Friday, August 20, 2010

Game Notes - August 8 & 15, 2010

Gameplay begins as Guy joins the party (having arrived via separate transportation), and the gang starts off in search of the tomb of Lugh. After walking for a while and encountering some general nastiness, Guy realizes they have been under the effects of an illusion, and have wandered far off course. The party doubles back, but is forced to camp for the night before finding the tomb.

During the night, on Floyd's watch, a tribe of Driders (that's a drow / spider hybrid, folks) happens upon the party, and in exchange for some extra equipment the boys picked up along the way, the Driders tell the party the location of the tomb, which they know to be the realm of Bahamet, the spider god. The Driders inform the party that no one who has entered the cave where the tomb of Lugh is suspected to be returns, and those who do are usually killed by the Driders.

The party heads for the tomb in the morning, finding the cave fairly easily. Inside, they deal with all manner of giant spider business, including the destruction of Bahamet. Much rejoicing. Having cleaned out the giant spiders from the top of the cave, they find a lever which opens a porthculis to the next part of the cave, a long, LONG bridge. Brix casts Airwalk on some of the party (those who can't polymorph to fly), and the group passes over the bridge and all its terrors quickly and easily. Once on the other side, they find themselves in front of three doors.

Here ends the August 8 Session; the August 15 Session follows:

The party chooses their path through the gray, stone door which is the least adorned of the entryways. The path is lined with exceptionally deadly traps, but Floyd's trapfinding ability allows the party to circumvent most of them (one exception is a trap that nearly kills Brix, arguably the party's hardiest member). Finally, they reach the end of the hall, but are dismayed to see a door guarded by what appears to be ten iron golems. The party tries to rest and re-memorize, but regular attacks by shadows and wraiths make this effort impossible, so they charge into the room, hoping to get through the door before the iron golems can do considerable damage. To their great relief, only four of the golems are active, and Guy, Brix, and Virgil manage to dispatch them (with limited resources due to their depleted spell slots) while Floyd picks the lock to the room. The party opens the door and prepares to face their next challenge.

End of Session

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Game Notes March - July 2010, Part 3

The party heads to Doovin’s estate, where they intend to tell him of their impending trip to the Eastern Lands. However, they do not find Doovin there, only a man who is said to be watching the estate for Doovin while he is away on errands. The man is extremely rude and racist towards gnomes and dwarves, which results in Floyd zoning him out. He invites any commenter who recalls what this guy talked about to elaborate in the comments section, because he just doesn’t remember.

The party zips along to the border between Aggravail and the Eastern Lands, crossing over the border and finding a flying ship available for transport. The ship’s captain, a dwarf and native to the Eastern Lands, explains that he transports visitors between Aggravail and the Eastern Lands, although most travel is conducted by native Eastern Landers going to and from Aggravail. Very few visitors from Aggravail come to the Eastern Lands. The dwarf recalls three instances since he began his business, and one of them sounds as though they could be Ethan. The dwarf goes on to explain the political and religious structure of the Eastern Lands, which are controlled by houses that ally themselves with the elemental forces that give this land its strange power.

The party arrives at the central city of the Eastern Lands, where they encounter a variety of magical technology yet unknown to them. Guy, Virgil, and Brix are somewhat uncomfortable in this new environment, and Floyd tries to take it in stride. After taking a passenger car into the city, they walk through the common market, seeing all sorts of new species and manner of things. Eventually, the party makes its way to the Arcanum, the home of the arcane spellcasters’ guild. Once inside the Arcanum, however, they are identified and brought before an official, who reads three warrants for the party, one a summons from House Lin (the Halfling house), one a wanted ad from the mercanaries’ guild, and the third a summons from the wardens, a group that has taken upon itself the responsibility of governing the Eastern Lands.

The party asks to be released to House Lin, as their invitation seemed the least ominous. Once taken there, an official from House Lin introduces himself and tells the the party of the House structure in the Eastern Lands, and how it is difficult to get anything done or find protection without being a member of a house. Since Lin has extended their friendship, the boys express interest in joining House Lin, but must first complete a task for them as a test of their loyalty. They are sent to the wilderness to retreive a gem from a crashed airship, which they manage to do by tracking it down to a Temple of Krissk where it is being kept. There, they negotiate with the Temple elders and bring back the gem. Along the way they deal with trouble from a mercenary who ends up being more bluster than action.

