2023-12-08 The Frozen Watchtower
Player Characters
- Magoo
- Arkenciel
- Ferravax
- Alvin(a)
- Vish: barbarian with greataxe "fluffy"
- Ciridae: goliath whose hair sprouts falling leaves; grumpy and old
Summary
They traveled west to the Frozen Watchtower on the west edge of Zymora, on the border of the frozen wastes.
A glowing light atop the tower trained a beam on whomever approached within 100 ft. It fired blasts of force energy every few seconds at its target. Alvin conjured shields of ice to block the tower's shots, which Vish held as he led the party forward.
Once at the base of the tower, the PCs were safe from the turret. They peeked inside the front portcullis and saw an icy chamber within.
Alvin used mage hand to flip a lever, which lifted the portcullis.
They entered and climbed the dark stairsto the second floor. Archer slits connected the curved hallway to a central room, where living spells (snowball swarm and thunderwave) ambled about. The party attacked the magical motes, which countered by casting their spells. The PCs rushed through the hallway to fight. Arkenciel removed a fiery glyph trap that Ferravax stepped through while entering the room. The spells malfunctioned around Magoo as he hid, and Vish sliced them apart with a greataxe.
The PCs ascended to the next floor and found a runic dais connected to a large machine with several interactive parts. They found and translated an ancient operation manual, which provided clues to activating the device.
They enabled the machinery by igniting coal in the firebox, callibrating the levers, and dealing eight different damage types to the core. A gravity well activated above the runic dais, and a door above it opened, allowing them to float upward to the next floor.
The PCs found a heavy detachable lever pedestal, which could be rolled into the gravity well and attached in the center of different floors of the tower. Some floors would rotate while others would toggle magic portals.
They aligned two portals, drop a ball of ice inside that fell endlessly, then toggled to a floor portal to launch it at terminal velocity, shattering a ceiling barricade.
The gravity well was blocked off above, and one floor was thoroughly jammed and couldn't rotate. After some playing around, they discovered that aligning the portals correctly would allow the gravity well to reach the far side of the tower, bypassing the jammed door.
At the top of the mechanical floors, they walked into a room with a strange mirror. It seemed ethereal, as if they could step through it, and while their reflections imitated their movements, the ascending stairs in the background were different from the ascending ones behind them.
Arkenciel stepped through first, and was whisked away to another time. She found herself in Shadaria as a child. She saw countless hunting trophies, elves carving bodies of monstrous creatures, and books full of the proud history of the shadar-kai. She remembered growing up and learning to fulfill her duties. A long-forgotten memory was resurrected in her mind: there was a time when she saw a strange blue serpent and chased it out into the wild Spiritroots, but lost it.
Arkenciel reached a hand through the mirror, beckoning the others to join.
Ferravax stepped into the mirror. She remembered learning to use the forge in Basaltthrone when she was young, creating countless nails for practice. Again, a forgotten memory was awoken deep in her mind: she remembered seeing a strange metal object, like an interlocking puzzle. She remembered her dwarven mentor not knowing what it was. Later, it disappeared without a trace.
Alvin stepped through. He remembered his life in the Feywild, walking along the colorful bank of Sunbeam River. Then, he saw an memory that he had definitely not witnessed- yet somehow, it was familiar: a group of people stood around a stone table, creating some kind of project. The object on the table, as well as the identities of those standing around it, were fuzzy and unfocusable in his mind, like faces of background characters in a dream. He watched as a shadowy silhouette deposited a strange red-and-orange striped flower within the center. The others didn't seem to notice, then seemed to grow confused.
Magoo stepped through and found himself on the streets of Morningshade City, interacting with other urchins. He carried himself with a bravado that garnered respect from others. A forgotten memory materialized: one day, he noticed that his friends seemed afraid of him, or perhaps something behind him, and began to avoid him, leaving him on his own.
Vish remembers wanting to become a soldier. He was the strongest of his tribe, but was also one of the least graceful. He remembered the time that he accidentally knocked over a small building. The other orcs banished him from the camp for his error. As he revisited the memory, however, he realized that there was envy in the eyes of his peers; that they used it as an excuse to remove him from their competition.
Ciridae remembered wanting to go on adventures, but that others did not want to accompany him. He tried hard to get others he met to go places with him. He remembered the time that he traveled in the Smokewhistle Mountains with his entire village. They sipped a strange silver fluid and were driven mad, then threw themselves into lava.
Reassembled on the other side of the mirror, the party continued up the stairs to the next floor.
A deathlock named Varkan confronted them, demanding their secrets and threatening to "seize their knowledge from their skulls". He wanted to collect ancient knowledge for his master, Sylniq. Ciridae convincingly stated that the party also served Synliq. Unfortunately, he didn't carry the item needed to prove it. The party fought and destroyed the deathlock and his wight minions after breaking many hold person concentrations.
They explored the top floor, and discovered that the red crystal in the center of the room operated the turret on the top of the tower, as well as allowing a person to see through it. They fractured the red crystal, receiving a red primal crystal for each party member.
Ferravax climbed the ladder and stepped outside atop the tower. Ciridae climbed up and skimmed the landscape, seeing a floe-covered lake, an icy castle, a large village, and something flying high among the clouds.
Among the rotted notes and scrolls were five usable spell scrolls, some jewelry, a note written by one of the tower's past inhabitants in the ancient constellation language, a robe of useful items, and a Gadget Mace.
Documents found
Entry for WorldEmber 2023
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