It's a 15-page document, so instead of posting the text here, I've posted it to my Google drive. Here's the link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GcO1adBwigq3YCdzCNuB2fOzP35sRY1ziJHfbuSJIb0/edit?usp=sharing
Good luck! Info on the Elflands to follow in the next couple of days.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Sunday, September 14, 2014
This portion of the adventure is brought to you by the letter J
Because J is for James - the last priest of the Dead God Joven.
The party rides to Penumbria, having a conversation with General Joachim. More is told than asked, but the General seems happy with the results of the conversation - play the mage guild off against the Senate, induct the mages into the Militia, and go searching for people living outside of the Empire.
The third one doesn't seem like the highest priority for Joachim, but the other two ideas seem pretty good to him.
Next to Penumbria - as quick as possible, where Salamancar is found passed out at a table, drunk. His assistant Fred seems fine with them reviving Sal; the bartender Tony is wary, but ultimately strongly in favor of the plan, telling Cimbri that the other drunks in the bar are Sal's assistants, that Sal will need as Regent, and that he's Sal's secretary. Tony would follow Salamancar "to the ends of the earth, and back, if needed," which seems like an unusual thing for a secretary to the head of the thieve's guild to say.
The party rides, as quickly as possible, away from Penumbria towards Joven, with two carts full of drunks and their gear, the 'bartender' Tony driving the first cart, and a Militiawoman named Sara to drive the second cart.
Salamancar wakes up on the road the next morning, a bit confused at being in a cart, and resistant to the idea of assuming his duties as Regent. But here is reason (1) why J-is-for-James is the sponsor of this episode:
"AofEk. AofEk. Do you want to do this, or should I?"
"Go ahead, James," the mage replies.
James Morrigan looks Salamancar, the Regent of the Empire, in the eyes, and asks, "What oath did you swear?"
Salamancar, hungover and belligerent, pretends to not understand this question.
"You have duties. Was your oath to Joven, or to the Empire?", James asks again.
Salamancar's face shows several different emotions: rage, despair, sorrow, and acceptance, all within the space of several seconds. Then, nodding, he appears to sober up, and expresses to the party his resolve, "I have a hole inside of me, where my god is dead, but I swore an oath to the Empire and I am ready to perform my duties."
After that it's a bit tense, actually, and harsh words are said between Sal and AofEk, but by the end of the day Salamancar and his assistants, the last Paladins of the Empire, agree to take up their mantles, and perform their duties, even though they all feel an emptiness where their god used to live inside of them.
AofEk is surprised to see Sal heal himself from his hangover, and a conversation is had about spells, spellcasting, duties, oaths, and honor. That afternoon they part ways - Sal and the Paladins (and Tony) head to Joven to try and keep the Empire together, and Sara drives the party back to the Black Swamp.
The last thing Sal commands the party to do is "Keep on stirring shit up," which makes the party a little tense, because the command was to do what they've been doing, but it's hard to take commands.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppositional_defiant_disorder
So on to Coriander! Coriander is burned to the ground! That's not really unexpected.
The party searches for an afternoon, finding a few burnt bodies but nothing much of interest; the mages' hut in the swamp is not burnt down, but looks deserted. Heading further into the swamp towards the pull our heroes feel they see a small palisade in the distance, where they want to go, manned by...
Well, maybe 'manned' is not quite the appropriate word. Imagine a person, stretched and elongated by about a foot-and-a-half, and you'll have a good sense of these... beings? People?
Elves. Let us call them by the word that the world will come to refer to these - yes, people - as. Elves!
There is a moment of greetings, which is significantly less tense than some first-encounter-moments our heroes have experienced, where the Elves realize that the party is who they've been waiting for, and are not crazy cultists intent on only murder, and the party realizes that elves are pretty rad. Only one elf speaks Human, granted to him in a vision - a priest of Tir'Na'Nagosh (whose demesne is farmers, hunters, parks, the wilderness, and beauty). Introductions all around!
