Geekender's Realm

We pass now from the 16^th to the 18^th of Yarthmont (May), in the year 1030. During this period, the party spends a few, final days in the inter-planar meetup known as the City of Koyarekist and then returns to the familiar and comforting arms of their respective homes on the Prime.

 

Three Days in Koyarekist

 

I. Reflexive problem-solving

 

As always, Koyarekist is a mysterious place. There are species which the party has never seen before, enchantments and feats of magic that they’ve never before encountered, and social dynamics between people that baffle them. Since there is more of this than any mortal could expect to comprehend in a single lifetime, most visitors to Koyarekist get in the habit of simply “tuning out” the many mysteries. This has always been true to a degree for the party as well. This time, however, the more child-like curiosities of the party members get the better of them, and the intellectual “noise” that these unresolved mysteries make often proves to be too loud to ignore. As a result, party members find themselves looking for solutions to the mysteries that they stumble across–as though a natural reflex, almost against their will.

 

For example, when the party first returns to Koyarekist they decide to take the safe, legal way in and pass through the gates, answering the usual security questions (as you may remember, the city authorities seem to have ways of detecting those who transport or teleport directly within the city walls). Doing this requires that they wait in line for awhile, within eyeshot of the node at which planar visitors regularly appear. While they wait, a gate appears and out of it strides a heavy-footed hephasteon (iron-skinned semi-giant species from an unknown plane). These creatures are, of course, curious ones, and one can’t help but speculate as to their origins and nature, but the magic-users among the group feel an even stronger desire to speculate about something else: the hephasteon’s gate spell. Although you had never paused to think about it before, it’s noteworthy that the usual gate spell provides you with an oval-shaped opening roughly the size of the doorway of an average, human home. But the hephasteon’s gate is considerably larger. How did he manage that? Within the seven, short minutes in which the party waits in line, the magic-users offer some hypotheses and sketch out a possible approach to creating giant-sized gates. Although they come to no definitive conclusions, they nevertheless work quickly.

 

Then it becomes their turn to answer security questions, and thus they move on to thinking about other topics. And so it goes, from here onward. The range and depth of the party’s curiosity has become considerably enlarged.

Nice detail here Justin! I would think we do this a great deal. Maybe we will ahve to get a scribe to follow us around and jot down our notes? -Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 6:13 PM

 

 

II. Al visits the Temple of Hel

 

Al spends most of his time visiting temples and houses of ill repute. I assume that he usually keeps Charles with him. This turns out to come in quite handy, particularly when Al visits temples of various deities of entropy: the looming figure of a big, mean ogre somehow makes it more plausible that an elf like Al would have a sincere interest in gods and goddesses of entropy.

 

Koyarekist’s temple of Hel is a large and somewhat intimidating place, but not at all the stereotype of a place of entropy. There are no skulls lining the walls, no depictions of armies of darkness walking the earth, and nothing serpentine or deliberately ugly. The main hall—which is the only place that non-worshippers are normally permitted to enter—is divided into two large platforms: a lower platform for routine homage and donations, and another platform about 4 feet higher for those who want to challenge themselves to a brush with severe pain or permanent injury. The higher platform is nearer to the looming, 30’ tall statue of Hel, who is depicted facing away from the worshipers and covered in a billowing, faintly purple-ish robe. What little of her skin that can be seen appears to be pale, and her hair is long and brown.

 

The people of the city often say that the material of which godlike statues are made is a mystery to all but the inner circle of priests in any given temple. To Al, however, this seems a bit laughable. Anyone can see (can’t they?) that the statue of Hel is made of enchanted jet marble.

 

The attending priests and paladins of Hel are charged with the task of keeping people on the lower platform, and informing those who venture onto the higher platform what risks they are about to undertake. They are also there to escort certain devout worshippers of Hel to rooms of blessing, where they are rewarded for the performance of tasks assigned to them by Hel. (Apparently even the lesser followers of Hel are regularly given tasks of various kinds.) And, of course, the priests and paladins are also there to receive donations and keep people from wreaking havoc.

 

Throughout Al’s visit to this temple, no one ventures onto the higher platform, although one woman who enters the main hall (a middle-aged, sharp-nosed woman with strong legs and leather armor) speaks briefly with a priest and is escorted to one of the rooms of blessing.

 

Other than the statue at the front of the main hall, there are no other images depicting the goddess herself. Instead, there are paintings and statues depicting some of her most famous and admirable clerics and paladins. Some appear to be contemplative sorts of people and are shown reading or conversing. More are shown to be courageous or daring, as in the case of a deceased priestess named Vremithine who put a torch to her own home and told her family to jump through the flames to escape. One particularly lauded paladin—Helfem-Skirr—is depicted as being so beaten and battered that half his face is caved in and his left shin is broken and reset at a 20 degree angle. The plate shin-guard covering his left leg fits awkwardly.

 

In spite of all of Al’s newfound powers of cognition, however, Al does not see anything that might readily link Hel to one of the 27 godlings (which was the purpose of this trip).

 

III. Carrock and Efrim visit the Temple of Feria

 

Feria, goddess of truth and wisdom and member of the Sphere of Thought, has a temple in Koyarekist. It is atypical, as far as temples go. There is no main hall. Those who enter must declare their purpose, shed their magic items and weapons, change into plain, unflattering robes, and step through a dark chamber that dispels magic on all existing enchantments. Each is then ushered into a small room that depicts a perfect sphere, which the temple-keepers call “the Image of the Mother of the Ideal of the Good.” There they wait for a turn to talk with a priest or priestess of Feria. I would think it would be up to Carrock, if he’s OK with it I’m OK with it. -Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 6:08 PM Yeah, no problems here. -Ensergeant 8/23/09 8:02 PM If Carrock and Efrim are willing to do all of the above, then they will wind up in the waiting room for seven hours, sitting next to an elf whose tattoos suggests that he’s from a clan (and probably a plane) unknown to them, three dark-skinned men who exchange a couple of words in a language that that they (Efrim and Carrock) have never heard, and a young girl of amberish skin, suggesting that she is from the plane of Cluster (but you can’t be certain). At one point Carrock tries to ask the elf where he is from, but the elf simply lifts a single finger to his lip to “shush” him: “This room is for contemplation of the eternal ideals, not for discussions of trivial things.” Looking down as if lost in thought, the other people in the waiting-room make a similar gesture, putting a finger to their lips briefly.

 

When Carrock and Efrim finally have their chance to talk to a priest, the priest asks that they take turns. The conversation, however, does not go smoothly. Rather than answer Carrock’s and Efrim’s questions outright, he usually simply responds with his own questions, which typically have the form, “How do you know…?” or “What is the nature of…?” For example, Carrock asks him when people first began to worship Feria. The priest responds, “You seem to know what it means to worship someone. What do you think this word, ‘worship’ refers to?” Then Carrock begins to give an answer, which the priest shows to be inadequate or incomplete in some way or another. And so it goes…Efrim will try “Is there a book on the history of the Religion? Something we could take with us? More name and datey, then philosophical?” or maybe I can ask him about the Word of Feria, the artifact? How does one come to carry it? -Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 6:09 PM Hey, we’re not fresh off the turnip boat. Our godly perception, reason, and personalities don’t help us get the rhetorical drop on a priest? Still, I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised. I agree with Clay: Let’s ask specifically about the Word of Feria (or even other artifacts specific to Feria…”Palindrome of Feria” “Dangling Participle of Feria” that sort of thing.-Ensergeant 8/23/09 8:03 PM Heh heh. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 4:16 PM

 

 

Okay, new material follows, in light of Efrim and Carrock’s actions… -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 4:16 PM

 

Carrock and Efrim engage the priest of Feria in philosophical banter. Very quickly, they detect some unease in him, as if he’s not accustomed to engaging with people who think so quickly on their feet. They also begin to get a sense of his philosophical worldview, although he doesn’t come right out and say it. I’ll sum up the noticeable parts of his philosophical worldview very here.

 

■ The priest of Feria is very interested in the distinction between having true beliefs and having full knowledge.

■ He thinks most people have false beliefs and some have true beliefs, but even among the latter group, only a tiny portion of them have proper knowledge. To believe correctly that Iustal has the Word of Feria is one thing, but to actually know it involves so much more: one must not only believe it to be true, one know what the Word of Feria really is, what it means to “have” or “possess” the Word of Feria (is it enough to hold it in your hand? To keep it in your lock box?).

■ Another important difference between knowledge and mere true belief is that knowledge comes with a lot more justification, support, and intentional investigation. When beliefs are true, it’s often by luck. Only when one arrives at them in a very deliberate way does it count as knowledge. When most people happen to hit on true beliefs, it’s just by luck, not by virtue of having sought it in a careful and deliberate way.

■ The only true knowledge is about moral or normative matters: they’re about how the world ought to be, not about how it is.

 

Efrim and (especially) Carrock are happy to discuss these things for awhile, although they get frustrated by a lack of direct answers. After awhile, they notice that the priest seems to fall back on a handful of standard moves whenever he feels he’s being forced to respond to a question outright. Carrock takes a couple of opportunities to call him out on this, as in the following instance:

 

I’ve noticed, sir, that whenever you feel my question about something is too direct, you tend to ask me about the “nature” of something, as though there were some mysterious definition which, if only I could provide it, would thus allow you to answer my question. But I submit to you that we need not always know the nature of something in order to make intelligible use of it. Sometimes it’s just enough that two people understand what needs to be done, and that’s good enough. If a boulder is crushing your foot and you ask me to help lift it, I will know what to do, even though neither us can give a satisfactory definition of a boulder. Now, my friend has asked you whether you know of any good books on the history of religions, and you have asked what the nature of a book really is. To this I say, “My friend needs the weight of historical ignorance lifted from his mind, could you please help him remove that weight?”

 

The priest is flummoxed for a bit, then tries to recover by starting to formulate a new inane question, and finally gives up and saysa, “This is not the forum for such discussion. Perhaps you can make an appointment next week and we will talk more informally.”

