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Story Hour
(Cydra) The Year 271 Campaign (Low Magic experiment)
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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 3867646" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p>The stench is horrendous. To either side, everywhere, the city is utterly demolished. A few buildings stand, half torn apart, here and there. Piles of rubble dozens or even hundreds of feet high alternate with deep craters. Bodies, pieces of bodies, bits of blood and brain and bone are everywhere. Never have our heroes seen a place that has been pounded more relentlessly.</p><p></p><p>Our heroes cover their faces with clothes soaked in whiskey (though Lord Cedric briefly resists the idea of using the precious whiskey in any manner other than imbibing it). The peasants following our heroes are terrified; Sir Porthos, Benito and Adelle are grim.</p><p></p><p>Soon enough, the ghouls attack. </p><p></p><p>It is a small wave of them, only eight; and still they almost drag a few of the villagers off. But our heroes manage to fend them off, slaying them with the aid of a few of the more able peasants, and soon our heroes continue along. </p><p></p><p>They talk as they go, trying to distract themselves from the omnipresent stink. It is maddening. Speculation runs in the direction that it was the beholder in charge of Sir Harth. Anything to distract themselves from the reek of corrupt flesh, cloying in the air. The sour-sweet stink of the whiskey helps, but gods! It is awful!</p><p></p><p>For an hour, they move along through the ruined streets. They round a 20’ high pile of rubble, and the stink of Litel grows suddenly, appallingly worse. A field of bodies, blown apart and ravaged by some terrible force, lies before them. Chunks of rock, brick and mortar are strewn about as well, and across the blistered crater strewn with corpses, our heroes can see the lower part of a building whose upper portion appears to have been blown jaggedly apart, perhaps a tenement or other dwelling place. There are more ghouls scavenging amongst the corpses. </p><p></p><p>“We have no need to engage them,” Sir Jorgen says. “Let’s continue towards our goal. There are plenty of dead corpses for them to feast on already.”</p><p></p><p>The others agree, and the party continues, bypassing the ghoulish scene. Very nervously, the party continues along. Blasted walls, empty windows, entire blocks smashed... the destruction is mind-boggling.</p><p></p><p>As our heroes cross an intersection, there is a sudden eruption of savage barking from the side. A pack of mangy-looking, hungry and feral dogs is bearing down on the party! Otis immediately blasts them with a <em>fireball,</em> and most of them drop. </p><p></p><p>The other two, however, roar and writhe. They begin to change, gaining a horrible amount of mass in just a few seconds and turning greenish.</p><p></p><p>“Gamma mutants!” roars Benito. </p><p></p><p>Jorgen lowers his lance and charges, smashing into one of the hulk dogs. His weapon crashes into it, dealing a terrific wound! But then the dog slams him with a mighty blow of its paw, hitting him with bone-crushing force. Jorgen is knocked from the saddle and crashes to the ground, knocked nearly unconscious in a single blow!</p><p></p><p>Then Benito slides forward and thrusts with his ranseur, catching the dog just under its swollen, over-muscled green chin. The tip of his weapon slices deep, discharging a blast of electricity, and then Benito carries the blow through in a wide arc that connects with the other hulk dog! It yelps, then growls. Its eyes flick to its fallen mate and it bares its teeth. </p><p></p><p>Dahlia, meanwhile, casts <em>calm animals</em> at it. The creature starts to settle down, but then Me moves up and it begins snarling again. Otis sighs. “Enough of this!” he cries, and <em>magic missiles</em> the dog. It yipes again and collapses, but its wounds are healing at a prodigious rate. Before it can regain consciousness, Sir Colder swiftly strides over to it and slits its throat. </p><p></p><p>“Whew!” exclaims Sir Jorgen. “That thing hit me <em>hard!</em>”</p><p></p><p>“Gamma mutants are very bad news indeed,” agrees Adelle. </p><p></p><p>The party continues on through the devastated city. They edge around large craters; Adelle and Benito both claim that there is a danger of “radiation” in them.</p><p></p><p>After they cross through a shattered alley, they emerge on a street choked with rubble, much like the others that they have seen so far in this ruined city. However, there is one noteworthy difference: this street is lined with strange poles that arch over the center of the road, about 15’ above the ground, and the ends of these poles are set with strange bulb-shaped things, most of which give off a strong white light. Some of them seem to have failed, but on the whole, it seems like a well-lit avenue.</p><p></p><p>“Interesting,” notes Otis. “If only we had more time... Adelle, do you know what these are?”