3. Telli arrives in Oscura for an extended stay.

Telli arrives in Oscura for an extended stay.


  • Marie listens to the talk, and shows every sign of deep thought.

    After a few minutes she speaks.

    Would it be possible to have rocks enchanted with light so that it could be turned on and off with a command word?

    Meaning that you could decide when you want the lights to be on or off, by simply speaking the command word. And if you set all the rocks to the same command word, then they would all turn on or off at the same time… and if you needed to show someone the crops but they weren't comfortable with light you could turn it off for a bit...

    Makes it really flexible.


  • "Neithers would gets cancelledededs outs Coin….buh... yuhs right wid da door... why makes it harder dens it need ta be's...still....gonna need daylight in da room. And since opening da roof is too dangerous... wull still need daylights blessings performededededs in ders. Luckily dough... Chauntea been showings me ders a way ta do da ritual ta git it ta lasts fer a full year...buh...agains... we run inta da prollem a crops wid sunlights on ems all da time ain't goods… so... were gonna need shutters or... sometings ta blocks da sunlights so da crops when we don't wants dens getting light.

    Any idears on dat part?"

  • The Halfling Defence League

    Since when were a couple of dwarves considered "powerful magics"? smirk

    frowns the problem with magical darkness and daylight is that depending on which you cast first which gets cancelled out, and by casting them together simultaneously it may just back fire or create twilight, or do nothing at all.

    I think our best bet is to have a totally separate cave which we could put a door on the entrance so to keep the light in, it would be practical and easy.

    All so you could have perforated rubber hoses tied to the ceiling to simulate rain, a pump to run such a system isn't hard to construct

  • S

    :: nods::

    You are the expert Lady Telli. I trust in your judgment on this.


  • @3b0d9099de=Salsadoom:

    We could always try to excavate some lower roofed caves for your experiments. Small entrance with a turn or two to block the light. Ceilings low so a magic focus can be attended to more easily.

    "I tink dat'd prolly be da bests…. cause I didn'ts tinks a da heights prollem till miss Scuttle mentionededes its... Some a da blessings I was plannings only go abouts fourty feet high...

    Topsides good... buh den yuh gotta worry abouts folks stealings froms its, transportings its....dose sorta tings... prolly best if its underground near da city Justicar...

    I likedededs da idear of a low level ceiling fer experimentings....buh... if we could juss make a big walled off area wid juss a small opening INTA da crops dats need light... Telli could put a darkness veil ta pass through ta gits ta da oder side. Telli'll draw sometings ups tonights if didn't explains it good enoughs..."

  • S

    Justicar arrives as is usual every few days

    :: nods in thought::

    We could always try to excavate some lower roofed caves for your experiments. Small entrance with a turn or two to block the light. Ceilings low so a magic focus can be attended to more easily.

    I have already order the clearing of some land top side if you wish to try your hand there.

    I do appreciate everyone's help in this endeavor.


  • Looking at the plan whilst munching on some chocolate, Scuttle nods.

    That could work, but you'll need to find a way to have the plants grow up, rather than towards the light if it's on the ground. If it's mounted on the ceiling, and so are the areas of darkness, that could cause other issues with vision, as when people get closer to it, they'd still be hit by the light.

    Maybe there's another way? I think that in the same way that there are spells to summon walls of ice, or stone, there's probably a spell that makes a wall of darkness. You could use that to block the light from the outside, and then make it as bright as you like inside.

    (OOC: Look up the Wall of Gloom spell, found in the Spell Compendium)


  • Telli shares a bag of chocolates one morning with Coin and scuttle as they brainstorm the lack of light problem.

    Well here whats Telli knows…

    1)We need light down here fer dem plants ta grow da best…
    2)Oscuran citizens ain't used ta naturals light. Least most a ems...
    3)Miste-...Justicar won't let us do much building down here until we are more productives. Mebbe da recent blooming and flourishing mights helps wid dats.
    4)Whatever we work outs will need ta be maintained long afta Telli, Scuttle, Coin dies off…dats da bestest goal. Someting should succeed whens yuhs gone...

    And... here Telli's plans or thoughts on somes plans so fars....

    1)Miste- Justicar offered ta give da okee on sectioning off some a da garden for natural light allowance if we produce crops for the city first. Possible options is a topsidedededs farming area first ta show Telli ain't incompitents.

    2)Cloth skin would takes a LONG time ta makes…and a LOT a dead aminals fer dats... Tink....dat sorta backwards ta honoring da crops fer Chauntea. Telli all fer dead aminals ta eat...buh juss ta use der skin fer sometings.....someting dis massives... seems like a better way we can do...

    3)Having glass cones and having a wiggler makes tings ta get light on dese crops is takings forevers...could work...might not...so Telli purdy close ta ditching dat idear.

