"Return of the Rod of the Seven Parts" - D&D

[Silver Moon]

Module 105: “Return of the Rod of the Seven Parts”
(20 Year Anniversary Round Robin Module). Night One, March 24, 2002, Game # 808.

March 27, 1019:

Twelve weeks of character time have passed since the prior game, and Lannon's player has reached his 100th birthday. Narg's player says “He’s a dwarf, isn’t that like being six to a human?”

It is early morning, shortly after dawn, and the vast majority of the party are still sleeping in their beds. Ilma, the winged warrior maiden of Yon (Ukko) appears in the rooms of most characters, wakes them, and instructs them to “Get your things, there is not much time.” She then waves her sword above their heads, and they teleport away.

She next appears at Patrick’s Sculpture Shop in Eldamar City, getting most of the Da’Bears team. As Eric and Ryan are both familiar with who she is they tell the others to comply. Ilma then makes similar visits to the City of Chunming, the Chinese land near the biosphere, the caves of Liebercrantz, and a few other places on the world.

The party find themselves on another plane, which many presume to be the elemental plane of air, as most of what surrounds them is sky and clouds. They are standing on some type of light-blue colored surface, solid enough to stand on but with a spongy feel to it. In addition to Ilma there are a total of forty-one present, including the majority of the members of the Silver Moon and Da’Bears adventuring teams. Also present are several past associates of theirs: the dwarf Duegar, former ship crewmember Toshiro Mitsubishi, the owl Hengeyokai Min-Mae, the falcon Hengeyokai Syrendel, and the human spaceman Ron Luther X5-0135 (last seen twelve years earlier).

Narg turns to Ilma and asks “OK, why are we all here?” Ilma begins “As some of you may recall, a little over a year ago there was a cosmic crisis, where the deities were temporarily separated from their followers by a mystical barrier. The deities were prevented from breaching this barrier to stop the cause of this at its source, so a team of mortals from the Silver Moon were sent to accomplish this task (Module #95, “Grey Gold Finale”). Your team brought with you the powerful artifact, the Rod of the Seven Parts, but it failed to reach the destination with you.”

“Yeah,” states Alton “It blew up, and killed that Bok Choi kid who was holding it.” “But he turned out to have been a spy for Mordenkainen, so I guess that was OK,” comment Cassie. Narg is flabbergasted, saying “What! You guys blew up the Rod!” Blake (the other one present who had also been on that mission) lamely tells Narg “Sorry.”

Ilma interrupts “No, the Rod was not destroyed, you had just been erroneously told that. It was unable to breach the barrier because of its link to the gods.” Cassie ponders “I wonder how my crown got through?” Ilma does not answer.

Ilma continues “Let me read you a brief history of that Artifact.” She draws a scroll from a pocket inside her cloak, and reads "The Wind Dukes of Aaqu are the legendary creators of this artifact. It is said that they constructed the Rod to use in the great battle of Pesh where Chaos and Law contended. There, the Rod was shattered and its parts scattered, but the enchantments on the item were such that nothing could actually destroy it.”

She rolls up the scroll, stating “That was what happened this time as well. When the rod hit the barrier it disassembled, the impact of which killed the boy holding it, and the seven pieces then shot off in different directions to seven different locations on a variety of worlds. That was fine as far as Yon (Ukko) was concerned, as each piece of the rod is powerless without until attached to its adjacent pieces. However, that changed an hour ago.” “An hour ago?” exclaims Lannon.

Ilma continues “Yes, that changed an hour ago, when a high priest of…” The DM then turns to the Co-DM to ask for the evil deities name. The Co-DM exclaims “Oops, I knew I forgot something. How about ‘Her Dread Majesty, Oxnard, Demigoddess of Headcheese and Dish Water!’?” That idea does not fly. “You’ve obviously never been offered Headcheese,” the Co-DM states. He is then handed a copy of Deities and Demigods, thumbing through and eventually choosing Kiputytto, the Goddess of sickness and mother of the plague, of the Finnish Pantheon. It is decided that this deity will work, but that since the name is hard to pronounce, they’ll keep the name Oxnard.

Continuing yet again, “That changed an hour ago, when a high priest of Oxnard, the Finnish Goddess of sickness and mother of the plague, found one of the rod pieces. This priest contacted his deity to find out what it was. We fear that it will now be only a matter of time before they seek to obtain the other pieces of the rod and join them together. I am forbidden from interfering in the affairs of mortals, except for to counter the interference of evil deities, and so am now free to act. I have brought you all together so that you can form six different teams, who I will then send to the locations of the other six pieces of the rod to obtain them.”

Narg says “Listen Ilma, that’s all fine, but it’s still real early in the morning. Do you think that you could maybe send somebody out for Starbucks?” Mojo turns to Narg and says “Of course it’s early in the morning. When the bards write the story you want it to say that it began at dawn. Who wants to hear an epic battle story that begins at tea time.”

The characters then all split up into six separate teams (listed here in the order that they will be played during the next six weeks):

The first team is the one to which Ilma says Ron Luther X5-0135 will be needed, which is then informally dubbed the ‘weirdo team’ with Guy throwing in Alton, followed by the three Henegyokai. Other characters are added, with the final team being comprised of Alton, Dennismore, Ebony, Lono, and Timothy from the Silver Moon, and past associates Min-Mae, Ron Luther and Syrendel.

The second team is comprised of high-level Silver Moon members Isaiah, Kharole, Lannon, Mark, Narg and Serita, plus past associate Duegar. This team being informally dubbed ‘the big guns’.

The third team is comprised of the Da’Bears members Bitsey, Dani, Eric, Ryan and Troyan. Given the presence of Alyssa, Bitsey and Dani the nickname becomes ‘the team with annoying teenage girls’.

The fourth team is comprised of the other high-level Silver Moon members Blip, Blake, Cassie-Andra, Jerry, Kim-Sung, Mojo and Toshiro. This team is informally dubbed ‘the other big guns’.

The fifth team is comprised of the mid-level Silver Moon members Aradyn, Freyland, Fiona, Guice, and Vincenzo. The Da’Bears leader Opal Silversteel decides to accompany this team. No informal nickname is thought up for this team (but we’ll work on it).

The sixth team is comprised of the Da’Bears members of Benedict and Patrick. As Ilma indicates that the assignment for this team would be the most survivable for lower level characters, the newly recruited 2nd level Silver Moon members Ailsheir and Hiroshi choose to also accompany this team. Since several of these are low level characters, and four have never really been played before as PCs they are informally nicknamed ‘the new guys’.

They then divide up party magic. Narg insists that the team with the teenage girls get one of the Rings of Regeneration because “If I let my fiancé's daughter Dani get killed a month before my wedding….well…I don’t want to think the consequences.” The other Ring is kept with the second team. Several of the lower level characters are given various protection devices that the party recently acquired. The three bags of holding are passed out to the second, third and fifth teams. The party prepare to depart. Ilma's suggest that each team spend a few minutes to reacquaint themselves with each other before she whisks them away.


Note - As this Round Robin module involves all PC's I've included this link to another thread that has the character descriptions:
http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=38410

 

[Silver Moon]

Module 105 - Chapter 2,”Space, the Final Frontier“, March 27, 1019:

Module 105: “Return of the Rod of the Seven Parts” (20 Year Anniversary Round Robin Module). Game Night Two, March 31, 2002, Game # 809. DM: Player of Isaiah, Jerry, Freyland, Vallessa, Jamal & Dani.

Cast of Characters:
Alton, male human druid
Dennismore, male elf thief
Ebony Shadow, female hengeyokai (cat sub-race) ranger
Lono, male elf fighter/thief
Min-Mae, female hengeyokai (owl sub-race) magic-user
Ron Luther X5-0135, male human fighter (and spaceman)
Syrendel, female hengeyokai (falcon sub-race) ranger
Timothy, male human cleric

The game begins on another plane, which many presume to be the elemental plane of air, as most of what surrounds them is sky and clouds. They are standing on some type of light-blue colored surface, solid enough to stand on but with a spongy feel to it. The forty-one characters have split up into six separate teams. The first team is the one that Ilma said Ron would be needed in, informally dubbed the ‘weirdo team’. As they prepare to depart Ilma suggests that each team spend a few minutes to reacquaint themselves with each other before she whisks them away.

Ron Luther X5-0135 begins, as it has been over eleven years since the party last saw him (and sixteen years player time). He reminds them of how he first arrived on this planet in the year 1006, when he and his nemesis Vaughn accidentally caused the destruction of their solar system, due the triggering of a doomsday device. Ron’s Pooka Monty brought him to this world. Monty then went back in time to find a friend for Ron, when he then met up with Narg. Ron was with the party for two years after that, leaving in 1008 to protect the Silver Moon from Vaughn. The party brings Ron up to speed as far as Vaughn’s death and recent return.

Lono gets impatient, saying, “Let’s go. Chicks in the back, dark meat too (a reference to Dennismore).” This doesn’t exactly endear him to anyone. The others introduce themselves, with Lono paying minimum attention to whatever the hengeyokai have to say, responding to Min-Mae’s introduction as “Nice to meet you Chin-Chin”. Syrendel tells of her new mission in life, hunting evil mages. They all prepare to depart. Lono looks at the others and comments, “Yeah, I guess I can lead this group.” A few characters cough at hearing that.

