Geekender's Realm

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After the party has had a chance to compare notes about their meeting with the Council, they decide to devote a couple of days to preparing for their meeting with Pflarr, on the assumption that it will take awhile to get everything in order. Party members contemplate their options for summoned guardians and consider how to modify their usual spell lists for the big day. They prepare 12 staves and put continual light globes at the top of each one, and then wrap a bag around the top of each one to keep the light contained while the staves are in transit. Al and two companions go to Symer to make purchases. For Al, the top priority is to find the oils and dyes necessary to create a substance that will burn a pleasant color, but not emit smoke. He is able to find most of the ingredients that he’s looking for, and with a little ingenuity (a roll of 14) he succeeds at making four gallons of oil that burns blue-green and emits minimal smoke. Efrim makes an Honor Pflarr check and thinks (but isn’t certain) that just a little smoke is probably a bonus—enough for atmospheric effect but not so much that people are coughing and wiping at watery eyes while trying to have a serious conversation.

When the party is ready, they teleport and transport-through-plants to the planar coordinates that Pflarr gave Efrim at the meeting with the Council. Lackshmi and Efrim use teleport without error, and so appear on a hilltop covered with evergreens. Carrock and Al walk out of a mother-in-law’s tongue (a species of plant) about ten feet downhill. The party gathers together and takes to the air, looking for an amber golem.

As the party flies around, they get a chance to size up the area. They are in the northernmost edge of the hills in the upper left-hand corner of the Azure Sky map (for the map see “7. Beyond the Triumvirate” in Geekender’s Realm). To the southeast sits the gargantuan volcanic mountain and home to Vssgon, its image blurred by smoke and steam. To the west is what locals call the Plateau—a mostly flat area of land that protrudes a bit higher than the surrounding hills. As the happens the party’s place of arrival is not far from the river that tumbles off the edge of the plateau and into a dark valley below. To the north the party can see swamplands fanning out before them. The view is good.

The party spends more time than expected looking for the amber golem. They are about a half hour into an increasingly anxious search when Carrock spots a wolf-shaped or perhaps dog-shaped creature crouching on the ground, sitting in spot of overgrowth that the party had passed over earlier in their search. As soon as Carrock sees the golem, it turns its head to look directly at Carrock. It then stands up so that the rest of the party is able to spot it, and so the party flies to meet it.

Just to play it safe, the party lands a respectful seven or eight feet away from the creature, but directly in front so as not to alarm it. After everyone is on the ground or hovering just above the ground, it turns its head to the northwest and begins walking that direction, more or less toward a pass between two hilltop “peaks.” At closer range the party sees that the creature has horns in the place of ears, both of them protruding forward as though their only purpose were to embed the golem’s head in whatever creature it might decide to charge into.

The golem takes the party through the pass and out onto an open slope that faces west-by-northwest. Here the great waterfall is in the party’s direct line of sight. They can also see somewhat into the steep, rocky valley that it pours into, trees hanging onto the ledges near the top and bottom. The water appears to feed a sometimes languid and sometimes rushing river, of which the party can catch little glimpses on its way to the swamps in the lowlands below. The view is spectacular.

Once the party arrives at this open slope, the golem walks to an area where the slope turns relatively level. It walks over the edge of this section and then sits down on its haunches, returning to a state of statuesque immobility. Apparently this is the spot where the action is to take place.

The party gets to work at preparing the grounds for Pflarr’s arrival. Carrock and Al do the grunt work of setting up the staves while Efrim and Lackshmi stand back and direct them, Lackshmi asking Al to move one staff repeatedly (“okay now another foot to the left…or make that two feet…oh, no wait that’s too far, maybe six inches to the right…”). After a short while the staves are set up in three rows of four, with the tallest at the back and the shortest at the front, bags still wrapped around the heads of each one. Lackshmi and Efrim then get to work at drawing out a large (10’ diameter) holy symbol of Pflarr in the ground. Behind them, Carrock and Al follow along the lines digging a shallow little trench where the flammable oil is to be poured. Perhaps some summoned guardian creatures help them at this stage. When the trenches are all dug, everyone helps Al pour the oil, taking care to distribute it as evenly as possible.

When this work is done, everyone stops to take a breath. Someone (I’m not sure who) says, “So I guess we should get started.”

Al cracks open his egg and the great phoenix comes forth. Using the create monster spell, he makes a golem that looks very vaguely like Illsundle (but not much, just to play it safe). Carrock summons a whirlwind, and Efrim and Lackshmi split between them elementals of the remaining three elements. The party then stands a safe distance away from the holy symbol and array of staves, and arranges their guardians in a formation in front of them.

Almost everything is in place now. The only step that remains is to unsheathe the staves, ignite the oils and let the light pour forth. Al orders the phoenix to carry out this task. It flies over the staves and grabs two bags each flyby, letting go of the bags so that they float down to the ground in random places some distance away. When its work is done, it land again and puts a burning claw into one of the trenches, causing the oil to ignite. It then returns to its place in the formation.

There is nothing to do now but wait. As Lackshmi and Efrim understand it, Pflarr’s arrival will be “announced” just before it happens, so that everyone will have time to look up and stand at attention. No one is sure who or what will do the announcing, but the question answers itself in a minute or so, when a small, meteor-like streak crosses the sky and the amber golem speaks in the ancient tongue, “Welcome Mighty Plfarr, the Jackal-Head, God of all Guardians and Mage-Creators of All the Worlds.”

Pflarr steps out from between the staves, towering over the party at about nine feet tall. Since he is backlit by the continual light globes, it is hard to see much more than his silhouette, but this is enough to get a sense of his shape and size. The first thing that strikes the party is the somewhat odd proportion of his head vis-à-vis the rest of his body. He is a hulking, muscular, broad-shouldered man, apparently covered in fine fur and a Nithian-style robe (but it’s hard to tell for sure). And yet setting on top of this muscular body is a head about the size of a dire wolf’s. If he has an expression on his face, the party can’t see it. The only distinctive facial feature they can make out are his eyes, which glow yellowish-orange.

The party gives Plfarr the option of taking control of their guardians. Apparently he declines it, as everyone finds that he or she has maintained control. The party then makes the guardians form a circle around the meeting place with their backs turned away from the action, as though keeping an eye out for intruders.

Pflarr speaks aloud, not telepathically. He addresses the party in Thyatian.

“We are here to bargain, but also to forge a new alliance, an alliance that will open new vistas and give you power and influence you had not imagined heretofore.

“You know more things than you have acknowledged. Forbidden things. And you have powers that only friends of gods and their children should have. This alarmed the council until I assured them that you received these things from me, with my careful consideration and supervision. They think that you work for me, that you are not renegades, and for this favor you are in my debt. However, this is a happy debt to have, because I protect my allies and followers, as your god friends and children friends will attest.”

