Rootbeergnome's ARCANA UNEARTHED STORYHOUR!!!

[rootbeergnome]

Hi all, I've been running an Arcana Unearthed game recently and finally got around to writing up the storyhour for it. The first few posts are going to be character descriptions and a few descriptions pertinent to the campaign.

The setting is at a small city called RiverBend located near the mouth of the Boar River (located on the eastern coast south of The Ghostwash, it isn't listed on the map, I made it up.) The PC's are students at a College for the Gifted, there are more details about that later. So, without further delay...

 

[rootbeergnome]

character descriptions

Nerius Danesong
Nerius is 26 years old. He is about 5’10 with a light to medium build. He is ruggedly handsome, and most of the time he is somewhat dirty from traveling. He has very blue eyes that are almost piercing to look into. He has a mischievous smile that shows he always has some sort of sneaky plan going on in his head. In fact, he will often say, “We can handle this, I’ve got a plan.” He has a short blond beard and curly dark blond hair. Nerius is more of a leader than a follower.
He has been a treasure hunter most of his life. He has made a living searching ruins for artifacts from the ancient world, to sell to the highest bidder to museums…or other, less scrupulous customers. Nerius has a soft spot with women, and considers himself attractive with the ladies. He is a daredevil at heart, and will always take a chance. He is absolutely confident of his abilities and will regularly put himself in physical danger because he believes himself capable of handling almost any given situation. He considers himself lucky and will often take a chance based on that alone. Nerius loves to brag, and will often tell stories of his exploits which are often outrageously exaggerated. He acts very confident and brave on the outside, but will often confide with Sadune about his inner concerns. He is a sensitive man, with a good soul on the inside, but he can often be stubborn. He is brave, and will willingly risk his life, even for a complete stranger. He came to the school one day with Sadune in tow, trying to sell an interesting relic to Marquette, who he heard was an interested buyer. Marquette offered a free scholarship to Nerius and Sadune in exchange for the relic. Nerius could not pass up the opportunity to learn more about the history and secrets of the world, and so accepted his generous offer.

Sadune the Wanderer
Sadune is about 6’7 and has a muscular build. He has very dark brown skin and dark green eyes. He has a beard that comes down to his collarbone and he keeps his head clean-shaven. He is an imposing man, with large muscles and a serious demeanor. He is a pacifist, and would rather avoid a fight. He would never use a weapon in a fight unless absolutely necessary. He considers these things a crutch, although he does not displace his views on others (i.e. he doesn’t think a swordsman is weak or less of a person because he uses a sword.) He was once a slave in the country of Vatorth, sentenced to die for defending himself against an abusive owner. Nerius Danesong, who “bought” him just before his execution, liberated Sadune from the slave pits. Sadune swore an oath to always protect Nerius, even at the cost of his own life. He has made good on his oath many times. Sadune tutored under Kur-Tang, the Giant self-defense teacher at Marquette’s school, and finely honed his already impressive unarmed combat abilities learned from fighting in the coliseum for the entertainment of the Vatorthians. Sadune is generally very serious, because his entire life has been serious. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t laugh or have a good time, he just knows when it is time for business, and is mostly too busy keeping Nerius out of trouble to let his guard down. He was introduced to the ways of the Oathsworn by Kur-Tang, and readily took to the teachings of “The Wanderer,” a semi-divine prophet who is rumored to still walk the land. This is why he has taken the title “The Wanderer,” to be more like the prophet and teacher he so highly reveres.


Korigahn the Duelist
Korigahn is a Male Sibeccai. He is about 6’9 and has a strong medium build. He has black hair that is short on all of his body except for his head and the nape of his neck, which is rather long like a wolf’s hair. He has a shock of white hair that runs from his chin to his chest. He is 24 years old, and has yellow eyes.
Korigahn is rather arrogant. He was once a duelist and made his money by fighting in duels where many people would make bets on the winner. He only lost once, to an old man with one eye. The man cut off the tips of Korigahn’s ears upon defeat, as a show of mercy (it was a fight to the death) and the old man told him to “use your skill to better the world, not yourself.” After the fight, Korigahn looked for the old man, but never saw him again. It was at this time that Korigahn gave up being a professional fighter and decided to travel. After several months of fighting and capturing bandits, and infiltrating thieve’s guilds, he was sent an invitation by Marquette to attend the school, with a full scholarship of course (all students have free tuition at the school) and Korigahn couldn’t resist. The school is, after all, quite famous, and Korigahn would love to be famous himself someday. Korigahn believes that he is better than most people, not in a malicious way, just in a way that he really does believe it to be true. He doesn’t criticize people or insult them to make himself feel better, he just simply believes he is better. That is not to say that he does not respect people, he just thinks himself slightly more skilled than his peers. He is always, however, respectful to Giants, except in the most extreme of circumstances. He is a skilled swordsman, and spell-crafter, and he knows it. He dresses in finery and often likes to show off. He has a very hard time backing down from a challenge. He also has a slight temper, and can sometimes become enraged if provoked enough, he finds this slightly embarrassing because he has “lost control” and he enjoys being in control.


