Only the Roses Remember A quest for Everway by Justin Love Fortune cards for the realm of Underlight / the quest in general Fate: The Cockatrice (corruption vs. recovery) The realm will either fall under the exclusive rule of Shimmer's followers, or a new balance will be achieved, possibly with the reopening of trade and idea exchange with other realms. Virtue: The Hermit reversed (isolation) The realm as a hole has been forcefully isolated from contact with other realms, which has removed any danger of exterior threats, but has also removed any benefits such as trade and exchange of ideas. The two groups of people (the worshipers of Shimmer and Shine) are also isolated from each other, preventing any disputes that might arise between them but also creating prejudice, and preventing free trade and exchange of ideas. Fault: The Creator (nurture) The nurture of the realms now deceased benefactor (Sharza-Zara) has solved the immediate problems but left the realm isolated from others and weak against them if contact is regained, and created a similar situation among it's once warring inhabitants. Past: The Priestess reversed (impracticality) The impracticality of the past is primarily the two groups impractical wars with each other, and the long-term impracticality of the spells Sharza-Zara cast. Present: The Lion reversed (weakness) The impracticality of the past has lead to weakness in the present. The realm lacks trade and such with others, and the lack of war has left them unable to defend themselves should a threat present itself. Future: The Unicorn reversed (temptation) With the dropping spell of peace, the temptation to take differences to war could be great. A great many other temptations could present themselves with the removal of the spell of isolation. This is a fairly inevitable future; if things continue uninterrupted, the followers of Shimmer will be tempted to take complete dominance; even with a 'good' ending, the removal of the great spells will present new temptations. Usurper: Magic (v73), power used wisely vs. power used carelessly Sharza-Zara was a great mage who, most of the time used her power wisely. However, she let her love of the realm overcome her foresight, and her last three great spells, while they have kept the realm in check, have also prevented it's growth. As a fortune draw, this usurper represents the wise and judicious applications of power, especially great power, but it can also mean the skillful application of lesser power to greater effect. Reversed, it means the use of power gone awry, due to lack of foresight as opposed to evil intent. Following it's name, it is especially meaningful when drawn while judging the effects of magic. Background. Before it All: Underlight was once a fairly normal realm, it's gates were open if not heavily traveled. This was before The City was built, and it had but a few distinguishing features (feel free to add more, but two of these are important to the plot, and the others act as minor and major clues) Companions Each person in Underlight has an animal, to which they share a special bond. In some ways, the animal is a physical representation of the person's soul. They call them companions, they will recognize the term pet and not immediately correct the usage, but may give the word companion a subtle amount of extra emphasis if the players insist on using pet or some other term. On naming: If you can think of better names for the NPC's, great, but I did use a naming convention. To stress the relationship between a person and their companion, I gave the person a name based on some physical thing, and gave the companion a more abstract name that represented the person's nature (and the companion's.) The Gods There are two deities worshiped in Underlight, Shimmer (a moon god) and Shine (a sun god.) Relations between the worshipers of the two have been unsteady, and the past is riddled with wars. Shimmer Shimmer is the moon good. She promotes learning and knowledge. Priests of Shimmer primarily gain powers of insight, and very little with visible, physical consequences. Official and spiritual induction into the church requires one to give up one's greatest innocence (or ignorance; the idea behind it is choosing fact over speculation or fantasy, usually by learning a fact that dispels an illusion one has held all of one's life, but innocence is the official wording and of a great deal of significance to the story.) The followers of Shimmer are nocturnal, they prefer to remain active during the night and sleep (or at least remain behind tight shutters) during the day to avoid the sun's bright light. One of the beliefs of the followers of Shimmer is that when an extremely faithful servant of Shimmer dies, their soul goes into the sky to become a star and spend eternity in the god's presence as a reward. Because of this, falling stars are believed to be either those who have fallen from Shimmer's good will, or messengers sent down by her to accomplish some task. Some versions of the story of Shining Son report that a falling star was seen on the night of his birth. (See 'The Lake of Dancing Lights.') Shine Shine is the sun god. He promotes hard work, especially working outdoors growing and cultivating under his watchful gaze. Priests of Shine gain powers of sustenance (including growing crops and such), energy, and healing (in roughly that order of power and availability.) Official induction into the church (and spiritually, into Shine's good light) requires one to give up their greatest luxury, lest it limit them and make them soft, and so that they may concentrate on their work. The followers of Shine prefer to work in their god's light, so they are primarily active during the day. One of the beliefs of the followers of Shine is that when an especially devout followers dies, their soul goes into the heavens and becomes one with Shine, augmenting his light and power. They believe this is one of the qualities that makes Shine superior, because he incorporates the souls into himself, gaining their strength and wisdom, instead of simply placing them in the sky as decorations. The Roses Two very special types of roses bloom in Underlight, in mythology (and probably in reality) created by the two god, one for each. The respective roses are held in high esteem and religious significance by the two followings. They also have some minor and major powers; they make excellent boons but as much as I would rather not use the reward at the end method, their reputation as religious items makes it unlikely that they will be given away to strangers until some service has been performed. Sun Roses Sun roses have golden blossoms which only bloom during the day. When open they give off a faint golden light, in a darkened room this provides just enough light to not run into anything. When a bud is cut off from a bush, it will eventually become somewhat dry and appear dead, but holding one in one's cupped hands and blowing gently across it ('breathing the life into it') causes it open up and emit light once more, but it still only opens during the day and this will have no effect at night. It closes at sunset. A much more potent effect can be achieved by burning such a bud, if this is done at night, the night will turn to day for a brief period ('Lighting the moon on fire.') (this lasts perhaps an hour at most.) Though considered holy, most family or other groups whom worship Shine maintains their own planting of sun roses; however the first seeds that family/group receives should be from a priest/priestess. Moon Roses The counterparts to the Sun Roses, the Moon Roses have silvery blossoms which only bloom during the night, also giving off just enough light to see by. 