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Post by Zipp on Apr 4, 2010 23:31:11 GMT
Last night I ran my first game in a planned campaign using the new multiplayer LW rules. I thought I'd keep everyone updated on a weekly basis.
First, some notes on rule changes and technicalities.
Setting
The year is MS 5000. The Kai Lords are in power, but they've passed their prime. The Magnakai are very small in number and only a few know any Magnakai skills at all. Of these, the most skilled knows maybe three abilities. There is rumoured to be a Kai Lord named Falling Phoenix who knows five of the abilities, but he has not been seen in nearly ten years and is beginning to be thought of as a myth by the younger kai.
Our Kai Lords are named Storm Rat and Silent Falcon. Storm Rat is the son of an Anskaven naval captain, Randal Brandon. Despite Storm Rat's name, he is actually a large lad and very grounded. He is one of the more studious of the Kai and believes very strongly in being a team player and following orders. He is one of the best liked students at the Monastery. He is 16.
Silent Falcon was born in Shadaki and lived there as an orphan until she was six, at which point she was found by a Kai Lord named Swift Fox. Swift Fox recognized latent Kai abilities in her and smuggled her away with him. In the Spring, when he returned for Fehmarn, he left the girl at the Monastery to be trained as a Kai. She is quiet and distrustful of strangers. She's also one of the fastest learning students, though she prefers to spend her days in the Great Forest around the Monastery rather than in class. Her solitary nature, her lack of conversational skills, and the Kai Mentors' withholding of punishment for her frequent run-aways into the woods have gained her the ire of most of the other students. She is 14.
Storm Rat is played by my friend Ryan, while Silent Falcon is played by the Michelle you all know as the female Lone Wolf.
Rules
- Players start with 2 disciplines. Storm Rat chose Hunting and Healing. Silent Falcon chose Hunting and Animal Kinship.
- They also start with 9 points to divy up between maximum endurance and MINIMUM Combat Skill. Whereas setting END is on a point-for-point basis, setting CS minimum costs 2 points.
- The Minimum CS requires some explanation. In my game, CS rolls are made at the beginning of each day (+ the usual 10). The minimum score for this is equal to that set in character generation.
After each FULL combat (so all enemies defeated), as fatigue sets in, each player loses one point to this score (sometimes more points, depending on how large the combat is). This loss can take a player beneath their minimum CS score. Any time a player rests (full sleep), the score is reset with a new roll, again paying attention to minimums.
I like this, because it adds in a fatigue element to the game, in which players have to decide whether the party's overall CS is high enough to keep moving or whether they need a break. It also simulates the fact that combat is tiring and you can't have a thousand fights in a day, or even more than a few.
At the same time, it doesn't ignore the fact that some players may be, in general, better warriors than another. It does avoid the annoyance of having one player always be the better warrior, though.
- If a player states an action that is clever, well roleplayed, or particularly effective against their opponent, they can be given a temporary increase to their Combat Ratio for this round. Plus, if the action is extremely well executed, they may have a chance to take no damage this round.
Alternatively, particularly bad actions or doing the same action over and over may result in a temporary lowering of Combat Ratio as they lose their edge in the combat.
- Daggers do not take up a weapon slot, though you can only carry one. I'm going to be using this rule in the MSN adventures, too.
- Gold pouches hold 30 crowns
- Healing isn't a meditative thing: it activates during rest (ie. sleep) and is one die roll. Healing others is possible, but for half a die roll, once a day.
- Leveling is based on how well the players role play their character traits and how closely they stick to Kai Ideals (or at least, think that they are sticking to those ideals). This is fairly loose: for instance, Storm Rat tends to think of his duty as being that which is assigned to him, and places obeying his superiors over all else. Silent Falcon is much more improvisational, thinking that her duty is more decided by what is happening in the moment, and less by orders she was given.
- Leveling comes in the form of discipline gaining or, occasionally, in the awarding of more points to boost minimum CS and Maximum END.
- at the beginning of each session, the characters are awarded fate points based on how well they did last session (completing missions, role playing well). These fate points can be spent to reroll the die at any point. They are removed at the end of the session (AKA they don't carry over between sessions).
