Tim's Outlanders: Flight of the Yardbird, Session 3 - Later July, 18 IC

[Exploration of deeper parts of the temple ruins and Kyle nearly gets himself killed.]

[This session took place March 30, 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

[This session starts at the end of the previous session, sometime in late July.]

The characters successfully negotiated with the nereid Afrah and gained access to the deeper parts of the temple they are exploring.  Afrah created a bridge of water for the adventurers to pass over the deep pool of water that was her home.  While the rest of the adventurers were able to make their way across the water bridge, Wendel repeatedly fell off the water-bridge, much to Afrah’s amusement.  [She took a liking to the Gnomes in general and planned to try and keep one or two of them when everyone leaves the temple.]

The negotiations for passage only included the adventurers, not any of the gnome runners nor gnome support staff traveling between the adventurers and the Yardbird.  Those gnomes negotiated individual deals with Afrah, trading passage across her pool for upgrades to her home by the gnomes.  The adventurers do not learn this until later.

In the deeper part of the temple ruins, Kyle discovered the trapped alcoves in the Grand Hallway the hard way by tripping one of them and getting trapped.  Dangar used his strength to bend the bars so Kyle could escape.  Tim discovered a secret door in the fresco of the temple on the walls and sent Kyle in to investigate.

The area beyond was a corridor with multiple mummies on display at the end of the corridor.  Midpoint down the corridor was a giant statue of an eagle’s head with the beak partially open.  Inside the open mouth, Kyle could see a large golden ring.  Kyle broke an arm off one of the mummies to manipulate a ring and try and retrieve it.  When he nudged the large ring, the stone beak snapped shut on the mummy arm, trapping it in place.

This caused enough noise that the rest of the party approached to see what was going on.  Captain Geoffrey [head of the gnome security detail for Wendell], Wendell, and Nathan [bodyguard to Wendell] moved on to investigate the mummified bodies (and the rest of the corridor length) while the adventurers discussed how to safely retrieve the ring.  Then the dead bodies animated.  [Shocking no one really.]

The gnomes, down at the far end ran around a nearby corner, where Wendell used the Wand of Engineering to raise a 4-foot wall of earth.  Unfortunately, Tim then fired his Arc Light spell [an extended area, explosive, RKA] into the middle of the zombies.  Captain Geoffrey dove on Wendell and shielded him from much of the blast, but the area effect spread down multiple side hallways and filled the main corridor, damaging the zombies and the adventuring party.

Kyle chose this time to duck down a side hallway and explore on his own.  He discovered what appeared to be a reflection of his light-stone off someone else’s gear and followed.  He came upon and worked out how to bypass a triangular pillar with a pit in front of it.  He continued to follow the reflection of light down a corridor when doors in front of and behind him dropped down out of the ceiling, enclosing Kyle in a now isolated section of corridor.  Then two rows of 8 slots opened in the ceiling and sand started pouring rapidly through the holes, filling the area Kyle was now trapped in!

Kyle tried several ways to stop the sand or lift the immense [and very heavy] wooden doors.  During these frenzied attempts to escape the sandpit he discovered the “reflection” he had been following was a will o’ wisp that now merrily floated over him as the sand continued to fill the area.

Using his sword, Kyle was able to hack a small breach in the foot thick wooden doors and use his contortionist abilities to squeeze through, but not without the wood raking his back.  [He just failed his skill check but I allowed him to force himself through anyways, taking a good deal of damage in the process.]  Finally outside the death trap, he lay on the verge of death, waiting and hoping the party would find him.  [I believe he was down to 0 BODY.]

Back in the main corridor, the adventurers made short work of the weakened zombies and passed around the healing potions to heal up from Tim’s attack.  Dangar’s family axe was heavily damaged during the fight when he overestimated an attack on a zombie and buried his axe in the stone wall, slicing the eagle head in half.  A golden armband fell out and the party put it away for later examination.

The gnomes were then approached by two human-appearing monks from the room at the end of the hallway.  The Arc Light had blown the doors of the room off their hinges and melted them slightly.  This made the monks unhappy with the intruders, and they demanded a 100gp penance.  The party decided that they had the money and did not want to fight the monks and agreed to pay.

While Nathan went back to the Yardbird to get the gold, the party talked with the monks.  As the monks apparently only spoke High Mage Tongue and Gnomish, Malwyn moved back out of hearing range and sharpened his new sword.  Dangar went looking for Kyle but did not check any of the side passages and so did not find him at this point.

The monks told the party about the Prophecy of Resurrection [listed below after the NPCS Met section of this blog post] and that their god, Camazotz, would summon the monks when the time was right.  Wendell asked if the monks knew where an aetherstone anvil [one of the things they needed for the Orb Commission and had no idea where to find] could be found and provided a map for the monks to use.  The monks pointed to two locations in the Great Nef where cities should have been and named those cities.  

As the monks reviewed the map, they spoke to each other in another language, one that none of the party recognized.  Tim traded stories about the Mansion of Illusions for the information the monks shared, which jogged his memory and he suddenly remembered that the rod Monteflurio took from the Mansion of Illusions appeared here in the murals in the Great Hallway.

When the gold arrived, the party received permission to pass through the room as long as they disturbed nothing in the room.  The party then went in search of the missing Kyle.  They found him near death, having clawed his way out of the sand trap.  They healed him up and Wendell used his Wand of Engineering to clear much of the sand from the trap (moving it into the pit in front of the Triangle Pillar).

At the end of the hallway, past the sand trap, the party found a room with two other exits.  In the room was waste, refuse, giant beetles, and the worst smell they had ever smelled.  The giant beetles ignored the party until Dangar tried to pull things from their nest.  Several beetles then spat an entangling mass on Dangar.  The mass immobilized him and started to dissolve organic materials on his person, including his person!

Once again Tim threw his Arc Light spell and caught the party in the area of effect.  He then changed back to his single target spell [his attack spell had Variable Advantage] while Captain Geoffrey peppered the beetles with bursts from his repeating crossbow and Darkfox and Malwyn skewered the beetles with armor piercing arrows from their bows.

