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Episode 1: The Gods Are Real

Before this. Before all of this. Before breath and thought. Before color and light. Before the air and the earth, the mountain and the seabed. Before Life and Death. There was Sentiasa.
There was only Sentiasa. An endless plane where the gods of ‘good’, ‘evil’, and ‘chaos’ (‘the virtuous’, ‘the vile’, and ‘the wild’ (respectively)) were locked in war. It would be wrong to say that the war lasted for centuries or millennia, for they fought before and outside of time. They fought for existence. For the essence of all things that are, were, and could yet come to be.
When the war ceased, it was The Virtuous who claimed victory, claimed Sentiasa, and vanquished The Vile and The Wild forever.
The end of that war gave way to a beginning. For as The Virtuous beheld Sentiasa, scarred and empty and endless, they were driven to create something new, something good. So The Virtuous weaved their divine power into the fabric a new world.
Reliquiae. Lush, green, created the flourishing of mortal life. A crater ringed by a range of mountains called the Allanites, with the great peak of Mt Atria at its center. At the heart of this new world, they founded the city of Alvellion, where they called into existence the peoples that populate this land. Each of the nine virtuous gods brought forth a race in their image. So the land grew full of halflings, elves, dwarves, gnomes, tieflings, kobolds, orcs, humans, and dragonborn.
A perfect world filled with imperfect beings. In these peoples’ flourishing, for all their achievements, there were those that festered. For as dew drops cling to blades of grass, so do avarice and cruelty cling to mortality.
Whilst the Spring flowers bloomed and the great cities of the world were founded, grievances opened like fresh wounds. And as the wheat was scythed at the time of harvest, and the feasting and song lasted long into the star-filled nights, so fell mortality to murder and to infighting.
The capricious, the rageful, the grieving, the desperate, the lost, sought those who could comfort and advance them. They sought a home. Many of them found it in The Web. The last refuge of the hopeless. A shadowy organization that will undertake any task no matter how great or terrible. Those who require its services pay with gold or with time. Binding themselves and successive generations to servitude until their debt is paid. Such oaths are not taken lightly. The web is ruled with an iron fist. From its leader, a figure known only as The Spider Prince, to those souls that have spun its silken threads throughout the land of Reliquiae.
The Web is Wide.
It is five souls such as these that we will journey with. Having proven themselves of use to The Web, by assassinating Elven Scion Aleah Da’car, the party have been selected to act as bodyguards for The Antiqua, the greatest clerics of The Virtuous as they begin a yearly pilgrimage known as The Deferrence.
A hundred years ago with no warning, The Virtuous abandoned the divine city of Alvelion and ascended to the peak of Mt Atria. Alvelion, since the birth of the world, a city where all could commune in person with The Virtuous soon fell into disrepair. So now, after the first winter moon, the Antiqua ascend Mt Atria and bring back teachings for all mortality.
Dawn breaks golden on the slopes of the mountain. On the edge of a pass, the flames of two small campfires flicker in the mild breeze on either side of a collection of tents. Far below, at the foot of the mountain, crumbled buildings of the city of Alvelion are just visible. Pale against the snow that has sat thick on the ground since the first moon of winter.
In the years since The Virtuous abandoned that city, a city they’d called home since the birth of the world, Alvelion has crumbled. Not from war, nor from the slow decline of all things, but with a natural speed. As if it was the presence of the divine alone that held together the stones from which the city is built.
Yet the snow and the cold and the dissolving marble of Alvelion are far beneath you. Here on Mt Atria, the mountain of perpetual spring, the air is warm, the grass lush. Patches of wildflowers blooming, even in the fissures of the rock face. We begin in the left hand of these two campfires. With I, Kelnys, and Endellion. At this point, you guys have been together climbing the mountain for two full days. This is the third day. You’ve been in this habit of making camp, you sit on watch, etc. It’s been relatively dull. This is a magical mountain. This is a divine mountain. Whilst it might be hailing or blowing a storm away from the mountain, the mountain is always in spring. The flowers are always blooming. You haven’t found any aggressive creatures. You haven’t been waylaid. You don’t have highwaymen. You’re here almost as a nominal bodyguard.
During the Deference, the Antiqua (the clerics that you’re guarding) forgo all their divine magic while they’re on the mountain as a sort of symbol of humility. As a symbol that they recognize that the gods they are about to commune with are greater and more powerful than them and all their magic comes from these gods, so it’s a sign of respect that they don’t use their magic. So they have a bodyguard to support them if anything should happen, but Endellion, I would fancy it’s been quite a dull few days for you. There’s been remarkably little of anything.
We visit the right hand fire and there are three figures around that fire. The third figure is a heavyset, pale-skinned man. Great big barrel chest, big arms, a dark beard almost black and long slicked-back black hair. This is Morgan. You first met when you met The Spinner after the basilisk. He was one of the Spinner’s attendants almost, a heavy. He met you in Alvelion. The Web wanted someone a little more senior to lead the effort. Whether or not you’ve proven yourselves competent, you haven’t necessarily proved yourselves “perfectly sociable”. So they needed someone who could act as a bit of a figurehead. He’s a man of few words, gruff.

