# A lone tower sits at the edge of the city of Aliegis.



## Tuerny (Feb 28, 2002)

An Arcanis campaign.
Chapter 1: Everything and Nothing

Doctus 1, the one thousand and twenty-fourth year of the Imperial Calender. 

A lone tower sits at the edge of the city of Aliegis. Within this tower lived the great wizard Vinus Callus, servant of the previous emperor and man of great honor. With him lift his younger herald, student, and servitor of Kioish stock who went by the name of Vanya. She had been entrusted to Vinus Callus’ care years ago after he discovered something very special about her.

This something was very important to both him and the empire as a whole, and it was why he called upon the others who are important to this chapter of this story. One by one he sent messages to those whose aid he needed, using tiny magical constructs designed just for this purpose. Each one was brought a scroll requiring their presence at his tower within the month.

Gideon val’Virdan (1), fiery haired inhabitant of the great city of Coryan, was brought his scroll by his superior in the priesthood of Nier (2), Canus val’Virdan. He suggested that Gideon should go in order to see what the wizard wanted and how it could aid the cause of Nier in the Empire. He was informed that within Aliegis there was a member of their organization, named Inus Taras, who he should deliver any information he received too. Gideon val’Virdan agreed eagerly, as a true Nierite would, and began to pack for his journey. 

Demetrius (3), drug-dealer and enforcer for the Iron Star lotus cartel in the city of Coryan, was approached by a small construct of shadow that gave him his scroll. While this might cause a normal man to pause and wonder at the oddness of its arrival, Demetrius was not a normal man. He was a dark-kin, descended from fiendish sires, and touched by the reaches of the netherworld. Plus he was not a particularly wise man and it did not occur to him to think that this was odd. He did know better than to just trust a scroll delivered to him and went to ask around for information on Vinus Callus. His informants directed to him visit a scholar by the name of Zanus, a customer of the Iron Star. Zanus was able to inform him of who Vinus Callus was after reassurances that he would be given ten ounces of purple lotus within the next day or two. Demetrius than checked with his boss about getting some time off (his boss basically did not care about it. He was hopped up on purple lots powder at the time though) and booked passage on a ship heading to Aliegis.

Blackscale (4), hunter of the Black Talon Ss’ressen (6) had returned from his latest hunting expedition to find the shaman of his tribe. He handed him a scroll, forgetting that he could not read, much less speak, the Coryani language. Blackscale informed the shaman of this, and the shaman apologized, relating to him the contents and telling him that he had consulted with the spirits that served the Fire Dragon and had been informed that it was in the best interests of the tribe if he went and saw this human wizard. Blackscale, being a dutiful servant of his people, agreed. 

Avalon val’Assante(6), magically talented daughter of a noble of the great city of Coryan, was hidden away in the basement of the family estate, brewing various herbal and chemical concoctions. Her mother brought her the letter and encouraged her to agree to Vinus Callus’ request. She secretly wanted her daughter to leave the confines of the basement and get the neighbors to talk less. Getting her to visit a great and renowned servant of the Empire would serve to solve both of the problems. Avalon was amiable to the idea of traveling and, gathering some of her belongings and her raven familiar began her journey.

The journey to Aliegis was uneventful for Blackscale and Demetrius but, by mere coincidence, Gideon and Avalon ended up on the same boat. They spoke rarely, as Demetrius did not find his first contact with her at all pleasurable and Avalon was primarily preoccupied with keeping the contents of her stomach inside of herself rather than over the side of the boat while deflecting the taunting of her familiar. 

When they arrived in Aliegis, Gideon noticed that Avalon and he were traveling in the same direction. He chose to trail her from a discrete distance and see if he could find out if she was heading to the same place she was. Unfortunately for him, trailing someone in half-plate mail is somewhat difficult and she was able to spot him. She yelled after him inquiring as to whether or not he was following her. She failed to notice that she was yelling across a crowded marketplace, however, and felt quite self-conscious as everyone turned to stare at her. After a few moments of them looking at her she turned and continued on to the wizard’s tower, attempting to conceal her embarrassment. Gideon continued to follow her but she decided not to say anything about this again. 

At the gate to the tower were a huge door and a similarly proportioned knocker. Avalon knocked upon it and moments later a lovely, young Kioish woman with black hair and the pale skin that characterized her race. This was Vanya (7); she cheerfully greeted them and invited to show them to their rooms. Gideon insisted to be showed to see Vinus Callus immediately. Vanya politely insisted that he wait till the others arrived. After some righteously annoyed comments about how he came here to see Vinus Callus not to get a room, he finally agreed to come in. Avalon came in without any difficulty beyond constant arguments with her rude raven familiar. 

The chamber they were welcomed into was warm and inviting, displaying a variety of types of frescos, murals, and paintings, with the most prominent one being that of an old man who Vanya identified as being of Vinus Callus in his younger years. Gideon continued to act annoyed about the present circumstances and generally made things uncomfortable for the others. 

