In Search Of – Session 3 – Contact Made – June 1-2, 56 IC

[This game uses the Hero System Fifth Revised Edition (FREd) roleplaying game.  Game sessions happen once a month.  This session happened May 30, 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

A’thir – male human “tracker”, name pronounce ăh-Thēr

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

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

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

Bertulf of Druuna – male human cleric of Druuna the Protector

June 1, 56 I.C. (Imperial Calendar)

6:00 PM

Having just landed in the Galan Air Yard on the Zephyr’s Embrace, the adventurers dis-embarked the airship and looked around.  The air yard was outside the city walls but not very far away.  The city itself had long ago spilled outside the walls although here the building growth was sparse.

A’thir and Kairon notice a short human wearing black clothes and a black hat holding a sign saying "Friends from Freegate".  Kairon walked up to the man and greeted him as a “friend from Freegate”.  The man introduced himself as Mykhail, personal assistant to Viktor Leonideovich who could not make it due to other obligations.  He had a carriage ready once the adventurers had claimed their luggage.

The adventurers had to wait a bit for the Yard staff to finish unloading the passenger luggage before they could claim theirs from the neatly arranged rows.  They then followed Mykhail to the edge of the yard field, where a carriage was waiting for them.  Mykhail drove the carriage himself.

The road from the Air Yard to the city walls was fairly straight and direct and went through a slums area.  Mykhail informed the adventurers that the inhabitants were mostly workers at the air yard and domestics for the wealthy living inside the city walls.

Once the carriage passed through the gate inside the city walls, it was apparent this area was well off.  The buildings were made of sturdier material and painted.  Mykhail drove the carriage to the end of the first block of buildings and then turned left, into a paved courtyard.  He drove across the courtyard to a tall 4-story building and brought the carriage to a halt.  He then climbed down from the carriage and asked the adventurers to grab their luggage and follow him to their residence during their stay.

Mykhail led them into the tall building and up the stairs to the fourth floor.  Kairon made note of potential escape routes in case that became necessary. Mykhail produced a key at the fourth-floor landing and unlocked the single door there.  Opening the door, he waved the adventurers inside.

The entire fourth floor was a single apartment and was tastefully decorated.  Mykhail produced two keys for the apartment and Kairon and Devorah took them.  Mykhail informed the adventurers that Viktor would be by later that evening, around sundown.  He then went over to the dining table and manipulated some controls under the edge of the table that caused the table surface to flip over, revealing maps of the city and the local neighborhood, a sketch map of the target building, and various planning supplies.

Mykhail then walked over to the large southeastern window and rotated the vertical louvered metal shades.  He pointed out the target building, which, due to the height of the safehouse and the large courtyard in the center of the adjacent block, was visible from the window.

Mykhail then asked the adventurers if there was anything else they needed immediately.  They asked about food and drink and he pointed them to the freshly stocked pantry and wine closet.  He then took his leave.

7:00 PM

With some time on their hands, several of the adventurers decided to stroll the area to start getting familiar with it.  Kairon and Shaes both stayed at the safehouse studying the maps, Halfrijd, Jorunn, and Bertulf strolled the neighborhood by the target, while Devorah used her Green Book to locate nearby gnome-safe locations.  A’thir decided to do some roof running instead and discovered that the nearby corner building had a small workout area on its roof for city guard members, which was currently occupied.  Luckily he was not seen.  He could also see that the top of the city wall was lit.

Halfrijd, Jorunn, and Bertulf discovered that the buildings on the target block were mostly residences with very nice, well-kept exteriors.  All the buildings on the street the target building faces were raised up off the ground with no windows on the lowest floor [the basement].  The target building was a residence but looked somewhat uninviting.  Stairs up to the door were lit but metal shutters closed over every window with no visible light coming from inside in the twilight shadows.

The target building sat at a T-intersection.  The building across the street and to the left had a sign identifying it as Penrith’s Books.  It looked like Penrith lived above the shop.  Jorunn noticed some magical runes inscribed on the door into the bookshop, both alarm and paralytic magics.  This suggested that the target building might also have defensive magics.  The building to the right was a residence.

The trio rounded the corner where the target block sat next to the city walls, which was a clean and well-lit street.  The buildings at the far corner were a bank and a city guard station, right by the city gate.  Following around past the guard station was a tavern, the Azure Boar, and then a jewelry store, Aether & Onyx, with offices for jewelers and gem cutters above it.  Completing their circuit around the target block, they returned to the safehouse.

8:00 PM

After some short exploration, all the adventurers were back at the safehouse. enjoying a light dinner, when there was a knock on the door.  It was Viktor Leonideovich, their local contact, and his assistant Mykhail.  Viktor greeted them warmly and then shared information on their target.

While Viktor spoke, Kairon attempted to use his telepathy spell to verify Viktor’s identity.  He was unable to contact Viktor’s mind and received no information.  [His ECV roll was average and not enough to get past Viktor’s mental defenses, suggesting that Viktor has better than average EGO.]

