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arguskos
2010-07-19, 07:06 PM
Preface:
Welcome! This is a campaign journal (as if we didn't have enough already, right? :smallwink:) detailing the new campaign I joined just this past weekend. I'm taking notes in session, and it was suggested to me by the DM that it might make a decent story for you all to read, so here we are.

First, the character roster!

DM: This is the DM. Hurrdurr. He's not playing a DMPC or anything.
Nikola Aristar, aka War Machine: This is my character, an Artificer 3. I'm the most experienced player in the group by a LONG shot and since the DM and I are old friends, I get a lot of latitude to do as I will, provided I don't break things and generally support the party. Nikola will be developed more as we go, so I won't spoil much. I will however say this: I'm playing the guy on the right (http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u250/bloodydoves/Iron_Man_and_War_Machine_by_zeebow1.jpg).
Agerzad: This is an orcish warrior of some flavor (Pounce Barb 1/Fighter 2, IIRC). Agerzad is being played by the DM's brother, another good pal of mine. He's the next most adept of the group after myself.
Fast Eddie: Played by a friend of Agerzad's player, Fast Eddie is a roguish fellow who's got a quiet mouth for someone named Fast Eddie. :smallconfused: So far, he's not done much. Think he's a human Rogue 3.
Checkers Stirling: Aaaaaand we hit the comedy routine. A silver-haired halfling, Checkers is a Swashbuckler 3 who has quite the back story and personality. Sadly, it's not half the personality of the player, if you can believe that. And yes, there were many shut up, dammit! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvYm68dOQ4k) references to go around.
Clementine Grimmer: A (ginger) dwarven Cleric 3 of the god of the 4th moon, Clementine is half cleric, half marksman, all amusing. Lots of ginger midget jokes were had (from the new Sherlock Holmes film).
Fosco Crumblemuffin: This is a red-haired halfling bard being played by the younger brother of Clementine, and taking a page out of Checkers' book. He too is a halfling, but he's a Bard 3 instead, and is apparently quite the womanizer.


The world isn't super fleshed out, since the DM was rushed for time, but it is set after some magitek apocalypse, so the sun is somewhat blotted out by dust, one continent turned into a massive sinkhole that seems to have no bottom, and another was absorbed into what seems to be a black hole that took its place, now called the Maw. Note that many of these places don't have names, since the DM was very rushed, but I'll fill that in as we get more details. The world has basic firearms, someone invented revolvers recently, there's a decent amount of steampunkish stuff going on (like zepplins, airships powered by magic, it's a bit more hardcore than Eberron in this regard, more tech less magic, so to say).

I'm writing this from Nikola's perspective as a character, and as he's recording it in his journal. It's not going to be the best writing ever, so I apologize ahead of time. With that, the scene opens on the Serpent's Wake as we travel towards the mile high city of Xanthos...

Chapter Listing

Chapter One: Beginnings
Chapter 2: Dark Magic and Foul Gods (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8984801&postcount=10)
Chapter 3: Madmen (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9041702&postcount=17)
Chapter 4: By The Skin of Our Teeth... (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9139524&postcount=20)


Chapter One: Beginnings

Author's note: this is written by my character from the first person perspective, so keep that in mind. Also, I'm an amateur author, so please be nice.

Also, this got kinda long. Sorry, I'll try to be less verbose in the future, but the character talks a fair bit, and this is first person after all.

Well. Another journal. One might be excused for thinking I've had quite enough of those by now, but today's exertions have convinced me that a record of my trials might not be unwise. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

For the reader, who knows not of myself, I am Nikola Aristar, heir to the journals of Nikola Tolstar, my grandfather and a masterful inventor in his own right. He was slain by a jealous mage by the name of Thomas, and so his journals passed to me. From his designs I have managed to create wondrous new devices, armors and weapons, with which to defend against magic and to use to spread technology far and wide.

I had found a sort of security in a small nameless town for a time, where I practiced my craft in the day and unlocked the journals (for they are encoded) by night. However, the agents of Thomas caught up with me, necessitating I flee before he himself arrive, and managed to catch an airship going anywhere. Once on board, I was informed the destination of this vessel, the Serpent's Wake, was the famed city of Xanthos, placed high in the sky amongst the clouds, forever looking on upon the Maw. I was at once relieved and dismayed, for within a large city such as Xanthos one can lose themselves in the crowds, but the number of agents Thomas may have in the city is high. Regardless, Xanthos has opportunities for one such as myself.

At the provided dinner before our arrival in the city, I finally met the remainder of the passengers. There were a quartet of merchants, introspective types, three humans and an elf. The other five were more interesting. A man there was, and a dwarf also. An orc too, and two halflings, one of whose red hair seemed oddly familiar. He had a spring-loaded blade on one wrist that he used to eat with, and so I broke the silence at last, asking to see and diagram the blade. He acquiesced, and we traded names, his being Checkers Stirling. Suddenly, I recalled where I'd seen him before. He was the heir to the Whirling & Stirling airship company, the one who'd almost destroyed them through terrible management before being politely told to go away and leave the company to someone competent, the so-called "mad heir". Just my luck, to be saddled with the mad halfling. Happily, the rest of the company was less exciting. The dwarf, Clementine Grimmer, turned out to be a supposed marksman, carrying a pair of dragon-mouthed pistols, and being a generally merry sport. The other halfling spent all of his time winking at and attempting to charm one of the merchants, a woman, and I did not speak with him. I think he gave his name as something typical and banal, Fosco Crumblemuffin I think it was. The human, who also did not introduce himself, ended the meal in an argument with the womanizer over something or other. By this point, I had slipped out to go check on my things.