 

End of new material. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 4:56 PM

I really envision parts of this as Carrock and Efrim two timing this guy into the dirt. With Carock running toe to toe and Efrim interjecting “thats Begging The Point” or “Logic Fallicey” here and there. Good Stuff. I will totally make an appointment to meet with him a bit more informally and get truthier with him, if time allows. -Efrim MacGregor 12/7/09 8:05 PM

 

IV. Researching the history of Yaneh

 

Al and Carrock both have some interest in the history of the plane, and each sets out to discover some source (in flesh or in printed word) that can provide such a history. Unfortunately, three days proves to be too little to gather this sort of information. One book dealer informs Al that he has indeed seen a couple of books of interest—one on the transformation of the flora and fauna of the plane, another on the establishment of Koyarekist (in pre-Wall times). But such books don’t often turn up. “I suggest you check back again, and check back often. My store always offers the best in histories,” he says.

 

Carrock is more interested in the life and times of the elves who once joined force with the 27 (in the Narristen War, if not for longer). Who were they? Did they live on Yaneh? At first Carrock makes no progress in this inquiry. After a few drinks with a variety of different elves, Carrock quickly learns that any of their race that are to be found on Yaneh aren’t indigenous. In fact, most are surprised even to hear that elves might have lived on the plane in such ancient times. The one exception is a solitary elf from the plane of Reason, who can only report that his ancestors were said to once have done battle in Semu. The elves and human beings are close allies on his home plane, and tradition holds that their alliance harks back to some sort of oath sworn in ancient times on Yaneh, between elves, dwarves, and human beings. It’s common knowledge that this oath had something to do with the downfall of the age of giants, and the purported leaders among the elves of the era are called “Darereacher” and “Overland,” the latter of whom eventually became a great wizard among elves. It is sometimes said that Ordana was Darereacher’s daughter, but it’s also sometimes said that he was Darereacher’s great granddaughter or that he wasn’t related at all. This particular elf happens to think that speculation about ancient lineages is fundamentally unreliable, so he is of the view that there was no relation, “assuming Ordana was even a mortal elf at one time, which strikes me as improbable.”

 

Some nice possible follow ups in there. Darereacher and Overland. We could go to Reason and track them down or follow their histories? -Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 6:25 PM That makes a great deal of sense, as the faenare went from Yenah to the Prime, to Reason. It was on the Shining Isles above the landscape of Reason, that they were ‘created’. However, the early faenare psalms speak of being called to the land of Reason by a voice…so it’s possible that even if this “Darereacher” or “Overland” were the head of the faenare elves (when they were elves) the goddess probably already existed. -Ensergeant 8/23/09 8:12 PM

 

V. The party meets with Diomedes, Eusebius, and Julia Hala

 

Diomedes suggests that everyone meet at Eusebius’ home, which is apparently a somewhat more humble abode than the one that belongs to Diomedes. Julia, however, softly nudges him to meet in their own home, as it’s more spacious and perhaps the party are a bit more trusting of the more familiar Julia and Diomedes. Diomedes quickly agrees and so the party gathers for a second time at his place.

 

The smooth-faced servant/golem is at work again as the party gathers for food and discussion. Other servants are on staff as well, including two older (late 50’s to early 60’s) human beings who were apparently born in Koyarekist but aren’t considered full citizens. When Diomedes and Julia address the humans, they speak a language the party does not recognize. At the last visit, Diomedes insisted that the party eat some of the local meals (which consisted of a lot of worms). Worm steaks? -Ensergeant 8/23/09 8:14 PM This time Julia arranges for the preparation of some traditional dishes of Thyatis, which tend to be bland but satisfyingly meaty. Worm meaty? I just threw up a little in my mouth. Stay down, gorge! -Ensergeant 8/23/09 8:16 PM The two attendees most delighted by this are Eusubius and (much to everyone’s surprise) Al. Al, it might be recalled, originally came from a clan in the Grand Duchy of Karmekios, a quasi-colony of Thyatis. After running away, he spent quite a bit of time among the humanoids and indeed among the human communities there, and developed a taste for the local fare.

 

Eusebius looks to be in his late 40’s, but it’s well-known to all who followed Prime Plane politics that he’s now in his ninth decade. Back when he was prince and heir-apparent to the Emperor of Thyatis, he was known for wearing beautiful, shining platemail armor with chain joints and a stylized griffon engraved in the front. Indeed, he was known for wearing the armor to just about any formal occasion, including meals with other members of the royal house. During his exile in Koyarekist, however, he has become somewhat more informal. For this gathering he wears something that might be described as “quasi-armor”: occasionally party members notice a layer of leather peaking out from beneath his regular clothes. He carries a sword but takes care to hitch it to its sheath before entering the home of Diomedes. This is a way of toting one’s blade in a less threatening manner, as it would take the drawer a number of seconds to unhitch. The party gets the impression that this is just a kind of courtesy that Thyatians usually show one another.

 

Eusebius is also extremely polite. He bows slightly to each person and opens his first conversation with each by asking them about themselves. He offers to push in the chairs of each woman in the room, despite the fact that Diomedes and Julia have staff on hand for that sort of thing. When he and any given partner-in-conversation begin to talk over one another, he always lets the other speak first, even if he was interrupted. Diomedes seems to be on even better behavior in Eusebius’ presence, and belatedly offers to push in Alestria’s seat, apologizing for not thinking of it sooner. Julia seems unaffected by Eusebius’ presence, proving to be no more nor less courteous to him or anyone else. Although she lacks the usual courtesies, however, she continues to (almost inadvertently) put on the charm. Whenever she addresses someone sitting near her, she always touches his arm gently to get his attention. For most (but perhaps not all) party members, a little jolt of excitement shoots up the arm when this happens.

 

Diomedes begins with small-talk, asking the party what they’ve been up to and inquiring about the health of everyone’s families. When it becomes apparent that the party is reluctant to give many details about their latest activities, he seems to detect their discomfort and quickly changes the subject.

 

Efrim sees an opportunity to speculate a bit about the recent course of history, and perhaps uncover a few insights from people who know more about the activities of the gods. “This is something we didn’t talk about before. But it occurred to me how enigmatic humanity has become. Suddenly finding itself in a world that it no longer belonged to. Neither Lycanthrope, nor Undead. Unwanted, but needed for the other two to survive. So now Humanity finds itself treading in these two worlds, Lycan and Deadite, but belonging to neither. How similar it is to your own positions in the world. Outsiders, by birth or by choice, how do you survive?”

 

Eusebius likes the question and spends some time searching for exactly the right words to describe his view on the matter. He ends up reaching two conclusions that might seem to be odds with one another. “Although the lycanthropes and undead have made their nests on the Prime, they haven’t really made it their home. One can’t erase the history of human civilization and all of its traces so easily.” But then he also follows this up with a bold declaration to the effect that humankind can make the Prime its home once again–suggesting both that the Prime is the home of humankind and that it isn’t yet humankind’s home (thus the sense that he has contradicted himself in some way). Diomedes then offers the following interesting nugget: “Perhaps we could say that our position vis-à-vis the undead and the lycans—and the position of humankind in general—will be determined only in retrospect. Whether the Prime is now our home will be an unsettled question until we know whether we will be on the Prime for some time to come. Until then we are at best pioneers in new homesteads—if we stay, we will recall our early years as being ‘at home.’ If we leave, however, we will remember the land only as ‘a place we stayed for a short while, before moving on.’” “In any case, I think that humankind’s fate is far from sealed. Our people may not be flourishing on the earth, but we continue to have much support in the heavens.”

 

At this point Diomedes turns to the chief items of business, and it seems there are two: destroying Eyenmar’s forces and re-establishing the Empire of Thyatis.

 

Eusebius was hoping to combine these two tasks, and Diomedes likes Eusebius’ proposal. Their hope was to join forces with the Dawn Druids and stage an invasion of Ochalea. Presumably Ochaelea’s defenses are strong, so some sort of army would need to be assembled. Since there are no large-population human nations that have a direct interest in invading Ochalea, Diomedes and Eusebius assume that the army will have to consist mostly of mercenaries, drawn from Wyneitan, the Stem Colony, Alfheim, Rockhome, and perhaps Tae Ullari (“assuming the Lord-Protector is willing to release some of his people for this noble cause,” Eusebius adds). Needless to say, they could use as much support from Catalon as Catalon is willing to offer. Ochalea is crawling with high-power undead, and armies alone will not be enough to clean it out.

 

Eusebius and Diomedes have a several questions about this. The one that might seem most obvious is whether Catalon is willing to help, and in what capacity. Eusebius, however, only dances around this question and doesn’t put it to the party directly, waiting instead for Lackshmi or one of the others to raise this question on his behalf. Other questions include:

 

(1.) How to train the army in preparation for the invasion?

We could certainly train troops in Tae Ullari. I was wanting to hire some GrandMasters to come train folks. I was wanting to focus on The Voulge! it really is the ultimate weapon. -Efrim MacGregor 8/13/09 8:31 AM

(2.) Would it be foolish to try to recruit lycanthropes? Many of the lycanthropes will have once been devoted soldiers and citizens of Thaytis, and all such lycanthropes will presumably know the royal family that looked after them in happier days. Might their old sense of loyalty and patriotism still flicker somewhere in their bestial hearts?

Is there a lycanthrope nation that exists where Thyatis used to? If so who is it ruled by and what do we know about it? -Anil Seth 8/13/09 10:00 AM Some of those areas were home to human races with distinct features (e.g. the Ochaleans), so they’d presumably still be easy to track down as lycanthropes (since their human forms would kept those distinct features). -Ensergeant 8/23/09 8:17 PM Yes, a lycanthrope nation now survives where the hub of the empire of Thyatis once sat. Unfortunately, the lycanthropes that took over there came from the Northern Realms. Many of their subjects, though, are Thyatian. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:06 PM

(3.) What sorts of sneak-attacks might the high-powered people be able to carry out? Would it be possible to assassinate Eyenmar or some of her advisors and generals?