Eventually another knock was heard at the door and a tall, heavily cloaked lizard man was revealed to be waiting behind it. Noone was able to understand the lizard man, as it seemed to lack the capability to speak Low Coryani. Vanya motioned for it to come in, as she had been warned by Vinus Callus to expect it. A few futile moments passed where Avalon and Vanya attempted to speak with the confused Blackscale while Gideon made snide remarks about what he viewed as a monster. After a few minutes of this Vanya remembered Vinus Callus had given her a charm in case that Blackscale could not speak the language that was common to the others.

With this rectified Blackscale asked to see Vinus Callus. Vanya told him the same thing she had told the others, so Blackscale preoccupied himself with hunting Avalon’s bird. She, and the bird, reacted to this with a great deal of annoyance. Vanya noticed the Ss’ressen’s apparent hunger and whispered the arcane words required to summon an unseen servant carrying a platter of food. Everyone reacted warmly to this and seemed to relax a bit, save for Blackscale who was still looking at the bird, when the last of the five arrived.

Demetrius’ arrival was met with some shock as his appearance, while primarily humanoid, also had more “unique” features, including large gray spots and eyes that seemed to gaze into the depths of ones soul. Everyone, even Gideon, found him vaguely intimidating. He, like the others, immediately asked to see Vinus Callus and Vanya, noticing that everyone had finally arrived, promised to check with him immediately.

Vinus Callus, an old man with little hair beyond a ring surrounding his scalp, was in his study enjoying a book and listening to a popular Milandir orchestral piece played by his mystical servants. Vanya entered and informed him of the arrival of the others. Vinus Callus appeared to be pleased at this and told her to bring them up in fifteen minutes. 

Vanya went to gather them, and found that they had spent the time since she had left consuming the food she has summoned. Demetrius especially, seemed to be absorbed in the food, as a good portion of it was stuffed in his mouth and both of his hands were full. He smiled sheepishly at Vanya when she spotted him and she could not help but wonder why the others were such freaks. She informed them that Vinus Callus was ready to see them now.

Upon hearing this, Blackscale sprinted up the stairs, quickly leaving the sight of the others. The others followed a bit more slowly, not being able to match the Ss’ressen’s speed. Blackscale found two doors. One smelled unnatural and the other had a man-scent behind it. He chose to go into the room with the man-scent. When they reached the top they found Blackscale chatting amiably with Vinus Callus. Vinus Callus did not appear particularly sorrowful to be turning away from this conversation, and immediately welcomed the others with a smile. 

He asked them about their trips and listened attentively for a moment before launching into an explanation of why he had summoned them to his tower. He revealed to them that several years ago, just before his retirement, he discovered a book and some relics relating to a civilization dating back from the time before the serpent men. 

Within the book was a tale, transcribed as historical fact, about how five beings of almost deific levels of power tapped into the fabric surrounding the world to unlock the seal that prevented beings from the next reality from entering Arcanis. Through this newly breached hole came the beings that would eventually become the gods of this world. Eventually the beings that opened the seal died as all mortals eventually do, and the spark that allowed them to break the seal passed into other beings of Arcanis. 

The relics turned out to be magical items of some power, including one that allowed the user to sense the state of the aura that surrounded Arcanis. Vinus Callus decided to use this out of purest curiosity. What he found troubled him. 

A great mass of pure Nothing appeared to be slowly moving through Arcanis’ aura towards Arcanis itself. This troubled him for obvious reasons, so calling upon his magic and another of the relics he was able to find where each of the sparks was currently ensconced. Vanya was the first one he found, and with little prompting he was able to convince her parents to allow her to become his student. Her talents turned out to be in the magic of the song and soul rather, than words of arcane power, but still he trained her in what was to come. Finding the others required a more exhaustive search, and finding the ritual needed to close the Seal required even more work. He finally completed his preparations a month ago, when he contacted them. 

All he asked of them is that they stand in a circle for an hour the next morning while he performed his ritual. Demetrius immediately asked how much it paid while Blackscale, who had not quite understood what Vinus Callus had just related to him, listened to Vanya explain it in simpler terms. Vinus Callus offered each of them a thousand gold for their services. Blackscale refused, not seeing much use in gold. Instead Vinus Callus offered him first magical protections and then food, upon which Blackscale decided to settle. 

With that Vinus Callus asked Vanya to show him to his bed before she showed each of their guests to their rooms. She did so, with Demetrius expressing a bemused “This will do” about his room selection and the others being impressed about the appropriateness of their selection. Blackscale was impressed most of all because his room appeared to be a swamp, right down to the miniature pool within it. 

Blackscale was the first to awaken the next morning and immediately went down to the first floor to stalk around for food, or to at least start a fire (8). Unfortunately he did not find anything that was suitable for this endeavor, as the first floor lacked even a fireplace. 

Avalon was the next to awaken and she wandered down to the first floor to wait as well. Blackscale looked upon Avalon’s raven with hunger as it made rude comments to both Avalon and Blackscale alike. Avalon warned Blackscale away from her raven while glaring at it for its smart remarks. 

Eventually Vanya awoke and joined the others downstairs. Noting Blackscale’s hunger she summoned some food. Its smell alone was enough to awaken Demetrius who flew down the stairs dressed only in his towel. Both Blackscale and Vanya saw more than they wanted to, resulting in Vanya having a miniature nervous breakdown. Demetrius ignored it for his part and immediately began to dig into the food.

