[pnpgm] Game Update #89 - File #477 - Fog/Fire and Books
Scott Adams
longshot at darktech.org
Tue Nov 11 21:05:13 CET 2008
s
HT Alias/Player Character Name Type Status/Notes Sex
-- -----------------------------------------------------------------
R1 John Haight...........Arawn.............Druid .Normal/Alfar Ma
?? Chris Wells...........Ben'dar...........Warrior.Normal/Human Ma
R1 Tom Corckett..........Caladan...........Wizard Normal/Human Ma
W2 Marcel Liberty........Chion.............Sailor..Normal/Human Ma
-- Tobie Bonahoom........Fremea............Sidh....NormalFaerry Fe
Do David Sanders.........Kiet.Sunan........Acrobat Normal/Human Ma
R? J H Hooten............Raban.Usherwood...Bard....Normal/Human..Ma
W4 Wout Broere...........Unali.............Ninja...Normal/Human Fe
R4 Alex Koponen..........Z'leyra...........Healer..Normal/Human Fe
Animals: Corona [Eagle] Z'leyra, Boyzdar [Wolf] (Strie'bog),
Game Web Site - http://www.funport.com/longshot/pbem
Public posts/actions to pnpgm at abroere.xs4all.nl (mailing list)
Private emails (not public actions) to longshot at darktech.org
Game Update #89 in sequence (file #477)
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Admin Notes: None.
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[Recap]
From Ben'dar: [Re: Actions]
Ben'Dar swears angrily in Zen'dali, then yells at Raban, "Get
out of there!" As Raban steps near, he'll pull him through the
doorway, then he slams the door shut. "Let it burn," he mutters
darkly.
"There is nothing left in this place but magic traps! We have
killed our enemies. Let the wizards below deal with this place
now."
GM: Ack.
-----------------------------------
From Raban: [Re: Actions]
<Mean little dagger! That stung.>
<Not a lot to do in Raban's areas of expertise> Raban is happy he
managed to save Frema from possible serious harm, even though he
took some himself. But fires and fogs are not something he knows
how to handle, so he will watch carefully and help where he can.
GM: Ack. Nasty dagger indeed boosted by magic. :<
-----------------------------------
From Z'leyra: [Re: Actions]
If Z'leyra hears the commotion she will go investigate.
GM: Ack. Not through 3 sets of doors and walls. :<
-----------------------------------
From Raban: [Re: Actions]
I may loose internet access again since my bill is due on monday
and I have not been paid yet.
Cash flow has been a major problem this year If that does occur
I will try to use a friends computer or the office as needed.
So if the characters effected suddenly stare into space and
drool, you know why ;)
GM: Ack. I understand. Economy has been bad for all. :< I
should know well enough now how to run Raban if needed.
-----------------------------------
From Fremea: [Re: Actions]
As Fremea is taken out of the way and starts to see the library
go up in smoke, she looks in and wonders why anyone would be so
stupid to burn what they think was important.
"Just let this whole damn place burn down. It is not even worth
it to try and get anything out of here. These people, whoever
they were do not deserve even the death we bring to them. Lets
finish getting what ever it is we came here for and get back to
what matters most."
From now on, Fremea will not walk into any other rooms with out
first having everything scanned as much as she can and have Arawn
tell her he has done the same.
GM: Ack.
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[New Stuff]
[Ma 2nd, 1633TH. 5th Day of Adventure #4.
[Location: Chaos domain, Dark Lands, 9 Miles up, Flying Island]
[Time: 11:14am]
[Two seconds after the door is opened and the room goes up in
flames and spells...]
[Ben'dar from his angle west of the door notices flame sparkle
on the east wall and fog shooting everywhere. He swears angrily
in Zen'dar and yanks Raban out of the door just as Raban pulls
Fremea to safety. Rather Ben'dar tries to do that. Ben'dar
finds it is like moving a mountain. But lucky for Ben'dar,
Raban is already moving and rolling. Ben'dar yells out as
Raban hits the ground and Ben'dar figures he is still in an
angle of attack.]
Ben'dar: "Get out of there!"
[As Raban rolls Ben'dar slams the door shut with his left foot
and mutters in a dark frustrated voice.]
