The Chimera's Gaze
Seasoned, experienced, and united as a team, the party hit the Eastward road. The wastelands hold many surprises; the road is long. The potential for adventure is limitless. What plots, opportunities, or tragedies will call these heroes forward?
After a day of uneventful travel, the party arrived at the next village: Ollenvender. The village was welcoming and friendly, though Fayna's divine senses picked up immense Ederstone mutation all across the village. The townsfolk were unusually cheery and seemed very nonchalant about monster attacks. The party purchased jerky from the local general store (which seemed to be caffeinated) and wandered about town a bit. Eventually they encountered the mayor of Ollenvender: Sorina, a well-dressed young woman with too few answers and too many cheery cryptic statements. She showed them the town's shrine: a massive chitinous tree with a carved out underground series of rooms. Close inspection of the tree suggested that there were spirits of people inside of it; some journal-checking and remembering by Iski revealed that this town was once an Ederstone-worshipping cult and that this shrine is likely a creature shaped by the cult over centuries. Fayna got drunk in the bar that night, and the party left untouched the next day.
The road out of Ollenvender was not as safe as prior travels. A massive pack of enthralled wolves led by wolf-life shapeshifters swarmed across the hills and the party barely escaped notice. They chose to flee off the road and rely on Shanuku's navigation skills to guide the way; thankfully, they made it to the next village not long after nightfall. This next settlement was a lot more normal than the last; it was Ultinkel, a militarized trading village known for its well of carbonated water. Ultinkel welcomed them in and offered free lodging if they would handle a minor monster-nuisance for them - a weird dog-spider-monkey-thing was stealing things from passing merchants and causing problems in the town square. The party agreed and settled down in the tavern for the night.
That night, the party talked with the merchant passing through town - a man named Duzreg who very much wanted his coin and lucky amulet back. He seemed spooked by Iski, and mentioned a bad encounter with a tiefling, but it wasn't until Fayna and Shanaku pressed more on the amulet that things got fishy - it seemed to be a symbol representing the apocalypse, likely given by some very sketchy characters. The team got him drunk, and found out that he was captured by a very dangerous, creepy tiefling who spared him and had him given an amulet and coin. The amulet was a Kivish star with an eye at the heart, and the eye could watch things and protect him on his travels. All he needed to do was help the eye see the wasteland, and eventually give it to someone in Vruhafen.
The next day, it was time for dogcatching. Fayna went out wearing well-polished, shiny chain mail; Shanuku and Iski waited in hiding nearby. The dog, an octopus or starfish-like amalgam of half-monkey half-dog arms and a dog mouth on the bottom, approached silently on the rooftops. It flung itself like a frisbee at Fayna, intending to tackle and then quickly pickpocket her, but the ambush successfully pinned it. Speak with Animals revealed that the dog was not malicious, but was very poorly trained and rambunctious. The party was able to convince it to lead them to its hoard, though.
The hoard was at the top of the guard tower at the heart of town, in an abandoned sideroom. The team immediately set about investigating the amulet. Divine Sense revealed it was uniquely otherworldly, so Fayna tried contacting Haru. Haru's return messages were glitchy and unlike him. Shanuku tried telepathically contacting the amulet, and its powers began extending into the room, isolating her. Iski and Fayna put the dog down and then desperately dragged Shanuku out of the conversation. Fayna took the amulet, and the Haru messages became clearly and more dire - she needed to investigate the town's mayor; something was wrong; the amulet needed to be used. Fayna led the team to the mayor's house, but finally began figuring out that the false Haru was actually the amulet controlling her senses. The party immediately decided to destroy this cursed thing, and had it melted in the local smith's forge. The melted remains were still cursed and smoldering, but the immediate threat was gone - time to confront Duzreg.
Village to Village
Dog Catchers: Armageddon
The Chimera's Eyes
The party confronted Duzreg; he admitted that the amulet was more powerful and dangerous than he had previously admitted, and had guided him through dreams. It was an 'Eye of the Chimera' he said; the party agreed to murder whatever produced this. They also agreed to follow and capture Duzreg once he left town. Duzreg realized this, fled to the mayor, and then left town before they could follow.
The party followed, and found him wounded on the road, captured by a powerful creature - Izeka, Witch of the Crags, a druid once and now a creature more magic than person. Izeka threatened the party when they identified as Duzreg's guards, but stopped short of harming them when Iski responded in Druidic. Izeka explained that Duzreg had used the Eye of the Chimera to reveal her to a great evil, and that she intended to kill him for his crimes. She also intended to shut down the trade route to prevent future merchants from carrying these amulets into town - her intended course of action in this was murdering any who tried to come through this area.
