Session 11 - Triften's Alternity game - Skulls and Snakes

"Up there, 4th floor. There are people waving at us. Stop."

"But what about the-"

"Stop now!"
"They're calling for help. Let's go."

"Holy crap."

"I'll drive, you guys shoot."

"They're gaining!"

"Reverse can only do so much."

"Then why dont you-oh Dear Lord!"

"I'm good at driving."

...

"I'm glad we were able to stock up before we got here."

"This would have gone a lot faster with the semtex."

"We need the semtex to get into Round Mountain. We have this all planned out."

"You mean Collins planned it all out."

"Yes, and he's going to meet us there after a side trip to Montana."

"Assuming he doesn't get himself killed."

"Look, he's well equipped and has 3 other soldiers with him. He'll be fine."

"None of those were the sharpest knives in the drawer."

"Guys, if we're going in, let's go before more of those beetles show up."

...

"Should be the third floor, facing east."

"I hear them. This door."

"Hello?"

"Help... us..."

"Sir, are you okay?"

"Help us..."

"Okay, as soon as-"

*hiss*

"Shit!"

*BLAM* *BLAM*

*BLAM*

*BLAM* *BLAM*

"What was tha-"

"Get the hell away!"

"Al, calm down."

"How do I know your not hiding snakes?!"

"Al, it's okay-"

*BLAM* *BLAM*

"Son of a bitch! Jessie! Jessie?"

"Dammit, Al! Ooof!"

"No one move! Any one of you could have snakes! I know I don't."
"I'll meet Collins on my own if I have to."

Session 10 - Triften's Alternity game - A Flare in the Ointment

"We should be safe here for the night. The building has one entrance, only two stairwells, and limited fire escapes. Unless they can fly, we'll be in pretty good shape."

"This place is a dump."

"At least the door was unlocked."

"Where's Nick going?"

"Bathroom."

"He's been kinda...I dunno, spaced out or something."

"Maybe the stress is getting to him a bit. He'll be fine. We've got about 1800 miles to cov-"

"Did you here that?"

"Sounded like a window."

"Dammit, he's gonna jump."

"Nick!"

Session 9 - Triften's Alternity game - Strange Ground

I, Al Ankaleen, write these words which I know to be true.

The Oracle disappeared 7 nights ago. His hut was found empty and no one knew of him planning to depart. The five heroes, Kallia, Al Vinyee, Singh, Marek, and Tardos, set out to find their friend, the Oracle. They spotted the Oracle within a nearby settlement of Artaks. We have had little difficulty with Artaks since the Great War, so this came as a surprise. It seemed that he had been taken away during the night. It seems that the Artaks were planning an attack and wished to use the Oracle's wisdom to plot their course of action.

I accompanied the heroes to the edge of the Artaks' land and they snuck into the village to free the Oracle. The Artaks numbered 4 or 5 score of fight capable adults (a female Artak is much more inclined to enter combat then our women, especially if they are defending their home) and we were but 6, so stealth was of great importance. I watched them slowly disappear into the foliage and eagerly awaited their return.

After barely a twitch, I saw the Oracle striding out of the woods, carrying his air of eternal calm. I bid him good health and told him how joyous it was to see him unharmed. Perhaps my mood did not pair well with his levelness so there was a brief moment of silence before he continued pass me back towards the village. I had forgotten to ask about the heroes so I decided to wait a bit longer for their return.

Eventually, I heard a sound not unlike a bevy of does dashing from hunters and saw the heroes, less Tardos, rushing into sight with a score of warriors nearly upon them. Vinyee told me of Tardos' betrayal in making their presence in the village plainly obvious. Evidentially, the Artaks had rushed past Tardos to engage the rest of them in combat forcing them to flee. We exited the forest with great haste and were forced farther west towards a stream as the Artaks began to flank us. We caught a moment to rest and I believe Vinyee had begun to experience some mild visions from his injuries. He seemed somewhat confused and I wondered if an Artak shaman had not used some curse upon him.

We made it back to my humble village and, after a brief audience with the Oracle, the heroes were granted some much needed rest. I conversed with the Elders about Tardos' betrayal and, after hours of pointless deliberation, was called away to gather the heroes for another audience with the Oracle.

I gathered the heroes, except for Marek, who was already with the Oracle, and brought them to the Oracle. Soon after I left them together, the Oracle's hut was engulfed in flames. When the flames died down, we found the Oracle's remains but were unable to find any trace of the heroes.

Much speculation has occurred among the villagers and Elders. Most of us believe that the Artaks stole into the village and started the fire. A few have started a vicious rumor that Marek, who commands firestorms, caused the blaze. Regardless, we believe that the heroes have returned to the Artak village to avenge the murder of the Oracle. We pray to the gods for their safe return.

I, Al Ankaleen, have written these words which I know to be true.

Session 8 - Triften's Alternity game - Sidetrack

A prelude:

Alvin: So, Collins, what's with all the secrecy?

Kellie: Yeah, this warehouse section, right next to the generator? A little noisy.

Collins: Al, Kellie, Nick, Mark, you all know about sliding, right?

Mark: We were all at the same briefing, Alan.

Nick: I was on level 22. Just over 200,000 points.

Collins: Can you put that thing down?

Nick: Not really. Keeps the hands limber.

Kellie: So, as far as anyone knows, the sliding is random, unless you have some secret you aren't letting us in on.

Collins: Well, random, mostly. Look at who's slid so far. Rithers, Warner,... that new kid, Jessie-

Nick: Warner was PTSD.

Collins: That's the official line. So all three of them were top agents. Rithers, top researcher; Warner, top electronics tech; Jessie... well he seemed to be good at pretty much everything.

Nick: Yes! Level 38!

Kellie: Nick, turn that thing off. So, just cause we're good at our jobs, you think we're going to slide?

Collins: Well, Al, you scored top in your class on pistols, Kellie, you scored high marks on the rifle range. Nick, you are an amazing medic.

Nick: Eh, I don't know.

Kellie: What about the time you patched up Agent Stromovich in the middle of a firefight.

Mark: She was able to take out the remaining six terrorists.

Nick: 5.

Al: That was the official line.

Nick: Isn't that when you guys started calling me "Dutch", as in "little Dutch boy"?

Al: Well, you did plug a hole in a dyke pretty well.

Nick: I was in sensitivity training for 4 weeks after that.

Kellie: Of course. You explained why we were calling you Dutch to the Chief. What'd you expect?

Nick: You guys... were calling me that... and I end up in sensitivity training.

Kellie (to Al and Mark): Wow, he hasn't been playing that for all of 30 seconds.

Nick: I hate you guys.

Collins: Are you all in on this? Either we're all in, or we're all out.

Kellie: I'm in.

Al: In.

Mark: Me, too.

Nick: Level up!... Sure, I'm in.

Collins: Alright, get together a bag with a change of clothes, a persona with full ID and credit, and whatever gear you need. I'll set up a safehouse and we'll work on that.

Nick: Anyone here have any triple-alphas?

Al: I'm sure Kellie does.

Kellie: Jerk.

