Game-Summaries:6/24/2017 Recollections

Recollections by Sakura no kaze

Collectively, we've been doing busywork (read: chores) every day since our initiation with little time for anything else. Finally we get a break and I find myself with Avant and Zanna. We discuss testing out our team dynamics and approach someone who knows more than any of us. It became very clear to us very quickly that we were talking to someone well out of our league! Grandmaster Metaphysicae told us about the training dungeons and how they work, but first I must recall our discussion with him as it will prove to be important as we learn the history of The Magistery.

Grandmaster Metaphysicae is very old. We don't know how old, but we should assume older than our grandparents' memories. He gave us no other name, stating that their given name is forfeit when they become Grandmasters. He also told us of the two others that share the title, Grandmaster Materiales and Grandmaster Aetheres (Ætheres). Together these three are responsible for the three domains in the Magistery. He also told us that he became a member of the Magistery when it was still called the Mages Guild (again, it seems knowing history would be useful) and that his (or the guild's) purpose is to preserve knowledge. From what we've heard that the primary purpose is to exact Justice (with a capital J) and then preserve knowledge.

We are currently Initiates and over time we can ascend to an apprenticeship under an Adept. We would then choose a domain once we are chosen to become disciples. When one becomes an Adept, they must also choose a house to belong to. There are 7 houses in each domain. The number of houses, domains and Masters is always kept a prime number, to alleviate issues with voting. We're told there is a lot of voting and prime number of Masters is important for this. I presume we will understand more as we learn more of the history, but for now I'll take this as a fact to be understood later. For this reason, when individuals are elevated to the title of Master, they are done so in order to preserve the prime number of total Masters. It is common knowledge the number of Adepts and Masters in each house, so I won't drone on about that.

Now, onto our adventure.

Grandmaster Metaphysicae told us that in order to train we must go down to the basement and put our hands on an alter at the same time at which point we will be able to select a dungeon to train in. He gave each of us a very brittle ceramic amulet as a failsafe mechanism to escape the dungeon. All amulets would need to be broken in order for the training dungeon to end (and thus result in a failure), the process of ending the dungeon takes 12-seconds once the final amulet is broken. The amulet itself looks fairly plain and is adorned with the Magistery's symbol.

The Grandmaster took us down several winding hallways and staircases, by the end I was completely lost and turned around. I believe we were in a sub-basement, perhaps 4 or 5 levels deep, but that is speculation. At the end we entered a large square chamber with an altar in the middle. As we three entered, the door behind us closed immediately. With nothing else to do, we placed our hands on the altar. At this point, everything went dark, and I mean really dark - not even my Darkvision could penetrate this deeper darkness. Very shortly after the dark faded and we found ourselves standing next to each other inside of a formed, stone dungeon.

Immediately a voice of unknown origin spoke to me, and I presume Avant and Zanna, of our mission. Seems the altar chose the mission for us - Disrupt the ritual and save the dragon. We immediately formed up and started exploring our immediate surroundings. Avant is at a disadvantage, genetically. He lacks the ability to see in the dark like Zanna and I can.

Adjacent to this location we discovered a shrine, a pool of water, of sorts. The shrine conveyed a great sense of safety to us. The location of this will be fairly important to recall in future training dungeons, as it was quite important in this one.

We continued to explore and found a medium sized square room. Once we entered an illusion seemed to fade and several cultists materialized, however we were prepared and ready. Their surprise failed, but their attach was somewhat successful. Myself and Zanna took the bulk of the damage they inflicted, which came in the form of self-sacrifice. This will be important to know as it seems they all posses this ability and it is quite painful! What was rather interesting about this first encounter was that the cultists all represented a different element (water, fire, earth, air) and were working with each other! This is completely unheard of in my knowledge.

I tested my magic against them twice. The first time I attempted to incapacitate them, however they seem immune or extremely resistant to enchantment spells. The second, my signature spell, Force of the Cherry Blossom, cut through them with ease and reduced their numbers by half. The rest is when we discovered their ability to self-destruct.

Hurt, but reluctant to lick our wounds, we continued on exploring, lest the ritual complete and catch us idle! We encountered some small traps and a couple of other cultists, including a siege ballista! however they were much easier to deal with than when several of them attempted to ambush us. Of note to myself is that the siege ballista is susceptible to elemental damage. Acid can reduce it's functionality. Around this point in time, something in the chant of the ritual changed. As if everything had gone silent. We hadn't even realized, until now, that there was a constant background droning!!!

Very shortly after the ballista we were able to sneak up to the main chamber where the ritual was being conducted. Five cultists surround the statue of a gold dragon! I was able to determine, though not understand, that the ritual is more than half complete, but likely still many hours from completion, so we decided that this was a good opportunity to rest in our safe haven. Once we took a short rest and returned, I realized that I was wrong about the duration of the ritual and it was very nearly completed! Avant snuck in behind the head cultist and struck him through the heart at which moment I attempted to make it seems like the statue had come alive by creating the illusion of a fire breath attack. It is possible that this worked as four of the cultists vanished without a trace.

