Has anyone seen Jackdaw???

(NOT MAGNUS)

(this paper is covered in strange sigils, many written in blood, any knowledge of the supernatural will tell you they are anti scrying, and anti demon in nature)

Catacombs were only for Temperance,

only one part of the puzzle,

lot more involved,

death leads it

good places to start looking,

cant say much, being watched



-The Fool

Lad,

What do they seek? What sustains them?

(NOT MAGNUS)

(this paper is covered in strange sigils, many written in blood, any knowledge of the supernatural will tell you they are anti scrying, and anti demon in nature)


Catacombs destroyed

That part of the puzzle is over

-The Fool

Connect this, then, with what we all have surely seen, lest I be madder than previously thought. We may already know who our enemy is AND what she needs.

~Nalick

The catacombs were only one part of the puzzle. Also, the Tarot guess seems to be a step in the right direction given the above letters were written by one calling themselves The Fool. Perhaps solving the full puzzle is a key to returning Jackdaw to us.

That being said, if something is found, or if I can be of assistance in any way, please write to me in Palindor.

(NOT MAGNUS)

(this paper is covered in strange sigils, many written in blood, any knowledge of the supernatural will tell you they are anti scrying, and anti demon in nature)

Hunters needed, entire cabal, all negative energy... each has a piece of a phylactery

The lot of um go along the major arcana...

-The fool

Would the major arcana be all of the spheres of the Weave or what remains of those still willing to stand with Necrophitus, where'er he may hide?

~Nalick

(NOT MAGNUS)

(this paper is covered in strange sigils, many written in blood, any knowledge of the supernatural will tell you they are anti scrying, and anti demon in nature)

Neither, more like an old hat trying to suck at the power vacuum left by recent events...

I cant write too much, being watched, scholars can look into things... the short one with the tatoos knows a bit more...

Every legend has to start some where

-The Fool

"Hunters needed". Sounds like we have a fight on our hands. Multiple, by the Fool's wording. When the scholars start to figure more of this out, call on me. I'll be there.

Let's find what we need to kill and go get Jackdaw. No man left behind.

(The handwriting is sloppy and crooked, but legible despite the occasional misspelling)

I don't know Jackdaw too well, and I dont know if my infermation will help aneebody, but it seems important enuff to share my story. Because Lordy Lou, do I have one hell of a story to tell.

So you remember that drunken, handsome scoundrel Chaz right? Stupid hat, big grin, carried a cursed as hell-lookin' book? Well the night after the whole catacombs nonsense, I showed him some real Travancian hospitality, iffin you catch my drift. I thought it was gonna be like every other nightly snog of mine (boozin', messin' around, sneaking out the window before daylight, ya'know the usual) but it wasn't. It really wasn't.

First off the buggar has all these fantastical, intricate tattoos. One of which even glowed! (the glowing one looks like one that was on his cursed as hell-looking book). I reconized some being from Coast Haven, while others were clearly crafted using techniques from the northern mountains and a few were from Khitan. A lot of them looked like they were...drained, in some way. Like the ink was running out? I've never seen something like that befer and, obviously, me being a fan of ink myself, I asked him about them. Long story short; some ward off evil spirits, some summon evil spirits... He even told me that the glowin one was helping him hide from a specific person he pissed off in the past. Somethin' about soul selling? Honestly I was kinda drunk so i can't remember the fine details of his sob story...

But that's just the beginning of the wild (and not in a good way) night I had. As soon as I tired the rum-soaked git out 'n he went to sleep, all hell broke loose. Ghosts filled up the entire bleedin' room! I'm talking headless twin girls! I'm talking floating books! Skulls on fire, hundreds of ghostly hands rising outta the floor and pointing to Travance, cats and dogs living together--complete chaos!! And the banjaxed bastard slept through it ALL!! I tried slappin' him awake and at first him being up seemed to get rid of the beasties...but he kept passing out (poor thing can't hold his booze well I figure) and the spectral spooks kept comin' back, meaner and louder each time! I figured I try to keep him awake through....other means, and he was able to stay up (and UP) long enuff to point out some'a his body tattoos that could help get rid'o them. I tried copying them down on paper and hangin' them on the walls, but he didn't always point to the right ones (wasted wanker) and well...I saw a LOT of messed up shite that night. Eventually I managed to summon a big nasty ghost fella who scared all the rest of 'em away--a bloke Chaz had ta put down years ago named Mike. Aneeway, I blacked out after that n woke up with the grog-logged goon still in my bed.

