less, he will cast shield with his reaction.
2. If he is hit by 10 or more elemental damage, he will cast absorb elements.
3. If one of the players is attacked with advantage or has to attack at disadvantage, I can use a reaction to make it a normal roll.

Spoiler: Caverns Map

Show

Spoiler: Notes

Show

Geronimo, goblin bard
Professor Melange, Mentaujit
Pelonia, Abracio fleet - Rik and Oren
Sister Spinozo, Longwands - Polari and Geronimo
Heir Ermans, Sister Spinoza's boss
Rincip 'Cottonpads' - Allisog and Sakuya
Hopalloz, lost 150 years ago
Chexxa, Hopalloz outpost for arcane research
Captain Gomyabber, scouts found tunnels to Chexxa
Soulcrystal and ritual book, for collecting energy from Chexxa's forge - Polari gave them up
Nodovico, gnoll guide RIP
Namera and Pandinho, rescued Mraow (stayed behind)
Remilia, betrayed others with gnolls (all dead now)
Nyokawamtoto, dragon-thing stuck in the forge
Danifae, oracle and spear wielder
The Nip, or Disciples of Danifae have SS in a building in the territory of Affios 'Pinnails'
Doctor Coccyx and Bellatrice
Affios, stole dragon money from Pozernoa, runs Nips
Jaere'e, from Pozernoa, lives in Substratum, leader of the scions of shadow dragons.
Lola (candle) and Lalo (bell)
Orderly Principality - Aven and bard Coco, looking for Polari.

Spoiler: wizard

Show

Suddenly Polari remembers a magical fight. A wizard cast an ice storm that pummeled five young sorcerers in front of Polari. He was about to then cast phantasmal killer on Polari when he was stopped by a friend of Polari's. Someone else then came and dragged Polari away. You remember the wizard with his ritual dagger that was a meat-carving knife. His bones shone through his face at spots where he had eaten a part of his own face.

Spoiler: Polari's Cloud in Temple

Show

You move within the cloud and it seems the cloud is quite deep.

Lola starts speaking in her normal whispery monotonous voice
Haems is the name of the mountain behind the temple. This a temple of Fate, the final state of every machine, the value of the function, the inevitable end result of everything.

A huge pendulum swings by you in the cloud.

This temple is quite powerful. It can actually transport us to the the center of the inevitable machine. This is Mechanus as much as this is the temple at Haems

A series of balls rolls by you at intervals that seem like a combination of regular and irregular. You seem to remember that there's a code in them.

The pole of a meromorphic complex function is a point on the complex plane on which the function is undefined or approaches infinity. Your existence in Mechanus was about research. Research requires growth. Mechanus is complex enough to allow growth but growth can only exist in areas that are not normally covered. Your inability to adapt is what sheltered you when many other pieces were destroyed by Orcus. Orcus killed most of you. That was fate... but not the end. You're still here, you and your infinite potential.

A series of lightning bolts flashes by you.

You're not the only one with infinite potential to grow and define Mechanus. Other pieces of you are looking for you. By the end there can be only one. All uncertainty will be removed.

You keep walking and the cloud seems to go on and on.

None of the others are here. It's just you. The others are somewhere else.

You move further inside the cloud.

Lola keeps talking
Your memory is strange partially because Orcus severed you from the rest of your memories... partially because you wanted to experiment with your own antithesis, chaos. It's one of the reasons that Orcus couldn't find you and why I too had trouble finding you. ... It won't save you from you though.

At this point you notice that the cloud is not just some kind of watermist. The particles in the cloud are modrons, particularly monodrones. So many monodrones...

Lola continues
You notice them, yes. They are your servants and creations. They love you as I do. This is your world. You are the Prince of this land. Orcus took a part of your power and divinity but he had no interest in Mechanus itself. The realm is hurt but unspoiled...

For a moment, all the monodrones turn to you and bow. Then they continue their curious dance in the emptiness.

The mortals call this part of Mechanus the cloud calculator. This is what you used to solve the fates of people and things. You tried to make sure that all mortals are a part of the cloud but the Chaosfox foiled you again...

Lola's sound starts to crackle a bit.

Oh... The monodrones' reaction to you will be noticed. Other versions of you might notice and find you quicker now. Coco and the Flesheater are not the only ones still alive. Many others would like to gain the power inside of you by killing you. The same is true the other way around. If you destroy the other vestiges of you, you will get more of your memories back. You might become lawful again.

Spoiler: Luracidon

Show

There's a sea under the world, the Subhadal, also called the Shining Sea. The sea is not a normal sea of water, it is full of small mycoid intelligent organisms called endzymes. These creatures claim to be everywhere in the world, among other creatures and to suffuse them with the ability of psionics.
On this sea of psionic beings sail the mraow pirates. They protect their boats with soul crystals and build cities on islands that stand out of the sea. . The greatest of these cities is Luracidon.
The mraow also protect themselves through the path of Rose Madder Eye. Rose madder is the name they give the divine force that allowed the creation of other gods to balance out the lawful good gods of the catfolk. To balance Eboncrystal, the god of law and loyalty was formed the Choice. The Choice, also called Starlight-spear is a god of nobility and leadership. Howlingstorm, the good god of artifice and toil was balanced by The Plot. The Plot is also called Twilightspider, the god of artifice and traps. To balance the Crimson Eagle, the god of strength and resolve was formed The Act. The Act is also called the Vengeful-Hand the god of war and tactics. To balance Crying Hawk, the god of Healing and Medicine was formed The Loser. The Loser, also called Soulreaper is a god of death and murder. Finally Burning-Hunter, the god of good and redemption, was balanced by The Eternal. The Eternal, also called Shadowscorpion, is the god of Glory and Legend.

The mraow gods are gods of nihilism. They enhance the real, the materialistic, the present. They help their followers focus on what the faith's adherents know is important, survival in particular.

The mraow of Luracidon are primarily followers of the Twilightspider. Their city is in the middle of things because they have planned to build a city into a place where they could achieve this. The primary force the mraow of Luracidon use is intimidation. This they do to impose their plans on each other. They play power games.

There's no particular sex discrimination among the mraow. Those who are intimidating, those with the best plots, they rule. The mraow would accept a ruler of another race. Submitting to force is just natural. Other races don't really arise to power within Luracidon because the mraow find racism useful.

The mraow dislike the show of magic. They know that magic, once spent, is lost. Therefore the mraow support implied capability of magic but consider actual use of it vulgar and stupid. The wizardly school in Luracidon is powerful and focuses on spells of divination. The schools of enchantment and abjuration are also considered acceptable while other schools of magic are scorned.

The most blessed individuals within the mraow are considered the Destined sorcerers, closely followed by the psionic soul sorcerers. Many of the best plotters in the city, those who rule cabals of one kind or another, are destined.

Sorcerer: Destined
1st level You can cast your spells without visible spell effects. If the spell's description has no visible effects, you can cast the spell without verbal or somatic (but not without material) components.
6th level You gain the lucky feat.
14th level You gain advantage to initiative rolls and you are never surprised.
18th level You gain advantage to any saving throw to avoid being blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, incapacitated, paralyzed, petrified, restrained or stunned. If the spell or outher cause that would cause this condition is tied to other effects such as damage, this advantage does not help you avoid the other effects.

Plotting is the driving force in Luracidon. Plots put things and people to their place. For individuals that do not plot there are four main paths. The first and the one that surprisingly is the weakest is that of the skilled individual. Many think that great skill increases their worth. Yet for the one who plots the skilled individual is a circumstantial tool of little worth. The skilled individual is given the difficult tasks and the minor rewards. The loyal servant gets the easy path. For the plotter, the enthousiastic loyal servant is the one who has the most value. Bards are common in the loyalists. The College of eloquence is supreme and gives basic teaching to the children of the powerful.

The third path is the one of the survivor. Some learn to avoid the plots, make themselves look unattractive as a target. Plotters don't see such people as threats, for few of them think of the survivors at all. The main paths of power for this group are to become clerics or druids of spores.

The fourth path is the one most hated by plotters. It is the path of the trader and mercenary. Plotters actively aim to rid the city of them yet there is always natural demand for traders. The few traders that do survive, tend to have their efforts helped by the lack of competition. The traders employ most of the rogues in Luracidon for rogues are also hated by the people in power.

For the ones who wield power and plot, the most respectable paths to might are those of paladin of conquest, wizard, battle master or PSI knight.

For the commoner, the adventurer's path that is most supported by those in power is that of the samurai fighter. Warlocks are also plentiful, though the more powerful plotters see them as individuals of divided loyalties and hence expendable.