Sesseress
Sesseress is a Mojh. He has a light build and is about 5’11. He has reptilian eyes. He is about 23 years old. He has brown-green scales. But it was not always so…
Sesseress was once a man. He was a man obsessed with magic. He craved it and adored it. His name was Aulinden Thresher, a young man who grew up in the wheat fields near Navael in the town of SnowHaven. When he was a young boy, he found a necklace in an old ruin. He discovered an inscription on the necklace and spent weeks decrypting it. He loved puzzles, and still does. He unlocked the power of the necklace, and for a while, the bookish boy who no one liked became the most popular kid in town. Everyone seemed to like him more since he found out the secret of the necklace. People wanted to give him presents, girls wanted to court him, men offered their daughters, and merchants always wanted to cut him a deal. He was on top of the world. One day an exotic and beautiful woman named Narakeesh visited his village and they met one night at a local tavern. They immediately hit it off. She loved magic, and was studying the arcane arts with a society she was a member of. She explained that her members had noticed the magical signature of the amulet that Aulinden now wore, and she had been sent to investigate. She also noted to Aulinden that he possessed within himself, the capabilities of great magical power, but lacked focus and teaching. She offered to let him join her society to help him learn his potential. Aulinden joined the society, known as the Society of the Talented. The society was sort of like a cross between a traveling thieves’ guild, and a school where one can learn about magic. It was in this society that Aulinden roamed for nearly two years. One day he was approached by the beautiful woman he had met back in SnowHaven, except she was no longer a woman. She had become a Mojh. She explained to Aulinden that they had recently “recovered” (stolen) a valuable magical tome that contained the knowledge of the power of the Dramojh, and she explained to him that she would share it with him in exchange for his amulet. Aulinden was, by this time, addicted to magic. He craved the knowledge of it, and the ability to wield it, and this transformation would advance his magical prowess considerably. And so, with the combined seduction of physical pleasures and magical power, Aulinden underwent the painful and enlightening transformation to become what he is today. Mojh. He changed his name to a draconic name “Sesseress” to symbolize that he was reborn. The entire troupe of the society eventually underwent the transformation. At this time, the authorities of the city of De-Shamod (where the society was located at this time) uncovered their secret hideout and stormed in, arresting all of them. They were all notorious criminals, who had committed several crimes within the city. They were all sentenced to hang. On the day of the hanging, as each of the members fell to their deaths, it finally came to be that Sesseress was the last to hang. Just as the trapdoor beneath him gave way and the noose began to tighten, he was cut down, by someone from the crowd! It was Narakeesh, who had somehow escaped during the raid. She pleaded for him to run, and was immediately struck down by guards. With no time to waste, he ran for his life. The guards were hot on his heels when he ran into a robed figure in an alleyway, knocking him down. The robed figure gave him a choice, to die in the streets, or to live his life from that day forward with the intention of bettering the world and helping the people in it. In a frantic decision he chose the latter. With a mere glance from the man in the robes, the entire crowd stopped and listened intently as the old man told them that the person they were looking for was somewhere else. The entire crowd, just muttered to each other and left. And so, Sesseress met Marquette, and became a student at the School for the Magically Gifted.
Sesseress is addicted to magic. He loves magical items, spells, and anything else that leads to magical knowledge and power. He would do anything short of murder to get at most magical things. Typically he does not care for anyone else but himself, the only exceptions are Marquette and his classmates. He cares about them, at least as much as he is capable of caring. They are the closest thing to real “friends” that he has ever had. Many times Marquette has caught him trying to decipher the magical locks on the door that lead to his magical study. For this Marquette has made him do many unsavory chores around the school. He craves magic, he needs it and it makes him somewhat greedy. He tries to avoid physical confrontation whenever possible, and might even hide during a fight.


