by JugglinDan

agramore wrote:

Designing ships (in any system) can be its own fun game, like character creation. 😀
I also like figuring out things like exterior appearance or working out how things could look with Lego or as terrain pieces with minis (as tiles and/or walls and other bits).

You just had to mention exterior appearance! I'm lining up the decks by the hatch in the narrow waist section - between airlock and cargo on the upper deck, and the air raft & cargo on the lower deck. The asymmetry of the decks is annoying. Here's a rearrangement, moving the upper hatchway fore of the data/science/survey sample storage space. I think it would make the outer shape of the ship better, and I can imagine how the outward bulge of the fuel tanks might blend into the larger upper deck shape now. There's a better match of the overall shape.

by JugglinDan

agramore wrote:

Designing ships (in any system) can be its own fun game, like character creation. 😀
I also like figuring out things like exterior appearance or working out how things could look with Lego or as terrain pieces with minis (as tiles and/or walls and other bits).

Absolutely! I've had a blast working with the geomorphs, which started with a random ship on the website, then trying to build the actual ship with the Mongoose 2e High Guard Update 2022 rules, iterating until I've got something that works. And although I'll likely never play a solo game with this ship, I can imagine the stories. A crew of 2 plus the sentient Omega brain making the ship itself a third character. Long exploration missions into uncharted space, across the voids and rifts. What skills would I need for such a crew? Diplomacy, engineering, piloting, medic, science, all the electronics skills. They'll be experienced scouts. Rookies wouldn't get this sort of mission.

by agramore

Designing ships (in any system) can be its own fun game, like character creation. 😀
I also like figuring out things like exterior appearance or working out how things could look with Lego or as terrain pieces with minis (as tiles and/or walls and other bits).

by papercut

Baklin crew:
Abelard - level 5 human cleric
Cyrus - level 5 human thief
Filipa - level 4 human magic-user
Keydi - level 4/4 elf fighter / magic-user
Knicky - level 5 human thief
Match - level 5 human fighter

Session 113

5/12 Day 52˚ F 11˚ C Clear Strong E
5/12 Eve 45˚ F 7˚ C Clear Light NE Waxing gibbous continued ...

Having rescued two of Chlorax's victims (Fandariel and Fealadan), both of whom desire to be returned to the far north in The Twelve Kingdoms, the Party decided to head back upstairs to the Keep and get the beings out of immediate danger. They made their way back to the foyer (A1), though the door in was now stuck. Behind the door, Keydi's super-hearing easily picked up a man slurring his way through a drinking song. And, much quieter, a wet squishing sound. Match called out to the drunken singer, who responded in full voice. His song was cut short by his own blood-curdling scream of terror and then a soft gurgle.

Match hurriedly bashed down the door into the foyer. Immediately, seeing the now open space before the Party, Fritsche Bandals cried out, "Markeb! No!" and charged in, sword drawn. The guard had been killed and was laying in the middle of the foyer with a giant octopus beak buried in his skull and one of his arms literally torn from his shoulder. Seeing their man-at-arms charging the beast headlong, the melee fighters of the Party took after him pell mell. The octopus proved to be a solid foe, dealing out significant damage to Fritsche and some of the others too, so much so that virtually the entire party was drawn into the fight. Surrounded and even backstabbed by Knicky (invisible due to the magic rings, which one of the Keep's soldiers had agreed to wear for this maneuver), the Octopus was quickly battered -- two of its tentacles severed and twitched on the stone floor. It squirted a massive amount of slick, black ink at its attackers. As the Party slipped and slid trying to kill the beast (they missed all their free attacks!), it slithered its way with remarkable speed across the foyer, up the bricked in doorway (to A4), and inside the odd mini-door near ceiling level. The Party heard a sploosh just before the mini-door was slammed shut behind the enormous cephalopod from the inside.

There was a brief discussion about trying to pursue and kill it, but that died quickly once the Players remembered that the room (A4) was partially filled with water and that they'd be fighting on the octopus' home turf. Instead, Match wedged his crowbar in between the mini-door and the bricked up doorway to prevent the octopus from coming out again. "Hopefully it will starve in there!"

Instead, the Party went back upstairs into the Keep's cellars, dragging Markeb's mangled and now very brainless body. The door to the cellars was open and inside they found the other guard, also stone drunk and passed out. Fritsche was furious, slapping the man awake. They had foolishly sampled the ancient rum barrels -- "Just a taste, honest!" cried the remaining guard -- with disastrous effects.

The Party arrived in the Keep's main hall rather late, nearly 10pm, after a long, long day adventuring. They requested an immediate audience with Lord Virmgard to report on the situation below. They reported on the location and existence of the harpies, the bugbears, and the lapse in discipline of the guards. Pouring over the Party's map of the dungeon, Virmgard and his architect thought they knew where the harpies' shaft to the outside was likely to exit. "Wouldn't that be somewhere in the middle of the backside cliff, m'lord? " "Must be. Let's send some sappers to find it and secure some strong netting across the mouth so trap them there." The bugbears, he would not tolerate continuing to exist so close to the Keep's cellars. "They must be exterminated. I have too much experience with these evil creatures to tolerate them remaining just a doorway from my stronghold. And Tol Tazeloth is on an island. Where could they go without making untold trouble for the humans living here? Will you see to their elimination?" He was pleased that our heroes were willing to do so. Turning to his still-drunk guard, "Carl, you are hereby stripped of your rank, relieved of your duties, and will spend the next month deprived of your freedom too." A just judgement, though one also perhaps motivated by Virmgard's irritation at having his nightly Story Hour interrupted by urgent business due to his men's misdeeds. And with that the audience was finished.

The Party retired to their quarters for a much needed bath (the octopus ink had left them black and very sticky) and a much, much needed sleep.

5/13 Day 50˚ F Overcast Light N
5/13 Eve 44˚ F LIGHT FOG Calm W Waxing gibbous

Up early on an overcast day, Abelard healed Fritsche (who throughout the delve(s) seemed to attract attacks and suffer consistently bad hits) as well as the other wounded in the Party. Then it was back to bed for four hours for the cleric so he could regain his low level spells in preparation for another delve to deal with the bugbears.

The other Party members talked with Fritsche about the chained gargoyle near the well, something they had not reported to Virmgard and which Fritsche had also not brought up in the Lord's presence. When asked why he didn't say anything about this potential threat to the security of the Keep and the Party's numerous discussions about freeing the gargoyle as it had requested, he answered that he believed Keydi's statements that her ESP spell had not revealed any malice or evil intent in the gargoyle. "In fact, I have been considering whether we could release it to the surface ... through the harpies' shaft. We would have to work quickly to free it as Virmgard will certainly not delay in having his men locate the exit of the shaft and blocking it with nets." An idea that brought immediate agreement from the others. The Party had another question for the man-at-arms too, "In the last few days, your share of the treasure has made you a very rich man, so why do you remain willing, even eager, to continue to go down with us?" Fritsche's smiled, but replied cryptically, "My own reasons are my own. I have no inclination to share them." A curious response, but the adventurers left it at that.

Around noon, having borrowed some stone working tools from the Keep's workshops, the whole group headed back into dungeon. They made their way without incident to the gargoyle (A26), only to discover that he had been smeared with feces. "Bugbears," he whistled in his stony voice. "A small group came by here, discovered that I was chained and could not resist making me bear this filthy insult. I, however, had the last laugh. They went down the hallway to the west (toward A20) and it was not long before I heard some bugbear screams and the group, fewer by two, fled back this way. And from the screams a minute or two later, I suspect one of the cave fishers out by the chasm got another one too. Serves them and their filthy backsides right." The Party chuckled at the news and began chiseling away with the stone hammers to free him. The sound of the hammer strikes resounded through the cavern, though the Party did not seem to notice how much noise they were making. (They didn't even post a guard!)

