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Welcome to the Halmae (updated 2/27/07)
- Thread starter spyscribe
- Start date
Fajitas
Hold the Peppers
spyscribe said:
>sigh< I'm such a softie. See, the crit that the beast used to kill that poor student was rolled for Lira. But, well, it would have killed, killed her dead.
Now, I don't mind killing characters, but I hate it when they die stupid, unsatisfying deaths. In this case, it would have been due to a deep strategic miscalculation (leaving the sorcerer alone in the back to deal with the mage-killing monsters) which was made before the PCs had enough information to make good decisions.
So I took pity on her. That once. Lira has now used up her GM fiat.
Besides, spyscribe was a pretty new player.
And I was fairly sure I would kill her on the next round.
spyscribe
First Post
Sorry about the delay in posting this update. I'm on the road. Still, look for a series of short, but frequest posts over the next week or so.
Part the Twenty-first
In which: the party attempts a rescue.
Annika’s door shudders on its hinges, the beast lets out a blood-chilling howl and...
falls silent.
Before Annika has time to recover her wits a huge man opens her door. They stare at each other for a few seconds and Annika realizes he is still more boy than man, a few years younger than herself. "Umm…" her rescuer says, "You should probably get out of here." Annika wastes no time following his instructions. She runs for the West doors—smashed to splinters on their hinges—and doesn't stop until she's caught by a group of her classmates.
It takes a little work to convince them she's all right, but Annika soon gets a bowl and joins the line of students in the bucket brigade. It's only then that she has time to wonder who the people who slew the beasts were.
Further down the burning building an elf coaxes a warhorse forward, pulling out bars over one of the dormitory windows. Several students tumble out the window, but now that the doors are open, most that can are braving the hallways.
Throwing a bowl of water against the flaming building Annika sees that she ran right past another shadow beast without even noticing it, as it was completely surrounded by men wielding swords. As she watches, a man in leather armor sinks a short-sword into its side and the creature boils away into thin air.
The man sheathes his weapon and yells down the south corridor, “Lira! Get out of there!”
Several of Annika’s classmates come running out, followed by a woman about her age with soot-streaked red hair.
“Is that everyone?” he asks.
The woman shakes her head. “No, but it’s everyone who’s going to make it out.”
At that moment, the burning administration building, four stories of flaming logs that went up like a torch in the initial explosion, collapses in on itself. Amid the hail of burning debris, Annika watches as molten hot sparks shoot upward, then float on the wind to the academy greenhouse, where they quickly begin to burn.
to be continued...
Part the Twenty-first
In which: the party attempts a rescue.
Annika’s door shudders on its hinges, the beast lets out a blood-chilling howl and...
falls silent.
Before Annika has time to recover her wits a huge man opens her door. They stare at each other for a few seconds and Annika realizes he is still more boy than man, a few years younger than herself. "Umm…" her rescuer says, "You should probably get out of here." Annika wastes no time following his instructions. She runs for the West doors—smashed to splinters on their hinges—and doesn't stop until she's caught by a group of her classmates.
It takes a little work to convince them she's all right, but Annika soon gets a bowl and joins the line of students in the bucket brigade. It's only then that she has time to wonder who the people who slew the beasts were.
Further down the burning building an elf coaxes a warhorse forward, pulling out bars over one of the dormitory windows. Several students tumble out the window, but now that the doors are open, most that can are braving the hallways.
Throwing a bowl of water against the flaming building Annika sees that she ran right past another shadow beast without even noticing it, as it was completely surrounded by men wielding swords. As she watches, a man in leather armor sinks a short-sword into its side and the creature boils away into thin air.
The man sheathes his weapon and yells down the south corridor, “Lira! Get out of there!”
Several of Annika’s classmates come running out, followed by a woman about her age with soot-streaked red hair.
“Is that everyone?” he asks.
The woman shakes her head. “No, but it’s everyone who’s going to make it out.”
At that moment, the burning administration building, four stories of flaming logs that went up like a torch in the initial explosion, collapses in on itself. Amid the hail of burning debris, Annika watches as molten hot sparks shoot upward, then float on the wind to the academy greenhouse, where they quickly begin to burn.
to be continued...
spyscribe
First Post
Part the Twenty-Second:
In which: the roof (among other things) is on fire.
As it becomes apparent that everyone in the North Dormitory is either out or dead, Anvil begins shouting to the bucket brigade to re-direct its efforts. Before he can get the line to shift, Professor Alexandra is at his elbow.
