Land of the Mislaid

Land of the Lost Mislaid.

Scribe Notes: Session – Autumn 813

GM: Michael Parkinson
Night: Thursday NOT 28th Mar; resumimg 4th April (corrected date) at Michelle's.
Level: apparently innocuous, about 5 to 15 [max] previous missions; but it will be weird and risky for that level
Plane: mostly on Purple.
House Rules: Opposed rolling combat system play test.
also new E&E quickness, etc ...

WANTED: about six humans, passably ugly, that must NOT be too skilled or competent, but can still manage to discretely infiltrate a newly colonised southern continent.

The Party

• Cassandra a low "pretty" human Wicca played by Michelle Ellis — Party Leader
• Boabdil, a Ranger from Arabee.
• Pretty Flower not your typical elf, Namer played by William.
• Ruppurt a new Human Enchanter played by Ian Wood — Scribe
• Tesla, a one-adventure character played by Jono Bean non-mage — Military Scientist

The Mission

Ange, from the Plane of Purple, is a Bard and Emissary extraordinary of your employer Lady Fell of the Great Wood. He says:
Millennia ago, La Grande Prophétesse advised the Elves of Great Wood of great future threats that would come to pass, including a Guild of magicians and mercenaries that would arise on the Plane of Alusia to assist us. You will be sent to a continent on Purple newly colonised by off-worlder's from many planes, but all paranoid about foreign invasion from other continents. Lady Fell wants for some not-overly competent ugly humans to find an overdue [air quotes] “close associate” spying on said ugly humans and tell him it’s time to come home or else return the equipment that he was given. You will be paid for the attempt; but paid more if you bring back the goods &/or useful information.

The Guild further advises that successful applicants MUST be human, enough of them adequately “ugly” (by the Purple Elves' standards) and all passably innocuous; preferably mostly non-mages; No powerful illusionists; No more necromancers. Apparently the colonials can detect hero-level persons, items, or magic effects ... probably pacted people too, although insignificant minions of the standard 4 (Mick, Gab, Raf, & Uri) can be tolerated; otherwise No 'Pacted' beings or items. It is very important to avoid undue suspicion, & due suspicion even more so. Do not expose the employer, her target, ... or the Guild.

Equipment & training: The employer’s emissary cannot transport anything iron. Substitute equipment will be provided. Spoken languages are not a problem; but training will be provided beforehand as required (e.g., to read the human language).

Key People

ANGE the Bard is the epitome of Elvish beauty, as expected for : sharp nose & cheek-bones, big mouth, receding chin; short (5’8”) despite freakishly long legs. Like a cross between a rat and a frog, except for the Long Golden curling hair and innate Elvish smugness. He has a special spell that will transport you between planes and get you to your destination continent without setting off any alarms.

MEGAERA FELL: a powerful noble elf of The Great-wood. Not to be crossed.

CHRYSUS of DOVES: (m. elf) an opportunistic adventurer, of poor but nominally respectable birth; a former associate of Lady Fell.

The Bard describes Ugly humans as [quote] ... vaguely person-like, too tall, yet legs still too short; most with black or brown fur on their heads (sinister black! yucky dark brown! — not Gold, Silver, Polished Copper or even ordinary Mossy Green). Also flatter womanly faces, although many of the he-humans, especially those with the grotesquely huge muscles have prominent lower jaws (not a beautiful, slim, discrete one) with excessively defined jawlines with Chins that stick out, often covered with even more fur! And as for the she-humans, most with their obviously swollen upper torsos ... [words fail him, for once].

Relevant Purple Background known to the Guild ...

... but NOT to the Employer or her spokes-elf. A previous Guild mission (Winter 797) went back in time. After they returned, the slow way, the people and countries had greatly changed but only individuals who were off-plane when the Mission left remain unchanged and remembered “how things used to be, but suddenly are no longer”. More robust, usually larger than the current Elves’ tame humans, the people of that Empire dominated three continents and had about a dozen off-plane colonies and a few naturalised residents from elsewhere. It is assumed that the Ugly humans are such former colonists.
Isil Eth also gave us valuable information, and high tea with style and grace and such youthfulness. It was very important. Oh yes, now i remember "dont say thank you to an elf, as that will suggest we owe them a huge favour". And if we have problems we should make our way to the dwarves or hobbits on the other southern continent. Dont go to the lizard-infested archepelago. Important safety tips apparently.