Session 7 - Triften's Alternity game - Jessie is found

No update will be provided for session 6's "boss" battle in which Nick Tardos, ambulance driver extraordinaire, executed an expert handbrake turn, and Alvin Yee, assassin for hire, performed an amazing one-handed breakfall whilst shooting a werewolf in the head. Kellie may have also fired a shot or two. :)

The door opens and they crowd in, the soldiers, the gun nut, the EMT, the cop, and the killer. I think I manage to croak some sort of greeting despite subsisting on minimal fluid intake for the past two weeks. I think Withers left some supplies before they bailed. What jackasses. Protocol says personnel has to clear out, but I'm not considered personnel. Just another thing in the labs.

Mark (Mike? Matt? I can't keep them straight) asks me how long I've been here. "This room?" I reply. "About four weeks." They start peppering me with questions... all of them. The echoes build up and I can't focus on one set, so I just start talking:

You've heard about multiple worlds? For every chance event, there's a parallel universe for each outcome. If you go to Vegas, there's one universe where you won every bet and you're sniffing cocaine off of a prostitute in a penthouse suite, there's another where you lost every bet, lost your car, lost your house and everything. In most of the universes, you probably didn't lose much, maybe gained a little. Most of the universes are very similar.

It seems like so many stupid cliches are actually true... the more things change, the more they stay the same. At least from what I've seen. I wake up somewhere and it turns out that some other jerk went stomping all over Europe about 50 years ago instead of Hitler. Things look a little different, a phone has a strange handle, but it's still a phone. Sometimes, things are very different and I wake up somewhere in the state of Osage of the United Tribes of America.

I was (or at least one of me) labeled borderline psychotic at age 10. I'd hear voices from people who weren't there (but they could have been) and if it weren't for knowing things I shouldn't have, I might have had a tougher time. By time I turned 13, I'd had my first complete shift. At first, I felt as if I'd been dropped into someone else's body, then I found I could remember what had happened to them/me. I had two sets of memories that I could recall. I remembered my grandfather at my 8th birthday and I could also remember being at his funeral when I was 6. Keep up with where I was wasn't hard since I could remember everything that that me had done, but it got hard to keep the two sets straight. After the third and the fourth shift, I really started to get confused. I think this happened to most of the alternate mes since I would find myself in increasingly confined quarters, sometimes a halfway house, sometimes just locked in my room, once in a while in a research facility.

Eventually, I stopped being able to remember things where I was after I shifted. I'd find myself in the middle of an interview and despite the questions and reminders, I had nothing but the memories I had brought with me.

I did notice that I'd see the same people... well, not the same people, they'd have different jobs, or slightly different names, but I'm pretty sure it was them. When the first one recognized me, that gave me a ray of hope. It was an orderly, or he was when he recognized me. Then he remembered being a physician, and a psychiatrist, and a con man. Kind of all at once. I didn't get to talk to him after that. He got transfered off my case.. in one universe, he had committed suicide.

When things got really messed up, either the worms, the werewolves, robots, nuclear winter, whatever, then I started to run into a lot more people who had shifted. Some of them just had weird "dreams" about werewolves while on the run from the worm people. So the idea I had is that the people who shift are the ones who survive more of these disasters. It's almost like maybe we're always connected to our other selves, and that's why we get deja vu and have weird dreams and hunches... but you can't hear those other selves very well when everyone else is around. So some disaster happens, everywhere, because things are often kind of the same, like I said, the people who survive more can hear their other selves better and are more likely to shift over completely.

But maybe there's some limit to how much you can remember so your brain just fills up... or maybe you just think you're you, so you can't just remember some other life. Sometimes I can get little bits of memories from other mes, it just... it's hard, like you just need to let go. Otherwise, I just shift in somewhere and I imagine that the version of me that was there gets shifted out to some new place, continuing some sort of strange cycle.

I keep shifting to new places, or places that look old, but are just different enough so I can never be sure. I've been through so much, and I've even died what seems like dozens of times, but I'm still me, I think. And I think I'll keep being me until I finish something, I don't know what it is, but I like to imagine that there's some reason I'm still me.

And with that I lose consciousness. Hopefully they (I?) will still be around when I wake up...

Session 5 - Triften's Alternity game - Super Recap

Your vision blurs and colors swim. Sounds echo and some are garbled. A cacophony of voices asks "What's going on?" The responses all overlap, some different, some later than others. "Are you okay?" "Look out!" "Werewolf at your six!" "You should take seat." "Are you alright?" "More of those damn worm things." "Dude, sit down. You gonna hurl?" "Oh, jeez. Go get Jesse! Hurry!" Your vision flickers white as sharp pains jab into your skull. Suddenly, everything clears up and the voices fade out.

"Rest. Here, have some water."

As you relax, you realize you remember everything.

---

Below are summaries of events for each timeline. Not every character will have a recollection of every timeline and, initially, not every character recalled events after switchovers. Sections in italics were not actually played.

Worms
May 15, 2010: Thousands of people take to the streets... Not to protest, but because some type of parasitic worm has taken control of their bodies. They attack those who aren't hosts, usually just mobbing their victims and swinging fists to knock them unconscious so they can be taken. Those who aren't busy attacking will spend time shuffle in circles or swinging their arms for no apparent reason.

Nick and Steve have their first encounter while transporting a patient in their ambulance. Al meets them in the dark of restaurant. Sam is nearly pulled from his car by the Wormed but manages to extract himself from their clumsy grasp and rescue, Nick, Steve, and Sam. Steve doesn't make it.

---

Worms 2
Nick and Steve have their first encounter while transporting a patient in their ambulance. Al meets them in the dark of restaurant. Sam is nearly pulled from his car by the Wormed but manages to extract himself from their clumsy grasp and rescue Nick, Steve, and Sam. Steve doesn't make it. Mark is picked up by the crew (along with a batch of plastique). Kellie flags down Sam as they head out of town.

During a stop for provisions along the thruway (New Baltimore Travel Plaza), a mob of Wormed set upon the travelers and, in the ensuing chaos, Sam falls on a piece of rebar that usually holds a parking stop. The rebar leaves a sucking chest wound. They all head for the nearest hospital in hopes that the supplies/skills to help Sam will be available.


The crew arrives at a hospital in Ravena, NY. They meet Pete, Malcolm, Sylvia, and a (red-shirted) doctor. Nick and the doctor start patching up Sam while the rest of the crew battles a number of Wormed and encounters a large tank of water practically filled with worms. Pete sets it alight with flammable liquids while the rest of the combat-oriented characters waste the surprisingly nimble Wormed guarding the tank. Alvin attempts to extract a worm, causing serious damage to the host body.

---

Werewolves
May 7th, 2010: Thousands of people disappear as what appear to be werewolves begin rampaging. Cities burn as the crazed beasts tear through store fronts, killing and maiming everyone they encounter.

Sam, Kellie, and Jesse meet up in NYC. They begin to make their way out of the city in Sam's Firebird. Alvin goes to make his hit in the restaurant, only to find it being ransacked by angry lycanthropes. He unleashes suppressing fire while managing a tactical retreat into the roadway.

Alvin tries to flag down a car, only to see an ambulance with a werewolf on the hood crash into a nearby burning building. The next car approaching is Sam's Firebird. Alvin waves and the car slows as it passes, allowing Alvin to hop in. The four head north and, while crossing the GW bridge, encounter two more werewolves who demonstrate their frightening running pace. Katie is able to put one down at range and the other werewolf gets his leg caught between bridge segments while running at about 70 miles an hour.