"Didn't you get my sending?" she asks the harried Justicar.
"Yes," he replies. "We had to get the students out first."
"You must keep the fires away from the alchemy vault. If it explodes, there will be disastrous consequences for the entire city!"
Professor Alexandra points to the flaming greenhouse. No one lives there. Aside from rare plants from throughout the Halmae, it's empty.
“That is built onto the side of the Alchemy building.”
Anvil decides not to ask what disastrous means.
"If we can get to my office I have some items which may be useful, but the building is already on fire, we'll have to hurry."
Anvil is already redirecting the bucket brigade to the greenhouse. "Take whomever you need. We'll do what we can here."
In which: the roof (among other things) is on fire.
As it becomes apparent that everyone in the North Dormitory is either out or dead, Anvil begins shouting to the bucket brigade to re-direct its efforts. Before he can get the line to shift, Professor Alexandra is at his elbow.
"Didn't you get my sending?" she asks the harried Justicar.
"Yes," he replies. "We had to get the students out first."
"You must keep the fires away from the alchemy vault. If it explodes, there will be disastrous consequences for the entire city!"
Professor Alexandra points to the flaming greenhouse. No one lives there. Aside from rare plants from throughout the Halmae, it's empty.
“That is built onto the side of the Alchemy building.”
Anvil decides not to ask what disastrous means.
"If we can get to my office I have some items which may be useful, but the building is already on fire, we'll have to hurry."
Anvil is already redirecting the bucket brigade to the greenhouse. "Take whomever you need. We'll do what we can here."
Fajitas
Hold the Peppers
dpdx said:
To my extreme irritation, I was pretty much unable to find rules in the Core books for firefighting, so I had to make it up on my own.
The basic rule was this: Each round, a burning square would ignite adjacent squares (depending on wind direction). Those adjacent squares got a DC 15 save. If they failed, they became "nascent" fires, just starting to catch. The next round, nascent squares would become full on burning squares. The round after that, they would set their neighbors on fire.
The more interesting rules ended up being those for putting fires out. They varied depending on technique, and I'll cover those once you see the full arsenal the PCs had at their disposal.
The real fun I had was going through the magic item lists in the DMG, making a list of all the widgets that a) would be useful for fire fighting, b) wouldn't be troublesome if the PCs ran off with them, and c) were within Professor Alexandra's ability to make (even professors at the Mages' Academy aren't much higher than 9th level arcanists...)
spyscribe
First Post
Speaking of magical widgets used to fight fires...
Part the Twenty-Third:
In which: Reyu acquires magical cookware, and Thatch, a fashion accessory.
Reyu, Dennis, and Thatch follow close behind Professor Alexandra as she runs across campus to the artificy building. The North side of the building has already started to burn.
The door to Professor Alexandra’s storeroom is located at the back of her classroom. Thatch puts a shoulder to it, and with his magically enhanced strength easily knocks it in. Of course, the fact that it was half burned through didn’t hurt either.
Behind him, Professor Alexandra swears. Then, she casts and Thatch feels a cool touch on this back of his neck.
“Umm…?”
“Resist elements,” she answers. “It won’t help much, but it’s something.”
Thatch moves to a part of the floor that isn't on fire and uses his cloak to beat out flames that are creeping across the threshold. Reyu, Dennis, and Professor Alexandra slip by into the long storage area.
The Professor quickly picks up two scrolls and a wand from a bin near the door. She looks around frantically for a few seconds.
“What are you looking for?” Reyu asks her.
The professor points to a fallen set of shelves. They have toppled forward, trapping their contents beneath them. "If you can pick that up, there should be a pitcher you can use."
Thatch gives Dennis a questioning look. He's sure it will be good for the bucket brigade, but from a professor at a Mage's Academy he'd expected something a little more... magical.
Dennis shrugs, and tries to find a good position to help Thatch lift the shelves. Despite Thatch’s even greater than usual strength, the task proves problematic if only because it is hard to find a place to stand near them that is not on fire.
Reyu and the Professor both use their cloaks to beat back the flames until finally the men are able to get a proper grip on the problem and heave the shelves upright.
Once that is accomplished, Dennis and Thatch start stomping out the flames between them and the door while Reyu darts in and grabs a pewter pitcher from a pile of miscellaneous objects jumbled on the ground. Hoping that the object is more than it seems, Reyu turns to where the floor is catching fire behind her and makes a pouring motion with the pitcher.