The powerful in Luracidon hold no slaves. The concept of ownership is in general annoying to those who plot. The idea that ownership is a higher law than the will of the plotter is repugnant. Those in power take what they choose to require. Hence, no one is slave, but everybody is expected to serve the ones more powerful than they. This service, if sufficiently good, may also be rewarded out of generosity. Slaves do exist in name as well, for the few traders that have power enough to thrive, use slaves.

The city is home to 60 000 individuals. Half of them mraow and others of subservient races. The island which holds the city would not support many more. Already the city is built in many layers over each other.

The waves of the Shining sea give a rhytm and a pulse to sea. The psionic pressure all around them is felt by perceptive and intelligent individuals. The day is divided into six sessions based on the surrounding atmosphere. The sessions are in order: Surprise, Happiness, Fear, Anger, Disgust, Sadness. Most prefer to be awake during surprise and happiness.

Most of the food of the realm is either brought in from other territories or fished in the Shining sea. The druids of spore circle also grow fungus in their gardens and teach the commoners to do similar in smaller scale.
The city is built on grounds of reason and necessity. Things of beauty are reserved for those in power. The construction is powerful and everything is built to intimidate. High walls, tough forms. There are few windows in buildings. The buildings of the powerful and in the middle of the city, built on those of lesser importance. Any signs of magic have been hid when possible.

The Mentaujit is the main place for studies of younger individuals. Mentats teach the young and between the lessons the young measure each other. The stronger pupils draw the weaker ones into gangs as is proper. Of course, to get in, one already has to have parents with a certain amount of power. The young with no parental support end up in workshops or as houseservants.

The Substratum is the lowest part of the town. It's the place of the powerless and the outsiders. The houses are small, catacomblike. The houses have low ceilings and their very existence is more for support of the upper layers than for the ones living inside. Fires are forbidden in these narrow tunnels and magical lights are frowned upon. Everything is done with the visibility given by darkvision. The substratum continues underground and some of the deeper tunnels fill with water. The only powerful organization that prefers the substratum are the druids of the circle of spores. They have barricaded a large section of the tunnelnetwork for their fungus farms.

The Web makes up the central layers of Luracidon. These layers have the attention of those in power while they don't reside there themselves. Continual light spell have been cast in many areas in this section of the city. To cover up that magic was used the lights are covered by metal grills, as if a flame was inside.

Most buildings have insignia of them. These markers imply who the building owns allegiance to - whose plot are they in on. Lines and crowds are typical sights in this layer. Instead of trading, the individuals in power just give out what they want. Their troops show their support by gathering into groups and behaving like the crowd. The powers that be don't want these crowds of their to fight for that would create loss of resource. Rather they want constant visual signs of their power on the streets.

War is the major trade of the mraow. Luracidon seeks to develop generals and strategists in particular, but they don't want war on the streets. Rather the atmosphere is that of constant preparation for war. Releasing tension is equally important to avoid conflagrations of hostilities. It's common to see groups that have opposing loyalties engaging in ritualized half-hearted sports events, dances and similar events. The most important festival is that of Repeating Drummings or just Redrum. Half the citizens may engage in simultaneous beating of drums making the whole city sway with the sound waves.
One thing of interest in the Web is the roads. The large roads go straight from ports to the towers owned by the most powerful. These roads have a network of supporting paths in the area local to the tower. Only small narrow paths unite the network of roads around one tower to that of another.

The plotters live in towers above the Web. Collectively these towers are sometimes called the Twilight zone. The name implies something that's between things. The reference is to place that's between dreams and reality, between the divine Twilight spider and servants. Even the most powerful plotters in the city see themselves as weak in comparison to how powerful their dreams can be. Even more so, they live in fear of loss, which is why they abhor change.
In the towers of the Twilight zone very little ever happens. What does, is ritualized to a level it lacks all efficiency. Even small things are accompanied by as much spectacle as possible.

Each tower defines a territory and a plot. The nature of the plots is usually best understood as a protection scheme though others might argue for the legality and justification of taxation. The nature of the person on top is rarely an issue for they are separated from all below and cloaked in idolatry and extravagance.

Some of the more powerful plotters in town are

Rincip 'Cottonpads'
The territory of Rincip has the Circle of spores, food and herbal market, the largest port as well as the Mentaujit.

Marisuale 'Saltytips'
The territory of Marisuale has a warlock pairing academy where they subordinate youngsters to various patrons [usually these are celestial, fiend, lurker in the deep, raven queen, undead or undying]. There's also a military academy for most fighter types. There's armourers, bowyers, smiths and other artisans related to military professions. The cartographer's academy is also here.

Carnacio 'Cleverone'
This territory has temples for the god of War and Tactics. Carnacio is considered by many a falling plotter. His extreme longevity and the rising violence in his territory, including the presence of the undead are all suggesting to others that Carnacio is losing the Plot. Forces outside the city keep propping him up though. This region has an active street life fuelled by the dispensation of alcohol. There's also a bardic college of valor and swords in the territory.

Erarqa 'Highpyre'
This territory has the temples for the god of Plotting. Most clerics, paladins and monks of the city live here at one point or another. This area also has colleges for city-planning, engineering, agriculture, fishing and history.

Rupacio 'Sugarskin'
This territory functions as a sanctuary for traders, at least up to a point. The temple of the God of murder resides here as well. The area is considered trashy by other plotters but so dangerous that it can't be removed.

Affios 'Pinnails'
A victorious general who returned with glorious spoils created this territory. This area is more luxurious than most, a guarded territory where many pleasures are easily available. There's a shrine for the god of Legends in this area. Affios has allowed monk orders to set up in his territory, raising general interest in becoming a monk in the city.

Enyor 'Happypaws'
A territory where wizard colleges reside. Enyor's territory also has many storehouses. The territory is at the very center of the city and has many structural supports for the city's towers. There's also a bardic college of glamour and satire.

Bernadora 'Whiskers'
Her territory is the most open to outsiders. Least courtesy is demanded and creatures of other races are accepted somewhat easily. There's a port of significant size. Many industries that are considered uncomfortable, such as dyeing are practiced here. Waste disposal is also a feature of this territory as is animal-keeping.

The power in the city is divided between plotters who generally maintain the status quo of power, the gangs which seek power through cleverness or forceful action and the traders who openly challenge the status quo.

Gangs are lower in the ranks of power than the true plotters. Yet their actions are more visible for they aim to act. In the city of plots the people with real power aim to threaten but never act. So one is much more likely to run into gangs engaged in interesting activity.

Many major gangs of the city recruit from and fight for influence in the Substratum.

The first mentionworthy gang is that of the Iron chain, a gang of heavy armor fighters and warlocks.

The second of the larger gangs is The Plagues. They seek druidic and bardic members, seemingly making them less dangerous to the city while still gaining power.

The gang called Darkweb is a religious cult, seeking purity of plotting on clerical grounds. Clerics and paladins form the main adherents.

These three are called high gangs. They exist as extensions of the ruling power block, but are viewed as corrupt in one way or another by the true powers. They are usually opposed by the low gangs that seek to challenge or even supplant the ones in power.

The fourth gang is the Hypothalassians. They are a gang of wanderers, rangers and barbarians. They aim to seize independence and to hold power in the regions surrounding Luracidon.

The gang called Impossible rise is largely made of bloodhunters and rogues. They aim to be seen as the most dangerous gang in the city with no other concerns.

The gang called Longwands is primarily a solace for wizards and sorcerers who use the more unacceptable colleges of magic.

Law is enforced variably. Each territory has their own laws. If a law is broken, the lawbreaker is expected to make good their actions of their own volition. The powers that be don't want to have to bother to actually uphold the laws. But if a lawbreaker is so obvious about how they flaunt the law, the plotters have no choice to utterly and completely destroy the lawbreaker. Such acts are plotted with the care of a dangerous military campaign. But when victory is certain, these events are turned into triumphal celebrations on the broken corpses of the guilty.

The merchant princes
There are few who dare to openly stand against the plot. Philosophically the merchant princes may see themselves as either opponents or misunderstood patrons of the city and society.

The merchant princes who see themselves as opposing the plotters are usually adherents to the cult of the Loser, the god of death and murder. With their trading they seek to create chaos and destruction in the realm. They are usually purged from the city even though they are accepted by society. Hence, the successful merchant princes of this type act beyond city walls. They're pirates and trade ship runners. They create purposeful shortages and gouge prices. They import cursed, faulty or subversive items to the city and they leave orders unfilled, anything to destroy the powers of plotting.