Dajsan Quidix
Dajsan is a Verrik. He is about 5’7 with wine red skin and a clean-shaven head. He has a light build and lavender colored eyes. He wears traveler’s clothes and wears things with an eye to function, not form.
Dajsan is very contemplative, and prides himself on “contextual thinking” which allows him to look at things from a larger perspective. Other people have a hard time understanding him and he enjoys that, it does not frustrate him in the least. When he was a child of 6 years, his family was attacked by wild yetis in the Howling Wind Flats while traveling to a witchery site. He was the sole survivor of that attack, and wandered aimlessly all night, until he passed out from exposure, his tears frozen to his pained face. He awoke within a warm little cabin made of turtle shells and was slowly nursed back to health by it’s inhabitants. They were two humans with narrow eyes and cherubic faces named “Sly Bear” and “Crow’s Sunrise.” He slowly regained his health and lived with them there for a year, where he learned to fish and ride a sled. He was given his large fur coat by the couple as a present to protect against the cold, although he no longer seemed to need it. He slowly found that he had a strange affinity for the cold. It was not long after that first year that some of the villagers came to the cabin in an outraged mob. They believed that this red skinned outlander was cursed, and that he was responsible for the low fish hauls and bad storms. Though Sly Bear and Crow’s Sunrise tried to protect him, he was taken to the village square against his will. There, the village elder sentenced him to die, and during the struggle to tie him to a stake that was to be set ablaze, Dajsan became ablaze himself with an unearthly blue flame. The eerie blue flames roiled forth from within Dajsan and consumed several of the villagers, and badly wounded the Elder. The bodies looked as if they had been badly frostbitten. Dajsan, at the request of his surrogate parents, left the village as quickly as possible, speeding away by dogsled with angry villagers right behind. He tried to find a place to live for a while, and just when he began to settle in, his powers would “manifest” causing trouble in small villages where such things are unknown, forcing him to leave. One of Marquette’s associates met Dajsan, and recommended him, seeing him immediately for what he was, a witch born of power. It was not long thereafter that he was accepted to the school.


Cualth Coppertongue
Cualth is a Male Faen. He stands about 3 1\2 feet tall. He has thick brown hair that he often keeps tied back into a braid. He has long thick sideburns that are made into small braids that hang to either side of his face. He has emerald green eyes that sparkle with life.
Cualth is a free spirit. He hates rules and regulations and laws and governments. He sees them as a tool for controlling others. He has a positive attitude about life and genuinely cares about his friends. He is a joker and a bit of a prankster. People have a hard time getting Cualth to not joke about things. He makes wise cracks even when in physical danger. He doesn’t care much for people that he doesn’t know, but does give them the same amount of respect he receives. He loves wildlife and fresh air. He believes the best place to sleep is beneath an open sky, and the best place to bathe is in a mountain stream.
Cualth grew up in a small Faen village named Leaf Dew located in the Harrowdeep. He grew restless living in the small village, and often would wander about for hours alone in the wilderness. His parents were always having to tell him “no” as he brought home a new “friend” every other day, always asking “Aww, Ma can we keep ‘im?” He longed to travel to faraway lands, and loved to hear the LoreMasters of his village tell the tales of heroes and their travels. One day an old traveler came to the village of Leaf Dew and took a particular interest in the young Feyling who seemed to be friends with all the animals. He observed the young boy whistling at birds that would just come and land on his hand or shoulder. It seemed as if he could almost speak with the animals. The old traveler was Marquette, who offered the Faen a place at his school for the magically gifted. Cualth was absolutely beside himself with glee, and his parents were satisfied that he would receive a proper education and opportunity of a lifetime.

 

[rootbeergnome]

(This was a handout given to the players to detail the school and some of the professors.)


Back to School


All of you have been attending Marquette’s School for the Magically Gifted for a few years. You have just completed your apprentice programs in your respective fields of study. Marquette Mana-Burn, the school’s Headmaster, has just given you all your journeyman’s diplomas. He has also hired you an adventuring agent in RiverBend who will help you to find jobs that fit your area of expertise. You have been classmates and close friends for years, and now that you are all graduating to Journeymen on the same year, you are being assigned together into a team. Marquette’s Journeyman program works like this; you are assigned different real world tasks to complete using your special gifts and talents. Upon completion of your tasks, you are to report back to Marquette and you are then graded on your accomplishments. Marquette’s core teaching ethic is to train people who will help better the world. He believes there is no better way to learn than through experience.

Marquette Mana-Burn: Marquette is an old man with a gleam in eye of magic and knowledge. He has shaggy thinning graying brown hair that is disheveled but well kept. He wears small round-rimmed reading glasses that he is constantly readjusting on his large pointy nose. He has an air of knowledge about him and though he appears old, he seems to get around very well. He is always energetic and excited about teaching and learning. He likes to play jokes now and again on the students, but never at the expense of another’s feelings. He is kind and considerate, but somewhat unpredictable. He has a special fondness for each of you, his “prize pupils.” He is the Professor of Magical Studies and Arcane Theory. He is also the Headmaster of the School.

