Vlypeum
The colors gave way to a voidless dark until an island appeared in the distance. Upon approach the trees all appeared as different colors a single species but in different stages of life and death with colors varying from green to orange and strange fruit hanging from the branches.
Lady Adalphia "Mama" called it "the Garden in the Sky" saying that it was an old children's story. Unfortunately, sue to the constraints of sending we were unable to ask for more detail.
Visions
Gwen has had several visions of Vlypeum (mostly in Through the Looking Glass - Crossing the Beholden) through the use of detect thoughts and Legend Lore. Below are excerpts from those session notes.Nightmares
While on the 'The Right Price', Adama attacked Raijun in an attempt to destroy the Necromancy Scroll. In the resulting blast, many of the crew were knocked unconscious and only saved through the quick combined work of Gwen, Raijun, and Myra to spare the dying before they passed on. It was later discovered that those affected by the blast were having nightmares out at sea. Ingrid relates to Gwen that in the nightmares she is in a dark flowing river and can't move. "There's liquid around me, and I can breathe, but I shouldn’t, and this creature made of metal staring at me from behind a glass, and then I was back on the ship." When the group talked to Inxosa, he mentioned he has had similar dream though not to the same extent. The crew thinks it's related to the Necromancy scroll but Myra says that while they may have PTSD from the experience she wouldn't expect these kind of shared dreams that seem unrelated. Myra and Gwen ask Ingrid if she would be willing to let Gwen peer into her mind while she is asleep to see if they can better understand the danger and Ingrid accepts after getting support from Captain Allister Johnsten. That night Gwen attempts to read Ingrid's thoughts while Ingrid is having the nightmare. As Gwen descended into Ingrid's mind there was an initial resistance coupled with a feeling of being unsure of what came next before the darkness dissolved into color. At first they were the weird patterns of light and colors you get behind your eyes when you try to fall asleep but those gradually gave way to a sensation of movement and drifting until she felt herself being carried by a river current. The colors gave way to a voidless dark until an island appeared in the distance. Upon approach the trees all appeared as different colors a single species but in different stages of life and death with colors varying from green to orange and strange fruit hanging from the branches. As she was pulled forward there was the sensation of energy and chambers flashed before her made of steel and other metals with symbols and writing on the walls. As Gwen was pulled there was a sense of weightlessness and a sense of consciousness as if she was there, but she couldn't be. As she moved there was the ever present pull drawing her toward a central brighter light. Looking at the light white circles appeared rotating, turbulent yet peaceful. The light seemed to be encased in a finite space, a large dome structure containing it. Trying to see past the dome is fuzzy but Gwen could make out the outline of more buildings in an odd pattern. As her focus drifts in and out adjusting a floating orb passes. Once. Twice. Three times before it hovers and stops on the other side of the glass wall from Gwen. There's a brilliant green light emitting from the sphere twisting as if in curiosity. First in Elvish, then Gnomish, then Draconic, with other languages interspersed it flashes the same message. She misses some of the text before reading, "Curious.... New data building towards Ascension..." More messages come in as she feels the spell start to fade slipping as she exits the dream.Legend Lore
Frustrated that she had not been able to glean a solution to Ingrid's nightmares Gwen immediately followed up on her detect thoughts by casting Legend Lore on Vlypeum. As Gwen focuses on Legend Lore she is drawn back to the island from before. As she approaches she sees a green cat with feathered wings, then the forest of trees from before shifting. As she moves further into the forest the feathered cat follow until she stumbles upon a larger cat made of vines with a mane of petals and a flower atop the end of its tail. A break in the forest reveals a metal structure, people walking through and seem to be at peace with the area. As she concentrates she sees the people among the structures look outdated. Humanoids of every race are there, tending a garden, journaling, working & studying. Gwen follows one, a half elf, down a long hallway toward a bright white light. As they come to an octagonal space she finds more people studying and journaling, some fiddling with arcane consoles, some cleaning. The half elf proceeds toward the center of the room and stands there for a second before the floor starts to descend. As the half elf descends downward they pass levels of a city, some show city streets, some housing, the next floor a garden, then utilities, finally coming to rest at a level with "Vitae Vigilia" which Gwen recognizes to mean "Life watch". In life watch there is a large domed structure with a white swirling mass inside it. The figure Gwen is watching approaches the dome and a large circular monitor. The monitor says, "Good Morning. Pleasant day isn't it? New subjects are ready." As the half elf turns we see carved into the window "Vlypeum" and just below them clouds.Scrying on the Robots
