#anyway I FOUND IT including WHAT TYPE OF WEAPONS THEY USE which has plagued me for literal years at this point

[daisywords]

EVERYONE HOLD UP I think I just discovered the missing piece that connects the worldbuilding and the plot and the characters and everything and surprise surprise it's an element I was considering near the wip's genesis but discarded and now it's back in full force babey

[science-lings]

You have made me curious. Please tell me about your oc's! What are their names? Why? Are they from a specific fandom or from a world of your own making? What do they look like? What is thier favorite fruit/color/food/drink? You made a spidersona a while back, right? Have you developed them more or have you moved on? (Sorry theese are a lot of questions at once you don't have to awnser all of them if u don't want to lol)

Okay so I have a great many main ocs so I’ll make little intros for them that answer each question lol

also here’s a link to the masterlist that might be more helpful and less rambly lol, it also links to art of the characters if you’re interested:

OC MASTERLIST

First of all, we have Rosalia (Rose) Scarlett Dawn who has healing powers, she (or at least her main design) started out as the spidersona you mentioned, but she evolved beyond even marvel oc territory lol. I draw her the most, she’s the one with red fading into white hair and sectoral heterochromia/ gold eyes, you can probably find her very easily on my art account @sciencelings-arts. Her image is also what I use as the icon for my writing account @sciencelings-writes which was a commission I got done for her last Halloween. She has become a very different character, although I still really vibe with her spidersona origins. She exists in the marvel universe as a SHIELD agent that does her best to use her powers for good but once SHIELD falls she works for Tony Stark and the Avengers as their on-call medical professional as she is kind of the expert in weird shit like injuries and sickness that originate from magic or alien stuff. Her sister Artemis also works for SHIELD as a field agent and does not have powers. Their relationship is kinda complex and depends on the universe that they’re in, like my original series is set in a bunch of different universes as I don’t want to constrict myself with just writing fantasy or sci-fi or whatever. Anyway Rose is a lesbian with underestimated powers and all that kind of shit. She’s fruity, they say an apple a day keeps the doctor away but she is the doctor and she will consume any apple within her eyesight. 

Second of all, this one will be shorter, Andromeda Starling, Basically her parents were scientists for hydra and she found out and ran away, resulting in her getting lost in space and gaining shapeshifting powers that evolve from partial shifts like gills and wings to full transformations like turning into a dragon because she wants to. She’s a sapphic asexual and is endgame with Rose, Her image is on my art blog (linked above) and my rarely used OC blog @sciencelings-ocs, After her transformation, her blood turned purple and her eyes turned purple and all her hair turned a cold white. She actively avoids going to earth and is the basic lone wolf type that comes across as mean but it’s mostly due to trauma and mental illnesses. She kicks ass and has no idea how to talk to people. She likes space fruit and actually knows how to cook space food. 

Next, we have Adisa Crow AKA Doctor Plague who is Rose’s nemesis, She got her powers from trying to recreate Rose’s powers within her and it going very wrong. Her powers can reverse other character's powers and skills, whether that’s a direct opposite like making a fire-themed character control ice or whether it’s just twisting the power against them, like making Andromeda’s shapeshifting uncontrollable as her power normally relies on her focus and complete control. But her powers come with a price as they are constantly affecting her, giving her hallucinations and manipulating her thoughts and emotions drastically. She wears a plague doctor mask when in full supervillain mode. She and Rose have a full friends to lovers to enemies to friends kind of arc as when she is released of her powers she might be forgivable with a whole lot of therapy. She only drinks Redbull and coffee. 

speaking of therapy, next we have Alexandria Iriklitis. She’s a superhuman therapist with a magic voice. She mostly uses her voice to manipulate emotions but it’s powerful enough to levitate objects and break glass, and even bring down buildings and stuff. She has very colorful hair and very solid black geometric tattoos all over her body. She’s not normally a fighter type of character but she does appear as a peacock siren bard in the fantasy au and that comes with having wing arms and a big dramatic peacock tail. She is the only emotionally stable one usually but she’s not perfect and although it takes a lot to rile her up, she can lose her shit and no one should be within fifty miles of her when that happens. 

Next, we have Ma’at Ramses who is a necromancer goth mom who adopts death kids that are ostracised from the normal magic organizations. She has a magic sword hilt that shifts into different weapons at will and a magic helmet that resembles an Egyptian pharaoh's crown that gives her extra abilities. She’s constantly in contact with the dead and her mission is to give them peace but more and more keep coming to her for help and no matter how much she works, she is never finished.  She constantly feels the rage from the dead that need to be avenged and it takes tremendous control to not take it out on the people around her. Eventually, she figures out that those feelings are not her own and she can control how much they affect her and she becomes a much less angry person. She’s kinda morally gray as she has no qualms about things like murder of she decides that the person really deserves it. She really hates injustice and doesn’t just sit around for people change and you know, heavily bigoted politicians just disappear sometimes, that’s just how life is. 

Next is Diana Schmitt, a mutant who can control the heat of objects (mostly metal and glass) and the molten outcome. She’s heavily scarred on half of her body including her face and she’s missing an arm and a leg that she replaced with layered metal and glass prosthetics. She’s trans and sapphic because I can’t make cishet characters to save my life. She uses her powers to make weapons and tools as she has big blacksmith energy. also, she's six feet tall and super buff. She's the whole gentle giant type and is super friendly. Her scars and limb loss are from a malicious attack with ice which causes her to hate any kind of cold and even makes ice a trauma trigger for her. She hates the winter and tries her best to avoid cold places. She is immune to incredibly high heat and has literally slept inside of a volcano with a magma blanket. cozy. 

Lastly (I think) we have Guinevere (Gwen) Kaimana. She’s an actual mermaid. and a Pirate. She can control the sea and temporarily turn her tail into a skirt over fishnet tights covering human legs. When out of the water she has to take special care to be very hydrated. She can faint if lacking enough water in her body.  She has Polynesian tattoos on her arm and torso that glow white in the dark but only when it’s very dark like when she’s very deep in the ocean. She wields dual scimitars (those curved pirate swords) and is bisexual. She has a very unearthly energy and is basically a myth to the people on land, but on the seas, she’s known as the Queen of the Seas and is feared by the people who don’t know her. She has big found family energy with her crew and mostly just focuses on saving sea life and causing trouble for the us military because she thinks it's funny. They tend to overreact and try to find her and “bring her to justice” but they can never find her, no matter how much they search. Before becoming a pirate she had spent several unaging decades in isolation in the ocean before she was willing to associate with people again. Sometimes she gets confused by current events and technology when she visits the land but she hates showing it. 

