Tim's Outlanders: Flight of the Yardbird, Session 13 – September 17-22, 18 IC

[Retread of the flight back to Freegate to handle things that happened on the flight plus the very busy next day.]

[This session took place February 15, 2003.  We were playing Champions 5th Edition with the Second Edition Fantasy Hero supplement.]

Player Characters

Oliver – male human monk from “someplace to the south” [secret agent of the Far Kingdom]

Dangar Stonekleaver – male dwarf from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom

Kyle Logan – male human thief and stowaway on the Yardbird

Wendell Dorshield III – male gnome, Captain and Architect of the Yardbird

Malwyn – male High elf fighter and military expert

Darkfox – female human thief from Freegate, secret ID of socialite Karlyn Gryphshaw

Session Begins

September 17, 18 IC

During the flight on the Yardbird from Fordsway to Freegate, the Outlanders examined the items “liberated” from the vault under the ruins of the 6th Imperial Legion’s citadel.

Early in this process, Darkfox pocketed three of the items before they were properly cataloged: a porcelain drum, a steel ring with a magical formula inscribed on it, and an electrum figurine of a shadow cat.

The Outlanders discussed the best way to profit from the haul.  After going through the options, it was decided that leasing several of the items to the University instead of outright selling them would provide better long-term income.  Along with items from the Temple of Camazotz, the following items were combined to create “The Yardbird Collection”.

1. A painting of the lighthouse at Andron Port showing the Flight of the Dragons, when the dragons left Kullab after the signing of the Treaty of Buried Memories.
2. A painting showing an earth creature engulfing a human and elf sacrifice.  The frame is made of dryad oak wood.
3. A painting that showed the stages of a magical experiment in creating a homunculus.
4. The bronze plate mail worn by the ogre bodyguard of Queen Talita De la Placa, 20th ruler of Crendia.
5. A cloak made of Cloth of Gold depicting the tower of Messilist the Destroyer, who “pulled the stars from the sky”.

A few items were kept aside by the Outlanders, including:

• A set of bronze pages with a report written in Ancient Thracian.  It records a raid into some mountains against a military base and the sealing of the catacombs.  It provides the words to break the seal and concluded discussing the need to send in specialists to reclaim what is in the catacombs.
• Malwyn kept an enamel horn that once belonged to the Erodan Knights.  The Outlanders suspect it may be able to summon Celestial Pegasi.
• A cedar headboard with magical runes inscribed on it.  The Outlanders are uncertain of its use or value and wish to investigate it further.

The ingots were assayed and their value was determined as follows:

Ingot Metal	Value per Ingot
Gold	200gp
Silver	20gp
Mithril	1000gp

[Between sessions I converted some of the gold ingots into an equivalent value in silver ingots to increase the number of ingots in the treasure without changing the value of the treasure.  Sadly, my notes do not tell me what the final tally was of ingots.]

Evening

The Yardbird arrived at Freegate.  That evening, the items from the Temple of Camazotz that were not obviously of historical value (or easily identified), were “sold through various outlets” (fences).  The money raised was distributed among the Outlanders.  A full share came out to be 282 gp, 6 sp, and 3 cp.  Tim, Oliver, and Kyle only received half-shares as they were not present for the entire trip.  One half-share was given to the crew of the Yardbird as a bonus.  Dangar, Darkfox, Malwyn, and Wendell all received full shares.

During the division of the treasure, Dangar took one of the Mithril bars as the major component of his share, Wendell took another as his, and the Gnome Consortium purchased the third from the Outlanders with cash.

Most of the Outlanders invest the monetary gains in a variety of investments to provide long-term income [i.e., justify purchasing a level or two of Well Off with awarded experience points].  These investments were being handled through the gnomes due to the short time the Outlanders were in Freegate this stop.

The final breakdown of purchased levels of Well Off was as follows:

• Dangar 1 point (Yardbird Collection)
• Darkfox 2 points (Yardbird Collection, other investments)
• Kyle 2 points (Yardbird Collection, other investments)
• Malwyn 2 points (Yardbird Collection, other investments)
• Oliver 1 point (Yardbird Collection)
• Tim 1 point (Yardbird Collection, other investments)
• Wendell 1 point (Yardbird Collection)

September 18, 18 IC

The following is a summation of the activities that took place in Freegate on this date.

General

The refugees from Fordsway were unloaded without incident except for the women slaves freed from the goblinoids.  They were eventually talked down out of the Yardbird, but refused to leave The Yard.  The gnomes were looking after them and contacted the Priestesses of Besha for help.

Dangar

Dangar placed his ingot of Mithril in the safety deposit box he and Tim share in Brass Town.  He planned on using it as the basis for a Dwarven War Axe he wished to build.  He also discovered that he had been assigned a bodyguard by the dwarven elders.  The bodyguard’s name was Mord Stonecrusher Worldfist – a dwarven monk who favored a war hammer as his personal weapon [and the replacement for Kyle as a PC].  Finally, Dangar picked up the suit of mithril chain mail he commissioned earlier in the year.

Darkfox

Darkfox arranged for a secure deposit box in the Golden Triangle using her real name.  She placed the items she pocketed from the vault there and planned to investigate them later when she had time.

Kyle

Kyle chose to leave the Yardbird.  While lucrative, he knew that he was still considered a stowaway and no longer wanted the hassle.  Suddenly being independently wealthy, he decided that this was a good time to do so.

Malwyn

Malwyn spent his free time in Freegate learning the latest in military happenings across the continent.  He learned about the current positions of the Hordes, the fact that many of the Dukes on the Plains of Syrak had started raising militias against Imperial Decree, and that actual dragons were working with the Lizardman Horde.

Oliver

Oliver spent time investigating the city’s armorers, looking for someone to create a set of cloth armor that provided chain mail level protection.  He was unsuccessful, but had some leads to follow after the Outlanders returned to Freegate again.

Tim

Tim purchased brewing/distilling facilities out on the Western Rim and has set up to produce beer and whiskey.  Initial batches [done previously] were well received.  Tim was particularly pleased with being wealthy independently of the University and occasionally fell into gloating.  [Not unusual amongst wizards.]

