Session 3 - September 14/2010

Week Three

The smell returns to you before you open your eyes. It’s familiar; stagnant, and ferociously warm. Someone is shouting at you. “It’s about time you woke up!” Dyros is mad, nay, peeved, nap, livid. It would appear that any more anger in his little frame might convince you that his next words might be, “I’m a little teapot”. It’s clear that someone has tipped him over and the shortness you’re hearing is what is pouring out. You would think at a moment like this all eyes would be on you, but they’re not. In truth there is a large crowd* (*take this to mean that everyone in “town” and by comparison, lately, this is the largest crowd you’ve seen) huddled around. At the center of the crowd you can see Darrian standing on a wooden box (which is barely supporting his weight) and carrying on his epic tale.

“Where were they, huh? Asleep! Helpless! Not helping us in our time of need! A fiery monster not a block away and they can’t find the fortitude to stay awake!”

You can’t very well hope to make sense of the situation without talking to a few people. The problem is, no one seems to be talking to you at the moment. Darrian’s voice seems to have been set to “yell” or “shout” depending on your choice of vernacular, and it’s caught everyone’s attention. A few moments of concentrated listening rustles up some basic information.

- There was a massive explosion about a block away (though it appears that there is little to no damage).

- A beast clothed in flame was attacking a building for nearly an hour and left nothing but blackened scorch marks and a few large scratches on the stone.

- Were it not for Darrian and his team going out and (as he tells it) boldly facing the beast it may have stuck around long enough to make a visit to the camp.

As soon as Darrian and his recently equipped band of men showed up the beast lashed out (leaving Filhelm a little worse for wear) Darrian made what he describes as an insightful, artistic and altogether professional (which you can all only assume was luck) strike against the monster and it swirled and vanished in the same manner in which it had arrived, a swirling storm of clouds – an artists attempt to include every red, orange and purple they had in their collection and with a final bang, the creature vanished.

As you are going around trying to talk to people Korleck advances on the group with his/her gaze fastened directly on Arcie. He’s holding a pickaxe on his shoulder. As Korleck approaches he tightens his grip on the handle of the pickaxe raises it off his shoulder and swings. Korleck misses Arcie intentionally, and looks up to his surprised face and says, “I always love it when youngsters crap ‘emselves”

The pickaxe is basic to say the least. The wooden handle is sturdy, and the head is truly one of a kind; whether or not that one-of-a-kindness is really more up to you to decide.

At last it's time for you to make your way to the vacant building beside the magic shop and begin digging. You approach the building and see the burn marks on the wall and the scratches on the door. The wall seems to be damaged slightly and when Terrius uses his mage hand to try and knock on the door the group can see a crackling power field covering the door. You then decide to make your way next door and get to some real dirty work. As you enter, the group is ambushed by several rotting zombies, a pair of Kuthric Hatchlings and two wererats. Battle ensues and becomes increasingly clear that you can handle this. You got this. Easy as pie. Kasimir blasts a couple creatures with his holy power. One simply dies and the other freezes in place, to be taken care of momentarily. Arcie hacks and slashes frantically felling a few here and there. Terrius ran out of chewing gum a long time ago, and it appears the only thing left to do is kick arse. As you gain the upper hand three more zombies waltz through the door as though they were late for the fall formal. Kendra responds in the only way she knows how....giving them the cold shoulder by releasing the full force and fury of winter on them. One fell but two continued to battle on. A couple minutes later, a lot of blood and guts, and the foul stench filling the room, the group stood victorious. Some victory. Other than a couple short swords wielded by the wererats, they had little to nothing on them.

Digging continued and made some serious, but slow, progress. Evening was coming and we all know the night hides something ferocious and terrible. You make your way back to camp and take a night's rest. The next morning you return to the shop, looking in first to make sure the coast is clear, and continue making your way underground. A watch is posted and yields some helpful results. Early in the afternoon and undead human was stumbling down the street and Kendra noticed it before it noticed her. It continued on its path and as it passed the doorway Kendra dropped her sword on its head with all force available to her. A single blow was all it took to fell the stumbling thing.

A few hours later you made your way down far enough and over far enough that digging UP would be the only wise course of action. Digging up is easy at first, but it becomes tiresome fast. After what seemed like forever Arcie heard the clang of his shortword against something hard. He cleared a path large enough for his to see and noticed it was a solid stone floor above him. apparently the owners of the store had thought some thieves may go to the tunneling trouble.

Slightly irritated, the group made their way back to camp. Kasimir came up with the genius idea to ask the dwarf if maybe he could inspect a rock they had taken from the stone and see if he might be able to help. Korleck was only too glad, and knew it would take a lot of work to get through the floor, but it certainly wasn't impossible. He agreed to help.

