Communion with Desna, other things
Nov 18, 2013 11:01:44 GMT -6
Post by General Spoon on Nov 18, 2013 11:01:44 GMT -6
Study of the map you found at the Stairs of the Moon brings several things to light. The map has several coordinates scrawled on its back. The locations are the towns of Ravengro and Lepidstadt, a location near Ascanor Lodge (likely the Stairs of the Moon), and the ghost town of Feldgrau in the Furrows of Ardeal. From Ascanor Lodge to Ardeal would be about a week's travel; four days to reach the town of Chastel located on Calcsroix River. From there is would be a one day journey up a tributary, followed by two days on foot to reach Feldgrau.
It takes the better part of a day to reconsecrate the temple by cleaning and restoring it. As night falls, the Dusk Moth is active, and a faint radiance emits from the menhirs on top of the temple. Using the scroll about the communion ritual, you sit down when the stars are visible, and begin to perform it from atop the Stairs of the Moon, and fall asleep.
You dream. The first thing you see is a butterfly, and you hear "My thanks for cleansing this temple. In return, you may catch glimpses of the future." The butterfly fades, and the next thing you see is yourselves, facing a man in a robe wearing a breastplate made of bones outside of a ruined tower; Auren Vrood.
The scene fades. A butterfly lands on Clarissa's shoulder, and she hears whispered in her ear, "Succeed where your parents have failed. Cleanse your hometown of its scum." Clarissa turns and it was not the butterfly whispering to her. Rather, it is her mother.
Another scene appears. You see yourselves fighting a massive, many-tentacled monster, deep underwater. You can see the water around you, but it is not crashing towards you. You notice that Elsbeth has on her person a gold-plated heavy mace. Curiously, the head of this mace appears to have almost an avian shape.
The scene blends into another, as you begin fighting a beautiful female spellcaster with long fangs in an underground chamber; a vampire. One spell later, and one or more of you may be out of the fray. You notice that Elsbeth is not using a greatsword; she is instead favoring the gold-plated heavy mace.
The scenes fades to darkness. A flash of lightning illuminates a different scene. You are atop a high spire beneath dark, churning clouds. You are engaged in combat with a lich blazing with arcane power, portions his skeletal frame continually being destroyed and reforming.
You awake one hour later. The radiant stones fade back to a dull gray, and the last of the Dusk Moth's magic peters out. Your eyes have turned a pale, silvery color; a visible and permanent change caused by what you have seen. You also receive a +1 inherent bonus to a physical ability score of your choice or a +2 inherent bonus to a mental ability score of your choice. You also each receive 1 hero point.
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As residents of Ustalav, you know of the Furrows, a scar on Ustalav's recent history.
A scar sprawls across the heart of Ustalav, scourged not by necromancy or monsters, but by vicious human cruelty. What was once the lush Ardealian farmland known as the Furcina Plain now lies dead and barren, its residents slain, its farms scorched and salted, and its land scored by the trenches of warmongers compelled by greed and pride.
In 4687, infuriated by the mismanagement of Ardeal’s wealthy lands and taking advantage of the new prince’s inexperience, the knights of count Aericnein Neska seized control of Furcina. Managing to avoid royal censure through delays and manipulations, Neska sought time to force Count Olomon Venacdahlia into ceding the lands to him. The stubborn count of Ardeal proved too proud to concede the largely fallow lands, raising a small army of unprepared nobles and conscripted peasants to drive out Neska’s well-trained knights. Although well outnumbered, Barstoi’s soldiers fortified themselves amid the land’s very fields, digging miles of trenches and ramparts to withstand the waves of Ardealian conscripts. Bloody skirmishes and grim conditions typified the 6 years of battle that came to be known as the War without Rivals.
Facing growing royal ire, Count Neska withdrew his troops from Furcina, but not without striking a crippling parting blow, his retreating knights burning the regions’ fields and forests and salting the ashes behind them. The demoralized Ardealian survivors reclaimed a worthless wasteland scattered with the bones of their fellows and the ruins of once-bountiful villages. Although Prince Aduard’s court eventually forced Barstoi to pay recompense, it was a pitiful sum paid over the course of decades.
