The Open Door (megacrossover)

[Academia Nut]

Chapter Fifty-eight: Finding Charlie

At the start of the Godswar the people of Nesmé had been sent runners to keep up a correspondence with Silverymoon until a few tendays after the start when they had gone strangely silent. Lady Alustriel had unfortunately been rather busy with securing the city from the chaos of the conflict and in dealing with the death of her mother, Mystra. Then reports of massive destruction started filtering in from the North West and all attention was focused there.

Then, just a few days ago a caravan loaded down with fantastic goods had shown up at the gates of Silverymoon, seeking some very strange things. Nothing worrying… just strange considering the contents they came in with. They had dozens of huge bolts of processed wool and silk cloth dyed incredibly bright and vivid colours, each individually worth more than a small dragon’s horde. They had incredibly hard and strong tools that every craftsman drooled just to look at.

And they had left with a bizarre collection of items. They had bought up huge amounts of livestock, both beasts of burden and food animals and as much gear for hauling material as they could. They bought up every last scrap of food that wasn’t already part of the strategic reserve Lady Alustriel had mandated. Then when there was no more food left to buy, they started purchasing as much chrome, copper, tin, nickel, lead and other simple metals as possible, followed by the acquisition of iron. They didn’t even care where the iron came from and they accepted bits of scrap in trade if they had room. They also emptied the city of its supply of rock coal and as much charcoal as would be sold to them.

They also emptied out the city of its entire saltpetre supply along with all of the sulphur the wizards parted with. The traders voraciously bought up huge amounts of raw materials and scrap, disdaining finished goods. And when they had bought up everything the city had to offer, they put out contracts to other traders to find what they needed elsewhere. The list was strange, including useless ores like bauxite. Also, the merchants had been extremely tight-lipped about where they got such incredible objects from.

To the learned members of Silverymoon, this only meant one thing: Nesmé was building something. The huge demand for food indicated a sudden, large upswing in population. What everything else they bought up was for, no one knew, especially with magic in a state of such flux. Much of it was being sent downriver on barges, but most of the food animals were being sent on foot down the road.

So an emissary had been deployed to Nesmé to discover what was happening there. Along with a small contingent of the Knights in Silver, the loremaster Cydric Axehand would see what had happened to Nesmé. While not the most diplomatic of individuals, the endlessly fascinated dwarf’s near perfect memory would allow him to serve as an effective observer. With the addition of the much more tactful elven paladin Siralee Fairwind, it would be a good mission.

However, after quietly bypassing the returning caravan, the diplomatic entourage was stopped short of Nesmé by an incredibly strange and unsettling sight. There was a work crew upgrading the road. A work crew composed of a more polyglot collection of races than they had ever encountered. There was an overall rumble of Common and Undercommon, but a dozen different languages

Dozens of goblins were hauling away small stones and tree roots in the road while orcs, humans and bugbears either dug up a trench or tamped down the dirt and dwarves, both shield and duergar, argued with kobolds and each other over diagrams as an ogre manned a heavy rock crusher. Where they had not been the road was little better than a dirt path, where they were a mess of mud, sand, and stone ruled, while behind them was a paved, smoothed road that ran through the forest into the distance towards Nesmé.

Seeing the party coming, one of the human foremen looked up and walked over to the stunned and confused emissaries. Saluting, the mud splattered and sunburnt man said, “Greetings. I am Lieutenant Cole Michelson, commanding officer of C Platoon of Second Company of the Nesmé First Engineering Regiment. How can I help you people?”

There was a general amount of blinking before Cydric coughed a touch and said in his most regal voice, “Ah yes, I am Cydric Axehand of Silverymoon, emissary sent from Lady Alustriel Silverhand on behalf of the city to make contact with Nesmé and see why they have been quiet for the past month.”

Nodding, Cole said in a rather unimpressed voice, “Ah yes, we were wondering when someone was going to show up. Just go around us as we work, someone in town should be able to confirm your credentials. Don’t stray from the road though as First Company has scheduled demolition work up in the hills to start draining the moors and we don’t want any accidents occurring.”

Not quite understanding the warning but deciding to take it, the group moved their mounts slightly off the road, giving the monstrous work party plenty of room before they resumed their travel with significantly more trepidation than before. Nesmé was not well known for its tolerance, so either someone had taken over or there had been a sudden change of heart overnight.

Yet the monsters had all been working peacefully with each other and with the humans and dwarves with no signs of restraint or beatings. They all looked a touch underfed and many had signs of markings from beatings on their exposed skin, but that was all old. It was very strange, to say the least.

Continuing on, they discovered several very strange constructions in the form of bridges over dry ditches that zigzagged further up in to the hills. Peering at them studiously as they crossed, Cydric said, “Curious… they look like flood sluices. The farming prospects of the Trollmoors are notoriously poor due to abysmal drainage, and while possible to construct an irrigation system to redirect the water and drain out some of the areas, the presence of the trolls and the poor economy of the region have thus far made such a massive undertaking impossible.”

“And yet this road is here. How fast would you say they are building?” Siralee asked, frowning at the implications of all of this.

“Oh, I would daresay perhaps between a half a mile to a mile a day. Many of the creatures present are capable of working in the dark and they seemed to have ample supplies and leadership along with an onsite camp, so they could conceivably work around the clock with appropriate shift changes,” Cydric mused.

“So between half a year and a year to reach Silverymoon?” Siralee asked.

“Conceivably, yes. The winter and spring months would slow things down greatly, but then again they could potentially go faster in less rough terrain. I would say that given sufficient resources they could get their within two years on the outside, if they were so inclined,” Cydric replied.

Siralee was troubled by this until they rounded a corner and discovered that further work had been done leading up to Nesmé itself. The forest had been cut back to twenty yards away from the road, with the process still currently on going. The entire landscape was being torn up as trees were cut up, the stumps torn out of the ground, the stones in the ground removed, and then the open spaces pounded flat.

Closer to the town within these growing dead zones were large, multi-storey buildings made from stone and brick, some still in the process of construction. Several of the ones that were active had tall chimneys spewing thick black smoke out of them. People and monsters moved about everywhere tearing down old things, moving materials, or building new things.