</p><p></p><p>“Of course.” She sounds surprised, once again, at his ignorance. “They’re just street lights. We have them everywhere.”</p><p></p><p>Otis shakes his head in a mixture of wonderment and annoyance at her manner.</p><p></p><p><em>If only there were a way to take back some of the knowledge of this time!</em> he thinks. “Keep your eyes out for a library or a wizard’s tower,” he snaps to Kyle.</p><p></p><p>“Yes, master,” Kyle replies. “That’s a very good idea.”</p><p></p><p>The group travels onward for about half an hour, and then- as if Otis were prescient- they catch sight of a tall building, probably about four storeys high, with a web of cracks running up and down the facade. Smoke trickles out from within it. A sign out front shows a series of books.</p><p></p><p>“Books!” cries Otis. </p><p></p><p>“A library!” Kyle chortles. </p><p></p><p>Jorgen points a short distance away. “A fountain! It’s dry, but I’ll see if I can find some water!” He rushes over to the plaza at which he sees the fountains. Meanwhile, Dahlia- who has been in the form of a hawk for hours now- flies over to an upper window and perches on the ledge. There are books, all right, and a slow, smoldering fire. </p><p></p><p>“It’s on fire! Ahh, we have to save the books! What if there are magic tomes in there?” Otis is frantic. He rushes forward. The party pushes through. The door leads to a 40’ square foyer, badly damaged, with several corpses sprawled about. Significant cracks are on the floor, and the furnishings- a large counter and desk, several reading tables and many chairs- are severely damaged by fire, water and force. A staircase spirals up to the next floor, and a glance reveals fallen shelves and scattered books above. However, as Otis, Sir Colder and Kyle rush into the foyer, the entire floor collapses! And a few seconds later, while everyone else watches from outside, the rest of the building follows it. Dahlia lifts off from the window sill just in time. Debris rains down, and Otis, Colder and Kyle find themselves falling helplessly through the air. Below them, massive chunks of rubble splash downinto what appears to be fast-flowing brownish sludge. The stink of sewage is atrociously strong, making their stomachs heave. Then they crash into the surface of the sludge, raising a brown spray. Around them in the fast-moving flow, they can see little bits of floating refuse: a leather slipper, a child’s toy... an arm, deprived of its body.</p><p></p><p>The flow is furiously quick. Otis manages to cast <em>spider climb,</em> and snatches the wall, clinging for dear life. Then, to his horror, he sees a thin, almost transparent strand of <em>something</em> shoot out from a ledge above and hit Kyle!</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, Kyle is being pulled into the air.</p><p></p><p>Up above, Jorgen- having given up on the fountain when the house collapsed- quickly ties his rope into a lasso, then whips it in a circle in the air and tries to snag Kyle. Success!! Now Kyle is being drawn in two directions at once! Sheriff Jorgen ties the rope to his saddle horn and backs his horse up, pulling the rope, while the- whatever it is- tries to reel his friend in, presumably for a meal! The hapless Kyle finds himself suspended in the air above the fast-flowing effluvia.</p><p></p><p>Adelle whips out a scroll and reads it off. A <em>wall of ice</em> springs up, cutting off the outflow, and the surging sewage calms a little. Still, there is a huge amount of brownish sludge pouring into the area. Dahlia quickly lowers the water level, and then Otis tosses another <em>fireball</em> back at the ledge that the creatures trying to reel Kyle in are on. In the light of the flames he can see them: strange things that look like a cross between a spider and a crab, with a long proboscis that shoots the sticky strand. There are several of them, but his <em>fireball</em> roasts all of the little ones. Only the biggest one remains, and not for long. A concentrated assault by the party quickly overwhelms it, and when Me’s sling stone hits it in the eye and finishes it off it is nearly a mercy killing.</p><p></p><p>The party regroups a few moments later at the top of the pit that was once a library. Otis is glum; there are few books to be found, and he feels that Adelle has wasted a powerful spell on a scroll. “I might never have another chance to learn that spell!” he cries in anguish. </p><p></p><p>She brushes his complaints aside. “I acted to save my allies,” she responds. </p><p></p><p>The party has found some coins, as well as a magical bracelet of some kind and ten soiled red magical arrows, on the ledge of the strange sewer fishers. After the party stashes these away for the time being, Sir Jorgen urges them to form up and move on. After all, they aren’t gaining on Sir Harth by standing around.</p><p></p><p>While they move on, they talk. Kyle talks about doing without high magic in the party’s home time. Sir Colder puts the mack on the village sheriff. Otis mocks him, then encourages the peasants. Adelle asks Dahlia for some healing. Kyle asks about moons. Adelle talks about harnessing moons for power, or even as weapons. The very idea of using a moon as a weapon is appalling and amazing all at once. </p><p></p><p>Deeper into ruined Litel...