balance_ooc | Field Mission 6: A Day in Thay, Call to Arms

Field Mission 6: A Day in Thay, Call to Arms

	Mou mou!!! (T/N: Die, Karsus!!!)
	NAVIGATION

1. A BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME

WHERE DO WE EVEN BEGIN?

Depending on how you look at it, our story begins in the town of New Aspen- or, for as some of you may know it now, New New Aspen. A long time ago, a mayor had made a deal with the Cult of Shadows in order to stop the pestilences that they brought upon their little town. His sister, Laurel Hollyweather paid the blood price that was required by their organization. A body, willing, so that they may take form in this world and return to walking the land of Toril once again. It never sat well with the mayor, who was lauded as a hero for saving his village. But what became of Laurel after the Cult of Shadows had left New Aspen? Her spirit merged onto the nearest creature, turning it into the Matronly Mother that once waged war against the town for forgetting her noble sacrifice. The Reclaimers put an end to a long and unhappy family feud, also claiming their first Grand Relic in the process: The Space Mittens.

This is the story of what happened to Laurel's body.

After the cult assumed control of an avatar for their will, Laurel headed to Waterdeep. There, she presented herself as one of the Seven Sisters, a group of women who were blessed upon birth by the Goddess Mystra herself; if in the event they were cast from their celestial thrones once again, she'd have one of seven options to choose from. The protection of the Weave, above all else, was paramount to the survival of the world as we know it. The cultist was smart, and cunning, and easily spun a believable story as to the whereabouts of her own tale, and why she had been missing for as long as she did. In the shadows, she assumed control of Blackstaff Tower, the prominent wizarding school upon which Waterdeep had churned out countless defenders of the realm. When you play the long con, it helps to have a goal in sight. And when you wage war against Magic itself, you better have a damn good convincing persona if you're going to infiltrate the town of Thay.

And thus, she became Casariel Silverhand.

DOESN'T IT START EARLIER THAN THAT?

From another angle, you could say that this all began eons ago, a time and place long forgotten by the annals of history, scant with records or accounts of a long-forgotten city. The Netheril, as you would have it, was home to a sprawling empire of city-states, banded together under a council of mages who pushed the boundaries of science and magic all the same. They propelled their capitals into the sky, keeping them afloat and sustained by draining unfettered magic from the land itself. It drained every ounce of energy it could just to keep itself going, and as all great empires go, the Netheril had to fall.

A brilliant wizard by the name of Karsus had been researching magics that were never meant to be toyed with. He summoned a 13th level spell, one whose casting would only ever happen once in the course of all Faerunian history. Named posthumously, or perhaps, by the man himself, as Karsus' Avatar, he enacted a ritual that brought about the winds of change for the world. In attempting to solve the Netheril's thirst for magic to sustain itself, he opened up a link between all planes of existence, and in doing so, saw the horror of what he had actually accomplished. He became a god, which is awful in its own rights, but worse- he invited the very thing that wound up ruining the Netheril and forcing it to come falling down from the skies.

The lone dissenter to this plan was a woman by the name of Mystryl. Rewarded for her stalwart opposition to Karsus' plan, she was gifted with the radiance of the Celestial plane, granting her the power to control the construct and flow of magic itself, and thus, the Weave was born. Through it, she could limit mankind's powers so that no one would ever be able to do what Karsus was capable of achieving.

But what truly became of the Netheril? Many cities fell and became occluded with the sands of time. The desert, having received such an imbalance of magic, experienced such ravaging torment that entire stretches of land became looming crystals, nullifying any magic that dared be cast in its range. But one city had fallen into a plane of existence, brought down into it by the rift Karsus had made. The Shadowfell welcomed this lost city with open arms, immediately claiming the bodies of every living citizen left. They wandered, as ghosts, in their destroyed home. They plotted for centuries to return to the home they had once loved, and watched from the outside as their greatness had faded to nothing.

Their dissatisfaction only grew as time went on. They saw beyond the universe and knew what was on the horizon, clutching the space between spaces in its unceasing appetite to consume all. The Hunger. The remaining Netherese banded together and sacrificed 90% of their population to bring their city back to Faerun, but without bodies to return to, they could only manipulate in the shadows. Their city began to fall, without the energy to sustain its levitation- until it was piloted into the World Tree. All to get one soul back into the land of the living.

And thus, the Cult of Shadows was born.

WHOA, TOO FAR BACK

And depending on where you look at it, our story really just begins with Karsus. Once the owner of the Grand Relic of Divination, Karsus had seen the expanse of time in both directions. He saw a future of this world that he couldn't bear to live with, and decided to enter the game and play with a timeline even longer than Casariel Silverhand's. You see, Karsus wasn't born in the time of the Netheril, no. His era is our own, and by merit of having the Lamp of Unwinding, he knew things that he would inevitably have to do--- because he was the one who would do it. Or had done it.