Siralee’s eye twitched. She was a city dwelling elf, but Silverymoon lived in harmony with nature. This level of disruption was something rather upsetting to her, especially as it seemed to have been propagated by monstrous creatures.

Adjusting his spectacles, Cydric noted, “I had heard stories of the workshops of Lantan, but this is rather different, don’t you think?”

Already a small contingent of foot soldiers with odd looking, ridiculously short spears in their arms while they wore matching dark blue uniforms and no armour. The composition was mostly human, but there were elves and even hobgoblins thrown into the mix. The leader of the group was a moon elf female distinguished by a horrific set of scars that ran up the right side of her face, caused by either a clawed beast or a many stranded whip striking her from the corner of the mouth the hairline above the eye. Only luck had kept her eye intact. Her only apparent armament was a light rapier at her side and a strange pouch with a curved piece of polished wood sticking out of it.

Nodding slightly, she said in a strangely accented voice, her lips not quite moving properly, “Greetings and welcome to Nesmé, I am Captain Valerie Shadesworn of the First Nesmé Home Guard Regiment. Our scouts had already informed us of your approach. Upon presentation of credentials you shall be escorted to an audience with Governor General Thrakka Oathsworn.”

There was a general rising of eyebrows amongst the delegation from Silverymoon as Cydric handed over the scroll that authenticated him. While looking over the papers Valerie explained, “Nesmé has recently received a large influx of refugees, I amongst them. We seek a new life and many have taken up new names, while many of us have discovered new relationships with others. The previous government was also replaced with a constitutional theocracy. The heads of state are divine but the commander in chief and head of government are both mortals. Despite the fact that we currently have a population of approximately ten thousand we have a federal and civic government and constitutional provisions for a provincial level. Governor General Thrakka was selected by Prime Minister nee First Speaker Jygil Zelnathra both for his eloquence and as a gesture towards the refugee population that despite only having approximately a fifth of the population they would not be ignored.”

Handing the scroll back, Valerie stated, “These appear in order… and from your looks you want to know why he’s named Thrakka. Well it’s because he’s a hobgoblin, a former chieftain of an Underdark tribe who has thrown himself into the new order we are creating. Few have worked harder than he has, and they already have positions of power. Now come, I will bring you to him.”

The group from Silverymoon shifted uncomfortably. A hobgoblin ruling Nesmé? What had happened here?

Accompanying the crisply marching soldiers into the town, they discovered that the interior of Nesmé was being transformed nearly as quickly as the outside. The streets were in the process of being torn up for some strange reason while buildings were being torn down and consolidated into taller structures of stone and brick and cement.

At the heart of the town were two buildings. The first was the old town hall, while the other was a shining new building of brick and glass with a large clock and bell tower set at its centre. Set between two wings in a sort of demi-courtyard was a small jump of wooden structures that young children of a dozen laughed and played about while adults watched them. There was a light perimeter of steely eyed soldiers armed similarly to Captain Valerie about the place.

Most shockingly enough was the fact that there was a drow elf sitting on a bench in the shadow of the building keeping an eye on the children.

Seeing the shock, Valerie growled, “The guards around the Academy were posted there after several Nesmé natives threw a stone at an orc girl on the playground. Attacking children or staff is currently considered a capital offence, so don’t even think about approaching uninvited, diplomatic privilege or not. Headmistress Kirilae would not approve.”

Cydric coughed lightly and asked, “Did you say academy?”

Valerie nodded as she waited for the diplomatic party to dismount next to the town hall. “The Nesmé Universal Academy and Library. After the steel and textile mills were built it was the first thing the mages focused on erecting, and the first new building within the town’s limits. They built it in three days. All children, regardless of race, religion, or resources are welcomed within and given a free education in languages, mathematics, history, politics and sciences with advanced courses in magic and engineering offered in later years. From the first son of a noble in Waterdeep to the poorest daughter of an orc barbarian, the Academy will accept them. It is the hope of the future.”

Siralee coughed and said, “You sound very… human.”

Valerie glared and replied curtly, “Live through what I have lived through and come back and talk to me.”

Marching up the steps of the town hall, the delegation from Silverymoon was led into the inner chambers where the quiet rustle of papers and discussion was interrupted by Valerie bellowing, “I present to you Cydric Axehand of Silverymoon, here on behalf of Lady Alustriel and the city.”

A collection of humans, most familiar to Siralee and Cydric as previous members of the town council all quietly began to pick up and organize a number of sheets of parchment while an immaculately groomed hobgoblin in an incalculably expensive suit of fine weave silk dyed a midnight black moved up to the delegation and said, “Ah, greetings! By the will and pleasure of the people and the gods, I am the Right Honourable Governor General Thrakka Oathsworn of the Republic of Noctis. I can see by the surprised look on your faces that you did not particularly expect to see a member of my race in such a peaceful position, and I must admit that a few months ago I wouldn’t have believed it myself, but momentous occasions change us all.”

Both Cydric and Siralee were left flabbergasted by the smooth way in which Thrakka spoke and the air of charm he projected about himself.

Clapping his hands, Thrakka smiled and said, “You have many questions, and I have answers. Come, come, we have been waiting for delegations from our neighbours to start arriving. We sadly have been too busy to send out anything beyond our borders what with all the construction and government building we have been doing until the caravan.”

Leading Cydric, accompanied as quietly and discreetly as an elf in mithral full plate could by Siralee, to a small office, Thrakka sat down behind a desk and offered a chair to Cydric. Rather overcome by all of the bizarreness, the dwarf gladly accepted while he glanced all around him, trying to commit everything he saw to memory. Siralee preferred to stand and have her weapons close at hand. There were too many monsters running around to drop her guard.

Finally she asked, “What happened to the Riders?”

Raising a single eyebrow, Thrakka sighed theatrically and said, “You can rest assured that they are still alive… if indisposed and no longer available around here due to an unfortunate misunderstanding. For a community our size in such a beleaguered position, it was quite the blow to lose them but fortunately other circumstances have allowed us to build up our forces sufficiently that we now feel safe.”

