More than anything, @Goldfish, I feel like you're underestimating Valyria by a lot. This is a high-to-epic level dungeon. It's one thing to throw baby adventurers out here when they start approaching level 12 or something, but to do so now when they average around level 6, we'd deserve a TPK. I don't mind them getting XP the old fashioned way. Better that than losing them entirely. Valyria is one of those places that has every right not to stick to CR-appropriate encounters just because you're in the lower levels.
It's not the fort itself I'm opposed to so much as I am the idea of sending baby adventurers out into Valyria "to get XP".
Just... what? We're actually considering sending baby PCs who have yet to reach level 10 into Valyria? Did I miss something? This is a terrible idea.
I'd be fine with a fort to serve as a launching point for Companions' expeditions, staffed by the Legion and others, provided unqualified people don't venture out of it.
It's not the fort itself I'm opposed to so much as I am the idea of sending baby adventurers out into Valyria "to get XP".
Just... what? We're actually considering sending baby PCs who have yet to reach level 10 into Valyria? Did I miss something? This is a terrible idea.
I'd be fine with a fort to serve as a launching point for Companions' expeditions, staffed by the Legion and others, provided unqualified people don't venture out of it.
I think the fort staffed by the Legion is the primary goal. I doubt we'd be throwing our Baby Adventurers into the heart of Valyria this early in their career.
I think the fort staffed by the Legion is the primary goal. I doubt we'd be throwing our Baby Adventurers into the heart of Valyria this early in their career.
It's not the fort itself I'm opposed to so much as I am the idea of sending baby adventurers out into Valyria "to get XP".
Just... what? We're actually considering sending baby PCs who have yet to reach level 10 into Valyria? Did I miss something? This is a terrible idea.
I'd be fine with a fort to serve as a launching point for Companions' expeditions, staffed by the Legion and others, provided unqualified people don't venture out of it.
I never said we would situate the outpost in the heart of Valyria. I would set up on the edge of what would be considered the border between normal Planetos and the blighted portion of the Valyrian subcontinent, preferably near a minor Valyrian city or town which can be studied and looted in a more relaxed fashion. They could deal with less dangerous stuff on the periphery of Valyria proper, as well as stuff nearby in Slaver's Bay. Tolos and Mantarys would both be quite close, too, so they could get involved with happenings in those territories as well.
A good place would be somewhere that the rest of the world thinks of as the gateway to Valyria, maybe near one of the Dragonroads that leads into the blasted Hellscape?
I mostly am looking forward to next month when we have the House of Mirrors and then we can use divination and scrying to answer such questions as what exists in Southros and Valyria and where as well as other goodies.
I never said we would situate the outpost in the heart of Valyria. I would set up on the edge of what would be considered the border between normal Planetos and the blighted portion of the Valyrian subcontinent, preferably near a minor Valyrian city or town which can be studied and looted in a more relaxed fashion. They could deal with less dangerous stuff on the periphery of Valyria proper, as well as stuff nearby in Slaver's Bay. Tolos and Mantarys would both be quite close, too, so they could get involved with happenings in those territories as well.
A good place would be somewhere that the rest of the world thinks of as the gateway to Valyria, maybe near one of the Dragonroads that leads into the blasted Hellscape?
Oh, the edge of Valyria? That's a lot less concerning. ... I still wouldn't send baby adventurers out there to adventure until after level 8 or something, but it's better than the "fuck no" that would be putting the fort in Valyrian heartland.
I've been reading The Wandering Inn, where adventurers enter a dungeon, poke a hole in it, and billions of savage mid-CR monsters stream out. And even once those are defeated (at great cost to the nearby fortified, militarized city), high-CR things still lurk inside and occasionally strike out against anything around the dungeon.
I've been reading The Wandering Inn, where adventurers enter a dungeon, poke a hole in it, and billions of savage mid-CR monsters stream out. And even once those are defeated (at great cost to the nearby fortified, militarized city), high-CR things still lurk inside and occasionally strike out against anything around the dungeon.
And yeah... that... that would be a horrible scenario.
I could grudgingly accept lower level PCs poking around the outskirts of Valyria, but I will dig my heels against any notions of actually sending them into the heartland.
Although I would love to explore the ruins of Valyria in depth, it's been pointed out to me that we can't really devote as much time to that as would be necessary to do the job correctly. That said, we've still got up to two weeks we can spend on this expedition before things start to get out of hand.
With that in mind, I propose that we establish a fortified base of operations in Valyria before we depart. It would need to be in one of the more habitable areas, unless we can take steps to render a chosen location more hospitable to human life (via specialized Heart Tree, perhaps).
Using a set of Titan's Tools, a large walled compound with a easily defended keep or tower could be constructed in a day of work. Kira and her Violin of Building can take care of the followup finish work. Some basic warding (Forbiddance and Hallow) would help secure the compound from hostile intruders. It would take quite a few trips using Teleport to staff the place, but we've got plenty of Companions who could help Viserys with that.
