Night Train to Lisbon
Summary
Adventure: Night Train to Lisbon
GM: Jim Arona
Season: Winter 818 wk (game time), physically played in Spring (Sep-Dec 2018).
Night: Tuesday
Location: New Windsor
Level: Low to Medium
- Party
- Tsayoi - Truncated Giant Magma Mage - Chris
- Rahne - (f) Human Spellblade - Stephen
- Mario - Human Lothario - Dean
- Aloysious - Human Air Mage - Nick
- Anooke - 'Human child' Ice sculptor - Michael H.
- Penni - (f) Exotic Governess (Elven Healer-Namer) - Lisa
- Raseri Human Dark Celestial - Ciaran
- Employer
Henry the Toymaker
Henry, The Toy-Maker seeks a group of adventurers to travel to Prague on Reich to acquire a collection of qabalistic parchments. - from where it is being held in a private Library
Insertion will be into Varna, and then by train to Prag in Neue Sudetenland. Papers of quality will be provided, but morphously other adventurers are expected to bring their own methods of concealment, since accidentally turning into a bear, tree, raging fire etc on a train is likely to compromise the secrecy of the mission.
The documents should be delivered to Itzhak ben Abraham, owner of the Loja de Pergaminhos on Rua de Livreiros (Street of Booksellers) in the Alfama of Lisbon.
Care should be taken not to allow the documents fall into the hands of the Gestapo. Well, anyone really, but particularly not the Gestapo.
- Scroll is written in Angel Blood in an Angelic language. Part of the Alchemical Marriage of Hermes, making of a Silver Golem associated with travel.
- To be translated by a short Rune Mage of our acquaintance, an ally of the Widow Click.
- Once it leaves the library in Prague, the scroll will be detectable by all interested in such things. Once translated it will become a bright un-missable beacon to them. On high holidays it will be more detectable. Once translated it is not to be taken to the house of any ally, suggested hiding places:
- Library of Alexandria
- Library of Leng - access from Antarctica, Ord Wingate may know of another entrance.
- Temple of Solomon
- Crystal Cave (Wessex, England) - British Museum may have leads in occupied London.
- Payment
- 500 truesilver guineas per adventurer on top of any salvage.
Scribe Notes
N1 - Seagate to Cairo
We meet with Henry at the guild and discuss his needs and how we can help him.
- The scroll to be deciphered contains a great work of Alchemy which is a rank 10 or 11 Masterwork. It is part of the alchemical marriage of Hermes and is the making of a Golem from Silver which is written in angels blood in angelic script. If made by the Knight of silver, the end product would allow transport across the abyss by large units (military and otherwise) which would be a significant boon there.
We agree and then head off to Blackshore and other locations for a couple of days to equip ourselves. We depart Blackshore into the Astral/Abyss on the 4th and start our travel across the unforgiving lands that are the abyss which we exit on the 14th on the plane of Reich at Varna.
- One thing of note in the abyss was that the scar in the heavens there was larger than before and we know from Full Metal Breastplate (see Stamps - W'ansday 8th-9th Heat) that "Mithras, his eye is Aldebaran, beyond which lurks Hastur" - This isn't a good thing.
We arrive at Varna and are met by the Widow Click, who is a Dark Elf (Moriquendi) and a follower of Aulë. She is an ally of sorts and we rest, talk and plan our next movements towards our goal. Raseri and her get on fabulously and spend the night going hard over all sorts of things. We depart the next day by Zeppelin to Egypt via Athens and Cyprus.
We arrive in Cairo on Frysday the 18th where we stay at the Grand Hotel.
We have a drink at the bar where we find amongst the customers a German Archaeologist named Franz?, a Gestapo agent in his usual heavy leather uniform and a local woman/houri (DA'd as a Naga, College of Secrets) who seems to be hitting him up for information. Rahne talks to the archaeologist for information in her own way while we keep our heads down. It's decided that the agent has to die as he's an unpleasant woman abuser. Later that night when he's alone (once the houri had departed) he kills himself shaving and then gets robbed of all his possessions too!
- Astrology - Where to find the entrance to The Library of Alexandria
- Tall narrow structure (like a giant dark obelisk) in a white desert. - ? west of Qatar, about 350 miles across
- Festering dark clouds to the north
- Stairs on the south side
- Beneath an orange star - 'later associated with Hastur.