“Those troops with the toy pikes?” Siralee asked sarcastically.

Grinning to reveal sharpened teeth, Thrakka replied, “If you wish you can send a scouting party to the Uthgardt barbarians of the Elk tribe that attempted to raid us and ask about the ‘Thunder Reapers’ of the First Regiment. We are quite capable of defending ourselves.”

Waving it off, Cydric said, “My guard is merely worried about our safety here.”

Clearly not believing it but not caring to comment, Thrakka replied, “We are quite capable of defending our borders. We currently have in our stocks a hundred weapons that can punch through the finest steel plate with a single shot at over two hundred yards and a hundred soldiers trained in their use. And that is only counting the mainline troops. Including support units, the engineering regiment, and militia skirmishers we can call up close to a thousand soldiers, although obviously not for the long term as that is a tenth of our adult population.”

Seeing the suspicion in Siralee’s eyes, Cydric pre-empted her and asked, “And what do you seek to do with such credulity straining weapons and forces?”

Thrakka smiled and said, “Defend our homes and property. The Trollmoors have been cleared of the trolls and await proper mining and cultivation to provide wealth and employment for the citizens of Noctis.”

Furrowing bushy dwarf brows, Cydric asked, “What does Noctis mean anyway?”

“It is a word in the language of the gods that means ‘night’. At night when the stars and moon are out, light and dark are blended and harmonious, giving rise to the Pax Noctis, or ‘peace by night’. For those who are active during the day, they can sleep at night knowing they are safe, that the only things stirring are their night dwelling friends and neighbours. Conversely, for the nocturnal, when the sun rises they will have the same reassurance from the diurnal,” Thrakka explained.

“Admirable,” Cydric said while clearly not having any heart in it.

“Yes, but how do you maintain your society like that?” Siralee asked poignantly.

“We have a motto: ‘Force if necessary, but not necessarily force’. The objective is not to create a dictatorship; it is to prevent those that might harm others from doing so. So far our police forces have had to deal the most with the humans of Nesmé who are prejudiced against us and the orcs who are common enough that we can’t keep our eyes on them while not quite yet understanding what this society means. Trust me though, when you lean on someone because your leg has an infection from untreated whip marks for a week, you cease caring about things like race or what your ancestors did to each other,” Thrakka said with a shrug.

“So you ask your people to just forget what has happened in the past? To forget thousands of years of raiding and pillaging by orcs and goblinoids and drow? To forget their history and ancestry and generation upon generation of tradition? To forget their families?” Siralee hissed.

Thrakka’s expression was blank for a moment before he said, “In a word: yes.”


Far away in the port city of Luskan, one of the few female members of the Arcane Brotherhood marvelled at the discovery she had made. The disruption to the Weave had badly weakened the Brotherhood and forced their confinement to the Host Tower to keep the captains from realizing the true extent of the damage.

Marella however had discovered something. She had discovered a way to harness the chaos within the Weave to her own purposes, to direct the random energy towards levels that few could ever conceive of. She could perceive the changes and ripples in the Weave at an instinctual level now, could feel the ripples in her magic and the magic of her enemies and time her attacks accordingly.

All because of her discovery of something living within the Weave, a conglomeration of all the pieces of mages lost to magic over the millennia, their presence suppressed by Mystra for all this time. There were archmages who had delved too deep and wasted away, their minds unable to join the afterlife so laden down with magic were they. There were liches who had suffered phylactery overloads and instead of being drawn into the Abyss they had their souls sucked into the Weave. There was a fragment of a Netherese archmage who knew of magic impossible in the modern era. Tens of thousands of years worth of experience was at Marella’s beck and call.

And all they wanted were two things: the destruction of the Chosen of Mystra so that they would never again be suppressed, and the destruction of the Shadow Weave.

Yes, the strongest of the minds in there was very insistent about that last point.

[Jonen C]

Hm. Something Lars has a big hand in is coming together nicely.
Can't have that, time to crash the party.

[EarthScorpion]

Yay! Medieval civilisations are being boosted through application of modern knowledge.

I get the definite feeling that Gunnhild's like of Victoriana is rubbing off, though. It may just be me, but I'm seeing the population of Nesme going around in more flexible forms of Victorian clothes.

And then I look into myself and realise that's only because the idea of hobgoblins in top hats and smart black suits is intrinsically awesome. Well, not only. There's also the image of a Drow teacher, in (strict) Victorian clothing...

[MichaelAwesome]

Wonderful job in all the OCs interacting with Cydric and Siralee. Very believable and remained true to previously established NPC personalities. For Nesme’s new school, it’s good to see that traditional magic and sorcery is being taught and not forgotten in wake of these social changes (*cough*Hogwarts!*cough*). Where are the trolls during all of this?

With so many soul fragments existing inside the Weave, sounds like Mystra wasn’t doing a good job at tending to her divine domain. It’s amazing that it hadn’t bitten them on the ass sooner. If enough of the Weave is corrupted by the power of these soul fragments, then spellcasters would be forced seek usage of Skuld’s Shadow Weave, which would help consolidate her sphere of influence.

Speaking of soul fragments, the Chosen of Mystra all contain pieces of the goddess’s essence, so they might be able to partially resurrect Mystra in the form of a Vestige as described in the “Tome of Magic” book, atleast until a better god/goddess of the Weave can be appointed. Other famous Vestiges include Acererak, Karsus, and Tenebrous/Orcus. Karsus was wizard who killed Mystral and destroyed the Netheril Empire when he tried ascending to godhood.


P.S. For the Whispered in the Shadow Enclave, maybe they could build an artifact that’d make the enchantment of magical items easier and less expensive.

Example #1: When determining the XP cost for creating any magic item built with 100 feet of (insert artifact name), reduce the base cost by 10%. Subtle advantages without being too powerful.

Example #2:
((Major artifact, Shadow Weave item))
Similar to the AllSpark cube from the Transformers movie
3/day- animate objects
1/month- awaken construct (see “Savage Species” and “Spell Compendium”), contingency, permanency.
Int: 20, Wis: 10, Cha: 15, Ego: 27, AL: Neutral Good
Skills: Craft (armorsmithing) 10 ranks, Craft (stonemasonry) 10 ranks, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 10 ranks
Strong transmutation; CL 20th; Weigh 2,000 lbs.

