Be ready for action.  Once the Fire Gate is opened, I expect that we will have a dynamic experience.  

The Book is in Alatar’s Bag. They acquired 35 healing berries (will heal 2 pts each) and a Major Healing wand with an Exclusive 10 pt. Manastone. The also had Resist Fire stones made for the whole party, except Ben, who is otherwise protected from heat. After planning what to do from a Sanctuary created by Alatar, the emerged and began to open gates.

The first 4 gates are opened without incident. The entire party is poised to enter the Fire gate and confront the Overlord. Next session, the Party goes…

…Into the Fire.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Item Descriptions 

Life Berries:  Each berry will heal 2 pts of damage.  They will last only 1 week once removed from the vine.

Stone of Resist Fire: per the Spell, protects wearer and a 2 yard radius around the stone.

Major Healing Wand: allows holder to heal 6pts of damage per power point used.  There is no skill roll required; just touch a wounded person and the stone activates.  Can be used once per second.

Resurrection Stone:  when placed in the mouth of a recently dead person (within 10 minutes), it will restore that person to life with 0 (zero) hit points and unconscious.  They will awaken in 1 minute/pt of damage taken.  If Awaken is cast, it will reduce the time in half, but will not work again.  Stone will turn to water once used.

Off to create Ben… 

Marty will not be able to attend this session. I have his permission to continue the quest without him.

The party was heading up to talk to a dragon to get him to agree to be the Black Wizard’s newest Spell Creature. Everyone was playing NPC’s except Aurianna, who is playing her normal character, Aspen.

If the party completes this section, then we will hold play once the party is rejoined. If there is still time, we will play some other game to fill the time until the next session.

Until next time, be well.

So say we all.

We spent a lot of time finding out about the mysteries of Horin and what we had to do to open the gates to bring Res back.

We found out about the Mage tower, and that Geron has been there…once.

We found out about the Overlord, and spoke to Oshiah the Monk about his epic battle with the Overlord to free the Elves. We learned that we could appeal to the Overlord’s arrogance to distract him. We also made contact with Ben, who believes he can distract the Overlord long enough for us to open the gate on the Fire Nexus.

Oshiah also introduced us to Berem, a Channeler of my Order, and fellow believer in Res. I showed him the book. He will be crucial in helping us execute our plan, since he has another of the great Gate Stones (his father was one of the Seven). Berem noted that Ben probably would not survive his encounter on the Fire Nexus with the Overlord. Kami seems troubled by this. As for me, I am not at all sure that I shall survive this adventure, but know that I must try. We who seek the return of Res must understand the costs and be prepared to pay them if need be. That said, we shall do what we can to help Ben. He is a good friend, and we owe him our lives.

While Kami and Aspen were conversing with Oshiah, I learned some new spells (always a great joy, to learn new things). The chief of these is Communicate, which shall be most useful as we hop to and fro among the nexuses. Wizard Eye and Wizard Ear should also be useful for scouting missions.

We decided that our next priority must be to visit the Mage Tower and scout the second nexus. We do not expect a pleasant welcome there.

Next session will start out with a trip to the Water Nexus to investigate what is there and how to get a Gate open there.  Perhaps I will kill Aspen…

Please comment on what we want to do for food other than Burnt Pizza!

Come ready for action on this one.  I know we are all jonesing for it.

GM

Our last session covered a lot of ground and revealed some major bits of new data. The true quest must now begin.

We started out where we had left off - in the Sanctuary I created in the wilderness outside Whitefall. We took our prisoner inside and…interrogated him. We interrogated him rather hard in fact, breaking several bones. I’ll say this, he has some willpower. He was in a trance, from which I was able to magically awaken him.

Eventually, it became clear that we would not get the information we sought by beating him. As we healed some of the injuries we caused, he became more talkative. It became clear that he was either working for the City of Whitefall (at the church’s request) or for the Church itself. His name, according to him, is Geron the Bold.

So we then discussed theology, and found that he still had the Old Faith - he believed that we should seek knowledge and growth for its own sake rather than to glorify our creator, Omni, though he seems unaware that the entity behind the persona of Omni has changed. He has some connection with Dragons, although it is not clear what. He speaks Draconic quite well, for example, and conversed with a reptilian creature when we eventually emerged from the Sanctuary. He spoke of a family that would avenge him, should he die. (It should be noted that Geron is clearly a man of honor, and has no fear of death. In fact, he seems to have a sort of death wish that nearly got us killed the next night, but that is a tale for another paragraph…) It must also be said that he was very…understanding of our rough treatment of him.