Scribe Notes

1st Fruit 813

We are off. No wait a minute the Annoying Employer remembered another thing to tell us.
Our voluble employer used Planar Magic, cunningly mistaken by us to be Bardic, to travel to the intermediary plane of Water, said with a foreign accent: "??". There we find Plaz'toro patrols, who are surprisingly concerned about people poaching Roc's, the large birds that prey on whales. Fortunately for us the seas around here are too shallow for whales, sharks and other large toothed aquatic creatures so we dont expect to see any Rocs or any of its prey. <note to seal this section so Aquilina doesn't try to do something heroic and because it is Aqualina, ultimately suicidal.> Off in the distance is a small island to which we travel on a self-made raft - told you it was shallow.

The convict colony This place gave me the willies, so i will write this quickly.
The buildings are all well made, and obviously built to stop the inhabitants from leaving, rather than keeping the fauna out. Most of the buildings are completely empty - either the inhabitants had time to pack everything before leaving or a guild party has preceded us.

Not all of the colony remains. An oval shape has been removed, much as if a colossus has scooped a large divet out the ground (buildings and all) and replaced it with a divet from a swamp. We assume this is the colonists way of 'taking our holidays home with us'. The swamp is mostly dry now, and only the smallest of creatures and hardiest of plants survive. Hmm, this is what Purple will look like.

This may be important - the colonists are humans from the plane of Purple who came here several decades ago, and on their recent return to Purple noticed some important changes, and as people were now living where they had before the change, they have taken their colonies to the southern continent.

Another apparently important thing is that they do planar travel by the (very large) bucket, taking everything with them.

Purple - the Great Wood We nonchalantly travel to the plane of Purple, arriving in a large wood, in sight of an ugly stone building, the Ministry of Retribution and Justice . In there we meet the Lady, get some weapons, some items, some knowledge, some skills and languages and stop eating. It would seem we are now even more hideous than before.
There is more to write, but my hand: it is cramping.

End of Gond We went to the southern end of Gond, arriving near one of two mines: Rainbow metal and some silvery metal. The mists dampen all smells and sounds - how can one be stealthy when everything is muted? She wants some armour made from rainbow metal, but somehow I think this may make stealthing difficult. Now some dull grey armour, or bark-brown armour, or dappled grey-brown-green armour that would be fun. or some thread that was really tough but could be woven into armour, that would be cool in summer, comfortable, quiet and washable. What is it with humans that don't wash but claim to be stealthy?
We left a third of our money and stored magic in End, and walked the turnpikes (permanent portals) to the seaside (dinner), to a quiet town (sleep), to the capital (gossipy news paper full of interesting information once we worked out the code system - apparently you cannot refer to someone by name. It is free to travel within a duchy, and a few silvers each to travel between duchies. At the seaside we see some flying ships bringing in fresh fish, some with under slung loads of ice.
Gond A large town, capital of the province/duchy of the same name. It smells of cinnamon and sweating humans.
Principality The dominant duchy, the Prince considers himself to be independent of the Governor of the continent. It has a smell of spices and with a hint of citrus. Do they wear cologne? It has many villages linked to it by turnpike, to provide cheap accommodation and food. most of these are walled, and the turnpikes are within small forts or stockades. We stayed at a nice place called Plover's Rest - honest smells: you can tell the locals from the commuters quite easily.
To our luck, we are each able to trace the path travelled by our quarry - Crisis - as he cross the continent. Small dots appear every 10 feet when he is walking, further apart when he is travelling by ship, so we loose his trail a few times. He has been to the town of Grond many times, so we chose to follow him to the north.