Wendell

Wendell provided his most recent notes on the Yardbird’s performance and reviewed the updates on the two Mjollnir-class airships being constructed in The Yard – the Foe Hammer and the Cloud Darkener.  The Mithril ingots from Fordsway will supplement the Mithril already secured for their construction.

Most of the remaining experienced, security and engineering teams from the Yardbird were transferred off to crew up and train the Mjollnir crews.  Replacement teams were assigned to the Yardbird to bring it back to full strength.  These green teams will be drilled by the remaining experienced teams to bring them teams up to speed quickly.

Known Gnome crew remaining on the Yardbird are:

• Herschel “the Hunter” – Ballistics Engineer, also known as “Bearkiller”
• Rebecca – Ship’s Security, promoted to head of Security Team 2, “Rebecca’s Roughnecks”
• Gideon – Kite Commando, now commander of Flight Gideon
• Ethan – Lead Trader/Merchant
• Shlomo – Accountant
• Merriwether – Top Pilot of the Yardbird

September 19, 18 IC

In the morning the Outlanders and the gnomes loaded back onto the Yardbird to continue their quest, heading north.

September 21, 18 IC

The Yardbird located the Horse Lords in their winter pastures.  They made contact with Lugalbanda, a tribal chief the Outlanders negotiated with before.  During the negotiations, the Outlanders learned that the Horse Lords refer to Mosaliar Rock as “Mage Killer” due to its ability, when ingested, to make spells cast on the consumer fail.  It also made it impossible for the consumer to cast magic.  [Mosaliar Rock was one of the things the Yardbird was looking for to complete their quest.]

The Outlanders ended up trading one bottle of Orpheon Silver for two dwarf-fists of the rock [dwarfs got big fists].  Wendell negotiated further for another two fists of the rock to be delivered to the Gnome Yard for 100 steel arrowheads – half now, half on delivery.

Once negotiations were over, the gnomes broke out the pavilions and had a huge feast, inviting Lugalbanda and his bodyguards to participate.  All went well and everyone was satisfied with the arrangements.

September 22, 18 IC

Late in the day the Yardbird continued its flight north.

Session Ends.

NPCs Met

No new named NPCs were met during this time.

Banking Details

Tim and Dangar

Tim and Dangar share a safety deposit box in Prasutagus Private Bank in Brass Town.

• Tim had 119gp and Trade Bars worth 21.48gp in the safety deposit box.
• Dangar had a mithril ingot and 200gp in the same box.

The fee for the safety deposit box was 1gp a month, paid annually.

Darkfox

Darkfox had a safety deposit box in Bank Sigtrygg in the Golden Triangle under her real name, Karlyn Gryphshaw.  In it were the following:

• A porcelain drum with the picture of a Nereid in the decorations.  [It is 500 years old, worth approximately 130gp, and was created by the Master Craftsman Tamar Raventooth.  It is one of his rare pieces of work with a water motif and is valued for both its exquisite decorations and ability to be played without breaking.]
• A steel ring with a magical formula inscribed on it.  [Originally taken from the temple of a death cult worshipping Abol, the spell formula provides the learner the spell River of Fire.]
• An electrum figurine of a Shadow Cat.  [This was done by the famous human metal worker, Amani Sandor of Locris.  It is 2400 years old and worth approximately 1000gp.  Note, shadow cats are found only in The Moors, home of the Lizardfolk Horde.]

The fee for the safety deposit box is 10gp a month, paid annually.  Needless to say, service here was of the highest order and privacy was assured.

The Others

Financial investing in the names of Darkfox, Kyle, Malwyn, and Tim were handled through Appenzeller Kantonalbank, the gnomish public financial institution.  Security, identification, and privacy here are maintained magically and are the best in the city.

Happening Off-Stage

[Nothing in my notes.]

DM Discussion

[A little housecleaning, spending experience points, and swapping out a PC (Kyle for Mord).]

Tim's Outlanders Landing Page

Flight of the Yardbird

Previous session: Session 12

Next Session: Session 14 [not edited yet]

Tim's Outlanders: Flight of the Yardbird, Session 12 – September 8-17, 18 IC

[The Outlanders loot the Legion Citadel before leaving Fordsway for Freegate.]

[This session took place January 18, 2003.  We were playing Champions 5th Edition with the Second Edition Fantasy Hero supplement.]

Player Characters

Oliver – male human monk from “someplace to the south” [secret agent of the Far Kingdom]

Dangar Stonekleaver – male dwarf from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom

Kyle Logan – male human thief and stowaway on the Yardbird

Wendell Dorshield III – male gnome, Captain and Architect of the Yardbird

Malwyn – male High elf fighter and military expert

Darkfox – female human thief from Freegate, secret ID of socialite Karlyn Gryphshaw

Session Begins

September 8, 18 IC

Several Hours Before Dawn

Having made their way by rowboats through the canals of Fordsway to the shattered Legion Citadel, the Outlanders explored the ruins, looking for a rumored treasure vault.

They searched the ground floor first and found several rooms full of empty slave pens where the goblinoids had kept slaves.  The pens were filthy and empty except for a final room, where they found a single human male on the verge of death.  The Outlanders gave him one of their healing potions and some food to revive him.

The man turned out to be a scribe once in the employ of the Legion.  He told the Outlanders that all the other slaves had been worked until they could work no more or resisted and then were killed and eaten by the goblins and orcs.  The man was the last alive and was to be cooked earlier this night, but the bombing of the Citadel scared off the goblins and orcs, who abandoned him in his cage.  After some further discussion, the Outlanders took him back to the waiting boats to be returned to the Gnome Compound.  They then returned to their exploration.

They found the rest of the ground floor in shambles and deserted until they entered an area made up of small offices.  There they found several human and elven women that had been kept as “entertainment”.  They were battered and abused and two were noticeably pregnant.  They were fed, given some healing magic, and taken back to the boats for transfer to the Gnome Compound.

After the Outlanders finished their search of the ground floor, they started searching the levels below ground.  They spent many hours searching and mapping, during which they found the Legion storehouses of gear, armor, and (after some difficulty) weapons.  Wendell started using the unseen servants his Wand of Engineering commands to start moving everything to the surface for shipment to the Gnome Compound.