The other merchant princes pay homage to either the god of Nobility and leadership or the god of Legends or both. They frame themselves above and beyond plotting. They engage in trade while doing their business in ways that seem like they fit the city's standards. They call themselves the Cornecopia.

The borders of the town are the shores. Beyond the shores is the navy. The navy is large and is primarily martial in nature.

[Ninja Dragon]

Spoiler: Rik

Show

The cowled figure answers
This is the temple of Fate. Fate is one of the gods that gain their power from absolute order. Others are the Prince or Primus, the Axiom, the Cloud and the Godhand. These are the gods created by the divine force of absolute law.

The cowled figure brings out a deck of cards and shuffles it.
It may seem that the deck is random, that it is a matter of luck... But the order of the cards is not due to luck. The order of the cards is a direct result of the movements I caused.

Ratfolk mythology has a lot to say about luck. Everything the figure is saying is a direct contradiction of ideas that you've been brought up with. Fortune telling cards and similar things are a major thing in ratfolk children's stories though. And you realize the deck of cards the figure has is the deck of many things.

The cowled figure says
Do you want to get to know yours? ... Fate , that is...

Spoiler: OOC

Show

If you want to, the creature will allow you to draw one. If you do so, please roll d22 You really don't have to do this though. You most certainly can just continue the discussion.

Rik feels tempted. He has hread of this deck of many things and the wondrous treasure and power it can bring. And also of the horrible disaster that can come with it.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I just googled the deck and holy ****, that's A LOT of disaster

But he is not actually interested in treasure. The simple life fulfills him.

He doesn't need power. He knows he can obtain it with his own training and skill.

And the fate?

"Thank you, but I think I will make my own fate, I don't need to know it now."

[Zhentarim]

Spoiler: Geronimo

Show

The sword of Orcus slices you in half.

You're sort of alive, but... not. You see Orcus take something off you and puts it in his mouth.

Somehow you float up. You feel empty. Your corpse is on the ground, twitching. Your hands are a font of blackness.

You wonder if you're a shadow or maybe a wraith? There's so many undead, so many options.

Orcus returns to his throne.

The titan inside his throne whispers.
Sew

The needle he threw earlier flies to your corpse and through a part of your intestine. SOmehow the intestine sticks to the needle. The needle flows through parts of your corpse one by one and slowly it gets your body together.

You realize at that point that you can feel your body again... and then you realize you can feel being digested by Orcus and at the same time you can feel your disembodied being floating around.

You remember an obscure manual at the Mentaujit that you breezed through...

Khet is the part of you that is the body on the ground, it could become a zombie, or other corporeal undead controlled by a necromancer.

Sah is the spiritual soul of yours that will continue to afterlife based on your living and how the divines treat you. Probably it will end up with the prisoned titan in Orcus' throne or something. If you store it in a soulstone you will not pass onward.

Ib is your heart, the fount of blood, the source of vampirism.

Ka is the vital force, which defines your life itself. It can be maintained while being lost by ghoulism.

Ba is your personality and ideas. It is what one tries to maintain by turning into a lich.

Shut is your shadow, the part of you that is dead already in life. It is the hole you create and it is eternal. It's you while trying to devour the rest of you.

Sekhem is your spiritpower, that returns to the ultimate divine that birthed it to be reborn and used in another form.

Ren is your truename, which can be used to bind you and bring you back should you die. It is the anchor that ties the other parts together.

Akh is your thought, your genius which can wander around after you've passed on. It has ectoplasmic form and can be found as a ghost. It's more a track of you than anything more.

And you are all the parts. If you live you are all of it. If you want to rule death, you must understand it first. You need to get tools to manage the parts...

As you think these thoughts you feel parts of you try to escape in every direction...

The needle continues to sew you together. It binds your shadow back to the legs of your corpse. It finds your your power and sews it into you and so it continues until only ... something is missing, inside Orcus...

I must know what is missing., thinks the spectral Geronimo.

[sandmote]

Theria takes on a formal tone, the better to avoid disrespecting anyone in this mysterious new place. "I do not know; neither how I got here, nor what your operation is." she explains. "My apologies for intruding nonetheless." Puling the more appropriate tools from her bag (Calligrapher's or Mason's), she tries to find a repeating or stable section of the mist and copy down what she sees.

"If you could lead me back, or simply out of your operation, that would be a great help. I would appreciate any further knowledge you can impart as well, once I cease to interrupt your own work."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Depending on how you lore the runes, I'm note sure what knowledge roll is appropriate to recognize enough to copy anything useful down. 5e brings runes back to giants so I suspect Arcana, but 4e associated it with religion, so (1d20+1)[21] in either case.

[Smilex]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I suggest putting the following on while reading what follows:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAjR4_CbPpQ

Spoiler: Polari

Show

A robotic arm appears from the cloud and grabs Polari.

Another robotic appendage appears and projects a beam of light in Polari's eyes.

A third one appears and sprays an orange tanning agent on Polari's skin. He feels the spray work it's way through his skin.

The light starts to pulse rapidly. A number of memories appear in Polari's mind in quick succession. They start forming patterns. Things that previously seemed to lack cohesion seem now connected.

A new set of symbols flows into Polari's brain. Only now does he notice that the first robotic arm has attached a wire into the back of his head.

The symbols are similar to the ones that Polari observed earlier at the door he just went through to reach the cloud. They now make sort of sense. The oldest script said
Server room. Highest security level.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Polari now knows two new languages - Modron and Syrinx, the latter of which is basically modron for normal vocal chords. Syrinx is the language the aven population in the dungeon speaks. Polari is at this point Neutral good.

The spray is giving Polari a tan. Given how long Polari has been underground this is quite the change.

Lola asks
Would you like us to go further?

[Smilex]

Spoiler: Rik

Show

The cowled figure moves the deck of cards away.

Let it be revealed in time then.


The cowled figure's head turns 180 degrees.

Instead of the future I will show you the past then.

Rik sees a rapidly approaching blue ball between the stars. As it nears he can see that it has clouds circling it. The vision increases in size until Rik can see that there's a continent on the blue ball. On the continent there's mountains and on one of the mountains there's a temple.

The temple looks grandiose. There's winged, birdheaded humans flying around it in patterns. Their flight seems to call clouds, rain... The rain slowly erodes the land, changing it's shape.

Forests grow and they drink the water, stop the erosion. They reach out and they grasp the birdpeople from the skies.

This was the time of the faerie's betrayal.

Dryads walk into the temple. Vines grow to surround the walls. Trees push the buildings apart and walls collapse. A jungle covers everything.

Then the trees start to look sick. A pale green radiance covers what you see. Beings climb out of water and they are covered in radiance. Trees drop their leaves. The newcomers cut down dryads and enter the temple. Smoke covers the sky.

Then came the ghouls and their allies.

The beings that radiate the strongest start eating the ones that radiate less. New beings come from the waters and the radiating ones feast on them.

Then a group of white furred beings, with dogs' faces walk into the region. They start fighting the radiating ghouls. For a time they drive the ghouls away. The temple is broken and it's pieces are carried away, but the caverns underneath survive.

Then some of the dog-beings start radiating. They call the ghouls back from under the seas and now the united ghoulgroups drive away the whitefurred creatures.

The gnolls tried to destroy the temple but it was built strong and deep. The caverns must remain.

Rik sees the ghouls build a city nearby. And then comes Polonia's ship. Rik walks to the caverns and enters the cloud.

[Bobthewizard]

Polari Human Sorcerer 3 / Warlock 1 AC: 15 (MA) | HP: 27/27 | HD: 3/3d6 1/1d8
PP: 12 PInv: 12 PIns: 12 Spell Slots, 1st: 2/5 2nd: 2/2
Sorcery Points: 5/5 Restore Balance: 2/2 Healing Light: 2/2 Conditions: none

Polari is a little creeped out by the transformation. He's not sure if this a a boon or just a trap to take him back to Mechanus, but if it is a trap, he is already caught. So the next step is to play along, take the punishment, and try to escape again later.

"Sure. Go ahead. Wait. What do you mean by go further?"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Nice song for ambiance.

Possible Reactions:
1. If Polari is hit and the roll is 19 or less, he will cast shield with his reaction.
2. If he is hit by 10 or more elemental damage, he will cast absorb elements.
3. If one of the players is attacked with advantage or has to attack at disadvantage, I can use a reaction to make it a normal roll.