The Elves guard an entrance to a set of corridors, where there is a door that the elves cannot approach (they are filled with dread/despair/fear/horror/disgust when they get within ten feet of it) - the kind of door with runes and wards that our heroes have encountered before. Turin - the Elf priest - and the party share stories and fables, and AofEk and Wu'ur (an Elf mage) share spells - smiles and good feelings all around. Then a quick rest to re-memorize spells, while Cimbri and Fallia N'ir (the Elf Commander) spar; and into the passage they go.
Unfortunately, the Elves are still unable to approach the door even after it is opened and the wards removed; this causes AofEk no end of consternation. Turin is consulted, who reveals that there will be 'fire and blood' when the party proceeds inward; the Elves tell the party that they will watch the palisades, and keep everyone safe: "We have your back," Turin says. AofEk warns the Elf that our heroes go to kill a god, the god of the Elves, which is an unusual thing to say to a priest, but here is reason (2) why J-Is-for-James-the-last-priest-of-the-Dead-God-Joven is today's sponsor:
"Turin. It will be strange and life-changing. But remember that it is an adding, not a subtracting. New doors opening does not mean old doors close."
And with that, the party descends!
This crypt is much shorter and less walk-for-a-mile-through-underground-corridors than some of the crypts; the party soon comes to a 4-way intersection. To the left is a warded door; ahead is a set of ancient living-and-working spaces; to the right is a warded door, which pulls the party.
Opening the left door - not the one that draws our heroes - we find a room forty feet wide, several hundred feet long, with two 'rivers' of smoky steam travelling lengthwise down the chamber. It's a very odd effect; Cimbri finds the columns to be hot and wet, and the end to be solid but with a different feel than stone. AofEk casts a spell - and at that, demons appear!
On the one side, a 10-foot tall, white skinned man-shaped but featureless figure wearing a... well, a suit of armor made of bottles, is the only way to describe it. On the other side five blob-shaped-men figures emerge.
It's not a very tense fight; of course our heroes finish the demons handily. James summons fire elementals to guard the flank from the smaller creatures while Cimbri and Horace finish the bottle-armor thing. AofEk asks James about his summons, and lack of secret-door finding spells; James says that he's different than he used to be.
And then to the chamber that draws our lads. Opening the warded door, at the ready, we see...
What looks to be a stage, with concentric circular rows of seats descending, like an operating theatre; our heroes enter at the top. Down in the 'stage' part of the room is a study or a den; a fireplace, bookshelves on the walls, and a figure, seated in the middle on a fancy chair, 'reading' a book in 'his' hand. The figure appears unfinished, an amorphous man-shaped figure, but in an instant the party realizes that the formlessness is created by intricate, precise form.
The figure looks up at our heroes, closes 'her' book quickly, and, snapping 'its' fingers vanishes.
Oh. Once more the party has been in the presence of a god.
James clutches his head and sinks to the floor, moaning, and everyone feels a stronger connection to the realm of Gods. AofEk grabs the book the figure held and then casts his run-fast spell, and he and Cimbri race for the surface, where they find a battle just finished; one elf lies dead, the rest are mostly injured but mostly alive, and Turin quivers groaning on the ground. AofEk and Cimbri, with the help of AofEk's raven, take off after the retreating cultists (who attacked the compound); slaying several and generally mopping up.
Horace searches the chamber while James recovers; the room, on further inspection, is shoddy and fake; the bookshelves are painted wood, the fire is colored paper over a natural air vent, the chair is plywood and balsa.
When James recovers, he asks, "Horace - am I okay? How's my hair?" And while the last might seem an odd question, given the nature of the cultists (identifiable by their odd and oddly similar haircuts) an appropriate question. Horace is worried - in a variety of ways, one might suppose, but helps James to his feet; James grabs a book out of the bookshelf - yes, a real book out of the fake bookshelf - and the two return to the compound.
The book the figure held, which AofEk grabbed, was 112 pages, all filled with the same word, over and over:
ASHELOIATAUR.