Their lack of caution would have immediate and deadly consequences. Suddenly, after just twenty minutes of hammering, five spears came hurtling out of the darkness. The Party's torchbearer (porter) and Emitr, one of the Keep's "volunteer" men-at-arms, died in this initial volley. Aizlaf was gravely injured (down to 1 HP!) and fled into a corridor out of harms way. And then a group of ten bugbears charged our heroes. The battle went badly for the Party at first. With their torchlight guttering on the floor, Cyrus picked it up and could do little else in the fight. Keydi took multiple hits in successive rounds (soon down to mid-single digit HPs). Abelard was engaged with multiple attackers and could not heal anyone. Knicky slipped one of the magic rings of invisibility on her finger and then ran to the extremely injured Aizlaf, the other man-at-arms, and shoved the other ring on his finger: now invisible, the thief made her way carefully behind her compatriots and around to where Keydi was taking a beating. Then she began to interpose herself (still invisible) in between the pair of attacking bugbears to mess up their attacks and let Keydi withdraw safely. Against the odds, it worked! The bugbears found their attacks inexplicably deflected, or they were tripped and stumbling. This was the turning point. Keydi now safely behind the front line, cast Sleep and one bugbear slumped into slumber. The melee attacks of Match and Abelard -- even Fritsche -- began to hit home. One by one the bugbears fell, though there were plenty of injuries inflicted on our adventurers in the process. When the last three surrendered, they were dispatched without even a hint of mercy. And then the Party looked at each other -- almost all of them well-bloodied and bruised -- and breathed a sigh of relief. "That was harder than it should have been," Abelard commented dryly.

We called time there.

XP TALLY:
Giant Octopus: 375 + 175 + 175 + 175 + 480 = 1380 XP
1380 / 6 = 230 per PC (253 if bonus)

by papercut

Baklin crew:
Abelard - level 5 human cleric
Cyrus - level 5 human thief
Filipa - level 4 human magic-user
Keydi - level 4/4 elf fighter / magic-user
Knicky - level 5 human thief
Match - level 5 human fighter

Session 112

5/12 Day 52˚ F 11˚ C Clear Strong E
5/12 Eve 45˚ F 7˚ C Clear Light NE Waxing gibbous continued

Continuing their delve in the late afternoon of 5/12, the Party had just defeated a small band of hook horrors, their backs against a door. Match, trying yet again, finally bashes the door (to A49) down. There was little here except junk and signs of hook horror tantrums. Heading north (A50), the Party discovers yet another largely empty room -- just broken wood and shredded cloth. Another door to the east (A51) reveals a small chamber with a desk, benches, chairs, and some smashed bookcases. The hook horrors have been busy. A slightly nicer door to the north opens to what must have been a modest bedchamber: smashed furniture consisting of a desk, chair, and bed. Laying near the desk, shredded parchment and book bindings. Keydi examined these and let out a wail of despair: from the few remaining runes, she knew this had been a spell book, now destroyed! One binding had the word or name "Nixels" engraved on it. Against the east wall lay the remains of the miscreatn: a hook horror exoskeleton, badly charred. On the floor next to it, two foot-long pieces of wood. Black scorch marks on the floor and ceiling.

Having reached a dead end, the Party headed back to the area where Match in his spectral terror had run (A43). Here, they discovered a sturdy, plain and almost industrial door (to A44). There is a painted scrawl across it. Keydi's knowledge of hobgoblin proved useful here again: she could make out the cognate for "not enter" but several other words were completely unfamiliar.

The group decided to open the door (A44) anyway, despite likely warning (likely from the bugbears). A large 15' square dais occupied the center of the room, while the three walls (other than the wall that the door was in) were taken up by large mechanical contraptions. Unmoving. Just to the left of the door was a stand -- shaped like a lectern -- with a whitish crystal jutting out of it and four crystal buttons below it. Upon inspection, the buttons were labelled 1, 2, 3, 4. All faintly glowing. A good number of paw tracks are in the thick dust of the room. Keydi tossed a clove of garlic onto the dais. Nothing happened. The group retreated outside the door and using a ten-foot pole pressed button 4. The machines lining the walls began to whir, gears and gizmos spinning. A white flash. Then on the dais, a scene took shape:

Button 4: a green savannah appeared, with lush greenery and herds of wildlife roaming across its vast expanse. A few white clouds scudded across the sky. Then, in the distance, a thin light brown line on the horizon. And the line advanced, turning the landscape slowly into a parched desert: Sand first encroached and then swallowed up the land and its inhabitants. Animals died of thirst, their bodies rapidly dessicate under scathing sun. Then, sandstorms came roaring in, with howling demonic faces seen in the billowing wind walls of sand.

Button 3 was next: a white flash, then a mountaintop scene faded into view like clouds slowly clearing. Above, a blue sky above and white snow and ice fields below. In the far distance, a verdant valley. Flocks of sheep dot the lower hillsides. Suddenly the scene jitters, as if the ground itself was shaking and then a massive shaking as the mountain and its brothers erupts in black columns of ash and red lava. As the sky darkens with billowing clouds of black ash, rivers of red molten stone gush forth from fissures in the mountainsides. The orange-red rivers swallow the landscape as fire elementals of deep red dance in malevolent ecstasy.

Button 2: the white flash, then a sylvan scene gradually takes shape. Bright dappled sunlight cuts through the green forest canopy. In the distance, a white tower rises above the treetops and sparkles in warm light. A beautiful dryad emerges from a slender oak and spins luxuriantly in shafts of sunlight as small forest animals poke their heads out of their burrows to watch. The light, however, shifts toward a sickly green and leaves begin to blacken and turn to a malignant slime. The blight encroaches further and overtakes the forest rapidly, twisting the oak sapling into a crooked, hunched and withered shape. The green-black hellscape that takes shape remains, momentarily, pierced by the pure white tower, but then from its lower stories a black mold climbs up its structure and from its windows dark streams of offal and blood run down its sides. The dryad screams in horror and then morphs into a grotesque night hag, her veiny aged hands with their yellowed fingernail claws, reaching out to grab the viewers. The vision fades just as the hag's hands close in.

Before pressing the final button, Abelard asked the dryad, Fandariel, if she recognized the white tower, landscape, or this event. She did not.

Button 1: showed a rugged, windswept coastline of temperate rainforest, deep green conifers stand among slate grey boulders standing at the edges of rocky beaches which slide toward northern emerald waters. Weathered driftwood trunks cluster against rocks. In the distance, however, a line of whitish grey advances, taking shape as a glacial wall that moves first across the water and then engulfs the coast, grinding up the forest and churning the stones and boulders into a dirty grey scrum that crushes everything beneath the towering icy rampart.

The machines slowly whirred to a standstill. The clove of garlic remained untouched and unharmed on the dais.

