Excerpts from the Journal of Tex Arcana

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Journals are a time honored tradition for intrepid explorers and the heroes of Adventure Inc. are no exception. This is a place to post in character reflections on what's happening, we'll use these as a form of interludes as we journey along but feel free to help pad your post count by adding entries as you feel (they may not count one for one to post rate but I'll use them to bump counts).
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Tex Arcana
Posts: 147
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2020 6:40 pm

Excerpts from the Journal of Tex Arcana

Post by Tex Arcana »

Date (redacted)

We found it.

After a month of sifting dirt in small desolated communities to the west of Tolken, we found the Techno-Wizard workshop/laboratory. It was underground as we expected. After we cleared the entrance and walked down the sloped passage we triggered the first set of traps. The hallway had eight niches, four to a side that contained a man sized statue. We checked them for magic and they were non magical; however as Kelcie passed the halfway mark, she must have triggered a mechanical pressure plate. The statues and walls behind them rotated, and then magic flooded the corridor. Eight golems came out and attacked us. Kelcie was struck and killed almost immediately. The rest of us fought for a lives for a tense few minutes. Mark, Dwo, Calas, and Sisto were injured to some degree. I'd gotten luck by being in the back of the group.

We regrouped and entered the first chamber. It was filled with various machines, some of them still powered up. We search and found a cache of TW weapons and armor, along with some mundane versions as well. Probably waiting to be converted. Off the room were three other doors. Dwo and I got the door to the east. It opened into a room with a half dozen bodies. All of them were in an advanced state of decay. Luckily none were necromantically animated. However, this was more of an alchemist’s laboratory. Jars and containers of unidentifiable things floated on shelves around the room. A door from this room led to a small forge. The shielding on the door to the forge was thick, as soon as we opened the door, the temperature jumped at least 20 degrees. Dwo said that it was probably hotter than dragon fire. We found molds for various sized rings and three nuggets of ore.

We heard shouts from the others and Dwo went back to find out what was going on. I continued to search the room, I found a hidden panel in a desk with two rings, both had a square cut stone, one had a visible crack in the center, the other ring's stone looked slightly burnt. I scooped both rings up and put it in a pocket and went back to the main room. Calas was standing in the middle of the room holding up a ring, saying this is what the search was all about. He'd found one of the fabled rings of the Elder. He told us to wrap our search and to get back to camp. I went back and grabbed the nuggets.

Later that night I got a chance to hold the ring of Elder, I could feel the power pulsing within it. As I stared at in the fire light, I realized I'd seen it before. I returned the ring and went back to my tent and pulled out the rings I found. The metal was the same color, and I am sure it was the same type of stone in each of them. Could I have found two more Rings of the Elder?

I admit a bit of greed came over me. I said nothing of the rings, I turned in the three nuggets and one of the scientists at the came confirmed they were gantrium ore. I had been holding on to a small fortune.

When we returned to Dweomer, I went to the psychic quarter and found a mystic. I asked him about the rings. One was worthless despite being made of gantrium. It had been enchanted, but was powerless. The other with the discolored stone had some of the properties of the Ring of the Elder, but was flawed. The mystic couldn't tell me what was wrong with it of course, but I practiced my magic with wearing it, I could tell that it sometimes made it easier to cast my magic and spells lasted longer.

I've kept the ring hidden and not said anything else to anyone. Today I was released from service. I am going to take my leave from Dwoemer and head to Lazlo. There's been a call for people to join a new outfit, Adventure Inc. I thought about going south to join the Tomorrow Legion, but I know that being a part of some army is not for me.
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Tex Arcana
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Re: Excerpts from the Journal of Tex Arcana

Post by Tex Arcana »

Date (redacted)

It's been a long while since I've written an entry, but I came across the my notebook at the bottom of my rucksack today and felt ready to write, something.

We were arrogant, and paid the price. We came across a village, O'Claire, filled with wee-folk, happy with enjoying the simple pleasures of life. Nearby was a Coalition base. I don't know why, perhaps we were drunk on the wine, but we thought we could beat them. Oh we were wrong, so wrong. A refugee group had caught their attention and were headed our way, we tried to defend them, but it just made the town a target. In the end many of the townsfolk became refugees themselves, many died. Who did we think we are, The Tomorrow Legion? Ha! Scavengers and bandits more likely.

After the debatable we continued west and today we came across an old Tolkeen bunker. It had been mystically and mechanically sealed. Phoenix and I were able to get the door open. It's clear the vault had been sealed before the war. The Tolkeenites had bound some Shadow Beasts to the place and they were laying in wait. They must have been crazy, perhaps crazier than normal at being bound to the mortal plane and nothing to do.

