s HT Alias/Player Character Name Type Status/Notes Sex -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- R1 John Haight...........Arawn.............Druid .Normal/Alfar Ma ?? Chris Wells...........Ben'dar...........Warrior.Normal/Human Ma R1 Tom Corckett..........Caladan...........Wizard Normal/Human Ma W2 Marcel Liberty........Chion.............Sailor..Normal/Human Ma -- Tobie Bonahoom........Fremea............Sidh....NormalFaerry Fe Do David Sanders.........Kiet.Sunan........Acrobat Normal/Human Ma R? J H Hooten............Raban.Usherwood...Bard....Normal/Human..Ma W4 Wout Broere...........Unali.............Ninja...Normal/Human Fe R4 Alex Koponen..........Z'leyra...........Healer..Normal/Human Fe Animals: Corona [Eagle] Z'leyra, Boyzdar [Wolf] (Strie'bog), Game Web Site - http://www.funport.com/longshot/pbem Public posts/actions to pnpgm@abroere.xs4all.nl (mailing list) Private emails (not public actions) to longshot@darktech.org Game Update #99 in sequence (file #546) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Admin Notes: Website links have been updated including: minor edits for adventure timeline, minor edits to People file, player status file and FINAL player map version. ----------------------------------------------------------------- [Recap] From Fremea: [Re: Actions] Being that Fremea promised the elementals she would do what ever it took to free them of the control spell, she flys through the portal, with a little (tiny) light for her eyes to see completely with. Her dagger will be out and her magic sensing at full. GM: Ack. No need for light for Sidh. Good night vision. :) ----------------------- From Kiet: [Re: Actions] From Kiet: "I think the beings you described as Lion-headed humans with vicious claws are Div or Dev...? There are stories from my homeland of such creatures, and even some statues. These, however, I have never seen...and fortunately didn't this time. They are sometimes called upon to attack Lemasa's enemies, the way one might call an avenging angel." From Kiet: "Someone has to stay and keep watch over the prisoners, or we have to take everybody with us. I'll volunteer to stay with them...and I promise not to hurt them, unless they try to escape." "I still think that A'kril would have worn something to control the traps...so whoever goes should take along his sword, at least. I doubt his armor would be of much use...or that it was the key, because if you are going to work with items from your library, you aren't going to be comfortable in heavy armor." "Oh, and what about the woman prisoner? What do we do with her? Bind, gag and head cover?" GM: Ack. I moved this slightly out of sequence and out of place but made it still valid. ----------------------- From Kiet: [Re: Actions] What everybody doesn't seem to realize is that's really a disintigrator ring....it's how they disposed of their garbage... - Kiet GM: Ack. Shhh..don't give my secrets away. How they got resources will be solved likely in this update. But you forget they had Gargoyles who could carry lots. As to garbage those who explored the bathroom area saw magical waste dumps. Waste in and poof magic waste gone. Likely same thing for basic trash like food and such via kitchen. ----------------------- From Ben'dar: [Re: Actions] Ben'Dar shrugs and steps through the portal. Perhaps he'll get a chance to see Lady Varo again. GM: Ack. ----------------------- From Raban: [Re: Actions] Raban looks over the the small portal, "What happens if you bump into the edges? I have to duck and step to go through or dive and roll, but I don't want to accidentally break it." GM: Ack. ----------------------- From Arawn: [Re: Actions] Arawn studied the portal, walking around it if possible, and studying both the portal and the room it was located in for any markings or clues. He watched as Fremea and Ben'dar prepared to step through and decided to speak up before they travelled to the other side. "I am interested in seeing what lies on the other side but a few things concern me. First, if the elemental prison is on the other side we still have the potential dilemma of locating a safe landing zone for the cloud-island not to mention possibly having to steer it there. Second, we do not know what lies on the other side of the portal. It could lead to open space or some other potentially dangerous area. Might I suggest that the party allow one person to step through the portal, someone possessing the power of flight, to serve as reconnaissence and report if it is safe to cross through. The other suggestion is that whomever stays behind try to study the map and figure out how to steer this thing in case it becomes an issue." GM: Ack. ----------------------------------------------------------------- [New Stuff] GM: New 2009 Dwarf contract made this week. When I had to rehire one of them back