Sand of Time
Tall, lithe, and charming. Sand uses his bardic knowledge and magic to support his friends and eliminate foes. He is often chosen to lead his group as "The Face", due to his likable personality and way with words.
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Children
From Cloverton to Myabar
June and July Games
Cloverton:
At the Drunken Drake, a local tavern by the docks, Yog decides to get drunk and entertains the patrons by transforming numerous times in front of them. This catches the attention of a red-robed figure who teleports into the bar. Yog tries to Fireball him, but he Counterspells. The figure mentions that he has never seen "one like you" before, and that he will be keeping an eye on him, then teleports away.
Meanwhile, upstairs in the tavern, Sand casts Identify on the brand that has appeared on the back of Exar's neck. It is a Divine mark, tied to the Ferryman tribe. It's a moniker of the god of death, tied to schools of magics or the god of magic. The god of magic also uses "Ferryman" as a tribe.
Later, at the Church of the Sun God, we meet with High Priest Milo. We ask about the God of Death, and he tells us that he has no real worshipers. There is a small temple outside the local graveyard, but no actual clerics work there. We ask about the Ferryman, and he says that it is an "old term for death" that is not used anymore except in old scriptures. It is what people called death. Also people who lived "in between", whose who acted in a gray area, also where many of "our magics " come from.
We head to the graveyard that he talked about, to the north of town. On the way we pass a temple to the earth god. The temple itself is more like a prayer shrine. Inside is a more typical depiction of death, holding a Scythe and a closed book. There are no markings on the book, but the statue has primordial written that reads "Beware the gray, for we are there." Elsewhere in the temple we read "When your story is at it's end, and your book is closed, the Ferryman will take you to your end."
There are a few books around, mostly in common. There is a "guest book" where people can write their prayers, mostly to missed loved ones. Another book is written in other languages. Some scriptures, one that stands out says: "Now that I'm at my end, take me to a better place."
The next day, we set out to head to Myabar. On the way we find a large tree growing in the middle of the road. As we inspect it, bandits ambush us, many riding mounts like griffons and drakes. We deal with the bandits, and leave one alive. He tells us that his master is named Locke, a former Guildmaster. On several of the bodies we find medallions that are semi-magical. They are immune to destruction, and grant access to varying levels to members of the Black Hand, a thieves guild that was run out of town. We find two level 1 medallions, the lowest level, and one level 2.
I use suggestion to force the remaining bandit to walk to Godsbane.
LORE DUMP
As we return to the Royal Library, we discover that the Quicklings that help run the library are fed with small crystals that give them energy, essentially a potent drug that affects only their tiny anatomy. They work for the crown in order to get these crystals. Using some stealth and invisibility, I am able to steal a bag full of crystals from an unsuspecting guard.
Inside the library, the only other occupant who doesn't work there is a young man (Ben?). Apparently he is a noble from another town. Lord Connor is allowing him to study on the 2nd floor as a way to curry favor with that noble house. He is not a wizard, but more of a scholar.
Looking through random books, I discover a book with descriptions for how to create a Bag of Holding.
I charm Beth the librarian. I ask her about Kristine. Apparently he was the one who developed the Quickling food crystals. He has his own laboratory in the basement, and often studies in the "Loft" (third floor). Also get a description of him, enough to be able to spot him in a crowd: 5' 9", brown hair, etc.
Church of the Sun God: A simplified version of sun and light. He is the major god of good, and has been around since the beginning. The other gods include luck (Tyr), magic, war, earth, and death (The Ferryman).
The "One Above All": The Final Light, Grand Celestial, many groups of people pray to him. The names of the gods have been lost to time, ever since the Time of Trouble.
Primordial Church: Last active 200 years ago. Main downfall caused by a combination of three churches: The Sun God, Tyr, the Luck Goddess, and a third deity, whose name has been lost to time. This was not caused by outright violence, but rather through influence.
Lord and Lady Mystra's Lineage: Moira's lineage is unknown, Connor's goes back a few generations. Originally they were high class magicians, then they became high class clerics, etc. his family has been fairly noble for quite a long time. Many years ago, one of the Lords in the past made a deal with the Fey King so that he would deal with (kill) the thieves that were overrunning the town. This is why Moira married Connor. The two have a young child named Briar. This family has ruled for around 400 years.
Time Magic: Most of it is restricted or redacted, it has been largely forbidden for over 400 years due to what happens to people on a large scale. "Sucks seconds from people to create an effect." In order to influence time, it must be taken from somewhere else. Time is constant, a literal resource.
Histoy: "Time of Trouble" Many years ago, The Elder God created "lesser gods": Sun God, Tyr, etc. They had conflict among themselves. At that time, there was no Divine magic or influence as gods were turned into mortals. This time ended when the god/mortals that survived returned to the Pantheon.
Minotaurs: They have not been around since the Time of Trouble. They were considered guardians of temples and sacred grounds. Each tribe had different beliefs and gods that they followed. Exar had a tattoo appear on the back of his neck; an hourglass, a symbol of the god of death.
Knights of Meiyo: Were part of the Church of Virtue, which has now fallen out of use. Separate from the sun god, as they worshipped virtue itself. Each church revered one of seven virtues.
The Slaughterdome
The BarnYard commandeers the wagon, and parades it around town as the "Slaughterdome", charging people for a look inside at the horrors. As this goes on, several people come out the other side...not the same. Apparently the horrors of this evil object cause some commonfolk to lose their minds. The group decides to send the wagon to the Church of the Sun God to be cleansed.
The next morning, the sky is overcast, and the people in the town seem somber and down-trodden. This is very similar to the attitude of the people trapped in Chasemire. Could another time loop spell be taking over the town? Who is casting it?
