ceramic d.m. final judgement posted

here's hoping ot here from wulf and mirth real soon

yes please a second win by no show will pretty much destrtoy my poor ego...or really boost it. Come to think of it that must be it my opponents are afraid to go up against my stories. ^_^


ok now I just need to convince myself that's the truth.

I was hoping I would get to it, but unfortunately it didn't work out for me.

I made an outline, made some notes, prepared "tidbits" for each of the pictures, but ultimately I have to concede.

Just too much on my plate right now with the family get-together and several different work hassles.

Ironically I think the 72 hour deadline hurt me, it didn't give me the sense of urgency I needed to get crackin'.

If anyone's curious, I put my notes up this morning hoping I would have time to get to it after my 7 hour drive today... (www.batreps.com/images/3e/story2.pdf).

The skeleton there was screaming "Byakhee" at me, and with the desert and the weird device I was all over a tale of Cydonian madness.

Well, obviously not ALL over it. Good luck to those moving on!


Wulf

mirthcard vs. NiTessine

Not This $*!+ Again!
An Oriental Adventure for 4-6 characters of levels 8-11

The Set-Up:
The adventure begins onboard The Jade Princess, a small and unassuming vessel of the seas on which the PCs have simply booked transportation from one place to another. A fellow passenger whom the players meet on the trip is a korobokuru named Ubezaki. What sets Ubezaki apart is that, at a small but smart 3'4" in height, he is a Blade Dancer (Fighter 1 / Sohei 8 / Blade Dancer 1) who uses a scimitar which is bigger than he is as his main weapon (Picture #1).

A charismatic and jovial fellow, Ubezaki will chat at length with any party members who seem interested. Although he is most curious and friendly, easily sharing and comparing his adventures and exploits with others, Ubezaki will clam up when asked about his recent past, where he is currently heading or what his current purpose is. His mood will darken noticably and he will be quite uncomfortable until the subject is changed. Unfortunately for the party. no one else on the ship knows anything of substance about the little warrior.

At some point on the journey, a card will drop from one of Ubezaki's sleeves, unnoticed except by one of the PCs. When inspected it is recognized as a fortune-telling card symbolizing Death (Picture #3). If the PC returns the card to Ubezaki immediately, the korobokuru will be obviously embarrassed and ashamed that someone else has seen it. He will try to tuck the card back into his sleeve and not mention it again, but if he is pressed on the matter, he claims that it is a meaningless piece of folly from his past which has unfortunately preoccupied him more than it should.

If the PC holds onto the card and doesn't return it to Ubezaki, they will notice that he soon becomes very frantic and begins searching for it. He will ignore all offers of help from the party and/or inquiries about what the nature of his problem is. If the card is now returned to Ubezaki, he will respond the same way as above, but will be more hostile and defensive if pressed about it. If the card is never returned to Ubezaki, then he will become quite withdrawn and sullen, refusing any conversation or interaction with anyone else.

Any members of the party who have (through good role-playing) gained Ubezaki's confidence may be able to convince him to give them some idea of what's really going on (see below). Whether they are successful or not and how much information they can glean is up to the DM.

Of course, now is when the Lung Wang Dragon decides to attack the ship

What's really going on:
Ubezaki is on the run, not only for his life, but also for that of another. Several years ago, Ubezaki's wife Mariko was killed by a Shikibu No Oni, the worst sort of mischevious demonic spirit. After a long period of mourning, Ubezaki decided to appeal to the gods for the return of his wife by dedicating his life to them as a lawful and good sohei. For many years he sought to appease the gods and, in the process, he became whole again. Just within the last year, the gods granted Ubezaki's wish and sent Mariko back to him, alive. Or so he thought.

