The Campaign with No Name (from Hasbro boards)

[willpell]

This is the new home for My First Campaign. I will eventually make local archive copies of important posts from the original thread, but for now the idea is to have a place to resume the actual game which isn't the craptacular Wotco forums. That game is here: http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19558958/My_First_Campaign_30.

New players may be accepted into the game eventually, but for now the objective is just to get the ball rolling again with the three semi-active PCs I already had.

[The-Mage-King]

Yo. TMK reporting in.

[willpell]

Yo. TMK reporting in.

Welcome. Let's hope you're not the last to make the switch.

[Cherubaddon]

Reporting for duty.

[willpell]

Reporting for duty.

And then there were two.

[Cherubaddon]

How about we get this started? Edge or whoever else can still join up later, but I for one feel like we've waited for too long to see this game get up again :smallwink:.

[willpell]

I am attempting to bring in two more players from another game of mine that is in need of a new home. I will attempt to write a post integrating the two games this weekend; hopefully from there we can proceed.

[Vektor]

Here I am.

[The-Mage-King]

And whom might you be?

[Vektor]

I am attempting to bring in two more players from another game of mine that is in need of a new home. I will attempt to write a post integrating the two games this weekend; hopefully from there we can proceed.

One of these guys.

[willpell]

I apologize, but my computer was out of commission this weekend (due, as it turns out, entirely to my own stupidity), so it will probably be still longer before I can get things going again, if indeed I can at all. I need to find out just how long it takes to clean up this mess.

[Vektor]

OK :smallfrown:

[willpell]

Okay, time to get the ball rolling with a bit of setup.

Andromalius, O'er Keele, you wandered for a time in the strange dimension of rectangular fog banks and peculiar shrines, and then, just as inexplicably as you arrived, you were returned to your campsite, finding it to be late afternoon on the same day when you should have woken up there in the first place. Of the elf archer, you found no sign; perhaps he had been a creature of that dimension in the first place. The closest you ever came to getting an explanation of how you'd stumbled into the realm (and back out of it) was a reference in Mortwright's Codex Planetaris to the phenomenon of "Shallowings", localized thinnings of the extraplanar "fabric" which enable beings to slip between dimensions, sometimes sealing behind them and other times remaining open long enough for them to recross the same invisible border. Obviously such phenomena are not a common occurrence, or every mysterious disappearance could be blamed on them; according to Mortwright they happen roughly every 100 years, but he admits that this was an educated guess at best, so there is no way to know for sure. Either way, you survived with your skins intact and decide to be satisfied with that.

Since it was so late, you ended up just camping for another night. In the morning, the cleric Trevaine announced that his deity had annuled his obligation to remain with Andromalius and that he would be on his way, taking the prisoner with him on his way to a place of civilization and justice closer than your destination of Kerodain. Dorian also excused himself, apparently dissatisfied with the number of orcs he was getting to kill in the course of your rather low-key mission, and headed off toward the hinterlands where you had no desire to go. Though Keele was disgusted to find himself deprived of a substitute meat shield for the party (a role which he himself would fall into now, if he planned on sticking with the short mage long enough to profit from his obviously superlative intellect), and Andromalius was faintly sorrowed not to have a fellow scholar of necromancy around to converse with during dull evenings, both of you decided it was not worth quibbling with their reasons; both men had certain moralistic leanings that would have eventually proved incompatible with your agendas, after all, so it was just as well for them to go their separate ways - not that you'd mind if they turned up again and felt some sort of cameraderie that might lead them to offer their aid once more.

(Edge, meanwhile, is a rogue and thus exists in a state of quantum uncertainty; he returned with the rest of the party, but disappeared as soon as somebody's back was turned, except that if his player turns up here and posts again then he will retroactively never have left after all.)