((The contents of the book James grabbed, and some notes about the Elf lands, will follow in the next posts.))
Exciting times!
The party rides to Penumbria, having a conversation with General Joachim. More is told than asked, but the General seems happy with the results of the conversation - play the mage guild off against the Senate, induct the mages into the Militia, and go searching for people living outside of the Empire.
The third one doesn't seem like the highest priority for Joachim, but the other two ideas seem pretty good to him.
Next to Penumbria - as quick as possible, where Salamancar is found passed out at a table, drunk. His assistant Fred seems fine with them reviving Sal; the bartender Tony is wary, but ultimately strongly in favor of the plan, telling Cimbri that the other drunks in the bar are Sal's assistants, that Sal will need as Regent, and that he's Sal's secretary. Tony would follow Salamancar "to the ends of the earth, and back, if needed," which seems like an unusual thing for a secretary to the head of the thieve's guild to say.
The party rides, as quickly as possible, away from Penumbria towards Joven, with two carts full of drunks and their gear, the 'bartender' Tony driving the first cart, and a Militiawoman named Sara to drive the second cart.
Salamancar wakes up on the road the next morning, a bit confused at being in a cart, and resistant to the idea of assuming his duties as Regent. But here is reason (1) why J-is-for-James is the sponsor of this episode:
"AofEk. AofEk. Do you want to do this, or should I?"
"Go ahead, James," the mage replies.
James Morrigan looks Salamancar, the Regent of the Empire, in the eyes, and asks, "What oath did you swear?"
Salamancar, hungover and belligerent, pretends to not understand this question.
"You have duties. Was your oath to Joven, or to the Empire?", James asks again.
Salamancar's face shows several different emotions: rage, despair, sorrow, and acceptance, all within the space of several seconds. Then, nodding, he appears to sober up, and expresses to the party his resolve, "I have a hole inside of me, where my god is dead, but I swore an oath to the Empire and I am ready to perform my duties."
After that it's a bit tense, actually, and harsh words are said between Sal and AofEk, but by the end of the day Salamancar and his assistants, the last Paladins of the Empire, agree to take up their mantles, and perform their duties, even though they all feel an emptiness where their god used to live inside of them.
AofEk is surprised to see Sal heal himself from his hangover, and a conversation is had about spells, spellcasting, duties, oaths, and honor. That afternoon they part ways - Sal and the Paladins (and Tony) head to Joven to try and keep the Empire together, and Sara drives the party back to the Black Swamp.
The last thing Sal commands the party to do is "Keep on stirring shit up," which makes the party a little tense, because the command was to do what they've been doing, but it's hard to take commands.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppositional_defiant_disorder
So on to Coriander! Coriander is burned to the ground! That's not really unexpected.
The party searches for an afternoon, finding a few burnt bodies but nothing much of interest; the mages' hut in the swamp is not burnt down, but looks deserted. Heading further into the swamp towards the pull our heroes feel they see a small palisade in the distance, where they want to go, manned by...
Well, maybe 'manned' is not quite the appropriate word. Imagine a person, stretched and elongated by about a foot-and-a-half, and you'll have a good sense of these... beings? People?
Elves. Let us call them by the word that the world will come to refer to these - yes, people - as. Elves!
There is a moment of greetings, which is significantly less tense than some first-encounter-moments our heroes have experienced, where the Elves realize that the party is who they've been waiting for, and are not crazy cultists intent on only murder, and the party realizes that elves are pretty rad. Only one elf speaks Human, granted to him in a vision - a priest of Tir'Na'Nagosh (whose demesne is farmers, hunters, parks, the wilderness, and beauty). Introductions all around!
The Elves guard an entrance to a set of corridors, where there is a door that the elves cannot approach (they are filled with dread/despair/fear/horror/disgust when they get within ten feet of it) - the kind of door with runes and wards that our heroes have encountered before. Turin - the Elf priest - and the party share stories and fables, and AofEk and Wu'ur (an Elf mage) share spells - smiles and good feelings all around. Then a quick rest to re-memorize spells, while Cimbri and Fallia N'ir (the Elf Commander) spar; and into the passage they go.
