Orbs Discussed
There have been many orbs discussed or found.
First, orbs of many kinds have power in Dierde, in fact it is a constellation 04 | Earth - The Orb for the fourth month representing the element of Earth.
The most important orbs found by the Wild Cards has been the Gems of Tharizdun, for which at least 333 are supposed to exist in the multiverse.
Orb Found in Pradam's Hat was a Gem of Tharizdun, unknown world. In the property of Ursa and the Netheril Nexus.
Orb found with Beholder was a Gem of Tharizdun, aka the Orb of Eberron. (I NEED TO CLEAN/CONSOLIDATE THIS). It is currently held by Sas in the same Bast's Brass Orb which holds the next orb.
Orb of Toril was the first Gem of Tharizdun the party found as it was given to Sas from Bast. In the property of Sas in the Brass Orb.
Orb of Mystara was in the possesion of Bargle, according to recent tales Jeets and his party retrieved it and gave it to Ursa and the Netheril Nexus
Professor Orbs are magic items which hold the sentient memories of intelligent people who become experts on a topic and want to preserve those memories and research. Currently the party is in possession of two of them. Professor Umbercresct who would like to return home, but is willing to be a part of the adventure for a while first. And Professor Meklan of Toril that they freed from their first side mission and met up with as they dug up the corpse of Viggie Storr where Captain Meklan hid the orb knowing the party would find it there.
also, in Session 064: Fighting Pollution Report:
The Professor Orb , Professor Meklan of Toril says he heard them talking and interjects. He says he knows a bit about what used to be Outding Refuge , the creatures known as Spellweaver s which is rare since most knowledge of them has long been wiped out of existence. The orb is one of the very few that knows anything about them since he hid. They believe they created everything, in a way with a spell that they have long sought to reverse. Bastion asks if they had something to do with the forge, and the orb says they created the forges. They were once the mightiest of spell-casters. With their 6 arms they could cast multiple spells at the same time. It is believed by those who would know about them that they used to exist in many realms across the multiverse, and planned to recreate all of reality. They cast a mighty spell that destroyed all their settlements across the multiverse. These 5-sided pyramids known as Nodes. Captain Meklan hid this orb from Vecna who was the one trying to erase all knowledge of these creatures across all realms. This is why no one knows about them.
Orb of Dragonkind an artifact referenced, not related to the Gems of Tharizdun.
ORB in Session 025: Tharizdun Report: As Basalt's Magic Ball is placed they see a very faint glow in the filagree near it, but it barely lasts. As Shadow in the Snow explores below it is noticeably warmer than the caverns. The warmth of those on the ship and below decks is around 72 degrees. The ship has a Gentle Repose type of effect so that food and the Wood of the ship does not decay. The ship also has enough oxygen for anyone on it or in it. This does not make it a submarine. Maybe there is a way to make such a ship able to go underwater… Sas W.T. Rayce takes out the ball and puts back in the Bag of Holding . She pulls out the Brass Orb of Toril of Bast into the box. As she does so the Light begins to go through the filaments, and Bastion Bladesinger knows the ship is powered, as the hat notifies it is Fly ready. Bastion Bladesinger : “may I? Sas W.T. Rayce : are you going to remove it? Bastion Bladesinger : yeah. Hat: ship is not ready to Fly , power source has been removed. Bastion Bladesinger investigates the Orb of Toril . He sees all the runes on the orb. (To Bastion Bladesinger ): as you investigate the orb you recall hearing of all types of orbs, but nothing comes to mind at this time about such an orb. However you do see a very thin line that seems to encricle the sphere and a single bit of runes that breaks that circle. The runes are not one you can read, but you know they are of the same alphabet used by Celestial and other such languages. He asks if anyone knows “Celestial ” and Calliope Galanodel offers her assistance, so he hands it over to her and Sas W.T. Rayce is watching everything with the orb. Calliope Galanodel reads the runes, she then says out loud: “It looks like a name… Tharizdun .” The word sparks some thoughts in some, almost all have heard of Tharizdun . Tharizdun is known by many names; The Dark God, , The Elder Elemental Eye, The Ebon God, He of Eternal Darkness, Lord of Decay, The Ender, the Patient One, He Who Waits, the Anathema, the Father of Elder Evils, the Author of Wickedness, the Eater of Worlds, the Despised, the Undoer, the Lost God. He is the boogieman. In the beginning there were fights and battles between the “Gods ” and the “Primordial s” (the nature of elements made manifest). And before them was Tharizdun . He was given a Crystal of pure evil which he was supposed to plant in the Astral Plane , but instead he put it at the edges of the Astral Plane and that grew to be the Abyss . He is mad, he seeks destruction. Calliope Galanodel has also heard in the past that he is possibly responsible for the corruption of the Unseelie Court of the Feywild in the past. After she says the name, the top half of the orb opens and rises into the air. Inside of the orb was a strange glowing “world”. You can see the world, and strange flickers of that which covers it – a strange yellow and green glow or a dark black and purple. All while Shadow in the Snow investigated the lower decks trying to see if her magic detection could find anything interesting… As she goes through and finds a lock box. There are supplies, food, and all types of things down there. There wasn’t anything exposed glowing. In the Captain quarters there is a little lockbox. As she comes up to the top deck is when Calliope Galanodel said the word and the orb revealed its secret. She recognizes the orb and pulls out her Coin of Bast , which has a slight glow. At this point the spell wanes and the glow disappears. The orb: the initial white light disappears and they notice the globe inside with the strange magic around it. The base of the orb is still in Calliope Galanodel ’s hand and the top of the Brass floating above with this floating “world” inside. As the party looks they see movement inside of this world. It is not a recognizable world for any of this group. Its continents do not match those known of Dierde . At this point Calliope Galanodel remembers she was given the glove from the Elder, she was worried to wear it at the “statue”, and so much had happened since then – so she remembers it and she puts it on. As she puts the glove on her hand it disappears, the glove disappears. She puts this hand on the top part of the orb and she gets some background on the orb. • As she holds it, she learns that the orb part is the “Orb of Bast ” and the item inside is different. The orb is a protector for the “world” of Toril inside. The light that they see is that world’s Feywild , the dark mist is that world’s Darkfell. It is a Gem of Tharizdun , and there are 333 such gems that are needed (it is said) to release Tharizdun , aka “The Chained God”. • The immediate history she learns is how this world orb was in the ship and there was a moment when Bast got on the ship, put it in her Orb of Bast protection and looked for someone to hold it. She found Sas W.T. Rayce and gave it to her when she was being a hermit. She stares at it and then finally looks to Sas W.T. Rayce : Calliope Galanodel : “Does the name Bast sound Familiar ?” Shadow in the Snow ’s look now focuses squarely on Calliope Galanodel and Sas W.T. Rayce responds: “Yes” Shadow in the Snow : “What do you know of Bast ?” Calliope Galanodel : “Why are you looking at me? Am I supposed to not say it out loud?” Shadow in the Snow pulls out The Coin of Bast and puts next to the orb, and it shows how closely the two objects look related. Shadow in the Snow : “I had a Dream about Bast . I was told that Sas W.T. Rayce had the other piece of the puzzle and I’m supposed to find a city connected to the orb.” Calliope Galanodel : “Sas W.T. Rayce , do you remember anything about Bast ?” Sas W.T. Rayce : “She visited me in a dream, much more a vision. She told me to find a city and that people would help and to definitely not lose the orb. Shadow in the Snow and I already discussed how we both had such Dreams .” Calliope Galanodel : “ As I learned this is the orb of Bast and the world inside is the world of Torill. It has a Feywild in here, and a Shadow in the Snow plane and the world. And everything I’m getting from this is bad. It’s not good. Something is bad about this. There is a Gem in there. The Gem of Tharizdun and if all these gems get together - bad stuff is going to happen. He can be let go from his imprisonment. If someone is asking you to put these together and Cities to take these things… “ “I think this Tharizdun is in this world.” Barlo gets curious. But first, when the word Torill was said it triggered some memories in Bastion Bladesinger from his studies: Torill. Not too much you would know, but the term comes up with the Netherii -- an ancient race of people who were responisble for such grand magics, such as the mythallars. They supposedly came from another world and the term Torill come up Clarification: the world is a Gem . Bast put the world in the Orb of Bast . She was trying to hide it and found Sas W.T. Rayce . Bast seems trying to hide this orb. And then Shadow in the Snow comes up to Barlo , “I found this box, can you open it?” Calliope Galanodel gives the orb back to Sas W.T. Rayce , she pushes the top back down and then puts it back into her shell. Barlo investigates the box, it is locked.
ORB Session 026: The Ziggurat of Tharizdun Report: Sas W.T. Rayce talks about how she met Bast and was on her plane. Bast said the orb has powers, but to use the spells, it offers it can cause one to go insane. She said we need to take it to the City in the Mist . It needs to be delivered to the Pharoah there. There is time. Not sure why us, but it was crazy. LATER: Conversation (overheard) "Bargle , so, what now? We have searched this area, and that orb is not to be found." "I realize that. I don't know how it could have been removed. That orb should have been in the ship or somewhere around here, but with the other deific artifacts stored in this temple, I would have assumed it would be in here. "Why not just the orb you have to get back? "If I just wanted to go back to Mystara , I could have done that at any time since I got this orb that holds my Realm's power -- I'd leave that behind. All that was and will be, but that would mean I'd have to sacrifice the orb. I have yet to find a way to return with the orb. That's why it's so important to find another one. I was sure this one would be the easiest to get. "Hey, now that the winter issue at that island is handled, maybe we can try to find that kid. Didn't you say his hat might have an orb to Vader's Realm? "Venger 's Realm. " he corrects him., "And it is possible it is in that magic hat of his. I suppose that is one trail we can go down. All I know is that hiring this merc outfit has drained a majority of my financial resources. I suppose we can take the ship as a "prize" -- we can take that to Arcane Order and see if they will fund the excursion to Outding . besides -- the rumor is that they have built a bit of a magic research facility there now. Maybe the rumors of a Mystical Forge on that island are true. "I know my contact from Philander said they had a Forge out there, but it is in control by the local village. She said to leave that one alone for now, but then again, I haven't heard from Vyerith in some time. She was supposed to leave via Neyer , but she never made it there, and it seems her contact from the Road never made it either. He was lost at sea. Fine… I'm done with this place. Let's go see if we can find this Pradam kid; even if he doesn't have the orb, I know he has some very interesting items anyways. "
ORB Session 027: The Infamous Bargle Report: Shadow in the Snow comes up to him, "What are you doing down here?" Satyr : "Sigh. So, pretty much what it comes down to is I am a warlock of Tharizdun . I was to help out that little Warlock, ex-wizard find the orbs." Shadow in the Snow : "what orb?" Satyr : "Each world is an orb, eventually when the end of a world, they become an orb. At that moment, all the magic in that world is now there. Every time you cast a spell or use magic -- you pull from The Weave , but by using that magic, you actually add to The Weave as well. Imagine you have a bowl, and you fill it with sand. It is finite; only so much would pour out -- but with magic, you can make that sand continue to pour out indefinitely. Same with magic -- the more you use it, the more you create. At the end of any Universe, and there is always an end -- there is a weave. That weave is power. My patron needs 333 such worlds to exist and to end to ultimately be freed." Shadow in the Snow : "how many are there now?" Satyr : "hard to say. With such a thing, it is always fluid. It's timeless almost; all I can say is that it's always just about getting the next one. And I realized when you showed up -- I was already about to get betrayed by Bargle as he was just about getting power for himself from them." Shadow in the Snow : "why are you being so chatty?" Satyr : "Well, because your friend there asked me to stop, and at that moment, I was done fighting. To be honest, I'm not too worried about myself. I helped him to get down here as I was tasked to do. He got what he wanted out of this place. Well, his patron will be able to come back at least." Shadow in the Snow : "Tharizdun ?" Satyr : "His patron is the corpse you came down here through." Calliope Galanodel : "Who is that, though?" Satyr : "That's the Archfey corpse up there. It seemed when your goddess came down here to get the orb; she was able to let some of his essence get out. The cat goddess came here to get that orb. My understanding was she wants that power to help out someone or something. So that was able to help him out, so Bargle 's patron got what he needed - he'll be able to accumulate power and come back." Someone asked: "Where did Bargle go?" LATER: Bastion Bladesinger puts on the hat, Sas W.T. Rayce puts the Orb of Toril into the ship -- its magic spreads out. The hat reminds Bastion Bladesinger to Fly . He pulls out the rods on the ship's wheel to go up and back in to go down. LATER: They land the Flying Ship . Sas W.T. Rayce takes back the orb.
