When the door to the toxic green room of octopoids closes, you feel suddenly a little bit better and revived--as though a shadow has left. You are able to internalize all the experiences of the last few days and begin to feel how they have strengthened you and brought you together as a cohesive group.

XP
Please update your character sheets. (Including the date last updated in the character sheets helps remind you when it was last updated.) Note that these are high xps because I have not given them out in awhile. This will push some of you into a new level. You instantly gain the hitpoints, spells and skills of the new level--no training required. Please make the adjustments accordingly.

QUERY: If you would prefer me in the future to just say what the new total XP is rather than how much it increases, let me know.


As the relief of shaking off the last room leaves you, the light clears a little and you can see into the beautiful glow of the next room...
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:21, Mon 27 Apr 2020.

This room is about the same size as the previous room--about 100 feet in diameter. At first, you think it is octagonal like the previous room. Then you see that you are mistaken. It actually has 10 sides--a decagon.

Similar to the last room, it has 8 foot square stones at your feet, but these are marbleized granite, much more beautiful. On each of these stone squares is etched the following symbol with beautiful colors:



At first, you think this is another of the chaos symbols, but then you see that it has 10 arrows, not 8.

The room itself is colorfully lit by glowing mushrooms. They pulse with a slight magic. The hum is soft and almost transfixing.




You notice a 5 foot wide path going to the center of the room. There are 10 such paths, evenly spaced. You notice that lining the paths are mushrooms of colors matching those in the symbol on the floor. They grow in dirt to either side of the path.

The walls here are intricately carved marble panels. No skeletons or bones anywhere in sight. The mushrooms in the paths are tall and large, some of the 8 or 10 feet tall, and some of them just a couple feet high. They block your view of the far side of the room. You will need to walk around to see that.

But you do see what the paths all lead to. In the center of the room is an ornate gold pedestal. Crystal glass encases a chalice. It fits Tenvillah's description of the Chalice of Sanction that you must take back to him filled with Earthgold (the healing liquid more powerful than Earthsilver). (See post #2 here: link to a message in this game )

Then you let your gaze drift upward. It is difficult, if not impossible, to tell if or where the ceiling is because you see hosts of floating mushrooms not rooted to anything. At least, they appear sort of like mushrooms. They drift like jellyfish above the room with tentacles hanging down, and you realize they are alive, floating peacefully. Some of them have tentacles touching the stone walls, and they appear to be cleaning (or feeding off) the walls with their tentacles.


The path directly in front of you (facing north) is lined with red mushrooms. The one to your right is lined with orangish red mushrooms. The one to your left is lined with greenish blue mushrooms. And so each of the paths appears to be lined to match the symbol on the stones at your feet. You will need to walk around the room to be sure.

There do not appear to be any other exits from the room, though who knows what the marble tiles might be hiding.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:52, Mon 27 Apr 2020.

I did a rough sketch of the decagon room. The color triangles show the color of mushrooms lining either side of the path leading to the center where the chalice is at. As you explore the room further, I will update descriptions. For now, you are at the entry area and can only see straight up the red path and to the sides of you (i.e., line of sight), but not any of the other paths or the far side of the room.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:27, Tue 28 Apr 2020.

Shae will carefully go clockwise to the green area, staying on the rim away from the mushrooms. She will check for any more illusion floors. She also looks closely at the walls for anything out of the ordinary such as a button or holes or inscription. "I am not feeling so confident, now that all my shapechanging is used up for the day."

Her ancestral spear is ready and she is on full alert.

Shae moves along to the left. She sees nothing unusual about the floors--no illusions there--and the walls seem to be solid marble.

However, carved into the central wall tile in front of each path is a word. In front of the red path is the name "Hyrsam." In front of the light green is the word "Kelemvor." In front of the dark green is the word "Eldath."

But when she gets to the pathway leading between the green mushrooms, she sees a skeletal figure laying in the middle of the path. Whoever it was died long ago, reduced to just bones, boots, and a tattered cloak laying face down on the paved stone.

MAP UPDATED: Shows location of corpse, words on tiles with location, and corrects the tan color to make it white.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:10, Tue 28 Apr 2020.