Unfortunately, the Elves are still unable to approach the door even after it is opened and the wards removed; this causes AofEk no end of consternation. Turin is consulted, who reveals that there will be 'fire and blood' when the party proceeds inward; the Elves tell the party that they will watch the palisades, and keep everyone safe: "We have your back," Turin says. AofEk warns the Elf that our heroes go to kill a god, the god of the Elves, which is an unusual thing to say to a priest, but here is reason (2) why J-Is-for-James-the-last-priest-of-the-Dead-God-Joven is today's sponsor:
"Turin. It will be strange and life-changing. But remember that it is an adding, not a subtracting. New doors opening does not mean old doors close."
And with that, the party descends!
This crypt is much shorter and less walk-for-a-mile-through-underground-corridors than some of the crypts; the party soon comes to a 4-way intersection. To the left is a warded door; ahead is a set of ancient living-and-working spaces; to the right is a warded door, which pulls the party.
Opening the left door - not the one that draws our heroes - we find a room forty feet wide, several hundred feet long, with two 'rivers' of smoky steam travelling lengthwise down the chamber. It's a very odd effect; Cimbri finds the columns to be hot and wet, and the end to be solid but with a different feel than stone. AofEk casts a spell - and at that, demons appear!
On the one side, a 10-foot tall, white skinned man-shaped but featureless figure wearing a... well, a suit of armor made of bottles, is the only way to describe it. On the other side five blob-shaped-men figures emerge.
It's not a very tense fight; of course our heroes finish the demons handily. James summons fire elementals to guard the flank from the smaller creatures while Cimbri and Horace finish the bottle-armor thing. AofEk asks James about his summons, and lack of secret-door finding spells; James says that he's different than he used to be.
And then to the chamber that draws our lads. Opening the warded door, at the ready, we see...
What looks to be a stage, with concentric circular rows of seats descending, like an operating theatre; our heroes enter at the top. Down in the 'stage' part of the room is a study or a den; a fireplace, bookshelves on the walls, and a figure, seated in the middle on a fancy chair, 'reading' a book in 'his' hand. The figure appears unfinished, an amorphous man-shaped figure, but in an instant the party realizes that the formlessness is created by intricate, precise form.
The figure looks up at our heroes, closes 'her' book quickly, and, snapping 'its' fingers vanishes.
Oh. Once more the party has been in the presence of a god.
James clutches his head and sinks to the floor, moaning, and everyone feels a stronger connection to the realm of Gods. AofEk grabs the book the figure held and then casts his run-fast spell, and he and Cimbri race for the surface, where they find a battle just finished; one elf lies dead, the rest are mostly injured but mostly alive, and Turin quivers groaning on the ground. AofEk and Cimbri, with the help of AofEk's raven, take off after the retreating cultists (who attacked the compound); slaying several and generally mopping up.
Horace searches the chamber while James recovers; the room, on further inspection, is shoddy and fake; the bookshelves are painted wood, the fire is colored paper over a natural air vent, the chair is plywood and balsa.
When James recovers, he asks, "Horace - am I okay? How's my hair?" And while the last might seem an odd question, given the nature of the cultists (identifiable by their odd and oddly similar haircuts) an appropriate question. Horace is worried - in a variety of ways, one might suppose, but helps James to his feet; James grabs a book out of the bookshelf - yes, a real book out of the fake bookshelf - and the two return to the compound.
The book the figure held, which AofEk grabbed, was 112 pages, all filled with the same word, over and over:
ASHELOIATAUR.
((The contents of the book James grabbed, and some notes about the Elf lands, will follow in the next posts.))
Exciting times!