Ben'dar: "Let it burn, There is nothing left in this place but
magic traps! We have killed our enemies. Let the wizards below
deal with this place now."
[As Raban gets to his hands and knees he sees the fire and fogs
inside the library just as Ben'dar slams the door. He shakes his
head in confusion as to why anyone would want to set a trap to
destroy the contents. He is glad he was able to save the frail
one but he took a nasty hit himself in doing so. He quickly gets
to his feet and looks to the others for suggestions or ideas,
knowing this type of thing isn't his main area of experience.]
[Fremea becomes dizzy at the sudden rush of being in the doorway
one second and then twirled around and pushed into the hallway the
next. Confused she looks around to find herself looking up at the
towering giant. The next instant she feels a sharp impact in her
back and then Raban dives and rolls. She turns around just in time
to see the library in flame and fog for a second before Ben'dar
slams the door. She has seen many library of the Humans. In
Donara some were visited her when her masters needed certain
knowledge, rather needed books stolen. Some libraries were
guarded by a old man or young boy or old lady. Most never had
fire anywhere near it aside from a closed candle lantern or such.
Fire and books just don't mix. Confused she has no clue why
anyone would want to trap the library to destroy itself upon
entry?]
Fremea: "Just let this whole damn place burn down. It is not even
worth it to try and get anything out of here. These people,
whoever they were do not deserve even the death we bring to them.
Lets finish getting what ever it is we came here for and get
back to what matters most."
[Fremea grunts and has learned her lesson. This place seems to
love traps. But they seem to be defensive and protective. She
wonders why Arawn didn't try to warn her or others. Did he sense
the magic? Even if he did was there enough time to react and do
anything about it. After all a trap isn't good if it lets those
it traps time to react. Fremea knows that lesson as well. Having
broken into certain homes in Donara, forced by her masters to do
so, she has encountered mundane and elaborate traps but nothing
quite this style. Then she wonders about Raban who seemed a
second before Arawn reacted to be alerted. She wonders if he
has some skill or ability to detect traps more than she?]
[Ben'dar nods curtly at Fremea's response and realizes that she
is like him about this place. To the Zen'da books and scrolls
are useless. Stories and important information is handed down by
word of mouth generation to generation. It is frustrating all
this magic. Ben'dar rather fight monsters and men not these
magical hard to see things. It isn't honorable and isn't fair.
He'll see this place burn down before he sees more of
his friends wounded by other magic.]
[Chion isn't so frustrated by the use of magic in this place. He
has seen many wards and many such traps in the Dark Lands. Some do
it to stop thieves while others to protect treasure and
information. Clearly this library holds some ancient information
that A'kril, or others, don't want just loose on the world. If
they can't let that happen they'll see the stuff destroyed. It
is ironic that most humans fall prey to wards. Yet this party
have Sidh who can sense magic. But even the best detectors can
fall victim to quick wards. In that balance he has found there
is no defense against everything. Some wards will go off with
or without knowing about them.]
[Fremea grabs her wound and find it light but near her wing. She
can't understand why humans collect treasure. Faerry society is
known to hoard treasure but mostly for society not their own
personal use. This idea of personal wealth and power is useless
against skills, status and magic. As she speaks the words above
she wonders if she shouldn't have said them. Curiosity gets the
better of her and she wonders if there is some ancient magic there
in the library that could help or harm this world. Could it
contain cures to the woes of mankind? Could it contain spells to
find the thing she seeks greatest in life? A twinge of regret
hits her as she considers her next move.]
[Kiet standing in the hallway sees the last 4 seconds of opening
the door and then seeing Raban and Fremea wounded. Confused he
isn't sure why a library calm one second now is suddenly in some
form of magical fire and fog? Could it be illusions or some trap
set to stop thieves? It just seems wrong to set fire to books.
His mind flashes to one town his family visited where a small
library of only a hundred books and many scrolls suddenly went
up in flames. The town's records and life stories were lost in
one 5 minute fire. Kiet wonders what all could be missing
knowledge wise from this fire. He reaches for his rope and
wonders if he could pull books but books are hard to lasso. Even
so it would take too much time. He could leap in and grab books
but that fog seems a bit odd to him. For a second or two Kiet
becomes leery of any action.]
