Sagiro's Story Hour: Now That It's Over

[messy]

a story hour has been completed? shocking!

while i'm not sure about purchasing a book, a compiled pdf would definitely be appreciated. including stat blocks, new magic items and spells, and other campaign information would be even more awesome.

 

[Sagiro]

Oh, hey Sagiro -- I don't think we got a clear answer on the sections of the prophecy that referred to "one" who "loves all" and "one hates one." My previous guess was that Abernia "loves all", and the only thing I can come up with for the latter is that the Adversary hated Dranko. Am I on?

A quick summary of the Prophecy of the Croaking Oracle:


One brings many, flame’s design.
One does also, all malign.
One trip started, one trip done.
One loves all, and one hates one.

This entire verse is about Peralta and Galdifain. Peralta "brings many, flame's design" -- referring to Kay, Yoba, Ox et al. "One does also, all malign" is Galdifain bringing forth summoned monsters -- all malign -- to attack Dranko.

"One trip started, one trip done." The journey of Peralta's Heroes(tm) had started; Peralta was working on the rituals that would eventually allow her heroes to join the Company. Galdifain's trip was done at that point. She was already in the Underdark, summoning her monsters to find and accost Dranko.

"One loves all, and one hates one." Peralta loves the whole Company; the collectively rescued her from Het Branoi. Galdifain only hates Dranko, him having become the living symbol of her torment.


Three are bringing, now in place.
Three have won the downward race.
Seven haste, and roll the dice,
Spun by fortune’s sacrifice.

The Three are, obviously, Seven Dark Words, Meledien and Tarsos. And the Seven are the Company, riding the wave of luck engendered by Corilayna's sacrifice.

Four are needed, ‘fore the end.
One to take the shell and rend.
One for what is in his head.
One to channel what makes dead.

Kibi, Dranko and Aravis in that order.

One at last, but not yet known.
One forever dead as stone.
One to drive the spike clean through.
One to die, and hope renew.

Turned out to be Grey Wolf, who sacrificed himself in stabbing the Adversary through the heart with the Watcher's Kiss.

One last journey then to make.
One last prison bar to break.
One last thread of fate to pull.
One last circle to come full.

This refers to the rescue of Abernathy, though one could argue that the "last circle to come full" is Kibi telling Abernathy which heroes he should summon to his tower.

 

[Tortoise]

Sagiro,
Thank you for giving us this view into your incredible campaign. Put me down for some copies of your books.

I know a number of poor deprived souls that they will make great gifts for, and I of course want copies for me.

Meanwhile, point me to the Null Shadow info!

 

[Piratecat]

I was there, and I STILL didn't realize what several of those prophecy lines meant. That makes it a darn good prophecy.

 

[StevenAC]

COMPLETE AT LAST!

It's with great pleasure that I can announce that the Collected Sagiro's Story Hour is finally complete. On the site you'll now find the entire story of Abernathy's Company, from their earliest adventures to the final epic battle to save the world. For the statistically inclined, the final PDFs clock in at a total of 1440 pages and more than 1.125 million words (including all the invaluable commentary from dozens of EN World-ers over the years).

I'd like to thank everyone (most especially, of course, Sagiro himself) who has given me words of appreciation over the years. It's lovely to know that what started out as an entirely private exercise, intended only for my own enjoyment, has become something that others around the world have found useful too.

It's possible that there may be some supplementary material added to the site later on (maps, character sheets, monster stats, and so on), but I'm not making any promises on that. It will depend on whether Sagiro can find the time in his busy schedule to engage in campaign archaeology (he does have some novels to write... ), and on whether such material still exists anyway -- after all, the campaign actually ended nearly three years ago.

For now, though, the story is done. I really hope you enjoy reading (or re-reading) it, and don't forget to leave comments here.

Steven Cooper.

 

[Everett]

It's with great pleasure that I can announce that the Collected Sagiro's Story Hour is finally complete. On the site you'll now find the entire story of Abernathy's Company, from their earliest adventures to the final epic battle to save the world. For the statistically inclined, the final PDFs clock in at a total of 1440 pages and more than 1.125 million words (including all the invaluable commentary from dozens of EN World-ers over the years).

Pretty! And as always, very nice job mixing byplay conversation and one-liners with relevant discussion of gaming and stats.

Thank you, Steven, for a document I'll return to many times in the years to come.

 

[Kilroy]

Thanks again for the wonderful story Sagiro. I've kept up with it ever since it started, and I'm rereading it now that it's done. The prophecy of the eyes is beautifully recursed.

FOR THE FUTURE IS CARVED IN DIAMOND, THAT NONE MAY ERASE OR CHANGE.

NO. THE FUTURE IS WRITTEN ON WATER, AND WE ARE ALL ITS AUTHORS.

...

Abernathy reaches out a finger, and in the changeable sea he traces the word “forever.” It is quickly erased, as are all things written upon water.

 

[Waylander the Slayer]

Fabulous ending and the best campaign ever, other than the incomplete one which someone abandoned writing about. Thank you for inspiring me to continue GMing over the last....has it been 15 years? longer?

Questions:
1. What would have been the plot arc for the former PCs (i.e., Tor) that left the game?
2. How did some of the early choices (Venifact Colossus, Not pursuing the Sharsun) impact the plot lines?
3. What were the most surprising PC choices in game that you had to adjust to, outside of spell use?

Thank you again for all your time and effort. I am astounded by the amount of effort all this took, and your dedication to the craft.

 

[Brainwatch]

He knew he should feel joy, elation, triumph, but he did not. The heroes had won. Most had survived, the Adversary lay dead, the world was safe (for now). But all he felt was dread. The story was over, his heart was sunk, his soul filled with dread.

"Whatever shall I read now?" he silently asked the wind.

 

[Sagiro]

Fabulous ending and the best campaign ever, other than the incomplete one which someone abandoned writing about. Thank you for inspiring me to continue GMing over the last....has it been 15 years? longer?

Questions:
1. What would have been the plot arc for the former PCs (i.e., Tor) that left the game?

I hadn't filled in all of the details, but had Tor not left, his connection with the Delfirians would have figured more prominently in the main plot. For Mrs. Horn, I think I planned to make her missing husband more of an important plot element. Ditto Kay and the Yrimpa.

2. How did some of the early choices (Venifact Colossus, Not pursuing the Sharsun) impact the plot lines?

That kind of question is very difficult to answer, because I never had to make those choices. In many cases where the party seemingly had a free-will choice between two options, I usually could read my players well enough to spend more time planning the choice they ended up making. So, I didn't spend a lot of time worrying about what would have happened had they let the Ventifact Colossus live and start a giant turtle rampage around the kingdom. As for the Sharshun, I would have had to move them up the timeline, but I don't know that it would have affected the Grand Plot Arc(tm) too severely.

3. What were the most surprising PC choices in game that you had to adjust to, outside of spell use?

I recall that the main instances of this came with sub-plots the party chose NOT to pursue. I may have mentioned this, but I had an entire political adventure loosely mapped out, regarding the dissolution of the Guild of Chains and the push-back the party would receive from connected noble houses in Djaw. I also thought they'd try to track down the skeletal army they knew was stomping around Kivia, and had an adventure sketched out for that, but the Company never pursued either of those. Because those adventures never materialized, instead I brought back the enslaved-dwarf plot as a sidelight to the confrontation with Azhant the Ancient, and re-used the skeletal army when they were eventually used by the Black Circle to assault the Skysteel Hole.

Thank you again for all your time and effort. I am astounded by the amount of effort all this took, and your dedication to the craft.

And I appreciate you taking the time to read everything!