The Grey Dust

Tales of Maoria: A 5E D&D Adventure

Are my posts too long?

Or do we enjoy them?

Tales of Maoria: A 5E D&D Adventure

---

Kethan the Librarian

---

Always rushing headfirst without a thought. Kethan shook his head at the charging goliath of a man and his hounds. Melonhead indeed, much to Tessa's nickname for the barbarian, why did warriors not give a moment for an old man to pause and think? Dogs and all, attempting to madly break down the door! It was too easy, all too easy, the unlocked gate was perhaps divine providence, but surely there would be a test of mind and skill rather than of brute strength alone. And true to this philosophy, the cleric of Gilean walked onwards. Still minding the dragonborn who muttered something, catching it was quite difficult in the rain, even with the old man's acute hearing. He may be old of body, but Kethan's senses were still sharp, his eyes, his ears, his mind. Sure his memory may fail at times, but for the most part recalling bits and pieces of information acquired over the decades of being a librarian was still possible. A wide array of topics from the arcane and esoteric, to more mundane things such as the life cycle of the common gnat. A wellspring of information and if he could not provide any saintly advice to a farmer asking for a forecast of the weather for planting seasons, or a passing adventurer asking for some scrap of history, a book may point the way proper. And failing those, perhaps a ritual or two to divine the question posed. Regardless, what Kethan has learned well over the years made it clear that time in wasted on the young and reckless.

And by the time the elder made it to the doorway, which the boisterously loud boy had attempted to simply breakdown with little mind to property or subtly, it was clear the giant's failure suggested there was more to the door than just the strength of mere material. All the while one amongst their little troupe had left, with the archer introducing herself as Ada, plying the leaving member to remain on with all the charm her tongue and wiles could afford. Certainly the Deserter spoke truth. All this smelled of a swamp ogre's unwashed toenail, with the layers of mystery and suspicion swirling around them, but Kethan stood by Tessa, it was she that volunteered them both, it would besmirch her nobility should they back out now. And if there were lies, about them, then this old man would bring the burning light of truth to anyone who would dare bear false testimony. Falsehoods are to be cast out and purged, every fact checked to keep the knowledge of the world unsullied by deception.

It was as shame it was raining, robes becoming soaked in rain, and a knowing look at Tessa suggested neither of them really enjoyed getting their outfits wet. Kethan himself wore something far more practical than her, a belted robe with three pouches hanging on his right, though he did have a set of clerical finery for ceremonial purposes kept in his pack at the room the stayed in. This was only planned to be a short stop, a bit of rest before continuing on their travels. His self-imposed exile turned the former librarian into a wandering hermit, or at least until he met the noblewoman spellcaster. And a wry smile chuckled to himself, thinking it ironic that they had not just brought along Shaktimaan. Sure a goliath was strong, but an elephant ought to have a much easier time ramming down a door. But alas the great beast was probably not enjoying being caught in the rain back at the tavern.

Alric, and Iris. Named names, how unfortunate that a villager had to name the father, and presumable the daughter. If they had no names, there would be nothing to write on the headstones should they fail. And yet they still bore not a surname known to him as the clergyman preferred to use more formalized greets of last names in polite company. Kethan himself dropped his own surname, simply called Kethan, or Librarian, or any combination of either title and name. The order was his family, the books and their authors his children, but all those were taken away. So he could sympathize with the distressed father, but books were not of flesh and blood. Perhaps Tessa, or Ms. Imlotel, as the elder referred to her by, was something of a daughter to the old librarian, but even there their relationship was more of consoler and companion. And between the two of them, they pulled each other towards the path of enlightenment. And with the second intervention of this villager providing a map to their treasonous party, well perhaps it was a sign that the gods were on this man's side. Even the Deserter apologized and returned, offering to risk his own neck in penance for his accusations earlier.

"There is no sin in seeking truth young man, only in choosing to remain ignorant." Some words offered to the repentant swordsman (Arius). "In example, by your armor and blade, I took you for only a swordsman, a dangerous assumption in my error, perhaps next time before we are dashed into this rainstorm, we may gather ourselves and account for our individual assets... And weakness such as my advanced age..." A short bowing nod acknowledging the return of the prodigal son. It was difficult to ascertain for certain, but of the group Kethan may have been the oldest present, by giant and hair, for elves and dragonborn were difficult to age by human eyes. Their lifespans greater than that of an ordinary human, and thus the effects of time were less pronounced. Speaking of dragonborn where did that cutpurse go? Nevermind that, hopefully off to do reconnaissance, entering through like a thief in the night, sulking about in the dark and rainy. Let us come in like honest men.

"I believe this ward the goliath encountered is an arcane lock." Upon quickly gazing at the doorway, and gently tapping the surface of the door with his staff to incite the flashing magic. "It is fortunate it is only that. If you are able to dispel such an effect, there may still be a physical lock to bypass. But I believe there is at least one amongst us here who is capable of fooling any such mechanism. And perhaps I may offer some insights to a myriad of lock designs as some guidance... Ada was it? come child, allow me to share my knowledge." And by that, Kethan took a few steps away from the door to allow the spellsword to cast, prepared to offer some insight into the inner workings of any locks they must defeat in addition to the spell. He had not prepared to dispel magic, nor was Ms. Imlotel if he recalled, then again they had a usual standard of spells between them. For example, bland food and water was conjured by Kethan, the flavourless gruel spiced up by Tessa, and any mess cleaned up by her arcane cantrips. Such an arrangement also meant Shaktimaan had food an elephant needed, and a way to take care of anything the creature left behind post-meal.

