Basic Fantasy RPG: Dragonlance - Heroes of Solace - Session 2

Basic Fantasy RPG:  Dragonlance

Heroes of Solace - Session 2

Characters:

- Laststar - Elf Fighter/Magic-User
- Legynda Murkrain - Human Fighter
- Ramirez - Human Cleric

Trouble was brewing in the Abanasinian city of Haven.  A Seeker's son named Amalwyn was lost in the hills just east of the city, and a brave trio of adventurers had been hired to find the lad and return him to his father.  So Laststar, Legynda, and Ramirez gathered their gear and headed east, hopeful that they would be able to gain some notice amongst the other adventurers of Haven.  Using Legynda's amazing tracking skills the three would-be heroes followed a path all the way to a small cave.  Using his infravision Laststar peered into the cave and saw a small pool about 25 feet into the cave tunnel, but beyond that was nothing but wall.  Legynda threw a torch into the cave, which lit up the water, but didn't do much good until the party moved closer.

The small pool had a strange grey slick on it's surface.  Casting a Vermin spell, Laststar summoned a rat and tossed it into the pool… and it was quickly digested.  When Ramirez threw a lasso into the pool, he realized that there was certain trouble as the Grey Ooze started to crawl up the rope towards the cleric.  Although he quickly dropped the rope, Ramirez realized that the party would need something else to slay this beast, given the ineffectiveness of their weapon materials.  Thinking quickly Legynda grabbed the torch off of the ground and tossed it on top of the Grey Ooze, burning it until it completely dissipated.  Soon after, when the water cleared, Laststar saw that there was a secret door at the bottom of the pool, and so the party all waded into the water for a short swim.

On the other side of the underwater tunnel the adventurers were in a larger chamber which had a mushroom covered hunched body on the opposite side of the room.  Legynda inspected closely, and even lifted a mushroom out of the body, only to have it pop in her face, nearly poisoning her.  Figuring that these things were dangerous, and possibly too dangerous to handle, the party moved to the southern tunnels and…

… found themselves right in the center of a bestial ogre's lair!

The creature was massive, and had been chewing on limbs and other body parts that were strewn about the room.  Ramirez pulled out his mace and charged the beast, followed quickly by Legynda and her short sword.  Neither could land a solid blow!  The creature was wearing tough armor, and the party was definitely inexperienced with their weapons.  Laststar managed to sink a single arrow in the guts of the ogre, but this only served to aggregate the wretched creature.  Ramirez would be the first to fall, his head caved in by the beast's boney fists, and soon Legynda was at risk.  The human fighter started to run, pitching her silver dagger at the monster in the hopes that it would strike true.  But she couldn't cause more than a pin-prick of damage.  She would fall to the beast's maw soon after.  Laststar was all that was left, so he fled quickly and took flight down one of the unexplored passages, but found himself at the bottom of a pit trap.  With no where to run, and no way to get himself out of the pit, the elf fighter/magic-user resigned himself to his fate as the bestial ogre extinguished his life's flame.

Numenera: Disenchanted Tales - Session 2

Numenera: Disenchanted Tales - Session 2

Oh Hans of Little Words

Elsa, a Graceful Nano who Wears a Sheen of Ice

Anna, a Swift Jack who Entertains

Merida, a Rugged Glaive who Carries a Quiver

Summary

A billion years beyond “once upon a time”, Elsa, Anna, and Merida rode their Snow Lopers Sven, Cutey Pants, and Fred across the snowy/sandy desert of Matheunis in search of the whereabouts of their friend, the cryomutant Olaf.  They were about 20 miles outside of Nihliesh, en route to the Fields of Frozen Flowers when it looked like a storm was brewing on the horizon.  Fearing that it could be the Iron Wind, Merida took out one of her cyphers, a headband that improved her perceptive abilities.  Unfortunately, due to the enormous curly red mane of hair on top of the archer’s noggin, she couldn’t use the headband properly, and she still could not determine what the oncoming storm was comprised of.  It could be snow, rain, or nanites... or all of the above.  So the party needed to hide and wait out the inclement weather.

Using a bit of swift thinking Anna darted back and forth across the path, desperately looking for somewhere to hid.  There was a cave in the distance, so the jack guided her friends to the entrance and peered inside, only to see a dark form staring right back at her!  The form had a face, and the face was somewhat bird-like and very, very frightening.  Merida looked over Anna’s shoulder, and confirmed that the creature was a “Murden”, an abhuman known for lies and trickery despite the inability to speak.  The creature, once noticing that the party was entering the cave, kept it’s distance but still invited the three princesses further into its makeshift abode.  Being that the murden couldn’t talk to the party, though, it was apparent that another method of communication would be needed.

And so, with the help of Anna’s excellent communication and interaction skills, the princesses began a very complicated game of charades with the murden [with the GM’s help of course].

The murden was very interested in helping the party.  It showed them that it had an area prepared in the cave where they could sleep, and even helped cover the cave entrance with a large tarp, and care for the snow lopers.  This was a bit disconcerting to the princesses, who worked desperately to figure out the creature’s intent.  It kept inferring that it wanted to be their friend, and that it wanted to travel with them.  When Elsa asked what it wanted, it showed them some of its collection of junk, and shared a desire to acquire more.  When asked if it knew who the princesses truly were, the murden confirmed that it was aware of their status in Nihliesh.  Again, the murden tried to get the party to bed down for the rest of the evening, and make them comfortable.  When Elsa tried to move towards the murden, however, she felt her mind start to scramble.  She reached out, trying to figure out it’s name, and a shrill voice just screeched telepathically to her “HANS!”  

Noticing that Elsa was having issues with her head after connecting with the murden, Merida decided that the bird-like abhuman was no good.  She was going to put a stop to this encounter for two reasons.  First, she feared that the murden did indeed want to do extreme harm to the princesses.  [The second reason was that Mommy figured out it was 10pm, and despite a 2 hour weather delay for school the next morning, it was getting late for the Jack and the Nano to still be up role-playing]  So the red-headed glaive pulled out her great sword, charged the murden, and even with psychically induced headache, managed to chop the noggin off of the bird-man’s shoulders.  The princesses then sorted through the murden’s belongings and pushed the body outside into the storm, which lucky for the characters, was only sleet... with a vague chlorinated smell.  

Quotes

“Is it a bunny in there?” - Even when the GM mentions “dark, creepy, creature”, Evie still thinks “bunny”.

“He’s gonna eat us when we go to sleep!” - Carrie’s paranoia may have been a bit inaccurate, but she had the gist of the situation. 

“He doesn’t have a high ‘courage-ness’ or whatever that’s called” - Carrie’s answer as to why the Murden didn’t want to go out in the storm.