Pflarr goes on to explain the sort of alliance he has in mind, in a kind of soliloquy that continues without interruption until he gives the party permission to speak. Here’s how he describes the party’s current position: as Efrim, Carrock, Lackshmi and Al continue to push the envelope between mortality and immortality, they will find themselves in a position not unlike the Mesthotic Elect was once in—powerful (like the gods) but free to come and go from the forbidden planes (unlike the gods). The Mesthotic Elect have finally been kicked out of the forbidden planes, but after more than a century of immortal negotiations and machinations, and they retain the right of return if they are willing to give up their artifacts. Having a group with this not-just-mortal-but-not-really-immortal status gives its sponsor a tremendous edge in the manipulation of worldly affairs, for they can have god-like influence and use quasi-immortal magics unchecked by the direct intervention of other gods. Pflarr would like to undo the damage of Thanatos and Maree by bringing a new force of quasi-deities (“demi-gods?”) to the forbidden planes, setting things right for mages, magic-users, and followers of energy after the sphere suffered its most devastating blow in the last millennium.

He begins his negotiations by listing the things he can provide you.

– a solemn vow not to reveal the full extent of your knowledge of forbidden things

– avatars, and training in avatar use and manufacture

– access to some of the strategic thinking of Pflarr and the sphere of energy, or at least a faction within the sphere of energy

– loans and sometimes gifts of artifacts when required for specific tasks or missions as needed

– a steady, on-going exchange of goods and information as required for specific assignments, assuming the party keeps its promise and serves Pflarr faithfully

– a promise not to send the party on suicide missions or the like, although some of the work will be dangerous

In return, he asks for the following.

– the party’s willingness to undertake special missions at Pflarr’s request, with full information and due warning so that the party never feels that is surprised or misled by Pflarr

– outwardly, everyone in the party but Carrock will need to look like loyal servants of Pflarr and the sphere of energy. That’s what the immortal public will expect as the party undertakes tasks that only immortals could possibly know about. As for Carrock, he can play the role of faithful friend of the rest of the group, accompanying them out of a sense of love and brotherly devotion, not out of religious duty.

– sharing everything that’s not too personal (e.g., that’s not stuff like Efrim’s sexual practices or his hopes and aspirations for Tianshi) with Pflarr.

– letting the public think that they are loyal servants of Pflarr, but never revealing to anyone—not even immediate family members—that Pflarr has agreed to help them push the envelope between mortal and immortal powers and privileges. Pflarr will teach the party how to mask their thoughts so as to keep this from the probing minds and eyes of others.

“What more do you need to hear from me? And how long do you need to deliberate? I am patient.”

Spoostin

Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

“What more do you need to hear from me? And how long do you need to deliberate? I am patient.”

“Yes. Do we start now?” Efrim responds as soon as possible.

“If you truly seek to right the wrongs wrought upon man, mages and the followers of energy, then I gladly act as your hand.” Efrim bows before the Jackal god. “I have honored you for as a I can remember, and I mean no disrespect, but the cataclysm was not wrought by mortals.Whats to stop the Immortals from doing it all again?”

Fidgeting, Efrim looks awkwardly around, avoiding eye contact with the god-manifest. “…and also, only slightly off topic. What is the god-egg going to ‘hatch” into?” and Efrim sighs as if a large burden has finally been lifted with the asking of the question.

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To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

This is exactly the kind of arrangement that Al would have hoped for, had he known that it was any where in the realm of possibilities. Since Pflarr ‘showed up’ at the council meeting, his esteem for the god has been growing, and I’ve already been considering adopting him as a patron (not ‘Patron’) god after we leave here. It is good to have a divine to please, after all.

I was really worried that he was going to demand that we reveal our sources of information, wanting to know how we’ve come to know what we know, who exactly gave us the map to Ebbensalma — AHA! So you do know about Ebbensalma! That kind of thing.

But if that part can remain private, as we’ve come to say in this world, then Al is 100% on board. Special missions? “Pretend” that Pflarr is The Shit? I am down with that. It conflicts in no way with my goals and desires.

I don’t know the details of how E, L, and C intended to proceed with immortality, or what exactly lies at the end of our prepping for godhood, but for Al this is part of a long journey that he’s not quite as ready to end. Probably has something to do with the fact that he’s still gaining levels.

I’ll take my turn speaking, but will let Efrim and Lackshmi go first. Carrock too, for that matter.

HOORAY FOR SPOO!!!!

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Wow; this is super awesome.

I liked Lakshmi, the interior designer role and I can picture the tree-filled chasm too.

Lakshmi is in the unique position of already being a loyal follower of Pflarr, and will express both surprise and pleasure at the proposed alliance. She is very grateful to Pflarr that he claimed responsibility for our forbidden knowledge. And she will admit to some conflicted feelings in her pursuit of immortality as she cares deeply about what has happened to her home plane and is not yet ready to completely leave it and finds aspects of the immortality path do not follow the priorities she has (e.g. dueling). Therefore the proposed alliance is very exciting to her.

Lakshmi is interested though in how this proposed path jives with the traditional path towards immortality. Her desire is not to end up like the Mesthotic elect; if we were to become banned from the forbidden planes in the future, she would very much want to become an immortal (under the continuing patronage of Pflarr of course).

If the whole party agrees to the pact, L is interested to know about the sphere of energy faction involved. Also, if there is a chance, she’d be very interested to received reading material in the immortal tongue that would be relevant to their current situation (e.g. a dummy’s guide to immortal politics/immortal political history if things like this exist). I know that Pflarr’s library is reputed to be amazing.

Finally, given that she is in the strongest position to ask, she will mention that the party has been very committed to helping Carrock find out more about the goddess of the faenarae. She imagines that Carrock specifically and the party generally would have a hard time entering into the proposed alliance if its goals prohibited continuation of that pursuit.

Would it also be appropriate to ask about the Owl god people? My feeling now is that this must be Pflarr, and that his intention has been to do this all along. But if it is not it may be a good idea not to bring it up. Perhaps in further conversation it will become more obvious.

-Anil

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To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

This sounds like a good tact to take. First and foremost express graciousness for him literally swooping in and covering our asses when being questioned by the other gods trying to decide if we are anti-establishmentarians. Apparently that’s not a good thing?

I think we can probe Pflarr without just coming out and saying “So, are you the guy who’s been directing us toward forbidden knowledge via a magical owl? Come on it’s you, right?” Maybe as we making expressions of gratitude and loyalty, we can float the idea that some things remain private (and not just the timetable of our lovemaking, shit-taking, etc), but perhaps the Benevolent Pflarr is already aware of such things… … …

Probably just stating the case for Carrock and his pursuit of the nameless goddess is the right way to go. Also, it should go without saying, but we should at least mention that we have this archon contract thing now, and under certain circumstances we’re now obligated by contract to service here and may not be immediately available for all missions from Pflarr, but of course His Brilliance knows that too….

