Chapter 1 - Unrest in Baromenes

ariel · March 28, 2023

Dae held her breath as Damaia swung. Please, please, please. These dead did not seem like the walking dead from the tales of her grandfather. They were not mindless and hungry; they took action on their own, choosing to re-direct their attention to Billie and Mags after their leader fell.

They have minds? If they had minds... then they could feel. And if they could feel, then maybe she could do something. Maybe she could really help. Maybe.

But first, the warlock had a chance. The first, best chance. "Lulani the beautiful, I cannot believe the living men these creatures once were do not want peace. They want to rest, to sleep. Let us bring that slumber to them."

Green eyes, shifting, from the white-haird warlock to the unfortunate guard opposite the leader from her. She hoped it wasn't necessary, but she had to try. She brought her empty hand up, fingers stretched out stiffly toward him and then twisted the hand into a clawed form, palm up. "Vaendin-thiil!" Elven words of power slid across the stone between them.

The guard's back arched unnaturally and then snapped forward, curling inward, to bring his head down. As he lifted his head, dark flames of metal were pulled from his temples as if horns, growing out from his skull. The iron flames wrapped themselves around his head, forming a dark metal ring of ragged flame. With shuddering movements, the guard turned his now white eyes toward the pale faced man reforming on the ground before him. He lifted his weapon over his own master.

Let the betrayed fight back.

OOC

Bonus action: Giving Lu inspiration (1d6 on a roll for 10 minutes)

Action: Casting Crown of Madness to try to take control of Guard 12 (DC 16, Wisdom save). If the guard fails, she will direct him to hit the chain. If that kind of precision isn't possible then simply to hit his leader to keep him down and to stop the guard from hitting anyone else.

The spell:
One humanoid of your choice that you can see within range must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become charmed by you for the duration. While the target is charmed in this way, a twisted crown of jagged iron appears on its head, and a madness glows in its eyes.

The charmed target must use its action before moving on each of its turns to make a melee attack against a creature other than itself that you mentally choose. The target can act normally on its turn if you choose no creature or if none are within its reach.

On your subsequent turns, you must use your action to maintain control over the target, or the spell ends. Also, the target can make a Wisdom saving throw at the end of each of its turns. On a success, the spell ends.

Main hand: pastry pie

Off hand: free

Status: Protection from evil/good (9-ish min remaining - 2rds)

Edited March 28, 2023 by ariel (see edit history)

fenrirlokison · March 28, 2023

Lulani Zenar'inan - Shadar Kai Hexblade Warlock of the Tome

AC: 14 | HP: 21/22 | Initiative: +3 | Passive Perception: 13

Lulani's eyes went wide as the chains flailed, one just managed to get past her defenses and she grimaced. The pain was sharp, but did little and could have been worse. She glared at the prone body of the grey-skinned man and watched as Damaia missed her mark.

"Lulani the beautiful, I cannot believe the living men these creatures once were do not want peace. They want to rest, to sleep. Let us bring that slumber to them."

Her pale skin colored at her cheeks, Dae had caught her off guard. The elf flipped her hair and recovered. "Yes. Sweet sleep of death." Lulani eyes the chains that was exposed by Mags, pointed, and held her breath as the eldritch blast streaked towards it's target.

Action and info

Takes 1 psychic damage. 21/22 hp

Standard: Eldritch blast.

Used:

Spell Slots: 1/2

Blessings of the Raven Queen 1/2

Hexblade's curse dies when grey-skinned man dies. Lu gains no healing and can not use it again until she finishes a short or long rest.

Map. PW: Serene

Edited March 29, 2023 by fenrirlokison (see edit history)

TheWordWeaver · March 29, 2023

The Serene Holds of Urzoa

Chapter 1: Unrest in Baromenes Part 1: A Gathering of Wanderers

🎵 Theme 🎵

PART 1:
A GATHERING OF WANDERERS

The area was a mass of chaos, the Guards attempted to halt the group's attempts at felling their master. They had not planned for Billie to dip into shadows and reappear some feet away. The three other Guards battled Mags, Damaia, and Lulani and they had been successful at swatting their attacks away until one went slumped suddenly and then began trying to stab his master as well. Dae stood from a safe distance controlling her puppet and using him to distract his brethren enough for Lulani to let off another black bolt of lightning directly at Andropeclis's back.

The eldritch energy Lulani conjured flew with certainty towards its target striking Anrdopeclis square where his chain glowed, and twisted around his spine. The black lightning connected and blasted a hole through Andropeclis's pale skin and struck the chain. The eldritch energy caused the life-binding item to become supercharged and unstable. Andropeclis's skin blistered and bubbled, his body smoldering from the inside out until the chain exploded sending a rain of gore onto anyone nearby.

This explosion caused a feedback loop within each of the guards. Bursting into blue and black flames where they stood, a brilliant blue hue pouring from their open mouths and eyes like beacons, the light even visible now during the day. Their bodies continued to burn until each fell into a heap of blackened and scorched armor and arms, leaving nothing behind but ashes upon the stonework. It seemed as if the battle was over, their enemies nothing but ashes at their feet. Besides Andropeclis's broken and blown-apart body. But soon his body began to burn as well, crackling alone until his body was gone to cinders. The mall was quiet once more a few minutes of peace and a moment's time to catch your breaths. The silence was broken a few minutes later by the sound of an unfamiliar voice.

"So the Oracle spoke true." A triton woman said between deep breaths. There was sweat on her brow, she had clearly been running. She seemed dressed for battle, wearing a golden breastplate with the depictions of crossed tridents on its front which moved to an armored skirt of lavender-colored strips of leather with gold trim and caps at the ends. Laurels weaved around the trim of the armor and underneath she wore purple cloths. In her hands was a trident, slowly she moved towards the fountain, took a handful of water from its basin, and drank it eagerly. A sigh left her lips as she finished, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Sorry, where are my manners," She spoke, her voice was smooth, a husk sultry. She turned to face you all and placed her trident into a holder on her back. "I am Deypho, It seems you've met the Chained Ones."

Baromenes
3:10 pm
Wineday (Wednesday), 17th of Midsummer, 495 AC

SCENE INSTRUCTIONS

First combat is over and yall did a wonderful job! Please feel free to investigate the remains of Pale Face's weapon or his body, and that of his comrades, etc. Perception to check your surroundings, or whatever else you'd like to do.

Edited March 30, 2023 by TheWordWeaver (see edit history)

Wizard of the Coat · March 29, 2023

Mags Kategaris - Itinerant Hedge Wizard

Mags_token_200.png.d3596c7994956f551d31c29deaf69122.png

AC: 14 (17with Mage Armor) | HP: 30/30 | Initiative: +4Oracular Insight (I'll often use this for important initiative checks)
"The gods give you flashes of insight that help you bring your efforts to fruition. When you make an ability check, you can roll a d10 and add the number rolled to the check. You can wait until after you roll the d20 before deciding to add the d10, but you must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest." | Passive Perception: 17 | Spell Slots 0/2 (1st)

Mags stood, his body shaking, painted with gore, adrenalin boiling in his veins. It had taken all of his will to crouch down and search for Pale Face's chain--when all he wanted to do was fight or run. Now it was over, but he still felt that need to lash out at enemies, to slash and stab. Without thought, he kicked what remained of Pale Face's body, kicking over and over again, his boot kicking up gore, until the remains began to burn.

He leaped away from the bubbling body, fearing more psychic chains. But nothing happened. Pale Face was truly gone.

He gulped air like a drowning man, willing his body to stop shaking--and failing. He looked around, feeling the eyes of the four upon him, certain they could see into his soul. He had never fought like that before; he'd never gone all-out in an effort to kill. A part of him had reveled in the experience--driving his knife into Pale Face's neck, watching him gurgle, lash out wildly, and realize he was finished. Mags had enjoyed it. He'd wanted more.

There's a devil inside me. So he had once told the Master. And the Master's words had brought no comfort.

Mags could not meet their gazes. His breath slowing, he sheathed his blades and busied himself.

