|
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| Line 3: |
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| | ==Recap== | | ==Recap== |
| | | | |
| − | *Dwarven House | + | *Coralis |
| − | *Defeat him and the creatures in the house | + | *The Watchmaker |
| − | *Take him for a... much kinder interrogation | + | *The fight |
| | | | |
| | ==Plot Points== | | ==Plot Points== |
| | | | |
| − | *Elswyth - slept? Did not sleep well perhaps? Feeling cold, feeling... distant from Melystra. | + | *The return to Danu |
| | ** | | ** |
| | | | |
| | ==Coralis== | | ==Coralis== |
| − | Above both the swirling mists of the Astral Sea and the continent of Velandor simultaneously, a magnificent radial city floats, its architecture a blend of intricate gears and ethereal crystal. The city is a marvel of engineering, with towers spiralling outward. The kaleidoscopic light in the sky shifts between the warm hues of an eternal sunset and the shimmering blues of the astral expanse. Ethereal bridges connect the city's districts, adorned with luminescent flora that pulse gently in sync with the city's heartbeat. Marketplaces teem with vibrant stalls selling rare artifacts and enchanting goods, while the air is filled with the harmonious symphony of gears and the murmurs of trade. Central to the city is a grand plaza, dominated by a colossal astral spire that reaches into the heavens, its surface a mosaic of constellations surrounding a familiar symbol (Amalgamation).
| + | ''"You called me a villain. A tyrant of time, a man so obsessed with order that I would chain the world to a clockwork fate. Perhaps... you were not wrong."'' |
| | | | |
| − | Teleportation Keeper
| + | ''“But now, you’ve seen what I saw—what I tried to prevent. The storm outside this moment breaks through, and it cares nothing for your choices, nor my calculations. Chaos has no loyalty. It devours the dreamers and the cynics alike.”'' |
| | | | |
| − | 3ft chipper warforged. Bronze in colour.
| + | ''(He turns a delicate gear in his palm—one of countless pieces once part of a greater machine.)'' |
| | | | |
| − | *The name's Gear! Nice to meet you. Who are your friends?
| + | ''"I once believed that the only way to save the future was to ''shape'' it—to deny choice, to enforce harmony through certainty"'' |
| | | | |
| − | *ATRI! Welcome back! It's so good to see you
| + | ''(A pause. He looks up. His tone softens, not in weakness—but in resolve.)'' |
| − | *Present your report, what did you find out? What did you accomplish?
| |
| − | *He will be so very pleased that you have returned.
| |
| | | | |
| − | The Watchmaker
| + | ''"We stand on the edge of a future none of us wanted—but together, perhaps we can forge one that ''still'' has meaning. Not because it was written... but because we wrote it ''together''."'' |
| | | | |
| − | *5ft purple Tiefling
| |
| − | *Features similar but not quite as defined as Zanotah
| |
| − | *You return, and bring companions. I have heard much about you and your friends.
| |
| − | *My dear boy...I never gave up the hope that you would return some day.
| |
| | | | |
| | + | My message, to the Council of Seven is being delivered as we speak by the Angels. They attend peacefully, in an attempt of allyship against the darker times ahead. |
| | | | |
| − | You are led into the the Astral Spire, as you pass through the large doors flanked by guards, you enter a small welcome room with doors in almost every direction before you are guided through the 3rd door on the left, down several flights of stairs into a large chamber where your footsteps echo. The chamber, dimly lit and you feel a gentle hum through your feet. With a wave of his hands the lights are extinguished and the floor below you is revealed to be made of glass? The '''Hall of the Eternal Gear''' is an immense chamber where a massive planetary orrery hangs from the ceiling, slowly rotating in perfect harmony. Gears the size of buildings turn far above. Light filters down through stained glass in intricate patterns of timelines, causes, and effects. As you stare down, you see constellations beneath you, and as your eyes dart back up you are surrounded by constellations.
| |
| | | | |
| − | "This is the second meeting I've held today, the rest have been briefed and will be going back to an array of posts and stations to aid. As Asé found you, and brought you home my boy...I wanted this to be separate. I did not want the others overshadowing things"
| + | Danu |
| | | | |
| − | "Atri, what have you been up to? Where have you been?"
