Never Say Neverre
GM: Michael Parkinson
Level: Medium/High.
The Party
- Isil Eth – Elven princess, mind mage, healer (5), courtier
- WordSmith – dwarvish namer, military scientist (not pacted)
- Loxi – cutish Elfen male thief and earth mage, healer (4), fighter
- Motley – male of unknown species (possibly a 16' giant) fighter
- Amelia – tall female hobbit, non-mage, ranger, courtier, healer (7)
- Christopher – knight, male human illusionist, small fighter.
Appointments
- Leader - Amelia
- Scribe - Isil Eth
- Military Scientist - Amelia
- Cook - Motley
- Healer – Amelia
- Combat Cat – Christopher
Mission
To assist the return / uncovering of the Orb of Ran (true form Reỉ-Ân-Nōh in a dialect of dragon) for Ninishtar, Duchess of Armede.
Background
Several ages ago, the drow who governed southern 'africa' created a set of extremely powerful artefacts to aid in their rule. The Azurian Empire has recently discovered an item of 'order', and it is surmised to be part of this set.
The location of each item is secret. The Orb of Ran is described in a poem, copies of which are held by each of the duchies of Raniterre. Sometime in the last 5 weeks, the poem held by Armede changed from cryptic to clear common – which caused quite a sensation as the same transformation probably occurred to all other scrolls as well.
The Duchess immediately travelled to Carzala to hire a guild party.
The Duchess has a talent that predicts the best form of illusion to use, and this time it provided "sand dweller costume for man and hobbit". This suggests the item will be to the north west of Raniterre where there is a lot of sand (though few hobbits).
It is also apparent that the Duke of Neverre has dispatched a raid, probably to the south, and possibly to recover the Orb, and so is the main opponent.
The probable location of the Orb is in a pyramidal complex some 1000 leagues to the south in jungle. We are likely to be second there, but then may have a chance to track and overtake the defilers.
Narrative
Approach
1st Meadow: We left on the day of the Guild Meeting – oh the sacrifices we make, just as well I met with Snoogles last night.
5th Meadow: Clouds are so boring, so just as well we got off after only 5 days, at midnight on 5th Meadow at Drowkönigreich, there to collect our payment in advance. Developments recommend haste to the Pyramids, there to either collect the Orb, or to follow the party that has it. The best speed will be by a long-range, though inaccurate, teleport spell of some description (we will arrive close together as long as we walk through in reasonable time). The return journey is likely to be long and slow.
6th Meadow: The scroll containing the location poem shows each of us a different version.
Christopher: "We can carry one 'comfort item' each." Isil Eth: "Put me down Motley."
Taking an airmage with us we depart via temporary portal to places south. Amelia warned us that most plants are likely to be toxic, so we should stay together.
{insert link to drawing} The trees are reasonably close, with at least one canopy at 120 feet, and little undergrowth. The lowest canopy is intermeshed to provide an almost continuous layer.
Pyramids
Flying up to open air shows the following profile, and that we are about 100 miles from the pyramids, so we fly closer. Apparently we want the eastern one.
Powerful storms hit the area fairly regularly, tearing down trees and sending a wash of mud and detritus out to sea. Short, young trees with nasty brambles mark the early regeneration of a storm patch, together with the track of a very large ground animal.
Flying north-ish, we appeared to be drawn continuously towards the western pyramid, and only Amelia was less affected. She was almost rude in her single-minded dedication to the mission.
Circling at 10 miles, we noticed bluish figures (ogres) throwing bodies off the top of the western pyramid, and the eastern one is mostly unoccupied. There is a large community of settlements (about 500 yards apart) suggesting at least a quarter million orcs or similar. The trees have been thinned – no tall trees – possibly for building timbers or fire wood. There is no evidence of storm strike, and the land seems flatter with some irrigation, but all done very crudely. Landing on top of the pyramids, we see there has been a battle, 14 days ago, with slaughtered orcs and ogres: females with four arms and 8 feet tall. The ground around the pyramid is ruined, with at least one building destroyed by Falling Star (?) although enough stakes remain to suggest animalistic magics were performed here – to placate ??. An opening in the roof leads down a single-turn spiral staircase to an oblate-spheriodal room, in the centre of which is a silver, humanoid statue with a large open (empty) hand (space for an orb?). <further description>
Wizards Eye shows a similar chamber in the other pyramid, but this statue appears to be holding a shield (that glows in a way that shields don't). The statue is of a elvish/drow female that has been skewed, much like a candle that gets too warm.