[cerberus253]

I just rediscovered this thing I typed for high school some years ago and what? What?? I typed this? Like, yeah it may not be the best and I’m sure it has flaws, but whatever the heck was going on in my head seems pretty interesting to present-day me. I’m reposting this instead of reblogging because this fiction piece is super long and I don’t want to force people to scroll through a crap ton text if they aren’t interested.

Dear Ben

[SHORT STORY FOR SCI-FI AND FANTASY CLASS]

8 October, 2537

Dear Ben,

   Hey, it’s Khristina. I’ve never really talked to you like this, but I’m terrified and I don’t know what else to do. Coming in contact with you at all will only bring bad news, but I will not under any circumstances go with anything you say, I just need someone to talk to because my best friend, Luciel, is being imprisoned in another cell far away from me, as all the other slaves are in this place. I don’t know where we’re at, but it’s cold, dark, damp, and it reeks of petroleum. I’m pretty sure you’ve been paying attention to what happened in the last year or so, the whole Hirouleysi invading when everyone thought it was a joke for 30 years. They swooped down in their giant “kveikurs”, which are 10 feet tall raven black, metal dragons with a wingspan three times their size, spewing poisonous toxins where ever their masters please. We both like dreadful looking things, but both of us were terrified of those beasts. They may be generic looking, but I’ll never forget the moment when we were walking in the woodlands and suddenly a dark shadow casted over head like an eclipse, heading towards Behelzen. I’m ashamed that it didn’t register in my head something bad was going to happen, until I heard the shrilling screams of utter horror from the town. When we arrived I couldn’t believe how everything went to ruin in the matter of minutes, people coughing like their lives depended on it, children crying, and gas everywhere. I even remember seeing some of the Hirouleysi carrying people away, unconscious. This happened since they arrived, these “people” coming once a week to torture, then to take whatever they want away. Luciel and I were terrified, but you weren’t, you just watched in content.

   I can’t believe we were taken also. I’m usually the one being safe and not taking any action, but I guess there is no safe haven with these creatures around. They destroy everything and leave behind the plague. At least it’s satisfying to know that the people down in the city of Sentrare have multiple Sagrabt shops, who only sell the cure at a reasonable price for the awful sickness that the kveikurs spread, I just wish it didn’t take five months to make, all those families that lost their loved ones… Anyways, we both feel suspicious about the short amount of time it took to make it. I know the plague is a new sickness, but the cure should of taken longer to make, not that I wanted it to, it just seems so fast the way they whipped it up, but what do I know about making cures.

   Tomorrow is the first day us newcomers will be shown around the plague hive. Please do not say anything that will separate Luciel and I, let alone get us in trouble.

9 October, 2537

Dear Ben,

   Before I talk about what happened today, because you don’t pay attention much to anything around you, the what seemed to be one of the captains reminded me of my kidnapping, probably because he or she looked a lot like the one that did catch me. I was underground with my family in our “safety home,” (thank you dad for being paranoid and believing the warnings) when suddenly with only a rattle of warning, the entire place was engulfed in poisonous gas. A thing about the gas, it does not affect you at first, but after 10 minutes or so you start to feel light headed and nauseous and you start to cough. After 20 minutes or so of this torture, you immediately fall unconscious, then you wake up like you had a hangover. So, when the gas hit us, my parents handed out masks for my siblings and I. We hid separately around the house with weapons as quietly as we could as the captain loomed about, carefully checking everywhere. Hiding in my room, I could barely see through the gas, but I saw the individual and I shamefully say I admire their apparel. I guess they wanted to blend with their kveikurs because they had the same get up as them: all black metal armor with three sets of horns on their helmets. Their helmets could be lifted from the mandible and at the opening of the helmet’s “mouth” were rows of teeth like a canine. They had small spikes going down their back and clawed metal gloves. Most of the troops carried swords or staffs with sharp ends on them, but some just prefered their fists and claws. This one in particular had more spikes than the average guy and looked more lean than the others. Despite his stature, he looked importantly dressed, so I assume he was higher ranked. I was terrified of this guy, but he seemed to be careful of where he was looking. Usually robbers or crooks would throw stuff around, but he was being careful on what he picked up and placed back. He seemed…lenient, maybe? I don’t know, he stopped at my drawings and took the time to go through them. It felt forever just watching some guy look at my work, not knowing if they would be good or bad in his eyes. Why do I care? I have no clue. A murderer is deliberately looking at my art and I’m sitting here thinking “Oh no, I hope he doesn’t think it’s crap!” knowingly he will kill any civilian that walks through the door. And then he took some of my sketch books. Why he needed them, I don’t know but I was mad that he stole something of mine without my permission. Thank god I was a coward enough to not confront him. In the end, he found me and I tried my best to fight back, aiming for his cervical, orbitals, popliteals, and surals and crurals, over all going berserk like a child. I guess everyone heard me screaming and stuff breaking so they ran up and ganged up on him, but it was too late, more troops came down and slaughtered my parents, but left my siblings and I unconscious, probably because the elder ones were of no use but the younglings can grow to work later. I was the only one in my family taken as far as I know. Luciel told me that she saw the Hirouleysi take me away and she stupidly followed them, having herself become captured in the process.

   Anyways, we were shown around the quarry today, being told where everything was at and what our jobs were. Everyone was silent except for the officers and some rowdy kids, who were punched in the gut gladly by the superiors. There were teenagers and young adults everywhere who looked surprisingly well fed, but had bruises and scars all over them. Some kids were carrying gas canisters, some were following Hirouleysi troopers and being trained by them, some were unconscious on the ground. I cried multiple times on the tour, and practically ever since I remembered what happened to me prior to this, but Luciel seemed to be the only one that noticed and cared. Luciel talks a lot when she’s around me, but it was unnerving not hearing one word from her. Occasionally she would mumble and tear up but she tried her best not to catch any Hirouleysi’s sight.

1 November, 2537

Dear Ben,

Everyone got a job to do, Luciel had the job to make an account of all the kveikurs made and which ones were in progress and how far into the progress. I, however, showed great knowledge on how things could potentially function, so I have the job of not only making and fixing kveikurs, but to design new and better ones. I heard some Hirouleysi whispering about how I wouldn’t be able to fight well, but I could be something of an overseer. To be honest, I’d rather be stuck with the same job as Luciel because I’d be with her.

   You know, despite this being slave labour, they actually treat us okay. Well, actually the ones who follow the rules and don’t act up do. We’re given food, warnings instead of immediate punishment first, and longer breaks. Now only if they would fix the cold cells, but I guess they have to be harsh in some way. It feels like prison here, so I guess I know that if I am ever in actual prison I wouldn’t have any trouble with the officers there. It’s pretty lonely, especially with you always nagging at me, to tell me to fight back. I know I should, but on my end I have nothing to defend myself with. We’ve been told that there has been many escape attempts, gang ups, riots, even sabotages by former slaves. They were exterminated within minutes. As long as we do what we’re told, we’ll be fine, but I’m still thinking of what I could, or maybe should, do to cause some trouble around here, but I have to make sure no one would expect it to be me, being a coward and all.