It turns out that Geron was seeking the Book and not necessarily our lives, though it is quite clear that he was under no orders to bring us in alive. We did not reveal that we were in possession of the book, though we didn’t deny it, either. (Though Aspen claimed to have sold it.) We spoke with Geron of the Channeler Wars and the death of the Seven. Geron revealed that he was busy with…other things at the time, but seemed satisfied that we were not after mere money. He agreed to follow us, to aid us if he believed our purposes were in agreement, and not to harm or betray us without warning. Though he did not reveal the most crucial piece of information, his employer, until later.

Upon this promise, we returned most of his gear (excepting his weapons). Kami had a rather hard time getting over the backstabbing…not that I blame him.

We then decided that we had to get to the Animal Nexus in the Plains of Bann, to get more easily to the Desert Nexus and the tomb of Efron the Corrupt.

We had to travel normally for a day, which involved Aspen summoning a horse for Geron to ride. Animals also seem uncomfortable around him, which is usually a reason to be nervous.

Once my gatestone recharged, we were able to Flash Travel to the environs of the Animal Nexus, which we knew to be a sacred place to the Bann people. The Banns are legendary in their ability to hunt and hide, and the last thing we wanted to do was to threaten or provoke them. So the target of our Flash Travel was during the day, and well outside the boundaries of the Nexus itself.

When we all arrived near the Animal Nexus, we were within the ring of Bann communities that surround the Animal Nexus. We were met by a Bann troop, which was not overtly hostile to us but not enthusiastically welcoming, either. We promised to be quick about our business, which was to Gate to the Desert Nexus, and not to loot or show disrespect to the Bann burial grounds.

The Bann escorted us in, and observed as I set up the Gate. The leader of the band, Moon Bear, recognized us as friends, and marked us as “known” to his people in what seemed a small ritual. I have a feeling his friendship will be valuable to us in the future. I sincerely appreciated his trust in us and was glad that we could part on such good terms. I must admit that the few bits of the Bann that we could see sparked my scholarly curiosity. They are obviously a highly magical people, but they seem to have no use for cities as we know them or other artifacts of what so arrogantly refer to as “civilization”.

The fun really started when we got through the gate to the Desert Nexus.

We have assumed to this point that the people we encounter will be friendly or neutral. We did not consider that the Nomads who live near the Desert Nexus would take exception to a small party gating into their home city, but take exception they did.

Within a minute of appearance on the other end of the gate, we were waylaid by a Nomad war party consisting of 32 archers, two War Beasts (similar to elephants, but without trunks, and with the floppy ears). The War Beasts had more archers, channelers, and battle mages. Geron was quite ready to do battle with them, but I was not so sure that was the correct approach…

We were approached by a Nomad leader demanding to know our business. We had some success in suggesting that Efron the Corrupt had betrayed us as well as the Nomads (for indeed, many Nomads died in the Channeler Wars and the great Battle of Magewood that decimated the ranks of the Channeler order). We were granted an audience in a great Nomad tent, thankfully without bloodshed on either side. Though I’m afraid one of the Nomad Wizards hurt Aspen’s feelings by refusing to let her speak to the elephant-creatures.

The Nomad leader in the great tent was not satisfied with hearing talk of our search for Efron’s tomb or that we, like them, had been betrayed by Efron. He demanded something more…tangible.

And so I drew the book out of my Bag of Holding. That created some excitement - there was an explosion, and most of the people in the tent were knocked down or fell over.

I felt a tremendous connection to the Desert Nexus, through the book, and a flash of divine inspiration revealed how I could actually read it. I cast the Beacon spell on it, and the words that had ever escaped my comprehension at last resolved themselves into consistent, coherent text:

The Divine Gates of Resurgo

The book, it seems, is a manual for summoning Resurgo himself, to set aright the wrongs done against him. I was able to read the entire book in an instant, and learned that we must create gates on each of the nexi, one per day, with no more than seven days from first to last, in order of the nexi from weakest to strongest. This message of hope will revitalize the few true followers of Resurgo left on Horin.

Needless to say, the witnesses of this event were rather impressed, since they had just witnessed an encounter with the divine. Geron cast his lot with us, and revealed that he was working for the Church of Omni, which he said had…deceived him in certain particulars. If he only knew how much he has been deceived!

The Nomad leader has offered our party friendship and the used of the Great Tent as a base for the time being.

There is much now that needs to be done. No doubt the energy released by the opening and reading of the book has attracted unwelcome attention. We must find a way to get word to the other true followers of Resurgo, as this is exactly what we have been waiting for, for nearly a century and a half.

As for me, I need some sleep. I haven’t had a decent rest since we left Whitefall, and I am fond of my creature comforts.

Hmmm.

So there I was, minding my own business (because that’s how all the good stories start)… I’m trying to get back in Aspen’s safe-house after visiting with Ben, and some bastage runs me through with his sword! I swear to Resurgo, I saw the hilt and the freakin’ hand of the asshat who stabbed me when I looked down!

