seasong's Light Against the Dark III (Sep 29th)
- Thread starter seasong
- Start date
Greppa of Tartwater
First Post
*pout*
If I had your steel trap memory I would write it down, but since I'm working with Ziplock there's bound to be leakage.
If I had your steel trap memory I would write it down, but since I'm working with Ziplock there's bound to be leakage.
seasong
First Post
Incidentally, some notes on Uggrahd itself.
I wanted a really big mountain, so I made it a flat 10 miles high, with the first three miles being the usual 30-60 degree slopes a person might expect to see, and the remainder sloping sharply upward into something closer to an approximation of a slowly narrowing pillar punching upward through the sky. The upper third of the mountain is near-vertical, narrowing by a few feet every 5-10 yards, with occasional ledges and cracks to rest on and in.
Careful climbing is about half a mile per hour, and is exhausting work. An hour of climbing can utterly exhaust the uninitiated, and while the climbing group consisted of life-hardened people, they were still prone to wearing out.
Walking and scrambling up to the part where it got hard took half of the day, and the remainder of the first day was spent learning how to climb Uggrahd - they didn't even get half way up.
The second day, after careful camping and watches on one of the larger ledges they'd found, they made better time. Although exhaustion and dizziness had set in only a few hours into the climb, they'd reached the upper third ofUggrahd, and climbed a total of 3 miles into the atmosphere.
Looking from that height, more than a mile above the next tallest mountain in the area, must have been really thrilling for most of them, and especially Bellos. And they likely took a good long while looking at it, because if they stopped looking at it, they had to consider that the hardest part was yet to come.
The hardest part took them all of a day, and several rest stops, just to hit the cloud layer. Here, Xeras' suspected influence was most evident, as occasional lightning flashes would roll through the thunderhead clouds surrounding Uggrahd.
Looking down, the rest of the world became hazy and indistinct, seen through a sea of fog. It was at this point that they discovered the natural chimney.
Brief geekdom note: I like transformative stages, afterlife imagery, etc., particularly in an event as innately spiritual as climbing Uggrahd was meant to be. Tunnels (and caves, and going down into either to seek wisdom) is a time-honored tradition, especially done right. I tried
.
Climbing up through the chimney, it became pitch black, and out of slight paranoia, Greppa wouldn't use his Allas-touched light spells. He wasn't sure he wanted her to know what he was doing.
So they climbed in the dark, amidst stone more ancient than their entire civilization. Perhaps they imagined a heartbeat at the center of the mountain. Perhaps they heard nothing.
After too long in the dark, a crack of light was visible ahead. And, long minutes later, had grown into an opening.
When they stepped out, there was only a little ways left to climb, perhaps a half-hour's worth... and the land was invisible, hidden by a vast, strange landscape of dark clouds.
They climbed to the top.
I wanted a really big mountain, so I made it a flat 10 miles high, with the first three miles being the usual 30-60 degree slopes a person might expect to see, and the remainder sloping sharply upward into something closer to an approximation of a slowly narrowing pillar punching upward through the sky. The upper third of the mountain is near-vertical, narrowing by a few feet every 5-10 yards, with occasional ledges and cracks to rest on and in.
Careful climbing is about half a mile per hour, and is exhausting work. An hour of climbing can utterly exhaust the uninitiated, and while the climbing group consisted of life-hardened people, they were still prone to wearing out.
Walking and scrambling up to the part where it got hard took half of the day, and the remainder of the first day was spent learning how to climb Uggrahd - they didn't even get half way up.
The second day, after careful camping and watches on one of the larger ledges they'd found, they made better time. Although exhaustion and dizziness had set in only a few hours into the climb, they'd reached the upper third ofUggrahd, and climbed a total of 3 miles into the atmosphere.
Looking from that height, more than a mile above the next tallest mountain in the area, must have been really thrilling for most of them, and especially Bellos. And they likely took a good long while looking at it, because if they stopped looking at it, they had to consider that the hardest part was yet to come.
The hardest part took them all of a day, and several rest stops, just to hit the cloud layer. Here, Xeras' suspected influence was most evident, as occasional lightning flashes would roll through the thunderhead clouds surrounding Uggrahd.
Looking down, the rest of the world became hazy and indistinct, seen through a sea of fog. It was at this point that they discovered the natural chimney.
Brief geekdom note: I like transformative stages, afterlife imagery, etc., particularly in an event as innately spiritual as climbing Uggrahd was meant to be. Tunnels (and caves, and going down into either to seek wisdom) is a time-honored tradition, especially done right. I tried
.Climbing up through the chimney, it became pitch black, and out of slight paranoia, Greppa wouldn't use his Allas-touched light spells. He wasn't sure he wanted her to know what he was doing.
So they climbed in the dark, amidst stone more ancient than their entire civilization. Perhaps they imagined a heartbeat at the center of the mountain. Perhaps they heard nothing.
After too long in the dark, a crack of light was visible ahead. And, long minutes later, had grown into an opening.