They continue north on the NY Thruway and stop for provisions at the New Baltimore travel plaza. Kellie and Alvin take down a werewolf in the parking lot then head in to collect provisions (picking their way through the bodies) while Sam and Jesse go to get gas. Sam and Jesse discover that the pumps have been shutoff. Keys are retrieved from the dead attendant (apparent claw overdose) and Sam and Jessie try to figure out how to turn the fuel back on. Their work is interrupted when a werewolf drops down from the garage roof knocking Sam down like a rag doll. Jesse screams at the werewolf, causing it to pause long enough for Sam to draw his SMG. The wolf pins Sam against the garage with his claws, puncturing one of his lungs. Sam responds in kind by puncturing the wolf's lungs, heart, face, and skull.

Kellie and Alvin rush back to join up. Neither of them have any skill in first aid, but Jesse shows uncanny skill in stabilizing Sam. Kellie and Alvin find a compact car (aiming for good gas mileage to reduce stops) and Alvin, using the "look for the suction cup mark" requisitions a GPS from another vehicle. Using the GPS, they head for the nearest hospital, which is in Ravena, in the hope of finding the skills or supplies to help Sam.

They arrive at the hospital and Jesse and Kellie head in to investigate. A doctor comes out of hiding when he realizes that neither Jesse nor Kellie are werewolves. He is glad to see friendly faces (or at least faces without fur and fangs.) Suddenly, all four of the travelers feel their heads begin to swim. Jesse reacts suddenly, yelling at Kellie to remember him and to come get him in Indiana and something about "silver meadows". With one more scream of "Remember me!", he stabs her with the scalpel.

---

Robots
March 12th, 2010: Electronics inexplicably fail, communications networks go down. PEREGRINE UAV bombers strike New York City. Chaos and anarchy follow.

Nick, Alvin, Jesse, and Kellie meet in NYC, holed up in the subway tunnels. After a few months of fending off HATCHET robots (tank treads + manipulator arm with 7.62mm rifle) and engineering HERF guns, they hear that survivors are rebuilding in Kitchener, Ontario and decide to head north.

Meanwhile, Mark has holed himself up in a hospital in Ravena, NY. Using his skill with juryrigging and explosives, he sets up a defensive perimeter in one wing of the hospital.

Upon stopping for provisions, Jesse sustains injuries from gunfire. Nick stabilizes him and they rush Jesse to the nearest hospital.


Kellie heads in to the hospital to check for robots. She gets confused momentarily and has to reconvene with Alvin and Nick. Alvin returns to the hospital with Kellie and, after causing a racket, encounter Mark. Once they feel the area is safe, they bring Jesse in and Nick begins to attempt surgery on Jesse... in an ER without power... and no trained help. Jesse doesn't make it.

Mark joins the remaining three as they head off-highway to the northwest, towards Buffalo and, eventually, Kitchener, Ontario. The going is slow and food, water, and fuel are sparse. Driving an old muscle car doesn't help mileage either. At the first stop they make, they acquire a manual fuel pump to extract gasoline from the underground tanks of service stations.

Before they can move on, a helicopter UAV (VMAC) is spotted over the trees. They retreat into the service station as the copter approaches, surveying the area. As it hovers over the station, examining their car, Kellie levels her HERF gun at the UAV. Its circuits fried, the copter lists into a nearby tree, destroying its rotor and sending it into the ground. The sudden change in potential and kinetic energies, as well as rotational momentum, turns the helicopter into a twisted wreckage. Mark pulls a few parts from it that might be useful later.

At their next stop, they pull up to a classic train car diner to find it picked clean. With empty stomachs, they set up shifts for keeping guard. During his shift, Alvin meets up with a friendly local named Jeff. Jeff is with a group of survivors who recommends that they pass on through and gives some tips for living through the night. The next morning, Alvin relates what he learned from Jeff and the four resume their journey.

As the needle approaches empty yet again, their search for fuel brings them to a bombed service station. The burnt husk of a Crown Vic plates lies overturned near the pumps, its government plates framed by soot. While Nick, Alvin, and Mark survey the area outside and get to work refueling, Kellie heads inside in search of food.

She nearly passes over a body to collect snack cakes and batteries for the HERF gun. The body is of a male, about 40-years old, who has suffered injuries from massive concussive force and flying glass. Kellie finds a satchel of notebooks and brings it back to the car.

They get back on the road with Alvin at the wheel as Nick, Mark, and Kellie begin reading through the notebooks, journals, and other books.

---

Robots 2
March 12th, 2010: Electronics inexplicably fail, communications networks go down. PEREGRINE UAV bombers strike New York City. Chaos and anarchy follow.

Nick, Alvin, Sam, and Kellie meet in NYC, holed up in the subway tunnels. After a few months of fending off HATCHET robots (tank treads + manipulator arm with 7.62mm rifle) and engineering HERF guns, they hear that survivors are rebuilding in Kitchener, Ontario and decide to head north.

Meanwhile, Mark has holed himself up in a hospital in Ravena, NY. Using his skill with juryrigging and explosives, he sets up a defensive perimeter in one wing of the hospital.

Upon stopping for provisions, Sam sustains injuries from gunfire. Nick stabilizes him and they rush Sam to the nearest hospital.

Kellie and Nick head into the hospital to check for robots and encounter Mark. Once they feel the area is safe, they bring Sam in and Nick begins surgery on Sam... in an ER without power... and no trained help. Nick manages to stitch Sam up.

Mark joins them as they head off-highway to the northwest, towards Buffalo and, eventually, Kitchener, Ontario. The going is slow and food, water, and fuel are sparse. Driving an old muscle car doesn't help mileage either. At the first stop they make, they acquire a manual fuel pump and manage to fend off a VMAC helicopter.

After meeting up with a group of survivors, they find a burnt-out service station, a car wreck, and a corpse with a collection of notebooks.


Sylvia awakens amongst building wreckage with little recollection of the past few months and walks into the street to get a better view of the surrounding.

Alvin finds the road suddenly occupied by a woman and, despite the dry conditions, sends the car into a skid, then into a furniture store, while avoiding a collision with her.

The crew piles out of the car to check out the situation. Sylvia is brought up to speed on the robot situation. Incredulous, Sylvia turns on her cell phone. It starts up and is unable to find a signal. With some yelling from Kellie and gun-pointing from Sam, Sylvia is convinced to turn off the phone. They pile into the car and begin to depart the scene of the transmission.

Time seems to slow as the PEREGRINE jet passes 30 meters overhead in a blur. The sonic boom rattles windows and teeth and is soon followed by an explosive shockwave, sending the car up on its nose. The vehicle slides on its passenger-side front bumper for an indeterminate distance before falling onto its right hand side and completing a roll. Alvin stomps on the accelerator then realizes that the windshield is almost opaque from cracks. While attempting to kick the windshield out and drive, Alvin sends the car into the ditch, sustaining mild joint injuries. Nick springs into action, removing the broken windshield and displacing Alvin at the wheel.

