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--- resources:adventure:the_still_point [2017/01/03 21:56]
swampselkie
+++ resources:adventure:the_still_point [2017/01/03 22:06]
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 Selphina Reese, Vermillion Magnifico and Christian Hansson meet up with Augusta Trilling, a wealthy merchant who is hiring adventurers to help her find the lost city of Naras. She explains that she is looking for something that can only be found there, something that money can’t buy... but that she is afraid to travel alone. She tells them that they must first journey to the Grand Academy in Batra, where they may be able to find some information on the city.
-With the help of a wayfinder, they begin their traversal of the Great Desert, soon encountering a group of bandits who are speculating over the ransom money they might be able to get from Augusta’s kidnapping. One fracas later and the bandits flee into the flux, but now our heroes discover a corpse in the process of being consumed by monstrous worms. The worms are easily despatched but Augusta is absolutely terrified. Panicking, she runs into the flux, closely followed by Selphina.
+With the help of a wayfinder, they begin their traversal of the Great Desert, soon encountering a group of bandits who are speculating over the ransom money they might be able to get from Augusta’s kidnapping. After a brief fracas, the bandits flee into the flux, but there is further trouble when our heroes come across a desiccated corpse in the process of being consumed by monstrous worms. The worms are easily despatched but Augusta is absolutely terrified. Panicking, she runs into the flux, closely followed by Selphina.
-The others attempt to follow in their wake, but they soon encounter a red scarf that they remember one of the bandits had been wearing. A little way further into the desert, they find a disquieting area of forest that their wayfinder assures them is certainly not flux. In the middle of the forest, they find Selphina standing next to a pile of... actually, they don’t like to ask what she’s standing next to, but it seems that the bandits may have, ahem, overreached a little in tangling with Selphina. For her part, Selphina neglects to mention the nature of the ritual she conducted, nor the tiresome part in which a flesh golem burst out of her chest and needed to be destroyed. Unfortunately, in spite of her onslaught, one of the bandits seems to have escaped with Augusta.
+The others attempt to follow in their wake, but soon encounter a red scarf that they remember one of the bandits had been wearing. A little way further into the desert, they find a disquieting area of forest that their wayfinder assures them is certainly not flux. In the middle of the forest, they find Selphina standing next to a pile of... actually, they don’t like to ask what she’s standing next to, but it seems that the bandits may have, ahem, overreached a little in tangling with Selphina. For her part, Selphina neglects to mention the nature of the ritual she conducted, nor the tiresome part in which a flesh golem burst out of her chest and needed to be destroyed. Unfortunately, in spite of her onslaught, one of the bandits seems to have escaped with Augusta.
-It seems that they will have to make a raid on the bandit camp to rescue their employer. Their wayfinder leads them to the nearest area of consensus, the ruins of a temple to some forgotten god. It is now the base of operations of a large group of bandits, many of whom are now ranged around the camp in a rather inebriated state. In their attempts to sneak past the sentry, however, the party wakes some of the bandits - they fight through a large number of them, eventually entering the temple to face off against the bandit chief, who is unimpressed by their ransom offer. Upon executing the chief, however, they hit upon two problems: (1) they don’t know exactly where Augusta is being held hostage, and (2) a large force of gradually sobering bandits is assembling outside the temple.
+It seems that they will have to make a raid on the bandit camp to rescue their employer. Their wayfinder leads them to the nearest area of consensus, the ruins of a temple to some forgotten god. It is currently the base of operations of a large group of bandits, many of whom are now ranged around the camp in a rather inebriated state. Unfortunately, in their attempts to sneak past the sentry, the party wakes some of the revelers - they fight their way through swathes of drunken bandits, eventually entering the temple to face off against the bandit chief, who is unimpressed by their ransom offer. Upon executing the chief, however, they hit upon two problems: (1) they don’t know exactly where Augusta is being held hostage, and (2) a large force of rapidly sobering bandits is assembling outside the temple.