ORB Session 037: Jacoby & Jeets at the Keep Report: Jeets ;"The elder of the vale. A lot has gone on in the three years you were gone. I've lost a bit of time with the Feywild , I know how that feels. " Barlo is checking bodies "what happened to your old crew?" "we were doing jobs for Lars and others. Came across Bargle , heard you had a run in with him. He killed Cellymas and Talibron. They died in battle. After we took him down he turned into a Lich and we haven't been able to find him. We found this orb on him. These orbs have a world in them and they hold power. They come about because Dierde , this Realm -- which was once the Realm of Torill, when Toril died and was destroyed a long forgotten spell put in place by the ancient Netherese triggered and it preserved the world in its final days as an orb. This orb is actually a "gem of Tharizdun" and if 333 are brought together it can free Tharizdun . And when a world becomes a Gem , it appears in another Realm where it whispers to those seeking power. It will guide them to cast this spell turning their realm into a Gem in its final days, all that for them to be granted power and knowledge. For every realm he whispers seeking such people seeking power. And long ago in Toril he whispered to the ancient Netherese , convinced them to cast the spell and gave them great power and knowledge. Then when the end of that world came, from whatever cause it was frozen as a Gem . That Gem came here and so did those Netherese , who casted the spell here. If a world has 333 of these gems appear it can lead to the end of all things. We have come across a few of them now. We got Bargles, and turns out that Pradam's hat held one such Gem , which seemed to grant it some of its powers. We've protected them two." Barlo : "Pradam isn't Dead ?" Jeets : "He's doing good, he retired from adventuring. He's working with Lars at his research facility." Shadow in the Snow : "so that's why Bargle was talking about looking for Pradam Estorich ." Jeets : "Probably. He came across our path, and we took him down. Seems we delivered the killing blow to turn him into a Lich . But that meant he dropped all his gear. so we got his stuff." Shadow in the Snow : "So you got two of these orbs now?" but Jeets continues: "The problem is there is more they can do with these orbs. We have also been looking more into this Arcane Order . As you saw, our old friend, Jeets there -- they have a ritual to join the order to prove you have the potential to become a powerful Wizard , loyal to their cause. Shadow in the Snow : "What is it?" Jeets : "They use some form of time magic, some of the same magic used for the orbs. They grab the initiate on their deathbed to see if they can cast certain spells. The Clone spell, Simulacrum , and others to ensure they have a long lifeline. That was Jacoby's Clone , created long ago. so when you killed him, he returned to that body"
ORB Session 041: At Jacoby's Hideout Report: Shadow in the Snow : "And what does this have to do with the Arcane Order ?" Solec : "Well, the Arcane Order is able to get that book. There's other stuff in there that they might be able to manipulate for their own means. Shadow in the Snow : "About the Dragon ?" Solec : "just in general...to be fair, that I think that they would like to see the Dragon destroy this world. And if it destroys this world, that will become another orb. So for them, either way, it's to their favor. If they can get the powers to get out of it, of course." Barlo : "...so this book was created 17,000 years ago?" Solec : "in the time since then, probably he had been working on it for some time. What I was what he had told ...me was that ...I would have to go into hiding. And so ...I decided to get myself captured. I figured that would be the best place for me to hide and nobody to find me.
ORB Session 044: Purple Worm and Falling Baseboards Report: Solec thanks the party for rescuing him again. He says he wouldn't have wanted them to be in harms way. He went away to hide the spells in the book, but there was a protection for someone like Jacoby Drexelhand doing this. A third element to protect the secrets (time magic Captain Meklan used, how to use the orbs) -- a special Metal die. There are dangerous spells in the book.
ORB Session 048: Unexpected Side Mission in Toril Report: The rubble in the center, they realize is very possibly the same kind of statue that was at the Ziggurat of Tharizdun, below Skola Vale , and the cracked orb has a statue pieces of a Dragon 's claw similar to the one at the stairwell inside of the ziggurat. There is a moment when they look at the statue and when they turn their face it seems to possibly change to an elven face, but never if they stare at it straight on, or for any period of time. There is similar construction and material to the Ziggurat. They think about how Tharizdun is supposedly locked away by the gods. if 333 gems are brought together on the same plane and a ritual performed it can free him. No one recognizes the statue. Calliope climbs on Sas to touch the plaque above the door to learn something from it... her power is disconnected. It doesn't seem to be there or something. They start to touch the letters, fine crafted Gold . Sas begins to rattle off many words... nothing happens. Shadow detects magic from ring, door has Abjuration and Divination from door. The statue has the same. The orb holds some whispers and embers of the magic it once held. LATER: in the chest is an orb and other things.... 2300 cp, 1300 sp, 90 gp, 3 x diamond (50 gp), carnelian (50 gp), chalcedony (50 gp), 2 x jasper (50 gp), 2 x moonstone (50 gp), Spell Scroll (Light), Spell Scroll (Expeditious Retreat), Potion, orb the orb shoots up and it is a Professor Orb and speaks with the voice similar to Captain Meklan . He thanks them for rescuing him and moves out of reach. This is Professor Meklan of Toril Barlo goes to grab it. he got it. He speaks about how he knows their Meklan and how they are from Dierde , which is the future of this realmspace and so it is technically the future of Toril . He was locked up as he knows some powerful secrets. The other meklan was finding the orbs and began to unlock their secrets. He also spoke of going to find and protect his grandson. these orbs preserve the worlds in their final days... Dierde should not exist as the space was locked in the pocket orb. They learn the gods are weakened at Dierde . They are to stay away from the world to prevent the Dragon from wakening up.
ORB Session 049: Back to the Beholder Report: They then start working on a plan how to get up. Wild shape, Fly spells, and other methods were implemented to get everyone up. They flew up and saw a mess. Some silvery dust was everywhere and Dead beholders everywhere, many turning grey. In the midst of this dark room is a tall Black Obelisk with some strange pattern inside and it is looking like a Crystal so it can be seen through except this glowing network of lights inside. above it is another orb, like the Orb of Toril this one seems to be cracking around the equator with some purple electric storm coming out of it. The Beholder is staring at it and seems to be in the midst of some ritual. LATER: The ground ripples blue and purple, as like water. The Orb falls... tink tink tink and seems to still have some purple energy, the obelisk turns into solid obsidian-looking and no longer see through.. the other beholders begin to deflate and turn into some chalky salt grey material. Shadow finds the Orb . Bastion turns to stone. LATER: They start to prepare the Beholder for travel, as he wanted the whole corpse. It is too big for the Bag of Colding . They cast Gentle Repose on it. The Bugbear casts Feather Fall , says goodbye and leaps into the hole... slowly falls down. Bastion investigates the pile, Shadow looks for the orb. 20375 gp, 504 pp Art: 3 art objects worth 750 gp each [1 Bottle stopper cork embossed with Gold leaf and set with amethysts, 2 Silver-plated Steel longswords with Jet set in hilt] Magic Items (1): [1 Potion of Supreme Healing (10d4 + 20)] AO Signet ring body of a Dead Tiefling who had the AO ring. He also had a Burnt Book . Hard to get anything from it, but it does look like Meklan's handwriting. Shadow finds the orb. It is cracked and crackling with lighting of blue and purple at the equator with some type of possible tentacle coming out of it. LATER: Bast : "I can only communicate with you when you are near such an obelisk. I don't have long, so I must be quick..." Shadow: "Bast?" Bast : "That is one name I go by. Some time ago, I gave Sas an orb and now, Shadow, you have another of these powerful orbs. The one Sas has is very important to me, and I still need you do something for me. I had set things in motion for you to meet, to get what you need, to get you where I need you to go." Sas: "Do we have everything we need now?" Bast : "I need you to take that orb, and your Tabaxi friend has a way to use the ship to get you where I need you to go. At that point you can help me with something. Until then, it seems you are coming across these orbs and we need to do something about that. For now, you need to keep them hidden. You can even put that one in the same Bronze case as the other one. Sas: "Where do you need us to go? Bast : "I need you to go to the City in the Mist as I have my pharoah who needs the orb to be Reborn . It's taken me years to put things in motion so this can happen. I don't have the time to explain now." at that moment, they are Blinded by white Light and they are returned to the Beholder room. "Let's get out of here and mull it over on the travel."
ORB Session 054: The Party Takes to the Sky Report: They think of how Arktos touched it last time and it sparked him. They see the sand around them lift a bit... back to Bast 's desert. Three pyramids, the sphinx and Bast who seems to be talking, but no words. She is finally able to talk. She says her friend has the "key" and she needs them to get to the Deadlands . The party saw her Blink out. She tells them to find the mountain at an oasis in the desert, take the orb there. They know they need to get to the City in the Mist City in a Mirage myth where a guy had left that place. we talked about Adventurer Class Airship of the Vale, v.2 and how Bastion needs Dweomerflow and Fly to get the ship to Fly and his sage background gives him reason to believe that the druids who fixed the ship could assist. The Dweomerflow has a material component. The way it works is someone casts the spells with the Professor Orb in the "box". It will now Fly . A captain still needs to man the wheel. LATER: Ursa : "Yeah, we have created a bit of a lab to study all types of magic. We even found some old Mythallar s, and been able to create floating lands and to expand to higher grounds. Barlo : "Did you say the island is floating?" Ursa : "The island is how it was, but we created a larger island behind the main island and that is floating to keep our labs safe. The orbs we have been able to collect, with Jeets getting one off some Bargle character when you were gone. Then there was in Pradam's hat. We've been trying to study those too." Bastion: "and how is our house?" Ursa : "Oh it's fine, which we've been meaning to collect the back taxes, you do owe about 30 gp in taxes." LATER: Everything gets loaded up, "Where we going?" Shadow remembers her letters... Captain asks about the spells, and the hat. Bastion lets him borrow it. The Professor Orb , Professor Umbercresct gets in the box. Bastion casts the spells. The Gem turns to dust and smoke, Fly is channeled into Professor Umbercresct and the magic starts to Light up the veins, and Dweomerflow at 5th level then has the ship lift up, with a lurch. the blue stones underneath are lit. The captain picks it up pretty quick. People on the ground are amazed.
ORB Session 057: Blue Dragon Attacks Report: oh, the book holds Karsus ' Avatar -- the real spell, the one he was to perform that day and not the one I replaced it with. Only in Dierde will such magic Work as the god's blocking of such high level magic no longer exists, it's complicated. The point is that high level magic as the Netherese once performed can once again be done, although this is not common knowledge at all. Most of those spells are lost, but it might be possible to use the spell to use the orbs and create new realms. I've been trying to find other ways to create such rebirth - but all the ways I've tried have failed. he starts to cast a spell, at the time Bastion was unaware of the spell. It was a Modify Memory and it seems in present time Grognard has released the spell to return the true memory. He goes and tells the team. He tells them how this was a released memory to replace a lecture he thought he once had. They tell him about their experience. They also briefly bring up the Professor Orb version of Professor Meklan of Toril .
