It Came From The Depths

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Scribe Notes

Adventure: It Came From The Depths
GM: Keith
Session: Summer 824
Night: Tuesday 7pm
Location: Online
Level: Medium+

Party

  1. Sabastian - Terry
  2. Uzi - Zane
  3. Seraph - Connor
  4. Tulip - Tricia
  5. Lim - Bernard. May lose some nights to shift work or Christmas.
  6. Ashe
  7. Lizette - Dylan


Employer: Spica Capella - Aventi Arch Magus in Sanctuary at the western end of the Coral Sea. Located south of Pasifika on the Zeylandia Plateau
Mission: Investigate Strange Goings Ons In Aventi Country
Plane: Alusia
Pay: 20sp per day per person, reasonable expenses and Loot (there's bound to be some. Right?) and 35,000 sp
Days on Adventure: We'll know when we get back

Job Description

Somewhere to the South West of the Coral Sea is the sunken area where the Aventi came from. In Sanctuary, some of the Aventi family groups, who moved there have, over the last few weeks, transmuted into strange aquatic humanoids, which DA as 'Ulat Kini' and swam off back to their aquatic homelands. They seemed to be under some sort of trance as they left as they did not acknowledge anyone as they left. DA's seemed to indicate they were under some sort of compulsion. Aventi that followed them, noticed other groups joining this exodus, all similarly transformed and heading towards an eldritch green mist shrouded area, that emitted a strong feeling of dread as well as a Forbiddance against any other sentient aquatic species. So Arch Magus Spica teleported to the Guild in order to seek help from non-aquatic adventurers. It is feared that all the Aventi may be affected by this over time and she wants it stopped.

Astrology Reading

The island is covered in purple fire and shadows, I fear it will destroy us. The Tridents grow eyes and watch for us to all fall asleep, fools them, for I do not sleep and outwit them.

Of note by Lim. See previous adventure that is likely related.
Coral_Sea_Colony

Scribe Notes

Party

Uzi, Leader and Mil Sci Orc e&e (what can go wrong?)
Lim, wood elf, master alchemist, potion mage, ranged damage, celestial
Sebastian, hobbit, crafter, rapier & maingauche, high level celestial, wings, blackfire, darksphere, binder, Rnk 20 Heal?
Seraph, Namer, not front line, counter-spells (Rnk 6), picks locks
Ashe Willowberry, wood Elf, military and hits things, mil sci, earth mage, good DA, beast master, healer
Tulip, Scribe elf, earth mage, not front-line, controls animals

Individuals Encountered

Spica Capella is an (Aventi) a form of aquatic human (have gills)
(white hair, arch-magus of pacifica region, dancer) she not from this plane, due to a magical accident
Vydia wife to Spica, siren mermaid, mayor of pacifica region (dark purple tail, brunette)
Melody is the Aventi daughter of Spica (blue hair)
Harmony is mermaid daughter of Vydia (lavender tail, blond), is a bard, they have tail to legs spell
Kierl is king of Merfolk who have dominion of the whole area, rules from Atlantia
Ursula is Kierl's sister, can do mind shield, Shriver and Necromancer (black tail, white hair)
Ariel is their daughter and heir who rules Coral Sea and Zeylandia, Celestial Star mage, master MilSci
Aquana is the older daughter but she become an adventurer and abdicated, Bard (orange tail, blond)

Day 1 2nd of Meadow

Spica Capella comes to guild
they have a problem in that there are Aventi who are mutating into Ulat-Kini also called colloquially Skum
problem is that they got up and left, and seemed dazed, they were coherent until few days ago, originally they thought it was a disease, about 30 people are effected, first happened about 3-4 weeks ago
on investigation their generic true name is changing, guild security says there is a threat there, someone is tinkering with them at genetic level

otherwise there is some activity around deeps, horrors

origin story of Aventi is that their continent sank, humans prayed to gods and were turned into mer-people, or they were created slaves of the Aboleth ( high level mind mages, expert illusionists)

we uncover that this kind of thing may have happened in the past, so need to look up info in the library
previously something similar happened on contact with the slime of Aboleth but this if much more widespread and without the slime, the only known local Aboleth has been eliminated (see Coral Sea Colony adventure) Standard Aboleth are creatures that extrude slime with transforms land victims into water breathers and mindless servants

the transformed people walked into a mist shrouded area, which is warded by a Forbiddance, those Aventi unaffected bounced against the barrier, which seems to forbid aquatic sentients, orca and dolphins did not get through

we spend evening preparing to portal out

Uzi-provides everyone with a stuffed mouse to enable location
Sabastian-provides linked life force
Sabastian-all have Rnk 20 witch sight
Uzi-provides all with Rnk 20 greater
Uzi/Sabastian-provides all with permanent lesser