With a theatrical flourish, he waved a hand and Pale Face's sword suddenly appeared on the gore-stained paving stones between Damaia and Billie. Then he looked to the small jewelry box left behind by the Herald. With a snap of his fingers, the box disappeared. One finger at a time, he opened his other hand, revealing the box for all to see. He tucked the box into his messenger bag for later examination.

The familiarity of trickery and showmanship did much to settle him. He felt the pent up energy ebbing from his body. He took a deep centering breath and began to feel like himself again.

He looked to Dae, opening his mouth to ask.... The soulful green eyes that met his gaze pierced him and he forgot his words, looking away.

"So the Oracle spoke true. Sorry, where are my manners. I am Deypho, It seems you've met the Chained Ones."

The triton's final words launched him toward the past. Not now, dammit! He clung to the present with all of his will, clutching desperately, but was torn away like an autumn leaf on a blustery day. His eyes begun to flutter rapidly from side to side, like a man deep in slumber--only, his eyes were open.

The battlefield was littered with bodies. He found himself kneeling in the dirt holding a wound on his stomach. He was leaking blood and bile, the pain nauseating. It was a death wound. He heard the sound of battle around him. His lungs choked with smoke and burned from the heat. A fallen soldier rose to his feet not five paces away, his wounds stitching back together. The fallen soldier approached like a predator ready to spring. He sprang, but Mags was somewhere, sometime, else. A forge ringing, a man striking, hammering a length of metal, forging something. Mags tried to approach, to see over the man's shoulder the object he was forging, but the man turned to look at Mags. He reached for Mags with a heavily gloved hand. Mags was suddenly jerked backward, back into his body. Back to the mortal plane.

Mags opened his eyes, wondering how long he'd been out and how much he'd missed.

Not in the mood to trust anyone other than the four females he'd seen in vision, he stepped away and cast his gaze about the square, looking for hidden threats, happy to let the others do the talking.

"I can hear people coming," he announced. Hurriedly, he began muttering arcane words, passing a hand over his clothes, removing the gore stains.

Mechanics

Main Hand:

Off Hand:

Bonus Action: Mage Hand Legerdemain - Grab Pale Face's longsword and fly back to Billie and Damaia.

Action: Tricky legerdemain stuff.

Free Action(?): Perception Check

Note 1: Current spells active: Mage Armor, Mage Hand.

Statblock

Male Human (Varient) Rogue (Arcane Trickster) 3

Languages Halaea Common, Grehesian Common, Khazian Common, Malek Common, Celestial, Irodesi, Thieves' Cant

Background Hedge Wizard Background Feature The Common Folks' WizardWhen you arrive in smaller communities in your role as hedge wizard, you receive free lodging and food of a modest standard. In addition, your work (reading fortunes, conducting séances, providing herbal remedies to the sick, selling protective trinkets...) leads your clients to open up and tell you things, allowing you access to information they might not publicly share about themselves or others in their community.

ProficiencyTools: Thieves tools (+5 Pick Locks*), herbalism kit
Weapons: Simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords
Armors: Light Bonus +2 Saving Throws Dex, Int

Speed 30 (60 w/Cunning Action Dash)

Actions

Booming BladeEvocation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (5-foot radius)
Components: S, M (a melee weapon worth at least 1 sp)
Duration: 1 round

You brandish the weapon used in the spell's casting and make a melee attack with it against one creature within 5 feet of you. On a hit, the target suffers the weapon attack's normal effects and then becomes sheathed in booming energy until the start of your next turn. If the target willingly moves 5 feet or more before then, the target takes 1d8 thunder damage, and the spell ends.

This spell's damage increases when you reach certain levels. At 5th level, the melee attack deals an extra 1d8 thunder damage to the target on a hit, and the damage the target takes for moving increases to 2d8. Both damage rolls increase by 1d8 at 11th level (2d8 and 3d8) and again at 17th level (3d8 and 4d8).
Dagger +6 to hit for [1d4+4 (+2d6 w/sneak attack)] piercing damage. | Finesse, light, thrown (20/60)
Dart +6 to hit for [1d4+4 (+2d6 w/sneak attack)] piercing damage. | Finesse, thrown (20/60)
Sling +6 to hit for [1d4+4 (+2d6 w/sneak attack)] bludgeoning damage | Ammunition (30/120)
Knife +6 to hit for [1d3+4 (+2d6 w/sneak attack)] slashing damage | Finesse, light

Bonus Actions

Knife (2 Weapon Fighting) +6 to hit for [1d3 (+2d6 w/sneak attack)] slashing damage | Finesse, light
Cunning ActionStarting at 2nd level, your quick thinking and agility allow you to move and act quickly. You can take a bonus action on each of your turns in combat. This action can be used only to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action. (Dash, Disengage, Hide, Mage Hand LegerdemainStarting at 3rd level, when you cast mage hand, you can make the spectral hand invisible, and you can perform the following additional tasks with it:

>You can stow one object the hand is holding in a container worn or carried by another creature.
>You can retrieve an object in a container worn or carried by another creature.
>You can use thieves' tools to pick locks and disarm traps at range.

You can perform one of these tasks without being noticed by a creature if you succeed on a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check contested by the creature's Wisdom (Perception) check.

In addition, you can use the bonus action granted by your Cunning Action to control the hand.)
Steady AimAs a bonus action, you give yourself advantage on your next attack roll on the current turn. You can use this bonus action only if you haven't moved during this turn, and after you use the bonus action, your speed is 0 until the end of the current turn.

Reactions

Silvery Barbs1st-level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when a creature you can see within 60 feet of yourself succeeds on an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw
Range: 60 feet
Components: V
Duration: Instantaneous

You magically distract the triggering creature and turn its momentary uncertainty into encouragement for another creature. The triggering creature must reroll the d20 and use the lower roll.

You can then choose a different creature you can see within range (you can choose yourself). The chosen creature has advantage on the next attack roll, ability check, or saving throw it makes within 1 minute. A creature can be empowered by only one use of this spell at a time.
Opportunity Attack (with additional Sneak Attack)

Other/Free Actions

Oracle's InsightThe gods give you flashes of insight that help you bring your efforts to fruition. When you make an ability check, you can roll a d10 and add the number rolled to the check. You can wait until after you roll the d20 before deciding to add the d10, but you must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Spell Save DC: 12 | Spell Attack Mod: +4

Cantrips Booming BladeEvocation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (5-foot radius)
Components: S, M (a melee weapon worth at least 1 sp)
Duration: 1 round

You brandish the weapon used in the spell's casting and make a melee attack with it against one creature within 5 feet of you. On a hit, the target suffers the weapon attack's normal effects and then becomes sheathed in booming energy until the start of your next turn. If the target willingly moves 5 feet or more before then, the target takes 1d8 thunder damage, and the spell ends.

This spell's damage increases when you reach certain levels. At 5th level, the melee attack deals an extra 1d8 thunder damage to the target on a hit, and the damage the target takes for moving increases to 2d8. Both damage rolls increase by 1d8 at 11th level (2d8 and 3d8) and again at 17th level (3d8 and 4d8). | Mage HandConjuration cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 minute

A spectral, floating hand appears at a point you choose within range. The hand lasts for the duration or until you dismiss it as an action. The hand vanishes if it is ever more than 30 feet away from you or if you cast this spell again.

You can use your action to control the hand. You can use the hand to manipulate an object, open an unlocked door or container, stow or retrieve an item from an open container, or pour the contents out of a vial. You can move the hand up to 30 feet each time you use it.

The hand can't attack, activate magic items, or carry more than 10 pounds. | MessageTransmutation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M (a short piece of copper wire)
Duration: 1 round

You point your finger toward a creature within range and whisper a message. The target (and only the target) hears the message and can reply in a whisper that only you can hear.

You can cast this spell through solid objects if you are familiar with the target and know it is beyond the barrier. Magical silence, 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood blocks the spell. The spell doesn't have to follow a straight line and can travel freely around corners or through openings. | Minor IllusionIllusion cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: S, M (a bit of fleece)
Duration: 1 minute

You create a sound or an image of an object within range that lasts for the duration. The illusion also ends if you dismiss it as an action or cast this spell again.