Yotir Korixca: Rarely seen at the school, this elusive Verrik woman teaches the art of witchery. She is very aloof and some say she is the meanest teacher in the entire school. The only people who even interact with her are the very few witches who she takes under her wing as her apprentices. She is a thirty-something Verrik woman with wine colored skin, and stark white hair. She is always dressing in lavish robes, often cut to make the male students gawk as she passes. She once made a young student forget who he was for a month because she caught him peeking at her through her window, or at least, that’s the story. There are countless stories about Miss Korixca.

Jo-Than: Jo-than is the professor of Akashic Studies at the school. He is a plump Giant with a bald spot in the middle-top of his head that leaves him with horseshoe shaped hair on the top of his head. He often dresses in simple brown robes and speaks philosophically almost always. He is also the school Counselor, and any student who is having problems knows they may come and speak with professor at any time. He is a very kind and understanding sort of fellow, who is always patient with students. He often hums quietly to himself.

Kur-Tang and Shirathanon: Kur-Tang and Shirathanon are the school’s professors of Self-Defense. Kur-Tang is a Male Giant with a shaved head. He often teaches unarmed combat, but does also teach some of the more exotic weapons as well. He is always calm, yet has a commanding boom of a voice. He is always very serious, and will never hesitate to stop horseplay among students. Kur-Tang is also the Disciplinary at the school, and steps in to stop fights, and assign appropriate punishments.
Shirathanon is a female Sibeccai. She is a retired officer of the nation’s army. Though somewhat old, she knows how to use almost every weapon that has ever been created. She is a masterful fighter, and is somewhat aggressive. She would never really hurt one of her students, however. She often dresses in leather armor for class, but wears simple clothing anywhere else. She always has a sword at her side, even at dinner. Kur-Tang is her best friend, and they are always seen together, either sparring or just walking around the schoolyards.

Gor-Haim The Professor of Wildlife, Geography and Green Studies, Professor Gor-Haim teaches class outside, or in the greenhouse during bad weather and the winter. He also teaches a course on Wilderness Survival. He is rather portly and short for a giant. He has graying hair on his balding head, and often whistles while working with the plants. He is a fun professor, who often takes his classes on field trips to study animals and plants and overnight camping trips as well. He loves the outdoors, and is a very kind and enthusiastic teacher. His class pet is a tamed Displacer Beast named “Stubby”, whose tentacles were removed by poachers. Stubby has never attacked anyone at the school, and seems tame as a kitten. He can always be found near Gor-Haim.

Ichabod Smith: The son of the local blacksmith, Professor Ichabod never followed his father’s craft, and instead studied books and the arcane. Ichabod is the Professor of Runic Studies, Ancient Languages and History. He is a small skinny man in his early thirties, with curly short brown hair, and a big nose. He often wears spectacles, as his eyesight is not very much useful unless he is close to things. Professor Smith is very serious, and often speaks in a monotone voice. He is notorious for putting students to sleep with many of his speeches on the ancient world.

Dorinaran the Builder: The professor of Architecture and Engineering teaches students geometry, math, and building skills. Professor Dorinaran is a Male Sibeccai who also works part time making blueprints for many of River Bend’s buildings. He is rather serious and thinks highly of himself. His math classes are notoriously difficult.

Jermyn NewTongue: Professor NewTongue is the professor of Language Studies at the school. A male Loresong Faen, he knows several languages and teaches all of the ones he is most fluent in. He is notorious for giving lots of homework and being a lenient teacher, he will often take assignments late if the student asks. He is kind and patient, and can often be found hanging out with Ichabod and Gor-Haim, smoking his pipe laughing with them between classes.



Places of Interest in the School

Dormitories: This is your basic well-maintained roommate necessary rooms for students. Each room has two beds, two footlockers, a small closet, one or more windows, shelves and reading lamps. The Dormitories are well maintained by crazy Jim, the mumbly old Janitor who cleans these halls. He never says much, mostly just mumbles to himself. Often there is a winged cat seen walking around the halls or sleeping on the floor in front of a window in a patch of sunlight quietly swishing his tail. He is also seen near the cafeteria, begging food scraps from the students.

Cafeteria: This large room is filled with long tables and benches. There are lanterns hanging from the ceiling as well as a large hearth on either end of the room. The cook, a Mojh named Scales, cooks the food with the help of his kobolds. They do not take kindly to bad comments about their food. The food is bad sometimes, bland most of the time, and very good rarely. However, the food is free with tuition, so who can really complain?

