Operation Parameters
| Date |
1492 DR, 27 Eleint
(31/05/2022)
|
| Soldiers |
Halar, HALe, Lark, Zen |
| Status |
|
| Casualties |
none |
Objective
Investigate the strange behaviors in the market square
Observations
There seems to be a melodic hum that only magically attuned people notice and it gets stronger/louder as one gets closer to the Temple of Chauntea. These fears/paranoid seem unfounded or from personal experiences and might lead to aggressive behavior.
Follow up
Study the remains of the cube, especially the runes in it, to discern the origin and/or creator of this device. It was powerful enough to affect a large number of people and change their behavior so there must have been a reason or end goal for this device.
Preparation Details
Oliver led our group the market area where the affected area was. Guards were posted at the perimeter to keep anyone going in or out.
Operation Details
Upon entry into the area, HALe noticed a melodic humming in his mind but can't tell where it's coming from and it fades away if he focuses on it.
We first encounter a little boy in an alleyway frantically running away from something. We caught up to him and HALe casted Calm Emotions on the boy so we could talk to him. He spoke of being in the market yesterday with his mother and then rats appeared to chase and eat him. We noticed no mundane or magical rats nearby. Boy seemed obviously fearful/paranoid and ran away after spell wore off.
We made our way to the nearby tavern to find a charismatic man giving a rallying speech to the tavern patrons about how the king was a doppelgänger and he needed to be defeated. The tavern patrons all seemed to agree with him. Zen and Lark engaged the man to get more information while Halar and HALe stayed outside as to not rile more paranoia.
Lark tried her best to dissuade the man the group from trying to raid the castle in search of their doppelgänger because their numbers were too few and it seemed like another case of the fear/paranoia this area was experiencing. The man said he came upon evidence that the king was a doppelgänger yesterday but would not reveal his source or evidence. We thought he was definitely under this paranoia/fear influence. Lark tried her best to get more information but he was not giving clear answers. We decided to disengage.
We made our way to the actual market square to be stopped by more guards and a captain with his guard dog. He accused Zen of being a Lizardfolk and had his guard check all of our eyes and teeth to confirm. His guard dog enthusiastically sniffed Zen and particularly the backpack (because it had his rations in there). The captain interpreted that as the dog pointing out that Zen was a Lizardfolk. As the situation was getting accusatory and tense, Lark and Halar defused the situation and Zen allowed the captain to take his backpack to search through it. He found the jerky rations that the dog wanted and realized the dog was not sniffing for Lizardfolk. The captain let us pass and roam the market square. The captain was definitely under this spell as well due to the way he was acting and that he was inside of the guarded area instead of outside of it.
We first entered a town building that had a dining room, kitchen, library and a stage room with a crowd of people. They also seemed standoffish with us but allowed us in since the captain did allow us to roam the area. They, too, were wary of Lizardfolk. Nothing else in the building seemed out of the ordinary or gave any clues to the source of this spell or melodic humming.
We suddenly heard a loud crash coming from the North and decided to investigate. This led us to the Temple of Shantae and upon entering, we noticed the agitated attendees had broken a few pews to burn. HALe started to put out the fires which were still small. A crowd were surrounding the priest and calling him a liar and accused him of abusing his title and position of power to mislead the people. They were pushing him and hitting him until he was on the ground. Halar pretended to be one of the crowd as well and make his way to the front to grapple the priest and said he'd take care of the priest and take him to his torture quarters. The crowd seemed to believe his ruse and let us remove him from the crowd and temple. In a safer location away from the temple, he introduced himself as Daniel and noted that the people started acting strangely last night. At this point, the melodic humming was much more noticeable and louder in HALe's mind which he noted for us.
We asked about anything magical or strange in the last few days and he noted something about the crypt. So we all decided to go together to the crypt so Daniel would be safe from the mob until they calmed down. In the crypt, we ended up at Lady Michelle Fleetfoot's tomb and at the head of it, everyone noticed a slight metallic glimmer. HALe casted Dispel Magic and it revealed a metallic cube with purple crystals and exposed gears that was active. We concluded this was the source of the paranoia/fear spell since the humming was even louder and now everyone in the group noticed it even Daniel.
Upon investigation, Lark noticed it had runes from all of the different schools of magic (illusion, necromancy, evocation, etc.). After some discussion on what to do with it, we decided against trying to deactivate it or forcibly stop it due to possible explosion or triggering a security measure. So Lark covered it with Halar's vestments as to not directly touch the cube and entered her Genie's Vessel with the cube. Since it was technically another dimension, it would remove the cube's paranoia/fear spell from the currently area. It worked and we rushed back to Command to report everything to Lt. Ambrose.
Upon inspection, Lt. Ambrose took the cube outside of Fort Vegapath and changed shape into a bear and attacked it to deactivate the cube. It worked and Lt. Ambrose declared it a success without any need for combat or danger. The parts will be studied and salvaged.