They switch vehicles as soon as possible, taking a Chevy Suburban from a car dealer, and press on to Kitchener. About 100 km from the city, they are flagged down by an odd fellow hiding in the trees. He directs them to leave their vehicle and walk to town to prevent the robots from spotting the town. He provides them with a few iodine tablets so that they can make the 5 day hike to Kitchener.

Just outside Kitchener, they are directed to a drain pipe by yet another guide and into Kitchener II. In Kitchener, they meet their leader, Karl, and their head of security, Alan. Karl seems friendly enough and Alan takes a keen interest in the newcomers.

It turns out Alan was in the Army and worked as a liaison with DARPA. He knows about SILVER MEADOWS a.k.a. Round Mountain Research Facility, Nevada, and some of the projects there. He tells them about C.A.I.N.N., an AI that came online right before the bombing started. Alan wants to get into SILVER MEADOWS and shut down C.A.I.N.N.

---

Remember, if your character was not introduced to a timeline, they won't remember it.

Session 4 - Trif's Alternity - Kellie

We're still driving, of course, but for some reason everything is different again. Sam is there, bleeding out, we're driving a huge van instead and I remember snakes again, not robots. And we pull into the hospital again, the same damn hospital we left a day or two ago.

We've got a surgeon this time, though, and he gets to work on Sam right away. There's even more people there, Malcolm, Sylvia and Pete. I don't even really try to explain the shifts, it doesn't seem worth it any more. At least Tequila and Nick seem to know what's going on this time. We're not there a half hour when one of them, Malcolm, manages to run afoul of a frigging snake head. I take that one out with a gory head shot. Malcolm sure is a noisy sonofabitch.

I wander around looking for the generator, but no such luck. I do find a fucking huge vat of snakes though. Jesus Christ, Mal, Sylvia and Pete knew about them and just left them there. I rally the troops, or at least Nick, Sam, Mark and Sylvia, and we head back to try to take care of the snakes.

There's six more snakeheads in the tank room now and there's a fight on. Mark manages to take down three, Tequila kills one and we manage to knock out the other two. After the fight is almost won, Pete finally graces us with his presence; he pours out a tank of gasoline into the tub of snakes and lights it. The stench of 'snake barbecue' is disgusting.

The snakes are squirming on the ground and I stomp one. Tequila tries to remove one of the snakes from a living host only to tear out his throat. I think I throw up on the inside of my mouth.

I think it's funny that I find myself really missing werewolves and robots.

Session 4 - Triften's Alternity game - The Knot

Warmth is good. Family is good. We are growing. Water is good. All, ensure our safety.

HOME SAFE.
Good. Find food, keep your shells safe.

DANGER. DANGER. WE SEE.
Wait for them. Their herd will spread. Take them when they are alone.

WAITING.
Good.

Light! Away, cattle!
Follow it. Take it.
YES. FOLLOWING.

ONE IS ALONE.
Strike now. Take the shell.
SHELL NOISY.
Strike it harder. Strike the head. Use your feet.
MORE HERE.
Escape if possible. If not, kill.
INJURED.
Take one and... what sadness. Protect us. Return here. Wait here.
We are strong, all are one.

Yes! We are more. Attack! Take them! Wield weapons, disrupt their flesh!
FIRE! KILL THEM! Stop the fire!
We are burning! Fire! The heat kills!
We...
DAMAGED. CAN'T HELP.
We need safety.
We run.
Run!
Hide!
Darkness safe.
Safe darkness.

Session 3 - Triften's Alternity game - The Journal

March 19, 2010

My name is Erik McCollough. Until recently, I worked in security at the Silver Meadows research facility. At approximately 1400 hours on March 12, the facility went into lockdown. The procedure didn't work properly. Communications were down and many areas lost power. The internal security systems seemed to malfunction trapping most of us in the facility. I managed to escape with 3 others, 2 researchers (Gayle Iseman, Louis Dean) and 1 soldier (Douglas Calavet, USA). Soon after emerging in the surrounding countryside, an explosion struck our group. I was uncounscious for sometime and came to to find the others had been killed by the blast. As I lay on the ground, I heard other explosions nearby followed immediately by what sounded like sonic booms. I made my way to the exerior parking lot, procured a vehicle, and escaped the facility by driving through the exterior fence. I followed my initial impulse to drive east, towards less populated areas.

The roads seemed to be empty. After almost 4 hours, I had to stop for gas. The service station was dark, no power. When I pulled up, a mob of people rushed towards my car. As I rolled down the window to ask what was wrong, they began to reach into my car. I put the car in reverse, drove around the mob, and returned to the highway. I was able to make it to the next service station. Instead of a mob of people, there were burned-out, overturned tractor trailers. I was able to refill the car by siphoning fuel from the few surviving cars. The facilities had been bombed, no survivors found.

I set up camp off the highway and spent a few days there. I saw no other vehicles on the highway and no planes overhead. Today I've decided to head east.

March 22, 2010

My head's a bit clearer today. I'm giving myself some time to write so this doesn't end up being a basic travel log. I'm sorry I can't commit too much to these pages due to possible classification issues. Even though the world seems to have fallen apart, I can't throw everything away just yet.

The work at Silver Meadows consisted of a lot of robotics work, UAVs, AUVs, and some other computer research of some sort. We seemed to have hired a lot of computer scientists, physicists, and electrical engineers. I'm pretty sure that our research is directly related to what happened earlier and is still happening now.

Hopefully, others have made it out of Silver Meadows. There's little in the way of coomunications in or out, so escapees would, unfortunately, be the best method of getting more information out of SM. I've got Gayle's, Louis' and Doug's ident cards with me. I don't know their PINs, but I hope the cards might be useful later, if only to ID those lost.

Later entries will be only dates to chronicle the passage of time.

April 2, 2010

Nephi, Utah

Going has been slow. I've wasted a lot of time gathering resources, searching for food and fuel. I tried to get on Interstate 15, but the on-ramp had been damaged. I proceeded on foot to find that the roadway had been broken up and explosives set off across the road. It doesn't look like aerial bombing did that, but I have little training in explosives.

April 13, 2010

Trenton, Missouri

This area looks inhabited. Maybe I'll find some people friendlier than that group at the service station.

April 14, 2010

Trenton, Missouri
The group of survivors is led by a man named Jake. He claims that they have no leader but when he speaks, everyone listens. If I were looking for a safe haven this might be it, as long as I was on Jake's good side. I think he may have a criminal record, so I'm going to move on before they decide that I'm worth more to them dead than alive. I may just be paranoid, but a little paranoid may be in order these days.

April 17, 2010

Spotted another vehicle on the road. 1980s honda, travelling at about 90 mph. I assumed they were running from something and pulled off the road and under cover. I saw a small helicopter UAV pass by, followed by the twin explosions of ordinance and sonic boom. I'll need to keep my eyes peeled for UAVs.

May 3rd, 2010

Travel has been even slower this past month. More roads seem to be broken, blown up, or barricaded. While driving through Pennsylvania, I was preparing to swerve around debris on the roadway, when the objects in the road turned out to be two Hatchet model bots armed with 50 caliber machine guns. They opened fire and I was able to turn down a side road and leave them behind. I drove as far as I could on a flat tire before switching to the spare and searching the area for a replacement. I should probably lay low for a few days in case whoever was controlling those Hatchets comes looking for me. They'll probably send a UAV my way.

