# Piratecat's up-to-date story hour (updated on 8/10, come game with PCat at GenCon!)



## Piratecat

> This is part of my ongoing storyhour. I’m roughly a year behind the present campaign in the story hour, though, and as I wrestle with a backlog of tapes I thought it might be fun to skip forward to what’s happening in the campaign right now. I’m going to hint at a few campaign developments, and others (the really interesting ones) I’m not going to spoiler in the least; you can read this, and it shouldn’t mess up your enjoyment of the regular story hour.
> 
> Enjoy!





Roughly two months have passed since the Defenders of Daybreak resolved the issue of Agar’s engagement and left the outer planes.  In that time, it seems that allies and enemies they made while on the outer planes haven't bothered to track them back to Spira.  It's been a quiet and productive break from the feverish pace of the preceding year, a time of reflection and rebuilding.

The spring has been a cold one even down south in Corsai, and back to the northeast it's been virtually disastrous for crops. A major famine is expected in the coming year; it's no consolation that there are less people alive to share the available food after the negative-energy plague which accompanied Imbindarla's death. Druidic councils throughout the continent are working to either promote or retard crop growth, depending on their philosophy and outlook towards civilization (friends of the Defenders like House Roaringbrook of Eversink should grow much more powerful in the coming year, especially when aided by agents like Palladio.)  The name of Galanna is still scorned and blasphemed for her perceived role in the death of Imbindarla, but Tao and Raevynn and the Knights of the Horn are working to fix that.  Nolin could have spread the word in no time flat. . . but Nolin is dead, and the repercussions of his sacrifice still reverberate.

There has been no word from the group of dwarves who journeyed to Corsai to find the key from the vaults of Mrid, and who then vanished in a shimmering planar glow. Corsai itself has been largely rebuilt after the devastation caused by the horrible swollen crawling head of Grgl. The church of Aeos now controls Corsai in name as well as in fact. (It turns out that Corsai's puppet mayor was slain in the undead attack, and the Clarion has taken formal control of the city council. The city has now become an official theocracy, and in welcoming new trade has arguably become a better place to live.) The Holy Embodiment of the Sun continues to court Lady Mara Thornhill, and he appears to be genuinely smitten despite maintaining perfect decorum.

Lord Malachite has retrained his knights into a formidable fighting unit.  He has a tremendous amount to accomplish, but trusted assistants like Sir Duncan and extremely competent troops have certainly helped. There has been no attempt to steal the Star of Saint Samantha since the attack that the Defenders thwarted months ago; perhaps the Dark Hunger (Teliez) feels that he has made his point. Even the despicable Soder has been completely absent.

Speaking of which, the Knights of the Emerald Chapel have reported an interesting phenomena. Although undead has been quite low compared to before Imbindarla's death, the undead seen over the last several months have been, and they have trouble expressing this, “better looking” than one might normally expect undead to be. There has been a particular surge in hot female vampires. No one is quite sure of the reason for this, but sages from Corsai to Oursk have been working on the problem feverously.  Speaking of Oursk, Lady Sharala has returned and is working behind the scenes to prepare for her third miraculous return to the lands of the living. This time, she expects that her political maneuvering will win her a position of true power in the city. She certainly doesn't expect her insane nephew Griggan to object.

Neither the rogue wizard Kestellin nor the dragon Tagachark the Inferno have been seen since they attacked Nolin's funeral, looted the palace, and took off for parts unknown. High Mage Emeritus Arcade Deltarion has lead a strike force to find them, rumored to be somewhere on the inner planes.  Meanwhile, Queen Kirisandra of Gaunt has widened the search for her missing brother-in-law; both she and her husband King Kemic hope to surrender the throne if he returns from his exile.  While they search, they have set dwarven engineers to building Nolin a monument fit for a king.

Dylrath could possibly tell you more about this, but he's on a beach half a world away, lolling in the sun. Considering what he's gone through, he deserves it.

The outer plains are in a time of turmoil. A war rages in Limbo, as the githyanki launch an all-out offensive on the strongholds of the githzerai. Perhaps they are taking advantage of the slaads' absence, as many of the chaos-frogs try to seize a piece of abandoned Mechanus for themselves. They're certainly not alone; dozens of power groups have attacked the plane of the dead modrons, and no clear winner has yet emerged. If anyone knows why the modrons died in the first place, they're not talking.  A half-dozen planar sages have sought out the Defenders to question them, and each time go away disappointed.

In the underdark, the dwarven defender Splinder stands a lonely vigil before the Black Gate. He prays to Moradin that other dwarves will eventually come and settle those dark halls. Meanwhile, Priggle Gembreath learns what it's like to come back an unknown hero from an unappreciated war.  It's not like he didn't already have things to complain about, though.

Things proceed apace for other members of the defenders. Training with the Crystal Spire in Sigil, Eve finds that "A. Nonny" keeps trying to send her creature comforts and make her life more pleasant. Stone Bear has taken to the desert in an attempt to hear his spirits more clearly; his spirit of vengeance has told him that Elder has surfaced and destroyed his entire village, transforming the lot into undead who wait for Stone Bear's return. Spurred on by this news, Velendo balances his time between his temples (where he has kept his promise and resurrected Claris, but literally thousands of people who asked Velendo to resurrect dead relatives had to be turned down) and his work researching the two remaining worms. The research is frustratingly slow, since almost nothing is known of them, but Velendo hopes to forge an alliance between some of the most powerful individuals on the planet. Between these people of importance and might, he prays that a solution to the worms' threat can be found.  The Archmage Emperor Congenio Ioun has expressed interest in discussing this, although it’s apparent that he wants political considerations in return for his help.

As we return, however, we find the Defenders gathered for a more immediate crisis. Months ago the Defenders easily turned away a giant-ish scouting party of a Calphasian temple, a former hill giant steading located high above an icy pass.  At the time, they mandated the dominated giant to explain *exactly* how bad an idea it would be to ever bother them again.  Ah, ego. The other giants don't appear to have listened.

So join us as we return to the game after a five month (in real life) hiatus, when the Defenders of Daybreak regather to negotiate far-reaching political alliances and defend a temple; giants of old walk the earth again, and proverbial butt gets kicked with no hidden moral or social implications!


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## shilsen

It's alive!



> There has been a particular surge in hot female vampires.




  



> dozens of power groups have attacked the plane of the dead modrons, and no clear winner has yet emerged. If anyone knows why the modrons died in the first place, they're not talking.  A half-dozen planar sages have sought out the Defenders to question them, and each time go away disappointed.




I'm sensing a little lingering bitterness here 



> Meanwhile, Priggle Gembreath learns what it's like to come back an unknown hero from an unappreciated war.




Who's Priggle?



> So join us as we return to the game after a five month (in real life) hiatus, when the Defenders of Daybreak regather to negotiate far-reaching political alliances and defend a temple; giants of old walk the earth again, and proverbial butt gets kicked with no hidden moral or social implications!




Oh, you one-legged eyepatch-wearing old tease!


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## the Jester

Hurray!!!


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## zoroaster100

Excellent!


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## thatdarncat

Woot!


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## LightPhoenix

Um, guy.  That was beautiful.  Now I want to know what happened between Nacreous and now even more!  Not only are you a RBDM, you're a RB author as well.


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## TheBadElf

Someone was dumb enough to attack...Nolin's..._funeral_???  I look forward to seeing the painful beating that was no doubt administered.


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## Naathez

Great! Now we can drool waiting for updates on TWO storylines....    

It's true, it's just a spiral...  you know it hurts you but you just want more more more....  


-applauding- welcome back, o feline buccaneer.


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## Steverooo

Piratecat said:
			
		

> Speaking of which, the Knights of the Emerald Chapel have reported an interesting phenomena. Although undead has been quite low compared to before Imbindarla's death, the undead seen over the last several months have been, and they have trouble expressing this, “better looking” than one might normally expect undead to be. There has been a particular surge in hot female vampires. No one is quite sure of the reason for this, but sages from Corsai to Oursk have been working on the problem feverously.




HAH!  Go, Teliez!


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## Steverooo

Piratecat said:
			
		

> Dylrath could possibly tell you more about this, but he's on a beach half a world away, lolling in the sun. Considering what he's gone through, he deserves it.




Nice to know that he's still alive, at least...



			
				Piratecat said:
			
		

> The outer plains are in a time of turmoil. A war rages in Limbo, as the githyanki launch an all-out offensive on the strongholds of the githzerai. Perhaps they are taking advantage of the slaads' absence, as many of the chaos-frogs try to seize a piece of abandoned Mechanus for themselves. They're certainly not alone; dozens of power groups have attacked the plane of the dead modrons, and no clear winner has yet emerged. If anyone knows why the modrons died in the first place, they're not talking.  A half-dozen planar sages have sought out the Defenders to question them, and each time go away disappointed.




Revenge of a Spurned GM...  



			
				Piratecat said:
			
		

> In the underdark, the dwarven defender Splinder stands a lonely vigil before the Black Gate. He prays to Moradin that other dwarves will eventually come and settle those dark halls. Meanwhile, Priggle Gembreath learns what it's like to come back an unknown hero from an unappreciated war.  It's not like he didn't already have things to complain about, though.




Nice to hear from Splinder, again, but...  Poor, poor Priggler!  You're evil, PC!  EVILE!



			
				Piratecat said:
			
		

> Velendo balances his time between his temples (where he has kept his promise and resurrected Claris, but literally thousands of people who asked Velendo to resurrect dead relatives had to be turned down) and his work researching the two remaining worms. The research is frustratingly slow, since almost nothing is known of them, but Velendo hopes to forge an alliance between some of the most powerful individuals on the planet. Between these people of importance and might, he prays that a solution to the worms' threat can be found.  The Archmage Emperor Congenio Ioun has expressed interest in discussing this, although it’s apparent that he wants political considerations in return for his help.




Maybe they should go see the blind elf, again.


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## Ao the Overkitty

Good to see you around and writing again, Pkitty.

May the gods smile upon thee.  Or, at least, some of Teliez's recent recruits.


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## WizarDru

Wow.

That's great, great stuff. I bow before your continuity, sir. It's nice to see how the PCs have risen in the world and how things have changed. The flow of events is what impresses the most: it all seems so <i>logical</i>. Of COURSE Elder would kill Stone Bear's village. Of course the undead would have more hot chicks. 

But the modrons, man?  Let it go, Kevin, LET IT GO.


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## KidCthulhu

WizarDru said:
			
		

> But the modrons, man?  Let it go, Kevin, LET IT GO.




Listen to the wise man, honey.  Listen to him.


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## Greybar

Someone talked the modrons into "upgrading" to using Intel chips running Windows, didn't they?  Evil, evil, evil.

Thanks for bringing us more SH goodness Piratecat!


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## Piratecat

Pfui. I _so_ let the modrons go that I killed off all of them. You hear me? ALL OF THEM!  Bwah ha ha ha ha! 

Update this afternoon.


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## KidCthulhu

Piratecat said:
			
		

> Pfui. I _so_ let the modrons go that I killed off all of them. You hear me? ALL OF THEM!  Bwah ha ha ha ha!




Yeah, you killed them so we couldn't get the exp for them!


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## Piratecat

“A request, Emperor.”

Congenio Ioun looked up into the knowing eyes of his assistant Annel d’Ioun. Secretary Annel was his most trusted confidante and faithful advisor, and she seldom disturbed him when it wasn’t necessary. Ioun pushed aside the long treatise of military history that he had been reading by the light of his _Ioun stones_ and gestured at Annel with the flick of one hand. She understood the gesture with the familiarity of long acquaintance, and pulled up a chair as she began.

“My Emperor, you have received a privileged communication from the Archpriest Velendo of Calphas. You’ll remember him, of course; an irritable old man with a huge stone shield. It was he and his adventuring group ‘the Defenders of Daybreak’ who broke us out of stasis here in the Iron Tower, saving your life in the process.”

Ioun let out a small snort. “My memory is as good as ever, Annel.”

She nodded. “More recently, my Emperor, it was the Defenders of Daybreak who were so intimately involved with the death of the Goddess Imbindarla. They fought the first worm, and they were key in the ascension of the new God of Undeath and the catastrophic silencing of magic.”  

Ioun slowly let air out of his nose. “But we don’t blame them.” It was half-statement, half-question.  “It’s fair to say that the lack of magic made things _interesting_ for us.”

“Indeed,” Annel’s face was placid, “but we do not. Shall I read the letter verbatim, or summarize?”

“Summarize.”

“Very well. Holy Velendo is very concerned about the existence and freedom of one of the first worms, one that he refers to as ‘Elder.’ He claims that to this end he is gathering a coalition of the most powerful and knowledgeable individuals on the planet. He has asked for your aid and support in this. He does not specify whether this help is to be informational, organizational or military. He is not so crass to specifically allude to favors he has done for you in the past.”

Ioun shifted in his large chair - too simple and unadorned to be called a throne, really - and raised one eyebrow. Glittering jewels danced above his head as he laughed.  “Of course he seeks an alliance. I’m a known quantity, at least in the sense that he knows I’m probably the most powerful wizard left on Spira.  Being dragged out of the past has a few advantages.  It’s interesting that he doesn’t seem to consider the threat from the other worm, the one that was imprisoned beneath Cirit Kuss.”  

“Perhaps he is simply concentrating on. . .”

“. . .on the one he has been exposed to?  Naturally. It’s folly not to take both into account, though. And he wants my help.”  He glanced up at Annel.  “Is there danger in this for us if we help?”

“There could be. Danger of several kinds.” Her eyes spoke volumes.

Ioun steepled his fingers as he leaned back.  “There’s also the possibility of great gain. Velendo’s associates effectively control the city of Corsai, or have the ear of the people who do?”

“Precisely, Emperor.  As you know, we wish to use Corsai to anchor the southwestern edge of your great empire. It has a strong military, stable government - to the extent a theocracy is stable - good trade, and a growing tax base. It would be the jewel in your empire, assuming that you can come to terms with the church of Aeos.  They’ve politely resisted us before now, and you haven’t shown interest in armed annexation.”

“Nor do I now, unless pushed to vexation. This may be a nice compromise. We offer military protection, the security of having a large ally guarding their northern and eastern flanks, and my assistance against the first worms.  They provide taxes and serve as the anchor-point of the southern border.”  He considered.  “Both sides will benefit. I’ve negotiated worse, back in the old days.”  

“I remember,” said Annel tartly. Ioun shot her a bemused look as he placed the bound scroll to one side and stood up. Two dozen glittering jewels danced and spun about his brow as he did so, unconsciously adjusting their flight to his movements. His eyes bored into Annel.

“There is the other matter, of course. And do you suppose that they have sensed the same glimmerings that I have? Things are stirring.  The next few days are going to be very important politically.”

“Unknown, Emperor. Agar Smoketallow is said to be a very powerful oracle, but his visions are erratic.”

“Good.”  Ioun almost chuckled as he shrugged into his purple cloak. “Then we will be ready, and it will be amusing to see this play out. I want leverage. Make sure we’re prepared with supplies, Annel, so that at least one government is not caught unawares.  We will begin discussions tomorrow. Where is Velendo now?”

“Far to the northeast in the Kingdom of Gaunt, Emperor. He is in his temple in the Greyflame Mountains.  Effectively neutral territory.” 

“Also good. Make arrangements. Send notification, and prepare a present for the church of Calphas.”

“I shall.”  Annel turned to Ioun, her face full of concern. “Congenio,” her voice dropped to a near-whisper, “you’re fully cognizant of the challenge here? These aren’t local peasants, awed to see the great wizard.”

Ioun cut her off with a sharp gesture and a smile. “I have no doubt that they will treat me with the respect I am due. This empire has been overly insular. It’s time for that to change if we’re going to make our mark on this world.  I am one of the chosen, the Wizard-Kings to the Great Age. I haven’t forgotten that. I trust you haven’t either.”  Annel bowed, and Ioun swept out of the room.

