The Eldritch Maelstrom [IC]

[BelGareth]

Chapter 1: The meeting of Ants.

It had been a long journey for some, for others it had been short. As is the way of things, but for all it was dangerous. Some had to bypass a roiling zone of wild magic, reeking havoc on the wildlife, spawning abominations kept within the bounds of the far far realms, until now.

Another had to hide under the gaze of a maddened Archmage who has turned into a living monolith, who sits at a forkway in a road, ever watching for travelers whom he judges, and he judges all to be guilty of punishment. None have survived his wroth.

Another managed to circumvent the spawning of an endless undead bog, a foul and brackish body of water, ever spewing forth a legion of shambling zombies.

And yet there are more, a living tree is flying around the town of Grandspeek, terrorizing any and all there with fireballs, the archamge of Sorance has eaten all his apprentices and continues to satiate his appetite on the citizens therein, a dragon has been seen eating its own tails, shooting lightning bolts out in random directions, as a swarm of flying fish assault some dwarfs (who are also flying).

Everywhere is madness, everything touched by the arcane has turned terribly awry.

You have been chosen by those knowledgeable enough to see your talent unchanged and not fear you, or you have chosen to come. Lord Hassenrach called for a meeting, and summoned all the champions of non arcana he could think off, the word got out and more than just a handful had come.

But that was a week ago, and the meeting had been over, ever since the ground opened up and ate them all. You lot were the late ones. whether it was due to hiding from a crazed half bull, half frog or because you were turned to stone only find out it was temporary, you now stand at the meeting spot, a charred and torn rift of earth where once stood the castle of Lord Hassenrach, through the smoke and debris you can see several others.

Maybe they are here for the same reason?

Who knows, all you do know is the world has gone crazy and no one knows why.

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Info Ala request of Lateral.

The Eldritch Maelstrom [OOC]

Magic has gone awry, the weave, as practitioners of the art know it, has been torn from the grips of the Magic God, shredded and left to unwind from reality. Users and wielders of the arcane arts have gone mad, or dead, or worse...huge zones of wild magic have engulfed nations and destroyed cities. Roiling zones of entropy and dead area's, to put it blunt, magic has gone and it has left a void. The gods are careless and have not acted, but they are still there and so the prayers of their petitioners and clergy are heard like normal, the power of the divine granting what they need for their purpose.

Whole worlds, nations, planes and races have been disheveled and moved, cultures have been torn apart and families asunder.

You are the those few people who have a glimmer of hope to stop the inevitable collapse of reality. All of you non-arcane users, but all powerful in your own right, you have met at the apex of your world, to meet and find a way to end this for good. But how?

Plan on fighting insane spellcasters, liches, wild magic, entropy, etc...

16 (ish)

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System: 3.5
Player Count: 4-6
Style of Play: Combat/RP, I like good RP players, I don't want people who are going to post 3 lines every time. I'm also somewhat slow (sometimes) to post, but steady as an ox.
Allowed Content:

• All WoTC pubs
• Dragon Mag on request (including Dragon comp)
• 2 Homebrew request's per prospective player

Character Creation:

• Backstory: TMB (please put this in your character sheet)
• Experience: Bottom of 8th (28,000 xp)
• Wealth: WBL (27,000gp) no one item over 9K
• Ability Scores: 8x 5d6b3 (take best 6) with 38 pb as reserve.
• Hitpoints/Health: Max at 1st, 75% therafter (round up)
• Alignment: Good Axis

Other Notes:
No arcane classes, so the following classes are not allowed:

• Wizards
• Sorcerers
• Warlocks
• Warmages
• Dragon Fire Adepts
• Bard can be taken, but must take the Divine Bard ACL (UA pg50)
• Duskblade
• Hexblade
• Beguiler
• Dread Necromancer
• Spellthief
• Wu Jen
• Artificer

Allowed list (alternate systems)

• Shadowcaster
• Truenamer
• Incarnum
• Divine classes
• Martial classes
• Binding
• Psionics
• This guy.
• Factotum can use "Divine dilettante" using Divine spell lists

Misc.

• 1 feat every odd level
• up to 2 traits
• no flaws
• Gestalt
• RHD + LA on one side
• Dual progression PRC's take up both sides
• Custom Items are allowed, post calculations for approval before adding them to your character.