Thursday, September 11, 2014
A death and the aftermath
The party descends into the crypt, along a path strewn with the dead and the dead-undead, through open secret doors and hidden panels, passing through an open door with runes and wards (In this crypt (asleep/dead/alive) Johrven lies dreaming. Long may he (live/rest)), and finally seeing the last three of the mercenaries and thieves from the lava tubes, past another runed and warded door (Pass through to (ruin/change/rebuild) the world. A (chained/dead/sleeping) god is nigh), picking a lock. The party is furious that the other people who felt the same call as they heeded the call as well, but manage to put their differences behind them enough to let the two thieves and the mercenary enter the next chamber first - where they walk into the open arms of some gnarled and desiccated walking corpses.
It is a deadly fight! The barbarian almost dies! Horace almost dies! It is very exciting! But, the party prevails, and sets off to explore. First to a room with four doors, which seem to correspond to the four elements of the room where Aelaephixia was found. Next to a set of chambers that appear to have once been living and working quarters. Finally a smallish room, with a lower ceiling than the rest, and a man, crucified and vivisected, and apparently still alive
Uh oh.
James and AofEk rush over and begin pulling the large spikes holding the man's wrists and ankles to the wall, as well as the smaller spikes keeping his skin peeled back from his abdomen and chest. "Who was first?" asks the somehow still-alive figure. The party tries to answer with their own questions, but the god is insistent: WHO WAS FIRST? "Aelaephixia," he is told, at which he moans, and says, "Oh - it is war, then."
There is a shuddery moment of doubt and pain and fear, and then Johrven/Joven (for that is who dies here, today - God is Dead) looks at each person and says, "They are coming. Do not trust them. Do not...." And dies, in James' arms.
There is a stunned moment, but then Joven begins to leave, shrinking as if getting farther away. James plucks out his eye as he disappears, until all that is left of the Dead God is his eye, which James hands to AofEk. "I am connected to that," James says, "But I do not care to carry it." AofEk is intrigued and you can almost feel the schemes and plans - but no, that is merely the ground trembling, as if mourning the passing of God.
The trembles and shakings get worse, and the party starts to leave down the long corridor - but with a vicious rumble the hall collapses. Heading back to the room with elemental doors, the party considers their options - until Horace, putting his head into the room of Air, gets gathered into a whirling vortex and lifted bodily upwards. James follows, and there's a tense moment where both AofEk and Cimbri want to go last - but both eventually leave the tomb of the Dead God Joven.
Emerging from... somewhere... the party arrives near a fountain which burbles a few blocks from the Temple - and as the party lands, the watch the ground open and the main Temple collapse down into the earth.
The city of Joven begins to burn.
Uh oh.
Three more people were present when Aelaephixia re-entered the world, who for a variety of reasons were unable to enter the Tomb of the Dead God; Kylie and Francis are missing from Emperor Milosh's house, and Angus is found dead in his cell, his eyes torn out of his head and held in his hands.
Next stop is the Asylum, where after a slightly tense moment the party re-meets Father Darbouw. It's nice to know powerful people - like, for instance, the last two priests in the world, potentially. Darbouw is surprisingly lucid, and asks for assistance in the asylum - they would like some food, and guards. The party agrees and sets off to find some high-ranking militia person.
At this point, Cimbri and Horace both leave to rescue people and their things from burning buildings; Cimbri officially, with a Major to help him move quickly from victim to victim; Horace stealthily, with an eye towards plunder. Both make the city more better than worse, however. James leaves on his own mysterious mission. AofEk commands that the sinkhole which swallowed the Temple be guarded and a perimter set up; once he sees that such a thing is being done, he returns to Milosh's house, where the rest of the party eventually finds their way.
While settling down for a meal, however, a private in the Militia rides up, exhorting the party to come to the Senate hall, where the Emperor has been slain.
Uh-oh.
The party finds the Emperor surrounded by the bodies of a dozen or so cultists, guards in a panic, and pandemonium. They enter the Senate hall, where AofEk speaks to the Senators, calming them (somewhat) and causing some spirited debate. They are tasked with returning to Penumbria to retrieve the Regent, so that he may return to Joven and restore order to the Empire.
