Created: February 9, 2007
The Island Tomb
An ancient, ruined tomb of a minor king from the Lost Empire.
PCs sent here by Taevin, who has a collector willing to pay 1,000 gp for any “relics” they can find.
Information:
There was an ancient empire.
This empire was powerful.
This empire was obsessed with death.
This empire was destroyed somehow, mysteriously.
Hint at the floating platform thing.
1. The Beach (EL 5)
The island is small and desolate, basically just a sandbar. The most obvious features are the sound of surf and the smell of sea air. There is also a building of some kind, made of smooth stone, half buried under the sands, and a giant stone head a few yards away.
Near the entrance are three medium monstrous crabs (Stormwrack p. 142) who attack anyone who ventures near. If they don’t see the party, they will eventually wander away, into the waves. (Spot distance is 6d6x20 feet, though.)
The entrance is two large stone doors. Above these doors, on the roof of the building, are two legs, all that remains of the statue the head came from. Across the doors is an inscription that reads: “My name is Ozymandius, king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.”
2. Entrance Hall
The only light in this room is what comes in from outside. The walls are covered with relief carvings, likely of the exploits of the aforementioned Ozymandius. They show, variously, a robed figure being crowned, leading an army, surrounded by courtiers, dispensing wisdom from a throne, and being given various things. The figure of Ozymandius is distinguishable because he is decorated with inlaid colored stone that has in places fallen away.
A short hallway leads into a much larger room.
3. Walkway
The walls of the chamber are covered with scenes similar to the ones in the entrance, except that they mostly depict various happenings of an empire, rather than the personal exploits of a king.
A semi-circular runs around one side of the chamber. The central part of the chamber, between the walkway and the central island, is dark pit. (20’ deep, then water.) The central island is about 20’ away from the walkway. (See 6 for details.) This is a puzzle: the players will need to figure out some way to get from the walkway to the central island. One solution: use telekinesis (lesser) to loop a rope around the sarcophagus thing in the center, and then climb across.
In the center of the walkway is a detachable platform that would float back and forth between the island and the walkway if it were operable. Which it isn’t. The only clue that it is detachable, currently, is an indentation that runs around its edge on the walkway and down the side of the pit. It’s also covered with shallower lines and complex patterns, and three pits evenly spaced across its middle.
4. Right Chamber
This chamber contains three things: a statue made of black stone with gold details, murals depicting the same figure as the statue, and reliquary in the wall. This has been hidden with some care (Search DC 15) but it should be fairly obvious that something is there: the statue faces it, most of the figures on the wall are facing it, and the spot itself is marked with a crossed bar of translucent golden stone. (Like a plus sign, except the horizontal is four or five times as wide as the vertical.)
Inside the reliquary is a longsword with a hilt of black stone, decorated with gold, and a small gold box.
The long sword is completely ordinary, but it counts as a relic for the collector.
5. Left Chamber
Just rubble, basically. Part of this section of the chamber collapsed. The PCs can clear it, if they want; three or four Strength checks, DC 15, if they fail by five points or more they have to avoid falling rubble, Ref 17, 1d6 damage. If they get through, all they find is an empty version of 4.
6. Central Island, EL 6
Another statue of Ozymandius. (Actually an upright sarcophagus, if they really want to break it open.)
On its head is a crown, set in indentations at its feet are the pieces of a broken scepter. All three are just art objects, the kind of thing Taevin’s rich collector is interested in. Moving these objects causes the back wall to slide open, and 2 stone bears enter. (Not that this makes any sense.)
7. Stone Bear Chamber
The inscriptions in this room look like they were added some time after the others; they’re fresher, more distinct. The carvings are more stylized, less detailed, and unadorned by colored stone. They show warriors, mages, and demon dragons; scenes of war and death.
Every few seconds, a narrow band of light moves across the floor, from one side of the chamber to the other. It starts at the feet of the largest dragon figure, and crosses over to a detailed temple, the non-war type figure on the walls.
An inscription runs around the room and through the designs—it’s not written in any recognizable language, but it’s still understandable. (Yay, magic.)
Keep these words,
Who finds them here,
Beneath a bitter moon,
Your path is found,
By dragon bound,
By ritual and rune.
The temple is on the north east side of the chamber, to the right of the opening. The light thing points in this direction; it’s intended as a sign that they should sail that way.
