The Hero's Quintet

Summary

GM: Stephen
Season: Spring 821 WK
Night: Wednesday
Location: Zoom
Level: High

Party

• Bromli
• Cronose
• Lyric
• Mario
• Tsayoi

Employer?

Thomthin Zyllee, human Junior Apprentice to the Great Wizard Marindel Glynran, Reader of the Scroll (of Summon Hero x 5 Targets)

Farros Yelris, Apprentice, human, slightly older and more sociable than the kid or the ancient one.

Marindel Glynran, 'Wizard' (old-style, doesn't do colleges), human, looks old, is much older. Condescending, arrogant, generally unsociable. Good(?) - more focused on the greater good, what's good the plane is more important than any individuals or transitory political groupings.

Payment?

Aren't you supposed to be controlled and bound to save me?

Later negotiated reward from Marindel for finishing clearing tower.

Scribe Notes

I know this may sound weird, but this happened to me today, while I was drinking at the guild pub in Seagate. I (Tsayoi) was in the bar along with Lyric, Bromli, Mario, Cronose and many more. We'd had quite a few as we hadn't found anything decent to do this season, so we were having a few roadies before heading our respective ways.

Anyway's the room went all hazy for me and I guess all the others too and next thing we knew we were in a Summoners circle in a tower, that wasn't in Seagate, and it wasn't the pub - so we knew something was wrong and there was a Summoner standing the other side of the circle attempting to bind us to their service or some such drivel. He was very surprised when we not only didn't do what he wanted but we answered back as well - which flummoxed him a bit. Now we could hear him talking but also hard banging on the sturdy door to the room we'd been summoned into, and he looked scared about us and the noise. The smarter of us decided to ask what you want us to do - all reasonable like and as if we cared.

He quickly explained that he was trying to summon great Heroes and we all puffed out our chests and said that's what he'd done. He said he needed help to defend against an invading army of Ogres, Orcs and 'Oblins (the 3 O's) and that he'd pay us well to help him.

Now we'd normally be a little hostile to taking up such an unspecific offer full of vagaries, innuendos, and mystery, but we considered that someone who had the ability to summon us past the guild protections had a lot of power and if they needed us for something then it could be lucrative for all involved, so we said OK then, we're in. He released us to exit the circle and we took up positions before the splintering door. The next thing Ogres were charging in past the remain of the door and battle was joined.

We fought the invaders downstairs and do what we're best at - dealing with home invaders, unwanted intruders and the like until we'd pushed them down the stairs by 2 levels and we came to a small space of pause. Someone, probably one of the pointy heads (mind mages - our ones weren't the innately evil types like almost all the rest of 'em) then posited the question to the enemy on the other side of the door and they came back with a story for us.

Their side of the story was. They had come to kill the evil sorcerer who had unleashed mighty energies on their plane, and these were destroying it and taking the energy for his own purposes. They had been chosen as the best of the best to come here and destroy the mage and his tower so as to stop the destruction of their home plane and all those they love dearly. <sob> <sob> <sob> <sob>

We asked Thomthin 'was this true' and he said nah they are just evil barbarians and needed killing. We went back with a little incredulity and asked if any of the parts of the story true. He said he'd come back to us in a bit.

So, a truce was declared for a time, and we wandered the tower looking for things which we failed to find at the time.

Thomthin's master Marindel then broke into our Mind Speech (from his panic room) and told us the truth. He was actually working to save Alusia from being unbalanced due to recent cosmic events and huge magical energy events that threatened to rip Alusia apart if he didn't find a way to fix it. He was our planar protector and charged with keeping Alusia in one piece. He'd discovered that our plane was imbalanced and needed a lot of planar energy to fix so he tapped into another plane using some super-powerful esoteric magic and was draining that plane and replenishing Alusia - for the good of us all it would seem. The 'small side-effect' was the other plane (possible of the Sword Worlds) was destabilising while being drained - but Alusia was getting better bit by bit with the added planar energy. He did use the cracking eggs analogy which we understood and so we said, "OK we're onboard with this" and we'd evict the intruders.

We told the enemy that it's unfortunate, but the truce had one more minute and then either they were gone of their own volition, or the eviction was back on.

Saddened but understanding the minute passed quickly and then the murderous mayhem was all on again.

So, another couple of minutes ensued with us killing and moving, killing and moving, killing and moving and so on until finally we flushed them down to their last bastion whilst keeping them from finding the masters secret apartment and control room. The master had said we needed to do the job quickly and before they found him, or he'd use some planar energy to purge the living from the tower with fatal consequences for all inside.