Ilma waves her sword above their heads, creating a circle of light, which then flows downward. Alton grabs some of this “light dust” and tries to eat it. They appear in a metal room, approximately 60 x 30 feet in size. This will look to be some type of storage room, with metal and plastic boxes and barrels through the room. Large metal double doors will be along both the corner ten feet of the short walls. Ilma wishes them luck, and then disappears. They begin to check out the boxes.

A few rounds later one set of double doors open and a blonde hair man walks in. He is attired in black boots, with light blue pants, a white shirt, red tie, an unbuttoned long black overcoat, and maroon wrap-around sunglasses. The three hengeyokai immediately take cover behind boxes, as do a few other members of the party. He has a metal laser rifle in his hand, which he immediately points at Ron Luther, telling Ron to lower his own laser rifle. Lono begins to walk straight towards the man, saying “You’ll have to threaten us with more than just a broom handle, unless you are part of the New York City Police Department.” Ron yells over to Lono “It’s a laser gun, which could turn you into dust.” Lono jumps back, saying “Yikes, why didn’t you say so.”

Three other men enter the room. Like the first, they are also attired in colorful synthetic clothing. One has gray hair and is wearing a fastened metallic blue overcoat, over light blue pants and black boots. The second has orange hair, and is attired in a gray jacket and light blue pants. The third has on high black boots, green pants, and a light blue shirt. He is also wearing a gray helmet with three silver horizontal round tubes attached to each side of it. They each have on maroon wrap around sunglasses. The man with the orange hair is holding a weapon similar to that of the blonde man, which is pointed at the party.

The party attempts to talk to these men, who are elusive in their responses until a fifth man then arrives, who the blonde haired man calls “Commander.” This man is middle-aged, a bit heavy set, with black hair in a crew cut style, and wearing a gray suit. He begins to question the party, calling them “intruders” and accusing them of being in “his territory”. He then notices two of the women, and comment on the “Chippies”. The man in the blue overcoat notices the third woman, saying “there’s another chippie over here, it’s party time”. This has the group more than a little concern, which the leader says, “Grab the chippies and scrag the others.”

“Hold on,” states Dennismore, “can’t we work something out?” Lono interjects “Yeah, here’s the deal. We trade you the women for our freedom.” “What,” Syrendel yells. “Be quiet, I’m negotiating,” Lono tells her. The two hengeyokai rangers have heard enough, and a battle begins, with both Ebony and Syrendel firing arrows. The blonde haired man fires his laser rifle point blank into Lono, hitting him for 10 points and knocking him back. The man with the gray helmet gets struck in the face with one of Ebony’s arrows. Dennismore turns invisible and begins to approach from the corner of the room. Syrendel draws her bow and fires at the leader. missing. The double doors in the rear of the room then suddenly open, causing Alton to yell out a profanity, assuming that they are now surrounded.

From the doors in the rear of the room comes an armored dwarf riding on a flying scooter, very similar to Alton’s motorcycle but without the tires, and with a laser rifle mounted to the front of it. He fires a shot across the room and directly into the enemy with the helmet. “I guess he’s on our side” Timothy announces. The scooter flies quickly into the room, flying to a point in the middle of the room. This also makes him the sole target to the two men with laser rifles, who fire, one shot missing, and the other deflecting off of the scooter.

Syrendel and Ebony continue to fire arrows, Ebony again hitting the one with the helmet and Syrendel striking the leader. Dennismore comes up on the back wall near the one with the gray helmet, who gets struck again by the laser on the scooter, dropping him at Dennis’s feet. Timothy casts a Hold Person spell on the enemies, which catches the leader, the one in the blue overcoat, and the one with the red hair. The leader, however, is then broken free of the hold as another of Syrendel’s arrows strikes him. Alton draw out his magical rope, and throws it at the leader, who has now drawn a laser pistol from inside of his suit. Min-Mae successfully tosses a sling bullet into the blonde man.

As Dennismore slits the throat of the unconscious man with the helmet the scooter flies past the enemies and into the open corridor behind them. He then pivots around and hovers in the air as the blonde man fires up into him. The laser shot dissipates five feet in front of the scooter, with Ron exclaiming “He’s activated a shield around his craft”. Alton tugs on the rope, pulling the leader closer towards him, however the leader’s is more concerned with the scooter at the moment, as it fires a laser bolt point blank into him, causing him to fall and drop his pistol. As the man is going down Alton uses his full strength to yank the rope closer towards him. Both Ebony and Lono strike again at the blonde man with the laser rifle.

Meanwhile, four more dwarves, wearing armor and uniforms similar to the man on the scooter and carrying laser rifles, charge into the room from the rear doors. They all run behind boxes, targeting their weapons forward. Timothy moves out of the way to let them pass. Dennis turns invisible again, and waits for Alton to drag the leader away from in front of the blonde man.

The blonde man fires his laser weapon up into the scooter, the shot again dissipating. Alton has now dragged the leader closer to him, allowing the invisible Dennis to move up to and strike the Blonde man, doing a fair amount of damage. Meanwhile, Syrendel approaches the held orange haired man, and pulls the laser rifle from his hands, which thankfully does not break the hold. Ebony checks the gray helmeted man, finding him dead, and taking his laser pistol.

The four other dwarves continue to charge into the room, two running up to Ron Luther X5-0135 and ordering him to lower his weapon, as the other two charge towards the front of the room. Syrendel walks up to the blonde man, shoves the barrel of the laser rifle into the side of the guy’s face, and orders him to surrender. The man immediately does so (not realizing that she has no knowledge of how to use the weapon). Lono grabs the man’s laser rifle. Alton has grabbed the leader. Min-Mae uses his sling to hit another enemy.

Timothy tells the dwarves that Ron is with them, which causes them to ease off a bit. The dwarf leader instructs Ron to stow his weapon. Pointing the newly acquired weapon towards the dwarves, Lono says “How does this thing work.” The dwarf closest to him slaps the barrel down towards the floor saying “Don’t point that thing at people”. The rest of the party starts to tie up the two held ones before the spell wears off. “Who are you,” Alton asks the dwarves, as Syrendel excitedly tells Min-Mae “Did you see what I did with this?” Lono interjects “Yeah, it’s called a Gun of Human Influence.”

The scooter flies back into the room and the doors are shut. The dwarven leader instructs one of the men “Captain, take care of the prisoners.” The man pulls out a short rod-type device, telling the party “This will put them to sleep.” He presses it against each ones face, and they immediately fall asleep. “Pretty handy thing you got there,” Dennis comments, as he picks up one of the remaining pistols. Alton checks the man with the blue overcoat, confiscating that man’s concealed laser pistol as well.

The dwarf leader tells them that they are “Confederation Space Marines.” The women have no idea what any of those three words mean, and Alton tries to translate. Ebony begins to panic when she realizes that they are somewhere in the sky, and not on the ground. “Where exactly are we?” asks Lono. The dwarf answers “A Confederation Prison Sphere.” This causes Ebony to panic further, not wanting to ever again be made into a slave.

 

[Silver Moon]

Module 105 - Chapter 3, “The Hellstomers”

The dwarf introduces his team as “The Hellstormers”. He says that he is General Gral Hellstormer, and the others of his team are Major Wellstone, Captain Timmbar, and Sergeants Harback and Rondry. The party introduce themselves, but the names “Silver Moon” and “Phlooredah” mean nothing to these dwarves. The group tells them that they are looking for a magical rod. “We know, so are we,” Gral replies.

Gral begins to explain to the party who he and his team are, and why there are there. As he does this, Ron Luther and Alton “translate” some of the technical jargon into words/explanations that the other Silver Moon characters understand. Similarly, Ebony (who has now spent five months with the Silver Moon) translates that further into terms that the other two hengeyokai will understand.

Gral begins by explaining that “The Confederation is an organization of ninety-two different autonomous sentient worlds from seventy-eight different solar systems.” He tells the man on the scooter “Show them Sergeant”. The man presses some buttons, and from a light at the front of the scooter a starchart picture is projected onto the wall. Ebony panics, thinking that a window has mysteriously appeared in the room, until Alton calms her down, telling her “It’s like an illusion.”

Gral continues, telling them that “Most of these solar systems are adjacent to each other, but there are a handful of outlier systems. There are also another twenty non-confederated worlds within the region of the Confederation, who are classified as neutral but restricted trading partners.” “What was that about a prison” Lono asks. Pointing to the unconscious men with the sunglasses Alton asks “Were they prisoners”. “No, their parents were,” answers Gral. “And what a wonderful upbringing they must have had,” Lono sarcastically comments.

The Hellstormers explain that the party are all currently on a Confederation Prison Sphere. He says that the worlds of the Confederation send their prisoners away to spheres of this design which are each approximately one mile in diameter. Depending upon the physical size of the specific race each sphere can house up to 200,000 prisoners. Multiple spheres are then linked, in a variety of different configurations, by half mile diameter and length cylindrical Guard Tubes. Guard Tubes, in addition to housing the prison guards, are also where the docking mechanisms are for space craft, to limit the possibility of a prison escape. They then project pictures of several different configurations of multiple spheres and tubes.