</p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> Our heroes continue their pursuit of Harth and find- a major clue: a rail line!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 3867646, member: 1210"] The stench is horrendous. To either side, everywhere, the city is utterly demolished. A few buildings stand, half torn apart, here and there. Piles of rubble dozens or even hundreds of feet high alternate with deep craters. Bodies, pieces of bodies, bits of blood and brain and bone are everywhere. Never have our heroes seen a place that has been pounded more relentlessly. Our heroes cover their faces with clothes soaked in whiskey (though Lord Cedric briefly resists the idea of using the precious whiskey in any manner other than imbibing it). The peasants following our heroes are terrified; Sir Porthos, Benito and Adelle are grim. Soon enough, the ghouls attack. It is a small wave of them, only eight; and still they almost drag a few of the villagers off. But our heroes manage to fend them off, slaying them with the aid of a few of the more able peasants, and soon our heroes continue along. They talk as they go, trying to distract themselves from the omnipresent stink. It is maddening. Speculation runs in the direction that it was the beholder in charge of Sir Harth. Anything to distract themselves from the reek of corrupt flesh, cloying in the air. The sour-sweet stink of the whiskey helps, but gods! It is awful! For an hour, they move along through the ruined streets. They round a 20’ high pile of rubble, and the stink of Litel grows suddenly, appallingly worse. A field of bodies, blown apart and ravaged by some terrible force, lies before them. Chunks of rock, brick and mortar are strewn about as well, and across the blistered crater strewn with corpses, our heroes can see the lower part of a building whose upper portion appears to have been blown jaggedly apart, perhaps a tenement or other dwelling place. There are more ghouls scavenging amongst the corpses. “We have no need to engage them,” Sir Jorgen says. “Let’s continue towards our goal. There are plenty of dead corpses for them to feast on already.” The others agree, and the party continues, bypassing the ghoulish scene. Very nervously, the party continues along. Blasted walls, empty windows, entire blocks smashed... the destruction is mind-boggling. As our heroes cross an intersection, there is a sudden eruption of savage barking from the side. A pack of mangy-looking, hungry and feral dogs is bearing down on the party! Otis immediately blasts them with a [i]fireball,[/i] and most of them drop. The other two, however, roar and writhe. They begin to change, gaining a horrible amount of mass in just a few seconds and turning greenish. “Gamma mutants!” roars Benito. Jorgen lowers his lance and charges, smashing into one of the hulk dogs. His weapon crashes into it, dealing a terrific wound! But then the dog slams him with a mighty blow of its paw, hitting him with bone-crushing force. Jorgen is knocked from the saddle and crashes to the ground, knocked nearly unconscious in a single blow! Then Benito slides forward and thrusts with his ranseur, catching the dog just under its swollen, over-muscled green chin. The tip of his weapon slices deep, discharging a blast of electricity, and then Benito carries the blow through in a wide arc that connects with the other hulk dog! It yelps, then growls. Its eyes flick to its fallen mate and it bares its teeth. Dahlia, meanwhile, casts [i]calm animals[/i] at it. The creature starts to settle down, but then Me moves up and it begins snarling again. Otis sighs. “Enough of this!” he cries, and [i]magic missiles[/i] the dog. It yipes again and collapses, but its wounds are healing at a prodigious rate. Before it can regain consciousness, Sir Colder swiftly strides over to it and slits its throat. “Whew!” exclaims Sir Jorgen. “That thing hit me [i]hard![/i]” “Gamma mutants are very bad news indeed,” agrees Adelle. The party continues on through the devastated city. They edge around large craters; Adelle and Benito both claim that there is a danger of “radiation” in them. After they cross through a shattered alley, they emerge on a street choked with rubble, much like the others that they have seen so far in this ruined city. However, there is one noteworthy difference: this street is lined with strange poles that arch over the center of the road, about 15’ above the ground, and the ends of these poles are set with strange bulb-shaped things, most of which give off a strong white light. Some of them seem to have failed, but on the whole, it seems like a well-lit avenue. “Interesting,” notes Otis. “If only we had more time... Adelle, do you know what these are?” “Of course.” She sounds surprised, once again, at his ignorance. “They’re just street lights. We have them everywhere.” Otis shakes his head