Day 2

next morning

we all get water breathing 16hrs
all have Rnk 20 water breathing potion

portal out
goto library find Melody there being assisted by a 'fairy' (lykarian azata), do research
goto hospital, Vydia and Harmony are there Harmony doing bardic ritual to sleep the Aventi that are being transformed
could be the effect is transferred over telepathy, mind-spell like, so to protect we would need mind cloak on all Aventi, difficult!
effect is coming from the west, DA and find out it is a curse, around rank 42, duration-permanent unless countered
the physical transformation is a week, mental effect starts earlier, total 8 days Lim sets-up to try to try remove curse
loud family argument ensues
we look into getting range of items/spells to protect which Ursula provides

2 pearls of Aboleth increases the wearer's Magical Resistance by 10 to any attempt at magical control, charm, compulsion, coercion, or possession. Should this magic be performed by an Aboleth (or any Horror) this increase is doubled to 20. In addition, should if it becomes the possession of a Controlled entity that entity gains a new Magical Resistance vs Control with the above bonuses.
5 each of Rnk 20 mind special counter (a message is sent to initiate production)
18 mind-shield Rnk10
30 waters of healing Rnk 20 (5 each)
5 potions to increase will-power +2 Rnk 7 herbalist
Spica provides amulets to 2 earth mages that allow us to function not in contact with earth

there is some thought that the mind effects follow an inverse square law
we rest the Aventi have air filled residences on top floor
discuss summoning of aquatic animals, sea-cats (but at 3 sisters) octopus underwater breathing works on land animals (Buz the dog)
Uzi finds out he shouldn't just pee in the water
Sebastian does some linking life force
Lim provides everyone with squeezable potion bottles, ,green healing, purple restorative, blue strength prepare to explore, arm up(see the standard buffs below)

all waterproofing, protection from cold, buoyancy, water breathing etc
all witch-sight, armour earth, strength of stone, etc
all Rnk +5 sailor

plan to use boat as an Aventi base
need to consider potential for controlled people to attack us
Rnk 32 shadowings fly (11-39 mph)

fly out and send crystal balls into mist to take a look, one shows an eye, then reaches full duration
9 Mi-Go (Horrors -agent of destruction) come out and attack

we prepare, they appear to be multi-dimensional and are hard to focus on, require 2*WP to target
Sebastian blasts one, which goes into a dive, and is eaten by Tulips animal growthed shark
One flys through walls and attacks is pounded and finished off by Tulips shark
Sebastian has 4 walls up which are doing very well, especially the fear rolls
Find out they are animated flying plants, have 4 claw attacks
They turn and flee
DA one of plant bodies Mi-Go dark aspected, no collage of magic, plane of origin Yuggoth, trans-dimensional
look inside, leaf like leaves, sap like blood, body formed of vines, head has structure that is a clump of small fibers that radiate through the body (brain), has no eyes but sensory organ, glaive like appendages


Human, woman flys in (Lizette from court of Brandenburg) with red hair and a note on a lanyard around her neck, she is from Aqualina, she is a Namer, healer, can banish, curse removal, can tank, sling/sap main weapons

We investigate the wall of mist

forms a dome 8-10 miles high, flashes of lightening, deep purple colour further go in
close to but not necromancy, effect on humans on going through cloud is draining, 10s of FT a round. Necros special (+30) to resist. Effected the shark, which shows it works underwater.
Forbiddance is a little further in 5ft.
Sebastian flys in, finds out its 3 miles wide, 3 magic and 2 flight checks required
There is an island another 7 miles in and at least 50 Mi-Gos, purple greenish light
cove and black sand beach (rock with writing on it) and path, surrounded by a cliff, at tope seems to be old civilisation (buildings, roads etc) graceful spires, some broken towers appear to be in "orbit" around the island and pyramid in middle, beyond pyramid is a dome with a broken tower,
see giant lobster for an instant (Chuul) which turns into shipwrecked sailor who is waiving, mind effect save, to disbelieve illusions. Not control or compulsion.