Gral then gives a short history lesson, saying that “A little over six decades ago the Confederation was attached by the Signor-Bram Alliance, an coalition of four warrior races bent on intergalactic conquest. These races had accumulated a massive fleet of heavily armed warships, and their leaders had far more combat experience than their Confederation Military counterparts. The tide of the war quickly tipped in the Alliance’s favor. Desperate times lead to desperate measures, and the Confederation negotiated an arrangement with the non-aligned Dentari, an amoral race of science-oriented beings who had descended from octopi rather than mammals.” A picture is then projected of a Dentari, a green creature with orange eyes, and four tentacles as feet and another four as arms.

Gral continues “Two hundred top Dentari scientists were assigned to a group consisting of eight hundred of the Confederation’s top scientists, doctors and engineers, for the express purpose of designing new weapons and genetically engineering combat troops to fight the Alliance. A Dreadnaught, the largest class of vessel in the Confederation fleet, was assigned to this group. Dreadnaughts are approximately one-and-a-half miles long, one mile high, and one mile wide, and are typically used to ferry vessels and troops across great reaches of space. These massive vessels also have the most advanced of Confederation armaments.

The Dentari required that sentient humanoids for used for their experiments so, despite the protests of the Confederation Humanitarian Council, were granted permission to use a prison sphere housing 120,000 of the most hard-core and non-rehabilitate human prisoners in the Confederation. This Dreadnaught, named the Illustrious, towed this sphere and its attached Guard Tube to a secret location in the uninhabited Bi-Trax III solar system, where they established a permanent orbit around the planet nearest the sun for use as a continuous energy source.” A picture of the Illustrious with the attached Guard Tube and Prison Sphere is then projected onto the wall. “Wow” Dennis exclaims. “What’s the name of the planet?” asks Lono. “It doesn’t have a name, it’s uninhabited,” Gral states. “Fine, I’ll call it Fred” Lono replies.

Gral then says “As a result of this research project, significant advances were made in weapons technologies and put into service of the Confederation Military. The tide of the war quickly turned in favor of the Confederation, who thoroughly defeated the Alliance within a decade. However, before the war’s end, approximately four years after the Illustrious had begun its mission, a prison revolt occurred. Using experimental weapons, a group of cyborg prisoners (while a picture is projected of a half-skin, half-metal man) successfully overpowered their guards, and managed to disable the locking mechanisms and control shackles of the other prisoners. A bloody battle followed, during which the guards lost. They were, however, successful in activating the self-destruct mechanism in all three of the Illustrious’s engine rooms, permanently stranding the ship in its present location.

The Confederation Military attempted, but was unable, to retake the vessel. This was because the prisoners were able to deploy experimental weapons on the Illustrious that were far more advanced than any of the Confederation. As the Confederation was also still fighting the Alliance at the time they had few additional resources to commit. After the war, it was decided to just avoid the ship and leave that part of space alone. That prison revolt occurred fifty-eight years ago. In the time since then the Bi-Trax III solar system has been marked on all Star Charts as a area to avoid, and the occupants of the Dreadnaught destroyed the few ships that ventured close. There was, however, one exception to this.

Approximately fifteen years ago a small group of rogue anthropologists…” The party burst out laughing, not expecting to hear the phrase ‘rogue’ and ‘anthropologists’ used together. Multiple bad jokes are then made. Gral finally picks up the story again “A group of rogue anthropologists, using a cloaking technology, were able to infiltrate the vessel and secretly observe its occupants. After a month of study they departed and reported their findings.

They deduced that in the years immediately following the revolt the overwhelming majority of the prisoners killed each other. The 120,000 prisoners had all been male, and viciously fought over the hundred-or-so human female scientists, doctors and engineers that survived the initial revolt. The surviving prisoners eventually formed a half-dozen separate gangs, each with approximately a thousand members, who carved out their own exclusive sections of the Dreadnaught, Guard Tube and Sphere.

The gangs continued to have constant fights and loose alliances with the rival gangs. By the time that the anthropologists had arrived almost all of the original prisoners had died from either the continual gang warfare or from radiation poisoning caused by deteriorating shielding.” “Oh great,” comments Ebony, “In addition to being trapped in cell in the air, we will also now die of disease.” Gral says “No, the amounts of the radiation are so low that it would take years of exposure before it has any effect on you.” This does not seem to reassure her any.

Gral continues “The six gangs were now comprised primarily of their second generation, totaling only one hundred to three hundred men per gang. There would be no third generation. The Dentari had been commissioned to produce a race of soldiers and prior to the revolt had genetically modified all prisoners to produce only male offspring. By the time of the anthropologists visit the few remaining women had passed their child-bearing years, so this current generation was also destined to be the last. Unlike their fathers, this generation did not appear to be suffering any ill effects of radiation other than their optic nerves, which had become mutated and required protective eye cover.” “So all we have to do is take off their glasses” comments Alton.

Gral then says “The Confederation’s official position following the release of this report was to continue to leave the vessel alone and wait for the remaining occupants to die off. The military posted a small fleet to deter any and all ships from nearing this solar system. That worked, up until last week.” “Last week?” Min-Mae questions. Gral says “Yes, last week Mogart the Merciless, the villainous ruler of the non-confederated planet Screegrat, managed to infiltrate and steal three prototype power rods being examined at the Confederation Grand University on the plant Sapphire-Rex.” A picture of Mogart is shown on the wall (basically Ming the Merciless, from the old Flash Gordon serials. This prompts The DM’s wife to comment about not letting him use the Internet ever again.)

The story continues “Mogart and his chief assistant Tiffany fled Sapphire-Rex in a Cardalon racing vessel, designed primarily for speed, with the Confederation Military in hot pursuit. Mogart was apparently aware that this solar system was deemed “off limits” to the Confederation, and saw it as a place to escape to. They managed to make it to the Bi-Trax III system, maneuvered past the scout force, and transmitted a plea for assistance to the Dreadnaught Illustrious. This transmission included a visual image of both himself and the female Tiffany, and seeing the female, the gang occupying most of the Guard Tube convinced him into docking his spacecraft there.

The Confederation Military immediately employed long-range weapons to incapacitate Mograt’s craft, but the Illustrious was able to then pull in and dock the vessel with a tractor beam.. The Confederation next contacted my team, the Hellstormers, to pick up the pieces of this mess. The Confederation Council has some concern that the inhabitants of this ship may be able to employ the power rods or repair Mogart’s vessel, but their real concern is that Tiffany will now mother a whole new generation of these enemies. She is of a very long-lived race, similar to the high elves of your world, and her hybrid offspring could potentially have a lifespan of many centuries.” “Wait a minute, how do you know about the high elves of our world?” Dennis asks. Gral answers “Because it’s the same world that we Hellstormers came from.”

“Hold on, you said that you never heard of Phlooredah” states Timothy. Gral answers “No, it must be from another part of the world than we know, we are from a place called New Rockhome.” This leads to a discussion by the party, with them stating that New Rockhome is part of Zalpar. “The Zalpar Kingdom is adjacent to the New Rockhome Kingdom,” Gral answers.

“What year did you come from?” asks Alton. The dwarves explain that, based on the Aldornian Calendar, they came from the year 873 and have been here for six years. They served in the New Rockhome Army during the great wars known as the “Uprisings of Evil”, and had been on a mission from King Telbar inside of Mount Karjjil in the year 873 when they fell through a through a dimensional gate into this universe. The party explains that it is now the year 1019, and that 146 years have past since then, despite the fact that these dwarves have only been in this universe for six years. They point out that King Telbar still rules the New Rockhome dwarves, as he was resurrected in the year 1012 after being dead for 138 years (thus, he died in the war the year after Gral’s team fell through the gate).

Gral explains how his team, which originally numbered seven and have been serving as an elite squadron for the Confederation Space Marines since shortly after their arrival here. They were chosen for this particular mission because one of the power rods has the same quantum signature as they did, indicating that it recently had come from their home world. The scooter has a quantum-tracker to locate this rod, which attunes itself to the signature of its user. It was this that led them to the adventuring party, as they picked up the influx of new quantum signatures from their same home world.

 

[Silver Moon]

Module 105 - Chapter 4, “Looking for Mogart”

Gral relates the other details of the mission. The Confederation fears that the evil genius Mogart might be able to put some of the Dentari science to use to either create clones or to reverse the genetic modification that resulted in only male offspring. The Hellstormers were sent to either capture Mogart and Tiffany or kill them if necessary, to permanently incapacitate Mogart’s ship, and to also retrieve the power rods if they can be found.

He concludes with “We have now been on this vessel for four days. We believe that the rod is still in the possession of either Mogart, Tiffany or their Cardalon pilot, and that this trio of individuals has changed hands among the different gangs since their arrival. Since our arrival we have had several firefights against the prisoners, from at least three different gangs. We began in the Guard Tube, moved to the Illustrious for two days, then returned to the Guard Tube and have only just now moved onto the Prison Sphere.