15 March, 2538

Dear Ben,

   As you can tell, I haven’t talked for a while because I lost the motivation and time to do so, including materials. I was able to write letters before because I found papers and charcoal lying around my cell for some reason, but now I was actually given papers to write on! So here’s what happened, I’ve been so good around Ditinggalkan, the name of the quarry we are enslaved at, that I’ve been given a reward of my, limited, choosing. I would of liked to work with Luciel, but even with my best friend I need breaks and time alone, and I see her enough already with my other specially given break rules (they let me go and talk with her where she works, as long as I’m supervised), so I asked for paper and some art supplies. They agreed, but they said nothing of it leaves Ditinggalkan. I had no intentions of doing that because even if they did let me send it out, they would have to check it. The Hirouleysi are so tight with check ups on everyone to make sure we aren’t hiding anything. Despite all my submission, I think they still suspect me of doing something against them because the one that tells the truth can lie more easily and betrayal does not come from the enemies, but your friends. They must’ve caught onto that because I always get the sense I’m being watched, and later I found that I was. Guess who’s watching me? The same Hirouleysi that kidnapped me and killed my parents. He must have some grudge against me because I irritated him pretty well back on that day. I kept knocking him down because I went for his legs and abdominal region. Then I kept whacking his helmet to make as much noise as possible to annoy him, all the while sitting on him, using my weight to keep him down. Despite his stalking, he never confronted me in any way, probably because he wasn’t aloud to hurt someone without having a reason. I’m starting to think the respect rules are only here to convince us the Hirouleysi are our new friends and family. Strangely I do feel safe around them, but keep reminding me they killed numerous people for no reason and stole teenagers to make mechanical beasts to further kill other people. I do wonder what the Hirouleysi motives are for all this.

1 April, 2538

Dear Ben,

   Every week I see those black monsters rise up from their cages in the morning into the skies like swarms of mosquitoes, then part in multiple groups and go every which way. To about the afternoon to late at night, they come back with items and people, repeating the process the Hirouleysi did with us. It is quite mesmerising to watch as the Hirouleysi saddle up their kveikurs and rise like dragon riders, but it’s so sad they are acting as the villains to everyone outside. I always wanted to be a dragon rider, maybe I would get the chance to ride one some day, I just hope it doesn’t also mean I have to demolish towns as well. To be honest, the Hirouleysi don’t gather many kids, five, six, I think the most I’ve seen was eight. They all look so confused and scared. I really wish people wouldn’t be so hard on frightened teenagers. Make them comfortable first, then give them tough love.

20 May, 2538

Dear Ben,

   A fight broke out a couple weeks ago. I don’t know how it started, but every fight starts off with a disagreement. Luciel was in the middle of it, trying to settle the kids down (I’m referring to most people here as ‘kids’ because they act like children), but it ended up becoming even worse. I suppose you could of called it an uprising by the largest sea of people. I want to say it was between those who wanted to stay and those who wanted to leave. Multiple people were killed from both sides and I’ve heard from a guy that calls himself Herald that Hirouleysi were watching intently, but did not do a thing. I had no idea they were so entertained by that fight because I was too busy trying to protect Luciel. I may not be the strongest female, I may not be the most agile or light, but I’ll be damned if I let anything happen to her. Right now, she’s all I’ve got to a family. I guess it goes to show how much the Hirouleysi actually “care” about us. Their boss must have threatened them to a great extent to convince them not to be too violent with us. Herald proceeded to tell me that he was watching the fight from afar too. He only took pity on them. Quick thing about Herald, he’s an overseer that likes thinking his job is more of a way to blackmail slaves like the weasel he is, but he seems to grow a liking towards me, probably because I’m the only person to willingly talk to him. Anyways, he noticed how no interference from the Hirouleysi happened until six or seven minutes after I came in. Herald said he was able to watch this because he was actually betting that I was going to be killed. What a guy, right? I bet you’d be best friends with him, Ben. He didn’t find any connection between me and the Hirouleysi interference and usually I’d be suspicious about there being a connection, but nowadays I try not to believe anything like that happens, I’m not that special anyways. All the Hirouleysi troops are forced to be nice to the ones who deserve it. Luciel and I left before the riot was over, but we heard that it lasted a good 45 minutes and some Hirouleysi deaths, rumor has it that someone, not sure who, brought out a kveikur and smashed loads of humans. Just about everyone in that battle was punished with whips and starvation. I tried to lie and say I wasn’t in it, but they found out and punished me for it, physically with whips and starvation, but also the loss of trust, which was the worst part. You thought all of that was like watching your favorite T.V. show, you also wanted to join in on the fun and think about consequences later, but as I told you before, I am not letting you.

30 June, 2538

Dear Ben,

   Luciel started dating one of our peers. His name is Daniel and he’s four years older than her. I never really liked it when Luciel dated because she was always hurt in the end. I do love Luciel, but she’s very paranoid about anyone besides her family and me of betraying her, yet she dates. In a place like this, I wouldn’t go out with anyone. It’s full of sociopaths and psychopaths. I would like to have someone that loves me, but really the only one would be you, and I can’t even reach you by any means, at least in the way I would like to. I really worry about Luciel, I’ve told her she shouldn’t date people until she understood herself enough and loved herself first. No one seems to get it though, the whole “love yourself first before others”. Even I barely understand it, but just because I don’t understand it doesn’t mean it’s not true. I’m pretty sure I love myself. I do suffer from depression, but I view that as more of an obstacle or a teaching method for the ones around me. I want to show people I can be stronger than depression, or any other feeling or thought you can make me have. Though there is one thing that still keeps me up at night, and it is that soul crushing loneliness. The kind that you have when people are around you, but because you cannot communicate the things that are important to you, they make you feel even more alone and neglected. I swear I’m going to be a nervous wreck before I escape or die here.

6 July, 2538

Dear Ben,

   I swear to god I have not felt so much hate in my life at this point. I had a surprise check in today while I was working. Unlike what you’d think, the Hirouleysi officers were careful poking around my things, but I absolutely hate it when people touch my things. I don’t care if it was the Devil himself turning off my video game to play Just Dance or something, I do NOT like it when people touch my things. What stunk even more is that one of the officers took my sketches, again! Did they want it for ideas of new poisonous monstrosities or was there just this one guy that likes stealing people’s stuff? BAH! I liked those sketches too.

