With treasure in hand, the Pushermen return to the city of prophecy, the Prophecity. No matter where you are in the city, you can see the Beardspire, the upside-down beard-shaped building at the center of the Academy district. In the main courtyard in front of the spire is a 40' golden statue with barely an impression of a face, standing straight up.
The Beardspire entrance is wreathed in braided white hair. When the heroes approach, the lobby inside fades to black and the main chamber of the Council of Ioun fades in. Inside is an octagonal table with a crystal structure floating in the center. The highest members of the council stand at their approach.
The greatest among them, the man so wise he has three beards, is Steven Spellberg. His advisors are Martin Sorcer-ese, Robert Zemagickis, and M. Knight Shazamalan. They were mostly included just to make the joke.
The Pushermen present their findings. The box Arcanus carried inside his coffin. Spellberg sighed as he handed it off to have its hex removed but was otherwise pleased with the discovery. Chrome handed him the skull of the random nobody from the fake sarcophagus, and he said he'd have a historian look at it just in case.
Pleased with what they've done, Spellberg offered a favor to each of the heroes. Chrome had his chest compartment upgraded to extra-dimensional space. It could store anything that would fit through the roughly 12" opening. Ka-Moh had the pipe he took from the Killer Queen enchanted to let him speak draconic whenever he smokes. I would tell you what the other two got, but I don't remember, and it doesn't look to be marked on their character sheets. Other than that, some gold was dumped on random equipment upgrades.
The Pushermen stopped in for a drink at the Prophecity's #1 bar, The Chosen One. Seated at every table was a dark brooding mysterious figure who would mumble about their heroic destiny and their tragic past. Except it was obvious everyone was only pretending. And should anyone mention a great deed or a past war, voices from every direction would cry out about their own deeds and what wars they fought in. "No war was so horrific as the one that no one remembers," intones a shadowed figure probably voiced by Steve Blum. "I fought in 37 wars, and they all lasted for a billion years!" shouted another.
After things settled down, the Pushermen caught word that there was trouble in the town of East Hope. Cleary a job for heroes! They went back to Spellberg to possibly snag some free horses, but he could only let them borrow his private magical coach. Fine by them. On the way to East Hope, they passed an elf on horse apparently played by Dr. Chase from House. Sometimes voices just come out. He let them know of the ice dragon that was frightening the town and had frozen over the Summerwood to make a new home, and that East Hope was offering a reward for its head. Ka-Moh knew he had to prove his might against this dragon, whether it was the one he hunted or not.
The party was stopped at the gate into East Hope to have their bags inspected. There had been a recent string of thefts, and everyone got questioned and inspected as they entered. In spite of that, the town was positively full of people moving about and trading (and stealing) goods. In fact, Ka-Moh had one of his money pouches stolen by a little girl who tried to run, but they cornered her inside a wrecked mansion and forced her to give the money back. Before she could be turned in, she wrestled her way out and disappeared into the nearest crowd.
The Pushermen settled down for a drink in The Wishing Well. Each table inside had a well in the center to drop coins into, and drinks would appear with a small pop. A sign by the door read, "A wish and a coin are all you require, for any fine beverage you may desire." It was here they found out about the local church's plight. Dozens of citizens were sick with something called the caffeine curse and were unable sleep. The church was expecting a shipment of medicine that never came and were down to their last healing salves. The forest was the shortest route through, and the supplies never made it.
The sign in front of the church had rewards posted for the dragon's head and the salves, and also a request for information about warhorses that were stolen from the local militia.
They made it to Summerwood late that night. The ground was covered in snow and ice, and the trees were weighed down under thick layers of ice. Not far into the forest, Samel found a ring of mushrooms, just a few feet wide, giving of waves of Fey magic. Carefully stepping inside it, he felt it giving off healing energy and quickly stepped out again so not to use up the magic before it was needed.
Ahead, they noticed two mounted figures in the dim moonlight and crept closer. The horses were saddled up just like the ones East Hope soldiers ride, but their riders were certainly not as well dressed. Confident they found the stolen horses, the Pushermen attacked and positively destroyed one bandit but left the other alive for questioning. But their persuasion attempts didn't work, so they kept him prisoner to drag back to town later to prove their innocence if they needed to.
Pressing on, they saw a druid woman kneeling down to inspect something on the ground. Ka-Moh approached cautiously but found her to be a little too transparent for his comfort. A specter materialized in front of the party and shot waves of psychic energy at them, knocking them to the ground. Recovering quickly, they banished the incorporeal beings into oblivion and found a holy Raven Queen symbol Samel could use to enhance his powers. Samel was pleased.
