MorsCerta, HoraIncerta
Summary
Adventure: MorsCerta HoraIncerta
GM: ChrisC
Season: Spring 823 wk
Night: Monday
Level: High
Place: Chez Martin?
- Party
- Everan - Scholar Macabre - Dean MilSci
- Rahne - Enchantress of the Stars - Stephen Scribe PL
- Serendipity - Lady Dark - Lisa
- Mortimer - Renaissance Scholar - Martin
- Cher - Blade Dancer - Sean
- ? - Michelle?
Party is full
- Employer
- The Unified Western Church
- Mission
- An emissary from the Unified Western Church has come to the guild. A threat to the realms has arisen and a capable party is sought to deal with a sensitive matter and is requested to attend Tomas Xerxes, the Archbishop of Mordeaux for a briefing.
He will be in the village of Dell Aristeas (in the See of Montpon-Ménestérol - Mordeaux) in a weeks’ time on the 8th of Thaw and would like to discuss the matter with the party there. The party is also asked to guard some church artifacts being taken (by boat) to the new port of Chestyr in the Viscounty of Nouveau Zumalar (Aladar) on the good ship Mare Ditat.
- Pay
- Usual Loot, salvage and the occasional pie!
Scribe Notes
Sailing to Chestyr
- Duesday 1st Thaw
We seem to have drawn a junior guild security agent as he seems nervous and gives us his name, Artemis. Cher sends him for the wine he forgot to have laid out. Then we get into the usual introductions.
Alesandro Deborgia (middle aged human, former soldier, now a scholar/administrator), emissary of the Arch Bishop who will be available to meet us in a week's time. They'd like us to scout Jurgenmark. Scouts have been in up to 15 miles, seven of the 23 scouts returned. Plague started in NW of the realm, mostly killed people with magical skill. Population before the plague was 400,000. Approx. 15,000 square miles. Borders Drakenburg, Aquila, Dragonspine Mountains.
They initially want us to escort a ship with 40 tonnes of blessed stone and funds for constructing a church in Chestyr.
Alesandro is authorised to engage us with a retainer of 10,000sp each to escort the ship and meet with the Arch Bishop. He also blesses us - -1 on dice rolls stacking with Lesser to -2.
The usual rituals and shopping for healing potions.
- W'ansday 2nd Thaw
We fly down to the docks to join the ship to set sail after dawn. We are met by Captain Roderigo de Mare & Chartered Water Mage Zigmund Nordburg. Holy stone in the hold counts as consecrated ground, strong room in the bow for the chests of funds.
We set sail out into the bay.
- Th'rsday 3rd Thaw
Sailing north about 160 miles.
- Frysday 4th Thaw
Sailing north about 180 miles.
- Reapsday 5th Thaw
Sailing about 90 miles north into Chestyr about midday.
Dark Circle Ambush in Ormond
The shiny new port of Chestyr is so new it is still clean. Mortimer and I head up to the cathedral construction site to expedite receipt of the goods, Brother Ortho returns with us and accepts the delivery. Lunch at the dockside tavern, Golden Anchor. We then check into the Golden Ruby Inn for the night, Innkeeper Bryan Maynard.
- Sunday 6th Thaw
Midmorning departure after a leisurely start, we walk out of town then take flight SE towards Ranke and then to Dell Aristeas in Mordeaux.
The only accommodation in town is the Holy Sheaf Inn, Innkeeper Ivan, we settle in.
The Chapterhouse up the road is the Order of the Sanctity of Knowledge. They have a library available to 'qualified' scholars, access from 11am to 3pm for 1sp per day.
- Moonday 7th Thaw
Reading, training, passing time.
- Duesday 8th Thaw
Early afternoon while waiting for the Bish, we see a house on fire (The Schimmelpennick Estate) and we fly to help, on route we see that tThe Archbishop and his squad is also going to help with the fire.
There are undead lurking and this fire has clearly been intentionally set to attract the Archbishop into an ambush, just across the border from Mordeaux and its defences.
- These are equivalent to Dark Circle Enhanced undead. They attack the Bishop's carriage and men with 6 rank 8 TK Rage Grenados; drain adjacent entities FT & EN, have rat cloaks to ablate damage, and a portable 'Dark Circle' rock. A Skeletal Lord, 2 Skeletal Knights, and over a dozen lesser undead.
Damage enhanced Black Lightning & Hellfire wreak mayhem; the Dark Circle rock sundered by the Sword of Solomon; a safe stone (dust & sand) walled coral for the rescued children, a bone ladder descending to it from the upper floors; flying and smashing through the upstairs window to rescue the residents. Melee battles: Cher vs the Skeletal Lord, Rahne vs one Skeletal Knight in the burning building and Arch Bishop Xerxes and his remaining men vs the other Skeletal Knight. The big 3 explode in shards of lethal bone when their rat cloaks are burned through and they are finally put down.
Everan's interrogation reveals they were sent by Loras from Jurgenmark who sent them and 6 other teams to kill various military and political targets across the Western Kingdom.
They are allied with Murkul death cults, one chapter of which is based in Ormond and their living cultists participated in this attempt on the archbishop.
Skeletal Lord's evil dark sword is associated with Murkul, a Death God.
The butchers bill is large but the party save 8 adults and 12 children from the burning house.
Debriefing with Xerxes
Useful undead loot:
- 6 rank 8 TK Rage Skulls, 80%
- 6 Greek Fire Grenadoes
The targets of the undead hit squads are:
- Bernhard, Lord High Marshall of the WK - Killed
- Gerhard Schneider, Admiral of WK - Survived
- AB of Mordeaux - Survived
- Bertram de ?, Constable of Schiefield, fort on the border of Jurgenmark - Survived
- Jann ?, Constable of ?, fort on the border of Jurgenmark - Killed
- Charlemagne Martel, Major General of the WK - Survived
- Katerina, Governor of Innesburg - Killed, Innesburg is on fire.