After the beetle fight (and freeing Dangar from the beetle goo), the party decided to retire back to the Yardbird for the night.  They finally learned how the rest of the Gnomes had been passing Afrah’s pool (by bartering improvements to the chamber).

Session Ends.

NPCs Met

Captain Geoffrey – Head of Yardbird Security

Nathan – gnome bodyguard

Oxomoco (Ōks-ō-mō-kō) – male monk met in the Temple of Camazotz

Cipactonal (Sē pak' tōn al) – female monk met in the Temple of Camazotz

Prophecy of Resurrections

This is the story of the Prophecy of Resurrections told by Oxomoco and Cipactonal when trading stories with the Outlanders:

"Hullab, a priestess of Usher, Guardian of Time, delivered the Prophecy of Resurrections.  The Prophecy was delivered after the fall of the Annunaki, when the Sorcerer-Kings were reshaping their new lands to their desires.  On the day of an eclipse of both the Sun and the Hidden Moon, Hullab was overcome by the Spirit of Usher and gave prophecy.

Hullab spoke of a time after the darkness when things ancient would return anew.  This time would be in the future when the darkness returned from its hiding places.  She spoke of the return of the White Eyes to the lands and people knew not of what she spoke except that a chill gripped their soul when she spoke of it.  She spoke of the return of the Storms to the lands and people knew not of what she spoke except thunder came from the north when she spoke of it.  She spoke of the return of the Comet of Fates and people knew not of what she spoke but turned to look at the empty sky.  She spoke of the return of Dragons to the lands and people knew not of what she spoke for there were dragons already in the lands.  She spoke of the return of Sorcerers to the lands and people knew not of what she spoke for they were Sorcerers and they laughed at her until the eclipse ended and no more of what she said was heard – except by the keen ears of Camazotz.

Hullab’s words were written down but became forgotten as the calendar wheels turned and none of what she prophesied appeared.  By the time of the War against the Enemy, Hullab’s words were all but lost, but Camazotz remembered the words and respected the prophecy of an Elderlan God.  As the Sorcerer-Kings dwindled in numbers, Camazotz gave us the Potion of Dreadful Sleep and bade us to wait here for his summons when the time of the Prophecy came to be.  We have imbibed of the Potion three times so far in the past 12,000 or so years and still await Camazotz’s summons.  When He summons us, we will return to the world above with Camazotz to do his bidding."

Happening Off-Stage

[Nothing in my notes, but the Empire was still fighting the various Hordes of goblins, orcs, and lizardfolk invading it.  Also, the Crystal Brotherhood was establishing their own places of worship in the northern principalities.  I’m sure that was entirely coincidental.]

DM Discussion

[My notes for this session suffer from me writing them 2 years after the actual adventure happened and 23 years ago from now, so they have some gaps and references I would have recognized/remembered then I am only partially catching now.  For example, it took me a bit to work out if Nathan was a bodyguard or an assistant to Wendell.]

[Tim was quite the loose cannon, as was Dangar, and they were more or less the party leaders.  I think after this Tim's player started paying a little closer attention to his area effect spells or at least started verifying he and the rest of the party would not be in the backblast.]

Tim's Outlanders Landing Page

Flight of the Yardbird

Previous session: Session 2

Next Session: Session 4 [not edited yet]

In Search Of –Session 2 – The Galan Job Is Accepted – May 15 – June 1, 56 IC

[This game uses the Hero System Fifth Revised Edition (FREd) roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a month.  This session happened April 18, 2026.]

[Like the Sudden Sea campaign, this adventure takes place on the continent of Terik, 30 years after the events of Tim’s Outlanders and roughly con-current with the Sudden Sea Campaign.]

Player Characters

Devorah Orna – female gnome mechanist

Halfrijd Iceflayer – female dwarf axe master

Ath’ir – male human “tracker”

Jorunn the Turtle – male human wizard with turtle-based spells

Kairon – male Tolk “field researcher”, actual name Enoder Gribbens

Bertulf of Druuna – male human cleric of Druuna the Protector

Not Available this Session

Shaes – male elf storm wizard, name pronounced shĀy-Ehss

May 15, 56 I.C. (Imperial Calendar)

11:00 AM

Kairon arrived at the Sleeping Shrieker, a locally famous adventurers bar in the Adventurers Quarter part of Freegate.  Inside he quickly located Kevork [known as Kevork of the Four Masters due to his tendency to run multiple, sometime conflicting, jobs].  Kevork was sitting in a booth with a drawable curtain for privacy.  Kairon believed the curtains had sound-dampening magic woven in them, but had never had the chance to verify that.

[Once this scene started, I realized I had too many names starting with a K.  If I was writing this as a novel, at least two of the names would be changed in the next draft.]

After the required greetings, Kevork provided the basics of the job he wished to hire Kairon for.

• My client needs someone to go to Galan and secure three statues that are not for sale from a private museum.
• Pay is 1gp per day while on the job, including during transportation.
• Transportation there and back will be covered.
• A local contact will have maps of the museum building and a safe place to stay while your team scouts the job.
• If, after a week, you decide you cannot do the job, you will be brought back to Freegate and paid for your time and silence.
• If you do the job, you get the daily pay plus 1500gp for success.

“Are you in or out?”

Kairon decided he liked what he heard and said his team was in.  After that, Kevork provided the details:

• The target is a private museum owned by Kamal Darzi, a person who was once very important in the Republic government, until he retired.
• The primary goal is to secure three statues.  They are made of gold and 30 lbs. (13.5 kg) each. [Sketches are provided – they are abstract humanoid figures.]  They are part of a set of eight (8) and the bases of the full set link together to form the full sculpture.  The three on display are:
• A hooded figure with a staff, the end of which appears to be on fire [identified later by the PCs as Scathos – Keeper of Secrets]
• Strong human-ish male with lightning leaking from his eyes [Lord of Storms, assistant to Serapha, goddess of Storms and Weather]
• A robed skeleton holding a mechanism of some sort [Usher, Guardian of Time and the Dead]
• The bases of the first 2 fit together like puzzle pieces, the third does not connect to either.
• Pay is dependent on the Galan Bureau of State Security not becoming involved. If the Galan Bureau of State Security becomes involved, you will be disavowed and not paid.
• If a source for more statues in the set is located, there will be a large bonus and possible future employment.
• The client also has some questions worth bonus pay, if answered:
• Where did the Kamal get the gold statues?
• Are there any more available?  If so, who has them and where?
• Report to the local contact once you have the statues and any answers.  Additional funds (and employment) will follow for solid leads.
• There is no “friendly competition” in this hunt.

