Wednesday, July 28, 2010

7/28/2010: Ravenrook


Graywing suffers from terrible dreams. They had throw themselves on the ground and slept fitfully through the night with the red moon above. He dreams of death – death in the hands of a pinkish lizard the size of an elephant, devouring him bite by bite as he shed feathers and shrieked.

He snapped out of it and fell into a dreamless but fitful sleep. When they wake in the morning, they are heavy and drowsy, not healing at all. Mist wraps the mountain the forest around them and they hear the crows and wings in the air around them. Twinkie goes out to gather herbs and finds Krixil. She takes him back to the camp and introduces him to the group. Josie vouches for him. Greywing sees the krixil is half in the spirit plane and half in reality. Otherwise he looks like little more than a wizened goblin with an odd energy.

[[GM Note: Krixil is from a previous game set, just like Sultrani. He participated in a prophecy, that he helped come true. He helped Cerrunuous cheat Death out of his soul, coming back into the world. Krixil had been invested with a bit of godhead and still retains some minute amounts at this point.]]

Krixil feels annoyed by the mist so he reels it in. Twinkie makes some food. The ravens gather and eat some of her food.

Krixil speaks to the ravens for some time but finds nothing out about Malus or the shrine above. Greywing finds Humr, a crow guardian spirit, and they join into one. Humr speaks of Malus, how he had been set free by him for some reason he knows not why. He chooses Graywing to join with as he must be joined to a material being or he fades.

Krixil speaks to the mountain the mountain refuses to talk to him because he is too young. This makes him laugh and meditate on the matter. After some time, the decided to just walk it. On the way up the path they come across a water basin at the foot of the well traveled path up the mountain. They leave an offering, which is snatched up by the ravens.

They run into the Lychian, which creates a powerful environmental effect, a sense of dread, heavy oppression, and chill. Its danger is not in its effect but the things it attracts. Its so powerful that only Sultrani and Graywing can make it in.

They find a deep pit at the center and corrupted ravens feasting on bones. Malus had died and the spirits of the ravens corrupted. Only Waychesk was uncorrupted and he too joins with his brother in Graywing.

The ascend, bearing the bones of Malus. On the mountain top, the fires are burning among the temple. Its barren and cold, even though fires burn everywhere. Within is a Silitik, another spirit, this one a negative fiery one that drains life through its fires. The altar has been shattered. They confront the Silitik, and the crow spirits come out of Graywing. As they battle, crow spirits gather and mass, until they fall upon the spirit like a wave, extinguishing its fire.

Afterward, the find that no fire will start on the mountain and will not for one hundred years. Kain, thinking he would loot found nothing. They clean the temple and put it back in order. The advent of Triagularus instills fear but Graywing assures them the demesne of the temple would be strong enough to keep them safe.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

7/21/2010: A walk to Ravenrook


The last Greywing saw as they left the crazed world that opened atop the mountain was a the deep purple of the raven's wings. They stayed with him during a long dreaming period, repeating in his mind until he woke and stayed that way. The wind was gentle and welcome, a happy change from the times he remember, waking only when the pain of the gold erupting from his body tore him from the arcane sleep brought on by Kaurus, the Woten priest that saved him and the others.

The others had suffered as he did, but he was first to wake and stay so. He quickly found the others, all in good hands, except Klaus, whom Kaurus said had slipped away shortly after they arrived.

Kaurus spent some time with Greywing, speaking of how he was guided here by Woten to enlist his help. Two were called to assist, one a small plump hobbitt known as "Twinkie" or Twink for short and Hyrcul or Kain for short. Both were traded from Death by Woten; Twink after she died from tasting another's cooking in Hobbiton and Kain after he died in a brothel in Hyrkhallia.

Tsultrani spends some time alone when she is able, plumbing the depths of her mind for a connection to her patron. She spends some time doing so before coming to listen to Kaurus when he calls them all together. Kaurus speaks and asks them to travel to the Mickleback Mountains, to the spire of Ravenrook and find out what happened to brother Malus.

He, Kaurus, would go himself but he is already quested to liberate the Goinsolea, the Crystal Stands in the Myrmydios Mountains dedicated to Skirrin that has a Night Demon nest setting on it.

More details followed and after some discussion, they agree to assist Kaurus. They get directions and some funds. The group talks for a bit, speaking uneasily to their two new members for a little bit and agree to leave on the morrow.

[[GM note: When the players left the world of gold they found that the longer they stayed there the more gold built up in their system. When they returned, it was what made them sick, poisoning their system. It took days to bleed it out their pores, eyes, mouth, etc.]]

Between them all they realize they have slipped backwards in time and that Triangularus occurs within 2 months. While the discussion on how best to pass that horrible time consumes the rest, Tsultrani slips away to a stream to bathe (and scope out her gold).