The Party had few words after viewing all these visions. They turned away and headed south and west, easily traversing the pit trap that had snared Match in his spectral-terror phase. About 50' past the pit, they encounter on the northern side of the passage an imposing and ornate door, bearing a featureless face and runes that no one knew. The door opened easily, revealing a tall statue and an altar a short ways into the chamber. Even from outside the room, they could see that the statue was large, some 10-12 feet tall. And of a caped humanoid figure, with a slender but powerful physique. Its face was utterly featureless but its hands raised as if in mid-motion of casting a spell. From this vantage point, the statue looked blotchy. The altar, in front of the figure, was very large and made of dark stone. Entering the room and getting closer, the Party determined that the statue was made of obsidian, but it had been smeared with feces (the bugbears, perhaps?). There was a palpable sense of malevolence emanating from the statue; the air almost vibrating with hatred. No gemmed eyes, the thieves were disappointed to find. In front of the altar, a purple-black pentagram was set into the stone floor.
Desiring some information, Abelard prayed to The Twins for any guidance as to who or what this shrine was dedicated to. Remarkably, they must have been listening for once as their intermediaries replied that this figure was an Ultrodaemon, a powerful being of the lower planes, known for summoning and illusions. Their gaze is dangerous (requiring an immediate save versus spells).

Turning attention to the massive altar, Knicky found it to be a single piece of dark grey basalt. But a close inspection (tapping that produced a hollow sound and then visual examination from below), revealed a secret compartment! There was no doubt she would open it, revealing a Wand and a simple sandalwood box, engraved with a plain Elvish "F" on the lid. Knicky opened the box carefully. It was half full with dust or sand, along with a gold ring. As the Party leans in to look, a ghostly form took shape in their midst. Obviously a half-elf, the figure wears a crown and it began to speak, "Have you come to torture me again? Why must you torment without end? Is it not enough that you have stolen my Luvaniel?" A look of confusion spread across his face? "But, you are not Chlorax. Who are you?"

This conversation from this point was lengthy and wandering, but the ghostly shape claimed to be Luvaniel's husband, Fealadan, and king of the fey realm of Ithilwen. Luvaniel, after being rescued from Chlorax's clutches, had agreed to marry Fealadan, though she had always seemed somehow sad. Chlorax in return had captured Fealadan, imprisoned his human half-soul inside this sandalwood box so he could torment it whenever the mood struck him. "And my Luvaniel believed the lies that blackheart told her -- that I had abandoned both my realm and her -- and was seduced by him again. Bested by a madman, his victory he ever reminded me, was total," the spectral form wailed. The Party then told Fealadan of their discovery in Chlorax's bedchamber: that it would seem Luvaniel had slain the mage and then herself. Hearing this, Fealadan was nearly delirious with both joy and sorrow. "That's my girl! But why did you take your life?" Then, he begged the Party to take him to see the scene. This they agreed to do, but they warned that they suspected Chlorax's spirit (be it as a ghost or specter) might still be around. "No matter, I must see for myself that Luvaniel avenged herself and me upon his mortal being at least." Finally, the Party wanted to know about Chlorax and the Ultrodaemon. Fealadan knew only that Chlorax worshipped an Ultrodaemon and had studied his illusion magic under this evil being.

On their way back to Chlorax's chambers, our adventurers took him to see the illusion machine (A43). Pushing the buttons again, the visions play again, almost identically with the first viewing. Fealadan did not recognize any of the landscapes or scenes, but wondered aloud whether the pattern of idyllic scenes ending in horror was simply that Chlorax's illusions were "being corrupted from within, with his own evil impulses."

At this point Cyrus remembered that he had been lugging around a green-gold crystal found in Chlorax's laboratory (A41) that might, in fact, be shaped exactly like the whitish crystal in the lectern. He volunteered to enter the room and investigate further. At the lectern, he fished the green-gold out of his pack and, indeed, one half of it seemed identical to the white one sticking out of the lectern. So, he pulled gently on the white crystal. It gave a bit, but did not come out. He turned it. Voila! It came out smoothly -- the four buttons went dark. He slotted the green-gold crystal into the cavity and turned it. The four buttons began to glow faintly -- this time a greenish-gold tinge to their light. A key?

Cyrus pressed the buttons one by one, again in decreasing order.

Button 4: an elven maiden, who the Party immediately recognized as Luvaniel, took shape on the dais. No sound. Just Luvaniel on the sunlit edge of a forest, twirling as a cloud of butterflies circled her. And then slowly the butterflies seem to tear her into pieces.

Button 3: the view was upwards, as if one was lying down. Close above was Luvaniel's face, bearing a worried look. "I'll take care of you," her lips moved, "Rest easy now. Your fever will break soon, I'm sure. Here, eat this herb, it's from my homeland. It will help." Her lips parted, she leaned in and suddenly her teeth were fangs, her mouth twisted in a snarl.

Button 2: Luvaniel, her eyes flashing in anger, scolded vehemently a dark hooded figure seen from the back. But her anger was quickly spent and her expression turned soft as she approached the figure, her hands raised to caress the sides of his face. "My darling, my darling, my darling," she must have been saying, as she moved close for a kiss. As the kiss deepens, her nails dig into his neck and his body shudders before falling to the ground. Luvaniel's face is a mask of triumph, as blood drips from the corners of her mouth and chin.

Button 1: a very brief vision of , but her gestures and expressions made it clear she was apologizing for leaving Chlorax. Keydi could read her lips easily enough, "I am sorry, my darling, I was wrong to leave. I have returned and will never depart your side again."

By the end, the half-soul of Fealadan was sobbing, unable to tear his eyes away from the visions, despite their terrible endings. "Take me to her resting place now, I beg you." Which they did. He laughed maniacally through his sadness at the death scene (in A46). "Thank you, my liberators! This is more consolation than I could ever have hoped for out of my despair. I cannot repay your kindness ... at least not yet. But, if you can do me one more favor, you shall be richly rewarded, I promise!" When asked what favor he desired, the long-dead king asked to have his half-soul returned to his realm in Ithilwen. "My grave must be empty and I am tired of being confined to this dusty box. Please let me rest in my own grave, among my own people. I know my descendants will requite your unselfish goodwill with great generosity." The Party looked at each other and moved by sympathy (along with a good dose of avarice) assented.

With that settled, the Party noticed a door off the bedchamber that they had not opened before. Opening it, the discovered a small sitting room filled with thick carpeting (a grey field with circular rainbow colors), but marred by a small black blotch in the middle. A massive overstuffed reading chair with a table beside it. On the table, a sappy romance tale of a love between an elf maiden and a man. Knicky rifled through the book, finding a very elegant bookmark, very intricately engraved, of solid gold.

We called time here.

XP TALLY:
intricately carved, gold bookmark: 100 gp

by papercut

Baklin crew:
Abelard - level 5 human cleric
Cyrus - level 5 human thief
Filipa - level 4 human magic-user
Keydi - level 4/4 elf fighter / magic-user
Knicky - level 5 human thief
Match - level 5 human fighter

Session 111

5/12 Day 52˚ F 11˚ C Clear Strong E
5/12 Eve 45˚ F 7˚ C Clear Light NE Waxing gibbous continued

We picked up play with the Party having opened the door to a harpy nest (A24), rousing the sleeping monsters. Rightfully terrified of the combined power of five harpy songs, the party elected to rush back out of the room and slam the door. Abelard cast Silence on himself to protect everyone from the song, while Keydi, Abelard, and Match hurried stuffed candle wax from Abelard's pack into their ears. Of course, this meant that the Party could no longer talk to each other. (And the DM, of course, enforced this: all communication was restricted to expressions and hand gestures!) This made coordination most difficult. Match held the door against the harpies, with Abelard staying nearby to ensure no song could charm him. Keydi and the rest of the Party retreated down the hall where they could talk. Keydi fished the last scroll of Fireball out of her case and prepared to cast it. Fritsche Bandals volunteered to run down the hall to Match and on a predetermined signal from Keydi open the door to let the Fireball be targeted inside the harpy lair and then close it just as it detonated. A very, very fine plan!