The private museum:

• Kamal Darzi’s private museum was the room in the center of the residence.
• The entrance is a secret door on the North wall, behind a display of Galan's Gran Carta, but Viktor does not know the exact method for opening it.
• The Gran Carta is displayed on a pedestal with a colored tile pattern around the lip.  Three of the four corners match, but 1 corner is mismatched.  Kamal pretends the mismatched tile is the opening mechanism, but Viktor has confirmed it is not.
• Viktor suspects that the actual mechanism is on the tessellated tile pattern on the wall behind the pedestal, and Kamal Darzi stands between the pedestal and tile wall to do SOMETHING that opens the passage.
• The private museum also has a skylight that is not visible from the street.

Kamal Darzi’s daily schedule:

• Kamal Darzi leaves his home for the Ginkana Club in his personal carriage at 10 am every morning.
• He spends 2 hours at the club every morning reading unofficial government reports he should not have access to, but gets through his contacts still in the government.
• At Noon he has lunch at the club with other members,
• During the afternoon he either plays chess or other games with other club members or spends the time reading from the club’s library.
• At 5 pm he leaves the club for dinner.  Dinner is at home Monday, Wednesday, and Friday or Saturday and out at various restaurants or friend’s homes otherwise.
• Security personnel are always present at his home when guests are over.  Viktor was unclear on whether that security remains there always.  If they are always there, then they must live in the building.
• When eating out, Kamal returns home by 8 pm and spends the rest of the night reading or working on personal projects.
• Kamal goes to sleep around midnight, in a different room every night, but Viktor believes he has observed a pattern in the room selections.

Viktor told the adventurers that Mykhail would stop in every day around Noon to see if they needed anything or had questions that Viktor might answer.  He reminded the group that he was to get an answer as to whether or not they thought the job was doable by June 8th.  He then bid them good night.

A’thir realized the sun had set and left the safehouse via a window.  From the safehouse fourth floor, A’thir could see on top of the city walls. The city gates were closed and there were some guards on top of the gate wall playing cards.

A’thir made some noise climbing down to the nearest roof, which drew the attention of the gate guards.  He was able to mostly hide himself in the shadows until one of the guards caught another guard using the distraction to cheat at their card game, at which point they stopped paying attention to A’thir's noise and start arguing amongst themselves.

A’thir made his way across the rooftops to the main road and observed some guards leaving the guard station across the street, heading up the main road, deeper into the city.  He decided to jump across the main street to the roof of a building on the target block. He made the jump, but the landing was not graceful and made some noise.  He made further noise as he moved across the roof of the jewelers, but no alarms went off.  [He missed his Stealth roll by 1.]

At the interior edge of the building, A’thir was able to look down into the courtyard that was the center of the target block.  The courtyard was lit by some lanterns, enough so that people walking in it would not trip.  The courtyard was not paved and there were a few children playing in the light near one of the residences.  The rear entrance to the bank was impressive looking and the rear entrance to the Azure Boar seemed to be up a set of stairs and to the second floor.

A’thir made his way around the courtyard along the rooftops towards the target building and stopped one building before reaching it.  He spent several hours observing the target building until around midnight when the lights inside started to go out, indicating Kamal was going to sleep.

A’thir returned to the safehouse around 2am.

June 2, 56 IC

Morning

The adventurers spent the morning doing a variety of scouting activities.

• Jorunn, Kairon, and Bertulf went to Penrith’s Books
• Devorah scouted the target block and ended up at Penrith’s
• Halfrijd checked out the jewelry store Aether & Onyx.
• A’thir spent the morning learning how to get on top of the building across the street from the target and Penrith’s.
• Shaes spent time at the safehouse.

At Penrith’s Books

Jorunn, Kairon, and Bertulf walked from the safehouse to Penrith’s Books.  Jorunn paused at the doorway, examining the security runes, whereas Kairon and Bertulf went straight into the shop.  Eventually realizing he was alone on the doorstep, Jorunn followed the other two into the shop.

The trio was greeted by the shopkeeper, Penrith.  Jorunn asked if the shop had any turtle books and was led to the natural history books.  There were four books specifically on turtles, one of which Jorunn already owned and the other he considered too basic, so he looked through the other two.  Bertulf asked for books on herbalism and was shown to three shelves full of books on the topic.  Bertulf started looking through them.  Kairon engaged Penrith in conversation on the shop itself and was able to glean that Kamal Darzi was a silent, financial, partner of the bookshop and there was only one other individual that helps out in the bookstore.  [Successful Conversation roll on Kairon’s part.]

Once he was satisfied with the turtle books, Jorunn asked for books on magical suppression.  Penrith led Jorunn on a twisted path through the books to a closet all the way at the back that might have been in another building.  Penrith handed Jorunn a book on magical suppression. Jorunn also noticed a book on Abjuration magics and asked to look at it.  A brief perusal told Jorunn it did not meet his needs.  He chose to buy the two turtle books at 3sp each and the book on magic suppression for 5gp.  Bertulf settled on three books on herbology for 10sp total.

While Penrith was wrapping up the purchased books, Kairon asked for books on heraldry, specifically for books with more current information.  Penrith told him this was a touchy subject locally and pricey, especially for unexpurgated versions.  The cost would be 30+ gp.  Kairon said he needed to think on it.  Penrith said he would not make enquiries until Kairon confirmed intent to purchase.