'Breathing the life into' detached buds at night will also open them up to provide silvery light until sunrise. Crushing a bud during the day will cause it to become night for a short period ('Crushing out the sunlight.') Moon roses are considered too holy for the masses, only priests/priestess of Shimmer may tend them, and it is near blasphemous for someone else to touch them unless they are given by a member of the clergy. The Water The water in Underlight has unusual reflective properties. It reflects light exceptionally well, without causing 'bright spots' where the source is directly reflected. The result is golden lakes, rivers, and seas by day, and silvery ones by night. The Coming of Sharza-Zara Many centuries ago, the powerful spherewalking mage Sharza - Zara found the realm of Underlight, and liked it enough that she spent a great deal of time there. Rather than simply enjoying the realm, she caused great improvement throughout, beginning with the education of the inhabitants and leading up to the shining achievement of the great City, named Stonerise. But despite these great benefits, tension flared between the worships of the two gods, and war loomed on the horizon. Unable to bear her adopted children killing each other, Sharza-Zara cast the spell of Peace and ended the conflict by force. As punishment and as a reminder, she also reversed the night and day of the realm, perhaps to teach each the understanding of the other. Realizing that the inability to war could be a fatal weakness for Underlight in relations with other realms, Sharza-Zara cast the spell of isolation before her death (by natural causes; she may very well have possessed the power to remain immortal, but chosen not use it.) She now sleeps in a tomb inside The City. Underlight Today The Spell of Peace The spell of peace prevents groups from warring by draining the will to fight out of them. It will not prevent individuals from fighting, but conflicts larger than bar fights and squabbles are pretty much unheard of. The line is vague and I'm afraid I cannot give a nice rule for drawing it; individual guides will have to decide what constitutes 'war'. Note that it only prevents violence, large groups of people may still disagree, rebel, etc., but tensions will never escalate beyond yelling. Midnight Mere has tapped the magic powering this spell, allowing him to do magical feats above and beyond those that would be normally granted by priesthood. He does not fully realize where this power comes from, he believes that as Simmer's highest priest, he has received special powers. The other priests of Shimmer are aware that he has these other powers, but they fully believe that they are just special gifts from Shimmer, even though the effects are not typical of her. Drawing on this power weakens the spell, but the relatively minor effects Mere normally performs are insufficient to cause and great damage except over long periods of time (longer than his natural life; it would take many generations of priests drawing on it pose a serious threat in this manner) Casting powerful magics with this power is another story. The Spell of Isolation This spell prevents Underlight from having any contact with other realms. It prevents both physical travel from neighboring realms, and magic travel such as gates. Those attempting physical intrusion get lost and misdirected until they give up. Those who would otherwise attempt to leave simply have no desire to do so. (Exceptions may be made for players to avoid violating the mind; but they will still encounter similar problems to those attempting to get in if they attempt to leave physically.) Magical measures (except for those on the same power level as the great spells, of course) simply fail; the gate closed when the spell was cast, and so on. Priestess Summer Breeze has tapped the power of the spell of isolation, allowing her to do spectacular magic feats, as well as those out of the character of Shine's typical gifts. Late Frost has realized what is going on and warns her not to tamper with that power, but her thoughtless nature often causes her to ignore his advice, even though she respects it. Otherwise, the situation is very similar to Midnight Mere's. The Spell of Reversal Cast at the same time as the spell of peace, this spell reverses the night and the day from their former, natural positions, and perhaps a number of other aspects of the realm as well (the primary inspiration for this fact was the vast majority of fortune cards that came up reversed while I was designing the quest.) For the most part the realm has adjusted to the change, with but a few exceptions. The sun roses and moon roses remain true to their original blooming times; the sun roses now bloom during the 'night', and the moon roses now bloom during the 'day'. Though it may seem a bit odd to the residents of the realm if they stop to think about it, the times before the casting of the great spells are mostly forgotten and the current patterns seem natural to them. The primary explanation for this goes something like this (told by a follower of Shine about Sun Roses.) "Their light is Shine's light. When the sun sets, the sun roses open so that we are never without it." Also, outsiders (in other words, the heros) will find their 'internal clocks' confused; they will feel tired during they 'day' and ready to act during the 'night' (assuming they typically keep 'normal' sleeping schedules.) Although the realm has mostly settled into a new balance, the reversal of day and night is still 'unnatural'. Additionally, the removal of the spell of reversal might change the realm's virtue and fault, and perhaps other things. Only extremely powerful magics can restore the balance. Unlike the other great spells, this one is not an enchantment which requires a power supply to maintain it; it was cast, had it's effect, and ended. The remaining power of one of the other spells might be a enough to restore one period.... (night to day or day to night, but not both at once) The Lay of the Land In the east is the Shining Sea. On it's shores rests The Great City, which straddles The River Division, for it divides the north and south of the land. The river comes out of the west, from further than any have ever gone. Along the river's path, it for a short while becomes The Lake of Dancing Lights. Further down, on the west side of the lake, stands the primary temple of Shine, where Summer Breeze and Late Frost reside. There are perhaps three bridges of The River Division, at the temple of Shine, on the West side of The Lake of Dancing Lights, and shortly before The City. In addition, there are as many fords as game guides feel in inclined to give. A determined traveler can make the journey from the temple of Shine to The City in a day. The City When The City was built, they named it Stonerise, and that name, albeit in a forgotten hand, is still carved over it's main entrance. Today most know it as simply 'The City.' If pressed, followers of Shine will give it's name as Sunrise, and followers of Shimmer will name it Moonrise. The City is built over the mouth of The River Division, the river flows under parts of the city, and streets running over these areas often have central dividers that open onto the water flowing below, with rails around the edge. The city's central street is not among these; the river forks at it's mouth forming a small islet in the center, which certainly doesn't hurt the city's physical support system. Looking at The City, it is not difficult to determine that it has grown up instead of out. Upper level buildings have a distinct, usually lower quality architectural style to them. Nonetheless, the higher level buildings are considered better; without other buildings on top of them, they allow for many windows and even skylights opening on the resident's god, Shimmer. The City's once grand central avenue is now shaded by myriad walkways overhead, and it's landmarks are largely forgotten by the residents. Visitors would