Tower of Magic #6
Having exhausted her questions, at least for the time being, Kharyna prepares to waken. But before she does, Renee has a few parting words.
“We shall speak again,” Renee says.
After a pause she adds, “In a way I envy you. You are about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime... Several lifetimes even. Should you succeed and live up to your full potential, your works and deeds will be sung for generations to come. As in all things, be true to who you are and true to the Lady of Mysteries.”
“But tread carefully. There are already enemy forces in motion against you. Those who think they can claim the Tower for themselves as if it was a prize to be won. Even those who would see it destroyed for they fear what it could represent. They will try to stop you, but I have the feeling that they will fail in the end. They have no idea who they are dealing with.”
With a smirk on her face from those last words, Renee fades away and the dream reality goes black.
Kharyna wakes with a start, momentarily startling Swanny and Lara who were seated close by.
“Well, its about time” Swanny says, a touch of relief in her voice. “Catching up on your beauty sleep?”
When you ask how long you've been out, Lara says, “About three and half hours.” (Years!)
The two trusted comrades quickly bring you up to speed about what happened. When you destroyed the altar, the power of the other gods and their followers were removed from the tower. Even the bodies of the enemies killed in the final battle are gone. All that remained is their gear.
Food and drink is available if you are hungry. Looking around you can see that Lara and Swanny are the only ones present. Zera can be spotted off in the distance sifting through the rubble looking for hunks of adamantite, all that remains of the black pyramid. You think you can spot some guards far off at the entrance to this level of the power, but they are too far away to make out clearly.
“The scouts have gone out to explore,” Swanny continues. “It's the same the level above this; no enemies to be found. Mystra seems to have seriously clean house here. There is one piece of troubling news. Virae seems to have vanished. She was exploring with Talia and according to our dungeon scout, Virae was there, Talia turned away to look at something and then Virae was gone. No trace was found; neither was anyone else. Very strange.”
“It's been a long day,” Lara speaks up. “You want to rest for the night and start out fresh in the morning or keep going?”
Tower of Magic #6 + Future Speculation
Tower of Magic #6 + Future Speculation
Try it and find out!
GM Notes
GM Notes:
Geena's ship is up on the surface of the tower, so you will need to make your way back up all ten levels of the tower to reach it. The mirror portal is up on level 6 room 607, in the fallen temple.
Goodies found this far include a solid gold chair inlaid with rust-red jacinths. Six gold chains with another rust-red jacinth dangling from it. One huge fire opal rounds out the jewelry.
Nine suits of dark elf chain mail are found, along with 3 magical sickles, the preferred weapon of Nerull. A magical ring, a magical girdle and a scroll complete the treasure found so far.
Now what?
Geena's ship is up on the surface of the tower, so you will need to make your way back up all ten levels of the tower to reach it. The mirror portal is up on level 6 room 607, in the fallen temple.
Goodies found this far include a solid gold chair inlaid with rust-red jacinths. Six gold chains with another rust-red jacinth dangling from it. One huge fire opal rounds out the jewelry.
Nine suits of dark elf chain mail are found, along with 3 magical sickles, the preferred weapon of Nerull. A magical ring, a magical girdle and a scroll complete the treasure found so far.
Now what?
Try it and find out!
Re: Tower of Magic #6
The Rest of the Story:
It has been mutually decided that Kharyna become an NPC in the game until further notice. Her story line has a big impact on what is going on in New Frontiers and her player just doesn't have the time or desire to play it all out. So instead of just trying to work around it in New Frontiers, he choose to go this route.
I verbally recapped, probably very poorly, what would happen all the way up until the arrival of the Tower of Magic in the New Frontiers game. It was also decided that I recap what happened to complete the story. What follows is this recap and this is all very much a work in progress. Since this all parallels New Frontiers this will take a while to play out. Basically, no spoilers here for future things in New Frontiers!
What follows is basically future speculation on how things would have played out. This goes in hand with the Future History entries in the Campaign History section. This information is presented there as recaps.
Departing the Tower of War:
Mystra's task has been completed! The black pyramid has been destroyed and in doing so the power of the interloper gods has been broken. The interlopers and their followers have been removed from the towers. After resting and having a meal, Kharyna begins the long trek upwards from the lowest level of the Tower of War.
Accompanying the priestess is her companions, both old and new. The swordswoman Aswansea, Swanny for short, the tiny elf Lara Spellsword, and the dungeon scout Talia are her oldest companions. The newest companions include the dwarven battlemaiden Zera and her trusty steed Bacon. Rescued from the tower during this latest visit were a trio of adventurers. Geena Latrain was the groups leader. She is a spellfiltcher in the service of Mystra, her companion the warrior Aric Cozar and lastly Ulak, a luckmaiden in the service of Haele Brightaxe. Missing the is the girl called Virae. She seemingly vanished without a trace while out scouting.