even though they are slaves (they work for beer, salad and bags of pretzels) they demand contract points. One of those points is the usual jokes they like to spread around in their attempt at good cheer. So pardon me while I oblige with the contract. They think they are funny but they tend to be drunk most of the time. Could be worse my Elf employee could give jokes. Q: Why do Mummies like Christmas so much? A: Because of all the wrapping! What do you get when you cross an archer with a gift-wrapper? Ribbon hood. What goes Ho, Ho, Swoosh, Ho, Ho, Swoosh? Santa Claus caught in a revolving door. GM: Now assuming your still here we'll move to the update... ------------------ [Ma 2nd, 1633TH. 5th Day of Adventure #4. [Location: Chaos domain, Dark Lands, 9 Miles up, Flying Island] [Moments before while Caladan and others exchange information with Z'leyra and Kiet in the Courtyard...] [When the Lion creature is described Kiet yells up over the wind Elemental's hourglass noise.] Kiet: "I think the beings you described as Lion-headed humans with vicious claws are Div or Dev...? There are stories from my homeland of such creatures, and even some statues. These, however, I have never seen...and fortunately didn't this time. They are sometimes called upon to attack Lemasa's enemies, the way one might call an avenging angel." [That seems to confirm Arawn's knowledge and based on the Summoning room it seems the female called upon these creatures. If they wanted her dead before Raban got there they would have easily. that may mean she isn't as nice as she looks.] ------------------ [Time: 12:11 pm] [Inside the dark room lit only by the Portal the group decides who will go through and who will stay. Some go around the portal and see the same thing they do from the front. The Sidh look around but find no other magical auras, signs, runes, symbols or anything else but flat stone dusty walls.] [The party sees Caladan come back quickly and that indicates there isn't a time difference like one might expect from a Interworld Portal or at least what they have heard of such. Raban knows nothing of such things but has heard stories of people walking and simply disappearing. Ben'dar at least has seen such a portal once on Clima. The small group wait and see if Caladan suddenly becomes a frog, dies or simply faints. But a minute later nothing seems to happen to him. So the portal must be safe at this point.] Arawn: "I am interested in seeing what lies on the other side but a few things concern me. First, if the elemental prison is on the other side we still have the potential dilemma of locating a safe landing zone for the cloud-island not to mention possibly having to steer it there. Second, we do not know what lies on the other side of the portal. It could lead to open space or some other potentially dangerous area. Might I suggest that the party allow one person to step through the portal, someone possessing the power of flight, to serve as reconnaissance and report if it is safe to cross through. The other suggestion is that whomever stays behind try to study the map and figure out how to steer this thing in case it becomes an issue." [Fremea knows time is running out and the party has a history of arguing things that could waste precious time. If the Wizard with the snake can do it so can she. She draws her dagger and wiggles her ears for full sensory alertness. Then standing near the portal she simply thrusts herself off the ground and flies through. What little room there is for wings its more a jump than a full flight into the portal.] [Ben'dar shrugs as the others discuss what is on the other side. Ben'dar wonders why not just go through and see! He recalls the time he met Lady Varo and from that came Tef'wo. That was a great time and maybe this will be better. Without much hesitation he steps through the portal next.] [Raban looks at the portal with a confused look and wonders how a large person can get in much less step through.] Raban: "What happens if you bump into the edges? I have to duck and step to go through or dive and roll, but I don't want to accidentally break it." [Raban ambles up to the portal and circles it twice. A 8 foot person can get into a 4 foot hole. Sure but his back is as large as a barrel. He wonders if maybe stepping backwards and ducking is easier. Ducking and missing something is easier than ducking and not. He backs up and his big behind shakes at the portal. He attempts to lift his large leg and step backwards but gets off balance. He stands and shimmies up to it again. A slight giggle is heard from Caladan but Raban ignores it. After a second attempt Raban growls and then gives up. he turns and faces the portal and thinks maybe he could just fly through the hole. But then if he bounces on the edges and slams into the wall he might be sleeping for awhile. Knowing