The Orbs
In the Ancient Castle of the Normans someone has scrawled a prophecy
on the wall of Room 13. In Dwarf runes it reads:
"In the Dominion of Orbs, when song becomes silence and the
Seal of Omens fails, the Wand of Miracles shall be restored"
"In the Dominion of the Orbs" refers to the House of Stones as it is
the place where the Orbs protect the heart of the house of stone.
"When the song become silent" refers to the fact that each of the
orbs has its own note when touched and can never be silenced until
they are all brought together in front of the Alter of Omens.
"The Seal of Omens fails" refers to the fact that the seal must be
broken by placing the collection of all the orbs on the Alter of
Omens to open the chamber in it to recover the Wand of Miracles.
The Wand of Miracles will join Beatrices heart
The Nature of the Orbs
There are 8 orbs. Each represent the alignment aspect of a person
(True Neutral being considered the absence of an alignment). Each
orb has a sound that it will play forever when a player of that
alignment touches it. The sound is related to the alignment. When
they are touched by one of the correct alignment it confers a
positive boon to that person. Anyone touching the orb who is not of
that alignment will suffer a negative curse.
Each of the orbs looks similar in that they are all solid glass
globes about 1' in diameter and weigh 60lbs.
The orb info is wrong! Update soonest. 8/18/17
- D2 - Orb of Greed - Lawful Evil - Inside is a Pearl about 1"
in diameter (eye poppingly large!) - Do - Positive - Touch of
Law once a day Negative -Touch of Order when attacked by a
chaotic creature
- E10 - Orb of Pride - Lawful Good - Inside is a figurine of a
2' high Standing Man made of steel who is proud of who and what
he is - Re - Positive - Once a day cause Leadership - Negative
-Become dazed when attacked by a good creature
- D3 - Orb of Desire - Lawful Neutral - Inside is a life size
human eye that has been preserved in the glass - Me - Positive -
Charming Smile once a day Negative - (-1 to charisma to opposite
sex)
- D4 - Orb of the Urge - Chaotic Neutral - Inside is a figurine
4" high made of crude clay depicting a fertility goddess with
accentuated bust and ass. - Positive - Chaos Blade - Negative -
Chaos Touch
- D5 - Orb of Indulgence - Neutral Good - Inside is a strange
figurine that is made of wood 6" long and 1" high that has
a recumbent woman on carved one side and a man recumbent on the
other. The eyes are open but dreamy. - So - Positive Touch -
Positive - Negative -
- Orb of Indulgence - gluttony - Neutral Evil - Inside is a life
size plantain that is fresh on one end and becomes more decayed
until the end shows it infected with grubs. - La - Positive -
Gentle Rest Touch - Negative - Touch of Evil Character becomes
sickened if they are successfully touched by an evil creature.
Being hit by Weapons do not have this effect.
- A 11 - Orb of Love - Chaotic Good - Inside is a 1" diameter
ruby cut into the shape of a heart. - Te - Positive - Negative -
- Dungeon level - Orb of Hate - Chaotic Evil - Inside is a 1"
diameter obsideon heart that is in 8 pieces but placed within
the glass so it is obvious what the pieces made - Do (upper
octave) - Positive - Negative -
Beatrice is one of the keys to ending the evil in the house of
stone. Her heart and soul is in the house of stone and they
the only things that will remove the evil from the house. Her
physical heart was stolen from her and cursed by the powerful and
dreaded mage Hagort Normad. It must be placed on the alter in front
of the Seal of Omens which will allow the party to enter the room
with the Wand of Miracles needed to defeat the Heart of the HOS.
As the party enters the room the motes of light begin to come
together very slowly as if this act is requiring an enormous amount
of effort. The motes seem to move like feathers blown on the wind
where puffs of air moves them toward the center of the space where
there is no debris. This process will take more than a minute.
It is not menacing; it is beautiful.
The figure that forms is made of brilliant white light in the form
of a slender woman with long hair combed back over the head
revealing a pronounced high forehead and widows peak. She is dressed
in a white wedding dress. She smiles and it is the Smile of
the Beyond. Ask the party if they smile back. Those that do feel a
great goodness and satisfaction.
As the song continues, she begins a complex pantomime trying to
convey the acts needed to kill the Heart of the house. Here are the
gestures she uses. The DM should act these out as her song
continues. It will last about 3 and a half minutes.
