Anotec and Fronake

Background

As the darkness of the Maw seemed to consume the Firmament and collapse the constellation connections that once illuminated the sky, communities within the Firmament began to feel despondent. The people of two planets, Anotec and Fronake, were particularly vulnerable as ambition, fear, hatred, and other emotions further drew the Maw to their planets.

The Factories of Anotec. (WORK. EAT. SLEEP. WORK.)

Friday 18:12 - 23:10 (5 hrs)

Player Characters:

Cordsen Star - Tortle Wizard

Corvax - Kenku Druid

Fingers-of-Argyle (Fin) - Tabaxi Rogue

Forest Shadow - Tabaxi Monk

Quora - Tortle Druid

Adventure Report:

Our adventuring party went to Anotec to retrieve a shipment of abacuses that, with the pervasive threat of the Maw looming in the sky, proved a mild comfort to Axius, tiefling Astronomer. They found a planet divided (literally and figuratively). There, they got arrested, beat up a bunch of robots, started a worker revolution, and reluctantly reunited two technocrats to sort out their differences. Amidst that hectic process they slowly ignited the planet’s World Heart and began to develop an idea of the far-reaching effect of the Maw.

Welcome to Wonderful Fronake! 1

Saturday, 9:35 - 14:12 (4.6hrs)

Player Characters:

Apollo Lucis - Human Cleric

Beru - Loxodon Paladin

Kriv the Dragon Slayer - Dragonborn Paladin

Ned - Tortle Druid

Sgt. Fury - Human FIghter

Adventure Report:

The party was asked to go to Fronake, the Breadbasket of the Firmament, to search for a lost Astrologer, Laryy the Tortle. They traveled through a door made of cottonwood via the Book of Doors, courtesy of the Historiographer’s Guild. Upon arriving in Fronake’s namesake main town, they found it long abandoned; plants were overgrown, signs, windows, doors and the like were worn down and destroyed, bakeries that had stale or rotting bread. It seemed that no one had lived in the town for months, if not longer. There was no sign of overt violence, the town simply seemed… abandoned.

From the town, the party explored the lands directly outside and found farmsteads in similar fashion to the town, overgrown crops and seemingly abandoned homes. Amongst the fields, they found Laryy searching for his people. Although Laryy had left Beverly a scant week ago, he claimed that he had been there for months, which the party quickly suspected to be some sort of time dilation effect due to the Maw. Through Laryy, the party discovered that the folk of Fronake had become increasingly despondent, which culminated in the leading council to dissolve and take to the four corners of Fronake. Laryy pleaded to the party, if they could help convince the former sheriff, Austin Murtagh, to return, they could restart the settlement of Fronake and help bring some hope to the town, if not the whole planet. With that, they set off to the thick forests northwest of the map, the last place anyone saw Austin Murtagh, the sheriff.

After fearlessly navigating the dark forests, the party had found that Austin had taken to a settlement of orcs in the middle of these deep forests. The orcs had once been peaceful, but became more aggressive in the last few months, partially due to Austin’s influence, and partially due to the negative emotions emanating from the Maw. Austin was angry with the townspeople of Fronake. He believed the people were weak and insufficient to fight the looming threat of the Maw, so he took to the forests to find a people who would more willingly fight back against this looming darkness. In doing so, he claimed chiefdom of the orc settlement and began planning to form a fierce army.

The party confronted Austin in the orc village. Eventually, they were brought to his chieftain’s hut, where a localized occurance of the Maw had manifested, fueling Autin’s anger and desire for a militarized force. Despite the effects of the Maw, the party was able to successfully convince Austin that whatever threat he was to face would be better fought together with the greater collective of the Firmament, in particular Fronake, than to hole up in his corner of the world, waiting for whatever he feared would come. Although they did not discover the World Heart at this time, their actions and words helped go a long way towards repairing it and the fractures that divided this planet.

Welcome to Wonderful Fronake! 2

Saturday, 14:57 - 21:27 (6.5hrs)

Player Characters:

Elrhana (Lia), Ruru, Zeph - Kenku Bard

Merry Smoke - Tabaxi Monk

Moc - Tortle Sorcerer

Narum - Loxodon Rogue

World Echo - Tabaxi Wizard

Adventure Report:

Laryy, the Astrologer, sent the party to Fronake to further search for lost members of its leading council. They came to the town of Fronake to find a town beginning reconstruction, there were people of varying races, including orcs, cleaning up the town, cutting back overgrown plants, repairing broken windows, etc. In town, they learned of the location of two council members, head of the farmer’s collective, Dave Gluzkagg, and Fronake’s primary medical doctor, Ingrid Brown. The party had researched the two’s history and causes for leaving the council. Dave had been the last member to leave; having felt abandoned by the other members of the council, he took to the grasslands in the southwest. Ingrid had left to search for a panacea in the swamps to the southeast to try to help mend the rifts growing within the community, as well as to the impending threat of the Maw. The party believed Dave would be best retrieved last; if they could retrieve the other council members, surely they or other adventurers would have an easier time to convince him to return from the wild savannahs of Fronake.

