PART 2
- Discoveries
Continued from Part 1: Foundations
KALLIOS' TOWER to BEYOND THE CRYSTAL VEIL
(includes "Fires of Decast" series)
|
Calendar:
|
| Hriva – Tuila – Laire – Yavia – Quelle – Coira – Auril
– Eolna – Flaige |
| (winter) (spring)
(summer) (fall) |
|
7.
Kallios' Tower (9-3-2;3),
Laire 20-Yavia 30 1083, January-February 2009
Background and summary: While the Party was investigating
Nakki-Nakk,
the two Zeus Clerics who sent them to do so met with strange
fates. One of them - Jesper - turned up dead, while the
other - Wade - simply disappeared. A few months later some
clues emerge as to Wade's possible whereabouts, and the
Party are asked to go and find him.
Starting members (from Enter
Magraine): Fjallarr(R-3), Drosi(MU-2), Raphosa(NrC-3),
Althaire(T-2), Nausicaa(I-1), Talseros(B-1)
|
Laire 27 1083
|
Party needs a tough guy, so Althaire and Nausicaa
try to flirt their way into the Praetos mercenaries'
guild; but are mistaken for local harlots. Much confusion
follows, particularly when Nausicaa goes outside,
uses Change Self to become a burly warrior,
then returns and informs Althaire "he" is
now with Party; Althaire thanks guild and leaves…sigh.
Talseros tries recruiting later and does much better:
Dogga(F-1) joins.
Meanwhile, Althaire and Nausicaa go for a steam bath
and are approached by a representative of Madam Merta's
as they are so obviously looking for work…
|
| L 28 |
Party approached by Zeus types and informed that
the missing Cleric Wade may have been sighted near
a famous adventuring site called Kallios' Tower; and
are asked to investigate. Spend day equipping selves.
|
| L 29 |
Leave Praetos and head east into hills.
A potentially troublesome bandit ambush is mostly
thwarted by Fjallarr's foghorn.
A Leprechaun plays some jokes on Party before eventually
leaving Althaire with what might be a clue on a note.
|
| L 30 |
Arrive at vicinity of Tower. Nearby is a small village
of Monks; inquiries here essentially produce nothing
of use.
Look around Tower, find a small outbuilding and wade
in; some people inside violently object but soon die.
Nausicaa finds a small disc on one and quickly learns
the hard way that it summons rats; they knock her
out. She thinks this is so much fun that when she
wakes up she summons some more - and gets knocked
out again! Althaire takes disc.
Explore upstairs and find 2 Wererats; Althaire, Nausicaa
and Dogga all gain lycanthropy.
Fjallarr tries a new method of secret door detection
by simply beating on the walls with an axe until one
gives way.
Leave for town.
|
| L 31 |
Arrive Kerata. Get lycanthropy fixed. |
| L 32 |
Drosi casts Identify on a cloak found in rat-house;
it changes his gender, thus Drosi becomes Drosa.
She doesn't mind at all. |
| L 33 |
Nausicaa and Althaire take Drosa out for a bath and
makeover; Madam Merta's representative tries again
but is told that N. and A. work for Drosa; things
get frosty.
On way out of town, Althaire informed there is now
a contract out on Drosa's head.
|
| L 34 |
Drosa and Fjallarr to Madam Merta's; Drosa pays Merta
5,000 g.p. to buy off the contract, and gains a potentially
useful friend in the process. (original contract
was only for 500 g.p., so Merta comes out way ahead)
Merta warns of the Bellringers; an organization apparently
responsible for Jesper's death, who now want Fjallarr.
|
| L 35 |
Party leaves town. |
| L 36 |
Arrive Tower, try outbuilding again; this time it's
guarded by an Illusionist and an Assassin who Party
capture. The Assassin, Chara, is charmed by Talseros
and gives some information; charm broken when Althaire
and Nausicaa try to put Drosa's gender-change robe
on her.
Nausicaa killed when blown up by Exploding
Rune in Illusionist's spellbook. Fjallarr kills
Illusionist in response. Taking Chara along, Party
explore below building and sack out.
|
| L 37 |
Leave for town, looking for trouble
en route; a couple of Turvitians and a stray Gryphon
happily oblige. |
| L 38 |
Arrive Kerata. Talseros leaves
to train (to B-2), Drosa starts training (to MU-3) in
town. Chara turned over to Zeus types. |
| Yavia 3 |
Nausicaa raised. |
| Y 5 |
Recruitment produces a Cleric: Cleria(NrC-1)
joins. |
| Y 9 |
Drosa's training done, leave for Tower. |
| Y 10 |
Arrive Tower, stand off and watch overnight,
notice lots of movement on grounds - undead groundskeepers! |
| Y 11 |
Groundskeepers disappear at dawn, so led by telekinesed
boulders from Althaire Party attack outbuilding and
take it for a third time. Sack out here all day, waiting
for a counterattack that never occurs.
During attack a lone Quitch showed up for no obvious
reason; Party now take it in as a pet and eventually
name it Tubo
|
| Y 12 |
Explore, get nearly nowhere when Dogga falls down
a shaft. Althaire goes down after him on a rope, finds
it is a chute that leads to a prison cell, but gets
knocked out before she can report this.
Fjallarr, holding rope, eventually realizes there's
nothing on the end and dives in, followed by rest
of Party except Raphosa who stays at top to hold rope.
Find Dogga has been captured, Althaire is being cured
and captured, and lots of guards are waiting. Drosa
goes invisible, everyone else does their best but
are soon also captured; Drosa scurries back up the
rope.
Raphosa and Drosa (and Tubo), now the entire Party,
courageously keep going into complex. They manage
to set off some traps, avoid many more, and cover
lots of ground.
A living statue announces its presence by squashing
Tubo into a wall. R + D give it a wide berth.
Disturb a couple of Ghouls, Raphosa turns these away.
Disturb a couple of Ghasts, Raphosa fails to turn
them; Drosa kills one but Raphosa killed and
Drosa paralyzed. Some time later Drosa recovers (!);
the other Ghast lies dead beside her but she has no
idea how or why. She keeps going, hauling Raphosa's
corpse along.
Before long she finds a small room holding only a
statue of a Dwarf; it responds (sort of) when she
talks to it. Soon realizing this is a place of sanctuary
and healing, she pulls in Raphosa's body and sacks
out.
Meanwhile, the captive Party members are bound, gagged,
and bundled into a cell; every so often, a voice from
the darkness updates them on the exploits of their
friends.
|
| Y 13 |
Raphosa revived during night and Drosa healed
to full h.p. Given this encouragement, they keep exploring.