Stay tuned...
We play every Saturday. I'll be updating the thread on Sundays with the synopsis of the last game, starting with this last Saturday's game, which hopefully I'll get up by the end of the day.
Cheers! As usual, responding and commentary is always appreciated!
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Post by Zipp on Apr 5, 2010 0:19:48 GMT
The Test of the Kai
This adventure begins with Kai Master Stormsong summoning the two Kai Lords Silent Falcon and Storm Rat to the Kai Training grounds, an open courtyard set between the towers of the Sun and Solaris. They are told it is time for them to take the Test of the Kai,
It is a Winter's morning and a chill mist passes over the characters as they gather together in the courtyard, Storm Rat wondering aloud what the test will be like and why they weren't given more time to prepare. Silent Falcon refuses to engage in much conversation, though, and the two fall into an uneasy silence until Stormsong approaches them. He points to two structures that have been built near the battlements connecting the Towers of Sun and Solaris. He explains that the two Kai are going to be partnered in these trials, but that they do not have to work together. Their first task is to climb the structures. He says "good luck," and waves them forward.
The two Kai Lords spare each other a glance and then take off across the training grounds. Both of them reach the structures at the same time and grab a rope hanging down, beginning to climb. Silent Falcon is over eager and slips off the rope, falling a good ten feet to the ground. She notes the appraising look of Stormsong and, red faced, jumps on the wall again.
Meanwhile, Storm Rat is already halfway up his structure when stones begin to fall from above him. Thinking fast, he swings out of their way and continues to climb. He reaches the top as the stones stop falling to see several other Kai Lords standing silent next to mounds of the stones. They point across a five foot gap to the battlements, indicating that Storm Rat will now have to jump the distance to continue the test. He takes a deep breath, backs up a pace or two to get a running start, and breaches the gap easily, landing in a half crouch on the battlements.
Behind him, he hears a gasp as Silent Falcon makes the same leap... and misses. At the last moment, her hand reaches out and catches the edge of the battlements, but she slams against the stone wall hard, bruising herself. More infuriating to her is that she did not fail to notice one of the Kai Lords behind her reach out in preparation to catch her, had she failed to grab on. She finds such treatment humiliating. Clamboring onto the wall, she looks down its length towards the Tower of Solaris as a shape leans out of one of the Tower's windows.
With shock, the two Kai Lords see an archer in the window, and more in other windows, all aiming their bows at the two of them. Thinking the same thing, the two Kai Lords turn and run towards the opposite Tower, the Tower of the Sun. Here they find weapons sitting to either side of a locked door. The door has a riddle on it:
"To ye who seeks to pass, make the correct assessment. Do so with speed, lest ye be pierced. Do so with confidence, lest ye be wrong."
Underneath this is a series of numbers: 4649 Next to this is a two digit combination lock, with one number already put in: 5
The meaning of the words seems clear to the two Kai Lords.
"So we have to get through the door or be shot by arrows," Silent Falcon says, under her breath.
"... but if we guess wrong, then we also lose," Storm Rat adds, a bead of sweat running down his brow, causing him to blink in pain when it drips into his eye.
Together, the two compose themselves and stare at the puzzle. Storm Rat quickly takes the lead, working out that the outside numbers make a difference of 5, the first number in the code. The other two numbers make a difference of 2, so he suggests 52. However, the door's warning makes him hesitate in entering the code. Silent Falcon reaches out a finger to do it herself, but stops at the last minute, also hesitating.
Behind them, they can both imagine the archers pulling back their strings...
With a sudden movement, Silent Falcon darts her hand out and quickly inputs the 2. There is a definite click and the door swings open. Stopping only to grab a couple of weapons (Falcon slips a dagger into her boot and grabs a bow and quiver, and Rat takes a sword), the two Kai Lords quickly head into the opening.
More to come later tonight...
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Post by Zipp on Apr 5, 2010 19:18:56 GMT
The Pit Room
The Kai Lords are plunged into darkness, broken only by the flickering of two torches to either side of them. Grabbing these from their sconces, they peer into the area they've arrived in. It is a hollow tower, so large that they cannot see the walls which enclose them. They've never seen this part of the Tower of the Sun before. They didn't even know it existed.
