S13 Finale: The Key to Victory - 5/12/2023 - Yinmaris
Dec 8, 2023 2:12:37 GMT
Merla, the Daughter of Summer, Jaezred Vandree, and 3 more like this
Post by Yinmaris on Dec 8, 2023 2:12:37 GMT
A bedraggled Yinmaris walked into his apartment, beneath his magical glamour that showed him looking tattered but at his best was a bruised body covered in torn clothes. He was limping slightly despite the healing from his other bardically inclined friends, being slammed by a giant hammer that was weilded by a mind controlled duergar was not going to be shrugged off with some words of healings. Yin walked to his room shutting the door as quietly as possible, after draping his jacket over a chair the eladrin sat on his desk chair, he was mildly buzzed after a few drinks with his fellow group of adventurers after the defense of Vorsthold. After dropping his glamour he moved the newly acquired instrument previously weilded by the mindflayer wizard they dueled earlier that day while his compatriots and himself were hard at work protecting the magic defenses of Vorsthold.
He took a small plectrum that was placed in slot carefully crafted into the guitar as to not change the acoustics, Yinmaris marvelled at the craftsmanship of it. He began to strum the guitar softly. Despite the thinner body of the instrument the sound of coming from the strings had power to them and he felt like the music reverberated through his very being.
"Woah." His face was beaming in amazement, he'd never heard an instrument like it before. "That mindflayer didn't do this instrument justice, This is going to be so much fun."
Excerpt from Yinmaris' personal journal post Defense of Vorsthold:
Well Diary today was rather terrifying. We were called to Vorsthold to assist with it's defense. It was being invaded by mindflayers, apparently led by some kind of huge brain that liked lava who'd assimilated some terrifying dragon. We weren't prepared for how they actually attacked as the mindflayers had attacked from the top of the huge cavern instead of near the huge strong walls. Safe to say things were chaotic. I think this might be my first ever real experience of being in a huge battle, honestly I was super scared. I'd seen how dangerous and cruel mindflayers could be in the week prior.
I hope Anåbæl, Keros and Rae are okay, I didn't know the other Dawnland adventurers who are presumed to have fallen in the seige but Keros saved my life when we went to help those coriliths, Anåbæl and Rae were nice to me when we went to the giant's cave that one time with Damian. The world would truly be lesser with their absence. I hope fortune favoured the group as it did with the party I was lumped with...
Speaking of my group I do find it interesting to feel such an almost kinship with Arilian, despite his prickly demeanour he is fun to be around although I couldn't tell him that. It would both insult him and grow his ego too greatly. Henri did some amazing magics and protecting during both of the battles against the thralls, I'll be sure to buy him a drink at some point. Ronkk was Ronkk but actually mighty, I was happy to fulfill that titular dream of his with that fun spell.
Letter to Queen Merla, the Daughter of Summer :
He took a small plectrum that was placed in slot carefully crafted into the guitar as to not change the acoustics, Yinmaris marvelled at the craftsmanship of it. He began to strum the guitar softly. Despite the thinner body of the instrument the sound of coming from the strings had power to them and he felt like the music reverberated through his very being.
"Woah." His face was beaming in amazement, he'd never heard an instrument like it before. "That mindflayer didn't do this instrument justice, This is going to be so much fun."
Excerpt from Yinmaris' personal journal post Defense of Vorsthold:
Well Diary today was rather terrifying. We were called to Vorsthold to assist with it's defense. It was being invaded by mindflayers, apparently led by some kind of huge brain that liked lava who'd assimilated some terrifying dragon. We weren't prepared for how they actually attacked as the mindflayers had attacked from the top of the huge cavern instead of near the huge strong walls. Safe to say things were chaotic. I think this might be my first ever real experience of being in a huge battle, honestly I was super scared. I'd seen how dangerous and cruel mindflayers could be in the week prior.
I hope Anåbæl, Keros and Rae are okay, I didn't know the other Dawnland adventurers who are presumed to have fallen in the seige but Keros saved my life when we went to help those coriliths, Anåbæl and Rae were nice to me when we went to the giant's cave that one time with Damian. The world would truly be lesser with their absence. I hope fortune favoured the group as it did with the party I was lumped with...
Speaking of my group I do find it interesting to feel such an almost kinship with Arilian, despite his prickly demeanour he is fun to be around although I couldn't tell him that. It would both insult him and grow his ego too greatly. Henri did some amazing magics and protecting during both of the battles against the thralls, I'll be sure to buy him a drink at some point. Ronkk was Ronkk but actually mighty, I was happy to fulfill that titular dream of his with that fun spell.
Letter to Queen Merla, the Daughter of Summer :
Your Majesty,
I hope this letter finds you well. I have not heard much about how the Feywilds fare but much has happened in the Dawnlands. Recently I was a part of the defense of Vorsthold, it was the first time I have been somewhere that was under siege. It was admittedly rather terrifying seeing the mindflayer army rain down from above. However, I am happy to report I made it through mostly unscathed and helped with a task that having succeeded helped far more significantly than I had anticipated.
