A Glimpse of the Past - 25/10/2023 - Archie’s Extracts
Oct 30, 2023 22:27:15 GMT
Orianna Èirigh, Lucky, and 1 more like this
Post by Andy D on Oct 30, 2023 22:27:15 GMT
Adventuring Via The Plane of Time
Some of my adventuring colleagues are very involved in a matter both ancient and immensely powerful. I have joined in twice now on the rivalry between powerful archwyrms and primordial beings. Once by accident, assisting a colleague acquiring the talent for offering fey-bargains. The second time was more directly, in helping another colleague acquire the staff held by the herald of Stellarum, one of the nine ancient dragons on the archwyrm side of the rivalry.
Only until my recent adventure by way of the Plane of Time, has the magnitude of the archwyrm and primordial rivalry’s significance become alarmingly clear to me. Witnessing a battle between god-like beings puts one’s insignificance into perspective.
The combined efforts of Henri, experienced with the Staircase, Oriana, experienced with a device obtained on archwyrm business, and an archwyrm themselves, Throdrazz, and our party was able to timeshift to various moments in the past. The goal of the time travel was to obtain a key of sorts, specific to Throdrazz, which was hidden in the past.
Time travel is a treacherous task. Not even with Throdrazz’s presence, were we able to steer ourselves directly to where the archwyrm needed us to go. Twice we ended up travelling to moments in my party’s past, instead of the dragons, and these moments were; Intimate, and tragic moments; personal. I learned that one of my colleagues had been enthralled by the Staircase, a captive of one of the individuals that has a degree of control of the place. Another colleague had a much worse welcome to Kantas than I experienced, and at the same time a draconic saviour of sorts.
One time we travelled to a significant moment of another party member’s past, one that predated her birth, but significant to the primordial side of the rivalry. The final time travel was the most significant - it was the location Throdrazz needed us to reach. We were brought to the moment in the past where the archwyrms battled the primordial behemoths. This battle took place at a planetary level. The archwyrms were able to defeat the behemoths, and with the aid of three individuals from the Staircase, they locked up the vanquished primordials and sealed them away with their power, creating powerful, binding locks to keep the adversaries imprisoned.
It was after witnessing the battle, that Throdrazz was able to extract the key of his, which was hidden in a star, within a nebula, close to the historic battle.
An Unexpected, Disastrous Consequence of Time Travel
I have aged six years in the space of a few hours.
Time travel on humanoids has consequences that Throdrazz had not anticipated. Another of my party experienced the same horror. The rest of the party got off lightly by comparison. One even, seemingly, experienced the opposite effect of rejuvenating. The irony of which was that said colleague is elven, and as such the unexpected rejuvenation was barely noticeable for her, and insignificant on her expected lifespan.
I started the adventure a fifty-eight year old man. I am now sixty-four years old, and have whiter hair to prove it. On the one hand, there is a positive that has come of this event - I have discovered that the Plane of Time can produce rejuvenating effects. But, should I pursue a new research area with the now decreased amount of time I have to discover a remedy for ageing?
To focus on the positives further, it appears the party did well avoiding altering the past and creating a time-wraith. We appear not to be in the sights of the Chronomancers, wizard-guardians of the timeline.
Longevity Research Modalities
Potion of Longevity - My research to date indicates that successful effects of this potion will result in the rejuvenation of between six to thirteen years. However, a repeated consumption of the potion may result in the undoing of previous longevity potion benefits.
There is no mass production of this higher sought after and rare potion that I am aware of. The original inventor of said potion had the foresight - or perhaps it was an unintended benefit - to limit the potions effectiveness so that it is not possible to reduce one's age to less than thirteen years of age. To an aarocokra, the removal of those limits could erase the individual from existence.
If I can procure a potion of longevity, I may be able to reproduce the potion with my knowledge of the arcane, alchemy and perhaps even my herbalist knowledge, and hopefully discover a way to improve its effects for mass production. Or, maybe how to control for exact rejuvenation amounts.
The Feywild - I have visited a number of courts in the Feywild, (and other planes, too). Time appears to move differently in the Feywild. No one truly seems to understand why. I have been to the Court of Sorcery, a place fundamental to the magic of the Feywild. Short of committing myself to the infamous fey-bargain, I would give anything to understand the passage of time in the Feywild better. Can one pocket whatever provides for longevity in the Feywild and bring it back to the Material Plane?
Clone Spell - Given my advanced, and recently magically advanced years, mastery of the Clone spell as a back up to that final curtain call in life, cannot come sooner. I am, however, not yet ready to master what is considered to be a spell of the second highest level of magical skill. I also worry I do not possess the funds for the components either. Various other costly, in terms of both gold and effort, high level spells I fear are needed to best work in conjunction with the Clone spell. I would, for example, feel safer keeping my own, hopefully, future clone(s) on my own Demiplane - and magical ‘real-estate’ does not come cheap.
Wish Spell - Frustratingly, in my research I have discovered I will not be able to mass produce, one-a-day clones if I master the spell Wish. There may, however, be a way to finance clone manufacturing with this spell though, and as an adventurer (and recently, and worryingly, less of a researcher of late) access to the cleric’s healing magic without the need for divine favour, would be most useful.
Chronomancers - I consider myself enormously well read on many subjects, but it was a surprise to me to learn that Time Travel beyond the slowing down of time through the high-level spell, Time Stop, was possible. I also learned of an order of wizards, Chronomancers, who patrol the travelling of time, and protect the time stream from alternation. I must pursue discourse with these individuals and see if they can help me reverse the years I gained by visiting the Plane of Time? I fear, however, that contacting the Chronomancers would entail taking another risk within the Plane of Time, which could see me spring forward into my seventies much earlier than expected.
True Polymorph Spell - If in doubt; more top-tier spells! It may be an oversimplification, but it is, if crude, quite true that throwing increasingly higher amounts of gold, and or magic, at a problem will eventually bring forth a solution to a problem. If you can’t beat them, so to speak; join them! Become an elf. Enter True Polymorph!
Seemingly, this would be the most extreme solution to ageing, and I would think the least likely to be adaptable as a species-wide solution. However, life as an elf need not be permanent, if one of my other areas of research bears fruit during my potential time as an elf. If such happens, I could potentially revert back to being human. Although, I do have a colleague who has recently, although for reasons different to my aims, gone from human to elf. Perhaps together we could write a book on the experiences. Nobody else would be in a better position to write said book.