Apparently whatever Shifter summoned them, lost control and they turned on their masters, either after or the same time, a squad of Coalition troops had found and entered the bunker. They too lost their lives. In the midst of this Pheonix just up and left, damn Psi-Ghost. But Adventurer's Inc must have some sort of oracle on staff, because almost as soon as that happened, a Sasquatch, a real life mountain man, with some sort of odd accent, he's from the far north, but he doesn't speak American like the rest of us. His name is Woolsey, and claims to be a doctor of some sort. He happened to find us and help us while we were under attack. He's really some sort of bounty hunter. The doctor title is probably some sort of pretentious nonsense. Anyway, he says he was sent to find group Fortuna, but hasn't been really forthcoming on why he was sent. I am going to have to keep my eye on him.

The Tolkeenites had some sort of experiment going on connected to the plane of shadow. They had captured some elemental forces in glass cubes and established a permanent portal to the shadow realm.

We found the shifter's body there. I suspect she was trying to manipulate when something unexpected came through and killed her. I can only surmise that the power to keep the portal open must have come from the other plane. We decided to close it and as expected we were attacked, but as I was doing it, a greater being than the beasts appeared, a Shadow Lord. It, it touch me, touch me to my soul. There was nothing it could do to stop me, but I can still feel it's touch. I've been marked, I've avoid checking my aura, not wanting to confirm my suspicion that it's put some sort of target on me.

We are back on the trail now. We've conducted funeral rights for the dead and looted the place like good little adventurers. I came across a good sized piece of Xanthine off the dead shifter. That plus that chunk of radioactive gantrium, I have what I need to craft a ring of Elder, assuming I can figure out the method at some point. But even the greatest techno-wizards of Tolkeen couldn't figure out how to make true copies. The stone is so bright compared to the flawed, cloudy stone in my ring. It's easy to get lost staring into it. Luckily it was already on a necklace, so I've got it hidden under my armor.

William is signally that he's come across something ahead of us. Hopefully it's some place with a shower and a hot meal.
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Tex Arcana
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Re: Excerpts from the Journal of Tex Arcana

Post by Tex Arcana »

Date (redacted)

We've made it to the Barony of Charity.

This place is the epitomy of what the Code of the West is meant to resist. The code has been on my mind much of the journey since saving the team of Coalition scientists and troops from the dimensional rift they had tried to control with their technology.

Finding out that they had triggered a device that appears to have closed the dimensional anomoly was a tremendous surprise. My request for a copy of the data was rebuffed so we ended up taking a copy anyway. We agreed to help Captain Riley without him volunteering any details about what his team was doing. Wanting a copy of the deal could be considered reneging on our 'deal', but yet again, the CS have shown that even when they do something that could benefit everyone they'd rather fight than share. Luckily the Captain and his team were in no condition to resist us. It's good that we are heading out further west. Hopefully when we come back a few months (a few years) from now, we will be further down on the list of number one enemies.

Our team is still a bunch of lose cannons, but for the most part we've been able to count on each other. Pheonix abandoned us at the Tolkien bunker. And Dr. Woosley stay around just long enough to deal with the dimensional anomoly.

Hopefully, we have a few days to deal with the meteorite pieces we've obtained. William seems to understand it's important, but not the true value of how to use the gantrium contained within it. It's been providence in finding both a xanthine gem and the gantrium. I believe in a few months I will be ready to try enchanting minor artificats, my studies have progressed tremendously while we've been traveling.

Now we need to see what Lady Mackenzie thinks about what we've encountered and that she doesn't demand all of the meteor pieces we've obtained.
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Tex Arcana
Posts: 147
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2020 6:40 pm

Re: Excerpts from the Journal of Tex Arcana

Post by Tex Arcana »

Date (redacted)

Yin and Yang, cause and effect, karma. They all came together in the Baron of Charity, where nothing is free.

The bill from the Coalition came due in Charity. Their superior resources allowing them to track us unerringly west. Our only good fortune is that they've underestimated and we were able to survive their multiple attempts to take us out. I can only hope that we aren't worth it any longer and they won't follow us through the mountains.

Having obtained a Ring of the Elder from Zargus the Great I've come to the conclusion that my my chances of replicating are just as low if not lower than those of the Tolkeen research teams. I can feel the power stored within the ring, much different than the flawed lessor ring I had found. The desire to unleash the true ring's power is strong. I am not sure if this impulse is my own or if it's coming from the ring. The stories about the rings during the war almost always seemed to lead to the wearers downfall.

We came to a place of elemental power, and the appearance of the earth elementals have frightened me. My confidence in my magic waivered in the moment. Luckily William's power carried the day and he was able to put them back to rest. The incident has given me pause, I need to regain some measure of control of myself, or I will loose control of the ring and be consumed by its arcane energies.

Without the proper research materials, I am going to put my work on enchantment on hold. I may still craft some minor items if time permits. Spell slinging is what I need to focus on.
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