Editing Game-Summaries:4/13/2019 Recollections (section)

==Recollections by Jeroy ==
As Rezik alluded to above, I have found a special weapon in the Vault.  [[Bloodcrier]] the legendary warhammer of Bhazad Khrar.  His heroism is well documented and I am not here to sing his songs - I leave that to Iago.  However in attuning the hammer I learned that there is not one legendary weapon of Bhazad Khrar, but two - a bow, known as Bloodscreamer or [[Blackbow]].  Bloodcrier requires me to complete various quests so that it may grant additional abilities as it and I grow stronger together, the next quest required me to go through the Great Waste to seek the Tomb of Bhazad Khrar and pay my respects.  I thought of no one that could be more helpful in a quest such as this, and one that could benefit from more information about a legendary bow, as [[Tallulah]].  <br />
<br />
'''Mourning Service'''<br />

Jeroy approaches Tallulah as she is working with Wethril.  He places a large maul in front of him, crosses his arms and leans on it.  Before he speaks Tallulah sees a dark black maul with a white skull that is bleeding from it's eyes and says "that thing is metal as fuck."
Jeroy blushes and says "thank you.  It's name is Bloodcrier and is a legendary weapon from the Dwarven warrior Bhazad Khrar.  He had two legendary weapons, the other was a bow.  Bloodcrier requires me to complete three tasks to unlock many of its features and the next is to go to the Great Waste and mourn at his grave.  I don't know if his bow would be there but I thought you might be interested.  Not to mention I could use a good tracker to help guide my way.  Up for an adventure?"<br />
"Absolutely I will help you, Jeroy, sounds like a fun adventure to me!" Tallulah happily responds.  Our adventure begins with us making our way to the Great Waste.<br />
<br />
Tallulah is easily able to get us to the Great Waste, as the green grasslands of the Plains of Ground and the forest of the Heartwood are her areas of expertise. The Great Waste itself however proves to be somewhat of a challenge even for her great skill. Sand does not track like dirt and there is little to no foliage to provide scenic clues for way finding. The desert is unforgiving, hot, and barren. Trying to follow directions and not get lost proves extremely difficult ([https://youtu.be/ba2VaalmijM?t=168 6 Survival checks: 28, 26, 23, 28, 17, 30, 20]).  <br />
<br />
After 3 days of baking in the unmasked sun, our boots are worn from the grit of the sand and our legs burn with the extra effort the desert slowly drains from us as each step is like wading through a dry swamp, we finally come upon the Earthcyst. A point of stone sticks out from the sand and after some short excavation we see that this stone spire extends into the ground quite deeply. How deeply is impossible to tell, but after digging for a full night we open a cavity in the rock, a doorway... But somehow it looks to me like it is upside down. Entering into the passageway we discover an ancient mausoleum, completely emptied of organic matter by the heat of the sun in this vast desert.<br />
<br />
Jeroy finds Bhazad Khrar's tomb and meditates to it, praying reveals to him strengths he didn't know he had. His ancestors smile down upon him, being respectful of the past yet knowledgeable enough not to fall into the same trap as Bloodcrier. Bhazad Khrar's spirit also indicated through some manner of empathic link that there lies the companion to his hammer deeper within the tomb somewhere.  Jeroy rises from his meditation turns to Tallulah and says "Wanna go get a new bow?" Jeroy says to Tallulah.<br />

"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1mlCPMYtPk Fuck yeah!]" She responds with exuberance.<br />

"It's down here somewhere. We just need to find it. [https://youtu.be/NUL8qal-Zao?t=20 Perhaps Bloodcrier will lead me]."  Jeroy hold out Bloodcrier and walks around the tomb as if guided by a mystical force ([https://youtu.be/iAgX6qlJEMc?t=28 Investigation checks: 15, 20, 12])<br />

<br />
This mausoleum turned out to be truly massive. In Jeroy's investigation he discovers that this place is definitely somehow upside down. The first floor appears to be massive, a labyrinthine network of passages with upturned sarcophagi. Someone has desecrated a great many resting place here, though none recently. It would appear this place is ransacked, but I felt a calling still coming from within, I was not able to find it after days of hunting for it. We decided to stay in the tomb for another week to continue our search.<br />

After a week Jeroy continues to search the tomb feeling he is always about to find the bow (investigation: 15, 6, 7) but with little success.  Frustrated and convinced he had searched every inch of the tomb with no luck he settled down to wait out another week in the tomb.  Jeroy continues to look left and right.  Scratches his head and says "I've been through this place 5 times.  There is nothing here." 
Tallulah looks up (Perception: 18) from a book she's reading and says "[https://youtu.be/xjFmKyMhAHw?t=34 You're standing on the tomb.]"  Tallulah notices Jeroy is actually standing on top of Bhazad Khrar's actual final resting place while scratching his head looking around for where to go.<br />
<br />
As Tallulah points out the tomb with a casual glance and offhand gesture, Jeroy snaps to attention as if he knew it all along and says "Yes of course that's what I was here for" and begins pulling the stone tile up, and loses his grip and falls over. Sighing, Tallulah puts her book away and with [https://youtu.be/4_yuq7-gk1Y?t=64 one hand she pulls up the tile and gestures to Jeroy to help], simultaneously eviscerating and salvaging his barbarian pride. Tallulah gives Jeroy a half smile and Jeroy knows she will keep this moment secret...but she will never forget it either.<br />
<br />