After the defending force were split by some giant worm thing and the chaos of battle we were asked by the Citie's mayor to help protect the Arch Mage Duron's home, which apparently held the magical defenses of the city. Arilian, Ronkk, Henri Fitzroy and myself were tasked with this mission. We traversed through the city, at one point we did have an opportunity to help a forge that seemed to be under attack. We were told however that the mission was very important, it was in fact vital it turned out. We did choose to get out of there but not before I used some simple illusory magics to distract the invaders, I hope it helped enough to save them but I'm not sure honestly. As we got to the archmage's home we saw that the front gate was torn off and there were already some attackers within.
Upon entering we found a very odd scene, it appeared as though a mindless group of people had charged through seemingly running into traps and activating them. It was a slaughter. We realised that the dead people were thralls that were sent by a mindflayer to their deaths so the mindflayer didn't need to deal with the traps themselves. Ronkk went ahead while we were figuring that out, spotting that through the main door there was a group of thralls tearing the place apart looking for the defenses. Turns out that through that door was the demiplane of the archmage. An interesting thing of note with the Archmage Duron is that it seems as though he modelled the demiplane's sky after the Feywild sky, it wasn't an actually accurate view of the skies back home but it had a very similar look. Within the demiplane wa an honestly cute renovated barn/large yet ccozy house. He seemed to use the area as a calming area, he may be good to have over at the Court of Harmony potentially.
As we mobilised the group decided to see how the thralls react, hoping for a peaceful solution but being ready to fight if needs be. Regrettably violence was the only way through. We fought well, luckily despite a few injuries we survived mostly unscathed. I did put my shield and new armour to good use, I was sprayed with a faerie fire and blindsided by a duergar who went from invisibility to growing in size as they did give a rather good strike. The team was coordinated, Arilian actually came to my aid despite the occasional more than sassy banter he and I have. He is a diplomat by trade yet charged in as soon as the situation started to get slightly hairy for me, which has not gone unnoticed. Ronkk also was dealing with one of the duergar as we had been distracted by the drow thralls, luckily I was able to use some of my new bardic skills to distract the now huge duergar from doing the blindsiding tactic as previously described.
After we defeated the thralls on the ground floor we headed upstairs. There I found another reason I personally think the archmage would love the Court of Harmony, he was a lover of music. He had a room with musical instruments and sheet music, which I love for him as apparently music isn't exactly taboo in Vorsthold but it is seen as odd from what I have seen of the city. We saw across from the instrument room was a larger looking space with a large door. Within we found the mindflayer and four more thralls, the mindflayer was oddly of the arcane persuasion which as I understand isn't normal for mindflayer due to their psionic abilities. They were attempting to play a particular instrument, according to a later found plaque the instrument was an electric guitar. There was, next to the mindflayer, a barrier blocking them from a large contraption that seemed to hold the defenses.
After Arilian and I worked together on theories about what was going on and stop the mindflayer before they figured things out and got into the defenses. We figured out that not only were certain notes needed to unlock the way through the barrier but that the opposite type of notes could be used to cancel out the adversary's but to fully lock the way. Having been surrounded by wizards for the last few months and actively learning about magical theory from them I noticed that the barrier had a magical trap conected to the locking of it and that the defenses were far more powerful than anticipated. As I'm sure you know, Vorsthold has a very interesting way of military retention. When someone dies they do not bury or cremate the body, they use necromancy to bring them back. The undead forces are a large part of the Vorsthold military and if the mindflayer got though and used a mind blast on the vessels of necromantic power it would cause the entire undead force to become undone.
The enemy mindflayer tried probing my mind once they realised I'd figured out that Arilian's note theory would work and to a greater effect than anticipated but also what was on the other side of the barrier. I used some classic tricks to stop it from working, I obfiscated my memories behind useless nonsense that was being constantly added to. Once that had worked, we set towards completing the plan, Arilian Ronkk and I started playing the locking chords discordantly to further mess with the mindflayer and to lock the barrier quicker. Henri provided immense protection to us, we other three used our more bardic skill to play the music while casting spells. It worked to perfection, the barrier sealed very quickly as soon as the plan was made. Luckily the mindflayer was zapped by the trap and instantly killed. The thralls, which had been enthralled partly by Ronkk and partly by myself, collapsed into unconciousness as I assume there was no longer a connection to this hive mind due to us being in a seperate demiplane and the only node there being killed. After defeating the mindflayer and saving the undead army from desolation we were able to acquire instruments, I was lucky enough to get the guitar. Despite the fear and horrors witnessed in the siege I truly feel that it was a most excellent adventure and it has brought those of us who went on it closer.
As a reward every adventurer was given a magical pin that has a design based on the Thundergates of Vorsthold, the pin grants the user some reactional protection which is very useful.
May your days be filled with song and joy, and may your evenings be filled with mirth and merriment.
Yours in service,
Yinmaris Iathrana
I hope this letter finds you well. I have not heard much about how the Feywilds fare but much has happened in the Dawnlands. Recently I was a part of the defense of Vorsthold, it was the first time I have been somewhere that was under siege. It was admittedly rather terrifying seeing the mindflayer army rain down from above. However, I am happy to report I made it through mostly unscathed and helped with a task that having succeeded helped far more significantly than I had anticipated.