[Raban get to his feet as Ben'dar slams the door and Fremea ends
her quick speech. He dusts off his hands and touches his wound
to check it is light but seems to have stopped bleeding. He feels
sad he couldn't have warned the others a second before the daggers
went off. His height did help to detect their movement but if he
wasn't there then maybe Fremea could've been hurt alot more.
Raban's memory goes to several noble homes he has entertained in.
Many such homes had libraries of books of the mundane poetry to
the richly coveted magical or historical tomes. He then recalls
this door had to be unlocked. Obviously a room that had something
important in it. It seems A'kril the noble who didn't act very
noble like, didn't want anyone to take his books or enter the
library.]
[Unali seeing the danger looks back down the hall to ensure this
isn't some elaborate distraction. But she sees no one coming
or going. The security on this door is very lax with only
one key that Balrog could've probably picked with his eyes closed.
Why would A'kril keep books here and not in some vault? It
could be this contains less priority books and scrolls of
magical or historical nature. From her angle she didn't see
the blades fly but sees the smoke and fog. Fog she has seen
before, Choking Moisture, the same that Z'leyra and others
have used in the past. That would make the room hard to enter
even without the fire. Unsure of what to do she helps Ben'dar
secure the door and looks to the others for activity.]
[Caladan is shocked to hear Fremea and Ben'dar. He could expect
it from Ben'dar. It is in the Zen'da way. But Fremea a person
of magic should respect tomes and books? He glances at both with
a confused look. If the High Elder needs information it is duty to
save it. He steps forward and approaches the door. He glances at
Raban and wonders why he didn't charge into the room to get books.
He saw the flames but they could be avoided. After all a wizard of
fire like himself isn't afraid of fire. But the smoke or was it
fog looked different. That could be tricky depending on what it
was. Caladan considers his actions and spells. He could change
into a large winged beast and stop the spells that way or
just case some spell.]
[In a blur Arawn sees the daggers fly toward him and stab lightly
into him. Then he is pulled away by someone, he doesn't know
away from the door and the next instant the door is slammed shut
by Ben'dar. In the second it took for that he saw flame and the
fog. Clearly 2 of the wards he detected are those spells. That
might leave one or two wards not seen or detected or blocked by
the visible effects of the other spells. Shock from the damage,
doubt from lack of detection, grief for not reacting so fast,
sadness for the destruction and finally anger tears through
Arawn's being in an instant. The rage inside him becomes dark
like a thunder cloud in his mind and soul. This isn't right!
Who would destroy books in such a careless fashion? A'kril didn't
want these things found and looted. Either he was too paranoid
to let the information loose or with his death this room self
destructed. But why now and not then? Clearly when the door was
opened and some magical word or threat not given the wards
activated. Faster than even his reflexes could have done anything
about. He glares at Ben'dar with disbelief and then confusion at
Frema's comments. He has to teach her that anger and rage will
only lead to bad things. Yet in the back of his mind he knows he
has crossed the line with his own rage in this event. His parents
wouldn't approve but this situation is critical. Inside the room
could be thousands of years of lost information that society could
use. If that knowledge was good or bad would be second to just
the information. The information in those dusty old books could
be more valuable than any vault or armory. He considers his
actions and knows he could try various spells. All have some
form of working but would they get all the books? The books are
facing the east and west walls not the south wall to the door.
So any chance of those spells would be difficult without entering
the room itself to perform them. The risk to the party is too
great to enter and attack the spells. With Z'leyra not here to
help dispel the chance is slim of avoiding the magic. How long
would they last, minutes could destroy the entire set. No, Arawn
must act now.]
[Arawn recalls what his parents have always told him. That he is
special and unique. He thought it was his Alfar status but odd
things happen even to him in his life. He recalls the time he was
chased by some beast in the Slow Lands near the Balance Marshes.
It chased him to a rift in the ground 20 feet wide. But one minute
he is looking back to hear the howl of the beast and the next he
is across safe. He always thought it was gods helping him. But
he knew that gods were limited in their powers even in the Upper
World. There were rules to apply to all and not all powers
applies in every region. In the instant of the memory flash he
recalls how he got this place. His memory was vague there as
well. He wonders if there is some connection there. But there
will be time later to think on that. Now he must save the books
from those who would see them destroyed. He tried before to
pray to his parents for help and blessing in this place. He
isn't sure he can reach them here with this purified place of
magic. In the great archives of some of his cosmology teachings
he has learned that some people, rare ones, can do anything.