We could then base a party of B-team adventurers, a couple squads of Minotaurs, a detachment of elite Legion soldiers, a group of Scholarium mages who need some field experience, assorted Plant creations (Verdant Wolves, Giant Fungal Darkenbeasts, etc.), and a few of Erinyes to not only stake our claim to the continent, but to also explore the region more thoroughly. The Archons of Mantarys probably wouldn't mind stationing some of their people there either. It should be a great way to get experience for everyone stationed there.
I'm not generally opposed to this, but we should get an impression of how dangerous Valyria, and the specific region we plan to build in, actually is before deciding anything.
If we are talking wasteland where the very air is poison, magic is unreliable and Fireworms and other CR15+ threats are constantly roaming around this would obviously be a waste of men and material.
I still had this in my quotes, just forgot about it, so sorry for bringing this up so late.
Invoke the Cerulean Sign is similar to Holy Word, in that it compares the Caster's level with the target's HD to determine the effect.
THerefore cheap ItCS-scrolls are worthless, since they would only affect Aberrations with less than 5HD (the minimum casterlevel it has as a Cleric-spell).
We would need much higher leveled, and that means more expensive scrolls to get any use out of them.
Because Sahaguin and such are not Abberations and Illithids or Aboleths are too strong to be affected by the weakest version of the spell.
Aberration Hit Dice Effect
Up to caster level +10 None
Up to caster level +5 Sickened
Up to caster level Nauseated
Up to caster level –5 Dazed
Up to caster level –10 Stunned
I still had this in my quotes, just forgot about it, so sorry for bringing this up so late.
Invoke the Cerulean Sign is similar to Holy Word, in that it compares the Caster's level with the target's HD to determine the effect.
THerefore cheap ItCS-scrolls are worthless, since they would only affect Aberrations with less than 5HD (the minimum casterlevel it has as a Cleric-spell).
We would need much higher leveled, and that means more expensive scrolls to get any use out of them.
Because Sahaguin and such are not Abberations and Illithids or Aboleths are too strong to be affected by the weakest version of the spell.
For that I was mainly aiming to spam scrolls of Cerulean Sign so that the wizards and archivists could learn the spell. I value that innate knowledge more than I do a scroll. While they might be too weak to do much good now, they're not staying at level 5 forever, and when they get stronger that spell will get more effective.
For that I was mainly aiming to spam scrolls of Cerulean Sign so that the wizards and archivists could learn the spell. I value that innate knowledge more than I do a scroll. While they might be too weak to do much good now, they're not staying at level 5 forever, and when they get stronger that spell will get more effective.
We need to figure out how to make our students stronger first? Hmm maybe a month of supervised combat training ought to do it. Take 4 maybe 5 of the highest level to the undead fields and supervise the training? Also why does this sound anime?
We need to figure out how to make our students stronger first? Hmm maybe a month of supervised combat training ought to do it. Take 4 maybe 5 of the highest level to the undead fields and supervise the training? Also why does this sound anime?
Going around with Moonsong, being stationed in Naath or Sothoryos under Wyla, being stationed in the Basilisk Isles under Saan, interning in the Inquisition with Mia the Baby Inquisitor, interning in the Silver Eye under Alysande, going around on assignments with the Legion, sailing with the Queen Rhaella, helping out at the Night's Watch, etc.
There is an endless number of tasks they can be put through, and plenty of encounters for them. If we play our cards right we can maximize their growth and make the new average level 6 or something.
Going around with Moonsong, being stationed in Naath or Sothoryos under Wyla, being stationed in the Basilisk Isles under Saan, interning in the Inquisition with Mia the Baby Inquisitor, interning in the Silver Eye under Alysande, going around on assignments with the Legion, sailing with the Queen Rhaella, helping out at the Night's Watch, etc.
There is an endless number of tasks they can be put through, and plenty of encounters for them. If we play our cards right we can maximize their growth and make the new average level 6 or something.
Are we assigning them? There seems to be a lot of level 5 mages who we can have break the threshold. Though we may need to research a way to do it. Maybe via potions or rituals?
Finding the nest is easier said than done. While the hills have no shortage of perches upon which these half-avian horrors could lair, its wings could easily have carried it for hundreds of leagues in search of prey. Luckily, Lya happens upon a simple if rather visceral solution. "Like is dawn to like," she points out. "If this thing recently ate anything too large to gulp down at once, then it likely scattered morsels of it around its nest."
"It might also have scattered it from here to the Painted Mountains," Garin notes, meaningfully glancing at the trackless wilderness all around.
"No," you interject, pulling out a feather from its misshapen wing and crushing into dust in your hand. Just as brittle as you had thought. "This thing could not live far from the Lands of Long Summer, from the tangled skeins that lie over Valyria. We might not be heading directly to Lyceos anymore, but we are certainly heading south."
