AMIA ARCHIVE • View topic

Truly, the past few days had been rather rough on the small hin settlement: an attack by ghastly apparitions that killed indiscriminately and the abduction and ritual sacrifice of three of its children had put its residents on edge. However, as the saying goes, when it rains, it pours. And so did trouble once more find its way to Bendir Dale's lands, seemingly as unprovoked as it was uninvited: all the plants within and around the settlement withered and died, the grass turning a pale yellow and the leaves of the trees a dark red before falling off.

Oddly enough, whatever had caused this also seemed to affect the stores of food that the hin had diligently collected: anything that wasn't pickled, dried or salted became stale, moldy or rotten, leaving their provisions for the winter rather thin. Worst of all is that all they have to go on are vague rumors, spread by adventurers: of a darkly clad mage standing atop the Skull Crags hill and using blood magic.

Whether or not these rumors could be given any credence, whether or not it was fell magic that caused this occurrence, one thing was clear: Bendir Dale desperately needed to find a way to undo the damage that had been done.

Traveling to the Dale to check in , Tuomas blinekd and looked around.

"What in the... " he'd comment to himself, considering the current season.

Arriving shortly after the incident, Captor made sure to collect fresh samples before the natural environment began to add to the magical decay.

He has concerns for the food shortage in particular.

"These are times where food is a necessity" He says, "War is being mongered on a grand scale."

After some further examination and chatter with Bemmi, Tuomas would head back to Kohlingen, oddly coming back to the Dale after with a bag of flour, once there he checked the new bag of flour.

Shortly after the first of the food begins to go bad, a certain raven haired half elf stumbles to the Dale from the Crags where she collapses by the cart sign. Shortly after, her unconscious form is portaled to the Salandrians with a group of adventurers, at least one other rather badly injured.

Within the walls of Bendir Dale, a tall human, with one blue and one green eye, followed by a wolf
approached the ruined crops behind the Hinn inn. Upon inspecting the vegetables, he knelt, silently
praying, meditating and preparing for the spell of cleansing.

Later on, burying his feel deep into the fertile soil, he touched all the plants around him, chanting in a
strange language known only to a few, blessing the crops by the healing and enriching power of his
bellowed goddess, the Earthmother.

Merin spends most of her time indoors after the withering incident, the sight of the deadened land around her causing no small amount of grief.

A black-garbed figure can be seen around the Dale quite frequently. He is always armed and seems to be watching the nearby hills for hours.

After receiving a report of the happenings in the Dale, a knight rereads a letter from a certain raven-haired half elf. He frowns and can do nothing more than shake his head and mutter to himself.

"The prophecy is fulfilled."

Crow takes some samples of various plants in different stages, and delivers them to the Arch-druids of Oakmist Vale. He continues to check on Skit, at her little camp, and extends his patrol into the hills to the east of Bendir Dale.

in his travels Dirgesh hears of the happenings in the Dale and after speaking with a few folks there he decides to hunt bear in Brogendenstien to make roast out of and hand out to the many hin in need. He swiftly portals to hunt soon to return with as much meat as he can carry

Above the Shrine of the Four Gods, a man dressed in ceremonial robes of Chauntea,
surrounded by four candles lit at the four cardinal directions, chanting.

What had been a perfectly normal, if eventful, day for the Shrine of Eilistraee soon took a turn for the worse. An ill wind rose, quickly growing to near-hurricane force and carrying off everything not bolted down. Worse still was the fact that once the wind had began to die down all the plants in the Shrine had withered and died. The trees' leaves turned red and fell, the gale carrying them far and wide to the South and the water of the Bay turned into a murky, stagnant pool, as fetid as any swamp. As for the soil, it was much as the soil of Bendir Dale had become - a reddish-brown mass that looked closer to clay than something one could successfully cultivate.

News from within the drow refuge were not much better: no food that was not salted, pickled or dried was left unspoiled. With most of the Shrine's provisions for the winter having turned stale, moldy or rotten, things looked rather grim for the goodly drow of Amia.

Aly takes up a bow and her sword, and turns to hunting. When she can take down deer, bear or other smaller game, she comes back with trail rations, preserved. They taste like utter crap, and Lady knows the children won't be amused, but she at least can keep most of her people fed and is well-trained in making sure they all get what they need. It's prepared in Kampo's, where the blight hasn't (yet) reached.

"I told them it would not stop with the Dale... Gods help us."

A young knight dressed in green full plate seems to continue to watch over Actand and also the Shrine. He lets out a sigh as he does knowing too well the weight that will be placed on many peoples shoulders. He cannot help but remain frustrated in all that has occurred and feel a bit useless. He eyes the blade to his hip as he watches and shakes his head as he speaks.