While Wendell was organizing the emptying of the storehouses, the rest of the Outlanders started checking their measurements of this level to determine if they had missed anything.  In so doing, they discovered some dead space that might house a stairwell, but there was no entrance to it on the level they were on.  When they got Wendell’s attention again, they had him use the Rod of Engineering to do soundings for floor thickness.  

Wendell was able to trace out the outline of a level 30 ft (9 m) deeper than this one.  Wendell had the Outlanders (Dangar actually) tear up the paving stones that made up the floor and used the Wand of Engineering to start digging a sloped passage through the earth to the lower level.  [The Rod only worked on unworked stone and earth, hence the removal of the paving stones.]

When they broke through the roof of the lower level, they found it 3 ft (1 m) deep in water.  This caused Wendell some problems (he was less than three feet in height) until he rigged a small raft out of the floating furniture.  Dangar just “stood tall” and kept his head out of the water [dwarfs average 4 ft ( 1.2 m) in height].  On this flooded level, the Outlanders discovered what appeared to be a room devoted to magical, long range communication and the entrance to the Legion’s vault.

The locks and traps on the vault door were fiendishly difficult and the door and walls were nigh indestructible.  This left Kyle and Darkfox with the opinion that the only timely way to open this vault is with the key and the correct combination – neither of which were available.  Oliver took this moment to let the Outlanders know that he had a spell that would let him learn the combination and find the key.

Oliver cast his retro-cognition spell and observed the last time the vault was opened and closed.  He easily observed the combination and then followed the holder of the key to find the key.  This involved a trip up into the upper layers of the Citadel, which led into some problems.  Due to the bombardment by the Yardbird, the stairs on the 5th floor were out and the upper tower was completely destroyed.  The Outlanders found a way around the missing stairs and a recasting of Oliver’s spell eventually led to the final resting place for the key – in some of the rubble now down on the 3rd floor.

With the key and the combination, the Outlanders opened the vault and looked inside.  [Cue Handel's 'Hallelujah Chorus' here.]  After a few minutes for an extended “hallelujah moment”, the Outlanders started emptying the vault of the riches they found inside it.  The items they found were:

• 20 ingots of gold
• 3 ingots of mithril
• Set of intricately carved stone beads with gold links and clasp.
• Painting of the lighthouse at Andron Port.  The perspective is from the foot of the lighthouse, looking up.  There were flights of what appeared to be dragons flying overhead.
• A set of ogre-sized, bronze plate mail ornately carved with a bee motif all over it.
• A cedar headboard covered in magical runes.
• A porcelain drum with the picture of a Nereid in the decorations.
• A painting showing some sort of earth creature engulfing what appeared to be a sacrificial offering of an elf and a human.  The painting had been mended at some point.
• A steel ring with a magical formula inscribed on it.
• A painting that seems to show the stages of some sort of magical experiment.
• A black, crystalline figurine of a unicorn.
• Bronze sheets with what appeared to be a letter inscribed on them in an unknown language.
• A coral figurine of an unsavory looking temple.
• An electrum figurine of a Shadow Cat.
• A cloak made of Cloth of Gold with a depiction of a mage tower on the back with words in what appeared to be High Mage Tongue.
• A musical horn made from enamel.

Late Morning

After looting the vault, the Outlanders loaded all the treasure into crates and then rowed them back to the Gnome Compound.  There the crates were loaded onto the Yardbird along with the refugees from the Gnome Compound and the City Citadel [plus the freed slaves from the Legion Citadel].

Prior to leaving the area, the Yardbird dropped off the weapons and armor from the Legion Citadel storehouses for the ex-slaves fighting the Horde to use.  The Yardbird then flew north towards Freegate.

During the flight north, the Yardbird was able to observe the Horde forces reforming and the total area controlled by the Horde.  Horde lands now included the County of Silverloc [different from the Kingdom of Silverloc] as well as all the lands belonging to Fordsway.  The Horde also seems to be well organized and supplied outside of the areas the Yardbird had bombed.  Being out of TDD bombs, the Yardbird was unable to do anything about it.

September 11, 18 IC

Half way to Freegate the weather turned bad as an early winter storm moved south.  The Yardbird flew high to avoid the worst of it, but lost time flying into a headwind.  [The players didn't know it, but this storm was foreshadowing for something gradually happening in the background.]

September 17, 18 IC

The Yardbird finally arrived at Freegate, just as the sun was setting.

[NOTE: it was late and we needed to wrap up the session so I pushed getting the Yardbird back to Freegate.  Session 13 will back up in time to cover some things the Outlanders did while flying to Freegate.]

Session Ends.

NPCs Met

Ahsalvanna, Dholonavel, Haquisis, Tyri, Veriat – elven female slaves rescued from the goblinoids.  Dholonavel is pregnant.

Besyrwan, Ilya Zivonov, Yasha – human female slaves rescued from the goblinoids.  Yasha is pregnant.

Happening Off-Stage

[Nothing in my notes, but the Khanate of the Horde now had a slave revolt to fight.]

DM Discussion

[At this point, we had definitely switched over from 4th Edition Hero System to 5th Edition Hero System.  I lost a lot of files in the Great Hard Drive Crash of 2014, so I am missing most of my early documentation and all the character sheets, but the document I used to introduce an expanded herbs list (found online and being used in someone else’s campaign) references 5th Edition Hero System and that document came into play during this adventure.  Therefore, at some point I purchased the then-new rulebook and decided to switch the campaign over.]

[Despite the official switch over of rules, we pretty much just kept running the game using our memory of the 4th Edition rules as we found few noticeable changes in the sections we spot-checked.  Notice the use of “noticeable” in that sentence.  There were, hidden deep in the tome of rules (and in some cases no so deep), actual changes that our group missed until MUCH later.  Some of them I did not learn of until I started running with players new to the Hero System entirely and they started reading the rules themselves and asking questions.]

Tim's Outlanders Landing Page

Flight of the Yardbird

Previous session: Session 11

Next Session: Session 13

UPDATE: Corrected year in date played.  This was the first game of 2003 for the group.

