Monsters Inc II
Summary
Adventure: Monsters Inc II
GM: Dean
Season: Winter 825 wk
Night: Monday in St Johns
Level: High
- Party
- Cher - Blade Dancer - Sean
- Dramus - Fae Wanderer - Mandos
- Mortimer - Renaissance Scholar - Martin PL
- Rahne - Enchantress of the Stars - Stephen Scribe
- Serendipity - Lady Dark - Lisa
- Tari - Forest Druid - Michelle MilSci
- Zohar 'Captain Blood' - Privateer Admiral of the WK - Chris
- Employer
- Ashkar of 'The Brotherhood' on behalf of Scarlet
- Mission
- Cleaning up loose ends from Monsters Inc. Scout/investigate:
- Tower in the Sea of Ash
- Dramus has a Tower Point near the Void Wolves about 100 miles north of the Sea of Ash.
- Site of a city destroyed during the Elven war. Ash Lake is the remnant of the city.
- Sister Tower of Argon's Watch, only the tip is showing above the ash.
- Lots of anti-magical effects. Mana eating worms.
- Dreamlands lab
- Is in a forest, The Dream Wood. Tree/Fae/Dryad focussed. Controlling Key: Dryad
- South-West Terra Nova
- Shadowlands (Ashen Dawn lab)
- Shadowlands is very spidery also used Undead. Controlling Key: Spider Queen she slept with the joiner, has a Drow form, probably how she became the key.
- Entrances(?): cave in Brastor, mists near village in southern Carzala. But the lab will be in the Terra Nova adjacent.
- Carefully locate Scarlet's (Joining) brother
- Don't go too close as he is extremely anti-magical. His trail is likely to include broken magic.
- Pay
- 40k each in cash or services
- Customised joining
Scribe Notes
Secret Plans
- Duesday 1st Frost
Ashkar turns up at the guild meeting seeking 'hard' adventurers for some important work he can't be explicit about in open conversation.
Reconvening in a meeting room, he places a device on the table and there is a Chaos Priestess, Valerian, in the corner to interfere with scrying. Valerian is human, she messes with all prophecy/scrying near her, her face and aura are constantly changing, choatic light emits from the cracks in her visage.
Ashkar explains about the schism within the Brotherhood, he is one of the leaders of the 'Not Dark' portion that is allied with our guild.
"Lady Bug!" says Tari with expressive loathing.
One of the 'weapon types' during the War of Tears was advanced Chimeras, most of the 'labs' were off plane and lost when the Elven Ways were damaged. Now the Elven Ways are recovering, some of these labs are becoming accessible. Scarlet is leading a consortium to ensure they are not recovered or used for evil ever again.
We travel in Ashkar's carriage to Seagate to meet with Scarlet at a fine inn.
Scarlet shares his history and what he knows of labs. Payment could include acquiring talents of other races. Amulets of Protection from Death.
We decide to check out the Sea of Ash first.
We have some enchanting and Astrology to do before we head out.
- W'ansday 2nd Frost
We enter Dramus' tower in Seagate and exit in the garden near the void wolves in Terra Nova.
Mythran Esari Tower
Where the sea of ash is was once a city was once known as Mythran Esari was on the southern shore of a lake with 'great' lakes to the south and east. The tower sat out over the lake, 15 yard radius, 5/8ths of a mile high. The sea of ash is a nearly perfect circle, with just over 31 mile radius. There are aquatic equivalents living in the ash. E.g. Ash Sharks.
We emerge from Dramus' tower and look back at a country house with unusual architecture, the area is unnaturally warm. An Earth Elemental looking like an Elf with the typical manners of an Elf emerges from the ground and welcomes our Elves to House Teleria, its masters have been away for a while (~30 millennia).
- Side note: There is a city a few hundred miles to the west that has many uncontrolled elementals.
With permission, we take off and fly south for a couple of hours. 10 miles of scrub between the forest and the 'beach' of the Sea of Ash.
We pause above the beach to investigate, large birds fly towards us, attracted by magic: Parasitic Vulture, they're completely mad animals. We know they carry brain bugs so we kill them at range.
The 'ash' is a slurry, or thick liquid. The solid components are a mix of organic (died about 30k years ago from 'Universal Solvent') and inorganic (stone, water, etc.). The 'water' gets gradually deeper, like a regular beach.
When Seren dips a Spectral Hand into the ash, it gets bitten and destroyed by a Flat-Nosed Vampire Fish - spectral looking extensible teeth.
We eventually find some mana worms: Non-sentient construct, Mana Worms, like long thin worms living in burrows in the sand of the beach. They slowly eat spells one 'rank' at a time. Burrow through the sand slowly, like worms. Easily killed by damage spells (above rank 1).