 Vanya’s cries awoke Gideon who dressed himself and descended the stairs. Upon discovering the situation he asked Demetrius why he was in a towel. Demetrius responded with a single word: food. Gideon sneered at this and told him to go get dressed. Demetrius ignored him. So Gideon began to cast a spell. Fearful at the potential effects of this Demetrius attempted to grappled Gideon but failed miserably, dropping his towel in the process. Vanya did not take this well at all. Avalon and Blackscale, for their part, ignored the spectacle while the raven made several smart remarks about the situation. Demetrius decided it probably was a good idea to get dressed and withdrew to his room. 

Just after Demetrius returned, Vinus Callus arrived on top of one of the tower’s floating platters. He informed them that their presence was requested in the ritual room, and that they should join him. Immediately afterwards he flew back up the stairs. Blackscale immediately began to chase after Vinus Callus till he realized he did not know where he was going. Instead he chose to follow Vanya like the rest of them were.

Vanya led them to the top tower and over to the room that previously smelled unnatural to Blackscale. A moment before she opened the door, Vanya warned them that what was beyond might cause their head to spin momentarily and that they despite what they saw it was safe to walk through the room. Then she opened the door.

Beyond them it looked as if the very cosmos was spread across the room. Stars stretched in every direction, mesmerizing while at the same time striking a bit of primal terror into the hearts of those who looked into the room. Vanya confidently walked across the room, heading for the distant figure of Vinus Callus. Demetrius and Gideon followed soon afterwards, slowly at first, but with increasing confidence. Avalon had to close her eyes in order to avoid having to absorb the sheer magnitude of what was around her. Her raven was able to handle it just fine. Blackscale resolved his dilemma with the room by using a javelin to test the strength of the ground just as he would do for the swamp. Finding that it was solid he followed the others in. 

When they eventually came upon Vinus Callus, he instructed them to each stand on one of a circle of stars. After they did so he placed, one by one, keys in front of the five. Demetrius received bronze, Avalon iron, Vanya silver, Gideon gold, and Blackscale tin. With the keys in place he started the ritual chanting as he circled them, with an occasional stop to toss dust on certain members of the group or wave various objects around them. 

After forty minutes of this Vanya noticed that Vinus Callus appeared to be straining under the effects of the ritual. This worried her as he had said that this ritual would probably not be stressful at all. After a few minutes of attempting to continue he stopped, kneeling near Vanya. Looking around for a moment she stepped off of her star and walked over to him. He gasped, saying that there was something wrong. He appeared to be about to continue when his eyes appeared distant for a moment. With a startled intake of breath he said that the magical defenses surrounding the tower were gone and that spots of a pure absence of anything were making their way up the stairs of the tower. He instructed the five to stand behind him as he pulled a staff seemingly out of nowhere. Demetrius pulled out his composite short bow and prepared himself for whatever was going to come through the door.

A few, tense minutes later the door began to be pounded on. This lasted but a moment before it dissolved and a number of shadowy creatures, surrounded by some sort of blurry aura, began to pour through the door. Vinus Callus called upon great words of power and summoned forth a number of flaming meteors that pounded into the areas from which the shadows were emerging. After the flames cleared it was apparent that the shadows had been unaffected. Trying a different tactic, Vinus Callus summoned forth a storm that hailed down ice and snow upon the shadows. Once again nothing happened. Now fearing for the results of this attack Vinus Callus opened up a doorway in the seemingly infinite expanse of the cosmos, instructing the five to go through it and head for the city of Plexus where they should seek out Inuous Taurus. He would hold off the shadows. 

The five stood gaping for a moment as the shadows converged on Vinus Callus. As they struck him black smudges appeared across his skin. With a great yell as he drove his staff into the ground, a sphere of multihued energy surrounded him. The shadows ignored it like it was not even there. A few of them moved towards the group.

Acting first was Demetrius, who grabbed his key and ran through the doorway. One by one the others followed until only Vanya and Blackscale remained. Blackscale realized he had forgotten his key and rushed over to grab it. As he fled one of the shadows lashed out at him before he could escape from its grasp. Luckily he was able to nimbly avoid the blow and rushed towards the portal. Vanya saw him coming and jumped through the portal. Blackscale followed soon after and emerged with the others into the streets of a Coryani-style city. A heavy downpour was falling onto the city streets and it appeared to be dark in the sky. 

Much to everyone’s horror it appeared that half of one of the shadows had made it through the portal. As they watched it slowly regrew its lots half, while moving forward to menace the five. Gideon surrounded himself with a ward to defend himself against evil while, with a mighty yell, Blackscale struck with a combined great axe and tail attack. Much to everyone’s shock and joy this resulted in the creatures demise, as it appeared to dissolve into the world around it.