-- o --

In a huge wooden room where the ceiling disappeared into shadow above, Velendo shook the last echoes of the _sending_ from his head and clapped his hands for an acolyte.  “Grab a scrub brush, lad and send me your master.”  He looked around at his friends with an inscrutable expression.  “We’re going to have an important visitor tomorrow.”


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## WizarDru

Ohh-hoo-hoo!

Let the fireworks BEGIN!

[grabs popcorn; notepad]


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## Someone

Update good. Me happy.


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## Bryon_Soulweaver

*Takes WizarDru's popcorn*

Hahahaha


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## Len

Piratecat said:
			
		

> proverbial butt gets kicked with no hidden moral or social implications!



No one's questioning the ethical implications of creating undead for dating purposes?


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## WizarDru

Len said:
			
		

> No one's questioning the ethical implications of creating undead for dating purposes?




The man said HIDDEN implications. The Dark Hunger probably wants to crow loud and far that he's all about the sexy, sexy vampire ladies. Gods get ALL the chicks, dude.

Besides which, gotta refill those abandoned priesthoods somehow, right?


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## diaglo

who's he gonna use the scrub brush on? and from what angle?


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## Fajitas

Len said:
			
		

> No one's questioning the ethical implications of creating undead for dating purposes?




Well, I don't know about you, but I generally try not to question the ethics of the GOD OF UNDEAD.

At least, not out loud.


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## KidCthulhu

Fajitas said:
			
		

> Well, I don't know about you, but I generally try not to question the ethics of the GOD OF UNDEAD.
> 
> At least, not out loud.




Yeah, that's the same reason we've all had to be very careful about using our "Out of Character" hats when calling Telliaz "The DORK Hunger".  Don't mock happy, fun god.


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## Len

Fajitas said:
			
		

> Well, I don't know about you, but I generally try not to question the ethics of the GOD OF UNDEAD.
> 
> At least, not out loud.



Hmm, let's see...


> “I’m going to if I have to,” answers a clearly annoyed Tao. “You may be the son of a God, but you’re a pain in the ass for dragging us into this.”





> “Sorry, pal,” says Stone Bear. “But it’s time to do what’s right.” And the shaman grabs Teliez and moves to throw him over the edge of tower’s battlements.





> Velendo spins, furious. "Teliaz! You showed up out of nowhere and involved us in a dispute between divine beings! Now there's a demi-god out there that's about to kill us because of you. We want to help you but we're not sure how, so SHUT UP AND LET US THINK!"





> Malachite nods. “He’s evil all right, but he’s also incompetent. We’re working under the assumption that someone has to assume the mantle of the Goddess of Undeath. For the moment, I’d rather it be someone incompetent that we have some control over."



Yeah, lots of respect shown there.


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## KidCthulhu

Yeah, but note all this disrespect came before he sat down at Imbindarla's All You Can Eat Divinity Buffet.  Now that he's no longer demi- and has been added to the pantheon proper, we tread a little more carefully.


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## Fajitas

Len said:
			
		

> Yeah, lots of respect shown there.



I can only offer in defense, the following:

1) That's all from *before* he was a god.
2) None of that actually questions his ethics.  Sure, it questions his competence, manners, timing, and personality.  But none of it questions his ethics.
3) Please note that not a single one of those criticisms came from Sharra...


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## Len

KidCthulhu said:
			
		

> YeNow that he's no longer demi- and has been added to the pantheon proper, we tread a little more carefully.



...and hope he doesn't hold a grudge?


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## zoroaster100

I like Ioun.  He speaks just like I would expect a very powerful and old wizard king to speak.  Thanks for the great update.


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## Henry

*blink*
*blink*

An Update? Clean livin' and steady begging DOES pay off! 

Fantastic work, PCat.


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## Urbanmech

An update!  An update that jumps quite a bit in time and leaves us wanting more of both stories now.  I can't wait to see some more DoD buttkicking!


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## Sialia

Henry said:
			
		

> *blink*
> *blink*
> 
> An Update? Clean livin' and steady begging DOES pay off!
> 
> Fantastic work, PCat.




Cleanliness has nothing to do with it, I assure you.

But never underestimate the importance of the "living long enough" part.


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## Blackjack

KidCthulhu said:
			
		

> Yeah, that's the same reason we've all had to be very careful about using our "Out of Character" hats when calling Telliaz "The DORK Hunger".  Don't mock happy, fun god.




Speak for yourself.


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## el-remmen

Oops! Wrong thread!


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## Piratecat

_The raucous laughter from the wrestling giants drowned out any noise that the tiny humans might have made as they hid in the shadows of an alcove.  More than a hundred feet away down the great hall, Chief Nosnra of the hill giants drunkenly demonstrated how he preferred to kill humans, smacking one meaty fist down into the trestle table before him. Cave bears snarled as they lunged for the scraps knocked off the table by the force of the blow, and more than twenty swaying giants roared their approval at their chief’s technique.

The reek was incredible.  Filthy wood creaked, huge flagons of ale spilled, scraps of roast ox dangled from gluttonous mouths. Fire leaped, voices bellowed. The dripping remains of human captives swayed as they dangled from the ceiling.

Velendo looked at his friends. Nolin the bard and Claris, pilgrim of the God of Vengeance, stood next to him. Tao the ranger, Arcade the wizard, and the young thief Dylrath Birdhouse waited nearby, and a dangerously bored Alix Loial stood just to the side. His weapon was still wet with the blood of slain hill giants.  

Velendo’s eyes were hard as he surveyed the chaos in the Great Hall.  “Now,” he suggested, and the team moved forwards._

-- o --

The first time Velendo had seen this room, it had looked very different than it did now.  The massive bonfire pit had been replaced with a holy altar to Calphas the Wallbuilder. Wooden walls were reinforced and buttressed with stone, dangling bodies swapped for colorful banners, stuffed trophy heads replaced with religious tapestries.  The faithful of Calphas had made this place a temple, and as a temple it was as close to impregnable as they could get; even Cruciel, the angel of the arch, had added her own touches. The place wasn’t perfect, but it was reassuringly secure.

So why was Agar so afraid that the sky was falling?

Nestled high above a narrow pass in the Grayflame mountains between the “backwater” countries of Irojis and Gaunt, the Temple of Ascension wasn’t exactly anyone’s definition of convenient to get to.  Nevertheless, more and more pilgrims were arriving every year. They limped up the steep mountainside by the dozens, lame and ill and infectious, and each found sanctuary in the huge temple at journey’s end. This was the first temple actually founded by Velendo, and it was here that an archangel of Calphas first appeared and announced to the world that Velendo would be a proxy for the God himself.  Lord, that had been a long time ago, back when he had been somewhat spryer and a lot more naive. He’d been drunk a lot more often then as well, if he recalled correctly; trying to shirk responsibility tended to do that.

Times had changed.  Velendo had grown up in the tiny seaside town of Hunnerstide, far away from anything that didn’t smell like fish. It was a running joke that only nine gold pieces existed in the village, and everyone just traded them around when they got tired of bartering.  Now Velendo was wearing gilded robes and playing host to an emperor and archmage.  

Not just an archmage, either; Agar was one of those.  This was THE archmage. The sole surviving wizard from the time of the great Mage Kings, back when they were referred to as magic-users, back before their battles supposedly spanned continents and ruined half the world. An artificer who could flatten cities with his spells, and still have enough left over to make a few dozen Ioun stones. An emperor who was rumored to have killed every orc on the continent off in a fit of pique.  And he was coming here just after lunch.

_Well,_ thought Velendo as he tried to cheer himself up. _He still puts on his pants the same way I do, right? Right._  He frowned.  _Only he wears magical robes, and probably has invisible jewel-encrusted servants to dress him.  Damn._

In theory, Ioun was coming here so that Velendo could convince him to help fight Elder. He had another agenda, though; his secretary Annel had made it clear that Ioun’s assistance was predicated on an alliance with the city of Corsai. Mara was negotiating for the church of Aeos in the matter.  A lot was at stake; if Corsai didn't join the empire, Ioun might decide to annex it by force.  Now Velendo strode tiredly from room to room -- this place was *big!* -- looking for any sign of disarray. The temple wasn’t perfect, but it had been cleaned up enough to look presentable. It would do.

By the time he returned for lunch in his private dining room, many of the other Defenders were gathered. Stone Bear was out in the desert somewhere, and Galthia was still in the outer planes, but the others had arrived.

“Fur sheets!” Eve was saying with disgust. “This time he sent me a load of fur sheets made out of wormine, or vermin, or something. . .”

“Probably ermine,” said Mara helpfully.

“And they fit my bed! How did he know what size they should be?  And I’ve gotten exotic food like celestial songfish, braised loin of wyvern, and Elysium chocolates.”  She looked abashed.  “I ate the chocolates. I’m only human. But I sent all the rest back!  And the beautiful gowns, and the elven hairdressers. And we won’t even talk about that darn pleasure slave.” Eve looked angry.  “I won’t accept anything from him.”

Malachite looked thoughtful.  “Do you _know_ it’s Soder sending you these things?”

“No. They all come from ‘A. Nonny’, and it’s always someone hired by someone else who maybe was dominated or charmed but who no longer is. It’s very frustrating.  When the merchants refuse to take things back, I’ve had to sell them myself.”  Eve brightened. “I’m pretty sure that I can use a mental power to find out Soder’s mental signature, his true name! May I do that? Please? Then we can kill him and make this stop.”

Velendo sat down, and a plate of food was placed in front of him as a servant poured water into his glass. He exchanged a glance with Malachite.  “What’s the down side?” asked the elderly priest cautiously.

“Well, if he resists it he’ll know I tried to pry. That’s it. And he might be a little annoyed, but that will bring him out of hiding.”

“Eve. . .”  Velendo shared another look with Malachite.  “Soder is now the right hand man of Teliez, the Dark Hunger, the God of Undead. I’m pretty sure that makes him an archangel.”  Eve looked frustrated, and Velendo continued. “He’s a lot more powerful than he used to be.  That means that trying to find out his true name will be akin to calling him out.”

“That’s what I want.” The girl bristled with hate.

“That’s what we all want, so long as we do it on our terms. If we make a move against Soder right now, The Dark Hunger himself is going to have to get involved. He won’t stop until we’re completely and utterly crushed. I’m afraid it’s just a bad idea.”

“Well,” said Eve as she dug into her meal, “that’s why I asked instead of just doing it.”

“Thank you, Eve,” said Malachite. 

She flashed him a smile and returned to her food.  “Promise me that when we have time, we’ll track him down and destroy him?”

Malachite nodded in approval. “I’d like little more.” 

“How were your travels, Agar?” asked Mara, changing the subject.

“Pretty good, thanks! I went all kinds of fun places, mostly on the upper planes, and spent two months in the Citadel of Kodali’s Retreat. I needed the time to make objects,” he flipped several fine leather cords to Mara, whose face erupted in a huge grin, “and scribe spells. I took a few promising halfling wizards from River’s Reach with me, too. They provided the materials, and I gave them free training and access to my spellbooks for copying spells.”

“Good idea,” said Malachite. “You can trust them?”

“Absolutely. Proty and I were very careful about that.” He stroked his tentacled familiar, who keened in delight.  “They’re talking about starting their own adventuring group, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to help them along. I also made a prototype belt from _Agar’s Insect Bane_ that Shara and I are going to sell in Eversink. That should bring in a little extra pin money.” Suddenly Agar reeled backwards and clutched his head. He rolled off the bench and hid under the table.

“What is it?”  Everyone else was on their feet, chairs toppling.

“The clouds aren’t air, they’re stone!” Agar whimpered in an odd voice from under the table. “They rumble from the earthquake. I can feel them dangling above us, supported by only the slimmest pillar. They’re going to fall!” He rolled into a ball, shaking, then the vision passed and he slowly relaxed.

“Great,” said Eve. “He’s given up fear of bugs for agoraphobia.”

“I don’t think so,” said Velendo. “This may be more specific. Agar, can you tell?”

“No.”  The halfling sounded miserable, his voice shaky as he got to his feet. “All I know is that for the last two weeks, I’ve felt more and more like the sky was going to fall in on my head. I keep looking up. I can’t trust the clouds. This stinks. I feel like Priggle, only it’s the vault of the heavens that is out to get me.”

“We should be careful,” said Velendo as he righted his chair and sat back down. “I’ve gotten reports of unexpected giant raids hundreds of miles to the north. They could be related.”

“I hope they aren’t related while Ioun is here,” said Mara as she finished her soup. “That would be awkward. I still don’t know how I’m going to handle this.”

“Well,” said Malachite, “Ioun wants Corsai as part of his empire. I’m still not sure exactly what that means, but we’ll figure that out. We want. .  need?”  He looks at Velendo.

“Probably need,” agreed Velendo.  “But not certainly.”

“Need his help in combating Elder,” finished Malachite. “We’ll work out how those two goals combine.”

An acolyte harrumphed quietly by the door, and Velendo jumped to his feet. “Speaking of which, Ioun and his entourage should be here in five minutes. Everyone ready?”  He eyed Eve’s worn and mis-sized chain mail, but said nothing.

“Ready,” said Mara with assurance. Agar gave a nervous glance up at the ceiling, but nodded nevertheless. The others did as well.

“Then let’s go meet Congenio Ioun,” said Velendo, and they left the room.


----------



## WizarDru

You sly dog...sneaking in another update like that.

I'm curious...what level where the defenders in the flashback?


----------



## Piratecat

_INTERLUDE_

Imperator Caustas, Cloudhammer of the Northern Sky, strolled deliberately around the courtyard of the Inner Keep. He fumed with an anger forged from self-righteous embarrassment, and sympathetic electricity danced across his gray skin in company with his shame. 

They *dared!* These sniveling humans dared to take a keep that his people had constructed for the tiny hill giants, to cleanse it and turn it into some sort of profane holy place to an untrue godling. They dared to injure the little cloud giant tax collector he had sent six months ago, to _dominate_ him and send him back to the Imperator with false words in his mouth and the whimper of a beaten cur. They dared to contact the Imperator with some sort of communication spell, threatening - threatening! him and his people if they chose to justifiably take back what was rightly theirs.

Oh, this vengeance was going to be sweet.

The Imperator surveyed the war griffons and the ice roc. He inspected the weakling cloud giant servants, the handpicked Imperial Guard, his toadying priest Olaf the Lame, and the indomitable Storm-Chosen. He examined the three chunks of mountaintops that had been severed and hauled onto the cloud island itself. Within an hour, those huge hills of stone would be dropped from a mile in height, directly onto the top of the keep that these humans now valued so highly. Let's see them dominate _that,_ the Imperator thought, and smiled with bared teeth.

"Prepare yourselves!" he roared, lightning flashing along his skin. Troops moved into position, slowly readying the first boulder for launch out of the ring of lightning and down onto the humans' unsuspecting heads.  "we will take them unawares, and tonight we will feast on human flesh."  His minions screamed their approval.

Oh yes. No one crossed Imperator Caustus and lived. This would be a cleansing that the humans would remember for a very, very long time.


----------



## Bryon_Soulweaver

And what level are they now?


----------



## Piratecat

WizarDru said:
			
		

> I'm curious...what level where the defenders in the flashback?




The Defenders took on *G1: Steading of the Hill Giant Chief* roughly back in 1994 or 95. They were around 6th-8th level at the time, except for Dylrath, who was less. It was shortly before Sito (Claris's player) moved to Seattle, so he might be better able to pin-point the date.

Mind you, they were 2e giants, but it was still a really fun adventure. Good tactics definitely turned the tide.

I think they now range between 21st level (Velendo) and 19th level (Eve). Velendo has an epic level ability that you'll see mentioned, and the members of the group are all pretty much at the top of their individual heaps.  *sniff*  My poor, poor bad guys.


----------



## Seule

What I want to know is, how powerful is Ioun really?  I assume he's into Epic levels, but even that's not guaranteed.  Being the last of a fabled group of powerful Magic-Users doesn't necessarily make you the most powerful mage around, although it might.  I'd just as soon not assume anything.