After some thought and discussion, Kharyna decides that now is the time to travel to Specter and bring the Tower of Magic back into the world. Geena's ship is up on the surface, but the mirror used to enter the Tower of War is closer. So the plan is to reach the mirror, travel to Chasreena's island and then reset the mirror portal to a location closer to the surface.
And so the journey back up begins. Stairs lead up from the lowest level of the Tower of War to the 9th level. A long corridor on that level leads to stairs going up to the 8th level. This level of the Tower of War was a main living area for the priests of Nerull. The group travels along several secret passages and passes dangerously close to a lava flow. Once past the lava, the group comes out in the large temple where Geena was nearly sacrificed. Passing through several hallways, the group eventually reaches the stairs going up to the next level.
Level 7 of the Tower of War was mainly used to entertain the Derro slaves. There was several bars and a combat arena. After passing through that area, the group reaches an area used as quarters by lesser priests. A secret door leads to another area and this is where stairs going up are located.
The 6th level of the Tower of War had taken tremendous damage. There were numerous collapses and the whole level was unstable. The group carefully makes their way back to the ruined temple where the mirror portal was left at.
As they enter the temple area, loud noises are heard from the hallway outside. Looking, they see a trio of large armored beings approached. The floor shakes with each step they take. The beings appear to be wearing black armor with a white skull painted on their face. Each has six arms and each arm carries a weapon. The beings spot the group and begin to rush forward!
The ground shakes even worse as parts of the ceiling begin to fall. Kharyna orders everyone to the mirror. The shaking gets worse and now large chunks of the ceiling are falling down, a full cave-in seems imminent. The portal is reached and everyone passes through as the temple ceiling collapses. Kharyna closes the portal before anything else can pass through.
It has been mutually decided that Kharyna become an NPC in the game until further notice. Her story line has a big impact on what is going on in New Frontiers and her player just doesn't have the time or desire to play it all out. So instead of just trying to work around it in New Frontiers, he choose to go this route.
I verbally recapped, probably very poorly, what would happen all the way up until the arrival of the Tower of Magic in the New Frontiers game. It was also decided that I recap what happened to complete the story. What follows is this recap and this is all very much a work in progress. Since this all parallels New Frontiers this will take a while to play out. Basically, no spoilers here for future things in New Frontiers!
What follows is basically future speculation on how things would have played out. This goes in hand with the Future History entries in the Campaign History section. This information is presented there as recaps.
Departing the Tower of War:
Mystra's task has been completed! The black pyramid has been destroyed and in doing so the power of the interloper gods has been broken. The interlopers and their followers have been removed from the towers. After resting and having a meal, Kharyna begins the long trek upwards from the lowest level of the Tower of War.
Accompanying the priestess is her companions, both old and new. The swordswoman Aswansea, Swanny for short, the tiny elf Lara Spellsword, and the dungeon scout Talia are her oldest companions. The newest companions include the dwarven battlemaiden Zera and her trusty steed Bacon. Rescued from the tower during this latest visit were a trio of adventurers. Geena Latrain was the groups leader. She is a spellfiltcher in the service of Mystra, her companion the warrior Aric Cozar and lastly Ulak, a luckmaiden in the service of Haele Brightaxe. Missing the is the girl called Virae. She seemingly vanished without a trace while out scouting.
After some thought and discussion, Kharyna decides that now is the time to travel to Specter and bring the Tower of Magic back into the world. Geena's ship is up on the surface, but the mirror used to enter the Tower of War is closer. So the plan is to reach the mirror, travel to Chasreena's island and then reset the mirror portal to a location closer to the surface.
And so the journey back up begins. Stairs lead up from the lowest level of the Tower of War to the 9th level. A long corridor on that level leads to stairs going up to the 8th level. This level of the Tower of War was a main living area for the priests of Nerull. The group travels along several secret passages and passes dangerously close to a lava flow. Once past the lava, the group comes out in the large temple where Geena was nearly sacrificed. Passing through several hallways, the group eventually reaches the stairs going up to the next level.
Level 7 of the Tower of War was mainly used to entertain the Derro slaves. There was several bars and a combat arena. After passing through that area, the group reaches an area used as quarters by lesser priests. A secret door leads to another area and this is where stairs going up are located.
The 6th level of the Tower of War had taken tremendous damage. There were numerous collapses and the whole level was unstable. The group carefully makes their way back to the ruined temple where the mirror portal was left at.
As they enter the temple area, loud noises are heard from the hallway outside. Looking, they see a trio of large armored beings approached. The floor shakes with each step they take. The beings appear to be wearing black armor with a white skull painted on their face. Each has six arms and each arm carries a weapon. The beings spot the group and begin to rush forward!
The ground shakes even worse as parts of the ceiling begin to fall. Kharyna orders everyone to the mirror. The shaking gets worse and now large chunks of the ceiling are falling down, a full cave-in seems imminent. The portal is reached and everyone passes through as the temple ceiling collapses. Kharyna closes the portal before anything else can pass through.