Nothing happens.
"Say, 'fresh fountain,'" Professor Alexandra tells her, digging through the pile to rescue what looks like a ladies' fan from a smoking box.
Reyu tightens her grip on the pitcher. "Fresh fountain!" she shouts, coughing.
Instantly, water gushes from the pitcher and splashes onto the floor, putting out the nascent flames.
Dennis uses his cloak to beat out a patch of fire creeping across the doorway. “If we don’t need anything else, I think we should get out of here,” he calls.
Professor Alexandra takes one last moment to look around the largest storehouse of arcane magical items in the Confederacy. “That’s it,” she agrees reluctantly, and runs for the door.
Reyu follows. Water continues to pour out of the pitcher, leaving a wet trail behind her. "Professor..." Reyu asks, "how do I--?"
"Tell it to stop," Professor Alexandra answers her unfinished question.
"Stop it," Reyu tells the pitcher.
The pitcher is instantly empty. Well, thinks Reyu, this should be interesting.
Part the Twenty-Third:
In which: Reyu acquires magical cookware, and Thatch, a fashion accessory.
Reyu, Dennis, and Thatch follow close behind Professor Alexandra as she runs across campus to the artificy building. The North side of the building has already started to burn.
The door to Professor Alexandra’s storeroom is located at the back of her classroom. Thatch puts a shoulder to it, and with his magically enhanced strength easily knocks it in. Of course, the fact that it was half burned through didn’t hurt either.
Behind him, Professor Alexandra swears. Then, she casts and Thatch feels a cool touch on this back of his neck.
“Umm…?”
“Resist elements,” she answers. “It won’t help much, but it’s something.”
Thatch moves to a part of the floor that isn't on fire and uses his cloak to beat out flames that are creeping across the threshold. Reyu, Dennis, and Professor Alexandra slip by into the long storage area.
The Professor quickly picks up two scrolls and a wand from a bin near the door. She looks around frantically for a few seconds.
“What are you looking for?” Reyu asks her.
The professor points to a fallen set of shelves. They have toppled forward, trapping their contents beneath them. "If you can pick that up, there should be a pitcher you can use."
Thatch gives Dennis a questioning look. He's sure it will be good for the bucket brigade, but from a professor at a Mage's Academy he'd expected something a little more... magical.
Dennis shrugs, and tries to find a good position to help Thatch lift the shelves. Despite Thatch’s even greater than usual strength, the task proves problematic if only because it is hard to find a place to stand near them that is not on fire.
Reyu and the Professor both use their cloaks to beat back the flames until finally the men are able to get a proper grip on the problem and heave the shelves upright.
Once that is accomplished, Dennis and Thatch start stomping out the flames between them and the door while Reyu darts in and grabs a pewter pitcher from a pile of miscellaneous objects jumbled on the ground. Hoping that the object is more than it seems, Reyu turns to where the floor is catching fire behind her and makes a pouring motion with the pitcher.
Nothing happens.
"Say, 'fresh fountain,'" Professor Alexandra tells her, digging through the pile to rescue what looks like a ladies' fan from a smoking box.
Reyu tightens her grip on the pitcher. "Fresh fountain!" she shouts, coughing.
Instantly, water gushes from the pitcher and splashes onto the floor, putting out the nascent flames.
Dennis uses his cloak to beat out a patch of fire creeping across the doorway. “If we don’t need anything else, I think we should get out of here,” he calls.
Professor Alexandra takes one last moment to look around the largest storehouse of arcane magical items in the Confederacy. “That’s it,” she agrees reluctantly, and runs for the door.
Reyu follows. Water continues to pour out of the pitcher, leaving a wet trail behind her. "Professor..." Reyu asks, "how do I--?"
"Tell it to stop," Professor Alexandra answers her unfinished question.
"Stop it," Reyu tells the pitcher.
The pitcher is instantly empty. Well, thinks Reyu, this should be interesting.
thatdarncat
Overlord of Chat
is sitting by the burning dorm with a stick and marshmellows, happily toasting.
Last edited:
Fajitas
Hold the Peppers
And now, we enter the age of the truly multi-media story hour. This is a visual aid for the next installment: a map of the current state of the School of Alchemy. Will our daring heroes contain the fire? Or will our intrepid DM be forced to roll five times on the table of spells for magical traps (3.0 DMG, p117) and apply those effects to all of Dar Pykos?
Only spyscribe can say...
Only spyscribe can say...
Last edited:
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