If you create a sound, its volume can range from a whisper to a scream. It can be your voice, someone else's voice, a lion's roar, a beating of drums, or any other sound you choose. The sound continues unabated throughout the duration, or you can make discrete sounds at different times before the spell ends.

If you create an image of an object—such as a chair, muddy footprints, or a small chest—it must be no larger than a 5-foot cube. The image can't create sound, light, smell, or any other sensory effect. Physical interaction with the image reveals it to be an illusion, because things can pass through it.

If a creature uses its action to examine the sound or image, the creature can determine that it is an illusion with a successful Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC. If a creature discerns the illusion for what it is, the illusion becomes faint to the creature. | PrestidigitationTransmutation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 10 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Up to 1 hour

This spell is a minor magical trick that novice spellcasters use for practice. You create one of the following magical effects within range:

>You create an instantaneous, harmless sensory effect, such as a shower of sparks, a puff of wind, faint musical notes, or an odd odor.
>You instantaneously light or snuff out a candle, a torch, or a small campfire.
>You instantaneously clean or soil an object no larger than 1 cubic foot.
>You chill, warm, or flavor up to 1 cubic foot of nonliving material for 1 hour.
>You make a color, a small mark, or a symbol appear on an object or a surface for 1 hour.
>You create a nonmagical trinket or an illusory image that can fit in your hand and that lasts until the end of your next turn.

If you cast this spell multiple times, you can have up to three of its non-instantaneous effects active at a time, and you can dismiss such an effect as an action.

Spells Disguise Self1st-level illusion
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 hour

You make yourself—including your clothing, armor, weapons, and other belongings on your person—look different until the spell ends or until you use your action to dismiss it. You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller and can appear thin, fat, or in between. You can't change your body type, so you must adopt a form that has the same basic arrangement of limbs. Otherwise, the extent of the illusion is up to you.

The changes wrought by this spell fail to hold up to physical inspection. For example, if you use this spell to add a hat to your outfit, objects pass through the hat, and anyone who touches it would feel nothing or would feel your head and hair. If you use this spell to appear thinner than you are, the hand of someone who reaches out to touch you would bump into you while it was seemingly still in midair.

To discern that you are disguised, a creature can use its action to inspect your appearance and must succeed on an Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC. | Find FamiliarCasting Time: 1 hour
Range: 10 feet
Components: V, S, M (10 gp worth of charcoal, incense, and herbs that must be consumed by fire in a brass brazier)
Duration: Instantaneous

You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast.

Additional animal form choices may be available at the DM's discretion.

Your familiar acts independently of you, but it always obeys your commands. In combat, it rolls its own initiative and acts on its own turn. A familiar can't attack, but it can take other actions as normal.

When the familiar drops to 0 hit points, it disappears, leaving behind no physical form. It reappears after you cast this spell again. As an action, you can temporarily dismiss the familiar to a pocket dimension. Alternatively, you can dismiss it forever. As an action while it is temporarily dismissed, you can cause it to reappear in any unoccupied space within 30 feet of you. Whenever the familiar drops to 0 hit points or disappears into the pocket dimension, it leaves behind in its space anything it was wearing or carrying.

While your familiar is within 100 feet of you, you can communicate with it telepathically. Additionally, as an action, you can see through your familiar's eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any special senses that the familiar has. During this time, you are deaf and blind with regard to your own senses.

You can't have more than one familiar at a time. If you cast this spell while you already have a familiar, you instead cause it to adopt a new form. Choose one of the forms from the above list. Your familiar transforms into the chosen creature.

Finally, when you cast a spell with a range of touch, your familiar can deliver the spell as if it had cast the spell. Your familiar must be within 100 feet of you, and it must use its reaction to deliver the spell when you cast it. If the spell requires an attack roll, you use your attack modifier for the roll. | Mage Armor1st-level abjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a piece of cured leather)
Duration: 8 hours

You touch a willing creature who isn't wearing armor, and a protective magical force surrounds it until the spell ends. The target's base AC becomes 13 + its Dexterity modifier. The spell ends if the target dons armor or if you dismiss the spell as an action. | Silvery Barbs1st-level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when a creature you can see within 60 feet of yourself succeeds on an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw
Range: 60 feet
Components: V
Duration: Instantaneous

You magically distract the triggering creature and turn its momentary uncertainty into encouragement for another creature. The triggering creature must reroll the d20 and use the lower roll.

You can then choose a different creature you can see within range (you can choose yourself). The chosen creature has advantage on the next attack roll, ability check, or saving throw it makes within 1 minute. A creature can be empowered by only one use of this spell at a time.

Rituals Augury2nd-level divination (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (specially marked sticks, bones, or similar tokens worth at least 25 gp)
Duration: Instantaneous

By casting gem-inlaid sticks, rolling dragon bones, laying out ornate cards, or employing some other divining tool, you receive an omen from an otherworldly entity about the results of a specific course of action that you plan to take within the next 30 minutes. The DM chooses from the following possible omens:

>Weal, for good results
>Woe, for bad results
>Weal and woe, for both good and bad results
>Nothing, for results that aren't especially good or bad

The spell doesn't take into account any possible circumstances that might change the outcome, such as the casting of additional spells or the loss or gain of a companion.

If you cast the spell two or more times before completing your next long rest, there is a cumulative 25 percent chance for each casting after the first that you get a random reading. The DM makes this roll in secret.

Edited March 30, 2023 by Wizard of the Coat (see edit history)

ariel · March 29, 2023

Dae

Dae pressed herself back against the stairs behind her as the bodies of the guards burned with blue black flame. Without thought, she lifted the pastry to shield her eyes from the fierce blue light and pressed further into the wood.

It took a full minute for her to realize the fight was over and she caught herself fixedly staring at the burned corpse that she had so recently controlled. Ashes... is that all. Is there nothing more? Does anyone remember him?

She looked up and caught Mags looking away from her. She looked away too, down to the ground, as if caught in the act of something shameful. Pushing herself from the wall, trying to compose her thoughts into a recognizable verse. Her free hand began to twitch, fingers tapping on her thumb. Anyone noticing would see a pattern to the rhythmic movement.

As the triton woman entered the space, Dae found herself leaning back against the wall again. She pulled the hood of her cloak up. Dammit. It’s not over? Who is she? What does want? Someone else is going to have to try to explain this.

As Mags further said that people were coming, Dae tensed. Fight or flight. She was ready to run... but after what they had gone through, she would not leave these kismet people behind.

OOC

Main hand: pastry pie

Off hand: free

Status: Protection from evil/good (5-ish min remaining)

Rumrunner · March 30, 2023

Wilhelmina "Billie" Zenar'Inan - Shadar Kai Echo Knight Fighter

AC: 16 | HP: 35/35 | Initiative: +2 | Passive Perception: 13

The shot was fired and she could feel the surge, the heat and sound of it as it sizzled the dead man's flesh, the body bubbling and the steam squealing as it wanted to escape then exploded over everyone. She ducked, covering her head and making herself small behind the wall that was Damaia, but in front of her were fireworks, all the unchained men twisting and arching backwards on their heels as light erupted from them, and they popped like corn kernels of fiery light on the tinplate that was the mall floor.

Billie watched in awe and undeniable glee, she turned to the gore covered crew with a grin she could not wipe from her face. There was something else a rumbling urge, as it spoke to her her Dim form slowly turned. It held her in its gaze a moment, and her grinning teeth clenched so hard it fealt like they were going rip out of her face. Closing her eyes she gave a massive jaw stretching yawn and sucked breath deeply into her lungs, her echo followed, consumed by her will and with it's disappearance her eyes regained their whites as well as their bright turquoise hue.

There was some other broad here now, having clomped up across the mall with some sense of importance that Billie couldn't really fathom. "Well my sword met the chained ones, as did my sister's eldritch fire, but we weren't really introduced." And she then turned to her sister and gave the gory twin a massive hug. "Holy ***ing shit! Did you see that! Damn Lanilu, that was so awesome..." She kissed her on the forehead despite the mess, then looked her in the eye, narrowing her own as she realized something. "Huh.. well crap... I guess you win then, that's like of all the points... so that makes Mags yours then" She looked down at the glass eyed boy. Where the hell was he?... She waved her hand at him and got nothing. "Mags? Maaaggzzzzeh? MagityMagsaroni? Sugar Magsnolia?... welp... I guess he's broken then... sorry sis your prize sucks."

