Strife:Satakal's Approach (Camonna Tong)

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Overview
Eternal...
 * Quest Giver: Bobby.
 * Location(s): The Puzzle Canal.
 * Prerequisite Quest: Bologra Do Ra.
 * Next Quest: The Start of Forever.
 * Reward: None.
 * Optional Bonus: None.

Quest start
The party is tasked with meeting the trio at the palace of Vivec's puzzle canal, starting on the bottom of level 5.

Level 5 (Start)
''Upon arriving and entering the level 5 canal, the players swim up through the canal to see a large crowd gathered at the south-east end of the sewer; a crowd of tribunal pilgrims to which Bobby, Balz, and J'Krin stick out like a sore thumb. The crowd seems to be searching for something, while the trio stand back watching them in-front of a wall of blue rising magic blocking the advance. As the party walk up, they hear Balz: ''"-an' we're lucky to even be 'ere; that no-one guards this place n' all." J'Krin adds to this: "I'm wit' Balz, we shouldn't be 'ere, why're we 'ere?" Bobby replies: "We all got up the side of the canton fine, didn't we?" A silence passes until Bobby notices the party as they walk up beside him: "Hey, we're just debatin' how to go about this; the first puzzle's a rumour we suspect lets us find a sigil of entry for us to pass; have a read yourself."''

''The party see the plaque in-front of the door reads: "The way forwards must shine bright as light perched on the southern spike, a nothing room marked with the sigil of all." Above, it is titled: "Trial of supernatural insight."''

The "Way forwards" references moving forwards in the canals to the next stage, the "must shine bright as light" references that a light level must be raised in the "southern spike", or the other south-west side of the puzzle canton, which has no way through and is just a wall. If light is casted on or near this wall, a hidden room will be revealed as the wall becomes translucent on the back wall. This "nothing room" is empty and "marked with the sigil", meaning the mark spell effect will need to be casted to reveal the sigil "of all", i.e., the sigil that will let the party through, which is ceremoniously stamped with Daedric alphabet for Ayem, Seht, and Vehk, the tribunal.

To solve this, players can ask for hints from the trio and nearby pilgrims: After the puzzle is complete, the party may journey back to the way forwards. ''All touching the sigil, you move forwards through the wall of magic, no longer blocking your way forwards. Through the door, there is a long ladder up approximately 100 feet.'' This takes the party to level 2.
 * Pilgrims: "Trial of supernatural insight references Lord Vivec's magical prowess, though I do not know how."
 * Bobby: "Southern spike is weird to me, its phrasing n' all. Maybe something to do with the sewers shape."
 * Balz: "I-I'm sorry, distracted. I've got no clue." Though if Balz is asked for either a Mark or light scroll he does have both, finding them after sitting down on the canal floor cross legged, slinging off his pack onto his lap, and peering inside the pack at a large folder of many scrolls. His light scroll being for 10-30 points on touch for 30 seconds, in a 10ft radius.
 * J'Krin: "A nothin' room stands out t'me. But I ain't know what in the desert sun it mean."

Level 2
''Through the door into level 2 is approximately half as many pilgrims. They look tired and worn, with a couple of bedrolls around even. The canal is of the same layout as the previous, though a much smaller surface area. Walking through to the other side, a small group of pilgrims, having a disagreement:''

Pilgrim 1: "-no, look, your door is clearly not it, S'wit, you've no IDEA what you're talkin' about."

Pilgrim 2: "What'd you call me? We all know you ain't even born in Morrowind, N'wah."

Pilgrim 3 moves in to hold pilgrim 1 back, while pilgrim 4 laughs.

Pilgrim 1: "You BASTARD."

''J'Krin walks over and picks up both the two arguing pilgrims into the air, pilgrim 3 cautiously steps back while pilgrim 4 goes "woooaaahhh" with a childlike wonder. J'Krin says: "Why're you arguing?" Pilgrim 1 replies: "Put me down!" and pilgrim 2 replies: "Get your hands off me, filthy beast!" J'Krin throws pilgrim 1 into the water and turns to the second, holding him over the water. "Why're you arguing?" Pilgrim 1 caves: "OKAY, l-look, I'm sorry Sera-" J'Krin lets his coat go with a couple fingers: "I'm no sir." "T-That's not what that means!" J'Krin dunks the pilgrim in the water, lifting him back up. "We've been tryin' to figure these doors out! I've no idea, none of us do! We're all stumped." J'Krin throws the pilgrim by the second door. The party turn their attention to the four doors in place of the solitary one from before, none are magically guarded. Above the doors there is a plaque, reading: "Trial of Wisdom Through Ages". Pilgrim 3 has been helping pilgrim 1 from the water; they line up in-front of the doors. Door 1 shows carvings of Vivec shining a beautiful light, pulling some sort of evilly depicted bone cuirass off of a child, saving them in-front of an applauding settlement. Door 2 shows carvings of Vivec emitting a beautiful bright light from his mouth, performing to ashlanders with the Ashkhan and his Gulakhan's in finery before him. Door 3 shows carvings of nothing; it is blank. Door 4 shows carvings of Vivec's heels emitting a brilliant light, supporting his body which is holding an enormous boulder from crushing Vvardenfell below, with the boulder being propelled by Clavicus Vile.''