   The Hirouleysi also skimmed over my letters to you. They asked who you were, so I told them and they just gave me the indication that I was a loon, so that was fun. Then later I was called down to speak with the gas team because they were short on Toxin people. I never thought I was smart, but apparently I was brainy enough to help make chemicals. After all that, I talked with one of the helpers on break of the Toxin department. Robin was his name and he says that I shouldn’t feel too special with all these semi-important jobs I was given. There are numerous people who had the same jobs I had, so I was just another cog in the machine. That definitely brought down my self-esteem.

13 July, 2538

Dear Ben,

   I’ve been thinking about why the Hirouleysi are like how they are. Slave trades I’ve read in stories and heard about in school sound cruel, unjust, and one of the worst places to be, but when you hear me talking about Ditinggalkan being an enslavement camp, but it’s not as bad as it seems, it sounds unreal. I believe these people are psychologically messing with everyone here. Think about it, if you listen and mind your own business and not cause trouble, you can actually have a decent conversation with one of the guards. If you’re loyal enough, they will train you to be one of them. They act like parents and treat us like their children, rewarding the good ones and punishing the bad ones, respecting the smart ones and trying to fit the best job for a mentally challenged kid instead of just assigning whoever to whatever. I said this before I think, but Ditinggalkan rules for the Hirouleysi are for all of us to try to become friends, so we will join them and follow what they do. The Hirouleysi don’t actually care, they are manipulating us through our feelings and thoughts. Yes, physical punishment is the same, but that’s besides the point. This frightens me, whoever their boss is knows how to gain teenager’s trust, but he also knows that not all will submit, so he keeps them in check and makes sure they would be so deep into their work, they won’t know what is going on. I hope all three of us, you, Luciel, and I won’t fall into their trap.

28 July, 2538

Dear Ben,

   I’ve never told you about this, but back in April there is a man that nobody pays attention to. None of the slaves talk to him, none of the Hirouleysi talk to him, nobody. Herald was able to sneak me some candy bars a few days ago in that month, and for some reason the thought of finding this nobody, sharing my food, and talking to him came to mind (I blame you for this one). It took all day, but I finally found him. You know me, Ben, that I would never in a million years find some stranger, walk up to him, and talk to him because of fear and my aspergers. He looked broken and forgotten, come to think of it, I think he was also the oldest person I saw here. It looked like he was eating just fine, but by the looks of how tired he was, he reminded me of how I would see a dirty rag on the ground at home, too lazy to pick it up and hope one of the other house dwellers would pick it up, but nobody ever does, so in the end I have to confront it. The conversation was awkward and choppy, but he liked to talk. Out of nowhere he tells me flat out “The Hirouleysi and Sagrabt are working together.” Me being the intellectual I was and how suspicious I was about the Sagrabt to begin with, I asked how do you know this and why. He proceeded to tell me that ever since he became a shadow to everyone here, he was able to gather information from just about anyone, even conversations between Hirouleysi. He never told anyone because of fear of the Hirouleysi, and no one seemed to be bothered enough to look for information. Everyone just wanted out, but the only way to do that is death, so why not collect intel and wait for someone who had the guts to do something with it, to give them hope? The man explained in detail what he knows, but in general, the Hirouleysi and Sagrabt are working together because of money and power, but their agendas are different. For some reason, the Hirouleysi are planning treason against Sagrabt because “those are the exact type of people that need to be purged from the world.” From this comment, it seems like the Hirouleysi are trying to do some good, but my question is why are they killing and trapping innocent people? What does the Sagrabt get out of it? Both of them must be planning something bigger. Someone else beyond these metal and rock walls has to of caught a whiff of what’s going on and is doing something about it, because I don’t have the courage to do anything.

   Last thing before bed, the man told me to never speak to him again. He wouldn’t tell me why, but it was nothing against me, it was for “personal matters.” I hope he isn’t going to kill himself.

7 November, 2538

Dear Ben,

   I began my overseer job a bit after my last letter, and it was, at the least, weird. I got the night shift because I was able to gain the Hirouleysi trust back a little and because I wanted to face my fear of what could be in the dark watching me. So I’m sitting there on a ledge, taking my break, eating my food, when one of the guards sat beside me. Not just any old guard, but one that looked like a high ranking officer, not just any old high ranking officer, but the same one over a year ago that kidnapped me. We sat in silence for a while and I was trembling and heating up with fear. Did I do something wrong? Was I going to die here? What did I do to upset them?

“So, how do you like the kveikurs?” I’m sorry, but what? Was he really asking me this right now? I’m still confused to this day why he just plopped himself right next to me asked ‘What’s your opinion on our monsters???’

“Um, well I like how they look, but I don’t like what they’re used for.”

“Uh-huh” More silence follows after.

“I’m sorry I took you away from you home, and for what happened to your parents.”

“What kind of insensitive dillweed are you?!” is what you, Ben, wanted to say, but no, what I said was even worse,

“Oh” So this is the guy that has been stealing my art for months.

“Why did you do it? What’s the point? You should’ve just taken me and left my family alone. What is…wrong with you people?!”

“I can’t really tell you, but it will all work out in the end, okay? I’ve noticed you haven’t been too lively lately, is everything…okay?” Here’s where my explanation for why this letter took so long comes in. I’ve gotten into a depression and all I wanted to do was draw constantly. I’m upset about how Luciel is spending all of her free time with Daniel, I’m feeling neglected and left out. She’s also been hanging around other people more. I respect that she has gained friends, but she’s leaving me out and barely talking with me anymore. She’s addicted to her boyfriend now.

I tell this mysterious guard all this, and we start going back and forth of ‘Did you try this? Yes I did. Did you try this? Yes I did that, too.’ and it came to a point where we both didn’t know what to do. The captain was trying to comfort me with some stories on his end and what he did, but it didn’t help. While talking to him, I had the feeling of realization that these masked figures are people, they’re all people, but you reminded me that just because they’re people, does not mean all is forgiven of what they did. I asked how and why he was here in Ditinggalkan. He said he could not tell me, but it’s all about freedom in the future. Yes, a slavery captain is talking about freedom, hardy har har, but what finally clicked was the Hirouleysi were holding slaves for a limited time. Once they reached their “freedom” goal, they would set us all free. What made me think this, I don’t know, but from everything that I’ve heard so far, this is what it sounded like. I made the stupid decision of telling him this thought because I wear my heart on my sleeve and trust people too easily, but thank god his response was,

“I’m going to say that you’re wrong so then I won’t be punished for saying that you’re right. So, no, you’re thought is absolutely wrong.” Whoever this guy was trusts me and likes me for some reason, so we talked, about other things, from then on, conversing on my break time as overseer. His name is Jodocus, he’s pretty funny and smart, and I do love his passionate personality. I found out he took my drawings at first for proof of my “worthiness of being in Ditinggalkan,” and the second time and so on for admiring them. He also told me he’s never giving them back, so I’m a little butthurt from that. Meeting him changed my view on the Hirouleysi, but I want you to keep reminding me that just because one is like this, does not mean all are like this.

