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Gods' Bargains Behind the Barrier

Summary

Day 36 revealed that the Barrier depended on multiple bargains with gods, each apparently requiring a favour, communication to priests, and a boon, with severe hidden costs.

Known Details

  • Bridged gave a way in and out.
  • Noxia’s terms involved trinkets and barrier sickness caused by living near or touching the Barrier.
  • Merfolk and babies were infertile, and Browning made sure they needed the wizards.
  • Kasha received unborn-merbaby souls through the Barrier.
  • The god of Darkness bargain was worked around; the parenthetical Laptop note on the source page is not a campaign name.
  • Ennui and Browning made many of the deals.
  • Lady Evalina Hartwall did not know about half the deals made.
  • Ruby Eye and Cardonal discussed renegotiating some deals, breaking the inferlite curse, and addressing Barrier damage.
  • Day 42 Ashkelon offering bowls answered offerings to Bridged, Attabre, Sierra, Igraine, Tor, and Stolchar, producing warnings about safety, loss, betrayal, protection, tribute, crafted gifts, and freedom for Attabre’s children.
  • Day 43 Attabre manifested at the Ashkelon shrine, sought atonement and justice, was angry with Benu, and was connected to Goliaths receiving a protector like Trixus.
  • Day 44 old-school lore described Bright and Valentinhide as elemental-plane queens, Hannah as a priestess of Attabre, and Bynx as the baby Attabre spirit intended for the Goliaths as they became Emeraldus’s line.
  • Day 51 introduced the Vessel of Divinity: a lost part of Valentinhide said it made beings into gods, stripped something away, and left lostness behind.
  • Day 52 says the pacts are linked to the dome; if the dome ceases, the pacts cease, and all prisons release.
  • Day 55’s Papa Marmaru warning and Merikok intrusion show another dome-bound or prison-adjacent being whose consent, corruption, and identity remain uncertain.
  • Day 56 says Browning’s godhood ritual takes 1,000 years, was delayed when Soul crashed into the tower, and may now be powered by a crystal while the dome drains the party like elementals.
  • Day 57 Attabre lore says dangerous princes, a father descending to save an imprisoned child, and five others at Ground Towers led to a pact to rule one, but from afar.
  • Day 57 says the gods befriended by the party may offer gifts before the next realm, but choosing will be hard and death there may be final.
  • Day 57 says bringing down the dome remains the party’s choice, would weaken Throngore, and would not bother gods except those who benefit.
  • Day 57 adds Kasha’s merbaby soul route through the Barrier, Geldrin’s pact pressure over Garadule’s soul, Hydran’s separate pact offer to the party, and Azar Nuri’s bargain for passageways and god-of-death manipulation.

Open Questions

  • What were all twelve divine terms?
  • Which terms are still enforceable, which have been bypassed, and which can be renegotiated?
  • Are merfolk infertility, barrier sickness, unborn-merbaby soul routing, and inferlite curse all results of these bargains?
  • What did the Ashkelon offering responses mean by betrayal being at hand and a gift crafted for a friend being the key?
  • How do Bright, Valentinhide, Bridged, and Attabre fit among the twelve divine terms?
  • What exactly is the Vessel of Divinity, and who should or should not hold it?
  • Which pacts would fail if the dome fell, and which released prisoners would be threats, victims, or both?
  • Is Browning’s godhood ritual another use of the same Vessel, bargain, or dome-prison mechanics?
  • Did Soul’s crash into the tower interrupt a divine ascension, a bargain payment, or a prison-power cycle?
  • Which Day 57 offers or threats are bargains the party has actually accepted: Hydran’s separate pact, Azar Nuri’s terms, Throngore’s prisoner demand, and Kasha’s pressure over Garadule?