Aphonion Tales (New posts 6/13, 6/15, 6/19)

[Cerebral Paladin]

The group that had been investigating Alistair's siblings escorted the nervous factor of House Hetland into an audience chamber within Alistair's apartment. Dame Brionna glared at the drow, while Alistair stared stonily at him.

"Your highness... I had no idea that ..."

Alistair cut off the factor with a sharp hand gesture. "I am wroth. My companions were ambushed --nearly murdered-- just outside your House's base in this city, and you dare to say that you had no idea? Do you deny that it was your duty to know that the ratmen operated under your very nose?"

"No, your highness. I should have known, and your servants should have been safe." The drow straightened his back. "I know that my life is forfeit and that I cannot expect mercy. But you should know that the failing was mine alone, and not the fault of my House."

"Your House is responsible for your failings, factor. Surely you know that."

"Yes, your highness. But we will be willing to make great concessions to retain the trade with Canberry. If you will limit your vengeance to my person, Hetland will appease you for my failures."

"Perhaps I will be willing to stay my vengeance," Alistair said, a look of barely restrained fury on his face. "But first I must have more information, both of your House's activities and of any news that you may have learned. Do you know anything of the plots to advance my half-siblings against me?"

"I do, your highness. I have heard of the arrival in Canberry of one of your half-brothers, Dridall. Dridall is a tiefling, your highness. During one of your father's campaigns in the south, a wizard summoned a succubus and sent her to seduce him. At the command of her master, the succubus conceived and then delivered Dridall into the control of the wizard's allies. They moved him at great cost of money through the Twin Cities of the Gates, where they controlled a minor noble house. He is now staying at the Golden Lion, to be used as a possible challenger against you."

"That information is very helpful, and might even be enough to make me overlook your failings. But your House has done more than merely fail to keep my people safe. Marcus, if you could create an image of the objects they gave you." Marcus cast an illusion, and the amulet and horde coins floated before him. "The Matron Mother and the Archmagus of your House conspired to have me murdered with a psychokinetic trap."

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

The factor cringed visibly. "Your highness... you must believe me, neither I nor most of the rest of my House had any idea that any of Hetland would be so foolish as to involve ourselves in an assassination attempt against you."

"I believe you, factor, but you understand now the depths of my anger with your house. The issue has never been whether I would execute you, but whether I would seize all of your House's holdings within Canberry, close our gates to your trade, and wage war upon Hetland whereever we may find you."

"Yes, your highness."

"Still, if you could aid me in defeating those who have moved against me, I might consider refraining from a war upon all of Hetland."

"Your highness, if I may contact the Chief Factor, he will approach other elements of the Great House, and we will end all activities that might harm you. He will also arrange further reparations as you deem fit. The Matron Mother is powerful, but she will not be able to withstand the anger of the other powers within the House at risking war with a powerful realm such as yours, to say nothing of the risk of our entire trade with this region."

Dame Brionna spoke. "How can we trust you? After all, doesn't this prove that you are beholden to the Moriquendarim and will continue to carry out their efforts?"

"To the contrary, Dame Knight, it does not," the factor replied, looking nervous to contradict any here. "Those horde coins are of the Aufaugauthal'arim, not of the Moriquendarim. The foolishness by the Matron Mother must have been motivated by simple payment from that House, not from any sense of loyalty."

Alistair continued to look stern before finally relenting. "Very well. If you will arrange for the punishment of those responsible and to provide other suitable reparations, we will permit you to live for now and will not destroy your House's assets within Canberry. But you must also provide us with any further information that will help protect Canberry and my house."

"Your highness is too generous. We will inform you if we learn anything, and we are ready to answer any questions you may have."

Kit nodded at the coins. "Who is the Noldar on the coins anyway? Is he still active?"

"Your ladyship, the coins depict a great lord of the Aufaugauthal'arim. He was slain in the horde battle at the End of the Fourth Age."

Alistair waited to see whether the group had any other questions and then gestured towards the door. "Depart, before I regret my forbearance." After the factor had left, he relaxed and smiled. "I think we fooled him completely. As far as I could tell, he really thought that he was within an inch of execution and warfare with his house..."