Meanwhile, Valyv had reactivly hid behind Lula when things started getting bright and magicky. Feeling a little guilty, he tried licking some of the goop off Lulani it was not delicious, but he diligently continued until he got usurped by Billie. He looked at them a moment, a bit jealous, padded off looking for pats. Soon enough the black dog caught wind of something and trotted over to Dae. He stared at her, or more clearly, stared at her hand, drooling tongue hanging out. He tilted his head own and looked up at her, with the puppiest eyes she ever did see.

Mechanics

Main Hand: Lulani
Off Hand: more lulani

Action 1: Sheath sword
Non-Action: Let dog roam
Bonus Action: Recall Shadow

Valyv Action: Beg

fenrirlokison · March 30, 2023

Lulani Zenar'inan - Shadar Kai Hexblade Warlock of the Tome

AC: 14 | HP: 21/22 | Initiative: +3 | Passive Perception: 13

The dark magic struck true, but Lulani still held her breath. Then his body started to react, she let the breath go. The thought of not being able to search him started to enter her mind and then the body exploded! The other guards exploding was put to the background of her mind. She could not celebrate or let a sigh of relief out, she had gunk that had come from someone else on her. Willhelmina was on her too now, hugging her. All Lulani could think of was the yucky body stuff on her, on them!

Before panic starts, Lulani remembers she has something to fix the problem. She grabs a dark shard that is attached around her neck, "Please clean, please clean, please clean." The dark shard glows slightly and the gunk on her and her sister is gone. Free of fluids or other human debris, she lets out a sigh of relief. The sigh was more because she was clean then the fact that the other guards had fallen, that came after she looked around. "Oh good. I was right." She returns her sister's hug, smiling. "Hehe, I did. You were fantastic out there, as always. They didn't stand a chance against our awesome might." A mixture of excitement and glee that her and her sister had come out of the fight mostly unharmed. "Mags may already be taken." , she says with an amused grin.

She glared down at the ash, "A hand please." A shadowy hand appears and disturbs the ash. "What's this?" Lulani squats down and picks up a ring. She stands up while she looks at it, gasps, and drops it. Backing up, she looks at the ring as if it was some disgusting bug. "Careful with that thing."

A strange voice broke the silence, Lulani's head snapped to where it was. She watched the woman, letting her suspicions stay to the side. Even though her clothes were clean, she dusts them off, the act more to try and calm her nerves. Her floating platform comes to her and she sits on it letting out an exaggerated sigh. She sounded as if she had been working in the fields all day and was finally able to rest.

"I can hear people coming,"

Lulani groans, "Perhaps we should go somewhere a bit less out in the opening?" She eyes the ring, takes a dagger and hands it to Billie, "Could you get that ring on the dagger? Try not to touch it." She looks at the new woman, "My name is Lulani and this is my sister Billie, would the ones coming happen to be friends of yours?" Lulani looks around to see if she can spot these people that Mags had heard.

Info

Used:

Spell Slots: 1/2

Blessings of the Raven Queen 1/2

Hexblade's curse dies when grey-skinned man dies. Lu gains no healing and can not use it again until she finishes a short or long rest.

Dark shard amulet on prestidigitation to clean herself from yucky.

Map. PW: Serene

Rumrunner · March 30, 2023

Wilhelmina "Billie" Zenar'Inan - Shadar Kai Echo Knight Fighter

AC: 16 | HP: 35/35 | Initiative: +2 | Passive Perception: 13

Billie, took the dagger and looked at the ring, how was this even a challenge, putting the ring on the tip of her greatsword, now that would be a feat worth talking about. She raised a brow at Lulani and slipped the small blade through the ring to pick it up, her sister had her reasons for things. With the ring part way down the blade, she handed the dagger back to Lula.

As she was down there she saw the longsword and picked it up, tested its weight as she tossed it and caught it a few times, then held it with her hand clasped over the crossbar, for Damaia to take it handle first. "Here, try it out."

Mechanics

Main Hand: Ash's longsword
Off Hand:

Action 1: Pick up Ring with dagger and give to Lu

Action 2: Pick up sword and hand it to Damaia

ariel · March 30, 2023

Dae

Somehow, Dae thought that if she was just still enough, maybe any newcomers to the area wouldn’t notice her. She hadn’t really participated in the fight and she hadn't been close enough to Andropeclis to get covered in his entrails.

Even her "companions"... they didn’t really know her. She hadn’t even given them a name yet. Although, that Mags seemed to know it. Maybe from the caravan? It wasn’t important. The dog was important.

There, as Dae was pressing herself into the shadow of the stairs, pretending not to be there, the dog trotted up to her as if she was singular sunflower in a field of grass. He was staring at her pastry pie. She looked down at it. It was still intact, still wrapped in a green leaf and encaged in rigid fingers.

She breathed out, perhaps not realizing that she had been holding her breath. Very carefully, she took the remaining pastry and laid it on the ground before the dog. In a low tone, she muttered. "There you go, good boy." Her own stomach grumbled as she looked back to see what was happening near the fountain.

OOC

Main hand: free

Off hand: free

Status: Protection from evil/good (5-ish min remaining)

Rumrunner · March 30, 2023

Valyr Zenar'Inan - Husky-Newfoundland Guard Doggo

AC: 14 | HP: 5/5 | Initiative: +2 | Passive Perception: 13(18 by sound or scent)

Valyv hesitated none, as soon as the pie was on the ground, he snatched it and gobbled it up, pastry flaking over the ground and over his silky fur, tail wagging happily as he did so. While the bulk disappeared quickly, the pup diligently found every last crumb on the ground and lapped it up, licking his lips as he looked up at his new favorite person for the moment with a grin. He moved up under her hand, wet nosing it away from her body and lapping her fingers, there were still some trace crumbs there and not to mention some of the butter grease.

Mechanics

Action 1: Eat Pie
Action 2: Lick crumbs from ground
Action 3: Lick crumbs from fingers

Wizard of the Coat · March 30, 2023

Mags Kategaris - Itinerant Hedge Wizard

AC: 14 (17with Mage Armor) | HP: 30/30 | Initiative: +4Oracular Insight (I'll often use this for important initiative checks)
"The gods give you flashes of insight that help you bring your efforts to fruition. When you make an ability check, you can roll a d10 and add the number rolled to the check. You can wait until after you roll the d20 before deciding to add the d10, but you must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest." | Passive Perception: 17 | Spell Slots 0/2 (1st)

By the playfulness in their eyes as they looked at him, Mags guessed the sisters had been sharing some inside joke. He hoped they hadn't done anything to him during his vision. He was calm now, thinking more clearly. Better to let sleeping dogs lie, the Master always said.

That thought turned his gaze to Valyv, begging for Dae's pastry. And Dae lowering it to him.

His heart sank just a little. The girl need sleep on a full belly.

Having cleaned the gore from his clothes, he approached the auburn-haired girl. Putting his back to the wall next to her. He couldn't resist giving Valyv some love, scratching behind the mastiff's ear, momentarily petting his head and shoulders. Then he spoke softly, his eyes on the square. "You needed that pastry more than he did."

And then he mentally kicked himself. Fool. So totally incapable of saying anything intelligent or thoughtful around girls. Only stupid things came out of his mouth. His words must have sounded like a rebuke. Hoping to correct his mistake, he asked uncertainly, his eyes still on the square "Pastries aren't your thing, eh?"

Not much better.

Looking back to the others, he was relieved that the they had searched through the remains of Pale Face, and were examining the longsword. He looked to where the orc had fallen, wondering if there might be more to find.

Meanwhile, Dae still looked like a deer about to bolt. Hoping to draw the girl out of her protective corner, he asked, "Would you mind helping me check out the orc's armor and see if he left anything else behind?"

Mechanics

Main Hand:

Off Hand:

Bonus Action: Mage Hand Legerdemain - Grab Pale Face's longsword and fly back to Billie and Damaia.