When Jorunn, Kairon, and Bertulf left, Devorah was just arriving.  Devorah pretended she did not know the guys and then Jorunn talked directly to her about the bookstore.  Kairon dragged Jorunn away before he could do any more harm.  Kairon’s instincts told him that Jorunn’s faux pas had been observed, but he was not certain by whom exactly.  Bertulf nearly went after Devorah to ask loudly why she was pretending not to know the group but was just able to rein himself in and walk away, following Kairon and Jorunn.  [The player was undecided about whether or not Bertulf would blurt out everything and I recommended an EGO Roll.  He rolled an 18 on an EGO Roll and had to spend his sole Hero Point to reroll one of the dice, getting a 1 on the reroll and reclaiming control of his character’s actions.]

Kairon took Bertulf and Jorunn on a path along the city wall away from the safehouse until he could verify nobody was following them.  Once satisfied they were not being followed, Kairon looped Bertulf and Jorunn in that Devorah was possibly being monitored. The trio took the long way to get back to the safehouse and arrived about an hour and a half later.

Back inside Penrith’s, Devorah met Penrith and asked about engineering books.  She was lead back on a twisted path through the books to a closet all the way at the back that might have been in another building and shown Recent Abjuration.  Looking through it, she decided it was what she needed and discussed price.  Penrith proposes a deal: as Devorah is a gnome, would she be willing to review and comment on a copy of How Gnome Airships Fly in exchange for a discount on Recent Abjuration?  If she gave Penrith 7gp now, he would give back 2gp as the deposit on How Gnome Airships Fly plus a further 1gp as a discount on Recent Abjuration when she returned How Gnome Airships Fly with her comments/review.  After working out that she would only comment on the accuracy or inaccuracy of the text and not include anything proprietary, she agreed to the deal.  Penrith wrapped up both books and Devorah left the shop heading back to the safehouse.

At Aether & Onyx, Halfrijd, used to the deference towards dwarf craftspeople in gem shops in Freegate, misplayed her hand with the staff and was kindly asked to leave.  A bit at a loss as a result, she eventually wandered back to the safehouse, being the first to return of those who left that morning.

Meanwhile, A’thir found an access point to the rooves of the block he wanted to scout.  Verifying he was unobserved, he leapt up to catch a ladder end and climbed up to the roof.  [This was a maintenance access point and the maintenance workers would have a portable ladder with hooks on the end to connect with the permanently mounted portion.]  Up on the roof of the block of buildings he made his way to the building he wanted and spent the rest of the morning there observing the target building across the street.  [As a note to the reader, A’thir was spotted by the Competition while climbing the ladder and was being monitored by them from another building.]

End of Session

Commentary

[After several sessions of everyone mispronouncing his character’s name, in Session 5 A’thir moved the apostrophe in his name to be next to the A to clarify the pronunciation as “Ah-theer”.  I’m reflecting that spelling now and going forward.  This will also give you some idea of how far behind I’ve gotten in doing these write-ups.]

In Search Of…Adventures

Last Session: Session 2

Next Session: Session 4 [Not yet transcribed]

Tim's Outlanders: Cultists, Cultists, Cultists, Session 2 – March 23 to April 11, 20 IC

[Making connections and then traveling up the Mosel River.]

[This session took place May 8, 2004.  We were playing Champions 5th 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

Mord Worldfist – male dwarf bodyguard [and handler] for Dangar

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

NPCs

Rebecca – female gnome, part of the Gnome security detail for Wendell

Herschal “the Hunter” – also known as “Bearkiller”, male gnome, part of the Gnome security detail for Wendell

Yacov – male gnome, part of the Gnome security detail for Wendell

Session Begins

March 23, 20 IC

Having arrived at Haus Senke, the Gnome compound in County Silverloc, the Outlanders were looking for an Adventuring Permit and a good place to eat.  They had been advised that adventuring in the Empire required a permit or any treasure recovered could be claimed by the local government (it was found on their property after all).  Needing local advice, they located the Supply Master for Haus Senke, Samuel, and chatted with him.

Samuel had heard of the Outlanders and their contributions to the Gnome Consortium [made their Reputation roll] and pointed out that the current home of the County Government was at Anjer House, the manor house in the center of the refugee encampments.  There they would be able to gain an Adventuring Permit.  The only eatery of any note was Chao's Chow, by default the best in town.  He told the Outanders that the quality of what they got there was directly tied to how much they wanted to spend and the top tier food was very good.  The Outlanders thanked him for his time and headed first to Anjer House for their permit.

On the way to Anjer House, while making their way through the town's ratty marketplace, Tim hired a random street urchin to act as a guide and to fend off all the other urchins/pickpockets.  Tim offered a princely fee of two silver pieces, purchasing the immediate loyalty of the urchin, whose name turned out to be Wulf.  Unfortunately, Wulf only spoke Low Franconian [like most of the local populace] and Tim did not.  Of the Outlanders, only Darkfox spoke Low Franconian and so she ended up handling translation between Tim and his guide.

On the way to Anjer House, Wulf shared that the Gnomes walled in the area around the manor house and constructed some additional buildings to hold government offices, but the Count had had a 20 ft tall earthen wall constructed around the town itself, so the people were safe, if hungry.