The House of Lin is thoroughly impressed and bestows membership upon the party, who use this newfound allegiance to start getting tasks accomplished. Guy goes to the Azers to have his axe melted down and reforged with new magical properties. However, after melting the axe, the Azer explains that he cannot reforge it and refers him to someone who can (who is not in the city, natch). The party goes to the Arcanum to conduct their research undisturbed, and discover 1. the Eastern Lands’ page of Elliott’s journal, and 2. information on the Lay of Lugh. Virgil reconstructs his map for the Arcanum officials, who determine that the map is directions to the tomb of Lugh, where the Lay of Lugh is kept (among many other treasures; reportedly, a quarter of the documented artifacts in Guy’s compendium of artifacts can supposedly be found at the tomb of Lugh.

While Guy is working on getting his axe fixed, Virgil, Floyd, and Brix meet up with Pierce Thundar, who has been in the Eastern Lands for a while now. They swap news, and Pierce accompanies them on the trip to the Tomb of Lugh (Guy agrees to meet up with them later). The party takes an airship provided by House Lin, but discover that the captain has sold the information and the trip to another adventuring party. After determining that the party is evil (partially), and when talks with them break down, a fight breaks out, which the party wins with relative ease. The party also discovers that one of the other adventuring party has ALSO sold the information to another group, which is discovered to be following them on a ship of their own. The party arrives at the Tomb of Lugh, and Pierce departs with the ship.

End of Part 3; End of Sessions to date

Game Notes - March - July 2010, Part II

The party heads back towards Dreia for the final battle of the goblin war. On the way, they are paged by Doogal, whom they meet in Guy’s Port. Doogal has returned from Issa, bringing with him troops and supplies. In exchange, the Issans have requested control of the city of Guy’s Port as an embassy of sorts for their government to trade and engage in international diplomacy. Guy relinquishes the city to the Issans with only minor reluctance.

The party makes their way to Dreia, where the find the High Council (Braddock, Garvey, Bart, Ajax, Appolonious, Terick, etc.) making final preparations. The final battle strategy is settled upon, and then begins a grand final feast and celebration, which all the officers and enlisted men partake in.

Following this feast, the army makes ready to meet the approaching goblin force, this time commanded by none other than the Warlord Graxx himself. The party joins the front lines, alongside Samared, McGrath, and many of their other more powerful allies. There, they inspire the troops, help them prepare, and generally raise spirits before the battle.

Along the way, the party runs into Goldschmiddt and Rumplemintz, who enlist Virgil for an anticipated aspect of the battle – advance scouting reports a powerful trio of mind flayer wizards who will attempt to wage war against the magical abilities of the spellcasters in the battle. Goldschmiddt and Rumplemintz help Virgil prepare for this aspect of the battle.

At long last, the goblin army appears on the horizon, five times the size of the force assembled to fight them. An enormous, bloody battle ensues, with the party and the more advanced adventurers taking out the higher level baddies in the fight. Swarms of soldiers swell around the twelve Cathonic beasts of legend in this battle, even managing to take down one. Well into, but still in the early stages of the battle, Revan contacts the party with the news that he has figured out how to disable the magic-dampening beacons. The party leads a team towards one of the beacons, which the goblins defend voraciously. Finally, Floyd and Virgil gain access to the inside of the beacon while Guy, Brix, Samared, and McGrath defend their position from the outside.
Floyd and Virgil work their way up to the top of the beacon tower, then call Guy and Brix up. Whilst Guy and Floyd fight off the goblins attempting to defend the beacon’s power source, Virgil and Brix analyze the beacon and come to the conclusion that it can be destroyed with a Miracle spell. Brix casts the spell, which results in a holy schockwave resonating across the battlefield. Realizing it would be impossible for the party to take out all of the beacons this way, there is initially despair, until they realize that the holy energy has infused itself with the soldiers on the battlefield, raising the fallen and giving the allies new life and hope.

