Dicing with Death: Episode 212

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==Synopsis==
Divan hires 2 new apprentices. Divan then visits Atropos and uses the crack fumes to contact a being on another plane. Divan makes a deal with this being for the service of a Guardian Yugoloth in exchange of a sacrifice of a two-headed creature. Divan takes the Two-Headed Ogre heart to the magic circle Drexl's Workshop. The ogre regrows but is trapped inside the magic circle. The two-headed ogre then is enveloped by a mist and painfully replaced with the Guardian Yugoloth. Divan installs the Guardian Yugoloth as the librarian in his wizard tower.
==Recap==
===Future Plans===
Divan, in his tower in Nekkraut, has plans to summon a Guardian Yugoloth to serve as the librarian. Divan is interested in using , but is aware that you could be cursed insane by contacting other realms so also requires .
Divan also wants to immune his staff, the Elemental Pike, with the spells (Earth), (Water), (Fire), (Air). Divan so far only knows . Divan knows Shocking Grasp isn't truly Air, so brainstorms a Gale Fist spell in the future. 
===New Apprentices===
Divan already has his apprentice , but more people come to try to learn under Divan. The first is , who is Human Female, Sarcastic, 4'9" 88 lbs, Aged 17, 12 STR, 15 DEX, 6 CON, 16 INT, 11 WIS, 8 CHA, 12 PCP. Has the stats to specialise in Abjuration. When Divan meets with Esoi, she is arrogant in her own talents. Divan responds to the arrogance with a prank pretending he will set her to work to making the tower taller by laying bricks manually, but when they get to the top of the tower he reveals the top floor's stone verandah.
Divan for reasons of discipline, has Esoi carve her spells into stone tablets. Cassandra is put off by the casual way Esoi speaks with Divan, and Esoi's apparent potential. When Divan realises Esoi's high Dexterity, Divan decides to train her with his Monk-like ways. Divan then sets Esoi to work learning the four elemental fist spells. Esoi and Divan disagree over if Chill Touch is a water spell or not.
Six weeks later another apprentice candidate arrives, Mof. Mof is Human Female, Driven, 5'2" 105 lbs, Aged 15, 10 STR, 14 CON, 12 DEX, 13 INT, 8 WIS, 10 CHA, 12 PCP. Divan assigns this new apprentice to Cassandra. Mof & Cassandra get along well. After some time Divan notices Mof's drive and motivation.
===Atropos & Other Planes===
Divan spends 12 weeks trying to research but fails the ability to learn the spell entirely at this level. When Divan tries to learn how to manipulate the ability to contact other planes, the magic instead is drawn to Atropos. 
Divan goes visit with Atropos at her cave in the hills. Atropos's apprentice Hera is outside the cave hauling water. Divan casts to create a stairway up to the cave to make it easier. Divan heads inside first, with Hera surprised and in awe of his abilities.
Divan sits with Atropos and asks why when he tries to reach out to other planes he just sees her. Atropos explains it is because of the crack in her cave where the vapours rise up. Atropos says that these vapours allow one to see beyond. 
Divan breaths deeply of the fumes. While the method is very different, the result is the same as a spell.
:Scintillating colours dance face across your face. Your eyes are closed, and yet the colours bleed though to the eyes anyway, giving you brightly coloured spots. You can feel in the pit of your stomach a hunger. A deep hunger for something. Something inimicable.
Divan reaches out to a Inner Plane, Divan resists going mad from the experience.
:Its that hunger in your stomach that you feel. There is something out there that is manifesting as emptiness.
Divan has the feeling of starvation, but it could be recontextualised to be a hunger for other things such as knowledge, however this sensation feels physical and not mental in nature. 
"Is Atropos mortal?" asks Divan.
: NO 
The voice sounds resembles Atropos own voice..
"Was she summoned here?" asks Divan.
: NO 
"Will you lend me the service of a yugoloth for my library?" asks Divan.
: YES... Happily. 
"Is the magic circle in the Brackish Fen the place to go to make this transaction?" asks Divan.
: YES... with a vessel. One with two heads. 
Hours later Divan wakes up in the cave to find it is after nightfall. Atropos tells Divan it has been many hours. Hera is in a corner of the cave, keeping warm under a blanket. Atropos tells Divan that she wants him to succeed and grow. Atropos has put much time and effort into Divan, and hopes he will not fail her like the ones who came before him.
Divan leaves the cave and goes in search of a 2 headed creature in the dark of the night. He remembers the two headed lion he found years ago, as well as the two-headed troll.
===Hera's Vengeance===
Divan finds nothing for a few days, and eventually arrives at 's cave. Chronos greets Divan, speaking of Velthara as one who satiates hunger of hearts, as well as and fulfilling one with meaning, purpose and direction. Divan asks if he can borrow the Two-Headed Troll Heart from the shrine. Chronos is reluctant to part with it, considering the heart to be a symbol of vengeance.
Chronos warns Divan that he better treat his apprentices well or they will come to him for vengeance like Hera has done so in regards to Atropos. Chronos had told Hera that when she could walk effortlessly into Atropos's lair, the time for vengeance would be at hand, but it would come at a terrible price. Divan's eyes go wide, remembering the staircase he had added to Atropos's lair. When Chronos seeks knowledge about Atropos from the stars, he sees nothing but void, the name has "nothing" attracted to it, it is empty and missing.
Divan decides he must head back to Atropos quickly, knowing that he had created the signal for Hera. Divan takes the troll heart from the altar. Chronos allows it as he isn't confident he would win a fight against Divan.