Riding out of town that night, General Joachim Chatelain rides for the first hour or so, gleaning what information he can from the party that might help him guide his wounded city through the next month or so, and offering to answer any questions the party might have.
With heavy hearts and weary bodies, the party makes haste for Penumbria.
It is a deadly fight! The barbarian almost dies! Horace almost dies! It is very exciting! But, the party prevails, and sets off to explore. First to a room with four doors, which seem to correspond to the four elements of the room where Aelaephixia was found. Next to a set of chambers that appear to have once been living and working quarters. Finally a smallish room, with a lower ceiling than the rest, and a man, crucified and vivisected, and apparently still alive
Uh oh.
James and AofEk rush over and begin pulling the large spikes holding the man's wrists and ankles to the wall, as well as the smaller spikes keeping his skin peeled back from his abdomen and chest. "Who was first?" asks the somehow still-alive figure. The party tries to answer with their own questions, but the god is insistent: WHO WAS FIRST? "Aelaephixia," he is told, at which he moans, and says, "Oh - it is war, then."
There is a shuddery moment of doubt and pain and fear, and then Johrven/Joven (for that is who dies here, today - God is Dead) looks at each person and says, "They are coming. Do not trust them. Do not...." And dies, in James' arms.
There is a stunned moment, but then Joven begins to leave, shrinking as if getting farther away. James plucks out his eye as he disappears, until all that is left of the Dead God is his eye, which James hands to AofEk. "I am connected to that," James says, "But I do not care to carry it." AofEk is intrigued and you can almost feel the schemes and plans - but no, that is merely the ground trembling, as if mourning the passing of God.
The trembles and shakings get worse, and the party starts to leave down the long corridor - but with a vicious rumble the hall collapses. Heading back to the room with elemental doors, the party considers their options - until Horace, putting his head into the room of Air, gets gathered into a whirling vortex and lifted bodily upwards. James follows, and there's a tense moment where both AofEk and Cimbri want to go last - but both eventually leave the tomb of the Dead God Joven.
Emerging from... somewhere... the party arrives near a fountain which burbles a few blocks from the Temple - and as the party lands, the watch the ground open and the main Temple collapse down into the earth.
The city of Joven begins to burn.
Uh oh.
Three more people were present when Aelaephixia re-entered the world, who for a variety of reasons were unable to enter the Tomb of the Dead God; Kylie and Francis are missing from Emperor Milosh's house, and Angus is found dead in his cell, his eyes torn out of his head and held in his hands.
Next stop is the Asylum, where after a slightly tense moment the party re-meets Father Darbouw. It's nice to know powerful people - like, for instance, the last two priests in the world, potentially. Darbouw is surprisingly lucid, and asks for assistance in the asylum - they would like some food, and guards. The party agrees and sets off to find some high-ranking militia person.
At this point, Cimbri and Horace both leave to rescue people and their things from burning buildings; Cimbri officially, with a Major to help him move quickly from victim to victim; Horace stealthily, with an eye towards plunder. Both make the city more better than worse, however. James leaves on his own mysterious mission. AofEk commands that the sinkhole which swallowed the Temple be guarded and a perimter set up; once he sees that such a thing is being done, he returns to Milosh's house, where the rest of the party eventually finds their way.
While settling down for a meal, however, a private in the Militia rides up, exhorting the party to come to the Senate hall, where the Emperor has been slain.
Uh-oh.
The party finds the Emperor surrounded by the bodies of a dozen or so cultists, guards in a panic, and pandemonium. They enter the Senate hall, where AofEk speaks to the Senators, calming them (somewhat) and causing some spirited debate. They are tasked with returning to Penumbria to retrieve the Regent, so that he may return to Joven and restore order to the Empire.
Riding out of town that night, General Joachim Chatelain rides for the first hour or so, gleaning what information he can from the party that might help him guide his wounded city through the next month or so, and offering to answer any questions the party might have.
With heavy hearts and weary bodies, the party makes haste for Penumbria.
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