Try it and find out!
Re: Tower of Magic #6
Chasreena's Estate and Kharyna's Story
Passing through the magic mirror, the group returns to the island estate of Chasreena, Kharyna's mother. Chasreena is a full blooded Alphatian Sorceress of great power. The main house of the estate is quite large. The ground floor is set up for entertaining and dining. The entire second floor is a collection of guest suites while the top floor is Chasreena's private chambers.
Apart from Chasreena and her guests, there is no one else at the estate. Her personal Spell Engine provides her with a staff of Unseen Servants that carry out the mundane tasks of maintaining the state. The Spell Engine also generates a comfortable atmosphere on the otherwise hot tropical island.
Chasreena herself was a rebellious child as a teenager. She attended and graduated from the University of Sunderham where she learned magic. From their Chas traveled the world to get out from under her parents control. It was in Everwinter that she had an affair with a man, who by Alphatian standards, was a mere commoner. (All Alphatians who can cast spells are considered to be nobles. In some places those who are not spell casters can be legally enslaved.)
When she discovered that she was with child, Chas built this estate and the Spell Engine was a gift from her parents. Young Kharyna spent much of her childhood with her father in Neverwinter, as Chas didn't want her grandparents to get their hands on her daughter, fearing that they would try to raise her daughter as they tried to raise her. In time Kharyna fell in with the priesthood of Auril, but eventually learned that it was just a lie.
Aiding by her friends Swanny, Lara Spellsword, and Daramos, Kharyna destroyed the artifact that held Everwinter locked in snow and ice. Auril excommunicated Kharyna and her followers have hunted her ever since. Mystra accepted Kharyna into her priesthood and she regained her priestly powers, including one that allows her to be immune to cold. Kharyna and her friends departed the Isle of (now) Neverwinter to elude those who hunted her.
Kharyna reconnected with her mother and she and her friends traveled to Chasreena's Island. Chas possessed a Mirror of Mental Prowess that would allow the user to envision a distant place in the mirror. You could then pass through the mirror and be in that place. Using this mirror Kharyna traveled to Cynalon, Kharyna sought adventure in the Elcadan area.
Kharyna and her friends were instrumental in the recovery of the Dwarven City of Illefarn from the evil grasp of the foul necromancer Kelthas the Dread. Not long after that, Kharyna learned about the Gaz's towers and began to explore them. She settled on the Tower of War first and battled numerous undead on the top levels.
In time Kharyna decided to expand her magical knowledge and become a mage as well as a Priestess of Mystra. And so she sought out training from and was accepted by Lady Jallarzi Sallavarian. During this year of training, Kharyna met Argent and Kylie, others who were being trained as mages. The rest of Kharyna's companions enjoyed the time off from adventuring and pursued their own interests.
Her training complete, Kharyna and company returned to the Tower of War and continued to explore. After the levels of undead, they began to encounter orcs serving as priests to Nerull, the God of Death. They rescued the dungeon Scout Talia from one of these priests and she joined their band. Daramos was killed, yet again, and the group withdrew from the Tower of War to Chasreena's Estate.
Daramos retired after being raised and took his leave of the group. During this time, Chasreena took her daughter to met her grandparents, Kharina and Zawlok. They fussed over their granddaughter and had a grand coming out celebration. It was during this time that Midnight, the Alphatian avatar of Mystra appeared to Kharyna about destroying the Black Pyramid. Finally, Kharyna was able to pull herself away from her grandparents and return to her task at hand.
But instead of returning directly to the Tower of War, the group visited Jallarzi. There they joined with another adventuring band, the Guardians of Light and together they managed to repel the advances of the Dark One, a fallen god bent on destroying all of creation. That task complete, Kharyna returned to the Tower of War and completed her mission for Mystra.
Passing through the magic mirror, the group returns to the island estate of Chasreena, Kharyna's mother. Chasreena is a full blooded Alphatian Sorceress of great power. The main house of the estate is quite large. The ground floor is set up for entertaining and dining. The entire second floor is a collection of guest suites while the top floor is Chasreena's private chambers.
Apart from Chasreena and her guests, there is no one else at the estate. Her personal Spell Engine provides her with a staff of Unseen Servants that carry out the mundane tasks of maintaining the state. The Spell Engine also generates a comfortable atmosphere on the otherwise hot tropical island.
Chasreena herself was a rebellious child as a teenager. She attended and graduated from the University of Sunderham where she learned magic. From their Chas traveled the world to get out from under her parents control. It was in Everwinter that she had an affair with a man, who by Alphatian standards, was a mere commoner. (All Alphatians who can cast spells are considered to be nobles. In some places those who are not spell casters can be legally enslaved.)
