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  1. - Top - End - #541
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Chimera

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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Rik doesn't have the means to take both gnolls down before they sound an alarm, so he will try to stay close enough to them so that as room as the party can see them, he will attack them by surprise, allowing the party to help Rik finish them off.
    Last edited by Ninja Dragon; 2021-01-19 at 02:22 PM.

  2. - Top - End - #542
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Zhentarim's Avatar

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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Geronimo readies the spell Charm Person, raised to 2nd level, ready to attempt to charm the two gnolls as soon as he sees them. If successful, he will use his diplomacy feat to double-charm them and make them perma-allies like Arris (if they can speak Geronimo's language). Hopefully that works.

    Geronimo follows the others, hoping Arris can take care of the situation. Arris seems like a good bird, and thinks that it was a bad move for Polari to have killed his friends.
    Last edited by Zhentarim; 2021-01-20 at 03:18 AM.

  3. - Top - End - #543
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Smilex's Avatar

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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Arris lights up a torch as he can't guide you otherwise with no darkvision. This is also quite a relief to Oren.

    The group starts towards the larger temple building.
    Arris is quite tense, afraid even.

    The gnolls see the group coming before the group sees them. The building's foundation is 10' high so it takes a little to climb up also. Arris flies up and greets the guards at which point the guards have prepared. He speaks aklo to the guards
    We're being attacked. My group was just slain by a spell. Help us fight this threat.

    The gnolls ask
    What's all this then. We don't care about aven business.
    I could go down and take word to the others.

    While this little conversation is going on the rest of the party climbs up to the pedestal. It's not that difficult, there's enough broken spots where one can get easy handholds.

    When the party is climbing up, Rik has his chance for a surprise attack. ...

  4. - Top - End - #544
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Zhentarim's Avatar

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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Geronimo readies the 2nd level spell Shatter, so that the two gnolls are hit by the spell as soon as Rik makes his attack. Geronimo will try to center the spell to avoid hitting Arris. Geronimo may need to cast a follow-up suggestion spell to convince to treat the gnolls and the allies of the gnolls as hostile agents of Sarcophogus.

    Geronimo will also offer healing to Arris should he need it, seeing how he's Geronimo's pet.
    Last edited by Zhentarim; 2021-01-20 at 08:28 AM.

  5. - Top - End - #545
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Chimera

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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Rik Silverfang
    Ratfolk Monk 4
    AC: 17 | HP: 31/31 | HD: 4/4d8
    Javelins: 5/5 | Darts: 10/10
    Ki: 4/4
    PP: 15 PInv: 10 PIns: 13
    Conditions: none

    He will use the chance to attack one of the gnolls from behind.

    Spoiler
    Show
    Spear: (1d20+6)[26]
    (1d20+6)[12]
    Damage: (1d8+4)[8]

    Unarmed Strike: (1d20+6)[17]
    (1d20+6)[7]
    Damage: (1d4+4)[6]

  6. - Top - End - #546
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Chimera

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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Spoiler: Critical Hit
    Show
    (1d8)[2]

    10char

  7. - Top - End - #547
    Ettin in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Watching Rik land the first blow from behind, Geronimo, with the Shatter spell still held, shouts "Arris, Rik, look out! The gnolls bear the mark of Sarcophogas, stand away and I'll deal with them!"

    Geronimo casts shatter on the two gnolls as soon as Arris and Rik are safe.
    Last edited by Zhentarim; 2021-01-20 at 12:34 PM.

  8. - Top - End - #548
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    GnomeWizardGuy

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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk

    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: 3/5 2nd: 2/2
    Sorcery Points: 5/5 Restore Balance: 2/2 Healing Light: 2/2 Conditions: none


    As soon as he gets to the top and can see the ground between the two gnolls, Polari causes a bonfire to erupt between them, hopefully catching them both in the blaze.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Casts Create Bonfire, DC13 Dex save or take (1d8)[8]

    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: 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: 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.



  9. - Top - End - #549
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Smilex's Avatar

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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Rik surprise kills one of the gnolls with a spear to the back and a punch to the neck.

    The other gnoll gasps and turns to Rik, trying to swat at him with a morningstar, but the strike misses.
    Two arrows fly from the largest tree's branches and hit Arris in the chest. Your new Aven friend falls down dead. You see two gnoll archers who were hiding in the tree.

    Polari creates a bonfire that covers both of the large branches where the gnolls are sitting. They both fall down from the tree with their pants burning.