[WillowBee]

Yes, steampunk doesn’t feel complete without neo-Victorianism.

Its odd how people who see themselves as open-minded are often just as judgmental as dogmatist and bigots.

Many of the races in Nesme are subterranean in nature. Once the water table is redirected, will they want to build an “under-town” distinct? It could double as a bunker when the city gets attacked.

[Skyfox120]

Wonderful job in all the OCs interacting with Cydric and Siralee. Very believable and remained true to previously established NPC personalities. For Nesme’s new school, it’s good to see that traditional magic and sorcery is being taught and not forgotten in wake of these social changes (*cough*Hogwarts!*cough*). Where are the trolls during all of this?

With so many soul fragments existing inside the Weave, sounds like Mystra wasn’t doing a good job at tending to her divine domain. It’s amazing that it hadn’t bitten them on the ass sooner. If enough of the Weave is corrupted by the power of these soul fragments, then spellcasters would be forced seek usage of Skuld’s Shadow Weave, which would help consolidate her sphere of influence.

Speaking of soul fragments, the Chosen of Mystra all contain pieces of the goddess’s essence, so they might be able to partially resurrect Mystra in the form of a Vestige as described in the “Tome of Magic” book, atleast until a better god/goddess of the Weave can be appointed. Other famous Vestiges include Acererak, Karsus, and Tenebrous/Orcus. Karsus was wizard who killed Mystral and destroyed the Netheril Empire when he tried ascending to godhood.


P.S. For the Whispered in the Shadow Enclave, maybe they could build an artifact that’d make the enchantment of magical items easier and less expensive.

Example #1: When determining the XP cost for creating any magic item built with 100 feet of (insert artifact name), reduce the base cost by 10%. Subtle advantages without being too powerful.

Example #2:
((Major artifact, Shadow Weave item))
Similar to the AllSpark cube from the Transformers movie
3/day- animate objects
1/month- awaken construct (see “Savage Species” and “Spell Compendium”), contingency, permanency.
Int: 20, Wis: 10, Cha: 15, Ego: 27, AL: Neutral Good
Skills: Craft (armorsmithing) 10 ranks, Craft (stonemasonry) 10 ranks, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 10 ranks
Strong transmutation; CL 20th; Weigh 2,000 lbs.

Well to be fair to Mystra, the Netherese Archmage soul fragments were probably there when she first inherited the weave after the Death of Mystral... so she may have assumed they were a natural part of the weave. Plus she had hte likes of Bane and Shar who would love to jump her while she is busy distracted by recompling the weave.... It may have literally been a lesser case of two evils.

[Valorie]

In all fairness, Mystra’s biggest flaw is that the Weave is simply too big for one deity to manage, yet she was unable to delegate her duties to others due to the gods' in-fighting. With that in mind, while Skuld should remain the “majority share holder” of the Shadow Weave, giving access (or maybe even small pieces of it) as diplomatic bargaining chips would force other gods and goddess to take an active in its stability and maintenance beyond using the Shadow Weave as a means to an ends. The use of Spyware and Trojan viruses embedded into the Shadow Weave would keep the other deities in check, turning their own power against them.


Will Skuld or Lars wish to visit Lady Alustriel in Silverymoon? The city has a Mythal, so they might be inspired to build one of their own in Nesme once a strong agriculture is established and first phase of construction is over. Lars’ Warp-based senses have been attuned to arcane magic, so he’d be able to visually perceive how Silverymoon’s mythal functions despite the Weave in disarray.

[Garlak]

... maybe Skuld should make AIs that manage the Weave?

Ooh! Ooh! Her CHILDREN could manage the Weave! Because they're kind of like Warp-beings... and it means Lars and Skuld will have lots of children. *nodnod*

[Darth Yoshi]

“So you ask your people to just forget what has happened in the past? To forget thousands of years of raiding and pillaging by orcs and goblinoids and drow? To forget their history and ancestry and generation upon generation of tradition? To forget their families?” Siralee hissed.

Um, yeah? I mean, tradition and remembering shit that happened 400 years ago hasn't exactly been working out, ya know?

It'll be hilarious if Skuld or one of her kids manages to gain admin rights over the Weave. Considering how much junk code she had to sort through for the Shadow Weave, whoever takes over is likely to get a coronary.

[Skyfox120]

A odd thought comes ot me after pondering COdex: Chaos Daemon....

according to page 12 of the book... In Tzeentch's realm lies a path to 'infinite knowledge' that any creature can tread.. if they can get past the guardian at nine gates... supposedly only one creature ever got past the guardian... a creature hiding as a a young girl and her little black dog. (no mention of any straw, metal, or cowardly companions )...

wonder what Infinite knowledge would be in the Open Door verse.. and if this Young Girl and her little dog too will show up?

[EarthScorpion]

And I suddenly just realised what a pre-existing example in fantasy of what Skuld has started in Nesme looks like.

The industrialisation of Isenguard, from the Lord of the Rings films. Complete with orcs being treated as citizens, rather than sub-human monsters, and with Saruman replaced by a hot goddess in a nice dress.

The latter point is certainly an improvement

[Firethorn]

Rereading, I was struck how Siralee was sent as the 'diplomatic' one, to offset the observant but presumably coarse Cydric.

Cydric's being the more diplomatic one! Of course, he's probably fascinated by the construction, seeing the potential.

Academia, Soot reduction is one of the easier pollution controls, and has one of the bigger effects. Not to mention that there's actually a lot of valuable chemicals in that soot. So I'd expect her to be pushing fairly quickly for more efficient systems.

Still, I am very much looking forward to their meeting with Skuld/Lars.

[Gree]

Nice story, I have been following this on Fanfiction.net. Now I have a question, a big ''theme'' with the new chaos is not harming childen. Is this part of your personal beliefs because old chaos certainly had no problem with killing children.

[Academia Nut]

Well... yes and no. Yes in that I don't believe in hurting kids, but no in that its not just in there solely because of my personal feelings. It's been stated a couple of times that the reason for that law is that the gods were severely pissed about the treatment they got as kids so they decreed that sort of bullshit a damnable offence.

