frp

Upon a secret journey
I met a holy man
His blindness was his wisdom
I'm such a lonely man

You will see light in the darkness
You will make some sense of this
And when you've made your secret journey
You will find the love you miss

• I. The Trial of Bria
• II. The Trial of [[Bigby]]
• III. The Trial of [[Roderick]]
• IV. Godsland

• Laryn
• Samhunt (or simply “Sam”)
• Burol
• Rynther
• Kaliss

(see maps “TrialBria*.jpg”)

The party arrives out of the fog on the lower edge of the map called TrialBriaCavern1.jpg. Up ahead in the main cavern is the Drow encounter from “Wrath of the Abyss” (Dungeon Magazine #119, February 2005, p.44-46). In addition, there is a Mind Flayer in the cavern located at the top of the map called TrialBriaCavern2.jpg. (see attached sheet)

In addition to the Mind Flayer, the encounter is modified as follows: The Displacer Beasts are bumped to 9 Hit Dice (CR5), The Drow soldiers have 2 additional levels of Fighter (making them CR8) and there are six of them (see attached stat sheet).

Unless someone enters his cavern, the Mind Flayer will stay out of combat until the Drow have softened up the party some - using his Hide skill to remain out of sight. During the first few rounds of combat, he will activate his “True Metabolism” and “True Seeing” powers.

In the Mind Flayer's cavern is a pool of scrying. This psionic item will react to any character with psionic powers and it is obvious that it is a psionic item. However, to activate it requires a Concentraton DC25 roll. As Bria is the only psionicist in the group, she is the key here…

If activated, it will show Einerk, the dwarf, and an unknown female Elf sneaking through a Drow temple. Einerk will probably only be recognized because he is carrying his axe. (When the party met him, he was a long-dead ghost). The Elf is unknown to the party, but she carries Bria's bow! Across the room is a Drow priestess.

As the party watches, the Elf sneaks silently across the room and steals a teleport chain from a platform. This is the same chain that the party found in Einerk's tomb. However, the Drow spots her! She hands the chain over to Einerk and the two flee. Outside the temple, the Drow appears to use psionic powers to attack the two. The elf falls. Einerk stops to pick her up and then activates some kind of magic item and disappears. At this point, the pool will shut off. Activating it again will not locate Einerk.

Beyond these caverns, the tunnel merges with hewn corridors and the party will find themselves in an upper level hallway with frequent balconies overlooking a massive cavern. As they gaze into the city below, they will be approached by Einerk (the ghost). He will tell Bria the following:

“Kera saved my neck on more than one occasion. I wish I could have been there to save hers when she needed it.”

Then he will remove her psychic mark and the fog will reappear.

The “Kera” he refers to is Bria's elven grandmother. Her full name is Keraerareth = Ker (spell) + aera (Singer/Song) + reth (Arcane).

(see map “TrialBigby.jpg”)

Timeline:

• July, 1074: Bigby born (puts his current age at 34)
• December, 1085: Goblin invasion in the hinterlands
• February, 1086: “Now” (Bigby is 11 years old)
• Autumn of 1092: Father dies (Bigby is 18)

• Arrive in street near shop
• Bustling crowds
• Shop is unlocked and unoccupied
• or…
• Shop is closed and B will have to unlock it (key around his neck!)

• Three sturdy, transparent crystal vials each with a rune:
  • Fire (hot to the touch, strongly sealed with something akin to melted wax)
  • Positive (bright light, heals a couple hp when held)
  • Negative (deep dark, sucks life/hp when held)
• Fourth vial (identical construction) is empty, but has Water rune
• Each vial has two small runes on the mouth: Air and Earth
• All vials radiate powerful magic

• Visitor #1: Woman wanting potion of forgetfulness (for the young Aramil)
• Visitor #2: Mom (calls to Bigby in the street; surprised that Dell's not here)
• Visitor #3: Villain - looking for father - battle!

• Detailed log books in back - Bigby remembers no such items. In fact, dad kept it all in his head!

Battle details:

• Bebiliths (3)
• + Bonespider swarms (2)
• + Hobgoblin Wizard from Dungeon (bumped to 15th)
• Additional challenge: Plenty of normals present

First Draft:

Will meet Djinn whom he summoned way back a long time ago. Djinn will tell of Shadow's attempt to contain the elemental lords. The party may deduce that Shadow is learning from Prison Plane 121 about how to imprison “gods”. The Djinn will also reassure Rod about Matchitisiu and explain that it is the Lord of Chaos who came to him in the desert.

Myth target: p.143 - Rakshasas, Rama, Ramayana, Ran (Norse), Rashnu, Ravana

Second Draft:

Waran (Vincent's father) crashes at a Imhotep shrine to seek healing after his battles with the Goblins. He is on his way to House Mercedes to seek revenge. — can't be done because Waran isn't dead…

When the party emerges from Roderick's trial, they will come out of the underworld caverns and emerge into the sun of Godsland. They will still be unable to plane shift home, but will be visited by Matchitisiu in a more direct form than ever before.

Bigby must fill his “water” vial with the rainwater, and then combine the contents (including the vials) to summon Roderick's Djinn.