Assault on Western Pyramid Having decided to take the shield, or what ever it truly is, we fly to a staging tree some 7 miles from the pyramid and erect a flet. From there we can observe a ritual sacrifice – must be noon. Rest and sleep.
The plan is to windwalk in, with flight queued. Wordsmith will cast spell of silence, Isil Eth an enhance enchant, and Loxi a tunnelling to intersect the spiral staircase.
All goes as planned, until Wordsmith finally succeeds with his spell, and sets off an alarm. The tunnelling works, so Loxi, Wordsmith and air-mage enter the tunnel (a priestess casts a wall of stone across the tunnel sealing them in). Battle is joined as two priestesses approach from the top of the pyramid – Motley leapt upwards and on-wards to protect the tunnel entrance, Amelia throws kitchen implements and Christopher moves to the top of the pyramid to attack the other. There is something weird about our magics – they work funny.
The third priestess then cast diamond tipped javelins at Christopher, so Isil Eth flew to the top hoping to distract her. A priestess dies giving her Death Aspect sisters the advantage – but we manage to subdue them – leaving them alive to recover.
We entered the secret chamber beneath the summit, and liberated the Shield of Chaos. Flying away, we awaited the doom. We initially flew to the south and then west to the mountains. Divinations suggested the dawn would be bad, and that the bridge in Bretlond is a possible refuge from the death curse, and so we headed north. On the way we discussed an alternative approach to attacking the western pyramid (killing high priestesses, ransacking temples, defiling consecrated ground etc) such as asking for help in apprehending those that defiled the eastern pyramid. But we all assumed that ogres that practice blood sacrifice would gut first and questions later – possibly our mistake.
7th Meadow A divination revealed quite a bit about the shield – it is linked to the Orb, which isn't on this plane on this day. Astrology readings: Where is safe? Walking hand in hand, there is a bridge-like portal across the bridge at midnight in Bretlond, about 500 miles the lights flashing out, north. When When will you realise I'm sick of your alibis Running cold; the water running cold, I think it is time you were told I think you're getting old.
What something about getting weak and loosing willpower.
{insert link to drawing} By dawn we had flown almost all the way north to Bretlond, with the beginnings of a doom showing up on a divination: we will loose one point of Physical Strength, 1 point of Willpower and age a year in the first 24 hours, and then a major life-draining greebly turns up at the start of the following day (although it may not kill us but rather may turn us into servants). Wordsmith got the impression he might be able to Banish the life-draining greebly (or maybe it has minions), in which case, it would be good if it shows up (something we hope to delay) for others to DA for 'Counterspell required to Banish' while he casts Banish on himself (he can then Banish using appropriate Counterspell for next 30 seconds.) Christopher's and Isil Eth's reading of the location poem changed again.
So we headed for Guido city, where we met with various Urielites who control the portal to Ares. There we found that a gabrielite hit squad of three thugs went through last moonday, having arrived in great haste.
That night we walked through the portal to Quorn on the plane of Ares.
Quorn, Ares
8th Meadow We arrived in Quorn in midmorning of the 8th, although it seemed to only take a few minutes to portal across – some sort of time mis-match? Either way, we carried some 2 weeks food and some water or wine, depending on preference or tolerance.
A welcome committee was formed of local tall-hobbits. The mayoress is Veronica Speedwell, who is dressed as a wealthy, respectable hobbit matron. A typical man wears a tunic with concealed weapon and has a weak tan. Speedwell has a natural rapport with Amelia, appears to believe Christopher is the leader and treats Isil Eth as a Princess, so all is well.
Quorn, and probably all of Ares, is red-tinged, with a weak, readish sun. The buildings are built of sandstone and rammed-earth, with some glass-like window panes. The water looks like a soapy / weak milk solution – urgh! But it gets one clean.
We stayed at the usual Michaeline hostel. The gabrielite hit-squad, of three people, came through the previous moon-time, although there was some confusion over whether they were part of another group – we think they left with that group (who went to the new M. compound), though it is unclear as to whether they stayed with them.
Motley summoned Foras to the plane, which is a bit of a no-no as he didn't clear that with Amelia first. Foras is aware of the shield as an item of chaos. He said the orb is 100s to 1000 miles away in the north-west / south quadrant.
Wordsmith divinated his doom which has crystalised slightly – we are teetering on the edge of chaos. The doom is so aligned with the overall universal creation that it will eventually catch up with us no matter where we hide – so we have better resolve it.
9th Meadow We spent the day practicing combat, which is quite fun given the lightness everyone feels and skidding around due to the soil being like a light loam. Amelia finds out stuff about the capital etc – apparently you can eat the local fish. As it is late spring, the army is likely to be out assisting prospectors. The regular ship arrived that evening from the capital.