After the defending force were split by some giant worm thing and the chaos of battle we were asked by the Citie's mayor to help protect the Arch Mage Duron's home, which apparently held the magical defenses of the city. Arilian, Ronkk, Henri Fitzroy and myself were tasked with this mission. We traversed through the city, at one point we did have an opportunity to help a forge that seemed to be under attack. We were told however that the mission was very important, it was in fact vital it turned out. We did choose to get out of there but not before I used some simple illusory magics to distract the invaders, I hope it helped enough to save them but I'm not sure honestly. As we got to the archmage's home we saw that the front gate was torn off and there were already some attackers within.
Upon entering we found a very odd scene, it appeared as though a mindless group of people had charged through seemingly running into traps and activating them. It was a slaughter. We realised that the dead people were thralls that were sent by a mindflayer to their deaths so the mindflayer didn't need to deal with the traps themselves. Ronkk went ahead while we were figuring that out, spotting that through the main door there was a group of thralls tearing the place apart looking for the defenses. Turns out that through that door was the demiplane of the archmage. An interesting thing of note with the Archmage Duron is that it seems as though he modelled the demiplane's sky after the Feywild sky, it wasn't an actually accurate view of the skies back home but it had a very similar look. Within the demiplane wa an honestly cute renovated barn/large yet ccozy house. He seemed to use the area as a calming area, he may be good to have over at the Court of Harmony potentially.
As we mobilised the group decided to see how the thralls react, hoping for a peaceful solution but being ready to fight if needs be. Regrettably violence was the only way through. We fought well, luckily despite a few injuries we survived mostly unscathed. I did put my shield and new armour to good use, I was sprayed with a faerie fire and blindsided by a duergar who went from invisibility to growing in size as they did give a rather good strike. The team was coordinated, Arilian actually came to my aid despite the occasional more than sassy banter he and I have. He is a diplomat by trade yet charged in as soon as the situation started to get slightly hairy for me, which has not gone unnoticed. Ronkk also was dealing with one of the duergar as we had been distracted by the drow thralls, luckily I was able to use some of my new bardic skills to distract the now huge duergar from doing the blindsiding tactic as previously described.
After we defeated the thralls on the ground floor we headed upstairs. There I found another reason I personally think the archmage would love the Court of Harmony, he was a lover of music. He had a room with musical instruments and sheet music, which I love for him as apparently music isn't exactly taboo in Vorsthold but it is seen as odd from what I have seen of the city. We saw across from the instrument room was a larger looking space with a large door. Within we found the mindflayer and four more thralls, the mindflayer was oddly of the arcane persuasion which as I understand isn't normal for mindflayer due to their psionic abilities. They were attempting to play a particular instrument, according to a later found plaque the instrument was an electric guitar. There was, next to the mindflayer, a barrier blocking them from a large contraption that seemed to hold the defenses.
After Arilian and I worked together on theories about what was going on and stop the mindflayer before they figured things out and got into the defenses. We figured out that not only were certain notes needed to unlock the way through the barrier but that the opposite type of notes could be used to cancel out the adversary's but to fully lock the way. Having been surrounded by wizards for the last few months and actively learning about magical theory from them I noticed that the barrier had a magical trap conected to the locking of it and that the defenses were far more powerful than anticipated. As I'm sure you know, Vorsthold has a very interesting way of military retention. When someone dies they do not bury or cremate the body, they use necromancy to bring them back. The undead forces are a large part of the Vorsthold military and if the mindflayer got though and used a mind blast on the vessels of necromantic power it would cause the entire undead force to become undone.
The enemy mindflayer tried probing my mind once they realised I'd figured out that Arilian's note theory would work and to a greater effect than anticipated but also what was on the other side of the barrier. I used some classic tricks to stop it from working, I obfiscated my memories behind useless nonsense that was being constantly added to. Once that had worked, we set towards completing the plan, Arilian Ronkk and I started playing the locking chords discordantly to further mess with the mindflayer and to lock the barrier quicker. Henri provided immense protection to us, we other three used our more bardic skill to play the music while casting spells. It worked to perfection, the barrier sealed very quickly as soon as the plan was made. Luckily the mindflayer was zapped by the trap and instantly killed. The thralls, which had been enthralled partly by Ronkk and partly by myself, collapsed into unconciousness as I assume there was no longer a connection to this hive mind due to us being in a seperate demiplane and the only node there being killed. After defeating the mindflayer and saving the undead army from desolation we were able to acquire instruments, I was lucky enough to get the guitar. Despite the fear and horrors witnessed in the siege I truly feel that it was a most excellent adventure and it has brought those of us who went on it closer.
As a reward every adventurer was given a magical pin that has a design based on the Thundergates of Vorsthold, the pin grants the user some reactional protection which is very useful.
May your days be filled with song and joy, and may your evenings be filled with mirth and merriment.
Yours in service,
Yinmaris Iathrana