   I really need to try to talk to Luciel again about the situation we’re both in. She sounds so miserable lately. She’s never happy anymore unless she’s around Daniel or talking about him. I don’t seem to be making anything better. One time recently I think I made our relationship worse. We’ve been friends for years and I never thought our friendship would be this close to falling.

29 February, 2539

Dear Ben,

   Luciel killed herself the night after November 7th of last year. I was overseeing that night, but I guess she found a spot where no one could see her. I was walking around and I smelled fresh blood. I followed the smell and I saw her, body exploded, blood splattered everywhere, her organs mangled about everywhere, spilling from her lifeless corpse like paint splatter, her beautiful pink dyed hair now caked with blood. I have flashbacks every time I think about it; I may have PTSD after what I saw. As you can tell, I was in a deep depression that nothing could of gotten me out of. I tried my best to talk to her, she told me on the day of the 8th that her boyfriend and her broke up. They had an awful argument about being here in Ditinggalkan and becoming a Hirouleysi. I was there for her, I listened, comforted, and held her, but I guess the pressure had the upper ground and she convinced herself she can not live anymore. I never thought out of all these years she would do something like this. She was so strong and smart, but depression was stronger in her head. This shouldn’t of happened, this should not of happened! I wasn’t there for her when she needed me most.

You shouldn’t blame yourself. You did the best you could.

I’m trying to listen to that. I hope you had a fun time seeing my pain, Ben.

   I was so emotionally sick from all of it the Hirouleysi took actual genuine pity on me and didn’t bother calling me in for work or anything. I locked ourselves in my cell, only coming out for food, bathroom breaks, and art supplies. I tried my best to avoid everyone; I felt bad about ignoring ‘hellos’ and such, especially from Herald. I couldn’t help it though, I wanted to be alone and with my thoughts and you. Jodocus would come by my chamber every few hours or so. He wouldn’t say anything but leave origami paper flowers for me from book pages.

   I can’t explain how I escaped my prison, but only by “it clicked.” Obviously I still hurt, but one day I just stopped, I was done with crying, I was done with drowning in sorrow. I want to think the lyrics from Phil Collins helped somewhat,

“I know It’s hard but found somehow

To look into your heart and to forgive me now

You’ve given me the strength to see just where my journey ends

You’ve given me the strength to carry on

I see the path from this dark place

I see my future

And your forgiveness has set me free

Oh, and I can see another way

I can face another day”

6 August, 2538

Dear Ben,

   It has been (ha) a long time, but I know what I’m going to do now. This is counted as treason, but I don’t care anymore. I’m doing what I know is right, and that is sabotaging; I’ll follow you now. I am going to turn a kviekur into one that would spew the cure Sagrabt is selling. Not only that, but I will also place in all my kveikurs blueprints of them and say what I know about the alliance of the Hirouleysi and Sagrabt, pocketed safely away so after they self destruct, the info will be safe. Obviously I’ll have to randomize which kveikurs will be healing and which will have the notes, but I’m pretty sure this will stay in secrecy for a while. I will be put to death for this once I’m found out, but I simply just don’t care anymore. We could escape, tuck ourselves away like the intel, but I need to stay here to gather more information, like the man in April. This is going to be hard and terrifying, but it will be worth it to someone someday. I need the people of each and every city, town, farm, whatever to know how to fight the Hirouleysi and Sagrabt, to be free from their crooked hands. I feel awful for stabbing Jodocus in the back for he seemed to develope feelings for me, from all his stealing and stalkerish ways. I kind of liked him too, I would of liked to see how things could’ve turned out for us, but I don’t want to be in pain from relationships. This is a jump from the last letter, but I’m letting you take the wheel now, I’m done with being scared all the time, just take over.

X XX, XXXX

Dear Khristina,

   We’ve made wonderful progress so far, but I do feel empty and bored of life. Do you think we did the right thing? Maybe we should of stayed with the Hirouleysi and Sagrabt and try to help the Hirouleysi take over. I would’ve liked to see their leader and know both side’s intentions so we could manipulate them. We could of had all their attention like you wanted. We could of had control like you wanted. But alas, we’d both be forlorn forevermore. There’s just no winning with you, is there? I’ll keep doing what I’m doing, but if a better opportunity comes up, we’re taking it.

- Love from your other half, Ben~

[nerdarchy-blog]

In my last piece I wrote about one of the modules I wrote back in the Mesozoic era.  “After all our 12 year old minds, while imaginative, couldn’t spin a coherent narrative. I still have a dungeon I wrote back then called Torth. It’s… um… well, the Plan 9 of modules. Made no sense.” Within hours, the stalwart and suffering editor sent to me “I am curious about Torth! Although my opinion of Plan 9 is colored by Ed Wood, which I’ve seen several more times than the actual Plan 9 haha.” [NERDITOR’S NOTE: That’s me!] However, by that point the semester was concluding, work was piling up, and I couldn’t do it.  Now the semester is done (I earned 2 A’s and an A-) and here I am sitting on the couch writing about something I wrote some 40 plus years ago. Get off my lawn.

A mockup from the author for Torth: Castle of Evil. Pretty cool if you ask me! Check out the gallery at the end of the post for the creator’s original cover, maps and notes. [Art by Erol Otus]

Torth: Castle of Evil

I started this while I was still the Dungeon Master for my first module, B1: In Search of the Unknown. For those who don’t know this module it was the first Basic Box Set module even before B2: Keep on the Borderlands. While B2 had all the monsters filled in, B1 didn’t. What the writers did for this one was they’d describe the room and leave space for the DM to include Monster then Treasure. So this kid got to enter whatever monster they wished whether they made sense or not. In one room would be a couple of goblins while the next room over (a 20 ft. x 20 ft. no less) would have a red dragon. My player (the Dave I mentioned last column) didn’t care. Kick open the door, kill the monster, collect the treasure (never mind how much people could actually carry), do whatever was in the room (ooh, pools!) then repeat. Yes, that was Quasqueton, stronghold of Rogahn the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown!

I added a third level to Q, which featured an underground lake with an island on which were the barracks for all the off-duty monsters. There was a bugbear barracks, a room for vampires…you get the idea. That was me trying to figure out a reason for the monster placement.

After that it was Dave’s turn to DM and I played my first character, Apollo. We played almost every night. During study halls or after going home after gaming I started writing what I thought would be my magnum opus! It needed a name. One afternoon when we weren’t playing the Monkees were on TV. One of them was Peter Tork. I changed the name a little and so the module had a name: TORTH!