But one nearly undone by Abelard's misunderstanding of the situation (ironically just a moment after he had mocked the other Players for their antics to coordinate the plan): when Fritsche ran to hold the door and send Match back down the hall to safety, Abelard headed down the hall too! Which left poor Fritsche completely vulnerable to the harpy song as soon as he opened the door!

And that is exactly what happened: Fritsche dutifully opened the door, Keydi cast the spell, but Fritsche was already charmed and started moving toward the harpies -- right into the target zone he blithely sauntered, transfixed. The fireball ignited as planned, but the door was open and the flames jetted down the hall. Four of the harpies were toasted outright. Fritsche was left on death's door. And Keydi too was badly singed (she made her save for half damage). A very near brush with utter disaster!

Inside the now fire-cleared lair, the Party discovered a complete lack of treasure. Apparently these were some poverty-stricken harpies! The plinth, now cleared of the feathers, nesting material, and excrement of the bird-women, revealed the remains of a marble statue: just a lone very shapely foot, ankle, and lower calf remained. A plaque on one side of the plinth read, simply, "My Beloved, Luvianel." Knicky immediately cried out, "That's her name! We can open the copper door with the magic face!" And the thief ran up on the plinth and began investigating the remains of the statue. Sure enough, she found a small switch in the arch of the foot. No hesitation, she flipped the switch ... and disappeared. The DM was sure he heard, "Oh Knicky! Of course you had to flip the switch" from someone in the group. After a short discussion, the rest decided not to split the Party and one by one they each knelt on the plinth and flipped the switch.

Each one immediately after flipping the switch found themselves in a circular chamber (A48) of the same size and shape as the one they were in -- it even had a plinth of the same size and material, but no stone leg. Reunited they looked around. The walls of this chamber were huge glass cases. Behind the (glass) doors, as if pinned to the back, were hundreds and hundreds of butterflies of all descriptions. Big, small. Somber neutrals, to vibrant colors that had to be fey or magical. (Fandariel confirmed that some of these reminded her of the butterflies she knew from her youth in a fey area of The Twelve Kingdoms). Floor to ceiling butterflies in glass cases. To the south was a small exit with extremely thick glass doors, with deep gouges. And above the plinth was a massive and round yellow crystal embedded in the ceiling. Circling round the room, a plaque on the plinth was found to read simply "Luvaniel". But no statue in this space.

Her curiosity aroused (as always!), Knicky dared to open one of the cases. (As Abelard's Player remarked: "This whole thing was custom made for Knicky's Player! The DM knew she would never be able to resist." He was not wrong.)

As soon Knicky opened the first glass door to the wall cases, the yellow crystal in the ceiling began to glow with a warm light and a gentle warm breeze spiraled around the space. All the glass doors swung open the butterflies took wing on the breeze, swirling around and around the room in a mass so thick the Party could not see, their faces brushed with butterfly wings for a few moments. And then, the mass of butterflies tightened their circling around the plinth and the Party gasped as they formed into a living statue of a beautiful elfen maiden, a soft expression on her face, her hand held out in a beckoning gesture, and her hair wafting in the breeze. The figure remained for a few moments and then the butterflies winged back to their places in the cases and the doors closed gently behind them. A sigh of relief -- and a good dose of wonder too -- from the Party.

With no immediate threat in sight, the Party decided to extinguish their torch, post a watch who could keep an eye out the large glass doors in case anything showed itself, and rest for four hours so the spellcasters could recharge their low level spells. All wise precautions as about two hours into the rest period, a small band of bugbears wandered through the area without detecting the adventurers.

Spells recharged, the Party ventured forth again and soon discovered that they were in the southern half of the dungeon by entering Chlorax's dining room with its invisible dinner guests (A45). At Knicky and Keydi's urging, they made their way back to the copper door with the magical face demanding "The Word". This time, they had the answer: "Luvaniel". And the door swung open to reveal Chlorax, Purple-Blood's library. The room had no obvious treasure and no more spell books. They did find another copy of Chlorax's self-published (vanity) book, How To Find and Trap a Glitterglow. Along with a substantial library, oddly dominated by shelf after shelf of sappy romance novels, most involving cross-species love between an elf and a human. A good section of the room, however, was dedicated to tomes on ancient kingdoms, astrology, plants, gems, and herbology, along with an ancient map of the Twelve Kingdoms. Cyrus' eye was attracted to a very large and impressive volume, titled Advice for Magic-Users Desiring a Mid-Career Change as Illusionist. Its many pages were all empty, except the final page, which read simply "Don't". And beneath that, in an angry scrawl (in purple ink!), turned out "Fool! I shall unite the disciplines and show it is not only possible but the route to unmatched power!" The group collected roughly 20 volumes on the more scholarly topics and headed out.

Keydi's enhanced hearing detected that a few hook horrors were in the vicinity so the Party headed back to the butterfly room (A48) and headed south into new territory. A long passage turned to the west and ended in a door with a lock that proved too tough for either thief to pick. Match's battering also failed and this attracted three hook horrors. They were dispatched fairly handily.

We called time there.

XP Tally:
4 Harpies: (65 x 4) + (60 x 3) = 440 XP
3 hook horrors: (90 x 3) + (69 x 5) = 615 XP
TOTAL: 1055 XP / 6 = 176 XP per PC (194 if 10% bonus)

by papercut

Baklin crew:
Abelard - level 5 human cleric
Cyrus - level 5 human thief
Filipa - level 4 human magic-user
Keydi - level 4/4 elf fighter / magic-user
Knicky - level 5 human thief
Match - level 5 human fighter

Session 110

5/12 Day 52˚ F 11˚ C Clear Strong E
5/12 Eve 45˚ F 7˚ C Clear Light NE Waxing gibbous continued

We resumed with the Party having just opened the door to a dungeon room (A33) under Tol Tazeloth. The murky water lapping at the doorsill was foul, with thick algae mats floating in it. The stench was awful and they could hear something large moving at the back of the room. Bravely, they entered with weapons drawn.

The creature at the back of the chamber turned out to be a hydra with seven heads! Bloated bugbear corpses bobbed grotesquely in the water. The fight was surprisingly easy for our Party -- they dished out so much damage so quickly that the hydra heads never had the time to regrow! But in the middle of this short conflict, the western door of the chamber opened quickly and two bugbear heads peaked around, jabbered at each other, and then the door slammed shut again. Every one of the hydra's neck stumps was seared with torch fire. The entire chamber smelled of roasted rotten meat.

As hydra meat simmered, one of the hirelings guarding the door heard and saw a group of dark centaurs coming down the hall (from A32) at them. Shut the door! And Fred, the Amulet, still in demon form from the hydra fight, held the door. Hooves were soon battering against the door, making a loud booming sound resonate through the dungeon. While the centaurs continued their ruckus, the Party attempted to communicate with the bugbears in the next room (A34). Keydi's knowledge of hobgoblin proved useful in this: communication was far from easy, and largely limited to simple words and phrases that are cognate in the two tongues, but neither side was inclined to immediate violence. The bugbears chief, Ubutchak, came to talk to our heroes. It turned out that, having no knowledge of Tol Tazeloth, the bugbears were fleeing from a lower dungeon level, and just wanted to find a way out of the dungeon, to escape to the surface. (They had clearly fought the hydra and been bested, leaving behind their dead in the hydra lair.)
Our heroes offered to lead the bugbears to the surface. (The fact that they did not seriously consider how much damage that would do to their standing with Lord Virmgard astounded the Referee.) Ubutchak, not fully trusting the Party, sent a small group of five scouts to follow the Party to learn the way out. And follow they did, pas the gargoyle (A26), but when the Party moved to take down the rope that allowed passage through the reverse gravity pit (A17) the bugbear scouts refused to follow any further and insisted on going back to their tribe.