In the morning Kaurus blesses them all with god speed and they depart. They take off down the mountain and run into some miners coming up the trail. Twinkie spends some time cheerfully talking to the miners that came up the trail. They loop back to get here and descend into the town.

There, in the town of the Quarries, Lord Edraisus is celebrating his recent marriage. He has been moving around the noble domain and celebrating in the seven "best" places of his noble lands. Most of the town is shut down to join in the festivities and people are everywhere.

Twinkie buys a ton of food for travel and they wander about town, enjoying themselves until they tired. They spend night next to the tree and dream dreams about the tree's past, where it was alive during the Dark Years and was an Egregore.

Twink specially prepares some "jerky" that over excites each player that eats it (jitters).

In the morning they depart, taking the kings road toward the High Line. The trek is fairly uneventful, though at one point they are harassed by Viruelandian soldiers (especially Kain). He maintains his cool and no trouble ensues.

They arrive late to cross over the High Line and camp at its base with the other merchants and travelers. The guards warn them of the Harpies that nest below and tell them all to keep a vigilant guard during the night. In seeking out a good fire, they meet Tandra, the mage, from Ghorfar, but currently adjunct professor in Talismonde at the College of Magik. He has a ton of questions about the different people and keeps them up for hours asking.

Shortly after camping, someone from a campfire close to the High Line gets carried off by a harpy. Greywing goes off to give death rites with Tsultrani. Tandras gets excited about going to rescue the taken man but is talked out of it by the others. Tandras creates a stinky pot of stuff to divine whether the man is dead by dawn or not.

Harpies come back on the last watch and swoop down and pick up Tandras. Two of them make off with Tandras but are killed in an aerial fight between Greywing, Tsultrani and Kain. Tsultrani jumps and is grabbed and thrown by Greywing onto one Harpy. The two end up tangled in trees and then on the ground where Tsultrani finishes it. The other cannot handle the weight and drops down close enough for Kain and Greywing to take care of it.

Aurok of the House of the Black Lion, leader of the High Line guards is impressed and commends the group for their actions with the harpies.

The group passes over the High Line and continues on to the town Firefly. They stay the night and then proceeded through the dark forest near Firefly until they made it to the base of RavenRook.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

7/14/2010: In the world of gold


After transitioning into the world of gold the players wake up in a deep forest, one with tall trees thick with foliage and colorful flowers.

Graywing flies up through the trees while the rest take a look around the immediate area. He sees a carpet of imperial purple butterflies that rest on the tops of the trees like a gleaming carpet. He watched for a while then notices a winged serpent preying on them. Since its nearly five time his size, it sucks up the butterflies in masses. He drops down below.

The rest had discovered a road in ill repair. Serviceable but heavily overgrown. They follow it for a time until they hear movement in the trees. Something was coming, something of good size but strange sound, more akin to rolling stones. They fan out and wait, taking concealment.

What comes from the trees is a mass of water, rolling and frothing, taking on humanoid shape and limbs as it rolled into area. It seemed aggressive, sending water tentacles unerringly to their hiding positions. Feeling threatened, the player attacked. Fire, blade, and Fist made short work of it, its seemingly watery shape turning out to be gelatinous and solid enough to damage. When hammered on enough, it pops, akin to the bubble, sending water and spray flying everywhere. Out of its core comes three spears that fly out at 90-degree angles. It misses the rest, stabbing into trees.

Puzzled, they investigate the remains, or, at least what they can. The spears are serviceable but nothing special. Everyone falls into disagreement about why or how got here. They are trying to figure out why they are in this strange world instead of in a mine like they thought. They figure out that it may have meant in the mind not “mine”.

The Amazon had taken hurt and Sultrani tried out her medical skin. Unused to healing any but herself, she fared poorly (fumbled; can't use it for a week). They move away from the site and set up a campfire and huddle next to it. Sultrani fumbles (again) her self control and pees herself in the process of trying to “marshal” her senses.

After a time and some rest they hear a squeaky cart sound (wheel) on the small road that meanders through the forest. Graywing takes flight and goes and investigate. He sees an old man pushing a rickety cart full of junk along the road. They decide to head towards the squeaky wheel.

The next bit is long mess of interaction as they all banter and talk back and forth. The old man is feisty, cantankerous and rude, something that doesn't endear him to the rest. The old man doesn't tell them anything, alluding to the idea that he too was pulled into the world and did not dwell here.

Unsure of his intentions, they choose to have him come along in order to keep an eye on him instead of leaving him at their back. They travel for a time and are accosted by a fiery being, like the watery one. It was less humanoid and more avian, though it dies like the water one. At its death – three spears. A single fiery feather follows the hawkman but he avoids it and it falls to the ground and dies out.