Pilgrim 2: "I- I think it's this door" they turn around to face the door "Here you can see Lord Vivec singing to an Ashkhan, which he did do as a child."

Pilgrim 3: "Ah, you must think more metaphysical than that, friend. This door represents nothingness. You see, Vivec wishes to be all and everything, for him to be everything, at one point he must have been nothing, prior to the great Warrior-Poet we see today! Perhaps even it represents everything, so much that it is nothing."

''Everyone stares now at pilgrim 4. After a small silence, they seemingly awake from their staring trance: "Oh! Yeah, I like this one 'cos it looks cool as hell, and I think Vivec'd like that, you know?" Pilgrim 1 is still drying his robes: "Fuck you" he says as everyone stares at him.''

One of these is true, the players must determine which to go through. Door 1 is false as the child that became the ruddy man from putting on the carapace was not saved by Vivec upon killing the ruddy man. Door 2 is true depicting Vivec singing for an Ashkhan, which was done in his youth though the door shows Vivec as a god. Door 3 is false; though it depicts nothing, Vivec wishes to be all things at all times, and thus nothing is not in-line with this freedom he craves. Door 4 shows Vivec saving Vvardenfell, referencing Baar Dau; it was not thrown by Clavicus Vile. This means the players must travel through door 2. Unfortunately this time, the trio have no idea at what anything here means. If asked, J'Krin will say: ''"Sorry, I know 'bout as much 'bout Vivec as they know 'bout me; nothin'." Balz shrugs and Bobby nods agreeably.''

If a player travels through the wrong door, ''the door swings open, but it goes no-where. Behind you spawns a'': The Daedra that spawns is aggressive and attacks the players. Upon the players choosing correctly (door 2), the door swings open, revealing a large drop down beyond the distance you can see in the darkness. The hole is a distance of 60 feet downwards; this takes the players to level 4. If the players jump down the hole sticking to the closest side they take fall damage for 60 feet, but sticking to the back wall allows them to slide down successfully.
 * Door 1: Dremora Lord
 * Door 3: Winged Twilight
 * Door 4: Golden Saint

Level 4
''Sliding into the 4th level, the players are greeted by an even smaller amount of pilgrims. They look panicked and exhausted. The camps are larger with fires cooking sewer rats. Bobby and J'Krin walk past the pilgrims, Balz lingering for a moment and walking up to one of them: "H-Hey, are you okay? Do you want to leave?" The pilgrim turns around, manic: "NO, NO I CANNOT leave, you don't understand I must complete for LORD VIVEC. But the challenge is IMPOSSIBLE," the pilgrim slumps down and hits away Balz's hand "i-it's impossible. You're no pilgrim, do not gamble on this, leave..." J'Krin looks back: "This'un must be 'ard." Bobby replies: "It's nothin', let's go."''