Karsus knew of the story of Karsus' Avatar, his own fabled myth, and struck with his own unfortunate time loop, knew he'd have to go back in time to begin the chain of events that had led him to where our story takes place today. He needed to give rise to the Goddess of Magic to ensure that the Weave would exist, so that one day... one day, the Bureau of Balance would come to fruition from Lucretia and Maureen's dream. Karsus had become his own boostrap paradox, completing numerous loops of time to ensure his own existence. Trippy, right? You might be wondering how a goddess of time like Istus would feel about all of this- and if you guessed that she was livid, you'd be... sort of right, and sort of wrong at the same time. In her infinite knitting, she only moves forward, determining the future of events, and you can imagine the moment she found Karsus' string in the city of Thay, long, long before the events of the current situation that we're all in. But she, too, had to see to it that fate was obeyed- and this was, for better or worse, Karsus' fate.

Mystra has dominion over the Weave, the force through which all magic is summoned in this world. It's existence isn't one of legend, but actuality. And it's power source is the Wellspring of Magic, a place that holds it together like glue. Remember when it was mentioned up there that Mystra blessed 7 children in case she ever needed to possess one of them from being cast out from the Celestial throne? It had happened once; dubbed "The Time of Troubles," the Celestial plane was locked off for a while and she was sent to roam the earth as a mortal. It left the Weave completely undefended. You can imagine the look on her face when Karsus had appeared to lend her a hand. She thought he was dead and long forgotten, but here he was, the Lamp of Unwinding in his hand, in a land that would one day be known as Thay.

And he agreed to ensure the Wellspring of Magic's safety. He tricked and lured an adult black dragon that was terrorizing the land around its home into visiting it, and put it into a deep, deep slumber around the Wellspring itself. Mystra, once she regained her status as a goddess, saw to it that Karsus would no longer have the ability to move forward and back through time. Karsus, knowing the events of his own story, surrenders willingly. Mystra takes the Lamp of Unwinding and leaves it in the hands of a trusted, far more sane wizard... Khelben Arunsun: Rainer's great grandfather. The city of Thay is then formed as a pact to keep the Wellspring of Magic safe. Karsus himself founds Boarbumps with 4 other great archmages of the time.

Once he's done what he promised to do, to perpetuate safety to the Weave, he agrees to whatever fate Mystra decides for him. But he knows... of course he knows. He's seen what happens.

And thus, Karsus is bound to the Tower of Avalon, deep within the Sea of Fallen Stars.

2. WHAT THE BUREAU OF BALANCE DID

In lieu of an expanded section here, detailing out the events that you've helped to accomplish, we're going to defer to the timeline document that we've been maintaining! You can read about all the important events that took place during A Day in Thay over there.

3. WHAT'S REALLY HAPPENING AT THE WELLSPRING OF MAGIC

Now that you're caught up to speed, a few of you know by now what's been happening down beneath the town level of Thay. Surrounding the Wellspring of Magic is an extremely old black dragon, tricked into a near eternal slumber by Karsus, and protecting the source of all magic in Faerun. Some of you have made it down here just before 7pm to see, or maybe hear, Casariel and Rainer down here, arguing over something that couldn't be audibly heard. You've discovered ways down into the deepest layer of this dungeon: a magic mirror that, once attuned by Ferran, allows safe passage down to the depths. An entryway in a bathroom haunted by a specter of Boarbumps past. A secluded and spider infested climb through the forests surrounding the town. All of it leads here, to this very confrontation.

Rainer, who finally feels that the gravity of the situation has been felt by a group of people she knows as responsible for destroying magical artifacts, sits between Casariel and the dragon, interrupting the well laid out plans of the Cult of Shadows.

This is her rock and her hard place.

On one hand, awakening the dragon destroys the town and unleashes a horror upon the world whose rage has been built up over centuries. Casariel glows a dark purple energy, ready to revive and control it to do her bidding: break through the barriers of reality and welcome The Hunger once and for all.

On the other hand, the thing that Rainer has kept close to her heart, is finally revealed. And no matter how many times this has been scripted, and how many stalemates she's found herself in, she's never been able to break the cycle. In her robes, the Lamp of Unwinding rests, waiting for its next use to turn back time. But this iteration, this cycle? This is it. This has to be it.

It's now or never.

Casariel smiles with vile intent in her every waking feature.

"You know you can't stop me, Rainer. I've drunk from the Wellspring of Magic. We're one now. Killing me will only destroy the Weave."

And now you know exactly why she's perpetuated this exact scene. She's done this over 2,000 times already. And she's never had a third option. From here on out, things are about to get dicey.