When they stepped out, there was only a little ways left to climb, perhaps a half-hour's worth... and the land was invisible, hidden by a vast, strange landscape of dark clouds.
They climbed to the top.
Climbing mountains to seek wisdom is another time-honored tradition. I grok where you're going with this. Very cool. Very Joseph Campbell.
Will we get to see updated character sheets for the newly-transformed heroes, or will we have to wait for it in-story? I'm curious as to what the ancestors did for them, specifically.
seasong
First Post
Re: Newly transformed heroes: I'm working on an update for the Rogue's Gallery thread. It will include the supa-wish effects, although they can primarily be translated as a +3 ECL, so that I can throw really nasty stuff like ... well, I'll leave any spoilers to Greppa.
Re: Climbing mountains:
. Uggrahd was a kind of turning point for the campaign. For one thing, it was confirmation of the hints dropped by Belial, shaking the faith of the Chosen of Allas. It was also a reasonably powerful foreshadowing - the PCs know the struggle that is coming now, and they also know that they can't stop it, only strive to come out on top.
Before this, there didn't seem to be any rush, other than to get back to Theralis before the next Summer War - now, they're racing to pay off debts* and get back to Theralis so decisions can be made. Since it was a kind of marker of the story, I made the wish granted by the orc ancestors something which simply couldn't be achieved in the game system normally - it was a unique event, something to prepare them for the hard struggle ahead of them.
I'm starting to lecture now, so I'll shut up (except for the footnote
).
* Clever, clever Greppa had traded with Uripedas, a servant of Allas, for wings. Uripedas had asked in return that Greppa take care of some lightning birds that Uripedas had heard were doing bad things in the mortal world. Uripedas is unquestionably loyal to Greppa at this point, but from what source did he hear about this lightning bird?
Of course, Greppa agreed to this before he discovered that Xeras (lightning goddess!) was behind the orcs, or that Allas and Xeras were in some kind of divine grudge match. The fact that he needed to get back to Theralis as fast as possible, and the fact that he was having to detour first on behalf of this promise made in ignorance, did not escape him...
Although he didn't really put it together until much later.
Re: Climbing mountains:
. Uggrahd was a kind of turning point for the campaign. For one thing, it was confirmation of the hints dropped by Belial, shaking the faith of the Chosen of Allas. It was also a reasonably powerful foreshadowing - the PCs know the struggle that is coming now, and they also know that they can't stop it, only strive to come out on top.Before this, there didn't seem to be any rush, other than to get back to Theralis before the next Summer War - now, they're racing to pay off debts* and get back to Theralis so decisions can be made. Since it was a kind of marker of the story, I made the wish granted by the orc ancestors something which simply couldn't be achieved in the game system normally - it was a unique event, something to prepare them for the hard struggle ahead of them.
I'm starting to lecture now, so I'll shut up (except for the footnote
).* Clever, clever Greppa had traded with Uripedas, a servant of Allas, for wings. Uripedas had asked in return that Greppa take care of some lightning birds that Uripedas had heard were doing bad things in the mortal world. Uripedas is unquestionably loyal to Greppa at this point, but from what source did he hear about this lightning bird?
Of course, Greppa agreed to this before he discovered that Xeras (lightning goddess!) was behind the orcs, or that Allas and Xeras were in some kind of divine grudge match. The fact that he needed to get back to Theralis as fast as possible, and the fact that he was having to detour first on behalf of this promise made in ignorance, did not escape him...
Although he didn't really put it together until much later
.
Indigo Veil
First Post
Nice updates, Hank. More, please. ^_^ <holds up a bowl of tofu-based ice cream as a bribe>
Greppa of Tartwater
First Post
Working...
I'm working on the next update, but it may be slow. I have games tonight and tomorrow. It may be slow, but it will be fat.
I'm working on the next update, but it may be slow. I have games tonight and tomorrow. It may be slow, but it will be fat.
Fun:
Bukkenahk = hammer
Theralis = anvil
orc tribes caught between the two = ouch!
Now the party has a glimpse of just who is wielding that hammer. So what are they gonna do about it? They promised the orc ancesters to help free the Bukkenahk from the chains of Xera... how do they think they're gonna do that? *chuckle*
And +3 ECL -- I know where I'm spending my next vacation.
I've gotta say this sounds like a fun campaign. How long has it been running?
Bukkenahk = hammer
Theralis = anvil
orc tribes caught between the two = ouch!
Now the party has a glimpse of just who is wielding that hammer. So what are they gonna do about it? They promised the orc ancesters to help free the Bukkenahk from the chains of Xera... how do they think they're gonna do that? *chuckle*
And +3 ECL -- I know where I'm spending my next vacation.
I've gotta say this sounds like a fun campaign. How long has it been running?
seasong
First Post
I think it runs something along the lines of "Kick Xeras in the tail end. Repeat." How well that will work is another question entirely.Raphael said:
HehAnd +3 ECL -- I know where I'm spending my next vacation.
. Well, that's not the normal result, which is usually just an ordinary level-9 wish. This was a narrative event Since early Nov '02, so about 8 months.
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