Spoiler: Caverns Map

Show

Spoiler: Notes

Show

Geronimo, goblin bard
Professor Melange, Mentaujit
Pelonia, Abracio fleet - Rik and Oren
Sister Spinozo, Longwands - Polari and Geronimo
Heir Ermans, Sister Spinoza's boss
Rincip 'Cottonpads' - Allisog and Sakuya
Hopalloz, lost 150 years ago
Chexxa, Hopalloz outpost for arcane research
Captain Gomyabber, scouts found tunnels to Chexxa
Soulcrystal and ritual book, for collecting energy from Chexxa's forge - Polari gave them up
Nodovico, gnoll guide RIP
Namera and Pandinho, rescued Mraow (stayed behind)
Remilia, betrayed others with gnolls (all dead now)
Nyokawamtoto, dragon-thing stuck in the forge
Danifae, oracle and spear wielder
The Nip, or Disciples of Danifae have SS in a building in the territory of Affios 'Pinnails'
Doctor Coccyx and Bellatrice
Affios, stole dragon money from Pozernoa, runs Nips
Jaere'e, from Pozernoa, lives in Substratum, leader of the scions of shadow dragons.
Lola (candle) and Lalo (bell)
Orderly Principality - Aven and bard Coco, looking for Polari.

Spoiler: wizard

Show

Suddenly Polari remembers a magical fight. A wizard cast an ice storm that pummeled five young sorcerers in front of Polari. He was about to then cast phantasmal killer on Polari when he was stopped by a friend of Polari's. Someone else then came and dragged Polari away. You remember the wizard with his ritual dagger that was a meat-carving knife. His bones shone through his face at spots where he had eaten a part of his own face.

Spoiler: Polari's Cloud in Temple

Show

You move within the cloud and it seems the cloud is quite deep.

Lola starts speaking in her normal whispery monotonous voice
Haems is the name of the mountain behind the temple. This a temple of Fate, the final state of every machine, the value of the function, the inevitable end result of everything.

A huge pendulum swings by you in the cloud.

This temple is quite powerful. It can actually transport us to the the center of the inevitable machine. This is Mechanus as much as this is the temple at Haems

A series of balls rolls by you at intervals that seem like a combination of regular and irregular. You seem to remember that there's a code in them.

The pole of a meromorphic complex function is a point on the complex plane on which the function is undefined or approaches infinity. Your existence in Mechanus was about research. Research requires growth. Mechanus is complex enough to allow growth but growth can only exist in areas that are not normally covered. Your inability to adapt is what sheltered you when many other pieces were destroyed by Orcus. Orcus killed most of you. That was fate... but not the end. You're still here, you and your infinite potential.

A series of lightning bolts flashes by you.

You're not the only one with infinite potential to grow and define Mechanus. Other pieces of you are looking for you. By the end there can be only one. All uncertainty will be removed.

You keep walking and the cloud seems to go on and on.

None of the others are here. It's just you. The others are somewhere else.

You move further inside the cloud.

Lola keeps talking
Your memory is strange partially because Orcus severed you from the rest of your memories... partially because you wanted to experiment with your own antithesis, chaos. It's one of the reasons that Orcus couldn't find you and why I too had trouble finding you. ... It won't save you from you though.

At this point you notice that the cloud is not just some kind of watermist. The particles in the cloud are modrons, particularly monodrones. So many monodrones...

Lola continues
You notice them, yes. They are your servants and creations. They love you as I do. This is your world. You are the Prince of this land. Orcus took a part of your power and divinity but he had no interest in Mechanus itself. The realm is hurt but unspoiled...

For a moment, all the monodrones turn to you and bow. Then they continue their curious dance in the emptiness.

The mortals call this part of Mechanus the cloud calculator. This is what you used to solve the fates of people and things. You tried to make sure that all mortals are a part of the cloud but the Chaosfox foiled you again...

Lola's sound starts to crackle a bit.

Oh... The monodrones' reaction to you will be noticed. Other versions of you might notice and find you quicker now. Coco and the Flesheater are not the only ones still alive. Many others would like to gain the power inside of you by killing you. The same is true the other way around. If you destroy the other vestiges of you, you will get more of your memories back. You might become lawful again.

Spoiler: Luracidon

Show

There's a sea under the world, the Subhadal, also called the Shining Sea. The sea is not a normal sea of water, it is full of small mycoid intelligent organisms called endzymes. These creatures claim to be everywhere in the world, among other creatures and to suffuse them with the ability of psionics.
On this sea of psionic beings sail the mraow pirates. They protect their boats with soul crystals and build cities on islands that stand out of the sea. . The greatest of these cities is Luracidon.
The mraow also protect themselves through the path of Rose Madder Eye. Rose madder is the name they give the divine force that allowed the creation of other gods to balance out the lawful good gods of the catfolk. To balance Eboncrystal, the god of law and loyalty was formed the Choice. The Choice, also called Starlight-spear is a god of nobility and leadership. Howlingstorm, the good god of artifice and toil was balanced by The Plot. The Plot is also called Twilightspider, the god of artifice and traps. To balance the Crimson Eagle, the god of strength and resolve was formed The Act. The Act is also called the Vengeful-Hand the god of war and tactics. To balance Crying Hawk, the god of Healing and Medicine was formed The Loser. The Loser, also called Soulreaper is a god of death and murder. Finally Burning-Hunter, the god of good and redemption, was balanced by The Eternal. The Eternal, also called Shadowscorpion, is the god of Glory and Legend.

The mraow gods are gods of nihilism. They enhance the real, the materialistic, the present. They help their followers focus on what the faith's adherents know is important, survival in particular.

The mraow of Luracidon are primarily followers of the Twilightspider. Their city is in the middle of things because they have planned to build a city into a place where they could achieve this. The primary force the mraow of Luracidon use is intimidation. This they do to impose their plans on each other. They play power games.

There's no particular sex discrimination among the mraow. Those who are intimidating, those with the best plots, they rule. The mraow would accept a ruler of another race. Submitting to force is just natural. Other races don't really arise to power within Luracidon because the mraow find racism useful.

The mraow dislike the show of magic. They know that magic, once spent, is lost. Therefore the mraow support implied capability of magic but consider actual use of it vulgar and stupid. The wizardly school in Luracidon is powerful and focuses on spells of divination. The schools of enchantment and abjuration are also considered acceptable while other schools of magic are scorned.

The most blessed individuals within the mraow are considered the Destined sorcerers, closely followed by the psionic soul sorcerers. Many of the best plotters in the city, those who rule cabals of one kind or another, are destined.

Sorcerer: Destined
1st level You can cast your spells without visible spell effects. If the spell's description has no visible effects, you can cast the spell without verbal or somatic (but not without material) components.
6th level You gain the lucky feat.
14th level You gain advantage to initiative rolls and you are never surprised.
18th level You gain advantage to any saving throw to avoid being blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, incapacitated, paralyzed, petrified, restrained or stunned. If the spell or outher cause that would cause this condition is tied to other effects such as damage, this advantage does not help you avoid the other effects.

Plotting is the driving force in Luracidon. Plots put things and people to their place. For individuals that do not plot there are four main paths. The first and the one that surprisingly is the weakest is that of the skilled individual. Many think that great skill increases their worth. Yet for the one who plots the skilled individual is a circumstantial tool of little worth. The skilled individual is given the difficult tasks and the minor rewards. The loyal servant gets the easy path. For the plotter, the enthousiastic loyal servant is the one who has the most value. Bards are common in the loyalists. The College of eloquence is supreme and gives basic teaching to the children of the powerful.

The third path is the one of the survivor. Some learn to avoid the plots, make themselves look unattractive as a target. Plotters don't see such people as threats, for few of them think of the survivors at all. The main paths of power for this group are to become clerics or druids of spores.

The fourth path is the one most hated by plotters. It is the path of the trader and mercenary. Plotters actively aim to rid the city of them yet there is always natural demand for traders. The few traders that do survive, tend to have their efforts helped by the lack of competition. The traders employ most of the rogues in Luracidon for rogues are also hated by the people in power.

For the ones who wield power and plot, the most respectable paths to might are those of paladin of conquest, wizard, battle master or PSI knight.

For the commoner, the adventurer's path that is most supported by those in power is that of the samurai fighter. Warlocks are also plentiful, though the more powerful plotters see them as individuals of divided loyalties and hence expendable.

The powerful in Luracidon hold no slaves. The concept of ownership is in general annoying to those who plot. The idea that ownership is a higher law than the will of the plotter is repugnant. Those in power take what they choose to require. Hence, no one is slave, but everybody is expected to serve the ones more powerful than they. This service, if sufficiently good, may also be rewarded out of generosity. Slaves do exist in name as well, for the few traders that have power enough to thrive, use slaves.