Kairon had questions, most notably about who Kamal Darzi was in relation to the Galan Bureau of State Security?  The answer was “the previous head of the Bureau, until he retired.”  Kairon had noticed hesitation when Kevork mentioned the pay [a high Perception roll checking for deception and better than Kevork’s Acting roll to hide that he was low-balling the pay to pocket the difference].  Kairon negotiated for a better payout, one that increased the pay but still left some good money on the table for Kevork.  [Kevork was a handy asset for Kairon and he did not want to alienate the man.]

After negotiating the statue pay to be 2250gp, one third for each statue recovered, Kevork handed over a set of 8 boarding passes for the Zephyr’s Embrace, a passenger airship leaving at 9:00AM on the 17th.

After the meeting, Kairon sent messages to the other adventurers in his group, setting up an early dinner meeting at The Stone Tolk, a nice restaurant on the edge of Happy Town [Freegate’s redlight district], in the Student Quarter ward.  Kairon knew the others would show up for the food at least.

5:00 PM

Over dinner at The Stone Tolk, Kairon explained the job to the rest of the adventurers.  They all agreed to do the job, but also agreed that they should do some research and preparations here in Freegate before leaving for Galan.  This should include learning more about the gods the statues seemed to represent [with a possible eye on creating a fake 4th statue].

After the meal, Devorah spent time with Jorunn discussing Jorunn’s force field spell.  And turtles, because every conversation with Jorunn eventually turns to turtles.  Jorunn stated he had written a dissertation on turtle-based defensive magic, specifically his force field spell, and offered to get Devorah a copy of it.  She eagerly accepted.  [This was to in-game justify creating her own force field gadget once she had the experience points to spend on it.]  They both headed over to the University Library to get a copy of the dissertation and so Jorunn could research the deities the statues seemed to represent.

[My notes say Devorah spoke with Hastein Skullstaff, an Antiquities student at Outlands University, but don’t explain how or why she tracked him down.  They discussed the Terik Common Pantheon, with Hastein listing them out.  Devorah realized the Common Pantheon had 10 deities in it, not 8, like the statue set.  She also learned that there was a collection of artifacts from a temple to one of the Lost Gods (a completely different group of deities) on display on the University campus, but it was closed for the night.]

Ath’ir, having a new appreciation for how deadly bow shots to the head were [he killed three of the ninjas in Anjer that way, one shot each], decided he needed to get a better helmet.  He took Halfrijd with him as she was also interested in buying better armor.  [After the wagon chase battle with the ninjas, the players had a better feel for how dangerous combat could be in Fantasy Hero and an appreciation of better armor than the boiled leather armor they got for free.]

Ath’ir and Halfrijd went over to the Military Ward, where the city’s armor- and weaponsmiths clustered.  After looking around some, both found and purchased a solid plate helmet [DEF 8, locations 3-5].  Halfrijd also asked around for something to protect her vitals.  The armorer she asked said, “Oh!  You want a Dangar Special!” and sold her a piece of plate armor specifically designed to defend the lower abdomen [DEF 8, location 13].  It included a noticeable codpiece, but in deference to the lady dwarf, the codpiece was not spiked.

At the same time, Kairon tracked down a specialist known only as The Replicator.  Kairon showed The Replicator the sketches of the three statues and ask if duplicates could be made by 6:00AM on the 17th.  The Replicator asked how long the duplicates needed to be stable, what materials they should look like they were made of, and what kind of testing they might need to pass.  Kairon thought about it and said they needed to be stable for two months, they should appear to be solid gold, and probably just visual inspection.  The Replicator then asked if Kairon was going to use them in Freegate or elsewhere.  Kairon said elsewhere.  The Replicator liked that answer and agreed he could make the copies Kairon asked for.  Payment was 2gp each, up front.  Kairon asked if The Replicator could shave the price a little and they agreed on 1gp, 8sp each, for a total of 5gp, 4sp.  Kairon paid The Replicator, who immediately ran the coins through a scanner of some sort to verify their authenticity.  Satisfied they were real coins, he accepted them and told Kairon to come back at 6:00 AM on the 17th to pick them up.

After Midnight

After spending nearly six hours scouring the University Library for information about the gods of the common pantheon and golden statues related to them, Jorunn was left with two pieces of relevant information: there were 10 deities in the Terik Common Pantheon, not 8 like the statue set contained, and he found a lone reference in a dissertation on the deity Camazotz to the Elderlan Gods.  He also had a small selection of references that were all in the Restricted Section, a part of the library he did not have access to.  He needed someone to help him get in and immediately thought of Kairon.  This being the University, he found a runner even this late and sent them to find Kairon and take him a message.

After 1:00 AM

Kairon arrived at the library [after taking the “Night Student’s Entrance” under the bridge that connected the University grounds to Freegate proper].  Jorunn explained what he needed and Kairon set to work.

First, he tracked down the closest coffee station and brewed a fresh pot of the best coffee it had.  This being a University with wizards on the staff, the coffee nook was very well stocked with a variety of quality beverages.

Fresh cup of coffee in hand, Kairon and Jorunn went to the Night Librarian for the Restricted Section, a grad student who was clearly having trouble staying awake.  Kairon parleyed the quality coffee for “a quick peek at 2-3 books with no one the wiser”.  [The player made a solid roll on Persuasion, even without the bonus granted from the coffee.]  The Night Librarian, sipping on the still hot fresh coffee, warned Kairon and Jorunn that one of the professors was doing research in the far aisle of the section and they should avoid him.