When she discovered that she was with child, Chas built this estate and the Spell Engine was a gift from her parents. Young Kharyna spent much of her childhood with her father in Neverwinter, as Chas didn't want her grandparents to get their hands on her daughter, fearing that they would try to raise her daughter as they tried to raise her. In time Kharyna fell in with the priesthood of Auril, but eventually learned that it was just a lie.
Aiding by her friends Swanny, Lara Spellsword, and Daramos, Kharyna destroyed the artifact that held Everwinter locked in snow and ice. Auril excommunicated Kharyna and her followers have hunted her ever since. Mystra accepted Kharyna into her priesthood and she regained her priestly powers, including one that allows her to be immune to cold. Kharyna and her friends departed the Isle of (now) Neverwinter to elude those who hunted her.
Kharyna reconnected with her mother and she and her friends traveled to Chasreena's Island. Chas possessed a Mirror of Mental Prowess that would allow the user to envision a distant place in the mirror. You could then pass through the mirror and be in that place. Using this mirror Kharyna traveled to Cynalon, Kharyna sought adventure in the Elcadan area.
Kharyna and her friends were instrumental in the recovery of the Dwarven City of Illefarn from the evil grasp of the foul necromancer Kelthas the Dread. Not long after that, Kharyna learned about the Gaz's towers and began to explore them. She settled on the Tower of War first and battled numerous undead on the top levels.
In time Kharyna decided to expand her magical knowledge and become a mage as well as a Priestess of Mystra. And so she sought out training from and was accepted by Lady Jallarzi Sallavarian. During this year of training, Kharyna met Argent and Kylie, others who were being trained as mages. The rest of Kharyna's companions enjoyed the time off from adventuring and pursued their own interests.
Her training complete, Kharyna and company returned to the Tower of War and continued to explore. After the levels of undead, they began to encounter orcs serving as priests to Nerull, the God of Death. They rescued the dungeon Scout Talia from one of these priests and she joined their band. Daramos was killed, yet again, and the group withdrew from the Tower of War to Chasreena's Estate.
Daramos retired after being raised and took his leave of the group. During this time, Chasreena took her daughter to met her grandparents, Kharina and Zawlok. They fussed over their granddaughter and had a grand coming out celebration. It was during this time that Midnight, the Alphatian avatar of Mystra appeared to Kharyna about destroying the Black Pyramid. Finally, Kharyna was able to pull herself away from her grandparents and return to her task at hand.
But instead of returning directly to the Tower of War, the group visited Jallarzi. There they joined with another adventuring band, the Guardians of Light and together they managed to repel the advances of the Dark One, a fallen god bent on destroying all of creation. That task complete, Kharyna returned to the Tower of War and completed her mission for Mystra.
Try it and find out!
Re: Tower of Magic #6
The Heart of Hell:
The next morning, Kharyna and her friends were ready to begin the journey to Specter, the last planet in Arret's solar system. According to legend, the old Tower of Magic was destroyed when the Alphatian home world, Damocles, was obliterated over two thousand years ago. Most of the planet is reduced to rubble and forms an asteroid belt past the forth planet.
The two largest sections of the planet shot out in different directions. One fragment gets sent inwards towards the sun and eventually becomes Solium, the inner most planet. The other fragment is sent outward and eventually becomes the outer most planet. Astronomers name it Specter as it seems to randomly vanish, sometime for months at a time, only to reappear in a different place.
Kharyna uses the Mirror of Mental Prowess to determine a safe arrival point in the area around outside the Tower of War. The ground floor of the tower still exists and it was where Gaz housed his army, but had been turned undead with the passing of years. There was also a band of dwarves that the group battled to even enter the tower.
Looking around, Kharyna discovers that there are more of those strange six armed golems on the surface along with several people wearing chain mail in black and blood red in colors. The group realizes that these people are Priests of Hextor, the six armed god of War!
Even more ominous, a strange looking ship hovers thirty feet overhead the likes that no one here has seen before. The ship appears to have been built around the skeleton of some large beast. At the front of the ship, where the bowsprit would be, is something like a giant bone lance some thirty feet long. The spine of the beast forms the keel of the ship with its rib cage curving around the hull.
Emblazoned on the front of the ship is the name, the 'Heart of Hell'. The ship has two masts and its sails are black with a large white skull outlined in red on it. The Heart of Hell is some 65 feet long and appears to be a weapon of war in the service of Hextor!
Discussion as to why Hextor would be interested in the Tower of Magic follows. The only thing that makes any sense is that the priests believe they can use the restored Tower as a base of operations. Clearly they only see the Tower as a powerful tool to use to spread war.
Geena's ship is a small vessel made for travel, not for fighting. Fortunately, she left the ship in an out of the way place protected by invisibility. If the group could reach the ship unnoticed, Geena believes that you can fly off before the Heart of Hell could attack. The question then becomes how to reach the Umbra Transeant, Geena's ship. Umbra Transeant loosely translates into Shadow Walker in the common tongue.
