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From humbug Wed Jun 9 18:31:55 1999
From: humbug
Subject: and more.
Newsgroups: redbrick.rpg.board
Organization:
Summary:
Keywords:
User-Agent: tin/pre-1.4-980202 (UNIX) (SunOS/5.7 (i86pc))
Status: RO
Content-Length: 8034
Lines: 153
Okay, a revised dramatis personae.
Eltric. Still a Cleric of the Passing. cian/pooka.
Nickos, and Meow. A Conjurer and his cat. brian/humbug.
Slate. A zombie hating dwarf. mike/sandman.
Greebo. A funny little birdy Transmuter. steve/thayl.
Chanti. He has a funny helmet. dave/sares.
The D/GM. Catching up on his usual PC killing rate? liam/ggoat.
Another reterospective event. In the time the mine is being set up
it is decided to use the 'permanency' spell rather than risk losing or
wasting it sometime in the future. Nickos casts 'levitate' on himself
followed by 'permanency' and thenceforth is able to levitate up or down
at will, but has a hard time walking at first.
Stepping out of the portal the party witness something not seen by them in
months : a night sky. Looking upwards to the stars Greebo is able to
determine that this is neither his own home planet, nor that of the rest
of the party. But from the carvings in the cave he is pretty sure there
should be a hill nearby with another teleport location.
Duly moving to the top of a nearby hill the party gather their
bearings, and Eltric settles the horse that has never 'seen' nightime
before. At this point there is a flash, and off in the distance the
group see a what appears to be a bonfire last for about 5 seconds.
Greebo says that the party are not in the correct place, and seeing as
the location of the flash is on the way to the next hill, the group head
toward it. As we press on something passes overhead startling the horse
but Eltric manages to get it back under control. Looking to the sky
nothing is to be seen, but as the group head towards the point of the
original flash of light, more are to be seen, apparently moving off in
a line.
In due time the whole party are investigating the random metal
room in the middle of nowhere. The room contains nothing the party can
make sense of.. blocky armour designed for someone with 4 arms, or legs,
a screen on the wall, and a swiveling chair that is too small or not
wide enough (or too big for Greebo). The room itself is made of some
sort of thin metal, with the look of having been hammered, or pounded
repeatedly. The earth outside is scorched, presumably from the fire
that was seen. There are holes in the roof too, where pipes might have
been.
Pressing on to the top of the next hill another random metal room
in the middle of nowhere is encountered. This one apparently has two
doors, both closed and currently unopenable, and the room is self
is a more irregular shape than the other room encountered. Nickos
levitates up about 15ft to get a look at the roof of the structure, and
as he does, startles a humanoid creature who falls off the roof. Greebo
moves to administer natural healing, and the party begins conversing,
thanks to Eltrics communication spell, with the person.
He is humanoid, not too tall, and wears a strange metal helmet. It has
no visible openings or eyeholes, but Chanti seems to be happy with it.
Chanti's race have been enslaved by another race, the Modrons, and he
seems to have been part of a mission to enslave this planet too.
Chanti dislikes the Modrons, and is eager to join up with the group and
to get away from them. Chanti recognises the room the group currently
surround as being Modron work, and when the other room is mentioned
to him he figures he may be able to open the door with something
salvaged from it.
In due course, the the group are back at the 2nd room with a
glove from the Quadron armour, which is able to open the door into the
room. There are two teleport rooms inside, only one of which the glove
key can unlock and access. The rooms are too small for Eltric's horse and
cart, and these must be left behind. Slate offers to 'see to' the horse,
but Eltric declines. Drinking some of the green potion Eltric steps onto
the star in the middle of the teleport room. Eltric disappears, and the
green column of light appears for the rest of the group to step into.
Once again the party find themselves standing outdoors at night.
Eltric looks to the sky, and reports that the group (well, Slate, Nickos
and Eltric in any case) have found their home world, and that he figures
that they are about one hundred miles south of the main continent on one
of a series of islands.
In the morn finding civilisation is set about. Nickos levitates
up a few hundred metres to get an idea of the lie of the land, and
the party heads northwards towards the sea. Soon some cliffs overlooking
the sea are reached, and it is decided to head off west along the
shoreline.
In the middle of the third day, from up ahead on the trail,
three Elves spring from behind some grass and rocks and loose their
arrows at the party.
At Nickos' behest Slate refrains from charging straight at them
with his axe, and Nickos shouts out in Elven, calling for the Elves to
stop their attack, and that he wants to talk. Slate is hit with an arrow,
and shows uncanny restraint in not showing the Elves how his axe works.
The Elves do, however, lower their bows a little, and look to their
leader who seems to be willing to talk to Nickos for the moment. Nickos
explains that the group are merely looking for a settlement of any kind,
and after Eltric casts his communication spell, and all can talk to all
others, things are amicable enough. The Elves are bandits, and offer to
take the party to a nearby fort town for a few gold pieces. When Greebo
offers to provide them with fire from a 'burning hands' spell they are
extemely please, even though he messes up (igniting the wood too) and
burns one of them bad enough for Eltric to have to heal him.
On the way to the town they explain what has been happening on this
world.
It is still impossible to create fire without using magic, and
hard to maintain a fire once it has been created. Also most of the world
has been overrun by the Illari (?) and their allies, a race fitting the
description of the Modrons, the same people who enslaved Chanti's world.
It is hard to believe that the city of Specularum has been overrun, but
it has. And nobody is sure if Gallantry, the centre of magical studies on
this world, or even Alfheim, home of the elves, still stands.
The invaders seem to have abilities the people of this world
cannot defend against, and some of the southern isles, like the one
the party is currently on, are amongst the only unmolsted places left,
but they feel being overrun is inevitable.
Another thing of interest learned from the Elves is that Slate was
trapped in the gaze of the skull for about 500 years. The Elves know more
about history and wars, and from Slate's description of recent events
before he found the skull they work out how long he was there.
Furthermore, it is realised that about 8 or 10 years have passed
since the party were last on this planet, with no more than 1 year
having passed on the other worlds from the point of view of the group.
With the town in sight the Elves depart, and the party head off
towards it. Paying the necessary entry fee/bribe to the guards the group
gain entry to the town and head towards the house/church of some priests
reported to be of the same religion as Eltric.
Glad to see another member of their small (even before the
invasion) religion the group are welcomed by the priests.
The purpose of returning to home being to gain training, the party set
about doing so. The priests train Eltric for free, happy to help one of
their small number, but Slate, Nikcos and Greebo have more trouble.
There is a fighters guild, and both a powerful Conjurer and Transmuter in
town, so all three of Slate, Nickos and Greebo can find training, but it
is expensive.
In short. The gem found in the bearcave is of value to the
Conjurer, and Nickos is trained in exchange for it. Greebo gets trained
in exchange for a few of the spells from the discovered spellbook. Slate,
although reluctant to part with it, is trained in exchange for the magic
shortsword he also found in the bearcave.
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