"This land will be put to the sword once again, but this time it will be not just the people that bleed but the land itself.... Helm watch over us in these days to come."

Some days after the plants and food in Bendir Dale withered, a sun-eyed man arrives in Bendir Dale. Moving about the town, he occasionally pauses to examine a seemingly arbitrary dead plant, tree or clutch of grass. Most of these times he chants a brief hymn - most often a different one - before moving on to another plant.

Collecting a trowel and a few small boxes, he takes samples of earth from around the dale before leaving - towards the forest.

After some time spent in the local tavern, Marcus leaves a report with Souris.

Quote:

Preliminary Investigation: Bendir Dale Dead Earth case
Author: Marcus Aurelius
Local Contact: Souris

Observation: all flora throughout the territory of Bendir Dale has been afflicted with withering, to death. The withering has not been observed to have spread beyond the territory of Bendir Dale. Perishable food supplies have likewise been affected.

Experiment 1: Samples were chosen arbitrarily within the territory of Bendir Dale and each affected to a specific invocation of Lathander. Samples were not removed from the local soil.
Curative Invocation: No change observed.
Regenerative Invocation: No change observed.
Greater Restorative Invocation: No change observed.

Experiment 2: Four samples of soil were removed from Bendir Dale's territory and stored in boxes. Three were treated with invocations of Lathander. Healthy plants were collected from the Amia Forest and transplanted into the sample soil.
First Sample: No invocation applied. Sample plant observed to remain healthy.
Second Sample: Curative invocation applied. Sample plant observed to remain healthy.
Third Sample: Regenerative invocation applied. Sample plant observed to remain healthy.
Fourth Sample: Greater Restorative invocation applied. Sample plant observed to remain healthy.

Samples delivered to Souris for long-term observation.

Experiment 3: Four samples of soil were removed from Bendir Dale's territory and stored in boxes. Three were treated with invocations of Lathander. Healthy plants were collected from the Amia Forest and transplanted into the sample soil. The sample plants and soil was then placed back into the Bendir Dale soil.
First Sample: No invocation applied. Sample plant withered and died within moments of being placed in Bendir Dale soil.
Second Sample: Curative invocation applied. Sample plant withered and died within moments of being placed in Bendir Dale soil.
Third Sample: Regenerative invocation applied.Sample plant withered and died within moments of being placed in Bendir Dale soil.
Fourth Sample: Greater Restorative invocation applied. Sample plant withered and died within moments of being placed in Bendir Dale soil.

Preliminary conclusion: Withering of plants consistent with negative energy poisoning, yet saturation of small quantities of earth removed from the soil does not appear to be sufficient to immediately affect living plant life. While the plants placed into sample grounds did not immediately wither, it remains to be seen whether the ground remains capable of feeding plant life.
Poisoning of the soil does not account for the rapid decay of perishable foods within the Dale. Healthy plants or unspoiled food brought into the territory of Bendir Dale do not appear to be affected by the withering until placed in the soil itself either.

In essence, it would appear that the soil within the territory of Bendir Dale has been subjected to a form of negative fertility magic.

Recommendation:
Transplant a measure of healthy plants along with healthy soil into the soil of the affected Bendir Dale, and observe whether the healthy soil is likewise poisoned and corrupted. If not, removing the affected soil throughout the farmlands of Bendir Dale for untainted soil from other locations may prove to be a temporary measure to avoid further food shortage.

A notice is posted prominently outside of the Slanty Shanty.

"Citizens of Wharftown,

As you may have heard, a blight has hit the isle. Both the Shrine and Bendir Dale have been hit- their earth has been corrupted and all of their winter
food stores have been rotted, anything that wasn't salted, pickled, or dried.

The blight is believed to be magical in nature, and could possibly spread to the rest of the isle. In preparation, I would recommend canning, salting,
pickling or drying any foodstores that you have accumulated for the winter.

I am asking the citizens of Wharftown to donate any small extras they might have in order to give to Bendir Dale and the Shrine, to help their people
through the cold months ahead. All donations are obviously voluntary, if your family cannot participate it is completely understandable. If you do plan
to donate, please leave a list of your family name and the amount and type of donation you're making with Griff at the Shanty.

Remember, there is no reason to panic. We do not know if the blight will touch Wharftown, but it is good to be prepared. If you have any questions,
you can find me at the Shanty and I will be more than happy to answer them.