Lakshmi would be very happy to commit to helping with some high level strikes and imagines that a number of catalonians would be happy to help as well. Ideally these would be done with the help of Nameless One and in quick succession so to reduce the chance of a retaliation strike. Eusebius & Diomedes are welcome (pending approval of the 1st circle) to use Catalon as a base for their operations. -Anil Seth 8/13/09 10:03 AM We’d probably be the most help by disrupting the leadership…if not Eyenmar directly, those few levels directly below the top. -Ensergeant 8/23/09 8:18 PM Eusebius likes the idea of going for the second or third rung down from the top. “Eyenmar herself will be extremely well protected, since it is well known that she is the keystone that holds the entire structure together. But if we could topple the structure by kicking down a couple of dozen generals and magistrates, who are probably less well protected, that’s every bit as good as killing Eyenmar directly.” -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:09 PM Al happens to know a thing or two about deadite control structures, and now his thought process on the subject is kicking like never before. The strength of the deadite army is that it is linked together like chains in the shape of a pyramid. One link at the top, cascading down with each successor linked to ever more links. If you eliminate the link at the top, all that is required to stabilize the army is to have a new link take mastery over the penultimate level; re-master 5 links and the army continues without disruption. This is also the hardest link to destroy. But if you focus on eliminating an entire tier of lower “links” as Eusubius suggests, then you have a chance to completely sever the connection between the Command Structure and the soldiers. What we need to do is find that “sweet spot” – the least protected links with the most control. What’s the lowest level undead abomination that can enslave the soul of another creature? (Al knows, I think it’s the vampires). Find these creatures, and destroy them. Then our footsoldiers raze the barns where the lowest level creatures are kept, reducing their army to a collection of commanders with no troops. (Efrim and Al could get some great intel here by hijacking one higher level deadite to get the inside details on the power structure. A cleverly placed STuD combined with Efrim’s world class Deadite Mastery skillz could give us the keys to the castle, or at least to the barn. but that’s not details Al is going to bring up over dinner.) -Baron Al Bino 12/8/09 11:24 AM

 

The other question, of course, is what to do with Ochalea once it has been cleaned. Eusebius’ idea is that it might become a new home-base for the Kingdom of Thyatis, which would then begin to work (perhaps for generations) at re-conquering some of its old territory. He thinks it would be in the interest of many parties to have a powerful human nation located in Ochalea. Certainly the Dawn Druids would prefer to be rid of that plague to the South of them, and he would of course permanently commit his reborn nation to staying out of their territory on the Isle of Dawn. Wyneitan could also use a human ally to help civilize the lycanthrope nations in the area. And Catalon could consider Thyatis to be a terrestrial extension of itself, in some sense.

I’ll remind Eusebius that Catalon already has a terrestrial ‘extension’ whose ruler is sitting in the room. Nonetheless, we’d be very happy to help re-establish another human nation. She’ll remind the company that despite the great efforts of mages to help Alphatia, the people turned against them and accused them of vain magics. Maybe some thought should be given to the end-game — if you recruit were-creatures, what will they believe in. -Anil Seth 8/13/09 10:04 AM

 

Eusebius foresees two major obstacles to this plan: first, the invasion would be extremely difficult. Forcing undead off the Isle of Dawn is one thing, going into the heart of undead territory, which is teeming with high-powered deadites, is another thing entirely. Even if the allies could find some way of killing Eyenmar, it’s unlikely to solve the problem entirely. There are plenty of high-level nosferatu and liches who can form their own power-bases there, and there may well be a designated heir to Eyenmar. “If our preliminary investigations on the Prime are any indication, this will be a long, hard slog,” Diomedes says.

Do we have any idea how many high level (say >18th level) liches and nosferatu are around on the Isle of Dawn? -Anil Seth 8/13/09 9:57 AM You would guess that there are at least four liches on Ochaela, and perhaps others on the nearby Isle of Dawn. But it’s a good bet there will be plenty of high-level nosferatu–too many to know about without extensive intelligence. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:13 PM

 

The second question is how to settle the newfound kingdom with human beings. Diomedes has heard that Tae Ullari relied on some sort of arrangement with clerics of the Healer, who offered shelter and salvation to those werecreatures who wanted to leave their animal lives behind. Might it be possible to do something similar for Thyatis? Eusebius also thinks it possible to convert many of the mercenaries into citizens. Speaking from experience, he notes that the longer mercenaries spend away from home, the less attached to home they will be, and more attached to the comrades they might become. Do you have any other ideas for recruiting settlers?

Yes, thats right. We were doing that. We had a big influx of something like 800 people drop in with the Healers Cleric. “The big problem is that the lycanthropes are cuaght up with their own things. If we were to destablize the Lycan nations, you could probably get a better draw of mercenaries and converts willing to carve out a new life. If you were to kill the Master that would shake things up. Just depends on what you want to do and how messy you want to get. You can count on my support, Tae Ullari has precious few troops, but we could maybe provide some arms and armaments for normal troops. We can certainly train people up on fighting undead.-Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 6:29 PM Hold on a minute here. It just occurred to me that the priests of the Healer must have some spell that is able to cure lycanthropy, right? Has anyone seen it? Is it a spell or some priestly power? Well, (this is Al musing to himself, because some things have to remain secret) the Al Chemistry club can make potions based on spells – even clerical spells. With the right research, Al could be producing “Elixers of Restored Life” that Ignacious Calhoun can give to lycans to turn them into humans! No need for outsider priests! Make huge batches of it and have the lycans come and drink it from the “magic fountain”. That ought to increase the human population, but we’d have to A) research it successfully and B) figure out how to mass produce it. One lycan at a time won’t really repopulate a nation. -Ray Paulson 8/10/09 10:21 PM Is it the Greater Cureall Spell? I think thats it, Seventh Level priest spell: https://dreams.mythdrivinglegend.com/spells_cs.html Yes, Greater Cureall is the very spell. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 8/13/09 1:34 PM

How about trying to find human communities on other planes that are wishing a new homeland? Perhaps we could find some dissidents on mitterstorm (thats the one the Tser rules, right)? Or some other enslaved people? -Anil Seth 8/13/09 10:07 AM Tser is on Orinocco. Mitterstorm is the dying plane, perhaps a good choice too. Where you had your Bacca chains put on you? -Efrim MacGregor 8/13/09 8:22 AM Clay knows his planes. Mitterstorm doesn’t have many human residents, so even if you do persuade some to leave, it probably wouldn’t be many. The people of Orinocco, however, are many and it’s safe bet that large swaths of them are miserable enough to leave. Might this move create a bit of a vendetta with Tser, though? -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:14 PM

 

As for the matter of paying mercenaries, “Don’t worry too much about that,” Eusebius says, “We can use all of the help we can get, but we do have resources.”

 

As the discussion of Ochalea drags on, Julia suggests to Carrock that they go to another room and trade songs. Carrock enjoys singing and swapping music with her, but few of the songs she offers have anything to do with the immortals. Most of the music that she is interested in comes from Myanonese or Traldaran customs. At one point, in response to one of Carrock’s traditional ballads, she begins to say, “Oh, the melody reminds me a bit of…um, something I used to hear.” But she volunteers no further information about that and quickly changes the subject.Well, no reason to let her off that easy. I’ll follow up on that, and try to coax some more info from her. -Ensergeant 8/23/09 8:21 PM Oh, well it’s nothing, really. Just an old but timeless account of a vicious love triangle. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:17 PM

 

At the end of the night, Diomedes offers Carrock a few tips on drawing one’s sword in a speedy manner, while Efrim arranges a time to meet with Julia for a trip to City Hall (more on this later).

 

VI. Efrim visits the Temples of Pflarr and Palentarkan

 

Among the many tasks that are planned for the Efrim’s three days in Koyarekist, two are to visit the temples of two gods known for their patronage of magic. Unfortunately, between the long, drug-out visit to the Temple of Feria and the long afternoon-and-evening meeting at Diomedes’ home, this leaves Efrim just a little over a day for his other tasks, including his shopping trips. Given the higher priority of shopping and the aforementioned visits to Diomedes and Feria’s Temple, Efrim ends up attempting visits at the very end of the second day, after the second sun has set and many shops begin to close up. He finds, much to his disappointment, that the Temple of Palentarkan is already closed—although there is a donation slot 10 feet along the outer wall from the main doors. As it happens, however, the Temple of Pflarr is open through the night. Indeed, it keeps unconventional hours, staying open during the early mornings and afternoons, then closing for the evenings, and opening again late at night.

 

The nighttime crowd of Pflarr’s temple is a strange one. There is a cleric visiting from god-knows-what-plane who doesn’t speak a lick of Alphatian, Elven, or Storm Giant (the standard languages in Koyarekist). There is another cleric who wears his hair like a lion’s mane. And there are four mages who seem to have gathered for a little debate about local politics. When Efrim approaches the group of mages and begins to ask polite questions, two of the mages pretend not to hear him, one just looks up and shrugs his shoulders at Efrim, and a fourth attempts to answer Efrim’s inquiries. We can play out the conversation between Efrim and this more helpful mage as needed.

“Hello friends. I’m a simple devotee of Pflarr and wondering if we might trade tales of our journeys? May we speak of Spells and Duels and new magics we may have encountered? I have have traveled far and would like to hear happenings from where ever you hale.” -Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 7:50 PM

Lakshmi will join in on this trip if Efrim doesn’t mind. As Efrim starts talking with the friendlier mage, she’ll try working out a way to talk with the cleric from the unknown plane (do we have a spell or magic item for this purpose? I thought we did, but I may not have it in my possession.). If all else fails she’ll try working out a hair trade with the priest and casting LQComm. I’ll try finding out where the cleric is from and find out as much as possible about their plane (assuming it is one that isn’t known to me). -Anil Seth 8/13/09 10:23 AM

Okay, new material follows… -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:21 PM

 

 

Efrim addresses the friendlier magic user: “Hello friends. I’m a simple devotee of Pflarr and wondering if we might trade tales of our journeys. May we speak of Spells and Duels and new magics we may have encountered? I have traveled far and would like to hear happenings from wherever you hale.”

 

The friendlier magic-user responds, “Perhaps not at this time, friend. We are deliberating about an important matter that my colleagues and I would rather discuss alone. I wish you luck in your search for a bent ear.”