In front of them is a rickety staircase without a railing leading down into the darkness. With a good deal of trepidation, they descend, noting the temperature getting warmer around them.
Finally they arrive at the entrance to a grand chamber that seems carved out of the very earth. Dirt seeps through the rough stone that makes up the chamber walls. Torches cast shadowy light over the surroundings. The chamber stretches out before them towards a great pit, over 15 feet long at its widest point. Beyond the pit hangs a body in chains that jangle slightly as the chained person, head down, shakes feebly in his prison. He is backlit by torches that line the way to another door, the only other exit from the chamber.
Proceeding cautiously, Storm Rat and Silent Falcon make a circuit of the chamber. They discover two wells without much adornment, gurgling water out at a steady pace. They also discover a long pole, 10 feet long, leaning against the wall. Most disturbing, though, is a mural cleverly wrought out of coloured stone, that marks the floor near the pit.
It is a picture of a man in chains being shot by an arrow.
The two Kai Lords look at each other as the meaning of the mural becomes clear. Silent Falcon fingers her bow nervously while Storm Rat looks towards the distant man.
"We are Kai Lords," he calls out. "Can you hear me?"
The man makes no movement. Storm Rat tries a bevy of other questions, such as whether the man is in pain, or if he can move at all, finally even asking him to shake again just to let them know that he can hear them. But no response, physical or otherwise, comes from the figure.
Finally, Storm Rat goes to lean over the precipice and look down into the pit. He notes that the pit is widest in the middle and a good 6-8 feet shorter near the rims.
"You think you could climb this?" Storm Rat asks Silent Falcon, indicating the rough walls. She gives the walls a look and then looks down into the 40 foot drop of the pit. "We could put the pole down," Storm Rat suggests. "You would have a foot hold to shimmy across." Silent Falcon looks at him like he's crazy, but tests the walls nonetheless.
"Can't," she finally says, and shakes her head as if to emphasize the point, backing away from the wall and moving away to examine the fountains on the other side of the room. Looking down into one of them, she sees what seems to be a tunnel, veering towards the pit.
Meanwhile, Storm Rat has gone back to examining the pit. He thinks he hears something, something like water. After a moment's debate, he lets his torch fall into the darkness. It hits the bottom, casting a glow over the floor and illuminating as well a grate, through which can be seen rushing water.
"There's a tunnel over there," Silent Falcon says, suddenly at Storm Rat's shoulder and sharing his view of the pit. "But that doesn't mean it leads anywhere except to a very wet death."
However, after a couple more looks around the room, a discussion about whether or not to use the pole to vault over the pit, and a quick debate as to whether the only real answer to this problem is to obey the mural's grisly instructions, the two decide that the fountain tunnel has to be tried. Neither wants to kill a helpless man. Both want to believe that there is always another option rather than to kill. Still, as Silent Falcon dives into the fountain, she has to admit that those options can be a hell of a lot harder. The current proves too strong for her, and she is shoved back to the surface before she can make any headway. Without something to weigh her down, she decides, she won't be able to swim past, even with her training in swimming that she recieved as part of learning the skill of hunting.
Storm Rat, who is much larger than his female companion, decides to give it a try. Leaving his sword with Silent Falcon, he sinks into the fountain, takes a breath, and then pushes himself down using sheer strength. To his surprise, when he reaches the tunnel, the current stops pushing as hard. With his natural inquisitiveness, he looks around him and notes that there are tiny holes in the shaft of the well. Air through these holes, he assumes, must be creating the upward current.
Not wanting to waste any more time, he pushes himself down along the tunnel and emerges, gasping, at the grate. The grate proves to be unlocked, something he had not dared to hope for, and he clambors out into the bottom of the pit, retrieving his torch and waving it around, receiving a similar flash of light from above, where Silent Falcon stands watching.