- NB Sir Andrew Witherspoon - has Great Horses (speak a language, have some magic): Coursers, War Horses, Heavy War Horses
- NB in The Coils of Spring we learned that "Heinrich Himmler has retired to Egypt and resides there in a museum"
- NB Admiral Albert Speer - He is in Egypt in charge of excavations there.
N2 - Cairo to
The morning sees us depart our hotel amidst rumors of a heinous self inflicted death last night of a German officer. Oh well!
We head down to the bus station and get on a bus heading Westwards towards Marsa Matruh on the coast. Both Penni and Aloysious are unwell and seem faint for the day. The bus is a decrepit old vehicle held together by prayers and assorted gums which hold together the various parts. The bus is full of the working class and even Taureg tribes-people who all smell like goats and worse. We all suffer through the hot day and arrive at Marsa Matruh just before nightfall. We quickly find some place to rest ( which would give low cheap class hotels a bad name) and have food before retiring for the night.
The next day we get up before dawn and walk southwards into the desert a bit before summoning a cloud and riding south into the desert heading for The Qattara Depression which is the likely location of the white sand area we seek. We fly for an hour or so and encounter the depression area and the temperature starts climbing into low 30's. We enter the depression area and search for our white sand patch. We find this another hour later and the area is judged to be some 300 miles W-E and 80 miles N-S and we're in the NE corner of it. We decide to bisect it using the fire chariot (I carry both Penni and Aloysious are unwell and seem faint for the day) and wildfire fire-running which is faster than flying. So we spend the day travelling W-SW along the hot desert sands in the heat of around 50 degrees.
Late afternoon we come across a ruins slightly raised from the desert and with a low wall nearby which is what alerted us to the site. We investigate and a pschometry and other magical investigations determine that this was the site of maze of glass (some 60ft high and 80 by 120ft in area) which was destroyed by some type of black fire beam (akin to an entropy blast) from above, leaving only the base of the structure. We think to camp here the night before Mario does an ESP and detects many minds below us which raises our alert level. We investigate through magical means, observe and plan our assault on the secret Nazi base we have found below us.
It appears that there are some 8 black iron 'powered' skeletons, 4 human guard types, a mad scientist (Dr xxx), an occultist summoner, a competent looking human male and a stern looking woman in green. They have a base built around a central room in which resides a primitive computer and other materials - and this is the main room. We plan to open an entrance in the ceiling and drop in to disturb their plans.
We enact the plans when I tunnel out the ceiling and we drop in with complete surprise. The fight goes well initially but the tough skeletons with nasty melee weapons and Iron bullet firing carbines prove 'difficult' along with the 2 summoned devils and the rest of the nasties. We take down the competent male and the green woman (who exudes gases) and is a super-soldier named Zyklon-B along with the summoner (who is destroyed thanks to Mario's magical touch of 777) and the mad scientist. The fight gets messier with Torment and we dig deeper into our reserves of power. We make a break-through and an ice floor to topple the skeletons along with effective C-class weapon finish off the enemy. We survey the scene...
- Weird Science Test Tubes
Incineration Venom x 2
The contents of this test tube is orange.
If it enters the bloodstream, the victim must Resist versus Fire Special Knowledge magic or be reduced to a small pile of ashes after a searing burst of heat.
Chaos Potion
Whenever this potion is Divined, a new effect is revealed
Opalescent Tincture
Divination of this potions reveals this: The Flesh is the Flesh and the Spirit is the Spirit.
- Phial of Chalcedony Sand x 12
This test tube contains sand made from chalcedony and weighs 5 oz.
If the contents are used up during the Casting of an Illusion spell, then the Cast Chance is increased by 10.
If the contents are used up during the Casting of an Energy Bolt or a Bolt of Starfire, it inflicts half damage against the undead.
- Enhanced Amulet of Luck
This amulet is made from the tooth of a cockatrice. It provides 3 points of Defense and 2 points of Magic Resistance that will stack with 1 other Amulet of Luck, only. In addition, up to 3 rerolls may be stored in the amulet each season by spending 1,000 Experience at noon of the season end festival.
- Scroll of Names
This scroll contains these Individual True Names:
- Eris of Discord
- Agares, the Duke of Changes
- Draugluin the Ferocious
- The Great Vixen of Qadmos
This is the Individual True Name of a unique entity. There are only 21 Ranks available. In other words, every Rank this Name is raised by one individual, reduces someone else's Rank by the same amount amount.