At this time, Goldschmiddt and Rumplemintz retreive Virgil for the mage-off. What follows is a fireworks show of magical energies as the three spellcasters trade blows with the mind flayers, but ultimately Goldschmiddt, Rumplemintz, and Virgil are victorious. This leads to a brief lull in the fighting while both sides regroup.

During this lull, the party is delighted to find Pskenart and Axe recently arrived from Larst, here to join the fight. As the battle resumes, the heroes fight valiantly, yet in spite of this, the beacons and Cathonic beasts are taking their toll on the numbers in the fight. It is when all hope seems nearly lost that Visgoth finally arrives (sort of), sending Harves Raeth and Malus to command his mighty army of undead. These undead swarm the Cathonic Beasts and the beacons, felling them with impressive alacrity. This distraction allows the party the opportunity it needs for a final push towards the Warlord. Taking their most elite group into the fray, the party works its way up to the Warlord’s prime entourage. A spectacular combat ensues, during which the party expends every available resource they have in battle. Pskenart and Floyd are both killed in the fight, and Axe is taken out, but Guy, nearly down to the last, manages to deliver the killing blow. The Warlord is dead.

The death of the Warlord has a major psychological ramification on the goblin forces. Disorganized and disillusioned, they scatter as the heroes and their army conduct mop-up duty. Guy, Virgil, and Brix carry their fallen comrades off the field, and, once the battle is over, resurrect Pskenart and Floyd.

The dead are tallied, and the number is overwhelming. Among the casualties of the battle are Vain, Pope Benedict, Ajax, Luth, and General Braddock. The fighting force of Western Aggravail is reduced to five digits from the two million who took the field. While the number of the dead is depressing, their sacrifice becomes fortuitious for the reality of the war’s aftermath that is to follow. Facing dramatically reduced resources, the survivors divide off into groups, occupying the Freelands territory (as of now, the only real livable land on the continent) in separate communities. Bart is asked to lead a community, and chooses to do so, promising to keep in touch with the party and work with them as they attempt to rebuild. Havern also returns to lead his community in peace. Appollonious, on the other hand, consults with the party, who decide that a regent must be installed in the Freelands to maintain order and keep the nation from dissolving. Appollonious takes on this regency, with the party engaged in other tasks.

The boys are concerned to find themselves at odds with followers of Doogal for control of Dreia. Tensions are raised to anger between Doogal’s spokesman and the party, and Virgil kills the spokesman in anger in front of many people. The rest of the party attempts to restrain Virgil, but Virgil chooses to Teleport away rather than face punishment. Guy, seeing no other recourse if he wants to keep the peace, declares Virgil an outlaw and pariah from the community.

The party goes off in search of Virgil, whom they find and begin to negotiate an acceptable return, however, Virgil is not keen on paying for his misdeed. The group attempts to involve Appollonious in their descion, but when they radio him, they learn from one of the Freelandian soldiers that Appollonious has been forced out of Haven by followers of Doogal. The party returns to Haven, marching straight in to the new leader of Doogal’s men and demanding they vacate Haven. The leader has the audacity to ask for terms, and they nearly come to blows again, saved only by a strong desire for diplomatic solution and a need not to escalate the situation further. Finally, Doogal himself returns, and the entire affair turns out to be a misunderstanding of where Doogal’s people were supposed to settle.

Doogal and Virgil negotiate their way through and appropriate punishment that will allow Doogal to save face. After considerable discussion, Virgil allows Doogal to behead him in front of his people. Brix immediately Ressurects Virgil, but the point is made.

The party heads west to The Warrior’s Rest to discuss their next move. Along the way they pass Guy’s Port and discover that three groups are fighting for control of it – followers of Doogal, the Issans, and a Freelandian faction. Guy visits the Issans and attempts a negotation for Issan food and supplies in exchange for increased trade and diplomatic inolvement in Aggravail.

Continuing on to Goldschmiddt, the party encounters Appollonius and expain the Doogal situation, and how he may safely return to Haven. Still on their way, the party is intercepted and taken to see Visgoth, who is curious to know if they have picked their twelve for the final fight (see the ten vs. the twelve propehcy). Visgoth explains that death is not necessarily an impediment to those who will fight in this encounter. During this conversation, the existence of the Elf-Grandmother comes up. Visgoth’s nostrils’ flare, and he’s off.