Wordsmith did a 3 hour divination on himself – the lad should just buy a decent mirror, for though I can understand his fear, we have to put up with it. The initial doom is quite concrete, but the second phase cannot target him sufficiently to trigger.
Amelia thinks Bretlond (the church) has been channelling a vast amount of money into this plane. The Governor is getting quite rich from it, so Outworlders, such as ourselves, can expect few disruptions. Where has the church got all this money from, and to what purpose? Are they hiding the treasury of Don Carlos?
We can hire Fidelia Comfrey as a scout for 1 gold per day, which is about 220 sp per week. She can take us to the capital to buy clothes, get travel documents and so forth. The documents are likely to cost about 12 gold.
Provincial Capital
10th Meadow We travelled by boat to the provincial capital: it is rally quite an exciting way to travel, but some did quibble about the slow start, but I like a Captain who starts off slow. Apparently I encouraged quite a splash as we got to the Capital in record time of only 3 hours. Captain Sextus Aloesus Deurio knew Loxi was there as a body guard so all was well. Sextus is of course a prenomyn used only by confidants such as myself.
Approaching the capital we could see pines growing in a corkscrew shape which must make carpentry quite an art form. Plantations of black iris dot the landscape, throwing the red into high relief. There is a mandatory dew-farm in a large bowl-like depression. And Vinyards surround the capital.
Well, all was well until we got to the Capital, and then things got better. A group of guards hurried up and escorted us, well the Legate only spoke with me really: apparently I am a noble mistress to a Vestral, but that sounds a bit odd even for me. We passed a Priest or "Flamen" who has precedence but wears nothing born of an animal – which is quite easy given the silk worm is an insect – but his footwear was just horrid.
The Ambassador's residence, looks like a demure castle. I really don't understanding this use of sweet sherry as a late morning drink but it acts like an antidote to any known aphrodisiac. We resolved any misunderstandings with dear Publius (I am a noble, and no ones' mistress, nor even a Vestal Virgin (though don't laugh for I am eligible as both my children were conceived to Gods: there seems to be a cult of 'Son of God, born of a Virgin', which is just as well as Vestals that loose their virginity are killed unless they conceive to a god)) and a small gesture seemed to smooth everything over. We arranged to visit with the Governor.
There is some concern brewing in official circles over the Flamen issuing a divination: 9 or 10 days ago, the Flamens apparently spoke to the governor of unfavourable signs -- normally an indication that a swarm is expected to attack, so precautions have been doubled, leave cancelled for those troops assigned to civil protection. Governor issued a "Swarm Warning" but no further details. There are some rumblings amongst the populace, but nothing of concern (yet).
11th Meadow
Did some shopping: excellent quality silks and exquisite dyes. See Trade of Aries.
AND we went to the Governor's palace to get permits and look at the maps. They have an amazing ability to almost immediately produce and update maps of the movements of ships and storms. Something to do with wizards eyes in the upper airs. Our cover is that we are to see some knights that went with the last group of Michaelines to their new compound.
We also spent the day preparing the Ambassador's yacht for sailing around the planelet.
Motley and Sir Kit, separately, found out information on the location of the Orb. It was apparently to the west of us and about 500 miles away. They also learnt to say the individual true name of the shield which would enable the user to tune into the Orb so as to gain insights into its location and movements and so forth.
Amelia "you have converted me to this course of action" Motley " Oh don't use that word around Christopher".
Ruins
12th Meadow We set out east towards the believed location of the Orb. We take the Ambassador's yacht, Rori the Air mage and Fidelia the hobbit guide. We are able to cover some 400 lmiles before the first evening, and it is obvious we are approaching the 'ruins', being a circle of standing stones, so we divert to the north to approach from the northeast – this also apparently keeps our speed up.
Amelia's astrology reading changes.
Loxi had a dream of lying and flying the night. We think it is vicarious sensations of what the orb bearer is feeling. The next day we realise it was because the orb was near the monolithic place of power and Loxi got these strong emanations from the orb. It is quite possible that orb bearer will get intimations of Loxi.
13th Meadow As dawn approached we saw the monoliths or 'ruins' from afar.
We found tracks that are a few days old. It appears the Orb bearer and 2 companions landed in the vegetation, walked in to sleep and one did a ritual. They then flew on towards the mining town by the volcanoes visible in the distance. Looks like they are flying on a magic carpet, made of skin rather than wove, that could comfortably carry 8.