His parents always said some gods allow them to do things as a
wish for them or a whim on the gods. But Arawn doubted even
that. The rumors of the multi-verse are disregarded by the gods
mostly but Arawn believes there is more to life than his parents
and teachers have told him. Now he wonders if that doubt will
help him in this situation. To risk the very lives of the party
around him is it worth these old books?]
[Arawn closes his eyes and tries to concentrate as the others
seem to plan their next move. He begins to draw away his
senses. The smell of the others goes away. The vision behind
his eye lids fade to darkness. the hearing of others seems to
fade to whispers and then nothingness. The touch of his wound
and armor fades. Arawn becomes one with his surrounding but also
becomes no where at all. He clears his mind, a trait his
Druid teachers have taught him before. He then forms a picture
of the library in his mind's eye. The layout of the room. The
books where they should be. His mind wanders to the thought
of betraying A'kril and his death. The regret he couldn't do
anything then but maybe he can do something now. He tosses
that thought aside and begins to mentally chant some arcane
words and prayers. Time seems to slow around him and yet
speed up at the same time. His mental layout of the room
is guess work but seems to clarify when his mind's eye shifts.
He sees books and scrolls on shelves and the flame roaring
through the books. Most are already destroyed. But there
is something else in the room. It seems books are also losing
shape as if disintegrating to other magic. Arawn wonders
if it is a destruction spell. Foul and cruel magic indeed.]
[Arawn desires and wishes the fire stop burning the books and to
safeguard the books. He wishes them to move from their location
to safety. He wishes only good things for the scrolls of
information. He pleads for his parents to help him redeem
himself by saving A'kri's past and maybe the Middle World's
future. Doubt fills his mind as he wonders if by saving these
books he'll free some foul magic not known to humans that could
destroy them. Could Arawn be the link in the prophecy to unleash
this great plaque?
[All these mental things go through Arawn in the span of nano
seconds. In real life only 4 more seconds pass. Arawn grips
his hands in a tight fist to release the energy he is trying
to convey to the gods. The instant his hand tightens the
instant he collapses to the floor.]
[As the others look tot he door to wait out the spells they hear
Arawn hit the ground. All turn around in shock as if Arawn is
wounded by some poison. Raban, Unali and Fremea rush to his side
and find his body is warm as if from some radiant heat. Fremea
blinks in confusion as his normal aura has changed. It is a dark
black blue. Fremea has seen that aura on those who would be evil,
magic casters and normals alike. What has happened to Arawn to
cause such anger and darkness?]
[From behind Unali a gush of air is felt. She twists thinking it
is Raban moving near her. But when she looks behind her she gasps
in surprise. The others also look toward the south wall and on the
carpet are dozens of books and scrolls. They just suddenly appeared
there and some are on fire.]
[Confused by this new sudden turn of events it takes a full second
for folks to react. Leery it is another trap a connection between
Arawn and the new books seems to dawn on them. Some grab cloaks
and blankets and begin to draw them out. But Caladan who has
planed his own move has built up spell energy. He had hoped to
open the door and push back the magic with the spell and let the
others enter and grab as much books as they can. But now for some
reason he doesn't understand they seem to be here in front of them.
He draws his hand up and finishes the magical words. Suddenly from
his hand a great wind blows and toward the south wall. Unali is
knocked back flat on the ground and rolls to the side. Fremea is
tossed forward and begins to flap wildly toward the right side of
the wind. Raban stands still but hair of everyone else begins to
blow wildly. Suddenly the powerful wind flips books and scrolls
open. The wind pounds the flames down and down. Two seconds later
the flames are all doused out. Raban helps Unali up and with
his strength guides her to the north wall to stand and wait out
Caladan's wind spell duration. Arawn remains on the ground
unconscious. Twenty seconds later the wind begins to die down as
well as the fire but now a cloud of dust seems to float down tot
he floor as some books seem to have gone to dust.]
