Author: Joel

Felix’s plans for the future!

Felix is very interested in fostering some slightly unusual trade between Eralla/White Moun-tain/Shabrund, likely involving, but not necessarily limited to: 0th/low level soldiers from White Mountain to Shabrund for a tour of duty, in exchange for Shabrundian gear (cool dwarven or +1).

Retaking Lendore Isle:
Two basic actions that should happen in the next few years include finding out what the Har-daways know about the opposition (including now out of date maps etc…) and finding out what the Hardaway clan’s resources are. Determining what the maximum, acceptable and minimal (some sanctions will have to be leveled, I presume) rules of engagement should also occur.

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Felix Summary #6: Are you on the List?

Party Roster:
Felix, 9th level dwarven fighter, 87 hp, played by Alex
Rathbane, 6th/6th level dwarven fighter/cleric (Clangeddin), 51 hp, played by Katherine
Donald, 9th level coastlander mage, 48 hp, NPC (played by Alan this time!)
Hendel, 8th level dwarven thief, 47 hp, played by Joel
Gates, 7th level dwarven cleric (Moradin), 44 hp, played by Jay
Aral, 1st level Northerner woodsman, 17 hp, henchman of Felix (played by Rhonda this time!)
[Events of March 3-4, 2007; Game World June-December 2189, in Charlotte]
The Dwarves of Eralla
When we last left the Felix party, they had just arrived at South Village at the southern tip of Cromwell, a nice little village with a river that leads up into the mountain ranges. From there, a two week trek up a trail through the forest would lead the party to the remnants of the dwarven kingdom of Eralla. There the party would apparently attempt to solve a problem of a summoning gone wrong involving a shadow creature that threatened the dwarves.

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A Felix Primer: Mass Evil Humanoid Eradication

Donald clearly needs a couple of spells with his name on them. What self-respecting ninth level wizard doesn’t?

I sent one of these out for the BMT party last time we played, and since this is the first Felix game in over a year, it seemed like a good idea to repeat!
Felix’s party (as of 2189):
Felix, Dwarf Fighter 9
-Aral, Northerner Woodsman 1, henchman
Donald, Human Mage 9
Hendel, Dwarf Thief 8
Gates, Dwarf Cleric 7 (Moradin)
Rathbane, Dwarf Fighter 6/Cleric 6 (Clangeddin)

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Balinor/Morty/Tarplin (BMT) Adventure #4: Really Ugly Faces From the Past

But the trap door didn’t open. Instead we heard the sound of metal impacting the top of the trap, like a heavy plate. Then we heard the sound of ratchets being put into place. Had the ceiling descended onto the pit trap? Or were our attackers sealing us in to our tomb forever?

Party Roster:
Balinor, 9th level Northerner fighter, 86 hp, played by Joel
Morty, 7th/6th human fighter/thief (bard), 74 hp, played by Jay
Robynne, 5th level woodsman, 38 hp, played by Rhonda
Bodkin, 4th level dwarven fighter, 36 hp, played by Katherine
Tarplin, 8th/5th elf druid/mage, 30 hp, played by Alan
Leo, 3rd level human Nevronian cleric, 19 hp, played by David (Jay this time)
Morhion, 2nd level Northerner Nevronian cleric, 18 hp, henchman of Balinor
[Events of 9/9/06 in Charlotte; Game world July-November 2192]
As mentioned in the BMT primer, the party had two main goals:
-Acquire treasure, XP.
-Pass very little game world time to allow Felix/Donald to catch up.
Things were a smashing success… but not without consequences.
(The adventure is somewhat episodic, so I’ve divided it into sections—perhaps I should have done this before!)

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A BMT Primer: The Artifact Magnet Party

“Hey, this is a great way to collect artifacts…”

The first Balinor-Morty-Tarplin game since 2004 is occurring this weekend, and Kyle suggested I send out a quick refresher for those who may not recall the party’s recent adventures.
If you want a quick synopsis, read on…

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The Ninth Telvar Open Tournament: Faces from the Past

Twelve thousand years prior to the events described herein, the Great War that pitted the sentient races of Telvar against the evil slavemasters known as the Kraken was in full swing. Fighting on the side of the giant squid-like Kraken were their human and non-human slaves, conditioned and controlled mentally by the powerful tentacled creatures, as well as several allied native races including the aquatic sahaugin (or devil-men).
“It had never previously been understood why the Northerner word for ‘unavoidable danger’ literally translated as ‘blue fire mountain.'” – Loren Kenither, BoS

[The Word-formatted Summary is found here.]
“It had never previously been understood why the Northerner word for ‘unavoidable danger’ literally translated as ‘blue fire mountain.'” – Loren Kenither, BoS

 

"“More are
men’s ends mark’d than their lives before.