The head cultists, with a sword struck through his heart, turned around and shoved it out of him! I have never seen such devotion and fortitude. The sword was glowing as if just finished at a blacksmith's anvil! The ritual leader proved to be a mage of some type, able to cast fire spells engulfing the entire room! My nack for living kicked in, stretching my neck to 4-feet in length. This somehow made it so that both Zanna and I survived untouched from this fire attack. I don't question the wild effects of my magic, I just revel in the fact that I believe it saved us both. Within a few seconds, we had pommeled the ritual leader and he performed his death throws, which was significantly more painful than the other cultists we had encountered. Black tendrils reached out from the ground attempting to suffocate the life out of us and very nearly did! Poor Zanna was moments from her last breath. It's a good thing that Avant knows something about living in the wild. I futilely attempt to mimic only what I've seen as I tried to resurrect her heart.

Once we were confident that Zanna would live, Avant and I moved to study and destroy the altar. I was able to tell that the language scribed onto the altar is of some Elvish derivation, but not known to me, most likely some extra-planar language. The altar itself is an effigy that seems like it was being used as a likeness to destroy an actual golden dragon elsewhere, so we attempted to destroy the alter, but upon touching it, it melted into gold! We three were, very quickly, quite a bit richer.

As soon as we finished collecting the gold, the dungeon immediately faded and we found ourselves all with our hands touching the altar in the middle of a large square room. Right back where we started, but with heavier pockets and with knowledge that we didn't have before.

Recollections by Avant

Diary entry-Cultist Dungeon

Aki has been growing more sentient by the day. After months of unintelligible whispers, her words now bear cogent conversation and reflection of experience. Either that or I’m in the grip of increasing lunacy.

After years of embroiled aggression and strife, the life of an initiate has been a slow succoring respite and of convalescence. Granted they make us do base, menial chores, an imposed subservience, much to the chagrin of my fellow initiates. But there is utility in such things, for it breeds humility, discipline and flushes of oxytocin..they want us to bond. Say one thing for Avant, say he's a fighter and while this stillness has been welcome, my mind frequently strays to reveries of battles past and my sword covets the blood of a threat.

So I look and soon find the company of fellow initiates Sakura and Zanna who show a common curiosity in the cultist dungeon. To find out more, we approach a man who calls himself the Grandmaster Metaphysicae... a dangerous man! In the Magistery the Grand Master is the ecclesiastic head of the order, only second to the mysterious Seal. What are we doing talking to this man about a mere cultist dungeon mission!....I closely listen to what he has to say. Metaphysicae reveals he is very old , ancient in fact , and joined the order when the Magistery was still just a mages guild. The raison d'etre of the Grand Masters is to bastion justice and preserve knowledge. Much was spoken about the appellations accorded to the order of the Magistery , the Houses , Dominions ... all of which can be found in the Magistery vaults and libraries and I will not bore you-reader, with those details here.

The Cultist Dungeon...

Metaphysicae directs us down to what could have been a 4th level basement or was it the 5th...suffice to say it was deep underground , leading to a subterranean room. An expansive area dimly lit with a pillar at the center buttressing a glowing orb of fuzzy pearly light. The door slams shut behind us. I look to my comrades and see trepidation flicker across their faces. To commence the dungeon we reach and touch the orb together, I prepare myself , taking the warder stance and focusing on my breath...the lights wink out and I’m in total and absolute darkness. Helm's balls! As I begin to call out to Sakura and Zanna , I hear a wooden disembodied voice with no apparent direction or source speak to me -Stop the ritual , Save the dragon. Adrenaline kicks in, the soldier takes over.

I reach for a torch in my bag pack whilst unsheathing Aki in cadence. The light from the torch illuminates the proximal area and I can now see Sakura and Zanna a short distance in front of me. A brief look at their pallid countenance confirms my suspicion… they heard the voice too. We briefly assess our situation, and decide the pool behind us to be an appropriate resting point. I sense consternation and caution in Sakura and Zanna slowly fading and giving way to buoyancy and excitement of a dungeon adventure. We move forward. After a bit of exploration we enter a plain looking room. Sakura and Zanna venture into the room first, I’m preoccupied trying to look in all directions at the same time.As I approach to join Sakura and Zanna in the the room…the air itself rips, reality shimmers around us and we find ourselves surrounded by elemental Cultist's in a blink of an eye.

Cultist's Attack....

The cultist’s attack, Zanna and Sakura being the closest to the cultist apparitions, take the brunt and focus of this initial onslaught. Zanna with the lithe and grace of a rogue dodges arrows. Sakura’s visage takes on a maniacal flavor as he launches into unleashing unbridled mind magic. Whilst I cover the distance and close in on my stalwart comrades, I’m reminded of an oddity in this unfolding scene..these cultist- fire , earth , air and water working together in a coordinated skirmish ?? A question for later, as I train my attention on the fight extant. I unsheathe Aki- my longsword, the Earth cultist being the nearest becomes the chosen target. Aki promptly breaks into songs of dirge as I descend upon the cultist, swinging in from a long arch capturing enough momentum to slam the cultist backwards all the way into in the fireplace whilst slashing across his chest. I look upon cultist with grim distaste, this perversion of flesh and magic as he bleeds on to the floor and appears signed from the fire, albeit not incapacitated. I hear a shout of incantation from Sakura - and cherry blossoms slice the cultsists throats with sweet serenade, I hear Aki start to whistle echoing my own thoughts. Zanna dexterously dispatches with the remaining air cultist amidst a litany of curses.