In the hall to my cabin, I encountered the final passenger, who'd not spoken during our shared meal, the orc warrior. His dress indicated a tribal origin and his speech the same. He gave his name as Agerzad, and he was seeking his grandfather, who had traveled from Xanthos into the Maw, as well. I felt a kinship with this brutish fellow, and though he was simple, I offered my assistance within Xanthos at the least, from kinship alone. He accepted, and we parted ways.

I retrieved my armor, and decided now was a fine time to test my latest creation: the spyglass rifle, a range-enhanced rifle with a spyglass attached for greater accuracy at long distance. As I was firing at some nearby sky snakes (snake-like creatures with leathery wings that were pacing the ship), Agerzad and Clementine both came up on deck to see what the commotion was, and were shocked at the massive suit of steel and leather that was there (for they had not seen the armor, nor did they realize it was me inside). Agerzad recovered quickly, and challenged me to a contest of accuracy on the flock of sky snakes nearby, which Clementine joined in on. In fairness, I offered to only use two shots, while they each could have five.

Clementine fired first, and his claims of marksmanship were quelled, as not only did he miss with every shot, but he did so catastrophically, nearly striking myself and Agerzad several times!

Agerzad shot second with a compound bow, and though he shot well, he too missed completely.

Finally, I stepped up. My first shot, perhaps a poor choice, was using my rapid fire ten shot mounted revolving rifle, or spin rifle as I call it. I fired poorly, sadly, striking only one of the snakes. My second attempt, using a propelled alchemical round from my shoulder launcher, was more successful, taking out three. Agerzad, rightfully so, protested against the spin rifle, and in fairness, I retracted that attempt. Still, I had dropped more of the creatures than he, and so he offered me a prize: a tooth from his third kill, a large bear. As I accepted, something happened we did not intend.

As the human from our meal and the Mad Heir came up on deck to examine the sounds of gunfire, the sky snakes began weaving in a pattern several of us recognized as a glyph used in summoning magic. I panicked, fearing Thomas had caught up to me too soon, and fired a propelled tanglefoot round into the pack, hoping to immobilize them. Sadly, it only got three of them (and the Mad Heir, who was caught by surprise by the explosion of goo), and the rest wheeled to attack.

I defended myself with the weapons of my suit, while the others fought off the creatures with their own skills, Agerzad using a grand axe in broad strokes, the human with a crossbow and skill, Clementine with a pair of pistols at first, and then later a maul, and the other halfling (who had shown up shortly after the others) with charm and grace (needless to say, this was not effective). Just as we were about to take out the last few snakes, their glyph pattern completed, and a massive, ogre-sized version of the snakes appeared before our eyes! It opened its mouth, and a forking bolt of lighting arced out, striking nearly all of us.

Agerzad, to his credit, distracted it and screamed as he fought it, "IRON MAN! SHOOT IT!" So I did, but even though my close-quarters cone burst rifle, or scattergun, is powerful, I did little more than scratch its hide, and it returned the favor before flying off the ship, and around to the bottom of the vessel, where horrible scratching noises began to emanate.

The Mad Heir rushed below to the murderholes in the cargo hold as the rest of us followed his lead (mad he may be, but he knows his airships), where through the holes we saw the following sight. Agerzad had not followed us, instead grasping at a rope, tying it to his waste, and leaping off the side of the Wake so that he might slay the creature in its element. His aim was true and his arm strong, for as he swung down towards it, he all but bisected the beast in a single strike, and though it struck his life line down, the victory was his. Thanks to some quick thinking, a grappling hook and line from Fosco's pack, and my own propellent launcher, we managed to reel the brave and battered orc back in.

We broke there, and each retired to his cabin for some well-deserved rest. Not even to the Mile-High City, and yet, I feel a kinship reserved for battlebrothers with these five.

Ah! The docking alert chimes. We arrive in Xanthos. May the remainder of today be less eventful...

For now,

Nikola Aristar


Chapter One Breakdown

Ok, so, really, not much happened in the first session. We met on the ship, RP'd over some food IC, had a fun contest shooting some wildlife that got pissy and attacked, and then saved the ship from ourselves.

We all had a good time though, so that's good. My personal musing includes the following:

I kinda stole the show a little. I'm going to be toning it back in upcoming sessions (the DM and I already talked, PLEASE don't tell me I'm showboating or something, I already know). :smallwink:
Agerzad is manly as hell, and we all loved it. He literally leapt off a ship with nothing but a rope, an axe, and a smile, and somehow A). lived and B). killed the thing with a clutch crit for like 40+ damage.
The Mad Heir (Checkers Stirling) is hilarious, but useless. Tanglefoot goo removed him from combat entirely, and no one thought to cut him free. Two of us are new players (Clementine and Fosco haven't played before), myself and Agerzad were killing dudes, and Fast Eddie was... well, we'll come to that.
Fast Eddie spent most of the session texting. I think he was preoccupied. That's fine, since he's a good player normally. I'm sure he'll perk up shortly.
Next session is this coming Wednesday. Gonna RAWK.

zenanarchist
2010-07-20, 02:35 AM
VERY nice.

