The Eyes of a Child - 28 Feb

With three of us in attendance and a late start it seemed like a short turn around was best. We played Shadowrun and used example characters from the rulebook. We had about two hours of play time. Surely all of these time saving measures would allow that to stretch an amazing span of game time! Surely.

(Spoiler: 5 minutes and 6 seconds - mostly game setting and rule review)

Cast

• Emmy as Beanna - a tough-as-nails Mercenary who's even bigger than her gun! (But just so)
• Triften as "Quicksilver" - a combat mage who would prefer not to give a name.
  

Mission

As a favor to Chandra, Quicksilver gets the team to talk to an unfamiliar Mr. Johnson. The Johnson lays out a simple pickup job. The daughter of a corporate exec has gone missing. Corp intel places her in a warehouse in the ghoul slum south of town. Current information points to a Mage of some kind holed up with the shambling horde for unknown reasons. It is presumed that the young girl is going to play some kind of role in ritual sorcery targeting the exec. Mr. Johnson's employers would prefer that not happen.

Given that the slum is best left off the mind of the public, Mr. Johnson would prefer you keep things quiet. Just get in, grab the girl and return her safely to the pick up spot. You can recognize her by her naturally purple eyes. You have until the end of the weekend to get her into the woman's bathroom at the Monstrous Bean coffee shop on 23rd and Rol'lh Ave.

Gameplay

The team starts on the side of the Rt 69 Expressway - the only way from the city to the southern DMZ and on to Tulsa. Traffic is low this evening, but what there is is fast. Beanna opens the way to a decrepit access ladder spanning the 200 or so feet to the slums below. In preparation for the uglies, Quicksilver starts sustaining an Armor spell on his shiel^M^M^M^M^Mpartner. Beanna moves quickly and quietly down. Quicksilver ends up taking just under 5 minutes to make his way down. As he went he managed to cause part of it to crash into the slum below. These are professionals people.

One the ground, the team took stock of things. Lots of rubble. Check. Giant rats. Check. Large cinder block and steel building with windows too high up for the dwarf? Perfect. Quicksilver failed at detecting enemies in the area, but did manage to give himself a splitting headache.

At least partially in response to Beanna "wondering" if she could climb on the mage without interrupting his spell casting too much, Quicksilver checked out the building through the windows. The whole place was abandoned. It looked like a one-time assembly line of some kind, but after a dose of fire bombing. Being adventurers our heroes guess that this shell of a building must contain Interesting Secrets (tm).

At the decision to continue, Beanna whips out her better half (by mass) and charges "gung-ho" around the building. Ever the team player, Quicksilver moves "with trepidation" slightly behind her. As Beanna rounds the corner, Quicksilver's Mission Manager Metrics clock passes 05:00 minutes. This brings us to that other 6 seconds I spoiled above.

--Scene Change (this part wasn't in the game)--

After a long six hours in the service line Fred was more than ready for break time. It didn't even matter that the rations had run out. Sure, he was hungry. But after toiling for this long, even a shambling mound of endurance will settle for a smoke break. Charles wouldn't even mind lending him one of his Green Goon flesh flavored cloves.

The last year had been rough for Charles. After the change his wife Jenna had been supportive. She would joke that they could set up a new diet fad. But then she started going to that church. Suddenly he was an abomination. His urges, even if he didn't act on them, were a violation of the natural order. His children couldn't be safe around him. And he knew he had to leave.

Things were rough in the slum. "Real" eats were hard to come by. The graveyard near by helped, but Charles didn't like jerky back when he ate the kind made out of beef. It was moments with new friends, like smoking with Fred, that made things seem bearable.

"So she asks me if the dress makes her look fat. 'I can't see bitch! Ghoul, remember?' fuck man."

Both men laugh and begin to light their cigarettes. When ghouls laugh, what slim lips they have disappear and their large jaws and misshapen teeth become all that is visible. They look kind of like flesh eating zombies. Which, to be fair, is not that far off. If you don't know any ghouls it can be scary - and surprising.