| |
| | | | |
| − | We argued, you pushed back on my methods.. wanting the natural order to run its course which... I could never allow. The last I heard was that "a naoi" (ah nay) had found you. Tried to talk... sense into you and ... as I understand it. You two fought. They swear they had an iron-clad grip on you when you pushed off them. But you were near the edge. In your attempt to break free, you went over the edge. We weren't sure if you landed on the material plane or out in the astral sea. There was no sign of you.
| + | En route to the Palace, a guard bumps into Zanotah and hands him a note before hurrying around the corner. |
| | | | |
| − | ==Meeting==
| + | It is sealed with the familiar seal of the Crimson Scale |
| | | | |
| − | ===Speech===
| + | "We have the fruit of the sandbox tree. The salve is ready" |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| − | (The Hall of the Eternal Gear hums in perfect synchronicity. The Watchmaker steps forward, their voice layered with a dozen ticking clocks. Their eyes settle on each party member with mechanical grace—no judgment, no malice. Only certainty.)
| + | '''Setting:''' |
| | | | |
| − | “Welcome, wayfarers. Or should I say… threads already woven?”
| + | A tall stone chamber lit by silver braziers, flickering light casting shadows across banners of old wars and forgotten victories. Rain smears across the high windows. The King and High Priestess stand alone before the throne. Tension hangs thick. |
| | + | ----'''KING:''' ''(staring out the rain-streaked glass)'' |
| | | | |
| − | “You stand here not because you chose to. Not truly. You are here because the design demands it. Every step you’ve taken, every defiance you hurled at the loom of fate—it was always meant to be. Even your resistance… was written.”
| + | They tried to end her life before it even began. And now—now they dare to offer peace? |
| | + | ----'''HIGH PRIESTESS KORRELL:''' ''(calm, unshaken)'' |
| | | | |
| − | (They gesture to the orrery above. The stars shift subtly, aligning with the present moment—a precise and perfect now.)
| + | Because they fear what comes next. What she may become. They believe she was not ''meant'' to be. |
| | + | ----'''KING:''' ''(turns sharply)'' |
| | | | |
| − | “I once mistook clarity for control. I sought to mend the threads you unravelled, believing you strayed from the true path. But the truth is sharper, colder: there is no stray thread. Only the illusion of divergence. You broke what was never whole. You destroyed what was built to fall.”
| + | They ''believe'' in a cage. A world nailed down to prophecy and gears. My daughter is not a mistake. She is not their ''error''. She is mine. |
| | + | ----'''KORRELL:''' |
| | | | |
| − | (They begin to walk slowly around the centre platform, the ticking intensifying.)
| + | And yet they saw her as a fracture in the weave. A threat to the ordained line. You would call them monsters— |
| | | | |
| − | “And so, we arrive here—at the convergence. The timeline does not cry out in pain. It does not weep for what was lost. It merely adjusts.”
| + | ''(She steps closer)'' |
| | | | |
| − | (A flick of the hand, and the planetary map rewrites itself: portions blink out, others darken, surrounded by nightmare tendrils.)
| + | —but I ask you, Thalen... would you have done differently, if prophecy said her birth would undo the realm? |
| | + | ----'''KING:''' ''(his voice lowers—dangerous, trembling)'' |
| | | | |
| − | “The Nightmares were never an interruption. They are part of the mechanism. The shadows cast by choice. By you.”
| + | You speak too freely for a servant of the gods. |
| | + | ----'''KORRELL:''' ''(cold, measured)'' |
| | | | |
| − | (The Watchmaker stops. Their four arms lower in solemn synchrony.)
| + | And you listen too little for a king on the edge of war. |
| | | | |
| − | “I no longer seek to correct you. There is nothing to correct. The hour approaches when all things must hold or break. The world tilts toward culmination. And your place in it... was always assured.”
| + | [Suddenly, the massive doors to the chamber slam open with a thunderclap of wind and rain.] |
| | | | |
| − | (Beat.)
| |
| | | | |
| − | “So now, take your tools. Gather your allies. Bolster the walls of this turning world. Not to change what is to come—but to play the part written for you at the beginning of time.”
| |
| | | | |
| − | (Their eyes gleam with faint gold light, mechanical irises spiralling.) | + | '''[A heavy silence falls. Even the braziers seem to dim.]''' |
| | + | ----'''KING:''' ''(stepping forward slowly)'' |
| | | | |
| − | “We are all where we must be. The clocks were never wrong.”
