Subject: Act 0: How it all started... 124 views

[zeferin]

Recap:



Part 1: What...WTF is That?!



Last time in the campaign, our heroes(?) were summoned via proxies to meet with a client about an once-in-a-lifetime job offer. Meeting in the town of Pletem, on the northern shore of the country Giana, the party was guided to a ship and set sails under a moonless sky. Besides the Vanara monk known as Rama becoming seasick, the trip was mainly a silent one with the crew seeming extremely on edge the entire time.



As the ship neared a shoal, the captain of the ship pulled out a metal sphere and, upon smacking it on the deck of the ship, began to glow a brilliant light. With the sphere aglow, the captain reared his arm back and hurled the sphere into the ocean. Drifting out of sight, the glow soon vanished beneath the sea only to have the ocean surge up from the very spot the sphere disappeared. Soon the surges gave way and the sea split open into a void, with a sloping tree line rising out of the water. As this underwater island rose up, it was soon apparent that the island was not simply an island, but was the shell of a giant turtle, its head bobbing halfway out of the sea with opaque eyes the size of an ogre staring out into the night.



With this colossal beast in front of them, the captain ordered the party into a row boat and to row towards the island. With little options, the party made their way towards the turtle island, seeing a dock of all things built upon a sandy beach on the creature's back. Upon reaching the dock, the ship they sailed on lifted their anchor and made a quick retreat back into the inky night, leaving the party to explore the docks. Besides their row boat they came on, the only other thing of notice on the dock was an odd, hallow, magically inscribed, metal sphere on some sort of launcher that had a hatch, a seat inside it and several levers. Unable to figure out what they were looking at, the party decided to turn towards the path leading inland. Just as they began the trek, though, the turtle began to submerge back into the sea, with the ocean rising up on an invisible dome surrounding its back and blocking out the little bit of light that the night had been providing. As the darkness set in, the path they were one suddenly started to glow as mushrooms and other strange plants lit up in the lack of light along the side of the path.



Part 2: And then there was this fucker...



Walking towards the assumed center of the island, the party soon came to a clearing in the trees giving way to a large grassy knoll with an equally large mansion sitting in the center of it. The party neared the house and, walking into a courtyard lit with magical light, saw the front doors open and a metal creature walking on three arms climbed down the stairs and approached them. The creature had the tripod lower half, a humanoid torso, dressed in a butler's attire, and donned a disturbing painted on smiling face. It greeted the party and invited them into the house, saying that its master had been looking forward to meeting them. Walking through the house, the party was almost overwhelmed by the horde of rare, super powerful magical artifacts mounted about the house. Still in awe, the party was taken to a back room with a large map of the continent laid on a desk, books stacked all about, and an old Halfling stocking a lit fire in the fireplace. Turning to greet the party, the Halfling introduced himself as Cyprus Undergrove. He told them that he was a collector of sorts and had a job offer for them, but first insisted that they eat first.



The party was led to an extravagant dining room and were sat at a long table, being told that the plates in front of them would create any food they desired and all they had to say what they wanted and wait. While the food cooked, Cyprus began a long and drawn out story about why he had them all gathered. He explained that there was a legend of an ancient people called the Metinok that were one of the first to use magic in the world and used it to explore the planes further than anyone else has, even to this very day. He explained that in their searching, they found what is only referred as the "source of all sources" and used it as a power source to expand their power to that to rival the gods. With this new found power, it quickly corrupted them and they slayed the god of their own people and the king took his power as his own. With the power of a god and the power of the energy source, the Metinok raged a war on the world, conquering races, assimilating them as slaves or wiping them out if they refused to bow to the God-King and worship him.



In the end, the legend speaks of another people, as ancient as the Metinok and as familiar with magic as they were, found a way to turn the power source against the Metinok. Siding with the gods, the people, who's name were lost to time, pushed the Metinok back to their capital where, in a last ditch effort to not face justice for his crimes, the God-King used the power source and pulled the entire capital into a newly created plane inside of a stone pillar. With the God-King hiding, most of the gods were content to try and seal the pillar away and leave what was left of the Metinok to be forgotten about in their self-made prison. The old god of Magic, though, marched Him and His followers in a solo campaign inside the pillar to make the God-King pay for perversion of magic. Believing the source of his power to be diminished to the point of being about to defeat him, the god of Magic ventured into the pillar, only to never be seen again. After his disappearance, magic ceased to be. The gods were able to escape this plane before all magic collapsed, but many other outsides, such as the celestials and the devils, were stuck for a thousand years before the current god of magic ascended.



Cyprus ended his story by telling the party that, a few months ago a group of individuals he had hired for a separate job found an underground cavern that looked as if it had been magically submerged from the surface. Surrounded by ancient runes and warnings in every known, and some unknown, language, the only feature in the large, domed cavern was a single stone pillar. After one of the party members touched the pillar and was promptly pulled inside and never reappeared, the rest of the party carefully moved the stone with magic and brought it to Cyprus. And this was when the party came in.