    The two gnolls drop to a position where they're nicely in range for Geronimo to shatter all three remaining gnolls at the same time.
    Something about being with me... Slapped you right in the face, nearly broke you in two!
    The two gnolls that fell down from the tree have their spines broken by the song. The third one manages to survive but takes a bit of damage.

    The one remaining gnoll looks very scared.

    Spoiler: Initiative queue
    Show

    18 Oren
    7 Theria
    6 Rik

    Round 2

    19 Gnolls
    9 Polari
    8 Geronimo

  10. - Top - End - #550
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Chimera

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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Rik Silverfang
    Ratfolk Monk 4
    AC: 17 | HP: 31/31 | HD: 4/4d8
    Javelins: 5/5 | Darts: 10/10
    Ki: 4/4
    PP: 15 PInv: 10 PIns: 13
    Conditions: none

    Rik knows the importance of not letting them set athe alarm, but he doesn't want to execute a lone scared enemy. He will knock the gnoll down with the quaterstaff side of his spear.

    Spoiler
    Show
    Spear: (1d20+6)[14]
    Damage: (1d8+4)[6]
    Unarmed Strike: (1d20+6)[8]
    Damage: (1d4+4)[5]

  11. - Top - End - #551
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    GnomeWizardGuy

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    Lower Menthis

    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk

    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: 3/5 2nd: 2/2
    Sorcery Points: 5/5 Restore Balance: 2/2 Healing Light: 2/2 Conditions: none


    If the last gnoll is still alive and hasn't surrendered, Polari tries to put a crossbow bolt in him to make sure he can't raise an alarm.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Attack: (1d20+4)[20], Damage: (1d8+2)[7]

    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: 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: 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.



  12. - Top - End - #552
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    BardGuy

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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Oren
    Ratfolk Fighter 4
    AC: 16 | HP: 40/40 | HD: 4/1d10
    Quiver: 19 arrows
    Second Wind: 1/1
    Action Surge: 1/1
    Superiority Die: 4/4 (d8)
    PP: 12 PInv: 10 PIns: 12
    Conditions: none

    Oren had been a little distracted day-dreaming, but the eruption of combat jolts him back to earth!

    Quickly, the rat fighter draws his bow and shoots an arrow at the gnoll. After shooting the projectile, Oren moves up towards the enemy.

    Spoiler: Attack roll
    Show
    Longbow attack: (1d20+6)[21], damage: (1d8+4)[5]

  13. - Top - End - #553
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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Oren's arrow hits the gnoll but he still lives.

    Rik's feeling ambivalent and trying to take it easy, which allows the gnoll just enough of a chance to dodge his spear and kick.

    The gnoll prepares to strike Rik but Theria has just enough time to intervene...

  14. - Top - End - #554
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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Geronimo says to the others "We should be more sneaky."

  15. - Top - End - #555
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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Theria simply hurls an axe at the remaining gnoll.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Action: (1d20+6)[9] for (1d6+4)[9]
    Reaction: intercept (used, I think)


    "As much as I'd like to clear this place out, the one I'm looking for is here." Theria points out. "I'd like him alive at the end of this."

  16. - Top - End - #556
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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Theria and Rik miss the gnoll. The gnoll misses his counterstrike.
    Polari puts a crossbow bolt through the gnoll finishing the fight.

    As you examine the area, it seems the gnolls are traveling light. You find a morningstars, regular bows, shields and 27 gp.

    The stairs leads about 20 yards underground.

    Spoiler: Map
    Show



    Posting in a hurry, will include more descriptive stuff in later post.

  17. - Top - End - #557
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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    The walls are mostly artificial stonework. Only here and there can you see a place where the bricks have collapsed and there's natural stone underneath. In some areas the natural cavern walls have been covered by bricks. In other areas the wall is the actual stone of the cavern. There's no large empty space between the brick walls and the natural stone in any place.

    Many areas of the walls have been painted white a long time ago. At the stairs themselves you can see a wall painting. It depicts humans walking in a cavern carrying lanterns.

    On the floor there's quite a bit of bat droppings. People have not bothered to clean it, rather there's many paths that have been walked on enough so that the guano is compressed tightly.

    The ceilings in rooms are usually 10-15' high, though the first large room you find has a 20' to 25' ceiling. Most corridors have 10' ceilings.

