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(Cydra) The Year 271 Campaign (Low Magic experiment)
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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 3589198" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>Our heroes, at heart, are small-town boys and girls. But they have been drawn into a dangerous chase that none of them will abandon. Trapped in a time of apocalypse, beneath an unnatural, maroon sky, our heroes desperately pursue their arch-foe across a blasted landscape. Sir Harth- their foe- seeks to steal powerful magical weapons from this era and then use them to conquer their own time. In this weird era, there is no sun; there are no stars. Flashes that fill the entire sky occasionally occur, and the very environment itself seems to be a tenacious enemy of the party. The environment drains magic and life; so far, in the- days? Weeks?- that our heroes have been here, they have found only one friendly face... and “friendly” was almost certainly an exaggeration. The landscape is dotted by horrific mutant creatures with extra limbs, strange stigmata or worse.</p><p></p><p>There have been two villages, including the one that our heroes are now beginning to search. The first one was haunted by some kind of ill-feeling energy and had a large population of corpses; our heroes elected not to venture into it, and simply passed it by. Now, as they move onto the main street of the village, the lead members of the party look in all directions for any sign of movement or life. Nothing. Sir Percival, known as “Me” (for he is too stupid to say words with more than two syllables, such as his own name), sniffs the air, inhaling deeply, searching for the smell of corruption. Nothing.</p><p></p><p>“I don’t see anyone,” Sheriff Jorgen calls out. He has re-sheathed his sword, but he keeps his hand near it. The hairs on the back of his neck prickle. “This place <em>can’t</em> be safely abandoned,” he mutters to himself, “can it?” </p><p></p><p>The party spreads out a little, looking over the buildings. Most of them are small houses, composed of bricks of baked clay. Opening one up, Sir Fwaigo finds only a pair of corpses. A search reveals nothing further, and the party moves on to another house.</p><p></p><p>“I wonder what those tarp things are,” Kyle muses, gesturing. There are thin filmy things stretched above parts of the village. They are translucent but brightly colored.*</p><p></p><p>The party goes over and examines some of the material, but they can’t figure out what it is. It is relatively fragile, however. The sheets also cover a good chunk of the orchard that is inside the village’s walls. Upon growing tired of messing with the film, the group returns to the matter of the buildings, opening up the door to the nearest house. This time there is no body inside. However, a search turns up a small box under the bed, which our heroes immediately open to find four flasks of weird liquid, each one different from the others.</p><p></p><p>“Hmm,” Kyle says, and casts <em>detect magic.</em> A grin breaks out on his face. “Hey, these are magical!”</p><p></p><p>“How?” Goer objects. “The environment should destroy them in a few days, right?”</p><p></p><p>Kyle throws open the window and looks out and up. “I think those colored tarp things protect us from the environment!” he proclaims. Gesturing, he goes on, “Look, we’re under one- at least partially- when we’re in this building. I bet that’s how the potions kept their enchantment.”</p><p></p><p>“Well,” Sheriff Jorgen says, “at least we know that there were people here recently.”</p><p></p><p>“We do?” asks Sir Colder.</p><p></p><p>Sheriff Jorgen nods. “Yes, because if there wasn’t anyone here when the war happened that started this” –his gesture takes in everything around them- “why would they build protection for some of the houses?”</p><p></p><p>“Good point,” Sir Colder concedes.</p><p></p><p>“More to the point, <em>where are they?</em>”</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>The house seems like a safe place, a comfortable place, and a protected place. It is there that our heroes rest, and they spend a couple of days recuperating- since they can. Kyle’s theory proves correct: under the colored tarps, they are protected, and are able to recover their strength.** Otis regains consciousness, Lord Cedric and Dahlia dispense what healing magic they have and everyone enjoys a lazy two days out of the terrible draining maroon sky.</p><p></p><p>Then they get back to work.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>The interior of the church- from whence came the gear hounds that wounded Otis so badly when the party first arrived in the village- is a mess. There is a corpse on the ground, obviously a month old or more, wearing heavy armor and with a heavy mace cast aside on the ground nearby. The party looks around and takes the loot that they find, including the gear of the body and a chest of coins that they find. Otis casts <em>detect magic</em> and is pleased to announce that the armor and mace and a scroll are all magical. The party gives the armor to Goer and the mace to Me, and after a quick <em>read magic</em> ascertains that it is a scroll of priestly spells, albeit three copies of the same spell.