Though none of you are skilled in carving up corpses, at least ones that are not fighting back, the task is nonetheless swiftly done with one of Garin's daggers serving to part the steel-hard scales and spill out the contents of the monster's stomach.
The Furies prove the most adept at picking apart the offal, partly from being untouched by the noxious juices it is all swimming in, but also from their utter lack of revulsion at the task. Mereth even congratulates Lya on her quick thinking, though somehow you doubt your love wholly approves to be being told she 'has a mind like an Osyluth'.
After hours of work from you Dany, Malarys, and Naeron in equal measure, you finally have your token, a bloody strip of brown-black hide covered in uniform scars that almost have the look of writing to them. The simple scrying pool bordered not with arcane runes but simple stones pulled from among the dry grasses shows a rippling image of sharp-edged stone, steaming water, and crimson skies.
"Should we really be jumping about with magic 'round here?" Waymar asks, concerned.
Thankfully the answer you divine is not quite as concerning as it might have been. If the lands beyond the Wall were barred by an impassible barrier, then the ether in these lands was akin to a storm-tossed sea, dangerous for even the most canny of navigators but still passable with a bit of luck.
Arcana of the Valyrian Peninsula Revealed
Whirling Ether
Effects:
Greater Teleport acts as Teleport
Teleport rolls take a +25 penalty (more likely to lead to mishaps)
All spells that interact with the Ethereal of the Shadow Planes have a chance of failure dependent on how deep one goes into the broken lands
Thus leaving Mereth and her subordinates to help guard the others, you, Dany, Ser Richard, Lya, Tyene, Waymar, Malarys, and Garin join hands to make the journey. The way proves rougher than any you have taken in months, but in the end you find yourselves roughly where you wished to be, on a worn sandstone ledge looking up at a vista that might almost have seemed natural and was all the more uncanny for it.
Tall sharp-edged pillars stand under the crimson sun, surrounding a slow shallow river whose waters are not red like the Sea of Sighs but vivid blue-green, almost inviting but for the fact that it is steaming with bitter salts and brimstone. The creatures that come to drink here are no less odd, stoop-backed emaciated antelope with their back legs unnaturally long vie for space with bloated rust-colored lizards the size of hogs.
"The nest is up there," Dany points to the top of the nearest spire crowned with a thorny tangle.
Flying up to take a look reveals nothing in the way of further treasures, though from the height you notice something odd about about one of the stone piles. They lie a little too regularly to have been wrought solely by chance. Ruins, perhaps, you wonder, intrigued...
Thankfully none of the creatures gathered by the stream seem to know what to make of you, and so they keep their distance, though it is telling that your half-draconic form elicits merely the weariness any large predator might rather than terror. All thoughts of beasts fly from your mind as soon as you come close enough to see inside. Dozens upon dozens of skulls stare out at you from the under the ledge, young and old, large and small, some of them changed in some proportion but all recognizably human...
"A tomb..." Waymar breathes.
"An ossuary," Malarys corrects. "One that seems to have been in use for generations given the sheer variety of bones."
Dany steps up and gently picks up a skull that likely belonged to a child from the size, though strangely elongated towards the back. "And considering the obvious psychical changes it would be fair to assume these people lived here after the Doom."
Stepping further into the shallow cave you spot a crude altar set askew, its offerings scattered amidst the bones. Most were nothing more shiny stones and herbs that turned to dust at a touch, but you spot a few gold rings and a silver chain among them. Like as not this is where the monster had claimed the symbol of Syrax from. Perhaps the dead might tell you the rest of the tale.
"There's something on the far wall," Lya interjects.
Bringing the light closer, you realize it is a painting of sorts writ in soot and red ocher, a score of small humanoid figures prostrating themselves before what is clearly a dragon in flight.
"Fuck," Ser Richard's curse speaks most eloquently for your feelings.
"Remember that the Fourteen took the form of dragons," Malarys points out. "We could be looking at an admittedly poor image of one of Them, perhaps Syrax."
Mouth suddenly dry, you pick up one of the skulls and whisper a wish to it for swiftness: "Whose likeness is it upon the wall?"
"The One Long Awaited, the Reborn Lord in Crimson Clad from the Dreamer's blood begotten..."
The skull drops from your fingers with a clang as a dreadful suspicion comes upon you: "They had been waiting for us... for me."
What do you do?
[] Ask more questions of the dead
-[] Write in
[] Try to raise one of them, if what you suspect is true they will be more than happy return to life, however much the thought discomfits you
-[] Write in
[] Write in
OOC: Some great skills rolls this update, including Waymar critting a wisdom check of all people.
True, but where's the feeling of an adventure, then?
And not to mention, it's all Syrax's fucking work.
I am getting kinda paranoid she's trying to get us into her main temple here so that she can use us as a vessel for rebirth.
Fucking gods.
Fucking dragons.
Fucking prophecies...
:/
