Resting and Researching Stone of Golorr:
CHES 24th (THE CLAW OF SUNSETS)
14:10 am
Alley and Zarek still need to research the Arcana Lore on the Stone of Golorr but first they decide to question the Sailor in the Brig by using the Rogues ‘Message’ Spell to communicate with him. They also chose to send in SPG to view the reactions and see if there is any other presence there.
Zarek attempts to Persuade the Sailor that he is a member of the Zhentarim and what to offer the Sailor a better opportunity than working for Captain Zardoz Zord.
The Rogue off the Sailor more money for information.
The Sailor appears to be confused, Zarek thinks it may not be because of the Magic as Drow tend to have Magical Spell abilities and should be familiar with Magic, and spends some time looking about the Brig and the general area of the Orlop Deck.
Then the Sailor responds and is Persuaded to at least listen to the Zhentarim.
The Rogue explains how the Sailor has been underpaid and not appreciated by Captain Zardoz Zord. The Zhentarim would pay him well and they accept Drow operatives.
The Rogue explains how they know they are all Drow, hidden by an Illusion and that the Zhentarim Network know many things.
The Sailor still seams unsure and tells the Zhentarim that he is willing to discuss terms if he knew what was needed from him.
The Rogue asks the Sailor about Neverembers Enigma and how they knew what Captain Zardoz Zord was seeking.
The Sailor is puzzled and SPG, the Rat Familiar allows the Rogue to confirm through its eyes, that the Sailor had no idea what Neverembers Enigma is.
The Sailor explains how Captain Zardoz Zord is a Lord and has no need to fear or be subjugated to anyone, especially the Zhentarim Network. The Sailor appears to be more fearful of Captain Zardoz Zord than the Zhentarim Network.
The Sailor said that he was willing to provide information but wanted assurances of the Zhentarim’s power and asks to be released from the Brig.
The Rogue is not able to do so and this makes the Sailor suspicious and he begins to call-out for someone but Zarek is unable to understand the Drowic spoken by him.
Other Sailor and the Hellraiser’s Ship Mate both descend to the Orlop Deck and after a short conversation the Jailed Sailor is taken to the Main Deck where they join the Captain of the Hellraiser.
Alley and Zarek move along the Pier and Zarek recalls SPG.
Zarek: “I think its best I re-call SPG.”
Alley: “I agree, we should also move but not leave, look the Sailors are communicating with their hand signals and looking about.”
The Rogue and Bard watch as 2 Sailors lower one of the row boats into the water with the Jailed Sailor also on board. They set off in the direction of the Eyecatcher.
Alley and Zarek reach the end of the pier, grab a drink and keep a close eye on the Eyecatcher and its response to the row boat. However, the keen-eyed Rogue does spot that there I activity on the Eyecatcher long before they would have spotted them among the other Row boats.
Alley is acting as a decoy while Zarek spies on the Eyecatcher and they both miss spotting that the 3 Sailors wear hooded cloaks as they travel to the anchored Ship.
Zarek: “They must have another form of communication, more powerful than our ‘Message’ Cantrip.”
Alley: “Don’t forget that the Captain of the Heartbreaker had his Familiar Tarantula Spider, which mean that they must have access to Spells and Spell Books.”
Zarek: Well, they didn’t keep their Spell Book in the wooden chest.” Zarek makes a mental note to think about Spell Books location, more preparation for the incursion.
Captain Zardoz Zord joins the Sailor from the Brig of the Hellraiser and they chat for a short while and then they head off to the lower decks. The Rogue strains his eyes and manages to view 2 young women following after Captain Zardoz Zord.
Zarek: “Time to leave, slowly and inconspicuously, just like Iomhar taught me, follow my lead.”
The crews of the Hellraiser and Heartbreaker are still on alert and are watching both the land and sea for possible signs of the infiltrator.
Alley and Zarek, or the blind old man and his female carer, duck into a dark alley as their ‘Disguise Self’ Spell was about to run out, spend time on making sure they were not being followed and change back into their Bard and Rogue personas.
Alley and Zarek now have several things on the go with more that need to be addresses.