Search DC 25:
Inset chamber similar to the one in 4
Bastard sword (magical, but has no active properties)
5 warm, sparking blue stones (Detonations, electric loop, 150 gp each, 750 gp total )
5 warm, sparking blue stones (Detonations, shock, 75 gp each, 375 gp total)
5 warm, sparking blue stones (Detonations, electric jolt, 12 gp 5 sp each, 62 gp 5 sp total)
Showing posts with label session 03. Show all posts
Showing posts with label session 03. Show all posts
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Session Notes
Created: February 10, 2007
“I call upon the power of all that is true and just in the world!” – Sigrid
“I’ll be going now.” – Captain Blank
Fought bears. Captain Blank nearly died. Andy killed one by knocking it into the acid pit, Blank killed one with icefire.
“They fight stone bears, and Captain Blank nearly dies.”
Had conversation about how Captain Blank has no hit points. And how no one else could or wanted to heal him.
Rested, Sigrid and Rellik kept watch.
“Okay, I killed a bear.” – Captain Blank
“I killed a bear better.” – Sorern
“He said specifically that they were ‘catacombs,’ as in, involving dead people.” – Captain Blank (“he” being Taevin)
“And giant blue bears.” – Sorern
Party pulled a bomb squad on the blue stones.
“It’s contact etiquette. You wouldn’t understand.” – Captain Blank (to Sigrid)
Found all the things I hid. Got obsessed with figuring out the riddle.
Took about four days to work everything out.
Turned out there was a storm, with strong winds and stuff.
“Interesting. This seems to be a very popular name in this ancient culture.” – Captain Blank, jokingly imitating Sorern as he analyzed ever single one of the blue stones, and discovered that they were all made by the same person (Tai Faren)
They went back to Ao-Manasa, had a storm on the way, took three days. Sorern used object loresight on all the magic items they found. Captain Blank returned to Taevin, sold the relics—crown, two scepter pieces, box with hair, longsword. (5,000 gp)
“It’s a bunch of criminal lowlifes, there’s plenty of information to be had there.” – Sigrid
“Captain Blank gets into a gladiator death match, and almost dies.” – Sigrid
“I call upon the power of all that is true and just in the world!” – Sigrid
“I’ll be going now.” – Captain Blank
Fought bears. Captain Blank nearly died. Andy killed one by knocking it into the acid pit, Blank killed one with icefire.
“They fight stone bears, and Captain Blank nearly dies.”
Had conversation about how Captain Blank has no hit points. And how no one else could or wanted to heal him.
Rested, Sigrid and Rellik kept watch.
“Okay, I killed a bear.” – Captain Blank
“I killed a bear better.” – Sorern
“He said specifically that they were ‘catacombs,’ as in, involving dead people.” – Captain Blank (“he” being Taevin)
“And giant blue bears.” – Sorern
Party pulled a bomb squad on the blue stones.
“It’s contact etiquette. You wouldn’t understand.” – Captain Blank (to Sigrid)
Found all the things I hid. Got obsessed with figuring out the riddle.
Took about four days to work everything out.
Turned out there was a storm, with strong winds and stuff.
“Interesting. This seems to be a very popular name in this ancient culture.” – Captain Blank, jokingly imitating Sorern as he analyzed ever single one of the blue stones, and discovered that they were all made by the same person (Tai Faren)
They went back to Ao-Manasa, had a storm on the way, took three days. Sorern used object loresight on all the magic items they found. Captain Blank returned to Taevin, sold the relics—crown, two scepter pieces, box with hair, longsword. (5,000 gp)
“It’s a bunch of criminal lowlifes, there’s plenty of information to be had there.” – Sigrid
“Captain Blank gets into a gladiator death match, and almost dies.” – Sigrid
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Captains Log II
Secondmonth 9th
When we entered the Tomb on the Fourth, I had no inclination to stay more than a few hours. I suspect there is some form of curse on that Tomb… a curse of madness and persistence.
The first thing we saw in the Tomb was a sarcophagus with some relics on it. There was something of a moat between us and it, so Rellik tied a rope from some rubble nearby to it. We crossed with… moderate success.. Sigrid and I fell in, but Rellik was able to levitate us up. When Sorern picked up the relics, it opened a door behind us, revealing two, over-sized blue stone bears. One of the bloody animals grabbed a hold of me, but I blasted ice in its face, and killed it, stopping it cold in its tracks.
