Story HourPost your ongoing tales from your campaigns, and read those from others for inspiration. Lots of other RPG boards post "Story Hours", but this is where it started!
Yeah, I have to agree. Malford is house! Already 2nd level illusionist? I may just be rusty on 2e (1e?) mechanics, but I remember wizards took a while to level up.
Keep it rockin'! It seemed really odd, btw, that level 1 characters took on a fireball wielding invoker and won.
It seemed really odd, btw, that level 1 characters took on a fireball wielding invoker and won.
Technik
Well, the fireball blasted the majority of the tavern, killing most of the people who weren't at the bar; the pcs were the people who were at the bar.
Tallarn, I find it interesting that there's a level disparity too- I forgot how quickly that happened. Malford advanced quickly because he got a lot of bonus xp for roleplaying, successful thievery, etc. Also, Chanti and Flipper didn't start out in the first game like most of the others, and until 3e I started everyone at first level.
Updates coming in all three threads by the end of the week, prolly sooner- now that I'm (reasonably) settled in my new place I'll be back to my usual million-updates-per-month...
Dammit! I was all excited when I saw three thread updates arrive in my inbox!
*cracks whip*
Get on with it, Jester!
__________________ DM of Adventure Path Story Hour (now in Thunderspire Labyrinth!): Ryam Plays Dice - updated 8th June 09 (campaign on indefinite hiatus).
Player in Swordlands Story Hour: Interview with a Fey - updated 15th June 09. News just in - this campaign may be restarting in the near future! Watch this space!
I also have the singular honour of being Rouseketeer #20.
Just trying to make it easier to update Jester Glad everything worked out with your trip (?), can't wait to see how Cydra is doing, past, present, and somewhere else in the present.
(Interestingly, the current update in To War Against Felenga is predominantly a behind the curtains look at how my old Greyhawk campaign ended and was reborn (eventually, sort of) as Cydra.
Just thought I'd mention that...)
Our villainous heroes go to Gorel.
Gorel is a jungle isle subjugated by the Forinthians (who isn't?) and mostly inhabited by elves. Within an hour of being dropped off by Captain Drake our heroes had definitely picked up on the fact that non-elves weren't really welcome there, and Vito reported that there were two main elvish peoples on the island.
"There are the Gorlistar," he told the others, "who are in this village, for instance. They're the more civilized coastal wood elves. Then there are the Grugach, who are rumored to be savages that cannibalize other elves."
"Hm," Lyr said, interested.
Of course, to become pirates- which seemed to be the group's main ambition at that moment- they needed a boat. So they set out to purchase a knarr, big enough and seaworthy enough for their pirating plans and small enough and riverworthy enough for an easy getaway and a hideout, once they found one.
"We can check upstream and inland," Galiger suggested.
The next few days were spent finding a boat and arranging to purchase it. Cheerily, they decided to christen it the Sea Hag after their first major adversary (the wizard in the bar hardly seems to count). Then it's upriver to explore around and look for a good spot to hide and perhaps some more coin to help hire on crew and buy supplies.
Meanwhile, a lonely Dexter was en route to Gorel himself, being shipped away by the Church of Galador to somewhere as out of the way as possible. To a rendezvous with destiny.
Next Time: What did happen next, anyway...? Oh yeah! More pcs die!!
The party hires three sailors to help sail their knarr inland up the local river; after purchasing the boat, three is about all they can afford. They decide to try to avoid hiring the local elves, since they're really snotty. Then they waver, as Lyr brings up the fact that the locals know the territory.
They end up hiring one of the elves. His name is Urlah; he's a crack shot with a bow, which is one of the deciding factors. There's also a wanted gnome named Jorallivan, quick on his feet and a member of the weird old faith that espouses the eating of the hearts of defeated opponents. This is Lyr's religion, the cannabix faith, and one of the deciding factors in their hiring of Jorallivan. Galliger scowls at him; he thinks everyone should follow Bleak. Chanti scowls with him. The third sailor is a human named Plarentes; he's old and foul, bald, with a pegleg, eyepatch and parrot. As soon as they see him, they hire him. Clearly he's got what a band of pirates wants.
