# 02_20200920 Sneaking to the House of Knowledge ## Session Summary While running away from the Broken Arrow Taphouse, Ka'ira and Maestro want to head straight to the stables to get their things and go to [[Phandalin]], but I manage to convince them that their lives are in danger and that we should go to the [[House of Knowledge]]. We manage to convince a stable boy to sell us his cart, which we use to sneak our way to the House of Knowledge. There, we meet up with Gloomtoes, Reona, and Cyriac. After catching everyone up on events and making introductions, we decide to take a long rest. ^summary ## Recap ![[01_20200919 Ambush at Broken Arrow Taphouse#^summary]] --- ## Log Kuya revealed some facts about the world. - [[ttrpgs/Order of the Wandering Mind/The Spellplague]] - About a hundred years ago, before I was born, two gods conspired to kill Mystra, the goddess of magic. When they succeeded, they broke Mystra's Weave, which disrupted all Arcane magic use across Feirûn for ten years through what was called the Spellplague. The spellplague spread slowly across the land, infecting people and areas. During these ten years, no magic could be used. Slowly, mages started to discover new ways of doing magic, but there are still very few magic-wielders in this world as a result. - Some people who become spellplagued die or become ill, but others are able to control it. Those who can control it are called spellscarred, and they are usually deformed and have Radiant-based abilities. - Areas can be spellplagued too, and can be identified by the blue fire that surrounds them. Also, the spellplague has also caused the affected areas to start floating above the ground. These bits of floating land are called [[ttrpgs/Order of the Wandering Mind/Earthmote]]. - [[Helm's Hold]] is a place near Neverwinter where the spellplagued are sent. - The volcanic eruption - Some time after the Spellplague hit, a nearby volcano, [[Mount Hotenow]], erupted. It destroyed [[Thundertree]], a city between the volcano and Neverwinter, and it damaged a lot of Neverwinter. Most of the royal [[Alagondar]] family died in [[Castle Never]], as did many people. A great chasm was opened in Neverwinter that exposed the spellplague underneath the city. Monsters come out of the chasm regularly, and Neverwintans had to build a wall to protect themselves. [[Mintarn mercenaries]] and some [[Sons of Alagondar]] defend the wall around the clock. - There have always been earthquakes in Neverwinter, but they seem to have been growing more and more frequent over time. - Spellplague in Neverwinter - There are a few parts of Neverwinter that have are spellplagued: - [[The Chasm]], where monsters and undead come from. - [[Moonstone Mask]], an earthmote where [[Sabine]], general of the Mintarn mercenaries, lives. It is anchored to the ground using chains, and a ladder has been built to get to it. - [[Pirates' Skyhold]], an earthmote that cannot be reached because it's 100 feet off the ground. It is rumored to contain treasure from mythical pirates (and maybe nobles) who stashed their wealth there. - [[Fisher's Float]], an earthmote that accounts for majority of Neverwinter's food supply. - History of the Sons of Alagondar - The Sons of Alagondar was originally formed by a man named [[Cymril]]. However, there was dissent about the means of putting a Neverwintan heir on the throne, and Kimril's assassination caused The Sons to split into two factions: - [[The Nashers]], named after [[Nash Alagondar]], last known heir to the throne, seek to kill [[Neverember]] and put the right person on the throne by whatever means possible. They believe violence will help them achieve their goal faster. - [[Graycloaks]], the faction that I'm a part of, seeks to put an Alagondar heir on the throne through peaceful means. They want to find incontrovertible evidence that someone is an heir and protect that person long enough to put them in power. - Exposition - Ka'ira, Maestro, and Hill have only been here in Neverwinter for 1.5 days. - [[Broken Arrow Taphouse]] is in a shabbier side of town. - [[Round Rump]] stables, inn, weapon shop, provision shop - The Sons used to be one faction: return Neverwinter to control of Neverwintans and put a real heir of Alagondar back on the throne. - [[Neverember]] has done some good things for Neverwinter. - Fixing docks, trade by sea and land - Reinforcing and improving The Wall to defend against changed monsters coming out of the chasm - Southwest part of the city has the only gate leading in/out that is safe and patrolled. Other parts are dangerous. - [[ttrpgs/Order of the Wandering Mind/The Spellplague]] happened even before I was born - two gods [[Shar]] goddess of night and [[Cyric]] god of murder, murdered [[Mystra]], goddess of magic. All magic in the realms failed. Everyone lost access to magic as it spread, and people went insane. It lasted for ten years. For those ten years, mages couldn't practice magic - Arcane power source didn't work. After those ten years, mages have started to learn how to cast new spells. Mystra was reincarnated. Cyrik is imprisoned by the other gods. - When Mystra died, a spell plague swept over the land. It also caused our planet, Toril (Feirûn is the lands and what we refer to when we say "the realms"), to still have areas of spell plague (blue fire). Whatever it touches, it changes. It creates weird monsters with blue or Radiant-based abilities. It also changes people. Some people die/fall ill, but others are able to control the spell plague. "Spell Scarred" are those who rise above and can control the spell plague. - The chasm is one of those areas where there is a spellplague. Monsters come out sporadically and are threats to people. - [[The Wall]] is manned by Neverwintans and by Mintarn mercenaries day and night. - [[The Chasm]] is on south east side of the city. Bounded