added init umbral1

.vscode/settings.json

@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@
     "cSpell.words": [
         "Alfie",
         "Almuth",
+        "Carmal",
         "Chondalwood",
         "Chondath",
+        "demi",
         "extraplanar",
         "extraplanars",
         "Feywild",
@@ -11,11 +13,21 @@
         "Figridge",
         "Gottlob",
         "Grinbriar",
+        "guardly",
         "harengon",
         "Karmel",
+        "Laerel",
+        "Moradin",
+        "Mystra",
         "nelist",
+        "pranking",
+        "Pteey",
+        "Rumbar",
+        "Silverhand",
         "Venron",
         "Waterdeep",
+        "Waterhavian",
+        "Waterhavians",
         "Whitlock"
     ]
 }

acl.cool/site/draft/umbral1.dj

@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+# Umbral Gaze 1
+
+Two years have passed since our intrepid adventurers fought and defeated a hydra near Venron in what has since become known in that area as "the hydra incident"--- or the "M. Pteey Lake thing" elsewhere in the Sword Coast.
+
+Standing together now, summoned with urgency to a high-curtained forecourt under the mild Waterhavian sun, party members speculate about their situation and watch as shadows cast by serried wall-top grotesques march unremittingly across the flagstones. Jaggedly sculpted profiles grow long and pointed in the golden hour, a hundred umbral fingers that reach over our heroes to scrabble at the stonework and prank the quadrangle in narrow slats of shade. At one end, a pair of doors blocks the entrance of the mansion to which the courtyard belongs; at the other, iron gates fill an archway that leads to the road.
+
+Despite a wealth of information between them, none of the adventurers can say what has ultimately brought about this happy reunion; they know only that they attend a summons from Laerel Silverhand, Open Lord of Waterdeep, whom it would be unwise to disappoint. Their conversation is still worthwhile--- all are glad to see one-another again and to share a few brief stories of where they've been and what they've been doing since that fated day two years ago.
+
+Warren[^warren] looks much as his companions remember, as powerful and rotund as the day they parted. He opened a high-end cutlery business a while back and has taken up residence in a nearby mid-sized town, to which customers are drawn from all over Faerûn by the fine craftsmanship of his forks, knives, and spoons. For some reason, he carries several examples of that handiwork with him now. As he talks, he reveals a few interesting details of his past, chief among them that he was raised underground among dwarves!
+
+Clementine[^clementine] is dressed in the uniform of an officer of the city guard, albeit heavily altered to accommodate her unusual anatomy. Though her rank is clear, no insignia advertizes an allegiance to any particular party or house. The discharge of her guardly duties has helped her to gain considerable knowledge of Waterdeep's political and criminal institutions, but even such intimate familiarity isn't enough to give her a read on the situation at hand. Like Warren, the centaur's person is largely unchanged by the intervening years, save for a new and conspicuously superior longbow hanging at her back.
+
+Almuth Cheerio[^almuth] sits pensively, forgoing his vestments today in favor of well-worn leather armor. The cleric is prepared for the possibility that their forthcoming task involves inescapable violence--- he has arrived with steel in his heart; whatever the matter, he will do the will of Eldath without hesitation. His gaze radiates self assurance and wisdom of a new profundity.
+
+Gottlob Graal[^gottlob] leans against a pillar, a cloak of pale twill hanging evenly on his broad shoulders. The richness of its fabric and precision of its stitch leaves little doubt that the satyr has found success since immigrating to Waterdeep twenty months earlier. Establishing himself in the city, he joined the Unblinking Patrol--- a tiny, quasi-religious order dedicated to protecting Faerûn from unnatural incursions--- where he learned their business and advanced rapidly as a paladin. Despite this achievement, the satyr feels conflicted: as he and the order grow in renown, how can he remain under the radar of his enemies?
+
+Carmal Rumbar[^carmal] exchanges idle words with his companions. Behind him hangs a bulging traveler's pack, stuffed to its limit with unseen pounds of equipment, a large, polished button securing a flap over its opening. He shares very little of his recent escapades, but like any such consummate actor, has only continued to amass a substantial base of popularity and support for his art.
+
+As the party takes count, they notice that one of their number is missing: the llama-wizard Louisa Whitlock[^louisa]. Sensing that they will need to be at full strength for what lies ahead, the present members are hopeful that no ill-fortune has befallen her. Louisa will be around as soon as she can, no doubt; probably she was waylaid reassuring some hapless farmer that talking animals are _not_ on the rise and that he needn't worry about his pigs planning an uprising any time soon.
+
+{.thematic}
+***
+
+Before long, a guard emerges from the heavy double doors and holds one of them open, prompting the party to follow him inside. Taking up the rear, he escorts them down a long and richly decorated hallway. On the walls hang paintings of otherworldly scenes--- some of which Gottlob recognizes as belonging to other planes--- alongside scores of magical artifacts. As the party comes to yet another set of doors, silver-inlaid slabs of oak that reach up to the ceiling, another guard swings them open, ushering our heroes inside.
+
+With trepidation, they glance around the war-room before them. Gottlob and Clementine, Waterhavians of the group, recognize Laerel Silverhand[^laerel], child of Mystra and Lord of Waterdeep, as she reposes on a shallow dais at the end of a great oaken table occupying the central region of the room. Her flowing white robes and silver hair, drawn in loops about her face, conspire to convey the momentary impression of a calcite-hewn portrait gilded with a thousand-thousand pearls. Dozens of officials and functionaries fill rows of seats toward the periphery or the room, each behind their own small desk, and only as Lord Silverhand gestures to the newly-arrived party members do they stymie the frenzy of their conversations.
+
+Silverhand addresses the party, inviting them to approach the grand table. She explains the situation and the reason for their presence.
+
+> We have received troubling reports of an otherworldly incursion. Eyewitness accounts have verified what I am about to tell you. Within the last month, the northern peak the Sword Coast underwent a planar fissure, a tear in the fabric a reality. It was able to be closed, but not before something broke through and escaped into the material plane. It seems to have been followed by eight more of its kind: beholders.
+
+The Open Lord goes on to divulge the details of the incursion and prompts Almuth--- the party's beholder expert--- to share what he knows of the species. He summarizes, explaining that 
+
+[^laerel]: An immortal (though not, probably, invulnerable) child of the goddess Mystra, Goddess of magic and embodiment of the Weave itself, Laerel Silverhand is a wizard of untold beauty and power who has lead Waterdeep publicly for decades and will no doubt continue to do so for centuries more. The ethics of this arrangement are debatable.
+
+[^warren]: Harengon Forge Cleric (10) of Moradin
+
+[^clementine]: Centaur Fey Wanderer Ranger (10)
+
+[^almuth]: Human Peace Cleric (10) of Eldath
+
+[^gottlob]: Satyr Paladin (10) of the Watchers
+
+[^carmal]: Human Bard (10) of the [College of Masks](https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/College_of_Masks_\(5e_Subclass\))
+
+[^louisa]: Human (llama) Wizard (10) of the Scribes' Order