Once inside the Restricted Section, Jorunn immediately accessed the Restricted card catalog and located the books he needed.  These books were older than the volumes in the General Section and he was able to locate more references to the set of golden statues, confirming they depicted the Elderlan Gods, rumored to be the actual creators of the world.  Most references indicated the complete set was powerful but did not provide details.  The last confirmed sighting of the set was during the reign of Jerome d'Argenlieu, over 5000 years ago.  Reading further in the oldest books, Jorunn was able to find a single reference about the set of statues providing communication, implying the communication was with the Elderlan Gods.  Jorunn also now believed that there was yet another, even more restricted section of books at the library, obliquely referred to as “the other collection” in some of his refence books.

Shortly before dawn, Kairon and Jorunn snuck out of the Restricted Section and headed to their residences to get a little sleep before a previously arranged breakfast get together with the others.

[NOTE: Outlands University periodically duplicates the older books and scrolls in its Library to preserve the knowledge exactly over long timespans.  To avoid issues with acquired stains and marks being confused with the original text and illustrations, all marks, stains, spills, and marginalia are annotated as to which copy they first appeared in.  The Université Impériale in the Domain of Ihyr instead uses preservative and restorative magic to preserve their books and scrolls, meaning even their oldest documents look fresh and clean.  The wizards of Outlands University believe this is just the mages of the Université Impériale being “prissy” and they eventually lose information as the base material wears out from the repeated use of magics on it.  The mages of the Université Impériale believe the wizards don’t understand what cleanliness is and just prefer grubby dirty tomes.]

May 16, 56 IC

10:00 AM

The adventurers met at their favorite breakfast nook in the Student’s Quarter and shared what they had learned.  Based on what the group had discovered, they now believed the set of statues are of the Elderlan Gods, not the Terik Common Pantheon.  Several decide they will go look at the collection of relics from the Lost God, Camazotz, which is part of The Yardbird Collection on display at the University.  They set a time of 3:00PM to go see the collection.

Jorunn and Kairon both left to get more sleep.  Halfrijd went to the Golden Triangle and rented a safe deposit box for three months at a cost of 3sp.  Inside she placed her permanent ledger to keep it safe.  After that she went and purchased several new journals to keep notes in for the current adventure.  Halfrijd also went by the Temple of Toth [God of Knowledge] and made a 1gp offering for his blessing on their job.  Toth was a human deity, but she felt it couldn’t hurt.

Bertulf went to the Temple of Druuna in the Temple Town part of the New Town ward.  He went to the temple’s library and asked for anything that referenced the Elderlan Gods.  The librarian on duty was polite and helped him find some books, until two inquisitors arrived at the librarian’s request.  Bertulf spent a couple hours lying to the inquisitors about why he needed references to the Elderlan Gods, claiming he had been hired by a gnome trying to locate the temple to Baharat the Creator.  As Bertulf was a priest in good standing and provided a plausible reason, they eventually let him go.  [Only later, the next morning, when they reported the incident to their superiors, would they learn that the gnomes apparently already know where the last temple to Baharat is located and Bertulf was clearly lying.]

3:00 PM

The group assembled at the History Building on the Outlands University campus to see the Yardbird Collection.  They paid 5cp each and went in.  The parts they were interested in were the relics from the Temple of Camazotz that the Yardbird discovered and explored back in 18 IC [See Tim’s Outlanders - Flight of the Yardbird, Sessions 2 and later for details.] 

In addition to the dioramas and pieces of art from the temple, there were:

• A painting of the lighthouse at Andron Port.  The perspective is from the foot of the lighthouse, looking up.  There are flights of what appear to be dragons flying overhead.  The placard for this piece states this is supposed to be an eye-witnesses account of the dragons leaving the continent after the signing of the Treaty of Buried Memories over 10,000 years ago.
• A set of ogre-sized, bronze plate mail with an ornately carved bee motif all over it.  This magical armor was worn by the personal bodyguard of Queen Talita De la Placa, 20th ruler of Crendia. [The current Emperor is the 24th Ruler, so this would have been a little over 1000 years ago.]
• A cloak made of Cloth of Gold with a depiction of a mage tower on the back.  Claims (in High Mage Tongue) to show the tower of Messilist the Destroyer, who “pulled the stars from the sky”.

May 17, 56 IC

6:00 AM

Kairon arrived at the workshop of The Duplicator to pick up his statue replicas.  The work is good, despite being based off of sketches.  The Duplicator stated that the statues would be stable for at least two months, after that there would be an increasing chance they would revert to the base lead he used.  He also warned that, as he was going off sketches, it would be possible that anyone who had a detailed knowledge of the originals would notice differences and that was beyond his control.  Kairon agreed that was reasonable and thanked The Duplicator for his work.  He then lugged the rather weighty case containing the statues towards the Freegate Airfield.

8:00 AM

The adventurers, along with other passengers, assembled at the airfield and boarded the Zephyr’s Embrace, the airship that would eventually get them to Galan.  They each had an individual “cabin” but the cabins were small, being 4ft by 4ft by 8ft long [similar to coffin hotel rooms in Japan].  While the passengers relaxed in the Common Room, the individual rooms were kitted out based on the kindred of the occupant.

• Human rooms were mostly mattresses with a narrow shelf for personal effects and a sliding door closet for clothes.
• Dwarf rooms had a carpet, a dwarf-sized bed, a cozy reading chair, a narrow shelf for personal effects, and a sliding door closet for clothes.
• Gnome/Tolk rooms were carpeted, had a bed with a nightstand, a reading chair with a side table and a magical lamp, plus the shelf for personal effects, and a sliding door closet for clothes.

9:00 AM

The Zephyr’s Embrace took off and flew north-northeast.

[It was getting late in the evening at this point, so we pushed through the travel part.  Imagine the red line moving across the map in Raiders of the Lost Ark.]

May 19, 56 IC

The Zephyr’s Embrace arrived at 1:00 PM at the airfield outside the city of Silesia, capital of the Grand Duchy of Thuringia, home of the Cattle Barons.  The (taller) adventurers got out to stretch their legs a bit while other passengers deboarded and boarded.  After three hours, the Zephyr’s Embrace lifted off at 4:00 PM, heading almost due north.

May 24, 56 IC

The Zephyr’s Embrace arrived at Ceshra, capital of Tusmit, at 4:00 AM.  Passengers were allowed to sleep until 6:00 AM and then deboarding/boarding happened.  The adventurers slept a little later and then ate a hearty breakfast aboard the Zephyr’s Embrace.  The Zephyr’s Embrace lifted off at 9:00 AM, heading northeast [and a couple days later, due east].

