The World of Telvar

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Felix's party, having rescued the dwarven kingdom of Arala from a flying, strength
and level draining, rogue, chimeric shadowy servant of the god of Rakshasas, is
attempting to find and reclaim the legendary ancient dwarven tunnel system to
provide a safe passage between Cromwell and Arala. The hope is that if the tun-
nel is reopened, trade between those nations will pick up, and dwarven expatriates
will return home, shoring up the desperately thin defences of the oldest seat of
dwarven power in the New World.

Continue reading "Felix Summary #8: The Continued Adventures of King Felix" »

Posted by Joel Green at 03:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

[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...

Continue reading "The Ninth Telvar Open Tournament: Faces from the Past" »

Posted by Joel Green at 04:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

The Ninth Telvar Open Tournament: Faces from the Past

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

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

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...

A haunted forest in the shadow of a extinct volcano slumbers...

The ruins of an ancient Kraken temple moulder...

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

But:

A librarian at Cromwell's famed Academy heads off on an unusual vacation...

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

One of the High Priests of Aurora hears a rumor....

And a team of auditors working for the government of Cromwell realizes
that the Librarian's preparations for his vacation violated some of
the policies of the Academy, resulting in an Academy Team known as
Death from Above being dispatched in pursuit...

And we begin:

As the Librarian completes work on a strange device at the top of an
ancient pyramid on the edge of the haunted forest...

And an ancient evil awakens...

[The Ninth Telvar Open Summary is finished! You can read it here!]

Posted by Kyle MacLea at 01:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

(Note: During the Ninth Telvar Open, discussion as to the results of the Eighth Open shed some light on what became of some of the principal figures in that adventure, in its immediate aftermath. --Joel)

After the Monument collapsed, a brainwiped Lien (Hood's erstwhile companion), Krasse (leader of the Party of Secrets), and Szyn (a phase spider), found themselves together in the space at the bottom of the dark staircase, Hood having been annihilated in the judgement. That is, Hood was utterly destroyed after he blew the horn, the Wailer for Lost Delnan, and freed Delnan, dark servant of Tram, from his captivity.

None of the others knew who they were or why they were there, but they had only one exit: up the stairs.

Szyn the phase spider did not need the stairs, however. He simply vanished, presumably to be restored to himself one way or another in that far-off place or plane that the phase spiders inhabit.

The others, however, were forced to walk up the staircase and meet their fate at its top.

Unfortunately for Lien, Krasse's final order to the Party of Secrets had been to kill anyone besides him who emerged from the Monument. As Lien crested the stairs, he was shot to death. Krasse was pulled in by his surprised party, who found him incoherent and confused.

Shortly thereafter, the Realmish Shocktroopers, Fire Giants, and Minotaurs arrived in a large group. The Shocktroopers took charge, and it was quickly determined that Lien and the fallen Myzon (who had undertaken the Rite of the Dark Pact) had been responsible for the collapse of the Monument and the slaughter at the Giant slave mine. The Party of Secrets was given a reward for help in completing the investigation and sent on its way. Krasse was healed via an Elixir of Health and returned to form, satisfied that although he did not possess the power to save the world, the Force capable of doing so had already been unleashed.

--Joel (with minor editing by Kyle)

Posted by Kyle MacLea at 01:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

4 October 2003 / 10 June 2192 B.Y.

The Edge of Memory

“It’s a hint,” the Sphinx said. “It just won’t make any sense until you already know the answer.”

Prelude:

On April 1st, 2188, on the island of Race Rock [during the Sixth Telvar open], events were set in motion that once again drew the attention of the Kraken back to Telvar. The Kraken, aircraft carrier-sized squid creatures, the great evil of ages past, had once enslaved most of the world with their mind-affecting powers.
With their baleful eye upon Telvar, only terror and evil could possibly result…

But there remained many forces arrayed against the return of the Kraken. Some known, some unknown.