in a mixture of wonderment and annoyance at her manner. [i]If only there were a way to take back some of the knowledge of this time![/i] he thinks. “Keep your eyes out for a library or a wizard’s tower,” he snaps to Kyle. “Yes, master,” Kyle replies. “That’s a very good idea.” The group travels onward for about half an hour, and then- as if Otis were prescient- they catch sight of a tall building, probably about four storeys high, with a web of cracks running up and down the facade. Smoke trickles out from within it. A sign out front shows a series of books. “Books!” cries Otis. “A library!” Kyle chortles. Jorgen points a short distance away. “A fountain! It’s dry, but I’ll see if I can find some water!” He rushes over to the plaza at which he sees the fountains. Meanwhile, Dahlia- who has been in the form of a hawk for hours now- flies over to an upper window and perches on the ledge. There are books, all right, and a slow, smoldering fire. “It’s on fire! Ahh, we have to save the books! What if there are magic tomes in there?” Otis is frantic. He rushes forward. The party pushes through. The door leads to a 40’ square foyer, badly damaged, with several corpses sprawled about. Significant cracks are on the floor, and the furnishings- a large counter and desk, several reading tables and many chairs- are severely damaged by fire, water and force. A staircase spirals up to the next floor, and a glance reveals fallen shelves and scattered books above. However, as Otis, Sir Colder and Kyle rush into the foyer, the entire floor collapses! And a few seconds later, while everyone else watches from outside, the rest of the building follows it. Dahlia lifts off from the window sill just in time. Debris rains down, and Otis, Colder and Kyle find themselves falling helplessly through the air. Below them, massive chunks of rubble splash downinto what appears to be fast-flowing brownish sludge. The stink of sewage is atrociously strong, making their stomachs heave. Then they crash into the surface of the sludge, raising a brown spray. Around them in the fast-moving flow, they can see little bits of floating refuse: a leather slipper, a child’s toy... an arm, deprived of its body. The flow is furiously quick. Otis manages to cast [i]spider climb,[/i] and snatches the wall, clinging for dear life. Then, to his horror, he sees a thin, almost transparent strand of [i]something[/i] shoot out from a ledge above and hit Kyle! Suddenly, Kyle is being pulled into the air. Up above, Jorgen- having given up on the fountain when the house collapsed- quickly ties his rope into a lasso, then whips it in a circle in the air and tries to snag Kyle. Success!! Now Kyle is being drawn in two directions at once! Sheriff Jorgen ties the rope to his saddle horn and backs his horse up, pulling the rope, while the- whatever it is- tries to reel his friend in, presumably for a meal! The hapless Kyle finds himself suspended in the air above the fast-flowing effluvia. Adelle whips out a scroll and reads it off. A [i]wall of ice[/i] springs up, cutting off the outflow, and the surging sewage calms a little. Still, there is a huge amount of brownish sludge pouring into the area. Dahlia quickly lowers the water level, and then Otis tosses another [i]fireball[/i] back at the ledge that the creatures trying to reel Kyle in are on. In the light of the flames he can see them: strange things that look like a cross between a spider and a crab, with a long proboscis that shoots the sticky strand. There are several of them, but his [i]fireball[/i] roasts all of the little ones. Only the biggest one remains, and not for long. A concentrated assault by the party quickly overwhelms it, and when Me’s sling stone hits it in the eye and finishes it off it is nearly a mercy killing. The party regroups a few moments later at the top of the pit that was once a library. Otis is glum; there are few books to be found, and he feels that Adelle has wasted a powerful spell on a scroll. “I might never have another chance to learn that spell!” he cries in anguish. She brushes his complaints aside. “I acted to save my allies,” she responds. The party has found some coins, as well as a magical bracelet of some kind and ten soiled red magical arrows, on the ledge of the strange sewer fishers. After the party stashes these away for the time being, Sir Jorgen urges them to form up and move on. After all, they aren’t gaining on Sir Harth by standing around. While they move on, they talk. Kyle talks about doing without high magic in the party’s home time. Sir Colder puts the mack on the village sheriff. Otis mocks him, then encourages the peasants. Adelle asks Dahlia for some healing. Kyle asks about moons. Adelle talks about harnessing moons for power, or even as weapons. The very idea of using a moon as a weapon is appalling and amazing all at once. Deeper into ruined Litel... [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] Our heroes continue their pursuit of Harth and find- a major clue: a rail line! [/QUOTE]
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