As to Varinor: after receiving the omen from the stars, and confirming with your scroll and quill that it was indeed the word "EXATOS" in sigil form, you grew determined to track down the door from your dreams on which it was inscribed, and through a series of queries and infiltrations too dull to be worth detailing, you found the location of the abandoned Elven palace where it was located. Stealing your way in past an atypical lack of the traps and monstrous squatters which usually infest such ruins, you came at last upon the green door, opened it to find an even greener light forming a luminous curtain, and found yourself unable to find any compelling argument against stepping through. You found youself standing in bare forest, but recognized the trees and other landmarks as belonging to the selfsame forest you'd just left; it was as if the palace had simply disappeared. But you were destined to find other differences as you wandered in search of your old agenda - though you were in the same part of the world as before, nobody you spoke to had ever heard of a Farwind City, and you were unable to track down the names of any of the people whom you had met when you went there. Eventually you came to the conclusion that you must have stepped into a different universe when you passed through that door, a place hauntingly familiar yet somehow distinct, and a place from which there seemed unlikely to be any way back.

In disgust, you wandered further in search of a new purpose and found youself at last in the countryside near the village of Bho'ath, traveling alongside a road to an even bigger city which you might or might not have any intention of stepping inside, just for lack of any preferable direction in which to head. There, by the roadside, you found a small campsite one morning at which a party of adventurers was apparently preparing to decamp; a little discrete surveilance quickly convinced you that the two who were heading off in separate directions were people thoroughly not of your stripe who you had best avoid, but that the two who remained, a dapperly-clad bard and a person whose body seemed that of a child but whose behavior was more reminiscent of a crotchety old scholar, seemed like people that you might be able to deal profitably with.

(OOC: Since the remaining characters are all Evil, Evil-leaning, or at least thoroughly unconcerned with moral prerogatives and likely to be mistaken for Evil due to choice of profession, we might as well call this an Evil campaign now, which disagrees with my personal preferences but does at least simplify plotting matters a bit. The only exception being Edge, if his player does turn up, and any of the other characters that I'm currently ruling are absent due to Player Involvement Failure; if any of them do show up again, we'll see how it goes.)

[The-Mage-King]

"So we now are down a meat shield and a healer... This is a terrible start for an adventuring party..." The bard said, looking towards where Dorian had walked away. "I was really looking forward to hiding behind them...."


(OoC: I persume that Keele is the 'Evil leaning' in that paragraph. Also, what class is Varinor?)

[Vektor]

OOC: Varinor is me and he is a Sorcerer. While I exist in WotC's community (I'm Vektor480 there) I wasn't involved with you in this campaign until now. This is the first time I play D&D. I'm Evil-Neutral, and I hope we can have a nice game. And please be patient if I don't know something or act in a wrong away, I'm a noob at this. :smallsmile:

Varinor looks at these two people and decides to approach. Afterall, there isn't much left to do now, and they seem to be usefull:
"Hey, you there. Excuse me, I came from the forests a while ago and some weird things happened. Mind if I talk to you a little?"

[willpell]

OOC: The GM missess having a mouthy NPC he can talk through, but will happily let you guys RP among yourselves while he gets his THIS together. (Hint: it's an anagram.)

[The-Mage-King]

"Not at all, friend. We, too, have had wierd stuff happen."

[Cherubaddon]

"Tell me about it..." the mage in the body of a child grunts, looking around as though trying to regain his bearings. "Well, we're back, so how about we move on? We still have a good way to make, and we can chat while walking."

[Vektor]

"Well, I believe I'll follow you. After all these weird events, there is little left to risk. You see, I used to live in a forgotten forest thanks to my eyes, that are darker than what is expected from an elf"
Looking at the eyes of this elf, they other members of the group can easily notice that they are very, very dark and uncommon.
"I've met a group of people wandering around the borders of my territory, and due to a series of events I followed them to a city. Besides being attacked by a horse and receiving messages from the stars, the signs always led to the world "EXATOS" and a weird symbol. I have been cursed and healed and followed traces to a weird place that I've had dreamed about. After all this, I discovered that I've got trapped in an alternate reality, and here I am, more confused than ever."

Varinor takes a deep breath after this speech.

"And what about you? What did this weird world offer you?"

[The-Mage-King]

"Well, we were dropped into some unreal world, which we managed to escape last eve. The name's Keele, O'er Keele."

[Vektor]

"Forgive my lack of manners. My name is Varinor Hithnael. It seems that alternate dimensions are more common than I thought."

[Cherubaddon]

"Andromalius," the small mage says laconically. At the comment about alternate dimensions, he laughs without humour. "Either that, or else there was some sort of cosmic interference or something. Anyhow, let's hope this... unfortunate episode doesn't repeat itself."