Just then Fred saw the second dwarf in his life. He thought this was very odd, given that the first one was earlier the same day. Also odd was that this one was aiming a large assault rifle at him and practically humping it.

-- Scene Change (back to the game) --

Our heroes turn the corner to find two ghouls, whom we will refer to as "Fred" and "Charles" even though the players have no knowledge of this. Fred and Charles are surprised by our shadowrunners. Quicksilver is surprised by Fred. Beanna saw all of this coming.

As our first 3 second turn begins, the cigarette falls from Charles's mouth. Fred manages to begin mouthing "...the fuc-" before completely unsuppressed gun fire begins. Quicksilver draws his sub-machine gun and fires a burst that splatters into Charles's chest. The burst fire from Beanna's assault rifle lights up the block and turns Fred's head into something resembling an explosive melon filled with teeth just in time to keep our entry at one f-bomb. As pieces of the building next to him fly through the air, Charles screams in surprise and horror.

Can anyone foresee how the next 3 seconds are going to go?

Beanna decides that she will give Charles the same treatment his smoking buddy got. Before she could pull the trigger, Quicksilver let loose with a Mana Bolt. Charles had never seen magic first hand. Unfortunately for Charles, having the raw energy of the Astral Plane ground into your body is not ranked high on the list good first magic experiences - although it is a nice visual effect for those not being rent apart. With a very loud, and very wet, sound Charles collapses against the wall of the building. His arm looks wrong - even for a ghoul. His rib cage does not have a uniform volume. His breathing is clearly labored. On the plus side, this has stopped that horrible screaming. As Charles hits the ground, Beanna evens out the shape of his chest the only way she knows how.

Quicksilver and Beanna stop to consider how anyone could think that "do it quietly" was a reasonable line item for a work order.

As his consciousness fades, Charles reflects on how this is his second worse day ever. The only salvageable bit is that Jenna won't have to worry about talking to him in front of the children anymore.

Noah's Game: February 21st

Featuring

• Tanya as Lulabelle, a half-elven sorceress with an owl, and she's not afraid to use it.
• John as Kikow !!(pronounced 'click-click'), a gnomish barbarian. Long on passion, short on range.
• Jake as Böbō, the dwarven barbarian and only returning character. Might berserk from afar.
• Emmy as Droso, a (male) gnome cleric. Rides a dog well.
• Triften as Hands, a human rogue. Occasionally has the feeling that others in the party are out to get him.
• Sean as Vindo, a half-orc monk. Enjoys insulting Kikow in Orcish.

Also With

• Lt. Horowitz, the Unfortunates dispatcher. He's got a no-nonsense haircut. Whatever that means.
• Bella, Lulabelle's trusted familiar. Quite fond of mice, rats, and other vermin.
• Charles Van der Schmidt and Iggy Rodriguez, a pair of Monstrous Scorpions on the run, and with nothing left to lose. Or so they thought.

Summary
Pregame: The party were all recruited into the Unfortunates, and arrived in the city less than a week ago, except for Böbō. The date is Grunfast, Grune 16th, Year of the Evil, Evil Monkey.

Horowitz summons the party to tell them that bounty season has begun. Starting today, there is a two thousand gold bounty on scorpion tails (of 6 feet or longer). The bounty is offered regularly by the Alchemists guild, presumably for ingredients. Horowitz doesn't have a posting for the party, but advises them to take advantage of the bounty while it lasts. Bounty season also marks the end of the trial period for all new Unfortunates, meaning that combat rates will be going up, but that the party will no longer be getting special rates on healing from Rothgab's temples.

The party decides to go after some bounty cash, and heads for the Unfortunates' gate. There is a cluster of merchants by the gate. Vindo buys a long pole from one of them.