The solution comes easy enough. Geena takes control of the mirror and uses it to set the portal to arrive directly inside the Umbra Transeant. The ship seems to have been undiscovered by the Hextorites below. Once everyone is on board, Geena begins to pilot the ship. At first she moves the ship directly away from the enemy vessel. Once far enough away, she directs the ship to rise up into the air.
The Umbra Transeant climbs higher and higher while the ground below gets smaller and smaller. Soon the ocean and Lake Amsorak can be seen. The whole continent can be seen. Finally, Geena's ship reaches the edge of space. It appears that you escaped the Hextorites unnoticed.
“All I need now is a destination”, Geena will say. “Where are we going?”
A map of the solar system is produced and Kharyna looks it over. Kharnya's never seen a map like this before and is amazed to see just how many worlds there are in the solar system. The Alphatians call the sun Cealestia. Arret is the third planet out, with Solium and Lumen before it. Mavor is the fourth planet and past it is the asteroid belt that is the remains of Damocles. Pass that are the worlds Medius, Umbra, Gemma, Gelus, and lastly Specter.
After a time, Kharyna seemingly picks a spot in what is believed to be specters orbit. Geena directs the ship to faster than light velocities and the Umbra Transeant vanishes from above Arret traveling towards the destination Kharyna picked.
The next morning, Kharyna and her friends were ready to begin the journey to Specter, the last planet in Arret's solar system. According to legend, the old Tower of Magic was destroyed when the Alphatian home world, Damocles, was obliterated over two thousand years ago. Most of the planet is reduced to rubble and forms an asteroid belt past the forth planet.
The two largest sections of the planet shot out in different directions. One fragment gets sent inwards towards the sun and eventually becomes Solium, the inner most planet. The other fragment is sent outward and eventually becomes the outer most planet. Astronomers name it Specter as it seems to randomly vanish, sometime for months at a time, only to reappear in a different place.
Kharyna uses the Mirror of Mental Prowess to determine a safe arrival point in the area around outside the Tower of War. The ground floor of the tower still exists and it was where Gaz housed his army, but had been turned undead with the passing of years. There was also a band of dwarves that the group battled to even enter the tower.
Looking around, Kharyna discovers that there are more of those strange six armed golems on the surface along with several people wearing chain mail in black and blood red in colors. The group realizes that these people are Priests of Hextor, the six armed god of War!
Even more ominous, a strange looking ship hovers thirty feet overhead the likes that no one here has seen before. The ship appears to have been built around the skeleton of some large beast. At the front of the ship, where the bowsprit would be, is something like a giant bone lance some thirty feet long. The spine of the beast forms the keel of the ship with its rib cage curving around the hull.
Emblazoned on the front of the ship is the name, the 'Heart of Hell'. The ship has two masts and its sails are black with a large white skull outlined in red on it. The Heart of Hell is some 65 feet long and appears to be a weapon of war in the service of Hextor!
Discussion as to why Hextor would be interested in the Tower of Magic follows. The only thing that makes any sense is that the priests believe they can use the restored Tower as a base of operations. Clearly they only see the Tower as a powerful tool to use to spread war.
Geena's ship is a small vessel made for travel, not for fighting. Fortunately, she left the ship in an out of the way place protected by invisibility. If the group could reach the ship unnoticed, Geena believes that you can fly off before the Heart of Hell could attack. The question then becomes how to reach the Umbra Transeant, Geena's ship. Umbra Transeant loosely translates into Shadow Walker in the common tongue.
The solution comes easy enough. Geena takes control of the mirror and uses it to set the portal to arrive directly inside the Umbra Transeant. The ship seems to have been undiscovered by the Hextorites below. Once everyone is on board, Geena begins to pilot the ship. At first she moves the ship directly away from the enemy vessel. Once far enough away, she directs the ship to rise up into the air.
The Umbra Transeant climbs higher and higher while the ground below gets smaller and smaller. Soon the ocean and Lake Amsorak can be seen. The whole continent can be seen. Finally, Geena's ship reaches the edge of space. It appears that you escaped the Hextorites unnoticed.
“All I need now is a destination”, Geena will say. “Where are we going?”
A map of the solar system is produced and Kharyna looks it over. Kharnya's never seen a map like this before and is amazed to see just how many worlds there are in the solar system. The Alphatians call the sun Cealestia. Arret is the third planet out, with Solium and Lumen before it. Mavor is the fourth planet and past it is the asteroid belt that is the remains of Damocles. Pass that are the worlds Medius, Umbra, Gemma, Gelus, and lastly Specter.
After a time, Kharyna seemingly picks a spot in what is believed to be specters orbit. Geena directs the ship to faster than light velocities and the Umbra Transeant vanishes from above Arret traveling towards the destination Kharyna picked.
Try it and find out!
