abjourne DE session 10: Choices:

November 17, 2008 – 12:44 am

After a few days of battling roaming grendle surrounding the walled town of Harting, jeb is contacted by one of his elemental spirit allies who reveals himself as a pixie, who then leads the young warden to again spy upon the heroes enemy, “the dark mage”. The mage enchants a large shard with obviously demonic energies (green flames) and proceeds to commune with “his master”. The dialogue mostly consists of the mage reporting the heroes’ actions over the past few months (see summaries 1-9) ending with his plans to eliminate them & propagate conflict or destroy many factions around the ormaden vale. Afterward the pixie leads Jeb to a serene glade & introduces himself and his three fellow fairies, proclaiming their assistance to the warden’s quest against the evil forces threatening his country before returning him back to the besieged town.

 

The heroes, after reviewing the situation decide upon a course of action, beginning by heading to the feywynn of Rhanelm (wood elves) to request sanctuary for the people of Harting from an advancing army of Si’duthan (aquatic elves). The feywynn deny their request choosing neutrality over the conflict & are skeptical about their accusations against a band of warriors (sent by jade) who’ve settled nearby and aided the fey against manticores in the heroes’ absence. Disheartened they head back to Harting only to spot an advanced scouting party of Si’duthan and choose to ambush them. Once there they recommend the populace of the imperiled town flee south to the barony of Lingle After sending the seven suspect “loyal” guards east to Rasont.

 

Once the town’s march had begun, the heroes’ teleported to Rasont in hopes of warning a force of Dynarr from Drullthrom to an appending attack by a monstrous army. They convince the dynarr to hold their advance, allowing them to try & save the dynarr fleeing south from Gerimyth. Discovering that the manticores that were plaguing the feywynn are heading north to devour the refugees, the heroes join the ragtag band of dynarr in battle against the fearsome beasts. After a brutal clash, they stood victorious at only a score of survivors. The heroes teleport the survivors & join the Drullthrom army, who’ve magically constructed a walled fortification. Eventually the monsters arrived and instead of attacking the dynarr en march they were forced to assault their stronghold in failure.  In victory the Dynarr head off to return to Drullthrom while the heroes to Lingle, to failure. The people of Harting were caught by the Si’duthan & hunted all the way to Lingle, at great loss.

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abjourne DE Session 9: Night in Harting:

November 16, 2008 – 10:05 pm

After having defeated all the tower’s denizens the heroes face off against the mighty sorcerer Zandikar and after defeating him learn he is an apprentice to the Jade Sorceress, He used elemental shards to make him self more powerful at grave cost to his body, the attacks on Harting were to distract the rest of the Bransi County and that 30 years ago bones were planted in the middle of the city to lure bowar into destroying it.

Before returning home the heroes attend Lord Gainus’ Funeral & Miralec’s coronation, enlist 10 loyal guards & steal away Alek’s sister Viccia. En-route Jeb is again contacted by the elementals to spy on the dark mage & learn one of the heroes is a spy, 7 of the guards are under the dark mages influence, Gallious Du’cote & Miralec Calvert are the conspirators & Harting is over run with grendle. In preparation for their arrival they recruit druids to save as many victims of the disease as possible. Nearly half of Harting’s populace was infected and only the town itself was secured from the madly infected. The heroes begin the monumental task of hunting down & saving or slaying the thousand or so grendle.

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abjourne DE session 8: Vulnerabilities:

November 16, 2008 – 9:56 pm

After defeating the goblins the heroes travelled to Conkes (Calvert’s ancestral keep) to learn that Alek’s farther (baron Gainus) & his family’s dragon Sydon were attacked & slain by monsters sent by the sorcerer of the ruined tower and his oldest brother was lost in battle against a war party of bowar. Being next in succession Alek’s last brother Miralec assumes the title Baron of Kerswick. Jeb is contacted by elemental spirits and led to spy upon the dark mage & his accomplices to discover these plots against the county are orchestrated by a Jade Sorceress & Iron General who wish to slay the Dynarr (dwarves) nearby as part of their plans and the sorcerer within the tower has sent most of his monsters to continue the attack against the Dynarr of Gerimyth. With this information in hand they travel to the sorcerer’s tower within a ruined city near beving pass. Fighting past roaming manticores they enter the tower and clear it of all occupants except for a few prisoners who are told to wait for them by the towers entrance.

Ko-Ro’arn a dynarr from beving pass. (he eventually kills Thinduaal)

Lanilira a feywynn from Leirtin.

Thinduaal from Gerimyth.