From here, Storm Rat can see a ladder built into the far side of the pit, which was cleverly disguised by the perspective from which someone looking down would be forced to see and also by the dim light. He climbs up the ladder and prepares to meet the mysterious hanged man.
More to come tonight...
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Post by Zipp on Apr 6, 2010 21:06:52 GMT
The Sacrificial Chamber
Storm Rat approached the man cautiously, only to discover that it wasn't a man at all... it was a dummy disguised by the low light. Attached to the man's feet were chains going into the ground. Storm Rat thought for a moment and then gave the dummy a hard shove, as might be caused by an arrow's impact. The chains rattled loudly and behind him a bridge rose, dust falling off of it, to span the pit.
Joining Storm Rat, Silent Falcon returned his sword to him and the two set their attentions on the door ahead. Storm Rat approached and reached out a hand to open the darkened door... only to jump back as Silent Falcon's light fell on it. The door was covered in spiders, steam spiders from the hourglass designs on their back. Storm Rat let out an audible shriek as the bulbous-bodied creatures crawled over where his hand would've been.
Silent Falcon looked at the door more calmly and sent out her mind to connect with the insects, using her powers of Animal Kinship. To her surprise, she connected with nothing at all. In that moment, she understood the clever illusion that had been placed on the door and, ignoring the spiders (which, after all, weren't real), she placed a hand on the door handle and opened it. She said nothing to Storm Rat of the illusion, but as he passed the now open door, he realized with shock that the spiders had disappeared and silently made note of his partner's incredible animal kinship skills. It was rare, he knew, for even a Kai Lord to be able to mind bond with insects. Little did he know of the truth of what had just occurred.
The room ahead was stiffling hot and dark so that even Silent Falcon's torch had no power to illuminate it. With a sudden slam, the door shut behind them and clicked with a locking sound... the torch went dead... and then light flared in the room as three dozen lanterns brightened to illuminate the space.
They were in a small round chamber, carved out of red rock. In the middle of the chamber sat a burn pit filled with roaring flame that made the room unbearably warm. The smoke escaped through a large funnel in the top of the room. Sitting in chairs next to the fire, bound with ropes and gags, were two figures.
Silent Falcon's eyes went wide at the sight of the man who had taken her from Shadaki: the Kai Lord Swift Fox, who had not been seen in two years. And Storm Rat gasped as he recognized the other man, none other than his father, Captain Brandon of Anskaven. Storm Rat strode forward to his father, but Silent Falcon was more cautious. She looked down at the floor she was walking on and grimaced. Another mural... this one depicting the burning of men in a sacrificial flame.
More to come...
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Post by pi4t on Apr 7, 2010 11:03:28 GMT
Another illusion/other form of trick?
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Post by Zipp on Apr 7, 2010 22:25:00 GMT
To let go...
Storm Rat was the first to act, going to his father and removing the gag. A hideous wail filled the room and he realized with horror that his father's eyes had been sewn shut and his tongue cut off. Silent Falcon, across the room, discovered the same about her old savior. Silent Falcon, true to her name, stayed silent but she cut the bonds holding her mentor. Swift Fox rose and stumbled against her. She braced herself against him and then gasped for air as his hands closed about her throat.
Storm Rat, not knowing who this man was or what relation Silent Falcon had to him, approached with his blade drawn. Silent Falcon tried to gasp out that she was not the Kai Lord's enemy but rather his old student, but she could barely get the air to breath, let alone call out. Just as she was about to pass out, Storm Rat's blade cut down Swift Fox's back. With a growl, the blind and mute man jabbed an elbow into the Kai Lord's nose, breaking it. Storm Rat stumbled back, calling on his mastery of the healing arts to put his mind into a meditative state and push back the pain. In striking him, though, Swift Fox had let go of Silent Falcon's throat with one hand. In an instant, she had her dagger against his belly and she cut sideways, spilling entrails and blood down her middle. For a moment longer, Swift Fox held on, then he fell back to the ground.
"It's me," Silent Falcon gasped, falling down next to her savior. "Silent Falcon." Swift Fox let out a gasp of surprise and then fell back, dead. Storm Rat, his nose still bleeding, approached to see what he could do but Silent Falcon hissed at him and pulled her dagger and he quickly stepped back.