What game is this argus? Did you say? I pretty much got down to the nitty gritty.

Rising Phoenix
2010-07-20, 05:47 AM
Great writting style and thanks for taking time to write this up!

Darkxarth
2010-07-20, 09:10 AM
Seems enjoyable thus far. I won't comment on your 'showboating' except to say that unless some of the other characters (Agerzad excluded, it seems) show more development than "I'm crazy!" you are likely to continue to outshine them, even holding back.

Still, it was a brief session, as you said, so the next will be more telling with regard to character development and interaction.

arguskos
2010-07-20, 10:48 AM
VERY nice.

What game is this argus? Did you say? I pretty much got down to the nitty gritty.
Title gives this away: D&D 3.5.


Great writting style and thanks for taking time to write this up!
Thanks! I'm glad someone somewhere read and enjoyed it.


Seems enjoyable thus far. I won't comment on your 'showboating' except to say that unless some of the other characters (Agerzad excluded, it seems) show more development than "I'm crazy!" you are likely to continue to outshine them, even holding back.
Eh, yeah. Fast Eddie didn't do much of anything. Clementine and Fosco Crumblemuffin (god I can't believe that's his name) are new players, so I can excuse it. I'm gonna try pretty hard to not overshadow them though, since I could easily do so, both mechanically (I'm playing an Artificer, everyone else is pretty much Tier 4-5, since the Cleric and Bard haven't ever played before and don't really know what they're doing).


Still, it was a brief session, as you said, so the next will be more telling with regard to character development and interaction.
Eh, they're all going to be brief (only 5 hours each, give or take), but hopefully we'll actually DO more and folks will develop their characters further on Wednesday (tomorrow! :smallbiggrin:).

We're only playing I think a total of like 8 or 9 times, due to players leaving and/or going back to school in August (Fast Eddie, Agerzad, and Fosco are in High School still; Clementine goes to college in another state; Checkers is triple majoring), so this isn't going to be the longest campaign ever. I'll try to keep it interesting for you all though. :smallsmile:

Fayd
2010-07-20, 10:55 AM
Well. This looks good so far... I shall be following your career with great interest.

arguskos
2010-07-20, 11:17 AM
Well. This looks good so far... I shall be following your career with great interest.
I appreciate that. :smallsmile: Glad you're enjoying it thus far.

EDIT: Well, The Mad Heir sent me a correction. Apparently, my notes got mixed up a bit, and I gave the wrong halfling red hair! Fosco is red-haired, and Checkers has bright silver hair. I've changed the OP accordingly.

ka_bna
2010-07-20, 03:25 PM
The fact you have Iron Man references makes it worthwhile to read, at least:smallwink: Waiting for the next update!

arguskos
2010-07-21, 01:12 AM
The fact you have Iron Man references makes it worthwhile to read, at least:smallwink: Waiting for the next update!
Interestingly enough, Agerzad's player said it... realized what he said, and actually apologized, saying "I didn't realize it until I said it!" :smallbiggrin:

arguskos
2010-07-22, 11:15 PM
Warning: This is TERRIBLY written, cause I'm really tired and stressed. Also, it was a short session, under three hours, so yeah, very little happened. Finally, I'm still getting Nikola's voice down, so bear with me. Next update should be on Sunday or Monday, and will be better written, I promise.

Chapter Two: Dark Magic and Foul Gods

What a day, what a day, what a day it has been. I woke this morning, thinking I was in for a quiet day of work, and now I've been chased onto a ship, came to a city of wonders, and watched a man torn limb from limb, and though I didn't care for him anyways, I can't say it wasn't disquieting.

The docking alert sounded, and broke my concentration. I'd just finished the final touches on a new slow burning pistol round and my last journal entry when the alarm rang. I decided I'd step up on deck and observe our approach to Xanthos, as I'd not beheld the city before, though I knew a bit about it. It was considered one of the largest cities in the world, nearly a million souls in total. The city was a free port, though rumor said that the Argonan Empire was considering annexing it. Beyond that, my knowledge of Xanthos was slim at best.

While waiting for the approach, the captain of the Serpent's Wake decided to gift us all with a bit of coin and a weapon from the armory each, for our actions in defense of the ship with the sky snakes. I thanked him, and didn't mention how we had accidentally provoked them. He was a nice fellow, and the coin was a welcome addition, though the positively archaic muzzleloading musket wasn't.

Finally, we made final approach to the city, and we caught the first glimpse of Xanthos. The city was constructed like a bizarre top, a gigantic disc with the tallest structures in the center of the disc on each side, and as the buildings fanned out towards the edges, they shortened. Strangely enough, there were structures on both sides of the central disc, implying a kind of artificial gravity on the bottom side. The main attention grabber though was not the city, but the vessel docked with it. Fully an eighth the size of Xanthos itself, a ship that could be none other than the Argonan flagship, Indomitable, was docked. Perhaps there was more truth to the rumors of Argonan expansion than it appeared.