She floats over to the wall where the writing is (traveling through
anything in her way with no effect to them other than a feeling of
joy and peace). Her every movement is graceful filled with love.
She gestures with her right hand passing across the words "In the
dominion of orbs".
She points UP and mimics like she is walking upstairs then stops and
looks around.
She does this quickly 3 times. The last time she pauses looking in 4
directions then climbing again.
Then she holds up 8 fingers with her thumbs hidden and pivots to
show it to everyone in the room.
She stands still for a moment and appears to sob then brushes
invisible tears from her face.
She tosses her hair and her body trembles as if to shake off
the emotion.
Once again she passes her hands in front of the writing on the
wall this time indicating "song becomes silence and the Seal of
Omens".
Then using her hands indicates a flat horizontal surface (the alter
in front of the Seal of Omens).
She holds up a finger then places an object on that horizontal
surface 8 times.
She turns to the writing again and passes her hand across the
"Wand of Miracles shall be restored".
She turns around once then mimics great surprise.
She leans forward and mimes picking up something long and thin in
both hands.
She cradles it in her left arm and points down with her right in
time with a stepping motion as if going down stairs.
She takes the imaginary wand from her left hand and holds it in her
right passing it from side to side until she stops and begins making
a pointing motion.
She then holds her hands as if in prayer raises her eyes up and
begins to slowly come apart into the tiny motes of light that she
was before.
Once they again fill the area over the chest they begin one by one
to flare deep blue and disappear. In a few seconds the room is dark.
The party will probably investigate the hole and the clear area in
the floor. The hole is very round and rather irregularly shaped, but
the irregularities are very smooth. It's impossible to determine how
it was made. (It was made by Beatrice using her psychic energy over
the centuries to remove tiny bits of stone one at a time.)
The invisibility spell on the sarcophagus can be dispelled as it was
cast by a 12th level mage. They might also find ways of revealing
its details.
On the top in deep letters is the following enscription
"Beatrice Norman
My heart my smile and my love lies with you
The last good of our line has now passed"
Inside the sarcophagus is a female skeleton dressed in a
wedding dress and delicate shoes. Both hands are holding a bunch of
dried roses on it's breast. There is nothing of value inside.
Beatrice used to live in B1. Among the items there will be found the
following poem:
"To Nameo Normad in Everlasting Love from Beatrice Norman"
- I follow your smile. And try as I might I can't get it
- Out of my heart It's captured my heart
- I follow your mind And though it may be unwise
- I see nothing else You're part of myself
- I follow your soul I know it will make me whole
- With you I am one My vision is one
- Once I thought my love was so far away
- My long and endless search
- Now I see Within your smile The way
- Within my heart It ever plays A symphony That sings of endless
days
The Prophesy - "In the Dominion of Orbs, when song becomes silence
and the Seal of Omens fails, the Wand of Miracles shall be
restored"
The main plot could be to reunite the spirits and possibly the
reincarnated bodies of two lovers who have a sort of Romeo and
Juliet story. Beatrice Norman and her lover Nameo Normad. The Wand
of Miracles is something built by a mage (father of either
Beatrice or Nameo?) that would bring them back to this plane of
existence. He had finished it and intended to use it, but the
"Event" interrupted it and killed the make (actually turned him
into one of the many undead).
The Normad family split from the Normans and left the HOS for a
time while they were gathering their strength. The elders of the
Normads demanded that they return to the family house and
dispossess the Normans and take it over. It is an obsession caused
by the soul of the house
The attack started as a "Trogen horse" where a family of 8 Normads
returned to the house and told the Normans that they had split
from the side of their family that wanted to take over the house.
The plan was that they would live there long enough to discover
its secrets and to prepare for the battle that would take it over.
Then the rest of the Normads would rush into the houas and using
the preparations, destroy the Normans.
"In the dominion of orbs" refers to the enclosure of the various
centers of evil withing the HOS and most importantly the orb
containing the heart of the house.
To Do:
Determine what the finding of the orbs will do and what is
guarding it.
Identify the location of the "Dominion of the orbs". This could be
in one of the out buildings or in the dungeon.
Place a painting of Nameo Normad. Find one at google if possible.
Figure out what exactly "the Event" is and when it happened.
Create a ghost for Nameo and locate him in a room.