Re: Tower of Magic #6 + Future Speculation
Specter:
The Umbra Transeant appears in empty space. There is nothing else in the area, not even Specter the last planet in the solar system. The group waits for a time and then two Alphatian Ships appear. They are the Domine Iris and Domine Rose. In common tongue they are the Lady Iris and Lady rose. These ships are controlled by Lady Dahlia Mingor, a Priestess of Mystra who is obsessed with taking the Tower of Magic as her own. The two ships move to attack the Umbra Transeant causing heavy damage but are forced to move off when a fourth ship appears between the two factions. This is the Domine Mysteria, the Lady of Mysteries. Those on the Umbra Transeant escape to the Lady of Mysteries before it is destroyed.
The Lady of Mysteries is piloted by Alicia, a descendant of the captain of this vessel for the previous controller of the Tower of Magic some 2000 years ago. Alicia now serves as the vessels captain and is loyal to the Tower of Magic. Among the crew is an very old Priestess of Mystra named Lucinda. The Lady Rose and Iris attack the Lady of Mysteries but they are evenly matched.
And then Specter appears out of nowhere between the two factions. It is a small planetoid that encompasses the Tower of Magic. Portions of the tower can be seen in spots on the surface. Alicia locates the area where the Lady of Mysteries docks with the tower and flies the ship into its home port.
Lucinda explains that when Damocles exploded, the Spirit of the Tower protected the Tower of Magic from destruction. The tower and a portion of Damocles was thrown outwards in the solar system, eventually becoming the outer most planet. The tower was greatly damaged and the Spirit badly wounded. The Spirit activated a self defense mechanism in place to protect itself. If unwanted guests got to close, the Tower would simply move itself forwards in time and would reappear when it was safe. Thus to those watching from the outside, Specter would seem to appear and disappear at random giving the small world its name.
Kharyna's Crew rushes into the massive Tower of Magic to take control of it before Lady Mingor can. The Tower of Magic is a massive structure, some 1000 feet high with many levels to it. Lucinda says that they must make to the Heart of the Tower. It is there that Kharyna must make her choice whether to become the Mistress of the Tower or not.
As the group makes there way from the docks, strange blue skinned beings are seen working on the tower. They are very tall (12' tall) and lanky beings with elongated faces and features. Lucinda says that they are the Arcane, magical engineers without peer. They are here to finish the repairs to the Tower of Magic. The Arcane completely ignore the new arrivals. In fact, many of them are finishing up their work as the travelers pass them by and vanish from sight.
The Heart of the Tower is reached, but Lady Mingor is there as well. Midnight and Renee reveal themselves at this time. Midnight is the Alphatian Avatar for Mystra, while Renee is the rising Cynalonian equivalent. Midnight urges Lady Mingor to stand down. Her attitude and obsession are precisely why she is unfit to be the Mistress of the Tower. The Mistress of the Tower is the hand of Mystra on this world. Her goals must align with those of Mystra and Lady Mingor's does not. Dahlia refuses and with great sadness Midnight excommunicates her, removing her priestly powers. Lady Mingor's holy symbol causes her pain and she is forced to throw it away. Stunned and more than a bit terrified, Lady Mingor flees back to her ships. Once there, she intends to use the Lady Iris and Rose to destroy the Tower of Magic. If she cannot have it, no one can!
Renee steps forward and speaks to Kharyna offering her the choice of becoming the Mistress of the Tower. Kharyna accepts. Midnight helps Lucinda into the Heart of the Tower. Midnight explains that the Spirit of the Tower is a guiding intellect to help the Mistress of the Tower in her tasks. Lucinda volunteered to become the new Spirit of the Tower of Magic. As the process takes place, Lucinda's spirit leaves her body and her body vanishes. Lucinda has merged with the Tower of Magic itself.
Midnight further explains that the previous Spirit of the Tower was gravely injured in the destruction of Damocles. They thought she would recover in time, but nearly 300 years ago a powerful mage managed to pierce the defenses of the still repairing tower. He drew off what remained of the previous Spirit of the Tower into himself, driving him mad in the process. That mage fled leaving the tower without a spirit. Lucinda was to be the new Spirit of the Tower.
As Lucinda adjust to her new 'body', Lady Mingor's ships attack. Lucinda instinctively acts to protect the tower. The Tower of Magic vanishes once more, Lucinda moving it forward in time for its own protection. (ToM #6)
The Umbra Transeant appears in empty space. There is nothing else in the area, not even Specter the last planet in the solar system. The group waits for a time and then two Alphatian Ships appear. They are the Domine Iris and Domine Rose. In common tongue they are the Lady Iris and Lady rose. These ships are controlled by Lady Dahlia Mingor, a Priestess of Mystra who is obsessed with taking the Tower of Magic as her own. The two ships move to attack the Umbra Transeant causing heavy damage but are forced to move off when a fourth ship appears between the two factions. This is the Domine Mysteria, the Lady of Mysteries. Those on the Umbra Transeant escape to the Lady of Mysteries before it is destroyed.