And yes, Cydric is being more diplomatic, he's just not as good as Thrakka isn't really treating him seriously. Siralee on the other hand isn't properly trying to be diplomatic as she's pissed off and lost her cool. The massive numbers of monsters, the sudden disappearance of friends and acquaintances in the Riders, the destruction of the old buildings of Nesme and the resculpting of the landscape is all getting to her. Cydric, as a bit of a distracted scholar, is just trying to learn more information.

[Gree]

I see, well this is a very well written story, far surpassing my pathethic efforts at writing.

Although I do not know much about D and D I am still enjoying this part. This is were it get's intresting for me. I hope to see more in the future.

[Jaeger]

Where did those Ghost Riders run off to? They wher 300 of them, so reports of undead vigilantes should be filtering across all of Faerun by now. It's not like they're subtle or could've ran out of evil people to hunt down. They should slow down Lady-Wizard Marella's attempt to kill the Chosen of Mystra.

People to meet: Skuld, Lars, Stebb the mute dwarf, Rask the drow alienist, Shyft, etc., definately NOT the Erinyes, Gunnhild, or the trolls.

The tour guide said that wizards built the school in three days, so that means everyone is using the Shadow Weave now. How many ranks in knowledge(arcana) or spellcraft do you need to recognize the difference between a spellcaster using the Weave or Shadow Weave?

The Erinyes bear marks that swear their fealty to Skuld and Lar. Are they now connected to the Shadow Weave? Have they received odd dreams like the Shadovar?

FYI, a decade after the Time of Troubles, 1368, fog and cloud giants have pushed trolls out of the Evermoor and into the surrounding countryside. There is half-giants as a playable race, so that raises the possibility of a few giants moving into Noctus and having children with humans. Plus, half-giants are naturally psionic and their favored class is psychic warrior.

P.S. For the Whispered in the Shadow Enclave, maybe they could build an artifact that’d make the enchantment of magical items easier and less expensive.

Example #2:
((Major artifact, Shadow Weave item))
Similar to the AllSpark cube from the Transformers movie
3/day- animate objects
1/month- awaken construct (see “Savage Species” and “Spell Compendium”), contingency, permanency.

I like it! Having a low-powered equivalent of the AllSpark compliments the Full Metal Panic industrialization of the Shadow Enclave. Plus, imagine would happen if "awaken construct" was used on a Bolo, or an Eva unit, or one the droids from the Star Wars universe.

"Johnny Five is alive!"
"No disassemble, Stephanie!"
((Short Circuit))

[holyknight]

Well... yes and no. Yes in that I don't believe in hurting kids, but no in that its not just in there solely because of my personal feelings. It's been stated a couple of times that the reason for that law is that the gods were severely pissed about the treatment they got as kids so they decreed that sort of bullshit a damnable offence.

And yes, Cydric is being more diplomatic, he's just not as good as Thrakka isn't really treating him seriously. Siralee on the other hand isn't properly trying to be diplomatic as she's pissed off and lost her cool. The massive numbers of monsters, the sudden disappearance of friends and acquaintances in the Riders, the destruction of the old buildings of Nesme and the resculpting of the landscape is all getting to her. Cydric, as a bit of a distracted scholar, is just trying to learn more information.

So,the lady it's PMSing on a epic scale because her standarized POV of the world and things has pretty much been turned upside down and into the realms of Non-Eucilidean geometries....geez...

Hmm....that new thing underneath the Weave...a localized and contained to the realm, Warp pocket plane?

And.....i want to see how goes the psychological/mystical fuckup that are Nanoha and Fate's minds...........a seed would be now starting to take roots on one of them?

[TheClueless]

Chapter Fifty-eight: Finding Charlie

I like the chapter title. Combining it with Chapter 57's title allows us to come up with "Charlie Foxtrot". And "Charlie", as I recall, is (or at least, was) a term the military uses for the enemy.

(Of course, this then leads me to wonder if this is just referring to the last group introduced in this chapter, or the do-gooders from Silverymoon as well.)

At the start of the Godswar the people of Nesmé had been sent runners to keep up a correspondence with Silverymoon until a few tendays after the start when they had gone strangely silent. Lady Alustriel had unfortunately been rather busy with securing the city from the chaos of the conflict and in dealing with the death of her mother, Mystra. Then reports of massive destruction started filtering in from the North West and all attention was focused there.

I'd suggest changing "had been sent" to either "had been sending" or "had sent".

They also emptied out the city of its entire saltpetre supply along with all of the sulphur the wizards parted with. The traders voraciously bought up huge amounts of raw materials and scrap, disdaining finished goods. And when they had bought up everything the city had to offer, they put out contracts to other traders to find what they needed elsewhere. The list was strange, including useless ores like bauxite. Also, the merchants had been extremely tight-lipped about where they got such incredible objects from.

Bauxite? (Checks Wiki.) Ah, aluminium.

To the learned members of Silverymoon, this only meant one thing: Nesmé was building something. The huge demand for food indicated a sudden, large upswing in population. What everything else they bought up was for, no one knew, especially with magic in a state of such flux. Much of it was being sent downriver on barges, but most of the food animals were being sent on foot down the road.

Given how close-lipped the traders were being, I have to wonder how Alustriel figured out that Nesme was involved so fast. (You might want to consider adding something about this to the chapter.)

My best guesses are as follows: 1) One or more of the traders were recognized as citizens of Nesme. 2) The merchants getting the contracts/orders contain the source of the information Alustriel is using. 3) She found out the location that the barges were going to. 4) Divination magic. (Although, given previous comments about how this type of magic is useless in finding Lars or Skuld, I consider i the least likely option.)

So an emissary had been deployed to Nesmé to discover what was happening there. Along with a small contingent of the Knights in Silver, the loremaster Cydric Axehand would see what had happened to Nesmé. While not the most diplomatic of individuals, the endlessly fascinated dwarf’s near perfect memory would allow him to serve as an effective observer. With the addition of the much more tactful elven paladin Siralee Fairwind, it would be a good mission.