At Anjer House the Outlanders secured an Adventuring Permit (after only minimal bribes) and a map of the known areas of the Southern Reaches mountain (with a partial refund if they bring it back with new, accurate, data).  This was a standard deal for adventurers as the Southern Reaches (the southern-most part of the Worldspine Mountains) was little explored and home to a variety of monsters, such as ogres and gnolls.

The Outlanders next went to Chao's Chow to eat.  Chao’s Chow was a large three-story structure, with the upper two floors having many windows.  The Outlanders were greeted at the door and asked if they wanted to eat in the Common Room or upstairs in the County View.  Wulf explained that the upstairs was posh and fancy while the ground floor was like any tavern.  The Outlanders opted for the County View and were escorted up a set of carpeted stairs to the second floor.  They were greeted at the top of the stairs by another, better dressed, greeter and asked if they would like a private room or open seating.  They opted for open seating and were shown to a table with a view of the city.  [These were the cheap seats, the more expensive seats had a view of the landscape outside of the city with little to no sign of any refugees.]

While eating their meal (above average quality but costs even more), Tim (looking for markets for his beer) asked the waitress to pass along an offer to Mr. Chao to sample some of Tim's Old Sock beer.  Mr. Chao accepted and he and Tim schmoozed.

After some polite discussion, Mr. Chao suggested that the Outlanders use his transportation company to travel to Phaisbourg—it would be quicker than walking and not have so much trouble with patrols.  He also recommended some people in Phaisbourg who would be good local contacts.  The Outlanders took Mr. Chao up on his offer and agreed to meet him the next morning at his Import/Export business.

That night the Outlanders stayed in guest rooms inside Haus Senke.  Other than feeling a little small [the rooms were spacious for gnomes, not so much for humans and elves], the rooms were comfortable and secure.

March 24, 20 IC

The next morning, the Outlanders went to Chao's Import/Export where Mr. Chao introduced them to Helmut, one of his drivers.  The Outlanders loaded themselves into Helmut's cart and rode off, heading west.

March 26, 20 IC

After two days of travel at breakneck speed, the Outlanders arrived at Phaisbourg mid-morning.  Phaisbourg was a walled town on the Mosel River just where the valley plain became hilly before entering the mountains.

In Phaisbourg, the Outlanders looked up Gerhard Kruegar, a fur buyer recommended by Mr. Chao.  Gerhard claimed all the trappers he knew were out in the mountains setting their traps...until Mr. Chao was mentioned.  This seemed to "remind" him of someone still in town and he directed the Outlanders to a tavern named the Rusty Eye where they were to ask for Horace.

At the Rusty Eye, the Outlanders asked the bartender for Horace.  The bartender directed them to the flop room in the back where they found a man apparently still sleeping off the effects of the previous night's drinking.  After waking him up, they confirmed the man was indeed Horace, known as Horace the Mad.

Horace turned out to be a loud-voiced man with long, wild hair, ice blue eyes, and patchwork clothes made out of various animal hides.  After negotiating for his services (which included paying his tab at the tavern), Horace agreed to lead the Outlanders into “The Mountains”.  He talked about landsharks and “mole people”.

The Outlanders then went to the local outfitters shop (owned and run by Mr. Arndt) and purchased the gear Horace recommended.  This pile of equipment cost a total of 3 platinum, which Tim paid with Freegate Royals.

After the outfitters, the group stopped at the local temple and met with Father Gerard.  In exchange for a good-sized donation to the temple, the Outlanders receive a holy mace, some healing gels, and some holy water.

The Outlanders then went down to the river docks and looked for a river raft and crew to take them up the Mosel and into the mountains.  They eventually met and hired a river pilot named Janko and his crew.  Once the Outlanders and their pile of equipment were all loaded, the river raft headed up the Mosel (west).

April 11, 20 IC

The Outlanders and their hired raft arrived at Waterfall Island, the furthest navigable point up the Mosel River.  True to its name, the small island was in a small lake at the base of a tall waterfall.  At the top of the waterfall, on a stone outcropping, were the mostly intact remains of a tower Janko identified as Bleak Tower, an uninhabited set of ruins.

The Outlanders and the river raft crew unloaded all the gear onto the island, where the Outlanders made a base camp.  Janko agreed to return on the Autumn Equinox [late September] to pick up the Outlanders and take them back to Phaisbourg.

The Outlanders decided that that spending the night on Waterfall Island will be safest and set watches.  The watches were:

1. Darkfox and Rebecca
2. Dangar and Mord
3. Malwyn and Herschal
4. Tim and Yacov

During the second watch, Dangar and Mord (Mord, really) noticed lights moving in the upper portions of Bleak Tower.  The lights eventually disappeared or went out and were not seen by any of the later watches.

Session Ends.

NPCs Met

Samuel – gnome quartermaster at Haus Senke

Wulf – street urchin hired in the refugee city to protect against pickpockets and act as a guide

Mr. Chao – Restaurateur, transportation magnate, and possible crime lord.  Owner of Chao's Chow and Chao's Transport Company.  Think of Senor Ferrari from Casablanca.

Gerhard Kruegar – fur buyer in Phaisbourg.  Owes Mr. Chao.