Action: Tricky legerdemain stuff.

Free Action(?): Perception Check

Note 1: Current spells active: Mage Armor, Mage Hand.

Statblock

Male Human (Varient) Rogue (Arcane Trickster) 3

Languages Halaea Common, Grehesian Common, Khazian Common, Malek Common, Celestial, Irodesi, Thieves' Cant

Background Hedge Wizard Background Feature The Common Folks' WizardWhen you arrive in smaller communities in your role as hedge wizard, you receive free lodging and food of a modest standard. In addition, your work (reading fortunes, conducting séances, providing herbal remedies to the sick, selling protective trinkets...) leads your clients to open up and tell you things, allowing you access to information they might not publicly share about themselves or others in their community.

ProficiencyTools: Thieves tools (+5 Pick Locks*), herbalism kit
Weapons: Simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords
Armors: Light Bonus +2 Saving Throws Dex, Int

Speed 30 (60 w/Cunning Action Dash)

Actions

Booming BladeEvocation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (5-foot radius)
Components: S, M (a melee weapon worth at least 1 sp)
Duration: 1 round

You brandish the weapon used in the spell's casting and make a melee attack with it against one creature within 5 feet of you. On a hit, the target suffers the weapon attack's normal effects and then becomes sheathed in booming energy until the start of your next turn. If the target willingly moves 5 feet or more before then, the target takes 1d8 thunder damage, and the spell ends.

This spell's damage increases when you reach certain levels. At 5th level, the melee attack deals an extra 1d8 thunder damage to the target on a hit, and the damage the target takes for moving increases to 2d8. Both damage rolls increase by 1d8 at 11th level (2d8 and 3d8) and again at 17th level (3d8 and 4d8).
Dagger +6 to hit for [1d4+4 (+2d6 w/sneak attack)] piercing damage. | Finesse, light, thrown (20/60)
Dart +6 to hit for [1d4+4 (+2d6 w/sneak attack)] piercing damage. | Finesse, thrown (20/60)
Sling +6 to hit for [1d4+4 (+2d6 w/sneak attack)] bludgeoning damage | Ammunition (30/120)
Knife +6 to hit for [1d3+4 (+2d6 w/sneak attack)] slashing damage | Finesse, light

Bonus Actions

Knife (2 Weapon Fighting) +6 to hit for [1d3 (+2d6 w/sneak attack)] slashing damage | Finesse, light
Cunning ActionStarting at 2nd level, your quick thinking and agility allow you to move and act quickly. You can take a bonus action on each of your turns in combat. This action can be used only to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action. (Dash, Disengage, Hide, Mage Hand LegerdemainStarting at 3rd level, when you cast mage hand, you can make the spectral hand invisible, and you can perform the following additional tasks with it:

>You can stow one object the hand is holding in a container worn or carried by another creature.
>You can retrieve an object in a container worn or carried by another creature.
>You can use thieves' tools to pick locks and disarm traps at range.

You can perform one of these tasks without being noticed by a creature if you succeed on a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check contested by the creature's Wisdom (Perception) check.

In addition, you can use the bonus action granted by your Cunning Action to control the hand.)
Steady AimAs a bonus action, you give yourself advantage on your next attack roll on the current turn. You can use this bonus action only if you haven't moved during this turn, and after you use the bonus action, your speed is 0 until the end of the current turn.

Reactions

Silvery Barbs1st-level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when a creature you can see within 60 feet of yourself succeeds on an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw
Range: 60 feet
Components: V
Duration: Instantaneous

You magically distract the triggering creature and turn its momentary uncertainty into encouragement for another creature. The triggering creature must reroll the d20 and use the lower roll.

You can then choose a different creature you can see within range (you can choose yourself). The chosen creature has advantage on the next attack roll, ability check, or saving throw it makes within 1 minute. A creature can be empowered by only one use of this spell at a time.
Opportunity Attack (with additional Sneak Attack)

Other/Free Actions

Oracle's InsightThe gods give you flashes of insight that help you bring your efforts to fruition. When you make an ability check, you can roll a d10 and add the number rolled to the check. You can wait until after you roll the d20 before deciding to add the d10, but you must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Spell Save DC: 12 | Spell Attack Mod: +4

Cantrips Booming BladeEvocation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (5-foot radius)
Components: S, M (a melee weapon worth at least 1 sp)
Duration: 1 round

You brandish the weapon used in the spell's casting and make a melee attack with it against one creature within 5 feet of you. On a hit, the target suffers the weapon attack's normal effects and then becomes sheathed in booming energy until the start of your next turn. If the target willingly moves 5 feet or more before then, the target takes 1d8 thunder damage, and the spell ends.

This spell's damage increases when you reach certain levels. At 5th level, the melee attack deals an extra 1d8 thunder damage to the target on a hit, and the damage the target takes for moving increases to 2d8. Both damage rolls increase by 1d8 at 11th level (2d8 and 3d8) and again at 17th level (3d8 and 4d8). | Mage HandConjuration cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 minute

A spectral, floating hand appears at a point you choose within range. The hand lasts for the duration or until you dismiss it as an action. The hand vanishes if it is ever more than 30 feet away from you or if you cast this spell again.

You can use your action to control the hand. You can use the hand to manipulate an object, open an unlocked door or container, stow or retrieve an item from an open container, or pour the contents out of a vial. You can move the hand up to 30 feet each time you use it.

The hand can't attack, activate magic items, or carry more than 10 pounds. | MessageTransmutation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M (a short piece of copper wire)
Duration: 1 round

You point your finger toward a creature within range and whisper a message. The target (and only the target) hears the message and can reply in a whisper that only you can hear.

You can cast this spell through solid objects if you are familiar with the target and know it is beyond the barrier. Magical silence, 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood blocks the spell. The spell doesn't have to follow a straight line and can travel freely around corners or through openings. | Minor IllusionIllusion cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: S, M (a bit of fleece)
Duration: 1 minute

You create a sound or an image of an object within range that lasts for the duration. The illusion also ends if you dismiss it as an action or cast this spell again.

If you create a sound, its volume can range from a whisper to a scream. It can be your voice, someone else's voice, a lion's roar, a beating of drums, or any other sound you choose. The sound continues unabated throughout the duration, or you can make discrete sounds at different times before the spell ends.

If you create an image of an object—such as a chair, muddy footprints, or a small chest—it must be no larger than a 5-foot cube. The image can't create sound, light, smell, or any other sensory effect. Physical interaction with the image reveals it to be an illusion, because things can pass through it.

If a creature uses its action to examine the sound or image, the creature can determine that it is an illusion with a successful Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC. If a creature discerns the illusion for what it is, the illusion becomes faint to the creature. | PrestidigitationTransmutation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 10 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Up to 1 hour

This spell is a minor magical trick that novice spellcasters use for practice. You create one of the following magical effects within range:

>You create an instantaneous, harmless sensory effect, such as a shower of sparks, a puff of wind, faint musical notes, or an odd odor.
>You instantaneously light or snuff out a candle, a torch, or a small campfire.
>You instantaneously clean or soil an object no larger than 1 cubic foot.
>You chill, warm, or flavor up to 1 cubic foot of nonliving material for 1 hour.
>You make a color, a small mark, or a symbol appear on an object or a surface for 1 hour.
>You create a nonmagical trinket or an illusory image that can fit in your hand and that lasts until the end of your next turn.

If you cast this spell multiple times, you can have up to three of its non-instantaneous effects active at a time, and you can dismiss such an effect as an action.

Spells Disguise Self1st-level illusion
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 hour

You make yourself—including your clothing, armor, weapons, and other belongings on your person—look different until the spell ends or until you use your action to dismiss it. You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller and can appear thin, fat, or in between. You can't change your body type, so you must adopt a form that has the same basic arrangement of limbs. Otherwise, the extent of the illusion is up to you.

The changes wrought by this spell fail to hold up to physical inspection. For example, if you use this spell to add a hat to your outfit, objects pass through the hat, and anyone who touches it would feel nothing or would feel your head and hair. If you use this spell to appear thinner than you are, the hand of someone who reaches out to touch you would bump into you while it was seemingly still in midair.