Naturally I decked the sod in the gut and got him to open up to me about wot was goin' on. Apparently Travance is gonna be seein' quite a few nasty spirits in the upcomin' days (NOT my fault, it was gonna happen regardless!) and he promised to help us deal with 'em. He's gonna get us information some'a us gotta desipher while others fight the creatures. ...But that's not all

The REAL important thing about all this is wot he said next. He was prattlin' on about an Old Lich who dressed like the Grim Reaper. Had a bunch of folk assist him in phylaktery. Made 'em look like tarot cards. Each of his crew is a "negative energy creature" holdin' a peice of said phylaktery....sound familiar? Yeah. Yikes. Accordin' to the shit-faced sucker, each'a the cards has a weakness of sorta, so maybe we can find the weaknesses or somethin' like that and bring the whole operation down befer his followers succeed in bringing him bak and getting him a new gang.

So point of the story is, that by Chaz's words, we're gonna be facing off against a LOT of spectral nasties soon enuff...and we gotta take down this Lich-Cult befer the bring the ol' Bastard in Black back. I dunno for sure wot this has to do with Jackdaw, but I figure it must be linked to him in SOME way, right? (Also I gotta stop pickin' up strange men off the street, the company was NOT worth all the ghost-ruckus. [strike]....okay maybe it was...[/strike])

Sorry this was awfully long, mates...told you I had one hell of a story to tell.

-Oakley the Inked

I've been scouting the general area around the catacombs and keeping watch over the Proper since last feast. When I'm not on the move I've been assisting Starling who has been digging deep into books and legends.

In my searches I found the skeletal remains of a smallish spider beast. It's ribcage was roughly the size of my fist, and I would assume is one of the creatures to blame for the webs that Jackdaw was caught by. The remains crumbled when I tried to collect them, but I had made a detailed sketch before attempting to move them. I have the sketch and broken pieces with me for anyone who might like to examine them.

Our research produced significantly more information. A lot of it is legend and folklore, but pieces of it line up well with things mentioned by the Fool and the account given by Oakley. Especially the Grim Reaper looking lich, and death leading it. I'll let Starling get into the details, but we're definitely going to have a big problem on our hands come Galladel's Watch. As for the other pieces of the puzzle, they may be other cabal members, but my guess is they may also be some of the "haunts" this legendary creature is said to be able to create. Undead entities that may seem harmless, but can warp reality around them and will attack when you least expect it.

I also have one of the letters found in the catacomb that corroborates things in Oakley's story. I did not find the letter myself, I intended to just borrow it to copy and then give it back to the townsmember that found it. I believe he had an impressive headdress. Thank you for letting me copy it, and I apologize for not getting it back to you before you departed.

Along with what has been shared previously, I feel it is of importance to share the vision that I had earlier today:

I saw the vision of a lich performing an intricate ritual, it seems to be an attempt to transcend lichdom. It became a dark, shadowed being with a skeletal face, appearing very similarly to legends of the grim reaper. He seemed to be very conscious and aware...

From what I could feel from my vision, he seemed to be some kind of apprentice, around the time the Arcanum was first forming.

My vision flashed forward to a new scene, of a shadoweded figure who seems to be his teacher cutting him down.

His phylactery, separated into 22 Tarot Cards of the Major Arcana, activated but, instead of reviving as per normal as a lich would he wanders the world completely un harmable. Everything he touched dies instantaneously until he has gained enough power to return to his normal harmable form. I wasn’t able to get a count on how many people he had to drain the life from to return to that state, but it took many.

The vision flashed forward again, to Paladins and exemplars and other light aligned warriors destroying him. They thought that he was stopped permanently, but one or two of his followers might have gotten away.

All of these things happened a very long time ago, though how long I could not tell. The visions seemed ancient.

If anyone has any questions, I can be reachable in New Avondale.

I saw those strange spider things too Kestral. Saw them in the catacombs. Almost like a small skull and ribcage with 8 arms. They were strange. I had never seen anything like them before.

I'm not sure entirely what I can do right now. But if there is anything I can do to help, you all know how to find me.