''Walking to the other side of the sewer, the players see a large crowd in-front of the door. As they get closer they see the crowd is actually comprised mainly of Dunmer, but their skin and eyes white, clothing torn, all the colour drained from their body, standing slumped but completely still. They are behind a Daedroth, who is sitting behind a table and addresses the party, snarling: "Ahh... A group! It's been a while since we'd had so many... Isn't it, everyone!" There is no reply from the crowd. Bobby replies: "Let us pass, or we'll kill you, Daedra." Daedroth replies: "Manners, Redguard." Bobby draws his pistol, shoots it at the Daedroth. The bullet rips through their upper head. The Daedroth smiles, and their head begins reforming: "I am the trial of Canny Wit; it is too bad they did not give me a plaque, with this blessing... Tell me, Bobby. If you are the tiger and I the rabbit, if I gain immortality, who hunts who?" The Daedroth's face finishes reforming. "Especially if the rabbit has a taste for souls. I am Pingping. Leave now or gamble with me, advancing or losing your soul." Bobby scowls, pauses for a moment, and puts his gun back in his belt. "What's your game, beast." Pingping smiles: "What is a beast? The talking, sentient crocodile you see in-front of you, or the once-were's behind me? We will see. The game is my own, we roll 5 of these dice each" Pingping uncovers 10 dice of 6 sides "which neither of us will see each-others. We then take turns betting on how many of a specific roll we have between us, increasing in number per bet, or changing to a different specific roll entirely. If a person is called out for lying we end the round, revealing our stones. If the person who is called out is ACTUALLY lying they lose a dice, and we play again. If the person who is called out is NOT lying the person who called them out loses a dice, and we play again. The loser is the one who runs out of dice first. If you win you pass, and if you lose? Your soul is mine... Now, who would like to play..?"'' When a player sits down, they are dealt the dice. If they try to get up or quit the game, a magical force keeps them seated; they cannot leave the game. If they refuse to play, Pingping will control them, forcing them to lose.

Players must play against the GM, keeping their rolls unknown from each-other. Each player can play one by one if they choose, but a win will allow the entire party through. If a player loses, ''Pingping reaches forward at lightning speed, grasping their head with his entire clawed hand, strongly plowing through any attempt at a block you can muster. Before your parties eyes, the colour from your body is drained, and you join the crowd behind the Daedroth. "Who... is next..?" Upon winning: Pingping scraps all the dice back to his arms. "Congratulations, you may pass... I hope to see you again." If one or more person loses their soul to Pingping, they will say: "Oh, and as a sign of good faith..." The light comes back to the soulless player(s), collapsing, but themselves.''

If all players lose, ''they all come to, collapsing in the crowd of the soulless. They are picked back up by the trio. "Nine, I thought we lost you!" Balz says. Bobby says: "Yes, they're fine, let's move on." If the players ask what happened, J'Krin will reply: "I won 'is game, Pingping. Weren't enough though; we 'ad t' sacrifice those pilgrims, back there." The party look about to see the pilgrims in their place. J'Krin continues: "Plus Daedra care 'bout money more than I thought; 'ad t'strike a deal, but that ain't the matter now."''

Either way the players pass, they can continue: The soulless behind Pingping part revealing a door, which swings open at a wave of Pingping's claw. The players can take this door. ''Walking through the door, they see another long ladder up approximately 100 feet. As they begin the climb, Pingping shouts back to them, the Daedroth chucking: "Give my greetings to Dagon..."'' This ladder takes the players to level 1.

Level 1
''Reaching the top of the ladder, players once again find a campfire, though this time littered with the dead bodies of only a couple of pilgrims. It looks as if they've made it this far but alas become exhausted with the pilgrimages leading up to this, and come inadequately prepared as well... Walking past this campfire, the players make their way to the next puzzle with the trio wordlessly pressing onwards. Upon reaching what would be the next trial, turning south the group is instead greeted by a wall very much sooner than anticipated, with a corridor shooting down the left, blocked by white magic. On the wall it has a plaque, which says: "Trial of Recollection and Deep Thought, only one may pass". Bobby reads the plaque "...only one may pass... Well, guess we've no choice. Who's goin' in?" Once a player's been decided, as they walk in Balz says after them: "Good luck." As they breach the white light it turns blue to the rest of the party, staying white to the player inside. In this corridor is two levers, with three archways in the corridor blocked by blue magic shooting upwards, unable to be traversed through. The levers are extremely stiff, and require some real effort to pull. Perhaps this is what trapped the pilgrims in the end.''

The chosen party member must solve the puzzle in the image, where all doors (numbered) start closed, with all levers (lettered) up. The levers change the state of the blue light, making it disappear or reappear. Pulling down the levers gives different effects: The blue light filled arch labelled has to be opened to advance, and only opens if F, C, and D only are down with all others up. Magic cannot be cast in this puzzle and does not work. There is also a button in each room, which resets the puzzle teleporting them outside in-case they've been soft-locked.
 * A: Switches 2 and closes 5
 * B: Switches 1 if A is down and closes 5
 * C: Switches 1 and 2 and closes 5
 * D: Switches 3, 4, and 5
 * E: Switches 3 and Closes 4. Opens 8 if F is down
 * F: Closes 5, Opens 6, and Switches 7

In the room with levers E and F: ''There is the body of a pilgrim clutching the lever. They look as if they've been there for a few days but the damp, cold humidity of the puzzle canal is overbearing even making you weak; decay is slowed and who knows how long they've been here for...''