Against long odds, D + R find a stair behind a secret
door; down they go.
Raphosa killed (again!) by a Shambling Mound
behind a door. Drosa paralyzes it, grabs Raphosa's
corpse, and flees back to Dwarf room only to find
its help was a one-time benefit.
Party captives, on hearing this, finally relent and
ask voice to bring Drosa in. (it, or at least its
owner, does)
Everyone taken to a room high in Tower and reunited.
A person walks into room, half of Party flee in fear
(and are caught and held by nearby guards); arrival
apologizes, then introduces himself as Kallios,
owner of the tower and - incidentally - an arch-Vampire,
twice past-Emperor, and Necromancer par extraordinaire.
He starts explaining things once fear wears off:
- Wade, the Cleric Party was sent here to find,
is here for his own safety, present in the room
and free to leave;
- The Party is really here because Kallios wanted
to test them in his tower (they mostly failed) and
talk to them;
- Magraine (!) is also here and now works for Kallios;
- Nakki-Nakk once tried to rival Kallios but failed
rather spectacularly;
- Jesper and Wade's investigations into Nakki's
career drew attention of Kallios' agents, who slew
Jesper before he could stop them; Kallios got to
Wade before they did and took him in for safekeeping;
- These same agents were, for a while, after the
Party for their involvement but have since been
called off;
- These agents are part of the Bellringers, Kallios'
spy network and intelligence agency;
- Kallios and his Bellringers are perhaps the only
thing holding what's left of the old Empire together,
with help from lots of loosely-allied groups e.g.
the Zeus temple in Praetos.
|
| |
Kallios also gives Party brief lessons
in history and geography, and explains some things that
need doing now and later. Party agree to help out. |
| Y 14 |
Leave tower. Wade(NrC-6) joins. Raphosa's
body left with Kallios for transport to Praetos.
Meet Leprechaun during day, he is surprised to see
any of Party alive.
Some Gargoyles provide a brief workout.
|
| Y 15 |
Arrive Praetos. Raphosa raised
by her temple; Raphosa retires for a year's rest.
Wade retires. |
| Y 20 |
Nausicaa leaves to train (to
I-2). |
| Y 23 |
Bored of waiting for people to train,
Fjallarr, Drosa, Dogga and Althaire wander off into
the hills looking for fun. |
| Y 26 |
F, D, D and A find a bizarre Ettin-Giant
crossbreed in hills; it attacks and doesn't last a round.
(Fjallarr doing 90 pts. damage to it in one swing helps) |
| Y 29 |
A strange glob of goo with lots of eyes
and lots of mouths disturbs Party's sleep; everyone
confused except Drosa, who manages to finish it off. |
| Y 30 |
Away team returns to Praetos; Dogga and Althaire
now need training (to F-2 and T-3).
Talseros has finished training (to B-2); he lands
a gig with a local Gnomish band and stays put: Talseros
retires.
|
| Quelle 11 |
Althaire returns to Praetos after training,
re-joins with Nausicaa; they eventually wind up in Slave
Trail B. Rest of Party takes a long and
well-earned break. |
| Surviving members: |
Fjallarr(R-3), Drosi(MU-3), Raphosa(NrC-3),
Althaire(T-3), Nausicaa(I-2), Talseros(B-2), Dogga(F-2),
Cleria(NrC-2), Wade(NrC-6) |
| New members: |
Dogga, Cleria, Wade |
| Casualties:
|
(Nausicaa - revived; Raphosa twice - revived
both times) |
| Retirees: |
Raphosa (to Sphondalai
Wanderings); Wade, Talseros |
| Continuing parties: |
(to Valley of the
Dead Queen): Fjallarr, Drosa, Dogga, Cleria
(to Slave Trail
B: Shoreward): Althaire, Nausicaa |
|
| |
|
12.
Valley of the Dead Queen (10-3-2;10),
Coira 16 1083-Hriva 6 1084, February-June 2009
Background and summary: During talks with Kallios,
he had mentioned an interest in the writings of one Taran
the Learned, a centuries-ago scholar whose main focus of
study was the very successful Empress Callisto. Said writings
are rumoured to have been lost somewhere in the blighted
Valley of the Dead Queen. The Party goes to find them.
Starting members (from Kallios' Tower):
Fjallarr(R-3), Drosi(MU-3), Dogga(F-2), Cleria(NrC-2)
(from Slave
Trail A): Creon(T-3), Thimbus(MU-2)
| Coira 6
1083 |
Fjallarr and Cassandra meet; Creon and
Thimbus leap at the chance to join a different Party;
but Creon needs training (to T-3) first. |
| C
15 |
Zeus types planeshift
Party to Torcha; they start walking northeast. |
| C
17 |
Meet and recruit a bored Cleric
in village of Keritsa: Waith Xeyehs(NrC-2) joins.
|
| C
20 |
A couple of giant spiders attack;
Fjallarr's herbs come in handy against their poison. |
| C
21 |
During night, a dozen or
so Zombies wander by. Party moves camp after this, then
stays put a few days. |
| C 23 |
Again during night, a smallish
Green Dragon happens by; Thimbus killed. Party
turn around for Torcha. |
| C 28 |
Arrive Torcha. |
| C 30 |
Thimbus raised. |
| C 32 |
Leave Torcha. |
| C 37 |
Find blighted valley and
head in only to be met by 4 Turvitians. A tough battle
follows, and Cleria killed. |
| C 38 |
Retreat again, to small town
of Gomphi. Fjallarr and Thimbus realize they need training
(to R-4 and MU-3), so stay here a while. |
| Auril
8 |
Zveiral(NrC-2)
joins. |
| A
13 |
Training done, leave Gomphi.
|
| A
14 |
Rusty Party flexes some muscle
against 4 passing Grashi. |
| A
15 |
Back in to blighted
valley, get jumped by 24 Twig Blights; Creon, Waith,
and Drosa almost killed. Battered Party retreats to
a ruined village found on last visit. |
| A
16 |
Retreat to safer ground, stay
here for days. |
| A
18 |
Dogga's attempts at herb-hunting
provide hours of amusement for Fjallarr. |
| A
20 |
Back into valley,
make camp at ruined village from last visit. |
| A
21 |
Slow painful progress up
valley through various mindless foes and a few more
ruined villages. |
| A
22 |
A Chimera flies in and attacks;
nearly kills Thimbus and Zveiral. |
| A
23 |
Party stay put and watch
movement in valley. Dogga and Waith realize they have
bumped (to F-3 and NrC-3). |
| A
24 |
To another ruined village; this one has two standing
buildings and is oddly cold. One is an old Zeus temple;
the other was some sort of hall, now containing nothing
except an insubstantial glowing pink square in mid-air.