We docked quickly, and disembarked to find the harbormaster and his guards awaiting us. We cleared him quickly, and though he charged me (there goes my 100 gold from the captain), he also cleared me to wear War Machine into the Merchant's Quarter, not normally something permissible. Then, it all went bad. I remarked that every member of our little band of six seems to have been given Merchant Quarter access, and I got corrected, since apparently Agerzad and the human roguish fellow (whose name is apparently Edward Tuller or some such) were denied access. I mentioned we might want to get that changed, since Nathan gave me some workshop space in the Merchant's Quarters and it might be a nice meeting place for the six of us, and so Checkers charges off to the harbormaster, asking for him to change things around for us. Well, needless to say, this doesn't work, so Checkers both lies to the man, and then tries to bribe him, and when neither of these tactics function, Fosco tries to help out and gets dragged off to the headquarters of the city guard for lying to an officer of the law.

Two hours and 50 gold later, we're finally working through the Docks towards the workshop, when things all went truly bad. I'd placed on my armor, since it's just easier to move around that way, which proved fortuitous. Amidst the copious numbers of homeless individuals in the Docks, we passed a group of people listening to a preacher of some kind lecture in an unknown language. Right around that moment, Clementine laughed, and said he just saw a man get robbed of a bejeweled amulet. I turned to look, and sure enough, coming out of an alley there was a man in wizardly robes, decked in jewelry, and at his belt was a cut line where the amulet must have been hanging. No one else spoke up, so I called out to him, telling him of the theft. The mage panicked, promising us a grand reward, but his speech was cut off as his eyes suddenly glazed over, and he began walking towards the preacher! Unclear what was going on, Agerzad roared, and charged off down the alley he came out of, hunting for the thieves, yelling that the amulet must keep the man sane or some such.

It didn't make a lot of sense to me, but well, he wasn't going anywhere, so the rest of us followed Agerzad, hoping to recover the object and restore the man's sanity, and of course receive a rich reward. Just as Agerzad and Checkers rounded the corner of the alley and dove into the sewers pursuing the thieves, there came a scream from the crowd. I looked back, and there saw the mage, hovering over the crowd, chanting in the same tongue as the preacher, a storm brewing in the clouds above him. Agerzad and Checkers were too far to recover and Fosco was somewhere near them, leaving myself, Clementine, and Fast Eddie to deal with the new situation.

Now, I don't like magic as a general rule, and doubly so when mages are not in control of themselves, so I took the only course of action that seemed sensible: I drew my spyglass rifle, took aim, and planned to shoot the mage out of the sky before he harmed anyone. Eddie was on board with this plan, putting arrow after arrow into him, but though our shots struck well, the dark ritual the mage was channeling completed. A beam of pale moonlight shone pierced the sky, striking him, and warping his form, causing a maw to sprout in his chest, and four unearthly tentacled horrors to burst from his flesh into the crowd below. Eddie dropped the mage with another volley, but it was too late, the beasts were rampaging through the few guards in the area and the local civilians.

Around this point, Fosco decided to come over to us and sing us an epic ballad of greatness and heroism to bolster our spirits. While I appreciated the intention, I personally preferred the screaming to the caterwauling about glory and honor. Clementine apparently did too, as he suddenly ran forwards towards the bloodbath before us before coming to his senses and falling back into a more defensive stance, behind which Eddie and I shot at the horrors, barely hurting them.

Seeing all this, Fosco, moron that he was, decided to try something bold. He rushed full-bore into the carnage, ducking and weaving, somehow dodging all the flailing tentacles of the horrors, and reaching the mage. He looted the body rapidly, and turned back to face us, ready to make a go for it again. The creatures noticed him though, and turned their full attention to him, ripping the halfling limb from limb as he attempted to escape from them.

I've seen a lot in this life. The world is a rough place after all, but this was something different. Fosco Crumblemuffin, a man I barely knew, and didn't even like, was slain by creatures from beyond sanity in a fashion that not even fiends deserve. Eddie and I shared a glance and gave them all we had, him volleying with his bow, me activating my flamethrower and opening fire with my pistols, and we even convinced a nearby mercenary squad to get involved and help kill the surprisingly tough creatures.

Finally, thanks to Fosco's sacrifice and Clementine serving as a dwarven wall to shield myself and Eddie, we did kill them all. The rest of the moment was a blur, gathering the things Fosco had stripped from the corpse along with his personal effects, a note was pressed into my hands by the mercenary leader for some reason, Clementine's wounds were healed, we rushed to the workshop, and once inside, the five of us that survived, battered and bruised and winded, collapsed into a fitful sleep.

Though you'll never read this journal Fosco, and though I never liked you, I respect your bravery. A memorial is in order, I think.


Chapter Two Breakdown

Ok, so. What actually happened. Happily, the fact that I'm tired and stressed and rushed kinda works, since Nikola is too, and his memory isn't that sharp. He's also not a writer, so that helps too.