After making off with Thompson's cargo, Adama asks Gwen to scry on the beasts that attacked us. As Gwen concentrates she's brought to a brightly lit chamber with odd metallic stone. Sitting in rows are more of the metallic creatures we just faced. In the center of the chamber the light is gone with just a glass dome remaining. On the glass dome an odd green light is bouncing back and forth. As Gwen listens she hears gibberish that she identifies as Sylvan in front of two creatures similar to the automatons that attacked. However, these creatures seem more reinforced and proper, one more muscular, while the other is more hunched and delicate. The two creatures seem to be observing and discussing with the source of the green light as another figure appears swinging down and landing on two feet near the group before walking away. As it walks away she sees a large crescent attached to its hands. In the room there's no sign of cargo and it is brightly lit, almost lab like artificially bright. Gwen gathers that this may be some kind of storage area and, though it seems to be kept pristine pristinely clean, it doesn't look like the automatons have been moved in quite some time. There are no windows in the room but as she pans up and out the cylindrical chamber seems to extend for several feet. There seems to be a platform parked on this level and she thinks it could be similar to the platform she watched the half elf descend from earlier. The automatons seem to be many shapes, sizes, and constructions organized with like models grouped together. Myra later translates the Sylvan Gwen heard as "resistance... damage... curious... more data".Structure and Wards
Vlypem seems to currently be located on the Beholden Crossing just south of the continent of Drumerin. The structure seems to begin on the top of the water with a glass dome and extend below the water in a series of rooms connected by tubes. Based on Gwen visions it also appears that there may be more of the city located in the sky above the clouds, but nothing was immediately visible upon arrival.The Storm
Before reaching the Garden the Wardens traveled through a fierce storm that seemed be generated by magic. Hagren noticed that the storm had several different colored lightning flashes and when Adama investigated using detect magic he found flashes of Evocation, Transmutation, and Abjuration. Venturing into the storm was brutal on The Alabaster Gale, with the ship sustaining heavy damages. Part way through the storm the sky flashed white, green, and black and weird occurrences began with translucent flame appearing on the deck and waves of blue and green light. Amidst the storm a colossal metal dome with a green eye upon it appear from the depths below. The dome began to keep pace with the ship and singing the same pattern Re-Mi-Re-Mi-Re-Mi-Re. After several repetitions the eye of the dome turned red prompting Myra to attempt replying with the same pattern the next time it repeated. As Myra finished repeating there was a brilliant flash of light blinding all those except Adama, who saw that the eye remained red. As the light fades the sphere plays a different tone Do-D-Do-Re before returning to green and receding into the ocean. As the dome receded several members were thrown off the boat distracting the others as a huge 40 ft wave appeared before them. As Onsprey began to say his prayer Adama noticed that the bow of the boat seemed to pierce the wave as if it wasn't there. After passing through the boat appeared in a calm pool of water with the storm looking like a hazy mirage. In the center of the calm sits a glass dome.Level 1 - The Dome
Appearing on the other side, a calm circle of sea sits in bright daylight. At the center is a large domed glass structure, around the edge a littering of ships some smashed into an puncturing the dome along the waters edge. The dome itself stretches about ten stories into the air and where the dome is punctured there a pieces of glass everywhere. The Wardens elect to take dinghies toward the punctured dome, as they pass through the breach they notice that the shattered glass seems to have formed a beech on the other side. Myra remarks to Hagren that if the other boat wasn't to his liking they could probably procure one of these. As they approach the shore the group hears birds of Paradise calling in the distance and Myra remarks to Kanna that there are the animals we promised you would see. Kanna is confused saying that those birds don't make sense to be here but says she would need to get closer to tell for sure.The Beach
As we near the beech we are drawn by not what is on the shore but what lies past it. Ahead a forest of pines and oaks of various colors in various stages of life. Snow blows past some but seems to melt as it meets the deep greens of summer. Past the trees a Cylindrical monolith reaches into the sky. Myra asks Kanna if this land is good enough and Kanna remarks that seasons are supposed to happen one at a time not all at once. As the group drags their boats ashore they notice that the beach is scattered with debris some glass, metal pieces, seaweed, and snow, all lay strewn about. The remains of three campsites scatter the beech with three dinghies also present. As the seaweed clumps turn over it reveals a beast that appears to be part turtle, part crab, with the head of seal and seaweed on it's back. Kanna tries to dominate one of them the spell fizzles. As Hagren cuts one a white ichor comes out. The three monsters are dispatched quickly and Myra asks Kanna if she has ever seen anything like this. As they inspect the creatures closer they seem to have naturally occurred (not transmuted together) though Kanna admits she's never seen anything like it. As the group ponders the beasts and considers heading into the forest they hear the tones again Re-Mi-Re-Mi-Re-Mi-Re emanating from further in the forest.The Rainbow Canopy
From the beach we can see a forest, the same as those in Gwen's visions, but it looks unnatural in the oaks and pines within seem to be stuck in all four season with snow dusting the ground in some areas while in others the trees look a fall amber or a summer lush green. From Gwen's vision and from looking on the beach, there seems to be a cylindrical metal structure puncturing the forest from the center.Vitae Vigilia
During Gwen's Visions she saw a half elf male take an elevator like structure down to a room with "Vitae Vigilia" inscribed along the doorway which she translated to mean "Life watch". In life watch there is a large domed structure with a white swirling mass inside it, there was also a round robot with a green eye that talked to the elf. This domed structure holding the white light seems to be the same structure that was visible in the nightmares by the crew of 'The Right Price'. To reach Life Watch the elf seemed to descend on a platform that was in the center of the dome inside an octagonal room, found in the center of the forest. Despite seeming to descend on the platform, while in the Life Watch Ward the elf looked out what seemed to be a window which appeared to show clouds below. If was on this window that we first saw the word "Vlypeum".Robot Room