May 29, 56 IC

The Zephyr’s Embrace arrived at Dimovo, capital of Vaasa, at 2:00 PM.  Once again, the (taller) adventurers got out to stretch their legs a bit while other passengers deboarded and boarded.  The air was noticeable cooler and refreshing compared to back in Freegate.  After three hours, the Zephyr’s Embrace lifted off at 5:00 PM, heading south-southeast.

[To those paying attention to the directions taken, the Zephyr’s Embrace flew a wide arc around the Great Northern Forest as Galan is on the opposite site of the forest as Freegate.  The forest is home to The Fiefdoms, a collection of minor principalities that owe fealty to the Empire.  Gnome airships do not fly into or across the forest as there is no safe place to land in case of emergency and the Fiefdoms has a (completely erroneous) reputation of being barely civilized, like the Scots.  Maybe if people stopped arriving with an army behind them the locals wouldna’ be so hostile, yeh?]

June 1, 56 IC

The Zephyr’s Embrace arrived at the city of Galan, capital of the Republic of Galan, at 6:00 PM.

End of session

Commentary

[Some notes on the deities of this world.  The Terik Common Pantheon are the 10 deities generally worshipped everywhere the Empire once ruled, which is most of the continent of Terik.  The Dwarves have their own set of gods, mostly shared between the two dwarven kingdoms.  The gnomes don’t particularly worship the gods as they know they were originally created by the Sorcerer Kings, but neither do they scoff at any of the gods as gnomes have a strong survival instinct.  The Tolk have some of their own gods, which I never detailed, and also share some of the gods in the Common Pantheon.]

[I’m not a particularly religious person myself, so the divine side of world building gets minimal work from me.  I lifted the Elderlan Gods from a CCG as well as some of what became the Common Pantheon gods, evolved after 10,000 years of history.  The dwarven gods are all my creations due to deep plot needs.  If anyone posts interest in the comments, I’ll post the deities that appear in each pantheon.]

In Search Of…Adventures

Last session: Session 1

Next session: Session 3 [Not yet played]

Tim's Outlanders: Flight of the Yardbird, Session 2 - Late July, 18 IC

[When the prisoner tries to escape, the crew of the Yardbird discover temple ruins on the “backside” of the Great Nef and investigate.]

[This session took place March 2, 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

Late July, 18 IC

[I don’t have the specific in-game date this happened in my notes, but it is a single day most likely somewhere in between July 18 and July 22.]

The Yardbird was flying north towards the Northern Dwarven Kingdom, taking the “backside” of the Great Nef desert, between it and very imposing Worldspine Mountains.  One morning the Outlanders were awoken by an alarm.  Kyle, the stowaway, had escaped the brig and was loose on the Yardbird!

Kyle was eventually discovered when he stole the Runaround Mark 1 [a very experimental landing craft] and tried to escape in it.  It was designed as a small boat with a single fixed propellor that was supposed to auto-gyrate on the way down.  Unfortunately, it did not work at all like Wendell planned and the best Kyle could achieve was a crash-landing in a wide, dry river valley below the Yardbird.

When he “landed”, the ground below the Runaround 1 collapsed.  Kye and the Runaround dropped into an underground chamber.  Wendell asked the Outlanders to investigate for him to determine if the Runaround 1 could be rescued.  Oh, and recapture Kyle.

The Yardbird flew lower and landed Tim, Dangar, Malwyn, and Darkfox via a loading platform.  The four adventurers climbed down into the underground chamber on ropes and discovered the chamber was actually a room with wall frescos, dioramas, and a weak poison gas.

The first thing they did was investigate the Runaround.  It was clearly wrecked and would need to be hauled back up to the Yardbird.  Then they spent some time looking around the room they were in, both looking for Kyle and taking in the dioramas lining the walls.

The dioramas depicted scenes of an ancient lifestyle.  Tim believed that these were scenes of life from before the Mage War, 8000 years ago.  He made notes, drew pictures, and argued with Darkfox over her taking some of the figurines.  Eventually, two of them decided to take all the figurines and pack them up for storage on the Yardbird.

After a while, the adventurers located where Kyle was hiding and coaxed him out into the open.  He solved the puzzle of how to open the door out of the room into the rest of the underground complex and got a rope tied around his waist for his troubles.

While the rest of the party was shipping the figurines up to the surface and asking Wendell for a fix to the poison gas, Dangar and Kyle pushed forward into the complex.  They got caught up in the Hallway of Rushing Bamboo and were forcefully pushed along the hall to another door.  Battered and bruised, they called out for the rest of the party to come rescue them.  Darkfox disarmed the stone bamboo (easy to do from the back) and healing was provided to Dangar and Kyle.

The next several hours were frustrating as the party seemed to march in circles looking for a way deeper into the complex.  Highlights include:

• An encounter with a talking, normal-sized crayfish and a ½-ton hermit crab.  Dangar rashly attacked the crab and it cleaned his and Kyle’s clocks before Tim and the others intervened.
• The party discovered a naked elfin woman [Afrah, a Nereid] singing beside a pool.  After getting mixed signals from her, they decided to move on.
• They discovered a secret door behind a heavy statue that fell when the catch was released.
• They found a shrine to a giant talking slug.  When it attacked, the entire party laid into it and it fled into the depths of a moat.
• Kyle opened a pair of stuck doors, releasing the room full of water behind it.  The flood pushed the entire party down the hall, back into slug room.  Tim’s bottle of TDD cracked during this event and started to leak.  Due to being drenched by all the water, he didn’t notice.  [The cracking of the bottle was a retcon due to a player-induced TPK later.]
• They found a tomb behind a limestone block.  The block was softened by the water and Kyle attempted to dig through it.  The soft paste was now quicklime and destroyed his leather armor.  Due to the inscription on the tomb behind the block, the party decided to leave it alone.

Eventually, they party realized they had to get past the elfin woman to go deeper into the complex.  They returned to her chamber to negotiate.