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XP - totals

Kendra - 2982

Kasimir - 2952

Peren - 2952

Arcie - 2952

Terrius - 2952

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It's only a short while until you level up. Be thinking about any modifications you would like to make to your characters under the re-train option and you can make them then. In order to level up to 4th level you need a total of 3750XP.

Session 2 - September 2nd/2010

Meeting new people is always fun; well, most people would say it's fun. Arcie, I'm guessing is going to have to disagree on this one. The group came back to the center of town last week with hopes of returning to finish their mission of combing the streets for yet another day. As they were walking down an all-too-familiar street they noticed one of the buildings they've passed any number of times now had a door.

Arcie tried his very best to open the lock, but in the end its construction was too unfamiliar to him, in fact it was one-of-a-kind. The group argued for a while as to what they might try next. In the end, the group successfully petitioned Arcie to make his way up the wall of the building into a window on the second storey. He climbed with sufficient skill and caught grip of the window sill. He raised himself onto the sill and found an old human man sitting at a workbench muttering to himself. A failed attempt at communication left Arcie with a strong wish that he had been born a bird. It's not the fall that kills you, it's the landing. He didn't die, but Arcie will likely have some reservations about climbing up walls and through windows from this point on.

Kasimir is a wise man, in fact he was able to engage the old man in the room simply by yelling up and asking to speak. Who knew that would work? After some short discussions access to the property was granted. The house was filled floor to ceiling with every kind of knick knack known to man, and some not yet known. It would appear the unnamed man was somewhat of a collector, though no one could clearly tell of what.

Terrius(sp?), a crazy old man greeted them at the bottom of the stairs. Some small talk took place, nothing of any real note. It was, however, interrupted by some bubbling, boiling, toiling and what could have been seriously troubling. Upstairs Terrius was in mid experiment and left it to brew while he came and talked to the group. This proved unwise and a few short moments later a large ball of fire erupted out of the room and down the stairs. Thankfully our characters have some high dexterity scores....I mean....the group is particularly alert and dexterous. It took some convincing to get Terrius to join the group and leave his work in the place behind. As the group was leaving Terrius thought to lock up as they were leaving. Unfortunately a faulty phrase in a new "lockup dingit" spell he was trying out miss-fired; you could just hear the collapsing walls of junk piling high behind the door rendering further entrance unlikely at best. The hope of new "treasures" inevitably lured Terrius and group onward home.

The group arrived back at camp and introduced Terrius. He was quite dirty at first, but Selene and a sponge made quick work of it. After Terrius found himself somewhat clean (who in this place could ever use the word clean without some kind of smirk on their face?) and ready to go with the group. As they were discussing a few things Dyros approached with a concerned look on his face.

"We've a problem brewing, you can sense it can't you?"

He takes a moment to reach into his pocket and remove a tattered and stained handkerchief. He slowly wipes his brow, folds the handkerchief into a triangle and returns it to his pocket. He looks down, pauses, looks up and begins to speak. Before even a syllable escapes his mouth…

BOOM!

After the echo has ceased reverberating in your head you hear a deep sucking sound, culminating in a low roar, rising and rising until you can barely hear your own thoughts. Less than a minute passes and the ground is quaking at the same frequency of the sound. Finally, a deafening crack and a fire bolt from the sky crashes to the ground not far from your camp. Dyros’ face whitens; he turns and flees into the streets behind the camp. In the distance you see a low, dark, red light glowing. After a few seconds the glowing light changes from low lantern light to blazing, consuming sunlight.

You awaken in a building you don’t recognize. You look out the windows and outside doesn’t seem familiar either. A door, barring you from immediate and instant escape hangs tightly in place unlike its distant cousins in a land you know much better than this one.The door is unlocked and opens easily. You walk into a courtyard, overgrown grass, a fountain, some benches and a few statues. Terrius notices out of the corner of his eye a glimpse of a hooded person whisking their way through an archway into an unseen area. The sun is bright, it’s difficult for your eyes to adjust to it; no clouds, no haze, nothing.

The group found that they were in the first of three courtyards. The one they currently occupied was more of a dormitory. Peren saw grass, screamed and commenced rolling around until the group left him for the next area. While Peren was rolling around the newest addition to the group found a stone plaque by a fountain that read, "It crushes all beneath it's weight".

The second courtyard was similar in shape and size to the first, with the only exception being that there were a few different statues and the rooms were furnished for that of perhaps the student. There was a similar fountain in this area with a plaque that read, "Powerful - Perilous - Perfect".

The third courtyard was much smaller, with no rooms and no statues; only one fountain decorated the space. The plaque by this one read, "Magic and Water".