With their tagalongs gone, our heroes decide to do some more exploring in the northern section of the dungeon. Near the stairs up, they open the door to what was once the rum cellar (A3), lined with barrels on wooden racks. Most were empty, leaving a sticky residue on the floor. Just two had a few sloshes of liquid left. These were quickly dragged up the stairs and deposited in the cellar with the Tol Tazeloth guards.

But they weren't done, they headed straight back down -- going toward the northwest, returning to the room with the frescos commemorating Johno Bonifaces' various battles on sea and land. Then north to a new room, discovering what must have been the (in)famous pirate's main map or war strategy room (A23). It contained a massive oaken table and against the far wall a cubby hole shelf unit. Ship and figure miniatures littered the table, along with shredded rags and parchment. Clearing away the rags, rodent bite marks scored the table and miniatures. The cubby holes had clearly been used as nest sites for rats, but have long since been abandoned. A thorough search turns up an antique and well-tarnished sextant and other navigation instruments on the table. Abelard, on his hands and knees, discovered an ancient map tacked to the underside of the large table. It turned out to be a detailed map to Illenamar, known as the Sinking Land and rumored to contain untold riches, long sunk beneath the waves in the waters of The Twelve Kingdoms.

Back to the hallway and north again, the Party found a door carved with the same sylvan themes and styles of some of the doors in the southern half. They opened the door, revealing a circular chamber, with a plinth in the middle. An inky darkness. But a shaft of light angled through from the top left (west) to the right (east) side of the room. A terrible smell assailed their nostrils and as the Party blinked their tears away, they saw five mostly nude women, with wings. Harpies in their nest! The harpies were surprised and taking precious seconds to rouse themselves as the Party moved into position and Abelard cast Bless.

We called time here.

XP TALLY:
Hydra: 429 XP
Antique sextant and navigation instruments: 400 gp (400 XP)
TOTAL 829 XP / 6 = 138 per PC

by papercut

Baklin crew:
Abelard - level 5 human cleric
Cyrus - level 5 human thief
Filipa - level 4 human magic-user
Keydi - level 4/4 elf fighter / magic-user
Knicky - level 5 human thief
Match - level 5 human fighter

Session 109

5/12 Day 52˚ F 11˚ C Clear Strong E
5/12 Eve 45˚ F 7˚ C Clear Light NE Waxing gibbous
Early the next morning Filipa went to train with Slarkeron, the Wizard; a few hours later Knicky headed to the Nine Doors and passed through the well portal where she was greeted by her compatriots (A26). The group headed first to the magic fountains so Keydi could get magic hearing (along with the giant ear) and Cyrus the super-vision (along with the watering eyes).

Back at the chasm, Knicky daringly ran across the western bridge span, while Abelard convinced the rest to stick with their familiar eastern span for "safety". After crossing the chasm, the Party decided to head west for the first time. Going south, they noted that the passage walls are decorated with arboreal hints and they reached a door with forest motifs (to A29). The door was unlocked and inside the chamber held a large red couch, a wooden table with several different game boards (chess, etc.), the pieces scattered about.

As they were searching the room, suddenly Cyrus (on lookout) sounded the alarm: a huge cave bear lumbered out the gloom at our heroes. It charged, its face twisted in a vicious snarl -- and yet, it was utterly silent as it attacked. The Party made short work of the beast, but it left them unsettled as throughout it had not made a single sound.
After fighting the cave bear, the Party continued heading west, down a passage. They quickly reached a four-way junction. On the southern door, they saw forest motifs: intricately carved wood showing a forest glade, while the stone door frame was carved like two large tree trunks, their branches meeting and entwining to form the top of the frame. To the north, a plain, but functional and sturdy wooden door with iron bands. They ignored both of these and continued down the long passage to the west.
Another 40 feet and they encountered another door with ornate forest carvings. This door was almost an exact replica of the door they had just seen, except nearly double the size. A small sign was posted on it. It read, "For My Darling, Since I cannot bring them to her here, using all my arts and knowledge, I give her this, her own private Gardens of Ynn." The doors were unlocked!

Creaking loudly as they swung open, the doors revealed a barely illuminated expanse: just inside the door, grass and a path that lead into a vast gloomy space. In the distance, a dark line of trees -- mixed conifers and hardwood -- was barely visible. The "sky" was a faintly lighter shade of grey than the surrounding landscape. Could this really be here, under Tol Tazeloth?

Entering, the Party noted within a few paces that their torchlight illuminated numerous sets of tracks in the grass and on the path. Both paws and hoofs. 100 feet. 200 feet. 300 feet. The ground underfoot was getting wetter, stickier; the grass less and less healthy. They reached the line of trees, the edge of what could only be called a forest. They entered. 100 feet. 200 feet. 300 feet. Some of the trees, now, were sickly, misshapen, with dark sap oozing from wounds and dark shrouds of foul-smelling lichens hanging from nearly bare limbs. Eventually, the path faded out on the edge of a swampy bog but off in the distance, Cyrus with his fountain-granted super-vision detected a clearing. And reaching it did not require going through the ill-looking swamp in front of them.

Reaching the clearing, the Party saw an enormous oak tree in the middle. It towered over the rest of the trees, though some of its limbs seemed ragged and there were far too few leaves for this large of a specimen. Perhaps a vantage point to see the wider environment! Cyrus climbed up, but even before reaching the upper part of the canopy, he suddenly turned around and came down. Puzzled, his compatriots asked why. He could not say, only that he felt he had to get out of the tree -- something compelled him to cease his climb and return to the ground. He refused any suggestion that he go back up; "No, I have no desire to hurt this tree by climbing it against its wishes." Perhaps not all is as it seems, the Party mused. They circled the oak, noting a small sapling growing in between two of the massive roots.

Keydi then took a flier and cast ESP in hopes that the tree might be conscious and thinking. And indeed, thoughts there were! Thought she could not understand the language. Keydi spoke aloud, in Elvish, "Hello, mighty oak? Who are you?" The thoughts that this brought forth were now in Elvish and betrayed fear and a glimmering hope that perhaps the Party could help. Keydi responded by asking how: "What can we do to help you?" In reply, the face of a beautiful maiden appeared in the bark of the gnarled old oak. The face blinked its eyes slowly and the lips mouthed the Elvish words for "Who are you?" Keydi introduced herself and the tree-maiden then asked "Do you know where you are?" Keydi replied that they did not really understand this place. "Then how can you help me?" the face replied, twisting into sadness. "I am Fandariel," the maiden face continued, "a dryad. I was trapped here long ago and desire to be free." Fandariel told the Party that Chlorax had trapped her in this vast illusory space, populated with illusions and magical creatures. It was supposed to be a garden for the wizard's elvish lover, but the lady would never come here. And gradually the illusion was twisted, slowly perverted into horrors and the land blighted. As far as she knew, only Fandariel herself and a few original brownies (also trapped and imprisoned here) remained free of the taint of the corrupted illusion, though she hadn't seen the brownies in perhaps a hundred years or more. In her fear and despair, she begged for the heroes to save her; "See that sapling, carefully uproot it and some soil around it. I can transfer into it and you can take it to the outside world and plant it in some faraway place where I can see the real sky and stars, feel the wind and rain again! Please help me."