The Bard and Rogue need to:
- Contact the Urchins and contact them to keep any eye on the Hellraiser, Heartbreaker and Eyecatcher, as well as he going on at the Sea Maidens Faire.
- Contact Vajra Safahr and attempt to Persuade her to provide extra Magical Assistance for their Bronze Dragon Mission.
- Rest-up before they begin searching for the Young Bronze Dragon.
- Research the Stone of Golorr.
- Prepare for the water bound mission, by picking the correct equipment, etc.
14:20 pm
Having sent the Urchins a ‘Paper Bird’, leaving Zarek with 2 ‘Paper Birds’ left and the same with Alley who has 2 ‘Paper Birds’ as well, to call them to the Sea Maidens Faire, they haggle for payment and it includes expenses, the Rogue and Bard arranged for the Urchins, Nat, Jenks and Squiddly, begin the surveillance of the Hellraiser, Heartbreaker and Eyecatcher. They also wander along the Sea Maidens Faire with their eyes open and ears to the ground.
14:40 pm
Alley and Zarek head back to Trollskull Alley. Once back at Trollskull manor, the 2 Heroes have a bite to eat and rest for 6 hours before heading off to the Tower of The Order to research the Stone of Golorr in the vast library of the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors.
When they head downstairs, they find that Lif had been on guard, but had managed to take delivery of the items from Vajra Safahr and it turns out that there is a note inside along with several Scroll Cases within a Leather Satchel.
The Note reads:
Dear Friends.
Please begin your search by Mist Shore as this was where the latest sighting, we have of the Young Bronze Dragon.
I have enclosed your requested Scrolls and added a few extra incantations.
I know what it is to want to help and be constantly tested.
Good luck to the both of you.
Ulkoria Stonemarrow.
Inside the Leather Satchel they find the following Scrolls, each with one Spell:
- X2 Water Breathing (3rd Level) – If the spell’s level is higher than the user can normally cast, they must succeed on an ability check (DC 10) + spell level) to cast it successfully; failure causes the scroll to be used up.
- X2 Alter Self (2nd Level)
- X2 Magic Weapon (2nd Level)
TOWER OF THE ORDER:
20:40 pm
The two friends then head off towards the Tower of the Order and they both make a mental note to visit the Tower of Luck, the Temple of Tymora, to toss a coin for good luck before Zarek’s Gray Hands Mission.
Having packed, Zarek literally placing everything he needs into his ‘Bag of Holding’ and Alley decanting all their Potions into small, mailable, leather wine skins for ease of consumption, the pair setoff for the Tower of the Order.
Tymora is watching over Alley and Zarek, and is as inquisitive as us mere mortals to see what will happen to the 2 Heroes next, as Bowgentra Summertaen is away from the Tower of the Order and Alley meets one of her friends who eagerly escorts the pair to the restricted hall of records.
Alley introduces her friend, Remmen Starglow, to Zarek. Remmen Starglow is a 79-year-old female high Elf Wizard, she has a bald head and blue eyes. Remmen Starglow has smooth, brown skin, stands 4’11” (152 cm), has a muscular build and a round face.
Zarek spots that Remmen Starglow has a shocking tattoo of a gecko on her left arm and a shocking tattoo of a panther on her left hand. She also sometimes twitches sporadically from her neck.
Alley and Zarek are left alone with just some parchments, ink and a quill. That is all that is needed by the two Sages as they begin their hunt of the Lore of the Stone of Golorr, Zarek giggles at the title.
Even though Alley had spent many a year with her nose in the books held within the Tower of the Order, it is Zarek that is able to jump from reference to reference and pick the exact books and tomes needed to lead to the final book holding the Lore they are seeking.
Alley: “If they have some information, I am guessing that the Artifact may have been kept within Waterdeep at some point.”
Zarek: “You are right Alley, if Dagult Neverember hid the Gold Dragons and used this ‘Stone of Golorr’, it stands to reason that he acquired it whist the Open Lord of Waterdeep?”
Alley: Each clue is a lead and every lead has a connection we need to join up.”
Zarek does fantastic work and uncovers a vast amount of information regarding the ‘Stone of Golorr’.