The Police - Secret Journey

Upon a secret journey
I met a holy man
His blindness was his wisdom
I'm such a lonely man

And as the world was turning
It rolled itself in pain
This does not seem to touch you
He pointed to the rain

You will see light in the darkness
You will make some sense of this
And when you've made your secret journey
You will find the love you miss

And on the days that followed
I listened to his words
I strained to understand him
I chased his thoughts like birds

You will see light in the darkness
You will make some sense of this
And when you've made your secret journey
You will find the love you miss

You will see light in the darkness
You will make some sense of this
You will see joy in this sadness
You will find this love you miss

And when you've made your secret journey
You will be a holy man

Sum 41 -

Children of the beast embrace,
To scorn and hate the human race,
Consume the light that hugs the earth,
And aid the womb in giving birth,
To a group that will appear,
And guide you through this final year,
The dark armies then will come,
When the sum is 41

Bigby,

When the battle is over, as Roderick and the others tend to the wounded, you and the others quickly realize that the “normals” haven't simply fled - they are gone. Even the corpses of the handful that were slain during the battle have vanished without a trace.

You find yourself in a ghost town - only the ghosts have left…

Eventually, when it is clear there is nothing else needed, you wander back into your shop - or rather, your father's shop. The rows of vials beckon and remind you of simpler times. Times before you had to worry about insane god-things intent on conquering the multiverse. Before dragons burned entire towns to find one man. Before the dismembered dead tried to claim you as one of their own.

A quick scan of the inventory reveals that your father had a fondness for the same core ingredients that you had. Not surprising, since you learned the basics of alchemy from him.

But then the incongruity of the potions in the back pushes its way back into your thoughts. How could he have made a potion of forgetfulness. You're not entirely certain how to make one yourself and your father never used more than simple cantrips designed to amuse people at parties. Was he a secret wizard? Or was he working with someone else?

Is this place even “real”? It is clearly a fiction manufactured by the gods, but the detail of its “reality” is so complete, it *must* have been based at least partly on the real world. But which parts?

With these thoughts muddling your mind, you meander back and forth between the back storage room and the front showroom, trying to decide where to begin your search for answers. The journals seem the obvious place, but the potions deserve a second look…

As you step back into the showroom one more time, you spot an empty vial on a center shelf under the main counter. At first, it seems like all the rest, but a closer look shows that it is a thicker, more pure glass. On the shelf above it (and about a foot to the left) is another, similar vial - but this one contains what appears to be a white liquid. Directly below it, on the floor shelf (two shelves down) is a third vial with a black liquid. A fourth vial to the left on the middle shelf seems to glow with an unnatural orange color and completes a diamond pattern.

You pull the empty vial from its shelf to get a closer look. While it stands only six inches tall, it has a heft that startles you. The glass is thick and flawless and its shape is perfectly symmetrical. As you hold it up to examine it closer, you notice a large rune faintly etched into one side. It is hard to read unless the light hits it just right, but you eventually identify it as the ancient symbol for “Water”. On opposing sides of the unstoppered mouth are two smaller (but more visible) etched runes for “Earth” and “Air”.

The white vial is next. Even though it appears to be full, it feels lighter than the empty “Water” vial. And what you took to be liquid is, in fact, either a rigid solid or some manner of uniform vapor. A rune on the side is the ancient symbol for “Life”. It is closed with a glass stopper and sealed with wax - or something like wax.

The black vial seems the obvious next one to inspect, but you hold off - fearing what it might hold. Instead, you grab the orange one. It is stoppered in a similar fashion to the “Life” vial and holds a tiny, flickering maelstrom of what appears to be concentrated fire. However, the vial itself is cool to the touch.

Then the black vial… With your mage hand power, you carefully pull it off the sheld. As you suspected, it holds the rune for “Death”. It is sealed like the two others and inside, the blackness is as unchanging as in the “Life” vial.

While it is difficult to see through the waxy seals, it appears that the three sealed vials also contain smaller runes for “Earth” and “Air” on their mouths.

As you puzzle over these mysterious vials, the door bell jingles. Into the showroom steps Laryn, the woman who had earlier asked about the potion of forgetfullness. But as she meets your gaze this time, you see none of the nervousnes or guilty that you saw (imagined) before. Instead, she has a slight smile as if she knows a secret that she is eager to divulge.

“Your father ran a nice shop, Bigby. The potion he sold to Laryn saved the life of the young Aramil. Without it, the demons of his violent origin would have ruined him.”

Your mind races back through your earlier conversation. You don't recall mentioning that you were in any way related to Dellpol.

“It is a shame,” she continues unimpeded by your confusion, “that nobody could help his uncle in the same way.”

She pauses briefly, but you hesitate before asking your first question.

“You'll need those vials later. Keep them safe. My sister will be able to help you once you are out of this cursed place.”

Her smirk changed to a grimace as she said those last words. And then she steps close to the counter and reaches across toward your face.

“You have something here,” she says as she smoothly wipes a finger across a spot in the center of your forehead. A small, warm trickle of water drips down the side of your nose as the constant pain (that you had almost forgotten about) subsides.

“What's in a name?” she asks. Your mind is muddled and uncertain. Was that a question directed to you?

The door bell jingles you back to reality. She is already out the door and moving quickly left toward the alley by the time you react to her final words. An answer, perhaps, to her cryptic question.

“Nobody knows.”

You lift the counter to follow her, and then notice behind you, under the door to the storage room, a fog seeping in.

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