We almost died many times and only the liberal application of vast healing magics, lucky and tenacity mean that we didn't fail in the mayhem throughout the towers many floors and rooms. In the end they fled by way of his portal room to other locations on Alusia and we made to follow them to finish them off. The 1st portal went to somewhere in Hindia and when we went to pursue and kill the enemy the locals said they'd deal with them, and we should so and cleanse our chakra or some rubbish so we let them to it. The 2nd portal went through to Tac and we followed them there until we came across a Tac patrol who were very rude to us and told us to f$ off as they would deal with those we were chasing. We questioned the wisdom of this and offered to do it for them, but they resisted and said that the people in question were protected by the great Tac Guild who had been retained by these people for protection et all, and we could piss off back to Seagate.

We failed to see any advantage in pushing the matter, wiping the rude patrol out and starting a guild war with Tac so we withdrew back to the portal, subjected to vile taunts by the Tac men, with whom we'll have a reckoning soon enough I feel.

Anyway, we returned to the tower, helped clean the refuse / mess away (as well as liberating itemry from the dead enemy) and chose a reward of special lore for our troubles.

Most of a week in barracks in the tower having the lore forced into our heads.

Then we got to exit through his portal to MMHS and Mario Dream Walked us home, mighty parched I must say. It was a good day at the pub.

Mark my work that this isn't over yet!!!

Kirkyl - Ogre Plane

Marindel claims they're part of the Sworld World Federation, their gods are dead and the Calamar use the Ogres as elite ground troops.

They came in through a portal from their plane, Marindel shut it down but they may be able to make another.

High rank warriors & MilSci, decent weapons & armour, not much shaping, advanced Alchemy (much better than ours), 'cauldron magic' & potions instead of investeds. Ogre-Magi competent in colleges (Namer, Mind, E&E, Celestial, Earth, ...?) and using potioned spells from each other. Honourable in their own way.

Use Orcs and Goblins as archers and auxiliaries. Didn't appear to recognise Dwarves, Humans, or Elves but knew of Devils/Demons and didn't like them.

At least 3 mages, officers and a dozen warriors escaped to Tac. Likely to be healing and regrouping to try again somehow.

Magic Tower

On a coastal cliff, probably in Isles of Adventure

5 high-ceilinged floors, large library, lots of magical paraphernalia

Interplanar mana sucking magical bore

Has permanent portals to 'places of learning or wisdom' around Alusia, includes: Tac, Hindia, MMHS, ...?

So much mana flowing through its stones that overlapping spell effects get swept away or altered

Celestial Events that unbalanced Alusia

1. ~796wk - something about a moon on another plane permanently linked to Alusia
2. ~805wk - stars being flung to the earth from the firmament
3. ~809wk - an Alusian landmass that unbalanced things when it vanished thousands of years ago came back
4. ~812wk - major upsets to the relative balance of Alusia, Hell, and the Elemental planes
5. ~815wk - the Sun unbalanced by rituals and ignorant messing with energies in close proximity

Many other lesser events that may have been absorbed in the ebb and flow if not for these. And several gods that would normally help maintain the balance distracted and dragged into pointless conflicts.

Manifesting as instability in the seasons and elements, world laws being weakened and broken, increased incidence of natural disasters.

Buffs & Mil Sci

Buffs and Enhancements

Long Term Buffs (assumed always on)

Magic (caster)	Rk	Effects	Duration	Br	Cr	Ly	Ma	Ts
Strength of Stone (Ts)	16	+16 EN	17 hrs	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y

Calendar

Spring: Thaw 821 (10)
	Moonday		Duesday		W'ansday		Th'rsday		Frysday		Reapsday		Sunday
		Candlemansa	1	Guild Meeting	2		3		4		5		6
	7		8		9		10		11		12		13
	14		15		16		17		18		19		20
	21		22		23		24		25		26		27
	28		29		30		1		2		3		4
Spring: Seedtime 821 (11)
	5		6		7		8	Rites of Thunor	9		10		11
	12		13		14		15	Equinox	16		17	Eostre	18
	19		20		21		22		23		24		25
	26		27		28		29		30		1		2
Spring: Blossom 821 (12)
	3		4		5		6		7		8		9
	10		11		12		13		14		15		16
	17		18		19		20		21	Floralia	22		23
	24		25		26		27		28		29		30	Walpurgisnacht