Uncovering the in-ground resting place of Bhazad Khrar's remains, we discover the ancient bones of the legendary dwarf. He's tall, for a dwarf, and his entombed body shows evidence of his once stocky build. We see resting under his skeletal remains a long, sleek black shaft of wood covered in some kind of animal hide. Somehow it has resisted rot and decay through these centuries.<br />
"Well, Jeroy, would you like to do the honors?" Tallulah offers.<br />
"I'll try" He responds ([https://youtu.be/q_3Kv9JmsC8?t=69 Slight of hand check: 22])
Jeroy gingerly reaches in and manages to extract the black yew staff without disturbing the bones too much. It seems clear that the item was meant to be hidden here using the body as a guise, but it has been rediscovered now. Jeroy upon gripping the shaft you realized immediately that it is an unstrung bow, and you have no doubt in your mind that it's not just any unstrung bow. You know it as the famous bow Bhazad Khrar called [[Bloodscreamer]].<br />
Bloodscreamer the Blackbow is a plain, unadorned longbow made of solid black wood. Black leather wrapped around the staff provides a firm grip, and even the bowstring has been dyed black. It is far larger than even a longbow, requiring great strength to use effectively.<br />
Jeroy turns to Tallulah - "you've earned this" and hands her the bow.  Jeroy turns back and recovers the tomb.
"Whoa, it's a lot...[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyLWrKh2fB0 bigger than I was expecting].  Thank you, Jeroy, I am honored, I will use it well."  <br />
Upon grabbing the shaft (teehee) I immediately felt a connection to the bow. It called to me in a way you can't quite explain, and it communicated to me via some kind of empathic link. Inexplicably, Tallulah and I both become fully aware through our connection to our weapons their related history.<br />
Bloodscreamer is one of two great weapons wielded by the ancient dwarven folk hero Bhazad Khrar. (Khrar's other legendary weapon was the warhammer Bloodcrier.) Although wielded by Bhazad Khrar for a time, the bow was not actually his making.<br />
<br />
Shevarash is the elven deity of revenge and hatred of the drow. Once, he was a mortal elf, famous as one of the finest archers in the world. When drow raiders attacked his village and slaughtered his family, Shevarash foreswore his former life, vowing to never rest until the drow were purged from the world. Shevarash slew many dark elves, gaining infamy as the "Black Archer" in drow folklore, before he was finally captured and slain. Upon Shevarash's death, Corellon Larethian granted him the spark of the divine, transforming him into a minor deity.<br />
<br />
After Shevarash's passing and apotheosis, the bow he carried as a mortal was lost for centuries, probably locked away in the treasure vaults of the drow priestess who had killed the Black Archer. Three hundred years after Shevarash was made into a deity, one of his devoted followers, a ranger called Valaderion, began a crusade to recover the holy bow. He followed in the footsteps of his god, venturing into the underground lairs of the drow. Striking from the shadows and never allowing himself to be detected, Valaderion slew every dark elf he came across.<br />
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Valaderion succeeded in recovering the Bow of the Black Archer, and he journeyed toward the surface with it. As he traveled upward, he met a drow woman—an exile named Kiralasha—and was forced to cooperate with her to destroy a nest of beholders occupying tunnels they both had to cross. As the pair worked together, hatred gave way to grudging respect, then to admiration, and finally to love. Torn between the dictates of his god and his feelings for Kiralasha, Valaderion decided to return the bow to Shevarash's clerics and retire for a time to consider his path. Sadly, he never got the chance. As soon as he set foot inside one of Shevarash's temples, he was struck down by the deity's wrath, slain for daring to consort with one of the hated drow.<br />
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After Valaderion's death, the Blackbow was presumed to be safe in the most prominent of all Shevarash's temples, and many clerics and rangers made pilgrimages to see the weapon. Seven centuries later, when drow once again menaced elven lands, Salariel, the high priestess of Shevarash's clergy, carried the bow into battle. With the weapon's help, she led the mustered elven forces to victory but was slain in a battle against a hideous spider demon conjured by drow priestesses. The Blackbow was lost once again, presumably carried back into the dark places of the earth by the retreating dark elves.<br />
<br />
It was not until many years later that Bhazad Khrar would rediscover the bow in the deep mines that pierced to the center of the earth, little to his knowledge very near to the Conclave at the Heart. When he took the bow and slew an Earthmagus, he raised the ire of the conclave who eventually sought him out and returned the favor. While Bloodcrier was later rediscovered, the Blackbow remained lost in the annals of history...until now