 

Lackshmi talks to the cleric with the lion’s mane, who says he comes from “a land in which the gods of energy roam free, and the unholy gods do not dare to tread.” His name is Fehmen Ewer. He asks Lackshmi for her name and asks her a bit about her home plane. If she reveals anything at all about the persecution of magic users on her home plane, he’ll visibly shiver and note that such persecutions would never take place in his homeland.

 

End of new material -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:29 PM

“Oh…um…I see…so…uh…just very quickly, um..no one here is interested in a duel? What they call a mages duel? or whatever it is? Visit the Prime, Duel a mage? No? Lackshmi, they arent duelers, there more the intellectual types. Not really talkers either. Sad really.” -Efrim MacGregor 12/7/09 7:59 PMAlas, no one present is interested in coming to the Prime Plane to duel. But they can point you to the place in the city where mage duels are often held. As I understand it, though, Lackshmi isn’t really interested in pursuing the duel portion of her immortal quest. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 6/3/10 8:17 PM

 

VII. Shopping

 

Various members of the party spend roughly half to two thirds of a day shopping (depending on how much time you allotted yourselves). Here is a quick run-down of the results:

 

– Al comes across a Potion of Hawk Vision, which allows one to see objects that are up to one mile away as though a mere hundred feet away. Al will buy that. -Ray Paulson 8/10/09 10:34 PM

– Al finds a number of scrolls for higher-level spells, including one scroll of the clone spell. The standard cost for each scroll is 400x[spell-level]. For example, a scroll containing a ninth-level spell costs 3,600. Prices can be lowered with successful use of the bargaining proficiency, or if the seller is an ogre. One scroll with the wish spell costs 11,700 gp. I’ll buy those too, yes the Wish scroll too. I won’t bother trying to bargain, unless I happen to be shopping with Efrim, then I’ll let him haggle for me since I know how important it is for him to get a deal 🙂 -Ray Paulson 8/10/09 10:34 PM

– Efrim comes across two sellers with bags of holding—neither of them are merchants, but rather adventurers who have an extra bag and are looking to make some fast cash. The asking price for one bag is 53,000 gp, the asking price for the other is 170,000 gp.

What is the difference between the bags? Are they from the same people or different sellers? I may be interested in both especially with a war on the horizon. -Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 8:19 PM They are different sellers. So far as Efrim can tell, there’s no a jot of difference between the two. One seller is just asking for a hell of a lot more money. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:30 PM

– As we discussed earlier, Efrim meets with a pawnshop owner who claims that he can arrange for an exchange of bacca plates. If he sees the owner of the bacca plates in the next 28 days, he will request that the owner stop by the shop again at the end of the month. Presumably Efrim will have to return and visit the shop whether or not the shopkeeper has succeeded in setting up a meeting, since Efrim has no way of contacting the shopkeeper while Efrim’s on the Prime.

Sounds perfect. -Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 8:21 PM

– Efrim comes across a map of an underground maze located far, far to the South of Koyarekist—deep in the dark, foggy lands where little life is known to exist. The maze supposedly stores the valuables of a number of noble families. Efrim has no way of confirming any of this, of course. The mapseller asks for 750 gp, but will quickly reduce his price to 100 gp after a little haggling.

This is great. a good trophy for my collection. May have to see if its real some day. Is it well made at least? -Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 8:20 PM It’s not bad, and some sort of preservation spell has been cast upon it. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:32 PM

The other thing that had occurred to me to look for is a bunch of magic items for low level spells. I’m interested in Sleep items, and Protection 10′ Radius items especially, for the boys back home. When Al thinks of Ostbruck, he is often worried for the gentry having to fend off some trouble that was caused by Al’s doings, especially when he’s not there, and putting useful but simple magic items in their hands would help rest his mind. I was going to make them, but buying them is so much simpler. -Ray Paulson 8/10/09 10:36 PM Okay, items with low-level magic effects are easy to find. Maybe you can just give me a list and I’ll give you the total cost? -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:33 PM

I wanted to look around for texts in the immortal script. I’ll copy a piece of the lizard-book down on some paper, make it look like some scrap from a book and take it around as an example. I’ll pretend like I have no idea how to read it, but am intrigued at the mystery and want to find more texts in the same script. -Anil Seth 8/13/09 9:51 AM Okay, new material follows… -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:33 PM

 

– Lackshmi copies a page from the lizard book, which is in immortal script, and wanders the markets looking for texts that might make use of the same script. Her initial efforts are unsuccessful. Most bookshop owners take a quick glance at it and say, “That’s not a script I’ve ever seen.” In two cases, however, the bookshop owners’ curiosity is piqued. One requests to look at the page for awhile and begins to ask questions about the page’s origins (“Did you find it on this plane? How old is this parchment, do you think?”). The other actually offers to pay Lackshmi 50 gp for the privilege to copy it by hand into his own collection of written scripts. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he says.

 

End of new material. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:38 PM

 

VIII. Carrock visits the Temple of Ordana

 

On his final day in Koyarekist, Carrock pays a visit to the Temple of Ordana, better known as “Ordana’s Luxuriant Grove.” Yes, I’ll titter every time someone calls it that. -Ensergeant 8/23/09 8:23 PM Heh heh. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:39 PM The place is a bit unusual as far as places of worship go. It consists of a number of tall, ancient trees and an assortment of shrines and other structures built into the trunks. During the day a miniature sun shines overhead, burning off whatever fog happens to wander into the grove. Keepers of the temple include human beings, fey folk, and elves, and no one in particular seems to be in charge. Carrock examines a number of shrines that contain different “visions” or “avatars” of Ordana, including her deer avatar, her tree avatar, her eagle avatar, and her drake avatar. All are carved from wood but magnificent in their expressions and detail. Even the tree avatar seems imposing, as though it demands respect and obeisance of anyone who enters the shrine in which it is housed. Carrock finds no indications as to whether she has any connection to one of the 27.Any references to be seen for the Shining Isles (or maybe more generally, stars) or to her debates with Solipsis? -Ensergeant 8/23/09 8:24 PM You don’t come across any such references during this visit, unfortunately. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:39 PM

 

IX. Efrim and Julia visit City Hall

Efrim decides to do something that the party has never really thought to do before: visit the hub of city government. The offices of the city administration are located in a variety of places, but the Administrative Council is housed in what in the locals call “City Hall”—a large, hexagonal structure with a tower at each point and 1-2 family crests flying as flags from each tower (for a total of 9 family crests). In the mornings and evenings the towers disappear into the low-lying clouds above. In the afternoon, however, the sky is relatively clear and the entire structure is visible. Efrim visits in the afternoon.

The City Hall’s second through fourth floors are reserved for officials, dignitaries, and their employees. The bottom floor is open to members of the public, but only a select group of that public. To be granted permission to visit, one must be (1) a citizen of Koyarekist, or (2) a “Distinguished Guest,” which refers to a special classification reserved set aside for influential, well-connected, long-term residents of Koyarekist, or (3) a guest who is vouched for by someone who fits the description of (1) or (2). Obviously, Efrim doesn’t fall under the first or second category, so his only option is to fit himself into the third, and thus find someone of status in Koyarekist who can vouch for his honesty and good character. This is how Efrim ends up visiting City Hall with Julia Hala. Shortly after discovering that Efrim will need a sponsor, Efrim attends the aforementioned meeting with Diomedes, Eusebius, and Julia. At the meeting Efrim asks Diomedes if he is willing to vouch for him, and Julia—who overhears this request—interrupts to say that she would be happy not only to vouch for him, but also to accompany him. (“One of us would need to accompany you to the door anyway, and I wouldn’t mind seeing City Hall again.”).

The following morning Efrim meets Julia at her home and they walk (not fly) to City Hall. Once the proper paperwork has been filled out, Julia has reminds Efrim–only half-jokingly–that he’s about to put her honor and reputation on the line, so he better be well-behaved. Hey, come on! What could happen? -Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 8:27 PM With that, they enter the first of several rooms containing exhibits of the highlights of Koyarekist.

Many rooms simply show relief maps or models of various quarters of Koyarekist. Getting this perspective on the city as a whole is actually a rare treat. Even when the fog is at its thinnest, it’s hard to see the entire city from any given location, and it’s usually illegal to fly more than seven feet above ground anyway. As a result, most people haven’t really seen how its various parts fit together. In general, Koyarekist could be described as having two sectors: a roughly oval-shaped center and a larger outer ring. Needless to say, the center is much older than the outer ring.

Looking down at the models of the oldest sector of the city, one phrase that might best describe its composition is “well planned.” This is not the organic sort of urban growth that unplanned cities tend to have. The center is broken into distinctive districts, each district clearly beginning and ending at major streets. Places of entertainment are confined to one area, hotels and inns to another. The temple district is set off in a kind of appendage in the Northwest, keeping it a fair distance from the sorts of places that attract crime (such as the market districts). Residences of similar heights tend to be clustered together. I am definately interested in the old city. The original structures and layout may give us a good idea of who was here ‘from the beginning’ in terms of Immortals and such or families that might give us a better idea of history. -Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 8:28 PM

The outer ring, however, is considerably more chaotic. Market squares are pushed right up against residences, and some temples of the younger gods (if you can call them that) overlook one of the two yards where refuse is dumped. Many streets zig-zag and numerous buildings have been fit into tight, misshapen corners and gaps, thus making for a variety of impractical, triangle-shaped homes and shops.

Another room contains documents that outline the city’s administrative hierarchy and legal structure. Many of these details are tedious and I assume Efrim won’t waste the several hours it would take to read them all. However, there are a number of things about the customs and laws of the city that catch Efrim by surprise, in spite of the fact that he’s spent a fair amount of time here. For example, although people think of Koyarekist as an inter-planar city, there are, in fact, people who have lived here for many generations. They are just a tiny portion of the population present on any given day (about 15%), but some of them are extremely powerful. About one third of the long-term residents (5% of the overall population present at any given time) are considered full citizens. Every one of these full citizens can claim some sort of relationship to at least one of nine families, and with only a few exceptions, every full citizen is extremely well-off. Most of them have inherited multiple businesses from their predecessors. Indeed, most of the city’s tailors, blacksmiths and innkeepers either rent their property from a member of one of the families or work as one of their employees. Every five years, each family picks one City Administrator from among their ranks, and the Council of Administrators then assigns various offices to other full-citizens. If the documents in this room are to be believed, the Council regularly checks up on the work of its various officers to make sure that they their operations are honest and efficient.