that Fremea could be in danger he growls slightly and shifts his gear not to hit the edges when he tries to step forward. As he does he suddenly feels hands on his back and they shove. Instinctively he ducks and his legs react and the next he steps through the hole.] [Caladan sneezes and steps away from where he pushed Raban through the hole.] Caladan: "I'll stay here and inform the others. I'm a bit allergic to the amount of dust or something in there." [With that Caladan walks back into the Navigation room.] [Arawn glances at Unali and Chion who remain in the room and studies the portal a bit more. Fremea seemed to take his suggestion and just step through without much of as a worry. No auras seemed to flash when the others went through maybe that means they aren't zapped. Being an Alfar portals like this isn't uncommon. Such exist for Middle to Lower and Upper to Lower and more combinations therein. But those lead to time fluxed areas. Caladan came back instantly but how far in time was he gone then? He seems the same so maybe it was instant. From outside Caladan yells in.] Caladan: "Don't worry I'll check this place out a bit more and the map. First I'll go secure the woman and inform the others. I have a feeling you'll need to help Fremea." [Chion stands smirking. First at the thought of Raban mooning the portal - if only something had come out and taken a bite. But also that Arawn the brave Elf seems hesitant. Lady Varo didn't help him out much. He doesn't expect to see much of her again.] [When Arawn checks the back of the portal out, Unali steps through without saying a word. Arawn notes this and sees no difference from behind just the black of the portal hole itself. He wonders if this portal will lead to a slide or to ancients. Arawn then considers Caladan's words. There was no more magic to be found on the controls. The problem is turning a wheel left or right might do what? There has to be some connection. Some other control link in the chain. A ship's wheel leads to pulleys which lead to other devices to the keel. All are links in the overall control. A ship's wheel by itself does nothing. What is the missing link here? Caladan may be right with Fremea. She is eager and inexperienced and can lead to drastic actions that could endanger everyone. Now that Raban is gone his rash actions could be hard to deal with as well. To help control them maybe he should enter. Arawn glances at Chion and knows he has no influence over Chion. But at least the other 2 he might be able to convince. Arawn circles the portal, shrugs and steps through.] ------------------ GM: A brief intermission as the party wonders if they'll survive. What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? Frostbite Why are Christmas trees like bad knitters? They both drop their needles! What did the bald man say when he got a comb for Christmas? Thanks, I'll never part with it! ------------------ [Meanwhile down below on the first floor Kiet and Z'leyra have returned to the hallway. They stand near the door and discuss the situation. A half minute later they hear Caladan yell from the balcony area. They open the door and he informs they have found some kind of portal and most of them have already entered. He is staying behind for now. Caladan asks if they wish to join the others through the portal?] Kiet: "Someone has to stay and keep watch over the prisoners, or we have to take everybody with us. I'll volunteer to stay with them...and I promise not to hurt them, unless they try to escape." [Z'leyra glances at Kiet and she notes he means it as a joke but some serious ice comes from the undertone and she knows he means that as well. Z'leyra finds it ironic a man who seeks to entertain many sees the need to interrogate and possibly torture others. A confusing double life to her Healer's instincts.] Kiet: "I still think that A'kril would have worn something to control the traps...so whoever goes should take along his sword, at least. I doubt his armor would be of much use...or that it was the key, because if you are going to work with items from your library, you aren't going to be comfortable in heavy armor." "Oh, and what about the woman prisoner? What do we do with her? Bind, gag and head cover?" Caladan: "They already went through. I'll be doing that to her in a minute. She isn't not gagged now but will do so in a minute. I'll come get the sword if they need it." [Caladan walks out of sigh and Kiet grumbles. Not liking his suggestion ignored so lightly. Kiet feels it is a good thing. So does Z'leyra, both head back to the main room to get one more look at the items. Soon after checking the prisoners both find themselves in the wrecked main room. They find the items and examine them. Z'leyra ensures there is no runes or symbols on the inside of the armor or bottom of the hilt that