{table="head"] Player | Character | Classes | Key Aspect|Speech color
IncarnumJunkie | Mullaney Crancoix | Paladin//Soulknife | Honest Stable Face|Red
Lateral | Mortar, Blacksteel Dreadnought | Evolutionist//Magitech Templar | Slam |Bold Dim Gray/Dark Slate.
Wyntonian | John Aquitas | Favoured Soul//Knight-Paladin | Honorable Blessed Warrior|BOLD GOLD.
Lexin | Ien Sheel | Incarnate // Erudite | Utility Telepath |Purple
Techwarrior | Gortag Mindcrusher | Ranger/Warblade/Bloodclaw Master//Soulknife | Pounce D |Green
bindin garoth | Ka'dene Nosworth, the Becoming Shadow | Shadowcaster / MoS // Soulborn| Utility/Shadow Blaster/Debuff |Blue
[/table]

[bindin garoth]

Ka'dene is unfazed by the destruction. She had seen much worse. But even still, the ground just happened to open up and swallow those within? Just by coincident? She wasn't buying it. She could guarantee that whoever caused this madness was the cause of this.

With Ni'ka at her side, she observes the remains of the area closely with her eyes, hoping to spot something that was missed before.

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Mystic Shadows (Detect Magic), looking over the remains of the castle.

[IncarnumJunkie]

Mullaney rode into town carefully, keeping a careful watch out for anyone, or anything, that may have been responsible for recent events. That, and he was completely flabbergasted. He had been through a few crusading campaigns, seen some things that would surprise him completely and other things as well, but this...

...the castle was just gone. A gaping maw was all that was left. He knew that there was a acute madness overtaking the land--he had seen it with his own eyes, and in some places hacked it to pieces--but he wondered whether or not this was one of the more random things happening about. One thing was for sure: this madness must be put to an end.

Mullaney decided that the quickest way to find out what happened was to actively seek it out, at least here for now. With a light tap he spurred his warhorse to a trot, to keep moving slowly as he surveyed the area. He reached out with the senses that were granted to the paladins of the Holy Order by their almighty god, Heironeous, that which they would find and destroy evil wherever it walked.

He reached his hand out in a gesture of seeking, and spoke a quick prayer to Heironeous as his sight took a tint that was slightly white around the edges of his vision. If there was any evil hiding here, they would not escape his gaze today.

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Detect Evil over the remains of the castle and the immediate perimeter around the castle.

Concentration (Concentrating while Riding): (1d20+14)[24]

[Lexin]

Ien walked closer to the place where the castle was just a short while ago. With shocked expression on his face he simply stares.

What the hell just happened here?

"The earth ate them..." he heard a voice.
"Thank you for this revelation Loiosh." He answered with a little irritated manner to his psicrystal.
...it was enough to shake him out of shock, though...
He focuses for a while...

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He uses Detect Hostile Intent power

... and walks around trying to find other survivors.

[Techwarrior]

One of the newcomers is an orc. His skin is bronzed and weathered from years of exposure to the desert sun, and black hair tied back in a short ponytail. He has the look of someone haunted by nightmares that make sleeping difficult. He wears the short, efficient tunic of someone who spends much of their time working under a much hotter sub than this one. He has a longbow stowed on his back alongside a pack and a quiver with many arrows. He moves with the predatory grace of a wild cat, and though he carries no obvious weapons beside the bow, one can tell that he is completely comfortable with this. Perhaps he needs no weapons to disembowel you...

"Were you supposed to be here for the meeting as well?"

He asks the group gathered at the ruins.

[Lateral]

Mortar pulls up at the edge of the rift. He has been running nonstop for weeks, and so the constant creaking and clacking of his hydraulic joints have moved past the realm of annoyance and into the quiet domain of peaceful comfort. He isn't sure why he's running to this place, or why there is a giant crater in the spot where Typhon said there would be a castle; what he does know is that Typhon knows that they are needed there. That is enough for him.

--------

Unlike Mortar, however, the fact that Castle Hassenrach has been obliterated is enough to alarm Typhon. This can't be random. If the castle is... gone, then something- or someone- must have done something. It could have been an accident, but the fact that we were called here- and, by the looks of it, would have been caught in this destruction if we had arrived on time- screams foul play. Makara? No, Makara would have waited until we got here, and not invited so many others- this could be a conspiracy. Typhon's weakened mind begins to burn. Damn this impotent psyche! Were I to have even a quarter of the power I once held, I could divine an answer in an instant.

--------

In reaction to the orc's call, Mortar turns his head. His mouth remains stationary, however, as a voice speaks the following: "I'm afraid so. However, it seems that whoever called us here has failed to appear."