We ride a wave in,

there is a pink patch which is full of jelly-fish which we skirt
large kraken behind us, from Alusia,long lived sentient, all tenticles miss us, kracken is being controlled by mind mage, we leave it behind
on the beach a large rock covered in graffiti, within 10ft of rock need to do a resistance check, the stone drops memories directly into mind, DA magical enchantment, sleep
see giant lobster tracks that lead into a cave
actively resist being mentally "tickled" by telepathy, drink mind shield potions (last rnk hours)


land on the island

sheer cliff, 30m high, climb up with rope, work our way along an old "Roman" road through a forest, looks like someone has taken a chunk out of the landscape
failed save get webbed feet/hands and knobly, unique magical minor taint, usual ways removing will not work. Constant barrage magical effects
lay down some mind special counter vs transformation (only last about 24min)
think about flying inland, looking up we see a
"Dementor" flying past, looks like wraith, GTN Cloaker, college illusion plus other spell like effects
on balance we decide its better to fly inland

Library

on the way see building B2 on map, collapsed crystal dome with large shards in the ground
move on to look inside, is a ruined library
evidence of preservation and indexing magics
there are metal plates floating around the room
"merlyn" is written on plates, apparently outermost planet of solar system which appears/disappears, some elvish writing suggest it is passing in and out of Alusian plane, we think this is a link to the plane of merlin
see tracks up to some of copper plates that are degraded
then see some insectoid, small dog sized creatures, heading for the person with most metal, DA is light aspected, rust monsters
this plane is Alusia "with a subscript"
we fight them and win
roll MR for taint 2 more people get a minor taint??

Conversation with will-o-wisps

we get ready to explore more and are surrounded by 8 will o'wisp
DA college none, aspect light
we talk with them, find out that the taint makes you into a servant of the great old one
great old one is waiting to be summoned, but his servent is here on other side of the island, and driving the taint,
we need to kill him to release those already transformed.
Need also to destroy the amplifier, which is in the observatory B7.
Old Orrery master wears the old amulet of Aulis? which is needed to shut down Orrery.
Amulet is needed to shut down the wards Old Orrery master is now actively helping the servant.
The astrologer was consumed by the beast in the ever growing tower, B3. First need to speak to the elder things, in the quick-silver graveyard, B4. Will-o-wisp gives us directions.
B5 is the aquarium where exotic creatures from the sea were kept
so plan is to go B4 (talk elder)-B3(recover amulet)-B7(shut down orrery)
will-o-wisp disperse

Move on

our GTN is changing human with subscript "deep one"
effect is getting stronger and stronger the closer we get to the center
same thing happening to others
climb up the wall that encircles center make our way to the graveyard

Quicksilver Graveyard

7 pools, growing out of each pool is an "elder thing"
quite large, wings, fingers, eyes on stalks
highest ranked skill philosophy
college, mostly mind
empathy, they are in some kind of hibernated state
stacked humanoid corpses, with hands folded
coppery plaque writing in same ancient elvish language
3 inscriptions are burnished clean, proper names with ascriptions
one of which Ossoryol, Master of Lenses & Optics
need to perform a summoning ritual, reach into the pool and summon the person by name
activate "recordings" obtain information/skill on how to operate the orrery
+20% to operate Orrery, identify the location of missing Orrery lenses in tower B8

Growing Ruin

spire keeps dropping shale, there is an opening at the base
4AG every round or be cut by falling shale
send eye in to check out cave
Uzi is turning down a drink! (of Lizzete's blood) with goblin grog, Uzi relents and agrees
find non-sentient lizard inside, cannot control it as it is already controlled by the aboleth
strategy to attack creature, giant lzzard with a large multicoloured neck frill
we feel like something is watching us, blue glowing will-o-wisp in witch-sight
wizard was eaten by lizard
we prepare, entangle, many walls of light/dark, and make short work of lizard
we search tower thoroughly
Uzi eats the lizard scat
find a horn (bugle, magical, nature:obscurement)
butcher the lizard, steaks, drumsticks for food, find lizard has been eating chuul
take claws, teeth
cut off the colourful ruff
find cyst and extract amulet
amulet not cursed