 

[Quartz]

Special Advisors: Lord Davion Aufaugauthal’arim, the forsaken. (Noldar renegade: Psion 20, Psychic Warrior 20, Alchemist 15, Fighter 15, Sorcerer 10, Lord of the Veil 10 [prestige class],Psionic Pillar 8 [prestige class]; General of the 1st Field Army of Gateway

That's a 98th level character there! There also seem to be quite a few other epic characters in seemingly relatively minor positions.

That aside, this is a very enjoyable Story Hour: keep up the good work.

Any chance you can post the stats of the PCs and major NPCs?

 

[Orichalcum]

That's a 98th level character there! There also seem to be quite a few other epic characters in seemingly relatively minor positions.

That aside, this is a very enjoyable Story Hour: keep up the good work.

Any chance you can post the stats of the PCs and major NPCs?

One of the most interesting aspects of this campaign, at least for me, is actually that the reverse is also true - the PCs are very low-level characters who have been catapulted into positions of immense responsibility and power. My PC, Dame Briona, for instance, has just hit 6th level (5th level paladin, 1st level marshal), with fairly average stats, nothing above a 16, and now at 26 is the Captain of the Archducal Guard and the Director of Military Security. This is, to say the least, extremely stressful, and the fact that she now spends most of her time ordering higher-level people into dangerous situations where many of them will get killed is a very interesting character dynamic. Interesting in the sense of "heading for a nervous breakdown," that is.

Whoever originally came up with the custom that all the high-level staff of the Archducal court would commit suicide whenever the reigning monarch died, leaving a nigh-total vacuum of competent, experienced administrators ought to be resurrected and then painfully tortured to death, in Briona's very quiet opinion.

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Thanks for the kind words, Quartz! It's really nice to hear from readers who are enjoying the Storyhour.

Re: Lord Davion: I boggled too when I did that math. The key thing to realize is that the Eldar and the Noldar are tremendously powerful relative to any humans (or to ordinary elves and drow). I don't know for sure, but based on his house, I think Lord Davion may be a Firstcomer (i.e. an elf who was directly created by the Creator, instead of being born); if he isn't, he's still probably been alive since about the time the first humans were born. Most of the ridiculously high epic level characters are from tremendously long-lived peoples. (Humans tend to max out in the mid to high 20s).

The other thing to be aware of is that the GM is, shall we say, not exactly a rules maven. So there are occasional rules mechanical oddities. Also, NPCs tend to be overpowered relative to their roles, partly to compensate for the fact that PCs tend to have vastly more efficient builds/tactical play.

And now, more updates:
Kit returned from a short errand outside the palace. "A thin-faced man stopped me and told me that one of the elders of Clan Skree wants to talk with representatives of the Archduchy."

"Based on the Army's assessment, Clan Skree is the only skaven clan that we might be able to negotiate with," said Alistair. "I don't think we can afford to turn down the possibility of dividing some of the skaven off from the rest. Did he say how to find them?"

"He said that if we followed the river south out of the city, we would come to them soon enough."

"I think we should go, then. And I think I need to be there-- if we're negotiating with an entire clan of the skaven, I should be there personally."

Dame Brionna frowned. "I can't say that I like the idea of you walking in to a meeting with any skaven. It could be a trap, and from everything we know the Skree are still evil and untrustworthy. But since I don't think I can persuade you to not go, let me see if I can find a cloak of invisibility. At least then there's a chance that they won't be able to ambush you, if it is a trap."

"I can live with that."

After some brief preparations and dressing in nondescript clothes, the group proceeded along the river. They passed the walls of Canberry City, and followed the river as it curved through the surrounding farmlands. No more than a quarter mile beyond the city, the air shimmered as they walked forward, and they suddenly found themselves in an encampment of about eight tents. Marcus murmured, "An area glamour of invisibility... clever, and no mean feat of magic." About a dozen ratpeople, all piebald and white, scurried between the various white tents. Above the encampment, but safely within the sphere of invisibility, a large banner depicting the thrown-back head of a great rat with horns fluttered in the wind.