Umm. And then we wrapped up! End Chapter.
December 29, 2009
December 16, 2009
Pics from Chapter 2
I finally got the pics from the 2nd chapter emailed to me. Here's a few of them.
The party's first critical hit. It is a wonderful sight, that victorious number 20. This one belonged to Nalied.
Heroic fist triangle thing! I couldn't tell you exactly when this was, but I'm guessing it was after the Killer Queen battle.
Weirdos.
I should buy some miniatures and dungeon tiles or something, 'cause this thing of marking out the room shape with Pokemon damage counters, magic circles with Lego rectangles, and the intimidating 3x3 boss monster with unimpressive dice is kind of ugly. And I don't know why Nalied has another Lego head on his foot. You'll have to ask him.
Weirdos.
Unless there are interesting pics for the next game, I'll stick to just write-ups and the occasional maps and graphics. Otherwise, it's going to get kind of repetitive.
December 13, 2009
The World So Far
With adventures being loosely planned out two or three ahead, I started to get a grip on how locations would be arranged, so it was time to commit that to paper. I present the region called Verdantica.
This map isn't complete, of course. But it's a good enough start. Each line connecting two nodes represents 15 miles of travel, so at normal speed, the party can move two nodes per day. For now, I've only numbered the locations that I currently have names for. #2 is where the previous adventure took place. In case my scribbling is hard to read, here's the list at the top:
- The Prophecity
- Elder Cliffs
- East Hope
- Summerwood
- Tear Shed Road
- Port Quadrus
December 10, 2009
Chapter 2: Dynamite with a Laser Beam
First, retcon time.
Deleted: It was then that they decided to make camp there and have strawberries for breakfast in the morning.
Added: They decided not to make camp and forged ahead courageously! Hooray!
Also: Nalied's story revealed! He's a doppelganger who can't remember his/her original shape. It... really bugs him, and he'd like to find out. Yep, another character who doesn't remember something. Well, anyway.
Party leadership and command of Chrome passed to Nalied for the day. After resting up and feeling refreshed and ready, the party decided to... go back. There was another door back there, and dagnabbit, they were gonna try it. On their way past the room with the big shiny door, they saw two of the silver records were now glowing gold. Aha! Just two more challenges before we go through the big shiny door, they thought correctly.
The room they chose had an older lady in it, sitting in a chair by a small table, smoking a long pipe and drinking wine. She was dressed in royal reds and violets, and atop her head was a simple silvery crown. On the table were a wine bottle and three red candles, only one lit.
The Pushermen tried talking to her, and she was happy to tolerate their conversation, but her intense stares put them off, and she quickly grew bored. Guaranteed to blow their minds, however, she started slashing wildly with her previously concealed short sword. Indeed, from nowhere, Killer Queen started playing, and the battle began.
Though difficult to hit, they maneuvered around her, pushing her where they want her to be, finally living up to the Pushermen name. This battle was the site of the party's first critical hit. As a last resort, she ran for the candles on the table, dynamite in disguise, but was too slow. She was surrounded and knocked to the ground and killed before she could utter a final word of hatred. For their efforts, the party won a shiny crown! Whee!
Wanting to hasten their progress to the final room, Ka-Moh and Nalied agreed to light and throw the dynamite into the fourth room so they wouldn't have to deal with hound dogs crying all the time. Samel wanted to be far away when this happened, so he took Chrome to hang out by the big shiny door to see if the fourth record would turn gold. After the large rumbling explosion, they sent Chrome in, who wouldn't be affected by all the smoke. Had there not been a ton of rubble in the way, he'd have noticed a large eagle made of sequins up on the wall. But there was nothing useful to find, so they moved on to the final encounter.
The big shiny door unlocked itself in an impressive display of light and magic. Inside was a simple wooden coffin up on a raised platform with stairs leading up on all sides. Cautiously approaching, they were knocked away as the stairs came to life and connected together with the coffin as a body and two far-reaching arms to pummel our heroes into the ground.
Except in the entire battle, the coffin golem monster only got one hit off, and it was nothing that couldn't be ignored. I would describe this fight in greater detail, but it was over a week ago now, and I really only remember that they gave the thing a good thrashing.