might be missed the first time. But after a minute nothing else is found that wasn't found the first time. Kiet begins to get a urge to leave and heads to the bathroom. Z'leyra checks the dead bodies once more for clues.] [A minute later Kiet exits the bathroom with and notices the armory door is open. Before it was partially explored it was cracked open. Kiet glances down the hall and notices dust floating in the hallway. The broken window where Corona exited before is still open. Kiet takes a chance and looks into the room but no fire comes forth. He quickly waves a hand and still nothing. Soon a foot, nothing and finally he stands in the doorway. He notices the crates and boxes are a bit messed up as if a tornado hit the room. Then he glances at the window. The Glyph must've just been in here or recently looking for whatever he was looking for. It seems the wards are gone. At least the fire one.] [Z'leyra exits the room and returns to the hallway where the prisoners and Ipanza are. She is surprised how quickly trustworthy the barbarians seem to have gained. They seem honorable and not a false prisoner as some suspected. They could've easily have killed the prisoners and escaped at least twice now. But they seem to be in desperate help of the party that set them free. She notices one barbarian is at the west window opposite the one broken. She turns to look for Kiet and notices him down the hall near the armory. She gets his attention and he joins her at the window. There the man holding a sword points out the window north and right of the window. Z'leyra looks and notices a slab of stone about 8' by 8' it seems. Kiet takes a glance and then both look at the barbarian. he then raises a hand up and down, left and right. He points at the slab and then repeats. Unsure he figures some way to convey his message and looks down and points at Corona and then gestures again. Z'leyra figures he must mean flight or movement. Kiet also guesses out what he means.] Kiet: "Z'leyra...I think he's trying to tell us there used to be a bird statue out there, and now it's gone. If you want to investigate, I will watch the prisoners from here...and these Ips too, especially the one that pointed out the pedestal." "I also recommend a spear or other weapon capable of fending off a flying creature." "I would come with you, but someone trustworthy needs to watch these people. If you decide, however, that my judgement is overly cautions, I would be more than willing to join you at your bequest." "I am sorry to say I do not have any. I am somewhat skilled in the use of javelins, but I have none. I was expecting to use my spells for that...but I am drained. I have no skills in bows or such." [Z'leyra checks her greatsword, staff and then grabs her sling. She hands it and some projectiles to Kiet in case she needs coverage. She summons Corona and he exits the window first after it is pried open. It seems to have stayed shut for a long time. Corona heads up to the roof and waits. Z'leyra then steps outside and checks around. The storm is now moved on and way out west. It can be seen faintly in the west and up. She then realizes it is higher and that confirms this place has fallen a bit. To the west is a grove of small trees about 8-10 feet in height only. most are thin but bushy and tall knee high bushes splatter the area. If there are more creatures out there she sees none. The fog that was around earlier is gone. it is still cool but not freezing. The wind is still active but not gale force. She looks south and the tree line is south west but due south is the castle wall and open terrain. North is castle wall and horizon. That strange barrier lights seen earlier indicates to her the edge of this place is north. So the castle must be on the north east part of the island. The tree line is a good 200 feet away, giving plenty of time to see things coming. Z'leyra feels better also knowing backup is near. The west wall is flat stone clearly weathered by wind, rain and erosion. It is dotted by the first and second floor windows.] [Z'leyra turns right and walks the 20 feet or so to the slab of stone. She thinks to herself it would be ironic for the gods to kill her now. A flying limb, rock or grasshopper to the eye could kill her. To die like that rather in some blazing spell action isn't right. She stops about 10 feet from the slab and notices grass around it is haggard. In place it is bent in every direction. That likely indicates it is not a secret tunnel but a simple slab. She notices glints of something on the four corners of the square stone. Getting closer they glint in the sunlight. They appear to be gems. She notices along the wall is also a square box set into the wall itself but at ground level. It appears to be a foot wide and high. The box has a lid like structure and a lock that sits into