The city is home to 60 000 individuals. Half of them mraow and others of subservient races. The island which holds the city would not support many more. Already the city is built in many layers over each other.

The waves of the Shining sea give a rhytm and a pulse to sea. The psionic pressure all around them is felt by perceptive and intelligent individuals. The day is divided into six sessions based on the surrounding atmosphere. The sessions are in order: Surprise, Happiness, Fear, Anger, Disgust, Sadness. Most prefer to be awake during surprise and happiness.

Most of the food of the realm is either brought in from other territories or fished in the Shining sea. The druids of spore circle also grow fungus in their gardens and teach the commoners to do similar in smaller scale.
The city is built on grounds of reason and necessity. Things of beauty are reserved for those in power. The construction is powerful and everything is built to intimidate. High walls, tough forms. There are few windows in buildings. The buildings of the powerful and in the middle of the city, built on those of lesser importance. Any signs of magic have been hid when possible.

The Mentaujit is the main place for studies of younger individuals. Mentats teach the young and between the lessons the young measure each other. The stronger pupils draw the weaker ones into gangs as is proper. Of course, to get in, one already has to have parents with a certain amount of power. The young with no parental support end up in workshops or as houseservants.

The Substratum is the lowest part of the town. It's the place of the powerless and the outsiders. The houses are small, catacomblike. The houses have low ceilings and their very existence is more for support of the upper layers than for the ones living inside. Fires are forbidden in these narrow tunnels and magical lights are frowned upon. Everything is done with the visibility given by darkvision. The substratum continues underground and some of the deeper tunnels fill with water. The only powerful organization that prefers the substratum are the druids of the circle of spores. They have barricaded a large section of the tunnelnetwork for their fungus farms.

The Web makes up the central layers of Luracidon. These layers have the attention of those in power while they don't reside there themselves. Continual light spell have been cast in many areas in this section of the city. To cover up that magic was used the lights are covered by metal grills, as if a flame was inside.

Most buildings have insignia of them. These markers imply who the building owns allegiance to - whose plot are they in on. Lines and crowds are typical sights in this layer. Instead of trading, the individuals in power just give out what they want. Their troops show their support by gathering into groups and behaving like the crowd. The powers that be don't want these crowds of their to fight for that would create loss of resource. Rather they want constant visual signs of their power on the streets.

War is the major trade of the mraow. Luracidon seeks to develop generals and strategists in particular, but they don't want war on the streets. Rather the atmosphere is that of constant preparation for war. Releasing tension is equally important to avoid conflagrations of hostilities. It's common to see groups that have opposing loyalties engaging in ritualized half-hearted sports events, dances and similar events. The most important festival is that of Repeating Drummings or just Redrum. Half the citizens may engage in simultaneous beating of drums making the whole city sway with the sound waves.
One thing of interest in the Web is the roads. The large roads go straight from ports to the towers owned by the most powerful. These roads have a network of supporting paths in the area local to the tower. Only small narrow paths unite the network of roads around one tower to that of another.

The plotters live in towers above the Web. Collectively these towers are sometimes called the Twilight zone. The name implies something that's between things. The reference is to place that's between dreams and reality, between the divine Twilight spider and servants. Even the most powerful plotters in the city see themselves as weak in comparison to how powerful their dreams can be. Even more so, they live in fear of loss, which is why they abhor change.
In the towers of the Twilight zone very little ever happens. What does, is ritualized to a level it lacks all efficiency. Even small things are accompanied by as much spectacle as possible.

Each tower defines a territory and a plot. The nature of the plots is usually best understood as a protection scheme though others might argue for the legality and justification of taxation. The nature of the person on top is rarely an issue for they are separated from all below and cloaked in idolatry and extravagance.

Some of the more powerful plotters in town are

Rincip 'Cottonpads'
The territory of Rincip has the Circle of spores, food and herbal market, the largest port as well as the Mentaujit.

Marisuale 'Saltytips'
The territory of Marisuale has a warlock pairing academy where they subordinate youngsters to various patrons [usually these are celestial, fiend, lurker in the deep, raven queen, undead or undying]. There's also a military academy for most fighter types. There's armourers, bowyers, smiths and other artisans related to military professions. The cartographer's academy is also here.

Carnacio 'Cleverone'
This territory has temples for the god of War and Tactics. Carnacio is considered by many a falling plotter. His extreme longevity and the rising violence in his territory, including the presence of the undead are all suggesting to others that Carnacio is losing the Plot. Forces outside the city keep propping him up though. This region has an active street life fuelled by the dispensation of alcohol. There's also a bardic college of valor and swords in the territory.

Erarqa 'Highpyre'
This territory has the temples for the god of Plotting. Most clerics, paladins and monks of the city live here at one point or another. This area also has colleges for city-planning, engineering, agriculture, fishing and history.

Rupacio 'Sugarskin'
This territory functions as a sanctuary for traders, at least up to a point. The temple of the God of murder resides here as well. The area is considered trashy by other plotters but so dangerous that it can't be removed.

Affios 'Pinnails'
A victorious general who returned with glorious spoils created this territory. This area is more luxurious than most, a guarded territory where many pleasures are easily available. There's a shrine for the god of Legends in this area. Affios has allowed monk orders to set up in his territory, raising general interest in becoming a monk in the city.

Enyor 'Happypaws'
A territory where wizard colleges reside. Enyor's territory also has many storehouses. The territory is at the very center of the city and has many structural supports for the city's towers. There's also a bardic college of glamour and satire.

Bernadora 'Whiskers'
Her territory is the most open to outsiders. Least courtesy is demanded and creatures of other races are accepted somewhat easily. There's a port of significant size. Many industries that are considered uncomfortable, such as dyeing are practiced here. Waste disposal is also a feature of this territory as is animal-keeping.

The power in the city is divided between plotters who generally maintain the status quo of power, the gangs which seek power through cleverness or forceful action and the traders who openly challenge the status quo.

Gangs are lower in the ranks of power than the true plotters. Yet their actions are more visible for they aim to act. In the city of plots the people with real power aim to threaten but never act. So one is much more likely to run into gangs engaged in interesting activity.

Many major gangs of the city recruit from and fight for influence in the Substratum.

The first mentionworthy gang is that of the Iron chain, a gang of heavy armor fighters and warlocks.

The second of the larger gangs is The Plagues. They seek druidic and bardic members, seemingly making them less dangerous to the city while still gaining power.

The gang called Darkweb is a religious cult, seeking purity of plotting on clerical grounds. Clerics and paladins form the main adherents.

These three are called high gangs. They exist as extensions of the ruling power block, but are viewed as corrupt in one way or another by the true powers. They are usually opposed by the low gangs that seek to challenge or even supplant the ones in power.

The fourth gang is the Hypothalassians. They are a gang of wanderers, rangers and barbarians. They aim to seize independence and to hold power in the regions surrounding Luracidon.

The gang called Impossible rise is largely made of bloodhunters and rogues. They aim to be seen as the most dangerous gang in the city with no other concerns.

The gang called Longwands is primarily a solace for wizards and sorcerers who use the more unacceptable colleges of magic.

Law is enforced variably. Each territory has their own laws. If a law is broken, the lawbreaker is expected to make good their actions of their own volition. The powers that be don't want to have to bother to actually uphold the laws. But if a lawbreaker is so obvious about how they flaunt the law, the plotters have no choice to utterly and completely destroy the lawbreaker. Such acts are plotted with the care of a dangerous military campaign. But when victory is certain, these events are turned into triumphal celebrations on the broken corpses of the guilty.

The merchant princes
There are few who dare to openly stand against the plot. Philosophically the merchant princes may see themselves as either opponents or misunderstood patrons of the city and society.

The merchant princes who see themselves as opposing the plotters are usually adherents to the cult of the Loser, the god of death and murder. With their trading they seek to create chaos and destruction in the realm. They are usually purged from the city even though they are accepted by society. Hence, the successful merchant princes of this type act beyond city walls. They're pirates and trade ship runners. They create purposeful shortages and gouge prices. They import cursed, faulty or subversive items to the city and they leave orders unfilled, anything to destroy the powers of plotting.

The other merchant princes pay homage to either the god of Nobility and leadership or the god of Legends or both. They frame themselves above and beyond plotting. They engage in trade while doing their business in ways that seem like they fit the city's standards. They call themselves the Cornecopia.

The borders of the town are the shores. Beyond the shores is the navy. The navy is large and is primarily martial in nature.

[Smilex]

Spoiler: Theria

Show

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Both arcana and religion can be appropriate. More often religion...

The newcomer turns his head about 15 degrees sideways, as if to get a new perspective on you.

