General Game Discussion

[kore]

Thanks Phil! My day is slammed, though.

[reiphil]

sure no one wants to come? we need the player...

[gabe]

Hey guys, just wanting to make sure if there's an eberron game today. At least by my count its an eberron game. Is it a Danu game instead?

[kore]

Dec 5, 2010 11:58:42 GMT -8 gabe said:

Hey guys, just wanting to make sure if there's an eberron game today. At least by my count its an eberron game. Is it a Danu game instead?

Yes, game on. I have your character sheet.

[kore]

Nov 29, 2010 12:48:06 GMT -8 kore said:

One of the things we should decide this Sunday is who is getting the +3 Magic Amulet. Josan is still using a +1 item that helps his healing, but I think an extra +2 to his NADs would more than offset the extra healing compared to the damage prevented to himself. Gabe is using an array so he's not strutting around, like some of us, with above average defenses.

Still needs to be resolved.

[kore]

Argh, just realized I didn't use the High Crit. damage from my fullblade for those two crits I had yesterday.

[earthwizard]

Dec 6, 2010 11:12:35 GMT -8 kore said:

Argh, just realized I didn't use the High Crit. damage from my fullblade for those two crits I had yesterday.

Eh - I took a move, and standard action while I was dazed.

These things happen when we have a full table.

[kore]

The new developments in the campaign have really got me thinking. I hope you guys are willing to explore some of the thoughts I have on what happened to Shaelas Tiraleth and the inhabitants of the current area of Thelanis we occupy.

[kore]

David, do you think you could provide a transcript of the poems from the feywild? During his trance (rest) Aeron'eth poundered all that had transpired, he is becoming more convinced that the poems are a necessity to unraveling the mysteries of what happened in Thelanis.

After the last encounter the phrase 'the wise know friend from foe' sticks out and he is admantly convinced that there are some very literal passages to the poem.

I remember phrases like 'let art and image point the way', 'the key is only this, obey', and 'the wise are not beguiled', but I don't remember the order or if I'm quoting them correctly, so if we could have it, the poem, readily available, perhaps as its own thread, for discussion we might be able to play out the meanings of some of the passages in context of everything we've already explored and hopefully better utilize the poem throughout the complex we're exploring.

A lot of this area has been more cerebral, with things aren't what they appear (the bridge, the cliff, the lamia, etc.) and I believe we might be able to think our way through some of these encounters instead of always fighting. We did well at the beginning with the three ladies and the deadly campsite (opening the eye) but then we got bogged down with the pool trap and the sun dial for a bit and I went crazy on one of the games.

Edit: I think there is a phrase about the wise strategizing. Hmm.

[kore]

Has anyone heard how Gabe is doing?

[kore]

*bump*

David, any response to my post from 23 December?

[David]

I'll type out the poem when I get a chance.

[kore]

Edit: the premise of this post is incomplete or incorrect, based upon some clarification and discussion during session, and I will be placing a new analysis in a later post. It has been left here for posterity.

Like lustful swain or panicked child
Who beg another's gentle hand...

There is something that has bothered me since we passed the three statues (obviously the subject of the verse above): that cave was quite small. I brushed off this curiosity as just a simple rock formation through which the path led.

It seems fortunate that the following was fresh on my mind when we saw the camp and avoided it and then found the obelisk with the eye on it:

They see the harm in comfort's lies,
And seek to open weary eyes.

I'm sure we saved ourselves much pain.

Then there were Elfstar's observations, having just been here, that things were not as he left them. To this I attributed some magical time differential.

Also, was the pleasant site of Shaelas Tiraleth in the distance, though seperated by an expanse of Mournland mist. My hope was that these ruins would provide a way to reach my home.

Next is the still sun in the sky. Thinking back to the presupposed time differential, I assumed we were experiencing time incredibly slowly, though the lack of shadows was still puzzling. This should have been the moment to return to the poem; whether we did or not I don't actually remember, but if we did we still did not come to any useful conclusion.

Nevertheless, we moved on until we reached the shadow clock room and the tapestries, which included the scene of the distant siege on Shaelas Tiraleth. Also was the portal containing two versions of my history, both emotionally stirring. But the task at hand did not afford time to dwell long on those things. I haven't determined if the clock puzzle is what was being referenced in this verse, but it makes some sense:

While knowing not the time to shun,
The fools must find themselves undone.

The game room seems to be referenced here, though the strategy seems to be important in this entire place:

The wise must ever strategize;
They never play, unless to win.

Finally, we found our way to the room where we encountered our dopplegangers. Along with the vision I experienced just prior to the darkness and attack, the following rings clearly to me:

When darkness falls and dreams portend
The rising of a fearsome foe
The fool, swift striking, meets his end.
The wise know friend from foe.

Now, determined to search the poem for its clues, I thought first of the following and have concluded that much of what we are experiencing is illusion, we are beguiled by it:

The fool delves heedless through the wild.
The wise are not so soon beguiled.

I believe the beautiful site of Shaelas Tiraleth is false, an illusion only as substantial as it is portrayed on a tapestry. The differing verisons of my encounters with the rakshasas may or may not be real, but based upon their similarly emotive appeal, they cannot be trusted. If I am correct, this place has imprisoned our minds, we are not on a cliff with a view of Shaelas Tiraleth but still within a cave, to which the statues were an entrance, surrounded by a vast illusion, with its unchanging sun that casts no shadows...

Count you the shadows, watch the sun,
The wise know where they stand;

Now we are left with the following:

Let art and image point the way.
Abandon all you think you know,

...the tapestries contain some useful information for this place...

For common sense leads fools astray.
The key is simply this: Obey.

...having the key is not enough to simply open the door, of which we have yet to encounter. For whatever reason, the art (tapestry) and image (that specific to the "key") will point the way.

And then...

You've fought your way, you've risked Demise,
To view the ivy heart within.
Now as the soul within you dies,
This knowledge is your only prize:
You'd never have come, were you truly wise.

I have yet to determine the meaning of this phrase except that it is meant as a threat of some foregone conclusion that we will die here and will be filled with regret as we do. And most interesting is the capitalization in Demise, perhaps a reference to the one we also know as Dennae, whose treachery we've encounted and whom we've killed a few times. This place is some mechanation of hers, she is "[t]he rising fearsome foe".

[kore]

Well based upon our discussion about the Feywild/Thelanis, the facts that the sun isn't moving and there are no shadows cast by us would not cause Aeron'eth to question such features and wouldn't necessarily lead him down the line of thought that brought about a few of his conclusions. So I'm going to ret-con a bit.

This means that some of the emotions and suspicions about this place are fundamentally the same as they were during/after the previous session.

[kore]

I do have the Tattoo of the Unlucky in our treasury since the previous session, so it was definitely not given to Josan.