The Twilight Oracle - Arcane Generator
Operation Parameters
| Date | 1493 DR, 4 Hammer (23/01/2023) |
| Soldiers | Valas, Ralla, Erik, Halar, Dickens |
| Status | |
| Casualties | N/A |
Objective
Acquire an arcane generator (Alaundo's Loop) for the Wizard TowerObservations
Waterdeep is in ruins (as expected).Many powerful entities still roam freely around the city - one of which we encountered on our way to the tower.
Encountered spellfire (blue flames) in the same area as one of the dark entities, which seemed to be drawn to the flames after it took some damage.
Spellfire is raw energy of the weave - very rare and magical. It is known to mutate creatures that spend a significant amount of time near it.
Screams could be heard throughout the city - assume there are still those who are fighting against the evil that has taken over.
The Blackstaff Tower was rebuilding itself, but not to the degree it should have.
Casting Detect Magic proved difficult (and came with some damage when unsuccessful) in the city, but worked without issue while in the Tower.
Follow up
Further investigation of more spellfire locations within the city, as well as possible attempts to harness said magic.Return to Blackstaff Tower to familiarize with the intact teleportation circle, which could allow transportation to/from Waterdeep.
Preparation Details
Conversations between Valas, Ralla, and Halar were had as to their familiarity with Waterdeep -Valas had a general understanding of the Tower layout: REDACTED
Halar had knowledge of the layout of the city.
Ralla, having been to Waterdeep multiple times before, had some knowledge of the city as well as the strength of the creatures inhabiting it (very big, very bad).
The Jims gave each member of the party "enhanced" versions of the tp bracelets, which would be activated upon falling anywhere from 30-60'. Then, they transported the party to some area they referred to as "limbo". This place/plane housed many arcane books, a bunch of gore and dead bodies scattered throughout, and a dead unicorn kept in a freezer of sorts. The unicorn's horn was a necessary component to teleport the party to Waterdeep. Finally, they gave Valas a compass that (with arcane energy/spells) would direct them to Alaundo's Loop.
Operation Details
After the mission prep between the party members, and subsequently the Jims, the five were teleported successfully to Waterdeep. Where they were specifically in the city was a bit of a mystery, but some investigation gave them an idea of which way they should proceed - as well as channeling some energy into the compass.They did not happen upon much of interest while traveling through the destruction. Cries and screams could be heard throughout, and the few places that garnered any interest had already been looted.
Eventually they came upon multiple pairs of tracks from some sort of large creature, as well as a gout of bright blue flames originating from a well, and hid in an adjacent building when something could be heard moving in their direction. Stealthy they were not, immediately entering into battle with a very large shadowy creature (the same/similar creature that Ralla had come across in a previous mission) that at one point attempted to Eat Ralla. When she began to glow (starry form) the creature immediately spit her back out. This creature could move through buildings at will, was incredibly strong, initially seemed to be invisible, and seemed to be drawn to the spellfire - especially after taking some damage. It also had the ability to curse and manipulate the party - Erik found the ability to strike an enemy with a weapon significantly more difficult, and almost jumped 'willingly' into the well (Vortex Warped away). With a combination of faerie fire, many attacks, and a fireball cast within the spellfire which created a much larger "spellfire fireball" (this seemed to damage the creature more than the rest) the creature ran to the well and eventually escaped into its depths.
Onward to the tower.
The party finished their journey to Blackstaff Tower, and two things immediately became obvious. First, the Tower has the ability to repair itself, but hadn't done so to the degree that would have been anticipated. Second, the magical entrance that required specific passphrases no longer worked in this fashion. Brute force was what it took to open the portal.
Once inside, they made their was to the room which would lead to the second floor, and in this room a member of the party chose to take a seat in the large chair (throne for the Blackstaff). This individual was subsequently teleported to a pocket dimension. This presented itself in the room with the chair as a small moving entity, and was dispelled from within before it had the ability to finish its journey (presumed to be outside the tower).
The second floor contained a few spell components, some sort of device which created ice, and a magically sealed door. After some investigation (the room had clearly already been picked mostly clean of anything of value) and debate, the door was dispelled and opened. A teleportation circle was just beyond, along with stairs to the third floor.
The third floor was more of a crypt than dormitory, as every room explored held the skeleton of an apprentice with all their skulls bashed open. A journal was found in one of the rooms with some detail about the fall of the tower and Waterdeep.
The visit to the fourth floor was brief. It was this floor that a party member had assumed the Loop was held, but was directed back down with another use of the compass.
After backtracking to the second floor, Alaundo's Loop was found in a well hidden vault under the grates in the floor where animals where previously held. The key to this, assumed to be REDACTED was not available. The compass slowly began to pulse, and when placed where REDACTED would go ended up drilling a substantial hole through the plates. The container was fished out of the compartment, and a creature (Tabaxi?) appeared once the Loop was revealed. This creature attempted to deceive the party with a poor illusion of Alaundo, and demanded the item be handed over once the party realized the deception and refused.
A battle ensued, where the creature consistently pursued the member carrying the Loop. Spells seemed to have absolutely no effect on them, mundane attacks landed, and Halar's sword attacks seemed to do more damage than anticipated. The witty creature continuously baited the members with threats of coming after the party and their loved ones, and did seem to attempt to enter their thoughts multiple times. It also attempted to teleport a member to an alternate plane. Taking a fair bit of damage the creature teleported away. Half the party leapt through a hole in the wall Ralla demolished with an explosion (guiding bolt to the arcane ice maker), and the other half went up to the fourth floor to leap out and teleport back to the fort. The hole Ralla made seemed to repair itself after a moment, but this proved to be illusory.
-Note for the Tabaxi creature- Some of the party assumed this is what caused the death of the apprentices in the dorms, considering the condition of their skulls and obvious resistance to magic from the creature and its need to retrieve the arcane item.
Everyone made it back to the fort, though the Jims' warning that a higher fall to teleport was a safer bet proved to be the inverse. The higher fall came with the potential of more damage dealt. The Jims took Alaundo's Loop to make arrangements to install it into the Twilight Oracle.