After the golem's magic dissipated, the coffin floated back to solid ground unscratched with the symbol of Arcanus carved into the wood. Pulling it open, they find the perfectly preserved body of the great sorcerer himself. The tangible feeling of wonder that radiated from him left no doubt of his identity. And in his hands was a box of mahogany also carrying his symbol. Samel opened it carefully and found a wand and a book, but neither could be removed from the box. It would need to be analyzed by someone who knows about unlocking magic. The Council of Ioun would have the means, of course. Time now for the Pushermen to return to the center of wizardly studies, the city of prophecy... the Prophecity.
*snicker*
End Chapter.
Deleted: It was then that they decided to make camp there and have strawberries for breakfast in the morning.
Added: They decided not to make camp and forged ahead courageously! Hooray!
Also: Nalied's story revealed! He's a doppelganger who can't remember his/her original shape. It... really bugs him, and he'd like to find out. Yep, another character who doesn't remember something. Well, anyway.
Party leadership and command of Chrome passed to Nalied for the day. After resting up and feeling refreshed and ready, the party decided to... go back. There was another door back there, and dagnabbit, they were gonna try it. On their way past the room with the big shiny door, they saw two of the silver records were now glowing gold. Aha! Just two more challenges before we go through the big shiny door, they thought correctly.
The room they chose had an older lady in it, sitting in a chair by a small table, smoking a long pipe and drinking wine. She was dressed in royal reds and violets, and atop her head was a simple silvery crown. On the table were a wine bottle and three red candles, only one lit.
The Pushermen tried talking to her, and she was happy to tolerate their conversation, but her intense stares put them off, and she quickly grew bored. Guaranteed to blow their minds, however, she started slashing wildly with her previously concealed short sword. Indeed, from nowhere, Killer Queen started playing, and the battle began.
Though difficult to hit, they maneuvered around her, pushing her where they want her to be, finally living up to the Pushermen name. This battle was the site of the party's first critical hit. As a last resort, she ran for the candles on the table, dynamite in disguise, but was too slow. She was surrounded and knocked to the ground and killed before she could utter a final word of hatred. For their efforts, the party won a shiny crown! Whee!
Wanting to hasten their progress to the final room, Ka-Moh and Nalied agreed to light and throw the dynamite into the fourth room so they wouldn't have to deal with hound dogs crying all the time. Samel wanted to be far away when this happened, so he took Chrome to hang out by the big shiny door to see if the fourth record would turn gold. After the large rumbling explosion, they sent Chrome in, who wouldn't be affected by all the smoke. Had there not been a ton of rubble in the way, he'd have noticed a large eagle made of sequins up on the wall. But there was nothing useful to find, so they moved on to the final encounter.
The big shiny door unlocked itself in an impressive display of light and magic. Inside was a simple wooden coffin up on a raised platform with stairs leading up on all sides. Cautiously approaching, they were knocked away as the stairs came to life and connected together with the coffin as a body and two far-reaching arms to pummel our heroes into the ground.
Except in the entire battle, the coffin golem monster only got one hit off, and it was nothing that couldn't be ignored. I would describe this fight in greater detail, but it was over a week ago now, and I really only remember that they gave the thing a good thrashing.
After the golem's magic dissipated, the coffin floated back to solid ground unscratched with the symbol of Arcanus carved into the wood. Pulling it open, they find the perfectly preserved body of the great sorcerer himself. The tangible feeling of wonder that radiated from him left no doubt of his identity. And in his hands was a box of mahogany also carrying his symbol. Samel opened it carefully and found a wand and a book, but neither could be removed from the box. It would need to be analyzed by someone who knows about unlocking magic. The Council of Ioun would have the means, of course. Time now for the Pushermen to return to the center of wizardly studies, the city of prophecy... the Prophecity.
*snicker*
End Chapter.
November 26, 2009
Chapter 1: Meet the Pushermen
The adventure begins on the road to an old tomb. Very plain beginning, but things will get more interesting, I promise.
It is a long sought after tomb, that belonging to an ancient sorcerer whose name is long forgotten, but his legend is so great that the Council of Ioun has given him the name Arcanus. For reasons not yet known, Arcanus's seal appeared on the side of a smooth rock wall, and it was verified that the Apprentice Rod, an artifact left over from Arcanus's only pupil, would remove the seal and allow our heroes to explore within. With promise of respect and riches, the Pushermen, as they call themselves, took up the task of venturing to the tomb and recovering the secrets within.
Samel the deva led this brave party to the seal. Accompanying him were doppelganger Nalied, goliath Ka-Moh, and warforged Chrome.