I don't recognize the paladin, is she an original character?

I *think* the dwarf was mentioned in one of Salvatore's early Drizzt novels. I think he was characterized as a bit of a dandy - by dwarven standards - as his fashion sense would make sense for a human courtier, and he made no bones about his love of hot baths. He's a capable scholar, however. (If, that is, I'm thinking about the same character.)

However, after quietly bypassing the returning caravan, the diplomatic entourage was stopped short of Nesmé by an incredibly strange and unsettling sight. There was a work crew upgrading the road. A work crew composed of a more polyglot collection of races than they had ever encountered. There was an overall rumble of Common and Undercommon, but a dozen different languages

I think the last sentence is incomplete. Did you mean to end it in something like "but a dozen different languages could also be heard."?

Ah, yes, the imporantance of good roads. One of the factors, if I remember properly, that helped the Romans build - and *maintain* - their empire.

Cydric should recognize this fact. Faerun's dwarves have built some roads in their time; it's just that not all of them are above-ground. In fact, there's a set of tunnels/caverns (some natural, some "shaped"/"created") under a good portion of this section of Northwestern Faerun that were originally used as roads by the Dwarven cities/kingdoms. Now they're no longer patrolled, so they're about as dangerous as the rest of the local underdark.

A possible point of expansion for Lars and Skuld?

Nodding, Cole said in a rather unimpressed voice, “Ah yes, we were wondering when someone was going to show up. Just go around us as we work, someone in town should be able to confirm your credentials. Don’t stray from the road though as First Company has scheduled demolition work up in the hills to start draining the moors and we don’t want any accidents occurring.”

I'd suggest changing "we don't want any accidents occuring." to "we don't want any accidents to occur."

Continuing on, they discovered several very strange constructions in the form of bridges over dry ditches that zigzagged further up in to the hills. Peering at them studiously as they crossed, Cydric said, “Curious… they look like flood sluices. The farming prospects of the Trollmoors are notoriously poor due to abysmal drainage, and while possible to construct an irrigation system to redirect the water and drain out some of the areas, the presence of the trolls and the poor economy of the region have thus far made such a massive undertaking impossible.”

Of course, with the trolls either dead or undergoing "re-education" at the hands of the refugees from the underdark, the Evermoors (AKA the Trollmores) are a potential treasure trove.

(Pulls out his copy of the Silver Marches sourcebook.)

Lets see what potential the Evermoors have:
- Raising livestock (sheep and rothe are mentioned).
- "Many valued wild herbs".
- Veins of "very pure, rich ore". Notably copper, lead, and gold.
- "Traiditional treasure". Old burial mounds, tombs, and items from fallen adventurers/travellers.
- A sizable river, the Laughingflow (AKA the Trollflow). Eatable crabs, fish, and eels.

Nesme itself has iron ore deposits (and is known for it's forges); locals raise cattle, sheep and small (but hardy) horses.

Closer to the town within these growing dead zones were large, multi-storey buildings made from stone and brick, some still in the process of construction. Several of the ones that were active had tall chimneys spewing thick black smoke out of them. People and monsters moved about everywhere tearing down old things, moving materials, or building new things.

Siralee’s eye twitched. She was a city dwelling elf, but Silverymoon lived in harmony with nature. This level of disruption was something rather upsetting to her, especially as it seemed to have been propagated by monstrous creatures.

As with many other posters, I have to wonder why Lars and Skuld are ignoring the pollution and (potentially long term) environmental damages.

On the other hand, they're probably more worried about Lolth (and/or Shar) leading an army against them tomorrow than they are about soil erosion and/or pollution from the forges/mills/ect...

It could also be that steps are already being taken (possibly by mages?) to deal with these problems before they can grow into serious concerns. It's just that the travellers from Silverymoon haven't seen/noticed any of them yet.

By the way, did you deliberately decide to give the elven officer in Nesme's new regiment a human sounding name?

There was a general rising of eyebrows amongst the delegation from Silverymoon as Cydric handed over the scroll that authenticated him. While looking over the papers Valerie explained, “Nesmé has recently received a large influx of refugees, I amongst them. We seek a new life and many have taken up new names, while many of us have discovered new relationships with others. The previous government was also replaced with a constitutional theocracy. The heads of state are divine but the commander in chief and head of government are both mortals. Despite the fact that we currently have a population of approximately ten thousand we have a federal and civic government and constitutional provisions for a provincial level. Governor General Thrakka was selected by Prime Minister nee First Speaker Jygil Zelnathra both for his eloquence and as a gesture towards the refugee population that despite only having approximately a fifth of the population they would not be ignored.”

So, if I understand correctly, Thrakka is head of Nesme itself, while Jygil is the (nominal) head of the country that Lars and Skuld are creating?

Out of curiousity, what sourcebooks are you basing Nesme's population on at this time? If I go by my sourcebook (and guestimate that the population was pretty steady between the end of the Time of Troubles and the start of Obould's "crusade"), Nesme's population would be only be 2000; making the original citizens only a fifth of the theocracy's population.

Going by my sourcebooks, Jygil (at this point in time) would be a Lawful Neutral (female human) 8th level cleric of Waukeen. Of course, she can't cast any spells right now, but during the Time of Troubles that was how things went. (If I remember correctly, it was only if you were relatively near the avatar of your chosen god(dess) that you could cast any spells. I can't remember if Tymora's avatar - for example - was able to power any spells beyond the city of Arabel's limits.) The fact that Jygil didn't find another god to serve after the Time of Troubles ended - and didn't even accept spells from Lliira (Goddess of joy and Waukeen's friend, who temporarily took over as goddess of wealth until Waukeen was freed from the Abyss.) - suggests that she's an extremely loyal individual.

Her chief rival, Tessarin Alaurun (Neutral Good female human) is probably an 8th level wizard at this time.

Accompanying the crisply marching soldiers into the town, they discovered that the interior of Nesmé was being transformed nearly as quickly as the outside. The streets were in the process of being torn up for some strange reason while buildings were being torn down and consolidated into taller structures of stone and brick and cement.

Better streets, possible with a (halfway) sanitary sewer system?