Kahan follows Shae's lead and  begins circling counterclockwise, carefully making sure the floor is solid before stepping on anything. "Don't touch that skeleton, whatever you do," he instructs, as if it needed said.

Tahldar holds his ground and waits to see what words his companions can glean.  He is deathly afraid of mushrooms as he knows how deadly they can be.

Shae will continue the same process of walking around the rim of the room searching until she meets up with Kahan on the far side.

Shapfren takes the red road and walks towards the center.

Borimer stays with Tahldar, watching what happens with a grunt of distaste. "Fighting mushrooms is not really my thing."

Kahan and Shae walk around the rim. They see nothing out of the ordinary other than the words on the walls, that line up according to the diagram below. (Note that I made an error on the earlier map. This one is accurate.)

They also see four more corpses on the paths to the center.

There are a total of five corpses:
GREEN: A skeleton wrapped in tattered cloak laying face down on the paved stone.
WHITE: A monk in a white cloak and boots holding a quarterstaff. The body is better preserved but is still long since dead.
YELLOW: An armor wrapped skeleton holding a battle axe. The armor and axe are slightly luminous as if lightly covered in ice.
LIGHT BLUE: A skeletal warrior in armor holding a sword and shield. This one is standing as if frozen in place long ago. A helm has fallen from the skull and lays on the path.
BLACK: A skeletal wizard, also standing as if frozen in place, still holding his spellbook in front of him in one hand and a staff in the other.


Shapfren starts out into the path surrounded by red mushrooms...


As she gets to about the second tile in, she suddenly feels herself paralyzed, unable to move. She shakes as she tries to fight it but is unable. She can talk through clenched teeth, but that's about it.

At the same time, the pores in the red mushrooms open up, and they begin spouting globs of bulbous liquid fire (like napalm) toward Shapfren, who is helpless and unable to move. She feels hit by several globs, which begin melting her skin and causing serious pain. (Luckily, they do not hit anyplace vital this round. (10 hp dmg)

But the mushrooms are contracting in order to pop out more of these globs...
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:25, Tue 28 Apr 2020.

"Get her out of there, carefully now!" Kahan instructs as he casts a spell.

Leo tries to creep up carefully and tries to drag her out.

"Leo!  Stop!  Don't go in there!" Tahldar shouts.

"Lasso her with rope!" he shouts to Borimer.  "And stay on the outside ring!"

Leo pauses ready to make a break for it if the rope thing doesn't work.

ROUND 2
Kahan casts a spell, extinguish fire, to help keep Shapfren from burning too much. It might help a little, but these are technically gobs of liquid metal--like lava or napalm--without much flame.

Borimer is fairly quick, but it takes a little time to get out the rope and prepare to lasso Shapfren. Meanwhile, another round of globules fly from the mushrooms. She is unable to move as the globs of searing heat hit her. Luckily, with Kahan's spell, the damage is minimized. (8 hp dmg.)

Leo is poised and ready should things go south.

ROUND 3

Borimer now has his rope out and is tying a lasso knot...

More globules fly up and at Shapfren...(7 hp dmg)

ROUND 4
Borimer throws the lasso at Shapfren...and misses spectacularly.

Shapfren is hit by yet another round of globules...(11 hp dmg)

ROUND 5
Borimer tries yet again to lasso Shapfren...and fails again.

Shapfren is hit once more...(8 hp dmg).

ROUND 6
Cursing under his breath, Borimer tries one last time...

This time he gets the lasso around Shapfren and quickly pulls her out of harm's way, just as globules fly near her.

As soon as she is pulled off the path and back onto the rim, the paralysis is lifted.

OOC: Half damage from Kahan's spell really helped her. Between the blood loss weaknesses and Borimer's bad rolls, she could have been in bad shape.

"Okay, let's not go that way then..." Kahan muttered as he tried to figure out where the names came from.

OOC: I have various history NWPs, but I'm not sure if any of them apply to these names. I'm thinking they have to do with names of gods, but I don't know if any of these are ones he would know offhand.

21:09, Today: Kahan Singh rolled 2 using 1d20.  Wisdom check to identify names.