Finally, they hire on a halfling cook named Bilbo. He's an avowed athiest, so Galiger immediately sets out to convert him.
Malford, of course, is captain by acclamation; exactly how everyone agreed so easily to this is uncertain, but it went without a hitch. He appoints Galiger his first officer. They decide to leave in the morning; that evening, by luck, they fall into a job to retrieve a staff for a local Forinthian wizard from some scrags. And so, the next morning, the Sea Hag heads upstream.
By late afternoon they've long since left the friendlier coastal elvish territory behind and thick jungle is bushed all along the river. Insects buzz overhead; it's humid and hot. The water flows sluggishly against their rowing. Vido smokes a lot of weed, passing it around the party and the sailors. "This place is beautiful," he sighs, a huge smile plastered below his bloodshot eyes.
Then a green, scaly clawed arm emerges from the water, scrabbling for purchase on the side of the knarr. "Trolls!" cries the sharp-eyed Vido, whipping out his swords, and springs to the attack.
More green hands are coming up, bulky forms striking into the knarr, trying to board the vessel. Lyr hurls her harpoon, sticking one brutally in the gut, and Galiger whips his axe into another, but the press is getting nasty- there are at least three river trolls, maybe more!
Malford cries out as something happens to him. He feels some of his magic tear from his mind! I'm on that, he thinks, springing to the prow to seek the source of the strange attack. "Attack!" he cries, and the party and their hirelings rally. Then then gnome captain quaffs a potion of water breathing and dives from the deck of the Sea Hag into the river to engage the scrags on their own turf.
The battle is fierce, but our heroes are victorious without serious casualties. They retrieve the staff and get a reasonable amount of money (each of them walks away with 208 gp and 389 sp). Better yet, Malford succeeds in obtaining the device that stole one of his spells. It's a strange metal claw; he claims it and determines to study it and master its secrets.
While in town returning the wizard's staff the group runs across Dexter. "Dex!" cries the Dread Pirate Malford. "What happened to you?" -for he can see the hideous scarring on Dexter's forehead, relic of when the Inquisition branded him. Dexter tells his tale, very subdued in tone, and Galiger's face darkens.
"So you turned to the Light," he sneers. "Just remember who you already gave your soul to! Galador can't save you, and if you don't turn back to the Darkness you're surely doomed!" He stalks off, as angry as he's ever been. After all, Dex was his first convert; that he should turn to Galador so easily chafes hard.
Nonetheless, Dex is welcomed back by Malford; and though Chanti and Galiger keep shooting evil looks his way and making snide remarks, there doesn't seem to be any violence imminent. So it is that out heroes decide to head back upriver after Malford and Vido learn a spell or two from the wizard they aided, and thence try to seek the legendary Old Man Rhumy, an ancient elf said to be over 25,000 years old who lives with tigers. Lyr first has a birthday party, getting the party roaring drunk and, with Vido's aid, extremely high.
Then it's upriver again...
Next Time: Okay, so it'll be a couple more updates, but pc deaths are just around the corner! Next time, our heroes are Captured By Grugach!
By the way, we're at game 9 by this point in the story hour...
(I'm going to try very hard to remember to use the past tense in this story hour, since it's not 'current' at all- not even close! This update was almost exactly ten years ago, real time- we played it out on November 1st, 1993. Quite a while back. In game terms, this was the year 97 O.L.G., and game 'present' is 368 O.L.G. Past tense. Right, then.)
"Bleak! Bleak!
On earth and on sea
You are my favorite deity!"
With a cheer, the party finished singing along with Chanti's sea chanty. Most of the Sea Hag's crew had sung along, but a few abstained. Galiger took mental notes on who these were; he was planning some sacrifices. The knarr glided through the water almost silently, then abruptly fell victim to a barrage of wild gnome darts. A fierce battle broke out, ended by our heroes' flight down the river, shaken and bleeding from the gnomish assault. "We should maybe try something a little less obvious," remarked Urick, the wizard the group had picked up during the Coral Caves adventure. Flipper nods in agreement.