Of course, there’s no way the party’s not going to see this, so they zip off to Grandmother’s house. Guy, Brix, and Floyd maintain a safe distance while Virgil Polymorphs into a woodland critter and goes in for a closer look, using Teris’ spell circle to communicate the visuals and audio with the others. Visgoth confronts Grandmother, and an angry conversation ensues. Meanwhile, Virgil spots the Bellmaker taking off from Grandmother’s back porch with the twin elf boys in tow. Guy, Floyd, and Brix follow the Bellmaker, finding him just as he uses a bell to open a portal, and tosses the babies in. The party stops the Bellmaker from going through, demanding answers. Before he can elaborate, though, Linus drops in and kills the Bellmaker. Linus tells the boys that the Zarin they knew is dead, and that Linus’ consiousness has completely overtaken this body. He continues to profess non-allegienance, refusing to answer why he killed the Bellmaker, and he goes on his way.

Meanwhile, Virgil, from his hidden position, witnesses Visgoth kill Grandmother. Before she perishes, though, she imprints a map in Virgil’s brain. Virgil, alarmed that his position may have been given up, escapes and meets up with the rest of the party, who tell him about the Bellmaker encounter, and their inability to find the elf twins, Voltaire and Voltar. Vigil analyzes the portal, and determines that is an ever shifting portal, surmising that the twins may have ended up on compltely different planes from each other. The portal’s design keeps unwanted followers from being able to find you, but no individual who goes through it ends up in the same place. Realizing they have no hope of finding the twins, they dismiss the portal.

The party finally makes it to Goldschmiddt, and they explain everything that has happened to him. Goldschmiddt elaborates on a theory about Visgoth, that he is an aspect of something called the World Serpent, an antithesis to the spirt of creation (which Brix would classify as the one true God). Goldschmiddt believes that Visgoth’s desire to ascend is only part of a plan to reunite all of the World Serpent’s aspects, which would be very bad news for the universe. This news puts the party’s plan to find Ethan’s journal into high gear.

The group travels to the Necromancer’s Tower to retreive the second page, which they are able to do without major incident (they fight a transformed and mad angel, but nothing of major story consequence happens, nor do they encounter Elliott, as the journal page lies deep within the nether bowels of the tower, where Elliott is apparently unaware of its existence), only therein does the party discover further evidence of Elliott’s horrific evildoings. The page they find explains the mystical properties of the Lay of Lugh, a song fo the utmost difficulty, which, if played correctly, will suprress certain aspects of the vampire’s powers, enabling the party’s weapons to do damage to him. The Lay of Lugh, it is last rumored according to the page, is somewhere in the Eastern Lands. This knowledge directly influences the party’s next actions.

End of Part 2

Game Notes - March - July 2010

PART ONE

My apologies for the delay in postings. These past few months have been pretty busy. If you know me, it’s likely you know why. If you don’t, you probably don’t care why. Truth be told, neither do I. Since we’re in agreement, its on to business!

The following is a summation of what has occurred in game over the last few months. It is, unfortunately, not as comprehensive as session-to-session notes, but hopefully it will suffice.

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In Luthia, the party recruits Garam to lead them on an expedition to the Temple of Set, for the purposes of rescuing Benedict, and hopefully putting the Fist of Set down once and for all. Garam agrees with some reluctance. Brix sets his Word of Recall for Luthia, and Virgil concocts a Teleport, which, aided by Garam and Floyd, succeeds in reaching their destination (the probability for error increased when the spellcaster has not visited the location prior).

As the party sneaks into the Temple of Set, the boys and Garam discuss Ethan and his request that they destroy Visgoth. To this end, Garam tells the party of Ethan’s research and findings into the methodology. Garam explains that Ethan had put together how to do it, but in order to protect the information and keep Visgoth unaware that it had been sussed out, he broke the instructions apart and spread them out in various locations. These pages with information were kept in a journal by Ethan, and Garam tells the boys that three of the pages are kept in Moloch’s Palace in the Meloitic Empire, the Necromancer’s Tower (Elliott’s current address), and the Eastern Lands, respectively. The boys REJOICE* over the knowledge that their journey will take that much longer.