"We could burn the..." he started to say, then stopped after seeing the look on her face. Discouraged, he returned to his father, telling him that he was his son and he would soon cut him free. Silent Falcon heard him and strode over to where Storm Rat was, shaking him by the arm.
"Are you stupid? That's not your father. Or if he is, he no longer recognizes you."
Storm Rat shoved her off. He tried to get his father to communicate but the bound man could only gasp and gurgle, spitting out blood with every other failed utterance. Finally, he could take no more and cut the bonds free. The father rose. Captain Brandon had always been an imposing figure. He towered over his son and spat out a single phrase:
"Why did you do this to me?"
Then his hands were around his son's throat. This time, Silent Falcon was ready. With a growl she leapt onto the man's back and drove her dagger into his throat. She pulled as best she could, but the dagger became stuck on bone and she ended up having to saw her way through the neck. Finished, she fell back, absolutely stunned at what she had just done.
Yet, despite her efforts, the man was still alive, his fists closing around Storm Rat's throat all the tighter. Thinking fast, and surmising that Silent Falcon's assessment had been correct, Storm Rat placed his blade against his father's heart and pushed it in, ending his life quickly and painlessly.
The two Kai Lords fell back, examining their grisly handiwork. Behind them, the door clicked again.
"Enter," a voice called.
Eager to escape the scene of carnage, the two fled back into what should've been the Pit Room. However, the room had been transformed. It was now a training hall, with weapon racks placed against the long walls and many lanterns lighting the space. And striding towards them down the length of the hall was Kai Master Ghost Bear, their weapon's master and one of the Kai rumoured to have Magnakai skills.
More to come...
Pi4T: Indeed it was all an illusion, but the players had no idea, which was great. Even better was the door lock earlier. There was absolutely no rational behind those numbers: I pulled them off an order form at work. The test was one of courage to see if they had the courage to input what could be the wrong code, and take the consequences.
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Post by Zipp on Apr 11, 2010 21:46:38 GMT
Alright, at this point, it's going to be too time consuming to continue detailing the missions in this fashion. I figure everyone knows the characters and my GM style decently enough from the above that I can get on with some shorter descriptions, highlighting the important events.
A woodland journey
Ghost Bear explained the particulars of the Kai's test to the two initiates. Yes, the whole thing had been an illusion. No, they hadn't really killed their loved ones. But they had shown themselves what they were capable of doing and realized the emotional consequences that come along with wielding power. The pit test was an illusion of their own creation based on their fears and desires and their willingness to always see another path, rather than expending human life. They had done well. Ghost Bear just wanted to fight them in a dual, now, during which they got the taste of the Magnakai powers of curing (Ghost Bear instantly healing a sword cut from Storm Rat) and of Weapon Mastery (Ghost Bear beating them soundly). The Kai Lord praised them for their bravery in the test and left them the rest of the day to do with as they pleased.
Their next mission, as given by Master Stormsong, took them into the Great Forest, to search for the remains of a merchant wagon that had hit a rut and gotten stuck in the road. After making some decisions as to whether to enter the woods during the icy season that could easily drop branches on unsuspecting travelers, and avoiding a tunnel with a Burrowcrawler inside, Silent Falcon and Storm Rat found the remains of the wagon. By following a blood trail, they also found the remains of the guards, as the bodies were being stripped of their gold and the cargo by giaks.
The events became clear: the guards had stayed behind to guard the wagon and had been found, in a poor twist of fate, by this band of roving giaks. Three battles had ensued. In the first, the wagon was knocked down a hill. In the second, the guards held their ground at the turned over wagon. In the third, they were ambushed as they fled with the remains of the cargo. This is where they had ended up: a clearing, where they were looting their victims.
Silent Falcon was all for killing the giaks from the safety of the woods, using her expertise with the bow, but Storm Rat took a more diplomatic approach, barely convincing the giaks to leave the bodies and the cargo, but take the gold if they wished. Angrily, Silent Falcon approached her companion as the giaks left and shoved a black giak arrow into his hand.