As soon as the group entered the encampment, a tall ratman in white fur approached, carrying a staff. "You have not been tracked by the Eshen, have you?"

Kit shook her head. "No."

"Good, good. Eshen knows we are here but they do not know where, and may not know which of us. Come to see the Great One."

The ratman led the group to the largest and most central tent. He pulled aside the flap and gestured inside. An ancient, scarred ratman, whizened with age, sat upon a wooden throne in the center of the tent. The skaven rubbed his paws together when he saw the arrivals. "Ah, you've come. I was afraid that your lord would fear all of our kind too much to meet with us. It is well that he did not. I am the Eleven Counsel of Clan Skree, one of the five great clans."

Dame Brionna nodded. "We greet you on behalf of the Lord Regent of Canberry. But you must understand that we cannot yet trust you. What assurances can you give us that you are not simply part of the skaven threat?"

"Clan Eshen and Clan Muldar, the beastwalkers, plan to throw this continent into chaos. Here, there is a chance for our people. We come from a dying world, and came to a dying land within this world. When the demons broke through from Shadow, we creeped after them. When we came to the south of this continent, the Skree knew that we had found a land of plenty, where we can be prosperous at last. Clan Eshen and Clan Muldar have a different vision of what our people should do. Nor do the other of the Thirteen, except for Krikakit, and he is insane.

"In their effort to bring chaos to this whole continent, the others have connected themselves to a renegade Noldar, in one of the minor eastern noble houses here. I fear that this alliance may bring destruction upon us. It is not a path I would choose for the Skree."

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

"Then perhaps we do have room to work together," replied Dame Brionna. "How do the other clans plan to aid the Noldar?"

"Clan Muldar changes humans so they are skaven inside. They will use them to strengthen the armies of Caldra. The Earl of Caldra is completely a creature of the skaven."

"You mentioned a Noldar; which house is the Noldar from?"

"The Noldar is of House Moriquendarim. But you must not forget the Eshen. The targets of the Eshen line-assassins are three: the spinster aunt of Alistair, the Field Marshal Brightspan, and the Archbishop at the moment of the Archduchess's death to disrupt the coronation."

"Why his aunt?" asked Kit. "The other two would disrupt things badly, but why her?"

"The aunt is a target because she has true sight. That is why they must destroy her; the true sight runs in the royal family of Canberry. But with the way your people shun those who are born with it, the lines that carry the true sight will die out soon. And then you will have no defenses against our kind."

"And you don't feel bound by the decision of the other clans to pursue this plan?"

"We have great influence, but of all the clans, our clan have the most freewill, and intelligence to make our decisions."

Dame Brionna coughed. "Let's focus on the threats at hand. What resources do the Eshen and Muldar have in Canberry?"

"Eshen has the six line-assassins present, who are the least of theirs, but still better than the best humans. They must have been successful gutterrunners, warriors for the skaven, first. Each assassin will have its own target. I do not know the other three.

"As for the beastmasters... Muldar has at least four great beasts in the city. At least one is a rat-ogre; you want a unit to deal with that one. One is a great mole-rat. The others were caged, and we could not see for certain what they were. But they were probably wolf-rats that can follow a scent forever. They are cooperating with the Eshen."

"But what is their plan? Do they simply wish to create chaos, or do they have a larger goal?"

"The Noldar's plan is that when the Archduchess dies, the Archbishop will also be killed, and the aunt will be dead or killed soon after. The last will then strike, with any gutterrunners they may have, at Lord Brightspan; the rumors will then begin, through the controlled priests, that the Prince had Brightspan killed. Then their candidate will declare or be declared. He is a weak candidate, but they hold his mother and their family to the south. Not his true mother, who is some sort of demon, but the mother he knows as his own, who raised him. His family lie in an Eshen compound at the edge of the old Kingdoms. If he refuses to cooperate, they will be processed by the Muldar."