You are here by accident then.

At first Theria sees only the ones and zeros. Then she starts to notice that blocks of them do repeat in larger forms. The forms seem to make little sense though. It is as if she was seeing a different language.

The stranger says
You found the phrases quickly. That's talent one doesn't see often. It seems doubtful that your appearance here is random. Your tools suggest you might belong to one of the masonic societies. Logic says you're a spy.

He takes a light hammer out and beats some of the zeros and ones to a new form. It's a shield, which he puts on.

As they say, defence wins.

He seems completely emotionless but his words suggest added threat.

Theria remembers Duro talk about a group of dwarves that are trained as smiths of reality. They are highly trained servants of very rich and powerful dwarves, often in direct service to the head of a major clan or a guild.

I ask you to be more forthcoming. How did you come here and what are you doing here?

You realize from the words the dwarf uses that he is probably a follower of the devil-king Zagan

Spoiler: Zagan background info

Show

Zagan, the Loyalist
Their motto is "Defence wins." They seek security and certainty. They punish the ones who they disapprove of by withdrawing their resources and support.
Healthy Zaganites are able to elicit strong emotional responses from others: very appealing, endearing, lovable, affectionate. Trust important: bonding with others, forming permanent relationships and alliances.
Average Zaganites react against others passive-aggressively. Become evasive, indecisive, cautious, procrastinating, and ambivalent. Are highly reactive, anxious, and negative, giving contradictory, "mixed signals." Internal confusion makes them react unpredictably.
Unhealthy Zaganites have feelings of being persecuted, that others are "out to get them." They lash-out and act irrationally, bringing about what they fear. Fanaticism, violence.
Under Zagan are the two archdevils Dispater the Defender and Mahathallah, the Friend. They largely divide responsibilities for Zagan's work. They are the active demi-gods that do Zagan's work. These are the patrons of mathematics, accounting and computers.

[Smilex]

Spoiler: Polari

Show

Lola ... smiles.
You're now pure of chaos. It's not quite the same as understanding law, but it's better. You also seem to have this idea that good is better than evil. That makes no sense and we could fix that. Though your idea of good might be useful this moment...


A picture forms in the cloud. You see a strange dwarf in a dark green armor threaten Theria in the middle of the cloud.

We have been hacked. There's an intruder making trouble with one of your friends. Would you like us to intrude and how? I believe this should show you that furthering your cooperation with Mechanus can yield benefits to you and those you care about. Many of the other yous are working with Mechanus which very much increases their likelihood of gaining victory over you.

[Bobthewizard]

Polari Human Sorcerer 3 / Warlock 1 AC: 15 (MA) | HP: 27/27 | HD: 3/3d6 1/1d8
PP: 12 PInv: 12 PIns: 12 Spell Slots, 1st: 2/5 2nd: 2/2
Sorcery Points: 5/5 Restore Balance: 2/2 Healing Light: 2/2 Conditions: none

Polari responds to Lola with a decisive command.

"Intervene to protect my friends. Send us back to our world."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Possible Reactions:
1. If Polari is hit and the roll is 19 or less, he will cast shield with his reaction.
2. If he is hit by 10 or more elemental damage, he will cast absorb elements.
3. If one of the players is attacked with advantage or has to attack at disadvantage, I can use a reaction to make it a normal roll.

Spoiler: Caverns Map

Show

Spoiler: Notes

Show

Geronimo, goblin bard
Professor Melange, Mentaujit
Pelonia, Abracio fleet - Rik and Oren
Sister Spinozo, Longwands - Polari and Geronimo
Heir Ermans, Sister Spinoza's boss
Rincip 'Cottonpads' - Allisog and Sakuya
Hopalloz, lost 150 years ago
Chexxa, Hopalloz outpost for arcane research
Captain Gomyabber, scouts found tunnels to Chexxa
Soulcrystal and ritual book, for collecting energy from Chexxa's forge - Polari gave them up
Nodovico, gnoll guide RIP
Namera and Pandinho, rescued Mraow (stayed behind)
Remilia, betrayed others with gnolls (all dead now)
Nyokawamtoto, dragon-thing stuck in the forge
Danifae, oracle and spear wielder
The Nip, or Disciples of Danifae have SS in a building in the territory of Affios 'Pinnails'
Doctor Coccyx and Bellatrice
Affios, stole dragon money from Pozernoa, runs Nips
Jaere'e, from Pozernoa, lives in Substratum, leader of the scions of shadow dragons.
Lola (candle) and Lalo (bell)
Orderly Principality - Aven and bard Coco, looking for Polari.

Spoiler: wizard

Show

Suddenly Polari remembers a magical fight. A wizard cast an ice storm that pummeled five young sorcerers in front of Polari. He was about to then cast phantasmal killer on Polari when he was stopped by a friend of Polari's. Someone else then came and dragged Polari away. You remember the wizard with his ritual dagger that was a meat-carving knife. His bones shone through his face at spots where he had eaten a part of his own face.

Spoiler: Polari's Cloud in Temple

Show

You move within the cloud and it seems the cloud is quite deep.

Lola starts speaking in her normal whispery monotonous voice
Haems is the name of the mountain behind the temple. This a temple of Fate, the final state of every machine, the value of the function, the inevitable end result of everything.

A huge pendulum swings by you in the cloud.

This temple is quite powerful. It can actually transport us to the the center of the inevitable machine. This is Mechanus as much as this is the temple at Haems

A series of balls rolls by you at intervals that seem like a combination of regular and irregular. You seem to remember that there's a code in them.

The pole of a meromorphic complex function is a point on the complex plane on which the function is undefined or approaches infinity. Your existence in Mechanus was about research. Research requires growth. Mechanus is complex enough to allow growth but growth can only exist in areas that are not normally covered. Your inability to adapt is what sheltered you when many other pieces were destroyed by Orcus. Orcus killed most of you. That was fate... but not the end. You're still here, you and your infinite potential.

A series of lightning bolts flashes by you.

You're not the only one with infinite potential to grow and define Mechanus. Other pieces of you are looking for you. By the end there can be only one. All uncertainty will be removed.

You keep walking and the cloud seems to go on and on.

None of the others are here. It's just you. The others are somewhere else.

You move further inside the cloud.

Lola keeps talking
Your memory is strange partially because Orcus severed you from the rest of your memories... partially because you wanted to experiment with your own antithesis, chaos. It's one of the reasons that Orcus couldn't find you and why I too had trouble finding you. ... It won't save you from you though.

At this point you notice that the cloud is not just some kind of watermist. The particles in the cloud are modrons, particularly monodrones. So many monodrones...

Lola continues
You notice them, yes. They are your servants and creations. They love you as I do. This is your world. You are the Prince of this land. Orcus took a part of your power and divinity but he had no interest in Mechanus itself. The realm is hurt but unspoiled...

For a moment, all the monodrones turn to you and bow. Then they continue their curious dance in the emptiness.

The mortals call this part of Mechanus the cloud calculator. This is what you used to solve the fates of people and things. You tried to make sure that all mortals are a part of the cloud but the Chaosfox foiled you again...

Lola's sound starts to crackle a bit.

Oh... The monodrones' reaction to you will be noticed. Other versions of you might notice and find you quicker now. Coco and the Flesheater are not the only ones still alive. Many others would like to gain the power inside of you by killing you. The same is true the other way around. If you destroy the other vestiges of you, you will get more of your memories back. You might become lawful again.

Spoiler: Luracidon

Show

There's a sea under the world, the Subhadal, also called the Shining Sea. The sea is not a normal sea of water, it is full of small mycoid intelligent organisms called endzymes. These creatures claim to be everywhere in the world, among other creatures and to suffuse them with the ability of psionics.
On this sea of psionic beings sail the mraow pirates. They protect their boats with soul crystals and build cities on islands that stand out of the sea. . The greatest of these cities is Luracidon.
The mraow also protect themselves through the path of Rose Madder Eye. Rose madder is the name they give the divine force that allowed the creation of other gods to balance out the lawful good gods of the catfolk. To balance Eboncrystal, the god of law and loyalty was formed the Choice. The Choice, also called Starlight-spear is a god of nobility and leadership. Howlingstorm, the good god of artifice and toil was balanced by The Plot. The Plot is also called Twilightspider, the god of artifice and traps. To balance the Crimson Eagle, the god of strength and resolve was formed The Act. The Act is also called the Vengeful-Hand the god of war and tactics. To balance Crying Hawk, the god of Healing and Medicine was formed The Loser. The Loser, also called Soulreaper is a god of death and murder. Finally Burning-Hunter, the god of good and redemption, was balanced by The Eternal. The Eternal, also called Shadowscorpion, is the god of Glory and Legend.