The door also led to a room in which strange depictions of a battle between humans and dragons... and a strange light moving across the floor. We found a secret compartment with some strange blue stones and a sword we are in the process of identifying. So far it seems to be necromantic in nature and very powerful. We were also able to understand an inscription on the wall that said:
Keep these words
Who finds them here
Beneath a bitter moon
Your path is found
By dragon bound
By ritual and rune.
After searching the rest of the tomb, we found a box with a lock of hair in it, and another sword, which I can detect no magic in.
This is where the madness set in…. we scoured the tomb for more relics and treasures, but found none. We rested periodically, when we assumed it was night, but we never just looked out the main entrance, which was only a giant’s reach from where we usually were. Even I cannot explain why I continued searching. We destroyed certain parts of the tomb, searching for more passageways, but found none. Sigrid took it harder than the rest of us. She complained and threatened to leave the tomb, which she could have done at any time, even to just breathe in the fresh air, as we all could and probably should have, but none of us did.
When we finally broke free from the madness and emerged from the Tomb, the sun was rising. Yet only a few bells later, dark storm clouds massed in our path. I knew the Ocean’s Blade could not take what this storm could become head on, so I diverted the course in an attempt to avoid the worst of it. The storm was unpredictable and ever-changing, and I was (and still am) not in the best condition for any form of thought, so I had to continually check the sky and my charts. Sigrid asked if we were lost. I told her I was taking a different course, and hoped that would assure her. I doubt she has faith in my abilities as a captain though. I’ll need to prove to her that I am capable… even if mutiny would clash with her morals; I know any unrest in the crew can be dangerous…
I need some rum…
Secondmonth 10th
The storm cleared up early in the morning, and Sorern and I were awake, so we plotted a direct course to Ao-manasa. Sigrid dosen’t seem to understand much of navigation on the sea. She finds it hard to comprehend a correlation between the stars and navigation! Perhaps if I taught her some basics she would respect my position more… she has retreated to the Crows nest, and I doubt she’ll return anytime later.
Secondmonth 11th
We’ve returned to the ship for an evening planning session. When we arrived in Ao-manasa earlier today, we went into a local tavern for an early meal. After some gossiping, we learned of a few interesting events…. Namely, the murder of some nobleman involving a yellow rose being left behind, and some wanted posters for the murderers of Sa-Follen. The posters have what could be a humanoid shadow and a dashing pirate with roguishly good looks. They didn’t get the chin quite right, but you can see they were inspired.
Apparently the underground gladiator arena is having a series of matches in honour of Sa-Follen. Should be the criminal social event of the season. Rellik and myself will most likely stop by to look for more information.
I saw Taevin Brightfind. I received 5,000 queens (1,250 for each member of the crew) for the two scepter heads, the crown, the sword, and the box with the lock of hair.
When we entered the Tomb on the Fourth, I had no inclination to stay more than a few hours. I suspect there is some form of curse on that Tomb… a curse of madness and persistence.
The first thing we saw in the Tomb was a sarcophagus with some relics on it. There was something of a moat between us and it, so Rellik tied a rope from some rubble nearby to it. We crossed with… moderate success.. Sigrid and I fell in, but Rellik was able to levitate us up. When Sorern picked up the relics, it opened a door behind us, revealing two, over-sized blue stone bears. One of the bloody animals grabbed a hold of me, but I blasted ice in its face, and killed it, stopping it cold in its tracks.
The door also led to a room in which strange depictions of a battle between humans and dragons... and a strange light moving across the floor. We found a secret compartment with some strange blue stones and a sword we are in the process of identifying. So far it seems to be necromantic in nature and very powerful. We were also able to understand an inscription on the wall that said:
Keep these words
Who finds them here
Beneath a bitter moon
Your path is found
By dragon bound
By ritual and rune.
After searching the rest of the tomb, we found a box with a lock of hair in it, and another sword, which I can detect no magic in.
This is where the madness set in…. we scoured the tomb for more relics and treasures, but found none. We rested periodically, when we assumed it was night, but we never just looked out the main entrance, which was only a giant’s reach from where we usually were. Even I cannot explain why I continued searching. We destroyed certain parts of the tomb, searching for more passageways, but found none. Sigrid took it harder than the rest of us. She complained and threatened to leave the tomb, which she could have done at any time, even to just breathe in the fresh air, as we all could and probably should have, but none of us did.