*Sarcasm

The group works their way through a couple of levels of the temple, managing to stay hidden OR kill everything they encounter with relative ease. Having the option to go up or down in the temple, the party elects to go up. On the penultimate level of the temple, they encounter a room full of beholders, which, due to their numbers and the ability to create coverage all over the room, the party does not defeat, rather escaping to the top level with Brixmore sealing off the top via a Stone Shape spell.

On the top level, the party finds several unoccupied small rooms. In one of those rooms, Floyd finds a secret compartment in a bureau, wherein there is a magical necklace. Thinking this necklace to be his on the virtue of the fact that he found it, Floyd does not consider the need to hide his findings from the rest of the party, or for that matter, store the necklace in his rectum.
The party finds the main audience chamber. The door is closed, but by listening through the door, they realize that the Fist of Set is in there, waiting for them. Coming to the conclusion that the enemy is prepped, the party preps their own spells, abilities, etc., and they charge in. There they find the Fist of Set, along with a bound Benedict, and several of the Fist’s best friends. A fight ensues, during which Garam is killed, but so is the Fist of Set and all the room’s evil inhabitants. Benedict is rescued, and the Brix attempts to ressurect Garam, but Garam declines the offer.

The party moves on to explore the lower levels of the Temple, After bypassing the beholder room, the party makes its way down to the subterannian levels, where they encounter a partial construct, partial undead version of Virgil, who explains that he is from a future where the party fought Visgoth and lost, due to Floyd’s reckless use of his recently-obtained necklace and his boots. The party demands Floyd hand his necklace over to Virgil, Floyd reluctantly agrees to when it becomes appartent that he will be subdued for it.

The party returns to Aggravail with Benedict, where they are met by General Braddock, who has a war-related mission for them – to stop a flotilla of goblin troops sailing around the northwest corner of the continent. Using Floyd’s newly learned Shadow Walk, the group travels speedily to the beach near Britewater, where they intend to cut the flotilla off. Virgil Polymorphs to scout the flotilla, and learns that the whole thing is supported by four Krakens. The boys decide to attack the flotilla by taking out the Krakens. They prepare all manner of underwater spells (Water Breathing, etc.), and head for the flotilla. Due to their excellent preparation, the party dispatches the Krakens handily and sinks the flotilla.

The group heads back to Luthia to report their success, but are intercepted on the way by Charles Fox, who has decided to cash in his favor that Floyd owed to him for transporting him out of the Dream Realm. Fox asks the boys to retreive a scroll for him that is kept in the Eastern Lands, and tells them that once they retreive it for him, he will deposit them wherever they would like to end up. The party considers this a good opportunity, both for getting a taste of the Eastern Lands (which they will have to visit to find one of Ethan’s journal pages), but also for the chance to get into the sealed-off Meliotic Empire city.

Fox transports the boys to a forested area in the Eastern Lands, but due to a teleporting error, Guy does not travel with them. Fox vows to find Guy whilst the others get his scroll. Virgil, Brix, and Floyd walk the path they have been left on, discovering that it is a road to a fortress. Further scouting reveals that the fortress is a compound for giant-folk. While continuing their scouting, the party observes the crash of a flying ship. They head over to scout it out, and find the crew all critically injured or dead. As they explore further, they find the ship loaded with precious goods – weaponry, art, etc. As they explore (invisibly), they discover one of the more mobile crewmen activatling self-destruct mechanisms on the crates. The boys sneak out to the top deck, where they find giants from the compound interrogating the ship’s captain, an turtle-like creature. Deciding this is not their fight, the boys sneak off the ship, and observe from a distance. There, they observe the giants raiding the ship for goods. The party follows the giants from a distance to observe how they enter the compound, ultimately discovering a large drainage entrance on the way.