Well: All the water at the school comes from the Wells in the Central Courtyard and the one near the Greenhouse. Strangely enough, even during times of drought, the well seems to usually remain wet.

Library: The librarian is a Ghost who looks like an old woman. If a student re-shelves books in the wrong place or neglects to return a book, then he may receive an unwelcome visit from Miss Ghost (no one knows her real name) She glides around the huge library, helping students find books and information. She either cannot, or chooses not to speak. It is rumored that the library contains secret passages to strange places.

Laboratories: There are several laboratories where experiments are performed, located throughout the school. Each is stocked with appropriate apparatus and materials for it’s subject of study. There are telescopes in the Astronomy lab, Beakers and chemicals in the Chemistry Lab, and so on.

Aviary: This is an old fenced in area located out behind the greenhouse, next to the stables. It is a project that Professor Gor-Haim has recently started. Here he is rearing a flock of griffons that lost their mother to poachers or adventurers (he is not sure which, he merely found the nest). He hopes to have them ready for release within a year.

Baths: These are two separate rooms, one for boys and one for girls, with a large pool in each. The pools are heated from below by bound fire elementals. This is where the students come to clean themselves and is a very luxuriant addition to the school.

Greenhouse: In this series of buildings, one can find all manner of plants and strange plant like creatures. There are giant fly-traps, and even a Tendriculous in an enclosed pit. There are also caverns located beneath the Greenhouse where Gor-Haim maintains a subterranean ecosystem of Giant mushrooms and underground plants and small animals.

As a side note, Marquette is always taking suggestions for new additions to his school.

 

[rootbeergnome]

Marquette Manaburn has summoned his six journeyman students to the biology laboratory for a meeting.

Marquette is in the lab looking at strange creatures in large jars when the group arrives, he seems rather impatient, but very excited. The room is full of strange beakers and jars full of strange dead animals and parts of other creatures floating in various liquids. There are several tables and stools in this long room, but the laboratory is empty, save for Marquette when the group arrives.

“Ah! My prize pupils! Come in, come in!” Marquette is old and wiry, with small silver rimmed glasses balanced on the end of his pointy nose. He seems extremely energetic, especially for someone his age.

After everyone settles into a stool Marquette begins “So, I’m sure you have all been rather bored as of late. You have received your journeyman diplomas and still have not been anywhere but the school. Well, I have good news, I have your first real assignment for you today!”

“So the adventuring agent you hired has found us jobs worthy of our expertise?” Korigahn says with a smirk that shows off his canine teeth.

“Um, no I’m afraid the agent still has not contacted me about the jobs for adventurers. Perhaps he could only find mercenary work, and as you know I am trying to find goodwill missions that will help better the world, not just some hired killing. Actually your first assignment is something I would like for you to do for me personally. A friend of mine named ‘Barom the Disenchanted’ lives not far from here in the swamp just south of town. He is keeping an item of great importance for me, and I am supposed to pick it up this week. I was wondering if my prize pupils would be so kind as to go and pick it up for me?”

The whole group looks somewhat disappointed as they realize this is a simple package delivery job, and not the glorious days of adventuring they have long dreamed of. Dajsan looks thoughtful “So how do we get there and precisely by what means shall we travel?” The verrik is always trying to carefully plan things while the rest of the group attempts to charge right into the fray.

“Well, I’ll write you a note of permission to the stable boy, who will loan you some horses and you will be on your way. The item I am supposed to pick up is locked inside of a magically warded chest. PLEASE, do NOT attempt to open the chest! What is contained inside is very dangerous.”

“What is it? Asks Nerius curiously

“I cannot tell you, it is better that you do not know what is contained therein. Barom lives inside of a giant tree in the swamp here.” He points to the map. “Here is a small map and the note for the stable boy, you had best be leaving soon if you are to get there by tomorrow.”
The group files out of the lab, now somewhat intrigued by their most recent assignment. They gather things from their rooms, it takes Korigahn a particularly long time to decide if he wants to wear the red tabard or the green tabard as he insists on looking his best out on the town. They arrive at the stables and are nearly knocked down as the stable boy comes out of the stable leading with his shovel full of horse dung “Pardon me! Coming through! This smells and it’s heavy! Out of the way please!”