Mde Satsuma
Crysus is having a mid-life, having dressed in women's clothing and taken with a notorious rake (Captain Karl). As Mistress / Madam Satsuma, Crisis has masqueraded as soothsayer, of the guild of prostitutes, astrologers and soothsayers (I prophecy a surprise). Satsuma was last seen in the northern city of Z.
Z Heading north, we get to 'Z', pronounced "zed", a large military town on the edge of the desert. His trail heads into the desert, at walking pace. The desert is a dangerous place, full of dangerous creatures. We chose to find another way of finding him. Fortunately we brought Her, who is very skilled at putting men at repose, er their ease, and She had to spend only a little money getting people drunk enough to talk to Her rather than her Peaches. The airships are all military, commanded by military men, who did not see many peaches so uplifted that it like She wears aerium impregnated clothing. These military men need to get out more because they talk of the most trivial things, for example: Mde Satsuma's prophecies changed in character about 2 years 3 months ago; Satsuma was interested in Badlands; Satsuma on the brain.
Badlands We went to the University and learnt about Badlands: it was scooped here about 14 years ago (from the plane of Badlands to create the province of Badlands 20 miles square), then 3 years ago it was attacked by hideous (iron, mechanical, metal?) golems, thought to be from the lizards. The Governor sacrificed the province, or so he says as he was the only survivor, by setting the scoop mechanism to self (destruct) mode. This was just as a portal was being commissioned from Z to Badlands. Badlands is apparently still on the restricted list.

Hard Thames The gossip paper Hard Thames publishes Mde Satsuma's prophecies in the Guildhalls. All writers indulge and She only needed to buy three stiff drinks for a dried up old gossip before his nethers remembered what his eyes were seeing. Mde Satsuma stopped calling about 2 and a half years ago, so once they had run of out her (pre-written) readings they had to write their own, so of course they were noticeably different. Mde. Satsuma may have an arrangement with Capt X, a cognomen for the notorious Capt Karl of the Airship Soaring Saurus, which may be a hint that the lizards can fly now. (how could they tell is was a nom de gossip?)
Guildhalls Rich, lots of mages, normal mana, 15,000 people, lots of artisans, and host to the Hard Thames gossip rag.
Principality Expensive, varied and dangerous. 80% have a plane of origin of Alusia.

We got our hidden money from End, and split it over three hidy holes in Plover's Rest (1/9th each). No loot yet, sigh. Just remember we have some strength of stone invested in pins.
back to Z, aerieum Minehead is across the ranges from Z, which are on opposite sides of a reef of aerium - the metal used to make their ships float in air. The unrefined ore is worth about 4 times the same volume of gold - gold weighs a lot more, so possibly 1000 x the same weight of gold. It has to be smeltered into a powered form and then activated by special magic or by mechanical device. Musty plays with some and destroys the inn we were staying at - apparently it expands a lot when activated. It can then lift a ship and 100s of tons. although to be fair, it also looses its activation over time and has to be reactivated. A safety feature is to place the aerium in large rubbery bags before activating, so that all of it stays in one place and goes with the ship - that's clever that is.

mechanical aside Mechanicians will note that Musty used two nails - one copper, one zinc - stuck through a lemon to activate the aerium. something about lightening is the font of all life and can be found even in citrus. My head hurts.

Lets fly to Badlands Bobtil and Tesla took the Far (and expensive) portal to Aquatica to learn it would cost a quarter to a third of our gold to hire a ship to travel to Badlands. However the cost of the Far Portal would also cost us a fifth of our gold.
Port' Abena is a town with a large airport on the cheap side of the Far Portal. It was created by scooping an existing coastal port and placing it on the shore of a large lake. It would only cost half of our gold to hire a ship to Badlands, so that is probably better.
There are many airships there, one of which looks like a chateau - must be someone pretentious or important (they are never both). Some airships are long metal and wood lozenges, that cannot be propelled by sails, indeed someone says they are propelled by kettles - I shall call the Tea-Ships. There are two ducal guards every 10 ships and 2 Federal Guards for every 15 ships.

the desert The desert is a dry sandy desert, which is a surprise. there are three to four dunes per mile that are 80 feet high. there are some large hills out into the desert. Although we can fly, thanks to Her, we decide to walk. <blinks rapidly> There are dangerous things out here, and a distinct lack of safety features like a stockade. Back to town.

The Soaring Saurus. Capt. Karl flew in yesterday, so he is getting drunk with his crew at the Admiral's Legs. We return on the morn to negotiate through his hangover.