 

Tim's Outlanders: Flight of the Yardbird, Session 11 – September 1-7, 18 IC

[The Yardbird arrives at Fordsway and makes contact with the last defenders.]

[This session took place December 28, 2002.  We were playing Champions 4th Edition with the Second Edition Fantasy Hero supplement.]

Player Characters

Oliver – male human monk from “someplace to the south” [secret agent of the Far Kingdom]

Dangar Stonekleaver – male dwarf from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom

Kyle Logan – male human thief and stowaway on the Yardbird

Wendell Dorshield III – male gnome, Captain and Architect of the Yardbird

Malwyn – male High elf fighter and military expert

Darkfox – female human thief from Freegate, secret ID of socialite Karlyn Gryphshaw

Session Begins

September 1, 18 IC

The Yardbird left Castle Silverloc early on the morning of September 1st, heavily laden with relief supplies for the gnomes in Fordsway.  The airship flew east and gained altitude to avoid the siege weapons and any other awkward situations along the Silverloc/Crendia border.  When they flew over the actual border, they could see that the number of troops was significantly less than a full legion.

September 7, 18 IC

Several days later, after flying over the eastern Farwood Forest, the Yardbird flew over Fordsway.

The city was in shambles with immense encampments of goblinoids sprawled all around the area, including six mobile buildings in the distinctive shape of a “bat hive” – the mobile homes of the Horde’s giant bats.  It was also possible to see large slave pens, filled with the captured citizens of Fordsway.  Inside the burned-out ruins of the city there were only two buildings that flew the flag of Fordsway: the City Citadel and the Gnome Compound.

Conferring with the leaders of his security teams, Wendell put together a simple two-pronged plan.  Runaround Mark 5s, stuffed with relief supplies and security troops, would drop into the Gnome Compound’s courtyard.  At the same time, the Yardbird would drop bombs filled with TDD onto the bat hives, knocking out as much of the Horde’s air power as possible.  The Yardbird would then continue dropping bombs on the Horde, encouraging an uprising amongst the slaves.

To ensure the Gnome Compound did not mistakenly attack the Runarounds, a messenger would need to be sent to inform the Compound to expect friends.  Gideon of the Kite Commandoes volunteered and was dropped from great height in his battle kite, taking with him a green smoke bomb to indicate all was well.

The crew of the Yardbird and the Outlander watched Gideon glide all the way down and land.  After several tense minutes a plume of green smoke rose from the compound.  Wendell, sitting in one of the Runarounds, immediately ordered the Runarounds be released.

The Mark 5s resembled the roof of a house, inverted so the “v” pointed down.  It had an aether cell that was not large enough to lift it, only slow its fall somewhat.  There were four experimental rockets that used thickly gelled TDD as fuel, one at each corner of the Runaround.  When the Mark 5s approached the ground the rockets would be triggered, slowing the Mark 5s descent enough to land safely.  The Yardbird dropped three of these, one after the other, and then moved to attack the Bat Hives.  Wendell and some of the Outlanders rode down with the Mark 5s while Malwyn assumed the role of bombardier on the Yardbird.  Dangar and Darkfox prepared the defenses of the Yardbird’s topdeck in case any of the batriders reached the Yardbird.

The three Runarounds landed more or less safely in the courtyard of the Gnome Compound (guidance was limited), descending on pillars of fire, and were greeted by the cheering gnomes and refugees.  Wendell met Ruth, the leader of the Fordsway Gnomes, and explained his mission and the fact that the Yardbird was stuffed full of relief supplies, all for Fordsway.  The Security troops that came down on the Mark 5s moved to the compound walls to relieve the defenders and give them a chance to rest while the supplies on the Runarounds were off-loaded.  Once that was done the Runarounds were disassembled to become building materials for the Compound.

While the Runarounds were being off-loaded, the Yardbird attacked the Horde.  The Yardbird destroyed four of the Bat Hives before bat riders launched and magical attacks started hitting the Yardbird.  The magical attacks came from the top tower of the Legion Citadel inside Fordsway.  Lookouts with spy glasses confirmed that the Citadel was occupied by the Horde and a legal target.  Malwyn had the Yardbird gain more altitude and then dropped several TDD bombs on the top tower, shattering it.  He also dropped some smaller bombs on the curtain wall towers, destroying several and killing countless goblinoids.

By this time the bat riders were starting to approach the altitude of the Yardbird.  The underbelly turrets opened, exposing the three repeating ballistae, which opened fire on the giant bats.  The bat-rider units took terrible losses before they learned the effective range of the ballistae.  The remaining bat-rider units flew higher than the Yardbird (outside the range of the ballistae) to attack the top of the Yardbird.  They split up and four flights of bat-riders attacked the single ballista turret at the front of the Yardbird’s topdeck and the remaining three flights attacked the small barricade defending the rear roof entrance to the Yardbird (where Dangar and Darkfox were stationed).

The bat-rider flights took turns strafing the defenses and trying to drop firebombs on the defenders to burn the Yardbird from the sky.  Crack shooting from Darkfox, Dangar, and the gnome defenders lead by Rebecca were able to either kill the goblins before they attacked or shot the fire bombs in their hands, igniting the goblin and bat in question.  The ballista turret did not fare quite as well.  It and its defenders were able to kill the bat-rider units attacking it but it was heavily damaged and on fire by the time the fighting was over.  Darkfox called down to the bridge, asking that additional firefighting units be sent to the front turret.  It took another quarter hour before the fire was out and repairs could begin on the turret.  Luckily, the ballista itself was not damaged.

Once the Yardbird achieved air superiority over Fordsway and threw the Horde further into disarray with additional TDD bombs, it flew low over the Gnome Compound to drop off more relief supplies.  It then spent the rest of the afternoon dropping TDD bombs on the Horde.

The leader of the City Citadel, Captain Arnauld Millot made his way to the Gnome Compound and met with Ruth and Wendell.  Wendell agreed to drop off supplies, take on refugees from both the City Citadel and the Gnome Compound, and fly the refugees to Freegate.  He also learned that the Bragolith Grass needed for the quest was available here and the gnomes were growing it as one of the crops in their hydroponics gardens (a new invention to keep the Compound fed).  Wendell signaled via semaphore to the Yardbird to drop off supplies for the City Citadel and pick up refugees.  The Yardbird signaled back that it would do so, that it was finally out of bombs, and that there was a slave uprising going on against the now disorganized and somewhat shell-shocked Horde.

