(*WIP*) Echoes of the Ancients

Objective

The player’s party finds an ancient inscription detailing some history about the downfall of magic itself. This is merely theoretical since the inscription is not written in their language.

Choices

Starting and Consequences 

Chain Effect

Point

• 
  Trigger
  • The player’s party enters a clearing rumoured to be home to ancient ruins. Upon searching, they discover a partially buried stone tablet, weathered but glowing faintly with magical energy.
    • "The stone tablet is cracked, with swirling rune-like symbols carved into its surface. Faint pulses of energy emanate from the carvings, causing the surrounding air to shimmer. The script is unlike anything the party has seen, and the meaning of the text is entirely obscured."
• Problem
  •  The inscription is written in an unknown language, but it hums faintly with resonance when approached, suggesting magical importance. Players can investigate the tablet and surrounding ruins to gather hints.
    • Skill Check: Certain characters (mages?) might sense lingering magical energy in the inscription, unlocking flavour text or minor clues.
    • The party encounters Akil, an eccentric Magic Faction historian, scavenging the ruins for artefacts.
      • Akil´s Role: He recognizes the tablet’s significance and offers to help decipher it but warns that doing so requires the use of a resonance crystal (*WIP*) - a rare item that can channel the shard’s power to “translate” ancient magic.
        • “Ah, the tablet hums with history. It holds the whispers of a bygone age, one of magic’s rise and fall. But these whispers are locked to your ears. Only the crystal can unshackle their meaning, but the forest does not give such treasures freely.” - “There is a risk, of course. To awaken knowledge is to awaken danger.”
• Aquiring the resonance crystal
  • • Akil send the party to a nearby grove where the Resonance Crystal is rumoured to lie, guarded by hostile wildlife warped by the forest’s leaking magic.
      • “The forest protects what is sacred. Tread lightly, or you may find yourself among its roots.”
    • The Resonance Crystal is hidden in the grove’s heart, requiring players to navigate battles
• Deciphering the tablet
  • Setting: Returning with the Resonance Crystal, Akil performs a ritual to activate the tablet. The runes glow brightly, and faint holographic-like images appear, illustrating moments from the ancient past.
  • The images and inscription suggest the ancient civilization’s downfall stemmed from:
    • Overuse of Magic: Depictions of massive constructs and rituals overwhelming the land’s natural balance
    • The Collapse: A cataclysmic event shatters the artefact and devastates the civilization
• Final Objective
  • The tablet’s meaning remains open to interpretation, and the party must decide what to do with the knowledge:
    • Preserve it: The party can allow Akil to take the tablet to the Magic Faction for safekeeping, deepening their relationship with the faction.
      • Consequence: Unlocking an assumption on what happened to magic (as seen in the history of the magic faction). The faction may use the knowledge to justify their actions, shaping future interactions.
        • Akil: “Wise travellers, you understand that the past is not a warning - it is a guide. The song of magic may have faltered, but with care, we may yet find its harmony again.”
    • Destroy It: The player can destroy the tablet, fearing the knowledge could trigger a repeat of a catastrophe.
      • Consequence: Akil condemns this choice, and the tablet’s destruction could weaken the party’s connection to the Magic Faction.
        • “You would silence the voices of the past? Fools! Knowledge forgotten is a blade turned inward. Without it, we are doomed to stumble blindly into the same abyss!”
    • Keep It: The party can take the tablet, hoping to use the knowledge themselves.
      • Consequence: This can either have no effect on anything or can boost the players mage skills by X% but risks angering the Magic Faction.