Sleeping Giants Game 17

Intro

Ana's Warning

Stretching before you is a great plain of brown and dark green, ringed all around it in a circular cavern. The area is larger than any city you’ve ever seen, like a massive bowl placed upside-down over the land.

Below the opening, reaching up from the muddy ground to the window above it, is the largest church you have ever seen. From this distance it gleams white with what you believe to be marble, and is accented with gold and silver that, even this far away, you can clearly discern. Four massive steeples rise from each corner of the structure, and in the center of the roof rises a great golden hammer, itself the mass of a building. The stray rays of sunlight above it reflect from the gold and silver accents and stream to all parts of the cavern wall, dancing and playing in the darkness.

Almost as if cued by your thoughts, Jordan speaks up. “And Thalos emerged from Abaddon carrying with him hope for the world of men. There he built a cathedral of golden sunlight and mortared it with the blood of demons, and he promised to guard her from the mouth of Hell for all of time.”

He looks around at all of you. “Skyhammer stands before us. Mind your manners and follow my lead.”

And then the focus shifts, to Ana. As the group continues their march toward Skyhammer, a great explosion erupts from the towering cathedral. It is no ordinary explosion, but one of chaos and darkness. It begins expanding outward in all directions, rapidly covering the world in shadow. An ordinary being would be terrified, but you feel a certain welcoming warmth accompanying the shadow.

It is not long before the explosion has engulfed the entire expanse of land. You look around, and where there once were tall grasses and wiry weeds, there are now flowing strands of shadow jutting from the ground, like seaweed on a seabed. You glance back at the cavernous ring behind you, which has now become dark and translucent. You can just barely make out the shapes of dozens – no – hundreds of creatures moving about within. Some of them seem to float rather than walk along the ground.

And where the cathedral once stood, where the explosion originated, there are now gigantic beams of pure white light. Dozens of them, hundreds of feet wide, circle the perimeter of Skyhammer. They reach high into the sky, and where the bowl-like cavern almost comes to a close, so do they.

“It’s beautiful, is it not, Athanatos?” you hear an echoing, familiar voice. “Beautiful in a… blinding sort of way.” You turn to the voice, and for the first time in far too long you experience the physical presence of The Shadow.

“I came here to give you a warning, Athanatos. Your kind… our kind… is not welcome here. Those who would protect you have journeyed elsewhere. Be wary in these walls.”

A sudden flash of bright light emits from the Shadow, forcing you to shield your eyes. When you are finally able to see again, you are back on the Material Plane, and Skyhammer remains looming in the distance.

Recap

DAY 8: 1.10.513

• Opens with Ana talking to Shadow - warns her she has no friends here - to be careful - no one notices this interaction.
• Nil notices it smells similarly in the crater to Skyhammer proper as it did in the black tree apple room (blue wall?) - Nil doesn't share this with the group.
• Jordan leads us towards the gate for Skyhammer denizens, to avoid crowds at the other 2 gates.
• Jordan announces himself to Erki and the guards
• Nil detects some magic from the guards (equipment) and notices the gate has magical properties as well
• The guards are pretty impressive - more important than Erki and Jordan.
• The guards won't allow the Boop-a-groots in the city - Ana takes them aside and finds someone to watch them
• 2 gate system - one opens and closes, then the next. We enter Skyhammer!
• Nil notices Divination magic abounds
• Skyhammer is _very_ nice - 30-40ft tall marble walls encircle the city. The southern wall and walls surrounding the giant cathedral are capped with gold. Streets paved - cobblestones. Mainly residential, some gov't buildings where we enter.
• Very few granted access to the cathedral
• Large open field in middle of city = training grounds
• Jordan is an acolyte and would train in the next (nicer) field/area up
• Most people are dressed in blue and gold priest robes, hammer somewhere. Citizens are easily distinguishable from outsiders. They are pretty spartan though - not many possessions but weapons.
• It's about 2:00 pm when we enter the city.
• At noon, the sun hits the golden hammer atop the cathedral and lights up the entire town - especially brilliant. At night there is very little moonlight that gets through the dome - so dark, but they have street lights.
• Jordan says, "We go on to the cathedral."
• The "interesting" [parts of the city are on the outside of the city walls.
• Stratton asks what languages people in the city know - mostly Common, Celestial
• Jordan says there are two libraries here. One inside the cathedral is huge and impressive (Beauty and the Beast) - Lyla asked.
• Lyla wants to know if she can go to a library now or if they must go to the church with Jordan first.
• Jordan tells the group to meet him at the Skyhammer cathedral - if anyone stops us - tell them we are the cohorts of Jordan Steingard.
• Ana decides to search for things outside the city walls.
• Stratton asks Jordan if there's anything he can think of to get an admirer in this city (thinking of Erki). Jordan thinks he's coming on to him... Stratton thinks this is hilarious and just cracks up and walks off.
• Stratton, Ford, and Nil all go around looking for shops. Ford is just along for the ride, Nil and Stratton are looking for specifics.
  • Tailor! Woman with the church. Nil speaks 'church, infernal' to her to blend in.
  • Nil puts in an order for reversible cloak - red one side, black on the other.
  • She switches to Common - takes Nil to the back to measure hre only after learning that we are with the 'Steingard' clan.\
  • Stratton asks for hats - Pope hat and a tunic that says "I'm with Stupid ->" in Dwarvish script. This will cost 15gp and take 5 days.