So you want to know what happened when we
journeyed to Blackwood recently? No doubt you've been hearing some interesting
stories. I'm sure at least some of them
are even mostly true. Let me at least tell you what I experienced, and you can
make of it what you will.
When Aeston, Kyntela, and I arrived in
Blackwood this Saturday past, we found ourselves suddenly standing amongst our
friends and comrades, but we were definitely NOT standing in Blackwood anymore.
Trying to make sense of the situation we had apparently dropped into, we endeavored
to seek out an individual in the party with at least some knowledge of what
exactly was going on. This person turned
out to be Highlord Temorse of Ashenmark, who promptly filled us in on the
details. Apparently, a group of heroes from the Realms had arrived in Blackwood
the previous night, and through a series of events ended up pursuing a goblin
shaman, along with his elemental army, on a merry chase through half of
Blackwood. After collecting a series of objects, they were able to piece
together a puzzle and thereby gain entrance to the shaman's encampment. And
wouldn't you know, they found him firmly ensconced in circles of elemental
protection, each with its own totem that rained elemental missiles down on the
party. As each circle was breached, the totems seemed to shut down, and the
shaman was finally bested. With his dying breath, he uttered a curse that flung
the heroes, and all who would follow them, into what we all creatively started
referring to as the prism-prison plane (for lack of a better phrase, of course).
It was on this plane that Aeston, Kyntela and I found ourselves bright and
early on Saturday morning. I also
wanted to make note of the fact that we all seemed to be displaying auras of
various colors (red and blue showing as purple, blue and yellow showing as green, red and
yellow showing as orange), although the meaning or significance of this phenomenon
was at that point unknown to us.
As we wandered through the plane, we chanced upon a narrow
bridge spanning a bit of lava. At the far end of the bridge stood a group of
elemental beings, and before us stood two individuals who we later found out
were demons of some sort. They stated that they needed our help to get out of
the prism-prison, and that in order to
escape, each member of our party had to have the same color aura. Our two
friends each had a black aura about them. While trying to come up with a plan,
we decided that our path lay across the bridge - so of course we stormed it.
However, it soon became apparent that we did not have nearly enough pikes (I
know, since when does that ever happen?) or large shields, let alone enough
room to maneuver on the narrow confines of the bridge, and after suffering the
loss of a few party members to the lava (don't worry, we got them back
eventually) we found that we could not best the elementals at the other end. While we were coming to that unfortunate
realization, the clang of a bell drifted across the plane to us, and we
suddenly found that we were alone - the bridge and the elementals had vanished.
The next thing we encountered was a building which appeared
to be a library, as evidenced by a sign on the wall reading "Cassidocious
Library." The entrance to the library was sealed, and standing on the
steps was a man who we thought to be Cassidocious, although come to think about
it, I'm not sure if that was the name of both the man and the library, or just the
library, or.... well, suffice it to say that I am not sure if anyone actually
asked him. Our attention was mostly drawn to the large and rather lengthy scroll
in front of him, which we eventually realized was a cryptogram of some sort
(and not gobbledy-gook, as one of the wittier members of the party first
suggested). His two assistants were
flitting about, trying to "help" us and appearing extremely chipper
about their place of employment (though the librarian could be heard to be
muttering otherwise at various points). One of them found a piece of paper on
the ground which she was convinced might be a clue. Of course, we ended up
puzzling over this scrap for quite a while, even holding it to a flame to see
if by chance it was written in invisible ink. While some marks did appear on
the paper after this, eventually we decided that this was due solely to us scorching
the paper and not from any secret message that was appearing. It seemed at the time that our mental prowess
was about as good as our physical prowess, as before long as we heard the clang
of the bell again and with that, the
scroll and library vanished.