The hall is very cold inside.
Creon does some work on the pink square. He throws
some coins into it; they disappear, and some - but
not all - come back. He then ties a rope to a bucket
and throws that in; the rope is soon yanked out of
his hands and a moment later the bucket (with rope
neatly wrapped around it) flies back through and hits
him for 4 points damage.
Creon then sticks his head through; sees nothing
but snow, and hair belonging to a large beast that
tries to grab him.
He quickly retreats, and Party then search hall finding
some strange copper coins and a frozen skeleton of
a very odd humanoid creature. Leaving this, Party
sack out in ex-Zeus temple.
|
| A
25 |
A nearby not-so-ruined village has actual people
in it, though not very friendly; Party get some useful
information.
Meet an animated empty suit of armour (an "Armour
Ghost") - it wants to defend valley, and when
it absorbs Dogga he tries to help it. Armour eventually
smashed with no major harm done.
Otherwise, one small battle after another clobbers
Party to point where they need to sack out; but everywhere
is dangerous. Eventually end up taking refuge in rocks
at valley's edge and stay put a few days.
|
| A
27 |
During night, something tries to drag Fjallarr into
the ground while he sleeps; a tug of war soon uproots
a small Xorn which Party somehow manage to slay.
Stay put during day.
|
| A
28 |
Shadows disturb Party's overnight
rest; this pattern of resting during day and being attacked
overnight would go on for days. |
| A
30 |
Resting here hurts too much, so Party retreats to
cold village - Pherostikes.
Pink square is still here; Party remembers there's
a beast on other side and - forgetting they came here
to rest - wade in to try and kill it. Fjallarr doesn't
last 2 minutes but is shoved back through to Party
Clerics; Dogga does much better, and between he and
Creon they kill it though its dying blow puts Dogga
to -9. He and beast both fall into hole; beast plugs
it up, leaving freezing (temp. about -25) Creon stranded
on other side.
Dead beast starts moving while Party patch up Dogga;
they attack it again until realizing it's only Creon
trying to push it through so he can get to somewhere
warm. Creon also comes back with lots of booty from
beast's cave. Now even more in need of rest, Party
stay put for days; spend time making cloaks out of
beast's plush white fur.
|
| A
35 |
Finally healthy, Party plows
back up valley; reach ruined village of Sshoul (previous
point of furthest advance) and bring down a few Gargoyles. |
| A
36 |
Continue slowly reducing Sshoul's population of undead
and Gargoyles.
Find a Wraith; Drosa loses a level she had
just bumped into, so back to MU-3.
Creon picks up an enchanted shortsword and cannot
put it down; it remains stuck to his hand.
|
| A
37 |
Retreat to Pherostikes; then,
later, decide to go all the way to Torcha. |
| Eolna
3 |
Arrive Torcha, start a treasury
break; also training (eventually) for all except Fjallarr
and Thimbus. |
| E
4 |
A Zeus Cleric casts Remove
Curse and frees Creon from the shortsword. |
| E
6 |
Drosa needs a restoration;
she and Fjallarr taken by Zeus types to Praetos where
such can be done. |
| E
8 |
Drosa's level restored. |
| E
9 |
Return to Torcha. |
| E
15 |
An Elf approaches Fjallarr;
she seems useful, so Penthesileia(T-3) joins. |
| E
22 |
Leave Torcha for valley. |
| E
27 |
Arrive at Bilvar (ruined village
from first visit). |
| E
28 |
Up valley again; a Wyvern interrupts but doesn't
last long.
To Pherostikes; peek through pink hole and find some
very foreign people on other side. Chat, then retreat
to own side and sack out.
|
| E
29 |
Creon hears a noise in morning and investigates;
runs into a Frost Giant that has just come through
pink hole. He warns Party while Giant retreats; Party
follow and get clobbered. Fjallarr, Dogga, and
Creon killed; Giant killed also.
Looting Giant produces some papers indicating interest
in Taran and her library; on a scrap is a short poem
written in Decasti:
In future
and present and past, long past,
Ares is burned by the Fires
of Decast.
Remains of Party turn around and head back to town.
|
| E
35 |
Arrive Torcha. |
| E
37 |
Creon raised; he has to sell his prized sword
"Vicious" to pay for it and is not happy.
Local Zeus types send word to Praetos as to Party's
news.
|
| E
40 |
Drosa casts Identify
on a circlet taken from Giant and finds it is worth
more than enough to bring back Fjallarr and Dogga...and
Creon, but it is now too late to recover Vicious. |
| Flaige
3 |
Anstrus (head of Praetos' Zeus temple) arrives from
Praetos with word from Kallios: Giant's interest in
Taran etc. is of great concern and mission might now
be a race - but unsure against who or what.
Fjallarr resurrected by Anstrus.
|
| F
4 |
Dogga resurrected
by Anstrus. Anstrus then meets with Drosa, Fjallarr
and Dogga (survivors from Kallios' Tower) and makes
arrangements for intermittent long-range communication
and updates. |
| F
5 |
Leave Torcha. |
| F
10 |
Arrive at Bilvar…again. |
| F
12 |
Up valley again; this time
find very large tracks leaving Pherostikes and follow,
first to ruins of Mnobda, then to not-so-ruined Sabra'vig. |
| F
13 |
A loud crash wakes Party, they investigate and find
a large building - probably a library - has just been
knocked down. Penthesileia notices a Frost Giant leaving
town and tells Party; they follow immediately.
Lots of effort spent taunting Giant, including several
echoing blasts on Fjallarr's foghorn, until it finally
turns around and fights: Thimbus killed but
Giant otherwise does little before dying. Retreat
to Pherostikes and put Thimbus' body on ice through
pink hole.
|
| F
14 |
To Sabra'vig; day spent searching
collapsed library and finding little of use. |
| F
15 |
Start searching rest of Sabra'vig until an Umber
Hulk interrupts: Creon killed in this battle.
That night, an unknown visitor stops by and warns
Party that use of their foghorn is disturbing things
that shouldn't be disturbed, and that further use
of it would be most unwise.
|
| F
16 |
To Pherostikes; Creon also
put on ice. |
| F
17 |
Back to Sabra'vig. |
| F
18 |
To Xinbaobai. The local welcoming committee - a flock
of Gargoyles - doesn't last long; and Penthesileia
has the fight of her life.