“So where is this rod now?” asks Lono. “Let’s find out,” Gral states, “Sergeant, exclude all quantum signatures in this room and do another scan.” Harback does so, finding that the rod piece is now back on the Illustrious, apparently now in the possession of the gang controlling the Main Bridge. “Damn,” Gral exclaims, “We haven’t directly encountered that gang yet, but have discovered that this particular gang is apparently affiliated with a group of four surviving Dentari and a several dozen of their Zelwick servants, Zelwick are a race similar to Goblins. Until we got here the Confederation was unaware that any Dentari had survived the initial prison revolt.”

The party asks to see the diagram again of the ship, with Gral pointing out the location of the bridge. They ponder about the best way to get there. Gral says that the fastest way is “outside”, with Ebony saying “Wait, you said there was no air out there.” “There’s not.” Gral answers, “We all get in a Bag of Holding, and Sergeant Harback flies us on his scooter.” “We don’t have a Bag of Holding with us, or a scooter,” comments Alton. “No, but he (pointing to Ron) has a space suit that can fly, and while we won’t all fit into a bag, but one member of my team could go with you, and Harback can then fly over later to pick up him and the bag.”

The party consider this strategy. Major Wellstone reminds his General that they previously came across a secret room on the Illustrious containing four suits of experimental battle armor, which the gangs apparently never found. Unfortunately the suits were designed for humans, so were a bit too big and narrow to be used by the dwarven squad. The party indicates an interest in these as well. They also recommend that the Guard Tube be separated from the Illustrious, to limit the amount of potential enemies. General Hellstormer says that his squad can do that, and puts Major Wellstone in charge, deciding to accompany the Silver Moon himself.

They head outside of the vessel with Ron Luther’s Jet Pack flying them to an airlock on the Illustrious, which he forces open with his laser rifle. Once he is safely inside, in an oxygen environment, he lets the others out of the Bag of Holding. Gral leads the party to the secret chamber with the battle suits. The room with the suits are behind a secret panel off from an auxiliary maintenance shaft, which even the dwarf has to crouch to walk through. The fours suits are examined.

The suits are large and bulky, but light weight to wear when powered up. As they are made of a plastic polymer, they will not interfere with Alton’s Druid spells, as metal armor would, so he opts to take one. Syrendel and Min-Mae decided that the extra protection would be preferable and each take one, especially once they conclude they could quickly exit through the head visor if they transform into their bird forms. Ebony, who finds normal clothing too confining, has no desire to put on a suit. As these suits lack any type of flight capacity Ron chooses to keep his own. Lono opts to take the fourth suit.

General Hellstormer explains how each suit has the ability to absorb considerable damage (90 points worth) before loosing power. Each suit also includes a built in laser rifle, three of which also have an energy blade sword attached. Each suit also has one additional piece of technology attached, but Gral explains that they don’t really have time for his to explain how to use these. Once they put the suits on Gral gives them instruction in each ones use, as well as telling the others how to use the other energy weapons that they confiscated. He tunes the helmet radios in each suit to the same frequency that he is using on the communicator built into his gauntlet, and has Ron Luther also tune in to the same frequency.

General Hellstormer contacts his other team, who have managed to make it to the intersection of the prison sphere and guard tube, and are currently in a firefight with a gang guarding that section. They indicate that it may take them a while to get to the other end of the guard shaft to plant the explosives to separate these sections. Gral tells them to proceed.

The General then leads the group up ten levels, to the level of the bridge, which they approach through a four by four foot ventilation shaft. From the ventilation shaft, located twenty feet up, along the back wall twenty-five feet from the port wall, they look below to the bridge. The bridge is huge, approximately 300 feet wide, 80 to 100 to 150 feet long and 80 feet high. The entire front section of the the bridge consist of four view screens, each 60x60 feet square (with a ten foot wide bar between ach). They see two doorways on the port wall and two doorways on the starboard wall. They work to unfasten the bolts holding the lower part of the grate covering the shaft.

Present on the bridge below are:

Five members of the gang controlling this section of the Illustrious, standing in the center of the bridge.

Two more gang members wearing mega-battle suits, copper colored suits larger than those found by the party, with more lethal looking weapons attached. Each of these is standing in an archway between the front view screens.

One large robotic contraptions, fifteen feet high, with cannon-style weapons mounted on each shoulder. It is standing along the center of the back wall.

One Dentari and three Zelwick servants standing at a table to the left center of the bridge. The Dentari appears to be examining the three control rods

Mogart, Tiffany and their Cardalon pilot being held captive. The Cardalon pilot is fully enclosed in a spacesuit, as he breathes something other than oxygen. They are being guarded by a cyborg and another robotic contraption, this one twelve feet high with some type of sword attached to his hand.


Lono comments that the odds, seventeen-to-nine, seem about right. Their biggest liability is the narrowness of the shaft, allowing no more than two at the front. Gral says that the bridge on Dreadnaughts are symmetrical, so there would be another shaft on the back wall on the other side of the bridge, and that he could lead a team there. The party decides to send a team there, to create a distraction so that Dennis can attempt to steal the rods. They send the three Hengeyokai with the General. It takes nearly a hour until he signals their arrival at a second grate, where he removes all of the bolts to the grate, holding it in place by hand.

Back at the first grate, they have had time to strategize. The bottom of he grate is pushed out just far enough for an invisible Dennismore to be lowered down on the invisible magical rope, which he then pulls down to himself. They all panic, when one of the large mega-battle suited men along with the gang leader and one of the Zelwick begin to move in his direction, but this trio continue to and through a port doorway, leaving the bridge.

They all give Dennismore a while to make his way invisibly over to table with the Dentari and the two remaining Zelwick. Alton instructs the General to begin their distraction. He instructs both Ebony and Syrendel to “Take your first shot, then I’ll move the grate out of the way.” They decide to target the group closest to them, namely the cyborg and robot guarding Mogart, Tiffany and the Cardalon pilot.

 

[Silver Moon]

Module 105, Chapter 5, “Battle on the Bridge”

Syrendel targets the robot. Ebony, remembering General Hellstormer’s primary mission, decides that eliminating the female Tiffany should be her main objective, and targets the woman. The two fire, with Ebony’s arrow flying perfectly, striking Tiffany’s back as she lets out a scream. Syrendel has less success, as she has never used this type of weapon before. The laser rifle misses the robot completely, striking the Cardalon pilot. This does make for quite the distraction, as the rupture of his space suit causes it to immediately depressurize, and he cartwheels across the bridge before collapsing. The DM says “Congratulations. Of the fourteen people on the bridge you’ve managed to stop the only two who weren’t a threat to your group.”

The downside of this initial assault is that the Dentari immediately grabs up the three rods with three of his tentacles, causing Dennis’s player to let out a profanity. Gral starts to move the heavy grate, and Syrendel decides to make room for the others by jumping down onto the bridge. The armor protects her from the impact of the twenty-foot fall down, however as she lands the armor does pinch into her for a few hit points of damage. Above, Ebony fires again towards Tiffany, hitting her again, which causes Mogart to move over and block her, using himself as a shield. The robot pivots around and moves towards Syrendel. Min-Mae decides to jump down to assist.

Dennis moves in to the Dentari for a backstab, and hits, buts does minimal damage. Timothy casts a Prayer spell to help his allies. Now that they can see where Dennis is, both Alton and Lono decide to help him, and both fire their laser rifles. As with Syrendel, having never fired these things before, their first shots are wall off target, with Alton’s striking the floor way short, and Lono’s hitting and killing one of the Zelwick. The Dentari chooses to run away, and with his four leg tentacles rapidly moves across the bridge, at a speed far faster than Dennis can move.

The large robot by the back wall, with the two laser canons on its shoulders, pivots around and targets the canons on Min-Mae. Ebony fires two arrows at Mogart, one hitting him. Lono takes another shot at the Dentari, but again misses, this time obliterating the table that the rods had previously been sitting on. Alton decides to try a spell to stop the Dentari. Assuming that a rapid change in temperature will effect an octopus-related creature, he uses a control temperature to raise the temp in front of where the Dentari is running. This works to some extent, as the Dentari becomes temporarily disoriented and drops one of the three rods.

Syrendel has taken one hit from the robots laser rifle, and charges forward, thrusting her rifle into the creature and firing. The robot is still active, but cannot move away, as Syrendel’s rifle is now inside of it. It uses its own attached rifle as a club to try to strike her. Min-Mae fires a shot at the larger robot, missing it, as it takes two laser cannon shots at her, both hitting, for a total of twenty points. Lono jumps down to the bridge below. As Alton fires again at the Dentari, missing it.

Dennis grabs the rod that fell to the ground, as Lono fires a laser rifle shot at the Dentari, missing and tearing up a section of the floor. Ebony fires two more arrows at Mogart, one dropping him and Tiffany. Min-Mae successfully fires into the large robot, but it manages to fire back, again hitting her for twenty points of damage. Syrendel fires again directly into the robot, doing it considerable damage.

Meanwhile, the cyborg makes a thirty-foot high leap up to the ventilation shaft with Ebony and Gral. Seeing it coming, Gral swings his laser rife upward, and shoves it directly into the non-metal part of the Cyborg’s chin as it lands at the end of the shaft. He then fires point blank, blowing the creature’s head off, and it falls to the bridge below.