However, if the Spell of Name Change is known, and their Rank in the Generic True Name 'Fox' is Ranked to 10 or higher, then they may assume the shape of a vixen the size of a dire wolf, standing 4'2" at the shoulder. Despite her size, the build is light, fur being long, soft and russet except at the tips of the ears, muzzle and brush, which are white, and the legs, which are dark brown.. She weighs 120 lbs.
| PS: | 22 | MD: | 24 | AG: | 18 | MA: | Adept's | EN: | 20 | FT: | Adept's |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WP: | Adept's | PC: | Adept's | PB: | 12 | TMR: | Special | NA: | Special | ||
Weapons: The vixen can bite in Close or Melee Combat
BC: 60%,1 rollup D10+5, B Class damage, excluding decapitation unless the DM rules otherwise
The Bite may be Ranked to 10 using the same Experience Point cost as Unarmed Combat
Every 4 Ranks in this Individual True Name increases PS, MD, AG, EN and PB by 1
Every 4 Ranks in this Generic True Name 'Fox' increases PS, MD, AG, and EN by 1
The Protection value of the fur is 4 (+1 per 4 Ranks in the Individual True Name)
The shape provides 1 point of Damage Reduction against all known forms of damage + 1 for every 10 Ranks in the Individual True Name
The vixen has a land TMR of 9, a swimming TMR of 2 and a leap of 10 ft (+ 1 ft for every 4 Ranks in each Name)
The shade of the fur may be subtly altered to improve Stealtth by the Rank of the Individual True Name while in a natural terrain that is not arctic
The vixen has Racial magic Night Vision (as the Talent of the College of Dark Magic), Rank being equal to Rank in the Individual True Name
The vixen can hear a mouse cough 50 yards distant under three feet of snow
The vixen adds their Rank in the Individual True Name to the base chance of any attempt to track by scent
The vixen has the following movement properties:
- run for 10 minutes covering 5 miles, but must rest for an hour. This can be done no more than 3 times a day, resetting at dawn.
- the vixen has a movement rate of 450 yards per minute over land.
A battleform may also be assumed where the Adept returns to their original form except that their head remains fox-like and a spectral brush emerging from the base of the spine. Changing between the Great Vixen and the battleform requires a Pass Action. It provides
- 1 point of Damage Reduction (+1 for every 10 Ranks in the Individual True Name) against all known forms of damage.
- a Protection value of 1 per 4 Ranks in the Individual True Name additional to the Adept's other armour.
- a Bite attack, as listed above. This may be delivered as part of a Dual Weapon attack without penalty.
- a pool of movement equal to 1 hex for every Rank in the Individual True Name, but can spend no more than ⅓rd (rounding down) in a Pulse. The movement is additional to their TMR but is not considered TMR movement. The additional movement can be in any direction, so long as it passes through an unobscured hex. Thus, movement is allowed up, down, sideways, backwards etc. Using the extra movement does not attract the penalties that using TMR can. For example, the Adept could specifically choose not to use their TMR, instead spending up to 5 hexes of additional movement to deliver a melee attack with a non-pole weapon and not attract a penalty.
- Blackmetal Tulwar x 8
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 17 | 19 | 23 | 29 |
Although the metal is very hard and heavy, it is also extremely brittle. On a disarm result with any melee weapon that is not a lariat, net, whip (or similar) under the effect of a Diamond Weapon spell, or on any Fumble result, the blade is shattered and no saving throw is entertained.
It will only accept enhancements from the Creating Dark Sword spell.
- Nazi Carbine x 8
This carbine weighs 9 lbs and fires iron bullets. The magazine holds 10 rounds, however after 10 bullets have been fired, the barrel will have been ruined and the weapon will no longer be useful. The weapon may be fired using any crossbow Skill, with the following considerations:
- the base Strike Chance is 50%
- any miss that is less than 70 + MD is a hit that inflicts 1 rollup D10 damage directly to EN + 1 Specific Grievous injury, if the roll falls into the range of a Possible Specific Grievous injury, then two are rolled + 1 rollup D10 damage directly to EN. Only Damage Reduction and Ballistic Armour protects against this, Protection and Endurance Armour being entirely ignored.
If the D10 result is a 5, then the iron bullet has passed entirely through the target's body, any other result indicating that the bullet has lodged within. The target may only make use of Racial Magic until the bullet has been removed. Healing magic has no effect on the target, and any use of the Healer Skill has the FT cost increased by 5, suffering a penalty of 20 to the Base Chance.