May 12, 2010

Otselic, New York

Met up with group of survivors, or, more accurately, with their representative named Jeff. He was diplomatic and offered a place to stay but I got the impression that he/they didn't want me around. The government plates didn't help either. Plus, there's an aura a fed picks up that's hard to drop, especially in dangerous times like these.

They have a lot of rules for survival, ranging from safe paths to walk to safe vehicles to operate. I may have lucked out on the Crown Vic I took from the SM parking lot, it lands in a production window of high quality electrical system (less radio noise) and not being fully wired like the latest models. The big emissions push 8 years ago swept most old cars off the roads and the newer ones came with an assortment of remote and wireless capabilities. Not a single example of these vehicles has been found to work lately, and, they claim that trying to start one of these has gotten more than one person killed by the bombers.

I don't think I can stay with these people. I can't bring myself to be that passive. Granted, they are trying to survive, but they don't seem to have any plans beyond that. I've heard stories from people about a settlement in Kitchener, Canada. The stories are that it is rather large. Every story differs a bit so I have no idea what to expect. I wouldn't be surprised to find a smoking crater there, but that's where I'm headed now.

Session 3 - Trif's Alternity - Kellie

I think I've said it before, but it bears repeating, I love my guns. What I don't love is robots.

I'm also beginning to think I need to just roll with whatever sanity I have. The last thing I remember of the werewolves is getting my arm stabbed by Jessie and him sort of melting away. After that, I'm stumbling over my own two feet, at the entrance to the emergency room, lights off, flashlight in hand. Jessie's not there, the doc's not there and suddenly I have no idea why I'm there.

I go back out to the car, which is not the car I remember, and instead of Sam laid out in the back with a sucking chest wound, it's Jessie. There's actually no Sam at all and the driver is some guy I've never even met before named Nick. Tequila is there, though, and he is under the impression I was sweeping the hospital for robots.

All I can think is that Jessie said that guns don't work on robots and I'm suddenly very scared that it's not werewolves any more. The silver lining is a High Energy Radio Frequency (HERF) gun that I apparently cooked up in this reality. It's supposed to be good verse robots. Thank god I'm not a horrible idiot here. Everyone thinks I'm crazy though. Jessie didn't, I asked, even with the chest wound, he remembers werewolves.

We couldn't find a doctor, just some police bomb tech named Mark. The new-old guy, Nick, is a EMT so he does his best on Jessie.

It's not good enough.

I can't really say how I feel about that; I suppose the word is numb. I don't remember losing anyone but him. We supposedly lost a lot of people while I was in some NYC underground, but I don't remember them. Just before he dies, Jessie apologizes for stabbing me, and I realize my arm doesn't even hurt any more.

I ask Tequila about it afterwards. Everyone in the underground though Jessie was crazy, and Tequila's not even sure I'm not crazy. I keep talking and talking, about the gas station, about the werewolves, about the crazy army guy who got mauled instead of Jessie. Somehow I eventually jog his memory, and Nick's a little, I think. I don't remember Mark before this so I'm not sure there is anything there to jog. What is it about us that makes us keep our memories? Is it Jessie? Will that stop now that he's dead? Will I see him again if we shift again? I hope we shift again, that way I can tell him I understand. I hope I'll remember.

It seemed so easy for Jessie to remember all the places he'd been. I'm not sure if I pity him or envy him. It's only three realities in and I'm not sure I can keep keeping them straight. I can't even remember this world about robots until hours in, when I'm staring at my HERF and I can't remember making it and I can't remember if it works or anything. I'm starting to think I'm just completely crazy, but eventually it starts to fuzz into place.

I can say with absolute certainty that it works at at least 30 meters, and we now have parts of a blown up robot. We'd were tracked down by a helicopter robot, and I get to do my first field test of the thing that I can remember. It was actually pretty cool, nerd science at work. I'm glad I printed out these plans off the internet before all the electronics went dark.

The 'here' memories and the 'there' memories are starting to integrate into my mind. I worry about storage space, though. In my mind, I have that box labeled 'snakes', the one for 'werewolves' and now I also have the one for 'robots'. I'm worried I'm going to run out of room.

We gas up and drive and gas up and drive and then when it starts to get dark we pull over and get ready to sleep. We end up stopping in what is apparently Otselic, NY and sleep in a little diner. There's no gas to be had, the station has been pumped dry, there's no food in the diner, nothing. It's clear there were people left living here and they've long since picked the resources clean, but we crash for the night.

When my watch is on, I find out we had a late night visitor, named Jeff. Apparently, he's been holed up in the area. He warned us off of smoking or sleeping in view of the windows, that sort of thing. Stupid stuff we probably should have figured out for ourselves.

The next morning, I'm happy to leave the survivalists behind. At least we're doing something, heading to Canada isn't much, but it's something. They were just bunkering down and waiting for someone else to do something about it. It's not like the robots or the werewolves will stop themselves. Also, I have to remember, something about our car might attract robots. Jeff apparently said something about the alternator being noticeable to them. I'll figure it out, I just hope I keep remembering it.

We stop for gas when we're almost out but the station seems to have been bombed out. There's a government car and a lot of exploded stuff. I'm on 'ransack the quick mart' duty for food, beverage and --- corpse. The corpse was some government man, I assume he went with the government car. I'm not a medic but I'm pretty sure he died of glass and concussive force. He had with him a gun, which I took --- you can never have too many guns, and several notebooks.

Fueled up and on the road I cracked open one of them and started to read. I'm not sure what everyone else might have had to read, but my notebook had technical specifications for something pretty high level, a computer or robot thing. I'm pretty sure I didn't get it right away, probably on account of picking it off a dead body, but I promised myself I'll take a better look at it next time my head is clearer.

Session 2 - Trif's Alternity - Kellie

My chosen hobby has a lot of room for crazy, nut job, kool-aid drinkers who think the government is out to get them and the only way to deal is to embrace the second amendment like some favorite lover, but damn am I glad for them today.

Having my apartment overrun with werewolves, who may also have been snake people and maybe, at another point, robots, sure makes a girl love her guns.

Riding down the highway, listening to NPR soft jazz and end of the world rhythms also tends to put someone into a bit of a mood. It gave me a lot of time to think about the three werewolf-snakemen and then two more werewolves and god this whole thing has got my brain turned inside out.

Jessie isn't really helping. But I still can't tell if he's crazy, I'm crazy or we're both just crazy together. But temporarily safe, doing seventy-five miles per hour on our way to Canada on the lark of a probably-crazy kid makes me think maybe I've drunk that crazy-kool-aid too.

I killed four creatures today. One was definitely a werewolf, took his jaw clean off with a very nice shot, if i do say so myself, which I do, from a moving vehicle. The other three, well I can't even be sure now, I remember snakes and I remember werewolves and I *don't* remember snake-werewolves so it probably wasn't something in between.

I'd never shot something before today, well something that was alive before I shot it. Punching a few holes through a little piece of paper at 200m is one thing, taking some crazy werewolf's face off is something really different, I can't even begin to sort it out.

