DMs Only: Summary 1

Selections from the SL Archives relevant to the Chaos Bell and Broken Spiral Tattoos.

...

In a chapel or abbey near Heranmar, where Sir Thomas and Trace first came to this Southern Land, the group was granted strange omens.

A dead priest rose into the air on a beam of light, and he said in a strange voice, "My sorrows, my children for what must be. Choices are rare, strength as well. You are vexed to be curse and cure. You are what must come and what can be. You are my newborn children and the fathers of a new age. You are the foreseen! Beware the Bell. Beware the Shadow. Beware the Void, Bear, and Saber. Befriend the Forest. Observe the free men Move the clan south. Do not trust the K..."

There were other omens: an unnatural rain, a moving ball of light.

In the basement, half-excavated, the group found something buried, with only the handle exposed above ground. Sir Thomas, after praying, heard a voice, " ...n't let it rin..."

Trace grabbed the handle and pulled it free. Too late, the group realized that this was a bell, and that they had been warned not to ring it. But it was moving in Trace's hand as he pulled it from the earth, and the bell rang, giving forth a chime. Trace and Sir Thomas remember it like yesterday ...

[i]

The chime grows as the sound spreads outward from this spot. Your souls can feel as the sound races across the face of the Wold spreading ever outward from this point. You feel the very mountians and lakes tremble, the deserts cry, and the seas go silent. If there were a name for that sound it would be "end."

[/i]

When the sound ended, the bell was gone, but each person had a tattoo on the back of his hand, of small black broken spiral, shaped much like a pinwheel turning in on itself.

...

Shortly thereafter, the group encountered five withered crones, who were divine powers of some sort, immortals, if not gods. They spoke without moving their mouth. They hailed the group as "Saviours" and "Destroyers," and of the group they said, "They will leave death or life in their footprints." They said the symbol represented Entropy, which you later interpreted as Chaos. And they added, "Legend said that when the Shadow King rang the bell it would signal the end of the Wold, that he who rung it would be branded Destroyer and be capable of bringing the Wold to ruin. The is also another prophecy that tells of people from a land of legend that will come and stop the bell, to be saviors instead of destroyers. They too would be marked, if they rang the bell."

From what they said, the Shadow King wanted to ring the bell himself, to trigger the End of the Wold, but that by beating him to it, however accidentally, the party had thwarted him. One of the last things the Crones said was, "You did not destroy the bell, you became the bell." And they said the tattoos were no gift, and that it was dangerous to think of them as such. They called the group "Accursed," and they were sad.

...

In the days and months following the tattoos have changed sometimes. They fade away, maybe so that you can't see them at all. They change color. They appear new on some that have joined you. Sometimes it moves from the back of the hand to the palm.

...

Later, an elf named Kudic Mistwalker, a friend of Sly's family, told you this about the bell:

[i]

"I take it that you know nothing of the Entropy Bell then? Since we heard it's ring some days past, I've done some research on it. Perhaps what I've learned will enlighten you. Now, mind you, much of this may only be supposition, but I guess that will be proven right or wrong with time. It seems that the Bell was given from The Powers to a hero named Relicus some 5,000 years ago. It was a relic from the 1st Age of the Noble Races, long before this continent was even created, we think. It gave power to him: the power of Chaos and Creation. It allowed him to travel to the very center of the Southern Lands and use it to create the Great Migration. This was done however foolishly or wisely to prevent the Great Race Wars of that time. The Races had pretty much set up their own various societies and mistrust grew. This was due to the lack of communication and through the growing of the tales of misunderstanding. The inevitible result was war. However, Relicus the human prayed. Prayed to whatever powers were out there that would help him. You see his wife was elven, and with him being the king of a human land, his wife and daughter was a sore point with both humans and elves. An elven assassin one night killed his daughter while aiming for him. In his anguish he prayed...and boosted his prayer with a wish spell. The Powers answered. Heroes from the past, as well as other immortal beings gathered in nether regions and agreed that something must be done. They gave him the Chaos Bell, a artifact from the Oshirr House where The Wold was created long ago. With this bell, he fought his way to the center of The Southern Lands and then sounded it. It broke into a hundred fragments and caused the Great Migration to Begin. All the lands and kingdoms were shuffled around. Elf clan next to dwarf, gnomish tribe next to halfling. All were forced to work with the other races to survive. It stopped the war and began a new age. Now, every time the races head towards war, or perhaps just at random, the Great Migration occurs again. As to how the bell was reassembled, or why it was given to you collectively rather than being a gift answering a prayer, is a mystery to me. I would guess that you are destined to do something truly great. Something that only the power of the bell would allow to be done. Something outside the power of The Gods of Wold and The Powers. Something Unique like The Great Migration is unique. This is what I have discerned and supposed. I hope I have not added to your burdens." [/i]