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Lexin, you named your familiar Loiosh.

...Nice.

[Techwarrior]

When the machine came rumbling up, Gortag dropped back into a combat stance. He seems on edge until it speaks to him. Then, like a coil, he slowly unwinds.

The world has gone crazy, why not forged constructs? Besides, they'd had one or two at Merissa's palace.

"I'm guessing that whoever called the meeting perished when all of this happened. Perhaps we were lucky to be late."

Gortag gestures to the destruction.

[Lexin]

Ien hears the clanking and rumbling and decides to walk closer. Maybe there are survivors.

He didn't really expect a construct and an orc there... but why not?

"Yes, we are lucky..." He says with a frown, as he hears the words spoken by the orc. "Does any of you know how could this happen?
... so much power was gathered here, it is hard to imagine that they couldn't do anything to stop this..."

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Lexin, you named your familiar Loiosh.

...Nice.

Shame psions can't take Pseudodragons as familiars though...

[Techwarrior]

The orc smirks when the question of how was voiced.

"I can think of several possibilities. The one I find most likely is that our Lord gathered as many powerful non-arcanists not to find those willing to help, but to destroy those who could stand up to the mad mages. I find it too coincidental that this meeting just happened to be halted without someone on the inside, and who better to do it than the man who called it together."

[IncarnumJunkie]

As Mullaney trotted about on his horse, searching for any clues as to what could have caused the destruction of the castle, he spotted a trio which would be quite unlikely in a place such as this. Could they have also been summoned by Lord Hassenrach? Only one way to find out. He trotted towards them, still focusing his Detect Evil upon the group. Mercifully, none of them were found as evil, and he dropped his detection upon determining that point.

"Hail!" he called to them. "Have you no better luck in arriving at Lord Hassenrach's castle? We are fortunate that we did not end up in there, along with whatever poor souls make punctuality a tenet of their lives."

[Wyntonian]

John sat down heavily on a sizable lump of rubble and wiped his brow. He looked, for all purposes, like a slightly battered young man in worn plain clothes, with a unadorned steel ring on one finger, nondescript brown hair and a halberd that looked like it had spent more time as a walking stick than as a weapon. He raised an eyebrow, shading his eyes against the sun. "So, I imagine y'all were also invited? Bit of a pity. I was looking forward to a hot meal. Ah well."

He stands up, offering a hand. "John, John Aquitas. I kill bad things, mostly."

[Lateral]

"Mortar," Typhon replies. "Well, actually, this one here is Mortar. I just speak for him." At the mention of his name, Mortar grunts brutally and nods.

[Techwarrior]

The orc nods in response to the fair human.

"I am called Gortag. Oftentimes the name Mindcrusher gets used alongside it. I'm familiar with killing things myself, being a mercenary, but this is out of my usual line of work. I hope some of the people managed to escape before the explosion."

Are there any bodies amongst the rubble?

[Wyntonian]

John's eyebrows raise as the machine-man speaks. "Huh. That's something you don't see every day. On the other hand, I think I can empathize a bit." He freezes, stiffening for a moment, his eyes squinting.

Goddamnit, don't do this Anariel.


When he opens his eyes, they are replaced by orbs of molten gold. His voice seems to come from the earth and the sky, ringing and powerful, but somehow feminine. I UNDERSTAND. THIS ONE IS THE ONLY WAY I CAN SEE THE WORLD. BEAR WITH HIM, PLEASE. HE'S STILL LEARNING. The ground at his feet bears the shadow of great wings, and his brow seems encircled by a half-seen light.

He staggers, and when he opens his eyes, they're back to an unremarkable muddy brown. "I'm sorry, folks. I've got a bit of a... condition."

[Lateral]

"Quite all right. I suppose the... arrangement... that Mortar and I have could be considered comparable."

"In any case, we have a more pressing matter on our hands."

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Wait. So, out of six PCs, three of them have bodiless secondary characters attached to them?

Huh. That's a weird coincidence.

[Techwarrior]

Gortag stares blandly at John while he... does whatever that just was...

Neat trick, I wonder how much I can trust his sanity. Sharing a mind can't be easy.

"Thats a neat parlor trick. Does she pay for room and board, or do you have a... different arrangement?"

[Wyntonian]

John smiles, embarrassed. "No, she's more of an unwelcome guest." He unbuttons his shirt partway, revealing a mesh of scars across his chest. "A bit of her armor's in there, and I can't get it out without cutting my own heart out. So, until then, she's along for the ride."