| + | What have they done? |
| | + | ----'''KORRELL:''' ''(quietly, to herself)'' |
| | | | |
| − | The '''orrery above shudders''', stars blinking out of place. The massive gears along the ceiling '''skip a tooth''', sending ripples through the room. From the center of the chamber, a ''crack'' splits open in midair—tearing like paper, revealing a space behind reality.
| + | Or what have ''we'' already set in motion? |
| | | | |
| − | The ''Watchmaker’s eyes whirl''. “No—this is too soon—!”
| |
| | | | |
| − | From the tear pour '''shifting shadows''', ink-like forms with jagged, flickering edges—figures pulled from timelines that never were.
| + | The Grove |
| − | | |
| − | ==Combat==
| |
| − | {| class="wikitable"
| |
| − | |+
| |
| − | !Creature
| |
| − | !Quantity
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | |Timeline Leech
| |
| − | |2
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | |Echo Horror
| |
| − | |2
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | |Unwritten Thrall
| |
| − | |3
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | |Temporal Wretch
| |
| − | |1
| |
| − | |}
| |
| − | <br />
| |
| − | | |
| − | ==NEW: ''Temporal Wretch'' (CR 5)==
| |
| − | '''HP''': 110 | '''AC''': 16
| |
| − | | |
| − | '''Speed''': 30 ft.
| |
| − | | |
| − | A towering shadow stitched from alternate versions of itself, dragging echoes of past actions behind it like afterimages.
| |
| − | | |
| − | '''Multiattack.''' Makes two attacks with ''Chrono-Break Claws'' (2d8 slashing + 2d6 force).
| |
| − | | |
| − | '''Unravel Timeline (Recharge 5–6):''' Target must make a DC 15 Wisdom save or relive their last turn—taking the same actions involuntarily, including spell/ability use, with a -2 penalty to attack rolls.
| |
| − | | |
| − | '''Time Anchor (Passive):''' Creatures within 10 ft can’t benefit from extra movement or teleportation effects.
| |
| | <br /> | | <br /> |
| | + | ==Loot== |
| | | | |
| − | ====Unwritten Thralls (CR 1/2)==== | + | === '''Soul Echo Pendant''' === |
| − | Malformed humanoids with broken faces that flicker between alternate versions of themselves. Born from broken decisions.
| + | ''Wondrous Item (rare, requires attunement)'' |
| | + | ----A swirling silver disc that hums in sync with your heartbeat. When held close, you can feel a subtle vibration—like a second pulse waiting beneath your own. |
| | + | ----When you are reduced to '''0 hit points''', the pendant activates automatically: |
| | | | |
| − | *'''AC''': 12, '''HP''': 18 | + | * Instead of falling unconscious, you drop to '''1 HP'''. |
| − | *'''Attack''': ''Corrupting Grasp'' (Melee Spell Attack, +4 to hit, 2d6 necrotic)
| + | * You immediately become '''invisible''' until the end of your '''next turn'''. |
| − | *'''Trait''': ''Flicker'' – Once per round, can force disadvantage on one attack made against them.
| + | * The pendant '''shatters''' after use, its magic expended. |
| − | | |
| − | ====🪰 Timeline Leeches (CR 1)====
| |
| − | Sluglike shadows with dozens of tiny clock faces embedded in their skin.
| |
| − | | |
| − | *'''AC''': 13, '''HP''': 27
| |
| − | *'''Attack''': ''Temporal Drain'' (2d6 necrotic + DC 13 Con save or lose 10 ft movement next turn)
| |
| − | *'''Ability''': ''Time Loop (Recharge 5–6)'' – Target repeats last turn’s action involuntarily.
| |
| − | | |
| − | ====🧠 Echo Horror (CR 3)====
| |
| − | A floating, ever-shifting mass of limbs and mouths, echoing words the party hasn’t said—'''yet'''.
| |
| − | | |
| − | *'''AC''': 15, '''HP''': 60 | |
| − | *'''Multiattack''': ''2x Echo Claws'' (1d10 psychic each, + DC 13 Wis save or attack nearest creature)
| |
| − | *'''Ability''': ''Reality Warp (Recharge 4–6)'' – Twist space in 10 ft radius: all terrain becomes difficult terrain and creatures teleport 5 ft in random direction (d8 compass directions).