Party tries to identify what the spears are, from what culture. They have no idea.

The old man, unhappy with things, decides to mess with the group. He has keen higher senses, and uses them to pick up a movement in the mental construct of the world and pushes. The world speeds up, zipping from night to day, noontime, in a heartbeat. Everyone mini-freaks out.

The shadow of a great raven passes over and Graywing feels better (he follows Skirin). He puts away his flute and flies after it. He fails to catch up to it. Perched on a tree limb, he uses his questing sight to find the way. He gets the vision of of rock, bursting out of the ground, pointing towards the distant mountain.

Sultrani, thinking back to the song they sung back in the mountains, ponders on the last song, and remembers it “felt” like a cool breeze flowing through the trees.

Clouds stir and move, coming together, time speeds up (old man again) and storms around them, forming into a windy being that dies like the others.

Old man pushes again when he feels the mind construct moving. The rest feel the world teeter with them, and then they move, a million miles an hour along the road, to the edge of the mountain.

Graywing, Sultrani, the Amazon projectile vomit in the tilting world. Graywing gets a vision of a tree with rotting roots, about to fall.

They run, drawn toward the mountain in some way. They bust into a clearing with three ogrish beings, stabbing spears in the roots. Graywing sweeps up Sulrani and drops her over one of them. She drops on it, invoking her inner power, killing it with a single shot (critical hit), splatting it and sending a shock wave 50 ft around. Graywing swooped again and drops her on a second one, slamming it and knocking it down but not killing it.

Sultrani and Graywing pound another ogre while the Amazon charges another and joins the fray. They all mix it up with the three ogrish beings, coming out on top, especially after Klaus joins too.

The tree starts regenerating but the old man pulls and kills the tree. It splits and then falls. The world feels weird and starts fading out, showing “worn” spots that fades into nothing.

Sultrani attacks the old man with a tea cup, breaking his nose. Sultrani and he start fighting. Graywing dive bombs him. The Old man tosses her into the cart with his mental power and Graywing swoops on her and takes her up to a tree. Seeing it as useless, they flee, especially as the world shows more fraying.

The old man and the Amazon catch sight of a stream of golden butterflies. They follow them while Graywing, Sultrani, and Klaus flee back to the place they started. The golden butterflies lead to a massive vault of them and the two make it inside right as the fold crushes in around them. The other three flee back to their starting point, seeing the world split with golden light around the edges. They make it thorugh right as everything implodes behind them.

Session end.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

07/7/2010: On the Trail of a Riddle

The notes for these days are hopelessly lost.  However, I'll re-complete them as best as possible, though it will be poor.  Guys, if you remember more, please update this post or comment below.

The story unfolded in a town in southern Arduin known as the Quarries.  Sultrani breezed into town with Klaus von Klaus.  They quickly met up with an Amazon (name escapes me) and moved around town for a bit.  A festival was going on, which was distracting but they managed to meet up with their contact.  The Amazon and Klaus and Sultrani realized they had the same contact.  The infamous meeting at the sausage shop is where the the Urukk, who shall forever be known as Job!, entered the group.  The last player was more offish than the rest, and stayed to haunting the Black Jade Mountains.  The sausage shop and everyone subsequent meetings there (not much was open during the festival of twins) made for a riff of sausage jokes for rest of the game.

Anyway, some negotiations ended up with our Urukk joining in the group as a bodyguard.  Some finagling with a few less covert (i.e., underworld) connections lead to the discovery of an entire underground area beneath the town through the cellars of a warehouse.  It unfolded in game play among that characters that the group was on the trail of a riddle, one about gold hidden behind the bars of song and dream.  Also, that they were not the only game in town looking to discover this glittering goodness.

Something that became readily apparent as events went sour underground.  The Amazon's connection to another Amazon, this one a retired gladiator, led to an altercation.  Not with her, but with a rival group that wanted to shut her down as a source of information.   The players ran in the face of superior numbers but it meant leaving the gladiator contact behind and started a chase scene.

The chase lasted but it quickly became evident that they were not going to escape unless the group chasing them was slowed down.   The Urukk steadfastly turned back and met them,  As he steadfastly faced them, they slowed and then engaged.  The Urukk fell the first in one blow but it was his own end as well, since he slipped and gutted himself in the same blow.  His resolution was fear-inspiring though, as he spilled his entrails across path as he died, creating a slippery mess of blood and guts his opponents had to stomp through.

The rest ran, moving south out of the town towards the quarries and into the Black Jade Mountains.  Here they met Graywing, who helped them escape.  He spoke with spirits and had been communing with the dead.  The players put their notes together and puzzled out the song that was required to open the hidden nexus gate into the world of gold.

session end