"Nice to meet y'all, by the way. What's our next step, d'you think? I've got no pressing arrangements."

[bindin garoth]

OOC:

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Wait. So, out of six PCs, three of them have bodiless secondary characters attached to them?

Huh. That's a weird coincidence.

Mine has a body

On the other hand, sorry I've been away for a few days. Been busy. With stuffs.

The silken black haired maiden simply allows the others to converse for a while, during which she continues her investigation of the area. Surely they were beneath her anyways, especially with the power of the first at her side, surely none could stop her!

Of course, Ni'ka just has to point out that she still hasn't recovered all of her power.

"But," she continues "You should consider that they have abilities outside of your expertise. Even if shadow magic is the best magic, that doesn't mean you can do everything."

Ka'dene reluctantly agrees with the first. Besides, she wasn't even close to wielding the true terrors of the shadows, perhaps their skills would complement her? One could only wait and see.

She starts to head over to them..... Until she hears that unruly loud voice. 'I don't know if I can do this......' She thinks to herself, letting out a rather big sigh. But knowing she doesn't really have much of a choice, she straightens her clothes and continues heading over. Besides, it didn't sound like the man had any choice in the matter.

"I'm Ka'dene, the headmaster of a local Tenebrous Apostate not far from here." She says to the rest. She looks quite young, much younger than you would expect a headmaster to be.

"Unfortunately, I've been a bit out of touch with the rest of the world for the last few days, trying to make sure all the students were safe before heading off. So I don't have any leads. Perhaps one of you does?" She says, cocking an eyebrow at the rest. It was clear by her voice that she thought of herself highly.

"Actually though, I did hear of one thing. A random tree flying around terrorizing citizens. Quite strange huh? Perhaps we should look into that?"

[IncarnumJunkie]

"As much as there is a threat in a flying tree, I must point out a more critical threat to the people. Some distance from here is a swamp, which, upon my investigation, is spewing the living dead at a startling rate. While I did attempt to dispatch them with the power of Heironeous, and by his holy name I did slay my fair portion, their numbers were simply too great, and I retreated to bring this swamp to attention, and hopefully muster aid against it. This," he gestured to the smoldering hole in the ground, "is what I arrived to."

"Myself alone would not have been sufficient to stymie the rising tide of the creeping dead, but with the..." he paused to quickly count, "onetwothreefourive six of us here, a very real threat to the surrounding area can be vanquished by combining our talents. And to be very honest, I am not much use against something that flies, but against the horrors spawned by foul undeath..."

He smiled and bowed his head in a polite gesture. "Mullaney Crancoix, Paladin of the Holy Order of Heironeous, at your service."

[Lexin]

"I am Ien Sheel." He says simply and pauses for a while as he thinks about the situation they are in.
"I would be happy to help... and it is quite obvious that our help is needed. I agree that the undead are an enormous threat, which needs to be dealt with, yet I must warn you that my talents are better suited for fighting living opponents... Also Sorance seems to need our help... What happens there is... unnatural."

[bindin garoth]

"Hmmm...... If it was only a small number of undead it wouldn't be important.... But if it's a large group, then that could turn ugly quickly.... I'm up for it. Shall we get going then? We can't afford to wait and continue gawking at this hole....." She says, and starts tapping her foot, clearly impatient for an answer.

Her familiar, Ni'ka, whispers something into her hear. It's clear she berating Ka'dene for her impatience, but she simply wasn't listening.

[Lateral]

Upon hearing about this opportunity to stomp on hordes of undead, Mortar is delighted. Smaller people make such a wonderful crunching noise underneath his feet, but he hasn't had the opportunity to fight large numbers of them since before Typhon. He opens his enormous jaws. "ZOMBIES. WE CAN FIGHT ZOMBIES."

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Typhon emits a metallic noise that could probably be best described as a cough. "Erm, yes. That would be Mortar. And, while he does seem to be excited by the prospect of hordes of undead, I find myself more interested in the matter directly before us- the castle. If this was intentional, then it's likely that somebody wants us dead."

[Techwarrior]

"Much as I would love to stomp on some undead, Mortar raises a fairly good point. We are now the prey; we must discover who hunts us."

The orc glances around and shudders.

"I am... unaccustomed to this reversal of positions."

[bindin garoth]

Ka'dene brushes off some dust on her pants before continuing. It was obvious she couldn't stand being dirty by any means."Unfortunately, we know nothing about what caused this." She says, motioning to the great pit in front of them.