...

And a long time after that, one of the heros (named Pip) died. But as he died, he spoke aloud in ways that were revealing: ""What? Who is this guy? all hooded and such. No! I'm not ready to die yet. Of course I want to live. Ok then, so explain it to me. Ohhh.... Wow.... That's what the Chaos Bell is? I'd almost forgotten about that. We....us.... We could do all that? But what if they don't want to? Wow.... Ohhh.... No. Yeah, I get it. I'm not stupid. Yes, I realize all that. I could use my Chaos power to save myself, but it is too early and too important and I'd forget all this cool stuff. Yes. I agree. One of them should have my part. Who? Holy Lem' that's a tough one. I like them all. Ooh! I know! I should give it to Alyndar. It would make him like officially a part of things and all. Oh it was nice meeting you too. I'll be there in a minute." Pip's eyes open. "I'm leaving guys. Gargul says it's time for me to go. But I have to do something first. Alyndar, come! Do you choose to truly share this wonderful group of friends in their adventuring and in their....destiny?" Alyndar, then new to the group, and who just recently left, agreed.

...

And a good deal of time after that, When Sir Thomas was brought close to death in battle, he was helped by Ael, who just recently left the group. At that time, when Thomas was close to death, the group heard the sound of the bell again. [i]"The note spreads outward from him, lapping at each of the Southerns Lights, conveying a feeling deepest dread, of desperate hope, and of the end of all."[/i] That was when Ael and Altemia gained their tattoos.

...

Most recently Willim and Jurgen received their tattoos upon entering the Void (aka, Kesh-Mar), and the town of Abandon. And the bell rang in the desecrated temple of Alemi in Abandon in the nave of the cathedral, the vast room with the [i]machine[/i] where Jurgen and Willim met the group.

Later ... see posts by Cayzle during the Year of Ascension.

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Further Notes by Cayzle

Friends,

Stephen asked me about the tattoos on the hands of the Southern Lights: what do they mean, and so on. Here is my answer, but I am CCing the powers that be (especially Anthony) so that those who know more than I do can correct me or add more info. Hope that's okay.

Cayzle's Take on the Children of Chaos ==================

In a very early adventure (I think only Sly, Trace, and Thomas were there of current PCs?), the Southern Lights came to the Wayfarers Abbey outside Heranmar. The abbey consisted of a chapel and the basement rooms under the Chapel. It was abandoned at the time.

They had omens and indications that weird things were happening. They were warned over and over not to do something -- not to ring the bell, and to stop someone else from ringing it.

Well, they found the bell in the basement, buried in dirt. And of course, the first thing they do is ring it! (I think that was Trace, not that that matters.)

Well, the bell was the Entropy Bell, and those who ring it become the Children of Chaos. The Bell itself disappeared, and in some strange way, maybe PCs *became* the Bell.

All Children of Chaos are marked by a tattoo of a broken spiral on their hands. As PCs have come into the game, I (and other DMs) have marked them too with the tattoo.