I’m with Lacksmi on the transition to immortality. This definitely seems like a good way to stretch out the transition. Hell, we were already kind of doing this, but without any kind of blessing from the immortal establishment. Like the Owl god says, we’d probably be fine for a while, but eventually we’ll start popping up on the immortal magics scans. And I’d hate to be banished from the Prime without any kind of back up.

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To: “mancationers@googlegroups.com” <mancationers@googlegroups.com>

Sweet!

> Effrim: “If you truly seek to right the wrongs wrought upon man, mages and the followers

> of energy, then I gladly act as your hand.” Efrim bows before the Jackal god. “I have

> honored you for as long as I can remember, and I mean no disrespect, but the cataclysm

> was not wrought by mortals. Whats to stop the Immortals from doing it all again?”

Pflarr takes in this early declaration of fealty in solemn silence, and presumably with satisfaction.

“I think the hierarchs of energy and thought will not permit another cataclysm. But one can never be certain. Nevertheless, they aren’t in a position to fix the lasting scars on the face of so many forbidden planes. I want to begin work on setting this aright.”

> Fidgeting, Efrim looks awkwardly around, avoiding eye contact with the god-manifest.

> “…and also, only slightly off topic. What is the god-egg going to ‘hatch” into?” and Efrim

> sighs as if a large burden has finally been lifted with the asking of the question.

“Who can really say? If there is no description of such a thing in record or recollection, then all we can do is study and surmise. We have a few theories. In my opinion, the best of them is this: sometime during the transition from the Age of Giants to the Age of Humanity, there were three gods of water whose home plane was consumed by a giant eye the size of a small moon (just an approximate description), turning it into a new ecosystem of charcoal-textured rock, tunnels, mosses, worms and beholders, with some sort of sun buried deep inside. That plane is now called The Nesting Grounds. This was the first that the immortals of that age had seen of beholders, which remain almost as mysterious to us today as they did then. The great eye used The Nesting Grounds as a home base from which to launch takeovers of other planes, including Yaneh, where you became acquainted with some of the children. This, incidentally, was the point at which the gods of giantkind and gods of humankind forged their first alliance, for the gods of humankind discovered new techniques to resist beholder magics, and it was in the interest of both giants and humankind to share this knowledge widely.

“It would be another story entirely to explain what happened during this period of alliance, but let us just simplify it and say that the immortals succeeded at cleaning most of the affected planes and containing the threat, and it remains more or less contained today.

“It’s speculative that this egg is meant to hatch a great eye. Until your discovery, most immortals thought that the eye just wandered in from the far outer planes. That may in fact be true. But here are two reasons to support the theory that there is a fledgling great eye within the egg.

“To start, Matonn remembers that a few immortals of that era knew of a legend ancient even to them (ancient to the ancients) where a gargantuan eye was hatched from a giant egg several thousands of years old, somehow mistaken for a dragon egg. The egg supposedly floated around and crushed mountains before hatching. As this was a legend, no doubt the details are either exaggerated or conflated with other legends, or they might have been conflated by Matonn himself. But it is one piece of evidence, however flimsy.

“The stronger piece of evidence is that a vssgon appeared in roughly the same era as the great eye. I’m not sure where or exactly what it was doing, but this would be the very vssgon that a precursor to the human gods slew in melee combat, in what may be the most epic battle to the human gods of that generation. One cannot mention it to them without making a tear come to their eyes.

“And that’s all I can say with even a modicum of confidence.”

> Lackshmi: Lakshmi is interested though in how this proposed path jives with the

> traditional path towards immortality. Her desire is not to end up like the Mesthotic

> elect; if we were to become banned from the forbidden planes in the future,

> she would very much want to become an immortal (under the continuing patronage

> of Pflarr of course).

“You would continue to be eligible for the more conventional path to immortality. Many of the tasks normally required of petitioners will likely be accomplished in the course of your service. I am pondering over this.”

> If the whole party agrees to the pact, L is interested to know about the sphere of

> energy faction involved.

“We are the defenders of what have come to be called vain magics. You will know the names of the others in due time.”

> Lackshmi: Also, if there is a chance, she’d be very interested to received reading material in

> the immortal tongue that would be relevant to their current situation (e.g. a dummy’s

> guide to immortal politics/immortal political history if things like this exist). I know

> that Pflarr’s library is reputed to be amazing.

“If you agree to our arrangement, I can provide some such texts as needed. Unfortunately, immortals keep so much hidden from one another that it’s impossible for a truly reliable history of politics to be written. You might learn more simply by speaking with me and my scriveners.”

> Lackshmi: Finally, given that she is in the strongest position to ask, she will mention that the

> party has been very committed to helping Carrock find out more about the goddess

> of the faenarae. She imagines that Carrock specifically and the party generally would

> have a hard time entering into the proposed alliance if its goals prohibited continuation of that pursuit.

“I cannot aid in this task, nor do I want to know much about it. If your group tolerates Carrock’s investigations into the matter then I will too, but under one condition: that it is made absolutely clear to anyone interested that I am not sponsoring or supporting you in these investigations. And if anyone asks about Carrock’s allegiances, Carrock should give variants of the following answer, ‘I serve no living god, least of all Pflarr. But I am deeply loyal to my lifelong friends as they are deeply loyal to me.'”

> Al: I think we can probe Pflarr without just coming out and saying “So,

> are you the guy who’s been directing us toward forbidden knowledge via

> a magical owl? Come on it’s you, right?” Maybe as we making expressions

> of gratitude and loyalty, we can float the idea that some things remain private

> (and not just the timetable of our lovemaking, shit-taking, etc), but perhaps

> the Benevolent Pflarr is already aware of such things… … …

That does seem like the prudent approach. Unfortunately, Pflarr doesn’t mention or even allude to the owl in any way that strikes the party as obvious. Moreover, the party–in its semi-godly wisdom–is beginning to get the impression that Pflarr pretends to know more than he actually does. They also got this impression from other gods at the larger meeting, and it may just be standard practice among their type, for reasons that may or may not be obvious.

The evidence that Pflarr pretends to know more than he actually does comes from two remarks. The first is the suggestion that the party has learned much of their forbidden knowledge from “the children of gods.” It’s true that you’ve cavorted with a child of the gods, but not all that much, and she was pretty tight-lipped (isn’t that right, Efrim?). This suggests that Pflarr heard of this contact, knew that you had forbidden knowledge, and somehow thought it a safe bet that the two were connected to one another, and perhaps that you were hanging out with other children of gods. The second is that he just now alluded to Elstir’s legendary showdown with a vssgon on Yaneh, but didn’t give Elstir’s name. Now, if I remember correctly it was the owl god who told you that Elstir made himself famous among immortals by slaying a vssgon that was menacing the planes. If Plarr was the owl god and wanted you to know it, he’d be likely to proceed as though the name of this famous vssgon-slayer was common knowledge among this group.