The party exits the city through the Unfortunates' gate into the desert, Böbō upon his pony, Kikow upon his attack pig, and Droso on his riding dog. There are tracks of other hunters heading in various directions, the majority going south. The party heads south as well. After a little while, Lulabelle sends Bella ahead to scout for scorpions. Bella leads the party south-southwest, where they come upon a pair of monstrous scorpions sunning themselves on a rock.

Kikow leads the charge, jumping off his pig, and running full pell down the dune. Vindo and Hands follow behind, but hold their distance. Lula, Böbō, and Droso set up a position on top of the dune, and

Böbō shoots Hands in the back by accident. The scorpions jump off the rock. One attacks Kikow, but is unable to hit him. Lulabelle shoots a succession of magic missles into the scorpions, weakening them severely, and Droso casts "Heat Metal" on Böbō's arrows to increase their potency. The other scorpion overwhelms Vindo while Hands flanks the first and attacks it.

Böbō continues shooting into the melee, while Droso rides her dog down to the fight, and does a ride-by healing on Vindo, bringing him back to the brink of consciousness. Kikow, in his beserker rage, misses the scorpion at first, and attacks Hands. Hands pulls back. The party manages to kill the scorpions, and Droso finishes reviving Vindo.

The party chops off the scorpions' tails and other bits, and drags them back to Rothgab, where they collect their bounty of four thousand gold, which they split evenly. Vindo and Hands buy healing from Droso at half the market rate, and the party disperses.

Call for Character Concepts

I am prepping for a game. I am not defining much of anything at the moment. Could everyone please send me a character concept? They may be from any rpg genre or time period.

Each concept should include:

• A name and physical description: "who is your character?"
  
• A description of background and activities: "where is your character?"
• A description of general desires: "where is your character going?"
• A description of abilities and possessions: "what is your character?"

This is meant to be a dialogue, so expect this to go back and forth. Once we've settled on things, then either your or I will make a posting describing them. That will probably be after I make a posting about the game concept. I have one, I promise.

While not required, it might be useful to make use of this character creation worksheet that I like from Black Shield Gaming:

• Instructions (pdf)
  
• Worksheet (pdf)
  

It also might be a good idea to keep Burning Void's guide to character concepts in mind - not that I'm opposed to people using stereotyped characters, but you should at least do it on purpose.

For those who remember anything about their Shadowrun characters, you may feel free to use them (assuming you can remember enough to fill in character concepts appropriately).

Triften's Game: Session n+2

The party regroups outside of Portsmouth and follows the coastal road north through the night. In the early hours, they are attacked by a few lean and hungry looking wolves. Terrance screams a lot. Terrance gets chewed on a lot. Not in that order. Jared sings.

The party decides to skin the wolves and, despite no party member having any real tanning skill, manages to do a halfway decent job. Wanting to stop being covered in wolf's blood, Terrence wanders into the woods, in the middle of the night, with no survival skills, to find a stream or spiring to wash up in. He makes his way to running water and cleans up, then realizes that he has absolutely no idea which way leads back to the carts. He enacts plan B: Curling into the fetal position and sleeping until morning.

Stetta notices Terrence's absence and, with the twins, wanders off into the woods looking for Terrence. They find Terrence and discover that they too are lost. While pondering their predicament, a strange mote of light floats through the forest towards them. It seems to drift towards the closest person and, after some weaving and dodging, it floats into Stetta's head. Stetta blacks out and regains conciousness a few minutes later with a strange lump of crystal/glass in her mouth. The lump is clear except for a small shining speck in the middle. The lump is dubbed the "tongue baby".

The twins try to wander back towards the carts and instead become lost somewhere else in the woods. Terrence returns to plan B and, when Stetta tries to join him, he enacts "plan B over there... where you aren't." Eventually the two fall asleep and are able to make their way out of the woods come morning. The twins return to the carts exhausted after having wandering around all night.