In our research, we learn that the archdruid, Lorelaie, was killed as part of the time loop spell, and that James was the one in purple, and her husband.
We arrive at the Church of the Sun God and speak to Milo, the Senior Priest. He is having some difficulty with cleansing the wagon and requires assistance from... he falters in his words as he can't remember the name of one of the other churches in town. Finally, he remembers Tyr, the Luck Goddess.
We ask him about the primordial church, and he tells us it was destroyed eons ago. They tried to take control of the land, air, and sea. They stole the souls of mortals to overthrow mankind and take over. This was all back when "gods walked the earth".
Sand attempts to identify the outside of the wagon, but rather than information, comes back with gibberish, like static. Identifying the inside of the wagon, he feels a sharp pain in his mind, similar to a countercharm, feels arcane magic that is "off the charts", and falls unconscious.
We then head to the Royal Library. We learn it is a separate entity to the Royal Family, but was appointed by them. It is shaped like a cathedral, but filled with books. Its colors are gold and red. Coming to the library, a quickling, a tiny fey creature used as a messenger, tells us we need permission from the crown to be in the library.
Heading to the Lord and Lady's Manor, has a large courtyard, and the manor is many stories high. The color of the manor's tabards is purple. We are escorted by a team of 12 guards that are unusually rigid and silent. Coming to the throne room, it appears to be empty, and the guards fall still and silent. Inspecting them, they are simply statues. After about 20 minutes, the Lady laughs, and they appear from invisibility. The lady appears to be fey, rather than human. After speaking with them, we are allowed 4 days' access to the library. The letter is signed "By blood, and by honor". We only have access to the 1st floor of the library.
Arrival at Clovertown (Cloverton? Clovertin? Eh, whatever)
The BarnYard arrives in Clovertin and successfully delivers the religious supplies. They then begin investigating after the mysterious Kristine and who he could be. Sand investigates at a local tavern, The Drunken Drake, and learns a few interesting tidbits. He learns that Kristine actual works for the royalty, lives in the high rise area, and was the one who gave James the book with the time loop spell.
He also learned a bit about the royalty themselves, Lord Connor and Lady Moira Mystra. They are pretty hands-off, sending servants to most of the work for them. Whenever a criminal is summoned to them, they are never seen again. Most often stay in their own facility.
As we peruse the town, we notice a distinct lack of homeless people and vagabonds that used to roam the street. Looking into it, we find a wagon being driven by two enchanted people. One, dressed like a butcher, had the word "Fire" tattooed on the back of his neck in Primordial, and the halfling "Wind" on the back of his hand.
We followed the wagon to an unmarked church in a back alley, that had a silence spell protecting it. The church also had explosive runes protecting it. Inside is an altar with similar primordial markings. Foot traffic indicates recent activity. Underground is a vast cavern. There are pools of lava and water, and a large tunnel running from north to south. Identifying the altar shows it being an "Altar of the Elementals", with willing sacrifice will summon elementals, quantity of blood might increase the number of elementals.
Inspecting the wagon, inside is larger than out, and entire inside is covered by silence spell. Inside is all kinds of terrible torture implements and blood. We commandeer the wagon.
The Adventure Begins
Our heroes, informally referred to as "The BarnYard", due to most of the members' animalistic appearances, were given task by The Church of the Sun God to deliver sacred supplies from a smaller village to the city of Clovertin. As we made our way there, we heard a shriek, and discovered a woman with a wagon on fire. She told us that bandits came, took everything she had, and set her wagon on fire. One of the valuables taken was her husband's ring, kept in an ornate box.
We sent her back to the village, where we hoped she would be safe, and set out to track down the bandits. A mysterious fog rolled in that night, and we found the bandits camped out after following mysterious floating lights. Tis tried to touch one of them, and was given an electric shock. One of the lights also went into one of the bandits. After Tis started a ruckus, we fought the bandits, fending most of them off. (I sent one into a convulsive fit of laughter, who promptly rolled into the fire and burned to death.)
Finally the bandit leader, a man in purple, (we would later learn was named Kristine), escaped into the fog. We followed him, and appeared in a different wood, in a mysterious world where time flowed differently, faster than in our realm. We came to a road, but both directions lead to the same city, so we turned left and made our way to the town.
Chasemire was a haunted, rundown town, where the inhabitants locked themselves in at night in attempt to stave away the horrors that besieged them every night. We made our way to the inn, and from the windows could see skeletal hounds with glowing eyes that tore into people's houses and devoured their souls. We asked around, and found that James was the name of the mayor, and that a "Lord Kristine" would occasionally visit the town, and was the only one who could come and go as he pleased. We also learned that Loralaie was an ancient druid who protected the town.
The next morning, we found Timmy, the stable boy's, parents, but could not Speak With Dead, as they had no souls. We sent Timmy to the inn to stay safe, and set out to investigate the church and cemetery in town. On the way, we met new travelers whose roles replaced that of the dead people in town.
In the church we found statues and placards referring to the "Knights of Meiyo", which none of us had ever heard of. We also found several sets of necklaces and rings, with different magical properties. One set of the necklaces and rings were identified as being of "significant ownership". We fought some ghouls in the basement, and found the ring that the woman had spoken of. We later brought these items to the grave of Lorelaie, and time sped past us.
We returned to the town, and Timmy was all grown up, with the ring we had given him. We made our way to the Mayor's house, and although he had aged, and called himself James, the mayor of the town was actually the bandit leader, Kristine. We fought and killed him, and were all transported back in time to when the original James was about to cast the spell to send Chasemire into it's own dimension. We stopped him and spoke with him and his wife, who was the woman on the road. Chasemire returned to its original plane, and memory of the town returned to the people.
The town was saved, but Kristine still escaped, and who knows what he had planned with his new time magic?