Demetrius immediately began to look for a light source while Gideon went over to examine where the shadow creature stood. All Gideon was able to find was a single fragment of shadowy material that seemed to be surrounded by a blurry aura along its edges. He sliced at it with his dagger again and again and watched in amazement as it split each time he struck it. Deciding it was best to leave the blotch alone considering its origin he followed the others as they went, miserable and worried, into the depths of this unknown city……

____________________________________________________


(1)	Gideon val’Virdan is a first level aasimar cleric of Nier, god of Flames, War, and Destruction

(2)	Ever since the priesthood of Nier attempted to launch a coup to overthrow a corrupt emperor they have been effectively banished from the Coryan Empire. The sect that Gideon is a member of is dedicated to seeking to reintegrate Nier into the Mother Church of Coryan and hopefully end the decadence that has seized the Coryani Empire.

(3)	Demetrius is a first level tiefling rogue.

(4)	Blackscale is a Ss’ressan first level barbarian/first level ranger. In exchange for his track, two-weapon fighting, and ambidexterity feats I let him take Tail Attack and Scent. 

(5)	The Black Talon Ss’ressen are a group of lizard folk who were once servants of the evil Ssethregorians but fled after they declared their refusal to utterly exterminate another lizard folk people. They ended up in the nation of Milandir where they declared featly to one of the local Dukes. They have served the nation well to this day.

(6)	Avalon val’Assante is a first level aasimar sorcerer (Monte Cook version)

(7)	Vanya is a second level human bard (Monte Cook version)

(8)	The Black Talon Ss’ressen worship a deity known as the Fire Dragon. He was seeking to venerate this being.


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## Piratecat (Feb 28, 2002)

This is cool! AND it has one of the most evocative names I've seen.

I know what those monsters are, though....


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## Tuerny (Feb 28, 2002)

Thanks! 

The PCs don't though, and hopefully it will stay that way for awhile 

All they have figured out is that they must either be immune to magic or have a very high CR.

Oh, and that fighting it was very anti-climactic.


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## Rybaer (Mar 2, 2002)

Nice introduction and means by which to bring otherwise diverse characters together.

Unlike PC, I'm not sure what those critters were.  Sound vaguely familiar, though... 

Look forward to more!


-Rybaer


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## Tuerny (Mar 3, 2002)

Just finished with game 2.
It was "interesting"
One of my players (Avalon) quit and I got a new one to replace him (my roommate)..
Who would have thought a lizard man barbarian would refuse to get arrested by the legionaries. Oh well. 
I read through Of Sound Mind at the comic shop today and determined it actually fit perfectly into what I was going to have them do next. So I am going to run that and save myself some work.

It shall be interesting to see what Piratecat thinks


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## Tokiwong (Mar 3, 2002)

*Still miss Rokugan*

Looks good man... keep it up...


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## Buttercup (Mar 3, 2002)

I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment!  And I don't know what those shadowy creatures are....


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## Tuerny (Mar 3, 2002)

*Session 2, Part 1*

Dirigo (Summer Tide) 2, Evening

A rain falls over the city as Avalon, Vanya, Gideon, Demetrius, and Blackscale look for cover from the rain. A light they saw moments ago appears to be merely coming from some unadorned building, probably a set of plebian apartments. Fortunately, Demetrius is able to spot a sign in the distance. The miserable group hurries over to it, discovering it points to a location known as the Inn of the Dancing Manticore. Within the place they found the warmth they sought.

The inhabitants of the inn seemed somewhat shocked to see such a bizarre group entering. The serving lass even went so far as to drop her serving tray and scream at the sight of the lizard man. He growled at her and she fled into the back of the inn somewhere. 

Demetrius wandered over to the bar and saw the barkeeper giving some whispered instruction to a boy. When he saw Demetrius coming, he waved the boy off, and turned to smile at Demetrius, asking him for what he would like to drink. Demetrius asked for a mug of ale and asked him what city this was. The barkeeper seemed slightly confused but related that they were in the city of Pimiris. Demetrius thanks him and starts quaffing down his ale. 

The others, save for Gideon, had wandered over to a shadowed corner of the inn, sitting at the table. Gideon instead took a moment to survey the room, noting who was within it. One table had a group of local merchants and traders who appeared to be discussing the day’s business. A second had a group of well-armed Altherian (1) travelers, who appeared to be looking upon the lizard man with some suspicion. At the last table was a lone swordsman dressed in banded mail, with a great sword on his back and elaborate serpent tattoos on his arms. With that completed he wandered over to the table and sat down.

Blackscale made some comments about being hungry so Vanya walked over to the bar and purchased some food for the both of them. Blackscale pulled out his great axe, resulting in the Altherians drawing their weapons, the lone swordsman drawing his sword, and the merchants abruptly getting up and leaving the room. Blackscale ignored them and began to polish and clean his axe before putting his weapon back a few minutes later. The swordsman followed suit but the Altherians decided to leave their weapons out. 

In the mean time Gideon had gotten tired of waiting for a barmaid to come over to the table and went over to talk to the innkeeper. This resulted in them getting into a short argument, as Gideon insisted that he get a discount from his drink because he was forced to come over to the bar rather than get served at his table. The bartender insisted that Blackscale scaring his serving girl was the cause and that the inn owed him nothing, and that if he did not like it he could take his business elsewhere.
Their argument came to an end, however, as the sound of measured, synchronous footsteps indicated the presence of a group of Legionaries. The Legionaries were accompanied by the boy who pointed out the lizard man before fleeing behind the bar with the innkeeper, who had taken this opportunity to hard beneath it. 