be ill advised to miss the points of interest at either end, however. The Gate Today, the eastward end of the grand avenue goes through a great arch which opens onto a large balcony overlooking The River Division. Occasionally, residents wonder at the small room off to the side of the arch. Before the spell of isolation, this arch was the main, and only known, gate connecting Underlight to the other spheres. The room to the side was a guardhouse, to monitor, and do their best to control, inter- sphere traffic. The people of The City still call this arch 'the gateway,' and west is sometimes called gate-wards, though the original meaning is forgotten. The Tomb of Sharza-Zara On the westward end of the grand avenue, now shrouded by shadows and the legacy of it's occupant largely forgotten, lies the tomb of Sharza-Zara. The entire tomb is built of stone; the inner chamber where she lies is actually part of the city's wall, making digging in from the sides difficult at best. The outer room is a memorial, it has no door and was built with the intent that visitors would come. Over the outermost doorway is written 'Here lies Sharza-Zara. Rest in Peace.', or at least something to that effect. The inner walls of the room are covered with sheets of rock upon which is inscribed the history of Sharza-Zara's life, so far as it concerns the realm. She came, was a benefactor to the people, had the city built, cast a great spell and inflicted a great punishment when the people whom she had taken to warred, and so on. Half of these sheets are of a yellowish rock, and the other half is made of a greyish stone. The line that divides them runs from the entrance to the room to the door to the inner sanctum on the opposite wall. (The yellow stone is to the north, and the grey to the south. The entrance looks west and the door further in is on the east wall.) Two sheets are conspicuously missing, from symmetrically opposite sides, one from each type of stone. These may be found in the respective temples of Shine and Shimmer. The sections of the history from which the are taken deal with realm before Sharza-Zara, in particular describing the two faiths. The stone door inward, however is closed and has been for centuries. It is not locked, but difficult to move. The stone shows the age somewhat, but it's integrity is uncompromised, reinforced by magic. On the door there were once two carvings, one of the sun and one of the moon, which were on raised disks on the door. At some point (more likely some kind of vandalism than some organized spiritual attack) the image of the sun was carved off, bringing it level with the door, and a nearly identical moon image placed there. The stone here looks slightly 'fresher.' Inside the door is a short hallway to the inner sanctum. On either side of the walkway, on slightly raised sections, are six statues of gargoyles, standing half crouched. On the left side are three made of gold, on the right, three of silver. Should any intruder so much as lay foot inside the door (on an equivalent amount of intrusion; touching the floor isn't necessary should there be a floating or flying hero, but in most circumstances the instant their foot touches the floor makes a good mark of trespassing,) the eyes of the first pair of gargoyles light up, and a moment later, a powerful, resounding voice speaks "Sharza-Zara sleeps here. None shall disturb her rest." The voice will repeat (perhaps growing louder and more commanding/threatening) every few moments so long as the intruder does not remove themselves. Those who do not heed the warnings and continue in will see the remaining gargoyles eyes light up in turn, and then, starting with the ones near the outside door again, they will start to stand. Trespassers who continue on despite this, will find themselves forcibly removed by the gargoyles. The gargoyles have very high element scores, primarily earth (being metal), with a close second in fire, and the rest as high as the guide feels like allowing them. The gargoyles are there for one purpose: keep people out of Sharza-Zara's tomb. From a game standpoint, they serve two purposes: keep the heros out of the tomb, because there is nothing terribly interesting there, and to demonstrate that Sharza-Zara was a powerful mage, which is an important thing to realize. As such, should the gargoyles fail to expel the heros, (and the gargoyles should be played as extremely competent in their duties,) the guide has all the tools that a powerful realm-warping mage would have at their disposal to protect their tomb: sudden powerful blasts of wind to blow the heros out, bouts of flame, sudden extreme heat or cold, or a barrage of cuts and slashes as if from unseen knives are just a few examples. The gargoyles are the polite form or protection. If threats fail, there is that favorite axiom: 'a sucking chest wound is the GM's way of telling you to slow down.' On the far side of the room is a door identical to the first, except that the magical protections of the hallway have spared it any vandalism; one can observe two raised disks, one of the sun and one of the moon, and it can be observed just fine from the outside doorway. This door is locked and reinforced, both by stone and by magic. Trespassers beyond the door are extremely unlikely. In the unlikely event that someone should get (or at least see) beyond the inner door, however, the inner sanctum looks thus. It is about the same size as the outer memorial room (which is wider but about the same depth and height as the hallway,) and the walls are covered with runes that seem to glow with magical power (and some light resulting from said magical power.) It is otherwise bare except for the sarcophagus, (is that the right term?) which has long pots running along each side, one containing a row of sun roses, the other containing a row of moon roses, both sustained by magic. If anybody tries to open the sarcophagus, refer the aforementioned magical protections. They shouldn't succeed, because if they do, they should die, and killing heros is generally considered bad form. Pretty much everyone knows about the tomb at the end of the old street, but few pay it much mind. The language the memorial was written in can still be recognized as the base from which the current written language evolved, but only a very few scholars in the city can decipher the old form, although with a little work the old form can be recognized as a only slightly changed from of a common writing method amongst the spheres (cue educated hero.) Despite it's significance being largely forgotten, east is still sometimes called 'tomb-wards.' The Temple of Shimmer There are two major temples in The City, as well as a number of other smaller places of worship. Once they were evenly divided between Shine and Shimmer, but now that the followers of Shimmer dominate The City, they have converted the temples as well. Because it still has it's original, superior, decorations, the major temple which was originally dedicated to Shimmer is held above the other. The gods, however, have not forgotten the original alignment of the temples. The temples formally dedicated to Shine have somewhat of a bad rep amongst devotees of Shimmer. Worshipers report eerie feelings and less of a feeling of connection with their god. Priests and Priestess assigned to these temples are always grateful to receive promotions elsewhere. As far as the original main temple of Shimmer is concerned: The windows are beautiful stained glass, and moon roses are placed about the temple. The rest of the temple has a beautiful but modest method of decoration. On the wall near the altar, a slab of grey stone is hung which details the rights of initiation into Shimmers good favor. Upon careful examination, it can be deduced that this slab was taken from the memorial room of Sharza-Zara's tomb. Sights Outside