Both Lono and Alton take unsuccessful shots at the fleeing Dentari. Dennis uses his rope to lasso the Dentari. Ebony fires at the robot shooting at Min-Mae. Both arrows hit, but just bounce off of the creature. Meanwhile, Min-Mae hits it again, and manages to dodge the two cannon shots this round. Syrendel takes a final shot into her robot, causing it to stop. A very wounded Tiffany helps Mogart to his feet and the two continue to move to a door on the starboard wall.

Lono fires again at the Dentari. He misses, the shot going high, and continuing for another fifty feet to the closest of the four view screens. The screen cracks, shatters, and explodes, with all of the oxygen in the rapidly decompressing room rushing out and into the vacuum of space. The visors in all of the space suits automatically close. As a lightweight elf, and being close to this shattered view screen, Dennismore is pull off his feet and into the air along with the Dentari and a Zelwick near him. Ron sees this, and with his jets on maximum, flies after and grabs Dennismore before he is pulled out into space.

Dennis maintains a grip on the rope, pulling the Dentari back with him and Ron. Ron flies back into the ventilation shaft. He uses his radio to communicate to Alton, telling the druid to take the Dentari and follow, as he grabs Timothy in addition to Dennismore, to fly them to safety as fast as possible before they suffocate.

General Hellstormer is unable to maintain his grip on the wall of the other ventilation shaft, and is propelled out onto the bridge. His falls to the ground below is with minimal impact due to being simultaneous pulled along with the escaping air. He uses the communications device on his armor to call for help, with Syrendel rushing over and grabbing him before he can be ejected out into space. Gral hands her his Bag of Holding to hold. As the remaining air in the room rapidly exits he hands her the Bag of Holding, and he climbs inside it with Ebony. Syrendel also grabs Mogart and Tiffany, and throws them into the Bag of Holding. Syrendel joins up with Min-Mae, and the two exit the bridge through a port side doorway. Lono is the only party member left on the bridge, and he exits through a starboard side doorway.

In the airshaft above, Ron Luther continues to hold both Dennis and Timothy under each of his arms, as his boot jets propel him down the shaft for several hundred feet, fighting the vacuum as the remaining air rushes against them. The party is now separated into four groups, but are still in active communication with each other as a result of the radios in the helmets of the five space suits.

 

[Silver Moon]

Module 105, Chapter 6, "Back Together"

Ron Luther flies onward with Dennnismore and Timothy as they make their way through the various ship's corridors as quickly as possible given the rapidly escaping air. They reach corridor where the doors have been shut by the station's controls to prevent decompression, where Ron works frantically to unlock the doors before Dennis and Timothy suffocate. Dennis passes out before the doors open but Timothy remains conscious and is able to cast a cure spell to revive Dennis once they are safely on the other side with the doors shut again.

Syrendel carries General Hellstormer and alongside Min-Mae they too travel until they find a shut door which they use the armor's strength to open and then re-close behind them. Hellstormer had been holding is breathe and is relieved to be able to breathe again. He calls up a schematic diagram of this part of the space station to determine exactly where they now are and then contacting the others.

The armored Alton carries the Dantari through the station but the creature perishes from the lack of oxygen, still gripping the rods in his tentacles like a vice. Alton ties two of the other tentacles together and slings the creature over his arm like a backpack. He describes his present location to Hellstormer who determines exactly where they now are and what way to go to rejoin the others.

Lono has managed to grab the body of the space-elf Tiffany and carries her along with him, planning to search her body at a later point for anything of value. Unlike the others, he takes his time exploring the space station on his journey to find the others, seeing what else he can find and take along the way.

All except Lono soon join up in a large interior room. The rods are taken from the Dantari and briefly examined, determined to still be in working order. Lono eventually reaches the other. Timothy heads over to Tiffany’s body, and announces that she is somehow still alive. Hellstormer explains that the space-elf race can live outside of a oxygen environment, similar to how sea-elves can live both above and blow the sea. Timothy casts a Cure Spell onto her.

Hellstormer’s troops soon join back up with the others. They discuss all returning to Phlooredah, but Hellstormer says that his team has other obligations in this universe that they still need to fulfill. His team engineer fixes the controls in one of the magical rods and gives it to the Silver Moon Adventurers. Hellstormer says “If you should ever have need of us this device can be used to communicate and then open a dimensional rift. Hopefully we will see one another again.”

A debate then ensues as to what to do with Tiffany, as Hellstormer and his men no longer have the means to transport her back to their ship and plan to kill her to keep her out of the hands of the prisoners. Timothy strongly objects. Lono objects too saying “I went to the effort of getting a girl, I plan to keep her.” Hellstormer does not object. Ilma appears and waves her sword, the members of the Silver Moon plus Tiffany departing.

 

[Silver Moon]

Module 105: “Return of the Rod of the Seven Parts” (20 Year Anniversary Module). Night Three of Elven, April 7, 2002, Game # 810.

Cast of Characters
Duegar, male dwarf fighter
Isaiah, male human cleric
Kharole, female elf magic-user
Lannon, male dwarf thief
Mark, male half-elf ranger
Serita, female half-elf druid
Shamus O’Doggerel, male human fighter


March 27, 1019:

The party find themselves on another plane, which many presume to be the elemental plane of air, as most of what surrounds them is sky and clouds. They are standing on some type of light-blue colored surface, solid enough to stand on but with a spongy feel to it.

The second team is preparing to depart. As it is comprised of high-level Silver Moon members the team is informally dubbed ‘the big guns.’ As some of them have not adventured together before Ilma's suggest that the team spend a few minutes to reacquaint themselves with each other before she whisks them away.

Most of the characters know each other, but Duegar and Isaiah had not met before. Duegar gives him a brief explanation, stating that he is from the Dwarven Clan of the Pickled Herring. Isaiah begins a long-winded explanation of who he is. After about five minutes Duegar pulls a cinnamon bun out of his backpack and shoves it into Isaiah’s mouth.

Serita begins to harass Ilma, who decides to transport them all to their destination in order to shut her up. They arrive in an open plain, with hills and mountains in the distance. Serita continues to press Ilma for details about the rod, and its current location. Ilma is unspecific in her answers and Serita sarcastically yelling “You’re a big bloody help!”

“What should we do now?” Mark inquires. Duegar asks “Can you get us breakfast?” She ignores him, and he walks over to her and tugs on one of her wings, saying “Hey, I was asking about breakfast.” She yells at him “Don’t touch the wings, you dirty little man,” and waves her fingers at him. He and all of his possession instantly become clean and spotless, with a shiny gleam coming off of all metallic objects. He screams, yelling “Nobody does something like that to one of the Clan of the Pickled Herring.” She replies “Keep it up, and I’ll bring your fish back to life. Look, I don’t have time for this, I still have other groups to transport.”

“OK, where exactly are we?” Isaiah asks. She replies “On the continent to your west, not far from the Lieberkrantz group, but thirty-seven years back in time.” “WHAT!, exactly what is this you’ve committed us for!” Serita yells. Isaiah says “Ignore her, Ilma, we trust you.” Serita yells “This stupid blind faithful idiot doesn’t speak for me.” Ilma says “The rod piece you are looking for is nearby, at an evil temple that is still being constructed. There is a man nearby who will assist you.” Duegar continues to harass Ilma, so she follows through on her threat, bringing his fish back to life and also allowing it to breathe air. She then departs.

Duegar complains about still needed breakfast, and begins to dump and pull a variety of breakfast foods out of his pack. As some of it looks very similar to food they saw him stuff in there five months earlier they decide to pass. They then notice that with Ilma’s ‘cleanliness’ spell on him the stale and moldy food suddenly becomes fresh again as he touches it. Despite this, since he has still touched it, they opt to pass.

A man approaches, introducing himself as Shamus O’Doggerel. “How do you do, Mr. O’Doggerel” Isaiah states. “Call me Shamus,” the man replies in a thick Irish accent. “And how did you come to be here?” Serita asks. He tells of an angel that appeared before him, which the group interprets as Ilma. He says that he has seen this temple being constructed from a distance, and can lead them in that direction.

Duegar continues to complain about his “Curse of Cleanliness”, saying that it was totally unnecessary, as he had a bath just half-a-year earlier. Lannon replies “I know, I bathed with you” (at the Mitsubishi family guest pool). “I dinna think I wan’a hear bout that” states Shamus. “Are you sure you want to admit to having done anything with him?” Serita asks Lannon. Upon reflection, Lannon says “OK, I can neither confirm or deny it.”

They asks Shamus about where he is from. He mentions coming from a far away land, where everyone was dirt poor, and how he is in no big hurry to get back there. He mentions having spent some time with a group of adventurers who lived in a strange teleporting castle, but how very little time was spent on adventures with most of their time just being getting drunk. Biz, who had played in the same D&D variant system group where Tim played Shamus, asks if the reference made was about the characters or the players. “Both,” Tim replies.