The mraow gods are gods of nihilism. They enhance the real, the materialistic, the present. They help their followers focus on what the faith's adherents know is important, survival in particular.

The mraow of Luracidon are primarily followers of the Twilightspider. Their city is in the middle of things because they have planned to build a city into a place where they could achieve this. The primary force the mraow of Luracidon use is intimidation. This they do to impose their plans on each other. They play power games.

There's no particular sex discrimination among the mraow. Those who are intimidating, those with the best plots, they rule. The mraow would accept a ruler of another race. Submitting to force is just natural. Other races don't really arise to power within Luracidon because the mraow find racism useful.

The mraow dislike the show of magic. They know that magic, once spent, is lost. Therefore the mraow support implied capability of magic but consider actual use of it vulgar and stupid. The wizardly school in Luracidon is powerful and focuses on spells of divination. The schools of enchantment and abjuration are also considered acceptable while other schools of magic are scorned.

The most blessed individuals within the mraow are considered the Destined sorcerers, closely followed by the psionic soul sorcerers. Many of the best plotters in the city, those who rule cabals of one kind or another, are destined.

Sorcerer: Destined
1st level You can cast your spells without visible spell effects. If the spell's description has no visible effects, you can cast the spell without verbal or somatic (but not without material) components.
6th level You gain the lucky feat.
14th level You gain advantage to initiative rolls and you are never surprised.
18th level You gain advantage to any saving throw to avoid being blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, incapacitated, paralyzed, petrified, restrained or stunned. If the spell or outher cause that would cause this condition is tied to other effects such as damage, this advantage does not help you avoid the other effects.

Plotting is the driving force in Luracidon. Plots put things and people to their place. For individuals that do not plot there are four main paths. The first and the one that surprisingly is the weakest is that of the skilled individual. Many think that great skill increases their worth. Yet for the one who plots the skilled individual is a circumstantial tool of little worth. The skilled individual is given the difficult tasks and the minor rewards. The loyal servant gets the easy path. For the plotter, the enthousiastic loyal servant is the one who has the most value. Bards are common in the loyalists. The College of eloquence is supreme and gives basic teaching to the children of the powerful.

The third path is the one of the survivor. Some learn to avoid the plots, make themselves look unattractive as a target. Plotters don't see such people as threats, for few of them think of the survivors at all. The main paths of power for this group are to become clerics or druids of spores.

The fourth path is the one most hated by plotters. It is the path of the trader and mercenary. Plotters actively aim to rid the city of them yet there is always natural demand for traders. The few traders that do survive, tend to have their efforts helped by the lack of competition. The traders employ most of the rogues in Luracidon for rogues are also hated by the people in power.

For the ones who wield power and plot, the most respectable paths to might are those of paladin of conquest, wizard, battle master or PSI knight.

For the commoner, the adventurer's path that is most supported by those in power is that of the samurai fighter. Warlocks are also plentiful, though the more powerful plotters see them as individuals of divided loyalties and hence expendable.

The powerful in Luracidon hold no slaves. The concept of ownership is in general annoying to those who plot. The idea that ownership is a higher law than the will of the plotter is repugnant. Those in power take what they choose to require. Hence, no one is slave, but everybody is expected to serve the ones more powerful than they. This service, if sufficiently good, may also be rewarded out of generosity. Slaves do exist in name as well, for the few traders that have power enough to thrive, use slaves.

The city is home to 60 000 individuals. Half of them mraow and others of subservient races. The island which holds the city would not support many more. Already the city is built in many layers over each other.

The waves of the Shining sea give a rhytm and a pulse to sea. The psionic pressure all around them is felt by perceptive and intelligent individuals. The day is divided into six sessions based on the surrounding atmosphere. The sessions are in order: Surprise, Happiness, Fear, Anger, Disgust, Sadness. Most prefer to be awake during surprise and happiness.

Most of the food of the realm is either brought in from other territories or fished in the Shining sea. The druids of spore circle also grow fungus in their gardens and teach the commoners to do similar in smaller scale.
The city is built on grounds of reason and necessity. Things of beauty are reserved for those in power. The construction is powerful and everything is built to intimidate. High walls, tough forms. There are few windows in buildings. The buildings of the powerful and in the middle of the city, built on those of lesser importance. Any signs of magic have been hid when possible.

The Mentaujit is the main place for studies of younger individuals. Mentats teach the young and between the lessons the young measure each other. The stronger pupils draw the weaker ones into gangs as is proper. Of course, to get in, one already has to have parents with a certain amount of power. The young with no parental support end up in workshops or as houseservants.

The Substratum is the lowest part of the town. It's the place of the powerless and the outsiders. The houses are small, catacomblike. The houses have low ceilings and their very existence is more for support of the upper layers than for the ones living inside. Fires are forbidden in these narrow tunnels and magical lights are frowned upon. Everything is done with the visibility given by darkvision. The substratum continues underground and some of the deeper tunnels fill with water. The only powerful organization that prefers the substratum are the druids of the circle of spores. They have barricaded a large section of the tunnelnetwork for their fungus farms.

The Web makes up the central layers of Luracidon. These layers have the attention of those in power while they don't reside there themselves. Continual light spell have been cast in many areas in this section of the city. To cover up that magic was used the lights are covered by metal grills, as if a flame was inside.

Most buildings have insignia of them. These markers imply who the building owns allegiance to - whose plot are they in on. Lines and crowds are typical sights in this layer. Instead of trading, the individuals in power just give out what they want. Their troops show their support by gathering into groups and behaving like the crowd. The powers that be don't want these crowds of their to fight for that would create loss of resource. Rather they want constant visual signs of their power on the streets.

War is the major trade of the mraow. Luracidon seeks to develop generals and strategists in particular, but they don't want war on the streets. Rather the atmosphere is that of constant preparation for war. Releasing tension is equally important to avoid conflagrations of hostilities. It's common to see groups that have opposing loyalties engaging in ritualized half-hearted sports events, dances and similar events. The most important festival is that of Repeating Drummings or just Redrum. Half the citizens may engage in simultaneous beating of drums making the whole city sway with the sound waves.
One thing of interest in the Web is the roads. The large roads go straight from ports to the towers owned by the most powerful. These roads have a network of supporting paths in the area local to the tower. Only small narrow paths unite the network of roads around one tower to that of another.

The plotters live in towers above the Web. Collectively these towers are sometimes called the Twilight zone. The name implies something that's between things. The reference is to place that's between dreams and reality, between the divine Twilight spider and servants. Even the most powerful plotters in the city see themselves as weak in comparison to how powerful their dreams can be. Even more so, they live in fear of loss, which is why they abhor change.
In the towers of the Twilight zone very little ever happens. What does, is ritualized to a level it lacks all efficiency. Even small things are accompanied by as much spectacle as possible.

Each tower defines a territory and a plot. The nature of the plots is usually best understood as a protection scheme though others might argue for the legality and justification of taxation. The nature of the person on top is rarely an issue for they are separated from all below and cloaked in idolatry and extravagance.

Some of the more powerful plotters in town are

Rincip 'Cottonpads'
The territory of Rincip has the Circle of spores, food and herbal market, the largest port as well as the Mentaujit.

Marisuale 'Saltytips'
The territory of Marisuale has a warlock pairing academy where they subordinate youngsters to various patrons [usually these are celestial, fiend, lurker in the deep, raven queen, undead or undying]. There's also a military academy for most fighter types. There's armourers, bowyers, smiths and other artisans related to military professions. The cartographer's academy is also here.

Carnacio 'Cleverone'
This territory has temples for the god of War and Tactics. Carnacio is considered by many a falling plotter. His extreme longevity and the rising violence in his territory, including the presence of the undead are all suggesting to others that Carnacio is losing the Plot. Forces outside the city keep propping him up though. This region has an active street life fuelled by the dispensation of alcohol. There's also a bardic college of valor and swords in the territory.

Erarqa 'Highpyre'
This territory has the temples for the god of Plotting. Most clerics, paladins and monks of the city live here at one point or another. This area also has colleges for city-planning, engineering, agriculture, fishing and history.

Rupacio 'Sugarskin'
This territory functions as a sanctuary for traders, at least up to a point. The temple of the God of murder resides here as well. The area is considered trashy by other plotters but so dangerous that it can't be removed.

Affios 'Pinnails'
A victorious general who returned with glorious spoils created this territory. This area is more luxurious than most, a guarded territory where many pleasures are easily available. There's a shrine for the god of Legends in this area. Affios has allowed monk orders to set up in his territory, raising general interest in becoming a monk in the city.