Brix, Floyd, and Virgil sneak into the compound via the drainage entrance, huddled together under Floyd’s Invisibility Sphere and Silence spells. They pass through most of the compound unseen and find themselves in a grand audience chamber. There, they see the giants cowing to and dwarfed by their master, a titan. VERY cautiously, the party sneaks into the titan’s main chamber. There, adjacent to the bedroom, they find a treasure room. The trio discover a chest (trapped, naturally), wherein they find the scroll, among a few other goodies. Virgil searches for Ethan’s journal page, but it is not located here. Unfortunately, their entrance to the room sets off a few wards and alarms, and the party finds themselves face to face with the titan. Realizing quickly that they cannot win this fight, Virgil transforms the party into mice, and the escape under the door, much to the thundering fury of the titan, who puts out an all-points bulletin on the boys.

The party manages to sneak out of the compound, where they are met by Charles Fox, who takes the scroll and expresses his gratitude to the boys, then, as promised, transports them to the steps of the palace at the Melotic Empire. There, they find Guy has teleported along with them. Guy’s explanation for where he has been all this time bores Floyd, so he does not take note of it.

The party takes stock of the city, finding most of its citizens are under a magical compulsion. Many of them are wastrels, malnurished and looking very bad. The same cannot be said of the soldiers, who seem fully alert and well taken care of. The boys decide to take advantage of this situation by visiting the local magic shop, but find slim pickings there.

While discussing their plan, the party is visited by a future version of Floyd, who explains that history has rewritten itself so that what future Virgil had forewarned of does not come to pass. However, future Floyd explains that the party will need to return the necklace to Floyd if they wish to survive an upcoming encounter at the Necromancer’s Tower. The party takes this under consideration, but choose not to return the necklace to Floyd at this time, much to his consternation.

The party sneaks into the palace, unnoticed by the hypnotized populace and the otherwise occupied soldiers. They make their way to the library, where they find two alert librarians. Things quickly get out of hand, and the party is forced to dispatch with them. However, this alerts the castle to their presence, and they are forced to barricade themselves into the library while they think of a plan (one that hopefully comes with eight hours of rest). Much to their surprise, they find the effort to apprehend them to be token, at best, and they are allowed to sleep through the night (on watches, of course). After prepping, the party sneaks through the palace, but finds their way unobstructed as they approach the throne room. There, they find a disguised Moloch, who has decided to deal with the party himself. Moloch reveals his true form to the party, that of an Elder Green Wyrm. A seriously tense battle ensues, ending when Floyd uses a magical eye he found in the titan’s stash to disintegrate the beast. Jubilant, the party ascends to the top of the palace to ring the bell and release the city from its magical force field. However, having done so, they find that the citizens of Meloitic City, having been released from the magic that binds them, are too far gone to survive, and have sadly passed away. Meanwhile, Moloch has apparently sent a force westward to cause havoc. Virgil cuts this force off, and the soldiers, learning that Moloch is dead, disperse to their own ends.

Meanwhile, a transmission reaches party from General Braddock. The final battle of the goblin war is at hand.

End of Part 1

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

NPC Profile: Viggio

We're back. Let's try not to make a big deal out of this.

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Viggio was a member of the Seekers, a continent-wide group dedicated to fighting and hunting different monstrous entities. Viggio was one of the first adventurers that the party encountered upon leaving the abbey.

The party visited Viggio at the request of Dr. Ethan, who asked them to take a mysterious vial to him in Verl’s Crook. When they visited Viggio’s house, they found a corpulent man with a sour attitude. He asked the boys if anyone had touched the contents of the vial (naturally, Virgil had tasted it), so Viggio was forced to inject Virgil with a mysterious substance – the party later found out the vial contained vampire blood, and the injection was meant to prevent any ill side effects from imbibing the fluid.

Later on, while helping Ethan subdue a vampire, they discover that Viggio has been hurt fighting this monstrosity, but that he would recover.

When the party learns of the organization known as the Seekers, they discover Viggio is a part of it. As a member of the Seekers, Viggio participates in some of the bigger events in the party’s story: The Battle of the Cracked Flagon, the dinner meeting with Visgoth, and the Battle for the Basilica in Larst, where Viggio loses his life.

Like all who died in this battle and fought against Argoth, Viggio is revered as a hero.