-Alanna,
Captain of the Hands of Ieriyn"

Either out of desperation or as an effort to ensure the townsfolks' supply of food, Serena makes a visit to Merogo and the other halflings there that aid him in tending the vineyard. She does her best to calmly explain the current situation, informing the man if he hadn't already learned of it, and attempts to appeal to him and his family for permission to use some of his land not yet cursed for growing simple crops for Bendir Dale. The platinum blond-haired halfling scouts the fields, locating good remote areas to use if granted...

Furthermore, willing scouts would be sent to survey surrounding, less dangerous areas not yet "tainted" for similar borrowing of the land. Whether or not Bendir Dale was doing fair with the recent donations and aid thus far, Serena made sure they could be as well-prepared as possible.

The food that had been brought into the Dale thus far seemed to be enough to keep the settlement fed for a few months if very strictly rationed. There still was the possibility that some would not survive the winter, but things did not look hopeless. As for the Shrine, it was just recovering from the blow, its residents doing their best to gather new provisions - a process which would likely take longer than they had, unless aid was to arrive.

A notice is posted around Cordor by the Ministry of Health and Public Welfare:

Quote:

Notice: Food Supplies

To the People of the Commonwealth:

Bendir Dale and the Shrine of Eilistraee have both recently been struck by a blighting wind that has destroyed all vegetation and unpreserved food supplies.
We do not know if this phenomenon will strike again, or where, but given the Commonwealth's current troubles with food production and distribution, such an event over Cordor could cause serious problems.

The Ministry highly recommends that all residents make the effort to set aside, where possible, a store of at least one month's worth of dried, salted, pickled or otherwise preserved food, and urges all food producers to immediately take steps to treat a large portion of their product in this manner.

[There follows a list of common foodstuffs and the ways in which they can be preserved, including meat and fish (drying, salting and/or curing), eggs, cucumbers, cabbage (pickling), other vegetables (preserving in oil), fruit (jams and jellies), etc.]

As in several other communities, a precautionary advisory is made prominent among the elves...

Kaithan wrote:

Sistren and Brethren of the People:

It may be known among some of us that several of our n-tel'Quessir neighbors have been recently visited by fell magics, rendering much of their stored food supplies inedible. While it must be highly stressed that the City knows of no specific threat to us at this time, in order to take precaution against the unforeseen, the Council hereby advises that the People would be well served by preparing a measure of stores as though for a long winter: by brining, salt curing, pickling, and so forth. By these means have the effects of these cruel magics been thwarted in the lands of our neighbors.

Furthermore, if any among the People wish to contribute to community efforts, the Council shall welcome both the donation of material aid in the form of foodstuffs prepared as described, or the contribution of the expertise of those of the People skilled in preparing foodstuffs in such ways. Any who wish to offer their services to their kin are hereby invited to make themselves known to the Council, or to the Temple clerk Elvolia, that efforts may be efficiently coordinated. Let it be that the Seldarine instill generosity in our spirits and wisdom in our minds, that those who would work ill against the innocent shall find the People well forewarned against their depravity.

-The Council of Winya Ravana

Notices are sent out, from Tarkuul, to Cordor, Winya Ravana, Bendir Dale, the Shrine, Kohlingen, Wharftown, and Uhm. The notices all bare the wax seal of the Living Guard, a serpant eating its own tail encircling a dagger. Several dozen of the notices are sent to each location with the intention of having them distributed, though they are not personally posted in places that the author is not welcome in.

Quote:

Threat Advisory: Amia Forest

The elven ruins of the forest near the Grove and Winya Ravana have become host to dangerous levels of blood magic. A main dressing in the same manner as Tytalus, the former Cordorian Minister of Magic, was found inside the ruins before the location was over run with blood beasts.

Measures must be taken to ensure that the forest is not destroyed by the Blood Magic attempting to gain a foothold there, up to and including purging the place of whatever taint it may have inside. The creatures match the descriptions of those said to be found in the Dale before their crops began to wither, clouds of blood that began to attack on sight. All travel there is advised against for threat of falling victim to the Arcanum, and any going there to remove this taint are advised to do so with extreme force.

I repeat, do not underestimate the threat facing the region. If the blood magics there are allowed to spread the entire forest could be obliterated, and that much usable land will be lost.

Those with any questions regarding the threat, sources of knowledge, wishing for eye witness accounts and first hand reports may contact me in the office of the Living Guard in Tarkuul.

In service to the Living City,
Sir Gerald Edmund
High Captain of Tarkuul

Earalenia on her part starts gathering food for the Shrine, mainly fish so far as well, and the first time in a very long time she gets to feel what it is like to have the home of her children threatened as she learns about the blood mages in the elven ruins.