The City The Temple of Shine About a day outside of The City, along The River Division, lies the only true temple of Shine; the rest of the formal religious structure consists of wandering clergy whom meet the needs of the dispersed people better than sparse structures. Most religious needs can be meet by the mobile priests and priestess, but major events (weddings and such) usually necessitate a visit to the temple. The temple itself is a fairly simple stone structure; construction is somewhat primitive, but sturdy. Built into the wall across from the altar is a slab of yellow stone upon which is written the rights of initiation into Shine's favor. The observant will notice that this is the same type of stone that is used on the inside of the memorial section of Sharza-Zara's tomb. A small garden of sun roses is maintained outside the temple along it's wall. The Lake of Dancing Lights "Hm? The Lake of Dancing Lights? Well, there's a tale there, as there is with many things. You'd like to hear it, I presume? There are some who say that even though their followers bicker and fight, Shine and Shimmer actually want their children to cooperate. And they will say that long ago, even before the coming of Shares-a-Tear, they once attempted to show the people the way, and appointed a prophet with both their blessings. He was called Shining Son, and he was born to a family devoted to Shine. As luxury he gave to Shine his pride that he was better, and as innocence he gave to Shimmer the belief that those who followed Shimmer were lesser. At the gods' command, he wove both the sun roses and the moon roses into his hair at dusk, and when the sun roses opened the ones of the moon did not close, and so his head shone with the light of both the gods, intermingled. But the followers of Shine saw it as blasphemy that one of their members should embrace the other god. And so, ignoring the divine omen, they captured him by the lake. For mixing the two holy flowers, they shaved his head and threw the hair and the flowers into the water before taking him off to be put on 'trial,' and then executed. And to this day, people report seeing gold and silver lights dancing about on the lake at night. Some even say they dance during the day, but they are harder to see or mistaken for reflections off the water. But perhaps they are the roses that once decorated Shining Son's head, empowered with the god's wills, the one place where their powers mix and dance in harmony." *note: This is the tale as told by a follower of Shimmer. Devotees of Shine will reverse Shining Son's heritage and slayers. Also note that as the tale occurs before the coming of Sharza-Zara (Shares-a-Tear), and the times that the roses normally bloomed would have been reversed, though this has been forgotten. The River Division In addition to dividing north and south, The River Division once divided the two peoples of the land, the followers of Shine in the north and those of Shimmer in the south. When Sharza-Zara came, she had The City built over The River Division to unite them. However, a new division has formed, as the followers of Shimmer took over The City and the followers of Shine took all the land outside it. Other - Typical Companions The followers of Shine tend to animals that fit with their lifestyle. If a person herds a particular type of animal, their companion will tend to be that type of animal. Those whom specialize in farming will often have cows, horses, pigs or other typical farm animals. The followers of Shimmer have been living in The City for a while, so their companions tend to be city dwelling animals: pigeons, rats, even small easily cared for reptiles, and especially nocturnal animals. Domesticated animals such as dogs and cats are common to both. Gateway Magic This is magic of Sharza-Zara, the archmage of Underlight. She was a level nine practitioner. This fact may have little bearing on heros adventuring today, but it fleshes out the background a bit and adds another path of magic to the general lore of Everway. Gateway magic is the art of understanding and controlling passage through all manner of gateways, from a front door to a sphere gate. Several practitioners of the art have become infamous thieves, while others have found employ protecting valuables against thieves in general, and other practitioners of the art in particular. Gateway magic is based on Water, as it deals with understanding and controlling flows. In an attempt to avoid confusion, the following terminology was used: - Gate/Gateway: any clearly defined thing though which things pass. It could be a doorway, a ring, the point on a road where it enters a town, or the space between two trees. Gate in this description always refers to this definition and not the sphere gates, which are always referred to as such. - Doorway: A gateway that can normally be either open or closed, it could be a literal doorway, a cabinet, or as insidious mages will note, an eye or a mouth. - Passage: A magically created gateway through a solid object. This could be a hole in a wall through which people could pass, a hole in a glass to make it's contents drain out, or a peep-hole for spying on a room (though the special affects associated with magically created gates tends to make this ineffective for spying on non-empty rooms). The object passed through suffers no-ill effects. (A passage through a person won't harm them at all - closing the passage while something is in it will have decidedly bad results, however.) - Portal: A magically created gateway from one place to another place. Sphere gates are portals from one sphere to another. Though the appearance and feel of the magic could change with each practitioner, magically created gates generally have a thin line of blue flame demarcating their edges. As with most magics, difficulty and casting times are reduced as the mage increases in level beyond the first where they gain a power. Alternately the number of gateways a mage can affect at once with full concentration also doubles with each level, so a level three practitioner can hold one doorway, a level four can hold two, and so on. 1 - Bond With Gate: The mage may, by concentrating for about an hour, and touching the gate if possible (depending on the type of gate), form a temporary bond with a gate, allowing her to be aware anytime something passes through it. The bond lasts for about a day, but if the mage returns each day to reinforce the bond, only a few minutes are required to refresh it. A permanent bond may be formed with a week long ritual, wherein the mage takes a piece of the gate (or it's immediate surroundings) and keeps it with her, and places a piece of herself (or something strongly associated with her) at the gate. The mage may break the bond at any time from any place with a few minutes concentration. Any bond currently operating counts as a spell the mage is maintaining - thus she will become exhausted faster casting other spells. Additionally, the mage may treat any gate to which she is bonded as if she were present, thus she can cast any other spell in this school at any time on a bonded gate, no matter where she is in relation to it. - Sense Gateway Magic: The mage can detect the presence of magical enchantments on a gateway, (including enchantments of concealment, thereby find the concealed gate), or the presence of portals, but only if actively attempting to do so, and she may not determine the purpose of either. 2 - Hear the Tale of Passing: The mage may, by touching a gate (if possible; being bonded also counts) and concentrating, gain some information about those whom have passed through it recently, or if a particular, known person or thing has ever passed through it, and approximately how long ago they last did. The mage may also determine the nature of an enchantment upon a gateway, or tell if a portal connects to a familiar place, and if so, which place. She also detects gateway related magic or portals without actively trying. 