When we finally broke free from the madness and emerged from the Tomb, the sun was rising. Yet only a few bells later, dark storm clouds massed in our path. I knew the Ocean’s Blade could not take what this storm could become head on, so I diverted the course in an attempt to avoid the worst of it. The storm was unpredictable and ever-changing, and I was (and still am) not in the best condition for any form of thought, so I had to continually check the sky and my charts. Sigrid asked if we were lost. I told her I was taking a different course, and hoped that would assure her. I doubt she has faith in my abilities as a captain though. I’ll need to prove to her that I am capable… even if mutiny would clash with her morals; I know any unrest in the crew can be dangerous…
I need some rum…
Secondmonth 10th
The storm cleared up early in the morning, and Sorern and I were awake, so we plotted a direct course to Ao-manasa. Sigrid dosen’t seem to understand much of navigation on the sea. She finds it hard to comprehend a correlation between the stars and navigation! Perhaps if I taught her some basics she would respect my position more… she has retreated to the Crows nest, and I doubt she’ll return anytime later.
Secondmonth 11th
We’ve returned to the ship for an evening planning session. When we arrived in Ao-manasa earlier today, we went into a local tavern for an early meal. After some gossiping, we learned of a few interesting events…. Namely, the murder of some nobleman involving a yellow rose being left behind, and some wanted posters for the murderers of Sa-Follen. The posters have what could be a humanoid shadow and a dashing pirate with roguishly good looks. They didn’t get the chin quite right, but you can see they were inspired.
Apparently the underground gladiator arena is having a series of matches in honour of Sa-Follen. Should be the criminal social event of the season. Rellik and myself will most likely stop by to look for more information.
I saw Taevin Brightfind. I received 5,000 queens (1,250 for each member of the crew) for the two scepter heads, the crown, the sword, and the box with the lock of hair.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Sigrid's Journal 3 - Entombed
~~~~~
Secondmonth 6?
Being in a tomb for such a long time has distorted my perception of time. I believe that we woke up in the morning and it was Secondmonth 6, however, it may have been nightime or another day all-together.
We managed to go back across the rope without any major incidents. The Captain did nearly fall from the rope, and it was mildly amusing to watch him flail around and pull himself back up.
We explored the right passageway and found ourselves in a room with a statue, presumably of King Ozymandius' Champion. We also found a non-magical box with a lock of hair in it, and a very nice non-magical sword. This brings our relic total to five. We thoroughly searched this room for many more bells, finding nothing else. After that we went back into the main chamber and started clearing this huge pile of rubble. We made a big dent in the pile and decided that it was probably nighttime by now and so we decided to sleep.
~~~~~
Secondmonth 7?
We woke up and continued clearing the rubble. It took forever. Finally we managed to clear a passageway through the rubble and found ourselves in a round tomb that was identical to the one we investigated yesterday. Except that it was completely empty. I was so exhausted and frustrated that I sat down and cried and refused to move for awhile. Everyone else searched the room and tried to detect magic and secret doors. They found nothing. You know why? Because there is nothing else in this blasted tomb. Nothing I say! Naught!
~~~~~
Secondmonth 8?
Where has the sun gone? There is no sun anymore. I am to be in this place forever. This must be my punishment for killing that Giant. I keep looking towards the path that leads to the entranceway. I should just leave. I could do it. I could bolt to the door. But the others might object, and I am exhausted anyway. We have not had any food since we entered this place, and our waterskins ran out about two days ago. Everyone else has gone back across the rope to look at the room with the dragon and temple again. I refused to go. If they do not return by the time I wish to sleep, I swear I will get up and leave this place and go back to the boat. But wait, I think that is them right now.
~~~~~
Secondmonth 9?
Freedom! Glorious, glorious Freedom! Justice is all well and good, but right now I understand why many of the Knights of the Axe choose to champion Freedom.
We left the tomb with our five treasures just as the sun was coming up. The sun. It is so bright and wonderful. I understand Champions of Light better now as well.
We set sail and it was probably only two bells later when the sun disappeared behind dark storm clouds. It became windy and proceeded to rain for the rest of the day. Blank kept looking at his charts and then looking at the sky. I asked him if we were lost, and he told me “Arrr, a pirate is never lost, they just sometimes choose a different course.”
We're lost.
~~~~~
Secondmonth 10?
Fortunately the storm cleared up overnight, and Sorern and Blank managed to chart a correct course using the stars. I asked them a few times what the stars had to do with the ocean, but they said I wouldn't understand. I eventually got fed up with them and retreated back to the crow's nest. I think I shall sleep here tonight. The air is fresh after yesterday's storm.