    • UltragrampsOPMEnglish
      1•3 months ago


      Kelnys’ Killing Blow


      Looks like fun ᕕ( ᐛ)ᕗ

  • UltragrampsOPMEnglish
    1•2 months ago

    ♪Episode Song References♪

    ᕕ( ᐛ)ᕗ

    Bonus version by Kay Starr

    Kay Starr - Side by Side written by Harry Woods

    Highlights

    • 00:08:48 Kelnys is innocently carving spoons from wood he has gathered on the journey
    • 00:13:58 “When are we going to fight something?!” Kelnys imitating Endellion
    • 00:19:36 “Raidion… Time for a dance party.”
    • 00:23:03 I inadvertently performs some very sophisticated clowning.
    • 00:24:54 Ben rolls the first Nat 1
    • 00:26:13 “…and I walk away.” - Raidion (Vaxildan reference?)
    • 00:27:52 Fan Art Moment Kelnys thoroughly enjoying the variety of flora on Mt Atria and wearing a daisy chain.
    • 00:38:31 Runa:“The gods are real. All life flows from them. Without them there is nothing, there can only be nothing. Before the creation of all things, the gods existed in an endless dark. Within them lay dormant all knowledge or light or color, sound, speech, and thought. Yet other powers lurked within this boundless black. Things great and terrible. These words are not my own. They were spoken by the Divine, given shape by their breath and meaning by their minds. All life flows from them. Without them, there is nothing…”
      response “There can only be nothing.”
      “Virtuous children are instructed to love and to learn. We grow by Divine favor and find Glory by Divine Grace. We find comfort and, in divine power, we make this pilgreimage in deference and all humility knowing that we cannot wander this world alone. Now as ever, they are the compass…”
      response “They guide and command.”
    • 00:40:14 Barabask the elf cleric of the Antiqua gets trolled by Dolly
    • 00:40:57 The kobold cleric of the Antiqua is named Parvus, and is the first “named kobold” that “I” has ever met and is fascinated.
    • 00:43:05 Dolly and spoon hijinks
    • 00:46:46 Aoife:“Silence is an admission of guilt, by the way.”
    • 00:50:20 Welsh Love Spoons
    • 00:54:43 “I” contact.
    • 00:57:09 Barabask’s annoying song
    • 01:01:07 Aoife rolls two Nat 6s.
      Harry:“Okay, we’re dispensing with how the dice work. That’s good.”
    • 01:03:34 Raidion:“Would you let yourself die?”
    • 01:06:02 Endellion and Kelnys bonding over the rare flora on the mountain.
    • 01:11:20 Fan Art Moment Morgan’s tree climbing attempt.
    • 01:15:32 Unexpected bear sighting
    • 01:24:36 Dolly:“Circle the wagons?”
    • 01:26:00 Barabask becomes a beacon.
    • 01:28:20 Massive map of minis! 9 clerics + Morgan + Our 5 heroes = 15 minis without counting enemies!
    • 01:40:34 Hollie:“Watch this.”
    • 01:42:26 Ben:“Watch this.”
    • 01:44:00 Aoife:“You got this.” finger guns
    • 01:44:49 Raidion:“Not today.”
    • 01:47:07 Kelnys’ subclass revealed! Wildfire Druid!
    • 01:51:51 Morgan tanks two wolves and it nearly kills him.
    • 02:06:30 LEARNING COMBAT
    • 02:13:13 Fan Art Moment Raidion gets two killing blows in one turn. Somehow most of the gore lands on Dolly.
    • 02:17:25 Harry:“You’ve JUST grown your eyebrows back.”
    • 02:19:30 Morgan falls.
      Aoife:“It’s fine.”
    • 02:21:10 Panic sets in as the Antiqua realize their magic isn’t working.
    • 02:21:40 Harry:“That is Morgan’s turn (Morganstern, last name of fictional Princess Bride author).”
    • 02:25:30 I gets a killing blow.
    • 02:30:03 Raidion:“it’s just me and you.” flashes daisy chain “This is from my best girl.”
    • 02:31:51 Morgan falls again.
    • 02:32:42 Doug’s dice rolling noise sounds like a large cat purring.
    • 02:34:34 Morganstern!
      Morgan: (to the wolf) “You piece of shit.”
    • 02:36:10 I gets another killing blow.
      I: (to Morgan) “We all has off days. But not I.”
    • 02:40:52 Kelnys gets the final killing blow with Shillelagh.
    • 02:43:26 Grawnoth says,
      “Without the Divine, there is no Divine magic.”
      They look at each other and then, as one, they start to bolt further up the pass. One of them shout, you can’t even tell who shouts,
      “The Virtuous!”
      They run across the plateau and then a rise, and you see them scrambling over this rise. You pursue them over the rise and before you is this great set of stairs. They’re fractured like the stone of the mountain pass has been fractured; black, lifeless. You see that these stairs lead steeply up towards what must have been a palace. The stone of the palace also cracked. As you start to climb these stairs, catching up with the rest of the Antiqua, it smells. It doesn’t smell of decay, it’s more unsettling. It smells like an absence of life. It smells like nothing, like there’s nothing here.
      Every time you take a step, you feel the stone almost start to give way like you’re standing on spent charcoal. It’s crumbling. This whole place is crumbling. There’s no sound and the only colors are the colors that still are streaking across sky; the swirling patterns and raging against this black. Without these colors, this black would feel like it was endless.
      The steps lead up towards an open plaza and there is a shape lying at the center.
      Carvilius gets there first and as she runs up, she gets to this figure and you hear her (in fact the two of you would hear this in draconic) say,
      “No…”
      This violent, sudden flood of emotion. As you all gather round her, you see she’s cradling a dragonborn.
      The body of a god. And there is no life in that body.
    • UltragrampsOPMEnglish
      1•3 months ago