| |
| − | | |
| − | <br />
| |
| − | ----
| |
| − | | |
| − | ==🧱 Tactics & Tension==
| |
| − | | |
| − | *'''Echo Horrors''' try to confuse and isolate. Use ''Reality Warp'' to mess with positioning.
| |
| − | *'''Timeline Leeches''' prioritize spellcasters and high-damage PCs, sapping movement and initiative.
| |
| − | *'''Unwritten Thralls''' swarm NPCs or weak targets to divide attention.
| |
| − | *'''The Temporal Wretch''' is the centerpiece: it moves through the field unpredictably, creating panic, forcing reruns of costly mistakes, or chaining a “bad turn” twice.
| |
| − | | |
| − | ----
| |
| − | | |
| − | ==🧩 Battlefield & Events: The Orrery Crashes==
| |
| − | Each round on Initiative 20 (lair-like action):
| |
| − | | |
| − | ===⚙️ Roll 1d6:===
| |
| − | 1–2: '''Crashing Gearfall''' – A massive cog slams down (Dex DC 14, 4d10 bludgeoning in 10-ft radius)
| |
| − | | |
| − | 3–4: '''Chrono-Surge''' – One random PC gains an extra action; one random enemy does too
| |
| − | | |
| − | 5: '''Stasis Pulse''' – One creature (enemy or ally) is frozen until end of its next turn (Con DC 13)
| |
| − | | |
| − | 6: '''Collapse!''' – Terrain shifts violently; all non-flying creatures must make a Dex save or be knocked prone
| |
| − | ----
| |
| − | | |
| − | ==🧠 NPC Involvement (Optional)==
| |
| − | | |
| − | *'''The Watchmaker''' is focusing on sealing the rift—unavailable to fight but stabilizes the battlefield after 4 rounds. | |
| − | *'''Asé''' can use ''Mass Healing Word'' once per encounter if PCs protect him.
| |
| − | *'''Gear''' attempts to launch a time-cannon. Roll 1d4:
| |
| − | *#Hits a PC (ouch)
| |
| − | *#Misses entirely
| |
| − | *#Hits a Nightmare creature (force damage)
| |
| − | *#Causes a time loop explosion (both friend and foe lose next action)
| |
| − | | |
| − | <br />
| |
| − | ----
| |
| − | | |
| − | ==🎁 Rewards==
| |
| − | <br />
| |
| − | {| class="wikitable"
| |
| − | |d12
| |
| − | |Loot Item
| |
| − | |Description
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | |1
| |
| − | |Shard of a Forgotten Self
| |
| − | |A cold, translucent crystal pulsing faintly. When held, you recall a life you never lived. Once per long rest, you may reroll one failed ability check or saving throw, but gain a cryptic memory that may haunt you later.
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | |2
| |
| − | |Unwritten Page
| |
| − | |A blank page that fills itself with events that never happened. Can be used once to automatically succeed on a History check. If read aloud, it causes unease—DC 13 Wis save or be frightened for 1 round.
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | |3
| |
| − | |Echoheart Gem
| |
| − | |A cracked gem that hums when a creature lies. Can be used as a spellcasting focus; while held, the user knows when a creature within 30 ft is telling a lie (no action needed, once per day).
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | |4
| |
| − | |Temporal Scarab
| |
| − | |A tiny mechanical bug that folds space. Use as a reaction to teleport 10 feet in any direction. After use, it crumbles to dust. If crushed prematurely, deals 2d10 force to the holder.
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | |5
| |
| − | |Ash of a Future Fire
| |
| − | |Fine gray powder from a world that burned before it existed. Mix with a healing potion to double its potency—but there’s a 25% chance the potion instead deals 3d6 psychic damage.
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | |6
| |
| − | |Thread of the Broken Loom
| |
| − | |A shimmering black thread. Can be sewn into clothing to grant +1 to initiative. If cut, the thread unravels and the wearer experiences a 1-minute time skip (they disappear and reappear unaware of the lost time).
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | |7
| |
| − | |Obsidian Timepiece
| |
| − | |A shattered pocket watch stuck at 13:00. While held, grants advantage on saving throws against being stunned or paralyzed. If the hour hand ever moves… something is coming.
