1-7 DCCCXLII-I-XII:
The Beginning of the End, or
the End of the Interlude, or
In Search of the Lost Xeng; or just
Bone Hill 3
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Background and Summary: Seeking a change in pace, the Party
heads south to Hestia. There they find odd happenings, plots, and
a lunar prophecy that might relate to Mei-Peng. They also find out
that her death (or her inability to return to life) somehow relates
to her former mentor in Ikon, a necromancer named Krassos Gimlison.
They and much of the world witness the brief return of the large,
blue Moon of old. So they set off to Ikon to find Krassos. On a
nearby island, they find he has taken over an old complex on Bone
Hill; they grind their way through his undead and eventually meet
and kill him. They also meet the undead remains of Valashi and Bruno,
companions of Mei-Peng's mother from centuries ago, and also a statue
that appears to contain Mei-Peng's spirit. They hasten back to Funen
and have Mei-Peng excavated; when Xanthos touches the statue, he
dies but Mei-Peng returns to life.
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Dafan time:
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161 Enyalios 27 - Maia 2 (March 27 - May 2) |
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Real time:
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2008 July - October (sessions 77-90) |
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Starting members:
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Vishu (Mk5),
Aknot (F5), Kera
(NtC5), Riff (F5), Rehkel
(T5), X (MU5), Jett
(NtC3/F1), Atlanta (MU3),
Marek (T4), Sarah
(WrC3), Xanthos (F4)
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(Session 77)
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Enyalios 1
(March)
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The Party decides that it is time to head south for
a change in pace. They leave Lüburg, and walk 4 days to Tingis,
the best port city for travel to Hestia. |
| Enyalios 3 |
Invited for dinner and chat with Northland
Ambassador of Hestia, Marcus Metellus Balearicus (whom they met a
few months ago - see House on the Hill),
who generously offers the Party letters of introduction to two Important
People in Hestia: Julia Vipsania (former Northern Ambassador, senator,
deputy minister of the Department of Foreign Affairs) and Claudius
Chaloiea (recently retired general). |
| Enyalios 8 |
Set sail for Hestia City. En route, Riff
celebrates his 100th birthday. Nobody(!) dies of alcohol poisoning,
nor falls overboard and drowns. |
| (78) |
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| Enyalios 27 |
Arrive in the grand centre of the Hestian
Empire, the eternal Hestia City (population nearly 500,000). |
| Aperis 1-7 |
The Patty take in the sights. Meet with
the two contacts recommended by Balearicus, plus one other who introduces
himself as Bannikhios, associate of Balearicus, supplier of
find glassware, who can help the Party find suitable accomodation
and become settled. They hear of some strange goings-on; or particular
interest are attacks by mobs on the temple of Ianus (Janus) two months
ago and now attacks on the temple of Artemis, plus Elves for good
measure. Several prominent astrologers have calculated that the great
white and blue moon of Olden Times will return soon. When, at the
time of the Great Cataclysm, that moon became the grey and shrunken
orb of modern times, so too did the prestige of Artemis decline in
Hestia and the Greek lands; so followers of Artemis consider the return
of the old moon to be a Good Thing. However, as it was a mere 11 years
after the Cataclysm that civil war ended and Hestia became an Empire,
many consider the event to mark the start of the Glory of Hestia;
thus a return to the moon of old might mean the end of the Empire;
thus anyone who would celebrate the return of the moon of old must
be disloyal; thus it only makes sense to try and torch the temple
of Artemis and any Elves nearby (mob logic being what it is). |
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Somehow, maybe, connected to this moon talk is an old prophecy
called "the Poem of Twelve" that catches
their attention:
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(the) Dice Can't Call Change, |
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(for) X Lives Inter-Ianus, |
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(so) Incapacitated; |
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(but) X Is Imminent. |
What is particularly noteworthy is that starting on the 1st of
the month, painted letters start appearing on various public buildings
-- first just a 'D', then 'DC', then 'DCC', etc -- i.e. the first
letters of each word in the poem.Some folk believe the "word"
'X' to be short for someone's name, others that it represents a
hidden name. X, however, thinks it refers to herself; or perhaps
Xeng (Mei-Peng). It also occurs to some that the letters may also
represent a date; for the first letters of the two lines are in
fact the numerals for 842, which is the current Hestian year. As
there are 12 words in the poem, and the first letters are appearing
at a rate of 1 more per day, and thus the sequence will complete
on the 12th day of Aperis; and as the last line spells out XII or
12, this suggests that something significant may happen on Aperis
12.