Meanwhile, Holostarchander stays with the carts, wipes his hands off, and gets a good night's rest in his bed.

After changing hands for a bit for people to look at it, the tongue baby eventually returns to Stetta's possession.

Noah's Game: January 31st

Featuring

* John as Rathnor, a half-orc paladin. His people are not your people.
* Triften as Arden, a human paladin of law. Law. Not Good.
* Sean as Rob, a half-orc rogue. Weighs in at several hundred pounds, not counting the bag of cod.
* Emmy as Cinnamon "Buns" McCabe, a gnome bard. This former stripper can use her skills to distact and delight.

Also With

* Lt. Horowitz, the as-yet undescribed Unfortunates dispatcher. A little bit shouty, when stressed.
* Guy in a chair. Don't get too attached to him.

With Appearances By

* Spanky and Jessica, ninja Unfortunates.
* Gladwell, an occasionally effective Unfortunate mage.

Summary

Pregame: The party were all recruited into the Unfortunates, and arrived in the city less than a week ago. The last game session took place two days ago, making today Slausengot, Grune 15th, Year of the Evil, Evil Monkey.

The party is summoned to see Lt. Horowitz. He is in the midst of dispatching them for another escort mission when his badge starts glowing. He uses it to trace a door in the air, and then rushes the party through to another location in the Rothgab. Once they arrive, the party notices a "tear in the air", glowing pure white.

Soon, other Unfortunates appear on the scene, including Spanky, Jessica, and Gladwell. Apparently, this is an unauthorized portal into the city. Horowitz tells Spanky and Jessica to track down anyone who has already come through, and Gladwell to lock down the portal. Then, he tells the party they will be going through the portal, to see if there's anyone worth trading with on the other side, as procedure requires. The party is told that their badges should let them through Gladwell's lock on the portal.

The party goes through the "tear" and emerges in a dark room. Cinnamon notices some torches in sconces on the wall, and pointes them out to the rest of the party. Arden lights one up, so that he can see. The room is finished stone, with three doors leading out. On this side, the portal is pure black, sucking in light from all around it.

There are three doors out of the room. At 6 o'clock is the portal. At 9 o'clock is a door of decayed wood, covered in moss. At 12 o'clock is another door, the same size as the first, but in good condition. At 3 o'clock is another door, also in good condition, but smaller. Rob checks for traps on the 3 o'clock door, and the party goes through.

On the other side of the door is a stone corridor that goes about 40 feet and then turns left. After the turn is another door. Rob checks for traps again, and doesn't find anything, and the party deliberates about what to do. After a little while, some of them hear muffled noises on the other side of the door, and they go in.

In the room is a man tied to a chair. There's also some other furniture, including a desk in the corner, and another door on the other side of the room. The man is bound and gagged. Rathnor searches him and finds a key.

When they ungag him, the man says some others tied him up and went past him towards where the party came from. He tells the party they're in the city of Tharn. The party decides to unbind him, and Rob and Rathnor go to investigate the other door. On the other side, they find a spiral staircase. Rob skulks up it, while Rathnor waits at the bottom, after Rob tells him his armor is too loud.

After a few minutes, the man who was in the chair starts making noises and hunching over. He changes into a werewolf, and attacks Arden. Rathnor hears the noise and comes in, but Cinnamon puts the man to sleep with a dance. They tie the man back up.

Meanwhile, Rob has gotten to the top of the stairs, where he finds a door. He checks the door for traps, and, finding none, heads back to get the rest of the party.

Before he can get back though, the man in the chair wakes up. Rathnor and Arden take turns hitting him in the head while Cinnamon hits him in the shin, but he eventually breaks his bonds. They manage to knock him out before he can do much damage, and Arden delivers the finishing blow.

Rob gets back, and leads the party up the stairs, where they find the door is locked. Rob makes a mental note to check for this in the future. The key Rathnor took off the dead werewolf doesn't work. While Rob picks the lock, a shadow peels off the wall and attacks Rathnor. Rob finishes picking the door and rushes the party through, but the shadow follows. The party finds themselves in what looks like a cobblestone alley. It's nighttime.