    At the stairs, near the painting you can see a quick scrawling in dwarven script that says
    Questing.

  18. - Top - End - #558
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    BardGuy

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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Oren
    Ratfolk Fighter 4
    AC: 16 | HP: 40/40 | HD: 4/1d10
    Quiver: 19 arrows
    Second Wind: 1/1
    Action Surge: 1/1
    Superiority Die: 4/4 (d8)
    PP: 12 PInv: 10 PIns: 12
    Conditions: none

    Oren tries to speak in a low voice, to the best of his ability. But he is not a quiet person, in general, so it could come out a bit loud.
    “Questing..? What could it mean..” He is looking at Theria hoping she provides some insight. Intrigued by the script, Oren adds “I think we should take the side tunnel. It seems like the path less travelled.. What do you think, Rik?”

  19. - Top - End - #559
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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk

    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: 3/5 2nd: 2/2
    Sorcery Points: 5/5 Restore Balance: 2/2 Healing Light: 2/2 Conditions: none


    Polari gathers up the gold and splits it up amongst the party, 5gp each. He tosses the extra two gold pieces to Oren,

    "Here, you get the extra. Go ahead and lead the way. We're right behind you."

    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: 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: 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.



  20. - Top - End - #560
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Chimera

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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    "Yes, I think the side tunnel is better. The front one seems like it may give enemies more opportunities to snipe us from afar."

    Rik also checks the left tunnel. It seems to be a dead end, but there could be something at the wall or the floor/ceiling.

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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    As you search the gnolls, you note all of them had gaunt bodies and fungus infections. Their gums were bloody and they had some scars suggesting ritual mutilation.

    You then move down the stairs into the large entrance hall. The smell of guano is quite strong here. I'm assuming Oren carries a torch to see something. It's light reveals maybe a hundred bats in the ceiling. You suspect that if it was daytime, there would be plenty more.

    The walls of the hall were once painted in bright colours but now they've faded. You can see remnants of many paintings. The depicted scenes suggest rituals and ceremonies. Some of the figures are engaged in activities that seemingly lack any sense. One character is painted with both of his legs behind his neck. Another scene suggests a woman throwing away money.

    Again Theria finds her teacher's scribblings
    Body positions in shape of runes?

    The west corridor that Rik checks out is collapsed. This area has particularly plentiful amounts of guano.

    You move into the east corridor and as you do so, Rik starts to notice a pattern... the footprints and the guano in them is all on the sides of the corridor and nothing in the middle. At this point Geronimo hears a small click from where Oren has stepped.
    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Oren is at the first corner in the middle of the corridor. Geronimo and or Rik have time enough to warn Oren with a word or two before anything happens.

  22. - Top - End - #562
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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    "TO THE WALL!" - Rik yells.

  23. - Top - End - #563
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    GnomeWizardGuy

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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk

    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: 3/5 2nd: 2/2
    Sorcery Points: 5/5 Restore Balance: 2/2 Healing Light: 2/2 Conditions: none


    Polari listens to Rik and moves to the side where the footprints are, pinning himself against the wall.

    "Thanks."

    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: 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: 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.



  24. - Top - End - #564
    Ogre in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Oren presumably dodges toward a wall. Two spears lunge from the wall toward Oren. The trap doesn't reset.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show

    Oren: 2 dex saving throws at dc 15, if either fails, 6 piercing damage. If both fail 12. With the unfortunate direction of the dodge, no advantage to saving throw.

  25. - Top - End - #565
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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Soon after the trap, there's a dwarvish scrawling on the eastern wall that says

    This way.

    At that point you hear voices from ahead. Barely audible. It sounds like gnolls.

  26. - Top - End - #566
    Ettin in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Quote Originally Posted by Smilex View Post
    The walls are mostly artificial stonework. Only here and there can you see a place where the bricks have collapsed and there's natural stone underneath. In some areas the natural cavern walls have been covered by bricks. In other areas the wall is the actual stone of the cavern. There's no large empty space between the brick walls and the natural stone in any place.

    Many areas of the walls have been painted white a long time ago. At the stairs themselves you can see a wall painting. It depicts humans walking in a cavern carrying lanterns.

    On the floor there's quite a bit of bat droppings. People have not bothered to clean it, rather there's many paths that have been walked on enough so that the guano is compressed tightly.

    The ceilings in rooms are usually 10-15' high, though the first large room you find has a 20' to 25' ceiling. Most corridors have 10' ceilings.

