Scouting of the Games
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Scribe Notes: Session - Autumn 806
GM: Jono Bean
Level: Medium/High.
Title: Scouting the Games.
Night: Thursday nights starting 16th March.
Time: 6:30pm until 11:30pm (sometimes later).
Location: 31 Methuen Road Avondale - for a map click here.
Mission by: Thorn, Sabrina and the Guild with the assistance of Logan.
Style of Game: Fast combats when in combat which will be unforgiving.
Mission:
Party Mission: Information gathering about Lunar City, the Lunar Empire and the Winter Lunar Games (Mebh has details). GoK has been removed from this adventure because of 'Pacting' issues.
Update on Mission Aims
Thorn was worried about us doing something wrong and being punished under Lunar Empire law.... US! Mebh!!! What was she thinking. (see below)
- 1: I need to get my team to Lunar City, what's the easiest, fastest, safest, best way?
- 2: We will need to stay some place, it will need to be defensible, giant size friendly and will probably need to be arranged in advance as I wish to arrive at most a week before the games start if possible. That should give us enough time to set up, and complete any paper work. And I don't really want it advertised that the Seagate adventures team will be staying at? Ahead of time.
- 3: It would be nice to know what paper work we will need to do, what we can do from this end and what needs doing in person. Paperwork could include both stuff for the games and other civil or administrative stuff that maybe needed like visa's, guild memberships, leases. If things are going to take time to process we need to start it soon and not the week before the games.
As I said before it's my hope that Logan maybe able to help with items 1 2 and 3 if only in an advisory capacity as to how to best go about things.
- 4: How are teams entered into the games, how, where and when are they being registered/recorded? I don't want to be last minute, but I don't want to give details too soon or any more than the minimum necessary.
- 5: Exactly how many members is a team allowed? Minimum, Maximum.
- 6: What's the rules on Magic, Healing, Resurrection. Discreetly on the last please, its not something I want spread about. I like that Mistress Jessica, Phaeton and Co get all the public attention for miracle working.
- 7: If possible try to discover how what ever rules they do have for the games will be enforced.
- 8: We have heard we will be given a small amount amour and weapons to use, and are able to capture more as we win. This suggests we can't, won't be able to use some/all of our own toys - please find out if this is true and the specifics on this if possible.
- 9: We have limited information on just what the games themselves will involve, Man vs lions, Team vs Team, Javelin range competition and Baton relay race are events that have been mentioned anything further you might discover in that regard or on the other teams would be nice, but not a high priority.
- 10: Of high priority is what the local laws-customs-attitudes are regarding carrying weapons, self defense, magic, Mages, Healers, are bribes expected, frowned on, where in the city not to go, who we should be respectful to, the sort of stuff adventures usually learn the hard way in a new society, and which we will not have the time or energy to waste learning by trial and error as we usually do. This includes likely attitudes to some of the more interesting senior and colorful guild members, from which my team is drawn. Sabrina and Ajax are a good example. She is a valkyrie not exactly a common race, is Pacted, to an old God rather than a power, will this be a problem ? and then there is Ajax.
- 11: I want to be able to compete in the games as fairly and honorably as the next team, I do not wish us to be disadvantaged any more than need be by an ignorance of the unwritten rules. I don't want the team to fall foul of some local law or games rule either by accident or the ill intentioned design of some other faction. My hope is the above points will uncover any of these but if you spot something I have missed....
- 12: As team leader, with the bigger picture in mind I am worried about the talk of assassination and high stakes betting. Its not to hard to extrapolate all manor of corruption surrounding the games. I would like to know who is most likely to try to disable my team so steps can be taken to better protect us all.
Payment:
5,000sp cash 1,000sp in guild services.
The Party:
Mebh Warrior, Air mage, Female Human.
Nicola Earth Mage Warrior, Female Shapeshifter.
Kishwa Warrior/Healer, Male Human.
Lizette Namer/Healer, Female Human.
Michael Hero, Male Human.
Keshah Rune Mage, Male Elf.
Clementine Air Mage, Female Shapeshifter-bear
1st
The party talk to Thorn. She and other guild members want to pay a crack team of experts to go to the Lunar Empire and find out about the Emperor's Birthday games. A skilled team is recruited by guild security, we quickly gather our equipment; Michael offers to supply us with wine for gifts when we get to Luna city this is most kind of him.
We portal to the Tycho City headquarters of the Seagate Adventurers guild, we are very worried as it takes 15 mins for the rune portal to transport Keshah (apparently this always happens to him). A helpful kind guard from the outpost of the Guild (now I know where they are all hiding), offers for a small fee to take us around Tycho City and we all sign up for a temporary membership to a Luna Guild. The Temporary bit is very important and we are careful not to sign up for life. I am hopeful that if you are going to Luna City at the invite of the Emperor that this will not be necessary as it is long, boring, expensive and involves paperwork. Keshah starts talking about robbing a bank again.
Michael has forgotton to bring the wine so we instruct him to get some more. We portal to Lunar City and spend two hours getting to Baron Logan the extremely generous's palace. It is hideously expensive to get there Clementine nearly faints at one point when we are charged 100sp each to pass through the gate to the upper city.