~~~~~
Secondmonth 11
We arrived at Ao-Manasa a little after midday bell.. I managed to confirm with the port guard that today was indeed Secondmonth 11. We went to a tavern for an early supper and talked to some of the locals about what had been going on around Ao-Manasa for the last couple of weeks.
There had been a city funeral for Sa-Follen, and they were still looking for his killers. The barmaid pointed out a wanted poster the watch had posted. On the poster were two pictures. One was a dashing pirate, the other was a humanoid-shaped shadow. The pictures looked nothing like Blank and Rellik.
The underground gladiatorial arena (which is exceptionally illegal) was holding a tournament in “honor” of Sa-Follen. Rellik and Blank said they might check it out, but informed me I would probably not want to join them, as I didn't look like the type of person who frequents such things. I suppose that is a compliment.
Also, Ea-Shamar has become the new Guard Captain. This is good. She seems like a nice enough woman, at least as nice as Giants come. Hopefully she will be more sympathetic to the human community in Ao-Manasa. Perhaps if the Giants learn to be compassionate and respectful of humans, they will eventually allow us self-rule. That would be an ideal situation. I do not fancy a revolution for independence, as revolutions cause many deaths on both sides. Then again, sometimes revolutions cannot be avoided. Revolution may be a real possibility in the future. Not anytime soon though. Also, a human noble has been murdered. His body was found with a yellow rose. I suspect Giant involvement. Then again, I always suspect Giant involvement.
After supper, Blank visited his contact Taevin and collected 5,000 Queens for the relics. My cut is 1,250. I have no idea how to spend this small windfall. Perhaps I can donate this to an orphanage or something. I still feel I must do something to redeem myself. Sorern decided to head back to the ship to study the magical rocks. The other two aren't particularly talkative, so I have taken the opportunity to write in this journal. I thought I should write down the townsfolk's information before I completely forgot about it.
~~~~~
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Sigrid's Journal 2 - Dragons, Assassins, Crabs and Bears
~~~~~
Firstmonth 27
The dragon was considerably less exciting than I thought it would be. Sorern met with her and told her of Sa-Follen's death. The dragon said she may call upon Sorern in the future. That was pretty much the extent of the visit. I have decided to spend as much of my time as possible on the ship's crow's nest. I seem to be the best in this group at noticing things, so I'll keep watch. Also, it gives me an excuse to stay away from the rest of the group. This suits me well.
~~~~~
Firstmonth 28
I was exceptionally happy to return to the Order today. Morek didn't seem to care that it was not me that delivered Sa-Follen to Final Justice. He did say it was an interesting turn of events, however. He didn't give me another actual mission, but he did give me a small task. He wants me to keep an eye on the rest of the group. Well, he did not care about Sorern as much, mostly just Rellik and Blank. He would like to know who Rellik is working for. I will keep an eye on them.
~~~~~
Secondmonth 1
Captain Blank seems happy with the winds. He says we are well on our way to the island Rellik wanted to visit. Hopefully we will arrive tomorrow.
~~~~~
Secondmonth 2
Apparently we will not be arriving today. We have gotten off course, which has again alerted me to Captain Blank's incompetence .
I found myself thinking about that Giant I murdered again today. It was a terrible thing to do. I can't stop thinking about how awful of a person I am. It does no good to dwell upon such things though. Thinking about it will not redeem myself. I must do something to make this right.
~~~~~
Secondmonth 3
We arrived at the Rellik's island midmorning. He left the boat and warned the rest of us that we would most likely be killed if we ventured beyond the dock we were at. I spent most of the midday lying in the sun on said dock, occasionally glancing up at the port guards, standing on land at the end of the dock. Lets just say they were not the type of people that you would want on your bad side. I stayed far away from them. There was no point in picking a fight. Particularly when my weapons and armor were on the boat. Rellik returned midafternoon, but did not divulge anything to us, other than the fact that he had another “mark”. Damned assassins. I suppose I should not judge though. I would have been an assassin if I had killed Sa-Follen. As it stands, I am an unpunished murderer. We set sail tonight for an island with a tomb on it. It contains some of the relics that Captain Blank's contact had offered him Queens for.