This was not a request these heroes could possibly refuse. They eagerly dug up the sapling, careful to get as many roots and soil as they could, and transferred them tenderly to Abelard's bucket. (And, boy, did Abelard's Player embody smugness at this: "I knew the bucket would be THE answer someday!")
Toting the bucket with sapling-Fandariel in it, the Party began trekking out of the dungeon. They could not, however, resist the urge to open one of the doors at the four-way intersection. They chose the plain door to the north (A33) as Keydi's super-hearing had picked up faint sounds of gruff conversation, cheers, and ... the clattering of dice ... from that general direction.

With the doors (A33) opening easily, the Party immediately saw foul, greenish water up to the doorsill. Their torchlight only illuminated part of the chamber, but algae mats were visible easily. A foul smell of decay assaulted the nose. Dark shapes in the shadows lay in the water. And something large was moving in the water -- ripples made their way to lap at the doorsill.

We called time there.

XP TALLY:
Cave Bear HP 49: 225 + 125 + (8 x 49) = 742 XP
124 XP per PC

by Windopaene

Related Item: Phil Eklund

I enjoyed my one play of Pax Porfirana, (played on Yucata.de I think, ended up as a kingmaker situation, so I won). but I just can't.

Sold my copy and won't ever play another of his games again.
I refuse to support people who I think are wrong about everything...

by papercut

Baklin crew:
Abelard - level 5 human cleric
Cyrus - level 5 human thief
Filipa - level 4 human magic-user
Keydi - level 4/4 elf fighter / magic-user
Knicky - level 5 human thief
Match - level 5 human fighter

Session 108

5/10 Day 50˚ F Overcast Strong N
5/10 Eve 45˚ F Overcast Light SW

First thing in the morning, the Party requested an audience with Lord Virmgard during which they reported that they believed they had eradicated the wererats from the dungeon below the cellars. The Lord was greatly pleased -- and his largesse was in direct proportion to his joy.

He granted the Party a generous set of rewards:

1. free passage to Baklin through the well portal in the dungeon
2. a special gift to Match, for reminding Virmgard of his own younger self: an ioun stone (regenerate 1 HP per turn if in use)
3. two maps: one to H2109 Castle Sullogh in the Forest of Doom and then maps of the complete floor plans of Sullogh from when Virmgard and his compatriots cleared it of its evil inhabitants.

The maps were accompanied by a self-aggrandizing monologue (for which Virmgard is justly (in)famous): "Deep in the Forest of Doom stands Castle Sullogh, an ancient fortress from before the time of human occupation. The castle was there before the first men arrived on the Isle of Erillion, and it has served many masters over the last centuries. Some have suggested that it was the creation of Erillion’s giants, and placed under a curse when they had to cede it to the first men. Some believe it to be an earlier elven structure, suffering from the effects of some lingering fey magic. Finally, it has been called a deliberate trap, nature’s foul mockery of a human fortress, intended to lure the ambitious to their doom. Back in my youth, it was held by Sir Zolrak the Accursed, a dark knight of terrible reputation, whose forces plundered the coastal settlements on multiple occasions some 60 years ago. Sir Zolrak was aided by his castellan, Sir Morag the Wood-born, and Ate, a fighting-woman and leader of brigands. It was my friend and fellow adventurer, Lady Izanoxin, a knight-errant of Yolanthus Kar, who went there with me and our friends (Virmgard gestured at the grand seats, empty save for a single rose on each), to slay Ate, imprison Sir Morag and Sir Zolrak, and claim the castle as her own. The Lady ruled Sullogh for ten years, during time which she rose to the rank of Knight Commander of Yolanthus Kar. But, myself and the others of our Party drifted off to establish our own strongholds. At the end of her reign, 50 years ago, she must have learned something from her prisoners -- something which inspired her and our former companions to launch a final expedition into Erillion’s mountains. Alas, I was out of touch then ... ridding the seas around H0511 - Tol Tazeloth of the northmen pirates and did not join my former companions. Perhaps if I had been with them ... things might have been different. None of them returned from the mountains. Lady Izanoxin's lieutenants held on in the Castle for another four or five years before they were not heard from again. Here is a map to the Castle and ... a floor plan that I had made long long ago. Perhaps you all -- when you are a little bit more experienced -- can settle the blood debt and restore the Castle to human hands. My hand no longer has the strength for this task."

The Party accepted the Lord's boons with gratitude. And they retired to their quarters, where they touch/taste tested the potions they had found, managing to identify them as ESP, Clairaudience, Invisibility, and Polymorph Self. Then Filipa prepared for her trip to Baklin (via the well portal) to finalize the deal with Glostral the Brewer and to spend a week training to level up -- preparation primarily amounted to taking plenty of gems and some coin to finance both activities.

Back in the dungeon, the Party headed directly to the well. As they passed the whistling gargoyle, he told them that sometime after they had last left, a human --moving very cautiously, almost catlike -- explored the ledge, the bridges over the chasm, and met the gargoyle. "I think I might have scared him as he did not come close and left in a hurry the same way he had come. The well I do believe."

The Party escorted Filipa to the well and down to the portal. She went through without problem and was detained by two guards. A few minutes later a short-statured mustachioed man walked in and introduced himself as Glostral, the proprietor of the Nine Doors Inn. The deal with Glostral was finalized without issue. Averring that he has no interest in having crowds of people use the portal, he admitted that went through it himself to scout the destination but has forbidden any of his men to use it. He has already had a narrow corridor made from the cellar to an exterior door, allowing for discreet entry and exit. The cellar will have two guards and a log book at all times. He required names and full descriptions for all Party members to prevent misuse of the portal by other groups. After Filipa paid the initial fee (1000 gp), Glostral handed her two identical keys to the exterior door. Filipa then asked how he knew the portal was not simply a door into another chamber in Baklin's Undercity. He replied, with a wink, "There's a reason this place is called the Nine Doors, my dear, though that reason is not commonly known."

After sealing the portal deal, Filipa went directly to Slarkeron, the Wizard to request training. He agreed -- for the usual fee of course. Her training would start the next day, lasting from 5/11 through 5/18, and the spell she would learn would be Fly. She then imposed on him by asking about Erillion's Wizard Council and Poroxius Vern. Slarkeron expressed his personal dislike for Poroxius and his skeezy apprentices, but advised that magic-users should take and pass the test to use high-level spells on Erillion. "It is not worth risking the wrath of Poroxius to try to evade the requirement. The test is not lethal, but one is granted but a single chance." Filipa asked about Poroxious Vern's tower too. "Ahh, a terrible place, though not overly hard to get to despite being off in the mountain wastes." Gargoyles? "Ahh, ill-tempered those. Will attack anything, anytime. Don't be caught off guard or out-numbered!" When Filipa asked about Chlorax, Purple-Blood, he cocked his head and sighed. "A cautionary-tale from long, long ago. Not much is known for certain, except that he was a magic-user who tried to master illusionist magic too. Some say it drove him insane. ... A glitterglow you say? You found one? Oh, a rarity! I wonder if my skills are good enough, a fine test! Yes, yes, I would be most interested if you can transport it here -- safely, mind you! A most dangerous entity. Most dangerous indeed."

From Slarkeron's tower, Filipa went directly to The Blue Bottle (U) to have Zaloxen identify the recently acquired magical loot from the Tol Tazeloth dungeon. (She went back the next day and found that the Party had found a Ring of Swimming, a Wand of Magic Missile, a Wand of Magic Detection, and a Wand of Illusion.)

Finally, very late -- at the end of a long evening -- Filipa reunites with Knicky at the Party's apartment. There was a lot of catching up, on both sides. Knicky agreed to go back through the well portal to join the Party in Tol Tazeloth the next day (5/12).