</p><p></p><p>“Interethting,” Lord Cedric says. “Thith ith a thpell whothe thecretth have been lotht in our time. It will allow me to thpeak with the dead.” Otis and he confer about it for a few moments, and then the party moves on.</p><p></p><p>The upper level of the church looks, from outside, like some kind of observatory. A twisted stairway ascends to that area, and our heroes follow it upstairs. They find themselves, indeed, in an observatory. Weird, broken equipment- long metal tubes pointing out of the ceiling and out into the sky, and some kind of broken device for moving it around- almost fills the area.</p><p></p><p>“What do you suppose this is?” asks Goer, touching the big tube. </p><p></p><p>Instantly there is a sudden crackle of energy, and a green ball of energy with four long tentacles coming out of it, appears! It immediately attacks Me, lashing out with tentacles that drip acid. It slaps the pissblood. There is a hiss and sizzle as the acid leaves horrendous burns on Me’s arms and chest. He roars. </p><p></p><p>Goer stabs into it with his longspear, but the shaft just goes right through it, as if it isn’t even there. Immediately our heroes are reminded of the terrible <em>thing</em> in the haunted house they investigated in Kamenda City- they could not even hurt it. “FLEE!!!” shouts Goer, and he and Me begin to move away.</p><p></p><p>The thing pursues, and the room is too cramped for everyone to get away from it. Its tentacles lash out again, dealing significant wounds to whomever they touch. Lord Cedric grimaces and casts <em>magic weapon</em> on his sword, then manages to score a blow on it. “Hit it with magic!” he cries.</p><p></p><p>Me, trusting to Lord Cedric’s words, rumbles around and attacks with his new-found mace. He, too, manages to score a blow against it! Suddenly, our heroes- who had seemed on the edge of instant rout- rally, and after a long, hard battle, our heroes- sorely wounded- prevail.</p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, when they do, the beast explodes in a great spray of acid. Our heroes are doused, and heavily damaged.</p><p></p><p>What healing they have, they use; but afterwards, they are still in no shape to fight. By necessity, they retreat to the ‘safe house’ to rest again.</p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> Our heroes finish checking out the observatory and move on to the inn... but <em>wheat happened to the people?</em></p><p></p><p></p><p>*Like a big sheet of colored saran wrap going over big chunks of the village.</p><p></p><p>**Among other things, the environment the party is in does 1 point of Con damage per day.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 3589198, member: 1210"] Our heroes, at heart, are small-town boys and girls. But they have been drawn into a dangerous chase that none of them will abandon. Trapped in a time of apocalypse, beneath an unnatural, maroon sky, our heroes desperately pursue their arch-foe across a blasted landscape. Sir Harth- their foe- seeks to steal powerful magical weapons from this era and then use them to conquer their own time. In this weird era, there is no sun; there are no stars. Flashes that fill the entire sky occasionally occur, and the very environment itself seems to be a tenacious enemy of the party. The environment drains magic and life; so far, in the- days? Weeks?- that our heroes have been here, they have found only one friendly face... and “friendly” was almost certainly an exaggeration. The landscape is dotted by horrific mutant creatures with extra limbs, strange stigmata or worse. There have been two villages, including the one that our heroes are now beginning to search. The first one was haunted by some kind of ill-feeling energy and had a large population of corpses; our heroes elected not to venture into it, and simply passed it by. Now, as they move onto the main street of the village, the lead members of the party look in all directions for any sign of movement or life. Nothing. Sir Percival, known as “Me” (for he is too stupid to say words with more than two syllables, such as his own name), sniffs the air, inhaling deeply, searching for the smell of corruption. Nothing. “I don’t see anyone,” Sheriff Jorgen calls out. He has re-sheathed his sword, but he keeps his hand near it. The hairs on the back of his neck prickle. “This place [i]can’t[/i] be safely abandoned,” he mutters to himself, “can it?” The party spreads out a little, looking over the buildings. Most of them are small houses, composed of bricks of baked clay. Opening one up, Sir Fwaigo finds only a pair of corpses. A search reveals nothing further, and the party moves on to another house. “I wonder what those tarp things are,” Kyle muses, gesturing. There are thin filmy things stretched above parts of the village. They are translucent but brightly colored.