The rest of the party attacks the shadow, and Rob ducks back through the door, closing it behind him. The door clicks and locks automatically behind him, and Rob immediately sets about unlocking it. Cinnamon casts a light spell on the shadow, but it is unaffected. Between the three of them, Rathnor, Arden and Cinnamon manage to finish off the shadow, but they are seriously weakened.

Rob re-unlocks the door. The party hears noises and baying coming their way, like a pack of werewolves. They high-tail it back through the door, letting it close and lock behind them, and then run back downstairs and through the rooms to the portal, which they go through.

They find themselves in the desert outside of Rothgab. They go back into the city, and head back to the city's side of the portal, where they find Horowitz. They tell Horowitz what they found. Horowitz yells at Gladwell for screwing up the lock spell and bouncing them, and tells him to shut the portal down. Horowitz explains that Rothgab has had this kind of problem before with Tharn, calling it "attempting to set up improper trade relations." He sends the party back to headquarters. The party collects their pay, and finds healers to help with their wounds.

Noah's Game: January 24th

Featuring

* John as Rathnor, a half-orc paladin. Grumbles a lot.
* Tanya as Gadfly, a (male) human wizard. Fashionable, yet assumes all creatures have golden hearts.
* Triften as Arden, a human paladin of law. Only one who has no way of seeing in the dark.
* Jake as Böbō, a dwarven barbarian. Takes care of his pony.

Also With

* Lt. Horowitz, the as-yet undescribed Unfortunates dispatcher. Thoroughly bored.
* Mak-Tak, aka Mak. A kobold trader from Rothgab. A little bossy and callous, with a weird scratchy voice.
* Chief Biren, a kobold chieften. Has a history with Mak.

Summary

Pregame: The party were all recruited into the Unfortunates, and arrived in the city less than a week ago. The date is Throgsday, Grune 14th, Year of the Evil, Evil Monkey.

The party is summoned to see Lt. Horowitz. He tells them they'll be escorting Mak. They meet Mak, and head out of the city, exiting into a mountainous area. The gate vanishes behind them into rock. They escort Mak (& his 20 or so ponies) down to the valley floor, where Mak points out the entrance to the mine they'll be going into. He leads them away from the entrance, saying it's not safe, and into the mines through a crack in the mountain a little ways away. He blindfolds his ponies first, so they don't panic. Böbō is forced to leave his pony outside.

Once inside, everyone can see fine, except for Arden, who can't see anything. Gadfly uses his familiar, a bat, to see for him. At one point, they are attacked by a dire bat, which the party quickly kills. One of the ponies is injured, but is able to continue.

Eventually, Mak leads them to the more developed part of the mine, where there are chambers. He yells at a door in Draconic (which only Gadfly understands, of the PCs), and argues for a while with a voice on the other side. After ~15 minutes, the party is let in, and escorts Mak & his ponies through a crowd of ~50 kobolds to a large chamber, where Chief Biren is waiting for them.

Biren and Mak bicker about the price of the coal Mak has come to buy, and the crowd clears out. After they agree on a price, the chief and his guard clear out, and the party is left alone in the room with the coal and the ponies. Arden helps Mak (actually, Arden does all the work) load the ponies panniers with coal, while the rest of the party waits for the chief's betrayal. Mak tells them that the chief tries to kill him every year. Suddenly, Böbō and Gadfly hear something moving near the sacks, and rush to attack it. It's a grick, which the two of them quickly finish off. The rest of the coal is quickly loaded and the party heads out. After a few rooms, they hear cries of sorrow behind them, presumably for the grick.