Find a library, ready to topple. Inside are some
books, and 3 tall blobs that spit acid. Party kill
one (though it takes a while for them to realize it's
dead), then burn it and find it to be highly flammable;
so Fjallarr and Penthesileia try flaming arrows into
the other two. The resulting explosion brings the
building down. Party flee.
Find and take a small house. Searching reveals some
well-preserved papers, probably from before the blight.
|
| F
19 |
During night, sleep disturbed by a couple of unusually
nasty Hell Hounds.
Spend day exploring Xinbaobai.
|
| F
20 |
Meet a minor Ghost in what
was Xinbaobai's wizard guild building; Fjallarr aged
about 25 years human equivalent. Also find lots of treasure. |
| F
21 |
To Sophishka, greeted by a
flock of 15 Stirges; resulting pain prompts a few days'
rest. |
| F
23 |
Give town a once-over, then start a building-by-building
exploration.
An old shop is guarded by 3 Hell Hounds, they don't
last long.
|
| F
24 |
Spend whole day searching
what was once the local wizards' guild building: empty. |
| F
25 |
Find library; a large hole
has been cut in entrance and a smaller structure put
there, carvings on its door read:
Here rests forever Ixthast
Keeper of the First Key
Mourned for all Eternity
Olympus Awaits.
Disturb
her: Join her!
As this is signed with Ares' mark, Party wisely
decide to bypass this structure and search library.
Penthesileia gets separated from Party and is never
seen alive again: Penthesileia petrified.
Zveiral petrified (and poisoned as well!)
by a previously-invisible Medusa that appears right
beside her. Medusa quickly slain, and later found
to be all that is left of Taran the Learned.
Rest of day spent searching library.
|
| F
26 |
Contact with distant Zeus types gives Party some
new ideas; they resume search (disturbed only by a
couple of guardian Displacer Beasts) and eventually
find books they were sent here for, along with an
extremely magical little glass-and-gold pyramid containing
a small flame; wrapped around this is a poem:
This flame was drawn to
the moth
Taran the Fallen, once the
Learned;
Xantos one-horned now has another
And Quirine lost in dreams
the last
While unborn Jana guards the
torch
Whose scorch Ares felt keenly,
not yet.
|
| F
27 |
Search more of town, find
nothing of interest. |
| F
28 |
To Pherostikes. Dogga sees
his own corpse in ice; Fjallarr pretends to eat some
of it, a fight breaks out. |
| F
29 |
Leave valley. |
| F
34 |
Arrive Torcha. |
| F
35 |
Planeshifted by Zeus types
to Praetos. |
| F
36 |
Party
summoned to a clandestine meeting with Kallios. He pays
them for the books, and drops off something he has no
more use for; thus Aisha(MU-2/T-3) joins none
the worse for wear after several months as Kallios'
captive. |
| F
37 |
Creon resurrected.
Drosa, Aisha, and Dogga visit Madam Merta; she has
a minor mission of intrigue for them; Drosa and Creon
take care of this and are finished by F 40. Meanwhile,
Waith goes to Torcha to train (to NrC-4) while Dogga
trains (to F-4) here.
|
| F
38 |
Thimbus resurrected.
No sooner is Thimbus functional than Fjallarr drags
he and Aisha into hills to look for trouble; they
find some over the next few days.
|
| Hriva
3 1084 |
The trouble fights back: Aisha
killed by a Turvitian. Fjallarr and Thimbus head
back to town. |
| H
6 |
F + T arrive at Praetos, Fjallarr
now needs training (to R-5). |
| H
7 |
Aisha raised. |
| H
17 |
Everyone finally finishes
training. |
| Surviving members: |
Fjallarr(R-5), Drosa(MU-4), Dogga(F-4),
Waith(NrC-4), Creon(T-4), Thimbus(MU-3), Aisha(MU-2/T-3) |
| New members: |
Waith, Zveiral, Penthesileia; Aisha(from
Slave Trail B) |
| Casualties: |
(Thimbus, Creon [twice each]; Fjallarr,
Dogga, Aisha - all revived); Cleria, Penthesileia, Zveiral
|
| Retirees: |
Aisha (to Slave
Trail E) |
| Continuing party |
(to Xantos One-Horned): Fjallarr,
Drosa, Dogga, Waith, Creon, Thimbus |
|
| |
|
13.
Xantos One-Horned
(7-1-1;2), Hriva 18-Tuila 2 1084, June-July
2009
Background and summary: The party seek and eventually
find another flame; this one in the possession of Xantos,
a feared minotaur warlord.
Starting members (from Valley of the
Dead Queen): Fjallarr(R-5), Drosa(MU-4), Dogga(F-4),
Waith(NrC-4), Creon(T-4), Thimbus(MU-3)
|
|
Hriva 18 1084
|
To Torcha via planeshift, here meet Myiore
(now N-3; she's been doing well). She in turn introduces
Zzyztroisky(NtC-3), who joins. Myiore
joins as well, but not for long, and mentions an adventuring
group who recently came through Torcha intending to
wipe out some cult to the east - Aisha (correctly)
guesses this 'cult' to be Nimbus' crew and becomes
very concerned.
An argument erupts: Creon vs. Aisha vs. Waith; meanwhile
something invisible bops Creon in the head a few times,
this would repeat several times over the following
days.
|
|
H 19
|
Leave Torcha. |
|
H 20
|
Some bandits attack, but flee as soon
as Dogga kills one; Creon recognizes some that were
last seen as peaceful villagers in Lelivil. |
|
H 22
|
Arrive at Lelivil to find it (and much
surrounding forest) burned to the ground. Creon finds
and keeps a pet dog, about the only thing left alive
here other than a few chickens. |
|
H 24
|
Arrive at Krykos' old base, now held by
Nimbus' cult - it too has been razed, and Nimbus left
hanging from a pole. Party cut him down. Aisha
and Myiore leave to escort him to Nakki-Nakk
lake near Praetos. |
|
H 25
|
Party decide to track raiders, learn from another
village they seek the Northern Star company. Party
change course several times, unable to decide whether
to track raiders or head for Xantos' stronghold.
Find another demolished village, this time firmly
decide to follow raiders' track.
|
|
H 27
|
Raiders' track leads to town of Krymein; this is
Xantos' stronghold. Party scatter to gather information:
o all quickly
learn Xantos is a minotaur;
o talk of the
town is a battle 5 days ago between Xantos and the
Northern Star company; Xantos won but it cost him
a horn, so he is now known as Xantos One-Horned -
some confusion as Party found reference to this over
a month ago;
o corpses of Northern
Star types are nailed to outer wall of Xantos' stronghold,
high above the town;
o Dogga gets drunk
with local Grashi, he fits in well here;
o Creon makes
contact with local Thieves' Guild, he grew up here
and now learns many of his old friends are dead. So
he gets drunk too.