Of course, if the PCs don't actually know how powerful he is, please don't answer.  

  --Seule


----------



## Blackjack

Piratecat said:
			
		

> My poor, poor bad guys.




PITY THEM NOT


----------



## WizarDru

Piratecat said:
			
		

> I think they now range between 21st level (Velendo) and 19th level (Eve). Velendo has an epic level ability that you'll see mentioned, and the members of the group are all pretty much at the top of their individual heaps. *sniff* My poor, poor bad guys.




Yeah, yeah.  Welcome to my world, bunky.


----------



## Bryon_Soulweaver

Didnt they learn from their last encounter with a god, I remember someone's arm was hurting.


----------



## RangerWickett

Kevin, let me just say that you're a delight. I hope things are going well for you in the real world.

I've gotta get some illustrations for you.


----------



## KidCthulhu

Piratecat said:
			
		

> I think they now range between 21st level (Velendo) and 19th level (Eve).




Actually, Eve's only 18.  Although if you want to make her 19, I'm ok with that!


----------



## RangerWickett

Yay! Eve leveled!


----------



## Sagiro

Seule said:
			
		

> What I want to know is, how powerful is Ioun really?  I assume he's into Epic levels, but even that's not guaranteed.  Being the last of a fabled group of powerful Magic-Users doesn't necessarily make you the most powerful mage around, although it might.  I'd just as soon not assume anything.
> 
> Of course, if the PCs don't actually know how powerful he is, please don't answer.



Piratecat wouldn't let us look at Ioun's sheet, but Fajitas (who was playing Ioun) did at one point utter the phrase:  "...back when I was 27th level..."

 

-Sagiro


----------



## KidCthulhu

Sagiro said:
			
		

> Piratecat wouldn't let us look at Ioun's sheet, but Fajitas (who was playing Ioun) did at one point utter the phrase:  "...back when I was 27th level..."
> 
> 
> 
> -Sagiro




And it was pretty clear he was talking about "_Way_ back when I was 27th level".  Not as if this was something that happened last week.


----------



## Dakkareth

Well, arcanists of 30th level and above made up the highest tier of archmages and Karsus was 41th, when he cast his _avatar_ ...

Oh, and [sblock]







> An acolyte harrumph*ed* quietly by the door, and Velendo jump*ed* to his feet. “Speaking of which, Ioun and his entourage should be here in five minutes. Everyone ready?” He eye*s* Eve’s worn and mis-sized chain mail, but say*s* nothing.
> 
> “Ready,” say*s* Mara with assurance. Agar give*s* a nervous glance up at the ceiling, but nods nevertheless. The others do as well.
> 
> “Then let’s go meet Congenio Ioun,” sai*d* Velendo, and they *left* the room.



I presume the shift of tenses is not intended?   [/sblock]


Great to see updates again


----------



## Fajitas

Sagiro said:
			
		

> Fajitas (who was playing Ioun) did at one point utter the phrase:  "...back when I was 27th level..."



Heh.  Yeah.  Good times.      

And let me please just express the utter bizarreness of trying to simultaneously keep track of the effects and abilities of nearly two dozen Ioun stones at once.  It's enough to make your head swim.


----------



## Piratecat

Anyone who is *NOT* one of my players may click here to see Ioun's character sheet.  You can make envious grunts at his unique magic items in that thread, too, but it's not for players.  

Thanks for the heads up on the tenses. Point that out when you see it; I'm trying to train myself to write in past tense, but I definitely slip.

Next update is Monday.


----------



## Gomez

I bow down to the superiority of Piratecat! Great Stuff!


----------



## Sagiro

Piratecat said:
			
		

> Anyone who is *NOT* one of my players may click here to see Ioun's character sheet.  You can make envious grunts at his unique magic items in that thread, too, but it's not for players.




You are a foul tempter!   

-Sagiro


----------



## Sarellion

All the stones must make him dizzy. Do people still see him or is is more: A figure in a cloud of gemstones speaks to you.


----------



## Sito

...and welcome to one of the advantages of being a *former* player.  I'm peeking.  

[peeks]

wow.

Oh and incidentally, I think we hit G1 between November of '96 to January of '97.  Gosh, we're old.


----------



## MTR

How close are these posts to the real game?  How much time was skipped when this new thread was started?

Oh, and welcome back.


----------



## Piratecat

Sito said:
			
		

> Oh and incidentally, I think we hit G1 between November of '96 to January of '97.  Gosh, we're old.



That puts the group at lvl 8-9.

This game was played a week ago Thursday. I aim to finish writing up each game before the next one is played two weeks later. We all know my track record on that, but it's an achievable goal.

We have bypassed six months of game time and a year and a half of real time. Some of those games include what might be my favorite adventures in the whole campaign, though, so it's really something I'm looking forward to writing. It's something I want folks to read.

And infinite thanks for the patience, and the kind words.


----------



## Fimmtiu

Fajitas said:
			
		

> And let me please just express the utter bizarreness of trying to simultaneously keep track of the effects and abilities of nearly two dozen Ioun stones at once.  It's enough to make your head swim.




Jeez. At some point, you'd think he'd need to invent an _air traffic control ioun stone_ just to keep the rest orbiting...


----------



## Dirigible

Dear god... the giants have invented suborbital kinetic harpoons!

Brings a whole new meaning to 'Reflex save for half'.


----------



## Morte

Dirigible said:
			
		

> Dear god... the giants have invented suborbital kinetic harpoons!




Hey, Piratecat's running a Traveller game everybody...


----------



## Len

Dirigible said:
			
		

> Dear god... the giants have invented suborbital kinetic harpoons!



Hey, isn't that a picture of one under your name??


----------



## Greybar

Dirigible said:
			
		

> Brings a whole new meaning to 'Reflex save for half'.




If a shell makes a whistling sound, I wonder if the mountain-tops will make something like a deep bass thrum that just grows and grows as the sky begins to get darker and darker...


----------



## Destil

Is the 1st post here an E-Mail from when you begain the game up againt after the "Everyone's having babies" break?


----------



## Piratecat

Destil said:
			
		

> Is the 1st post here an E-Mail from when you begain the game up againt after the "Everyone's having babies" break?




Dang, you're good.  Got it in one... although I edited it a little to remove some spoilers. It seemed like a good way to start things off. I just wish that every time I read it, I didn't visualize the words crawling up the screen like the beginning to a Star Wars movie. . .

Maybe I'll add a reference to Dooku in it.  Hee hee.  Dooku.


----------



## KidCthulhu

Piratecat said:
			
		

> Maybe I'll add a reference to Dooku in it.  Hee hee.  Dooku.




Stupidest.  Name.  Ever.  

How can you respect a bad guy who sounds like something you scrape off your shoe?   "Oh damn, I just stepped in some Dooku!"


----------



## Graywolf-ELM

Great way to keep the story alive.

Thank you,
GW


----------



## Campbell

I really dug the magic-user reference.


----------



## Piratecat

Campbell said:
			
		

> I really dug the magic-user reference.




Good. My work here is done.  

I'm halfway done the update, but the real world calls. I'll finish it ASAP, most likely posted tomorrow morning.


----------



## Elric

The story hour is great as always.  My suggestion: if you find writing the story hour easier without using the tapes, just skip them.  I remember reading your account of the Minotaur Pirates fight (on the way to Eversink) 5 years ago.  Since you write well enough to make me remember it after all this time, you probably don’t need tapes to refresh your memory in order to write an amazing story hour (insert obligatory “Use the force” line here).


----------



## Piratecat

Heh - I'd love to get ahold of that first post. It's the one bit of story hour that has disappeared into the ether.

The truth is that I'll probably do exactly that. The most likely scenario is that I'll skip over the mindflayer battles and pick back up when the group gets to the surface. I haven't entirely decided yet, though; ENnies voting is due this week, and I've been reading and judging RPG materials like a madman during my spare time.  

Working on today's entry now.


----------



## Femerus the Gnecro

Piratecat said:
			
		

> Heh - I'd love to get ahold of that first post. It's the one bit of story hour that has disappeared into the ether.
> 
> The truth is that I'll probably do exactly that. The most likely scenario is that I'll skip over the mindflayer battles and pick back up when the group gets to the surface. I haven't entirely decided yet, though; ENnies voting is due this week, and I've been reading and judging RPG materials like a madman during my spare time.
> 
> Working on today's entry now.




This first post?

http://web.archive.org/web/20010610220704/dynamic.gamespy.com/~dnd3e/ubb/Forum10/HTML/000001.html


----------



## Kid Charlemagne

No there's apparently one even further back, detailing what happened right before that.


----------



## Elric

Piratecat's post there has this description: "On the trip in, their ship was attacked by minotaur pirates, led by a minotaur barbarian. In a glorious fight they repelled the pirates, protected their cargo, and managed to shunt the pirate's ship into a huge whirlpool created by the party druid. Questioning and scrying showed that the ship had been hired by a yellow-tunicked messenger back in Eversink."

This event (in full, glorious detail) was the very first post in the story hour, from before 3.0 was even released.


----------



## KerlanRayne

How about this one? Story Hour. 

EDIT - Oops, looks like the same as the first one. 

KerlanRayne


----------



## Piratecat

This was back before the story hour forum existed. We had a great game that I posted about, people wanted to know more, and it just sort of grew from there! That inspired me to actually start the story hour. Thank you folks for trying to track it down.

On the theory that a brief update is better than none at all, I'll post the following. I have more coming that I will probably just append to this next post when it's done.


----------



## Piratecat

The Defenders of Daybreak stood in front of the Temple of Ascension, and watched the cold mountain air rip itself open. 

The first thing they noticed was the deep rumble. It was the kind of noise that preceded earthquakes, a low vibration that made their teeth vibrate and their eyeballs hurt. Surprisingly, the noise also brought on a sort of elation, the feeling of imminent delight that something majestic was about to be revealed. The feeling was ecstatic and disturbing both, and almost certainly supernatural. Colors began to play across the air, shimmering spokes of silver and purple spinning as they sought purchase, and then a section of reality simply caved in. The feelings of imposed delight and shivering wonder crested in a few heart-pounding seconds, and two radiant creatures stepped out of the magical vortex.

Emperor Congenio Ioun had arrived.

As usual, Ioun chose not to travel with a retinue. Only he and his secretary Annel d'Ioun stood on the snowy mountain field that surrounded the temple. The Emperor smiled slightly as his feet touched the chilly earth, and the vortex behind him collapsed in on itself and disappeared. The rush of emotion from his arrival persisted, however, continuing to vibrate along the soul.

Ioun’s secretary steped forward. “The Emperor Ioun greets the faithful of Aeos and Calphas, and the heroes known as Defenders of Daybreak,” she intoned in a ringing voice. Ioun gave a quiet laugh.

“They know who I am, Annel,” he said quietly, and stepped forward to greet Velendo. His dozens of spinning Ioun stones moved with him.  “Good to see you again.”  Velendo bowed his head in respect. 

“It’s an honor to have you here, Emperor,” he said. 

“Indeed. I’m hoping that our mutual interests will prove fruitful.” Ioun’s pale eyes glanced across the gathered Defenders, and Velendo instinctively knew that he had just memorized each of their faces. “I don’t believe that I am acquainted with all of your associates,” he said politely.  He looked back at Velendo.  “I was sorry to hear about Nolin Benholm. I liked the man.”  

“Thank you, Emperor.”

Agar stepped forward, barely managing not to glance at the sky.  “We have had the pleasure of meeting, Emperor,” he said. “I admire your work, and as you can see we use some of it ourselves.” He indicated the various Ioun stones orbiting the heads of the Defenders. 

“Agar Smoketallow. It’s been too long.” Ioun eyed Agar’s _robe of the alienist_ with a critical eye, and raised his eyebrows a quarter of an inch. 

“This is Dame Mara Thornhill and Lord Malachite, Radiant Knights of Aeos.”  Both stepped forward. “Dame Mara will be speaking on behalf of the most holy Clarion, high priest of Aeos and ruler of Corsai.” 

“Of course,” said Ioun. “Your reputations precede you.”

“As does yours, Emperor.” 

“And my name’s Eve!”  Excited, the girl stepped forward. “I’ve heard. . .”  Secretary Annel’s voice was like a whip clad in satin. 

“You will address the Emperor by his proper title, please.” Her tone brooked no dissent.

“I’m sorry.” Eve bowed her head, outwardly chastened. “Emperor Ioun, it’s a pleasure to meet you after having heard about you for so long.” Her face didn’t betray the embarrassment she felt, or the resentment.  _I could send you to your happy place, woman. Then you’d sit and drool and soil yourself until you starved to death. Who would you bully then?_ Eve instinctively glanced at Malachite, thought about what he would say if she did teach this woman some manners, and pushed her thoughts of vengeance away as unfitting. She smiled weakly.

“Thank you, Eve.”   Ioun’s eyes narrowed. “You are the girl raised in Nacreous, is that right? Remarkable. It is good to have met you.” His gaze moved on to the others, but Eve’s pale cheeks were still bright red from her embarrassed flush. 

“I’m a princess too,” she muttered to herself, “even if I don’t know from where. Proper title, indeed.”  Next to her, she suddenly saw Agar’s eyes roll back in his head.

“Mister Agar? Are you okay?”

“The vault of the sky is collapsing,” mumbled Agar, “and no one can see it but me. It has been planned for months.  The shouting of the miners heralds the fall of hope!” His eyes began to slowly refocus. Agar could _feel_ the actual pressure of being buried alive, and being buried alive meant that you couldn't swat at insects, and not being able to swat at insects meant that those insects could burrow and crawl all over you, and the eggsacks would hatch, and. . . and. . . Agar yanked his mind away from the yawning chasm of insanity.

“Agar?”  Eve sounded concerned.

_“We need to get inside, Velendo,”_ Agar said over the mindlink, his thoughts full of panic. _“It’s not safe out here.”_

Velendo responded smoothly. “It’s cold for June, and we are high in the mountains,” he said. “Perhaps the Emperor wishes to go inside.”

“The Emperor wishes to refresh himself after his journey,” said Secretary Annel. 

_Journey?_ thought Eve. _They walked through a portal!_ She blew air out of her nose in annoyance.

“Of course,” Velendo said to the Secretary. “We have quarters prepared. Please come this way.”  

He led the way inside through the massive temple doors. The Defenders and the temple staff followed. Agar gave one final, suspicious glare at the slate-gray sky before the huge doors slammed closed. _Can’t trust it,_ he thought to himself, and cringed from fear.


----------



## Graywolf-ELM

Bless you sir.

GW


----------



## Piratecat

For those who are curious (and not in my campaign), I have posted Cruciel's revised character sheet now that I have changed her classes to a more appropriate one. In the post above that, I'm also asking for some creative ideas. Help if you're so inclined.  

If you're in my game, please don't click this link; that thread has spoilers aplenty you don't want to see.


----------



## Dakkareth

> The most likely scenario is that I'll skip over the mindflayer battles and pick back up when the group gets to the surface.




Awww, I so like mind flayers ...


----------



## Swack-Iron

Wait-- I haven't checked the forum in a couple of weeks and I'm totally lost. Could someone post a link to the previous PC Story Hour thread so I can catch up?


----------



## Lela

Swack-Iron said:
			
		

> Wait-- I haven't checked the forum in a couple of weeks and I'm totally lost. Could someone post a link to the previous PC Story Hour thread so I can catch up?




You haven't missed anything.  This is P-Kitty skipping ahead due to a form of writer's block/tape fatique.

But, here's the last thread anyway:

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=779&page=33&pp=40

Best, at this point, to keep track of both.  I use the subscription options to do it and you can get access via the My Account link at the top of any given page.  Just click on My Subscriptions after that.


----------



## Fade

Piratecat said:
			
		

> If you're in my game, please don't click this link; that thread has spoilers aplenty you don't want to see.




Evil, evil spoilers.