The kobolds are nowhere to be found, but the passage that the party took in has been blocked. Mak leads the party out through the front entrance to the mine, where Rathnor is ambushed by an ogre. The ogre manages to knock Arden out, and shrugs off Gadfly's attempts to beat it with his staff. Rathnor manages to kill it, and then revives Arden. The ogre seemed to have nothing of value, so Böbō retrieves his pony, and the party escorts Mak back up to the hidden gate and into the city. Mak parts ways with them, and does not tip. Horowitz gives them each a 1gp bonus for combat duty. Arden goes to a temple for healing.

One-Shot Game Description

I'm going to start my one-shot oriented campaign .
One of the goals of this campaign is to have a game that we can play when not everyone can make it.
I'll be making an effort to tie up each "mission" in a single session, and to design the story so it makes sense
if a slightly different group of characters takes on each mission week-to-week.

If you can't make it Wednesday, that's fine, that's how this campaign is supposed to work.
Whenever you can show up for this game, here's the details so you can be prepared. So, Katie, if there ever is a week where you're feeling up to it, swing on by, it shouldn't interrupt normal game flow.

Character Creation
It's going to be D&D 3.5. You should have two 3rd level characters ready, a primary, and a backup.
Character death will be a reality in this game. Don't take it personally. If your primary character dies, or is otherwise
incapacitated, your backup will become your new primary, and you'll need to roll up a new backup.

NOTE: Triften, John, & Jake - You guys can use your old characters from my Half-Sea game as either
your primary or secondary, if you wish. Tell me if you think I have your character sheets, and I'll look for them.

Stats: You can use one of two methods to generate your character stats. You can use different
methods for different characters.
1) 28-point buy - From pg. 169 of the DMG
Each of your stats costs a certain number of points.

STAT COST
5    -3
6    -2
7    -1
8    FREE
9    1
10   2
11   3
12   4
13   5
14   6
15   8
16   10
17   13
18   16

2) Best 6 of 7
Roll 4d6 and sum the best 3
Do this 7 times, and use the best 6 rolls for your stats, in any order you wish.
I'm trusting you to be honest. :)

Concepts:
Any race/class/alignment combination is legal. (Yes, that includes chaos monks & evil paladins).
I am going to limit the classes for new characters to the ones in the PHB, though.

Character Knowledge:
The characters have all been recruited to be part of the mercenary guard of the merchant city of Rothgab, the city of gates.
Voluntarily. No, they were not drugged, drunk, or charmed into it. The pay is one gold per day, with combat bonuses, and such.
(For a frame of reference - a tradesman can earn 1sp/day on a good day).

None of you are from Rothgab. None of you have been there before. It's merchants are known for going and trading everywhere.
The city itself is in the middle of the desert, though its gates open onto places far away.

The citizens refer to the guard as "The Unfortunates".

All the other residents have been "peace-branded". They can do no harm to others. The Unfortunates have not been peace-branded, but are not citizens.
The most severe penalty for citizens is exile.
The most severe penalty for Unfortunates is peace-branding and exile.

Unfortunates may choose to leave service on their anniversary. Instead of leaving Rothgab, they may apply for citizenry.

The Unfortunates are used as the city's all-purpose guard. (They're not just fighters). They are the hand of the merchant council, the city's ruling body,
and are used defensively and offensively. Common day-to-day purposes include guarding merchants outside of the city, and internal policing and investigation. Special puposes abound.

Equipment:
Shop w/ 300gp.
You may have one +1 weapon or equivalent magical item to start (free, not included in 300gp budget).
Each character is issued a small brass badge as your mark of office. It is a minor magical item, granting +1 to saving throws, allowing you to see the peace-brand, and can be used to issue a summons.

A cheap apartment in the city is 1gp / month.

Triften's Game: Session n+1

(This will be edited to correct mistakes as my notes are crap.)

Most of the party is hungover after a night of heavy drinking and grumbling about the Black Talon. Jared wakes first and, using a piece of wood, jams the door to Stetta's cart. Meanwhile, Holostarchander decided hang himself upside down in hopes of inducing a vision to provide guidance for the party. He awakens, inverted and numb, with a splitting headache.