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| Aperis 8 |
After several days of exploring the city,
meeting with people, and researching strange occurrences associated
with the Cataclysm, the Party determines that they are often being
discretely followed, and that those following them are in turn being
followed. So they set a trap, and ambush 3 sneaks; they succeed in
capturing 2 of them, but the 3rd is killed by someone who swiftly
runs up a wall and escapes. With questioning, the Party learns that
there is a bounty on X. The captives don't know why there is a bounty;
all they care is that there is money to be made in capturing or perhaps
killing X. |
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They soon find out that the person who killed the 3rd
sneak was Bannikhios. When confronted, he admits to being hired to
keep the Party alive; he has been keeping tabs on all the sneaks who
have been following the Party, killing those who looks to be dangerous. |
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More dealings with the Artemis temple leads to a new
recruit: Artemisia
(B3) joins. |
| Aperis 9 |
The Party comes to suspect that the "X" in
the poem must represent Xeng Mei-Peng, and that perhaps on Aperis
12 she will come back to life. Having had her embalmed and buried
in Brunland, this could be a problem. So they hastily arrange through
Julia Vipsania for teleport transport back to Lüburg, via X's
Magic User guild. They have Mei-Peng dug up, and wait to see what
happens. |
| Aperis 11 |
Full moon arrives ... but nothing happens with Mei-Peng's
corpse. Oh well. |
| Aperis 12 |
Riff wakes up, with his Runemark tingling.
He has an ominous feeling, that something wrong has happened to an
acquaintance. He touches his hand to Mei-Peng's corpse, and is struck
with some sort of insight: the name Krassos Gimlison. X thinks
she recognises it as the name of Mei-Peng's former mentor in Ikon,
whom she fled before arriving in Hestia three years ago. |
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That evening, Riff feels compelled to watch
the moonrise (as a Dwarf, that is an odd compulsion). A foreign object
rises in the evening sky: a large, blue and white hazy orb. Others
see it as well, but only for a few minutes, after which it suddenly
turns back into the normal grey moon. No one is certain how much time
passed. Some people think some buildings nearby were somehow different
during that period, but cannot be certain. Soon afterwards, Sarah
receives a message from Bannikhios back in Hestia (via a telepathic
link she set up with him) that Hestia witnessed the same lunar transformation.
As well, there was a minor earthquake, and many more people believe
they saw changes in the urban landscape; in particular, that the city
seemed smaller. |
| (79) |
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The Party decides to rebury Mei-Peng and
head to Ikon as soon as possible. Much to their surprise, they find
that the Lüburg Magic User guild was expecting the request to
return via teleport. They arrive back in Hestia, and promptly arrange
for similar transport to Grimlon, the closest location of a teleport
point to Ikon. |
| Aperis 13 |
Walk to Ikon. |
| Aperis 20 |
Inquiries as to Krassos Gimlison point to
the small island offshore. Marek and Rehkel make contact with the
local Thieves Guild, and learn of a good contact on the island. Most
of the party charters passage on a sturdy hemiolia to Restenford (the
main town on the island). Artemisia heads to Southtor to the great
sanctuary of Artemis; there she learns more of the moon changes, and
about strange, undead goings on near Restenford. She is able to impress
the clerics as to the significance of Krassos Gimlison, and they agree
to send along a smite-ful cleric (to help deal with the anticipated
undead) and to transport the two of them hastily to near Restenford
via Wind Walk. |
| (80) |
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Artemisia rejoins Party heading north out
of Restenford: "Smyte"
Nikarete (WrC4) joins. |
| Aperis 21 |
Party ambushed by 9 Gnolls, which are easily defeated.
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Party finds a rough trail heading in the
desired direction, up a large hill, and follows it. Nine skeletal
foxes swarm the Party, but are easily destroyed. |
| (81) |
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Party gets to the top of the hill, and finds
an old fort. They do some scouting around it, and are then accosted
by a raven that is determined to touch Xanthos. It turns out to be
Ecgric, the Odin Cleric from Lüburg. As punishment for
failing to understand what was preventing Mei-Peng from being raised,
Odin turned him into a raven and quested him to counter what had trapped
her spirit. Ecgric knows that the Party is trying to locate Mei-Peng's
spirit (even though the Party doesn't fully realise this), but has
little interest is staying with the party for any length of time;
so he wants to pass his spirit-releasing ability to someone in the
Party. Unfortunately, he thinks the process may well kill whoever
tries it; so he figures it should be someone willing to sacrifice
themself to free Mei-Peng. Prior observation led him to conclude that
Xanthos is the likely volunteer. Some in the Party object, and actually
attack Ecgric. In the end, there are two volunteers: Marek (who figures
he can withstand whatever is the detrimental effect of the spirit-releasing
process) and Xanthos (who may be a bit too daft to fully understand
what is going on). Ecgric touches both with a wing, and they find
themselves with Raido runes burned into their palms - just like Mei-Peng
had (see Slave Pits). |
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Meanwhile, the fort inhabitants have heard
all the commotion; Gnoll archers and a Human mage are positioned inside
the court yard and in second story windows. Xanthos discovers that
his new rune allows him to walk through the solid front gate, allowing
him to remove the bar on it and allow the Party in. A battle ensues.