the stone itself. She tries the lock and finds it locked.] [Z'leyra asks Kiet if he has the keys and says no they went with the others. She inspects the stone box and sees the lock is on the right side. She uses the base of her staff to chip a bit of stone off. Nothing happens. No monster. No magical ward. She tapes again and harder. More stone comes off. She continues to smash the left side of the stone box. Soon a hole is made and she can peer inside. She peers inside and it is dark but notices a lumpy thing. It doesn't attack or zap her. She continues to chip at the hole until it is a few fingers wide and peers inside. She breaks the hole more off after a full minute and finds the contents to be a simple leather cap of some sort. She sticks her staff in waits a second or two and nothing happens. She then picks the cap up after a bit of trying and brings it outside the box. The leather cap seems to have a chin strap.] [Z'leyra grabs the cap and examines it. It has the same symbols as the slab. She notices the barbarian is knocking on window and pointing to the cap. He pretends to gesture with his head like to wear it then points to slab. He then points to sky and then gestures as if moving with his hand. Z'leyra gets the idea it has something to do with the slab obviously. Z'leyra examines the gems and can't figure out their type or quality other than they are large and inset into the stone. Z'leyra walks back and shows Kiet the cap. Being a master jeweler she has never seen such gems. But then again neither has she for the door gems that seem to maybe activate the shield. The runes and symbols and gems are the only thing on the slab. She notices the area is ridden with footprints showing recent activity. They are all around the slab and then lead to the south likely to the main door. The runes and symbols she hasn't seen before but they seem to be ones that fit in that blue tome found in the library.] ------------------ [As the group explore past the portal Caladan checks out the room and the illusion map. he is fascinated but not so surprised. Being around Trembyl and Woundenal illusions are nothing new to him. Woundenal even had a book that would show such things for creatures in full three-d views. It only took the mage 5 years to create the book. He runs his hands along the sides and under the oak table. When he rounds the back to the west wall he notices a drawer inside into the table. It must've been missed first time. He opens it and notices two sextants which he has seen before on ships. he also notices 3 spyglasses. One seems quite unusual with markings and symbols. He draw it out and examines it. He walks over to the window and tries to pinpoint a cloud with his eye. It must be miles away. He then raises it to his eye and it comes about half the distance. He then places his fingers on the symbols and suddenly the cloud enlarges to mere feet it seems. Detail and layout are seen. He then figures the spyglass has some Sight spell enchanted on it. Could be useful for observation. He returns to the table and runs his hands further along the rim. Then he notices some bumpy surfaces and they are gems. Looking around he experiments and taps one. The map changes ever so slightly. After about three minutes he figures out the controls. It seems he can enlarge and zoom out the map and rotate it. He grins to himself and plans to tell the others when and if they return from the portal.] ------------------ GM: Still curious about portal? Well too bad. If I have to suffer with these jokes so do you. Where did the mistletoe go to become rich and famous? Holly-wood. What do vampires put on their turkey at Christmas? Grave-y! Who is never hungry at Christmas? The turkey - he's always stuffed! Whose Christmas parties are full of screams? Dracula's. ------------------ [The group emerges quickly into a dark, dank, cool area. From first and immediate glances it is a cave or rock room of some sort. Fremea has already figured out the roof, floor and sides are natural rock. Either it is a natural cave of some kind or carved out by hand or magic. Knowing A'kril it could've been magic. Once eyes adjust the only dim light is the portal rim itself. The roof here is 11-12 feet high. Raban checks his neck from emerging from the tiny hole. He knows now how that large cow can exit that small hole at birth. Awkward at best.] [Arawn glances for magic but finds nothing but the portal. He then feels his empathic contact with the glyph is still active. That tells him he isn't on another plane. That alone is evidence this area is somewhere on or in the island. But then he realizes if he can sense him maybe the glyph can as well. Knowing the duration will end soon anyways he shuts down the contact so the Elemental can't find them. It would do no good to have an angry elemental here. The group begins