WHAT THE STONE OF GOLORR LOOKS LIKE:
The ‘Stone of Golorr’ is a glossy, greenish-grey stone that fits in the palm of a hand and contains the consciousness of an Aboleth. It features three shallows, rounded half-holes where its Eyes sit.
- Appearance: A small, glossy, greenish-grey stone with a smooth surface.
- Size: It can be held comfortably in the palm of a humanoid’s hand.
- Notable features: It has three pea shaped eyes set in rounded half-holes with slight lips, which are where the Aboleth’s Eyes are located.
WHAT THE STONE OF GOLORR IS:
The ‘Stone of Golorr’ is an ‘Artifact’ that once belonged to the Abolethic Sovereignty. For millennia it was held in a vault within the ancient floating City of Xxiphu (“ksee-foo” or “zee-foo”) on the World of Abeir, but it was lost during the Wailing Years.
According to some histories, it was brought to Abeir-Toril when Xxiphu first plummeted to the world and settled deep below what is now the Sea of Fallen Stars. According to others, an Aboleth who came to Abeir-Toril before the arrival of Xxiphu created the Stone; or perhaps he fled to Abeir-Toril carrying the stone and Xxiphu came in pursuit of their prize. Some versions of the tale claim that the ‘Stone of Golorr’ was forged during the primeval battles between Shar and Selûne, in the very moment that the World of Toril was formed.
Whether the ‘Stone of Golorr’ predates or co-dates the creation of Toril, in arcane terms this gives the ‘Stone of Golorr’ a position of primacy, making it capable of effects which no Magic Item or Artifact created in these younger days could possibly duplicate.
HOW THE STONE OF GOLORR WORKS:
When the proper ritual is performed, the ‘Stone of Golorr’ magically eliminates a memory or piece of knowledge from everyone on Toril except for the person who is attuned to the ‘Stone of Golorr’ .
PERFORMING THE STONE OF GOLORR RITUAL:
The use of the ‘Stone of Golorr’ to erase memory is a special ritual-form of legend lore which takes 12 hours to cast. Performing the ritual requires:
- The ability to cast ‘Legend Lore’.
- Knowledge of the ritual modifications to the spell.
- The use of a second Abolethic Artifact, a small Tetrahedron of Red Jade.
- Special incenses suffused with the blood of an Abolethic (2,500gp cost) and Four Ivory Strips worth at least 50gp each.
During the ritual, the burning of the incense causes the four sides of the Tetrahedron to unfold, revealing slots into which the Ivory Strips are then inserted. The ‘Stone of Golorr’ is then placed within the Tetrahedron and the sides closed around it.
As the ritual completes, the tetrahedron opens once more, revealing the ‘Stone of Golorr’ as it releases a burst of Psionic Energy. This energy attempts to refract through the person attuned to the ‘Stone of Golorr’, forcing them to make a Wisdom saving throw with a difficulty commensurate to the scope of the memory or knowledge they are seeking to eliminate.
(The memory of something with little significance and known to very few people would have a smaller chance of succeeding, DC Roll, than something of great significance or known to a large number of people).
A group of people can attempt to perform the ritual together in order to reduce the difficulty of this saving throw by -2 per additional person (by spreading Psionic Refraction between them). The number of characters participating in the ritual is limited by the level of the character leading the ritual (i.e., a 5th level character could lead a ritual with up to 5 people), and all participants must succeed at the saving throw in order for the ritual to be successful.
On a failure, the ritual member fails to refract the Psionic Energy and the memory they were seeking to erase is eliminated only from their mind. If a particularly significant piece of knowledge was being targeted, the failure might also invoke a general fugue state for minutes, hours, or days.
On a success, the knowledge is eliminated: Wiped clean from Scrolls and Inscriptions. Removed from all living memory except for those attuned to the ‘Stone of Golorr’ or participating in the ritual.
USING THE STONE OF GOLORR:
Communicating with the ‘Stone of Golorr’ , receiving knowledge from the ‘Stone of Golorr’ , or performing the knowledge-erasing ritual requires the user to be attuned to the Stone.
This can be a somewhat unpleasant process as the attunement takes the form of your thoughts slowly becoming compatible with the utterly alien, Abolethic thought forms of the ‘Stone of Golorr’.
