Fellow role-players, here is my update for Session T3.22 of the latest adventuring party in my “Vanished Lands” heroic fantasy campaign setting. The teleconferencing team met on Sunday, 27 March 2011, and has been using Pathfinder, Skype, and an online dice roller.
In one ancient world, there was a region where strange majicks and demihuman races thrived. After “Holy Steel‘s” journey to the distant empire of Khemet, another motley group gathered in the northwestern “Vanished Lands” to explore a world full of perils and wonders….
>>Telecom party Player Character roster, as of spring 2011:
-“Gawain Keary” [Paul J.]-male Saganim human Illusionist (proto-Celtic Wizard); NGc, Age 20, Lvl. 1
-“Kovar” [Beruk A.]-male Half-Orc/Saganim human Paladin of Mithras, god of contracts and brotherhood; LGn, Lvl. 2
-“Davven ‘Digger’ Hollysharp” [Robert A.S.]-male Faldine Halfling archaeologist (Tallfellow Rogue) from a pipeweed farm in Tarken; CGn, Age 45, Lvl. 2
-“Asish Chen Ti” [Byron V.O.]-male Tsucharim human archer (Mongol-style Ranger), escaped from the kingdom of Gokuri; owner of Akita dog Genghis and horse Onimusha; NGl, Age 20, Lvl. 2
-“Jovinda Halflight” [Sammy H.]-female Half-Elf (Grugach/Hifalendorin) Cleric of Mekkil, goddess of nature; owner of horse Wyth-Amoi, or “Wind Spirit”; NGl, Age 23, Lvl. 2
-“Kazuo Takenaga” [Taum D’A.]-male Nezumi (Rat-kin) Monk from the Zedu kingdom in the Therud Forest; LNg, Age 20, Lvl. 2
-“Favelhorn Riftbringer” [Dexter V.H./absent]-male Mountain Dwarf Summoner; CGn, Age 51, Lvl. 1
“19 to 21 August 1229 B.C.E.:” The adventuring party left the haunted hamlet of Alarn and rode southwest, following the Aspar River. The wanderers rode beneath cloudy skies, encountering few others on the trail across the wide Plains of Sathendo.
Gawain studies his spellbook, and Kovar recommends that his companions be careful about mentioning Vappu Lahja when they reach the Hifalendorin (proto-Western European) human city of Nadwi. Not only has the mysterious woman stirred up Centaurs and other Fey folk against human farmers, but she has also ensorcelled Digger and Kazuo.
Digger offers to keep track of the party’s treasure, with Kovar holding the purse. Asish keeps a watchful eye over the tall grassland, while Jovinda looks for local fauna. Kazuo keeps his own counsel, denying that Vappu Lahja has any undue influence over him. “Sir Bonner of Runnymeade” [Jon W.B./Non-Player Character], shamed by his fear in a recent encounter with animated scarecrows, rides at the rearguard.
Asish sets watches for the night: Gawain and Kazuo, Kovar and Digger, and Jovinda and himself. After dinner and sunset, Kazuo’s keen Nezumi senses detect something crawling toward the camp from the river. The Monk and Illusionist quietly awaken their band. Two large lizards lurch at the team!
Nimble Digger throws a dagger before a lizard grabs him with its mouth! The unhappy Halfling resists its venomous saliva and recalls a similar attack by a magically enlarged eel near Alarn. Archer Asish fires arrows and moves to one side, while patient Kazuo waits in “Iron Monkey” stance for his opponent to come to him.
Hastily donning his breastplate, Kovar spears the lizard holding Digger but is bitten in return. Arcanist Gawain maneuvers and casts Color Spray, blinding and stunning the monstrous duo. Pious Jovinda invokes Mekkil, goddess of nature, and casts Cure Light Wounds on Digger, who then frees himself from the reptile’s jaws.
Ranger Asish’s next volley hits its mark, but Kazuo’s first punches miss. The injured lizard smacks armored Kovar with its thrashing tail, and Gawain casts Detect Magic. Paladin Kovar knocks his foe on its back with a mighty shield bash, and Jovinda strikes it with her staff.
Digger’s daggers do more damage to the lizards, and Asish finishes one off. Kazuo slays the other creature with a Flurry of Blows. Gawain tries to copy the fading runes on the lizard’s bellies, which Digger notes are similar to those on the eel. The Illusionist later identifies the markings as Enlarge and Permanence spells, but he doesn’t fully recognize the language.
Asish happily butchers the carcasses, taking many pounds of lizard meat and hides for later use. Jovinda claims the claws for jewelry, some of which she agrees to trade for Asish’s leatherwork. As with the scarecrows, the group suspects a single cause for their unsettling encounters on the plains, but Digger is reluctant to blame Vappu Lahja or mage Octavius Karstus, who hired him to look into property around Nadwi.
The next day, the explorers reach the village of Rockney, about 10 miles northeast of Nadwi. Friendly innkeeper Vormana greets them at the sleepy “Helm’s Draught” tavern. Her husband Arien shows the way to guest rooms, and Asish offers to help cook.
Gawain keeps an eye on Digger, and Kovar stays with Kazuo to keep the well-intentioned Monk from proselytizing. Back in the common room, Digger chats up farmers Bart and Carson, who mention that a disheveled man came from Alarn within the past week. His babbling made no sense, they say, and he soon left.
Jovinda notices burly Dalan and dark Arvon, and Kovar and Asish pay close attention to the conversations as they pass around roast lizard. Digger shares Halfling pipeweed from Tarken and says he found giant footprints, but none of the locals know anything about giants so far from their traditional homeland in the Ivory Mountains….
Please see my notes on Nadwi as your Player Characters prepare to investigate the city! Sammy, I’m sorry that you got stuck in a train, but I’m glad that you were able to join us, even if your microphone wasn’t always working. Dexter, let me know if you need any help with your Pathfinder characters or getting back into Skype.
In the meantime, you should have also seen my post on the attendance thread regarding upcoming spring sessions. Let me know if you have any problems with the gaming schedule. Thanks again, Byron, for your help with the latest FATE 3e Starblazer Adventures: “Vortex” space opera scenarios! Have a good week, -Gene
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