to move out as soon as everyone seems to have come through. Caladan was right this place is dusty and moldy. Some give a slight cough or sneeze from it. The sidh don't seem so bothered by it. Arawn puts his face wrap around him to prevent the dust and mold from getting to his face.] [Moving forward about 8 feet the group turns right about 45 degrees. Then walk another 8 or so feet. Then turn left. Facing before them is a large cavern. It must go back 60 feet long and only 14 or so feet wide. The second thing the group notices is the glow of red and green everywhere. On the roof and walls the glow comes and the party soon realize it is lichen of some sort that is giving off the light.] [The firs thing notices is a large creature lying on the ground in the center of the cave. The creature, no a man it seems, lifts its head up. It seems to be laying on a stone pillow of some sort. Its ears are pointed and its skin is silver. From the look of the body it appears to be seven feet maybe more tall and little over 200 pounds of flseh. It has a tiny nose but no mouth. Another feature immediately notice is no hair on its head. It is dressed in a smelly, tainted, very tattered old looking gray robe. He stares at the party.] [Around the head comes another figure. Arawn and the others are shocked to see it is a Elf! This one looks taller than Arawn and a bit gaunt as if from age. It holds a tall spear. This Elf glares at the party.] [The next thing noticed is the tall man on the ground with the ears has a thick collar device on. It glows yellow and can be seen. But to the sidh it glows also red and orange with magical aura. Around the man's wrists and ankles are smaller versions of the same device. On the chest of the man hangs a glowing blue amulet. It glows blue to normals but to the sidh it glows a dark purple aura.] [The party glance at each other and wonder what they have stumbled upon. There is no good room to hide in this place and once you got past the corner it was wide open. Suddenly the entire group feels a tingle in their head and some draw weapons. The sidh sense no magical auras approaching.] "He is dead then?" [Each member of the group hears that in their head in their native language.] [then the Elf speaks in Elf Sidh.] Elf: "Who are you?" [Time: 12:15 pm] - For everyone Actions? Comments? Next Update...Friday?? GM: Slight trivia fun with Arawn. Figure it out? GM: See admin note on website links (top of update). GM: Chion - Since not posted wasn't sure if you joined them or not. I left it open. Let me know ASAP. GM: I had done the outside part with Z'leyra in ICQ and Kiet in email. GM: I had forgot about the details on the spyglass. So did it above to get that out of the way. The controls would've been found eventually. So did that as well. Same thing with the armory wards. They seem to be gone as far as Kiet can figure out. GM: Thought you could leave this update? Not so fast. They have a couple more. Why was Santa's little helper depressed? Because he had low elf esteem. An honest politician, a kind lawyer and Santa Claus were walking down the street and saw a $20 bill. Which one picked it up? Santa! The other two don't exist! Ok. That last one was actually good. :) GM: Ok. Enough of an update for now. since no one has posted they didn't want a update or were out of town. I'll do a small update to answer questions or comments on Friday. I work Friday but can do it Wed night/Thurs night. It likely won't have NEW stuff but can answer minor questions or reply to comments. But we'll see. GM: Oh and to all MERRY CHRISTMAS! ----------------------------------------------------------------- [Second Floor] Legend - North /|\ 1 Row = 2 feet 1 Column = 2 feet % , ° = Solid wall or earthen rock [Portal Second Room] 1 2 3 4 5 123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901 %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% A %% %%%% %% % %% %% B %% O %%% U B E %% C %% %%% %% A SSSS %% D %%%%%%%%% %% F SSSS %% E %%%%%%%%% R % %% F %%%%%%%%%% %% %%% %% G %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% % is cave wall. O is portal. Portal area elevation is about 5 feet taller than the other section. So going down to other section is rock/stone natural steps. Party Locations - A - Arawn - D20 [Above Map - Facing East] B - Ben'dar - C23 [Above Map - Facing East] C - Caladan - Second floor, Navigation room H - Chion - ??? F - Fremea - E20 [Above Map - Facing East] K - Kiet - First floor South Hallway R - Raban - F22 [Above Map - Facing East] U - Unali - C20 [Above Map - Facing East] Z - Z'leyra - First floor South Hallway/Outside - Corona - Roof outside E - Elf - C40 [Above Map - Facing West] S - Man ??? - C/D 34-37 [Laying down, head raised, facing west] Prisoners - First floor South Hallway Barbarians - First floor South Hallway Wind - Courtyard hourglass