ORB Session 058: Kobolds and Conspiracies Report Message from Ursa to Bastion "We're still looking at these jars, we think may have .. at Skola Vale we discussed those orbs, and then we heard you had one that is possibly breaking." bastion: "yes" Ursa: "We are genuinely curious about these things, and we heard you may be passing by. If you want we can possibly take that one off your hands to see if we can keep it safe. Just an idea. Just wanted to throw it by you. Also, We're working on a new communication device so you can keep up with others, especially as we don't trust the T.W.I.T.T.E.R. service." Bastion: "I hear it might be terrible. Okay, ..." He tells the others, how they think they can keep it safe. The party says they trust Ursa and Lars. Bastion also learns about the situation with the Harpy. — Session 55: The Siren's Call Report Jeets: "Yeah, that's part of it for me. They seem to keep trying to find all these different things. Shadow: "Is there any residual magic in that cracked orb? Bastion: "What do you mean they keep trying to find all these different things... Like, have you collected other orbs for them? Jeets: "They already have two. One we got from Bargle, see... that's (he seems to have a bit of mummbles and thoughts).. We got that one and then we found the one Pradam Estorich happened to have in his hat. I mean they haven't been exactly looking for those, but there have been various other artifacts that they have hired us from time to time to look for, investigate or find. Bastion: "Can you get me a list of these artifacts? Shadow: "Maybe they all tie in together somehow... Jeets: "I'd have to check, I don't know off the top of my head all the items. I don't recall too much connection, but I can check my notes. oh, speaking of which. he reaches in his bag, which does appear to be a Bag of Holding, and pulls out a Sending Stone and hands it over, then says: "so we can keep in touch and I can send you that list. I know Ursa is working on a Mirror-based communication system, but now I'm not trusting that. The reason she is pushing different governments towards that is by telling people that Morenars Neyers' T.W.I.T.T.E.R. service is to not be trusted, besides just being overpriced. She has been telling people that she believes Morenars is using it to spy on all the messages being sent, but if that's possible then why wouldn't she be doing that with hers? I am getting a bit of an "accusation is a confession" thing going on. I mean she... well she - She has had us looking quite a bit into a Wizard, I'm sure you have heard of Tharros? Bastion/Shadow: "Yes. Jeets: "He hasn't been seen in over 3 years and yet she's having us constantly look into reports about him, with no explanations. Shadow: "Do you know much about the orbs? Jeets: "I had Pradam do some research on it since the one we found in his hat supposedly looks to be the one for his home realm, and so he was looking for a way to get back to it. Shadow pulls out the cracked Orb found with Beholder and asks: "What do you think she can get out of this one? Is it still magical? Is it something she can manipulate? Jeets: "That, I don't know. What I would say is if you told her you were going to let her have it and now decide not to, she might get suspicious. Something to be aware of as well. I've been keeping my suspicions close to the cuff. and not until this conversation have I really put some of these pieces together. Bastion: "How soon until you can get us that list? Jeets: "I don't have my notes on me, but I'll have to review them. I will definetily get that to you as soon as I can. But seriously, don't let her know of your suspicions, especially since we might be wrong -- I don't even... I mean there are various things I am suspicous about, but like how this whole even here works to her benefit. Now she is going to have a whole colony of kobolds to mine under Outding. Bastion: "So she could be the one who sent the Dragon after us, huh? Jeets: "That's what I'm wondering, what I'm worried about. It could be just that she wanted the Dragon out of the way and figured you could take it down. Bastion: "Or it takes us down and she gains access to another orb. Jeets: "Another orb and down goes another group of adventurers she may worry could discover what she is up to. and that's even if we are correct. For all we know it is Lars trying to put her up as the front to keep suspicions off of him, or who knows? I am just not certain of anything right now.
Session 060: Was It Ursa the Whole Time? Report Ursa tries to obtain the broken orb Ursa : "... and to be fair, I also think that you should finish the the little questing for the little sand goddess, because I think that might be helpful. And and I wasn't lying before, I do think that I can help handle the situation with that orb before it blows up on you. Shadow seems to really dislike her arrogance. Barlo : "well, what's our mission right now as the head that way to take care of that business so ... Shadow: "but we're not doing it because you told us to that we're doing it because we want to do it. Ursa : "So now. So now that the cards are on the table, as I said, I would like to help you with that orb <then looks over at Bastion> e are still working on those bottles. And so if you would still like to be interested in that research, I can help you with those as well. But as I said, I think the orb is the one thing that needs to be handled before the thing blows up. later: Ursa : "So if you guys would like to come back and have dinner, that's fine. I am going to get back to Work . I think we've had a lot of discussions. Like I said, I would still like to take care of that glowing orb before it blows up in pocket. But if you want to hold on to it, I guess that's on you. later Well, it's daytime. We can't do that right now. I just, like. I just think it's funny that, Goodness, why am I not finding that stuff anywhere? Is it the stuff that we found in here? Put in chat what it is that you're selling? I can't. You can't type. here it is. The way that this thing was doing, stuff was not fantastic. And we have a ton of gems. We have this vial of perfume. it's. I found that from April 15th. Wow. Bugbear Rat lock helps us. Was that when we were in the basement? What was the holder? What was the holder? The guy at the pool? Yeah. Three art objects, a bottle stopper, cork embossed something, two Silver plated Steel , long sorts. Wow. Yes. Potion of Supreme Healing, where we got the crackling orb. That's right. we have two of these that we didn't sell and two Silver plated Steel long sort of. The Jet said, Wow, what? Wow. Later We didn't really roleplay it much, there was nothing suspicious on Lars. Ursa seems to be looking at Shadow more than others, and she doesn't try to make them uncomfortable. She also warns them to not leave the orb on the island too long if they are not going to hand it over, but of course she would like to handle that for them. Bastion asks Lars about it -- He looks at her and says how she is the one with the info. They seem to hold a lot of power and she told him that it was coming apart and the research shows it might blow up and cause mass devastation. It is more her bailiwick. later Lars: "well. if it blows up, it will take out probably a very large city At the very least, as I understand it, you there's a lot of power in those orbs. My understanding is the orbs are pretty much all of the magic of a entire world inside of them. I believe the other orb you have is in fact the world of Toril , the one that is about to blow up is Eberron. We have the orb from Pradam that was his homeworld, https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Earth#Modern_History They also say how they have Bargle 's homeworld Mystara orb.. They ask how she will stop it from blowing up, she says she will first take it to another plane and study it there... the party discusses what to do. uncertainity. They bring up a Zone of Truth , and so Ursa reminds them that the city actually regulates magic in the border now. One needs a license, but they have been given some leeway due to their connection with her. These rules were instituted after Viggie was arrested as there were fears of magic attacks. This is normal in most big Cities and it was Lar's idea, which Shadow prompted them to answer. she talks about a guest room that is linked to the pier for fast travel.
ORB Session 061: Back to the Crypt, Again Report **back to the digging party** Shadow continues to tell bad jokes. I won't do that to you here... ;) As they continue to dig they find the Wood of the casket, just as the rest of the party returns. They use the crowbar and open the wooden casket. He's a few years Dead , with a bit of smell, not overwhelming. He is in normal clothes. Bastion casts Prestidigitation . A Familiar orb flies up from it, a Professor Orb and as it flies up it speaks in Captain Meklan 's voice as it turns out to be the Professor Meklan of Toril orb they rescued. he says: "You finally came and got me." Barlo : "Shhhh... keep your voice down Bastion: "Did they turn you into a ... thing? into an orb? Meklan Orb: "Actually, I haven't met you before, I've met the rest of these guys. My name is Captain Meklan . Shadow: "How did you end up here? Meklan: "Well your Captain Meklan , after you got me out of that box, he found me and planted me in this box, saying group would come and dig me up one day. He was very certain that you would do this and I tried to get out of it, but hh was certain I would not. Shadow: "So Meklan put you in here? Meklan: "yes. He was pretty certain that some of the stuff that I happen to know would be helpful to whomever would dig me up Sas: "What stuff is that? Meklan: "That I don't know, specifically. He was very enigmatic in how he spoke to me and it seemed that he kept going on about how he had tried different things and different ways. And he's been very careful in what he'd said to me at that point. The only thing he really wanted me to know was that things that I know could be helpful to the people that would dig me out. They realize it was the orb they found when separated from Bastion Shadow: "Do you know anything abou tthe body you are buried with? Meklan: "Not really. I guess my understanding was that he was the. The mayor that lived here on this island. He, Sorry. I guess he tried to kill some other mayor of this island. Sas: "Yeah, he did. Bastion casts Identify on the Professor Orb , and learns it is a Professor Orb who has extensive knowledge on a god named Vecna , an unknown species known as Spellweaver , Plane of Time , an entity known as Dendar the Night Serpent , and the Dragon Prophecies . They are sentient echos of a person who is an expert on various fields. They are used in universities and such to pass on knowledge. Bastion asks about the prophecies, and if he had talked to Ursa . No. Shadow asked if he knew or met Tharros the Wanderer . no. Bastion asked about the prophecies, and so the orb asked what specifically he wanted to know, he answered "When they will happen." Prophecies don't Work like that. Meklan: "The draconian prophecies do not actually give any timeline on when they're supposed to unfold. And the truth is, they're very complicated. Bastion: "it's cool if you don't know, man. LATER: She sees him as a mayor who had care, but was not a hard-worker. She sees right before she got to the island where he lost the mayorship at the celebration. He was sad, and began to hear voices at some time. Seeing visions of Jergal . Jergal is a strange cross between a praying mantis and a Human , or other times like a Lich or mummy type, he tends to have a long face/skull. Sometimes with 2, 4, or 6 arms. Long arms with strange claw-like hands. It talks about strange things at play as the god Vecna is Dead . Jergal seems intent on finding something on this island that he believes will help his goal that he long ago thought was never going to occur so he abandoned it. Viggie is constantly following Ursa and taking copious amounts of notes on what she is doing. Jergal felt she was a threat. Then one night he is awoken out of bed and arrested. Then the trial and the execution... the glove also notifies her that he was not in the room that night, although he had worked on plans to kill her. So there was enough evidence to convict him. The lore of the body continues to tell her more... She sees the crypt open, and a younger Meklan is opening the box. He is talking to the orb and puts the orb in the box, then closes it again. As they leave, Shadow passes a perception check. They return home and discuss some plans and what they learned. They are thinking of how they can handle the Ursa situation. They also discuss the new orb and his knowledge base. Barlo asks if the Spellweaver have anything to do with The Weave ... it didn't seem as if it was roleplaying. The spellweavers are not a known species. Barlo was thinking of Dweomerflow and how it powers the ship or Soul Gem , a lost spell. Bastion thought about how Ursa claims she got her information from the journals, especially about the Draconic prophesies.. even though that wasn't what was said. She just said around 3 years ago she across something about them and that sparked her actions. He was thinking she never met the orb or Meklan and yet she is talking about it... They debate if she is just being secretive or nefarious. Shadow wonders if any of their actions had anything to do with that... at this time there is no reason to think so. The orb does ask at some point if they have any questions. Bastion asks if it knows how to stop the Dragon , it replies that it doesn't know as much about the dragons as much as it knows about the prophecy. He asks if the orb can tell them the prophecy, and he says it isn't as clear as that. It is built on piecemeal and seems to be ever-changing. Shadow asks what the cataclysmic event is, he replies there is not just one -- but it is whatever teh reader seems to think it might be. It is based historically on writings by dragons who observed the universe. and since then it has been altered by many. There are many volumes written on it and is very complex. Barlo asks if there is a link to it happening on other worlds. It replies that other worlds do have their versions, one of the most notable that he knows of is the one from a world called Eberron who has their own and it is just as irritatingly vague. Barlo asks if that realm still exists, the reply is that the orb believes most all other realms no longer exist. The way for most to visit other realms from this realm seems to be using time travel. Barlo asks about his past. He was a past version of Meklan from Torill -- like an alternate version of him, but close enough it's like a multidimensional version. Barlo asks if he will stay and he says their Meklan wanted him to. because he believes that there's information that if you guys ask the right questions, you might learn to help in some way to something cool. Put him in a saddlebag or something...