You might want to consider changing "stone and brick and cement." to "stone, brick and cement."

Actually, that makes me wonder if the natives of Silverymoon would know what cement was?

At the heart of the town were two buildings. The first was the old town hall, while the other was a shining new building of brick and glass with a large clock and bell tower set at its centre. Set between two wings in a sort of demi-courtyard was a small jump of wooden structures that young children of a dozen laughed and played about while adults watched them. There was a light perimeter of steely eyed soldiers armed similarly to Captain Valerie about the place.

I'd suggest changing "a small jump of wooden" to "a small group of wooden".

Most shockingly enough was the fact that there was a drow elf sitting on a bench in the shadow of the building keeping an eye on the children.

I'd suggest changing "Most shockingly enough was" to "The most shocking thing was".

I can almost hear the natives of Silverymoon - the "most tolerant city of the North" (well, north of Waterdeep, anyway) - choking.

Seeing the shock, Valerie growled, “The guards around the Academy were posted there after several Nesmé natives threw a stone at an orc girl on the playground. Attacking children or staff is currently considered a capital offence, so don’t even think about approaching uninvited, diplomatic privilege or not. Headmistress Kirilae would not approve.”

I'd suggest changing "Seeing the shock," to "Seeing their shock,".

A nice reminder that Lars is a daemon of Neo-Chaos.

And good to see the return of a previously mentioned character in Kirilae.

Valerie nodded as she waited for the diplomatic party to dismount next to the town hall. “The Nesmé Universal Academy and Library. After the steel and textile mills were built it was the first thing the mages focused on erecting, and the first new building within the town’s limits. They built it in three days. All children, regardless of race, religion, or resources are welcomed within and given a free education in languages, mathematics, history, politics and sciences with advanced courses in magic and engineering offered in later years. From the first son of a noble in Waterdeep to the poorest daughter of an orc barbarian, the Academy will accept them. It is the hope of the future.”

Skuld *is* the Norn of the Future. And Tzintchi is the Neo-Chaos god of hope. So, even if it's indirect and minor, I can see both Neo-Chaos and Skuld getting a power boost from the Academy.

Finally she asked, “What happened to the Riders?”

Raising a single eyebrow, Thrakka sighed theatrically and said, “You can rest assured that they are still alive… if indisposed and no longer available around here due to an unfortunate misunderstanding. For a community our size in such a beleaguered position, it was quite the blow to lose them but fortunately other circumstances have allowed us to build up our forces sufficiently that we now feel safe.”

Butter wouldn't melt in Thrakka's mouth, would it? I can definately see how he's gained such a high level position.

Clearly not believing it but not caring to comment, Thrakka replied, “We are quite capable of defending our borders. We currently have in our stocks a hundred weapons that can punch through the finest steel plate with a single shot at over two hundred yards and a hundred soldiers trained in their use. And that is only counting the mainline troops. Including support units, the engineering regiment, and militia skirmishers we can call up close to a thousand soldiers, although obviously not for the long term as that is a tenth of our adult population.”

I'd suggest changing "the mainline troops." to "the frontline troops.".

Ten to one says that the delegation from Silverymoon - unless something or someone enlightens them - will tell Alustriel that the people in charge of Nesme claim to have a very large cache of "battle magic" items.

Furrowing bushy dwarf brows, Cydric asked, “What does Noctis mean anyway?”

“It is a word in the language of the gods that means ‘night’. At night when the stars and moon are out, light and dark are blended and harmonious, giving rise to the Pax Noctis, or ‘peace by night’. For those who are active during the day, they can sleep at night knowing they are safe, that the only things stirring are their night dwelling friends and neighbours. Conversely, for the nocturnal, when the sun rises they will have the same reassurance from the diurnal,” Thrakka explained.

It has absolutely *nothing* to do with our patron goddess and ruler's apperance, or her control over both shadows and the Shadow Weave.

“Admirable,” Cydric said while clearly not having any heart in it.

The phrase "a man sucking on a lemon" comes to mind when I read this.

“Yes, but how do you maintain your society like that?” Siralee asked poignantly.

“We have a motto: ‘Force if necessary, but not necessarily force’. The objective is not to create a dictatorship; it is to prevent those that might harm others from doing so. So far our police forces have had to deal the most with the humans of Nesmé who are prejudiced against us and the orcs who are common enough that we can’t keep our eyes on them while not quite yet understanding what this society means. Trust me though, when you lean on someone because your leg has an infection from untreated whip marks for a week, you cease caring about things like race or what your ancestors did to each other,” Thrakka said with a shrug.

Lars and Skuld are applying the Neo-Chaos take on the Night Haunters tactics (prior to the Horus Heresy)?

“So you ask your people to just forget what has happened in the past? To forget thousands of years of raiding and pillaging by orcs and goblinoids and drow? To forget their history and ancestry and generation upon generation of tradition? To forget their families?” Siralee hissed.

Thrakka’s expression was blank for a moment before he said, “In a word: yes.”

Well, so much for being diplomatic and tolerant, eh Siralee?

Marella however had discovered something. She had discovered a way to harness the chaos within the Weave to her own purposes, to direct the random energy towards levels that few could ever conceive of. She could perceive the changes and ripples in the Weave at an instinctual level now, could feel the ripples in her magic and the magic of her enemies and time her attacks accordingly.

Oh, joy. A member of the Arcane Brotherhood has taken at least one level in the Wild Mage prestige class (from the Complete Arcane sourcebook). Just what the North needed.

All because of her discovery of something living within the Weave, a conglomeration of all the pieces of mages lost to magic over the millennia, their presence suppressed by Mystra for all this time. There were archmages who had delved too deep and wasted away, their minds unable to join the afterlife so laden down with magic were they. There were liches who had suffered phylactery overloads and instead of being drawn into the Abyss they had their souls sucked into the Weave. There was a fragment of a Netherese archmage who knew of magic impossible in the modern era. Tens of thousands of years worth of experience was at Marella’s beck and call.

This almost sounds like a Vestige, from Tome of Magic. I wonder if the Netherese archmage is Karsus?