Khala Stormbringer
Dean of Druidics
Darkwood Academy

Sure sounds to me like there's going to be more Tarot cards...

To the Fool: You said that you were being watched. Are you in some sort of danger?

Oakly: When was Chaz last in town? How many aside from you know him? If anyone else knows him, they may have heard similar things or have other pieces of information.

It seems awfully covered, but should you need additional assistance finding Jackdaw I am here and would be glad to assist.

To the other discussion here:

My assistance is available. While the issue here is obvious, I would love to be able to help in order to see this interesting phylactery set up. We can destroy them of course, they are most likely horrifically aberrant in design, but I gotta admit that the creativity in this set up is amazing.

Most of what I've managed to piece together is information from folklore and second-hand accounts—unfortunately I can't find confirmation from what I'd consider a completely reliable source, but enough separate accounts from different times and places point towards some element of truth. The presence of the spiders Khala and Kestrel describe is one factor that appears over and over again. The unsettling phenomena in the Spirit Realm is another.

(For anyone who's currently being spared the opportunity to peek into the Spirit Realm, in the area of the catacomb, the entire area is full of hands, in movement towards the Proper. It is disturbing.)

These two things appear in every account I've found of an undead creature called a Granfalloon. I'm not sure anyone has ever conclusively proved they exist, but legend and folklore depict them as incredibly challenging to summon. Once summoned, supposedly the creature looks for somewhere to nest; the evidence I've found is a bit fuzzy on the characteristics of where or how it nests. The hands in the spirit realm are reportedly an indication that one is nearby, and the spider-like creature is supposedly a scavenger that follows the Granfalloon around. But once it's ensconced itself in its nest, its mere presence empowers other undead (or potentially any other negative energy creatures) in the area.

Kestrel referred to something that's been called "haunts"—if the other pieces of information I've been uncovering have been vague, information on these are so vague as to be utterly unhelpful, save that it creates manifestations that can somehow be used to track it back to its nest. Kestrel mentions they may be harmless or harmful; nothing I have thus far read provides much clarity beyond that.

Reyna: I met him. He's by his own report a skilled carpenter, pie-maker, and scholar of necromancy.

Nadia: I'd love your insight on this particular legend, as well as on the problem as a whole.

Reyna,

He was here the day after the Feast. Those having met him or asked a question of him, number at least a dozen. A session of questions answered and a brief warning later about this not being the last time we face something like that, he gated out of the Proper.

Judging by the small, impactful choice of vocabulary in his messages, he definitely seems to be writing them in a hurry--and surrounded as they are by sigils meant to ward away otherworldly forces suggest a greater threat than bandits or rabid wolves.

~Nalick

*OOG: written under Nalick's missive*

Nalick (TheBardAbides) wrote: Would the major arcana be all of the spheres of the Weave or what remains of those still willing to stand with Necrophitus, where'er he may hide?

~Nalick

Necrophitus has taken refuge in the Quartz Mountain Academy as of May 1218.

~Irie

One townsmember whom I will not name managed to follow Chase Wiseman/Chad Whitman/Chaz Whimun through the gate, and returned with a book--that self-same book, I presume, to be the "cursed-as-all-hell book" Oakley refers to. It was titled "How to Buy Your Soul Back From the Devil".

"The Devil" is another among the 22 major arcana in a Tarot deck. It follows that that particular Lich Cultist is the one Chase/Chad/Chaz has sold his soul to.

It follows that Chase/Chad/Chaz must be taken with a grain of salt, as we cannot guarantee his loyalty to our side while his soul is in possession of the major arcana Cult of Lichdom.

His behavior the Sunday before last feast was erratic and deflecting. He changed how he pronounced and spelled his name three times, and when asked what he does, offered no less than four different professions, in addition to his darker, scholastic "hobby". He is a demonstrable jack of all trades, so while he's not expressly lying, it is still an attempt to smoke bomb away the details of his identity.

I expect he will purposefully avoid expressing all further information we list as knowing about him as an attempt to continue to hide his identity. Given that, I recommend curating further public posting of what we know of him.

--Mantel Warrane

I can check with the Light Church in Glangsdale to see if there are any ancient texts that can provide information on the history of this battle between Paladins and exemplars and other light aligned warriors having (supposedly) destroyed this transcended lich.