She asked for something pretty before she would let them past.  Tim offered her his magical Reading Glasses to see if they were acceptable.  She liked them and took them to the bottom of the pool.  Tim, wanting to negotiate further considerations, was caught off-guard and became upset.  When Afrah, during the ensuing argument, summoned a water serpent [actually just water under her control in the form of a serpent], Tim pulled his bottle of TDD and attempted to threaten her with it.  Only then did he realize that it was cracked and completely empty.  [Also part of the retcon.  See DM Discussion below.]

Session Ends.

NPCs Met

Afrah – a Nereid (not that anyone asked her name)

Happening Off-Stage

[Nothing in my notes, but the Empire was still fighting the various Hordes of goblins, orcs, and lizardfolk invading it.]

DM Discussion

[The ending was re-written as the original actions resulted in Tim killing the entire party with the TDD and pissing the rest of the players off.  Rather than have the campaign come to a complete stop, we discussed a way to mitigate the self-inflicted TPK.  Having the bottle crack and leak out all the TDD (Tim’s Double Distilled) meant there was no explosion that collapsed the roof and crushed all of the player characters to death.  It also meant that Tim’s player was allowed to come back for the next session – that’s how upset the other players were.]

[The ruins the players were exploring was AD&D module C2: Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, modified for use with Fantasy Hero.  The poison gas did not translate very well as I had it doing STUN damage.  In hindsight, I should have made it do 1d6 STUN Drain or 1 pip BODY Drain every 10 minutes or so with greatly extended return rates.  That would have made things more urgent.  I also omitted a few rooms that were nothing but time-wasters – appropriate for a convention adventure, not so much for a non-competitive game.]

Tim's Outlanders Landing Page

Flight of the Yardbird

Previous session: Session 1

Next Session: Session 3 [not edited yet]

In Search Of, Session 2 Session Notes Delayed

 Yesterday was just busy enough I did not get the session notes typed up.  I planed to do it today (Wednesday) during some down time at the office, but I accidentally left my notebook with the notes I took during the session at home.  This is frustrating for me as I took the time to get all the electronic files I needed available for access while at the office and looked forward to typing things up while they are still somewhat fresh in my mind. 😞

Therefore, I'll edit the notes from the next session of The Flight of the Yardbird and get them up late today or tomorrow morning and post Session 2 of In Search Of on Friday.

Tim's Outlanders: Flight of the Yardbird, Session 1 - July 15-17, 18 IC

[The Outlanders return and report what they saw in Goebblein and the are sent to secure materials by the Orb Commission.]

[This session took place January 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

Max Lucas - male human ranger from the Bayern District

Rory the Red - Wizard and graduate of Outlands University, traveling companion to Tarquin

Malwyn – male High elf fighter and military expert

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

Session Begins

July 15, 18 IC

After finishing their mission to the Grand Duchy of Thuringia, Tim’s Outlanders returned to Freegate, approaching the Sun Gate, the barbican on the Eastern Rim of the Great Chasm July 15th.

The rebuilding of farms on the approach to the city were mostly complete and the fields were full of crops busily growing. The repairs to the Sun Gate’s barbican were almost complete. There seemed to be more people working on it than normal and it looked like it would be complete several months early. The tower that the Outlanders destroyed during the siege has been completely replaced by a much sturdier tower that looked like it might be able to withstand a "near hit" of TDD.

The City Guards on gate duty called out their sergeant as the Outlanders came into view.  By the time the Outlanders reached the checkpoint, the entire unit of Guards had formed up. The Sergeant then threw a quick salute, followed by the rest of the Guards, and said, "Good afternoon and welcome back to Freegate. It's good to see the Outlanders returning during these troubling times. Please, do not let us keep you from your business." He then waved the Outlanders into the city.  This unexpected enthusiasm by the gate guards and being allowed into the city without being searched or anything was strange to the Outlanders.

Once in town the Outlanders split up to deal with their personal business.  Tim, Max, and Dangar went to Alderheart Hall on the University Campus. Rory went to his lodgings at the Lost Gate Inn in Brasstown. Malwyn got a room at the Screaming Shrieker in the Adventurer's Quarter. Darkfox went through the Sigma Sigma Mu building in the Student Quarter and exited the back way as Karlyn. She took a rickshaw through the city to her parents' place in the Estates.

While on their own, the Outlanders learn from various people that the war the Empire is fighting against the goblinoids is not going as well as expected.  A horde of lizardmen emerged from The Moors in June and has seized control of the lower 200 miles of the Saggil River.  The lizardmen stalled the 1st Legion’s pursuit of the goblinoids fleeing from Freegate, allowing that horde to take the Citadel of the 7th Legion in the eastern part of the Empire.  The lizardmen also launched a pre-emptive strike against the 3rd Legion, which had marched down from Galãn, and foiled an amphibious assault across the Saggil.  Finally, there has been confirmation of a second goblinoid horde that sacked Fordsway and defeated the Legion at Andron Port.

In addition to learning these rumors of the war, the Outlanders remembered why they do not stay in the city very much.  Tim and Dangar spent some time dealing with the University bureaucracy, Malwyn was hassled by some unreasonable guardsmen, and Darkfox dealt with an even more sinister force, her mother.  Max and Rory part with the Outlanders – Rory to pursue his own studies and Max to go serve the village he must protect. [The players playing those characters wanted to introduce new characters.]

Later in the Day

The Outlanders are contacted individually by agents of the Faceless Five who request reports on the recent mission.  [The reports are collected the next day.]

July 16, 18 IC

Tim received a summons from Gaspard Smoothtouch, the Arch-Chancellor of Outlands University. Tim is instructed to assemble his team at the Administration Building in one of the meeting rooms. The meeting will be a report from the Orb Commission, giving a summation of their findings.  Tim gets Dangar and the two of them headed to the meeting.

Attending the meeting with Tim and Dangar are:

• Gaspard Smoothtouch - Arch-Chancellor of Outlands University
• Yasuf Na'im - Director of Antiquities in the History College
• Sergei Tolenkaovich - Dean of the Natural Philosophy College's HET Department
• Gremian Elderleaf - Head of the Orb Commission, HET Professor
• Nizam Pirro - Member of the Orb Commission, from the Advanced Maths Department of the Mathematics College

The Orb Commission reported that none of the means currently at the disposal of the University can destroy the Orb.  They explain everything they have tried, and how each attempt failed.  However, the data gleaned from the attempts plus many weeks of research have led the Commission to a proposed ritual that should do the job.