16th Frost

Bobtil learns about Karl in the Admiral's Leg - who knows how many laps he had to sit on - and that Karl is close to a smuggler, that Karl thinks he is a charming rogue although he is getting old; one or two females of the three score imbibers have close associations with Karl. Fred (Karl's engineer / air mage) is a former slave of the Master Race (lizards of the north) and his name is a shortened 'Freed man', whose favourite fruits are pungent such as a mango.
Going to the ship we notice there are two more sentients on board than expected, although the captain doesn't want to discuss it.
The Captain dresses as a fake gentry (his sword is a fake Wonkinson, you can tell because the sippling isn't correct) and has four books! He stinks of sour alcohol and probably has a rich and varied history. Fresh air!
The Doc is more refined and has magical glasses, which is probably good when you are about to cut someone for no better reason than to make them better. Don't play cards with him.
She asks about Mde. Satsuma, and on using several possible code words in various sentences we eventually demonstrate our bonefides, or confuse him into agreement, "By Myguerra's right arm" seems to work. For the piffling cost of paying his immediate debts he will fly us to Badlands, where he dropped her off. He also wants half the loot. 35 ducets later, being about a quarter of our gold, we are ready to lift off and sail.
The hairsuit mechanic lights it up and we are away just before evening. It will be 12 days to Badlands around the top of the continent. Flying at 20 mph and 200 feet altitude, we can see fish in the ocean.

Starships A form of airship that uses the power of stars to propel them through the air. They travels slower than wind driven craft and are vulnerable to local winds. They don't need winds however and don't have large sails up or other vulnerable things, which may make them vulnerable to boarding.

Tea-ships A form of airship, made or developed by dwarves?, that is made of metal and wood, and propelled by some infernal steam engine.

17th Frost

A tea-ship (metal vessel) comes into view early afternoon.

On the airship

The party boarded the Soarosaurus (90' private cargo airship) at Port'Abena. All the crew are human except Fred (and the ship's cat)

• Cap'n Kyle — lowborn roguish seducer (amateur, not professional courtier); good-looking, if sometimes a bit haggard ("It's not the age, it's the milage"); excellent gambler, but not always lucky. Magic items: rapier(?), leather goggles.
• Engineer Freedman ("Fred"), GTN Subhuman. Very hirsute (and orange hair at that), not overly tall, but strong, especially in the arms; taciturn but clearly intelligent, especially for an airmage, innovative mechanician. Secretive, especially concerning his large bag of tools Magic items: leather goggles.
• Brandy, the firemage — pilots the fire-ship hidden in the portside hull. High-spirited and dangerous ... almost always more dangerous to the enemy than to the ship.
• Doc — healer, short and stout (not all of it fat), a mainly functional drunk; cold and calculating, but well though of by all on board; once was gentry (you can tell from the way he ties his cravat even when intoxicated, the concealed jewellery, and the unspoken backstory). Magic items: blue glasses
• Roger, the cabin-boy — nimble, ex-thief (mostly); a very bad liar.
• Assorted Deck-hands (Garbutt, Hervé, Ivarr, Joslynn) — big, strong, suspicious, silent when sober.
• Two unknown guests (?), below: one alert but calm, the other ravenous.
• modern lulleys
• covered, mounted telescope
• range finder
• tarp covered projector of some nefarious manner.

Loot & other useful stuff

From your most excellent employer & her minions:

• A SCROLL of Pensées: maxims that will Raise Morale, in various ways: The first hearing of each though is always the most powerful, so best saved for special occasions.
• Mind Shield (Mind G7 rank-20), 6 lozenges: BC 130: 41hr
• Freedom of Action (Mind S** rank-20), 1 pin (@ 3 charges) BC 130: 315' range, 10m30s, 6 targets; see below.
• Assimilation (Mind S** rank-20), 1 pins (@ 3 charges) BC 140: 210' range, 5h15m; see below.
• Feather Falling (Air G2, rank-10), 1 pin (@ 3 charges) BC 120: 110' range, 5h30m.
• Arrow flight (Air S2, rank-16), 1 pin (@ 3 charges): BC 127: 10 arrows/quarrels at +18 BC.
• Flying (Air S6, rank-10), 2 pins (@ 3 charges) BC 110: 55' range, 5h30m, 40mph, D minutes delay.
• Strength of Stone (Earth S3 rank-12), 6 pins (@ 3 charges) BC 112: 10' range, 13hr, +12 PS or EN.
• Armour of Earth (Earth S4 rank-12), 6 pins (@ 3 charges) BC 112: 10' range, 6h30m, +26 def, 1 pt.
• Pass without Trace (Earth G* rank-12), 6 pins (@ 3 charges) BC 142: 130' range, 13hr, 7 targets; see below.
• Rock Steady (Earth G* rank-15), 6 pins (@ 3 charges) BC 164: 150' range, 16hr, 8 targets; 16 bonus; see below.
• Water Creation (Water S12, rank-12) 1 pin (@ 3 charges) BC 120: 13 pints (providing there is moisture available to be extracted).
• Liquid Purification (Water S5, rank-12) 1 pin (@ 3 charges) BC 115: turns 3¼ gallons of any aqueous liquid into drinkable water.
• Waters of Strength (Water S12, rank-12) 1 FLASK (@ 3 charges): [D-2]+12 PS for 65min.

Description of non standard spells:

Freedom of Action (Megaera Fell special)
Range: 15 feet +15 / Rank
Duration: 30 seconds + 30 /Rank
Experience Multiple: 150
Base Chance: 30
Resist: None
Storage: Investment, Potion
Target: 1 entity + 1/4 full ranks
Effects: The spell enables the target to act independently of any existing commands, fears (magical or natural), phobias, geas or compulsions during their normal actions. It does not give additional actions. The Targets also gets a bonus of 5% + (1 / Rank) to resist new fear-like effects whilst under the effect of the spell.

Assimilation (Megaera Fell special)
Range: 10 feet + 10 / Rank
Duration: 15 minutes + 15 / Rank
Experience Multiple: 225
Base Chance: 40
Resist: Passive
Storage: Investment, Potion
Target: Entity
Effects: The target appears to be ‘part of the crowd’, beneath notice or concern. The Adept must choose an archetype that the Target will appear to be. As long as the target acts normally for that persona they will not experience the exceptional attentions of thieves, guards, rogues, merchants, lascivious princes, rakes or the like. The spell ceases if the Target is observed to act inappropriately for their surroundings and/or archetype

Pass without Trace (Earth General; Purple)
Range: 10 feet + 10 / Rank
Duration: 1 hour + 1 / Rank
Experience Multiple: 50
Base Chance: 60%
Resist: None
Storage: Potion, Investment, Magical Trap, Ward
Target: 1 entity + 1/2 full ranks
Effects: The targets pass over earth and through all but the thickest vegetation without leaving tracks or evidence (other than scent) of their passage unless a member of the group deliberately attacks or damages animals or plants native to that area, whereupon the spell ceases for all targets. Obviously Targets may fish, bird-hunt, or attack sentients and non-natives without the spell failing. The Effects function in other places where an earth mage may cast —e.g., in trees, or moving through a building anchored the Earth— but not in the air or on a sailing boat (spell is still running, but not effective).

Rock Steady (Earth General; Purple)
Range: 10 feet + 10 / Rank
Duration: 1 hour + 1 / Rank
Experience Multiple: 100
Base Chance: 60%
Resist: None
Storage: Potion, Investment, Magical Trap, Ward
Target: 1 entity + 1 / 2 full ranks
Effects: When in direct contact with the Earth, the target has a bonus to all resistance rolls or stat checks to “stand firm”, physically or in morale — including resisting fear or panic, or being knocked down: 1 + 1/Rank on the percentile roll; double that versus Air-magic. This bonus combines with all other magic or skill bonuses (counterspells, morale raising, etc).
At Rank 10, the target can stand motionless without effort or stat rolls.
At Rank 15, the target can’t be knocked down.
Also, every charging or trampling attacker that successfully connects with the target (regardless of any actual damage done) experiences Rank points of fatigue damage, less their armour, for each charge/trample attack almost as if trying charging or to trample a rock.