That Night

Once the Outlanders were back together in the Gnome Compound, Darkfox proposed that they investigate the remains of the Legion Citadel.  It might still have weapons and goods that could be given over to the ex-slaves, plus there might be some treasure to claim.  Her source in Castle Silverloc told her that the Legion Citadel had a large vault with valuables hidden within it.  After an extended conversation as to the legality of the idea, it was decided that this would count as a salvage operation and thereby be legal.

Late that Night

The Outlanders exited the Gnome Compound and made their way through the ruined canals of Fordsway to the shattered Legion Citadel.

Session Ends.

NPCs Met

Captain Arnauld Millot – human in charge of the Fordsway City Citadel

Ethan – gnome merchant/trader

Gideon – gnome Kite Commando

Malka – female gnome, head of the weather forecasters

Ruth – female gnome, leader of the Fordsway gnomes and in charge of the Gnome Consortium Compound in Fordsway

Schlomo – gnome accountant

Happening Off-Stage

[Nothing in my notes, but the players learned a lot about what had been happening in this part of the continent this session.]

DM Discussion

[The players got to be Big Damn Heroes in this session, smashing the siege of Fordsway and bringing relief supplies to the surviving defenders.  The Runabout Mark 5s turned out well.  Wendell’s player invented a new look for the Runabouts each time they were deployed as they were all experimental.  The Mark 5s would become the most favored version.]

Tim's Outlanders Landing Page

Flight of the Yardbird

Previous session: Session 10

Next Session: Session 12

Design Notes for Flight of the Yardbird

I located my DM Notes for the Flight of the Yardbird adventure.  They are not super detailed as I prefer to have an outline to work from and improvise as needed.  This is because players never do what you expect and you cannot plan for everything.

Needed Reagents

I found the list of reagents the players would need to locate and where they could be found:

• Northern Dwarven Kingdom to have the hammer built.
• The Great Swamp or Borot Grotto for Bragolith, a grass that repels insects.  [This is to keep Scathos, the insectile god of secrets and conspiracies, from observing the ritual.]
• The Green Mountains to get Bryony berries from the Staff Elves. The berry is used to purge impurities.
• The Green Mountains to find Ellinrue, a cave algae that grants True Sight.  It will allow the hammer wielder to strike truly.  [I think I changed this later to another kind of berry.]
• The Horse Lords for Mosaliar, a mineral that provides a defense against the energies that will be released. [15 points Power Defense with a fade rate of 1/minute.]
• Freegate herbalists will provide Carsuth Root to harden the skin of the hammer wielder.
• Somewhere to find an Aetherstone anvil.

Description of the Yardbird

[Directly from my notes:]

The airship, named "The Yardbird", will use aether gas as a lifting power and propellers for motive force. There are four propellers mounted on spars, two in the front and two in the rear. Each pair of propellers is spun by an independent power plant consisting of four medium-sized golems working a crankshaft. The propeller spars can be rotated upward 90 degrees to provide additional lift. Otherwise, altitude is achieved via steering rudders and forward motion.

The Yardbird is still a prototype airship. It has four ether cells with an ether generator for each cell. Each cell is built slightly differently to determine the best construction method.

Airship Design Notes:
Inside the Yardbird:

• Four aether cells
• Aether generator for each ether cell
• The Bridge
• Cargo area
• Crew quarters
• Workshop(s)
• Passenger area (an afterthought)
• Eating area (known as "the Mess", because it is)
• Galley
• Golem works (three sets – two for motive, one for interior power)
• Landing craft bay
• Map room

Officers and Crew:

• Captain
• First Officer
• Chief Navigator and assistants
• Head Engineer and assistants

Lift:
Lift is generated via a semi-magical/semi-alchemical process. The source is an "Aetherstone" which is manipulated to release or absorb "aether". The aether is significantly lighter than air – 1 cubic meter of aether lifts 3 kilograms (in comparison, 1 m3 of hydrogen lifts 1.1 kg, 1 m3 of helium lifts 1 kg, and 1 m3 of hot air lifts 300 g). By partially immersing the Aetherstone in an alchemical solution and then running an electric current through it, aether is released in volume. By removing the current and heating the Aetherstone to a high temperature, the aether is absorbed by the stone.

Motive power:
Directional power is provided by two sets of propellers - one pair forward, one pair aft. Each pair of propellers is spun by an independent power plant consisting of four medium-sized golems working a crankshaft.

Gondola Length: 224 m

The Ritual of Keybreaking

The ritual is required to be performed on a 30’ square area of unshaped stone.  The ritual area will need to be prepared and have braziers burning Bragolith grass to keep Scathos away.  The Aetherstone Anvil will be placed in the center of the ritual space and blessed by a dwarven priest of “He-Who-Brings-Justice”.  The orb will be steeped in a mixture of fresh Bryony berries and herbs to leech out any impurities.  It will be ready when the liquid turns blood red.  Wizards will start chain casting The Ritual of Unmaking.  This will take 16 wizards an hour to cast and drain them of magic for 24 hours.

As the Ritual of Unmaking draws to conclusion, Dangar will be ritually prepared (without his armor) by being covered in a mixture of fresh Carsuth Root and Mosaliar to harden his skin and provide protection from the released energies.  He will then be fed Ellinrue (a cave algae that provides True Sight) and enter the ritual space with the Hammer of Unmaking and the vessel containing the orb.  He will quickly, but unhurriedly, remove the orb from the vessel, place it on the anvil, and strike a True Strike just as the Ritual of Unmaking finishes.

The energy release will be spectacular.

Tim's Outlanders: Flight of the Yardbird, Session 10 – August 21-31, 18 IC

[The Yardbird leaves Orpheon, picks up Staff Elf Envoys in the Green Mountains, and shops in Castle Silverloc.]

[This session took place December 21, 2002.  We were playing Champions 4th Edition with the Second Edition Fantasy Hero supplement.]