    At the stairs, near the painting you can see a quick scrawling in dwarven script that says
    Questing.
    "I think 'Questing' is the title of the painting."

    Quote Originally Posted by Smilex View Post
    As you search the gnolls, you note all of them had gaunt bodies and fungus infections. Their gums were bloody and they had some scars suggesting ritual mutilation.

    You then move down the stairs into the large entrance hall. The smell of guano is quite strong here. I'm assuming Oren carries a torch to see something. It's light reveals maybe a hundred bats in the ceiling. You suspect that if it was daytime, there would be plenty more.

    The walls of the hall were once painted in bright colours but now they've faded. You can see remnants of many paintings. The depicted scenes suggest rituals and ceremonies. Some of the figures are engaged in activities that seemingly lack any sense. One character is painted with both of his legs behind his neck. Another scene suggests a woman throwing away money.

    Again Theria finds her teacher's scribblings
    Body positions in shape of runes?

    The west corridor that Rik checks out is collapsed. This area has particularly plentiful amounts of guano.

    You move into the east corridor and as you do so, Rik starts to notice a pattern... the footprints and the guano in them is all on the sides of the corridor and nothing in the middle. At this point Geronimo hears a small click from where Oren has stepped.
    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Oren is at the first corner in the middle of the corridor. Geronimo and or Rik have time enough to warn Oren with a word or two before anything happens.
    "These paintings on the wall must depict this culture's view on the futility of regular mortal life. If life eventually ends and your work is undone, they must think, then life is just as meaningless as the actions depicted on this wall."

    Quote Originally Posted by Ninja Dragon View Post
    "TO THE WALL!" - Rik yells.
    In unison with Rik, Geronimo also says "TO THE WALL!"

    Quote Originally Posted by Smilex View Post
    Soon after the trap, there's a dwarvish scrawling on the eastern wall that says

    This way.

    At that point you hear voices from ahead. Barely audible. It sounds like gnolls.
    Geronimo readies Shatter. Geronimo hopes to get the drop on them. Obviously, there are more than two, otherwise, Geronimo would have readied "Charm Person".

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    Will there be a point I can learn Aklo? Like, maybe after this scene?"

  27. - Top - End - #567
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Smilex's Avatar

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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    You wait in the corridor and there's only silence. You suspect the gnolls are waiting for you with weapons aready the same as you.

    While you're standing at the hallway, Theria notes that the area where it reads
    This way
    the plaster on the wall is particularly badly done.

  28. - Top - End - #568
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    GnomeWizardGuy

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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk

    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: 3/5 2nd: 2/2
    Sorcery Points: 5/5 Restore Balance: 2/2 Healing Light: 2/2 Conditions: none


    While everyone stays hidden behind the corner, Polari whispers to the others, "I'm going to try to distract them and either draw them out or make them flee."

    He then speaks loudly so the gnolls can hear, pretending to talk to his troops.

    "Get the 3rd company up her for the invasion! Let the dragon loose to lead the way!"

    He creates the sound of a roaring dragon, the volume getting louder so that it sounds like it is rumbling towards us. When it reaches a crescendo, the second round he casts create bonfire as far down the hall as he can see, trying to make it seem like the dragon breathed the fire. The third round he casts a new auditory illusion right behind the fire to make it sound like the dragon is charging. He then looks to the others,

    "Charge! Follow the dragon!"

    And more quietly again, "Rik, Oren, Theria, after you."

    He'll drop the bonfire right as our party reaches it.

    Spoiler: OOC
    Show
    This takes 3 rounds of actions, but I don't think we were quite in combat yet.

    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: 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.



  29. - Top - End - #569
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    BardGuy

    Join Date
    Nov 2020

    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    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

    Oren is thrilled with this plan, he will take the hint and rush forward into the tunnel!

    Hahaha! Follow the dragon, let’s kill them all!” He charges, swords ready for battle.

    Spoiler: ooc
    Show
    If the tunnel is dark, Oren will wield the magic shortsword and a lit torch in his off-hand. But if there’s no need for light, he’ll draw both swords.

  30. - Top - End - #570
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Chimera

    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Brazil
    Gender
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    Default Re: Council of spiders-Caverns of Thracia-Rappan Athuk IC

    Rik will follow the group, but he will be the last one behind them, looking backwards to see if Polari gets attacked.

    He doesn't think he can be any useful imitating a dragon, though.

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