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Swords of the Amanar - the Return

Aethan

First Post
So, if you've been on these boards for a while, then you might recall that I used to post a recap of my D&D game here, which I call Swords of the Amanar. We've been on hiatus for some months while another DM ran a game, but, as we're back to playing this upcoming Thursday, I wanted to get things warmed back up here.

THE SEEKERS

Even as one retired group of heroes, The Unbroken Circle, reformed and set off on their most perilous adventure yet, a new group of Questers, one which, only recently, decided to call themselves the Seekers, set forth on their own Quests. Their descriptions are below, but their adventures to date can be found at http://home.attbi.com/~iyu/amanar/heroes.htm

THE HEROES

Aldemar
Rescued from a life as a gladiator slave by Randemara the Red, the young human called Aldemar worked hard as a disciple of the Empty Palm technique. Rather than learning the traditional martial arts styles of the school, however, Aldemar studied under Randemara to master his Gift, the power of psionics. Now, he uses his powers to enhance his abilities with his two-bladed sword. Under Randemara, he was the silent pupil. Now, out from under her wing, he has the chance to fly on his own. Recently, a bizarre encounter with a strange, not entirely human figure has left Aldemar with a yellow crystal embedded in his right palm. It is yet to be seen what effect this will have.

Artimus Cooper
Artimus Cooper of Traveler's Rest is a bard by profession, and, by sheer charisma, he's beginning to emerge as a guiding force for the companions. He spent a goodly time before the beginning of the group's adventures as the chantyman for a Skyrunner ship called The Fleeting Star. Thinking he had lucked into a new patron, he cast his fortunes with Celissia Starbrow, an elven warrior/bard. When she left with the rest of the Unbroken Circle, he found himself with a new group of companions. Sensing the possibility of the group becoming a company of Questers, he seems to have resigned himself to guiding them in that direction. He has also been practising more with weaponry, in an effort to better bolster the group in battle.

Cotterpin Temminel
The "son" of the gnomish wizard Bastophus Temminel ap Thadwick, Cotterpin is a sentient stork, created in one of the wizard's experiments. Cotterpin displays distinctly gnomish tendencies, including a fascination with technology and inventing, as well as a bent for magick. His first invention, created with his "Father's" aid, was a backpack containing a set of fully functioning mechanical arms that allow him to manipulate objects. He is a good-natured, if odd, member of the companions.

Madcap
No one, including Madcap himself, knows this archer's real name. He was found wandering in the northern wilderness of Thassaley by Garantor Bloodaxe, a half-orc ranger. When the amnesiac human's eccentric manners became clear to the half-orc, he nicknamed his charge Madcap. Madcap seems somewhat shattered of mind, and though he makes his new friends laugh, how reliable he is remains to be seen. He may possess other skills beyond archery, but, if he does, they remain an unknown quantity, as does he. A recent encounter with bandits suggests that, in another part of the world, Madcap has slain a powerful wizard and is wanted for murder. The truth of this charge remains to be seen.

Ranlok Swifthammer
Ranlok is a dwarf, trained as both a ranger and a priest of Illuinen, the Making God. Under the tutelege of his uncle, Beldurin Broadhammer, he was learning the ways of smithing. When his uncle revealed himself part of the Unbroken Circle, he found himself cast adrift, and he has looked at this new group of Questers as a possible path to follow. With a sword in one hand and a hammer in the other, he can be a devastating battler, and his knowledge of woods lore makes him an invaluable member of the group.

Red Talon
Red Talon is a hish'ta, one of the lizard men who inhabit the jungle planet of Cabaleth. Taken at a very young age to Olothin as a pit slave, Red Talon has been raised to be a killer. This savage training, however, has been tempered by the teachings of Dyne, a fellow galdiator, who helped the boy learn that life did not have to be all killing and dying. When Dyne was slain, Red Talon escaped, eventually bringing word of his friend's death to the Unbroken Circle. Clad in his bone armor and wielding a gyrspike, Red Talon cuts a barbaric and exotic figure amongst the others. Hopefully, his proclivity for violence will be channeled to good uses by his time with the Seekers.