And all they wanted were two things: the destruction of the Chosen of Mystra so that they would never again be suppressed, and the destruction of the Shadow Weave.

This might explain why - after Mystra's death - Elminster basically had to avoid using his magic. Bad enough that, of all of Mystra's Chosen, he was selected to be the "keystone" in keeping the Weave *really* going off the rails during the rest of the Time of Troubles. But these "weave spirits" probably made a tough job much harder by fighting for their freedom.

Yes, the strongest of the minds in there was very insistent about that last point.

I wonder what the odds are that this mind is from a drow matron mother who died very shortly after Mystra did.

Thank you for another great chapter.

[Darth Yoshi]

I'm more concerned that it's a natural daemon. AN, why is the conglomerate insisting on the destruction of the Shadow Weave?

[Singular Quartet]

I'm more concerned that it's a natural daemon. AN, why is the conglomerate insisting on the destruction of the Shadow Weave?

I imagine its because the bitchy drow's soul got eaten by the weave when Lars plugged her in to it.

[EternitynChaos]

Hmmmm, intresting, if what Clueless says is true and the Dwarf has a major love of hot baths one wonders if an Onsen or similar has been created in the city yet?

might be amusing if there was and the reactions to it or a public bathhouse would be /laugh

[Valorie]

1) Steam mephits could help heat a public bathhouse until plumbing can be installed, and they could serve as lifeguards to make sure everyone behaves properly. Also, by allowing the general population to have peaceful encounters with elementals, it'd promote awareness of knowledge(thePlanes) and spellcasters may want to take levels in the Elemental Savant prestige class.

2) Excess heat and moisture from a bathhouse could be used to keep greenhouses within a certain temperature range, enabling Nesme to grow an emergency food supply in case their crops falters, as well as cultivating plants that don't survive in colder climates: fruit, vegetables, herbs with medicinal properties, spell components for wizards and sorcerers, etc.

[Skyfox120]

I'm more concerned that it's a natural daemon. AN, why is the conglomerate insisting on the destruction of the Shadow Weave?

Presumably the conglomerate is planning or has the concept of a hostile takeover of the Weave (Hence why eliminating the other chosen... wiht mystra dead only the Chosen remain with a direct connection ot the Weave and thus can challange the congolomerate... and/or detect any manipulations of the weave they may attempt)

Which also explains why they want the Shadow weave gone.. with the Shadow Weave vanished the COnglomerate would ha ve a monoply on non-divine magical power.

[Setesh]

“So you ask your people to just forget what has happened in the past? To forget thousands of years of raiding and pillaging by orcs and goblinoids and drow? To forget their history and ancestry and generation upon generation of tradition? To forget their families?” Siralee hissed.

Thrakka’s expression was blank for a moment before he said, “In a word: yes.”

Well, so much for being diplomatic and tolerant, eh Siralee?

That's about par for the 'tolerant' elves of the realms. They are very tolerant, if your from a 'good' race. Or if your not they expect you to be an angst monkey like Drizzt. I expect with the report back containing the usual elven prejudices, angst monkey will be asked to go to Noctis.

This is rapidly becoming a D&D game I ran last year, the party's neutral necromancer started a town around a fort they were awarded. She populated it with misfits from various 'monster' races that just wanted to live their lives (a troll sculptor who moved in comes to mind, he was obsessed with making lifelike statues). They spent more time protecting the town from fellow adventurers than hostile monsters. I used players I found online to determine the adventurer's reaction to the town, most wanted to assault it at 'necromancer', or the town guard being led by an Ogre Magi, long before they ever got to what the population was like. (though most seemed to object to the farms using animated skeletons as cheap labor)

That aside Noctis does have a brilliant natural advantage to draining the Evermoors. 60 miles south (acording to the giant poster map) of Nesme the natural drain of the moors ( a small tributary) flows into the River Surbin, with far less work they could build a reservoir near this, with a aqueduct back to Noctis. Then widen the tributary to increase the natural drainage. Once that's done a short canal to the reservoir could be opened, a simple sluice gate control system and some wind pumps for the irrigation, should get Noctis all its needs.

Guess who got the Engineering an Empire series this christmas

[Academia Nut]

The thing to remember is that D&D has slowly been trying to come to grasp with the nuances of the morality of adventurers. For a long time the intelligent humanoids have kind of been shat all over, but I think especially with the advent of 3rd edition and the capacity to use some of the monstrous races as player characters less abuse has been levelled towards the goblinoids and orcs and other such creatures. They're still low level canon fodder, but not quite as bad as before. However, the fluff for the Time of Troubles was written around 1988 during the transition from 1st to 2nd edition when things were far less friendly to the races not typically seen as player characters.

And let's be honest here. Elves are pretty consistently written as complete dicks to non-elves, they just vary their level of arrogance depending on whether they're evil and the species they're interacting with. Along with a number of other 'good' races they tend to be enormously racist. It's just that its not evil to be racist, especially if the target of your prejudice is evil. Noctis is seeking to break that. Any being that behaves will be welcomed, even if members of problem or special needs species will be monitored for their safety and the safety of their fellow citizens. So if a medusae shows up seeking citizenship, they would have to demonstrate some capacity to control the whole 'turn to stone' thing and would be held accountable for anyone turned to stone by their powers, accidental or otherwise, but would be welcomed in.

As to the pollution issue, well for one thing they realize that a lot of the pollutants can be used for other applications, they know the chemistry of what they're doing far better than the original Industrial Revolution people, and they are shooting in the long term for more advanced, cleaner technologies. You will see some examples of blending together magic and technology in the next chapter.

Incidentally, I've already dreamed up a prestige class called the Noctis Sniper that blends together long range attacks, arcane boosts to capabilities, and hitting people where it hurts when they least expect it (aka sneak attacks). I've also thought of a theoretical 'Arcane Gunner' PrC (transfer the abilities of an arcane archer to guns) and a Bulletproof Monk PrC that would allow monk characters to remain relevant in a gunpowder world by giving them a Matrix/Equilibrium/Wanted sort of guns akimbo gun fu flavour. Close range combat with two pistols and striking limbs, dodging bullets, shooting bullets out of the air, that sort of thing.