Two who were left in their cells:

Hiroctas, a human mercenary who helped trained the goblin-spawned troops in siege warfare. (brought to Conkes)

Wythri, a most lethal and furious woman. (she eventually kills Lanilira)

And one shield bowar who died swearing a death oath against Ra’jinn.

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abjourne DE session 7: Against the Goblins:

November 16, 2008 – 9:50 pm

After arriving at the barony of Kerwick, Alek & Arin meet with Alek’s uncle Sire Byrne Calvert to try and ascertain his loyalties & discover as much about where the goblins & sorcerer may be found. Meanwhile Ra’jinn is contacted by a priest of Verunna who apologizes for an act his people will not commit against Loleros and Jeb is lured into a trap. After being captured, Jeb is interrogated by a dark mage and two noble accomplices’ using magic to compell him then mind wipe him of the incident & leave him with a sense of great danger threatening his homeland, the Barony of Harting. Once all together the heroes travel west along the conkes plateau to locate & eliminate the leadership of the goblin spawned armies laying siege to the Dynarr (dwarves) of Gerimyth,  successfully.

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abjourne DE Session 6: Fires in the West:

September 9, 2008 – 1:04 am

After a few days pass, Alek begins to study under an old templar knight named Allister from a kingdom called Rhyggarde, hoping to become worthy to joining the order of the emerald knights. It’s not long before he discovers that in joining the order he would forfeit any right to a landed title, thusly he pauses to consider this decision.

 

Allister’s purpose for arriving at Harting is to advise the lord Baron Varant on its recent bowar troubles. Allister’s homeland of Rhyggarde has historically been plagued by the by the extremely war-like brutes and Allister has fought them many a times. Allister informs the Baron & heroes that the bowar will continue to attack in increasing numbers until the one who has defiled the cairn is slain or the cairn is rebuilt by the offender or he challenges the ancestor of the cairn to a final duel to settle the matter.

Meanwhile, while on a border patrol Jeb is contacted by feywynns from Rhanelm who warns him that a hundred bowar are marching through the forest towards Harting & that it is unsafe to come to Rhanelm any longer.

 

Having no choice in the matter the heroes prepare themselves for battle & head off north to stop the bowar from attacking Harting. They travel a day north to the cairn to find the remains shattered, thus making rebuilding it pointless. They begin to ride off towards the elves for two days but realize they do not know exactly where the bowar are & choose to return towards Harting to ensure its safety. As luck would have it they encounter the brutes within hours of arriving at the town. Ra’jinn breaks from the group and shouts out a challenge to the amassed bowar, confessing his guilt. A towering skirmisher steps forward and accepts his challenge. The duel only lasts a few minutes & at first appeared as if Ra’jinn were doomed but with luck, preparation & vigilance he defeats the mighty foe. Badly wounded & fatigued he and his companions await the response of the remaining bowar army, for as Allister warned them, ”Should you do what needs to be done to appease the bowar ancestor, there remains a 50/50 chance as to whether or not they’ll attack anyway”. An intimidating, heavily armored shield warrior approaches & snorts, “It is done” and with that the bowar withdraw back from which they came.

 

Within days of the Bowar’s withdraw the town of Harting found its self assaulted by concealed archers under cover of the woods adjacent to its northern walls. Upon investigation the heroes discover assailants to be goblins intent upon drawing the baronies troops away from its farm lands to kidnap peasant maidens to breed hobgoblins. Unfortunately the ruse succeeded to some degree and the heroes had to give chase to the retreating goblin force. With little chance to assault the goblins directly, the heroes lure manticores from the northern woods into the goblin ranks and with help from the town’s garrison save most of the captives, sending the raiders fleeing.

 

Interrogation of captive goblins and consultation with the elves of Rhanelm reveal that a clan of goblins are amassing an army of brood & hobgoblins and a sorcerer near Beving pass is using manticores to drive the feywynn into hiding. The heroes decide to travel towards Beving to find & slay the sorcerer whom they suspect is behind the mysterious plot against the western lands of the Ormaden Vale. And so the hoboes travelled east, then north toward Alek’s ancestral lands, through the cities of Rasont & Lenbrook to put an end to the dangers facing Harting & its neighbors. The session ended with the heroes defeating a brigand raid enroute to Kerswick from Lenbrook.

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strulg More details for the next DM Campaign

August 25, 2008 – 11:28 pm

Many Ages ago, there were twin sisters, Malusin and Zahira, that were born from an inter-racial marriage, between a Human female and an Atroksian male. They were born as twins, but they were not identical: Malusin was human and Zahira was Atroksian. At a young age, the sisters had stumbled upon a way to communicate with an ancient goddess named Morgael. They learned that this goddess was trapped in a prison within her home domain and had long desired to be freed. Morgael had seen great potential in these sisters and continued to communicated with them. the goddess taught the sisters how to master magic, leadership, and warfare. In time, the sisters had made a pack to free the goddess from her prison and in return she would wreak death and destruction to all the planets of the Dragon Mist Realm, leaving the survivors (whatever is left) for the sisters to rule over. The goddess would then return to her home dimension to cast revenge to those who imprisoned her, but promised to remain in contact if the sisters ever needed her advice.