- Blackmoon Blade
This blackened bronze sword weighs 6 lbs. The base Strike Chance is 71 and the Damage is 2 rollup D10 + 2. It is treated as a hand and a half and it may not be broken as a result of over-strengthing. .
The wielder must be human for the following benefits to apply:
- they are considered Lunar Aspected while bearing it
- The three dark jewels on the hilt of the blade may be attuned when the wielder sacrifices 1 EN to each of them. An attuned dark gem may be charged with a Lunar aspect bonus that lasts four Pulses by exposing it at midnight on three nights of the dark of the moon. Only one dark gem may be charged per dark of the moon.
- Light Eating Armour
This armour is made from layered, quilted canvas, boiled in kraken sepia. Once upon a time, the fabric was the colour of a ship's sail, but now it is so black that any attempt to Detect the wearer's Aura costs 1 FT. It has a weight factor of 2, does not penalise AG and is sized for a human. It reduces damage by 3, provides 7 Protection and 6 Spell Armour. It provides a bonus of 10 to Stealth when the light level is 60% darkness or more. This stacks with any other bonuses that comes from spells or Skills, but does not stack from bonuses arising from itemry.
- Light Eating Left Pauldron
This pauldron is eight inches long, 5 inches wide, weighs 11 oz and has been made from the scale of a black dragon. It fits over the left shoulder. It reduces the Specific Grievous element of a wound to the left shoulder by 1 and decapitation results are ignored.
It does not work when the darkness level falls below 60%.
N3 - xxx
Buffs & Mil Sci
Long Term (assumed always on)
| Magic (caster) | Rk | Effects | Duration | Al | An | Rs | Ma | Pe | Ra | Ts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength of Stone (Ts) | 15 | +15 to PS or EN | 15/25 hrs | EN | EN | EN | EN | EN | EN | EN |
| Greater Ench. (Ra) | 20 | +21% to Res, Mag, Com, and S&S. | 3 days | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Witchsight (Ra) | 10 | 5.5/11.5 hrs | Y | |||||||
| Ench Armour (Ra) | 14 | +30% Def +1 AP 8 DR vs Phnt/Nmare. | 7.5/13 hrs | Y | Y | N | Y | Y | N | |
| Fire Armour (Ts) | 11 | 48pts ablative armour vs Fire | 12 hours | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Resist Cold (An) | 12 | +4 Gauges, -4 Cold Dmg | 13 hours | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |
| Heroic Aura (Ma) | 14 | Mario:+15SC,+2Dmg,+15vsFear; Allies:+4SC,+1Dmg,+7vsFear;Both +4Def,+1DR | 450 mins | |||||||
| Self Only | ||||||||||
| Mind Shield | +10+2/rk% vs M.Att. | 1+2/rk hrs | 8 | 7 | ||||||
| Sense Danger | 61% | 56% | ||||||||
Enhance Enchantment (Ra) rank 11: 70 seconds
Short Term
| Magic (caster) | Rk | Effects | Dur | Al | An | Rs | Ma | Pe | Ra | Ts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enchant Weapon (Ra) | 11 | +12 BC%, +4 Dam. +4 vs Phn/Nm | 16 min | |||||||
| Weapon of Flames (Ts) | 14 | +15% SC and +8DM (+15DM vs undead) | 19 min | |||||||
| Strength of Darkness (Rs) | 11 | +7 PS | 2 Hrs |
Watch Order
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aloysious | Penni | Raseri | Aloysious | ||||||||
| Tsayoi | Anooke | Mario | |||||||||
| Rahne | |||||||||||
Marching Order
| Skirmish Formations (Front) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Default
Mario Rahne |
Double File
Mario Rahne |
Single File
Mario |
Spell Racks
Standard contents of spell racks:
- Mario
- Mind Shield - Chaos Ward (rack and cast as buff)
- Force Shield - Shield of Law (rack and cast as buff)
- Control Person - Dominate Will (racked, -2FT)
- Mental Attack - Multi Target (racked, -3FT)
- Hypnotism - Forget (racked, -2FT)
Astrology
| Aloysious | Anooke | Raseri | Mario | Penni | Rahne | Tsayoi |
| 63 | 89 | 62 | 04, 42 | 88 | 87 |
| Aloysious | |
| Anooke | 915: Sun, Rodent, Light 153: Air, Snake, Order 052: Mana, Snake, Body |
| Raseri | 067: Mana, Horse, Life 543: Wood, Dragon, Order 913: Sun, Rodent, Order |
| Mario | 264: Earth, Horse, Chaos 400: Water, Boar, Mundane 915: Sun, Rodent, Light |
| Penni | 964: Sun, Horse, Chaos 983: Sun, Monkey, Order 690: Metal, Wolf, Mundane |
| Rahne | 634: Metal, Tiger, Chaos 075: Mana, Sheep, Light 601: Metal, Boar, Spirit |
| Tsayoi | 012: Mana, Rodent, Body 502: Wood, Boar, Body 971: Sun, Sheep, Spirit |
Supplies
- Purchased items/goods
- Guild Healing Potions - 21 x 10pt potions - 10,500sp
- Restoratives - Tsayoi has sourced 36 of these +24FT/-12EN - 27,000sp
- Waters of Strength
- Waters of Healing
- Restore Reason - Tsayoi has sourced 6 of these - 39,000sp
- Human Perfume - Created to disguise the elf scent on Penni and her possessions. Also liberally sprayed over others to disguise their associations too! Additional preserved herbs to make more during the adventure.