Things got pretty fuzzy for a while there… I got *really* dizzy… I’m pretty sure I fell down… I couldn’t see much — it was dark. There was a lot of commotion for a while. I could see a bright light coming at me… I felt drawn into it. The light faded away, and it was Aspen… finishing some sort of incantation or something, and a felt a LOT better!

Then, as if that wasn’t enough, there’s someone shooting at us! I did my magical-dash thing, and ran to the top of the building, but there was nobody there. Either they were gone, or hidden really well. Next thing I know we’re getting the hell out of Dodge.

The entire experience was *horrible*! Not only was it a horrible experience, but I almost died! I must’ve forgotten a lot of my training since leaving the Order, because I was *never* this clumsy, and *never* this unfocused. When this mess is over, I’ll definitely train more with Maat, my assigned Mentor in the Order.

There was ONE thing positive that came out of it… the man who ran me through… he’s on the back of my horse. And I’m not particularly forgiving of those who kill me.

500 Quirk examples!!!

GM Note: Quirks by Category - Use browser’s “find option” to go there. I don’t feel like making all these links work.

Alright.  Lets all try to get there on time, shall we? Don’t

If no one is opposed, I would like to have this session at my home.  I will have Water, Coffee and Tea available.  I would like to put in together and perhaps get Pizza or maybe take a run for Asian food.  Something we can call in for and quickly carry out.  Don’t think any Asian places deliver. 

Style Points 

I also want to add in the use of Style points this time.  There is a post in Rules that will explain them.  Everyone will start with 3 and they do not automatically refresh.  It is possible you will never get anymore.   You want more?  Did you see Legend?

“Charm her.  Woo Her.  Make her one of us.”

Get the point?  I know that this talks about a girl and all, but when you figure out what I mean, them you will know how to get more points.   Besides, Jayne ain’t a girl.

Floating +1 

Also, any time you want to try, there is also the “floating +1″ rule.  If you want a +1 on any action, roll 3d.  If you get a natural “3″ or “4″, you can add a +1 to the current action.  This can be done after that fact (and usually is) when you realize something really important will succeed if you just had one more point…

That’s about it.  Comment on whether you want to have the Game at my house.  I will prepare as though it will be, but let me know.  My home is not kid safe (there are sharp pointy things everywhere), so Xander would not be safe over here without constant supervision.  I have an Xbox if the girls gets bored and I have internet access if they want to bring a laptop.  I am also on call, so it would be easier for me if I was home.  And I have Munchkin if on call goes badly. 

Please let me know about any of this.  Add comments on here if you got the automatic email about this post, as well.  Thank you!

NOTE: I am still deciding on whether I want to do this. I will let you know first game day

A style point may be given to a player during the course of the game for doing something clever, creative or overwhelmingly funny. A chip might also be given if one’s character performs a particularly amazing feat. The latter will be on extremely rare occasions. These chips may be turned in as many as you wish at a time for certain benefits. These include:

• Before any roll to add +10 (or +3d) to your skill.
• After your attack roll to add +15 (or +4d) to damage, your choice.
• Gain Luck Dice for the session, in the order of 2 Luck Dice per style point spent.
• Give your character any skill/advantage for one encounter or five game minutes, whichever is greater. You level will be 15 or your DX/IQ, depending on the type of skill, which ever is higher. Only one special ability at a time may be used.
• Add +7 (or +2d) or half your level to a resistance roll that anyone has to make for anything (spells, poison, etc).
• In down time, for an amount of gold equal your highest skill level * 100 * 2d6.
• Add character points, in the order of 5 (or 1d+3).
• Narrate the Scene. You get to direct the scene for a moment. You won’t get any special bonuses, but if I like what you do, I might be…generous. If it gets out of hand, I will intervene. Otherwise, its your show. No one can automatically live or die, but the events can be tipped in favor of the Narrator. A little. As long as it is fun, exciting or makes me laugh out loud, I will probably let it happen. 
• Divine intervention. This requires 2-4 chips depending on the amount of intervention required, each from a different player. The GM may implement the intervention as he sees fit, the players only say:  “We need some divine intervention.” This is the only instance where a character that has been dead more than one round may put in a chip.  Any resurrection done in this manner requires the full cost of 4 chips and the character coming back to life loses 15 character points (this can be in the form of a disadvantage of the GM’s Choosing, if you don’t want to lose any skills).  If you do not like the result of the intervention, tough. It is God’s will.  Or rather, MY will.

“See that man up there with the big gun? Not that you weren’t easy to find and all, but he didn’t want to come at all.  Might be his will you should be worrying about.”

A character that has shown extreme faith (or if I get the notion), may get any of these without spending a chip.  This is COMPLETELY my decision.  The other players will add chips normally to make something happen.  This will never happen more than once in a game session.

Each player will start the game with 3 style points. Whether you get any more is up to you.