We arrive at Logan's palace in the small hours of the morning. After some time the maître d arives who we insult by telling him we have some fine Seagate wine (which we dont have) and then Clementine says that Michael must have forgotten it when he was wacked out on drugs - and Lizette can't remember Logans name and Keshah starts talking about robbing a bank again.
The maître d tells us of some fine Inns that we can stay at. We arrive very early in the morning at the Golden showers of the Cock and Feather Inn a very good quality Inn inside the upper city. It cost 12,000sp for the group for the night. Keshah starts talking about robbing a bank again.
2nd
Cleaned and scrubbed up a bit we back to Logan's residence and this time we are let in. Logan is a fine model of a successful adventurer and not suffering from an overinflation of his own importance, power or virility. Let it just be said that only here can you see an E+E strike an heroic pose.
Mebh gets a brief lesson in Lunar Ettiquette as practiced by the insanely wealthy as she writes to Matt Tumbledown, a Titan she knows. The Titans turn up and take us off to the Emperor's gardens for some lunch. We agree to 'help' the Inquisition with some cultists.
4th
After two days we go to Tycho and rumble the cultists.
Much fighting ensues. The enemy were prepared for us and had baker's dozen of elementals, werewolves, ninja, imps, mages and scantily clad slaves. How they all fitted into the same building was beyond me. It was fairly rough. However after two rounds of fighting (we stopped for a while for a breather) Nicola, Lizette, Clementine and Kishwa die in the combat. We capture one of the guys we came to get and managed to toss another out the window to the gaurds below. He may have been captured. After the fight we quickly move to the Inn.
After moving to the Inn we quickly relocate to Inquisitor HQ in Tycho city. There Richard informs us of some of the stuff we need to know. Teams are sponsered by Senators and the Inquisition is not present in the city during the games. Thus anyone and anything can enter and probably will. We ressurect the dead and remove the nine or so annoying death curses Michael picked up. The party returns to the Guild in Seagate.
Well I thought that's what would happen while I was being de-cursed. Seems Lizette had against strict party leader orders brought an extremely divine item with her to the Lunar Empire. To say this embarrassed the nice secret police types is understating the case. Richard, mebh's contact was demoted and Lizette given a fatal warning. Additionally Logan's house got rumbled. All would of been fine except that the silly bint then starts asking for Holy Water to aid in ressurecting PCs.
The Inquisition and Richard are not very happy with us. Thanks Lizette.
5th and 6th
Mebh and I go wandering about Lunar city to find out a few more things about the games. We are directed to see Maxramus, the Director of the Collesium. He's a handsome middle aged man who was a gladiator earlier on in life.
Max Ramus tells us all about the games in return for Mebh and some cute friends coming to a party of his at his mansion. Sensing that sleeping with the ref is one of the best ways availiable to win this tourney we listen and find out a lot about the games.
- You need the support of a Senator. If your senator dies or withdraws their support you lose.
- Teams need a senator by the fifteenth day of winter.
- Only five members may be on the field at any one time.
- The Inquisitors will be absent so you can come if you worship some horriable slathering horror from beyond the pale.
- In the qualifying rounds the games are a massive free for all, no holds barred, anything goes fight.
- During this period you provide your own accomodation or sleep in the streets. Maxramus recomends the 'Spike and Cestus', as a good tavern for aspiring gladiators.
- Mebh's team can stay with him if they like. He has a really cool mansion with guards and everything, including hot and cold running sybarites.
- After qualifying you are housed in the gladiator pits and are given no food or water. To get food you must encourage the crowd to throw you some. Maxramus suggests a bit of cleavage always works.
- You will also be provided with weapons and armour of a sub-standard nature and a slave collar that inhibits a range of abilities, most notably healer.
- Most of the rules are enforced by Imperial archers.
Wow! Everything learned in one meeting for the price of getting invited to a Lunar Orgy. The hardships and privitations of adventuring are truly greuling.
We check out the Spike and Cestus. It's large and strongly built, mainly to contain the perpetual brawl going on inside. On the plus side no assassian could wander in to kill you but you may get knifed in a friendly, no commitments intended sort of way. Adventurers will fit right in.
We then go to talk with Matt the Titan on how to mend bridges with the Inquisition in general and Richard in particular. Over several cracked ribs they tell us that Richard will get over being demoted especially if we deliver him 'That stupid blonde namer dressed in a bow and covered in oils'.Well, whats a little seduction to a master courtesan? They also mention that some expensive gifts wouldn't be out of order.
Back at the guild Mebh informs me that she doesn't want to sleep with the Ref. Lizette mentions that she doesn't seduce people (apparently she just knows the theory side of things) and doesn't want to sleep with Mr crazy lunar inquisitor. She also informs us that she's engaged to a flunky of Lord Azure. Damn it! I tell you, Guild babes may look fine but there's always something seriously wrong with them that puts you right off.
Clementine is resurrected at great cost to her health. Kashwa is resurrected also. The party does a trasure split.
7th
End of first parties attempt at Scouting the Games.
Exp and Loot
Write-ups for bth Loot and Exp are linked as two PDF files below.
Please note: The training time on the Exp sheet of 7 days is only for use as free time on Lunar-Empire (the Eastern Human Languages).
End of Part one. A change to the party make up is needed.