“Merida’s the brave one, her movie’s called BRAVE!” - Carrie pointing out the obvious as a response to Mommy’s cautious play-style.

“Maybe we should kill this guy... I think he’s a punk.” - Mommy knows when to throw down the gauntlet.  

Numenera: Disenchanted Tales - Session 1

Numenera: Disenchanted Tales

The Three Princesses of Nihliesh

Elsa, a Graceful Nano who Wears a Sheen of Ice

Anna, a Swift Jack who Entertains

Merida, a Rugged Glaive who Carries a Quiver

Summary

A billion years beyond “once upon a time” there exists a great city called Nihliesh.  This city was situated in the center of Matheunis, a frigid desert on the southern edge of The Beyond.  Nihliesh was truly a wonder of the Ninth World, as it was a city that walked!  This striking and amazing city was ruled by strange mutants with weird and exotic powers, and one of them, the enormous and bloated Gayv-oreth, had two beautiful daughters: Elsa and Anna.  Elsa, the oldest, had powers over ice that had manifested via a mutation in her DNA as she got older.  Anna, the youngest, showed no obvious mutations or powers but had a commanding presence and was glib of tongue.  The two spent their afternoons with their dear friend Merida, a princess of Malevich.  Merida’s father, a brutal tyrant, had died leaving his 3 year old son on the throne.  Not in any line of succession, and preferring the comfort of the wilderness, Merida fled Malevich and headed to The Beyond for her freedom.  The three were inseparable.  

There were other friends of this trio of princesses, and a dear one was Olaf the Cryomutant.  Olaf, who’s body was constantly covered in frost, was truly heartsick.  He loved one of the most beautiful women in Nihliesh, a merchant’s daughter and bookworm named Bel.  Sadly, Bel had no desire for Olaf, as she preferred the comforting gaze of a Lattimor named Staeb.  Believing, however, that the gift of a Frozen Flower would change the mind of his most cherished, Olaf set out on a great journey to the Fields of Frozen Flowers in order retrieve one of these beautiful buds for his Bel. 

Well, it had been two weeks and the three Princesses of Nihliesh had grown worried for their dear friend Olaf.  Knowing that their protective mutant-dad would never let them out of Nihliesh (he had downright forbade it), Anna and Elsa carefully developed a plan to escape without notice.  Gathering Merida, the three headed to a livery located along the Concourse.  It was there that they met Kristoff, a stable-hand who sold and rented both Aneen and Snow Lopers.  The party seemed to prefer the idea of the snow lopers, so they started to wheel and deal.  Anna was able to convince Kristoff that Elsa’s oddity, a stool that hummed when one sat upon it, was worth quite a lot, and so this guaranteed not one, but two Snow Lopers on a short term lease.  To acquire the third, Elsa explained that the party was royalty, and that they would talk to their dad to help Kristoff increase his position in the city. 

This is how the Three Princesses of Nihliesh gained their trusty Snow Loper steeds:  Sven, Fred, and Cutey Pants.  

Now both Merida and Anna had explorer’s packs with enough food for three days, but the studious Elsa carried with her only a few books and some light clothing.  They would want additional food for the trek, as well as an explorer’s pack for Elsa, so the party headed over to another store, a place called Iago’s Finery.  Iago was a well dressed fellow, wearing red, green, and blue robes and he spoke with a loud and boisterous voice.  The trio had 21 shins in total, and their purchase was 28 shins, so Elsa again just explained to Iago that they were royalty, and he should just cut them a deal.  Strangely, Iago agreed to this, and the party was on their way.

But just outside of Iago’s Finery, in a dark alley which the party traveled through as a shortcut through the Concourse, a sound came from behind the three princesses... a jingling of sorts.  When the three turned, they saw 4 poorly dressed brigands, each brandishing a nasty looking mace.  The brigands demanded that the “nobles” give up their gear.  Despite the look of fear and terror on poor pacifistic Anna’s face, Merida gritted her teeth and drew her bow.  But it’d be Anna who would shoot first, firing a quarrel with her crossbow at one of the brigands’ maces, breaking it in half.  So scared he was of the swift jack’s hidden prowess, that the brigand took off into the crowded square.  But his friends were not as easily scared.  Merida tried to follow Anna’s lead, and she shot the mace-head off of one of the brigands’ cudgels, but the remaining three brutes still charged.  No match for the well trained princesses, the thieves never landed a blow.  Elsa used her frosty onslaught power to completely freeze one of the brigands solid while Merida took her claymore and chopped the arm off another, which dropped him to the ground.  When Merida and Elsa looked over at Anna, it appeared that she used one of her cyphers, a sleep inducing ring, to put the third in a short-lived coma.  The princesses raided the trio for loot and high-tailed it out of the Concourse.  

Gathering up their Snow-Lopers the Three Princesses of Nihliesh rode one of the elevators from the first tier of the walking city down to the frigid sands below.  Looking out onto Matheunis, the Cold Desert, the three didn’t know what to expect on this journey that lay ahead of them.  But at least they would face it together.   

Quotes

“I want my freedom!  My three year old brother is now king!” - Merida laments that her little brother is now the king of Malevich, and explains why she is now in Nihliesh

“We’re royalty!” - Elsa gives the shady merchant Iago a reason to give the party a discount on their explorer’s pack and extra food for their trek.  

“You go down the dark alley and you hear the jingling of bells behind you.” - Me

“It’s SANTA CLAUS!” - My daughter 

“Cuz he’s poor...” - My daughter (playing Anna) explains as her reason for not killing the brigands accosting her in the alley.  

Savage Worlds: Clockwork - The Daunting Excursion to Dread Island - Session 4

Savage Worlds: Clockwork - Season 2 - Session 4

The Daunting Excursion to Dread Island, Part Four

1/24/2014

Journal Date:  April 18th, 1898

Cast:  Lady Selene Eva Thana (Eternal Noble), Reginald Thistlethorpe (Psychic Medium), Nigel Loring (Hunter/Adventurer/Explorer), Fangzhi (Wudang Initiate), Captain Oswald Chance (Sky Baron)

Notable NPC’s:  Ka the Werejaguar, Tupu

Plot Summary:  

Trapped on the south-western peninsula of Dread Island, the adventuring party was desperate to find out what had happened to their brave deckhand and the rest of their Tanaroan sailors.  While Nigel searched the shore, eventually finding giant frog footed trails that led to the sea, Reginald wanted to explore the wreckage of their boat, which was out beyond the rocks, at least 50 feet from shore.  Riding his summoned ghost-shark, the psychic medium swam out to the broken vessel and gave it a quick examination. The boat appeared to have been smashed in half by some large force, the nature of which Reginald couldn’t determine.  He was sure, however, that it wasn’t a bomb.  After Reginald swam back to shore, it would be Fangzhi’s turn to take a look around.  Climbing a nearby tree (took two tries before he could scale the sleek palm), Fang looked out onto the water and saw that there were great stones in a pattern far below the waves.  Calling down to the rest of the party, Fang described a line of large circular stones that led 500 feet out into the bay, where they formed a circle.

