2019. That ship has sailed...

Ah, the campaign will continue in 2020. I've briefly spoken with all of the players and their primary concern was not getting killed by the Coven of Ash.

Well, that isn't a big concern on my part, but I can see how it bothers the players. They will be meeting with a Senator, either under hostile or friendly terms very shortly. He is a target of the Coven of Ash, he knows a fair bit about them, so he can explain them to the players. I have interjected the Coven as a means of making the town seem alive with the obvious benefit of having the characters interact with something very nasty early on. I don't want to surprise them later with something out of the blue.

I had hoped the characters would hop on ship at the next town, but they haven't taken the bait. In fact, they have refused the bait. Fine.

The ship has sailed on my main antagonists, the raiders. The players are clearly planning to head inland to avoid and frustrate them. The players are seriously pissing these guys off by showing up in the coastal cities and settlements, which makes the raiders believe they have a play at them, but then the party drifts inland. At some point, I am going to make the players aware that their behavior is saving many cities and towns from a good sacking.

Anyway, back to planning. I need to firm up my map of the city of Nace by the second week of January.

52 Weeks of Magic - Item 44 - The Bountiful Pot of Perseverance

In this final post of the series, I have used the most recent
map of the peninsula to show how much things have evolved
over this series of posts. 

We are at the end of 52 Weeks of Magic. Due to the holiday, the posting of these items has been intermittent and out of order. I intended these two posts to occur on Christmas, which I managed to do, but they are not properly numbered because I believed that it would take me until December 31st to finish catching up with the series.

These last two items, The Bountiful Pot of Perseverance and The Spot of the Teapot are linked by a story from my campaign on the Peninsula of Plenty and real life events capturing the spirit of Magic and the Holidays.

Without further ado, here is the description of The Bountiful Pot of Perseverance. This magical pot, when placed on a fire will activate. Any scraps of food placed into the pot with water will be transformed into a hardy stew. Even the most meager scraps will magically be enough to feed a dozen people three meals a day.

How this device came to the Peninsula of Plenty is an elven legend. The first Elven colonies found the Peninsula to be very warm and snow to be a rarity even in winter, except for the mountains to the north. At that time, heating did not seem to be an issue and the elves naturally used magical lighting around their colony thus had little need for fuel.

In the third year after the establishment of the small port town, a blizzard swept down from the mountains and forced their ships to flee before the storm. All of the ships escaped home, but it was months before relief for the colony could be sent. As the Winter Solstice came and went, the food was nearly gone and the elves were trapped inside, with hardly any fuel for life sustaining fire. Exhausted and hopeless, the elves realized that survival was impossible. Cold and starvation is not fast and the elves could only wait for the end.

Three or four days after the solstice, the cold became unearthly. It was even too cold for snow. And as the dawn glinted off the Diamond Dust that hung in the air, the elves heard bells. And with the bells came a man. Or a dwarf or a woman. The only thing that the elves could agree on was this person was dressed in red, wore a fake beard and nose and carried several packages.

Their saintly benefactor gave to them many things, loaves of bread and teas and pots and earthen vessels and blankets. The survivors tried to thank their benefactor, but with a wink and a finger on the tip of his nose, he or she vanished into thin air.

The colony was saved and persevered through the harsh winter. To this day, the Colony is vigilant for foul weather, yet celebrates a great feast during the week of the Winter Solstice.

We are at the end of this series of wonder and magic.

I would like to dedicate this series to a friend, Gary, who was Santa for a great number years to many, many people. After his passing, his wife Katie took up his Santa hat and continued the tradition for many years until she awarded the mantle to their son, who continues the tradition for another generation. This series is dedicated to all people who place wonder and joy of others before their own needs, to create magic for others.

52 Weeks of Magic - Item 43 - The Spot of the Teapot

I have used the oldest map I have of the Peninsula as a nod
to all the hours spent on creating this campaign. 

We are at the end of 52 Weeks of Magic. Due to the holiday, the posting of these items has been intermittent and out of order. I intended these two posts to occur on Christmas, which I managed to do, but they are not properly numbered because I believed that it would take me until December 31st to finish catching up with the series.

These two items are linked by a story from my campaign on the Peninsula of Plenty and real life events capturing the spirit of Magic and the Holidays. These stories will be a part of The Bountiful Pot of Perseverance post, which will be out later this morning.

The Spot of the Teapot is an unusual magic item. It has multiple parts that do many things. The Teapot has a basket, which when filled with bark, leaves or grasses will produce 8 gallons of savory and warming tea per day. Drinking the tea will fortify the drinker against cold for 8 hours.

The second half of this magic item is the fire ring which protects the teapot from the coals of the fire. This ring will cause any sized fire to warm the teapot and the area around it for 24 hours, after which more fuel must be added. This area is variable, but large enough to hold about 10-12 people.

52 Weeks of Magic - Item 51 - Amulet of Fortuna

The Amulet of Fortuna is a simple device that provides special luck to the wearer. If the wearer fails a saving, they are immediately entitled to a second saving throw.

The magic of this devices is peculiar. It will only allow a single successful reroll per day. However, if the reroll fails to bring luck to the wearer, it will afford another save to a completely different event later in that same day. This can happen over and over until the wearer gains a bit of luck.

52 Weeks of Magic - Item 49 - Oakheart's Staff

Oakheart's Staff is a clerical weapon which confers a bonus of +1 to hit and to damage. The staff can also cast Shield and Protection from Evil, once per day, each.

The true power of the Staff is it's ability to remove status effects over a radius of 30 feet. Raising the Staff in this way will have the following effects:

1) Unconscious and sleeping characters will be awoken immediately.
2) All people in the area of effect will recover 1 hit point.
3) All manner of bonds, such as ropes and shackles, will fall off.
4) If someone is under the effects of poison, a spell like charm, or a curse, they will be allowed another saving throw.

All four of these effects happen simultaneously and affect friend and foe alike. This power may be used once a day and costs one charge. The staff has 50 charges.

This staff effects the casting of Create Food and Water. It will double the strength of these spells when used in the process of casting. This effect is unlimited and costs no charges.