Kelewen

The Maze

Cool. I'll keep an eye out for the RP thread and if you decide you need another GM, let me know! :)

Between the hammer and the anvil

If anyone already here (or someone looking for an excuse to join in!) wants the boy I just mentioned in the IC as one of your characters, shoot me a PM. Other than a few key details you could define the character. I don't mind playing him if no one wants to, just thought it might be cool if he wasn't under the GM's control. Kinda a wild card. ;)

Between the hammer and the anvil

"Any magic items found are to be left untouched until there is time to study them," she replied to Kayden, pleased that Rolf seemed to recognize the danger. "Though if you seek means to start your life over once Whitehall is opened, you will be rewarded in gold," if the simple threat of being hauled back to prison might not be enough to keep them on track, keeping a carrot in front of their noses wouldn't hurt.

Dulcena nodded toward the hedge wizard's question of what she wanted them to bring her, but declined to answer him immediately.

"It was magically sealed," she said instead, glancing toward Zarwin, then back around the table, gauging the reactions of those who had stayed silent. "Other attempts at entry have failed. Which brings us to the first task I need from you."

Some attempts, of course, had ended quite badly. Including one report almost 50 years prior of a small company that had simply disappeared. If they had managed to get inside, then they never made it back out.

"There is a boy you must bring to me, a descendent of Allele Flur, who was one of the mages who sealed Whitehall. I have traced the lineage. His family name is Thindrel now and I believe him to be in Ethanfeld."

closed roleplay (for delete)

"Generally not, my lady" Galiena replied as they walked. Seeing the dark elf's shocked expression at the suggestion she was leading the cleric to her death, she sought to put the record straight. "Iraetria only provided me transportation here, which I am grateful for. But the decision to come was my own.

"I'm a follower of Lord of Light and of the Lady of the Eternal Flame, Adept of the Luminites Clerical Order in Ashdown," she said, solidifying her decision not to lie or mislead the Count about who she was. Besides, she was never any good at falsehoods. If the Count had some kind of feud with the Luminites, best she find that out before she helped retrieve whatever artifact he was after in the catacombs.

"I suspected undead from my conversation with some of his other hired swords in the Headless Horseman earlier."

The Maze

@ineffable, either way is fine by me.

What tech-level are you envisioning for this?

The Maze

I'm interested!

I'm not any good at riddles (either creating or solving), but as far as challenges/obstacles in general, the GMs could have their own characters on separate teams... then take on the primary GM role for the opposite team. That should keep the feeling of "not knowing what's around the corner".

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Galiena would hardly have categorized herself as a loyal servant of the Count, but let the statement go unchallenged. No sense dwelling on specifics in front of the man's daughter.

"You honor me, my lady," the cleric replied with a curtsy of her own, suddenly feeling very underdressed in her own traveling attire compared to the frilled dress Lady Adelina wore. Perhaps she should have asked Iraetria for time to change before allowing herself to be magicked away to the castle. Too late now...

She did take note of Adelina's mention of missing female company and no mention of a mother. That led further to the notion that the dark elf and the Count might have a romantic relationship.

Between the hammer and the anvil

@Gisk

Dulcena's attention moved immediately to Rolf, her lips tightening in irritation as he came dangerously close to outright refusing her. "I would have expected someone like you to not quiver at the mere mention of magic," she scoffed at him.

"People fear what they do not understand," she continued to the group as a whole. "They dismiss solutions to problems because the thought makes them uncomfortable."

She was really referring to those ignorant fools that made up most of the High Council. They'd been wringing their hands and dithering for months now over the fact that tensions with their northern neighbor had been ramping up. "If and when the peace talks with Erilona fail, they will bring their army south. There is knowledge locked within Whitehall that I believe can help defend our land."

closed roleplay (for delete)

What a strange thing to say! After all, she had only just met the dark elf not a quarter of an hour before. Besides, the Ireatria didn't seem like she needed any looking after.

"Is he always so mysterious?" Galiena said, watching the old man continue across the courtyard.

Perhaps, she thought, he was a seer. He did seem to indicate he knew she would be coming. Today was full of firsts...

Between the hammer and the anvil

"Sit and eat," she waved a hand over the food invitingly, encouraging those who were still holding back.

She eyed the newcomer, Zarwin, acknowledging his presence with a nod when he bowed. He must have been found and brought here by Oldrik, her trusted right-hand man. A solid addition to the party now assembled in the room.

She gave the prisoners time to sate their hunger and quench their thirst, sipping at her own goblet as she studied them again now that the grime and stench from the prisons had been mostly cleaned away. But once they seemed to be mostly satisfied and some quiet conversation began to replace chewing, she sat up straighter in her chair.

"Each of you has accepted the offer of a forgiven sentence in exchange for your service to me," she reminded them, taking time to look directly at each person, looking for indications that any might be having doubts about their decision.

"Whitehall has stood sealed now for over a century, its knowledge thought lost forever. But there is a way to open it and we are going to do so."

History of Whitehall

(OOC: For anyone who might have missed it in the OOC conversation:

Magic has always been rather rare and considered dangerous. But there was a prestigious order of mages who studied magic and tried to utilize it wisely. It was about a century and a half ago when things went wrong. A mage named Gerrell dove too recklessly into magic and it corrupted him, driving him to seek ever more, no matter the consequences. When the others grew concerned, he fled the order and was forgotten about for years. During that time, he was slowly building an army, corrupting the minds of the trolls until they came to serve him. Gerrell himself continued his foray into more and more powerful magics, driven ever more insane and lustful for power.

After a decade had passed, his troll army began their conquest, bolstered by his magic, and more organized than ever before, they swept up a large portion of territory before the other areas and races could get their act together. The order of the magi was overrun, killing all except a few that managed to escape.

War followed. Gerrell was only defeated by the combined efforts of the armies from various city states and those few mages who had escaped him previously. They performed a ritual to finally defeat him and seal up the fortress that housed the mage's order "forever".

By almost unanimous decision, magic was outlawed.