Interested in the stones, and figuring that he was the only member of the party with any skill at swimming, Captain Oswald Chance threw off his backpack and started doggie-paddling out towards the first stone.  Once above the stone, he dove down to take a look.  The large, circular, marble stone was well carved, and had been in place about 1,500 years according to Captain Chance’s knowledge of history, science, and all other random facts.  The captain considered swimming out to another stone but the water started getting choppy.  When the captain tried to swim back he became panicked by the large waves and could only tread water.  While Fang started thinking up a way to save the party’s Sky Baron, Captain Chance found that he was stabbed by something beneath the waves... something that he could not see.  Getting more and more concerned, the captain tried to make his way back to sure under his own strength again but failed, and yet again was stabbed by something beneath the water.  Fangzhi threw a stone-laden rope out to the captain, and while he was able to reach it, he was not able to swim back even with assistance.  So the Wudang Initiate took to the water himself and swam out to save the poor Sky Baron.  When Fang reached Captain Chance, he saw that there were two or three figures beneath the waves that were stabbing at the captain with spears.  Fearing that the captain would be difficult to drag to shore, Fangzhi moved to immobilize his adventuring companion, and as soon as he reached Captain Chance, he knocked him out cold.  

Once Chance was on the shore Fangzhi started performing his ch’i healing, taking care of his friend and leaving him only with a few battered ribs.  Not knowing of any other option, the party decided that they’d have to walk all the way back to Tanaroa village to get more supplies and possibly a few more guides for the jungles and hills of Dread Island.  So they started walking, Nigel in front with his elephant gun at the ready, and Reginald at the rear, with a spyglass extended looking for trouble.  Trouble would indeed find the party.  Halfway through their walk back to Tanaroa village, Nigel was about to cross a small stream when a large creature the size of a crocodile but with larger and longer legs lashed out and tore into the flesh of his arm and shoulder.  Gritting his teeth in utter agony, Nigel put his shotgun against the head of the lizard and pulled the trigger, killing it instantly, but also successfully alerting the owners of the lizard... a trio of cat-men who were nearby.  

The cat-men did not seem interested in approaching the party yet, and stayed back, possibly waiting to perform some kind of ambush.  So Reginald, in a state of hyper-curiosity, moved towards the cat-men and started spouting off in random languages.  When German and Turkish didn’t work he tried Latin, and lucky for the troupe, the leader of the cat-men, Ka, seemed to understand Latin.  In fact, Ka stated that his people understood multiple languages of “the book” and Latin was one of these, along with Greek.  Now with a way to communicate Lady Thana joined her comrade in diplomacy, negotiating a truce with the cat-men.  Agreeing to accompany them back to their camp, the party was blinded and weapons removed.  

Once at the camp the characters were lightly interrogated, but were properly fed and given shelter.  Tupu, one of the cat-men females, questioned the party at great length.   She was interested in where they had come from, as well as intrigued at their skill sets.  Once she had asked enough of her questions she let the characters go to sleep.  The next morning they were approached by Ka and given a task.  Ka promised “great medicine” if they would travel north and confront the giants who had stolen “The Book”.  This item was an artifact to the cat-men, and Ka seemed greatly distressed that the giants would take this holy relic for their own.  He explained that his people had contact with both the giants to the north, their greatest rivals, as well as the flying humans who would occasionally meet them for trade near a lake to the east.  Interested in the “great medicine” that they could gain, fueled by newfound information regarding Obscura and their base to the north, and driven by Reginald’s great curiosity, the party agreed to help the cat-men in their quest to retrieve The Book.

Traveling north the party carefully walked the mountain paths looking for any sign that the giants were nearby.  It did not take long to find a pair of the brutes.  Having just taken down some large game, a wild bull, the giants were tearing apart the beast trying to get some meat for the rest of their kind.  Well Captain Chance and Nigel weren’t having any of that.  Each lined up a shot with their respective rifles and blasted away on the giants without remorse or regard for the innocence of the creatures.  As the two giants charged up the trail towards the party, one was horribly confused by Reginald and one of his arcane powers, and the other took significant damage from gunfire.  Lady Selene would drop one of the beasts, and after a few more bullets from his fellow fighters, Reginald was able to summon forth a hand to control his weapon, and cut off the head of the last remaining brute.  

Quotes:

“What does Brian’s character do?” - Frank

“He doesn’t check wreckage, that’s for sure!” - Brian

“Don’t worry its nothing, keep going!” - Frank didn’t believe that Dante’s character was really interested.

“It’s a 3.” - Dante... all night long.  

“You can’t control your dog, you got problems.” - Nigel wasn’t a fan of the crocodile on a leash.   

“I rolled an 8, that’s Turkish... I try Turkish!  We come in peace!” - Brian was ready to go through every language he knew until he could communicate with the cat-men.  He’s lucky he took latin!

Numenera - Vortex - Session 3

Numenera Session 3

“Vortex, Part 3”

1/18/2014

Jen - Oswin, an Intelligent Nano who Fuses Flesh with Steel

Nate - Lynq, a Rugged Glaive who Explores Dark Places

Tom - Torrent, a Clever Jack who Rides the Lightning

Sarah - Silus, a Stealthy Jack who Exists Partially Out of Phase

Summary

With Abrassal dead, our trusty troupe of Numenera hunters finished investigating the cult leader’s room and went out to the door that led to the Temple of the Vortex.  Shome, the young cult member who the party had been sent to retrieve, stated that on the other side of the door was the Vortex itself, as well as the Angel of Steel, a metallic being that protected the mechanisms that controlled the Vortex.  He said that many cultists over the years had tried to go through the Vortex, which they all knew was a portal, but that it always led to a fiery death and utter destruction of the person and his or her belongings.  Wanting to get a closer look Silas phased through the doorway and after seeing that it was safe on the other side (in a relative sense), she opened the door to the rest of the party. 