ORB Session 062: The Dead Beholder Report: The Death Tyrant is unaware as it looks at the party and says You are the ones that killed him. My other self. This makes a little bit of sense, and I think you have that orb with you. And that is probably why I'm stuck here. — The Undead Creature As they enter, and take in the sites both Calliope Galanodel and Bastion Bladesinger freeze. They feel something pull deep within them. LATER: Barlo tells them to push it with the sword. It is heavy, but doesn't react. He then suggests putting the sword in the hand... just as Shadow has picked up the bowls and stuff... As they put it in the hand... they also see that there is a large "cavity" in the center of the chest. but they put the sword in the hand and nothing occurs. they discuss how they have two orbs, in the same container, and one is cracking. There are two professor orbs they have as well. Bastion and Shadow check their memories... shadow gets a nat20... She remembers ... A Tabaxi "Guest at Home" when she was younger, he came back and had long been gone. He seemed to not have aged much. He fell into a hole and fell for a very long time, saw different colors of Light . On a beach he met a construct that sounds like this that could perform Magic Spells . She remembers it was called a warforged that told him he was from a different realm and it sent him back. It was constructed for a major war there. 6' tall, around 300 lbs. The creature was mostly destroyed from the fall. The large eye has an arrow hole. The teeth may hold value, they can get 15 lbs. Guidance and help -- the next hour is spent getting it all. value of 500 gp They wonder if there is a reward for this killing or if someone wants the parts... Barlo climbs the obelisk to draw out the patterns on the ground. (Dex check, with Guidance : he has a drawing of the marks. 2 garnets each worth 100gp are found by bastion. they wonder who they just pissed off. Bastion gets another Message from Meklan..."i do believe the Meklan Orb can be helpful. Time is funny, .... need to check my notes" Shadow wisdom (18) to put pieces together about recent events... Beholders manifest reality with Dreams . it seems that something caused it to manifest a new Beholder here. the pipes have Crystal rings Barlo takes the construct, by dragging it... they get to the top... Kyleanne is able to manifest again. "I would say that it seems you guys have once again fixed whatever's going on here. It seems that I'm able to control myself better." Barlo : "Something else messing with an obelisk down there. where that last Crystal was. She then told them the Ghost was the real Ursa
ORB in Session 063: Crossing the Streams Report:
ORB in Session 067: The Wizard's Cellar Report:
ORB in Session 069: The Mark of the Adventurer Report: Bast puts them in a protective bubble of magic force to protect them as the ring in the sky is breaking apart Sending shards of Crystal from space. They tell the party that they may be recepients of a magic "mark" that will enable them to assist in repairing the Orb of Eberron , Crafting a Gem to revive Gearlock , and to recraft their weapons as they are being tracked by Ursa . Barlo doesn't care about his weapon. Shadow asks what will change. The weapons will be altered, and they should be better than what they had before. The plan is to go to a Creation Forge, these are the Arcane Forge s of Eberron long used to create the Warforge . Now outlawed and banned to use. Bast says she believes they come from the Spellweaver s and are to be found in almost every realm. Sas asks about the Mark, and they learn about Eberron 's marks which are a part of their societies. A rare sign of one gifted with magical powers in various ways. There seems to be a mark unlike any other, it is the Mark of the Adventurer . The mark is supposed to help with the forging here and other things... The party realizes that they are inside of the Orb of Eberron in its final days, this destruction was slowly occuring within the orb they hold. Barlo asks if they help stop the destruction, does that affect the orb. Bast says they believe it might since the party is not of this realm, and by being of another realm it could change things. Even a minor influence, such as helping defeat the Lord of Blades . Bast is going to leave soon, but wants to give them some time if they have questions as she won't be able to speak with them again until they get to her home. The only reason she could do this was due to the very large obelisk at the Floating Keep of Tharros Near Outding . Sas remembers how they are sure of how to get to the City in a Mirage . She asks if they are on the right track. Bast said she hadn't pushed them to go too fast as the journey is just as important as it helps them gain power which they will need when they get there. The food is enough to stave off Exhaustion and to fill up their HP. They were warned to not take a nap or long rest here as it can be dangerous. Sas asks if there is anything else they need before they get there, Bast says not really - besides the orb. She thanks her for not using the orb's power as it is dangerous and corrupting. They are of unlimited power, but dangerous. later: Barlo asks if the forge is where the warforged are created. Yes. he worries about the knowledge of that Creation and if it can happen in Dierde. He fears Ursa doing it. Bast says Ursa was seemingly trying such an event, with Gearlock. Shadow asks if that is why she wanted the orb, and Bast believes she did plan on using its power for such a ritual. Although Bast says it wouldn't have worked out the way Ursa would have wanted. The orb would have destroyed the island nation. It was damaged in the ritual Ursa had used with the Beholder. She looks at Amalgam who says he is sure he can repair the orb if the party do have the marks and can assist with the Silver Flame. later: Gearlock has an Enchanted Glyphstone so they will able to communicate with him. Gearlock had died, but his body somehow was being moved around realms it seems. The party here had spent over a decade to find him. and the Halfling planewalker NTO had a connection with Bast so she was able to secure this deal. Bast brings up they need to repair the Orb of Eberron as they will need 4 orbs for the ritual for the pharoah. Barlo asks who the Warforge are and who are they fighting and why. These Warforge are fighting for the Lord of Blades who wants to eradicate all other sentient life not Warforge. He has powerful connections to stop any powerful force here in stopping him, but by using people from another realm it is possible this can stop his forces. later: Now Amalgam says that he thinks that should Work. He takes them to another room that is encircled with magma. He then asks for the Orb of Eberron, which Sas hands over. He points to an apparatus where he wants the Silver flame put and the others start messing with some dials elsewhere. Later: Amalgam throws in some various items and jewelry, then with some crystals from Eberron he starts to Work on the orb. Hammers things and works on it. Later: Shortly after this the Warforge has a spark of Silver flame from the apparatus shoot into the orb. That should do it, he says as he hands over the orb to Sas. He then reminds them how Ursa has been tracking them and he is sure he can reforge their weapons. He is able to magically transform the weapons into new weapons, now with additions of the purplish Mournlode Dragonshard crystals Each has to strike a hammer during the process, and each time that Amalgam works on the Crafting he has to put various items and jewelry into the "flames" Bastion gets a +2 Rapier of Eberron, +1d8 Thunder damage, Parry +1 AC when wielding Callipe gets a +2 shortsword of Eberron, radiant (1d8), glancing blow Shadow gets a +2 Longbow of Eberron, +2d8 force Sas gets a +2 Club of Eberron, poison 1d8, Crit on a 19/20 Barlo gets a Claws of Eberron +2, acid 1d8, crits on a 19/20 He needed a common magic item to do this one as it was changing the shape of the weapon-- he threw it in the fire. Throws a red Gem into the fire, then holds a different orb into the flames. This one takes all the Silver flame and has electric sparks. then tells the Halfling NTO they are ready. She plays some notes on the flute and they go back to Dierde...
ORB in Session 070: Exploding Fire Skeletons Report: Shadow asked about Jacoby. There were Notes on Spell Weaver Experiment about another experiment, a six-armed creature he sought to take powers from -- it failed in some way. He used an Orb of Mystara to take the regenerative properties and long life from this creature... It might be since the creature had already done 6 splits. He was studying the Dragon Prophecies , including ideas to use the orbs for... one he felt might hold promise was to find an "empty" orb, one where the orb still held together but the realm had gone pass it's point of singularity somehow... the WIP: Orb of Athas. He would Teleport the Dragon into that world. and later: Shadow looks at the Notes of Tharros on Sargassos . It seems he was studying the Sargassos and there are Notes of Tharros on Bogan about the Ashla & Bogan as the Bogan are working with the Arcane Order to hunt down various magic artifacts. Through them he has learned how the Sargassos has no time and people get stuck there for an eternity. He had plans to put the Dragon into the "empty" orb (WIP: Orb of Athas) and then shoot that into the Sargassos , as he does not want his reality and realm destroyed.
ORB in Session 075: Wild Dreams of a Bard Report: Bast then looks down as if trying to think or solve a riddle and then she takes a deep breath: "There was a point that your Friends interacted with, some type of ward that he had put up, that Ward had allowed him to kind of start entering their psyche. So he's been traveling through your various Dreams . It looks like if you hadn't thought of me and at the time that he was communicating with you, you would not have been here. That's what caused it. He's creating these opening channels through the plane. It seems that he's, found a way, a place to hide his own personal Dream plane. And he's been hiding there, waiting for something to bring him back. And I think he thinks you guys are the way. In fact. It looks like the only thing that's protecting this is the fact that I gave you that. The casing for those orbs. she looks down again and then continues: "Okay, so you have lost your book. And it looks like he's been able to grab the Professor Orb . But as long as you have that orb, he can't fully complete his ritual. I don't think I can really help you much here. He's in a place that I can't get to. But I can tell you, that the orb that you hold, that holds that world of Toril , that's important for him. He. You had an have. You have that hand. He's already taken that from you.. Somehow as you Sleep , he's he's able to take some of the physical objects from you, except for that, or because of the casing that it's in. But it looks like he did steal the book from you. And he stole the Professor Orb , and he stole that hand. I Fear that he's going to try to get you guys into another, into his plane to perform a ritual. later: Bast : "Your Friends will need to protect you, that orb is the one thing he still needs and it is protected by the orb as long as you are alive. But if he's able to get you into his plane, into his Dream plane, it's dreamscape. Sorry. At that point, if he's able to defeat you guys, he will be able to take it from. And that will put everything at risk, not just for my people, but for all of your people as well.
The Professor Orb , Professor Meklan of Toril says he heard them talking and interjects. He says he knows a bit about what used to be Outding Refuge , the creatures known as Spellweaver s which is rare since most knowledge of them has long been wiped out of existence. The orb is one of the very few that knows anything about them since he hid. They believe they created everything, in a way with a spell that they have long sought to reverse. Bastion asks if they had something to do with the forge, and the orb says they created the forges. They were once the mightiest of spell-casters. With their 6 arms they could cast multiple spells at the same time. It is believed by those who would know about them that they used to exist in many realms across the multiverse, and planned to recreate all of reality. They cast a mighty spell that destroyed all their settlements across the multiverse. These 5-sided pyramids known as Nodes. Captain Meklan hid this orb from Vecna who was the one trying to erase all knowledge of these creatures across all realms. This is why no one knows about them.
Orb of Dragonkind an artifact referenced, not related to the Gems of Tharizdun.