Blackscale stood and began twirling his weapon around declaring his refusal to be arrested. One of the Legionaries demanded that the fiendish-looking Demetrius surrender to their arrest as well. He insisted he had done nothing, but agreed to come in for questioning. The Legionaries demanded Blackscale drop his weapon several more times before one of them ordered the others to take him down. 

Three Legionaries drew out javelins as the leader charged at Blackscale. Many of the other legionaries slowly followed, circling around and scoring a light wound on the lizard man with their gladiuses. The man with the serpent tattoos choose to join the battle on the side of the legionaries and moved forward to engage Blackscale. Demetrius moved over and began to curse at and threaten some of the Legionaries in the back. One was intimidate by him while another aimed his javelin upon him and told him to drop his weapon and get on the ground. Blackscale was able to work himself into a rage before he scored a blow on the legionary leader with his axe; unfortunately the legionary’s armor was able to absorb most of the blow and his tail missed. Gideon, Avalon, and Vanya chose not to act.

Avalon decided she had had enough of this and launched a sleep spell at the mass of legionaries in front of Blackscale. Only two of them fell before it. The serpent-tattooed man was able to score a telling blow onto Blackscale, almost causing him to fall The legionaries continued to whittle away at Blackscale, while Blackscale was able to strike back at the serpent-tattooed man, scoring a blow with his tail while his axe was blocked by the big man’s sword. Demetrius decided to ignore the legionary’s command and quickly moved over to the other side of the legionary’s so he would no be in his line of sight. Vanya chose to do what she could to end the battle, and attempted to his a nearby legionary with the flat of her blade. She failed. 

Blackscale was looking very worn so Gideon finally decided to intervene, moving forward to cast a light healing spell upon him. One of the legionaries took this to be a hostile action and drove his gladius into Gideon, wounding him gravely but not knocking him out. Avalon unleashed a spell upon the serpent-tattooed man causing acid to erupt in his eyes, causing him pain and blindness. He stumbled back, trying to escape from the inn, but ended up landing on the Altherian’s table instead. A legionary and Gideon exchanged blows, but Gideon got the worse of it: he was knocked out. Blackscale fell almost immediately afterwards. Demetrius decided to take advantage of the legionary who was fighting Gideon’s wounds to drive his rapier into him, causing him to fall.  Vanya once again tried to strike at her legionary opponent but her long sword bounced off his shield. 

The remaining Legionaries began to move towards those who remained standing while Demetrius and Vanya double-teamed the Legionary that Vanya has steadily been trying to take down, knocking him out. Avalon used her wand of magic missiles to knock out the legionary’s leader. The two legaionaries that remained decided to think better of the battle, having both been intimidated by Demetrius earlier in the battle, and rather not facing him. At this point the serpent-tattooed man regained his vision and decided that discretion was the better part of valor, fleeing out of the building. 

Vanya, called upon her bardic spell-songs to heal Blackscale, bringing him back to consciousness and healing Gideon to stop his bleeding. Demetrius killed one of the sleeping Legionaries and was moving over to the other one when the Altherians pointed his bow at Demetrius and recommended he leave right now. Demetrius decided to heed his advice and, as a group, they ran out into the storm..



(9) Altheria is the lone republic in Arcanis, situated on a plateau at the southeastern edge of the Coryan Empire. The Altherians are the dark-skinned (black), chosen people of Althares, god of scholarship and invention. They are engaged in an endless war with the serpent men that live in the huge morass that lies below the plateau. The major troops of the lizard men are troglodytes with lizard men officers.


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## Tuerny (Mar 5, 2002)

*Dirigo (Summer Tide) 2, Evening (Part 2)*

Session 2, Part 2 (of 2)
This is the rest of the session. Enjoy and, as always, comments are welcomed.

The street was as empty as before as the group ran about, looking for horses or shelter. They were unable to find the horses but they did discover an abandoned building without windows on the first floor. Blackscale immediately used his strength to knock the door down, much to Demetrius’ annoyance. He felt he could have opened it much more efficiently and quickly. 

They entered into the building and immediately began to settle in, with Blackscale setting Gideon’s unconscious body onto the ground so that Vanya could heal him. Demetrius used his unique skills to force the door back shut. 

While they were dealing with this Blackscale ran up to the second floor in order to keep an eye out for anyone who happened to approach the building. At this point everyone also noticed Avalon was missing. None were willing to go outside and look for her, however, so they remained inside sitting in silence. 

A few minutes later both Vanya and Blackscale heard a voice screaming and then suddenly stop. It sounded a lot like Avalon. Vanya told Demetrius of this and he worked to open the door as Blackscale came down. When he saw Blackscale rushing for the door he warned him away until he was finished. Blackscale decided to wait. 

It took but a few moments for Demetrius to bring the door down. Immediately afterwards they ran down the street looking for her. They stumbled onto her body a few minutes later. Her bird was nowhere to be found. Blackscale picked up her body and quickly retreated back into the house. 