by the wall on west and river on north. - Neverwinter river breaks it into east and west parts. It's always been clear and warm. In the past few weeks, it has turned red. I have no idea why. It's starting to kill some plants and monsters have come out of the river that are deformed. - Ask Ka'ira and Maestro what exactly happened to the river. [x] #[[ttrpgs/Order of the Wandering Mind/Agenda]] [[Next Actions]] - Original leader of Sons was killed (presumably by Neverember) and got split into two. His name was [[Cymril]] - before I arrived. - [[The Nashers]] - after Nash Alagondar - resort to violence to make things happen - they want things to happen faster - assassinate Never-ember's allies - [[Graycloaks]] - more conservative - we need to have the support of Neverwintans and nobles - find ironclad proof that someone is an heir - protect the person long enough to convince Neverwintans - [[Mintarn mercenaries]] were hired by [[Neverember]] from [[ttrpgs/Order of the Wandering Mind/Mintarn]], a city way to the south (farther south than Fandolin even), supposedly to keep peace and protect the city against monsters. They're a bit too prone to violence and cruelty. - There are some places outside the protectorate that are less safe and less patrolled, and that's where some of our safehouses are. - There is a temple to Tyr called the Hall of Justice. - There's a piece of land jutting out from the north side where Castle Never is. It's the home of the royalty. It's in ruins. It's haunted by those who died in a volcanic eruption (a lava rain). The eruption seemed to be targeted at Neverwinter because surrounding areas were not damaged. - Thundertree was also damaged by the eruption but was destroyed completely (Neverwinter survived). - The legends about Castle Never is that the whole family died there. Some servants survived from the eruption and became the ancestors of The Sons. They sealed the crypt and grounds before they left. It is said that they will return once a worthy heir arrives on the throne. On that day, all the magic treasures will be available to the worthy heir. Castle Never has a very strong foundation and could possibily be rebuilt. - Crown of Neverwinter - item of great magic but we're not sure what it does - I should ask [[Cyriac]] how the throne is passed on across royalty (gender or age). [x] #[[ttrpgs/Order of the Wandering Mind/Agenda]] [[Next Actions]] #[[Put a suitable heir of Alagondar on the Neverwintan throne.]] - They're going to the House of Knowledge - Temple of Oghma - J Quarion is an Elf and he is [[Maestro]]'s maybe enemy. The last thing Maestro knew about him was that he was politician in Neverwinter. - Two graveyards: one for nobles, one for paupers - Dragon, wyvern, unicorn bridges. Now only the winged wyvern bridge has survived. It's heavily patrolled by mintarn mercenaries. - Most of my knowledge is of the Protector's enclave and the two districts where our safehouses sometimes are. Blacklake district is the next district that Neverember wants to civilize. Blacklake district is where unsavory types stay. Dangerous to walk there at night. It's where The Sons would prepare ambushes there for the Mintarn mercenaries and they fight openly in the streets. This is mostly the Nashers. - Because of the spellplague, aside from having a permanent blue fire in areas affected, some of them started floating with no apparent reason why. They're called earth motes. In Neverwinter, it's [[Moonstone Mask]] (the inn on that island. It's anchored down by gigantic chains and there's a ladder leading up to it. That's where [[Sabine]] lives. - Also [[Fisher's Float]] - Provide a big part of Neverwinter's food - And [[Pirates' Skyhold]] - Don't know about it - it's 100 feet up. Said to be the domain of sky pirates. They have their treasure there. Or maybe old nobles stored treasure there. For some reason, all the pirates died. Nobody can get there. - [[River District]] is under orc control. Their tribe name is [[Many Arrows Tribe]]. I don't go there except for one place where there is a truce between mercenaries and orcs. Sometimes I go there to meet people and get help from unsavory types. - The Neverwinter river only started turning red very recently. - Beached Leviathan is where I go to meet slavers and pirates. - As we are running away from the Broken Arrow Taphouse, we hear whistles and we know mercenaries are still looking for us. - Skill check encounter! - My Arcana for Ghost Sound - success - Maestro used his owl to scout - success - Ka'ira does a diplomacy check to get his cart - success - I do a streetwise check to get past the mercenaries - success - I do an insight check to see what they want to do - success - Hill succeeds his diplomacy check with my diplomacy racial bonus - success - We get to the [[House of Knowledge]] - [[Gloomtoes]] greets us. - Reona said they don't know us so she was able to just walk out, circle back, and delayed those. I did an insight check (16) but she seems sincere. - Cyriac isn't sure if they are royal. - Cyriac and Serebis (?) can't wield it, Maestro and Ka'ira can. - Gloomtoes, Cyriac, Reona say they didn't tell anyone about the meeting. - Helmshold is a structure outside Neverwinter where spell plagued people are sent to be cured. There are paladins there that hunt demons (extremely lawful good). - An earthquake hits the ground - this happens regularly and becomes more and more frequent. - Gloomtoes seems to be in a trance when I ask him about what the thinks of these events. He doesn't know much about it though. - Ioun is who Gloomtoes serves (most psions serve him). He is the one who released psionics to the world. - The number of psionics increases with the spell plague. - Hotenow is the volcano that erupted. - [x] Do we get a milestone for magic items? #[[ttrpgs/Order of the Wandering Mind/Agenda]] [[Waiting For]]