[Five seconds later Arawn's eyes open after some water is given
to him. By now his heat has died down and he sits up but
in a much weakened state. He feels drained of energy. Fremea
looks at his aura again and finds it normal. He looks around
a bit confused and wonders what happened. When he sees Caladan
smile and point behind him he looks and smiles. It seems his
prayers were answered but at a price to his life energy. He
could've killed the party with some big failure but they
don't need to know that.]
Caladan: "Sorry about that folks. I figured we could get the
flames and fog up against one wall maybe and we could
go in and get them. But somehow they got here. Now what
the heck happened and how did they get here?"
[Ben'dar shakes his head and doesn't like this new turn of magical
events. Give him a book to kill but not one that suddenly
appears in front of him.]
[The party approach the books slowly and inspect them and the
scrolls. They seem delicate and old. Some have burnt marks.
Some are completely destroyed by fire. Others are blotted by
ash and smeared. Others when picked up oddly disintegrate into
dust as if the paper is so ancient it can't exist anymore.
That or some foul magic destroyed them. Some are intact but
the majority is gone forever. The intact ones are gently bagged
up and gathered. A couple minutes later the crackle of fire
isn't heard from the library. Caladan cracks the door open
and look sin. It seems the fire and spells are gone. As the
others gather up books he opens it further and ready to jump
away stands in the door. But nothing happens. Fremea glances
over and walks over. She senses nothing magical in the room
anymore. The smoke and dust cloud is intense. The fog seems
gone and the spells have ended. It seems the wards are over.
Fremea stays put but Caladan gently enters. Fremea tries to
warn the bold Zen'da but he continues. He walks up and down
the aisles and looks grim.]
Caladan: "Ashes, Dust. Tattered pages. Nothing is left. It
seems either this room was empty or those outside are it.
I don't understand how they got out there. What a great
loss to this world.
[Caladan looks around and finds the library devoid of anything
else as Fremea remains in the threshold. The room's magic is
gone and now are the treasures.]
Actions? Comments?
Next Update...Friday...
GM: Thought this was going to be a small update. But I was able
to fill it up. I was impressed with Arawn's emailed actions.
The mechanics he could explain but its not my place. I only
gave what was seen or thought. A very unique alternative
indeed. Because the books were more or less saved there was
no need for further actions for this room. The deal is done.
So I'd like to figure the books would be taken to the main room
and left with Z'leyra. If anyone doesn't want this then let me
know. This means the first level is fully explored. This would
mean that the lower level could be explored before going up (I
assume the lower was the next objective?). So for friday's
update I'll move the party toward the lower level and stop when
needed if this is acceptable.
GM: Now a word on the last update. With a PBEM one is limited on
time. We could spend literally weeks on a 2 second game
time span wondering what to do. I could've stopped at the
locked door and asked what then. Actions done. Depending
on those then the door opened and nothing found without
looking in. Day later the door opened and the spells
activated. Little would've prevented them and because
of that I went where I did. I know caution can only do
so much and that would take time. I figure all the actions
could've sent us to the end of this month just figuring
out alternatives to this room. But that to me slows
things down. I accepted all actions but do we need to
spend weeks on figuring out something that would likely
not have been stopped? I figure as GM I have to move
the action a bit as best I could. In a table game we
would have the time to do it in brief time. But in a pbem
time takes weeks and months. Some of us recall the summer
spent on Clima with just an hour's of action? A bit
long for a guy that would be later killed. :) So as GM
I have to move up to a point that players can react without
going nano second by nano second. This speeds up the
time and adventure to a level I think is better than
bogging it down. I hope this is acceptable style. If
not give me feedback. I'll accept it. I know that
folks would be cautious more than now but I also can
accept pre actions for rooms. Just keep that in mind
of caution for next time. Fool me once. Fool me twice
won't happen and I won't expect that of the characters
now. So we'll move on as this room is pretty much solved.
Good work Arawn!
GM: I'll go into detail on the books and scrolls later. I
had actually planned treasure of a less amount. But this
unique solving might have gotten more than I originally
planned. So need to go and redo that part of the treasure.
Of course nothing could be read as the language is quite
unknown to anyone in the party. So the contents and
details could take years to learn anyway.
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