The session was unexpectedly 2 hours short. :smallannoyed: Fosco and Clementine couldn't make it until 9 PM and we try to start at 7 normally.
We got to Xanthos, had a bit of RP with the captain and Harbormaster (which got a bit... heated). I think the DM was kinda like "guys, what the hell? Just... stop bothering with him and go to the damn HQ and do it there!"
There's a lot of setting details I don't really know anything about, like the nations in the world, there was some war awhile ago that messed stuff up, but the DM hasn't had the time to work on that stuff yet, so that's why the world details are super light.
You'll notice I didn't talk about Agerzad and Checkers much while we were in combat. They slaughtered the thieves in the sewers... whose corpses turned into undead skin kite-like creatures and attacked them again, so they were actually occupied the entire time that Eddie, Clem, Fosco, and I handled the mage.
The MVP in the combat with the mage was Eddie (even though my spyglass rifle got off an INCREDIBLE shot; almost a nat-20, dealt max damage, almost killed the dude outright). Eddie, thanks to Rapid Shot, was just a monster with that bow. When he gets a few solid shots in, man, he just rips the damage out.
Clementine didn't really do anything in the battle. He got tagged with some strange compulsion to run forwards for awhile, then he broke out of it and defended us for a round or two, THEN was dropped to negatives by the strange fleshy tentacle beasts. Poor guy.
So far, Agerzad is the slaughtermaster in this party, thanks to lots of crits with that greataxe and reckless amounts of Power Attack.
Fosco died. :smallfrown: It was a glorious death, but I get the feeling that the player was kinda like "eh, ok, whatever". He's also not going to be here next session (nor will Clementine) so we'll be short two dudes.
Also, we invented a new weapon exclusively for Checkers. It's a Small-sized shortsword with a six-shot musket in it. :smallbiggrin: When he hits someone, it fires and stabs, and he can fire it on its own. The DM called it a Boarding Carbine (for airship battles). Checkers dual-wields them. So far, they're kinda "eh".
The guy who plays Checkers made the most hilarious out of character joke about Fosco's death though: "You could say, his muffin... crumbled." in that CSI:Miami voice that the meme goes along with. It was pretty amazing.

Fayd
2010-07-22, 11:51 PM
Actually? For the events, it was pretty good, it fit the tone of what happened. Nikola sounds... about as frazzled as I would expect from that. Much better than my second chapter, I'll tell you that! And I remembered most of it (which...actually... was the problem!)

arguskos
2010-07-22, 11:52 PM
Actually? For the events, it was pretty good, it fit the tone of what happened. Nikola sounds... about as frazzled as I would expect from that. Much better than my second chapter, I'll tell you that! And I remembered most of it (which...actually... was the problem!)
Heh. I'm personally pretty wiped, it's been a long few weeks, so yeah, this was not my best writing ever. Glad you liked it though. :smallbiggrin:

EDIT: Added something awesome I just remembered:
The guy who plays Checkers made the most hilarious out of character joke about Fosco's death though: "You could say, his muffin... crumbled." in that CSI:Miami voice that the meme goes along with.

arguskos
2010-07-24, 08:26 PM
So, yeah, the DM got sick, and was all like "yeah, not playing guys". And we were all :smallfrown: but the DM needs to be healthy and stuff, so it's actually like :smallsmile:.

Fayd
2010-07-24, 09:34 PM
Can understand that one. Hope he gets better soon!

Noedig
2010-07-24, 09:50 PM
So is this literally War Machine, as in Iron Kingdoms in all its gritty glory? Or is it DnD 3.5 with heavy steampunk-y influences, in all its gritty glory?

arguskos
2010-07-24, 10:03 PM
So is this literally War Machine, as in Iron Kingdoms in all its gritty glory? Or is it DnD 3.5 with heavy steampunk-y influences, in all its gritty glory?
The latter. War Machine is a reference to the Marvel comic book character.

arguskos
2010-07-30, 07:08 PM
Chapter 3: Madmen

They're crazy, they're all crazy. I'm in a city full of madmen.

The day started where my last entry ended: with us all resting from the evening's exertions. I'd managed to identify all of the things Fosco's last act was to hurl towards me, and found most of them to be useless for our purposes. There was a dagger that feeds off of it's victims and wielder, a large amount of valuable but useless jewelry, a sextant that lets anyone be an excellent navigator on an airship, and an amulet that is... very specific in nature, protecting the wearer from one specific magical disease or affliction, and must be attuned to the wearer. We sold most of it, keeping only the sextant and the amulet, reasoning that perhaps they'd be useful later.

Clementine and Checkers decided to wander off in search of a church for healing, Clementine deciding to conserve his limited spellcasting for a later event. Meanwhile I decided to head towards the local branch of the Xanthos Arcane College, to return the mage's spellbook for a fee, thinking that they'd want it back and that I could do with the money (and getting rid of the damnable thing, dirty magery). Agerzad and Eddie accompanying me, we made it with few issues, though Agerzad got sidetracked by something or other, and upon his return, was blubbering about some kobold merchant selling fantastic powders or somesuch. I didn't pay him a lot of heed, honestly.