Awaiting the characters on the other side was the beautiful Vortex.  Centered amongst control panels of all sorts, the Vortex was a swirling mass of energy and fire, illuminating the room in a bright glow and incredible heat.  At the far end of the room was an alter fashioned out of floor tiles, and just to the left of the Vortex was a metallic automaton.  Perched upon four legs that came to horrifically dangerous points was the Angel of Steel, which eyed up the party members one by one as they entered the room.  While Torrent investigated the alter, finding trinkets of all kinds as well as the occasional shin and jewelry piece, Oswin tried to figure out a way to scan the Angel.  Fearing that she would attract it’s wrath (Shome had said that it protected the control panel), Oswin had the other party members push Abrassal’s slick body across the floor near the Angel, which gained its attention while she scanned it.  Sure enough it was a machine that was quite capable of causing extreme harm, and it was tethered wirelessly to the panels.  Still curious about the panels, Oswin got a little closer, but when she used her powers to scan the controls she was instantly beset upon by the Angel of Steel.

The automaton was vicious in its attacks.  As it leapt onto Oswin it nearly forced her to the ground while piercing her tough, cybernetic torso with a sharp leg-spike.  Instantly both Lynq and Torrent jumped to save the wounded nano, but their attacks were having great difficulty piercing the armor of the mechanical beast.  Across the room Silas fired several crossbow bolts at the thing, but most just bounced off of it’s synth and metal hide as well.  Thinking quickly Torrent dropped his weapon which was doing little damage and charged up his hands to deliver a destructive bolt of electricity to the thing.  The jack’s electrical attack seriously shocked the Angel, and took its attention away from Oswin, who was able to scurry away, but only after taking another serious wound which left her impaired.  Oswin would continue to fire her cybernetic-laser at the machine, and Lynq’s broadsword was brought down upon the thing repeatedly, but they were only damaging it in small increments, and in return the mechanical beast was causing great harm to each member of the troupe.  Thinking on her feet Silas ran over to the control panel and started trying to figure out a way to shut the Angel of Steel down.  Her first attempts to manipulate the toggles, buttons, and switches were met with failure, but with each painful groan of her teammates acting as inspiration, the stealthy jack finally figured out a way to either reduce the effectiveness of the Angel’s weapon or cause the machine incredible harm.  She chose to damage the machine, which finally ended it’s active programming, shutting it down completely.  

After licking their wounds, using some cyphers, and resting up the party continued their investigation of the panels.  It appeared that if one were wearing a suitable suit of heat shielding they would be able to enter the Vortex and find out what was on the other side.  Following some simple instructions on one panel, it appeared that there was another chamber elsewhere in the complex that could provide the party with just the protection they needed.  Gathering the cyphers that they had retrieved from the broken Angel of Steel the party made their way to the Transformation Room.  Inside the large complex was a great raised platform, with secondary platforms and a pair of crystals to the right and left.  At the end of the platform was a dais, and just beyond that a pool of liquid with two arms above it.  It took only a few seconds for Oswin to eye the whole room up and down and state that the “suits” they were looking for were probably in the vat of liquid somehow.  How right she would be.  A curious Torrent moved up the platform first, but as soon as he passed the crystals on either side, each crystal fired off a deadly “snowflake” that slashed at the clever jack while attempting to affect his mind.  Despite their apparent danger, the snowflakes were little threat to the party, since they had just faced down an enemy as difficult as the Angel of Steel.  The pair of floating disks were easily dispatched after only causing Torrent a little bit of pain, and the party was able to continue their investigation.  

Oswin had been correct in her initial assumption.  When she reached the top of the platform, the intelligent nano stood on top of the dais and was slowly lowered by the arms into the pool of liquid.  When she was pulled back out, she was covered in a sheen of synth and ceramic, which she realized would protect her from just about any heat possible.  The rest of the party each got coated as well.  Finishing out their actions in this room Oswin found another control panel that, when she tinkered with it, shorted out her gravity boots causing a terrible blast.  Lucky for the group, though, that Oswin was able to pull a trove of treasure out of the broken panel, including a powerful artifact that they couldn’t quite understand just yet.  

It was finally time to return to the Vortex and pass through the gate.  Clad in the synth-ceramic skin suits, each member of the team passed into the fire and out the other side.  Once through, it appeared like they where in another chamber akin to what they had just passed through.  The walls were made of a hard white ceramic tile, but were soft and rounded.  There was light and heat in the area, and the radiance of the portal behind them was matched by a similar heat that was emanating from elsewhere in the room as well.  In the party’s mind there was message... “welcome.”  As the party examined the room, there was another control panel which Oswin started to tinker with.  After a few moments, a “you are here” sign of sorts came up on the panel.  The party was able to make out an image of the solar system, with each of the 7 major planets shown.  But according to the panel, the “station” that they were situated on was not on Earth.  In fact, it wasn’t on any of the planets or their moons.  The Vortex was most certainly a portal, a teleportation device which had transported the entire party to a complex that was located within the corona of the Sun itself... 

Quotes

“So, do we want to engage this thing?” - Torrent thinking about approaching the Angel of Steel.

“I can go scan the panel, right?  Cuz that wouldn’t cause anything bad...” - Jen, just before something bad happened.

“Just a flesh wound...” - Lynq didn’t pay his impaled leg much mind.  

- I’m gonna go for the shock touch...” - Tom describing Torrent’s action

- “He’s rubbin’ his feet on the carpet!” - Jen describing Torrent’s action

“It looks like an olympic training facility...” - Jen’s take on the Transformation Room

“Don’t touch what you can’t afford!” - Nate knew all about them crystals due to years of Legend of Zelda experience.  

Basic Fantasy RPG: Dragonlance - Heroes of Solace - Session 1

Basic Fantasy RPG:  Dragonlance

Heroes of Solace - Session 1

Characters:

- Felicia - Human Cleric
- Nicole Slawbottom - Kender Thief
- Stacky Hammerfall - Dwarf Fighter
- Limestien - Human Magic-User
- Slenderman - Minotaur Barbarian
- Dirk - Human Scout

After assembling in the village of Solace, at the Inn of the Last Home, a brave band of adventurers are tasked by the village elders to assist in dealing with a local threat.  To the south-west of the town there had been ogre sightings, and with recent disruptions of trade with nearby towns and villages the elders wanted this threat eliminated.  So the party gathered their belongings, picked up their weapons, and headed down along the road.  Once goblin tracks were picked up by Dirk, however, the troupe moved into the hills along the northern side of the road and carefully searched for signs of danger.

Not far from the sighting of the tracks, the party came upon a destroyed merchant cart, surrounded by vicious and foul goblins.  Not wanting to be seen, Nicole assisted the rest of the party in camouflaging themselves while they carefully approached the goblins.  It would be "The Great Limestieny" and her (or his, no one really knows TGL's gender) incredible sleep spell that would knock out more than a third of the goblins while Slenderman, Dirk, and Nicole rained death from above in the form of arrows, sling stones, and thrown hand-axes at the goblins.  Stacky and Slenderman charged into hand to hand combat, and while the dwarf swung away, the minotaur used horn and axe to make short work of his miniature foes.  Limestien played the archer role as well, using his/her arcane bolt attack whenever possible until she was struck by a rampaging goblin and knocked unconscious.  When the final goblins were waking up from their magically induced slumber, it was too late.  Destruction was all that awaited their green little hides.