      There are some clues revealing the subclasses for Raidion (Enchantment Wizard) and “I” (Arcane Trickster Rogue).

      We also know Dolly is not the singing type of bard, but that isn’t quite enough to lock down. There are Eight Colleges/Subclasses for Bards, here is a short summary:

      College of Whispers
      The College of Whispers is pretty cool, in theory. The concept is that on the outside, you’re just a normal bard. You might even pretend to be a member of another college. In reality, you are a collector of information. You use your access to nobility and the wealthy to steal their secrets for your own benefit.
      The problem with this college is two-fold. The first is that it isn’t a great fit in a wide array of campaigns. The story of a two-faced bard is great, but it can detract from what the rest of the party might be going for. This ties into the second issue. A whisper bard is best in out of combat situations, but they are largely useless if the campaign isn’t centered around their type of abilities.
      These bards are also not great in combat. Their abilities are either very situational or require a long casting time that does not suit combat at all.

      College of Swords
      The step down from fifth place on our list to sixth place is steep. The idea behind the College of Swords isn’t bad – knife jugglers and sword dancers that are actually viable in combat. The biggest problem with subclass is that the feature it centers on – Blade Flourish – is pretty terrible. Blade Flourish allows you to spend your inspiration die on a number of flourishes that can increase your damage, AC, or even carry damage over to another creature. Unfortunately, the extra damage you get is pretty anemic compared to other classes at the same level. It’s a poor way to spend valuable inspiration die, and it really chokes of the usefulness of the class.
      That said, It’s not all bad. Your bonus proficiency allows you to use your simple or martial weapon as a spellcasting focus. This frees you up to cast and fight at the same time. You also gain access to two fighting styles which are both good fits. On the balance, though, this isn’t a great option.