There are also rooms devoted to the history of the city. As depicted by the murals in one room and described in an engraved document on the opposite wall, Koyarekist was founded by the rulers of the ancient empire of Semu in order to bring them into closer contact with the peoples of other planes. The Semu-ites filled the city with a number of schools and libraries, which they used to educate visitors. Over time, however, Koyarekist eventually became more of a place of commerce. As the Semu empire began to wane, the most influential families in Koyarekist took the opportunity to declare independence. Semu sent out an army to secure the town but ended up making a deal with the powerful families of Koyarekist while the army was still en route. In essence, the people of Koyarekist bought their independence from Semu, and continued to thrive while the empire decayed. Interesting. Were travel spells still not common? Wouldn’t it just take one visit from a godling to bring people back in line? What happened to the original schools and libraries from those times? -Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 8:30 PM These are all good questions. And it does indeed seem that a couple of godlings could whip the ruling families of Koyarekist into shape, so either the godlings weren’t around or they didn’t intervene. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:42 PM

The historical account does not offer details about Semu or its peoples, although there seems to be a presupposition that Semu was once extremely powerful and influential, and that it was ruled by humans and demi-humans.

Another room depicts some major innovations in City policy and governance, but these are also vague and not of much interest. Koyarekist also had to fend off a number of major attacks. The Beastmen once attempted a takeover, for example. No doubt the incredible wealth of the city has been a draw for many ambitious conquerors and looters. Is there a date for the Beastman Invasion? Wondering if it coincides with Pilgrims beastmen invasion or those of the Prime? -Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 8:32 PM Yes, the beastmen attempted to sack Koyarekist about 16 months after they invaded the Prime. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:43 PM

(Once Julia and Efrim are on their way back home, Julia mentions that there are also some less glorious moments in the documented history of city, most of which the City Hall’s exhibitions glossed over. “There have been a couple of ugly incidents when the permanent non-citizens of Koyarekist have risen up against the families. Things did not end well.”) For the noble families or the commoners? -Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 8:33 PM Since the noble families are still the same ones that have been passing property down for generations, I’m guessing it was the foreign scum that were brutally put down. -Ray Paulson 8/10/09 11:28 PM Right. It was the foreign scum that really suffered. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:44 PM

 

Perhaps the most interesting room for Efrim contains a number of relics, including the relic he had come to City Hall to see (the cornerstone from the original wall that surrounded the node). There is a scepter that supposedly belonged to the Governors appointed by the Semu rulers, back before independence. There are some examples of vases and statuettes from that era—some of them made of chustra. Most of the vases are simply decorative. Two chustra vases, however, have symbols that the party now knows to be an abstract depiction of Narr leading three giants in chains. The statuettes look unfamiliar and wear clothes that don’t closely approximate the clothes of the era of the godlings. However, three of them (all chustra) have recognizable faces: two of Elstir, and one of Yterat. Are these labled or does Julia know the names? I’ll make normal conversation about these things. “Strange material. I dont beleive Im familiar. Do you know what it is? I’d like to make a copy of the Scepter too. -Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 8:34 PM They’re labeled, but not by the name of the godling. They just say things like, “Male figure from the old archaic period” or “Regal feminine figure from the middle archaic period.” Efrim sees no sign that either Julia or the people responsible for this display are aware of the names of the godlings depicted in these statuettes. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:48 PM You can talk to her about it from the perspective of a sculpter. Chicks dig guys who do art. -Ray Paulson 8/10/09 11:31 PM Okay, new material… -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:47 PM

Efrim turns to Julia, “Strange material. I don’t believe I’m familiar. Do you know what it is?”

Julia responds, “It has a variety of names. In my mind I’ve always called it ‘lasting glass.’ A silly name, I know. It’s really not all that different from the material you find in many artifacts, I believe.”

 

End of new material -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:47 PM

Efrim will yelp “ARTIFACTS!?! Serioulsy? Hey, you think the guards will notice if I put a few of these Statues under my kilt? Serioulsy! Lets do this. I’ll pretend to an pregnant alphatian milk maiden and your my cousin from Mitterstorm. We just walk out like nothing is going on, everything is right as rain, just a couple of ladies enjoying the City hall. Huh? Come on! Ok, my name is going to be Helouise MacKintyre and if we get caught, which we wont, my code name is Grey Wolf. Got Helouise MacKintyre and Grey Wolf. OK. Now whats your cover name going to be?” Ok, hopefully this is obvious Im just fooling around here, but I’ll totally put her on the spot, make her come up with real names and everything. What ever she comes up with, I’ll make suggestions/critique. “No, no, no. A code name has to be kinda dark and mysterious. You know like a mystery in the form of a name. When people hear it they should think, What, huh Grey Wolf? Gosh that sounds Mysterious! What or who is Grey Wolf? He certainly sounds powerful, I wouldn’t want to cross him! Now pick a real code name.”-Efrim MacGregor 12/7/09 7:44 PM “These are not things that we should even joke about, my dear. Security here is good at identifying plots before they are even hatched…But if it were up to me, my code name would be Feisty Tiger.” Julia smirks. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 6/3/10 8:22 PM

Then there is a cornerstone, which very much resembles the sorts of large, chustra, building blocks that the party encountered repeatedly in Old Semu. The outer edge is flatter than usual, making it easier to read the ancient runes inscribed on it—large enough to be read from a good 50 yards away. The runes seem to form an incomplete sentence: “…cannot rest until we have liberated all…” I’d like to fabricate a smaller version of this. Does Julia know what it says? Or what happened to the rest of it (the inscription)? -Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 8:39 PM New material follows… -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:53 PM

Efrim asks Julia, “Interesting. Do you happen to know what it says?”

Julia answers, “Yes, the fuller inscription says, ‘Our consciences cannot rest until we have liberated all of humankind.’ The founders of the city lived at the close of the Age of Giants, you know. They must have felt the sting of oppression from the giant rulers of their era.”

End of new material -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:55 PM

“Sadly, I dont know my history too well, especially in that Era. You come here a lot and seem to like this sort of thing, history and song. Can you tell me much about it? or some of the heroes of the time? You know, its reassuring in these times to know that those that came before me, before us, over came even greater challenges. Makes what were are doing on the prime seem much less hopeless than it really is.” with that Efrim will get a sad far off look on his face for a moment, as if remembering something, and then snap to and give a reassuring smile. -Efrim MacGregor 12/7/09 7:38 PM “You’re not alone in your ignorance. The Age of Giants predates the birth of many of the gods themselves.” -jtiwald@yahoo.com 6/3/10 8:25 PM

Presumably Efrim lingers quite awhile in this room. Julia remarks on this: “these relics really are the most interesting parts of the exhibition, aren’t they? I’m particularly fond of this one.” She points to one of the statuettes of Elstir—the plainer, simpler of the two. “Julia, as a student of sculpture, I would like to know what draws you to this particular piece. Is it the subject? there seem to be two versions of the same person. Why this one? Maybe this is where I could sneak in some godspeak? The statue is very, how would you say “godword”? and see what she thinks of that? Maybe? Unless Carrock puts the GodSpeak moves on her earlier when they were singing. -Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 8:40 PMHow is this better than just asking, “do you kow the language of the gods?” -Anil Seth 8/13/09 10:24 AMI thought it was a good opener. It shows I know stuff but not too much and its based from a “hey Im trying to relate” sort of thing and not a ‘tell me all you know’ sort of thing. This way, Im being a nice guy trying to make her feel at ease. It lets her know, I know at least a little bit about the language of the gods and that she must surly know too, and theres no harm in recognizing that fact. Its a good ice breaker. or maybe not? My stat for Smoothness my not be as high as I think it is. -Efrim MacGregor 8/13/09 8:24 AM

“Julia, as a student of sculpture, I would like to know what draws you to this particular piece. Is it the subject? These seem to be two versions of the same person. Why this one? Is it because the statue is very…” And at this point Efrim uses one of the godwords he knows for “plain and simplified.” Without batting an eye, Julia responds matter-of-factly:

“I’ve heard that word before, but I don’t recognize it. What does it mean, again?”

End of new material -jtiwald@yahoo.com 12/7/09 5:55 PM

“Hmm? Oh, yes, pardon me. I just…I mean, you…ah, I thought, were well, I thought you would know uh…that…um… word. Well, I um…I guess I thought…you know…um nevermind then…it must be gibberish then. Ha, silly really… its just I dreamt we had this conversation…only…and this is going to sound weird…we werent saying any of these words. We were saying something else, like another language only different, like a song but…no not a song exactly…well when i awoke, I only could recall some of the words.” Efrim shrugs his shoulders “usually when I have a dream like that I follow it and it goes just like it was dreamt. Not always though I guess. I guess its for the best, the last thing I remember from my dream was Al busrting in wearing a Carock suit and not like a bird suit made to look like carock, but Carock as a suit, a living suit…akward really, perhaps sexually ambiguity there. Weird. Forget I mentioned it. Well, regardless, what draws you to this version of the statue over the other?” Julia seems pretty hard boiled, must get this sort of thing a lot. MacGregor Smooth-o-meter: 0.0% -Efrim MacGregor 12/7/09 7:01 PM Julia gives Efrim a quizzical look. Then she looks away and says, “Yes, I know of the language to which that word belongs. But I can’t quite recall what it means. Somehow–and I’m not sure how–you do know what it means. I’d love to know, just to jog my memory. But if you prefer to feign ignorance I will play along.” -jtiwald@yahoo.com 6/3/10 8:29 PM

 

X. Rogues attempt to mug Al and Charles

When Al and Charles are out late one night, returning from one of the houses of ill repute, they find themselves walking down a street amongst seemingly good company. Two women walk side-by-side in front of them, chattering away about food or something. A young man passes by and even offers a friendly if somewhat poorly pronounced “hello” in Elven. A few seemingly upright people stand around in doorways or under lanterns, one of them quietly reading some sort of speech or poetry to another fellow.