Player Characters

Oliver – male human monk from “someplace to the south” [secret agent of the Far Kingdom]

Dangar Stonekleaver – male dwarf from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom

Kyle Logan – male human thief and stowaway on the Yardbird

Wendell Dorshield III – male gnome, Captain and Architect of the Yardbird

Malwyn – male High elf fighter and military expert

Darkfox – female human thief from Freegate, secret ID of socialite Karlyn Gryphshaw

Session Begins

August 21, 18 IC

Morning

The Yardbird flew out of Orpheon, taking a wide sweep west, out over Gruen Bay, then south towards the Green Mountains.  As the Staff Elves of the Green Mountains were allied with the rebellious Kingdom of Silverloc, Wendell chose to have the Yardbird approach the Green Mountains from the west to avoid being mistaken as an invading force from the Empire of Crendia.

August 26, 18 IC

Pre-dawn

The Yardbird crossed the coastline into the Green Mountains, looking for a town in order to make contact with the Staff Elves.  The rising light of the sun instead showed them the burned-out remains of a elven town.

Deciding to investigate (and possible add to their food stores), Wendell had the Yardbird anchor near the abandoned town.  Two hunting parties were put down and the business of setting up “camp” started.

Oliver and Malwyn independently decided to investigate the town using their own methods.  Malwyn moved around the perimeter of the town looking for signs of current habitation while Oliver cast a retro-cognition spell to more directly observe what happened to the town.

Through his spell, Oliver “observed” two team wearing cloaks and hoods to hide their features pour what soon became evident was a flammable liquid around the perimeter of the small town.  The teams then took firing positions on opposite sides of the town and lit the liquid with a flamestick.  The liquid burned rapidly and hotly, setting the buildings and trees it touched quickly on fire.  As the elves who lived in the town came out and tried to put out the flames, the teams opened fire with bows, killing anyone doing so.  Minutes later the town was completely engulfed in a fire storm, leaving no survivors.  Oliver was appalled.  He followed the teams as they left the area.

Malwyn noticed that Oliver was under the influence of a spell and seemed to be following something related to the town.  He decided to follow Oliver.  Oliver’s spell led them to a nearby grove where Oliver observed the two teams meet and have a short discussion.  Oliver was finally able to determine that they were all humans and seemed to be part of a military force of some sort.  And then his spell was disrupted by a group of Staff Elves who made their presence known, bows at the ready.  A similar scene was playing out with the two hunting parties from the Yardbird.

The Staff Elves rounded up everyone from the Yardbird and questioned their reason for being there.  After explaining the Yardbird’s mission, Wendell and the leader of this band of Staff Elves, Tibalt of the Western Kingdom, sat down to negotiate for the Bryony and Eel berries needed for the ritual.  [Somewhere I had a list of the items necessary for the ritual to destroy the Orb, but it did not make it into my session notes except when the adventurers secured an item on the list.]  While the gnome cooks prepared a feast, Wendell was able to secure the necessary amounts of the two berry types in exchange for some trade goods and providing transportation to Silverloc Castle for two of the Staff Elves.  Tibalt and his band of elves joined the Outlanders and the crew of the Yardbird in the feast, during which one of the female Staff Elves, Josu of the Charmed Home, took a liking to Malwyn.

August 27, 18 IC

The next day the Yardbird set off south-southeast towards Silverloc Castle with the two Staff Elven envoys, one of whom was Josu.  Josu spent much of the trip pursuing Malwyn.  They both turned out to have a similar obsession with the sharpness of their weapons, except Josu favored the bow while Malwyn favored the sword.  Malwyn spent most of the trip attempting to keep his distance from Josu – he was unnerved slightly by her pursuit.

August 29, 18 IC

5:00 PM

After flying over the (relatively) low Green Mountains and a broad swath of the western Farwood Forest, the Yardbird arrived at Castle Silverloc.  Castle Silverloc was both a fortified city and a castle.  The castle was hexagonal in shape and quite large.  In front of the castle and enclosed by earthen walls with battlements on them was the city of Castle Silverloc.  Wendell rented airspace over a nearby farmer’s field and set up a few pavilions on the ground to do business in.  The two Staff Elf envoys took their leave and headed north into the forests.

The Outlanders headed into the town of Castle Silverloc on various errands.  Darkfox contacted the local thieves’ guild and met with an information broker at a tavern known as the Sign of the Golden Orange.  There she learned what she could about the city of Fordsway and the happenings there.  Fordsway was surrounded by the Southern Horde and may have fallen to the siege – details were sketchy [as are my notes].  She also learned there was an unofficial truce between Silverloc and the Imperial Legions.  The purpose of this truce seemed to be to let the Imperial Legions deal with the Goblinoid Hordes.  How long the truce would last and what the Emperor’s reaction to it would be once he learned of it no one could say, but Silverloc was serious about keeping its side of the deal.

Malwyn searched for the worst drinking hole in the city in order to get some combat practice in.  He eventually ended up at Ernesto Rockheart’s Pukehall-a-Go-Go, a place known for having fights regularly spill out into the streets.  Malwyn participated in several fights and got to know Baldo, the doorman.  He also met “Pops”, an old, irascible fighter who was a regular at Ernesto’s.  Dangar, tagging along with Malwyn, got some drinking in, but also got his pocket picked at some point and returned to the Yardbird without his “walking around” money.

August 30, 18 IC

The day was spent with the Yardbird taking on large quantities of supplies to drop off in Fordsway.  While the head merchant gnome on board, Ethan, haggled and traded, the Outlanders arranged to purchase some items of their own, including improved armor.  Darkfox arranged for the armor with a mix of gold coins and bottles of Orpheon Silver.  The suits of armor were dropped off after sunset, wrapped up in carpets.  No one asked any questions, and Darkfox asked that no one wear the armor off the Yardbird until after it left Castle Silverloc.  Just in case.

August 31, 18 IC

Bright and early in the morning, the Yardbird slowly flew away from Castle Silverloc, heading east, its cargo holds filled to the rafters with goods and materials.

Session Ends.