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | |8
| |
| − | |Nightmare Husk Tooth
| |
| − | |A long fang, still wet with void ichor. Can be used to coat a weapon once, dealing an extra 2d6 psychic damage on a hit. Target must succeed a DC 13 Wisdom save or be frightened until the end of their next turn.
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | |9
| |
| − | |Soul Echo Pendant
| |
| − | |A swirling silver disc that hums in sync with your heartbeat. Once per day, you may use this to delay death: when reduced to 0 HP, you instead drop to 1 and are invisible until the end of your next turn. Then the pendant shatters.
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | |10
| |
| − | |Time-Spliced Bolts/Arrows (5)
| |
| − | |Ammunition that splits through time mid-flight. When fired, make two attack rolls and choose either result. If a natural 1 is rolled on either die, the arrow never existed and vanishes.
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | |11
| |
| − | |Whispering Mask of Possibility
| |
| − | |A porcelain mask with shifting facial expressions. Once per long rest, wear it to ask a single yes or no question about the near future (1 hour). The mask whispers an answer—but may lie if fate is unstable.
| |
| − | |-
| |
| − | |12
| |
| − | |Seed of the Impossible Tree
| |
| − | |A black, glassy seed that radiates heat and cold simultaneously. If planted in consecrated ground, it will either grow into a boon (DM’s choice: magical grove, dream refuge) or a threat (portal to a dead timeline, recurring nightmare events).
| |
| − | |}
| |
| − | <br />
| |
Recap
- Coralis
- The Watchmaker
- The fight
Plot Points
Coralis
"You called me a villain. A tyrant of time, a man so obsessed with order that I would chain the world to a clockwork fate. Perhaps... you were not wrong."
“But now, you’ve seen what I saw—what I tried to prevent. The storm outside this moment breaks through, and it cares nothing for your choices, nor my calculations. Chaos has no loyalty. It devours the dreamers and the cynics alike.”
(He turns a delicate gear in his palm—one of countless pieces once part of a greater machine.)
"I once believed that the only way to save the future was to shape it—to deny choice, to enforce harmony through certainty"
(A pause. He looks up. His tone softens, not in weakness—but in resolve.)
"We stand on the edge of a future none of us wanted—but together, perhaps we can forge one that still has meaning. Not because it was written... but because we wrote it together."
My message, to the Council of Seven is being delivered as we speak by the Angels. They attend peacefully, in an attempt of allyship against the darker times ahead.
Danu
En route to the Palace, a guard bumps into Zanotah and hands him a note before hurrying around the corner.
It is sealed with the familiar seal of the Crimson Scale
"We have the fruit of the sandbox tree. The salve is ready"
Setting:
A tall stone chamber lit by silver braziers, flickering light casting shadows across banners of old wars and forgotten victories. Rain smears across the high windows. The King and High Priestess stand alone before the throne. Tension hangs thick.
KING: (staring out the rain-streaked glass)
They tried to end her life before it even began. And now—now they dare to offer peace?
HIGH PRIESTESS KORRELL: (calm, unshaken)
Because they fear what comes next. What she may become. They believe she was not meant to be.
KING: (turns sharply)
They believe in a cage. A world nailed down to prophecy and gears. My daughter is not a mistake. She is not their error. She is mine.
KORRELL:
And yet they saw her as a fracture in the weave. A threat to the ordained line. You would call them monsters—
(She steps closer)
—but I ask you, Thalen... would you have done differently, if prophecy said her birth would undo the realm?
KING: (his voice lowers—dangerous, trembling)
You speak too freely for a servant of the gods.
KORRELL: (cold, measured)
And you listen too little for a king on the edge of war.
[Suddenly, the massive doors to the chamber slam open with a thunderclap of wind and rain.]
[A heavy silence falls. Even the braziers seem to dim.]
KING: (stepping forward slowly)
What have they done?
KORRELL: (quietly, to herself)
Or what have we already set in motion?
The Grove
Loot
Soul Echo Pendant
Wondrous Item (rare, requires attunement)
A swirling silver disc that hums in sync with your heartbeat. When held close, you can feel a subtle vibration—like a second pulse waiting beneath your own.
When you are reduced to 0 hit points, the pendant activates automatically:
- Instead of falling unconscious, you drop to 1 HP.
- You immediately become invisible until the end of your next turn.
- The pendant shatters after use, its magic expended.