[The-Mage-King]

"..." The bard pauses. "Never say that. Ever. That pretty much makes it so we will have to go through something like that again..."

[Vektor]

Could I ask what you were seeking before this weird episode?

[willpell]

"..." The bard pauses. "Never say that. Ever. That pretty much makes it so we will have to go through something like that again..."

Directly behind all of the players's head, where none of them can see, a Cheshire cat briefly winks into and out of existence.

[willpell]

Alright, I think it's time for me to assume that you've done all the roleplaying you're going to.

Your powwow is interrupted by a sound like a thunderclap from some distance away in the forest.

[Vektor]

"What was that? Maybe we should check it out..."

[Cherubaddon]

Andromalius sighs. "Let's just hope that wasn't the sound of some other parallel dimension ripping open to suck us in. Let's go." Without awaiting a reply, he begins making way towards the source of the sound.

[willpell]

As you make your way through the forest toward the sound, you begin to hear sounds of activity ahead - large numbers of bodies moving about, chopping sounds, guttural shouts in no language you recognize. A smell of alchemical smoke faintly pervades the area.

[The-Mage-King]

"Gentlemen, I think there might be something dangerous up ahead." The bard says, upon smelling the smoke. "Sadly, we've lost our primary meatshield..."

[Cherubaddon]

"Well then, you know upon whom the role falls, do you not?" Andromalius comments dryly. "Let's go."

[Vektor]

"I'm not the kind of person that just jumps into action. Who is the volunteer to look at the area?

[The-Mage-King]

"I suggest that we send Andromalius' raven, unless either of you have any better ideas."

[Cherubaddon]

Looking less than thrilled, Andromalius exchanges a few cryptic words with the raven, who quickly launches himself into the air to circle the sky ahead.

He is to be extra-careful, inspecting as much as he safely can, and report back.

EDIT: Does this forum have an sblock function?

[willpell]

The raven departs on his intended mission. (It will take several combat rounds for him to return, so feel free to post actions on the assumption that your position may or may not be secure.)

OOC: There is an sblock function at least in signatures, and I don't know why it wouldn't work in posts, though I don't think it would have been necessary here. But if it ever is necessary to say something to me which the other players MUST not hear, I recommend a PM just to be on the safe side.

[Vektor]

"How long will it take for that raven to return? I'm not feeling confortable here...

[Cherubaddon]

Andromalius shrugs: "A few minutes, I would assume. And although this may not be the safest of places, I am aware of no superior alternatives." He looks at his companions questioningly.

[The-Mage-King]

"Joy. Then let's be on guard."

[willpell]

OOC: Refresh my memory, Cherubaddon: how much of a link does Andromalius have with his raven? Can he see through the bird's eyes, or does the bird have to come back and give a verbal report?

[Cherubaddon]

OOC: I wish... the Scry-on-familiar thing doesn't come online until like 12th level. Until then, I'm lucky he can speak Draconic, or else, we wouldn't be able to communicate at all :smallfrown:.

[Vektor]

"You are right that we don't have much better options, but I have a bad feeling about this situation. I feel like we are in danger, or maybe being observed. Or maybe I'm just paranoid..."

[The-Mage-King]

"Paranoia never hurt anyone. While we're waiting, tell me what you can do in a fight so I can begin my planning..."

[Vektor]

"I can use Rays of Frost and also control some other spells. You can say I have a natural affinity with spells for that matter. Now, my good sir, tell me what you can do in a fight so that I can begin my planning."

There is a bit of almost unnoticeable disdain in his voice.

[willpell]

OOC: Insert wizard/sorcerer jokes here. (I think I'm going to have to turn this into a magic campaign - CRs will need to be adjusted somehow.)

The raven appears out of the darkness again, but for some reason he circles overhead instead of coming down to light on Andromalius's shoulder.

[The-Mage-King]

"I am a musician with access to some minor magical effects. I am also fairly adept at using premade magical devices."

"And I can use a rapier fairly well."

[[OoC: I've been thinking about my character, and I'd like to know if I could, next level, pick up a level in a variant fighter: Thug (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/UA:Fighter_Variant:_Thug). Well?]]

[willpell]

"I am a musician with access to some minor magical effects. I am also fairly adept at using premade magical devices."

"And I can use a rapier fairly well."