So the group decided to try their luck at finding a hiding spot by marching through the jungles along the river searching for a good hideout from which to conduct piracy. They left their crew and the ship in Doraps, the town they'd sailed upriver from, paying the crew a couple of months wages in advance and promising more if they served faithfully.
So it was that our heroes, five days out, fell into a grugach trap and were caged by the wild elves. Unfortunate, really, but that damn entangle and a bit of overwhelming wild elf numbers, and there you have it. Disarmed, bound, thrown in tough bamboo cages and thence ignored, our heroes pondered a dismal fate- after all, the grugach were cannibals at that time. Or at least, that was the rumor. (Still is, really.)
"It's fortunate that I'm here," Malford grinned, searching out a few long splinters of wood to use as probes. Then he waited until dark. When at last all the grugach in the area were asleep he set to work on the lock.
Chanti cracked her knuckles. "I'd like to kill all of them," she whispered.
"I just want to get out of here," Urick said.
"Gotcha!" Malford smirked as the lock disengaged. Very quietly they swung the cage open and crept out, then started moving away from the grugach village. They made it less than a mile before pursuit began. Horns sounded behind them, answered by more somewhere to the left of them...
The party rushed as quickly as they could back towards Doraps, wild elves wild in pursuite behind them. They ran through most of the night, sometimes having to stop to hack their way through thickets and find ways around bogs.
Then, as if things couldn't get worse, with the grugach hot on their heels, the party ran into gnomes. Who knows- could even be the same gnomes that attacked their boat, wild-looking with dark hair usually in dreadlocks. But instead of things getting worse, they got better- the gnomes too were adversaries of the grugach! (Man, do those elves like anyone?)
There was no battle; the grugach remained at bay while the more charismatic members of the group (especially Malford) talked the gnomes into allowing the party to seek refuge with them until the grugach let them be. "The grugach do not like anyone who isn't grugach," says one of the wild gnomes, nodding sagely. "They eat you." He extends his hand. "I am Gepp." They talk late into the night, and when they leave in the morning Gepp joins them...
The party moved on, desperate to reach Doraps and (hopefully) their ship. They were still two days away. Vido had just moved to the river to see if he could fish something up, and indeed he did.
Before he even had a chance to react* Vido's being dragged into the water. Something rushed up at him, some kind of water spider! His left arm gropes for a weapon but its fangs are already in his chest, pumping lethal venom into him. He starts convulsing, his vision growing dim as he sees the others attacking, trying to save him...
Everything goes black for Vido.
The others lash out in anger and dismay. They were only a moment away, but the great spider that is dragging their dead friend into the water got the drop on Vido... Arrows, spells from Urick, more; the creature falters and dies, but another is darting from the water! The battle rages for a few brief moments more, and the spider darts in at prey of its own, finding Flipper and sinking its fangs into her leg. She twists away, staggering, falls to her knees; another of the party has fallen!
The spider dies, pierced by Lyr's harpoon. With a groan, the remaining members of the party look on the ruin of two of their friends. Almost, they despair; but then they rally, Lyr and Malford both restoring the determination of the others. Urick shudders as Vido's chest and Flipper's leg purple and swell even in death, as if the poison could reach into the afterlife.
*In all fairness, I figured the various pcs would go off to the river by themselves at intervals (nature calls, whatever) and rolled randomly to see who it was going to encounter. Then I told Vido to roll for surprise. He was surprised; it attacked, hit, he failed his save... never even got to act.
Having had a 12th level fighter go from 110hp to 15hp in one surprise round today, I fully sympathise with the nastiness of a good ambush.
__________________ DM of Adventure Path Story Hour (now in Thunderspire Labyrinth!): Ryam Plays Dice - updated 8th June 09 (campaign on indefinite hiatus).
Player in Swordlands Story Hour: Interview with a Fey - updated 15th June 09. News just in - this campaign may be restarting in the near future! Watch this space!