Aquarium

sheet water flows from central pool, up walls to fall from domed ceiling, reverse floating in it is a bubble, mosaics on wall
something large with tentacles moving in there, sphere turns black, from ink, octopus attacks we defeat it
find decaying ulat-kini, with magical cloak (mind, broach to activate, command word, transformation into a manta ray), magic potion (transformation, water) and scroll case, not trapped, find scrolls, 2 scrolls of freedom of movement spell, to ignore restraining conditions

Move on

B6 has a tunnel being dug to the center pyramid, lots of ulat-kini are being compelled to dig
party goes unseen and walks the long way around not to be seen by the diggers
carrying Amulet
see some dark shapes in sky flying over us, more than last time, look like they are looking for intruders/dinner, feel fear/despair aura from them (Dementor)
few specters/ghosts wandering around
feel something scratching at our mind cloaks trying to get in

Orrery

get to the orrery, circular room (200m diameter) with crystal ceiling dome (60ft high),
the orrery in the center shows our star system, looks to be an accurate representation
furthest one out "merlyn" is glowing a very dark purple
glyphs are floating about some are dark (broken, deactivate) others are deep purple (DA amplification)
many wards bouncing about
there are some bits missing, someone has sabotaged the orrery to stop us from fixing it
the top of one tower is processing (and tumbling end over end) around the orrery, in the orbit it goes underwater
at one point it comes within 10ft of ground
orbits every 10min, if we miss we get dragged into magical air currents
we jump on and access the internal rooms
find racks of lenses and spare parts
1/2 m lenses, electrical damage trap 4D10,6D10
we take 3 lenses and fly back
need to cross floor of orrery which is covered in moving damage spells
5ft diameter fire/cold/electrical/acid
person with amulet (Sebastian) is not effected
Sebastian is attacked by 4 phase spiders, combat, we kill the spiders
Sebastian fits the new lens
+20 for listening to ancients, +20 for the amulet
knock the amplification spell out, we still feel it but it doesn't go much beyond the island
now starts pulling in starlight and creates a focused beam which can be directed to the amplification glyph which is "turned off"
everything settles down and orrery is in balance
get poison sacks and fangs (from 4 phase spiders)
we hide the other two lenses
whispering message saying it was starting to effect Neri.

Pyramid

now go to where they are digging
the channel goes towards a reverse pyramid in the middle, the channel is turning into a tunnel
looks like they will need to flood it
the guards are "deep ones" and are also controlled, some are heading towards the observatory
true form would bring them back to their original form
pretty sure there is an abolith under there
find an entrance between 2 pools that are full of stagnant water
find armour made from prehistoric armoured fish (GTN=Placodermi)
find 6 potions e&e featherfall
there is an illusionary wall, resort to feeling around and find a large iris opening
10 ft shaft that drops 90ft into a large spherical chamber, 30ft high

Down the hole

6 of us take potions, Lim & Ash levitate, Sebastian climbs
throw a light down, 3 tunnels, 1 with water, 2 dry
Sebastian scouts down the shaft, finds and hides in a hole above the cistern, sits and casts magic from there
there is a pool with large creature 20ft long, with tail and frills
highly probable the sea serpent is under compulsion, there is very little to eat
land an run on top of water to stand on a landslide into the pool
we attack, spec grev the sea serpent 3hex, it looks like it should be down but something is holding it "up
3 other monsters "snakes" appear
sea serpent monster attacks uzi from behind, he kills it, pushes his tree-trunk quarter staff through one eye, the brain and out the other eye
everyone attacks remaining 2 snakes, kill them, successfully harvest 2 of electric organ of 2 of eels also take eel meat