    4)We kin put ups a shrowd a darkness around da crops we want ta have lights...and den.. light in da middle... da light will be ders....it juss can't pass through da darkness barrier...dis would only be temporary fix as it only lastedededs a year. Buh most clerics is able...and... if we gets da okay ta rework da rock face in da future ta make a smaller neck in da caves fer da plants dat need light...we can stops da blessings and move ems...no wasted skins or noffings....

    Telli holds out a child like sketch of her idea and waits for feedback from the two and any other farmers gathered around for Telli's chocolate delights.


  • Big stone walls are a little impractical, don't you think? You'd need to use powerful magics to put them in place, they're impossible to move should you choose to expand or shrink a field, and they don't really keep heat in, instead they absorb it to warm themselves slowly.

  • The Halfling Defence League

    Coin wanders over after listening in on the conversation

    Or we could just have large stone walls constructed around the farm from floor to ceiling, light up the whole aria within and equip the farmers who ain't used to the light, tinted lenses so the light ain't so bright for them.

    The pros are
    A) It will make it harder for the bugs and such to get in

    B) It will fix the light blinding those not on the farm problem

    C) it might help keep out that peg legged dwarf

    The cons are

    A) no to little room for expansion

    And we could get some chickens, they are good for gardens, however they need sunlight too or they get bone diseases and there eggs would be soft, also they would sleep all day.


  • Scuttle thinks for a second, and bites her thumbnail.

    Hmmm…

    What about a really simply solution?

    I've seen some interesting things on my travels, and one of them was a garden in the foothills of Waterdeep. Where it was, there wasn't a lot of sun. So, the man who owned it commissioned glass panels made to amplify the sun's light, to keep the plants warm and give them the light they needed.

    You could do something similar, but with a different idea.

    Why not just talk to Mister Z about getting the crafters to make a pavillion out of skins to put over the top of the farm? Then you can light up the inside as much as you want, keep bugs out, and have a little privacy if you need it.

    You don't need an open garden like on the surface, because there's nothing above that you want the garden to have. I mean, rock isn't known for it's ability to aid plant growth.

    And the garden is being watered by hand...

    So without sunlight, and without rain, why worry about keeping the top of the garden open?

    Just make sure that the light you put in place is above the plants, or they'll grow all funnny.

    I know it'll probably be a huge pavillion, but asides from that, you're relying on magic, which whilst good and useful, is pretty easy to disrupt.

    You could even do a series of smaller pavillions if you'd prefer, to cover the different fields.

    If you want to use the darkness on the edges of it, that COULD work, but don't light and dark spells counter each other? It might just end up turning off the light altogether.


  • Telli sits near her altar with scuttle drinking some of her damaran brew one morning muttering.

    "Danks miss Scuttle… dis a lot nicer presents den whoeva wokes Telli wid dat crud bucket."

    She glowers thumbing behind her at the bucket in the corner that stinks a vile stench despite Telli's most stalwart efforts to scrub it clean.

    "So Telli been tinkings... trying ta figure outs how ta gits light down here.....and wid Chauntea's grace backs... Telli gots an idear... and danks ta Mr Mord too. Telli gonna pray abouts its... buh Mr Mord said....why don'tcha juss cover the area around a farm in darkness. Den da light won't gets outs.... Whatcha tink?"

    blows on her mug sipping some of the damaran brew.


  • Coming down for a visit, Scuttle is pleasantly surprised by the results, and giggles with glee at the sight of her plants blooming beyond all expectations. She finds Telli, and settles in for a long chat over some freshly brewed damaran coffee.


  • Oscuran farmhands are in awe as Telli's prayers to Chauntea are answered. Her erstwhile black thumb has suddenly turned green. In less than a tenday, the blessed garden patch is thriving. The usual garden pests (except a peg-legged dwarf) are manageable once more, and the size of the root vegetables has doubled. The mushroom crop has never looked better. Manure that once seemed to sprout only flies now sprouts delicious mushrooms.


  • _Soon after the goodly doyenne of fecundity's head hits her rocky pillow and begins to snore, Mercy pegs up, carrying a bucket with a rag over the top, conspiring to peg as quietly as possible. Edging up near the slumped form of Telli, Mercy carefully puts the bucket down, whips off the rag and hurriedly swaggers off, leaving the container by the sleeping dame.

    Rapidly, the scent of effluvia creeps from the odious, muck-stained bucket…

    _


  • Telli's seen in the fields the following weeks with a fervent vigor as she prays at the altar and goes about the fields checking conditions. A small child like list is made and then set atop the altar for review.

    Step 1: Get ridda flies…
    Step 2: Make Scuttles crops grow betta and dens heal ems.
    Step 3: Comes ups wid plan fer Mr Justicar ta approves.
    Step 4: Takes nap...usings Chauntea's grace is a lots harder den Telli
    Members.