I also have the singular honour of being Rouseketeer #20.
Man, if only I had a scanner at home. I always forget to take maps in to work to scan 'em so I can attach them here... I really want to try to post a map of Gorel and Yafall with this next update! Sigh... well, we'll see. Maybe I can manage to bring it in with me when I go to work today...
In any event:
Yafall is nestled just off the coast of Gorel. It's small, and there was no official 'state' or anything there. At the time, as now, over two and a half centuries later, Yafall was officially a part of the Forinthian province of Gorel, but it was mostly lawless and lightly inhabited at most.
It seemed, to our poor heroes, battered and depleted after their battle, like a place to search for a hideout that might not lead them directly into the hands of genocidal cannibalistic elves. So, after hiring on a sufficient crew- strongly desiring to be able to fight off an ambush by a war party of grugach or something similar- the party set sail for Yafall.
The new crew members included a strange human named Rajah and Sh'larn Eloh'myr, one of the merellin the party had met previously on Captain Drake's vessel at the Coral Caves. As the party sailed, they gradually gathered a few interesting things about Rajah- namely, that he was raised by tigers and that someone was trying to capture him.
Then the party reached Yafall and took the Sea Hag up a river. The river led them to a lake surrounded by low hills and a few cliffs. "Maybe," Malford reasoned, "we can find a hidden cove or even a cave to use as a hideout." Galiger nodded and barked orders to the crew; the knarr glided out across the water, staying reasonably close to the edge for easier searching. Some areas showed beach; and, strangely enough, a vessel- a small galley- was beached on it. Listing to one side, the vessel seemed to be empty, at least at first glance; and so our heroes obliged....
Next Time: A strange boat, an ambush, and a strange disappearance!
These are Galiger's logs from the period up to the last update. The player made up an arbitrary calendar, refusing to use the "Our Lord Galador" dating system.
Month 2, Day 5, Year 56 BB
Fought worshipers of Galador (anyone who attacks me is a worshipper of him). Killed a strong mage, captain hit by a lightning bolt. No dead, many wounded. Need sand buckets to put out fires, spikes to stop boarders. Need to build cabins, hold religious ceremonies and such.
2/6/56 of our lord Bleak
Bought spikes, buckets and will start repairs on ship and modification. Starting to check out town militia. Need to repair wooden struts. Leave to see Old Man Rhumy write more when we come back. (Found out average size town's garrison's 40 men.) Need brass bell.
2/18/56 in the year of the Ixithoil
Returned from a adventure up in to the forest, captured by elves escaped attacked by spiders. Vido and Flipper have gone to see Bleak. Need to get weapon hire crew to look for a hide out. Will leave tomorrow. OLD MAN RHUMY will die.
Vido was mine (sorry went a little out of hand)
2/19/56 month of Everdark
design outfitting list: 10 axes, 8 hammers, 2 large 2-man saws, 2 barrels of tar, 2 small saws, a winch, 1000' thick hemp rope. Dexter's back.
2/20/56 The first day of the rest of your sh*tty lives
One day before the hiring of the crew. Armor will be done this month 2/86/56 BB. Need ceremony to Bleak for ship morale.
2/21/56 Hiring Day
Hired 2 gnomes to man the guns. One follower of Bleak, an elf. Watch the human. Indecisive boy. Kicked the kid off the ship. Lyr left, good.
2/22/56 in the shadow days before Bleak
Hired the chick elf. Consider the day unsuccessful. Lyr returned, darn.
2/23/56
Hired halfling painter (I don't know why). Elven sniper. Finish buying supplies, are ready to sail, full crew and supplies for a voyage.
I'm halfway caught up with your stuff Jester. We'll have to see if I have time to get the other ones read.
Good stuff. I kinda like Bleak as a deity (good name too). And great work with the Inquisition.
I'm glad you like it! As others have often pointed out, there's often a certain mix of light-heartedness with foulness in my games and story hours. I attribute a lot of it to the bizarre sense of humors my group tends towards (myself included, of course).