Waith stays up all night to gauge traffic on approaches
to stronghold.
|
|
H 28
|
Dogga seeks more info, learns Xantos
has put out a reward for his lost horn. Party decide
to search for it (except Waith, who is sleeping); amazingly,
Thimbus finds and recovers it from bottom of river.
Then Fjallarr puts fog over town center so Party can
retreat. |
|
H 29
|
Party (half invisible) to stronghold with horn; they
are eventually granted an audience with reclusive
Xantos, who thanks them for horn and gives a sack
of gold coins as reward. After Fjallarr stalls him
a while, Xantos turns to leave and Party strikes:
o Fjallarr shoots
a lightning bolt from his sword, direct hit on Xantos
(who is already not in prime condition, he has
yet to fully recover from his battle with the Northern
Star group);
o Creon and Dogga
take on Xantos' aides, Fjallarr gets Xantos all to
himself;
o Thimbus casts
Web on combat but Xantos completely ignores
it, keeps hammering Fjallarr;
o Webs burned
away, then Fjallarr killed by a 64-point finisher
from Xantos; he then starts on Dogga;
o Dogga knocked
senseless, but Xantos dies; Party then manage to finish
off aides.
Party continues downstairs into an immense labyrinth,
starts exploring.
A wall attacks Creon, then becomes a minor Earth
Elemental: Dogga killed. Party sacks out.
|
|
H 30
|
Rest for day, except Thimbus does lots
of solo exploring and mapping until run off by an animated
statue. |
| H 31 |
More mapping interrupted only by another Earth Elemental.
Attack statue that chased Thimbus: Creon does all
the damage via running in and out of a series of Web
spells, getting patched up each time.
Find a room full of treasure, and another statue.
Retreat and sack out.
|
| H 32 |
Take treasure room after a lengthy dance
with second statue. Find lots of loot including another
glass-and-gold pyramid with a little flame in it. Spend
rest of day and all of next searching for presumed second
exit, no luck. |
| H 34 |
Finally find second exit, head up until find an Ares
Cleric in a small room. Thimbus interrupts a spell
he tries to cast, it goes wild and summons a Blue
Dragon; Dragon causes loads of headaches for Xantos'
men while Party quietly retreats back into labyrinth
(and gets shut in again too).
Later, try and leave again by same route but get
discovered and again blocked in. Enemy gather reinforcements
but Party leave a trap (fragile disk containing a
big fireball) and retreat. Fireball goes off, lots
of enemies die.
Party tries yet again to leave, bump into one Ares
Cleric unaffected by fire; sneak past and eventually
sneak right out of fortress.
|
| H 35 |
Navigational woes see Party make very
little headway through forest; eventually find a path
and head for town. |
| Tuila 2 |
Arrive Torcha, start a long training and
treasury break. |
| T 3 |
Anstrus arrives from Praetos.
Fjallarr resurrected; he immediately retires
to try and recover some stamina.
|
| T 4 |
Anstrus looks into reviving Dogga and
finds he cannot: Dogga has already been revived
elsewhere and claimed by Ares, but may or may not
be able to escape and try to get back to town on his
own. |
| T 7 |
Creon starts construction of The Fallen
Flagon, a pub and living space a bit south of Torcha.
Fjallarr decides to take up residence there once it's
built. |
| T 25 |
Drosa finally finishes training, then
starts training Thimbus. |
|
| Surviving members: |
Fjallarr(R-5), Drosa(MU-5), Dogga(F-4),
Waith(NrC-4), Creon(T-4), Thimbus(MU-4), Zzyztroisky(NrC-3) |
| New members: |
Zzyztroisky |
| Casualties: |
(Fjallarr - resurrected; Dogga - revived
elsewhere, somehow) |
| Retirees: |
Fjallarr (to Suderham) |
| Continuing party: |
(to Quirine: Flame
of Chaos): Drosa, Waith, Creon, Thimbus, Zzyztroisky
all now; Dogga later |
|
| |
|
14.
Quirine: Flame of Chaos
(8-2-2;0), Tuila 34-Laire 11 1084, August-September
2009
Background and summary: The third flame is reputedly
to be found with Quirine, a once-famous and very powerful
Illusionist now said to be living in seclusion deep in the
eastern forest. The Party easily find her but spend a few
days stuck in her marginally-insane illusion before realizing
it; then, when they do meet her, she tells them to get lost.
The Party are given Quirine's flame while in the illusion
but do not initially realize it: her fuel for the fire is
verbal, in form of cryptic instructions on what the Torch
is eventually to be used for.
Starting members (from Xantos One-Horned):
Drosa(MU-5), Waith(NrC-4), Creon(T-4), Thimbus(MU-3),
Zzyztroisky(NrC-3)
|
|
Tuila 25 1084
|
A knight arrives looking for Fjallarr,
he seems competent so Party take him in: Tithonus(P-3)
joins. Drosa immediately falls in love. |
|
T 34
|
Leave Torcha. |
|
T 39
|
Not far from the Valley of the Dead Queen,
Party meet a wandering Ranger in the woods; he knows
roughly where Quirine might be found and offers to lead
the way, so Ajax(R-3) joins. |
|
Laire 2
|
Some disappearing giant spiders provide
a surprisingly tough battle. Weather gets mistier as
day goes on. |
|
L 3
|
Now in heavy fog, Party meet a very courteous talking
skeleton on road. It assumes Party is lost and offers
to take them to where they can be lost "in style".
Party decline, so it cheerfully bids them good day
and wanders off.
Arrive at a village deep in woods; it looks ordinary
except all the people in the streets are skeletons.
Find a courthouse, watch someone tried for "thought
theft" and convicted; sentence is death. Party
confused as all present are already skeletal. Creon
asks a local how not to steal thoughts and is told
answers can be found in pub.
Meet a dancing skeletal fool in street en route to
pub; Party mostly ignores for now.
Pub has an odd face in its floor, otherwise just
more skeletons. Zzyztroisky tries Detect Life
and loses his mind; gets accused of thought theft
but Creon ends up getting arrested and thrown in jail
when cops arrive.
Zzyztroisky starts reciting a half-coherent
poem over and over again:
Fly through the water
Crawl through the air
Walk through the earth
Never despair
He then recovers his sanity, while Party
head for jail. It's full of prisoners awaiting trial
but Creon begs to go first, so all back to courthouse.