I'm just lucky I brought a gun to a werewolf fight.

And now my arm hurts, not from snakes or werewolves but from Jessie who's screaming for me to remember him. The kid's probably given me a scar to prove it, and I keep thinking, are mom and dad alright is James alright down in DC and did Bob from the gun range make it out of the city.

And goddamn I'm hungry. I could really go for some beef chow mein.

Session 2 - Triften's Alternity game

I don't know how many times I've written this down. Everything seems to blur together. Also, the dates are all wrong, so I'll just say "Day 1".

Day 1:
I'm in New York City. Not the lab. I guess Rithers isn't a total dick here and he helped me escape. I'm also not drugged. I think I'd been out for close to a month, everything is so much clearer, even the headaches. Clear icepicks instead of blurry bricks.

Here, it's these werewolf things. I think I like them over the robots.

I got out of the city with some Army guy and this gun-nut woman. They could be dating, I don't know. It's hard to have normal conversations when shit like this happens. Anyway, we picked up some Chinese guy who's heavily armed and says he's a grad student. Yeah, right. Lamest cover story I've ever heard.

The most important part is that they remember the worms. Almost everyone I've met doesn't remember. That's why they think I'm crazy. That's one reason I got locked away. I guess screaming about robots or mutants doesn't go well with fitting in. Well, they remembered... eventually, and that's what matters.

I remembered, too. I remembered Kitchener so we're heading north. I hope there's people there this time. I hope they make it... and I hope they remember me.

P.S. You assholes can add this to my file and up my meds. I don't give a shit, I'll be out of here soon enough, if I don't starve first.

Session 1 - Triften's Alternity game

POLICE WIRETAP 2010-00043511
APPROVED BY NEW YORK COURT
RECORD NUMBER 09-00876621-6
(917) 635-XXXX

FRIDAY, APRIL 16 - 17:16
XU FEI: THE MATTER IS TAKEN CARE OF.

UNKNOWN: YOU'VE SENT... "YEE" OR WHATEVER HE'S CALLING HIMSELF THESE DAYS?

XF: OF COURSE. FEW WORK FOR SO LITTLE. HE DOES IT FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF IT... AND HE'S IN NO POSITION TO DEMAND MORE.

UNKNOWN: WE ARE GLAD THIS MATTER WILL BE TAKEN CARE OF.

XF: YES. YES, WE ARE.

END OF CALL
FRIDAY, APRIL 16 - 17:17

---------------------------

E911 CALL LOGS - NYC DISTRICT 2
OPERATOR 0744
EXCERPTS FROM MONDAY APRIL 19 2010

15:03
OPERATOR: 911, WHAT IS THE NATURE OF YOUR EMERGENCY?

WOMAN: MY SON WON'T WAKE UP... HE'S- HE'S BEEN IN HIS ROOM FOR A WHILE...

OPERATOR: HOW LONG HAS HE BEEN UNCONSCIOUS?

WOMAN: UM... I DON'T KNOW. I- HE WENT IN HIS ROOM ON FRIDAY AND I DIDN'T SEE HIM AFTER THAT. I WENT TO CHECK ON HIM THIS MORNING BECAUSE HIS WORK CALLED AND HE WON'T WAKE UP.

OPERATOR: WHAT IS YOUR ADDRESS?

WOMAN: (DELETED)

OPERATOR: MA'AM, WE'RE SENDING AN AMBULANCE OVER. PLEASE STAY ON THE LINE UNTIL THE AMBULANCE ARRIVES. MAKE SURE YOUR SON IS STILL BREATHING.

[EDITED]

WOMAN: THE AMBULANCE IS PULLING UP NOW.

OPERATOR: OKAY, MA'AM, I'VE GOTTEN WORD FROM THE E.M.T.S SO I'M GOING TO RELEASE THE LINE.

WOMAN: THANK YOU.

[ON HOOK]

15:27
[RECORDER ACTIVATED - NO INCOMING CALL]
OPERATOR: I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON, FRANK.

OPERATOR: STAY AWAY FROM ME, FRANK.

OPERATOR: DEAR GOD.

(SOUNDS OF STRUGGLE, GUNSHOT)

OPERATOR: I'M SORRY, FRANK... I'M SO SOR-

(SCREAMS, MORE GUNSHOTS)

OPERATOR: WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?

Prologue - Triften's Alternity game

...................................
DATE: 6 JANUARY 2010 - 0317
SOURCE: [WITHHELD - OMEGA INDIGO]
PROJECT: H1-433 - RECEIPT OF ARTICLES
X-REF: OMICRON ORNAMENT, GREEN GROTTO
LOC: SILVER-MEADOWS

***BEGIN MANIFEST***
ARTICLE 1 OF 1:
DIMENSIONS: 324MM X 96MM X 96MM
WEIGHT: 6.4KG
   (ESTIMATED BREAKDOWN)
   CONTAINER: 3KG
   FLUID: 1.2KG
   SPECIMEN: 2.2KG
DESCRIPTION: CLEAR TUBE WITH METAL CAPS
   ON EITHER END. CAPS ARE WATER AND
   AIR-TIGHT. TUBE CONTAINS WATER-BASED
   SOLUTION AND SPECIMEN. SPECTROMETRY
   REPORTS VARIOUS CARBON AND SILICON
   BASED COMPOUNDS ARE PRESENT IN
   SOLUTION. SPECIMEN RESEMBLES BLACK
   EARTHWORM APPROX. 1M LONG AND 3CM IN
   DIA. SPECIMEN IS PRODUCING NO IR.
HANDLING: LEVEL 4 BIOHAZARD, TOXIC
DISPOSAL: PLASMA REACTOR
***END MANIFEST***

...................................
DATE: 12 MARCH 2010 - 1405
SOURCE: AUDIO 76B
XREF: VIDEO 76B1400; AUDIO 76A, 76C, 76D;
    PROJECT H1-433
LOC: SILVER-MEADOWS

***BEGIN TRANSCRIPT***

PAUL SHEPHERD: TODAY'S THE DAY WE GET TO
    CUT THIS THING OPEN.

ROBERT SWANSON: COOL. THIS'LL BE
    AWESOME.

(METALLIC SCRAPING - LIKELY OPENING OF
    SAMPLE CONTAINER)

PS: TONGS?

RS: TONGS.

RS: I'LL GET SOME TRAYS.

RS: ARE YOU OKAY?

(NOTE: VIDEO SHOWS PS MOTIONLESS WHILE
    RS GETS EQUIPMENT.)

PS: YEAH... I- (SCREAMING) OH MY GOD!
    GET IT OFF!

RS: SWEET JESUS!

(SOUNDS OF FURNITURE OVERTURNING)

BENITO TORES: CODE MAGENTA IN LAB 76.
    REPEAT, CODE MAGENTA IN LAB 76.

(DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES)

(SCREAMING)

(DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES)

BT: BOB, WAIT. WE HAVE TO HELP PAUL.

RS: OKAY... OKAY...

(DOOR OPENS AND CLOSES)

(DOOR OPENS)

BT: BASTARD... DAMMIT.