The other swath of story hours- my old story hour,Agents of Chaos and To War Against Felenga- covers a lot of mid to high level craziness, and at the current point in To War Against Felenga the party has several 20th-level members. My old story hour isn't exactly part of the same thread as the other two, but several characters from it make appearances. I actually really recommend the old story hour thread a lot- it's full of weird stuff going on, metal ships, and the incredibly funny but frightful tale of Captain Clambake.
__________________ DM of Adventure Path Story Hour (now in Thunderspire Labyrinth!): Ryam Plays Dice - updated 8th June 09 (campaign on indefinite hiatus).
Player in Swordlands Story Hour: Interview with a Fey - updated 15th June 09. News just in - this campaign may be restarting in the near future! Watch this space!
I also have the singular honour of being Rouseketeer #20.
The strange galley creaks around them as our heroes climb aboard it. It seems deserted, at least at first glance.
“This is creepy,” murmurs Dexter with a shiver as he looks around. The wheel has something glowing in it, and a thick-looking metal door bars entrance to the cabin. Rajah and Sh’Larn approach the wheel while Malford and Galiger warily eye the door.
The captain of the Sea Hag cautiously looks the door over, then turns to his first mate. “What do you think?”
“Let’s see what’s behind it,” Galiger answers, just as a tremendous sound indicates the detonation of a trap on the wheel. Sh’Larn has touched what he shouldn’t, and a blast of fire rips over him. The merellin screams, staggers back, and collapses, moaning. He’s not dead, but only by a hair.
As if that wasn’t enough, Gepp suddenly points. “Look! Skeletons!” And indeed, there does seem to be a party of skeletal figures walking down the beach towards the boat. Worse, almost as if his words were a premonition, the ship’s boats’ covers are suddenly cast aside as skeletons arise from them as well! Caught by surprise, our heroes are engaged by nearly twenty undead, and the group on shore is at least as numerous!
Dexter screams in fear as he swings his quarterstaff at the nearest skeleton, smashing its ribs in. My psionics won’t help here! he thinks wildly. Nearby, Malford is thinking the same of his illusions. Rajah tries to stand guard over Sh’Larn’s unconscious form, but he’s driven back by the press of enemies. Lyr stabs brutally with her harpoon, completely surrounded and beset by five skeletons herself, crooning an invocation of the wrath of the sea, sky and land. Malford thrusts and dodges to her aid.
Gepp, emulating his captain, tries to move to help Lyr, but he’s intercepted by a cadre of enemies. They hack at him ruthlessly, stopping him from advancing and closing in around him. Rajah smashes his fist into a skeleton, sending it to join the few that our heroes have brought down, but to his dismay he sees another of the skeletons slash with its scimitar and connect with Gepp’s head! The gnome gurgles and falls, slain!
“We can’t take them all like this!” Captain Malford cries. “Especially with more of them coming! Retreat, over the side and back to the Sea Hag!”
A fighting retreat begins. Rajah jumps up, kicks out and destroys another skeleton even as Lyr finally fights her way to Sh’Larn. She grunts with effort as she pulls his pudgy body up into her arms and struggles through the melee to the edge of the vessel.
She looks to the ground 20’ below. Glances to her left to see the advancing skeletons.
I hope he survives, she thinks, then dumps Sh’Larn over the edge. The merellin’s unconscious form falls limply, hitting head-first with a sickening snapping sound. The gods Lyr worships are not kind. She’s already turned to defend herself again as the skeletons assail her with club and- ironically- harpoon. Clang! The enemy harpoon is parried aside, then she sweeps the butt into the skeleton’s face, crashing through its skull and laying it low. Then she’s over the side, climbing down as best she can. Missile fire is already coming down at her escaping comrades, and the landward party of undead is hurrying to the fight as well....
“Let’s go!” shouts Malford. “Back to the ship!”
In a quarter of an hour the survivors have returned and are grimly planning a full-scale attack on the enemy ship....
Next Time: The first appearance of a seagate in my campaign!