With the goblins eliminated (and Nicole wandering off to do something else more interesting), the party ransacked the humanoids' belongings and continued to follow their tracks to a hole in the ground in the southern hills.  Large enough for ogres, there was a weak ladder heading down fifty feet, and hand holds that were placed so far apart that only an ogre could use them.  The party carefully used the ladder (except for Slenderman, who used the hand holds) and descended into the depths of the ogre lair.    Although Limestien was the first to go down and illuminate the ogre lair, it would be Stacky who charged head first towards a door that had been open ajar.  Beyond the door would be a pair of ogres and some cots, which were probably for the goblins.

Stacky wasn't waiting to talk with the two beasties.  He pulled out his axe and went toe to toe with the nearest ogre.  While the dwarf held back his foe Limestien cast another sleep spell knocking the other ogre briefly out of action.  The lone ogre that was fighting was no match for five well equipped adventurers, and fell to a rampaging Slenderman who was raging at the time.  The sleeping ogre would never wake up, as Dirk made short work of the loose end.  The party then gathered the treasure that lay about the room and headed back to Solace.

Savage Worlds: Clockwork - The Daunting Excursion to Dread Island - Session 3

Savage Worlds: Clockwork - Season 2 - Session 3

The Daunting Excursion to Dread Island, Part Three

1/10/2014

Journal Date:  April 17th - 18th, 1898

Cast:  Lady Selene Eva Thana (Eternal Noble), Reginald Thistlethorpe (Psychic Medium), Nigel Loring (Hunter/Adventurer/Explorer), Fangzhi (Wudang Initiate), Captain Oswald Chance (Sky Baron)

Notable NPC’s:  Piter Hess (Deck Hand), Vas, Kryg, Sten

Plot Summary:  

Following a pleasant evening, complete with sacrifice, at Tanaroa village, the party slept in the next morning before preparing to head out to the southwestern peninsula of Dread Island.  Given a boat by the Tanaroans, and a trio of seafaring warriors, Lady Selene, Reginald, Nigel, Fangzhi, Captain Chance, and their minion Piter Hess put together a plan to leave in the early evening and cross the bay to the shores adjacent to the southernmost crash site of the Princess Alexandra.  The trip across the water was peaceful, with no apparent threat or danger, but once the party made landfall, they couldn’t be more careful.  Captain Chance set up a decent camp, complete with small stove and tent, and the crew turned in for the night.  

Nigel, with machete in hand, helped the team blaze a trail deep into the jungle.  The trek, while short, was rough and difficult, and were it not for luck and endurance, the sudden rains could’ve held the crew back and tired them out.  But not this crew!  The five adventurers (they had left Piter and the three Tanaroans behind with the boat) uncovered large birdlike tracks along the newly created trail, as well as some evidence that something crashed in the forest not far ahead.  Quickly Nigel moved forward only to uncover the wreckage of a crashed White Star Lines escape pod... from the Princess Alexandra!  

While most of the party observed the crashed ship from a distance, it was the exceptionally curious Reginald Thistlethorpe that moved closer to the vessel, finding several bodies torn to shreds with only their bones and some clothing scraps left behind.  Seven bodies in all were found outside the craft, with very little left of any value.  After Fang and Reginald found that nothing alive remained outside of the craft, Captain Chance moved in as well.  There was a semi-circle of sandbags and wooden planks protecting the port access hatch to the craft, behind which was a pair of shoes (feet still intact) and a rifle.  By the age of the bodies the party figured that the crash victims survived about 8-9 days before being torn apart by “something”.  Captain Chance moved into the craft, found some goods, and the last crew member dead behind the door to the control room.  Lady Thana and Nigel had moved closer to the craft, but when the scene started to seem more ominous the Lady took off back into the forest... and right into a squadron of feathered velociraptors!

Five smaller male raptors in threatened the party’s front while at one flank a larger mother raptor was waiting to pounce.  Reginald wasn’t much for waiting, so he telekinetically took hold of his Zulu spear Headhunter and lopped the noggin off of one of the males.  Even so, three of the beasts charged Lady Thana, tearing into her semi-undead pale flesh and causing great pain.  Another raptor charged Nigel, causing significant pain as well.  The Captain and Nigel started firing round after round into the creatures, trying to put them down quickly.  A large elephant round from Nigel immobilized the mother for several moments, which gave the crew time to deal with the smaller creatures.  Two of the beasts that were in the process of eviscerating Lady Thana were ch’i pummeled deep into the woods by a quick thinking Fang, who’s feet were equally capable of dispatching the raptors as guns and spears.  Just as they were getting the upper hand, though, another squadron of raptors flanked the party.  The second batch succeeded in taking down and incapacitating Lady Thana and causing significant harm to both Captain Chance and Reginald but they too were defeated not long after the mother was dropped.  

Before they headed back to the boat with the few spoils they collected from the escape pod Captain Chance healed as many of the party’s wounds as he could before Fangzhi performed some ch’i healing on Lady Thana’s damaged eyes.  Once back to where the boat had been, however, the party realized that they were in deep trouble.  The boat had been damaged significantly, broken apart most likely by creatures of unknown origin.  There was no sign of the sea warriors or Piter, so the party had to reconsider their plans to save the Martians!   

Quotes:

“The one thing I remember from Waterworld is that the monsters sleep during day-time...” - Frank recalling another movie that Melinda probably never saw.

- “Come on!  I can climb over a hedge!” - Frank was touting Fangzhi’s climbing skills

- “Yeah, okay...” - Craig remembering Fangzhi’s climbing skills

“Wouldn’t I have someone along to carry stuff for me?” - Melinda was shocked that there were no servants to assist Lady Selene Eva Thana with her belongings during the jungle trek.  

“I think they’re Martians guys!  And they’re playing dead!” - Reginald Thistlethorpe’s perception from about 100 feet away.

“... Uh guys, she’s not a Martian, and I was wrong about that ‘alive’ part...” - Reginald Thistlethorpe’s perception from about 2 feet away.

“It doesn’t look like there will be much of a danger, so of course I engage my parasol.” - Melinda was glad that she took both the Ambidextrous AND Two-Fisted edges.

“I’m actually doing pretty well in this combat, I like this... they’re no hedges involved...” - Frank was amazed that Fangzhi was the only character that escaped the combat without a single wound.  