"See what you've let go free upon the peasanty of Sommerlund?" she exclaimed enraged.
"If you're so eager for battle, then you keep it," Storm Rat retorted, shoving the arrow into his younger companion's quiver.
Silent Falcon fumed, but said nothing. She began gathering up the cargo, noting an odd package amongst the silk and other goods. It was a brown, orbish, package, addressed to the Toran Brotherhood Guild. She looked at it curiously and then stowed it away. Gathering up the cargo and covering the bodies in a light sprinkling of dirt, the two made their way back to the Monastery, eager to escape both an oncoming snow storm and the howling of dire wolves, surely drawn by the scent of blood.
On the way back, passing the wagon, they spotted, to their surprise, another blood trail leading in a different direction than the way they had come. But, eager to return to the Monastery before nightfall as per their orders, they ignored it. Neither could help but feel a sense of unease at leaving the mystery unresolved, though.
That was the end of the first session. Last night's session went well, and brought into the game many new personalities, including a hyper-active and distractable Brotherhood door-mage whom some on these sites may remember well...
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Post by beowuuf on Apr 12, 2010 7:17:59 GMT
Cather Jenns!
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Post by Zipp on Apr 12, 2010 8:50:35 GMT
He's well loved by the players, even as their characters want to murder him.
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Post by beowuuf on Apr 12, 2010 19:01:01 GMT
Glad I could give a character for a game, although I imagine that he's been pleasantly zipp-a-fied since his humble origins
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Post by Zipp on Apr 12, 2010 19:28:37 GMT
Nah, I really left him as was! Cather, to this day, remains my favorite character of any game I've ever run. I even threw in the references to a destroyed tapestry in the Guildhall ^_^
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Post by Zipp on Apr 12, 2010 19:43:02 GMT
The First Trip to Toran
Silent Falcon and Storm Rat were instructed to accompany the merchant, Harbold, and his adopted son, Greyling, to Toran in lieu of the guards they'd lost. Though annoyed at the loss of his gold, the prospect of traveling with the Kai quelled Harbold's gruffness, as did his discovery that Silent Falcon had recovered the orb-ish package. As they would discover during the journey, Harbold's business in Toran was successful due in large part to the support of the Brotherhood Guild. Losing a valuable item meant for them would not do him well. Also, the item was from Slovia. Since a spy had been discovered in the courts of Slovia, a Sommerlund spy, relations were estranged. It would not be good for Harbold to lose a valuable Slovian item (as he guessed the orb was) at any time, but now in particular. He gave the orb to Silent Falcon for safekeeping... just in case.
Business had also picked up since he had joined forces with one Jasper Kleth, who had amazingly secured warehousing in Toran when all others had failed to do the same. Harbold was pleased with the partnership but exhausted from all the extra work establishing himself in Toran had cost.
Harbold fairly well talked the Kai Lords' ears off with news until the third day of their journey, when they were held up by a contingent of guards from the Summerlund army who claimed Harbold was a traitor and needed to be escorted to Holmgard. Storm Rat bought the ruse, but Silent Falcon, naturally wary of strangers, refused to leave the merchant. This culminated in Greyling asking to see a warrant and receiving a crossbow bolt in the chest for a response.
Touching minds with the guard's war hound, Silent Falcon learned that they were bandits. Using her powers of Animal Lore, she turned the dog upon the crossbow wielder and held her place on the wagon, protecting Harbold. Meanwhile, Storm Rat, who had dismounted, fought off two bandits, one of whom haughtily declared himself as Dunal Torn: king of bandits. Using his shield and his large size, Storm Rat successfully slew his attackers and tended to Greyling's wounds, using his Healing abilities and some laumspur leaves they had purchased from a wandering herbmaster to staunch the bleeding and stabilize him. Meanwhile, Silent Falcon had leapt with the third bandit off the wagon, knocking him senseless in the fall. The dog and the crossbow wielder slew each other in combat and the senseless bandit surrendered to the two Kai Lords, offering to tell them what he knew.