The other end of the small courtyard there is sturdy wooden door. Beyond the unlocked door you find yourselves in a long hallway with few twists or bends. Aside from a few wall scants with torches for light there is little else to make the walk more interesting. After a few moments you can see a whiter light than what the torches are offering you.

As you get closer you can hear some rhythmic noises and shouting.

The party draws nearer to see two red robed figures chanting, 4 huge raging minotaurs on 10 foot stone columns, about 20 robed figures lining the walls of the room. Attacking seemed like a good idea. It's weird, you know, a lot of things seem like good ideas, and only until you've tried them, you realize how un-good they were. Either way, a fight was brewing and now seemed like the best time to kick off.

A few rounds of ground and pound fighting ensued. Some floating daggers made quick work of some minions, while other party members thought that smashing them with sword and some good ol' fashioned might would do the trick. Some attempts at magical attacks against the red wizards failed only inches before making contact. Kendra attempted a more physical approach but found that she lacked the fortitude to do so. It was a rough battle and not much was going in your favor. Alas, as a last ditch effort to prevent the imminent summoning of some terrible creature Kendra kicked the dust of the summoning circle and broke it.

The two robed figures frantically continued their synchronized chanting and waving the area inside the circle begins to grown dark, smoke fills the area and appears as a column of greys and blacks. Above the sky is darkening. Thunder roars and lightening strikes a tower in the distance. Inside the circle the smoke is swirling, thickening, roaring. A creature appears just after the dust is scattered.

"You dare summon me, now you die!"

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XP for the night.

100XP - each - for killing 8 minions

50 XP - each - role-playing

Session 1 - August 31st/2010

Week One:

You find yourselves in an alleyway. You’ve been here before. Daily checks and sweeps are necessary in this neighbourhood to keep The Unwanted out. Oh, the unwanted, creatures that came just after the destruction of the city, maybe some sort of failsafe to make sure the job was done right.

It wasn’t, you’re still alive and fighting.

Anyways, the alley is only about 10 feet wide at best. At one time it could have been one of the central merchant locations, part of a network of streets winding its way around the cog that is the city center. You pause, as has become customary, and imagine what this place would have been like a few years ago. Bustling, difficult to move for the presence of people, smelly (only then would be sweat and fish and maybe many perfumes...who can remember now) Garbage and debris make walking difficult and running nearly impossible. Carts, booths and bins line the wall of the street. Taking time to wipe your brow is an exercise in futility, it’s hot back here, no breeze that you can tell. Ugh, smell. Just a week ago you uncovered some decaying bodies a couple of streets over, not half a mile away.

In the distance, the rubble begins to move in that all too familiar fashion. Up rises something and ambles along, making its way aimlessly in the opposite direction. The creature looks more or less intact, for a change.

Kendra takes the opportunity to see if she can tell what kind of creature it is. Skeleton. As soon as she informs the rest of you it, the skeleton takes off running. You know this to be peculiar behavior for a skeleton, they usually just charge into battle. Your confusion was explained to you as you chased the skeleton through the streets. Kendra ran ahead and saw which way it had gone, while Perin took the opportunity to catch up to the fleeing heap.

Battle ensued. Just as you were gaining the upper hand in the battle Perin found himself trapped between a previously non-existent creature and the skeleton he was battling. It raked claws across his back and as he turned to figure out what it was he was met with the face of horror. No, not aunt Loecile, it was a vampire. Perin, welling up with strength and courage made an attack and felled the vampire in a single swing...odd though because they are usually tougher. As it passed the Vampire said to Perin, "You may think you can protect it forever, but you can't, you can't even hope to survive." And disintegrated into nothingness.

After you defeat the Vampire and skeletons you make your way back to the center of the city. There you find, as usual, a reasonably large camp where the survivors have been residing ever since. These people are useful for many things. Each has used their trade to make life livable, and it appears that living is not profit enough. The small community works on a barter system, of which it appears you are members of a few people capable of bartering safety.

Key People:

Dyros: Young man about 25 – human – picked up his father’s merchant trade in the export of slaves. He has found new skills in leading the people in the camp by charismatic speeches filled with promises and hope. He acts as your liaison to the people, though he speaks openly, you have been getting the feeling he might not be telling everything he knows.

Selene: She looks smells and acts like a hag. Maybe that’s why creatures haven’t attacked the camp yet, maybe they figure something already has or is. Either way, she is nothing like she looks or smells. She is a sweet old lady, the kind that knits for her grandchildren. That’s right, a sweet evil old lady, and her grandchildren must have been of Abyssal descent. She’s nice, always nice as a matter of fact. But she looks like she could slap the smile off a hyena.

Na: Na is young, really young and Na isn’t even his real name. If you ask him a yes or no question you can guess what answer you’re going to get. You wonder sometimes how he is able to survive the harsh environment. At any rate the sneaky little bugger seems to know things, not everything, but if you want some useless information he’s your kid. “Hey, did you know ice archons don’t wear socks? Who knew?”