I seem to recall some texts about a "reaper" during my time in the Pontiff's stronghold while searching for information during the Necrophitus conflict.

Drats that we don't have Templars that can fly on the Wings of Faith anymore! Can anyone provide a portal for me to Glangsdale between feasts? I might be able to find those texts again.

Yours in Light,

Thank the Mages' Guild for the portal.

With the move of the Church's center from Loez to Glangsdale four years ago, all of texts I've found have been mixed from their original chronological order and have not been properly dated. There is no way of telling when these events happened, but here is what I found in the Pontifical Library:

There are several mentions of the defeat of a creature who the Church later named the "Reaper." In a more recent document it is mentioned that this creature might be the original source of our image of the "Grim Reaper," but it was made clear that this connection is mere speculation.

There is a passage I found mentioning one of this creature's followers being an "ex-priest of our faith" though there is no mention of which faith (and once again the notes on this subject are not dated).

In a separate, undated scroll there is reference that this ex-priest had given up on faith and became a philosopher, having become disillusioned with the concept of religion and good and evil, eventually finding this reaper and becoming a lich in its service.

Later in the same scroll there is a reference mentioning that this Reaper's lich was known as "The Heirophant" and was destroyed. Other scrolls also referenced The Heirophant being destroyed. However, in all of the documents there is absolutely no reference on whether or not his phylactery was ever found.

This is the entirety of what I could find in Glangsdale.

Yours in Light,

I've just returned from training some younger Hunters, and am unsettled by all I've read above. I will join whomever is searching, and assist with both the hunt for Jackdaw and seeking further information on possible threats.

Please send me a missive or find me in the Proper, to join our strengths together.

Starling, I can assure you all that can be done to find our friend, will be.

Galladel guide us all,
Huntress Lorelai VonRitter

Maybe Jed ate him.

Jackdaw is no snake.


~Nalick

I can hear the whispers in my head. Like the tip of a blade scraping against the inside of my skull... my sweet grows restless... We sense another... an older symbiote.
Ozomdarth, the perversion.
A True warlock.
It seeks hosts that it falls in love with. It still cries over it's past dead hosts. Not the company you would want to keep.
It is in service to the reaper.
This abomination should be handled swiftly, and carefully...
Keep a steady knife...
It will fight.

-Rupert the adventurer

I'm sharing this here as it seems to be our collection of intelligence for this.

I reached out to the Houses, and have discovered a Reign named Gaston was looking into an entire cabal of negative creatures. It seems they were trying to turn someone into a Lycan, but Gaston was planning on putting a stop to it. He has since gone missing. Normally a very private Hunter, he is reliably on time, but no trace of him has turned up in the expected ways. I must assume he, like Jackdaw, must be found.

It concerns me that there may be a gathering of negative energy creatures all attempting the same goal. Usually they do not work well in concert. I ask that you all be vigilant and continue to share information. It could save more than Jackdaw and Gaston.

In Galladel's gaze,
Huntress Lorelai VonRitter

I cut short my trip to head to the Ivory Tower at the request of Cara and the sages there had some to say.

They had an apprentice at some point who was considered some what gifted, but often would get in his own way over studying the details of a ritual. Always claiming that "the next project he works on he would take seriously" yet always getting caught up in the how and why, failing to actually take the inspired action he was capable of. When he finally would apply himself, his lack of immediate success would cause him to become frustrated. This unfortunately caused him to begin looking into more immediate sources of arcane power and was quickly swept up by the promise of immediate power by a philosopher Lich... we haven't seen the young magician since.

Unfortunately since I was in Toka Oro Sol previous to heading to the Ivory tower I am not clear how this entirely fits in to the puzzle but I hope this information is of aid.

I can attest to undead in the area becoming empowered. As I mentioned on Ilana's posting, I and another attempted a small ritual to try and see if we could figure out a way to locate the nest. Our results kept pointing down no matter where we were in the Proper. Afterwards I did a little experimentation with creating my own undead. As soon as they came into being, they were beset upon by the hands which empowered them until they broke from my control. The same happened with any specters I attempted to summon. I could cast a spell and take control of them again, but after a while they would break free again. I eliminated all those I lost control of because all they would do was head towards the nearest living thing to attack it and I would rather not leave more dangers out there for us.

Khala Stormbringer
Dean of Druidics
Darkwood Academy