As the party headed out of town, they noticed a “Welcome to Fronake” sign in disrepair. They tried to fix it, but were unable to do so. Paying the sign no further mind, they headed to the swamps to search for Ingrid Brown. On the outskirts of the swamp, they ran into a gelatinous green creature, approximately 2 feet tall and reminiscent of a certain gooey creature from a 1997 Disney live-action movie starring Robin Williams. This creature was trying to purloin tools from a nearby farmer, but had fled at first confrontation with the party. The party gave chase through the swamps, eventually ending outside what looked to be a hag’s hut in the middle of the swamp.

As the party approached the hut, it rose high into the air, as if to keep them away. However, they were undeterred and managed to sneak into the hut. There, they found Ingrid Brown, single-mindedly focused on a cauldron in the middle of a plain room. She had created the gooey creature, and others like it, as minions to help obtain supplies from throughout the swamp, as she had no other focus of mind than the cauldron that lay before her. Members of the party took a glance at Brown’s brew and had a wave of negative emotions flood their sensibilities. Depression and helplessness flooded their minds as they gazed upon the localized Maw that Ingrid had been brewing in her pot. Ingrid had been frustrated that, despite her education and capabilities, she was unable to find a cure for the malaise running rampant through Fronake. She took to the swamp, rich in unusual ingredients, to search for something that could help relieve hers and the people’s pains and frustrations, however the only thing she could find was the Maw. Some members of the party, having been mesmerized by the miniature Maw in Brown’s bowl, began having a crisis of consciousness and commenced despairing on their failures and the meaninglessness of it all in the face of the Maw. This commiseration on failure struck a chord with Ingrid that momentarily snapped her back to reality. The party seized the opportunity to separate Ingrid from her pot and to seal it away so that its effects on Ingrid, and the party, were minimized. They convinced Ingrid that the best place for her was back with the people of Fronake, far from seclusion, and amongst people whom she could still help. On their way back, the party regaled Ingrid with stories of their adventures in the Firmament that brought a smile to her weary face. Having successfully retrieved another council member, the party returned to Beverly with her cauldron in tow for further study. Although they did not follow up with the “Welcome to Fronake” sign, had they done so, they would have discovered a sign in better restoration than when they first encountered it.

Welcome to Wonderful Fronake! 3

Sunday, 9:57 - 13:31 (3.6hrs)

Player Characters:

Bella Dorand - Elf Warlock

Chester “PeaceBringer” Lucian - Tabaxi Monk

Eagle Screech - Kenku Druid

Gell - Tortle Druid

Gully Foyle - Dragonborn Fighter

Liotta Becharach - Tabaxi Paladin

Adventure Report:

After learning more about Fronake’s council dissolution, Laryy was convinced by the last party that if they could retrieve Merry Peak, priest of Danu, they would be able to easily lure Dave Gluzkagg (who had felt abandoned by all the other council members) back, as they were the last two missing council members. So, Laryy tasked this party to retrieve Merry, Dave would soon come after. With these two members back, the town could be restored to its previous glory, and with that the World Heart.

Entering through the Historiographer’s Book of Doors, the party came to find the town of Fronake alive with activity. Although the town wasn’t back to 100%, the party could see it was busier than any other adventuring party had seen the town of Fronake in recent memory. Here the party obtained supplies, bread and other mementos of the town.

The party followed the last known whereabouts of Merry Peak, to the highest peak of Fronake. Led by their double team of druids, the party had a harrowing climb, crossing deep crevices and escaping from a fierce Roc. Eventually the party found itself at the edge of an icy lake high in the mountains, where a nest of kobolds had taken base. They faced the kobolds, but the kobolds were no match for them and quickly surrendered. The druids detected the scent of Merry on the kobolds, but none of them claimed to have seen the wayward Tabaxi priest. The only thing they knew was the shadowy dragon they took respite under that they worshiped as a god. They gave offerings to this dragon as a way of appeasement and warned the adventurers away, but the party had strong suspicions that whatever was going on with this dragon, Merry was deeply intertwined with it. They carefully snuck into the dragon’s cave and immediately deduced there was something off with it. They confronted it and quickly realized it was Merry, taking on the horrific shadowy visage of a dragon.

Unafraid, the party faced Merry. The party learned that as the Maw had taken hold of the sky, Merry had sought guidance from the gods, but the gods didn’t answer them. Frustrated, they took to the highest peak in Fronake, continuously calling out to the gods, however the only response they heard from was the Maw. The Maw fed on Merry’s despair and anxiety at not being able to help their people. It gave them the power that they thought they wanted, in the form of a Maw-touched shadow dragon. However, as a dragon, Merry wanted to be left alone with their hoard of trinkets. The party revealed their gifts from the village, bread to remind Merry of what they left behind, a picture book of faces that depended on them and the council, a reminder that even if Danu had not answer their prayer directly, the fact that the party was here in front of them was a sign the gods were answering Merry’s prayers in their own ways.The party affirmed what Merry and the council went through was challenging, but that there was still a lot they could do to help restore the town and take care of those who still needed help. As the party connected to Merry, the Maw’s power over them waned and the shadowy form they had taken dissipated, leaving Merry in their original Tabaxi form. Merry soon returned to town. Dave returned soon after that. With the council once again assembled, hope came back to Fronake. The restoration of the bonds between people revived the planet’s World Heart. The party confirmed this as they found the World Heart, the town’s welcome sign, returned to its former glory, happily welcoming all to wonderful Fronake!

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