When we reached the site of the next challenge, some of us
hung back, unsure of the plan and wanting to see the outcome of the challenge,
in addition to being unengaged in case things took a turn for the worst. This
seemed to be the wiser course of action when it was revealed that the party who
had entered the challenge needed to complete a
group total of 500 sit-ups and 500 push-ups in the allotted time. Needless to
say, I was quite happy to be spared this, as was Aeston and some of the others
who had stayed back. Through a concentrated and heroic effort, the rest of the
party was able to complete the challenge, and then a curious thing happened -
those in the challenge group currently displaying blue in their auras lost that
color.
As we left the clearing, we came across the bridge again. As
we had failed the first time, we were given the choice between an additional
shield or an additional pike to help us bolster our line. This time we were
successful, and this time we witnessed another color shift - those currently
displaying red in their auras saw that color disappear, while those without red
suddenly saw that color appear. Those
now displaying all three colors (red, blue, yellow) then saw their auras turn
to black, while those who lost their second color saw their auras turn white. It was then that we realized that the different challenges were
color-coded, and that this was our mechanism
to get the entire group to the same color to fulfill one of the
conditions of escape. (It should be
noted that I say "we realized" here because this was the point at
which I (and I would like to think the majority of the party) reached this
conclusion, although it is entirely possible and in fact entirely probable that
some of our party, if not many of them, had already reached this necessary conclusion).
As a group, we decided that we should all attempt to change
our auras to white, which represented the absence of color; therefore, each
challenge going forward should only be attempted by people with those specific colors remaining, and those who
had changed from white would have to refrain from further challenges least they
regain colors that they had lost. It was
at this point that the party split up; those with red auras to try the martial
challenges again, those with yellow to return to the library, and those with
blue to try the next physical challenge. I should mention that we also had a
list of "achievements" we found in the clearing that we started to
attempt to complete. These included killing fairies, gathering flowers, switching
our colors, and deciphering scrolls, among others.
While I was happy not to have been subjected to the
sit-up/push-up challenge the first time around, I still had a blue aura that I
had to get rid of in order to change to white, so I headed for the next blue
challenge with others who still remained blue, mentally preparing myself for
the monumental task ahead. So it was with mixed feelings that I found out that
the next challenge was an obstacle course which involved jumping on rocks and
traversing beams and other structures without touching the ground, as well as
running along paths and trail-blazing through woods. Since I am prone to tripping over my own feet
at times, as well as falling down sometimes for no apparent reason at all, I found
this challenge both daunting and difficult, and indeed ended up dead at least twice from falling
off the rocks. We failed this challenge the first time we attempted it, as it
was based on the number of people who successfully completed the course in the
allotted time, which we did not meet. We met the quota the second time around,
and I (along with others) shifted to white.
We then left the clearing to head back to the main group,
which was scattered between the ongoing red challenges and the yellow library
challenge. The library scroll was eventually successfully translated and that
challenge won. Two other red challenges were presented - the Antonine Wall,
which was eventually completed, and a jugging match for those with red in their auras who were not on hand for the Wall. As we roamed the plane, seeking out
challenges, we also encountered beings with glowing colored beards who could
add or subtract colors from people after killing them.
As evening fell, the group was able to complete more color
challenges, as well as collect pieces of a gate which, when assembled, would
enable escape from the prism-plane. Upon constructing the gate however, it was
revealed that while we had completed enough challenges to free one of the
stained-glass heroes (a group of three brothers and one of the objects of our Achievement list), our efforts were not enough
to free the other two. The group was able to escape the plane with one of these
heroes and the two demons we had first encountered by the bridge, but was
forced to leave the other two brothers behind in a place known to us only as
the Oubliette.
And so I have recounted the tale for you as best I could as
I have remembered it (and with a little help from others), though I do take
responsibility for any mistakes or admissions that may (or may not!) have
occurred in this document and I do apologize fully in advance because, as we all
know, the human memory is ever a fickle thing. One thing I am certain of,
however, is that our work in Blackwood is not yet done, and I anticipate that
we will return there sometime soon to finish what we have started.
Set forth by my hand this day of 28 September 1015,
Dame Areni Stromgate of Rhiassa
(with help from Lord Temorse of Ashenmark)