(SOUNDS OF STRUGGLE)

(WEAPONS FIRE)

***END OF TRANSCRIPT***

Triften's Game: Map of Talwar

I broke out our "new" scanner (purchased at least a year ago) and scanned in the map I had been sketching. Here it is all prettied up:



Yay. I'll update it and flesh it out as the need arises.

Also, I guess I thought 800x600 would be enough, but it's looking a little small. Gripe and I'll upload a larger version.

UPDATE:
Here's a map of the adventures so far:

Triften's Game: Session n+5 - 4/4/2007

After dispatching the baby dragon, the party gets to work surveying the mess. Flacco and Kurako carry the carcass to the carts (dragon parts can fetch quite a bounty) while Terrence and Jared examine the interior of the Shrine without being harassed by large reptiles.

Outside, Kurako notices a reptilian figure attempting to hide behind some rocks and notifies her sister. The twins give chase as the figure makes its way down the west road and encounter a group of lizardmen. Kurako spots a familiar face among them and Stetta steps forth to greet the twins. After brief introductions and Stetta showing off the hood made from the t'k'zha'khu, they all head up to Shrine.

Meanwhile, Terrence observes the stopped up spring and decides to build a fire, heading out to the cart for supplies. Jared discovers the wyrm's nesting area featuring what appears to be a body frozen into the ice. Holostarchander is still barely conscious.

As he emerges from the carts, Terrence sees a band of lizardmen marching up the western road with Flacco, Kurako, and Stetta. Not knowing what to expect, he yells to warn Jared and Holostarchander.

The lizardmen arrive quickly and are mildly aghast to see the Shrine in its current state. The tribe's assistant (hereafter referred to as the shaman) asks Terrence not to build a fire (for some reason, the request from the 6 foot tall lizard carries more weight than the one from the nearly dead sorcerer) and binds Holostarchander's wounds. He sends his men to begin chipping away at the ice plug on the spring and then most of the party goes to the cart to get mallets and spikes. With a powerful blow, Kurako splits the plug, allowing the spring to be cleared. The spring flows in a torrent and, while the water from it is rather cold, it begins to melt the ice surrounding it.

The lizardfolk shaman thanks the party for their help and him and his men clear out to join their kin in the valley below. Stetta rejoins the party to pursue the destiny from her vision.

Terrence notices that the ice covering the ceiling of the shrine has glints of metal in it. This is brought to his attention when a piece of silver drops out of the melting ice. Stetta looks up in time to dodge a large chunk of ice breaking away. The other party members notice this and some stay clear while others pursue the treasure more aggressively. Flacco quickly rigs up a rope climbing rig and despite being battered by falling ice (dislocated shoulder, blows to the head) makes her way to the ceiling to begin pulling coins from the ice. Kurako, while dodging ice, watches in horror as her sister is nearly killed. Eventually, the celing is clear and the Shrine is scoured of coinage. The loot tally comes to about 280 (gold?) and one very nice shield. The body is placed on a funeral pyre and, after much debate a tithe is made to Tyvia.

Holostarchander discovers that the spring has healed his wounds and refreshed him, prompting the rest of the party to drink from the spring and refill their water skins.

The party begins preparations to continue their travels along the mountain road heading west so they can make their ways to the Hills of Hanyard in search of the old king's wizard.

UPDATED: The first large chunk of ice nearly hit Stetta, not Terrence.

Entering the Ghoul Slums

About three minutes ago Stubbly heard gunfire. He seemed sure it was an FN-HAR assault rifle firing in bursts. Linda called bullshit. It seems that no matter how many times they have this conversation, the elf continues to doubt the only thing Stubbly has ever displayed the least bit of interest or aptitude for.

It's a shame really, they'd make a lovely couple.

One of my diminutive homunculi showed up a few seconds ago. While I have heard no reports from them about the alleged gunfire this one has noticed someone flitting about on the ethereal over in Assembly Building 3. The gunfire was of little concern to me given the neighborhood, but this sounds like my show.

Linda would like me to check in within a few minutes. I assure Linda that I'll make detailed notes to relay on my return. Stubbly would like me to point to where he should dump his load. I avoid the crass joke about our pointy eared companion.

It takes only a blink to arrive astrally on location.

---

Transcript in Progress on RogerRed - logging to SSblitz mission record
Method: Team Comms Secure 5
Speaker: FrankL
Recipient: Lindaro


I'm sorry, your intended comms target is currently inactive. His link is marked "Someone has to get this fucking building ready." You may leave a message for playback.

How are you gone already? It's been like a minute and a half oame! I'm a little dizzy. I'll try to go through this as I recall it happening. Maybe you've seen something.

From the looks of the ghouls outside Assembly 3 I'd say the community can expect a hiccup in their food supplies. It's a shame really. Based on our going rate I'd say that they aren't really in a position to weather such an interruption.

Just inside the building the interlopers were messing up the packaging and storage room. They were intent on finding something. Maybe they're organ leggers trying to get a second pass at after market sales. For the haul you'd get out of here there certainly are a lot of them.

There's dwarf with a comically sized gun. I'm not a weapon crazed flower loving midget, but I'd guess it was an assault rifle and I'm willing to give Stubbly the benefit of the doubt on any details.

The troll is enormous. I never will get used to seeing the goblinized giants. The shady patches on his body point to some moderate cybering. His mother must be proud of that hair.

The sight of pitch where a human's vibrant glow should be caused a slight retching, but you'll be proud to know I didn't actually astrally dry heave this time. Based on his slight build and the way he holds his weapon I can only guess he's some tech joy boy. Tech loving humans and mages don't venture into the slums after organs. This lot must be here for us. Still, there was no sense helping them disrupt the building more.

The mage is relatively untrained, or unused to being the lone magic support. There's little else to explain how he didn't see my impatient helper's frantic signaling. His aura seems solid and even, if a little plain.

By this time they'd got the door open. I hadn't noticed the street sam before. He dispatched the shift manager so forcefully that _I_ flinched. I'll have to warn JoeJoe. Even if this one is an ork, the old man looks to be losing ground to the street's fresh meat.

It's a good thing we didn't decide to hide Shelly among the workers here. The approach of this group, whomever they are, appears to be sweep and burn. I believe they actually tried to find a way to fit the troll into the basement disassembly area. This can not end well.

I'm sorry Linda, I'm still a little shaken, so the details here might be off. I had to dodge out of the building for a bit because the mage started going astral again. When I got back into observation they appeared to be preparing for exit.

I'm not sure what the sequence was, but I think the sam killed Louisa Jackson. That poor woman. Her poor kid! I'm not sure what Wesley will do now. He's a good kid, but certainly too young to be out on his own. Maybe we could use a hand with errands and maintenance around the Bulkhead? I know we're already kind of put out on this case, but maybe you could talk with JoeJoe. Look at the kid as a form of bonus pay even.

Once they were clear of the interior I noticed the mage had an active foci. My outrage at the carnage got the better of me and I got sloppy. I managed to get a solid Mass Hysteria channeled through and for a moment it looked like things were ponies. The troll looked about ready to pop all over himself and the sam freaked out and bent the shadow up but good. Or the guy was double jointed with an extra wobly point in his arm already, you never know these days. Everyone else was standing around like donkeys. Street sam clean up no problem.