~~~~~
Secondmonth 4
The island we arrived at this morning was more like a sandbar in the middle of the sea than an island. When we came ashore, we were greeted by an angry welcoming party of three giant crabs. They nearly killed Blank. I had to drag him away from the fight before running back and dispatching two of them with Rellik (the other was crushed by a giant chunk of stone courtesy of Sorern. Sorern revived the Captain and we entered the tomb (which, according to the inscription outside, belongs to Ozymandius). The entranceway opened up into a large, circular tomb. In the center stood a sarcophagus. The only problem was the very deep moat that ran around the platform that the sarcophagus sat on, effectively cutting us off from it. Rellik solved this problem with a rope. He grappled the sarcophagus and tied the other end of the rope to some rubble on the side of the moat we were on. He and Sorern climbed across the rope to investigate the sarcophagus. I thought perhaps we should have started down a passageway that lead off to the right, but I decided to follow. Unfortunately, getting across a rope wearing plate armour is harder than one may think, and I ended up falling into the moat. I sunk a bit but pulled myself back to the surface, only to be landed on by Blank. Evidently he is not the best climber in the world (or perhaps he was drunk on rum, as pirates often are). The water was brackish and cold, and staying above the surface in full armor was difficult, but fortunately, Rellik quickly levitated the Captain and I out of the water.
Captain Blank and I dried ourselves off as best we could, and we all started looking at the sarcophagus a little closer. We found three relics. One was a crown, and the other two were scepter heads. As soon as we removed them from the sarcophagus, some sort of trap was triggered, and a wall opened up, revealing two large, blue, stone bears. Have I mention how much I detest bears? Anyway, we fought a valiant battle and managed to slay both bears. Captain Blank nearly died again. The rest of us weren't fairing much better. We decided to rest for the night and get fully healed up. I decided to write in my journal before I slept and was surprised to find that it was mostly dry. Don't you just love magic?
~~~~~
Secondmonth 5
We awoke today feeling much better than we had the previous night. A good night's sleep and a bunch of healing spells will do wonders for one's stamina. We explored the room from which the bears had emerged. There were carvings on the walls of a dragon and a temple, and there was also a seemingly-magical light going across the floor. The temple carving hid a secret compartment. Inside we found 15 magical stones, and a black-metal bastard sword. The sword is very well crafted, by the way. We were concerned the stones may be rigged, so the Captain graciously volunteered himself to pick them up first, to test their effect. Nothing happened. We had a bit of an argument about the sword. It was possibly cursed and mind-affecting, so I thought I should be the one to hold onto it, as I trusted myself not to fall victim to it's effects. The others were concerned that with my skill at wielding a bastard sword, I could do major damage if I for some reason did fall victim to a curse. Their logic did make sense. After the sword was safely strapped to Sorern's back (since he is too small to wield it anyway), we looked in the hidden compartment again. We found writing etched in the stone, which I will write down so I do not forget it.
Keep these words
Who finds them here
Beneath a bitter moon
Your path is bound
By dragon bound
By ritual and rune
It is odd because no one recognized the language it was written in. The characters were all foreign, but still we understood the writing.
It was obviously a riddle, and we spent the rest of the afternoon debating how to solve it. We searched the room for hours, focusing on the dragon carving. Eventually we became tired and decided to sleep.
~~~~~
Firstmonth 27
The dragon was considerably less exciting than I thought it would be. Sorern met with her and told her of Sa-Follen's death. The dragon said she may call upon Sorern in the future. That was pretty much the extent of the visit. I have decided to spend as much of my time as possible on the ship's crow's nest. I seem to be the best in this group at noticing things, so I'll keep watch. Also, it gives me an excuse to stay away from the rest of the group. This suits me well.
~~~~~
Firstmonth 28
I was exceptionally happy to return to the Order today. Morek didn't seem to care that it was not me that delivered Sa-Follen to Final Justice. He did say it was an interesting turn of events, however. He didn't give me another actual mission, but he did give me a small task. He wants me to keep an eye on the rest of the group. Well, he did not care about Sorern as much, mostly just Rellik and Blank. He would like to know who Rellik is working for. I will keep an eye on them.
~~~~~
Secondmonth 1
Captain Blank seems happy with the winds. He says we are well on our way to the island Rellik wanted to visit. Hopefully we will arrive tomorrow.
~~~~~
Secondmonth 2
Apparently we will not be arriving today. We have gotten off course, which has again alerted me to Captain Blank's incompetence .