ORB in Session 025: Tharizdun Report: As Basalt's Magic Ball is placed they see a very faint glow in the filagree near it, but it barely lasts. As Shadow in the Snow explores below it is noticeably warmer than the caverns. The warmth of those on the ship and below decks is around 72 degrees. The ship has a Gentle Repose type of effect so that food and the Wood of the ship does not decay. The ship also has enough oxygen for anyone on it or in it. This does not make it a submarine. Maybe there is a way to make such a ship able to go underwater… Sas W.T. Rayce takes out the ball and puts back in the Bag of Holding . She pulls out the Brass Orb of Toril of Bast into the box. As she does so the Light begins to go through the filaments, and Bastion Bladesinger knows the ship is powered, as the hat notifies it is Fly ready. Bastion Bladesinger : “may I? Sas W.T. Rayce : are you going to remove it? Bastion Bladesinger : yeah. Hat: ship is not ready to Fly , power source has been removed. Bastion Bladesinger investigates the Orb of Toril . He sees all the runes on the orb. (To Bastion Bladesinger ): as you investigate the orb you recall hearing of all types of orbs, but nothing comes to mind at this time about such an orb. However you do see a very thin line that seems to encricle the sphere and a single bit of runes that breaks that circle. The runes are not one you can read, but you know they are of the same alphabet used by Celestial and other such languages. He asks if anyone knows “Celestial ” and Calliope Galanodel offers her assistance, so he hands it over to her and Sas W.T. Rayce is watching everything with the orb. Calliope Galanodel reads the runes, she then says out loud: “It looks like a name… Tharizdun .” The word sparks some thoughts in some, almost all have heard of Tharizdun . Tharizdun is known by many names; The Dark God, , The Elder Elemental Eye, The Ebon God, He of Eternal Darkness, Lord of Decay, The Ender, the Patient One, He Who Waits, the Anathema, the Father of Elder Evils, the Author of Wickedness, the Eater of Worlds, the Despised, the Undoer, the Lost God. He is the boogieman. In the beginning there were fights and battles between the “Gods ” and the “Primordial s” (the nature of elements made manifest). And before them was Tharizdun . He was given a Crystal of pure evil which he was supposed to plant in the Astral Plane , but instead he put it at the edges of the Astral Plane and that grew to be the Abyss . He is mad, he seeks destruction. Calliope Galanodel has also heard in the past that he is possibly responsible for the corruption of the Unseelie Court of the Feywild in the past. After she says the name, the top half of the orb opens and rises into the air. Inside of the orb was a strange glowing “world”. You can see the world, and strange flickers of that which covers it – a strange yellow and green glow or a dark black and purple. All while Shadow in the Snow investigated the lower decks trying to see if her magic detection could find anything interesting… As she goes through and finds a lock box. There are supplies, food, and all types of things down there. There wasn’t anything exposed glowing. In the Captain quarters there is a little lockbox. As she comes up to the top deck is when Calliope Galanodel said the word and the orb revealed its secret. She recognizes the orb and pulls out her Coin of Bast , which has a slight glow. At this point the spell wanes and the glow disappears. The orb: the initial white light disappears and they notice the globe inside with the strange magic around it. The base of the orb is still in Calliope Galanodel ’s hand and the top of the Brass floating above with this floating “world” inside. As the party looks they see movement inside of this world. It is not a recognizable world for any of this group. Its continents do not match those known of Dierde . At this point Calliope Galanodel remembers she was given the glove from the Elder, she was worried to wear it at the “statue”, and so much had happened since then – so she remembers it and she puts it on. As she puts the glove on her hand it disappears, the glove disappears. She puts this hand on the top part of the orb and she gets some background on the orb. • As she holds it, she learns that the orb part is the “Orb of Bast ” and the item inside is different. The orb is a protector for the “world” of Toril inside. The light that they see is that world’s Feywild , the dark mist is that world’s Darkfell. It is a Gem of Tharizdun , and there are 333 such gems that are needed (it is said) to release Tharizdun , aka “The Chained God”. • The immediate history she learns is how this world orb was in the ship and there was a moment when Bast got on the ship, put it in her Orb of Bast protection and looked for someone to hold it. She found Sas W.T. Rayce and gave it to her when she was being a hermit. She stares at it and then finally looks to Sas W.T. Rayce : Calliope Galanodel : “Does the name Bast sound Familiar ?” Shadow in the Snow ’s look now focuses squarely on Calliope Galanodel and Sas W.T. Rayce responds: “Yes” Shadow in the Snow : “What do you know of Bast ?” Calliope Galanodel : “Why are you looking at me? Am I supposed to not say it out loud?” Shadow in the Snow pulls out The Coin of Bast and puts next to the orb, and it shows how closely the two objects look related. Shadow in the Snow : “I had a Dream about Bast . I was told that Sas W.T. Rayce had the other piece of the puzzle and I’m supposed to find a city connected to the orb.” Calliope Galanodel : “Sas W.T. Rayce , do you remember anything about Bast ?” Sas W.T. Rayce : “She visited me in a dream, much more a vision. She told me to find a city and that people would help and to definitely not lose the orb. Shadow in the Snow and I already discussed how we both had such Dreams .” Calliope Galanodel : “ As I learned this is the orb of Bast and the world inside is the world of Torill. It has a Feywild in here, and a Shadow in the Snow plane and the world. And everything I’m getting from this is bad. It’s not good. Something is bad about this. There is a Gem in there. The Gem of Tharizdun and if all these gems get together - bad stuff is going to happen. He can be let go from his imprisonment. If someone is asking you to put these together and Cities to take these things… “ “I think this Tharizdun is in this world.” Barlo gets curious. But first, when the word Torill was said it triggered some memories in Bastion Bladesinger from his studies: Torill. Not too much you would know, but the term comes up with the Netherii -- an ancient race of people who were responisble for such grand magics, such as the mythallars. They supposedly came from another world and the term Torill come up Clarification: the world is a Gem . Bast put the world in the Orb of Bast . She was trying to hide it and found Sas W.T. Rayce . Bast seems trying to hide this orb. And then Shadow in the Snow comes up to Barlo , “I found this box, can you open it?” Calliope Galanodel gives the orb back to Sas W.T. Rayce , she pushes the top back down and then puts it back into her shell. Barlo investigates the box, it is locked.
ORB Session 026: The Ziggurat of Tharizdun Report: Sas W.T. Rayce talks about how she met Bast and was on her plane. Bast said the orb has powers, but to use the spells, it offers it can cause one to go insane. She said we need to take it to the City in the Mist . It needs to be delivered to the Pharoah there. There is time. Not sure why us, but it was crazy. LATER: Conversation (overheard) "Bargle , so, what now? We have searched this area, and that orb is not to be found." "I realize that. I don't know how it could have been removed. That orb should have been in the ship or somewhere around here, but with the other deific artifacts stored in this temple, I would have assumed it would be in here. "Why not just the orb you have to get back? "If I just wanted to go back to Mystara , I could have done that at any time since I got this orb that holds my Realm's power -- I'd leave that behind. All that was and will be, but that would mean I'd have to sacrifice the orb. I have yet to find a way to return with the orb. That's why it's so important to find another one. I was sure this one would be the easiest to get. "Hey, now that the winter issue at that island is handled, maybe we can try to find that kid. Didn't you say his hat might have an orb to Vader's Realm? "Venger 's Realm. " he corrects him., "And it is possible it is in that magic hat of his. I suppose that is one trail we can go down. All I know is that hiring this merc outfit has drained a majority of my financial resources. I suppose we can take the ship as a "prize" -- we can take that to Arcane Order and see if they will fund the excursion to Outding . besides -- the rumor is that they have built a bit of a magic research facility there now. Maybe the rumors of a Mystical Forge on that island are true. "I know my contact from Philander said they had a Forge out there, but it is in control by the local village. She said to leave that one alone for now, but then again, I haven't heard from Vyerith in some time. She was supposed to leave via Neyer , but she never made it there, and it seems her contact from the Road never made it either. He was lost at sea. Fine… I'm done with this place. Let's go see if we can find this Pradam kid; even if he doesn't have the orb, I know he has some very interesting items anyways. "
ORB Session 027: The Infamous Bargle Report: Shadow in the Snow comes up to him, "What are you doing down here?" Satyr : "Sigh. So, pretty much what it comes down to is I am a warlock of Tharizdun . I was to help out that little Warlock, ex-wizard find the orbs." Shadow in the Snow : "what orb?" Satyr : "Each world is an orb, eventually when the end of a world, they become an orb. At that moment, all the magic in that world is now there. Every time you cast a spell or use magic -- you pull from The Weave , but by using that magic, you actually add to The Weave as well. Imagine you have a bowl, and you fill it with sand. It is finite; only so much would pour out -- but with magic, you can make that sand continue to pour out indefinitely. Same with magic -- the more you use it, the more you create. At the end of any Universe, and there is always an end -- there is a weave. That weave is power. My patron needs 333 such worlds to exist and to end to ultimately be freed." Shadow in the Snow : "how many are there now?" Satyr : "hard to say. With such a thing, it is always fluid. It's timeless almost; all I can say is that it's always just about getting the next one. And I realized when you showed up -- I was already about to get betrayed by Bargle as he was just about getting power for himself from them." Shadow in the Snow : "why are you being so chatty?" Satyr : "Well, because your friend there asked me to stop, and at that moment, I was done fighting. To be honest, I'm not too worried about myself. I helped him to get down here as I was tasked to do. He got what he wanted out of this place. Well, his patron will be able to come back at least." Shadow in the Snow : "Tharizdun ?" Satyr : "His patron is the corpse you came down here through." Calliope Galanodel : "Who is that, though?" Satyr : "That's the Archfey corpse up there. It seemed when your goddess came down here to get the orb; she was able to let some of his essence get out. The cat goddess came here to get that orb. My understanding was she wants that power to help out someone or something. So that was able to help him out, so Bargle 's patron got what he needed - he'll be able to accumulate power and come back." Someone asked: "Where did Bargle go?" LATER: Bastion Bladesinger puts on the hat, Sas W.T. Rayce puts the Orb of Toril into the ship -- its magic spreads out. The hat reminds Bastion Bladesinger to Fly . He pulls out the rods on the ship's wheel to go up and back in to go down. LATER: They land the Flying Ship . Sas W.T. Rayce takes back the orb.
ORB Session 037: Jacoby & Jeets at the Keep Report: Jeets ;"The elder of the vale. A lot has gone on in the three years you were gone. I've lost a bit of time with the Feywild , I know how that feels. " Barlo is checking bodies "what happened to your old crew?" "we were doing jobs for Lars and others. Came across Bargle , heard you had a run in with him. He killed Cellymas and Talibron. They died in battle. After we took him down he turned into a Lich and we haven't been able to find him. We found this orb on him. These orbs have a world in them and they hold power. They come about because Dierde , this Realm -- which was once the Realm of Torill, when Toril died and was destroyed a long forgotten spell put in place by the ancient Netherese triggered and it preserved the world in its final days as an orb. This orb is actually a "gem of Tharizdun" and if 333 are brought together it can free Tharizdun . And when a world becomes a Gem , it appears in another Realm where it whispers to those seeking power. It will guide them to cast this spell turning their realm into a Gem in its final days, all that for them to be granted power and knowledge. For every realm he whispers seeking such people seeking power. And long ago in Toril he whispered to the ancient Netherese , convinced them to cast the spell and gave them great power and knowledge. Then when the end of that world came, from whatever cause it was frozen as a Gem . That Gem came here and so did those Netherese , who casted the spell here. If a world has 333 of these gems appear it can lead to the end of all things. We have come across a few of them now. We got Bargles, and turns out that Pradam's hat held one such Gem , which seemed to grant it some of its powers. We've protected them two." Barlo : "Pradam isn't Dead ?" Jeets : "He's doing good, he retired from adventuring. He's working with Lars at his research facility." Shadow in the Snow : "so that's why Bargle was talking about looking for Pradam Estorich ." Jeets : "Probably. He came across our path, and we took him down. Seems we delivered the killing blow to turn him into a Lich . But that meant he dropped all his gear. so we got his stuff." Shadow in the Snow : "So you got two of these orbs now?" but Jeets continues: "The problem is there is more they can do with these orbs. We have also been looking more into this Arcane Order . As you saw, our old friend, Jeets there -- they have a ritual to join the order to prove you have the potential to become a powerful Wizard , loyal to their cause. Shadow in the Snow : "What is it?" Jeets : "They use some form of time magic, some of the same magic used for the orbs. They grab the initiate on their deathbed to see if they can cast certain spells. The Clone spell, Simulacrum , and others to ensure they have a long lifeline. That was Jacoby's Clone , created long ago. so when you killed him, he returned to that body"
ORB Session 041: At Jacoby's Hideout Report: Shadow in the Snow : "And what does this have to do with the Arcane Order ?" Solec : "Well, the Arcane Order is able to get that book. There's other stuff in there that they might be able to manipulate for their own means. Shadow in the Snow : "About the Dragon ?" Solec : "just in general...to be fair, that I think that they would like to see the Dragon destroy this world. And if it destroys this world, that will become another orb. So for them, either way, it's to their favor. If they can get the powers to get out of it, of course." Barlo : "...so this book was created 17,000 years ago?" Solec : "in the time since then, probably he had been working on it for some time. What I was what he had told ...me was that ...I would have to go into hiding. And so ...I decided to get myself captured. I figured that would be the best place for me to hide and nobody to find me.