- Duke Baltman of Aladar - Killed
We fly one of the Bishop's guards to the chapterhouse to send messages warning the other targets.
The Gold & Mithril Darksword is Sentient, +SC, + damage, cumulative dice modifier in combat, curses non-evil wielders. We destroy it with a Dark Sphere, the resultant explosion is about 200' radius and levels the remains of the building.
We then use the Dark Sphere to destroy the remains of the Dark Circle stone.
From the remains of the Bishop's carriage, Everan rescues:
- a sceptre of seeking witches, paralyses them, makes them flammable, ignites them.
- a Black Diamond of Consumption - Dark Sphere bead
- a Red Ruby of Life - 3 resurrections (also affects undead)
- an Emerald of Growth - miracles of restoring terrain, 10 charges of rank 20.
- a grenado (Light Sphere)
- a pouch of teleportation dust, 6 charges, one per entity, travel up to (PC x 20 miles)
- 4 books (Demons vs Denizens, Ascending vs Descending, Book of Horrors, The 71)
We fly the Bishop and his knights back to the chapterhouse.
- W'ansday 9th Thaw
We meet with the convalescent bishop in his chambers & brother Adolphus his deaf/mute attendant, returning his things from the carriage. He gives back the pouch, loans us the books for a season.
He wishes to employ us to scout Jurgenmark, checking in on church properties (chapels, monasteries, churches), assess the undead military capability. His Seers had visions of a dark rain falling on the land and pooling. Many of them died or were possessed in attempting to scry the area.
He gives us:
- 5 x Amulets of Jasper - resistance
- 5 x Amulets of Lifeforce cloaking - makes us a bit harder to detect by undead
- An enchanted Writ of Authority
- The Emerald & Ruby
- 50 x Holy Water Grenados (megahex)
Payment is 20,000sp each in coin or knowledge.
3 weeks ago, a hidden cellar in Novalar was accidentally found containing the bodies of 40 knights who have been dead for 5 years and have also been seen around the WK in that time. We are given their names and heraldry, a general order to detain them is out. The 40 were crusading together around the time they died.
We leave just after lunch.
Chapter 4
- Th'rsday 10th Thaw
- Frysday 11th Thaw
- Reapsday 12th Thaw
- Sunday 13th Thaw
Buffs & Mil Sci
Long Term (assumed always on)
Magic (caster) | Rk | Effects | Duration | Ev | Mo | Rn | Se | Ch | ? | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Greater Ench. (Rn) | 20 | +21% to Res, Mag, Com, and S&S. | 5 days | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
Witchsight (Rn) | 22 | See Invis | 12.5 hrs | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y | |
Ench Armour (Rn) | 20 | +42% Def +1 AP 14 DR vs Phnt/Nmare. | 10.5 hrs | Y | Y | |||||
Familial Defence (Mo) | 19 | +43% Def +3 DR | 10 hrs | - | Y | - | Y | |||
Str of Darkness (Se) | 20 | +11 PS | 200 min | Y | Y | Y | A | Y | Y | |
Instil Flight (Mo) | 15 | 80 mph, 800 lbs limit, item 20k+ sp to enchant | 16 hrs per 24 | Y | Y | Y | ||||
Ice Traversal (Ch) | 20 | Travel over ice and/or snow without slipping or sinking in. (+7 TMR on flat ice) | 7 hrs | |||||||
Self Only | ||||||||||
Mind Shield | +10+2/rk% vs M.Att. | 1+2/rk hrs | 8 | 12 | 13 | |||||
Navigation | Extra Navigator ranks as listed and safer travel | 1+rk Hrs | +4 (12) |
Short Term
Magic (caster) | Rk | Effects | Dur | Ev | Mo | Rn | Se | Ch | ?? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Enchant Weapon (Ra) | 16 | +17 BC%, +6 Dam. +7 vs Phn/Nm | 21 min |
Capability | Rk | Effects | Dur | Ev | Mo | Rn | Se | Ch | ?? |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sense Danger (%) | Mind Talent (or equivalent) | 71% | |||||||
Detect Ambush (%) | Ranger (-5/rank of opposition) | 136% | 114% | ||||||
See Invis (Rk) | Effective rank for seeing invisible | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | ||
Stealth (%) | Standard / Ranger Outdoors | 165 / 182% | 121 / 98% |
Misc
- Enhance Enchantment
- (Ra) rank 11-13: 65-80 seconds
- Herbalist Lunch/Broth
- Rahne rk 4, Meal 3 FT or Broth 3 FT
- Rahne Ranger ring (Highlands)
- +7% Def, +7 IV in Melee and Ranged
- Everan - Protection from Evil (10 ft radius from Everan)
- +30% MR, +4 FT AP, +4 Spell AP
- Dance (Cher)
- 5 mins dancing every morning for Reroll 1 failed MR or ignore 1 stun
- Snail Shell (Cher)
- 1 each, crush to undo one terrible consequence
Watch Order
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cher | Everan | Serendipity | Mortimer | ||||||||
Rahne |
Marching Order
Skirmish Formations (Front) | ||
---|---|---|
Default
Rahne Cher |
Double File
Rahne |
Single File
Rahne |
Astrology
Everan | Mortimer | Rahne | Serendipity | Cher | tba |
59 | 75 | 13 | -- | 34 | __ |
Calendar
Spring: Thaw 823 (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 823 (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 823 (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 |