I found myself thinking about that Giant I murdered again today. It was a terrible thing to do. I can't stop thinking about how awful of a person I am. It does no good to dwell upon such things though. Thinking about it will not redeem myself. I must do something to make this right.
~~~~~
Secondmonth 3
We arrived at the Rellik's island midmorning. He left the boat and warned the rest of us that we would most likely be killed if we ventured beyond the dock we were at. I spent most of the midday lying in the sun on said dock, occasionally glancing up at the port guards, standing on land at the end of the dock. Lets just say they were not the type of people that you would want on your bad side. I stayed far away from them. There was no point in picking a fight. Particularly when my weapons and armor were on the boat. Rellik returned midafternoon, but did not divulge anything to us, other than the fact that he had another “mark”. Damned assassins. I suppose I should not judge though. I would have been an assassin if I had killed Sa-Follen. As it stands, I am an unpunished murderer. We set sail tonight for an island with a tomb on it. It contains some of the relics that Captain Blank's contact had offered him Queens for.
~~~~~
Secondmonth 4
The island we arrived at this morning was more like a sandbar in the middle of the sea than an island. When we came ashore, we were greeted by an angry welcoming party of three giant crabs. They nearly killed Blank. I had to drag him away from the fight before running back and dispatching two of them with Rellik (the other was crushed by a giant chunk of stone courtesy of Sorern. Sorern revived the Captain and we entered the tomb (which, according to the inscription outside, belongs to Ozymandius). The entranceway opened up into a large, circular tomb. In the center stood a sarcophagus. The only problem was the very deep moat that ran around the platform that the sarcophagus sat on, effectively cutting us off from it. Rellik solved this problem with a rope. He grappled the sarcophagus and tied the other end of the rope to some rubble on the side of the moat we were on. He and Sorern climbed across the rope to investigate the sarcophagus. I thought perhaps we should have started down a passageway that lead off to the right, but I decided to follow. Unfortunately, getting across a rope wearing plate armour is harder than one may think, and I ended up falling into the moat. I sunk a bit but pulled myself back to the surface, only to be landed on by Blank. Evidently he is not the best climber in the world (or perhaps he was drunk on rum, as pirates often are). The water was brackish and cold, and staying above the surface in full armor was difficult, but fortunately, Rellik quickly levitated the Captain and I out of the water.
Captain Blank and I dried ourselves off as best we could, and we all started looking at the sarcophagus a little closer. We found three relics. One was a crown, and the other two were scepter heads. As soon as we removed them from the sarcophagus, some sort of trap was triggered, and a wall opened up, revealing two large, blue, stone bears. Have I mention how much I detest bears? Anyway, we fought a valiant battle and managed to slay both bears. Captain Blank nearly died again. The rest of us weren't fairing much better. We decided to rest for the night and get fully healed up. I decided to write in my journal before I slept and was surprised to find that it was mostly dry. Don't you just love magic?
~~~~~
Secondmonth 5
We awoke today feeling much better than we had the previous night. A good night's sleep and a bunch of healing spells will do wonders for one's stamina. We explored the room from which the bears had emerged. There were carvings on the walls of a dragon and a temple, and there was also a seemingly-magical light going across the floor. The temple carving hid a secret compartment. Inside we found 15 magical stones, and a black-metal bastard sword. The sword is very well crafted, by the way. We were concerned the stones may be rigged, so the Captain graciously volunteered himself to pick them up first, to test their effect. Nothing happened. We had a bit of an argument about the sword. It was possibly cursed and mind-affecting, so I thought I should be the one to hold onto it, as I trusted myself not to fall victim to it's effects. The others were concerned that with my skill at wielding a bastard sword, I could do major damage if I for some reason did fall victim to a curse. Their logic did make sense. After the sword was safely strapped to Sorern's back (since he is too small to wield it anyway), we looked in the hidden compartment again. We found writing etched in the stone, which I will write down so I do not forget it.
Keep these words
Who finds them here
Beneath a bitter moon
Your path is bound
By dragon bound
By ritual and rune
It is odd because no one recognized the language it was written in. The characters were all foreign, but still we understood the writing.
It was obviously a riddle, and we spent the rest of the afternoon debating how to solve it. We searched the room for hours, focusing on the dragon carving. Eventually we became tired and decided to sleep.