> Also, it should go without saying, but we should at least mention

> that we have this archon contract thing now, and under certain

> circumstances we’re now obligated by contract to service here and

> may not be immediately available for all missions from Pflarr, but

> of course His Brilliance knows that too….

“Absolutely. The Council would not want me to take its heroic guardians away from them.”

Spoostin

From: Ray Paulson <ray.paulson@gmail.com>

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Sent: Monday, March 25, 2013 8:10 AM

Subject: Re: Party, meet Pflarr

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: “mancationers@googlegroups.com” <mancationers@googlegroups.com>

I’m trying wipe all the goo off my pants…spooey!

Sent from my iPad

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Ah lord, so good. Only have phone to reply at moment, but I’ll send in proper response tonight or tomorrow.

This was a timely spoo-tonic for me. Thanks Justin!

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To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Dearest spoolets…

I’ve been re-reading the “Old Spoo Updates” post on the website, combing through the old updates, just looking for some fun self-contained sections that would be fun to pull out into their own post (avoid work much?) (I also sent the Yellow Flight chronicle to Thor, because he’s been doing a lot of DMing lately and I thought he might be interested in the story, and because it’s a thing of friggin’ beauty). I’ve ran across some old information that makes me quite certain at this point that Pflarr is the Owl-god. I really think it was right in front of our faces. I’ll be really surprised if it turns out that it’s not him. But Al is going to address him at this time as if this is the common understanding.

“My Lord (bowing deeply). It is with great humility and respect that I approach this clearing so that we finally speak in person. I feel that we would not have made it this far without your guidance and we are already serving the same causes, if only unofficially. I have not previously proclaimed allegiance to any one immortal as I have sometimes found it necessary among mortals that at least one of our group should… remain unaligned. I hope you will understand that reasoning and would not hold past actions against me… But given that you just covered our butts with the gods of the council, I would gladly enter your service. You are truly a wise counselor; I enthusiastically accept the role that you have proposed! … So, what do we do next?”

-Al

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: “mancationers@googlegroups.com” <mancationers@googlegroups.com>

Pulling out self-contained sections? That would be excellent, Ray. One of the most discouraging things about reading old spoo updates is the work needed to find a good starting-point, given all of the overlapping threads that begin and end in different places.

I think I’m now among the last one or two spoo to re-read the Yellow Flight chronicle from beginning to end. I’m inspired by Ray’s gesture to do so.

And thanks for giving Al’s answer. I’m about to start a conference, but I’ll be thinking about where and how to begin your work with Pflarr. He (like me) was expecting that you’d want time to think it over and would call back later to leave your answer on his voice mail (so to speak). But it sounds like everyone has made up his/her mind, so let us proceed!

> Ah lord, so good. Only have phone to reply at moment,

> but I’ll send in proper response tonight or tomorrow.

No problem. It will be awhile before I can lay down another thick layer of spoo, as I’ve got the American Philosophical Association this week and a conference at Rutgers next week. But I’ll be back in action after that, and of course answering questions as needed!

Spoostin

From: Ray Paulson <ray.paulson@gmail.com>

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 4:58 PM

Subject: Re: Party, meet Pflarr

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To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Yeah it sounds like A, E, and L are In like Flynn. I’m guessing Carrock may have a more complicated response and need some Q&A, given that he is already devoted to a goddess. And of course we will never abandon Carrock.

So yeah, the early years… I’ll be pulling stuff out, and re-organizing the Adventures section as I go. more to come on that…. (p.s. Boss is going to be out on spring break next week. Most likely there will be a flurry of spoo activity from me during that time 😉

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

NICE!

thanks Ray!

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: “mancationers@googlegroups.com” <mancationers@googlegroups.com>

Sweet. Life is good when the boss is away!

So I re-read the Yellow Flight adventure again this morning, in its entirety. Yeah, it’s pretty tense from start to finish. A couple of things jumped out at me:

– Man, Efrim would risk just about anything for another second of loot-collection…staying behind, all alone with a demon and army of deadites, while the rest of the party was retreating.

– Was there really only one gate spell left among the magic-users in the party? My god. My god, my god, my god.

Spoostin

p.s. I couldn’t resist correcting the typos and malapropisms. I was embarrassed to see that I still thought “shoo” (as in “shoo away the flies”) was spelled “shew.”

From: Clay Lewis <claywesleylewis@gmail.com>

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 9:48 AM

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Thats what owning the Head of Shanara does to you.

I think I was really hoping to pull the Timestop watch, some necromancer had. Or some other specific chunk of loot.

Also why I complained FOREVER about Forrestonar getting the Staff from that adventure.

“Uh..I was the one that was nearly obliterated for all time, bird-guy didnt even go!”

oh well, apparently my party isn’t in it for the loot.

If they were they’d have been merchants, right?

Or maybe I was working on Immortality, doing some really stupid shit that if you live, seem cool. Gotta have a few good stories right?

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To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

hey on the plus side I just found another reference to an artifact on the Prime that was lost that might be easy pickings (in the old spoo updates). I can’t believe we didn’t go after it, Efrim being such an artifact horn-dog and all…

Yellow Flight adventure was insane. We should go back there.

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To: “mancationers@googlegroups.com” <mancationers@googlegroups.com>

So it’s the Head of Shanara’s fault, is it? Actually, Forrestonar did go along for the Yellow Stair adventure, and he really pulled his own weight in that one. I didn’t remember it either, but it shows up in the record.

I’m not excusing the decision to give him the staff or anything. I’m just saying the bird does deserve a little credit. Efrim, of course, was crucial.

Spoostin

From: Ray Paulson <ray.paulson@gmail.com>

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 2:59 PM

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To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

don’t say the head never did anything….

-Segment 5:

With his tentacles the poltergeist sends a stone and a twirling pole-axe flying at Efrim. Both items are aglow, as though filled with some energy.

Of the two items, only the twirling pole-axe strikes home, doing 13 points of damage. But something else happens as the axe cuts into Efrim’s side, and Efrim is suddenly presented with a choice:

Does he or does he not want to Head of Shanara to protect him? Efrim accepts the Head’s protection, and suddenly something in his backpack begins writhing and moving (visible even to those standing nearby). Efrim feels a surge of power and that is all.

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Thats true Ray, seldom did I ever get the chance to resist the powers of a ghost. Guess I should’ve become a ghost hunter, or better yet a Beholder Ghost Hunter!!! even better!