Savage Worlds: Clockwork - The Daunting Excursion to Dread Island - Session 2

Savage Worlds: Clockwork - Season 2 - Session 2

The Daunting Excursion to Dread Island, Part Two

12/16/2013

Journal Date:  April 16th, 1898

Cast:  Lady Selene Eva Thana (Eternal Noble), Reginald Thistlethorpe (Psychic Medium), Nigel Loring (Hunter/Adventurer/Explorer), Fangzhi (Wudang Initiate)

Notable NPC’s:  Captain Oswald Chance, Piter Hess (Deck Hand), Kago the Greater, Zombie Master, 19969

Plot Summary:  

With the enemy ornithopter pilot lassoed by Fangzhi, the party closed in on the flying machine ready to interrogate.  Fang noticed the pilot was not obviously armed, however he was manipulating something in his mouth.  Quickly the Wudang Initiate moved to grab the pilot's mouth, but even with Nigel's help the pilot bit down on a poison capsule and started to foam at the mouth.  Before he crossed over to oblivion, however, Fang's zen mastery went to work.  The martial artist pulled the pilot from the aircraft and started to work on his Ch'i.  After a brief round of energy work and acupuncture the pilot returned from death's door, although he still required more medicine to be completely free of the poison's effects.  It was around this time that the party was approached by the natives of the island.  Appearing as a cultural mixture of both Asia and Africa, the strange pidgin dialect of the natives was quite difficult to comprehend.  Surprisingly to the party, though, was that the leader of the dozen or so tribesmen was able to almost fully comprehend Lady Thana's words, but just wasn't able to speak in her language.  Reginald's linguistic skills allowed him to start picking up the language of the natives, and the party agreed to return with them back to their village, Tanaroa.  Before leaving the crash site, though, Captain Chance disabled both the machine gun and the ornithopter, so that it couldn't fall into enemy hands again.

At Tanaroa village, after an hour or so of walking, Reginald's abilities came to fruition.  The master of languages was able to speak easily with the natives, and started interpreting for the rest of the party.  The leader of the "Hawk Clan" of Tanaroans was Kago the Greater.  Kago was happy for the party's arrival, and even happier that they brought a sacrifice:  a bird man.  Bird Man was what the Tanaroans called the ornithopter pilots, and Kago told the party that these devils of the sky commonly killed his people and kin on the southeastern peninsula of the island.  He offered shelter and haven, however his price was the life of the Bird Man who would need to be sacrificed to the "Those of the Deep", servants of the Deep Gods who dwelled beneath the waves.  According to Kago, the Deep Gods were just as troublesome as the Bird Men.  Reginald told Kago that his team needed to speak with the Bird Man, but agreed and swore a blood oath that he could later be used as a sacrifice. 

To help heal the pilot of his poison induced coma, Kago brought forth the Zombie Master, the medicine man of Tanaroa village.  While Fang worked on the Ch'i energy that remained in the pilot, the Zombie Master poured a strange blood concoction straight into the neck of the enemy combatant, which brought him back to a semi-lifelike state.  Interrogating the pilot was difficult.  Luckily for the party, the sweet voice of the resident dhampyr Lady Thana reminded the pilot of a wife that he believed he had, and so he was a bit more forthcoming than he should have been.  The party was able to make out that his name was 19969, and that he was a member of Obscura.  He was under a vow to never speak of his activities, but he was able to say that "Obscura" would know that he was "compromised" since he had crashed and was captured.  He stated that he could not speak anymore because the penalty of breaking a vow was that his family would be horribly subjected to fates worse than death.  He spoke of forced transformations into other creatures and entities, and did not wish this fate for the family that he left behind.  The party was able to trick him though into believing that he was already breaking the vow, and offered a few words of comfort that they would try and get to his family.  Without thinking the pilot told the party that he had departed from an island in the west, and described the island a bit before being overcome by guilt and emotion. 

Kago would meet with Reginald again before the sacrifice, and would give the party some information about the interior of the island.  He claimed that the natural resources of the island cluster were far richer in the depths of the jungle and hills to the north, and that he often led scouting parties into this area.  He spoke of a path that would take the characters to a small lake, but warned of "cat-men" savages who claimed an area just north of the lake.  Asked about anything falling from the sky, he did remember that there was an amazing cluster of shooting stars two weeks prior, which he saw from a small hilltop near the northern lake.  He marked on the party's map the locations of three crash sites where these stars fell to the Earth.

The sacrifice was brutal but quick.  19969 was lowered into a large ceramic urn with a live snake.  Once he stopped thrashing, he urn was sealed, and then thrown into the sea to the east of the village in order to appease the Deep Gods.  Reginald, one of the "Others from the Sky" was hailed as a friend and was presented with Head Taker, a special zulu short spear designed for decapitation.  The party would settle in for the evening, and awake the next morning ready to head to the southern-most crash site in hopes of rescuing the crashed vessel from Mars. 

Quotes:

“That’s an aircraft?” - Frank didn’t like Jim’s drawing

“I will bring you the ‘zombie master!’” - Kago ominously found the Tanaroa village’s version of McDreamy.  

“The first rule of vow club is...” - Brian knows all about vow club

“What good is sacrificing a bird man if it doesn’t keep Nessie away for a while.” - Reginald made a good point. 

Savage Worlds: Clockwork - The Daunting Excursion to Dread Island - Session 1

Savage Worlds: Clockwork - Season 2 - Session 1

The Daunting Excursion to Dread Island, Part One

12/6/2013

Journal Date:  April 16th, 1898

Cast:  Lady Selene Eva Thana (Eternal Noble), Reginald Thistlethorpe (Psychic Medium), Nigel Loring (Hunter/Adventurer/Explorer), Fangzhi (Wudang Initiate)

Notable NPC’s:  President Milton Burroughs, Captain Oswald Chance, Piter Hess (Deck Hand)

Plot Summary:  

Explosions wracked the Nova Victoriana, a grand airship commissioned by Ravenswood College floating high above Dread Island, 200 miles north of Madagascar.  Three ornithopters blasted the slow-moving craft with gatling gun rounds and beeper-seeker rockets while the crew desperately tried to fight back.  With half the crew dead, Nigel Loring unconscious, and the ship on fire, Reginald Thistlethorpe, Lady Selene Eva Thana, and Fangzhi had to rush into action!  While the psychic medium Reginald taunted the scurvy air bandits, Lady Selene charged up to one of the deck guns and started blasting away.  She managed two kills for the day, damaging the wings of one of the craft while exploding another in a shower of shrapnel and coal dust.  Fangzhi focused on the flames, and put out the fire in the fore section of the craft, and was trying to move aft on the vessel’s airbag when one of the ‘thopters crashed into the front of the airship, causing it to fall to the waters below.  The party quickly assumed crash positions while Captain Oswald Chance piloted the craft into the warm waters below.  The vessel slowly sank most of the way into the water while Fang (towing the still unconscious Nigel), Reginald, and Lady Selene swam to shore.