Alistair whispered quietly into Dame Brionna's ear. Dame Brionna swallowed hard and then said, "Thank you for this information. Lord Alistair would wish to make an alliance of sorts. We will not strike directly against the Skree, even in the lands that were traditionally the human South Kingdoms, if you will aid us in turning back the threat from the Eshen and the Muldar."

The elderly ratman smiled. "That is most acceptable. We will not fight our cousins directly for you but will give you the information you need to fight them. We are even willing to lead you to the Eshen compound in the sewers below the city."

"Field Marshal Brightspan will be leaving the city soon, perhaps before the Archduchess's death. Would the Eshen follow him if he leaves before they spring their attack?"

"The Eshen live for efficiency, so they would not pursue him if he leaves. They would switch their target, perhaps to his father."

"Do you know anything about their Noldar ally's other forces?"

"Little. We see and here much, but it is difficult for us to survive long near the elves, of any sort. There is a Moriquendarim war schooner near the town of Caldra, with Drowan troops in the town. With the speeds of their airships, they are less than two days away. I do not know more than that."

"Are there mages or priests among the Eshen and the Muldar?" asked Marcus.

"Muldar's magic limited to one area: warping living creatures to serve their purposes. Eshen is more complex: they have many priests, who tend to specialize in magics that allow them to reach places others cannot, or to enhance death-giving capabilities of their warriors. They share a propensity for alchemy with us. They also specialize in items and devices that will inch their way over days through springs until it drops poison a weak later without an agent touching it after it's first placed. They considered sending in monks of the Order Bubonicus, but they concluded that there were not enough rats." The ancient skaven nodded. "Your efforts to kill rats throughout Canberry frustrated them greatly. You have killed many spies of theirs, and made it much harder for them to strike with some of their weapons.

"But you must also fear their warpstone. They have at least four warpstone potions, that will corrupt any human who drinks them. It will not change your heart, but it will change the body of any who drink it. They have suborned several in the palace kitchen, including Guenivieve, a cook of salads, and the wine steward, who bears their messages."

Dame Brionna nodded. "We will need to attack their base quickly. Can you show us where it is?"

The skaven waved, and an image of the Canberry sewers appeared. A large black spot throbbed near its center. "There. Will you be able to find that?"

"We should."

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

Mother Honore stepped forward. "We think they may have also infiltrated the priesthood. Do you know anything about their agents within the temple?"

"They have corrupted several of your sun priests. Using their most extreme methods, they corrupted a Father Giorgio, I do not know the rest of his name. He is now assigned to a chapel in the summer palace, the Palace of Winds, having just arrived from the Holy See. They also changed a priest from near Caldra, who they transferred to the Bishop's entourage and then to the temple of Glor'diadel, Lord of the Fields. He has several gutterrunners with him. They may also have corrupted the Mother-Superior of the Order of the Blessed Hope, but I am not certain."

Mother Honore nodded. The priest from Lord of the Fields must have sent some of his gutterrunners after them; apparently, he did not believe her explanation as well as she thought. But the Mother-Superior of the Order of the Blessed Hope, a huge order of nuns throughout southern Drucien, was perhaps the most worrisome possibility. The Order has twelve chapter-houses, but its center is in Canberry City itself.

"How can we contact you if we have further questions or need to get you a message?" Kit asked. "I'd rather not rely on your agent being able to find us."

"I will send a messenger with you. Come here, Cheechree." The skaven elder grasped a small young skaven as he approached and began pushing and pulling on the youngsters body, bending and changing it. When he was finished, Cheechree looked like a small dog rather than a ratman. "He will always be able to find us with a message. But you should keep the messages short-- not longer than six or seven words. His mind will be more like a dog's and less like a skaven, and I am not sending one of the brightest of the younglings."

The small dog scampered over to Jet, wagging its tail and panting enthusiastically. Jet rubbed his head. "You'll have a good time in the kitchen with me. Plenty of bones for you." The former ratman just wagged his tail further, and licked Jet's hand enthusiastically.

"Thank you for your assistance." Dame Brionna said to the skaven leader.