I sent a copy of The Yellow Flight to a coworker who is super spooey, games constantly, does SCA and something called The End of Days, which is like a Mad Max SCA.

When I was looking it up I checked in on some of what Ray posted and found this, wherein Lakshami gets killed Efrim saves her slugged-ass and the bad guys get away scott-free. Its gotta feel good making 20+ saves in a round. too bad we didnt have reflective brooches of shielding on that could have turned things around for us, or Spell Turning rings?.

A. Pre-battle skirmish #1: Lackshmi and Effrim vs. the School of

Necromancy

At dusk Lackshmi flies again into the middle of Apahsia’s army,

this time with the usual routine of charming a nucklavee just before

battle (after it is too late for Apashia, Lilla et al. to conduct any

major changes of plans). She takes Effrim with her for safe keeping. She

carefully selects one that seems to have some important status and flies

down to meet him, casting “charm monster” from exactly 120′ away. After

casting it the first time the nucklavee looks alarmed, stares in the

general directly where Lackshmi waits invisibly, and says one word. Being

in the nucklavee’s own, hissing-ish language, Lackshmi can’t make it out.

What happens as a result, however, is worth noting.

In the course of one round (while Lackshmi is trying to cast charm

monster for the second time), Lackshmi and Effrim find themselves

immediately surrounded by a sphere of orange disks. They are spaced

roughly 10′ apart from one another and seem to center around Lackshmi and

Effrim. Just inside this sphere, hanging close to the orange spheres

(and seemingly immune to them) are a couple dozen robed figures, all of

them human (not undead). Each robed figure appears as each orange disc

appeared, suggesting that the robed figures were lying in invisible wait.

All of them carry two sticks — one straight with a gem at the end, the

other withered. Lackshmi is the first to use her “dimension door at will”

contingency and find that it doesn’t work. Effrim, in light of this,

saves his for later. All of the robed figures begin doing various things

— some casting spells, most just pointing sticks at Lackshmi and Effrim

and firing. Effrim attempts to cast Prismatic Wall and gets an initiative

of 5 (after bonuses). Lackshmi makes an intelligence check (18) and

remembers that the orange spheres can simply be dispelled. She makes a

wisdom check (13) and determines that a couple dozen wand-bearing mages

are probably going to interrupt any spell that she is going to cast.

Accordingly she draws a rod of cancellation and heads for an open spot

between the orange disks. She gets an initiative of 6 (after bonuses)

which is reduced for 2 due to the distance flown. The withered wands turn

out to be wands of polymorphing. Since “polymorph other” is a 4th level

spell it is not covered by the “immunity” spell which both Lackshmi and

Effrim have up.

Between segment 10 and segment 2 Effrim is forced to make 9

savings throws vs. wands, which for him is a 2 after bonuses. All of them

are made (two close calls of 2 and 4). During the same time Lackshmi is

forced to make 16 savings throws versus wands, all of which are made.

Also during this time, Effrim and Lackshmi are plucked by an ongoing

machinegun-fire of magic missles, which make it awfully hard to see but

have no effect due to immunity. On round 2 lackshmi strikes an orange

sphere with the rod of cancellation and the orange sphere dissappears.

She orders Effrims (whose spell was sadly interrupted) to leave with her.

On segment 1 Lackshmi and Effrim are each slammed by a magical

meteor. Lackshmi for 31 hp damage and Effrim for 21 hp damage. Also on

segment 1 the meteors explode, allowing both Lackshmi and Effrim a savings

throw. Effrim makes his with a 3, taking 17 hp damage and Lackshmi fails

hers with a 1, taking 41 hp damage. Also on segment 1 both Effrim and

Lackshmi are forced to make two savings throw vs. death for inexplicable

reasons, and both make both of them.

(Meanwhile, back at Catalon, Surveilance is busy running around

trying to get people to teleport down to the battle and help out.)

On segment 10 Lackshmi and Effrim fly out of the sphere of orange

disks and begin their other actions. Lackshmi withdraws a ring, which she

will don on segment 7. Effrim gets an iniative of 6, at which time he

will will to dimension door 360′ straight up in the air. On segment 8

they are each slammed by two more meteors: Lackshmi for 28 hp damage,

killing her, and Effrim for 20 hp damage. If Effrim has at least 59 hp

(and I assume he does at his level) then he survives. On segment 8

Lackshmi also makes two saves vs. wands (15 and 6), and Effrim makes one

(12). On segment 7 Effrim makes six saves vs. wands and succeeds on all

six (with one close call at 4). Lackshmi, being dead, automatically fails

all of her saves vs. wands on segment 7 and turns into a 6′ long slug,

still floating in air. On segment 6 Effrim choses to delay his dimension

door and throws the slug over his should which (being dead) counts as an

object rather than an extra (un-dimension-doorable) person. During this

segment he makes 8 savings throws vs. wands with no close calls. When he

dimension doors away on segment 5 there is another meteor whirling toward

him.

From 360′ above Effrim watches four explosions scatter across the

land below as he casts teleport. He finishes the spell on segment 3

without incident. His clothes are permanently ruined by the smell of

dead, goo-bleeding slug. Lackshmi is raised fully ten minutes later, and

the polymorph other effect is removed a minute after that. Both Effrim

and Lackshmi have their contingencies reset by Archduke Banting.

In the brief time they have to contemplate this ambush (minutes at

most), Effrim and Lackshmi determine that they have absolutely no idea how

that huge group of mages knew to wait for them around that particular

nucklavee. By the time Surveilance has organized a response team the

mage-group is gone.

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: “mancationers@googlegroups.com” <mancationers@googlegroups.com>

Ah yes, the surperisers became the surprisees. And holy crap, that’s a lot of life-or-death savings throws. So it seems Efrim was the Mage of the Hour that time. He emerges from a veritable thunderstorm of meteor swarms and death rays with the limp body of Lackshmi in his arms.

Glad the Yellow Flight adventure is making the rounds. Very cool.

So, how was your weekend, Clay and Ray? Were you as hard as a rock when the music started playing and the camera started panning across the map of miniature cities?

Spoostin

From: Clay Lewis <claywesleylewis@gmail.com>

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2013 9:48 AM

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

technically it was the limp body of a slimy slug I carried off.

Im pretty sure tons of crazy shit happens this season and Im excited to see it go down.

Some nice new add ins.

Really ahppy that they didnt skimp on the CGI for the dragons. I thought it was really well done and looked detailed and interesting.

a little let down on the boobage, usually a lot more sex and nudity and it just wasnt up to GoTs standard.

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To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

No Spoilers!! Katie is finishing up a season 2 GoT marathon and I haven’t seen the new episode yet.