----------



## Piratecat

I'd merely like to add that Galthia rolled a *DC 98* jump check tonight. . . leaping 80' from the deck of their flying ship _the Sunrider_ to the back of a giant ice roc, two freakin' miles above the ground.  DC 98.  That just kills me. If only someone had assisted him for that extra 2 points. . .


----------



## Naathez

If Galthia failed by those 2 points, and fell to the ground, I propose immediate ascension as God of Long Jumps and Atrocious Misfortune. Holy symbol? A Parachute.


----------



## Atticus_of_Amber

Piratecat said:
			
		

> I'd merely like to add that Galthia rolled a *DC 98* jump check tonight. . . leaping 80' from the deck of their flying ship _the Sunrider_ to the back of a giant ice roc, two freakin' miles above the ground.  DC 98.  That just kills me. If only someone had assisted him for that extra 2 points. . .




  You sir are a bastard ... and I salute you!


----------



## Spatzimaus

That better have been "If only someone had helped him for those last 2 so that he could reach 100, which is just a really cool number".  If it was actually DC 100, then there's a serious problem.


----------



## Blackjack

Piratecat said:
			
		

> I'd merely like to add that Galthia rolled a *DC 98* jump check tonight. . .




Now, one could dismiss this and say, "Well, sure, he rolled a natural 20."  Which is true.  That, however, would ignore the fact that he was already at *+78*.  Seventy.  Eight.  Seventy frickin' eight.  Which is *teh awesome*.


----------



## WizarDru

Piratecat said:
			
		

> I'd merely like to add that Galthia rolled a *DC 98* jump check tonight. . . leaping 80' from the deck of their flying ship _the Sunrider_ to the back of a giant ice roc, two freakin' miles above the ground.  DC 98.  That just kills me. If only someone had assisted him for that extra 2 points. . .




Player 1: NEW RECORD!

Please do not reboot Piratecat or Spira while the game is saving.


(Dang: my players are 25th level, and the highest skill check I've seen was only in the 80s.  You twinked out munchkin-DM, you. )


----------



## Piratecat

Nah, jump is special; when you already have a move of 80', and you run, you get crazy-high bonuses as per the rules.


----------



## thatdarncat

_looks at the title of Chapter 10 of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, checks the thread again..._

Well, it looks like J K Rowling reads EN World...


----------



## Piratecat

Why, what's the chapter title?


----------



## Kid Charlemagne

_The House of Gaunt_


----------



## Plane Sailing

I love Emperor Ioun, he is all that I would expect an epic wizard to be. Great writing.

Of course, this is now an additional thread to subscribe to...


----------



## Kelvin L. Melton

hey Pcat please dont skip the mindflayer battle please.


----------



## Piratecat

The giant-stone fireplace was large enough to roast an entire ox. The oak fire that burned in its iron grate laws a more intimate size and looked out of place, as if it weren’t living up to its own potential. The small fire was more for comfort than warmth, however; the Temple of Ascension had been blessed to always be warm, and even with a fierce storm moving in from the north the meeting room was dry and secure.

Mara, Malachite and Velendo sat in negotiation with General Annel and Emperor Ioun, but their minds were only partially focused on the discussion.  Mentally, they pondered the vision that Agar had relayed moments earlier. 

_“Can you repeat it again, Agar?”_  Malachite did his best to look engaged while General Annel was saying about trade, but his mind was elsewhere.

_“Sure,_ thought Agar over the mindlink.  “_*The artisan knows that he is but half a man, laid low by the fall of a treacherous woman. He is making his way back from what he was to what he once became, and a different woman pushes him towards where he might have once gone.*”

“I’m telling you,”_ thought Malachite, _“weal or woe. It makes things so much clearer.”

“That wasn’t an option here,”_ thought Agar. _“I think this refers to Ioun himself.”

“Why is that?”_ asked Mara.

_“He could certainly be the ‘artisan’ in the vision, and didn’t he once rule a vast area? That means that if he’s regaining his old empire, then General Annel is the one pushing him to expand his rule.”

“Isn’t she his secretary?”

“I think she’s both.  The point is that he may just want to sit in his tower and make things, and she’s forcing him to build his empire.”

“Interesting. That puts another face on things, and we may want to change our negotiating style accordingly.”_ Velendo nodded as if Annel had made an important point, and refocused on the negotiation.

-- o --


The two of them had quit the musty temple and were riding horses through the cold drizzle atop the ridge. The wind was brisk and icy, and Eve felt glad to be alive. Even better, she was riding with a friend, and she had never had one of those before.  The heavy grey clouds and revolting weather hardly mattered in comparison.

“What was he like, Eve?”  Sable wasn’t particularly worldly, but she liked the idea of an emperor coming to visit the temple. She and Eve had grown close in the past few weeks. “Did you have to curtsey? I’d like to meet him.  I hear he’s as smart as Agar, and I’d imagine that’s saying something.”

Eve pondered. “He seems all right, although he’s quiet. His assistant seems sort of officious. I wasn’t allowed to probe their minds.”  She leaped her horse over a fallen tree. Its hooves punched through the crusty snow as it trotted along the ridge. 

“You slipped out of the negotiations, right? What were they saying?  I bet Dame Mara was dictating terms.” Sable smiled at the thought.

“Well, it went something like this.” Eve slowed her horse and turned to Sable. She twisted her face to mimic both Secretary Annel and Mara. “We want Corsai. You can’t have Corsai. But we want it. But you can’t have it, nyah.”  Eve stuck out her tongue.  “Then we’ll take it. That’s not nice. So give it to us. Why do you want it? It’s rich and strong. So why do we need you? We’re richer and stronger, and know about worms.”  Now her expression changed to include an impression of Velendo as well.  “The worms and the city have nothing to do with one another. Yes they do. No they don’t. What if we just kind of took your city, but let you run yourself? We wouldn’t like that. Yes you would. Well, maybe we would. Want to sit and talk about it for hours and hours and hours until everyone falls asleep and drools on the table? Oh my, what a good idea! Yes, let’s!”  By the time Eve finished, Sable was laughing uproariously atop her mount. 

“Oh, nicely done.”

Eve smiled shyly. “Thank you.”  The two girls set off along the barren ridge, the horses steaming as they made their way through the drizzle. Around them, the sharp and jagged peaks of the Greyflames were lost in gray drizzle.  

Soon Eve’s sharp eyes picked out something on the horizon, and she used a frail hand to wipe strengthening rain from her eyes. A thunderhead the deep black and purple of a swollen bruise filled the sky. Distant thunder rumbled from it, and Eve saw ragged lightning forking out from its vast belly. It was huge, miles high and miles wide, and it was moving towards them _fast._

“I don’t like the look of that storm cloud.”  The wind lifted as if in answer, and another peal of thunder rolled endlessly across the sky.

-- o --

“If you are reluctant to accept the full benefits and responsibilities of Empire, there are several options,” Annel said pleasantly. Annel gave the impression that she could say anything pleasantly.  Beside her Ioun leaned back in his chair, his eyes inscrutable.  The sound of dozens of Ioun stones whirling through the air made a palpable _whirr_ in the quiet room.

“Such as?” asked Mara.

“Let’s focus on the positive possibilities.”  Annel gestured at the floating, translucent map.  “For instance, let’s posit that Corsai became a protectorate of the Empire. You’d maintain your own local government and militia, with responsibilities to contribute taxes and troops for national defense when needed. You’d also receive greater trade, since trade routes through the empire would be extended through Corsai.  Your own military security would be bolstered by that of the Empire. The Empire would also aid in any event where you required greater than normal resources. . . such as the recent undead rampage through your city and the subsequent rebuilding.  You could even maintain your own religious beliefs if you wished to.”  Annel’s voice was persuasive, but Mara thought she detected just the slightest hint of disapproval.

“And what is your own religion, Emperor?” she asked politely.

Ioun shifted in his chair and suppressed a sneer. “Religions are fine for people that need them, of course. I come from a time when Gods weren’t particularly favored. We had no use for them, and I’ve seen no reason to change my opinion.” 

The room grew quiet.

“Really?” asked Mara perkily, breaking the silence. “Then if you wish to ally with Corsai, perhaps you’d consider converting to the worship of Aeos in order to cement our relationship. I don’t think we could ally with anyone who didn’t properly worship.” She smiled innocently.

Agar burst in over the mindlink before Ioun or Annel could respond.  _“Problem!”_ he almost screamed. His mental tone was panicked.

_“What is it? Where are you?”_ asked Velendo.

“Under a table. I just received another warning, and we’re in real trouble! * The safest place holds the most danger. Water and air bring stone and fire.  The sky will fall, and kill you all.* I really don’t like the sound of that. It’d going to happen any minute now, I can sense it.”

Velendo creakily jumped to his feet and spun to Emperor Ioun. “Emperor, I apologize for interrupting negotiations, but I’m afraid that we may be under attack. I’ll ask you and your assistant to please come with me.”

“What is it?” demanded Ioun. He glanced from left to right. “I sense no signs of mystical or planar warfare.”

“One of our fellows has just received a premonition that we’re about to be attacked. Your safety is too important to be risked.” Velendo shouted at the acolyte who glanced into the room, drawn by the commotion. “You! Evacuate everyone in this temple out to the north gate, by the Garden of Ascension. Everyone, no exceptions! Guards, pilgrims, cooks. . . everyone. You have two minutes.”

The acolyte blanched. “But, your holiness. . .”

Getting to his feet, Lord Malachite seemed to swell. “Now!” he growled in a voice that brooked no dissension, and the acolyte disappeared like a ghost. Seconds later they heard the warning bells begin to ring.

Emperor Ioun seemed somewhat annoyed, but Secretary Annel appeared unruffled. “Will it not be safest simply to stay within the fortress?”

“I’d normally say yes,” said Velendo as he strapped on his shield, “but the vision warned that the safest place held the most danger.” He looked around. “Where are the others?”

“Well, Stone Bear and Galthia are due back some time soon, but we haven’t heard from them.  Eve is outside riding. . .” began Mara.

“Outside?” Velendo looked appalled.  “Of the temple?”

“Yes. You were right here when she said she was going.  Her friend Sable is with her.”

_“Eve!”

“There’s a problem here, Velendo.  A massive storm cloud is coming in, and fast. We’re coming back.”  

“Do so, now. It’s not safe to be out there.”

“We’re coming in now.  I’m thinking our way home.”

“Good. . . wait, you’re doing what?”_  But there was no answer.  Velendo rushed towards the courtyard, and inexplicably began to remember the first time he had ever tried to ride a horse. 

-- o --

“Can we outrun the storm?” asks Sable. Their horses were galloping, but the wind had increased to gale strength. 

With her pale skin and wet colorless hair floating wind-whipped around her face, Eve looked a little bit like a drowning victim. “No, I don’t think so. Ride next to me.”  Eve focused her mind as she reached out to pluck the faint thoughts coming from her friends. It was easy to sense them. Eve gathered the psyches of Sable and both horses, focused on Velendo, and _squeezed_. First they were on the icy ridge, and then a heartbeat later they were cantering into one of Velendo’s memories of horses. They emerged from his memories into the real world, and both horses and riders burst forth from the surprised cleric’s head into the courtyard of the Temple.  

Eve reined in her horse next to the stables and swung down, face bloodless from the mental effort.

“How’d you do that?” asked a terrified Agar, glancing up at the swirling purple clouds overhead. He grabbed Sable’s mount and helped her down.

“I didn’t like the normal reality,” said Eve. “So I thought up a new one.”  Agar stared at her, as Malachite and Annel worked together to shepherd all the temple’s inhabitants out into the growing storm. 

“Into here!” yelled Velendo over the wind, gesturing at a shimmering portal just outside of the temple’s far gate. “Almighty Calphas has prepared a warm and comfortable refuge for you. You’ll be safe there.” Urged on, people surged through the doorway into the _Calphas’s Comfortable Castle_. The horses from the stable followed.  Within a few minutes only Emperor Ioun, Secretary Annel and the Defenders of Daybreak stood out in the freezing wind-whipped rain and watched the storm cloud approach.  Malachite’s new assistant Sir Duncan stood with them, scowling at the storm.

“Can you protect the temple, Velendo?” asked Duncan.

“Much too big,” said the cleric. “I wish we knew what was coming. A _weather control_ spell is getting rid of some of these storm clouds, but I don’t think that big one is natural.”

“There are things circling it,” said Agar quietly. He stared straight up into the driving rain, and next to him Duncan unlimbered his bow.

“How can you see?” asked Eve, surprised.

“The tentacles are showing me,” said Agar distractedly. “They push away the rain and show me the truth that squirms underneath. And what they show me is that there are some sort of gigantic creatures circling the thunderhead, half bird and half lion. There’s something on their backs, too. . . giants, I think.”  The others stared up into the rain, but could see nothing. “And there’s something coming out of. . .”  Agar stopped, horrified.

“What?” Unable to see, everyone turned towards Agar.

The Halfling looked sick.  “It’s giants, all right. And they just dropped the top of a mountain out of the middle of the cloud.” He swallowed and looked in vain for somewhere to hide. It was obvious that his every instinct said ‘flee,’ but he held himself steady by pure force of will as he did a quick calculation.  “It’ll hit in about twenty seconds, and it’ll squash us flat.  It’s right on target.”

Without comment, Velendo sang his prayers into the sky. Calphas immediately answered, and a _sovereign wall_ covered the refugees in a tremendous dome that hung in mid-air six feet off the ground.  The gusting wind abated under the dome, and the rain drummed on the invisible wall of force instead of on their heads.  “High enough to protect from falling rocks and give an advantage when attacking giants, but not so low that it will hinder us in a fight,” said Velendo with satisfaction.  “Thanks, Calphas.” 

Emperor Ioun lifted one thin eyebrow. The ioun stones had kept him completely dry.  “How large would you say that stone was?” he asked. 

Agar shrugged, peering upwards into the downpour. “As big as a three story house?” he hazarded.  “And those griffons are diving, too. They’ll be in range within half a minute.”

“Ah, good,” said Ioun as he did his own quick calculation. Even he could see the falling boulder now; it plummeted from the sky, perfectly targeted for the center of the Temple.

“Good?” asked Velendo sarcastically.

Ioun’s tone was phlegmatic. “I’ll be turning it into mud before it hits. It’ll still do damage, but significantly less than it would as the top of a mountain.”  Velendo started to smile in admiration.

“You have the volume to do that?” asks Agar in surprise. “Do you need to widen it?”  Ioun’s look spoke for itself. 

“Mud,” murmured Velendo.  “Mud!”  He hurriedly cast a _flexible wall_ so that they would not be drowned in a wave of mud splashing from the roof of the temple.  He finished it just in time.

The rock made a horrible whistle as it plunged downwards. It seemed to fill the sky now, the size of a hill.  “And. . . now!”  Ioun cast with perfect timing, and the Defenders could see the huge boulder lose cohesiveness and start to scatter seconds before it slammed down into the roof of the temple. The sound of the impact was thunderous, and the vibration knocked many of them from their feet. It was impossible to see how much damage was done to the temple, however, because a thick layer of sprayed mud covered the _sovereign wall_ and blocked the impact site from view.

“We can rebuild it,” said Velendo grimly. “It could have been worse.”  And as he said it, a blinding bolt of lightning snaked down from the cloud overhead to ground itself fifty feet away. In the actinic glare of the lightning, the heroes could just make out the silhouette of a forty foot tall giant gripping the lightning bolt itself. He let go, the lightning bolt disappeared, and the sound of the rain was briefly overwhelmed by the noise of a sword rasping out of a sheath as long as a great hall.

Imperator Caustas, Cloudhammer of the Northern Sky, roared his challenge through foam-flecked lips.  The thunder answered.


----------



## Piratecat

His hand still tingled from the ride down the lightning.  Imperator Caustus stood on the sodden earth, feeling the distaste he always felt whenever his feet touched dirt. Coruscating electricity ran up and down his massive frame, and his laugh sounded like the shuddering of the heavens. Sword in hand, he opened his arms wide to the glorious devastation that was the shattered keep. . .