The party had come to Dread Island in search of the Princess Alexandra.  An interplanetary craft that had recently come from distant Mars, the Princess Alexandra carried a dozen Canal Martian Philisophes who were supposed to be on a trip to Ravenswood College to work with college President Milton Burroughs on an exchange program - a plan that would eventually lead to the opening of a sister college in Syrtis Major.  Unfortunately the craft never made it to London, and the president feared involvement by the infamous and cult-like secret society known as Obscura.  Knowing that only his best agents could be sent into the field, President Burroughs called on Nigel Loring and the rest of his team to accompany the college’s new spirit-summoning enigma Reginald Thistlethorpe to the East African coast. 

Once on shore the party split their tasks.  Lady Thana was getting hungry, so Nigel Loring headed into the jungle to bring her back some lizard blood.  Thinking that there could possibly someone left alive in the Nova Victoriana, despite it bobbing up and down on one end, Fang and Reginald headed out into the bay.  The party had already pulled Piter Hess, one of the deck hands, out of the water a few moments earlier, so possibly there were others alive.  Once at the ship, however, it seemed like all was lost.  Fang was about to swim back when he heard a faint tapping on the other side of the aluminum coating.  Quickly Reginald summoned an aetheric shark that swam down and into the slowly sinking craft, pulling none other than Captain Chance out of the dying craft.

There was a village to the north, but the party believed that one of the ornithopters may have crash landed to the East.  Not needing to seek any medical treatment yet, the party headed East and uncovered the ornithopter, which had landed.  The ‘thopter gunner was scanning the tree line for danger while the pilot repaired the craft.  Wanting to take them out quietly, Nigel slowly crept through the grass with Fangzhi not far behind.  When the big game hunter was in range with his elephant gun, he blasted away at the gunner.  The first shot hit him right in the shoulder, breaking through bone and gristle.  Although gatling gun fire kept Fang and Nigel from acting too brashly, a second shot from the elephant gun took out the gunner’s head.  Quickly Fang sprung into action and charged the ornithopter.  He fashioned a lasso out of vines and deftly launched it at the pilot, just as he was ready to take off in the craft.  Restrained, the party prepared to interrogate the pilot, just as a troupe of local villagers approached from the north.  

Quotes:

“Didn’t you just say 10 minutes ago that you didn’t need a climbing bonus?” - Brian commenting on Frank’s earlier comment that he didn’t need to purchase shoes to help him climb, right after he realized that his climbing skill might not be enough to help with fixing the Nova Victoriana.

“I say, you’re a FRIGHTFULLY poor shot!” - Reginald Thistlethorpe taunts one of the Ornithopter pilots successfully.

“You’re really going to summon a ‘friendly’ shark to go in there?” - Frank didn’t quite believe Brian’s plan to cast “Summon Ally” to have an ectoplasmic shark go in the wreckage of the Nova Victoriana.  

-“I don’t believe in attacking unsuspecting targets... not very sporting.” - Reginald Thistlethorpe, party pacifist

“Then you’re in the wrong party!” - Nigel Loring, party badass

Numenera - Vortex - Session 2

Numenera Session 2

“Vortex, Part 2”

1/3/2014

Jen - Oswin, an Intelligent Nano who Fuses Flesh with Steel

Frank - Trevor, a Strong-Willed Nano who Commands Mental Powers

Nate - Lynq, a Rugged Glaive who Explores Dark Places

Tom - Torrent, a Clever Jack who Rides the Lightning

Sarah - Silus, a Stealthy Jack who Exists Partially Out of Phase

Summary

With a plan in mind the intrepid band of Numenera Hunters set out with the two Varjellen merchants and their pack animals to the expected location that the weird structure was expected to appear again.  Although they didn’t notice at first, once they started making camp on the first night they saw that their caravan was being followed by  six bandits... the visitant hating street toughs that caused them difficulty the day before.  The six were riding a slow, but steady moving caterpillar shaped creature called a gretzk.  The thugs called for the party to hand over the visitants, a demand that the adventurers just weren’t going to accept.  With a low growl Lynq stepped forward, followed by the rest of the party, and they prepared to throw down.  The thugs weren’t much of a match for the party and they quickly fell, leaving the crew one caterpillar richer.  

Eight days later and the party was still waiting for the structure to appear at the predetermined site.  Oswin spent a considerable amount of time scanning the field for the exact location, and eventually she sensed that the structure was slowly rising at the bottom of a hill.  Oswin grabbed Torrent, and the two waited for the structure to cut through the surface while Silus was nearby, out of phase.  About 500 feet out Lynq and Trevor waited out of sight.  When the structure was fully surfaced, before the party could react, a young blond girl opened the door and bolted out and started running across the field.  Lynq took off after her, and eventually got close enough to call out.  His imposing figure was rather intimidating, and when she started to question him, he preferred to defer until Trevor appeared.  Once everyone was together she explained that her name was Evanna, and she was an unwilling member of the Cult of the Vortex.  She and her brother Shome joined recently, against their will.  A terrible “beast of a man” named Abrassal ran the cult, which had been over the years becoming smaller and smaller.  Only a dozen or so members remained, and her brother was still down there.  She asked that the party would enter the structure, retrieve her brother, and bring him safely to the surface.  

With the key to the structure in hand, the party entered and took an elevator down into the bowels of a great chamber.  Once exiting the elevator they found themselves in a chamber that was 1,000 feet across with a central platform and 9 raised walkways stretching above an unfathomable drop into utter darkness.  Only one path was illuminated, as Evanna had explained, with candles and glow globes.  Oswin explored another possible path, but a trio of dead bodies and an unearthly nearly invisible sphere blocking the walkway made it a bit dangerous in appearance. 

Taking the chosen path towards the living area for the rest of the cultists Silus moved a bit ahead of the party, and once they were at a large circular chamber, the stealthy jack moved forward and investigated.  In the chamber was the large burly man that they had first encountered 10 days earlier, as well as several other cultists.  Since the large man, Gregor as Evanna had called him, was the primary threat, a plan was hatched where he would be quickly and fatally dispatched while Silus would speak to the rest of the cultists and force them to see the error of their ways.  Well the plan sort of worked.  Gregor was critically injured but not killed outright.  Silus’s speech kept some of the cultists out of combat, but two of the stronger folks started to join in the conflict.  Fast and brutal, Lynq leaped into action against the most deadly of the cultists, joined by the rest of the crew.  Gregor was killed, as was Fean, one of the cultist-in-arms who was wielding a powerful artifact.  Relle, the most deadly “ninja” in the cult put her weapons down once it appeared like she couldn’t win.  