Rather than face down Izeka, Iski negotiated a deal: to take Duzreg off her hands for a day to interrogate him as long as he dropped the merchant off along the road near the next village at midnight for Izeka to take. Izeka mangled Duzreg's legs to prevent him from fleeing before handing him over. The party went backwards instead of onwards, back to Ultinkel. They got Duzreg to agree to help them completely as long as they protected him from vengeful monsters. The party also disposed of the smoldering bits of amulet left in the forge.
That night, at midnight, Izeka sent a raven to Iski asking for Duzreg. The two chatted through the bird; Iski was able to convince her that they needed Duzreg alive, and to not raze Ultinkel for allowing this, but she seemed to still be set on harming merchants and travelers through this part of the wasteland. Iski and their group were friends and could pass through freely, of course, but were to avoid Izeka's lair itself.
Having bartered with the witch, the party agreed that it was time to head to Vruhafen to investigate Duzreg's end point first. And on the way, they needed to stop by Iski's family home to ask about this mysterious Tiefling. The party had a goal, a foe, and names now - it was time for the great adventure to begin.
Components
Goals
QUEST GOALS:
- Find Adventure (Done)
- Learn about the mysterious Tiefling
- Go to Tidewatch Sanctuary
- Deal with the Izena the Witch of the Crags
- Find more about the Eyes of the Chimera
- Go to Vruhafen
- Find out more about the amulet's destination in Vruhafen
Relations
Protagonists
Fayna the Gennoran: A Half-Dryad in her early twenties, Fayna is a girl with a dream: to become a Spring Knight and hero of Uvara! The only problem is that she was born to a peasant family that ran a small inn at the remote village of Rukadov in the Kingdom of Gennorholn . For a normal person, Fayna's birth would doom her dreams to certain death, but through stubbornness and a can-do attitude, she's going for it anyways. She was able to become a paladin of Haru , and a patron knight within the Order has promised her a chance at knighthood if she can prove herself Questing. (Half dryad, Ancestor paladin, acolyte)
Iski of Tidewatch: Iski is a Tiefling - a kind of unusual Starspawn , or so everyone believes. He has spent much of his life in the tranquility of Tidewatch Grove, a druid sanctuary run by his family devoted to the study and principles of "homeostasis". He is devoted to his family's beliefs, but has ventured out beyond the traditional world of the Tidewatch Druids to understand Stildane more broadly. He is in his early 30s, is of the Circle of the Coast, and is quite sheltered and academic. Parents are "more tree than person" now. (Tiefling, Land Druid, Sage)
Shanuku the Wanderer: Shanuku is a selkie warlock in her early 30s, a foreigner from a distant land who has only recently arrived in Stildane. She was originally born in the Khilaian Isles and worked as a merchant and sailor, until a bad stroke of luck led to her ship being swept out to Desmian waters. Things went bad, the ship fled to Stildane, and then was taken by the Elder Leviathan known as The Vile Mass. Whether it is the Vile Mass or the Ederstone, Shanuku no longer remembers the faces or names of those she once knew - her last life has been polluted, and she is now isolated and alone. Her pelt has also been taken from her, and she hopes that if she can find it she can restore her old life. (Selkie, Great Old One Warlock, Sailor)
Neutrals/Bystanders
Mayor Vanla of Ultinkel: A starspawn warrior, head of the local warband and absolute ruler of the village of Ultinkel. Mostly focused on keeping the town prosperous. Prefers neutrality and stability, apathetic to the broader world at times.
Mayor Sorina of Ollenvender: A young human woman, too young to be mayor, too unmutated to be living here, too sophisticated and wealthy to be in a small village. Strange, cheery, and more than she seems. Unsettling to Fayna.
Adversaries
Duzreg the Wanderer: A coward turned minor merchant who has survived the worst of the Deverkel wastes through apathy, luck, and fast legs. Was doing the bidding of a terrible being that captured him, in exchange for money and power to move himself and his family away from the wasteland. A jerk and a blowhard at times. Horribly hobbled by the witch of the crags, who he personally offended.
Izeka, the Witch of the Crags: A druid once, now something more. Uses Ederstone to empower her magic. Her mind is entwined with the ederstone, and she has become harsher, more arbitrary, and stranger as the decades have gone by. Wants to stop merchants from crossing the wasteland, as she believes they will carry the pollution of the apocalypse cult. Likes Iski.
Backdrops
Locations
Ollenvender: An eerie town, too happy and too untouched by the monsters of the land. Other villages send their criminals here, never to return. Has a large ederstone beast that doubles as a temple at the heart of town; has history as an Ederstone cult.
Ultinkel: A small, prosperous trading village. Known for their large well, which draws from a spring where a great beast of living water resides. They are on good terms with the living water, and the well water is basically sparkling water with unusual qualities (great for mixing with drinks).
Korstro: A village along the trading road, where Izeka the Crag Witch's power is strongest. The party never got there.
Plot type
QUEST
Parent Plot
Subplots
Related Characters
Related Locations
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