3 - Hold/Open Doorway: The mage may cause any normally close-able gate to remain closed against any force, though if it's door is broken, passage may still be gained. Likewise, the mage may cause any closed doorway to open, and if it is locked, become unlocked. In either case, the mage's full concentration is required, (though once a door is open, it will remain open until something closes it, and so on) and if there is magic opposing the mage, it will be difficult if not impossible (depending on the strength of the opposing magic and perhaps the mage's elements) to perform the actions. Additionally, the mage may cause a closed doorway to be unnoticed, effectively invisible so long as she concentrates. - Sense Destination: The mage may now gain a mental picture of a portal's destination, even if she has never been there before, by concentrating on the portal. 4 - Create Minor Passage: The mage may create small holes in solid objects, about large enough for someone to reach an arm through. The passage remains open only so long as the mage concentrates, and it is very exhausting. The difficulty also increases with the depth of the material being passed through. - Enchant Doorway: The mage may enchant doorways to be open, closed, or hidden, either always, or under certain conditions. She could for instance create an door that automatically opens whenever someone approaches, or perhaps speaks the correct password, one that will not allow undead to pass (but as above, they could still break the door down,) or one that was only visible on Tuesdays when the moon is full and the chosen one of legend comes forth and holds high the lost sword of High Crown, the great ruler of the ancient empire. Creating such an enchantment takes a lengthy ritual. Most enchantments take from a day to a week depending on the duration and complexity of the spell (a long list of who can or can't pass though will take a while, and the aforementioned concealment will take quite a while longer.) 5 - Create Medium Passage: The mage may now create a hole in a sold object large enough for a person to crawl through, and smaller holes with somewhat less effort than previously. - Command Gate: The mage may make any gateway, whether or not it has any form of door, unpassable, either to anyone or to a specific person or thing, or a class thereof. This requires their full concentration. She may also attempt to force a magically held gateway open, or conceal a gateway from notice. 6 - Create Major Passage: The mage may make holes in solid objects large enough for two people to walk abreast through without difficutly. This requires her full concentration, but of course smaller holes are easier still. The mage may make larger holes, and holes of the same sizes easier, as her level increases. The mage may also begin to make permanent passages, with a week's long ritual. - Enchant Gate: The mage may lay enchantments on gates, as she can with doorways. The times for rituals are the same, though of course the time to enchant doorways has decreased by now. - Command Entrance and Exit: With concentration, the mage may control (prevent or allow) all entrance and exit from a small, clearly defined area (a room, a clearing in the woods, and so on), as per Command Gate. The size of the area that may be commanded increases with the level of the mage, but must always be clearly defined, regardless of level. 7 - Enchant Area: The mage may now create enchantments that control all entrance and exit from an area, as per Command Entrance and Exit. - Create Minor Portal: The mage may create a portal - a magical gateway that connects any two points on a realm - the one the mage is at, and one she is familiar with. The portals that may be created at this level are small - about large enough to reach an arm through. This requires great concentration. - The Gates of Morning and the Doors of Night: The mage may, with a year-long ritual, change the rising and the setting of the sun and the moon within a realm. It should not be necessary to enumerate the problems with either too much night or too much day... 8 - Create Major Portal: The mage may create a portal to any point (same restrictions as with minor portals) on the same realm, large enough for a person to walk though, with her full concentration. She may also, with a month long ritual, create a permanent portal across the same sphere, or destroy such a portal. - Command the Gateways of the Heart: The mage may exert control over emotions - closing one off or opening it. She could calm an angry person by closing off their anger, or incite someone to rage by opening it up. She could cheer a depressed person by releasing a happy emotion, or by cutting off the sadness that is disturbing them. This can of course neither create or destroy emotions - only bring them to the surface or repress them, so results may vary with each person. 9 - Tread the Paths of the Gods: The mage may, with a week-long ritual create a sphere gate to a place the mage is familiar with, which remains open for a few minutes (at either end - the times it is open at each end will be separated by the 'lag time' of the gate.) With a year-long ritual, she may create a permanent sphere gate to a place she is familiar with, or destroy a sphere gate she has traveled. - Command the Gateways of the Soul: The mage may command the gateway that holds a soul in a body - either releasing it prematurely, effectively killing a person, or holding it in, making someone immortal. This immortality will not, however, affect aging or damage to the body, and by itself is really only longer life. The mage may also, however, force a soul through a gateway, thus creating an undead servant (assuming the spirt found is agreeable), breathing life into a normally inanimate object, or body-hoping her own soul in an attempt to live forever. 10 - The mage may move herself and others within a realm at the speed of thought, within a sphere in a few minutes, and may spherewalk at will, leaving behind a permanent sphere gate each time she does ('lag time' still applies.) A mage of this level could be the Walker of legend. The mage is also effectively bonded with all gates in the realm she currently occupies, and thus knows of all passing within the realm, which she may prevent or allow at her whim. It would be very easy for such a person to impersonate a god in a realm (or to perhaps even be a godling.) Questing in Underlight The realm information can be used by itself, though quests will probably deal fixing the realm's problems, or the aftermath of their being fixed. Below is presented a cast of characters and a particular situation that will hopefully lead to a 'happy ending,' or at least one that is enjoyable to play through. Set the Stage Vision Cards v50 - This shows Priestess Summer Breeze and her companion, Rush (which I think is a variant of a large dog), in front of Shine's temple. (Ignore the rope tying Rush down; she would never consider doing such a thing.) v21 - This shows Late Frost, the father of Summer Breeze, with his companion Prudence, outside of the temple. v8 - This shows River Reed (girl in the foreground) holding her companion Innocence, and Stony Brook (man in the background) and his companion, Ponder, to the right of him. v81 - This shows Rounded Stone guarding The City. v76 - This shows the priest Midnight Mere on the night of the grand ritual. v73 - This is the usurper, magic, showing in particular the mage Sharza-Zara (shar-za zar-ah) casting one of the great spells. Major players (for most of the NPC's, I drew one fortune card as their ruling force; it's not as detailed as a full three-card pyramid (and therefore easier to remember) but it gives me some aspect to build a personality