Relle agreed to help the party against Abrassal, whom she explained was hated by most of the cultists, so long as she was left alone to stay in the chambers so that she could be near the Vortex.  Between Relle, and then Savra, a matronly woman who also agreed to help the party, they were told that Abrassal lived in a chamber below them, accessible by elevator, and near the Vortex.  The Vortex, a portal of light and fire, was worshipped by most of the cult, Savra included.  They were also warned that Abrassal had a barrier around himself that kept metal objects from coming within a close distance of him.   

It was confirmed that Abrassal had Shome trapped below in his chambers.  A plan to dispatch him quickly was put together.  With Savra’s help he was poisoned by Oswin with a drug to make him depressed.  The Numenera Hunters took the elevator below and broke into his room.  When Silus saw Abrassal, the silver tongue of the cult leader caused her to pause before she could do anything.  Well Lynq didn’t care about any sexy voice, so he charged forward and clubbed him like a baby seal with a table leg, followed up Oswin spraying him with a canister of aerosol lubricant.  Once on his back Torrent charged in and touched the cult leader with an electrified hand, shocking him greatly.  It didn’t take long to put him out of his misery at that point, and Trevor crushed his brain.  

It was then that Trevor heard the voice:  “The wall is gone.  The invitation is open.  If you come to where I am, any wish can be granted.  But you must dress for the party.”    

Quotes

“Where is this fluid of which you speak?” - Jim asks Jen quizzically  

“Oh, it’s here somewhere...” - Jen goes to search her character sheet

“A two!” - Everyone’s die roll for the night.

“You are their dark place!” - Tom reflecting on Lynq’s ferocious combat abilities

“Who are you?” - Evanna to Lynq

“I don’t have any social skills, you’ll have to wait for my friend to come back.” - Lynq

“One hand on my sword... the other on my globes.” - Nate knows a great deal about glow globes.

“He died... he died sad covered in lube...” - Lynq’s words of wisdom.  

“Now this is when it turns into Castlevania, and you find out he was the decoy...” - Frank predicted the second act!

Numenera - Vortex - Session 1

Numenera Session 1 

“Vortex, Part 1”

11/30/2013

Players 

Jen - Oswin, an Intelligent Nano who Fuses Flesh with Steel

Frank - Trevor, a Strong-Willed Nano who Commands Mental Powers

Nate - Lynq, a Rugged Glaive who Explores Dark Places

Tom - Torrent, a Clever Jack who Rides the Lightning

Sarah - Silus, a Stealthy Jack who Exists Partially Out of Phase

Summary

The characters in this story, Oswin, Trevor, Lynq, Torrent, and Silus were traversing the edge of the Dark Hills, passing through Draolis and into Southern Navarene following a successful Numenera hunting excursion.  While passing through this part of the country they came across a strange structure sticking out of the ground through a stream.  Upon closer investigation the structure seemed to have recently erupted from the ground, however there was no clear way to enter.  Footprints surrounding the structure and a possible “keyhole” proved that there were others interested in this discovery.  Not long after finding this out a small troupe of monks arrived demanding that the party remove themselves from the scene.  The monks, clad in purple robes, claimed that the site was sacred to them and offered a few shins to get the characters to leave.  Oswin was only interested in their hoverboard cypher, so eventually they pestered the monks enough to get them to hand it over in return for leaving the area.  Silus, however, merged with a tree and observed the departure of the structure, which burrowed deep within the ground.  

At first it seemed like the structure was gone and no traces were left of the weird monks, but Silus saw a sack floating away from the scene down the quick moving stream.  Lynq took off after the sack, which must’ve been left by one of the monks.  Not wanting possible clues to disappear, Lynq jumped into the stream and tore open the bag, finding a big load of vegetables, dried meat, preserves, and a notebook.  The notebook had several maps of the surrounding area, and also seemed to show that the precise area where the structure appeared was predicted, and that it would appear 10 days later about 80 miles north.  Needing more information, and interested in where the monks acquired the floating disk and the supplies, the characters set off for Jutte, 6 miles away.  

The quiet village of Jutte was unknown to the party, not famous for anything, not even their Entolodons (pig-sized hippos bred for their milk and eggs).  It seemed like two folks in the village were interested in the hoverboard... a varjellen merchant and Jacoby, owner of Jacoby’s Jink.  The varjellen, a traveling trader named Maleen, was fairly chatty for a visitant, and sought information regarding the monks from the characters, just as they asked questions of the same.  He seemed interested because he had seen similar monks a century earlier.  While talking with the varjellen, however, a bunch of street toughs showed up, threatening the party for talking to dirty visitants.  The gangers sure were lucky that Oswin stepped in before Lynq did, as the nano used her sleep inducing ring to put the first one out, causing him to knock into the second and  drop him from consciousness as well.  For their help, Maleen offered to meet the party later at the local tavern to discuss the monks.

The party questioned Jacoby a bit as well, but all he could tell the party was that the monks had purchased the hoverboard cypher from him and he had a few other oddities for sale.  Unfortunately the party didn’t have a use for a crystal that shattered and reformed every few seconds, three six-fingered gloves, or a belt buckle made of tin that weighed as much as lead.  

A the tavern later Maleen told the party that he had seen similar monks a century before when in Nilhiesh to the south.  At that time there were at least thirty members of the well formed Cult of the Vortex, a name he could pull from the symbols on the traveling structure that Oswin could remember.  Knowing that the structure would be back in about 10 days time, Maleen offered to fund an expedition into the structure’s depths in search of cyphers, artifacts, and oddities.  He had a small herd of Aneen that could take the party to the site, deep within Navarene, set up tents and rest stations, and help with taking extra cyphers through the Steadfast.  The party agreed to pay 25% of their take to Maleen and his associate Kel, and they decided to set out the next morning.   

Quotes:

“If you ‘ride the lightning’ shouldn’t you sound like the guy from Metallica?” - Jen had some preconceived notions of the descriptors and foci.  

“I’m a little squirrelly!” - Sarah’s description of her character was spot on.  

“There is no ‘bright-side’...” - Frank was really getting in character for his depressing Nano.

“Climb on my back, I’ll hover over the water!” - Jen was pretty sure that Oswin had abilities that she didn’t have.   

“My Intellect is like a 3rd grade dropout.” - Nate didn’t have much faith in Lynq’s smarts and was just waiting to smack something.  

“Do you want to come have a beer and talk about hover board’s later?” - Jen used this pick up line on the gamemaster about 16 years earlier.

“The last thing they’ll remember is the smell of lemon.” - Frank knew there was a use for Oswin’s intimidating citrus bell.