NPCs Met

Aaron – gnome, one of the two “loser” hunters

“Baldo” – doorman at Ernesto Rockheart’s Pukehall-a-Go-Go in Silverloc Town

Ethan – trader/merchant gnome

Josu of the Charmed Home – Staff Elven female archer, interested in Malwyn

Nathanial – gnome, one of the two “loser” hunters

“Pops” – cranky old guy who likes to fight and is very good at it.  Uses the “sack of flour” trick to “get a good fight happenin’”.

Tibalt of the Western Kingdom – Staff Elf leader who negotiated with Wendell and the Outlanders

Happening Off-Stage

[Nothing in my notes, but the players will get a huge info dump when they get to Fordsway.]

DM Discussion

[So if it seems that Dangar gets his pockets picked fairly often it’s because he did.  He was terrible about spotting pickpockets, especially once he started drinking heavily, so he compensated by only carrying a relatively small amount of coin on his person, 30 or so copper coins.  He left the rest of his money safely aboard the Yardbird and considered getting pickpocketed part of the cost of going out drinking.]

[The interaction between Malwyn and Josu was me trying to set up a possible Romance storyline for Malwyn, but his player wasn't interested at all, so I dropped it.]

Tim's Outlanders Landing Page

Flight of the Yardbird

Previous session: Session 9

Next Session: Session 11

Tim's Outlanders: Flight of the Yardbird, Session 9 – August 15-21, 18 IC

[The Yardbird salvages an all but abandoned ship while crossing Gruen Bay, towing it to Orpheon.  There, Tim gets recalled to Freegate.]

[This session took place October 26, 2002.  We were playing Champions 4th Edition with the Second Edition Fantasy Hero supplement.]

Player Characters

Tim, a Wizard - male human from the Free City of Freegate, graduate of Outlands University

Dangar Stonekleaver - male dwarf from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom

Kyle Logan – male human thief and stowaway on the Yardbird

Wendell Dorshield III – male gnome, Captain and Architect of the Yardbird

Malwyn – male High elf fighter and military expert

Darkfox – female human thief from Freegate, secret ID of socialite Karlyn Gryphshaw

Session Begins

August 15, 18 IC

After a perilous journey out of the Worldspine Mountains, the Yardbird flew out over Gruen Bay, taking a long, arcing path across the bay to the city of Orpheon.

August 17, 18 IC

Two days into the flight, a lookout spotted a ship adrift in the current.  Closer inspection showed that the ship and its rigging were very damaged, either by weather or attack.

Wendell ordered the Runaround Mark 4 be deployed – a longboat powered by a golem rower.  Wendell, Dangar, Malwyn, Darkfox, and a few security gnomes were lowered with the Runaround Mark 4 and rowed over to the ship.

The ship was quite large, being a third of the size of the Yardbird.  This was made very evident when the away team arrived next to it.  They called up in Gnomish and in Common to see if anyone was aboard.  At first they got no response, but after a minute of calling, two heads peaked over the railing.  One was human and shaved bald, the other was a large wolf.  The human on board, seeing an elf in the group, responded in Lasse Hinual (High Elven), asking if they were pirates or some sort of circus, what with all of the midgets and such.

After some discussion, the Outlanders learned that the sole survivor on the ship was named Oliver.  He was from some unspecified place to the south where they had never seen dwarves or gnomes before [this raised eyebrows].  He and his wolf companion were all that was left on the ship.  The ship was a cargo and passenger ship that had been caught in a great storm and then attacked repeatedly by pirates.  Oliver was a passenger and so had no real idea of where he was (or so he said).  A search of the ship seemed to confirm his story (and enriched Darkfox 5 bolts of quality silk) and Wendell offered Oliver transportation to a city on the Yardbird’s route.  The Outlanders claimed the ship as salvage and the Yardbird towed it to Orpheon, arriving there on the 20th of August.

August 20, 18 IC

In Orpheon, the various landing and port fees to enter the city’s port were paid from the Yardbird petty cash and the salvaged ship was docked.  The Outlanders agreed to sell the ship to the local representatives of the Gnomish Consortium for 300 gp.  The money was split as follows:

• 100 gp to the Yardbird Petty Cash
• 40 gp to Tim, Dangar, Malwyn, and Darkfox
• 40 gp to Oliver to hold for the ship’s original owner

There was also a delegation from Outlands University waiting for the Outlanders.  Based on the messages sent from the Yardbird regarding the Temple of Camazotz and the knowledge of High Mage Tongue gained, Tim was recalled to the University, effective immediately.  Petregai of the Grey Body, an Earth Wizard, and a small group of adventurers were there to escort Tim back and keep him safe.  The Outlanders convinced Petregai that a going away party was necessary, and drinks were on the Outlanders.  Petregai saw the wisdom of free drinks and agreed.

As the local Gnomish Office was being enlarged to allow for airship trade, Wendell left one of the Yardbird’s engineering groups to assist in that project.  He also arranged with the Legion Commander of the 7th Imperial Legion (stationed in Orpheon) for a Letter of Marque for the Yardbird to hunt down pirates and “others harassing Imperial shipping”.  The Commander clear meant Silverloc rebels to the south, but Wendell was  non-committal on the subject.

In the meantime, the Outlanders took their newfound wealth and rented a tavern for the night for Tim’s “Going Away” party.  The tavern they choose was the “Broken Griffon”, a name that seemed auspicious.  They all got very drunk drinking Orpheon Gold (quality beer), Orpheon Silver (quality ouzo), and a concoction Tim called “The Graduation”, which was a mixture of the two, plus some other high octane spirits.

Before leaving the tavern in the wee hours, Kyle and Darkfox looted the booze supply, splitting 8 bottles of Orpheon Silver between them.

August 21, 18 IC

After the Outlanders slept off their drinking binge, the Yardbird set out for the Green Mountains to the southwest.

Session Ends.

NPCs Met

Rheged “Reggie” Pikethrasher – Orpheon Port Customs Official

Dana bat Channah – Gnomish Consortium Representative

Asa ben Dana – Gnomish Consortium Representative

Commander Alexander Pontikos – Legion Commander of the 7th Legion

Petregai of the Grey Body – an Earth Wizard who has cast Stoneskin a few times too many

Adrik the True – adventurer escorting Tim back to the University

Hakon Grayspear – adventurer escorting Tim back to the University

Viktor of Ltava – adventurer escorting Tim back to the University

Happening Off-Stage

[Nothing in my notes.]