around.) Sharza-Zara - a powerful spherewalking mage (Gateway Magic, level 9) who took a liking to Underlight a very long time ago. Most of the truth of her legacy has been forgotten and most if not all current residents know her as Shares-a-Tear (having different worn down versions for the two sides might be intriguing, but this is the only good one I've thought of.) Her actual name is intentionally 'odd' to make obvious to heros the fact that she is an outsider. She cast the three great spells of isolation, peace, and reversal. She is now deceased but her legacy lives in magic and many other ways. Priestess Summer Breeze, companion Rush (dog?), ruling force The Eagle reversed (thoughtlessness) - Largely acknowledged as the leader and head authority of Shine's clergy. Despite this respect, she trusts her first reactions more than carefully thought out decisions, which, although it gives her the ability to react quickly, it can at times be a weakness. Late Frost, companion Prudence (cat), ruling force Winter (maturity) - The retired father of Summer Breeze, he still lives at the temple and can be found there by those seeking his advice. He is wise and knows a great deal more than he lets on. He works well as a guide tool to give stuck players just as much of a push as they need to get going again. (For the following two, I drew one card for the two people in the vision card, The Fool reversed (lack of connection) They don't really understand what is going on, but River Reed is actually pretty important) Stony Brook, companion Ponder (goat) - Father of River Reed and lifetime goat herder. He has grown used to the people from the city having the upper hand, and throws up little resistence to their wishes. River Reed, companion Innocence (goat) - A simple, well, innocent, girl caught up in a fight for the fate of the realm. She can be very strong at times, but is also easily shaken by sudden change. Midnight Mere, companion Endeavor (owl), ruling force The Smith reversed (evil effort) - Head priest of Shimmer, and by virtue of that a major figure in the leadership of The City. He, like most followers of Shimmer see nothing wrong with their plans, but Mere certainly takes the greater glory of Shimmer - not to mention himself - into consideration. Dwindling Light, companion Weary (raven), ruling force Nature reversed (energy sapped) - An old man who serves Midnight Mere. You can alternately have him be a younger man who just has been beaten down by working under Mere. Officially he has a high position in the priesthood of Shimmer and that earns him respect amongst most of the citizens of The City, but he is often little more than a go-for for Midnight Mere. Indeed, he will often be assigned to take care of the player's needs while Mere prepares for the ceremonies. Rounded Stone, companion Mirth (snake), ruling force Autumn (plenty) - Though not one of the most important characters, Stone guards the entrance to The City (it doesn't matter which entrance; whichever the players first meet a guard at. It may be advantageous to make up more guard personalities, but this is what I have.) A friendly man with a boisterous personality and a loud voice. Momentum As the heros arrive, the highest holy day of Shimmer approaches. (The exact time I leave as a per-guide decision, anywhere from that night to a few nights later, depending on the desired pace and available playing time.) On that night, the followers of Shimmer, lead by Midnight Mere, plan to find and sacrifice the realm's greatest innocence, giving them day (turning it to night,) and also releasing the secret of war, a great and powerful secret of ancient times that decimates whole peoples. This innocence is embodied in River Reed (this is why her companion is called Innocence.) As the story opens, they have not yet found (or at least captured) her. Summer Breeze doesn't know all of these plans (she, like most of Shine's followers knows little of The City's affairs,) but she suspects something is up, and fears the ever heavier controlling hand of the followers of Shimmer. Because of this, she summons several heros, hoping that they will either have the secret of war, or be able to save them from the rule of The City. Late Frost suspects a little more of what is going on, but remains mostly silent, dropping only what hints he feels necessary. What is happening: The ritual that Midnight Mere intends to perform will take the energy of the spell of peace, which he has mostly unknowingly tapped, and turn it against the spell of reversal to return the day to night (though he does not realize it is a return.) This will completely drain the spell of peace, releasing the ability to war upon Underlight. Summer Breeze has unknowingly tapped the spell of isolation. By simultaneously drawing on it's power and attempting to pierce it, she can pull spherewalkers through. This will not destroy the spell of isolation, only slowly weaken it. Introducing the Heros The most likely way to introduce heros into the locked off realm of Underlight is to have Summer Breeze misdirect them on a spherewalk. Having a previous quest end with an uncontrolled release of powerful magic or stepping through an unstable gate could also provide probable reasons, perhaps helped along by the summons. In general, only spherewalkers who are in transit between spheres will be redirected, either an established group going together, or (in the case of a new group) a seemingly random collection of spherewalkers who happened to be going through a gate at the time, who will be quite surprised to appear together. There are essentially two places that the heros could appear. Either in Summer Breeze's presence at the temple of Shine, or at the old gate in The City. If they appear at the temple, show them the vision card of Summer Breeze; her expression in the picture is just perfect for this situation. As soon as they arrive, she will demand something to the effect 'Are you the heros I summoned?' In the ensuing conversation, she will first attempt to see if they have the secret of war, and then expect them do something about the city-dwellers rule. Starting them out in the city could be an interesting exercise indeed. Although I try to avoid 'good guys vs. bad guys' as much as possible, the followers of Shimmer come out closer to bad guys. Thus giving the heros their side of the story first could result in an interesting 'double take' when they realize what is going on. The principle problem with starting them in The City is of course getting them out. This would probably work best with either several days before the ritual, or none. Several days so they have time to explore, find the tomb and other clues, get curious, and get to the temple of Shine and back. That night so that it happens and they then have scramble around for information and find Summer Breeze to set things right. Places To Go, Things to See If no additional information is provided, the entry merely serves as a reminder that the feature is important, ample details are provided elsewhere. -The Temple of Shine If the heros arrive at the temple from outside, it will take a little time for Summer Breeze to figure out that they might be the heros she summoned. They might also meet Late Frost first since he tends to pass him time outside of the temple. When it is discovered whom they are, Breeze will first attempt to get the secret of war from them, and then expect them to do something about the city-dwellers rising dominance, the same as if the heros had arrived there. -Lake of Dancing Lights Nothing of terrible importance, except that the far side is a good place to meet Stony Brook and River Reed, and the lights might intrigue the heros into inquiring about them. If the heros give the lights undo attention, they might receive the story of Shining Son as a vision. Otherwise, if they ask about them, the