Terrence awakens to find himself in Stetta's strong embrace. Fight-or-flight instincts kick in when Stetta informs Terrence that he has made her a real woman, causing Terrance to fling himself, screaming, at the stuck door. Jared watches and listens from outside. Eventually, Terrance free's himself from Stetta's den of iniquity and retreats to the near-safety of his own cart.

After Terrence's screaming quiets down, Holostarchander regains feeling in his limbs and begins his own bout of screaming. (I can't remember who helped him down from his suspension.)

Jared grants Stetta the day off, suggesting she have a picnic with Terrance, before wandering into town to find an apothecary who might provide a love potion. Terrence desperately searches for alcohol, finding that Jared has moved or emptied all of the stashes. Jared finds an apothecary who asks for a rather high price for a love potion and decides to convince the rest of the party to chip in for it to help smooth over the dynamics.

While Jared is gone, Terrence impersonates Jared to try and convince Stetta that Jared is also interested in sleeping with her. When Stetta sees Jared, after he returns from his trip to the apothecary, she lets him down easy and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

Jared recovers from the kiss and pitches his idea to the others regarding the love potion. The rest of the party is skeptical.

(There may or may not be a session break here.)

At this point, it is nearly mid-afternoon, and Serpentia is nowhere to be found. Flacco and Kurako take a look around in the nearby grove of trees (druids have a habit of wandering off you know) and Kurako discovers Serpenta's snake by itself. The snake is sluggish and lethargic. The twins attempt to sell the snake (rocks nearly fall) but eventually just return to camp with it to show the others.

Before the discovery of the snake, Terrence bumps into Steve in town. Steve also dresses up (wink-wink, nudge-nudge) and has a small traveling act, so Terrence suspects that Steve has stolen Serpenta away from their show.

Regardless, the show must go on and the troupe has already reserved a section of the marketplace in which to perform. After setting up the tent (and having someone with the Use Rope skill check over the work) and getting ready to start, two small birds fly into the tent. The birds alight on Prima's shoulder and, speaking in Serpenta's voice, deliver a message explaining that Serpenta was kidnapped by the Black Talon and being carried off, possibly northward but she is unsure. She provides information regarding the possible location of King Ordna's wizard who might be able to help them. (I can't remember what the second bird did, but it might have told off Prima and Donna.)

The show is excessively average and after the crowd clears out a number of soldiers remain (I think they may have been from another tavern excursion by the twins.) Thinking fast, someone unties the shoddy ropework, collapsing the tent. Thinking homocidally, someone else lights the tent ablaze. In the ensuing havoc, the party is able to slink away into the night, heading northward.

Triften's Game: The First n Sessions (n ≈ 3)

(This will be edited to flesh out events.)

The story begins in the capital, unimaginatively named "Talwar". The party has been performing together for a few months.

(Jared's vision happens here, correct?)

(Something happens causing them to head down the road after a couple shows. I believe it may have involved pissing off a Black Talon officer.)

The party heads down the road towards the coast. Portsmouth-on-Lides is known to be a little more cosmopolitan and more appreciative of the arts. Along the way, the party spots an ambush up ahead. A small group of PCs circles around and surprises one of the bandits. The rest of the bandits had heard the PCs' approach and stepped aside, leaving "Deaf Gilroy" to be found. After 3 bandits are taken down, their leader, Rigg, flees, leaving a 4th bandit to be captured. The party gives the bandit quite a scare and, in return, receives information on where to find Rigg.

---

The party stays in a small village along the road for a few days to hold a couple of shows. Earnings are mediocre compared to the city but passable considering the locale. (NOTE: This may have occured before the bandit encounter.)