They ask Shamus what he knows about the temple. His information is very spotty, but he thinks that they have something to do with worshipping an evil horned devil. He says that the temple radiates evil, which Isaiah begins to sense as they get closer. Shamus says that the Rod piece that they are looking for fell out of the sky and crashed through the roof of the structure.

They decide to try the direct approach, soon running into a few orcs. Lannon tells the orcs “My name is Lannon, you killed my clan, prepare to die.” The orc leader just looks indifferently towards him, and replies “No conversions tonight. Come back tomorrow.” The homicidal dwarf charges into the orc, slaying it. The orcs run away, with Lannon yelling after them “Come back here, you’re not dead yet.” The orcs charge towards others, yelling “The coverts are attacking.” Lannon rapidly pursues, charging into them with a vengeance. One of the players comments that “Should we hold up the 1-800 number to let people know where to order the Dwarf-O-Matic”.

Duegar chooses to join Lannon in the carnage, and wanders into the fray, yelling to the dwarves that “For you this will be a death worse than fate.” The party notices that none of the blood and guts flying from Duegar’s weapons attach to his spotless armor and person. One orc yells out “Stop, this is my first day.” “And your last day,” Lannon adds, cleaving it in two. The battle ends, and the rest of the party approach the two dwarves. They conclude that the orcs were part of the castle construction detail. They can now get a closer look at the structure, which is massive, and close to completion.

Serita contemplates changing into a bird and flying inside the building to look for it. Shamus asks “What exactly are you trying to do?” She answers “Trying to get myself a rod.” Lannon mutters to Mark “Yeah, Kindor’s”. Serita replies “I’m working on that too.” They see a large contingent of orcs leaving the building, the work day having apparently ended.

Duegar gets impatient, and heads towards the building on his own, climbing up some of the scaffolding. Serita charges after him, telling him to be careful and wait for them. “Why should I?” he answers. “Consider it the voice of reason.” she answers. “Awfully high pitched voice to be that,” he replies. She says that he’ll get himself killed. He replies “Maybe not with this curse on me, only I can’t get bloody.” She replies “But you can still die. It would just be a clean death.”

She suggest he get into the Bag of Holding, and she will go get the stick. He says he’ll continue on his own. The others get into the bag, and it is given to Lannon to use his Boots of Spider Climbing to get the others up onto the structure, and find the hole where the rod fell through.

Meanwhile, Duegar is stopped by a workman, who asks “What are you doing” He replies “Looking for mortar cracks.” “Who’s your supervisor?” the workman asks. “I don’t know his name, he mumbled it.” the dwarf answers. “What did he look like?” the man asks. Duegar replies “Big, green, bad breath.” “Oh, Ed,” the guy answers. “So what are you doing now?” the workman asks. “Cleaning this,” answers Duegar, putting his ‘Curse of Cleanliness’ to use by rubbing a rusty piece of metal, which then becomes shiny. Kris declares “He’s Brasso”.

The workman orders him to go get his supervisor. Duegar goes to investigate other areas, but Serita catches up to him and convinces him to return. Serita decides to ask a squirrel for more information, which Tim gets far too much enjoyment out of, answering all questions from the perspective of a nervous squirrel who is interested in finding food.

It becomes quitting time at the temple, and the remaining workmen all leave. Since the place appears deserted the party decides to try the direct approach, and go through the main door. As they approach the door swings open and a voice commands them to “Come In.” The group debates entering. They enter, with Lannon declaring “We’re from the Silver Moon. The only way to make us go away is to give us what we want.”

Inside is a being known as Dark Lieberkrantz, a being that of all Silver Moon members present only Isaiah has any knowledge of (and even that is rather vague and inaccurate). Isaiah mentions to the others “I think that he’s basically the evil twin of the guy who founded the Lieberkrantz Caves.”

The villain asks them “How far in the future are you from?” Lannon answers “That would be telling.” “That’s why I asked,” the villain replies, “What’s with you adventuring groups? Don’t they make them any smarter in the future?” Duegar yells out “I know all, I follow the Pickled Herring.” Dark Lieberkrantz does not appear very impressed by that statement, telling him “Don’t be impetuous”

“We’re not here to fight you, we just came to get the Rod. It is useless to you without the other pieces,” Isaiah states. “This Rod here?” Dark Lieberkrantz asks, holding it. Isaiah casts a Locate Object spell to confirm that this is the real Rod, telling the others that it is.

Lannon moves closer, and Dark Lieberkrantz conjures up an Air Elemental to stop him, yelling “Stay back you little Sh**” Serita yells “Leave him alone. He may be a little Sh**, but he’s OUR little Sh**.” Lannon moves back towards the party.

Dark Lieberkrantz shakes his head, and mutters “Too many times. I’m tired of this dance.” Kharole says “Hey, nobody came here to dance.” The villain says “You complete the circle again.” “What is he talking about?” Duegar asks. Isaiah interjects “You’re powerful, but we’re good at what we do too.” The villain continues to mutter to himself, barely paying any attention to the members of the Silver Moon, and stating “Yes, yes, we can meet again as before. What does it matter?” He then sets down the rod on the altar before him, and says “Take it. It matters not.”

Lannon carefully picks it up, using gloves and a cloth to not touch it directly. The altar then erupts in flames, and the temple begins to crumble. The party makes a hasty exit, with Dark Lieberkrantz yelling after them “Rush to your doom fools…complete the circle. We will just rebuild again, as before.” He then twists himself into a knot and vanishes. Serita comments “Funky weirdness follows us too often.”

As the party exits the entire structure erupts in massive flames and collapses. They call for Ilma, but nothing happens. Isaiah suggest that being an evil temple they maybe have to get a distance from it before she can appear.

They hurry back to the hillside that they arrived from. Once they are a distance from the structure, when Ilma arrives and whisks them away.

 

[Silver Moon]

Module 105: “Return of the Rod of the Seven Parts” (20 Year Anniversary Module). Night Four of Nine, April 14, 2002, Game # 811. "Doin' the Time Slide"

Cast of Characters
Bitsey, female half-elf 2nd Edition bard
Dani, female half-elf fighter/magic-user
Eric, male elf fighter/cleric
Ryan, male elf thief
Troyan, male elf ranger

March 27, 1019:

The party find themselves on another plane, which many presume to be the elemental plane of air, as most of what surrounds them is sky and clouds. They are standing on some type of light-blue colored surface, solid enough to stand on but with a spongy feel to it.

The third team is preparing to depart. It is comprised of five members of the Da’Bears team, all of which had also previously adventured with the Silver Moon. As some of them have not adventured together as a team before Ilma's suggest that the team spend a few minutes to reacquaint themselves with each other before they go. After a few minutes of both Bitsey and Dani rambling on, as teenage girls are known to do, Eric looks towards Ilma and says “I’ll get you for this.”

Ilma whisks them away, depositing them in a weedy field. The group moves out toward a road running along by some trees, heading in the direction where they hear distant noises. As they walk Dani starts relating some of her knowledge about life, learned from her mentors Silas and Kharole. Eric concludes, “Those two should never have been allowed to influence an impressionable child. He ponders about how her mother would allow that.” Troyan answers “What? You expect good judgement from Vallessa? She’s marrying Narg!” “Good point” Eric answers.

Troyan and Eric then get into a debate as to which of them is in command, each deferring to the other. Eric says he doesn’t want the job because he does not get paid enough for the aggravation. Bitsey volunteers, which prompts Troyan to reluctantly accept the position. Eric decides that he should actually be the leader. Troyan objects, until Eric says, “You can be the Assistant Leader.” “Do I get a hat?” Troyan answers. “No!” yells Eric. “I think you should give him a hat?” Dani answers. Bitsey adds “Yeah, with the words Assistant Leader across the top.” The girls then get into a discussion on making this hat.

As his first ‘command’ responsibility Eric tells the two girls of the importance of remaining quiet. This causes the two girls to go into a lengthy discussion about how they can be quiet. Eric states “Messenger of Ukko or not, I’ll still get her for this.” “I though it was only Zeus who tried to get all of the females?” Bitsey comments. “That’s not what I meant!” Eric replies.

They see a series of cabins ahead of them, and approach. A human woman looks out and tells them “Go away, go away, go away!” “Why?” Eric answers. The woman starts to yell “HELP! HELP!” Other men approach, carrying gardening implements as weapons. Eric tells the others “Don’t attack, be diplomatic.” One human yells out to the elven party “What are you pointy-ears doing around here? Your kind aren’t supposed to be here.” Dani answers “Hey! My father’s a human.”

Eric explains to the man how he is a cleric of Zeus. The human does not care, and says that they don’t belong there. Troyan explains that “Ukko is a human deity, and a servant of his brought us here.” The men look like they are about to attack, and Eric suggests to his party that they retreat.

They head back in the direction of the woods, soon running into a human druid, who gestures for them to approach. “What is it that you are looking for?” the druid asks. Apprehensively, Bitsey answers “The truth.” “The truth can get you in trouble” the druid replies, introducing himself as Murdock. Bitsey points to Eric, saying “This is Mr. Eric. He is our leader.” Dani adds “And Mr. Troyan is the Assistant Leader, although he still doesn’t have the hat yet.” “We’re working on it,” Bitsey answers. Dani then points to the third elf, saying “And that’s Ryan. Don’t ask him to do anything or you might get blown up.”