In actuality, the Shikibu No Oni who had originally killed Mariko, a vile she-beast named ukoku, had gradually risen through the ranks of the Oni to become a sub-overlord (CR 10 monster + 7th level Wu Jen). When ukoku heard of the positive role that Ubezaki had assumed in the wake of the tragedy she had caused, she decided to bring him low by coming back as his dead wife. To add more pain to Ubezaki's pleasure, ukoku lived with him for a year before revealing her true nature, at which point she also convinced Ubezaki that Mariko was still alive. The only way that he could truly get Mariko back was to quit his religious order and take on a quest for her - bring back the fecal matter of a near-term pregnant Lung Wang Dragon. This hard ball, called a cobblestone (Picture #4) by some, is re-ingested by the Dragon to provide essential nutrients to the placenta for the birth process. When he has recovered the cobblestone, he is present her signature card (the Death card that Ubezaki has) to a man who is waiting for Ubezaki's arrival in the city where The Jade Princess is heading. That man will contact the Oni witch. ukoku knew that it was a near-impossible task that would in all likelihood kill Ubezaki, but she relished the fact that he quit his life of peace and attempt it to get his wife back (which, of course, would and could never happen).

The Main Event:
Wonder of wonders, Ubezaki has accomplished his task and, at this very moment, the cobblestone is locked away in his trunk in the cargo hold of The Jade Princess, with the pregnant Lung Wang Dragon in hot pursuit. As soon as the Dragon attacks the ship, Ubezaki screams out, "The cobblestone!" and makes a run for the hold. The party can try to figure out what they want to do in the scant moments before the ship is torn asunder. Regardless, those who survive the wreckage end up on the beach of a small island near to where the ship went down. After some inspection they find the tracks of the Dragon in the sand (Picture #2) leading toward where it is going to lay its 7 eggs. They also find Ubezaki rummaging through the washed up remains of his trunk, of which the only noticeable remnants are a few splintered pieces of wood and some iron bindings (Picture #5). The cobblestone is gone.

The End?:
Ubezaki's only focus is on retrieving the cobblestone. He will try to frantically enlist the aid of the PCs that he has bonded with, telling them in a rush any part of the story that they don't already know. It is up to the party to try and convince Ubezaki that he can't bring his wife back. If they agree to help him, then they will be facing a pregnant Lung Wang Dragon (who is already angered at Ubezaki) getting ready to give birth (along with her seven Yu Lung Dragon offspring if they are already born). They will also face ukoku at some point as well. If they ruin her plans, she will become their enemy. If they by some miracle succeed in the original quest with Ubezaki, then she will try to kill them anyway, backed up by several of her Oni subordinates. And if that's not all, Ubezaki will probably try to attack them as well if they try to stop him. It's a mess, true, but what a chance to ROLE-play

Um? Hmm?

The oni's name is F*U*K*U*K*O*K*U

Guess that's too close to something else

Sorry about the lateness of my entry. I was already running tight to the deadline and then the high winds here caused the power to go off and on about 4 times in the last two hours. Which meant lots and lots of rewriting the same thing over for me

Excuses, excuses ...

I'm tired now.

NiTessine, great twist setting it in superpowered WWII.
It has a feel of those outragious Ben Dunn comics.


Glorantha, nice. As a occasional Glorantha scholar I have to say it delights me to see a story set in Glorantha. Im very curious how it would progress, please dont hesitate to ask for opinions when starting a D20 glorantha game.

You give glorantha a slightly different feel, than Im used to. But the spark is definately there. Good show, keep it up.


Then the adventure: Great twist of a adventure. Yes a great deal of roleplaying to be done. alking about being between a rock and a hard place. It seems that only though massive roleplaying, great luck and a very good plan, this could end up with a happy ending for all. Nice...but worthy of the rat-bastard title.

Admittedly I am a far cry from Stafford's skill at weaving Gloranthan tales. Not to mention I'm sure I misspelled Arakat.

That's what I get for writing over the christmas holiday.


But thank you for your kind words. I do wish I was advancing on merit and not the fact that my opponents seems to not make the posting deadline.

Yeah, I think its Arkat or Argrath, but there are quit a few vaguely similar heroes on Glorantha.

Actually, Greg doesn't write the best stories. Try to find stories by Lawrence Whitacker (he usually does Ethernal champion stuff but he wrote some great Glorantha), or Nick Brooke. They write great stuff. Gregs is usually a bit metaphysical, great myth though.

Maldur said:

NiTessine, great twist setting it in superpowered WWII.
It has a feel of those outragious Ben Dunn comics.

Click to expand...

I must admit that the idea was not entirely my own. Call it a Godlike fanfic, if you wish. I recently became quite smitten with the game system and the background fluff is nothing short of incredible.

Looks nifty, thank for the heads up