Tithonus takes role of Creon's lead defense lawyer…and
mostly butchers it…
Party notice judge has a flaming pyramid
in his ribcage during trial; Creon manages to get
trial moved to pub by calling
the face in its floor as a witness (!),
Party attack and slay judge en route while rest of
villagers mostly flee (some with help from Waith's
turning ability).
Dancing fool shows up again during this
(by dancing through an Entangle as if it wasn't
there) and starts spouting nonsense to Zzyztroisky.
Flame pyramid removed from judge, but
it is bigger than the ones Party already has and nowhere
near as magical; so Ajax
declares it a fake and smashes it on the ground!
Creon makes a
hand puppet out of judge's skull, drives Party
nuts by talking through it for rest of day.
Back to pub. Zzyztroisky manages to
establish thought communication with face in floor,
asks lots of questions and gets quasi-nonsense answers;
but during this someone non-skeletal walks in: Dogga
rejoins out of the blue! He has no idea where
he is or how he got here; all he remembers is escaping
Xantos' fort, lots of forest, and lots of fog. He
also has absolutely no gear or equipment; it's all
back at the Fallen Flagon.
Find another "fake" flame
pyramid, stuck in pub's ceiling.
Explore, find a big tower near center
of village; it has 8 spots where these flame pyramids
might be put, so Party insert the one from pub. It
melds itself into place. Everyone then remembers Ajax
broke one earlier…
Find and rob local bank; skeletal manager
is carrying a flame pyramid in his hand. Party then
have to barricade themselves inside when police arrive;
cops smash down door, and Waith and Zzyztroisky turn
them away.
Wander a bit, then to shipwights (sic),
conversation here goes badly so they attack: Creon
and Ajax each lose a level (to T-3 and R-2 respectively).
Party then sack out in shipwights' shop.
|
|
L 4
|
Explore town. Find a Mummy at one point; half of
Party flee screaming while other half manage to destroy
it. Fleeing Thimbus and Zzyztroisky end up disturbing
a Salamander in another building, Thimbus almost killed;
meanwhile Dogga (who had fled right out of town) finds
a 4-armed skeleton and flees from that too. All soon
reunite, then take out Salamander.
By now, Party have found enough pyramids to fill
all the tower holes; so they do. Tower (and everything
else) vanishes; fog soon clears to reveal a pleasant
cottage, lawn and garden. An old lady sitting in garden
introduces herself as Quirine, but her only response
to Party's questions goes something like "you
have what you need, and now I'm bored with you, so
go away".
Around now, Party realize most of the last 3 days
have been spent in an extremely elaborate illusion;
they have in fact been dancing around on Quirine's
lawn.
Now thoroughly annoyed, and still (they think) without
the Flame they came for, Party reluctantly leave.
|
|
L 11
|
Arrive Torcha. Ajax (who has already bumped
back into R-3), Zzyztroisky (to NrC-4), and Waith all
need training. A+Z stay and train here, everyone else
leaves for Spieadeia including Waith who can't find
a trainer here. Also, Dogga retrieves his gear. |
|
L 24
|
Arrive Spieadeia, start inquiring about
a Restoration for Creon. |
|
L 26
|
Creon restored (to T-4) but Waith
can't find training here either, so back to Torcha. |
|
L 39
|
Arrive Torcha. |
|
| Surviving members:
|
Drosa(MU-5), Waith(NrC-5), Creon(T-4),
Thimbus(MU-4), Zzyztroisky(NrC-4), Ajax(R-3), Tithonus(P-3),
Dogga(F-4) |
| New members: |
Tithonus, Ajax |
| Continuing party (to The
Timeless Caverns): |
Drosa, Waith, Creon, Thimbus, Zzyztroisky,
Ajax, Tithonus, Dogga |
|
| |
|
15.
The Timeless Caverns
(8-0-0;1), Yavia 8 1084-time unknown, September
2009
Background and summary: The Party next seek "unborn
Jana", finding her to be queen of a minor Elvish enclave
well east of Decast. Once here, she provides the Torch and
sends them into the Timeless Caverns, a place where time
does funny things…when and if it works at all.
Starting members (from Quirine: Flame
of Chaos): Drosa(MU-5), Waith(NrC-5), Creon(T-4),
Thimbus(MU-4), Zzyztroisky(NrC-4), Ajax(R-3), Tithonus(P-3),
Dogga(F-4)
|
|
Laire 40 1084
|
Leave Torcha. |
|
Yavia 8
|
While giving Quirine's realm a wide berth to the
north, Party nearly walk right into 2 Giants and their
pet Turvitians before noticing them. Despite this
lack of warning, Party does just fine in the inevitable
battle.
Some animated vines cause a very brief problem later
that day.
|
|
Y 13
|
Party finds itself surrounded by Elves;
these are Jana's border guards, and once a few people
(most notably Drosa) are identified Party are allowed
to proceed under escort. |
|
Y 14
|
Arrive at an Elven town, and soon meet Queen Jana.
She takes one look at Drosa and recognizes her to
be a distant descendant; this comes as a surprise
to Drosa.
Jana somewhat sadly produces the Torch and shows
Party how to put it together; explains a piece is
still missing and can be found in the nearby Timeless
Caverns, she also gives a few tips on what to expect
in there but does not (or cannot) tell Party what
or where their ultimate goal is. She repeatedly stresses
Party must not get split up while in caverns, as what
may be minutes to some could be years to others.
It becomes clear Jana is at least aware of Kallios
and what he is doing in Decast; other than his anti-Elf
stance, she generally approves.
Waith still needs training; Jana - also Cleric to
Rillifane only about 22 levels higher - sees to this
over the next few days while also producing some curative
items, Party have been warned Clerical spells might
soon be tough to come by.
|
|
Y 20
|
After a tearful send-off from Jana, who
seems reluctant to let them go, Party wade into caverns. |
|
Note: from about here
on any attempt at accurate recording of dates is utterly
pointless; the characters simply use
their body clocks to count subjective days, this process
will be echoed here with what started as Yavia 20
being Day 1.
|
|
Day 1
|
Explore caverns. At one point a couple of Umber Hulks
come up through floor; Party does surprisingly well.
Find a statue of a blindfolded woman with her hand
outstretched. Creon touches her hand - she is an Oracle,
and answers one question for him. He then finds himself
stuck to statue until 500 g.p. are laid at its feet;
cash-poor Party struggle to find this amount in their
purses.