The catch is that the required ingredients must be fresh and are either scattered across the continent, or no one has seen one in millennia.  Further, the ritual must be held during a particular celestial alignment.  The next three instances of this alignment are in two weeks, in five months, and in 200 years.  The University selected the middle alignment, in five months, as the target.

The University discussed the travel requirements with the Gnome Consortium and they may have a solution.  The Gnomes are building a flying device that should have the speed necessary to get to all of the locations necessary with some time to spare for the celestial alignment in five months.  Tim and Dangar are introduced to Wendell, chief architect of the flying device [and new player character], and they set to making plans.  Tim and Dangar (eventually) make contact with Malwyn and Darkfox and start assembling supplies.

Tim and Wendell spent some time trying to get the University to provide the additional equipment the Outlanders wanted but were completely stonewalled by the bureaucracy.  Dangar spent the day winning various drinking contests and then getting rolled for all his money and the light mace he used as a “walking stick”.  He ended up being found by the City Watch, Student Quarter Division, and thrown into the drunk tank.  The University was billed for his fines of 30 cp for public drunkenness and not being able to get home, plus a 10 cp fine for not having the money on hand to pay the fine.  Darkfox and Malwyn spent time individually on their own pursuits.

The next day, Tim and Wendell tracked down Dangar and retrieved him, went to the bank, and withdrew the rare coins and gems the Outlanders found in the Mansion of Illusions.  Tim first tried to sell the coins to Montiflurio, but Montiflurio’s butler informed Tim and Wendell that Montiflurio was doing research and was not to be disturbed.  Tim left a message while Wendell conferred with his grandmother, the current Matriarch.  She directed Wendell to his cousin Martello, who dealt in rare coins.  Tim and Wendell went to Martello and sold the coins and gems.  They sent runners to find Darkfox and Malwyn and had everyone meet at the Green Gryphon, a restaurant of some note in the Golden Triangle.

After a meal, they all went to Old City to the weaponsmiths.  They purchased the gear they needed and then went to “Magic Alley” [a cluster of shops selling magic supplies and the occasional magic item] to see what magic items were available.  They purchased several items:

• Malwyn purchased a Dagger of No-stone (blade passes through stone without damaging stone) and a +1 dagger.
• Darkfox purchased a glowing dagger inscribed with “To Eliza, with love.”
• Wendell purchased a rod of efficient engineering.

Tim deposited the remailing money, totaling 119gp and Trade Bars worth 21.48gp, back into the Outlander account in the bank.  The group then dispersed to finish their individual preparations for travel.

July 17, 18 IC

In the morning the group reassembled at the gates to the new Gnome Compound on the Western Rim.  They were taken into a enormous building that was a single chamber and see for the first time the Yardbird.  It is not what they expected at all.  It is a zeppelin-style airship, the first the world has ever seen - it is extremely large, filling most of the building, and somehow floats in the air.

They were even less happy when Wendell explained that it is not held up by magic.

After some initial trepidation, the Outlanders were raised aboard via a cargo lift and shown their quarters.  Thirty minutes later the Outlanders were escorted to the bridge where they found Wendell giving final instructions to prepare the Yardbird, as he was the Captain as well as the architect.  The Yardbird was towed out of the hangar and in front of a viewing stand full of dignitaries.  After a short ceremony, Wendell gave the command to release the Yardbird from its tether and it headed north at a cruising speed of 20 miles per hour, an amazing speed to the Outlanders.

Later That Day

While flying over the farmlands under Freegate’s domain, Wendell gave the Outlanders a tour of the airship.  Near lunchtime, as the Yardbird approached the town of Eltmann (normally a 3-day ride by horse), a stowaway was discovered in one of the cargo holds.  He was chased around for a while and then cornered in the “drop-bay” for the Runaround-A.

After dangling the Runaround and letting the stowaway learn exactly where he was (thousands of feet off the ground), the thief surrendered, was stripped, and questioned.  Darkfox recognized him as a member of The Fade, a group of thieves operating in New City and specializing in second-story work.  During questioning, he recognized Darkfox and they started bickering as rival thieves will.  His initial answers were lies and no one really trusted him so he was put in chains and thrown in the brig until Wendell could decide what to do with him.  [My worst intro of a new PC, ever.  I still apologize to the player for this.]

Session Ends.

NPCs Met

Yardbird Crew:

Skyler – Master Cartographer

Lar – Ship’s Steward

Scotty – Chief Engineer

Other NPC’s:

Nizam Pirro (called “Pirro” or “Chartboy”) – Mathematician from the HET Department.

Happening Off-Stage

[The launch of the Yardbird was seen by much of the Freegate populace and word spread rapidly throughout the rest of the city.  The Faceless Five will have posters and criers sent out to explain to the populace that what they saw was a new type of ship that sailed through the air instead of water.  This calmed most of the populace as it is well known that the Faceless Five will never let a serious threat to the city exist for long.]

[The Bedtmuans were not so complacent.  They are aware of the involvement of the Outlanders with the “air-ship”.  They are attempting to find out anything they can on what is going on. They will eventually hear rumors about the Orb Commission, which they will find very alarming, having some idea what the Orb might be.  This will spur them to further efforts, including moving directly against the Outlanders again.]

[Finally, the Empire will eventually learn of the Yardbird.  They will either try to steal the technology or duplicate it, possibly both.]

DM Discussion

[For a variety of reasons, November and December were hard months to have game sessions, especially December, so this session being 3-4 months after the last one is not unusual.]

Tim's Outlanders Landing Page

Flight of the Yardbird

Previous session: Road to Thuringia, Session 3

Next Session: Session 2

My Magnum Opus - The Flight of the Yardbird

I'm currently assembling and editing my session notes for the next Outlanders adventure.  My notes call it The Orb Commission, but I and the players always refer to it as The Flight of the Yardbird, so that is how it will be listed on this blog.  It is possibly the best adventure I've written from scratch and introduces several new elements to my campaign world, the most notable being the gnomes.