The Druid comments “You people aren’t from around here are you?” “No,” Eric replies. Murdock says “Well, the humans around these parts don’t like elves.” He explains how elves live far to the west, and that over the centuries there have been disputes between the races over land. He tells them they are in the Oriane Barony. Dani says “Orion? Aren’t Orions those black cookies with white cream in the middle?” “No, those are Moon Pies,” Troyan answers.

Murdock leads them to a swamp, where he says he witnessed a magical wand falling onto a rock island in the center, and then disappearing in a time eddy. Dani asks “Are you sure it was a rod and not a spacecraft carrying an infant? I once heard a story about that.” Murdoch explains that there are “Time Eddies” throughout the area of the swamp, and the rod most likely fell into another time. He tells them to go to the hill at the center of the swamp, that being where the rod fell.

As they approach the swamp Troyan says that he used to live in one. “And you weren’t afraid of it?” Bitsey asks. “I never said that,” Troyan answers. Eric asks for more information about these ‘time eddies’. Murdock explains that time isn’t a constant in this area, and that the one he saw shortly after the rod landed flashed several times, both before and apparently after the current time.

The group begins to wander into the swamp and toward the hill. Dani begins a conversation about the training that she received from her Uncle Silas, about how broadswords are the only type of sword that a real fighter uses. Eric tells her that her Uncle Silas has the brains of a turnip, so not to take anything he says too seriously, adding that both her mother and her mother’s fiancé Narg use longswords.

The area has unusual vibrations and place where light is bending, that the party concludes must be a time eddy. They pass through one of these as they proceed. They near the hill, which is essentially a small island in the center of the swamp. They see a bunch of cavemen approaching. “Maybe we should talk to them,” Bitsey says, with Dani adding her thoughts to that idea. Eric, who has now about had it with the teenagers, says “Yeah, I can check to see if they have any openings with their group. It can’t be any worse than this.”

The cavemen move closer. With them is a human in more modern clothing. The head caveman grunts out a few syllables, sounding something like "Urg! Krak't blog zuk?". “Og says ‘Who are you and what are you doing here?’” the more modern man asks. Troyan replies with the same question to them, while Dani enthusiastically says “Da’Bears,” and begins to tell about their team until Eric tells her to shut up. Eric explains about looking for the magical stick. The man hasn’t seen it, explaining how he wound up falling through a time eddy, and was adopted by the cavemen. This leads to a side discussion of various movies and television shows about cavemen.

The group continues toward the hill, and is attacked by a group of lizardmen, looking for “things to eat.” The party fights back, one taking a bite out of Ryan. The group kills three of the lizardmen, and gets past the remainder by scampering up the hill in a fighting retreat. One of the lizardmen seems to be a cleric, who casts a hold on Dani, Eric and Troyan, which makes the conclusion of the battle problematic for the others.

Bitsey enlarges her dog and tells it to go "protect" Dani, so the dog knocks Dani into the mud and stands over her. Ryan gets bit again, and Troyan gets hit, which does not knock him from the hold. Tim fails Troyan’s next three saves as well. The lizardman leader yells, “Time!” and they disappear into the water. The group manages to get away, with Bitsey complaining about the fact they she got drenched with water in the process.

They go through yet another time eddy (apparently the one the lizardmen were yelling about), finding themselves in a 20th century world, in a parking lot filled with hundreds of parked cars. They then see a large building ahead, with a sign indicating that a concert is taking place for the band “Out-of-Sync”. The sign also indicates that the concert is sold out.

The group chooses to avoid the main entrance, filled with hundreds of screaming teenage girls, and try to get into the building through the staff entrance. Bitsey suggests using the Liebercrantz Group’s old stand-by plan of sneaking in as the bands. “Yeah, that always worked for Mellie,” Troyan comments. Dani passes out her extra musical intruments to the others, a piccolo, flute and clarinet. They are stopped by security guards, who take one look at their attire, and say “The Xena/Hercules Con was last weekend.”

Bitsey explains that their clothing are their costumes, as they are part of the entertainment. The security guards don’t buy that for one instant, and won’t let them in, telling them that a group of kids with woodwinds would not be part of the boy-band rock group, and anyhow, where are their security passes? Dani tries to say that they aren’t part of the band, that they were hired for a private performance at a party following the concert, and their manager hasn’t brought them their passes yet, but the guards don’t buy that one either, telling them “Nice try, now get lost kids.” Eric tries to pick up and carry in some equipment, also without success. Troyan suggests just killing the guards, but the others veto that idea.

The group retreats, and discusses alternative ways to get in. Only then does Ryan speak up (!) and remind the group that they have a bag of holding. Bitsey then points out that she can cast an invisibility spell. The others get into the bag of holding, and she invisibly gets into the building, past the guards. Wandering around backstage, she tries to figure out where a rod would have wound up at a concert. She checks the drums, and sure enough it is mixed in with a bunch of extra drumsticks in a pocket hanging from one of the drums. However, the drummer is right there, checking the setup of his kit. She waits until he is distracted by one of the workers, then she takes the rod, and exits the building, returning to the parking lot with the others.

They travel back through the time eddy, winding up in a field with the hill behind them. Moving toward them are a couple of tanks. “What are those things?” Dani asks. Troyan says “Like Alton’s jeep, only bigger.” The tanks begin firing at our group (fortunately, they have bad aim) and then a figure standing in a hatch in one of the tanks points his finger at the group, and something hurts Eric. Thaty person then yells in pain and shouts at someone inside the tank, "Why didn't you figure out how to use this thing?" Dani tries shooting an arrow, but it just bounces harmlessly off a tank. The group decides that this is too dangerous to stick around. They scream for Ilma, who arrives and pops them out.

 

[Silver Moon]

Module 105: “Return of the Rod of the Seven Parts” (20 Year Anniversary Module). Night Five of Nine (Part 1), April 21, 2002, Game # 812

Cast of Characters
Aradyn, male elf archer/ranger
Freyland, male gnome fighter
Fiona, female half-elf magic-user
Guice, male half-elf ranger
Opal Silversteel, female dwarf fighter/cleric
Remo, female halfling thief
Vincenzo, male human cleric

March 27, 1019:

The party find themselves on another plane, which many presume to be the elemental plane of air, as most of what surrounds them is sky and clouds. They are standing on some type of light-blue colored surface, solid enough to stand on but with a spongy feel to it.

The fourth team, comprised of Freyland, Fiona, Guice, Opal Silversteel and Vincenzo, is preparing to depart. As it is comprised of six members of the Silver Moon. As some of them have not adventured together before Ilma's suggest that the team spend a few minutes to reacquaint themselves with each other before she whisks them away.

The group of Freyland, Fiona, Guice, Opal and Vincenzo arrive at the destination, Aradyn having not arrived with them. They find themselves in a long tunnel, with a door ahead of them made of energy.

The five move forward and through the door. Before them they see two huge god-like beings, each several hundred feet tall, locked in battle with each other. One is wearing robes, the other is in shiny armor. A large green hand reaches over and grabs Ilma. To say that that has the others more than a bit concerned would be an understatement. Suddenly the side of a nearby mountain cracks, and thunder and lightning strike. “I hope they don’t blame this on the Silver Moon,” Guice comments. The world suddenly turns black for all of them, and the party finds that each of them cannot move.

Fiona is the first to reorient herself, hearing “Yohoo, look at this” as a female voice gleefully takes inventory of the items in Fiona’s backpack. With some difficulty, she manages to move her head and begin to move her arms, seeing a female halfling pawing Fiona’s possessions, with their other backpacks piled beside the halfling as well, with several items having been taken out of each “Can I ask you to stop that?” “Oh, geez,” the halfling states, jumping with a bit of a start. The others also begin to move, Opal being a bit more forceful, telling the rather slender halfling “Stop what you’re doing!”

“I’m Remo, and I wasn’t doing anything,” the halfling answers, while simultaneously taking more items from Fiona’s pack. Fiona says “Why don’t you set those down before you set off something dangerous.” Fiona suggests. “Yeah, like Freyland or Guice,” Guice comments.

They all approach the halfling, and ask “Where are we?” “Near the citadel,” the halfling answers. “What citadel? We’re not from around here,” Fiona states. “We were kind of dumped here, we’re not entirely sure how or why” Guice adds. Remo gets her first look at the 300 pound Vincenzo, and comments “Wow, who caused that to happen to him?” “Marriage,” Guice replies. Fiona explains how Vinnie is a priest who has a very large family.”

Guice suggest to Vinnie that he use his Boots of Levitation to scout around. He does so, with the halfling commenting “I’ve heard of the Flying Nun, but never a floating priest.” Vinnie sees some water in the distant, which freaks out hydrophobic Freyland. Guice tells the gnome “We figured it was time for your annual bath.” Freyland reminds them that he got soaked in the hurricane the previous August, which qualifies as that.

The halfling Remo adds to her name the title The Dragon Slayer. The party are a bit skeptical about the title. Guice says, “Fine, have it your way. If any dragons show up, they’re all yours.” Opal asks “So, what exactly was that when we arrived and what is going on here?”