A bizarre bolt of silvery light arced down with a thunderous crash, blasting the water between the Sea Hag and the nameless ghost ship, seemingly directed by the glowing sword in the hand of the undead commander. It seemed they weren’t yet in range.
The crew of the Sea Hag manned their battle stations, and as Chanticleer led the group in a sea chantey to Bleak, the knarr headed to cut off the undead vessel; but sadly, it had already managed to pull itself somehow from the beach and was making quick progress towards the center of the lake.
“After them!” Galiger cried, and the crew heaved to, rowing and turning the sail til it puffed full of wind- the breeze was with them- and pursuit commenced.
But the enemy vessel, perhaps enhanced through some sort of eldritch trickery, seemed just a little faster than the Hag. Rajah climbed into the crow’s nest to make sure that they didn’t lose sight of their quarry, but to his chagrin, the vessel abruptly vanished. “They’re gone!” he called down from the nest, disheartened.
“What do you mean, gone?” Captain Malford the Magnificent shouted up at him. Rajah shrugged, keeping an eye out, and yelled down a quick explanation.
“They just vanished... maybe turned invisible or teleported or something...?”
Swearing like only pirates can, Malford and Galiger ordered the ship to pursue, and they started sweeping through the area where the vessel disappeared. They found no sign. “Maybe they went invisible and put ashore again,” Galiger suggested, and added darkly, “Nobody messes with out crew like that!” The captain nodded, and they ordered the crew to take them in close to the shore again. Their plan was to search for signs of the ghost ship and a hideout simultaneously.
“If we’re lucky, we’ll find their hideout and take it over,” commented one of the crew wryly. His name was Farenth; if only our heroes had a clue as to the amount of heartbreak and death he was going to eventually cause them, they would have killed him, hacked him to pieces and cast him overboard right then and there. But alas, there’s no sign of his treachery yet.
For now, the ship advanced along the perimeter of the lake. Carefully, our heroes watched for any sign of enemies, plunder or hideouts. Several hours passed at a crawl before a sharp-eyed crewman manning the fore ballista (his name was Toby) pointed at the cliff face they were passing. “Look, a cave!” Indeed, a jagged opening, around 30’ wide, faced them.
“I wonder if it narrows,” commented Malford, and ordered the sail furled. Moving by oar alone, the knarr slowly swung about and headed in. The group passed a passage off to one side and gradually crossed a hundred yards of slowly-widening cave. At its end the long tunnel opened up into a vast chamber almost 200’ across and about 120’ wide, with a small beach at the far end.
“Keep your eyes open,” Malford warned, just before a sea serpent reared from the water and attacked, letting out an ear-splitting roar. Its neck was as thick as a man’s chest, and it snapped down, trying to snatch a tasty morsel from the deck of the Sea Hag.
Unfortunately for the beast, its target wasn’t about to let herself get eaten. Chanti poked its nose with her sword as it came at her, and it squealed and drew back, then sneezed. Sizzling gobs of blood spattered out. Screaming, the monster spat a long streamer of acid!
Rajah leapt, smashing Chanti aside, and the acid didn’t kill her. She screamed as the stringy, phlegmy acid brushed across her arm and leg, burning her horribly. But then Rajah’s weight was off her as he sprang, catlike, onto the monster, clinging to its neck and savaging it with his bare hands*! He looked almost tigerlike in his fury as he tore at the monster.
Plarenth and Urlah, two of the hired crew, swung the aft ballista towards the thing and let fly! The shaft struck the monster square in the body, and it shrieked again. Lyr’s harpoon flew towards it, as did a spattering of spells from Urick and Malford. It weakened, and with a scream, Rajah plunged his hand into its eye! A final spasm signalled the monster’s death, and it fell with a loud splash back into the water. Rajah swam back to the ship....
*Rajah practiced the Way of the Tiger, a 1e-style martial art that we worked up from the original Oriental Adventures. He was, after all, raised by tigers.
Glad everything worked out with your trip (?), can't wait to see how Cydra is doing, past, present, and somewhere else in the present.
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