Through the door into 9, there is another lever. The player may pull it. ''Upon being pulled, it recalls their allies to them, with their party, and the trio with J'Krin and Balz sitting down, Balz jumps out of his skin upon appearing. Bobby immediately begins looking about ready to advance down the ladder before them, while J'Krin and Balz get up, Balz dusting himself off and remarking "Ah, made me jump; it's terrifyin' when you ain't doin it." J'Krin is un-amused.''

This ladder takes the players to level 1.

Level 3 (End)
''The third level is desolate; no camps, no bodies, nothing. There is not even a trial at the opposite southern point this time; only an entrance in the middle unlike other levels. There is a plaque above the door, saying "Trial of Superhuman Discipline and Virtue"; the headstrong Bobby enters, followed by an indifferent J'Krin and nervous Balz.''

''Upon entering, the party find themselves on a bridge with deep water on either side. There are flowers laden on the bridge and candles on both parapets, leading up to a shrine in the centre with unusual writings on it: "Breathe the Waters of His Glory and the Way is Made Clear". Above where the party came in, there is a large blue light archway, blocking an above room of unknown contents. J'Krin, confused: "What'n t'fuck does that'un mean?", Bobby replies: "Breathe the Waters... Well, only way we'll do that is by drowning..." A silence passes. Bobby continues: "Well, pull me out if nothin' happens!" and he jumps over the side of the bridge, sinking to the bottom of the pool. J'Krin and Balz, shocked, run over to the side watching down. J'Krin: "Why'eh fuck 'e do that?!" Balz replies: "I- Yeah I don't know. D'you think he's been different lately..? I'm worried about him." J'Krin puts a hand on his shoulder: "I can tell, lad. We'll talk to 'im when the chance comes." Balz smiles. About a minute passes.'' The party can do anything in this time. After this ''J'Krin breaks her cool: "Right, tha's it." She hands her gauntlets to Balz, jumping in after the headstrong Redguard. After a minute she surfaces: "'e ain't the-! ...Ah..." Looking up she points to the wall of blue light; Bobby is close behind it to be able to be seen barely, attempting to get the attention of the party. J'Krin dips her head under the water, and Balz sheepishly climbs the wall, taking a deep breath, holding his nose, and falling in.''

The party may follow the lead of Bobby into the waters, being recalled if they do to the upper level. ''In the upper level, they meet Bobby. He is not alone. The room is blank other than walking past two braziers and up the stairs to a central alcove, in which there is a mounted silver longsword on the wall, a shrine with candles and flowers depicting Vivec with a longsword and the words "Here Vivec gave a plain silver longsword to the Daedra Lord Mehrunes Dagon rather than dishonour himself by fighting an unarmed foe", and a towering Dremora standing before it. The Daedra addresses the party: "You read the shrine before I, Krazzt. While the discipline test has been passed, I am Virtue. So please..." Krazzt holds out a hand, smiling, and leering at the silver sword. Bobby nods, strolling back to the sword, picking it up, and handing it to the Dremora. The sword in Krazzt's hand turns black, red lining through it. Krazzt's already hulking frame grows even larger, and their skin turning a brilliant red. "And now we battle, a mirror of Vivec and Dagon, pilgrims and his aspect..." Balz sheepishly hands J'Krin back her gauntlets.''

The party now fight Krazzt in Dagon's form. They have all the same stats as base game Krazzt, but are given a Daedric Longsword and their health increased to 600. The party fight with Bobby, Balz, and J'Krin. Upon Krazzt reaching 0 health combat stops; ''Krazzt reforms back into his Dremora self. "Congratulations on completing the pilgrimage of courtesy. Please, be bless-ed with your reward." Krazzt gears up to cast a spell, giving the group powerful boons of Water Breathing and Swift Swim (both 25 points for 48 minutes), and that they are recalled outside of the palace.''

Finishing the quest
''The trio are looking around, shocked. The time has turned to a deep night, it is 1am. Bobby breaks the silence: "W-what? That was it?! NOTHING?" He crouches down, clutching his head, grimacing. Balz walks up to Bobby: "I-it's okay, Bobby... What's wrong..?" There is no reply, just the shake of a head from Bobby and a silence. After a small period of time Bobby begins muttering briefly, Balz backs away shocked. Bobby stands up, looks at the rest of the group. "This is it, I've been promised. We must go to the Redoran Canton; all will be fixed." He begins walking northwards, towards his destination...''

The party now has completed this quest and has now moved onto quest The Start of Forever.