“I believe I can answer that question” a voice from behind them states. They turn to see three demi-humans before them, a female elf, a female gnome, and a female halfling. Remo is in awe, and the others realize that these are not normal humanoids before them. The introduce themselves, revealing them to be three of the most prominent deities of these three races, namely Correlon Leththan, Millissa Stonemarcher, and Shella Ptrertol.

The deities explain how there is a cosmic war between the deities of two human pantheons taking place on this world. In response to the discussion of the God War Guice exclaims “We didn’t do it. Honest!” It is explained to Vincenzo that he will not be able to get spells from his two deities, being told that they are “nothing on this particular world.” Freyland points to Vinnie, saying “He weighs over 300 pounds! How can you say he’s nothing anywhere?”

They are told that the rod they are seeking is located in a dwarven citadel. It is explained how dwarves built this great structure, but how the death god Nerull then attacked it, taking it over with the essence of death. It is said that over 6,000 dwarves died. The half-elf Guice comments “So, what’s the downside in that?” That flip and racist comment totally offends the dwarf Opal, who yells “Remind me to never hang out with the Silver Moon! This is why the Da’Bears group separated, and why I will never adventure with you guys again.” “Is there a downside to that too?” is Guice’s comment.

The group proceeds onward. The party discusses all the weirdness that is on this world, with god wars going on and magic not functioning as expected. Guice adds “Yeah, and I heard that there is also an eight-percent meals tax.” The group debates how to proceed. Freyland suggests that they are over thinking it, that they just need to “Go get the stick.” The group agrees, with Opal muttering “All this for a stupid stick that the Silver Moon won’t even let my team use.”

They ask Remo to tell them more about herself. She describes how she killed a dragon. “By yourself?” Freyland inquires. “Well, some of my friends helped,” she answers. Guice interjects “Look, just because you happened to be in the room with the dragon when he succumbed to an asthma attack doesn’t actually count as a slaying.”

The arrive near the citadel, which is surrounded by a pool of black water. Remo warns them not to touch the water, as it has been contaminated by Nerull, and causes death. Freyland yells out “SEE! I TOLD YOU SO! WATER EQUALS DEATH! I KNEW I WAS RIGHT” Freyland then tries to convince the party to leave and not go anywhere near the water. “But we have to cross it to get the rod, so that Ilma can take us all back home,” Vinnie comments. Guice suggests “Why don’t we lash the short people together into a raft, and float across on them.” “That would kill them?” Vinnie states. Guice makes his downside comment again.

Remo mentions that there is a village not far from here, which would have some watercraft. Vincenzo says “Great, we can go rent a boat.” Freyland is opposed to this idea, saying that boats are all floating coffins, which will sink and drown everyone. “The ship Silver Moon hasn’t sunk,” Fiona comments. “YET! Give it time” Freyland retorts. They reach the village which is deserted, but Remo says there is a city just a mile or so futher, which would also have boats. The party pushes on.

 

[Silver Moon]

Module 105: “Return of the Rod of the Seven Parts” (20 Year Anniversary Module). Night Five of Nine (Part 2), April 21, 2002, Game # 812

The party approach the gates of the city, which are closed. The people guarding the gate tell them to all “Go Away!” “Well, it’s not like we aren’t used to that reaction to us,” Guice comments. Remo says “Oops, it’s me. They won’t let me in.” “What did you do to them?” Opal asks. Remo gives an abbreviated account of past problems that her party caused in this town. She agrees to wait outside.

The others approach the guards again, explaining how Remo “Isn’t part of our group. We just met her a few hours ago, and she led us here as a guide. We want to enter the town and make some purchases.” The group is admitted to the town with some suspition. Opal agrees to stay outside to keep an eye on Remo, not trusting the halfling to ‘stay put’ as instructed.

They see the first section of town is comprised of buildings that are all in various stages of recent destruction. Guice comments “Wow, it must have been some bachelor party that took place here”. They ask a passerby what happened, and he says that the damage was caused by a group of adventurers. Fiona comments “Gee, I guess some things are universal to all worlds.” (Remo later fills them in on the cause of this destruction, their party magic-user having accidentally released an elemental into the town square.)

They get directions to the home of a shipbuilder, where Vincenzo decides to act as the party leader. The door is answered by a large minotaur, apparently the proprietor. Vinnie announces they wish to rent a boat. Freyland injects “Actually, we would prefer a ship, the biggest, safest and most sea worthy that you have. We want the very biggest one you’ve got, maybe even one bigger than that. And throw in every life preserver and safety device ever invented while your’e at it.”

The minotaur explains that he does not rent boats, he only sells them. The party pauses about this, wondering if they have enough money. They ask if he can deliver whatever boat they purchase to the dark lake near the citadel. The minotaur says that twenty groups of adventurers have all attempted to cross to the citadel, and none have ever returned. Guice adds “Well, that would explain why you sell boats instead of renting them.”

A boat is purchased for a total of eighty gold pieces. The minotaur gives them direction to a stable where a wagon could be rented to transport the boat. The wagon rental costs another sixty gold pieces. They protest the high cost but he says it is necessary as the mounts pulling the wagon will all live shorter lives by just being near the black waters of death. “And we’re going there?” Guice comments.

The minotaur hooks up the wagon and loads the boat onto it using a series of ropes and pullies. He acts as the driver for the wagon. This gets the boat most of the way, but the minotaur stops fifty feed prior to the water, not allowing the horeses to get any closer, where he unhitches them. This leaves the party to haul the wagon the final fifty or so feet, Aradyn’s exceptional stength coming in handy for the task but Opal having the greatest strength she is made to do most of the heavy work. This has her complaining “Bloody Silver Moon, can’t do any of the work by yourself.” Guice suggests “Would it help if I offered her some wine and cheese?” Fiona says “Don’t bother, she’s already whining.” The wagon is pushed back to the minotaur, who quickly departs.

As soon as the boat touches the water it begins to rapidly age. The group hurries inside, and rapidly make their way across the lake, with the wood in the boat rotting and the boards creaking as they go. Freyland begins to panic, and start saying about how they are all doomed. As they get within the final fifty yards of the opposite shore their oars rot, and they have to improvise to get the remainder, with Vinnie using his boots of levitation to ‘lighten the load’ in the craft. They finally reach the citadel, a large stone building and quickly disembark. Shortly after they climb to shore the floor of the boat rots out and the craft sinks. Freyland exclaims “See, I told you, boats are all death traps.”

They find a door and enter the structure. Remo looks for traps, missing one. Freyland takes the lead, using his sword as a light source. They travel down several hallways, off from which are various intersections. “Are we there yet?” Guice asks.

They soon run into a group of skeletons, which the in the party clerics are unable to turn. The party fight the skeletons, discovering that upon death the skeletons explode, creating bone shrapnel that causes more damage than the intact monsters did. The group try to escape through various side paths, but run into more an more skeletons no matter which way they head.

The party eventually give up, and head back to the door that they entered through. The skeletons do not follow. They decide to try going up onto the roof to get to the other side. Remo scales the building, and assists Opal up, who is then able to then pull the rest of the party up (except Vinnie, who levitates up). Opal again curses the Silver Moon as being incompetent and needing her to do everything.

As they make their way across the roof Guice suggests that if any birds show up that Fiona can throw magic missiles at them. “How about if I just throw you off the roof instead,” Fiona suggests. “No, then you’d have to touch him,” Opal comments. They finally get to the other end and climb down, going into the building through a window.

They are soon greeted by a large monster that announces “My Lord has been waiting for you.” Guice replies, “Good, tell him we’re here to see him.” Opal says “No! Don’t tell death we want to see him! I do not seek death!”

The group are led into a room, where a large black skeletal being wearing dark robes stands before them. The party begins a conversation with Nerull. The death god asks if they are planning to fight him and him minions. “No, I really don’t see much point in that,” Vincenzo states. “But don’t you want to rescue your ally?” the god replies, gesturing to a darkened part of the room which now illuminates to reveal Aradyn, unconscious and tied by his hands and feet to pillars in the room.

Guice says “We don’t want to fight. We just want our friend back, and the rod.” The Death God offers to give them both, provided that they agree to do a favor for him. This leads to a debate, as this would be the most expedient way to accomplish their mission, but they do not want to do the bidding for an evil being. Opal raises objections, which are stopped by Nerull casting a Hold spell onto her.

A negotiation follows, during which Nerull is made to agree to a few terms of the party. He agrees that whatever quest he decides to sent them on will be in the future rather than right now, that the mission will not require them to go against or harm any good deities or their followers, and that Nerull will agree to permanently keep off of their world following this. He agrees to their terms, causing a tattoo to appear on each of their wrists as binding them to this verbal contract, with a written copy of the contract appearing tattooed to the back of the party leader, Vincenzo.

Aradyn and Opal are freed of Nerull's magical control, and the party help them along, as the rod piece is given to them. The group are soon whisked away by Ilma, with Remo remaining behind on this world.

[Note- the contract with Nerull will come into play four modules later in Module #109 titled “Leave it to Nerull”, played as Games #828 & 830.]