Start finding doors with names carved on in numerous
languages: STABOS, NEXUS, AKRAYNA now, KLEMENOS, SKERRILANE
later - familiar of these are Akrayna (Decast's planet)
and Stabos, the larger moon.
One cavern holds a mural depicting a wedding, bride
is obviously being shot by Torch held by an unseen
person. Cavern makes people feel queasy, so all soon
leave. (queasiness caused by extreme time distortion;
slightly over a year (!) passed outside during the
15 minutes Party spent in this room)
An illusionary pile of treasure in a cavern hides
an animated skull that shoots out Magic Missiles far
too often for Party's liking.
|
|
Day 2
|
More exploring. Find other entrance to caverns (previously
seen from outside) and now are convinced that time
is whacked; it is dark outside where it "should"
be light, and probably the wrong season as well. Party
turn back into caverns.
A group of crystal elementals rise from the floor
of one cavern and attack; Party easily defeat.
One small chamber holds a statue of Discord; it speaks:
From me do not attempt to hide
I am your once and future guide
So the Party leave it alone, and go
elsewhere.
A couple more Umber Hulks rise through
floor, again Party mostly unaffected, but confused
Drosa pulls out a Wand of Wild Magic and starts blasting
away. A Wall of Force cuts Zzyztroisky and
one Hulk off from rest of combat; Zzyztroisky beaten
to a pulp. Waith and Thimbus also hurt; she is busy
patching him up when Drosa lets loose an 11-dice Cone
of Cold right at them! Waith killed, but
her death sparks a minor divine intervention from
Rillifane causing rest of Party to regain full health…until
Drosa hits them all with a minor Fireball a
moment later. Umber Hulks eventually beaten, and Party
sack out.
|
|
Day 3
|
Finish exploring caverns, except for 5 doors with
carvings as noted above. Eventually figure out each
is locked with a time lock, and the carving is the
triggering password.
All doors lead to the same room, full of assorted
very fine timepieces - and the missing crystal from
Torch. Party manage not to break anything while taking
crystal; they quickly leave and put Torch together.
A dead-end passage has a carving of Torch in its
end wall; Drosa inserts Torch into this and wall disappears;
behind is a waterfall with daylight coming through.
Party step through waterfall and……
|
|
| Surviving members: |
Drosa(MU-5), Creon(T-4), Thimbus(MU-4),
Zzyztroisky(NrC-4), Ajax(R-3), Tithonus(P-3), Dogga(F-4) |
| New members: |
none |
| Casualties: |
(Waith - revived after Crystal Veil) |
| Retirees: |
Dogga |
|
| |
|
16.
Beyond the Crystal Veil
(6-0-0;2), time unknown-Yavia 22,1084 September-December
2009
Background and summary: The Party find themselves very
much elsewhere, eventually arriving back in pre-blight Sophishka.
Here, they find to their shock their mission is to kill
the bride of Ares and thus ultimately give the Valley of
the Dead Queen its name - and blight. After some soul-searching
and narrow escapes, they perform the deed and are returned
to their own time.
More background notes and history follow below.
DM's note: this adventure - at least, the bridges part
- was largely inspired by the painting "Astral Rift"
on page 89 of the D+D 4th edition preview book Worlds
and Monsters, along with one or two other works in the
same book.
Starting members (from The Timeless
Caverns): Drosa(MU-5), Creon(T-4), Thimbus(MU-4),
Zzyztroisky(NrC-4), Ajax(R-3), Tithonus(P-3)
|
Day 3
|
…..find themselves on a spectacular bridge leading
out of the waterfall, thousands of feet above an unseen
mist-shrouded land. Other similar bridges in the distance
loop and swirl into and past each other, occasionally
connecting with high sections of barren-looking rock;
Party's bridge leads into all this.
A spire on a rock in the distance looks interesting,
Party head that way until interrupted by a flock of
Gargoyles.
Some sort of Air Elemental tries to buffet people
off bridge, Party destroy it.
To solid ground, a few more unusual things attack,
then Party make camp.
|
|
Day 4
|
Zzyztroisky cannot recover spells in morning. Tithonus
also feels cut off somehow.
Reach spire. Around some of its base is a structure
of some sort; investigation reveals several airtight
entrances through its roof. Tithonus and Ajax open
one; a person flies out, thanks them for the favour,
and informs Tithonus that he is repulsive and must
be eaten but everyone else can leave. Party object,
so person (by now recognized as a Vampire) threatens
to eat them all instead until Tithonus bravely volunteers
himself as a sacrifice.
Vampire seems to recognize Torch and indicates Party
are not the first to have brought it through here.
Tithonus gives Drosa 5 little blue rocks carved with
bird motifs; some tearful goodbyes, then Party flees.
A distant scream behind them is the last of Tithonus:
Tithonus killed.
Party try to return to bridges, and do after a few
more minor interruptions.
Once near bridges, Drosa notices her pouch is jumping
up and down; she carefully opens it and 4 of the little
blue rocks fly out (one stays put), each going to
one of the other Party members. No-one is sure what
this means.
Back onto bridges; two Crystal Elementals soon arise
from a bridge deck and are quickly shattered.
Carry on into caves, except these have been worked
and are not at all natural.
A series of small battles vs. Elementals rising from
the floor; Party finally start fleeing the bigger
ones.
The ghost of a small girl rises from floor at one
point, Party dispatch with ease never realizing how
dangerous she really was.
One room holds a nice pile of treasure, Party scoop
it up.
|
| Day 5 |
Ajax wanders face-first into a Gelatinous Cube hanging
from the ceiling; no real problem.
Find a room with several doors, one is warm and inviting
so Creon opens it. Behind it is Discord, annoyed as
Party are late…or so she says.
Discord takes Party outside, they immediately realize
they are in old Sophishka before it was ruined. Only
now does it finally dawn on them what they are here
to do; Discord stashes them in an inn while they mull
this over.
|
| Day 6 |
During night several powerful Ares operatives (NrC-9,
A-7, A-6, etc.) sneak into Party's room. Fortunately,
Creon and Ajax are alert on watch:
o Creon flees
out window with Torch, is chased by the high-level
Cleric;
o Thimbus wakes
up just in time to get poisoned;
o Party getting
clobbered until Drosa desperately webs up the whole
room;
o Zzyztroisky
can act freely in web, he goes around and finishes
enemies off;
o Creon is rescued
by Discord, she assumes rest of Party is done for
and is shocked when they survive;
o Discord returns
Creon, suggests Party not bother sleeping any more,
and leaves.
A staff found in caves can heal; Thimbus saved by
this and everyone else patched up.