"But perhaps if we take care of some of the things that have occured from this..... Event, we can find out who or what caused all of this. Or perhaps they'll come after us. Well, in either case we'd find out more." She continues. Perhaps they should talk about all of their talents, and figure out which task would be easiest for them to counter with their abilities? Ka'dene didn't like the idea of anyone else knowing of her abilities. Ni'ka stays silent at this time. Her only goal was to protect Ka'dene, and she didn't sense any harm from these folks, although they all seemed weird in their own way.

"Perhaps we should talk about our talents, and figure out what would be easiest for us to do based on our abilities? I'm a shadowcaster, and am best at ranged combat, although I can limitely able to fight in melee. My best abilities allow me to move around the battlefield with ease, blast groups of foes, and slow down foes."

[Lateral]

"An excellent suggestion. Regretfully, I am unable to exert much power beyond the ability to speak and sense my surroundings, but Mortar is... well, to put it bluntly, a walking siege weapon. I have seen him rip through over a foot of solid steel with a single punch."

[Wyntonian]

John stands up, straightens his homespun shirt and taps his scarred chest. "Oi. Anariel. Do that thing again."

In an aura of light, an array of armored plates converge across his body, forming a gleaming suit of armor. They are of fine work, but have no ornamentation beyond that, no filigree or inlaid metals. He hefts the halberd over his shoulder. "So, I hit things too. Anariel helps."

[Techwarrior]

"I have been trained in the ways of the desert, general survival skills, and combat. I am a hunter and man-at-arms by trade."

Gortag tries to recall anything he might know about the swamp being discussed. While he does this, he takes a strip of dark cloth out of his pack and ties it around his forehead.
Knowledge Geography (1d20+7)[19]

[Lexin]

"I am a practitioner of psionic arts, mostly telepathy, but I did learn other ways too. I also know basics of melee combat, but it is more focused on self- defense than on... hitting things..."
He says that in a bit hesitantly, but then adds.
"But I can throw fire on enemies!"

[IncarnumJunkie]

Mullaney nods as he listens to those around him discuss their abilities and their talents. "We have an impressive array of talents," he speaks as he dismounts from his warhorse.

"As I said, I am a Paladin of the Holy Order of Heironeous, have walked amongst their ranks for a decade, and have claimed the title of Paladin for seven years now. At my command is the glorious power of Heironeous, the Invincible Archpaladin. On the tip of my tongue is disciplined, highly cultured tongue gently laced with my, no doubt, charming accent. Something that each and every Paladin must have, yes?" he chuckles lightheartedly as he paces forward casually.

"However," he says, gesturing to the sky, "Heironeous may be my greatest ally, but he is not the only weapon at my command. Have any of you noticed that I carry no sword?"

His raised hand cuts through the air in front of him, and his mind blade manifests in an azure flash and a hiss of psionic energy. It glows a light blue, displaying the inner psionic power which Mullaney contains within him.

"My mind is sharper than any steel, capable of piercing the toughest of armors, and can lay low the greatest of foes. To those who follow the forces of darkness, the might of a Paladin of Heironeous will be their undoing!"

He takes a swing with his mind blade, and it flares with dazzling white energy as it leaves a glowing trail through the air. At the end of the stroke, the blade is dimmer than when he manifested it. After a moment's pause, the strong azure glow returns to his blade.

An apologetic grin came upon his face as he dissolved his mind blade. "I do apologize if I alarmed any of you with my display of power. It is difficult to be humble and taciturn when one is a crusading Paladin of the Holy Order. Do not be afraid of myself or my power, as it is not the good or innocent who should fear it, but those who have caused this great and terrible mess that befalls us now. Many good people were within the castle when it was destroyed, I am sure of it," he points to the castle ruins. "Whatever we do to bring this turmoil to an end, we do it for them, and for everyone whose lives shall be preserved by our actions. However we proceed on this perilous journey, my mind's blade and my grand patron will be your allies."

[BelGareth]

As you scan the scene before you, for anything, magical, psionic, or otherwise, you see nothing. As if a void in the very fabric of space and time.

Something that does not settle with you very well.

In fact, any and all magic in this area suddenly snaps out, as if a giant wind had blown them all out like candles.

A dire wind picks up and, you find your self in escalating wind, debris from the castle start to move, and are picked up from the wind.

You can easily see that the wind is only near and around the area of the castle and everything is quite and calm outside the area.