On route to the branch office of the College, we were stopped by a group of guardsmen. Apparently, several locals had spotted my armor at the altercation with the mage that evening, and had reported it to the guards. As we were attempting to lay low, this was an issue, so I passed it off, saying that I was simply passing by the scene, thus the confusion. They let me off with but a warning to stay away from such things in the future.

We arrived at the branch office with no other issues, and after a significant wait, we managed to see a mage about returning the spellbook of the deceased, who we discovered was named Artemis Focht, a local professor. I debated a bit with the mage, and eventually settled on a reward of 500 gold pieces (enough to let me work on, and possible complete, my newest creation, the rapidly initiating pirouetting particle expelling rifle, or R.I.P.P.E.R.). He returned with a contingent of guardsmen, and nary a reward in sight. They claimed that I was to accompany them to the barracks, since apparently, this fellow had "disappeared" and his home had been burgled, and as I was returning his spellbook, this made me the prime suspect in his disappearance. Needless to say, I wasn't pleased with this. I protested, on the grounds that I was only in town for one day thus far and had never been before, and thus didn't even know the fellow. My exact words were, "For my act of being a good samaritan, you condemn me?" Eventually, thanks to my offer of aid in finding the fellow, they backed off. In a day, I was to report to them with my associates and we would aid them in finding this mage, perhaps searching the scene of the crime. With that, we left, and returned to the workshop, where Clementine, who was severely wounded) and Checkers awaited us.

Their story goes like this (simplified into their terminology):
"So like, we were like going to the temple of like the sun goddess, you know? And we like get there, and they're all like, 'Clem, were you a priest before?' and he's all like, 'No, no, not at all' cause like they don't like priests of his god or something and they're all like 'you totally were a priest of the sun goddess weren't you' and he's like 'uh, yeah, yeah, but I lost faith awhile ago, sorry guys' and they sent each of them to a separate room to be healed. Then like this big inquistorial fella busts into Clem's room and all like 'I WILL PURGE YOU RAWR' and Clem was like 'well look at the time I gotta run' and books it for the door, with Checkers right behind him."

Ugh, writing like they speak hurts. Anyways, that's the basics. Apparently, Clementine lied about his denomination and they believed him a bit too well, causing them to have an Inquisitor come and try to arrest/kill him. He escaped, but not without some bruises. On the way back to the workshop, Checkers was stopped by a random stranger, who gave him a note and gem, saying they wanted to see Checkers and Clementine that night. It was clearly the cult of the 4th moon.

Now, we were ALL a bit curious what was going on with Clementine, so he came clean with us. He was a priest of the unnamed god of the 4th moon, which the cultists of the prior night were a part of as well. Clearly, something involving this cult was going on, and we all wanted to know what. However, we had two stops to make before going to see them that evening: Agerzad was INSISTENT we go see his powder merchant kobold, and we had a meeting with some mercenaries in the Rim section of the city, the ones who aided us at the end of the fight with Mr. Focht and his demons.

Agerzad dragged us all to see this kobold, who turned out to have the most preposterous name possible: Magnus Malakai the Magnificent. He sold powders, claiming they could do quite nearly anything, such as make people fly, cause explosions, put out fires, stop thieves, make any food delicious, and other such frivolous nonsense. Amazingly, even through my healthy skepticism, he managed to show me that yes, the flying powder at least works... some of the time. It seems his powders are erratic, though some work much better than others, such as what he called his "dazzling personality" powder, which was actually pretty much powdered thunderstones, but blinding instead of deafening. I even made a deal with him: I'd produce what I was calling flashbang rounds for him, and he pays me a small amount on each sale of them. It's a fine and easy bit of work, and hopefully, it'll make some profit. After seeing the truly insane kobold, we hurried off to our contact on the Rim.

The inn we were to meet them at was called the Griffon's Nest, and turned out to be a hunting lodge. Our contact, the mercenary captain we met last night, turned out to be named Captain Knight-Commander Sir Duncan Reed, as he is the only member (and thus default leader) of a now-defunct knightly order, and is the captain of a private airship, The Gazelle. He offered us a place on a hunting expedition with him, since we were handy fighters, but it turns out that this expedition was being chartered by a member of the Arcane College... Mr. Artemis Focht. Since we'd collectively killed Mr. Focked, the expedition was off, unless we could find out the details of the job, which Mr. Focht had kept to himself. Since our little company had a way to get into Mr. Focht's home through my promise to the guard, we decided we would poke about a little for the relevant information, and get back to the Knight-Commander.

As we were leaving for the workshop, Agerzad made an offhanded comment about Clementine's height, and the dwarf snapped. He challenged the orc to a duel, one strike each, he with a pistol, Agerzad choosing to hurl his axe. The barkeep of the Griffon's Nest provided the dueling range in the basement, and the fight was on. Clementine, who despite his claims of marksmanship had proven to be an awful shot, blew all of us away (Agerzad quite literally) by planting a single bullet straight into the orc's chest with perfect aim! Had Agerzad not been as burly as he was, he could well have been killed. His throw went wild, and the duel was over, with Agerzad apologizing for the insult to the dwarf's honor (and height).