Saqqara Ghostpaw
Saqqara is a sorcerer of the Atuki, the tribal raccoon-like folk from Ifildrith. He came to Olothin as a stowaway on a Skyrunner, but he was found out and imprisoned. Luckily for him, a halfling by the name of Tilman (Tim) Greenway was breaking out someone else and took pity on him. Tim and Saqqara became fast friends, so Saqqara gladly accompanied the halfling to the reunion of the Unbroken Circle. Without his friend, however, the sorcerer is somewhat quiet and reserved. Only time will tell if he will emerge from his solitude and make new friends among the Seekers. His magicks, which revolve around trickery, would certainly be a boon to them.

Temper
No one is sure exactly what race Temper is. He is swathed in robes, veils, and scarves, and he covers his hands with gloves. He is small of stature, but his build is impossible to guess in the shapeless garments. The massive greatsword he carries marks him a warrior, and the robes he wears identify him also as a priest of Maldemyr, patron god of paladins. Temper lives up to his name and seems to have much rage boiling under the surface. Whether he can temper this into something that can aid the Seekers remains to be seen.

Willem Shepherd - NPC
The ninth of the Seekers, and the first that has no direct ties to the Unbroken Circle, is the halfling boy, Willem Shepherd. Although some 27 years of age, he is only the equivalent of a 14 year old human in maturity. Nevertheless, when his family were wiped out by goblins, he demanded to be allowed to go with the companions to seek vengeance and to get answers as to why his family died. How the deaths of his family will affect this young adult and what path he will eventually follow are tales for a future time. He has picked up the basics of rangerhood from Ranlok and obviously intends to keep seeking justice for the death of his family.

Edryn Bollynock - NPC
A gnome of the hidden city of Aboken, Edryn is the tenth member of the Seekers. He admits to have been a street thief, once upon a time, but he has given up that trade, preferring, instead, the path of cleric in the service to the Twins, gods of trickery and mischief. He has an affable manner, and he tends to eschew battle whenever possible. He has already proven himself a great help in the short time he has been amongst the companions.
 

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Amanar Webpage Updates

Finally got my copy of Deities and Demigods, so the "Powers of the Amanar" page has gotten some updating with the domains included there. It is at http://home.attbi.com/~iyu/amanar/powers.htm

Also, finally got the mammoth "Lands of Olothin" document up online. I hope to scan my World Map of Olothin today and get that up there, too. The Olothin document is, predictably, at http://home.attbi.com/~iyu/amanar/olothin.htm

That's all for now. First game of the post-hiatus run tomorrow night, and I couldn't be more excited.

- Andy
 




Thanks, guys. :) Glad to be back. We played a session this past Thursday. I'll try to get something written up in the next day or two.

- Andy
 

Book 3, Chapter 1

Swords of the Amanar

Book Three: Dark Shadows of the Bright Empire

Chapter One: The Brutal Highwaymen

Some heartfelt farewells were made with the Goodwines, and the Seekers set forth bearing many bottles of Goodwine mead to help drum up possible mead trade in Kwan-Dai-Yuk. Eleniel took to the air and the crew headed towards Ardaven, confident that they would arrive late that evening. Cotterpin took the first flight, and, after eight hours, he began to feel some fatigue, so
Artimus took over the flying duties.

As Artimus piloted the graceful ship towards the wondrous city, several members of the group noticed two figures on the ground waiving to them. Only one or two of the group, however, noticed the large humanoid figures lurking behind boulders just ahead of the people on the ground. Artimus was one of them, and he immediately began to circle downwards towards the
ground. Willem, Edryn, Saqqara, Ranlok, and Madcap took up positions to fire slings, magic missiles, bows, and crossbows at the brutish figures, while Temper, Cotterpin, Aldemar, and Red Talon scrambled for the cargo hold, where Cotterpin's winching system was set up. As the ground team
prepared to emerge and rescue the two travelers, the fire cover team caused some damage in the ranks. More, Artimus found that, since he could see the large creatures (which proved to be ogres), he could affect them with his magicks. His sleep spell made one of them slump to the ground unconscious.
Pleased with this newfound ability, he held ready throughout the combat to move the ship as necessary.