Having finished playing at the beach, we fly on to the tower. Vultures are roosting on it which we are forced to kill.
The top of the tower is powerfully magic but seems safe enough for us to land on. Impervious to most magic we try on it, bound earth/crystal.
Scrying inside with a Crystal of Vision accesses an illusion (or equivalent) showing an animated view of the tower and city as was.
Mending a portion of the outer surface restores a small amount of the attractive veneer of the tower. Cher spends a few hours restoring a balcony and bits of the roof, the tower seems to respond positively to this aiding her efforts.
Ancient Divination of the Tower: So magical it is almost sentient. Choosably immutable, can't be changed against its will. Currently 'locked down'/closed - all entrances/windows/portals closed. Drawing mana/power from an external source, probably not on Alusia. It is one piece of living Binder/Alchemy crystal. Exists in multiple realms: Alusia, Dream, Elven Ways. Made by name-tba, the Crystal Crafter. It has commands but they are not currently available.
Zohar spots birds behaving oddly, works out they are pursuing something, flying out to look they see an invisible bug-eyed Imp scout trying to elude the birds. A servant of Savnok. It doesn't live much longer.
Elven Ways to a tree in a Swamp
We head to the coast and into a Fai Circle. Wandering the paths with a goal of finding a connection to the Elvan Ways.
We find a nexus point with 5 paths occupied by a thatched cottage with rocking chairs on the porch. Stopping for lunch we meet <insert name here> who is a Fae revenant who is friendly, lonely and has a power of belief which maintains the cottage.
On to a dark swamp, wave riding across it. Giant frog has a go at Mortimer. Come to a large tree which is a manifestation of the tower, Raven-like creatures unnaturally arrayed on the branches.
The Tower as an Astral Tree
We spiral into range of some of our detection magics, the birds have an unnatural light in their eyes which is associated with Horrors, they are muttering to themselves about dining/consuming/eating.
We circle and find a potential entrance half way around, as we approach that side the birds start combining, becoming larger.
DA on birds: Long-Lived Sentient Minor Horror, Ashen Crow. Susceptible to Order, Beauty, Water. Primary attack: Ashen Dawn. Most effective counterspell: something Elemental. Plane of Origin: Alusia. Flesh to Ash.
We approach the potential entrance actualising it through Astrology & Opening. The birds combine until there are only 2 which land and attack: tendrils of burning ash, cloud of blinding ash.
Annihilation, Necrosis, Hellfire, etc. do some damage. The Sword of Solomon does more. Rainstorm increases the damage they take. Drowning Waters takes out one of the birds while it is pinned by Serendipity's Dark Elemental.
It takes a while but we pull the door open to reveal a ghostly figure, the revenant of an Elven Doorman/Butler. (In Ancient Elven) He welcomes us as the expected rescuers.
- Thylarus (in ancient Elven): "Welcome to the House of Cyrandor of the Enduring Ivory Sword Clan."
He leads us in to a room with a 25' creature (Chimera) with 4 Elf-like heads, multiple hands.
Dramus detects 3 Revenants and some of the Chimera is undead (Vampire Lord, Poltergeist, Greater Spectre).
Dreaming away from the nightmare
Our Philosophers of the ancient Elven Empire, recognise Enduring Ivory Sword as a minor sub-clan of Mocking Ashen Dawn.
The tower went into lockdown, they've been waiting for someone to sort things out and rescue them.
Mortimer introduces us as members of Dancing Raven Chrysanthemum.
Thylarus leads us straight ahead, down the corridor between the sweeping stairs to a banquet room with double balcony doors looking over a lake. Statuary of guards around the walls.
Large dining table, headless (Thylarus') corpse in a chair at one end, large (30' long, 20' wide) cloaked entity with several heads showing: Elf, Vampire Lord, Hydra Head (just 1), Elf (Thylarus' head), Gorgon, Draconic, other serpentine, Fae, Ithilid (Calamar?), Basilisk, Beholder (Death, Sleep, Disintegrate, Petrifaction), ... Long Lived Sentient, GTN: Chimera (primarily). It may also be present or able to manifest in other rooms in the tower.
Cyrandor issues orders, demanding that we re-open the tower, release him, return him home, ... We choose to politely follow its orders to investigate re-opening the tower and depart.
Thylarus shows us around this area, locked rooms for Cyrandor's lab and private rooms are conventionally locked away but there is no access to other parts of the tower.