[[OoC: I've been thinking about my character, and I'd like to know if I could, next level, pick up a level in a variant fighter: Thug (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/UA:Fighter_Variant:_Thug). Well?]]

Y'know what, at this point I'm gonna say yes. It's basically just a fighter level with some extra skills, and where the game is going that isn't going to hurt, so go for it.

[Cherubaddon]

Andromalius looks up at his familiar, mystified. "Would you please come down here," he hisses as quietly as possible, slightly irritated at his raven's strange behaviour.

[willpell]

Andromalius looks up at his familiar, mystified. "Would you please come down here," he hisses as quietly as possible, slightly irritated at his raven's strange behaviour.

The raven cannot possibly hear your voice from this distance unless you shout.

[Cherubaddon]

"Great, now what in the Nine is his problem?" Andromalius sighs, exasperated at his familiar's abnormal behaviour under the most inconvenient circumstances. "I suppose I could set a tree on fire, he would notice that," he comments dryly. "Well, gentlemen," he turns to his companions, "how much attention are we willing to attract?"

[The-Mage-King]

"Hm... Can either of you cause a bright flash of light? That might work..."

[Vektor]

"Well gentlemen, I believe I can.

Varinor casts "Light" on his Runic Quarterstaff.

[willpell]

"Well gentlemen, I believe I can.

Varinor casts "Light" on his Runic Quarterstaff.

"Light" does not cause a bright flash (that's Flare), it just causes the object to glow with the brightness of a torch. Are you still casting Light?

[Vektor]

Well, isn't a glowing object enough to call the familiar's attention? I thought that a glowing staff would be enough. If it's not, no, I don't cast it.

[willpell]

Well, isn't a glowing object enough to call the familiar's attention? I thought that a glowing staff would be enough. If it's not, no, I don't cast it.

You have no basis on which to speculate on whether seeing a light equivalent to a torch from his current height (which if I haven't specified otherwise we'll say is about 100 feet, or about 20 feet higher than the tallest of the trees) will or will not get the raven's attention, as you know nothing about this raven (he's not even from the same universe as you, after all).

[Vektor]

Right. So I do nothing.

[willpell]

Right. So I do nothing.

There's a lot of that going around. I wonder if the others are still here (probably growing increasingly displeased with the GM's failure to advance the plot).

[Cherubaddon]

Oh, just waiting for you to wrap up you little debate on magical theory :smalltongue:.

Though timing is unfavourable, as I'm being relocated to Patagonia today, which is a sixteen-hour bus trip. So I won't be around a computer until Saturday noon at least (possibly not until Sunday).

[willpell]

Okay, I can't figure out how to get this point across without breaking the fourth wall, so I'll just break the fourth wall. The raven has a reason for not coming down. It is not that he does not know where you are, because you know perfectly well that he does. Making yourself more visible will not change anything as regards your familiar, who would have come down by now if he did not have a reason to not want to come down.

To remind you - there are scary noises out there in the forest. You sent Corax out to find out what they are. Apparently, what he found out has somehow convinced him not to come to you with his report.

[Cherubaddon]

Curses - it would seem I have found a black swan. Time is short, so forgive the abruptness: I'm stuck in the forests of Patagonia with no internet connection. At all. We work seven days a week, so even once per week posting from the nearest town won't be possible. Guesstimate says I'll be here for about three months. I apologize, there was no way I could have foreseen this. I'll contact you when I get back. Sorry.
-Cherub

[Vektor]

So, in what concerns me, this campaing is over. I barelly have time for other things this year and the game isn't really progressing. :smallfrown:

[The-Mage-King]

It does seem that this is dead or dying...

[willpell]

Yeah, 'fraid so. I tried to stall long enough for my problem to fix itself, but it didn't. I haven't had time to do any real plotting or work for several months, and I'm about to go full-time at my job again so I really won't have time. Oh well, thanks for playing along as long as you did, sorry I let you guys down.

[Vektor]

No problems. At least my first character didn't suffer a terrible death.

[willpell]

No problems. At least my first character didn't suffer a terrible death.

Awww, there goes what little was left of my plan! :smallbiggrin:

[Vektor]

Awww, there goes what little was left of my plan! :smallbiggrin:
We will see... a bloody death, that is.