Once inside they took a moment to examine her further, save for Blackscale who regained his perch on the second floor. Her body was covered with black smudges, but she otherwise appeared unhurt. Gideon noted perceptively that the shadows probably got her. Vanya looked through her body quickly looking for the key that Avalon had grabbed upon fleeing. She found it, and pocketed it. While she was doing this Demetrius took the wand of magic missile and pocketed it himself without anyone else noticing. With the group finished with the body they dragged her over into the corner and covered her with a blanket, and prepared for sleep.

Somewhere else in the city a serpent tattooed swordsman awoke with a sudden splitting headache. He was unable to throw it off right away and tossed and turned before going to sleep. 

The next morning Vanya awoke to find a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach pulling her to the north. Having some idea of what this was, she awoke the others telling them that she had some business to take care of and that she would return later with some food. She then immediately began to prepare a disguise for herself. Her skill with this was great, and even those who watcher her put together her disguise barely were able to recognize her. Demetrius attempted to disguise himself as well, but he was much, much less successful, so Vanya encouraged him to stay there. He, and the rest of them, chose to listen. Before she left though, Demetrius gave her a special knock to use on the door so they would let her in (three knocks, then two knocks, then one knock.)

The streets were bright and sunny in contrast to the previous day and there were plenty of vendors out. In short order she was able to gather the food she needed and go where her intuition pointed her. Eventually, she came to the Inn of the Furious Emperor, near the Great Market of the city. Sitting at the table was the serpent-tattooed warrior from the previous night.

Luckily, for her, he did not recognize her when she came in and when he noticed her she threw a smile his way and walked over. They engaged in some light conversation where she discovered his name was Tantalus (10). He bragged about his martial skills and how he had kicked ass the previous night in a battle inside another inn in the town. He also took this opportunity to subtly flex his muscles. She took no note of this but eventually thanked him for his time and left the inn, heading back to the place her companions were hiding out.

When she returned to their hideout she found that Gideon was sleeping on the floor while the others kept their watches on the first and second floors. She started discussing that she had found who the next person to be imbued with the spark was with Demetrius. They began to discuss what to do about it, with most of Demetrius’ plans centering on either luring him back to the abandoned building and jumping him or Vanya seducing him. She did not like either of them. 

At this point Gideon woke up and insisted he be told what was going on. She told him about how she was able to sense the other individuals with the spark. He wanted to know how and she explained that Vinus Callus had taught it to her. He insisted that he teach it to her right now, but she refused saying that it had taken years for Vinus Callus to do so. Annoyed, he asked her where the inn was. She related it to him and he walked out the door. 

Vanya decided it would be best if she get to the inn before him and ran past Gideon. Demetrius and Blackscale chose to follow her. The reaction from the populace was as to be expected. Most of them avoided the lizard man out of fear while others actively ran away screaming. Blackscale decided that wearing a cloak was not worth the effort and ripped it off. Gideon pretended not to know the others. They continued on their way to the inn until they heard the march of Legionary boots down the street. Blackscale and Demetrius immediately looked for hiding places, Vanya pretended to be looking at a cart with merchandise and Gideon stepped back against the wall.  They passed without stopping, or noticing the hidden lizard man or dark-kin, heading in the direction of the abandoned house the group had left.

Once the legionaries were out of sight Gideon, Vanya, and Blackscale walked up to the door of the inn while Demetrius decided to hide under a cart near the door.  Upon approaching the door, several patrons began to scream at the sight of Blackscale, and all scattered to either side of the door. Gideon decided that he would rather not be involved in this situation and walked away. On his way he stopped by the hidden Demetrius and whispered that he did not recommend he go in there. 

On the other side of the inn stood the serpent-tattooed warrior, Tantalus. Vanya quickly rushed over to him, pleading with him to go with them. He looked unconvinced at first, but after some very effective convincing on her part he agreed to go and talk about it in his room. (11) Once there she explained why they needed him to aid them in their quest. He seemed unconvinced until she offered him 100 gold pieces up front and another 100 once they completed their mission. That convinced him. 
Meanwhile, Demetrius decided that hiding in a nearby alley was a good idea, Gideon similarly retreated a few blocks away, and Blackscale started waving his battle axe around telling everyone to be quiet. This elicited even more screams. 
The sounds of marching, booted feet emerged from the street. Figuring that this was arriving legionaries, Blackscale pushed a table over to block the door. Scanning the room and thinking much more exceptionally quickly than normal, he ran over and grabbed the innkeeper. Lifting him into the air, Blackscale demanded that he be told where the back entrance was. The innkeeper claimed a lack of knowledge, so Blackscale threw him to the floor.

At this point, Vanya and Tantalus came down the stairs into the inn common room. Blackscale warned them of the impending arrival of the legionaries. Tantalus wanted to leave by the door, as they did not want him. Vanya pointed out they probably would now. Tantalus could not argue with the logic in this. The three of them then chose to retreat back into the bedroom in order to discuss things further. Once there, Vanya asked about going through the back door, and Blackscale shared that the innkeeper had said there wasn’t one. Tantalus looked out the window and saw that below them was an alley. They decided that this was the only way to escape, opened the door and tried to get out. Blackscale grabbed Vanya and jumped out the window, suffering some injury from an improper landing. Tantalus just climbed out and escaped okay. 