We attempt to scry above or below with a Crystal, a few other tries, then succeed on scrying the room where the control key is. A darkened room, shadows moving, blob-like frog that can see our scrying point, a Phoenix/Displacer/Cockatrice passes through. We explore a bit more, finding an administrative room away from the more active rooms.
Once the party is asleep (with some help) I scry through dream to the lobby and then portal the party to the lobby, the real version is a large foyer with stairs and doors, the dream version is the entry way of a lighthouse in a storm. Then I scry the administrative room and portal us to that where I wake everyone up.
The Slab in the Lab
The room is dusty but not as damaged as the rest of the complex.
- Quill - Everlasting Ink
- Quill - Speech to Writing - Eldaran only.
Moving through to the next room, it has a 3'x8'x4' stone altar - create food & water, activates through touch and verbal instruction, once per day per person.
Out to a 20' wide curving hallway. We wall off to the left and go right through broken doors into a large lab (120' across by 180' long x 30' high). Huge solid one-way transparent doors to a containment room. 3 & 6 chairs (places of death) lined up facing it linked by lines of channelling and amplification targeting a 20' square in the containment room. Solid door opposite leads to private chambers and the 'strange-light room'.
Something small moving to the north, we dimly light up the area and they flee. Cabinet to the north that is still intact, protected by a barrier that only allows access by Elves. Contains 10 black tablets charged with 200 mana.
- 10 x slabs each contains 10 sacrificed souls to be used as such or as 20 mana.
- 7 potions of temporary bonus MA
- 7 potions of temporary magic rank enhancement
- Phase Spiders - 2' wide
- Shadow Kin - Non-Sentient Construct. Moth-like nearly 2-dimensional small creature. They consume shadow.
- Chimera (Mustard Ooze-Chameleon-Doppelgänger), Long-Lived Sentient 'Fluffy' - millennia old, memory absorption. Looks after the shadow kin.
- Chimera (Phoenix-Displacer Beast-Cockatrice) 'Burny' - mostly lives to the north-west.
- Chimera (?Phase Spider-??) lives with spiders, doesn't roam around.
Fluffy remembers that down below are Portals (to odd places), cells and storage, where the old master went and the control key used to be kept.
We search the north-east lab - where fluffy normally hangs out
- Tongs of TK
- Gloves of protection from acid
- Self-heating beaker
- Spinning (stirring) metal bar
- Mask of vapour breathing
- various reagents and magical ingredients
We search the living quarters, 2 suites of bedroom & 2 other rooms. The rooms have been deliberately rage-smashed, probably by 'Burny'.
- Cloak of Fire Resistance
The spirits of those that died in these rooms believe the control ring is through the void portal in stasis. Escapes would trigger lockdown, countermeasures, stasis.
Chapter 7
- Th'rsday 3rd Frost
- Frysday 4th Frost
- Reapsday 5th Frost
- Sunday 6th Frost
- Moonday 7th Frost
- Duesday 8th Frost
- W'ansday 9th Frost
Reference
Scarlet
An old Elf, from pre-war of tears. House Ashen Dawn. A Joining (Chimera) - Elf blended with stuff: part Void Wolf, part Cho-ja (mantis like), part void entropy locust. Guardian of Elven University in north. Conscientious Objector, rather than be used in the civil war, froze/suspended himself in the Elven ways to freeze the city. He has been thawed for 10 years, he is catching up on the world and trying to track down those like him. He can destroy magic & enchanted/shaped items.