Efrim only managed to be the surviving hero of the ambush the ambusher because he was busy in the bush humping lycanthropes. Well, probably better that way anyway. No need for EVERYONE to be caught in the same blast radius… Al of course was heroically restocking the soda machine back at Catalon…

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: “mancationers@googlegroups.com” <mancationers@googlegroups.com>

OK, I’m bumping up the older Pflarr email chain, because I think this is where I should reply to keep it all intact. Hopefully the color text and indent keep the Pflarr/Carrock lines separate below. Let me know if I’m leaving out any other Carrock-needed answers.

Carrock and Al do the grunt work of setting up the staves while Efrim and Lackshmi stand back and direct them…

First off, whoah there. Justin, have you not been paying attention to real life? The beautiful people aren’t the ones doing the grunt work. It doesn’t matter if the others know the “correct” way to set things up, c’mon. Anyway, to business…

Pflarr speaks aloud…

“You know more things than you have acknowledged. Forbidden things. And you have powers that only friends of gods and their children should have. This alarmed the council until I assured them that you received these things from me, with my careful consideration and supervision. They think that you work for me, that you are not renegades, and for this favor you are in my debt. However, this is a happy debt to have, because I protect my allies and followers, as your god friends and children friends will attest.”

I take it the “happy debt” he describes consists of the points in his “negotiation” you give (e.g. avatars and knowledge countered by missions and discretion)? I don’t want to get lawyerly about it, but is he being more concrete about the parameters of the debt and when exactly the debt would be considered balanced?

Or does this seem more like Pflarr’s way of coloring the negotiations in his favor from the beginning, that shrewd dog?

Having a group with this not-just-mortal-but-not-really-immortal status gives its sponsor a tremendous edge in the manipulation of worldly affairs, for they can have god-like influence and use quasi-immortal magics unchecked by the direct intervention of other gods.

Why aren’t other immortals taking a similar path with their followers? Does this condition only work when the followers come to a place of near-immortality without divine assistance, or are there other Immortal agreements that somehow prevent this?

Pflarr would like to undo the damage of Thanatos and Maree by bringing a new force of quasi-deities (“demi-gods?”) to the forbidden planes, setting things right for mages, magic-users, and followers of energy after the sphere suffered its most devastating blow in the last millennium.

Of our group, I suspect Carrock is least enthralled with this. Not only because of the degree of separation between himself and mages, but additionally because his culture teaches him that the past of the Prime plane is a series of calamities all started by powers trying to “set things right” to their point of view. He takes a longer of view of history, to include all the fluctuations of power between dragons, giants, humans, Blackmore, Nythia, the Cataclysm, etc. This doesn’t mean that he takes such a long view that he looks at things like those owl-humaniods (the Hsaoi?), and he recognizes the unique view that magic has seemed to play in all the upheavals. Most importantly, he is sympathetic to the plight of mages on the prime, certainly, and wants to support his friends.

It’s not a challenge to Carrock, but it does give a little bit of pause. And let’s be honest: he had me at “demi-gods”.

He begins his negotiations by listing the things he can provide you.

– avatars, and training in avatar use and manufacture

I have a lot of questions about this, but maybe that’s for the “avatar kit” section of the discussion. From a meta-gaming standpoint, I’m just trying to understand how it would be best to construct these alternate personae. Maybe Plfarr could address whether it’s better to mentally-prepare ourselves to construct avatars that are more like: 1) duplications of ourselves, 2) like-minded extensions of ourselves, or 3) completely antithetical to ourselves (to get an outside view)? I could see benefits to all, but maybe there’s a reason to go one way over the others.

– access to some of the strategic thinking of Pflarr and the sphere of energy, or at least a faction within the sphere of energy

Strategery?

In return, he asks for the following.

– the party’s willingness to undertake special missions at Pflarr’s request, with full information and due warning so that the party never feels that is surprised or misled by Pflarr

As before, I assume he’s willing to give some terms about the length, duration, and intensity of this debt?

– As for Carrock, he can play the role of faithful friend of the rest of the group, accompanying them out of a sense of love and brotherly devotion, not out of religious duty.

Yeah, I can live with that.

– sharing everything that’s not too personal (e.g., that’s not stuff like Efrim’s sexual practices or his hopes and aspirations for Tianshi) with Pflarr.

I would prefer not to talk about my personal past, however, with the exception of how it relates to the faenare race.

– letting the public think that they are loyal servants of Pflarr,

Servants of Pflarr – or for Carrock, the friend of servants, I take it?

Pflarr will teach the party how to mask their thoughts so as to keep this from the probing minds and eyes of others.

I like this a lot. Tons, in fact.

> Lackshmi: Finally, given that she is in the strongest position to ask, she will mention that the

> party has been very committed to helping Carrock find out more about the goddess

> of the faenarae. She imagines that Carrock specifically and the party generally would

> have a hard time entering into the proposed alliance if its goals prohibited continuation of that pursuit.

See, that’s why Lackshmi is the best.

“I cannot aid in this task, nor do I want to know much about it. If your group tolerates Carrock’s investigations into the matter then I will too, but under one condition: that it is made absolutely clear to anyone interested that I am not sponsoring or supporting you in these investigations. And if anyone asks about Carrock’s allegiances, Carrock should give variants of the following answer, ‘I serve no living god, least of all Pflarr. But I am deeply loyal to my lifelong friends as they are deeply loyal to me.'”

So you’re saying the faenare goddess is dead? Put a spoiler tag on that! But I understand his point, in that the goddess is either dead or otherwise disconnected to the faenare.

If the goddess is removed from the equation, however, why won’t Pflarr offer assistance to the faenare past? I pretty much know, but it’s still surprising…it seems so top-of-mind to him that it feels like his “correct” response was recently reiterated to him. Wonder if he’d be able to say more about that. I mean, will Pflarr at least elaborate on why he not only won’t be able to help, but why he doesn’t want to know about it? Can he share why this topic is taboo or what other forces/agreements are behind this stance? He seems pretty ready to leave it well hell enough alone, so any info about *that* could be useful.

If he won’t tell me, I can just do a chicken taunt until he does: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x-7v3PJ6Eg

In the end, though, Carrock would agree to distance himself from Pflarr and the sphere of energy, if that’s what he prefers. I didn’t have an intention of serving Pflarr anyway, so that’s an easy and wise out he offered.

That is damn good stuff, Justin!

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Other possible negotiations with Phlarr:

1. Aid in travelling to and from azure sky. We’ve got to make that trip a lot, and since we might also work for him, we could get further animosity from Matter and Entropy. Does he have any shortcuts between prime and azure, or superbeings that would travel with us?

2. He talked about teaching us mindblock stuff, which is awesome…does he also have sense stuff he could teach? It’d be cool to walk around with truesight style stuff going on all day long. Read people without them reading you…

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To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

It’s good to be in this with Carrock. I think that Efrim, Lakshmi and Al all got such big boners that we forgot that this is a negotiation!