Well, after that the party met the Five Sacred Crones; they learned that they were the Children of Chaos, and that they were cursed, sort of, that is, fated to be both Saviors and Destroyers. The Crones publicly hailed them and honored them (and pitied them), and the people of Heranmar (hitherto actually hostile to these strangers) became grudgingly accepting of the party (for Heranmarites, that means they were only NYC-style rude, rather than torch-and-pitchfork-style rude).

So what does it mean to be Children of Chaos? That's a big mystery. At first the group thought it was tied to the Bear and Void adventure (see archives). Then they entered the Void (Kosh-Mar) under my tenure, and participated in the end of the Wold. I asked Jerry if that meant that the group had fulfiled the prophecy, since the Wold had been destroyed and saved, but Jerry told me to have them retain the tattoos.

Here's one important bit that I really do not know much about -- maybe Anthony can shed some light. Well, you know how there's this Great Migration in which the lands of the Southern Continent get shuffled around? And how there are Powers in the Southern Continent that are linked to the Migration (maybe including the Crones)? Well, I seem to recall Jerry telling me that the tattoos and Children of Chaos thing is linked to the Migration in some way. I don't know how.

See the attached document for more on this.

Anyway, so what exactly DO these tattoos DO? How do you, oh newbie SL DM, run them? Here are some tips:

1) They are CHAOTIC! Thank goodness! That means that what they do and how they work can change -- a godsend for DMs who therefore don't have to always be consistent! You can vary the way they behave and what they do. For example, they have changed in color. They are sometimes on the palm, sometimes on the back of the hand. Sometimes they tingle or throb. Sometimes they are bright and stark -- other times faded and hard to see. Often long periods of time go by when the party doesn't think of them and they do nothing at all.

2) Their effectiveness of the tattoos depends, first and foremost, on NEED. The power and manifestation of the tattoos is directly proportional to the desperation of the PCs. If they are not in need, the tattoos do nothing. If the need is great, however, the powers they can effect are also very great. See below for examples. Also note (VERY IMPORTANT): The players DO NOT know that the response of the tattoos depends on their need (although I dropped hints).

3) The tattoos also have to be INVOKED. If you do not trigger them, they might throb or tingle (a way for the DM to give an omen), but that's it. For anything else to happen, the PCs have to consciously invoke them. There is not set ritual of invocation -- that's chaotic too! But the most important part of the invocation is INTENT to activate. If the PC says they are trying to use the power, simple concentration is enough. But as a DM I would reward creative invocations -- touching the tattoo to something, joining hands with other Children of Chaos (tattoo to tattoo), etc. But all you really have to do to trigger them is to want and need to do so.

4) So what happens when the tattoos are invoked? For one thing, the PCs may hear a bell (the Entropy Bell). For another, their tattoos might respond with throbbing, tingling, changing color, etc. But the flashy stuff depends, like I said, on need. For example, before my tenure, the party invoked them to Raise a fallen comrade (ask Jerry about that -- I think he's the one who told me about it). And during my tenure, most notably, they invoked the power to help destroy the Machine of Marteaus and move the shattered remains of the device, now in Arch form, to the site of the Wayfarers Abbey -- where, upon landing, the Arch/Machine knocked down the Chapel (now in Ruins), killed the Crones (not exactly), and set up a gate (now dormant) to Kosh-Mar. Other times I had the tattoos do whimsical chaotic things. Once, when Sly was trying to invoke his, for example, I had it flutter off his hand like a butterfly, float around, and then return to his hand -- just to be chaotic.

5) Note that the players/PCs have NO idea what will happen when the tattoos are invoked! It's like playing with fire, although the tattoos tend to react, like I said, to their need, though not in ways they might imagine. The players don't know what will happen, or why. In yesterday's post that triggered the e-mail, Ilsidur was just trying to see if there was an omen (did it tingle?), while Thomas tried to invoke his.

I'm not sure what else to say -- but if you have questions, please ask away. Also attached is a document (previously sent to you, Stephen) that I compiled from old posts that might be useful. You also might want to look up my old posts to see how I handled it.

Hope this tome helps!

Cayzle