I started by drawing one third a map, wrote about the rooms, then more map and so on. Oh, this was great stuff! Killer! No character could possibly survive! Plot? What’s that? Dave also wrote some of the dungeon and I asked people who had no idea about the game for trap ideas as well. Torth eventually had three levels, two of which had giant underground lakes (one on top of the other??) with 200 total rooms and was finished on June 10, 1980. I even bought a report folder for it to make it more official and traced the umber hulk picture for the cover. I made the umber hulk the proper colors even though some of the umber hulks appearing in the module are orange. Don’t ask — I’m already embarrassed enough.

Eventually Dave and I learned that a new kid in the school, I’ll call him Rodney, also played D&D! Well, he wanted to learn anyway. He was and still is a goof ball and was enthusiastic about playing. As Dave and I were now experts at the game…hey stop laughing!  Ahem, experts at the game, we would teach him. And where would he learn? TORTH!

You can see this train wreck coming, can’t you?

Not being one to make things easy on himself, and with the new AD&D Player’s Handbook in hand he decided to create a 1st level half-elf fighter/cleric named Pantalian. I, with the brand spanking new Monster Manual, was determined to try all of these new monsters.

The adventurers needed a reason, no matter how flimsy, to enter this dungeon. I reproduce it here, word for word, misspellings and all. On the word for word stuff I’ll insert my comments in italics. Because.

CONTENT WARNING — rape

****************************************************** Many years ago, when orcs ruled the countryside, a magic user came.  He enslaved the orc tribe the green foot and made them build him a castle. The orcs were also forced to build new homes for poor people of the towns they destroyed. The castle was dug deep into the cliff side of a mountain. (So… it was a cave? A castle?)

This good magic user, ruled the countryside fairly the townspeople loved him dearly.

Many a cleric and Magic user came to him to study and for advise.

Soon Torth was getting old, and said he needed an heir. He adopted a boy by the name of Rascen. A few years later, the old wizard died, and left everything to Rascen.

Rascen, like his stepfather, was a good man. He trained to be a druid. (As one who lives in a fancy cave castle does.)

One day while holding the passover feast, the holy grail appeared. This brought pride to Rascen and his people. (Ummm.  Yeah.)

While holding Court a beautiful girl came and stated a powerful knight was disturbing her. Her name was Rachel. Rascen himself slew the knight, and fell in love. (Fell in love with whom? The knight?) Soon Rascen asked Rachael to be his wife. She consented.

A few years, later a son was born. They named him Carnan. He grew up to be a magic-user after his parents died. But Carnan was evil. Carnan ruled harshly until one night, the castle mysteriously caught fire. He was said to be killed, along with other evil clerics and magic users. (Ok, the cave castle caught fire. HOW???)

The townspeople lived in harmony. A knight named Maskoth was appointed mayor. He ruled fairly.

One night, Maskoth disappeared, only to be found the next day, totally insane. He was babbling something about Liches or other evil. He died a few years later of mummy rot disese. This was the first evil. (ooh — scary!)

A sage said there would be six evils on the town. No one believed him. Soon a mysterious beggar came to town. A few days later he killed the captain of the watch. This was the second evil. (Damn mysterious beggars!)

After that, a good cleric came to town, and was told of the two evils and went to the castle, never to be seen again. A month later, bones were found in the woods near the castle. On them was a holy symbol. Scholars doubt this carnage was the cleric, but the people knew it was. This was the third evil. (Scholars studied this???)

The month after the finding of the bones, ghouls, mummies, zombies, wights, wraiths and ghosts plagued the town for one week, killing many. This was the fourth evil. (Okay — this is a town. By this point, there can’t be many people left, and those who survive, why did they stay?)

One night later, a girl named Josephine disappeared. She was found the next day, brutally murdered and raped. This was fifth evil. Now the windows of the castle are scarlet, as if a fire was burning inside. (I was a screwed up kid going for shock value. Also, what windows? There are no windows in the cave castle!)

A few days later all the infants and old men were killed. Evil swept the town. The chapel was burned! The monastery pillaged! This was the final evil. (Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria! Oh wait.)

Now the sage stated that evil will kill us all if it is not removed, and that the source of the evil was the castle. “A fighting man would be needed” stated the sage. That night he died of mysterious causes. (As one does in these tales.)

One night a merchant was passing on a road that is near the castle. He claims he saw a hooded figure in a rear window looking, staring out. The figure was all white, had glowing eyes, and burnt, shabby clothing. (WHAT WINDOWS?) That was last night. Go now to the castle and defeat the evil inside.

(Yeah. Go. Defeat…whatever.)

*****************************************************

Pantalian and his NPCs died very quickly. He was reincarnated five times. He lasted longest as a troll. Then one day his character sheet vanished. Turns out someone we both knew tore it up and flushed it down the toilet. Rodney to this very day blames me for this and in revenge he and the other person destroyed my character’s painstakingly kept journal. However, I was not the culprit. Doesn’t matter, he still blames me.

How did Pantalian die so quickly? Well, here’s a few rooms, typed in exactly as scrawled back then, mistakes and all. The first room the characters will encounter after entering the castle would be room 17, which was a 20 ft. x 40 ft.

“The room is dingy. In the southeast corner is a 10 ft. circular iron cylinder. It has elvish runes on it and cannot be read except by the evil. They tell the history of evil. (That must’ve been small type!) When the door is closed, the lid pops open, orange smoke issues forth and 2 lemures pop out. 7 hp, 13 hp. 1 potion of flying, ring of skeleton, 900 sp.” (The ring would reduce the wearer to a skeleton instantly, no save, just dead.)

It was Pantalian and an NPC fighter. Lemures were devils with 3 HD and regeneration. Only blessed objects could kill them. Of course a brand new player wouldn’t know this, nor would they possess such an item. Or be aware of regeneration. So the lemures just kept coming and Rodney, being the jock type, wasn’t about to run away!

Splat!

He created a second character specifically to go in and drag Pantalian’s body out. He was then resurrected and the second character became an NPC, a half elf fighter/magic-user. Neither lasted long. I decided the player needed help. I know! A magic weapon! I gave a gnoll a longsword +5 Defender. And again, Pantalian fell. His NPCs, as he now kept several, managed to kill the gnoll and get the sword for him. It helped against the night hag in the next room. Seriously.

The true shame of Torth was the way it was designed. This was supposed to be the castle of a good wizard but the map is a jumbled mess. Nowdays if I were to make that map I’d say chaos magic twisted it into its current form. Back then I just figured that dungeon maps were supposed to be mazelike. The Ruins of Undermountain proved me right. Again, I was a kid and hadn’t any experience writing.

Since that time D&D writing improved vastly. Jennell Jaquays introduced the concept of sandboxing an adventure with her Judge’s Guild pieces. Narrative plots began having some depth. Maps began to usually make sense. Also the players, me included, became more experienced along with the game as it developed.