Horace (the Mad) – a fur trapper and mountain man operating in the Southern Reaches.  Claims to have seen mole men and landsharks.  Also claims to know the herb that repels landsharks.

Mr. Arndt – Outfitter and provisioner in Phaisbourg.  Owes Mr. Chao.

Father Gerard – Priest of Druuna in Phaisbourg.  Outlanders received healing magics from him.

Janko – River raft captain based in Phaisbourg.  Has agreed to meet the Outlanders back on Waterfall Island at the Autumn Equinox.

Happening Off-Stage

The light in the Tower was a ratling shaman observing the Luna full moon and performing a ritual.  He also observed the fire on Waterfall Island and reported it after he finished with his ritual.  As a result, the ratlings will be ready if the Outlanders investigate the Tower next session.  [Spoiler: they do.]

DM Discussion

[I had clearly been reading on adventuring and how property was handled in history.  Local lords would claim anything found and then had the option of giving a small percentage back to the people who found it.  Hence, I introduced the concept of an Adventuring Permit.  As the campaign until this point had been in Freegate and that city had a much more laisse faire attitude towards adventuring, it was not necessary there, but the more bureaucratic (and tax heavy) Empire wanted stronger lines of ownership and tracking of new wealth.]

[The common tongue in Freegate is known as Trade Speak by everyone else.  The southern-most part of the Crendian Empire speaks Low Franconian, which covers County Silverloc, Fordsway, and the parts of the Farwood Forest not directly occupied by the Staff Elves (who speak Kuk Telanth).  This was the part in my evolution as a GM where I started defining what the “common tongue” was for each region.  The lingua franca of the empire is Lath Hinual, the language of the High Elves, mostly because they make up a large part of the imperial bureaucracy and have for thousands of years.]

Tim's Outlanders Landing Page

Cultists, Cultists, Cultists

Previous session: Session 1

Next Session: Session 3

Tim's Outlanders: Cultists, Cultists, Cultists, Session 1 – March 10-23, 20 IC

[A conversation, a visit, a duel, and a flight south.]

[This session probably took place April 2004.  We were playing Champions 5th 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

Mord Worldfist – male dwarf bodyguard [and handler] for Dangar

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

NPCs

Rebecca – female gnome, part of the Gnome security detail for Wendell

Herschal “the Hunter” – also known as “Bearkiller”, male gnome, part of the Gnome security detail for Wendell

Yacov – male gnome, part of the Gnome security detail for Wendell

Session Begins

March 10, 20 IC

Tim had been spending some of his time since the Flight of the Yardbird [end of 18 IC] researching and examining the items the Outlanders had taken from the vault under the Imperial Legion Citadel in Fordsway, in particular the set of copper scrolls that described an assault on the temple of a death cult and its sealing [see below, after the session report].  This suggested to Tim treasure was to be had.  He was greatly frustrated trying to determine where the ruins might be located as the location references were escaping him.  To blow off some steam he met Malwyn to have beers at a tavern Malwyn had recently built [representing part of Malwyn's points in Wealth].

Malwyn, always keeping abreast of military affairs across the continent, was discussing some of the fighting taking place in what used to be County Silverloc but was now Horde territory.  He was describing where some resistance fighting had been happening and Tim recognized one of the place names Malwyn listed as also appearing on the copper scrolls.

Suddenly very interested in the conversation, Tim quizzed Malwyn as to where the locations he was describing existed.  Malwyn told him and Tim [after finishing his drink] quickly ran [staggered really – they had been drinking for a while] back to his study and passed out.  When he woke back up [and defeated a terrible hangover by taking some of the hangover cure he had ordered from Goebblein], he renewed his search for the temple ruins, starting on the western fringe of County Silverloc.  

March 13, 20 IC

Several days (and many better maps) later, Tim felt he had a good idea where the temple was located [good enough to go looking anyway].  He then sent messages to the members of the Outlanders, requesting their assistance to “check out a site of potential value”.

March 15, 20 IC

The Outlanders met to discuss the opportunity and do some planning.  Through Wendell the Outlanders were able to arrange a ride on a gnome supply airship heading south to Fordsway in a few days.  This gave them time to lay in supplies and gear for their expedition into the southern Worldspine Mountains.  Due to tight shipping schedules, the airship could not provide transportation into the mountains and the Outlanders would have to be dropped off in Haus Senke and go overland from there.  This area was now a Gnomish Protectorate, per the Treaty of Fordsway, and Haus Senke (“Valley House” in Gnomish) was the Gnome fortified trading house maintaining the Gnome presence required by the Treaty.

March 16, 20 IC

The Outlanders had heard weird rumors about Montiflurio, the sage that occasionally hired them to explore ancient sites, and decided to pay him a visit before they left Freegate.  [It is possible they were asked to by people at the University based on information queries Montiflurio had made during the previous months, but I have no notes telling me how I played it.]