In the tunnels

there are 3 exists 2 are blocked by rock falls, we take the southeast passage, which gently slopes upward where the water is shallower we find two grey oze and Sebastian blackfire them
we find a cavern full of people recent slaughtered, these are the transformed people we are trying to rescue, but this is an illusion!
keep going, then hit dementor monsters
everyone needs to make fear checks, we kill them
find a skeleton with a magical silvered spear DA as bane against aberations, horrors
see an ulakini, but DAs as chuuls, projecting an illusion, kill it by walling it in with a phantasom
progress and find another hollow with another chuuls,
we harvest the skin/chiten of both chuuls for armour
find a fist sized red gem that is warm and glowing, DA summoning magic, not cursed, summons fire elementals
move on find a small metal urn, preservation magic, cannot read writing on urn
following the tunnel around the ground slopes down into water
we come to ulatkini who are building a trench, there is a wall that is growing as they dismantle it
the whole structure is a large trefoil
the creature brushing against our minds is now very strong
the ulatkini pepare to attack with their digging tools
an aquatic casts lightening bolt through an eye, multiple times
we take 2 down and 3 flee from fear, ashe and tulip chase and take down along with the aquatic
we also detect the abolth moving, banging on bound walls
it breaks through onto prepared ground (mind special counters) and the party is prepared bracketing it either side
abolth is determined to be light aspected, it goes down, it has a red gem embeded in its head
searching for loot
C9 is an alchemist lab, labled with unknown language, find true form potions 1 each
items and books, find haversack in the corner, wayfinder,
there is a ship just outside the exclusion zone,
we get a wispering word, shield is breaking up, we send a message back via sending stones


Day 3

loot

Growing Ruin

  • find a horn (bugle, magical, nature:obscurement)
  • take claws, teeth
  • cut off the colourful ruff
  • extract amulet

Aquarium

  • magical cloak (mind, broach to activate, command word, transformation into a manta ray),
  • magic potion (transformation, water) and
  • scroll case,
  • 2 scrolls of freedom of movement spell, to ignore restraining conditions

Orrery

  • Phase spiders; poison sacks and fangs

temple (surface)

  • Armour. Form of ancient armoured fish. (GTN=Placodermi)
  • feather fall potions. (used for descent into temple)

cavern

  • electric organ of 2 of eels
  • Magical silvered spear (Bane, Aberations/Horrors)
  • Chuul Chiten * 2
  • Fist sized red gem
  • Metal urn

Mil-Sci

Travel Magics

  • Wings (Sab+GW). 11-49 Miles / Hour. 16 Hour duration. 490 Miles / 10-hour Day.
  • Wave Riding (Lim+GW). 15-65 Miles / Hour. 14 Hour duration. 650 Miles / 10-hour Day. 1560 Miles / Day including overnight, can rest on wave.
  • Method. ## Miles / Hour. ### Miles / Day.

Watch Order

First - 11111 / 22222.
Second - 33333 / 44444.
Third - 55555 / 66666.

Marching Order

Skirmish Formations (Front)
Double File

11111, 22222
33333, 44444
55555, 66666

Single File

11111
22222
33333
44444
55555
66666

DA's on Party

by Seraph

by Ashe

by Sabastian

by Tulip

by Lim

  • Whole party, including pets. Nature of Control or Compulsion currently in effect.

by Lizzete

  • Sabastian - Last Magic to impact.

Buffs

General Buff Notes

Buffs listed in the table don't need to be detailed; other buffs not on the table must be mentioned when they are cast.
Y means always on, N/- means never on, 'Sit.' means when the party has time for buffs before a fight.
Weapon Spells, which weapon/s it is going on normally should be noted also

  • Waterproofing can be cast on all packs, bows, cloaks & other items desired by people, duration 55 days. All items get affected when a possession.

FT Usage & Recovery

Restoratives are available as required. Minimum restorative is 8/16. Typically done Breakfast & Dinner.
Herbalist Meals / Tea made by Tulip give # Ft back Morning, Lunch & Dinner.
Waters of Healing [D-5]+20 as needed.


Long duration buffs

Spells that can be kept up constantly.