In the alley they saw Demetrius. As a group they decided escaping the Legionaries was more important than finding Gideon at the moment so they fled into the depths of the city. From Tantalus they found out how to get to the most run-down section of the city, and headed straight for it.

The first place suitable for hiding in this district was the Inn of the Black Hand. After paying for the room, and the innkeeper’s silence, they retreated into its safety, with Demetrius almost immediately informing them that he would be right back. He went downstairs and questioned the innkeeper about any Iron Star cartel activity in the area. He was able to discover the location of an Iron Star drug house in the city (conveniently located a few blocks away) and decided to check it out.

After presenting knocking on the door with the secret Iron Star knock, the door opened into a black and dank room that seemed to be filled with the smell of lotus and a variety of people in various states of lotus-induced euphoria. The man who answered the door was emaciated and ugly, with cracked teeth and the purple tinge in his eyes that was a sign of long-term purple lotus use. Demetrius came inside and they shared some quick pleasantries before Demetrius began to question him about getting out of the city. The man said they could do it but it would be expensive. Demetrius asked for Iron Cartel news, and the man shared that the big bosses were going to come through the next day with new instructions. Demetrius inquired as to what those instructions were, but all the man knew was that at least part of it involved some people that the Cartel was looking for. Demetrius thanked the man and returned to the inn.

While he was dealing with that, Vanya removed her disguise and decided she wanted to change her clothes. Having the others wait outside was a bad idea in her eyes, so she insisted they turn around. Blackscale did not seem too fully understand why but he did so anyway. Tantalus, for his part, took a peak.

When Demetrius arrived back and shared the information he had discovered, Vanya announced that she was going to go get some food and find Gideon. After some discussion it was decided that Tantalus would go with her as he was the least noticeable of the other three, and she would probably need protection in the rougher portions of the city. His presence proved to be fortuitous as many people watched them as they passed, but none of them interfered. 

Vanya went to find Gideon first, and was lucky enough to discover he had ended up staying at the inn where she had first found Tantalus. She had Tantalus stay outside, as it would not be wise for him to go in where he could be recognized. Inside, the innkeeper was more than happy to relate the location of Gideon’s room. She knocked upon his door and after a moment’s hesitation he inquired who it was, she told him, and he let her in. 

Vanya shared with him what was going on and said they had a way out of the city. Gideon said he had his own way out of the city (by walking through the front gate. She suggested that they meet a mile to the southwest of the city dawn. He agreed. She bid him farewell and went down to leave with Tantalus. With that completed she purchased some food from the low market, at returned to the inn.

Gideon left for the gate almost immediately after Vanya visited him. The guards merely watched him as he left. A few minutes after he had walked through the gate he overheard one of them ask the other if they were supposed to be looking for a Val priest of Nier. The other guard replied they were, but they decided not to pursue it as he had already left the city. 

Back at the inn, Demetrius decided to go find out how much it would cost to get out of the city that night, and the man, who shared his name as Dimitri, said that he could get them out of the city that night in exchange for 15 gold pieces per person. He agreed and the man said to meet him back at the drug house at midnight. Demetrius returned to the inn and shared this new information with the others and, after some haggling it was determined that everyone would pay for themselves but Blackscale, who would be covered by Vanya, as he had no money. 

Demetrius, Blackscale, Tantalus, and Vanya arrived at the house on time and found Dimitri and a few other menacing looking fellows in a nearby alley. After they were paid, Dimitri insisted that the group be blindfolded, and the group agreed. They were led through the darkness of the city till they heard the sounds of running water. Each one was pushed into what felt like a wooden contained. A moment later they were each pushed into the water and began bobbing down the river.

After what seemed to be a long time the group found that the containers they were in had stopped their endless floating. One by one they were able to escape (though Vanya needed the other’s help), and found that they were on the side of the river opposite of the road. They were unaware of how far they had come down the river, so they chose to follow Vanya’s suggestion of heading back in the direction of the city in order to make sure they had not gone too far and to find some way to cross the river.
After traveling for about 10-15 minutes they encountered the dock of a ferry. Demetrius suggested that the others stay put while he checked it out, and attempted to sneak over to it. Unfortunately, the dog on the other side of the river awoke and started barking at Demetrius. The group decided to make a strategic retreat. They continued down the river some more before spotting the unmistakeable figure of Gideon on the other side of the river.  It took a lot of yelling and screaming but they were eventually able to get his attention. They informed him of the ferry and went back over to meet him. 

When Gideon arrived at the ferry he found an awake and cranky old man who asked Gideon if he had awoken his dog. Gideon denied know anything about it, so the old man asked him if he wanted to be ferried across the river. Gideon confirmed this, so he took him across. On the other side the group had a reunion and decided that it was safer to travel off the road than on. 
After another hour of traveling everyone had become very tired and they decided that it was time for them set camp. Vanya and Gideon fell asleep almost immediately with Tantalus taking watch and Blackscale hunting. Blackscale was only able to return with a rabbit, which he proceeded to devour the majority of. Tantalus discussed lighting a fire to cook the remainder until Gideon awoke because of their discussion, walked over to the rabbit, called upon the fire aspect of his god to summon a short semicircle of fire to cook the rabbit, and went back to bed. Tantalus ate it quietly and sat out the rest of his watch uneventfully.