* The party goes over and examines some of the material, but they can’t figure out what it is. It is relatively fragile, however. The sheets also cover a good chunk of the orchard that is inside the village’s walls. Upon growing tired of messing with the film, the group returns to the matter of the buildings, opening up the door to the nearest house. This time there is no body inside. However, a search turns up a small box under the bed, which our heroes immediately open to find four flasks of weird liquid, each one different from the others. “Hmm,” Kyle says, and casts [i]detect magic.[/i] A grin breaks out on his face. “Hey, these are magical!” “How?” Goer objects. “The environment should destroy them in a few days, right?” Kyle throws open the window and looks out and up. “I think those colored tarp things protect us from the environment!” he proclaims. Gesturing, he goes on, “Look, we’re under one- at least partially- when we’re in this building. I bet that’s how the potions kept their enchantment.” “Well,” Sheriff Jorgen says, “at least we know that there were people here recently.” “We do?” asks Sir Colder. Sheriff Jorgen nods. “Yes, because if there wasn’t anyone here when the war happened that started this” –his gesture takes in everything around them- “why would they build protection for some of the houses?” “Good point,” Sir Colder concedes. “More to the point, [i]where are they?[/i]” *** The house seems like a safe place, a comfortable place, and a protected place. It is there that our heroes rest, and they spend a couple of days recuperating- since they can. Kyle’s theory proves correct: under the colored tarps, they are protected, and are able to recover their strength.** Otis regains consciousness, Lord Cedric and Dahlia dispense what healing magic they have and everyone enjoys a lazy two days out of the terrible draining maroon sky. Then they get back to work. *** The interior of the church- from whence came the gear hounds that wounded Otis so badly when the party first arrived in the village- is a mess. There is a corpse on the ground, obviously a month old or more, wearing heavy armor and with a heavy mace cast aside on the ground nearby. The party looks around and takes the loot that they find, including the gear of the body and a chest of coins that they find. Otis casts [i]detect magic[/i] and is pleased to announce that the armor and mace and a scroll are all magical. The party gives the armor to Goer and the mace to Me, and after a quick [i]read magic[/i] ascertains that it is a scroll of priestly spells, albeit three copies of the same spell. “Interethting,” Lord Cedric says. “Thith ith a thpell whothe thecretth have been lotht in our time. It will allow me to thpeak with the dead.” Otis and he confer about it for a few moments, and then the party moves on. The upper level of the church looks, from outside, like some kind of observatory. A twisted stairway ascends to that area, and our heroes follow it upstairs. They find themselves, indeed, in an observatory. Weird, broken equipment- long metal tubes pointing out of the ceiling and out into the sky, and some kind of broken device for moving it around- almost fills the area. “What do you suppose this is?” asks Goer, touching the big tube. Instantly there is a sudden crackle of energy, and a green ball of energy with four long tentacles coming out of it, appears! It immediately attacks Me, lashing out with tentacles that drip acid. It slaps the pissblood. There is a hiss and sizzle as the acid leaves horrendous burns on Me’s arms and chest. He roars. Goer stabs into it with his longspear, but the shaft just goes right through it, as if it isn’t even there. Immediately our heroes are reminded of the terrible [i]thing[/i] in the haunted house they investigated in Kamenda City- they could not even hurt it. “FLEE!!!” shouts Goer, and he and Me begin to move away. The thing pursues, and the room is too cramped for everyone to get away from it. Its tentacles lash out again, dealing significant wounds to whomever they touch. Lord Cedric grimaces and casts [i]magic weapon[/i] on his sword, then manages to score a blow on it. “Hit it with magic!” he cries. Me, trusting to Lord Cedric’s words, rumbles around and attacks with his new-found mace. He, too, manages to score a blow against it! Suddenly, our heroes- who had seemed on the edge of instant rout- rally, and after a long, hard battle, our heroes- sorely wounded- prevail. Unfortunately, when they do, the beast explodes in a great spray of acid. Our heroes are doused, and heavily damaged. What healing they have, they use; but afterwards, they are still in no shape to fight. By necessity, they retreat to the ‘safe house’ to rest again. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i] Our heroes finish checking out the observatory and move on to the inn... but [i]wheat happened to the people?[/i] *Like a big sheet of colored saran wrap going over big chunks of the village. **Among other things, the environment the party is in does 1 point of Con damage per day. [/QUOTE]
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