~~~~~
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Session 3 Quotes
“I call upon the power of all that is true and just in the world!” – Sigrid
“I’ll be going now.” – Captain Blank
“It’s a bunch of criminal lowlifes, there’s plenty of information to be had there.” – Sigrid
“I’ll be going now.” – Captain Blank
“Okay, I killed a bear.” – Captain Blank
“I killed a bear better.” – Sorern
“He said specifically that they were ‘catacombs,’ as in, involving dead people.” – Captain Blank
“And giant blue bears.” – Sorern
“It’s contact etiquette. You wouldn’t understand.” – Captain Blank
“Interesting. This seems to be a very popular name in this ancient culture.” – Captain Blank“It’s a bunch of criminal lowlifes, there’s plenty of information to be had there.” – Sigrid
“Captain Blank gets into a gladiator death match, and almost dies.” – Sigrid
Session 3: Stone Bears and Empires
Secondmonth 4, 1759 -- Secondmonth 11, 1759
They fought the stone bears, and Captain Blank nearly died. He only survived because he managed to dispatch the bear that grappled him with a well-placed blast of icefire, and then Sorern knocked the other into an acid pit with stone blast.
They rested, then explored the room from which the bears had come. It also had carvings on the walls, but they were newer and more stylized than the carvings in the earlier rooms; they showed scenes of war. The other major feature in the room was a light that ran, every few seconds, from beneath the largest dragon-thing carving to a temple of some sort, from the south-west to the north-east.
The temple turned out to hide a secret chamber, within which were a bastard sword and fifteen warm, sparking blue stones, that came in three different sizes, five of each size. All the objects were magical, and everyone was convinced they were somehow dangerous; they spent a long time deciding whether and how to handle them, and decided that Captain Blank should be the one to remove the stones.
Detect magic revealed that the stones were fairly minor objects, of the evocation school, and that the sword was some kind of artifact of the necromancy school. This sparked a long discussion of who should have the sword--Sigrid was the only one who could use it, but no one trusted her with it, because they were all convinced that it was probably evil and possibly mind-affecting.
Intertwined in the carvings were words, from a language no one recognized but that everyone still understood:
Keep these words,
Who finds them here,
Beneath a bitter moon,
Your path is found,
By dragon bound,
By ritual and rune.
They spent a long time trying to figure out what this meant. (Particularly the "bitter moon" part.) Eventually, Sigrid got fed up with it, and they decided to finish searching the rest of the place and come back to it later.
They went back to the main chamber and checked out the passage off to the right. They found a statue of some hero-type person, likely the right-hand man of Ozymandius, and a bunch of carvings depicting the same person. They also found a reliquary in the wall, with a longsword and a box with a lock of hair in it.
They then spent three days searching the place from top to bottom, because they still weren't satisfied. They moved the rubble off to the left of the chamber, found another room like the one to the right, except without anything in it. Sorern remembered something about the “Hora Quan,” and recognized the tomb as done in that style. He also destroyed part of the carvings in the room in the back, looking for secret passages, and dove down into the moat to investigate.
Eventually they decided that--combined with the carvings on the wall, and the light on the floor--it was directions to another ruin, that might have more neat stuff in it.
They sailed through a storm back to Ao-Manasa. On the way, Sorern used object loresight on the bastard sword and the fifteen stones. Thus they discovered that the bastard sword didn’t seem to have any particular powers, which was puzzling.
Back at Ao-Manasa, Captain Blank went back to Taevin, and traded the two scepter pieces, (which turned out to be from two different scepters) the crown, the box, and the sword for 1,000 queens each.
They did a bit of asking around, and discovered that, in their absence, the city had held a funeral for Sa-Follen, a new Captain of the Guard, Ea-Shamar, had been inaugurated, some vaguely important human rich-type person had been found dead with a yellow rose, and the illegal underground arena had announced they were holding a series of fights in Sa-Follen’s honor.
Friday, February 9, 2007
Object Loresight
- Age of object.
- Name of last creature to touch the object, if any (other than you).
- Race of last creature to touch the object, if any (other than you).
- Name of the object’s creator (a natural object, like a rock, was created by nature).
- Race of the object’s creator, if any.
- Object’s purpose.
- Material(s) that makes up the object.
- Location of the object’s creation.
- Name of the most recent owner of the object, if any.
- Magical ability of the object, if any (random if more than one)
- About 2500 years old
- Captain Blank
- Human
- Tai Requar
- Human
- Kill the enemies of the Empire
- Steel, obsidian, gold
- Tai-Hora
- Tai Faren
- +1 enhancement
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