All at once, the two women pivot on their feet and draw their swords. Several of the lanterns lining the street go out—as if by magic—and every seemingly harmless passer-by (including the cheery young man) lifts his or her hood and moves in to surround Al and Charles. The aforementioned “speech-reader” finishes his speech and Al and Charles are forced to make saves vs. paralysis. They both succeed (Al-8, Charles-14).

There are five rogues total. One of the women warns Al that their blades are poisoned, and she hints that she knows what unseemly activities Al and Charles just engaged in:

“We are in a position to kill you with our blades or kill you with shame. Either way, I suggest you not resist us. You must give us your armor and all of your weapons, as well as whatever gems you have on your persons. We will let you keep your coins. Don’t think; just hand it over.”

Charles, speaking in Ogre under his breath, says, “We can take them.”

I assume that Al doesn’t have any protective spells up, other than the usual contingencies and permanencies. I also assume that Al and Charles have ways of making a quick escape, if they so desire. They might also do battle. Either way, Al gets to call the shots.

Please do something badass here AL BINO! -Efrim MacGregor 8/10/09 9:02 PM

OOOOOHHHHH SHIT~!! It’s funny how alcohol can impair even the most godlinglike wisdom.. Al will look around frightened at them all for a couple of seconds, cowering a little behind Charles like some kind of sniveling rich kid. I’ll hold one hand out in front of me and say in my best shakey voice, “Charles! Oh no, the bad men are going to take all our stuff! Okay, I don’t want any trouble…” With my other hand it will look like I’m fumbling at my pursestrings, but I’m really casting AL’S CAKES OF MADNESS AND MIRTH!!!! I think I’ve got at least two for each of them. That should buy us some time. What’s that? You thought I was just going to cover their eyes with frosting so that we could make a quick getaway? Think again!!! We’ve barely spilt any blood on this trip, and I’m not about to go easy on a couple of street punks! (*Al does remember that someone once tried to mug Efrim, and the dude was like a 36th level thief or something, so in theory they could all be 36th level theives. But the theives I’ve known were total die-ever-other-round-pusses, so I’m still not that concerned, yet.). But we’re going to need some help. After trying to cast the spell, Al’s next action, if the spell is successful, is to reach in and pull out an egg, which I will smash on the ground in front of the rogues. If my spell is not successful, I’ll pull out my sword for some good old fashioned sword fighting, with an emphasis on deflection – it won’t do to get hit with the poisoned blades. This is what I’ll do even if I get the egg out. I’d like to turn the tables on these punks. I’d like to take everything they have. 🙂 Some Carrocks Goggles of Truth might come in handy here as well, just to see how badly I’m screwed. Good times, good times. Worse case scenario I should be able to grab charles and DD out of there. -Ray Paulson 8/10/09 11:46 PM You dont have Timestop do you? “Kill you with shame.” they arent serious are they? They obviously got no clue who they are dealing with! Thats Baron Al “I’ve made love to other men’s nightmares” Bino! Al’s Cakes of Madness and Mirth is a classic move! Maybe Spoo them all in place next. Or use Ben Habib’s Excision on them and tell them “This is a pound of your FLESH!” that’d be fucking scary/weird. Try and bring them all home with you Al!!!-Efrim MacGregor 8/12/09 1:53 PM

Go madness & mirth! But remember that there are lots of powerful folk in Koyarekist and these thieves are probably no chumps. Does Charles not have a contingency DDoor on him? Even if he doesn’t have a ddoor, you could use yours, and then use the fact they have no idea where you are to cast spells on them with impunity. BTW, I hope you weren’t carrying all the party’s chiustra around to your whore-houses otherwise Ola is gonna be pissed! Other ideas are a wall of force (you can make a sphere and flip them the bird from inside). -Anil Seth 8/13/09 9:46 AM You guys usually keep Charles stocked up on the usual permanencies and contingencies. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 8/13/09 1:35 PM

 

In Rays stead I stand behind his intitial action of casting Al’s Cakes of madness and Mirth! It would make a lovely image if Charles were just to grab one of the women by the head, like a basketball player palming a ball, and then punch her in the noggin. Not only getting punch in the head by an ogre but that ogre grabbing your head and pulling it into the punch! OUCH! can you visualize that? A giant hand on a little head and BLAMO! lights out! Maybe that should be our “Ninja Jump” for this encounter. Charles isnt a grandmaster of unarmed combat is he? that would rule! Im just leaving this more to make sure comments are working for me. Go ALBINO! Go CHARLES! I think we will have to make sure Al has a scroll of Timestop on him at all times!!! Efrim’s possible solution: Timestop + Create Magic Monsters: vampires + Haste +Wall of Anything = Oops, theres a wall around everyone (no escaping) and theres a hasted vampire next to every mugger waiting to try and drain them of two levels, twice every round. Being drained levels always puts a damper on a good muggin doesnt it? Peace! -Efrim MacGregor 8/14/09 2:06 PM

 

Al’s face registers fear and he takes a step behind his bodyguard.

“Charles! Oh no, the bad men are going to take our stuff! Okay, I don’t want any…”

At this point the woman standing in front of Al takes speaks up, shouting “Consider this your last warning!” She then takes a swing at at Al’s groin with her purportedly poisoned short sword. Al nimbly steps aside and she misses. Charles’ hand goes for his sword. The other female thief holds her blade to Charles’ chest and attempts to stop him:

“You make one more move and my friend will send his poisoned quill through your master’s throat.”

I’ve used the draw function to provide a little diagram of the scene (double-click for a larger version). You’ll see that you’re in a fairly narrow street and surrounded by five rogues. There appears to be one passerby to the east (right), but he is quickly retreating. There are no other people visible in the area.

 

 

This is bloody brilliant! Get em AL BINO!!! -Efrim MacGregor 12/7/09 7:00 PM

Ok, those are all good ideas, but me thinks that sometimes you folks forget that li’l Al doesn’t have all the same resources as a 36th level mage, or even a 16th level elf. I have two objectives here:

1) Teach these little rat bastards not to fuck with an elf and an ogre that just walked out of a interplanar whore house

2) Get back to the hotel more or less alive

Round 1: I think my first step is still genius; while “cowering” behind Charles I fire off Cakes of Madness! (and mirth) at all five of them before they even know what hit them. Hopefully that will at least keep some of them busy for a second

Round 2: Fly straight up half movement, use wand of meteor swarm on their asses.

Round 3: Drop out of the sky shoving our swords into their chests by way of the neck.

Round 4: Complete a Reverse Mugging and take some of their shit.

Round 5: DD out of there before the guards show up to investigate the explosions.

I’ll be like, “p-p-p-lease…take what you want. you can have it all! In fact, I have something… for you… right… HERE!! (watch it be apple pies). What? Still not satisfied with my offer? Then perhaps you’d like something a little more….. FLASHY!!!! (meteors rain down) Oh? Still standing? Then let me give you something to help “STICK” around! (stabbed).” Oh, and if any of those pricks shoots a poison dart at me, I’d better use my artifact to dodge it. It could be a matter of life and death. -Al Bino 12/8/09 10:16 PM

Again, total brilliance RAY! -Efrim MacGregor 12/8/09 9:37 PM

 

Round One

Al turns around, so his back is against Charles’ back (so that both are now protected from attacks-from-behind). As he does so he begins to recite cast Al’s Cakes of Madness and Mirth.Technically speaking, the thing that makes ACMM super special is that it has only somatic components; there is nothing to ‘recite’, which is why I picked it as my first spell, since it may not have suspected that my hand movements without words meant I was casting a spell. Nevertheless, I got the spell off, so I won’t argue to point further. -Ray Paulson 6/4/10 9:16 AMOkay, I had forgotten about this. Good to know. I take it you meant “no verbal components”? -jtiwald@yahoo.com 6/9/10 1:40 PM Surmising that Al is attempting to cast a spell, all five rogues panic. The two women attempt to stab Charles in order to get him out of the way. The “friendly rogue” takes a swing at Al. The scroll reader finishes up a potion. The fifth rogue (the one standing next to the scroll reader) has a crossbow in hand, which he lets loose at Al. Al gets an initiative of 5 (3 +2), Charles gets an initiative of 6 (5 + 1), and the rogues get various initiatives, as described below.

Segment 8: One of the female rogues takes a stab at Charles and misses (Charles parries). The crossbow-carrying rogue fires his bolt at Al and misses. The bolt goes skidding across the cobblestone streets making a fair bit of noise. Between these two events, the sounds of combat have begun to ring out over the street.

Segment 6: Charles takes a swing at the female rogue who just attacked him. He misses.

Segment 5: Al finishes his spell. Six cakes appear, which he then divvies up between the five rogues. Here are the results.

■ Two cakes strike the female rogue that tried to knee Al in the groin. She contracts leprosy for double the normal duration. She looks stunned and doesn’t quite know what to make of it, but for now her hands are intact. After a short pause, then, she continues the attack.

■ One cake strikes the other female rogue METEOR!-Ray Paulson 6/4/10 9:22 AM , producing sugary, quivering goodness that the undead abhor.

■ One cake strikes the scroll-reader (and now potion-drinker). He becomes enraged and tries to attach the crossbow-bearing rogue with his bare fists. He misses and falls to the ground in a hissy fit.

■ One cake flies toward the friendly rogueMETEOR! -Ray Paulson 6/4/10 9:22 AM . It lands just inches in front of his feet, on a magically-generated checkered cloth. As Al well knows, this cake will have minor healing properties for anyone who eats it.

■ The final cake flies at the crossbow-bearing rogue. The cake slams him in the face and dissipates. The crossbow bearer begins to drool green liquid.

 

Segment 4:

A female rogue swings at Charles and misses.

The friendly rogue jumps over the picnic blanket and takes a swing at Al. Al easily dodges the swing.