With the training and knowledge of the Goddess, the sisters became powerful sorceresses (priestesses). With their new found powers and the with the help of Morgael, they created a powerful telepathic and empathic bond between themselves (which spanned across all the worlds and planes). They also learned how to become immuned to Mana Poisoning. Over the next 10 years, in preparation for the breaking their Goddess’ prison, they gained a large following. They had also gathered several armies on all three planets, all ready for the day to rule the worlds for Malusin and Zahira.

However, their reputation has also earned them enemies. Although there were many who opposed them, none of them were of any threat, save one: An alliance of Dwarves, Atroksians, and Elves (the only alliance strong enough to oppose the sisters). During the final hour of the ritual that would free the Goddess, the twin sisters were defeated in a great epic battle in the coldest region of the Atroksian homeland in Caeruleus.

The sisters were murdered. But their desire to live was too strong and it was determined that they would be still very dangerous if left alone. So, each sister had their souls were bound to a gemstone, and their remains split between a sarcophagus and four canopic jars (a ritual borrowed from the Kjempests). The energy force (non-Mana) that was the essence of their telepathic/empathic bond was bound to a sceptre. The alliance also discovered a crystal ball that helped the sisters communicated with the Goddess, the “Eye of Morgael”. Sworn to never allow the sisters to be resurrected again or the Goddess to be freed; the alliance hide all of these items across the three planets in secret locations, eventually to be forgotten.

And now, many Ages have past. A new cult has risen and survived for the latter half of the period. A new order that will resurrect the sisters, and prepare for the scourge that they will bring upon all those who defy them. They have already found half of the items that is needed to resurrect Malusin and Zahira, and free Morgael from her prison. When sisters will return, you will honored for aiding the process. You will be legends for the New Age of Darkness.

By Strulg | Posted in Dragon Mist | Tagged , | Comments (0)

strulg Magic

August 21, 2008 – 10:58 pm

To understand Magic, one must first understand it’s foundation, which would be Mana. Mana is an energy force that binds the entire multiverse together. It exists in all the planes, at one time, and acts as a conduit between them. A spell caster calls upon the Mana to draw the resources from other planes (or from the plane that he is presently in), and then uses it to manipulate these resources to his own will.

Channeling pure Mana can be very unstable, volatile, and physically dangerous to the mind and body (also known as Mana Poisoning). It requires a great amount of concentration and discipline to control it, and great care must be taken to reduce the side effects to the caster . It is so unstable that an inexperienced spell caster would have no hope in ever gaining enough control to use it without harming himself. When Mana was first discovered it resulted in many deaths and drove many to insanity in attempts to control it. For a while, channeling Mana was abandoned due to it’s consequences. But, there were a few that persisted. And those who did, found a way to break down it’s pure form, and use it with more control and less side effects.

Light broken down into Primary and Secondary ColorsThe key to breaking down Mana is to treat it like pure white light. Pure white light can be broken down into the primary colors: Red, Blue, and Green; and further into secondary colors: Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow. When channeling pure Mana, only a portion of this energy is used to control a specific planar resource. The rest of the Mana is unused, but it’s presence still has potential of poisoning the caster and causing undesired side effects (spell reversal, uncontrollable surges, etc.). Once it was learned that Mana, in its’ pure form, was not required to control a specific planar resource, methods were developed to “filter” out the unnecessary portions of the Mana energy and use only what is required. And thus, the various colors of magic were born.

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Chris Star Wars: The Clone Wars

August 20, 2008 – 11:08 pm

I took my kids out the see the new Star Wars movie. And it was fun. I had a great time with the Kids. They loved it.

Lucas has definitely taken the franchise to a new level: Kid Entertainment. He did it with Phantom, but put in on back burner for Attack of the Clones. He revisited it again for a short while when he did the cartoons for Cartoon Network (also called Clone Wars), but then Revenge of the Sith was back to darkness.

I believe that he was happy making cartoon shorts (and probably found it profitable), because he has another 100 or so half hour episodes lined up for the next couple of years. And if the movie is any indication to the new series, they will definitely be more kid friendly.

The movie had a simple plot, shallow character development, and a bunch of silly jokes and situations. For instance: Anikin now has a Padawan, who happens to be a Youngling trying to make in the grown up world of Jedi’s (a concept that a kid can relate to… well not the Jedi part, but growing up).