After traveling overnight Divan arrives back at Atropos's Cave. The stairs Divan had created have been intentionally knocked over. Inside the lair is Atropos alone eating a large "chicken wing". Atropos explains that Hera was a disappointment. Divan leaves as Atropos invites him to share a meal with her.
===The First Summoning Ritual===
Divan rests overnight in Nekkraut before heading out with all of his apprentices to Drexl's Workshop in the Brackish Fen. Along the way Divan explains the plan to the others. The two-headed troll heart will be an offering in a summoning ritual. 
The group stop in Grekos overnight before heading north-west into the swamp. At the edge of the swamp the party slowly traverse the path created in episode 207, making repairs along the way. Divan uses his magic to make repairs while he assigns Asoy to do it by hand to teach her discipline and motivate her to learn the magic to make it easier for her.
As the party near Drexl's Workshop Divan asks his apprentices Asoy and Mof to swear to secrecy about the workshop. Cassandra had already been at the workshop with Divan in the past with their elemental research. After agreeing, Divan leads the party to the workshop, explaining all that he had discovered about it so far. Divan then gives his apprentices some time to study the workshop on their own. Cassandra's shows her the powerful ancient magics that had once been used on the magic circle on the surface. Divan puts the Troll Heart in the centre of the circle. The blood from the heart spreads and flows into all of the grooves of the magical circle. Once the circle's grooves are all covered in blood, the heart beat of the troll heart increases in pace.
The party watch as over 24 hrs the troll regenerates itself from the heart. When the troll is active and hostile, Divan casts upon it. The troll breaks free of the bands and crawls towards Asoy, but a magical barrier at the edge of the magic circle stops it. Asoy is in shock at first, but Divan encourages her to take a combat stance instead. Divan then touches the barrier and it disappears and the Troll attacks. 
Combat: Party Vs 2-Headed Troll
Divan casts another , but the Troll again breaks free. Cassandra hits the Troll with a . The Troll severely bites Divan. 
Divan stabs the troll with his Elemental Pike. Cassandra hits the Troll with her last . The Troll attacks Divan again, but Divan is able to away the attacks. Asoy backstabs the Troll critically.
Divan stabs again with his Elemental Pike. Divan it hit by the Troll's claws and bites, but Divan is able to one of the bites. Asoy hits the troll in the back again with the dagger, killing the troll.
Combat end
===The Second Summoning Ritual===
Asoy and Cassandra attack the Two-Headed Troll Corpse to prevent it regenerating. Mof is cowering and terrified over what had just happened and keeping her distance from the Troll. Afterwards Divan speaks with Asoy and Cassandra about what to do next as Mof is still in shock. Cassandra says because Divan broke the magical circle that is why the Troll was able to break free. Asoy thinks if they repeat the process, the barrier should go back up, but Cassandra says they don't know if they have to drain the blood already in the magical circle first.
To be safe the party remove the blood from the circle before trying again. Divan uses some of the troll blood to regenerate his own wounds, explaining to Asoy that it is an advanced spell. The party then leave the circle and wait. A few hours later the Troll regenerates awake and tries to escape the circle, but is trapped by the barrier around the magic circle.
The party then wait to see what happens. After some hours the apprentices head underground to rest. Mist forms and rises in the magic circle, growing thicker and thicker. After half an hour the mist is opaque. The troll's two heads cries out then is silenced as the sound of breaking bone. The mist disputes an inside the magic circle now is a Least Guardian Yugoloth, the weaker of the 3 types of Guardian Yugoloth. The Least Guardian Yugoloth appears as a horned frog-like being.
Divan welcomes the Yugoloth and it says it is here to serve Divan. Divan gives the Yugoloth orders to guard the library in Nekkraut. The party then set off back towards city. During the trip though the swamp Divan uses his Sorona's to read the mind of his apprentices. Mof is suffering from some mental trauma from the Troll Attack. Cassandra is fuming over how more effective Asoy was in the fight and wonders why Divan never taught her how to do melee combat like he did with Asoy. Divan speaks with Cassandra to assure her that she is a more traditional wizard unlike Divan and Asoy. When Divan reads Asoy's mind, she sees she is exhilarated and is happy with the situation.
When the party leave the swamp and enter the Red Hills, the Guardian Yugoloth suffers in the dry and sunlight. Divan speaks with the Yugoloth who tells Divan that they have been summoned by many, including Drexl at the same place as Divan had. The Yugoloth wonders if Divan is the same man. 
The party get back to Nekkraut. The townsfolk watch intently at the Guardian Yugoloth. Divan explains the Yugoloth is to be the new librarian for the wizard tower. 
===Nekkraut News===
In the past 15 weeks the Silver Mine has finished preparations and has started producing silver ore. Divan's Mofer-in-law says the new Silver coins will be minted with the image of the wizard tower on one face and the qanat on the other face. Divan suggests making the river from the qanat to look serpentine in honour of . creates the die for the silver coins to be cast. 
 has taken to upgrading the town's dirt roads, which had suffered some subsidence and erosion due to the growth of Nekkraut. Some roads are being made into brick roads.
As the town expands in population, it expands in size, with new construction occurring down river from the existing settlement. Immigrants refer to Nekkraut as the city of brass. The copper has been exported to the nearby towns and turned into brass for boat fittings and such.
The Guardian Yugoloth is taken to the library and they seem more comfortable. The Yugoloth starts to rearrange the collection. Divan says the apprentices have full reign to access the library, but thieves & vandals are to be dealt with impunity.
Divan considers researching in order to create golems or other types of elementals. 
==Level-Up==
No level-up this episode.
Category:Dicing with Death Episodes
Category:Divan Episodes