X throws fireballs into the second floor windows. The first incinerates
a Gnoll nursery. The second incinerates the mage mid-spell; the next
thing the party sees is the second-story wall bursting outwards and
the bodies of the mage and an archer being thrown into the courtyard.
A huge Earth Elemental jumps out, crushes the Gnoll archers, and looks
around. The Party beats a hasy retreat. The Elemental charges into
the fort. |
| (82) |
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Sounds of destruction come from the fort
for about 2 minutes, then just the sounds of moans and howls. The
Party reverses and charges back into the fort. Upstairs they find
dying and dead Gnolls; they ransack. Downstairs, they are jumped by
the surviving Gnolls, including 2 shamans. Xanthos and Nikarete are
battered, but the Party prevails. A Wall of Fire created by
X almost burns the fort down while they are in it; Kera is able to
extinguish the fire. |
| (83) |
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Party loots the main floor and sacks out. |
| Aperis 22 |
Party finds a staircase down, and walks
into a room filled with Ghouls. Defeating them, the Party explores.
Hearing shuffling sounds and murmuring around a corner, X and Artemisia
cautiously explore ahead. They meet 2 spell-casting and laughing zombie-like
undead; Artemisia flees (with the lightsource), leaving X to fend
for herself in the dark. Somehow X survives long enough for other
Party members to bail her out and destroy the undead. |
| (84) |
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Exploring further, the party finds a Wraith
under an old bed. Rekhel is lucky and doesn't lose any levels. |
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A statue apparently of Thor is found; a
battle ensues, statue is destroyed. Underneath is found a magic chalice
of unknown power. Party sacks out. |
| Aperis 23 |
Continuing to explore, Riff and Sarah crawl
into a small cavern, and have a hideous, acid-spraying grey ooze fall
on them; Sarah's armour is ruined, but they defeat the mess. Little
did Sarah know, but that critter was psionic and could have fried
her mind, given a few rounds ... |
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A statue apparently to Sif is found; it
clobbers several people who touch or speak to it, but is nice to Nikarete
(who sees a considerable resemblance of herself in the statue); so
nice, it grants her divine answers to three questions. The party learns
that Mei-Peng's spirit is trapped in a small statue in Krassos's lair;
to get the Blue Moon to return, they must go "through" Kyffhäuser
Tower (a strange structure near Funen in Brunland); the statue containing
Mei-Peng's spirit must be touched by a Raido rune before she
can be raised. |
| (85) |
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In a side cavern nearly blocked off with rubble, Riff
finds a mirror that transports him to a featureless white plane containing
one object: a clone of himself. The clone proceeds to attack Riff.
Sarah is next to find the mirror, and arrives on the same plane, facing
a clone of herself. Riff is mortally wounded by his clone; Sarah has
a slug-fest and eventually manages to kill her clone: Riff dies
from his wounds. Both Sarah and Riff's corpse are returned to the
cavern the moment she tries to cure him. |
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A Gelatenous Cube sneaks up on the Party.
Aknot slices it to ribbons with one swing before any harm can come. |
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A large, modern, well-equipped necromancer's
laboratory is found, complete with "bong bing-bong bing-bong"
chimes when they open the door. No one is present, except for a ghostly
corpse slowly spinning above the centre of the floor. Downstairs,
a large collection of skeletons and zombies are found, many misshapen;
the Party dispatches the lot of them. |
| (86) |
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They try to rest up in the laboratory, but
after a few hours company strides in through an overlooked secret
door: a big guy in shiny mail and a big sword plus a whimpy guy carrying
a plate with sandwich and a drink. The latter is startled by the uninvited
guests; he drops his plate and sandwich (thus annoying Marek) and
says "What the ...? Who let *this* riffraff in? Bruno - deal
with them!" and backs out of the room. The Party charges, but
the sandwich dropper closes the secret door before anyone can get
to it. Bruno, a zombie-like entity who has a few things to say ("None
shall pass!" and "What is your favourite colour?!?"),
hold his ground but is eventually defeated. In the meantime, though,
another door opens and many undead shamble in. Many fumbles later,
and Sarah being nearly killed by one spell-casting zombie, the Party
defeats them all. |
| (87) |
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| Aperis 24 |
The Party decides to rest in the hallway
just outside the laboratory, where they can keep an eye to the secret
door through which Mr. Dropped Sandwich came and fled. This proves
ineffective; early in the morning, many of the corpses that were left
strewn about begin to rise and attack the Party again; then lightning
bolts and other spells hit the party - Nikarete killed. X replies
with fireballs. The enemy mage turns into Wraithform and flees;
X fireballs him again before he escapes down a passage. Half the Party
pursues, with Vishu keeping pace; but they ultimately lose him. He
slips back and attacks the remaining half of the Party; this time,
a volley of arrows kills him just before he can raise yet more undead.