Upon scrying after the robot attack Gwen was taken to a new room where she saw lines of the robots who attacked us, seemingly inert. Trying to angle to see the room better it appeared that there were different kinds of robots as if they could serve different purposes. The chamber appeared to be another dome of some kind but seemed opaque compared to the glass dome she saw before. The dome appeared lit from within by artificial light. There seems to be a platform parked on this level and she thinks it could be similar to the platform she watched the half elf descend from in her initial visions.Inhabitants
Robots
The Scavengers
The Wardens have face the scavenger robots twice now, first on the Tangent Wave and a second time on 'The Right Price'. When on the Tangent Wave Myra, Gwen, and Raijun investigated the metal golems. On Gwen's she found silver plating with an inscription and red, black, and orange cascading throughout the metal. On Myra's the colors were white, blue, and gold and she recognized the symbols as not magical but elemental in nature with the runes indicating acts of godly power and the symbols for cold and frigidness. Moving to Gwen's robot, Myra identified the runes as regarding high temperatures and impact. While moving to Raijun's the runes were blue with purple flecks for cold, necrotic, and thunder. When they later fought the golems the runes appeared to mitigate damage of certain elements with Tintreach's lightning having no effect on a golem with blue, green, and white sigils on it. Similarly when Myra made a plate armor out of the metal from one of the robots it imbued the armor with radiant resistance (now worn by Gwen). During the fight on 'The Right Price' the Robots seemed to be searching for something immediately heading toward the hold of the ship. They also gravitated toward, and tried to take objects with magical properties, such as Hagren's pistol or Tintreach's Staff. When a robot successfully wrenched control of a magic item away it seemed to absorb it into itself almost embedding it into it's body. The larger robots also have been shown to have a stun/tractor beam ability which they used to affect both Raijun and Myra, both carrying scrolls during the fight. The robots have varied in terms of violence to that not wielding magical artifacts with those on the Tangent wave being completely wiped out while some of the crew of The Right Price seemed to have been spared after being scanned by the smaller robots. It is possible that the distinction of who was attacked and who was avoided is based on whether or not the scan returns if you have magical abilities or not as those on the Tangent Wave would mostly have been mages from The Ay Collective.Wheatley
In addition to the scavenger robots we have seen one robot recurring in Gwens vision. First seen during her vision of Ingrid's nightmare, a floating orb passed her vision. Once. Twice. Three times before it hovers and stops on the other side of the glass wall from Gwen. There's a brilliant green light emitting from the sphere twisting as if in curiosity. First in Elvish, then Gnomish, then Draconic, with other languages interspersed it flashes the same message. She misses some of the text before reading, "Curious.... New data building towards Ascension..." This robot appeared again in the robot room talking with two other robots saying "resistance... damage... curious... more data". IT appeared to talk to he other robots in Sylvan but from the first vision clearly knows many languages. This robot is also reminiscent of the dome that appeared in the storm before making it to Vlypeum.The Specialized
During the scrying into the Robot room Gwen saw several robots that seemed of a different variety than the scavengers. These constructs seem more reinforced and proper, one more muscular, while the other is more hunched and delicate. While they were discussing things with Wheatley a third robot appeared swinging down and landing on two feet near the group before walking away. As it walks away she sees a large crescent attached to its hands. The variation in design and the number of them that we saw makes me think that there are a number of the with different designs for different jobs. While the ones we fought were scavengers perhaps these are made for record keeping, protection, or maintenance.Animals
From our experience and Gwens visions we have seen three kinds of animals on the island the seaweed-seal-crabs, a green cat with feathered wings, and a larger cat made of vines with a mane of petals and a flower atop the end of its tail. Additionally while arriving on the beach Myra and Kanna picked up the sounds of birds of paradise which Kanna remarked should not be found here. From fighting the seaweed-seal- crabs we learned:- Dominate beast did not work on them
- It seemed to have white ichor instead of blood
- It seemed 'natural' in construction (not transmuted together)
People
During Gwen's legend lore she saw humanoids of every race. Some were tending a garden or journaling, while others were working & studying. Gwen follows one, a half elf, down a long hallway toward a bright white light. As they come to an octagonal space she finds more people studying and journaling, some fiddling with arcane consoles, some cleaning. All of the people looked peaceful but the range of races seemed variable.The Noise
While not heard in any of Gwen's visions the noises seem to be a recurring feature of Vlypeum and may indicate some kind of defense mechanism. The tones were first heard in the storm emanating from the dome with the green pattern of Re-Mi-Re-Mi-Re-Mi-Re and a red pattern of Do-Do-Do-Re. When Myra tried repeating the green pattern back the dome shot out a blinding light but it was unclear if that was because the time had run out or if the response Myra gave was incorrect (it might have flashed if we had done nothing). After repeating the red pattern the dome receded into the ocean. On the beach we have now heard the green pattern once again emanating from further into the forest.Mentioned In
Type
City
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