He blinked. The keep his people built years ago was covered in mud, but standing. The Imperator’s face contorted in anger, and he barely noticed the spells and arrows that flashed impotently into his armored chest.

“Why is it standing, Olaf?” the Imperator growled over his shoulder to the cringing giant on his back. His tone made it clear that whatever the reason, Olaf the Lame was sure to be at fault.

“I do not know, my lord!” burbled Olaf. He was safe within his metal vessel strapped to the Imperator’s back, but he had no illusions that the Imperator would allow anything but subservience. “Surely it was spared by the Storm Gorger so that your majesty could crush the humans underfoot yourself, and thus bring endless blessings and fortune onto his majesty’s house and sons thereby!”  Olaf wiped a trail of sweat and rainwater from his brow._It doesn’t make any sense, but believe me,_ he silently prayed, _because I speak with the voice of the Storm Gorger himself. . ._

“Then let’s be about it!  Olaf, I demand wind.”

“Yes, Imperator.”  Olaf was a runt barely fifteen feet tall, and the 40’ tall Imperator barely noticed his weight. Olaf squinted through the narrow slot in his vessel and called out to the Storm Gorger.  The Storm Gorger answered, and shrieking hurricane winds began to blow. Many of the humans were picked up by the wind and flung back into the mud-covered wall of their shelter. 

“You have trespassed onto giant lands,” began the Imperator in a voice that could still be heard over the shrieking wind, “and you have attacked the messenger who came to demand tribute.  You *dared* to dominate one of my people! You will. . .”

If the Imperator finished the sentence, it was on another plane of existence. One of the humans, a tiny creature surrounded by floating rocks, had pointed a finger at the Imperator and in mid-sentence the giant had vanished into nothingness.  Unfortunately, this left Olaf’s metal vessel hanging unsupported twenty feet in the air. Olaf braced himself as he fell painfully onto the filthy ground. He grunted as his nose snacked painfully against the side of the vessel.

“Not good,” mumbled Olaf. “Come back, Imperator!” Olaf heard the sound of spells and weapons shattering on the shell of his enchanted vessel. Fire and cold snaked in through the casting slot, and he felt something try to seize control of his mind. It was lucky that this had been foreseen and defenses were in place. Nevertheless, this hadn’t gone the way Olaf had expected.  The giant leaned and rolled, and his casting slot aligned with the tiny humans.  “They can’t move against the wind,” he thought, “and am I not the most powerful priest in the Storm Gorger’s service? The soldiers will be here in moments, and Zghelb has his own surprise prepared.  Let him see them stand against my prayers!  Olaf began to cast.

--

For Imperator Caustas, the world had disappeared and been replaced with a shifting array of force planes in a sphere of endless night. He had no body. He had no eyes, but somewhere on the other side of the maze the Imperator could see a pulsing portal that represented escape back into his own world. _They want me to run like a goblin through a maze,_ he realized. _I am supposed to pant and turn and lose myself in the labyrinth. Clearly, they have never met one of the old blood before._  With that, Caustas stood up to his full height (if in that strange place one could be said to be standing, when one did not possess a body), and reached a long arm he didn’t possess above and across the maze of shifting force planes. It was a stretch, even for Imperator Caustas. One non-finger tapped the pulsing door of energy, and the Imperator was flung back into the real world.

--

“He’s back!” shouted Olaf with delight, voice echoing loudly around his head. The Imperator had returned within mere seconds, doubtlessly due to his innate state of grace and unsurpassed cleverness. Unfortunately, Olaf saw that the Imperator was looking the wrong way and had not yet regained his balance, and the treacherous humans seized an unfair advantage before Olaf could shout a warning. Before Olaf’s eyes, one of the humans somehow managed to strip nearly a dozen abjurations from the Imperator’s frame.

One of the little people, a tiny little thing no bigger than a mouthful, conjured a massive tentacle fully as tall as the Imperator himself. The slimy dark tendril wrapped itself around the Imperator before the most majestic one could react, and the Lord’s sword arm was pinned to his most royal chest.

“Vultures!” snarled the Imperator, and struggled to free his arm. He hadn’t yet succeeded before an armored knight - _and a woman!_ noticed the shocked Olaf, _she should be somewhere breeding!_ -  spurred her horse through the gale towards the partially grappled Imperator. Unnatural fires played along her lance, a frail sliver of wood. The woman ran the lance into the Imperator’s knee. Olaf grinned in expectation of the lance shattering into matchwood. Instead, there was a burst of light and the Imperator’s knee shattered in gobbets of flying flesh, bone and gristle. The Imperator gave the first scream of pain that Olaf had ever heard.

“Not good, not good,” gurgled Olaf as he desperately tried to roll the protective cylindrical vessel towards the Imperator. Spells went off all around him. A spell Olaf recognized as _meteor swarm_ hit the Imperator point blank on the chest, and what seemed like half a dozen warriors fought their way forward through the wind to attack the Imperator’s ankles. Still grappled by the tentacle, the Imperator could do nothing.  Where were the griffon riders?  A dull thump sounded nearby, and a brilliant flash lit the air. Olaf looked up to see a second dead cloud giant strike the ground, and blinded giants and griffons staggering across the sky.  _Ah,_ he thought. _That’s where they are.  I never thought I’d say this, but I hope Zghelb hurries._

“I am here, my lord!” shouted Olaf.  Still trapped in his protective cylinder, Olaf finally rolled close enough for one arm to reach out and touch his ruler’s bloody foot. He cast _heal_, and felt the Imperator throw off the tentacle that encircled him. 

“Now!” screamed his Lord and Master, raising the massive sword that coursed with lightning.  “Now!”  The humans answered with a withering barrage of blows and spells. Olaf’s restricted view of the fight was narrowed even further when a green ray entered the narrow casting slot, quickly followed by a sphere of force that blocked him from any contact with the Imperator.  

Olaf the Lame didn’t even have enough time to sing the traditional lament. It was only seconds before his lord and master fell, his leg literally chopped in two, his body weakened and burned by profane spells. The Imperator never even had a chance to swing his legendary sword _Skyblood_ at his foes.  As casually as if someone snapped their fingers, the king of the giants swayed, toppled. . . and died.

-- o --

“Empty,” yelled Velendo. He had to scream to get his voice to carry over the howling wind.  Olaf the Lame was nowhere to be found, and the metal cylinder that had held him was empty.  “He must have dispelled the _dimensional anchor_ and teleported out somehow. The big guy wasn’t so lucky.”  Velendo hooked a thumb at the massive corpse of the dead giant. The bodies of smaller giants lay where they had fallen out of the sky.  

Suddenly, another massive boulder fell from the heavens.  This one missed the temple by several hundred feet, but the impact was still enough to knock people off of their feet.

Malachite wiped rain-slick hair from his eyes and looked angrily up at the thunderhead above them.  “We have unfinished business.”


----------



## the Jester

Awww yeah!!!

Please, PC, post his stats in That Other Place??

   Thanks for the update!


----------



## Funeris

Ditto on the request for the stats...
and awesome updates as always, PC.


----------



## KidCthulhu

It sounds easy, but we had good tactics and great luck.  Caustas was VERY bad news and the only reason someone isn't dead is that we managed to keep him from ever swinging that 30' sword.  He rated to do enough damage with one blow to kill many of us.  And, of course, he had multiple attacks.  By _maze_-ing him and grappling him many bacons were saved.

Oh, and Olaf the lame is a dink and we hate him.


----------



## spyscribe

Yippee!  Updates!



			
				KidCthulhu said:
			
		

> Oh, and Olaf the lame is a dink and we hate him.




So he's kind of... lame?


----------



## Greybar

Yeah, when I read about the _heal_ I thought you guys were going to be in trouble.  But then, this is the problem I've seen a lot with the one BBEG versus a group that's well organized.

Were the airborne troops just using terrible timing, or did you manage to delay them somehow?  I could certainly see the over-confident Caustas expecting to lead the fight on the ground and have them just mop up the people fleeing...

Oh, and I really like the imagery of Caustas riding the lighting bolt down to the ground.  Wonderful dramatic arrival.


----------



## Blackjack

Greybar said:
			
		

> Were the airborne troops just using terrible timing, or did you manage to delay them somehow?




It was a sunburst-o-rama.  Many of them and/or their mounts ended up blind.


----------



## KidCthulhu

Blackjack said:
			
		

> It was a sunburst-o-rama.




Great name for a tanning parlor!


----------



## Piratecat

It was, in fact, a series of well-positioned sunbursts. Other spell highlights included Agar's maximized polar ray, a nice cone of cold from Ioun, a maximized flame strike from Velendo, a ray of enfeeblement from Agar (which was ineffective, due to a well-considered _spell immunity_ on Caustas), and several additional bits of glorious mayhem.  An exact round-by-round accounting would have forced me to compare Caustas's potential to his ugly ugly death, and would have just made me cry even harder.  *sniff*

For folks not in my game, his stats have been posted on the thread-which-must-not-be-named.

Man, I thought it was so clever having a runty cloud giant with almost full cover serving as the Imperator's healing battery. Thanks to Fajitas (who played Ioun, while WisdomLikeSilence played Annel) and the _maze_ spell, it turned out to be a lot less efficacious than I had expected.


----------



## Blackjack

Piratecat said:
			
		

> Man, I thought it was so clever having a runty cloud giant with almost full cover serving as the Imperator's healing battery. Thanks to Fajitas (who played Ioun, while WisdomLikeSilence played Annel) and the _maze_ spell, it turned out to be a lot less efficacious than I had expected.




Can of cloud giant, meet can of whoop-ass.  Can of whoop-ass, meet can of clou-- **clang* *thump* *BOOM**


----------



## Greybar

Nice job, Defenders.  The power of a group that has worked together for so long (both IC and OOC) ... much to be admired.


----------



## Graywolf-ELM

Brings new meaning to the words of the song "It's raining men."

GW<ducks quickly, and runs like mad.>


----------



## WizarDru

Greybar said:
			
		

> Yeah, when I read about the _heal_ I thought you guys were going to be in trouble. But then, this is the problem I've seen a lot with the one BBEG versus a group that's well organized.




I wouldn't call it a problem so much as a feature of high-level play.  Combats are much less frequent, which engenders both tougher enemies and a tendency for parties to open a can and turn it to 11 much, much faster.

Oh, and by the way?  That was *awesome*.


----------



## shilsen

WizarDru said:
			
		

> Oh, and by the way?  That was *awesome*.




What he said. 

Of course, I'm sure the retribution for the PCs beating up on the poor widdle giant will be just as awesome. Right, PC?


----------



## zoroaster100

Great updates, Piratecat.  You did a great job through your foreshadowing and storytelling in letting us, your readers, feel the potential for disaster that Caustus represented even though in effect he suffered a relatively quick demise.  It's just that when dealing with such powerful characters and their powerful enemies, anything that doesn't meet a quick demise at the hands of the party would cause the quick demise of a character or three.


----------



## Piratecat

Oh, perhaps we're not done with Caustas yet. As Shilsen suggests, it seems unlikely that someone with that many resources would just up and _die._

Hee hee.

You'll find out next update.


----------



## Fade

I can't remember, does the Hunter of the Dead ability keep things dead even if they were alive when they were killed?


----------



## Rashak Mani

KidCthulhu said:
			
		

> Stupidest.  Name.  Ever.
> 
> How can you respect a bad guy who sounds like something you scrape off your shoe?   "Oh damn, I just stepped in some Dooku!"



Hehe... it sounds even worse to others... alot of these star wars names sound ultra silly in my language (portuguese).  Dooku basically sounds like "from the a-hole" to us


----------



## Greybar

> I can't remember, does the Hunter of the Dead ability keep things dead even if they were alive when they were killed?




I think that's only for undead.
Yeah, duh, of course if the guy could cast _heal_ and he escaped then there is plenty of reason to expect he'll raise the Imperator. He might perhaps somewhat more cautious now, which will only make him more dangerous.


----------



## Blackjack

Greybar said:
			
		

> I think that's only for undead.




Nope, it's for everybody -- but Malachite has to give the killing blow, and it has to be a melee blow.  Neither of those were true in this case.


----------



## Jackylhunter

Oh frell...


----------



## Sagiro

Blackjack, I was under the impression that when Malachite kills something with a melee attack, it prevents the creature from _rising as undead_, and not that it prevents the creature from being _raised_ or _resurrected_ normally.  Am I wrong?

-Sagiro


----------



## Henry

Yee-ow! That was... well, Epic.

This guy didn't happen to make an appearance in a Dungeon adventure, by chance, did he?


----------



## Piratecat

Henry said:
			
		

> This guy didn't happen to make an appearance in a Dungeon adventure, by chance, did he?




I yoinked the cloud castle layout from Dungeon, but the people and plot are completely different. It just saved me some mapping time.


----------



## Graywolf-ELM

Do you have the issue number handy.  I like to pick up back issues that have interesting items.

GW


----------



## Bill Muench

Sagiro said:
			
		

> Blackjack, I was under the impression that when Malachite kills something with a melee attack, it prevents the creature from _rising as undead_, and not that it prevents the creature from being _raised_ or _resurrected_ normally.  Am I wrong?
> 
> -Sagiro



 Assuming you're talking about the "True Death" ability of the Hunter of the Dead PrC, here's what it says: "Undead slain by a hunter of the dead of 5th level or higher, either by melee attack or spells, can never rise again as undead. They are forever destroyed."

Of course, if Blackjack and PC have worked out something different for Malachite, I obviously can't say.


----------



## Blackjack

Sagiro said:
			
		

> Blackjack, I was under the impression that when Malachite kills something with a melee attack, it prevents the creature from _rising as undead_, and not that it prevents the creature from being _raised_ or _resurrected_ normally.  Am I wrong?




You are correct.  (Two different meanings for "keep things dead" in this conversation.)


----------



## KidCthulhu

I believe in this situation we're going to find that the most efficacious way to keep Caustas dead is to find everyone who might be able to or remotely interested in raising him and kill them  too.

Extreme, but effective.


----------



## Raging Epistaxis

KidCthulhu said:
			
		

> I believe in this situation we're going to find that the most efficacious way to keep Caustas dead is to find everyone who might be able to or remotely interested in raising him and kill them  too.
> 
> Extreme, but effective.



Ouch.  You could just keep killing him. 

I mean, after the _Nth_ time he's obliterated out of hand you'd think he'd decline the invitation to come back from the afterlife...  

R
` E


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

KidCthulhu said:
			
		

> I believe in this situation we're going to find that the most efficacious way to keep Caustas dead is to find everyone who might be able to or remotely interested in raising him and kill them  too.
> 
> Extreme, but effective.




[sigh]

Just one of many problems with high level play.

"Extreme" doesn't even begin to address the Herod-like swath of destruction necessary to prevent someone from being able to resurrect Caustus, with or without remains, anytime within the next 170 years (or more). 

Cloud giants can live to be 400 years old. The DoD would have to engage in wholesale genocide-- and that's just to ensure that no _cloud giant_ with the desire to resurrect Caustus ever rises to 17th level cleric to marry means to that motive. Who knows who else may be out there with the means or the motive to raise him; or who may, perhaps in 150 years time, suddenly find motive, etc.

The only possible solution is for the DoD to arrange matters such that it's not relevant whether Caustus is alive or dead.


Wulf


----------



## shilsen

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> The only possible solution is for the DoD to arrange matters such that it's not relevant whether Caustus is alive or dead.




Well, it's not like that's the *only* solution. The DoD could always just decide to quit and all commit hara-kiri together. Now that would really throw Piratecat's plans off


----------



## Funeris

> Just one of many problems with high level play.




Don't you mean challenges?  



> The DoD could always just decide to quit and all commit hara-kiri together.



...and when they're "reincarnated" into new forms (a new campaign)...they'll again learn that Modrons are marching early....and the neverending cycle will continue...