Once the ship was in place, Eleniel opened a hatch in her lower hull and allowed the winch platform to be lowered. As Cotterpin lowered it, Madcap called to the two travelers, telling them to head back towards the platform. Everyone was a bit surprised to see that both the travelers, an old man and a young woman, were holding battle crouches, slowly retreating, instead of fleeing like normal merchants. They retreated to the platform,
and the ground team jumped off. Although several members of the team were keen to simply rescue the pair and fly off, others seemed hungry for battle. The ogres, for their part, were similarly ready. Four seemed of the normal brutish variety, but their leader, dressed in a chain shirt and wielding a fearsomely large spiked chain, seemed more than the others. His eyes gleamed with a love of battle and a frenzy for the fight. Perhaps
matching this, Temper and Red Talon moved forward, towards the group. Cotterpin, leaning out of the ship's hold, used a sleep spell to take the fight out of another of the ogres, and more missile fire peppered the foes. Edryn, thinking the ground team might need some more healing at their disposal, headed down towards the cargo hold.

Temper and Aldemar each engaged one of the normal ogres, while the big leader and Red Talon moved towards each other. Much to Red Talon's dismay, as he moved closer, the ogre warrior suddenly shifted his grip on his spiked chain and struck the hish'ta a savage blow with it. Red Talon's anger rose, and he entered into a battle rage to equal the ogre's own.
Aldemar made short work of his ogre and began moving towards the leader, while Temper struck a few more blows on his. The two travelers each used crossbows to strike the ogre leader, and the archers and spellcasters above concentrated their fire on him as well.

Before Aldemar could assist Red Talon, the hish'ta struck a couple of strong blows...and was cut down by the spiked chain for his trouble. The young woman, seeing one of her rescuers struck down, tried to go to his aid, only to be struck down herself. Edryn arrived and dove into the fray, using his gnomish techniques to dodge the ogre's blows. Temper felled his
enemy and moved to engage the leader as well. Both Aldemar and Temper were sent into unconsciousness by the ogre chief, but not before they both wounded it grievously. As Edryn was attempting to heal his friends, an arrow from Madcap's bow struck the ogre chief dead between the eyes, and it finally slumped to the ground, slain.

Some healing ensued, and the two travelers were identified as Hadran Redsky and his granddaughter, Mara. They were both monks of the Empty Palm School of technique, and they were headed to Ardaven to seek passage to Kwon-Dai-Yuk. Artimus and Hadran discussed the possibility of the Redskys taking passage on Eleniel, but no terms were set. A bit of searching around located the ogres' lair, and a sizeable trove was taken. In addition, as Artimus pointed out, they were now the King's Men, as privateers, and they had effectively slain their first "enemies of the Kingdom" as their charter charged them to do. Treasures safely stowed for future counting and examination, they traveled on towards the city.

Ardaven appeared first as a purple flame in the distance. Then, when they cleared the Crown of Flame mountains, they were able to see the many lights of he city below them. They sailed to Uptown, the floating island that is the center of Ardaven's skyrunning trade, and were met by official ships that guided them in to a dock. There they were directed to speak with Lord Kellurion Silverwind, the King's Reeve in Uptown. They were guided to the lord's manor and received graciously by the lord's servants. Finally, they were ushered into a well-appointed study where the lord himself, a silver-haired elf in official-looking garments, saluted them with a glass of wine. "Welcome to Ardaven," he said, with a polite smile.


To be continued!
 

DM notes for Book 3, Chapter 1

The DM speaks!

I wanted to start things off with a bang, but I almost started things off with our first fatality. The lead ogre was a 5th level barbarian, and he was dealing 2d6+13 when raging, with over 100 hit points. Very nasty! When Red Talon was stabilized, he was at -9 hit points.

Some city-based RP tonight. Can't wait! More soon!

- Andy
 
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