people most likely to know the story are Late Frost, Stony Brook, and Midnight Mere. -Stony Brook & River Reed If the heros meet these two by chance en route to the city, you can pretty much show them the vision card with the setting correct and all. River is holding innocence and crying over the impending loss. A messenger from the city (Dwindling Light, but this will not be at all obvious) came the previous night and told them to bring their goat herd to the city for the festival. He wasn't exactly lying, but he didn't exactly mention that getting River & Innocence to the city was more important than the herd, either. -The City -The Gate If the hero's arrive at The City from the outside (not that things will be _too_ different if they show up in the middle of it...), they will be greeted with surprise, suspicion, and a great deal of interest. Though the inhabitants will be quite interested in making them feel welcome, the heros will probably be asked to 'check their weapons' with the guards before entering. -Sharza-Zara's Tomb -Midnight Mere's Office At one of the highest points in the city rests Midnight Mere's Office, which is probably attached if not contained in his house. As soon as the hero's arrive at the city, they will probably be escorted to Midnight's office, which will probably be their first encounter with him. Midnight is very interested in presenting a pleasing face to strangers; he will of course be very suspicious of them, though he will attempt to show it as little as possible. He is willing to make a number of accommodations, including room and board, and paperwork (for instance, trading within the city officially requires a merchants licence, and leaving (and more importantly, getting back in) the city requires a gate pass.) Dwindling Light will be assigned to taking care of most of these tasks. If they happened to journey to the city with Stony Brook & River Reed, those two will accompany them up to the office, probably waiting outside (presumably to be paid for their herd.) The quiet and unscrupulous hero may be able to listen at the door, (provided they have not done anything stupid such as say, attempting to attack Midnight Mere, in which case the door will almost certainly be guarded) and hear an exchange including something like the following: MM: You said you sensed it in her! We don't have time to find another. DL: But I did.... Last night I felt it. MM: Wait, was her companion with her then? DL: Why, yes, it wa... [cut off by MM] MM: That's it, isn't it. [if they could see him grinning here...] It's not _just_ her... Have her companion brought at once! DL: Yes your holiness. If the heroes attempt to break in and rescue Stony and River here, you have basically two choices: -Let the heros rescue them and either have River & Innocence re- captured, or take the story in a slightly different direction (such as breaking down the social/mental/spiritual barriers between the two religious groups, or finding out about the spells and trying to find other ways to break them.) -Use the at least two guards in Midnight's office 'escorting' Stony & River, the several others within shouting distance, and Midnight's Spell-of-Peace-powered magic to repel and possibly capture the heros. -The Temple of Shimmer Potential Visions These are provided in case you have heros whom can induce visions (I had two in my playtest group) or if you just like using them to advance the plot (following that suggestion in Bonekeep) -The Casting of the Spell of Peace / Spell of Reversal Time seems strange. At once people move at a normal pace, yet the day passes in mere moments and the sun and the moon can be seen flying through the sky in turn. In the background, stands the city, looking newer and less built-upon. In the foreground, both types of holy roses can be seen, the golden ones opening with day and closing at night; the silver ones greeting the moon and bowing before the sun. In the middle ground is a plain, and on either side stands two armies, one's crests bearing a sun, the other's a moon. The armies rush forward, mix, and bloodshed is the result. Though far away, a person can be clearly seen on a high balcony of The City. [This is Sharza-Zara, but that fact must be deduced by the person having the vision.] The figure bows her head slightly, shaking it as if in disappointment. After a moment, she makes some gestures that could easily be interpreted as casting a spell. [Now you can show the vision card of Sharza-Zara.] As the spell is cast, the day and night seem to reverse, and the armies stop suddenly, as if the will to fight had just left them, and separate and leave as if confused. The roses remain in schedule, ignorant of the change; now the golden ones open during the night, and visa-versa. Those paying especial attention to the mage's motions may have noticed a gesture where she put out her flattened, open, hand, and then made a motion which reversed it, top to bottom. (Think spinning a fortune card around so it is reversed.) -Sharza-Zara's Death / The Casting of the Spell of Isolation A well decorated bedroom, with an old woman lying in the bed. [The person in the bed is Sharza-Zara, this vision should probably not be given until the heros have heard enough about Sharza-Zara/Shares-a-Tear to make that deduction.] There are several concerned people standing about, including a few whom appear to be doctors, and several priests in two distinct styles. As the onlookers huddle in a corner discussing something, the person wakes, as if for a moment afraid, and then regains compose for another moment before taking on a determined appearance. She begins making energetic gestures, presumably casting a spell. At once, a view of the gateway overlays with the scene, and the other people turn in shock and being rushing to the bedside to stop the woman. At the gateway, an almost flaming blue band of energy appears around the edge, and then shrinks to a single ball before dissipating. As soon as this is complete, the people reach the bedside and the person falls limp after a final, concluding motion. The people appear to be shouting, shaking the person, or running for help. The scene fades into the next; a funeral march. The woman's body lies atop a pall, being taken from foreground towards the background, where the door to the tomb at the end of the street can be seen. All around, people, many displaying sun or moon symbols, fill the streets of the city. Many are crying, others are simply hanging their heads or looking on with grim expressions. The scene once again fades into the next; inside the tombs inner sanctum. The priests, an equal number dressed in each style, lay the body into the sarcophagus, and lesser priests close the lid. As soon as it is closed, the various runes along the walls light up, and the priests, not seeming to pay them mind, file solemnly out. -The Story of Shining Son Pretty much as before, but of course you will have to decide on an actual heritage and slayers for Shining Son. Resolution These are likely endings (not that players ever do anything likely...) -The Happy Ending. The heros figure out what is going on before the great festival. They talk Midnight Mere and Summer Breeze into cooperating, by sacrificing the Spells of Peace & Isolation, therefor restoring the day and the night (even if they did not realize this would happen). (Fate: Recovery) -The Dramatic Ending The heros figure out what is going on and get Summer Breeze to sacrifice isolation to restore the day, but not until after Midnight Mere has sacrificed River Reed/Innocence to 'gain' war and restore the night. One possible variation is that if the heros figure out what is going on before the ritual, and after explaining the situation to River, she willingly allows herself to be sacrificed for the betterment of the realm - trusting the heros to make sure Summer