-The discovery of a maze of catacombs under the temple solves their immediate worries. Heading down into these tunnels, they discover that the bandits have been using a section of the catacombs as a prison. Deep within, past a network of fiendish traps, they discover Augusta, who is overwhelmed with horror - not so much by her predicament as the bandits’ hostage, but more at finding herself trapped in a tomb. She… really seems afraid of death.
+The discovery of a maze of catacombs under the temple solves their immediate worries. Heading down into these tunnels, they discover that the bandits have been using a section of the catacombs as a prison. Deep within, past a network of fiendish traps, they discover Augusta, who appears overwhelmed with horror - not so much by her predicament as the bandits’ hostage, but more at finding herself trapped in a tomb. She… //really// seems afraid of death.
 Taking a secret passage out of the catacombs to a watchtower currently unguarded by the bandits (who have all flocked to the main temple), they find their way safely across the desert to Batra, stopping off at the Grand Academy. While the scholars are initially suspicious of them, the party’s focus on Naras piques their interest.
@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 The scholars inform them that Naras is a sacred city, built around a temple dedicated to two gods - they can’t remember which ones, though. It’s weird, actually - looking in the archives, someone seems to have obliterated certain parts of every account of Naras in every relevant text. There has been scarcely any travel to and from Naras for many years, and nobody has managed to travel between Naras and the Serradic Empire since the Upheaval; the city is assumed to have disappeared into flux.
-The archivist does furnish them with a map from before the Upheaval. It shows the location of Naras, together with its shape - a series of concentric circles with a huge circular temple in the middle. The temple utterly dominates the city.
+The archivist does manage to furnish them with a map from before the Upheaval. It shows the location of Naras, together with its shape - a series of concentric circles with a huge circular temple in the middle. The temple utterly dominates the city.
-They decide to spend a few days enjoying the sights of Batra - there’s a beautiful mausoleum, and the museum has a fascinating display of funerary masks… oh, and of course it’s the Festival of the Dead right now. The adventurers enjoy a well-earned break (Vermillion purchases some art to sell on when he returns to Acryn), while Augusta cowers under a blanket in her room at the inn. At last, refreshed for the journey ahead, they set out once more into the desert, this time towards Naras….
+They decide to spend a few days enjoying the sights of Batra - there’s a beautiful mausoleum, and the museum has a fascinating display of funerary masks… oh, and of //course// it’s the Festival of the Dead right now. The adventurers take a well-earned break (Vermillion purchases some art to sell on when he returns to Acryn), while Augusta cowers under a blanket in her room at the inn. At last, refreshed for the journey ahead, they set out once more into the desert, this time towards Naras….
 ==== Part Two: The Lost City ====
-Caught in a huge dust storm, they encounter a number of huge inquisitive cats with human faces. These sphinxes ask question after question, refusing to let the travellers pass until every question has been answered and threatening to eat anyone who fails to answer. The questions gradually become more and more nonsensical until the party gives up and kills them all.
+Caught in a huge dust storm, they encounter a number of huge inquisitive cats with human faces. These sphinxes ask question after question, refusing to let the travellers pass until every question has been answered and threatening to eat anyone who fails to answer. The questions gradually become more and more nonsensical (while probing the nature of mortality in a way that sets their employer on edge) until the party gives up and kills them all.
-It is difficult to see their way in the dust storm, and when their wayfinder suddenly disappears with a cry of shock, they cannot at first work out what has happened. But then, the wayfinder’s voice rings out from ahead and some way below: “I’ve fallen down some kind of… no, it’s a wall; it’s… it’s consensus. I think it’s Naras!”
+It is difficult to see their way in the dust storm, and when their wayfinder suddenly disappears with a startled cry, they cannot at first work out what has happened. But then the wayfinder’s voice rings out from ahead and some way below: “I’ve fallen down some kind of… no, it’s a wall; it’s… it’s //consensus//. I think it’s //Naras//!”
 It seems that the dust storm is centred around the city; sand has piled up around the walls on every side, but within the bounds of the city, the sand hasn’t intruded. Beneath the dust storm, the city is perfectly preserved.

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