ORB Session 044: Purple Worm and Falling Baseboards Report: Solec thanks the party for rescuing him again. He says he wouldn't have wanted them to be in harms way. He went away to hide the spells in the book, but there was a protection for someone like Jacoby Drexelhand doing this. A third element to protect the secrets (time magic Captain Meklan used, how to use the orbs) -- a special Metal die. There are dangerous spells in the book.
ORB Session 048: Unexpected Side Mission in Toril Report: The rubble in the center, they realize is very possibly the same kind of statue that was at the Ziggurat of Tharizdun, below Skola Vale , and the cracked orb has a statue pieces of a Dragon 's claw similar to the one at the stairwell inside of the ziggurat. There is a moment when they look at the statue and when they turn their face it seems to possibly change to an elven face, but never if they stare at it straight on, or for any period of time. There is similar construction and material to the Ziggurat. They think about how Tharizdun is supposedly locked away by the gods. if 333 gems are brought together on the same plane and a ritual performed it can free him. No one recognizes the statue. Calliope climbs on Sas to touch the plaque above the door to learn something from it... her power is disconnected. It doesn't seem to be there or something. They start to touch the letters, fine crafted Gold . Sas begins to rattle off many words... nothing happens. Shadow detects magic from ring, door has Abjuration and Divination from door. The statue has the same. The orb holds some whispers and embers of the magic it once held. LATER: in the chest is an orb and other things.... 2300 cp, 1300 sp, 90 gp, 3 x diamond (50 gp), carnelian (50 gp), chalcedony (50 gp), 2 x jasper (50 gp), 2 x moonstone (50 gp), Spell Scroll (Light), Spell Scroll (Expeditious Retreat), Potion, orb the orb shoots up and it is a Professor Orb and speaks with the voice similar to Captain Meklan . He thanks them for rescuing him and moves out of reach. This is Professor Meklan of Toril Barlo goes to grab it. he got it. He speaks about how he knows their Meklan and how they are from Dierde , which is the future of this realmspace and so it is technically the future of Toril . He was locked up as he knows some powerful secrets. The other meklan was finding the orbs and began to unlock their secrets. He also spoke of going to find and protect his grandson. these orbs preserve the worlds in their final days... Dierde should not exist as the space was locked in the pocket orb. They learn the gods are weakened at Dierde . They are to stay away from the world to prevent the Dragon from wakening up.
ORB Session 049: Back to the Beholder Report: They then start working on a plan how to get up. Wild shape, Fly spells, and other methods were implemented to get everyone up. They flew up and saw a mess. Some silvery dust was everywhere and Dead beholders everywhere, many turning grey. In the midst of this dark room is a tall Black Obelisk with some strange pattern inside and it is looking like a Crystal so it can be seen through except this glowing network of lights inside. above it is another orb, like the Orb of Toril this one seems to be cracking around the equator with some purple electric storm coming out of it. The Beholder is staring at it and seems to be in the midst of some ritual. LATER: The ground ripples blue and purple, as like water. The Orb falls... tink tink tink and seems to still have some purple energy, the obelisk turns into solid obsidian-looking and no longer see through.. the other beholders begin to deflate and turn into some chalky salt grey material. Shadow finds the Orb . Bastion turns to stone. LATER: They start to prepare the Beholder for travel, as he wanted the whole corpse. It is too big for the Bag of Colding . They cast Gentle Repose on it. The Bugbear casts Feather Fall , says goodbye and leaps into the hole... slowly falls down. Bastion investigates the pile, Shadow looks for the orb. 20375 gp, 504 pp Art: 3 art objects worth 750 gp each [1 Bottle stopper cork embossed with Gold leaf and set with amethysts, 2 Silver-plated Steel longswords with Jet set in hilt] Magic Items (1): [1 Potion of Supreme Healing (10d4 + 20)] AO Signet ring body of a Dead Tiefling who had the AO ring. He also had a Burnt Book . Hard to get anything from it, but it does look like Meklan's handwriting. Shadow finds the orb. It is cracked and crackling with lighting of blue and purple at the equator with some type of possible tentacle coming out of it. LATER: Bast : "I can only communicate with you when you are near such an obelisk. I don't have long, so I must be quick..." Shadow: "Bast?" Bast : "That is one name I go by. Some time ago, I gave Sas an orb and now, Shadow, you have another of these powerful orbs. The one Sas has is very important to me, and I still need you do something for me. I had set things in motion for you to meet, to get what you need, to get you where I need you to go." Sas: "Do we have everything we need now?" Bast : "I need you to take that orb, and your Tabaxi friend has a way to use the ship to get you where I need you to go. At that point you can help me with something. Until then, it seems you are coming across these orbs and we need to do something about that. For now, you need to keep them hidden. You can even put that one in the same Bronze case as the other one. Sas: "Where do you need us to go? Bast : "I need you to go to the City in the Mist as I have my pharoah who needs the orb to be Reborn . It's taken me years to put things in motion so this can happen. I don't have the time to explain now." at that moment, they are Blinded by white Light and they are returned to the Beholder room. "Let's get out of here and mull it over on the travel."
ORB Session 054: The Party Takes to the Sky Report: They think of how Arktos touched it last time and it sparked him. They see the sand around them lift a bit... back to Bast 's desert. Three pyramids, the sphinx and Bast who seems to be talking, but no words. She is finally able to talk. She says her friend has the "key" and she needs them to get to the Deadlands . The party saw her Blink out. She tells them to find the mountain at an oasis in the desert, take the orb there. They know they need to get to the City in the Mist City in a Mirage myth where a guy had left that place. we talked about Adventurer Class Airship of the Vale, v.2 and how Bastion needs Dweomerflow and Fly to get the ship to Fly and his sage background gives him reason to believe that the druids who fixed the ship could assist. The Dweomerflow has a material component. The way it works is someone casts the spells with the Professor Orb in the "box". It will now Fly . A captain still needs to man the wheel. LATER: Ursa : "Yeah, we have created a bit of a lab to study all types of magic. We even found some old Mythallar s, and been able to create floating lands and to expand to higher grounds. Barlo : "Did you say the island is floating?" Ursa : "The island is how it was, but we created a larger island behind the main island and that is floating to keep our labs safe. The orbs we have been able to collect, with Jeets getting one off some Bargle character when you were gone. Then there was in Pradam's hat. We've been trying to study those too." Bastion: "and how is our house?" Ursa : "Oh it's fine, which we've been meaning to collect the back taxes, you do owe about 30 gp in taxes." LATER: Everything gets loaded up, "Where we going?" Shadow remembers her letters... Captain asks about the spells, and the hat. Bastion lets him borrow it. The Professor Orb , Professor Umbercresct gets in the box. Bastion casts the spells. The Gem turns to dust and smoke, Fly is channeled into Professor Umbercresct and the magic starts to Light up the veins, and Dweomerflow at 5th level then has the ship lift up, with a lurch. the blue stones underneath are lit. The captain picks it up pretty quick. People on the ground are amazed.
ORB Session 057: Blue Dragon Attacks Report: oh, the book holds Karsus ' Avatar -- the real spell, the one he was to perform that day and not the one I replaced it with. Only in Dierde will such magic Work as the god's blocking of such high level magic no longer exists, it's complicated. The point is that high level magic as the Netherese once performed can once again be done, although this is not common knowledge at all. Most of those spells are lost, but it might be possible to use the spell to use the orbs and create new realms. I've been trying to find other ways to create such rebirth - but all the ways I've tried have failed. he starts to cast a spell, at the time Bastion was unaware of the spell. It was a Modify Memory and it seems in present time Grognard has released the spell to return the true memory. He goes and tells the team. He tells them how this was a released memory to replace a lecture he thought he once had. They tell him about their experience. They also briefly bring up the Professor Orb version of Professor Meklan of Toril .
ORB Session 058: Kobolds and Conspiracies Report Message from Ursa to Bastion "We're still looking at these jars, we think may have .. at Skola Vale we discussed those orbs, and then we heard you had one that is possibly breaking." bastion: "yes" Ursa: "We are genuinely curious about these things, and we heard you may be passing by. If you want we can possibly take that one off your hands to see if we can keep it safe. Just an idea. Just wanted to throw it by you. Also, We're working on a new communication device so you can keep up with others, especially as we don't trust the T.W.I.T.T.E.R. service." Bastion: "I hear it might be terrible. Okay, ..." He tells the others, how they think they can keep it safe. The party says they trust Ursa and Lars. Bastion also learns about the situation with the Harpy. — Session 55: The Siren's Call Report Jeets: "Yeah, that's part of it for me. They seem to keep trying to find all these different things. Shadow: "Is there any residual magic in that cracked orb? Bastion: "What do you mean they keep trying to find all these different things... Like, have you collected other orbs for them? Jeets: "They already have two. One we got from Bargle, see... that's (he seems to have a bit of mummbles and thoughts).. We got that one and then we found the one Pradam Estorich happened to have in his hat. I mean they haven't been exactly looking for those, but there have been various other artifacts that they have hired us from time to time to look for, investigate or find. Bastion: "Can you get me a list of these artifacts? Shadow: "Maybe they all tie in together somehow... Jeets: "I'd have to check, I don't know off the top of my head all the items. I don't recall too much connection, but I can check my notes. oh, speaking of which. he reaches in his bag, which does appear to be a Bag of Holding, and pulls out a Sending Stone and hands it over, then says: "so we can keep in touch and I can send you that list. I know Ursa is working on a Mirror-based communication system, but now I'm not trusting that. The reason she is pushing different governments towards that is by telling people that Morenars Neyers' T.W.I.T.T.E.R. service is to not be trusted, besides just being overpriced. She has been telling people that she believes Morenars is using it to spy on all the messages being sent, but if that's possible then why wouldn't she be doing that with hers? I am getting a bit of an "accusation is a confession" thing going on. I mean she... well she - She has had us looking quite a bit into a Wizard, I'm sure you have heard of Tharros? Bastion/Shadow: "Yes. Jeets: "He hasn't been seen in over 3 years and yet she's having us constantly look into reports about him, with no explanations. Shadow: "Do you know much about the orbs? Jeets: "I had Pradam do some research on it since the one we found in his hat supposedly looks to be the one for his home realm, and so he was looking for a way to get back to it. Shadow pulls out the cracked Orb found with Beholder and asks: "What do you think she can get out of this one? Is it still magical? Is it something she can manipulate? Jeets: "That, I don't know. What I would say is if you told her you were going to let her have it and now decide not to, she might get suspicious. Something to be aware of as well. I've been keeping my suspicions close to the cuff. and not until this conversation have I really put some of these pieces together. Bastion: "How soon until you can get us that list? Jeets: "I don't have my notes on me, but I'll have to review them. I will definetily get that to you as soon as I can. But seriously, don't let her know of your suspicions, especially since we might be wrong -- I don't even... I mean there are various things I am suspicous about, but like how this whole even here works to her benefit. Now she is going to have a whole colony of kobolds to mine under Outding. Bastion: "So she could be the one who sent the Dragon after us, huh? Jeets: "That's what I'm wondering, what I'm worried about. It could be just that she wanted the Dragon out of the way and figured you could take it down. Bastion: "Or it takes us down and she gains access to another orb. Jeets: "Another orb and down goes another group of adventurers she may worry could discover what she is up to. and that's even if we are correct. For all we know it is Lars trying to put her up as the front to keep suspicions off of him, or who knows? I am just not certain of anything right now.