completes the other half, of course. (Fate: Recovery.) -The 'Bad' Ending The heros never figure out what is going on. The ritual goes off, and the realm is plunged into eternal night, still cut off but able to war within itself. The heros, are, of course, stuck here, so they will hopefully figure it out eventually. (Unless of course Summer Breeze got killed somehow...) (Fate: Corruption.) -The 'Other Bad Ending' The heros decide that the worshipers of Shimmer are evil, and end up putting the followers of Shine in the leadership position, in the process ending the Spell of Isolation and making it eternal day.... They are free to go, leaving behind a very interesting realm, which will probably become famous not only for eternal day, but as a sanctum for those fleeing from war. (Fate: Corruption.) -The Stagnation Ending. The heros don't figure anything out, but stop the ritual from taking place on principal. Things stay pretty much the same, although they may affect some social changes in their (life)long stay. (Fate: no change) Playtest Notes On bloodlust: One flaw I've found is that there is no combat (unless the players provoke it). In the playtest session, I had a fire/earth virtually un-killable warrior who didn't feel like he had anything to do since there was nothing to fight. He could have attempted to use the players mind even if the character did not have the stats to match wits with some of the other heros, but instead a friend of his wandered through (one of the principal problems with playing in dorm lounges) and he spent most of the rest of session un-involved. This being my first Everway game, and still being fairly early in my experience as a Guide, I was kept busy with the other players and never threw out any hooks to reel him back in. Oh, well, other Guides be warned. Potential solutions: Instead of being politely asked to come to the city, The City might have sent guards to forcibly bring River Reed there. The heros happen along just in time to fight them off. This of course immediately paints the followers of Shimmer as evil, so it has it's problems. On the other hand, the violence could be completely removed from the plot. The realm could happen to be inhabited by a particularly vicious type of animal that could present problems. If taking this option, bear in mind the effect it would have on people's life styles, especially the followers of Shine, whom live outside of stone walls. (Though they might have been forced to build less impressive (than The City) stone walls and centralized towns in this scenario.) Another problem I had was that the players often seemed to not have any idea of what to do next. I filled in a number of details since then, such as the justification of the followers of Shimmer for being able to take River's life. I've also expanded the number of and detail in the visions. To those who thought that the tomb of Sharza-Zara section had excessive detail, it should come as no surprise that my players paid it a great deal more attention then I had originally thought they would. For some reason I though the glowing eyes would get them, but no, they assaulted it in force, and even slipped past a pair or two once or twice. Another mistake; the note about someone attacking Midnight Mere in his office was not unfounded. One player attempted to throw a knife at him. It bounced away with a flash of sliver light, "Shimmer protects me," said Mere. After this, the players agreed to tie there weapons, which was magically re-enforced by Mere, with a faint silver light around the seem of the sheath, etc. This is where I realized that they probably should have been made to check their weapons at the door. (Of course such physical manifestations of power are not in Shimmer's actual domain, which leads to the point about him being able to channel extra power from his connection with the Spell of Peace.) The ending was 'The Happy Ending,' although my thoughts about what would happen if they failed to save River left me slightly guiding things towards 'The Dramatic Ending,' precisely because it was dramatic. As it was going quite a bit longer then I had hoped it would, and since it was therefore getting late, I allowed them to keep a moon rose open past dusk by cutting it off while it was still open. Taking that and a sun rose, they got Midnight and Summer together, I believe holding the 'opposite' roses, in front of the tomb (following their fascination with the structure). They then attempted to get them to walk into the tomb, side by side, but of course they must both have open minds and believe in a new balance between the religions for this to work... The Silver gargoyles were blocking Midnight's path (and he had of course been going on about how ridiculous this whole thing was). By this point, the heros had already sent for one of the lesser priests they had meet earlier (a random character I had not planned for ahead of time and whom had no real characterization or significance at this point) planning to set him up as Midnight's replacement if he could not pull if off. So this is the big moment, after a late night of role-playing, bumping against puzzle walls, and very stubborn gargoyles, and I draw a card for Midnight. Trickery, reversed: subterfuge revealed. Now this could have meant a lot of things such as Midnight being revealed as a fake and being replaced by the random priest. But I ruled that he saw through his own delusions of inequality (the fact that he could not walk down the path but Summer could being a big factor here,) and the gargoyles stepped aside as the pair entered the tomb. What happened from here doesn't need too much explanation; they walked in, turned, and both sets of roses in the tomb opened at once as they stated in turn what the realm must give up to retain balance. The heros (in the outer room,) noticed sunlight coming through the door (it had been night). The Origins of Ideas Main ideas: When I drew the vision cards, the five main ones had two feels to them, one had earth tones and brighter colors, the other was darker. One of the vision cards also had sun symbol, and several of the fortune cards had moon correspondences. The great spells were a result of trying to figure out what the heck to do with isolation as a virtue and nurture as a fault, mixed in with the usurper, which by that point had been decided upon as 'magic,' with an possible incarnation, which later became Sharza-Zara. Companions: Three of the five main vision cards had people with animals. It struck me as a bit odd, so I built on it, and used the names as a clue to the innocence bit. The roses: The roses didn't actually exist until a few hours before the game when I finally thought about boons. Two (or was it three, grumble grumble) of the heros had ties to the Spherewalker's star roses, so I followed the rose theme with a useful power, and even tied them in as clue to what was going on. Death mythos: It unfortunately didn't occur to me to justify the moon worshiper's sacrifice by the fact that they thought the person would actually benefit from it until during the first run. While doing this write up I expanded the mythos and added a corresponding one for the sun worshipers so it didn't stick out so bad as put there just for that reason. The Lake of Dancing Lights (and by extension the story of Shining Son): The lake was just a random landscape feature in the first run; I tried to attach actual names to everything for the write up, and a name like The Lake of Dancing Lights needed a better reason than 'because.' I even managed to work in a bit of useful mythology in the process. The reflective water: Just a random oddity of the realm, deliberately chosen to work with the sun/moon theme. If anybody cares, Endeavor the owl came before Endeavor the character, and the companion is partially responsible for the character getting his name.