The Outlanders [at least Tim, Dangar, and Mord, probably the rest as well] went to Montiflurio’s home and noticed it seemed newer and cleaner that they remembered from previous visits.  Perhaps Montiflurio had renovations or cleaning done in the last year.  When Tim knocked on the door, he was answered by Jeeves, Montiflurio’s butler, who was in good health.  Tim explained why they were there, to which Jeeves said, "The Master is performing some involved historical research and is currently unavailable.  I will let him know of your concern and he will contact you when he takes a pause in his work."  Tim asked when that might be and Jeeves was stating he couldn’t be certain when a voice, clearly Montiflurio’s, from inside and up on the second-floor balcony directed Jeeves to bring his guests to the study and he would join them shortly.  Jeeves’ face showed great surprise at this but he quickly hid it, inviting the Outlanders into the house.

Jeeve showed the Outlanders to the study, a room Tim and Dangar had seen previously.  Jeeves asked the groups’ drink preferences and then left to fill them.  The room was pretty much the way Tim and Dangar remember it, but everything seemed fresher somehow.

A couple minutes later Montiflurio entered the room, followed by Jeeves, who was carrying a tray with everyone’s drinks.  Rather than his regular, scholarly robes, Montiflurio was wearing robes made of red-dyed silk with ornate dragon designs sewn into it using gold, silver, and copper thread.  He appeared to be in very good health and was very well groomed.

After greeting the Outlanders and thanking them for enquiring about his health, he asked Tim [and Wendell if he was there] if he/they would mind answering a few questions about Mage Tongue [the language of magic].  Tim was willing and they spent about 20 minutes discussing possible alternate pronunciations and conjugations of words in Mage Tongue while the others enjoyed their drinks.  During the conversation, Tim quickly realized that Montiflurio already knew Arcanium, the recently rediscovered more advanced form of Mage Tongue, and was probably better at it than Tim, the person that rediscovered it.  Tim chose not to say anything.

Eventually Montiflurio seemed to be satisfied with the conversation regarding Mage Tongue and switched topics.  He told the Outlanders that he had been following their exploits somewhat and wondered if they could verify something for him.  He has heard that they might be in possession of a map that shows the pre-Mage War landscape, including the location of ancient cities.  He wanted to know A) if the Outlanders had such a map, and B) may he review it sometime?  The map would be an invaluable resource for his research.  Tim allowed that they had such a map, but it was back at the university and perhaps they could arrange a viewing in the future.  Montiflurio thanked him and stated he would work out a day to do so when his research schedule allowed.

After that, Montiflurio excused himself, saying he must return to his research.  He thanked the Outlanders for their time and asked Jeeves to see them out.  He then left the room.

Once the Outlanders were outside the house and down the street some, Tim shared his suspicions about Montiflurio knowing Arcanium with the others.  They generally trusted Montiflurio as he had been their patron for a while, but all agreed something was definitely going on.

March 17, 20 IC

While the Outlanders were going about making their preparations, a dwarf in immaculate armor, wearing an opulent cloak, having a perfect dwarven beard, and followed by four immaculately dressed dwarven servants carrying his weapons and gear, approached Dangar in a public place.  Closer inspection showed that the lead dwarf wore the crest of the Torkrest Clan of the Southern Dwarven Kingdom and looked every inch a dwarven national hero.  He walked right up to Dangar and held out his hand to one of his attendants.  The attendant handed the hero a white leather gauntlet, with which the dwarf smacked Dangar across the face!  He then threw the gauntlet to the ground and said the following in Dentugog (the Dwarf language):

"I am Azrak of the Torkrest clan, whom you have greatly insulted in years past.  I have come to demand satisfaction, you scruffy-bearded tramp."

This was a formal challenge.  Azrak was not carrying any obvious weapons [his flunkies were carrying them for him] and Dangar would lose great honor if he attacked right then.  As Dangar was currently a National Hero of the NDK, this would reflect badly upon the entire Northern Dwarven Kingdom, especially its king, who had vouched that Dangar was a hero.  Due to the heightened tensions between the Dwarven Kingdoms, there was no honorable way for Dangar to decline the challenge.

The correct and honorable response was to accept the challenge and name a place, which Dangar did [I think it was in the courtyard behind Malwyn's bar on the Western Rim].  Azrak, as the challenger, named the time – Noon, two days hence.  As the challenged, Dangar set the boundaries of the duel: first surrender.  Dwarven duels assume that the weapons used will be the hand weapons favored by the individual warriors, so at this point the duel parameters were established.

As the duel was set for the day after the Outlanders planned to leave Freegate, Wendell had to reschedule the supply airship’s departure and explain why to the Consortium.  Sensitive to the politics involved, the Consortium allowed for the delay but also require Wendell to take a security detail [now that they knew where he was going might not be safe].

March 18, 20 IC

Word of the duel rapidly spread through the city and betting pools started.  People gossiped about the duel everywhere and bookie scouts started showing up and following Dangar around to see what kind of contender he was.  Whatever Dangar did to impress the scouts, he learned that Azrak had already done something more impressive.  By the next morning, people were talking about how much Azrak looked like a "proper dwarven hero", while Dangar looked the part of a scruffy vagabond.  Groups of people quickly fell silent for an awkward moment when Dangar walked by.  By the time of the duel, Azrak was the 4 to 1 favorite over Dangar.

[At some point, Dangar was loaned a magical battle axe and had his armor polished so he would at least look more like a National Hero of the Northern Dwarven Kingdom.  Unfortunately, I have no notes indicating who it was, but it might have been the Gnomes, currying favor with their allies to the north, or even the High Priest of He Who Protects.]