NOTE, HOWEVER, THAT:
- This is very specific as if reality had become a poorly expurgated book, you can still see where the “text” has been snipped out if you know where to look.
- This only destroys current knowledge, not the subject of the knowledge nor the ability to learn that knowledge in the future. Making everyone forget Bob, for example, doesn’t stop Bob from saying, “Hi! I’m Bob!”
STONE OF GOLORR LEGEND LORE:
The ‘Stone of Golorr’ has a maximum of 3 charges and regains 1d3 -2 expended charges daily at dawn. While holding the ‘Stone of Golorr’, you can expend 1 of its charges to cast the ‘Legend Lore’ spell.
Using one of these charges, the ‘Stone of Golorr’ can share with its attuned holder the secrets which have been hidden inside of it, either through speech or through a telepathic burst of imagery and sensation. Its holder can direct this towards a particular secret if they are aware of its existence; otherwise, the ‘Stone of Golorr’ will provide a secret according to its own perverse whim and alien predilection.
MEMORY’S PASSING:
If you lose attunement with the ‘Stone of Golorr’ you must attempt a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or the memories you shared with the ‘Stone of Golorr’ (i.e., the lost knowledge you gained from it) will begin to fade from your mind.
22:00 pm
With all the information still ringing in their heads, Alley and Zarek then head off for Mistshore, the northern end of the dock, to being their investigations into the Young Bronze Dragon.
MISTSHORE:
22:10 pm
Mistshore is a run-down Dock Ward Neighbourhood that reeks of fish and scorched timber. A fire swept through the area a little over a year ago, and most of the buildings are now burned-out shells with (at best) sails for roofs. Fishing poles and nets line the dock, and the 15-foot-deep water is full of smaller boats.
AREAS OF MISTSHORE:
Mistshore is a riotous assemblage of ramshackle homes made of wood from old ships and inhabited by impoverished Waterdhavians. Several buildings were reduced to ash by the fire last year. Although some were rebuilt, others were ruined beyond repair and are now used as roofless dens by homeless children and rats.
Alley and Zarek begin to ask around and Zarek has very little luck as most Waterdhavians had othr more important things to do than discuss Dragons.
Alley, on the other hand has more luck and is directed to the shore where an Elf named Lashurien Malfuria has been ranting about a Dragon he was accosted by.
They eventually find a talkative Male Elf named Lashurien Malfuria and he is helped to extract his rowing boat from the sea. Zarek, while helping Elf with his boat, failed to investigate the Elf fully and missed something that would later on cut their conversation short.
Lashurien Malfuria: “Are you attempting to mock me, who sent you was it Grinda Garloth or those good for nothing drunken Sailors at the Sailors’ Own Tavern?”
Zarek calms Lashurien Malfuria and explains that they believe him and just wanted the location of the sighting and they would love to hear what happened.
Lashurien Malfuria saw the Dragon near the waters by Mistshore, explains that it leaped out at him, demanding to know about the Sea Maiden’s Faire, but he was too drunk and terrified to give a reasonable response to the, so called friendly Dragon, so he was left as suddenly as he was approached.
Zarek, hoping to acquire more information, then declares that he in fact works for the Gray Hands and needs Lashurien Malfuria to divulge any and all information regarding the Bronze Dragon.
It was at this point the Lashurien Malfuria remembered that he had somewhere to be and needed to talk to someone about something and he left.
It was at that point that the keen-eyed Rogue spots the well-worn leather handle of the Elf’s Sword, the worn boots and the Dagger hidden in Lashurien Malfuria’s boot that the Rogue then realised that the Elf was a Sell-Sword or Bandit.
22:30 pm
Alley: “I guess we should head back to the Sea Maidens Fair, relieve the Urchins of their stake-out and take over ourselves or hunt for the Young Bronze Dragon.”
Zarek: “If Lashurien Malfuria was telling the truth, which I am sure he was, it seems that the Dragon and ourselves have the same prey to hunt.”
Alley: “Let Tymora shine the way.”
Zarek: “Indeed, Fortune favours the bold”
Alley:” “Sometimes the Lady smiles, sometimes she laughs out loud.”
Zarek: “We can be here all night, best we head to the Tower of Luck first and toss a Dragon.”