Part 3: Always Read the Fine Print



As the long winded story came to a close, the food was done and everyone ate. At the conclusion of the meal, Cyprus told the party that, as a formality, he would like them to all sign a contract for this job. Tapping a ring on his finger, three separate Cyprus' appeared and walked over to each person in the party. He explained that his ring let him have three separate conversations at once and, to assure that each member had a fair chance to barter their services in comparison to the other two, he tapped a second ring and invoked a silent barrier around each person so that only the Cyprus and the other person out hear the other and no one on the outside could.



After letting each member read the contract and making an agreement with each one, Cyprus had them sign and, after the three separate become whole again, looked over the contracts and, with a wicked smile, said, "A deals a deal." Tapping the contracts with his cane, the contracts lit up and magical seals appeared on each person's hand. Cyprus explained that, as insurance that they job was carried out to the end and that there were no take backs, he preferred to work with Demonic-based magical contracts. It seals the signers in a Death Contract where if either party breaks any part of contract, he or she dies and the other party is released from the contract.



Leading the party away from the table, Cyprus took them into the lower regions of the mansion to eventually a short hallway with a large door at the end. Cyprus then had his clockwork servants bring out a prisoner, badly bruised and tattered. Cyprus explained that in his line of work, he attracted a few enemies along the way and that the occasional assassin came after him. He explained this one was from the Silent Brothers who, as part of their initiation, removed their tongues to make sure they never spoke of their work. Walking over to the Brother, Cyprus struck a deal up with him: if he could walk out of the room they were in, he was free to leave the island without any issues. Cyprus said that he wouldn't even try to stop him. After shaking hands and a seal appeared on both Cyrus' arm and on the Brother's hand, Cyprus turned to the part and said, "Now, this is not part of our agreement and you have no obligation to do so, but as a show of generosity, I will reward the one that stops this man from leaving this room by any means necessary."



At that, the bard told the assassin to walk over to him, only to start attacking him. The Tiefling defended the assassin, making him walk over to the half-demon, only to have the Tiefling pick him up and throw him out the way they came. Standing up on the other side of the arch, dark magic erupted from the seal and the Brother fell to the ground, dead. Cyprus explained that, as per their contract, the assassin did not walk out of the room they were in, but was thrown, but as part of his side agreement, Cyprus gave the Tiefling a Bandolier of Dragon Form. Upon receiving the item, the Tiefling felt a compulsion to caress and make out with the bandolier. After the odd behavior ended, Cyprus led the group into the last room where a stone pillar stood. Saying this is where he bid them a farewell, the party entered into the pillar one at a time.



Part 4: And This is When Things Got Weird



After entering through the pillar, the party found themselves in the dark. As they walked forward, the area lit up and have way to a perfectly domed room, made of a white stone that was unlike anything they had encountered. The stone itself gave off a light and pulse ever so slightly. As they looked around, there were no obvious doors or any ways out. They party tried looking for runes, cracks, secret doors, and even tried to shoot at the walls. Only when the bard called out and talked to the room did the room respond. From nowhere, a figure appeared in the center of the room. It had on a tattered white cloak and a white and black mask, swirling together and decorated with gold, but beyond that the figure had no body. It spoke in a strange, rasping language that had hints of Celestial, Abyssal, common, dwarven, elven, and several other languages. When the Tiefling tried to speak in Abyssal, the figure laughed and spoke that it could speak that "primitive" language as well. The figured asked if they were here to complete the Trails of Power for themselves or for their lord. The party, confused as to what trails, but assuming that the power part related to their quest, they told the figure that they were here for their lord. Telling the group, in a heavily accented common, to follow it, the figure approached part of the curving wall and a doorway of light appeared.



Stepping through it, the party found themselves on small clearing on a hill overlooking an endless sea of green. In every direction they turned, all that could be seen was a sea of grass 10 ft high. The only thing breaking the flow grassy sea was a singular dirt path snaking its way through the green. The figure explained that they were to follow the path in order to reach their first test. It also explained that there were "pests" that were along the path that might get in their way. As they traveled, the party soon realized that the "pests" the figured talked about were Kythons and the party had found their nest. After a tough fight and slaying the last of the creatures, the party looted the nest and found a strange backpack, torn about but lacking of blood, that had a few notes from an explorer that went on to explain that he had been hired by Cyprus to look for rare artifacts before he was accidently pulled into the pillar. There some other notes, but the party quickly read over only a few and took the rest.



After the fight, the party came to a crossroad where the figure gave them a cryptic riddle for each path. They chose the right most one after the riddle said,



"Now take the last path, and up you go,

In the sky to see all below,

Quick and agile you must be,

Of both Mind and Body is most key.

For though the prize must be shared,

The power it has is beyond compare."



And with that, they started down the path, noticing that the other paths slowly faded from existence the further they walked down the chosen path.