----------



## KidCthulhu

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> The only possible solution is for the DoD to arrange matters such that it's not relevant whether Caustus is alive or dead.




And this is why I miss playing Nolin.  This would be meat and potatoes to Nol.  Politics and blackmail, influence and extortion, all done with a smile and a wave of his [perfumed foppery] hand.


----------



## Maldur

Actually reincarnate could be a decent way of neutralising a cloudgiant 

Im not sure how a cloudgiant would react, reincarnated as lets say a human, or a kobold or....


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

Maldur said:
			
		

> Actually reincarnate could be a decent way of neutralising a cloudgiant
> 
> Im not sure how a cloudgiant would react, reincarnated as lets say a human, or a kobold or....




Reincarnation is optional for the soul being affected (just like resurrection).

I can't find it in the SRD, but IIRC, the subject knows the name and deity of the person trying to raise them. I distinctly recall reading that somewhere.


----------



## Wulf Ratbane

KidCthulhu said:
			
		

> And this is why I miss playing Nolin.  This would be meat and potatoes to Nol.  Politics and blackmail, influence and extortion, all done with a smile and a wave of his [perfumed foppery] hand.




Aren't there all sorts of permanent _domination_ effects in the XPH? 

Anyhow, just this once, my vote is for the "nuclear proliferation" route. They go _true resurrection_, we go _trap the soul_. 

What's the worst that can happen? (Superman II notwithstanding...)


----------



## Maldur

ok, there goes that plan.

I just found it funny, I can see adventurers hurrying a reincarnation so they get the bbeg in their clutches as an halfling so the "enemy "does not reincarnate them, and so they have a prisoner that is easily "handled"


----------



## WizarDru

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> Aren't there all sorts of permanent _domination_ effects in the XPH?
> 
> Anyhow, just this once, my vote is for the "nuclear proliferation" route. They go _true resurrection_, we go _trap the soul_.
> 
> What's the worst that can happen? (Superman II notwithstanding...)




Wouldn't turning them into undead solve the problem?


----------



## Kid Charlemagne

Wulf Ratbane said:
			
		

> Anyhow, just this once, my vote is for the "nuclear proliferation" route. They go _true resurrection_, we go _trap the soul_.




I'm a big fan of the _trap the soul_ option.  Can't raise 'em if they're not dead...


----------



## Henry

WizarDru said:
			
		

> Wouldn't turning them into undead solve the problem?




Now THERE's a plan Mara and Malachite would get behind...






...and cut to little bits.


----------



## Sejs

If it wern't for those pesky paladins and their undead hating ways, I'd say you could always just raise him as a big ol' zombie and stick him somewhere safe.


Like, say, encased in a block of stone somewhere on a good aligned outer plane.


Possibly under a rhino tree.





Edit:  *looks up*  Of course, I could always suggest it an hour after it had already been suggested by someone else.  That'd work too.


----------



## WizarDru

Henry said:
			
		

> ...and cut to little bits.




Exactly.  Problem solved.


----------



## Henry

WizarDru said:
			
		

> Exactly.  Problem solved.




D'OH! @^#$%!

Forgot about Malachite's ability! Otherwise, killing the undead would mean it could be raised again. But not with Malachite's Tanned Finger on the Kill Switch.


----------



## Hatchling Dragon

Ok, been a long time since I last visited here, and I see P-kitty isn't any more caught up than usual 

I remember that someone was compiling the P-kitty thread into downloadable files.  Is this still happening?  Would anyone happen to have the page number, or a link, to the links to the files?

Wasn't there a sticky post here about archived story hours, whatever happened to that?

Hatchling Dragon


----------



## WizarDru

Hatchling Dragon said:
			
		

> Ok, been a long time since I last visited here, and I see P-kitty isn't any more caught up than usual
> 
> I remember that someone was compiling the P-kitty thread into downloadable files. Is this still happening? Would anyone happen to have the page number, or a link, to the links to the files?
> 
> Wasn't there a sticky post here about archived story hours, whatever happened to that?
> 
> Hatchling Dragon




This is the new Story Hour, starting from more recent events.  The previous story hour has a 'lost year', if you will, that PC will attempt to finish out when he can.

The first post of that thread has the sticky links you're looking for.


----------



## Hatchling Dragon

WizarDru said:
			
		

> This is the new Story Hour, starting from more recent events.  The previous story hour has a 'lost year', if you will, that PC will attempt to finish out when he can.
> 
> The first post of that thread has the sticky links you're looking for.




Ugh, getting old stinks.  I'd thought of going to the first page of the original, but got distracted by RL and somehow convinced myself I checked already   Thanks for the help.

I knew about the 'gap' and that it was the new thread, didn't want to bump the old thread without an update though.  And some things are universal Constants, one being that Piratecat will have a fan-club, and secondly that he'll never be entirely caught up.  Getting annoyed about it would be about as pointless as being upset the Sun rises in the East 

Hatchling Dragon


----------



## WizarDru

Hatchling Dragon said:
			
		

> Ugh, getting old stinks. I'd thought of going to the first page of the original, but got distracted by RL and somehow convinced myself I checked already   Thanks for the help.




Yes, yes it does.  And you are most welcome.


----------



## Groutknoll

Hey PC and KidC, did you try the garlic ice cream? mmmm, you can almost never have too much Garlic. Do to my faulty memory, I can't remember if garlic beer was offered in the past and/or is still offered at the festival, it probabilty was quite bad and therefore removed from my memory. You lucked out with the temp in the mid-lower 90's, I've been at the festival when it's been in the upper 90's/lower 100's with little wind ... ugh.


----------



## Piratecat

Stone Bear’s time in the unformed chaos of Limbo had been. . . productive, he decided. The spirits there shrieked and babbled constantly, eternally unsettled and yet finding peace through restlessness itself. It was such a difference from somewhere like Mechanus, where the spirits were eternally trapped in dutiful lockstep!  Wherever Stone Bear traveled now, the spirits whispered secrets of faith to him.  He quietly absorbed whatever he heard, and the garbled truths were beginning to transform him. He now knew ways to channel spirits that had been closed to him before, and the knowledge filled him with self assurance.  

His meditation had helped transform and prepare him, and he had been ready to return when Galthia had arrived at his tiny shelter in the vast Sea of Flux.  With a _sending_ to find out where the Defenders currently were, the two of them had _plane shifted_ back to Spira. Now they trekked uncomplainingly across a rugged mountain ridge.  Neither of them paid much heed to the icy snow, bitter wind, or driving rain from the storm cloud overhead.

“We’re almost there,” said Galthia as they topped a rise. They had the wind at their back, and the gale was pushing them forward as if eager to be rid of them. “It should be across that hill. . .”  Blind to normal vision, Stone Bear couldn’t see the hill Galthia pointed to, but his bear spirit whispered directions into his ear.

_Something is coming_, whispered the shaman’s war spirit.  Stone Bear’s head snapped up.

“Do you see anything?” he asked.  Galthia peered into the wind-whipped rain.

“No, nothing unusual other than the storm. . .”  He trailed off as a boulder the size of a house fell from the storm cloud above. The ground shook as it hit less than a mile away.

“What was that?” asked Stone Bear.

“A mountain top,” answered Galthia. “Falling onto the temple.”  He winced from a blinding lightning bolt and the accompanying clap of thunder.  “They’re under attack.”

By the time the gryphons descended from the cloud above, they had both began to run.

-- o --

“Really, there’s very little that a maximized _polar ray_ can’t stop.”  Agar was quite satisfied with himself, although he snuck an envious glance towards Emperor Ioun. _Some day I’ll be able to match him,_ he thought. _Just not for a long time to come._  Proty burbled companionably on his shoulder.

Archmage Ioun braced himself against the wind and turned to Velendo. “It looks. . .”  

Velendo couldn’t hear him over the roaring of the gale. “What?”

Ioun looked annoyed, concentrated, and snapped his fingers. The magical hurricane-force storm winds vanished and were replaced by the less insistent gusts from the actual storm.  “It looks as if you have things well in hand here,” said Ioun calmly. “General Annel and I will depart, and we will resume these negotiations at a less. . energetic. . time.”

“You know,” said Velendo wistfully as he stared up at the ugly storm cloud overhead, “you’re welcome to stay a while and help rid us of these giants.” His voice was hopeful.

The corner of Ioun’s mouth twitched upwards. “If we had reached an agreement I certainly would, because citizens of my empire would be in danger. As it is, however, I am on foreign soil.  I was pleased to contribute to the common defense, but unless circumstances change we can be nothing more than interested observers.” He dipped his head. “Colleagues. Please contact General Annel when you are ready to resume negotiations. Sooner is better than later. We’d just as soon have this question resolved before circumstances resolve it for us.” He turned, and a tiny section of reality caved in on itself. Within seconds, Ioun and Annel were gone.

“Damn,” said Velendo.

“Well,” said Malachite as the bell-like tones faded. “It’s hard to disagree with him.”

_KRAAAAK!_

The sound of thunder shattered the air and left the Defenders reeling. They clutched their ears from pain and staggered slightly from the powerful shockwave.  The force of the rain redoubled, and Velendo understood what was happening as soon as his clothes began to hiss and smoke.

“Get under cover!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to make himself heard over the storm. Then he switched to the _mindlink.  “Get under cover! This is a storm of vengeance.”_ He flung himself under the dome-shaped _sovereign wall._  The others followed, and acid rain dripped from their skin and clothing. The smell of burning hair filled the icy air, only to be whipped away by the wind.

_“A what?”_ asked Mara. She flipped her long hair forward and back, shaking off most of the acidic water. Her warhorse snorted in pain beside her.

_“A storm of vengeance. A very nasty prayer, and a very powerful one. Someone must be upset that we killed their giant.”_  Through the grey sheets of rain he could see the smoking corpse of Imperator Caustus, and from somewhere above he could hear the faint screams as blinded giants and gryphons were caught in the storm. Velendo braced himself for what he knew was coming next, so he was the only person not surprised when six bolts of lightning slammed down on top of the impenetrable dome. Another drum roll of thunder drowned out all sound, and fist-sized hail stones began to shatter on the dome overhead.  The corpse of a giant gryphon smacked wetly into the ground nearby.  An unseen giant bellowed.

_“It’s amazing how quiet the storm is,”_ said Agar cheerfully across the _mindlink._ 

Velendo scowled. _“That’s because you’re deaf.”

“I am? No I’m not.  Don’t be silly.”_  He tried to speak out loud.  “Hello?  HELLO?”  _“Oh, I am!  Huh. Good thing I know a cleric or two.”_  He stuck a finger in one ear and wiggled it.

Velendo mentally shuffled through his collection of prayers and looked vaguely embarrassed. _“The only way I can heal you right now is with mass heal.  You may have to wait a little while.”

“No problem. How hard could it be to cast spells while deaf?”_

A shadow shifted next to him, and Eve rose out of the ground. _“Did you see that?”_ she asked, regaining her normal body. _“Something tried to strip my mental powers from me during that fight! I’m not sure what it was, but I could feel it.”_

Malachite’s cohort Duncan looked at her in surprise._ “You disappeared during the fight. Where did you go?”

“I turned into shadow. When the giant started yelling about how mad he was that someone dominated his servant, well. . .”_  She blushed.  _“I thought it might be a good idea to not be especially visible.  I tried to dominate both the big giant and one of the smaller ones, and they were *both* protected from mental control. I hate creatures that learn from past experience.”_  She looked affronted, as if the _protection from good_ spells on the giants were a personal insult.

Eve was interrupted by the sound of falling zombies.

Almost twenty undead fell from the sky like huge rotting hail stones. Each was roughly eighteen feet tall, their fall barely controlled by some form of magic that guided them to the ground without much harm. Little gobbets of rancid flesh mixed with the pounding rain as almost ten of them smacked down on the dome just over Eve’s head.  The rest landed beyond the edges of the dome.  

One after another they shambled forwards.  “Ockchuuuurk!” they gurgled in hunger, turning unerringly towards the living. Rainwater coursed down their well-preserved skin and dripped into their blank and unseeing eyes. “Ockchuuuurk!”

“What’s that mean?” asked Eve, dreading the answer. She watched as Velendo called a pillar of fire down onto three of them; the cloud giant zombies staggered and steamed, but they kept their feet.  “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

“I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that it’s the giantish word for ‘brains,’” said Malachite.  He loosed a _positive energy burst_ of concentrated prayer and faith, and the three burned zombies disintegrated into chunks of twitching flesh.  The other undead didn’t pause to mourn their loss as they too staggered forward. 

Mara leapt onto her war horse and charged out from under the dome, but the undead giant in front of her anticipated the attack.  With one mummified arm it swept Mara from the saddle as easily as an adult might scoop up a baby kitten. Luminor screamed a challenge through his foam-flecked muzzle, but the zombie ignored the horse and concentrated on the grappled paladin instead.  The angel Cruciel leaped to her rescue, but her sword blow wasn't enough to badly hurt the undead.

_“Hang on, Mara!”_ thought Agar. “Proty, can you teleport us up there?”  He pointed at the top of the garden wall. The writhing mass of tentacles hovering next to Agar wiggled its tendrils, and instantly the two of them were perched in a spot that allowed them a clear line of sight to their enemies.

_“There are more coming in!”_ Agar warned as he glanced up into the sky.  He fired a _horrid wilting_ spell at half a dozen of the undead, but none of them seemed to notice.  Agar rolled his eyes in embarrassment. _They’re undead. Of course they didn’t notice, their bodies don’t technically need water! I should have known better.  I hope I didn’t just kill Mara._  He watched helplessly as the undead giant that clutched Mara lifted her struggling body up to its drooling and gaping mouth. 

“Ockchurk,” it crooned with affection, and its mouth snapped closed on the crown of her head.  Sharpened teeth grated and scraped along the outside of her helm. Mara shouted in pain, and in response the giant shoved her head even farther into its mouth. Its rotting tongue probed the top of her skull as it tasted for the still unexposed brains. It made a sad noise of disappointment, and kept chewing.  The helm dented slightly under the pressure, and Mara felt a blinding pain in her head.

“I don’t think so.”  Duncan sprinted to a spot where he had a clean line of fire on the giant. His muscles bunched as he pulled back the string of his holy bow. His eyes narrowed, his breath slowly hissed from his clenched mouth, and the magical arrow was a golden spear of light as it thudded into giant’s belly.  It exited the back in a more spectacular fashion, blowing a hole fully two feet across through the zombie’s middle.  “Purrgl?” mumbled the zombie, and used its free hand to experimentally poke a swollen finger into the arrow hole.  Rancid juices dripped down onto its hand.

“Still up,” said Duncan with a frown. Malachite sprinted forward. The zombies that were atop the force dome swung at him as he passed underneath, but they weren’t intelligent to understand than an invisible barrier protected Malachite from their grasp. Their fists collided ineffectually with the invisible _wall._

The Knight of the Emerald Chapel glared up at the undead giant that loomed like a house above him.  “Put her down,” he suggested, and swung the shining blade of Karthos as if he was chopping down a tree. The sword sheared through both bone and rotten flesh, and the giant balanced on one leg for almost three seconds before falling to the side like a felled oak. It gurgled as it fell, and Mara rolled free of its dying grasp before it hit the muddy earth. Malachite continued his swing right into the leg of the zombie next to it, and it too staggered backwards from the blow.

Another zombie reached a long arm under the force dome and grabbed Eve in a huge fist.  She looked horrified until the air around her shimmered with the tang of burning metal. Before the undead giant could pull her out her form faded slightly into translucency, and Eve slipped effortlessly out of the giant’s grasp.  The undead reached for her again in confusion, and again Eve’s ghost-like flesh slid free. Angry now, the giant slammed a hand down onto her, but Eve seemed to pass right through the grasping fingers as if she were a ghost.  Then Duncan emptied four glowing arrows into it, and the monster collapsed next to Eve in a shower of rotting intestines.

