Timestamp: 12th of Summer, 520 A.V.
The storm came out of nowhere. Such were the storms that often washed over Syka. It was as if Zulrav himself inhaled deeply and released all his breath at once. The winds came up suddenly, the waves began to froth, and Treasure Point became a maelstrom. At first, it was just a blustery wind, but as the winds blew, the denizens of Syka one and all would be smart to seek out the storm shelter and wait out the time it took for the winds to spend themselves. There were supplies in the Storm Shelter; enough food and water for days. Cots were lined up, and there was cord after cord of cut and dried wood to keep fires in the shelter burning.
People played dice games, cards, socialized, and even told stories. How each denizen of Syka spent the time there was uncertain. But the hours passed, night came and went, and when Syna’s light spilled over Syka, the winds calmed and the waves retreated.
There was very little damage, truth be told. The Founders sent out scouts to look around and make sure it was safe for everyone to depart the shelter. Buildings were still intact. The waves hadn’t washed ashore too far, and all was well… except for Treasure Point.
One very swift runner, the potter Nesra Arlean. had ran out to the point to see the view and check the beach. She reported that the beach had changed shape, so fierce was the storm. New sand had been exposed and the cliff had been worn away slightly. She said the beach was littered with what looked like twenty objects. She swore they looked like sections of statues – almost totems – all strewn about. She said they gleamed with power even though she had no magesight.
Then her story turned incredulous. It was what caused her to sprint back to the shelter on rapid feet. She said she saw dozens of parrots, chimps, large cats, and even the ashta come onto the beach and collect the pieces. Nesra claimed that each animal took a piece, or in the case of the parrots multiple animals worked to lift them…. and they carried them off in all directions – mostly towards Syka. It was hard to tell, Nesra claimed, but the statues if fully assembled would be near three or four feet tall. She described what she saw and how the pieces looked.
The people gathered around Nesra were suddenly abuzz, asking her all kinds of questions. Nesra knew little though, beyond reporting what she’d seen. The three founders, all present for the storm, moved together and spoke quietly with one another. Their two special guests, older men who went by Vas and Kutra, also joined the conversation. It was Vas that spoke first, addressing the group instead of just the Founders.
“I know what these are. They are part of a collection of totems lost… statues depicting animals. They break apart into four pieces and it sounds like from Nesra’s description that these are the panther, the parrot, the chimp, the elephant, and the Tuna. They are powerful magical items in themselves and each brings a certain sort of thing to those that hold them. It might be luck, it might be riches…. One never knows. There used to be a hundred of them, but over time they have been lost. If these are indeed as how Nesra has described them, we will need to do our best to retrieve each piece and reassemble each totem so the pieces aren’t out there, loose. The animals coming tells me that Kihala is involved. It is likely she wants the pieces lost so the totems can’t be tapped into.” He added, looking thoughtful.
Kultra stepped forward and shook his head. “Kihala often thinks magic should go back to the wilds. But we believe it well used in the hands of the people. These statues will reassemble easily enough. You can even interchange pieces for unique effects.” Vas nodded in agreement with Kultra and then stepped aside for the Founders to speak.
This time Mathias Okavis spoke. “Do we have any volunteers to go out and search the Settlement for these totem pieces? If Vas and Kultra are correct, these will help the settlement when reassembled. Lets split up, form groups, and go out to see what we can find. You can check your places as you search, but the runners have said there’s very little damage. The animals couldn’t have taken the totem pieces far. If you find a piece, bring it to The Commons. We’ll assemble what we can find there.” He said, grabbing his hastily packed bag and looking around.
He then turned to two of the Verusk. “Do you mind staying back, extinguishing fires, and restocking the shelter for the next use?” The pair of Verusk nodded, and then in mass everyone was heading out to do their own search.
What you are looking for:
- A parrot figure – wooden base with a pair of tall stork legs, torso of a feathered bird with wings, head with a long elegant bird beak, and a headpiece of a crown of feathers – 4 pieces
- A panther figure – stone base with a torso of a rearing cat with big furred paws, torso of outstretched claws and a wide furred chest, head of a panther, crown of flowers - 4 pieces
- A fish figure – a wave base with a curved fish tail rising upwards, a torso of a finned tuna type fish, a fishhead with wide open toothed jaws and huge eyes, with a crown of seashells. - 4 pieces
- A chimp figure – a tall grass base with a set of well-muscled chimp feet, a hairy thick torso with big strong arms upraised as if to pound its own chest, a chimp-like head crowned with a headdress of fruit. – 4 pieces.
- An elephant figure – a thick brushy base with four stout elephant legs rise up to meet a torso section that is barrel round and includes a flicking tail, a head section with a long curving trunk, and a headpiece of tall woven grasses – 4 pieces
How the Quest works:
I’ve assigned each of the twenty pieces to twenty random locations. The twenty locations are all listed on the link map main areas or in the maw. There are no random ‘on a generic beach’ places. In thread, go search and once you search a place, let me know. You’ll have to make a dice roll in chat in front of myself as a witness to see if you find anything in each location you search. If you don’t have a lore of a location, you will need to find a way to get one so you can search that location. Each item is hidden and has a % roll to find it. Skills like observation, tracking, etc… can add bonus points to your rolls. You can take a WS expert with you in your group if you want to venture out into The Maw locations. Multiple people can search the same locations. If the item is found, it will be first come first serve and the first person to describe searching the area in thread and asking for me to witness their rolls gets the item. I will tell people when an item has been found and in what area they find it.
We are going to try for this weekend, but if it stretches out further, we can make it last a week. You can work solo or in groups of PCs or NPCs. At the end of the quest, all the pieces we’ve found will be brought together and everyone will get a chance to assemble totems (if they found totem pieces) any way they’d like. Prizes will be awarded upon assembly.
Enjoy!
Goss
Please post below this post to let me know your willingness to play. And also track threads you are searching in... and what pieces you've found.
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