To discern that you are disguised, a creature can use its action to inspect your appearance and must succeed on an Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC. | Find FamiliarCasting Time: 1 hour
Range: 10 feet
Components: V, S, M (10 gp worth of charcoal, incense, and herbs that must be consumed by fire in a brass brazier)
Duration: Instantaneous

You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast.

Additional animal form choices may be available at the DM's discretion.

Your familiar acts independently of you, but it always obeys your commands. In combat, it rolls its own initiative and acts on its own turn. A familiar can't attack, but it can take other actions as normal.

When the familiar drops to 0 hit points, it disappears, leaving behind no physical form. It reappears after you cast this spell again. As an action, you can temporarily dismiss the familiar to a pocket dimension. Alternatively, you can dismiss it forever. As an action while it is temporarily dismissed, you can cause it to reappear in any unoccupied space within 30 feet of you. Whenever the familiar drops to 0 hit points or disappears into the pocket dimension, it leaves behind in its space anything it was wearing or carrying.

While your familiar is within 100 feet of you, you can communicate with it telepathically. Additionally, as an action, you can see through your familiar's eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any special senses that the familiar has. During this time, you are deaf and blind with regard to your own senses.

You can't have more than one familiar at a time. If you cast this spell while you already have a familiar, you instead cause it to adopt a new form. Choose one of the forms from the above list. Your familiar transforms into the chosen creature.

Finally, when you cast a spell with a range of touch, your familiar can deliver the spell as if it had cast the spell. Your familiar must be within 100 feet of you, and it must use its reaction to deliver the spell when you cast it. If the spell requires an attack roll, you use your attack modifier for the roll. | Mage Armor1st-level abjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a piece of cured leather)
Duration: 8 hours

You touch a willing creature who isn't wearing armor, and a protective magical force surrounds it until the spell ends. The target's base AC becomes 13 + its Dexterity modifier. The spell ends if the target dons armor or if you dismiss the spell as an action. | Silvery Barbs1st-level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when a creature you can see within 60 feet of yourself succeeds on an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw
Range: 60 feet
Components: V
Duration: Instantaneous

You magically distract the triggering creature and turn its momentary uncertainty into encouragement for another creature. The triggering creature must reroll the d20 and use the lower roll.

You can then choose a different creature you can see within range (you can choose yourself). The chosen creature has advantage on the next attack roll, ability check, or saving throw it makes within 1 minute. A creature can be empowered by only one use of this spell at a time.

Rituals Augury2nd-level divination (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (specially marked sticks, bones, or similar tokens worth at least 25 gp)
Duration: Instantaneous

By casting gem-inlaid sticks, rolling dragon bones, laying out ornate cards, or employing some other divining tool, you receive an omen from an otherworldly entity about the results of a specific course of action that you plan to take within the next 30 minutes. The DM chooses from the following possible omens:

>Weal, for good results
>Woe, for bad results
>Weal and woe, for both good and bad results
>Nothing, for results that aren't especially good or bad

The spell doesn't take into account any possible circumstances that might change the outcome, such as the casting of additional spells or the loss or gain of a companion.

If you cast the spell two or more times before completing your next long rest, there is a cumulative 25 percent chance for each casting after the first that you get a random reading. The DM makes this roll in secret.

Edited March 30, 2023 by Wizard of the Coat (see edit history)

Neopopulas · March 30, 2023

Damaia Hazil
AC: 17Armour: 14
Dexterity: +1
Shield: +2| HP: 36 (*Abjuration Ward;
When casting an Abjuration Spell of 1st level or higher.
Gain Wizard level x2+Int mod as a Ward.
Whenever you cast Abjuration magic - even if the ward is at 0 - add a number of hit points equal to twice the level of the spell.) | Proficiency: +2 | Initiative: +1 | Passive Perception: 12 | Speed: 30ft
Saves: Str +4 | Dex +1 | Con +4 | Int +5 | Wis +0 | Cha +0 | Resistances: Fire, Necrotic, Radiant
Special Abilities: Cloak of StarsEffect: Disadvantage on attacks against you for 1 minute.

As an action, you wrap yourself in a starry cloak, appearing like a silhouette forms of the night sky. When you doe, attack rolls have disadvantage against you. This cloak lasts for 1 minute, until you doff it (no action), or until you die. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest., Second WindOn turn, bonus action to regain 1d10+Fighter Level HP.

Once per short/long rest., Darkvision60ft

Thanks to your Infernal heritage, you have superior Vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in Darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in Darkness, only Shades of Gray.
Attacks: Long Sword [+4 | 1d8+4 Slashing. (Dueling / Versatile. 1d10)] | Long Bow [+3 | 1d8+1. 150/600]
Spells; DC: 15. Attack +7. Spells Prepared 7. | Cantrips: Prestidigitation, Mage Hand, Green-Flame Blade, Thaumaturgy
Level 1 [▣ □] | Magic Missile, Shield, Burning Hands, Grease, Absorb Elements, False Life, Frost Fingers

Damaia takes some time to recover. A wave of her hand can clean up her armour, but her blade was disappointingly clean. She had not provided the showing that she would have preferred and her disappointment was clear.

She shook it off, but knew that she would be thinking about it for awhile now.

The others all seemed to have things on their mind, but she felt a little suspicious of the newcomer, so she focuses there. At least she sheaths her sword before she gets there "Deypho, my make is Damaia. I suppose i cannot say it is a pleasure to meet you.. These Chained ones.. what do you know, are there many of them?"

She seems, if anything, a little surprised by Billie's offer, though she does take it. There was a special place in her heart for her sword, but she would never turn down a new one if it bore some influence. If nothing else it would tell her something about the man who wielded it.

"Thank you uh.. Billie? I'm afraid I did not make as good an impression as i had hoped."

Anything else she was about to say is interrupted by the announcement of more people arriving, good or bad, they should probably not be there when they arrive "Perhaps you know somewhere..?"

Mechanics

Main Hand: (two-handed) Long sword

Off Hand: -

Movement:
Action;

Edited March 30, 2023 by Neopopulas (see edit history)

TheWordWeaver · March 30, 2023

The Serene Holds of Urzoa

Chapter 1: Unrest in Baromenes Part 1: A Gathering of Wanderers

🎵 Theme 🎵

PART 1:
A GATHERING OF WANDERERS

Deypho gathered her composure, this hadn't been the encounter she was expecting. These were the champions the Oracle spoke of? She felt sorry for them, they had been chosen to carry burdens much too heavy for their shoulders. She looked at the scorched bodies on the floor that were little more than ash. The wind picked up at that moment, blowing away the ashes, the once-metal armor of their slain enemies crumbled and blew away as well. The flames seemed to have reduced them as well. Deypho looked to Mags and then to Billie. "As it would seem." She replied to Wilhelmina's comment. She looked past the sisters and the tall tiefling to Dae who seemed to be trying to make herself as small as possible.

Her attention was captured by Lulani asking something about friends coming. "Friends? Oh no, I am alone," She said turning to pull a piece of rolled parchment from her pack. "I was sent to deliver this." She finished holding out for any of them to grab. Just then two men, dressed in blue himations entered the area talking in Halean common they seemed to not even notice the party or the scorched patches of stone and continued on their way as they descended the staircase to the grassy area to the east.

"Greetings Damaia, I am unsure, they haven't been seen for centuries. Only recently has there been sightings and accounts of them attacking villages." She paused and nodded her head. "We should speak of this somewhere else, come, follow me I know of a place nearby." She said turning towards the stairs that the two men had walked down earlier as more people had begun to funnel into the area.

Deypho lead you from the promenade and onto a path. The path lead you to the crest of a hill, and the tops of giant stone-carved temples reached into the sky as an open valley of stone paths, merchants' huts, temples, and much more came into view before you. To your left, a wide patch of field with portions of it cultivated for activities was being used by athletes. Some carried javelins and threw them, practicing their technique and power. Others lined up on a stretch of dirt, sprinted, and jumped as far as they could into a pit of sand.