Baha Hadi would visit the Hin town and offer his aid to the clerics through the spells of Purify Food and Drink and even Create Water (both PnP spells, if allowed by the DM). However, if there is nothig to be purified, Bahia would instread Create Food and Walter (pnp LVL 3). With that he would be able to feed 3 humans or one horse for 24 hours and it takes 10 min to cast. If it's possible, I would like to select the person to be fed and for that I need DM permission and supervision.

A peppy Hin Druid pours compost over several abandoned fields, planting daisy seeds and waiting to see them come to fruition.

*Crow takes four buckets and scoops some of the brackish water at the Shrine of Eilistraee. Using his staff, with two buckets on each side, he shoulders the rig and portals to Bendir Dale. Crow carefully walks to a far spot in the apple orchard and marks off a spot, where he empties the over saturated water onto the dead soil. The ranger checks the spot daily for signs of improvement*

Reinhart sees one of the tarkuul notices in wharftown and tears it down "As if a bunch of depraved necromancers and evil cultists led by a netherese lich have found their morality... you won't gain more power from us".

Reinhart is then seen heading into the forest.

Crow would notice that, at first, the water would seem to do the soil some good. However, given time, the soil returned to its sorry state - as if whatever malicious force had affected it in the first place was still at work. It stood to reason that once the source of the corruption was removed, the process of restoring the orchards and fields would be a simple enough task.

A young drowess can be seen hauling a large clay plant-pot out of the Shrine. In a couple of trips, she hauls out soil from the farming area of the Shrine and fills the pot. There, she plants a couple of seeds, just plain cabbage seeds, and waters it with water she purchases from Kampo.

Stopping to rest, she takes a few moments and gets a drink of water. After that, she heads into the Shrine,and can be found, digging a pit about four feet deep by three feet wide, by three feet long.

In a moment of idleness and boredom, Earalenia takes a sample of the water from the waterfall entrance of the Shrine and fills it in a bottle. Then, she puts er finger in the water and tastes if it was affected by the magic as well.

Three weeks ago, after Jannah Vindle's query about the land in Bendir and Cider Production, Kin mushed a crate of apples and pressed the juices to fill bottles of fermented Cider. Placed the bottles not in a cellar, but in the ground of the earth in a hidden patch to hinder any thieves to see if they would super-ferment. Today she would dig them up to see...

Breazy can be seen at various markets around the island purchasing whatever she can to make large pots of stew and soup to feed hins, and traveler, but mainly hins, as they drift home. She makes sure the taller installing the water purifier is fed, and as comfortable as he can be while working. Though she maintains the same cheerfully demeanor those that know her well would see the that it's a bit forced and only Roim would know of the the things she is trying to help the village through this.

Kamina wrote:

Three weeks ago, after Jannah Vindle's query about the land in Bendir and Cider Production, Kin mushed a crate of apples and pressed the juices to fill bottles of fermented Cider. Placed the bottles not in a cellar, but in the ground of the earth in a hidden patch to hinder any thieves to see if they would super-ferment. Today she would dig them up to see...

The hin would find that the cider and fruit have more than fermented, going well past the stage at which they would've still been safe to consume.

slkNihilus wrote:

Kamina wrote:

Three weeks ago, after Jannah Vindle's query about the land in Bendir and Cider Production, Kin mushed a crate of apples and pressed the juices to fill bottles of fermented Cider. Placed the bottles not in a cellar, but in the ground of the earth in a hidden patch to hinder any thieves to see if they would super-ferment. Today she would dig them up to see...

The hin would find that the cider and fruit have more than fermented, going well past the stage at which they would've still been safe to consume.

Kin stares at the cider bottles for a good ten minutes after sniffing one.

She says nothing and takes the crate away, probably to move somewhere else to stare at what monstrosity she created.

Three days ago a series of unusual happenings befell the Dale and, though nobody was harmed and no damage upon the settlement inflicted, quite a few of the residents took shelter preemptively. It started with a light breeze, blowing from East to West, which soon turned into a fairly potent wind that scattered a myriad small objects and had most people scrambling for cover behind the walls or in their homes.

The following sign was a light shower, born of a sky devoid of clouds. Finally, though the sun had not yet set, seven stars shined brightly high above the hin settlement. A particular constelation that anyone who's seen Mystra's symbol even once in their lives would easily recognize.

What these omens meant, if anything, was left unclear, as with the last one life in Bendir Dale returned to normal.

The Shrine of Eilistraee, in Benwick Hollow, was the sight of strong winds that sent many of its remaining inhabitants looking for shelter. After a few hours, the strong winds died down and, for the first time in months, nature's sounds returned to the blighted grounds - animals, birds and insects. Its grounds remained barren, its plant life still dead but life, it seemed, had once more returned to the region.

Dark days for Amia

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