“History became legend and legend became myth, and things which should not have been forgotten
…were lost.” –The Fellowship of the Ring (the film version)

Continue reading "The Eighth Telvar Open Tournament" »

Posted by Joel Green at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (3)

Party Roster:

Felix, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Alex
Balinor, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Joel
Cassian, 7th level cleric, 45 hp, played by Katherine
Kain, 7th level cleric, 45 hp, played by Jeff
Donald, 8th level mage, 43 hp, NPC
Morgan, 7th level fighter, 38 hp, played by Alan
Quentin, 8th level druid, 37 hp, played by Jeremy
Albee, 5th level monk, 31 hp, NPC
Bogomel, 3rd level fighter, 31 hp, henchman
Nakumanu, 4th level fighter, 30 hp, henchman
Chiaro, 5th level illusionist, 9 hp, played by Aaron

The party began by resolving some logistical issues. Quentin had reached the court of the High Druid and had given him the Kraken warning item. The Druid believed that the right choice had been made and that the party should not inform anyone of the item’s existence.

The party sharply disagreed in this issue, with the most adamant being Kain and Felix, although they also had sharply contrasting viewpoints with each other. Without going into the details it was generally agreed by all but Felix and Quentin that the very highest levels of the good churches should be informed (highest religiously, not politically). However, there is still disagreement about this, specifically about HOW to do it.

Leaving that aside, we resolved other issues. Chiaro trained and learned Wraithform, and there was a distinct slurping noise as Chiaro paid 4200 gp for Spectral Force. His training didn’t finish until after this game’s adventure, though. Also of note, in this year of 2183, the high illusionist of Koralgesh, Remtran (sp), died, and Lambu (sp) became the high illusionist. Chiaro is Lambu’s student, and as such was given a Philter of Persuasiveness from Remtran’s stuff.

Kain also trained and selected crow form upon attaining 7th level as a cleric of Silban. Kain returned in time to make the adventure that followed.

Continue reading "Defenders Summary #77: The Defenders’ Traveling Circus" »

Posted by Joel Green at 02:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Party Roster:

Felix, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Alex
Balinor, 7th level fighter, 70 hp, played by Joel
Cassian, 7th level cleric, 45 hp, played by Katherine
Kain, 6th level cleric, 43 hp, played by Jeff
Morgan, 7th level fighter, 38 hp, played by Alan
Quentin, 8th level druid, 37 hp, played by Jeremy
Donald, 7th level mage, 37 hp, NPC
Albee, 5th level monk, 31 hp, NPC
Bogomel, 3rd level fighter, 31 hp, henchman
Nakumanu, 4th level fighter, 30 hp, henchman
Chiaro, 4th level illusionist, 8 hp, played by Aaron

This may have been our most disturbing game ever.

When we last left the party, we had explored the overwhelming majority of the lower compound under the lighthouse on the orcish island. We had been sent to the island by Dunstill and Illic to clear out the treasure and keep everything out of orcish hands. Well, we did that, and had some of the more bizarre experiences in our adventuring career in the process.

The first of the remaining rooms that we checked out was the one with the high magic balance with a beating heart on one side and a flame on the other. Behind them were two sarcophagi, one evil and one good. The scale was lawful neutral. The ceiling of the room consisted of stars marking the location as at least approximately here, though something seemed “wrong.” There were cricket sounds in the room.

We were unwilling to fool with the scale, but Balinor and Felix did try to pry open the good sarcophagus in the hope of gaining information. All efforts failed. We have since assumed that the sarcophagi are directly tied to the scale by some powerful magic.

Continue reading "Defenders Summary #75: Wheel of Death" »

Posted by Joel Green at 02:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (2)

Held: July 24, 1999, Winston-Salem, N.C.
"Race Rock"

"When you throw caution to the wind as a vocation, occasional hurricanes are an inevitability."

1. Introduction

2. Group Summaries: Groups 1-3

3. Group Summaries: Group 4 (Alvin's Party)

4. Group Summaries: Group 5 (The Watchers' Watchmen)

5. Wrap-up Summary and Cast of Characters

6. Other Conjecture

Introduction

The Oceans of Telvar hide many secrets. Some, like this one, might better have remained secret.