The Knight-Commander, impressed by Clementine's skill with a gun, offered a friendly wager: a target shoot, first to shoot 5 or more out of 8 moving targets wins. Clementine agreed, and lost badly. Of course, I didn't mind, since Checkers and I bet heavily against our companion (knowing his terrible marksmanship normally) and made a healthy profit in the doing. After the wager was complete, we finally returned to the workshop for a bit of rest and food, before going to see the cult that evening.

Ah, I hear Checkers knocking at the door, saying it's time. Wish me luck, journal.


Chapter 3 Breakdown:


Fosco's player wasn't here, and actually has dropped from the game entirely, due to schedule issues. Shame, but that's how the Fosco muffin cookie crumbles sometimes. :smallcool:
There was nearly no combat at all this session, unless you count the duel, which I don't cause it was lol fodder, not something serious (but it was DAMN lol). The thing in the Temple was an... issue, though.
Amusing note about that duel: Clementine rolled three nat 20s in a row. Initiative was a 20, attack was a 20, and confirm was a 20. Agerzad never saw it coming. It was 3d12 damage, and turned out to be 22 total (12, 8, 2).
Captain Knight-Commander Sir Duncan Reed (and yes, that IS his real and full title) is apparently from the British Empire, because he is a pipe and pith helmet away from being a British hunter in Africa. The DM likes such things, and damn if we don't all like the good Knight-Commander as well.
Magnus Malakai the Magnificent is... yeah. He's something else, gotta say. Party favorite, that one.
Otherwise, there was quite a bit of character dev in this session, lots of interparty RP and whatnot.
Hopefully, Nikola's disdain for magic and charlatans (what he thinks Magnus is) is coming through well. He's not really a fan of either topic. :smallwink:



*whew* Finally! Sorry for the two day delay, but there you have it. :smallamused: Next session is tomorrow evening. Should have the journal up on Sunday or Monday.

arguskos
2010-08-12, 02:01 AM
Ok, this is not dead, so don't fret. We had session #4 tonight, and it. Was. MINDBLOWING. :eek:

Like... WOW. I'll try to get a write up in the next day or two here. Saturday is the next session, and damn there's a lot that's gonna happen.

Drakefall
2010-08-12, 08:42 AM
Ok, this is not dead, so don't fret. We had session #4 tonight, and it. Was. MINDBLOWING. :eek:

Like... WOW. I'll try to get a write up in the next day or two here. Saturday is the next session, and damn there's a lot that's gonna happen.

Huzzah! Here I thought I wouldn't be hearing any more of Nikola's incredible adventures. Good to know the journal's still up and running.:smallsmile:

arguskos
2010-08-13, 11:49 PM
Chapter 4: By The Skin of Our Teeth...

I... that... it... um... I barely know where to start. The events of the past few hours top everything I've ever seen.

We left the Griffon's Nest in high spirits, Clementine's miraculous shot and Duncan's friendship firm in our grasp, and returned to the workshop to sleep and prepare for the evening. I spent the time performing basic maintenance on War Machine and crafting a few smokesticks, should we need to vacate from the cultists in a rush. The appointed time rolled around, and so we set off.

The map in Checkers possession indicated a meeting location in the sewers of Xanthos (an architectural marvel, as the city flies and thus has no true need for sewers), and the journey appeared to require about a mile of winding through tunnels and passages.

We encountered several encamped sewer dwellers on our journey and moved past with little fanfare, though Checkers received a tarot card, the Foole, from one of them, another halfling. I was reminded why precisely I don't like Checkers as he palmed the card into a chink of Clementine's armor.

Moving forwards, we were approaching our destination when a voice similar to the sewer dwellers pierced the silence with a scream from behind us. We debated for a moment as to if we should go back, but another yell made the choice for us, and we hurried back as fast as possible, Checkers and Eddie taking point, as they had the ability to keep to the shadows and scout the situation. Just as they looked around the corner to see what was happening in the camp, some kind of aquatic beast impaled Eddie from the sewage channel in the middle of the tunnel!

Luckily, I had used my peerless intellect and skill to alter War Machine's automatic pistols to channel ambient electrical power from the air through each shot, and though Eddie was shocked on accident, a single volley severely wounded the beast. Of course, it then re-prioritized well and attacked myself, impaling me with two spiked tentacles and nearly striking me with a third. However, with aid from Agerzad and Checkers, the tentacles were severed and Eddie and my own wounds healed by well-earned potions.

The sewer dwellers were nowhere to be seen though, so we resolved to move onwards and get this cult meeting over with ASAP. Upon arrival at the gates of the cult, we were informed that we needed to surrender our weaponry, and after a minor debate, we did this, though thanks to the nature of my armor, I only had to depower my spin rifle (which led to serious issues later on, but that's in a bit), and Clementine, due to having been invited personally, was permitted to be fully armed.

When we entered, the cultists split us up somewhat, Clementine off with the leader of the cell and the rest of us to another area, to be given proper clothing for the ceremony, and then we were shown into a small, enclosed waiting room. After a wait that was just on this side of uncomfortably long, Clementine entered, and what he had to say was earth-shaking.