To your right, a path lead up a lone hill, and multiple buildings sat atop it. "That is the Akrópoli." Deypho said as you passed it. "That is where the orators and the admiral decide on political matters. Come we are almost there, up ahead." Ahead a small temple came into view. There were a few others around that shuffled out as you arrived. Inside stood a statue of a young warrior looking ahead with a stoic look, the temple was made of carved marble, and the ceilings stood 10 feet high. Many offerings were laid before the feet of the statue. Deypho ushered you quickly into a back room, and once inside closed the door.

The room was spacious, rolled scrolls lined the walls inside wooden holders. There was a desk at the end of the room which Deypho moved to and sat on top of its surface.

"Sorry for the rush, I wanted to make sure we weren't being followed." She paused and looked at you all. "I tend to this temple, It is dedicated to one of the saints of Xoros. That really isn't important though. Before I go any further can I ask the rest of you your names? I want to make sure I have the correct people in my company." She said. Torches lined the walls of the room, giving a soft light that washed over the interior. The triton's green hair seemed to dance in the light and her skin shimmered a bit with sweat.

Baromenes
3:34 pm
Wineday (Wednesday), 17th of Midsummer, 495 AC

SCENE INSTRUCTIONS

Questions and Answers.

ariel · March 30, 2023

Dae

Dae's moment with the dog was familiar although the ones she had typically fed, on the forgotten back streets of Anthropoi, were mangy and unloved. She nodded to Mags as he approached.

"He was so hopeful, and so completely unphased by what just happened here, I couldn't deny him the joy of having it. I will eat... later." ... when it feels safe.

"And, I think I might like pastries... I, I appreciate the thought." That sounded odd, who doesn't know if they like pastries? Someone who hasn't had one for a long time, I guess... someone like me.

Wary eyes flicked over to the triton and Damaia speaking and then back to Mags. "You said people are coming... do we have time for the orc?" Ensuring the dark hood of her cloak was up and the rest of it flowed to cover her, she took a step away from the wall. Still, she hesitated and took a long scan of the mall area.

Just then, the triton, Deypho, swept them away... ushering them through the city and into the back room of a temple. Dae flinched slightly as the door was shut, closing them in. Again, she hesitated, not wanting to be the first to speak.

OOC

Main hand: free

Off hand: free

Status: Protection from evil/good (5-ish min remaining)

Edited March 30, 2023 by ariel (see edit history)

Wizard of the Coat · March 30, 2023

Mags Kategaris - Itinerant Hedge Wizard

AC: 14 (17with Mage Armor) | HP: 30/30 | Initiative: +4Oracular Insight (I'll often use this for important initiative checks)
"The gods give you flashes of insight that help you bring your efforts to fruition. When you make an ability check, you can roll a d10 and add the number rolled to the check. You can wait until after you roll the d20 before deciding to add the d10, but you must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest." | Passive Perception: 17 | Spell Slots 0/2 (1st)

I, I appreciate the thought."

Mags turned to say something but stopped himself. Instead, he nodded, keeping his eyes on the square.

"You said people are coming... do we have time for the orc?"

"You're probably right. I'll go do a quick once-over. Follow if you'd like."

He move at a comfortable pace, avoiding eye-contact with Deypho as she focused on Lu and Damaia. Reaching the spot where the orc had fallen, he crouched down and studied the stain and ashes. Spotting something, he drew his dagger and prodded the ashes.

If Dae accompanied him...

Softly, he spoke the arcane words of a cantrip. And then Dae heard his words as if he stood at her side, his lips nearly brushing her ear, whispering ever so softly, "If you can, stand between the triton and these ashes."

His proddings revealed a signet ring, which he picked up with small needle-nosed pliers drawn from somewhere in his messenger bag. He dropped the ring into an inner pocket of his bag before returning the pliers to their spot. Satisfied with his find, he rose to his feet as Deypho extended her invitation.

"...come, follow me I know of a place nearby."

Mags looked to Billie and Lu before falling in step behind the others. He stayed at the rear of the procession, not letting Dae fall behind him. Along the way, he marveled at the sites of the city. He'd been to Baromenes before, but had only seen the waterfront and the open market square. Occasionally, he dawdled as he passed some merchant's hut or street-side food vender's cart before remembering his purpose and rushing to catch up with the others.

Mechanics

Main Hand:

Off Hand:

Bonus Action:

Action:

Free Action(?):

Note 1: Current spells active: Mage Armor, Mage Hand.

Note 1: Mags maintains the Mage Hand spell, casting it every minute or so. He will do so surreptitiously, i.e. while following Deypho through the city, he'll drop behind or wait until she turns a corner ahead of them. And he'll cast it before entering her temple, assuming she enters first and can be "still outside and have cover."

Statblock

Male Human (Varient) Rogue (Arcane Trickster) 3

Languages Halaea Common, Grehesian Common, Khazian Common, Malek Common, Celestial, Irodesi, Thieves' Cant

Background Hedge Wizard Background Feature The Common Folks' WizardWhen you arrive in smaller communities in your role as hedge wizard, you receive free lodging and food of a modest standard. In addition, your work (reading fortunes, conducting séances, providing herbal remedies to the sick, selling protective trinkets...) leads your clients to open up and tell you things, allowing you access to information they might not publicly share about themselves or others in their community.

ProficiencyTools: Thieves tools (+5 Pick Locks*), herbalism kit
Weapons: Simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords
Armors: Light Bonus +2 Saving Throws Dex, Int

Speed 30 (60 w/Cunning Action Dash)

Actions

Booming BladeEvocation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (5-foot radius)
Components: S, M (a melee weapon worth at least 1 sp)
Duration: 1 round

You brandish the weapon used in the spell's casting and make a melee attack with it against one creature within 5 feet of you. On a hit, the target suffers the weapon attack's normal effects and then becomes sheathed in booming energy until the start of your next turn. If the target willingly moves 5 feet or more before then, the target takes 1d8 thunder damage, and the spell ends.

This spell's damage increases when you reach certain levels. At 5th level, the melee attack deals an extra 1d8 thunder damage to the target on a hit, and the damage the target takes for moving increases to 2d8. Both damage rolls increase by 1d8 at 11th level (2d8 and 3d8) and again at 17th level (3d8 and 4d8).
Dagger +6 to hit for [1d4+4 (+2d6 w/sneak attack)] piercing damage. | Finesse, light, thrown (20/60)
Dart +6 to hit for [1d4+4 (+2d6 w/sneak attack)] piercing damage. | Finesse, thrown (20/60)
Sling +6 to hit for [1d4+4 (+2d6 w/sneak attack)] bludgeoning damage | Ammunition (30/120)
Knife +6 to hit for [1d3+4 (+2d6 w/sneak attack)] slashing damage | Finesse, light

Bonus Actions

Knife (2 Weapon Fighting) +6 to hit for [1d3 (+2d6 w/sneak attack)] slashing damage | Finesse, light
Cunning ActionStarting at 2nd level, your quick thinking and agility allow you to move and act quickly. You can take a bonus action on each of your turns in combat. This action can be used only to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action. (Dash, Disengage, Hide, Mage Hand LegerdemainStarting at 3rd level, when you cast mage hand, you can make the spectral hand invisible, and you can perform the following additional tasks with it:

>You can stow one object the hand is holding in a container worn or carried by another creature.
>You can retrieve an object in a container worn or carried by another creature.
>You can use thieves' tools to pick locks and disarm traps at range.

You can perform one of these tasks without being noticed by a creature if you succeed on a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check contested by the creature's Wisdom (Perception) check.

In addition, you can use the bonus action granted by your Cunning Action to control the hand.)
Steady AimAs a bonus action, you give yourself advantage on your next attack roll on the current turn. You can use this bonus action only if you haven't moved during this turn, and after you use the bonus action, your speed is 0 until the end of the current turn.

Reactions

Silvery Barbs1st-level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when a creature you can see within 60 feet of yourself succeeds on an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw
Range: 60 feet
Components: V
Duration: Instantaneous

You magically distract the triggering creature and turn its momentary uncertainty into encouragement for another creature. The triggering creature must reroll the d20 and use the lower roll.