Session 060: Was It Ursa the Whole Time? Report Ursa tries to obtain the broken orb Ursa : "... and to be fair, I also think that you should finish the the little questing for the little sand goddess, because I think that might be helpful. And and I wasn't lying before, I do think that I can help handle the situation with that orb before it blows up on you. Shadow seems to really dislike her arrogance. Barlo : "well, what's our mission right now as the head that way to take care of that business so ... Shadow: "but we're not doing it because you told us to that we're doing it because we want to do it. Ursa : "So now. So now that the cards are on the table, as I said, I would like to help you with that orb <then looks over at Bastion> e are still working on those bottles. And so if you would still like to be interested in that research, I can help you with those as well. But as I said, I think the orb is the one thing that needs to be handled before the thing blows up. later: Ursa : "So if you guys would like to come back and have dinner, that's fine. I am going to get back to Work . I think we've had a lot of discussions. Like I said, I would still like to take care of that glowing orb before it blows up in pocket. But if you want to hold on to it, I guess that's on you. later Well, it's daytime. We can't do that right now. I just, like. I just think it's funny that, Goodness, why am I not finding that stuff anywhere? Is it the stuff that we found in here? Put in chat what it is that you're selling? I can't. You can't type. here it is. The way that this thing was doing, stuff was not fantastic. And we have a ton of gems. We have this vial of perfume. it's. I found that from April 15th. Wow. Bugbear Rat lock helps us. Was that when we were in the basement? What was the holder? What was the holder? The guy at the pool? Yeah. Three art objects, a bottle stopper, cork embossed something, two Silver plated Steel , long sorts. Wow. Yes. Potion of Supreme Healing, where we got the crackling orb. That's right. we have two of these that we didn't sell and two Silver plated Steel long sort of. The Jet said, Wow, what? Wow. Later We didn't really roleplay it much, there was nothing suspicious on Lars. Ursa seems to be looking at Shadow more than others, and she doesn't try to make them uncomfortable. She also warns them to not leave the orb on the island too long if they are not going to hand it over, but of course she would like to handle that for them. Bastion asks Lars about it -- He looks at her and says how she is the one with the info. They seem to hold a lot of power and she told him that it was coming apart and the research shows it might blow up and cause mass devastation. It is more her bailiwick. later Lars: "well. if it blows up, it will take out probably a very large city At the very least, as I understand it, you there's a lot of power in those orbs. My understanding is the orbs are pretty much all of the magic of a entire world inside of them. I believe the other orb you have is in fact the world of Toril , the one that is about to blow up is Eberron. We have the orb from Pradam that was his homeworld, https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Earth#Modern_History They also say how they have Bargle 's homeworld Mystara orb.. They ask how she will stop it from blowing up, she says she will first take it to another plane and study it there... the party discusses what to do. uncertainity. They bring up a Zone of Truth , and so Ursa reminds them that the city actually regulates magic in the border now. One needs a license, but they have been given some leeway due to their connection with her. These rules were instituted after Viggie was arrested as there were fears of magic attacks. This is normal in most big Cities and it was Lar's idea, which Shadow prompted them to answer. she talks about a guest room that is linked to the pier for fast travel.
ORB Session 061: Back to the Crypt, Again Report **back to the digging party** Shadow continues to tell bad jokes. I won't do that to you here... ;) As they continue to dig they find the Wood of the casket, just as the rest of the party returns. They use the crowbar and open the wooden casket. He's a few years Dead , with a bit of smell, not overwhelming. He is in normal clothes. Bastion casts Prestidigitation . A Familiar orb flies up from it, a Professor Orb and as it flies up it speaks in Captain Meklan 's voice as it turns out to be the Professor Meklan of Toril orb they rescued. he says: "You finally came and got me." Barlo : "Shhhh... keep your voice down Bastion: "Did they turn you into a ... thing? into an orb? Meklan Orb: "Actually, I haven't met you before, I've met the rest of these guys. My name is Captain Meklan . Shadow: "How did you end up here? Meklan: "Well your Captain Meklan , after you got me out of that box, he found me and planted me in this box, saying group would come and dig me up one day. He was very certain that you would do this and I tried to get out of it, but hh was certain I would not. Shadow: "So Meklan put you in here? Meklan: "yes. He was pretty certain that some of the stuff that I happen to know would be helpful to whomever would dig me up Sas: "What stuff is that? Meklan: "That I don't know, specifically. He was very enigmatic in how he spoke to me and it seemed that he kept going on about how he had tried different things and different ways. And he's been very careful in what he'd said to me at that point. The only thing he really wanted me to know was that things that I know could be helpful to the people that would dig me out. They realize it was the orb they found when separated from Bastion Shadow: "Do you know anything abou tthe body you are buried with? Meklan: "Not really. I guess my understanding was that he was the. The mayor that lived here on this island. He, Sorry. I guess he tried to kill some other mayor of this island. Sas: "Yeah, he did. Bastion casts Identify on the Professor Orb , and learns it is a Professor Orb who has extensive knowledge on a god named Vecna , an unknown species known as Spellweaver , Plane of Time , an entity known as Dendar the Night Serpent , and the Dragon Prophecies . They are sentient echos of a person who is an expert on various fields. They are used in universities and such to pass on knowledge. Bastion asks about the prophecies, and if he had talked to Ursa . No. Shadow asked if he knew or met Tharros the Wanderer . no. Bastion asked about the prophecies, and so the orb asked what specifically he wanted to know, he answered "When they will happen." Prophecies don't Work like that. Meklan: "The draconian prophecies do not actually give any timeline on when they're supposed to unfold. And the truth is, they're very complicated. Bastion: "it's cool if you don't know, man. LATER: She sees him as a mayor who had care, but was not a hard-worker. She sees right before she got to the island where he lost the mayorship at the celebration. He was sad, and began to hear voices at some time. Seeing visions of Jergal . Jergal is a strange cross between a praying mantis and a Human , or other times like a Lich or mummy type, he tends to have a long face/skull. Sometimes with 2, 4, or 6 arms. Long arms with strange claw-like hands. It talks about strange things at play as the god Vecna is Dead . Jergal seems intent on finding something on this island that he believes will help his goal that he long ago thought was never going to occur so he abandoned it. Viggie is constantly following Ursa and taking copious amounts of notes on what she is doing. Jergal felt she was a threat. Then one night he is awoken out of bed and arrested. Then the trial and the execution... the glove also notifies her that he was not in the room that night, although he had worked on plans to kill her. So there was enough evidence to convict him. The lore of the body continues to tell her more... She sees the crypt open, and a younger Meklan is opening the box. He is talking to the orb and puts the orb in the box, then closes it again. As they leave, Shadow passes a perception check. They return home and discuss some plans and what they learned. They are thinking of how they can handle the Ursa situation. They also discuss the new orb and his knowledge base. Barlo asks if the Spellweaver have anything to do with The Weave ... it didn't seem as if it was roleplaying. The spellweavers are not a known species. Barlo was thinking of Dweomerflow and how it powers the ship or Soul Gem , a lost spell. Bastion thought about how Ursa claims she got her information from the journals, especially about the Draconic prophesies.. even though that wasn't what was said. She just said around 3 years ago she across something about them and that sparked her actions. He was thinking she never met the orb or Meklan and yet she is talking about it... They debate if she is just being secretive or nefarious. Shadow wonders if any of their actions had anything to do with that... at this time there is no reason to think so. The orb does ask at some point if they have any questions. Bastion asks if it knows how to stop the Dragon , it replies that it doesn't know as much about the dragons as much as it knows about the prophecy. He asks if the orb can tell them the prophecy, and he says it isn't as clear as that. It is built on piecemeal and seems to be ever-changing. Shadow asks what the cataclysmic event is, he replies there is not just one -- but it is whatever teh reader seems to think it might be. It is based historically on writings by dragons who observed the universe. and since then it has been altered by many. There are many volumes written on it and is very complex. Barlo asks if there is a link to it happening on other worlds. It replies that other worlds do have their versions, one of the most notable that he knows of is the one from a world called Eberron who has their own and it is just as irritatingly vague. Barlo asks if that realm still exists, the reply is that the orb believes most all other realms no longer exist. The way for most to visit other realms from this realm seems to be using time travel. Barlo asks about his past. He was a past version of Meklan from Torill -- like an alternate version of him, but close enough it's like a multidimensional version. Barlo asks if he will stay and he says their Meklan wanted him to. because he believes that there's information that if you guys ask the right questions, you might learn to help in some way to something cool. Put him in a saddlebag or something...
ORB Session 062: The Dead Beholder Report: The Death Tyrant is unaware as it looks at the party and says You are the ones that killed him. My other self. This makes a little bit of sense, and I think you have that orb with you. And that is probably why I'm stuck here. — The Undead Creature As they enter, and take in the sites both Calliope Galanodel and Bastion Bladesinger freeze. They feel something pull deep within them. LATER: Barlo tells them to push it with the sword. It is heavy, but doesn't react. He then suggests putting the sword in the hand... just as Shadow has picked up the bowls and stuff... As they put it in the hand... they also see that there is a large "cavity" in the center of the chest. but they put the sword in the hand and nothing occurs. they discuss how they have two orbs, in the same container, and one is cracking. There are two professor orbs they have as well. Bastion and Shadow check their memories... shadow gets a nat20... She remembers ... A Tabaxi "Guest at Home" when she was younger, he came back and had long been gone. He seemed to not have aged much. He fell into a hole and fell for a very long time, saw different colors of Light . On a beach he met a construct that sounds like this that could perform Magic Spells . She remembers it was called a warforged that told him he was from a different realm and it sent him back. It was constructed for a major war there. 6' tall, around 300 lbs. The creature was mostly destroyed from the fall. The large eye has an arrow hole. The teeth may hold value, they can get 15 lbs. Guidance and help -- the next hour is spent getting it all. value of 500 gp They wonder if there is a reward for this killing or if someone wants the parts... Barlo climbs the obelisk to draw out the patterns on the ground. (Dex check, with Guidance : he has a drawing of the marks. 2 garnets each worth 100gp are found by bastion. they wonder who they just pissed off. Bastion gets another Message from Meklan..."i do believe the Meklan Orb can be helpful. Time is funny, .... need to check my notes" Shadow wisdom (18) to put pieces together about recent events... Beholders manifest reality with Dreams . it seems that something caused it to manifest a new Beholder here. the pipes have Crystal rings Barlo takes the construct, by dragging it... they get to the top... Kyleanne is able to manifest again. "I would say that it seems you guys have once again fixed whatever's going on here. It seems that I'm able to control myself better." Barlo : "Something else messing with an obelisk down there. where that last Crystal was. She then told them the Ghost was the real Ursa
ORB in Session 063: Crossing the Streams Report:
Calliope touches the rune and she sees a battlefield, he was a commander. the eyes and sigil both have a slight glow, and she can see the additions and changes. Somehow he fell in the battle, lost. she gets awareness that it was buried for a long time, but then vanished -- just to appear under the church. The walls torn down and Ursa is leading people to set up the experiment. A Tiefling is given an orb from Ursa , and leaves. This warforged automoton was from Eberron. She realizes the dress and look of the Tiefling it seems to be the same one from the Beholder they fought meaning the orb they carry might be the one that Ursa gave the Tiefling .
She tells the party.