We begin in the world of Telvar, in the Northern Sea, farther north than Lendore, past the Endless Sea and north even of the Pirate Isles and such other infamous islands as the Hand of Hindus. Travelling as the crow flies (or druid as the case may be), to the northwest, we discover the vastness of the Great Ocean. We have left Wunka and the Realm far to our south, and Goblin Isles are long since past. Roughly halfway between Hochland, central state of the Phaulkonian religion among humans, and the
Grandfather, primary naval base of the goblins, lies a chain of islands inhabited by mostly peaceful orcs and the like. Were one an adventurer, the ruins on the northern islands might be of interest. Our story, though, begins in the southernmost island of Race Rock, known for its wind currents that allow boats to race by the island at astounding speeds.

The date is April 1st, 2188. A certain key person is partially aware of events about to occur on the island of Race Rock, and a turning point in history may have been reached on that day. A large hurricane comes to Race Rock as a series of events are set in motion. The details lie in the accounts of those who were present.

Some Credits: Groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 were summarized by Joel Green. Group 5 was detailed by David Chappell.

With help from many others, including Edwin Anderson, Katherine Plante, Alex Hubbard, and Chris Allen.

You can see a picture of the participants on Joey's picture Telvar Open picture page.

Continue reading "The Sixth Telvar Open: Race Rock" »

Posted by Joel Green at 12:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (2)

Party Roster:

Tobull, 8th level fighter, 103 hp, played by Kyle MacLea
Jessica, 8th level fighter, 79 hp, played by Alex Hubbard
Laire, 8th level fighter, 73 hp, played by Kyle MacLea
Nara, 8th level cleric, 64 hp, played by Katherine Plante
Gram, scholar, 56 hp, played by Kyle MacLea
Rangorn, 6th level woodsman, 56 hp, played by Joel Green
Hildebrandt, 8th level mage, 39 hp, played by Alan Turnquist
Nief, 10th level thief, 36 hp, played by Jack McKechnie
Feagol, 7th level druid, 33 hp, played by Jeff Andreou

The Daring Dozen. All seven of them stand as one. Proud noble warriors.

Abruptly aware that perhaps this Tunnel thing isn’t their cup of tea…

We pick up with a Divination cast by Nara, the 8th level Auroran cleric in the Daring Dozen. The result was that the forces of Neutral Evil are unwilling to release their hold on this location EVER.

The Dozen set out into the City of the Gods to determine the nature of various sounds and creatures we heard the last time out. First, a Speak with Dead was cast on the bodies of some adventurers we had spotted on our previous trek into the city. It should be noted that although many valuable things had been left behind, all of the magic items had been taken from the bodies. Conversation with a dead dwarf warrior revealed that the party had been hunting troglodytes and had been slaying them, when suddenly they were mysteriously attacked by the “water.” He remembered nothing after that.

Continue reading "Daring Dozen Adventure #3: Better Left Undisturbed?" »

Posted by Joel Green at 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Daring Dozen return in Episode Two!

Party Roster:

Tobull, 8th level fighter, 103 hp, played by Kyle MacLea
Jessica, 8th level fighter, 79 hp, played by Alex Hubbard
Laire, 8th level fighter, 73 hp, played by Kyle MacLea
Nara, 8th level cleric, 64 hp, played by Joel Green
Gram, scholar, 56 hp, played by Kyle MacLea
Rangorn, 6th level woodsman, 56 hp, played by Joel Green
Hildebrandt, 8th level mage, 39 hp, played by Sean Guarino/ Alan Turnquist
Nief, 10th level thief, 36 hp, played by Sean Guarino
Feagle, 7th level druid, 33 hp, played by Alex Hubbard

After the first panoramic view of the alien city of the Ancients, the Dozen decided to explore further. We headed down the causeway, and descended into the thick mists, reducing visibility to about 30 feet. The walkways (and for consistency, virtually everything else in the city) was built about of black stone, volcanic rock. It was noted that the water was warm and bubbly, and we could see weird shapes flying somewhere above us.