Should the elven archer allow it, Kethan could unlock something by his own power. Opening up her mind for a moment of divine insight, to guide her skills and perhaps allow her to successfully use her lockpicks. After all, with the dragonborn who Kethan caught in the corner of his eye making way to the balcony her past performance with the gate did not bode well for gaining fruitful entry. A tap on the forehead should be enough, and with Gilean's favour, may the elven maiden know enough to bypass a lock...

Mechanics

Arcana check to discern spell on door: 22.
Offer to cast Cantrip: Guidance on Ada
Also passive perception 23 vs Stealth 23 for noticing Crow Eater.

Tales of Maoria: A 5E D&D Adventure

@The Mighty Hero

May I call for an Arcana check to investigate the ward on the door?
Ought to be better than a detect magic to understand the nature of the spell.
The party sort of already knows there is a ward there, and wards usually go under Abjuration.

Arcana check roll: 1d20 + 8 = 22

@VKAllen

Oooh mysterious shiny object.
If we have 15 minutes, to spare, Kethan can use an identify ritual to find out what loot you nabbed.

Tales of Maoria: A 5E D&D Adventure

@The Mighty Hero

No worries. The fault is also mine. My writing style is somewhat convoluted at times.
And can come across as condescendingly dickish, a flaw of being long-winded as I am in writing :I
Terse statements are easier.

consider trying these for mapping: http://pyromancers.com/dungeon-painter-online/

Dungeon Painter is decent (assume you'll use the online free version that sets up walls and stuff on grids and exports nicely to Image formats) A bit tricky to construct good places, but they look really nice.

There's also I think some premade maps in the archives.

Tales of Maoria: A 5E D&D Adventure

@The Mighty Hero

I'm not trying to be mean or anything.
Honestly, as a player I can't see what the DM sees unless the DM tells me.
I can ask I suppose, and I will for future purposes.

The 7 Sins: GREED

res

The 7 Sins: GREED

res

The 7 Sins: GREED

res

The 7 Sins: GREED

---

THE SECOND SIN

---

GREED

"There was an eager, greedy, restless motion in the eye, which showed the passion that had taken root, and where the shadow of the growing tree would fall."

A Christmas Carol

THE CHALLENGE: The Second Sin

GREED

Another
Virtuous
And
Righteous
Individual
Turns
Into
Antithesis

Corrupted for Greed:
Your Challenge is to corrupt a saint in any way you can.
They must be a morally upright character fighting temptation.
And then you must change them, until they are a mockery of their former self.

Clarification of the Challenge Parameters

This section attempts to illuminate any ambiguity or ambivalence, although hopefully the above is enough. They are intentionally left vague to a certain degree, with only 2 or 3 large parameters to fulfill. If you have any specific questions which are not addressed here, please send them to @The Grey Dust for resolution.

For GREED , You have been asked to transform a morally upright character, and make him the opposite of what he once was.

Q. The character must be perfect?
A. Perfect? Only if perfectly moral. The character must be a just and righteous entity. They may be flawed, faceted with as many or as few imperfections as they may have, but they cannot be anything less than morally upright. They must be pure in a sense of either having atoned for past misdeeds and forgiven, or even more difficult to be without fault at all. You must characterize the entity carefully as to be the most virtuous one in the tale.

Q. How much change is required in the story?
A. As much and as many changes it requires to completely transform someone into something they would berate in their past. Change can happen all at once, it can happen slowly overtime, however somewhere in the story there must be a clear transformation demonstrated.

Q. The story must end with just a change?
A. Possibly, the ending is for the writer to decide upon how to close a tale. After all, men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead, but if...

Q. How long can my story be?
A. As long as it needs to be. It is not the length of a story which matters but substance found within it.

Credits

Thanks again to @mdk, @Terminal, @RomanAria, and the entire RPGC crew for everything!

Great thanks to Lord @mahz and the other members of the guild staff for helping to renovate the guild and enabling the features that allow us to reward contestants and to advertise our presence.

The intimidating image of the Ebenezer Scrooge up above was made by Ravenscar45 on DeviantArt, whose profile can be viewed here.

The 7 Sins: GREED

SALIGIA: The 7 Sins

Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven

Paradise Lost, Lines 258-63.

The first of the new writing competition series begins.
For those of us new to the RPG writing competitions and have no idea what they are, take a peek at an Introduction.

For those of you who participated in the Twelve Labours before or RPGC, you may be interested to know that this series will have a distinctively different thematic orientation. There are seven in total, and each one will hopefully amuse both reader and writer, inviting each to contemplate on each dreadful Sin.

Let the Second Sin Begin. Submission ends at 11:06 AM GMT, Monday July 17th 2017.

Entry Rules:

1. Follow the standard guild rules and these rules and also these rules.
2. Follow all T7S Official Rules.
3. Send your entry to @The Grey Dust by July 17th 2017 by 11:06 AM GMT, and state if you wish to submit anonymously.
4. No explicit/mature material, no exceptions.
5. Judges cannot submit entries, they must remain anonymous until after the final tally.
6. Judges reserve the right to simply toss out any story if it does not possess a basic modicum of good sense and taste.
7. You must use your own characters, and give credit to any franchises due if any are used.

Prizes:

For now, all winning entries will be given recognition for success. In the future, winning participants may receive a forum trophy as well as a unique, custom forum title which they can activate and deactivate at their leisure.

All winning entries will also be saved to a public archive. As a reminder, unless you specifically give me permission to include authorship of an entry, every posted story will remain anonymous.