After the boy deposits a shovel-full of dung onto a small two-wheeled cart, he turns and greets the party “Name’s Jerim, I take care of headmaster’s horses, pleased to meet you!” he extends a filthy dung covered hand, which none of the party seems especially eager to shake. “oh, right” he looks at his grime covered hand, smiles and leans on the shovel “So you guys have graduated to journeymen huh? That must be great, you get to go see the world now, and do all kinds of fun things that adventurers get to do, like save damsels and slay monsters, and get rich from treasure!” He seems very excited and awed by the party.

“Well, it’s not exactly all that glorious yet, we just now received our first assignment, so no treasure and fame yet, but we are going to need some horses to get us there.” Nerius hands the stable boy the note from Marquette.

“Right. Let’s go get you some horses.” He leads the party into the stable where they saddle the horses and prepare them for riding, all the while Jerim never stops asking the “adventurers” questions. Soon they are ready to depart and the stable boy waves goodbye as they ride out of the walled compound where the college is located and into the city of RiverBend.

After a short stopover at a local dried goods store, they make their way to the city gates and out onto the road leading up the coast. The ride is uneventful, filled with stories from Nerius about all the places he has been and stories from Korigahn about all the battles he has won.

Close to dusk the party comes into a low forest of coastal shrubs and short tangled trees. Just as night is approaching they round a bend and come face to face with what appears to be a hijacking. About forty feet away there are several men, obviously bandits, unloading a wagon’s contents, while two merchants are standing against the side of the wagon with arms raised. As the party comes to a halt, the bandits turn and look at them with greedy eyes, eyeing the party’s weapons and money pouches thinking to turn more profit from this encounter.

“Out of here with ya! This don’t concern you, and if ya leaves us some money we’ll spare your lives!” A large bald man, with one eye and crooked teeth steps forward, appearing to be the leader. “No one messes with Bruiser’s gang, understood? Now pay up and we won’t have to fill you full of arrows!” The bandits with bows draw their bowstrings and take aim at the party.

“Insolent cur! Throw down your weapons and come peacefully or we will have to join battle, and personally, I prefer battle.” Korigahn shouts as he draws his athame, a Sibeccai Khopesh.

“Ya talk a lot of trash to Bruiser’s boys, and ya can’t count, from where I’m standing, you look to be outnumbered, so just give us yer gold and leave before you get yourselves hurt” Bruiser says with a laugh, as the other bandits join in with chuckles and mean looks.

“Maybe we should negotiate with them.” Offers Dajsan, ever the thoughtful and cautious one.

“There are many of them, I count at least ten of them” Adds Cualth, the diminutive Faen looking a bit worried.

“That just makes it more fun for us.” Nerius smirks and draws his rapier, smiling at Korigahn “Shall I show you how it’s done then?”

“Pah! I shall have this battle over with ere you wet your blade Danesong!” Korigahn charges into one of the bandits near the rear of the wagon, his khopesh humming as it slams into the foe’s body, knocking the man down.

Nerius charges as well, and with a deft blow, slides his rapier nimbly past the bandit’s defenses and pierces the man through, taking him out of the battle.

Dajsan drops from his horse, and calling upon his inner power, cold blue flame begins to surround him. With a cry the witch points both arms at the one-eyed bandit leader and releases a torrent of numbing cold blue flame that arcs through the air and washes over the man. He cries out in pain as the numbing cold blasts him, and when the flames die down, he is horribly wounded, his flesh black with frostbite.

Arrows deflect off of an invisible force around Sesseress as his rune of armor glows on his chest. He launches a spear into one of the bandit archers and cripples him.

A bandit attacks Sadune with his short sword, thinking this unarmed man to be an easy target, but the blow is caught in Sadune’s hands with two flat palms clapped tightly together, and Sadune brings a powerful kick up and into the bandits face, knocking him out cold.

The party makes short work of the bandits, and Cualth heals the party’s wounds. They help the merchants tie up the rest of the bandits, including their blackened leader, and help them load their wares back on the wagon. They search the bandits for hidden weapons, finding daggers in boots and other nasty things. The two merchants agree to take the bandits to the authorities, and thank the party heartily. The bandit leader yells to the party as they ride off “This is not the last you have seen of Bruiser Holloway! I swear it!!”

 

[Berandor]

Nice beginning!
I totally adore your "Hogwarts".

Berandor

 

[rootbeergnome]

Thanks Berandor, I was kind of going for that Hogwart's feel, but I didn't want it to be too much Harry Potter like, so it's not quite as magical and mystical as Hogwart's. Thanks for the compliment, the next installment will be posted very shortly, I promise. Already written, just have to get back to my own computer to get it.
thanks!
RB Gnome

 

[Krellic]

Hmm.., interesting..!