What do you do?

4. CALL TO ARMS: RESUME

We hope you're ready for this mission's conclusion! Here are the rules:

○ Utilize this post as a discussion board if you're interested in teaming up! It might help to hit upon your character's path actions, strengths, magic items and abilities. This way you have an idea of what's available to you as a team when the assignments go live.

○ We will RNG team rosters if there's overflow. Each of the CTA missions below have the required archetype in the header, along with a maximum group size allowed to undertake the mission. Each group needs at least one character with the required archetype, so keep that in mind when signing up. If one group gets more than the maximum allowed signups, we'll RNG a final group roster for you.

○ Sign ups for the threads will close on Tuesday, December 3 at 6PM EST. If you've signed up for a CTA in the last mission, please be considerate and allow others to sign up this go-around! If we receive threads without at least two signups by that time, we will then reopen the thread and allow everyone to throw their name in the hat. If this happens, we will subsequently close CTA signups on Wednesday, December 4 at 6PM EST.

○ CTA plans are due on Friday, December 6 at 6PM EST. Results will be rolled and posted.

○ The CTA log will go live on Monday, December 9 at 8PM EST. Remember, if you signed up and submitted plans for a CTA, you must thread it out or you will be considered ineligible for the following mission's CTA plot.

○ Success or failure in this mission is largely relative to the overall state of Thay, the safety of the Wellspring of Magic, and the Grand Relic's reclamation. Read more below for more information!

blurb code by photosynthesis

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This CTA is a little different than last! We're going to take a total of 10 characters for this specific event. It's assumed that you all are working together in one way or another, acting simultaneously. Your results will be tied together and the choices you make or the results you receive will permanently change the landscape of the game forever.

The Lady of Shadows herself, Casariel has been working behind the scenes for centuries. Every meticulous plan that she's laid forth comes to a head here. Her success will mark the beginning of the end.

It's time to shine some light on the darkness.

○ Killing her outright while possible, comes with extreme consequences. As stated above, she'd bound to the Wellsping of Magic in a way that if she dies, she takes it down with here and all magic in Faerun will cease to work.

○ Attempts to reason with her or charm her will be at disadvantage: she's harbored this murderous and evil will for so long that it's practically the only thing that's kept her going.

○ Student NPC's are available to join your team and can be piloted by you when you receive the result of your rolls.

○ Failure here will have rippling effects downward throughout the rest of the CTA's.

Signups close Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. EST.

Blake is in, what's the worst... that could happen...

int checking in, let's do this

OK I CHANGE MY MIND

Phoenix is here to try and do what he does best

yell dramatically at people

This DLC unlocks Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. EST.

BLAKE
SANS
PHOENIX

This DLC unlocks Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. EST.

Plans are due by Dec 6 at 6 p.m. EST.

Team Cas' plan is as comprehensive as it is convoluted. I'll be going into further detail here but... well. I made a cheatsheet. I'm very sorry.

Moving to the matter at hand: Sans, Phoenix, and Blake are hesitant to kill Cas, and not just because she's connected to the Wellspring. Phoenix will say they have to try and talk her down, if not for Casariel's sake, then for Rainer, who has watched her best friend betray her over and over for the past six years.

So, with that out of the way. The Plan is divided into three stages:

STAGE 1: Words, Not Deeds: Believing in the power of words to bring Casariel back from the brink, Blake and Phoenix will be attempting to negotiate with Casariel, and end this conflict before it crosses the point of no return. While this is the primary stage they will be doing talking in, they will attempt to convince Casariel to stand down at multiple points through this plan.
- Phoenix will be taking the lead during this stage, with Blake supporting him, and Sans on standby.
- Phoenix will be trying to leverage Rainer as Casariel's closest connection. When she inevitably claims she feels nothing for Rainer, Phoenix will raise a single OBJECTION! If Casariel feels nothing for Rainer after all this time... why is she still wearing that bracelet? He'll be using this to leverage the idea that Casariel was starting to get cold feet about what she was expecting to do, and what that would do to the people she cared about most - she had to commit to doing something drastic and irreversible to commit herself to her ill-fated course. He will be invoking Empathic Duty as well as Insight, the first to try and stabilize Cas' emotions (and make seeing reason easier, ideally) and the second to find the chinks in Casariel's facade and pry them open - as well as try and catch Casariel being sneaky if she tries a 'fake surrender'.
- Blake, meanwhile, will be leveraging family, and the bonds that Casariel has made in order to beg her to see reason. To that end, she's using her Silver Tongue and, on a tip from Ferran, recruited the temporary assistance of Adriel Fontaine in the hopes that he can make 'Aunt Cas' stop her reckless plan, Blake will be encouraging him to show his Lucky Ticket, to show just how much Auntie means to him..
- Sans won't be helping talk down Casariel, instead, he'll be setting up for the next part of the plan. He'll have used Digital Phantom to try and conceal the true nature of the Chance Lance from Casariel (making it look like an ordinary lance, instead of the powerful magical weapon it is) and while Phoenix and Blake are talking, he'll be using his Tarantula Ring as well as Misty Step to try and flank her without being spotted. If Casariel either spots Sans out or manages to divine just what Phoenix is wielding, they're going to skip straight to Stage 3, but otherwise...
STAGE 2: Threading The Needle: If Casariel refuses to stand down, and Sans can get himself in position, the three of them are going to attempt to restrain Casariel, so that Phoenix has a clear shot to use the Chance Lance's one-time power. The goal? Splitting Casariel from the Wellspring.
- Sans takes the lead on this one, with Phoenix as a support role and Blake on standby.
- Sans will be using a variety of methods in other to try and pin Casariel down - he will most likely be using his Tarantula Ring to stick to the ceiling, and therefore restrain her via clever use of Levitate. If that doesn't work, he will also be using the Web spell, as well as the Spider's Thread that Maya got from Bryan (with a Y) for some heavy duty lockdown.
- Assuming any of those stick for an extended period, Phoenix is going to take his shot - if nothing holds Casariel down for very long, Phoenix will hold off on using the Lance - after all, he only gets one, well, chance. But assuming this is where he has to take his shot, he'll be praying to Istus to split Casariel from the Wellspring - and, hopefully, make this entire affair much, much easier. The Chance Lance is the fulcrum of their plan, and so they've invested a fair bit into it. Phoenix will have use of Sayori's Once-Per-Mission-Log Book of Advantage so that his aim is true.
- Blake won't be directly helping in the restraining of Casariel, as her job is to lead the engagement on her if she breaks free, and the trio is forced to fight. Which, speaking of...
STAGE 3: All Hell Breaks Loose: The final stage of the plan is technically the simplest but has the most conditions to it - it's likely inevitable that a direct confrontation with Casariel is going to come down to a fight.
- Blake, with her combat experience, is leading the charge on this last stage of the plan. With Phoenix (who is hardy but inexperienced) on defensive duties and Sans (the One HP Wonder) on Support.
- Blake is a natural fighter, which is something neither Phoenix or Sans can claim in their resume. In addition to that, she is very hard to hit, with Evasion and Shadow Clones both coming in handy here to keep Casariel from being able to lock onto her for very long. She will be the one primarily trying to wear Casariel down on the offensive.
- Phoenix, meanwhile, will be playing the role he was born to play: the Tank. Defense and Disruption are in his repertoire, as he is able to momentarily disrupt Casariel's spellcasting through either Objecting via Vicious Mockery (hopefully causing her to flinch and lose the spell), or by telling her to 'Hold' It with a Command. He'll also be slinging out Shield of Faith, particularly on Sans (though he won't hesitate to use it on Blake if the need arises) to protect them from any spells that do come through. Worst comes to worse, he'll try and intercept the spell with his shield, a move he'd been practicing recently. In addition to all that, as part of Minato's plan for Team Wellspring Defense, Phoenix took part in Minato's Ceremony, allowing him to communicate with Minato should things go horribly awry.
- Sans will of course be trying to play the role of hard crowd control, leaning heavily on Web and Technovirus to keep Casariel disrupted, as well as throwing out a Haste to buff the trio in combat. If Phoenix has not yet had a chance to use the Chance Lance, Sans will be prioritizing trying to restrain her once she's taken some combat wear and tear, in hopes that gives Phoenix a wider window. He'll also be making judicious use of Misty Step to keep as far out of the line of fire as possible.
- While not present for the confrontation itself, Maya will be using Summoner's Golem in order to provide a fair amount of resistance and toughness to the trio while they fight.

The three of them will be prioritizing using the Lance's magic to try and split Casariel from the Wellspring, and then detaining her if she refuses to surrender. If the Lance fails to split Casariel from the Wellspring, and she refuses to stand down, Sans is prepared to use the rest of his caster abilities to kill Casariel. But only when all other options are exhausted, and it's down to destroying Casariel - and all of Faerun's magic in the process - or letting the Hunger through.

Edited 2019-12-05 21:07 (UTC)

DOWN IN THE DUNGEON (VARIED)

CONFRONT CASARIEL (INTELLIGENT - MAX OF 3)

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SUBMIT PLANS HERE

I am sorry for what this must look like on your phones.

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DEAL WITH A DRAGON (STRONG - MAX OF 3)

SIGNUPS

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DEFEND THE WELLSPRING (WISE - MAX OF 2)

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NAB THE RELIC (DEXTEROUS - MAX OF 2)

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OVERALL RESULT