DM Discussion

[Oliver was the new character for Tim's player and why Tim was recalled back to Freegate.  Oliver was a monk from a continent far to the west and considered himself a scout, although what he really was was a spy.  The peoples of the Far Kingdom were still cleaning up from a continent-wide war to free themselves from a despot deity who had oppressed and abused them for millennia.  Having overthrown that deity with the help of the New Gods (a more recent, and genuinely helpful, generation of deities) their scholars were shocked to discover secret histories indicating other Middle Gods (same generation as the despot) and their followers escaped to the east in the distant past.  Oliver’s job was to seek out these people and determine if any of the Middle Gods still existed so they could be eliminated.]

[Spoiler: they do.]

Tim's Outlanders Landing Page

Flight of the Yardbird

Previous session: Session 8

Next Session: Session 10

Tim's Outlanders: Flight of the Yardbird, Session 8 – August 3-15, 18 IC

UPDATE: Corrected the leader of the opposition's name.

[The Yardbird flies south through the Worldspine Mountains battling the weather as well as creatures and their mysterious opponents, sometimes at the same time.]

[This session took place September 21, 2002.  We were playing Champions 4th Edition with the Second Edition Fantasy Hero supplement.]

Player Characters

Tim, a Wizard - male human from the Free City of Freegate, graduate of Outlands University

Dangar Stonekleaver - male dwarf from the Northern Dwarven Kingdom

Kyle Logan – male human thief and stowaway on the Yardbird

Wendell Dorshield III – male gnome, Captain and Architect of the Yardbird

Malwyn – male High elf fighter and military expert

Darkfox – female human thief from Freegate, secret ID of socialite Karlyn Gryphshaw

Session Begins

August 3, 18 IC

Early in the morning the Outlanders said their goodbyes to the dwarfs and boarded the Yardbird.  The Yardbird retracted its anchors and increased the volume of aether in the gas envelopes, increasing its lift.  It then turned away from Karak-ud and flew south.

August 5, 18 IC

A couple days into the flight, the Yardbird was attacked by a flight of three griffins.  This was not a particularly unexpected thing.  What was unexpected was their behavior during the attack – the griffins landed on the Yardbird and started ripping in to it!  Several of the Outlanders went out onto the top of Yardbird to fight the griffins.

After a brief but fierce struggle, the griffins were killed.  However, due to the actions of the griffins, one of the major aether cells was ruptured and needed to be repaired.  The Yardbird made a sprint as best it could to exit the area it had been spotted in and to find an area in the mountains where it could land to make repairs.

To fend off further Griffin attacks, one of the ship’s repeating ballistae was remounted on top of the Yardbird.  [The Yardbird had three repeating ballistae aboard, all mounted underneath as the only envisioned enemy attacks were expected to come from below.]  While repairs were under way, Tim investigated the body of the griffin that made its way into the aether cell and discovered it was wearing a magical collar.  Tim was able to determine that the collar both controlled the griffin and allowed the controller to sense what the griffin saw and heard.  Further, it appeared to still be active!  Tim quickly wrapped it in thick cloth and shut it inside a small chest.  He then had it buried in the ground away from the Yardbird.

Periodically throughout the rest of the flight through the Worldspines, griffins were spotted circling in the distance, but they never attacked again.

August 7, 18 IC

During the night of August 7th, the Yardbird stopped to shelter from high winds and a storm.  An exploration party from the Yardbird set out to search the area for anything useful.  Instead they ran across a “winter worm”, a 64 m gargantuan worm covered in fur.  During the fight, through means unknown, Tim caused a magical effect wherein the exploration party and the worm were englobed by a sphere of pale blue light, blinding all for a short period of time.  [I believe he missed a spell casting roll and this was the side effect – a large Area of Effect Flash.]  The light also provided a beacon for a rescue party from the Yardbird, who were able to arrive in time to help put down the winter worm.

August 14, 18 IC

While flying through the Worldspines, the Yardbird was attacked by a small team laying in wait along the Yardbird’s flight path.  An unnamed wizard cast Fireball spells at the Yardbird, setting the airship on fire!  Tim eventually returned fire with his Arc Light spell, causing an avalanche that killed the attackers.

After searching for and then searching of the bodies, the Outlanders were able to determine that their attackers were mercenaries and had been paid to attack the Yardbird and bring it down.  Unfortunately, the letters hiring the mercenaries and identifying the Yardbird did not identify their enemy.  The opposing spellcaster had a Ring of Warmth that Tim acquired.

After the surprise attack and all it suggested, Wendell chose to plot an alternate path in order to exit the Worldspines as soon as possible.  Wendell charted a route through a pass that was almost too high for the damaged Yardbird to fly through to leave the mountains by the next dawn, rather than several days later.  Merriwether, Wendell’s best pilot, was able to fly the Yardbird through the pass, only scraping the bottom of the Yardbird a little at the pass’s highest point.

August 15

The Yardbird exited the Worldspine Mountains and sailed out over Gruen Bay in the early morning hours.

Session Ends.

NPCs Met

Alfred – gnome from the Yardbird’s Security Detail

Benjamin – gnome from the Yardbird’s Security Detail

Chaz – gnome from the Yardbird’s Security Detail

Dwain – gnome from the Yardbird’s Security Detail

Edward – gnome from the Yardbird’s Security Detail

Felicity – gnome from the Yardbird’s Security Detail

Merriwether – female gnome, best pilot on the Yardbird

Happening Off-Stage

[Nothing in my notes.]

DM Discussion

[Clearly, Lord Taurkauld's plans were in motion.  By leaving the mountains early, The Yardbird avoided two more ambush attacks.  The Betdmuans still had more plans in action, but it would be a while before the Outlanders learn of them.]

[In the meantime, Tim’s player wanted to experiment with a different character from another part of the world, one with a very different relationship with the gods.  We worked out their history along with some additional material about higher level magics.  Next session his new character, “Oliver”, will make an appearance.]

Tim's Outlanders Landing Page

Flight of the Yardbird

Previous session: Session 7

Next Session: Session 9