Only I misjudged the effects on their mage. Suddenly he cracked A next to me and kaboshed me pretty good. I'm lucky I got back into my meat fast enough to keep the blood coming out of my mouth from staining my clothes. Assuming the sam doesn't just enjoy punching the hell out of things he travels with he probably stopped when I did.

Anyways, I'm going to stay holed up here in the manager's office with these volunteers for now. I'll try to provide some early notice, but I might be too messed up to be on my game. Let me know when the blitz room is ready and I'll see you there.

Tell Stubbly that he's a go. He might as well just ejaculate everywhere. At this point he can't possibly end up doing more collateral damage then they're going to do.

Triften's game: Session n+4B -3/21/2007

Stetta runs off into the woods after being snubbed, yet again, by Terrence. She heads roughly north, avoiding the town, and, eventually, crossing over the road and entering the swamp. After almost a full day of slogging through the swamp, Stetta rests in a shaded area finding calm in the dappled sunlight and buzzing insects.

During this moment, an enormous venomous snake calmly rises out of the water in front of her before calmly flaring its multicolored hood and not-so-calmly hissing. Stetta fights the snake, expertly dodging its lightning-quick strikes while slicing it up with her sickles. The snake manages to get a clean strike with its vicious fangs before Stetta kills it, sending venom coursing through her body.

Stetta is swiftly weakened by the poison and, before blacking out, she sees lizardfolk stepping out from behind nearby trees. While unconscious, she experiences a number of hallucinations and visions similar to Jared's

Stetta awakens inside some sort of lean-to structure with a lizardperson watching over her. When it sees that she is awake, it hands her some food (some sort of mush and a couple roasted beetles) and some clean-looking water (a rarity in the middle of a swamp) and calls over a couple of other lizardfolk.

The pair approaching appears to be the leader and his assistant. The assistant is able to make himself understood in Common and he translates for the leader, explaining that Stetta has bested t'k'zha'khu or, more accurately pronounced, !*zha#u (! = alveolar click, *= velar implosive, # = uvular fricative, IPA pronunciation: !ɠʒaʁu), an avatar of the Snake god. Additionally, she has survived her travels through the dream world (induced by the poison) and is recognized as a member of their tribe.

Stetta spends the next few days talking to the chief's assistant, who analyzes her vision for her. Stetta also learns that these lizardfolk had been hiding in the mountains for sometime but, when the area started to dry up, they were forced to head back down into the swamps. After being sighted, the Black Talon moved in and has been preparing to attack them. While normally at an advantage in the swamps, their numbers are greatly reduced and would likely be wiped out if they stayed and fought.

Lizardfolk scouts have spotted a Shrine to the Goddess of the Spring which was evidently the source of water for their hiding place in the mountains. The lizardfolk have decided to flee the swamps, sending a small contingent up to the Shrine to figure out what went wrong, while the rest will head back to their old hiding place in hopes that the other group is successful. Additionally, a small group will stay behind to provide token resistance to the Black Talon.

Stetta marches withthe lizardfolk out of the swamps, to the NW, and joins the small contingent heading up to the shrine.

Triften's game: Session n+4A - 3/14/2007

Now down two people, the party finally arrives at Innsmouth, a fishing town located on the south edge of the Judham Swamp. At midmorning, Terrence and Jared head into town to gather information. Despite terrifying a few townsfolk into thinking that some horrible plague of monsters may or may not be currently attacking, they find out several useful pieces of information:

• The road through the swamp is in disrepair but their oxen might be able to ford the marsh in that area.
• There are lizardfolk in the swamp.
• The Black Talon is preparing to push into the swamp to drive out the lizardfolk who came down out of the mountains to live there.

The party decides they'd rather march through a Black Talon encampment than get their carts stuck in a marsh filled with lizardmen and who-knows-what-else. While on the road, heading ENE, towards the encampment, it is decided that they will pretend to be pilgrims heading towards a shrine in the mountains. Using incredible bardic knowledge and the study of the arcane, they remember that there is indeed a Shrine of Tyvia, Goddess of the Spring, in the nearby mountains. During the few days of journey, the carts are repainted, costumes are donned, and a lone lizardman is spotted watching them from the swamps.

Upon arrival at the camp, the party is questioned about their plans and their ruse works perfectly. A little too perfectly. After passing through a massive Black Talon encampment and surviving to tell the tale, the carts are now headed up a steep, winding, and bumpy mountain road. Despite having no one available skilled in animal handling, the party makes do with sheer Charisma.

As night falls on the mountain road, the party is attacked by a pair of wolf skeletons. They are dispatched in relatively short-order (from what I remember) allowing the party to continue towards the Shrine.

The road follows over hills and valleys before heading up the side of a mountain to the Shrine. With a backdrop of a beautiful mist-filled valley, the roughly two-story, round building is surrounded by a chill fog. The mountain road continues past the Shrine, curving around the mountain to head west. The party splits up at this point, with some going to scout ahead on the road and a lone Holostarchander investigating the Shrine.

The road appears to head west out of the mountains.

Holostarchander discovers that the interior of the shrine is coated in ice. Ascending the stairs, he sees that the spring itself is almost completely frozen over, with only a trickle of water coming out to run down the series of intricate channels (those not filled with ice) and out of the building. Holostarchander's reward for giving the ice a few taps with his staff is an assault by a baby white wyrm. The wyrm blind-sides him with a flurry of claws, teeth, and angry bulk, knocking Holostarchander out immediately and cutting short his yell of "Aaa-!"

Jared, having stayed with the carts, hears this and races into the shrine to see the wyrm dragging Holostarchander's limp body towards its nest. Jared, feeling either insane or selfless, attempts to tackle the dragon, yelling the whole time. Somehow, Jared manages to not get torn to shreds before the rest of the party arrives. The party surrounds the furious lizard and its members experience varying degrees of success. Flacco gets in several good sneak attacks, Kurako does consistent damage with her longsword, Jared remains ineffectual until right before the end of combat by landing the killing blow, and Terrence sings (I think.) The party emerges victorious but still frostbitten, regular bitten, and clawed.

Triften's game: Session n+3 - 3/7/2007

Continuing up the coastal road by moonlight, Kurako (I believe) spots some movement in the water below. Holostarchander uses his magical abilities to send a flare of sorts down to light things up, but what ever Kurako thought she saw had managed to flee. After some further investigation, the party continues onward.

The party, now on high alert is able to spot the kua-toa (frog men things, NOT merlocks or any other WoW enemy) waiting to ambush them farther up the road. Their large eyes practically shine in the moonlight. Despite the characters and players being bogged down in combat, things are made slightly more exciting due to the kua-toa's sticky shields. From what I recall, Flacco does some slinging, Holostarchander lets loose some flames, Stetta nearly looses her club, someone else does lose their weapon, and the last kuatoa goes sliding, face-first down the cliffside to the water.

The part is victorious, Flacco finds a ring (IIRC), and Stetta gives Terrence a gift. The gift consists of a kua-toa hand on a string as a nice trophy of the battle. Terrence rejects Stetta's gift and, this being the last straw, Stetta runs off into the night, broken-hearted.

(Is this all we got done?! Sheesh, I really need to figure out how to streamline combat or something.)