An arrow comes down on Al’s head from above, bouncing harmlessly off of his helmet. It dawns on Al that there is at least one rogue on a nearby rooftop. He peers up into the darkness. With his infravision he sees two more human figures METEOR X 2!! -Ray Paulson 6/4/10 9:24 AM on the Glassblower’s Shop. I’ve added them to the diagram above.

Hopefully my meteor targeting will produce some overlapping fire damage. I tried not to target the rogues with the most severe effects from my spell, I’d like to see how that plays out – if they survive the fire damage – see if bitch’s fingers start falling off, see if scroll reader keeps attacking his friends.. -Ray Paulson 6/4/10 9:24 AM Oops. I didn’t see these meteor instructions until just now, after playing out the full round. My apologies. -jtiwald@yahoo.com 6/9/10 1:42 PM

Segment 3:

A second archer fires an arrow at Al from above. He/she misses.

A third archer fires an arrow at Al from above. Al looks up again, but can’t quite locate this mysterious third archer.

Segment 1: Al shouts to Charles in ogre, “Go up! Go up!”

 

Round Two

Al gets an initiative of 6 and Charles gets an initiative of 5.

Segment 10: Al shouts to Charles in ogre, “Go up! Go up!”

Segment 9: Al starts to fly upward, pulling out his wand of meteor swarm

 

Segment 8:

The friendly rogue takes leaping and a swing at Al and misses.

Charles starts to fly upward.

One of the female rogues takes a swing at Charles and hits for 12 hp damage. Charles makes a savings throw vs. poison and fails. His windpipe begins to swell up. For now he can still breathe. He cries out to Al in a raspy voice.

Segment 7: Two arrows fly. One bounces off of Al’s armor. The second hits Charles for 9 hp damage. Charles makes a savings throw vs. poison and succeeds.

Segment 6:

The crossbow-bearing rogue takes a shot at Al and misses.

Al fires his wand of meteor swarm. Eight meteors appear next to him and then splay out, each set headed for a different destination. The wisps of smoke trailing each meteor creates the effect of strange, octopus-like entity suspended above the street below. Here are the results:

Two meteors strike female rogue #1 for a total of 42 hp damage. She’s also hit by a second fireball, this time coming from the meteor that hit the second female rogue. She takes an additional 5 points of damage. She appears to be alive and conscious, although a bit stunned.

One meteor strikes female rogue #2 for a total of 25 hp damage. She also takes 19 hp damage from the fireball produced by the meteor that hit the first female rogue. She appears to be unconscious or dead.

One meteor strikes the friendly rogue for a total of 31 hp damage. He appears to be knocked off his feet and perhaps unconscious (hard to tell from a distance).

One meteor strikes the potion-drinking rogue for a total of 23 hp damage. He appears to be conscious.

One meteor strikes the crossbow-bearing rogue for a total of 21 hp damage. He appears to be conscious.

One meteor strikes rooftop archer #1 for a total of 21 hp damage. He appears to be conscious.

One meteor strikes rooftop archer #2 for a total of 33 hp damage. She appears to have been knocked down and perhaps unconscious.

 

Segment 4:

Another arrow flies at Al, this time from archer #1. It bounces harmlessly off of his codpiece.

Segments 1-3:

The rogues begin shouting to one another in a language that neither Al nor Charles understand. The rogues at street level draw their bows and move to take partial cover against the wall of the nearest building. Rooftop archer #1 grabs the unconscious rooftop archer #2 and starts dragging her toward a trap door on the roof. Female rogue #1 grabs the unconscious (or dead) form of female rogue #2 and starts dragging her toward the nearest building.

 

 

 

Rounds Three – Four

Assuming we survive the round, and there are still rogues left alive, I think both Charles and I should DD to a rooftop straight down the street. Even if all the rogues I targeted are killed, there is still the one that I couldn’t see, so I would prefer to get to a safe location before initiating healing/protection actions. There I’ll cast Neutralize Poison on him. I think it’s fair to say that I would have that one memorized, since we were at the cathouse. Al always memorizes that and Cure Disease when he’s sticking his willy in uncharted holes… Assuming I get Charles unpoisoned, I will cast Mirror Image on him (I think my AC is much better), and then go back to see if anyone stuck around to get their asses kicked a second time, or if there are smoldering bodies that need to be looted. If I don’t have that much time after DD i.e. the rogues spot us and come after us to press the attack, then I’ll still try to get the Neut. Poison cast on Charles, and then will use another charge off of the Meteor Swarm wand. They’re rogues! They can’t have that many fragging hitpoints! I really want to taken them down, but at any sign of the city guard though we will amscray. I don’t want to tangle with the guard, even though we’re the victims here. -Ray Paulson 6/4/10 9:27 AM

Al and Charles dimension door to a building just West of the Inn or Torrid Affairs (see the map). There, under cover of darkness, Al casts Neutralize Poison. Charles begins to breathe easily again and gives Al an appreciative (but hard) slap on the back. The rogues continue shouting to one another. New voices join the chorus, this time from the windows of the Inn of Torrid Affairs. Al casts mirror image on Charles.

We will need to make AlBino a Time Stop 1/week amulet or something. Glad you came out unharmed, even Charles too! I thought he was gonna give up a life there. Quick thinking! -Efrim MacGregor 6/4/10 12:59 PM

 

Round Five

Equipped with mirror images and good health, Al and Charles take to the air. Alas, most of the rogues now appear to have ducked into buildings or shadows. A quick survey of the street and rooftops show none still visible, although the trap door that the rooftop archers used is still open.

Al looks at Charles. “Do I even need to ask?” I assume that nobody likes getting stabbed and just letting the attackers walk away just a little burned. I assume I will be casting Haste on the two of us and we will be going through that trapdoor to finish off at least a couple of the rogues. I mean, hell, why waste a perfectly good mirror image spell? Plus, the two of us are mostly drunk, and feel like Kings having just left our loads in some of the best looking women of the multi-verse. Nobody is going to pull a fast one on Lord Xaxilcum! -Ray Paulson 6/6/10 4:38 PM

Al and Charles start flying toward the open trap door on the glassblower’s shop. Just as Charles lands on the rooftop, and a second or two before Al makes his landing, two teams of six flying humanish figures start closing in on Charles and Al, one from the East-North-East and the other directly from the West. Each team is in formation. Each formation is led by a continual light spell of blueish hue. All twelve wear the telltale robes of City Security, with their distinctive coat-of-arms on a giant bib-like item that sits atop their clothes or armor.

It is well known that people aren’t supposed to fly above the roofline in Koyarekist. Anyone who does so is quick to be spotted by City Security and if the flyers don’t have a good excuse they are either fined or imprisoned, depending on the violators’ status and relationship to the City. (They strictly enforce this rule for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that they don’t want people entering the city without undergoing the thorough search and interrogation that they require of people entering through the city gates.)

As Al lands on the roof and joins Charles, who looks a little alarmed, the agent at the point of the East-North-East formation (which is now just 150′ away) shouts to Al in clunky Elven, “Put down your weapons down to the ground, keep your hands quiet and up-visible, and explain yourself…yourselves.”

Al and Charles now have a few options. I suppose if they were sober the choice would be obvious: they would stop and report the attempted robbery. Although flying above the roofline is against the rules, self-defense is widely regarded as a good excuse to violate that rule. In fact, this is so widely known that victims of crime often take to the air as quickly as they can, so as to alert the authorities. So long as Al and Charles are willing to answer a few questions under the scrutiny of a wand of truth detection (without parsing the question or being evasive in any obvious way), the authorities are likely to commence with a search for the robbers. City Security is famously good at what they do and they have very impressive backup.

But that’s what Al and Charles would probably do if they were sober. As a matter of fact, they’re at least a little drunk, and that might change their calculations somewhat (does drunkenness impair one’s judgment even when one is super-wise?).

 

Damn it would be nice to have an extremely high charisma. Looks like I’ll need to fall back on my wits as my two conflicting goals (retribution on theives, avoid the fuzz) are presenting a dilemma. Charles has the mirror image on and is combat ready. I’ll order him to keep watching for the rogues that are trying to disappear in to the shadows, and encourage him to follow them (i.e. through the trapdoor after the archers) unless he’s intercepted and cut off by a guard. In the next breath, I will sheath my sword, turn and face the incoming guards with one hand on my hip, and one hand held high above my head, like a teacher demanding the attention of a classroom full of children. When the first guard gets closer I will begin telling our story in fits of outrage. “We have been attacked! Moments ago a dozen rogues attempted to murder my servant and they insulted my honor! We fled to the sky as we feared for our lives! Now they flee to the shadows… there! and There! I demand the right of pursuit, and I demand justice! They must pay for the blood they have spilled!” I’m trying to make it clear that I’m the one that they need to talk to, and that Charles can keep doing what he’s doing. So confident am I about the injustice of the situation that they only need to hear my story agree and support. Any perceived improper action by Charles during this interaction can be discussed with ME since I am his boss and am accountable for him. (On the other hand, if Charles would rather put his hands behind his head and assume the position I won’t force him to go through a trapdoor into a thieves hideout alone, because that sounds like a poor decision, even to me) Either way, I will directly and swiftly engage the city guard, not as a criminal – but as a highly offended and outraged extremely important person who will be even more outraged and dangerous if the real criminals escape because the City Security impeded my own pursuit with their petty bureaucracy. -Ray Paulson 6/13/10 10:09 PM

Charles continues to run toward the trapdoor while Al addresses the nearest guard, in somewhat tipsy fits of outrange: “We have been attacked! Moments ago a dozen rogues attempted to murder my servant and they insulted my honor! We fled to the sky as we feared for our lives! Now they flee to the shadows… there! and There! I demand the right of pursuit, and I demand justice! They must pay for the blood they have spilled!”

One guard shouts at Charles to stop, and four fire arrows in front of him to emphasize the point. Charles slows and then stops, panting.

This time a second guard speaks up, and he seems to have a better grasp of the Elvish language: “If you are indeed aggrieved then you will have your justice. But we must conduct an investigation first. This is the law.”

Charles puts his weapon on the ground but continues to look longingly toward the trapdoor. He is visibly frustrated, and his frustration is heightened as the sounds of the scrambling rogues fade away. Three guards fly to the trap door. One–who controls the continual light spell–peers in, and then all three file in one-at-a-time.