You can then choose a different creature you can see within range (you can choose yourself). The chosen creature has advantage on the next attack roll, ability check, or saving throw it makes within 1 minute. A creature can be empowered by only one use of this spell at a time.
Opportunity Attack (with additional Sneak Attack)

Other/Free Actions

Oracle's InsightThe gods give you flashes of insight that help you bring your efforts to fruition. When you make an ability check, you can roll a d10 and add the number rolled to the check. You can wait until after you roll the d20 before deciding to add the d10, but you must decide before the DM says whether the roll succeeds or fails. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Spell Save DC: 12 | Spell Attack Mod: +4

Cantrips Booming BladeEvocation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (5-foot radius)
Components: S, M (a melee weapon worth at least 1 sp)
Duration: 1 round

You brandish the weapon used in the spell's casting and make a melee attack with it against one creature within 5 feet of you. On a hit, the target suffers the weapon attack's normal effects and then becomes sheathed in booming energy until the start of your next turn. If the target willingly moves 5 feet or more before then, the target takes 1d8 thunder damage, and the spell ends.

This spell's damage increases when you reach certain levels. At 5th level, the melee attack deals an extra 1d8 thunder damage to the target on a hit, and the damage the target takes for moving increases to 2d8. Both damage rolls increase by 1d8 at 11th level (2d8 and 3d8) and again at 17th level (3d8 and 4d8). | Mage HandConjuration cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 minute

A spectral, floating hand appears at a point you choose within range. The hand lasts for the duration or until you dismiss it as an action. The hand vanishes if it is ever more than 30 feet away from you or if you cast this spell again.

You can use your action to control the hand. You can use the hand to manipulate an object, open an unlocked door or container, stow or retrieve an item from an open container, or pour the contents out of a vial. You can move the hand up to 30 feet each time you use it.

The hand can't attack, activate magic items, or carry more than 10 pounds. | MessageTransmutation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M (a short piece of copper wire)
Duration: 1 round

You point your finger toward a creature within range and whisper a message. The target (and only the target) hears the message and can reply in a whisper that only you can hear.

You can cast this spell through solid objects if you are familiar with the target and know it is beyond the barrier. Magical silence, 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood blocks the spell. The spell doesn't have to follow a straight line and can travel freely around corners or through openings. | Minor IllusionIllusion cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 30 feet
Components: S, M (a bit of fleece)
Duration: 1 minute

You create a sound or an image of an object within range that lasts for the duration. The illusion also ends if you dismiss it as an action or cast this spell again.

If you create a sound, its volume can range from a whisper to a scream. It can be your voice, someone else's voice, a lion's roar, a beating of drums, or any other sound you choose. The sound continues unabated throughout the duration, or you can make discrete sounds at different times before the spell ends.

If you create an image of an object—such as a chair, muddy footprints, or a small chest—it must be no larger than a 5-foot cube. The image can't create sound, light, smell, or any other sensory effect. Physical interaction with the image reveals it to be an illusion, because things can pass through it.

If a creature uses its action to examine the sound or image, the creature can determine that it is an illusion with a successful Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC. If a creature discerns the illusion for what it is, the illusion becomes faint to the creature. | PrestidigitationTransmutation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: 10 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Up to 1 hour

This spell is a minor magical trick that novice spellcasters use for practice. You create one of the following magical effects within range:

>You create an instantaneous, harmless sensory effect, such as a shower of sparks, a puff of wind, faint musical notes, or an odd odor.
>You instantaneously light or snuff out a candle, a torch, or a small campfire.
>You instantaneously clean or soil an object no larger than 1 cubic foot.
>You chill, warm, or flavor up to 1 cubic foot of nonliving material for 1 hour.
>You make a color, a small mark, or a symbol appear on an object or a surface for 1 hour.
>You create a nonmagical trinket or an illusory image that can fit in your hand and that lasts until the end of your next turn.

If you cast this spell multiple times, you can have up to three of its non-instantaneous effects active at a time, and you can dismiss such an effect as an action.

Spells Disguise Self1st-level illusion
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 hour

You make yourself—including your clothing, armor, weapons, and other belongings on your person—look different until the spell ends or until you use your action to dismiss it. You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller and can appear thin, fat, or in between. You can't change your body type, so you must adopt a form that has the same basic arrangement of limbs. Otherwise, the extent of the illusion is up to you.

The changes wrought by this spell fail to hold up to physical inspection. For example, if you use this spell to add a hat to your outfit, objects pass through the hat, and anyone who touches it would feel nothing or would feel your head and hair. If you use this spell to appear thinner than you are, the hand of someone who reaches out to touch you would bump into you while it was seemingly still in midair.

To discern that you are disguised, a creature can use its action to inspect your appearance and must succeed on an Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC. | Find FamiliarCasting Time: 1 hour
Range: 10 feet
Components: V, S, M (10 gp worth of charcoal, incense, and herbs that must be consumed by fire in a brass brazier)
Duration: Instantaneous

You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. Appearing in an unoccupied space within range, the familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast.

Additional animal form choices may be available at the DM's discretion.

Your familiar acts independently of you, but it always obeys your commands. In combat, it rolls its own initiative and acts on its own turn. A familiar can't attack, but it can take other actions as normal.

When the familiar drops to 0 hit points, it disappears, leaving behind no physical form. It reappears after you cast this spell again. As an action, you can temporarily dismiss the familiar to a pocket dimension. Alternatively, you can dismiss it forever. As an action while it is temporarily dismissed, you can cause it to reappear in any unoccupied space within 30 feet of you. Whenever the familiar drops to 0 hit points or disappears into the pocket dimension, it leaves behind in its space anything it was wearing or carrying.

While your familiar is within 100 feet of you, you can communicate with it telepathically. Additionally, as an action, you can see through your familiar's eyes and hear what it hears until the start of your next turn, gaining the benefits of any special senses that the familiar has. During this time, you are deaf and blind with regard to your own senses.

You can't have more than one familiar at a time. If you cast this spell while you already have a familiar, you instead cause it to adopt a new form. Choose one of the forms from the above list. Your familiar transforms into the chosen creature.

Finally, when you cast a spell with a range of touch, your familiar can deliver the spell as if it had cast the spell. Your familiar must be within 100 feet of you, and it must use its reaction to deliver the spell when you cast it. If the spell requires an attack roll, you use your attack modifier for the roll. | Mage Armor1st-level abjuration
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a piece of cured leather)
Duration: 8 hours

You touch a willing creature who isn't wearing armor, and a protective magical force surrounds it until the spell ends. The target's base AC becomes 13 + its Dexterity modifier. The spell ends if the target dons armor or if you dismiss the spell as an action. | Silvery Barbs1st-level enchantment
Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when a creature you can see within 60 feet of yourself succeeds on an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw
Range: 60 feet
Components: V
Duration: Instantaneous

You magically distract the triggering creature and turn its momentary uncertainty into encouragement for another creature. The triggering creature must reroll the d20 and use the lower roll.

You can then choose a different creature you can see within range (you can choose yourself). The chosen creature has advantage on the next attack roll, ability check, or saving throw it makes within 1 minute. A creature can be empowered by only one use of this spell at a time.

Rituals Augury2nd-level divination (ritual)
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (specially marked sticks, bones, or similar tokens worth at least 25 gp)
Duration: Instantaneous

By casting gem-inlaid sticks, rolling dragon bones, laying out ornate cards, or employing some other divining tool, you receive an omen from an otherworldly entity about the results of a specific course of action that you plan to take within the next 30 minutes. The DM chooses from the following possible omens:

>Weal, for good results
>Woe, for bad results
>Weal and woe, for both good and bad results
>Nothing, for results that aren't especially good or bad

The spell doesn't take into account any possible circumstances that might change the outcome, such as the casting of additional spells or the loss or gain of a companion.

If you cast the spell two or more times before completing your next long rest, there is a cumulative 25 percent chance for each casting after the first that you get a random reading. The DM makes this roll in secret.

Edited March 30, 2023 by Wizard of the Coat (see edit history)

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Bright_1	Bright_2	Bright_3	Bold_4	Accent_4	Mood_4

Chapter 1 - Unrest in Baromenes

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