They discuss the four orbs they have heard of
They have the Orb of Toril & Orb of Eberron in the Bast's Brass Orb
Bargle had Orb of Mystara and Pradam Estorich found an orb to his homeworld in his magic hat. Those are both in the possession of Ursa and the Netheril Nexus .
They discuss putting the eberron orb in the warforged... tehy discuss confronting Ursa , or finding evidence. Debating if they know the color of Doppelganger blood.
Items of Note Orb of Toril Bast's Brass Orb Orb of Mystara Elder's Glove of Lore Orb of Eberron
Items of Note Orb of Toril Bast's Brass Orb Orb of Mystara Elder's Glove of Lore Orb of Eberron
ORB in Session 067: The Wizard's Cellar Report:
(Handwritten notes on the side: Research elsewhere shows the disjunction can be reversed with some gemstones they inscrinbed with the code of reversion... With the Tharizdun Gems it seems those gems can be in the realms contained and it is reasonable to assume that the unnamed deity may seek to collect these orbs... This deity has long kept their ambitions on this in the dark, but based on the VCN research I am certain that as V’s death is finally made public and all his contingency plans are shut down then the unnamed deity will surely try to collect the orbs and use them in some way for their reversion spell... I was able to trap this world where Venger was trying to break free... I think it brought forth an individual of no real concern, but I do believe he has an orb in his possession... I will have to hunt them down soon... The venger world is now trapped in the Macchina di Kadavus, had to... I think the unnamed diety saw what I was up to. I know the time lord has trapped the meklan of toril at the end of their time , but I have yet to find a way to that tower. I wonder if I
then later:
Alone and bereft of allies, <deity> began his monumental task of restoring the Time of Nodes. Given the divine spark within him and the loss of the Code of Reversion, he decided to create a cult of worshipers and use them to create an army of undead. The undead —undying, able to operate in any environment without sustenance, and controllable—would then be able to scour the multiverse for the lost lore needed to reverse time. <deity> began by nurturing a cult of worshipers led by shamans among the descendants of the <redacted>s’ former human servitors, who dwelled in small fishing villages on the shore of the Narrow Sea. Many of these humans were receptive to venerating <deity> as the Lord of the End of Everything (a title that ironically referred to the Code of Reversion), given their long cultural heritage of serving <redacted> masters. As the cult’s worship nurtured <deity>’s divine spark, shamans of <deity> rose to power in each village thanks to their power over life and death and their mastery of necromancy. <deity> then began inciting (through telepathic whispers) the orc tribes of the region to aPack his followers. As he had planned, the human villages came together in mutual defense in -3859 DR against the orcs of the Horde Unending to form the Alliance of Seventon under the leadership of a shaman-king, Nether the Elder. As he grew in power, the shamanking renamed the fledgling kingdom “Netheril,” which meant “Nether’s Land.” Once Netheril was established, <deity>’s shamans began to teach promising Netherese the Art of necromancy and turn their energy towards creating a vast army of undead. However, the machinations of the Lord of the End of Everything did not go unnoticed, and the history of Netheril began to evolve beyond <deity>’s control due to the influence of outside powers: the Fair Folk of Eaerlann and the lich- king of Oreme. Some of these Netherese had already been listening to the whispers from Tharizdun and for their power they were cursing the world of Toril in due time as it now would mean their world would become an orb of Tharizdun.
(Handwritten notes on the side: Dierde is an anomaly as it seems to exist in the wildspace/phlogiston/whatever where Toril once existed in the Material Plane. Through a convergence of events and energies it may be a unique position to rewrite reality itself. When that dying dragon god found this empty space it created something....-however my research elsewhere shows that the temple of Tharizdun which was lost at the Great Awakening, the same events that brought Skola Vale to the Material Plane from the Feywild holds many keys... I know that idiot Satyr plans on trying to free his archfey and it will bring that temple forth again. I do believe that may trigger a slow process of bringing back AO, of bringing back those Tablets of Fate, but it may also bring Tharizdun closer to this realm, once again... so many questions...
It seems this version of us was mostly writing about how this redacted god was interacting with his world in their history, and he didn’t seem to add much about the Tharizdun whispers creating the orb of toril, but since these Netherese would be some of the early human settlers of Dierde it is still technically their history and it is in the same pocket of the Material Plane as Toril once sat, so this is still relevant to my studies. On a side note, my apprentice has been gone for some time since he was supposed to study that book from Fistandus. I will need to travel to that hideout soon, I think I can correct the ritual that went awry with the SW-species, and it might work with that doppelganger I captured... if only I can get the Order to stop messing with Outding..-
ORB in Session 069: The Mark of the Adventurer Report: Bast puts them in a protective bubble of magic force to protect them as the ring in the sky is breaking apart Sending shards of Crystal from space. They tell the party that they may be recepients of a magic "mark" that will enable them to assist in repairing the Orb of Eberron , Crafting a Gem to revive Gearlock , and to recraft their weapons as they are being tracked by Ursa . Barlo doesn't care about his weapon. Shadow asks what will change. The weapons will be altered, and they should be better than what they had before. The plan is to go to a Creation Forge, these are the Arcane Forge s of Eberron long used to create the Warforge . Now outlawed and banned to use. Bast says she believes they come from the Spellweaver s and are to be found in almost every realm. Sas asks about the Mark, and they learn about Eberron 's marks which are a part of their societies. A rare sign of one gifted with magical powers in various ways. There seems to be a mark unlike any other, it is the Mark of the Adventurer . The mark is supposed to help with the forging here and other things... The party realizes that they are inside of the Orb of Eberron in its final days, this destruction was slowly occuring within the orb they hold. Barlo asks if they help stop the destruction, does that affect the orb. Bast says they believe it might since the party is not of this realm, and by being of another realm it could change things. Even a minor influence, such as helping defeat the Lord of Blades . Bast is going to leave soon, but wants to give them some time if they have questions as she won't be able to speak with them again until they get to her home. The only reason she could do this was due to the very large obelisk at the Floating Keep of Tharros Near Outding . Sas remembers how they are sure of how to get to the City in a Mirage . She asks if they are on the right track. Bast said she hadn't pushed them to go too fast as the journey is just as important as it helps them gain power which they will need when they get there. The food is enough to stave off Exhaustion and to fill up their HP. They were warned to not take a nap or long rest here as it can be dangerous. Sas asks if there is anything else they need before they get there, Bast says not really - besides the orb. She thanks her for not using the orb's power as it is dangerous and corrupting. They are of unlimited power, but dangerous. later: Barlo asks if the forge is where the warforged are created. Yes. he worries about the knowledge of that Creation and if it can happen in Dierde. He fears Ursa doing it. Bast says Ursa was seemingly trying such an event, with Gearlock. Shadow asks if that is why she wanted the orb, and Bast believes she did plan on using its power for such a ritual. Although Bast says it wouldn't have worked out the way Ursa would have wanted. The orb would have destroyed the island nation. It was damaged in the ritual Ursa had used with the Beholder. She looks at Amalgam who says he is sure he can repair the orb if the party do have the marks and can assist with the Silver Flame. later: Gearlock has an Enchanted Glyphstone so they will able to communicate with him. Gearlock had died, but his body somehow was being moved around realms it seems. The party here had spent over a decade to find him. and the Halfling planewalker NTO had a connection with Bast so she was able to secure this deal. Bast brings up they need to repair the Orb of Eberron as they will need 4 orbs for the ritual for the pharoah. Barlo asks who the Warforge are and who are they fighting and why. These Warforge are fighting for the Lord of Blades who wants to eradicate all other sentient life not Warforge. He has powerful connections to stop any powerful force here in stopping him, but by using people from another realm it is possible this can stop his forces. later: Now Amalgam says that he thinks that should Work. He takes them to another room that is encircled with magma. He then asks for the Orb of Eberron, which Sas hands over. He points to an apparatus where he wants the Silver flame put and the others start messing with some dials elsewhere. Later: Amalgam throws in some various items and jewelry, then with some crystals from Eberron he starts to Work on the orb. Hammers things and works on it. Later: Shortly after this the Warforge has a spark of Silver flame from the apparatus shoot into the orb. That should do it, he says as he hands over the orb to Sas. He then reminds them how Ursa has been tracking them and he is sure he can reforge their weapons. He is able to magically transform the weapons into new weapons, now with additions of the purplish Mournlode Dragonshard crystals Each has to strike a hammer during the process, and each time that Amalgam works on the Crafting he has to put various items and jewelry into the "flames" Bastion gets a +2 Rapier of Eberron, +1d8 Thunder damage, Parry +1 AC when wielding Callipe gets a +2 shortsword of Eberron, radiant (1d8), glancing blow Shadow gets a +2 Longbow of Eberron, +2d8 force Sas gets a +2 Club of Eberron, poison 1d8, Crit on a 19/20 Barlo gets a Claws of Eberron +2, acid 1d8, crits on a 19/20 He needed a common magic item to do this one as it was changing the shape of the weapon-- he threw it in the fire. Throws a red Gem into the fire, then holds a different orb into the flames. This one takes all the Silver flame and has electric sparks. then tells the Halfling NTO they are ready. She plays some notes on the flute and they go back to Dierde...
ORB in Session 070: Exploding Fire Skeletons Report: Shadow asked about Jacoby. There were Notes on Spell Weaver Experiment about another experiment, a six-armed creature he sought to take powers from -- it failed in some way. He used an Orb of Mystara to take the regenerative properties and long life from this creature... It might be since the creature had already done 6 splits. He was studying the Dragon Prophecies , including ideas to use the orbs for... one he felt might hold promise was to find an "empty" orb, one where the orb still held together but the realm had gone pass it's point of singularity somehow... the WIP: Orb of Athas. He would Teleport the Dragon into that world. and later: Shadow looks at the Notes of Tharros on Sargassos . It seems he was studying the Sargassos and there are Notes of Tharros on Bogan about the Ashla & Bogan as the Bogan are working with the Arcane Order to hunt down various magic artifacts. Through them he has learned how the Sargassos has no time and people get stuck there for an eternity. He had plans to put the Dragon into the "empty" orb (WIP: Orb of Athas) and then shoot that into the Sargassos , as he does not want his reality and realm destroyed.
ORB in Session 075: Wild Dreams of a Bard Report: Bast then looks down as if trying to think or solve a riddle and then she takes a deep breath: "There was a point that your Friends interacted with, some type of ward that he had put up, that Ward had allowed him to kind of start entering their psyche. So he's been traveling through your various Dreams . It looks like if you hadn't thought of me and at the time that he was communicating with you, you would not have been here. That's what caused it. He's creating these opening channels through the plane. It seems that he's, found a way, a place to hide his own personal Dream plane. And he's been hiding there, waiting for something to bring him back. And I think he thinks you guys are the way. In fact. It looks like the only thing that's protecting this is the fact that I gave you that. The casing for those orbs. she looks down again and then continues: "Okay, so you have lost your book. And it looks like he's been able to grab the Professor Orb . But as long as you have that orb, he can't fully complete his ritual. I don't think I can really help you much here. He's in a place that I can't get to. But I can tell you, that the orb that you hold, that holds that world of Toril , that's important for him. He. You had an have. You have that hand. He's already taken that from you.. Somehow as you Sleep , he's he's able to take some of the physical objects from you, except for that, or because of the casing that it's in. But it looks like he did steal the book from you. And he stole the Professor Orb , and he stole that hand. I Fear that he's going to try to get you guys into another, into his plane to perform a ritual. later: Bast : "Your Friends will need to protect you, that orb is the one thing he still needs and it is protected by the orb as long as you are alive. But if he's able to get you into his plane, into his Dream plane, it's dreamscape. Sorry. At that point, if he's able to defeat you guys, he will be able to take it from. And that will put everything at risk, not just for my people, but for all of your people as well.