Over the next five minutes quite a bit happens. The guards interrogate Al, occasionally turning to Charles for a quick, one-word confirmation. Charles, being drunk, isn’t interested in one-word confirmations and uses each opportunity to rant about the rudeness of the rogues and the surrounding neighbors who “just stood by and listened while they tried to kill us.” The interrogator cuts him off, “Just a quick ‘yes’ or ‘no’ will suffice.” When Al reaches the part where he has to explain where he and his servant had been, Charles ventures a few editorial comments about the quality of the staff and facilities. One guard looks pleased. The interrogator shoots Charles a look as if to say “Shut up, now.” The interrogator finishes the investigation by casting a “detect lie” spell, and then paraphrases the most salient points of Al’s story and asks him to confirm whether it is true. “It’s absolutely true, damn it!” The interrogator looks satisfied.

Throughout the interrogation, the other guards fan out and start to gather up the rogues. Shortly after the three guards enter the trap door to the Glassblower’s Shop, shouting can be heard. No sounds of combat are audible. A few minutes later the conscious and unconscious archers are brought out with their hands tied behind their backs. The conscious archer is an older man that has ashen hair and wears leather armor. The unconscious archer is a young woman with a scar across the right side of her face and a chunk of cartilage missing from her right ear (clearly lost long ago, and not in this recent battle). Her face and neck are extremely pale, suggesting that she was on the verge of dying from blood loss. The guards appear to have used some sort of herb-and-bandage method to stop the bleeding. Shortly thereafter, two more captured rogues are brought over to join them on the roof. One is the crossbow-wielder and the other is the “friendly” rogue.

The older, ashen-haired rogue speaks in Alphatian. “She is a citizen,” he says, nodding toward the unconscious woman. I was soon to marry her and have partial citizenship. One of our leaders is a citizen as well, a second-cousin to Marthan.”

One of the guards says, “Separate the citizens from the non-citizens.” The woman is left lying on her corner of the rooftop while the others are moved twenty feet away.

The interrogator continues to address Al, “We will continue to look for the robbers and we will learn the names and locations of those who escaped. I can assure you that the non-citizens will swiftly meet the harsh whip of justice. If you want to attend and testify against the two citizens–assuming they are indeed citizens–you should check in at our headquarters in one week. If we are ready to proceed with the trial you will then be given instructions.”

One other guard says something to the interrogator in a language Al doesn’t understand. Then he addresses Al in Elven: “As always, the names and punishments of the criminals will be posted in Millman’s Square.”

Al is then addressed by another guard–a strange, 50-ish woman with a sharp nose and big eyes, who appears to have been taking notes on a piece of parchment. “For a heavy drinker you seem to have dispensed with these robbers rather easily. I take it you are a worthy representative of your homeland and we apologize for this embarrassing incident. Please accept these three potions of healing. If they are insufficient to heal your wounds then we can provide you with more.”

The note-taking guard then hands Al a scroll. “Please accept this invitation to join the ‘Esteemed Guests of Koyarekist.’ The privileges are listed in this scroll, which you will need to display at the gates to the city when you next honor us with a visit.” She then offers him a piece of parchment on which she has been taking notes. She asks Al to write his name in Elven and Alphatian, and then a code word in both languages, which is to be given to the guards at the gates when he next enters. Al notices that the woman has already sketched out a few remarks on Al’s appearance and appears to have successfully estimated his height and weight.

Once all of this is over, Al notices for the first time that the streets have filled with a couple dozen on-lookers, most of whom surely came from the Inn of Torrid Affairs. The guards offer to escort Al and Charles to a city destination of their choice. If Al and Charles decline, then the guards make sure the crowd makes way for the elf and his ogre friend as they fly or walk down the street and turn the corner.

Being an adventurer it’s distasteful to Al to step back and let a bunch of city guards “enforce the law” on a bunch of stupid thieves when Al and his humanoid boyfriend should have been in there whooping their asses and stealing their loot! (What am I, 3rd level?) I don’t care so much about them getting punished for their crimes, and I’m not concerned about whatever harsh penalties Koyarekist will give the non-citizens (I mean hey, I was going to kill their asses), but it would have been nice to take care of this little misunderstanding personally. On the other hand, I AM nobility where I come from, so these public servants really should be going all out for us. 🙂 I’m totally excited to be a member of the EGoK. Once we get back to the hotel where we’re staying I’ll have to tell our tale and flaunt my fancy papers in front of Efrim and the gang. Charles and I will stay up late drinking and laughing about this stupid incident late into the night, possibly into the next morning, and in the scene below we will be extremely hung over. Since we don’t leave until evening, Al will whip up some hangover cures for him and Charles before we hit the interplanar road. -Ray Paulson 6/16/10 10:22 PM

 

XI. Al, Charles, Efrim celebrate their successful encounter with the rogues

Once Al and Charles return to the inn, Al tales the tale and flaunts his “Esteemed Guest of Koyarekist” papers in front of Efrim and the rest of the party. Efrim, feeling in a festive mood, looks around for alcohol and finds a bottle of bourbon that he came across in the marketplace, supposedly a specialty of one country in the Cradle (one of the protected planes). Just as Al and Charles were beginning to sober up, then, they decide to join Efrim in more drinking. As for the other party members, I assume Lackshmi will sniff at the prospect of a night of heavy drinking, take a polite sip or two and then excuse herself for the evening. Perhaps Alestria will do the same, wondering how it is that both she and Al could belong to the same, noble and dignified race. Orien joins in the drinking for an hour or so (assuming the party lets him). Then he sits back against the headboard of the nearest bed and starts watching the drinking and boasting with drooping eyes, as though a bored anthropologist. Finally, he also excuses himself, explaining (as though it even needed explaining) that he’s already very discombobulated by the sudden change of scenery and the realization that the universe is vastly bigger and more complex than he had imagined, and thus feels drunk enough without the aid of alcohol.

So the night continues with a raucous party in Al and Charles’ room. Efrim explains and then demonstrates his “Blitz Blade first. As questions later” approach to thievery in Koyarekist. Charles retells the story of the ambush again, this time with a somewhat more inflated version of his own heroism (this time he says the guards had to hold him back from chasing the rogues through the trap door). While Charles is shaking his penis at passers-by through the window, Al and Efrim take a moment to look at the list of privileges and conditions for Esteemed Guests of the city. Here’s a sample.

Privileges

1. When entering the City, the Esteemed Guest may use either of the “Citizens Entry” gates along the North and South walls.

5. The Esteemed Guest may buy real estate in the City, above the 772,500 gp maximum allowance for non-citizens.

8. The Esteemed Guest may visit the Castle of Gerothon [DM: formerly someone’s large estate, but now a gathering place restricted primarily to citizens and special guests].

9. The Esteemed Guest may advertise his/her services and goods at the Gerothon Market, and purchase any goods available at the Market, except the small number that are marked as available only to citizens or distinguished guests.

11. When the Esteemed Guest enters the City, he/she is to be given a security bell, which when struck alerts the nearest member of the Protection Services.

15. The Esteemed Guest is permitted to wear combinations of purple and yellow on his/her sash, or paint combinations of purple and yellow on his/her shield. However, he/she may not use vermilion images in the likeness of chimeras.

17. The Esteemed Guest may marry citizens of the City, with permission from the relevant clan leader.

21. The Esteemed Guest may pay city inspectors to expedite inspection processes.

And finally…

24. The Esteemed Guest may insult innkeepers and tavern staff employed at facilities rated Class C or lower, provided that

(a) he/she does not have reason to believe the targeted innkeeper or tavern staff is a citizen, a distinguished guest, or an esteemed guest, and

(b) his/her insults do not appear to threaten or intimidate.

 

Conditions

1. The Esteemed Guest must conduct him/herself with dignity and decorum at all venues and events specifically organized for citizens, distinguished guests, and esteemed guests, such as the Annual Banquet, the Dance of Dark Days, and any other events to which only or primarily citizens, distinguished guests, and esteemed guests are invited.

 

2. The Esteemed Guest must obey the laws of the City.

The three friends spend the wee hours of the morning going over strategies and create any monster choices that might have helped in the battle with the rogues. For his final critique, Efrim does a new-and-improved (and considerably more elaborate) demonstration how how he would have handled the encounter, which once again involves stabbing thieves with his Blitz Blade.

“So whatcha shoulda done iz done like this, and been all like ‘Oh I’m sorry is that a Dryden over there,’ and when they look away you stab off their faces with double Blitz Blade! and then twist em all around in their face holes!!!”

With that Efrim collapses in giggles and falls asleep. Charles–barely conscious on the floor next to the window–says something to the effect of “I picked him up by his scrotum,” and then falls asleep. Thirty seconds later he starts to snore. Al casts a Silence 15′ Radius spell centered on Charles (and casts it successfully, in spite of all of the drinking) and then lays down to sleep on a couch at the other end of the room.

Efrim gets up early the next morning and fetches a hearty breakfast of fruit and worm-steaks (for lack of a better term) from a tavern down the street. During his short walk, he notices–for the first time–that there are indeed a couple of seemingly well-heeled people around who wear sashes of purple and yellow. He returns with breakfast still steaming, much to the surprise and pleasure of Charles and Al.

 

One last thing that I think I can squeeze in before we leave. I’d like to shop again for specific magic items. DBFireball item (I’ve always needed that, to fuel alchemist experiments) and a Timestop item. The drunken tale telling reminded me that it would be really handy to have such a device.. -Ray Paulson 6/20/10 10:53 PM

 

XII. The party departs

Assuming Al and Charles make it through the night safely, the party will gather late in the evening on the third day. The night is dark and foggy, giving the two lamps at the edges of the node an eerie, blurred, will-o-the-wispish appearance. The party bids a fond farewell to Yaneh, where they have lived for what seems like a few years. They then step into the node and begin their gate spells, while the guards posted at the perimeter of the node look on with bored expressions. Shortly thereafter the party steps into a shady afternoon in Goblin Park, and then teleports back to Catalon.