We reached the tower in the center of the lake. Thanks to Jessica’s engineering knowledge, it was decided that it was impossible to build a structure like this tower, since it was ridiculously thin for its height. About 50 feet across, it rose entirely out of the mist and high into the air.

There was some sort of window, or arrow slit, about 40 feet above us. We also noted a small hole, 1/8” thick, by 1” deep. We moved on.

Around the tower, we could travel toward the city, or toward the hillside. We decided to check out the area away from the city first. We reached an archway similar to the one that said Tan-El where we came out. Near it was a neatly stacked totem of skulls, which we believed to be dwarven (dark or not). As we approached, a huge column of black flame came out of the causeway and passed over Jessica and Tobull. Fortunately they were able to remain unlit, and merely took moderate damage and wounds. They reported that they had felt negative material energy pass over them.

It was noted that below us on the shores of the lake was a perfectly intact dock, with a perfectly intact single square sail ship.

Discouraged by the powerful trap, we turned back and headed toward the city. Suddenly, the walls loomed before us. They were 30 feet high, out of the same volcanic material. The door itself was a pair of huge single slabs of rock. On them were all sorts of scratch marks and weird runes, which were definitely not in any known language, as Nief determined.

Continue reading "Daring Dozen Summary #2: City of the Gods" »

Posted by Joel Green at 11:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Party Roster:

The Daring Dozen

Tobull, 8th level fighter, 103 hp, played by Kyle MacLea
Jessica, 8th level fighter, 75 hp, played by Alex Hubbard
Laire, 8th level fighter, 73 hp, played by Kyle MacLea
Nara, 8th level Auroran cleric, 64 hp, played by Katherine Plante
Rangorn, 6th level woodsman, 56 hp, played by Joel Green
Hildebrandt, 8th level mage, 39 hp, played by Alan Turnquist
Nief, 10th level thief, 36 hp, played by Jeremy Schichor
Feagle, 7th level druid, 33 hp, played by Jeff

and Gram, scholar, 56 hp, played by Kyle MacLea

A quick rundown of the Daring Dozen, or those remaining:

The Dozen began adventuring in 2172, right about the time Middle was
founded. They traveled to Tan-El, and in early 2173, lost 3 members to
the Sphinx in a deal gone horribly awry.

Since then they have decided to remain at no more than 12 members,
particularly in light of the Stone Soules' explosion in party size. Two
other original members were killed in separate later adventures.

The party is generally good, and quite unified. They do not have the
agenda of the Stone Soules, merely a desire for adventure and righting
wrongs.

They have replaced the 5 dead members with lower level people, ranging up
to 4th level in 2186, which is the setting of this adventure.

Xavier has already left for parts unknown by this time. Eli, Theo, and
Alegra work on the plans for the colonization of Tan-El, Eli from his
Ziggaraut. Ludo and Theo are primarily disinterested, and Theo's
conservatism weighs heavily in his opinions about the plans.

Sahrak has vanished to do something, perhaps start a travelling circus.
Raven is patrolling the forest near Tan-El for threats. The party has
essentially splintered.

Continue reading "Daring Dozen Summary #1: Dangers of the Tunnel" »

Posted by Joel Green at 11:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Felix, 2nd level fighter, 24 hp, played by Alex
Drew, 2nd level ranger, 19 hp, played by committee (mainly Alan this time)
Tyveris, 2nd level cleric, 12 hp, played by Joel
Quentin, 2nd level druid, 10 hp, played by Jeremy
Morgan, 2nd level fighter, 9 hp, played by Alan
Perry, 1st level thief, 6 hp, played by Sean

The word for tonight was: absurd.

The party was dead on so many occasions, it's sickening to think about it. Keep in mind while reading this: our party consists of five 2nd level characters (no mage), and one 1st level thief. Just to put things in perspective before your eyes pop out reading this.

Continue reading "Defenders Log Entry #15: In Over Our Heads" »

Posted by Joel Green at 02:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Felix, 2nd level fighter, 24 hp, played by Alex
Drew, 2nd level ranger, 19 hp, played by committee
Morgan, 2nd level fighter, 12 hp, played by Alan
Tyveris, 2nd level cleric of Nevron, 12 hp, played by Joel
Quentin, 2nd level druid, 10 hp, played by Jeremy
Perry, 1st level thief, 6 hp, played by Sean

When we last left our not-particularly beleaguered party, it had just finished an initial interrogation of Captain Nbod's first mate, Zune.