Demetrius had the next watch and was somewhat surprised when a black haired, black eyes, and black-clothed dwarf with a metal suitcase hailed him and asked if it was ok to come to the fire. Demetrius agreed and quickly kicked Blackscale. Blackscale chose to ignore him. The stranger came over and sat down, asking in a monotone how Demetrius was doing. Demetrius replied that he was fine and asked what the dwarf was doing out at this time. The dwarf introduced himself as Yennek, and said he was looking for a dark-kin, a pretty human woman, a large Ss’ressen, a serpent-tattooed warrior, and a Val cleric of Nier. Demetrius merely smiled and nodded and kicked Blackscale again. Blackscale remained asleep. The dwarf continued with a statement that since this was apparently the one he was looking for he had a message for Demetrius. He was a servant of Lucius val’Borda, an important noble of Pimiris, and that if they ever returned with the lizard man they would all be killed. Demetrius asked how he knew that Yennek was not lying, and Yennek said he had proof in the form of six legionaries that were a mere seventy feet away. He offered to have them come over, but Demetrius declined. Yennek thanked him for his fire and then disappeared into the night.

The next morning Demetrius shared what happened in his watch. Gideon was incredulous about what had happened and asked him why he did not wake anyone up. Demetrius claimed he kicked Blackscale twice, but this did not really assuage Gideon’s worries. In annoyance, Gideon declared that he Demetrius was never allowed to keep watch again. With that particular conversation over with, the group began their long trip to the city of Plexus. 


(10) Tantalus is a level 2 human fighter played by Josh. 

(11) Josh and Mary decided to resolve their interaction in this segment based on a diplomacy check. She rolled a natural 20 than a 19. (I use critical success rules). So he was a wee bit convinced, yes


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## Rybaer (Mar 5, 2002)

Nothing quite like keeping a group of PC's on the run.  Particularly from the authorities...and when the characters are still low enough level to fear an encounter.

It's also fun to have an impulsive or non-diplomatic character along to keep the action moving ahead.  (*cough* lizardman *cough*)  My campaign had one of these...a half-orc fighter who liked to poke his sword at things to see what they were and how they'd react.  Of course, he was the first character to die, but at least he saw the action up close in the process.


-Rybaer


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## Morpheus (Mar 5, 2002)

It isn't that Blackscale is not diplomatic. It just seems that everytime we encounter someone, they start running away and/or screaming. It's hard to be diplomatic with people running around and screaming. Therefore, Mr. Greataxe does most of the talking.  Btw, I play Blackscale.


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## Tuerny (Mar 5, 2002)

Actually, That reminds me of something I forgot to include in the story hour. Yennek also told them that they would not be persued.

Morpheus, I warned you about what people thought of the Ss'ressan before you selected this charachter .

Rybaer, having them on the run is sort of nice , but not when you planned something entirely different and they decided to go the more violent route.  I am not too annoyed though, the session was amusing none the less.


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## Piratecat (Mar 5, 2002)

Sounds like it was fun!  I must admit, I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with _Of Sound Mind._ Whoo hoo!  Be aware that it's less lethal for second level PCs than brand new characters. Initial reports indicate that it's a challenging adventure.    I'm glad you like it!


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## Tuerny (Mar 5, 2002)

Piratecat, I am sure that my PCs will be overjoyed to find it is less lethal for second level charachters as I doubt they really want to die. 
Yes, it was quite interesting when I read the introduction of it in the store. I had been planning on the PCs going to do something with similar elements to this for the first "real" adventure of the campaign, and Of Sound Mind turned out to fit what I needed very nicely, so I decided to run it rather than spend the effort to write my own. 

Thanks for doing the work for me Piratecat!


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## Buttercup (Mar 9, 2002)

Bumping this since I'm referring to it in another thread.


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## Tuerny (Mar 10, 2002)

Wow I just finished a 14 hour game session. We almost got all the way though Of Sound Mind.
Seeing as how I got four hours of sleep Friday night and none last night, I am feeling rather spacey.
More of an update later 


Buttercup, what thread was the one you referred to this one in?


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## Morpheus (Mar 10, 2002)

In this week's episode, discover how Dark-kin are afraid of lizardmen who swim in circles around them and..."That which is not dead, can eternal lie..."


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## Rybaer (Mar 19, 2002)

Is there to be an update from your marathon session anytime soon?  I'm curious to see how "Of Sound Mind" plays out.

Even though I'm running a mid-level campaign right now, I've heard good things about this adventure.

Looking forward to more...


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## Tuerny (Mar 19, 2002)

I am not sure, actually.
My traditional session ends up being 5-7 pages long.
This session was three times as long as my normal session and we had alot less tangents than normal. So this game is looking to be 15-21 pages long.
I am having a very hard time motivating myself to actually do the story hour write-up.


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## Rybaer (Mar 20, 2002)

Tuerny said:
			
		

> *
> I am having a very hard time motivating myself to actually do the story hour write-up.
> 
> *





Been there.    Still there. 

I've found myself breaking sessions up a lot more into smaller packets, little more than a scene or two at a time.  You get a better sense of progress that way.

Good luck.


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