In the morning Party make their way through crowds
of happy wedding celebrants to their sniper post,
then wait:
o Ares Himself
appears on stage, He is the groom;
o Ixthast the
bride appears, with her is a small girl who looks
familiar - it was her ghost Party defeated yesterday;
o Wedding ceremony
begins to much fanfare and cheering;
o Creon shoots
Ixthast with Torch (and almost misses!), she instantly
burns to ash;
o Discord appears
and shows Party an escape route, they are to run through
a basement wall;
o Party reach
wall just as building collapses (Ares, outside, is
destroying the city in His wrath), Zzyztroisky isn't
quite fast enough, so Zzyztroisky killed;
o Rest of Party
find themselves in a cave and soon see daylight, they
appear back in Jana's forest. Less than a full day
has passed here since they left...
|
| That's
the adventure, but lots happens afterwards... |
| Yavia
21 |
Party soon surrounded by Elves and taken to Jana.
She debriefs them (see below), and reunites them with
some people: Dogga rejoins, and while Party
was gone Waith was raised, she also awaits.
Jana admits that Waith was her agent within Party,
Party don't care and gleefully take her back in.
Jana also informs Party she was the small girl on
stage. She is puzzled when Party tell of meeting her
ghost.
Jana shows interest in Tithonus' little blue bird-stones;
gathering them, she realizes their purpose and uses
them, so Tithonus revived.
|
| Y 22 |
Party realize they have a significant
treasury to divide, also several people have bumped
and need training. Jana and her Elves help with this
for a few days but there's only so much they can do. |
| Y 24 |
Jana uses magic to put Party near Lelivil,
except Dogga stays back awhile so she can try and rid
him of Ares' mark. |
| Y 28 |
Party arrives at Torcha, start a major
training and treasury break; but there are no pearls
in town for Identify spells so Waith and Drosa
have to go to Karnos while everyone else trains. |
| Y 34 |
After much research, the best Jana can
do for Dogga is to get him marked by Rillifane instead;
so she does this, and at some future point Dogga will
have to do Rillifane a service in return. |
| Y 35 |
Dogga is sent to Lelivil by Jana. |
| Y 39 |
Dogga arrives at Torcha |
| Quelle 1 |
Waith and Drosa return from Karnos, treasury
divided over next several days. |
| Q 6 |
Field-testing a staff provides some amusement:
Drosa's shoe rings, Tithonus stands on his head, Dogga
becomes 30' tall for a while, etc. |
| Q 8 |
Tithonus buys a poisonous sword from
treasury and sacrifices it to Apollo. |
| Q 10 |
By now, the Fallen Flagon is nearing completion.
Drosa announces her intention to add a small library
to it; Ajax chucks a few thousand g.p. into further
construction, and the Party is on its way to having
a base of operations.
Drosa and Tithonus retire to work on expansions
to the Flagon. Creon retires to run
it but doesn't stick at it very long. Ajax retires
to do nothing in particular. Dogga, Thimbus and Waith
look for more adventures…
|
|
The story of Ares, Ixthast, and
the Fires of Decast
In year 435 (649 years ago) Ares
was to take a bride: the beautiful and ravishing Ixthast.
Certain immortals opposed this, knowing via Chronos'
ability to see through time that the offspring of
this union would put all of Decast - and possibly
much of the rest of the world not to mention Olympus
- under Ares' iron grip. Others, most notably Discord,
opposed it simply out of spite and jealousy. These
diverse opponents banded together, tricked Hephaestus
into creating what would become known as Jana's Torch,
then irrevocably slew Ixthast with it on her wedding
day. She was entombed roughly where she fell, in the
remains of the town of Sophishka in what is now (because
of this, though none remember) known as the Valley
of the Dead Queen.
Ixthast's daughter Mixete was killed
in Ares' blind rage a few days later; but Rillifane
took pity on her and made sure she was reincarnated
- into Jana, "the Unborn". Jana later repaid
this by devoting her life to Rillifane, eventually
becoming one of Her most powerful agents on the world
of Akrayna.
Meanwhile Ares, enraged and inconsolable,
cast a blight on the whole area; then took his anger
to Olympus and fretted there for some years trying
to think of any possible way he could undo what had
happened. Eventually he learned a bit about how alternate
timelines work, and realized that due to some intricate
mathematical and physical interactions triggered by
momentous events such as this, occasional opportunities
would arise for one of his power to in effect go back
and re-set the timeline such that he and Ixthast would
have been wed as they should and history could then
have gone on from there.
He had already missed many such opportunities,
and they were becoming less and less frequent by an
alarming factor. The next chance came in year 476;
41 years after Ixthast's death. But Chronos, aware
of what Ares was attempting, created the Timeless
Caverns; then showed Discord how to use them and the
Torch to return to Sophishka and ensure Ixthast did
not survive. Discord passed the Torch to an agent,
who slew Ixthast; then brought the Torch forward through
the Caverns and gave it to the still-very-young Jana.
The next opportunity came in year
638, 203 years after the original event. By this time
Ixthast's daughter Jana had come to maturity, and
had gained enough knowledge to realize the marriage
could not be allowed to take place. So she went through
the Caverns herself and, drenched in her own tears,
killed her mother with a single blast from the Torch
before returning to her own time with help from Rillifane.
The next opportunity to mess with
the timelines is, in effect, right now; and there
will not be another for about 1776 years. But this
time Ares knows a bit more of what opposes him, and
has taken some steps…he cannot seize the Torch
directly; Jana is too well protected by the powerful
Rillifane, but he can try to find and destroy the
Fires of Decast, those being the pieces that allow
the Torch to function. So, knowing that by acting
himself he would arouse suspicion, he makes a deal
with Tapoketa, whose sphere includes Frost Giants;
and Tapoketa sends a few Giant agents into the Valley
where the first Fire is rumoured to be. But all they
accomplish is to quickly and pointlessly die; and
as Tapoketa cannot spare any more, all Ares can do
now is rely on fate and luck to prevent the Torch's
return. Luck and the Fates fail him, however: the
deadly Torch appears once more in Sophishka and Ares'
hoped-for golden future is again thwarted.
|
| Surviving members: |
Drosa(MU-5), Creon(T-5), Thimbus(MU-5),
Ajax(R-4), Tithonus(P-4); also Dogga(F-4), Waith(NrC-5) |
| New members: |
none |
| Casualties: |
(Tithonus - revived); Zzyztroisky |
| Retirees: |
Ajax (to Ruins
of Fortune); Drosa, Tithonus |
|
|