 

[Jaws]

Dajsan drops from his horse, and calling upon his inner power, cold blue flame begins to surround him. With a cry the witch points both arms at the one-eyed bandit leader and releases a torrent of numbing cold blue flame that arcs through the air and washes over the man. He cries out in pain as the numbing cold blasts him, and when the flames die down, he is horribly wounded, his flesh black with frostbite.

Nice description. I look forward to more of Marquette's Magically Gifted.


Peace and smiles

j.

 

[rootbeergnome]

The second part of the 1st session!

The party camps just outside of the swampy area where Barom the Disenchanted is said to live. The night passes uneventfully and the next day, after much trudging through mud, leach infested waters, and algae, the party comes upon the huge tree with windows that could only be Barom’s house.

The huge tree is growing right in the center of a large bog, its huge roots are exposed and coming up over the water level like a mangrove tree and there appears to be a small dock built beneath the roots where a small boat is tied. There are small windows in the upper tree, but it is too far away to see anything in the windows themselves. The party is standing on a small dock where it is assumed that the boat is usually moored if the occupant of the house is away. “Well, no since in wasting time, someone has to swim out there and get the boat. No reason we should all get wet.” Nerius says as he begins taking off his armor and clothes.

Sadune looks worried “Are you sure that is such a good idea?”

Nerius smiles “Of course it is, I’ll be fine, I can swim like a fish.” Nerius dives in with a knife clenched between his teeth. Sadune takes off his sandals and short robes and quickly dives in after him.

On the way over Nerius bumps into something, but keeps swimming. Sadune who is following him, bumps into this same thing. It feels… like a tentacle that is smooth and slimy and about as thick as a man’s arm. It kind of half-heartedly wraps around Sadune as he swims past. Sadune immediately freezes except for the least amount of treading that will keep him afloat. In the distance, shrieking can be heard.

“Shrieking Eels!!! I know that sound anywhere, the only other thing that has a singing voice that horrible is Korigahn!” Says Cualth, who looks a bit worried but smiles at his joke nonetheless.

Sadune, realizes that the thing isn’t moving and pushes it away. It is a dead eel that is floating around in the bog. It is not much decayed, indicating perhaps a fresh kill. Sadune tries not to think about what other nasty things in the water could have killed the eel and might think of him as something good to eat as well.

Nerius reaches the dock, and helps Sadune up as well. Sadune unties the boat and begins rowing back to get the others. Nerius follows a small set of stairs that appear to have grown that way, up to a small doorway, just as he begins to knock, he notices that the door is not completely closed. “That’s odd.” He decides to wait for the others.

Just as Nerius is having a hard time fighting the urge to open the door and explore for himself, the rest of the party arrives. Nerius calls into the house “Hello! Anybody home?” But there is no answer. The others look worried. “Ah, he’s probably just asleep”

“Or dead.” adds Cualth.

“Well, we can’t just stand here, we came to get this thing for Marquette, so let’s do it.” Nerius pushes open the door and the party files into a small foyer with a rug, a painting of a woodland clearing with a deer in it, and a small table. There is an odd ticking device standing against one wall, it is shaped like a large box with a circular face at the top that has numbers all around it’s edge. There are pointing hands, one long and one short, that are pointing to different numbers. On the front of the object there is a glass window and inside can be seen a pendulum swinging back and forth, seeming to make the thing “tick.” The party puzzles over this object only briefly and Sesseress believes it to be a time keeping device of some sort. They quickly decide to explore the rest of the house.

They follow the stairs that lead up out of the foyer and into a large living area. There is a living room, a fireplace, a kitchen area, a laboratory area, and another door near the back. There are no walls to separate the different sections in the circular shaped room.

Sesseress decides to wait near the door, and the rest of the party begins exploring different areas of the house. Nerius, Dajsan and Cualth all check the door near the back of the room that leads to a bedroom. Within the bedroom, there is a large metal door built into the wooden wall of the tree. Upon the door are several glowing runes.

Meanwhile, Sadune and Korigahn are looking about in the house. There are several paintings hanging on the walls and one unfinished painting. All the paintings are signed “Barom.” There is a traveling cloak and boots that are still there, and there are muddy footprints on the rug near the hearth, but it is unknown if the others in the party left the muddy prints on their way to the bedroom. Sadune is checking around the area of the hearth when he notices a small wooden pipe sitting next to a reading chair. He reaches down and picks it up, and is slightly startled when a bit of coagulated blood drops out of the pipe and onto the carpet. “I believe I may have just figured out what happened to Barom.”