March 19, 20 IC

When Dangar and the Outlanders arrived at the chosen place, Azrak was already there, sitting comfortably in a sturdy but beautiful chair under an ornate silk pavilion, his family crest flying on a flag above it.  Azrak was wearing a different set of armor this day.  It appeared to be extremely functional, but was decorated to make Azrak appear to be a great mountain lion.  The helmet was sculpted to be the lion’s head, the gauntlets and boots looked like claws, and the plates were sculpted and painted to look like fur.  He moved very gracefully and easily in the armor.  [Dangar tended to get heavily injured by cat-like or cat-related opponents, so this was a psychological ploy against Dangar on Azrak’s part.  Dangar's player approved.]

There were spectators everywhere they could fit and still see the fighting area.  The crowd cheered loudly when Azrak stepped forth.  There was a lesser cheer for Dangar, mostly from the University crowd.  There were several bookies set up and food vendors worked the crowd.  The City Watch was present keeping the crowd under some measure of control (and to watch the fight themselves).  As this was a proper duel between national champions, by custom the City Watch would neither stop nor interfere with the proceedings.

[To provide a challenging opponent, I played a dirty trick on Dangar’s player.  A month or so prior, I asked all the players to send me a copy of their characters so I could align the adventure better with their capabilities.  This was a lie.  I did it to get a current copy of Dangar.  I then made a copy of what the player sent, changed the name to Azrak, and swapped all references to the Southern and Northern Dwarven Kingdoms.  Viola!  The perfect foil – Dangar would fight his clone!]

The duel happened.

During the duel, everyone noticed that both dwarves were wielding powerful magic axes.  Neither dwarf called the other out over this and the fight was furious.  Both could hit with near impunity [Dangar had very high OCV and low DCV, so his opponent did as well] so many wounds were inflicted and both were quickly bloodied, which got the crowd cheering.  In the end, Dangar got the last hit in, knocking Azrak unconscious!  Dangar told the unconscious dwarf to “get up and fight or I’ll accept your surrender.”  When Azrak lay there unconscious, Dangar raised his axe and was declared the victor.  The crowd, very entertained by the fight, cheered [but not as much if Azrak had won as most had bet on the Southern Dwarf].  Dangar wobbled over to the Outlanders and asked for healing potions before collapsing to the ground.

March 20, 20 IC

Morning

The Outlanders arrived at The Yard out on the Western Rim.  Construction of the new, "sunken", construction bays (built down into the side of the canyon walls instead of sitting on top) was nearing completion.  Two of the sunken bays were complete and currently retooling to produce a new type of airship – merchant airships.  The above ground bays were now storage facilities or "hangars" [because the Gnomes hung the airships from points on the ceiling] for completed airships, although they rarely had any ship of the fleet in them.

The loading facilities for the airships had developed, so it was easier to get aboard.  Additional facilities for handling cargo and loading it onto the airships were being constructed.  The Outlanders boarded the supply airship and rode it south.

Later That Day

As the airship approached Wemmel from the north, the Outlanders could make out the immense Wemmel Water Works, in the process of being built where the Tabor River poured over the escarpment in a set of immense waterfalls.  [The escarpment was the southern border of the Freegate Territories.]

The gnomes were building immense water wheels to harness the power of the river and one of them was finished and spinning.  There appeared to be a set of gears and linkages connecting the completed wheel to a work area where all sorts of construction was happening.  There were several stone towers and a small keep for site security and to protect the workers.  Even from the altitude they were flying at, it was apparent to the Outlanders that the majority of the work force was non-Gnomish.  They appeared to be a mix of humans and dwarves.

To the Outlanders untrained eyes, it appeared that the gnomes had a long way to go before they completed the enormous complex.

March 21-22, 20 IC

As they sailed south, flying high above and along the Greater Tabor River, it was still possible to see signs of the GHN.  There were few trees of any height anywhere within two miles of the river.  All the underbrush was short and relatively sparse.  The few farmhouses they saw seemed small or were obviously abandoned.  The city of Ingolstadt, once the capital and home of the rulers of the Bayern District was now piles of rubble, still abandoned over three years after the horde besieged and sacked the city.

One of the odd things they noticed were the flags flying from farmhouses and small towns along the river.  Those flags flying on the western side of the river showed the traditional coat of arms of the Bayern District on a field of light blue, but now included an additional heraldic device above the coat of arms.  The exact device shown changed multiple times as the airship flew south.

Meanwhile, all of the flags flying on the eastern side of the river showed the coat of arms of the Bayern District, but instead the traditional light blue background, the background was divided vertically, half green and half red – colors associated with Greater Lundania.  Once the airship passed the ruins of the city of Oberwessel, the flags on both sides of the river showed the Lundanian colors.

March 23, 20 IC

On the third day of travel, the airship entered the remaining territory of County Silverloc.  The change was apparent from the air as the scars of war were still fresh upon the earth here.  There were large swaths of burnt croplands and farmsteads on the eastern side of the river.  Patrols of bat-riders could be seen far to the south and east while the airship captain now scrupulously kept the airship to the west of the Greater Tabor River.