After we busted the balls of the archons on the lamp contract, you might think that we’d be shrewd negotiators. Well, maybe we lightened up since Plarr already has us owing him a debt, for not ratting us out to the gods for a bunch of illegal shit we’ve been dipping into. Still, Carrock raises a good point. Is the “debt” ever going to be considered repaid? Or is an offer we can’t refuse? Not that Al wants to. Fun stuff!

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: “mancationers@googlegroups.com” <mancationers@googlegroups.com>

It’s so true. And yet, beauty doesn’t get you just anywhere. If you’re the Google engineer of honoring Pflarr then you get to call the shots, no matter how beautiful the one taking orders. Although something tells me that the party would make an exception for Julia Hala.

It’s hard to say for certain, but it seems like the last of your options: coloring the negotiations from the beginning.

“The rules were long very vague concerning those who are de facto but not de jure ‘exalted,’ until Nyx began pushing the envelop. They’ve now gotten somewhat more specific, but we can try out best to work around them–for example, by limiting the number of artifacts you keep on hand at any time and keeping your faculties beneath a certain ceiling. Our greatest security concern is that you’ll be discovered for using avatars, which is an immortal power as of yet unregulated by the Council of Intrusion. I do worry that once you are discovered as having (and using) avatars, the Council will further clarify the rules so as to classify you as forbidden. Until now they’ve left the rules governing pre-exalted use of avatars rather vague, only because Matter relies on endowing mortals with avatar-like capacities for some steps along the Path of the Polymath. As soon as they see a mortal who isn’t on the Path of the Polymath using avatar capacities, Matter might be persuaded to start drawing more careful lines.

“To prevent this from happening, I propose a two-pronged strategy. The first is that you keep your avatars on a forbidden plane where they are unlikely to be discovered, and unite with your avatars only on that plane, which you’ll need excuses to visit from time to time so that you can have a good pretext. The second strategy–which works for all but Carrock–is to say that all of you are petitioning for immortality under my sponsorship, and that I’ve elected to use a system similar to the Path of the Polymath to test the lot of you. This requires that I pull a lot of strings, and I can’t yet promise that I’ll succeed, but this is the plan that I intend to pursue. But it will be risky.”

Pflarr recommends the third option, in certain restricted senses. It’s good to have experience with a class (or race) that you’re not familiar with, for many reasons (experience, perspective, better grasp of powers and skills previously unavailable to you…). But as creatures of meager wisdom, you won’t be able to create personalities that are completely antithetical to yourselves. That just calls for more concentration and intuitive self-awareness than you are currently capable of.

Pflarr would prefer exactly the opposite: that you be open about your personal experiences but not trouble him with details about the faenare race.

“There is no other option here, so we are agreed that this must be a skill that all of you master.”

“This affair is between you and Thanatos. Your people have allies among the gods, but I am not one of them and I have taken on enough risk already, in covering for this party of very inquisitive minds.”

If he won’t tell me, I can just do a chicken taunt until he does: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x-7v3PJ6Eg

One of the many excellent running jokes in that show! Oh, they were fools to cancel it.

Spoostin

From: Eric Sergeant <ensergeant@gmail.com>

To: “mancationers@googlegroups.com” <mancationers@googlegroups.com>

Sent: Friday, April 12, 2013 7:18 PM

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: “mancationers@googlegroups.com” <mancationers@googlegroups.com>

Hey Spoo,

I thought I’d forward again the answers to the other party members’ questions, having just answered Eric’s questions and comments (many of the comments were quite humorous, by the way).

More anon!

Spoostin

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: “mancationers@googlegroups.com” <mancationers@googlegroups.com>

You’re using the shortest route available, but if you like Pflarr could recommend some cheaper and less dangerous ones, although the unfortunate trade off is that they’re long and convoluted.

Pflarr is reluctant to teach you the immortal-only spells “Scan” and “Scan Protection,” although it might be possible to put them into artifacts for you, provided that you can give him the extremely large number of power points that it would cost.

From: Eric Sergeant <ensergeant@gmail.com>

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 1:11 PM

Subject: Re: Party, meet Pflarr

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Awesome, thanks for the update, Justin. Always a pleasure!

Speaking of Arrested Development, new episodes (yes, new) are coming to Netflix on May 26th.

I’ll digest that update some, but there are a couple things for me to muse on:

1) What is Carrock’s cover for undergoing this process? As Pfhlarr says, the others can claim to be candidates. Any chance Carrock can be believable as a tag-along? A simple bird-folk that learned he follows a dead goddess, so is staying with his friends?

2) Interesting comment from Pflarr on having multiple personalities. That’s actually in direct contradiction to instruction from Pilgrim, who said to focus on juggling multiple personalities. Could be a lot of reasons for this difference of opinion. Curious…but I’m not giving up on multiple personalities yet. I’ve had some success with them previously.

Thanks again for the update!

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: “mancationers@googlegroups.com” <mancationers@googlegroups.com>

Yeah, it’s worth looking for some other reason to tag along. Of course, everyone understands the power of a lifelong friendship, band-of-brothers-style, with the people whose lives you’ve saved and who have saved your life many times over. But another pretext (or genuine reason) wouldn’t hurt.

Pflarr didn’t mean to discourage you from trying out multiple personalities. He just meant that you shouldn’t expect to do it very well, at least not without a lot more wisdom. It’s worth practicing if you’re up for it. The biggest advantage in practicing Pilgrim’s proposed technique is that it teaches you how to run multiple streams of thought at the same time, which is essential for keeping two avatars running at the same time.

Spoooooostin (more later today)

From: Eric Sergeant <ensergeant@gmail.com>

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Sent: Sunday, May 5, 2013 9:30 AM

Subject: Re: Fw: Party, meet Pflarr

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: “mancationers@googlegroups.com” <mancationers@googlegroups.com>

I’m borrowing Melanie’s laptop to say that it looks like my computer will be tied up most today, with update to Mountain Lion. Argh.

Spoostin

From: Justin Tiwald <jtiwald@yahoo.com>

To: “mancationers@googlegroups.com” <mancationers@googlegroups.com>

Sent: Sunday, May 5, 2013 9:37 AM

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To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Yes, Im looking forward to the return of the Blueth family. Hooray for Netflix. They are doing some good/fun stuff, Hemloch Grove is a good supernatural series.

Watching some Game of Thrones right now, via HBO-GO using a friends login. Sharing is fun.

So we need to make avatars, on a forbidden plane, that is NOT the prime, is that right? Is there a short list we can choose from?

Is the Diaboli city we visited on a forbidden plane? that could be fun.

Or Cluster, where we pulled the Dragon Tooth caper, or was that Scale?