Today, the Furrows—as locals came to call trenchscarred Furcina—remains much as Barstoi’s troops left it decades ago. Although some life desperately struggles through the ashes and poisoned ground, the land is largely dead—yet hardly abandoned. The village of Feldgrau, once the region’s largest community, lies silent, its residents slaughtered and buried in a mass grave, yet their memories linger on.
It takes the better part of a day to reconsecrate the temple by cleaning and restoring it. As night falls, the Dusk Moth is active, and a faint radiance emits from the menhirs on top of the temple. Using the scroll about the communion ritual, you sit down when the stars are visible, and begin to perform it from atop the Stairs of the Moon, and fall asleep.
You dream. The first thing you see is a butterfly, and you hear "My thanks for cleansing this temple. In return, you may catch glimpses of the future." The butterfly fades, and the next thing you see is yourselves, facing a man in a robe wearing a breastplate made of bones outside of a ruined tower; Auren Vrood.
The scene fades. A butterfly lands on Clarissa's shoulder, and she hears whispered in her ear, "Succeed where your parents have failed. Cleanse your hometown of its scum." Clarissa turns and it was not the butterfly whispering to her. Rather, it is her mother.
Another scene appears. You see yourselves fighting a massive, many-tentacled monster, deep underwater. You can see the water around you, but it is not crashing towards you. You notice that Elsbeth has on her person a gold-plated heavy mace. Curiously, the head of this mace appears to have almost an avian shape.
The scene blends into another, as you begin fighting a beautiful female spellcaster with long fangs in an underground chamber; a vampire. One spell later, and one or more of you may be out of the fray. You notice that Elsbeth is not using a greatsword; she is instead favoring the gold-plated heavy mace.
The scenes fades to darkness. A flash of lightning illuminates a different scene. You are atop a high spire beneath dark, churning clouds. You are engaged in combat with a lich blazing with arcane power, portions his skeletal frame continually being destroyed and reforming.
You awake one hour later. The radiant stones fade back to a dull gray, and the last of the Dusk Moth's magic peters out. Your eyes have turned a pale, silvery color; a visible and permanent change caused by what you have seen. You also receive a +1 inherent bonus to a physical ability score of your choice or a +2 inherent bonus to a mental ability score of your choice. You also each receive 1 hero point.
---------------------
As residents of Ustalav, you know of the Furrows, a scar on Ustalav's recent history.
A scar sprawls across the heart of Ustalav, scourged not by necromancy or monsters, but by vicious human cruelty. What was once the lush Ardealian farmland known as the Furcina Plain now lies dead and barren, its residents slain, its farms scorched and salted, and its land scored by the trenches of warmongers compelled by greed and pride.
In 4687, infuriated by the mismanagement of Ardeal’s wealthy lands and taking advantage of the new prince’s inexperience, the knights of count Aericnein Neska seized control of Furcina. Managing to avoid royal censure through delays and manipulations, Neska sought time to force Count Olomon Venacdahlia into ceding the lands to him. The stubborn count of Ardeal proved too proud to concede the largely fallow lands, raising a small army of unprepared nobles and conscripted peasants to drive out Neska’s well-trained knights. Although well outnumbered, Barstoi’s soldiers fortified themselves amid the land’s very fields, digging miles of trenches and ramparts to withstand the waves of Ardealian conscripts. Bloody skirmishes and grim conditions typified the 6 years of battle that came to be known as the War without Rivals.
Facing growing royal ire, Count Neska withdrew his troops from Furcina, but not without striking a crippling parting blow, his retreating knights burning the regions’ fields and forests and salting the ashes behind them. The demoralized Ardealian survivors reclaimed a worthless wasteland scattered with the bones of their fellows and the ruins of once-bountiful villages. Although Prince Aduard’s court eventually forced Barstoi to pay recompense, it was a pitiful sum paid over the course of decades.
Today, the Furrows—as locals came to call trenchscarred Furcina—remains much as Barstoi’s troops left it decades ago. Although some life desperately struggles through the ashes and poisoned ground, the land is largely dead—yet hardly abandoned. The village of Feldgrau, once the region’s largest community, lies silent, its residents slaughtered and buried in a mass grave, yet their memories linger on.