The others are in the bedroom, pondering the runes on the door. It appears to be a large vault, and they are guessing that the chest they seek for Marquette is within. “Well, I don’t think we have to worry about Barom coming back and wondering why we are rummaging around in his house.” Says Sadune as he enters the bedroom as well. “Oh, why is that?” Nerius is trying to puzzle the symbols and the riddle on the door. “Because he is probably dead or at least kidnapped.” Sadune shows the others the bloody pipe. The others look a bit worried but continue their efforts with the door.

The door has a pentacle drawn on it. On the pentacle, the tips of each star are a different color. There is a red, blue, black, yellow, and a white tip. The middle of the pentacle has a drawing of an angry face. At the end of each point on the star there is a sort of lever, a handle to grasp and turn, built into the metal door. Below the pentacle there are three outlines of keys drawn side by side. Below the keys there are several words, that do not appear to make sense. The words are as follows:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GSV GLIGFIVI WRW UOZB IV
GSV NVHH SV NZWV II

LOW YVM RM OZEZNVG SRH VMW IV,VII
SRH ZHSVH DVIV KFG RM ZM FIM VII

GSIVV UZVM LMV TRZMG WRW GIZEVO (the symbol for “whole” is here)
ZG VMW LU WZB GSVB IVHG ZMW FMIZEVO VI

Answer each riddle please, from the answers, come the keys.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The party begins to puzzle over this and decides that perhaps it is a code of some sort. Nerius, Sadune, and Dajsan quickly begin to decipher it.

Nerius, after much decoding and attempting different combinations of words, realizes something “It’s the alphabet backwards.”

“What?” the others look puzzled.

“The Alphabet, if you write it out, and then write it out again starting from Z to A beneath the first alphabet you get the code, and you can translate it. Ok, lets see, they should translate out to this.”

THE TORTURER DID FLAY
THE MESS HE MADE

OLD BEN IN LAVA MET HIS END
HIS ASHES WERE PUT IN AN URN

THREE FAEN ONE GIANT DID TRAVEL
AT END OF DAY THEY REST AND UNRAVEL

“But what about the numerals?” asks Dajsan. “I’m sure they mean something too.”

“Yes, it’s some kind of logic puzzle.” reasons Cualth.

After much debate, Sadune decides to try something. First he turns the handle at the tip of the red point, it locks into place and the party holds their breath, waiting for something to happen. Sadune looks at the others, shrugs and turns the blue point handle as well. The handle locks into place, and just as it does so, a brilliant flash of electricity courses through Sadune’s arm causing him to grip the handle tighter for a moment. He cries out and falls to his knees, injured but still conscious. “Well that wasn’t such a great idea.” Cualth quickly calls upon the power of the green and fills Sadune’s burnt arm with life energy, making it nearly good as new. “There, all better.”

The handles then both turn back into their original positions with an audible click. “I think I may have it.” Nerius looks excited. “The numerals are the position of the word. So the first word is ‘FLAY’ and the second word is ‘MESS,’ but what could that mean?”

“Flames, the first word is flames.” Says Sadune, rising from the floor.

“AH! Yes, and the second word is Lavender. Lava end urn, it makes lavender.” Says Nerius.

“Then, the third word…well the symbol for whole is there so if you add three faen plus one giant, that makes ‘Four’ and the next word is ‘Rest’ so that makes ‘Forest’” Dajsan looks pleased with himself.

“Ok, so they are colors then. So to make the colors we combine the colors right? So to make ‘Flames’ you need orange, that is Red and Yellow.” Nerius turns the red tip handle and the yellow tip handle. The first key emblem on the door lights up and the handles then lock back into place.

“Then to make Lavender we turn blue and red, that makes purple.” Dajsan points this out and Nerius turns the appropriate handles, lighting up the second key. It is easy from there to determine that the last part of the puzzle is the color green for ‘Forest’ so the party turns the blue and yellow handles. The final key emblem lights up and there is an audible tinkling noise. There is a loud “CLANG!” and the heavy metal door creaks open. Within the safe there is darkness and the party suddenly is distracted by a voice from the doorway. “So, you got it open eh? Good work, we could never have done it without you!” The party turns to see several men dressed in leather armor and armed with swords. Their leader, the speaker, wears a red kerchief around his neck and smiles triumphantly at the party while adjusting the grip on his blade. “Now stand aside and let us into that vault!”

 

[Jaws]

“So, you got it open eh? Good work, we could never have done it without you!” The party turns to see several men dressed in leather armor and armed with swords. Their leader, the speaker, wears a red kerchief around his neck and smiles triumphantly at the party while adjusting the grip on his blade. “Now stand aside and let us into that vault!”

Excellent cliffhanger!


Peace and smiles

j.