Samel was an avenger in service of the Raven Queen. His was a troubled journey from his birthplace, for though he remembers all of his past lives, he has not the slightest memory of his previous incarnation. Why couldn't he remember? Was his rebirth delayed? Was his past life erased? Did he or someone else wipe his eternal memories? Every possibility bothers him, and only knowledge will settle his thoughts.
The story of Nalied the sorcerer isn't clear to me exactly. I'll get back to you on him. Or her. I'm not sure.
Ka-Moh the goliath warden was a proud fighter who set out from his clan to find the ice dragon that terrorized his people and prove his might by besting it using only his shield as a weapon. He knows, though, that he still must become stronger before he can face the terrifying beast, and so he travels with other heroes to increase his strength.
Chrome the cleric is a mystery. He rarely speaks, and he follows Samel's orders without question. The adventurers found him deactivated in an old tower and replaced a missing piece, restoring his consciousness. Though Samel asked, Chrome could not remember his age, purpose, creator, or anything. The one thing Chrome knew was he felt compelled to help these people who found him.
The party gazed ahead at the seal of Arcanus, a large circle full of twisting orange shapes, pulsing with ancient magic. Samel stepped forward and held the Apprentice Rod in front of it, and the shapes moved away, one at a time, until the circle faded, and the rock face brushed itself aside like curtains. The smell of dank basement hit them as they entered, and before them sat a large iron sarcophagus, the lid of which pulsed with similar orange shapes. Samel again used the Apprentice Rod, but it had no effect.
With his great strength, Ka-Moh shoved the lid aside to find a dusty skeleton in plain royal blue robes. It took little effort to realize this was not Arcanus. Our heroes were not discouraged. Chrome removed the unknown skeleton and set it aside, removing its robes and storing them in its chest cavity to bring to the Council when they returned. A brief search of the room found little else.
Samel then had the idea to get into the sarcophagus and have Ka-Moh replace the lid. As he sat inside it, he fell through a trap door to a tunnel below, and the trap door swung back into place. With a little trouble, the others were able to follow. Chrome stored the skull of the skeleton in his chest cavity before he jumped down, and the trap door closed behind them.
Jeremy (Ka-Moh) prepares to attack, I wait patiently, and Matt (Samel and Chrome) ponders. Dan (Nalied) is behind the camera phone.
At the end of the short tunnel, the heroes found a room lit by torches and even more orange light surrounding the great glowing door in front of them. The four sections of the door each had a silver circle about 12 inches wide. There was no obvious way to open it. Samel again tried the Apprentice Rod, but nothing happened. There were two other doors to choose from, and finally the rod worked on something again. Behind the door they chose awaited the unexpectable.
As they entered, they saw nine zombies arranged in a triangle formation. The floor tiles beneath the zombie in front lit up with every step. The lead zombie was dressed in red leather, and each zombie was moving in strange ways, each with identical twitches in their right shoulders. From nowhere, the opening beats of Thriller began to play, and it dawned on the heroes what they were up against. Samel's player could only just contain his laughter.
Samel charged foolishly ahead, and though his magic purged many zombies with holy light, he suffered greatly. With the others' help, the zombies fell quickly, and the party took time to rest as they looted the lead zombie. They took his red leather vest and magic shoes that lit up the floor wherever they stepped.
(I had originally planned for an event every three rounds, but the encounter only lasted one. I should have known that would happen. Anyway, that event was for a sudden shift in gravity which the zombies would know to lean away from, Smooth Criminal style. This post-battle revelation got more laughs.)
The tweetle Beatle puddle battle nearly comes to a close. That's the room's shape poorly marked out in dice. Chrome has fallen forward unconscious, and Nalied is in the shape of Adam Savage.
After resting a bit, the party proceded to a room full of strawberries to face four Beatles. Or beetles. Each one breathed fires of yellow, pink, blue, and red. (Paul died first.) It was fun at first, but the fire beetles packed a lot of firepower, and Chrome went down, his life force nearly fading completely. As the remaining men suffered under the flames, they pulled out everything they had to bring down the horrible foes and finally succeeded. It was then that they decided to make camp there and have strawberries for breakfast in the morning.
End Chapter.
It is a long sought after tomb, that belonging to an ancient sorcerer whose name is long forgotten, but his legend is so great that the Council of Ioun has given him the name Arcanus. For reasons not yet known, Arcanus's seal appeared on the side of a smooth rock wall, and it was verified that the Apprentice Rod, an artifact left over from Arcanus's only pupil, would remove the seal and allow our heroes to explore within. With promise of respect and riches, the Pushermen, as they call themselves, took up the task of venturing to the tomb and recovering the secrets within.