Torth’s ending had the Heart of Evil which had absolutely no reason for existing except as a McGuffin for the character to reach and destroy. Of course in a linear sense it was in the last possible place.

“194 — The Heart of Evil. On the heavy door is a tarnished plaque that says “The Heart of Evil.” (As the major quest targets always do.) If the leader of the party is good, the door only opens on a one (if hit by an evil person.) (Huh?) When the door is open, the outcropping is seen. The two sides emit an orange yellow glow. This is the heart of evil in the castle, placed here by Balzebul. (Why???) This outcropping pulses, for it is alive. AC -2 Hit Dice 5. 21 hp. If the “heart” is threatened, it will summon 5 manes or other devils. When somebody is killed in this room, the heart grows brighter (that is only if a good person is slain, if an evil thing is slain in this room, it dims) Good slain — it gains 1 hp. Evil slain — loses 1 hp. (Fair enough but why only one?) If there is an evil person is in this room during melee, there is a 75% chance that he or she will turn against the good in the party. (Before you ask, there were many rooms that changed the character’s alignment. And every 13-14 year old kid plays chaotic neutral, no matter what their declared alignment.) When the heart is killed, all evil in the castle dies and disintegrates. A cherubim comes to warn the adventurers to leave, for in 12 hours the castle will crumble into dust. (When heart dies the yellow orange glow leaves) (It doesn’t help or anything. It just comes in, makes its grand proclamation and leaves.) Also if the heart is threatened, it will generate an evil energy field. If a good character goes in, they lose 1-4 hp per round. (Oh, by the way, it has protection from good sort of.) 1000 exp for killing the heart.”

Hearts of Evil can be pretty innocuous looking!

  Sigh. When I wasn’t available to DM Dave would DM for me. Eventually, near the end of the first level a magical slide appeared taking whatever character Rodney was playing by that time directly to the island where the Heart of Evil was. No devils popped up but he had a major time beating on the thing before it died. And so ended the only time Torth was ever played, with over two thirds of it avoided.

Why write a column about this aside from the editor asking? I write a lot now between this, my monthly column at Transgender Forum, my blog and other things. Whatever a person creates, be it art of some kind, writing, song or whatever they leave a piece of themselves in it. That’s why no two artist’s works are alike or no two authors (not counting intentional style stealing.) Torth took me quite some time to write during a tumultuous time in my life.

It was around this time that my inner demons, which I later understood to be my misplaced gender identity, really began to plague me. Also around this time I started studying martial arts as I was tired of the beatings I received at the hands of bullies. Add to that I was a late bloomer and while all the other kids were hitting puberty, I wasn’t. I dreaded puberty as I knew it would make me exactly what U didn’t want to be: a man. All of this and more all swirled in my head. My only real escape then was gaming, especially D&D.

As I wrote above, when someone writes they bring part of themselves and that includes D&D adventures. I have since that time written over 100 D&D adventures for my players or for others to run. I haven’t read Torth since, well, 1980 or 81. I’ve kept it in my pile of D&D papers or with my modules since then and it’s moved with me many times. I started reading it for this piece and I had to stop. Yes, some of what’s written is Ed Wood bad or worse. That’s not what stopped me, nor was it the poor penmanship, as it was all written in longhand (in pencil!).

I stopped because what I read was a howl of anguish (cliché, I know) from a child who knew they were different, couldn’t understand how or why and whose life was changing and out of control. I was lashing out at whatever caused me pain. I can tell when Rodney started playing. Rodney was a goofball and is still a great friend but he was also a jock. He would become a champion wrestler, attend VMI and serve as an officer in the Army like all men in his family before him. He was everything I wasn’t. Unconsciously, I lashed out at him through the module. There were many times in Torth where the characters were magically transformed, just as I wished I could be.

So yes, Torth was a train wreck but so was I. In many ways I’m still that child struggling against all I am. However I now understand who I am and have the power to change what I don’t like. Rodney and I still play D&D every other weekend on Roll20, as he lives in Michigan. And he still brings up Torth every session. Other players live in Philly, Maine and one here in State College. They’re going through Keep on the Borderlands — my selection. It reminds me of a far more innocent time when gaming was just gaming, yet also a lifeline to other worlds. Sometimes an orc is just an orc after all.

Be well.

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Original cover for Torth: Castle of Evil

Grid map of the Castle of Evil dungeon

Dungeon Master’s notes for Torth: Castle of Evil

Torth Updated!

Step back in time with our resident old school D&D creator to explore Torth: Castle of Evil! (warts and all) #staynerdy In my last piece I wrote about one of the modules I wrote back in the Mesozoic era.  

[multimask]

Session 8, Rundown

They're Coming to Take Me Away

Ha-haaa, they're coming to take me away ho-ho hee-hee ha-haaa, to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time, And I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats, and they're coming to take me away ha-haaa … ANYWAY

(slight tw for NPC suicide, briefly mentioned)

((Sorry this took so long, would have gotten this up last night but hit a mental block about halfway through my session notes. But now it’s typed! It’s done!))

Where to start, where to start... Right.

The pilgrim woman we had talked to at the end of last session had just scampered away, and we had the day to ourselves. Just an ordinary, regular day in a strange town with pilgrims spreading their word and trying to convince people - especially those with children - to go visit the monastery. We swing by Aggie's place to check in with her and to let her know that we were planning on heading out to the monastery. If something went horribly wrong and we didn't return, at least someone would know where we'd gone. After some deliberation and what if'ing about the pilgrims & the plague, we come up with a general plan of action and then the party splits up.

Poppy and Elias (aka the "power bottom duo" according to the DM) go talk to some of the regular townsfolk to warn them away from taking the pilgrimage, and they also swing by the local temple. There, they talk to the priest to inform them about the pilgrims and whatnot. The area has been generally quiet, though some troops passed through heading roughly North-East. After leaving the temple, the two see a pilgrim talking to a young couple and they go politely intervene & let the couple know something was up with the pilgrims and their pilgrimage and to not go.

River, Ren, and Soliana go to find the woman we ran into that morning, or at least one of the pilgrims with a similar emotional footprint to ask them what was up. Turns out, we found her and three other similarly grief- or terror-stricken pilgrims at the tavern, and the woman had easily three or four empty tankards scattered around her. She was *drunk*. Instead of going to talk to her, we catch the attention of two pilgrims - a wood elf and a human - sitting together and talk to them.