Korleck: You don’t know the gender of this loving the little ball of Dwarf. You’ve never thought to ask. He/She doesn’t talk much, but dang, it can smack metal with a hammer and seems to be good at sharpening your constantly dulling blades. Korleck has repaired your armour more times than you can count, though I don’t recall which school you graduated from, so it might not be that many. (Smooth move Arcie, calling out the only Dwarf in the camp. Fist fights between humans and dwarves don't usually go well, but hey, you might have had a chance...right....right? Anyways, it seems to have made the bond between Kasimir and Korleck stronger.)

Griff: This old man mispronounced his name the first time you met him. It’s supposed to be Gruff and he’s not happy about the unfortunate amendment to his name. He’s constantly irritated and mumbles to himself. Crazy may have hit him at a young enough age that in he times since he’s perfected his trade. He’s wise, you don’t know how. Ask him some questions; if you can sort out the syllables that follow he might have an answer for you. As an aside, he is also the group’s librarian; God knows why he went to the trouble to bring all the books here. (You try to talk to him but he rambles off some crazy syllables and when he thinks you get the point, or gets bored of you, walks off)

Jesse: This young lady would be what you call a seamstress. And when she’s not “seamstressing” she darning socks, shirts dresses and parts of your armour that Korleck can’t seem to smash with a hammer. As a result of her career she actually does know a few things; mostly just rumours and squabbles that happen among the small-ish group, but who knows she may come up with some useful information at some point. (You do talk to her and find out that the other adventuring party is frustrated that you guys get to fight all the real monsters and everyone pays attention to you instead of them.)

The Rest: The rest of the community consists of about five dozen or so. It’s manageable; there are people who can scour garbage bins for rotten food, or make a raid to a nearby supply locker and come back with some rations. Still the people are thin and under fed. There are people to perform everyday normal tasks, some who will volunteer to take watches at night, though it seems to make little difference as nothing ever happens in the central square. Among the represented you have a smattering of races, but mostly human.

Experience For the Evening:

Perin: 162

Kendra: 162

Kasimir: 162

Arcie: 162

*If you are or were absent you don't collect XP for adventures you weren't in. There may be opportunities to make up the difference - we'll see*

The Setting

Each of you remembers it like it was yesterday. Two years ago the sun was out classed by trails of burning boulders from the sky. Slowly, a city once marvelled at for its advanced architecture and deep historical significance crumbled and fell apart. The immediate impact left many dead or injured and the continuing barrage took what remained. The smell, oh god the smell was a strong mixture of sulphur (which we now know came from the meteors), recently inhumed people and animals, and the long since passed. Days and months passed and turned into two years of rubble and hopelessness. Any sense of kingdom is gone, any hope of government lost. Who would rule this place? Who would dare?

Somehow you survived. You did things you thought you would never have to do, or at least never thought you were capable of doing. Then again, it seemed everyone was. Burdens here come all too easy, and it seems anytime you walk these streets your shoulders get heavier, your mind foggier, and your heart harder. Beings and creatures roam the empty hallways and corridors between buildings. Some used to be people. Some still are but have forgotten anything other than their primal convictions. Other creatures moan and wail and howl filling the days and nights with an uneasy ambience that scratches any and every nerve. The walls move, or it feels like they do.

The center of the city got hit the worst. This used to be the main marketplace and trade fair. Small streets, densely populated houses and estates wind their way in an ever-turning knot. The further from the core you travel the more intact the buildings become (which is to say they may actually look like real buildings), and the more dangerous the creatures appear to be; all kept in by the city wall (which you can only assume has remained intact)

The group spoke to a priest, or holy man, or cleric a while back. He sneered and jeered at the dead, mocking their lack of present existence claiming his god’s judgment was cleansing the planet. You would have believed him if the planet were actually cleaner. Not so. If this were a war of angels and demons, it would appear the angels had a strong limp and a bloodied nose. He didn’t make it.

The group of you have somehow found each other over the past two years. You have all, at some point, pulled a raging monster off of another’s back. Whether rummaging through garbage bins for semi rotten food, guarding each other and taking watches so you could attempt sleep, or simply skulking about alleyways trying to give some poor creature a final rest, you’ve managed to take it one day at a time, carefully balancing your hatred for the now local creatures and vagrants and a quiet peace to prevent you from doing something to get yourself killed. Without each other you would have all died; a group rising from the ashes, finding, killing, saving, renewing.

A city reborn, a city renewed, birthed from destruction, rescued from malice and hatred. This will be your city, your home, your palace, your legacy, and, if not careful, it will be your grave.