Isil Eth bespoke Manwe, who does't like the feel of this planelet as it is corrupted from its original intent. The Orb and Shield are now out of balance and hence unstable and very dangerous to use. We should be very careful to not use it – as it is easy to do an immense amount of wrong with either of them, even with the best of intentions. Both of these are very powerful items, so don't assume that the shield I manageable just because it is the lesser of the two items.
Apparently the Orb is no longer moving. I had been moving very smoothly, probably by binder or Wican magics.
Motley accused Wordsmith of having a good idea – something Wordsmith denied vehemently.
Diverse divinations of the shield by its self, in an area of consecration and near the monolith (but not too near) shows it sparkles more in a high mana area. The Shield is a tuning itself to the planelet. There is a suggestion that the orb was powered up last night by being brought to the monolith, so we carefully do not bring the shield to the monolith.
It is probably very dangerous to those nearby to bring the shield near the orb. So we buried it somewhere with a Loxi tunnel.
Isil Eth inadvertently revealed the Ancient Elvish word form for Dwarf is "that" as an abbreviation for "That being over there".
Loxi is snubbed by the local lichen who don't want to play with her.
An invisible wormy thing turned up at some stage (described under Ares). The best way to deal with these is to not move and engage with offensive magics. Any movement is associated with fear. It DAs as mind worm. Mind magics seem to affect it mightily. They can reincarnate.
We flew onto the next monolith to the north, where some spells were cast and Rori got a pool of mana.
We then flew through the evening and night towards the Mining Town near the volcano, that is visible on the horizon.
{insert link to drawing}
Mining Town
14th Meadow. Motley advised us that there is a minor elder god of chaos after us, as our combined doom. The Location Poem went clear when the Azurians used their Item of Order.
We arrived outside the mining town at early morning. A meeting was in progress so we approached cautiously through a stand of large trees, which are probably feed water from the mines. There are four (off world) people in black nearby. Apparently this is a holiday for them. About two dozen fey are expected tonight, with a big celebration, but not everyone here is happy about this, as normally only a few fey turn up. Probably normal as rumours say the miners trade with the fey.
A townshobbit, Alexandra Rufus, gave us significant help and information, for which we offered to take him out of the town when we leave.
We went to see the town boss and the 4 in black at the big house against the hills, only to be threatened. So we withdrew to the side of the town (Isil Eth's idea), and waited for them to make a move. Once all the town toughs were on their way we wind walked past them to the house and took the black clad people down (Sir Kit's elaboration to original idea):
Lady Lydia: Rune mage, died and then teleported or had a portal contingency on her.
Hyssop Mind mage, standing but wounded, Azurian Elf. Azurian Elves find it difficult to lie, and he gives his word not to escape.
Brutus Tough fighter / Namer, dead, down and leaking. He had the orb. Has three Telepathic Shout grenades designed to impair those with telepathy up. Used weapons cursed against light-aligned people. Died very confused by Motley.
Their (hobbit) guide was not to be seen.
Wordsmith stood his ground, disarmed Rufus and was seriously wounded. Motley and Sir Kit did the damage. A cursory check was made to ensure no dangerous or sacriligeous items were left behind (See Loot from Scrap).
We quickly left the area to the Woodland, much of which was so recently destroyed by Scouring Terrain, and then to our ship, taking the Elf, Brutus and our hobbit friend Rufius. Heading about north-east we saw several fast military ships heading for the mining town, possibly in response to the destruction of the woodland (easily detected from high orbit).
We then discussed the end-game for the orb and shield. We need to ensure that Lady Lydia doesn't return and steal the orb, and given the portal opens in about 12 hours from now we have to defend for the next little bit, and then again in about 6 days.
Orb Planning
A three hour divination of the Orb, together with some serious thinking, suggests the original settlement on this plane led to a dispute between the fey and the humans. The Orb was used to commute the geas of one person on this plane, who is probably now dead anyway, but that caused the plane to skew from the true elements. If reasonable restitution is made then the geas can be considered fulfilled and the plane will be fixed. That however will make the Orb free to commute another geas, and so twist another plane, such as Alusia.
We have reached the simple conclusion that we do not trust anyone enough to entrust the Orb with them, and so we must find a way to remove it from play. We need to find a way to absolve ourselves from the Shield-doom, and giving it back doesn't appear to be enough.
Isil Eth has the following Geas: No discussing our long term plans "I don't wish to kill Hyssop"
Loxy: "Oh, Oh, let me [knock out Hyssop]"
Amelia: "I am trying not to talk about unnecessary things" "We'll be fine"
Sir Kit healed Wordsmith who had the beginnings of the infection peculiar to this plane that has a combination of physical and magical abomination.