XP Tally
Abelard - ESP potion (XP 500)
Keydi - Clairaudience potion (XP 250)
Cyrus - Invisibility potion (XP 250) and Polymorph Self (XP 200)

by Bifford

21st May 2026.

In the (planned) absence of our Eberron GM I ran a one-shot heist of Clerk & Dagger. I ran the first scenario in the book, which is the same as the PbF game I am running here.

(Anyone in that game group should stop reading now! Spoilers ahead.)
[hr]
Our team of four Clerks, Two, D, Richard, and Yak made their entrance into Dr.Acula's lair, the Wimpyre Bloodbank, which is his bloodbank business where he pays the down and out, the needing money public, for their blood, and sells it to the rich as a rejuvenating life-prolonging transfer.

Two of them made ingress throught he skylight onto the first floor landing, one went in through the locked back door, while the fourth swung down from the roof to an upper window and got in that way.

Once inside (via the skylight) Richard entered the cafeteria lounge, tried to sweet-talk a rich gentleman called Sir Hugh Fern (who his sources had told him had been given a Soul Coin to do research on) was was enjoying victuals. He failed miserably, so Hugh bellowed for Ellen to get in there. Ellen came in, and as Richard turned around they realised they knew each other. At that exact moment an enraged father forced entry with his buddies downstairs, complaining about how ill they had made his son, Tiny Tim, and he wanted to speak to Dr.Acula. This distracted Ellen enough that she became flustered and started to usher Richard out of the room.

Yak, also entering via the skylight managed to twist their ankle on landing. They went over to a room where they suspected a machine was being kept. Smashing through the lock by punching it out with their dagger they enter, extinguishing the lights with their special ability. Inside is a large machine with loads of limbs. As Yak gets near it attacks with spinning cutting disks and stabbing limbs, but Yak does a perfectly executed sommersault to land on top of the device in the one place they can see they can't reach with their limbs. Recognising the location of a panel with a slight glow behind it they pry it open and take out the two Soul Coins hidden with. The machine stops.

Satisfied, Yak goes over to the large barn doors, peers out through the large gap and sees Jacob's friends still entering the building downstairs. They go back over to the door to the landing and see Richard and Ellen entering the kitchen.

Two has entered downstairs by the back door. They creap up to the the guard's room, ensure the door is locked with a lockpick then put some chewing gum into the lock, using their lockpick to shove it into all the tumblers. Then they open the door into a side room, which appears to be an observation room for the main blood-giving area. There's an orderly there, looking at a bank of machines providing lots of readings. Two goes to grab them but they hear him and spin around, forcing Two to act quickly, putting a hand over his mouth as the man struggles. Pulling a pouchful of coins out of their pocket Two jingles it at the orderly and says with menace in their voice, "Take this and go out through the side-door, now, or you won't leave alive again." The orderly nods, grabs the money, and scarpers.

Two looks at the banks of equipment. One clearly shows readings from the Blood Pump in the main room. Others show the three banks of four chairs, two of which are occupied and giving off readings. Interestly, there are no wires going from the donors to the machines so these are not being run by conventional means! Following the wires from the machines leads to a junction box up on the wall which is giving off a feint hum and glow. It is locked, but Two recognises the hinges as a particularly poor design - shooting the central pin out makes the hinges unhinged. The door opens and out falls a Soul Coins, with the machines dying an instant later.

D has headed upstairs to the corridor. Spotting a linen cupboard he finds items to make some molotovs then heads to Dr.Acula's lounge in the back area. A quick lock-pick later (arn't these a skilled bunch of Clerks!) and he is in. Along one wall is line of tables with plates, covered in closhes to keep food fresh, and an ornate tea urn. The far wall has a large armoir with bottles of very deep rich red "wine" (😉) and a few bottles of white wine and whisky. The long table under the window has a number of manilla file folders in, little name labels in the corner. D pours the flamable liquid from one of his molotovs over the drinks cabinet, down the files table, and back over to the door.

The commotion downstairs is getting louder, with Jacob and friends pushing their way properly into the main hall of the bloodbank.

There is another orderly checking on the two donors. The woman in seating area two is looking very pale and a bit wobbly, but the orderly doesn't seem to care to stop her blood letting. She heads over to the man in seating area three. She keeps as far away from him as possible, checking his tube at maximum arms length.

Yak has joined D in Dr.Acula's lounge. They spot a folder named "Tim (Tiny), son of Jacob" so grab it and check the contents. It is clear that the Doctor's blood letting has caused the child much damage, with his organs starting to shut down. No wonder his father, Jacob, is angry! They run over to banisters around the skylight, spot Jacob almost directly underneath them and call out for him to 'catch your child's file and take a look!' which Jacob does. This causes him to really go balistic, discovering that the Doctor knew he was hurting his child. The orderly tries to explain that his son has a rare (and exquisite) blood type, but that if Jacob and his immediate family all want to come in to give blood they can see if any of them share a blood type with him so they can help his child to survive.

Yak, looking at everything else downstairs sees the woman in seating area two collapse to the floor, unconsious, and also that the man in seating area three is a filthy homeless person who has urinated all over the floor around him - no wonder the orderly is staying as far from his as possible - he reeks. Taking out a razor-sharp quill Yak drops it perfectly to slice through the blood-transportation tube between her hands. Blood spurts out everywhere.

Richard meanwhile has gone into the kitchen with Ellen, told her she really shouldn't be working here for this doctor. She says 'you know how hard up my family are. This job pays well.' Richard asks her if she can help him find anything to help kill Dr.Acula because he's a bad man, such as poison. She tells him to look around - this is a kitchen - I can give you saucepans, knives, china, food and drink, but not poison. Richard spots a fire extinguisher, grabs it, marches back in to Sir Hugh Fern and knocks the man unconcious. Rummaging in a breast pocket he finds a Soul Coin, but the pocket has pins sewn cleverly in to the lining so as Richard pulls his hand out they all dig in to his flesh and tear his hand bloody.

Downstairs, Two has realised that the Blood Pump is very likely powered by a Soul Coin so heads around to the main donor hall. Jacob, the orderly arguing with him, and seating area three are all blocking a direct path however, so he heads over to the orderlies room, finds a lab overcoat and name badge, grabs some towels and heads out to go around the long way to the machine. He is stopped by Jacob's friends who all tell this "orderly" that they should help clean up the blood and urine from the man, or come help them witht he woman who feinted. Two makes up an excuse then heads to the Blood Pump, opening it and pulling out two Soul Coins. machine goes quiet.

Back upstairs, D has heard Dr.Acula muttering and swearing in the next room (his bedroom, though he never really sleeps, it's more a comfortable room to read, research, and meet friends). He hopes the Doctor will come out to work out what is going on downstairs, but he doesn't. Instead D hears a door open and close. Pulling open the door he sees the bedroom, with completely unused bed, two rather nice comfy armchairs and a bookcase with lots of very old and interesting books. He steps over to the door Dr.Acula must have just gone through.

Yak and Richard both join D in the bedroom, with Richard spotting a very sought-after book in the bookcase and taking it. D opens the door, brandishing his rapier. [Alert Level 1] Dr.Acula spins around, to find the rapier at his throat. He stares into D's eyes to hypnotise him, but discovers that D has rose-tinted glasses* on so the hypnosis fails. Yak has sumersaulted over D into the room, spots a safe on the far wall so starts to head over there. D skewers Dr.Acula through the neck and clavical, hurting him badly. A moment later Richard strong-arms himself into the room and punches Dr.Acula's lights out. Literally. Inside his breast pocket is another Soul Coin. It takes but a moment for Yak to open the safe and retrieve two more Soul Coins.