The skaven leader gestured with his head towards where Alistair stood invisible. "Thank your lord for dealing with us. We feared that you would simply attack when you knew of our location, but we needed to take the chance. War with your country poses too much threat to our survival, especially now that we finally have a land with enough food to feed our young."

 

[Cerebral Paladin]

The group headed directly to The Golden Lion, where Dridall was lodging. Dame Brionna asked to book the best room in the house, but the innkeep informed her that the best suite on the top floor was already occupied; perhaps she would like one of the other fine rooms on that floor. The innkeep quickly admitted that he had a noble from out of town lodging in the nicest room, trying to impress potential clients with the exclusiveness of his establishment. Dame Brionna quickly agreed to let the second-nicest suite, and the group made its way up to the top floor.

A brief scouting effort confirmed that there was one person in the other suite and no one else apparent on the floor. Kit picked the lock to the room, and the group burst in. A young man, with a slightly reddish skin tone and the barest hints of horns under his hair, sat up on the bed. Alistair, still invisible, recognized him as Dridall and whispered, "It's him."

"Lord Dridall," Dame Brionna began, "we need to ask you to come with us. We can't permit the skaven to use you to destroy the Archduchy."

"I don't want to hurt anyone-- I never asked to be part of this. But I can't leave the inn. They watch the entrances carefully. If the ratmen see me leave without their permission, especially with anyone they didn't send, they'll do terrible things to my family."

"We'll take care of your family," Dame Brionna said. "Lord Alistair knows that the skaven are forcing you to do this. He won't let them hurt your family."

"How often do they check on you?" Kit asked.

"Directly? Only once every few days. But they watch the entrances and exits constantly."

"So if you slipped out invisibly, we would have several days to mount a rescue mission for your family before they even realized you were gone. More, even, because it would take them time to be sure that they had lost you permanently and then to send a message back to where they're holding your family."

"I guess so... but I don't have any means to make myself invisible."

"Ah, but we do," said Alistair, lowering the hood of his cloak. "I'll head out, with the cloak up and with a companion. I'll send the cloak back in with the companion carrying it, we'll use it to make you invisible, and then Dame Brionna will escort you back to the palace. We'll keep you safe and anonymous there. And then we'll rescue your family."

"I guess that would work. But how do I know that they won't hurt my mother before you rescue her?"

"You'll just have to trust us. We can't leave you as a pawn for the skaven. The risks are just too great. So we can't wait on your rescue until your family is safe, but I give you my word that we will rescue your family as well. We're not trying to save Canberry so good people can be abandonned to monsters."

Dridall looked at the determined faces of the group surrounding him. "I suppose I don't have a choice."

The plan worked like a charm. Within minutes, Dame Brionna was riding a horse towards the palace, her arms firmly holding an invisible Dridall on with her, while the remainder of the group headed back to the palace by a different route.

 

[Quartz]

More! More!

 

[Baron Opal]

Most of the ridiculously high epic level characters are from tremendously long-lived peoples. (Humans tend to max out in the mid to high 20s).

The other thing to be aware of is that the GM is, shall we say, not exactly a rules maven. So there are occasional rules mechanical oddities. Also, NPCs tend to be overpowered relative to their roles, partly to compensate for the fact that PCs tend to have vastly more efficient builds/tactical play.

When I gamed with this DM in the ... crikey, early '80's, it paid to be a bit cirumspect with whom you picked fights with. And, researching weaknesses and gaining allies was always a good idea. There were items called color pools that boosted your magical aptitude according to a theme. Most were either claimed or lost. If you wanted one (and every magician did) you had a lot of research to do to figure out what a particular color did and what the capabilities were of the current possessor. These people were far too capable to just attack.

There was always a strong political undercurrent to his games, as well. Our group didn't go into that too much (when I was involved), but the option was always there.

There were about 12 people in the gaming circle, plus others on different days. Naturally, there was factionalization but there was a long-standing tradition of absolutely zero PvP. You could hamper or inconvienience, but no PvP. A loophole that was exploited was that you could send NPCs into conflict and Reyn would let you know what happened.

And thus, the Courts of Chaos completely squashed the upstart Courts of Neutrality. Heh.