    Telli waddles over to the mushroom patch looking over the fly infestation. After calculating its girth she pulls out odd canine statuettes with a bar between them. Ones the color of black while the others white. Whispering to herself an aura engulfs around her causing the flies that fail their will checks to freeze motionless and fall to the ground.

    @9da4141302:

    Repulsion
    Abjuration
    Level: Clr 7, Protection 7, Sor/Wiz 6
    Components: V, S, F/DF
    Casting Time: 1 standard action
    Range: Up to 10 ft./level
    Area: Up to 10-ft.-radius/level emanation centered on you
    Duration: 1 round/level (D)
    Saving Throw: Will negates
    Spell Resistance: Yes

    An invisible, mobile field surrounds you and prevents creatures from approaching you. You decide how big the field is at the time of casting (to the limit your level allows). Any creature within or entering the field must attempt a save. If it fails, it becomes unable to move toward you for the duration of the spell. Repelled creatures’ actions are not otherwise restricted.

    They can fight other creatures and can cast spells and attack you with ranged weapons. If you move closer to an affected creature, nothing happens. (The creature is not forced back.) The creature is free to make melee attacks against you if you come within reach. If a repelled creature moves away from you and then tries to turn back toward you, it cannot move any closer if it is still within the spell’s area.
    Arcane Focus

    A pair of small iron bars attached to two small canine statuettes, one black and one white, the whole array worth 50 gp.

    Next closing her eyes Telli whispers asking for a blessing of Creeping Doom as centipedes erupt from the ground below feasting on the immobile flies. If the centipedes begin to feast on the mushroom due to lack of flies in the area she's quick to dispell the blessing.

    "Dat should takedededs care a dems…"

    Telli pants leaning over resting on her knees as she catches her breath...

    "Don't members....dat being so hard ta do....."

    Sipping on water and pausing for a brief snack Telli waddles over to Scuttles positively charged plants. Sitting down in the dirt she rests her hands on the soil before whispering softly...

    @9da4141302:

    Plant Domain Spells
    3. Plant Growth: Grows vegetation, improves crops.

    Plant Growth
    Transmutation
    Level: Drd 3, Plant 3, Rgr 3
    Components: V, S, DF
    Casting Time: 1 standard action
    Range: See text
    Target or Area: See text
    Duration: Instantaneous
    Saving Throw: None
    Spell Resistance: No

    Plant growth has different effects depending on the version chosen.
    Overgrowth

    This effect causes normal vegetation (grasses, briars, bushes, creepers, thistles, trees, vines) within long range (400 feet + 40 feet per caster level) to become thick and overgrown. The plants entwine to form a thicket or jungle that creatures must hack or force a way through. Speed drops to 5 feet, or 10 feet for Large or larger creatures. The area must have brush and trees in it for this spell to take effect.

    At your option, the area can be a 100-foot-radius circle, a 150-foot-radius semicircle, or a 200-foot-radius quarter circle.

    You may designate places within the area that are not affected.
    Enrichment

    This effect targets plants within a range of one-half mile, raising their potential productivity over the course of the next year to one-third above normal.

    Plant growth counters diminish plants.

    This spell has no effect on plant creatures.

    sweat begins to drip down her forehead some more and she finishes with waves of full healing blessings through the soil. Sighing heavily she lays back in the dirt near the positive energy plants exhausted. When someone wanders by to ask how she's doing she simply replies.

    "Tireds…..very tiredededs....Telli juss....gonna take a naps here.....den....get workings on dose plans fer Mr Justi....-.....Zzzzzzzzz"


  • "Its yer city Miste-…Justicar...If yuh tinks da citizens will be more welcomes ta light after success dens… mebbe we shoulds keep below ta mushrooms, lettuce and fungi dats nots needededs much lights ta survives. And wull work on fresher betters fruits and vegetables topsidededs.

    Maythor was talkings wids me da oder days too... he saids he woulds be willings ta helpedededs wids a fish farm a sorts toos if yuh tinks da city could prospers froms its...

    Chauntea usually looks over da veggies and da fruits...buh... she likedededs animals toos... so a fish farm mights be good toos...

    He said a few good charges... and smarts dwarves on dem could blast a small water source inta da area we currently workings ats... could fill pools a water and make some fish farms fer food fer da city too...

    Whatcha tink a dat?"

  • S

    Justicar arrives and reviews how things are proceeding.

    Very interesting Lady Telli. Perhaps an interim method would work? We have a way station being built on the surface as we speak. If you wish, we could clear a few acres around said way station for you to plant crops. Once the children of Oscura have access to fresh food from these farms, they may be more willing to accept constructing some sun rooms off of the main caverns to do as you wish?

    Your thoughts?


  • Z takes Telli aside and has a quiet conversation with her.

    ((PM on the way))


  • *Z drops by to see how Telli's cave crops are coming along.

    He takes out a quill pen, some parchment, and begins to jots some notes as he looks over the fields.*

    Hmmm…