We cast the _Detect Lie_ spell as planned. Hoo boy-- the spell has probably never gotten better mileage than this.

I'll just start listing his corrected (true statements) lies. Invert these to regain his original lying statements:

1. Cares about the ghost (not in a loving way)
2. Sees why he should tell us about the ghost
3. Thinks it is not obvious how to make the ghost visible, but still failed to volunteer information to us.
4. Doesn't particularly care about giving his friends away.
5. He was the only one ever in the room.
6. He has not cast a spell through the gate.
7. He can't tell how far it is through the gate-- for casting spells, at least.
8. Good idea to hang him.
9. His friends have zero ability to track us down.
10. It would be wise for him to say more about them if he wants to live.
11. The dagger has to do with his religion (duh)
12. He cares greatly what we think about him.
13. His friends are not a problem.
14. The dagger is important to his religious status.
15. Adventurers are quite important in his reliigous hierarachy.
16. Other members of his group would love to have the dagger.
17. He knows very few clerics of any power.
18. That is unfortunate for him.

Continue reading "Defenders Log Entry #14: Out of the Frying Pan and into the Water" »

Posted by Joel Green at 02:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Felix, 2nd level fighter, 24 hp, played by Alex
Drew, 2nd level ranger, 19 hp, played by committee
Morgan, 2nd level fighter, 12 hp, played by Alan
Tyveris, 2nd level cleric of Nevron, 12 hp, played by Joel
Quentin, 2nd level druid, 10 hp, played by Jeremy
Perry, 1st level thief, 6 hp, played by Sean

Watch as the party attempts to keel over from high stress!

When we last left our immobile party, it was in the room at the inn with Father Filner from the Nevronian Church. We had just found a supposedly non-magical but clearly intelligent dagger. We put it back.

Our next and last idea was to discreetly drill a hole in the ceiling and look through it for several nights.

Several interesting things were noted:

At fairly random times during the night every couple of days, the chest, tub, and wardrobe would all glow green. This, we concluded was the appearance of them activating.

A couple of nights into our observations, our "ghost" entered the room from the wardrobe immediately following a green glow from it. He moved around the room for a few moments, then sprinted back to the wardrobe, and we believe that it had begun to close and he reopened it, then clambered in and left.

That was neat.

Continue reading "Defenders Log Entry #13: The Next Level of Paranoia" »

Posted by Joel Green at 02:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Felix, 2nd level fighter, 24 hp, played by Alex
Drew, 2nd level ranger, 19 hp, played by committee
Morgan, 2nd level fighter, 12 hp, played by Alan
Tyveris, 2nd level cleric of Nevron, 12 hp, played by Joel
Quentin, 2nd level druid, 10 hp, played by Jeremy
Perry, 1st level thief, 6 hp, played by Sean

A REALLY COOL GAME SESSION!

I'll hit the general highlights:

The party continued its exploration of possibilities. Finding no response forthcoming from the room for several days. Eventually we decided to get a little more adventurous and tried to prop open the chest. It stayed that way for two nights, until the second night when something happened.

Four armed men, yelling about how they would kill those adventurers, entered the bar. They threatened us with 250 gp damages. Tyveris stood up and said something to the effect that they should be worried about the ghost as a permanent problem rather than blaming us. They tried to drag him away-- but then he pointed out that he was a deputy of Restenford.

The man punched him with a brass knuckle, hard enough to stun him. Then he left. Tyveris felt a vague sense of satisfaction through the dizziness, though.

It turns out that the ghost had appeared on the docks and chased three men unloading something into the water. By some accounts he threw them in, others he just pushed. It was definitely the same ghost in appearance.

Continue reading "Defenders Log Entry #12: Things to Do in Benct When You're Dead, Part II" »

Posted by Joel Green at 02:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)