Before they could take him up on the offer, however, an arrow flew out of the surrounding forest, striking him in the back of the neck. Taking cover, the Kai Lords awaited more arrows, but none ever came. Whoever their attacker had been, he or she had fled after removing the bandit.
More coming...
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Post by Zipp on Apr 19, 2010 0:51:24 GMT
Dawn of Destruction
The first day in Toran is spent getting Harbold calmed down and Greyling back to health, or at least to safety. At the inn of the Golden Sun, Greyling is put to bed and watched over by the innkeeper's (Farah's) daughter, Nyssa. Nyssa betrays enough emotion at Greyling's condition that Silent Falcon surmises she is in love with the eighteen-year-old.
Jaspar Kleth, Harbold's business partner, also makes an appearance and expresses what seems to be genuine concern over Harbold's plight and his recent brushes with death. He is a gruff man, though, and is eager to get business underway, urging Harbold to tend to the administrations of his merchandise and to leave Greyling in the healer's hands.
Despite Jaspar's concerns, Silent Falcon doesn't trust him. When Harbold asks her to complete the delivery of the orb to the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star, she agrees, but reluctantly... afraid to leave Harbold alone with his partner for too long. Storm Rat doesn't share her concerns, sensing nothing malicious about the man, but as a precaution he tells Nyssa not to let anyone into Greyling's room (an order that they later learn frightened Nyssa carries out to the letter, even refusing Harbold entry).
The first trek to the Guild is not a success. The two companions find themselves stymied at the door to the Guild by one Brother Cather, an excitable young Mage whose incessant babbling has been irritating a Vassagonian waiting for entry. The Kai Lords push past the black haired Vassagonian to plead their case and Cather at first seems eager to drop his first charge and pick up the Kai Lords' case, but he gets distracted mid-agreement by the Vassagonian and, ultimately, the Kai Lords are left outside to wait. A little later, they learn that the Guildhall is done with business today. Dejected, and annoyed, the Kai Lords return to the inn where they learn Greyling is still recovering and Harbold has gone for the evening.
The next morning fares better. For a time at least.
Despite a long line that provides some comedy when the front eight people turn out to be cousins who have come together, the Kai Lords are eventually admitted by Cather to the Guild Council Room. And that's when all hell breaks loose.
More Coming...
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Post by Zipp on Apr 25, 2010 1:10:20 GMT
Dawn of Destruction, cont.
In the austere meeting chamber, the orb is finally revealed before the gathered Brotherhood. However, it's beauty hides a sinister purpose. Some dark power grips the Brothers, taking control of them. Sensing the danger, Silent Falcon and Storm Rat each rush forward to get to the orb and destroy it. Silent Falcon's movement is detected by Meera Firebell who, uttering a word of command, locks Silent Falcon in place. A smile crosses the woman's face as she debates what to do with the helpless 14-year old (and if this was a Japanese anime, we know exactly what would happen at this point). Storm Rat makes it further but he, too, is trapped just as he reaches for the orb. Only the wasting willpower of Verais, head of the Council, saves the Kai Lords. Uttering a power word he tosses them through the stained glass windows and out into the open air, using his last thought to beseech them to seek the harbour, where the twin is.
Both Kai Lords land awkwardly but safely on a street that has raised up into the air. This is just the first sign they get of the destruction that faces the city in the wake of the orb's power. Glyphs appear all over the towering Guildhall and a magical wall settles with an audible crack over the structure. Many are trapped inside, those outside are panicking, and a few hapless victims get cut in half by the energy shield. Out of this chaos, the two Kai Lords recognize Brother Cather, staring dazed at what was, a moment ago, his place of peaceful study. Silent Storm tries to shake the Brother to his senses, but a poor choice of words combined with some bad die rolls causes the young man to bolt... towards the Guild Hall. She tries to catch him but Cather runs into the energy wall and is repelled backwards, thrown down the long Guild stairs to land in a crumpled heap at the foot. Storm Rat assesses his wounds, deciding he is alright but has been knocked senseless. With nothing else to do, the two now start looking for ways to leave this area.
more coming...
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Post by beowuuf on Apr 25, 2010 6:34:05 GMT
Did he make sense before?
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