Enyor 'Happypaws'
A territory where wizard colleges reside. Enyor's territory also has many storehouses. The territory is at the very center of the city and has many structural supports for the city's towers. There's also a bardic college of glamour and satire.

Bernadora 'Whiskers'
Her territory is the most open to outsiders. Least courtesy is demanded and creatures of other races are accepted somewhat easily. There's a port of significant size. Many industries that are considered uncomfortable, such as dyeing are practiced here. Waste disposal is also a feature of this territory as is animal-keeping.

The power in the city is divided between plotters who generally maintain the status quo of power, the gangs which seek power through cleverness or forceful action and the traders who openly challenge the status quo.

Gangs are lower in the ranks of power than the true plotters. Yet their actions are more visible for they aim to act. In the city of plots the people with real power aim to threaten but never act. So one is much more likely to run into gangs engaged in interesting activity.

Many major gangs of the city recruit from and fight for influence in the Substratum.

The first mentionworthy gang is that of the Iron chain, a gang of heavy armor fighters and warlocks.

The second of the larger gangs is The Plagues. They seek druidic and bardic members, seemingly making them less dangerous to the city while still gaining power.

The gang called Darkweb is a religious cult, seeking purity of plotting on clerical grounds. Clerics and paladins form the main adherents.

These three are called high gangs. They exist as extensions of the ruling power block, but are viewed as corrupt in one way or another by the true powers. They are usually opposed by the low gangs that seek to challenge or even supplant the ones in power.

The fourth gang is the Hypothalassians. They are a gang of wanderers, rangers and barbarians. They aim to seize independence and to hold power in the regions surrounding Luracidon.

The gang called Impossible rise is largely made of bloodhunters and rogues. They aim to be seen as the most dangerous gang in the city with no other concerns.

The gang called Longwands is primarily a solace for wizards and sorcerers who use the more unacceptable colleges of magic.

Law is enforced variably. Each territory has their own laws. If a law is broken, the lawbreaker is expected to make good their actions of their own volition. The powers that be don't want to have to bother to actually uphold the laws. But if a lawbreaker is so obvious about how they flaunt the law, the plotters have no choice to utterly and completely destroy the lawbreaker. Such acts are plotted with the care of a dangerous military campaign. But when victory is certain, these events are turned into triumphal celebrations on the broken corpses of the guilty.

The merchant princes
There are few who dare to openly stand against the plot. Philosophically the merchant princes may see themselves as either opponents or misunderstood patrons of the city and society.

The merchant princes who see themselves as opposing the plotters are usually adherents to the cult of the Loser, the god of death and murder. With their trading they seek to create chaos and destruction in the realm. They are usually purged from the city even though they are accepted by society. Hence, the successful merchant princes of this type act beyond city walls. They're pirates and trade ship runners. They create purposeful shortages and gouge prices. They import cursed, faulty or subversive items to the city and they leave orders unfilled, anything to destroy the powers of plotting.

The other merchant princes pay homage to either the god of Nobility and leadership or the god of Legends or both. They frame themselves above and beyond plotting. They engage in trade while doing their business in ways that seem like they fit the city's standards. They call themselves the Cornecopia.

The borders of the town are the shores. Beyond the shores is the navy. The navy is large and is primarily martial in nature.

[Zhentarim]

Geronimo rises up in his spectral form, up through the ceiling of the palace, and tries to get a birds eye view of the area. Geronimo looks for other spectral forms, as well, hoping to learn more.

[Wooloo]

Oren Ratfolk Fighter 4 AC: 16 | HP: 40/40 | HD: 4/1d10 Quiver: 20 arrows Second Wind: 1/1 Action Surge: 1/1 Superiority Die: 4/4 (d8) PP: 12 PInv: 10 PIns: 12 Conditions: none

Spoiler: tripping cloud!

Show

“What..? What’s in my head?” Oren will touch his face trying to find what they are talking about.

“Who are you people? Let me outta this cloud already! This cloud is not funny anymore, come on.. Summon the loser and tell his dinner is served! Let me out!” Oren doesn’t know what to do, he’s feeling helpless.

[Ninja Dragon]

Spoiler: Rik

Show

The cowled figure moves the deck of cards away.

Let it be revealed in time then.


The cowled figure's head turns 180 degrees.

Instead of the future I will show you the past then.

Rik sees a rapidly approaching blue ball between the stars. As it nears he can see that it has clouds circling it. The vision increases in size until Rik can see that there's a continent on the blue ball. On the continent there's mountains and on one of the mountains there's a temple.

The temple looks grandiose. There's winged, birdheaded humans flying around it in patterns. Their flight seems to call clouds, rain... The rain slowly erodes the land, changing it's shape.

Forests grow and they drink the water, stop the erosion. They reach out and they grasp the birdpeople from the skies.

This was the time of the faerie's betrayal.

Dryads walk into the temple. Vines grow to surround the walls. Trees push the buildings apart and walls collapse. A jungle covers everything.

Then the trees start to look sick. A pale green radiance covers what you see. Beings climb out of water and they are covered in radiance. Trees drop their leaves. The newcomers cut down dryads and enter the temple. Smoke covers the sky.

Then came the ghouls and their allies.

The beings that radiate the strongest start eating the ones that radiate less. New beings come from the waters and the radiating ones feast on them.

Then a group of white furred beings, with dogs' faces walk into the region. They start fighting the radiating ghouls. For a time they drive the ghouls away. The temple is broken and it's pieces are carried away, but the caverns underneath survive.

Then some of the dog-beings start radiating. They call the ghouls back from under the seas and now the united ghoulgroups drive away the whitefurred creatures.

The gnolls tried to destroy the temple but it was built strong and deep. The caverns must remain.

Rik sees the ghouls build a city nearby. And then comes Polonia's ship. Rik walks to the caverns and enters the cloud.

"I... see".

That was a lot of information, and the weight of history dawned on the rat, as he realized how the struggles between the mraow and the ghouls were such a small part of the whole picture.

"And you? What is your role in all of this?"

[Smilex]

Oren and Theria are slightly behind and Polari slightly ahead in timeline...

Spoiler: Goyathlay

Show

You float higher and higher. Your corpse is lying on the ground. The needle is done with it and looking for you but you're too high for it's reach. From higher up you can look around better and should you later come back, you think you would have a decent understanding of the lay of the place.

You can sense a part of you within Orcus. You realize now, it's your truename. Without it you can't be resurrected. Without it, the only thing that's holding you together is the deathtitan's needle.

At this point in time you can hear a young lady's voice in your mind.
Protocol interrupted.

And you stumble out into a room ... as two... an animate corpse with a new scar and and an insubstantial spirit.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Please pick which one you inhabit. The other one starts out as an evil GM-controlled undead.

[Smilex]

Spoiler: Oren

Show

Ibis-headed man says
Fight your way out, draw your blades. That's an enemy.

The lady rat looks at Oren and his forehead.
That mark on your forehead is evil.
She reaches to rub it.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

at this point, please pick if you want to keep your initiative bonuses. If you do, the mark has sunk in and has now made you neutral instead of good. Otherwise she rubs the mark off and the effects of the mark cease.

She continues... whatever the results
Curious. You need to get out of here. I think I know a way. Will you follow me?

[Smilex]

Spoiler: Rik

Show

The cowled being's head turns around once more. You're pretty sure it's a third facet, not the original one.

I am the Three-fold-one, I am Magdh. Some people say I'm Fate, others that I'm a Fate. Others think I'm Fae. Perhaps all three are true. As the temple, I too have layers. They're now calling you though.

The cloud starts to dissipate and Rik stumbles into a new room.. cloud behind him.

[Ninja Dragon]

"Uh, guys? Is anyone there? Polari? Geronimo? Oren? Theria?"

He yells, wondering if he is out of whatever weitd plane he was at before.

He looks around, to see if he can see or hear anything in this new place.

Spoiler

Show

Perception: (1d20+5)[20]

[Wooloo]

Oren Ratfolk Fighter 4 AC: 16 | HP: 40/40 | HD: 4/1d10 Quiver: 20 arrows Second Wind: 1/1 Action Surge: 1/1 Superiority Die: 4/4 (d8) PP: 12 PInv: 10 PIns: 12 Conditions: none

Spoiler: Still in the cloud

Show

Oren lets the lady rub off the mark. It’s not often he gets a kind touch like this and he wishes it would last longer.
“Thanks lady. Yes, I’ll follow.” He feels light and calm now.