- Black Lotus
- Peaceful Herbs
- Additional herbs to assist healing and sleep (also preserved)
- 7 female cow skin changes
- 14 x Rank 10 Invested Shadow Wings from lord of bats
- 3 x Plover Stones (Henry)
- 4 x Pentecost Potions (Henry)
- 6 x Black Faberge Eggs (from Widow Click)
- Tsayoi is carrying an extensive number of pouches containing various Herbs, Spices and such like as part of his disguise.
Awards
Experience
Treasure
- Night # 1 - We met a Gestapo agent in Alexandria. He had a fatal accident that night due to his predilection for hurting women. We recovered his clothing, papers (inc orders), cash, weapon (.50cal pistol - desert eagle?), uniform (inc hat, jackboots, spectacles and leather trench-coat) etc.
Individual Awards: Aloysious, Anooke, Raseri, Mario, Penni, Rahne, Tsayoi.
Calendar
| Winter: Frost 818 (7) | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moonday | Duesday | W'ansday | Th'rsday | Frysday | Reapsday | Sunday | ||||||||
|
Samhain | 1 | Guild Meeting Seagate, Blackshore | 2 | Blackshore | 3 | Blackshore | 4 | Astral, Abyss.. | |||||
|
7 | ..Abyss to Varna, Reich.. | ||||||||||||
|
14 | ..Astral, Varna | 15 | Varna | 16 | Airship to Athens | 17 | .. Cyprus.. | 18 | .. Cairo | 19 | 20 | ||
|
21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | |||||||
|
|
28 | 29 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||||
| Winter: Snow 818 (8) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |||||||
|
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12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Solstice | 16 | 17 | 18 | ||||||
|
|
19 | Days of Chaos | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | ||||||
|
|
26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | Twelfth Night | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Winter: Ice 818 (9) | ||||||||||||||
|
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3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | First Plough | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||||||
|
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10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | |||||||
|
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17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | |||||||
|
|
24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | |||||||
| Spring: Thaw 818 (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 | |||||||
|
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14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | |||||||
|
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21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | |||||||
|
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28 | 29 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||||
| Spring: Seedtime 818 (11) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Rites of Thunor | 9 | 10 | 11 | ||||||
|
|
12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Equinox | 16 | 17 | Eostre | 18 | |||||
|
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19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | |||||||
|
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26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
| Spring: Blossom 818 (12) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |||||||
|
|
10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | |||||||
|
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17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | Floralia | 22 | 23 | ||||||
|
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24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | Walpurgisnacht | ||||||
Abyss & Reich Information
- Angels; These are forces of order and not necessarily good, in fact they can be downright nasty if you don't adhere to their version of 'order'
- Demons of the Abyss; These are not necessarily evil but they are chaotic, in fact they can be downright nasty if you don't adhere to their version of 'chaos'.
Thoughts
We know the need for rapid evacuation from the location we translate the item and have identified places which may be safer (which will hide the item) post translation. These include the Crystal Caves in England (legendary place where a king will return from in need), the Great Library of Alexandria et al.
- We will be setting up transport points to enable rapid movement from place to place to locations of possible succour.
- we will investigate locations in advance to set up reverse travel loops
Possible travel routes
- Lisbon-Carthage-Alexandria
- Lisbon-London-?