Sounds fun!

Question:

Pflarr is reluctant to teach you the immortal-only spells “Scan” and “Scan Protection,” although it might be possible to put them into artifacts for you, provided that you can give him the extremely large number of power points that it would cost.

What does that mean, if we can provide Power Points? How do we give him our Power Points? that should be interesting. Im all for making him power points and him using them to create some sweet artifacts, Scan sounds amazing.

Very spooey!

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Any ideas on Planes fellas?

Vellion The Dragon-Arm is ready to fuck shit up. literally he is a scatopheliac, he fucks shit. He fucks it daily! anyhows, thats more an in game LARPing schtick Im going to try out at mancation.

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

How about in Koyarekist? That way they have cool people to meet and eventually can go explore beyond the wall!

Not sure I’ll manage to watch Game of Thrones before spoocation; are the books decent? Maybe I should just read those so I’m not always saying “WTF is Targaryn”? Do they use the same names and everything in the books/TV show?

-Anil

On May 14, 2013, at 12:31 PM, Clay Lewis wrote:

> Any ideas on Planes fellas?

>

> Vellion The Dragon-Arm is ready to fuck shit up. literally he is a scatopheliac, he fucks shit. He fucks it daily! anyhows, thats more an in game LARPing schtick Im going to try out at mancation.

>

>

> On Sun, May 5, 2013 at 10:43 PM, Clay Lewis <claywesleylewis@gmail.com> wrote:

> Yes, Im looking forward to the return of the Blueth family. Hooray for Netflix. They are doing some good/fun stuff, Hemloch Grove is a good supernatural series.

> Watching some Game of Thrones right now, via HBO-GO using a friends login. Sharing is fun.

>

> So we need to make avatars, on a forbidden plane, that is NOT the prime, is that right? Is there a short list we can choose from?

> Is the Diaboli city we visited on a forbidden plane? that could be fun.

> Or Cluster, where we pulled the Dragon Tooth caper, or was that Scale?

> Sounds fun!

>

> Question:

> Pflarr is reluctant to teach you the immortal-only spells “Scan” and “Scan Protection,” although it might be possible to put them into artifacts for you, provided that you can give him the extremely large number of power points that it would cost.

>

> What does that mean, if we can provide Power Points? How do we give him our Power Points? that should be interesting. Im all for making him power points and him using them to create some sweet artifacts, Scan sounds amazing.

>

> Very spooey!

>

>

> On Sun, May 5, 2013 at 5:25 PM, Justin Tiwald <jtiwald@yahoo.com> wrote:

> I’m borrowing Melanie’s laptop to say that it looks like my computer will be tied up most today, with update to Mountain Lion. Argh.

>

> Spoostin

>

> From: Justin Tiwald <jtiwald@yahoo.com>

> To: “mancationers@googlegroups.com” <mancationers@googlegroups.com>

> Sent: Sunday, May 5, 2013 9:37 AM

>

> Subject: Re: Fw: Party, meet Pflarr

>

> 1) What is Carrock’s cover for undergoing this process? As Pfhlarr says, the others can claim to be candidates. Any chance Carrock can be believable as a tag-along? A simple bird-folk that learned he follows a dead goddess, so is staying with his friends?

>

> Yeah, it’s worth looking for some other reason to tag along. Of course, everyone understands the power of a lifelong friendship, band-of-brothers-style, with the people whose lives you’ve saved and who have saved your life many times over. But another pretext (or genuine reason) wouldn’t hurt.

>

> 2) Interesting comment from Pflarr on having multiple personalities. That’s actually in direct contradiction to instruction from Pilgrim, who said to focus on juggling multiple personalities. Could be a lot of reasons for this difference of opinion. Curious…but I’m not giving up on multiple personalities yet. I’ve had some success with them previously.

>

> Pflarr didn’t mean to discourage you from trying out multiple personalities. He just meant that you shouldn’t expect to do it very well, at least not without a lot more wisdom. It’s worth practicing if you’re up for it. The biggest advantage in practicing Pilgrim’s proposed technique is that it teaches you how to run multiple streams of thought at the same time, which is essential for keeping two avatars running at the same time.

>

> Spoooooostin (more later today)

>

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Yeah, I was going to say Plane of Worms or the Diaboli city. We could play diaboli there. Do they take levels in a class or are they stuck like all non humans in a racial class progression?

We could also go to Plane of Reason and fight undead. Maybe not low enough profile there however.

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: “mancationers@googlegroups.com” <mancationers@googlegroups.com>

Diaboli can take pretty much all of the same character classes as humans, and they progress through the ranks as humans do too. So it’s an option! I’d have to do a lot of world development to pull it off, but it could be fun. The Plane of Reason is already more developed. The Plane of Worms is high-powered.

There are so many possibilities, really.

Spoostin

From: Eric Sergeant <ensergeant@gmail.com>

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 1:39 PM

Subject: Re: Party, meet Pflarr

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Ooo, tempting but going diaboli puts creative pressure on Justin to world build, which isn’t good. He needs that time to think up treasure, artifacts, and powers to give us.

So Worms for high power, Reason for low. Anyone have a preference?

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To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

I think this decision should be made carefully, fully weighing all the factors, including where does Matter have or not have an interest? Where could you go where they wouldn’t even look? Where could you go that would be advantageous to visit frequently? Where could go you go that has interesting neighboring planes?

I’ll make a project plan.

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

“I’ll make a project plan.”

Go gantt or go home.

Good idea not to humble into this, though. We need a MythDrivingLegend war room, because it sounds sexier than google docs.

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

Plane of worms makes easy sense for visiting. The Diaboli city I was thinking was on an Open Plane. I may be crazy though.

It would be hard as fuck for new chars to get through to Ebbemsalma though.

Man Im conflicted with character choices. I was thinking of a pegataur cleric, but then theres Vellion the Dragon Arm, I dont know what class that guy, Mystic I suppose? But then maybe just a straight human cleric of the death sword god, the one that grants Slicing. all our party would have Slicing weapons!!!

SPOOOGE! gawd I just loosed the balls, both barrels of chunky curdled man cream into all your eyes!

sorry about that!

theif would be dope too. I’d have to sneak Voulges in there too! a cleric of the Voulge god?

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Reply-To: mancationers@googlegroups.com

To: “mancationers@googlegroups.com” <mancationers@googlegroups.com>

> The Diaboli city I was thinking was on an Open Plane. I may be crazy though.

That’s true. It’s not prohibited to gods by the Council of Intrusion. No doubt the diaboli gods would take personal offense if a god went there without permission, but that doesn’t rule out the possibility that they regularly grant permission, or freely come and go themselves. No doubt Pflarr and/or the Owl God would know something about it, but I’m not sure if you want to waste precious god-talk time on that.