That’s where all the bad reviews come from. I think some people were expecting too much. I think they were expecting something like Attack of the Clones, or Revenge of the Sith. And they were disappointed. Because it’s not a movie. It’s a cartoon. It was an afterthought. Lucas was watching the half hour episodes on a huge screen and thought “This would be great in a movie theater… lets do it!”. So you end up with a cartoon meant for TV, meant for KIDS, put on a huge screen, with an expensive price tag. Unfortunately, the large screen really shows the poor production value in the show, because it was never meant to me a movie, like Attack of the Clones.

But what it does do is it keeps the IDEA, the DREAM, of Star Wars alive for a whole new generation. I was 7 years old when I first saw Star War in a drive thru theater. Ever since then, the passion has never died. It is part of who I am. And Lucas has managed to keep it alive long enough for my kids to feel that same passion. And because of that, we have a special bond. Especially with Max. He loves Star Wars. He lives and breathes Star Wars. I haven’t let him watch Revenge of the Sith, yet, because of the dark content, but I told him that we can watch it on his birthday. He can hardly wait. And the timing is perfect with the new movie and the original cartoon series already being viewed. So the passion is still alive. I can relate to his excitement, I was there.

And for those reasons, the new Star Wars movie is the best movie of the year! Dark Knight was awesome, as well. But it’s not appropriate for the kids yet, so it’s only second best for now.

By Chris | Posted in Movies | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

abjourne DE Session 5: Enemies

August 7, 2008 – 11:46 pm

Sire Drew Varant’s assignment is brought to Harting by a Sir Gallan Du’Cote of Lenbrook whom establishes a refrained distaste towards Sire Alek, the posting was signed by Viscount Fal Yancy. Ves is aided by Ra’jinn in discouraging a local guild master from harassing his long befriended colleague, Zira.

After hearing word that the deceased murderer Reauvan no longer resided within his grave, the heroes track him down to his former cottage. Believed to be some form of undead, they slay Reauvan & burn his corpse. Further investigation reveals Reauvan was affected by a sickness known as the grendle, that transforms anything infected through ingestion into a mindless unkillable creature. Reauvan received the disease from a sorcerously created changeling that snuck into the town as a merchant from Rasont, who “replaced” a maiden within the keep in order to approach the prisoner. Once confronted the changeling was destroyed by its creator. Fortunately, the heroes were able to use the amulet of Vashirr to scry the sorcerer briefly in hopes of tracking him down eventually.

Within a day word arrives that the caravan escourting Sire Drew towards Lenbrook (through Rasont) was attacked by brood, so the heroes set off to track down the beast-men. En-route they discover the trail of nearly 3 score of mounted riders headed north of Harting & follow that instead. The trail leads them for several days into the forest near the feywynn & the tracks of many manticores. They encounter the riders fleeing towards them, wearing the colors of Harting? Not recognizing them they capture one for questioning. Almost immediately two manticores show up headed straight for them & their prisoner! The beasts prove almost too much for the weary band & using the boots of Ellerah Jeb grabs the unconscious captive & flees the scean leading one of the feral monsters straight into feywynn territory, while the other is slain by the combined efforts of the remaining heroes. The creatures were under the control of the same sorcerer as before & the amulet was used to decipher more information about him.

Once all together, they interrogate the man. A war party of mercenaries was recruited at Rasont by a wizard named Hellious to ride to the lands controlled by Siduthanian elves & raid them bearing the colors of Harting. The heroes request upon the Feywynn to warn the Siduthan of Harting’s uninvolvement with the incident & race back home. With a full company, the heroes race off to intercept the fleeing mercenaries only to find them all (including Hellious) incinerated by the work of a powerful wizard.

With few other leads available the heroes re-continue their quest to track down the brood raiders. Within the north-eastern hills they find & barely manage to clear (survive) another lair of Jackal-brood led by yet another (even more powerful) goblin witch-doctor.

Ever weary they return to Harting for some much needed rest.

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abjourne DE Session 4: Lure of Blood

August 7, 2008 – 11:44 pm

Following the trail leads the heroes into an ambush by nine Bowar whom surround them. Forced to flee the massive brutes the heroes are saved by sire Justin Varant’s order to have them followed by a score of guardsmen. The resultant battle leads to the Bowar’s defeat along with half the mounted guards. Shortly after recovering from the battle the heroes head off to the goblins abode, there they slay both him & a score of jackal-brood. Upon arriving home they receive word of young sire Drew’s posting as a page to the barony of Lenbrook & that the captured murderer Reauvan has committed suicide.

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