The lands to the west of the river were not in much better shape.  Along the river the farms were all abandoned and overgrown.  In the distance to the west, a few scattered smudges of smoke were the only signs of inhabitants.

As the airship crossed the Mosel River, Haus Senke was finally able to be seen.  It was pentagonal in shape, with impressive walls and coated with the traditional Gnomish glaze [fireproof and acid resistant].  It was completely surrounded by an extensive shanty town of hovels.  Clustered in the sea of hovels were a few permanent looking structures that must have once been the manor house and outbuildings for a large farm or small barony.  Thronging the "streets" of this impromptu town were thousands of people that looked to be refugees.  As the airship came in to tether to a tower on top of the Haus, the smell of the refugee camp hit the Outlander, and they fully understood the poverty here, caused by the Khanate of Grimthug Og Garguzgulz to the south and east.

Session Ends.

NPCs Met

Azrak Torkrest - Hero of the Southern Dwarven Kingdom

The Copper Scrolls

The following are excerpts from the Copper Scrolls the Outlanders recovered, detailing a report on the sealing of the main temple of a death cult – The Temple of the Watching Night.  The report indicates that the cult was put down, but at a terrible cost.  The catacombs under the Temple were never cleared but sealed by impenetrable magics 3400 years ago.  A password to unseal the Temple was provided for the time when the forces necessary could be assembled to clear the catacombs.  Why, exactly, this never happened remains unclear.

• "…up the river to the falls, where our guides led us into an ambush…"
• "Once past the lake and the stronghold there…[we] followed the river upstream until we reached the ruins of a cult fort…"
• "The river now points at the Lesser Spine.  We followed it for several days until we reached the ruins of the lesser temple, razed two years ago.  We followed the [correct/right? (unclear due to damage to the scroll)] branch until it enters the mountain."
• "There, there is a way-stone…which now points to the pass we must take.  That pass leads to a valley through the Spines."
• "…where heavy fighting took place and we thought we were close.  …[after] the battle and the destruction of the fortress, our scouts reported another valley and pass days to the west…where the cult forces retreated."
• "…where they fought like devils, never giving an inch, but our forces finally prevailed.  From here we could see their accursed temple, a dark blot upon the landscape due west."
• "…finally able to seal them away after the Erodan Knights drove their final Mesidian gargoyles from the sky.  We…performed…the Sacred Earth ritual, sealing them away in their catacombs until my lord can raise the forces to finally purge them…"
• "…[the phrase] "Imberia amar leithian" will unseal the spell and allow access to the catacombs."
• "…the final treasures of the cult were buried with them, as were their diversions…"

Happening Off-Stage

No notes for this.

DM Discussion

[This set of session notes was patched together from my GM adventure notes and back-referencing from things in Session 2.  As mentioned before, the loss of the actual session notes was due to the Hard Drive Crash of 2014.  Remember to back up your files somewhere that is not your computer’s only hard drive!]

Tim's Outlanders Landing Page

Cultists, Cultists, Cultists

Previous session: Between Adventures, Part 2

Next Session: Session 2

Status Update - Busy Month

Apologies for the radio silence - it has been a very busy time for me, both in life and at work.  As a result I've had significantly less time to post stuff here.  We are gradually getting out of the weeds and should get to a point where I am able to post regularly again. 

The next adventure arc for Tim's Outlanders (Cultists, Cultists, Cultists) is missing the session notes from multiple sessions due to the Hard Drive Crash of 2014, so remember to regularly back up your data somewhere not your computer, unlike me.  I'll need to piece together the missing sessions based on what happens before and after them in the remaining session summaries plus my actual adventure notes (which survived!).  You might notice some bare entries here an there as a result.

Even so, this is the penultimate adventure arc for Tim's Outlanders.  I have one more arc and then the campaign ended.  It mostly ended because I did not keep tighter control on how the players spent their experience points on their characters.  Dangar in particular and Tim to a lesser extent became an issue as anything that was a challenge to Dangar in a fight would wipe out the rest of the PCs and anything challenging to the rest of the party Dangar could kill in one hit.  This is something that the HERO System is susceptible to, being a points-based system, and the GM has to set limits to how high skills, powers, and combat abilities can get.  As the campaign goes along, those limits should rise, but never spiral out of control as happened to me.  One of the important GM lessons I learned with this campaign.

We've had two more sessions of my monthly campaign, In Search Of..., which I owe write-ups for here.  My goal this week is to finish writing up the earlier one session and get it posted this week plus the first session of Cultists, Cultists, Cultists, which will be embroidered from memory as the notes from the first session are one of the sessions missing.  Next week I want to get the second In Search Of session typed up and posted before the next game happens on the 25th of this month.

Finally, the Sudden Sea campaign is on hiatus as I write up the new area the players are fleeing to, I mean, exploring bravely.  The Other GM is picking up with the characters from the Shattered Star Adventure Path, but we are stepping of the path for a "week at the beach" adventure because Book 4 was harrowing for several of us and we want some fun to cleanse the adventuring palette.  Two of the other players wish to enact something called Operation: Kaiju in game and the Other GM is actually interested in seeing it happen.  I'll report on that when it happens.

Best of luck to everyone reading this and see you soon!