Magic Rk Effects Dur Sabastian Uzi Ashe Seraph Tulip Lim Lizette Norto Sharky
Underwater Suite (Lim) Varies by spell. Bouyency 25'/pulse, Water breathing, Waterproofing, Resist cold. Varies by spell./+5 ranks GW Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Blending (Tulip/Sab/Ashe), Walking Unseen (Tulip/Uzi/Sab/Ashe) B 6/10/6 U 7/7/6/6 /+5 ranks GW Unseeniness B 7/11 U 8/8/7 Hours ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Strength of Stone 11/+5 ranks GW +11 STR or EN (+16 with GW) 12 Hours Y Y Y EN Y EN Y Y Y
Armour of Earth (Tulip/Ashe) 11/+5 ranks GW +24% DEF -1 damage (+34% DEF with GW) 6 Hours N Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Greater Enchantment(Uz) R20 +21% all four areas. 3 months Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y(3) N
Shadow Wings (Sab) R14/+5 ranks GW Travel at 16-44mph (11-49mph with GW) 7.5 Hours ? ? ? ? ? ? ? N N
Witchsight (Sab) R20 See invisible, in darkness 10.5 Hours Y Y Y Y Y Y ? Y Y
Animal Growth (Ashe) 6 Animal grows 7 days ? N N N N N N Y Y
?????? ## ????? ## Hours ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Short duration buffs

Short-duration buffs are always situational, but the below covers the standard combat prep.

Magic Rk Effects Dur Sabastian Uzi Ashe Seraph Tulip Lim Lizette Norto Sharky
Waters of Strength (Lim) 20 [D-2]+20 PS 105 Mins ? ? ? ? ? Sit ? ? ?
Wizard's Eye (Uzi) 13 invis and intangible eye Uzi can see and hear thru 14 mins N Sit N N N N N N N
Quickness (Uzi) 13 IV+10 Two actions (6 targets) 26x[D-5] pulses Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit Sit
Strength of Darkness (Sab) R13 +8 PS 140min ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Enhance Enchantment (Uzi) R13 Add 13 ranks to an aspect of a spell 115 sec ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
?????? ## ????? ## Hours ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
?????? ## ????? ## Hours ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Skill Chances and Talents GM needs to know.

Usually covers things like danger sense, detect ambush, etc.

Magic Rk Effects Dur Sabastian Uzi Ashe Seraph Tulip Lim Lizette Norto Sharky
Ranger Detect Ambush N/A Standard Ranger skill to detect ambush. Also favoured terrain (+10%) N/A Whats a ranger :) ? ? ? ? 96%+Gr / Woods ? ? ?
Danger Sense / Sixth Sense N/A Chance for Danger Sense (D.S.) or Sixth Sense (S.S.) to trigger before walking into something. N/A ? ? ? ? ? S.S. 99%+Gr ? ? ?
Heroism 14 +15% vs fear for anyone in LOS of Lim or Sab Always Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Eye of Chaos n/a Uzi can never be surprised in combat (acts as normal), +5 PC spotting hidden/obscured always N Y N N N N N N N
Charismatic Aura (Sab) 20 +25% to reaction rolls. 105 min Self N N N N N N N N
Geomancy Wand N/A item can add 5 ranks to all aspects of a spell, except BC (Cant exceed 20). See discord to writeup N/A ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Loot

Summer

Summer

  Moonday Duesday W'ansday Th'rsday Frysday Reapsday Sunday
Beltane
Meadow (1)
  1 Guild Meeting 2 Portal to Coral Sea
Fight with Mi-Go
3   4   5 White Lotus 6 Seagate Light Festival
7   8   9   10   11   12   13  
14   15   16   17   18   19 The Castellan Borderers Ball 20  
21   22   23   24   25   26 Seagate Crafters Ball 27  
28   29   30    
Heat (2)
  1   2   3   4 Seagate Guildmasters Ball
5   6   7   8   9   10 Seagate Races 11 The Duke of Carzala's Summer Ball
12   13   14 Midsummers
 Eve
 (Faerie Day)
15 Solstice 16   17 Seagate Summer Fair Day 18 Seagate Summer Fair Day
19   20   21   22   23   24 The Castellan of Brastor's Summer Ball 25  
26   27   28   29   30    
Breeze (3)
  1   2  
3 Day of Death 4   5   6   7   8   9  
10   11   12   13   14   15   16  
17   18   19   20   21   22   23  
24   25   26   27   28   29   30