One of the players wanted to try something similar to a gadgeteer in a fantasy setting.  I don't remember why, but he decided to make the character a gnome, a race I had not used before in this campaign.  Tinker Gnomes were popular at the time, but he did not want something that scatter-brained.  So we created Wendell and the Gnome Consortium.

I gave the gnomes a deep backstory.  They were created by the Sorcerer Kings as a servitor race to run their households (which was beneath the dignity of a Sorcerer King, but still necessary) and assist in their magical laboratories (because competent extra hands made things go faster and smoothly).  And because who wants to retrain assistants too often, they were given longer lifespans [400 years on average].

After the Sorcerer Kings disappeared [for reasons], the gnomes were still around and now had to interact with a world full of larger races.  The gnomes did what they do best: they organized and maintain their records and kept their heads down.  After the intervening 8 thousand years, they have enclaves in most important cities, are deeply tied into finances everywhere, and have codified rights and prerogatives, living together yet slightly apart from the bigger races.

The other thing that happened was that their birthrate has slowly dropped.  No one [other than me, the GM] is certain why it is happening and the gnomes keep it quiet, but in another 3-4 thousand years, the gnomes might die out.

Tim's Outlanders: Road to Thuringia, Session 3 - June 21, 18 IC

[The Outlanders observe the 5th Legion move past city of Goebblein and discover trouble back at their hotel.]

[This session took place most likely in September of 2001, but I don’t have the specific date in my notes.  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

Max Lucas - male human ranger from the Bayern District

Rory the Red - Wizard and graduate of Outlands University, traveling companion to Tarquin

Malwyn – male High elf fighter and military expert

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

Session Begins

June 21, 18 IC

Late Morning

The Outlanders went out in the (late) morning to find a place to watch the Legion march by.  The Lord Mayor of Goebblein had declared the day a fair day and various groups had set up pavilions outside of the city along the 5th Imperial Legion’s expected route.  Most of Goebblein turned out to see the Legion.  

The Outlanders were accosted by pickpockets as they were passing out of the city through the city gates.  Darkfox fended off an urchin attempting to pick her pocket, but Dangar lost the 70cp he was carrying on him.

While crossing the bridge over the Havel River to the Observation Grounds, the adventurers [and the rest of the public] were accosted by pickpockets again.  Dangar caught the pickpocket trying for his money this time by the wrist.  She kicked him in the solar plexus, hard, in order to escape.  To get revenge on Dangar (and not fully realizing who she was dealing with), she and her gang tracked down where the Outlanders were staying in town and broke in while most of the city was watching the passage of the 5th Legion.  They stole everything they could.

Unaware that was happening, the Outlanders enjoyed the impromptu fair and observed the 5th Legion move by the city.  The 5th Legion was mostly cavalry supported by magically self-propelled artillery platforms, each carrying multiple catapults or ballistae.  The Outlanders were duly impressed by the speed of the Legion and its self-propelled artillery platforms.  The 5th Legion maneuvers smartly, all units making a smart turn to the southeast as they pass the viewing stands.  The local crowd cheered mightily.

Late Afternoon

When the Outlanders returned to their rooms at The Tower they discovered had been robbed.  Outraged, the Outlanders reported the robbery to the Tower's management and then started looking for clues [for some personal street justice].  They discovered the concealed servant stairs and laundry service chutes and investigated those, frightening many of the staff of the Tower in the process.  While they were doing this, the City Guard arrived and attempted to arrest the Outlanders!

[I don’t have notes explaining how it happened, but eventually the Outlanders ended up at the City Guard station house, talking with the Captain of the Watch.]

It turned out that the Temple of Horne was broken into and items were stolen while the 5th Legion was passing by.  Witnesses described the perpetrators as looking like the Outlanders, but not exactly.  The Commander of the Guard had the Outlanders arrested mostly to avoid having them wreck his town – he knew their reputation for collateral damage.  He ordered the Guard to lean heavily on the local thieves' guild until they find the thieves (both sets) or the guild gets tired of the heat and hands the thieves over for some peace and quiet.  Once he had mollified the Outlanders with his display of doing all that he could, he let them go with no charges and an apology.

The situation with the Temples was sorted out when the local thieves’ guild turned over the location of the thieves that performed the temple job.  They were unaffiliated with the guild and caused more heat than they were worth.  Interrogation of them lead nowhere as they were hired by an unknown person to do the job.  The pickpocket who kicked Dangar was identified as Jasha Mulefoot, a known criminal in town.  Tim and Dangar placed a public bounty of 60 gp on Jasha Mulefoot, dead or alive.

Session Ends.

NPCs Met

Pyotr Semyonski – Captain of the Watch of Goebblein.  Polite and more knowledgeable of the goings on than the Lord-Mayor.  He is currently neutral towards the Outlanders but does not want them back in Goebblein until the unpleasantness between the Temples of Horne and Mithra is settled.  He is originally from Loforch.

Jasha Mulefoot – pickpocket with a strong kick from Goebblein.  She and her gang of thieves ran afoul of the Outlanders while trying to pick their pockets.

Happening Off-Stage

[Due to the huge bounty Tim and Dangar posted, Jasha and her gang had to leave town and will need to spend time in the Fiefdoms laying low.  She wants to get back at the Outlanders for this, especially Tim and Dangar.]

DM Discussion

[Because the 5th Legion’s area of responsibility in the north is mostly grasslands, the legion is mostly cavalry with some supporting infantry instead of mostly infantry with supporting cavalry like the other Imperial legions.  Additionally, their siege section is comprised of magically animated wheeled platforms with mounted catapults or ballistae.  The legion also has magically powered troops transports for their small infantry contingent, allowing the entire legion to move very quickly.]

[This is the last session notes for this adventure.  I'm not certain if there was more in Goebblein and the trip back or I just cut to the Outlanders arriving back at Freegate, but that is where my next set of notes picks up.]

Tim's Outlanders Landing Page 

Road to Thuringia

Previous session: Session 2 

Next Session: Flight of the Yardbird, Session 1