Buffs & Mil Sci
Buffs
| Magic (caster) | Rk | Effects | Duration | Ch | Dr | Mo | Rn | Se | Ta | Zo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Ench. (Rn) | 20 | +21% to Res, Mag, Com, and S&S. | 5 days | A | A | A | Y | A | A | A |
| Witchsight (Rn) | 22 | See Invis | 12.5 hrs | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| Strength of Stone (Ta) | 20? | +21 EN | 21 hrs | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | ||
| Armour of Earth (Ta) | 20? | +42% Def +1 DR | 10.5 hrs | |||||||
| Ench Armour (Rn) | 22 | +46% Def +1 AP 14 DR vs Phnt/Nmare. | 11.5 hrs | Y | ||||||
| Ench Armour (Zo) | 23 | +48% Def +1 AP +23 Spell Armour | 12 hrs | |||||||
| Familial Defence (Mo) | 19 | +43% Def +3 DR | 10 hrs | Y | ||||||
| Shadowform (Se) | 20+ | 10 hrs | A | |||||||
| Dance of Swords (Ch) | 18 | 38% to their Defence provided they move at least 1 hex each pulse. | 9.5 hrs | Y | ||||||
| Str of Darkness (Se) | 20 | +11 PS | 200 min | - | Y | Y | Y | A | Y | Y |
| Instil Flight (Mo) | 15 | 80 mph, 800 lbs limit, item 20k+ sp to enchant | 16 hrs per 24 | |||||||
| Ice Traversal (Ch) | 20 | Travel over ice and/or snow without slipping or sinking in. (+7 TMR on flat ice) | 7 hrs | Y | ||||||
| Water Breathing (Zo) | 20 | 21 hrs | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| Water Proofing (Zo) | 10 | 11 hrs | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
| Water of Strength (Zo) | 10 | [D-2]+10 | 22 mins |
| Mind Shield | +10+2/rk% vs M.Att. | 1+2/rk hrs | 8 | 12 | 13 | |||||
| Navigation | Extra Navigator ranks as listed and safer travel | 1+rk Hrs | +4 | ? | ||||||
| Water Breathing | 1+rk hrs | 12 |
| Magic (caster) | Rk | Effects | Dur | Ch | Dr | Mo | Rn | Se | Ta | Zo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enchant Weapon (Rn) | 17 | +18 BC%, +6 Dam. +7 vs Phn/Nm | 22 min | |||||||
| Enchant Weapon (Zo) | 18 | +19 BC%, +6 Dam. | 23 min | |||||||
| Spectral Weapon (Dr) | 16 | +17 BC%, +5 Dam. | 21 min | |||||||
| Invisibility (Rn) | 22 | Invisible, optional Death's Shroud | 115 min |
| Capability | Rk | Effects | Dur | Ch | Dr | Mo | Rn | Se | Ta | Zo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sense Danger (%) | Mind Talent (or equivalent) | 71% | ||||||||
| Detect Ambush (%) | Ranger (-5/rank of opposition) | 111% | 141% | 114% | ||||||
| Enhanced Vision | Pierce fog/obscurement | |||||||||
| See Invis (Rk) | Effective rank for seeing invisible | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | ||
| See/Sense Spirits | Effective rank for seeing spirits | 10 | ||||||||
| Second Sight | Effective rank for sensing planar anomalies | 10 | ||||||||
| Stealth (%) | Standard / Ranger Outdoors | 165% / 156% | ?% | 141% | 165 / 185% | 121% |
Misc
- Enhance Enchantment
- (Rn) rank 11-13: 65-80 seconds
- Herbalist Lunch/Broth
- ?? rk ?, Meal 4 FT or Broth 4 FT
- Rahne Ranger ring (Highlands)
- +8% Def, +8% SC, +8 IV in Melee and Ranged
- Dance (Cher)
- 5 mins dancing every morning for Reroll 1 failed MR or ignore 1 stun
- Crystal of Vision (Rn)
- Rk 20, 30 mins per day, 305 miles range, optional Audio, up to 3 hops.
- Dream Dust (Rn)
- Rk 20, resist at -20 or enchanted sleep for 21 hours.
- Pixie Dust (Rn)
- Rk 14, one of: Float for 7.5 hrs at Windspeed +/- 14 mph; Able to eat anything safely for 15 mins; Hallucinations for 75 sec, -15 PC.
Watch Order
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zohar | Dramus | Cher | Serendipity | Tari | Mortimer | ||||||
| Rahne | |||||||||||
Marching Order
| Skirmish Formations (Front) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Default
|
Double File
|
Single File
Zohar |
Astrology
| Cher | Dramus | Mortimer | Rahne | Serendipity | Tari | Zohar |
| 80 | 01 | 35 | 67 | -- | 66 | 91 |
- Timely Warnings
- 10 Portents (Advantage one one dice roll)
Astrology Readings
Calendar
| Winter: Frost 825 (7) | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moonday | Duesday | W'ansday | Th'rsday | Frysday | Reapsday | Sunday | ||||||||
|
Samhain | 1 | Guild Meeting Seagate | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ||||||
|
7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | |||||||
|
14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 10 | |||||||
|
21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | |||||||
|
|
28 | 29 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||||
| Winter: Snow 825 (8) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |||||||
|
|
12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Solstice | 16 | 17 | 18 | Yuletide | |||||
|
|
19 | Days of Chaos | 20 | DoC2 | 21 | DoC3 | 22 | DoC4 | 23 | DoC5 | 24 | DoC6 | 25 | DoC7 |
|
|
26 | DoC8 | 27 | DoC9 | 28 | DoC10 | 29 | DoC11 | 30 | Twelfth Night | 1 | 2 | ||
| Winter: Ice 825 (9) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | First Plough | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||||||
|
|
10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | |||||||
|
|
17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | |||||||
|
|
24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | |||||||