The Lady of Mysteries is piloted by Alicia, a descendant of the captain of this vessel for the previous controller of the Tower of Magic some 2000 years ago. Alicia now serves as the vessels captain and is loyal to the Tower of Magic. Among the crew is an very old Priestess of Mystra named Lucinda. The Lady Rose and Iris attack the Lady of Mysteries but they are evenly matched.
And then Specter appears out of nowhere between the two factions. It is a small planetoid that encompasses the Tower of Magic. Portions of the tower can be seen in spots on the surface. Alicia locates the area where the Lady of Mysteries docks with the tower and flies the ship into its home port.
Lucinda explains that when Damocles exploded, the Spirit of the Tower protected the Tower of Magic from destruction. The tower and a portion of Damocles was thrown outwards in the solar system, eventually becoming the outer most planet. The tower was greatly damaged and the Spirit badly wounded. The Spirit activated a self defense mechanism in place to protect itself. If unwanted guests got to close, the Tower would simply move itself forwards in time and would reappear when it was safe. Thus to those watching from the outside, Specter would seem to appear and disappear at random giving the small world its name.
Kharyna's Crew rushes into the massive Tower of Magic to take control of it before Lady Mingor can. The Tower of Magic is a massive structure, some 1000 feet high with many levels to it. Lucinda says that they must make to the Heart of the Tower. It is there that Kharyna must make her choice whether to become the Mistress of the Tower or not.
As the group makes there way from the docks, strange blue skinned beings are seen working on the tower. They are very tall (12' tall) and lanky beings with elongated faces and features. Lucinda says that they are the Arcane, magical engineers without peer. They are here to finish the repairs to the Tower of Magic. The Arcane completely ignore the new arrivals. In fact, many of them are finishing up their work as the travelers pass them by and vanish from sight.
The Heart of the Tower is reached, but Lady Mingor is there as well. Midnight and Renee reveal themselves at this time. Midnight is the Alphatian Avatar for Mystra, while Renee is the rising Cynalonian equivalent. Midnight urges Lady Mingor to stand down. Her attitude and obsession are precisely why she is unfit to be the Mistress of the Tower. The Mistress of the Tower is the hand of Mystra on this world. Her goals must align with those of Mystra and Lady Mingor's does not. Dahlia refuses and with great sadness Midnight excommunicates her, removing her priestly powers. Lady Mingor's holy symbol causes her pain and she is forced to throw it away. Stunned and more than a bit terrified, Lady Mingor flees back to her ships. Once there, she intends to use the Lady Iris and Rose to destroy the Tower of Magic. If she cannot have it, no one can!
Renee steps forward and speaks to Kharyna offering her the choice of becoming the Mistress of the Tower. Kharyna accepts. Midnight helps Lucinda into the Heart of the Tower. Midnight explains that the Spirit of the Tower is a guiding intellect to help the Mistress of the Tower in her tasks. Lucinda volunteered to become the new Spirit of the Tower of Magic. As the process takes place, Lucinda's spirit leaves her body and her body vanishes. Lucinda has merged with the Tower of Magic itself.
Midnight further explains that the previous Spirit of the Tower was gravely injured in the destruction of Damocles. They thought she would recover in time, but nearly 300 years ago a powerful mage managed to pierce the defenses of the still repairing tower. He drew off what remained of the previous Spirit of the Tower into himself, driving him mad in the process. That mage fled leaving the tower without a spirit. Lucinda was to be the new Spirit of the Tower.
As Lucinda adjust to her new 'body', Lady Mingor's ships attack. Lucinda instinctively acts to protect the tower. The Tower of Magic vanishes once more, Lucinda moving it forward in time for its own protection. (ToM #6)
Try it and find out!
Re: Tower of Magic #6 + Future Speculation
GM Notes:
Lots to digest here. As you can see, I had planned to fully introduce many elements here that would appear in later games here. The Heart of Hell, the Lady Iris and Lady Rose are the three invisible ships hovering over Alexandria in the current New Frontiers posts. Later the Lady Iris was captured by Lord Sharadin in the Sylvan Realm game. While it wasn't explicitly mentioned in Cynalon Knights #12, Lady Sallavarian captured the Heart of Hell as well in a future New Frontiers event.
What we can deduce from all of this is that Lady Mingor, after being excommunicated, threw in with Hextor forces in an attempt to destabilize Cynalon. She probably was led to believe that the Hextorites would conquer the Tower of Magic for her so she could get her prize that way. The Hextorites were just using her to gain access to her more powerful flying ships, the Lady Iris and Lady Rose. Lady Mingor would eventually be betrayed by them in the end.
The Hextorites were already interested in the Tower of Magic since they were there when Kharyna tried to leave. They had heard the stories but had not idea what the Tower of Magic really was. Their plan was to capture the tower and use as a base of operations to strike at Cynalon.