From them, we learn that the monastery is about a day's travel or less away and try to make general small talk like we were interested in going. The elf offers up a very factual version of events and offers no personal opinions or experiences about  the monastery or pilgrimage, which is odd. Ren sends the elf a mental message and tries to tell him that everything's alright & he can speak freely with us. At this, the elf freaks out and states that he doesn't like people messing with his head. Soliana sends Ren outside, and the elf appears to calm back down a little. Around this time, Poppy and Elias return to the tavern and find Ren standing outside peering in one of the windows. The wood elf starts to say that no harm comes to those who go when the woman we'd been talking to earlier interrupts.

Like I said earlier, she was *wasted*, and she clearly did not give any fucks about anything anymore. She starts to tell the tavern that "they take them, invite families, and the children are -" *SNAP* Her brain stem is cut. She slumps over, dead. In the middle of the tavern.

River tells the room to clear out, and it does. Then Poppy and Ren enter the tavern to join River and Soliana. We inform the barkeep that this needs to get cleaned up quickly, Ren worries that destroying the head won't fully ensure that the woman wouldn't return as a zombie of some sort, so - despite protestations - Poppy hefts her warhammer and slams it down on both head and chest. Needless to say, this spatters blood *everywhere* and Poppy immediately sets about to cleaning up the mess. The poor barkeep tells us to not come back after we leave town...

Soliana watches Poppy clean for about 20 minutes before pulling out the Wand of Mom'ery and aiding the efforts, making sure to be on the exact opposite edge of the mess as Poppy at all times.

The wood elf takes off towards the woods, and River, Ren, and Elias chase after. At one point, they almost lose him when he ducks behind a tree. The three of them round the tree and discover him dead with his throat slit and the bloody dagger fallen from his hand next to him. Ren's had his spirit-vision on and the elf's spirit is sucked off to the North *very* quickly. The trio take care of his body, burying it off in the woods, and then return to town.

We set off towards the monastery that day, instead of the next morning like we'd originally planned. Since Poppy was a large part of why we left town early, we made sure that she took a watch. And since things seemed to keep happening during River's watch, they opted to not take a watch that night. As it was, the night passed thankfully uneventfully.

Tredas, 21 of Baerust

Next morning, we continue on to the monastery and make it there by roughly midday. The monastery itself is a lighter grey stone and made in a very blocky architectural style, and there are some people entering in the front door. We briefly discuss who, if anyone, would go through the front and who would sneak around for another door. Ren and Poppy end up going through the front door, since Poppy wouldn't have been able to sneak very well with full plate armor (though, she's been very good at rolling 15+ with disadvantage...). While Soliana, River, and Elias are skirting around the monastery to a back way in, they are ambushed by small thorny sprites who chitter "your friends are gonna die in there!" before sticking the three with thorns.

(Here, we bounced between the combat outside and the events inside at the end of every round of combat. Very cool during the session, a bit hard for to narrate well. I'll go through the inside events first, and then catch up with combat once the two groups somewhat meet back up - the two groups don’t truly rejoin by the end of the session)

Once Ren and Poppy enter and all the pilgrims are gathered, a man in a golden mask addresses the room and welcomes them to the Gathering of Unity. He then asks for everyone to give up their weapons before entering the ceremony room, promising that they'll be returned afterwards. Poppy very reluctantly gives up her warhammer while Ren pretends to be blind in order to keep Poppy's quarterstaff as a walking stick. One guy tries to sneak in a dagger, but is caught. We all immediately take a liking to "knife guy/dude/boy" (oh the fun of players taking a shining to NPCs the DM didn't name ahead of time lol).

The door to the ritual room is a giant mural with a hidden mechanism in the work. After everyone is in the ritual room, which is just a small room with four or five rows of pews and an alter/podium/lectern thing, the door is shut and Golden Mask explains why they're here and what's going to happen. Thanks to the Goddess for her gifts, we must give her an offering, yadda yadda yadda, typical religious spiel. He then asks the five or so children in the room to step forward and collect what offerings everyone has brought. After collecting the offerings, Golden Mask says that the Goddess will be pleased with the donations and would the children please follow one of the silver masked guards to take the offerings to the proper room.

Once the children have left the main room, and the ritual begins. Golden Mask requests that everyone holds hands and that those in the aisles hold their hand out. Magic mumbo jumbo happens, and his gloved hands started to glow a golden magenta light. He passes down the central aisle, touching each outstretched hand as he goes, returns to the front of the room, then shouts a word in whatever strange language he was speaking for the ritual. The light washes over the room, and he addresses everyone in Common.

They are to not speak of the children who are now gone, and they are to go to new different locations to spread the word of this glorious pilgrimage. The people are to not even *think* about defying the Gathering, or else. At this an elf pipes up in anger questioning what the hell was going on here. He gets blasted. Anyone else want to try and defy us? Please, let us know so we can take care of you now. Oh, and don't worry about the children, they've already been taken care of.

During this whole ritual, River, Elias, and Soliana were taking care of the thorny little fey that attacked them outside. They manage to finish them off right before the golden magenta light pours from the temple. River and Soliana aren't looking too great, but the three go rush around to the courtyard and drop in over the wall. The door to the inside of the temple is unlocked, so they go through and find themselves in the main entrance room. Looking around the room, there's the giant mural, which Soliana quickly figures out is the door, and the chests full of people's weapons - including Poppy's warhammer. The trio scoop up some of the weapons and open the mural.

While the other three were finding their way inside the monastery, the masked robed figures leave the ritual room through a back door and tell those elft not to follow. Ren and Poppy debate whether or not to follow him, and end up going after once knife dude - now named Clement - goes after. Down the hallway, it starts to become more natural caverns. Around a corner, they see shadows cast on a wall of some figures holding a conversation, a little of which they overhear. Golden Mask had apparently not sent the children where they were supposed to be sent, and a higher-up was not happy with this. There's some name drops and a revealing of a third party in this whole Gathering of Unity situation before the conversation ends. An undead orc walks by the hallway that Clement, Poppy, and Ren were hiding in, and he continues down another passage way. Golden Mask returns to the ritual room, not spotting the three in the hallway as he does so.

It's at about that time that Soliana opens the mural. Golden Mask is not too happy to see that the door is open. He tells the gathered that the dealings have gotten "us" in trouble with higher powers, that the children will likely be killed within the day, and asks one of the silver masks to close the door. Hearing that childrens' lives are in danger, Soliana slips into the room - there was no way to do that unseen, but she didn't care - and River and Elias dive after. The door is closed, silver mask leaves the room, Golden Mask drops the mass geas spell that was on the people, and fireballs the room.

River and Soliana were not doing well after the fight outside and go down, and many of the pilgrims don't fare much better. Ren wants to keep going down the tunnels to find the children, but Poppy is being magically compelled to return to the ritual room (gotta love throwaway lines coming back with fey nonsense - "I would die for you" well now's your chance to prove it lmao).

And there we ended the session with two players down, one of them being one point away from insta-death...