"They're going to sacrifice you to the god of the 4th moon." Verbatim, that's what Clementine said to us. What followed was a lengthy and panicked debate, during which I made some adjustments to War Machine, just in case of disaster, namely the activation of several healing subroutines and enabling a short-range teleportation system. Once finished, we had to make a decision: do we get out of there, or do we go through with it and hope the cult leader's promise that "we might not all die" actually comes true? When the toxic gas started seeping in under the door, we decided to use my suit's teleportation to jump just outside of the compound around a bend. Unfortunately, I couldn't take everyone, so Clementine volunteered to stay behind, reasoning that they might not harm him, since he was a cleric of the same faith. As we left, I said to Clementine, "I promise, we will not abandon you."

The cultists obviously deduced what was happening, since we immediately heard their footsteps around the corner. We all leapt to the attack, aiming to take the fight to the cult and exterminate this foulness once and for all. Of the four cultists visible in the sewage tunnel leading to their compound, two were felled rapidly by myself and Agerzad (attacking with his fists, clearly his monastic training was effective). The remaining two's arms twisted into foul tentacles, which hammered us hard, but between the four of us, we slew them with ease. However, a squadron of 6 bat-like creatures emerged from pipes in the walls to attack, just as four more cultists emerged to attack. Though Checkers was incapacitated, the bat-creatures and cult reinforcements were as chaff before us, and soon, we were standing amidst a sea of corpses, just in time to see a pair of cultists dragging the unconscious body of Clementine Grimmer towards the altar in the center of their compound!

To complicate matters further, the stones in the hallway began to glow a bright orange, signifying the onset of a magical trap, likely of fire. We had but a moment to act, and act I did. I grabbed everyone, and used my one remaining teleportation to transport us into the midst of that room, directly next to the cultists dragging our companion. We slew them instantly, and only then did it dawn on us where we were. Around the edges of the circular room were the 10 remaining cultists, all chanting in an obscure language. Near the altar Grimmer was destined for were chained the corpses of the sewer dwellers from before, their blood and that of the slain cult members at our feet pooling in channels leading towards that accursed altar.

I looked at the others, Agerzad and Eddie the only remaining standing warriors, Grimmer unconscious and Checkers dying at our feet, and nodded to them. We knew the situation implicitly: escape or die. Their chant grew in strength and so did our resolve. I broke out a scroll of fireball we'd found on the corpse of Artemis Focht, and used it to torch those cultists near the iron gate between us and sweet sweet freedom. Agerzad, in one of his finer, yet more orkish, moments grabbed Clementine off the floor and used him as an impromptu battering ram on the gate, only to slam against it, rather than bust through it. Eddie picked up Checkers, who had stopped bleeding, and rushed to help with the gate. The cultists, finally reacting to all of this, grew tentacles and attacked me. Some even spewed acid from their arms instead of just battering, but thanks to War Machine I was well protected. Still, being surrounded by foes is never good, so I tried my hand at this breaking down the gate concept, and slammed Agerzad into it, hoping to use his mass and my inertia to crash the gateway, but the damnable thing held strong. Clementine even awoke at this point, apparently having finally fought off the knockout gas, and aided in slamming down the gate. Agerzad let out a massive roar, and smashed through the gate with a tremendous blow, allowing us egress just as the ritual finished.

Behind us, the pooled blood began to churn and bubble, and the corpses of the sewer dwellers began to twitch, dancing in their chains. A pair of snake-headed creatures slithered into sight from behind a false wall, and we as one decided to flee with our wounded rather than stay and fight a stacked battle.

Rushing through the corridors of the sewers, I recall little, save for what happened next. We'd failed to destroy the cult, or prevent them from completing their ritual, but we were alive, by the skin of our teeth.


Chapter 4 Breakdown:

This was the most frantic hectic "holy **** now what HOLY **** NOW WHAT?! AUGH WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE! GAME OVER MAN GAME OVER!" session I've seen in a long while. And it was GLORIOUS. :smallbiggrin:

Some highlights and details:

In this session, I proved why Artificer is a Tier 1 class. I saved the entire thing like three times. Armor Enhancement Infusions are awesomesauce, and Aporter is GODLY. That scroll of fireball was amazing. I had some random potions that came up a few times of use (all healing, but still very relevant). Artificer totally carried that fight.
Most of the session was the protracted multi-round combat with the cultists and the bat-things in the entrance tunnel, and then the "OHGODWHATTHE****" in the main room. It was combat heavy, but oh so good.
Poor Clementine and Checkers, they spent most of the session KO'd (Clementine was hit with knockout gas and failed a save; Checkers was blasted to negatives like three times).
When Clementine came to at the very end, he popped a Channel Energy (we're using Pathfinder core classes) that ended up saving the entire party (sans me) from certain death. The cultist acid spray things hit multiple people, and without those 10 hp, everyone but me would have died horribly (Greater Healing on my armor ftw!).
We leveled, so we're level 5 now. Thank CHRIST. I also remade everyone's gear between sessions, so going into session #5 we'll be rearmed well.
We have two more sessions: Saturday and Wednesday, with possibly a single wrap-up on the following Saturday. Not sure yet.
No one died. We spent most of our time ensuring we saved Clementine and Checkers from death, and we burned through SO MUCH stuff to do it. Still, very very worth it.