I spoke about the unwritten rules to games before. I listed time travel as one of those things that needed to be decided upon. When the games restarted in 2003 I decided to make them different from the Champions games. Thus in this setting, it is impossible to go back in time and change events. It simply cannot be done by even the gods. There are no second chances when it comes to the various events.
But having said that, going into the future is possible since the future has not be written yet. The Tower of Magic is powerful enough to propel itself into the future, but everyone else has to use other methods where time travel is a side effect, not a direct consequence. What I mean by that are unexpected versions of time travel where going into the future is not the goal.
Sir Corley experience one such method during the attack on the Duke's caravan on its way to Elcadan. He was turned into stone for almost a day. From his perspective, no time had passed, but he was stone for many hours. That was an action where time travel was a side effect. Such a thing is used elsewhere in the game as well. Yes, that was a parallel for something else down the line and introduced this particular concept.
The other main version is simply Teleporting to some very distant location in another solar system. Teleports travel at the speed of light, thus on Arret are virtually instantaneous. But to got to another solar system, the caster would find that years would have passed should they do something that foolish. And yes, someone among all the lost and missing ancestors did that very thing without realizing the consequences. From the casters point of view, he cast the spell and then immediately appeared on a different world. However one year for each light year distance traveled would have passed in the mean time. That's a form of time travel.
Back when I was putting all of this together, the Tower of Magic solved several other mysteries already in game. Those will be revealed a bit further down the line. Since Kharyna had fallen behind the other games, at that time, having the Tower of Magic move forward in time was a way to bring her into the 'present'. The secret of Specter randomly appearing and disappearing by moving by traveling through time was my original concept for this particular secret.
I had a set date in mind for when the Tower of Magic would next appear. It was close to where I thought New Frontiers was at, but after doing all the work on the timeline it ended up weeks away instead of days. Not an issue either way. I simple thought it was closer before than it really was.
Lots to digest here. As you can see, I had planned to fully introduce many elements here that would appear in later games here. The Heart of Hell, the Lady Iris and Lady Rose are the three invisible ships hovering over Alexandria in the current New Frontiers posts. Later the Lady Iris was captured by Lord Sharadin in the Sylvan Realm game. While it wasn't explicitly mentioned in Cynalon Knights #12, Lady Sallavarian captured the Heart of Hell as well in a future New Frontiers event.
What we can deduce from all of this is that Lady Mingor, after being excommunicated, threw in with Hextor forces in an attempt to destabilize Cynalon. She probably was led to believe that the Hextorites would conquer the Tower of Magic for her so she could get her prize that way. The Hextorites were just using her to gain access to her more powerful flying ships, the Lady Iris and Lady Rose. Lady Mingor would eventually be betrayed by them in the end.
The Hextorites were already interested in the Tower of Magic since they were there when Kharyna tried to leave. They had heard the stories but had not idea what the Tower of Magic really was. Their plan was to capture the tower and use as a base of operations to strike at Cynalon.
I spoke about the unwritten rules to games before. I listed time travel as one of those things that needed to be decided upon. When the games restarted in 2003 I decided to make them different from the Champions games. Thus in this setting, it is impossible to go back in time and change events. It simply cannot be done by even the gods. There are no second chances when it comes to the various events.
But having said that, going into the future is possible since the future has not be written yet. The Tower of Magic is powerful enough to propel itself into the future, but everyone else has to use other methods where time travel is a side effect, not a direct consequence. What I mean by that are unexpected versions of time travel where going into the future is not the goal.
Sir Corley experience one such method during the attack on the Duke's caravan on its way to Elcadan. He was turned into stone for almost a day. From his perspective, no time had passed, but he was stone for many hours. That was an action where time travel was a side effect. Such a thing is used elsewhere in the game as well. Yes, that was a parallel for something else down the line and introduced this particular concept.
The other main version is simply Teleporting to some very distant location in another solar system. Teleports travel at the speed of light, thus on Arret are virtually instantaneous. But to got to another solar system, the caster would find that years would have passed should they do something that foolish. And yes, someone among all the lost and missing ancestors did that very thing without realizing the consequences. From the casters point of view, he cast the spell and then immediately appeared on a different world. However one year for each light year distance traveled would have passed in the mean time. That's a form of time travel.
Back when I was putting all of this together, the Tower of Magic solved several other mysteries already in game. Those will be revealed a bit further down the line. Since Kharyna had fallen behind the other games, at that time, having the Tower of Magic move forward in time was a way to bring her into the 'present'. The secret of Specter randomly appearing and disappearing by moving by traveling through time was my original concept for this particular secret.
I had a set date in mind for when the Tower of Magic would next appear. It was close to where I thought New Frontiers was at, but after doing all the work on the timeline it ended up weeks away instead of days. Not an issue either way. I simple thought it was closer before than it really was.
Try it and find out!