Farther up the road to Portsmouth, the party encounters a regiment of Black Talon marching down the road. Taking up the whole road. Demanding the party clear off the road. The oxen, being oxen, move slower than the Black Talon would like and so one set of carts is unceremoniously shoved off the road. Thanks to the sloping terrain, the cart ends up listed a little over 45 degrees. The oxen are used to pull the cart upright once again and, after a bit of swearing, the party continues toward the coast.

---

It is night when the party arrives in Portsmouth, so they convene on a tavern and get in some heavy drinking (getting sloshed on the slush fund). Flacco has an encounter with some dishonest folk who attempt to drug her. Luckily, Kurako has her back and keeps anything bad from happening. Terrance gets especially drunk and is carried back to camp by Stetta. Stetta and Terrance kiss. (This statement in no way implies that a particular party initiated the contact, just that it happened.) Upon return to camp, everyone heads to their carts, except for Terrance, who is carried into Stetta's.

---

Additionally, somewhere in all this, it was established that five consecutive days of the week are: Odinswag, Throggsday, Freersday, Gundersog, and Gundersoth.

Triften's Game: Intro/Character creation - 8/9/2006

Intro:

The Kingdom of Talwar spent a few centuries as a mish-mash set of warring provinces, always worrying about the next orc incursion, the next lizardfolk raid, or the next kua-toa encounter. 50-some years ago, through brilliant tactics and diplomacy, Ordna of Lides united the human provinces and he was crowned King of Talwar. King Ordna formed an alliance with the eastern and western elf kingdoms so that when an aggresive campaign by the now-united human armies drove the orcs into the forests, their respite would be short-lived. The few survivors retreated to their old strongholds deep in the western swamps.

Throughout this time, Talwar saw increased trade with the dwarves of the northern mountains. Ordna's diplomats were able to enlist the assistance of the dwarves in the form of the great mountain wyrms. The dwarves revered the great wyrm, Falbjynsthfar, and with his blessing, were able to ride others of his kind. With the help of the dwarves and the wyrms, the Talwar army, led by their elite Black Talon soldiers, swept through the western swamps, bringing death to the old Orc kingdoms. The week of genocide would be known as "The Purge" and, for a time, would be celebrated for bringing a new peace and safety for humans, dwarves, and elves.

As the campaign concluded, General Haldren, Captain of the Black Talons, saw his opportunity and, thanks to the massive military machine Ordna had constructed, seized control of the kingdom. Ordna was executed and martial law was declared, enforced by dozens of newly promoted Black Talon regiments. His lieutenant, Kalrid, was promoted to General of the Black Talon, and served his new king well in the coming reign of tyrrany.

However, King Ordna was no fool and had instructed his most trusted assistants and advisors on what to do if these events should pass. Though Haldren got the crown and the kingdom, there were many secrets that slipped through his fingers. It is hoped that one day, these secrets can be his undoing.

The world:

Generic D&D (magic works "normally"), demi-humans rather rare, with dwarves and elves staying hidden away from the insanity of the human kingdom. Dragons/Wyrms are smaller than regular D&D and the most intelligent specimens are a few notches below elephants.

The players:

I wanted as many people to be at the character creation session so everyone could work together and make sure the characters had a good reason to travel and stay together. Attendance was less than spectacular but Noah and Sean came up with the concept of being a band of traveling performers.

• Terrence and Jared, bards played by Noah and Sean, tear up the stage as the prima-donnas, Prima and Donna.
• Stetta, a fighter carrying the burden of an abused childhood played by Emmy, performs feats of strength to wow the crowds.
• The Great Holostarchander, a sorcerer played by Jake, amazes with spectacular pyrotechnics.
• Serpenta, the snake-charming druid played by Katie, charms more than just animals with her incredible show.
• Flacco and Kurako, a rogue-fighter duo played by Tanya and John, astonish with acrobatics, dancing, and acrobatic dancing.

The characters have pooled their money to start their careers with 4 wonderful carts and two pair of the strongest oxen their money could buy.