The party meets back up at the entrance to exchange information while Shapfren is recovering.

Sharing your collective knowledge, Tahldar and Kahan confirm that they are all the names of gods mentioned in the Xren Codex and Allevian Annals.

You also share the following lore:
TAHLDAR'S LORE
Bahamut is a good deity of dragons. He was the dragon god of justice and a subservient deity to Torm, god of law. He was also the eternal rival of his sister Tiamat, queen of the chromatic dragons. Myths claimed that the great fortified castle that Bahamut called home was somewhere "behind the east wind" and many scholars believed Bahamut's castle was located on the Elemental Plane of Air. Others believed his palace was located "behind the north wind", this being the origin of his "Lord of the North Wind" title. Bahamut was stern and very disapproving of evil, always arguing with Asgorath about his crusade against it. He accepted no excuses for evil acts, and didn't tolerate even minor offenses by evil creatures. Bahamut also liked to prove the strength and worthiness of his followers by battling against them in his dragon form, halting the combat when his followers were injured or when they overcame him.

Tiamat was the eternal enemy of her brother, Bahamut. Tiamat was the evil dragon goddess of greed, queen of evil dragons and, for a time, a reluctant servant of the greater gods Bane and later Asmodeus. Tiamat was a unique chromatic dragon, who had one head for each primary color of the most common species of chromatics (black, blue, green, red, white). Each head was able to operate entirely independently of each other and had the powers of a member of the respective race of dragonkind. Her body also had traits in common with a wyvern, including a long tail tipped with a poisonous stinger. Tiamat was arrogant, greedy, hateful, spiteful and vain. She never forgave any kind of slight and was focused in obtaining more power and wealth. She disdained mortals, regarding them as mere disposable tools in her schemes.

KAHAN'S LORE
Selûne, also known as Our Lady of Silver, the Moonmaiden, and the Night White Lady, was a good yet chaotic goddess of the moon. Hers was the moon's mysterious power, the heavenly force that governed the world's tides and a mother's reproductive cycles, caused lycanthropes to shift form, and drew one to the brink of madness, and back again. In both her avatars and her religious artwork, Selûne appeared in many forms, like the phases of the moon. One was a dusky-skinned human woman with long limbs; perfect and exquisite beauty; wide, radiant, lime-green eyes; and long, ivory-hued hair that fell to her knees. Another was an ethereal young girl of slender frame, dark eyes, and dark hair, wearing diaphanous robes colored white or resembling dappled moonlight, which trailed her "moondust" or "moon motes". A third was a matronly middle-aged woman, plump yet fair and aging gracefully, with gray-streaked dark hair. She was generous and freely bestowed gifts and blessings on mortals. If pressed into battle, Selûne was an awesome warrior, fighting with divine fury but with martial and magical skill in coordination. She typically manifested as trails of dancing motes of light, similar to will-o'-wisps, commonly called "moondust" or "moon motes", which could shed moonlight where there should be none. In this form, she guided travelers lost in the night or journeying over hazardous terrain, and came to shine for her faithful when light was needed for a delicate action.

Lloth, known as the Queen of Spiders or the Queen of the Demonweb Pits, was the most influential goddess of the drow, within the pantheon of the Dark Seldarine. Her evil and chaos shown through when Lolth drove the drow into heavy infighting under the pretense of culling the weak, while her real goals were to hold absolute control over the dark elves, prevent the rise of alternative faiths or ideas, and avoid complacency (even though she found amusement in the strife that plagued her followers' communities).


SHAE'S LORE
Kelemvor Lyonsbane, also known as the Lord of the Dead and Judge of the Damned, was the god of death and the dead, and master of the Crystal Spire in the Fugue Plane. In his mortal days, Kelemvor was a skilled mercenary, with the heart of a noble paladin, concealed under rude manners and thwarted by his mysterious family curse. Law was elevated above all else, and good and evil subverted themselves to it. Fair yet cold, Kelemvor was the god of death and the dead. Kelemvor promoted that death was a natural part of life and should not be feared as long as it was understood. As a result of his deep respect for life and death, he held the undead in the uttermost contempt. He fiercely opposed the machinations of Velsharoon.