      College of Spirits
      The College of Spirits is a ghost-themed subclass first released with Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. This subclass has incredible flavor but lacks the mechanics to back it up. There are plenty of things to like about this subclass, of course. At level three, you get Guiding Whispers which allows you to cast guidance from range.
      The real issue with this bard college is Tales from Beyond. The centerpiece of this subclass, Tales from Beyond has you roll your bardic inspiration die, which gives you a number of potential powers. Some of these are great and others are weak, but the fact that they are randomly determined means there is no guarantee the centerpiece of your subclass will be useful when you need it most. That’s a pretty big downside to me.

      College of Creation
      When it comes to a theme, the College of Creation is a winner. Mechanically, it isn’t the best. The theme of this subclass is ancient songs passed down through the generations that carry cosmic magic. There are some interesting options here like animating a nomagical item to become a sort of dancing familiar. You can also create a “mote,” which is tiny object that orbits you when you give out a bardic inspiration die. The mote lasts until the die is used, and gives an additional buff to the use depending on the type of role they use it on.
      Central to the subclass is Performance of Creation which allows you to create nonmagical item of your choice. Obviously, this is enormously powerful in the mind of a creative player. But there is a catch depending on your DM: some games (including the Adventurer’s League) only allow you to create objects identified in the PHB. This is a bummer, as extremely common items are not listed there. Want to create a bowl? Sorry, no go. With a little flexibility from your DM and a lot of creativity from you, this subclass can be pretty great.

      College of Glamour
      Depending on your idea for your character, you could easily slide the College of Glamour into the second spot on our list. This subclass is centered around Charm mechanics and illusion spells, and makes for a fun option in a range of campaigns.
      This is a strong option for a support bard, although well below lore bards. While charm effects are fun, they can be situational. However, the Mantle of Inspiration ability that gives your party temporary HP and allows them to move their full speed as a reaction is fantastic. If you like charm mechanics there’s plenty of good stuff for you in there, too.
      One area where this college holds up better than the lore bard is if you have no interest in out of combat skill checks and proficiencies. This is a common role for a bard and something the College of Lore is unparalleled at. If you don’t care about the skills, though, it might be worth it to go this route and have some charms in your back pocket.

      College of Valor
      Where the College of Lore is everything a traditional bard strives to be, the College of Valor is something entirely different. While it succeeds in giving you a viable combat option for your bard, the end result is a notable step down compared to the lore bard.
      If your goal is to wade into combat or even have a strength build with your bard, the College of Valor is for you. It’s not a bad option, as you get most of the great support spells of a bard with a decent amount of damage output and AC. Your proficiencies with a shield and martial weapons are especially nice.
      The major hangup is that bard are ultimately the best at support casting. If that’s your goal, the College of Lore does it better. If you’re here to hack stuff up with your sword, another class is going to be optimal. However, this subclass still largely delivers if you don’t mind be slightly less optimal or if you want most of the powers of the bard without being useless in melee combat. Where this college really signs is a mixture of ranged weapon fighting and support casting, however.

      College of Eloquence
      Originally added through Mythic Odysseys of Theros, the College of Eloquence is an excellent option for a party face. Much like the College of Lore, this subclass really highlights the strength of the class overall. Eloquence bards are virtually unmatched as party faces. With silver Tongue, the chances of persuasion or deception checks are extremely low. This is a powerful tool in general, much less at level 3.
      This bard also has interesting uses for bardic inspiration die. They can use the die for subtract from a target’s next saving throw, and it allows those who receive inspiration die from you to keep the die if the roll fails. At higher levels you can magically communicate with most creatures, and even spread out bardic inspiration to other allies without expending another die upon a successful use. There really isn’t anything that doesn’t work here.

      College of Lore
      Standing firmly at the top of this list is the College of Lore. Like what the Bard class has to offer? How about a lot more of it? The College of Lore accentuates what makes bards great,d own to just doubling down on some of the same class traits. This includes additional proficiencies and more spells from Magical Secrets. If you are looking for a party face character that can carry the load on your group’s skill challenges, this is perfect. You are not limited to that, though. Bard spells are amazing, but expanded Magical Secrets means you can pick and choose your favorite spells as you see fit. This is a great subclass.

      Summaries provided by NerdsAndScoundrels