“Thank you, Duncan,” Eve said primly as she stepped away from the corpse. She had had a lot of practice avoiding zombie effluent when she was back in Nacreous. The edges of her body shimmered intangibly.

“My pleasure, Eve.”  His smile was wide, but his gaze was questioning.  “Glad to see you’re okay.”  He drew another arrow and turned to the zombies.

_“More coming down,” _warned Agar, and another wave of falling undead smacked into the ground around them. _“I see. . .” _He squinted through the storm in time to see a charging Galthia hammer one of the newly arrived zombies into submission._ “Galthia’s here!” _he announced happily._ “But there’s a giant with him, and it’s alive!”_  Agar readied one of his more powerful spells. Something distracting caught Agar’s eye over near the corpse of the dead Imperator, but even his sharp vision was unable to pick out any details through the driving storm. He dismissed the glimpse of movement and focused back on the incoming giant.

_“Any chance that it’s Stone Bear?”_ asked Velendo as he blasted two zombies out if existence. _"I know he was with Galthia in Limbo."_  Another burst of sunlight from Malachite rolled across the battlefield, searing away undead skin and bone. Agar squinted into the dimness.

_“Oh, right. It’s Stone Bear, all right. . . but since when could he change into a giant?”_  Agar shrugged and cast _chain lightning_ at the zombies. The smell of burned flesh was whipped away by the wind. Then Agar glanced back over towards the Imperator, gaped, and threw both hands in the air in frustration.  _”Damn it!”

”What?”

“Remember the big dead giant emperor we just finished killing, the one who could have killed us if he got his hands on us?  His corpse just disappeared.”

“WHAT?”_  The chorus of offended voices rocked Agar.

_“Vanished, and I don’t think it’s invisible. Someone must have teleported off with it while using these zombies for cover.”

“Swell,”_ said Mara in disappointment as she wheeled Luminor around and smashed through a giant’s backbone. _“You think they can bring him back to life?”

“Probably,”_ answered Velendo. _“That stumpy little giant who escaped has a lot to answer for.”

“Little?”_ asked Agar. _“I’ll point out that he was four times my height.”

“Yes, but the Emperor was about twelve times your height. Everything is relative.”_

Only three undead giants remained standing by the time Galthia closed with the group. He sped into them, trusting in his natural agility to keep him safe. He was severely disappointed when one of them snatched him up in both massive hands and lifted him up to its drooling mouth. The giant bit down, but Galthia yanked his head back just in time.

“I’m tired of you creatures!” yelled Velendo, swinging his shield around.  “In the name of Calphas the Wallbuilder, be gone with you!” He focused his faith, and for a few seconds the sound of cascading masonry drowned out the rattle of the driving rain. All three of the giants turned to run in abject fear, but Mara and Malachite cut one down before it shambled away.

“It didn’t drop him,” observed Velendo in dismay.

“No,” said Eve.  “It surely didn’t.”

“It was supposed to drop him.”  The last two giants were fading into storm. Velendo could just see Galthia squirming before they were lost to sight.

“Indeed it was,” said Duncan as he drew a handful of arrows from his quiver. “I may hit Galthia with one of these, but I bet it’ll hurt him a lot less than having the top of his head bitten off.” Fast as lightning, Duncan knocked and fired the arrows into the concealing rain. His aim was superb; Galthia’s body blocked one of the arrows, but the other three whistled into the lumbering giant’s back. Explosions of light swept through its frame, and it dropped Galthia as it swayed on its feet. It took only seconds for Galthia to regain his feet and finish the monster off.

The last undead sprinted across the ridge as fast as its legs could carry it. Stone Bear was the only thing between it and safety. _Ahead of you,_ the shaman heard the spirit of his great grandfather whisper into his ear. _A foe!_ 

Stone Bear changed his direction of running, and felt the spirit of the giant whose shape he had borrowed delight at the prospect of mayhem. He sensed the giant’s footsteps long before his spirit sight saw it. To Stone Bear’s vision, the undead giant was a mass of rotting flesh possessed by the inchoate power of the storm; seen through the eyes of his raven overhead, the monster was a rain-soaked abomination of dead tissue. Stone Bear thrust out one gigantic arm and caught the zombie across the throat with all his considerable strength. Then he caught its arm and spun it into him, twisting until he heard something palpable snap.  He caught its injured neck in the crook of his arm, and the creature was dead - truly dead - long before Galthia ran up.

He had missed the Defenders.  It was good to be back.


----------



## blargney the second

Thanks for the update, Piratecat!

It was really odd to start reading it and figure out that I'd missed the previous update.  And then again on that update.  Today is 3-for-1 day at PC's story hour

EDIT:  I suspect the cloud giant's castle is the one in Dungeon #9 - The Plight of Cirria.
-blarg


----------



## WizarDru

I'm having a hard time deciding which I enjoyed more: an awesome smackdown, Ioun cutting out or "_Hello? HELLO?_".  That was teh funney.


----------



## Piratecat

Cohort mislabeling fixed - thanks, Miln and Dinsdale! I really like Duncan - he's a tall, lean hunter of the dead who doesn't have any paladin levels at all. He started as a rogue and confidence man, and then had to watch while undead destroyed people he loved. He responded by taking one level religious training, the bare minimum, and then bluffing his way into the Order of the Emerald Chapel while still a mere acolyte in the eyes of the church. He's loaded with information-gathering and people skills (including the UA variant feat _urban tracking_, which keys off of gather information instead of survival), and he's a dandy archer.

In appearance he's about 6' tall, dark skinned, a shaved head, and a snappy dresser. He was one of the first people at the Temple of Aeos to really get along well with Eve.

The Dungeon issue with the cloud giant castle is the first one with an Epic adventure in it. I'll check the issue number.  I've learned that this adventure has way more boring combat in it than I personally prefer to run, but a neat layout for a cloud castle which I shamelessly stole.

A few other housekeeping notes:  Stone Bear has been updated to the 3.5 Sacred Fist, which gives him a lot more spellcasting mojo. We're going to handle this as channelling spirits... same result, more interesting flavor. SB will be missing from the game fairly soon, though, 'cause Wulf is taking time off to go and get married.


----------



## WizarDru

Piratecat said:
			
		

> The Dungeon issue with the cloud giant castle is the first one with an Epic adventure in it. I'll check the issue number. I've learned that this adventure has way more boring combat in it than I personally prefer to run, but a neat layout for a cloud castle which I shamelessly stole.




Not to belabor the point, but that's a really weak module.  I consider it (Storm Lord's Keep, Issue #93) an example of Epic level play done poorly, versus Lich Queen's Beloved in Issue #100.  I've babbled on this before.


----------



## Fimmtiu

Piratecat said:
			
		

> SB will be missing from the game fairly soon, though, 'cause Wulf is taking time off to go and get married.




Slacker.


----------



## Raging Epistaxis

Congrats, Wulf!


----------



## RangerWickett

*nervous cough*

Pkitty? Just wanted to remind you of the favor I asked. Thanks.

And nice story, as always.


----------



## Piratecat

Aha! Thank you, Ryan.  Hey, everyone! You'll notice Ranger Wickett's sig. . . we're trying to make the ENnies self-supporting this year, and part of that fundraising is selling the work of some of EN World's best authors. Please, please click on his sig and pick up a copy if you can; I'll actually be emceeing the ENnies at GenCon this year, and it'd be great if we could break even on the awards.

Please note that also be running a bunch of games at GenCon (details to follow), and it'd be freakin' cool to meet the people who have been reading this story hour.  Come say hi.


----------



## RangerWickett

*hits refresh repeatedly, waiting for info on these Piratecat games*

Just biding my time until I can say, "Dibs."


----------



## GakToid

*Stone Bear*

Any chance that we could see a character sheet for Stone Bear?

-Gak Toid


----------



## Graywolf-ELM

RangerWickett said:
			
		

> *hits refresh repeatedly, waiting for info on these Piratecat games*




Is that like Reindeer games, and can anyone play?

GW


----------



## BSF

Excellent update!  It sounds like there are a lot of nifty changes with our heroes.  

Have a good time at Gen Con.  I hope to hear great stories about all the fun you had when everyone gets back.


----------



## Piratecat

Come game with me at GenCon!

I'm running three games, all of which can be signed up for at this thread (until later today) or at the EN World booth in the exhibit hall. 

All games will meet at the EN World booth.

Thur 2pm-6pm: "A lazy day in Eversink." _As agents for one of the great Mercantile houses of Eversink, you're used to corruption and politics. How bad could today be?  Just wait to find out. . ._  D&D, six players.

Fri 10am-2pm: "A lazy day in Eversink." _As agents for one of the great Mercantile houses of Eversink, you're used to corruption and politics. How bad could today be?  Just wait to find out. . ._  D&D, six players.

Sat 2pm-6pm: "Mace Hunter and the Fountain of Youth."  _Zeppelins! Pygmies! Tommy guns! Femme Fatales! And a missing archeologist whose absence spells big trouble for MAce Hunter and his intrepid band of adventurers. _Adventure! d20 (1930s pulp), all rules will be taught, seven players.

I hope folks coming to GenCon can sign up; I'd love to meet you!


----------



## RangerWickett

You should fix the '10-6' error here.


----------



## Blackjack

RangerWickett said:
			
		

> You should fix the '10-6' error here.




That, or it's one _hell_ of a slot.


----------



## Piratecat

It may be -- but it's still only 4 hours.  Fixed.


----------



## nakia

New job, moving, buying a house, getting an office, and other fun real life stuff have kept me away from ENWorld for a bit and P-Cat's story hour even longer. . .

But it just means I get to read it all at one time one afternoon when I'm not feeling productive.  It's great as always and I can't wait to hear what happened as the backstory gets filled in.


----------



## Steverooo

Oh where, oh where has the Piratecat gone?
Oh where, oh where could he beee...
With his tail cut short and his ears cut long,
Oh where, oh where has he gone?


----------



## Thornir Alekeg

Steverooo said:
			
		

> Oh where, oh where has the Piratecat gone?
> Oh where, oh where could he beee...
> With his tail cut short and his ears cut long,
> Oh where, oh where has he gone?




I thought it would be "with his eye put out and his hand cut off,"


----------



## Steverooo

Thornir Alekeg said:
			
		

> I thought it would be "with his eye put out and his hand cut off,"




Silly rabbit!  Cats don't have hands!


----------



## Darthjaye

Oh God Please for the love of g.........wait a minute.  We're not in the begging phase yet are we?  Did I skip a meeting.  Dammit!!!   Ok, we need a update soonish.  I've gotta get my fix.  It's that or I swear I'll start watching cartoons again man!!!


----------



## Thornir Alekeg

Steverooo said:
			
		

> Silly rabbit!  Cats don't have hands!



But...then where did Darkness get that hand?


----------



## KidCthulhu

D'arrr, mateys.  It be Talk Like a Pirate Day.   And if ye be wantin' an update from yon scurvy moggy pirate, best be talkin' like him!  Belike.  Scupper me with a d20, else.


----------



## nakia

Arrr!  Ye best be bringin' on the updates before we keel-haul yer britches, ye scurrrrvy dog, er, cat!

(How's that?)


----------



## Plane Sailing

Shiver me timbers, e'en I'VE done me story-hour update, Cap'n Piratecat! If'n you're not careful I might do another of them thar updates an' steal yer crew, yer mangy dog!

Arrrr!

p-)       <--- eyepatch smiley

Arrrr!


----------



## Ao the Overkitty

Arrrr. Avast, ye land lubbers!  We're hear to plunder your hoard of updates, Cap'n Piratecat.  Hand them over and we won't make you walk the plank.


----------



## Zaruthustran

Avast! Many a lunch has passed without an update to me favorite tale, an I've been forced to waste time on CNN dot carrrrm. Bad times, to be sure.

-z


----------



## coyote6

Arrr, it's all for naught, ye blimey landlubbers. Home sick as I was today, I'd no chance to talk like a pirate. An' now, here we be, with nary an update in sight! 

Better were I keelhauled, arrrr!


----------



## Richard Rawen

*From the dept of bored desk job workers:*

Keelhauling, while sounding innocuous enough, was one of the more brutal means of punishment short of walking the plank into the ocean which, while not as bloody, meant sure drowning as there was nothing to keep you afloat once you tired of treading water... but I digress.
The actual process involved tieing a stout rope around the victims legs or waist and throwing them overboard.
In front of the ship.
While the ship was making Best Speed with the wind...
The rope was long enough to allow the victim to be forced under the prow and under the length of the ship, 'hauling' them under the 'keel'. This wouldn't be so bad except for the barnacles.
For those land lub, er, lovers among you, a barnacle is a sharp edged rock-like deposit that contains a small sea creature. The barnacle acts as the shell for this creature and resembles a volcanic mountain with a large calderra.  These are crusted quite thick along the bottom of the ship and so as the victim is forced by the rapidly moving current accross the bottom of the ship they are most often torn to shreds by the thousands of small yet sharp edged crustaceans. The other likely outcome was that the rope would be severed... yet if you survived you would be hauled up and your wounds treated (likely with wine or rum).
All this just for being lax with a few updates... it hardly seems fair   
And now, back to something... worklike. *sigh*
Blessings
M < > <
Richard


----------



## KidCthulhu

Richard Rawen said:
			
		

> This wouldn't be so bad except for the barnacles.




Yeah, but very exfoliating.  Leaves you with that youthful glow.  Errr, or was that the blood?


----------



## Artoomis

*Just for completeness...*

http://blindkat.hegewisch.net/pirates/punish.html

A little more fact-based account of punishments at sea.  While the account above was slightly off, the point about barnacles and drowning killing most men who were keel-hauled is absolutley accurate.

Piratecat, I miss you!!


----------



## Zustiur

Probably the wrong day now... but I don't want to miss the opportunity  


Arrg, cats with nine lives? naaa, I be showing you cats. Cats with Nine Tails! If there be no update, I'll be givin' yon' three leg'ed kitty nine more tails than e's used ta!



Hmm, this pirate thing is harder than it looks.

Zustiur.


----------



## MerakSpielman

Excellent stuff, PC. Finally got around to reading this thread. Looking forward to more to come!


----------



## KidCthulhu

Hey Pkitty.  Don't you owe Sialia a birthday present?  I bet she'd love an update.  One size fits all, and the color is always right.


----------



## Ashrum the Black

Hey, how about in honor of my new son turning one month old? Is that worth an update? huh huh? 

The proud daddy needs an update to read to his son. You wouldn't want to disappoint a child now would you?   

-Ashrum


----------



## Graywolf-ELM

I think, to quote an old song.  "The Thrill is gone."  The adventures of "The Defenders of Daybreak" will be greatly missed.

Thank you for the entertainment.

GW


----------



## wedgeski

Graywolf-ELM said:
			
		

> I think, to quote an old song.  "The Thrill is gone."  The adventures of "The Defenders of Daybreak" will be greatly missed.



Maybe a little premature unless you know something we don't? PC hasn't posted on the site *at all* for a month as far as I can tell.


----------



## Graywolf-ELM

Believe me, I have no insight into the Heart and Mind of PirateCat.  I feel that I have noticed a trend in many of the longest running and best loved story hours here on the boards.  It is understandable if this is the case.

If everyone here donates $5.95 to the cause, I can start a University grant to study the cause of "Story Hour Burnout".  <Just Kidding..  Really  >

GW


----------



## Funeris

I fear that that would be a good cause to donate to.

I know a long running SH-author that will probably never update again.  If P-Cat were to duck out...I'd be the first to admit I'd shed a tear.....

~Fune


----------



## Delemental

Well, just yesterday we had PC's spouse, KidC, posting a message urging him to update.  If PC were really, truly burnt out, I would think she'd be the first to know this, and would not be urging him for an update so publicly.



			
				KidCthulhu said:
			
		

> Hey Pkitty. Don't you owe Sialia a birthday present? I bet she'd love an update. One size fits all, and the color is always right.




This is only a guess, though.