Examining the corpse, they think they have found Krassos Gimlison. |
| (88) |
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Party goes through secret door and finds a staircase
down blocked by a wall of sharp, moving bones. X figures it is a defensive
spell of some sort, and is able to dispel it. Beyond is an elegant
sitting room, with fine furniture and tapestries. Two large statues
reveal themselves to be Gargoyles and attack the Party; they are easily
defeated. An exit is blocked by an extremely disturbing wall of quivering
flesh. This time, the Party incinerates it using some of Artemisia's
substantial supply of oil. Beyond is a superbly stocked small kitchen
and dining room; Marek is happy. Adjoining is a study and bedroom,
filled with fine art pieces. The determine that 3 statuettes radiate
magic; one is of a woman riding an eight-legged horse, which they
figure must be Mei-Peng on Sleipnir (Odin's famous horse). Another
is of a woman resembling the ghostly corpse spinning in the laboratory;
the statue reveals that besides the obvious Chinese heritage, she
is part Drow (much to the horror of the Elves in the Party). The third
is of a non-descript Greek warrior. |
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After thoroughly looting the rooms, the
Party returns to the laboratory. Sarah finds that she can mentally
communicate with the ghostly corpse, which demands to know where is
Gimlison. When it learns that Gimlison is dead, the ghost states that
she will make sure he stays that way, and vanishes. |
| Aperis 25 |
The Party rests.
Exploring the complex some more, they find a nice bedroom with a sentient
corpse chained to a wall. Upon entering the room, Artemisia is compelled
to curl up on the bed; the others who enter are able to avoid the
magical affect. X finds that the corpse can understand her, but only
respond by means of nods; she determines that the corpse is Valashi,
a Magic User of some reknown back in the days shortly before the Cataclysm,
and the mentor of Mei-Peng's mother. Valashi appears not to know what
happened to Mei-Peng; and the only thing she wants is to be freed
of her horrid current state. To that end, Kera casts a Remove Curse,
and Valashi's body crumbles to dust. In return, Kera is granted a
Limited Wish (the results of which she does not share with
the rest, and only comes into play in the
Tower). |
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Artemisia is dragged out of the bedroom,
complaining. She becomes even more upset when X and others loot the
bedroom. Sarah decides that the only solution is to subdue Artemisia
repeatedly with her hammer; this, not too surprisingly, doesn't prove
to be a long-term solution. |
| (89) |
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Jett charms Artemisia, which seems to break
the effect. |
| Aperis 26 |
The Party explores one remaining underground
region. They find 3 floating ball-like beings with small eyes on stalks,
one large eye in the centre, and a mouth at the bottom. Despite being
politely asked to leave, the Party charges in. Xanthos and Artemisia
are almost killed, and most of the rest are paralysed, but the Party
ultimately kills the Spectators. Party finds some nice loot. |
| (90) |
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| Aperis 27 |
Leave complex. Go to Artemis Sanctuary.
Have Riff raised. Give Nikarete a good burial. |
| Maia 2 |
Arrive in Ikon. Divide treasure, start training,
and do some interesting things (see next adventure). |
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| Training |
Atlanta, Sarah, Merak, Jett, and Artemisia
train. |
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| (S92) |
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| Junius 11 |
Atlanta, Rehkel, Jett, Riff, Sarah, and
Xanthos leave for Lüburg, in order to attempt to raise Mei-Peng.
This requires walking to Grimlon, travelling via teleport mirror to
Hestia City and then to Lüburg. |
| Junius 22 |
Atlanta et alia arrive in Lüburg and
have Mei-Peng's corpse dug up again (the local grave diggers love
repeat customers). Xanthos touches the statue of Mei-Peng with his
Raido rune scar, and falls to the ground in agony; Xanthos
dies a somewhat slow and painful death, as no cures help; meanwhile,
Mei-Peng is restored to life. |
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Surviving members:
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Mei-Peng (N4), Vishu (Mk5),
Aknot (F5), Kera
(NtC5), Riff (F5), Rehkel
(T5), X (MU5), Jett
(NtC4/F2), Atlanta (MU4),
Marek (T5), Sarah
(WrC4); Artemisia (B4) |
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New members:
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Artemisia, Nikarete (WrC4) |
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Casualties:
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Riff (raised), Nikarete, Xanthos |
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Retirees:
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Continuing party:
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Mei-Peng, Vishu, Aknot, Kera, Riff, Rehkel, X, Jett, Atlanta, Marek,
Sarah, Artemisia
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