The setting
sun, and music at the close,

As the last
taste of sweets, is sweetest last,

Writ in
remembrance more than things long past."

–William Shakespeare,
King Richard II

 

Events of 5 November 2005 in Charlotte, N.C. / 10-11 June 2192
B.Y.
in far western Cromwell, a place known as the Salt Sea Region

 

[the
same day as the events of the Eighth Telvar
Open]

 

[NOTE: Some of the diverse summaries of these
events contain contradictory information, and skewed perspectives based on the
experiences of the characters involved.
Some of these have been noted specifically, but otherwise the unique
perspectives of each group have been maintained. The truth
of each situation probably lies somewhere in the middle.]

 

 

We
begin as:

 

A corrupt and evil kingdom of slave lords collapses…

A city built on the edge of a large salty sea is in chaos…

And Cromwellian forces enter the region to restore order and
crush the slavers…

 

The ruins of an ancient Kraken temple molder…

A haunted forest in the shadow of an extinct volcano slumbers…

And a librarian at Cromwell’s famed Academy heads off on an
unusual vacation…

 

But
meanwhile:

 

A holy Paladin of Nevron receives a vision of great
importance…

One of the High Priests of Aurora hears a rumor of a city in
dire straits…

And the government of Cromwell realizes that there are several
“irregularities” in the librarian’s
preparations for his vacation, resulting in an Academy Team known as Death from Above being dispatched in
pursuit…

 

Events
begin to fall into place in the city, forest, and surrounding lands, as…

 

The city of Towlmere devolves into chaos and mayhem…

The servants of Aurora and Nevron converge on the area…

The Academy Team finds the trail of the errant librarian and is
in hot pursuit…

 

As the librarian completes his work on a strange device
at the top of an ancient pyramid in the midst of the haunted forest…

 

And
an ancient evil awakens…

 

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Felix Summary #5: Some Like It Hot, And Some Take Extra Damage

Finally, the party approached the long awaited hill giant cave. We decided once again to have Hendel scout ahead under spell protection. Almost immediately he ran into two hill giants and three worgs right at the entry. He backed off quickly, unseen, and the party hatched another ace plan.

Party Roster:
Felix, 9th level dwarf fighter, 87 hp, played by Alex
Rathbane, 6th/6th level fighter/cleric of Clangeddin, 53 hp, played by Katherine
Donald Collins, 9th level human mage, 48 hp, NPC
Hendel, 8th level dwarf thief, 47 hp, played by Joel
Gates, 7th level cleric of Moradin, 44 hp, played by Jay
Aral, 1st level Northerner woodsman, 17 hp, henchman of Felix
We left our party with the retirement of Felix’s longtime henchman, Nakumanu, the conversion of Felix and Nakumanu to dwarfdom, and the slaying of giants for fun, experience, treasure, and potion-making practice.
The once-islander orc Nakumanu was given a good sum of starting cash and set about beginning his new life as a dwarven scholar in Shabrund. Felix decided to replace Nakumanu with a new henchman, and he settled on a Northerner woodsman with a penchant for heavy crossbows. Felix purchased him two quality heavy crossbows and a “dwarven crossbow” (known colloquially in the party as a “hand cannon”) to combine with his target-shooting abilities to devastating effect.
In addition, Donald traded for the valuable new 2nd level spell, Zane’s Deodorant (also known as “Scent Mask”). It makes the entire party’s odors undetectable, allowing them to sneak past wary guard animals, especially when combined with Invisibility, 10’ and/or Silence.
The party set out in early spring of 2188, this time with the specific idea of hunting trolls in order to make healing potions using Donald’s alchemy skills. We heard about two sets of trolls, and decided to move against them in the order that seemed easiest. The first group was known to have settled in a cave a few days travel out from Shabrund.