Samel the deva led this brave party to the seal. Accompanying him were doppelganger Nalied, goliath Ka-Moh, and warforged Chrome.
Samel was an avenger in service of the Raven Queen. His was a troubled journey from his birthplace, for though he remembers all of his past lives, he has not the slightest memory of his previous incarnation. Why couldn't he remember? Was his rebirth delayed? Was his past life erased? Did he or someone else wipe his eternal memories? Every possibility bothers him, and only knowledge will settle his thoughts.
The story of Nalied the sorcerer isn't clear to me exactly. I'll get back to you on him. Or her. I'm not sure.
Ka-Moh the goliath warden was a proud fighter who set out from his clan to find the ice dragon that terrorized his people and prove his might by besting it using only his shield as a weapon. He knows, though, that he still must become stronger before he can face the terrifying beast, and so he travels with other heroes to increase his strength.
Chrome the cleric is a mystery. He rarely speaks, and he follows Samel's orders without question. The adventurers found him deactivated in an old tower and replaced a missing piece, restoring his consciousness. Though Samel asked, Chrome could not remember his age, purpose, creator, or anything. The one thing Chrome knew was he felt compelled to help these people who found him.
The party gazed ahead at the seal of Arcanus, a large circle full of twisting orange shapes, pulsing with ancient magic. Samel stepped forward and held the Apprentice Rod in front of it, and the shapes moved away, one at a time, until the circle faded, and the rock face brushed itself aside like curtains. The smell of dank basement hit them as they entered, and before them sat a large iron sarcophagus, the lid of which pulsed with similar orange shapes. Samel again used the Apprentice Rod, but it had no effect.
With his great strength, Ka-Moh shoved the lid aside to find a dusty skeleton in plain royal blue robes. It took little effort to realize this was not Arcanus. Our heroes were not discouraged. Chrome removed the unknown skeleton and set it aside, removing its robes and storing them in its chest cavity to bring to the Council when they returned. A brief search of the room found little else.
Samel then had the idea to get into the sarcophagus and have Ka-Moh replace the lid. As he sat inside it, he fell through a trap door to a tunnel below, and the trap door swung back into place. With a little trouble, the others were able to follow. Chrome stored the skull of the skeleton in his chest cavity before he jumped down, and the trap door closed behind them.
Jeremy (Ka-Moh) prepares to attack, I wait patiently, and Matt (Samel and Chrome) ponders. Dan (Nalied) is behind the camera phone.
At the end of the short tunnel, the heroes found a room lit by torches and even more orange light surrounding the great glowing door in front of them. The four sections of the door each had a silver circle about 12 inches wide. There was no obvious way to open it. Samel again tried the Apprentice Rod, but nothing happened. There were two other doors to choose from, and finally the rod worked on something again. Behind the door they chose awaited the unexpectable.
As they entered, they saw nine zombies arranged in a triangle formation. The floor tiles beneath the zombie in front lit up with every step. The lead zombie was dressed in red leather, and each zombie was moving in strange ways, each with identical twitches in their right shoulders. From nowhere, the opening beats of Thriller began to play, and it dawned on the heroes what they were up against. Samel's player could only just contain his laughter.
Samel charged foolishly ahead, and though his magic purged many zombies with holy light, he suffered greatly. With the others' help, the zombies fell quickly, and the party took time to rest as they looted the lead zombie. They took his red leather vest and magic shoes that lit up the floor wherever they stepped.
(I had originally planned for an event every three rounds, but the encounter only lasted one. I should have known that would happen. Anyway, that event was for a sudden shift in gravity which the zombies would know to lean away from, Smooth Criminal style. This post-battle revelation got more laughs.)
The tweetle Beatle puddle battle nearly comes to a close. That's the room's shape poorly marked out in dice. Chrome has fallen forward unconscious, and Nalied is in the shape of Adam Savage.
After resting a bit, the party proceded to a room full of strawberries to face four Beatles. Or beetles. Each one breathed fires of yellow, pink, blue, and red. (Paul died first.) It was fun at first, but the fire beetles packed a lot of firepower, and Chrome went down, his life force nearly fading completely. As the remaining men suffered under the flames, they pulled out everything they had to bring down the horrible foes and finally succeeded. It was then that they decided to make camp there and have strawberries for breakfast in the morning.
End Chapter.
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