With the cultists defeated, we assess our fares, both Zanna and Sakura have taken some hefty hits and Sakura is all but spent…we decide I take the lead and we move further into the dungeon.

Traps...

An arrow-spitting gargoyle catches me on my shoulder...Helm's helmet! The bastard. Arrow awkwardly boring into my shoulder I retreat around the corner...Say one thing for Avant, say he knows his limits.. While I stupidly stare at the arrow embedded my shoulder, Zanna reads the gargoyle-situation with swiftness and alacrity, recognizing the mechanical skeleton of this stony beast. Within seconds, she slays it with a small metal bolt thrust down its mouth, jamming gears and disengaging its mean mechanistic soul.

We skulk around the dungeon, moving stealthily. Furtiveness pays off as we notice a ballista positioned at the end of a long corridor, just before it fires a round at us. Sakura is the first to recover and retaliate. I smell the acerbic gases before seeing the acid flung at the ballista, ruining its metal and possibly doing some damage to its operator from the loud yelp we hear. No time to waste, I creep over to one side of the sizzling ballista and then proceed to throw myself into the air in an acrobatic somersault over the instrument of destruction, terminating Aki into the cultist operator, wrapping his chest around the blade. The cultist is neutralized.

Boss Man....

As we approach the threshold of what looks to be a large room...something stops. And in its vacuity I realize we had been hearing the ritual's low hum all along and now it’s gone! We are close! Sakura peers into the room and hurriedly retreats. He explains the ritual is happening in the room with five cultists surrounding an altar with a golden dragon. He gauges the ritual has reached its half way mark and we have a couple of hours before it completes. I heave a sigh of relief, and we decide to rest and recuperate. Half an hour into our rest, Sakura in a panic heavy voice, exclaims the ritual is about to end and he made a mistake in his calculus! We quickly gather our accouterments and ourselves and very quietly sneak into the room. Now that I am closer, I see four cultist in a seeming trance with the 5th orchestrating the whole thing. We are ready to fight, but they do not seem to notice us. We take advantage of their lack of concern or otherwise blindness to our coming and I sneak behind the 5th cultist. On Sakura's count, we engage in a tandem attack. With all I can muster, I thrust Aki into the 5th cultist’s chest, while Sakura casts an illusion spell of fire breath. From the corner of my eyes, I see the four cultist just evaporate… I suppress a grin. Then all goes to the latrines...

What closely follows is vague and not very clear to me...what I do recall is Aki’s strident scream and the sword aflame in my hand. I drop to my knees , releasing the longsword. Giddy from Aki’s screams reverberating inside my head and burns on my hand, I look up and watch in horror as the 5th cultist slowly turns to face me with Aki still sticking through his chest. He fluidly moves and in one swift action pulls the sword out and discards it to the ground .. the blade glows with a patina of red. The 5th cultist makes some utterances and the entire room is engulfed in flames. Helm's leeches! We need to finish this and fast! Gritting my teeth through pain and vertigo, I turn to look at Sakura and Zanna, I can see them just about holding on.... Sakura’s neck is absurdly long and impossibly stretched...I hope that is not permanent!

My Morningstar! I wield it with every ounce of strength left in me and crash it into the 5th cultist’s chest wound my sword had made earlier. He does not see it coming; probably distracted by Sakura’s neck...his wound erupts in a gush of blood. It seems the strike exsanguinated the 5th cultist as the gush is reduced to a slight trickle. As the 5th cultist who clearly was a mage of some sort dies, the blasted man hits out with a death curse … black tendrils reach out from the floor beneath. Say one thing for Avant, say his instincts are sharp as a kukri...I shift my weight smoothly and roll to position next to Aki. With the death of the 5th cultist whatever enchantment had besieged my sword has been lifted. I grab the hilt and strike at the black tendril in a wild drunken manner… the tendrils reduce to ethereal wisps and vanish. I look around, searching for Sakura and Zanna. Sakura seems fine, if a bit wounded but Zanna lies strewn on the floor unmoving. I see Sakura rush to give her CPR to no avail, I reach them, my eyes wide with panic and thoughts consumed by ghost of battles past and lives lost..(O Hdar, you fool!). I notice a black tendril embedded in her leg, and hastily run Aki through it. The tendril turns to a wispy puff loosens it hold on Zanna, she stirs and awakens ..I make a silent thanks to Helm and a vow to never use his name in vain again.

I see Sakura inspecting the dragon statuette, as I move to join him the dragon shatters into number of gold coins...150 to be exact. We distribute and pocket the coins, Sakura appears positively pleased with the loot. The air shimmers and we are returned to the room in the 4th or 5th level sub-basement standing beside the altar. Say one thing for Avant, say he deserves some rest. Aki vibrates in agreement.