----------



## zoroaster100

I for one still hold hope for at least an occassional update from Piratecat.  I'll take what I can get.  I'm very grateful for all the entertainment and inspiration already shared by him and his group of players with all of us (though more is always welcome).


----------



## Thornir Alekeg

Delemental said:
			
		

> Well, just yesterday we had PC's spouse, KidC, posting a message urging him to update.  If PC were really, truly burnt out, I would think she'd be the first to know this, and would not be urging him for an update so publicly.
> 
> 
> 
> This is only a guess, though.




My thoughts exactly.  I don't this KidC would be doing this if she didn't think he could handle it right now.    

Is he still playing City of Heroes?  Maybe its that electronic crack that's keeping him away from updating and posting on EN World.  PCat, is that you in this ad?


----------



## Sidereal Knight

Thornir Alekeg said:
			
		

> My thoughts exactly.  I don't this KidC would be doing this if she didn't think he could handle it right now.
> 
> Is he still playing City of Heroes?  Maybe its that electronic crack that's keeping him away from updating and posting on EN World.




Maybe he's part of the City of Villains beta test... Not that he could confirm it if he was.  I'm sure that there is a Nondisclosure Agreement.


----------



## KidCthulhu

Or maybe this is my passive aggressive way of getting revenge for all the rat bastard things he's done to us.

Or maybe I'm an agent of chaos, and I secretly like getting you all riled up about an update AND getting Pkitty angry.

Or maybe you all just give me way too much credit on the "spose-o-meter"


----------



## thatdarncat

He isn't. I talked to pkitty last night - he's just tired and busy. Give him time and he'll be back


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## Graywolf-ELM

KidCthulhu said:
			
		

> Or maybe this is my passive aggressive way of getting revenge for all the rat bastard things he's done to us.
> 
> Or maybe I'm an agent of chaos, and I secretly like getting you all riled up about an update AND getting Pkitty angry.
> 
> Or maybe you all just give me way too much credit on the "spose-o-meter"




Rabble-Rousing  

GW


----------



## Capellan

I can at least confirm that it will be worth the wait.  Not that I had anything to do with the rat-bastard things that happened last session.  Not me


----------



## Thornir Alekeg

thatdarncat said:
			
		

> He isn't. I talked to pkitty last night - he's just tired and busy. Give him time and he'll be back



Spoilsport.  Its a lot more fun concocting stories about why he just doesn't love us anymore.


----------



## thatdarncat

Oh... well in that case... he's not just in the CoV Beta, he's Statesman!


----------



## thatdarncat

Hey pkitty, post and I'll mail you some turkey leftovers?


----------



## zoroaster100

By the way, KidCthulhu, have you seen the SOTA Toys figure of Cthulhu that's about to be released in stores (some time this month, I think)?  It looks pretty awesome.  Given your avatar and previous expressed interest in the Old Ones I'm sure you are aware of it, but in case you aren't, you should definitely get it to use to scare your players in your campaign.  As for me, I ordered the Dagon figure.  It looks even scarier than Cthulhu, though both look more like real-life science projects than plastic toys.


----------



## Jackylhunter

zoroaster100 said:
			
		

> By the way, KidCthulhu, have you seen the SOTA Toys figure of Cthulhu that's about to be released in stores (some time this month, I think)?  It looks pretty awesome.  Given your avatar and previous expressed interest in the Old Ones I'm sure you are aware of it, but in case you aren't, you should definitely get it to use to scare your players in your campaign.  As for me, I ordered the Dagon figure.  It looks even scarier than Cthulhu, though both look more like real-life science projects than plastic toys.




Do you have any links for these?  I went to the SOTA site, and couldn't find anything about Cthulhu.  I know that they have quite a few Cthulhu plushies on sale through Paizo.com's store.  I can't remember if they are made by SOTA tho!
Thanks,


----------



## warcabbit

A: Pkitty, check your email.

B: I want an update. Pleaaaase? 

(I give pretty pretty candy, yes.)


----------



## Delemental

Jackylhunter said:
			
		

> Do you have any links for these?  I went to the SOTA site, and couldn't find anything about Cthulhu.  I know that they have quite a few Cthulhu plushies on sale through Paizo.com's store.  I can't remember if they are made by SOTA tho!
> Thanks,




I found it in their news archives, here:

http://www.sotatoys.com/news-archive-display.asp?lngID=79


----------



## Blood Jester

Sidereal Knight said:
			
		

> Maybe he's part of the City of Villains beta test... Not that he could confirm it if he was.  I'm sure that there is a Nondisclosure Agreement.





NDA was lifted last week...


----------



## Steverooo

*Rabble, Rabble!*

Hi, and welcome to PirateCat's Almost-But-Not-Quite-Dead-Yet-(I'm-Feeling-Better!), Hasn't-Been-Up-To-Date-In-Almost-FOREVER Story Hour!  Filling in for your Host, The M.I.A. Pirate Cat-Thief-Napper, I'll be your host for this Episode of:

STUFFS THAT NEVER REALLY HAPPENED!

In our lastest Episode, as you may not remember, The Arch-Ghoul had just been incinerated by Phoenix-fire, inside the Cube of Force, after having been hit by Nolin's _Ring of Incontinence_.  In this week's extraneous escresence, we'll see how the King of the Clouds gets his head handed back to him by an ancient Archmage!  Stay tuned, we'll be right back, after these important messages from our sponsors!

===

Insert PKitty's favoritest Hostess Twinkies/Fruit Pie commercial, here...

===

And, we're back!

Now, in this Amazing Episode of Stuffs That Never Really Happened, the King of the Cloud Giants (or "Imperator", as he likes to _style_ himself), is just about to launch his attack on the Defenders of Daybreak, as they are being visited by Ioun, the Magic-User...  We'll pick up, there, and remember, folks...  _It's all in Good Fun!_, because It Never Really Happened!  

"Griffins... A-wing!" roared the Imperator, launcing his troops into battle.  He turned to stare at the bombadier.  A second and a half later, that expert nodded, and looked up...

"LAUNCH MOUNTAIN-TOPS!" the King of the Clouds roared.  Giants heaved with their poles, tipping the severed tops of several peaks off the sides of the Cloud Island, sending them hurtling towards the former Steading of the Hill-Giant Chieftains, far below...

The Griffins, of course, and his Roc-riding battle troops, were out from under, staying out of the way, until the missile barrage had done its damage.  The Imperator moved to the Cloud Island's side, peering over, to see the rain of destruction strike...

"The best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray."  But what care Cloud Giants for Men, let alone mice?  That is one reason why mice and men are so many, and Giants so few!

Meanwhile, on the ground, Emperor Ioun, a product of a previous age, last known survivor of the _Wish_-Wars, continued in his ancient ways, doing things that long, unexcusing experience had taught him to.  A dinosaur of an ancient age, still surviving in this one...

Every day, he made _Wish_es.  Every day, he _Wish_ed that he knew of any plans that his enemies made against him, and another that their _Wish_es against him were negated...

And so, as Agar recovered from his visions, and crawled out from under the table, as the self-styling Emperator ordered his troops to the wing, Ioun was aware of his plans.  As the rain of mountain-tops began, Ioun knew, and persed his lips, briefly considering which spell to cast...

_Wish_, even though his older version required no XP, seemed over-kill.  _Teleport_, with or without error, would get him out, but he would still have to waste another, for his Secretary, Annel...  The answer was more obvious...  He smiled, as he cast it.

*"Gravitatum Reversicus"!*, he cried, pausing briefly before beginning the _Teleport Without Error_.  Then, he popped inside, took his Secretary by the hand, and told the Defenders of Daybreak present:

"Sorry to cut and run, but I'm sure you can handle the attack of a few Cloud Giants...  Perhaps my Secretary and I can return at a later date...  One more conducive to our speaking!"  With that, he began the incantation again, whisking himself and his Lady to his castle.

Meanwhile, outside, the levered, severed mountain-tops had fallen, the Rocs and Griffins soared, the Giants prepared their weapons and spells.  The peaks had fallen, picking up speed, hurtling towards the now-Temple-of-Calphas, far below, as the Cloud Island sailed ever closer, like a mighty Warship of the sky, springing a well-laid ambush upon some unsuspecting Merchant-man.  The Defenders sprang into motion, racing outside...

Then, the falling rocks slowed, stopped, and reversed course...  They flew upwards, finally impacting the floating Cloud Island with almost the same velocity with which they _should have_ impacted the Temple!  The Cloud Island, attacked from below by such force, cracked, splitting in two!  The Imperator, peering over the edge, had barely a fraction of a second to perceive his peril, and attempt to move back!

As the Island split in two, he slid over the side, beginning the long fall to Earth...  Quickly, he cast _Feather-fall_, and watched as yet another Steading of the Giants was added to the "Lost" column, for the Giants, "Win", for the Defenders!

He wasn't even given the satisfaction of seeing the two new Mega-missiles that had formerly made up the conjoined halves of _his_ Island strike the Temple...  Since the Island had been moving, when it split, one piece landed miles to the SE of the Temple.  The other, while striking close, hit on the _other_ side of the mountain range, creating a crater that Galthia and Stone Bear commented upon, as they returned to their friends.

Enraged even more, the Emperator touched down, drawing his massive battle blade.  _Enough!_, he thought.  _These puny Humans must go "Squish!" under my feet!_

===

Some guys just never learn, huh?

Anyway, join us next time, for "Teliez and the 'Ladies'", with our special guest-stars, Tom Welling, and Kristen Kreuk, on the next Episode of: Stuffs That Never Really Happened!


----------



## Thornir Alekeg

I guess that really can't be called a thread hijack.  

I think its more like an act of thread terrorism.


----------



## blargney the second

That was fun!

Again! 
-blarg


----------



## Jackylhunter

I hate to be a doomsayer, but has ANYONE heard from the DoD gang?  I think it was before GenCon when any of them last posted.  I hope everything's ok.  If anyone talks to them, have them pop in for a quick comment,  just to let us know they're alive.


----------



## Radiating Gnome

Jackylhunter said:
			
		

> I hate to be a doomsayer, but has ANYONE heard from the DoD gang?  I think it was before GenCon when any of them last posted.  I hope everything's ok.  If anyone talks to them, have them pop in for a quick comment,  just to let us know they're alive.




Relax.  Piratecat posted today in other forums (membership has it's benefits -- the full search tools are groovy.)  He's alive, and I'm sure that the "tired and very busy" assessment is fair and true.  

And, of course, now that it's been a while it's harder and harder to come back to this and get back in the groove.  But I have perfect faith that he'll be back.  

The important thing, really, is that he's playing and enjoying life.  And the same goes for the rest of the DoD.  They're great people, and it's a shame to have lost this distant contact with their game, but I'm sure they're still playing.  

-rg


----------



## Steverooo

I've stepped in no P-Kitty-litter on the boards (and searched for it), but after I made my "Rabble, Rabble!" post, at the top of this page, I sent PCat a "Holy, Havoc, Batman! Stolen Story Hour!" E-mail, as part of my Neutral Master-Plot to lure him out...  Alas, he is too smart for such subterfuges, and remains hidden from me!  

I did get a reply, though, that he was very busy, and would check it out, later...  Maybe if I make "Teliez and the 'Ladies'" really irritating, it will draw him out...  Y'think?  

Hey!  It was worth a shot!  

 

Anyway, the cthonic-tobogganer has posted, more recently, so we know they're... what's the word?  "Alive" doesn't quite fit!  How about "Still active"?


----------



## Thornir Alekeg

I know that Piratecat made the EN World Game Day in Worcester, MA two weeks ago.  I had to cancel, but according to other attendees he was there, ran a game and played in one.  So at the very least he has an active simulacrum running around.


----------



## Blackjack

Thornir Alekeg said:
			
		

> I know that Piratecat made the EN World Game Day in Worcester, MA two weeks ago.




We're all alive.  We're all still playing.  We're just not posting updates to the Forums.


----------



## BSF

Glad to hear that you are all playing.  It's a shame about the lack of updates as I really miss them.  But so long as you guys are having fun gaming, that is what it really is about.


----------



## Lord Pendragon

Blackjack said:
			
		

> We're all alive.  We're all still playing.  We're just not posting updates to the Forums.



Well, none of us are _entitled_ to updates on the Forums, so whatever PC does is whatever PC does.  I've enjoyed the Story Hour immensely over the years, and I'm grateful for that.  As things stand now, I've placed PC's Story Hour with Sepulchrave's Story Hour, on the list of things to check every couple of months...and even then, expect there to be no update.

Occasionally, I'm pleasantly surprised.


----------



## Jackylhunter

This is not a bump, but an attempt to draw out those wasscally wabbitts from DoD.  This is sure to temp at least Kidc to post...Shamelessly pulled from Nodwick.com...

The Cthulhu Circus [Updated] : 

http://accordionguy.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2005/11/28/1425558.html


----------



## Zaruthustran

Summer of 2005 will be known as The Season of Mourning, since it killed off the best and longest-running story hours:

Sep's
Piratecat's
(contact)'s
Sagiro's

Whatever did happen at GenCon 2005? Seemed like that was the event that marked the end.

Or... will this time be known as the Season of Secrets, wherein the most popular authors realized that giving away terrific content for free was a bad idea, and so secretly met and agreed to polish and package their storyhours for later sale to an adoring and eager audience?

I'm hoping for the latter. 

-z


----------



## Raging Epistaxis

Personally I think that the DoD are under NDAs about the Movie/Book/Video Podcast/PDF deals regarding their further adventures.    

Heck, PKitty is probably negotiating with Joss Whedon as I type to figure out which of the Buffy/Angel/Firefly/Serenity casts gets to play who in the DoD.
 

I all seriousness, in the words of someone 'before my time'*  "Thanks for the Memories" - It's been a great ride.  I'd love to know how the various plot wrinkles work out, but you can't always get what you want.

R E

* Johnny Carson?  Guy Lombardo?  Hmm.  Bob Hope?  Yeah, I think it's Bob Hope.  Boy, those neurons are long gone...


----------



## Fajitas

Raging Epistaxis said:
			
		

> Johnny Carson?  Guy Lombardo?  Hmm.  Bob Hope?  Yeah, I think it's Bob Hope.  Boy, those neurons are long gone...




What!? When was Bob Hope on _Firefly_?

Oh, wait...


----------



## Son_of_Thunder

Zaruthustran said:
			
		

> Summer of 2005 will be known as The Season of Mourning, since it killed off the best and longest-running story hours:
> 
> Sep's
> Piratecat's
> (contact)'s
> Sagiro's
> 
> Whatever did happen at GenCon 2005? Seemed like that was the event that marked the end.
> 
> Or... will this time be known as the Season of Secrets, wherein the most popular authors realized that giving away terrific content for free was a bad idea, and so secretly met and agreed to polish and package their storyhours for later sale to an adoring and eager audience?
> 
> I'm hoping for the latter.
> 
> -z





Season of Mouning indeed. But we do have a worthy successor in this story hour:

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=42423

It has filled the void for me. And Spyscribe will be known as one of the forum greats.


----------



## spyscribe

Son_of_Thunder said:
			
		

> Season of Mouning indeed. But we do have a worthy successor in this story hour:
> 
> http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=42423
> 
> It has filled the void for me. And Spyscribe will be known as one of the forum greats.




Wow.  Thanks Son_of_Thunder.  You can probably see me blushing all the way from Utah.

Big shoes to fill.


----------



## Son_of_Thunder

*My Pleasure!*



			
				spyscribe said:
			
		

> Wow.  Thanks Son_of_Thunder.  You can probably see me blushing all the way from Utah.
> 
> Big shoes to fill.





My pleasure ma'am. But it's true. Your writing has brought the Halme alive for me. It's the only story hour I follow regularly now.


----------



## the Jester

Poke poke. 

Just on the off chance.


----------



## darkhall-nestor

How long most we wait?  It seems like it has years.   Oh yeah…. it has been years.

PirateCat is it dead forever?

This was such a great story hour thanks for sharing it with all of us!


----------