Velsharoon was the necromancer god who animated the dead into undead and used them for unjust and evil deeds, and thus stood against everything Kelemvor worked for. Velsharoon was once a lich wizard who, with the sponsorship of the deity Talos, managed to ascend to godhood.


SHAPFREN'S LORE
Eldath, also known as The Green Goddess or Mother Guardian of Groves, was a lake spirit who acted as the guardian of groves and watersheds, her presence was felt wherever there was calm. She was a pacifist who avoided hostile action, even if threatened. Although shy, quiet and enigmatic, Eldath was possessed of unknown depths of character and unexpressed resolve that could not be broken. Eldath protected rivers, streams, and druids' groves; her dogma was pacifistic, and her followers only resorted to violence in defense of themselves, of their friends and loved ones, and of pools and groves. She was regarded as a goddess of serenity, comfort, and healing. Any waters blessed by her were known to cure sickness and madness. They could also calm the dying giving them peace and a natural passing. Many rural communities have a designated pond or glade which serves as a holy site for local parishioners. These places were traditionally used as places to reflect and meditate. Offerings are typically weapons broken so they can never be used again, or an item that caused an argument and must be discarded to promote peace.

Silvanus, the Forest Father, was the god of nature, though formerly considered only the god of wild nature and druids. Silvanus is one of the oldest and most prominent deities. Silvanus saw and balanced all, meting out wild water and drought, fire and ice, life and death. All is in cycle, deftly and beautifully balanced. It is the duty of the devout to see this cycle and the sacred Balance as clearly as possible.

Oghma, also known as The Lord of Knowledge, was the neutral greater power of bards, inspiration, invention, and knowledge. Oghma was the leader of the Deities of Knowledge and Invention and his home plane was the House of Knowledge. His symbol was a blank scroll. He took no sides and simply observed and reported. His dogma was that knowledge, particularly the raw knowledge of ideas, is supreme. An idea has no weight, but it can move mountains. The greatest gift of humankind, an idea outweighs anything made by mortal hands. Knowledge is power and must be used with care, but hiding it away from others is never a good thing. Stifle no new ideas, no matter how false and crazed they seem; rather, let them be heard and considered. Never slay a singer, nor stand by as others do so. Spread knowledge wherever it is prudent to do so. Curb and deny falsehoods, rumor, and deceitful tales whenever you encounter them.

LEO'S LORE
Hyrsam, the Prince of Fools, was an ancient and powerful satyr archfey. He was a mischievous trickster who used guile and savagery to further his goals. He was handsome, with a wild mop of curly hair, dark, intelligent eyes, and a fair face. Hyrsam wore simple clothing when traveling, and dressed in formal attire when visiting fey courts. Though he outwardly presented himself as a fool, Hyrsam was exceedingly clever and manipulative, with a streak of vicious savagery. Hyrsam was essentially an anarchist who opposed the influence of civilization on the Feywild.

Borimer has no lore to share.

OOC: Note that this is the introductory lore. As we progress, I may make additional rolls to see if more lore is remembered. Feel free also to prompt me do so if you have something special in your character.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:02, Wed 29 Apr 2020.

"Shapfren, you almost got yourself killed!" Tahldar says with concern once his companion is retrieved.

"Kahah, she could use healing if you have any left." he adds as he ponders what to do next.

"Borimer, using your rope lasso do you think you could retrieve each corpse on each path?  It might be useful to know how they died if we can determine it."

"Plus they may have on them something useful or maybe a clue on how to foil this dilemma we find ourselves in".

Kahan nods and casts Cure Critical Wounds on Shapfren. "I wonder if it has something to do with our particular beliefs and motivations, and the specific god's preferred way of behaving. Almost all gods have a preference in their followers' belief systems, and tend not to curry favor with those who disagree," he explained.

"Thank you"Shap had had a horrible scare. "Maybe it has to do with the symbol outside?" She thought "Maybe we could get there through Selune?" she paused, "I mean Thaldar and I. I don't think she would hurt us, would she?"