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BLADES Session #57

Character Race & Class Level HP AC Player Creator
Raybur Sidebottom Dwarven Fighter/Cleric 6/6 54 (-7) -3/0/2 Dean Joel
Phyllis Sidebottom Dwarven Fighter 7 54(64) -5/-5 Katherine Katherine
Effrede George Half Elven Magic User/Thief 6/6 31 -3/1 Katherine Katherine
Talarian Blackguard Orkish Fighter 7 68 Occ. Ring
(-8) -7/-4
(-7) -6/-1 Dean Dean
Conrhia Applewhite Half Elven Woodsman 7 68 -5/-4/0 Rhonda Rhonda
Serlisse Reintar Half Elven Druid 7 32 0/3 Rhonda Rhonda
Sputnik Half Elven Cleric 7 49 1/4/4 Jay Jay
Arthur of Petethal Half Elven Ranger 6 58 1/1/3 David David
Zephram Trent Hill Gnome Fighter/Illusionist 5/5 41 (-5) -3/-2/2 Alan Alan
Shirlard Half Orkish Fighter 5 44 3/3 Darleen Darleen
Costigan Coastlander Fighter//Cleric 1//2 20 4/4 Rodger Rodger
February 13, 2192
Party splits up to train and travel to train. Serlisse, Zephram and Shirlard stay in the east. The rest of the party sails west with Loba. Loba resizes some Ancients’ armor. We trade for
Talarian is Exorcised from the Lawful Evil spirit of the Slaughter of Innocents. 01 on the first roll for System Shock. It took 13 rolls on the Exorcism. An 11 and 18 failed, but the 10 made it on the 13th roll. The Heart vanishes. Talarian is restored to a half-Elf, but he takes 3 HP of permanent damage.
He regains 2 CHR, 4 COM points, loses 1 CON (and 2 HP) and his Strength drops to 18/42. He also is completely silent.

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BLADES Session #56

Character Race & Class Level HP AC Player Creator
Raybur Sidebottom Dwarven Fighter/Cleric 5/5 45 (-7) -3/0/2 Dean Joel
Phyllis Sidebottom Dwarven Fighter 7 47(57) Temp -3/-3
-5/-5 Katherine Katherine
Effrede George Half Elven Magic User/Thief 5/6 31 Temp – 0/3
-2/1 Katherine Katherine
Talarian Blackguard Orkish Fighter 7 66 T -5/-4/-1
Occ. Ring
-8/-7/-4
(-7) -6/-1 Dean Dean
Conrhia Applewhite Half Elven Woodsman 6 59 Underwater
-3/-2/2
-5/-4/0 Rhonda Rhonda
Serlisse Reintar Half Elven Druid 6 30 Temp 4/4
0/3 Rhonda Rhonda
Sputnik Half Elven Cleric 7 49 Temp 2/5/5
1/4/4 Jay Jay
Arthur of Petethal Half Elven Ranger 6 58 Temp. 2/4
1/1/3 Bjorlin Bjorlin
Zephram Trent Hill Gnome Fighter/Illusionist 5/4 38 (-5) -3/-2/2
Temp no
+1 ring
(0) 2/3/7 Alan Alan
Shirlard Half Orkish Fighter 3 27 3/3 Darleen Darleen
February 10, 2192
The party descends upon the mine with Serlisse becoming visible first. They notice and start swimming up. Raybur and Zephram start casting Mirror Image and Prayer. Zephram gets 4 Images. Fred Sleeps 4 of the guards. The rest continue to close.

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BLADES: Session #53

Character Race & Class Level HP AC Player Creator
Raybur Sidebottom Dwarven Fighter/Cleric 5/5 45 (-7) -3/0/2 Dean Joel
Phyllis Sidebottom Dwarven Fighter 7 47 -5/-5 Katherine Katherine
Effrede George Half Elven Magic User/Thief 5/6 31 2/5 Katherine Katherine
Talarian Blackguard Orkish Fighter 7 66 (-7) -6/-1 Dean Dean
Conrhia Applewhite Half Elven Woodsman 6 59 -4/-3/1 Lt. Rhonda Rhonda
Serlisse Reintar Half Elven Druid 6 30 4/4 Rhonda Rhonda
Sputnik Half Elven Cleric 7 49(59) 2/4/4 Jay Jay
Arthur of Petethal Half Elven Ranger 6 53 1/1/3 Hvy Bjorlin Bjorlin
Zephram Trent Hill Gnome Fighter/Illusionist 5/4 38 (-5) -3/-2/2(0) 2/3/7 Alan Alan
Shirlard Half Orkish Fighter 3 27 4/4 Darleen Darleen
Marn Orkish Fighter 6 2/4 Rodger NPC
Farwater Locatha Fighter Edwin NPC
All of Loba Mix Edwin NPCs
December 19, 2191
We land very close to the Ancients’ city that Loba is living in. When we open the door with ease (using our new talent), we trigger a flame signal and we have Zephram send up a Phantasmal signal to say the BLADES have come to the rescue.
Loba has found m

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