[Alert Level 2] As the sound of the guard's door breaking down and their feet pounding up the stairs comes to their ears the three escape through a window, setting the earlier poured liquid alight in the process.

Downstairs, Two slips out of the building through the front door and all of our Clerks are away scott free!

[hr]
GM note:
Everyone had a great time with this. Even our youngest player, who normally likes rules over improvisational style games, loved it. The mechanics of the system were appreciated in their nuances and they all said they'd gladly play another game some time. One f them even wants to borrow the book in order to write their own adventure.


* Use of 'Intel' here to "re-write the scene" a bit to say that one of D's informants had previously told him about the hypnotic stare, so he came prepared.

by JugglinDan

What the Grell is Going on? Palique, 092-1105
Last Scene: -
Next Scene: -
Character Sheets & Setting: Game Info. Character sheets, game info, supplements, & solo tools.
Mythic Scene Expectation: After the Raven's Call is breached twice in one night, the second time by potentially lethal assassin bugs, the crew take stock and make plans. Their two primary goals are to secure the ship against further attacks and to determine who their enemy is.
Chaos Factor: 5
Scene Type: As expected.
Location & time: Aboard the Raven's Call, Palique Highport, 6am, 092-1105
Ship Credits: 70,114 Cr
[hr]Action
"Hey, Pancake, doesn't the ship security package prevent this kind of hack?" Vertigo asks, his voice muffled by the wound dressings on the side of his face.

Ash is barely listening. "It makes sense, it's how I'd do it. Easiest way really ... gotta check the logs ...". (1)

Two hours later, she looks up, making sudden rare eye contact with Vertigo, answering the question he'd almost forgotten asking. "It should, but this hack came from the bridge."

Vertigo raises an eyebrow. "They were already inside before the hack?"

Ash's discovery raises more questions than it answers. Why the breach, then the attack hours later? What was the intruder after? If the Bannerless are after revenge, why send assassin bugs? If they had someone inside already, why not rig the ship to blow and be done?

Failsafe looks up from the sensor console. "I'm sweeping the ship for microbots. It's gonna take a while cause they're so grelling small. Maybe Palique Security caught something on their cameras?" And when you lot head to their office, I can frakking work in peace. (2)

Monarch nods. "Good. Ash, Vertigo, you should come too. We'll head to the downport and pick up the order from Qasira. Get some security software too. We'll be back in time to take the Raven to the shipyard."

Pancake frowns. "Does our budget run to 25kCr? That's the typical Security/3 package cost. Also, the Raven's computer maxes out its bandwidth when making a jump, so I'll need to manage that."

Failsafe looks up from her analysis again, a small irritated sigh accompanying her reply. "It's tight. We need to sell some cargo before the next mortgage payment, or it'll be skip tracers left and right. Say, Monarch, how far would your dear aunt go if we miss payments?" (3)

Monarch's answering smile is grim. "Look, my aunt likes me, but she's not hands on. I'm sure the accounts are delegated to some bureaucratic AI. But we're way out in the Palique Trace right now. Even if we miss a payment, we'll have plenty of time to make it up before word reaches Mora. And we need that software!"

At the door they are met by Cat, shadowed by Sid the Deathbot. Cat drops a dead assassin bug from their mouth and says "common design, explosive residue tastes … unique. Close examination may reveal the manufacturing plant." (4)

Ash steps forward, picking the bug from the floor, flashing a quick, proud smile at Cat. "I'll stay here. Monarch, you have the specs for the software. I'll start the analysis right away." (5)

The weasel-faced clerk at the Security Office pushes a form to Monarch. "Fill out Form 37B with your request. You should receive a response within 14 to 28 days. Vertigo hides his fury behind a smile, and is about to plant a suggestion about what the weasel-faced clerk can do with Form 37B when a passing officer glances into the lobby. The wave of panic is all the satisfaction Vertigo needs.

The officer races over, smacking the clerk on the back of the head. "Shepherd, that's no way to address your betters." Turning to Monarch and Vertigo, the officer continues "I'm Captain Valentine. I apologise on behalf of Clerk Shepherd, he's new, and soon for reassignment. Now, how may I assist Your Excellency?"

At Captain Valentine's command, several techs leap to offer immediate assistance. Reviewing the security footage shows an individual lurking outside the Raven's Call at the crucial times. Facial recognition IDs them as Ludmilla King, a registered broker, who arrived in Palique just one week ago. A patrol is dispatched for her arrest. (6)

Vertigo calls the ship. "It was King, the goram broker! Check all the cargo we got from them. Maybe that's how they got the bots onboard, and the deal was a setup."

They collect the new uniforms and the security software before heading back to the ship. Mid-afternoon, they get a call from Captain Valentine. Fixer puts it on speaker.
"We brought King in. They attacked my squad with exploding bugs, I can charge them with that. But to make the charges stick for the attacks against you and your ship I'll need more evidence. You've got 24 hours." (7)
[hr]Mechanics
1: Ash, EDU+Electronics(computers) to learn about the hack: success. She learns the hack was made from the bridge! 2 hours.

2: Failsafe, sensor scan to sweep the ship for more microbots: success. She's confident the scan found something but needs to analyse the data. That's normally 1D hours, she'll take extra time for DM+2, so 1Dx4 = 20 hours, plus another DM+2 chain bonus from the scan itself.

3: Asking Mythic: how far would Duchess Delphine go to teach Faye a lesson? NPC reaction: friendly. Motivation: "official recover"

4: Mythic, does Cat know anything? They are on the lower deck, examining the wrecked assassin bugs. Cat, recon check: success, effect 3. They notice something, but what? Mythic clues table: "loud academic". Studying (academic) the explosive residue (loud) should reveal where the bots were made and perhaps who purchased them. If they are a custom order…

5: Ash, INT+Science, 8+, 1dx4 hours to analyse the explosive residue. She'll take longer for a DM+2, framed as caution since she's not a chemist. This means setting up in engineering and spending 1dx10 hours = 20 hours of work. She needs sleep, so the analysis will complete around the same time as the jump net repairs.

6: I don't need to roll to see if they help, since I've already established the relationship between Palique Security & the Raven's Call as allied/helpful. I do need to roll to see if they have any information, I think that's going to be based on how well King avoided detection. It's 50/50 since I can't decide on King's stealth vs the security office equipment: exceptional yes! They caught a crystal-clear image that allows facial recognition. But there's a tiny chance of a twist. Was King using a disguise, very unlikely? no. Do they detect them at the ship at the time of both incidents, very likely? yes

The security office information identifies King the broker lurking outside the Raven's Call at the time of the computer breach, they detect them leaving and then returning shortly before the assassin bot attack.

Of course, it won't be any fun if the security patrol capture King, but it's the logical thing to happen at this point.

7: Does the security patrol manage to arrest King, nearly impossible? exceptional yes. Oh, what an anticlimactic ending. But the dice decided.
[hr]Mythic Bookkeeping
- Added Security/3 ship software, at cost of 25kCr to the Raven's Call.
- Ship credit balance down to 45,114Cr.
- All crew members now have their TL13 custom cloth armour with self-sealing, self-cleaning, bandwidth 2 computer weave upgrades. None of the suits have software installed yet.
- Everything went well for the PCs in this scene, so chaos is going down to 4. In the next scene they'll need to secure the evidence that Palique Security need, and hunt down any bots that remain on the Raven's Call.